Isosorbide based chiral polyurethanes: optical and thermal studies

A new class of chiral polyurethanes containing amido linkages in the polymer backbone have been synthesized by reacting toluene diisocyanate with isosorbide (IS) chiral moiety and the chromophores [N,N′-ethane-1,2-diyl bis(6-hydroxy hexanamide), N,N′-butane-1,4-diyl bis(6-hydroxy hexanamide) and N,N′-hexane-1,6-diyl bis(6-hydroxy hexanamide)]. The corresponding chromophores were obtained by the aminolysis of ε-caprolactone by using the diamines, diaminoethane, diaminobutane and diaminohexane, respectively. All the polymers were synthesized according to the symmetry conditions so as to obtain the non-centrosymmetric environment. A series of polyurethanes were synthesized by varying the chiral–chromophore composition. The polyurethanes developed were characterized by optical and thermal methods.     

Conducting psychotherapy with psychotherapists: I. Prevalence, patients, and problems.

Examines responses from 349 psychologists of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division of Psychotherapy who completed a questionnaire regarding the prevalence of treating fellow psychotherapists, the type of psychotherapist-patients they treated, and the stressors and satisfactions of conducting such work. Three fourths of respondents related that they had treated mental health professionals and professionals-in-training over the past 3 years, and that this population constituted 3% to 796 of their caseloads. Nearly all of the therapist-patients were self-referred, and 85% received individual therapy. The psychotherapist-patients tended to be psychologists (37%) or social workers (29%) of diverse theoretical traditions, with the exception of biologically oriented clinicians. Satisfactions clustered around pleasures inherent in doing meaningful work, acknowledgment by peers, and the opportunity to help therapist-patients enhance their own clinical effectiveness. Predominant stressors concerned evaluation anxieties in treating colleagues and in the related belief that colleagues are more challenging and resistant to change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A critical review of the Energy Policy Act of 2005's treatment of hydrogen

The paper analyzes the Energy Policy Act's goals and proposed action in Title VIII, the section dedicated to hydrogen. It then assesses whether or not the resources dedicated to this cause are sufficient to overcome the obstacles facing the commercial use of hydrogen and fuel cells.     

Mechanisms of reorientation and object localization by children: A comparison with rats.

Neurophysiological studies show that the firing of place and head-direction (HD) cells in rats can become anchored to features of the perceptible environment, suggesting that those features partially specify the rat's position and heading. In contrast, behavioral studies suggest that disoriented rats and human children rely exclusively on the shape of their surroundings, ignoring much of the information to which place and HD cells respond. This difference is explored in the current study by investigating young children's ability to locate objects in a square chamber after disorientation. Children 18–24 months old used a distinctive geometric cue but not a distinctively colored wall to locate the object, even after they were familiarized with the colored wall. Results suggest that the spatial representations underlying reorientation and object localization are common to humans and other mammals. Together with the neurophysiological findings, these experiments raise questions for the hypothesis that hippocampal place and HD cells serve as a general orientation device for target localization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Metrics Framework to Drive Application Security Improvement

This installment of Building Security In presents metrics that can help quantify the impact that process changes in one life-cycle phase have on other phases.     

Dry reforming of methane over LaNi1−yByO3±δ (B = Mg,Co) perovskites used as catalyst precursor

Perovskites LaNiO₃, LaNi_1−xMg_xO_3−δ and LaNi_1−xCo_xO_3−δ were synthesized by auto combustion method. TPR analysis reveled that Mg or Co substituted perovskites were more difficult to reduce. The perovskites were evaluated as catalyst precursors in the dry reforming of methane. Catalysts obtained by reduction of LaNiO₃ and LaNi_1−xMg_xO_3−δ perovskite had the highest catalytic activity for CO₂ reforming of CH₄ at 700 °C using drastic reaction conditions (10 mg of catalyst, a mixture of CH₄/CO₂ without dilution gas). Methane and carbon dioxide conversions were 57% and 67%, respectively, with a H₂/CO ratio equal to 0.47.The presence of cobalt leads to a decrease of the catalytic activity. This decreasing of activity may be attributed to the Co–Ni alloy formation. Computational calculations revealed that Ni atom cleaves the C–H atom while Co is not able to activate the CH₄ molecule. The interaction energy of CH₄ with the Ni and CO atom was 18 kcal/mol and 0.7 kcal/mol, respectively.The catalysts were characterized by TPR, TEM and in situ XRD.     

Alkaline Injection of Concentrated Sodium Hydroxide Solution into an Acidic Surface Mine Spoil Aquifer

A series of NaOH solution injection experiments were performed as trials for in situ remediation of an acid-producing surface-mine spoil. Both 20 and 50% (w/w) concentrated NaOH solutions were employed. While the spoil immediately down-gradient of the injection wells was neutralized, only about 23% of the introduced Na was recovered at the spring discharge in 3 years of post-injection monitoring. This rate of transport was far slower than the estimated advection rates in the aquifer, indicating that substantial retardation of both Na and the associated alkalinity occurred. This retardation is ascribed to: precipitation of alkaline-earth carbonate hydroxide minerals, as well as metal hydroxide precipitates, consuming injected alkalinity; and reduction of hydraulic conductivity in the peralkaline (pH > 13) “plume” region due to plugging by reaction products. It is likely that Na and alkalinity will continue to leak from this plume region for many years, but at too slow a rate to neutralize AMD at current concentrations. Future injection efforts of this type may be feasible but should use lower concentrations and should be focused further down-gradient, in closer proximity to the springs, where ground water velocities are higher.     

Memory for Contextual Details: Effects of Emotion and Aging.

When individuals are confronted with a complex visual scene that includes some emotional element, memory for the emotional component often is enhanced, whereas memory for peripheral (nonemotional) details is reduced. The present study examined the effects of age and encoding instructions on this effect. With incidental encoding instructions, young and older adults showed this pattern of results, indicating that both groups focused attention on the emotional aspects of the scene. With intentional encoding instructions, young adults no longer showed the effect: They were just as likely to remember peripheral details of negative images as of neutral images. The older adults, in contrast, did not overcome the attentional bias: They continued to show reduced memory for the peripheral elements of the emotional compared with the neutral scenes, even with the intentional encoding instructions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of the social action theory to understand factors associated with risky sexual behavior among individuals in residential substance abuse treatment.

Risky sexual behavior (RSB) is a leading cause of HIV/AIDS, particularly among urban substance users. Using the social action theory, an integrative systems model of sociocognitive, motivational, and environmental influences, as a guiding framework, the current study examined (1) environmental influences, (2) psychopathology and affect, (3) HIV-related attitudes and knowledge, and (4) self-regulatory skills/deficits as factors associated with event-level condom use (CU) among a sample of 156 substance users residing at a residential substance abuse treatment center (M age = 41.85; SD = 8.59; 75% male). RSB was assessed using event-level measurement of CU given its advantages for improved accuracy of recall and ability for an examination of situational variables. A logistic regression predicting event-level CU indicated the significant contribution of partner type (environmental influences), less favorable attitudes towards condoms (HIV-related attitudes and knowledge), and higher levels of risk-taking propensity (self-regulatory skills/deficits) in predicting greater likelihood of not having used a condom at one's most recent sexual encounter. This study contributes to the literature examining HIV risk behaviors among substance users within a theory-driven model of risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)