The Clinical Utility of a Short Form Version for the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) in Identifying Visual Memory Impairments with Older Adults

The aim of this study was to examine if a short-form version of the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT-SF) was equivalent to the measure’s standard administration procedures as part of a neuropsychological battery for testing visual memory in an older adult population as well as the impact of anxiety on their performance. The RCFT-SF consisted of a similar administration procedure to the standard form (e.g., copy, immediate recall, delayed recall, and recognition trial) while reducing the period between the immediate and delayed recall portions of the measure to 10 minutes. Participants involved with this study were divided into two groups, the RCFT-SF group and a control group consisting of individuals that were already tested with the standard Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT). Results from an independent samples t-test for the delayed recall trial indicated there was no significant difference between the two measures suggesting the shortened delay period on the RCFT-SF is equivalent to the delay period in the standard RCFT. Non-parametric testing indicated participants in the RFCT group had significantly higher scores than the RCFT-SF group on the copy trial, while there were no significant differences were identified between the two measures on the immediate and recognition trials. When examining the impact of both state and trait levels of anxiety on performance during the RCFT-SF, correlational analyses indicated there was no significant relationship found. Finally, a series of independent samples t-tests found that level of impairment did not impact performance on the scores for the delayed and recognition trials on the RCFT-SF. However, impaired individuals scored significantly lower than those in the unimpaired group on the immediate recall trial for the RCFT. While the limited sample size impacted the results in determining equivalency to the RCFT across all trials, these findings suggest the shortened delay period in the RCFT-SF produces equivalent scores to the standard administration procedure in terms of the delay period

Structure determination of the reconstructed Au(110) surface

The LEED pattern of the Au(110) surface shows a (1 × 2) and also a (1× 3) superstructure. The (1 × 2) superstructure has been determined by comparison of LEED intensities with model calculations. The missing row model is the most probable model. A minimum of the averaged r-factor, , has been found for 15% contraction of the first layer spacing without atomic displacements in the second layer

Oxidation of allylic and benzylic alcohols to aldehydes and carboxylic acids

An oxidation of allylic and benzylic alcohols to the corresponding carboxylic acids is effected by merging a Cu-catalyzed oxidation using O2 as a terminal oxidant with a subsequent chlorite oxidation (Lindgren oxidation). The protocol was optimized to obtain pure products without chromatography or crystallization. Interception at the aldehyde stage allowed for Z/E-isomerization, thus rendering the oxidation stereoconvergent with respect to the configuration of the starting material

Spontaneous Polarisation Build up in a Room Temperature Polariton Laser

We observe the build up of strong (~50%) spontaneous vector polarisation in emission from a GaN-based polariton laser excited by short optical pulses at room temperature. The Stokes vector of emitted light changes its orientation randomly from one excitation pulse to another, so that the time-integrated polarisation remains zero. This behaviour is completely different to any previous laser. We interpret this observation in terms of the spontaneous symmetry breaking in a Bose-Einstein condensate of exciton-polaritons

Transition from accelerated to decelerated regimes in JT and CGHS cosmologies

In this work we discuss the possibility of positive-acceleration regimes, and their transition to decelerated regimes, in two-dimensional (2D) cosmological models. We use general relativity and the thermodynamics in a 2D space-time, where the gas is seen as the sources of the gravitational field. An early-Universe model is analyzed where the state equation of van der Waals is used, replacing the usual barotropic equation. We show that this substitution permits the simulation of a period of inflation, followed by a negative-acceleration era. The dynamical behavior of the system follows from the solution of the Jackiw-Teitelboim equations (JT equations) and the energy-momentum conservation laws. In a second stage we focus the Callan-Giddings-Harvey-Strominger model (CGHS model); here the transition from the inflationary period to the decelerated period is also present between the solutions, although this result depend strongly on the initial conditions used for the dilaton field. The temporal evolution of the cosmic scale function, its acceleration, the energy density and the hydrostatic pressure are the physical quantities obtained in through the analysis.Comment: To appear in Europhysics Letter

Response of a catalytic reaction to periodic variation of the CO pressure: Increased CO_2 production and dynamic phase transition

We present a kinetic Monte Carlo study of the dynamical response of a Ziff-Gulari-Barshad model for CO oxidation with CO desorption to periodic variation of the CO presure. We use a square-wave periodic pressure variation with parameters that can be tuned to enhance the catalytic activity. We produce evidence that, below a critical value of the desorption rate, the driven system undergoes a dynamic phase transition between a CO_2 productive phase and a nonproductive one at a critical value of the period of the pressure oscillation. At the dynamic phase transition the period-averged CO_2 production rate is significantly increased and can be used as a dynamic order parameter. We perform a finite-size scaling analysis that indicates the existence of power-law singularities for the order parameter and its fluctuations, yielding estimated critical exponent ratios $\beta/\nu \approx 0.12$ and $\gamma/\nu \approx 1.77$. These exponent ratios, together with theoretical symmetry arguments and numerical data for the fourth-order cumulant associated with the transition, give reasonable support for the hypothesis that the observed nonequilibrium dynamic phase transition is in the same universality class as the two-dimensional equilibrium Ising model.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted in Physical Review

De problematiek van de kasgrondteelten: Mogelijke oplossingen aangedragen door ondernemers met substraatbedden in het bijzonder

De kasgrond glastuinbouw ziet zich geconfronteerd met stijgende kosten en een afname van de hoeveelheid toegelaten gewasbeschermingsmiddelen. Het middelenpakket tegen schadelijke bodemschimmels en aaltjes wordt mogelijk verkleind (Spruit e.a. 2008). Op dit moment is grondstomen nog een optie, maar door de sterk toenemende energie- en arbeidskosten wordt grondstomen steeds duurder. In voorgaande gesprekken met ondernemers en betrokkenen blijkt dat een teeltsysteem dat relatief goedkoop, en gemakkelijk in de praktijk is in te passen, de voorkeur heeft. Doelstelling van dit project is daarom het in kaart brengen van problemen met mogelijke oplossingen ten aanzien van bodemproblematiek in kasgrondteelten

Decay of metastable phases in a model for the catalytic oxidation of CO

We study by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations the dynamic behavior of a Ziff-Gulari-Barshad model with CO desorption for the reaction CO + O $\to$ CO$_2$ on a catalytic surface. Finite-size scaling analysis of the fluctuations and the fourth-order order-parameter cumulant show that below a critical CO desorption rate, the model exhibits a nonequilibrium first-order phase transition between low and high CO coverage phases. We calculate several points on the coexistence curve. We also measure the metastable lifetimes associated with the transition from the low CO coverage phase to the high CO coverage phase, and {\it vice versa}. Our results indicate that the transition process follows a mechanism very similar to the decay of metastable phases associated with {\it equilibrium} first-order phase transitions and can be described by the classic Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami theory of phase transformation by nucleation and growth. In the present case, the desorption parameter plays the role of temperature, and the distance to the coexistence curve plays the role of an external field or supersaturation. We identify two distinct regimes, depending on whether the system is far from or close to the coexistence curve, in which the statistical properties and the system-size dependence of the lifetimes are different, corresponding to multidroplet or single-droplet decay, respectively. The crossover between the two regimes approaches the coexistence curve logarithmically with system size, analogous to the behavior of the crossover between multidroplet and single-droplet metastable decay near an equilibrium first-order phase transition.Comment: 27 pages, 22 figures, accepted by Physical Review