The pressure to communicate efficiently continues to shape language use later in life

Language use is shaped by a pressure to communicate efficiently, yet the tendency towards redundancy is said to increase in older age. The longstanding assumption is that saying more than is necessary is inefficient and may be driven by age-related decline in inhibition (i.e. the ability to filter out irrelevant information). However, recent work proposes an alternative account of efficiency: In certain contexts, redundancy facilitates communication (e.g., when the colour or size of an object is perceptually salient and its mention aids the listener’s search). A critical question follows: Are older adults indiscriminately redundant, or do they modulate their use of redundant information to facilitate communication? We tested efficiency and cognitive capacities in 200 adults aged 19–82. Irrespective of age, adults with better attention switching skills were redundant in efficient ways, demonstrating that the pressure to communicate efficiently continues to shape language use later in life

Depth profiling of ceramic coatings and nitrided steels with UV laser ablation inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

No abstract availabl

Analysis of Clamped Inductive Turnoff Failure in Railway Traction IGBT Power Modules Under Overload Conditions

9 páginas, 11 figuras.This paper studies the overload turnoff failure in the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) devices of power multichip modules for railway traction. After a detailed experimental analysis carried out through a dedicated test circuit, electrothermal simulations at device level are also presented. The simulation strategy has consisted in inducing a current and temperature mismatch in two IGBT cells. Results show that mismatches in the electrothermal properties of the IGBT device during transient operation can lead to uneven power dissipation, significantly enhancing the risk of failure and reducing the lifetime of the power module. Concretely, simulations qualitatively demonstrate that localized hot-spot formation due to a dynamic breakdown could lead to a second breakdown mechanism.This work was supported in part by the European Project ‘Power Reliability for Traction Electronics’ (PORTES) under Contract MTKI-CT- 2004-517224, by Alstom Transport Tarbes, by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through Research Programs THERMOS TEC2008-05577 and RUE CSD2009-00046, and by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas under Contract “Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios,” JAE-Doc.Peer reviewe

Age affects the adjustment of cognitive control after a conflict: evidence from the bivalency effect

Age affects cognitive control. When facing a conflict, older adults are less able to activate goal-relevant information and inhibit irrelevant information. However, cognitive control also affects the events after a conflict. The purpose of this study was to determine whether age affects the adjustment of cognitive control following a conflict. To this end, we investigated the bivalency effect, that is, the performance slowing occurring after the conflict induced by bivalent stimuli (i.e., stimuli with features for two tasks). In two experiments, we tested young adults (aged 20-30) and older adults (aged 65-85) in a paradigm requiring alternations between three tasks, with bivalent stimuli occasionally occurring on one task. The young adults showed a slowing for all trials following bivalent stimuli. This indicates a widespread and long-lasting bivalency effect, replicating previous findings. In contrast, the older adults showed a more specific and shorter-lived slowing. Thus, age affects the adjustment of cognitive control following a conflict

[Biological therapy for psoriasis: practical experience at a French dermatology unit]

International audienceBACKGROUND: The course of biological therapy (BT) in clinical practice may differ markedly from treatment schedules in clinical trials. Treatment modifications and patient characteristics can affect treatment safety and efficacy. In addition, long-term results concerning the use of BT in clinical practice are lacking. OBJECTIVES: To report our experience of BT in terms of short- and long-term efficacy and safety. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The retrospectively analysed cohort consisted of psoriasis patients receiving BT between 2004 and 2008. Patients in clinical trials were excluded. Mean body surface area (BSA) and Dermatology Life Quality Index were recorded. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients undergoing 86 courses of BT were enrolled. Thirty-three patients were treated with efalizumab, 21 with infliximab and 32 with etanercept. During the study period, 40% of patients were switched to another BT. The number of patients attaining BSA-75 at 3and 6months respectively was 38% and 75% for efalizumab, 62% and 61% for infliximab, and 36% and 61% for etanercept. After 24months of follow-up, only 33% of patients (34% of patients with efalizumab, 52% with infliximab and 22% with etanercept) were still following their initial BT, with treatment being discontinued in 52% of patients due to adverse events or treatment failure. DISCUSSION: Our study confirms the efficacy and feasibility of BT in clinical practice. However, the high frequency of BT discontinuation for adverse events or non-response led to sequential therapy using different biological treatments