A Dissociation of Attention and Awareness in Phase-sensitive but Not Phase-insensitive Visual Channels

The elements most vivid in our conscious awareness are the ones to which we direct our attention. Scientific study confirms the impression of a close bond between selective attention and visual awareness, yet the nature of this association remains elusive. Using visual afterimages as an index, we investigate neural processing of stimuli as they enter awareness and as they become the object of attention. We find evidence of response enhancement accompanying both attention and awareness, both in the phase-sensitive neural channels characteristic of early processing stages and in the phase-insensitive channels typical of higher cortical areas. The effects of attention and awareness on phase-insensitive responses are positively correlated, but in the same experiments, we observe no correlation between the effects on phase-sensitive responses. This indicates independent signatures of attention and awareness in early visual areas yet a convergence of their effects at more advanced processing stages

Viscoelastic liquid crystal colloids for the continuous processing of twisted nematic electro-optical cells

Liquid crystal colloid materials are described based on the liquid crystal (LC) E7 and submicron sized poly(methyl methacrylate-co-divinylbenzene) particles. Application of a thermal treatment to the composite material produces a finely dispersed network of the internally crosslinked polymeric inclusions in the LC-E7. Dynamic rheological measurements on the LC colloids show that the presence of this network imposes pronounced viscoelastic behavior on the material, which may be exploited in the manufacturing of large-area twisted nematic (TN) electro-optical cells via continuous methods as an alternative to the currently available batchwise routes. The electro-optical characteristics of TN cells based on the composite material are approximately comparable to the electro-optical characteristics of a reference cell filled with pure LC E7, which ensures that the largely increased viscoelasticity of the composite does not lead to a degradation of electro-optical propertie

The quality of student dialogue in citizenship education

This study investigates the relationship between the quality of student dialogue and students’ ability to justify their viewpoints on a moral issue. A curriculum unit for dialogic citizenship education was developed and implemented in the 8th grade of secondary education. In the final lesson, students discussed a moral issue and then wrote an essay on it. The results show that students who made more value-related utterances during the discussion also referred more often and more explicitly in their individually written essays to moral values. This study indicates that the quality of the content of students’ dialogue is important for their ability to substantiate their opinion on moral issues with value-laden argumentation. Approaches to citizenship education in which dialogue is a central element should, therefore, pay specific attention to the validation of ideas in student dialogue

Repeated automatic versus ambulatory blood pressure measurement:the effects of age and sex in a normal ageing population

Objectives To study blood pressure adaptation in relation to age and sex, In a subsample, laboratory blood pressure measurements were compared with ambulatory daytime blood pressure measurements to determine the degree of agreement between the two methods, The night-time blood pressure reduction was analysed as a function of blood pressure status, age and sex.Design A cross-sectional study in 469 healthy volunteers, aged 23-82 years, stratified for age, sex and educational level.Methods Laboratory blood pressure was measured automatically (Dinamap 8100) five times during a 20min recording session, Cardiovascular events in the medical history were identified in order to treat the cardiovascular event-free group separately in subsequent analyses, Within 3 weeks after laboratory blood pressure measurement, ambulatory blood pressure was measured for 24h in 135 volunteers from the main study.Results Both diastolic and systolic blood pressure varied markedly in a single measurement session as a function of age, independent of mean pressure level, After 15min no further blood pressure decrease was observed, On the basis of the average of the final two blood pressure measurements, 18.8% of the subjects were in the hypertensive range (WHO/ISH guidelines). Ambulatory blood pressure measurements were in accord with earlier findings and correlated 0.74 and 0.73 with laboratory diastolic and systolic blood pressure, respectively, but weighted kappa values indicated only moderate agreement (0.42 and 0.51), Women showed a more profound reduction in cnight-time blood pressure than did men.Conclusions There is a substantial change in blood pressure during a single measurement session which is greater in older age groups, The moderate agreement between the two methods of blood pressure measurement supports the notion that blood pressure measured in a single session has limited generalizability to average daytime levels in a population sample

Improved generation of rat gene knockouts by target-selected mutagenesis in mismatch repair-deficient animals

BACKGROUND: The laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) is one of the preferred model organisms in physiological and pharmacological research, although the availability of specific genetic models, especially gene knockouts, is limited. N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU)-driven target-selected mutagenesis is currently the most successful method in rats, although it is still very laborious and expensive. RESULTS: As ENU-induced DNA damage is normally recognized by the mismatch repair (MMR) system, we hypothesized that the effectiveness of the target-selected mutagenesis approach could be improved by using a MMR-deficient genetic background. Indeed, Msh6 knockout rats were found to be more sensitive to ENU treatment and the germ line mutation rate was boosted more than two-fold to 1 mutation per 585 kb. In addition, the molecular mutation spectrum was found to be changed in favor of generating knockout-type alleles by approximately 20%, resulting in an overall increase in efficiency of approximately 2.5 fold. The improved effectiveness was demonstrated by high throughput mutation discovery in 70 Mb of sequence in a set of only 310 mutant F1 rats. This resulted in the identification of 89 mutations of which four introduced a premature stopcodon and 64 resulted in amino acid changes. CONCLUSION: Taken together, we show that the use of a MMR-deficient background considerably improves ENU-driven target-selected mutagenesis in the rat, thereby reducing animal use as well as screening costs. The use of a mismatch repair-deficient genetic background for improving mutagenesis and target-selected knockout efficiency is in principle applicable to any organism of interest

Rey's verbal learning test: normative data for 1855 healthy participants aged 24-81 years and the influence of age, sex, education, and mode of presentation

The Verbal Learning Test (VLT; Rey, 1958) evaluates the declarative memory. Despite its extensive use, it has been difficult to establish normative data because test administration has not been uniform. The purpose of the present study was to gather normative data for the VLT for a large number (N = 1855) of healthy participants aged 24-81 years, using a procedure in which the words to be learned were presented either verbally or visually. The results showed that VLT performance decreased in an a.-e-dependent manner from an early age. The learning capacity of younger versus older adults differed quantitatively rather than qualitatively. Females and higher educated participants outperformed males and lower educated participants over the entire age range tested. Presentation mode affected VLT performance differently: auditory presentation resulted in a better recall on Trial 1 (a short-term or working memory measure), whereas visual presentation yielded a better performance on Trial 3, Trial 4, and Delta (a learning measure)

Modeling of the Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) of Tarragon (Artemisia Dracunculus L.)

The equilibrium moisture content of tarragon, Artemisia dracunculus L. (stem and leaf separately) was determined by using the saturated salt solutions method at three temperatures (25, 50 and 70°C) within a range of 5 to 90% relative humidity. Both adsorption and desorption methods were used for stem and leaf of two varieties: Russian and French tarragon. Experimental curves of moisture sorption isotherms were fitted by modified Henderson, modified Halsey, modified Oswin, modified Chung-Pfost and GAB equations and evaluated by residual sum squares, standard error of estimate and mean relative deviation. The modified Halsey and GAB equations were found to be the most suitable for describing the relationship among equilibrium moisture content, relative humidity and temperature. There was no significant difference between the equilibrium moisture content of the Russian and French tarragon

Характеристика экономических отношений на финансовом рынке Украины

Розглянуто проблеми, особливості функціонування та взаємодії учасників фінансового ринку України. Обґрунтовано наявність внутрішніх фінансових джерел формування ресурсного потенціалу вітчизняних банків, доведено їх пріоритетність для країни порівняно із зовнішніми джерелами. Окреслено причини, що зумовлюють дефіцит ресурсного потенціалу в банківській системі України. Ключові слова: заощадження, нагромадження, банки, економічне зростання, посередники, фінансовий ринок, ресурси, трансформація, інвестиційний потенціал.Рассмотрены проблемы, особенности функционирования и взаимодействия участников финансового рынка Украины. Обосновано наличие внутренних финансовых источников формирования ресурсного потенциала отечественных банков, доказана их приоритетность для страны по сравнению с внешними источниками. Очерчены причины, которые предопределяют дефицит ресурсного потенциала в банковской системе Украины. Ключевые слова: сбережения, накопления, банки, экономический рост, посредники, финансовый рынок, ресурсы, трансформация, инвестиционный потенциал.The present paper examines topical problems related to the specific aspects of economic relations in the financial market of Ukraine. The relevance and selection of the theme stem from the fact that financial market as a specific organization form of cash flows takes a leading place in the economic mechanism of market economy. Agents of this market are engaged in a whole range of complex economic relations which in their turn play a key role in securing a dynamic and sustainable economic growth of a country. Development of the financial market and creation of adequate flexible and adaptive economic relations between its players are critical for Ukraine. This is explained by specific aspects of the economic system formation and reforming, which are related to undergoing an intersystem transformation stage. The indicated circumstances predetermined the goal and objectives of the study pursued, which come to examination of economic relations in the financial market of Ukraine, identification of the interaction specificity of various financial intermediaries in the accumulation process of idle cash and its transformation into the investment capital of national economy. Based on the results of the analysis conducted, it is established that unlike countries with developed financial systems, where the majority of institutional participants of the capital market are proportionally developed, it is the banking sector that dominates in Ukraine and has a determinant role in financing the economic development of the state. The availability of domestic financial resources for forming the resource potential of banks is substantiated, and their priority versus external resources for Ukraine is proved. The comparison of gross savings and gross capital formation allowed identifying certain problems as to transformation of the former into investment resources in Ukraine. The paper outlines some causes of a poor resource potential of national banking institutions. Keywords: savings, accumulation, banks, economic growth, intermediaries, financial market, resources, transformation, investment potential