Energy storage for a lunar base by the reversible chemical reaction: CaO+H2O reversible reaction Ca(OH)2

A thermochemical solar energy storage concept involving the reversible reaction CaO + H2O yields Ca(OH)2 is proposed as a power system element for a lunar base. The operation and components of such a system are described. The CaO/H2O system is capable of generating electric power during both the day and night. The specific energy (energy to mass ratio) of the system was estimated to be 155 W-hr/kg. Mass of the required amount of CaO is neglected since it is obtained from lunar soil. Potential technical problems, such as reactor design and lunar soil processing, are reviewed

An Event-Related Potential Study of Social Information Processing in Adolescents

Increased social awareness is a hallmark of adolescence. The primary aim of this eventrelated potential study was to investigate whether adolescents, in comparison to adults, would show relatively enhanced early neural processing of complex pictures containing socially-relevant information. A secondary aim was to investigate whether there are also gender and age differences in the ways adolescents and adults process social and nonsocial information. We recorded EEGs from 12–17 year-olds and 25–37 year-olds (N = 59) while they viewed pleasant pictures from the International Affective Picture System. We found age-related amplitude differences in the N1 and the LPP, and gender-related differences in the N2 region for socially-relevant stimuli. Social pictures (featuring mostly young children and adults) elicited larger N1s than nonsocial stimuli in adolescents, but not adults, whereas larger LPPs to social stimuli were seen in adults, but not adolescents. Furthermore, in general, males (regardless of age) showed larger N2s to nonsocial than to social images, but females did not. Our results imply that compared to adults, adolescents show relatively greater initial orientation toward social than toward nonsocial stimuli

Neural Correlates of Automatic Emotional Processing and Emotion Regulation in Empathy and Psychopathy-Related Coldheartedness

Psychopathy is a personality disorder that is defined, in part, by a lack of empathy. Psychopathy-related empathic deficits have been associated with atypical behavioral and neural responses to emotional facial expressions. Although the mirror neuron system (MNS) has been implicated in empathy, very few studies have examined the role of MNS functioning as it pertains to empathy impairments in psychopathy. Moreover, there is very little empirical research regarding emotion regulation in psychopathy, and specifically whether emotional responses can be intentionally upregulated. The present study sought to clarify whether the MNS is functionally intact in adults with subclinical psychopathic traits, particularly Coldheartedness, and whether the MNS can be manipulated through top-down mechanisms. Five hundred six undergraduates completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised to measure psychopathic traits and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index to measure empathic traits. Of these, 60 eligible participants then completed an EEG/ERP study. Participants first passively viewed images of emotional faces (Task 1), and then tried to increase their emotional response to the same pictures (Task 2) while their EEG was recorded. Bottom-up functioning was indexed by mu rhythm (8-12 Hz) desynchronization, a measure of MNS function. In addition, the amplitude of the P100, N170, and Late Positive Potential (LPP) event-related potentials were used to measure attentional processes, with later components reflecting more top-down processing. The change in each of these measurements from Task 1 to Task 2 was used to index upregulation. Contrary to our predictions, we found that Coldheartedness was not related to mu rhythm suppression or upregulation, suggesting that mirror neuron system functioning was intact. Moreover, Coldheartedness predicted larger N170 and LPP (400-600 ms) amplitudes in Task 1, indicating increased early attention to the emotional faces. Empathy, on the other hand, was related to reduced automatic attentional processing, evidenced by less mu suppression (i.e., less MNS activity), and smaller early ERP components, but greater sustained attention (as evidenced by higher amplitude LPPs), and an enhanced ability to upregulate ERP markers of early attention (i.e., N170). Together, these results provide a new perspective on the neural correlates of empathic functioning in subclinical psychopathy

Mean and (SEM) ERP amplitudes (μV) for social and nonsocial stimuli for each gender and age group.

<p>Mean and (SEM) ERP amplitudes (μV) for social and nonsocial stimuli for each gender and age group.</p

Adolescent grand average ERPs.

<p>Grand average ERPs at 24 electrodes elicited by social (solid line) and nonsocial (dotted line) stimuli in adolescent participants. Stimulus onset occurred at 0 ms as indicated by the vertical dashed lines.</p

Hospitality students' perceptions of digital tools for learning and sustainable development

This paper interprets students’ perceptions of how they utilise technology for their learning and the link to sustainability and employability. A focus group approach is adopted with final year undergraduate hospitality students at three academic institutions in the UK, Switzerland and UAE. Diverse perceptions of the relationship between learning activities, eLearning tools, sustainability and employability are revealed. Comparisons are examined to better understand students’ perceptions of eLearning tools for sustainability. This paper highlights students’ awareness of the role of technology in sustainability and employability and calls on educators to promote a more integrated and multi-disciplinary approach to curriculum design