Axisymmetric two-phase perfect gas performance program

Computer program calculates the inviscid axisymmetric nozzle expansion of propellant systems having both gaseous and condensed exhaust products. The program uses velocity and thermal lags and will perform calculations for contoured and conical nozzles

Convergent-divergent nozzle flows

Uniform two-zone perfect gas expansions in convergent-divergent nozzle

Differential effects of age on involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memory

"This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record." Original article can be found at: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/pag/24/2/397/ Copyright American Psychological Association. DOI: 10.1037/a0015785Research on aging and autobiographical memory has focused almost exclusively on voluntary autobiographical memory. However, in everyday life, autobiographical memories often come to mind spontaneously without deliberate attempt to retrieve anything. In the present study, diary and word-cue methods were used to compare the involuntary and voluntary memories of 44 young and 38 older adults. The results showed that older adults reported fewer involuntary and voluntary memories than did younger adults. Additionally, the life span distribution of involuntary and voluntary memories did not differ in young adults (a clear recency effect) or in older adults (a recency effect and a reminiscence bump). Despite these similarities between involuntary and voluntary memories, there were also important differences in terms of the effects of age on some memory characteristics. Thus, older adults’ voluntary memories were less specific and were recalled more slowly than those of young adults, but there were no reliable age differences in the specificity of involuntary memories. Moreover, older adults rated their involuntary memories as more positive than did young adults, but this positivity effect was not found for voluntary memories. Theoretical implications of these findings for research on autobiographical memory and cognitive aging are discussedPeer reviewe

The Influence of Emotional Material on Encoding and Retrieving Intentions: An ERP Study in Younger and Older Adults

Prospective memory is a cognitive process that comprises the encoding and maintenance of an intention until the appropriate moment of its retrieval. It is of highly relevance for an independent everyday life, especially in older adults; however, there is ample evidence that prospective memory declines with increasing age. Because most studies have used neutral stimuli, it is still an open question how emotional factors influence age-related differences in prospective remembering. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of emotional material on prospective memory encoding, monitoring, maintaining, and retrieval in younger and older adults using behavioral and electrophysiological measures. We tested 24 younger adults (M = 26.4 years) and 20 older adults (M = 68.1 years) using a picture one-back task as ongoing activity with an embedded prospective memory instruction. The experimental task consisted of three sessions. In each session, participants had to encode series of images that represented the prospective memory cues for the consecutive block. The images were either of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral valence. The pictures used in the ongoing task were likewise of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral valence. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to assess the neural correlates of intention encoding, maintenance, and self-initiated retrieval. We did not find age differences between younger and older adults on the behavioral level. However, the ERP results revealed an interesting pattern that suggested for both age groups elevated attentional processing of emotional cues during encoding indicated by an elevated LPP for the emotional cues. Additionally, younger adults showed increased activity for unpleasant cues. During the maintenance phase, both age groups engaged in strategic monitoring especially for pleasant cues, which led to enhanced sustained positivity. During retrieval, older adults showed increased activity of ERP components related to cue detection and retrieval mainly for pleasant cues indicating enhanced relevance for those cues. In conclusion, emotional material may influence prospective remembering in older adults differently than in younger adults by supporting a mixture of top-down and bottom-up controlled processing. The results demonstrated a negativity bias in younger adults and a positivity bias in older adults

M.O.V.E.(Mobility, Opportunity, Versatility, Empowerment)

About 33% of the world does not have access sanitary toilet facilities, most in countries affected by landmines. In Uganda alone, there over 2400 landmine survivors (the-monitor.org) . Negative societal stigmas in thirdworld countries make it difficult for individuals with disabilities to reintegrate into society. Goal: Help increase the mobility of landmine survivors and other individuals with disabilities, and help them to use pit latrines in a safe and sanitary manner

Axisymmetric reacting gas nonequilibrium performance program

Computer program calculates the inviscid one-dimensional equilibrium, frozen, and nonequilibrium nozzle expansion of propellant exhaust mixtures containing these six elements - carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, fluorine, and chlorine plus either aluminum, beryllium, boron or lithium. This program will perform calculations for contoured and conical nozzles

Predictors of cognitive complaints in older adults: a mixture regression approach

The present paper examined four hypotheses regarding the nature of cognitive complaints in older adults. Analyzing data from 607 participants (mean age=62.9years, SD=0.92years, 59-65years), we tested the influence of actual cognitive test performance, negative age stereotypes, depressive symptoms, neuroticism, and conscientiousness on cognitive complaints. Bivariate correlations confirmed relations of all hypothesized predictors with cognitive complaints. However, considering all predictors simultaneously in an OLS regression analysis, particularly depressive symptoms and neuroticism were revealed as accounting for large proportions of variance in cognitive complaints. Utilizing mixture regression analyses, evidence for distinct subgroups was obtained in which cognitive complaints were explained by different predictor pattern

Prospective Memory in Older Adults : Where We Are Now and What Is Next

M. Kliegel acknowledges financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).Peer reviewedPostprin

Proactive and Coactive Interference in Age-Related Performance in a Recognition-Based Operation Span Task

Background: Generally, older adults perform worse than younger adults in complex working memory span tasks. So far, it is unclear which processes mainly contribute to age-related differences in working memory span. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate age effects and the roles of proactive and coactive interference in a recognition-based version of the operation span task. Methods: Younger and older adults performed standard versions and distracter versions of the operation span task. At retrieval, participants had to recognize target words in word lists containing targets as well as proactive and/or coactive interference-related lures. Results: Results show that, overall, younger adults outperformed older adults in the recognition of target words. Furthermore, analyses of error types indicate that, while younger adults were only affected by simultaneously presented distracter words, older adults had difficulties with both proactive and coactive interference. Conclusion: Results suggest that age effects in complex span tasks may not be mainly due to retrieval deficits in old age.Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich