Do young adults show conceptual knowledge of previous distractors?

Using implicit tests, older adults have been found to retain conceptual knowledge of previously seen task-irrelevant information. While younger adults typically do not show the same effect, evidence from one study [Gopie, N., Craik, F. I. M., & Hasher, L. (2011). A double dissociation of implicit and explicit memory in younger and older adults. Psychological Science, 22, 634–640. doi:10.1177/0956797611403321] suggests otherwise. In that study, young adults showed greater explicit than implicit memory for previous distractors on a word fragment completion task. This was interpreted as evidence for maintaining access to previous conceptual knowledge of the distractors. Here, we report two failures to replicate that original finding, followed by a third study designed to test directly whether young adults use conceptual-level information that was previously irrelevant. Our findings agree with others that young adults show weak to no evidence of conceptual knowledge of previously irrelevant information.     

Embracing mental illness: do education and contact make any difference in help-seeking intention among Pakistani students?

Those suffering from mental illness usually fall victim to stigmatization and the resulting discrimination. This study aims at finding out whether students differ in their attitudes based on the courses studied and previous contact with mentally ill. Using purposive sampling technique, 236 students from seven departments of University of Karachi were selected for this study. They were divided into three groups based on their educational background i.e. “psychology group”, “allied group” and “other group”. Community Attitude towards Mental Illness (CAMI) Scale along with a demographics sheet were administered to the participants. Using SPSS version 23, one-way ANOVA was carried out between educational groups and responses of CAMI sub-scales. Results indicated that in comparison to the other two groups, attitudes of psychology students were lower on authoritarianism, social restrictiveness subscales and higher on community mental health ideology subscale. Results are discussed in detail.     

Issues Involving Informed Consent for Research Participants with Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia which is estimated to impact 350,000 people over 65 years of age in Canada. The lack of effective treatment and the growing number of people who are expected to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the near future are compelling reasons why continued research is in this area is necessary. With additional research, there needs to be greater recognition of the complexity of seeking ongoing informed consent from those with Alzheimer’s disease. This complexity is because the impairment of memory and cognitive ability does not diminish in a linear manner, but rather fluctuates between periods of impairment and relatively normal cognitive lucidness. There is limited discussion in the guidelines of those progressing from early stages of Alzheimer’s disease who have intermittent cognitive function. Guidelines to research and Research Ethics Boards require further development to facilitate researcher including those with Alzheimer’s disease while protecting this growing pool of potential participants.     

First order logic with empty structures

For first order languages with no individual constants, empty structures and truth values (for sentences) in them are defined. The first order theories of the empty structures and of all structures (the empty ones included) are axiomatized with modus ponens as the only rule of inference. Compactness is proved and decidability is discussed. Furthermore, some well known theorems of model theory are reconsidered under this new situation. Finally, a word is said on other approaches to the whole problem.     

Cultural differences in distraction processing: influence of context at retrieval

Cultural differences in information processing affect perceptual judgment, attention, and memory. We investigated whether cultural differences in processing patterns, specifically East Asian participants’ tendency to encode holistically, compared to Western tendencies to process analytically, affect performance on an implicit memory test. First, participants completed a 1-back task on pictures with superimposed distracting words. After a delay filled with a computerised Corsi block task, they performed a word fragment task in which some fragments could be completed with the distracting words from the 1-back task. Critically, fragments were presented with the same pictures as previously seen (matched condition), with no pictures (control condition), or with pictures from other trials on the 1-back task (mismatched condition). Non-Asian Canadian participants showed virtually no priming for distraction, independent of the reinstatement of encoding context. East Asian Canadian participants showed superior priming for fragments that had been paired with their original pictures. They did not show evidence of a detriment for the mismatched, relative to control, condition.     

Effect of grain orientation and local strain on the quality of polycrystalline YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 superconductive films

The critical current densities of superconducting thin films and their dependence on the film structural characteristics has been a major research interest for more than a decade. Controlling this relationship is crucial if large-scale high-quality YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 (YBCO) tapes are to be produced. Two major keystones of information have been established in this field. Firstly, there is a direct relationship between the critical current density and the grain-boundary angle in polycrystalline YBCO films. Grain boundaries with a mismatch angle higher than 5° usually result in reduced critical current densities. This detrimental effect of large-angle grain boundaries to the quality of YBCO films has been attributed to strain fields resulting from such grain boundaries. Secondly, the quality of the YBCO film can be enhanced by straining its lattice in specific direction. Here, we report, for the first time, direct experimental results coupling local grain orientation and local strain maps of thin YBCO films deposited on a (001) biaxially textured nickel substrate. These results were correlated to the quality of the film and showed how grain structure in the nickel substrate affects the grain structure in the YBCO films even in the presence of several buffer layers. More importantly, the data show that highquality films with high critical current densities can be produced, in spite of large-angle grain boundaries, if the film is compressed in the range of 0.5% strain normal to the a axis.     

Direct observation of intergranular stress fields in polycrystalline materials

The ability to measure interparticle stress fields is crucial for a number of scientific fields. Detailed knowledge of such interaction stresses can shed light on a number of phenomena such as the fracture mechanics of polycrystalline materials, the mechanics of granular media, and crystallization process of microspheres and nanospheres. In this letter we report the use of a new micro-Raman-spectroscopy-based technique to measure directly the intergranular stress fields in polycrystalline systems. Using Raman active tracers (50Å graphite crystals) dispersed in the system, the technique was shown to be applicable for non-Raman-active polycrystalline systems (e.g. metals). For the first time, stresses within and around individual grains has been monitored in situ as the global system stress was increased to system failure. The effects of grain orientation and shape are monitored and discussed.     

On the evaporation kinetics of C60/toluene solutions

The increasing interest in fullerene nanoparticles makes the question regarding their effect on liquid evaporation behavior unavoidable. In this study, we used a gravimetric technique to investigate the effect of C₆₀ fullerene nanospheres on the evaporation kinetics of toluene over their entire range of solubility. Saturated solutions showed the highest evaporation rate. The increase in the evaporation rate as a function of concentration is not monotonic, but rather exhibits a maximum and a minimum. The results strongly support the notion of molecular structuring within the liquid toluene depending on fullerene mole fractions.     

Gender gaps in cognitive and social‐emotional skills in early primary grades: Evidence from rural Indonesia

This paper examines the magnitude and source of gender gaps in cognitive and social‐emotional skills in early primary grades in rural Indonesia. Relative to boys, girls score more than 0.17 SD higher in tests of language and mathematics (cognitive skills) and between 0.18 and 0.27 SD higher in measures of social competence and emotional maturity (social‐emotional skills). We use Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition to investigate the extent to which gender differences in early schooling and parenting practices explain these gender gaps in skills. For cognitive skills, differences in early schooling between boys and girls explain between 9% and 11% of the gender gap whereas differences in parenting practices explain merely 3%–5% of the gender gap. This decomposition result is driven largely by children living in villages with high‐quality preschools. In contrast, for social‐emotional skills, differences in parenting styles toward boys and girls explain between 13% and 17% of the gender gap, while differences in early schooling explain only 0%–6% of the gender gap.     

Canadian bulk water exports: Analyzing the sun belt conflict using the graph model for conflict resolution

A conflict over the proposed bulk export of water from Canada is systematically studied using the graph model for conflict resolution in order to illustrate how strategic conflicts of this type can be better understood and managed. The ongoing conflict involving a US company, Sun Belt Water Inc., and the Canadian federal and provincial governments is modeled and analyzed using the graph model methodology. This dispute reflects the kinds of controversies that can arise when international trade laws, which stress competition and profits, are in conflict with environmental and social laws. The Sun Belt conflict is especially interesting because of its evolution over several stages; at each stage of the conflict, the objectives of the disputants, and their strategic implications, can be realistically modeled and thereby investigated using the graph model. Amer Obeidi received his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan in 1990 and M.A.Sc. in Management Sciences in 2002 from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He is currently pursuing a PhD degree in the Department of Systems Design Engineering, at the University of Waterloo. His currents research interests include confrontation analysis, conflict analysis, negotiation, cognitive and emotional processes effect on decision making, and choice theory. Dr. Hipel’s major research interests are the development and application of conflict resolution and time series analysis techniques from a systems design engineering perspective. The main application areas of these decision technologies are water resources management, hydrology, environmental engineering and sustainable development. Dr. Hipel is the author/co-author of four books, nine edited books, many journal papers and is an associate editor of six international journals. Moreover, he is a professional Engineer and has carried out consulting activities with engineering firms, government agencies, and utilities in many countries. Director of the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, and Adjunct Professor of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Kilgour’s research interests lie at the intersection of mathematics, social science, and engineering. He has applied game theory and related formal techniques to analyze decision problems in international security and arms control, environmental management, negotiation and arbitration, voting, fair division, and coalition formation, and has pioneered the development of systems for decision support in strategic conflict. His most recent books are Perfect Deterrence (Cambridge) and Designing Institutions for Environmental and Resource Management (Edward Elgar).