1-month Delay Research Articles

Hypobaric storage removes scald-related volatiles during the low temperature induction of superficial scald of apples

Abstract ‘Law Rome’ and ‘Granny Smith’ apples were stored hypobarically in air at 5 kPa total pressure and also in air or controlled atmosphere (CA) at 1.5 or 3% O2 with 0 or 3% CO2, for 8 months at 1°C. Fruit were placed under hypobaric storage immediately after harvest or after 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 months storage in air at 1°C to determine the effects of delaying imposition of hypobaric storage on ripening and scald development and on the production of α-farnesene and its oxidation product 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (MHO). If fruit were placed under hypobaric conditions within 1 month after harvest, scald did not develop. After a 3-month delay, scald development was similar to that for fruit stored continuously in air. Both cvs. produced MHO which accumulated in their epicuticular wax when fruit were placed under hypobaric storage after a 1-month or more delay in air. MHO which had partitioned in the epicuticular wax of fruit stored hypobarically after 2 or more months delay was released upon transfer of fruit to atmospheric pressure of 20°C; MHO accumulated and/or was produced in direct proportion to the delay prior to hypobaric storage. In another experiment with five apple cvs., the production rates of α-farnesene and MHO were low during hypobaric storage, but upon removal of fruit from storage after 7 months, the rates increased over a 7 day period in air at 20°C and then sharply decreased afterward. After storage, α-farnesene and MHO production rates were similar and high for ‘Law Rome’, ‘Mutsu’, ‘Red Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ apples and were the lowest for ‘Granny Smith’. Scald did not develop on any hypobarically stored fruit whereas it did on all cvs. except ‘Golden Delicious’ stored in air. It was proposed that hypobaric ventilation removes a scald-related volatile substance that otherwise accumulates and partitions into the epicuticular wax of fruit stored in air at atmospheric pressure.

Assessing the effects of misinformation on children's recall: how and when makes a difference

In two experiments children aged between 4 and 5 years and 7 and 8 years, respectively, participated in a real-life event and were exposed to misleading questions immediately afterwards. The effects of variables relating to both the presentation of the misinformation and to the assessment of suggestibility were examined both immediately and following delays of 1 week (Experiment 1) or both 1 week and 1 month (Experiment 2). Older children were less suggestible than younger. Children were less suggestible when suggestibility was assessed in recall questions rather than misleading questions, less suggestible when information was central rather than peripheral and when the misinformation contradicted rather than supplemented the original event, and less suggestible over time in the absence of further suggestions. Providing cues had a small effect in enhancing resistance to the misinformation, but only when children were tested immediately. Embedding suggestions in a narrative context and repeating suggestions within a session led to greater suggestibility for both age groups, and repeating suggestions following a 1-month delay had a particularly marked effect for the younger children. These findings are consistent with the view that suggestibility effects depend on the strength of the memory trace for the original information as well as that for the suggestion. How suggestibility is assessed is, however, also important and children's responses to misleading questions may not reflect their memory for the original event. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Shoot and foliage growth phenology of loblolly pine trees as affected by nitrogen fertilization

Effects of N fertilization on shoot phenology and foliage production were determined in loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) trees growing in the Georgia Piedmont. Two rates of N fertilizer were applied in February 1991. Shoot and foliage growth were determined at upper, middle, and lower crown positions at 1-month intervals throughout 1991. Shoot elongation of individual flushes overlapped, although there was about a 1-month delay between the initiation of each successive flush. Needle elongation was closely associated with shoot elongation but lasted 2 months longer. On average, the first flush contributed about 69% to total leaf area. Shoot and foliage growth increased with crown height. Shoot elongation, needle length, number of fascicles per flush, and leaf area per flush were 9.7, 1.4, 4.7, and 6.9 times higher, respectively, in the upper crown than in the lower crown. The effects of N fertilization on shoot and foliage growth were most pronounced in the middle crown position. Leaf area production per shoot was increased by 12.4, 66.4, and 41.1% by fertilization for shoots in the upper, middle, and lower crowns, respectively. N fertilization did not alter the seasonal patterns of shoot and foliage development. Both fertilized and control trees began, peaked, and ended flush and fascicle elongation concurrently.

Evidence against a dedicated system for word learning in children

Children can learn aspects of the meaning of a new word on the basis of only a few incidental exposures and can retain this knowledge for a long period-a process dubbed 'fast mapping". It is often maintained that fast mapping is the result of a dedicated language mechanism, but it is possible that this same capacity might apply in domains other than language learning. Here we present two experiments in which three- and four-year-old children and adults were taught a novel name and a novel fact about an object, and were tested on their retention immediately, after a 1-week delay or after a 1-month delay. Our findings show that fast mapping is not limited to word learning, suggesting that the capacity to learn and retain new words is the result of learning and memory abilities that are not specific to language.

The relationship between delayed or incomplete treatment and all-cause mortality in patients with tuberculosis.

To analyze the factors associated with survival in patients with pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis in New York City. Observational study of a citywide cohort of tuberculosis cases. New York City, April 1991, before the strengthening of its control program. All 229 newly diagnosed cases of tuberculosis documented by culture in April 1991. Most patients (74%) were male, and the median age was 37 years (range, 1-89 years). In all, 89% belonged to minority groups. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was present in 50% and multidrug resistance in 7% of the cases. Twenty-one patients (9%) were not treated. Follow-up information was collected through the New York City tuberculosis registry; death from any cause was verified through the National Death Index. Cumulative all-cause mortality by October 1994 was 44%; the median survival for those who died was 6.3 months (range, 0 days to 3 years). The most important baseline predictors of mortality, adjusted for baseline clinical and demographic factors, were acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (91% vs 11% in HIV-seronegative patients; Cox relative risk [RR], 7.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1-29.1), multidrug resistance (87% vs 39% in pansensitive cases; adjusted RR, 5.8; 95% CI, 2.3-14.5), and lack of treatment (81% vs 40%; adjusted RR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.0-9.7). Also, 11 of 13 HIV-infected patients who started treatment after a 1-month delay died. Among 173 patients surviving the recommended treatment period, those who completed therapy (66%) had a lower subsequent mortality (20% vs 37%; RR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9). Mortality from tuberculosis was high, even among patients without multidrug resistance who were not known to be infected with HIV. Most HIV-seropositive patients with delayed therapy died. Multidrug resistance predicted higher mortality, and treatment completion was associated with improved subsequent patient survival.

Breast cancer during pregnancy: quantifying the risk of treatment delay

To quantify the risk of axillary nodal metastases due to delayed treatment of breast cancer during pregnancy. A mathematical model using recently published data was developed to correlate primary breast tumor size with the percentage of pathologically positive axillary lymph nodes. Using this relationship obtained from pathologic data and the accepted relationship of tumor growth and time, Y2 = Y1e(In2)n/DT, an equation estimating the increased risk of axillary metastases due to each day of treatment delay was derived: delta X = 3.7 n/DT, where X = percent positive axillary lymph nodes, n = number of days delay in treatment, and DT = tumor doubling time. A 1-month delay in treatment for an early-stage primary breast cancer with a 130-day doubling time increases the risk of axillary lymph node involvement by 0.9%. A 3-month delay increases the risk by 2.6%, and a 6-month delay by 5.1%. For breast cancer with a 65-day doubling time, a 1-month delay increases the risk by 1.8%, a 3-month delay by 5.2%, and a 6-month delay by 10.2%. Axillary lymph nodes are the most important prognostic indicator for survival in breast cancer. Our mathematical model suggests the daily increased risk of axillary metastases due to treatment delay is 0.028% for tumors with moderate doubling times of 130 days and 0.057% for tumors with rapid doubling times of 65 days. This minimal maternal risk may be acceptable to some third-trimester pregnant women with early breast cancer, who prefer organ-sparing treatment with radiation after delivery to a mastectomy during pregnancy. This model further quantitates the increased risk of mortality borne by pregnant women whose breast cancer diagnosis is delayed.

Interviewing Young Children about Body Touch and Handling

Children aged 3-6 years were interviewed following a scheduled pediatric clinic visit to assess the efficacy of two independent variables--interview strategy and number of interviews--on the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of children's reports. Four experimental interviews were created--a verbal interview and three interviews enhanced with anatomically detailed cues (dolls, line drawings, and computer graphics), photographs, and props. Initially, 130 children were interviewed after the clinic event. One month later, 124 were interviewed again, and 74 were interviewed a third time after 6 months. Children's reports were compared to videotapes and medical records of their pediatric visit in order to create three dependent reporting variables--accuracy, completeness, and consistency. In addition, the predictive power of four sets of covariates on reporting was assessed: (1) age and gender, (2) ethnicity, medical history, family stress, and mother's education; (3) number of invasive medical procedures, number of body touches, health status, and child's pain judgments; and (4) number of outpatient and inpatient visits between the initial and the follow-up interviews at 1 and 6 months. Initially, children's spontaneous reports of body touch were highly accurate, but sparse. After a 1-month delay, accuracy and completeness dropped significantly: accuracy was stable from 1 to 6 months; completeness rebounded at 6 months. Three-year-olds' reports of body touch were less complete and less consistent, but rarely less accurate, than those of older age groups. After 1- and 6-month delays, consistently reported information was more accurate than new information. Children's pain ratings contributed positively to predictions of completeness at the initial and 1-month interviews and to completeness and accuracy at 6 months. Complex events were reported more accurately but less consistently. Anatomically detailed cues in the three enhanced interviews increased completeness of reporting of total body and genital touch. Photos elicited more useful information for identification of persons and places than did questions, while medical props initially offered no advantage and subsequently led to errors. Children's feelings also influenced reporting: higher ratings of anger, sadness, and fright were positively related to reporting of extremely painful touch, while some children who failed to report painful, invasive medical procedures displayed shame when interviewed. The relative privacy of the computer-assisted interview holds promise for disclosure of sexual topics.

Infant Memory for Object Motion across a Period of Three Months: Implications for a Four-Phase Attention Function

Memory for object motion in 3-month-old infants was investigated across retention intervals of 1 or 3 months in three studies using a novelty preference method. Following familiarization to an object undergoing one of two types of motion, visual preferences for the novel motion were assessed after retention intervals of 1 min, 1 day, and 1 month (Experiment 1, N = 120) and 1 min, 1 day, 2 weeks, and 1 month (Experiment 2, N = 74). Results of both studies indicated a significant preference for the novel motion at the 1-min delay, a significant preference for the familiar motion at the 1-month delay, and no preferences at the intermediate retention intervals. In Experiment 3, memory was assessed after a 3-month interval and again, a significant familiarity preference was obtained. These results demonstrate that memory for object motion lasts across retention intervals of 1 and 3 months and that novelty and familiarity preferences interact with retention time. A four-phase function relating visual preferences and retention time was proposed. Phase 1, recent memory, is characterized by a novelty preference; phase 2, intermediate memory, is a period of transition characterized by no visual preference; phase 3, remote memory, is characterized by a familiarity preference; and phase 4, inaccessible memory, is also characterized by no preference. The finding of a transition period at intermediate retention times suggests that null preferences should not necessarily be taken as evidence of forgetting. Rather, more extended retention intervals should be included to interpret null findings obtained in the novelty preference method.

The effect of drawing on memory performance in young children.

In Experiment 1, 32 5- to 6-year-old boys and girls participated in a unique event and were interviewed about that event I day later. Half of the children were asked to draw what happened during the event and half were asked to tell what happened. In both conditions, only children's verbal behavior was scored. Children in the draw group were as accurate and reported more information than children in the tell group, especially in response to direct questions. In Experiment 2, 32 5- to 6-year-olds and 32 3- to 4-year-olds participated in the same event used in Experiment I and were interviewed I month later. The 5- to 6-year-olds in the draw group reported more information than the 5- to 6-year-olds in the tell group after the 1-month delay. Drawing did not, however, increase the amount of information reported by 3- to 4-year-olds. These findings have important theoretical implications for memory development and important practical implications for children's eyewitness testimony.

Acquisition and retention of a letter-detection skill.

In two experiments, we examined the acquisition and retention of a letter-detection skill with a consistent-mapping procedure. In Experiment 1, subjects were trained from 0 to 4 sessions at detecting the letter H in displays containing random letters, and retesting occurred after a 1-month delay. Performance improved and in some cases became more automatic, and the performance level was maintained over the retention interval. When tested with a prose passage, the high error rate on the word THE was eliminated after training and after the retention interval, regardless of the amount of training. In Experiment 2, two subjects were given 12 sessions of training followed by a retention test 6 months later. For 1 subject there was also a retention test 15 months after acquisition. Performance improved dramatically with training, and substantial but not complete automaticity was achieved. Performance on the retention tests was close to the final acquisition level. The surprising lack of forgetting in this study was contrasted with the substantial forgetting typically found in studies of verbal learning.

The life histories of Limnephilus externus Hagen, Anabolia bimaculata (Walker), and Nemotaulius hostilis (Hagen) (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae) in a pond in southern Alberta, Canada

Limnephilus externus and Anabolia bimaculata are caddisflies that typically inhabit temporary pools, while Nemotaulius hostilis is a species that inhabits permanent pools. In a permanent pond with a fluctuating water level, both groups could be accommodated. The temporary-pool species laid egg masses on the ground above the water level in late summer. Larvae hatched in the autumn but remained in the masses until submersed by the rising water in the spring. Larvae grew at rates faster than those for any permanent-water trichopteran studied to date. Limnephilus externus adults emerged through August and underwent a 1-month reproductive delay. Anabolia bimaculata adults emerged through July, but showed no signs of a reproductive delay. By contrast, N. hostilis oviposited on riparian vegetation and larvae entered the water on hatching in August. Larval growth rates approximated those of other detritivorous shredders found in permanent waters. Over 75% of adult emergence occurred in 1 week at the end of May and adults underwent a reproductive diapause of slightly over a month's duration. The metabolic cost of high water temperatures on cool-adapted limnephilid caddisflies is postulated as the driving force behind the evolution of reproductive diapause in this family.

Effect of irrigation and harvesting dates on the yield of spring-sown sugar-beet

Results are given from a 2-year trial (1979–80) on sugar-beet sown in the spring in the Sele River Plain (Southern Italy). Four watering regimes were compared in factorial combination with two harvesting dates: in addition to no irrigation, three different irrigation schedules were applied during the growing season, based on the net accumulated pan “A” evaporation, the crop coefficient and an irrigation cycle coefficient. In the 1st year, highest yields of roots and sucrose were obtained with the largest water depths (555 and 655 mm for the two irrigation dates) applying short irrigation cycles; in the 2nd year, with intermediate water depths (300 and 350 mm) and intermediate irrigation cycles. Irrigation increased mean weight and size of roots and decreased sucrose percentage. A 1-month delay in harvest increased mean weight, sizes and yield of roots and decreased the sucrose percent although the final sucrose yield was not affected.