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Background: People with intellectual disability (ID) demonstrate persistent challenges around developing life skills. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) is gaining interest as a tool for training life skills as it enables individuals to engage in hands‐on learning in a safe, controlled and repeatable environment. However, there are concerns about the potential drawbacks of IVR, such as cybersickness and practical challenges with using the equipment, which may hinder its widespread adoption in educational settings. The current study aimed to compare the effectiveness of training in IVR and a non‐immersive virtual environment for improving real‐world skills in people with ID. Methods: In the present study, 36 adults (16 female, 20 male) with ID were recruited from a disability organisation. Participants completed a real‐world assessment of waste management skills before and after training in either the IVR or non‐immersive group. Results: Consistent with our hypotheses, the IVR group scored significantly higher in the real‐world assessment after virtual training (d = 1), and at the 1‐week follow‐up (d = 1.12), compared with the non‐immersive group. Further analyses showed that the IVR group, but not the non‐immersive group, significantly improved performance in the real‐world assessment across timepoints. Conclusions: The findings indicate that IVR was more effective for improving and retaining real‐world waste management skills. This study supports IVR as a viable tool for professionals and caregivers to develop skills for independent living among people with ID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Nachrichten aus der Chemie is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

SUMMARY: Single‐cell genomics provides unprecedented potential for research on plant development and environmental responses. Here, we introduce a generic procedure for plant nucleus isolation combined with nanowell‐based library preparation. Our method enables the transcriptome analysis of thousands of individual plant nuclei. It serves as an alternative to the use of protoplast isolation, which is currently a standard methodology for plant single‐cell genomics, although it can be challenging for some plant tissues. We show the applicability of our nucleus isolation method by using different plant materials from different species. The potential of our single‐nucleus RNA sequencing method is shown through the characterization of transcriptomes of seedlings and developing flowers from Arabidopsis thaliana. We evaluated the transcriptome dynamics during the early stages of anther development, identified stage‐specific activities of transcription factors regulating this process, and predicted potential target genes of these transcription factors. Our nucleus isolation procedure can be applied in different plant species and tissues, thus expanding the toolkit for plant single‐cell genomics experiments. Significance Statement: We introduce an optimized plant nucleus isolation procedure followed by single‐nucleus RNA sequencing that can be applied to different plant tissues. We exemplify the utility of this method by analyzing cellular heterogeneity in Arabidopsis seedlings and flowers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclopentasilane (CPS) has been studied as an liquid precursor for the deposition of thin silicon films for printed electronics and related applications. The processing involves a UV‐induced prepolymerization of CPS followed by liquid deposition and low‐temperature thermolysis. An insight into the oligomer and polymer formation including crosslinking in solution using 29Si NMR spectroscopy and electron spin resonance spectroscopy is reported. Formation of SiH (T‐units) and SiH3 (M‐units) is observed as well as short‐lived paramagnetic species. Additionally, the polymerization is followed by Raman spectroscopy. Reactive molecular dynamics simulations are applied to develop a theoretical model for the CPS‐ring‐opening and crosslinking steps. The experimental and computational data correspond well to each other and allow insight into the mechanism of polymer formation. The processing steps include spin‐coating, thermal drying, and conversion to amorphous silicon, H‐passivation, and fabrication of a CPS‐derived thin‐film transistor (TFT), without intermediate silicon crystallization. Further improvement is gained by using tetralene as a solvent, leading to a reduction of the time‐consuming polymerization step by one order of magnitude compared to cyclooctane. The overall quality and characteristics of the CPS‐derived spin‐coated silicon thin films correspond to standard plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition‐derived devices with respect to performance levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trisilane, isotetrasilane, neopentasilane, and cyclohexasilane have been prepared in gram scale. In‐situ cryo crystallization of these pyrophoric liquids in sealed capillaries on the diffractometer allows access to the single crystal structures of these compounds. Structural parameters are discussed and compared to gas‐phase electron diffraction structures from literature and with the results from quantum chemical calculations. Significantly higher packing indices are found for the silanes compared to the corresponding alkanes. Radiation with ultraviolet light (365 nm) and parallel ESR (EPR) measurement shows that cyclohexasilane is easily split into radicals, which subsequently leads to the formation of branched and chain‐like oligomers. The other compounds form no radicals under these conditions. NMR spectra of all four compounds have been recorded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. The study is part of the pilot project "children in preschools" and aims to detect developmental risks of preschool children in the context of their socioeconomic status (SES) as a base to initiate individual intervention strategies. Methods. The "Dortmund Developmental Screening for the Kindergarten" was used in 12 preschools in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (MWP) to detect early developmental risks in children aged 3 to 6 years (n = 870). Socioeconomic data from n = 530 parents were collected by a standardised questionnaire. Results. Significant differences between the SES groups were identified especially in the field of fine motor skills (P < 0.05). In gross motor development differences were not statistically significant. Prevalence rate of fine motor developmental risks ranges from 1.7% to 20.9%; the rate of gross motor developmental risks tops out at 14.4%. The prevalence rates are associated with age and sex. Conclusions. Fine motor skills in 3-6 years old preschool children are significantly associated with the socioeconomic status. In gross motor skills an association could not be identified. In this study, motor development was more affected by sex than by SES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nalmefene, the 6-methylene derivative of naltrexone, was examined after subcutaneous (s.c.) (0.0001 to 8.0 mg/kg) and oral (10 to 80.0 mg/kg) administration in ethanol (EtOH)-preferring rats whose responding (i.e., lever pressing) was maintained by the presentation of EtOH. Naltrexone (0.01 to 40 mg/kg) was used as a reference opioid antagonist. EtOH (10% v/v) and saccharin (0.025 to 0.1% w/v) solutions were concurrently available for 1 hr each day under a two-lever, fixed-ratio schedule in which four responses on one lever produced the EtOH solution and four responses on the other lever produced the saccharin solution. When basal response rates for saccharin were 10% that of EtOH, all routes of nalmefene administration reduced control levels of responding maintained by EtOH by 38 to 84%. When basal response rates for saccharin-maintained responding were 60% or 82% that of EtOH, only lower s.c. naltrexone (e.g., 0.01 to 0.025 mg/kg) and nalmefene (e.g., 0.01 to 0.10 mg/kg) doses produced a selective dose-dependent suppression of EtOH-maintained responding. Higher nalmefene (0.25 to 8.0 mg/kg) and naltrexone (1.0 to 20.0 mg/kg) doses failed to produce a dose-dependent suppression on EtOH or saccharin maintained responding. Both antagonists suppressed responding maintained by EtOH primarily during the initial 10-min period, with little additional suppression occurring across the remainder of the 60-min period. Subcutaneous nalmefene was 3200- to 6400-fold more potent than oral nalmefene, suggesting bioavailability was optimized using the s.c. route. Nalmefene (0.5 mg/kg, s.c.) treatment for 10 consecutive days produced mild tolerance development, whose effects dissipated by day 8. Naltrexone (10 to 40 mg/kg) and nalmefene (1.5 to 3.0 mg/kg), given 8 to 24 hr before the test session, reduced control levels of responding maintained by EtOH by 82%. Thus, immediate opioid receptor occupancy was not required to observe antagonism. These data demonstrate that, under a variety of experimental conditions, nalmefene is an effective antagonist of responding maintained by EtOH and lend support to clinical reports that nalmefene may function as an alternative pharmacotherapy to naltrexone to reduce EtOH-motivated behavior and prevent relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The perturbation of the spectrum of free tyrosine that occurs when this amino acid is combined to other amino acids or in the form of acetyl derivative, acetyl derivative amide or acetyl derivative ethyl ester was studied. 2. The difference spectrum of each compound was obtained by measuring the absorbance of its solution against that of a mixture of its component free amino acids. 3. A red-shift of the 2,400 Å absorption band, in 0.1 M NaOH, or 2,230 Å, at pH 7, was clearly detected. 4. Maximum perturbation is produced when tyrosine has both its amino and carboxyl groups involved in peptide bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Problems with non‐material boundary conditions are very important in many applications of continuum mechanics: for example rolling contact, calenders, breaking disks, band saws and belts. This paper deals with the LAGRANGE‐equation for non‐material boundary conditions. Such boundary conditions can be described by non‐material control volumes that cannot be assigned for one and only one set of particles over time. To define these volumes, a fictitious body is used. Within the scope of this paper several configurations are introduced for the definition of the location of the original and fictitious particles. With the help of the used operator notation it is possible to demonstrate a consistent representation of derivative operators and assign operators as well as entities to their configurations. On this basis, the LAGRANGE‐equation is derived for material and non‐material control volumes in the EULERIAN and LAGRANGIAN representation. (© 2017 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Since HP‐Labs developed the first memristor as a technical device in 2008 (cf. [1]), electrical engineers are aware of its potential of revolutionizing electronics (cf. [2]). As analogies have a long tradition in various fields of science it is quite obvious to transfer the idea of the memristor in electric circuit theory to mechanics by electro‐mechanical analogies. This transfer already led to a generalized classification of devices for dynamical systems [3]. In particular, a mechanical memristor for a system with one single degree of freedom is a displacement‐dependent dashpot. To investigate the behavior of continuous solids which show memristive properties, the development of suitable three‐dimensional material models is desired. Thus, this paper investigates the implementation of a memristive material model in the context of the Finite Element Method. Therefore, one‐dimensional memristive material models are analyzed and a continuum‐mechanical, memristive material model is developed based on an adaption of the KELVIN‐VOIGT‐Model. Example problems are simulated to verify the characteristics of this material class. In particular, the slipknot‐shaped hysteresis of the stress‐strainrate‐curve and the memory effect can be shown. (© 2017 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution investigates existing descriptions of electro-mechanical analogies and attempts of an extension by memristive elements. Therefore, the electro-dynamical role of memristors is analyzed and translated into the context of system dynamics. This analysis leads to a generalized classification of devices for dynamical systems with a single degree of freedom (SDOF). (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]