Alumina-pillared montmorillonite is prepared by intercalation of polyoxyhydroxy aluminum cations (Al137+) of a natural montmorillonite from Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria. Transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and surface area (BET) methods are used to study the untreated and pillared forms of the montmorillonite. A structural model involving deformed Al13 pillars is proposed. Four pillar types are derived and these pillars are uniformly distributed over the interlayer-cation positions of montmorillonite. Calculated electron diffraction patterns were simulated using the multi-slice method. The structural model explains the increased ordering along the c axis of the pillared form compared with the untreated montmorillonite. The model explains the structure of a pillared montmorillonite with different distributions of the pillars in the interlayer. The proposed model is consistent with the observed data.

Over the past two decades, the share of individuals claiming Social Security at the Early Eligibility Age has dropped and the average retirement age has increased. At the same time, Social Security rules have changed substantially, employer-sponsored retirement plans have shifted from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC), health has improved, and mortality has decreased. In theory, all of these changes could lead to a trend toward later claiming. Disentangling the effect of any one change is difficult because they have been occurring simultaneously. This paper uses the Gustman and Steinmeier structural model of retirement timing to investigate which of these changes matter most by simulating their effects on the original cohort (1931–1941) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The predicted behavior is then compared with the actual retirements of the Early Boomer cohort (1948–1953) to see how much of the later cohort's delayed claiming and retirement can be explained by these changes. The Early Boomer cohort was less likely to be fully retired than the HRS cohort at both age 62 (36.7% vs. 44.0%) and age 64 (49.5% vs. 53.9%). The model suggests that the shift from DB toward DC plans was the biggest contributor to these declines, followed by better health. Social Security rules and improvements in mortality played smaller roles.

On compte actuellement un grand nombre de modèles politico-économiques ayant pour objectif de prédire l'issue des élections au Congrès américain ou le sort des candidats à la présidence des États-Unis. Bien qu'un certain nombre de modèles aient vu le jour pour la France, l'Allemagne et le Royaume-Uni au cours des dernières années, le Canada, à l'instar de la majorité des démocraties, n'a reçu jusqu’à maintenant que bien peu d'attention. Cet article vise par conséquent à développer un modèle ancré dans une théorie du vote capable de prédire suffisamment à l'avance la part des voix récoltées par le parti sortant lors des scrutins fédéraux canadiens. Le Canada étant un système multipartite, différents modèles de régressions apparemment indépendantes sont également proposés afin de déterminer s'il est possible de prédire simultanément les scores de plusieurs formations politiques.

New chemical analyses, electron and X-ray powder diffraction data, and comparison with gyrolite and reyerite show that tungusite has the ideal formula , symmetry P and a = 9.714(9), b = 9.721(9), c = 22.09(3), α = 90.13(1)°, β = 98.3(2)°, γ = 120.0(1)°, Z = 1. A structural model for tungusite is derived by splitting the double tetrahedral layer of reyerite and inserting a trioctahedral X sheet which is ideally occupied by Fe2+. Polytypism phenomena due to different relative positions between tetrahedral and X sheets are discussed. A substitutional solid solution represented by the formula [Ca14(OH)8]Si24−yAlyO60[NaxM9−(x+z)□z(OH)14−(x+y+2z)·(x+y+2z)H2O] includes tungusite (x = y = z = 0, M = Fe2+ and gyrolite (x = 1, y = 1, z = 6, M = Ca).

The article represents an empirical study of paternity as a male personality development factor in men. Consensus is emerging that responsible fatherhood entitles the father to establish paternity, be present in the child's life, share economic support, and be personally involved in the child's life in collaboration with the mother. Literature reviews on fatherhood yield numerous empirical studies of specific fatherhood behaviors, whereas theory and the “bigger picture” have been notably insufficient. In the present article, problems of fatherhood in modern society, methodological problems of studying fathering, and cultural specifics of fatherhood are discussed. In addition, in order to aid further study of the phenomenon, the theoretically developed and experimentally approved model of the structure of paternity and the description of a specially developed training for fathers are presented. A principal finding of this report is that fatherhood is socially determined and influenced by contextual forces within the family and the community. The absence of a father-figure is detrimental to child personality development. At the same time, fatherhood can be a factor of male personality development of the father.

A cDNA was isolated from an adult male Oesophagostomum dentatum gene library by screening with a male-specific, partial expressed sequence tag (EST) probe identified previously using a differential display technique. The full-length cDNA of 642 bp included 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions of 44 and 121 nucleotides, respectively, and encoded a predicted protein with a putative 18 amino acid signal sequence and a mature polypeptide of 14.7 kDa comprising ∼15% cysteine residues. The amino acid sequence showed similarity with a number of proteins from Caenorhabditis elegans, parasitic nematodes, insects and amphibia, all of which contain a trypsin inhibitor-like cysteine-rich domain. A 3-dimensional structure model constructed for the O. dentatum protein (designated OdmCRP) inferred that it is composed of 2 domains, each with 5 disulfide bonds, which are indicative of the Ascaris family of serine protease inhibitors. These findings indicate that OdmCRP, with 2 structural domains relating to functionally active sites, is a new member of this inhibitor family.

The population of Stephanodiscus rotula in a temperate eutrophic lake was studied over a 2 month period (January to early March). Although during the study period nutrient concentrations in the lake water remained far in excess of phytoplankton requirements, no notable increase in chlorophyll levels was recorded. This suggests that algae were limited by shortage of light and low temperatures. Frequency distribution analysis of cell diameters showed a dramatic size reduction at the end of winter, followed by restoration of higher values by early spring. Electron probe X-ray microanalysis spectra from Stephanodiscus cells routinely showed peaks of Ca, K, Si, P, S, Fe, Al, Mn, Mg, Na and Cl, with substantial variation in elemental concentrations both between and within samples. End-of-winter reduction in the cell size coincided with a considerable depletion of intracellular chemical levels of Si, P, Cl and K and could be related to the concurrent decrease in dissolved organic C and increase in intracellular Al. Correlation and factor analysis of intracellular elemental concentrations showed that statistical elemental associations within Stephanodiscus cells were mainly determined by three factors, with P, Cl, Si and K showing higher loadings on the first, Ca, Mn and S on the second, and Fe, Ca and Al on the third factor. Significant correlations among the elements of the first association may indicate the importance of P (ATP), K (through involvement in P metabolism) and Cl (possibly charge balance) in the active Si uptake during the study period.