Sparassis crispa and Phellinus linteus are edible/medicinal mushrooms that have remarkably high contents of beta-(1-->3)-D-glucan, which acts as a biological response modifier, but difficulty in cultivating the fruiting bodies and extraction of beta-D-glucan have restricted detailed studies. Therefore, a novel process for nanoparticle extraction of Sparan, the beta-D-glucan from Sparassis crispa, and Phellin, the beta-D-glucan from Phellinus linteus, has been investigated using insoluble tungsten carbide as a model for nanoknife technology. This is the first report showing that the nanoknife method results in high yields of Sparan (70.2%) and Phellin (65.2%) with an average particle size of 150 and 390 nm, respectively. The extracted Sparan with beta-(1-->3) linkages showed a remarkably high water solubility of 90% even after 10 min of incubation at room temperature. Therefore, it is likely that this nanoknife method could be used to produce beta-D-glucan for food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries.

The basis for the relationship between physical stimulus and magnitude of psychological response in angular movements of the upper limbs was investigated. Participants compared movements to a standard location with movements to comparison locations and movements of a standard distance with movements of comparison distances. The results add to the controversy surrounding the explanations for the differences in psychological response magnitude of movements to locations and movements across distances. Data obtained from movements to locations and movements across distances indicated similar Weber ratios but different patterns for the just noticeable differences. The data of this and previous research suggest that the application of a prothetic continuum to arm movements is inappropriate. An alternative explanation of the differences in the perception of movements to locations and movements across distances is offered.

The purpose was to examine whether adults with profound mental retardation (PMR) have the ability to learn and transfer a motor skill to a novel situation. In Experiment 1, novel task transfer performance was examined. Six male adults with PMR threw beanbags three different distances during acquisition, followed by four novel transfer distances and a novel implement (a horse shoe). In Experiment 2, a 48-hr and a 1-week delayed retention test was used with 6 different males with PMR who practiced three beanbag-throwing distances and then performed two familiar and two novel distances for each retention test. Analyses indicated that, with concurrent visual information of the target, adults with PMR can throw accurately on retention and transfer tests and can generalize beanbag throwing skill to horseshoe-throwing. The prototype model of memory representation seems to explain the findings better than the exemplar model. In addition, random practice of skill variations appears to be an effective teaching strategy.

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