This article presents an exploratory and comparative study of the nature of cognitive and desired age perceptions among 20 -59-yearold men and women in three East Asian societies: India, Korea, and China. Research questions were posed about the role of gender and self-identification with being either "young" or "middle-aged." The data indicate that gender plays no significant role in age perception in the three nations surveyed. The great majority of respondents under 40 considered themselves young and rejected a middle-age role for themselves irrespective of their domicile. Also, young selfidentifiers' chronological and subjective ages were younger than those of middle-age identifiers. These findings were surprisingly similar to those found in "ageless" American society. ᭧ 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Americans are known to worship youth, a concept that is quite elastic in consequence of the reality of America's aging population, which is now, at the start of the 21st century, in better shape both financially and health wise than any prior generation. Since the early 1960s, subjective age research consistently reports patterns of age denial among adult Americans; this denial (gauged as discrepancies between inner ages and age of birth) increases with the process of chronological aging (Barak, 1998;Barak & Rahtz, 1999;Barak & Schiffman, 1981; Barak & Stern, 1986;Barak, Stern, & Gould, 1988;Cutler, 1982;Peters, 1971; 1004 BARAK ET AL. Stephens, 1991). The present study set out to investigate if this U.S. pattern of younger age identification and aspiration also holds true in non-Western societies. The countries selected -India, Korea, and China -are all in the Far East and have stereotypical expectations that one venerates and respects ancestors and elders. Such stereotyping leads to the expectation that, unlike the West, where the constant pursuit of youth leads to great efforts to remain ageless as reflected by heavy use of cosmetics and cosmetic surgery, denial of one's age of birth does not seem so self-evident.Trends, such as keeping physically fit, reliance on healthy diets, seeking preventive medical care, and exploiting cosmetic help, have become global. Global trends of this nature reflect the adoption of an ageless society, which is especially appealing to higher-educated, well-off, and more Westernized segments of non-Western societies. These semielite are more likely than others to participate in a global trend that emphasizes an aspiration to be, and appear, youthful and ageless. This particular trend is further supported by global media that typically show attractive adult men and women who provide clear evidence that beautiful bodies and faces are no longer clearly age identifiable. Combined with American media's emphasis on the young and youth, this "ageless society" trend markedly contributes to globalization of Americans' obsession with, and craving for, the fountain of youth. Global role models in their 40s, 50s, 60s (e.g., Cher, Tina Turner, Clint Eastwood, and Arnold Schwartzenegger...

Sintering temperature effects on the energy‐storage properties in barium strontium titanate glass–ceramics have been studied by polarization hysteresis measurements. In phase development and microstructure evolution tests, it was found that with the increase of sintering temperature, the crystallinity degree of primary ferroelectric phase increases. Dielectric measurements revealed a rapid increase over the sintering temperature range from 800° to 830°C. This effect is believed to be due to the emergence of ferroelectric phase. The variation in dielectric constant with sintering temperature is attributed to the change in crystallization mechanism between surface and interior of glass–ceramics. Moreover, the charged and discharged energy densities for the glass–ceramic samples sintered at different temperatures were measured by the use of the Sawyer–Tower circuit under unipolar field. It has been shown that the low released energy density in glass–ceramics is mainly caused by interfacial polarization.

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Rates of oxygen and nitrate reduction are key factors in determining the chemical evolution of groundwater. Little is known about how these rates vary and covary in regional groundwater settings, as few studies have focused on regional datasets with multiple tracers and methods of analysis that account for effects of mixed residence times on apparent reaction rates. This study provides insight into the characteristics of residence times and rates of O 2 reduction and denitrification (NO 3 − reduction) by comparing reaction rates using multi-model analytical residence time distributions (RTDs) applied to a data set of atmospheric tracers of groundwater age and geochemical data from 141 well samples in the Central Eastern San Joaquin Valley, CA. The RTD approach accounts for mixtures of residence times in a single sample to provide estimates of in-situ rates. Tracers included SF 6 , CFCs, 3 H, He from 3 H (tritiogenic He), 14 C, and terrigenic He. Parameter estimation and multi-model averaging were used to establish RTDs with lower error variances than those produced by individual RTD models. The set of multimodel RTDs was used in combination with NO 3 − and dissolved gas data to estimate zero order and first order rates of O 2 reduction and denitrification. Results indicated that O 2 reduction and denitrification rates followed approximately log-normal distributions. Rates of O 2 and NO 3 − reduction were correlated and, on an electron milliequivalent basis, denitrification rates tended to exceed O 2 reduction rates. Estimated historical NO 3 − trends were similar to historical measurements. Results show that the multi-model approach can improve estimation of age distributions, and that relatively easily measured O 2 rates can provide information about trends in denitrification rates, which are more difficult to estimate.

Hydrochemistry and Sr isotope compositions were measured in water samples collected during high- and low-water periods from the main stream and tributaries of the Xijiang River Basin in southern China. The primary weathering end-members were analyzed and calculated using the multi-model combination and classic hydrogeochemical method. During the high-water period, structural factors were found to be the main factors controlling chemical weathering in the basin, whereas anthropogenic activity and other random factors had a negligible influence. During the low-water period, both structural and random factors controlled chemical weathering. Through path-model and semi-variance analyses, we determined and quantified the relationship between the main weathering sources, whose results were stable; this is consistent with the inversion model. The total dissolved substances were mainly derived from carbonate weathering, which was approximately 76% (0–96%) while silicate weathering accounted for only 14% (5–19%). The inversion model results showed that the optimum silicate weathering rate was 7.264–35.551 × 103 mol/km2/year, where carbonic acid was the main factor that induces weathering. The CO2 flux consumed by rock weathering in the basin during the study period was 150.69 × 109 mol/year, while the CO2 flux consumed by carbonic acid weathering of carbonate (CCW) and silicate rocks (CSW) was 144.47 and 29.45 × 109 mol/year, respectively. The CO2 flux produced by H2SO4 weathered carbonate (SCW) was 23.23 × 109 mol/year.