Post-error behavioral adjustments under reactive control among older adults.

This study analyzed the effects of aging on post-error behavioral adjustments from the perspective of cognitive control. A modified error awareness task was administered to young (n = 50) and older (n = 50) adults. In this task, two buttons were placed on the left and right sides in front of the participants, who were instructed to use the right button to perform a go/no-go task, and were notified if they made an error. There were three experimental conditions (A, B, and C): participants had to push the right button once in Condition A and twice in Condition B and C when a go-stimulus was presented. Conversely, participants were asked to withhold their response when a no-go stimulus was presented. Response inhibition differed depending on the experimental condition. The participants were asked to push the left button as quickly as possible when an error occurred. The results showed relatively longer reaction times to sudden errors among older adults compared with young adults. Furthermore, the difference in the error responses (i.e., accidentally pushing the right button once or twice when a no-go stimulus was presented) strongly influenced older adults' response time after an error. These results suggest that the shift from proactive to reactive control may significantly influence post-error behavioral adjustments in older adults.

A Method for Decreasing the Amount of the Drug Remaining on the Surfaces of the Mortar and Pestle after Grinding Small Amount of Tablets.

The aim of the present study was to develop a method for grinding tablets with a mortar and pestle while reducing drug loss because grinding tablets is known to be associated with reductions in tablet weight and loss of the active drug. Seven kinds of tablets were subjected to grinding. The proportion (%) of the amount of the active drug in the powder remaining on the surfaces of the mortar and pestle relative to the total amount of the drug recovered (the recovery percent) was calculated. The recovery percent of the 7 kinds of tablets ranged from 17.2-35.9%, and the tablets' recovery percent decreased as the tablet weight increased. When the grinding was performed with 1 g of lactose monohydrate or 1 g of D-mannitol moistened with water, the recovery percent of the tablets decreased to 2.6-9.9% and 3.8-9.9%, respectively. The effects of the weight of lactose monohydrate on the recovery percent of Allegra® 60 mg tablets were examined. It was found that at least 0.6 g of lactose monohydrate was required to have a sufficient effect on drug recovery. Therefore, additives that have stronger effects at lower amounts were sought. As a result, calcium monohydrogen phosphate was found to have the strongest effect on drug recovery. The addition of 0.4 g calcium monohydrogen phosphate resulted in the recovery percent of 5.1%, which was significantly lower than that of 15.0% observed after the addition of 0.4 g lactose monohydrate, and lower than the 6.8% of 1 g lactose monohydrate.