Sample modulated Raman spectroscopy and frequency modulated visible light--resonance Raman spectrum of a polydiacetylene fiber

Methods for obtaining sample modulated Raman (SMR) spectra and frequency modulated visible light are described. The sample modulated Raman method is one in which the frequency of the Raman scattered light is modulated by the sample which is responding to an externally applied periodic stress. The Raman active modes of the sample which are due to the vibrational motion of those molecular-scale units that change in response to the external stress are modulated and appear in the frequency-locked phase sensitively detected Raman spectrum. Those modes due to units that do not respond significantly to the stress do not appear. In principle the SMR method permits determination of those molecular units of a complex substance that are responsible for the substance's response to an external stress. The Raman scattered light is frequency modulated, has the wave form nu=nu(0)-nu(i)-(deltanu) sin(2pi ft), where nu(0) is the incident monochromatic light, nu(i) is the vibrational frequency of the statically stressed material, and (deltanu) is the magnitude of the frequency shift caused by the maximum stress applied at the frequency f.     

400 t/h炉水膜除尘器改造为电除尘器的实践

综述天生港发电厂9号炉除尘器改造的必要性,改造的主要特点、施工组织原则及经验教训;介绍了改造后的运行、测试、评价、效益情况.     

Why people are reluctant to tempt fate.

The present research explored the belief that it is bad luck to "tempt fate." Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that people do indeed have the intuition that actions that tempt fate increase the likelihood of negative outcomes. Studies 3-6 examined our claim that the intuition is due, in large part, to the combination of the automatic tendencies to attend to negative prospects and to use accessibility as a cue when judging likelihood. Study 3 demonstrated that negative outcomes are more accessible following actions that tempt fate than following actions that do not tempt fate. Studies 4 and 5 demonstrated that the heightened accessibility of negative outcomes mediates the elevated perceptions of likelihood. Finally, Study 6 examined the automatic nature of the underlying processes. The types of actions that are thought to tempt fate as well as the role of society and culture in shaping this magical belief are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An electrochemical heat engine for direct solar energy conversion

A system is described and tested which converts heat directly into electrical energy. It employs a solution electrochemical reaction with a small polarizability and a large molar entropy change . This is run in opposite directions in two cells: one at high temperature, where heat is absorbed, and one at low temperature, where heat is emitted. The difference in heat absorbed and heat emitted is available as electrical work; recirculation of the solutions between these cells gives a closed regenerative EMF system.The conversion efficiency of the system is high, varying from 50 to 75 per cent of the Carnot efficiency as the power output varies from maximum to 75 per cent of maximum. The power output depends strongly upon the reaction used. For the reaction tested here, the power output density was 6.4 W/m² of cell area for operation between 90° and 30°C. Design factors for improving power output density and minimizing costs are discussed, and basic requirements for successful cell reactions are given. The feasibility of obtaining power output on the order of 2 × 10² W/m² of cell area at 35 per cent conversion efficiency using 300°C input heat is discussed.     

Visceral fit: While in a visceral state, associated states of the world seem more likely.

We propose that visceral states can influence beliefs through “visceral fit”: People will judge states of the world associated with their current visceral experience as more likely. We found that warmth influenced belief in global warming (Studies 1–3) and that thirst impacted forecasts of drought and desertification (Study 5). These effects emerged in a naturalistic setting (Study 1) and in experimental lab settings (Studies 2, 3, and 5). Studies 2–6 distinguished between 3 mechanistic accounts: temperature as information (Studies 2 and 3), conceptual accessibility (Studies 4 and 5), and fluency of simulation (Studies 6a and 6b). Studies 2 and 3 ruled out the temperature as information account. Feeling warm enhanced belief in global warming even when temperature was manipulated in an uninformative indoor setting, when participants' attention was first directed to the indoor temperature, and when participants' belief about the current outdoor temperature was statistically controlled. Studies 4 and 5 ruled out conceptual accessibility as the key mediator: Priming the corresponding concepts did not produce analogous effects on judgment. Studies 6a and 6b used a causal chain design and found support for a “simulational fluency” account. Participants experiencing the visceral state of warmth constructed more fluent mental representations of hot (vs. cold) outdoor images, and those who were led to construe the same hot outdoor images more fluently believed more in global warming. Together, the results suggest that visceral states can influence one's beliefs by making matching states of the world easier to simulate and therefore seem more likely. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Couples group psychotherapy: Rebuilding the marital relationship following disclosure of sexual deviance.

Presents an overview of treatment methods for compulsive sexual behaviors as well as the authors' initial treatment efforts (a traditional, individual, intrapsychic model) and movement to a systems framework emphasizing the elements within the marital relationship that impede or promote acting-out. The authors' 3-stage couples group psychotherapy program and the treatment of 11 couples in this group are described. A case example illustrates the therapeutic effect of this group on a 31-yr-old male exhibitionist and his wife. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Another look at why people are reluctant to exchange lottery tickets.

People are reluctant to exchange lottery tickets, a result that previous investigators have attributed to anticipated regret. The authors suggest that people's subjective likelihood judgments also make them disinclined to switch. Four studies examined likelihood judgments with respect to exchanged and retained lottery tickets and found that (a) exchanged tickets are judged more likely to win a lottery than are retained tickets and (b) exchanged tickets are judged more likely to win the more aversive it would be if the ticket did win. The authors provide evidence that this effect occurs because the act of imagining an exchanged ticket winning the lottery increases the belief that such an event is likely to occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How choice affects and reflects preferences: Revisiting the free-choice paradigm.

After making a choice between 2 objects, people reevaluate their chosen item more positively and their rejected item more negatively (i.e., they spread the alternatives). Since Brehm's (1956) initial free-choice experiment, psychologists have interpreted the spreading of alternatives as evidence for choice-induced attitude change. It is widely assumed to occur because choosing creates cognitive dissonance, which is then reduced through rationalization. In this article, we express concern with this interpretation, noting that the free-choice paradigm (FCP) will produce spreading, even if people's attitudes remain unchanged. Specifically, if people's ratings/rankings are an imperfect measure of their preferences and their choices are at least partially guided by their preferences, then the FCP will measure spreading, even if people's preferences remain perfectly stable. We show this, first by proving a mathematical theorem that identifies a set of conditions under which the FCP will measure spreading, even absent attitude change. We then experimentally demonstrate that these conditions appear to hold and that the FCP measures a spread of alternatives, even when this spreading cannot have been caused by choice. We discuss how the problem we identify applies to the basic FCP paradigm as well as to all variants that examine moderators and mediators of spreading. The results suggest a reassessment of the free-choice paradigm and, perhaps, the conclusions that have been drawn from it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)