Spousal similarity in coping and depressive symptoms over 10 years.

Following a baseline sample of 184 married couples over 10 years, the present study develops a broadened conceptualization of linkages in spouses' functioning by examining similarity in coping as well as in depressive symptoms. Consistent with hypotheses, results demonstrated (a) similarity in depressive symptoms within couples across 10 years, (b) similarity in coping within couples over 10 years, and (c) the role of coping similarity in strengthening depressive similarity between spouses. Spousal similarity in coping was evident for a composite measure of percent approach coping as well as for component measures of approach and avoidance coping. The role of coping similarity in strengthening depressive symptom similarity was observed for percent approach coping and for avoidance coping. These findings support social contextual models of psychological adjustment that emphasize the importance of dynamic interdependencies between individuals in close relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resilience Factors Reconciled with Complexity: The Dynamics of Order and Disorder

One of the main challenges in crisis management is to assess, ahead of time, the resilience of a system before a crisis erupts (pandemic, computer bug with large‐scale effects, cascade effects in critical infrastructure, etc.). In this article, we propose to reconcile the multiple and sometimes divergent definition of resilience by explaining the complementarity of stability and adaptability inherent to the concept. Also, we integrate a new dimension to the assessment of resilience by analysing the dynamics of negentropy (order, stability) and entropy (disorder, change) between factors. Until now, the evaluation of organizational and interorganizational resilience focused on analysing the presence or absence of resilience factors. With this new dimension, we show the complementarity and interdependence of resilience factors. Finally, we demonstrate how resilience is based on both favourable order and favourable disorder which create diversity and conformity in the system, while vulnerability relies on unfavourable order and unfavourable disorder.     

A further search for social intelligence.

Previous research has failed to identify an empirically coherent domain of social intelligence despite widespread intuitions among both laypersons and experts that social and academic abilities are at least partly distinct phenomena. The present study resolved this discrepancy between formal and informal observations by employing a behavioral effectiveness criterion to conceptually and operationally define social intelligence. D. P. Keating's (see record 1979-09784-001) methodological model was employed to examine 4 measures of academic intelligence and 6 measures of social intelligence using 3 correlational procedures. 690 9th and 12th graders participated. Univariate correlations demonstrated both convergent and discriminant validity; factor analyses revealed a distinct Social Intelligence factor; and a stepwise multiple regression confirmed the greater power of the social measures to predict a behavioral measure of social effectiveness. Implications for research on social cognition and social competence and for the design of educational programs intended to promote social abilities are discussed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Securing internet commerce

To most commercial users the Internet is a paradox. The environment allows businesses to entice millions of customers or potential customers to their sites, and it enables companies to electronically interact with suppliers and merchants. But the environment also discourages commerce: transactions can be changed, data can be intercepted, and identities can be forged.     

Application of practical fuzzy arithmetic to fuzzy internal model control

This paper applies a new fuzzy arithmetic of interval calculus and fuzzy quantities to automatic control. Practical results are obtained which overcome those based on the extension principle or α-cuts. The proposed approach is based on a different representation of fuzzy numbers, though most common arithmetic operators cannot be directly applied for designing a fuzzy controller due to the unjustified overestimation effect. To avoid this phenomenon, a procedure based on an “exact” resolution calculus is proposed, whose solutions allow creating a fuzzy internal model control scheme. The validity of the new method is illustrated by a real-time educational engineering application on classical control design: a coupled tanks system.     

Technology learning and use among older adults with late-life vision impairments

Universal Access in the Information Society - Increasing numbers of older adults are now using computers and going online. Yet, certain disabilities that are acquired later in life, such as severe...     

THE EFFECT OF NETWORK STRUCTURE ON DYNAMIC TEAM FORMATION IN MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS

Previous studies of team formation in multi-agent systems have typically assumed that the agent social network underlying the agent organization is either not explicitly described or the social network is assumed to take on some regular structure such as a fully connected network or a hierarchy. However, recent studies have shown that real-world networks have a rich and purposeful structure, with common properties being observed in many different types of networks. As multi-agent systems continue to grow in size and complexity, the network structure of such systems will become increasing important for designing efficient, effective agent communities.
We present a simple agent-based computational model of team formation, and analyze the theoretical performance of team formation in two simple classes of networks (ring and star topologies). We then give empirical results for team formation in more complex networks under a variety of conditions. From these experiments, we conclude that a key factor in effective team formation is the underlying agent interaction topology that determines the direct interconnections among agents. Specifically, we identify the property of diversity support as a key factor in the effectiveness of network structures for team formation. Scale-free networks, which were developed as a way to model real-world networks, exhibit short average path lengths and hub-like structures. We show that these properties, in turn, result in higher diversity support; as a result, scale-free networks yield higher organizational efficiency than the other classes of networks we have studied.     

Synthesis of dual‐mode in‐line microwave rectangular filters with higher modes

Satellite communications are used intensively today. Separating the different frequency channels requires high selectivity. Up to now, this high selectivity has been achieved by using circular filters placed in circular waveguides. However, circular waveguides require a complicated design process and are difficult to manufacture. In this article, a filtering method based on rectangular geometry and using the higher mode is presented. The synthesis procedure and its practical equivalent circuit are shown to create independent zeros to the right and/or left of the passband. To validate this new concept of filtering and the corresponding synthesis, applications on TE₁₀/TE₃₀ in‐line rectangular filters are presented. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2005.     

Combined use of association rules mining and clustering methods to find relevant links between binary rare attributes in a large data set

A method to analyse links between binary attributes in a large sparse data set is proposed. Initially the variables are clustered to obtain homogeneous clusters of attributes. Association rules are then mined in each cluster. A graphical comparison of some rule relevancy indexes is presented. It is used to extract best rules depending on the application concerned. The proposed methodology is illustrated by an industrial application from the automotive industry with more than 80 000 vehicles each described by more than 3000 rare attributes.     

The Long‐Term Effects of E‐Advertising: The Influence of Internet Pop‐ups Viewed at a Low Level of Attention in Implicit Memory

Faced with an abundance of advertising messages, Internet users allocate only minimal cognitive resources to advertising. What are the effects of pop‐up ads for a new brand viewed at low‐level attention, and then measured when the Internet users have forgotten having seen them? In the theoretical context of processing fluency and implicit memory, the experiment (n = 398) studied the effects of repeated brief exposure to different types of content (words/image) in pop‐up ads 7 days and 3 months after exposure. The results show the overall positive effects of the pop‐ups, the superiority of the image over words for effects on attitude toward the brand and the purchase intentions; but the words produce more semantic effects than the image.