Simulation-based conjoint ranking for optimal decision support process under aleatory uncertainty

Design chain management requires many decision makers throughout the product development process. It is critical to reduce complexity and uncertainty of the design process by correctly modeling subjective data associated with decision makers’ preferences. This paper aims at using decision support to find optimal designs by modeling respondent preferences and trade-offs with consideration of uncertainty. Specifically, a simulation-based ranking methodology is implemented and incorporated with traditional conjoint analysis. This process facilitates a schematic decision support process by alleviating user fatigue. In addition, incorporation of uncertainty in the ranking process provides the capability of producing robust and reliable products. The efficacy and applicability of simulation-based conjoint ranking is demonstrated with a case study of a power-generating shock absorber design.     

Factors facilitating or impeding older adults’ creative contributions in the collaborative design of a novel DTV-based application

This article describes some of the challenges of supporting older adults’ creative input to the design of an (as yet) undefined digital television application. Focusing on commonly used brainstorming and paper prototyping techniques, constructive insights are gathered from users with limited experience of interactive technology. Encouraging older participants to move beyond what they are familiar with, the research reports on how fragmented conceptual knowledge of familiar technologies can either facilitate or impede the creative development of new ideas. This includes bias or contradictory ideas that can emerge in the elicitation process. As reported, other factors, such as the self-perception of inadequate drawing skills, demonstrate further barriers for some older adults to articulate their visions and aspirations for suitably designed technology.     

Thanks, but I'm used to better: A relative rank model of gratitude.

We argue that more help does not necessarily lead to more gratitude. Rather, gratitude depends on how a given instance of help compares with the help that a person is used to receiving. Participants read vignettes detailing an event in which 11 different friends either lent them varying amounts of money or spent varying amounts of time providing help. The amount of gratitude elicited by a given amount of help (e.g., a loan of ￡36 [about $56] or 49 min help) differed substantially depending on how this amount ranked among the help they were getting from their other friends. Comparison across four experimental conditions suggested that these judgments operated via the same general cognitive mechanisms used to judge other social events and psychophysical stimuli (as outlined by range frequency theory). Although more help does lead to more gratitude, people appear to be sensitive to how that help compares with what others are providing, and experienced gratitude depends on these relative judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The research productivity of academic psychologists: assessment,trends, and best practice recommendations

Research productivity affects the careers of academic psychologists. Unfortunately, there is a surprising lack of consensus on productivity’s meaning, measurement, and how to compare the productivity of one academic psychologist to another. In the present study, we review academic productivity research within psychology, and using a sample of 673 psychologists, compute six indexes of productivity. Most productivity metrics (publication count, citation count, or some combination of the two) were substantially interrelated and one (Integrated Research Productivity Index) was independent from years in the field. Female psychologists were equally as productive as male psychologists after accounting for years in the field, and pre-tenure psychologists showed steeper change-over-time productivity slopes than post-tenure psychologists. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for the use and measurement of academic research productivity.     

Electrophoretic deposition of poly[3-(3-N,N-diethylaminopropoxy)thiophene] and composite films

Poly[3-(3-N,N-diethylaminopropoxy)thiophene] (PDAOT) was prepared by oxidative polymerization and investigated by ultraviolet (UV), Raman and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. Protonated PDAOT was dissolved in water or ethanol/water mixtures and deposited by cathodic electrophoretic deposition (EPD) on conductive substrates. Film thickness was varied in the range of 0–5 μm by controlling the deposition voltage and deposition time. PDAOT was found to form strong supramolecular interactions with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), allowing the formation of stable and concentrated nanotube dispersions, which were used for the formation of composite PDAOT–SWNT films by EPD. Furthermore, introduction of ZnO particles to the PDAOT solutions also allowed the formation of PDAOT–ZnO composite films by EPD. The composition of the films was varied by changing the concentration of SWNTs and ZnO in the suspensions. The dispersion of ZnO particles was improved using protonated dopamine (DA) as a dispersant. The deposits were studied by X-ray analysis (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).     

Two-Bands Superconductivity with Intra- and Interband Pairing for Synthetic Superlattices

We consider a model for superconductivity in a two-band superconductor, having an anisotropic electronic structure made of two partially overlapping bands with a first hole-like and a second electron-like Fermi surface. In this pairing scenario, driven by the interplay between interband V _i,j and intraband V _i,i pairing terms, we have solved the two gap equations at the critical temperature T=T _c and calculate T _c and the chemical potential μ as a function of the number of carriers n for various values of pairing interactions, V _1,1, V _2,2, and V _1,2. The results show the complexity of the physics of condensates with multiple order parameters with the chemical potential near band edges.