Rating causal relations: Role of probability in judgments of response-outcome contingency.

Investigated the possible role of the conditional probabilities of an outcome given a response P(O/R) and of an outcome given the absence of a response P(O/NoR) in mediating college students' judgments of response–outcome contingency. A total of 150 Ss in 3 experiments were asked to describe the effect that telegraph key tapping had on the brief illumination of a lamp. Ss' ratings along a prevent–cause scale closely approximated the scheduled contingencies between response (R?=?key tapping) and outcome (O?=?lamp illumination), as measured by the delta coefficient δP?=?P(O/R)?–?P(O/NoR) (Exps 1 and 3). Ss also sensitively rated the conditional probabilities of an outcome when they tapped the key and when they refrained from doing so (Exps 2 and 3). Nevertheless, the evidence failed to support the hypothesis that causal ratings were mediated by subjective judgments of P(O/R) and P(O/NoR) because the errors made in judging the conditional probabilities were not consistent with the errors made judging δP. The authors suggest that an associative explanation derived from a model devised by R. A. Rescorla and A. R. Wagner (1972) might account for these and other results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Permeability and interface catchment: measuring and mapping walkable access

The relationship between urban morphology and walkability is central to urban design theory and practice. In this paper, we develop new measures for pedestrian permeability and catchment areas, suggesting that their joint use can progress our understanding of the ways urban morphology mediates walkability. Existing measures of permeability do not account for heterogeneous morphologies. Likewise, measures of pedestrian catchment do not account for what it is that is caught. The proposed “area-weighted average perimeter” and “interface catchments” together integrate both street width and block size, measuring both walkable access and what one gets access to. What is at stake is not only correlations with health and transport, but also measures of walkable access that are geared to the social and economic productivity of the city.     

The hidden consequences of racial salience in videotaped interrogations and confessions.

Evaluations of videotaped criminal confessions can be influenced by the camera perspective taken during recording. Interrogations and confessions recorded with the camera directing observers' visual attention onto the suspect lead to biased judgments of the suspect. Although a camera perspective that directs visual attention onto the suspect and interrogator equally appears to promote unbiased judgments, investigations to date have relied on videotapes that depict only Caucasian suspects and interrogators. We examined the possibility that even equal-focus videotapes may become problematic when the suspect is a minority (e.g., Chinese American or African American) and the interrogator is Caucasian. That is, to the extent that Caucasian observers are inclined to direct more of their attention onto minorities, an effect documented previously, we expected biased judgments of the suspect to also occur in equal-focus videotapes. Three experiments provided evidence of this racial salience bias. Implications are discussed, including a practical way of avoiding the bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dispersion analysis of the shielded Sievenpiper structure using multiconductor transmission-line theory

Dispersion curves for the shielded Sievenpiper "mushroom" structure are obtained by means of multiconductor transmission-line (MTL) theory. This inherently quasitransverse electromagnetic mode (quasi-TEM) analysis is used to quickly and accurately calculate the dispersion of the lowest pass-band and several of the upper pass-bands. The first pass-band reveals dual mode behavior, supporting one forward-wave and one backward-wave mode, with the first stop-band formed as a result of contra-directional coupling between the two modes. The dispersion curves obtained using MTL theory are compared with full-wave simulations, with excellent agreement between the two methods. Moreover, the analysis reveals an interesting modal behavior within the stop-band, corresponding to complex conjugate propagation constants. The overall modal structure within the various bands is examined and related to corresponding applications.     

Methods for collecting eggs and monitoring egg-hatch and immature development of Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae)

Methods are described for collecting large numbers of R. dominica eggs, assessing the proportion which hatch and rearing first instar larvae to adults. The proportion of eggs which hatched and duration of immature development were estimated at 26 and 30°C, 56% r.h. Mature adults in healthy cultures laid rafts of eggs in between layers of filter papers. The proportion of eggs that hatched was assessed after incubation. The first instar larvae which hatched out of the eggs were reared to adults in individual wells of 96-well polystyrene ELISA plates. They were fed with kibbled wheat while their survival and rate of development was monitored. About half the eggs which were collected shrivelled up without developing. Over 80% of the remaining eggs hatched normally at both temperatures. The mean duration of development from egg to adult through four larval instars was 44 d at 26°C and 34d at 30°C on kibbled wheat. These development times are similar to those on whole wheat reported by other researchers. The methods are much less disruptive or destructive than other methods of monitoring development on flour or whole wheat. Potential applications for these techniques are discussed.     

A Possible Way to Relate the Effects of SARS-CoV-2-Induced Changes in Transferrin to Severe COVID-19-Associated Diseases

SARS-CoV-2 infections are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Transferrin has been found to explain the link between diseases associated with impaired iron transport and COVID-19 infection. The effect of SARS-CoV-2 on human whole blood was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The analysis of the thermal transition curves showed that the melting temperature of the transferrin-related peak decreased in the presence of SARS-CoV-2. The ratio of the under-curve area of the two main peaks was greatly affected, while the total enthalpy of the heat denaturation remained nearly unchanged in the presence of the virus. These results indicate that SARS-CoV-2, through binding to transferrin, may influence its Fe³⁺ uptake by inducing thermodynamic changes. Therefore, transferrin may remain in an iron-free apo-conformational state, which depends on the SARS-CoV-2 concentration. SARS-CoV-2 can induce disturbance in erythropoiesis due to toxicity generated by free iron overload.     

Product Importance Sampling for Light Transport Path Guiding

The efficiency of Monte Carlo algorithms for light transport simulation is directly related to their ability to importance‐sample the product of the illumination and reflectance in the rendering equation. Since the optimal sampling strategy would require knowledge about the transport solution itself, importance sampling most often follows only one of the known factors – BRDF or an approximation of the incident illumination. To address this issue, we propose to represent the illumination and the reflectance factors by the Gaussian mixture model (GMM), which we fit by using a combination of weighted expectation maximization and non‐linear optimization methods. The GMM representation then allows us to obtain the resulting product distribution for importance sampling on‐the‐fly at each scene point. For its efficient evaluation and sampling we preform an up‐front adaptive decimation of both factor mixtures. In comparison to state‐of‐the‐art sampling methods, we show that our product importance sampling can lead to significantly better convergence in scenes with complex illumination and reflectance.     

Scalable WDM access network architecture based on photonic slotrouting

This paper introduces an approach to solving the fundamental scalability problem of all-optical packet switching wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) access networks. Current optical networks cannot be scaled by simply adding nodes to existing systems due to the accumulation of insertion losses and/or the limited number of wavelengths. Scalability through bridging requires, on the other hand, the capability to switch packets among adjacent subnetworks on a wavelength basis. Such a solution is, however, not possible due to the unavailability of fast-switching wavelength sensitive devices. In this paper, we propose a scalable WDM access network architecture based on a recently proposed optical switching approach, termed photonic slot routing. According to this approach, entire slots, each carrying multiple packets (one on each wavelength) are “transparently” routed through the network as single units so that wavelength sensitive data flows can be handled using fast-switching wavelength nonsensitive devices based on proven technologies. The paper shows that the photonic slot routing technique can be successfully used to achieve statistical multiplexing of the optical bandwidth in the access network, thus providing a cost-effective solution to today's increasing bandwidth demand for data transmissions     

What is functional mix? An assemblage approach

Functional or land-use mix has been seminal to urban design and planning for over 50 years. Mixed-use reduces the need for travel, increases walkability and generates street-life intensity. In this paper we review existing methods of measuring functional mix and rethink the ways in which it might be conceived, measured and mapped within a framework of assemblage thinking. We suggest a live/work/visit triangle as a promising method with a focus on the interconnections between functions rather than functions in themselves. Mapping techniques are developed to reveal the ways functional mix changes at different scales from streetscape to walkable neighbourhood. This approach is tested on detailed floor area databases from the cities of New York, Barcelona and Bogotá. Rather than reducing mix to an index, such mapping reveals each city as a mix of different mixes. These maps can be understood as urban X-rays that enable interpretation and diagnosis of urban functional mix.     

A light‐tailed conditionally heteroscedastic model with applications to river flows

Abstract. A conditionally heteroscedastic model, different from the more commonly used autoregressive moving average–generalized autoregressive conditionally heteroscedastic (ARMA‐GARCH) processes, is established and analysed here. The time‐dependent variance of innovations passing through an ARMA filter is conditioned on the lagged values of the generated process, rather than on the lagged innovations, and is defined to be asymptotically proportional to those past values. Designed this way, the model incorporates certain feedback from the modelled process, the innovation is no longer of GARCH type, and all moments of the modelled process are finite provided the same is true for the generating noise. The article gives the condition of stationarity, and proves consistency and asymptotic normality of the Gaussian quasi‐maximum likelihood estimator of the variance parameters, even though the estimated parameters of the linear filter contain an error. An analysis of six diurnal water discharge series observed along Rivers Danube and Tisza in Hungary demonstrates the usefulness of such a model. The effect of lagged river discharge turns out to be highly significant on the variance of innovations, and nonparametric estimation approves its approximate linearity. Simulations from the new model preserve well the probability distribution, the high quantiles, the tail behaviour and the high‐level clustering of the original series, further justifying model choice.