Gender and Personality Trait Measures Impact Degree of Affect Change in a Hedonic Computing Paradigm

To date, affective computing research has acknowledged individual differences with regard to detecting affect, yet little research has explored how these individual differences may determine the degree to which affective computing is successful in manipulating the affect of specific computer users. The current study used individual difference measures to predict how much an individual can be influenced by a hedonic computing paradigm: a simple trivia game. Female participants responded in a greater way to positive affective feedback about their performance than did men. Moreover, several personality traits, including neuroticism, narcissism, self-esteem, and extraversion, augmented the degree to which affect changed as a result of playing the game. The results are consistent with the gender differences hypothesis, and the authors conclude that individual differences, particularly gender and personality traits, play a large role in the potential impact of computing platforms and would be useful in personalizing the affective nature of the human–computer interaction.     

The role of Ch3 and ch2 reactions in the kinetic modeling of methane / air flames

ABSTRACT

The use of second-order statistics in identification or deconvolution incurs error due to additive Gaussian noise. In contrast, higher-order statistics (HOS) are insensitive to Gaussian perturbation and can be used to characterize nonminimum phase (NMP) systems. In this paper we propose batch, recursive and adaptive form algorithms based on third- and fourth-order cumulants to solve the identification and deconvolution problems. A new order determination procedure is also presented. Simulation results demonstrate that our algorithms do have superior performance when compared with existing algorithms.     

Quantum Statistical Properties of Coupled Nonlinear Oscillators with Losses

Abstract

The statistical properties of two coupled nonlinear oscillators including losses are discussed using the statistics for the generalized superposition of coherent fields and quantum noise. Exact and approximate formulae for squeezing of vacuum fluctuations are derived. The photon statistics are shown to be Poissonian from the nonlinear dynamics of the lossless case. Non-classical behaviour is degraded by noise.     

Unsupervised event extraction within substations using rough classification

Microprocessor technology, broader bandwidth communications, and cheaper storage medium have greatly improved the capability to process, transmit, and store the large quantities of data available in a substation. Intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) normally acquire some of these data as raw facts, which then need to be interpreted in order to extract the useful information that engineers and operators require. Human interpretation is becoming increasingly impractical and the effect can hamper, or even prevent, an operator responding correctly to an emergency. This paper explains how a rough classification technique enhances the capabilities of substation informatics and provides valuable insight into the information contained in a substation dataset. This paper emphasizes postfault analysis of the protection and breaker responses in a substation. It is designed to help the operator understand overwhelming alarm messages or longer term to help engineers analyze what went wrong. The formulated methodology is generic and applicable to any type of transmission and distribution substation.     

RDX Detection with THz Spectroscopy

Spectroscopic analysis in the Terahertz frequency range, providing characteristic “signatures” for explosive and non-explosive materials, is proposed as an efficient and powerful tool for explosive identification. It is demonstrated that spectral responses of materials can be used as fingerprints that distinguish cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) from other materials even with simple detectors and a limited number of available frequencies. Detection is performed using a modified least squares approach and multilayer perceptrons that operate on smoothed reflectance spectra. The performance of the detectors is evaluated through application to spectra of RDX and several common materials. A Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis demonstrates that our detectors exhibit the desirable properties of high probability of detection and low probability of false alarm.     

Comparative study of cytotoxic and cytoprotective activities of cocoa products affected by their cocoa solids content and bioactive composition

Polyphenolic profile and antioxidant properties of water extracts of milk, semisweet and dark chocolates, as well as cocoa liquor, were determined and examined for potential biological activity. Non-fat cocoa solids (NFCS), phenolic compounds content and the antioxidant capacity of cocoa product extracts were determined using UV/Vis spectrophotometric methods and HPLC analysis. The increase in NFCS was consistent with the increase in polyphenol content and antioxidant properties. Methylxanthines, theobromine and caffeine constituted the most abundant bioactive compounds, followed by flavan-3-ols epicatechin and procyanidin B2. Cytotoxic and antioxidative/prooxidative effects of cocoa product extracts were determined on human laryngeal carcinoma cell line (HEp2). Cocoa liquor containing the highest NFCS exhibited the lowest HEp2 cell viability, while milk chocolate characterized by the lowest NFCS exhibited no cytotoxic effect. Experiments revealed a strong relationship between the type of product/concentration/time of exposure and antioxidant/prooxidant character of cocoa products. Lower concentrations of semisweet, dark chocolate and cocoa liquor induced an increase in ROS formation, while the higher concentrations resulted in a decrease in ROS formation when compared with control (growth medium). Principal component analysis of the obtained results revealed specific grouping of samples (milk chocolate and cocoa liquor), while the observed dispersions indicated that the outcome of cytotoxic and cytoprotective activities of cocoa products are greatly affected by their concentration.     

Comparison of Conventional and Ultrasound Assisted Extraction Techniques of Yellow Tea and Bioactive Composition of Obtained Extracts

Yellow tea is the least investigated type of tea (Camellia sinensis), therefore, this study is focused on characterization of bioactive content of yellow tea extracts as well as application of inovative extraction techniques (ultrasound bath and probe) compared to conventional extraction, in water and aqueous ethanol media. Comparison of obtained extracts was based on total flavonoid (TFC) and nonflavonoid (TNC) content, HPLC analysis of individual polyphenols and methylxanthines, and antioxidant capacity. The highest TFC was detected in extracts obtained by ultrasound probe assisted extraction in aqueous ethanol as an extraction medium and the lowest in extracts obtained by ultrasound bath extraction (water and aqueous ethanol) with a trend of increase with prolonged extraction time. Conventional extraction was successful when combined with 75% aqueous ethanol as an extraction medium. Results of HPLC analysis and antioxidant capacity assays were generally in compliance with these results. This study proves that ultrasound probe extraction could succesfully be used for extraction of polyphenols and methylxanthines from yellow tea.     

Microscopically-viewed relationship between the chain conformation and ultimate Young's modulus of a series of arylate polyesters with long methylene segments

Relationship between the chain conformation in the crystal lattice and the ultimate Young's modulus has been discussed on the basis of the crystal structural information revealed by the X-ray diffraction analysis for a series of arylate polyesters with long methylene segments (–[–COC₆H₄CO–O(CH₂)_mO–]_n–). The X-ray structural analysis revealed that the molecular chains take the all-trans-zigzag conformations for all of the even-numbered polyesters and their model compounds as well as the odd-numbered polyesters with the methylene segmental length longer than (CH₂)₁₄. These chain conformations have been correlated well to the ultimate Young's modulus along the chain axis or the crystallite modulus E_c, which has been estimated experimentally by the X-ray diffraction method under a constant stress and also predicted theoretically using the X-ray-analyzed crystal structures on the basis of the molecular mechanics method. The E_c was found to show the minimum at around m = 4–6 and increased gradually with an increment of m and approached the crystallite modulus of polyethylene, 235 GPa (X-ray value) ∼ 316 GPa (calculate) at an infinite m value. This behavior of E_c as a function of the number of methylene segmental units m was reasonably interpreted by developing the theoretical equation of E_c for a simplified zigzag chain model composed of a repetition of two linear rods representing the benzene–ester and methylene segmental parts respectively. These findings may promise that the mechanical property of arylate polyester can be controlled by adjusting the methylene segmental length m.