The shifting basis of life satisfaction judgments across cultures: Emotions versus norms.

The relative importance of emotions versus normative beliefs for life satisfaction judgments was compared among individualist and collectivist nations in 2 large sets of international data (in total, 61 nations, N?=?62,446). Among nations, emotions and life satisfaction correlated significantly more strongly in more individualistic nations (r?=?.52 in Study 1; r?=?.48 in Study 2). At the individual level, emotions were far superior predictors of life satisfaction to norms (social approval of life satisfaction) in individualist cultures, whereas norms and emotions were equally strong predictors of life satisfaction in collectivist cultures. The present findings have implications for future studies on cultural notions of well-being, the functional value of emotional experiences, and individual differences in life satisfaction profiles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ermittlung von Umformgrenzen beim Freiformschmieden

Determination of forming limits during open die forging The fundamentals of determining the forming limits during open die forging have been investigated in the research project “Vermeidung von Oberflächenfehlern beim Freiformschmieden” (“Prevention of surface defects during open die forging processes”) which was supported by the AiF (“Arbeitsgemeinschaft industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen”). The industrially produced material was analysed in the form of cast ingots of two high‐alloyed steels (1.2367 and 1.6957) by compression, tension and torsion tests. The tests showed that the sampling point has a small influence on the materials’ plasticity for the present dimensions of the ingots. Furthermore transformation and precipitation behaviour of the both steels have been determined and additional metallographic investigations have been made to find out reasons of variation of measurements for low forming temperatures. Forming limit diagrams are generated to predict the forming limits of open die forging processes. For this purpose, compression tests and numerical simulations of the compression tests and forging processes were made for crack‐critical temperatures. The points in time of crack initiation of the samples during the compression tests were determined by the acoustic emission analysis and show a high variation of measurements. Thus the forming limit diagrams also have high scatter, an unique forming limit cannot be determined. Instead of that a maximum allowed height‐reduction was determined and checked in open die forging tests in the laboratory under industrial conditions. The results show that the determined limits are very safe because no cracks were generated during the forging of both materials.     

Wind projection basis for real-time animation of trees

This paper presents a real-time method to animate complex scenes of thousands of trees under a user-controllable wind load. Firstly, modal analysis is applied to extract the main modes of deformation from the mechanical model of a 3D tree. The novelty of our contribution is to precompute a new basis of the modal stress of the tree under wind load. At runtime, this basis allows to replace the modal projection of the external forces by a direct mapping for any directional wind. We show that this approach can be efficiently implemented on graphics hardware. This modal animation can be simulated at low computation cost even for large scenes containing thousands of trees.     

Dynamic Extracellular Imaging of Biochemical Cell Activity Using InGaN/GaN Nanowire Arrays as Nanophotonic Probes

The application of InGaN/GaN nanowire heterostructure arrays as photonic probes for dynamic imaging of biochemical and cellular processes in an incident light fluorescence microscope is demonstrated. The photoluminescence intensity of InGaN/GaN nanowires sensitively depends on the pH value of the surrounding solution, making them suitable probes for the optical detection of biochemical processes accompanied by local pH variations. Grown on a conductive substrate, the nanowire arrays can be operated in a well‐defined electrochemical working point with high sensitivity and stability. The achievable pH and bias resolution as well as signal‐to‐noise ratio are assessed as a function of the working point and for different integration times. A bias resolution of 1 mV and a pH resolution of 0.03 are achieved at a time resolution below 25 ms. The application for dynamic imaging of the activity of isolated intestinal crypts from Wistar rats is demonstrated. Here, the pH change in the vicinity of the crypt is quantified and attributed to the activity of the sodium‐proton exchanger (NHE). Imaging of the effect of amiloride and NH₄Cl on its activity is demonstrated with a spatial resolution of <0.63 µm and reveals that NH₄Cl‐induced NHE activation preferentially occurs in the upper part of the crypt.     

Low power impedance measurement integrated circuit for sensor applications

In this paper an integrated circuit for the measurement of the real and imaginary part of an impedance is presented. The circuit is intended for its use in a wireless integrated system. A mixed analog/digital approach has been adopted in order to minimize power and area requirements, as requested by the application. The four electrode configuration is used for impedance measurement using two excitation current sources and a buffer instead of an instrumentation amplifier, therefore reducing the circuit complexity. The digital block controls the working frequency and can compensate the phase error introduced by the analog filters, thereby reducing the total error in the measurement. The integrated circuit has been designed in a CMOS process and it works with 3.3 V with a power consumption of . Experimental results to verify its functionality are presented.     

Investigation on the mitochondrial transfer RNA(Leu)(UUR) in blood cells from patients with cluster headache

A Chinese herb, Bletilla striata, was used as embolizing agent in order to improve the therapeutic results of intervention treatment of liver cancer. From October 1991 to January 1995, 56 cases of hepatic carcinoma were treated with Bletilla striata by hepatic artery embolization, with conventional gelform embolization in 50 cases as control. Patients were followed-up for 10-48 months. Embolization with Bletilla striata led to extensive and permanent vascular obstruction, accompanied with marked shrinkage of tumor size and significant decrease in serum AFP levels. Collaterals were few in number and collateral circulation was established late so that the treatment intervals could be prolonged, with an average of 7 months. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rate was 81.9%, 44.9% and 33.6%, respectively, with a median survival time of 19.8 months. All the clinical parameters were better than those treated with conventional gelform embolization. The results indicate that Bletilla striata is an ideal vascular embolizing agent.     

Does television violence enhance program popularity?

Two studies explored the effects of fictional TV violence on adventure show popularity. In Study 1, with 30 college students, the amount of violence occurring within 62 episodes of 11 programs was correlated with the national Nielsen viewer index. A very low, nonsignificant relationship emerged. In addition, student raters' perceptions of the programs were factor analyzed. A violence factor emerged, but reported liking for programs did not load substantially on this factor. In Study 2 an adventure program ("Police Woman") was presented to 100 college students either uncut or with violence deleted. Although the uncut version was perceived as significantly more violent, it was not liked significantly more. The violence condition accounted for approximately 1% of the variance in reported liking. There is presently little evidence indicating that violence enhances program popularity. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)