Recognizing emotion in faces: Developmental effects of child abuse and neglect.

The contributions to the recognition of emotional signals of (a) experience and learning versus (b) internal predispositions are difficult to investigate because children are virtually always exposed to complex emotional experiences from birth. The recognition of emotion among physically abused and physically neglected preschoolers was assessed in order to examine the effects of atypical experience on emotional development. In Experiment 1, children matched a facial expression to an emotional situation. Neglected children had more difficulty discriminating emotional expressions than did control or physically abused children. Physically abused children displayed a response bias for angry facial expressions. In Experiment 2, children rated the similarity of facial expressions. Control children viewed discrete emotions as dissimilar, neglected children saw fewer distinctions between emotions, and physically abused children showed the most variance across emotions. These results suggest that to the extent that children's experience with the world varies, so too will their interpretation and understanding of emotional signals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficient vision-based navigation

In this article, we present a novel approach to learning efficient navigation policies for mobile robots that use visual features for localization. As fast movements of a mobile robot typically introduce inherent motion blur in the acquired images, the uncertainty of the robot about its pose increases in such situations. As a result, it cannot be ensured anymore that a navigation task can be executed efficiently since the robot’s pose estimate might not correspond to its true location. We present a reinforcement learning approach to determine a navigation policy to reach the destination reliably and, at the same time, as fast as possible. Using our technique, the robot learns to trade off velocity against localization accuracy and implicitly takes the impact of motion blur on observations into account. We furthermore developed a method to compress the learned policy via a clustering approach. In this way, the size of the policy representation is significantly reduced, which is especially desirable in the context of memory-constrained systems. Extensive simulated and real-world experiments carried out with two different robots demonstrate that our learned policy significantly outperforms policies using a constant velocity and more advanced heuristics. We furthermore show that the policy is generally applicable to different indoor and outdoor scenarios with varying landmark densities as well as to navigation tasks of different complexity.     

A genomic screening approach to the structure-guided identification of drug candidates from natural sources

The potential of actinomycetes to produce natural products has been exploited for decades. Recent genomic sequence analyses have revealed a previously unrecognized biosynthetic potential and diversity. In order to rationally exploit this potential, we have developed a sequence-guided genetic screening strategy. In this "genome mining" approach, genes that encode tailoring enzymes from natural product biosyntheses pathways serve as indicator genes for the identification of strains that have the genetic potential to produce natural products of interest. We chose halogenases, which are known to be involved in the synthesis of halometabolites as representative examples. From PCR screening of 550 randomly selected actinomycetes strains, we identified 103 novel putative halogenase genes. A phylogenetic analysis of the corresponding putative halogenases, and the determination of their sequential context with mass spectrometric analysis of cultures filtrates revealed a distinct correlation between the sequence and secondary metabolite class of the halometabolite. The described screening strategy allows rapid access to novel natural products with predetermined structural properties.     

Novel processing aid based on modified Silly Putty®

A viscoelastic material based on low‐molecular‐weight silanols cured by boric acid, i.e., having a composition similar to that of the well‐known Silly Putty®, was used to delay sharkskin and stick–slip instabilities in the extrusion of linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE). The use of sodium hydroxide and phosphoric acid in the composition helped to improve adhesion of the material to metal and to extend its efficiency above 200°C. Adding powders of metal oxides, e.g., borax, silica, and especially silicates, further helped to delay the flow instabilities. A delay of the sharkskin instability to 25–35 times higher extrusion rates was achieved, and about 45% less pressure was observed in a screw extruder at the same throughput when this material was used as an additive to LLDPE (～0.1%) or as a coating of the extrusion die. Tentative explanations of the sharkskin origin and for the delay of the instability are proposed. J. VINYL. ADDIT. TECHNOL., 12:131–142, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Transmission and distribution of a multichannel AM-VSB TV signal on a single mode optical fiber for CATV videocommunication networks

First of all, in this paper, we situate and recall the advantage of single mode fiber for transmission of a multichannel AM-VSB TV signal. Then we describe the prototype of a multichannel transmission system studied under a France Télécom contract and discuss the experimental results obtained on this system. Today the equipment issued from that study, is in current industrial development in order to be soon installed in networks. A few rules are given in terms of range, number of channels per fiber and number of subscribers to help the design of networks. After having identified the system limitations, solutions are proposed to improve the performances. Particularly the concept of a am-vsb optical repeater and the linearity improvement with that procedure are shown. We will also discuss the use of 1.54 μm dfb laser and compare the performances at both wavelengths. The interest of predistortion network to escape from the previously identified linearity constraint is justified. Then the extension of transport network to optical distribution network closer to the subscriber (fttc) is envisaged. We show how the trade-off between less stringent performances and higher distribution potentiality can be handled. At last the interest of external modulation in order to escape from the noise limitation and to extend the coverage of the network at both wavelengths is discussed.     

Creating flexible work arrangements through idiosyncratic deals.

A survey of 887 employees in a German government agency assessed the antecedents and consequences of idiosyncratic arrangements individual workers negotiated with their supervisors. Work arrangements promoting the individualization of employment conditions, such as part-time work and telecommuting, were positively related to the negotiation of idiosyncratic deals ("i-deals"). Worker personal initiative also had a positive effect on i-deal negotiation. Two types of i-deals were studied: flexibility in hours of work and developmental opportunities. Flexibility i-deals were negatively related and developmental i-deals positively related to work-family conflict and working unpaid overtime. Developmental i-deals were also positively related to increased performance expectations and affective organizational commitment, while flexibility i-deals were unrelated to either. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)