The human side of the road: Improving the working conditions of urban bus drivers.

This study evaluated how urban bus drivers' well-being was affected by technical interventions designed to improve the traffic environment of an urban bus route. Three questionnaires were distributed; 8 drivers at the intervention route (mean age 43 years) and 13 demographically matched comparison drivers (mean age 39 years) participated at all occasions. Field studies at work were conducted twice, with 10 intervention route drivers (mean age 43 years) and 31 comparison drivers (mean age 42 years). The authors hypothesized that during the course of the intervention, the initially elevated indexes of occupational stress in the intervention group would be reduced to levels equivalent to those of the comparison group. The hypothesis was confirmed for perceived workload in the questionnaire, observer-rated job hassles, systolic blood pressure and heart rate at work, and perceived distress after work in the field study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

采用延迟片叠合技术的LCoS投影彩色处理

现今最新的分色和合色方案要数Colorlink公司开发的ColorSelect 滤色片了,它是利用偏振性而不是薄膜相干或吸收效应来控制彩色的。ColorSelect 产品基于Colorlink公司专有的延迟片叠加技术, 有效地把原基色光的偏振状态旋转90o,而互补色光仍保持输入的原偏振状态。PBS和我们的ColorSelect 结合组成了新的彩色处理系统,如ColorQuard , 它已成为高性能LCoS投影系统彩色处理的标准配置。本文将评述ColorSelect 的基本功能,并探索多种可行的彩色处理方案。RRRRR     

Optimum Strategies and Performance for the Remote Sensing of Path-Delay using Ground-Based Microwave Radiometers

Computer simulations have been used to study the accuracy with which excess radio-propagation path delay due to atmospheric water vapor can be determined using a microwave remote-sensing technique. A number of strategies were investigated for the remote sensing of path delay with the objective of providing a broad foundation for the development and use of water-vapor radiometers (WVR's) for geodetic applications. A data base of nearly 10 000 radiosondes from a variety of climatological regions was used for the study. Strategies were judged by their "retrieval performance" on this data base; i.e., by the rms difference between simulations of "retrieved" path delay and "true" path delay, at the zenith, averaged over a radiosonde data base. An observing approach using the frequency set 20.7/22.2/31.4 GHz was found to be close to optimum. A statistical retrieval approach using retrieval coefficients stratified for clear and cloudy weather and for individual location was found to offer a substantial improvement over the use of a single all-weather set of retrieval coefficients. It was found that a reasonably well optimized WVR, with an estimated calibration uncertainty of 0.5 K, can achieve an overall retrieval performance of: 0.27 cm, clear; 0.51 cm, cloudy; and 0.38 cm, all weather average. The weather-averaged retrieval performance for individual locations was found to vary by no more than 14 percent from the average for all locations, in spite of the fact that the mean path delay for these locations ranged from 5 to 26 cm.     

Assessment of test user qualifications: A research-based measurement procedure.

The qualifications of test purchasers have been a concern of the American Psychological Association since 1950, when ethical standards for test distribution, on the basis of a 3-level classification of tests, were developed. The standards relied on professional credentials and on occupational titles to screen test purchasers. In response to widespread recognition that credentials and titles were inadequate to screen test purchasers, the Test User Qualifications Working Group used 2 job analysis methods to determine test user competencies. This article describes the results of that research that can be applied to improving testing practices, including (a) 86 test user competencies and 7 factors accounting for much test misuse, (b) a test classification system based on critical incidents of test misuse, and (c) empirically based test purchaser qualification forms. These products are designed to help achieve responsible test use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An object-oriented system for ergonomic risk assessment

Abstract: During the last decade, cumulative trauma disorders have become a major concern both to occupational health and safety professionals and manufacturing industries. This paper will present the development of a knowledge-based system for predicting the potential of developing strain injuries among employees exposed to repetitive and forceful activities. This potential is identified through the use of an expert system incorporating a fuzzy set algorithm. Recommendations for the prevention of the resulting CTDs are then provided by the system. The system executes on a microcomputer platform, and was constructed utilising a commercial object-oriented expert system shell.     

ETHANOL FROM SOUTHERN HARDWOODS: THE ROLE OF PRESULFONATION IN THE ACID HYDROLYSIS PROCESS

A two-stage acid hydrolysis process is currently used in the production of ethanol from hardwoods. In this process, dilute sulfuric acid in water at high pressure and short residence times hydrolyzes the wood and first stage substrate. The chemical action is particularly impeded in the second stage by the presence of acid condensed lignin.

Presulfonation followed by delignification is proposed using a sulfur dioxide/water sulfuric acid/ethanol treatment step in place of the first stage acid hydrolysis step to alleviate this problem.

Results presented include the effects caused by varying treatment time, sulfur dioxide concentration, temperature and ethanol concentration on the degree of delignification, and, on the recovery of C₅ and C₆ sugars in the hydrolysates. A preliminary economic feasibility analysis is made to determine the impact of improved ethanol yields and lignin by-product values in the production of ethanol from hardwoods.     

A control and management network for wireless ATM systems

This paper describes the design of a control and management network (orderwire) for a mobile wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network. This mobile wireless ATM network is part of the Rapidly Deployable Radio Network (RDRN). The orderwire system consists of a packet radio network which overlays the mobile wireless ATM network. Each network element in this network uses Global Positioning System (GPS) information to control a beamforming antenna subsystem which provides for spatial reuse. This paper also proposes a novel Virtual Network Configuration (VNC) algorithm for predictive network configuration. A mobile ATM Private Network–Network Interface (PNNI) based on VNC is also discussed. Finally, as a prelude to the system implementation, results of a Maisie simulation of the orderwire system are discussed. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Psychopathy in instrumental and reactive violent offenders.

Can violent offenders who commit acts of instrumental aggression for goal-oriented purposes such as robbery be distinguished from those who commit acts of reactive (or hostile) aggression in response to provocation? Because violent offenders often have a history of both instrumental and reactive aggression, this study distinguished between offenders with a history of at least 1 instrumental violent offense and offenders with a history of reactive violent offenses. Two studies tested the hypothesis that instrumental offenders would score higher than reactive offenders and nonviolent offenders on R. D. Hare's (1991) Psychopathy Checklist. The first study sample consisted of 106 violent and nonviolent offenders recruited from a medium-security correctional facility. The second study sample consisted of 50 violent offenders referred for pretrial forensic evaluation. In both samples, instrumental offenders could be reliably distinguished from reactive offenders on the basis of violent crime behavior and level of psychopathy. Group differences could not be attributed to participant age, race, length of incarceration, or extent of prior criminal record. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)