Nest repair behavior in birds nesting in salt marshes.

Studied 5 species of birds nesting in salt marshes in New Jersey to determine their ability to respond to natural and experimental changes in their nests. Laughing gulls and clapper rails nest in the lowest areas of the marsh, common terns nest in intermediate areas, and herring gulls and mallards nest in high marsh areas. Manipulations of nests included wetting nests and differentially removing nest material. Nests were also observed following a high tide. There were differences in nest repair as a function of species and treatments. Laughing gulls and rails significantly repaired nests under most conditions, herring gulls and common terns repaired nests under some conditions, and mallards never repaired their nests. It is concluded that, generally, species are responsive to nest changes as a function of their nesting location in the marsh. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

漫谈游戏美工

成为一个优秀的游戏美工是笔者多年来一直不断追求的目标，往常常听到很多人向往游戏美术设计制作这个听起来充满趣味的职业，事实上，趣味的背后除了多年绘画基础的培养，还有一系列相关的要求。     

The effects of varying conceptualizations of job performance on adverse impact, minority hiring, and predicted performance.

The present research explored the effects of various strategies of weighting criterion dimensions on adverse impact, minority hiring, and job performance. In particular, this research compared strategies that vary the weight of task and contextual performance dimensions in calculating a composite criterion measure, in terms of their effects on regression weights assigned to predictors and effects on adverse impact, percentage of minorities hired, and predicted performance. With a Monte Carlo simulation based on meta-analytic evidence of multiple predictor and criterion relationships, the authors illustrate how organizations might think through the consequences of varying conceptualizations of job performance in selection contexts. Approaches that simultaneously increase aggregate predicted job performance and reduce adverse impact are described and illustrated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competition between two species of nesting gulls: On the importance of timing.

Three experiments examined the role of timing of breeding in the aggressive behavior and territorial relation in a mixed-species colony of great black-backed and herring gulls. In both species, aggression rates and the percentage of intruders to which they responded increased at hatching. Both species were more aggressive toward herring gull intruders than toward the larger great black-backed gulls. Both species won 40–60% of conspecific encounters with neighbors. In general, great black-backed gulls won their encounters with herring gulls and often succeeded in enlarging their territories into those of neighboring herring gulls and eating the eggs of the herring gulls. However, herring gulls with chicks won 70% of their encounters against incubating black-backed gulls, and they continued to win even when the great black-backed gull's young hatched. These observations indicate that the relative timing of the reproductive cycles of different individuals as well as their size influences the outcome of aggressive interactions and influences reproductive success. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comprehension of learning-disabled readers: Task and text variations.

In Exp I, 24 learning-disabled (LD; mean age 155.13 mo) and 24 normal (mean age 130.54 mo) children demonstrated similar skill in title selection and summary sentence writing. In Exp II, 14 LD readers (mean age 154.14 mo) in a reading-with-listening condition detected deviant sentences more accurately than 14 LD readers (mean age 160.64 mo) in a reading-only condition and 14 normal readers (mean age 132.07 mo). Type of deviant sentence, position of deviant sentence, and topic-sentence condition affected all groups similarly, with one exception: The placement of the deviant sentence later in a paragraph did not aid the LD reading-only group as it had the other groups. Findings replicate and extend those of J. P. Williams et al (see record 1982-20880-001) to include a different population and a different presentation mode. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Glycosphingolipids of human thyroid

Glycosphingolipids were isolated from total lipids of female and male human thyroids by alkaline hydrolysis, silicic acid, diethylaminoethyl-celluose and thin layer chromatography and analyzed by gas liquid chromatography. On the basis of their mobility in two dimensions on thin layer chromatography, IR analysis, and of sugar molar ratio, four neutral glycolipids, a sulfatide, and a hematoside fraction were identified. Glucosyl, plus galactosyl ceramide, and trihexosyl ceramide were the major fractions and accounted for 33% and 28% of total neutral glycolipids, respectively. Dihexosyl ceramide was a mixture of lactosyl and digalactosyl ceramide. The acidic lower phase glycolipids comprised ceramide galactosyl sulfate as the major component of male thyroids. Hematoside was identified tentatively as a minor component of the thyroids of both sexes. Major fatty acids of all neutral glycolipid fractions were 20∶0, 22∶0, 24∶0, and 24∶1; 24∶0 and 24∶1 for sulfatides. Low proportions of α-hydroxy fatty acids were identified. Total neutral glycosphingolipids of male thyroids were comparable in quantities with human liver but lower than kidneys, leucocytes, and platelets. Male thyroids comprised higher quantities of neutral glycosphingolipids (4.04±0.32 μmoles/g total lipid) as compared to females (2.34±0.21 μmoles/g total lipid), and much higher sulfatide than the females. These marked differences may suggest that the biosynthesis of the glycosphingolipids in the thyroid gland is under hormonal control. Similarities in glycosphingolipid composition of human thyroid and kidney are discussed in relation to a possible role played by glycolipids in ion transport, which is a common feature of the two organs.     

A nonlinear multiple criteria model base for the problem of balancing caseload risk in probation departments

This paper presents a combined statistical model for probationer risk classification and nonlinear multi-criteria programming resource allocation model for workload balancing. A statistical model of individual probationer failure was used to classify individuals as high, medium or low risk for probation purposes. The proportion of probationers in each risk category was used as an input into the integer, nonlinear resource allocation model where the decision variables were the number of visits to probationers by type of visit and risk classification.     

Visual short-term memory in the hearing and the deaf.

Tested 9 deaf and 9 normal 15-27 yr olds on their ability to report letters, shapes, and nonsense figures from a tachistoscopic presentation. Deaf Ss performed worse than hearing Ss on recall of figural information, thereby supporting a linguistic coding hypothesis. However, there was no difference between the groups on position information, and letter confusions were primarily visual in both groups. Findings suggest that more attention should be given to visual short-term memory in theoretical models of memory. Formation of the icon was apparently not affected by a linguistic deficit, since effects of stimulus duration and type of viewing (continuous vs interrupted) were similar in both hearing and deaf Ss. Significant positive correlations which were found between deaf Ss' school reading scores and their tachistoscopic scores were not interpreted as support for a linguistic coding hypothesis, but rather as support for the notion that the memory skills tested in the experiment may underlie reading ability. (French summary) (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)