La probabilite psychologique: Necessite d'une nouvelle approche.

The formation of psychological probabilities has been studied from different approaches (e.g., probability learning). From those studies, a new orientation is beginning to command attention. More researchers are now preoccupied by "natural world" problems, by complex information, by processes instead of contents, and are using idiographic instead of nomothetic procedures. The different explanatory models are seen as complementary rather than contradictory. It is suggested that another dimension of reality should also be taken in consideration: the inferences the S makes from the information presented. A procedure for integrating that dimension into studies on probability is outlined. (French summary) (65 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The design of a fully integrated graphics system

The architecture and design of a CMOS chip implementing a medium-resolution graphics system are described. The chip, requiring no external support logic, outputs analog RGB signals at a 40-MHz pixel rate and directly controls a bit-map video RAM (VRAM) memory array. Scan rates and display formats are completely programmable. Pixels stored in the 1 K×1 K bit map can be any of 16 colors taken from a 4096-color palette. The chip can be directly interfaced to most common microprocessors. A 6.7-MIPS (million-instruction-per-second) internal reduced instruction set computer (RISC) CPU directly implements high-level graphics commands. The chip achieves a maximum draw speed of 10 million pixels/s. Designed in a Lisp machine environment, the 100000-transistor chip is implemented in 1.8-μm CMOS and contains standard cells, RAM, ROM, a color table, and three four-bit current-steered digital-to-analog converters (DACs)     

Non-enzymatic browning and ascorbic acid degradation of orange juice subjected to electroreduction and electro-oxidation treatments

Orange juice was submitted to electroreduction and electro-oxidation treatments prior to pasteurization and compared to a control juice for oxido-reduction potential (ORP), dissolved oxygen and ascorbic acid contents. Evolution of non-enzymatic browning reactions and ascorbic acid degradation was evaluated at 4, 21 and 37 °C storage temperatures. Electroreduction treatment of the juice at 6 V (cell length of 1.58 cm) created a substantial reducing reservoir as ORP decreased from + 161 to −406 mV and it decreased dissolved oxygen by more than 90% of its initial content while the ascorbic acid content was not altered. In contrast, the electro-oxidation treatment raised the final ORP of the juice by 15 to 20 mV, increased substantially the dissolved oxygen content and decreased significantly the ascorbic acid retention. Electro-oxidation treatment resulted in an increase of non-enzymatic browning reactions during storage. Both the control and electroreduced juice showed very similar trends in ascorbic acid degradation over the 3 months storage period whereas the anions, cations and amino acids profiles of the juice remain unchanged. Contrary to the control and electroreduced juices, the electro-oxidation process decreased severely the orange flavor intensity and character being characterized as musty with sour-bitter aftertaste.

Industrial relevance of electrolytic treatment to modulate the oxidation-reduction potential of comestible food systems

The limitation of shelf life imposed on comestible beverage systems (juice, beer, milk, wine, etc.) is an important and common issue for food manufactures and consumers. The shelf life is shortened by the time-dependent development of off-flavors, browning, change of colors, and deterioration of nutrients, caused by the oxidative reactions of chemical and nutrient components in the food systems. Consequently, the food is becoming unattractive to consumers. The electrochemical technique by means of an electrochemical cell has the potential in inhibiting or accelerating these deterioration reactions through reduction or oxidation of organic and inorganic compounds inherent to the products, as well as effectively controlling the oxygen content in the products. This technique can be used as an alternative to the deliberate addition of chemical compounds (sulfite and others reducing substances) to inhibit the deterioration reactions (electroreduction) as well as to accelerate the aging process of the comestible products via accelerated oxidation process (electro-oxidation).     

Linearly Implicit Time Integration Methods for Real-Time Dynamic Substructure Testing

The simulation in real time of heterogeneous systems has to guarantee that the time integration of the equations of motion is always successfully completed within an a priori fixed sampling time interval. Therefore, numerical and/or physical substructures as well as numerical solution methods have to be adapted to the needs of real-time simulations. Monolithic stable numerical methods are implicit and cannot be easily used in real-time applications because of their iterative strategies necessary to solve the nonlinear corrector equations. As an alternative, in the present paper, we consider linearly implicit Rosenbrock-based L-stable real-time (LSRT) compatible algorithms with both two-stage and three-stage. Moreover, other linearly implicit structural integrators used nowadays to perform coupled simulations in real time are introduced too. Successively, typical properties of monolithic algorithms are shown when large time steps are employed. The loss of stability and the reduction of accuracy of these algorithms, when applied to coupled systems caused by kinematically closed loops, are analyzed in-depth through a split-inertia substructured system. In this respect, the benefits of the L-stability property are shown. Finally, the performance of the algorithms under investigation appears in a number of more realistic tests considering both nonstiff and stiff substructures.     

Production of soy protein isolates with low phytic acid content by membrane technologies: Impact of the extraction and ultrafiltration/diafiltration conditions

The content of the antinutrient, phytic acid, of soy protein was analyzed during their extraction and purification by a series of ultrafiltration and diafiltration steps. The phosphorus content of the extracts was used as an indication of their phytic acid content and their ash content as an indication of their mineral content. The extraction of soy proteins was conducted by using a 2³ factorial experimental design, pH (7.5 or 9), solvent (0.06 M KCl or water), and temperature (25 °C or 50 °C). The most promising extraction conditions were 0.06 M KCl/pH 9.0/25 °C for the lowest phosphorus to protein ratio (12.2 ± 0.1 mg P/g protein) and H₂O/pH 9.0/50 °C for the combination of low phosphorus to protein ratio and the lowest ash content (13.9 ± 1.2 mg P/g protein, 9.6 ± 0.8% w/w ash content). After extraction, soy proteins were purified by sequential ultrafiltration (UF) with a volume concentration ratio (VCR) of 5 and diafiltration (DF) with volume diafiltration ratio (VD) of 4. Extracts were purified with no pH adjustment or with pH adjustment to 6.5 between the UF and the DF steps. The extraction conditions 0.06 M KCl/pH 9.0/25 °C and the purification conditions UF pH 9.0/DF pH 6.5 showed the lowest phosphorus to protein ratio (4.4 ± 0.3 mg P/g protein) and reduced membrane fouling when compared to extraction conditions with water.     

Evolution de la confiance excessive en fonction du nombre d'indices re?us pour répondre à une question.

Studied the development of overconfidence with regard to answering a general knowledge questionnaire when questions were given with no clues and repeated with 1 to 3 clues. Human subjects: 25 male and female Canadian adults (mean age 30 yrs 2 mo). Ss were given a notebook with 50 questions: all questions appeared 4 times—once with no clues, and 3 times with 1 to 3 clues. Ss were asked to answer the questions and to indicate on a scale of 0.5 to 1 how sure they were of their answers. The results were analyzed statistically according to sex, confidence level, and number of clues, using an analysis of variance (ANOVA). (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of a dietary screener for carbohydrate intake in endurance athletes

Background

Studies have shown that the majority of endurance athletes do not achieve the minimal recommended carbohydrate (CHO) intake of 6 g/kg of body weight (BW), with potentially negative impacts on recovery and performance. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a rapid and easy to use dietary screener to identify athletes who do and do not achieve a CHO intake >?6 g/kg BW in the context of endurance sports.

Methods

The dietary screener was developed using multiple logistic regression modeling of data from a sample of 1571 non-athlete adults (826 women and 745 men, mean age 44.75?±?14.2 years) among whom dietary intake was assessed using a validated web-based food frequency questionnaire (web-FFQ). Three models were developed based on whole food intake using the 5, 10 and 15 most significant variables predicting CHO intake. The three models were then validated in a target population of non-elite endurance athletes having taken part in multisport events (n =?175, 64 women and 111 men, mean age 37.1?±?11.3 years) and compared using sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively) and c-statistics.

Results

The 15-variables model provided significantly better accuracy in predicting CHO intake adequacy in non-elite endurance athletes (c-statistic?=?0.94) compared with the 10- and 5-variables model (c-statistic?=?0.90 and 0.71 respectively). The 15-variables model predicts CHO intake adequacy in the target population of endurance athlete with a sensitivity of 89.5%, a specificity of 87.3% and PPV and NPV of 77.3 and 94.5%, respectively.

Conclusion

We have successfully developed a short and valid dietary screener that identifies endurance athletes at risk of not achieving a CHO intake >?6 g/kg BW. Use of this rapid screener may help alleviate the highly prevalent issue of suboptimal CHO consumption in the endurance sports realm.

     

A review of methods to evaluate borehole thermal resistances in geothermal heat-pump systems

In the design of a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) system, the heat transfer from the fluid to the ground is influenced by the thermal borehole resistance between the fluid and the borehole surface and also by the interference resistance between the two (or four) pipes inside the borehole. Several authors have proposed empirical and theoretical relations to evaluate these resistances as well as methods to evaluate them experimentally. The paper compares the different approaches and proposes good practice to evaluate the resistances. The impact of the different approaches on the design of heat exchanger is also examined. Two-dimensional and fully three-dimensional numerical simulations are used to evaluate the different methods. A new method is also proposed to evaluate the borehole resistances from in situ tests.     

Recovery of magnesium and protein from soy tofu whey by electrodialytic configurations

Electrodialysis (ED), bipolar‐membrane electro‐acidification (BMEA), and a combination of ED followed by BMEA (ED+BMEA) were evaluated for magnesium (Mg) and protein recovery and electrical energy consumption when processing soy tofu whey that was manufactured using magnesium chloride as a protein coagulant. ED processing for 30 min and BMEA processing for 60 min recovered 18.4% and 14.3% of the soy tofu whey Mg respectively. BMEA processing for 60 min recovered 22.7% of the soy tofu whey protein. The combination of ED processing for 60 min followed by BMEA for 60 min recovered 65% and 34.7% of the soy tofu whey Mg and protein, respectively. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry