The role of experience in the interpretation of noun–noun combinations

Gagné and Shoben’s (J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 23:71–87, 1997) Competition Among Relations In Nominals (CARIN) theory maintains that the interpretation of modifier-noun combinations is influenced primarily by how the modifying noun has been used in the past. As support for this theory, they found that modifiers typically associated with the instantiated relation are interpreted reliably faster than those whose modifiers are less frequently associated with the relation. The CARIN theory explains this phenomenon by proposing that people store statistical distributions regarding the frequency with which modifying nouns have combined with each relation in the past. However, we maintain that an association between relation frequency and response time does not imply a causal influence. In this study we explore whether the effects observed by Gagné and Shoben were caused by the influence of relation frequency per se. Two experiments were conducted in which experiential knowledge about the modifier was controlled. The first experiment involved combinations whose modifiers were relatively rare and the second involved the presentation of nouns without a modifier-head syntax. In both of these experiments, knowledge about historical modifier usage was irrelevant. Our results show that correlations between modifier preference and response time persist even in situations where a knowledge of the modifier’s history is not available. These findings provide converging evidence that the relationship between relation frequency and response time is not a causal one. Instead, an understanding of the relationship between modifier properties and usage, as appropriate to the given context, may be the dominant influence on interpretation in many circumstances. In light of this, we propose an alternative account of the factors influencing ease of interpretation.     

HDTV全球瞩目数字家电蓬勃发展

随着数字广播电视的发展与下一代光盘的问世,业内各有关厂家都期望北美的H D T V相关市场也能迅速兴旺起来。在年初举行的消费电子产品展览会“2005国际CES”上,以索尼公司为首的众多制造厂家与服务提供商都展出了H D T V相关产品,欲在市场上争得有利位置。各公司均强调要引领H     

A reanalysis of the CARIN theory of conceptual combination.

The competition among relations in nominals (CARIN) theory of conceptual combination (C. L. Gagné & E. J. Shoben, 1997) proposes that people interpret nominal compounds by selecting a relation from a pool of competing alternatives and that relation availability is influenced by the frequency with which relations have been previously associated with the modifying concept. The current authors derived relation frequencies by using a sample of compounds occurring in the British National Corpus and compared them with those derived by Gagné and Shoben. The authors demonstrated that the original relation frequencies are unrepresentative and that Gagne' and Shoben's technique for dichotomizing them into high and low is unreliable. In addition, the authors revealed anomalies in the mathematical instantiation of the CARIN model and showed that it does not provide evidence for competition among relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In-situ observations of low-cycle fatigue damage in cast AM60B magnesium in an environmental scanning electron microscope

We present in-situ observations of low-cycle fatigue damage in cast AM60B magnesium. The in-situ fatigue tests were conducted in an environmental scanning electron microscope under both high vacuum and 20 Torr of water vapor. In both environments, fatigue cracks were observed to form and grow within the dendrite cells and through the interdendritic regions. Crack formation and growth through the dendrite cells proceeded along persistent slip bands. The persistent slip bands were typically oriented at about 45 deg with respect to the loading axis and were more frequently observed in relatively large dendrite cells. Crack formation and growth through the Mg interdendritic regions, laden with Al-Mg intermetallic particles, was facilitated by slip incompatibilities in adjacent dendrite cells, microporosity, and damaged second-phase particles. The detectable “crack-formation” size at slip bands and within interdendritic regions was typically equivalent to the dendrite cell size (DCS), since cracks rapidly spanned this distance once nucleated. Cracks formed during cycling in vacuum were more uniformly distributed and showed a lack of complete closure upon unloading, in contrast to cracks formed during cycling in water vapor. The cracks formed in water vapor were much more isolated and showed indication of significant environmental attack and associated embrittlement at the crack tip, as evidenced by the near-perfect mating of crack faces upon unloading. Final fracture occurred by the coalescence of numerous cracks throughout the microstructure, distributed differently depending on the testing environment. The water-vapor environment accelerated the formation of selected, isolated cracks, leading to more localized damage compared to the highly distributed damage growth and coalescence observed in the material cycled in vacuum.     

Writing the palimpsest, again; Rozelle Bay and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games

The 2000 Olympic Games were a conduit for change in Sydney, including the construction of a super-yacht marina in Rozelle Bay. Using this marina as an entry point, notions of landscape/waterscape and environmental history (including the discourses of planning for the Olympic Games and maintaining a 'working harbour') are developed to explain what environmental changes have occurred, been rejected and why.     

Enhancement of the yield of high-quality ingots in the zone-melting growth of p-type bismuth telluride alloys

The influences of zone melting growth speed on the thermoelectric properties of p-type bismuth telluride alloys were investigated. When the growth speed was fast, thermoelectric properties were uniform along ingots, as the composition of the molten zone did not change significantly. On the other hand, when growth speed was slow, thermoelectric properties varied along ingots due to the change of the solidified composition determined by the composition of a molten zone. The maximum figure of merit appeared in the middle of an ingot grown at slow growth speed. In the present study, the molten zone leveling method was developed as an attempt to extend theregion with high figure of merit. The basic idea of the method was to preserve a uniform composition of liquid at the solid-liquid interface during growth of an ingot so as to obtain a uniform composition of precipitated solids. Ingots composed of two sections with different compositions were used to control the accumulation of Te within the molten zone. As a result, high figure of merit could be obtained over more than 90% of ingot when zone melting growth speed was slow.     

对日本5家大型半导体厂商的访谈

成长领域是半导体和原子能东芝东实执行副总裁兼CTO■2005年度的研发费用:3724亿日元(比上年增加7.0%)■在2005年的销售额中所占的比率:5.9%■2006年度的研发预算:3900亿日元--2007年招聘的工程师增加到2006年的2倍,约为1070人。东芝认为开拓新领域很重要,因此会增加研发费用及研发人员。这些研发人员主要集中在半导体及原子能发电领域。在半导体领域,东芝在四日市的NAND闪存工厂投资3000亿日元。2006年,该工厂成功地用56nm工艺开发出4值存储器,12月已经可以对外提供样品。东芝准备将其作为核心技术。     

Adaptive robotic assembly of compliant aero-structure components

The application of robotics to the assembly of large aero-structures has been limited by the large size and inherent compliance of the components involved. The compliance of the components is significant and simple ‘pick and place’ approaches cannot be used due to the inherent dimensional variability between mating parts. The research described in this paper aims to solve this problem by using a non-contact sensing system to measure part deformation and misalignment in real time. The acquired data can then be processed through a mathematical algorithm to calculate the relative component positions required for optimal assembly. The data can also be used to check gross distortion of components and to reject those outside the specification limits. Existing part-to-part holes were used to provide alignment for individual components within the structure. A series of experiments were performed to investigate the feasibility of the method. Results are presented along with a discussion of the problems that may be encountered during robotic assembly. The experimental results show that robots when combined with non-contact metrology can be used for the assembly of compliant aero-structure components within required tolerance limits.     

A molecular dynamics study of interfacial thermal transport in heterogeneous systems

Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics software was developed to study thermal transport at the nanoscale. Lennard–Jones parameters of pure argon (mass and bond strength) were systematically modified to create heterogeneous thin film systems, including layered systems and nanocomposites, to investigate the influence of interfaces on thermal conductivity. Results were analyzed using combinations of kinetic theory and a thermal resistance network model together with the acoustic mismatch model (AMM). The introduction of a second material into an argon film generally decreased its overall thermal conductivity. Moreover, the presence of a nanoparticle was less influential in reducing thermal conductivity than the addition of a thin layer.