Re-examination of residual arousal as an explanation of aftereffects: Frustration tolerance versus response speed.

Three experiments, with 98 undergraduates, investigated the effects of increasing task difficulty and noise intensity on postnoise persistence on the Feather tolerance for frustration puzzles. In Exp I, greater persistence occurred both after exposure to moderate noise levels (55 db [A]) and an easy perceptual-motor task and after high noise levels (90 db [A]) and a more difficult task. The same pattern of persistence was obtained in Exp II, with more attempts to solve the Feather puzzles occurring after moderate noise and an easy cognitive task and after loud noise and a more difficult cognitive task. In Exp III, a modified Feather task was presented with instructions to determine solvability. A similar U-shaped relationship was obtained, with longer correct response times to unsolvable puzzles following low noise and high noise. Such aftereffect patterns are more easily explained as the result of residual arousal than of frustration tolerance. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowledge-based interpretation of architectural drawings

A method for machine interpretation of architectural (or other) schematic drawings is presented. The central problem is to build an efficient drawing parser (i.e., a program that identifies the semantic entities, characteristics, and relationships that are represented in the drawing). The parser is built from specifications of the drawing grammar and an underlying spatial model. The grammar describes what to look for, and the spatial model enables the parser to find it quickly. Coupled with existing optical recognition technology, this technique enables the use of drawings directly as: (1) a database to drive various Architecture-Engineering-Construction (AEC) applications; (2) a communication protocol to integrate CAD systems; (3) a traditional user interface.     

Analytical investigation of factors influencing power systemstabilizers performance

Results of simulations, designed to illustrate the influence of power system stabilizers (PSS) on inter-area and local oscillations in interconnected power systems, are reported. It is shown that the PSS location and the voltage characteristics of the system loads are significant factors in the ability of a PSS to increase the damping of interarea oscillations. It is also shown that an interaction between modes in two distinct parts of a power system is possible, due to resonance, and that this might cause distortions in mode shape and participation factors     

Theoretical Investigation of Metal Cladding for Nanowire and Cylindrical Micropost Lasers

We investigate the transverse modal properties of cylindrical subwavelength metal-clad nanowire and micropost lasers via rigorous theoretical waveguide analysis, including the effects of finite thickness metal cladding and gain in the core. The results of this analysis show that air-metal surface guided TM₀₁ and some hybrid surface guided modes suffer less loss but are less confined to the core, while core-metal surface guided modes are better confined to the core but suffer greater loss. An increase in the thickness of the metal cladding reduces the loss of the core-metal surface guided modes. The modal gain and confinement of the metal-clad cavity are compared to an unclad cavity.     

"I know, you know": Epistemic egocentrism in children and adults.

This article reviews the evidence and theory pertaining to a form of perspective-taking failure--a difficulty in setting aside the privileged information that one knows to be unavailable to another party. The authors argue that this bias (epistemic egocentrism, or EE) is a general feature of human cognition and has been tapped by 2 independent and largely uncommunicating research traditions: the theory-of-mind tradition in developmental psychology and, with more sensitive probes, the "heuristics and biases" tradition in the psychology of human judgment. This article sets the stage for facilitating communication between these traditions as well as for the recognition of EE's breadth and potential interdisciplinary significance. The authors propose a life-span account and a tentative taxonomy of EE; and they highlight the interdisciplinary significance of EE by discussing its implications for normative ethics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

建立基于模型设计文化的最佳策略

本文引入了基于模型设计的概念,突出了其中的一些优点,详细讨论了组织中采用基于模型设计文化的10个最佳策略。这些最佳策略从不同工业领域的公司中收集,包括向基于模型设计的成功或者不成功的过渡。     

Agricultural land-use change in Brazilian Amazônia between 1980 and 1995: Evidence from integrated satellite and census data

As cropland and pasture have replaced forest and cerrado in Brazilian Amazônia, concern has mounted over the effects of changing the biogeochemical and hydrological properties of one of the world's great storehouses of biomass and biodiversity. Although much recent effort has focused on the location, effects, and causes of deforestation and cerrado conversion, much less is known about the basin-wide spatial distribution and density of the land use following conversion for crops or pasture.In this paper, we use census and satellite records to develop maps of the distribution and abundance of major agricultural land uses across 4.5×10⁸ ha of Brazilian Amazônia in 1980 and 1995. Results indicate an overall expansion of 7.0×10⁶ ha in total agricultural area in Brazilian Amazônia between 1980 and 1995. The net change during this period is estimated for three different land-use types: croplands (an increase of 0.8×10⁶ ha), natural pastures (a decrease of 8.4×10⁶ ha), and planted pastures (an increase of 14.7×10⁶ ha). These estimates, the first spatially explicit quantifications of agricultural land-use activities in 1980 and 1995 across Brazilian Amazônia, are shown to be consistent with the results of applying a land use change and secondary regrowth model to published deforestation rates for the period.The resulting time slices, presented for each land-use category at 5-min (∼9 km) spatial resolution, allow for the quantification of land-use changes in this region for biogeochemical, demographic and economic models. Several foci of agricultural change existed within Brazilian Amazônia during this period: in the state of Pará, cropland was lost and planted pasture increased markedly; in Mato Grosso, both cropland and planted pasture increased; in Rondônia, planted pasture replacing forest was the primary route to agricultural expansion.     

The Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal, Self-Concept Consistency, and Well-Being.

Examination of the assumptions underlying consistency perspectives in social and personality psychology reveals that they are based on an independent, individualistic view of the self. If the self is constructed as relational or interdependent with others, consistency may be less important in social behavior and well-being. Using a variety of measures of well-being, the studies showed that there is a weaker relation between consistency and well-being for individuals with a highly relational self-construal than for those with a low relational self-construal. Study 3 examined the association between the self-construal, consistency, authenticity, and well-being. These findings reveal the importance of a cultural analysis of theories of the self, personality, and well-being for further theory development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)