Review of Devenir consultant: instrument autogéré de formation (Module d'apprentissage I et Dossier d'intervention II).

Reviews the book, Devenir consultant: instrument autogéré de formation (Module d'apprentissage I et Dossier d'intervention II by Robert Robert Lescarbeau, Maurice Rayette, and Yves St-Arnaud (1985). This book is a pedagogic tool intended to facilitate the consultation training. It is composed of two handbooks. The first, Modules of Training, constitute the basic text. The second, File of Intervention, are a collection of relevant instruments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of stringent boundary conditions on the solution of a transient heat conduction problem

A notation system is proposed for the writing of the finite difference equations related to a conduction heat transfer problem in a composite medium with variable thermal properties. An example is worked out with Euler explicit, Euler implicit and Crank-Nicolson methods. Special care is taken of the conductivity expression and an analysis shows the importance of using mean conductivity values around the nodes especially when stringent Dirichlet boundary conditions are imposed.     

Résolution d’un problème d’affectation à l’aide d’une procédure de réarrangement

The problem of allocating a certain number of resources and working out their time schedule to flow a given traffic in a minimum time (under certain constraints) is considered. Unlike other algorithms, which work out the solution from rather long manipulations of the matrix traffic, we use a simple assignement heuristic and solve the very few conflicts through a fast and easy rearranging process. This technique allows a dynamic adjustment to an evolution of the traffic matrix.     

Part I: A computer program for the simulation of telecommunication systems: application to optical transmission systems

The conception and analysis of optical transmission systems employing various optical devices (semiconductor lasers, optical fibre, optical amplifiers, photo-diodes,…) require the support supplied by simulation software dedicated to the new components. The objective of thecnet/ipsis collaboration is to respond to this need. In this first article we present the simulation tools which characterize the quality of a digital transmission system, as well as the modelling of the optical elements. In order to show its full range of capabilities in the optical domain, a second article describes the results obtained from the simulation of digital transmission system using wavelength multiplexing.     

Informed consent: The effects of clarity and specificity on disclosure in a clinical interview.

Replicated and extended the findings of T. Muehleman et al (1985) that informing clients of the limits of confidentiality is not necessarily detrimental to disclosure. 32 single mothers (approximate mean age 34 yrs) were assigned to 1 of 3 groups receiving an informed consent form prior to a clinical interview. The forms differed in the amount of specificity and clarity of information pertaining to the limits to confidentiality. Results indicate that when the limits to confidentiality were conveyed in a clear and specific manner, there was no decrease in disclosure. Contrary to these findings, 27 clinical psychologists who were surveyed predicted that increasing clarity and specificity of information concerning the limits to confidentiality would lead to decreased disclosure by the interviewees. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conditioned emotional distress in women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer.

This study investigated whether women undergoing outpatient chemotherapy for breast cancer can develop classically conditioned emotional distress. Women scheduled to begin chemotherapy were randomly assigned either to an experimental group (exposed to a distinctive stimulus before each chemotherapy infusion) or a control group. After repeated infusions of chemotherapy, patients' responses to the distinctive stimulus were assessed in a location not associated with chemotherapy administration. At the test trial, experimental group patients showed evidence of increased emotional distress (self-reported on a visual analog scale) after the presentation of the distinctive stimulus, whereas control group patients did not. Post hoc analyses indicated that these increases in distress were not secondary to other conditioned responses (e.g., nausea, taste aversion). Thus, results supported the hypothesis that the pairing of a distinctive stimulus with chemotherapy would result in the development of a conditioned emotional response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using Subdivision on Hierarchical Data to Reconstruct Radiosity Distribution

Computing global illumination by finite element techniques usually generates a piecewise constant approximation of the radiosity distribution on surfaces. Directly displaying such scenes generates artefacts due to discretization errors. We propose to remedy this drawback by considering the piecewise constant output to be samples of a (piecewise) smooth function in object space and reconstruct this function by applying a binary subdivision scheme. We design custom taylored subdivision schemes with quadratic precision for the efficient refinement of cell- or pixel-type data. The technique naturally allows to reconstruct functions from non-uniform samples which result from adaptive binary splitting of the original domain (quadtree). This type of output is produced, e.g., by hierarchical radiosity algorithms. The result of the subdivision process can be mapped as a texture on the respective surface patch which allows to exploit graphics hardware for considerably accelerating the display.     

Le dialogue homme- machine en langue naturelle : un défi ?

The implementation of a natural language manmachine dialogue in a data base or knowledge base query system is a difficult task. We present hereafter three different approaches to this problem : dialog modeling, exemplified through a linguistic scheme and several computational implementations ; the cooperation principles in a dialog and their associated algorithms ; and, lastly, the artificial intelligence approach based on speech acts theory and the techniques for generating and recognizing plans. We conclude by assessing the possible use of current speech processing techniques and by listing still unsolved problems.