The Structure of Goal Contents Across 15 Cultures.

The authors investigated the structure of goal contents in a group of 1,854 undergraduates from 15 cultures around the world. Results suggested that the 11 types of goals the authors assessed were consistently organized in a circumplex fashion across the 15 cultures. The circumplex was well described by positing 2 primary dimensions underlying the goals: intrinsic (e.g., self-acceptance, affiliation) versus extrinsic (e.g., financial success, image) and self-transcendent (e.g., spirituality) versus physical (e.g., hedonism). The circumplex model of goal contents was also quite similar in both wealthier and poorer nations, although there were some slight cross-cultural variations. The relevance of these results for several theories of motivation and personality are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of flow patterns in horizontal two-phase pipe flow

A new concept of a sequence of plots is used for the separation of flow regimes in two-phase flow. The empirical correlations themselves are based on extensive tabulations of flow-type data from the AGA-API Data Bank. Provided these data and the tabulations are accurate, the accuracy of the proposed method is better than 5%. The accuracy for any separation can easily be obtained from the information given. The probability of being able to separate flow types by the various correlations was determined and used to select the best correlations. In actual use, there will be times when a complete separation cannot be made. However, one will know this and be able to say that the flow is one of two or, rarely, more types.     

Autoxidation of fatty materials in emulsion. II. Factors affecting the histidine-catalyzed autoxidation of emulsified methyl linoleate

Several factors which affect autoxidation of methyl linoleate in emulsion have been examined. Data are presented which indicate: 1) In the presence of histidine, the ionic (anionic) emulsifiers examined promote autoxidation of emulsified methyl linoleate, but nonionic emulsifiers do not. 2) The concentration of an emulsifier affects the rate of oxygen absorption. 3) Inorganic salts (0.1 M or less) such as sodium chloride, sodium acetate and sodium sulfate affect oxygen absorption of emulsified methyl linoleate prepared with either ionic or nonionic emulsifiers. In histidine-catalyzed autoxidation there is a suppressing effect in the case of the ionic and a promotional effect in the case of the nonionic. In uncatalyzed autoxidation, these salts have a promotional effect in ionic emulsions and none in nonionic emulsions. 4) Sodium phosphate buffers completely suppress autoxidation due to histidine catalysis, but do not suppress the normal uncatalyzed autoxidation of emulsified methyl linoleate. 5) The pro-oxidative effects of histidine and histidine-metal ion complexes on emulsified unsaturated materials is not limited to polyolefins but also includes mono-olefinic compounds. Presented at the AOCS meeting in Toronto, October, 1962. E. Utiliz. Res. and Dev. Div., ARS, USDA.     

基于发电机对暂态势能集的电力系统暂态稳定快速评估

基于传统暂态能量函数方法,以简单3机3节点系统推导出一种基于发电机对暂态势能的系统暂态势能函数表达式。该暂态势能计算函数不需要全系统的网络拓扑参数或故障位置信息,仅需实时采集系统中少量的发电机机端电气状态量,计算方法简单有效。基于该发电机对暂态势能定义了受扰严重机组判别指标集,利用该指标的聚集特性在故障清除后极短时间内辨识系统的主导失稳模式,根据临界机组分群结果采用EEAC法快速计算当前故障模式下的系统暂态稳定裕度。IEEE 3机9节点、新英格兰10机39节点系统、某省级实际电网算例结果验证了该方法的正确性和有效性。     

Aberrant protein expression in plasma and kidney tissue during experimental obstructive nephropathy

Kidney failure is a major health problem worldwide. Patients with end-stage renal disease require intensive medical support by dialysis or kidney transplantation. Current methods for diagnosis of kidney disease are either invasive or insensitive, and renal function may decline by as much as 50% before it can be detected using current techniques. The goal of this study was, therefore, to identify biomarkers of kidney disease (associated with renal fibrosis) that can be used for the development of a non-invasive clinical test for early disease detection. We utilized two protein-profiling technologies (SELDI-TOF MS and 2-D) to screen the plasma and kidney proteome for aberrantly expressed proteins in an experimental mouse model of unilateral uretric obstruction, which mimics the pathology of human renal disease. Several differentially regulated proteins were detected at the plasma level of day-3-obstructed animals, which included serum amyloid A1, fibrinogen α, haptoglobin precursor protein, haptoglobin and major urinary proteins 11 and 8. Differentially expressed proteins detected at the tissue level included ras-like activator protein 2, haptoglobin precursor protein, malate dehydrogenase, α enolase and murine urinary protein (all p<0.05 versus controls). Immunohistochemistry was used to confirm the up-regulation of fibrinogen. Interestingly, these proteins are largely separated into four major classes: (i) acute-phase reactants (ii) cell-signaling molecules (iii) molecules involved in cell growth and metabolism and (iv) urinary proteins. These results provide new insights into the pathology of obstructive nephropathy and may facilitate the development of specific assay(s) to detect and monitor renal fibrosis.     

Electronic window dressing: impression management with Websites

Businesses have embraced the Internet to reap economic advantages through the use of Websites. Most Website design guidelines fail to address issues of branding and identity formation, focusing instead on concerns adapted from previous technologies. However, many firms are not getting their desired results from the Website investments they have made following design guidelines reflecting graphic layout and system usability issues. We suggest that Websites should be considered ‘electronic storefronts’ or public work areas providing frames of symbolic representations that create impressions of their sponsoring firms. Our exploratory study shows that Websites influence potential customers' impressions of firms' legitimacy, innovation and caring, and that these impressions vary significantly across firms and industries. Website visitors encounter symbols that are compared to mental models stored in memory and used to form impressions of the site and to draw inferences about the firm. These inferences have previously been found to influence purchasing behavior. Designers should be cognizant of these aspects of e-Business and executives should recognize the power of Web-based impression management. Identity management must take center stage in creating a Web presence.     

The elastic behaviour of Ce3S4 and La3S4

The hydrostatic pressure and temperature dependences of the elastic stiffnesses of the cubic, Th₃P₄ structure compounds Ce₃S₄ and La₃S₄ have been measured using the ultrasonic pulse echo overlap technique. Although Ce₃S₄, unlike La₃S₄ (T _c = 103 K), does not undergo a phase transition when its temperature is lowered to 16 K, its elastic stiffnesses (C₁₁-C₁₂)/2 and C₁₁ soften with decreasing temperature (in a similar manner but less markedly than those of La₃S₄); this lattice instability indicates an incipient phase transition. In both compounds the elastic constants increase under pressure: the long-wavelength acoustic-mode Grüneisen parameters are all positive, and the application of pressure does not induce acoustic phonon-mode softening.