Competence and responsibility in intelligent systems

The capabilities of Artificial Intelligence have increased dramatically over the last decade. We can now contemplate the use of automation in tasks which were previously considered the exclusive domain of human professionals. Such a possibility raises new legal issues. This paper argues the need for finding methods of assessing the competence of such systems in order to assign responsibility for their actions.     

Dynamic effects of turbocharging on adaptive speed control ofdiesel driven power-plants

The adaptive control scheme introduced by S. Roy et al. (1991) for naturally aspirated diesel prime-movers has been applied to turbocharged generation plants. The performance has been studied in comparison to that of a fixed PI (proportional plus integral) controller. It is seen that since the nonlinear effect of air dynamics now affects the dynamic fuel consumption, the turbocharger is a major determinant of the adaptive controller performance. Furthermore, the performance is found to have a very significant effect due to the droop. It can in general be concluded that the turbocharger inertia should be low for high-droop operations. However, despite this predominant factor, the adaptive scheme can achieve good improvement over the conventional controller     

PC-Based product-selection systems to enhance fire safety in construction

Growing use of PCs in offices has been accompanied by increasing dependence on these systems to accomplish construction/specification and CAD-based design tasks. The combination of product performance and characteristic data with PC-based data storage and retrieval techniques is a newly developed example of this. Storage techniques utilized range from floppy disks on single systems through those loaded to hard disks or ROM systems, such as compact disks containing hundreds of megabytes of information. The combination of artificial intelligence techniques to aid the specifier are particularly useful where complex code-mandated fire performance requirements exist. Using through penetration fire-stopping technology as an example illustrates how such technology can assist architects, designers and specifiers. Computer workstations—both PCs and Macs—are increasingly finding their way into the design and specification work implicit in constructing buildings. Because of the growing complexity of requirements for fire performance of these structures, use of computer-based systems to aid in choosing the right components to maintain fire safety levels makes good sense. Coupling artificial intelligence approaches—i.e. quasi-expert systems—to selection of such products with viewing of drawings can reduce design professionals' work loads and provide increased advantages for designers, specifiers, enforcement officials and product manufacturers and marketers.     

The socioecological model of procommunity action: The benefits of residential stability.

The authors conducted 3 studies to test a socioecological model of procommunity action. Study 1 showed that residents of stable communities purchased a "critical habitat" license plate to support preservation of the environment in their home state more often than did residents of mobile communities. Study 2 demonstrated that home game baseball attendance was less dependent on the team's record in stable cities than in mobile cities. Study 3, an experiment, showed that residential stability had a causal impact on procommunity behavior. Moreover, the effect of stability was partially mediated by identification with the "community." Together, these studies indicate that residential stability can lead to stronger identification with one's community, which, in turn, leads to more procommunity behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developments in the Analysis of Extensions of Time

Construction projects frequently suffer from delays and are completed later than agreed on by the contracting parties. Substantial financial claims can arise from these circumstances and consequently, employer and contractor often argue about the causes of and liability for the delayed circumstances. Methods of analysis have been developed over the past 2 decades to assist the investigation of project delays and in the assessment of causation and allocation of liability. This paper examines some of the methods being used and assesses their evidential value.     

Double replacement gene targeting for the production of a series of mouse strains with different prion protein gene alterations

We have developed a double replacement gene targeting strategy which enables the production of a series of mouse strains bearing different subtle alterations to endogenous genes. This is a two-step process in which a region of the gene of interest is first replaced with a selectable marker to produce an inactivated allele, which is then re-targeted with a second vector to reconstruct the inactivated allele, concomitantly introducing an engineered mutation. Five independent embryonic stem cell lines have been produced bearing different targeted alterations to the prion protein gene, including one which raises the level of expression. We have constructed mice bearing the codon 101 proline to leucine substitution linked to the human familial prion disease, Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome. We anticipate that this procedure will have applications to the study of human inherited diseases and the development of therapies.     

Object-based facilitation and inhibition from visual orienting in the human split-brain.

Object-based attention was examined in 2 split-brain patients. A precued object could move within a visual field or cross the midline to the opposite field. Normal individuals show an inhibition in detecting signals in the cued object whether it moves within or between fields. Both patients showed this effect when the cued object moved within a visual field. When it crossed the midline into the opposite visual field, however, detection was faster in the cued box. These results reveal both facilitatory and inhibitory effects on attention that are object based and may last for several hundred milliseconds. However, the inhibition requires an intact corpus callosum for interhemispheric transfer, whereas the facilitation is transferred subcortically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Data Consistency Conundrum: Deferred Versus Immediate Checking

To protect the referential integrity of their data, users of data base management systems (DBMSs) can select one of two ways to check the consistency of their data bases. This column discusses the advantages of each of these methods-immediate checking and deferred checking - and their importance to referential integrity.     

Effects of time of testing, stress level, and number of conditioning days on naloxone sensitivity of conditioned stress-induced analgesia in rats.

In 2 experiments, an anticipatory conditioned stimulus/stimuli (CS) and a shock-associated CS were used. Duration of exposure to the anticipatory CS was long, as in studies reporting opioid conditioned stress-induced analgesia (CSIA), whereas duration of shock-associated CS was short, as in nonopioid CSIA. Effects of unconditioned stimulus/stimuli (UCS) strength were investigated by using 3 levels of footshock, and the development of CSIA was monitored by using different levels of training (1–6 days). CSIA, measured in both anticipatory and postexposure test periods, was found to be relatively stable across tail-flick trials within days and insensitive to strength of shock. As training progressed, CSIA increased with repeated CS–UCS pairings. We tested for opioid involvement using naloxone and found opioid and nonopioid mechanisms underlying CSIA; these mechanisms combined to form a stable level of analgesia. Data suggest that stress level and amount of training interact to activate opioid and nonopioid mechanisms of CSIA. Discrepancies in previous studies regarding naloxone sensitivity may be attributable to differences in stress levels, test periods, and durations of exposure to shock-related cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)