Effects of role demands and test-cue properties on personality test performance: Replication and extension.

Replicated earlier findings by R. O. Kroger (see record 1967-10466-001), to test the hypothesis that the situation affects test performance by generating a set of role demands. 2 randomly constituted groups (N = 22 each) of community-college students described themselves on the SVIB, MA scale, and Welsh Figure Preference Test after being exposed to implicit social cues intended to induce differential role taking. Highly reliable, role-specific response differences were obtained on the 3 tests which increased when controls for accuracy of role perception and for test-cue properties were introduced. The previous results were successfully replicated over different Ss, different Es, and an additional test under conditions of improved control over extraneous variables. Findings are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis and as extending its generality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrostatic Spraying of Liquid Insulators

A method for generating drops of liquid insulators using electrostatic spraying is reported. This method differs from normal electrostatic spraying in the method of charging the liquid. A sharp needle placed in the liquid near the end of a capillary is raised to a high potential, thus injecting charge into the liquid. As the voltage is raised, a jet is formed electrostatically with the size of the jet decreasing with increasing voltage. A theoretical prediction of the jet radius as a function of current is obtained by finding the amount of electrical energy which goes into mechanical energy. Experimental results of the spraying of silicone oils are given and compared with the theory.     

System Design Method for a Load Commutated Inverter-Synchronous Motor Drive

In a thyristorized load commutated inverter synchronous motor drive system, the inverter relies on the back EMF of the synchronous motor to provide the reverse voltage for commutation. The level of the back EMF is a function of both the synchronous motor's field current and rotational speed. The inverter operating frequency is determined by the motor speed and number of pole pairs. For a fixed thyristor firing angle, an increase inmthe level of armature current decreases the available thyristor turn-off time due to overlap of the incoming and outgoing thyristor. This overlap time is a function of the commutating reactance of the synchronous motor. These factors, field current, motor speed, inverter frequency, and armature current, together with a thyristor turnoff time specification, set a maximum limit on the value of motor commutating reactance. The motor designer and inverter designer must perform a tradeoff study of these factors to arrive at a satisfactory drive system. The results are presented of an analysis that allows the synchronous motor reactance to be specified based on the other given parameters of the inverter-synchronous motor drive system. Test data are provided from a 20-kVA 500-1000 Hz load commutated inverter/ inductor type synchronous motor drive system. The effects of motor speed and field excitation on the operating condition of the drive are discussed.     

Essential iris atrophy, pigment dispersion, and glaucoma in DBA/2J mice

PURPOSE: To characterize ocular abnormalities associated with iris atrophy in DBA/2J mice and to determine whether mice of this strain develop elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma. METHODS: Different approaches, including slit-lamp biomicroscopy, ophthalmoscopic examination, ultrasound backscatter microscopy, and histology were used to examine the eyes of DBA/2J mice ranging from 2 to 30 months old. IOP was measured in DBA/2J mice of different ages. RESULTS: DBA/2J mice were found to develop pigment dispersion, iris transillumination, iris atrophy, anterior synechias, and elevated IOP. IOP was elevated in most mice by the age of 9 months. These changes were followed by the death of retinal ganglion cells, optic nerve atrophy, and optic nerve cupping. The prevalence and severity of these lesions increased with age. Optic nerve atrophy and optic nerve cupping was present in the majority of mice by the age of 22 months. CONCLUSIONS: DBA/2J mice develop a progressive form of secondary angle-closure glaucoma that appears to be initiated by iris atrophy and the associated formation of synechias. This mouse strain represents a useful model to evaluate mechanisms of pressure-related ganglion cell death and optic nerve atrophy, and to evaluate strategies for neuroprotection.     

Fast recognition of musical genres using RBF networks

This paper explores the automatic classification of audio tracks into musical genres. Our goal is to achieve human-level accuracy with fast training and classification. This goal is achieved with radial basis function (RBF) networks by using a combination of unsupervised and supervised initialization methods. These initialization methods yield classifiers that are as accurate as RBF networks trained with gradient descent (which is hundreds of times slower). In addition, feature subset selection further reduces training and classification time while preserving classification accuracy. Combined, our methods succeed in creating an RBF network that matches the musical classification accuracy of humans. The general algorithmic contribution of this paper is to show experimentally that RBF networks initialized with a combination of methods can yield good classification performance without relying on gradient descent. The simplicity and computational efficiency of our initialization methods produce classifiers that are fast to train as well as fast to apply to novel data. We also present an improved method for initializing the k-means clustering algorithm, which is useful for both unsupervised and supervised initialization methods.     

Residual stress in polymers—evaluation of measurement techniques

A comparative assessment has been made of techniques for evaluating residual stress in polymers. Emphasis was placed on the layer removal and hole-drilling methods. A more speculative approach, the chemical probe technique, using the sensitivity of the threshold stress for environment stress cracking to particular chemicals, has been developed to characterize near-surface stresses. Measurements were made for polycarbonate, filled and unfilled acrylo-nitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and nylon. The materials had been processed by two distinct routes designed to generate different levels of residual stress. The layer removal technique gave the most consistent results for the stress distribution through the thickness but is time-consuming and limited to flat plates. The hole drilling method is potentially more flexible in determining the residual stress in more complex geometries because the measurement is over a small area only. However, although reasonable agreement with the layer removal technique was found for the same principal axis, the values of residual stress calculated for the other principal axis appeared conceptually unreasonable. The chemical probe technique has potential but uncertainty in the quantification of residual stress can arise if significant environment-enhanced relaxation occurs.     

Do Images of Biskyrmions Show Type‐II Bubbles?

The intense research effort investigating magnetic skyrmions and their applications for spintronics has yielded reports of more exotic objects including the biskyrmion, which consists of a bound pair of counter‐rotating vortices of magnetization. Biskyrmions have been identified only from transmission electron microscopy images and have not been observed by other techniques, nor seen in simulations carried out under realistic conditions. Here, quantitative Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray holography, and micromagnetic simulations are combined to search for biskyrmions in MnNiGa, a material in which they have been reported. Only type‐I and type‐II magnetic bubbles are found and images purported to show biskyrmions can be explained as type‐II bubbles viewed at an angle to their axes. It is not the magnetization but the magnetic flux density resulting from this object that forms the counter‐rotating vortices.     

Reduction of CO2-laser-induced thermal lensing in CS2with a DC electric field

Reduction of CO2-laser-induced thermal lensing in liquid CS2by the application of a dc electric field is reported. The electric field is found to destroy the effect of natural convection on the thermal lens and induce convection patterns dependent upon field orientation that enhance heat transfer and reduce the negative lensing effect. The experimental results are found to be consistent with calculations of electric forces present in fluids with a radially decreasing electrical conductivity.