Can Robots Manifest Personality?: An Empirical Test of Personality Recognition,Social Responses,and Social Presence in Human–Robot Interaction

Personality is an essential feature for creating socially interactive robots. Studies on this dimension will facilitate enhanced human–robot interaction (HRI). Using AIBO, a social robotic pet developed by Sony, we examined the issue of personality in HRI. In this gender-balanced 2 (AIBO personality: introvert vs. extrovert) by 2 (participant personality: introvert vs. extrovert) between-subject experiment (N = 48), we found that participants could accurately recognize a robot's personality based on its verbal and nonverbal behaviors. In addition, various complementarity attraction effects were found in HRI. Participants enjoyed interacting with a robot more when the robot's personality was complementary to their own personalities than when the robot's personality was similar to their own personalities. The same complementarity attraction effect was found in participants' evaluation of the robot's intelligence and social attraction. Participants' feelings of social presence during the interaction were a significant mediator for the complementarity attraction effects observed. Practical and theoretical implications of the current study for the design of social robots and the study of HRI were discussed.     

我国水库移民工作经验分析与对策探讨

水库移民是一项对水利水电事业发展极为重要的复杂工程。文章阐述了工程移民安置的几点经验和教训,对移民过程中出现的问题进行分析并提出具体的解决方案。     

Impact of Aspen Log Storage with and without Protection on OSB Performance

Outdoor log storage without protection can change the mechanical and chemical properties of wood due to infection by various fungi. To understand how outdoor log storage affects the wood and, subsequently, the strandboard quality, two piles of aspen logs were set up outside and stored for a period of four months (July to November). One of the piles was treated with a biological solution to prevent fungal growth. The other one was stored without treatment. Both piles contained non-debarked and partially debarked logs. Evaluation of sap stain development indicated that all logs had been colonized by staining fungi with average stain coverage of 9.37 to 57.18% and maximum stain penetration of 3.58 to 7.27 cm over the log cross section. The variation of fungal colonization depended on log treatment and bark condition. The most effective way to prevent stain growth was the combination of biological treatment and partial debarking. A series of strandboard was prepared from fresh and aged aspen logs. All boards made from stored logs were statistically comparable to or superior to the control boards made from fresh aspen logs. The boards made from treated/partially debarked and untreated/non-debarked logs were statistically comparable to each other except for wet MOR. In addition, these two board types were statistically stronger than other boards made from treated/non-debarked and untreated/partially debarked logs in terms of IB and water resistance. Some individual stained strands were observed on the finished board surface. Less staining was found in the boards prepared from biologically treated and partially debarked logs, compared with those made from other stored logs.     

A PIN diode controlled variable attenuator using a 0-dB branch-line coupler

We describe a simple PIN diode controlled variable attenuator that employs a 0-dB branch line directional coupler. The response of the attenuator was measured between 1.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz. At the center frequency, the attenuation monotonically varied from 0.7 dB to 23 dB with the control voltage, and the distributed branch-line coupler structure resulted in low input reflection. Our attenuator is easier to design, smaller in area than a double hybrid coupled attenuator, and has comparable or better reflection and attenuation performance characteristics.     

Structure evolution of conductive polymer composites revealed by solvent vapor induced time-dependent percolation

The authors of this paper synthesized a series of amphiphilic triblock copolymers of polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene glycol)-b-polystyrene (PS-PEG-PS) having different PEG/PS ratios with nearly identical molecular weights of the entire copolymers. The interfacial interactions in the composites consisting of carbon black and the copolymers can thus be tailored. When these conducting composites are exposed to certain solvent vapors, their electrical resistances greatly increase, showing the gas sensitivity. The present work indicated that this switching behavior is controlled by the structural relaxation of the composites because matrix swelling acts as the main mechanism. The response time has been correlated with absolute temperature by Arrhenius equation, and the estimated activation energy reflects mobility of the fillers involved in the solvent induced expansion of the surrounding polymer. Therefore, by using the gas sensibility of the conductive composites, the structure evolution of the composite materials in solid state and the effect of filler/matrix interfacial interaction on the relaxation property of the matrix polymer has been inspected. It was found that lower activation energy represents stronger interfacial interaction in case good solvent of the matrix was used for the test.     

高度有序多孔氧化铝模板的制备工艺与生长机制的研究

采用二次氧化法制备出高度有序的多孔氧化铝模板，结合扫描电镜和原子力显微镜对其结构、形貌进行观察和表征。研究了铝箔预处理和温度等对多孔氧化铝模板孔洞有序性的影响，讨论了有序孔洞的自组织生长机理。     

ARCGIS环境下基于DEM的流域特征提取

研究选取位于陕西省延安城南12 km处的万花乡向阳沟小流域。采用1∶10000大比例尺的比例尺5 m分辨率的DEM作为基本的地形数据,应用ESR I公司开发的ARCG IS地理信息系统软件进行流域特征的提取。经分析得到了研究区域河网特征以及研究区其它常用的流域特征信息,与实际河流水系特征基本吻合,认为应用DEM划分的流域结果是合理的。     

Lactic acid production from dining‐hall food waste by Lactobacillus plantarum using response surface methodology

BACKGROUND: Food waste generally has a high starch content and is rich in nutritional compounds, including lipids and proteins. It therefore represents a potential renewable resource. In this study, dining‐hall food waste was used as a substrate for lactic acid production, and response surface methodology was employed to optimise the fermentation conditions. RESULTS: Lactic acid biosynthesis was significantly affected by the interaction of protease and temperature. Protease, temperature and CaCO₃ had significant linear effects on lactic acid production, while α‐amylase and yeast extract had insignificant effects. The optimal conditions were found to be an α‐amylase activity of 13.86 U g^?1 dried food waste, a protease activity of 2.12 U g^?1 dried food waste, a temperature of 29.31 °C and a CaCO₃ concentration of 62.67 g L^?1, which resulted in a maximum lactic acid concentration of 98.51 g L^?1 (88.75% yield). An increase in inoculum size would be appropriate for accelerating the depletion of initial soluble carbohydrate to enhance the efficiency of α‐amylase in dining‐hall food waste fermentation. CONCLUSION: A suitable regression model for lactic acid production was developed based on the experimental results. Dining‐hall food waste was found to be a good substrate for lactic acid fermentation with high product yield and without nutrient supplementation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

氧气顶吹转炉吹炼过程动态模型

通过炉气流量和成分的在线采样信息，用积分法计算熔池排出碳量，并根据熔炼体系中碳的守恒，动态推算熔池含碳量，由此来预报吹炼终点。较深入研究了提高炉气流量检测精度的方法，如心平衡修正和钢液成分反馈修正等，并采用了滤波算法，这些措施有利于提高动态模型的精度。     

劣化环丁砜再生技术的工业应用

为解决国内外环丁砜抽提芳烃工艺中环丁砜的劣化问题，在不添加单乙醇胺的前提下，采用阴离子交换树脂处理劣化的环丁砜，可使系统的pH值从3．4升到5．5左右，离子交换树脂需30d左右再生一次，降低了设备的腐蚀，减少了装置的堵塞，使系统运行稳定，取得了可观的社会效益和经济效益。