The role of occlusion in the perception of depth, lightness, and opacity.

A theory is presented that explains how the visual system infers the lightness, opacity, and depth of surfaces from stereoscopic images. It is shown that the polarity and magnitude of image contrast play distinct roles in surface perception, which can be captured by 2 principles of perceptual inference. First, a contrast depth asymmetry principle articulates how the visual system computes the ordinal depth and lightness relationships from the polarity of local, binocularly matched image contrast. Second, a global transmittance anchoring principle expresses how variations in contrast magnitudes are used to infer the presence of transparent surfaces. It is argued that these principles provide a unified explanation of how the visual system computes the 3-D surface structure of opaque and transparent surfaces. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology.

Presents the 2003 APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology. A list of the members of the APA committee who selected the recipients for this year and a list of the previous recipients of this award from 1973 through 2003 are provided. The award recipients for 2003 are Stephen J. Ceci and Elizabeth F. Loftus. The award citation, biography, selected bibliography and the award addresses for both award recipients are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

服务器系统的安全配置

为确保服务器的安全,在安装Windows2000系统时,对硬盘分区、组件和管理应用程序及安装顺序的选择应引起足够的注意。文章对Windows2000系统的补丁和安全配置的方法也作了必要说明。     

可持续发展战略指导下的轨道交通规划与评价

提出了轨道交通规划与评价在实施可持续发展战略过程中需要研究的问题，研究重点是轨道交通规划与评价方法体系和环境对策，研究了轨道交通规划目标的变化、轨道交通规划优化决策理论与方法、轨道交通规划中的环境影响评价、城市轨道交通网络的合理规划、城际轨道交通——客运专线/高速铁路线路基本走向的规划、轨道交通规划可持续发展的评价指标体系概念框架、轨道交通系统可持续发展的能力建设问题等，并通过实例验证了所建立的理论方法体系和模型体系；不仅进行了有关理论和方法的探讨，而且以面向实际应用为目标，开发了相应的软件系统，为轨道交     

Object-oriented DBMS requirements

The requirements on an object-oriented DBMS for management of information in a large, complex enterprise are presented. These requirements aid in the achievement of an environment characterized by data sharing, open architectures, application and data portability, and assurance of data integrity. They were defined from the point of view of a user of the DBMS; therefore they describe the expected functionality of the DBMS and do not specify the method of implementation to achieve this functionality. They encompass requirements on the data model, query and data manipulation languages, the system architecure, interfaces to the system, change management, and transaction management.     

再谈历代状元知多少

本文对发表于2001年的《历代状元知多少》一文所提供的历代状元统计数进行了补充修正，历代应有状元总数原为886人，现为914人；历代可考知姓名的状元原为674人，现为682人；多少知道一点生平事迹的原为507人，现为531人。     

1978年前我国高校工农阶层子女入学优惠政策研究

从高校招生的演变历史看，中国在1978年以前对工农阶层子女实行高校入学优惠政策主要源于国家对这一阶层的特殊偏好而实行平均主义分配政策所致。国家通过报考资格政策、优先录取政策和免试推荐入学政策人为地大幅度提高了工农阶层子女在高校大学生中所占的比例。从公平视角看，这项政策不仅违背了公平原则，而且降低了人才选拔的质量。     

Numerical simulation of typical contact situations of brake friction materials

In the paper, a model typical for contact situations of automotive brakes is established based on the method of movable cellular automata. The processes taking place at local contacts in an automotive brake system are analysed. Based on microscopic and micro-analytical observations, the following contact situations were simulated: (i) a couple of ferritic steel against pearlitic steel, both covered by an oxide layer mixed with graphite nanoparticles and (ii) the same situation but without oxide layers. The results of calculated mean coefficients of friction of the oxide-on-oxide contact correspond well to expected values for a real braking system, whereas steel-on-steel contact are twice as high. This allows one to make some conclusions; for example, oxide formation will take place more quickly than friction layer elimination, and finally this is responsible for the stabilisation of the coefficient of friction.     

Adaptive user modelling in intelligent telephone and email assistants

With the burgeoning complexity and capabilities of modern information appliances and services, user modelling is becoming an increasingly important research area. Simple user profiles already personalise many software products and consumer goods such as digital TV recorders and mobile phones. A user model should be easy to initialise, and it must adapt in the light of interaction with the user. In many cases, a large amount of training data is needed to generate a user model, and adaptation is equivalent to retraining the system. This paper briefly outlines the user modelling problem and work done at BTexact on an intelligent personal assistant (IPA) which incorporates a user profile. We go on to describe FILUM, a more flexible method of user modelling, and show its application to the telephone assistant and email assistant components of the IPA, with tests to illustrate its usefulness.     

Influence of ethyl methacrylate content on the volume‐phase transition of temperature‐sensitive poly[(N‐isopropylacrylamide)‐co‐(ethyl methacrylate)] microgels

A novel series of temperature‐sensitive poly[(N‐isopropylacrylamide)‐co‐(ethyl methacrylate)] (p(NIPAM‐co‐EMA)) microgels was prepared by the surfactant‐free radical polymerization of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) with ethyl methacrylate (EMA). The shape, size dispersity and volume‐phase transition behavior of the microgels were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The transmission electron micrographs and DLS results showed that microgels with narrow distributions were prepared. It was shown from UV–Vis, DLS and DSC measurements that the volume‐phase transition temperature (VPTT) of the p(NIPAM‐co‐EMA) microgels decreased with increasing incorporation of EMA, but the temperature‐sensitivity was impaired when more EMA was incorporated, causing the volume‐phase transition of the microgels to become more continuous. It is noteworthy that incorporation of moderate amounts of EMA could not only lower the VPTT but also enhance the temperature‐sensitivity of the microgels. The reason for this phenomenon could be attributed to changes in the complicated interactions between the various molecules. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry