Differential effects of cue changes and task changes on task-set selection costs.

A task-switching paradigm with a 2:1 mapping between cues and tasks was used to separate cue-switching processes (indexed through pure cue-switch costs) from actual task-switching processes (indexed through additional costs in case of cue and task changes). A large portion of total switch costs was due to cue changes (Experiments 1 and 2), and cue-switch costs but not task-switch costs were sensitive to effects of practice (Experiment 1) and preparation (Experiment 2). In contrast, task-switch costs were particularly sensitive to response-priming effects (Experiments 1 and 2) and task-set inhibition (Experiment 3). Results suggest two processing stages relevant during task-set selection: cue-driven retrieval of task rules from long-term memory and the automatic application of rules to a particular stimulus situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of stimulus emotionality and sentence generation on memory for words in adults with unilateral brain damage.

Does sentence generation and/or stimulus emotionality enhance verbal memory in patients with neurological impairment? This question was addressed by testing 40 patients with unilateral stroke (20 with left-brain and 20 with right-brain damage) and 20 healthy control participants for recall and recognition of 48 target words. During encoding, emotional and nonemotional words were either presented in sentences (read condition) or used to form sentences (generate condition). Both word emotionality and generative processing improved memory performance in all groups. The authors suggest that a similar influence (i.e., cognitive activation) underlies both of these memory-enhancing effects, although the putative origins of the 2 effects are quite different. Neuropsychological underpinnings and clinical implications of these phenomena are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling of Temperature–Frequency Correlation Using Combined Principal Component Analysis and Support Vector Regression Technique

A good understanding of environmental effects on structural modal properties is essential for reliable performance of vibration-based damage diagnosis methods. In this paper, a method of combining principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector regression (SVR) technique is proposed for modeling temperature-caused variability of modal frequencies for structures instrumented with long-term monitoring systems. PCA is first applied to extract principal components from the measured temperatures for dimensionality reduction. The predominant feature vectors in conjunction with the measured modal frequencies are then fed into a support vector algorithm to formulate regression models that may take into account thermal inertia effect. The research is focused on proper selection of the hyperparameters to obtain SVR models with good generalization performance. A grid search method with cross validation and a heuristic method are utilized for determining the optimal values of SVR hyperparameters. The proposed method is compared with the method directly using measurement data to train SVR models and the multivariate linear regression (MLR) method through the use of long-term measurement data from a cable-stayed bridge. It is shown that PCA-compressed features make the training and validation of SVR models more efficient in both model accuracy and computational costs, and the formulated SVR model performs much better than the MLR model in generalization performance. When continuously measured data is available, the SVR model formulated taking into account thermal inertia effect can achieve more accurate prediction than that without considering thermal inertia effect.     

Wave propagation in two-phase flow of magnetic fluid under a nonuniform magnetic field

The effect of nonuniform magnetic field on the linear and nonlinear wave propagation phenomena in two-phase pipe flow of magnetic fluid is investigated theoretically to realize the effective energy conversion system using boiling two-phase flow of magnetic fluid. Firstly, the governing equations of two-phase flow based on the unsteady thermal nonequilibrium two-fluid model are presented and the linear void wave propagation phenomena in boiling two-phase flow are numerically analyzed by using the finite volume method. Next, the nonlinear pressure wave propagation in gas-liquid two-phase flow is numerically analyzed by using the finite different method. According to these theoretical studies on the wave propagation phenomena in two-phase flow of magnetic fluid, it seems to be a reasonable proposal that the precise control of the wave propagation in two-phase flow is possible by effective use of the magnetic force.     

Mg-Si基热电化合物的研究现状

重点综述了Mg-Si基热电化合物的基本特性，该体系热电材料的制备方法与掺杂改性的研究进展，并提出了要重点解决的问题。     

Drugs, memory, and metamemory: A dose-effect study with lorazepam and scopolamine.

This experiment was designed to use the graded dose-related amnesia produced by the benzodiazepine lorazepam (1.0, 2.0 mg/70 kg, oral) and the anticholinergic scopolamine (0.3, 0.6 mg/70 kg, subcutaneous) as a tool to explore the cognitive and neurochemical mechanisms underlying metamemory in the judgment of learning paradigm, with a placebo-controlled independent groups design in healthy volunteers (n=12/group). Results provide evidence for a pharmacological dissociation between effects on memory versus metamemory (relative accuracy of item-by-item monitoring) across a range of levels of memory performance and suggest that the drugs selectively impair those aspects of metamnemonic monitoring that require participants' awareness of their overall current state of functioning (absolute accuracy of prospective item-by-item monitoring, prospective global monitoring) but not those that rely solely on assessment of individual item characteristics (relative accuracy of item-by-item monitoring). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Finances and Well-Being: A Dynamic Equilibrium Model of Resources.

This study of 513 Dutch farmers tested a dynamic equilibrium model of resources (an extension of the conservation of resources theory; S. E. Hobfoll, 1989, 1998, 2001). With structural equation modeling, the advantages of a 3-wave longitudinal design were comprehensively used, such as addressing bidirectional causal effects and within-individual vs. between-individual change. This allowed for a careful analysis of the management function of resources in the stress process. Results showed that well-being had stronger within-person stability than finances. Increased levels of financial problems temporarily increased psychological distress but not self-reported illness. Conversely, farmers with higher stable baselines of psychological distress also had higher baselines of self-reported illness and experienced more negative changes in their financial situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on “Is the cause of size effect on structural strength fractal or energetic-statistical?” by Ba?ant & Yavari [Engng Fract Mech 2005;72:1-31]

Aim of this letter to the Editor is at replying to the criticisms raised by Ba?ant and Yavari [Ba?ant ZP, Yavari A. Is the cause of size effect on structural strength fractal or energetic - statistical? Engng Fract Mech 2005;72:1-31] against the fractal approach to the size-scale effects on the mechanical properties of materials and the concept of the Multi-Fractal Scaling Law presented by Carpinteri [Carpinteri A. Scaling laws and renormalization groups for strength and toughness of disordered materials. Int J Solids Struct 1994;31:291-302]. These criticisms will be analysed thoroughly, showing how they also contain some mistakes and misunderstandings. The presented elucidations should redirect the discussion to a more correct scientific debate.     

Effects of Contaminants on Toxicity of the Lampricides TFM and Bayer 73 to Three Species of Fish

Waters in the Great Lakes basin contain more than 400 contaminant chemicals that potentially affect fishery resources, commerce, and human inhabitants. We determined in the laboratory the effects of selected contaminants on the toxicity of the widely used lampricides TFM (3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol) and Bayer 73 (2′,5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide) to three species of fish—rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). The fish were exposed to paired mixtures of lampricides and selected contaminants in standardized, acute static toxicity tests to determine the resulting type of response—less than additive, additive, or greater than additive (synergistic). As expected, the toxicities of combinations of lampricides with organic pesticides, metal, industrial or municipal pollutants, and tannic acid were mostly additive. However, the toxicity of a combination of TFM, Delnav, and malathion was synergistic, and extremely small quantities of each chemical became lethal when mixed. The concentration that produced 50% mortality was 1.64 mg/L for TFM alone but only 0.041 mg/L for TFM with the pesticides. Toxicities of the pesticides in the combination also increased commensurately. The triple combination of chemicals produced extraordinary synergism and effectively demonstrated the hazards that may result if certain chemical combinations occur in the aquatic environment. However, synergism is not the only kind of toxic action that produces hazards to aquatic organisms. All three types of toxic action are of concern because toxic units produced by contaminant chemicals add to the toxic units of applied management chemicals. Since the toxicity of the majority of chemical combinations is simply additive, this cumulative toxic action contributes more total units to aquatic environments than the extreme actions of less than additive and synergism. The toxicity of the lampricide TFM, as well as other management chemicals, is reinforced by the presence of any contaminant that contributes additional units of toxicity. Therefore, all types of cumulative toxic action should be of concern to people and agencies involved with protecting the environment.     

Income, Time Effects and Direct Preferences in a Multimodal Choice Context: Application of Mixed RP/SP Models with Non-Linear Utilities

Transport problems typically involve at least two types of constraints, on income and on time. Therefore, the indirect utility function depends either on the income available after having subtracted the cost of the discrete alternative and on the free time left after having worked and travelled by each competing option. In the typical linear-in-the-attributes and in-the-parameters specification, that represents the first grade approximation of the indirect utility function, the effect of income and time constraints cancel out and only the cost and time of the alternatives matter in the comparison between them. From a microeconomic point of view this is equivalent to assume that income and time effects could be disregarded; which is not always the case. To account for these effects the utility function should include second order attributes; however, in non-linear utility functions it may not be easy to distinguish among several effects that could be relevant: direct preferences for good and leisure, and simple interactions between attributes other than income and time effects. This paper analyses these effects from a theoretical point of view focusing on the possible confounding problem in detecting income and time effects. We use a dataset collected for a modal choice context and containing both revealed and stated preference data, and estimate several NL models examining the effect of the different second-order terms on detecting income and time effects. We compared specifications including square cost and time attributes, interactions between time and cost, cost divided by the income available to be spent on free time, and time multiplied by free time. Our results confirm the strong effect of direct preferences for goods and leisure time on choice, and the potential confounding effect between quadratic attributes and other non-linear omitted terms. Finally, we also found that care should be taken in highlighting income and time effects using mixed data sources, since confounding effects can occur when non-linearities are accounted for in both data sets.