Held in contempt: The psychological, interpersonal, and performance consequences of contempt in a work context.

Guided by a social function of emotions perspective, the authors examined a model of the psychological, interpersonal, and performance consequences of contempt in a series of 3 experiments that tested the outcomes of being a recipient of contempt in the work domain. In these experiments, participants engaged in a business strategy simulation with a virtual partner—a computer programmed to give contemptuous and other types of feedback. In Study 1, which examined the task performance and interpersonal outcomes of contempt, recipients of contempt had significantly better task performance but also significantly more interpersonal aggressiveness toward their virtual partners compared with recipients of failure, angry, or neutral feedback. Study 2 examined 3 psychological outcomes mediating the contempt–task performance/aggression relationship: self-esteem, returned feelings of contempt, and activation levels. Lowered levels of implicit self-esteem and greater levels of activation significantly mediated the relationship between receiving contempt and task performance, whereas the contempt–aggression relationship was mediated by lowered implicit self-esteem and increased feelings of returned contempt. Study 3 examined status as a moderator of these relationships. Low-status recipients had significantly better task performance than did equal-status recipients, who performed significantly better than did the high-status recipients of contempt. In addition, low-status recipients displayed significantly lower levels of aggression in response to contempt than did equal-status and high-status recipients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of Zn Doping on Structural and Magnetic Properties of Ba4Ni2−x Zn x Fe36O60 Hexaferrites

Polycrystalline Ba₄Ni_2?x Zn _x Fe₃₆O₆₀ (0.0 ≤x ≤ 1.4) hexagonal ferrite samples have been prepared by conventional solid-state reaction method. Structural and magnetic properties of the prepared samples were then analyzed by the X-ray diffraction technique and with superconducting quantum interface device (SQUID) magnetometer, respectively. Variations of lattice parameters, density, and porosity with Zn content were measured. Magnetic properties such as complex permeability, relative quality factor, loss factor, and saturation magnetization have been investigated as a function of Zn content. The study revealed that Zn content has a significant effect on structural and magnetic properties of the Ba₄Ni₂Fe₃₆ O ₆₀ hexaferrites.     

Understanding emotional transitions: The interpersonal consequences of changing emotions in negotiations.

Research on the interpersonal functions of emotions has focused primarily on steady-state emotion rather than on emotional transitions, the movement between emotion states. The authors examined the influence of emotional transitions on social interactions and found that emotional transitions led to consistently different outcomes than their corresponding steady-state emotions. Across 2 computer-mediated negotiations and a face-to-face negotiation, participants negotiating with partners who displayed a “becoming angry” (happy to angry) emotional transition accepted worse negotiation outcomes yet formed better relational impressions of their partners than participants negotiating with partners who displayed steady-state anger. This relationship was mediated through 2 mechanisms: attributional and emotional contagion processes. The “becoming happy” (angry to happy) emotional transition as compared with steady-state happiness was not significantly related to differences in negotiation outcomes but was significantly related to differences in relational impressions, where perceivers of the “becoming happy” emotional transition gave their partners lower relational impression ratings than perceivers of steady-state happiness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Current Localization and Redistribution as the Basis of Discontinuous Current Controlled Negative Differential Resistance in NbOx

Devices exploiting negative differential resistance (NDR) are of particular interest for analog computing applications, including oscillator‐based neural networks. These devices typically exploit the continuous S‐shaped current–voltage characteristic produced by materials with a strong temperature‐dependent electrical conductivity, but recent studies have also highlighted the existence of a second, discontinuous (snap‐back) characteristic that has the potential to provide additional functionality. The development of devices based on this characteristic is currently limited by uncertainty over the underlying physical mechanism, which remains the subject of active debate. In situ thermoreflectance imaging and a simple model are used to finally resolve this issue. Specifically, it is shown that the snap‐back response is a direct consequence of current localization and redistribution within the oxide film, and that material and device dependencies are consistent with model predictions. These results conclusively demonstrate that the snap‐back characteristic is a generic response of materials with a strong temperature‐dependent conductivity and therefore has the same physical origin as the S‐type characteristic. This is a significant outcome that resolves a long‐standing controversy and provides a solid foundation for engineering functional devices with specific NDR characteristics.     

Improved biopharmaceutical properties of carvedilol employing α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate-based self-emulsifying drug delivery system

The main objective of this study was to develop a self-emulsifying drug delivery system (SEDDS) of carvedilol (CAR) with improved oral absorption and hepatoprotective properties. SEDDS-CAR was prepared based on d-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) and physicochemically characterized. Pharmacokinetic behaviors after the oral administration of CAR samples in rats were evaluated to clarify the possible enhancement of the oral absorption of CAR. The hepatoprotective effects of orally dosed CAR samples were assessed in a rat model of acute hepatic injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄). SEDDS-CAR showed the immediate formation of fine micelles with a mean droplet size of 84?nm when introduced in aqueous media. SEDDS-CAR improved the dissolution behavior of CAR in distilled water as evidenced by at least five-fold higher solubility than the equilibrium solubility of CAR. After the single oral administration of SEDDS-CAR (10?mg-CAR/kg) in rats, enhanced CAR exposure was observed with an increase of AUC_0–∞ showing a 2.5-fold increase compared with crystalline CAR. In CCl₄-treated rats, orally dosed SEDDS-CAR (10?mg-CAR/kg, p.o.) led to 91.8 and 91.2% reductions of ALT and AST, respectively; however, crystalline CAR was found to be less effective. From these findings, SEDDS-CAR might be an efficacious oral dosage option for enhancing the hepatoprotective potential of CAR.     

Origin of Current‐Controlled Negative Differential Resistance Modes and the Emergence of Composite Characteristics with High Complexity

Current‐controlled negative differential resistance has significant potential as a fundamental building block in brain‐inspired neuromorphic computing. However, achieving the desired negative differential resistance characteristics, which is crucial for practical implementation, remains challenging due to a lack of consensus on the underlying mechanism and design criteria. Here, a material‐independent model of current‐controlled negative differential resistance is reported to explain a broad range of characteristics, including the origin of the discontinuous snap‐back response observed in many transition metal oxides. This is achieved by explicitly accounting for a non‐uniform current distribution in the oxide film and its impact on the effective circuit of the device rather than a material‐specific phase transition. The predictions of the model are then compared with experimental observations to show that the continuous S‐type and discontinuous snap‐back characteristics serve as fundamental building blocks for composite behavior with higher complexity. Finally, the potential of our approach is demonstrated for predicting and engineering unconventional compound behavior with novel functionality for emerging electronic and neuromorphic computing applications.     

Battery impedance spectroscopy using bidirectional grid connected converter

Battery impedance can provide valuable insight into the condition of the battery. Commercially available impedance measurement instruments are expensive. Hence their direct use in a battery management system is not justifiable. In this work, a 3-kW bi-directional converter for charging and discharging a battery bank has been implemented with the capability of impedance measurement. The converter is grid connected and controlled to operate at unity power factor. Additional requirements on filter design and control structure of battery converter for impedance measurement are discussed. An algorithm has been developed to measure impedance by frequency sweep, avoiding transients. The measured impedance has been compared to that from a commercially available impedance measurement equipment and is shown to have a good match.