Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design

Number entry is a ubiquitous activity and is often performed in safety- and mission-critical procedures, such as healthcare, science, finance, aviation and in many other areas. We show that Monte Carlo methods can quickly and easily compare the reliability of different number entry systems. A surprising finding is that many common, widely used systems are defective, and induce unnecessary human error. We show that Monte Carlo methods enable designers to explore the implications of normal and unexpected operator behaviour, and to design systems to be more resilient to use error. We demonstrate novel designs with improved resilience, implying that the common problems identified and the errors they induce are avoidable.     

Aripiprazole as a potential pharmacotherapy for stimulant dependence: Human laboratory studies with d-amphetamine.

Amphetamine and cocaine dependence present significant public health concerns, yet no broadly effective pharmacotherapy for stimulant dependence has been developed. Two human laboratory studies are reviewed that tested the ability of aripiprazole, a novel antipsychotic with partial agonist activity at D2 dopamine receptors, to alter the behavioral effects of stimulants using d-amphetamine as a model agent. In each of these experiments, volunteers learned to discriminate 15 mg d-amphetamine (i.e., ≥80% drug-appropriate responding over 4 consecutive sessions). The effects of a range of doses of d-amphetamine (0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 15 mg) were then tested alone and following pretreatment with aripiprazole (20 mg in Experiment 1; 10 mg in Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, aripiprazole (20 mg) attenuated the discriminative stimulus and many of the subject-rated effects of amphetamine. Aripiprazole alone produced performance decrements. To determine whether a lower dose of aripiprazole would also attenuate the behavioral effects of d-amphetamine without impairing performance, Experiment 2 was conducted. Aripiprazole (10 mg) failed to alter the discriminative-stimulus effects but attenuated some of the subject-rated effects of d-amphetamine. This dose of aripiprazole did not impair performance. The results of these experiments indicate that aripiprazole may have clinical utility in treating stimulant dependence. Future human laboratory research should better model the clinical use of aripiprazole by examining the effects of chronic aripiprazole combined with either methamphetamine or cocaine in dependent individuals. A large-scale clinical trial is also needed to evaluate the efficacy of aripiprazole for the treatment of stimulant dependence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

从"天人合一"到"物我合一"——设计艺术中我国观念的转化

通过我国设计艺术中人与自然以及人与物古今观念的对比，试图分析这种观念的转化产生的深层社会背景和对设计的影响。     

弹性住宅建设势在必行

本文针对我国住宅建设的基本状况 ,提出建设高度灵活的弹性住宅势在必行 ,并从以人为本的角度出发强调居民环境意识的重要性。本文后半部提出了弹性住宅的一些设想 ,借此文呼吁建筑界进一步研究弹性住宅的一系列理论问题 ,力求我国住宅建设在二十一世纪保持不败的活力     

人力资源投资评价应解决的两个重要问题

阐述了企业人力资源投资财务评价应解决的两个重要问题：评价对象的分类和项目的财务现金流量的内容。     

Experience, Context, and the Visual Perception of Human Movement.

Why are human observers particularly sensitive to human movement? Seven experiments examined the roles of visual experience and motor processes in human movement perception by comparing visual sensitivities to point-light displays of familiar, unusual, and impossible gaits across gait-speed and identity discrimination tasks. In both tasks, visual sensitivity to physically possible gaits was superior to visual sensitivity to physically impossible gaits, supporting perception-action coupling theories of human movement perception. Visual experience influenced walker-identity perception but not gait-speed discrimination. Thus, both motor experience and visual experience define visual sensitivity to human movement. An ecological perspective can be used to define the conditions necessary for experience-dependent sensitivity to human movement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

重视并做好人力资源开发工作

每个国定的经济能不能持续发展 ;能不能在激烈的国际竞争中始终不衰 ;关键在于这个国家能不能开发人力资源 ;占领人力资源、用好人力资源。     

The Logarithmic Image Processing Model: Connections with Human Brightness Perception and Contrast Estimators

The logarithmic image processing (LIP) model is amathematical framework based on abstract linear mathematicswhich provides a set of specific algebraic and functionaloperations that can be applied to the processing of intensityimages valued in a bounded range. The LIP model has been provedto be physically justified in the setting of transmitted lightand to be consistent with several laws and characteristics ofthe human visual system. Successful application examples havealso been reported in several image processing areas, e.g.,image enhancement, image restoration, three-dimensional imagereconstruction, edge detection and image segmentation.The aim of this article is to show that the LIP model is atractable mathematical framework for image processing which isconsistent with several laws and characteristics of humanbrightness perception. This is a survey article in the sensethat it presents (almost) previously published results in arevised, refined and self-contained form. First, an introductionto the LIP model is exposed. Emphasis will be especially placedon the initial motivation and goal, and on the scope of themodel. Then, an introductory summary of mathematicalfundamentals of the LIP model is detailed. Next, the articleaims at surveying the connections of the LIP model with severallaws and characteristics of human brightness perception, namelythe brightness scale inversion, saturation characteristic, Weber'sand Fechner's laws, and the psychophysical contrast notion. Finally,it is shown that the LIP model is a powerful and tractable framework for handling the contrast notion. This is done througha survey of several LIP-model-based contrast estimators associated with special subparts (point, pair of points,boundary, region) of intensity images, that are justified bothfrom a physical and mathematical point of view.