Group conversion versus group expansion as modes of change in majority and minority positions: All losses hurt but only some gains gratify.

This study examined reactions to minority and majority positions that were either stable or reversed through group conversion that transformed opponents (supporters) of the minority (majority) into supporters, (opponents) or through group expansion that brought new supporters (opponents) for the minority (majority) into the group. Minorities who became majorities through group expansion, compared with those who changed through group conversion, perceived their supporters and the overall group as significantly more similar to the self, and had significantly higher expectations for future positive interactions within the group. Perception of similarity with the supporters mediated the effect of the experimental conditions on perception of the overall group-self similarity. Implications of changes through conversion and expansion for the functioning of social groups are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A kinetic study on the autoxidation of sunflowerseed oil

Unhydrogenated and hydrogenated sunflowerseed oils were exposed to the autoxidation process by sunlight under atmospheric conditions. Experiments were carried out in equal-sized glass, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) polymer, and metal (covered by tin) containers. The reaction time was 30 d, and the reaction course was observed by determining weight changes and peroxide values (PV) of the oil samples at the same time within 2-d intervals. The logarithm of the PV was plotted against time, and straight lines were obtained from the 4th or 6th d. The autoxidation reaction constants were obtained for each oil in each container. When comparing the reaction constants, the unhydrogenated oils autoxidize easily, and the autoxidation reaction occurs faster in sunlight in glass than in the PET polymer container and much faster than in the darkness of the metal container.     

Transformational Tapestry Model: A comprehensive approach to transforming campus climate.

College campuses are complex social systems. They are defined by the relationships between faculty, staff, students, and alumni; bureaucratic procedures embodied by institutional policies; structural frameworks; institutional missions, visions, and core values; institutional history and traditions; and larger social contexts (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pederson, & Allen, 1998). Academic communities expend a great deal of effort fostering a climate to nurture their missions with the understanding that climate has a profound effect on the academic community's ability to excel in teaching, research, and scholarship. In this article, one method for examining campus climate is presented. The Transformational Tapestry Model is a comprehensive, five phase, and strategic model of assessment, planning, and intervention. The model is designed to assist campus communities in conducting inclusive assessments of their institutional climate to better understand the challenges facing their respective communities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change in relationship quality for partners from lesbian, gay male, and heterosexual couples.

Growth curves for relationship quality over the first 10 years of cohabitation, controlling for separation, were estimated on the basis of survey data obtained over part or all of this time interval. Participants were both partners from 95 lesbian, 92 gay male, and 226 heterosexual couples living without children, and both partners from 312 heterosexual couples living with children. Relative to other partners, those from lesbian couples showed the highest levels of relationship quality averaged over all assessments. Pattern of change in relationship quality varied by type of couple. Partners from lesbian and gay male couples showed no change, those from heterosexual couples without children showed an early phase of accelerated decline followed by a leveling off, and those from heterosexual couples with children showed an early phase of accelerated decline followed by a 2nd phase of accelerated decline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Load shedding scheme based on rate of change of frequency and ranked stability index for islanded distribution system connected to mini hydro

This paper presents a load shedding scheme for a distribution network connected to mini hydro generations. The proposed scheme uses the rate of change of frequency (ROCOF ) to estimate the power imbalance and voltage stability (VS ) to prioritize the load that is to be shed. The load with the most critical voltage stability (which is based on a special index) is given the first priority to be disconnected from the network in order to avoid voltage collapse. By performing load shedding based on the combination of the ROCOF and VS techniques, a better system frequency and enhanced voltage magnitudes can be achieved. The performance of the proposed scheme is validated on existing Malaysian network interconnected with a mini hydro generator. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme not only successfully stabilizes system frequency, but also simultaneously stabilizes the voltage magnitude of the buses within an acceptable limit. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Implications of short-term retest effects for the interpretation of longitudinal change.

Although within-person comparisons allow direct assessments of change, some of the observed change may reflect effects associated with prior test experience rather than the processes of primary interest. One method that might allow retest effects to be distinguished from other influences of change involves comparing the pattern of results in a longitudinal study with those in a study with a very short retest interval. Three short-term retest studies with moderately large samples of adults are used to provide this type of reference information about the magnitude of change, test-retest correlations, reliabilities of change, and correlations of the change in different cognitive variables with each other, and with other types of variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A volitional help sheet to encourage smoking cessation: A randomized exploratory trial.

Objective: The volitional help sheet draws on Gollwitzer's (1993) concept of implementation intentions by encouraging smokers to link temptations to smoke with appropriate behavioral responses derived from Prochaska and DiClemente's (1983) transtheoretical model. Design: There were 193 smokers who were randomly allocated to receive questionnaires, planning instruction, and a volitional help sheet or one of three control conditions: Questionnaire-only; questionnaire plus planning instruction; or questionnaire, planning instruction plus volitional help sheet without the explicit instruction to link temptations to smoke with appropriate behavioral responses. Main Outcome Measures: Nicotine dependence, number of cigarettes smoked and quit status. Results: Findings revealed significant decreases in nicotine dependence, number of cigarettes smoked, and increases in quitting in the volitional help sheet condition, relative to the control conditions, Fs(3, 189) = 7.48 to 10.78, ps ps = .11 to .15. This pattern of findings did not hold for social?cognitive variables, with few differences between the volitional help sheet (standard instructions) group and the other conditions. Conclusion: The findings provide support for the use of implementation intentions to protect against health risk behaviors and are congruent with laboratory research showing that implementation intentions are a case of strategic automaticity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperature reduction due to the application of phase change materials

Overheating is a major problem in many modern buildings due to the utilization of lightweight constructions with low heat storing capacity. A possible answer to this problem is the emplacement of phase change materials (PCM), thereby increasing the thermal mass of a building. These materials change their state of aggregation within a defined temperature range. Useful PCM for buildings show a phase transition from solid to liquid and vice versa. The thermal mass of the materials is increased by the latent heat. A modified gypsum plaster and a salt mixture were chosen as two materials for the study of their impact on room temperature reduction. For realistic investigations, test rooms were erected where measurements were carried out under different conditions such as temporary air change, alternate internal heat gains or clouding. The experimental data was finally reproduced by dint of a mathematical model.     

北洛河流域水沙演变情势分析

北洛河是典型的多沙河流,是渭河泥沙的主要来源之一.通过对北洛河流域干支流主要控制水文站径流泥沙资料的统计分析,论述了北洛河流域泥沙的来源和沿程分配、输沙量的年内分配和年际变化、径流量和输沙量的关系以及泥沙形成原因等.对研究北洛河流域的水土流失和泥沙输移规律、合理地开发和利用提供了科学依据.     

Testing the degree of cross-sectional and longitudinal dependence between two discrete dynamic processes.

Developmental research often involves studying change across 2 or more processes or constructs simultaneously. A natural question in this work is whether change in these 2 processes is related or independent. Associative latent transition analysis (ALTA) was designed to test hypotheses about the degree to which change in 2 discrete latent variables is related. The ALTA model is a type of latent class model, which is a categorical latent variable model based on categorical indicators. In the ALTA approach, level and change on 1 variable is predicted by level and change in another. Two types of hypotheses are discussed: (a) broad hypotheses of dependence between the 2 discrete latent variables and (b) targeted hypotheses comparing specific patterns of change between levels of the discrete variables. Both types of hypotheses are tested via nested model comparisons. Analyses of relations between psychological state and substance use illustrate the model. Recent psychological state and recent substance use were found to be associated cross-sectionally and longitudinally, implying that change in recent substance use was related to change in recent psychological state. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)