Grounding spatial language in perception: An empirical and computational investigation.

The present paper grounds the linguistic categorization of space in aspects of visual perception; specifically, the structure of projective spatial terms such as above are grounded in the process of attention and in vector-sum coding of overall direction. This is formalized in the attentional vector-sum (AVS) model. This computational model accurately predicts linguistic acceptability judgments for spatial terms, under a variety of spatial configurations. In 7 experiments, the predictions of the AVS model are tested against those of 3 competing models. The results support the AVS model and disconfirm its competitors. The authors conclude that the structure of linguistic spatial categories can be partially explained in terms of independently motivated perceptual processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supporting ordinal four-state classification decisions using neural networks

Many accounting and finance problems require ordinal multi-state classification decisions, (e.g., control risk, bond rating, financial distress, etc.), yet few decision support systems are available to aid decision makers in such tasks. In this study, we develop a Neural Network based decision support system (NN-DSS) to classify firms in four ordinal states of financial condition namely healthy, dividend reduction, debt default and bankrupt. The classification results of the NN-DSS model are compared with those of a Naïve model, a Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) model, and an Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLGR) model. Four different evaluation criteria are used to compare the models, namely, simple classification accuracy, distance-weighted classification accuracy, expected cost of misclassification (ECM) and ranked probability score. Our study shows that NN-DSS models perform significantly better than the Naïve, MDA, and OLGR models on the ECM criteria, and provide better results than MDA and OLGR on other criteria, although not always significantly better. The effect of the proportion of firms of each state in the training set is also studied. A balanced training set leads to more uniform (less skewed) classification across all four states, whereas an unbalanced training set biases the classification results in favor of the state with the largest number of observations.     

Introducing the Student Editorial Board: Strengthening the future of school psychology and School Psychology Quarterly.

Introduces the new Student Editorial Board for School Psychology Quarterly. Along with the Research Design and Methodology Section and the Book Review Section, which made their inaugural appearance in the Winter 1998 issue, the Student Editorial Board is intended to strengthen both our journal and our field as we move into the next century. It is expected that the Student Editorial Board will result in symbiotic benefits for both our field and the board members themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regional cerebral volume loss associated with verbal learning and memory in dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Twenty-seven research participants with dementia of the Alzheimer type were studied with the California Verbal Learning Test (D. C. Delis, J. H. Kramer, E. Kaplan, & B. A. Ober, 1987) and standardized volume measures of the mesial temporal cortical gray matter, neocortical gray matter, thalamus, and caudate nuclei, from magnetic resonance imaging. A pattern of atrophic brain changes in the mesial temporal lobes (MTL) and the thalamus, with relatively less severe atrophy in the neocortical gray matter, was associated with poorer learning of the word list. Similar patterns of brain atrophy were observed for measures of delayed recall and recognition hits. However, for delayed recall, neither contribution was statistically significant, and for recognition hits, MTL was only at the trend level for significance. These results provide evidence that the verbal memory deficit of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated not only with the mesial temporal limbic cortex, thought to be the site of earliest and most severe pathology in AD, but also with damage in the thalamus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

如何使用可编程设计充电算法开发多化学性能电池充电器

许多手持设备设计人员会被为新产品选择合适化学性能的电池而苦恼。在某些应用中,设计工程师已经开始从使用低密度的基于镍的化学电池向使用密度更高的锂离子解决方案过渡。而在其他应用中,情况则正好相反：一些应用正在从使用锂离子材料向使用镍氢材料转变。     

An investigation of governance frameworks for public projects in Norway and the UK

This paper describes four case studies which formed a key part of an investigation into public investment project governance frameworks in Norway and the UK. The studies looked at how the embedded governance principles worked out in practice, how they affected PM, and how consistent their effects were with their aims. Conclusion is made about the actual effects of the frameworks, and various areas for improvement or further study are highlighted.     

A knowledge based system for the integrated design and manufacture of round broach tools

A complete knowledge based procedure for the design and manufacture of a round hole broach tool is described. The knowledge based design system (KBDS) produces a tool specification from user inputs describing the task to be performed. These design results are then used by the knowledge base to generate a geometric CAD/CAM representation, which can be utilized directly to display a drawing of the tool or to generate a CNC program for producing it. The process of formulating a knowledge-based design system demonstrates: the integration of expertise from experts, handbooks and theory; the awareness of restrictions on the scope of design that can be handled by a given system: the use of failure handling mechanisms to detect design failures and either adjust the emerging design or indicate infeasibility.     

Formation of Titanium Nitride Whiskers by Reaction of Sodium Titanium Bronze with Molten Sodium Cyanide

The production of titanium nitride, TiN, whiskers by reaction of sodium titanium bronze, Na_xTiO₂ (STB), with excess sodium cyanide, NaCN, at 1000°C is reported. The solubility of Ti from a STB in molten NaCN has been estimated experimentally. The TiN whiskers obtained under different experimental conditions have been examined by scanning electron microscopy and analyzed by analytical electron microscopy.     

Effects of repeated practice and contextual-writing experiences on college students' writing skills.

The authors examined the effects of both general and task-specific writing experiences on college students' writing-skill development. On the basis of theories of expertise development and a cognitive process theory of writing-skill development, the authors predicted that repeated practice would be associated with superior writing skills and that after controlling for repeated practice, writing within a specific task domain would be associated with superior writing skills. Undergraduate students participated in a field experiment in which 279 students practiced their writing skills in a professionally relevant task domain, whereas another group of 385 students practiced their writing skills in a more general domain. The results were consistent with the predictions. The authors discuss implications for teaching writing skills and for general theories of expertise development in writing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prospective study of short- and long-term neuropsychological outcomes after traumatic brain injury in children.

Longitudinal neuropsychological outcomes of traumatic brain injury (TBI) were investigated in 53 children with severe TBI, 56 children with moderate TBI, and 80 children with orthopedic injuries only. Neuropsychological functioning was assessed at baseline, at 6- and 12-month follow-ups, and at an extended follow-up (a mean of 4 years postinjury). Mixed model analyses revealed persistent neuropsychological sequelae of TBI that generally did not vary as a function of time postinjury. Some recovery occurred during the first year postinjury, but recovery reached a plateau after that time, and deficits were still apparent at the extended follow-up. Further recovery was uncommon after the first year postinjury. Family factors did not moderate neuropsychological outcomes, despite their demonstrated influence on behavior and academic achievement after childhood TBI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)