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Practice in the simulated environment can improve surgical skills. However, the transfer of open complex surgical skills to the operating room is unclear. This study evaluated the effect of resident operative performance following a simulation experience on a hand-sewn small bowel anastomosis and determined the impact of utilizing proficiency-based training. Nine categorical interns performed a hand-sewn small bowel anastomosis in the operating room prior to (pre-test) and following (post-test) a 3-h simulation training session with an assessment at the end. Participants were randomly assigned to 1of 2 simulation training groups: proficiency-based or standard. Operative performance was videotaped. 2 independent, blinded faculty surgeons assessed performances by a global rating scale. Pre- and post-confidence levels were obtained on a 5-point Likert scale. Overall, pre-test and post-test operative performance was similar (3 [IQR, 2.5 –3.5] versus 3 [IQR, 3 –3], P = 0.59). Furthermore, no difference was observed in the post-test performance with proficiency-based or standard training (3 [IQR, 3 –3] versus 3 [IQR, 3 –3], P = 0.73). Self-reported confidence with the skills, however, significantly improved (median 1 versus 4, P = 0.007). In this prospective, randomized study, we did not observe an improvement in operative performance following simulation instruction and assessment, with both training groups. Overcoming barriers to skills transfer will be paramount in the future to optimize simulation training in general surgery. These findings highlight the importance of continued study for the ideal conditions and timing of technical skills training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contests are widely used as mechanisms to incentivize efforts in various contexts, from research innovation to athletic and employee performance. This paper builds an analytical model and provides empirical evidence to assess the effectiveness of a large-scale, real-world residential energy conservation contest in Vietnam. The model suggests that contests offering multiple prizes and requiring a minimum amount of effort can effectively promote conservation. It also identifies factors that influence the conservation effort, such as the cost of effort, size of prizes, and types of contestants. To empirically estimate the effect of the energy conservation contest, this paper uses a unique confidential dataset of monthly residential electricity usage with over 45 million observations. The results indicate that the contest significantly reduced electricity consumption among contestants, and the effect of the contest could persist for months after its conclusion, leading to an average abatement cost of $27 per ton of CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Generative activities (e.g., diagramming) after reading possibly improve monitoring. • We tested if feedback (correct diagram) further improves monitoring and text comprehension. • Participants adapted judgements of learning after receiving a correct diagram. • Diagramming + feedback improved monitoring accuracy and text comprehension. • Standards helped identify mistakes and prepare for the comprehension test. Accurate self-monitoring of text comprehension is critical for effective self-regulated learning from texts. Unfortunately, it has been repeatedly shown that students' monitoring of their text comprehension is often inaccurate, which can subsequently lead to inaccurate regulation and ineffective restudy decisions. Previous research provided evidence that completing causal diagrams at a delay after text reading (i.e., diagramming) can help to improve students' monitoring of text comprehension. However, even after diagramming, there is still substantial room for improvement. The current studies therefore aimed to test whether providing feedback in the form of a correctly completed diagram (i.e., performance standard) would further increase students' monitoring accuracy. In Study 1, 79 participants (aged 18–23) made judgements of learning under four conditions: I. No-Diagram (control), II. Standard-Only, III. Diagramming-Only, or IV. Diagramming + Standard. In each condition, students studied a text, made a judgement of learning before and after the experimental tasks, and completed a comprehension test at the end of each of the (overall six) trials. Results showed that only Diagramming + Standard improved monitoring accuracy and text comprehension. In Study 2, 20 undergraduate students (aged 18–23) completed the Diagramming + Standard condition while their eye movements were tracked and subsequently replayed for cued retrospective verbal reporting. The findings suggest that students used the standards to identify mistakes and improve their monitoring and text comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, the vibro-impact nonlinear energy sink (VINES) has emerged as a promising passive mechanism for vibration mitigation in engineering systems. The VINES system consists of a ball traveling within a cavity of an externally excited linear oscillator (LO). The ball impacts either end of the cavity, transferring energy from the LO to the ball and mitigating excess oscillations of the LO. Earlier studies of VINES analyzed scenarios with the mass of the ball to be small relative to the LO, with low forcing amplitude near the resonant frequency of the LO. Improvements in targeted energy transfer (TET), observed for an increased mass of the ball, motivate an investigation of VINES for larger mass ratios, using a recently developed semi-analytical map-based approach that provides the exact solution without the limitations of previous analyses. Complementary analytical and numerical approaches treat larger mass ratios and higher amplitudes of the external harmonic excitation for forcing frequencies away from the natural frequency of the LO, identifying parameter regimes for efficient and inefficient performance based on standard measures of energy transfer. The analysis identifies multiple regions for the desired behavior with two alternating impacts per forcing period and provides relevant stability conditions. Numerical results indicate chattering behavior in regimes where energy transfer is minimal, yielding performance that appears similar to resonance. This phenomenon can be directly related to the passive nature of the VINES design, where the natural frequency of the VINES system decreases as the mass of the ball, and thus that of the system, increases. Then the peak response of the LO is shifted away from its resonant frequency, allowing excellent energy transfer to be realized there. • Derived a semi-analytical map-based approach from the exact solutions for VINES system. • Investigation of efficient energy transfer through VINES for a wide range of parameter values, not necessarily small. • Analyzed the influence of excitation amplitude, impact phase and mass ratio. • Analyzed performance of VINES when system exhibits alternate chattering-type behavior. • Observed efficient TET away from the resonating frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new convolution layer for deep learning architectures which we call QuadConv — an approximation to continuous convolution via quadrature. Our operator is developed explicitly for use on non-uniform, mesh-based data, and accomplishes this by learning a continuous kernel that can be sampled at arbitrary locations. Moreover, the construction of our operator admits an efficient implementation which we detail and construct. As an experimental validation of our operator, we consider the task of compressing partial differential equation (PDE) simulation data from fixed meshes. We show that QuadConv can match the performance of standard discrete convolutions on uniform grid data by comparing a QuadConv autoencoder (QCAE) to a standard convolutional autoencoder (CAE). Further, we show that the QCAE can maintain this accuracy even on non-uniform data. In both cases, QuadConv also outperforms alternative unstructured convolution methods such as graph convolution. • A new convolution layer for deep learning architectures with unstructured data. • Convolutional operator learns a continuous kernel and a quadrature rule. • Convolutional layer used within autoencoders for unstructured PDE data compression. • Method leads to similar accuracy to CNN autoencoder on equivalent structured data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aicardi Goutières Syndrome (AGS) is a severe, autoinflammatory leukodystrophy characterized by global neurologic dysfunction. Our goal was to create an easy-to-apply scale relevant to the unique developmental challenges associated with AGS. All individuals were recruited through our natural history study. Individuals were classified by AGS severity as mild, moderate, or severe, and clinical encounters were assigned a composite score for neurologic function calculated from the sum of three functional classification scales. Through expert consensus, we identified 11 key items to reflect the severity of AGS across gross motor, fine motor, and cognitive skills to create the AGS Scale. There was strong interrater reliability. The AGS scale was applied across available medical records to evaluate neurologic function over time. The AGS scale was compared to performance on a standard measure of gross motor function (Gross Motor Function Measure-88, GMFM-88) and a putative diagnostic biomarker of disease, the interferon signaling gene expression score (ISG). The AGS scale score correlated with severity classifications and the composite neurologic function scores. When retrospectively applied across our natural history study, the majority of individuals demonstrated an initial decline in function followed by stable scores. Within the first 6 months of disease, the AGS score was the most dynamic. The AGS scale correlated with performance by the GMFM-88, but did not correlate with ISG levels. This study demonstrates the utility of the AGS scale as a multimodal tool for the assessment of neurologic function in AGS. The AGS scale correlates with clinical severity and with a more labor-intensive tool, GMFM-88. This study underscores the limitations of the ISG score as a marker of disease severity. With the AGS scale, we found that AGS neurologic severity is the most dynamic early in disease. This novel AGS scale is a promising tool to longitudinally follow neurologic function in this unique population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of ascorbate in human urine has been shown to be a useful dietary, fruit or vitamin C intake biomarker. More recently it has been discovered that ascorbate levels in urine can be used to facilitate the detection of precancerous colorectal polyps. While there are a number elaborate HPLC, MS or multi-step enzymatic "kit" methods to detect and quantify urinary ascorbate, these are time consuming and expensive. There are also a number of low-cost paper-based ascorbate detection dipsticks. However, the limits of detection and quantification accuracy for these dipsticks are not adequate for applications with human urine. To address these limitations, we have developed a fast, sensitive, single-step colorimetric assay that can be used to quantify ascorbate in urine and other biological fluids. The assay uses the tetrazolium salt, methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), with the electron carrier phenazine methosulfate (PMS), in a chelated acidic phosphate-buffer to produce a vivid purple color in the presence of ascorbate. Confirmation of the performance of the assay and of its standard curve in human urine was also done using independent LC-MS/MS and NMR analyses. The lower limit of detection of the ascorbate dipstick assay described here was found to be 3.2 μM. The paper dipsticks are stable over a wide range of temperatures and can be stored for up to 150-days. • Fast, sensitive, single-step dipstick assay for detecting ascorbate in urine. • 20–50X more sensitive than other paper-based assays. • Measures ascorbate concentrations from 3 μM to 1000 μM. • Works in other biofluids or liquid samples. • Fully quantitative and accurate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) in the Americas has resulted in increased nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) of clinical samples and blood donations. New molecular diagnostic assays have been developed resulting in a corollary requirement for ZIKV reference material. To address this we have produced and calibrated two African lineage ZIKV reference materials: a highly concentrated secondary standard (NIBSC: 16/110) and a lower concentration external quality control (QC) reagent (NIBSC: 16/124) and compared their performance in three ZIKV NAT assays in relation with the First International Standard (IS) for Zika Virus NAT assays (PEI: 11468/16). In summary the African lineage ZIKV reference materials were detected by all three assays. The ZIKV lineage did not affect the performance of the secondary standard. The external QC reagent (16/124) was detected by all three assays highlighting its suitability for use as a low positive control to monitor assay performance on a regular basis. The relative potency of 16/110 to the IS was 5.49E+06IU/mL (95% CI: 1.46E+06–2.06E+07) and 16/124 to 16/110 was 8.36E+03 (95% CI: 7.83E+03–8.92E+03). The global availability of African lineage ZIKV reference materials will facilitate standardization of ZIKV molecular diagnostic assays between and within laboratories whilst preserving the IS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local and systemic contamination caused by metal ions leaching from medical device materials is a significant and continuing health problem. The increasing need for verification and validation, and the imposition of stringent government regulations to ensure that the products comply with the quality, safety, and performance standards, have led regulatory bodies worldwide to strongly recommend the use of modeling and simulation tools to support medical device submissions. A previously published physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) model, is here expanded and enriched by an additional separate tissue compartment to better resemble normal physiology and by the introduction of time-dependent functions to describe all biokinetic parameters. The new model is exercised in conjunction with state-of-the-art probabilistic, Monte Carlo methodology to calculate the predictions' confidence intervals and incorporate variability associated with toxicological biodistribution studies. The quantitative consistency of the model-derived predictions is validated against reported data following the implantation of nickel-containing cardiovascular devices in humans and minipigs. Finally, a new methodology for compartmental toxicological risk assessment is presented that can be used for forward or reverse dosimetry. Our work is aimed at providing a computational tool to optimize the device design characteristics and safeguard that the substances released do not exceed permissible exposure limits. [Display omitted] • A compartmental PBTK model is proposed for Ni leaching from cardiovascular stents. • Method for calculating the confidence intervals for the model-derived predictions. • Demonstrated prognostic conformity with reported in vivo measurements. • Toxicological risk assessment for individual organs/tissues and biofluids. • Static in vitro immersion tests are proven inadequate to estimate in vivo release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Partners performed a joint action together and rated their feelings of joint agency. • More successful joint performance elicited stronger feelings of joint agency. • External cues to joint success enhanced the effect of joint performance on agency. • People derive joint agency from success at the level of the dyad. • Cues to joint agency may be weighted according to their salience in a given context. Abstract When people perform joint actions together, they experience a sense of joint agency, or shared control over actions and their effects. The current study examined how internal and external cues related to the success of a joint action influence joint agency. In three experiments, partners coordinated their actions to produce eight-tone sequences that matched a metronome pace. Across experiments, more successful joint performance (closer match to required pace) elicited stronger feelings of joint agency. This relationship was evident whether participants rated their control over sequence timing or responsibility for task outcome. Furthermore, the relationship was stronger when participants received external cues to joint success compared to when participants could rely only on internal cues. These findings indicate that people derive their sense of joint agency from success at the level of the dyad and that cues to joint agency may be weighted according to their salience in a given context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tested whether EI (conceptualized as a performance-based ability) predicted economic and relational outcomes in an employee-recruiter negotiation above general mental ability (GMA) and whether a novel measure of emotion recognition ability (ERA; a central component of EI) predicted these outcomes better than an established broad ability EI test. Results showed that GMA was unrelated to negotiation outcomes. Higher scores on the ERA test and the emotional understanding subtest of the broad EI measure were associated with higher dyadic gains and higher individual gains for participants’ counterparts. Negotiators with high ERA were also perceived as more cooperative and likable and showed higher self-ratings of cooperativeness. Overall, the ERA test predicted outcomes more consistently than the broad ability EI test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We quantify the cost savings from the Acid Rain Program (ARP) by comparing compliance costs for 761 coal-fired generating units under the ARP with compliance costs under a counterfactual uniform performance standard (UPS) that would have achieved the same aggregate emissions in 2002. In 2002, we find compliance costs to be $200 million (1995$) lower and health damages to be $170 million (1995$) lower under the ARP. We also compare health damages associated with observed SO 2 emissions from all ARP units in 2002 with damages from a no-trade counterfactual. Damages under the ARP are $2.1 billion (1995$) higher than under the no-trade scenario, reflecting allowance transfers from units in the western US to units in the eastern US with larger exposed populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local lymph node assay: 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine-flow cytometry method (LLNA: BrdU-FCM) is a modified non-radioisotopic technique with the additional advantages of accommodating multiple endpoints with the introduction of FCM, and refinement and reduction of animal use by using a sophisticated prescreening scheme. Reliability and accuracy of the LLNA: BrdU-FCM was determined according to OECD Test Guideline (TG) No. 429 (Skin Sensitization: Local Lymph Node Assay) performance standards (PS), with the participation of four laboratories. Transferability was demonstrated through successfully producing stimulation index (SI) values for 25% hexyl cinnamic aldehyde (HCA) consistently greater than 3, a predetermined threshold, by all participating laboratories. Within- and between-laboratory reproducibility was shown using HCA and 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene, in which EC2.7 values (the estimated concentrations eliciting an SI of 2.7, the threshold for LLNA: BrdU-FCM) fell consistently within the acceptance ranges, 0.025–0.1% and 5–20%, respectively. Predictive capacity was tested using the final protocol version 1.3 for the 18 reference chemicals listed in OECD TG 429, of which results showed 84.6% sensitivity, 100% specificity, and 88.9% accuracy compared with the original LLNA. The data presented are considered to meet the performance criteria for the PS, and its predictive capacity was also sufficiently validated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an optimal performance control scheme for control of a three dimensional (3D) crane system including a Zero Vibration shaper which considers two control objectives concurrently. The control objectives are fast and accurate positioning of a trolley and minimum sway of a payload. A complete mathematical model of a lab-scaled 3D crane is simulated in Simulink. With a specific cost function the proposed controller is designed to cater both control objectives similar to a skilled operator. Simulation and experimental studies on a 3D crane show that the proposed controller has better performance as compared to a sequentially tuned PID-PID anti swing controller. The controller provides better position response with satisfactory payload sway in both rail and trolley responses. Experiments with different payloads and cable lengths show that the proposed controller is robust to changes in payload with satisfactory responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children’s ability to relate number to a continuous quantity abstraction visualized as a number line is widely accepted to be predictive of mathematics achievement. However, a debate has emerged with respect to how children’s placements are distributed on this number line across development. In the current study, different models were applied to children’s longitudinal number placement data to get more insight into the development of number line representations in kindergarten and early primary school years. In addition, longitudinal developmental relations between number line placements and mathematical achievement, measured with a national test of mathematics, were investigated using cross-lagged panel modeling. A group of 442 children participated in a 3-year longitudinal study (ages 5–8 years) in which they completed a number-to-position task every 6 months. Individual number line placements were fitted to various models, of which a one-anchor power model provided the best fit for many of the placements at a younger age (5 or 6 years) and a two-anchor power model provided better fit for many of the children at an older age (7 or 8 years). The number of children who made linear placements also grew with age. Cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that the best fit was provided with a model in which number line acuity and mathematics performance were mutually predictive of each other rather than models in which one ability predicted the other in a non-reciprocal way. This indicates that number line acuity should not be seen as a predictor of math but that both skills influence each other during the developmental process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We investigated the inversion principle in children with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD). • Arithmetic problems were presented in 2 presentation modes (symbolic or picture). • MLD children were able to use the inversion principle in picture mode only. • MLD children achieved performance equal to typically developing children in this mode. Numerical inversion is the ability to understand that addition is the opposite of subtraction and vice versa. Three-term arithmetic problems can be solved without calculation using this conceptual shortcut. To verify that this principle is used, inverse problems (a + b − b) can be compared with standard problems (a + b − c). If this principle is used, performance on inverse problems will be higher than performance on standard problems because no calculation is required. To our knowledge, this principle has not been previously studied in children with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD). Our objectives were (a) to study whether 10-year-olds with MLD are able to use this conceptual principle in three-term arithmetic problems and (b) to evaluate the impact of the presentation mode. A total of 64 children with or without MLD solved three-term arithmetic problems (inverse and standard) in two presentation modes (symbolic and picture). The results showed that even though children with MLD have difficulties in performing arithmetic problems, they can do so when the inverse problem is presented with pictures. The picture presentation mode allowed children with MLD to efficiently identify and use the conceptual inversion shortcut and thus to achieve a similar performance to that of typically developing children. These results provide interesting perspectives for the care of children with MLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Students were divided into four groups based on their qualification goals. [•] Students with low/moderate goals performed no better than students with no goals. [•] Students with high goals performed significantly better than the other three groups. [•] Goals tied in with students’ motives and their attributions for their achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To encourage the development and validation of alternative toxicity test methods, the effort required for validation of test methods proposed for regulatory purposes should be minimized. Performance standards (PS) facilitate efficient validation by requiring limited testing. Based on the validated method, PS define accuracy and reliability values that must be met by the new similar test method. The OECD adopted internationally harmonized PS for evaluating new endpoint versions of the local lymph node assay (LLNA). However, in the process of evaluating a lymph node cell count alternative (LNCC), simultaneous conduct of the regulatory LLNA showed that this standard test may not always perform in perfect accord with its own PS. The LNCC results were similar to the concurrent LLNA. Discrepancies between PS, LLNA and LNCC were largely associated with “borderline” substances and the variability of both endpoints. Two key lessons were learned: firstly, the understandable focus on substances close to the hazard classification borderline are more likely to emphasise issues of biological variability, which should be taken into account during the evaluation of results; secondly, variability in the results for the standard assay should be considered when selecting reference chemicals for PS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We analyze the effects of the New Source Review (NSR) environmental regulations on coal-fired electric power plants. Regulations that grew out of the Clean Air Act of 1970 required new electric generating plants to install costly pollution control equipment but exempted existing plants. Plants lost their exemptions if they made “major modifications.” We examine whether this caused firms to invest less in grandfathered plants, possibly leading to lower efficiency and higher emissions. We find evidence that heightened NSR enforcement reduced capital investment at vulnerable plants. However, we find no discernible effect on other inputs or emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The environmental movement of the 20th century has evolved into a large, diverse and well-financed global community that is increasingly required to prove its worth. Though the environmental sector collects and uses data to determine the status of ecological and social systems, the effectiveness of the programs and policies it uses to affect this status remains largely untested. As governments and donor institutions insist on greater transparency, accountability and evidence of what works and what does not, much is being learned from other fields (e.g. health services, education, international development) and increasingly sophisticated approaches are emerging to manage effectiveness. For example, program evaluation, adaptive management, and systematic review provide frameworks and methods to collect and use information to measure and improve performance. However, the critical data and collaborations necessary for an effectiveness revolution are marginalized by technical, cultural and political obstacles. Learning from other fields, the environmental sector must exploit key leverage points, such as flows of information and self-organization, to overcome impediments and create incentives to initiate and realize an era of effectiveness in environmental management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This research determines if Mastery Goal Orientation mediates Sensation Seeking in the prediction of functional performance and if Sensation Seeking directly predicts dysfunctional behavior. Using two different measures of Sensation Seeking, a sample of fulltime Australian workers was used to test the proposed learning mechanism in the prediction of supervisor rated work outcomes, self-reported work outcomes, and self-reported dysfunctional behavior. As predicted, mediation and suppression analyses provided strong support for the proposed model but with just one of the measures of Sensation Seeking. It is concluded that this mechanism of learning has much to offer our understanding of functional and dysfunctional outcomes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Male and female undergraduates (N =240) participated in opposite-sex dyads and worked on a computerized visual task presented as ¿masculine.¿ Participants in the eight experimental conditions received either higher or lower scores than their partner; this phase was omitted in the two control conditions. In turn, half of the experimental groups received universal competence-standards from the experimenter, while the other half set standards by themselves. In the second phase, the two persons worked on the task as a team. The central hypothesis is that subject-generated standards will favor the men, and that this will result in the women being perceived as having less competence even if achieving the same performance-level as men; this inequality is predicted to no longer be maintained in the groups with experimenter-set standards. Measures include rejection of influence, perceived ability in self and partner, and level of acceptance of both the stated sex-linkage of the task and the experimenter-set standard. Results and their interpretation are presented and discussed in detail. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present research examined the interplay of self-construal (independent vs. interdependent), gender group identification, and performance standards (positive vs. negative) on women’s math performance. Female participants were given a subtle self-prime prior to completing a math test under conditions where either a positive or negative group-based performance standard was rendered accessible. We report an interactive effect of self-construal, gender identification, and performance standard such that a negative (compared to a positive) standard decreased performance under interdependent self-prime (“we”) conditions, whereas the reverse pattern emerged under independent self-prime (“I”) conditions. Importantly, we observed this interplay of performance standards and self-construal only in individuals who self-identify with their gender group whereas performance outcomes of low identifiers were not affected by the experimental manipulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent advances in space and computer technologies are revolutionizing the way remotely sensed data is collected, managed and interpreted. In particular, NASA is continuously gathering very high-dimensional imagery data from the surface of the Earth with hyperspectral sensors such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory''s airborne visible-infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS) or the Hyperion imager aboard Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite platform. The development of efficient techniques for extracting scientific understanding from the massive amount of collected data is critical for space-based Earth science and planetary exploration. In particular, many hyperspectral imaging applications demand real time or near real-time performance. Examples include homeland security/defense, environmental modeling and assessment, wild-land fire tracking, biological threat detection, and monitoring of oil spills and other types of chemical contamination. Only a few parallel processing strategies for hyperspectral imagery are currently available, and most of them assume homogeneity in the underlying computing platform. In turn, heterogeneous networks of workstations (NOWs) have rapidly become a very promising computing solution which is expected to play a major role in the design of high-performance systems for many on-going and planned remote sensing missions. In order to address the need for cost-effective parallel solutions in this fast growing and emerging research area, this paper develops several highly innovative parallel algorithms for unsupervised information extraction and mining from hyperspectral image data sets, which have been specifically designed to be run in heterogeneous NOWs. The considered approaches fall into three highly representative categories: clustering, classification and spectral mixture analysis. Analytical and experimental results are presented in the context of realistic applications (based on hyperspectral data sets from the AVIRIS data repository) using several homogeneous and heterogeneous parallel computing facilities available at NASA''s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Ridges always carry important physical information in practice. Ridge reconstruction based on inverse wavelet transform is studied in this article. It is emphasized that the points within the neighbor area have to be added in the reconstruction to avoid energy lost. However, no discussion has been proposed about how to choose the neighbor area up to now although it is the key to achieve good performance. A formula is given in this article to calculate the width of the neighbor area, which varies with scale and the signal itself. Some examples are given in this article to show the performance of the proposed method, which manifests that the method works very well for signals with multiple components as long as there is no cross section between them. It also works well when the signal to noise ratio is not very low. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper gives out a fast motion estimation algorithm for H.264/AVC, which has almost the same quality performance as that of the Full Search scheme and also provides a strategy to balance the quality performance and the search speed. Integer-pel search is the most time consuming module for motion estimation. In this paper a hybrid Unsymmetrical-cross Multi-hexagon-grid Search (UMHexagonS) algorithm is introduced, which well solves the false motion vector estimation problem because of the local-minimum. As results, it saves more than 90% on search time whereas the averaging PSNR loss is less than 0.056dB for all tested sequences with different motion extent compared with the Fast Full Search scheme. Fractional-pel fast search is not negligible when the integer motion estimation has been extensively speeded up. By utilizing the property of uni-modal error surface inside the fractional-pel search window, a novel Center Biased Fractional-pel Search (CBFPS) algorithm is proposed in this paper, which can save 30–50% computation compared with the Full Fractional-pel Search scheme. Early termination is another problem discussed in this paper, to construct a complete motion estimation method, giving a uniform method which can cover a wide range of applications, terminating the program at early and right stage is certainly required. A model based on the Normative SAD Difference (NSD) is given to assist the termination decision-making, and a tradeoff between the search speed and the reconstructed quality can be achieved by changing a modulation factor. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigated whether social information can affect Ease-of-Learning (EOL). Judgments-of-Learning (JOL), and Feeling-of-Knowing (FOK) and their accuracy. Participants first learned associated word pairs and made the above-mentioned judgments. They were later divided into two groups of metacognitive ability in order to assess if they had been affected differently by the social cues. which consisted of information about previous performances of college students. Results revealed that the magnitude of the metamemory judgments assessed was significantly affected by the social cues and that participants with a Low level of metacognitive ability were more influenced than those with High metacognitive ability. Concerning accuracy, however, only the recall accuracy of JUL judgments was affected. Further. different patterns of influence across the three judgments were observed for the two ability groups. Results and educational implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previous study showed that pairs of students interacting in a second language produced more words when they were assigned a fictitious expert position in a specific competence dimension than when they were assigned a nonexpert position. It has also been shown that the usual level of expertise has an impact on the assigned fictitious expertise effect. The present study was designed to determine whether the processing capacity allotted to the current task could partly determine performance. A given position of expertise may demand a large or small attentional capacity. Two experiments were conducted using a dual-task paradigm. As expected. the different expertise positions led to different reaction times on the secondary task. The second experiment showed that the impact of assigning a position of expertise to students depends on their usual academic standing. This study supports the idea that in interactive situations, performance variations as a function of the expertise position can be partially explained by differences in the processing resources allocated to the task. Implications for teaching are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new two-stage feature-fusion method by combining PCA and KLPP is presented. • A unique approach for determining the model parameters of KLPP is presented. • KLPP is comprehensively analyzed under three weighting methods. • KLPP helps to improve the prediction accuracy and compress the CI of Standard_SBLR. • Under the support of KLPP, Standard_SBLR shows superior predictive performance. To further improve the prediction accuracy of surface roughness in milling process, this paper presents a new two-stage feature-fusion method by combining principal component analysis (PCA) and kernel locality preserving projection (KLPP). PCA is utilized for dimension-reduction while KLPP is utilized for dimension-increment. Vibration information of the workpiece, fixture and spindle is adopted as the monitoring signal. Firstly, the commonly-used time-domain features are extracted from the vibration signals. Then, the presented two-stage feature-fusion method is carried out for extracting more effective signal features. Besides, two types of Bayesian linear regression (BLR) model (Standard_BLR and Standard_SBLR) are utilized for model construction. Before the two-stage feature-fusion, Standard_BLR is utilized to determine the optimum dimension of PCA-based fusion features and the model parameters of KLPP. After the two-stage feature-fusion, Standard_SBLR is utilized to construct the BLR-based surface roughness predictive model. Two types of milling experiment (down milling and up milling) are carried out to show the influence of the presented two-stage feature-fusion method on the predictive performance of Standard_SBLR. Experimental results show that KLPP is highly effective in improving the prediction accuracy and compressing the confidence interval (CI) of Standard_SBLR. Moreover, the comparison results show that the effectiveness of KLPP is not inferior to kernel principal component analysis (KPCA). This paper lays the foundation for accurate monitoring of surface roughness in real industrial settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to accurately evaluate one's understanding of text information is critical for optimum learning to take place. One widely used paradigm for examining the accuracy of individuals' self-assessed comprehension has been termed calibration of comprehension. In this paradigm, students read a passage and are asked to make predictions about their future performance on a comprehension test. Calibration of comprehension is the relation between students' confidence and performance or between predicted and actual performance. In the present paper we review research on calibration of comprehension, examining a number of variables that have been found to influence calibration ability. In the first three sections of our paper we focus on the effects of individual, task, and text variables on students' calibration of comprehension. In the final section, we discuss implications of research on calibration for education and instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study that reviewed the regulatory performance standards and monitoring that are used to evaluate reclamation success in several coal-producing mountainous jurisdictions of western North America. How the study was conducted; Results of the study; Discussion of the study.

Examines the influence of perceived competence in moderating the relationship between role clarity and the job performance of employees. Hypothesis presented in the study; Difference on the effect of perceived competence in competent employees and the less competent counterparts; Rejection of the alternative, ability or adaptability hypothesis.

Investigates the effects of job challenge upon performance in a laboratory setting. Perceptions of skill competence; Examination of task-related attitude; Implications for the use of initial and later job challenge as organizational placement strategies.

Examines the controversy existed in the expectancy theory literature regarding the operationalization of valance. Theory of human domain; Analysis on job performance; Amount of effort a worker would expend on various task.

Presents an integrated model of perceived job characteristics. Suitability of the model for shop, office and management personnel; Variation in global job satisfaction; Effects of job characteristics on job satisfaction.

Discusses the attributional model on responses of leaders to subordinate poor performance. Use of internal attributions and punitive responses for poor performers; Implications of the model on leadership practices; Causes of poor performance.

This investigation was designed to determine whether attributional processes mediate discriminatory reward allocation in organizations. Subjects, who were given different causal explanations for the work success of four male or female employees, rated the appropriateness of several personnel actions and indicated their preference among them for each employee. Results indicated that, as expected, the causal explanations typically used to account for a woman's work success (luck, effort, task difficulty) as contrasted with that typically used to account for a man's work success (ability) produced tendencies to award fewer and less desirable organizational rewards. This was true whether the employee being considered was male or female. Thus, the data suggest that the differential causal explanations that arise from sex differences, not the sex differences themselves, result in the unequal treatment of equally successful men and women, implications of this finding both for future research and for organizational practices are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of changes in the motivational properties of jobs on work attitudes and behaviors were assessed in a quasi-experimental design. A number of clerical jobs in a metropolitan bank were redesigned because of a technological innovation. Changes were made without regard for the motivational characteristics of the jobs, and without cognizance by bank personnel that there might be motivational consequences of the changes. Some jobs were made more complex and challenging, some less so, and the motivational properties of still others were essentially unaffected. Measures of job characteristics, employee attitudes, and work behaviors were collected before and after the changes. Results showed that general satisfaction, growth satisfaction, and internal motivation were affected by changes in job characteristics. Satisfaction with the work context was not affected. Effects of the changes on absenteeism and performance depended on the strength of employee growth needs, which also tended to moderate attitudinal reactions to the changes. Contrary to expectation, employee growth needs themselves were not affected by the altered motivational characteristics of the jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the impact of race on the relationship between task-goal attributes, task-effort and performance measures in the United States. Importance of external validity composition issue on organizational research; Applicability of goal setting data of the whites on black samples; Need of integrating data of minorities in developing theories on work behavior.

Examines the components of performance, calibration and resolution for the assessment of validity of subjective probability judgments. Potentials of systematic biases on the probability judgments of well calibrated individuals; Failure of intelligence and expertise to affect calibration; Challenges brought by uncertainty on everyday life.

This study tests whether subjects can preference order job outcomes (Vk's) in a transitive manner, a premise which must be supported if expectancy theory is to remain valid, Thirty-one subjects pair compared and rated 14 job outcomes. The paired comparisons were tested for total and stochastic transitivity. Of 3472 potentially intransitive triads, only 94 were observed. Stochastic transitivity accounted for 81 intransitivities, leaving only 13 intransitive triads unexplained. The data suggest that total or stochastic intransitivity may be due to indifference between outcomes. It was concluded that the results provide strong support for the transitivity postulate and, therefore, expectancy theory, and that the model used in this paper might usefully be applied in other components of expectancy theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three rating instruments (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales, Numerically Anchored Rating Scales, and Trait Ratings) were compared to an external criterion of police patrolman job performance. The external criterion was five vignettes of hypothetical patrolmen's job behavior based on an inclusive job analysis. Each of the five vignettes was rated by 28 first-level supervisors using each of the three instruments. Rater perceptions of each instrument's relevance for various organizational purposes were also gathered. Analysis of the three rating instruments centered on their respective criterion sensitivity. Results indicated that the three comparison instruments were approximately equal in terms of their resistance to the errors of leniency and central tendency. None of the three instruments was shown to be resistant to halo error. The NARS instrument was preferred for applied usage. Explanations for the results center on scale ambiguity, rater opportunities to observe behavior, and the nature of rater perceptions of performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utility of ability, effort, and direction of behavior to predict performance was examined in an experimental simulation where emphasis was placed on the conceptualization and measurement of key variables. Sixty people were hired to work on a 1-week job. Strong support was found for a linear combination of the variables to predict overall performance. Task difficulty was shown to moderate the relationship between ability and performance and the usefulness of the multiplicative combination of the predictors. The importance of considering the demands of the task in future research is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Role ambiguity and role conflict were hypothesized to be negatively related to employee satisfaction and performance. Previous research, however, had revealed that these two types of role perceptions were not always negatively related to satisfaction and performance. Furthermore, when the predicted negative relationships were found, the magnitudes of the relationships varied widely. In this study employee ability was hypothesized to reduce the negative relationships between role perceptions and satisfaction and performance. In addition, the effect of ability was hypothesized to be moderated by organization level. The results generally failed to support the hypothesized relationships. There were, however, two significant interactions that partially supported one hypothesis. Employees with high ability were less affected by role ambiguity than employees with low ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subjects performing a visual search and detection task on an inherently noisy display were provided with unreliable categorical cues as a secondary source of information, in a study of combination of evidence in psychophysical judgment. Seventy-six subjects served in a separate-groups design with five cue modes and an uncued control. The secondary information produced reliably better detection efficiency only when it included signal location information, as without this the gain in detections was offset by a higher false alarm rate. The reliance on the cues was conservative, probably due to underestimation of their reliability, and negative cues did not appear to affect subjective signal probability relative to performance without cues. Performance with the secondary information is discussed in relation to a model for cue utilization based on signal detection theory and Bayes' theorem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an investigation of the underlying dimensionality of managerial performance utilizing a multidimensional scaling approach. Using similarities and preference data supplied by practicing managers, four dimensions were identified: Perceived Managerial Competence, Activity Level, Role Centrality, and Purposefulness. Dimensions were replicated in three independent analyses. These dimensions are descriptive and represent the relevant and discriminable criteria used by managers to evaluate managers. It is suggested that performance and evaluator "profiles" may provide a rich source of data for the analysis of managerial performance. The authors propose that a better understanding of the dimensionality of performance is a necessary precondition for the development of meaningful normative models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A crossed-lagged correlation design was used to test causal relationships between work performance and four different measures of job satisfaction. Longitudinal data over a 1-yr period was collected for a sample of 35 managers and 59 machine operators in a specialty steel firm. Affective measures of job satisfaction were linked to managers' performance in a tagged performance → satisfaction relationship. Need deficiency measures of job satisfaction were linked to the machine operators' performance in a lead dissatisfaction → performance relationship. The inclusion of the importance moderator in measures of job satisfaction did not improve the correlation between satisfaction and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five sources of feedback (the formal organization, supervisor, co-workers, the task, one's own self) were investigated for their "informativeness" as providers of information about what the job requirements are (referent) and the extent to which they were met (feedback). Findings indicate that there is a greater reliance on intrinsic sources (sources psychologically "closer" to the individual) than on more external sources for feedback information, this reliance being reduced for referent information. These findings are discussed in terms of job description items which indicate that various characteristics of the external sources are associated with a reduced reliance on intrinsic sources. Implications for future research and organizational life are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to determine the effect that goals have on performance and the effect that performance has on reported levels of satisfaction in a competitively structured task. The results of this study give strong evidence to Locke's theory (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1969, 4, 566-574) that the most immediate, direct motivational determinant of task performance is the subject's goal, and to Ilgen and Hamstra's theory (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1972, 7, 359-370) that satisfaction with one's performance is a function of the difference between actual performance and performance goals, and also a function of the difference between actual performance and performance of a reference person. Satisfaction and performance were found to be strongly related only up to the point where a person exceeds his goal or his reference person's outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology has been depicted, in recent years, as an important causal variable in some theoretical formulations of organizational structure and behavior. Studies conducted to investigate the relationships between technology and other organizational variables have not provided, thus far, a conclusive picture of the role of technology in a parsimonious model of organizational behavior. Much of the difficulty in studying technology can be traced to the problem of obtaining a satisfactory operational definition of technology. A related problem is that of establishing the appropriate unit of analysis within which to study technology variance. An operational definition of technology is developed and applied in this study, building from a typology of technologies proposed by J. D. Thompson. Analysis was conducted on 297 organization units (departments, devisions) from within a diverse sample of 17 business and industrial firms. The organization units were classified among three varieties of technology, specified as long-linked, mediating and intensive technology respectively (following the J. D. Thompson typology). The organization units were also described in terms of several dimensions of organizational behavior developed in earlier research. Direct and indirect relationships involving technology, 14 dimensions of organizational behavior, and organization unit effectiveness, were investigated in several analyses. The findings from these analyses support the hypothesis that the criteria of effectiveness of an organization unit vary with the nature of the technology of the unit. The nature of the intra-technology models of organizational effectiveness are generally supportive of the variation expected from the Thompson theoretical analysis. No direct technology-organizational effectiveness relationship was observed, a finding which is in keeping with the expectations of the researchers. The models of organizational effectiveness observed within each of the three technology categories are described and the implications of their differences and similarities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]