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Of Situations (of + situation)
Kinds of Of Situations Selected AbstractsExperimental study of the semi-active control of building structures using the shaking tableEARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 15 2003Qing Sun Abstract A magnetorheological (MR) damper has been manufactured and tested and a non-linear model is discussed. The parameters for the model are identified from an identification set of experimental data; these parameters are then used to reconstruct the force vs. displacement and the force vs. velocity hysteresis cycles of the MR damper for the hysteretic model. Then experiments are conducted on a three-storey frame model using impact excitation, which identifies dynamic parameters of the model equipped with and without the MR damper. Natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes, as well as structural properties, such as the mass, stiffness and damping matrices, are obtained. A semi-active control method such as a variable structure controller is studied. Based on the ,reaching law' method, a feedback controller is presented. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the control system and the effect of earthquake ground motions, both numerical analysis and shaking table tests of the model, with and without the MR damper, have been carried out under three different ground motions: El Centro 1940, Taft 1952, and Ninghe 1976 (Tangshan Earthquake in Chinese). It is found from both the numerical analysis and the shaking table tests that the maximum accelerations and relative displacements for all floors are significantly reduced with the MR damper. A reasonable agreement between the results obtained from the numerical analysis and those from the shaking table tests is also observed. On the other hand, tests conducted at different earthquake excitations and various excitation levels demonstrate the ability of the MR damper to surpass the performance of a comparable passive system in a variety of situations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The concept and status of trait in research on temperamentEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2001Jan Strelau The aim of the paper is to show that research on temperament is inescapably bound with the concept of trait as applied in personality research. It is the individual differences approach on which temperament studies are based, and traits are the basic units by means of which these differences are described. Taking as a point of departure the definition of trait understood as a relatively stable and individual-specific generalized tendency to behave or react in a certain way expressed in a variety of situations, the hypothetical status of temperament traits is discussed. Special attention is paid to states and behaviour by means of which temperament traits are inferred as well as to the biological and environmental determinants of these traits. Temperamental traits constitute only a part of the personality structure viewed from the perspective of individual differences and this perspective is only one of the many from which the complex nature of personality should be viewed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Quantum phenomena via complex measure: Holomorphic extensionFORTSCHRITTE DER PHYSIK/PROGRESS OF PHYSICS, Issue 7 2006Article first published online: 11 MAY 200, S.K. Srinivasan The complex measure theoretic approach proposed earlier is reviewed and a general version of density matrix as well as conditional density matrix is introduced. The holomorphic extension of the complex measure density (CMD) is identified to be the Wigner distribution function of the conventional quantum mechanical theory. A variety of situations in quantum optical phenomena are discussed within such a holomorphic complex measure theoretic framework. A model of a quantum oscillator in interaction with a bath is analyzed and explicit solution for the CMD of the coordinate as well as the Wigner distribution function is obtained. A brief discussion on the assignment of probability to path history of the test oscillator is provided. [source] Convergence analysis of blind image deconvolution via dispersion minimizationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 7 2006C. Vural Abstract A new non-linear adaptive filter called blind image deconvolution via dispersion minimization has recently been proposed for restoring noisy blurred images blindly. This is essentially a two-dimensional version of the constant modulus algorithm that is well known in the field of blind equalization. The two-dimensional extension has been shown capable of reconstructing noisy blurred images using partial a priori information about the true image and the point spread function in a variety of situations by means of simulations. This paper analyses the behaviour of the algorithm by investigating the static properties of the cost function and the dynamic convergence of the parameter estimates. The theoretical results are supported with computer simulations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Personal Responsibility for Tornado Preparedness: Commitment or Choice?,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 8 2001JOHN-PAUL MULILIS A review of the literature reveals that personal responsibility assumed for one's behavior clearly affects behavioral outcomes for a variety of situations, and that personal responsibility is in turn affected by a wide variety of variables. However, limited research has been conducted to determine exactly what personal responsibility fundamentally entails. While duty, moral obligation, choice, and commitment have been suggested as being integral to the concept of responsibility, few investigations have systematically varied more than one of these variables in a single experiment. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of both choice and commitment on personal responsibility assumed for and behavioral intentions to engage in tornado preparedness. Results indicate that both choice and commitment were required to generate personal responsibility for and subsequent intentions to engage in tornado preparedness. Implications of these results are discussed. [source] The relationship between indecisiveness and eye movement patterns in a decision making informational search taskJOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING, Issue 4 2010Andrea L. Patalano Abstract Indecisiveness is a trait-related general tendency to experience decision difficulties across a variety of situations, leading to decision delay, worry, and regret. Indecisiveness is proposed (Rassin, 2007) to be associated with an increase in desire for information acquisition and reliance on compensatory strategies,as evidenced by alternative-based information search,during decision making. However existing studies provide conflicting findings. We conducted an information board study of indecisiveness, using eye tracking methodology, to test the hypotheses that the relationship between indecisiveness and choice strategy depends on being in the early stage of the decision making process, and that it depends on being in the presence of an opportunity to delay choice. We found strong evidence for the first hypothesis in that indecisive individuals changed shift behavior from the first to the second half of the task, consistent with a move from greater to lesser compensatory processing, while the shift behavior of decisive individuals suggested lesser compensatory processing over the whole task. Indecisiveness was also related to time spent viewing attributes of the selected course, and to time spent looking away from decision information. These findings resolve past discrepancies, suggest an interesting account of how the decision process unfolds for indecisive versus decisive individuals, and contribute to a better understanding of this tendency. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] On the continuum approximation of large reaction mixturesAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 7 2010Teh C. Ho Abstract In analyzing a reaction mixture of very many components, treating the mixture as a continuum can produce results of generality. In many practical situations (e.g., hydrodesulfurization), it is highly desirable to predict the overall behavior of the mixture at large times (high conversions) with minimum information on the mixture property. For irreversible first-order reactions in a plug-flow reactor, it was previously shown that the continuum approximation cannot be valid at arbitrarily large times. This work is an investigation of the validity of the approximation for mixtures with complex kinetics. It is found that the approximation can be conditionally or universally valid, depending on kinetics, reactor type, pore diffusion, and mixture properties. The validity conditions for a variety of situations, nontrivial as they may seem, take a power-law form. Backmixing and pore diffusion widen the range of validity. The underlying physics and some dichotomies/subtleties are discussed. The results are applied to catalytic hydroprocessing in petroleum refining. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010 [source] The Limiting Density of Unit Root Test Statistics: A Unifying TechniqueJOURNAL OF TIME SERIES ANALYSIS, Issue 3 2000Mithat Gonen In this note we introduce a simple principle to derive a constructive expression for the density of the limiting distribution, under the null hypothesis, of unit root statistics for an AR(1)-process in a variety of situations. We consider the case of unknown mean and reconsider the well-known situation where the mean is zero. For long-range dependent errors we indicate how the principle might apply again. We also show that in principle the method also works for a near unit root case. Weak convergence and subsequent Karhunen-Loeve expansion of the weak limit of the partial sum process of the errors plays an important role, along with the evaluation of a certain normal type integral with complex mean and variance. For independent and long range dependent errors this weak limit is ordinary and fractional Brownian motion respectively. AMS 1991 subject classification. Primary 62M10; secondary 62E20. [source] Attachment models of the self and others: Relations with self-esteem, humanity-esteem, and parental treatmentPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, Issue 3 2004Michelle A. Luke The present research tested the extent to which perceptions of early childhood experiences with parents predicted general views of the self (i.e., self-esteem) and others (i.e., humanity-esteem), and whether attachment self- and other-models mediated these links. Two studies used a new measure of humanity-esteem (Luke & Maio, 2004) to achieve these ends. As expected, indices that tapped a positive model of the self in relationships were associated with high self-esteem and indices that tapped a positive model of others in relationships were associated with high humanity-esteem. Also, early attachment experiences with fathers and mothers predicted self-esteem and humanity-esteem, respectively, and these direct relations were mediated by the attachment models. The studies, therefore, provide direct evidence that attachment measures predict general favorability toward the self and others, while revealing novel differences in the roles of childhood experiences with fathers and mothers. No variables, it is held, have more far-reaching effects on personality development than a child's experiences within the family: for, starting during his first months in his relation with his mother figure, and extending through the years of childhood and adolescence in his relation to both parents, he builds up working models of how attachment figures are likely to behave towards him in any of a variety of situations; and on those models are based all his expectations, and therefore all his plans, for the rest of his life. Bowlby (1973; p. 369) [source] A two-stage phase II trial design utilizing both primary and secondary endpointsPHARMACEUTICAL STATISTICS: THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED STATISTICS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY, Issue 2 2008Xun Lin Abstract Phase II trials in oncology drug development are usually conducted to perform the initial assessment of treatment activity. The common designs in this setting, for example, Simon 2-stage designs, are often developed based on testing whether a parameter of interest, usually a proportion (e.g. response rate), is less than a certain level or not. These designs usually consider only one parameter. However, sometimes we may encounter situations where we need to consider not a single parameter, but multiple parameters. This paper presents a two-stage design in which both primary and secondary endpoints are utilized in the decision rules. The family-wise Type 1 error rate and statistical power of the proposed design are investigated under a variety of situations by means of Monte-Carlo simulations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Assessing risks from threats to process plants: Threat and vulnerability analysisPROCESS SAFETY PROGRESS, Issue 4 2002Paul Baybutt Process security management addresses threats from terrorist and criminal acts against plants that may result in the release of hazardous materials. The risk of such threats must be assessed to determine if existing security measures and safeguards are adequate or need improvement. Risk assessment is the heart of a process security program. Process plants need straight forward and easily applied methods to assess security risks using techniques that can be employed in a variety of situations and at varying levels of detail. This paper describes an approach that accomplishes these objectives. Threat analysis is the first step. It is used to identify the sources and types of threats and their likelihood. The approach described in this paper involves the consideration of motivations and capabilities of adversaries and the rating of facility security factors to develop a threat profile. Once specific threats have been identified, process vulnerability analysis is used to identify threat scenarios, i.e., how threats could be realized. Plants and processes are divided into sectors, and each credible threat within each sector is considered. Vulnerabilities are identified by brainstorming the ways barriers can be penetrated and process containment breached. Checklists are used to guide the brainstorming, and scenario consequences are recorded. Existing security measures and safeguards are listed, and any recommendations for improvements to reduce the likelihood and severity of terrorist and criminal acts are made for consideration by management based on the nature of the threat, process vulnerabilities, possible consequences, and existing security measures and safeguards. Risk rankings are performed as part of the analyses. [source] Likelihood analysis of joint marginal and conditional models for longitudinal categorical dataTHE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF STATISTICS, Issue 2 2009Baojiang Chen MSC 2000: Primary 62H12; secondary 62F10 Abstract The authors develop a Markov model for the analysis of longitudinal categorical data which facilitates modelling both marginal and conditional structures. A likelihood formulation is employed for inference, so the resulting estimators enjoy the optimal properties such as efficiency and consistency, and remain consistent when data are missing at random. Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed method performs well under a variety of situations. Application to data from a smoking prevention study illustrates the utility of the model and interpretation of covariate effects. The Canadian Journal of Statistics © 2009 Statistical Society of Canada Les auteurs développent un modèle de Markov pour l'analyse de données catégorielles longitudinales facilitant la représentation des structures marginales et conditionnelles. L'inférence est basée sur une fonction de vraisemblance afin d'obtenir des estimateurs efficaces, cohérents et qui le demeurent lorsqu'il y a des données manquantes au hasard. Des études de simulation montrent que la méthode proposée se comporte bien dans les différents scénarios considérés. L'application à des données provenant d'une étude sur la lutte contre le tabagisme illustre bien l'utilité de ce modèle et permet une interprétation des effets des covariables. La revue canadienne de statistique © 2009 Société statistique du Canada [source] The Balanced Scorecard and its Possibilities: The Initial Experiences of a Singaporean FirmAUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING REVIEW, Issue 1 2008Rina Sandhu This paper examines the multiple possibilities that arise from the translation of actors' hopes and aspirations when implementing a balanced scorecard. The issue is studied in the context of a Singaporean security company in the initial stages of implementing a BSC. We find that the BSC is a ,messy' object, being different things to different people. This messy object is a result of the many possibilities that the BSC might become which ultimately require translating into the local setting. As such, this view challenges Kaplan and Norton's idea of the BSC as a generic and unitary object of performance measurement that is readily applicable to a variety of situations. [source] |