Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Uniqueness
Terms modified by Uniqueness Selected AbstractsTHE UNIQUENESS OF THE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPEGEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2001WILBUR ZELINSKY ABSTRACT. The assemblage of objects that constitute the publicly visible religious landscape of the United States,houses of worship and a variety of church-related enterprises,deviates so markedly from its counterparts in other lands that we can regard its uniqueness as a significant argument for American exceptionalism. The diagnostic features in question include the extraordinary number and variety of churches and denominations, their special physical attributes, the near-random microgeography of churches in urban areas, and, most especially, their nomenclature and the widely distributed signage promoting godliness and religiosity. Such landscape phenomena suggest connections with much-deeper issues concerning the origin and evolution of American society and culture. [source] Representing Preferences with a Unique Subjective State SpaceECONOMETRICA, Issue 4 2001Eddie Dekel We extend Kreps' (1979) analysis of preference for flexibility, reinterpreted by Kreps (1992) as a model of unforeseen contingencies. We enrich the choice set, consequently obtaining uniqueness results that were not possible in Kreps' model. We consider several representations and allow the agent to prefer commitment in some contingencies. In the representations, the agent acts as if she had coherent beliefs about a set of possible future (ex post) preferences, each of which is an expected-utility preference. We show that this set of ex post preferences, called the subjective state space, is essentially unique given the restriction that all ex post preferences are expected-utility preferences and is minimal even without this restriction. Because the subjective state space is identified, the way ex post utilities are aggregated into an ex ante ranking is also essentially unique. Hence when a representation that is additive across states exists, the additivity is meaningful in the sense that all representations are intrinsically additive. Uniqueness enables us to show that the size of the subjective state space provides a measure of the agent's uncertainty about future contingencies and that the way the states are aggregated indicates whether these contingencies lead to a desire for flexibility or commitment. [source] Lexical studies of Filipino person descriptors: adding personality-relevant social and physical attributesEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2008Shellah Myra Imperio Abstract Lexical studies have focused on traits. In the Filipino language, we investigated whether additional dimensions can be identified when personality-relevant terms for social roles, statuses and effects, plus physical attributes, are included. Filipino students (N,=,496) rated themselves on 268 such terms, plus 253 markers of trait and evaluative dimensions. We identified 10 dimensions of social and physical attributes,Prominence, Uselessness, Attractiveness, Respectability, Uniqueness, Destructiveness, Presentableness, Strength, Dangerousness and Charisma. Most of these dimensions did not correspond in a one-to-one manner to Filipino or alternative trait models (Big Five, HEXACO, ML7). However, considerable redundancy was observed between the social and physical attribute dimensions and trait and evaluative dimensions. Thus, social and physical attributes communicate information about personality traits, and vice versa. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Hair, Human Evolution, and the Idea of Human UniquenessEVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2005Niccolo Caldararo No abstract is available for this article. [source] False Uniqueness: the Self-Perception of New Entrants to Higher Education in the UK and Its Implications for Access , a Pilot Study1HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2007Andy Thorpe A central tenet of contemporary education policy relates to the desire to extend higher education (HE) provision to less advantaged groups (,widening participation'). Our paper contends that a key behavioural obstacle to widening participation lies in the erroneous belief that persists among potential entrants from disadvantaged backgrounds as to their capabilities of succeeding within the HE environment , a perception that serves to deflate application/recruitment rates from such groupings. We test this ,false uniqueness' thesis using a sample of 127 new UK undergraduates, finding that students drawn from lower social class backgrounds consistently underestimated their abilities vis-à-vis the overall cohort. [source] MOF,Graphite Oxide Composites: Combining the Uniqueness of Graphene Layers and Metal,Organic FrameworksADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 46 2009Camille Petit Nanocomposites containing graphite oxide (GO) and metal,organic frameworks (MOFs) are prepared. They have a well-defined structure, in which graphene layers from GO alternate with layers of MOF via linkages between epoxy groups from GO and zinc oxide from the MOF (see image). The enhanced porosity and dispersive forces of the composites compared to the precursors provide views for applications in gas adsorption. [source] Mohr,Coulomb MiniCLoE model Uniqueness and localization studies, links with normality ruleINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 1 2003R. Chambon Abstract This paper is devoted to a parametric study of a plane Mohr,Coulomb CLoE model. As CLoE models are designed with a consistency condition, it is possible to define a normality condition and to study its consequences. The positiveness of the second order work which implies the uniqueness of the solution of a small strain boundary value problem is studied firstly. Then the localization criterion is also studied. It is proved that normality has consequences similar to those for classical elasto plastic models. However if induced anisotropy is introduced in the hypoplastic CLoE model, some conclusions are no longer true. Finally plane strain experimental data are used to identify the parameters of the model. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Source localization using electric and magnetic point dipoles with modified genetic algorithmINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NUMERICAL MODELLING: ELECTRONIC NETWORKS, DEVICES AND FIELDS, Issue 4 2009Päivi K. Koivisto Abstract A method to reconstruct the source current from far-field data in terms of electric and magnetic point dipoles is described. The inverse problem of solving the source from a known electromagnetic far-field pattern is carried out by a combination of genetic algorithm and local optimizers. The source is modelled by a small number of point dipoles, the locations, amplitudes and types of which are determined by minimizing the difference between the field of the ensemble and the targeted pattern. Uniqueness is ensured by limiting the number of dipoles together with an appropriately weighted minimum energy condition. A general description of the method applicable to antenna analysis and synthesis is given and three examples of its practical use are presented. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A Multi-Method, Multi-Hazard Approach to Explore the Uniqueness of Terrorism Risk Perceptions and Worry,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Jennifer E.C. Lee Developing ways to manage terrorism effectively requires a better understanding of how the public perceives this threat. In the present study, Canadians' perceptions of terrorism risk and 4 other hazards were assessed using a word-association technique and rating scales reflecting key cognitive dimensions of risk (threat, uncertainty, control) and worry reactions. Data were collected in a national telephone survey. Canadians perceived terrorism as posing a lower threat, as more uncertain, and as less controllable, compared to the other hazards. Positive associations of perceived threat and of perceived uncertainty with worry about terrorism were observed. However, perceived control was unexpectedly positively associated with worry about terrorism. The findings also suggest that additional social contextual factors should be examined in future research. [source] Hölder continuity for two-phase flows in porous mediaMATHEMATICAL METHODS IN THE APPLIED SCIENCES, Issue 11 2006Li-Ming Yeh Abstract This work is to prove the Hölder continuity of the solutions of the degenerate differential equations describing two-phase, incompressible, immiscible flows in porous media. The differential equations allow degeneracy at two end points and the assumption on mild degeneracy is not required in this study. The regularity result is proved by an alternative argument. Uniqueness of the weak solutions of the differential equations is a direct consequence from this Hölder continuity. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source] Maxwell Fluid Model for Generation of Stress,Strain Curves of Viscoelastic Solid Rocket PropellantsPROPELLANTS, EXPLOSIVES, PYROTECHNICS, Issue 4 2010Himanshu Shekhar Abstract Solid rocket propellants are modeled as Maxwell Fluid with single spring and single dashpot in series. Complete stress,strain curve is generated for case-bonded composite propellant formulations by taking suitable values of spring constant and damping coefficient. Propellants from same lot are tested at different strain rate. It is observed that change in spring constant, representing elastic part is very small with strain rate but damping constant varies significantly with variation in strain rate. For a typical propellant formulation, when strain rate is varied from 0.00037 to 0.185 per second, spring constant (K) changed from 5.5 to 7.9,MPa, but damping coefficient (D) varied from 1400 to 4,MPas. For all strain rates, stress,strain curve is generated using developed Maxwell model and close matching with actual test curve is observed. This indicates validity of Maxwell fluid model for case-bonded solid propellant formulations. It is observed that with increases in strain rate, spring constant increases but damping coefficient decreases representing solid rocket propellant as a true viscoelastic material. It is also established that at higher strain rate, damping coefficient becomes negligible as compared to spring constant. It is also observed that variation of spring constant is logarithmic with strain rate and that of damping coefficient follows a power law. The correlation coefficients are introduced to ascertain spring constants and damping coefficients at any strain rate from that at a reference strain rate. Correlation for spring constant needs a coefficient "H," which is function of propellant formulation alone and not of test conditions and the equation developed is K2=(K1 - H)×{ln(d,2/dt)/ln(d,1/dt)}+H. Similarly for damping coefficient (D) also another constant "S" is introduced and prediction formula is given by D2=D1×{(d,2/dt)/(d,1/dt)}S. Evaluating constants "H" and "S" at different strain rates validate this mathematical formulation for different propellant formulations. Close matching of test and predicted stress,strain curve indicates propellant behavior as viscoelastic Maxwell Fluid. Uniqueness of approach is to predict complete stress,strain curves, which are not attempted by any other researchers. [source] Bellman equations associated to the optimal feedback control of stochastic Navier-Stokes equationsCOMMUNICATIONS ON PURE & APPLIED MATHEMATICS, Issue 5 2005Fausto Gozzi In this paper we study infinite-dimensional, second-order Hamilton-Jacobi-Bell-man equations associated to the feedback synthesis of stochastic Navier-Stokes equations forced by space-time white noise. Uniqueness and existence of viscosity solutions are proven for these infinite-dimensional partial differential equations. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Review and Restore for Case-Base MaintenanceCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 2 2001Thomas Reinartz Case-base maintenance is one of the most important issues for current research in case-based reasoning (CBR). In this article we propose an extended six-step CBR cycle and discuss its two additional steps as part of the maintenance phase of the CBR process. The review step covers assessment and monitoring of the knowledge containers, whereas the restore step actually modifies the contents of the containers according to recommendations resulting from the review step in order to keep the knowledge containers in a usable state. Here we focus our attention on the case base. For the review step, we define several quality measures based on different case and case-base properties that describe specific characteristics of the case base such as correctness, consistency, uniqueness, minimality, and incoherence. Then we use these measures to realize monitoring capabilities for the case-base container that indicate when the restore step is necessary. Finally, we also describe several methods for modifications of the case base in the restore step and their relation to the review step. An initial experimental evaluation shows the appropriateness of the proposed concepts and methods before we conclude the article with a discussion of related work and an outline of future directions to extend these aspects of maintenance in CBR. [source] Barycentric Coordinates on SurfacesCOMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 5 2010Raif M. Rustamov This paper introduces a method for defining and efficiently computing barycentric coordinates with respect to polygons on general surfaces. Our construction is geared towards injective polygons (polygons that can be enclosed in a metric ball of an appropriate size) and is based on replacing the linear precision property of planar coordinates by a requirement in terms of center of mass, and generalizing this requirement to the surface setting. We show that the resulting surface barycentric coordinates can be computed using planar barycentric coordinates with respect to a polygon in the tangent plane. We prove theoretically that the surface coordinates properly generalize the planar coordinates and carry some of their useful properties such as unique reconstruction of a point given its coordinates, uniqueness for triangles, edge linearity, similarity invariance, and smoothness; in addition, these coordinates are insensitive to isometric deformations and can be used to reconstruct isometries. We show empirically that surface coordinates are shape-aware with consistent gross behavior across different surfaces, are well-behaved for different polygon types/locations on variety of surface forms, and that they are fast to compute. Finally, we demonstrate effectiveness of surface coordinates for interpolation, decal mapping, and correspondence refinement. [source] Checking ownership and confinementCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 7 2004Alex Potanin Abstract A number of proposals to manage aliasing in Java-like programming languages have been advanced over the last five years. It is not clear how practical these proposals are, that is, how well they relate to the kinds of programs currently written in Java-like languages. To address this problem, we analysed heap snapshots from a corpus of Java programs. Our results indicate that object-oriented programs do in fact exhibit symptoms of encapsulation in practice, and that proposed models of uniqueness, ownership, and confinement can usefully describe the aliasing structures of object-oriented programs. Understanding the kinds of aliasing present in programs should help us to design formalisms to make explicit the kinds of aliasing implicit in object-oriented programs. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Nonindigenous Species: Ecological Explanation, Environmental Ethics, and Public PolicyCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2003David M. Lodge Misunderstandings and tension exist regarding the science, values, environmental ethics, and public policy relevant to invasive species, which are the subset of nonindigenous species that cause economic or environmental damage. Although there is a natural background rate at which species invasions occur, it is much lower than the current human-induced rates at which species are being moved around the globe. Contrary to some recently voiced opinions , the fact that some species invasions occur without human assistance does not confer acceptability on all species invasions. Also, despite claims to the contrary, the reductions of native biodiversity caused by nonindigenous species are large and well documented. Even if that were not true, an emphasis on species numbers alone as a metric for the impact of nonindigenous species does not adequately incorporate the high value many humans place on the uniqueness of regional biota. Because regional biota are being homogenized by species invasions, it has become an appropriate and official public policy goal in the United States to reduce the harm done by invasive species. The goal is not, however, a reduction of numbers of nonindigenous species per se, as recently claimed by some authors, but a reduction in the damage caused by invasive species, including many sorts of environmental and economic damage. A major challenge remaining for ecology, environmental ethics, and public policy is therefore the development of widely applicable risk-assessment protocols that are acceptable to diverse constituencies. Despite apparent disagreements among scholars, little real disagreement exists about the occurrence, effects, or public-policy implications of nonindigenous species. Resumen: El público está recibiendo un mensaje confuso de ecologistas, otros académicos y periodistas sobre el tema de especies no nativas. Existen malos entendidos y tensión en relación con la ciencia, los valores, la ética ambiental y las políticas públicas relevantes a las especies invasoras, que son un subconjunto de las especies no nativas que causan daños económicos o ambientales. Aunque existe una tasa natural a la que ocurren invasiones, es mucho más baja que las actuales tasas, inducidas por humanos, a las que especies son movidas alrededor del mundo. Al contrario de algunos autores recientes, el hecho de que algunas invasiones de especies ocurren sin asistencia humana no le confiere aceptabilidad moral sobre todas las invasiones de especies. También, a pesar de recientes afirmaciones de lo contrario, las reducciones de biodiversidad nativa debido a especies no nativas son notables y están bien documentadas. Aún si no fuera verdad, el énfasis sólo en el número de especies como una medida del impacto de especies no nativas no incorpora adecuadamente el alto valor que muchos humanos reconocen en la singularidad de la biota regional. Debido a que la biota regional está siendo homogeneizada por invasiones de especies, la reducción del daño causado por especies invasoras se ha convertido en una política pública apropiada y oficial en los Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, la meta no es la reducción de especies no nativas, en si, como afirman algunos autores recientes, sino una reducción de los impactos dañinos de las especies invasoras, incluyendo muchos tipos de daño económico y ambiental. Por lo tanto, un reto mayor para la ecología, la ética ambiental y la política pública es el desarrollo de protocolos de evaluación de riesgos ampliamente aplicables que sean aceptables para electores diversos. A pesar de aparentes desacuerdos entre académicos, existe poco desacuerdo real acerca de la ocurrencia, el impacto o las implicancias en política pública de las especies no nativas. [source] Financing Constraints, Ownership Control, and Cross-Border M&As: Evidence from Nine East Asian EconomiesCORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 6 2009Yenn-Ru Chen ABSTRACT Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question/Issue: This study distinguishes between the effects of financial constraint determinants on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and domestic M&As for all takeover bids announced in nine East Asian economies from 1998 to 2005. Research Findings/Insights: The results of logistic regressions verify that the extent of stock market and governance developments improves corporate financing conditions and subsequently encourages cross-border M&As in East Asia. The results also indicate that, except for ownership control variables, the firm-specific factors of financing constraints reduce the occurrence of cross-border M&As relative to domestic M&As. Although family- and state-controlled firms have better access to external financing, they are reluctant to risk diluting their management control and thus prefer domestic M&As to cross-border deals. Theoretical/Academic Implications: This study enhances the empirical studies of the relation between financing constraints and corporate investments based on the market imperfection hypothesis of corporate finance theories. In addition, this study also addresses the interaction between the market imperfection hypothesis and agency theory in explaining the effects of special ownership control on cross-border M&As relative to domestic deals. Furthermore, by examining the research questions across nine East Asian economies, this study provides an understanding of how such a relation applies to firms in countries where information asymmetry is high. Practitioner/Policy Implications: The findings indicate the importance of corporate governance and verify the effects of unique organizational structures on major corporate decisions. Specifically, family-controlled firms are often free of the financing constraints inherent in investment decisions. Thus, it is necessary to consider such organizational uniqueness when explaining the financing behavior of cross-border M&As conducted by Asian firms. [source] Education and Social Change: The Case of Israel's State CurriculumCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 4 2007AMOS HOFMAN ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to explore, through the case of the official Israeli state curriculum, how the educational system is affected by social changes and how it responds to them, and to suggest curricular directions that go along with the new social reality that has emerged in Israel during the past decade. We offer a conceptual-theoretical analysis based on the examination of 10 subject areas taught at Israeli schools by leading experts who investigated the curriculum documents of the Ministry of Education in their disciplines. We identify three stages of curriculum development in Israel since its establishment: promotion of hegemonic national goals, emphasis on academic structure of knowledge, and in recent decades, multiple conflicting goals. Changes in the Israeli state curricula indeed reflect a response to broader social changes, yet these changes are partial, irresolute, and scattered. There is a need for a transcultural approach, promoting a core curriculum common to all groups in Israel, beyond which each group may express its uniqueness. [source] Treatment-resistant bipolar depression: towards a new definitionACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 6 2009I. Pacchiarotti Objective:, To summarize the conceptual and operational definitions of treatment-resistant bipolar depression and to review the evidence-based therapeutic options. Method:, Structured searches of PubMed, Index Medicus, Excerpta Medica and Psyclit conducted in December 2008. Results:, Criteria for treatment resistance in bipolar depression are commonly based on concepts stemming from treatment resistance as defined for unipolar depression, an approach that proved to be inadequate. In fact, the addition of an ad hoc criterion based on lithium and other mood stabilizer unresponsiveness after reaching adequate plasma levels appears to be a patch that attempts to take into account the uniqueness of bipolar depression but fails to become operational. Recent data from randomized clinical trials of new anticonvulsants and second-generation antipsychotics should lead to the development of a modern definition of treatment-resistant bipolar depression, and specific therapeutic algorithms. Conclusion:, We suggest a redefinition of resistant bipolar I and II depression. We propose different degrees of severity within bipolar depression in a stepwise manner. [source] Representing Preferences with a Unique Subjective State SpaceECONOMETRICA, Issue 4 2001Eddie Dekel We extend Kreps' (1979) analysis of preference for flexibility, reinterpreted by Kreps (1992) as a model of unforeseen contingencies. We enrich the choice set, consequently obtaining uniqueness results that were not possible in Kreps' model. We consider several representations and allow the agent to prefer commitment in some contingencies. In the representations, the agent acts as if she had coherent beliefs about a set of possible future (ex post) preferences, each of which is an expected-utility preference. We show that this set of ex post preferences, called the subjective state space, is essentially unique given the restriction that all ex post preferences are expected-utility preferences and is minimal even without this restriction. Because the subjective state space is identified, the way ex post utilities are aggregated into an ex ante ranking is also essentially unique. Hence when a representation that is additive across states exists, the additivity is meaningful in the sense that all representations are intrinsically additive. Uniqueness enables us to show that the size of the subjective state space provides a measure of the agent's uncertainty about future contingencies and that the way the states are aggregated indicates whether these contingencies lead to a desire for flexibility or commitment. [source] Equilibrium Determinacy under Monetary and Fiscal Policies in an Overlapping Generations ModelECONOMIC NOTES, Issue 3 2005Alessandro Piergallini This paper studies the issue of equilibrium determinacy under monetary and fiscal policy feedback rules in an optimizing general equilibrium model with overlapping generations and flexible prices. It is shown that equilibria may be determinate also when monetary and fiscal policies are both ,passive'. In particular, under passive monetary rules, equilibrium uniqueness is more likely to be verified when fiscal policies are less committed to public debt stabilization. [source] Quantitative tools for perfecting species listsENVIRONMETRICS, Issue 2 2002Michael W. Palmer Abstract A substantial body of literature has accumulated on the topic of the estimation of species richness by extrapolation. However, most of these methods rely on an objective sampling of nature. This condition is difficult to meet and seldom achieved for large regions. Furthermore, scientists conducting biological surveys often already have preliminary but subjectively gathered species lists, and would like to assess the completeness of such lists, and/or to find a way to perfect them. We propose several strategies for utilizing external data (such as might be obtained using GIS) to aid in the completion of species lists. These include: (i) using existing species lists to develop predictive models; (ii) using the uniqueness of the environment as a guide to find underrepresented species; (iii) using spectral heterogeneity to locate environmentally heterogeneous regions; (iv) combining surveys with statistical model-building in an iterative manner. We demonstrate the potential of these approaches using simulation and case studies from Oklahoma. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Nest Hydrocarbons as Cues for Philopatry in a Paper WaspETHOLOGY, Issue 5 2005A. Sumana Philopatric behavior has been demonstrated in a wide taxonomic spread of animals. In temperate environments, overwintered Polistes wasp foundresses often return to their natal nest prior to initiating colony construction. Previous research has shown that these spring foundresses can identify the natal nest in the absence of landmark and gross morphological cues. Hydrocarbons are essential recognition cues for Polistes nest and nestmate discrimination, but cuticular hydrocarbon profiles can become homogenized when foundresses overwinter in mixed colony groups. We examined the hydrocarbon profiles of Polistes dominulus foundresses and nests before and after an overwintering period, and found that the hydrocarbon profiles of nests remain unique over time and that this uniqueness is influenced by the original foundresses. Our data raise the possibility that in returning to the natal nest, foundresses reacquire their colony-specific signature, which may play a role in the formation of cooperative associations. [source] Development of three different neoplasias in a patient in an 18-year period of timeEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, Issue 3 2010P. HERAS md HERAS P., GEORGOPOULOU A.P., HATZOPOULOS A. & KRITIKOS K. (2010) European Journal of Cancer Care 19, 413,416 Development of three different neoplasias in a patient in an 18-year period of time This study presents a rare case of a patient who developed three different types of neoplasia in an 18-year period of time. The case presents a 31-year-old man with a history of treated Hodgkin's lymphoma in the neck region at the age of 13 years. The patient was admitted at the General Hospital of Nafplio for differential diagnosis of pain in the right subcostal region initiated 1 month before his admission and normochromic, normocytic anaemia. The laboratory examinations lead to the diagnosis of a sarcoma in the cardioesophageal junction. The patient was subjected to total gastrectomy. Nine months later he is admitted with a palpable firm lump in the nipple of the right breast, which suggested a malignant neoplasia. The patient was subjected to modified radical mastectomy. The appearance of three different types of neoplasia in three different organ systems in the same patient and the infrequency of the specific neoplasias individually and in combination present a special interest considering the patient's genetic background and the uniqueness of the case in the international literature. [source] Automatic effects of deviancy cues on creative cognitionEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Jens Förster Three experiments test the existence of an automatic deviancy-creativity link. Using a lexical decision task, in Experiment 1 we found a semantic link between deviancy and creativity words in that decision times for creativity-related words were enhanced after subliminal deviancy priming. In Experiment 2, participants were led to think about either a punk or an engineer and afterwards were administered creative insight and analytical reasoning problems. According to a pretest, punks and engineers were judged as differing in uniqueness but not in creativity. Participants given ,punk' priming solved more creative insight problems and fewer analytical reasoning problems than those given ,engineer' priming. In Experiment 3, participants were incidentally exposed to abstract artworks symbolically expressing either the concept of conformity or deviancy and were subsequently asked to solve a creative generation task. Exposure to the artwork representing deviancy led to generation of more creative solutions than exposure to that representing conformity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] PCR DGGE and RT-PCR DGGE show diversity and short-term temporal stability in the Clostridium coccoides,Eubacterium rectale group in the human intestinal microbiotaFEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2006Johanna Maukonen Abstract As the Clostridium coccoides,Eubacterium rectale (Erec; clostridial phylogenetic cluster XIVa) group is one of the major groups of the human intestinal microbiota, DNA- and RNA-based population analysis techniques (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis; DGGE) were developed and applied to assess the diversity and temporal stability (6 months,2 years) of this faecal clostridial microbiota in 12 healthy adults. The stability of the Erec group was compared with the stability of the predominant bacterial microbiota, which was also assessed with PCR-DGGE. In addition, the Erec group was quantified with a hybridization-based method. According to our results, the Erec group was diverse in each subject, but interindividual uniqueness was not as clear as that of the predominant bacteria. The Erec group was found to be temporally as stable as the predominant bacteria. Over 200 clones obtained from two samples proved the developed method to be specific. However, the amount of bacteria belonging to the Erec group was not related to the diversity of that same bacterial group. In conclusion, the newly developed DGGE method proved to be a valuable and specific tool for the direct assessment of the stability of the Erec group, demonstrating diversity in addition to short-term stability in most of the subjects studied. [source] The structures of Escherichia coli O-polysaccharide antigensFEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, Issue 3 2006Roland Stenutz Abstract Escherichia coli is usually a non-pathogenic member of the human colonic flora. However, certain strains have acquired virulence factors and may cause a variety of infections in humans and in animals. There are three clinical syndromes caused by E. coli: (i) sepsis/meningitis; (ii) urinary tract infection and (iii) diarrhoea. Furthermore the E. coli causing diarrhoea is divided into different ,pathotypes' depending on the type of disease, i.e. (i) enterotoxigenic; (ii) enteropathogenic; (iii) enteroinvasive; (iv) enterohaemorrhagic; (v) enteroaggregative and (vi) diffusely adherent. The serotyping of E. coli based on the somatic (O), flagellar (H) and capsular polysaccharide antigens (K) is used in epidemiology. The different antigens may be unique for a particular serogroup or antigenic determinants may be shared, resulting in cross-reactions with other serogroups of E. coli or even with other members of the family Enterobacteriacea. To establish the uniqueness of a particular serogroup or to identify the presence of common epitopes, a database of the structures of O-antigenic polysaccharides has been created. The E. coli database (ECODAB) contains structures, nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shifts and to some extent cross-reactivity relationships. All fields are searchable. A ranking is produced based on similarity, which facilitates rapid identification of strains that are difficult to serotype (if known) based on classical agglutinating methods. In addition, results pertinent to the biosynthesis of the repeating units of O-antigens are discussed. The ECODAB is accessible to the scientific community at http://www.casper.organ.su.se/ECODAB/. [source] THE UNIQUENESS OF THE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPEGEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2001WILBUR ZELINSKY ABSTRACT. The assemblage of objects that constitute the publicly visible religious landscape of the United States,houses of worship and a variety of church-related enterprises,deviates so markedly from its counterparts in other lands that we can regard its uniqueness as a significant argument for American exceptionalism. The diagnostic features in question include the extraordinary number and variety of churches and denominations, their special physical attributes, the near-random microgeography of churches in urban areas, and, most especially, their nomenclature and the widely distributed signage promoting godliness and religiosity. Such landscape phenomena suggest connections with much-deeper issues concerning the origin and evolution of American society and culture. [source] Vertically fractured transversely isotropic media: dimensionality and deconstructionGEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 2 2009Michael A. Schoenberg ABSTRACT A vertically fractured transversely isotropic (VFTI) elastic medium is one in which any number of sets of vertical aligned fractures (each set has its normal lying in the horizontal x1, x2 -plane) pervade the medium and the sets of aligned fractures are the only features of the medium disturbing the axi-symmetry about the x3 -axis implying that in the absence of fractures, the background medium is transversely isotropic (TI). Under the assumptions of long wavelength equivalent medium theory, the compliance matrix of a fractured medium is the sum of the background medium's compliance matrix and a fracture compliance matrix. For sets of parallel rotationally symmetric fractures (on average), the fracture compliance matrix is dependent on 3 parameters , its normal and tangential compliance and its strike direction. When one fracture set is present, the medium is orthorhombic and the analysis is straightforward. When two (non-orthogonal) or more sets are present, the overall medium is in general elastically monoclinic; its compliance tensor components are subject to two equalities yielding an 11 parameter monoclinic medium. Constructing a monoclinic VFTI medium with n embedded vertical fracture sets, requires 5 TI parameters plus 3×n fracture set parameters. A deconstruction of such an 11 parameter monoclinic medium involves using its compliance tensor to find a background transversely isotropic medium and several sets of vertical fractures which, in the long wavelength limit, will behave exactly as the original 11 parameter monoclinic medium. A minimal deconstruction, would be to determine, from the 11 independent components, the transversely isotropic background (5 parameters) and two fracture sets (specified by 2 × 3 = 6 parameters). Two of the background TI medium's compliance matrix components are known immediately by inspection, leaving nine monoclinic components to be used in the minimal deconstruction of the VFTI medium. The use of the properties of a TI medium, which are linear relations on its compliance components, allows the deconstruction to be reduced to solving a pair of non-linear equations on the orientations of two fracture sets. A single root yielding a physically meaningful minimum deconstruction yields a unique minimal representation of the monoclinic medium as a VFTI medium. When no such root exists, deconstruction requires an additional fracture set and uniqueness is lost. The boundary between those monoclinic media that have a unique minimal representation and those that do not is yet to be determined. [source] THE OBJECT OF DESIRE SPEAKS: INGEBORG BACHMANN'S ,UNDINE GEHT' AND LUCE IRIGARAY 'S ,WOMAN'GERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 2 2008Lorraine Markotic ABSTRACT This article presents a detailed examination of Ingeborg Bachmann's ,Undine geht'. It argues for the uniqueness of this work: the text's astonishing ability to depict an object who is also a subject, able to articulate her otherness. Undine is a speaking and desiring subject at the same time as she remains an object of projection. The article compares Bachmann's short story with Irigaray's extensive philosophical and feminist project, showing the many ways in which ,Undine geht' anticipates (and is ultimately more successful than) Irigaray's concept of ,woman' and her mimetic strategy. Bachmann's Undine subversively mimes what she represents; she both incarnates and eludes her representation as man's imaginary other. While ,Undine geht' appears to provide an alternative conception of female subjectivity or to articulate repressed female desire, it ultimately explores the radical complexity of these concepts. Bachmann's short story illustrates, moreover, the salience of Irigaray's attempt to examine the way in which language constructs and reproduces sexual difference. ,Undine geht' goes further, however, by also exploring the constitutive role of narrative and culture in subjectivity. The text is less an account of a female figure who finds her voice than of the difficulty and impediments to so doing. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||