Understanding Magnetic and Electrostatic Actuators Using Bond Graphs and a Mechanical Model

Magnetic actuators in relays, solenoids, and valve positioners and electrostatic loudspeakers and microphones store electrical and mechanical energy and are inherently nonlinear. They are harder to understand than transformer or gyrator transducers such as hydraulic pistons or voice coil drives which transduce power instantaneously and are essentially linear. Bond graph models show that magnetic and electrostatic transducers are mathematically analogous although electrically dual. An all-mechanical equivalent model shows the nonlinear behavior clearly and aids in the intuitive understanding of the problems associated with the use of such actuators.     

Possessions theory of persuasion: An examination of its basis and range

Possessions theory claims that individuals learn to relate to their possessions in either an instrumental or symbolic fashion, and that this object orientation transfers to attitudes. Implicit in the theory is the notion that instrumental and symbolic orientations anchor the poles of a single continuum. The results of the first study tested that assumption and found that a bivariate conception was more empirically defensible than a bipolar conception. Study 2 was concerned with the scope of the theory's predictions for persuasion. The possessions orientation of women at‐risk for breast cancer was measured and they were then exposed to either a symbolic or instrumental message both of which asked them to participate in a clinical trial of a breast cancer preventative. Although no effects were observed on attitude toward participation nor on intention to participate, instrumental orientation showed a reliable, positive relationship with judgments of the persuasiveness of the messages.     

Meta-analytic evidence for the persuasive effect of narratives on beliefs,attitudes, intentions,and behaviors

Although narratives are often credited with the capacity to change opinions, empirical tests of this prediction have produced mixed results. To provide a more precise test of narrative's effect on beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, we performed meta-analyses on studies that evaluated narrative's persuasive influence on these outcomes. Results suggested positive relationships between exposure to a narrative and narrative-consistent beliefs (k?=?37; N?=?7,376; r?=?.17), attitudes (k?=?40; N?=?7,132; r?=?.19), intentions (k?=?28; N?=?5,211; r?=?.17), and behaviors (k?=?5; N?=?978; r?=?.23). Moderator analyses on the effect of fictionality yielded mixed results. Neither medium of presentation nor research design influenced the magnitude of the narrative-persuasion relationship. However, results suggested the presence of unidentified moderators.     

Spontaneity and planning in arts attendance: insights from qualitative interviews and the Audience Finder database

ABSTRACT

Arts managers frequently use customer relationship management systems to identify early and late ticket bookers, but to date there has been no comparable investigation of spontaneity and planning through qualitative academic audience research. This paper combines two radically different datasets to draw new insights into booking patterns of audiences for contemporary arts events. Quantitative data from Audience Finder has been analysed to look for trends in early and late booking amongst audiences for contemporary art forms. Qualitative data has been drawn from the Understanding Audiences for the Contemporary Arts study, which used in-depth individual interviews to investigate the contemporary arts attendance of audience members in four UK cities. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was then used to draw out insights about where the purchasing point sits within the longer decision to attend. Following a review of marketing and audience research literature on the decision to attend, we present the findings from each of these analyses, looking at moments where they confirm, supplement, contradict, or say something completely outside the remit of the other dataset. We show how the timescale of the decision to attend is influenced by (1) art form conventions and price, (2) geographical region and availability of the arts, (3) attending arts events with companions, and (4) personal preference for planning or spontaneously choosing activities. We end by suggesting a new three-part model for understanding booking patterns, and considering how these insights might be acted upon by arts organisations.     

鲸鱼之音

1 　　"Leave him alone," I yelled as I walked out of the orphanage gate and saw several of the Spring Park School bullies pushing the deaf kid around.……     

A holistic approach to supporting distance learning using the Internet: transformation, nottranslation

This is the first of a series of papers describing how the Open University, a large distance education institution, has embraced the Internet as a medium for supporting its students, tutors, academics, and administrators throughout the education process. This paper reports on a holistic approach to integrating technology into the teaching process which addresses how to provide necessary functions in effective forms—some traditional, some new. It describes the development and structure of actual systems, which incorporate electronic student registration; electronic assignment submission, marking, and recording; electronic tutorials and other interaction; and electronic examinations. It describes and summarises some of the findings of the evaluation of those systems, including student, academic, and administrator feedback. Finally, this paper reflects on the benefits of an integrated holistic approach in exploiting the Internet's potential to support distance learning on a massive scale. Subsequent papers in this series will address specific areas in detail: the student experience, the role of the tutor in an electronic environment, and the institutional perspective.     

Unreal Friends

It has become quite common for people to develop `personal' relationships nowadays, exclusively via extensive correspondence across the Net. Friendships, even romantic love relationships, are apparently, flourishing. But what kind of relations really are possible in this way? In this paper, we focus on the case of close friendship. There are various important markers that identify a relationship as one of close friendship. One will have, for instance, strong affection for the other, a disposition to act for their well-being and a desire for shared experiences. Now obviously, while all these features of friendship can gain some expression through extensive correspondence on the Net, such expression is necessarily limited –you cannot, e.g., physically embrace the other, or go on a picnic together. The issue we want to address here however, is whether there might be distinctive and important influences on the structure of interaction undertaken on the Net, that affect the kind of identity ``Net-friends'' can develop in relation to one another. In the normal case, one develops a close friendship, and in doing so, one's identity, in part, is shaped by the friendship. To some extent, through extensive shared experience, one comes to see aspects of the world (and of oneself) through the eyes of one's friend and so, in part, one's identity develops in an importantly relational way, i.e., as the product of one's relation with the close friend. In our view, however, on account of the limits of, and/or the kind of, shared contact and experience one can have with another via correspondence on the Net, there are significant structural barriers to developing the sort of relational identity that is a feature of close friendship. In arguing our case here, and by using the case of Net ``friendship'' as our foil, we aim to shed light on the nature and importance of certain sorts of self-expression and relational interaction found in close friendship.