Science Letters： Analytical solutions for a uniformly loaded circular plate with clamped edges

A bi-harmonic potential function was constructed in this study. Love solution was employed to obtain analytical solutions of uniformly loaded plates with two different types of clamped edges. The treatment of clamped boundary conditions was the same as that adopted by Timoshenko and Goodier （1970）. The analytical solution for the first type of clamped boundary condition is identical with that obtained by Luo et al.（2004）, and the solutions for both types were compared with the FEM results and the calculations of thin plate theory.     

How user comments affect news processing and reality perception: Activation and refutation of regional prejudice

An experiment (N?=?177) examined how user-generated comments on a crime news article, which attribute the reported crime to the local residents’ predispositions, affect individuals’ processing of the news and their reality perception. Participants who viewed the regionalism-invoking comments estimated the crime rates of the featured region to be higher than those exposed to regionalism-irrelevant or regionalism-counterbalancing comments, and such effects were more pronounced for those with a stronger regional self-identity. Moreover, those who read regionalism-related comments, either regionalism-invoking or regionalism-counterbalancing, (a) recalled better the locations featured in the focal and the subsequent, yet unrelated, news articles and (b) attributed greater responsibility to news media coverage for the persistence of regionalism, as compared to those who viewed regionalism-irrelevant comments.     

Benefits of naturalistic methods in research in science education

The author argues that naturalistic (e.g., qualitative, ethnographic) research is appropriate for studying science education. Field methods such as indepth interviewing and observation are used, and the logic of the inquiry is inductive rather than hypothetico-deductive. The stages of naturalistic research are explained and illustrated with material from the NSF-sponsored Case Studies in Science Education. Problems in traditional research methods (construct validity, ecological generalization) are presented as justification for inductive models or models based on multiple methods, perspectives, and operations.     

Prestige in American universities

Prestige hierarchies, common to all organizations, are considered for positions at a university. Davis and Moore (1945) have called such stratification in any social system a universal necessity. Using procedures developed to measure prestige of occupations in national surveys, the attribution of prestige attached to university positions was determined. One hundred and eight positions were scaled, and the scale's validity and underlying scaling criteria were evaluated. It appears that university prestige is a microcosm of national prestige, and seems to have a similar socioeconomic base.     

Adults'' Tolerance of Cries: An Experimental Investigation of Acoustic Features

Variations in the aversiveness of a newborn's distress cry were examined using experimental manipulation of 3 acoustic features of the cry (fundamental frequency, intonation, spectral complexity) and of the information given to subjects about the infant's health status. The subjects (N = 164 medical students) were allowed to control the sound pressure level (range: 50 dB [A]-105 dB[A]) of the different cry versions by repeatedly pressing a button (operant titration). For the nonmanipulated (original) cry version, the accepted sound pressure level decreased as fundamental frequency increased at above 610 Hz. This effect was modified by experimental manipulation of spectral complexity as well as intonation. A preference of intonated cries over monotonous cries was most pronounced between 534 and 686 Hz. Significant interactions of the information variable with the intonation and the complexity variables suggest that the listener's reaction to certain physical cry characteristics can be altered substantially by inducing different cognitive sets.