The Gift of Magi(extract)

One dollar and eighty-seven cents.That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies.①Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony(2)that     

Pattern of disruption in the extinction of a chain FR 7-FR 7 in pigeons

Performance was studied during extinction after training on a homogeneous chain FR 7-FR 7, with a tandem FR 7-FR 7 as control, eight pigeons per group. During extinction, disruption of the chain was considerably greater in the first than in the second component, while tandem controls showed no differential disruption.     

Teleware: Instrumentation for Tele-learning

The domain of Tele-Learning may be a new one, but it has many roots. In essence, it can be defined as telematics applied for learning-related purposes. Examples of tele-learning may be defined by category relating to purpose. Thus five purposes of using 'Teleware' may be the publication and dissemination of information, such as through Web sites; structured communications through e-mail; collaboration through groupware; information and resource handling through search engines; and specific applications for course delivery and support. An alternative perspective relates to aspects of the user-interface and human- computer interactions, ranging from the software engineering world, to the importance of a cognitive and social fit in terms of potential usability and dissemination. In practice however, evaluating teleware to ensure tele-learning may take place requires an appropriate model. This paper outlines the 3-G model, which hypothesises that an individual's likelihood of using a telematics application in teaching or learning can be expressed as a vector sum of three vectors–'gewin' or perceived pay-off, 'gemak' or level of difficulty or discomfort in making use of the application, and 'genot' or subjective personal interest in and response to the application. This model has the potential to provide a helpful interpretative framework in a number of investigations into the complex relationship between telematics materials and facilities, and the learning they may generate. It can also be used to assess the potential of new developments, such as Cyberlibraries, lesson-support environments, and course- support environments, that are emerging. © 1999 IFIP, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers     

The relationship between selected body composition variables and muscular endurance in women

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if muscular endurance is affected by referenced waist circumference groupings, independent of body mass and subcutaneous abdominal fat, in women. This study also explored whether selected body composition measures were associated with muscular endurance. Eighty-four women were measured for height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and abdominal skinfold thickness (SFAB) and performed 60-s sit-ups (SU) and maximal push-ups (PU) tests. Mean differences in SU and PU scores were tested across three groups based on WC as follows: WCG1 < 70 cm; WCG2 between 70 and 89 cm; WCG3 > or = 90 cm. There were no significant differences in SU and PU scores between WCG1 and WCG2. WCG3 had significantly lower SU and PU scores compared to the other groups. After adjusting for the influence of SFAB, BMI, and weight, the differences disappeared. The regression analysis revealed a two-variable (BMI and SFAB) model that accounted for the variation in SU performance. For PU, only BMI loaded into the regression model. The results of this study suggest that women with a WC > or = 90 cm have decreased muscular endurance compared to their lower WC counterparts. This difference is related to higher body masses.