POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE, ATTRIBUTION, AND INFERRED INTEREST IN POLITICS: THE OPERATION OF BUFFER ITEMS

Bishop (1987) observed that being unable to answer a politicalknowledge question decreased self-reported interest in publicaffairs. This effect was unaffected by the introduction of upto 101 unrelated buffer items. In contrast, a single bufferitem that provided respondents with an external explanationfor their lack of knowledge greatly reduced the context effectin the present study. Implications for the operation of bufferitems are discussed.     

CONFIDENTIALITY ASSURANCES IN SURVEYS: REASSURANCE OR THREAT?

Over the last three decades, the public's willingness to takepart in surveys has gradually declined, and the decline hasbeen attributed in part to increasing concern about the confidentialityof the data requested. This paper reviews the early literaturebearing on confidentiality assurances and willingness to respond,and then reports on three experiments designed to investigatethe effects of confidentiality on the expectations of respondentsand on their willingness to take part in a survey. The resultsof all three experiments confirm our expectation that confidentialityassurances are not always perceived as reassuring, and do notnecessarily increase the public's willingness to respond.     

茉莉酸对油菜(Brassica napus L.)受镉毒害的缓解作用（英文）

目的:本研究目的在于了解:(1)喷施外源茉莉酸对受到镉胁迫油菜的作用;(2)是否茉莉酸能够通过增强气体交换,从而保护受到氧化胁迫的地上部分组织的叶绿体,进而通过减少镉的吸收来维持离子平衡;(3)是否通过喷施茉莉酸来对具有减缓镉毒害效应的抗氧化酶的活性进行调节。创新点:茉莉酸能够调节响应胁迫的抗氧化酶的活性,从而通过保护叶绿体免受活性氧(ROS)伤害而提高光合产物的能力,最大限度地缓解油菜植株受到的镉毒害。方法:(1)叶片气体交换;(2)叶片光合色素分析;(3)丙二醛与抗氧化酶活性分析;(4)营养成分分析;(5)透射电镜亚细胞水平观察。结论:茉莉酸对于植物受镉毒害的缓解作用的机理在于减少叶片中镉的积累,从而减轻氧化胁迫过程中产生的ROS对于膜系统的损害程度。     

The optimum clustering framework: implementing the cluster hypothesis

Document clustering offers the potential of supporting users in interactive retrieval, especially when users have problems in specifying their information need precisely. In this paper, we present a theoretic foundation for optimum document clustering. Key idea is to base cluster analysis and evalutation on a set of queries, by defining documents as being similar if they are relevant to the same queries. Three components are essential within our optimum clustering framework, OCF: (1) a set of queries, (2) a probabilistic retrieval method, and (3) a document similarity metric. After introducing an appropriate validity measure, we define optimum clustering with respect to the estimates of the relevance probability for the query-document pairs under consideration. Moreover, we show that well-known clustering methods are implicitly based on the three components, but that they use heuristic design decisions for some of them. We argue that with our framework more targeted research for developing better document clustering methods becomes possible. Experimental results demonstrate the potential of our considerations.     

Numerical investigation of the power generation of a ducted composite material marine current turbine

In the hostile and highly corrosive marine environment,advanced composite materials can be used in marine current turbines due to their high strength-to-weight ratios and excellent resistance to corrosion.A composite material marine current turbine(CMMCT),which has significant advantages over traditional designs,has been developed and investigated numerically.A substantial improvement in turbine performance is achieved by placement of a duct to concentrate the energy.Computational fluid dynamics(CFD) results show that the extracted power of a ducted CMMCT can be three to four times the power extracted by a bare turbine of the same turbine area.The results provide an insight into the hydrodynamic design and operation of a CMMCT used to shorten the design period and improve technical performance.     

财政，政策与工业动力——电影产业中合拍现象的涌现

本文对电影产业中日渐增多的跨国合作拍摄现象进行了探讨。我们认为，金融创新与制度创新造就了电影工业中的产业组织，合拍的出现则是它的延展。本文将电影金融作为风险分配机制的中心，依次讨论了合拍过程中政策支持、税收竞争增强、筹资与资金大量涌入等变化，是如何逐渐地提升电影产业发展的驱动力。     

Multimedia: Differences in cognitive processes observed with EEG

This study investigated the cognitive processes involved in learning information presented in multimedia and text format using electroencephalographic (EEG) measures. Thirty-eight students (19 gifted, and 19 average) learned material presented with text (text); text, sound, and picture (picture); and text, sound and video (video), while their EEG was recorded. Alpha power, which is inversely related to mental effort, was analyzed. For thetext presentation, the alpha power measures showed higher amplitudes (less mental activity) over the occipital and temporal lobes, and less alpha power (higher mental activity) over the frontal lobes. The results support the assumption that thevideo andpicture presentations induced visualization strategies, whereas thetext presentation mainly generated processes related to verbal processing. The results further showed that gifted students displayed less mental activity during all three formats of presentation. These differences were especially pronounced for thevideo format. No gender-related differences in EEG patterns related to the format of presentation were observed.