Mental Representation of Literary Characters as a Distinct Aspect of Response to Literature

This article investigates mental representations of literary characters and their relations with other aspects of response to literature and age, gender, and expertise. A Saga chapter and the beginning of a contemporary novel were presented to 16 participants from each of three age groups (13 years, 17 years, adults) equally divided by gender and expertise level. After having evaluated the texts with rating scales, participants were interviewed on the main character of each text. The similarity between participants’ answers was computed and used for a cluster analysis. Four clusters (representation types) were identified for one character and five for the other. Character representation was affected by age but not by expertise and gender, and was unrelated to other aspects of response to literary text. Explicit ratings of the texts, instead, were affected by expertise. Theoretical and educational implications are discussed.     

Ranking dynamics and volatility

Scientific journals are ordered by their impact factor while countries, institutions or researchers can be ranked by their scientific production, impact or by other simple or composite indicators as in the case of university rankings. In this paper, the theoretical framework proposed in Criado, R., Garcia, E., Pedroche, F. & Romance, M. (2013). A new method for comparing rankings through complex networks: Model and analysis of competitiveness of major European soccer leagues. Chaos, 23, 043114 for football competitions is used as a starting point to define a general index describing the dynamics or its opposite, stability, of rankings. Some characteristics to study rankings, ranking dynamics measures and axioms for such indices are presented. Furthermore, the notion of volatility of elements in rankings is introduced. Our study includes rankings with ties, entrants and leavers. Finally, some worked out examples are shown.     

On a compact non-extrapolating scheme for adaptive image interpolation

The motivation of this paper is to improve the results of ENO subcell resolution, that already obtains really good results but using extrapolation, as was stated by F. Arándiga, R. Donat and P. Mulet [Adaptive Interpolation of Images, Signal Processing 83(2) (2003) 459–464]. We present a new method for image interpolation which combines a new nonlinear cell-average interpolatory technique that uses a trigonometric mean and subcell resolution. The scheme uses a fully compact reconstruction and avoid any step of extrapolation. The experiments presented validate the theoretical results obtained.     

Gaze pursuit and arm control of adolescent males diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and normal controls: evidence of a dissociation in processing visual information of short and long duration

Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of line of gaze, arm and ball was used to describe the visual and motor behaviour of male adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The ADHD participants were tested when both on (ADHD-On) and off (ADHD-Off) their medication and compared to age-matched normal controls in a modified table tennis task that required tracking the ball and hitting to cued right and left targets. Long-duration information was provided by a pre-cue, in which the target was illuminated approximately 2 s before the serve, and short-duration information by an early-cue illuminated about 350 ms after the serve, leaving approximately 500 ms to select the target and perform the action. The ADHD groups differed significantly from the control group in both the pre-cue and early-cue conditions in being less accurate, in having a later onset and duration of pursuit tracking, and a higher frequency of gaze on and off the ball. The use of medication significantly reduced the gaze frequency of the ADHD participants, but surprisingly this did not lead to an increase in pursuit tracking, suggesting a barrier was reached beyond which ball flight information could not be processed. The control and ADHD groups did not differ in arm movement onset, duration and velocity in the short-duration early-cue condition; in the long-duration pre-cue condition, however, the ADHD group's movement time onset and arm velocity differed significantly from controls. The results show that the ADHD groups were able to process short-duration information without experiencing adverse effects on their motor behaviour; however, long-duration information contributed to irregular movement control.     

2008年票据印刷业展望

OutputLinks是世界HVTO（high volume transaction output，大批量票据印刷）领域重要的信息资源公司之一，目前其已与科印传媒建立了合作伙伴关系。《数码印刷》杂志将从本期起，增设OutputLinks专栏，刊登来自OutputLinks的精彩报道，为中国印刷界，特别是票据印刷领域的专业人士提供更高质量的资讯服务。本期专栏．OutputLinks公司首席执行官Andy Plata先生、首席运营官Julie Plata女士将和大家分享他们对票据印刷行业的观点和看法。     

Dominant–non-dominant asymmetry of kicking a stationary and rolling ball in a futsal context

The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of the asymmetries in the dominant and non-dominant limbs when kicking stationary and rolling balls. Ten experienced Brazilian amateur futsal players participated in this study. Each participant performed kicks under two conditions (stationary ball vs. rolling ball) with the dominant and non-dominant limbs (five kicks per condition per limb). We analysed the kicking accuracy, ball and foot velocities, angular joint displacement and velocity. The asymmetry between the dominant and non-dominant limbs was analysed by symmetry index and two-way repeated measures ANOVA. The results did not reveal any interaction between the condition and limb for ball velocity, foot velocity and accuracy. However, kicking with the dominant limb in both kicks showed higher ball velocity (stationary ball: dominant – 24.27 ± 2.21 m · s^?1 and non-dominant – 21.62 ± 2.26 m · s^?1; rolling ball: dominant – 23.88 ± 2.71 m · s^?1 and non-dominant – 21.42 ± 2.25 m · s^?1), foot velocity (stationary ball: dominant – 17.61 ± 1.87 m · s^?1 and non-dominant – 15.58 ± 2.69 m · s^?1; rolling ball: dominant – 17.25 ± 2.26 m · s^?1 and non-dominant – 14.77 ± 2.35 m · s^?1) and accuracy (stationary ball: dominant – 1.17 ± 0.84 m and non-dominant – 1.56 ± 1.30 m; rolling ball: dominant – 1.31 ± 0.91 m and non-dominant – 1.97 ± 1.44 m). In addition, the angular joint adjustments were dependent on the limb in both kicks (the kicks with non-dominant limb showed lower hip external rotation than the kicks with the dominant limb), indicating that the hip joint is important in kick performance. In conclusion, the kicks with the non-dominant limb showed different angular adjustments in comparison to kicks with the dominant limb. In addition, kicking a rolling ball with the non-dominant limb showed higher asymmetry for accuracy, indicating that complex kicks are more asymmetric.     

Boccioni's coin

The Ardito was a fighter as well as a competitor whose status as a 'warrior' was based on courage and superior physical performance: a superior man. In addition, his exuberant conduct, both on and off the battlefield, introduced a significant new sub-culture into post-war Italian society, contributing to the attachment of notable value to virility and Mussolini's cult of the 'strong man'. The purpose of this research is to analyse the impact of this 'arditismo' (spirit of daring) on the early post-war period in particular, including the different 'male image' of the Italian citizen, and to study the sense of virility in the transition from the liberal, easy-going 'Little Italy' of Giovanni Giolitti (1842-1928) to a manly, combative, and ambitious nation. Together with some of the vitalistic tendencies in the Futurist movement, the main characteristics and mentality of the ex-Ardito (former Special Forces) would thus be significantly influential in the ideology of nascent Fascism. Indeed, the 'arditismo' influence, together with the article and social movement known as Futurism would constitute the two most highly structured foundations of early Fascist culture, bringing a political and social revolution necessary to create a 'new man'. It was as if the Arditi and the new method of military training had transferred their experience from the military into civilian life, contributing to a renewal of the image of the Italian male in the collective imagination. Indirectly, the image of women would also begin to absorb and adapt to new sports models imported from abroad, which would create for the Italian Ardito, a grudgingly tolerated rival. The main sources for this paper are the archives of the Historical Office of the Army, advertising and manuals from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, placards and graphic publicity from books and journals or private collections, and exhibition catalogues.     

克隆人偏执狂?

本刊今年第4、5期连续报道了世界上首例人类克隆胚胎的消息及引起的广泛议论.4月初的互联网与大众媒体争相报道了意大利生育专家安蒂诺里宣称利用克隆技术成功让一名不育妇女怀孕8周的消息,这一消息同样在全球掀起了轩然大波及广泛议论.     

Introduction to the Treatment of Non-Linear Effects Using a Gravitational Pendulum

We show that the treatment of pendulum movement, other than the linear approximation,may be an instructive experimentally based introduction to the physics of non-lineareffects. Firstly the natural frequency of a gravitational pendulum is measured as functionof its amplitude. Secondly forced oscillations of a gravitational pendulum are investigatedexperimentally without limiting amplitudes. By this arrangement new phenomena, thebistability and the jump-effect, can be observed. In the case of bistability the drivengravitational pendulum can oscillate in two different stable modes. Either it oscillateswith a small amplitude and approximately in phase with the exciting torque or it oscillateswith a larger amplitude and approximately anti-phase. The jump effect is the spontaneoustransition from one mode of oscillation to the other. Both effects can be demonstrated andexplained.