1,315 research outputs found
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The View of Russian Students on Whether Psychology is a Science
The Psychology as Science Scale (Friedrich, 1996) was administered to 525 psychology students from nine Russian universities to assess their beliefs about the nature of the discipline. About half of students (49.6%) generally agreed that psychology may be called a scientific discipline. Specifically, 71. 5% of the students agreed that psychology is a natural science, similar to biology, chemistry, and physics, 39. 9% of students agreed that psychological research is important and training in psychological methodology is necessary, and 43.1% of students agreed that human behavior is highly predictable. Students who took three methodology courses shared significantly stronger beliefs in the need for psychological research and the importance of training in methodology compared to students who did not take any methodology courses. Furthermore, students with a specialist degree had significantly stronger beliefs that psychology is a science compared to students who have just finished school. In terms of the effect of students’ career aspirations, students who wanted to be academic psychologists and clinicians had significantly stronger beliefs that psychology is a science compared to students who did not have clarity about their future careers. Regardless of the study limitations, these findings have potential implications for Russian psychology instructors
Why Asia Needs Comparative Psychology: Applications in Canine-Human, and Equine-Human Interactions
This article provides a brief history and description of comparative psychology and provides perspectives about the current state of comparative psychology and unique research opportunities in Asia. An argument is made for why comparative psychology is needed in Asia and practical, teaching, and other aspects and applications are discussed. The application of comparative psychology in equine-human and canine-human interactions and therapies are highlighted
Fluid physics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer experiments in space
An overstudy committee was formed to study and recommend fundamental experiments in fluid physics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer for experimentation in orbit, using the space shuttle system and a space laboratory. The space environment, particularly the low-gravity condition, is an indispensable requirement for all the recommended experiments. The experiments fell broadly into five groups: critical-point thermophysical phenomena, fluid surface dynamics and capillarity, convection at reduced gravity, non-heated multiphase mixtures, and multiphase heat transfer. The Committee attempted to assess the effects of g-jitter and other perturbations of the gravitational field on the conduct of the experiments. A series of ground-based experiments are recommended to define some of the phenomena and to develop reliable instrumentation
Enumeration of self-avoiding walks on the square lattice
We describe a new algorithm for the enumeration of self-avoiding walks on the
square lattice. Using up to 128 processors on a HP Alpha server cluster we have
enumerated the number of self-avoiding walks on the square lattice to length
71. Series for the metric properties of mean-square end-to-end distance,
mean-square radius of gyration and mean-square distance of monomers from the
end points have been derived to length 59. Analysis of the resulting series
yields accurate estimates of the critical exponents and
confirming predictions of their exact values. Likewise we obtain accurate
amplitude estimates yielding precise values for certain universal amplitude
combinations. Finally we report on an analysis giving compelling evidence that
the leading non-analytic correction-to-scaling exponent .Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure
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The Nimrod computational workbench: a case study in desktop metacomputing
The coordinated use of geographically distributed computers, or metacomputing, can in principle provide more accessible and cost- effective supercomputing than conventional high-performance systems. However, we lack evidence that metacomputing systems can be made easily usable, or that there exist large numbers of applications able to exploit metacomputing resources. In this paper, we present work that addresses both these concerns. The basis for this work is a system called Nimrod that provides a desktop problem-solving environment for parametric experiments. We describe how Nimrod has been extended to support the scheduling of computational resources located in a wide-area environment, and report on an experiment in which Nimrod was used to schedule a large parametric study across the Australian Internet. The experiment provided both new scientific results and insights into Nimrod capabilities. We relate the results of this experiment to lessons learned from the I-WAY distributed computing experiment, and draw conclusions as to how Nimrod and I-WAY- like computing environments should be developed to support desktop metacomputing
Success Factors of Small and Medium-Sized International Enterprises in the Chinese Market from the Perspective of Polish Direct Investment (Cultural Approach)
Globalization has resulted in increasing transfer of firms operations, regardless of their size, to other countries. The recent dynamic emergence of China in the global economy, connecting with the vast inflows of foreign direct investment in their territory and common adjustments problems of many Western companies, has resulted in growing interest for best suitable business practices to this culturally and socially different environment. In this article, the key factors critical to the success of international companies in this region are introduced, with particular consideration to indigenous cultural elements and specific operation requirements of small and medium-sized enterprises in Business-to-Business sectors. The presented information are based on the broad literature review, five years of direct observation and thirty eight interviews conducted with Polish managers directly residing in China. In addition, some practical recommendations for managers and further research are given.Globalizacja wymusza na firmach, niezależnie od ich wielkości, coraz częstsze przenoszenie operacji do innych krajów. Dynamiczne pojawienie się Chin w światowej gospodarce i szeroki napł;yw zagranicznych inwestycji bezpośrednich na ich teren oraz problemy adaptacyjne wielu zachodnich przedsiębiorstw, spowodował;y zainteresowanie najlepszymi praktykami biznesowymi dostosowanymi do tego odmiennego kulturowo i społ;ecznie otocznia. W artykule zaprezentowane został;y najważniejsze czynnik mające wpł;yw na osiągnięcie sukcesu przez firmy międzynarodowe na tym obszarze, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem aspektów kulturowych i specyfiki dział;ania mał;ych i średnich podmiotów na rynkach B2B. Prezentowane informacje są oparte na przeglądzie literatury, pięcioletnich obserwacjach bezpośrednich oraz trzydziestu ośmiu wywiadach przeprowadzonych z menadżerami polskich przedsiębiorstw odpowiedzialnymi za operacje w Chinach. Dodatkowo wskazano kilka praktycznych rekomendacji menadżerskich oraz możliwości dalszych badań
On the origin of the Norwegian lemming.
The Pleistocene glacial cycles resulted in significant changes in species distributions, and it has been discussed whether this caused increased rates of population divergence and speciation. One species that is likely to have evolved during the Pleistocene is the Norwegian lemming (Lemmus lemmus). However, the origin of this species, both in terms of when and from what ancestral taxon it evolved, has been difficult to ascertain. Here, we use ancient DNA recovered from lemming remains from a series of Late Pleistocene and Holocene sites to explore the species' evolutionary history. The results revealed considerable genetic differentiation between glacial and contemporary samples. Moreover, the analyses provided strong support for a divergence time prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), therefore likely ruling out a postglacial colonization of Scandinavia. Consequently, it appears that the Norwegian lemming evolved from a small population that survived the LGM in an ice-free Scandinavian refugium
Extremal dynamics model on evolving networks
We investigate an extremal dynamics model of evolution with a variable number
of units. Due to addition and removal of the units, the topology of the network
evolves and the network splits into several clusters. The activity is mostly
concentrated in the largest cluster. The time dependence of the number of units
exhibits intermittent structure. The self-organized criticality is manifested
by a power-law distribution of forward avalanches, but two regimes with
distinct exponents tau = 1.98 +- 0.04 and tau^prime = 1.65 +- 0.05 are found.
The distribution of extinction sizes obeys a power law with exponent 2.32 +-
0.05.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Riding the wake of a merging galaxy cluster
Using WHT OASIS integral field unit observations, we report the discovery of
a thin plume of ionised gas extending from the brightest cluster galaxy in
Abell 2146 to the sub-cluster X-ray cool core which is offset from the BCG by
~37 kpc. The plume is greater than 15 kpc long and less than 3 kpc wide. This
plume is unique in that the cluster it is situated in is currently undergoing a
major galaxy cluster merger. The brightest cluster galaxy is unusually located
behind the X-ray shock front and in the wake of the ram pressure stripped X-ray
cool core and evidence for recent disruption to the BCG is observed. We examine
the gas and stellar morphology, the gas kinematics of the BCG and their
relation to the X-ray gas. We propose that a causal link between the ionised
gas plume and the offset X-ray cool core provides the simplest explanation for
the formation of the plume. An interaction or merger between the BCG and
another cluster galaxy is probably the cause of the offset.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The Intrinsic Shape of Spiral Galaxies in the 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas
The apparent shapes of spiral galaxies in the 2-Micron All Sky Survey Large
Galaxy Atlas are used to constrain the intrinsic shape of their disks. When the
distribution of apparent axis ratios is estimated using a nonparametric kernel
method, the shape distribution is inconsistent with axisymmetry at the 90%
confidence level in the B band and at the 99% confidence level in the K band.
If spirals are subdivided by Hubble type, the late-type spirals (Sc and later)
are consistent with axisymmetry, while the earlier spirals are strongly
inconsistent with axisymmetry. The distribution of disk ellipticity can be
fitted adequately with either a Gaussian or a lognormal distribution. The best
fits for the late spirals imply a median ellipticity of epsilon = 0.07 in the B
band and epsilon = 0.02 in the K band. For the earlier spirals, the best fits
imply a median ellipticity of epsilon = 0.18 in the B band and epsilon = 0.30
in the K band. The observed scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation, for both late
and early spirals, is consistent with the disk ellipticity measured in the B
band. This indicates that excluding spirals of Hubble type earlier than Sc will
reduce the intrinsic scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation used as a distance
indicator.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Ap
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