Sensation Seeking and Perceived Need for Structure Moderate Soldiers’ Well-Being Before and After Operational Deployment

This study examined associations between sensation seeking and perceived need for structure, and changes in reported well-being among deployed soldiers. Participants (n = 167) were assessed before and after a six-month deployment to south Afghanistan. Results indicated that although well-being declined in the soldier sample as a whole following deployment, the degree of decrease was significantly different among soldiers with different personality profiles. Differences were moderated by soldiers’ level of sensation seeking and perceived need for structure. Results are discussed in terms of a person-environment fit theory in the context of preparation and rehabilitation of deployed military personnel

Final report of the Pearling Industry Review Committee to the Hon. Julian Grill, Western Australian Minister for Fisheries and Hon. John Kerin, M.P. Federal Minister for Primary Industries and Energy.

In October 1987 an Interim Report was issued to enable the present licence holders, the Licensed Pearl Producers\u27 Association and other who had expressed an interest to the Committee, to consider the interim recommendations and , if necessary, make written comment to the Committee. The Committee considered the comments it received. It now presents its Final Report to the Western Australian Minister for Fisheries, the Hon. Julian Grill and the Federal Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, the Hon. John Kerin. The Committee is recommending that the industry be quota controlled with entry by transfer only. The present licence holders plus new applicants yet to be determined are recommended as the companies to comprise those engaged in the industry. The Committee is also recommending that the north west coast be divided into two sectors - one south of Port Hedland, the other north of Port Hedland to the Northern Territory border. the Northern Sector would be zoned to (a) ensure that the very important Eighty Mile Beach area is protected against overfishing and (b) to allow a number of present licence holders to increase their overall catch by fishing in the areas north of Broome

Changing faces: Direction is important

Recent research has provided evidence for the role of norm-based coding in face recognition (e.g. Leopold et al., 2001). In such a model, any given face can be represented by a vector from the norm, with the difference between two faces being the difference between the two vectors. However, as has previously been suggested it is also possible to conceive of a model in which the angle between two vectors provides relevant information for differentiating faces. Two experiments investigated this possibility using a face matching paradigm. Discrimination was found to be better when two faces lay on different vectors than when they were the same physical distance apart but lying on the same vector. The results favour a specific type of norm-based model suggesting that vector angle is important in face perception

Thermodynamic equilibrium and its stability for Microcanonical systems described by the Sharma-Taneja-Mittal entropy

It is generally assumed that the thermodynamic stability of equilibrium state is reflected by the concavity of entropy. We inquire, in the microcanonical picture, on the validity of this statement for systems described by the bi-parametric entropy $S_{_{\kappa, r}}$ of Sharma-Taneja-Mittal. We analyze the ``composability'' rule for two statistically independent systems, A and B, described by the entropy $S_{_{\kappa, r}}$ with the same set of the deformed parameters. It is shown that, in spite of the concavity of the entropy, the ``composability'' rule modifies the thermodynamic stability conditions of the equilibrium state. Depending on the values assumed by the deformed parameters, when the relation $S_{_{\kappa, r}}({\rm A}\cup{\rm B})> S_{_{\kappa, r}}({\rm A})+S_{_{\kappa, r}}({\rm B})$ holds (super-additive systems), the concavity conditions does imply the thermodynamics stability. Otherwise, when the relation $S_{_{\kappa, r}}({\rm A}\cup{\rm B})<S_{_{\kappa, r}}({\rm A})+S_{_{\kappa, r}}({\rm B})$ holds (sub-additive systems), the concavity conditions does not imply the thermodynamical stability of the equilibrium state.Comment: 13 pages, two columns, 1 figure, RevTex4, version accepted on PR

From pixels to people: a model of familiar face recognition

Research in face recognition has largely been divided between those projects concerned with front-end image processing and those projects concerned with memory for familiar people. These perceptual and cognitive programmes of research have proceeded in parallel, with only limited mutual influence. In this paper we present a model of human face recognition which combines both a perceptual and a cognitive component. The perceptual front-end is based on principal components analysis of images, and the cognitive back-end is based on a simple interactive activation and competition architecture. We demonstrate that this model has a much wider predictive range than either perceptual or cognitive models alone, and we show that this type of combination is necessary in order to analyse some important effects in human face recognition. In sum, the model takes varying images of "known" faces and delivers information about these people

Pressure-tuning of the c-f hybridization in Yb metal detected by infrared spectroscopy up to 18 GPa

It has been known that the elemental Yb, a divalent metal at mbient pressure, becomes a mixed-valent metal under external pressure, with its valence reaching ~2.6 at 30 GPa. In this work, infrared spectroscopy has been used to probe the evolution of microscopic electronic states associated with the valence crossover in Yb at external pressures up to 18 GPa. The measured infrared reflectivity spectrum R(w) of Yb has shown large variations with pressure. In particular, R(w) develops a deep minimum in the mid-infrared, which shifts to lower energy with increasing pressure. The dip is attributed to optical absorption due to a conduction c-f electron hybridization state, similarly to those previously observed for heavy fermion compounds. The red shift of the dip indicates that the $c$-$f$ hybridization decreases with pressure, which is consistent with the increase of valence.Comment: 2 pages, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Supp

The Structure of the Littoral Invertebrate Communities of the Kosciuszko Region Lakes

The littoral macroinvertebrate assemblages of Lakes Albina, Blue, Club andCootapatamba in the Mt. Kosciuszko region were sampled by two methods: sweeps and cobble picks. Thirty-six species were collected with total abundance and species richness greatest in Lake Albina. Common species included themolluscs Pisidium kosciusko and Glacidorbis hedleyi, the crustaceans Metaphreatoicus australis and Neoniphragus n. sp., and an unidentified limnephidtrichoperan. Community structure was influenced by the nature of the substrate, with cobble sites having greater richness and abundance than boulder sites. The importance of the major taxonomic groups (crustaceans, insects and molluscs) varied with sampling method and among lakes. Crustaceans (isopods and amphipods) usually dominated in sweeps, with molluscs and insects varying in importance among lakes, while insects mostly dominated in cobble pick samples. Oligotrophic lakes are typically thought to be dominated by insects, however this study shows such lakes may appear to be dominated by insects or crustaceans depending on the sampling method used and the presence of fish

Robust representations for face recognition: the power of averages

We are able to recognise familiar faces easily across large variations in image quality, though our ability to match unfamiliar faces is strikingly poor. Here we ask how the representation of a face changes as we become familiar with it. We use a simple image-averaging technique to derive abstract representations of known faces. Using Principal Components Analysis, we show that computational systems based on these averages consistently outperform systems based on collections of instances. Furthermore, the quality of the average improves as more images are used to derive it. These simulations are carried out with famous faces, over which we had no control of superficial image characteristics. We then present data from three experiments demonstrating that image averaging can also improve recognition by human observers. Finally, we describe how PCA on image averages appears to preserve identity-specific face information, while eliminating non-diagnostic pictorial information. We therefore suggest that this is a good candidate for a robust face representation

The organization of conspecific face space in nonhuman primates

Humans and chimpanzees demonstrate numerous cognitive specializations for processing faces, but comparative studies with monkeys suggest that these may be the result of recent evolutionary adaptations. The present study utilized the novel approach of face space, a powerful theoretical framework used to understand the representation of face identity in humans, to further explore species differences in face processing. According to the theory, faces are represented by vectors in a multidimensional space, the centre of which is defined by an average face. Each dimension codes features important for describing a face's identity, and vector length codes the feature's distinctiveness. Chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys discriminated male and female conspecifics' faces, rated by humans for their distinctiveness, using a computerized task. Multidimensional scaling analyses showed that the organization of face space was similar between humans and chimpanzees. Distinctive faces had the longest vectors and were the easiest for chimpanzees to discriminate. In contrast, distinctiveness did not correlate with the performance of rhesus monkeys. The feature dimensions for each species' face space were visualized and described using morphing techniques. These results confirm species differences in the perceptual representation of conspecific faces, which are discussed within an evolutionary framework