[Review of] Leonore Loeb Adler and Uwe P. Gielen. Cross-Cultural Topics on Psychology

It has been over forty years since Gordon Allport published The Nature of Prejudice (Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1954). To Allport, sociocultural factors play an important role in our prejudice, especially when we do not understand cultural differences. However, Allport\u27s book dealt little with cross-cultural research. Fortunately, Leonore Loeb Adler and Uwe P. Gielen, two experts in cross-cultural research, have presented us with their recent study on how cultural understanding helps us to be more open-minded

Formation of proto-cluster: a virialized structure from gravo-turbulent collapse II. A two-dimensional analytical model for rotating and accreting system

Most stars are born in the gaseous proto-cluster environment. The knowledge of this intermediate stage gives more accurate constraints on star formation characteristics. We demonstrate that a virialized globally supported structure, in which star formation happens, is formed out of a collapsing molecular cloud, and derive a mapping from the parent cloud parameters to the proto-cluster to predict its properties, with a view to confront analytical calculations with observations and simulations. The virial theorem is decomposed into two dimensions to account for the rotation and the flattened geometry. Equilibrium is found by balancing rotation, turbulence and self-gravity, while turbulence is maintained by accretion driving and dissipates in one crossing time. The angular momentum and the accretion rate of the proto-cluster are estimated from the parent cloud properties. The two-dimensional virial model predicts the size and velocity dispersion given the mass of the proto-cluster and that of the parent cloud. The gaseous proto-clusters lie on a sequence of equilibrium with the trend $R \sim M^{0.5}$, with limited variations depending on the evolutionary stage, the parent cloud, and the parameters not well known like turbulence driving efficiency by accretion and the turbulence anisotropy. The model reproduces successfully observations and simulation results. The properties of proto-clusters follow universal relations and they can be derived from that of the parent cloud. Using simple estimates to infer the peak position of the core mass function (CMF) we find a weak dependence on the cluster mass suggesting that the physical conditions inside proto-clusters may contribute to set a CMF, and by extension an IMF, that looks independent of the environment

Categorical Necessity and Utility of Stereotyping and Totemic Thinking: Analyzing and Reviewing the Stereotype EPA Theory, Social Perception Accuracy, and Female Hurricanes

Surprisingly research scientists scholars or lay people in the United States or elsewhere tend to see stereotypes as negative and inaccurate Because stereotypes are regarded as taboos we are usually told not to use them at all Further little research has been done on the relationship between stereotyping and totemic thinking However in order to survive and function well through millions of years our ancestors and modern human beings unconsciously and consciously use stereotypes and totems almost every second of the day which is consistent with Darwin s evolutionary science This article addresses three aspects of the categorical necessity and utility of stereotypes and totems First I will address what totemic thinking is and how totems are related to stereotypes theoretically through evolution Second I will analyze and review Jussim s 2012 book on social perception and social reality which tells us how modern social psychology fails to acknowledge the overwhelming evidence of stereotype accuracy research Finally I will critically examine a recent scientific article about gender stereotypes and female hurricanes by Jung Shavitt Viswanathan and Hilbe 2014 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences PNAS of the United States of America In brief to function well or even survive human beings have to count on categorical thinking including stereotypes and totems evolutionaril

Factors Influence the Fate of Nuclear Energy in Taiwan: The Roles of Risks and Benefits Perception

[[abstract]]To help resolving a longstanding dispute over nuclear power in Taiwan, authorities decide put the fate of the power plant to a national referendum in the near future. Successfully resolving nuclear issues to achieve a balance between economic growth and social acceptance is critical to achieving government managerial effective. This study focus on publics risk and benefit perceptions toward nuclear power plant, and the antecedents of these perceptions, include clear nuclear policy, nuclear knowledge and trust. Data is collect from mail questionnaire across Taiwan. The results showed that peoples risk and benefit perceptions are both significant ways of influencing attitude toward the topic of ceasing or maintain nuclear power. This study shed some light on the importance of antecedence factors of risks and benefits and the way they are related to trust in government and level of nuclear knowledge

Post-processing treatment of conductive polymers to enhance electrical conductivity

A method for enhancing electrical conductivity of a film which includes at least one conductive polymer. The method includes providing the film comprising the at least one conductive polymer and at least one polymer acid, agitating the film in at least one reagent; and, placing the film on a heated surface. The at least one reagent includes a reagent acid that is stronger than the polymer acid. The conductivity of the treated film is significantly greater than the conductivity of the untreated film.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

[Review of] Jan Nederveen Pietrse. White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture

White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture, by Jan Nederveen Pieterse, a Dutch social scientist, provides us with insightful thoughts about the ethnic conflict between the dominant Whites and the dominated Blacks

Effective equation of state of a radiatively cooling gas: Self-similar solution of spherical collapse

The temperature of the interstellar medium (ISM) is governed by several physical process, among which radiative cooling, external UV/cosmic ray heating, and the mechanical work by compression and expansion. In regimes where the dynamical effect is important, the temperature deviates from that derived by simply balancing the heating and cooling functions. This renders the expression of the gas energy evolution with a simple equation of state (EOS) less straightforward. Given a cooling function, the behavior of the gas is subject to the combined effect of dynamical compression and radiative cooling. The goal of the present work is to derive the effective EOS of a collapsing gas within a full fluid solution. We solve the Navier-Stokes equations with a parametric cooling term in spherical coordinate and look for a self-similar collapse solution. We present a solution which describes a cloud that is contracting while losing energy through radiation. This yields an effective EOS that can be generally applied to various ISM context, where the cooling function is available from first principles, and expressed as powerlaw product of the density and temperature. Our findings suggest that a radiatively cooling gas under self-gravitating collapse can easily manifest an effective polytropic EOS, even isothermal in many scenarios. The present model provides theoretical justification for the simplifying isothermal assumptions of simulations at various scales, and can also provide a more realistic thermal recipe without additional computation cost.Comment: Accepted for publication A&

A Decision Framework for Cloud Service Selection for SMEs: AHP Analysis

[[abstract]]The purpose of this paper is to study how advances in cloud computing impact the processes of creating and running businesses over the tourism sector for small and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan, and to identify the main factors that relate to the adoption of CRM cloud systems by SMEs. This study adopts two steps to build the structure of decision model with the analytic hierarchy process method. The findings confirm that factors affecting the adoption of Cloud CRM service in SMEs are grouped into four categories, which is financial benefits, marketing benefits, management factors, and environment factors. This study hopes to enhance the quality of the evaluation process, and help support SME decision makers in exploring their opportunities surrounding Cloud services adoption.[[notice]]補正完畢[[journaltype]]國外[[ispeerreviewed]]Y[[booktype]]紙本[[countrycodes]]US

Implication of Social Presence on Loyalty in Virtual Community

[[abstract]]This study aims to explore whether social presence exhibits an important factor in computer-supported community, using the social presence perspective to analyze how media features and personal factors influence user behavior of virtual community. A survey was conducted on Gamebase which covers four types of virtual communities. Empirical data were gathered using online questionnaire with 254 respondents. The result showed that communication richness of social presence contributes to the virtual community loyalty, while medium richness does not influence virtual community loyalty. Results indicated that reciprocal interaction and interpersonal trust have positive effects on medium richness, whereas social interaction and interpersonal connection have positive effects on communication richness.[[journaltype]]國外[[ispeerreviewed]]Y[[booktype]]電子