Barn and Pole paradox: revisited

We present two different paradoxes related to the length contraction in special relativity and explain their resolution.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. To appear in Physics Education, IOP Scienc

Prospective associations between loneliness and emotional intelligence

Loneliness has been linked cross-sectionally to emotional skill deficits (e.g., Zysberg, 2012), but missing from the literature is a longitudinal examination of these relationships. The present study fills that gap by examining the prospective relationships between loneliness and emotional functioning in young adolescents in England. One hundred and ninety-six adolescents aged 11-13 years (90 females) took part in the study and completed the youth version of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT-YV) and the peer-related subscale of the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LACA) at two time points, which were 10 months apart. Prospective associations were obtained for male and female adolescents separately using cross-lagged statistical techniques. Our results showed prospective links between understanding and managing emotions and loneliness for both females and males. Perceiving and using emotions were prospectively linked to loneliness in males only. Possible explanations and directions for future research are discussed

Sustainable Akron: Akron\u27s Zero Carbon, Zero Waste, 100% Renewable Energy Future

This report attempts to show that it is not just possible for the City of Akron to transition to a more sustainable city, but that it may be socially and economically beneficial for the city to do so. This report builds on Greenprint for Akron, the City of Akron’s Climate Action Plan, and serves to complement city development plans as well as guide the adoption of future climate related policies. This report provides a limited but updated climate and sustainability assessment of the City of Akron and employs a framework of three fundamental aspects of a sustainable and resilient city: zero carbon, zero waste, and 100% renewable energy generation. Using the climate action plans from six cities from the Midwest and Northeast, this report synthesizes a list of policy recommendations that are applicable to the City of Akron, actionable, and support the three fundamental goals of sustainability. The purpose of this report is to revive interest in sustainability and climate action within the city government and to center sustainability as an essential consideration for the future of the City of Akron

Development of a new screening tool for cyber pornography. Psychometric properties of the Cyber Pornography Addiction Test (CYPAT)

Objective: Internet pornography addiction typically involves viewing, downloading and trading online pornography or engagement in adult fantasy role-play. There are some well-validated inventories measuring perceived addiction to internet pornography but these instruments are often too long for a functionally use and fast scoring. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the cyber pornography addiction test (CYPAT), a new, brief, screening measure for assessing cyber pornography.Method: Participants of this study completed the CYPAT, the CPUI, the TAS-20 and the FACES-IV. Descriptive statistics were calculated and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were applied.Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient suggested excellent reliability of the measure. Results of this study revealed also good construct, convergent and divergent validity.Conclusions: CYPAT is a brief self-report screening scale composed of 11 items scored on a five-point Likert scale with good psychometrics properties. The implications of these findings for future theoretical and empirical research in this field are discusse

Effects of different simplified milk recording methods on genetic evaluation with test-day animal model

The aims of the present study were to compare estimated breeding values (EBV) for milk yield using different testing schemes with a test-day animal model and to evaluate the effect of different testing schemes on the ranking of top sheep. Alternative recording schemes that use less information than that currently obtained with a monthly test-day schedule were employed to estimate breeding values. A random regression animal mixed model that used a spline function of days in milk was fitted. EBVs obtained with alternative recording schemes showed different degrees of Spearman correlation with EBVs obtained using the monthly recording scheme. These correlations ranged from 0.77 to 0.92. A reduction in accuracy and intensity of selection could be anticipated if these alternative schemes are used; more research in this area is needed to reduce the costs of test-day recording

Anisotropic-Reflectance Correction of Multispectral Satellite Imagery in Complex Mountain Terrain

The utilization of satellite imagery acquired over rugged terrain is problematic because of anisotropic reflectance. A variety of environmental factors, such as the atmosphere and the topography, cause significant variation in the irradiant and radiant flux. Consequently, satellite imagery must be radiometric ally corrected to account for these variations which influence the at-satellite spectral response. In mountain terrain, the topographic effect is very pronounced, and satellite imagery must be normalized utilizing various techniques. The purpose of this research was to evaluate various implementations of the Minnaert correction technique which were designed to account for the influence of topography and land cover on sensor response. Specifically, a local and land cover stratification procedure was developed and tested to compute multiple Minnaert constants. SPOT HRV satellite imagery of the Nanga Parbat Himalaya was used because the topography is extreme, and the study area represents an excellent location for testing anisotropic-reflectance correction procedures. The SPOT-3 NIR image was used in the analysis as the atmospheric influence was minimal. A digital elevation model (DEM) was generated using SPOT-3 panchromatic stereopairs. The DEM was used to produce estimates of slope and slope aspect for accounting for variations in the local direct irradiant flux. Four subimages were selected to evaluate the spectral variance for two homogeneous areas and two heterogeneous areas. Effective anisotropic-reflectance correction should result in a decrease in spectral variation over homogeneous land cover and increased spectral variation among heterogeneous land cover areas. Descriptive statistics and semivariogram analysis was used for evaluation of the original and normalized images. Results indicated that the Cosine-correction method produced high radiance values throughout the image regardless of land cover. This over-correction was found wherever there were steep slopes, and is the result of not accounting for the correct magnitude of the surface irradiance. The Minnaert-correction procedure, using a global Minnaert constant, appeared to produce better results, however, global-regression analysis revealed results that did not accurately characterize the degree of anistropy for various land cover classes. M innaert correction based upon land-cover stratification produced statistically valid results, such that both topography and land cover effects on the radiant flux were generally accounted for. The window-based approach produced images that appeared to reduce the topographic effect, although overcorrection still occurred, and statistical results were invalid for small window sizes. These results indicated that the Minnaert-Correction procedure has the potential to be used to reduce the topographic effect in rugged terrain, if scale-dependent variation in the topography and land-cover characteristics can be locally evaluated to compute Minnaert constants. Furthermore, the diffuse-irradiant and adjacent-terrain irradiant flux need to be considered as overcorrection is problematic in complex terrain. More research on dynamic spatial-partitioning of the topography and spectral variation is therefore warrented

Individual differences in the perception of similarity and difference.

Thematically related concepts like coffee and milk are judged to be more similar than thematically unrelated concepts like coffee and lemonade. We investigated whether thematic relations exert a small effect that occurs consistently across participants (i.e., a generalized model), or a large effect that occurs inconsistently across participants (i.e., an individualized model). We also examined whether difference judgments mirrored similarity or whether these judgments were, in fact, non-inverse. Five studies demonstrated the necessity of an individualized model for both perceived similarity and difference, and additionally provided evidence that thematic relations affect similarity more than difference. Results suggest that models of similarity and difference must be attuned to large and consistent individual variability in the weighting of thematic relations

The Negativity Bias Predicts Response Rate To Behavioral Activation For Depression

Background and Objectives: This treatment study investigated the extent to which asymmetric dimensions of affective responding, specifically the positivity offset and the negativity bias, at pretreatment altered the rate of response to Behavioral Activation treatment for depression. Method: Forty-one depressed participants were enrolled into 16 weekly sessions of BA. An additional 36 lifetime healthy participants were evaluated prospectively for 16 weeks to compare affective responding between healthy and remitted patients at post-treatment. All participants were assessed at Weeks 0, 8 and 16 using repeated measures, involving a structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders, questionnaires, and a computerized task designed to measure affective responses to unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant images. Results: The negativity bias at pre-treatment predicted the rate of response to BA, while the positivity offset did not. Limitations: Only one treatment condition was used in this study and untreated depressed participants were not enrolled, limiting our ability to compare the effect of BA. Conclusions: Baseline negativity bias may serve as a signal for patients to engage in and benefit from the goal-directed BA strategies, thereby accelerating rate of response

A Quantitative Meta-Analysis of Functional Imaging Studies of Social Rejection

Early neuroimaging studies using Cyberball suggested that social rejection activated the pain matrix, as identified in studies of physical pain. However, these early studies were characterized by small sample sizes. Our statistical multi-level kernel density analysis (MKDA) of Cyberball neuroimaging studies with 244 participants fails to support the claim that social rejection operates on the same pain matrix as nociceptive stimuli, questioning whether social pain is more figurative or literal. We also performed an MKDA of the neuroimaging studies of reliving a romantic rejection to test whether the pain matrix was activated if the rejection were more meaningful. Results again failed to support the notion that rejection activates the neural matrix identified in studies of physical pain. Reliving an unwanted rejection by a romantic partner was significantly characterized by activation within and beyond the “Cyberball” brain network, suggesting that the neural correlates of social pain are more complex than previously thought