Adobe Flash as a medium for online experimentation: a test of reaction time measurement capabilities

Adobe Flash can be used to run complex psychological experiments over the Web. We examined the reliability of using Flash to measure reaction times (RTs) using a simple binary-choice task implemented both in Flash and in a Linux-based system known to record RTs with millisecond accuracy. Twenty-four participants were tested in the laboratory using both implementations; they also completed the Flash version on computers of their own choice outside the lab. RTs from the trials run on Flash outside the lab were approximately 20 msec slower than those from trials run on Flash in the lab, which in turn were approximately 10 msec slower than RTs from the trials run on the Linux-based system (baseline condition). RT SDs were similar in all conditions, suggesting that although Flash may overestimate RTs slightly, it does not appear to add significant noise to the data recorded

Using Adobe Flash Lite on mobile phones for psychological research: reaction time measurement reliability and inter-device variability

Mobile telephones have significant potential for use in psychological research, possessing unique characteristics—not least their ubiquity—that may make them useful tools for psychologists. We examined whether it is possible to measure reaction times (RTs) accurately using Adobe Flash Lite on mobile phones. We ran simple and choice RT experiments on two widely available mobile phones, a Nokia 6110 Navigator and a Sony Ericsson W810i, using a wireless application protocol (WAP) connection to access the Internet from the devices. RTs were compared within subjects with those obtained using a Linux-based millisecond-accurate measurement system. Results show that measured RTs were significantly longer on mobile devices, and that overall RTs and distribution of RTs varied across device

The Prospects for Family Business in Research Universities

Family business shows the promise of becoming a respected scholarly field in research universities. However, success is not a given. We inquire about its prospects, with reference to the sociology of science. A key requirement for success that has been met is identification with an important and distinctive domain of inquiry. This domain is at the intersection two phenomena - of kinship and business - but more attention has been paid to enterprise than to kinship. We suggest that this creates important windows for theoretical development, an important requirement for a core presence in research universities. We further suggest additional priorities, such as progress in journal and research quality, more developed links to pressing social issues such as international business, inclusion of family business issues in the credit curriculum, and faculty lines that create research continuity and legitimize research on family business

DSS-13 beam-waveguide antenna performance in the bypass mode

A new 34-meter beam-waveguide (BWG) antenna that contains two microwave paths, a centerline feed system, and a bypass feed system, was built at the Deep Space Station 13 (DDS 13) at Goldstone, California. Previous articles have described the test results from the evaluation of the centerline BWG feed system in the receive mode as well as the test package hardware used to perform these tests. The test results from the evaluation of the bypass BWG feed system on the DSS-13 antenna in the receive mode, including the operating noise-temperature and the antenna-area-efficiency measurements, are presented

Introduction: Virtue's Reasons

Over the past thirty years or so, virtues and reasons have emerged as two of the most fruitful and important concepts in contemporary moral philosophy. Virtue theory and moral psychology, for instance, are currently two burgeoning areas of philosophical investigation that involve different, but clearly related, focuses on individual agents’ responsiveness to reasons. The virtues themselves are major components of current ethical theories whose approaches to substantive or normative issues remain remarkably divergent in other respects. The virtues are also increasingly important in a variety of new approaches to epistemology. ..

Performance limitations of subband adaptive filters

In this paper, we evaluate the performance limitations of subband adaptive filters in terms of achievable final error terms. The limiting factors are the aliasing level in the subbands, which poses a distortion and thus presents a lower bound for the minimum mean squared error in each subband, and the distortion function of the overall filter bank, which in a system identification setup restricts the accuracy of the equivalent fullband model. Using a generalized DFT modulated filter bank for the subband decomposition, both errors can be stated in terms of the underlying prototype filter. If a source model for coloured input signals is available, it is also possible to calculate the power spectral densities in both subbands and reconstructed fullband. The predicted limits of error quantities compare favourably with simulations presented

Cracks and fingers: dynamics of ductile fracture in an aqueous foam

Fracture of a quasi-two-dimensional aqueous foam by injection of air can occur via two distinct mechanisms, termed brittle and ductile, which are analogous to crack modes observed for crystalline atomic solids such as metals. In the present work we focus on the dynamics and morphology of the ductile process, in which no films between bubbles are broken. A network modeling approach allows detailed analysis of the foam morphology from individual bubbles to the shape of the propagating crack. This crack develops similarly to fingering instabilities in Hele–Shaw cells filled with homogeneous fluids. We show that the observed width and shape of the crack are compatible this interpretation, and that the discreteness of the bubble structure provides symmetry perturbations and limiting scales characteristic of anomalous fingering. The model thus bridges the gap between fracture of the solid foam lattice and instability growth of interfaces in a fluid system

What interventions increase commuter cycling? A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To identify interventions that will increase commuter cycling. SETTING: All settings where commuter cycling might take place. PARTICIPANTS: Adults (aged 18+) in any country. INTERVENTIONS: Individual, group or environmental interventions including policies and infrastructure. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: A wide range of 'changes in commuter cycling' indicators, including frequency of cycling, change in workforce commuting mode, change in commuting population transport mode, use of infrastructure by defined populations and population modal shift. RESULTS: 12 studies from 6 countries (6 from the UK, 2 from Australia, 1 each from Sweden, Ireland, New Zealand and the USA) met the inclusion criteria. Of those, 2 studies were randomised control trials and the remainder preintervention and postintervention studies. The majority of studies (n=7) evaluated individual-based or group-based interventions and the rest environmental interventions. Individual-based or group-based interventions in 6/7 studies were found to increase commuter cycling of which the effect was significant in only 3/6 studies. Environmental interventions, however, had small but positive effects in much larger but more difficult to define populations. Almost all studies had substantial loss to follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Despite commuter cycling prevalence varying widely between countries, robust evidence of what interventions will increase commuter cycling in low cycling prevalence nations is sparse. Wider environmental interventions that make cycling conducive appear to reach out to hard to define but larger populations. This could mean that environmental interventions, despite their small positive effects, have greater public health significance than individual-based or group-based measures because those interventions encourage a larger number of people to integrate physical activity into their everyday lives