Transmission electron microscopy characterization of the high-Tc superconductor HgBa2Ca3Cu4O 10+ delta

The structures of HgBa3Ca4Cu4O10+ delta(Hg-1234) samples have been characterized by means of high-resolution electron microscopy, electron diffraction, X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS) and electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) techniques. A modulated structure with a modulation vector of q = (0.036-0.048) b* + 0.5c* was found for Hg-1234. High-resolution electron microscopy on the modulated structure revealed slight displacements of atomic layers along the c direction. The anomalous contrast induced by the modulation was observed to be distributed asymmetrically between the HgOdelta layers, leading to the breakdown of the (001) mirror symmetry of the basic structure. XEDS compositional analyses showed a depletion of mercury for the modulated Hg1234 compared with the unmodulated Hg-1234, while EELS analysis suggested the presence of carbon in the modulated Hg-1234 phase. In addition, a sidecentred ordered (Cu, Hg)-1223 phase with low mercury content was identified as one of the major impurity phases in the Hg-1234 samples.     

Contextual Control of Running-Based Taste Aversion in Tats

The Psychological Record - The present study explored the contextual control of running-based taste aversion in rats by giving rats a salty solution in Context A followed by wheel running and the...     

The Gettier Intuition from South America to Asia

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research - This article examines whether people share the Gettier intuition (viz. that someone who has a true justified belief that p may nonetheless fail...     

Effects of social networks on cross-cultural adjustment

A total of 221 responses were obtained from a survey of international students in Japan, regarding the facilitative effects of social network formation on their adjustment. Regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationships among four types of adjustment revealed in a preceding study (“general adjustment,”“self-control,”“affiliative” and “dependent”), network size, demographic variables, expected social support, etc. For each adjustment type, predictive variables were identified. Two of the variables that showed network effects on adjustment were Japanese language proficiency and race (Asians vs. Westerners). From these results, it would appear that social network formation does facilitate adjustment, and insight into the effect of adjustment type and demographic variables on network functions was obtained. Furthermore, the actual conditions regarding network formation of international students in Japan were revealed.     

Set-size effects in simple visual search for contour curvature

In a visual-search paradigm, both perception and decision processes contribute to the set-size effects. Using yes - no search tasks in set sizes from 2 to 8 for contour curvature, we examined whether the set-size effects are predicted by either the limited-capacity model or the decision-noise model. There are limitations in perception and decision-making in the limited-capacity model, but only in decision-making in the decision-noise model. The results of four experiments showed that the slopes of the logarithm of threshold plotted against the logarithm of set size ranged from 0.24 to 0.32, when the curvature was high or low, contour convexity was upward or downward, and stimulus was masked or unmasked. These slopes were closer to the prediction of 0.23 by the decision-noise model than that of 0.73 by the limited-capacity model. We interpret this that in simple visual search for contour curvature, the decision noise mainly affects the set-size effects and perceptual capacity is not limited.     

Formation of decagonal and approximant phases in the Al-Ni-Ru system

Al-Ni-Ru alloys with a wide composition range have been synthesized and examined by X-ray and electron diffraction experiments. In this system, two types of decagonal (d) phases are formed, namely basic-type and superlattice-type d phases. Annealing experiments have shown that the basic-type d phase is stable at high temperatures and that its single-phase region is located in a small composition range around Al 75 Ni 15 Ru 10 . On the other hand, the superlattice-type d phase is metastable and has been found to form only in the samples before annealing. Besides the d phases, a high-order crystal approximant phase with lattice parameters a = 99.5 Å and b = 84.6 Å has been found. The structural relation between the approximant phase and the d phase is discussed in terms of a phason tensor.     

Preference‐expectation reversal in the ratings of independent and interdependent individuals: A USA–Japan comparison

We predicted and supported the prediction that a ‘preference‐expectation reversal’ would occur among Japanese but not among Americans. American and Japanese participants evaluated ideal‐typical independent and interdependent persons on the negative–positive dimension, and estimated how others would evaluate these persons. They also indicated their preference for acting like each of the target persons; that is, which of the two target persons they would prefer to act like. Both the American and Japanese participants wanted to act like the typical independent person rather than the typical interdependent person. However, the Japanese participants expected that others would evaluate the interdependent person more positively than the independent person. This preference‐expectation reversal was not observed among the American participants. Further analysis demonstrated that the American participants' personal evaluations of the two targets were consistent with their preferences. The Japanese participants' personal evaluation represented a compromise between their preferences and the expected responses of others. These results suggest that the culturally shared belief in Japan that interdependent persons would receive more positive evaluations than independent persons created an incentive for them to behave interdependently despite their preferences.     

Duality of independence and interdependence: An adaptationist perspective

We propose a new framework for understanding cultural differences in self‐construal by noting the duality of this construct. Based on the analysis of the adaptive roles of self‐construal, we predicted that a US–Japan difference in self‐construal exists in the contrast between self‐expression and rejection avoidance. We confirmed these predictions using newly constructed self‐construal scales. Compared to Japanese respondents, American respondents were higher on self‐expression and lower on rejection avoidance. Our findings regarding the contrast between distinctiveness of the self and harmony seeking, which are traditionally discussed as the core features of independence and interdependence, did not support the standard cultural psychological view. The two groups of respondents did not differ on distinctiveness of the self and the American respondents were higher on harmony seeking than were Japanese respondents.     

Prophetic performatives: the New Age’s pending efficacy through self-prophecy

This paper broadens the limited area of scholarship on New Age spiritualism by providing and explanation for the suasive force of one of its main themes, the ‘Law of Attraction’. Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, is utilised as emblematic of the doctrine, where the individual is seen to engage in a dynamic similar to that of classical predictive prophecy, with the role of prophet being internalised. Three elements discussed are the positioning of the prophet, prophecy’s temporal ambiguity, and its linguistic tense. This paper suggests that the Law of Attraction re-imagines and employs the predictive prophetic structure and suggests that such a belief can act as a fetish.