Secondary defects induced by ion and electron irradiation of GaSb

Secondary defects induced by ion and electron irradiation up to 6?dpa (displacements per atom) at liquid-nitrogen temperature in GaSb thin films are compared. For Sn ion (60?keV) irradiation, voids were observed. However, for high-energy electron (2?MeV) irradiation, interstitial-type dislocation loops were produced. The densities of voids and interstitial-type dislocation loops were almost equivalent (8?×?10¹⁴?voids/m² and 3?×?10¹⁴?loops/m²) after irradiations at the same damage level of 6?dpa. It is concluded that the formation of voids by ion irradiation follows the creation of localised vacancy defects in cascade damage.     

Rapid proportion comparison with spatial arrays of frequently used meaningful visual symbols

It has been shown that when two arrays of Arabic numerals were briefly presented, observers could accurately indicate which array contained the larger number of a target numeral. This study investigated whether this rapid proportion comparison can be extended to other meaningful symbols that share some of notable properties of Arabic numerals. We tested mainly several Japanese Kanji letters, each of which represents a meaning and can work as a word. Using physically identical stimulus sets that could be interpreted as different types of letters, Experiment 1 first confirmed the rapid proportion comparison with Arabic numerals for Japanese participants. Experiment 2 showed that the rapid proportion comparison can be extended to Kanji numerals. Experiment 3 successfully demonstrated that rapid proportion judgments can be found with non-quantitative Kanji letters that are used frequently. Experiment 4 further demonstrated the rapid proportion comparison with frequently used meaningful non-letter symbols (gender icons). The rapid processing cannot be attributed to fluent processing of familiar items, because it was not found with familiar phonograms (Japanese Kana letters). These findings suggest that the rapid proportion comparison can be commonly found with frequently used meaningful symbols, even though their meaning is not relevant to the task.     

The contraction rule and decision problems for logics without structural rules

This paper shows a role of the contraction rule in decision problems for the logics weaker than the intuitionistic logic that are obtained by deleting some or all of structural rules. It is well-known that for such a predicate logic L, if L does not have the contraction rule then it is decidable. In this paper, it will be shown first that the predicate logic FL_ec with the contraction and exchange rules, but without the weakening rule, is undecidable while the propositional fragment of FL_ec is decidable. On the other hand, it will be remarked that logics without the contraction rule are still decidable, if our language contains function symbols.     

Referred sensations induced by a mirror box in healthy subjects

Twenty-one healthy subjects were instructed to observe the mirror image of the tactile stimulation of their own hand (control condition) or an assistant’s hand (experimental condition) while being queried about the referred sensation (RS) in their own masked hand behind the mirror. The rated intensity of the RS under the experimental condition was significantly stronger than that under the control condition. In a second experiment, the experimental condition was replaced with the tactile stimulation of a prosthetic (rubber) hand, and was compared with the tactile stimulation of the subject’s own hand (control condition). In both of the experiments, the rated intensity of RS was significantly stronger under the experimental condition than under the control condition. The qualitative characteristics of the induced RS on the mirror image hand—including the location, sense of ownership, and various subjective feelings—were also found to vary among subjects. In conclusion, an RS could be induced in healthy subjects on the mirror image of the hand by tactile stimulations, although this effect differed substantially among individuals.     

Hydrogen-assisted damage in austenite/martensite dual-phase steel

For understanding the underlying hydrogen embrittlement mechanism in transformation-induced plasticity steels, the process of damage evolution in a model austenite/martensite dual-phase microstructure following hydrogenation was investigated through multi-scale electron channelling contrast imaging and in situ optical microscopy. Localized diffusible hydrogen in martensite causes cracking through two mechanisms: (1) interaction between {1?1?0}_M localized slip and {1?1?2}_M twin and (2) cracking of martensite–martensite grain interfaces. The former resulted in nanovoids along the {1?1?2}_M twin. The coalescence of the nanovoids generated plate-like microvoids. The latter caused shear localization on the specific plane where the crack along the martensite/martensite boundary exists, which led to additional martensite/martensite boundary cracking.     

Symmetropy,an entropy-like measure of visual symmetry

A new objective measure of symmetry for single patterns, called symmetropy, is developed on two bases, the two-dimensional discrete Walsh transform of a pattern and the entropy concept in information theory. It is extended to a more general measure, called the symmetropy vector. In order to test the predictive power of the symmetropy vector, multiple regression analyses of judged pattern goodness and of judged pattern complexity were carried out. The analyses show that the symmetropy vector predicts pattern goodness and pattern complexity, as well as the amount of symmetry in a pattern. They also suggest that pattern goodness is a concept based on the holistic properties of a pattern, while pattern complexity (or simplicity) is a concept based on both holistic and partial properties of a pattern.     

Item information and discrimination functions for trinary pcm items

For trinary partial credit items the shape of the item information and the item discrimination function is examined in relation to the item parameters. In particular, it is shown that these functions are unimodal if ₂ – ₁ < 4 ln 2 and bimodal otherwi The locations and values of the maxima are derived. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the value of the maximum is decreasing in ₂ – ₁. Consequently, the maximum of a unimodal item information function is always larger than the maximum of a bimodal one, and similarly for the item discrimination function.The work reported herein was partially supported under the National Assessment of Educational Progress (Grant No. R999G30002; CFDA No. 84.999G) as administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, US Department of Education.     

Biological motion stimuli are attractive to medaka fish

In many social fish species, visual cues play an important role in inducing shoaling behaviour. The present study is the first to examine whether and how “biological motion” depicting a moving creature by means of only a small number of isolated points induces shoaling behaviour in fish. Medaka (Oryzias latipes) were used because they are known to have high visual acuity and exhibit a strong tendency to form shoals. In experiment 1, we found that the presentation of medaka biological motion resulted in heightened shoaling behaviour when compared with that of non-biological motion (depicted by a small number of points placed at fixed distances that moved at a constant speed in a constant direction). In experiment 2, it was indicated that medaka biological motion was more effective at inducing shoaling behaviour when compared with human biological motion. In experiment 3, it was demonstrated that shoaling behaviour was largely dependent on the smoothness of the biological motion. In experiment 4, we revealed that shoaling behaviour was maximised in normal speed group and decreased in faster- and slower-than-normal speed groups. In experiment 5, it was shown that shoaling behaviour was slightly reduced when a reversed movie was presented. These results suggest that motion information extracted from conspecifics was sufficient to induce shoaling behaviour in medaka and that deviation from normal and familiar motion impeded shoaling behaviour. The naturalness of motion may be responsible for the induction of shoaling behaviour.