Assessing alternative models of individualism and collectivism: A confirmatory factor analysis

Six alternative structural models of individualism-collectivism are reviewed and empirically compared in a confirmatory factor analysis of questionnaire data from an Australian student sample (N=340). Central to the debate about the structure of this broad social attitude are the issues of (I) polarity (are individualism and collectivism bipolar opposites, or orthogonal factors?) and (2) dimensionality (are individualism and collectivism themselves higher-order constructs subsuming several more specific factors and, if so, what are they?). The data from this Australian sample support a model that represents individualism and collectivism as a higher-order bipolar factor hierarchically subsuming several bipolar reference-group-specific individualisms and collectivisms. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Contrasting models of land use regulation: Community, government and tourism development

This paper assesses the capacity of local communities and sub-national governments to influence patterns of tourism development, within the context of a globalizing economy. Through a comparison of the contrasting examples of Hawaii and Queensland, the paper indicates the consequences of different approaches to land use regulation. It points to the importance of planning and policy processes that integrate community interests, in order to achieve long-term, sustainable tourism development. Effective regulation of development can minimize the social and environmental impacts of tourism. The paper illustrates how community organizations and sub-national governments can articulate local interests, despite the global demands of investors for more deregulated markets in land.

Comparison between Eysenck's and Gray's models of personality in the prediction of motivational work criteria

Impulsivity based on Gray's [Gray, J. A. (1982) The neuropsychology of anxiety: an enquiry into the function of the septo-hippocampal system. New York: Oxford University Press: (1991). The neurophysiology of temperament. In J. Strelau & A. Angleitner. Explorations in temperament: international perspectives on theory and measurement. London. Plenum Press]. physiological model of personality was hypothesised to be more predictive of goal oriented criteria within the workplace than scales derived From Eysenck's [Eysenck. H.J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thompson.] physiological model of personality. Results confirmed the hypothesis and also showed that Gray's scale of Impulsivity was generally a better predictor than attributional style and interest in money. Results were interpreted as providing support for Gray's Behavioural Activation System which moderates response to reward. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comparison between three and five factor models of Pakistani personality data

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R), the Eysenck Personality Profiler Short Version (EPP-S), and the Big Five Inventory (BFI-V4a) were administered to 135 postgraduate students of business in Pakistan. Whilst Extraversion and Neuroticism scales from the three questionnaires were highly correlated, it was found that Agreeableness was most highly correlated with Psychoticism in the EPQ-R and Conscientiousness was most highly correlated with Psychoticism in the EPP-S. Principal component analyses with varimax rotation were carried out. The analyses generally suggested that the five factor model rather than the three-factor model was more robust and better for interpretation of all the higher order scales of the EPQ-R, EPP-S, and BFI-V4a in the Pakistani data. Results show that the superiority of the five factor solution results from the inclusion of a broader variety of personality scales in the input data, whereas Eysenck's three factor solution seems to be best when a less complete but possibly more important set of variables are input. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coupling 3D visualisation to qualitative assessment of built environment designs

Geographical information systems (GIS) coupled to 3D visualisation technology is an emerging tool for urban planning and landscape design applications. The utility of 3D GIS for realistically visualising the built environment and proposed development scenarios is much advocated in the literature. Planners assess the merits of proposed changes using visual impact assessment (VIA). We have used Arcview GIS and visualisation software: called PolyTRIM from the University of Toronto, Centre for Landscape Research (CLR) to create a 3D scene for the entrance to a University campus. The paper investigates the thesis that to facilitate VIA in planning and design requires not only visualisation, but also a structured evaluation technique (Delphi) to arbitrate the decision-making process. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Models involving two inverse Weibull distributions

In this paper, we look at three models (mixture, competing risk and multiplicative) involving two inverse Weibull distributions. We study the shapes of the density and failure-rate functions and discuss graphical methods to determine if a given data set can be modelled by one of these models. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cancer culture: Epidemics, human behaviour and the dubious search for new risk factors

The rise of melanoma and the almost complete decline of stomach cancer clearly reflect disturbances of human culture during the 20th century. Environmental factors play a dominant role in the epidemiology of melanoma and many other malignancies.

Large-N solutions of the Heisenberg and Hubbard-Heisenberg models on the anisotropic triangular lattice: application to Cs2CuCl4 and to the layered organic superconductors kappa-(BEDT-TTF)(2)X (BEDT-TTF bis(ethylene-dithio)tetrathiafulvalene); X anion)

We solve the Sp(N) Heisenberg and SU(N) Hubbard-Heisenberg models on the anisotropic triangular lattice in the large-N limit. These two models may describe respectively the magnetic and electronic properties of the family of layered organic materials K-(BEDT-TTF)(2)X, The Heisenberg model is also relevant to the frustrated antiferromagnet, Cs2CuCl4. We find rich phase diagrams for each model. The Sp(N) :antiferromagnet is shown to have five different phases as a function of the size of the spin and the degree of anisotropy of the triangular lattice. The effects of fluctuations at finite N are also discussed. For parameters relevant to Cs2CuCl4 the ground state either exhibits incommensurate spin order, or is in a quantum disordered phase with deconfined spin-1/2 excitations and topological order. The SU(N) Hubbard-Heisenberg model exhibits an insulating dimer phase, an insulating box phase, a semi-metallic staggered flux phase (SFP), and a metallic uniform phase. The uniform and SFP phases exhibit a pseudogap, A metal-insulator transition occurs at intermediate values of the interaction strength.

A systematic approach to error isolation in computerized wastewater simulation models

Activated sludge models are used extensively in the study of wastewater treatment processes. While various commercial implementations of these models are available, there are many people who need to code models themselves using the simulation packages available to them, Quality assurance of such models is difficult. While benchmarking problems have been developed and are available, the comparison of simulation data with that of commercial models leads only to the detection, not the isolation of errors. To identify the errors in the code is time-consuming. In this paper, we address the problem by developing a systematic and largely automated approach to the isolation of coding errors. There are three steps: firstly, possible errors are classified according to their place in the model structure and a feature matrix is established for each class of errors. Secondly, an observer is designed to generate residuals, such that each class of errors imposes a subspace, spanned by its feature matrix, on the residuals. Finally. localising the residuals in a subspace isolates coding errors. The algorithm proved capable of rapidly and reliably isolating a variety of single and simultaneous errors in a case study using the ASM 1 activated sludge model. In this paper a newly coded model was verified against a known implementation. The method is also applicable to simultaneous verification of any two independent implementations, hence is useful in commercial model development.

Smooth muscle cells of injured rat and rabbit arteries in culture: contractile and cytoskeletal proteins

The aim of this study is to determine whether subpopulations of smooth muscle cells (SMC). as distinguished by variations in contractile and cytoskeletal proteins, appear in the neointima at different times after vascular injury, and/or whether subpopulations develop during serial passaging of these cells. Rat aortae and rabbit carotid arteries were injured with a 2F Fogarty balloon catheter and cultures established from the resulting neointima and the media 2, 6, 12, 16 and 24 weeks later. Cultures were examined at passages 1-5 and subpopulations of SMC categorised by intensity of staining for each protein by immunohistochemistry. Two populations of SMC with different staining intensities ('+ +', '+') were observed for each of the following proteins: alpha -SM actin, SM-myosin, desmin and vimentin. Populations without these proteins were also found. Changes in the percentages of cells expressing these proteins were transitory, indicating that the populations were not limited to a particular tissue (neointima or media), time after injury or passage number. One exception was found in rabbit cultures where the number of desmin-expressing cells quickly decreased with both time after injury and time in culture. Subpopulations of SMC were found at all times after injury in the media and neointima of rat and rabbit arteries, and after multiple passage of these cells. There was no pattern of development of one population suggesting that either no subpopulation has a proliferative or migratory advantage over others, or that only one population exists: that is capable of diverse phenotypic changes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A critical comparison of the external and internal boron requirements for contrasting species in boron-buffered solution culture

Despite reports that boron (B) requirements differ among plant species there is a shortage of critical evidence to demonstrate unequivocally whether species differ in internal or external B requirements or both. The present research was conducted to establish the external and internal B requirements of three contrasting species, a woody dicot (marri), an herbaceous dicot (sunflower) and a monocot (wheat) using B-buffered solution culture. Boron-buffered solution culture provided satisfactory control of external B concentrations ranging from 0.04 to 30 muM throughout the 20- (sunflower and wheat) or 40-day (marri) growth period. At low external B concentrations (less than or equal to 0.13 muM), the growth of marri and sunflower was severely depressed but by contrast the vegetative growth of wheat plants was satisfactory and free of B deficiency symptoms. Marri and sunflower plants achieved total maximum shoot growth at greater than or equal to1.2 muM B in solutions while wheat plants did so at greater than or equal to 0.6 muM B. The critical B concentrations (mg kg(-1) dry matter) in the youngest open leaf blades of marri, sunflower and wheat plants were 17.9, 19.7 and 1.2 on 20, 10 and 10 days after transplanting (DAT), respectively. Lower internal and external B requirements of wheat were matched by a lower uptake rate of B compared to marri and sunflower.

Linear models of simple cells: Correspondence to real cell responses and space spanning properties

Despite their limitations, linear filter models continue to be used to simulate the receptive field properties of cortical simple cells. For theoreticians interested in large scale models of visual cortex, a family of self-similar filters represents a convenient way in which to characterise simple cells in one basic model. This paper reviews research on the suitability of such models, and goes on to advance biologically motivated reasons for adopting a particular group of models in preference to all others. In particular, the paper describes why the Gabor model, so often used in network simulations, should be dropped in favour of a Cauchy model, both on the grounds of frequency response and mutual filter orthogonality.