Showing papers by "Concordia University published in 1988"
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the relationship between perceptions of firms' corporate social responsibility and measures of their financial performance and found that a firm's prior performance, assessed by both stock-market returns and accounting-based measures, is more closely related to corporate social concern than is subsequent performance.
Abstract: Using Fortune magazine's ratings of corporate reputations, we analyzed the relationships between perceptions of firms’ corporate social responsibility and measures of their financial performance. Results show that a firm's prior performance, assessed by both stock-market returns and accounting-based measures, is more closely related to corporate social responsibility than is subsequent performance. Results also show that measures of risk are more closely associated with social responsibility than previous studies have suggested.
2,862 citations
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of the employment interview was carried out to investigate the impact of interview format (individual vs. board interviews) and interview structure (unstructured vs. structured) on the validity of interviews as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A meta-analysis of the employment interview was carried out to investigate the impact of interview format (individual vs. board interviews) and interview structure (unstructured vs. structured) on the validity of interviews. A thorough review of the unpublished and published literature worldwide yielded 150 usable validity coefficients for the meta-analysis. Contrary to the predominantly pessimistic views of previous researchers, the interview was found to be a generally good selection instrument. These findings suggest that the ' received doctrine' of interview invalidity is false. However, interview structure moderated predictive validity coefficients to a considerable extent. In fact, structured interviews produced mean validity coefficients twice as high as unstructured interviews. Although considerable variance in structured interviews remained unaccounted for after adjustment for statistical artifacts, all of the variation in observed validity coefficients for unstructured interviews was accounted for. It was concluded that a number of social psychological processes examined in previous interview research would have little effect in moderating the validity coefficients of the unstructured interview. The results also suggest that higher validity coefficients are associated with more reliable interviews and the use of formal job-analytic information in developing interview questions. Implications for research and practice in personnel psychology are explored.
395 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that antidepressants acquire anxiolytic properties following chronic administration and that this effect appears to be independent of the benzodiazepine receptor system.
Abstract: We have examined the anxiolytic activity of acute and chronic antidepressant treatment in an animal model of anxiety involving novelty-suppressed feeding. Rats were food deprived for 48 h, placed into a novel environment containing food, and the latency to begin eating was recorded. Chronic (21 days), but not acute injections of desipramine (DMI; 10 mg/kg) and amitriptyline (AMI; 10 mg/kg) significantly reduced the latency to begin eating compared to controls, but the percentage decrease was not as great as that seen with either acute or chronic treatment with diazepam (2 mg/kg) or adinazolam (20 mg/kg). A time course study indicated that at least 2 weeks of treatment was necessary to observe a significant anxiolytic effect of antidepressants. The anxiolytic effect of the antidepressants was specific to the novel environment, as 2 weeks of treatment with either diazepam or DMI did not influence the latency to begin eating in the home cage. Finally, a single dose of the central benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, Ro15-1788 (20 mg/kg), given 15 min prior to testing, did not block the anxiolytic effects of chronic DMI, while it completely eliminated the effect of chronic diazepam treatment. These data suggest that antidepressants acquire anxiolytic properties following chronic administration and that this effect appears to be independent of the benzodiazepine receptor system.
379 citations
TL;DR: A critical evaluation of the aforementioned PWM techniques on the basis of application is provided, thereby giving the framework and guidelines for the selection of the best technique for each area of application.
Abstract: With the introduction and wide acceptance of gate-turnoff power drives, e.g., bipolars, power FETs, GTOs, the switching behaviour of converters has reached the point where further improvements in firing and switching networks bring out only marginal benefits. Consequently, the research interests in the area of static converters have been shifting toward improving the process of power conversion through a combination of novel circuit topologies and improved voltage and harmonic control PWM (pulsewidth modulation) techniques. As a result, several such techniques have been proposed lately. Although these techniques are clearly superior to the original sine PWM technique, little or conflicting data is available about their merits relative to each other. A critical evaluation of the aforementioned PWM techniques on the basis of application is provided, thereby giving the framework and guidelines for the selection of the best technique for each area of application. >
362 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a graphical and numerical method of calculating and minimizing losses in windings, that generalizes previous findings, has been introduced using electromagnetic theory and MMF diagrams in both space and time.
Abstract: A graphical and numerical method of calculating and minimizing losses in windings, that generalizes previous findings, has been introduced Using electromagnetic theory and MMF diagrams in both space and time a method is proposed that provides insight into the mechanism of skin and proximity effect losses and that also yields quantitative results Using this method, several winding geometries for various topologies are covered The analysis and optimization process is experimentally verified using an interleaved flyback transformer The mathematical treatment justifying the use of the field method and which is essential in arriving at any numerical result is presented are more general equations for the calculation of copper losses are derived The relation between the fields in the transformer and copper losses is emphasized Also, the tools necessary to derive optimization diagrams are provided >
233 citations
TL;DR: This paper assessed the developmental patterns in ethnic attitudes of children aged 5 to 12 years in relation to cognitive development and social desirability responding and found that ethnic attitudes increased with age and were inversely related to positive own group attributions and negative other-group attributions.
Abstract: Developmental patterns in ethnic attitudes were assessed in 232 children aged 5 to 12 years in relation to cognitive development and social desirability responding. English-speaking children assigned 10 positive attributes, 10 negative attributes, and 4 neutral attributes to either an English-speaking child, a French-speaking child, or both an English- and a French-speaking child, depicted by line drawings. Positive attributions to their own ethnic group and negative attributions to the other ethnic group were less frequent in older children. Flexibility of ethnic attitudes, that is, attributions to both groups, increased with age and were inversely related to positive own-group attributions and negative other-group attributions. High flexibility followed the attainment of concrete operational thinking, as measured by conservation but not by ethnic constancy. Flexibility was inversely related to Crandall social desirability responding and unrelated to children's conformity to the experimenter's attitude. ...
181 citations
TL;DR: A conceptual model that may foster improved understanding of test outcomes for individuals using the terms "sensitivity," "specificity," and "predictive value" are defined, and the relations of positive and negative predictive values to population base rates are emphasized.
Abstract: While researchers usually are concerned about psychometric properties of psychological tests estimated using large samples, most clinical decision-makers must evaluate the accuracy of test results for individuals. This is particularly true as regards tests that have cutting scores to determine, for example, whether to assign a particular diagnosis or accept an applicant into a training program. This paper reviews a conceptual model that may foster improved understanding of test outcomes for individuals. The terms "sensitivity," "specificity," and "predictive value" are defined, and the relations of positive and negative predictive values to population base rates are emphasized. Examples from the psychological literature are presented to illustrate the utility of these concepts in clinical decision-making with psychological tests. Implications for test users, test developers, and instructors are discussed.
162 citations
TL;DR: The authors discuss the theory and practice of a "creative automatization" process by which learners can develop the automaticity component of fluency in second language production in a classroom setting.
Abstract: In this article we discuss the theory and practice of a "creative automatization" process by which learners can develop the automaticity component of fluency in second language production in a classroom setting. The techniques for this approach are designed to provide students with ample opportunities for repetition and practice within a wholly communicative context, without the shortcomings usually characteristic of pattern drills or other more traditional methods. Five specific design criteria are presented to help teachers in developing their own activities for promoting fluency within this framework. In this article we discuss the theory and practice of an approach developed in the classroom for promoting "automaticity" with functionally relevant utterances in a second language. This approach allows one to provide learners with extensive practice without making use of traditional pattern drills and exercises and does so in a way that is fully compatible with the communicative approach. Automaticity is viewed here as a component of fluency. In considering fluency, one can broadly distinguish between skills concerned with the selection of utterances (knowing what to say, to whom and when) and skills concerned with the actual production of these utterances (producing them rapidly and smoothly, without hesitations and pauses). For a speaker to be fluent, both kinds of skills are important. The development of utterance selection skills, however, does not necessarily imply the mastery of utterance production skills. This is illustrated by the fact that one can mentally formulate utterances in the second language in anticipation of a forthcoming communication situation, monitor their forms and correct them if necessary, and still be unable to produce them
155 citations
02 Oct 1988
TL;DR: In this paper, a three-phase switch-mode rectifier (SMR) topology is proposed to reduce the component stresses in higher-10kW applications. But the authors also present an analysis and design approach for three phase SMR converters under large input voltage and load variations.
Abstract: Single-phase offline switch mode rectifiers (or offline DC-DC converters) face severe component stresses in higher than 10kW applications. The authors show that in three-phase, switch-mode rectifier (SMR) topologies' component stresses are reduced, and performance is improved substantially. These improvements include faster response times, reduced switching stresses of the power semiconductor devices, and reduced size and ratings of associated reactive components. The authors also present an analysis and design approach for three-phase SMR converters under large-input voltage and load variations. Output voltage control is achieved by varying the duty cycle of the inverter power semiconductor switches. Theoretical results are verified experimentally. >
154 citations
TL;DR: Two sources of individual Auger electron spectra and an electron track code were used with a simple model of the DNA to successfully simulate the single-strand DNA breakage measured by Martin and Haseltine (1981) and it was shown that the energy deposition in the DNA from the iodine decay is very complex, with a broad range of energy depositions and products.
Abstract: SummaryTwo sources of individual Auger electron spectra and an electron track code were used with a simple model of the DNA to successfully simulate the single-strand DNA breakage measured by Martin and Haseltine (1981). The conditions of the calculation were then extended to examine patterns of single-strand breaks in both strands of the DNA duplex to score double-strand breaks. The occurrences of five types of break were scored. The total number of double-strand breaks (dsb) per decay at the site of the decay was 0·90 and 0·65 for the different Auger electron spectra. It was shown that for mammalian cells an additional source of double-strand breaks from low LET radiation added approximately 0·17 dsb/decay to each, giving a final total of 1·07 and 0·85 dsb/decay for mammalian cells depending on the electron spectrum. Further it is shown that the energy deposition in the DNA from the iodine decay is very complex, with a broad range of energy depositions and products. Even for a particular energy deposite...
152 citations
TL;DR: A system for recognizing totally unconstrained handwritten numerals is described, which comprises a feature extractor and two classification algorithms that identify the majority of the samples and a robust relaxation algorithm which classifies the rest of the data.
TL;DR: The increasing knowledge of various aspects of flavonoid sulphates calls for an update of previous reviews as mentioned in this paper, which describes the recent advances in their structural variation and distribution patterns in plants.
TL;DR: Support is provided for the idea that hormones of testicular origin suppress cortical enlargement in the perinatal period, particularly in the left hemisphere, as well as in intact male rats.
01 Sep 1988
TL;DR: The authors analyzes the status of the audience as a theoretical construct and discusses the contributions and liabilities of recent critical revisions of models of audience drawn from political economy, post-structuralism, feminist reader response criticism, cultural studies, and postmodernism.
Abstract: This essay analyzes the status of the audience as a theoretical construct. It discusses the contributions and liabilities of recent critical revisions of models of audience drawn from political economy, post‐structuralism, feminist reader‐response criticism, cultural studies, and postmodernism. The essay argues against the usefulness of a unified conception of audience effects. Finally, it develops an epistemological framework for reconstructive theorizations of the concrete structures and practices studied as audience issues. [A critical exchange follows the essay.]
TL;DR: The data suggest that nucleus accumbens is a site of amphetamine's reward-enhancing and threshold-lowering effects on brain stimulation reward, and less potent were the effects of L-amphetamine.
TL;DR: It is argued that the reinstatement effects of opiates and stimulants on self-administration behavior are mediated by the mesolimbic dopamine system, and may be related to the ability of opiate and stimulant drugs to cause sensitization within that system.
TL;DR: In this article, the complete photocatalytic degradation of two polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and one polychlorined biphenyl to CO 2 and HC 1 was investigated in aerated aqueous suspensions of several semiconductors (TiO 2, ZnO, CdS, TiO 2 Pt 5% by weight, and Fe 2 O 3 ) irradiated by simulated solar light.
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01 Nov 1988TL;DR: The "museum movement" of the late nineteenth century resulted in the creation and expansion of museums throughout Europe and North America and stimulated institutional development in far-flung quarters of the globe as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The "museum movement" of the late nineteenth century resulted in the creation and expansion of museums throughout Europe and North America and stimulated institutional development in far-flung quarters of the globe. From Melbourne to Montreal, museums were founded and revitalized. By examining the development of natural history museums in Australasia, Canada, and South America, Susan Sheets-Pyenson shows how colonial museum directors mobilized resources from reluctant provincial legislators, national governments, and college trustees. Local architects were often hired to realize the visions of glittering palaces to science that danced in the minds of colonial curators. Museums in the hinterland managed to assemble large and significant collections which included prime materials obtained from abroad. Using either cash or rare treasures as barter, curators entered a complicated system by which natural history specimens changed hands. The growth of collections overseas always remained subject to particular individual and cultural aspirations. Reigning opinion about the educational function of museums, proper methods of displaying specimens, and the use of research materials was tailored to fit particular circumstances. Colonial natural history museums were an important and previously neglected feature in the developing landscape of "big science." Although the "museum movement" died at the turn of the century, it left a legacy of cathedrals of science as monuments to remarkable intellectual visions.
TL;DR: The increased insulin responsiveness of R rats was not due to an increase in insulin binding or to a decrease in insulin degradation (measured with intact cells or as cytosolic insulinase activity), and is compatible with a delay in the first phase of insulin secretion in aging AL rats.
TL;DR: The thesis offered here is that these two effects are manifestations of a single biological mechanism and processpsychomotor activation and that all rewarding events, including injections of the variety of habit-forming drugs, activate that mechanism and contribute to that process.
Abstract: Electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle produces two powerful motivational effects: drive and reinforcement. The thesis offered here (and el~ewhere’~~.~) is that these two effects are manifestations of a single biological mechanism and processpsychomotor activation and that all rewarding events, including injections of the variety of habit-forming drugs, activate that mechanism and contribute to that process. First, consider the case of brain-stimulation effects. The appearance of two distinct effects drive effects and reinforcement effects -is a consequence of the two different paradigms in which the consequences of the stimulation are assessed. When we focus our attention on the behavior of the animal just prior to the delivery of the stimulation, and when we make delivery of the stimulation contingent upon some particular feature of that behavior, we notice an increase in the frequency or probability of the act in question. This effect is termed the rewarding effect in everyday language and termed the “reinforcing” effect by Skinner,4 who developed what is known as the “operant” paradigm (the “Skinner box” is the best known example) for studying the importance of this phenomenon in the establishment of the habits that Skinner and his followers have taken to be the basic units of behavior, The reinforcing effects of brain stimulation have been extensively studied in the operant paradigm since their discovery in 1954 by Olds and Milner.s Another great tradition in psychology was inspired by the work of Pavlov, who ignored the behavior of his animals or waited for it to cease before administering the stimuli of interest in his very different but equally important paradigm. It was Pavlov,6 not Skinner, who first coined the term “reinforcer”; he used the term to designate the unconditioned stimulus in his conditioning paradigm, termed the “respondent” paradigm by Skinner.4 If we take medial forebrain bundle stimulation as our reinforcer and study it in the paradigm of Pavlov, we wait for the animal to be still, and then we apply the stimulation and note the unconditioned response. It is when medial forebrain bundle stimulation is studied in this way that it is seen to have drivelike effects; the unconditioned consequence of the stimulation is an increase in exploration of and interaction with the biologically significant stimuli (food, water, nesting material, sex partner, etc.) in the environment.’ These drivelike effects of medial forebrain bundle stimulation have also been intensively studied, largely, but not exclusively, by different workers than those who have studied brain stimulation as operant reinforcement. Hess won the Nobel Prize for such work in the second quarter of this century,’ and Miller and his students established it in the English literature in the third.* When the study of the drivelike effects of medial forebrain bundle stimulation came to the attention of the students of the rewardlike effects, and vice versa, there was
TL;DR: It is suggested that in aged animals severe food restriction reduces basal cortic testosterone levels, adrenal responsiveness to stress, and adrenal size and has the potential to protect against the consequences of high corticosterone levels in aging.
Abstract: The effects of short term (1-month) and lifelong 60% ad libitum food restriction on the adrenocortical response to restraint stress were compared in young and aged Fischer 344 rats. In rats restricted for 1 month (study 1), the adrenocortical response differed as a function of age. In 8- month-old animals, the initial steep rise in corticosterone in response to stress was of similar magnitude in ad libitum and restricted animals. In 23-month-old animals the corticosterone response was severely blunted in restricted animals. In life-long restricted animals (study 2), the corticosterone response to restraint stress was tested at 8, 16, and 24 months of age. The general pattern of response to stress in these animals was similar to that in study 1. The 16- and 24-month-old animals showed the same blunted response to stress found in the 23- month-old animals restricted for only 1 month, suggesting that the severe restriction per se and not life-long food restriction blunted the response to stress in aged anima...
23 May 1988
TL;DR: Different formulations of conditional equations as rewrite systems are examined, their expressive power is compared, and sufficient conditions are given to give sufficient conditions for rewrite systems to have the “confluence” property.
Abstract: Conditional equations have been studied for their use in the specification of abstract data types and as a computational paradigm that combines logic and function programming in a clean way. In this paper we examine different formulations of conditional equations as rewrite systems, compare their expressive power and give sufficient conditions for rewrite systems to have the “confluence” property. We then examine a restriction of these systems using a “decreasing” ordering. With this restriction, most of the basic notions (like rewriting and computing normal forms) are decidable, the “critical pair” lemma holds, and some formulations preserve canonicity.
TL;DR: In this paper, a fixed-frequency pulse width modulation (PWM) control scheme was applied to a series-loaded, series-resonant converter with a full-bridge configuration and with a variation of PWM that can be described as a phase shift modulation between the two sets of switches.
Abstract: Resonant DC-DC converters that are usually operated using frequency modulation to achieve regulation have the disadvantage of wideband frequency modulation. An alternate regulation scheme that uses fixed-frequency pulse width modulation (PWM) is proposed. This control scheme is applied to a series-loaded, series-resonant converter. When operated in a full-bridge configuration and with a variation of PWM that can be described as a phase shift modulation between the two sets of switches, the converter presents low switching stresses. Analytical results presented include VA rating and stresses on critical active and passive components as a function of input voltage variation. A 200 kHz, 700 W, 48 V output offline converter was realized using this concept, and some experimental results are presented to corroborate the analysis. >
TL;DR: The use of Petri nets to represent fault trees is discussed and a more general and useful method to study the dynamic behavior of the model at various levels of abstraction is examined.
Abstract: The use of Petri nets to represent fault trees is discussed. Using reachability and other analytic properties of Petri nets, a more general and useful method to study the dynamic behavior of the model at various levels of abstraction is examined. The problems of fault-detection and propagation are discussed. For simplicity, only coherent fault trees are considered. However, the representation and analysis techniques are general and can be used for noncoherent fault trees. >
TL;DR: Higher nonverbal intellectual performance scores obtained in the early adult years combined with poorer current nonverbal scores predicted verbosity in late life, similar to previously found associations between verbosity and personality and social variables.
Abstract: Two studies were conducted to develop measures of verbosity in elderly people and to determine the social and psychological correlates of verbose speech. In the first study, 346 elderly people were classified into three categories of verbosity on the basis of their verbal behavior during an interview and questionnaire session. Personality variables, stress in daily living, and age differentiated extremely verbose individuals from others. In the second study, frequency and extent of off-target speech were rated quantitatively for the verbal behavior of 203 older men, with a second rater independently making the same ratings for 98 of the men. Classification into the three categories of verbosity was made for 179 of the men. Interrater reliability was established at .76 and .70 for the two measures of verbosity. There was significant agreement between the qualitative classification and the quantitative rating assessments of verbosity. In addition to the previously found associations between verbosity and personality and social variables, higher nonverbal intellectual performance scores obtained in the early adult years combined with poorer current nonverbal scores predicted verbosity in late life.
01 Aug 1988
TL;DR: This paper settles negatively the question whether “joinability of critical pairs” is, in general, sufficient for confluence of terminating conditional systems.
Abstract: Conditional rewriting has been studied both from the point of view of algebraic data type specifications and as a computational paradigm combining logic and functional programming. An important issue, in either case, is determining whether a rewrite system has the Church-Rosser, or confluence, property. In this paper, we settle negatively the question whether “joinability of critical pairs” is, in general, sufficient for confluence of terminating conditional systems. We review known sufficient conditions for confluence, and also prove two new positive results for systems having critical pairs and arbitrarily big terms in conditions.
TL;DR: In this paper, a three-phase AC-DC converter is analyzed and the performance of the converter under balanced conditions is evaluated, and it has been observed that the level of unbalance plays a significant part in the converter characteristics.
Abstract: A three-phase AC-DC converter is analyzed, and the performance of the converter under balanced conditions is evaluated. It has been observed that the level of unbalance plays a significant part in the converter characteristics, especially at the lower output voltage range. >
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined some major segmentation issues in retail banking and found that primary institutions are associated with frequency of visits and that it is usually a low involvement decision oriented towards convenience.
Abstract: Some major segmentation issues in retail banking are examined. It is found that primary institutions are associated with frequency of visits and that it is usually a low involvement decision oriented towards convenience. It is also shown that financial services consumption is a product driven decision‐making process, further suggesting that more emphasis be put on product and multi‐institution usage research.
01 May 1988-Materials Science and Engineering A-structural Materials Properties Microstructure and Processing
TL;DR: In this article, a critical microstructural condition, dependent on strain rate, must be achieved for nucleation, and the tendency for general dynamic recovery to suppress dynamic recrystallization may be neutralized by lower concurrent rates of straining.
Abstract: Some recent experiments on the hot working of stainless steels, aluminium alloys and copper are examined to clarify the criterion for dynamic recrystallization. It is proposed that for nucleation a critical microstructural condition, dependent on strain rate, must be achieved. Continuous-deformation conditions or alloy compositions which enhance dynamic recovery make it more difficult to attain such a condition. However, the tendency for general dynamic recovery to suppress dynamic recrystallization may be neutralized by lower concurrent rates of straining, or complex straining routes which increase substructure heterogeneity, and hence reduce the critical strains or stresses.
02 Oct 1988
TL;DR: In this article, the sensitivity of the pole-arc/pole-pitch ratio of the stator and rotor on the performance of a switched reluctance motor is investigated using an analytical method based on magnetic flux path and a two-dimensional finite-element analysis.
Abstract: The sensitivity of the pole-arc/pole-pitch ratio of the stator and rotor on the performance of a switched reluctance motor is investigated. An analytical method based on magnetic flux path and a two-dimensional finite-element analysis are used. The sensitivity study is performed by comparing the average torque developed for different stator as well as rotor pole-arc/pole-pitch ratios and choosing the ratio combination that produces the greatest value of average torque. >