This paper examines the prevalence and character of age discrimination by conducting and experiment with 200 students at Växjö University. The participants were first asked to read a description of a job of either youthful or age neutral character. Afterwards they got to evaluate one out of two job applicants. The applicants were made identical in every way with the exception of age, in order to isolate the age discrimination. The results for the different jobs and applicants were then compared in order to investigate the prevalence of discrimination. The results support the hypothesis that age discrimination exists. In order to examine the dominance of either taste discrimination or statistical discrimination, i.e. whether the discrimination is the result of personal preferences or stereotypes and statistical mean values of different age groups the results were studied more in depth. The results hint a dominance of statistical discrimination over taste discrimination.

<p>The effect of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training on experimental measures of attention and emotion regulation was assessed. Two laboratory based measures of attention and emotion regulation were employed. Amongst a number of hypotheses, the effect of MBSR on return to emotional baseline was assessed. Analyses indicated that MBSR training had no effect on physiological indices of emotion regulation. Self-report measures indicated that MBSR training led to faster return to baseline negative emotional experience following a stressor. Implications and future directions are discussed.</p> / Dissertation

With the progress of civilization, buildings and residential constructions become taller and taller. Seismic design for buildings to resist earthquakes also attracts more attentions. The common vibration energy dissipation devices such as TMD, TLD, etc. have been popular but they have limitations such as requirement for large space to install and difficult to be installed after the building is finished. TLCD as an alternative may improve these defects. The new developed MR-TLCD system has the advantages of real-time control and is reversible. Based on the theorem of TLCD, the control equation of MR-TLCD considered the fluid viscosity. The parameters of external control magnetic force and properties of MR-fluid inside the tube needed in damping ratio calculation were measured in the experiment, where a model free vibration experiment was performed. A MR-TLCD system of which the damping ratio was designed in harmony with optimal damping ratio. The comparison was also made for the damping effect of traditional TLCD, MR-TLCD(uncontrolled), MR-TLCD(passive controlled) under dynamic loadings of various frequencies and amplitudes. The experimental results showed that MR-TLCD is more suitable in large amplitude external force. TLCD plays the best vibration mitigation effect when the external force is resonant to the structure, but MR-TLCD is better in other frequency range. It is encouraging that the application of MR-TLCD can have larger scope than TLCD. Keyword: vibration mitigation, experiment, TLCD, MR-TLCD

Why do people cooperate? Why does not every individuals in their groups choose to be a free-rider all the time? Based on two series of experiments, the author finds that reciprocity and punishment contribute to cooperation. When a group allows positive reciprocity where people can choose to cooperate, positive reciprocity facilitates cooperation. When reciprocity between group members turns to negative, however, group members make little contribution to the group and start to retaliate against their partners. Once punishment is incorporated into the experiment, people¡¦s behavior of cooperation varies. In the high positive reciprocity environment where punishment is used, people, as expected, continue to give more of their resources to their group. But it is worth noting that negative reciprocity did not get worse if punishment is used in group dynamics.

Eating disorders and borderline personality disorder involve several overlapping features, such as impulsivity, negative affectivity, and dissociation. However, few studies have specifically assessed how eating pathology and borderline personality may be related. The present study sought to evaluate this relationship by focusing on one particular area of overlap, negative affectivity. A pilot study assessed the psychometric properties of a dietary restraint measure among undergraduate women (N = 149). In the main study, undergraduate women (N = 307) completed a baseline mood assessment, then viewed a 39-minute sad film either with or without concurrent food presentation. Participants then completed a second mood assessment, and those who received food completed a third mood assessment following a 10-minute post-reflection delay. Results suggest that women reporting more borderline features exhibited greater negative affect across three different time points (baseline, post-movie/food, and post-reflection period), and were more reactive to the sad film. Food presentation appeared to have a small tempering effect on sadness, such that individuals who received food reported relatively less sadness after viewing the film when compared to those who did not receive food. However, actual quantity of food consumption was associated with improvements in mood only for women reporting higher levels of borderline features. Finally, highscorers on dietary restraint measures consumed greater quantities of food than their lowscoring counterparts. In sum, these data suggest that women with borderline personality features may be at elevated risk for developing problems with binge-eating, as consuming larger quantities of food appeared to have a tempering effect on their negative mood and specific feelings of sadness. Further, results are consistent with earlier findings in that reported efforts to restrain dietary intake were associated with greater food consumption in response to negative affect, and this relationship may need to be addressed in treating individuals with problematic eating behaviors.

¡¨Six Sigma¡¨ is one of the most popular quality initiatives in recent years. ¡¨Six Sigma¡¨ is based on the reducing variation to improve production process, enhance quality, reduce costs. Besides, the integration of them is viewed as a new trend in the next management wave. Six-Sigma was initially implemented by Motorola in 1987 but the whole world did not pay too much attention until GE re-started the Six-Sigma in 1995. Many enterprises in Taiwan also have been processing it since 1999. In view of the fundamental objective of the Six Sigma methodology which uplifted the competitiveness for Taiwan¡¦s industry, this thesis takes company A as an example to research this case was based on the application of the Six Sigma that has been adopted. The Six Sigma led to reduce costs of the material of process. This paper applies the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and solve the problem during the implementation. The purpose of this study was using the Six Sigma with Design of Experiment to find out the key factor to identify the optimal operating conditions of key factors for further verification of the best process capability. The results indicate that the Six Sigma DMAIC methology has greatly reduced costs of the material of process to improve the lean management system of company.

Abstract This study analyzed the alarm calls of Formosan macaques and their functions from Mt. Longevity. Under the natural condition, 137 five-minute scan sampling and 129 completely 20-minute all occurrence sampling were collected to record behaviors and the alarm calls. In addition, 43 stimulus (predator) tests and 87 playback experiments were successfully conducted from September 2002 to March 2003. Incidents that triggered alarm calls included: the confrontation with dogs, threats from travelers with a cane, slingshots, or stones, encounters with other troops of macaques, passing-by motors or mobile cars, airplanes flying above, and some unrecognizable factors. Under the natural condition, most of the alarm calls produced by Formosan macaques were responds toward dogs (63.46%), with the average frequency of 0.78 times/10hrs. In the predator tests, types of stimulus (dog, human with slingshot, m-snake1 and m-snake2), sex/age classes (adult male, adult female, juvenile, and infant), and the position of macaques (0m, <1m, 1m, and ¡Ù2m) had great influence on the behavioral response of macaques (p<0.01). The response scores were from 3 to 0 (move away more than 5 times body length or climbed to tree, move away up to 5 times body length, visual orientation towards the predator and no apparent response). The average response score of macaques to dogs was the highest one, far above threats from a person with a slingshot, m-snake1 and m-snake 2 (p<0.05). When Formosan macaques confront dogs, the vocal frequency (time/individual) to the alarm call had great influence on sex/age classes of macaques (p<0.01), and the average alarm call frequency was highest from adult males. When human with slingshots and m-snake were predators, majority of the adult males and females adopted run-away (69.91¢M), while very few climbed up trees (8.02¢M) to prevent from any harm caused by predators. However, they ran away (31.52%) or climbed up trees (48.47%) in response to dogs in different proportions. The average response score of macaques, from high to low, was from infant, juvenile, adult female and adult male, and the differences were significant (p<0.05). When Formosan macaques encounter these four types of predators, their alarm calls were quite similar in the spectrographs. The six basic vocal characteristics (maximal, median and minimal fundamental frequency, lowest and peak frequency and duration), analyzed by canonical discriminate analysis, indicated that alarm calls of Formosan macaques confront dogs and human with slingshots could be distinguished from snake models. The four types of predators had significant effects at the median and maximal fundamental frequency of the basic vocal characteristics from adult females and juveniles (p<0.01). But there was no difference in the nine basic vocal characteristics of alarm calls from adult males and infants toward four types of predators. The alarm calls of adult females and juveniles toward dogs in the median and maximal fundamental frequency both were significantly lower than those from m-snake1. In the playback experiments, sex/age classes, types of the alarm calls toward stimulus (dogs, travelers with slingshots, m-snake1 and m-snake 2) and the position of macaques had significant effects on their behavioral responses (p<0.01). The average response score of macaques in playbacks, from high to low, was from infant, juvenile, adult female, and the adult male, and the differences were significant (p<0.05). When the alarm call caused by dogs played back, the average response score of macaques was higher than the alarm calls stimulated by m-snake1 and m-snake 2 (P<0.05). In the playback experiments, when macaques at a higher place (¡Ù2m), they often visually orientated towards the predator or no apparent response whit a lowest response score. The average response scores of the adult males and females toward four types of alarm calls (playback) were higher than the control ones (p<0.05).

The slotted plate flow meter has been widely tested as an obstruction flow meter during the past several years. It has been tested for both single-phase flows as well as for two-phase flows. Previous studies have revealed that the slotted plate flow meter is always better in performance and accuracy than the standard orifice plate flow meter. This study is primarily based on how a slotted plate responds to horizontal two-phase flow with air and water being used as the working fluids. The plates under consideration are those with beta ratios of 0.43 and 0.467. Experiments have been performed with six different configurations of the slotted plate test sections. The performances of the slotted plate flow meters will be compared to that of a standard orifice plate flow meter and then with a venturi. The effects of varying the upstream quality of the two-phase flow on the differential pressure and the coefficient of discharge of the slotted plates, the standard orifice plate and the venturi will be evaluated. Response characteristics at low differential pressures will be investigated. Tests for repeatability will be performed by studying the effects of the gas Reynolds number and the upstream quality on the differential pressure. The differential pressures across the slotted plates, the standard orifice plate and the venturi will be compared. Reproducibility will be evaluated by comparing the data obtained from all six different configurations. One of the main objectives of this study is to arrive at the best suitable procedure for accurately measuring the flow rate of two-phase flow using the slotted plate flow meter.

Replacing steel and wood with plastic is the developing trend in the modern industry. In many shaping processing methods¡M the injection molding technology is widely used in plastic industry for its good adaptability¡M high producing efficiency and easy-achieve to automation. Injection molding is a very complicated physical process¡M the molding parameters (including temperature¡M pressure¡M time¡M speed and position etc) and environment condition will directly affect the flowing condition of melting plastic and final quality of products¡M so to obtain the best molding parameters is the key to improve the quality of the plastic products. The traditional method of adjusting parameters is try and error¡M which wastes time and materials. And it¡¦s also hard to accumulate and transmit experience¡M so we urgently need to find a new method. By going through a long time of experiment and exploring¡M we found that the DOE (Design of Experiment)¡M which is one of the most important tools of 6 sigma¡M can be applied to improving the molding processing¡M and it will bring us the innovation of injection molding technology. DOE is one of the mathematic methods¡Mwhich bases on Probability theory¡M Statistics and Linear algebra¡M through rationally arrange experiment and correctly analyze the results of experiment¡M to obtain the best parameters. In the processing of exploring¡M we have obtained first-step success in shortening cycles¡M reducing weight of product and improving qualities. For the sake of extending and developing the methods of DOE applied to molding technology in the company and transmitting experience of experts¡M we are going to conclude many DOE cases as a rule¡M establish a database¡M develop an injection molding expert system¡M which will be the effective way to bring cost down¡M improve efficiency and establish a core-competition capability of injection molding technology.

Surface gravity waves and internal waves are two of the most common natural phenomena in the ocean. While oceanographers believe that internal waves have greater influence over the surface waves, if is not clear to what extent that the former have affected the latter. As an internal wave propagating in the ocean, short period flow could be induced on the free surface layer. Moreover, as internal waves propagating over a submarine ridge, internal breaking accompanying by large vortex may have occurred, which may also affect the properties of the surface waves. To prove the relationship between them, basic mathematical equations have been derived, but had never been proven in the laboratory experiments or field observations. In this thesis, the results of a series of laboratory experiments conducted at the National Sun Yen-sen University are employed to study the waveform evolution and change to the physical parameters of the surface waves, resulting from the generation of internal waves induced on a stratified fluid, as both propagate together above a plane bottom or across single ridge. These experiments were carried out in a stratified two-layer fresh/brine water system (upper layer with fresh water density 996 kg / m3; bottom layer brine water with 1030 kg / m3) in a steel framed wave tank of 12m long with cross-section of 0.7 m high by 0.5 m wide. A plunging-type wave maker was used to produce the designated surface waves, from which the internal waves were induced at the interface. Based on the experimental results in the fluid system with uniform density, wave height and period of the surface wave were first calibrated. It was found that the amplitude of a surface wave decreased first due to the breaking of the internal wave on the apex of a submerged ridge and then increased due to wave regeneration at the back of the ridge, when the surface wave propagated over single ridge. Beyond the ridge, the peak period with maximum energy associated with the transmitted wave remained almost the same with that of the incident waves. In a stratified fluid system, wave height of the surface waves and internal waves did not suffer much change but the peak period of a surface wave increased as an internal wave just across the apex of the obstacle, under a condition referred to as weaken interaction between the waves and the obstacle. For the intense wave breaking condition at the interface, wave height of the internal waves decreased and the period of surface waves or internal waves shortened. However, wave height of the surface wave above the apex of the obstacle increased due to the intense wave breaking. The results obtained from the present laboratory experiments on the interaction between a surface wave and the induced internal wave could benefit others interested in surface and internal wave interaction for practical applications in oceanography or numerical modeling.