The research focuses on the role of top-down influences on selective attention across the attentional visual field. The attentional visual field is the subset of the visual field in which attentional processes take place. The size of the attentional visual field is relatively large compared to the areas considered by most empirical studies of visual attention to date. Three possible forms of top-down influence are examined: 1) the expectation of the size of the area in which the target is likely to occur; 2) the expectation of the direction in which the target is likely to occur; and 3) existing unconscious bias in the spatial distribution of attention. Results from Experiment 1 suggest that participants modify the size of the attended area according to their expectation of the location of the target. Experiment 2 demonstrates that focus of attention can be oriented toward the expected target direction. Experiment 3 reveals that, even when no conscious control is involved, the distribution of attention is biased toward certain areas. Theoretical considerations are discussed, including the introduction of a simple statistical model to assist in conceptualizing the modifications of the distribution of attention over the attentional visual field. Practical applications of the results are also discussed.

Using 1.0 fb^{-1} of data collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) from Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron, we measure the top-antitop production cross-section in events with two leptons, significant missing transverse energy, and at least jets, at least one of which is identified as a b-jet. As the Run II dataset grows, more stringent tests of Standard Model predictions for the top quark sector are becoming possible. The dilepton channel, where both top quarks decay t-> W b ->l nu b, is of particular interest due to its high purity. Use of an isolated track as the second lepton significantly increases the dilepton acceptance, at the price of some increase in background, particularly from W + jets events where one of the jets is identified as a lepton. To control the increase in background we add to the event selection the requirement that at least one of the jets be identified as a b-jet, reducing the background contribution from all sources. Assuming a branching ratio of BR(W->l nu) = 10.8% and a top mass of m_top = 175 GeV/c^{2} the measured cross-section is sigma = (10.5 +/- 1.8 stat. +/- 0.8 syst. +/- 0.6 lumi.) pb.

The research focuses on the role of top-down influences on selective attention across the attentional visual field. The attentional visual field is the subset of the visual field in which attentional processes take place. The size of the attentional visual field is relatively large compared to the areas considered by most empirical studies of visual attention to date. Three possible forms of top-down influence are examined: 1) the expectation of the size of the area in which the target is likely to occur; 2) the expectation of the direction in which the target is likely to occur; and 3) existing unconscious bias in the spatial distribution of attention. Results from Experiment 1 suggest that participants modify the size of the attended area according to their expectation of the location of the target. Experiment 2 demonstrates that focus of attention can be oriented toward the expected target direction. Experiment 3 reveals that, even when no conscious control is involved, the distribution of attention is biased toward certain areas. Theoretical considerations are discussed, including the introduction of a simple statistical model to assist in conceptualizing the modifications of the distribution of attention over the attentional visual field. Practical applications of the results are also discussed.

Vegeu vvresum1de1.pdf

Policy document conversion in practice – a qualitative study of five upper grade teachers approach to the 2011 policy documents in history.This essay examines five upper grade teachers approach to the new 2011 policy documents in the history school subject, as well as it’s impact on the teachers class room activities. Also, the study examines what factors have influenced this conversion process. Colleagues, the school management and the Swedish Skolverket (the Swedish school management organisation, controlled by the Swedish government) are in this study the main external influences that are studied. The study is carried out with an organisation theoretical approach, witch states that controlling the schools practical activities is hard, taking in to account a great variety of “problems” that follow a teachers every day work. Aspects like shortage of time, a lack of economic backing and school tradition are thought to be negating factors that make a political “top-down” control of the school necessary in order to force school political ideas to get hold in school classroom activities.Through five qualitative interviews with the teachers, mixed views takes shape. Most of the teachers are slightly torn, but mainly positive, to the changes that has followed with the new policy documents in the history subject. The grading system is mainly considered to be an improvement since the one before, considering it’s way of describing students subject qualities on a relative scale. Also, the subjects more analysing soul is mainly thought to make it more relevant in general. The main result shows that all teachers, in various degree, have reformed their class room activities, leaning school history to a slightly more advanced and academic oriented subject, with a greater proportion of analytic segments to carry the subjects narration through the courses. Throughout this study, source validation is by far shown to be the most prominent class room activity that causes this effect. Studies in how history has been used by individuals, groups and governments are also revealed to be an important factor, leading the subject in a more advanced direction.The study of external factors that had influenced the conversion process clearly stated that the teachers colleagues was the main source of reliance and support when interpreting the new policy documents. All five teachers claimed to have been discussing and comparing their work with their colleagues throughout the passed year. The schools managements had not –3with the exception of one, that were – been directly involved in the interpretation process. Nor had they been generous in their disposal of time given to discussion with colleagues. Though, the school managements had been underlining the importance of a interpretation collaboration and had made sure that the teachers had been given time to attend introduction seminars. The influence and support from Skolverket was amongst the teachers mainly considered to have been insufficient. Some introduction seminars to the 2011 school reform – previously mentioned – had been given on different locations, but these had mainly described the reforms intentions in general and lacked a more practical oriented support that the majority of the teachers considered necessary for a correct interpretation of the documents. The main problem with the shortage of support from Skolverket was without a doubt thought to be the lack of examples connected to the grading system. Its relative nature was amongst the teachers thought to have required further instructions, making it possible for them to tie subject qualities to specific grades.Thus, this study describes a reality that opposes the top-down view of school control and its problems. A vast majority of the five teachers studied seemed to have done their best – on their own and together with their colleagues – to keep up with the changes in the 2011 policy documents in history. Instead, possible reasons for differences between the classroom activities and the subjects juridical intention could partly be tracked to a lack of controlling measures (also known as support to the teachers), carried out by the “top” in a top-down perspective.

Three experiments examine how collaboration influences visual search performance. Working with a partner or on their own, participants reported whether a target was present or absent in briefly presented search displays. The search performance of individuals working together (collaborative pairs) was compared to the pooled responses of the individuals working alone (nominal pairs). Collaborative pairs were less likely than nominal pairs to correctly detect a target and they were less likely to make false alarms. Signal detection analyses revealed that collaborative pairs were more sensitive to the presence of the target and had a more conservative response bias than the nominal pairs. This pattern was observed when the search difficulty was increased and when the presence of another individual was matched across pairs. The results are discussed in the context of task sharing, social loafing and current theories of visual search.

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Background: Tue Businessweek magazine proposed lists of attending doctors in medical centers and regional hospitals based on the recommendation of hospital presidents, directors and supervisors of medical societies, and surveyed doctors. The current study aims to investigate the criteria existing in Businessweek¡¦s selection and factors related to the nomination of Taiwan¡¦s best 100 doctors. Material and Method: Subjects are the 667 doctors nominated in Businessweek¡¦s ¡§100 Especially Recommended Doctors¡¨ and ¡§600 Doctor-Recommended Doctors,¡¨ published respectively on May 5th and October 3rd, 2008. Biographical data of the subjects is firstly reorganized according to such items as specialty, hospital, education, professional training, experience and current status; introduction to specialties on websites of the hospitals where the subjects serve is also taken into consideration during data reorganization. Secondly, additional social network variables, including special positions in such non-hospital and non-school institutions as societies, foundations and publishing companies, are implemented. Collected data is analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, chi-square test and logistic regression. Results: Out of the 667 doctors, the 131 ones especially recommended by Businessweek tend to either serve in northern Taiwan or have graduated from National Taiwan University. In terms of social network, ¡§directors¡¨ of a department/branch/center are 3.082 times more likely to be nominated among the 131 than those who do not have the title, while those with special positions in medical societies are 5.314 times more likely to be nominated than those without any special position. Conclusion: The physicians not only training in the medical profession, but also need to expand social network.

This study explores the applicability of the top-down target costing (TC) method in the Taiwan real estate development industry by considering one new element ¡V creating buyer¡¦s perceived product value. The top-down method determines the target costs by subtracting target profit from less controllable sales price. It has been extensively studied in the context of assembly manufacturing industries. On the other hand, the real estate developers produce more heterogeneous products in monopolistically competitive market conditions. In order to adapt to this different user group, TC as an accounting and strategic management tool is expected to have unique characteristics once adopted in the real estate development industry. This study adopts a descriptive research design. By presenting evidences gathered from six real estate development firms it sheds lights on how the creation of buyer¡¦s perceived product value can be embedded into the target costing mechanism. By examining nine propositions, the study confirms the modified TC model is effective in stabilizing profits due to its focus on creating buyer¡¦s perceived product value. The contributing factors include the ability to charge premium prices as well as effective cost reductions. The findings revealed three unique characteristics of real estate development industry which may influence the adoption of TC model. Firstly, due to stronger bargaining power of the buyers and land owners as well as low entry barriers, the users of TC framework strive towards providing added product value higher than the product price in order to sustainably charge premium prices. It supplements the traditional accounting and strategic management literature in which expected profit margins were primarily achieved by managing costs. The study also reveals that the TC framework is more compatible with the differentiator and confrontational marketing strategies in real estate development industry. Secondly, the modified TC framework may better facilitate firms¡¦ profitability objectives especially during economic recessions. Thirdly, TC is more applicable at preliminary stages of product planning e.g. land investigation, but is less effective for component- level cost management due to certain market and operational limitations. Given the different needs of the property developers, the adaptation of the top-down target costing model in Taiwan real estate development industry is characterized by emphasizing on the creation of the buyer¡¦s perceived product value, as opposed to a pure cost focus in previous target costing literatures.

Since the merge of global media, the usage of digital cable is becoming popular in Taiwan. Even though the development of digital cable is difficult, the cable companies realize it is necessary to promote digital cable. Therefore, how do the companies meet the needs of the enormous cable consumers. The first steps are to understand the characteristics of earlier users, focus on target consumers and control and the opportunities of market are definitely becoming very popular topics. This research is based on Rogers¡¦s ¡§Diffusion of Innovations Theory¡¨. It includes five types, profitability¡Bcompatibility¡Bcomplexity¡Busage¡Band observation. This research is to test whether the digital cable meets the characteristics of new technology media. It also discusses the characteristics of earlier adopters based on the change of population, socio-economic status, personality and the trend of media. At the same time, we also examine the difference of samples between 97 cable consumera and 198 non-cable consumers. This helps us to understand the innovation characteristics of earlier adopters. From this research we will discover the similar characteristics of digital cable and other new media technologies. The early adopters except in the population variable of marriage and the personality characteristic embodiment ability, the fate idea, risk withstanding and so on three kind of special characteristics with the non- user, socio-economic status and I communication behavior special characteristic, the two has reveals the difference, therefore we can know sex, the age, the education level, the income condition and communication pathway, user level in digital cable TV uses or not the key aspect. Moreover, this study find out domestic digital cable TV or relative industry can be their promoting reference, at the same time the researcher also give them suggestion for their research and relative research in the future.