Plausible Condition Research Articles

Linking Workplace Aggression to Employee Well-Being and Work: The Moderating Role of Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (FSSB).

The present study examined the moderating effects of family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) on the relationship between two types of workplace aggression (i.e., patient-initiated physical aggression and coworker-initiated psychological aggression) and employee well-being and work outcomes. Data were obtained from a field sample of 417 healthcare workers in two psychiatric hospitals. Hypotheses were tested using moderated multiple regression analyses. Psychiatric care providers' perceptions of FSSB moderated the relationship between patient-initiated physical aggression and physical symptoms, exhaustion and cynicism. In addition, FSSB moderated the relationship between coworker-initiated psychological aggression and physical symptoms and turnover intentions. Based on our findings, family-supportive supervision is a plausible boundary condition for the relationship between workplace aggression and well-being and work outcomes. This study suggests that, in addition to directly addressing aggression prevention and reduction, family-supportive supervision is a trainable resource that healthcare organizations should facilitate to improve employee work and well-being in settings with high workplace aggression. This is the first study to examine the role of FSSB in influencing the relationship between two forms of workplace aggression: patient-initiated physical and coworker- initiated psychological aggression and employee outcomes.

The empirical content of games with bounded regressors

This paper develops a strategy for identification and estimation of complete information games that does not require a regressor that has large support or a parametric specification for the distribution of the unobservables. The identification result uses a nonstandard but plausible condition on the unobservables: the assumption that the joint density of the unobservables of all agents is unimodal in the sense of achieving the global maximum at a unique point. Also, a three-step semiparametric estimator is proposed. Under mild regularity conditions, the estimator is consistent and asymptotically normally distributed. The estimator is nonstandard in the sense that the estimators of the intercept and interaction effect parameters converge at slower than the parametric rate. An intermediate result concerns identification and estimation of the direction of the interaction effect.

On the coupling between spin-up and aspect ratio of vortices in rotating stratified flows: a predictive model

We consider the long-time (many revolutions) behaviour of an axisymmetric isolated anticyclonic vortex of constant density which floats inside a large ambient linear-stratified fluid rotating with constant ${\it\Omega}$. We have developed a closed simple model for the prediction of the vertical thickness to diameter aspect ratio ${\it\alpha}$ (and actually the shape) and internal angular velocity ${\it\omega}$, relative to the ambient, as functions of time $t$. (In our model ${\it\omega}$ is scaled with ${\it\Omega}$; the literature sometimes uses the Rossby number $Ro={\it\omega}/2$.) This model is an extension of the model of Aubert et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 706, 2012, pp. 34–45) and Hassanzadeh et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 706, 2012, pp. 46–57), which derived the connection between ${\it\alpha}$ and ${\it\omega}$, for prescribed $f=2{\it\Omega}$ and buoyancy frequency of the ambient $\mathscr{N}$. This work adds the balance of angular momentum and resolves the spin-up process of the vortex, which were not accounted for in the previous model. The Ekman number $E={\it\nu}/({\it\Omega}L^{2})$ now enters into the formulation; here ${\it\nu}$ is the coefficient of kinematic viscosity and $L$ is the half-height of the vortex, roughly (a sharper definition is given in the paper). The model can be applied to cases of both fixed-volume and injection-sustained vortices.The often-cited aspect ratio ${\it\alpha}=0.5f/\mathscr{N}$ corresponds to ${\it\omega}\approx -1$, which is a plausible initial condition for typical systems. We show that the continuous ‘decay’ of ${\it\alpha}$ from that value over many revolutions of the system is indeed governed by the spin-up effect which reduces $|{\it\omega}|$, but with significant differences to the classical spin-up of a fluid in a closed solid container. The spin-up shear torque decays with time because the thickness of the boundary shear layer increases. The layer starts as a double Ekman layer (between two fluids) but it quite quickly expands due to stratification effects, and later due to viscous diffusion. This prolongs the spin-up somewhat beyond the classical $E^{-1/2}/{\it\Omega}$ time interval. Moreover, when $|{\it\omega}|$ becomes small, the momentum of angular inertia of the vortex increases like $(1+(1/3)|{\it\omega}|^{-1})$; this further hinders the spin-up, and prolongs the process.Comparisons of the prediction of the model with previously published experimental and Navier–Stokes simulation data were performed for four cases. In three cases the agreement is good. In one case, the model predicts a much faster decay than the observed one; we have suggested a plausible explanation for this discrepancy.

The ‘Evasive’ Spirit of Pentecostalism

The paper discusses the contribution of Peter Newman Anim to the development of Ghanaian indigenous Pentecostalism. It examines the theological implications of Anim’s spiritual experience and the subsequent outpouring of the Spirit upon his organisation against the backdrop of the debate surrounding Spirit baptism. The Pentecostal doctrine of Spirit baptism has generated lots of debate between Evangelicals and Pentecostals. While the one contends that the baptism is a once for all time conversion-initiative experience for the Church universal, the other thinks otherwise. This paper takes up the debate from a Ghanaian Pentecostal stable by appealing to the first pneumatic experience that occurred in a secluded village that ignited the Pentecostal fire nationally. This phenomenon occurred outside the expectant Anim’s group, thus raising incisive theological questions concerning the plausible context and condition for Spirit baptism. By means of historical analysis, critical examination, and practical illustration the paper attempts to evaluate the various positions on Spirit baptism.

De Gustibus non est Taxandum: Heterogeneity in preferences and optimal redistribution

The prominent but unproven intuition that preference heterogeneity reduces redistribution in a standard optimal tax model is shown to hold under the plausible condition that the distribution of preferences for consumption relative to leisure rises, in terms of first-order stochastic dominance, with income. Given familiar functional form assumptions on utility and the distributions of ability and preferences, a simple statistic for the effect of preference heterogeneity on marginal tax rates is derived. Numerical simulations and suggestive empirical evidence demonstrate the link between this potentially measurable statistic and the quantitative implications of preference heterogeneity for policy.

Optimal numerical flux of power-law fluids in some partially full pipes

Consider the steady state pressure driven flow of a power-law fluid in a partially filled straight pipe. It is known that an increase in flux can be achieved for a fixed pressure by partially filling the pipe and having the remaining volume either void or filled with a less viscous, lubricating fluid. If the pipe has circular cross section, the fluid level which maximizes flux is the level which avoids contact with exactly 25% of the boundary. This result can be proved analytically for Newtonian fluids and has been verified numerically for certain non-Newtonian models.This paper provides a generalization of this work numerically to pipes with non-circular cross sections which are partially full with a power-law fluid. A simple and physically plausible geometric condition is presented which can be used to approximate the fluid level that maximizes flux in a wide range of pipe geometries. Additional increases in flux for a given pressure can be obtained by changing the shape of the pipe but leaving the perimeter fixed. This computational analysis of flux as a function of both fluid level and pipe geometry has not been considered to our knowledge.Fluxes are computed using a special discretization scheme, designed to uncover general properties which are only dependent on fluid level and/or pipe cross-sectional geometry. Computations use finite elements and take advantage of the variational structure inherent in the power-law model. A minimization technique for approximating the critical points of the associated non-linear energy functional is used. In particular, the numerical scheme for the non-linear partial differential equation has been proved to be convergent with known error estimates. The numerical results obtained in this work can be useful for designing pipes and canals for transportation of non-Newtonian fluids, such as those in chemical engineering and food processing engineering.

Logical Metonymy Resolution in a Words‐as‐Cues Framework: Evidence From Self‐Paced Reading and Probe Recognition

Logical metonymy resolution (begin a book → begin reading a book or begin writing a book) has traditionally been explained either through complex lexical entries (qualia structures) or through the integration of the implicit event via post-lexical access to world knowledge. We propose that recent work within the words-as-cues paradigm can provide a more dynamic model of logical metonymy, accounting for early and dynamic integration of complex event information depending on previous contextual cues (agent and patient). We first present a self-paced reading experiment on German subordinate sentences, where metonymic sentences and their paraphrased version differ only in the presence or absence of the clause-final target verb (Der Konditor begann die Glasur → Der Konditor begann, die Glasur aufzutragen/The baker began the icing → The baker began spreading the icing). Longer reading times at the target verb position in a high-typicality condition (baker + icing → spread ) compared to a low-typicality (but still plausible) condition (child + icing → spread) suggest that we make use of knowledge activated by lexical cues to build expectations about events. The early and dynamic integration of event knowledge in metonymy interpretation is bolstered by further evidence from a second experiment using the probe recognition paradigm. Presenting covert events as probes following a high-typicality or a low-typicality metonymic sentence (Der Konditor begann die Glasur → AUFTRAGEN/The baker began the icing → SPREAD), we obtain an analogous effect of typicality at 100 ms interstimulus interval.

Encoding the target or the plausible preview word? The nature of the plausibility preview benefit in reading Chinese

Previous studies have shown that a plausible preview word can facilitate the processing of a target word as compared to an implausible preview word (a plausibility preview benefit effect) when reading Chinese (Yang, Wang, Tong, & Rayner, 2012; Yang, 2013). Regarding the nature of this effect, it is possible that readers processed the meaning of the plausible preview word and did not actually encode the target word (given that the parafoveal preview word lies close to the fovea). The current experiment examined this possibility with three conditions wherein readers received a preview of a target word that was either (1) identical to the target word (identical preview), (2) a plausible continuation of the pre-target text, but the post-target text in the sentence was incompatible with it (initially plausible preview), or (3) not a plausible continuation of the pre-target text, nor compatible with the post-target text (implausible preview). Gaze durations on target words were longer in the initially plausible condition than the identical condition. Overall, the results showed a typical preview benefit, but also implied that readers did not encode the initially plausible preview. Also, a plausibility preview benefit was replicated: gaze durations were longer with implausible previews than the initially plausible ones. Furthermore, late eye movement measures did not reveal differences between the initially plausible and the implausible preview conditions, which argues against the possibility of misreading the plausible preview word as the target word. In sum, these results suggest that a plausible preview word provides benefit in processing the target word as compared to an implausible preview word, and this benefit is only present in early but not late eye movement measures.

De Gustibus Non Est Taxandum: Heterogeneity in Preferences and Optimal Redistribution

The prominent but unproven intuition that preference heterogeneity reduces re-distribution in a standard optimal tax model is shown to hold under the plausible condition that the distribution of preferences for consumption relative to leisure rises, in terms of first-order stochastic dominance, with income. Given mainstream functional form assumptions on utility and the distributions of ability and preferences, a simple statistic for the effect of preference heterogeneity on marginal tax rates is derived. Numerical simulations and suggestive empirical evidence demonstrate the link between this potentially measurable statistic and the quantitative implications of preference heterogeneity for policy.

Wess–Zumino inflation in light of Planck

We discuss cosmological inflation in the minimal Wess–Zumino model with a single massive chiral supermultiplet. With suitable parameters and assuming a plausible initial condition at the start of the inflationary epoch, the model can yield scalar perturbations in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) of the correct strength with a spectral index ns∼0.96 and a tensor-to-scalar perturbation ratio r<0.1, consistent with the Planck CMB data. We also discuss the possibility of topological inflation within the Wess–Zumino model, and the possibility of combining it with a seesaw model for neutrino masses. This would violate R-parity, but at such a low rate that the lightest supersymmetric particle would have a lifetime long enough to constitute the astrophysical cold dark matter.

Seed development in Trimenia (Trimeniaceae) and its bearing on the evolution of embryo‐nourishing strategies in early flowering plant lineages

Seeds of most families in the ancient angiosperm lineage Austrobaileyales produce a full-fledged genetically biparental embryo-nourishing endosperm. However, seeds of fossil and extant Trimeniaceae have been described as having a perisperm, a maternal nutrient-storing and embryo-nourishing tissue derived from the nucellus of the ovule. Because perisperm is also found in Nymphaeales, another ancient angiosperm clade, the presence of a perisperm in Trimeniaceae, if confirmed, would be congruent with the hypothesis that the first angiosperms used a perisperm in addition to a minute (nutrient-transferring) endosperm. • Seed development was studied from fertilization through maturity/dormancy in Trimenia moorei and in maturing fruits of T. neocaledonica. • A persistent layer of nucellar tissue surrounds the endosperm but does not contain stored nutrients and does not function as a perisperm. The nutrient-storing and embryo-nourishing tissue in Trimenia seeds is an endosperm, as is the case in all other members of the Austrobaileyales studied to date. • The absence of a perisperm and the presence of a typical nutrient-storing and embryo-nourishing endosperm in Trimeniaceae may represent the ancestral condition for angiosperms. However, the combination of a copious nutrient-storing and embryo-nourishing perisperm with a minute endosperm, as in Nymphaeales, remains a plausible plesiomorphic condition for angiosperms as a whole. In either case, the developmental and functional biology of the diploid endosperm of Trimenia (and other Austrobaileyales) differs markedly from the diploid endosperm of Nymphaeales, and is fundamentally similar to the triploid endosperms of most other angiosperms.

Characterisation of driver behaviour during car following using quantum optical flow theory

This study characterises driver behaviour during car following using a quantum optical-flow-based model. Car following is deemed the outcome of the intuitive response of a driver to instantaneous optical stimuli in the visual field driven by changes in the surrounding traffic environments. Such optical stimuli are transformed into psychophysical momentums in the quantum optical field using quantum mechanics, and then used to approximate the driver speed adjustment in the optical-flow-induced stimulus-response process. Preliminary test results using video-based data reveal the potential of the proposed model's applicability in characterising driver decisions to adjust speed in response to changes in surrounding traffic situations perceived in the visual field. Generalisations of analytical results also infer that under a plausible condition that a following driver fully focused on the front vehicle's behaviour, the proposed model permits reproducing car-following behaviour similar to that generated by existing models.

Vacuum structure and the arrow of time

We find ourselves in an extended era of entropy production. Unlike most other observations, the arrow of time is usually regarded as a constraint on initial conditions. I argue, however, that it primarily constrains the vacuum structure of the theory. I exhibit simple scalar field potentials in which low-entropy initial conditions are not necessary, or not sufficient, for an arrow of time to arise. I argue that the string theory landscape gives rise to an arrow of time independently of the initial entropy, assuming a plausible condition on the lifetime of its metastable vacua. The dynamical resolution of the arrow of time problem arises from the same structural properties of the string landscape that allow it to solve the cosmological constant problem without producing an empty universe, particularly its high dimensionality and the large difference in vacuum energy between neighboring vacua.

Meaning, Expression, and Evidence

Grice's (1957) analysis of non-natural meaning generated a huge industry, where new analyses were put forward to respond to successively more complex counterexamples. Davis (2003) offers a novel and refreshingly simple analysis of meaning in terms of the expression of belief, where (roughly) an agent expresses the belief that p just in case she performs a publicly observable action with the intention that it be an indication that she occurrently believes that p. I argue that Davis's analysis fails to capture the essentially overt nature of our meaning-intentions, and with it, a plausible sufficient condition for meaning.

Meaning, Expression, and Evidence

Grice’s (1957) analysis of non-natural meaning generated a huge industry, where new analyses were put forward to respond to successively more complex counterexamples. Davis (2003) offers a novel and refreshingly simple analysis of meaning in terms of the expression of belief, where (roughly) an agent expresses the belief that p just in case she performs a publicly observable action with the intention that it be an indication that she occurrently believes that p. I argue that Davis’s analysis fails to capture the essentially overt nature of our meaning-intentions, and with it, a plausible sufficient condition for meaning.

The Effect of Plausible Versus Implausible Balance Scale Feedback on the Expectancies of 3- to 4-Year-Old Children

Previous studies (Case, 1985; Siegler, 1981) have shown that children under the age of 5 years have little understanding of balance scales when required to encode the influence of weight or distance from the fulcrum. More recently, however, Halford, Andrews, Dalton, Boag, and Zielinski (2002) noted that an understanding based on weight alone is present even in 2-year-olds. In all these experiments, weight was varied using multiple objects of the same weight. Consequently, the children's decisions could have been based upon visual features (size, number) without necessarily taking the weight into account. The present study investigated whether young children are able to correctly encode the relevance of weight in influencing the behavior of a balance scale. We studied how well 3- to 4-year-old children learn to use one of two different weights (of equal appearance) to tip the scale. In the plausible condition, the heavy weight produced the desired outcome. In the implausible condition, the light weight caused the scale to tip. Only 4-year-olds' performance differed between conditions by learning more effectively in the plausible than the implausible condition. Our results suggest that children younger than 4 years of age have not yet developed clear expectations of the role of weights on the movements of a balance scale.

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SALPETER SLOPE FOR THE INITIAL MASS FUNCTION

We suggest that the intrinsic, stellar initial mass function (IMF) follows a power-law slope gamma=2, inherited from hierarchical fragmentation of molecular clouds into clumps and clumps into stars. The well-known, logarithmic Salpeter slope GAMMA=1.35 in clusters is then the aggregate slope for all the star-forming clumps contributing to an individual cluster, and it is steeper than the intrinsic slope within individual clumps because the smallest star-forming clumps contributing to any given cluster are unable to form the highest-mass stars. Our Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the Salpeter power-law index is the limiting value obtained for the cluster IMF when the lower-mass limits for allowed stellar masses and star-forming clumps are effectively equal, m_lo = M_lo. This condition indeed is imposed for the high-mass IMF tail by the turn-over at the characteristic value m_c ~ 1 M_sun. IMF slopes of GAMMA ~ 2 are obtained if the stellar and clump upper-mass limits are also equal m_up = M_up ~ 100 M_sun, and so our model explains the observed range of IMF slopes between GAMMA ~ 1 to 2. Flatter slopes of GAMMA = 1 are expected when M_lo > m_up, which is a plausible condition in starbursts, where such slopes are suggested to occur. While this model is a simplistic parameterization of the star-formation process, it seems likely to capture the essential elements that generate the Salpeter tail of the IMF for massive stars. These principles also likely explain the IGIMF effect seen in low-density star-forming environments.

Semantic and plausibility effects on preview benefit during eye fixations in Chinese reading

The boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975) was used to examine whether high level information affects preview benefit during Chinese reading. In two experiments, readers read sentences with a 1-character target word while their eye movements were monitored. In Experiment 1, the semantic relatedness between the target word and the preview word was manipulated so that there were semantically related and unrelated preview words, both of which were not plausible in the sentence context. No significant differences between these two preview conditions were found, indicating no effect of semantic preview. In Experiment 2, we further examined semantic preview effects with plausible preview words. There were four types of previews: identical, related & plausible, unrelated & plausible, and unrelated & implausible. The results revealed a significant effect of plausibility as single fixation and gaze duration on the target region were shorter in the two plausible conditions than in the implausible condition. Moreover, there was some evidence for a semantic preview benefit as single fixation duration on the target region was shorter in the related & plausible condition than the unrelated & plausible condition. Implications of these results for processing of high level information during Chinese reading are discussed.

Aid for Trade and Global Growth

Aid for trade increases a recipient's public services, which lower its import and export transport costs. Formulating a two-country endogenous growth model, we obtain two main results. First, a permanent increase in the donor's aid/GDP ratio raises the steady-state growth rate as well as both countries' long-run fractions and cost shares of imported varieties if and only if it lowers the product of transport costs. Second, under a plausible condition, there exists a unique interior growth-maximizing aid/GDP ratio. These results are robust to alternative specifications for congestion and stock-flow nature of public goods.

LONG-TERM EVOLUTION OF SLOWLY ROTATING COLLAPSAR IN SPECIAL RELATIVISTIC MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS

We present our numerical results of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the collapse of rotating massive stars in light of the collapsar model of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Pushed by recent evolution calculations of GRB progenitors, we focus on lower angular momentum of the central core than those taken mostly in previous studies. By performing special relativistic simulations including both realistic equation of state and neutrino cooling, we follow a long-term evolution of the slowly rotating collapsars up to ~10 s, accompanied by the formation of jets and accretion disks. Our results show that for the GRB progenitors to function as collapsars, there is a critical initial angular momentum, below which matter is quickly swallowed to the central objects, no accretion disks and no MHD outflows are formed. When larger than the criteria, we find the launch of the MHD jets in the following two ways. For models with stronger initial fields, the pressure amplified inside the accretion disk can drive the MHD outflows, which makes the strong explosions like a magnetic tower. For models with weaker initial fields, the tower stalls first and the subsequent MHD outflows are produced by the twisting of the turbulent inflows of the accreting material from the equatorial to the polar regions. Regardless of the difference in the formation, the jets can attain only mildly relativistic speeds with the explosion energy less than 1049 erg. To obtain stronger neutrino energy depositions in the polar funnel regions heated from the accretion disk, we find that smaller initial angular momentum is favorable. This is because the gravitational compression makes the temperature of the disk higher. Due to high neutrino opacity inside the disk, we find that the luminosities of ν e and become almost comparable, which is advantageous for making the energy deposition rate larger. We discuss how the energy deposition can be as efficient as the magnetically driven processes for energetizing jets. Among the computed models, we suggest that the model with the initial angular momentum of j ~ 1.5j lso (j lso: the angular momentum of the last stable orbit) and with initial field strength of ~1010 G, provides a most plausible condition for making fireballs for GRBs, because such model is appropriate not only for producing the MHD outflows quickly by the towers, but also for obtaining the stronger neutrino heating in the evacuated polar funnel.