A six-channel PDP-8 interface for nerve impulse data

An interface operating on the I/O bus of the LINC-8 has been built which accepts up to six channels of nerve impulse data simultaneously at rates up to 4,000 pps/channel. By means of a 100-KHz clock and a 17-bit counter, the time of occurrence of each nerve impulse is strobed into one of six 17-bit buffer registers. The strobe causes a program interrupt to occur. Two I/O instructions are used to read the buffers into the PDP-8 accumulator. Additional instructions for skipping on data or overflow, enabling the counter, clearing the overflow flag, and clearing the counter are available.     

Reviews of current books

Pastoral Psychology -     

Individual differences in the ability to focus and divide attention

This research deals with individual differences in the ability to focus and divide attention. Eighty-five subjects performed visual search and auditory detection tasks in three conditions: single channel, focused attention, and divided attention. Reaction time (RT) was fastest in the single channel condition, intermediate in the focused attention condition, and longest in the divided attention condition, and these effects were much stronger in the auditory than the visual task. Correlations among RTs in the three conditions were very high within modality (>.88), and lower between modalities (.5 to .6). The correlational data was well fit by a model that included separate factors for the visual and auditory tasks. Measures from the three attentional conditions within each modality loaded equally on these factors. The data provided no evidence for distinct abilities to divide or focus attention.     

Things dreamt: a response to Berislav Marusic

Philosophical Studies - Skeptical arguments from dreaming deny that we can know that we are awake. This denial lacks initial credibility to many of us. Often it seems easy to know. A brief...     

多维度审视和灵活运用教科书

以教科书为基础充实和完善教学内容的构建,包括纵向、横向、斜向的多维度审视教材;以实践的丰富性、学术期刊的新颖性和国外教材形式的多样性对教材内容与形式的充实与调整;以及共性教材的个性化的选择、客观知识的主观理解和认识、抽象的科学性知识具体活化的加工整理等,以实现全面提升教师的综合能力和教学水平。     

Why the Duty to Self-Censor Requires Social-Media Users to Maintain Their Own Privacy

Revelations of personal matters often have negative consequences for social-media users. These consequences trigger frequent warnings, practical rather than moral in nature, that social-media users should consider carefully what they reveal about themselves since their revelations might cause them various difficulties in the future. I set aside such practical considerations and argue that social-media users have a moral obligation to maintain their own privacy that is rooted in the duty to self-censor. Although Anita L. Allen provides a paternalist justification of the duty that supports my position that social-media users are obligated to self-censor what they reveal about themselves, I justify the obligation through considerations that are more palatable to liberals than is paternalism. I accomplish this by arguing that the failure to self-censor often creates for others undue burdens that individuals are obligated morally not to create. In particular, social-media revelations often create undue burdens for those, such as employers and university personnel, who are obligated morally to respect individuals’ privacy in their decision-making processes. I also demonstrate that this argument is not for a broad duty to self-censor, but, rather, for a narrow duty that applies to particular circumstances such as certain uses of social media.

     

Self-reported changes in subjective health and anthrax vaccination as reported by over 900 Persian Gulf War era veterans

A 1999 study of United Kingdom servicemembers by Unwin, et al. recently found significant relationships between anthrax and other vaccinations, reactions to those vaccines, and later health problems for male current or former active military Gulf War veterans. Likewise, in 2000 Steele and in 1998 Gilroy found possible adverse effects of vaccinations on Gulf War veterans. However, the role of such vaccinations remains controversial; more recent government reports continue to dispute the existence of any data that might reflect adversely on the role of vaccinations on the health of Gulf War veterans. To address this controversy, the current study assessed similar relationships for over 900 Reserve Component Gulf War Era veterans from Ohio and nearby states. Gulf War veterans were more likely to report poorer health than non-Gulf veterans. Female veterans were more likely to report mild or severe reactions to vaccines than male veterans. Those veterans who received anthrax vaccine reported more reactions to vaccines than those who did not receive anthrax vaccine. Declines in long-term subjective health were associated with receipt of anthrax vaccine by Gulf War veterans but not for those who did not deploy to the Gulf, although few of the latter received anthrax vaccine. Regardless of deployment status, veterans who reported more severe reactions to vaccines were more likely to report declines in subjective health. Female veterans reported poorer health during the Gulf War than did male veterans, but sex was not related to veterans' reports of subjective health at subsequent times. It is recommended that servicemembers who experience severe reactions to anthrax vaccine be medically reevaluated before receiving further anthrax vaccine and that careful follow-ups be conducted of those receiving the vaccine currently, in accordance with Nass's 1999 recommendations. We also recommend that safer alternatives to thimerosal (a mercury sodium salt, 50% mercury) be used to preserve all vaccines.