A client-server technology solution for a multicenter research database

As researchers take advantage of advances in computer and related technologies, the amount of data has increased dramatically. Recent developments in database management systems (DBMS) such as client-server database technology provide the necessary tools for merging and managing data from various fields of study, as well as, various locations. This emerging technology allows the distribution of processing and data storage operations to a variety of computer plat-forms, thereby maximizing efficiency and flexibility. A DBMS that uses client-server technology is described.     

War exposure and post-traumatic stress as predictors of Portuguese colonial war veterans' physical health

The relationship between war exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been largely investigated but the impact of the combat experience on physical health has only recently merited attention. The authors investigated the relationship between war exposure and psychological and physical health among 350 Portuguese colonial war veterans. The role of current PTSD symptoms as a mediator of these relationships was also investigated. The results showed that 39% of the veterans met criteria for current PTSD diagnosis and psychological distress was present in half of the sample. Pain, fatigue, and sleep problems were the most reported physical symptoms and mental health and gastro-intestinal problems, the most reported illnesses. Combat exposure variables were significant predictors of current health. The results indicated that veterans with higher exposure to war trauma maintained higher current levels of psychological distress and presented more physical health problems and physical symptoms than those less exposed. Mediation analyses showed that current PTSD was a full mediator of the relationship between war exposure and physical health outcomes.     

The question of the other in French phenomenology

I would like to show how with Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and Levinas, we have to do with three different ways of understanding the experience of the other. For Sartre it is a visual experience, the experience of being looked at by the other, so that the experience of the other is understood as a confrontation; for Merleau-Ponty, the experience of the other necessarily implies coexistence and what he calls “intercorporeality,” so that for him the other is never to be found in front, but instead beside me, in reciprocity with me; for Levinas, the experience of the other is the experience of a non-reciprocity, of an assymetrical relation, because the experience of the other is for him an ethical and not an ontological experience, and because this experience of the face of the other is the experience of a speaking and not in the first place corporeal presence. There are consequently three different ways of finding an access to the other : the look for Sartre, intercorporeality for Merleau-Ponty and the face for Levinas.     

The perception of concurrent sound objects in harmonic complexes impairs gap detection

Since the introduction of the concept of auditory scene analysis, there has been a paucity of work focusing on the theoretical explanation of how attention is allocated within a complex auditory scene. Here we examined signal detection in situations that promote either the fusion of tonal elements into a single sound object or the segregation of a mistuned element (i.e., harmonic) that "popped out" as a separate individuated auditory object and yielded the perception of concurrent sound objects. On each trial, participants indicated whether the incoming complex sound contained a brief gap or not. The gap (i.e., signal) was always inserted in the middle of one of the tonal elements. Our findings were consistent with an object-based account in which perception of two simultaneous auditory objects interfered with signal detection. This effect was observed for a wide range of gap durations and was greater when the mistuned harmonic was perceived as a separate object. These results suggest that attention may be initially shared among concurrent sound objects thereby reducing listeners' ability to process acoustic details belonging to a particular sound object. These findings provide new theoretical insight for our understanding of auditory attention and auditory scene analysis.     

Risk of crashing with a tram: Perceptions of pedestrians,cyclists, and motorists

IntroductionRoad users not abiding by the rule of tram priority has increased the number of crashes between trams and other road users. This study focuses on the perceptions of pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists regarding the risk of crashes with trams. The first aim was to examine how these road users assess the risk of tram crashes with themselves and with other road users of the same age and type. The second aim was to look into whether and to what extent road users’ comparative judgments about tram risk are realistic in terms of their self-reported behavior.MethodThe study sample included 973 road users (379 pedestrians, 146 cyclists, and 448 motorists). Three versions of a questionnaire were constructed to assess risk perceptions concerning interactions between these road users and trams, self-reported behavior, and knowledge of the tram-priority rules.ResultsThe results showed that all three types of road users perceived the risk of a crash between a tram and themselves to be very low (M = 1.53, SD = 0.88) and with other users to be higher (M = 2.28, SD = 1.06); they therefore expressed comparative optimism. The results also revealed realistic optimism among pedestrians and unrealistic optimism among young motorists.ConclusionThe present study shows that, as a whole, road users have little awareness of crash risks with trams. It may therefore be worthwhile to increase communication about the priority of trams, and to persuade road users not to violate this rule.     

The Factor Structure of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: An Alternative View

Wagner and Copper (1963) reported high discriminative power for one score (the ACTivity score) of the Wagner Hand Test between (unskilled and semi-skilled) workers at Goodwill Industries, Akron, Ohio who had been rated “Satisfactory” or “Unsatisfactory” by their superiors.

An attempt to crossvalidate this finding, in a three-group design, in a large Western Canadian Plywood mill failed to produce the expected relationship; neither the ACT score, nor any of the other scores derived from this test showed any consistent trend in terms of postdicting activity level, or general acceptability of the 18 Ss involved in this study.