Truth,Ramsification, and the Pluralist's Revenge

Functionalists about truth employ Ramsification to produce an implicit definition of the theoretical term true, but doing so requires determining that the theory introducing that term is itself true. A variety of putative dissolutions to this problem of epistemic circularity are shown to be unsatisfactory. One solution is offered on functionalists' behalf, though it has the upshot that they must tread on their anti-pluralist commitments.     

胰岛素抵抗与麻醉安全性关系研究进展

有创诊断和治疗,引起疼痛、精神紧张、恶心、呕吐等不适或痛苦,甚至发生休克及死亡.为减少患者的不适和痛苦,提高依从性和耐受力,保障诊治的顺利进行,用麻醉方法使患者的痛觉或(和)知觉暂时的消失.当今有创诊断和治疗在现代医疗和科学实验中已经被广泛地应用,麻醉安全性事件的发生率与日俱增.胰岛素抵抗(insulin resistance,IR)患者对麻醉的耐受性差,其药代动力学特点也与非IR患者有所不同,对IR患者实施安全麻醉一直是麻醉医生所关注的课题.     

A concise review of the correspondence between the traditional functional analysis and alternative assessment formats

The functional assessment of challenging behavior (e.g., self-injurious behavior) has evolved over many years of research and practice. This concise review summarizes the positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of common procedural adaptations reported to improve functional assessment safety and efficiency. We conclude with suggestions for clinicians and researchers.     

The psychological conditions that predict work engagement among tertiary education employees

This study investigated the extent to which the psychological conditions and job characteristics predicted work engagement amongst higher education employees (n?=?149, females?=?60%) from a South African University. The participants completed a variety of instruments on psychological conditions of work, job characteristics and work engagement viz; the Work Engagement Scale (WES), Psychological Meaningfulness Scale (PMS), Job Enrichment Scale (JES), Work-Role Fit Scale (W-RFS), Co-Worker Relations Scale (C-WRS), Psychological Availability Scale (PAS), Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS), Job Resources Scale (JRS), Outside Activities Scale (OAS), Psychological Safety Scale (PSS), Supervisory Relations Scale (SRS) and the Co-Worker Norms Scale (CWNS). Data analysis applied multiple regression to predict work engagement from psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability and job characteristics and also to determine the mediation effect of psychological condition of availability on the relationship between work engagement and job characteristics (resources). Findings suggest psychological meaningfulness to predict work engagement and to mediate the relationship between job characteristics and work engagement. Psychological resources for work engagement should emphasise a sense of meaningfulness as a resource for work participation.     

河南省50家医院手术安全核查的实施与思考

为了解河南省手术安全核查的实施情况,采用卫生部统一设计的调查问卷对河南省18市50家医院进行调查。结果显示,被调查50家医院对手术安全核查的重要性认识基本到位,但对于手术核查的具体方式有待进一步规范,建议各级医疗机构加强手术安全核查制度的落实与监管,以保障患者安全。     

重症医学科患者安全——一个需要关注的问题

随着重症医学的发展,重症医学科暴露的患者安全问题已逐步引起人们关注。重症医学科患者安全问题与医务人员职业倦怠、医患关系、团队合作、科室管理等因素密切相关,提高科室高效管理、加强团队建设、提高人文素养等措施是重要有效的解决办法。     

Sequential dependencies in driving

The effect of recent experience on current behavior has been studied extensively in simple laboratory tasks. We explore the nature of sequential effects in the more naturalistic setting of automobile driving. Driving is a safety-critical task in which delayed response times may have severe consequences. Using a realistic driving simulator, we find significant sequential effects in pedal-press response times that depend on the history of recent stimuli and responses. Response times are slowed up to 100 ms in particular cases, a delay that has dangerous practical consequences. Further, we observe a significant number of history-related pedal misapplications, which have recently been noted as a cause for concern in the automotive safety community. By anticipating these consequences of sequential context, driver assistance systems could mitigate the effects of performance degradations and thus critically improve driver safety.     

PARTICIPATIVE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN: AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO INCREASE SAFETY BELT USE

Vehicle license plate numbers and the shoulder belt use of front-seat occupants were recorded unobtrusively when parents delivered and picked up their children at a Montessori school during 5-day baseline, intervention, and follow-up phases. Practicing and presenting a 15-min safety belt skit increased the safety belt use of those 6 kindergarten children who were not consistent belt users 82% above their preintervention baseline belt use mean of 47%. The belt use of these children's parents (who watched the skit) increased to 56% above their baseline mean of 36%. Also, mean safety belt use of 11 primary school children who watched the skit increased to 70% above their baseline of 28%. Mean safety belt use of the older children's parents (who didn't watch the skit) remained at approximately 31% for each phase, regardless of whether children were vehicle occupants. The follow-up observations, taken 3 months after the intervention, revealed 60% belt use for the kindergartners, 48% for the primary school children, and 71% for the kindergartners' parents when the children were vehicle occupants but only 30% when the parents were driving alone.     

SELF-ADMINISTERED WRITTEN PROMPTS TO TEACH HOME ACCIDENT PREVENTION SKILLS TO ADULTS WITH BRAIN INJURIES

This study evaluated the use of written checklists and task analyses as self-administered prompts to teach home accident prevention skills to 4 adults with brain injuries. Subsequent to baseline, participants used written checklists that identified potential in-home hazards but did not prompt behaviors necessary for hazard remediation. Written individualized task analyses, incorporating specific behavioral steps for correcting hazards that participants had failed to remediate during the checklist phase, were used to prompt appropriate responding when necessary. These were subsequently faded to transfer stimulus control to the natural conditions. A multiple probe technique across participants and settings was used. Results indicated that the checklist alone was sufficient to increase appropriate responses to many of the potential hazards. Individualized task analyses, when needed, resulted in appropriate remediation of all potential hazards. Generalization to untrained potential hazards occurred to some degree for all participants. Follow-up results showed that most skills trained were maintained over a 1-month period.     

The effects of advance stop lines and sign prompts on pedestrian safety in a crosswalk on a multilane highway

The effects of specific signs and stop line bars designed to influence motorists to stop further back from the crosswalk when yielding right of way to pedestrians were evaluated using a reversal design. The introduction of the prompt and stop line reduced motor vehicle—pedestrian conflicts (near collisions) by almost 80%. This finding was replicated in a second experiment the following year on two streets using a multiple baseline design. The use of the advance stop line is now being incorporated by the Provincial Department of Transportation for marking crosswalks on multilane streets.