医学研究者的经济利益冲突对临床试验的影响——美国的经验与启示

研究者的经济利益冲突对医学临床试验可能会产生消极影响。本文依据美国的研究成果,利用大量的统计数据和真实的案例,分析了研究者在临床试验中的主要经济利益,揭示了这些经济利益如何对研究的设计、执行和报告产生影响,以及可能造成的危害。     

On the masking and disclosure of unconscious elaborate processing. A reply to Van Opstal, Reynvoet, and Verguts (2005)

We have recently argued that unconscious numerical stimuli might activate responses by a match with prespecified action trigger codes (action trigger account) rather than by semantic prime processing (elaborate processing account). [Van Opstal, F., Reynvoet, B., and Verguts, T. (2005). How to trigger elaborate processing? A comment on Kunde, Kiesel, and Hoffmann (2003). Cognition] replicate one piece of evidence for our inference—an inefficiency of primes not presented in target format (verbal or Arabic). But this was found only with letter masks and not with hash masks. The authors conclude that letter masks block unconscious prime processing, and that elaborate processing can account for unconscious priming effects if all its (sometimes subtle) side conditions are considered. We agree that the type of mask in general is an important factor in priming studies but we note that (i) the authors' mask-blocking hypothesis is not well supported by the data, (ii) clear evidence for semantic prime processing in their study is lacking and, (iii) differences in mask efficiency (rather than mask type) might account for the conflicting results. To corroborate this inference we replicate van Opstal et al.'s results with letter masks but reduced mask efficiency. Altogether their data do not challenge the action-trigger account nor do they strongly support the elaborate processing view.     

HOW SCIENCE CAN HELP RELIGION BENEFIT SOCIETY

Abstract. Modern science has given us a revolutionary new understanding of the close interrelationship and interdependence of humans not only with all other humans but with all other living species and with the nonliving elements of the geosphere and the rest of the universe. This new understanding can provide a basis for new understandings of (1) the basic nature of religion, (2) the basic principles of major world religious traditions, and (3) the basic principles of religious ethics. The new understanding of religious ethics will involve a better understanding of our rights and responsibilities, as individuals and groups, with respect to other individuals and groups of humans, other living species, and the nonliving universe. This improved understanding will benefit not only human individuals and human societies, local and global, but also local and global ecosystems.     

Environmental Refugees: What Rights? Which Duties?

It is estimated that there could be 200 million‘environmental refugees’ by the middle of this century. One major environmental cause of population displacement is likely to be global climate change. As the situation is likely to become more pressing, it is vital to consider now the rights of environmental refugees and the duties of the rest of the world. However, this is not an issue that has been addressed in mainstream theories of global justice. This paper considers the potential of two leading liberal theories of international justice to address the particular issues raised by the plight of potential and actual environmental refugees. I argue that neither John Rawls’s ‘Law of Peoples’ approach nor Charles Beitz’s `cosmopolitanism' is capable of providing an adequate account of justice in this context. Beitz’s theory does have some advantages over Rawls’s approach but it fails to take proper account of the attachment that some people have to their own ‘home’. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analysis of the factor structure of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3) in Spanish secondary-school students through exploratory structural equation modeling

The aims of the present study were: (1) to assess the factor structure of the SATAQ-3 in Spanish secondary-school students by means of exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) models; and (2) to study its invariance by sex and school grade. ESEM is a technique that has been proposed for the analysis of internal structure that overcomes some of the limitations of EFA and CFA. Participants were 1559 boys and girls in grades seventh to tenth. The results support the four-factor solution of the original version, and reveal that the best fit was obtained with ESEM, excluding Item 20 and with correlated uniqueness between reverse-keyed items. Our version shows invariance by sex and grade. The differences between scores of different groups are in the expected direction, and support the validity of the questionnaire. We recommend a version excluding Item 20 and without reverse-keyed items.     

Misleading cues improve developmental assessment of working memory capacity: The color matching tasks

The theory of constructive operators was used as a framework to design two versions of a paradigm (color matching task, CMT) in which items are parametrically ordered in difficulty, and differ only contextually. Items in CMT-Balloon are facilitating, whereas items in CMT-Clown contain misleading cues. Participants of ages 7–14 years and adults (N = 149) were studied. We found significant model-predicted graded differences in performance between the facilitating and misleading tasks, across and within age groups, expressing age versus items’ demand interactions. Younger children were differentially affected by contextual cues. Even though both task versions were highly correlated with a well-established developmental measure of attentional capacity, CMT-Clown, which contained misleading cues, was a better measure of working memory capacity. These results show a need to estimate degree of misleadingness whenever performance levels in working memory or mental attention tasks are compared and interpreted. Developmental profiles of both tasks are discussed in terms of contextual differences and neoPiagetian stages of development.     

拥挤研究进展——概念、理论与影响因素

拥挤是环境心理学的重要研究领域,其内涵是对密度和空间限制的主观体验。拥挤影响因素主要包括物理、社会、个人因素,拥挤可导致过度生理唤醒、负面社会行为和＂失动机＂。现有拥挤理论从环境刺激和个体行为反应等多个角度对拥挤进行了阐释。文章最后提出了中国文化背景下拥挤的未来研究方向。     

Spatial and environmental consistency in serial sexual assault

This study examines the crime patterns of 76 New Zealand serial sexual offenders in order to determine the extent to which offenders display locational consistency in their choice of crime locations. More specifically, the hypothesis was that there would be intraseries consistency in the distances travelled (spatial consistency) and the characteristics of the crime sites selected (environmental consistency) by serial sexual offenders. For spatial consistency to be tested, the distances travelled from home to offend and the criminal range for each offence series were analysed. Support was found for spatial consistency, and, in line with much overseas research, it was also found that the offenders typically did not travel very far from home to offend (median distance of 3 km). The environmental consistency measure was made up of various physical, temporal, and contextual variables that described the environmental characteristics of an offence. As hypothesised, it was found that offenders displayed intraseries environmental consistency in offence site selection beyond the level of that expected by chance. The implications of this both for understanding offender spatial decision making and for geographical profiling are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental Ethics and Linkola＇s Ecofascism： An Ethics Beyond Humanism

Ecofascism as a tradition in Environmental Ethics seems to burgeoning with potential. The roots of Ecofascism can be traced back to the German Romantic School, to the Wagnerian narration of the Nibelungen saga, to the works of Fichte and Herder and, finally, to the so-called volkisch movement. Those who take pride in describing themselves as ecofascists grosso modo tend to prioritize the moral value of the ecosphere, while, at the same time, they almost entirely devalue species and individuals. Additionally, these ecofascists are eager to reject democracy, the idea of progress in its entirety, as well as industrialization and urbanization. They also seem to be hostile towards individual autonomy and free will. In this short essay I will present and discuss Kaarlo Pentti Linkola＇s approach to environmental ethics, one that could be well described as the epitome of Ecofascism. I will argue that his arguments are neither sound nor documented, and I will conclude that Linkola＇s overall approach is, in my view, contrary to the purpose as well as to the very essence of morality.     

Genetic and environmental sources of continuity and change in teacher‐rated aggression during early adolescence

Genetic and environmental sources of continuity and change in aggression were studied in a sample of 1,041 twin pairs (364 monozygotic; 348 same‐sex dizygotic; and 329 opposite‐sex dizygotic) as part of an ongoing, population‐based Finnish twin‐family study. At ages 12 and 14, the twins' aggression was assessed by their classroom teachers, using a rating form of the Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory. Genetic and environmental sources of continuity and change were studied by fitting a longitudinal bivariate Cholesky decomposition model. Longitudinal model‐fitting results indicated that both genetic and environmental factors influenced continuity in aggression during this 2‐year period, but the age‐to‐age correlation of these factors differed by sex. Continuity in boys' aggression was mediated by genes and common environmental factors; in girls, in contrast, continuity was due primarily to common environmental, and to a lesser degree, unique environmental factors. Genes and unique environments contributed to change in aggression in both sexes. Aggr. Behav. 31:1–13, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.