Transport and mobility decisions of consumers with disabilities

People with disabilities are the world's largest minority stakeholder group, and they continue to face significant challenges in every aspect of their lives. This study explored the transport and mobility decisions of consumers with disabilities (CWDs) in the context of Nigeria, one of the world's largest developing countries, using the conservation of resources theory and the intersection of travel decisions, disability and country context regarding consumer behaviour. A total of 32 individuals with varying disabilities were interviewed. A thematic analysis of qualitative data revealed that CWDs make travel decisions based on their ability, as well as the availability, accessibility, affordability and reliability of different modes of transport. This study presents a conceptual framework illustrating the transport and mobility decisions of CWDs and highlights practical implications for various stakeholders.     

An eight-channel computer-controlled scanning electromyograph

A measurement system is described for the computerized detection, digitizing, and storage of electromyographic (EMG) signals from up to eight muscle groups. The use of a channel scanning technique allows almost simultaneous multichannel recording with minimal circuit redundancy. Specifically, the scanning electromyograph allows several EMG preamplifiers to share expensive isolation, signal-conditioning, and interface circuitry. The design incorporates monolithic integrated circuit preamplifiers and includes optical isolation of the preamplifier circuitry for protection of the subject. Hybrid active filter modules allow convenient selection of system bandpass characteristics. Key measurement parameters are software programmable. The scanning electromyograph is inexpensively constructed from readily available componentry. Specifications for all functional blocks within the instrument are comparable to those of commercial instrumentation.     

The role of need satisfaction as a distinct and basic psychological component of autobiographical memories: a look at well-being

The purpose of the present research was to show that satisfaction of the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness constitutes a basic component characterizing autobiographical memories. In Study 1, a coding scheme and a self-rating method for measuring need satisfaction in memories were developed and shown to be highly related to each other. Across 3 studies using graduate and undergraduate students (Study 1: N=244; Study 2: N=309; Study 3: N=159), need satisfaction was found to be moderately associated with well-being measures, over and above several other memory components usually assessed in research on autobiographical memories. In addition, this association between need satisfaction in autobiographical memories and well-being held, even after controlling for person-level measures, such as personality traits, self-determined orientation, or experience of need satisfaction in general in one's life, thus suggesting that autobiographical memory and semantic self-knowledge are distinct databases.     

The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF): A Validation Study on Iranian Muslim Patients Undergoing Dialysis

The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF) is an often used and validated scale that is uncommonly utilized in culturally diverse populations. The purpose of this research investigation was to adapt the SCSORF for use among Iranian Muslim patients undergoing dialysis and to examine the reliability and validity of the scale among this population. A total of 428 patients (228 females, 200 males, M age = 52.2 years, SD = 10) were selected from five dialysis center in Tehran and Qazvin, Iran. A comprehensive forward–backward translation system was used for cross-cultural translation. Patients completed a baseline questionnaire obtaining demographic and clinical information as well as the SCSORF, the Age Universal Religious Orientation Scale (AUROS), the religious life inventory (RLI), and the Duke University religion index (DUREL). 2 weeks later, patients were asked to complete the SCSORF once again. Reliability of the SCSORF was examined using internal consistency and test-rest reliability. Convergent validity and factor structure using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were also examined. Cronbach’s α for the single construct of the SCSORF was 0.89 with adequate test–retest reliability measured over a 2 week period. SCSORF scores were significantly correlated with AUROS, RLI and the DUREL. The EFA generated a single factor solution for the SCSORF while these results were confirmed by the CFA in an independent sample. Findings demonstrated that the SCSORF has favorable reliability, convergent validity, and divergent validity among Iranian Muslim patients undergoing dialysis and is recommended for use by clinicians (e.g., nephrologists) to measure strength of religious faith among patients.     

On the risk of being a cultural chameleon: variations in collective self-esteem across social interactions

In the present study the authors used an event-contingent daily recording strategy, the Rochester Interaction Record, to examine the relation of perceived evaluations of a multicultural person's heritage group to the nature and quality of his or her social interactions. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that having an interaction partner who positively evaluated one's heritage culture was associated with significantly enhanced interaction intimacy, disclosure, and quality, as well as with feelings of personal acceptance. Moderator analyses revealed that individuals who possessed a chameleon-like cultural identity and those who had low public collective self-esteem were particularly reactive to how their heritage group was being evaluated.     

Spinoza's environmental ethics

The paper explores an apparent tension in Spinoza's thought between his treatment of man as part of nature, with no specially privileged position within it; and his treatment of morality as circumscribed by what is good for human beings. These two themes, it is argued, are in fact interconnected in Spinoza's thought. The paper goes on to consider some possible responses, from a contemporary standpoint, to Spinoza's rejection of animal rights. Finally, it is argued that the apparent tension in Spinoza's thought becomes more understandable in the light of his treatment of the importance of truth to human beings; and that this throws into relief some puzzling features of some contemporary formulations of the theme of man as part of nature.