Is the "forgotten distinction" between psychology and phenomenology still forgotten? Reply to comments.

Responds to D. M. Snyder's (see record 1988-28275-001) 3 main criticisms of J. L. Jennings's (see record 1987-05956-001) discussion of E. Husserl's (1931) concept of phenomenological investigation. J. L. Jennings and C. A. Lucca also reject T. Henley's (1988) opinion on looking beyond Husserl, since they believe Husserl continues to stand as the clearest statement of the most important and "forgotten" distinction between psychology and phenomenology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychophysical Test for the Independence of Perception and Action.

Research has suggested that perception and action are independent (see M. A. Goodale & A. Haffenden, 1998). The authors used the Ebbinghaus illusion to test this hypothesis in 2 experiments. Verbal reports of perceived size were compared with maximum grip aperture during grasping (Experiment 1) and manual reports of perceived size (Experiment 2). A multidimensional signal detection analysis was used to distinguish among the possible interactions between the two processes in each experiment (H. Kadlec & J. T. Townsend, 1992a, 1992b). In Experiment 1, the percepts were independent, and there were no interactions between processes for verbal and visuomotor responses. In Experiment 2, the percepts associated with verbal and manual reports were independent, but the processes interacted at the levels of the stimulus information and the decision rules used to transform each percept into a response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individualism and collectivism: Cross-cultural perspectives on self-ingroup relationships.

The individualism and collectivism constructs are theoretically analyzed and linked to certain hypothesized consequences (social behaviors, health indices). Study 1 explores the meaning of these constructs within culture (in the US), identifying the individual-differences variable, idiocentrism versus allocentrism, that corresponds to the constructs. Factor analyses of responses to items related to the constructs suggest that US individualism is reflected in (a) Self-Reliance With Competition, (b) Low Concern for Ingroups, and (c) Distance from Ingroups. A higher order factor analysis suggests that Subordination of Ingroup Goals to Personal Goals may be the most important aspect of US individualism. Study 2 probes the limits of the constructs with data from two collectivist samples (Japan and Puerto Rico) and one individualist sample (Illinois) of students. It is shown that responses depend on who the other is (i.e., which ingroup), the context, and the kind of social behavior (e.g., feel similar to other, attentive to the views of others). Study 3 replicates previous work in Puerto Rico indicating that allocentric persons perceive that they receive more and a better quality of social support than do idiocentric persons, while the latter report being more lonely than the former. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis of networks in solution

Summary The kinetics of the solution crosslink process of polybutadiene is studied using a bistriazolinedione as crosslink agent. Beyond the gel point strong deviations from the pre-gel kinetics are observed due to the hindered translational diffusion in the gel.     

Effects of exposition to polluted environments on blood cells of the fish Prochilodus lineatus

In this study, we investigated the effects of contaminated water on the blood parameters of the fish Prochilodus lineatus exposed during 7 and 20 days. Blood was collected with heparinized syringes, and blood smears were prepared and stained with Leishman stain. Slides were examined and photographed using a Leica light microscope. Total white blood cell counts and differential counts of thrombocytes and leukocytes were obtained for statistical analysis. The group exposed to water samples from Lago Azul exhibited an increase in the number of leukocytes and in the total number of white blood cells, suggesting that the chemical contaminants in this environment were acting similarly to antigens in this fish species, causing the proliferation of defense cells. In the group exposed to detergent during 20 days, the number of thrombocytes decreased. These results suggest that the variations in the number of leukocytes were indicators of environmental pollution and that biodegradable detergents may, after a certain time of exposure, affect vital functions in fish, such as coagulation and prevention of infections, which directly involves thrombocytes.     

Complexity of the bisection method

The bisection method   is the consecutive bisection of a triangle by the median of the longest side. In this paper we prove a subexponential asymptotic upper bound for the number of similarity classes of triangles generated on a mesh obtained by iterative bisection, which previously was known only to be finite. The relevant parameter is γ/σ$\gamma /\sigma$, where γ$\gamma$ is the biggest and σ$\sigma$ is the smallest angle of the triangle. We get this result by introducing a taxonomy of triangles that precisely captures the behaviour of the bisection method. We also prove that the number of directions on the plane given by the sides of the triangles generated is finite. Additionally, we give purely geometrical and intuitive proofs of classical results for the bisection method.     

Microcrack modelling of Brazilian tensile tests with the boundary element method

This study focuses on the influence of initiated cracks on the stress distribution within rock samples subjected to indirect tensile loading by traditional Brazilian testing. The numerical analyses show that the stress distribution inside the models is only marginally affected by the friction between the loading platens and the sample. On the other hand, the initiation and propagation of cracks produce a stress field that is very different from that assumed by considering the rock material as continuous, homogeneous, isotropic and elastic. In the models, stress concentrations at the bridges between the cracks were found to reach tensile stresses much higher than the direct tensile strength of the intact rock input in the numerical models. This was due to the development of large stress gradients between the cracks. The analysis of the deformation along the sample diameter perpendicular to the loading direction might enable one to determine the direct tensile strength of the rock. In fact, when the tensile strength is reached, initiation of cracks in the sample induces a sudden increase of the rate of the diametric strains. The direct tensile strength is therefore indicated by the point where the stress–strain curves in the direction perpendicular to the loading diameter depart from linearity.     

Alternative Readout Electronics for Superconducting Transition Edge Sensors

A simple idea of using transformers as impedance adapters between TES and conventional JFET amplifiers, allowing to built an electronic readout system that does not degenerate the signal, will be presented. The theoretical modelling and systematic experimental results of such devices, indicate that there is a frequency range were the amplifier noise is negligible with respect to the TES noise.     

Study of Sensitivity Improvement for MARE-1 in Genoa

We present a revisited Ho-163 electron capture decay method as a possible candidate for the neutrino mass determination, proposed in MANU-Genoa in 1997. The present detector performances open new opportunities for self-calibrated, high statistics and eV energy resolution experiments within the context of MARE-1, Genoa. The study, even if at an early stage, indicates that we can take advantage of using detectors with current performances that have been developed for astrophysics applications.