Pleasure in decision-making situations

BACKGROUND: This study explores the role of pleasure in decision making. RESULTS: In Experiment 1, 12 subjects were presented with a questionnaire containing 46 items taken from the literature. Twenty-three items described a situation where a decision should be made and ended with a suggested solution. The other items served as filler items. The subjects were requested not to make a decision but to rate the pleasure or displeasure they experienced when reading the situation described in the item. The subjects' ratings were then compared to the decisions on the same situations made by the other subjects of the studies published by other workers. The ratings of pleasure/displeasure given by our subjects correlated significantly with the choices published by other authors. This result satisfies a necessary condition for pleasure to be the key of the decision making process in theoretical situations. In Experiment 2, a new group of 12 subjects rated their experience of pleasure/displeasure when reading various versions of 50 situations taken from daily life where an ethical decision had to be made (Questionnaire I) including 200 items. This was followed by a multiple-choice test with the 50 situations (Questionnaire II) using the same 200 items and offering the various behaviors. Subjects tended to choose ethical and unethical responses corresponding to their highest pleasure rating within each problem. In all cases the subjects' behavior was higher than chance level, and thus, followed the trend to maximize pleasure. In Experiment 3, 12 subjects reading 50 mathematical short problems followed by correct and incorrect versions of the answer to the problem (Questionnaire III), including 200 items. This was followed by a multiple-choice mathematical test with the 50 problems (Questionnaire IV) using the same 200 items and offering the correct and incorrect answers. In questionnaire IV, subjects tended to choose correct as well as incorrect responses corresponding to their highest hedonic rating within each problem. In all cases the subjects' behavior was higher than chance level, and thus, followed the trend to maximize pleasure. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the three experiments support the hypothesis according to which decisions are made in the hedonic dimension of conscious experience

Behavior of VVER Fuel Rods Tested Under Severe Accident Conditions in the CODEX Facility

The early phase of severe accidents in VVER reactors was simulated in the CODEX (COre Degradation EXperiment) facility with electrically heated fuel rod bundles. The selected test conditions and applied measurement techniques made possible the observation of some specific phenomena, such as the protective role of oxide scale during quenching of high-temperature bundles, the composition of gases produced during the oxidation of boron-carbide control rods, and the interlink between the aerosol release and the oxidation process. The general behavior of the VVER bundles did not differ significantly from that of the Western-design light water reactor bundles tested under similar high-temperature conditions, but the experiments emphasized that the application of VVER-specific material properties and models is essential for comprehensive numerical simulations.JRC.F.4-Nuclear design safet

East Timor's pursuit of democratic independence

This thesis demonstrates how East Timor achieved statehood by linking independence with democracy. It argues that building a democracy was a consistent goal for some elements of East Timor’s independence movement throughout the transition to statehood. The independence movement committed a future East Timor state to establishing a liberal, multi-party, plural democracy with a particular emphasis on social justice and wealth re-distribution. This pursuit of the twin goals of independence and democracy enabled East Timor to become a sovereign state and this vision of statehood was important for how it instituted new political structures. The interplay between norms of self-determination and democracy is useful for understanding East Timor’s pursuit of sovereign independence. In contemporary International Relations, it has become increasingly recognised that there exists a democratic entitlement in which all people hold rights to internal self-determination and political participation. In essence, East Timor sought to attain the right of self-determination in order to achieve sovereign rights and establish a democracy. There were two key elements to their appeals for self-determination: first, that a unique and identifiable East Timorese ‘nation’ existed and held rights to self-determination under international law; and second, that an East Timorese state would establish a democracy and guarantee human rights. This commitment was important as individual rights to political participation have become international standards that all states are expected to uphold. International and domestic civil society organisations supported the East Timorese independence movement by pressuring governments,lobbying diplomats, holding protests, raising international awareness and providing information of the human rights situation and self-determination in East Timor. These international appeals for democracy, human rights and freedoms in East Timor ultimately led to the referendum on independence in 1999. The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) was mandated to assist East Timor in establishing democracy following the referendum, and there has been considerable literature analysing and evaluating the roles of the UNTAET. However, there has been less attention on the roles of the East Timorese in constructing their political institutions and the relationship between the social and political realms during these processes. East Timorese leaders drafted the constitution, which established key political institutions such as electoral systems and the structure of government, and articulated the nature of citizenship rights and the relationship between the state and society. As such, East Timorese leaders played a considerable role in institutionally structuring the identity of their new state. East Timor’s Constitution outlined a vision of East Timor as a liberal, multi-party, social democracy that guarantees the civil, political and socio-economic rights of its people. The commitment to democracy and human rights demonstrated by political leaders prior and during East Timor’s transition is important for its capacities to consolidate its new political institutions and engender them with political legitimacy. A legitimate political order is one that is sanctioned by the population, thus a widespread, grassroots belief in the validity of democracy as a system of government has assisted East Timor in establishing and maintaining its democratic institutions

Forest plot analysis of mortality rate using random-effects model in septic patients with fever (body temperature above 38.0°C; <i>n</i> = 6,040).

<p>Forest plot analysis of mortality rate using random-effects model in septic patients with fever (body temperature above 38.0°C; <i>n</i> = 6,040).</p

Forest plot analysis of mortality rate using random-effects model in septic patients with hypothermia (body temperature up to 36.0°C; <i>n</i> = 890).

<p>Forest plot analysis of mortality rate using random-effects model in septic patients with hypothermia (body temperature up to 36.0°C; <i>n</i> = 890).</p