Wesenszüge des mathematischen Denkens / Vortrag gehalten ... am 2. Dez. 1961. Neu hrsg. von Gabriele Dörflinger, Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg

Der Vortrag wurde bei der Jahresfeier der TH Karlsruhe 1961 gehalten. Der Autor definiert Mathematik als die Lehre von den Strukturen. Mathematik ist ebenso Wissenschaft, die die Logikregeln streng befolgt, als auch Kunst, die ästhetischen Kriterien unterliegt. Er schildert an einigen Beispielen, die Arbeitsweise des Mathematikers

Mindful Phone Use

The rapid, global adoption of smartphones is undoubtedly affecting users’ quality of life. Existing research has published mixed findings on whether or not these devices are beneficial or detrimental to users’ well-being. Phone use shifts a user’s focus away from the present moment and towards the device at hand. Mindfulness, or “the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present,” has been shown to improve individual’s well-being through promoting self-awareness that allows for behavior regulation that is congruent with one’s basic needs (Brown & Ryan, 2003). The primary aim of this research was to create and empirically test a mindfulness-oriented intervention for nomophobia (the fear of being without one’s phone). The secondary aim was to investigate the relationship between nomophobia, psychological well-being, and mindfulness using the Nomophobia Questionnaire, Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scales, and the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale. This research involved two different phases: Phase 1 was a randomized experiment and Phase 2 was a correlational study using the aforementioned measures. It was hypothesized that participants randomized to the mindfulness condition would report decreased nomophobia, increased psychological well-being, and increased mindfulness. It was also posited that post-intervention, those in the mindfulness condition would spend less screen time on their phones than those in the control condition. Additionally, it was expected that nomophobia would be negatively correlated with psychological well-being and mindfulness. Post-intervention, those in the mindfulness condition reported significantly less levels of nomophobia than those in the control condition, however there were no significant changes in psychological well-being, mindfulness, or objective levels of screen time. No significant relationships were found between nomophobia and overall psychological well-being or mindfulness. However, a significant negative relationship was found between nomophobia and autonomy, a subscale of well-being. Potential implications and future directions of this research are addressed

Content and Competence

Just what is a right? Jakob Weissinger approaches this central problem of jurisprudence by critically examining the purpose of such normative concepts and carefully analysing the fundamental elements of normative practice like actions, decisions, the logic of norms and values as well as the plurality of normative practice. Interlinking the insights won, he outlines a stand-alone theory of rights which emphasises the empowering dimension of rights in the process of justifying (legal) rules. Not only does he question well-established theories, such as Hohfeld's famous analysis of legal conceptions, but aspires to set future debates in legal theory, especially those surrounding rights such as the long-standing dispute between interest and choice theories of rights, on new and more solid meta-theoretical ground

ANALYZING EXECUTIVE DECISIONMAKING PROCESSES: TILE METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTION OF VISUAL MENTAL IMAGERY PROTOCOLS

Visual mental imagery protocols can provide step-by-step traces of executive decisionmaking. Sequences of drawings that externalize thought processes are often easier to analyze than transcriptions of tape recorded verbal protocols. The technique is of obvious use for investigating spatial problem solving behavior since such tasks are usually solved with sketches, drawings, or graphs; the methodology is also appropriate for abstract, non-spatial decisionmaking for which mental images often function as models that managers mentally construct and manipulate. This paper reports an application to the analysis of decisions by a high level executive: the commander of a naval task force. The study will influence both design and evaluation of the command and control systems that support tactical decision making by such commanders and their staffs, over long periods, in hostile environments under extreme stress

Non-Psychiatric Hospitalization For Patients With Psychotic Disorders: A Mixed-Methods Study

Patients with psychotic disorders face a multitude of medical health disparities in addition to psychological symptoms. They have a higher medical disease burden than the general population and are more likely to have a non-psychiatric hospitalization. In the hospital, these patients have an increased risk of adverse events, readmission and extended length-of-stay. Working with a Health Equity lens and the Quality Health Outcomes Model, we reviewed the literature on adverse events during medical-surgical hospitalizations for these patients and identified differences at the patient, provider and system levels between these patients and the general population. Next, a mixed methods, exploratory sequential study was conducted to: 1) explore the experience of patients with psychotic disorders hospitalized on medical-surgical unit; 2) examine patient characteristics and care processes associated with length-of-stay (primary outcome), adverse events and readmissions (secondary outcomes), among patients with psychotic disorders during non-psychiatric hospitalizations; and 3) integrate qualitative and quantitative data to contextualize factors associated with hospital outcomes among patients with psychotic disorders during non-psychiatric hospitalizations. For Phase 1, interviews were conducted with twenty patients with psychotic disorders on medical-surgical units. Five themes were developed through thematic analysis: 1) managing through hard times, 2) ignored and treated unfairly, 3) actively involved in health, 4) appreciation of caring providers and 5) violence: expected and experienced. In Phase 2, information from these interviews guided variable selection for an analysis of patient hospital records. A general linear model was conducted to examine length-of-stay’s relationship with patient characteristics and care processes. Of patient characteristics, only medical comorbidities were significantly related to length-of-stay. Certain processes of care highlighted by patients from the qualitative sample were found to be associated with length-of-stay like physical restraints (64% longer), psychiatrist consult (20% longer) and outpatient appointment in the previous six months (10% shorter). Results suggest specific patient characteristics and care processes are highly related to length-of-stay and that many of these were important to the patients in the qualitative portion. The use of mixed methods research for hospital outcomes research in this population creates valuable information for educational and clinical settings to improve care for patients with psychotic disorders

Master of Science

thesisToday, the majority of people in the United States reside in dynamic urban environments and navigate multiple, complex situations in their daily routines. These factors of modern life often require prolonged appropriation of cognitive energy to both external stimuli and a continuous series of tasks, resulting in directed attention fatigue. Directed attention fatigue is marked by a diminishment in an individual’s physiological state (alterations in neural activity), cognitive state (a decrease in motivation, reduction in the capacity to focus attention, and difficulties ignoring irrelevant information), and affective state (changes in emotional responses). The depletion of this resource results in, among other things, reduced task performance, which carries a potential for drastic, negative consequences. Increasingly, mobile phones are having a significant impact on these states. As of 2013, an estimated 91% of adults owned a mobile phone and most frequently use it for texting. Emerging trends involve the changing relationship between user and device, as a growing number of smartphone owners exhibit behaviors of over-use, dependency, and even addiction. Given the near constant presence of mobile phones and their increasing use for personal and professional purposes, their ability to constantly place demands on directed attention is cause for concern. Exposure to nature-rich surroundings, however, has been shown to activate alternate attentional networks, forcing the deactivation and restoration of the directed attention network. It was the purpose of this pilot study to determine to what extent directed attention is activated or deactivated in a nature-based environment when an individual is aware of the potentially distracting presence of their mobile phone. To this end, electroencephalograph recordings, a Recognition Memory Task, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule were utilized, with and compared across two participant groups â€" those completing a nature walk without a phone and those completing it while receiving text messages on their phones (though instructed not to interact with the device). Upon processing the data, no significant differences were found to exist between groups. The pilot design of this study, however, has offered insight on previously unaccounted for variables, and has the potential to inform the development of future studies

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the landing/deceleration subsystem

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Landing/Deceleration Subsystem hardware. The Landing/Deceleration Subsystem is utilized to allow the Orbiter to perform a safe landing, allowing for landing-gear deploy activities, steering and braking control throughout the landing rollout to wheel-stop, and to allow for ground-handling capability during the ground-processing phase of the flight cycle. Specifically, the Landing/Deceleration hardware consists of the following components: Nose Landing Gear (NLG); Main Landing Gear (MLG); Brake and Antiskid (B and AS) Electrical Power Distribution and Controls (EPD and C); Nose Wheel Steering (NWS); and Hydraulics Actuators. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Due to the lack of redundancy in the Landing/Deceleration Subsystems there is a high number of critical items

Results from a three year testing project of new strawberry cultivars in Verticillium infested soils and under organic farming conditions

As part of a research project 13 cultivars were planted in 2005 at 11 sites on 9 farms in 5 different Austrian regions. The aim was to find new cultivars tolerant to soil-borne pathogens and leaf/fruit diseases, with high yield, winter hardness and good fruit quality, to serve as alternative to the highly susceptible cultivar ‘Elsanta’, regarding soil-borne diseases. Plant vigour and infestation with Verticillium dahliae and leaf diseases were evaluated in 2005 und 2006 at 7 sites and in 2007 at 3 sites. In addition, following parameters were assessed on 2 organically managed sites in 2006 and 2007: marketable yield, percentage of different categories of unmarketable fruits and incidence of the blossom weevil. In 2006 fruit characteristics and consumer acceptance were studied. ‘Elsanta’ showed the highest infestation with V. dahliae whereas ‘Salsa’, ‘Daroyal’ and ‘Alice’ were most tolerant. ‘Dora’, ‘Eva’, ‘Queen Elisa’ and ‘Daroyal’ recorded significantly higher losses by the blossom weevil than ‘Alice’. ‘Alba’ and ‘Divine’ were the earliest cultivars in ripening time. Highest marketable yield per plant had the late ripening cultivars, particularly ‘Salsa’ and ‘Sonata’. Of all early ripening cultivars tested, ‘Elsanta’ showed the highest productivity, followed by 'Alba', ‘Darselect’, ‘Daroyal’ and ‘Eva’. Regarding fruit firmness, content of ascorbic acid, shelf life and appearance, ‘Alba’, ’Clery’, ‘Eva’ and ‘Queen Elisa’ were most convincing. The best tasting cultivars were ‘Clery’, ‘Daroyal’ and ‘Divine’. Summing up all the results, ‘Alba’, ‘Alice’ and ‘Salsa’ can be recommended for organic production, whereas ‘Clery’, ‘Daroyal’, ‘Darselect’, ‘Elsanta’, ‘Eva’, ‘Queen Elisa’ and ‘Sonata’ are classified as suitable for only a limited extent. ‘Elsanta’, ‘Divine’, ‘Dora’ and ‘Sonata’ are particularly unsuitable for growing in Verticillium infested soils. ‘Divine’, ‘Dora’, and ‘Record’ cannot be recommended for organic production at all