TAUOLA the library for tau lepton decay, and KKMC/KORALB/KORALZ/... status report

The status of the Monte Carlo programs for the simulation of the $\tau$ lepton production in high energy accelerator experiments and decay is reviewed. In particular, the status of the following packages is discussed: (i) TAUOLA for tau-lepton decay, (ii) PHOTOS for radiative corrections in decays, (iii) KORALB, KORALZ, KKMC packages for tau-pair production in e+e- collisions and (iv) universal interface of TAUOLA for the decay of tau-leptons produced by``any'' generator. Special emphasis on requirements from new and future experiments is given. Some considerations about the software organization necessary to keep simultaneously distinct physics initializations for TAUOLA are also included.Comment: latex 7 pages, including 1 table and 5 figure files, all 6 in postscript format. Presented on 'Sixth international workshop on tau lepton physics', Victoria Canada, September 200

Do Traumatic Events Have More Impact on the Development of Dental Anxiety Than Negative, Non-traumatic Events?

The importance of exposure to traumatic events for the development of dental anxiety has not been investigated. The aim of the present study was to test the hypotheses that individuals who reported having been exposed to a traumatic event [that is, fulfilling Criterion A of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)] as the cause of their dental anxiety would report significantly higher levels of dental anxiety, typical trauma-related (PTSD) symptoms, and greater disturbance of memories involving these events than those who reported being exposed to non-traumatic events. Patients of a specialized dental fear clinic (n = 90) were divided into those who reported a traumatic event that initiated their dental trait anxiety and those who did not. The two groups did not differ in their severity of dental anxiety and number of PTSD symptoms, but the memories of those who had been exposed to traumatic events were significantly more vivid than the memories of those in the reference group. Length of time since the event took place did not play a role. Hence, traumatic events are remembered more vividly, but do not seem to initiate more severe forms of dental anxiety than other events

QIS: a new participatory management tool to assess and act on field reality

One of the main problems to assess the achievement of the MDGs is the paucity of reliable data and statistics that reflect field reality, especially of the poor. With successive waves of decentralisation, district authorities have been made responsible for poverty and gender specific information on coverage, use and sustainability of water and sanitation services, at community level and district levels. Participatory methods are essential to give all members of village communities the opportunity to influence scores, and also to make informed choices during planning, and control quality of implementation. However, such methods are time consuming and often generate qualitative information that is difficult to compare and analyse at district or national levels. To address these problems, IRC developed, together with the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), the Methodology for Assessment (MPA) to assess sustainability of services and to generate gender and poverty specific data. (Mukherjee and van Wijk, 2003). Based on the methodology, IRC along with AJ James has now developed Qualitative Information System (QIS), which is a flexible system to store and analyse qualitative data for monitoring progress and adaptive management at both project and community levels. Although QIS has the potential to contribute to a more effective use of qualitative information, the challenges of preserving quality when using participatory methods as well as the reliability of the data collected remain concerns to be addressed. The paper presents a number of key concerns and introduces a set of criteria to ensure quality of both the participatory processes and the data collected

Diving under the influence: issues in researching personality and inert gas narcosis

Background: This paper considers the relationship between measures of personality and mood states, and susceptibility to inert gas narcosis. It briefly reviews the topics of inert gas narcosis affecting personality, and personality affecting the susceptibility to inert gas narcosis. There appears to be is a theoretical argument for a possible relationship between measures of personality, mood states, and susceptibility to narcosis. Practically, such a relationship may speak to issues in selection, training and preparation, risk assessments, and even accident investigation in the diving and/or hyperbaric environment. Materials and methods: Twenty one divers completed measures of personality and mood states, and were then compressed to 709 kPa (equivalent to 60 msw) in a dry compression chamber, where they completed a task measuring speed of information processing, and a scale measuring subjective narcosis. Results and Conclusions: The main finding was the absence of any significant correlations between measures of personality traits and mood, and susceptibility to inert gas narcosis. Although the study found no evidence of any major relationship, it is presented as a case study to highlight some of the issues and pitfalls involved in such research. The lessons learned — including the careful defining and describing of concepts, and choosing of samples and measurements — are used to discuss some of the methodological and conceptual issues and future directions for researchers to consider.