As with any sensory input, music might be expected to incorporate the processing of information about the safety of the environment. Little research has been done on how such processing has evolved and how different kinds of sounds may affect the experience of certain environments. In this article, we investigate if music, as a form of auditory information, can trigger the experience of safety. We hypothesized that (1) there should be an optimal, subjectively preferred degree of information density of musical sounds, at which safety-related information can be processed optimally; (2) any deviation from the optimum, that is, both higher and lower levels of information density, should elicit experiences of higher stress and danger; and (3) in general, sonic scenarios with music should reduce experiences of stress and danger more than other scenarios. In Experiment 1, the information density of short music-like rhythmic stimuli was manipulated via their tempo. In an initial session, listeners adjusted the tempo of the stimuli to what they deemed an appropriate tempo. In an ensuing session, the same listeners judged their experienced stress and danger in response to the same stimuli, as well as stimuli exhibiting tempo variants. Results are consistent with the existence of an optimum information density for a given rhythm; the preferred tempo decreased for increasingly complex rhythms. The hypothesis that any deviation from the optimum would lead to experiences of higher stress and danger was only partly fit by the data. In Experiment 2, listeners should indicate their experience of stress and danger in response to different sonic scenarios: music, natural sounds, and silence. As expected, the music scenarios were associated with lowest stress and danger whereas both natural sounds and silence resulted in higher stress and danger. Overall, the results largely fit the hypothesis that music seemingly carries safety-related information about the environment.

Multi-material-design (MMD) is commonly realized through the combination of thin sheet metal and fibre reinforced plastics (FRP). To maximize the high lightweight potential of the material groups within a multi-material system as good as possible, a material-adapted and particularly fibre adjusted joining technology must be applied. The present paper focuses on two novel joining technologies, the Flow Drill Joining (FDJ) method and Spin-Blind-Riveting (SBR), which were developed for joining heavy-duty metal/composite hybrids. Tests were carried out with material combinations which are significant for lightweight constructions such as aluminium (AA5083) and carbon fibre-reinforced polyamide in sheet thickness of 1.8 mm. The mechanical testing and manufacturing of those multi-material joints was investigated.

There was developed a novel technological and constructive approach for the low-cost production of curved freeform formworks, which allow the production of single and double-curved fibre reinforced concrete. The scheduled approach was based on a flexible, asymmetrical multi-layered formwork system, which consists of glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP). By using of the unusual anisotropic structural behavior, these GFRP formwork elements permitted a specific adjustment of defined curvature. The system design of the developed GFRP formwork was examined exhaustively. There were designed, numerically computed and produced prototypical curved freeform surfaces with different curvature radii. The fibre reinforced concrete had a compressive strength of 101.4 MPa and a 3-point bending tensile strength of 17.41 MPa. Beyond that, it was ensured that the TRC had a high durability, which has been shown by the capillary suction of de-icing solution and freeze thaw test with a total amount of scaled material of 874 g/m² and a relative dynamic E-Modulus of 100% after 28 freeze-thaw cycles.

Many modern neural simulators focus on the simulation of networks of spiking neurons on parallel hardware. Another important framework in computational neuroscience, rate-coded neural networks, is mostly difficult or impossible to implement using these simulators. We present here the ANNarchy (Artificial Neural Networks architect) neural simulator, which allows to easily define and simulate rate-coded and spiking networks, as well as combinations of both. The interface in Python has been designed to be close to the PyNN interface, while the definition of neuron and synapse models can be specified using an equation-oriented mathematical description similar to the Brian neural simulator. This information is used to generate C++ code that will efficiently perform the simulation on the chosen parallel hardware (multi-core system or graphical processing unit). Several numerical methods are available to transform ordinary differential equations into an efficient C++code. We compare the parallel performance of the simulator to existing solutions.

Moderne Fahrerassistenzsysteme basieren auf der Verarbeitung von Informationen, welche durch die Umfeldwahrnehmung mit unterschiedlicher Sensorik erfolgt. Neben den Informationen aus dem eigenen Fahrzeug ergeben sich durch unterschiedliche Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten (Car2Car, Car2X, ...) erweiterte Umfeldwahrnehmungen (siehe Abb. 1). Diese Daten gilt es aufbereitet und zielorientiert einer Anwendung zur Verfügung zu stellen, was mit Hilfe einer Local Dynamic Map (LDM) erfüllt werden kann. Die vorliegende Veröffentlichung beschreibt den Aufbau, Verwendungszweck und Eigenschaften einer entwickelten LDM und geht auf einige Applikationen ein, die mit Hilfe dieser realisiert wurden.

We describe and report on results of employing a new method for analyzing lay conceptions of intentional and unintentional action. Instead of asking people for their conceptual intuitions with regard to construed scenarios, we asked our participants to come up with their own scenarios and to explain why these are examples of intentional or unintentional actions. By way of content analysis, we extracted contexts and components that people associated with these action types. Our participants associated unintentional actions predominantly with bad outcomes for all persons involved and linked intentional actions more strongly to positive outcomes, especially concerning the agent. People’s conceptions of intentional action seem to involve more aspects than commonly assumed in philosophical models of intentional action that solely stress the importance of intentions, desires, and beliefs. The additional aspects include decisions and thoughts about the action. In addition, we found that the criteria that participants generated for unintentional actions are not a mere inversion of those used in explanations for intentional actions. Associations between involuntariness and unintentional action seem to be stronger than associations between aspects of voluntariness and intentional action.

The Posturomed device is used as a scientific tool to quantify human dynamic balance ability due to unexpected perturbations, and as a training device. Consequently, the question arises whether such measurements are compromised by learning effects. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze inter- and intra-day reliability of dynamic balance responses using the Posturomed. Thirty healthy young subjects participated (24.3±3.2 years). The Posturomed was equipped with a triggering mechanism to enable unexpected, horizontal platform perturbations. A force platform was used to quantify Center of Pressure (COP) excursions for two time intervals: interval 1 (0–70 ms post perturbation) and interval 2 (71–260 ms post perturbation). Dynamic balance tests were performed in single leg stances in medio-lateral and anterior-posterior perturbation directions. Inter- and intra-day reliability were assessed descriptively using Bland-Altman plots and inferentially using tests for systematic error and intra-class-correlations. With regard to the mean COP excursions for every subject and all intervals, some cases revealed significant differences between measurement sessions, however, none were considered relevant. Furthermore, intra class correlation coefficients reflected high magnitudes, which leads to the assumption of good relative reliability. However, analyzing inter- and intra-day reliability using Bland-Altman plots revealed one exception: intra-day comparisons for the anterior-posterior direction in interval 2, which points towards possible learning effects. In summary, results reflected good overall reliability with the exception of certain intra-day comparisons in the anterior-posterior perturbation direction, which could indicate learning effects in those particular conditions.

Im Jahr 1996 führte der Lehrstuhl Personal und Führung erstmals eine Befragung von Absolventen der Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften durch. Auch in den Jahren 1998, 2001, 2005 und 2009 konnte jeweils eine Absolventenbefragung an der Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften realisiert werden. Inhalt dieser Ergebnisbroschüre bildet die nunmehr sechste Erhebungswelle 2013, wobei eine Gegenüberstellung der Daten zu den früheren Absolventenbefragungen im Sinne eines Längsschnittvergleichs möglich ist.

Unknown to most Western psychologists, ancient Indian scriptures contain very rich, empirically derived psychological theories that are, however, intertwined with religious and philosophical content. This article represents our attempt to extract the psychological theory of cognition and consciousness from a prominent ancient Indian thought system: Samkhya-Yoga. We derive rather broad hypotheses from this approach that may complement and extend Western mainstream theorizing. These hypotheses address an ancient personality theory, the effects of practicing the applied part of Samkhya-Yoga on normal and extraordinary cognition, as well as different ways of perceiving reality. We summarize empirical evidence collected (mostly without reference to the Indian thought system) in diverse fields of research that allows for making judgments about the hypotheses, and suggest more specific hypotheses to be examined in future research. We conclude that the existing evidence for the (broad) hypotheses is substantial but that there are still considerable gaps in theory and research to be filled. Theories of cognition contained in the ancient Indian systems have the potential to modify and complement existing Western mainstream accounts of cognition. In particular, they might serve as a basis for arriving at more comprehensive theories for several research areas that, so far, lack strong theoretical grounding, such as meditation research or research on aspects of consciousness.

In many European countries, migrants utilize cancer screening less often than non-migrants. In Germany, in contrast, higher rates of utilization among migrants as compared with non-migrants have been reported. The role of demographic and socioeconomic factors potentially confounding the association between migration status and participation in screening, however, could not be studied. The present study aims to investigate the utilization of cancer screening among migrant and nonmigrant women residing in Germany, adjusting for potential confounders. We used self-reported information from women surveyed on whether they have ever participated in screening for cancer (n = 11,709). The data was collected as part of a cross-sectional representative telephone survey conducted by the Robert Koch-Institute in 2010. We distinguished between three groups of women: (1) respondents of non-German nationality, those who had immigrated to Germany after their birth or those who have two foreign-born parents (“migrants with two-sided migration background”), (2) respondents who only have one foreign-born parent (“migrant with one-sided migration background”), and (3) all others (“non-migrants”). To account for confounders, logistic regression analysis was performed. Only individuals proficient in German were included in the survey, allowing to control for a bias arising from poor language proficiency. 84.9% of nonmigrant women, 82.1% of women with a one-sided, and 70.5% of women with a two-sided migration background had utilized screening for cancer at least once in their lifetime before the survey. The adjusted odds ratios (OR) as compared with nonmigrant women were 0.99 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.77–1.27) and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.47–0.64), respectively. The study shows that migrant women with a two-sided migration background residing in Germany utilize screening for cancer less often than nonmigrant women—independently of demographic and socioeconomic factors. This is in line with findings from other countries. Likely, barriers that migrant women encounter limit them from taking informed choices. These barriers need to be identified and appropriate measures aiming to enhance informed decision making must be implemented.