Cognitive representations of disability behaviours in people with mobility limitations : consistency with theoretical constructs

Disability is conceptualised as behaviour by psychological theory and as a result of bodily impairment by medical models. However, how people with disabilities conceptualise those disabilities is unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine disability representations in people with mobility disabilities. Thirteen people with mobility disabilities completed personal repertory grids (using the method of triads) applied to activities used to measure disabilities. Ten judges with expertise in health psychology then examined the correspondence between the elicited disability constructs and psychological and medical models of disability. Participants with mobility disabilities generated 73 personal constructs ofdisability. These constructs were judged consistent with the content of two psychological models, namely the theory of planned behaviour and social cognitive theory and with the main medical model of disability, the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health.Individuals with activity limitations conceptualise activities in a manner that is compatible with both psychological and medical models. This ensures adequate communication in contexts where the medical model is relevant, e.g. clinical contexts, as well as in everyday conversation about activities and behaviours. Finally, integrated models of disability may be of value for theory driven interdisciplinary approaches to disability and rehabilitation

Engaging with patient online health information use: a survey of primary health care nurses

Internet health information is used by patients for health care decision making. Research indicates this information is not necessarily disclosed in interactions with health professionals. This study investigated primary health care nurses’ engagement with patient online health information use along with the respondents’ disclosure of online sources to their personal health care provider. A questionnaire was posted to a random sample of 1,000 New Zealand nurses with 630 responses. Half the respondents assessed patients’ online use (n = 324) and had encountered patients who had wrongly interpreted information. Health information quality evaluation activities with patients indicated the need for nursing information literacy skills. A majority of respondents (71%, n = 443) used online sources for personal health information needs; 36.3% (n = 155) of the respondents using online sources did not tell their personal health care provider about information obtained. This study identifies that there are gaps in supporting patient use but more nursing engagement with online sources when compared with earlier studies

Peer mentorship and positive effects on student mentor and mentee retention and academic success

This study examined how the introduction of peer mentorship in an undergraduate health and social welfare programme at a large northern university affected student learning. Using an ethnographic case study approach, the study draws upon data collected from a small group of mentors and their mentees over a period of one academic year using interviews, reflective journals, assessment and course evaluation data. Analysis of the data collected identified a number of key findings: peer mentorship improves assessment performance for both mentee and mentor; reduces stress and anxiety, enhances participation and engagement in the academic community, and adds value to student outcomes

Production cross sections from 82Se fragmentation as indications of shell effects in neutron-rich isotopes close to the drip-line

Production cross sections for neutron-rich nuclei from the fragmentation of a 82Se beam at 139 MeV/u were measured. The longitudinal momentum distributions of 126 neutron-rich isotopes of elements 11 <= Z <= 32 were scanned using an experimental approach of varying the target thickness. Production cross sections with beryllium and tungsten targets were determined for a large number of nuclei including several isotopes first observed in this work. These are the most neutron-rich nuclides of the elements 22 <= Z <= 25 (64Ti, 67V, 69Cr, 72Mn). One event was registered consistent with 70Cr, and another one with 75Fe. The production cross sections are correlated with Qg systematics to reveal trends in the data. The results presented here confirm our previous result from a similar measurement using a 76Ge beam, and can be explained with a shell model that predicts a subshell closure at N = 34 around Z = 20. This is demonstrated by systematic trends and calculations with the Abrasion-Ablation model that are sensitive to separation energies.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted to Phys.Rev.

The role of self-regulation in predicting sleep hygiene in university students

University students have poor sleep hygiene, leading to poorer health. Facets of self-regulation such as planning, behavioural inhibition, cognitive flexibility and working memory were explored in relation to three sleep hygiene behaviours: Avoiding stress or anxiety before bed, avoiding going to bed hungry or thirsty, and making the bedroom restful. One hundred and thirty-seven participants took part in an Internet-based survey over two time points separated by a period of two weeks. Only cognitive flexibility and behavioural inhibition correlated with sleep hygiene. Cognitive flexibility significantly predicted an aspect of sleep hygiene after controlling for past behaviour. However, when past behaviour was controlled for, behavioural inhibition no longer predicted sleep hygiene. Thus, cognitive flexibility may play a role in explaining sleep hygiene; however, behavioural inhibition does not appear as important as previously assumed. Further research could build on this study to determine whether cognitive flexibility can be experimentally improved

Production cross sections of neutron rich isotopes from a 82Se beam

Production cross sections for neutron-rich nuclei from the fragmentation of a 82Se beam at 139 MeV/u were measured. The longitudinal momentum distributions of 122 neutron-rich isotopes of elements $11 \le Z \le 32$ were determined by varying the target thickness. Production cross sections with beryllium and tungsten targets were determined for a large number of nuclei including several isotopes first observed in this work. These are the most neutron-rich nuclides of the elements $22 \le Z \le 25$ (64Ti, 67V, 69Cr, 72Mn). One event was registered consistent with 70Cr, and another one with 75Fe. A one-body Qg systematics is used to describe the production cross sections based on thermal evaporation from excited prefragments. The current results confirm those of our previous experiment with a 76Ge beam: enhanced production cross sections for neutron-rich fragments near Z=20.Comment: Talk given at the 11th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1, 2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

Perceptions of knowledge sharing among small family firm leaders: a structural equation model

Small family firms have many unique relational qualities with implications for how knowledge is passed between individuals. Extant literature posits leadership approach as important in explaining differences in knowledge-sharing climate from one firm to another. This study investigates how leadership approaches interact with family influence to inform perceptions of knowledge sharing. We utilize survey data (n = 110) from owner-managers of knowledge-intensive small family firms in Scotland. Our findings present a choice in leadership intention, contrasting organization-focused participation against family-influenced guidance. Insight is offered on the implications of this leadership choice at both organizational and familial level

Basic Conditioning Factors' Influences on Adolescents' Healthy Behaviors, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Care

This article reports a secondary statistical analysis of data from a study investigating the relationships among health-promoting self-care behaviors, self-care self-efficacy, and self-care agency in an adolescent population (Callaghan, 2005). The purpose of this study was to identify the influences of selected basic conditioning factors on the practice of healthy behaviors, self-efficacy beliefs, and ability for self-care in 256 adolescents. The research instruments used to collect data for this study include: Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II Scale; Self-Rated Abilities for Health Practices Scale; Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale; demographic questionnaire assessing basic conditioning factors. The results of this analysis identified significant relationships between the following basic conditioning factors and adolescents' practice of healthy behaviors, self-efficacy of those behaviors, and self-care abilities: support system, adequate income, adequate living conditions, gender, routine practice of religion, and reported medical problems/disabilities. These findings can give adolescent health nurses direction in developing interventions that promote the self-care and health in this specific population

Conditional pair distributions in many-body systems: Exact results for Poisson ensembles

We introduce a conditional pair distribution function (CPDF) which characterizes the probability density of finding an object (e.g., a particle in a fluid) to certain distance of other, with each of these two having a nearest neighbor to a fixed but otherwise arbitrary distance. This function describes special four-body configurations, but also contains contributions due to the so-called mutual nearest neighbor (two-body) and shared neighbor (three-body) configurations. The CPDF is introduced to improve a Helmholtz free energy method based on space partitions. We derive exact expressions of the CPDF and various associated quantities for randomly distributed, non-interacting points at Euclidean spaces of one, two and three dimensions. Results may be of interest in many diverse scientific fields, from fluid physics to social and biological sciences.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, v2: new section, appendix and references, plus some other minor changes; to be published in Phys. Rev.