Incorporating family function into chronic pain disability: the role of catastrophizing

Background. Observers' responses to pain are recently investigated to more comprehensively explain chronic pain (CP) and disability. However, the role of family context, defined as interference in roles, communication, and problem-solving, and how (i.e., through which mechanisms) these variables contribute to CP related disability have yet to be examined. Objectives. The aim of the present study is to examine family context in relationship to pain catastrophizing, fear of movement, and depression and its role in understanding CP disability. Three different models were examined. Methods. A total sample of 142 patients with musculoskeletal chronic pain was recruited to examine the role of fear of movement, pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, and depression in relationship to family functioning as predictors of disability. Results. Findings indicated that two models showed acceptable fit, but one of them revealed superior fit indices. Results of the model with superior fit indices indicated that family dysfunction may contribute to catastrophic thinking, which, in turn, contributes to patients' disability through increasing fear of movement and depression. Discussion. The current study provides further support for the notion that the impact of emotional and cognitive variables upon CP-related disability can be better understood when we consider the social context of pain patients and family function in particular

Communicating Java Threads

The incorporation of multithreading in Java may be considered a significant part of the Java language, because it provides udimentary facilities for concurrent programming. However, we belief that the use of channels is a fundamental concept for concurrent programming. The channel approach as described in this paper is a realization of a systematic design method for concurrent programming in Java based on the CSP paradigm. CSP requires the availability of a Channel class and the addition of composition constructs for sequential, parallel and alternative processes. The Channel class and the constructs have been implemented in Java in compliance with the definitions in CSP. As a result, implementing communication between processes is facilitated, enabling the programmer to avoid deadlock more easily, and freeing the programmer from synchronization and scheduling constructs. The use of the Channel class and the additional constructs is illustrated in a simple application

Pathways to the Future: Community Dialogues on Adaptive Environmental Management Through Scenario Projection in Google Maps

This paper presents research on the potential of interactive media for regional community dialogues on future uncertainties and complexities in coupled human and natural systems. More adaptive perspectives on natural resources management are needed to respond to rapid environmental and social change. Scenarios are a useful tool for participatory explorations of future issues that are high on uncertainties and complexities. We explore how scenarios can bank on the communicatory effectiveness of interactive media to increase their impact. We present a method, the Scenario Communities project, currently in testing phase, that combines strategies from serious gaming, landscape visualization and web 2.0 technology. We also present a number of visual tests that we use to analyse the effects of the scenario communication

Extending the functionalities of shear-driven chromatography nano-channels using high aspect ratio etching

An new injection system is presented for shear-driven chromatography. The device has been fabricated by high aspect ratio etching of silicon. The performance of the injection slit is studied through the aid of computational fluid dynamics, and the first experimental results are presented

Depletion-mode Quantum Dots in Intrinsic Silicon

We report the fabrication and electrical characterization of depletion-mode quantum dots in a two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) in intrinsic silicon. We use fixed charge in a SiO$_2$/Al$_2$O$_3$ dielectric stack to induce a 2DHG at the Si/SiO$_2$ interface. Fabrication of the gate structures is accomplished with a single layer metallization process. Transport spectroscopy reveals regular Coulomb oscillations with charging energies of 10-15 meV and 3-5 meV for the few- and many-hole regimes, respectively. This depletion-mode design avoids complex multilayer architectures requiring precision alignment, and allows to adopt directly best practices already developed for depletion dots in other material systems. We also demonstrate a method to deactivate fixed charge in the SiO$_2$/Al$_2$O$_3$ dielectric stack using deep ultraviolet light, which may become an important procedure to avoid unwanted 2DHG build-up in Si MOS quantum bits.Comment: Accepted to Applied Physics Letters. 5 pages, 3 figure

State versus Trait: Validating State Assessment of Child and Parental Catastrophic Thinking about Child Pain

Pain catastrophizing has emerged as one of the most robust predictors of child pain outcomes. Although assessments of state (i.e., situation-specific) pain catastrophizing in children and parents are often used, their psychometric properties are unknown. This study aimed to assess factor structure, reliability and predictive validity of state versions of Pain Catastrophizing Scales for children (PCS-C State) and parents (PCS-P State) relative to corresponding trait versions for child and parental pain-related outcomes. Data were pooled from 8 experimental pain studies wherein child and/or parent state catastrophizing (measured immediately before application of a pain stimulus) and trait catastrophizing were assessed in community-based samples of children aged 8–18 years (N=689) and their parents (N=888) in Dutch or English. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to examine the underlying factor structure of the PCS-P/PCS-C State, revealing a single factor solution that explained 55.53% of the variance for children and 49.72% for parents. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to examine relative influence of state versus trait catastrophizing on child and parent pain-related outcomes. Child and parent state catastrophizing were significantly associated with child pain intensity, child state anxiety and parental distress. State catastrophizing scores showed stronger associations than trait scores for most outcomes

Earth System Model Analysis of How Astronomical Forcing Is Imprinted Onto the Marine Geological Record:The Role of the Inorganic (Carbonate) Carbon Cycle and Feedbacks

Astronomical cycles are strongly expressed in marine geological records, providing important insights into Earth system dynamics and an invaluable means of constructing age models. However, how various astronomical periods are filtered by the Earth system and the mechanisms by which carbon reservoirs and climate components respond, particularly in absence of dynamic ice sheets, is unclear. Using an Earth system model that includes feedbacks between climate, ocean circulation, and inorganic (carbonate) carbon cycling relevant to geological timescales, we systematically explore the impact of astronomically‐modulated insolation forcing and its expression in model variables most comparable to key paleoceanographic proxies (temperature, the δ13C of inorganic carbon, and sedimentary carbonate content). Temperature predominately responds to obliquity and is little influenced by the modeled carbon cycle feedbacks. In contrast, the cycling of nutrients and carbon in the ocean generates significant precession power in atmospheric CO2, benthic ocean δ13C, and sedimentary wt% CaCO3, while inclusion of marine sedimentary and weathering processes shifts power to the long eccentricity period. Our simulations produce reduced pCO2 and dissolved inorganic carbon δ13C at long eccentricity maxima and, contrary to early Cenozoic marine records, CaCO3 preservation in the model is enhanced during eccentricity modulated warmth. Additionally, the magnitude of δ13C variability simulated in our model underestimates marine proxy records. These model‐data discrepancies hint at the possibility that the Paleogene silicate weathering feedback was weaker than modeled here and that additional organic carbon cycle feedbacks are necessary to explain the full response of the Earth system to astronomical forcing

Earth System Model Analysis of How Astronomical Forcing Is Imprinted Onto the Marine Geological Record:The Role of the Inorganic (Carbonate) Carbon Cycle and Feedbacks

Astronomical cycles are strongly expressed in marine geological records, providing important insights into Earth system dynamics and an invaluable means of constructing age models. However, how various astronomical periods are filtered by the Earth system and the mechanisms by which carbon reservoirs and climate components respond, particularly in absence of dynamic ice sheets, is unclear. Using an Earth system model that includes feedbacks between climate, ocean circulation, and inorganic (carbonate) carbon cycling relevant to geological timescales, we systematically explore the impact of astronomically‐modulated insolation forcing and its expression in model variables most comparable to key paleoceanographic proxies (temperature, the δ13C of inorganic carbon, and sedimentary carbonate content). Temperature predominately responds to obliquity and is little influenced by the modeled carbon cycle feedbacks. In contrast, the cycling of nutrients and carbon in the ocean generates significant precession power in atmospheric CO2, benthic ocean δ13C, and sedimentary wt% CaCO3, while inclusion of marine sedimentary and weathering processes shifts power to the long eccentricity period. Our simulations produce reduced pCO2 and dissolved inorganic carbon δ13C at long eccentricity maxima and, contrary to early Cenozoic marine records, CaCO3 preservation in the model is enhanced during eccentricity modulated warmth. Additionally, the magnitude of δ13C variability simulated in our model underestimates marine proxy records. These model‐data discrepancies hint at the possibility that the Paleogene silicate weathering feedback was weaker than modeled here and that additional organic carbon cycle feedbacks are necessary to explain the full response of the Earth system to astronomical forcing