Turning shame into creativity: the importance of expressive suppression in creative team environments among Colombian employees

We draw on the functionalist perspective of emotions (Keltner & Gross, 1999) in order to propose that ashamed employees engage in creative activity as a way to restore their positive self-image. We also propose that the shame–creativity relation is strongest if employees expose themselves via expressive suppression to a team environment that encourages creativity. We test these propositions with data from two Colombian field studies. Overall, we find mixed support for a main effect of shame on creativity but consistent support for the moderating effect of exposure to creative team environments on the link between shame and creativity. A scenario experiment confirmed restore motivation as one central mediating mechanism explaining the main and interactive effects of shame on creativity. We discuss implications for the literatures on creativity, shame, and exposure to creative team environments

Learning Tversky Similarity

In this paper, we advocate Tversky's ratio model as an appropriate basis for computational approaches to semantic similarity, that is, the comparison of objects such as images in a semantically meaningful way. We consider the problem of learning Tversky similarity measures from suitable training data indicating whether two objects tend to be similar or dissimilar. Experimentally, we evaluate our approach to similarity learning on two image datasets, showing that is performs very well compared to existing methods

Budd-Chiari Syndrome: Long term success via hepatic decompression using transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunt

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) generally implies thrombosis of the hepatic veins and/or the intrahepatic or suprahepatic inferior vena cava. Treatment depends on the underlying cause, the anatomic location, the extent of the thrombotic process and the functional capacity of the liver. It can be divided into medical treatment including anticoagulation and thrombolysis, radiological procedures such as angioplasty and transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunt (TIPS) and surgical interventions including orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Controlled trials or reports on larger cohorts are limited due to rare disease frequency. The aim of this study was to report our single centre long term results of patients with BCS receiving one of three treatment options i.e. medication only, TIPS or OLT on an individually based decision of our local expert group.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>20 patients with acute, subacute or chronic BCS were treated between 1988 and 2008. Clinical records were analysed with respect to underlying disease, therapeutic interventions, complications and overall outcome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>16 women and 4 men with a mean age of 34 ± 12 years (range: 14-60 years) at time of diagnosis were included. Myeloproliferative disorders or a plasmatic coagulopathy were identified as underlying disease in 13 patients, in the other patients the cause of BCS remained unclear. 12 patients presented with an acute BCS, 8 with a subacute or chronic disease. 13 patients underwent TIPS, 4 patients OLT as initial therapy, 2 patients required only symptomatic therapy, and one patient died from liver failure before any specific treatment could be initiated. Eleven of 13 TIPS patients required 2.5 ± 2.4 revisions (range: 0-8). One patient died from his underlying hematologic disease. The residual 12 patients still have stable liver function not requiring OLT. All 4 patients who underwent OLT as initial treatment, required re-OLT due to thrombembolic complications of the graft. Survival in the TIPS group was 92.3% and in the OLT group 75% during a median follow-up of 4 and 11.5 years, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results confirm the role of TIPS in the management of patients with acute, subacute and chronic BCS. The limited number of patients with OLT does not allow to draw a meaningful conclusion. However, the underlying disease may generate major complications, a reason why OLT should be limited to patients who cannot be managed by TIPS.</p

Maternal melatonin: Effective intervention against developmental programming of cardiovascular dysfunction in adult offspring of complicated pregnancy

Funder: British Heart Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000274Abstract: Adopting an integrative approach, by combining studies of cardiovascular function with those at cellular and molecular levels, this study investigated whether maternal treatment with melatonin protects against programmed cardiovascular dysfunction in the offspring using an established rodent model of hypoxic pregnancy. Wistar rats were divided into normoxic (N) or hypoxic (H, 10% O2) pregnancy ± melatonin (M) treatment (5 μg·ml−1.day−1) in the maternal drinking water. Hypoxia ± melatonin treatment was from day 15–20 of gestation (term is ca. 22 days). To control for possible effects of maternal hypoxia‐induced reductions in maternal food intake, additional dams underwent pregnancy under normoxic conditions but were pair‐fed (PF) to the daily amount consumed by hypoxic dams from day 15 of gestation. In one cohort of animals from each experimental group (N, NM, H, HM, PF, PFM), measurements were made at the end of gestation. In another, following delivery of the offspring, investigations were made at adulthood. In both fetal and adult offspring, fixed aorta and hearts were studied stereologically and frozen hearts were processed for molecular studies. In adult offspring, mesenteric vessels were isolated and vascular reactivity determined by in‐vitro wire myography. Melatonin treatment during normoxic, hypoxic or pair‐fed pregnancy elevated circulating plasma melatonin in the pregnant dam and fetus. Relative to normoxic pregnancy, hypoxic pregnancy increased fetal haematocrit, promoted asymmetric fetal growth restriction and resulted in accelerated postnatal catch‐up growth. Whilst fetal offspring of hypoxic pregnancy showed aortic wall thickening, adult offspring of hypoxic pregnancy showed dilated cardiomyopathy. Similarly, whilst cardiac protein expression of eNOS was downregulated in the fetal heart, eNOS protein expression was elevated in the heart of adult offspring of hypoxic pregnancy. Adult offspring of hypoxic pregnancy further showed enhanced mesenteric vasoconstrictor reactivity to phenylephrine and the thromboxane mimetic U46619. The effects of hypoxic pregnancy on cardiovascular remodelling and function in the fetal and adult offspring were independent of hypoxia‐induced reductions in maternal food intake. Conversely, the effects of hypoxic pregnancy on fetal and postanal growth were similar in pair‐fed pregnancies. Whilst maternal treatment of normoxic or pair‐fed pregnancies with melatonin on the offspring cardiovascular system was unremarkable, treatment of hypoxic pregnancies with melatonin in doses lower than those recommended for overcoming jet lag in humans enhanced fetal cardiac eNOS expression and prevented all alterations in cardiovascular structure and function in fetal and adult offspring. Therefore, the data support that melatonin is a potential therapeutic target for clinical intervention against developmental origins of cardiovascular dysfunction in pregnancy complicated by chronic fetal hypoxia

Cold gas accretion in galaxies

Evidence for the accretion of cold gas in galaxies has been rapidly accumulating in the past years. HI observations of galaxies and their environment have brought to light new facts and phenomena which are evidence of ongoing or recent accretion: 1) A large number of galaxies are accompanied by gas-rich dwarfs or are surrounded by HI cloud complexes, tails and filaments. It may be regarded as direct evidence of cold gas accretion in the local universe. It is probably the same kind of phenomenon of material infall as the stellar streams observed in the halos of our galaxy and M31. 2) Considerable amounts of extra-planar HI have been found in nearby spiral galaxies. While a large fraction of this gas is produced by galactic fountains, it is likely that a part of it is of extragalactic origin. 3) Spirals are known to have extended and warped outer layers of HI. It is not clear how these have formed, and how and for how long the warps can be sustained. Gas infall has been proposed as the origin. 4) The majority of galactic disks are lopsided in their morphology as well as in their kinematics. Also here recent accretion has been advocated as a possible cause. In our view, accretion takes place both through the arrival and merging of gas-rich satellites and through gas infall from the intergalactic medium (IGM). The infall may have observable effects on the disk such as bursts of star formation and lopsidedness. We infer a mean ``visible'' accretion rate of cold gas in galaxies of at least 0.2 Msol/yr. In order to reach the accretion rates needed to sustain the observed star formation (~1 Msol/yr), additional infall of large amounts of gas from the IGM seems to be required.Comment: To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics Reviews. 34 pages. Full-resolution version available at http://www.astron.nl/~oosterlo/accretionRevie

Quality of life in patients with personality disorders seen at an ordinary psychiatric outpatient clinic

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have found reduced health-related quality of life (QoL) in patients with personality disorders (PDs), but few clinical studies have examined QoL in PDs, and none of them are from an ordinary psychiatric outpatient clinic (POC). We wanted to examine QoL in patients with PDs seen at a POC, to explore the associations of QoL with established psychiatric measures, and to evaluate QoL as an outcome measure in PD patients. METHODS: 72 patients with PDs at a POC filled in the MOS Short Form 36 (SF-36), and two established psychiatric self-rating measures. A national norm sample was compared on the SF-36. An independent psychiatrist diagnosed PDs and Axis-I disorders by structured interviews and rated the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). All measurements were repeated in the 39 PD patients that attended the 2 years follow-up examination. RESULTS: PD patients showed high co-morbidity with other PDs and Axis I mental disorders, and they scored significantly lower on all the SF-36 dimensions than age- and gender-adjusted norms. Adjustment for co-morbid Axis I disorders had some influence, however. The SF-36 mental health, vitality, and social functioning were significantly associated with the GAF and the self-rated psychiatric measures. Significant changes at follow-up were found in the psychiatric measures, but only on the mental health and role-physical of the SF-36. CONCLUSION: Patients with PDs seen for treatment at a POC have globally poor QoL. Both physical and mental dimensions of the SF-36 are correlated with established psychiatric measures in such patients, but significant changes in these measures are only partly associated with changes in the SF-36 dimensions