Design evaluation criteria for commercial STOL transports

Handling qualities criteria and operational performance margins have been determined for the landing phase of commercial short-takeoff-and-landing airplanes. The requirements are the result of a literature survey, analysis of areas found to be inadequately covered by current criteria, and a subsequent piloted simulator investigation of critical criteria requiring substantiation. Three complete simulator models were used, each describing the characteristics of a different high-lift system, the externally blown flap, the augmentor flap, and the internally blown flap. The proposed criteria are presented with substantiating discussions from currently available data or directly from the results of this simulation work where it is applicable

Reconciling Psychoanalytic Ideas with Attachment Theory

The relationship between attachment theory and psychoanalysis, historically, has not been an easy one (Cassidy & Shaver, 2008; Eagle, 2013; Fonagy, 2001). But in recent years, developments in both fields have led to a growing rapprochement (Eagle, 2013; Holmes, 2009). Changes in psychoanalytic thinking have made it more accommodating of attachment thinking; conversely, aspects of the development of attachment findings, applications, and theory have made it more pertinent to psychoanalysis. In this chapter we examine the disagreements between psychoanalysis and attachment theory, and point to some of the two disciplines’ common foundations. We then describe an approach to the role of attachment in human development that considers it in relation to the capacity to mentalize, that is, to understand ourselves and others in terms of intentional mental states, and places both attachment and mentalizing in the context of the development of epistemic trust—the capacity to trust others as a source of knowledge about the world. This approach builds on some of Bowlby’s assumptions drawn from evolutionary biology, placing some of the better founded psychoanalytic criticisms of attachment theory in a different perspective. We suggest that this context allows the ongoing significance of Bowlby and Ainsworth’s thinking for the psychoanalytic project to be appreciated

Secondary prevention of stroke: Using the experiences of patients and carers to inform the development of an educational resource

Copyright @ The Author 2008. This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below.Background. Patients who have had one stroke are at increased risk of another. Secondary prevention strategies that address medical risk factors and promote healthy lifestyles can reduce the risk. However, concordance with secondary prevention strategies is poor and there has been little research into patient and carer views. Objectives. To explore the experiences of patients and carers of receiving secondary prevention advice and use these to inform the development of an educational resource. Methods. A total of 38 participants (25 patients and 13 carers) took part in the study which used an action research approach. Focus groups and interviews were undertaken with patients and carers who had been discharged from hospital after stroke (between 3 and 24 months previously). Framework analysis was used to examine the data and elicit action points to develop an educational resource. Results. Participants’ main concern was their desire for early access to information. They commented on their priorities for what information or support they needed, the difficulty of absorbing complex information whilst still an in-patient and how health professionals’ use of language was often a barrier to understanding. They discussed the facilitators and barriers to making lifestyle changes. The educational resource was developed to include specific advice for medical and lifestyle risk factors and an individual action plan. Conclusion. An educational resource for secondary prevention of stroke was developed using a participatory methodology. Our findings suggest that this resource is best delivered in a one-to-one manner, but further work is needed to identify its potential utility.Peninsula Primary Care Research Networ

The mentalizing approach to psychopathology: State of the art and future directions

Mentalizing is the capacity to understand others and oneself in terms of internal mental states. It is assumed to be underpinned by four dimensions: automatic–controlled, internally–externally focused, self–other, and cognitive–affective. Research suggests that mental disorders are associated with different imbalances in these dimensions. Addressing the quality of mentalizing as part of psychosocial treatments may be helpful for individuals with various mental disorders. We suggest that mentalizing is a helpful transtheoretical and transdiagnostic concept explaining vulnerability to psychopathology and its treatment. This review summarizes the mentalizing approach to psychopathology from a developmental socioecological evolutionary perspective. We then focus on the application of the mentalizing approach to personality disorders, and review studies that have extended this approach to other types of psychopathology, including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. We summarize core principles of mentalization-based treatments and preventive interventions, and the evidence for their effectiveness. We conclude with recommendations for future research

Simulations of Galactic Cosmic Rays Impacts on the Herschel/PACS Photoconductor Arrays with Geant4 Code

We present results of simulations performed with the Geant4 software code of the effects of Galactic Cosmic Ray impacts on the photoconductor arrays of the PACS instrument. This instrument is part of the ESA-Herschel payload, which will be launched in late 2007 and will operate at the Lagrangian L2 point of the Sun-Earth system. Both the Satellite plus the cryostat (the shield) and the detector act as source of secondary events, affecting the detector performance. Secondary event rates originated within the detector and from the shield are of comparable intensity. The impacts deposit energy on each photoconductor pixel but do not affect the behaviour of nearby pixels. These latter are hit with a probability always lower than 7%. The energy deposited produces a spike which can be hundreds times larger than the noise. We then compare our simulations with proton irradiation tests carried out for one of the detector modules and follow the detector behaviour under 'real' conditions.Comment: paper submitted to Experimental Astronomy in March 200

Minimal Brownian Ratchet: An Exactly Solvable Model

We develop an exactly-solvable three-state discrete-time minimal Brownian ratchet (MBR), where the transition probabilities between states are asymmetric. By solving the master equations we obtain the steady-state probabilities. Generally the steady-state solution does not display detailed balance, giving rise to an induced directional motion in the MBR. For a reduced two-dimensional parameter space we find the null-curve on which the net current vanishes and detailed balance holds. A system on this curve is said to be balanced. On the null-curve, an additional source of external random noise is introduced to show that a directional motion can be induced under the zero overall driving force. We also indicate the off-balance behavior with biased random noise.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, RevTex source, General solution added. To be appeared in Phys. Rev. Let

Mentalizing, epistemic trust and the phenomenology of psychotherapy

This paper seeks to elucidate the phenomenological experience of psychotherapy in the context of the theory of mentalizing and epistemic trust. We describe two related phenomenological experiences that are the domain of psychotherapeutic work. The first is the patient’s direct experience of their own personal narrative being recognised, marked and reflected back to them by the therapist. Secondly, this intersubjective recognition makes possible the regulation and alignment of the patient’s imaginative capacity in relation to our phenomenological experiences. In describing three aspects of the communication process that unfold in effective psychotherapeutic interventions – 1) the epistemic match, 2) improving mentalizing, and 3) the re-emergence of social learning – the way in which any effective treatment is embedded in metacognitive processes about the self in relation to perceptual social reality is explained. In particular, attention is drawn to wider social determinants of psychopathology. We discuss the possible mechanism for the relationship between the social-economic environment and psychopathology, and the implications of this for psychotherapeutic treatment