Different histories, different stories: using a narrative tool to assess childrens internal worlds

pre-printThis study investigated the concurrent validity of a children's narrative assessment tool, the Plenk Story-Telling Test (PST). The PST attempts to measure aspects of young children's internal working models by eliciting narratives from nine pictures. The PST, Child Behavior Checklist, and the Parenting Stress Index were administered to a clinical sample and a community sample of children. Data from 262 participants were obtained. Children in the clinical sample significantly differed from the community sample on each instrument. The PST was reliably coded and most of the responses could be interpreted through a factor analysis. Consistent with hypotheses, children in the clinical sample viewed the world as a more dangerous place, were more preoccupied and less optimistic than those in the community sample. These findings support initial concurrent validity for the PST because it reliably distinguished between the two different groups, making the PST a potentially useful tool for both research and clinical uses

Thermodynamics of a continuously monitored double quantum dot heat engine in the repeated interactions framework

Understanding the thermodynamic role of measurement in quantum mechanical systems is a burgeoning field of study. In this article, we study a double quantum dot (DQD) connected to two macroscopic fermionic thermal reservoirs. We assume that the DQD is continuously monitored by a quantum point contact (QPC), which serves as a charge detector. Starting from a minimalist microscopic model for the QPC and reservoirs, we show that the local master equation of the DQD can alternatively be derived in the framework of repeated interactions and that this framework guarantees a thermodynamically consistent description of the DQD and its environment (including the QPC). We analyze the effect of the measurement strength and identify a regime in which particle transport through the DQD is both assisted and stabilized by dephasing. We also find that in this regime the entropic cost of driving the particle current with fixed relative fluctuations through the DQD is reduced. We thus conclude that under continuous measurement a more constant particle current may be achieved at a fixed entropic cost.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures; comments are welcom

Gemeinsam interpretieren

Innerhalb der letzten 20 Jahre sind vermehrt Kommunikationssituationen und Kommunikationsprozesse zum Gegenstand qualitativer Forschungsprojekte erklärt worden. Bemerkenswerterweise wurden die Kommunikationsprozesse in wissenschaftlichen Interpretengruppen bei der Auswertung qualitativer Daten noch nicht hinreichend untersucht.Der Beitrag führt ein in das Paradigma des Kommunikativen Konstruktivismus. Zudem wird diskutiert, welche Bedeutung diese wissenschaftsprogrammatische Ausrichtung für die Forschung hat, bevor zum Schluss ein Ausblick auf ein vorbereitetes Forschungsprojekt gegeben wird, indem die Praxis des gemeinsamen interpretierens sowohl wissenssoziologisch als auch psychoanalytisch und kommunikationssoziologisch rekonstruiert und erklärt werden soll

α2C-Adrenoceptor polymorphism is associated with improved event-free survival in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

Aims The sympathetic nervous system plays a central role in cardiac growth but its overstimulation is associated with increased mortality in patients with chronic heart failure. Pre-synaptic α2-adrenoceptors are essential feedback regulators to control the release of norepinephrine from sympathetic nerves. In this study we tested whether a deletion polymorphism in the human α2C-adrenoceptor gene (α2CDel322-325) affects progression of heart failure in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Methods and results We genotyped and phenotyped 345 patients presenting with DCM in the heart transplant unit of the German Heart Institute, starting in 1994. Patients were treated according to guidelines (99% ACEI, 76% β-blockers) and were followed until December 2002 or until a first event [death, heart transplantation, or implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for a life-threatening condition] occurred. Mean follow-up time was 249 weeks (4.9 years) in event-free patients and 104 weeks (2 years) in patients with events. During follow-up, 51% of the patients exhibited an event: death (18%), implantation of LVAD as bridging for transplantation (7%), or heart transplantation (25%). By Kaplan-Meier analysis, DCM patients with the deletion variant Del322-325 in the α2C-adrenoceptor showed significantly decreased event rates (P=0.0043). Cox regression analysis revealed that the presence of the deletion was associated with reduced death rate (relative risk: 0.129, 95% CI: 0.18-0.9441, P=0.044) and event rates (relative risk: 0.167, 95% CI: 0.041-0.685, P=0.012). Conclusion α2C-Adrenoceptor deletion may be a novel, strong, and independent predictor of reduced event rates in DCM patients treated according to guideline

Careers of an elite cohort of U.S. basic life science postdoctoral fellows and the influence of their mentor's citation record

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is general agreement that the number of U.S. science PhDs being trained far exceeds the number of future academic positions. One suggested approach to this problem is to significantly reduce the number of PhD positions. A counter argument is that students are aware of the limited academic positions but have chosen a PhD track because it opens other, non-academic, opportunities. The latter view requires that students have objective information about what careers options will be available for them.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The scientific careers of the 1992-94 cohort of NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Kirchstein-NRSA F32 postdoctoral fellows (PD) was determined by following their publications (PubMed), grants (NIH and NSF), and faculty and industry positions through 2009. These basic life science PDs receive support through individual grant applications and represent the most successful class of NIH PDs as judged by academic careers and grants. The sex dependence of the career and grant success and the influence of the PD mentor's citation record were also determined</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 439 1992-94 NIGMS F32 fellows, the careers of 417 could be determined. Although females had significantly higher rates of dropping out of science (22% females, 9% males) there was no significant difference in the fraction of females that ended up as associate or full professors at research universities (22.8% females, 29.1% for males). More males then females ended up in industry (34% males, 22% females). Although there was no significant correlation between male grant success and their mentor's publication record (h index, citations, publications), there was a significant correlation for females. Females whose mentor's h index was in the top quartile were nearly 3 times as likely to receive a major grant as those whose mentors were in the bottom quartile (38.7% versus 13.3%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Sixteen years after starting their PD, only 9% of males had dropped out of science. More females (28%) have dropped out of science, primarily because fewer went into industry positions. The mentor's publication record does not affect the future grant success of males but it has a dramatic effect on female grant success.</p

Identifying and Aligning Expectations in a Mentoring Relationship

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-8062.2011.00356.

Little Impact of Antiplatelet Agents on Venous Thromboembolism after Hip Fracture Surgery

Since the late 1980s, low dose aspirin has been used to prevent stroke and ischemic heart disease. However, prophylactic effect of antiplatelets against venous thromboembolism (VTE), in patients who undergo hip fracture surgery (HFS) is controversial. Our purpose was to determine the incidence of symptomatic VTE after HFS and to evaluate whether antiplatelets reduce the development of symptomatic VTE following HFS. We retrospectively reviewed 858 HFS in 824 consecutive patients which were performed from May 2003 to April 2010 at an East Asian institute. We compared the incidence of symptomatic VTE in antiplatelet users and non-users using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Overall incidences of symptomatic pulmonary embolism including fatal pulmonary embolism, and symptomatic deep vein thrombosis in this study were 2.4% (21/858), and 3.5% (30/858), respectively. The incidence of symptomatic VTE was 4.8% (12/250) in antiplatelet users and 4.3% (26/608) in non-users (P = 0.718). It is suggested that antiplatelet agents are not effective in prevention of symptomatic VTE after HFS