Anger expression as a predictor of outcome in emotion focused therapy with adult survivors of childhood abuse.

The present process-outcome study is a follow-up to an outcome study evaluating emotion-focused therapy for adult survivors of childhood abuse (Paivio & Nieuwenhuis, 2001). The Quality of Anger Expression Scale (QAES) was constructed as a measure of the quality of anger process during imaginal confrontation interventions (IC) over the course of treatment. Scores on the QAES were used to predict outcome. Findings support the predictive ability of the QAES on interpersonal dimensions and resolution of abuse-related issues. However, QAES did not independently predict outcome when controlling for contributions of the working alliance and the level of engagement in the IC intervention.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2003 .C37. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 43-01, page: 0321. Adviser: Sandra Paivio. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2004

Rorschach and MMPI-2 construct specific convergence: Disentangling the roles of response style and general psychopathology

Although the MMPI-2 and Rorschach are commonly used and researched tests, studies examining the convergence of similarly named constructs (e.g., depression) have typically found that the tests are unrelated (Archer & Krishnamurthy, 1997). Meyer (1997, 1999) and Meyer, Riethmiller, Brooks, Benoit, and Handler (2000) established that choosing participants who respond to the Rorschach and the MMPI-2 in a similar way based on their placement on the first unrotated principal component (FUPC) moderates convergence between similarly named constructs (e.g., depression). However, it has been unclear as to whether these results were due to specific construct convergence or whether they were due merely to the match of FUPC. In addition, the matches based on FUPC markers might have been due to response style and/or general psychopathology. Thus, it had been unclear in the literature to what extent the convergence of similarly based constructs on the MMPI-2 and Rorschach has been due to: specific construct convergence, response style, or general psychopathology. The current study sought first to replicate Meyer\u27s findings in a new sample. Secondly, additional analyses were conducted that were designed to disentangle the respective influences of construct specific convergence, response style, and general psychopathology. Meyer\u27s results were generally replicated in a new sample. Second, after having separated the influences of response style and general psychopathology, correlations between conceptually related constructs were not higher than correlations between conceptually unrelated constructs indicating that construct-specific convergence could not be established. Third, correlations between conceptually unrelated psychopathology constructs were not higher than correlations between non-psychopathology constructs. This suggests that the effect of general psychopathology did not have an effect over and above the effect of response style. The findings suggest that there is no construct-specific convergence between similarly named (e.g., depression) constructs on the MMPI-2 and the Rorschach. The findings also highlight the large influence of response style on the convergence of similarly named constructs

Samuel Beckett and bilingualism: how the return to English influences the later writing style and gender roles of All that Fall and Happy Days

This dissertation addresses Samuel Beckett\u27s bilingualism in an effort to understand how the author\u27s use of language affected his writing style and depiction of gender. Beckett began writing in English, switched to French for the composition of new works for ten years, and then returned unexpectedly to English. His first English works are characterized by stylistic virtuosity, erudition, and misogyny. With Beckett\u27s adoption of French his style became simple, spare, and cerebral. Plot structure based on a journey in early works was abandoned in favor of static situations and dialogue. Women were either ignored or viewed negatively. In 1956, Beckett returned to his mother language with All that Fall, a radio play. The setting and language are distinctively Irish, the plot is built around a trip to the train station, and the protagonist is a woman. Another play from the second English period, Happy Days, displays a more balanced synthesis of style and contains elements of both the English and French writing. It retains the French period qualities of static plot and simple language; however, it has a female protagonist who may be, in part, based on the author\u27s mother. The study of these two plays in the context of Beckett\u27s bilingualism shows the influence of the mother tongue on writing style and the introduction of positive depictions of women

Surface decoration of catanionic vesicles with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: a model system for triggered release under moderate temperature conditions

International audienceWe report the design of new catanionic vesicles decorated with iron oxide nanoparticles, which could be used as a model system to illustrate controlled delivery of small solutes under mild hyperthermia. Efficient release of fluorescent dye rhodamine 6G was observed when samples were exposed to an oscillating magnetic field. Our system provides direct evidence for reversible permeability upon magnetic stimulation

Remote multiparametric monitoring and management of heart failure patients through cardiac implantable electronic devices

In this review we focus on heart failure (HF) which, as known, is associated with a substantial risk of hospitalizations and adverse cardiovascular outcomes, including death. In recent years, systems to monitor cardiac function and patient parameters have been developed with the aim to detect subclinical pathophysiological changes that precede worsening HF. Several patient-specific parameters can be remotely monitored through cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) and can be combined in multiparametric scores predicting patients’ risk of worsening HF with good sensitivity and moderate specificity. Early patient management at the time of pre-clinical alerts remotely transmitted by CIEDs to physicians might prevent hospitalizations. However, it is not clear yet which is the best diagnostic pathway for HF patients after a CIED alert, which kind of medications should be changed or escalated, and in which case in-hospital visits or in-hospital admissions are required. Finally, the specific role of healthcare professionals involved in HF patient management under remote monitoring is still matter of definition. We analyzed recent data on multiparametric monitoring of patients with HF through CIEDs. We provided practical insights on how to timely manage CIED alarms with the aim to prevent worsening HF. We also discussed the role of biomarkers and thoracic echo in this context, and potential organizational models including multidisciplinary teams for remote care of HF patients with CIEDs

Pygmies, Giants, and Skins

Understanding the equation of state (EOS) of neutron-rich matter is a central goal of nuclear physics that cuts across a variety of disciplines. Indeed, the limits of nuclear existence, the collision of energetic heavy ions, the structure of neutron stars, and the dynamics of core-collapse supernova all depend critically on the nuclear-matter EOS. In this contribution I focus on the EOS of cold baryonic matter with special emphasis on its impact on the structure, dynamics, and composition of neutron stars. In particular, I discuss how laboratory experiments on neutron skins as well as on Pygmy and Giant resonances can help us elucidate the structure of these fascinating objects.Comment: Invited 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

Nonuniform Neutron-Rich Matter and Coherent Neutrino Scattering

Nonuniform neutron-rich matter present in both core-collapse supernovae and neutron-star crusts is described in terms of a semiclassical model that reproduces nuclear-matter properties and includes long-range Coulomb interactions. The neutron-neutron correlation function and the corresponding static structure factor are calculated from molecular dynamics simulations involving 40,000 to 100,000 nucleons. The static structure factor describes coherent neutrino scattering which is expected to dominate the neutrino opacity. At low momentum transfers the static structure factor is found to be small because of ion screening. In contrast, at intermediate momentum transfers the static structure factor displays a large peak due to coherent scattering from all the neutrons in a cluster. This peak moves to higher momentum transfers and decreases in amplitude as the density increases. A large static structure factor at zero momentum transfer, indicative of large density fluctuations during a first-order phase transition, may increase the neutrino opacity. However, no evidence of such an increase has been found. Therefore, it is unlikely that the system undergoes a simple first-order phase transition. It is found that corrections to the commonly used single heavy nucleus approximation first appear at a density of the order of $10^{13}$ g/cm$^3$ and increase rapidly with increasing density. Thus, neutrino opacities are overestimated in the single heavy nucleus approximation relative to the complete molecular dynamics simulations.Comment: 17 pages, 23 included ps figure

Structure and Magnetism of well-defined cobalt nanoparticles embedded in a niobium matrix

Our recent studies on Co-clusters embedded in various matrices reveal that the co-deposition technique (simultaneous deposition of two beams : one for the pre-formed clusters and one for the matrix atoms) is a powerful tool to prepare magnetic nanostructures with any couple of materials even though they are miscible. We study, both sharply related, structure and magnetism of the Co/Nb system. Because such a heterogeneous system needs to be described at different scales, we used microscopic and macroscopic techniques but also local selective absorption ones. We conclude that our clusters are 3 nm diameter f.c.c truncated octahedrons with a pure cobalt core and a solid solution between Co and Nb located at the interface which could be responsible for the magnetically inactive monolayers we found. The use of a very diluted Co/Nb film, further lithographed, would allow us to achieve a pattern of microsquid devices in view to study the magnetic dynamics of a single-Co cluster.Comment: 7 TeX pages, 9 Postscript figures, detailed heading adde

Modelling stochastic bivariate mortality

Stochastic mortality, i.e. modelling death arrival via a jump process with stochastic intensity, is gaining increasing reputation as a way to represent mortality risk. This paper represents a first attempt to model the mortality risk of couples of individuals, according to the stochastic intensity approach. On the theoretical side, we extend to couples the Cox processes set up, i.e. the idea that mortality is driven by a jump process whose intensity is itself a stochastic process, proper of a particular generation within each gender. Dependence between the survival times of the members of a couple is captured by an Archimedean copula. On the calibration side, we fit the joint survival function by calibrating separately the (analytical) copula and the (analytical) margins. First, we select the best fit copula according to the methodology of Wang and Wells (2000) for censored data. Then, we provide a sample-based calibration for the intensity, using a time-homogeneous, non mean-reverting, affine process: this gives the analytical marginal survival functions. Coupling the best fit copula with the calibrated margins we obtain, on a sample generation, a joint survival function which incorporates the stochastic nature of mortality improvements and is far from representing independency.On the contrary, since the best fit copula turns out to be a Nelsen one, dependency is increasing with age and long-term dependence exists

BMC Geriatr

Background Physical activity may decrease the risk of dementia; however, previous cohort studies seldom investigated the different types of physical activity and household activities. Our objective was to analyze the links between two physical activity types and dementia in older people. Methods The study used data from the prospective observational Three-city cohort and included 1550 community-dwelling individuals aged 72 to 87 without dementia at baseline. Physical activity was assessed with the Voorrips questionnaire. Two sub-scores were calculated to assess household/transportation activities and leisure/sport activities. Restricted cubic spline and proportional hazard Cox models were used to estimate the non-linear exposure-response curve for the dementia risk and the appropriate activity level thresholds. Models were adjusted for possible confounders, including socio-demographic variables, comorbidities, depressive symptoms and APOE genotype. Results The median age was 80 years, and 63.6% of participants were women. After a median follow-up of 4.6 years, dementia was diagnosed in 117 participants (7.6%). An inverse J-shaped association was found between household/transportation physical activity sub-score and dementia risk, which means that the risk is lowest for the moderately high values and then re-increases slightly for the highest values. The results remained significant when this sub-score was categorized in three classes (low, moderate, and high), with hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) of 0.55 (0.35–0.87) and 0.62 (0.38–1.01) for moderate and high activity levels, respectively. No significant effect was found for leisure/sport activities. Conclusions The 5-year risk of dementia was significantly and negatively associated with the household/transportation activity level, but not with the leisure and sport activity sub-score. This highlights the importance of considering all physical activity types in 72 years or older people