Coping flexibility and psychological adjustment to stressful life changes: A meta-analytic review

Compared with the large body of literature on coping, coping flexibility has received relatively scant research attention, although more such studies have begun to emerge recently. Researchers have conceptualized coping flexibility in diverse ways: as a broad coping repertoire, a well-balanced coping profile, cross-situational variability in strategy deployment, a good strategy-situation fit, or the perceived ability to cope with environmental changes. This meta-analysis is the first to provide a summary estimate of the overall effect size and investigate cross-study sources of variation in the beneficial role of coping flexibility. The analysis covers all available studies conducted between 1978 and 2013 that empirically tested the relationship between coping flexibility and psychological adjustment. The results of a random-effects model revealed a small to moderate overall mean effect size (r = .23, 95% CI [.19, .28], 80% CRI [-.02, .49], k = 329, N = 58,946). More important, the magnitude of the positive link between coping flexibility and psychological adjustment varied with the conceptualization of such flexibility. Studies adopting the perceived ability or strategy-situation fit conceptualization yielded moderate effect sizes, whereas those adopting the broad repertoire, balanced profile, or cross-situational variability conceptualization yielded small effect sizes. In addition, the positive link between coping flexibility and psychological adjustment was stronger in samples from countries lower (vs. higher) in individualism and samples with higher (vs. lower) average ages. Individualism and age explained 10% and 13% of the variance, respectively. We discuss the conceptual problems and implications and propose a synthesized conceptualization of coping flexibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).postprin

Unsupervised fuzzy pattern discovery in gene expression data

2010-2011 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalpublished_fina

The Maternal-Effect Gene cellular island Encodes Aurora B Kinase and Is Essential for Furrow Formation in the Early Zebrafish Embryo

Females homozygous for a mutation in cellular island (cei) produce embryos with defects in cytokinesis during early development. Analysis of the cytoskeletal events associated with furrow formation reveal that these defects include a general delay in furrow initiation as well as a complete failure to form furrow-associated structures in distal regions of the blastodisc. A linkage mapping-based candidate gene approach, including transgenic rescue, shows that cei encodes the zebrafish Aurora B kinase homologue. Genetic complementation analysis between the cei mutation and aurB zygotic lethal mutations corroborate gene assignment and reveal a complex nature of the maternal-effect cei allele, which appears to preferentially affect a function important for cytokinesis in the early blastomeres. Surprisingly, in cei mutant embryos a short yet otherwise normal furrow forms in the center of the blastodisc. Furrow formation is absent throughout the width of the blastodisc in cei mutant embryos additionally mutant for futile cycle, which lack a spindle apparatus, showing that the residual furrow signal present in cei mutants is derived from the mitotic spindle. Our analysis suggests that partially redundant signals derived from the spindle and astral apparatus mediate furrow formation in medial and distal regions of the early embryonic blastomeres, respectively, possibly as a spatial specialization to achieve furrow formation in these large cells. In addition, our data also suggest a role for Cei/AurB function in the reorganization of the furrow-associated microtubules in both early cleavage- and somite-stage embryos. In accordance with the requirement for cei/aurB in furrow induction in the early cleavage embryo, germ plasm recruitment to the forming furrow is also affected in embryos lacking normal cei/aurB function

Wetlands for wastewater treatment and subsequent recycling of treated effluent : a review

Due to water scarcity challenges around the world, it is essential to think about non-conventional water resources to address the increased demand in clean freshwater. Environmental and public health problems may result from insufficient provision of sanitation and wastewater disposal facilities. Because of this, wastewater treatment and recycling methods will be vital to provide sufficient freshwater in the coming decades, since water resources are limited and more than 70% of water are consumed for irrigation purposes. Therefore, the application of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation has much potential, especially when incorporating the reuse of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous, which are essential for plant production. Among the current treatment technologies applied in urban wastewater reuse for irrigation, wetlands were concluded to be the one of the most suitable ones in terms of pollutant removal and have advantages due to both low maintenance costs and required energy. Wetland behavior and efficiency concerning wastewater treatment is mainly linked to macrophyte composition, substrate, hydrology, surface loading rate, influent feeding mode, microorganism availability, and temperature. Constructed wetlands are very effective in removing organics and suspended solids, whereas the removal of nitrogen is relatively low, but could be improved by using a combination of various types of constructed wetlands meeting the irrigation reuse standards. The removal of phosphorus is usually low, unless special media with high sorption capacity are used. Pathogen removal from wetland effluent to meet irrigation reuse standards is a challenge unless supplementary lagoons or hybrid wetland systems are used

High Climate Model Dependency of Pliocene Antarctic Ice-Sheet Predictions

The mid-Pliocene warm period provides a natural laboratory to investigate the long-term response of the Earth’s ice-sheets and sea level in a warmer-than-present-day world. Proxy data suggest that during the warm Pliocene, portions of the Antarctic ice-sheets, including West Antarctica could have been lost. Ice-sheet modelling forced by Pliocene climate model outputs is an essential way to improve our understanding of ice-sheets during the Pliocene. However, uncertainty exists regarding the degree to which results are model-dependent. Using climatological forcing from an international climate modelling intercomparison project, we demonstrate the high dependency of Antarctic ice-sheet volume predictions on the climate model-based forcing used. In addition, the collapse of the vulnerable marine basins of Antarctica is dependent on the ice-sheet model used. These results demonstrate that great caution is required in order to avoid making unsound statements about the nature of the Pliocene Antarctic ice-sheet based on model results that do not account for structural uncertainty in both the climate and ice sheet models

Assessing and placing disaster relief volunteers

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Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug prescribing trend is increasing among children and adolescents in Hong Kong

Oral Presentation - Paediatrics – Mental and General HealthConference Theme: Applying pharmacoepidemiology to improve health care in AsiaAim/Objective: To investigate the prevalence of ADHD medication prescribing of children and adolescents in Hong Kong from 2001- 2012 and to compare local prescribing patterns to those in other countries. Methods: An observational study was conducted using Hong Kong Hospital Authority Clinical Data Analysis & Reporting System (CDARS) to investigate the epidemiology of children and adolescents receiving ADHD medication. Records of children and adolescents aged between 3-19 years who were prescribed either methylphenidate or atomoxetine from 2001-2012 were retrieved. The prevalence of children and adolescents prescribed ADHD medication was calculated. Microsoft Excel and Statistical Analysis System (SAS) v9.3 (SAS Inc., United States) were used for data manipulation and analysis. Results: Prevalence of children on ADHD medication increased from 0.072% in 2001 (95% Confi dence interval [CI] 0.068% to 0.077%) to 0.819% (95% CI 0.803% to 0.837%) in 2012. The prevalence demonstrated an increasing trend throughout the study period (Z=-149.735, P<0.0001). The prevalence of ADHD medication prescribing in females increased at a faster rate than that in males. The prescribing trend in kindergarten children (3-5 year-old) was relatively steady from 2001-2008 [0.025% (95% CI 0.019% to 0.033%) in 2001] until a marked increase from 2009-2012 [0.135% (95% CI 0.118% to 0.154%) in 2012]. Conclusion: The prevalence of ADHD medication prescribing in Hong Kong is increasing but still lower than most western countries. However, the prevalence of ADHD medication prescribing for kindergarten children has increased in recent years. It is important to continue to monitor the prescribing in this group of vulnerable patients. Keywords: Attention defi cit hyperactivity disorder, Hong Kong, children, prescribin