181 research outputs found
How do musicians evaluate their musical performances? The impact of positive and negative information from normative, ipsative, and expectation standards
The purpose of the research reported in this article was to test two hypotheses about how musicians evaluate their musical performances. The first hypothesis was that musicians’ self-evaluations would be more influenced by their expectations and their past performances than by comparisons to the performances of other musicians. The second hypothesis was that musicians would exhibit an ‘adaptive evaluational style’ by showing more sensitivity to positive feedback than to negative feedback. We used the Experimental Evaluational Styles Questionnaire (Goolsby & Chaplin, 1988) in a sample of 78 music performance students (43 men and 35 women) to test these hypotheses, and both were supported. These results represent one of the first examples where the dominant theory of evaluation in psychology, Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory, did not have the greatest influence on people’s performance evaluations. However, we did find individual differences in the influence of the different evaluative standards. Understanding the causes and consequences of these individual differences should be a fruitful target for future research
Psychosocial vulnerabilities to depression after acute coronary syndrome: the pivotal role of rumination in predicting and maintaining depression
Psychosocial vulnerabilities may predispose individuals to develop depression after a significant life stressor, such as an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aims are (1) to examine the interrelations among vulnerabilities, and their relation with changes in depressive symptoms 3 months after ACS, (2) to prospectively assess whether rumination interacts with other vulnerabilities as a predictor of later depressive symptoms, and (3) to examine how these relations differ between post-ACS patients who meet diagnostic criteria for depression at baseline versus patients who do not. Within 1 week after hospitalization for ACS, and again after 3 months, 387 patients (41% female, 79.6% white, mean age 61) completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and measures of vulnerabilities (lack of pleasant events, dysfunctional attitudes, role transitions, poor dyadic adjustment). Exclusion criteria were a BDI score of 5–9, terminal illness, active substance abuse, cognitive impairment, and unavailability for follow-up visits. We used hierarchical regression modeling cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Controlling for baseline (in-hospital) depression and cardiovascular disease severity, vulnerabilities significantly predicted 3 month depression severity. Rumination independently predicted increased depression severity, above other vulnerabilities (β = 0.75, p < 0.001), and also interacted with poor dyadic adjustment (β = 0.32, p < 0.001) to amplify depression severity. Among initially non-depressed patients, the effects of vulnerabilities were amplified by rumination. In contrast, in patients who were already depressed at baseline, there was a direct effect of rumination above vulnerabilities on depression severity. Although all vulnerabilities predict depression 3 months after an ACS event has occurred rumination plays a key role to amplify the impact of vulnerabilities on depression among the initially non-depressed, and maintains depression among those who are already depressed
The Effect of Enhanced Depression Care on Anxiety Symptoms in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients: Findings from the COPES Trial
Similar to depression, anxiety is common after acute coronary syndromes (ACS), and is an independent predictor of worse outcomes [1,2,3]. Yet, post-ACS psychological interventions have focused on treating depression. We previously reported that an enhanced depression care intervention involving patient preference for problem-solving therapy (PST), antidepressant medications, or both followed by stepped care according to treatment response was effective at reducing depressive symptoms after ACS with an effect size of 0.59 SD [4]. We report here the independent effect of this intervention on anxiety
Asteroseismic estimate of helium abundance of a solar analog binary system
16 Cyg A and B are among the brightest stars observed by Kepler. What makes
these stars more interesting is that they are solar analogs. 16 Cyg A and B
exhibit solar-like oscillations. In this work we use oscillation frequencies
obtained using 2.5 years of Kepler data to determine the current helium
abundance of these stars. For this we use the fact that the helium ionization
zone leaves a signature on the oscillation frequencies and that this signature
can be calibrated to determine the helium abundance of that layer. By
calibrating the signature of the helium ionization zone against models of known
helium abundance, the helium abundance in the envelope of 16 Cyg A is found to
lie in the range 0.231 to 0.251 and that of 16 Cyg B lies in the range 0.218 to
0.266.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Men’s and Women’s Health Beliefs Differentially Predict Coronary Heart Disease Incidence in a Population-Based Sample
Objective. To examine gender differences in the association between beliefs in heart disease preventability and 10-year incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in a population-based sample. Methods. A total of 2,688 Noninstitutionalized Nova Scotians without prior CHD enrolled in the Nova Scotia Health Study (NSHS95) and were followed for 10 years. Risk factors, health behaviors, and incident CHD were assessed. Participants responded “yes” or “no” to a question about heart disease preventability. Survival models, adjusted for age, income, total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and systolic blood pressure, were used to estimate the relation between health belief and incident CHD. Gender differences in the relation between health beliefs and health behaviors were assessed. Results. Gender was a significant moderator of the relation between belief and CHD incidence; specifically, women who believed heart disease could be prevented were less likely to have incident CHD events compared with women who believed heart disease could not be prevented (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.24-0.55, p < .001). This relation was not found for men. Belief was also related to smoking behavior for women (β = −0.70, odds ratio [OR] = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.33-0.74, p = .001) but not for men. Smoking significantly mediated the relation between health beliefs and incident CHD for women (z = −1.96, p = .05), but not for men. Conclusion. Health belief in prevention and subsequent smoking was an important independent predictor of incident CHD in women but not in men
An inexpensive device for monitoring patients' weights via automated hovering
Daily weight monitoring is integral to the management of heart failure (HF) [1]. Indeed, weight gain is a marker of HF decompensation, and daily weight monitoring has been associated with favorable prognosis [2]. Until now, assessment of weight has required patients to attend an in-person visit, which provides only an infrequent snapshot of their weight. Remote hovering practices have gained considerable traction during the past several years [3–7], but their use outside of research settings has been limited
Observed Hostility and the Risk of Incident Ischemic Heart Disease: A Prospective Population Study From the 1995 Canadian Nova Scotia Health Survey
Objectives
The aim of this study was to examine the relation between hostility and incident ischemic heart disease (IHD) and to determine whether observed hostility is superior to patient-reported hostility for the prediction of IHD in a large, prospective observational study.
Background
Some studies have found that hostile patients have an increased risk of incident IHD. However, no studies have compared methods of hostility assessment or considered important psychosocial and cardiovascular risk factors as confounders. Furthermore, it is unknown whether all expressions of hostility carry equal risk or whether certain manifestations are more cardiotoxic.
Methods
We assessed the independent relationship between baseline observed hostility and 10-year incident IHD in 1,749 adults of the population-based Canadian Nova Scotia Health Survey.
Results
There were 149 (8.5%) incident IHD events (140 nonfatal, 9 fatal) during the 15,295 person-years of observation (9.74 events/1,000 person-years). Participants with any observed hostility had a greater risk of incident IHD than those without (p = 0.02); no such relation was found for patient-reported hostility. Those with any observed hostility had a significantly greater risk of incident IHD (hazard ratio: 2.06, 95% confidence interval: 1.04 to 4.08, p = 0.04), after adjusting for cardiovascular (age, sex, Framingham Risk Score) and psychosocial (depression, positive affect, patient-reported hostility, and anger) risk factors.
Conclusions
The presence of any observed hostility at baseline was associated with a 2-fold increased risk of incident IHD over 10 years of follow-up. Compared with patient-reported measures, observed hostility is a superior predictor of IHD
Kepler Mission Stellar and Instrument Noise Properties
Kepler Mission results are rapidly contributing to fundamentally new
discoveries in both the exoplanet and asteroseismology fields. The data
returned from Kepler are unique in terms of the number of stars observed,
precision of photometry for time series observations, and the temporal extent
of high duty cycle observations. As the first mission to provide extensive time
series measurements on thousands of stars over months to years at a level
hitherto possible only for the Sun, the results from Kepler will vastly
increase our knowledge of stellar variability for quiet solar-type stars. Here
we report on the stellar noise inferred on the timescale of a few hours of most
interest for detection of exoplanets via transits. By design the data from
moderately bright Kepler stars are expected to have roughly comparable levels
of noise intrinsic to the stars and arising from a combination of fundamental
limitations such as Poisson statistics and any instrument noise. The noise
levels attained by Kepler on-orbit exceed by some 50% the target levels for
solar-type, quiet stars. We provide a decomposition of observed noise for an
ensemble of 12th magnitude stars arising from fundamental terms (Poisson and
readout noise), added noise due to the instrument and that intrinsic to the
stars. The largest factor in the modestly higher than anticipated noise follows
from intrinsic stellar noise. We show that using stellar parameters from
galactic stellar synthesis models, and projections to stellar rotation,
activity and hence noise levels reproduces the primary intrinsic stellar noise
features.Comment: Accepted by ApJ; 26 pages, 20 figure
Revised Stellar Properties of Kepler Targets for the Quarter 1-16 Transit Detection Run
We present revised properties for 196,468 stars observed by the NASA Kepler
Mission and used in the analysis of Quarter 1-16 (Q1-Q16) data to detect and
characterize transiting exoplanets. The catalog is based on a compilation of
literature values for atmospheric properties (temperature, surface gravity, and
metallicity) derived from different observational techniques (photometry,
spectroscopy, asteroseismology, and exoplanet transits), which were then
homogeneously fitted to a grid of Dartmouth stellar isochrones. We use
broadband photometry and asteroseismology to characterize 11,532 Kepler targets
which were previously unclassified in the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC). We report
the detection of oscillations in 2,762 of these targets, classifying them as
giant stars and increasing the number of known oscillating giant stars observed
by Kepler by ~20% to a total of ~15,500 stars. Typical uncertainties in derived
radii and masses are ~40% and ~20%, respectively, for stars with photometric
constraints only, and 5-15% and ~10% for stars based on spectroscopy and/or
asteroseismology, although these uncertainties vary strongly with spectral type
and luminosity class. A comparison with the Q1-Q12 catalog shows a systematic
decrease in radii for M dwarfs, while radii for K dwarfs decrease or increase
depending on the Q1-Q12 provenance (KIC or Yonsei-Yale isochrones). Radii of
F-G dwarfs are on average unchanged, with the exception of newly identified
giants. The Q1-Q16 star properties catalog is a first step towards an improved
characterization of all Kepler targets to support planet occurrence studies.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables; accepted for publication in ApJS;
electronic versions of Tables 4 and 5 are available as ancillary files (see
sidebar on the right), and an interactive version of Table 5 is available at
the NASA Exoplanet Archive (http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/
Aspirin Adherence, Depression and One-Year Prognosis after Acute Coronary Syndrome
In survivors of acute coronary syndromes (ACS; unstable angina or myocardial infarction), depression is highly prevalent [1] and increases the risk of adverse medical outcomes, independent of other prognostic risk markers [2, 3] . After ACS, adherence to recommended medications (e.g. aspirin, statins and -blockers) is crucial to prevent recurrent events or mortality [4–6], yet rates of adherence to these medications are poor [7–9] . Depressed patients are especially likely to be poorly adherent [8–11] . Thus, poor medication adherence may explain some of the increased risk of depression and adverse clinical outcomes after ACS
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