29,275 research outputs found
Project for the analysis of technology transfer Quarterly report, 1 Oct. - 31 Dec. 1969
Analysis of Tech Brief-Technical Support Package progra
Understanding jumping to conclusions in patients with persecutory delusions: working memory and intolerance of uncertainty
Background. Persecutory delusions are a key psychotic experience. A reasoning style known as ‘jumping to conclusions’ (JTC) – limited information gathering before reaching certainty in decision making – has been identified as a contributory factor in the occurrence of delusions. The cognitive processes that underpin JTC need to be determined in order to develop effective interventions for delusions. In the current study two alternative perspectives were tested: that JTC partially results from impairment in information-processing capabilities and that JTC is a motivated strategy to avoid uncertainty.Method. A group of 123 patients with persistent persecutory delusions completed assessments of JTC (the 60:40 beads task), IQ, working memory, intolerance of uncertainty, and psychiatric symptoms. Patients showing JTC were compared with patients not showing JTC.Results. A total of 30 (24%) patients with delusions showed JTC. There were no differences between patients who did and did not jump to conclusions in overall psychopathology. Patients who jumped to conclusions had poorer working memory performance, lower IQ, lower intolerance of uncertainty and lower levels of worry.Working memory and worry independently predicted the presence of JTC.Conclusions. Hasty decision making in patients with delusions may partly arise from difficulties in keeping information in mind. Interventions for JTC are likely to benefit from addressing working memory performance, while in vivo techniques for patients with delusions will benefit from limiting the demands on working memory. The study provides little evidence for a contribution to JTC from top down motivational beliefs about uncertainty
Emotional dysfunction in schizophrenia spectrum psychosis: the role of illness perceptions
Background. Assessing illness perceptions has been useful in a range of medical disorders. This study of people with a recent relapse of their psychosis examines the relationship between illness perception, their emotional responses and their attitudes to medication.Method. One hundred patients diagnosed with a non-affective psychotic disorder were assessed within 3 months of relapse. Measures included insight, self-reported. illness perceptions, medication adherence, depression, self-esteem and anxiety.Results. Illness perceptions about psychosis explained 46, 36 and 34% of the variance in depression, anxiety and self-esteem respectively. However, self-reported medication adherence was more strongly associated with a measure of insight.Conclusions. Negative illness perceptions in psychosis are clearly related to depression, anxiety and self-esteem. These in turn have been linked to symptom maintenance and recurrence. Clinical interventions that foster appraisals of recovery rather than of chronicity and severity may therefore improve emotional well-being in people with psychosis. It might be better to address adherence to medication through direct attempts at helping them understand their need for treatment
55Mn NMR and magnetization studies of La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 thin films
55Mn nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetization studies of the series of
La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 thin films have been performed at low temperature. Two
distinct lines were observed, at 322 MHz and 380 MHz, corresponding to two
different phases, the former located at the interface, with localized charges,
and the latter corresponding to the film bulk, with itinerant carriers (as it
was also found in Ca manganite films). The spin-echo amplitude was measured as
a function of a dc magnetic field applied either in the film plane or
perpendicular to it. The field dependence of both the main NMR signal intensity
and frequency shift is quite consistent with that calculated in a simple single
domain model. The best fit to the model shows that magnetization rotation
processes play a dominant role when the applied field exceeds the effective
anisotropy field. Distinctly different magnetic anisotropies are deduced from
the interface NMR signal.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Skeleton and fractal scaling in complex networks
We find that the fractal scaling in a class of scale-free networks originates
from the underlying tree structure called skeleton, a special type of spanning
tree based on the edge betweenness centrality. The fractal skeleton has the
property of the critical branching tree. The original fractal networks are
viewed as a fractal skeleton dressed with local shortcuts. An in-silico model
with both the fractal scaling and the scale-invariance properties is also
constructed. The framework of fractal networks is useful in understanding the
utility and the redundancy in networked systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, final version published in PR
Norm Optimal Iterative Learning Control with Application to Problems in Accelerator based Free Electron Lasers and Rehabilitation Robotics
This paper gives an overview of the theoretical basis of the norm optimal approach to iterative learning control followed by results that describe more recent work which has experimentally benchmarking the performance that can be achieved. The remainder of then paper then describes its actual application to a physical process and a very novel application in stroke rehabilitation
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