The role of reflective functioning in mediating the relationship between attachment style and psychopathology

This thesis focuses on the association between attachment style and mentalizing ability and the extent to which the two are predictive of psychopathology. It is a joint thesis with Dissociative symptoms and the quality of structural integration in BPD (Sole, 2014). Part 1, the literature review, examines the evidence for an association between attachment style and mentalizing ability. Twelve studies represent a small but compelling body of research evidencing a robust link between parents’ ability to mentalize and infant attachment style. However, the evidence varies greatly due to differences in how variables, particularly those relating to mentalizing, have been operationalised, e.g. through direct observation of infant-caregiver behaviour or by recording caregivers' representations of their mentalizing abilities. Moreover, mentalizing alone does not fully account for the intergenerational transmission of attachment. Part 2, the empirical paper, describes a study investigating the role of reflective functioning in mediating the association between attachment style and psychopathology, and examining the scale reliability and criterion validity of a new measure of structural integration, the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis Structure Questionnaire (OPD-SQ). A group of participants with a diagnosis of personality disorder (N = 80) were compared to a group of healthy controls (N = 85) on attachment style, reflective functioning, structural integration and psychopathology. Group comparisons showed unexpected findings for reflective functioning and attachment style. Reflective functioning was shown to mediate attachment-related differences in psychopathology in the total and non-clinical samples only. Part 3, the critical appraisal, reflects on the process and impact on the researcher of conducting the research. It comprises a discussion of my motivation for conducting research in this area, my reflection on the current state of research into the relationship between attachment and mentalizing, methodological issues relating to the operationalisation of the mentalizing construct, and ethical considerations relating to the interviewing of participants

Pion double charge exchange formalism

The behavior of the operator responsible for sequential pion double charge exchange (DCX) on nuclei has been investigated in the plane wave limit in order to study its extension in space especially the short-range part. The DCX cross sections were calculated for Ca isotopes up to an incident pion energy of 300 MeV as two single-charge exchanges, using both the shell model and the seniority model. The effects of previously proposed modifications to the mechanism have been investigated at low energy, where a resonance-like structure in the energy dependence has been observed. One of the modifications that has been studied is the inclusion of pion true absorption in the pion optical potential, by extracting the coefficients which correspond to the calcium and carbon nuclei from existing data of pion absorption. The second effect studied is the removal of the delta function from the DCX amplitude (which originated from the idea of point-like pion-nucleon coupling), where the interaction extends over a finite region of space. This work was restricted to the sequential pion double charge exchange mechanism, which is generally believed to be dominant in many cases. These corrections have been studied in the plane wave and distorted wave modes. The results of these calculations for calcium agree with the data for the energies above 200 MeV and partially agree below 200 MeV. The calculations were done for different pion-nucleon ranges (a= 800, 600, 300 MeV/c). The DCX cross sections were calculated for ^'^C up to 300 MeV of pion energy using two single charge exchange (SCX) scattering steps on the valence nucleons and at different

Calculations Of Stopping Power, And Range Of Electrons Interaction With Different Material And Human Body Parts

In this work we studied interaction electrons with matter; I calculated the stopping power (in MeV cm2/g) from the theory of Bethe-Bloch formula as giving in the reference, and the Range will be calculated. This has been done for different target materials in biological human body substances such as water, bone, muscle and tissue and different energies electrons. All these calculations were done using different programs; STAR and Matlab, the results will be shown for, stopping power vs energy and Range Vs energy. The stopping power in some biological compounds for electrons was calculated over the energy range from (10-2MeV to 103 MeV). Total stopping power was obtained by summing the electronic (collisional) and radiative stopping power of the target materials, and then employing the continuous slowing down approximation (CSDA) to calculate the path length (Range). The total stopping power is proportional to Z2, Z/A and I, increases rapidly at low energies, reaches a maximum and decreases gradually with increasing energy, the data were fitted to a suitable empirical formula as shown in the figures

Measurement of Radon Exhalation Rate from Destroyed Building Material in the Gaza Strip

Building materials are one of the potential sources of indoor radioactivity because of the naturally occurring radionuclides in them. Radon exhalation rate is one of the most important factors for evaluation of the environmental radon level. Radon contributes more than half of the total ionizing radiation dose Indoor radon has been recognized as one of the health hazards for mankind because long-term exposure to radon increases the risk of developing lung cancer. This study aims at assessing the contribution of destroyed building materials in war 2014 towards the total indoor radon exposure to the inhabitants of in Gaza. 40 Samples have been collected from common destroyed building materials in Jabalia district. The closed-can technique has been employed in this study using solid state nuclear track detectors (CR-39). After 124 days of exposure to radon, CR-39 detectors were etched chemically by (6 N) NaOH solution at 75C for three months and then counted under an optical microscope. Results obtained from the current study show that radon exhalation rates from concrete and asbestos have relatively high values as compared to other building materials while glass, marble and a red brick contribute less to radon exhalation rate. The average radon exhalation rate in term of area in the studied samples ranged from (86.506) mBq.m-2 .h-1 for glass samples to (469.017) mBq.m-2 .h-1 for Concrete samples. In general, the annual effective doses from the investigated building materials are low and under the global value (from 1 to 5 mSv/y) except for Concrete and asbestos samples with average values (9.464) and (9.3528) mSv/y, respectively

Endemic Gastrointestinal Anthrax in 1960s Lebanon: Clinical Manifestations and Surgical Findings

Anthrax is an ancient disease caused by the gram-positive Bacillus anthracis; recently, it has gained much attention because of its potential use in biologic warfare. Anthrax infection occurs in three forms: cutaneous, inhalational, and gastrointestinal. The last type results from ingestion of poorly cooked contaminated meat. Intestinal anthrax was widely known in Lebanon in the 1960s, when a series of >100 cases were observed in the Bekaa Valley. We describe some of these cases, introduce the concept of the surgical management of advanced intestinal anthrax, and describe some of the approaches for treatment

A Comparison Study of the Interaction of Progesterone and Testosterone Drugs with Human Serum Albumin: A Fluorescence Quenching Study

The interaction of steroid hormones (testosterone and progesterone) with human serum albumin in phosphate buffer at pH 7.5 and at 25 C have been studied using a fluorescence spectrophotometer. The results showed that fluorescence emission spectra were quenched with the increase of steroid molar ratios in fixed amount of HSA. The result indicated that progesterone and testosterone hormones have an ability to quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA through a static quenching procedure. Two mathematical models Stern–Volmer and Scatchard for analysis of fluorescence spectra were used. Progesterone binding to HSA was increased by a factor of 2.6 greater than that detected for the interaction of testosterone with HSA. The values of Stern-Volmer constants were determined to be (2.0× 104 L mol-1) for progesterone–HSA complex and (7.7× 103 L mol-1) for testosterone–HSA complex, Respectively. Whereas, the Scatchard constants were (2.1× 104 L mol-1) and (7.9× 103 L mol-1) for progesterone–HSA and testosterone–HSA complexes, respectively

Radiation Measurements in Soil of Nusirate in the middle of Gaza-Strip Using Nuclear Track Detector CR-39 and Electra Plus

Because of the hazards of radon activity and its daughter products to human health, several studies were conducted to measure radiation in environment including soil and building materials. Alpha particles radiation contents of soil samples were measured using solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) CR-39. Soil samples were collected from the middle region of Gaza-Strip, in Nusirate area. Alpha activity per unit volume were evaluated in the sample using solid state nuclear track detector. Results showed that the activity of Alpha particles in soil has a maximum value 9.305 Bq/m3, and minimum 2.878 Bq/m3, and average is 5.244 Bq/m3. Also results using Electra Plus were discussed and compared with other published data

Radioactivity measurements in tap water in Gaza Strip (Al-Naser Area)

Ionizing radiation comes from outer space (cosmic), the ground (terrestrial), and even from within our own bodies. It is present in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, and in the construction materials used to build our homes. Exposure to radon and its progeny is believed to be associated with increased risks of several kinds of cancer. When radon or its progeny is inhaled, lung cancer accounts for most of the total incremental cancer risk. Ingestion of radon in water is suspected of being associated with increased risk of tumors of several internal organs, primarily the stomach

Energy dependence of pion double charge exchange

The energy dependence of forward angle pion double charge exchange is calculated in the energy range of 0–250 MeV. The most striking feature is a peak around 40 MeV which is in excellent agreement with the data when distorted waves obtained from a realistic optical model are used. Two possible short-range corrections to the reaction mechanism are addressed

A Comparison Study of Radon exhalation Rate from Fresh and Destroyed Building Materials in Jabalia-Gaza, Palestine

This study aims at assessing the contribution of fresh and destroyed building materials in war 2014 towards the total indoor radon exposure to the inhabitants of Jabalia district in Gaza. 40 Samples have been collected from common destroyed building materials in 2014 war in Jabalia district, and another similar 40 samples from fresh building material from Gaza. The closed-can technique has been employed in this study using solid state nuclear track detectors (CR-39). After 124 days of exposure to radon, CR-39 detectors were etched chemically by (6N) NaOH solution at 75o C for 4.20 hours and then counted under an optical microscope. Results show the average radon exhalation rate in term of area from the fresh building materials in the studied samples ranged from (27.27) mBq.m-2.h-1 for glass samples to (107.48) mBq.m-2.h-1 for Asbestos samples, while the destroyed materials ranged from (86.51) mBq.m-2.h-1 for glass samples to (463.90) mBq.m-2.h-1 for Asbestos samples.  On the basis of these values the annual effective dose for each sample was also determined and compared with the effective dose limit values recommended by the National Council on Radiation Protection and  Measurements (from 1 to 5 mSv/y). In general, the annual effective doses from the investigated destroyed building materials are low and under the global value except for Concrete and asbestos of destroyed samples with average values(9.464) and (9.3528) mSv/y, respectively, and from samples of fresh building materials the effective dose are (2.25) for Concrete and (2.71) for Asbestos. There are big differences between results from fresh materials and destroyed materials, which may influenced by war pollution