Study Smarter, Not Harder

Provides tips for studying

Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: A Systematic Qualitative Review of Controlled Outcome Studies

Objective: We review all available controlled outcome studies of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) to evaluate evidence of its effectiveness. Method: Forty-three studies were located and key data abstracted on problem, setting, SFBT intervention, design characteristics, and outcomes. Results: Thirty-two (74%) of the studies reported significant positive benefit from SFBT; 10 (23%) reported positive trends. The strongest evidence of effectiveness came in the treatment of depression in adults where four separate studies found SFBT to be comparable to well-established alternative treatments. Three studies examined length of treatment and all found SFBT used fewer sessions than alternative therapies. Conclusion: The studies reviewed provide strong evidence that SFBT is an effective treatment for a wide variety of behavioral and psychological outcomes and, in addition, it may be briefer and therefore less costly than alternative approaches

New early Eocene tapiromorph perissodactyls from the Ghazij Formation of Pakistan, with implications for mammalian biochronology in Asia

Early Eocene mammals from Indo-Pakistan have only recently come under study. Here we describe the first tapiromorph perissodactyls from the subcontinent. Gandheralophus minor n. gen. and n. sp. and G. robustus n. sp. are two species of Isectolophidae differing in size and in reduction of the anterior dentition. Gandheralophus is probably derived from a primitive isectolophid such as Orientolophus hengdongensis from the earliest Eocene of China, and may be part of a South Asian lineage that also contains Karagalax from the middle Eocene of Pakistan. Two specimens are referred to a new, unnamed species of Lophialetidae. Finally, a highly diagnostic M3 and a molar fragment are described as the new eomoropid chalicothere Litolophus ghazijensis sp. nov. The perissodactyls described here, in contrast to most other mammalian groups published from the early Eocene of Indo-Pakistan, are most closely related to forms known from East and Central Asia. Tapiromorpha are diverse and biochronologically important in the Eocene there and our results allow the first biochronological correlation between early Eocene mammal faunas in Indo-Pakistan and the rest of Asia. We suggest that the upper Ghazij Formation of Pakistan is best correlated with the middle or late part of the Bumbanian Asian Land-Mammal Age, while the Kuldana and Subathu Formations of Pakistan and India are best correlated with the Arshantan Asian Land-Mammal Age

Gradual phyletic evolution at the generic level in early Eocene omomyid primates

Analysis of dental morphology in over 600 stratigraphically controlled specimens of tarsier-like primates from early Eocene strata in Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, provides important new data for understanding the tempo and mode of evolution in primates

Acoustic Events in the Solar Atmosphere from Hinode/SOT NFI observations

We investigate the properties of acoustic events (AEs), defined as spatially concentrated and short duration energy flux, in the quiet sun using observations of a 2D field of view (FOV) with high spatial and temporal resolution provided by the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) onboard \textit{Hinode}. Line profiles of Fe \textsc{i} 557.6 nm were recorded by the Narrow band Filter Imager (NFI) on a $82" \times 82"$ FOV during 75 min with a time step of 28.75 s and 0.08$"$ pixel size. Vertical velocities were computed at three atmospheric levels (80, 130 and 180 km) using the bisector technique allowing the determination of energy flux in the range 3-10 mHz using two complementary methods (Hilbert transform and Fourier power spectra). Horizontal velocities were computed using local correlation tracking (LCT) of continuum intensities providing divergences. The net energy flux is upward. In the range 3-10 mHz, a full FOV space and time averaged flux of 2700 W m$^{-2}$ (lower layer 80-130 km) and 2000 W m$^{-2}$ (upper layer 130-180 km) is concentrated in less than 1% of the solar surface in the form of narrow (0.3$"$) AE. Their total duration (including rise and decay) is of the order of $10^{3}$ s. Inside each AE, the mean flux is $1.6 10^{5}$ W m$^{-2}$ (lower layer) and $1.2 10^{5}$ W m$^{-2}$ (upper). Each event carries an average energy (flux integrated over space and time) of $2.5 10^{19}$ J (lower layer) to $1.9 10^{19}$ J (upper). More than $10^{6}$ events could exist permanently on the Sun, with a birth and decay rate of 3500 s$^{-1}$. Most events occur in intergranular lanes, downward velocity regions, and areas of converging motions.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure

Introducing and Evaluating a “Study Smarter, Not Harder” Study Tips Presentation Offered to Incoming Students at a Four-Year University

This paper: (1) briefly outlines a study tips presentation that uses both evidence from the cognitive psychology literature as well as demonstrations to teach students how to study more effectively, and (2) provides empirical evidence about whether this study tips presentation affects students’ study habits. We provide an overview of the presentation, a handout that summarizes the tips, and a reference list rich with sources that support the efficacy of these study approaches. We also summarize a study we conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the presentation. Thirty-two students completed a questionnaire about their typical study strategies before and three months following the presentation. Additionally, 102 students who did not attend the presentation (control group) completed the study strategies survey, and their responses were compared to those from 74 students who had attended the presentation sometime between 3 months and 3 years and 3 months earlier. Finally, the 74 presentation attendees rated their memory for, utilization of, and perceived influence of the eight study tips. Results support the efficacy of the “Study Smarter, Not Harder” presentation as a way to improve students’ understanding and utilization of effective study approaches

Reaction norm analysis reveals rapid shifts toward delayed maturation in harvested Lake Erie yellow perch (Perca flavescens )

Harvested marine fish stocks often show a rapid and substantial decline in the age and size at maturation. Such changes can arise from multiple processes including fisheries‐induced evolution, phenotypic plasticity, and responses to environmental factors other than harvest. The relative importance of these processes could differ systematically between marine and freshwater systems. We tested for temporal shifts in the mean and within‐cohort variability of age‐ and size‐based maturation probabilities of female yellow perch (Perca flavescens Mitchill) from four management units (MUs) in Lake Erie. Lake Erie yellow perch have been commercially harvested for more than a century, and age and size at maturation have varied since sampling began in the 1980s. Our analysis compared probabilistic maturation reaction norms (PMRNs) for cohorts when abundance was lower and harvest higher (1993–1998) to cohorts when abundance was higher and harvest lower (2005–2010). PMRNs have been used in previous studies to detect signs of evolutionary change in response to harvest. Maturation size threshold increased between the early and late cohorts, and the increases were statistically significant for the youngest age in the western MU1 and for older ages in the eastern MU3. Maturation envelope widths, a measure of the variability in maturation among individuals in a cohort, also increased between early and late cohorts in the western MUs where harvest was highest. The highest rates of change in size at maturation for a given age were as large or larger than rates reported for harvested marine fishes where declines in age and size at maturation have been observed. Contrary to the general observation of earlier maturation evolving in harvested stocks, female yellow perch in Lake Erie may be rapidly evolving delayed maturation since harvest was relaxed in the late 1990s, providing a rare example of possible evolutionary recovery

Influence of Incentive Design and Organizational Characteristics on Wellness Participation and Health Outcomes

Objective: To explore how changing incentive designs influence wellness participation and health outcomes. Methods: Aggregated retrospective data were evaluated using cluster analysis to group 174 companies into incentive design types. Numerous statistical models assessed between-group differences in wellness participation, earning incentives, and over-time differences in health outcomes. Results: Four incentive design groups based on requirements for earning incentives were identified. The groups varied in support for and participation in wellness initiatives within each company. All four design types were associated with improved low density lipoprotein (LDL)(P \u3c 0.01), three with improved blood pressure (P \u3c 0.001), and two with improved fasting glucose (P \u3c 0.03). No incentive plan types were associated with improved body mass index (BMI), but designs predominantly focused on health outcomes (eg, Outcomes-Focused) exhibited a significant increase over time in BMI risk. Conclusion: Incentive design and organizational characteristics impact population-level participation and health outcomes