On the Relationship Between Time Management and Time Estimation

The study explores the relationship between people's self-report of the use of time management practices and estimates of task duration. The hypothesis is that those who are good time managers will be good at estimating how long a future task will take (expected), how long a previously executed task has taken (retrospective) and how long a task is taking while in process (prospective). In the expected setting results indicate that those who perceive themselves as good time managers are most accurate at estimating the duration of a future task, of those who do not perceive themselves as good time managers some grossly overestimate and many underestimate to quite a considerable extent. The latter finding thus provides support for the 'planning fallacy' (Kahneman & Tversky,1979). In the prospective setting results indicate those who perceive themselves as good time managers tend to underestimate time passing. It is suggested that this is a motivational strategy designed to enhance a sense of control over time. Findings are discussed in relation to existing theories of time estimation

Time-Related Individual Differences.

Post-modernism has brought about changing demands with respect to time in work organisations. Whilst the impact of this has been given some attention at both the organisational and individual level far less has been given to a consideration of the extent to which individual differences might moderate the impact of such changes. In order to proceed with this line of enquiry it is necessary first to be able to measure individual differences related to time. This paper, through an analysis and synthesis of existing measures of individual attitudes/approaches to time, a subsequent qualitative study, and large quantitative survey study (N=683) identifies a five factor structure for time-related individual differences (Time Personality) and reports on the development of five complementary measurement scales : Leisure Time Awareness, Punctuality, Planning, Polychronicity and Impatience. A series of reliability and validity studies indicate that the scales are psychometrically sound. The findings are discussed in the context of the role Time Personality might play in moderating the effects that differing organisational structures and changing work demands might have in organisational settings

An investigation of some relationships between learning and personality

This study attempted to examine relationships between certain indices of learning style and efficiency and some aspects of personality. The methods adopted involved detailed study of a small sample of students (N = 14), learning a large and complex body of subject matter. Four main indices of learning were studied. 1) Appreciation Span: the extent to which a learner planned ahead 2) Exploration: the extent to which a learner requested an outline of topics that he did not yet understand. 3) Errors: the extent to which a learner made mistakes when asked to explain topics that he had learned about. 4) Route taken: the extent to which a learner chose a wide range of topics to work on and extended his knowledge on a broad front, or confined his learning to a narrower 'in depth' study of one area at a time. Hypotheses concerning appreciation span, exploration and errors focused on possible interrelationships between these variables, extraversion-introversion and associated characteristics. The results indicated no relationships between the distance ahead that students planned, the amount of exploration that they engaged in and extraversion-introversion. Possible explanations and implications of the results are discussed. Hypotheses derived from previous work suggesting that extraverts have greater tolerance of ambiguity than introverts and thus make fewer errors when learning in unstructured, ambiguous situations were supported by the data. A detailed theoretical discussion of attention deployment is presented and followed by an empirical examination of the extent to which the students studied developed their understanding on a broad or narrow front. Hypotheses concerning the relationships between this learning style characteristic and attention deployment, cognitive complexity and flexibility in problem-solving were supported by the data; indicating positive relationships between a "breadth-first' learning style, wide (or diffuse) attention deployment, a high level of cognitive complexity and a flexible approach to problem-solving

Critical analysis of the use of onabotulinumtoxinA (botulinum toxin type A) in migraine

OnabotulinumtoxinA, a neurotoxin, has been studied in numerous trials as a novel preventive therapy for migraine headache. The data would support that it may be effective at reducing headache days in patients suffering from chronic migraine (≥15 headache days/month, with eight or more of those migraine headache days). The mechanism by which onabotulinumtoxinA exerts its effects on migraine is not yet understood. It is known to inhibit acetylcholine release at the neuromuscular junction, but this probably does not explain the observed antinociceptive properties noted in preclinical and clinical trials. This review will discuss the known mechanisms of action of botulinum toxin type A, and will review the available randomized, placebo-controlled trials that have looked at its efficacy as a migraine preventative. We also describe the onabotulinumtoxinA injection sites used at our institution

Ubiquitin ligases and beyond

First paragraph (this article has no abstract): In a review published in 2004 [1] and that still repays reading today, Cecile Pickart traced the evolution of research on ubiquitination from its origins in the proteasomal degradation of proteins through the revelation that it has a central role in cell cycle regulation and the recognition of regulatory roles for ubiquitin in intracellular membrane transport, cell signalling, transcription, translation, and DNA repair

Brief Communication

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67313/2/10.1177_088307389801300308.pd

Effect of zinc on oropharyngeal mucositis in children with acute leukemia undergoing chemotherapy

Oropharyngeal mucositis (OM) is one of the main side-effects of oncological therapy. There is no treatment to prevent its occurrence, but some zinc-based therapies have been proven to help in decreasing its intensity. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of zinc in OM in children with acute leukemia in the early stages of oncological treatment. This quasi-experimental study evaluated OM in 2 groups (control group: conventional hospital management, and experimental group: administration of 50 mg of zinc gluconate daily plus conventional hospital management). OM severity was recorded at a two-month follow-up. Forty-nine patients (26 in the control group and 23 in the experimental group) were included. The mean age of the patients was 11.1 ± 2.7 years; 65.3% had a diagnosis of pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The incidences of OM in the control group and the experimental group were 46.2% and 26.1%, respectively, but the difference was not significant. Based on a negative binomial regression model, females had, on average, 1.5 more days with OM (p = 0.002), and patients assigned to the experimental group had, on average, 2 less days with OM than the control group (p = 0.001). The pain score was higher in the control group (p = 0.0009), as was the mean score on the WHO scale (p = 0.0012). Zinc facilitated a reduction in the severity and duration of OM; further studies focusing on children are needed to confirm the effects of this trace element