The Relationship Between Cognitive Flexibility, Coping, and Symptomatology in Psychotherapy

Cognitive flexibility is broadly defined as the ability to shift perspective or approach in order to adapt to changes in the environment. This implies the abilities to generate alternatives and then to implement effective approaches. High cognitive flexibility has been associated with psychological well-being and effective coping, whereas low flexibility, or rigidity, has been linked to several types of psychopathology. The goal of the current study was to provide exploratory evidence of the utility of a brief, self-report measure of cognitive flexibility in identifying relationships to coping strategies, symptomatology, and treatment duration in a clinical setting. A total of 18 individuals seeking treatment at a university-affiliated mental health clinic participated in the study. Participants completed measures of cognitive flexibility and coping styles. Demographic information and data regarding symptomatology and treatment were gathered from client files. Correlational analyses indicated strong positive relationships between aspects of cognitive flexibility and use of problem-focused coping, suggesting that greater ability to generate and implement effective approaches is linked to greater use of pragmatic strategies to improve a situation. Results also indicated a strong positive correlation between the perceived control over challenging situations and duration of previous therapy. However, no relationship was found between flexibility and symptomatology. These exploratory results provide preliminary evidence for the relationship between cognitive flexibility and aspects of mental health in a clinical setting

Cronyism and Capital Controls: Evidence from Malaysia

The initial impact of the Asian financial crisis in Malaysia reduced the expected value of government subsidies to politically favored firms. Of the estimated $60 billion loss in market value for politically connected firms from July 1997 to August 1998, roughly 9$5 billion gain in market value for Mahathir-connected firms during September 1998, approximately 32% was due to the increase in the value of their connections. The evidence suggests Malaysian capital controls provided a screen behind which favored firms could be supported.

Mid-infrared upconversion spectroscopy based on a Yb:fiber femtosecond laser

We present a system for molecular spectroscopy using a broadband mid-infrared laser with near infrared detection. Difference frequency generation of a Yb:fiber femtosecond laser produced a mid-infrared (MIR) source tunable from 2100-3700 cm^-1 (2.7-4.7 microns) with average power up to 40 mW. The MIR spectrum was upconverted to near-infrared wavelengths for broadband detection using a two-dimensional dispersion imaging technique. Absorption measurements were performed over bandwidths of 240 cm^-1 (7.2 THz) with 0.048 cm^-1 (1.4 GHz) resolution, and absolute frequency scale uncertainty was better than 0.005 cm^-1 (150 MHz). The minimum detectable absorption coefficient per spectral element was determined to be 4.4 x 10^-7 cm^-1 from measurements in low pressure CH_4, leading to a detection limit of 2 parts-per-billion. The spectral range, resolution, and frequency accuracy of this system show promise for determination of trace concentrations in gas mixtures containing both narrow and broad overlapping spectral features, and we demonstrate this in measurements of air and solvent samples.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Structured Linearization of Discrete Mechanical Systems for Analysis and Optimal Control

Variational integrators are well-suited for simulation of mechanical systems because they preserve mechanical quantities about a system such as momentum, or its change if external forcing is involved, and holonomic constraints. While they are not energy-preserving they do exhibit long-time stable energy behavior. However, variational integrators often simulate mechanical system dynamics by solving an implicit difference equation at each time step, one that is moreover expressed purely in terms of configurations at different time steps. This paper formulates the first- and second-order linearizations of a variational integrator in a manner that is amenable to control analysis and synthesis, creating a bridge between existing analysis and optimal control tools for discrete dynamic systems and variational integrators for mechanical systems in generalized coordinates with forcing and holonomic constraints. The forced pendulum is used to illustrate the technique. A second example solves the discrete LQR problem to find a locally stabilizing controller for a 40 DOF system with 6 constraints.Comment: 13 page

Propping and Tunneling

In countries with weak legal systems, there is a great deal of tunnelling by the entrepreneurs who control publicly traded firms. However, under some conditions entrepreneurs prop up their firms, i.e., they use their private funds to benefit minority shareholders. We provide evidence and a model that explains propping. In particular, we suggest that issuing debt can credibly commit an entrepreneur to propping, even though creditors can never take possession of any underlying collateral. This helps to explain why emerging markets with weak institutions sometimes grow rapidly and why they are also subject to frequent economic and financial crises.

Atlas of the global distribution of atmospheric heating during the global weather experiment

Global distributions of atmospheric heating for the annual cycle of the Global Weather Experiment are estimated from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Level 3b data set. Distributions of monthly, seasonally, and annually averaged heating are presented for isentropic and isobaric layers within the troposphere and for the troposphere as a whole. The distributions depict a large-scale structure of atmospheric heating that appears spatially and temporally consistent with known features of the global circulation and the seasonal evolution

Model reduction for stochastic CaMKII reaction kinetics in synapses by graph-constrained correlation dynamics.

A stochastic reaction network model of Ca(2+) dynamics in synapses (Pepke et al PLoS Comput. Biol. 6 e1000675) is expressed and simulated using rule-based reaction modeling notation in dynamical grammars and in MCell. The model tracks the response of calmodulin and CaMKII to calcium influx in synapses. Data from numerically intensive simulations is used to train a reduced model that, out of sample, correctly predicts the evolution of interaction parameters characterizing the instantaneous probability distribution over molecular states in the much larger fine-scale models. The novel model reduction method, 'graph-constrained correlation dynamics', requires a graph of plausible state variables and interactions as input. It parametrically optimizes a set of constant coefficients appearing in differential equations governing the time-varying interaction parameters that determine all correlations between variables in the reduced model at any time slice

Determinants of Vertical Integration: Finance, Contracts, and Regulation

We study the determinants of vertical integration in a new dataset of over 750,000 firms from 93 countries. Existing evidence suggests the presence of large cross-country differences in the organization of firms, which may be related to differences in financial development, contracting costs or regulation. We find cross-country correlations between vertical integration on the one hand and financial development, contracting costs, and entry barriers on the other that are consistent with these "priors". Nevertheless, we also show that these correlations are almost entirely driven by industrial composition; countries with more limited financial development, higher contracting costs or greater entry barriers are concentrated in industries with a high propensity for vertical integration. Once we control for differences in industrial composition, none of these factors are correlated with average vertical integration. However, we also find a relatively robust differential effect of financial development across industries; countries with less-developed financial markets are significantly more integrated in industries that are more human capital or technology intensive.