AN INVESTIGATION OF THE CORRELATES AND DEVELOPMENTAL SEQUELAE OF ANOMALOUS MATERNAL BEHAVIOUR AND DISORGANIZED ATTACHMENT RELATIONSHIPS

It has long been believed that early relationships with parents play an important role in subsequent social development. Recent research in attachment theory has focused on understanding of the complex intricacies of disorganized attachment and ensuing psychopathology. This study aims to further elucidate our understanding of the origins, correlates, and developmental sequelae of disorganized attachment. This dissertation draws on theory and research from relevant areas of developmental and clinical psychology to investigate the relation between disorganized attachment relationships and 1) unresolved states of mind, and 2) anomalous interactive behavior. A narrative review and meta-analysis reporting on the links between unresolved representations of attachment, anomalous behavior, and disorganized attachment relationships is presented. Results revealed that moderate effect sizes were found for the associations between unresolved status and anomalous behavior, unresolved status and infant disorganized attachment relationships, and anomalous behavior and disorganized attachment relationships. In a second study, the links between unresolved status, disorganized attachment, and anomalous behavior were examined in a sample of 82 adolescent mother-infant dyads. A strong association was observed between anomalous behavior and disorganized attachment, as well as between unresolved status and anomalous behavior. Regression analyses revealed that anomalous behavior statistically mediated the association between unresolved status and disorganized attachment. In a third study, the associations between toddler behaviour problems, unresolved states of mind, anomalous behaviour, and disorganized attachment were examined in 64 111 adolescent mother-infant dyads. Maternal reports of externalizing problems were significantly related to unresolved status, anomalous behavior, and disorganized attachment. Regression analyses supported a model in which disorganized attachment mediated the association between anomalous maternal behavior and externalizing problems. No evidence was found for disorganized attachment as a mediator of the association between unresolved status and externalizing problems. In the final study, the rate of change in the display of anomalous behavior over the course of an attachment-based intervention in a group of 11 high-risk mother-infant dyads was examined. Results from this study provided preliminary empirical support that a significant decrease in the mothers’ display of disrupted behaviors could be observed relatively quickly after the attachment-based treatment commenced. Data from this study provide encouraging support for Main and Hesse’s (1990) and Lyons-Ruth, Parsons, and Bronfman’s (1999) conceptualization of anomalous maternal interactive behaviour

Parallel Deterministic and Stochastic Global Minimization of Functions with Very Many Minima

The optimization of three problems with high dimensionality and many local minima are investigated under five different optimization algorithms: DIRECT, simulated annealing, Spall’s SPSA algorithm, the KNITRO package, and QNSTOP, a new algorithm developed at Indiana University

Theory of enhanced dynamical photo-thermal bi-stability effects in cuprous oxide/organic hybrid heterostructure

We theoretically demonstrate the formation of multiple bi-stability regions in the temperature pattern on the interface between a cuprous oxide quantum well and DCM2:CA:PS organic compound. The Frenkel molecular exciton of the DCM2 is brought into resonance with the $1S$ quadrupole Wannier-Mott exciton in the cuprous oxide by "solvatochromism" with CA. The resulting hybrid is thermalized with surrounding helium bath. This leads to strongly non-linear temperature dependence of the laser field detuning from the quadrupole exciton energy band which is associated with the temperature induced red shift of the Wannier exciton energy. Numerical up and down-scan for the detuning reveals hysteresis-like temperature distribution. The obtained \emph{multiple} bi-stability regions are at least three orders of magnitude bigger ($meV$) than the experimentally observed bi-stability in bulk cuprous oxide ($\mu eV$). The effective absorption curve exhibits highly asymmetrical behavior for the Frenkel-like (above the $1S$ energy) and Wannier-like (below the $1S$ energy) branches of the hybrid.Comment: 6 pages, 7 Figure

Load-relaxation properties of the human trunk in response to prolonged flexion: measuring and modeling the effect of flexion angle

Experimental studies suggest that prolonged trunk flexion reduces passive support of the spine. To understand alterations of the synergy between active and passive tissues following such loadings, several studies have assessed the time-dependent behavior of passive tissues including those within spinal motion segments and muscles. Yet, there remain limitations regarding load-relaxation of the lumbar spine in response to flexion exposures and the influence of different flexion angles. Ten healthy participants were exposed for 16 min to each of five magnitudes of lumbar flexion specified relative to individual flexion-relaxation angles (i.e., 30, 40, 60, 80, and 100%), during which lumbar flexion angle and trunk moment were recorded. Outcome measures were initial trunk moment, moment drop, parameters of four viscoelastic models (i.e., Standard Linear Solid model, the Prony Series, Schapery\u27s Theory, and the Modified Superposition Method), and changes in neutral zone and viscoelastic state following exposure. There were significant effects of flexion angle on initial moment, moment drop, changes in normalized neutral zone, and some parameters of the Standard Linear Solid model. Initial moment, moment drop, and changes in normalized neutral zone increased exponentially with flexion angle. Kelvin-solid models produced better predictions of temporal behaviors. Observed responses to trunk flexion suggest nonlinearity in viscoelastic properties, and which likely reflected viscoelastic behaviors of spinal (lumbar) motion segments. Flexion-induced changes in viscous properties and neutral zone imply an increase in internal loads and perhaps increased risk of low back disorders. Kelvin-solid models, especially the Prony Series model appeared to be more effective at modeling load-relaxation of the trunk

Expression of HGF and c-met proteins in human keratoconus corneas

© 2015 Jingjing You et al. Keratoconus (KC) is a progressive degenerative inflammatory-related disease of the human cornea leading to decreased visual function. The pathogenesis of KC remains to be understood. Recent genetic studies indicate that gene variants of an inflammation-related molecule, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), are associated with an increased susceptibility for developing KC. However HGF protein expression in KC has not been explored. In this initial study, we investigated late-stage KC and control corneas for the expression of HGF and its receptor mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-Met/Met). KC buttons (8 mm diameter) (n = 10) and whole control corneas (n = 6) were fixed in 10% formalin or 2% paraformaldehyde, paraffin embedded and sectioned. Sections were immunolabelled with HGF and c-Met antibodies, visualised using immunofluorescence, and examined with scanning laser confocal microscopy. Semiquantitative grading was used to compare HGF and c-Met immunostaining in KC and control corneas. Overall, KC corneas showed increased HGF and c-Met immunostaining compared to controls. KC corneal epithelium displayed heterogeneous moderate-to-strong immunoreactivity for HGF and c-Met, particularly in the basal epithelium adjacent to the cone area. Taken together with the recent genetic studies, our results further support a possible role for HGF/c-Met in the pathogenesis of KC

Perfectionism and training distress in junior athletes: A longitudinal investigation

Perfectionistic athletes may train harder and for longer than non-perfectionistic athletes, leaving them susceptible to elevated levels of training distress. So far, however, no study has investigated the relationships between perfectionism and training distress, a key indicator of overtraining syndrome. Furthermore, no study has determined psychological predictors of overtraining syndrome. Using a two-wave design, the present study examined perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and training distress in 141 junior athletes (mean age 17.3 years, range 16-19 years) over 3 months of active training. Multiple regression analyses were employed to test cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between perfectionism and training distress. In all analyses, perfectionism emerged as a significant predictor, but strivings and concerns showed differential relationships. When the cross-sectional relationships were regarded, perfectionistic concerns positively predicted training distress (p .05). The findings suggest that sports scientists who wish to identify athletes at risk of overtraining syndrome may monitor athletes’ perfectionistic concerns as a possible risk factor

Regulating Access to Adult Content (with Privacy Preservation)

In the physical world we have well-established mechanisms for keeping children out of adult-only areas. In the virtual world this is generally replaced by self declaration. Some service providers resort to using heavy-weight identification mechanisms, judging adulthood as a side effect thereof. Collection of identification data arguably constitutes an unwarranted privacy invasion in this context, if carried out merely to perform adulthood estimation. This paper presents a mechanism that exploits the adult's more extensive exposure to public media, relying on the likelihood that they will be able to recall details if cued by a carefully chosen picture. We conducted an online study to gauge the viability of this scheme. With our prototype we were able to predict that the user was a child 99% of the time. Unfortunately the scheme also misclassified too many adults. We discuss our results and suggest directions for future research