Applications of CFD and visualization techniques

In this paper, three applications are presented to illustrate current techniques for flow calculation and visualization. The first two applications use a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, FLUENT, performed on a Cray Y-MP. The results are animated with the aid of data visualization software, apE. The third application simulates a particulate deposition pattern using techniques inspired by developments in nonlinear dynamical systems. These computations were performed on personal computers

THE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGISTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

This session presents preliminary results from a study that attempts to examine the experiences of Black psychologists teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This knowledge can be used to improve the experiences of Black psychologists in higher education, enhance the appeal of academia, and increase the opportunity for professional success

The relationship of social anhedonia and social anxiety with schizotypy and their expression in daily life

"Schizotypy involves social disinterest (anhedonia) and social anxiety. The first study examined the relationship of these constructs in 364 young adults. As hypothesized, there was a moderate association between them, which diminished after partialing out positive schizotypy. Confirmatory factor analyses found that a three-factor solution with positive schizotypy, negative schizotypy, and social anxiety factors provided the best fit, indicating that social anxiety is more associated with positive than negative schizotypy. The second study employed experience sampling methodology to examine the expression of social anhedonia and anxiety in the daily lives of 245 participants. As hypothesized, social anxiety was associated with increased negative affect, whereas social anhedonia was associated with decreased positive affect. Social anhedonia, but not social anxiety, was associated with less social contact, engagement, and enjoyment. The findings suggest that social anxiety and anhedonia are expressed differently in terms of affective responding and their relationships to the schizotypy dimensions."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

A continuum of suspiciousness and its relation to schizotypy and social anxiety

Paranoia, a continuum of clinical and subclinical experiences in which other people are assumed or suspected to have negative and harmful intentions, is a key symptom of schizotypy (including schizophrenia spectrum disorders). Subclinical paranoia is less well-understood than its clinical expression, but is estimated to occur in around 10% of the general population and is a source of social impairment. Paranoia also shares features with social anxiety, such as social discomfort and fear of humiliation in social situations; however, paranoia is differentiated from social anxiety by the belief that other's motives are malevolent. The current research examined the nature, boundaries, and expression of paranoia across a broad continuum of severity by assessing its relation to schizotypy and social anxiety. In the first study, 862 college students completed measures of paranoia, social anxiety, and schizotypy in order to test hypothesized models of the relation of these constructs using confirmatory factor analyses. As hypothesized, the data were best described by a four factor model including positive schizotypy, negative schizotypy, social anxiety, and paranoia. Furthermore, paranoia was more strongly associated with positive schizotypy than with the other factors. The second study employed experience sampling methodology to examine the expression of paranoia and social anxiety in daily life in a subset of 240 participants. Paranoia and social anxiety were both associated with more daily reports of negative affect, self-consciousness, and negative social perceptions. Paranoia--but not social anxiety--was characterized by more anger, persecutory beliefs, and self-reference in daily life. People higher in social anxiety experienced improvements in mood when in close social encounters; relationships between mood and the situation did not change across levels of paranoia. Identification and study of paranoia can clarify the role of environmental factors that contribute to decompensation into schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and can lead to better targets for prophylactic interventions used to prevent the development of clinical disorders

When the Need to Belong Goes Wrong: The Expression of Social Anhedonia and Social Anxiety in Daily Life

Baumeister and Leary (1995) proposed that people possess an innate “need to belong” that drives social interactions. Aberrations in the need to belong, such as social anhedonia and anxiety, provide a point of entry for examining this need. The current study employed experience sampling methodology to explore deviations in the belongingness need in the daily lives of 245 undergraduates. PDAs signaled participants eight times daily for a week to complete questionnaires regarding affect, thoughts, and behaviors. As predicted, social anhedonia was associated with increased time alone, a preference for solitude, and lower positive affect. Social anxiety, on the other hand, was associated with higher negative affect and unassociated with time alone. Furthermore, social anxiety was associated with greater self-consciousness and preference to be alone while interacting with unfamiliar people. Thus, deviations in the belongingness need affect social functioning differently depending on whether the belongingness need is absent or thwarted

For Whom the Mind Wanders, and When: An Experience- Sampling Study of Working Memory and Executive Control in Daily Life

An experience-sampling study of 124 under-graduates, pretested on complex memory-span tasks, examined the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and the experience of mind wandering in daily life. Over 7 days, personal digital assistants signaled subjects eight times daily to report immediately whether their thoughts had wandered from their current activity, and to describe their psychological and physical context. WMC moderated the relation between mind wandering and activities‘ cognitive demand. During challenging activities requiring concentration and effort, higher-WMC subjects maintained on-task thoughts better, and mind-wandered less, than did lower-WMC subjects. The results were there-fore consistent with theories of WMC emphasizing the role of executive attention and control processes in determining individual differences and their cognitive consequences

The expression of bipolar spectrum psychopathology in daily life

Background Bipolar psychopathology has traditionally been defined by categorical diagnoses. However, these disorders may simply reflect the extremes of a broader spectrum of clinical and subclinical bipolar psychopathology. Method The present study examined the validity of the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS) as a measure of bipolar spectrum psychopathology in 305 young adults using experience sampling methodology. The participants completed the HPS and were signaled randomly eight times daily for seven days to complete brief questionnaires on their current experiences. Results High HPS scores were associated with elevated energetic-enthusiasm, irritability, dysphoria, flight of ideas, mild grandiose beliefs, and risky behavior, as well as increased variability in affect in daily life. High HPS scores were also associated with greater reactivity in negative affect and behavior in response to viewing themselves as unsuccessful in their activities. Limitations It is not clear to what extent the participants had diagnosable bipolar disorders. Conclusions The findings support a broader spectrum of bipolar psychopathology and the validity of the HPS as a measure of this construct

Age Differences in the Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Risk with Cognition and Quality of Life

Using a sample of 2925 stroke-free participants drawn from a national population-based study, we examined cross-sectional associations of obstructive sleep apnea risk (OSA) with cognition and quality of life and whether these vary with age, while controlling for demographics and co-morbidities. Included participants from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke Study were aged 47-93. OSA risk was categorized as high or low based on responses to the Berlin Sleep Questionnaire. Cognitive function was assessed with standardized fluency and recall measures. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the four-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-12 (SF-12). MANCOVA statistics were applied separately to the cognitive and quality of life dependent variables while accounting for potential confounders (demographics, co-morbidities). In fully adjusted models, those at high risk for OSA had significantly lower cognitive scores (Wilks’ Lambda = 0.996, F(3, 2786) = 3.31, p < .05) and lower quality of life (depressive symptoms and HRQoL) (Wilks’ Lambda = 0.989, F(3, 2786) = 10.02, p < .0001). However, some of the associations were age-dependent. Differences in cognition and quality of life between those at high and low obstructive sleep apnea risk were most pronounced during middle age, with attenuated effects after age 70

Patterns of Natural and Human-Caused Mortality Factors of a Rare Forest Carnivore, the Fisher (Pekania pennanti) in California.

Wildlife populations of conservation concern are limited in distribution, population size and persistence by various factors, including mortality. The fisher (Pekania pennanti), a North American mid-sized carnivore whose range in the western Pacific United States has retracted considerably in the past century, was proposed for threatened status protection in late 2014 under the United States Endangered Species Act by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in its West Coast Distinct Population Segment. We investigated mortality in 167 fishers from two genetically and geographically distinct sub-populations in California within this West Coast Distinct Population Segment using a combination of gross necropsy, histology, toxicology and molecular methods. Overall, predation (70%), natural disease (16%), toxicant poisoning (10%) and, less commonly, vehicular strike (2%) and other anthropogenic causes (2%) were causes of mortality observed. We documented both an increase in mortality to (57% increase) and exposure (6%) from pesticides in fishers in just the past three years, highlighting further that toxicants from marijuana cultivation still pose a threat. Additionally, exposure to multiple rodenticides significantly increased the likelihood of mortality from rodenticide poisoning. Poisoning was significantly more common in male than female fishers and was 7 times more likely than disease to kill males. Based on necropsy findings, suspected causes of mortality based on field evidence alone tended to underestimate the frequency of disease-related mortalities. This study is the first comprehensive investigation of mortality causes of fishers and provides essential information to assist in the conservation of this species