Depression and identity : Are self-constructions negative or conflictual?

Negative self-views have proved to be a consistent marker of vulnerability for depression. However, recent research has shown that a particular kind of cognitive conflict, implicative dilemma, is highly prevalent in depression. In this study, the relevance of these conflicts is assessed as compared to the cognitive model of depression of a negative view of the self. In so doing, 161 patients with major depression and 110 controls were assessed to explore negative self-construing (self-ideal discrepancy) and conflicts (implicative dilemmas), as well as severity of symptoms. Results showed specificity for the clinical group indicating a pattern of mixed positive and negative self-descriptions with a high rate of conflict. Regression analysis lent support to the conflict hypothesis in relation to clinically relevant indicators such as symptom severity, global functioning. However, self-ideal discrepancy was a stronger predictor of group membership. The findings showed the relevance of cognitive conflicts to compliment the well-consolidated theory of negative self-views. Clinical implications for designing interventions are discussed.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Commissioning of the tracking system in the ATLAS detector

ATLAS is one of the four experiments that will analyze the p-p collisions at LHC. It consists of several subsystems: the Inner Detector is devoted to the measurement of the charged particle tracks in the interaction point region and the Pixel Detector is its innermost component. Both have been commissioned by using cosmic rays collected by the ATLAS detector in 2009. In the first part of the thesis, the spatial resolution of the Pixel Detector is studied and optimized. When a charged particle traverses the Pixel Detector, charges released in the sensors are collected by segmented electrodes, the pixels. The charge of each pixel is read out by the Time-over-Threshold technique and adjacent pixels are grouped into clusters. Cluster position can be computed by considering its geometrical center, but spatial resolution can be optimized if using charge information to improve position determination. In the second part of the thesis, the Inner Detector resolution in all track parameters has been studied by splitting each cosmic ray track into two halves. Since both halves stem from the same particle, they should be described by the same parameters. At the same time, the two tracks are fitted independently and can be compared to study the resolution of the tracking system. Resolution been studied as a function of track direction and distance from the beam axis. The multiple scattering contribution and several systematic effects due to residual misalignments have been evaluated

Studio di fattibilità della ricostruzione del decadimento D0→K−μ+νμD^0\to K^-\mu^+\nu_{\mu} ad LHCb

Il Modello Standard delle particelle elementari prevede l’universalità del sapore leptonico, cioè l’uguaglianza della probabilità di accoppiamento dei bosoni di gauge carichi dell’interazione debole con tutti i leptoni. Recentemente, le Collaborazioni LHCb, BaBar e Belle, misurando il rapporto tra i branching ratio dei decadimenti $B^0\to D^{∗− }\tau^+\nu_{\tau} e$B^0 →D^{∗−}\mu^+\nu_{\mu}, hanno osservato una deviazione dai valori previsti dal Modello Standard di 3.9 deviazioni standard. Questo interessante risultato, se confermato, indicherebbe l’esistenza di nuove particelle, come per esempio il bosone di Higgs carico. Analogamente ai decadimenti del mesone $B^0$ , è possibile cercare effetti analoghi anche nel rapporto di branching ratio dei decadimenti $D^0\to K^ −\mu^+\nu_{\mu}$ e $D^0\to K^−e^+\nu_e$ . In questo lavoro di tesi è stato realizzato uno studio preliminare di questa misura. In particolare, è stato studiata, tramite simulazioni Monte Carlo, la ricostruzione del processo $D^{*\pm}\to D^0 (\to K^− \mu+\nu_{\mu})\pi_s^{\pm}$ nell’esperimento LHCb. Questo canale ha la particolarità di avere una particella invisibile, il neutrino, al rivelatore LHCb. Tuttavia, mediante vincoli cinematici e topologici, è possibile ricavare le componenti dell’impulso del neutrino, con risoluzioni non paragonabili a quelle di una particella visibile, ma comunque accettabili. In questa tesi sono riportati i calcoli che permettono di ottenere queste informazioni ed è stata studiata la risoluzione sulla massa invariante del $D^{∗\pm}$ . La tesi è organizzata nel seguente modo: il primo capitolo riporta le motivazioni della misura dei rapporti dei branching ratio e l’attuale stato sperimentale; il secondo capitolo contiene una breve descrizione del rivelatore LHCb; il terzo capitolo, infine, descrive lo studio di fattibilità della ricostruzione del decadimento $D^0\to K^-\mu^+\nu_{\mu}

An Endless Array of Options; How the Internet is revolutionizing the ways we meet and mate

Marriage rates are at a record low in the United States and there are currently more single people searching for partners than there have ever been at any point in our history. The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of our lives and it is increasingly playing a role in the formation of relationships. Much the way one looks for work online; shops for clothes, stays in contact with friends, or gathers information - one may now search online for a suitable romantic partner. Using a qualitative approach, this study seeks to explore the experiences of online dating site users through in-depth, in-person interviews with Internet daters between the ages of 25 to 45. My research explores the mechanisms involved in the users\u27 experiences of meeting potential partners from Internet dating sites. How do the many options the Internet provides (in terms of potential mates) affect the dating processes of Internet dating site users and how do they negotiate making choices about intimate partners when faced with a greater supply of potential mates? The majority of Internet dating site users interviewed reported experiencing some degree of choice overload although more ‘desirable\u27 users reported this effect more strongly

Self-Portrait Ending with the Last Flight of the Body

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Ricerca di particelle supersimmetriche nell'ambito dell'esperimento ATLAS

The first part of the thesis reports a phenomenological study of the supersymmetric models known as “MSUGRA”. Particular emphasis is given to the “Focus Point” choice of the parameters that characterizes the MSUGRA models. The Focus Point model features a description of the Dark Matter density in the Universe that is compatible with the WMAP experimental data. Furthermore this model can be easily studied using ATLAS data, starting from the very few years of data taking. My original contribution to this study has been the calculation of the invariant mass distribution of the leptons that characterize a particular decay of neutralinos. The invariant mass distribution has been studied as a function of the neutralino mass. In the final part of the thesis, simulated data have been used to study the possibility of neutralino decay discovery with the ATLAS detector. The background relevance has been analyzed, as well as the precision that can be achieved in the neutralino mass measurement. As a conclusion the limits that can be imposed on the MSUGRA parameters have been determined as a function of the neutralino mass