4,120 research outputs found
Forgiveness and interpersonal skills in same-sexed friendships
Although forgiveness is a largely interpersonal process, little research has examined the relationship between forgiveness and the interpersonal skills that may be important in forgiving another for an offence. The current study addressed this issue by investigating the relationship between forgiveness and interpersonal skills in same-sexed friendships among a community sample of 210 people (mean age 38.32 years). Each participant completed the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson et al., 2005), which assesses forgiveness of self, others, and situations; and the same-sex friend version of the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire (Buhrmester, Furman, Wittenberg, & Reis, 1988) which assesses skills in initiation, negative assertion, self-disclosure, emotional support, and conflict management. Positive correlations were found between all five interpersonal skills and the three types of forgiveness, with only the relationship between forgiveness of others and negative assertion failing to reach significance. Separate hierarchical regressions were conducted to predict each type of forgiveness, with age and gender entered at Step 1 and the interpersonal skills variables entered at Step 2. Age, initiation skills, and conflict management skills each contributed uniquely to the prediction of all three types of forgiveness. Discussion centres around the relationship between forgiveness and interpersonal skills
Lighting as a Circadian Rhythm-Entraining and Alertness-Enhancing Stimulus in the Submarine Environment
The human brain can only accommodate a circadian rhythm that closely follows 24 hours. Thus, for a work schedule to meet the brainâs hard-wired requirement, it must employ a 24 hour-based program. However, the 6 hours on, 12 hours off (6/12) submarine watchstanding schedule creates an 18-hour âdayâ that Submariners must follow. Clearly, the 6/12 schedule categorically fails to meet the brainâs operational design, and no schedule other than one tuned to the brainâs 24 hour rhythm can optimize performance. Providing Submariners with a 24 hour-based watchstanding scheduleâcombined with effective circadian entrainment techniques using carefully-timed exposure to lightâwould allow crewmembers to work at the peak of their daily performance cycle and acquire more restorative sleep. In the submarine environment, where access to natural light is absent, electric lighting can play an important role in actively entrainingâand closely maintainingâcircadian regulation. Another area that is likely to have particular importance in the submarine environment is the potential effect of light to help restore or maintain alertness
The emotional contagion in children with autism spectrum disorder
Studies of the last decade have demonstrated that children with Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD) showed difficulties in language, social and relational
areas, but they had also impairment in the mechanisms of embodied simulation,
namely the imitative behaviors that allow the body to give an experiential
meaning to own and otherâs emotions. The identification of this specific emotional
response in ASD children, also defined as emotional contagion, allows to move
the therapeutic focus from reducing the behavioral symptomatic expressions of
the child to promoting the expression of his ability of emotional regulation. The
aim of this study was to investigate the presence of emotional contagion in 53
ASD children aged between 22 and 66 months, through the Test of emotional
contagion and verify the presence of compromised emotional contagion areas.
Our findings have shown that the severity of the disorder is closely related to
the inability of the child to respond to the emotional stimuli, regardless from
cognitive abilities, and that emotion to which children responded most frequently
was happiness, while the one who responded less was anger
From the emotional integration to the cognitive construction: the developmental approach of Turtle Project in children with autism spectrum disorder
Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder show a deficit in neurobiological processes. This deficit
hinders the development of intentional behavior and appropriate problem-solving, leading the child to implement
repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and to have difficulties in reciprocal interactions, empathy and in the
development of a theory of mind. The objective of this research is to verify the effectiveness of a relationship-based
approach on the positive evolution of autistic symptoms.
Method: A sample of 80 children with autism spectrum disorder was monitored during the first four years of
therapy, through a clinical diagnostic assessment at the time of intake and then in two follow-up.
Results: The results showed that through the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule it is possible to
assess the socio-relational key elements on which the therapy is based. There was evidence, in fact, of significant
improvements after two and four years of therapy, both for children with severe autistic symptoms and for those in
autistic spectrum.
Conclusions: Socio-relational aspects represent the primary element on which work in therapy with autistic
children and can be considered as indicators of a positive evolution and prognosis that will produce improvements
even in the cognitive are
"Hiccup" accretion in the swinging pulsar IGR J18245-2452
IGR J18245-2452 is the fifteenth discovered accreting millisecond X-ray
pulsar and the first source of this class showing direct evidence for
transition between accretion and rotational powered emission states. These
swing provided the strongest confirmation of the pulsar recycling scenario
available so far. During the two XMM-Newton observations that were carried out
while the source was in outburst in April 2013, IGR J18245-2452 displayed a
unique and peculiar variability of its X-ray emission. In this work, we report
on a detailed analysis of the XMM- Newton data and focus in particular on the
timing and spectral variability of the source. IGR J18245-2452 continuously
switches between lower and higher intensity states, with typical variations in
flux up to a factor of about 500 in time scales as short as few seconds. These
variations in the source intensity are sometimes associated to a dramatic
spectral hardening, during which the power-law photon index of the source
changes from Gamma=1.7 to Gamma=0.9. The pulse profiles extracted at different
count rates and energies show a complex variability. These phenomena are not
usually observed in accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars, at least not on such a
short time scale. Fast variability was also found in the ATCA radio
observations carried out for about 6 hours during the outburst at a frequency
of 5.5 and 9 GHz. We interpret the variability observed from IGR J18245-2452 in
terms of a "hiccup" accretion phase, during which the accretion of material
from the inner boundary of the Keplerian disk is reduced by the onset of
centrifugal inhibition of accretion, possibly causing the launch of strong
outflows. Changes across accretion and propeller regimes have been long
predicted and reproduced by MHD simulations of accreting millisecond X-ray
pulsars but never observed to produce an extreme variability as that shown by
IGR J18245-2452.Comment: A&A in press. Revised versio
Spatiotemporal variability in the O-18-salinity relationship of seawater across the tropical Pacific Ocean
The relationship between salinity and the stable oxygen isotope ratio of seawater (δ18Osw) is of utmost importance to the quantitative reconstruction of past changes in salinity from δ18O values of marine carbonates. This relationship is often considered to be uniform across water masses, but the constancy of the δ18Osw-salinity relationship across space and time remains uncertain, as δ18Osw responds to varying atmospheric vapor sources and pathways, while salinity does not. Here we present new δ18Osw-salinity data from sites spanning the tropical Pacific Ocean. New data from Palau, Papua New Guinea, Kiritimati, and GalĂĄpagos show slopes ranging from 0.09 â°/psu in the GalĂĄpagos to 0.32â°/psu in Palau. The slope of the δ18Osw-salinity relationship is higher in the western tropical Pacific versus the eastern tropical Pacific in observations and in two isotope-enabled climate model simulations. A comparison of δ18Osw-salinity relationships derived from short-term spatial surveys and multiyear time series at Papua New Guinea and GalĂĄpagos suggests spatial relationships can be substituted for temporal relationships at these sites, at least within the time period of the investigation. However, the δ18Osw-salinity relationship varied temporally at Palau, likely in response to water mass changes associated with interannual El NiĂąoâSouthern Oscillation (ENSO) variability, suggesting nonstationarity in this local δ18Osw-salinity relationship. Applying local δ18Osw-salinity relationships in a coral δ18O forward model shows that using a constant, basinwide δ18Osw-salinity slope can both overestimate and underestimate the contribution of δ18Osw to carbonate δ18O variance at individual sites in the western tropical Pacific.We are grateful for the dedicated water samplers who enabled this research: Lori J. Bell and Gerda Ucharm of the Coral Reef Research Foundation, Palau; Rosa Maritza Motoche Gonzalez and the Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana, Santa Cruz, Galapagos, Ecuador; Taonateiti Kabiri and the students of Tennessee Primary School, London, Kiritimati; and the Manus Weather Observers, U.S. Department of Energy ARM Climate Research Facility, Manus, Papua New Guinea. We would like to thank the Galapagos National Park, the Kiritimati Ministry of Environment Lands and Agricultural Development for sample permits, and the Charles Darwin Research Station for logistical support. Funding sources for this work includes NSF-AGS-PF 1049664 to J.L.C., NSF P2C2-1203785 to K.M.C., J.L.C., and D.N. This research was also supported by the Office of Biological and Environment Research of the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility. Isotope data are available as supporting information associated with the manuscript. (1049664 - NSF-AGS-PF; P2C2-1203785 - NSF; Office of Biological and Environment Research of the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility
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Teaching schools evaluation. Research Brief
This Research Brief reports the findings from a two-year study (2013-15) in to the work of teaching schools and their alliances commissioned by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). The broad aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness and impact of teaching schools on improvement, and identify the quality and scope of external support that are required to enhance these . This was achieved through combining qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis derived from three research activities: case studies of 26 teaching schools alliances (TSAs), a national survey of the first three cohorts of 345 TSAs, and secondary research and analysis of national performance and inspection results
Magnetars' Giant Flares: the case of SGR 1806-20
We first review on the peculiar characteristics of the bursting and flaring
activity of the Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars. We then
report on the properties of the SGR 1806-20's Giant Flare occurred on 2004
December 27th, with particular interest on the pre and post flare
intensity/hardness correlated variability. We show that these findings are
consistent with the picture of a twisted internal magnetic field which stresses
the star solid crust that finally cracks causing the giant flare (and the
observed torsional oscillations). This crustal fracturing is accompanied by a
simplification of the external magnetic field with a (partial) untwisting of
the magnetosphere.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication in the Chinese Journal
for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Vulcano conference - 2005
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