The Labyrinth Of The Mind: The Psychology Of War Stories In Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato

This paper explores and analyzes the psychological reasons for storytelling by soldiers and veterans both during and after their deployments in war. It brings in multiple works by author-veterans as well as critical writing about these books with a specific focus on Going After Cacciato by Tim O\u27Brien. Paul Berlin, the novel\u27s protagonist, imagines a fictional quest leaving Vietnam and going all the way to Paris following the desertion of a fellow soldier gone AWOL. He creates this journey to create order, find meaning, generate understanding, and focus on the good rather than the bad. This paper also explores the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on the storytelling of soldiers in order to connect the disciplines of English Literature and Psychology

The Anxiolytic Effects of Aromatherapy on Preprocedural Anxiety: An Integrated Review

Anxiety before procedures can negatively impact patients by increasing cortisol levels which delays wound healing and increases infection risk, increasing pain and sedation medication needs, and increasing hospitalization time. This review was conducted to find how inhaled essential oils affect pre-procedural anxiety of adults in acute care settings. Nine databases and some gray literature were searched within the past ten years, and documented using the PRISMA flow chart. Ten articles fitting the inclusion criteria were retrieved. Nine of the articles found a significant difference between the aromatherapy group and control group and pre- and post- intervention anxiety scores, and none reported adverse effects. Results align with other reviews with a majority favoring aromatherapy. Since results are mixed, further research is required

Historic sediment accretion rates in a Louisiana coastal marsh and implications for sustainability

Deltaic marshes of the Mississippi River in Louisiana disappeared at a rate of 88 km2 annually from 1956 to 2000 (Barras et al. 2003) as marshes become inundated by sea water. Marsh surface elevation varies spatially and temporally due to fluvial sediment deposition, resuspension, erosion, compaction, sea level rise, and organic matter accumulation and decomposition. If net accretion from sediment deposition and/or peat production is insufficient, marshes respond to sea level rise by migrating landward. Since human development prevents landward migration of marsh in Breton Sound Basin, Louisiana, marsh sustainability can only be achieved if vertical accretion keeps pace with a relative sea level rise of 10 mm/yr so that marsh surface elevation is maintained within the tidal range. Measurement time scale and changing influences on marsh sediment were considered in an assessment of the long-term sustainability of Breton Sound marsh based on comparison of the rate of relative sea level rise to measured accretion rates. Six cores (~4 m long each) were collected in Breton Sound and a combination of three radioisotopes, as well as stratigraphic analysis were used to measure accretion rates and identify evidence of historical river effects and storms. Net accretion rates over recent short-term (decadal) and long-term (centennial/millennial) time scales were measured using 210Pb, 137Cs, and 14C dating. Long-term mean accretion based on 14C dating was highly variable (3.5 mm/yr, σ=4.5). Three 210Pb rates were recovered, averaging 4.3 mm/yr (σ=1.9). Accretion rates measured using 137Cs averaged 7.7 mm/yr (σ=2.3). Rates of sediment accretion are ultimately insufficient to offset relative sea level rise, especially after allowing for sediment volume reduction encountered over the long term. The combined effects of reduced fluvial input, rising sea level, and prevention of landward marsh migration create an environment that is inherently unstable

When do pictures reduce false memory?

© 2019, The Psychonomic Society, Inc. An important discovery in false-memory research is Israel and Schacter’s (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 4, 577-581, 1997) finding that presenting pictures at study relative to words alone reduces false memory in the DRM paradigm, a result that has been replicated many times. The standard interpretation is that memory for visual processing of the pictures can be used to reject the critical distractors, which were not explicitly present at study. Beginning from the empirical observation that the pictures used by Israel and Schacter are not consistently labelled with the DRM word they are supposed to represent, we present a series of four studies designed to determine if it is the presentation of pictures or the mismatch between the pictures and the words that reduces false memory. The results across the four experiments demonstrate that picture presentation at study is neither necessary nor sufficient to reduce false memory in the DRM and the categorical associate paradigms. However, we discuss other studies in which picture processing clearly is responsible for reduction of false alarms and note that these studies use study materials and memory tests that are different from the DRM and categorical associate paradigms in that critical lures are externally provided rather than generated. We speculate that the effectiveness of memory for visual processing for reducing false memory may depend on the source of the false memory, but this remains for future research

A Proof of the Grundy domination strong product conjecture

The Grundy domination number of a simple graph $G = (V,E)$ is the length of the longest sequence of unique vertices $S = (v_1, \ldots, v_k)$, $v_i \in V$, that satisfies the property $N[v_i] \setminus \cup_{j=1}^{i-1}N[v_j] \neq \emptyset$ for each $i \in [k]$. Here, $N(v) = \{u : uv \in E\}$ and $N[v] = N(v) \cup \{v\}$. In this note, we prove a recent conjecture about the Grundy domination number of the strong product of two graphs. We then discuss how this result relates to the zero forcing number of the strong product of graphs

Beyond the Literary Canon: Incorporating Young Adult Literature into the Classroom

Engaging students in literature is an extremely important aspect of instilling a lifelong love of reading, but this is difficult in a world where Facebook is more enticing than an old, battered copy of a book for school. Classic books from the Literary Canon are becoming outdated and less beneficial in the classroom. By incorporating more contemporary Young Adult Literature into the classroom, students can gain the skills necessary for success with standardized testing while increasing their interest in reading. This self-study was conducted to evaluate students’ perspectives on the literature and self-selected adolescent titles. Collected data included whole class student surveys, practice tests, focus group notes, and a post-semester anonymous online survey. The findings support that the incorporation of Young Adult Literature increases students’ interest in reading and improves students’ ability to relate to the characters as well as their performance on standardized tests