Exploring the meaning in meaningful coincidences: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of synchronicity in therapy

Synchronicity experiences (SEs) are defined as psychologically meaningful connections between inner events (e.g., thought, dream or vision) and one or more external events occurring simultaneously or at a future point in time. There has been limited systematic research that has investigated the phenomenology of SEs in therapy. This study aimed to redress this by exploring the process and nature of such experiences from the perspective of the practitioner. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA; Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) was used to interview a purposive sample of nine practitioners who reported SEs in their therapeutic sessions. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with three counsellors, three psychologists and three psychotherapists, and focused on how participants make sense of their experiences of synchronicity in therapy. Three superordinate themes were identified: Sense of connectedness, therapeutic process, and professional issues. Findings suggest that SEs can serve to strengthen the therapeutic relationship and are perceived as useful harbingers of information about the therapeutic process, as well as being a means of overcoming communication difficulties, as they are seen to provide insights into the client’s experiencing of themselves and others, regardless of whether or not the SE is acknowledged by the client or disclosed by the therapist

Preoperative screening cultures in the identification of staphylococci causing wound and valvular infections in cardiac surgery

Cultures of nasal or presternal swabs form part of the routine preoperative screening of patients on the cardiac surgical ward. During a trial of antibiotic prophylaxis in 314 patients, preoperative isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci were compared with strains associated with postoperative sternal wound breakdown (24 patients) and prosthetic valve endocarditis (3 patients). Morphology, antibiotic sensitivity pattern, plasmid analysis and phage typing were used to differentiate strains. In only three cases of wound infection and one of prosthetic valve endocarditis were pathogenic staphylococci not distinguishable from preoperative isolates. The collection of superficial swabs for this purpose before cardiac surgery is therefore unlikely to be cost effective

A Description of Stroke Dynamics in 100 Meter Wheelchair Racing

Since wheelchair racing was introduced in the United States over thirty years ago, wheelchair sports have been experiencing a growing popularity. An ever increasing number of national, and international competitions are being held for the disabled athlete; and record times in racing events are being set on an almost routine basis. Much interest by coaches, athletes, and researchers exists in identifying optimal performance factors in wheelchair propulsion, Three major areas of interest relating to performance have been the topics of recent research, symposia, and conferenees. These include the following: (1) designing effective training programs; (2) improving chair design; and (3) optimizing technique. Elite disabled athletes are being profiled by researchers from both physiological and biomechanical perspectives. All wheelchair users stand to benefit from wheelchair sports and research. Where many everyday chair users once were in a heavy, awkward «hospital-type» chair that fitted no one and certainly wasn't designed for sports use, now light weight, easily maneuverable chairs are in use. As equipment is improved and propulsion techniques become more efficient, all chair users can benefit from such knowledge. The United States Olympic Committee sponsored their first Sports Medieine and Sports Science Conference for the Disabled Athlete in the United States in March of 1987. This conference provided the opportunity for coaches, athletes, researchers, and other persons interested in sports for the disabled athlete to come together to share knowledge and ideas, and to examine the unique needs of the disabled performer. While physical limitations may influence the disabled athlete's perfomance, today's athletes are vitally interested in learning how to maximize their individual physical abilities. Although the major thrust of a great many of the research studies investigating wheelchair athletes has often been of a physiologic nature, a growing body of biomechanic research on wheelchair propulsion has been identified (Ridgwaw, Pope & Wilkerson, 1987; Siler, Martin & Mungiole, 1987; Higgs, 1986; Sanderson & Sommer, 1985; Cerquiglini, Figura, Marchetti & Ricci, 1981; King, 1981; and Perry, 1981). Many of these investigations have included small sample sizes, have been limited to male subjects, and have included relatively few classes of wheelchair athletes. Additionally, few have studied the elite wheelchair athlete during commpetition. The purpose of this study was to develop a kinematic model of wheelchair propulsion during 100-meter racing as performed by three classes of elite male wheelchair athletes

Formation of diluted III–V nitride thin films by N ion implantation

iluted III–Nₓ–V₁ˍₓ alloys were successfully synthesized by nitrogen implantation into GaAs,InP, and AlyGa1−yAs. In all three cases the fundamental band-gap energy for the ion beam synthesized III–Nₓ–V₁ˍₓ alloys was found to decrease with increasing N implantation dose in a manner similar to that observed in epitaxially grownGaNₓAs1−x and InNₓP₁ˍₓalloys. In GaNₓAs₁ˍₓ the highest value of x (fraction of “active” substitutional N on As sublattice) achieved was 0.006. It was observed that NAs is thermally unstable at temperatures higher than 850 °C. The highest value of x achieved in InNₓP₁ˍₓ was higher, 0.012, and the NP was found to be stable to at least 850 °C. In addition, the N activation efficiency in implantedInNₓP₁ˍₓ was at least a factor of 2 higher than that in GaNₓAs₁ˍₓ under similar processing conditions. AlyGa1−yNₓAs₁ˍₓ had not been made previously by epitaxial techniques. N implantation was successful in producing AlyGa1−yNₓAs₁ˍₓalloys. Notably, the band gap of these alloys remains direct, even above the value of y (y>0.44) where the band gap of the host material is indirect.This work was supported by the ‘‘Photovoltaic Materials Focus Area’’ in the DOE Center of Excellence for the Synthesis and Processing of Advanced Materials, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences under U.S. Department of Energy Contract No. DE-ACO3-76SF00098. The work at UCSD was partially supported by Midwest Research Institute under subcontractor No. AAD-9-18668-7 from NREL

Bacterial Communities of Two Ubiquitous Great Barrier Reef Corals Reveals Both Site- and Species-Specificity of Common Bacterial Associates

Background: Coral-associated bacteria are increasingly considered to be important in coral health, and altered bacterial community structures have been linked to both coral disease and bleaching. Despite this, assessments of bacterial communities on corals rarely apply sufficient replication to adequately describe the natural variability. Replicated data such as these are crucial in determining potential roles of bacteria on coral

The Mersey Estuary : sediment geochemistry

This report describes a study of the geochemistry of the Mersey estuary carried out between April 2000 and December 2002. The study was the first in a new programme of surveys of the geochemistry of major British estuaries aimed at enhancing our knowledge and understanding of the distribution of contaminants in estuarine sediments. The report first summarises the physical setting, historical development, geology, hydrography and bathymetry of the Mersey estuary and its catchment. Details of the sampling and analytical programmes are then given followed by a discussion of the sedimentology and geochemistry. The chemistry of the water column and suspended particulate matter have not been studied, the chief concern being with the geochemistry of the surface and near-surface sediments of the Mersey estuary and an examination of their likely sources and present state of contamination

A subarcsecond near-infrared view of massive galaxies at z > 1 with Gemini Multiconjugate Adaptive Optics

We present images taken using the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) with the Gemini Multiconjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS) in three 2 arcmin$^2$ fields in the Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey. These GeMS/GSAOI observations are among the first $\approx 0.1^{''}$ resolution data in the near-infrared spanning extragalactic fields exceeding $1.5^{\prime}$ in size. We use these data to estimate galaxy sizes, obtaining results similar to those from studies with the Hubble Space Telescope, though we find a higher fraction of compact star forming galaxies at $z>2$. To disentangle the star-forming galaxies from active galactic nuclei (AGN), we use multiwavelength data from surveys in the optical and infrared, including far-infrared data from Herschel, as well as new radio continuum data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array and Very Large Array. We identify ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) at $z \sim 1-3$, which consist of a combination of pure starburst galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN)/starburst composites. The ULIRGs show signs of recent merger activity, such as highly disturbed morphologies and include a rare candidate triple AGN. We find that AGN tend to reside in hosts with smaller scale sizes than purely star-forming galaxies of similar infrared luminosity. Our observations demonstrate the potential for MCAO to complement the deeper galaxy surveys to be made with the James Webb Space Telescope.Comment: 20 pages, AJ, in pres