18,165 research outputs found
A Naturalistic Study of the Associations between Changes in Alcohol Problems, Spiritual Functioning and Psychiatric Symptoms
The study evaluated how spiritual and religious functioning (SRF), alcohol-related problems, and psychiatric symptoms change over the course of treatment and follow-up. Problem drinkers (n = 55, including 39 males and 16 females) in outpatient treatment were administered questionnaires at pretreatment, posttreatment, and follow up, which assessed two aspects of SRF (religious well-being and existential well-being), two aspects of alcohol misuse (severity and consequences), and two aspects of psychiatric symptoms (depression and anxiety). Significant improvements in SRF, psychiatric symptoms and alcohol misuse were observed from pretreatment to follow-up. Although SRF scores were significantly correlated with psychiatric symptoms at all three time points, improvement in the former did not predict improvement in the latter. When measured at the same time points, SRF scores were not correlated with the measures of alcohol misuse. However, improvement in SRF (specifically in existential well-being) over the course of treatment was predictive of improvement in the alcohol misuse measures at follow-up. These results suggest that the association between SRF, emotional problems, and alcohol misuse is complex. They further suggest that patients who improve spiritual functioning over the course of treatment are more likely to experience improvement in drinking behavior and alcohol-related problems after treatment has ended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved
Elasticity, fluctuations and vortex pinning in ferromagnetic superconductors: A "columnar elastic glass"
We study the elasticity, fluctuations and pinning of a putative spontaneous
vortex solid in ferromagnetic superconductors. Using a rigorous thermodynamic
argument, we show that in the idealized case of vanishing crystalline pinning
anisotropy the long-wavelength tilt modulus of such a vortex solid vanishes
identically, as guaranteed by the underlying rotational invariance. The
vanishing of the tilt modulus means that, to lowest order, the associated
tension elasticity is replaced by the softer, curvature elasticity. The effect
of this is to make the spontaneous vortex solid qualitatively more susceptible
to the disordering effects of thermal fluctuations and random pinning. We study
these effects, taking into account the nonlinear elasticity, that, in three
dimensions, is important at sufficiently long length scales, and showing that a
``columnar elastic glass'' phase of vortices results. This phase is controlled
by a previously unstudied zero-temperature fixed point and it is characterized
by elastic moduli that have universal strong wave-vector dependence out to
arbitrarily long length scales, leading to non-Hookean elasticity. We argue
that, although translationally disordered for weak disorder, the columnar
elastic glass is stable against the proliferation of dislocations and is
therefore a topologically ordered {\em elastic} glass. As a result, the
phenomenology of the spontaneous vortex state of isotropic magnetic
superconductors differs qualitatively from a conventional,
external-field-induced mixed state. For example, for weak external fields ,
the magnetic induction scales {\em universally} like , with .Comment: Minor editorial changes, version to be published in PRB, 39 pages, 7
figure
Psychology Doctoral Studentsâ Perspectives on Addressing Spirituality and Religion with Clients: Associations with Personal Preferences and Training
Students (n = 543) in doctoral clinical and counseling psychology programs were surveyed about training experiences with regard to addressing the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices (SRBP) of their patients. About one fourth of the respondents indicated they had received no training related to patientsâ SRBP. Another half had only read material on their own or discussed such issues with a supervisor. Nonetheless, respondents almost universally endorsed the idea that patients should be asked about spirituality and religiousness. Participants also rated the appropriateness of spiritual and religious queries that might be asked of patients. As expected, queries about the relevance of SRBP were rated as the most appropriate, whereas queries that implied a disrespectful or challenging tone were rated as the least appropriate. Participantsâ personal SRBP and training that was specific to patientsâ SRBP were weakly but significantly associated with appropriateness ratings. The results suggest that students are formulating ideas about how to ask patients about their spiritual and religious issues despite potentially inadequate formal instruction
Barriers and Facilitators of Suicide Risk Assessment in Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Study of Provider Perspectives
Objective
To understand emergency department (ED) providersâ perspectives regarding the barriers and facilitators of suicide risk assessment and to use these perspectives to inform recommendations for best practices in ED suicide risk assessment. Methods
Ninety-two ED providers from two hospital systems in a Midwestern state responded to open-ended questions via an online survey that assessed their perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to assess suicide risk as well as their preferred assessment methods. Responses were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. Results
Qualitative analysis yielded six themes that impact suicide risk assessment. Time, privacy, collaboration and consultation with other professionals and integration of a standard screening protocol in routine care exemplified environmental and systemic themes. Patient engagement/participation in assessment and providersâ approach to communicating with patients and other providers also impacted the effectiveness of suicide risk assessment efforts. Conclusions
The findings inform feasible suicide risk assessment practices in EDs. Appropriately utilizing a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to assess suicide-related concerns appears to be a promising approach to ameliorate the burden placed on ED providers and facilitate optimal patient care. Recommendations for clinical care, education, quality improvement and research are offered
Hybrid receiver study
The results are presented of a 4 month study to design a hybrid analog/digital receiver for outer planet mission probe communication links. The scope of this study includes functional design of the receiver; comparisons between analog and digital processing; hardware tradeoffs for key components including frequency generators, A/D converters, and digital processors; development and simulation of the processing algorithms for acquisition, tracking, and demodulation; and detailed design of the receiver in order to determine its size, weight, power, reliability, and radiation hardness. In addition, an evaluation was made of the receiver's capabilities to perform accurate measurement of signal strength and frequency for radio science missions
Numerical solution of the flow field in the throat region of a nozzle
Numerical solution of flow field in throat region of nozzl
Complementarity and Scientific Rationality
Bohr's interpretation of quantum mechanics has been criticized as incoherent
and opportunistic, and based on doubtful philosophical premises. If so Bohr's
influence, in the pre-war period of 1927-1939, is the harder to explain, and
the acceptance of his approach to quantum mechanics over de Broglie's had no
reasonable foundation. But Bohr's interpretation changed little from the time
of its first appearance, and stood independent of any philosophical
presuppositions. The principle of complementarity is itself best read as a
conjecture of unusually wide scope, on the nature and future course of
explanations in the sciences (and not only the physical sciences). If it must
be judged a failure today, it is not because of any internal inconsistency.Comment: 29 page
Northern Ireland's longstanding record wind gust is almost certainly incorrect
Accurate assessment of record extreme wind gusts is important for building design standards and for industries such as insurance and forestry. Here, we show that the current record wind gust for Northern Ireland â 108kn (56msâ1) recorded at Kilkeel on 12 January 1974 â is almost certainly incorrect and may have arisen from an instrumental error or a power surge. We deduce this from direct anemograph inspection and from a variety of indirect supporting evidence. We recommend that other longstanding UK record wind gusts should also be independently reâexamined to assess their veracity
A New Methodology for Developing A Self-Report Psychodiversity Questionnaire: Update and Future Directions For A Work in Progress
A novel self-report methodology for the construction of a multidimensional questionnaire measure of psychodiversity is described and preliminary findings from three exploratory studies examining construct validity in relation to indices of well-being are discussed. Arising from these empirical endeavours, the notion of metamotivational state specific psychodiversity is proposed. The need for additional item generation for the combined alloic-autic and masterysympathy pairs is acknowledged. Suggestions are made for further research developing and using the resultant measure both within and beyond Reversal Theory
Unified formalism for higher-order non-autonomous dynamical systems
This work is devoted to giving a geometric framework for describing
higher-order non-autonomous mechanical systems. The starting point is to extend
the Lagrangian-Hamiltonian unified formalism of Skinner and Rusk for these
kinds of systems, generalizing previous developments for higher-order
autonomous mechanical systems and first-order non-autonomous mechanical
systems. Then, we use this unified formulation to derive the standard
Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms, including the Legendre-Ostrogradsky map
and the Euler-Lagrange and the Hamilton equations, both for regular and
singular systems. As applications of our model, two examples of regular and
singular physical systems are studied.Comment: 43 pp. We have corrected and clarified the statement of Propositions
2 and 3. A remark is added after Proposition
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