The Impact of Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms on Self-Reported Invalidation and Learning Task Performance

Poster Division: Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences: 2nd Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)Invalidation has been defined as the perception that one’s thoughts, emotions, or behaviors are inappropriate, inaccurate, or misunderstood by others. Invalidating responses have been shown to increase emotional arousal (Shenk, 2007) and impair cognitive ability (Fruzzetti, 2005). Invalidation may be particularly problematic for individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and related features, due to increased emotional sensitivity and reactivity (Domes, Schulze, & Herpertz, 2009) and negative interpersonal biases (Barnow et al., 2009). We experimentally assessed the impact of validating and invalidating experiences on learning task performance. Undergraduate participants (N = 66) first completed the borderline features scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI-BOR; Morey, 1991) and a self-report measure of invalidation. They were then randomized to receive 4 minutes of either validating or invalidating feedback while recalling a time they were angry; finally, cognitive flexibility was assessed using a card-sorting task. We predicted that 1) Higher BPD features would predict greater self-reported invalidation, and 2) BPD features would moderate the relationship between feedback condition and learning task performance, such that higher BPD features would be associated with poorer performance. We found that as BPD features increased, invalidation also increased; however, this main effect was in the context of a significant interaction effect, such that highest self-reported invalidation occurred at high levels of BPD symptoms in the invalidation condition. Furthermore, higher BPD features were associated with committing a greater number of errors on the learning task when invalidated. Thus, invalidation may be particularly problematic in terms of learning for those with heightened BPD features; future research should examine the impact of invalidation within the context of psychotherapy, to inform practitioners and guide clinical practice.A three-year embargo was granted for this item

Statlige sykehus; Kan styrings-effektiviteten bedres?

Dette notatet tar kort for seg hvilke faser regionaliseringen av spesialisthelsetjenesten har vært i gjennom de siste 30 årene og hvilke erfaringer som ble høstet i forbindelse med gjennomføringen av det lovpålagte regionale helsesamarbeidet i 1999-2001. Til sist berører notatet enkelte styringsmessige sider ved den nye modellen med statlig eierskap og foretaksorganisering og hva som kan være mulige fallgruver for modellen. Notatet bygger på en evaluering av det regionale helsesamarbeidet som Norsk institutt for by- og regionforskning (NIBR), Rogalandsforskning (RF) og Nordlandsforskning (NF) har utført på oppdrag fra det daværende Sosial- og helsedepartementet. I den forbindelse er det laget tre arbeidsnotater, samt en sluttrapport som oppsummerer resultatene fra de tre notatene. Som følge av reformen med statlig eierskap og foretaksorganisering som trådte i kraft 1.1.2002, er evalueringen av det regionale helsesamarbeidet omformulert og tilpasset den nye styringsstrukturen. Den omdefinerte evalueringen er treårig og skal være avsluttet i 2004. Evalueringsprosjektet skal, i likhet med evalueringen av det regionale helsesamarbeidet, ha fokus på styringseffektiviteten i styringsmodellen. I notatet er det kort redegjort for noen av de spørsmål som evalueringen vil søke å besvare. Vi gjør oppmerksom på at foreliggende notat ikke dekker alle resultatene fra evalueringen av det lovpålagte regionale helsesamarbeidet. For ytterligere utdyping vises det til referanser oppgitt i notatet.Regionalt helsesamarbeid; spesialisthelsetjenesten; statlig eierskap

Approaches to Studying: A Cross-Sectional Comparison of Occupational Therapy Students in Six Education Programs in Norway

Students’ approaches to studying have been associated with their academic performance. Although previous research suggests that the cultural and educational context may influence approaches to studying, few studies have investigated differences in study approaches across education programs. The aim of this study was to examine whether approaches to studying differed among occupational therapy students enrolled in six different educational programs in Norway. From a population of 308 students, 187 first-year occupational therapy students in six educational programs in Norway were recruited. The students provided their sociodemographic information and completed the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST), and group differences were analyzed with Chi-square tests and one-way analyses of variance. Scores on the deep and surface approach scales did not differ significantly among the students in the six educational programs, while there was an overall difference in scores on the strategic approach scale. Group differences regarding the subscales were minor, and only a few of the pairwise differences reached statistical significance. Differences at the education program level appear not to be important for the interpretation of differences in study approaches among students

Acute non-ambulatory tetraparesis with absence of the dens in two large breed dogs: case reports with a radiographic study of relatives

BACKGROUND: Non-ambulatory tetraparesis with an absence of the dens of C2 (axis) has not previously been reported in large breed dogs. An absence or hypoplasia of the dens has been reported in both small, medium and large breed dogs, but not in closely related animals. METHODS: Two young large-breed dogs (a German shepherd and a Standard poodle) both with an acute onset of non-ambulatory tetraparesis were subjected to physical, neurological and radiographic examinations. Both dogs were euthanased and submitted for postmortem examination within one week of onset of clinical signs. To investigate possible heritability of dens abnormalities, oblique radiographs of the cranial cervical vertebrae were taken of nine and eighteen dogs related to the German shepherd and the Standard poodle, respectively. RESULTS: Absence of the dens, atlantoaxial instability and extensive spinal cord injury was found in both case dogs. Radiographs revealed a normal dens in both parents and in the seven littermates of the German shepherd. An absence or hypoplasia of the dens was diagnosed in six relatives of the Standard poodle. CONCLUSIONS: Atlantoaxial subluxation with cervical spinal cord injury should be considered as a differential diagnosis in non-ambulatory tetraparetic young large breed dogs. Absence of the dens and no history of external trauma increase the likelihood for this diagnosis. This study provides evidence to suggest that absence or hypoplasia of the dens is inherited in an autosomal way in Standard poodle dogs

Applying swarm to unknown and dynamic environments in evacuation planning

Hvis branner eller andre farer skulle oppstå i områder hvor mennesker befinner seg, kan livene deres være i stor fare. For å bevare deres liv og sikkerhet er det derfor viktig med gode evakueringsplaner slik at de kan evakueres trygt og effektivt bort fra disse områdene. Det finnes allerede flere evakueringsløsninger som i sanntid tar hensyn til både farer i områdene og hvor folk befinner seg. Ulempen med disse modellene er at de baserer seg på mye kunnskap om områdene, informasjonsinnhenting og kommunikasjon. Dette kan gi fatale konsekvenser for modellene hvis noe av infrastrukturen skulle bli ødelagt under evakueringsprosessen. For å løse disse utfordringene presenterer denne avhandlingen en svermmodell som er helt uavhengig fra den kunnskapen som de andre modellene krever. Den er basert på oppførselen til boid-reglene og bruker bare sine lokale oppfatninger av området når den gjør beslutninger. Gjennom enkle interaksjonsregler klarer også denne modellen å gjennomføre evakueringer i områder hvor farer kan oppstå dynamisk. I tillegg, som et resultat av modellens uavhengighet fra kunnskap om områdene, klarer den også å gjennomføre evakueringer i ukjente miljøer med dynamiske farer, noe ingen av de tidligere modellene har gjennomført.In the event of fires and other hazards in areas where people are located, their lives could be in real danger. Evacuation planning serves the important purpose of preserving these lives by facilitating for efficient and safe evacuations away from these areas. While many of the current approaches to evacuation planning have been able to account for both areas becoming hazardous during the evacuation and the distribution of people, these models are dependant on global knowledge of the scenario, information gathering and communication. Given the dynamic nature of evacuations, where infrastructure could fail, these dependencies could instead become fatal for the models. To overcome this challenge, this work presents a swarm model independent from any of this knowledge. The model is based on the boid behavior rules and uses only its perceptions of the local environment when making decisions. By following a set of simple interaction rules, this model is also capable of completing evacuations in environments with dynamic hazards. Additionally, as a result of its independence from any knowledge of the scenario, it is also capable of completing evacuations in unknown environments with dynamic hazards, which neither of the previous models have accomplished

Physical Modelling of Surge Tank Throttling

The scope of this master thesis is to design a surge tank throttle based on literature values, and compare the expected head loss factor with the results from a 3D numerical simulation, and a physical model test. A literature review on throttle effects and the state-of-the-art throttle design will also be carried out as a part of the thesis. As a supplement to the thesis scope, the hydraulic effects of installing the throttle in the physical model will be discussed. The literature review reveal that a throttle has a high influence on the dampening of mass oscillations in a hydropower plant. In addition, a properly designed throttle lowers the volume demand of the surge tank, improves the governing stability for the machines, and reduce the maximum pressure in front of the turbine. The 1D numerical program LVTrans is used to calculate the hydraulic transients in the whole system and the 3D numerical program STAR-CCM+ is used to calculate the throttle head loss. The physical model used in this work is a 1:65 scale model of Torpa hydropower plant constructed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The load case for the experiments is a multiple closing and opening case to get resonance and bring the system to the maximum possible state of oscillations, which is a method used in Austria since the 1960s. The throttle design tested in this work is an asymmetric throttle with a relatively simple design, to reduce construction time and cost. The main parameter for the throttle design was found to be the smallest diameter. Two surge tank throttles with different diameters were made and used to compare the different methods. The literature values underestimate the head loss coefficient in both directions compared to the physical model test. The literature values show acceptable correlation to the physical model test in the upward direction, which is the direction with the simplest hydraulic conditions. The conditions in the downward direction are more complicated, and this is also reflected in the results, where the difference is larger. The 3D numerical simulations give results that are lower than the physical model test for downward flow, and higher for upward flow. The numerical simulations give the highest ratio between head loss in the upward and downward directions. The findings also shows a significant impact on the pressure development and dampening of mass oscillations by inserting a surge tank throttle, as was found in the literature review. The two throttles tested in the physical model reduced the maximum pressure by 5.2% and 3.9% for the smallest and largest throttle diameter respectively. This was with the use of the scaled maximum discharge from the prototype

The structural anatomy of hospital government systems in Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom

The structural anatomy of the hospital government systems of Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom is mapped and compared, along four dimensions: allocation of political-democartic authority and financial responsibility, parliament-executive relations, political-administrative relations and patient/user involvement. Tilknyttet prosjekt Governing health service

Physical Modelling of Surge Tank Throttling

The scope of this master thesis is to design a surge tank throttle based on literature values, and compare the expected head loss factor with the results from a 3D numerical simulation, and a physical model test. A literature review on throttle effects and the state-of-the-art throttle design will also be carried out as a part of the thesis. As a supplement to the thesis scope, the hydraulic effects of installing the throttle in the physical model will be discussed. The literature review reveal that a throttle has a high influence on the dampening of mass oscillations in a hydropower plant. In addition, a properly designed throttle lowers the volume demand of the surge tank, improves the governing stability for the machines, and reduce the maximum pressure in front of the turbine. The 1D numerical program LVTrans is used to calculate the hydraulic transients in the whole system and the 3D numerical program STAR-CCM+ is used to calculate the throttle head loss. The physical model used in this work is a 1:65 scale model of Torpa hydropower plant constructed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The load case for the experiments is a multiple closing and opening case to get resonance and bring the system to the maximum possible state of oscillations, which is a method used in Austria since the 1960s. The throttle design tested in this work is an asymmetric throttle with a relatively simple design, to reduce construction time and cost. The main parameter for the throttle design was found to be the smallest diameter. Two surge tank throttles with different diameters were made and used to compare the different methods. The literature values underestimate the head loss coefficient in both directions compared to the physical model test. The literature values show acceptable correlation to the physical model test in the upward direction, which is the direction with the simplest hydraulic conditions. The conditions in the downward direction are more complicated, and this is also reflected in the results, where the difference is larger. The 3D numerical simulations give results that are lower than the physical model test for downward flow, and higher for upward flow. The numerical simulations give the highest ratio between head loss in the upward and downward directions. The findings also shows a significant impact on the pressure development and dampening of mass oscillations by inserting a surge tank throttle, as was found in the literature review. The two throttles tested in the physical model reduced the maximum pressure by 5.2% and 3.9% for the smallest and largest throttle diameter respectively. This was with the use of the scaled maximum discharge from the prototype

The paradox of organizational complexity in urban development: boundary spanners’ handling of citizen proposals

Although local governments establish various arrangements to stimulate citizen participation, knowledge about what happens with citizens’ proposals after participation is weak. To gain impact, citizen initiatives must be handled through the decision-making process. This article examines the dynamics of such handling of input from citizen participation in three different cases linked to an area-based initiative in Oslo, Norway. The study shows that different actors can play a role as boundary spanners handling citizen proposals, and how this crucial handling varies with the structural and procedural linkages between the participatory spaces and the formal decision-making processes. The study reveals a ‘complexity paradox’; in cases where responsibility is shared among different sectors and levels of government, each unit represents a veto point that can hinder citizen impact, but also an entrance that can enable such impact.This work was supported by the The Research Council of Norway [281131].publishedVersio