439 research outputs found
Losing Social Space: Phenomenological Disruptions of Spatiality and Embodiment in Moebius Syndrome and Schizophrenia
Social cognition and interpersonal relatedness are currently much-discussed topics in philosophy and cognitive science. Many of the debates focus on the causal mechanisms purportedly responsible for our ability to relate to and understand one another. When emotions and affectivity enter into these debates, they are generally portrayed as targets of social cognitive processes (i.e., as perceived in another person’s facial expressions, gestures, utterances, behavioural patterns, etc.) that must be interpreted or ‘decoded’ by the mechanisms in question. However, the role that emotions and affectivity play in facilitating interpersonal relatedness has not received the same level of attention. Nor has much thought been given to the spatiality of our interpersonal relations—that is, the common space in which we come together and engage with one another as social agents
A postcolonial critique of community energy: Searching for community as solidarity in India and Scotland
Community renewable energy (CRE) represents a growing empirical and academic turn towards community‐based sustainability and climate change interventions. This paper brings together postcolonial theory and CRE for the first time to outline fundamental tensions in the conceptualisation and application of the idea of community. The understanding of community within the CRE discourse is largely: (1) location‐based; and/or (2) a community of choice that is consciously opted into. Driven by postcolonial theory, this paper counterpoises both as a form of community as contract against an idea of community as solidarity. Its central thesis is that actually existing community, contrary to how the bulk of CRE literature commonly understands it, is a combination of bonds of solidarity and emergent purposes. The paper conceptualises community as fluid bonds of solidarity that align and realign differently around different purposes
The Functional DRD3 Ser9Gly Polymorphism (rs6280) Is Pleiotropic, Affecting Reward as Well as Movement
Abnormalities of motivation and behavior in the context of reward are a fundamental component of addiction and mood disorders. Here we test the effect of a functional missense mutation in the dopamine 3 receptor (DRD3) gene (ser9gly, rs6280) on reward-associated dopamine (DA) release in the striatum. Twenty-six healthy controls (HCs) and 10 unmedicated subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) completed two positron emission tomography (PET) scans with [11C]raclopride using the bolus plus constant infusion method. On one occasion subjects completed a sensorimotor task (control condition) and on another occasion subjects completed a gambling task (reward condition). A linear regression analysis controlling for age, sex, diagnosis, and self-reported anhedonia indicated that during receipt of unpredictable monetary reward the glycine allele was associated with a greater reduction in D2/3 receptor binding (i.e., increased reward-related DA release) in the middle (anterior) caudate (p<0.01) and the ventral striatum (p<0.05). The possible functional effect of the ser9gly polymorphism on DA release is consistent with previous work demonstrating that the glycine allele yields D3 autoreceptors that have a higher affinity for DA and display more robust intracellular signaling. Preclinical evidence indicates that chronic stress and aversive stimulation induce activation of the DA system, raising the possibility that the glycine allele, by virtue of its facilitatory effect on striatal DA release, increases susceptibility to hyperdopaminergic responses that have previously been associated with stress, addiction, and psychosis
Nurses' experiences of recruitment and migration from developing countries: a phenomenological approach
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens
First Results on Survival from a Large Phase 3 Clinical Trial of an Autologous Dendritic Cell Vaccine in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma
Background: Standard therapy for glioblastoma includes surgery, radiotherapy, and temozolomide. This Phase 3 trial evaluates the addition of an autologous tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cell vaccine (DCVax®-L) to standard therapy for newly diagnosed glioblastoma.
Methods: After surgery and chemoradiotherapy, patients were randomized (2:1) to receive temozolomide plus DCVax-L (n = 232) or temozolomide and placebo (n = 99). Following recurrence, all patients were allowed to receive DCVax-L, without unblinding. The primary endpoint was progression free survival (PFS); the secondary endpoint was overall survival (OS).
Results: For the intent-to-treat (ITT) population (n = 331), median OS (mOS) was 23.1 months from surgery. Because of the cross-over trial design, nearly 90% of the ITT population received DCVax-L. For patients with methylated MGMT (n = 131), mOS was 34.7 months from surgery, with a 3-year survival of 46.4%. As of this analysis, 223 patients are ≥ 30 months past their surgery date; 67 of these (30.0%) have lived ≥ 30 months and have a Kaplan-Meier (KM)-derived mOS of 46.5 months. 182 patients are ≥ 36 months past surgery; 44 of these (24.2%) have lived ≥ 36 months and have a KM-derived mOS of 88.2 months. A population of extended survivors (n = 100) with mOS of 40.5 months, not explained by known prognostic factors, will be analyzed further. Only 2.1% of ITT patients (n = 7) had a grade 3 or 4 adverse event that was deemed at least possibly related to the vaccine. Overall adverse events with DCVax were comparable to standard therapy alone.
Conclusions: Addition of DCVax-L to standard therapy is feasible and safe in glioblastoma patients, and may extend survival
Relationships between paranoid thinking, self-esteem and the menstrual cycle.
This study aimed to investigate whether paranoid experiences and levels of self-esteem fluctuate over the menstrual cycle and whether levels of self-esteem are lower when perceived persecution is felt to be deserved. Measures of anxiety, depression, persecution, deservedness and self-esteem were completed on-line by 278 women over their menstrual cycle. Responses were compared at the paramenstrual (3 days before and after menses onset) and mid-cycle phase. At the paramenstrual phase persecution, negative self-esteem, anxiety and depression were higher and positive self-esteem was lower than at mid-cycle. A greater proportion of women experienced persecution as deserved at the paramenstrual phase. This was associated with higher depression and negative self-esteem scores. Increased levels of deservedness significantly strengthened the relationship between persecution and negative, but not positive, self-esteem. These findings suggest that the paramenstrual phase is a time of vulnerability to increased paranoid experiences, an increased likelihood that feelings of persecution will feel deserved and lowered self-esteem. The findings support the view that interpersonal sensitivities may be key to menstrual cycle symptoms and have an impact on relationships. Further, the study illustrated that ideas developed for psychosis could make a valuable contribution to understanding and managing this aspect of menstruation-related distress
Developing the practice context to enable more effective pain management with older people: an action research approach
Background\ud
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This paper, which draws upon an Emancipatory Action Research (EAR) approach, unearths how the complexities of context influence the realities of nursing practice. While the intention of the project was to identify and change factors in the practice context that inhibit effective person-centred pain management practices with older people (65 years or older), reflective critical engagement with the findings identified that enhancing pain management practices with older people was dependent on cultural change in the unit as a whole. \ud
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An EAR approach was utilised. The project was undertaken in a surgical unit that conducted complex abdominal surgery. Eighty-five percent (n = 48) of nursing staff participated in the two-year project (05/NIR02/107). Data were obtained through the use of facilitated critical reflection with nursing staff. \ud
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Results\ud
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Three key themes (psychological safety, leadership, oppression) and four subthemes (power, horizontal violence, distorted perceptions, autonomy) were found to influence the way in which effective nursing practice was realised. Within the theme of 'context,' effective leadership and the creation of a psychologically safe environment were key elements in the enhancement of all aspects of nursing practice. \ud
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Conclusions\ud
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Whilst other research has identified the importance of 'practice context' and models and frameworks are emerging to address this issue, the theme of 'psychological safety' has been given little attention in the knowledge translation/implementation literature. Within the principles of EAR, facilitated reflective sessions were found to create 'psychologically safe spaces' that supported practitioners to develop effective person-centred nursing practices in complex clinical environments
Advanced practice physiotherapy in patients with musculoskeletal disorders: a systematic review
Parental agreement of reporting parent to child aggression using the Conflict Tactics Scales
Objectives: This study examined mothers’ and fathers’ reporting congruency using the
Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scales. We asked if the mother’s report of the father’s parenting
aggression was consistent with the father’s self-report of parenting aggression and if the
father’s report of the mother’s parenting aggression was consistent with the mother’s selfreport
of those same behaviors. We assessed moderators of parental reporting congruency:
severity of the aggression, interparental conflict, child temperament, and child gender.
Methods: Participants were from the Child Development Project, a longitudinal study
beginning when children were in kindergarten. The analyses herein included 163 children
for whom 2 parents provided data about their own and their spouse or partner’s
behavior toward the child. Most parents (87%) were married. Mothers and fathers independently
completed the Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scale, both with respect to their
own behavior toward the child and with respect to their partner’s behavior toward the
child. Mothers completed the retrospective Infant Characteristics Questionnaire to assess
child temperament. Mothers and fathers completed measures of interparental conflict.
Results: Both fathers and mothers self-reported more frequently engaging in each behavior
than the other parent reported they did. Parents were more congruent on items assessing
harsher parenting behavior. Furthermore, there was more agreement between parents
regarding fathers’ behavior than mothers’ behavior. Analyses of interparental conflict, child
difficult temperament, and child gender as moderators yielded findings suggesting that
mothers’ and fathers’ reports of their own and their spouses’ harsh parenting behaviors
were more concordant in couples with low levels of conflict, for children with easy temperaments,
and for boys versus girls.
Conclusions: Prior studies indicate only a moderate level of agreement in couples’ reports of
violence between intimate partners and suggest that perpetrators tend to underreport their
use of aggression. The results of this study suggest that parents may be more consistent
in their reports of parent to child violence using the Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scales
than they are when reporting intimate partner violence. The results suggest that parental
reports of their spouse’s parent to child aggression are reliable.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106161/1/2012-Lee Lansford et al CTSPC.pd
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