A Cross-Cultural Look at Co-rumination, Self-Disclosure, Friendship, Relational Concerns and Emotional Adjustment

Rose (2002) first defined co-rumination as extensive problem-focused talk, and it has been found to be associated with both depression/anxiety and friendship quality. However, our understanding of co-rumination is limited by an exclusive focus on Western samples of mostly children/adolescents. Thus, the primary aim of the current study is to investigate the construct validity of co-rumination in an Asian sample by examining associations among rumination, co-rumination, emotional adjustment, self-disclosure and friendship quality. We predict that Asians will report lower levels of co-rumination, and we expect gender differences in co-rumination to replicate cross-culturally. 224 Asian students (69 men, 153 women) from universities in Hong Kong and East China and 118 U.S. students (43 men, 75 women) from a private college in the Northwest participated in the study. Expected gender differences were found. Significant positive relationships emerged between co-rumination, self-disclosure, friendship quality, and rumination in both samples. Asian students reported significantly higher levels of co-rumination but lower levels of self-disclosure. Asians reported higher levels of relational concerns than U.S students. Relational concerns partially mediated cultural differences in self-disclosure but not in co-rumination. Surprisingly, co-rumination was unrelated to adjustment and did not predict unique variance in anxiety/depression beyond the effects of rumination. The current findings highlight the complexity of co-rumination as an interpersonal process vs. support-seeking functions in Asians. With limited research on co-rumination in emerging adults, it is unknown whether unique sampling issues or a meaningful developmental shift accounts for the lack of associations between co-rumination and anxiety/depression among U.S. students. Regardless, future longitudinal research should incorporate strategies (e.g., observational data, time sampling) that extend beyond self-report. These designs promise to sharpen our understanding as they more fully capture the dynamic forces at play in co-rumination that may vary across time and culture

Sensory substitution for space gloves and for space robots

Sensory substitution systems for space applications are described. Physical sensors replace missing human receptors and feed information to the interpretive centers of a different sense. The brain is plastic enough so that, with training, the subject localizes the input as if it were received through the missing receptors. Astronauts have difficulty feeling objects through space suit gloves because of their thickness and because of the 4.3 psi pressure difference. Miniature force sensors on the glove palm drive an electrotactile belt around the waist, thus augmenting the missing tactile sensation. A proposed teleoperator system with telepresence for a space robot would incorporate teleproprioception and a force sensor/electrotactile belt sensory substitution system for teletouch

A complete genome sequence ofLactobacillus helveticus R0052, a commercial probiotic strain

Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 is a commercially available strain that is widely used in probiotic preparations. The genome sequence consisted of 2,129,425 bases. Comparative analysis showed that it was unique among L. helveticus strains in that it contained genes encoding mucus-binding proteins similar to those found in Lactobacillus acidophilus

The Phantom Vanish Magic Trick: Investigating the Disappearance of a Non-existent Object in a Dynamic Scene

Drawing inspiration from sleight-of-hand magic tricks, we developed an experimental paradigm to investigate whether magicians’ misdirection techniques could be used to induce the misperception of “phantom” objects. While previous experiments investigating sleight-of-hand magic tricks have focused on creating false assumptions about the movement of an object in a scene, our experiment investigated creating false assumptions about the presence of an object in a scene. Participants watched a sequence of silent videos depicting a magician performing with a single object. Following each video, participants were asked to write a description of the events in the video. In the final video, participants watched the Phantom Vanish Magic Trick, a novel magic trick developed for this experiment, in which the magician pantomimed the actions of presenting an object and then making it magically disappear. No object was presented during the final video. The silent videos precluded the use of false verbal suggestions, and participants were not asked leading questions about the objects. Nevertheless, 32% of participants reported having visual impressions of non-existent objects. These findings support an inferential model of perception, wherein top-down expectations can be manipulated by the magician to generate vivid illusory experiences, even in the absence of corresponding bottom-up information

The Characterization of Two-Stage Ignition Effects on Late Injection Low Temperature Combustion Using Biodiesel and Biodiesel Blends

The first stage of ignition in saturated hydrocarbon fuels (in diesel combustion) is characterized as low temperature heat release (LTHR) or cool flame combustion. LTHR takes place as a series of isomerization reactions at temperatures from 600K to 900K, and is often detectable in HCCI, rapid compression machines, and early injection low temperature combustion (LTC). The experimental investigation presented attempts to determine the existence of LTHR behavior in late injection low temperature combustion in a medium duty diesel engine with both petroleum diesel and biodiesel fuels and to determine the influence of such behavior on LTC torque and emissions. Three experiments were performed to meet these objectives: the first studies two operating modes (conventional combustion with -8° after top dead center injection timing and 0% EGR and low temperature combustion with 0° after top dead center injection timing and nominally 42% EGR level) with standard petroleum diesel, palm biodiesel, and soy biodiesel; the second studies a sweep of EGR level from 0% to nominally 45% with petroleum diesel and palm biodiesel with a constant injection timing of 0° after top dead center. The third and final experiment utilized petroleum diesel, soy biodiesel, and blends from the two fuels (20 and 50% soy biodiesel) to see the influence of viscosity and density on LTHR. LTHR is apparent in all fuels’ rates of heat release profiles at the LTC operating conditions. Diesel fuel LTC displays a longer and more intense LTHR phase. Lower amounts of LTHR in the palm biodiesel causes less sensitivity to EGR, less instability, and produces better torque and emission characteristics. Density and viscosity only change the shape of the LTHR duration, while cetane number or ignition quality affects the length of the LTHR duration

Experiences of diagnosis, stigma, culpability, and disclosure in male patients with hepatitis C virus: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

The current study aimed to explore the lived experience of patients with hepatitis C virus infection. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven male participants living with hepatitis C virus and were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two master themes were identified: (1) diagnosis and the search for meaning and (2) impact of stigma on disclosure. Participants reported fears of contaminating others, feelings of stigma and concerns of disclosing the condition to others. Response to diagnosis, stigma and disclosure among the participants appeared to be interrelated and directly related to locus of blame for virus contraction. More specifically, hepatitis C virus transmission via medical routes led to an externalisation of culpability and an openness to disclosure. Transmission of hepatitis C virus as a direct result of intravenous drug use led to internalised blame and a fear of disclosure. The inter- and intra-personal consequences of hepatitis C virus explored in the current study have potential implications for tailoring future psychological therapy and psychoeducation to the specific needs of the hepatitis C virus population

Emissions comparison between petroleum diesel and biodiesel in a medium-duty diesel engine

Biofuels have become very important topics over the past decade due to the rise in crude oil prices, fear of running out of crude oil, and environmental impact of emissions. Biodiesel is a biofuel that is made from plant seed oils, waste cooking oils, or animal fats. It has become increasingly popular and is looked at as a diesel replacement. This research characterizes the emissions of the new John Deere PowerTech Plus 4045HF285 in the Advance Engine Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University and compares the emissions of a 100 percent blended feed stock biodiesel to an ultra low sulfur diesel certification fuel. The steady state tests were conducted while holding engine speed constant at three different speeds and three different loads. The gaseous emissions, exhaust gas recirculation, fuel flow rate, and torque were monitored and recorded for 300 points per test. Four tests were performed and the results were averaged per each fuel. Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and oxides of nitrogen emissions were analyzed. The biodiesel averaged up to 12% lower torque, 5.4% more fuel, 7.5% less carbon dioxide, 29% more oxygen, and 29% more oxides of nitrogen. Overall the biodiesel produced less torque and carbon dioxide emissions, while emitting more oxygen and oxides of nitrogen

Perpendicular-to-grain compression behaviour of screw reinforced timber and a novel application of digital image correlation

This project investigates various factors which influence the behaviour of a timber roof structure designed by Smith & Wallwork Engineers. The first part of the project focused on material of sweet chestnut, where Digital Image Correlation (DIC) was employed to obtain values for the shear modulus. DIC was able to implement the shear field test method prescribed in BS EN 408:2010, along with two new methods developed based on additional information available through DIC. These methods were accurate, fast to implement, and potentially more robust than the shear field test method. A method to estimate the true value of the Timoshenko shear coefficient was also developed. The second section of the project involved physical testing of portions of the roof structure to investigate the behaviour of screw-reinforced and unreinforced timber loaded perpendicular to grain. Together with finite element modelling, it was noticed that a key aspect of the connection's behaviour was the axial force transfer between overlapping screws via shear in the timber, and the resulting relative displacement between the screws. A simple spring model was developed to characterise the compression stiffness of the roof which can now be used in reverse to calculate the forces due to moisture expansion or contraction