Diet and Addiction: Interview with a Former Food, Pornography, and Alcohol Addict

Drs. Tro Kalayjian (Tapan, New York) and Brian Lenzkes (Santee, California) talk to Matt about his struggles with food, pornography, and alcohol addiction, and how changing his diet contributed to his recovery from his addictions. This report is excerpted from the audio podcast LowCarbMD, Episode 13 (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/low-carb-md-podcast/ ), January 30, 2019). This podcast has filled us with immense hope for those struggling with addiction

Modern Approaches to Asset Price Formation: A Survey of Recent Theoretical Literature

In recent years, there has been much re-assessment and re-evaluation by academic economists of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis. The traditional view, stressing the ability of speculative markets to keep asset prices in line with economic fundamentals, has been challenged by an approach more sympathetic to the role of self-fulfilling expectations, psychology, herd behaviour and other seemingly irrational influences on asset prices. Greater appreciation of the institutional features of real-world asset markets also distinguishes this modern approach. The paper summarises this influential and rapidly-growing body of theoretical literature on asset price formation.

Negotiating the Maze: Risk Factors for Suicidal Behavior in Chronic Pain Patients

© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York. Chronic pain disorders can exert major negative effects on virtually every aspect of an individual’s life. It is not surprising then that many chronic pain sufferers find themselves at a point of emotional fragility where they experience thoughts of ending their life. Suicidal behavior encompasses a spectrum of experience, from “life weariness” or passive suicidal ideation, to more active suicidal intent and suicide completion. A range of risk factors for suicidal behavior in the general population have been identified, and these apply equally to the chronic pain population: a family history of mental illness, past history of suicide attempts, and the presence of comorbid depression. With regard specifically to chronic pain patients, elevated suicide risk is also associated with severe or recurrent headache, ambiguous diagnoses (psychogenic pain, abdominal pain), and medicolegal issues related to the pain. A number of suggestions for clinicians managing chronic pain patients with regards to managing suicide risk are given

The Prenience of the Kutenai Indians: A Preliminary Delineation of Cross-Culturally Comparative Traits

A study of comparision traits or items in the culture of the Kootenai and other tribes in the Western United States, to attempt to learn where the Kootenai had lived before the coming of the whites. Includes a detailed description of the results of exca

Comparisons and associations between personality, creative potential and achievement in creative, non-creative and early psychosis participants

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Epidemiological evidence supports common genetic determinants between psychosis spectrum populations and creative individuals. Aspects of personality may contribute to protecting the creative artist from psychosis vulnerability. This study examines the similarities and differences in personality within a sample of early psychosis (EP), creative control (CC) and non-creative control (NCC) participants. Findings indicated that the CC group shared closer personality commonalities with the EP group than with NCC participants, on traits such as Neuroticism, Openness and Impulsive Non-Conformity as well as on variables such as Unusual Experiences, Cognitive Disorganisation and Paranoia/Suspiciousness. However, the CC group may better manage their emotional sensitivity and interpersonal suspiciousness than the EP participants. In separate analyses, CC and EP participants recorded higher creative cognition than NCC participants. Unsurprisingly, the CC group reported significantly higher creative achievement than the EP and NCC samples. Of note, the findings indicate that EP participants recorded significantly higher creative achievement than NCC, suggesting that EP patients demonstrate some capacity for creative cognition and creative achievement. These preliminary findings may encourage further research and promote avenues of treatment for at-risk creative individuals and EP individuals

Why Does the Australian Dollar Move so Closely with the Terms of Trade?

The paper is motivated by two empirical results. Australia’s terms of trade exhibit temporary fluctuations around a slowly declining trend, and movements in Australia’s real exchange rate tend to follow those in the terms of trade. Together these results imply predictability in Australia’s real exchange rate as well as the presence of predictable excess returns that are sometimes quite large. Using a simple econometric model, with the terms of trade as the sole explanator, the paper demonstrates the forecastability of Australia’s real exchange rate over horizons ranging from one to two years. It then quantifies the magnitude of the predictable excess returns to holding Australian dollar denominated assets over such horizons, finding them to be highly variable and sometimes quite large in magnitude. The results suggest a relative scarcity of forward-looking foreign exchange market participants with an investment horizon of a year or more.

Quality and usability of arthritic pain self-management apps for older adults: A systematic review

© 2017 American Academy of Pain Medicine. Objective. To appraise the quality and usability of currently available pain applications that could be used by community-dwelling older adults to selfmanage their arthritic pain. Methods. A systematic review. Searches were conducted in App Store and Google Play to identify pain self-management apps relevant to arthritic pain management. English language pain management apps providing pain assessment and documentation function and pain management education were considered for inclusion. A quality evaluation audit tool based on the Stanford Arthritis Self-Management Program was developed a priori to evaluate app content quality. The usability of included apps was assessed using an established usability evaluation tool. Results. Out of the 373 apps that were identified, four met the inclusion criteria. The included apps all included a pain assessment and documentation function and instructions on medication use, communication with health professionals, cognitive behavioral therapy-based pain management, and physical exercise. Management of mood, depression, anxiety, and sleep were featured in most apps (N =3). Three-quarters (N = 3) of the apps fell below the acceptable moderate usability score (≥3), while one app obtained a moderate score (3.2). Conclusions. Few of the currently available pain apps offer a comprehensive pain self-management approach incorporating evidence-based strategies in accordance with the Stanford Arthritis Self- Management Program. The moderate-level usability across the included apps indicates a need to consider the usability needs of the older population in future pain self-management app development endeavors