Self-Compassion as a Protective Factor Against Mental Illness Self-Stigma

Self-stigma, the internalization of public stigma, is a significant hindrance to help-seeking and treatment adherence for mental illness. Stigma reduction strategies have thus far focused on mitigating the negative impact of self-stigma by bolstering self-esteem. However, self-esteem is resistant to change and direct attempts to boost self-esteem have been suggested to foster narcissism and unhealthy attachment to positive self-image. Alternatively, self-compassion has been demonstrated to offer similar benefits as self-esteem with fewer downsides. More importantly, self-compassion can be improved with short interventions. Study One is a mixed method study that examined how self-compassion, and the different facets of self-compassion, related to mental health stigma and help-seeking attitude and intentions. Study One compared self-compassion and self-esteem as predictors of self-stigma related to having a mental illness (SSMI) and self-stigma of seeking help for mental illness (SSOSH). Regression analyses showed that self-compassion uniquely predicted both forms of self-stigma and explained more of the variances in both SSMI and SSOSH than self-esteem in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 185). Findings also suggest that the self-kindness aspect of self-compassion may be more protective against SSMI, whereas common humanity is particularly relevant for SSOSH and help-seeking. The qualitative component of Study One revealed both interpersonal and intrapersonal themes in participants perception and experience of SSOSH. Study Two explored the potential of a brief one-time intervention to improve self-stigma and help-seeking attitude and intentions in a separate sample of undergraduate students (N = 133). Study Two also found evidence that self-efficacy and perceived self-competence, two factors positively related to self-compassion, may deter professional help-seeking. Findings of the present set of studies indicate that self-compassion is a promising target for intervention to reduce both forms of self-stigma identified as barriers to mental health recovery

The Violation of the Cooperative Principles in Conan

This paper, based on Gricean Cooperative Principles, attempts to analyze the violation of the Cooperative Principles in the TV talk show Conan from the perspective of pragmatics, thus to figure out the conversational implications generated by the application of the Cooperative Principles

ULTRA ENERGY-EFFICIENT SUB-/NEAR-THRESHOLD COMPUTING: PLATFORM AND METHODOLOGY

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

A Direct Approach to Simultaneous Tests of Superiority and Noninferiority with Multiple Endpoints

Simultaneous tests of superiority and non-inferiority hypotheses on multiple endpoints are often performed in clinical trials to demonstrate that a new treatment is superior over a control on at least one endpoint and non-inferior on the remaining endpoints. Existing methods tackle this problem by testing the superiority and non-inferiority hypotheses separately and control the Type I error rate each at $\alpha$ level. In this paper we propose a unified approach to testing the superiority and non-inferiority hypotheses simultaneously. The proposed approach is based on the UI-IU test and the least favorable configurations of the combined superiority and non-inferiority hypotheses, which leads to the solution of an adjusted significance level $\alpha'$ for marginal tests that controls the overall Type I error rate at pre-defined $\alpha$. Simulations show that the proposed approach maintains a higher power than existing methods in the settings under investigation. Since the adjusted significance level $\alpha'$ is obtained by controlling the Type I error rate at $\alpha$, one can easily construct the exact $(1 - \alpha)\%$ simultaneous confidence intervals for treatment effects on all endpoints. The proposed approach is illustrated with two real examples

Minimally invasive photoacoustic imaging:Current status and future perspectives

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is an emerging biomedical imaging modality that is based on optical absorption contrast, capable of revealing distinct spectroscopic signatures of tissue at high spatial resolution and large imaging depths. However, clinical applications of conventional non-invasive PAI systems have been restricted to examinations of tissues at depths less than a few cm due to strong light attenuation. Minimally invasive photoacoustic imaging (miPAI) has greatly extended the landscape of PAI by delivering excitation light within tissue through miniature fibre-optic probes. In the past decade, various miPAI systems have been developed with demonstrated applicability in several clinical fields. In this article, we present an overview of the current status of miPAI and our thoughts on future perspectives.status: publishe

Sunlight penetration dominates the thermal regime and energetics of a shallow ice-covered lake in arid climate

The Mongolian Plateau is characterized by cold and arid winters with very little precipitation (snowfall), strong solar insolation, and dry air, but little is known about the thermal regimes of the ice and ice-covered lakes and their response to the distinct weather and climate in this region. In a typical large, shallow lake, ice and snow processes (cover) and under-ice thermodynamics were monitored for four winters in 2015-2019. Heat transfer at the ice-water interface and lake heat budget were investigated. The results revealed that persistent bare ice of 35-50 cm thickness transmits 20 %-35 % of the incident solar radiation into the water below. This is a dominant source for under-ice energy flows and causes/maintains high water temperature (up to 6-8 degrees C) and high heat flux from water to ice (averages of 20-45 W m(-2)) in mid-winter, as well as higher heat conduction in the ice interior during freezing. The heat balance shows that the transmitted radiation and the heat flux from water to ice are the dominant and highly correlated heat flows in the lake. Both bulk water temperature and temperature structure are sensitive to solar transmittance and occasional snow events. Under-ice convective mixing does not necessarily occur because of stratification of salinity in the water body. In particular, salt exclusion during freezing changes both the bulk salinity and the salinity profile, which plays a major role in the stability and mixing of the water column in this shallow lake.Peer reviewe