Locating the Embodied Sense of Self and Examining its Relationship with Psychological Well-Being

Westerners tend to localize their sense of self in the head, and, to a lesser degree, in the chest. However, single-point, localization studies of the self omit direct exploration of the size and shape of the embodied self. This study explored a) beliefs about the location and spatial distribution of the embodied sense of self, and b) whether individual differences in how the embodied self was represented were associated with psychological and subjective well-being. Results from a sample of 206 American adults confirm extant reports, indicating that the embodied sense of self is most often located in the head and chest. However, results from this study extend previous findings by suggesting that the majority of respondents (70%) located their embodied sense of self in multiple body regions, and individuals that reported a more widely distributed sense of self reported greater well-being. Specifically, a more widely distributed sense of self in the torso was most strongly associated with psychological well-being. No relationship emerged between the distribution of the sense of self in the head and psychological well-being. Results from this study indicate that the sense of self may be located throughout the body, and that locating the sense of self in the torso may have psychological benefit. As such, exploring methods of shifting the sense of self out of the head and into the body may have therapeutic value

Locating the Embodied Sense of Self and Examining its Relationship with Psychological Well-Being

Westerners tend to localize their sense of self in the head, and, to a lesser degree, in the chest. However, single-point, localization studies of the self omit direct exploration of the size and shape of the embodied self. This study explored a) beliefs about the location and spatial distribution of the embodied sense of self, and b) whether individual differences in how the embodied self was represented were associated with psychological and subjective well-being. Results from a sample of 206 American adults confirm extant reports, indicating that the embodied sense of self is most often located in the head and chest. However, results from this study extend previous findings by suggesting that the majority of respondents (70%) located their embodied sense of self in multiple body regions, and individuals that reported a more widely distributed sense of self reported greater well-being. Specifically, a more widely distributed sense of self in the torso was most strongly associated with psychological well-being. No relationship emerged between the distribution of the sense of self in the head and psychological well-being. Results from this study indicate that the sense of self may be located throughout the body, and that locating the sense of self in the torso may have psychological benefit. As such, exploring methods of shifting the sense of self out of the head and into the body may have therapeutic value

Nonself-adjoint semicrossed products by abelian semigroups

Let $\mathcal{S}$ be the semigroup \mathcal{S}=\sum^{\oplus k}_{i=1}\Sc{S}_i, where for each $i\in I$, $\mathcal{S}_i$ is a countable subsemigroup of the additive semigroup \B{R}_+ containing 0. We consider representations of $\mathcal{S}$ as contractions $\{T_s\}_{s\in\mathcal{S}}$ on a Hilbert space with the Nica-covariance property: $T_s^*T_t=T_tT_s^*$ whenever $t\wedge s=0$. We show that all such representations have a unique minimal isometric Nica-covariant dilation. This result is used to help analyse the nonself-adjoint semicrossed product algebras formed from Nica-covariant representations of the action of $\mathcal{S}$ on an operator algebra $\mathcal{A}$ by completely contractive endomorphisms. We conclude by calculating the $C^*$-envelope of the isometric nonself-adjoint semicrossed product algebra (in the sense of Kakariadis and Katsoulis).Comment: 14 page

Mindfulness Training Encourages Self-Transcendent States via Decentering

Self-transcendence is theorized to be a core, mechanism of mindfulness. Yet, no known empirical study has investigated the process by which self-transcendent experiences emerge in novice practitioners. To address this gap, this study explored whether changes in decentering in response to mindfulness training translated into increases in self-transcendence over the course of five mindfulness training sessions. Participants (N=26) were randomly allocated to either a mindfulness training condition or an active listening condition. Results indicated that mindfulness training increased both decentering (p=.023) and self-transcendence (p=.001) relative to the active listening condition. Furthermore, greater decentering at the mid-point of training predicted greater self-transcendence at the training’s end, suggesting that those participants that become better able to non-reactively observe their thoughts, feelings and physical sensations while meditating were also more likely to experience self-transcendence. This study provides the first empirical evidence that mindfulness training can cultivate self- transcendent experiences through the process of decentering from internal phenomena

Pesticides and bees: ecological-economic modelling of bee populations on farmland

Production of insect-pollinated crops typically relies on both pesticide use and pollination, leading to a potential conflict between these two inputs. In this paper we combine ecological modelling with economic analysis to investigate the effects of pesticide use on wild and commercial bees, whilst allowing farmers to partly offset the negative effects of pesticides on bee populations by creating more on-farm bee habitat. Farmers have incentives to invest in creating wild bee habitat to increase pollination inputs. However, the optimal allocation of on-farm habitat strongly depends on the negative effects of pesticides, with a threshold-like behaviour at a critical level of the impairment. When this threshold is crossed, the population of wild bees becomes locally extinct and their availability to pollinate breaks down. We also show that availability of commercial bees masks the decrease in pollination services which would otherwise incentivise farmers to conserve the wild pollinator population, therefore indirectly leading to local wild bee extinction. The paper demonstrat es the importance of combining ecological modelling with economics to study sustainability in the provision of ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems

Payment for multiple forest benefits alters the effect of tree disease on optimal forest rotation length

Forests deliver multiple benefits both to their owners and to wider society. However, a wave of forest pests and pathogens is threatening this worldwide. In this paper we examine the effect of disease on the optimal rotation length of a single-aged, single rotation forest when a payment for non-timber benefits, which is offered to private forest owners to partly internalise the social values of forest management, is included. Using a generalisable bioeconomic framework we show how this payment counteracts the negative economic effect of disease by increasing the optimal rotation length, and under some restrictive conditions, even makes it optimal to never harvest the forest. The analysis shows a range of complex interactions between factors including the rate of spread of infection and the impact of disease on the value of harvested timber and non-timber benefits. A key result is that the effect of disease on the optimal rotation length is dependent on whether the disease affects the timber benefit only compared to when it affects both timber and non-timber benefits. Our framework can be extended to incorporate multiple ecosystem services delivered by forests and details of how disease can affect their production, thus facilitating a wide range of applications

The effects of disease on optimal forest rotation: a generalisable analytical framework

The arrival of novel pathogens and pests can have a devastating effect on the market values of forests. Calibrating management strategies/decisions to consider the effect of disease may help to reduce disease impacts on forests. Here, we use a novel generalisable, bioeconomic model framework, which combines an epidemiological compartmental model with a Faustmann optimal rotation length model, to explore the management decision of when to harvest a single rotation, even-aged, plantation forest under varying disease conditions. Sensitivity analysis of the rate of spread of infection and the effect of disease on the timber value reveals a key trade-off between waiting for the timber to grow and the infection spreading further. We show that the optimal rotation length, which maximises the net present value of the forest, is reduced when timber from infected trees has no value; but when the infection spreads quickly, and the value of timber from infected trees is non-zero, it can be optimal to wait until the disease-free optimal rotation length to harvest. Our original approach provides an exemplar framework showing how a bioeconomic model can be used to examine the effect of tree diseases on management strategies/decisions

Representations of Operator Algebras

The following thesis is divided into two main chapters. In Chapter 2 we study isometric representations of product systems of correspondences over the semigroup ᵏ which are minimal dilations of finite dimensional, fully coisometric representations. We show the existence of a unique minimal cyclic coinvariant subspace for all such representations. The compression of the representation to this subspace is shown to be a complete unitary invariant. For a certain class of graph algebras the nonself-adjoint WOT-closed algebra generated by these representations is shown to contain the projection onto the minimal cyclic coinvariant subspace. This class includes free semigroup algebras. This result extends to a class of higher-rank graph algebras which includes higher-rank graphs with a single vertex. In chapter 3 we move onto semicrossed product algebras. Let be the semigroup =Σᵢ, where ᵢ is a countable subsemigroup of the additive semigroup ₊ containing 0. We consider representations of as contractions {Tᵣ }ᵣ on a Hilbert space with the Nica-covariance property: Tᵣ*Tᵤ=TᵤTᵣ* whenever t^s=0. We show that all such representations have a unique minimal isometric Nica-covariant dilation. This result is used to help analyse the nonself-adjoint semicrossed product algebras formed from Nica-covariant representations of the action of on an operator algebra by completely contractive endomorphisms. We conclude by calculating the C*-envelope of the isometric nonself-adjoint semicrossed product algebra (in the sense of Kakariadis and Katsoulis)

The effects of disease on optimal forest rotation : a generalisable analytical framework

This work is from the project titled Modelling economic impact and strategies to increase resilience against tree disease outbreaks. This is one of seven projects in the Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Initiative (phase 2) funded by BBSRC, Defra, ESRC, Forestry Commission, NERC and Scottish Government.The arrival of novel pathogens and pests can have a devastating effect on the market values of forests. Calibrating management strategies/decisions to consider the effect of disease may help to reduce disease impacts on forests. Here, we use a novel generalisable, bioeconomic model framework, which combines an epidemiological compartmental model with a Faustmann optimal rotation length model, to explore the management decision of when to harvest a single rotation, even-aged, plantation forest under varying disease conditions. Sensitivity analysis of the rate of spread of infection and the effect of disease on the timber value reveals a key trade-off between waiting for the timber to grow and the infection spreading further. We show that the optimal rotation length, which maximises the net present value of the forest, is reduced when timber from infected trees has no value; but when the infection spreads quickly, and the value of timber from infected trees is non-zero, it can be optimal to wait until the disease-free optimal rotation length to harvest. Our original approach provides an exemplar framework showing how a bioeconomic model can be used to examine the effect of tree diseases on management strategies/decisions.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe