Proverbs as psychological theories… or is it the other way around?

Examines the role of proverbs as hypotheses for a number of psychological investigations that can be interpreted as empirical tests of the truth value of proverbs. In general, this research has yielded spotty empirical results, suggesting that proverbs have not proven to be a particularly fruitful source of theory. This failure may be due more to the manner in which psychology tends to view proverbs than to the content of the sayings themselves. A highly contextualized view of proverbs yields considerably more useful information, as demonstrated in an analysis of communication practices in the scientific psychological community. It is suggested that theory serves the same functions in the psychological community as proverbs do in other subcultures. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The only way out is through: emotional processing and recovery after a depressing life event

This two-part study addresses the question of whether emotional processing is a useful strategy for coping with dysphoria following a depressing life event. In Part I, after a covert, moderately distressing mood induction, subjects who were assigned to an emotional processing condition reported better mood in the long run than subjects who were assigned to either distraction or unemotional problem solving conditions. In Part II, content analysis of the essays written by the subjects supported a simple habituation model of the benefits of emotional processing. Weak support was also found for the hypothesis that low to moderate levels of emotional arousal potentiate positive cognitive restructuring. Taken together, the results suggest that the negative emotional arousal that accompanies activation of depressive schemata may be a component of natural recovery from depression.     

Stillbirth is no longer managed as a nonevent: a nationwide study in Sweden

BACKGROUND: Giving birth to a stillborn child is a tragedy. The aim of this study is to investigate the meeting of mothers with their stillborn children and the women's experiences of support during and after the delivery. METHODS: In a nationwide study in Sweden, data from 636 women who gave birth to a stillborn or live baby were collected by means of an anonymous postal questionnaire in 1994. RESULTS: Among the 314 women who gave birth to a stillborn child, nearly every mother had seen her child, and 80 percent had carressed her baby. More than 90 percent of the mothers stated that the medical staff showed respect, and about 80 percent of the mothers stated that staff exhibited tenderness toward their dead children. The mother's assessment of respect and tenderness to her child by medical staff was almost identical between stillbirths and live births. Nearly 70 percent of the women reported that the hospital had good routines to support mothers of stillborn children. Feelings of sadness and having been deeply hurt or angered by the medical staff's behavior were reported by 37 percent of the women. A difficult balance is still to be achieved between women being forced to encounter the baby when not yet ready versus others who wish the staff had given more encouragement. The value of properly taken photographs is described. CONCLUSIONS: Treating stillbirth as a nonevent has been largely, if not entirely, abandoned in Sweden. Most mothers of a stillborn child experience that the medical staff treat their dead children appropriately.     

Competing conceptions of diagnostic reasoning--is there a way out?

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was optimized to detect Lawsonia intracellularis in faeces from naturally infected pigs. By combining a boiling procedure to extract DNA and a nested PCR procedure, a detection limit at 2 x 10(2) bacterial cells per gram of faeces was achieved. The optimized PCR was used together with conventional culture techniques to detect Serpulina hyodysenteriae, weakly beta-haemolytic intestinal spirochaetes (WBHIS), Salmonella enterica, and haemolytic Escherichia coli, in a case control study to examine selected risk factors for the development of diarrhoea in growing pigs. Herds with diarrhoea were selected as cases and randomly chosen herds without diarrhoea were chosen as controls. Infection with L. intracellularis significantly enhanced the chance of diarrhoea. S. hyodysenteriae, WBHIS group IV (Serpulina pilosicoli), and S. enterica were isolated only from case herds which indicate that these species may influence the development of diarrhoea. In addition, herd-type had a significant impact, that is specific pathogen-free herds showed an odds ratio at 0.2 relative to conventional herds for the development of diarrhoea.     

Clinical trials and rare diseases: a way out of a conundrum

Currently, clinical trials tend to be individually funded and applicants must include a power calculation in their grant request. However, conventional levels of statistical precision are unlikely to be obtainable prospectively if the trial is required to evaluate treatment of a rare disease. This means that clinicians treating such diseases remain in ignorance and must form their judgments solely on the basis of (potentially biased) observational studies experience, and anecdote. Since some unbiased evidence is clearly better than none, this state of affairs should not continue. However, conventional (frequentist) confidence limits are unlikely to exclude a null result, even when treatments differ substantially. Bayesian methods utilise all available data to calculate probabilities that may be extrapolated directly to clinical practice. Funding bodies should therefore fund a repertoire of small trials, which need have no predetermined end, alongside standard larger studies.     

浅谈不懈创新是企业成功之道

本文认为理念创新是企业持续发展的灵魂，要着重抓好经营理念、体制和组织创新；管理创新是企业必由之路，应立足建立现代管理模式，抓好技术、文化创新，建立学习型组织：并指出了创新应遵循的原则。     

Subtle cues as a way of life.

The author briefly describes his upbringing in Germany and a few of the problems he has encountered as a Jew. After immigration to the US and graduation from Amherst College, he joined the US Army, served in Europe, and was captured by the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. He survived the camp by using subtle cues, largely without his awareness, to positively change the emotional climate in a conversation with the Gestapo agent. He chose the career of clinical psychologist to discover how the use of subtle cues can have a significant impact on the respondent, which he believes is also the basic question in the psychotherapeutic treatment process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional processing in experiential therapy: Why "the only way out is through."

The purpose of this study was to examine observable moment-by-moment steps in emotional processing as they occurred within productive sessions of experiential therapy. Global distress was identified as an unprocessed emotion with high arousal and low meaningfulness. The investigation consisted of 2 studies as part of a task analysis that examined clients processing distress in live video-recorded therapy sessions. Clients in both studies were adults in experiential therapy for depression and ongoing interpersonal problems. Study 1 was the discovery-oriented phase of task analysis, which intensively examined 6 examples of global distress. The qualitative findings produced a model showing: global distress, fear, shame, and aggressive anger as undifferentiated and insufficiently processed emotions; the articulation of needs and negative self-evaluations as a pivotal step in change; and assertive anger, self-soothing, hurt, and grief as states of advanced processing. Study 2 tested the model using a sample of 34 clients in global distress. A multivariate analysis of variance showed that the model of emotional processing predicted positive in-session effects, and bootstrapping analyses were used to demonstrate that distinct emotions emerged moment by moment in predicted sequential patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Punishment of abient responding with and without a non-punished alternative available: A conflict-resolution view.

The effects of punishment applied during the enactment of a learned abient response were evaluated in a double-alley apparatus. Punishment-induced response facilitation was found only when fear directly conditioned to the onset of the punishing stimulus was not controlled. Otherwise, punishment was found to inhibit responding except in the situation in which a non-punished means of performing the learned response was concurrently available. These findings are discussed in the context of a conflict-resolution theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biofeedback as a therapeutic alternative in uncoordinated miction

The Hinman Syndrome is known as an involuntary unsconscions contraction of the periurethral sphincter during micturition once neurologic disease and anatpmical obstruction are rejected. We report a case of a 23 years old man who was diagnosed of suffering from this syndrome. After the proper studies and left nephroureterectomy for ureterohydronephrosis secondary to long term massive vesicoureteral reflux, we proceeded to treat him with biofeedback and autocatheterisms. Six months after, the patient was asymptomatic with normal micturitions without residue.     

关于大河金矿大规模注浆堵水方案选择的探讨

在对大河金矿水文地质资料综合分析和实地调查的基础上，选定了一套适用于大河金矿堵水的总体方案，并作出详细的设计。总体方案打破了一般大规模注浆堵水的设计常规，灵活地采用和组合常规技术，在大量节约工程量的前提下，可实现对涌水通道的封堵，形成可靠的止水帷幕。该技术不仅对大河金矿，而且对国内外类似矿山均具有广泛的推广价值。