Resilience: Enhancing well-being through the positive cognitive triad.

The present study tested whether the relationships among resilience, life satisfaction, and depression could be explained by positive views toward the self, the world, and the future (positive cognitive triad). Structural equation modeling and mediation analyses were conducted based on 1,419 college students in Hong Kong. The model of positive cognitive triad as mediator between resilience and well-being fit the data (comparative fit index = .94, Tucker–Lewis index = .93, root-mean-square error of approximation = .08). Findings showed resilience to be significantly related to positive cognitions about the self, the world, and the future. Individuals who had higher level of resilience held significantly more positive cognitions and reported significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of depression. The utility of the positive cognitive triad as the mechanism through which resilience enhances well-being was supported. Applications in cultivating resilience and positive cognitions in counseling services are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Study of thermal–mechanical properties of polyurethane foam and the three-dimensional shape of molded bra cups

Molded bras nowadays are dominating the overall bra market place, while the bra cups are mostly made of polyurethane foam sheets. The smooth and seamless inner surface of a molded bra cup gives three-dimensional nice fit to the wearer and provides unlimited designs for different softness and thickness. However, it has been a difficult question to determine the optimum molding conditions for various types of foam and there was no reliable method to measure the cup shape conformity. In this study, the properties of five polyurethane foams were investigated by thermal–mechanical analysis (TMA) and their 3D shapes formed in various molding conditions were measured by a Steinbichler Comet scanner and a new parameterization-based remesh algorithm method. The results revealed that the optimal temperature and dwell time for molding bra cups were greatly affected by the thermal–mechanical properties of polyurethane foams. The softening temperature and deformation properties of the foams tested by TMA can facilitate the determination of optimal molding temperature for the desirable cup shape and thickness. This study provides an effective and quantitative approach to eliminate the time-consuming “trial-and-error” in the molding tests traditionally being used in the industry.