Finding Benefit in Breast Cancer During the Year After Diagnosis Predicts Better Adjustment 5 to 8 Years After Diagnosis.

Cancer patients experience positive as well as adverse consequences from diagnosis and treatment. The study reported here examined longer term reverberations of such experiences. A set of benefit-finding items along with measures of well-being were completed by 230 early-stage breast cancer patients in the year postsurgery. Four to 7 years later, 96 of them again completed measures of well-being. Controlling for initial distress and depression, initial benefit finding in this sample predicted lower distress and depression at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wherein is Human Cognition Systematic?

The ??systematicity argument?? has been used to argue for a classical cognitive architecture (Fodor in The Language of Thought. Harvester Press, London, 1975, Why there still has to be a language of thought? In Psychosemantics, appendix. MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 135?C154, 1987; Fodor and Pylyshyn in Cognition 28:3?C71, 1988; Aizawa in The systematicity arguments. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, 2003). From the premises that cognition is systematic and that the best/only explanation of systematicity is compositional structure, it concludes that cognition is to be explained in terms of symbols (in a language of thought) and formal rules. The debate, with connectionism, has mostly centered on the second premise-whether an explanation of systematicity requires compositional structure, which neural networks do not to exhibit (for example, Hadley and Hayward, in Minds and Machines, 7:1?C37). In this paper, I will take issue with the first premise. Several arguments will be deployed that show that cognition is not systematic in general; that, in fact, systematicity seems to be related to language. I will argue that it is just verbal minds that are systematic, and they are so because of the structuring role of language in cognition. A dual-process theory of cognition will be defended as the best explanation of the facts.     

Mobile context-based framework for threat monitoring in urban environment with social threat monitor

Engaging users in threat reporting is important in order to improve threat monitoring in urban environments. Today, mobile applications are mostly used to provide basic reporting interfaces. With a rapid evolution of mobile devices, the idea of context awareness has gained a remarkable popularity in recent years. Modern smartphones and tablets are equipped with a variety of sensors including accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure gauges, light and GPS sensors. Additionally, the devices become computationally powerful which allows for real-time processing of data gathered by their sensors. Universal access to the Internet via WiFi hot-spots and GSM network makes mobile devices perfect platforms for ubiquitous computing. Although there exist numerous frameworks for context-aware systems, they are usually dedicated to static, centralized, client-server architectures. There is still space for research in the field of context modeling and reasoning for mobile devices. In this paper, we propose a lightweight context-aware framework for mobile devices that uses data gathered by mobile device sensors and performs on-line reasoning about possible threats based on the information provided by the Social Threat Monitor system developed in the INDECT project.     

Bimodal optimisation of a column in an elastic medium, with respect to buckling or vibration

The aim of this paper is to determine the ranges of application of unimodal and bimodal optimisation techniques to the problem of a column supported by a Winkler medium. Optimisation, with respect to buckling and the fundamental frequency of vibration, has been examined using both Pontryagin's and sensitivity analysis methods. The characteristic diagrams of the optimal frequency or buckling load versus the lower geometrical constraint are presented.     

Emotional disclosure through writing or speaking modulates latent Epstein-Barr virus antibody titers.

57 healthy Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) seropositive undergraduates completed a personality inventory, provided blood samples, and were randomly assigned to write or talk about stressful events, or to write about trivial events, during 3 weekly 20-min sessions, after which they provided a final blood sample. Ss assigned to the verbal/stressful condition had significantly lower EBV antibody titers (suggesting better cellular immune control over the latent virus) after the intervention than those in the written/stressful group, who had significantly lower values than those in the written/trivial control group. Ss assigned to the written/stressful condition expressed more negative emotional words than the verbal/stressful and control groups and more positive emotional words than the verbal/stressful group at each time point. The verbal/stressful group expressed more negative emotional words compared with the control group at baseline. Content analysis indicated that the verbal/stressful group achieved the greatest improvements in cognitive change, self-esteem, and adaptive coping strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A computational design method for condensation of binary vapours of immiscible liquidsEine Berechnungsmethode für die Kondensation eines binären Dampfgemisches aus unmischbaren Flüssigkeiten

Physically possible modes of condensation of binary vapours of immiscible liquids have been analysed. A mathematical model has been developed which enables the changes of the parameters of the vapour, interface and condensate as functions of the degree of condensation to be calculated. Calculations have been carried out for two systems and for various inlet vapour compositions and cooling medium temperatures. It has been found that, for typical industrial conditions, the condensation process does not differ much from the local total condensation. Accordingly, a simplified method of predicting the condenser area may be used in that case.     

Previous Gestational Diabetes Increases Atherogenic Dyslipidemia in Subsequent Pregnancy and Postpartum

In a cohort of women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), we aimed to ascertain whether women with abnormal glucose tolerance 1‐year postdelivery had a more atherogenic lipid profile during and after pregnancy than those with normal glucose tolerance. A prospective cohort study with longitudinal design between January 2004 and March 2016 was conducted. Three hundred and six (56.8%) of 537 women diagnosed with GDM during the studied period attended a control visit during the first year after delivery. Of these, 112 (36.6%) had prediabetes and 16 (5.2%) had type 2 diabetes mellitus. No significant differences during pregnancy were found in total, low‐density lipoprotein, high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triacylglycerol (TAG) concentrations among the three groups. Only HDL cholesterol and TAG levels differed significantly among groups at 2 and 12 months after delivery. Logistic regression analysis revealed pregnancy HDL and glucose metabolism status to be associated with the HDL cholesterol concentration 1‐year postdelivery. Furthermore, the only independent factor associated with TAG levels 1 year after delivery was the gestational TAG concentration. In summary, an overweight multiethnic group of women with prior GDM presented a high incidence of postpartum dysglycemia (41.8%). HDL‐cholesterol and TAG levels, both components of the metabolic syndrome, differed significantly among the three study groups in the glucose‐metabolism status at 2 and 12 months after delivery. Women with previous GDM must be followed up in the postpartum period for early detection and management of lipid and glucose disorders.     

Thermal response of domains in cardiolipin content bilayers

In the study described here, supported planar bilayers (SPBs) of 1-palmitoy-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE):cardiolipin (CL) (0.8:0.2, mol/mol) were examined using atomic force microscopy (AFM). SPBs were formed from suspensions of POPE:CL (0.8:0.2, mol/mol) in inverted hexagonal (H(II)) phases (buffer containing Ca(2+)). Three laterally segregated domains which differ in height were observed at 24 degrees C. Based on the area accounted for each domain and the nominal composition of the mixture, we interpret that the higher domain is formed by CL, while the intermediate and lower domains (LDs) are formed by POPE. The three domains respond to temperature increase with relative changes in their area. At 37 degrees C, we observed that the increase in the area of the intermediate domain occurs at the expense of the LD. (31)P-nuclear magnetic resonance ((31)P-NMR) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used in combination with AFM to characterize the phase behavior of the suspensions and to elucidate the nature of the structures observed.