The Influence of the Environment on Directed Attention,Blood Pressure and Heart Rate—An Experimental Study Using a Relaxation Intervention

Attention is a basic cognitive function necessary in most daily activities. Beneficial effects on cognitive abilities after exposure to nature have been reported. To explore if relaxation indoors and in nature differently affect directed attention and physiological measures, 51 participants (39 women) were measured on directed attention with the Necker Cube Pattern Control Test before and after a guided progressive relaxation session indoors and outdoors in nature. Additionally, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were measured before and after the relaxation. Participants’ environmental preference was explored. The main result showed an environmental effect on directed attention in favour of the natural environment. No similar environmental effect on physiological measures was seen. The results indicate that relaxation in natural environments had a positive effect on directed attention and hence could be an important component for preventive and rehabilitative interventions for stress-related symptoms.     

Brain activation while forming memories of fearful and neutral faces in women and men.

Event-related functional MRI (fMRI) was used to assess brain activity during encoding of fearful and neutral faces in 12 women and 12 men. In a subsequent memory analysis, the authors separated successful from unsuccessful encoding of both types of faces, based on whether they were remembered or forgotten in a later recognition memory test. Overall, women and men recruited overlapping neural circuitries. Both sexes activated right-sided medial-temporal regions during successful encoding of fearful faces. Successful encoding of neutral faces was associated with left-sided lateral prefrontal and right-sided superior frontal activation in both sexes. In women, relatively greater encoding related activity for neutral faces was seen in the superior parietal and parahippocampal cortices. By contrast, men activated the left and right superior/middle frontal cortex more than women during successful encoding of the same neutral faces. These findings suggest that women and men use similar neural networks to encode facial information, with only subtle sex differences observed for neutral faces. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Methylphenidate reduces abnormalities of stimulus classification in adolescents with attention deficit disorder.

48 adolescents with attention deficit disorder (ADD) received placebo and methylphenidate (M?=?35.21 mg/day) for 3 consecutive weeks each. ADD patients who received placebo in the 1st phase of treatment were compared with unmedicated normal adolescents. ADD and normal adolescents did not differ in slope of reaction time (RT) as a function of memory load in S. Sternberg's (1969) memory task. These results may be interpreted as reflecting normal rates of memory search in ADD. However, in comparison with normal Ss, ADD Ss made disproportionately more errors to targets and lacked faster latencies of the P3b component of event-related potentials for targets than nontargets. These findings suggest abnormalities in stimulus classification. Methylphenidate did not affect ADD patients' rates of memory search, but it did reduce misclassification of targets at high memory loads. The drug also evoked the normal pattern of slower P3b latencies for nontargets by shortening latencies for targets. Thus, the stimulant reduced ADD adolescents' abnormalities in stimulus classification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of methylphenidate on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder with and without aggressive/noncompliant features.

This study compared the impact of methylphenidate on patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with and without aggressive/noncompliant features. Methylphenidate (0.3 mg/Kg twice daily) and placebo were administered double-blind for 14 days each to 24 ADHD/nonaggressive, 19 ADHD/aggressive, and 20 borderline ADHD children. In general, the following benefits of methylphenidate were comparable for ADHD subgroups: (a) behavioral improvement observed by parents and teachers, (b) increases in accuracy and speed on two versions of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), and (c) enlargement of the P3b wave of event-related potentials in the more difficult of the two CPTs. Thus, stimulant therapy had comparable benefits for ADHD patients with and without aggression/noncompliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contextual dynamics during health information systems implementation: an event-based actor-network approach

Despite its information-intensive nature and considerable investments, healthcare continues to lag behind other industries in effectively exploiting information technology (IT). This paradox suggests that the healthcare industry presents particular challenges for successful implementation of information systems. As a result, there is an increasing interest in research into how information systems implementation efforts are shaped in interaction with the healthcare context. This paper contributes to this emerging body of knowledge by applying Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to explore the implementation of a radiology network system in a Swedish hospital. The analysis of the process reveals how complex contextual dynamics had disruptive effects. First, we identified important dynamics related to implementation content; these were mainly expressed as tensions between the radiology network system and medical work practices. Second, we found important dynamics related to implementation context; these were mainly expressed as tensions between shifting networks of actors within the implementation project and the broader institutional setting. Seeking to understand contextual dynamics during healthcare information systems implementation, we use events to focus, structure, and present the ANT analysis. This event-based approach furthers our understanding of how researchers can apply ANT to study IT-based change in general.     

The role of emotion in computer-mediated communication: A review

It has been argued that the communication of emotions is more difficult in computer-mediated communication (CMC) than in face-to-face (F2F) communication. The aim of this paper is to review the empirical evidence in order to gain insight in whether emotions are communicated differently in these different modes of communication. We review two types of studies: (1) studies that explicitly examine discrete emotions and emotion expressions, and (2) studies that examine emotions more implicitly, namely as self-disclosure or emotional styles. Our conclusion is that there is no indication that CMC is a less emotional or less personally involving medium than F2F. On the contrary, emotional communication online and offline is surprisingly similar, and if differences are found they show more frequent and explicit emotion communication in CMC than in F2F.     

Atmospheric metal deposition in London

Few measurements of deposition rates of metals other than lead have been reported for urban areas in the United Kingdom. The present paper describes the measurements made over a period of several months of ten metals at eight sites in Greater London. Metal deposition was monitored with moss bags and total deposition collectors, and some measurements were also made of the concentrations of the metals in air. The deposition rates found are compared with those reported in other U.K. studies.     

A Simple and Efficient Route to Active and Dispersed Silica Supported Palladium Nanoparticles

Various mesoporous silica supported Pd materials were prepared by different methodologies in order to control and optimize the metal nanoparticle sizes for catalytic applications. The catalytic activities (conversion, mol% and selectivity to methyl-cinnamate) of the supported palladium catalysts were investigated in the Heck reaction under microwave irradiation using various haloarenes. Pd materials prepared by co-precipitation exhibited a very poor activity in the Heck reaction compared to that of Pd impregnated samples. Impregnated materials prepared without the use of a specific reducing agent had comparable activities to those of APTS-NaBH₄ reduced Pd materials, validating the simplicity of the methodology. High selectivities to methylcinnamate were obtained for all materials.     

Cognitive predictors of incident Alzheimer's disease: A prospective longitudinal study.

The present study examined whether cognitive variables measured at baseline could predict incident cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) after a 3-year follow-up period. Twenty-six incident AD adults and 179 very old (M?=?83.5 years) adults without dementia participated in a population-based study. Cognitive performance was indexed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and multiple indices of memory and visuospatial and verbal performance. A logistic regression analysis that controlled for age, gender, and education indicated that MMSE scores were reliable indicators of who would develop AD. In addition, recall of organizable words, recognition of faces, and letter fluency were reliable predictors of subsequent dementia status after differences in MMSE performance were partialed out. Thus, although the MMSE is useful in predicting dementia, there is an additional advantage of assessing specific indices of cognitive functioning. Further, supportive episodic memory tasks may be more salient predictors of incident AD than tasks that offer less supportive encoding or retrieval conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)