Predicting posttraumatic growth in breast cancer survivors.

Wide variability exists with respect to how breast cancer survivors respond to common psychological and psychosocial challenges of their disease, ranging from posttraumatic stress disorder to posttraumatic growth. This cross-sectional study examined contextual, disease-related, and intraindividual predictors of posttraumatic growth in 224 randomly selected breast cancer survivors. A series of hierarchical regression analyses found that age at diagnosis, marital status, employment, education, perceived intensity of disease, and active coping accounted for 34%, 35%, and 28% of the variance in growth in relationships with others, new possibilities, and appreciation for life. These findings suggest that a more comprehensive model of growth will be helpful in understanding the various factors that play a role in breast cancer survivors' perception of psychological and psychosocial growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Method of Combined SHPB Technique and BP Neural Network to Study Impact Response of Materials

Abstract:  A new method combining the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) technique with the back-propagation (BP) neural network program is proposed. By this method, the treated strain wave signals become smooth with less noises induced by the transverse inertia. Moreover, the dynamic rate-dependent constitutive behaviour of materials can be identified, without any pre-assumption of a constitutive model. It is found that by taking the experimentally measured data of strain, strain rate and time as 'input' and the corresponding data of stress as 'output' of the BP neural network, the dynamic constitutive behaviour with internal damage or phase transformation evolution is easy to be identified, where the time could represent either the internal damage evolution or phase transformation process accompanied with the deformation process. It is emphasised that the data learnt by the BP neural network must include both loading and unloading processes, if the whole loading and unloading response is to be correctly predicted. The comparisons between the predictions and experimental results are in good agreement for both polyamide (PA) polymer (as an example of nonlinear viscoelastic materials) and Ti–Ni alloy (as an example of superelastic materials with stress-induced phase transformation).     

Effects of temperature, ammonium and glucose concentrations on yeast growth in a model wine system

In enology, alcoholic fermentation is a complex process involving several mechanisms. Slow and incomplete alcoholic fermentation is a chronic problem for the wine industry and factors leading to sluggish and stuck fermentations have been extensively studied and reviewed. The most studied cause of sluggish and stuck fermentation is the nitrogen content limitation. Nevertheless, other factors, such as temperature of fermentation and sugar concentration can affect the growth of yeasts. In this study we modelled the yeast growth‐cycle in wine model system as a function of temperature, sugar and ammonium concentrations; the individual effects and the interaction of these factors were analysed by means of a quadratic response surface methodology. Cell concentrations and weight loss were monitored in the whole wine fermentation process. The results of central composite design show that lower is the availability of nitrogen, higher is the cell growth rate; moreover, initial nitrogen concentration also influences survival time of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.     

Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations.

While concerns about the psychological effects of war are not new, only recently has systematic attention been paid to such problems among past and present military personnel. There is increasing recognition that mental health has serious implications for operational performance, retention, and compensation. Although little controlled research exists with this population, preliminary evidence suggests that psychological treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder may be beneficial, albeit less so than for civilian populations. This article reviews evidence for each of several psychological treatment stages: stabilization and engagement, psychoeducation, symptom management, prolonged exposure, cognitive restructuring, and relapse prevention, with particular reference to the clinical issues raised by military personnel. Possible explanations for reduced treatment effects in this population compared with civilians are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New accurate two-noded shear-flexible curved beam elements

 There are two purposes of this work. One is to present two accurate two-noded finite elements which are derived from the potential energy principle and the Hellinger–Reissner functional principle respectively. The second is to show the successful application of the internal displacement parameters in developing a high-order related displacement-rotation interpolation field. Because the derived interpolation field is capable of accurately modeling deformation modes in extreme thin curved beams and nearly straight beams, both shear locking and membrane shocking are avoided. Several standard numerical tests display superior behaviors of the present elements. Received: 5 February 2002 / Accepted: 16 September 2002     

Neutron Stress Measurement of W‐Fiber Reinforced Cu Composite

Stress measurement methods using neutron and X‐ray diffraction were examined by comparing the surface stresses with internal stresses in the continuous tungsten‐fiber reinforced copper‐matrix composite. Surface stresses were measured by X‐ray stress measurement with the sin²ψ method. Furthermore, the sin²ψ method and the most common triaxal measurement method using Hooke's equation were employed for internal stress measurement by neutron diffraction. On the other hand, microstress distributions developed by the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients between these two phases were calculated by FEM. The weighted average strains and stresses were compared with the experimental results. The FEM results agreed with the experimental results qualitatively and confirmed the importance of the triaxial stress analysis in the neutron stress measurement.     

Stress Concentration Factors for a Circular Hole in Curved Beams Under Bending Loads

Abstract: As a contribution to the field of stress concentration studies, the case of circular hole in curved bar elements under bending is hereby studied. Trend values of stress concentration factors (SCF) are presented based on selected variables of the problem for two critical hole locations. The results will help to identify an SCF law for practical use by applying the statistical method of regression analysis. Two approximations obtained by means of computational methods are compared with those obtained by photoelastic experimental method.     

A Closer Examination of the Structured Written Disclosure Procedure.

The current study examined psychological and physical health outcomes of the written disclosure paradigm and the hypothesis that the principles of therapeutic exposure account for the beneficial effects of the paradigm. Participants were randomly assigned to either a written disclosure condition or a control condition. Reactivity to the writing sessions was examined using both subjective and physiological measures. Measures of psychological and physical health were completed before and 1 month after the sessions. Participants assigned to the disclosure condition reported fewer psychological and physical symptoms at follow-up compared with control participants, though reductions were clinically significant for only 1 outcome measure. Physiological activation to the 1st disclosure session was associated with reduced psychological symptoms at follow-up for disclosure participants. Subjective reports of emotional responding corresponded with physiological reactivity. Implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is the Promissory Note of Personality as Vulnerability to Depression in Default? Reply to Zuroff, Mongrain, and Santor (2004).

In contrast to D. C. Zuroff, M. Mongrain, and D. A. Santor (2004), the current authors find the promissory note of dependency-sociotropy (DEP-SOC) and self-criticism-autonomy (SC-AUT) as a model of risk for depression to be in default. The authors propose reorganizing what has been cast as unitary effort into 3 distinct endeavors: a psychoanalytic clinical theory, development of a refined empirical model of risk for clinical depression, and research examining the effects of DEP-SOC and SC-AUT on interpersonal relationships in nonclinical samples. The authors identify some issues that need to be accommodated regardless of whether the assessment of Zuroff et al. (2004) or their own is accepted. DEP-SOC and SC-AUT are best construed as correlated, continuous dimensions. Future work also needs to accommodate depression as chronic recurrent condition, advances in developmental psychopathology, and more stringent criteria for positing a risk factor for clinical disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)