Transition from the Bose–Einstein condensate to the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless phase

We obtain a phase diagram for a trapped two-dimensional ultracold Bose gas. We find a critical temperature above which the free energy of a state with a pair of vortices of opposite circulation is lower than that for a vortex-free Bose–Einstein condensed ground state. We identify three distinct phases which are, in order of increasing temperature, a phase coherent Bose–Einstein condensate, a vortex pair plasma with a fluctuating condensate phase, and a thermal Bose gas. The existence of the vortex pair phase could be verified using current experimental set-ups.     

Suffering–At the Bedside of the Dying

SUMMARY

Care of people at the end of life is a challenge for the person with a life-limiting illness, their family and friends, and their professional carers. Clinicians, including pastoral care workers, nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals, find themselves at the bedside of the dying. At times, the professional's sense of self is challenged both by the suffering that they witness (physical, emotional, existential, social, sexual, or financial) and a sense of helplessness to relieve not only the patient's suffering but also that of the people to whom the dying person is close. What framework can help us to deal with the suffering that we cannot help but encounter? Ultimately people connecting in a real and meaningful way with other people is probably the only way that each of us can confront suffering and not have it destroy us. Creating an environment where people can begin to, or continue to connect with others at a level that is meaningful for all concerned is a pivotal starting point in dealing with suffering in any encounter with people at the bedside.     

Evaluating the Invariance of the Factor Structure of the EPQ–R–N Among Adolescents

We examined the factor structure of the Neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ–R–N; S. B. G. Eysenck, Eysenck & Barrett, 1985) and its factor invariance across sex and racial/ethnic groups in a sample of 1,979 adolescents. Using confirmatory factor analyses, we compared a hierarchical model to previous models of the EPQ–R–N and to single-factor and 3-factor structures. The hierarchical factor structure in which a general factor coexists with 3 group factors (depression, social concerns, and worry) was superior to alternative models. The general factor accounted for more than 60% of the variance in EPQ–R–N total scores and was invariant across sex and ethnicity. The 3 group factors varied across ethnicity and sex. We discuss the implications of these findings for conceptualization and assessment of neuroticism using the EPQ–R–N.     

Testing the myth of the encoding–retrieval match

The view that successful memory performance depends importantly on the extent to which there is a match between the encoding and retrieval conditions is commonplace in memory research. However, Nairne (Memory, 10, 389–395, 2002) proposed that this idea about trace–cue compatibility being the driving force behind memory retention is a myth, because one cannot make unequivocal predictions about performance by appealing to the encoding–retrieval match. What matters instead is the relative diagnostic value of the match, and not the absolute match. Three experiments were carried out in which participants memorised word pairs and tried to recall target words when given retrieval cues. The diagnostic value of the cue was varied by manipulating the extent to which the cues subsumed other memorised words and the level of the encoding–retrieval match. The results supported Nairne’s (Memory, 10, 389–395, 2002) assertion that the diagnostic value of retrieval cues is a better predictor of memory performance than the absolute encoding–retrieval match.     

On the Ollivier–Poulin–Zurek Definition of Objectivity

The Ollivier–Poulin–Zurek definition of objectivity provides a philosophical basis for the environment as witness formulation of decoherence theory and hence for quantum Darwinism. It is shown that no account of the reference of the key terms in this definition can be given that does not render the definition inapplicable within quantum theory. It is argued that this is not the fault of the language used, but of the assumption that the laws of physics are independent of Hilbert-space decomposition. All evidence suggests that this latter assumption is true. If it is, decoherence cannot explain the emergence of classicality.     

On the Carroll–Chen Model

I argue that the Carroll–Chen cosmogonic model does not provide a plausible scientific explanation of the past hypothesis (the thesis that our universe began in an extremely low-entropy state). I suggest that this counts as a welcomed result for those who adopt a Mill–Ramsey–Lewis best systems account of laws and maintain that the past hypothesis is a brute fact that is a non-dynamical law.     

Animation–Accommodation–Authorization theory of the human personality

It is posited that there are three essential elements associated with human nature and the human personality: Animation, Accommodation, and Authorization (A³). These broadly construed elements are defined, and then it is shown how they underlie the ways humans cognitively and emotionally engage their world. This explication is made possible by calling on a novel construction, called a “trialogue”, that formally relates attributes of cognitive engagement (termed intellect) and attributes of emotional engagement to the three essential elements. The trialogue construction constrains the interrelationships among attributes and essential elements, enabling the internal validity of the theory to be tested. A preliminary study with 174 participants investigated the question of internal validity and found convincing evidence to support the basic premise of the model. The structural complementarities of intellect and emotional engagement may provide a better understanding not only of personality but also of some institutions (e.g., educational).     

Viewing the MMPI–2–RF Structure Through the Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) Lens

Ben-Porath and Tellegen (2008) recommend organizing MMPI–2–RF scale interpretive information around 3 broad topics, emotional/internalizing dysfunction, thought dysfunction, and externalizing/behavioral dysfunction, and 3 additional topics labeled somatic complaints, interpersonal functioning, and interests. That organization is based primarily on structural analyses of the Restructured Clinical (RC) scales. This study reviewed the MMPI–2–RF's scale structure when the Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) scales are included. Principal axis factor analyses with oblique rotation were conducted on the Restructured Clinical, PSY–5, and Special Problem (SP) scales in 2 samples, by gender. One sample was an outpatient community health center, the other a large, metropolitan inpatient psychiatric facility. The 6-factor solution evidenced each of the PSY–5 constructs plus a general somatic concerns factor. Implications of this solution in comparison to the 3-factor organizing structure recommended by Ben-Porath and Tellegen are discussed.     

Implementing the Scientist–Practitioner Model in the Hospital Setting

Psychologists who work in hospital settings confront assorted challenges in implementing the scientist–practitioner model. Clinical psychologists must deal with the tension between an evidence-based model and the realities of clinical practice. Psychologists can gain a better understanding of what it means to function as a scientist–practitioner by understanding current debates in both psychology and medicine on the relationship between research and practice. Psychologists are not unique in the slow pace of implementing research into practice. Psychologists in hospitals can make a contribution to the treatment of medical patients by emphasizing the role of the treatment relationship in health-care outcomes. Medicine’s use of practice-based research networks provides a valuable structure for psychologists to emulate in order to function as active participants in the collection of practice-based evidence rather than passively accommodating to the evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.     

Heidegger and Foucault: On the Relation Between the Anxiety–Engendering–Truth and Being-Towards-Freedom

In his very last, now famous, interview, Michel Foucault states that his philosophical thought was shaped by his reading of Heidegger, even though he does not specify what aspects of Heidegger’s philosophy inspired him in the first place. However, his last interview is not the only place where Foucault refers to Heidegger as his intellectual guide. In his 1981/1982 lecture course, The Hermeneutics of the Subject, Foucault confesses that the way Heidegger conceptualized the relationship between subject and truth was a starting point for him for thinking about the relationship between truth, subject, subjective-transformation, and freedom. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to reconstruct the Foucault-Heidegger encounter from the perspective of subject-truth relation. I will ask how Heidegger and Foucault conceptualized the relationship between truth, self-transformation, and freedom. And I will claim that for both Foucault and Heidegger, freedom lies in constantly and creatively repeating the traditional possibilities of existence in order to question the reified patterns of interpretation, and in order to reveal the anxiety–engendering–truth that what is regarded as natural and inevitable in human life is historically contingent and transformable.     

A Test and Refinement of the Demand–Control–Support Model in the Construction Industry

This study aims at a test and further refinement of the Demand–Control–Support (DCS) model among construction workers (N = 210). On the basis of theory and empirical evidence, we hypothesized that mental or physical job demands, low job control, and lack of social support at work have direct and synergistic effects on burnout. The model was expanded by hypothesizing that burnout mediates the relationships between these potentially demanding working conditions on the one hand, and health complaints on the other. Results of a series of structural equation analyses partly supported these hypotheses. The proposed model fitted adequately to the data, although some variables in the DCS model did not make a unique contribution to explaining variance in burnout and (indirectly) health complaints. Interestingly, lack of social support was the most important determinant of burnout and health complaints among construction workers. In addition, a significant three-way interaction effect partly confirmed the synergism hypothesis: Physical demands were only related to burnout if participants had poor job control and reported high social support. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.     

Unity and the Frege–Geach problem

The problem of the unity of the proposition asks what binds together the constituents of a proposition into a fully formed proposition that provides truth conditions for the assertoric sentence that expresses it, rather than merely a set of objects. Hanks’ solution is to reject the traditional distinction between content and force. If his theory is successful, then there is a plausible extension of it that readily solves the Frege–Geach problem for normative propositions. Unfortunately Hanks’ theory isn’t successful, but it does point to significant connections between expressivism, unity, and embedding.     

Effect of Si on the formation and stability of the icosahedral quasicrystalline phase in Al–Fe–Cr–Ti alloys

The formation and stability of the quasicrystalline icosahedral (i) phase in melt-spun Al_{93– x} Fe₃Cr₂Ti₂Si _x (x?=?0–5) ribbons are reported. Samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy. Primitive (P-type) ordered i phase particles were found to be homogeneously distributed in an fcc α-Al matrix in the as-melt-spun ribbons. The size of the i phase particles decreased and their thermal stability increased with increasing substitution of Al by Si. The i phase had a decomposition temperature of approximately 480°C in an Al₉₃Fe₃Cr₂Ti₂ ribbon whereas that in an Al₉₂Fe₃Cr₂Ti₂Si₁ ribbon was approximately 500°C. The i phase particles are resistant to coarsening prior to decomposition into crystalline phases. The presence of a small quantity of Si (up to 1.0?at.%) is beneficial to both the thermal stability and the hardness of nanoquasicrystalline Al–Fe–Cr–Ti alloys.     

Self-Control and the Depression–Delinquency Link

Research has repeatedly documented the link between depression and delinquency; however, why they are associated remains less clear. Blending diverse research traditions in criminology and psychology, this study suggests that self-control may explain the depression–delinquency association. By conceptualizing self-control as a depletable resource influenced by internal factors, experiencing depressive symptoms may reduce self-control, which in turn increases delinquency. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) lend support for this proposition and suggest that self-control is an important explanatory factor in the depression–delinquency relationship. Specifically, the data show that depression is no longer associated with delinquency when self-control is taken into account and self-control explains more of the association than previous explanations combined.     

Complexity and the Mind–Nature Divide

Descartes's distinction between res cogitans and res extensa is a paradigmatic concept on which Western thought has been grounded. The reductionist and objectivistic approach of modern science draws its fundamental premise from it. This dualism has also instigated a view of human as separate from nature. The complexity approach in its most radical form questions many of these assumptions, asserting that the subjective and objective dimensions are involved in a relation of mutual determination and dependence. This article argues that if the dualistic metaphysics is replaced by a vision emphasizing this mutual dependence, a new way of interacting with nature may also be fostered.     

Making the Myth–Ritualist Theory Scientific

The Divyatattva, a Hindu treatise on ordeals, uses folk etymologies and other rhetorical devices to structure its rituals. This paper suggests that such forms of repetition, and particularly ‘exhaustion,’ or the enumeration of an entire paradigm class, may naturalise or, in Saussure's term, ‘relatively motivate’ rituals and diminish the appearance of their arbitrariness. Ordeals and other rituals may respond to situations of uncertainty by using rhetorical devices to promote confidence in their outcomes. This contribution of poetic form to the pragmatic function of ritual is neglected in J. L. Austin's influential theory of ‘performative utterances.’     

Predication and the Frege–Geach problem

Several philosophers have recently appealed to predication in developing their theories of cognitive representation and propositions. One central point of difference between them is whether they take predication to be forceful or neutral and whether they take the most basic cognitive representational act to be judging or entertaining. Both views are supported by powerful reasons and both face problems. Many think that predication must be forceful if it is to explain representation. However, the standard ways of of implementing the idea give rise to the Frege–Geach problem. Others think that predication must be neutral, if we’re to avoid the Frege–Geach problem. However, it looks like nothing neutral can explain representation. My aim in this paper is to present a third view, one which respects the powerful reasons while avoiding the problems. On this view predication is forceful and can thus explain representation, but the idea is implemented in a novel way, avoiding the Frege–Geach problem. The key is to make sense of the notion of grasping a proposition as an objectual act, where the object is a proposition.

     

Graphical representation fosters discovery in the 2–4–6 task

Compulsion and impulsivity are both primary features of drug addiction. Based on decades of animal research, we have a detailed understanding of the factors (both environmental and physiological) that influence compulsive drug use, but still know relatively little about the impulsive aspects of drug addiction. This review outlines our current knowledge of the relationship between impulsivity and drug addiction, focusing on cognitive and motor impulsivity, which are particularly relevant to this disorder. Topics to be discussed include the influence of chronic drug administration on impulsivity, the mechanisms that may explain drug-induced impulsivity, and the role of individual differences in the development of impulsive drug use. In addition, the manner in which contemporary theories of drug addiction conceptualize the relationship between impulsivity and compulsion is examined. Most importantly, this review emphasizes a critical role for animal research in understanding the role of impulsivity in the development and maintenance of drug addiction.     

The Utility of the NEO–PI–R Validity Scales to Detect Response Distortion: A Comparison With the MMPI–2

Previous research on police intelligence has largely been confined to the study of new recruits who are just entering police work. Conflicting results have frequently been reported since police selection procedures appear to vary substantially from year to year as a result of criminal, economic, social, and other factors. Using policemen of varying experience, this study found both college and non-college police to be of higher IQ than the general population. Also, college educated police (IQ=115) obtained scores only slightly (though significantly) higher than non-college police (IQ=110). The findings do not support the stereotyped notion of the “dumb cop.”