Blood and organ donation: health impact,prevalence, correlates,and interventions

Abstract

Objective: Without a supply of blood, health services could not meet their clinical needs. Similarly, organs for transplantation save and transform lives. Donations are acts of generosity that are traditionally seen as altruistic, and accordingly, interventions to recruit and retain blood and organ donors have focused on altruism. We review the predictors, prevalence and correlates of these two behaviours, how effective interventions have been, and draw common themes.

Design: Narrative review.

Results: We highlight that both recipients and donors benefit, and as such neither blood nor organ donation is purely altruistic. We also highlight health problems associated with both types of donation. In evaluating interventions, we highlight that a move to an opt-out policy for organ donation may not be the simple fix it is believed to be, and propose interventions to enhance the effectiveness of an opt-in policy (e.g. social media updates). We show that incentives, text messaging, feedback and a focus on prosocial emotions (e.g. ‘warm-glow’, ‘gratitude’) may be effective interventions for both blood and organ donation. Interventions designed to reduce fainting (e.g. water pre-loading) are also effective for blood donation.

Conclusions: We conclude that affect is key to understanding both types of donation and in designing effective interventions.     

The Method of Socratic Proofs for Modal Propositional Logics: K5, S4.2, S4.3, S4F,S4R,S4M and G

The aim of this paper is to present the method of Socratic proofs for seven modal propositional logics: K5, S4.2, S4.3, S4M, S4F, S4R and G. This work is an extension of [10] where the method was presented for the most common modal propositional logics: K, D, T, KB, K4, S4 and S5. Presented by Jacek Malinowski     

Identity styles,dimensions, statuses,and functions: Making connections among identity conceptualizations

IntroductionIdentity styles (Berzonsky, 1989), identity dimensions and statuses (Marcia, 1966, Crocetti et al., 2008a), and identity functions (Adams & Marshall, 1996) represent important identity conceptualizations. However, the interrelationships among these constructs are not well understood.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine the connections between these identity conceptualizations.MethodParticipants were 1158 Italian youth (38% males), aged 17 to 22 years. These participants completed self-report identity measures.ResultsFindings indicated that informational and normative styles, and commitment and in-depth exploration were positively associated with identity functions; whereas diffuse-avoidant style and reconsideration of commitment were negatively related to identity functions. Finally, meaningful differences on identity functions between the statuses were detected.DiscussionIdentity is a multi-faceted construct that has to be studied integrating various conceptualizations.     

Representations of guidance counselors,psychologists, and psychoeducators regarding psychological assessment

IntroductionSocial representations related to collaborative/therapeutic and information-gathering assessment could explain some psychological assessment practices. However, no other study has attempted to examine the actual place of these models in psychological assessment practices.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to examine the social representations of different groups of professionals with regard to their preferred approach to psychological assessment.MethodA latent profile analysis was conducted on a sample of licensed Canadian guidance counselors (n = 382), psychologists (n = 235), and psychoeducators (n = 97).ResultsResults revealed three psychological assessment profiles, which significantly differ in terms of a few social factors. Results also showed that some psychological assessment practices differ across profiles.ConclusionThis study provides a better understanding of psychometric instruments users’ approaches to assessment and the influence of social factors.     

Ego depletion,attentional control,and decision making in sport

ObjectivesAthletes differ at staying focused on performance and avoiding distraction. Drawing on the strength model of self-control we investigated whether athletes do not only differ inter-individually in their disposition of staying focused and avoiding distraction but also intra-individually in their situational availability of focused attention.Design/methodIn the present experiment we hypothesized that basketball players (N = 40) who have sufficient self-control resources will perform relatively better on a computer based decision making task under distraction conditions compared to a group who's self-control resources have been depleted in a prior task requiring self-control.ResultsThe results are in line with the strength model of self-control by demonstrating that an athlete's capability to focus attention relies on the situational availability of self-control strength.ConclusionsThe current results indicate that having sufficient self-control strength in interference rich sport settings is likely to be beneficial for decision making.     

Fear-then-relief,legitimizing a paltry contribution,and charity

IntroductionThe compliance literature describes multiple techniques of social influence. Some of them have proven effective at inducing compliance in the charity domain. One such technique is referred to as legitimizing a paltry contribution (LPC). There are theoretical grounds on which it can be assumed that this technique will be particularly effective in conditions in which a person feels relief from fear.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to examine whether people who experience fear-relief sequences are more susceptible to the LPC technique than those in a neutral emotional state.MethodIn two field studies, some people experienced relief from fear, while others remained in a neutral emotional state. The participants were then asked to donate to a worthy cause. A request was formulated either in a standard way, or with the phrase “even a penny will help”.ResultsThe two experiments yielded consistent results. It turned out that the LPC technique was particularly effective when participants had experienced relief from fear.ConclusionsThe aforementioned pattern of results is important for the development of theoretical knowledge about techniques of social influence, and has direct practical implications.     

Mediation,moderation, and context: Understanding complex relations among cognition,affect, and health behaviour

Objective: Researchers have historically treated cognition and affect as separate constructs in motivating health behaviour. We present a framework and empirical evidence for complex relations between cognition and affect in predicting health behaviour.

Main Outcome, Design and Results: First, affect and cognition can mediate each other’s relation to health behaviour. Second, affect and cognition can moderate the other’s impact. Third, context can change the interplay of affect and cognition. Fourth, affect and cognition may be indelibly fused in some psychological constructs (e.g. worry, anticipated regret and reactance). These four propositions in our framework are not mutually exclusive.

Conclusion: Examination of the types of complex relations described here can benefit theory development, empirical testing of theories and intervention design. Doing so will advance the understanding of mechanisms involved in regulation of health behaviours and the effectiveness of interventions to change health behaviours.     

Relationships between perfectionistic strivings,perfectionistic concerns,and competitive sport level

ObjectiveTo determine if the level of competitive sport in which people participate is related to levels of perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns in sport.DesignA cross-sectional correlational design was employed.MethodA total of 383 (245 female, 138 male) undergraduate students (M age = 20.99 years, SD = 3.40) identified the level of competitive sport in which they were currently involved (i.e., no sport, recreational sport, moderately competitive sport, and highly competitive sport). Participants also completed a domain-specific measure of perfectionism that assessed perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns in sport.ResultsResults from sequential regression analyses indicated that competitive sport level explained a significant amount of variance in perfectionistic strivings (p < .001) when the overlap between perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns was controlled. Competitive sport level did not explain a significant amount of variance in perfectionistic concerns when the overlap between perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns was controlled.ConclusionsFindings indicate that higher (more competitive/serious) levels of competitive sport are associated with higher perfectionistic strivings in sport. Discussion focusses on the potential roles that (a) the competitive sport environment may have upon the development of perfectionistic strivings in sport, and (b) perfectionistic strivings may play in enabling athletes to compete at higher levels of competitive sport.     

Emotional maturity,dispositional coping,and coping effectiveness among adolescent athletes

ObjectivesAlthough some scholars have suggested that coping is constrained by emotional maturity, little is known about the relationship between these constructs. In this paper we assessed a model that included emotional maturity, dispositional coping, and coping effectiveness. We predicted that emotional maturity would have a direct effect on coping effectiveness in addition to an indirect effect via task-, distraction-, and disengagement-oriented coping.DesignCross-sectional.MethodsSeven hundred and ninety athletes completed measures of emotional maturity, dispositional coping, and coping effectiveness. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling, which revealed partial support for our model.ResultsSeveral of the predicted paths were significant. In particular, there was a significant path between emotional maturity and task-oriented coping, but the paths between emotional maturity and distraction- and disengagement-oriented coping were not significant.ConclusionOur findings indicate that how an athlete copes might be limited by his or her level of emotional maturity, which provides further evidence that coping is constrained by maturation among adolescent athletes.     

Refutations,Proofs, and Models in the Modal Logic K4

In this paper we study the method of refutation rules in the modal logic K4. We introduce refutation rules with certain normal forms that provide a new syntactic decision procedure for this logic. As corollaries we obtain such results for the following important extensions: S4, the provability logic G, and Grzegorczyk's logic. We also show that tree-type models can be constructed from syntactic refutations of this kind.     

Personality,counterfactual thinking,and negative emotional reactivity

ObjectivesPeople differ substantially in their emotional responses to negative stimuli. Separate lines of research have reported that individual differences and mental simulations contribute to emotional symptoms. Here, we explore the independent and interrelated contribution of personality traits and counterfactual thoughts to the intensity, duration, and overproduction of negative emotions.MethodA sample of mixed-level athletes (n = 243) completed questionnaire assessments in relation to their most recent unsuccessful competition.ResultsWe found that personality dimensions (extraversion, neuroticism, and openness) relate to the direction and magnitude of person counterfactuals. We also found that personality dimensions (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, and agreeableness) and the direction of counterfactual thoughts (upward or downward) relate to the intensity, duration, and/or overproduction of negative emotions. Lastly, we found that personality and counterfactual thoughts had independent rather than interrelated contributions to the experience of unpleasant emotions.ConclusionsThese findings carry important theoretical and practical implications with regard to identifying individuals susceptible to experiencing elevated emotional symptoms in response to short-term stressors.     

Religiousness,collectivism, and helping behavior: The invigorating role of abusive supervision

IntroductionVoluntary helping behaviors are important for spurring organizational effectiveness.ObjectivesThis study investigates how employees’ religiousness and collectivism might enhance their propensity to help their peers on a voluntary basis, as well as how this relationship might be invigorated by the presence of abusive supervision.MethodsSurvey data were collected from employees and their supervisors in Pakistan-based organizations. The hypotheses were tested with hierarchical regression analysis.ResultsReligiousness relates positively to helping behavior, and this relationship is stronger when employees experience abusive supervision, possibly because their religiousness motivates them to protect their colleagues against the hardships created by such a resource-draining leadership style. Although collectivism does not have a direct significant relationship with helping behavior overall, abusive supervision invigorates this relationship.ConclusionFor organizations seeking to increase voluntary work behaviors, the results show that religiousness and collectivism are two personal resources that can enhance an organizational culture that promotes collegiality and mutual support, particularly when employees believe that their supervisors are hostile to followers and abuse their leadership positions.     

Mobility of c dislocations in Ti3, Al

Abstract

The rôle of dislocations with Burgers vectors, b, given by b = [0001] during deformation of samples of the intermetallic compound Ti₃Al has been assessed. At room temperature, the experimental evidence is consistent with these dislocations being sessile, their density and morphology being similar to that in undeformed samples. In samples deformed at 650°C and above, it is concluded that motion of these dislocations is effected by dislocation climb. The line directions of the various segments of dislocations with b= [0001] are shown to be perpendicular to planes that contain sheets of Ti atoms, with an expected tendency to exhibit a high Peierls stress.     

Non-binary and binary transgender youth: Comparison of mental health,self-harm,suicidality, substance use and victimization experiences

ABSTRACT

?Background: Little research has compared the mental health and victimization experiences of non-binary youth depending on their sex assigned at birth (SAAB), or compared these two groups with binary transgender youth.

Aims: To compare mental health, self-harm and suicidality, substance use and victimization experiences between non-binary and binary transgender young adults, both male assigned at birth (MAAB) and female assigned at birth (FAAB).

Methods: Online survey data from 677 participants from the “Youth Chances” community study of 16 to 25 year olds in the United Kingdom was analyzed, comparing across binary participants (transgender females (n = 105) and transgender males (n = 210)) and non-binary participants (MAAB (n = 93) and FAAB (n = 269)).

Results: Female SAAB participants (binary and non-binary) were more likely to report a current mental health condition and history of self-harm than male SAAB participants (binary and non-binary). Similarly, female SAAB participants (binary and non-binary) were more likely to report childhood sexual abuse than male SAAB participants (binary and non-binary); the reverse pattern was found for lifetime physical assault relating to being LGBTQ. Non-binary MAAB participants were less likely than the other groups to report past suicide attempts and previous help-seeking for depression/anxiety. Binary participants reported lower life satisfaction than non-binary participants. For all four groups, mental health problems, self-harm, suicidality, alcohol use and victimization experiences were generally higher than that of youth in general population studies.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of considering both non-binary versus binary gender identity and SAAB in relation to mental health problems, self-harm, suicidality and substance use in transgender youth. The roles of sexual abuse, other abuse and discrimination in contributing to increased rates of mental illness and self-harm in non-binary and binary transgender individuals, particularly those who were assigned female at birth, relative to those assigned male, require investigation.     

Truth,Predication and a Family of Contingent Paradoxes

In truth theory one aims at general formal laws governing the attribution of truth to statements. Gupta’s and Belnap’s revision-theoretic approach provides various well-motivated theories of truth, in particular T* and T#, which tame the Liar and related paradoxes without a Tarskian hierarchy of languages. In property theory, one similarly aims at general formal laws governing the predication of properties. To avoid Russell’s paradox in this area a recourse to type theory is still popular, as testified by recent work in formal metaphysics by Williamson and Hale. There is a contingent Liar that has been taken to be a problem for type theory. But this is because this Liar has been presented without an explicit recourse to a truth predicate. Thus, type theory could avoid this paradox by incorporating such a predicate and accepting an appropriate theory of truth. There is however a contingent paradox of predication that more clearly undermines the viability of type theory. It is then suggested that a type-free property theory is a better option. One can pursue it, by generalizing the revision-theoretic approach to predication, as it has been done by Orilia with his system P*, based on T*. Although Gupta and Belnap do not explicitly declare a preference for T# over T*, they show that the latter has some advantages, such as the recovery of intuitively acceptable principles concerning truth and a better reconstruction of informal arguments involving this notion. A type-free system based on T# rather than T* extends these advantages to predication and thus fares better than P* in the intended applications of property theory.

     

The role of meaning in gastric cancer patients: relationships among meaning structures,coping, and psychological well-being

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives: Research demonstrates that the experience of cancer invariably violates patients’ meaning structures, prompting them to use coping strategies to alleviate stress and enhance well-being. The current study aimed to examine the mediating effects of coping strategies in the relationship between global and situational meaning and psychological well-being in gastric cancer patients.

Design and Method: One hundred eighty-seven patients (96 women and 91 men) with gastric cancer completed questionnaires measuring meaning in life, changes of beliefs and goals, coping, and psychological well-being. Participants were between 27 and 82 years of age. They were diagnosed with gastric cancer from 1 to 3.2 years ago. Using Structural Equation Modeling, both the direct and indirect associations between meaning structures, coping, and psychological well-being were examined.

Results: Meaning in life exerted significant indirect effects on psychological well-being through three coping strategies: problem-, emotion-, and meaning-focused. The relationship between changes of beliefs and goals and psychological well-being was also mediated by coping.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that coping strategies are mediators in the relationship between global and situational meaning and psychological well-being. They also provide empirical evidence that in severe cancer-related stress conditions both meaning structures and coping strategies influence patients’ psychological well-being.     

Perceived variety,psychological needs satisfaction and exercise-related well-being

Objective: Perceived variety represents a psychosocial experience that gives rise to, and supports the maintenance of, an individual’s well-being. In this study, we developed an instrument to measure perceived variety in exercise (PVE), and examined whether ratings of PVE predict unique variance in indices of exercise-related well-being in addition to that explained by satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs (for competence, relatedness and autonomy) embedded within self-determination theory (SDT). We also examined the extent to which variance in perceived variety is empirically distinct from (or subsumed by) competence, relatedness and autonomy in the context of exercise.

Methods: A convenience sample of community adults (N?=?507) completed online surveys twice over a six-week period (n?=?367).

Results: PVE was found to prospectively predict unique variance in indices of exercise-related well-being, in addition to that explained by perceived competence, relatedness and autonomy. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic procedures, perceived variety was found to be empirically distinct from perceived competence, relatedness and autonomy.

Conclusion: Results from this work suggest that perceived variety holds potential for theoretical and applied advancements in understanding and predicting well-being in exercise settings.     

Judgments of happiness during trail running: Pleasure,engagement, and meaning

ObjectivesIt has been theorized that happiness is derived from three major, unique sets of life experience: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. The present study examined the mental processes by which individuals combined five information cues (relatedness, autonomy, competence, mental vitality and physical vitality) when judging the degree of happiness felt by a trail runner during a run.Design/methodThe participants (104 adult male athletes; M_age = 32.70; SD = 10.86) rated pleasure, engagement, and meaning in 32 scenarios built from combinations of these cues.ResultsThe results of multivariate and univariate analyses of variance indicated that all five cues had a positive effect on judgments of pleasure, engagement, and meaning. The participants used three different information integration rules, depending on the pathway to happiness being probed.ConclusionsThe information integration and the integration rules highlighted the different contributions of pleasure, engagement, and meaning in cognitive building of happiness.     

AI,ME AND LEWIS (ABELIAN IMPLICATION,MATERIAL EQUIVALENCE AND C I LEWIS 1920)

C I Lewis showed up Down Under in 2005, in e-mails initiated by Allen Hazen of Melbourne. Their topic was the system Hazen called FL (a Funny Logic), axiomatized in passing in Lewis 1921. I show that FL is the system MEN of material equivalence with negation. But negation plays no special role in MEN. Symbolizing equivalence with → and defining ∼A inferentially as A→f, the theorems of MEN are just those of the underlying theory ME of pure material equivalence. This accords with the treatment of negation in the Abelian l-group logic A of Meyer and Slaney (Abelian logic. Abstract, Journal of Symbolic Logic 46, 425–426, 1981), which also defines ∼A inferentially with no special conditions on f. The paper then concentrates on the pure implicational part AI of A, the simple logic of Abelian groups. The integers Z were known to be characteristic for AI, with every non-theorem B refutable mod some Zn for finite n. Noted here is that AI is pre-tabular, having the Scroggs property that every proper extension SI of AI, closed under substitution and detachment, has some finite Zn as its characteristic matrix. In particular FL is the extension for which n = 2 (Lewis, The structure of logic and its relation to other systems. The Journal of Philosophy 18, 505–516, 1921; Meyer and Slaney, Abelian logic. Abstract. Journal of Symbolic Logic 46, 425–426, 1981; This is an abstract of the much longer paper finally published in 1989 in G. G. Priest, R. Routley and J. Norman, eds., Paraconsistent logic: essays on the inconsistent, Philosophica Verlag, Munich, pp. 245–288, 1989). Meyer was supported in this work as a Visiting Fellow in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, ANU.     

Counterfactuals: Ambiguities,true premises,and knowledge

In this paper I explore the ambiguity that arises between two readings of the counterfactual construction, then–d and thel–p, analyzed in my bookA Theory of Counterfactuals. I then extend the analysis I offered there to counterfactuals with true antecedents, and offer a more precise formulation of the conception of temporal divergence points used in thel–p interpretation. Finally, I discuss some ramifications of these issues for counterfactual analyses of knowledge.