Diagnostic test evaluation of a nasal flow monitor for obstructive sleep apnea detection in sleep apnea research

In this diagnostic test evaluation of a nasal flow monitoring device for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), 34 patients referred for polysomnography were studied at home for three consecutive nights with the monitor. The mean age of subjects (+/-SD) was 41.9+/-10.3 years, and their mean apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was 31.5+/-27.2. The difference between the average AHI from three nights at home on the monitor and the polysomnogram (PSG) result was 1.8+/-17.1. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for PSG AHI > or = 10 was .96. With a threshold AHI of 18 on the flow monitor, sensitivity was .92, specificity .86, positive predictive value .96, and negative predictive value .75. For detecting severe OSA (AHI > or = 30), the AUC was .85. With knowledge of appropriate thresholds and the pretest risk of OSA, the flow monitor can be used to detect or exclude OSA for sleep-related research, as well as to identify severe cases needing priority for further evaluation.     

The Ecumenical Significance of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

From 20 to 26 June 2016, following a century of preparatory work, the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church met on the island of Crete. Among the various documents agreed by the council, the most controversial before, during, and after the council was the one on “The Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World.” This article sets out the importance of this statement, and considers and responds to the various criticisms of it that have emerged among certain Orthodox groups and individuals. The article concludes that despite such objections, the statement has a crucial ecumenical significance, and that, for the first time in its history, the Orthodox Church has taken a conciliar decision with regard to participation in the ecumenical movement and engagement in theological dialogue with other Christian churches and confessions.     

A comparison of AME and CR100 for scaling perceived exertion

In psychophysical studies of the relation between perceived magnitude and physical stimulus, interest has focused on the preciseness of growth functions. Very little interest has been devoted to natural levels of an "absolute" character and to the validity of direct measurements. In this article, the Category (C)-Ratio (R) (CR) scaling methodology, developed by Borg (1973, 1977, 1982) is presented together with a new CR scale: the CR100 scale. In an experiment on perceived exertion, CR100 was compared with Absolute Magnitude Estimation (AME). Perceived exertion has the advantage of having easily measured physiological variables that can function as validity criteria. 32 persons (16 men and 16 women) participated as subjects on two different occasions, and the presentation order was counterbalanced. Results from CR100 and AME could be described equally well with psychophysical functions. The exponents obtained with CR100 were n = 1.60 for women and n = 1.69 for men, and the corresponding exponents for AME were n = 1.60 for women and n = 1.46 for men (with a "noise" constant included in the function). ANOVA showed that CR100 could make the predicted differentiation between sexes, whereas AME could not. This drawback with AME was also found when using the methods to predict working capacity.     

Being implicated: on the fittingness of guilt and indignation over outcomes

Philosophical Studies - When is it fitting for an agent to feel guilt over an outcome, and for others to be morally indignant with her over it? A popular answer requires that the outcome happened...     

Outsourcing the deep self: Deep self discordance does not explain away intuitions in manipulation arguments

According to manipulation arguments for incompatibilism, manipulation might undermine an agent’s responsibility even when the agent satisfies plausible compatibilist conditions on responsibility. According to Sripada (2012 Sripada, C. (2012). What makes a manipulated agent unfree? Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 85, 563–593.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), however, empirical data suggest that people take manipulation to undermine responsibility largely because they think that the manipulated act is in discord with the agent’s “deep self,” thus violating the plausible compatibilist condition of deep self concordance. This paper defends Sripada’s general methodological approach but presents data that strongly suggest that, contrary to Sripada’s contention, most of the effect of manipulation on attributions of moral responsibility is unmediated by worries about inadequate information or deep self discordance. Instead, it depends largely on worries that the action is ultimately explained by factors outside the agent’s control, just as proponents of manipulation arguments have proposed. More generally, data suggest that judgments of deep self discordance are themselves explained by worries about responsibility, and that the everyday notion of what an agent wants or is “deep down” is sensitive not only to the agent’s internal psychological structure, but also its source. This casts some doubt on recent claims about the explanatory role of deep self judgments.     

Reinforcement sensitivity theory and major motivational and self-regulatory processes in children

The present research explores the role of sensitivity in the BIS and the BAS as antecedents to cognitive and affective motivational processes in middle-school children. Two studies were initiated to examine the relationship between sensitivity in the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral approach system (BAS) and several important motivational factors. The first study looked at the assumption that the BIS and the BAS are systematically linked to motives and achievement goals. The second study investigated the links between BIS/BAS and individual differences in self-regulatory processes and affect during problem-solving. The findings indicate that the motive to avoid failure, the inability to take action after failure and to initiate intended goal-directed activities, as well as the tendency to focus on avoiding misunderstanding are all grounded in threat responsiveness. Conversely, the motive to approach success, self-efficacy and the tendency to focus on comparison with others in a problem-solving setting are grounded in incentive responsiveness.     

How Effects Depend on their Causes,Why Causal Transitivity Fails,and Why we Care About Causation

Despite recent efforts to improve on counterfactual theories of causation, failures to explain how effects depend on their causes are still manifest in a variety of cases. In particular, theories that do a decent job explaining cases of causal preemption have problems accounting for cases of causal intransitivity. Moreover, the increasing complexity of the counterfactual accounts makes it difficult to see why the concept of causation would be such a central part of our cognition. In this paper, I propose an account of our causal thinking that not only explains the hitherto puzzling variety of causal judgments, but also makes it intelligible why we would employ such an elusive concept.     

Influence of co-morbid generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and personality disorders on the outcome of cognitive behavioural treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

This study examined co-morbid generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder and personality disorders as predictors of treatment outcomes in adult outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The patients received exposure with response prevention (ERP) treatment with the addition of either elements of cognitive therapy (ERP+CT) or relaxation training (ERP+REL). It was hypothesized that the addition of cognitive interventions would yield better treatment outcomes for patients with co-morbid generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder. It was also hypothesized that patients with any personality disorder would show less treatment gains in both conditions. Using intention-to-treat criteria, patients with generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder co-morbidity showed less treatment gains at post-treatment across both treatment conditions. This group showed significantly more treatment gains in the ERP+CT condition at the post-treatment and the 12-month follow-up assessments compared with patients in the ERP+REL condition. However, this was not significant when comparing treatment completers. Patients with a co-morbid Cluster A or B personality disorder showed significantly less treatment gains in both treatment conditions at the 12-month follow-up assessment. Among treatment completers, patients with a Cluster C personality disorder showed significantly better outcomes at the post-treatment assessment in the ERP+REL treatment condition. These results, clinical implications, and the importance of further investigations are discussed.