Suicide methods in singapore (2000-2004): types and associations

The choice of suicide methods varies between countries. Common methods used in Singapore between 2000 and 2004 were jumping (72.4%), hanging (16.6%), and poisoning (5.9%). Those who jumped were more likely to be young, single, female, and to have had a major mental illness. By comparison, those who hung themselves were more likely to be older (OR 2.68), Indian (OR 2.32), and to leave a suicide note (OR 1.53). Those who used poison were more likely to be married (OR 2.33), to be on antidepressants (OR 2.40), to have previously attempted suicide (OR 2.13), and to leave a letter (OR 2.30). The choice was determined by accessibility, acceptability, generational, gender, and racial factors.     

The costs and benefits of testing text materials

Tests have been shown to improve the later recall of tested information, a result known as the testing effect. Tests, however, can also impair the later recall of related information, an effect known as retrieval-induced forgetting. Although retrieval-induced forgetting has been demonstrated using a wide variety of materials, recent work suggests that learning information in the context of a coherent text passage may afford protection from retrieval-induced forgetting. In four experiments we explored the conditions under which retrieval-induced forgetting does and does not occur with such materials. We found that two factors-the coherence of the to-be-learned material and the competitiveness of retrieval practice-are important in determining whether retrieval-induced forgetting does or does not occur. Furthermore, even if retrieval-induced forgetting does occur, having the opportunity to restudy the forgotten information can prevent that forgetting from persisting. Taken together, these findings provide greater understanding of the costs and benefits of testing text materials, with possible implications for the optimisation of testing as a tool for learning in educational contexts.     

Attention Biases to Threat Link Behavioral Inhibition to Social Withdrawal over Time in Very Young Children

Behaviorally inhibited children display a temperamental profile characterized by social withdrawal and anxious behaviors. Previous research, focused largely on adolescents, suggests that attention biases to threat may sustain high levels of behavioral inhibition (BI) over time, helping link early temperament to social outcomes. However, no prior studies examine the association between attention bias and BI before adolescence. The current study examined the interrelations among BI, attention biases to threat, and social withdrawal already manifest in early childhood. Children (N = 187, 83 Male, M _age  = 61.96 months) were characterized for BI in toddlerhood (24 & 36 months). At 5 years, they completed an attention bias task and concurrent social withdrawal was measured. As expected, BI in toddlerhood predicted high levels of social withdrawal in early childhood. However, this relation was moderated by attention bias. The BI-withdrawal association was only evident for children who displayed an attention bias toward threat. The data provide further support for models associating attention with socioemotional development and the later emergence of clinical anxiety.     

Time to task failure of trunk extensor muscles differs with load type

Time to task failure of trunk extensor muscles during seated submaximal isometric exertions was assessed in 18 healthy participants using 2 different load types. One required supporting an inertial load (position-matching task) whereas the 2nd required maintaining an equivalent torque against a rigid restraint (force-matching task). Time to task failure was significantly longer for position-matching tasks compared to the force-matching tasks. This finding is opposite to that reported for the appendicular muscles. A subset of 4 individuals completed a 2nd experiment to test the time to task failure of the elbow flexors in the position- and force-matching tasks. Time to task failure of the elbow flexors was significantly longer for the force-matching tasks compared to position matching. Thus, the same population shows that the effects of load type on time to task failure are opposite for the appendicular and axial muscles. This could be an important issue in understanding the mechanisms of task failure, and the endurance capacity of the trunk extensor muscles.     

A progress report on the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting

Remembering and forgetting reflect fundamentally interdependent processes in human memory (Bjork, 2011). This interdependency is particularly apparent in research on retrieval-induced forgetting, which has shown that retrieving a subset of information can cause the forgetting of other information (Anderson et al. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition 20:1063-1087, 1994). According to one prominent theoretical account, retrieval-induced forgetting is caused by an inhibitory process that acts to resolve competition during retrieval. Specifically, when cues activate competing, contextually inappropriate responses, those responses are claimed to be inhibited in order to facilitate the retrieval of target responses (Anderson Journal of Memory and Language 49: 415-445, 2003; Levy & Anderson Trends in Cognitive Sciences 6: 299-305, 2002; Storm, 2011b). Interest in retrieval-induced forgetting has grown steadily over the past two decades. In fact, a search of the abstracts at the 5th International Conference on Memory (ICOM, York University, 2011) revealed 40 presentations specifically mentioning "retrieval-induced forgetting," and nearly twice that number referring to the concept of inhibition. Clearly, researchers are interested in the empirical phenomenon of retrieval-induced forgetting, and inhibition is gaining increasing attention as a mechanism involved in memory. The goal of the present progress report is to critically review the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting and to provide direction so that future research can have a more meaningful impact on our understanding of human memory.     

Obsessive beliefs predict cognitive behavior therapy outcome for obsessive compulsive disorder

Cognitive accounts of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) assert that core beliefs are crucial to the development, maintenance, and treatment of the disorder. There are a number of obsessive beliefs that are considered fundamental to OCD, including personal responsibility, threat estimation, perfectionism, need for certainty, importance of thoughts, and thought control. The present study investigated if pretreatment severity of obsessive beliefs, as well as the change in obsessive beliefs following treatment, predicted intensive, residential cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment outcome. A series of hierarchical regression analyses were carried out to investigate the relations between obsessive beliefs and treatment outcome. Results indicated that inflated pretreatment responsibility/threat estimation beliefs were significantly related to less overall obsessive compulsive (OC) symptom reduction at discharge, explaining 2% of the overall variance. Changes in obsessive beliefs broadly, and importance/control of thoughts specifically, were positively related to overall OC symptom reduction at discharge, respectively explaining 18% and 3.6% variance. Results are modestly consistent with a number of theoretical models, which argue that inflated responsibility, threat estimation, and thought control are important to the maintenance and treatment of OCD.     

《宋书·州郡志》考疑(八)

(18 ) 10 39页7行:“武进令,晋武帝太康二年,分丹徒、曲阿立。”又8行:“毗陵令,宋孝武大明末,度属此。”又10 6 5页校勘记:“毗陵令　杨守敬云:‘毗陵令下,脱“汉旧县属晋陵”六字。’”按:杨守敬《补校宋书州郡志札记》云:“毗陵令下,脱‘汉旧县属晋陵’六字。”又成孺《宋州     

《宋书·州郡志》考疑(三十五)

(108)1134页:“临庆内史,吴分苍梧立为临贺郡,属广州,晋成帝度荆州。”按:临贺郡始置时当属荆州(时无广州),及晋平吴,乃属广州。《晋书·地理志》下广州:“及太康中,吴平,遂以荆州始安、始兴、临贺三郡来属”;本志前广兴公相条亦云:“吴孙晧甘露元年,分桂阳南部都尉,立为始兴郡     

《宋书·州郡志》考疑(三十九)

(129)1145页:“郧乡令,本锡县,二汉旧县,属汉中,后属魏兴,魏、晋世为郡,后省。武帝太康五年,改为郧乡。何志晋惠帝立,非也。锡县令,前汉长利县,属汉中,后汉省。晋武帝太康四年复立,属魏兴。五年,改长利为锡。”按:西汉置锡县,治今陕西白河县东南汉江南岸、白石河西,西魏废;郧乡县,西晋太康五年置,治今湖北郧县,元初废;又长利县,西汉置,治今湖北郧西县西南,东汉废,西晋太康四年复置,次年又废。本志以上郧乡令、锡县令两条述沿革疑有误。又《三国志·魏书·明帝纪》太和二年(228年)二月,“锡县为锡郡”,景初元年(237年)六月,“省锡郡,以锡县属…