Access to environmental stimulation via eyelid responses for persons with acquired brain injury and multiple disabilities: a new microswitch arrangement

This study assessed a new microswitch arrangement for eyelid responses using an optic sensor placed above the cheekbone and a small sticker on the person's eyelid. This new arrangement, which was designed to avoid interference of the microswitch with the person's visual functioning, was tested on three adults with acquired brain injury and multiple (consciousness, communication, and motor) disabilities. The study was carried out according to a non-concurrent multiple baseline design across participants. Data showed the new microswitch arrangement was suitable for all three participants, who increased their responding during the intervention phase of the study when their responses allowed them to access preferred stimulation. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Morphological patterns and their colour

This study analyzed qualitative aspects in perception, particularly the relationship between morphological aspects of biological shapes and colour. The experiment reported by the study assessed the functional relation between shape and colour and, in particular, the relations among the patterns of shapes appearing in perceptual configurations, as well as certain characteristics of colour. Participants were shown 32 natural images and were asked to match them with a colour. The results indicated that some figures were more frequently associated (positively or negatively) with some colours instead of others. Type of shape, texture, and three-dimensionality were important elements in the participants' choices. Rounded figures and non-holed figures had positive matches with red; elongated figures were associated with colours between blue and green; and holed figures showed positive matches with colours between green and yellow. Type of shape and texture also exhibited a relationship with the warmth of the colour.     

Effect of baseline self-efficacy on physical activity and psychological stress after a one-week pedometer intervention

Physical activity and psychological stress were hypothesized to improve more in participants with high self-efficacy than in those with low and medium self-efficacy after a one-week intervention. 39 female university students participated. The intervention had two steps: a lecture on self-monitoring and goal setting (160 min.) and a one-week pedometer intervention. Analyses were conducted on tertile groups according to self-efficacy at baseline. Pedometer step counts were higher in the high self-efficacy group than in the low self-efficacy group after intervention. Helplessness decreased time dependently after intervention only in the high-self-efficacy group. Because physical activity improved more in the high self-efficacy group after a one-week intervention, one hypothesis was supported.     

Contraction intensity and velocity on vastus lateralis SEMG power spectrum and amplitude

Effect of contraction intensity [100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC)] and movement velocity [0 degrees (isometric)], 50 degrees, 100 degrees, 200 degrees, and 400 degrees/sec. [isovelocities]) on root mean square amplitude (SEMG-RMS) and median frequency power spectrum (SEMG-MNF) of vastus lateralis (VL) surface electromyography was investigated with ten healthy female university students. Peak torque (PT), mean torque (MT), SEMG-MNF, and SEMG-RMS, analyzed using separate repeated-measures analyses of variance (p < or = .05), indicated: (1) an inverse relation between PT and MT and movement velocity, (2) greater SEMG-MNF values during all isovelocity conditions compared with isometric conditions, with highest values occurring at 50 degrees /sec. and at 100% and 75% MVC, and (3) at all contraction intensities SEMG-RMS values were higher during dynamic movements than isometric movements and highest at 200 degrees /sec. Isovelocity contractions were inferred to facilitate a greater recruitment of fast-twitch fibers (via increased SEMG-MNF), which was intensified at 50 degrees /sec., whereas greater overall muscle activation was found at 200 degrees /sec.     

Effects of individual aerobic performance on finish time in mountain running

It was hypothesized that for each mountain running competition, there is a certain individual performance level below which running times increase dramatically. The running times of 869 finishers of 3 international mountain running competitions have been analysed. A hyperbolic association was demonstrated between finish times in mountain running competitions and individual performance at the anaerobic threshold (VO2AT(Race)). Due to the non-linear association, there is an increasing effect on both the finish time and the change of finish time with decreasing aerobic performance. In all three competitions, the change of finish time is about 7 times more pronounced in mountain runners with the lowest VO2ATL,, compared to those with the highest values of VO2AT(Race). Both athletes and organizers should keep in mind these effects of decreasing aerobic performance on running times and potentially associated risks.     

A beam of "chimeric" darkness: presence, interconnectedness, and transformation in the psychoanalytic treatment of a patient convicted of sex offenses

The paper puts forward the dimension created by analytic presence and the ensuing patient-analyst interconnectedness in the process of psychoanalytic treatment and change, particularly with more disturbed patients. Working within this dimension, at a fundamental level of contact and impact, opens up new possibilities of extending the reach of psychoanalytic treatment. The analyst's "presencing" and interconnectedness with the patient forge a living therapeutic entity that is not a one-person or two-person psychology, but an emergent two-in-one new entity that goes beyond the confines of the separate subjectivities of patient and analyst and the simple summation of the two. The paper describes the kind of knowledge, experience, and powerful therapeutic potential that comes into being through analytic "presencing" and patient-analyst interconnectedness, and particularly focuses on the chimeric element, or quality, of this interconnectedness. The term "chimera/chimerism"-chosen here for its wealth of mythological, genetic, biological, biomedicinal (chimeric proteins), and psychoanalytical associations-is used in this paper to highlight the complex quality of patient-analyst interconnectedness, especially in difficult, psychotic, psychically foreclosed, dissociative and perverse states. The author offers an extensive clinical account of psychoanalytic treatment of a patient convicted of sex offenses in order to illustrate "presencing," interconnectedness, and the extent and intricate emotional meaning of the extreme chimerism that this kind of (difficult) treatment entailed.     

Reactions to a survey among those who were and were not sexually assaulted while serving in the military

Surveys are among the most common methods for evaluating military sexual assault experiences among members of the U.S. military; however, little research has examined how receiving surveys about such sexual assaults might affect recipients. In the present sample of 530 active duty and veteran military personnel, just 10% reported unexpected upset, 11% reported regretting participation in the survey, and 22% reported benefitting from that participation overall. A minority of respondents with a history of sexual assault while in the military reported unexpected upset, although the prevalence was three times higher than that of participants without such history (24% vs 8%). There were no statistically significant differences in perceived regret and benefit of participation in the survey between those with and without a history of sexual assault while in the military. Although limited in number, male military sexual assault survivors (n = 8) were significantly more likely than female survivors to report being more upset by the survey than they had anticipated. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Psychometric properties of Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale with Chinese university students

The 10-item Attitudes Towards Lesbian and Gay Men Scale was translated into traditional Chinese, with slight modification in item wordings (by replacing the words such as "lesbians" with "female homosexuals" and "gay men" with "male homosexuals"). Data were collected with a convenient sample of 462 Chinese undergraduate students in social work training programmes from three Hong Kong universities. Analysis of the data showed responses to the scale and its two subscales were internally consistent and a one-factor structure was found on the total scale and separately on each of its two subscales. Differences by religious belief and sex were observed using the total scale scores, as in previous studies using this scale. Researchers could consider using this scale with Hong Kong Chinese and in subsequent cross-cultural studies involving a wider range of Chinese respondents.     

Quality of workplace social relationships and perceived health

Associations between the quality of social relationships at work and mental and self-reported health were examined to assess whether these associations were independent of job strain. The study was based on cross-sectional survey data from 728 employees (response rate 58%) and included the Demand-Control-(Support) (DC-S) model, six items on the quality of social relationships at the workplace, the General Health Questionnaire (30), and an item on self-reported physical health. Logistic regression analyses were used. A first set of models were run with adjustment for age, sex, and socioeconomic group. A second set of models were run adjusted for the dimensions of the DC-S model. Positive associations were found between the quality of social relationships and mental health as well as self-rated physical health, and these associations remained significant even after adjustment for the dimensions. The findings add support to the Health and Safety Executive stress management standards on social relationships at the workplace.