Association between cognitive vulnerability to depression - dysfunctional attitudes and glycaemic control among in-patients with type 2 diabetes in a hospital in Beijing: a multivariate regression analysis

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and cognitive vulnerability to depression (dysfunctional attitudes) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 245 valid records from June 2016 to December 2016 were collected from a hospital in Beijing. Participants were asked to complete four questionnaires (Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, and World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Short Form) to assess mental health and quality of life. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to determine the correlations between HbA1c, mental health, quality of life and other clinical variables. The results showed that dysfunctional attitudes were associated with HbA1c, with a standardized regression coefficient (β) of .13 (p = .01), although 1 h C-peptide (β = ?.75, p < .0001) was the most significant predictor of HbA1c in the regression model. The results indicated that dysfunctional attitudes, as a cognitive vulnerability to depression, were a relevant factor in HbA1c, although further studies are needed to establish the nature of the connection between dysfunctional attitudes and glycaemic control in diabetes patients.     

The Effect of Message Persistence and Disclosure on Liking in Computer-Mediated Communication

In computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems, the messages that a user types usually persist on the screen for some time, a feature that distinguishes CMC from face-to-face interaction. Persistence may activate psychological self-perception, leading communicators to infer from their persistent messaging how they feel about the subject more so than if messages did not persist. This study applies persistence and self-perception to the relationships between self-disclosure and liking. It identifies which among several disclosure or liking relationships may be most susceptible to self-perception effects. An experiment found that message persistence interacts with a conversational partner’s responses to self-disclosure and intensifies liking toward the partner. Suggestions follow for future research further exploring the mechanisms of persistence, and reconceptualizing self-perception factors in interactive media settings.     

Emotionally conditioning the target-speech voice enhances recognition of the target speech under “cocktail-party” listening conditions

Under a noisy “cocktail-party” listening condition with multiple people talking, listeners can use various perceptual/cognitive unmasking cues to improve recognition of the target speech against informational speech-on-speech masking. One potential unmasking cue is the emotion expressed in a speech voice, by means of certain acoustical features. However, it was unclear whether emotionally conditioning a target-speech voice that has none of the typical acoustical features of emotions (i.e., an emotionally neutral voice) can be used by listeners for enhancing target-speech recognition under speech-on-speech masking conditions. In this study we examined the recognition of target speech against a two-talker speech masker both before and after the emotionally neutral target voice was paired with a loud female screaming sound that has a marked negative emotional valence. The results showed that recognition of the target speech (especially the first keyword in a target sentence) was significantly improved by emotionally conditioning the target speaker’s voice. Moreover, the emotional unmasking effect was independent of the unmasking effect of the perceived spatial separation between the target speech and the masker. Also, (skin conductance) electrodermal responses became stronger after emotional learning when the target speech and masker were perceptually co-located, suggesting an increase of listening efforts when the target speech was informationally masked. These results indicate that emotionally conditioning the target speaker’s voice does not change the acoustical parameters of the target-speech stimuli, but the emotionally conditioned vocal features can be used as cues for unmasking target speech.     

特殊信任视野中的公民法治观念——基于两次延续性调查的研究视角

在人类社会的早期,信任问题就已经被人们所关注,无论是中国的先秦还是西方的古希腊,都有关于信任方面的大量论述。但是,人类早期关于信任的认识只是表面的、零星的,并没有深入细致的探讨。20世纪开始,人们才对信任问题进行了专门化、系统化的研究和论述。信任作为一种重要的社会资本,在与人力资本、金融资本等推动经济发展的同时,更显示出了其重要的政治功能。信任是现代民主制度建立的基础,更是维系政治稳定的粘合剂。自古以来民主和法治形影不离,而信任是否也会对与民主政治紧密相连的公民法治观念产生影响呢?本研究以南京市的实证调查为例,通过多元回归分析等统计分析方法,对特殊信任与公民法治观念之间的关联性进行实证层面的剖析,并对如何提高公民的普遍信任度从而培育公民法治观念进行反思和展望。     

齐国古典文献中的民本思想及其现代启示、

齐国的开国君主姜太公在兴周灭商的过程中,充分领悟到了民众的巨大作用。因此,在齐国的建国之初,他就将民本思想列为治国之策。记录太公言论的《六韬》就充分证明了这一点。其后,春秋时期,管仲创造性地继承和发展了太公的治国方略,他在《管子》一书中正式提出了“以人为本”的概念,并且从爱民、利民、富民、惠民等几个方面阐释了以人为本的思想内涵。到了战国时．齐国的民本思想得到了空前的发展。在这一时期,齐国创建和发展繁荣稷下学宫,荟萃天下学人,百家争鸣,著书立说。随着以孔孟苟为代表的儒家思想传人齐国,极大地丰富了齐国的民本思想,并从理论上把民本思想升华到一个空前的高度。齐国的民本思想不仅内容十分丰富,而且具有鲜明的特色。这对我们今天建设有中国特色社会主义现代化强国,深入落实“三个代表”重要思想,树立科学发展观,具有极其重要的启示和借鉴价值。     

道德契约论的“启发” ——从高蒂耶的“约束性最大化”谈起

大卫.高蒂耶认为契约论可以把道德构筑在"审慎理性"的基础之上,这一努力因其核心概念"约束性最大化"所隐含的"道德理性"而归于失败。同一理论框架下的双重理性基础使契约论可以从"效用最大化"的视角为规范优先提供某种合情理的说明。这种说明尽管不是一种严密的"证明",却是一种合情理的"启发"。     

A systematic review of interventions for anxiety in people with HIV

People with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) show elevated anxiety levels compared to the general population. Anxiety can predate HIV infection or be triggered by HIV diagnosis and the many stresses that emerge during the course of HIV disease. Many psychological and pharmacological therapies have been shown to treat anxiety in the general population but a systematic understanding of which interventions have been tested in and are effective with HIV-seropositive individuals is needed. This review examines all published intervention studies on anxiety and HIV from 1980 to 2009 covered by the databases MedLine (1980-2009) and PsycINFO (1980-2009) for a definitive account of effectiveness of interventions and an indication of prevalence of HIV-related anxiety and measurement within studies. Standard systematic research methods were used to gather quality published papers on HIV and anxiety, searching published data bases according to quality inclusion criteria. From the search, 492 papers were generated and hand searched resulting in 39 studies meeting adequacy inclusion criteria for analysis. Of these, 30 (76.9%) were implemented in North America (the USA and Canada), with little representation from developing countries. Thirty-three (84.6%) studies recruited only men or mostly men. A total of 50 interventions were investigated by the 39 studies; 13 targeted HIV, symptoms or associated outcomes/conditions, 20 directly targeted anxiety and another 17 indirectly targeted anxiety. Twenty-four (48%) interventions were effective in reducing anxiety (including 11 indirect interventions), 16 (32%) were ineffective and 10 (20%) had an unknown effect on anxiety. Sixty-five percent of interventions directly targeting anxiety were effective. Psychological interventions (especially cognitive behavioural stress management interventions and cognitive behavioural therapy) were generally more effective than pharmacological interventions. Only three studies provided prevalence rates - these ranged from 13% to 80%. Anxiety was measured using 16 different instruments. Our detailed data suggest that interventions are both effective and available, although further research into enhancing efficacy would be valuable. Also, the vast majority of studies were Western-based, no studies looked at children or adolescents and few looked specifically at women. An international effort to harmonise measurement of anxiety is also missing. There is a need to routinely log anxiety in those with HIV infection during the course of their disease, to provide specific data on women, young people and those in diverse geographic areas and incorporate management into care protocols.     

Emotional reactions to scandals: When does moral character make a difference?

A scandal can evoke public outrage when it is widely publicized and involves an individual who is perceived to have a high level of cultural representativeness. Two experiments showed that when the scandalous target's moral character was highlighted, emotional responses towards the target were least negative when the scandal was widely circulated and when the target was seen as a representative of his culture. These results suggest that when a cultural symbol is implicated in a widely‐circulated scandal, the negative emotions directed towards the scandalous individual can be alleviated when the public remains confident in his or her commitment to morality.     

超越效价和唤醒—— 情绪的动机维度模型述评

情绪的动机维度模型认为, 高动机强度的情绪窄化(narrow)认知加工而低动机强度的情绪扩展(broaden)认知加工。该理论超越了先前对效价和唤醒两大情绪维度的二分法, 证明了情绪的动机维度对注意、记忆等认知加工产生扩展和窄化效应, 深化了积极情绪的扩展-建设理论, 有助于深入理解情绪与认知的交互作用。未来研究应建立动机维度的操作性定义, 并进一步发展出诱发不同动机维度情绪的标准化刺激材料或任务。     

Higher‐Order Thought and the Problem of Radical Confabulation

Currently, one of the most influential theories of consciousness is Rosenthal's version of higher‐order‐thought (HOT). We argue that the HOT theory allows for two distinct interpretations: a one‐component and a two‐component view. We further argue that the two‐component view is more consistent with his effort to promote HOT as an explanatory theory suitable for application to the empirical sciences. Unfortunately, the two‐component view seems incapable of handling a group of counterexamples that we refer to as cases of radical confabulation. We begin by introducing the HOT theory and by indicating why we believe it is open to distinct interpretations. We then proceed to show that it is incapable of handling cases of radical confabulation. Finally, in the course of considering various possible responses to our position, we show that adoption of a disjunctive strategy, one that would countenance both one‐component and two‐component versions, would fail to provide any empirical or explanatory advantage.