Testing mediator variables in a physical activity intervention for women with type 2 diabetes

ObjectivesA limited understanding of the mechanisms of behavior change has hindered the development of more effective interventions. The aim of this study was to identify potential mediators of objectively measured physical activity (PA) behavior change in women with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).DesignMediation test of a randomized controlled trial.MethodWomen with T2DM (n = 93) from the control group (standard PA materials, n = 44) and the full intervention group (control + stage-matched printed material and telephone counseling, n = 49) of a larger PA intervention trial were included. PA outcomes were minutes of MET weighted moderate and vigorous PA/week (self-report) and steps/3-days (objective) recorded at baseline and 12-months. Social-cognitive constructs were measured and tested in a mediating variable framework.ResultsPerceived behavioral control and barrier self-efficacy mediated intervention effects on objective PA (proportion of intervention effect mediated = 18% and 24% respectively). Intention was a mediator of objective PA (23%).ConclusionPerceived behavior control, barrier self-efficacy, and intention are effective mechanisms of PA behavior change in women with T2DM.     

The Transformative Effects of Stigma: Coping Strategies as Meaning‐Making Efforts for Immigrants Living in Greece

The present article examines the strategies that immigrants living in Greece use to cope with stigma that arises in their interaction with both Greek society and their communities of origin. Drawing on interviews and focus groups conducted with immigrants from a variety of countries, a dialogical analysis illuminates the ways in which immigrants actively negotiate stigmatizing perspectives and transform themselves. Strategies include the deployment of social categories such as those of ‘human being’ and ‘crazy’ person, and concepts such as those of ‘lawfulness’ and ‘fate’. These were used to construct meanings of equality and inclusion into society, to deny responsibility for stigma and to discredit stigma as absurd. They enabled participants to see themselves as proud, equal, self‐dependent individuals who plan actions for social change. The article suggests that coping with stigma should not only be understood in terms of stress regulation, leading to positive or negative outcomes, as suggested by current literature, but as a meaning‐making effort, through which individuals transform the way they see themselves and act within their world. A meaning‐making approach moves away from individualistic, outcome‐oriented explanations to a socially situated perspective on stigma that studies the processes through which social meanings are subjectively perceived as stigmatizing and are used to challenge stigma. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationship of cognitive strategy use to prospective memory performance in a diverse sample of nondemented older adults with varying degrees of cognitive complaints and impairment

Although older adults typically have better performance on prospective memory (PM) tasks carried out in naturalistic settings, a paucity of research directly assesses older adults’ use of compensatory strategies on such tasks. The current study investigates external memory strategy use during performance of a clinical PM test that features both short-term (in laboratory) and long-term (out of laboratory) subtasks (i.e., the Royal Prince Alfred Prospective Memory Test – RPA-ProMem. Nondemented, community-dwelling older adults (n = 214; mean age = 80.5; 68.2% female; 39.7% non-white) with mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive decline, and healthy controls completed the RPA-ProMem while external strategy use was permitted and recorded. Overall, participants utilized external strategies 41% of the time on the RPA-ProMem. Increased utilization of external memory strategies was significantly associated with better PM performance. Additionally, better performance on executive functioning tasks was associated with increased use of external memory strategies. Results are discussed in relation to how memory strategy use can be enhanced to improve everyday memory ability in older adults at risk for dementia.     

L’invention managériale : une compétence cardinale pour les situations organisationnelles complexes

This study models “the manager invention”, cardinal skill to face the complex, contradictory, unpredictable socio-organizational reality. The works of Morin (on 1986, 1999, 2001) on the processes of the complex thought and those of Detienne and Vernant (1974), of Frontisi-Ducroux (1975) and Dejours (1993) about the mètis or practice intelligence serve us as theoretical supports, the analysis of contents of managers' narratives of empirical supports. The principles of a complex cognition (dialogical of the contradictory, complementarity of opposite, logic of the inclusive third) support the creative strategies of the managers : guile rather than force, diversion, bypassing, double position, happy medium, oblique speeches.     

Levels of visuo-spatial selection: An ERP study of negative priming

Usually, a probe target appearing in a recently ignored distractor location is less efficiently processed. This robust phenomenon is called (visuo-) spatial negative priming (SNP). Among other explanations, concepts of persisting or retrieved spatial inhibition play a major role. Two relevant issues were investigated using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). The first pertains to context sensitivity of inhibition: Is a probe distractor necessary for SNP? The second concerns levels of processing at which spatial inhibition operates: Does SNP affect perception, selection, and/or stimulus classification? A localization task with and without probe distractors was employed while 64-channel EEG was recorded. Obviously, SNP does not require a probe distractor; the distractor-absent SNP effect was larger than the distractor-present SNP effect. Distractor-present SNP had two lateralized ERP effects, N1pc amplitude reduction and N2pc amplitude increase. Smaller N1pc may indeed reflect perceptual decrement, but was inversely related to size of behavioral SNP. By contrast, only strong-SNP participants showed N2pc increase, which points to selection disadvantage due to persisting inhibition of higher-level spatial representations. Distractor-absent SNP had no N1pc/N2pc correlates; instead, reduced amplitude of a broadly distributed P300 component suggests impaired stimulus classification due to episodic retrieval of inappropriate prime information. Overall, SNP seems to emerge from relatively late stages of processing, thus challenging the idea of context-free persisting inhibition of low-level spatial representations. Furthermore, distractor-present and distractor-absent SNP are qualitatively different from each other.     

Inter-individual and intra-individual variability of the N2 component: On reliability and signal-to-noise ratio

The nogo N2 component, an anterior negative peak supposed to be generated in the anterior cingulate cortex, has been used as an indicator of conflict monitoring and response conflict in basic and clinical research. Here, we investigate the reliability and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of inter-individual differences of the N2 amplitudes as well as of intra-individual standard deviations of N2 amplitudes. Effects of the number of nogo epochs, type of summary measure (peak vs. average amplitude), and filter cut-offs (1–12 Hz vs. 1–30 Hz) are investigated. A sample of N = 32 participants, performed a go/nogo task. Excellent Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (?.90) were obtained for the fronto-central average N2 amplitude at 40 nogo epochs and for the peak N2 amplitude at 60 nogo epochs. The SNR was higher for the average nogo N2 amplitude compared to the peak N2 amplitude. Split-half reliability coefficients of the intra-individual standard deviation of the nogo N2 amplitudes were at least moderate. Based on these results we provide suggestions for a reliable N2 measurement. Moreover, although intra-individual variability has often been conceived as noise the present findings support the idea that intra-individual N2 variability incorporates systematic variance.     

Stacking of hexagonal layers in the structure of β-Mg2Al3

An analysis of cross-sections perpendicular to the main diagonal of a cubic elementary cell of a Samson structure–β-Mg₂Al₃ has been conducted. It has been proved that all skeleton atoms, i.e. which occupy their positions with probability of 100%, form a framework of hexagonal planes. These planes are a part of three domains shifted with respect to each other by one-third of the length of cube's diagonal. Space between domains is filled up by clusters with partially occupied atomic positions. For hexagonal domains, the elementary cell and positions of decorating atoms have been determined.     

Experimental investigations of TB2 alloy by pack boriding with rare-earth oxides

ABSTRACT

An orthogonal test with four factors, namely temperature, time, type of rare-earth oxides (REOs) and REO content, was performed to obtain the optimised boriding parameters of TB2 alloy by pack boriding with REOs. It is found that temperature has the strongest effect on the boride layer thickness, while time has the strongest effect on the surface hardness and coefficient of friction. The optimum parameters for pack boriding of TB2 alloy with REO are a temperature of 1373?K, a time of 20?h, La₂O₃ as the REO with a content of 4?wt.%.     

Effect of heat treatment on the NO2-sensing properties of sputter-deposited indium tin oxide thin films

Transparent conducting indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited onto glass substrates by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering at 648?K, under an oxygen partial pressure of 1?Pa. The effect of annealing on the electrical properties of the films was studied. Characterization of the coatings revealed an electrical resistivity below 6.5?×?10^??3?Ω?cm. The ITO films deposited at 648?K were amorphous, while the crystallinity improved after annealing at 700?K. The surface morphology examined by scanning electron microscopy appears to be uniform over the entire surface area after annealing. The NO₂-sensing properties of the ITO films were investigated and showed sensitivity at concentrations lower than 50?ppm, at a working temperature of 600?K.     

Theoretical explanation for Raman and ESR spectra of V3+ ions in salt guanidinium vanadium sulfate hexahydrate

The Raman spectra and electronic spin resonance (ESR) parameters (spin-Hamiltonian parameter g factors, zero-field splitting parameter D, and hyperfine structure constant A) for the trigonal V³⁺ centers in salt guanidinium vanadium sulfate hexahydrate (GVSH) are calculated from the complete diagonalization (of energy matrix) method. The theoretical results are in agreement with the experimental findings and the trigonal crystal-field parameters are determined. The difficulty in explaining ESR parameters of V³⁺ in GVSH is removed.