Busy lifestyles and mammography screening: Time pressure and women’s reattendance likelihood

Time pressure is often cited as a reason for non-attendance at mammography screening, although evidence from other areas of psychology suggests that time pressure can improve performance when barriers such as time pressure provide a challenge. We predicted that time pressure would negatively predict attendance in women whose self-efficacy for overcoming time pressure is low, but positively predict attendance when self-efficacy is high. Time pressure was operationalised as the self-reported number of dependent children and others, and average number of working hours per week. Australian women were surveyed after being invited to attend second or subsequent screenings at a free public screening service, and subsequent attendance monitored until six months after screening was due. The majority (87.5%) attended screening. Women with more dependent children and higher self-efficacy showed greater attendance likelihood, and women with fewer non-child dependants and lower self-efficacy were less likely to attend. Working hours did not predict attendance. Findings provide partial support for the idea that time pressure acts as a challenge for women with high self-efficacy.     

Temporal dimensions of the self-concept: Entrapped and possible selves in chronic pain

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore temporal aspects of chronic pain patients' conceptions of their selves; what they were in the past, how they were functioning at the present and what they thought about their potential and future. In-depth interviews with 21 chronic pain patients were performed and analysed. The main results of the analysis included four higher-order conceptual patterns: “the body and I”, “maintaining the consistency of past self”, the “entrapped self”, and “projected selves, defined by others”. These results are presented in a systems-oriented model illustrating the temporal dynamic between the perceived functioning self, the body and others, such as health care personnel and significant others. The mechanisms of the process of how selves are developing in the chronisation or healing process of pain are finally discussed. A clinical implication of these findings might be that with an enlarged insight of the temporal dynamic and the importance of interactive and social factors in shaping positive possible selves, health care personnel can contribute more effectively in stew-arding the chronic pain patient toward health-promotive ends and a concomitantly higher quality of life.     

Intra-Individual Variability Among Children with ADHD on a Working Memory Task: An Ex-Gaussian Approach

Intra-individual variability on a computer-based working memory task was examined among 25 children/adolescents with ADHD and 24 typically developing peers. Participants completed the Visual Serial Addition Task (VSAT) and reaction time data were fit to an ex-Gaussian distribution. ADHD participants demonstrated significantly more variable performance than controls, and effects of working memory load were observed. Event rate, however, had no influence on group differences in performance. Follow-up correlations revealed associations between VSAT performance and ADHD symptomatology. This study supports intra-individual variability as a hallmark feature of ADHD beyond the domain of response inhibition and reinforces the need to consider variability in ADHD more broadly.     

The Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA): Internal Consistency (Q1 vs. Q2 and Q3 vs. Q4) in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

The internal consistency of the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) was examined in a cohort of 6- to 12-year-old children (N = 63) strictly diagnosed with ADHD. The internal consistency of errors of omission (OMM), errors of commission (COM), response time (RT), and response time variability (RTV) of different test conditions (stimulus infrequent condition [Q₁ vs. Q₂] and stimulus frequent condition [Q₃ vs. Q₄]) was assessed via correlation analyses. All TOVA index scores under investigation assessing its internal consistency exhibited statistically significant correlations. All correlations fell in the moderate-high range.     

Formation of Ga–Pd–Sc icosahedral quasicrystal and approximant phases

ABSTRACT

We report the formation of an icosahedral quasicrystal and its approximant in the Ga–Pd–Sc alloy. The primitive-type quasicrystal with a six-dimensional lattice constant of 0.713?nm formed in the melt-quenched Ga₅₃Pd₃₀Sc₁₇ alloy, with a similar composition to that of the Ga₅₅Pd₃₀Sc₁₅ 1/1 approximant. The atomic-scale observation and chemical analysis of the 1/1 approximant by scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed that the approximant consisted of Tsai-type clusters with a characteristic chemical ordering. Furthermore, a series of approximants were observed in the Ga₅₅Pd₃₀RE₁₅ alloys by replacing Sc with other rare-earth elements (REs) (RE?= Y, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu). These approximants, which have relatively small lattice constants and consequently smaller RE–RE distances compared with those for other RE-containing Tsai-type approximants, may be candidates for materials with novel electronic and magnetic properties similar to those observed in Au-based quasicrystals and approximants.     

Formation of FeNi with L10-ordered structure using high-pressure torsion

FeNi with the L1₀-ordered structure is formed over an astronomical timescale in meteorites. In this study, severe plastic deformation using high-pressure torsion (HPT) is employed for the production of the L1₀ structure in the laboratory. Its formation is confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Processing of elemental nanopowders by HPT is an effective method for the formation of the L1₀ phase, which is enhanced by the addition of Co to FeNi or annealing after HPT. The formation of the phase must be associated with enhanced diffusion through HPT.     

Secondary defects induced by ion and electron irradiation of GaSb

Secondary defects induced by ion and electron irradiation up to 6?dpa (displacements per atom) at liquid-nitrogen temperature in GaSb thin films are compared. For Sn ion (60?keV) irradiation, voids were observed. However, for high-energy electron (2?MeV) irradiation, interstitial-type dislocation loops were produced. The densities of voids and interstitial-type dislocation loops were almost equivalent (8?×?10¹⁴?voids/m² and 3?×?10¹⁴?loops/m²) after irradiations at the same damage level of 6?dpa. It is concluded that the formation of voids by ion irradiation follows the creation of localised vacancy defects in cascade damage.     

Effect of cooling rate on size-dependent atomic ordering of CoPt nanoparticles

We report on the effect of cooling rate on the size-dependent atomic ordering of CoPt nanoparticles using aberration corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It was found that cooling rate plays a crucial role in promoting atomic ordering during the cooling process after annealing. Nanoparticles of ≈3?nm in diameter show the A1-disordered phase after annealing at 873?K for 1?h followed by rapid cooling (110?K/min), while the L1₀-ordered phase is obtained when the cooling rate is slow (1.5?K/min). The disordered phase is also obtained by rapid cooling after annealing at 973?K for 1?h. These results unambiguously indicate that the order–disorder transformation temperature is reduced to a temperature at least lower than 873?K for CoPt nanoparticles smaller than 3?nm in diameter. The slow cooling process promotes the atomic ordering, which resulted in an enhancement of magnetic coercivity as high as 2200?Oe. This study demonstrates that hard magnetic properties of the CoPt nanoparticles can be improved by controlling the cooling rate after heat treatments.     

Perceiving vocal age and gender: An adaptation approach

Aftereffects of adaptation have revealed both independent and interactive coding of facial signals including identity and expression or gender and age. By contrast, interactive processing of non-linguistic features in voices has rarely been investigated. Here we studied bidirectional cross-categorical aftereffects of adaptation to vocal age and gender. Prolonged exposure to young (~ 20 yrs) or old (~ 70 yrs) male or female voices biased perception of subsequent test voices away from the adapting age (Exp. 1) and the adapting gender (Exp. 2). Relative to gender-congruent adaptor-test pairings, vocal age aftereffects (VAAEs) were reduced but remained significant when voice gender changed between adaptation and test. This suggests that the VAAE relies on both gender-specific and gender-independent age representations for male and female voices. By contrast, voice gender aftereffects (VGAEs) were not modulated by age-congruency of adaptor and test voices (Exp. 2). Instead, young voice adaptors generally induced larger VGAEs than old voice adaptors. This suggests that young voices are particularly efficient gender adaptors, likely reflecting more pronounced sexual dimorphism in these voices. In sum, our findings demonstrate how high-level processing of vocal age and gender is partially intertwined.     

Robert Burns in the counsellor's chair: A socio-cultural analysis of the Burns myth

To illustrate how difficult endings are, this paper first cites an Italian therapist's experience of the use of time with university students in Naples and then associates to contrasting examples in the novel, art, music and the cinema. It uses a dialogue about ending in the film Brief Encounter as a possible paradigm for what is needed in brief therapy. It then refers to the work of James Mann on different experiences of time which underlie the resistance to brief work. How can brief therapy contain the paradox between finite and infinite time? Incorporating another model of therapeutic intervention with the use of Milton Erickson's attitude to time and the unconscious, the paper then moves on to a clinical example, where treatment consisted of an assessment and five sessions. Here the practice of not interpreting the transference is challenged, along with an exploration of the concept of transference to the organization and the use of pre-treatment ‘maternal reverie’ associations. Using the combination of informal trance-like states with a clear focus on the ‘here and now’, the process of the therapeutic relationship is then worked with in the case material.