Interethnic Factors as Predictors of the Subjective Well‐Being of Minority Individuals in a Context of Recent Societal Changes

Our research examined the impact of contextual intergroup variables on the subjective well‐being of ethnic Russians in Estonia (N = 190) who have experienced major social changes with the demise of the Soviet Union. A mediational model was tested where aspects of intergroup relations (i.e., relative deprivation, status legitimization, and temporal comparisons) acted as mediators of the influence of cultural identity and representations of history on subjective well‐being. Preliminary analyses indicated polemical representations of history in which Estonian historical narratives are established around the struggle for independence, and Russian representations of history are consolidated around victory in World War II. Mediation analyses demonstrated that the importance of Russian history increased the perceptions of relative deprivation, status delegitimization, and the frequency of temporal comparisons, which negatively affected life satisfaction. At the same time, the importance of Estonian history led to positive perceptions of the intergroup situation and, in turn, to greater subjective well‐being. The effect of Russian identity on well‐being was mediated by delegitimizing beliefs, but not by relative deprivation and temporal comparisons. Estonian identity did not exert a significant effect on the proposed mediators. The research demonstrates the salience of the effects of contextual intergroup factors on subjective well‐being, and the article discusses implications for the study of intergroup relations and subjective well‐being.     

Integrative Complexity Coding Raises Integratively Complex Issues

Conway, Conway, Gornick, and Houck (2014) report a major effort to automate integrative complexity coding. Judging this effort requires researchers to be more explicit in articulating key methodological assumptions about the coding process and theoretical assumptions about the construct. Unresolved issues include: (1) when, and on what basis, we should attribute divergences between human coders and algorithms to overestimations or underestimations by one or the other approach; and (2) to what extent second‐generation algorithms can yield Pareto improvements that reduce errors of both underestimation and overestimation. Further progress in developing natural language processing measures of this cognitive style will require sharper definitions of target constructs: in particular, different types of differentiation (dialectical and elaborative) and integration (hierarchical and flexible) and clearer guidelines for factoring context into assessments.     

Motor planning in Parkinson’s disease patients experiencing freezing of gait: The influence of cognitive load when approaching obstacles

Freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is typically assumed to be a pure motor deficit, although it is important to consider how an abrupt loss of gait automaticity might be associated with an overloaded central resource capacity. If resource capacity limits are a factor underlying FOG, then obstacle crossing may be particularly sensitive to dual task effects in eliciting FOG. Participants performed a dual task (auditory digit monitoring) in order to increase cognitive load during obstacle crossing. Forty-two non-demented participants (14 PD patients with FOG, 13 PD who do not freeze, and 14 age-matched healthy control participants) were required to walk and step over a horizontal obstacle set at 15% of the participants’ height. Kinematic data were split into two phases of their approach: early (farthest away from the obstacle), and late (just prior to the obstacle). Interestingly, step length variability and step time variability increased when PD patients with FOG performed the dual task, but only in the late phase prior to the obstacle (i.e. when closest to the obstacle). Additionally, immediately after crossing, freezers landed the lead foot abnormally close to the obstacle regardless of dual task condition, and also contacted the obstacle more frequently (planning errors). Strength of the dual task effect was associated with low general cognitive status, declined executive function, and inappropriate spatial planning, but only in the PD-FOG group. This study is the first to demonstrate that cognitive load differentially impacts planning of the final steps needed to avoid an obstacle in PD patients with freezing, but not non-freezers or healthy controls, suggesting specific neural networks associated with FOG behaviours.     

Bioethics in the Making: “Ideal Patients” and the Beginnings of Face Transplant Surgery in Mexico

Medical teams around the world are increasingly gaining ethical clearance to utilise face transplant surgery as a reconstructive surgical procedure. Analysis of the beginnings of the operation in Mexico vis-à-vis the early uptake of the procedure in France reveals that this controversial experimental medical field has become loaded with national significance. The primary issue of dispute has been the dependence on life-threatening immunosuppressant therapy in a procedure that treats otherwise biologically healthy people. Attempts to resolve related debate has resulted in the emergence of what my interlocutors refer to as an “ideal patient”, a person whose particular state of health and suffering render them operable within the current biomedical constraints. Drawing together the idiom of coproduction with the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries shows how this imagined patient category was refracted and stabilised as it entered into the Mexican context whilst producing patients and surgical experts as particular types of bioethical subjects. The flexibility and normative value of the “ideal patient” mobilises and is mobilised by surgeons, who themselves emerge as national bioethical subjects responsible for saving the face of nations in the midst of broader changes surrounding how State's should respond to medical advancement.     

Development and Validation of a New Measure of Intuition: The Types of Intuition Scale

The Types of Intuition Scale (TIntS) measures three types of intuition identified in a literature review by Pretz and Totz (2007): holistic, inferential, and affective. Holistic intuitions integrate diverse sources of information in a Gestalt‐like, non‐analytical manner; inferential intuitions are based on previously analytical processes that have become automatic; and affective intuitions are based on feelings. Current intuition measures inadequately assess these distinct types. We report four validity studies: Study 1 reports the reliability and factor structure of the TIntS and correlations with extant intuition and personality measures. Study 2 presents a confirmatory factor analysis. Studies 3 and 4 examine the predictive validity of the TIntS with respect to clinical decision making in occupational therapy and musical performance. Scales were internally consistent and stable over time, and factor analyses supported the predicted distinctions among them. Correlations with existing measures of intuition, personality, and behavior showed that the TIntS is unique in its assessment of all three types of intuition in one measure. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

冠心病患者的抑郁和焦虑

许多临床研究表明,冠心病患者常发生抑郁及焦虑。而在严重精神症状（如抑郁或/和焦虑）者中有较高的冠心病发生率。抑郁增加冠心病患者的不良心血管事件发生率,影响预后。其机制有如下几个方面：对医疗措施及生活方式改变的依从性差、血小板功能异常、血管内皮功能紊乱以及心率变异性降低。选择性5-羟色胺再摄取抑制剂由于其较好的耐受性且无明显的心血管副作用而应用于冠心病合并抑郁及焦虑的药物治疗并改善患者的生活质量。但仍需要更大规模的临床研究以确定抑郁及焦虑对冠心病预后的影响。临床上应更加关注焦虑对冠心病的影响,进一步探讨焦虑能否作为冠心病的危险因素。     

抑郁和焦虑对经皮冠状动脉介入治疗患者的影响及对策

越来越多的冠心病患者接受经皮冠状动脉介入治疗,但是这些患者表现出的焦虑抑郁情绪对经皮冠状动脉介入治疗（PCI）围术期的影响却少有报道。研究发现,焦虑和抑郁对心脏事件发生后的恢复有不利的影响,而接受 PCI 治疗的患者情感障碍的发生率是比较高的。主要心血管事件与这些负面影响是相关联的,研究表明密切监测这些患者的情感状态可以明显改善临床预后。     

冠状动脉旁路移植术后患者抑郁焦虑状况及对生存质量的影响

研究选取2008年至2010年在我院接受冠状动脉旁路移植术（CABG）并完整填写术后半年、1年、2年抑郁焦虑自评量表（SDS 、SAS）及 SF-36问卷的患者,得出 CABG 术后2年内抑郁的发生率为32．4％,术后半年、1年、2年分别为29．4％、27．7％、23．6％。 CABG 术后2年内焦虑的发生率为18．2％,术后半年、1年、2年分别为14．7％、16．9％、7．9％。在术后生存质量的比较中,得出术后半年、1年、2年情感障碍组患者的生存质量要明显比非情感障碍组差。抑郁焦虑症状的高发生率,及其明显地降低了 CABG 术后患者的生存质量,提示临床医生须对冠心病及 CABG 术后患者的心理健康予以足够的重视。     

论疾病治疗的自然观

人体本身对各类疾病有着强大的自我抵制和修复能力,疾病的发生和康复有其自然的进展规律,治疗疾病的过程应遵循相关规律,并辅助人体的这些能力去促进机体的修复。而现实医疗中,人们在享受医学科技成果和医疗保障实惠的同时,常常伴有过度的医疗处置或过度忽视疾病的存在,从而影响疾病本身的自然康复进程,或加重病情,甚至造成二次伤害。本文从疾病治疗自然观的角度探讨了医生和患者在应对疾病时需了解的辩证思想,并就如何认识和应用疾病治疗的自然观去诊治疾病做一探讨。     

联合预防阿尔茨海默病与缺血性脑卒中的构想

阿尔茨海默病（AD）与缺血性脑卒中（IS）是中枢神经系统常见的两种高发病率和高致残率疾病。传统观点认为这两种疾病的病因、发病机制、病理生理以及临床表现均截然不同,长期以来它们的预防工作是分别展开的。随着 AD 研究的不断深化,AD 与 IS 之间的共性也不断增多,AD 可能与 IS 有着共同的血管相关发病机制以及相似的预防措施。为此,结合近年来 AD 血管机制领域的研究进展,提出 AD 与 IS 联合预防的新概念,并探讨了最佳的开始时间和预防策略。