Chronic malignant pain in cancer patients

Although the incidence of cancer and cancer-related deaths has declined in recent years, undertreatment of cancer-related pain continues to be a significant problem. By thoroughly assessing chronic malignant pain (CMP) as it relates to cancer and achieving a more complete understanding of the CMP syndromes experienced by cancer patients, psychiatrists and neurologists can formulate accurate diagnoses of patients' clinical pain syndromes and construct well-defined, individual management plans for each patient.     

Humean dispositionalism

Humean metaphysics is characterized by a rejection of necessary connections between distinct existences. Dispositionalists claim that there are basic causal powers. The existence of such properties is widely held to be incompatible with the Humean rejection of necessary connections. In this paper I present a novel theory of causal powers that vindicates the dispositionalist claim that causal powers are basic, without embracing brute necessary connections. The key assumptions of the theory are that there are natural types of causal processes, and that manifestations of powers are identified with certain kinds of causal processes. From these assumptions, the modal features of powers are explained in terms of internal relations between powers themselves and the process-types in which powers are manifested.     

Relevant Restricted Quantification

The paper reviews a number of approaches for handling restricted quantification in relevant logic, and proposes a novel one. This proceeds by introducing a novel kind of enthymematic conditional.     

The Role of Stimulus Specificity on Infidelity Reactions: Seeing is Disturbing

Past research has found that males are more distressed by imagined scenarios of sexual infidelity compared with females, while females are more distressed by imagined scenarios of emotional infidelity. Expanding on the methodology originally employed by Buss et al. (Psychological Science, 3, 251–255, 1992), we examined sex differences in reactions to imagined infidelity by addressing the effects of visual images of potential interlopers. Additionally, this research measured affective responses in a continuous format by examining psychological discomfort. Participants in high-visual imagery and control conditions imagined infidelity (both emotional and sexual) and then reported levels of discomfort. Further, two indices of autonomic nervous system responding were assessed (skin conductance and pulse rate). Ninety-three (53 females, 40 males) college students participated. Visual stimuli produced greater psychological distress than thought-produced stimuli for all participants, especially males. Sex differences in reactions to infidelity consistent with past research were obtained for the categorical and continuous psychological indices. Implications for research in this area are discussed.

Don’t worry,be happy! Positive affect at work,greater balance at home. A daily diary study on work-family balance

IntroductionThe dynamics pertaining to work-family interface such as conflict, enrichment, etc. have received considerable scholarly attention in social sciences. However, the daily processes that are involved have been examined to a lesser extent, least of all including the role played by emotions.ObjectiveThis study aimed at examining, consistently with the Affective Events Theory, if positive and negative affect experienced during the working day played a mediational role in the associations between daily levels of work-family conflict and work-family enrichment on one side, and work-family balance on the other. Moreover, the moderating cross-level role of trait emotional stability was examined.MethodThe study included a convenience sample of 104 Italian employees who completed a diary-book over five consecutive working days.ResultsMultilevel-modelling results highlighted, controlling for emotional stability, a mediational role of only daily positive affect in the relationships between both work-family conflict and enrichment on the one side and work-family balance on the other side.ConclusionThis study contributed to the literature emphasizing the role of positive affective states experienced at the workplace and their connections with the private life. Limitations and implications for research and practice are described.