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BackgroundMindfulness-based interventions, Tai Chi/Qigong, and Yoga (defined here as meditative cancer interventions [MCIs]) have demonstrated small to medium effects on psychosocial outcomes in female breast cancer patients. However, no summary exists of how effective these interventions are for men with cancer.PurposeA meta-analysis was performed to determine the effectiveness of MCIs on psychosocial outcomes (e.g., quality of life, depression, and posttraumatic growth) for men with cancer.MethodsA literature search yielded 17 randomized controlled trials (N = 666) meeting study inclusion criteria. The authors were contacted to request data for male participants in the study when not reported.ResultsWith the removal of one outlier, there was a small effect found in favor of MCIs across all psychosocial outcomes immediately postintervention (g = .23, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.02 to 0.44). Studies using a usual care control arm demonstrated a small effect in favor of MCIs (g = .26, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.42). However, there was insufficient evidence of a superior effect for MCIs when compared to an active control group, including attention control. Few studies examined both short-term and long-term outcomes.ConclusionsThere is evidence for MCIs improving psychosocial outcomes in male cancer survivors. However, this effect is not demonstrated when limited to studies that used active controls. The effect size found in this meta-analysis is smaller than those reported in MCI studies of mixed gender and female cancer patient populations. More rigorously designed randomized trials are needed that include active control groups, which control for attention, and long-term follow-up. There may be unique challenges for addressing the psychosocial needs of male cancer patients that future interventions should consider.

© 2016 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). An approach to image-based EUV aberration metrology using binary mask targets and iterative model-based solutions to extract both the amplitude and phase components of the aberrated pupil function is presented. The approach is enabled through previously developed modeling, fitting, and extraction algorithms. We seek to examine the behavior of pupil amplitude variation in real-optical systems. Optimized target images were captured under several conditions to fit the resulting pupil responses. Both the amplitude and phase components of the pupil function were extracted from a zone-plate-based EUV mask microscope. The pupil amplitude variation was expanded in three different bases: Zernike polynomials, Legendre polynomials, and Hermite polynomials. It was found that the Zernike polynomials describe pupil amplitude variation most effectively of the three.

We present an approach to image-based EUV aberration metrology using binary mask targets and iterative model-based solutions to extract both the amplitude and phase components of the aberrated pupil function. The approach is enabled through previously developed modeling, fitting, and extraction algorithms. We examine the flexibility and criticality of the method using two experimental case studies. The first extracts the pupil phase behavior from an ASML NXE:3100 exposure system and shows primary aberration sensitivity below 0.2 mλ. The second experiment extracts both components of the pupil function from the SHARP EUV microscope.

BACKGROUND: Mixed associations have been observed between various aspects of ‘social support’ and patient pain experiencesOBJECTIVE: To explore the possibility that more basic social factors, namely coresidence patterns, may be associated with variability in patient pain experiences.METHODS: Relationships between coresidence partners and self-reported pain that interferes with activities were examined in a large representative sample of home health care patients (n=11,436; age range 18 to 107 years, mean [± SD] age 66.3±16.1 years; 55% females).RESULTS: After controlling for sex, age and behavioural risks, compared with living alone, coresidence with an intimate affiliate (eg, spouse, relative) predicted greater pain interference (Cohen’s d = 0.10 to 1.72), and coresidence with a less intimate type of affiliate (eg, friend, paid help) predicted lower pain interference (Cohen’s d = −0.21 tö0.83). In general, however, coresidence patterns accounted for small proportions of variance in pain interference, and the magnitudes of these effects varied widely according to patients’ sex, age and diagnosis.DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that fundamental components of patient’s home-living environment may be associated with potential costs and benefits related to clinically relevant pain functioning for some subgroups of patients.CONCLUSION: Further research that incorporates quantitative and qualitative assessments of patient pain functioning is warranted to better understand how objective and subjective characteristics of patients’ home-living environment may inform the development of more individualized pain treatment options for patients with differing social circumstances.

This study examined the relationship between trauma, stress and health in 41 women with fibromyalgia (FM) and 44 women who were healthy controls (HC). The participants were assessed for traumatic events, perceived stress and mental and physical health. Perceived stress was related to worse mental and physical health in both groups. Traumatic events were related to worse mental and physical health in the FM group but were unrelated to health in the HC group. Perceived stress partially mediated the effect of traumatic events on mental and physical health in the FM group. Finally, adult abuse partially mediated the effects of child abuse on adult stress and health. Trauma may have lasting effects on stress and health in women with FM. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this study, we examined the impact of goal-directed processing on the response to emotional pictures and the impact of emotional pictures on goal-directed processing. Subjects (N=22) viewed neutral or emotional pictures in the presence or absence of a demanding cognitive task. Goal-directed processing disrupted the BOLD response to emotional pictures. In particular, the BOLD response within bilateral amygdala and inferior frontal gyrus decreased during concurrent task performance. Moreover, the presence of both positive and negative distractors disrupted task performance, with reaction times increasing for emotional relative to neutral distractors. Moreover, in line with the suggestion of the importance of lateral frontal regions in emotional regulation [Ochsner, K. N., Ray, R. D., Cooper, J. C., Robertson, E. R., Chopra, S., Gabrieli, J. D., et al. (2004). For better or for worse: neural systems supporting the cognitive down-and up-regulation of negative emotion. NeuroImage, 23(2), 483-499], connectivity analysis revealed positive connectivity between lateral superior frontal cortex and regions of middle frontal cortex previously implicated in emotional suppression [Beauregard, M., Levesque, J., and Bourgouin, P. (2001). Neural correlates of conscious self-regulation of emotion. J. Neurosci., 21 (18), RC165.; Levesque, J., Eugene, F., Joanette, Y., Paquette, V., Mensour, B., Beaudoin, G., et al. (2003). Neural circuitry underlying voluntary suppression of sadness. Biol. Psychiatry, 53 (6), 502-510.; Ohira, H., Nomura, M., Ichikawa, N., Isowa, T., Iidaka, T., Sato, A., et al. (2006). Association of neural and physiological responses during voluntary emotion suppression. NeuroImage, 29 (3), 721-733] and negative connectivity with bilateral amygdala. These data suggest that processes involved in emotional regulation are recruited during task performance in the context of emotional distractors.

We describe a program of research examining how the relationship between positive and negative affect varies both between individuals and within individuals over time. This Dynamic Model of Affect (DMA) proposes that under conditions that promote maximal information processing, positive and negative affective systems function relatively independently. In contrast, under conditions characterized by uncertainty, including pain and stress, the affects become strongly inversely related. Included in our consideration are potential individual differences in the ability to sustain affective differentiation during pain and other stressors, and the implications of this model for perceptions of social relations and for interventions to improve well-being among the chronically ill.

Purpose This pilot study compared usual care alone with usual care plus meditation in relation to anxiety, depression, pain, and quality of life in community-dwelling older adults with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). PHN may occur after shingles, and has been described as one of the most intractable neuropathic pain disorders. Older adults develop PHN more often than younger adults. Mindfulness meditation, found to be beneficial in the management of some chronic pain conditions, has not been specifically examined in older adults with PHN.

It is becoming more and more difficult to ensure robust patterning after OPC due to the continuous reduction of layout dimensions and diminishing process windows associated with each successive lithographic generation. Lithographers must guarantee high imaging fidelity throughout the entire range of normal process variations. The techniques of Mask Rule Checking (MRC) and Optical Rule Checking (ORC) have become mandatory tools for ensuring that OPC delivers robust patterning. However the first method relies on geometrical checks and the second one is based on a model built at best process conditions. Thus those techniques do not have the ability to address all potential printing errors throughout the process window (PW). To address this issue, a technique known as Critical Failure ORC (CFORC) was introduced that uses optical parameters from aerial image simulations. In CFORC, a numerical model is used to correlate these optical parameters with experimental data taken throughout the process window to predict printing errors. This method has proven its efficiency for detecting potential printing issues through the entire process window [1]. However this analytical method is based on optical parameters extracted via an optical model built at single process conditions. It is reasonable to expect that a verification method involving optical models built from several points throughout PW would provide more accurate predictions of printing errors for complex features. To verify this approach, compact optical models similar to those used for standard OPC were built and calibrated with experimental data measured at the PW limits. This model is then applied to various test patterns to predict potential printing errors. In this paper, a comparison between these two approaches is presented for the poly layer at 65 nm node patterning. Examples of specific failure predictions obtained separately with the two techniques are compared with experimental results. The details of implementing these two techniques on full product layouts are also included in this study.

At present, the question of the move from 193 to 157nm lithography is under discussion. There are still several major issues such as the development of 157nm photo-resists and pellicles, as well as calcium-fluoride lens material availability. The extension of the 193nm lithography down to the 65- and 45-nm half pitch technologies is now considered as a serious alternative. This requires several technical challenges with the use of phase shift masks (PSM), optical proximity effects corrections or liquid immersion. Simulation gives information on expected process latitudes and is an important tool to help this technical choice. Previous works [1,2] have shown that the "Diffused Aerial Image Model" (DAIM) [3] is accurate for CD prediction. Reliable process latitudes can be extracted from the simulated focus-exposure matrices (FEM). The model is used for the process latitudes evaluation of the different lithography approaches possibly used to print the 65- and 45-nm half pitches. 193nm illumination in addition to PSM is compared to 157nm lithography associated with conventional or optimized illumination schemes. This work shows that PSM at 193nm gives generally better exposure latitude for all pitches and CD, and confirms that 193nm lithography is a possible alternative to achieve 45nm and 70nm half pitches patterning. The process windows are nevertheless very small, and huge mask error factors (MEEF) are another sign that printing such small features is close to the physical limit (k1 factor close to the quarter).