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During real or presumed life-threatening incidents and/or near-death circumstances, some people experience a visual life relations reminder (VLRR), which consists primarily of imagery portraying and focused on living loved ones that visually appear in an uncontrollable and/or rapid manner. This phenomenon differs from the more recognised life review that also sometimes occurs under similar conditions, which is instead a visual memory revival of past self-inclusive events or activities. This exploratory paper is the first to specifically discuss VLRRs and provides relevant insight from a reflexive thematic analysis of 57 VLRRs, generating some important qualitative themes based on meaningful patterns identified in narrative data. Relevant data excerpts to support the generated themes are provided and then those themes are discussed in more detail. This paper closes with a hypothesis that the VLRR is a purposeful and beneficial psychological phenomenon with an effect that often boosts the experient’s will to live and survive by reminding them of important relationships in their current life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence suggests that experiences in nature enhance mental wellbeing. However, we are yet to clearly understand the processes through which this occurs. This study employed an exploratory qualitative approach to investigate how time spent in nature supports mental wellbeing. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 participants. Thematic analysis yielded three dominant themes: (1) 'a sense of perspective', (2) 'mental and emotional sanctuary' and (3) 'being immersed in the moment'. Themes echoed relaxation and restoration of mental functioning, enhanced positive affect in natural environments and feelings of oneness with nature. However, participants also described experiences that reflected increased mindfulness, gratitude and awe, gaining a broader perspective on their concerns and feeling humbled in nature. Findings extend previous theoretical perspectives suggesting a more interactive relationship between people and their environment. The implications being that a more nuanced approach may better inform policy, research and practice in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balakrishnan et al. proposed a two-piece skew logistic distribution by making use of the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of half distributions as the building block, to give rise to an asymmetric family of two-piece distributions, through the inclusion of a single shape parameter. This paper proposes the construction of asymmetric families of two-piece distributions by making use of quantile functions of symmetric distributions as building blocks. This proposition will enable the derivation of a general formula for the L-moments of two-piece distributions. Examples will be presented, where the logistic, normal, Student's t(2) and hyperbolic secant distributions are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research has been conducted over the last half century in developing stochastic processes, and their dynamical nature. Typically, for time indexed processes, the temporal distribution is restricted to those having marginal distributions of a specified and familiar lifetime family. Extensions of temporal models to the spatio-temporal setting can be challenging. We generalize the results from a spatial statistic that captures local correlation, Moran's index, to the spatio-temporal frame and describe a model that can be applied to temporal dynamical phenomena. The proposed approach leads to novel statistical inference results. Ensuring a foundational Moran measure is critical in describing event occurrence and progression over time of the process from observed initial conditions. In this paper, we provide a descriptive form of discrete spatio-temporal Moran's index statistics based on processes motivated by the spread of an infectious plant disease in an agricultural setting. This family possesses an underlying Poisson point process in space and time. Estimators are developed and applied to simulated data and the output are analyzed. Our results adds substantially to known results in the literature and elude to the description of the time dependent Moran's values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subjective quality of life (sQOL) has become an established outcome indicator in psychosis research, but longitudinal studies from developing countries remain scarce. This study aimed to examine sQOL, its short-term course and its predictors among people with early psychosis in central Vietnam. Community-dwelling individuals with early psychosis and their relatives were recruited via public health facilities for a naturalistic 6 month longitudinal study. The WHO Quality of Life-Bref and other standardized assessments were administered to 77 patients at baseline and 56 at follow-up. Average sQOL levels were found to be moderate across all key domains, but individuals who reported good QOL were in the minority. Negative appraisals in the environment domain, particularly in terms of money, were more common than in other QOL areas. Although level of community functioning improved significantly over the 6 month period, mean sQOL scores remained unchanged. Generalized estimating equation models revealed that more social support, being unmarried, and absence of dysphoria and negative symptoms were significantly associated with better sQOL in most domains. In summary, functional improvement may not necessarily result in enhanced sQOL for individuals with early psychosis in this setting. Local socioeconomic factors appeared to be among the most important influences on subjective wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of several rare coins inscribed with Lavo pura confirms the existence of a city and province described under the name Lohu (or Lohuk) in Chinese records of the Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty (1260-1368) and in Vietnamese historical records as Lộ Hạc. This city and the province to which it gave its name were evidently the “province of Locach” described in the Travels of Marco Polo, the location of which remained a riddle to the mapmakers and navigators of the Age of Discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sales presentation is one of the most challenging and dynamic aspect of the sales process. Often-times, the presentation is composed of teams. The purpose of this study is to examine how improvisation manifests itself in the context of the sales team presentation. Utilizing the theoretical foundations of team dynamics and relationships, unplanned behavior, and emotional intelligence, a model of sales team improvisation is developed. A two-phase research design was employed via qualitative in-depth interviews from buyers and sellers followed by a quantitative survey of experienced sales team professionals. Our results find that improvisation impacts the relationship between emotional intelligence and team presentation performance outcomes. Although team selling is common in practice, a dearth of research exists in the sales literature. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on team dynamics and emotion in selling. Additionally, this study is one of the first to specifically investigate improvisation in the high pressure context of sales team presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the potential usefulness of the three-parameter transmuted generalized exponential distribution for analyzing lifetime data. We compare it with various generalizations of the two-parameter exponential distribution using maximum likelihood estimation. Some mathematical properties of the new extended model including expressions for the quantile and moments are investigated. We propose a location-scale regression model, based on the log-transmuted generalized exponential distribution. Two applications with real data are given to illustrate the proposed family of lifetime distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the potential usefulness of the three-parameter transmuted Weibull distribution for modeling survival data. The main advantage of this distribution is that it has increasing, decreasing or constant instantaneous failure rate depending on the shape parameter and the new transmuting parameter. We obtain several mathematical properties of the transmuted Weibull distribution such as the expressions for the quantile function, moments, geometric mean, harmonic mean, Shannon, Rényi and q-entropies, mean deviations, Bonferroni and Lorenz curves, and the moments of order statistics. We propose a location-scale regression model based on the log-transmuted Weibull distribution for modeling lifetime data. Applications to two real datasets are given to illustrate the flexibility and potentiality of the transmuted Weibull family of lifetime distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A standardized measure of healthfulness of foods, like the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), is particularly important for hunger relief agencies as they serve at-risk clients. The objective of this study is to compare applications in the food shelf setting of the HEI-2005 and HEI-2010 and discuss discrepancies broadly and in the food shelf context. Invoices for foods ordered by 273 food shelves during 2013 were obtained from 2 large Minnesota food banks. Both HEI editions were calculated using the same set of foods. The average total HEI-2005 score (69.3) and the average total HEI-2010 score (62.6) were significantly different (P < .0001). Both food shelves’ total average score falls into the category “needs improvement.” Our findings have practical and research implications in food shelf settings and other environments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, the kurtosis of the logistic-exponential distribution is analyzed. All the moments of this survival distribution are finite, but do not possess closed-form expressions. The standardized fourth central moment, known as Pearson’s coefficient of kurtosis and often used to describe the kurtosis of a distribution, can thus also not be expressed in closed form for the logistic-exponential distribution. Alternative kurtosis measures are therefore considered, specifically quantile-based measures and theL-kurtosis ratio. It is shown that these kurtosis measures of the logistic-exponential distribution are invariant to the values of the distribution’s single shape parameter and hence skewness invariant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human female orgasmis avexed question in the fieldwhile there is credible evidence of cryptic female choice that has many hallmarks of orgasm in other species. Our initial goal was to produce a proof of concept for allowing females to study an aspect of infertility in a home setting, specifically by aligning the study of human infertility and increased fertility with the study of other mammalian fertility. In the latter case - the realm of oxytocin-mediated sperm retention mechanisms seems to be at work in terms of ultimate function (differential sperm retention) while the proximate function (rapid transport or cervical tenting) remains unresolved. Method: Arepeated measures design using an easily taught technique in a natural setting was used. Participants were a small (n=6), non-representative sample of females. The introduction of a sperm-simulant combined with an orgasm-producing technique using a vibrator/home massager and other easily supplied materials. Results: The sperm flowback (simulated) was measured using a technique that can be used in a home setting. There was a significant difference in simulant retention between the orgasm (M=4.08, SD=0.17) and nonorgasm (M=3.30, SD=0.22) conditions; t (5)=7.02, p=0.001. Cohen's d=3.97, effect size r=0.89. This indicates a medium to small effect size. Conclusions: This method could allow females to test an aspect of sexual response that has been linked to lowered fertility in a home setting with minimal training. It needs to be replicated with a larger sample size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy behaviour, such as smoking cessation and adherence to prescribed medications, mitigates illness risk factors but health behaviour change can be challenging. Mobile phone short-message service (SMS) messages are increasingly used to deliver interventions designed to enhance healthy behaviour. This meta-analysis used a random-effects model to synthesise 38 randomised controlled trials that investigated the efficacy of SMS messages to enhance healthy behaviour. Participants (N = 19,641) lived in developed and developing countries and were diverse with respect to age, ethnicity, socioeconomic background and health behaviours targeted for change. SMS messages had a small, positive, significant effect (g = 0.291) on a broad range of healthy behaviour. This effect was maximised when multiple SMS messages per day were used (g = 0.395) compared to using lower frequencies (daily, multiple per week and once-off) (g = 0.244). The low heterogeneity in this meta-analysis (I2 = 38.619) supports reporting a summary effect size and implies that the effect of SMS messaging is robust, regardless of population characteristics or healthy behaviour targeted. SMS messaging is a simple, cost-effective intervention that can be automated and can reach any mobile phone owner. While the effect size is small, potential health benefits are well worth achieving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate observation of physiological changes onin vivosamples of important animal species such asEuphausia superba(Antarctic krill) is an important goal in helping to understand how environmental changes can affect animal development. Using a custom made ‘krill trap’, live un-anaesthetized krill were confined for seven hours, during which three hours of optical imaging were obtained and no subsequent ill effects observed. The trap enabled two imaging methods to be employed: optical coherence tomography (OCT) and microscopy. OCT enabled internal structure and tissues to be imaged to a depth of approximately 2 mm and resolution of approximately 12 μm. Microscopy was used to observe heart rate. During our experiments, we imaged a range of internal structures in live animals including the heart and gastric areas. The trap design enables a new generation of mixed modality imaging of these animalsin vivo. These techniques will enable detailed studies of the internal physiology of live krill to be undertaken under a wide range of environmental conditions and have the potential to highlight important variations in behaviour and animal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence that therapists' countertransference responses can affect the therapeutic relationship. There is also evidence that trainee therapists can experience difficulty understanding and managing countertransference. This evidence suggests the need for greater focus on countertransference in the training of professionals, such as psychologists, for whom therapy is a core activity. However, little is currently known about the best way of providing such training or the impact of such training on recipients. This pilot study examined clinical psychology trainees' responses to a teaching and learning method for conceptualising and managing countertransference. The method was designed to be accessible to a range of psychology trainees including those in cognitive behavioural therapy programmes. This article outlines the method and its pilot evaluation. An anonymous online questionnaire was completed by 55 trainees pre-intervention and 40 post-intervention. Qualitative methods were used to examine changes in trainees' analyses of countertransference pre- and post-intervention, and their reports of understanding and managing countertransference. Trainees also rated the intervention. The majority of participants who completed the post-intervention questionnaire reported that training increased awareness of or the ability to conceptualise countertransference. They reported strategies for managing countertransference, although they were less confident in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Selection of candidates for clinical psychology programmes is arguably the most important decision made in determining the clinical psychology workforce. However, there are few models to inform the development of selection tools to support selection procedures. The study, using a factor analytic structure, has operationalised the model predicting applicants' capabilities. Method Eighty-eight clinical applicants for entry into a postgraduate clinical psychology programme were assessed on a series of tasks measuring eight capabilities: guided reflection, communication skills, ethical decision making, writing, conceptual reasoning, empathy, and awareness of mind and self-observation. Results Factor analysis revealed three capabilities: labelled 'awareness' accounting for 35.71% of variance; 'reflection' accounting for 20.56%; and ' reasoning' accounting for 18.24% of variance. Fourth year grade point average ( GPA) did not correlate with performance on any of the selection capabilities other than a weak correlation with performance on the ethics capability. Conclusions Eight selection capabilities are identified for the selection of candidates independent of GPA. While the model is tentative, it is hoped that the findings will stimulate the development and validation of assessment procedures with good predictive validity which will benefit the training of clinical psychologists and, ultimately, effective service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pneumatosis intestinalis is a radiographic finding that represents a spectrum of conditions ranging from benign disease to abdominal sepsis and death. Along with portal venous gas, it is generally considered an ominous sign prompting emergency operative intervention. We report a rare case showing that nonoperative therapy can be considered in a seriously ill patient with esophageal, gastric and portal venous air. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]