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This parallel-group, randomized controlled pilot study examined daily meditation in a diverse sample of older adults with postherpetic neuralgia. Block randomization was used to allocate participants to a treatment group (n = 13) or control group (n = 14). In addition to usual care, the treatment group practiced daily meditation for six weeks. All participants completed questionnaires at enrollment in the study, two weeks later, and six weeks after that, at the study's end. Participants recorded daily pain and fatigue levels in a diary, and treatment participants also noted meditation practice. Results at the 0.10 level indicated improvement in neuropathic, affective, and total pain scores for the treatment group, whereas affective pain worsened for the control group. Participants were able to adhere to the daily diary and meditation requirements in this feasibility pilot study.

This study reports on daily hope, coping, stress, and affect among 84 fire service members who completed a 21-day diary. Multilevel modeling showed that between-person hope was related to higher positive affect. Three-way interactions were found for within-person hope, stress, and daily coping in the prediction of daily affect. When under high stress and if low in hope, more emotion–expression coping predicted higher next day positive affect whereas if high in hope, more problem-focused coping predicted more positive affect. Within-person hope, stress, and emotion–expression coping interacted to predict negative affect. Findings for the prediction of negative affect necessitate further research to determine if the nature of coping under low hope and low stress is qualitatively distinct from high hope states.

Background High rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms have been observed in earthquake survivors from less developed areas of the world. This study, conducted three years after the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, aimed to identify potentially protective psychosocial factors associated with lower PTSD and depressive symptom levels. Methods Adult earthquake survivors (N=200) were recruited from affected areas in Northwestern Pakistan and completed self-report questionnaires measuring PTSD and depressive symptoms, positive and negative affect, and four psychosocial variables (purpose in life, positive and negative religious coping, and social support). Results Sixty five percent of participants met criteria for probable PTSD. Purpose in life was associated with lower symptom levels and higher positive emotions. A form of negative religious coping (feeling punished by God for one’s sins or lack of spirituality) was associated with higher symptom levels and negative emotions. Higher perceived social support was associated with higher positive emotions. Other significant relationships were also identified. Limitations Limitations include the recruitment of a sample of convenience, a modest sample size, and the cross-sectional nature of the study. Conclusions Findings suggest that some psychosocial factors may be protective across cultures, and that the use of negative religious coping is associated with poorer mental health outcomes in earthquake survivors. This study can inform preventive and treatment interventions for earthquake survivors in Pakistan and other less industrialized countries as they develop mental health care services.

Background Generalized social phobia (GSP) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are both associated with emotion dysregulation. Research implicates dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in both explicit emotion regulation (EER) and top-down attentional control (TAC). Although studies have examined these processes in GSP or GAD, no work compares findings across the two disorders or examines functioning in cases comorbid for both disorders (GSP/GAD). Here we compare the neural correlates of EER and TAC in GSP, GAD, and GSP/GAD. Methods Medication-free adults with GSP (EER n = 19; TAC n = 18), GAD (EER n = 17; TAC n = 17), GSP/GAD (EER n = 17; TAC n = 15), and no psychopathology (EER n = 18; TAC n = 18) participated. During EER, individuals alternatively viewed and upregulated and downregulated responses to emotional pictures. During TAC, they performed an emotional Stroop task. Results For both tasks, significant group × condition interactions emerged in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and parietal cortices. Healthy adults showed significantly increased recruitment during emotion regulation, relative to emotion-picture viewing. GAD, GSP, and GSP/GAD subjects showed no such increases, with all groups differing from healthy adults but not from each other. Evidence of emotion-related disorder-specificity emerged in medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala. This disorder-specific responding varied as a function of emotion content but not emotion-regulatory demands. Conclusions GSP and GAD both involve reduced capacity for engaging emotion-regulation brain networks, whether explicitly or via TAC. A reduced ability to recruit regions implicated in top-down attention might represent a general risk factor for anxiety disorders.

This paper examines the status of the floriculture industry in northwest Ohio, barriers facing firms in this transitioning sector, and strategies to promote industry competitiveness. Specifically, the paper focuses on the business practices of firms and efforts by local policymakers, academics, and business leaders to alter the regional dynamics of the industry vis-a-vis a grassroots “cluster” initiative. Using survey and focus group data, the paper demonstrates that culture, tradition, and shared values are key barriers to change and suggests that local cluster initiatives—like the Maumee Valley Growers—are an effective strategy for overcoming these barriers. From an applied perspective, the paper demonstrates the importance of contextualizing applied geographic research and the potential for geographers to chart, inform, and shape the internal geographies, practices, and trajectories of local actors and industry.

Background The purpose of this study was to develop a model to predict the emotional and behavioral responses to an avian flu outbreak. Methods The participants were 289 university students ranging in age, income, and ethnic backgrounds. They were presented with scenarios describing avian flu outbreaks affecting their community. They reported their anticipated emotional responses (positive emotion, negative emotion) and behavioral responses (helping, avoidance, sacrifice, illegal behavior) as if the scenarios were actually occurring. They also were assessed on individual differences expected to predict their responses. Results Participants were only modestly familiar with the avian flu and anticipated strong emotional and behavioral responses to an outbreak. Path analyses were conducted to test a model for predicting responses. The model showed that age, sex, income, spirituality, resilience, and neuroticism were related to responses. Spirituality, resilience, and income predicted better emotional responses, and neuroticism and female sex predicted worse emotional responses. Age, sex, income, and spirituality had direct effects on behavior. The emotional responses were directly related to each behavior and mediated the effects of individual differences. Conclusion Emotional responses may be important in predicting behavior after an outbreak of avian flu, and personal characteristics may predict both emotional and behavioral responses.

This study examined the role of resilience in habituation to heat and cold pain in healthy women (n = 47). Heat and cold pain thresholds were each assessed across 5 equally spaced trials. Resilience, purpose in life, optimism, social support, and neuroticism were assessed using self-report measures. The hypothesis was that the resilience and the associated resilience factors would be positively related to habituation to heat and cold pain while controlling for neuroticism. Multilevel modeling was used to test the hypothesis. When considering each characteristic separately, resilience and purpose in life predicted greater habituation to heat pain while resilience, purpose in life, optimism, and social support predicted greater habituation to cold pain. When controlling for the other characteristics, both resilience and purpose in life predicted greater habituation to heat and cold pain. Resilience and associated characteristics such as a sense of purpose in life may be related to enhanced habituation to painful stimuli. Future research should further examine the relationship between resilience, purpose in life, and habituation to pain and determine whether psychosocial interventions that target resilience and purpose in life improve habituation and reduce vulnerability to chronic pain. Perspective This article showed that resilience and a sense of purpose in life were both related to the ability to habituate to heat and cold pain in healthy women. These personal characteristics may enhance habituation to pain by providing the confidence and motivation to persist in the face of painful stimuli.

Objective The aim of this study was to identify individual differences associated with the willingness to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Design A questionnaire was administered and the relationship between individual differences and the willingness to use CAM was examined using correlation and multiple regression analyses. Participants The sample consisted of 276 undergraduate students (64% female) of diverse ethnicity (43% white, 33% Hispanic, 8% Native American, 16% other) and a wide range of incomes. Measures The willingness to use 16 types of CAM was assessed for six categories: whole medical systems, mind-body medicine, biologically based practices, manipulative and body-based practices, energy medicine, and spiritually based practices. The individual differences assessed included age, gender, income, ethnicity, the Big Five personality characteristics, optimism, spirituality, religiosity, and three aspects of emotional intelligence: mood attention, mood clarity, and mood repair. Results The individual differences accounted for approximately one fifth of the variance in overall willingness to use CAM. Openness to experience, spirituality, and mood attention were the strongest predictors of overall willingness to use CAM and were related to the willingness to use most of the individual types of CAM. Older age or female gender was related to greater willingness to use most of the mind-body medicines. Hispanic ethnicity was related to greater willingness to use curanderismo , and Native American ethnicity was related to greater willingness to use Native American medicine and a spiritual/faith healer.

The current study used event-related fMRI to examine BOLD responses associated with two factors that behaviorally determine speed of lexical decision: frequency and emotion. Thirteen healthy adults performed a visual lexical decision task, discriminating between words and orthographically and phonologically legal nonwords. The study involved a 2 (Frequency: high and low) × 3 (Emotional arousal: highly negative, mildly negative, and neutral words) design with word categories matched for number of letters and concreteness. There were significant main effects for both frequency and emotion in lexical decision reaction times but no significant interaction. Negative word lexical decisions were associated with increased activation in bilateral amygdala and middle temporal cortex as well as rostral anterior and posterior cingulate cortex. Low-frequency word lexical decisions, relative to high-frequency word lexical decisions, were associated with increased bilateral activity in inferior frontal cortex. Inferior frontal cortex activation was particularly low during lexical decision for high-frequency emotional words but significant for high-frequency neutral emotional words. We suggest that this is because the semantic representation of high-frequency emotional words may receive sufficient additional augmentation via the reciprocal activation from the amygdala such that selective augmentation by inferior frontal cortex to achieve lexical decision is unnecessary.

The influence of depression and interpersonal stress on immune function was examined in older women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). The participants were examined during a week of low disease activity and low interpersonal stress (baseline), a week of high interpersonal stress (stress), and during the following week (stress+1). Measures of depressive symptoms, circulating stress hormones and immune cells, and a clinician's global ratings of disease activity were obtained. RA patients, and depressed patients with either RA or OA. In addition, RA patients who were depressed had higher levels of CD4 (T helper) and lower levels of CD8 (T suppressor) lymphocytes than OA patients and non-depressed individuals, suggesting a possible pathway for the influence of stress and depression on disease activity.

This study investigated whether interpersonal sensitivity was associated with reactivity to spousal conflict beyond neuroticism. Interpersonal sensitivity is defined as an excessive sensitivity to the behavior and feelings of others. Participants were 49 healthy older women who were interviewed weekly for 12–20 consecutive weeks. Interpersonal sensitivity and neuroticism were measured in mailed questionnaires. Spousal conflict, positive affect, and negative affect were assessed weekly in phone interviews. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted predicting positive and negative affect from interpersonal sensitivity, spousal conflict, and the sensitivity×spousal conflict interaction. Neuroticism and age were used as control variables. The results indicated that women higher in interpersonal sensitivity had more negative affect and less positive affect in times of spousal conflict than women lower in interpersonal sensitivity. The findings suggest that interpersonal sensitivity may play a unique role in reactivity to interpersonal conflict.

Copolymers of trimethysilylmethyl methacrylate and chloromethylstyrene [P(SI-CMS)] have been formulated as negative resists for exposure at 193 nm. To achieve maximum sensitivity, absorption has been targeted so that the amount of radiation exposing the base of a given film thickness is I 0 e −1 , leading to an optimum optical absorbance of log 10 e , or 0.434. Through control of the mole ratio of the monomers in the P(SI-CMS) copolymer, optimum response has been tailored for coating thicknesses from 2000 A to 5500 A. Optimal formulations yield working sensitivities of from 4 to 20 mJ/cm 2 for materials having a M w of 4 × 10 4 g/mole, with resolution demonstrated below 0.4 μm. Resists exhibit etching resistance in O 2 RIE and are suitable for application in both single layer and bi-layer processes.

Results are presented from investigations into the UV properties of various oxide, nitride, and intermetallic materials for application as attenuated phase shift masking films for 248 and 193 nm wavelengths. There are several materials which are potential candidates as attenuating phase shifting films at short UV wavelengths. None of these, however, are elemental films or stoichiometric compounds. Non-stoichiometric alloys, cermets, and composite materials do though allow for phase shift mask solutions. Through modeling of free electron and bound electron behavior of metals, dielectrics, and semiconductors, predications can be made about the optical properties of their combinations. By adjusting the material stoichiometry through control of sputter deposition parameters, films can be tailored for specific optical applications. Through use of extinction coefficient/refractive index plots (k-n plots), evaluation of phase shifting films is made possible. Details on four classes of materials are presented: a tantalum silicon oxide (TaSiO), an aluminum rich aluminum nitride ( Al AlN ), a molybdenum silicon oxide (MoSiO), and non-stoichiometric silicon nitride (SixNy). Attenuated phase shifting films have been produced based on all four classes. Optical properties and RIE etch processes for materials are compared.

1. 1. Caloric intake and water needs were measured in house mice, Mus musculus , rearing litters of three, six, nine and twelve young. 2. 2. For the 3 weeks of lactation net caloric requirements of females nursing litters increased by 31·0 to 80·9 per cent over values for control mice. Food requirements were proportional to litter size and were highest during the last week of lactation. 3. 3. Water intake of lactating mice increased by 37·7 to 128·1 per cent above baseline. 4. 4. Assimilation efficiency appeared unaffected by lactation. 5. 5. Growth of the young was inversely related to litter size and efficiency of net production was highest for mice nursing litters of three. Efficiencies for females with litters of six, nine and twelve were similar.