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Several protective factors for mitigating suicidal ideation (SI) such as positive affect, reasons for living, purpose in life, meaning in life, gratitude, grit, optimism, social support, and hope have been identified and received empirical support. However, few studies have examined the interrelationships of these protective factors and the identification of protective factors most closely linked to lower levels of SI may be useful for both theory-building initiatives and improvement of suicide-specific interventions. Network analysis offers an approach for testing the relation among these constructs, SI, and suicide risk factors. A sample N = 557 undergraduate students oversampled for lifetime SI completed a cross-sectional, online survey. The data was used to estimate an undirected, cross-sectional network of the aforementioned protective factors. The resulting inferred network implicates strong negative influence of suicide cognitions, but not recent SI, and the strong positive influence of presence of meaning in life, trait hope, and low negative affect. Implications for dimensionality of SI versus suicide cognitions, targeting presence of meaning in life, trait hope, and negative affect in treatment, and cross-cultural variations in reasons for living are discussed. The study is limited by the cross-sectional and convenience sampling methodology. Protective factors may have less direct influence on suicidal ideation Suicide cognitions and the suicidal mode may be of phenomenological importance Presence of meaning and trait hope may be primary targets for suicide interventions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active learning—and gaming, in particular—is now a well-established part of many political science courses. First, we discuss the design and implementation of a "Gateway Game", a pedagogical tool with broad applicability and test its effectiveness in increasing student motivation, satisfaction, and learning. Crucially, we provide instructors with all the tools necessary to run the game in their classroom to experience this for themselves. Second, using surveys of classroom participants, we show that the game increases student satisfaction, motivation, and learning, suggesting that this game comprises an exciting entry point for learning in many environments. Third, we describe how this game can be integrated into a variety of courses and subfields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Schizotypy is defined as personality traits reflecting an underlying risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. As yet, there is a dearth of suitable objective markers for measuring schizotypy. Frontal alpha asymmetry, characterised by reduced left versus right frontal region activity, reflects trait-like diminished approach-related systems and has been found in schizophrenia. Methods: The present study used electroencephalography (EEG) recorded on a consumer-grade mobile headset to examine asymmetric resting-state frontal alpha, beta, and gamma power within the multidimensional schizotypy (e.g. positive, negative, disorganised) during a three-minute "eyes closed" resting period in college undergraduates (n=49). Results: Findings suggest that schizotypy was exclusively related to reduced left versus right-lateralised power in the alpha frequency (8.1–12.9 Hz., R2=.16). Follow-up analysis suggested that positive schizotypy was uniquely associated with increased right alpha activity, indicating increased withdrawal motivation. Conclusions: Frontal asymmetry is a possible ecologically valid objective marker for schizotypy that may be detectable using easily accessible, consumer-grade technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal selling and sales management issues have been the focus of tremendous attention by research scholars, thus expanding our extant knowledge of the field of marketing. However, studies on the development of the discipline of personal selling and sales management from a historical perspective have been sparse. Accordingly, this manuscript makes a unique contribution by partially addressing this gap in the literature by tracing the transition of personal selling through sales management to a prominent role in strategic marketing channel management. From a historical vantage point this article discusses the genesis and evolution of personal selling and sales management, which include the Pioneer Era (1750–1780), Era of Scarcity (1780–1820), Era of Production (1820–1870), Era of Innovation and Growth (1870–1914), Era of Scientific Management (1880–1920), Era of the Roaring Twenties (1920–1929), Era of World Turmoil (1929–1945), Era of Postwar Recovery and Prosperity (1945–1977), Era of Personal Computers, Empowerment of Salespeople, Changing Roles of Sales Managers (1977–2000), and the Era of Customer Relationships and Top-Level Sales Managers As Strategic Channel Managers (2000–Present). With reference to the current era, the article discusses the role salespeople in general and senior- to top-level sales managers in particular play in fostering long-term relationships with a firm's marketing channel members by moving from transactional selling and relationship selling to the current greater emphasis on forging symbiotic and synergistic strategic partnerships/alliances with reseller intermediaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Depression in late life is a major, yet unrecognized public health problem in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The dearth of specialist resources, together with the limited ability of current depression treatments to avert years lived with disability, underscores the need for preventive interventions that can be delivered by lay health workers in primary care settings. We describe the development of an intervention for the indicated prevention of depression in older adults at risk due to subsyndromal symptoms, attending rural and urban public primary care clinics in Goa, India. Objectives: (1) to describe a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative)to the development of 'DIL,' an intervention for preventing the onset of major depression in older adults living with subsyndromal symptoms in Goa, India; (2) to describe resulting components of the 'DIL' intervention; and (3) to present data on the feasibility, acceptability, and benefit of DIL to participants. Methods: We followed a mixed-methods design, including in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, a theory of change workshop to develop a logic model, and an open-case series. Results: The mixed-method approach led to the development and adaptation of the DIL (Depression in Later Life) intervention for the indicated prevention of depression in older adults. The intervention was delivered by lay health counselors (LHCs). 'DIL' is a hybrid model of simple behavioral strategies grounded in Problem-solving Therapy for Primary Care, improved self-management of common, co-occurring medical disorders such as diabetes mellitus, and pragmatic assistance in navigating to needed social services. The use of 'DIL' in an open-case series with 19 participants led to a moderate reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety on the General Health Questionnaire. A pictorial flipchart was developed to assist in delivering the intervention to participants with low levels of literacy. High rates of participant retention and satisfaction were achieved. Conclusion: The DIL intervention was adapted to the local context for delivery by lay health counselors and was found to be acceptable and feasible among the elderly participants in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clarifying relationships between specific neurocognitive functions in cognitively intact older adults can improve our understanding of mechanisms involved in cognitive decline, which may allow identification of new opportunities for intervention and earlier detection of those at increased risk of dementia. Method: The present study employed latent growth curve modeling to longitudinally examine the relationship between executive attention/processing speed, episodic memory, language, and working memory functioning utilizing the neuropsychological test battery from the National Alzheimer’s Disease Coordinating Center. A total of 691 relatively healthy older adults (Mage = 69.07,SD = 6.49) were assessed at baseline, and 553 individuals completed three visits spanning a two-year period. Results: Better cognitive performance was concomitantly associated with better functioning across domains. Subtle declines in executive attention/processing speed processes were found, while, on average, memory and language performance improved with repeated testing. Lower executive attention/processing speed performance at baseline predicted less incremental growth rate in memory. In turn, higher initial memory functioning was associated with incremental improvements in language performance. Conclusions: These results are consistent with the notion that intact executive function and attention processes are important to preserving memory functioning with advanced age, but are also the functions most susceptible to decline with age. These findings also provide further insight into the critical role of practice effects in clinical assessment practice and have implications for pharmaceutical trials. Practice effects should be routinely considered as they may give the appearance of retention of function within the cognitive domains considered to be a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:The population of India is aging rapidly. This demographic shift brings with it a host of challenges to the health and well-being of older adults, including the increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases, among them depressive disorders. In this paper, we report on qualitative research intended to inform the development of a locally acceptable and appropriate intervention to improve the well-being of older adults in Goa, India and, specifically, to prevent late-life depression. Method:Semi-structured interviews with 20 individuals, aged 60 years and older, attending two primary care clinics in Goa, India. Transcripts were reviewed to identify emerging themes, a coding scheme was developed and thematic analyses were conducted. Results:Analyses of the interview transcripts revealed the following key themes: (1) notions of old age tended to be negative and there were widespread fears of becoming widowed or incapacitated; (2) the most frequently reported health conditions were joint pain, diabetes and heart disease; (3) emotional distress was described using the terms ‘tension’, ‘stress’, ‘worry’ and ‘thinking’; (4) family issues often involved financial matters, difficult relationships with daughters-in-law and conflicted feelings about living with the family or independently; (5) other than a pension scheme, participants did not know of community resources available to older adults. Conclusions:Our findings are in general agreement with those of previous research, and with our experiences of working with older adults in Pittsburgh and the Netherlands.This research will inform the development of an intervention to prevent depression in older adults in Goa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Individuals with schizotypy self-report subjective cognitive complaints commensurate with deficits reported by individuals with schizophrenia. In contrast to schizophrenia, objective deficits in memory are modest in individuals with schizotypy, as compared to their self-reported cognitive complaints. It has been proposed that abnormalities in semantic memory systems may underlie this dysjunction. Methods: This study employed a modified verbal memory paradigm in a sample of 87 individuals with psychometrically defined schizotypy. Appraisals of memory performance were evaluated across global (i.e. drawing on semantic memory systems and assessing perceived typical performance) and situation-specific (i.e. drawing on episodic memory systems) epochs. Objective memory performance was assessed using a verbal recall paradigm. Results: Individuals with schizotypy did not differ in situation-specific appraisals or in objective memory performance. Global appraisals of memory performance predicted negative and disorganised schizotypy scores. No other measure of memory performance predicted any facet of schizotypy. Individuals with schizotypy appraised their global memory performance higher than controls at a medium effect. Conclusions: Higher order global appraisals of cognitive performance, subsumed within semantic networks, may be important in the subjective–objective paradox in schizotypy, suggesting the importance of considering demand characteristics when assessing measures of neurocognitive performance in individuals with schizotypy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction.In clinical high-risk populations, category fluency deficits are associated with conversion to psychosis. However, their utility as clinical risk markers is unclear in psychometric schizotypy, a group experiencing schizophrenia-like traits that is at putative high risk for psychosis. Methods.We examined whether introducing affective or cognitive load, two important stress vulnerability markers, altered category fluency performance in schizotypy (n = 42) and non-schizotypy (n = 38) groups. To investigate this question, we developed an experimental paradigm where all participants were administered category fluency tests across baseline, pleasant valence, unpleasant valence, and cognitive load conditions. Results.Compared to the non-schizotypy group, those with schizotypy performed significantly worse in pleasant and unpleasant valence conditions, but not cognitive load or baseline fluency tests. Conclusions.This study demonstrated the role of affect – but not cognitive load – on category fluency in psychometric schizotypy, as group differences only emerged once affective load was introduced. One explanation for this finding is that semantic memory may be unimpaired under normal conditions in psychometric schizotypy, but may be compromised once affective load is presented. Future studies should examine whether fluency deficits – particularly when affect is induced – predict future conversion to psychosis in psychometric schizotypy cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Herpes simplex virus type 1 continues to be the leading cause of infectious corneal blindness. Clinical trials for vaccines against genital HSV infection have been ongoing for more than three decades. Despite this, no approved vaccine exists, and no formal clinical trials have evaluated the impact of HSV vaccines on eye health. We review here the current state of development for an efficacious herpes simplex virus type 1 vaccine and call for involvement of ophthalmologists and vision researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Ideas of reference (IOR), paranoia and social anxiety are features of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, which appear to be conceptually related; however, the precise nature of these relationships is unclear. These relationships may be partially explained by perceived intentionality (PI), a social-cognitive bias for perceiving other people's actions during unpleasant situations as being directed at oneself in an intentionally malicious manner. Our primary aim was to examine the moderating role of PI on the relationships between IOR and paranoia, and between IOR and social anxiety amongst individuals with psychometrically defined schizotypy. Methods. We assessed IOR, paranoia and social anxiety amongst individuals with psychometrically defined schizotypy (n= 44) and controls (n= 36) and examined the moderating effects of PI within each group. Results. As hypothesised, PI moderated the relationship between IOR and paranoia such that higher PI predicted higher levels of paranoia as IOR increased. Additionally, we found that PI moderated the relationship between IOR and social anxiety such that higher PI predicted lower levels of social anxiety as IOR increased. Conclusion. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed including the potential for assessing PI as a proxy for paranoia when clinicians suspect a client is underreporting paranoia due to positive impression management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research indicates that patients with schizophrenia have impaired olfaction detection ability. However, studies of individuals with psychometrically defined schizotypy reveal mixed results-some document impairments while others do not. In addition to deficits in objective accuracy in olfaction for patients with schizophrenia, there has been an interest in subjective experience of olfaction. Unfortunately, methods of assessing accuracy and subjective hedonic olfactory evaluations in prior studies may not have been sensitive enough to detect group differences in this area. This study employed a measure of olfactory functioning featuring an expanded scoring system to assess both accuracy and subjective evaluations of pleasant and unpleasant experience. Data were collected for patients with schizophrenia, young adults with psychometrically defined schizotypy, psychiatric outpatients, and healthy controls. Results of this study indicate that both the schizophrenia and outpatient psychiatric groups showed similar levels of impaired olfaction ability; however, the schizotypy group was not impaired in olfaction detection. Interestingly, with regard to subjective hedonic evaluation, it was found that patients with schizophrenia did not differ from psychiatric outpatients, whereas individuals with schizotypy tended to rate smells as significantly less pleasant than healthy control participants. This suggests that subjective olfactory assessment is abnormal in some manner in schizotypy. It also suggests that accuracy of olfaction identification may be a characteristic of severe mental illness across severe mental illness diagnoses. The results are potentially important for understanding olfaction deficits across the mental illness spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the impact of learning spaces as well as collaborative technology, which affects library building and design. The article illustrates that learning spaces are an important component in the design of library buildings rather then a temporary trend. During each of our company's latest public library building projects, both librarians and architecture teams have recognized the need to support increases in learning activities. To bring more users to the public library, they recommended that the building needed increased seating to support training, education and in-house cultural programming. The stories cited in this article suggest that there is a relationship between learning spaces and collaborative technology. Among librarians and library planners, learning spaces are seen as a unifying requirement for the expansion of library services. They recognize that the library's seating plan must include more learning spaces to support social networking, sharing and project base learning. Our qualitative findings suggest that public libraries need more learning spaces to support new types of digital work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a constant stream of information emanating from psychiatric research. The challenge for the clinician to keep abreast of the latest research findings is huge. However, even more daunting is the task of making sense of the sometimes conflicting data. In this paper, we provide some examples of evidence that seemed to have been accepted with relatively little critical examination. We discuss how evidence may look plausible on the surface either because contextual factors have not been considered or because they fit into a pre-determined world view. We argue that, in the end, the process of making sense of evidence is not straightforward and that professional biases and social prejudices often influence decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the association of the ratings of the deficit and negative syndrome with lower levels of self-reported stress. Link of schizophrenia with diminished positive and negative emotions; Influence of stress in conceptualizations of schizophrenia onset and relapse; Levels of positive emotionality.