58 research outputs found
Psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the satisfaction with life scale in a sample of individuals with mental illness
No full textBackground: Health assessment among individuals with mental health problems often involves measures of ill-being (e.g., anxiety, depression). Health is, however, defined as a state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease (WHO, 1948, 2001). Hence, in order to address mental illness during the 21st century, we need to develop methods for the prevention, identification and treatment of mental illness; but also, for the promotion, identification, and maintenance of well-being. In this context, over three decades of subjective well-being research have resulted in the development of measures of positive aspects of human life, such as the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985). Our aim was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in a Swedish population of individuals with mental illness using both Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT). Method: A total of 264 participants (age mean = 43.46, SD = 13.31) diagnosed with different types of mental illness answered to the Swedish version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (five items, 7-point scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Results: We found positive and significant relationships between the five items of the scale (r ranging from 0.37 to 0.75), good reliability (Cronbachs alpha = 0.86), and that the one-factor solution had best goodness of fit (loadings between 0.52-0.88, p &lt; 0.001). Additionally, there were no significant differences in comparative fit indexes regarding gender and occupation status. All items had high discrimination values (between 1.95-3.81), but item 5 ("If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing"); which had a moderate discrimination value (1.17) and the highest estimated difficulty on response 7 (3.06). Moreover, item 2 ("The conditions of my life are excellent") had less discrimination and redundant difficulty with both item 1 ("In most ways my life is close to my ideal"; 2.03) on response 7 and with item 3 ("I am satisfied with my life"; -1.21) on response 1. The five items together provided good information, with especial good reliability and small standard error within -1.00 up to about 2.00 and the highest amount of test information at 0.00 of the level of life satisfaction within this population. Conclusions: Consistent with previous research, the scale had good reliability and provided good information across most of the latent trait range. In addition, within this population, sociodemographic factors such as gender and occupation status do not influence how individuals respond to the items in the scale. However, the items couldnt measure extreme levels of low/high life satisfaction. We suggest replication of these findings, the test of additional items, and the modification of items 2 and 5 in order to use the scale among individuals with mental illness.Funding Agencies|Region Blekinge; Municipality of Blekinge (Solvesborg); Municipality of Blekinge (Olofstrom); Municipality of Blekinge (Karlshamn); Municipality of Blekinge (Ronneby); Municipality of Blekinge (Karlskrona)</p
Occupation and life satisfaction among individuals with mental illness : the mediation role of self-reported psychophysiological health
No full textBackground: Unemployment can diminish physical, psychological and social health. In this context, research shows that people with mental illness have even more difficulties finding occupation. Thus, some countries, such as Sweden, strive after creating job opportunities for this specific group. We investigated the effect of having an occupation on life satisfaction among individuals with mental illness and whether self-reported physical and psychological health mediated the relationship between being (un)employed and life satisfaction. Method: Two-hundred eighty-seven individuals (148 males, 134 females, and 5 missing information) with mental illness, who received support and services from Swedish Municipalities in Blekinge, self-reported occupation, life satisfaction, and physical and psychological health. Results: Participants who reported having an occupation reported also significantly higher levels of life satisfaction, physical health, and psychological health compared to those without occupation. Nevertheless, these differences were rather small (Eta(2) &lt; 0.06). Moreover, the indirect effect of having an occupation on life satisfaction through physical and psychological health was significant. Finally, the total indirect effect of physical and psychological health (i.e., psychophysiological health) accounted for 53% of the total effect of having an occupation on life satisfaction. Conclusion: For individuals with mental illness there seems to be an almost equal importance of indirect and direct effects of having an occupation on their levels of life satisfaction. More specifically, while there are differences in life satisfaction within this population in relation to having an occupation, having an occupation leads to the sense of good psychophysiological health, which in turn helps individuals with mental illness to feel satisfied with their lives.Funding Agencies|Region Blekinge; Municipality of Blekinge (Solvesborg) through their Research and Development agreement (i.e., FoU-avtalet); Municipality of Blekinge (Olofstrom) through their Research and Development agreement (i.e., FoU-avtalet); Municipality of Blekinge (Karlshamn) through their Research and Development agreement (i.e., FoU-avtalet); Municipality of Blekinge (Ronneby) through their Research and Development agreement (i.e., FoU-avtalet); Municipality of Blekinge (Karlskrona) through their Research and Development agreement (i.e., FoU-avtalet)</p
Behind the scenes. Introduction to the human activities in the Iron Gates region. Preliminary use-wear analysis of chipped stone artefacts from Lepenski Vir and Padina (Serbia)
No full textFor decades, a closed eco-niche like Iron Gates in Eastern Serbia enabled specialists to explore the transition to a sedentary life, with an exceptional record of human occupation during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene. Following the series of published analysis from the architecture to the prehistoric diet of the Iron Gates inhabitants, our research aims to present the newest results regarding the use-wear analysis of chipped stone artefacts from Lepenski Vir and Padina site with a broader focus on the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic in this region. Applying the use-wear analysis is done by using both low and high-power approach together with FTIR analysis. Gained results were interpreted in light with the already stated hypotheses focused on daily routine, but also addressing some longterm aspects like changes in the economy. We observed both function and technology of chipped stone artefacts coming from houses, middens, hearth areas, and open-air spaces. Based on the results, some of the main activities that took part in Iron Gates are processing of hide, bone, antler, fish and vegetable-based plants. It is very important to highlight the complexity of various processes, which make this already specific area more peculiar. Variety of both simple, but overall more complex and composite activities are recorded with the elaborate preparation of the used materials, for example, hide. Particular processes, as butchering was noted both inside the houses, and also concentrated in precise, specific areas in the settlements, where only tools involved in the processing of hide and meat, connected strictly to butchering were found. Obtained data highlights the activities of these advanced hunter-gatherers and fishermen, and first farmers, together with spatial analysis revealed the dynamics and processes in Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic, but also posed many questions regarding the specialization of the prehistoric settlements on the Danube
MEMS monocrystalline-silicon based thermal devices for chemical and microfluidic applications
No full textThis thesis explores the employment of monocrystalline silicon in microsystems as an active material for different thermal functions, such as heat generation and heat transfer by conduction. In chapter 1 applications that need thermal micro devices, micro heaters and micro heat exchangers, are briefly introduced. The shortcomings of commonly used materials are listed, and monocrystalline silicon is identified as an appropriate choice for several thermal micro devices. Chapter 2 briefly presents the basic theory on resistive heating and heat transfer (by conduction, convection and radiation) and how they relate to the devices and structures presented in the following chapters. Chapter 3 summarizes the temperature dependence of the electrical and thermal properties of monocrystalline silicon in a wide temperature range. Thermal conductivity of silicon places silicon among good thermal conductors at room temperature and even better at cryogenic temperatures. In spite of the declining value of thermal conductivity at higher temperatures, silicon is still among the better thermal conductors compared to other materials typically employed in microsystem fabrication. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity is in chapter 3 both derived theoretically and confirmed experimentally on specially prepared samples that used differently-doped silicon layers of the same thickness. Electrical resistivity of silicon first increases with temperature, and after reaching the peak value (at so-called intrinsic temperature) it decreases with further temperature increase. This intrinsic temperature is also dependent on the doping level. Such doped silicon layers can be employed in sensors and specifically in heaters with sensing capability. Chapter 4 introduces a micro-hotplate heater capable of reaching temperatures up to 800 °C. The used materials are epitaxial Si for the heater and TiSi/TiN layer stack for the interconnects, which provides compatibility with CMOS technology. Differently doped silicon layers of different thicknesses were released by bulk micromachining to fabricate free-standing structures. The temperature dependent resistance of silicon was used for temperature monitoring. A silicon-based micro-evaporator is introduced in chapter 5. This is a cooling device intended for dealing with high heat fluxes caused by intensive local heating (e.g. by electrical power dissipation or exothermal chemical reaction). The aim of this micro-evaporator is to achieve a maximum cooling capacity and operation stability at very small liquid flow rates (in the order of 1-5 ml/h). Four different proposed fin-channel structures, with high aspect ratio channels (10 µm and 20 µm wide, 100 µm deep) are sealed with silicon or glass by wafer bonding and tested with de-ionized water as coolant. Silicon fins enhance the heat transfer to the coolant. The embedded bulk silicon heater mimics external heat sources and, at the same time, acts as temperature sensor. Measured absorbed power fluxes were up to 3 W (which corresponds to 40 W/cm2 for a heater footprint of 2.7 mm × 2.7 mm), for a fluid flow of 5 ml/h. Optimizations of the fin-channel structure and removing material by etching a cavity for thermal insulation led to a more stable operation in a broader range of set-point conditions. Chapter 6 presents a miniaturized resistojet thruster device with an integrated thin-film heater, capable of delivering thrusts in the micronewton–millinewton range. Such devices can be applied for fine attitude control of nano-satellites. Miniaturized resistojet comprises a microchannel (width: 50 µm, height: 150 µm, length: 2 cm) and a nozzle throat narrowed to 10 µm. Both channel and the nozzle were etched in silicon and sealed by anodic bonding to glass. In this device, silicon acts as a heat spreader from the integrated aluminum heater to the propellant flow inside the etched microchannel, to reduce propellant consumption. Based on the pressure measurements, calculated thrust is in 20-960 µN range, which complies with the desired range, and a 30% reduction of propellant consumption is observed when propellant flow is heated from room temperature to 350 °C. Reducing the propellant consumption is essential as the propellant storage mass and volume are very limited on-board. Finally, concluding remarks are given in chapter 7, together with recommendations for further research.Microelectronics & Computer EngineeringElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Advanced magnetic resonance techniques in early differentiation of pseudoprogression versus progression in the patients with glioblastoma multiforme
No full textBackground/Aim. The diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme progression may be confounded by a phenomena termed pseudoprogression (PSP) and pseudoresponse (RCT) which has become more common with the adoption of radiation therapy with concurrent and adjuvant application of temozolomide (CRT). Distinguishing of these phenomena is based on the follow-up scans since no single imaging method or technique is yet capable of performing their discrimination. In this study, we evaluated the dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC perfusion) imaging and magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy to predict the prognosis and time to progression in the patients with glioblastoma multiforme. Methods. Fourty patients with primary glioblastoma multiforme were included in the analysis. The patients were examined in 3rd week after surgery and 10th week after the beginning of CRT. The MR exams were performed using the 1.5 T MR scanner (Avanto; Siemens, Erlangen, Germany). The maps of perfusion parameters and time-to-peak (TTP) parameter were calculated using the DPTools v3.79 software. The 3D CSI PRESS MR spectroscopy was performed in the area corresponding to the contrast enhancement on the T1W images. Results. Thirty-two of the 40 patients had progressive disease and 8 had pseudoprogression. Progressive disease showed the mean time of the peak values of 33 ? 7 s in 3rd and 30 ? 5 s in 10th week with no statistical significance between these two periods (p > 0.05). The patients with pseudoprogression showed the mean time of the peak values of 32 ? 8 s in 3rd week and 43 ? 9 s in 10th week; it was statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was which favors better response to therapy. The spectroscopy results showed presence of glycine peak at 3.56 ppm in 6 patients with progressive disease which was not seen on spectra with pseudoprogression. Conclusion. The observed significant differences in the TTP values for PSP and RCT can provide basis for distinguishing two entities. The presence of glycine peak in the MR spectra could be a marker of RCT.</jats:p
Time for Change: Implementation of Aksentijevic-Gibson Complexity in Psychology
No full text© 2020, The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder: A Personalized Approach
No full text
Validity of the Archer-Garcia Ratio: Motivation and Psychological Needs
No full textWe tested if motivation and psychological needs dimensions predicted the Archer-Garcia Ratio, a new and brief measure for exercise frequency computed using participants' responses to two questions. The regression analyses showed that one motivation and one basic needs dimension were the significant predictors: introjected regulation and competence
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