Influence of social mindfulness and Zhongyong thinking style on cooperative financial decision making in a Western sample.

Social mindfulness and Zhongyong thinking style are of high importance when evaluating relevant co-actors in the social world. The current study investigates the influence of social mindfulness and Zhongyong thinking style on cooperative financial decision making in a public goods game among a Canadian sample. We hypothesize that higher perceived social mindfulness and higher perceived Zhongyong thinking style will increase the amount of money contributed to a joint project in a public goods game. The sample was a prolific-based online recruited sample of n = 125 Canadians. We observed a significant main effect of Zhongyong thinking style on the amount of contributed money in the public goods game. Social mindfulness did not reach significance. The influence of Zhongyong thinking style was qualified by a significant Zhongyong by gender interaction, indicating that females but not males reduced their contributions if the Zhongyong thinking style of the co-actor was manipulated as being low. It is shown that Zhongyong thinking style is also relevant in a Western cultural setting. Future research is needed, however, to investigate further the reasons for the differences between females and males.

The Role of Time Perspective and Mindfulness on Life Satisfaction in the United States of America, Spain, Poland and Japan: A Cross-Cultural Study.

We assessed the cross-cultural role of Time Perspective (TP) tendencies [Past Positive (PP), Past Negative (PN), Present Hedonistic (PH), Present Fatalistic (PF), and Future (F)], the Deviation from a Balanced Time Perspective (DBTP) profile, the Deviation from a Negative Time Perspective (DNTP) profile, and mindfulness on life satisfaction (LS). The sample consisted of psychology undergraduate students (N= 867, MAGE= 20.19, SD= 3.417) in four countries: USA, Spain, Poland and Japan. We used a 17-item short version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in all countries. For ensuring measurement invariance, we conducted pairwise CFAs for the ZTPI-17, MAAS and SWLS. Regression analyses showed that PN predicted decreased LS in Poland and Japan. PP predicted increased LS in Spain. F predicted increased LS in Poland. DNTP predicted decreased LS in Poland. Mindfulness predicted decreased LS in Japan and increased LS in USA, Spain and Poland. Moreover, mediation analyses revealed that the DBTP partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and LS in Spain and USA. The DNTP partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and LS in Spain, Poland and Japan (opposite direction). The findings suggest that the association of TP, mindfulness and LS differs across the investigated countries as a function of culture.

A Time to Get Vaccinated? The Role of Time Perspective, Consideration of Future Consequences, Conspiracy Beliefs, Religious Faith, Gender, and Race on Intention to Vaccinate for COVID-19 in the United States.

The present study examined the predictability of Time Perspective (TP) tendencies (i.e., Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Hedonistic, Present Fatalistic, and Future), the Balanced Time Perspective (BTP) profile, the Consideration of Future Consequences-Immediate (CFC-I) factor, the Consideration of Future Consequences-Future (CFC-F) factor, conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 being a hoax, religious faith, gender, and race on COVID-19 vaccination intention as a dependent variable. Participants were recruited in the United States through the online platforms Prolific and Google Forms. The final sample was n = 232 (n = 99 male, n = 129 female, and n = 2 other, Mage = 31). Outcome measures included sociodemographic questions, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory-short version, the Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) ultra-short scale, the COVID-19 Conspiracy Beliefs questionnaire, and the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire-brief version. Regression analyses revealed that vaccination intention was reduced by gender identification as woman, identification as multiracial or from mixed origin, Past Positive, Deviation from a BTP profile, belief in COVID-19 as hoax, and religious faith. Conversely, intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 was increased by Past Negative, CFC-I, and CFC-F. These findings could be beneficial for knowledge transfer to behavioral interventions aimed to promote vaccination against COVID-19, health promotion campaigns, and the public health field.

Realistic 3D printed CT imaging tumor phantoms for validation of image processing algorithms.

Medical imaging phantoms are widely used for validation and verification of imaging systems and algorithms in surgical guidance and radiation oncology procedures. Especially, for the performance evaluation of new algorithms in the field of medical imaging, manufactured phantoms need to replicate specific properties of the human body, e.g., tissue morphology and radiological properties. Additive manufacturing (AM) technology provides an inexpensive opportunity for accurate anatomical replication with customization capabilities. In this study, we proposed a simple and cheap protocol using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology to manufacture realistic tumor phantoms based on the filament 3D printing technology. Tumor phantoms with both homogenous and heterogeneous radiodensity were fabricated. The radiodensity similarity between the printed tumor models and real tumor data from CT images of lung cancer patients was evaluated. Additionally, it was investigated whether a heterogeneity in the 3D printed tumor phantoms as observed in the tumor patient data had an influence on the validation of image registration algorithms. A radiodensity range between -217 to 226 HUs was achieved for 3D printed phantoms using different filament materials; this range of radiation attenuation is also observed in the human lung tumor tissue. The resulted HU range could serve as a lookup-table for researchers and phantom manufactures to create realistic CT tumor phantoms with the desired range of radiodensities. The 3D printed tumor phantoms also precisely replicated real lung tumor patient data regarding morphology and could also include life-like heterogeneity of the radiodensity inside the tumor models. An influence of the heterogeneity on accuracy and robustness of the image registration algorithms was not found.

The role of time perspective and acculturative stress on adaptive and maladaptive stress coping strategies of Puerto Ricans living in the island of Puerto Rico and the state of Connecticut in mainland United States.

We assessed the role of Time Perspective (TP) and acculturative stress on adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies, across healthy and treatment-seeking Puerto Ricans living in the island of Puerto Rico (PR), as well as at the state of Connecticut in mainland United States (US). Participants were comprised of 197 adults from the island of PR, as well as 138 adults from Connecticut. TP was measured through five categories assessed by the Zimbardo TP Inventory (Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Fatalistic, Present Hedonistic, and Future), the Deviation from a Balanced Time Perspective-revisited (DBTPr) coefficient, and the Deviation from the Negative Time Perspective (DNTP) coefficient. Acculturative stress was measured with the Acculturative Distress Scale. Adaptive and maladaptive stress-coping were measured through the Brief COPE Inventory. DNTP predicted adaptive coping, whereas acculturative stress, Present Hedonistic, and DBTPr predicted maladaptive coping. Puerto Ricans living in Connecticut engaged more often in maladaptive coping than those in PR. Acculturative stress partially mediated the influence of DBTPr on maladaptive coping. DNTP mediated the influence of state on adaptive coping. DBTPr and acculturative stress totally mediated the influence of state on maladaptive coping. These findings suggest that assessing TP, levels of acculturative stress, and coping strategies could assist in tailoring evidence-based interventions to the specific needs of Puerto Rican populations. Doing so could be effective in promoting a Balanced Time Perspective, reducing acculturative stress, increasing adaptive coping, and improving mental as well as physical health, on Puerto Ricans living in PR or mainland US.

3D printed patient-specific thorax phantom with realistic heterogenous bone radiopacity using filament printer technology.

Current medical imaging phantoms are usually limited by simplified geometry and radiographic skeletal homogeneity, which confines their usage for image quality assessment. In order to fabricate realistic imaging phantoms, replication of the entire tissue morphology and the associated CT numbers, defined as Hounsfield Unit (HU) is required. 3D printing is a promising technology for the production of medical imaging phantoms with accurate anatomical replication. So far, the majority of the imaging phantoms using 3D printing technologies tried to mimic the average HU of soft tissue human organs. One important aspect of the anthropomorphic imaging phantoms is also the replication of realistic radiodensities for bone tissues. In this study, we used filament printing technology to develop a CT-derived 3D printed thorax phantom with realistic bone-equivalent radiodensity using only one single commercially available filament. The generated thorax phantom geometry closely resembles a patient and includes direct manufacturing of bone structures while creating life-like heterogeneity within bone tissues. A HU analysis as well as a physical dimensional comparison were performed in order to evaluate the density and geometry agreement between the proposed phantom and the corresponding CT data. With the achieved density range (-482 to 968 HU) we could successfully mimic the realistic radiodensity of the bone marrow as well as the cortical bone for the ribs, vertebral body and dorsal vertebral column in the thorax skeleton. In addition, considering the large radiodensity range achieved a full thorax imaging phantom mimicking also soft tissues can become feasible. The physical dimensional comparison using both Extrema Analysis and Collision Detection methods confirmed a mean surface overlap of 90% and a mean volumetric overlap of 84,56% between the patient and phantom model. Furthermore, the reproducibility analyses revealed a good geometry and radiodensity duplicability in 24 printed cylinder replicas. Thus, according to our results, the proposed additively manufactured anthropomorphic thorax phantom has the potential to be efficiently used for validation of imaging- and radiation-based procedures in precision medicine.

Self-control as a mediator of age on students' compulsive buying.

Prior research on compulsive buying addresses a negative association with dispositional self-control and a decreasing effect of age. However, there is currently no sufficient explanation for the observation that older individuals show a reduced risk for compulsive buying patterns. Our empirical contribution is to test the assumption of a reducing effect of dispositional self-control on compulsive buying in a cross-cultural sample of Chinese (n = 268) and German (n = 247) college students with the Short Form of the Self-Control Scale and the Compulsive Buying Scale. We observed that females show a higher proneness to compulsive buying and older participants show decreased compulsive buying. Mediation analysis reveals that age has a reducing effect on compulsive buying that is fully mediated by dispositional self-control. According to the last observation, our study delivers an explanation of the reduced compulsive buying proneness of older individuals. We discuss limitations and alternative explanations of our study.

Waveguide for air-coupled ultrasonic phased-arrays with propagation time compensation and plug-in assembly.

Waveguides allow grating lobe free beamforming for air-coupled ultrasonic phased-arrays by reducing the effective inter-element spacing to half wavelength. Since the sound waves propagate through the waveguide ducts, additional time delays are introduced. In this work, we present analytical, numerical, and experimental methods to estimate these time delays. Afterwards, two different waveguides are compared. The first one consists of equal-length ducts, requiring a time-consuming assembly process of the ultrasonic phased-array. In contrast, the second waveguide consists of Bézier-shaped ducts of unequal lengths but a planar input port allowing fast assembly. The analytical model is based on the geometric lengths of the waveguide ducts. The numerical model relies on a transient finite element analysis. All simulations are validated in an anechoic chamber using a calibrated microphone. The analytical (7.6% deviation) and numerical (3.2% deviation) propagation time models are in good agreement with the measurements. By using the analyzed propagation times for the compensation of the unequal waveguide duct lengths, we restored the beamforming capability without significant sound pressure level (SPL) loss. This work shows the possibility of reduced transducer assembly time for waveguided air-coupled phased-arrays without a reduced SPL.

A Time to Sleep Well and Be Contented: Time Perspective, Sleep Quality, and Life Satisfaction.

A major aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between time perspective, i.e., habitual ways of relating to the past, present, and future, and sleep quality. A second aim was to test a model by which the expected negative relationship between deviation from a balanced time perspective (DBTP), a measure taking temporal biases across all three time frames into account, and life satisfaction was mediated by poor sleep quality. To these ends, a sample of young adults (N = 386) completed a version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI), Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A measure of chronotype was in addition included for control purposes. Bivariate analyses revealed that the S-ZTPI subscales Past Negative, Future Negative and Present Fatalistic were associated with poorer sleep quality (higher PSQI scores), with significant associations in the opposite direction for Past Positive and Future Positive. However, DBTP was the strongest predictor of (poorer) sleep quality, suggesting that time perspective biases have an additive effect on sleep quality. Regression analyses with PSQI as the dependent variable and all six ZTPI subscales as the predictors indicated that time perspective accounted for about 20% of the variance in sleep quality (17% beyond chronotype), with Past Negative, Past Positive, and Future Negative as the unique predictors. The results additionally confirmed a strong relationship between DBTP and life satisfaction. Finally, data were consistent with the hypothesis that the association of DBTP and life satisfaction is mediated, in part, by sleep quality. Taken together, the results confirmed a substantial link between time perspective sleep-related problems, factors that may have a negative impact on life satisfaction.

The revising of the Tangney Self-Control Scale for Chinese students.

Recent studies have characterized self-control as a vital psychological variable that helps explain various problems. Tangney's Self-Control Scale (SCS) is a self-report measurement to assess individual differences in traits of self-control. It has gained popularity in social and psychological science research. In China, there are a few Chinese-version scales measuring general self-control, which can be applied to college students. The purposes of the present study were to evaluate: (a) the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of Tangney's SCS using confirmatory factor analysis, and (b) whether higher scores on the scale correlated with positive outcomes in China. The final sample in this study consisted of 371 Chinese college students aged 17-23 years. The Full SCS and Brief SCS were both found to have a reasonable fitness, which also had satisfactory internal consistencies and a high correlation. Higher scores on the SCS correlated with higher self-esteem, extraversion, better harmony in interpersonal relationships and an appropriate anger expression, less impulsiveness, and state and trait anger. The test-retest reliability was confirmed in two additional samples. Tangney's SCS could be used in China.

How the economic situation moderates the influence of available money on compulsive buying of students - A comparative study between Turkey and Greece.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Few studies about compulsive buying consider the economic framing situation. This study is concerned with the impact of different economic environments - the crisis in Greece vs. the boom in Turkey - on compulsive buying tendencies of students, while taking the role of gender and available money into account. METHODS: Compulsive buying was measured by a Greek and Turkish translation of the German Compulsive Buying Scale (Raab, Neuner, Reisch & Scherhorn, 2005) in Greece and Turkey, which enabled an identification of compulsive and compensatory buyers. The questionnaires were administered to 119 Turkish and 123 Greek students (n = 242) enrolled in several universities in Athens and Istanbul. The data collection was conducted in a controlled and standardized way, namely in group-sessions lasting about 5 minutes, which were conducted and supervised by co-workers of the involved universities. RESULTS: The results have shown that the percentage of compensatory buyers, but not compulsive buyers, within the Greek students sample was significantly smaller than within the Turkish student sample. Further as assumed the moderation of the economic situation could be confirmed: More available money only has a facilitating effect on compulsive buying tendencies under a positive economic environment. CONCLUSIONS: Anticipations about the financial situation and the general economic climate are more relevant for compulsive buying tendencies than one's actual available money. Compensatory, but not compulsive buying was significantly smaller under crisis.

Different facets of compulsive buying among Chinese students.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Compulsive buying is a severe phenomenon, especially among younger consumers. It is well documented in Western industrial societies like the USA and Germany, and nowadays an increasing interest in compulsive buying in non-Western countries is on the rise. METHODS: In the current study, we measured the prevalence of compulsive buying tendencies among Chinese female and male students by using a Chinese translation of the German Compulsive Buying Scale (Raab, Neuner, Reisch & Scherhorn, 2005). We examined the influence of gender, location and age using ANCOVA, and binary logistic regression. RESULTS: Factor analysis identified three factorial dimensions of compulsive buying tendencies which are impairment of impulse control and reactive or compensatory aspects, reduced rationality according to money spending, and post-purchase guilt. Our results indicated that about 6.7% of the sample shows a compulsive buying pattern, and that females are more affected. For location, a geographic difference between Chongqing and Fuzhou was found for the overall compulsive tendencies, but not for the percentages of compulsive buyers. CONCLUSIONS: In sum, the existing study provides evidence that Chinese consumers have a factorial structure which differs somewhat in compulsive buying from Western samples. Observations about gender and location were considered. These findings give a deeper understanding of China's compulsive buying behavior.