Characterization of Interfacial Structure in Polymer-Fullerene Bulk Heterojunctions via

We introduce a new application of solid state NMR measurements towards characterizing the donor-acceptor interfaces within bulk heterojunction (BHJ) films. Rotational echo double resonance (REDOR) is used to measure dipolar couplings between ^{13}C nuclei on the acceptor phenyl-C_{61}-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) fullerene cage, which is ≈18% isotopically enriched with ^{13}C, and beta hydrogens on the donor poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT) main chain, which are >95% isotopically enriched with ^{2}H. The ^{13}C-^{2}H dipolar couplings are used for constraining possible models of molecular packing in the amorphous mixed phase of a P3HT/PCBM BHJ. The films studied are highly mixed (>80%) and have a maximum length scale of composition nonuniformity of ≈6 nm in the mixed phase, as demonstrated by ^{1}H spin diffusion NMR and supported by TEM. The REDOR results show that despite the lack of phase separation at length scales greater than ≈6 nm, neat P3HT and PCBM clusters exist on ≈3 nm size scales, and, for the average PCBM molecule, the number of nearest neighbors P3HTs is two.

Longitudinal modeling of frontal cognition in APOE ε4 homozygotes, heterozygotes, and noncarriers.

BACKGROUND: Fibrillar amyloid deposition preferentially affects the frontal lobes, temporal pole/neocortex, and posterior cingulate by age 65 years in APOE ε4 carriers prior to the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease (AD), but is it impairing frontally mediated neuropsychological performance? METHODS: A total of 71 ε4 homozygotes (HMZ), 194 ε4 heterozygotes (HTZ), and 356 ε4 noncarriers (NC) who did not differ significantly in mean age (56.6 years), years of education (15.6), gender (70% women), or follow-up duration (6.3 years) had neuropsychological testing every 2 years including the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) and frontal/executive tasks sensitive to psychomotor speed, working memory, problem solving, and activity. A subset also received the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Findings were then tested in a clinical sample of 27 patients with incident MCI and AD. RESULTS: APOE ε4 carriers had greater acceleration of decline (quadratic effect) than NC on the AVLT (p = 0.04) but not on any frontal test. APOE ε4 HMZ had greater velocity of decline (linear effects) than NC on all mental arithmetic tests: paced auditory serial attention task (PASAT) 3 second (p = 0.01) and 2 second (p = 0.004) versions; and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised arithmetic (p = 0.048). IGT performance did not differ between 12 ε4 HMZ, 27 ε4 HTZ, and 44 NC. Among 27 patients with incident MCI and AD, the PASAT showed progressive decline preceding diagnosis in 50%. CONCLUSIONS: No frontal cognitive effects were as robust as memory decline. APOE ε4 HMZ declined more quickly than NC on mental arithmetic tests related to frontal lobe-mediated working memory ability.

Psicologia positiva: uma abordagem científica e prática das qualidades humanas

Escrito por pioneiros da Psicologia Positiva, este livro apresenta aos leitores de língua portuguesa esse novo paradigma científico que se centra na promoção da saúde e do bem-estar das pessoas. Por meio de uma revisão bibliográfica abrangente e de exercícios bem elaborados, esta obra ajudará o leitor a compreender e testar os princípios desta abordagem inovadora, que ultrapassa a visão psicopatológica vigente e propõe uma reformulação do estilo de vida, visando uma existência mais feliz.Principais características:Apresenta uma discussão aprofundada da ciência e suas aplicações: oferece a mais ampla cobertura da ciência e das aplicações da Psicologia Positiva e apresenta novas bases para se entender as emoções positivas e as qualidades humanas. Explora as condições positivas, como a felicidade e o bem-estar, e trata de reações humanas pró-sociais como a empatia, o altruísmo, a gratidão, o vínculo e o amor.Examina as influências culturais e do desenvolvimento: inclui as abordagens ocidentais e orientais ao entendimento das qualidades humanas, junto com influências culturais e do desenvolvimento sobre o funcionamento positivo.Estimula o aprendizado ativo: é enriquecido com mais de 50 casos e com fotografias e comentários. Além disso, miniexperimentos pessoais e estratégias para melhorar a vida ajudam os leitores a aplicar o conhecimento da ciência e da prática da Psicologia Positiva a suas vidas cotidianas.

The effectiveness of a hope intervention in coping with cold pressor pain.

Hope has been correlated with greater pain tolerance and thresholds and less reported pain severity. The present study investigated the effectiveness of a brief hope-based intervention involving guided imagery and skills instruction aimed at enhancing pain coping skills among university students performing the cold pressor task. The intervention resulted in increased hope among females and increased pain tolerance in all participants. The intervention did not affect pain threshold and resulted in marginally increased pain severity. Thus, this intervention facilitates better pain tolerance without necessarily changing the experience of the pain. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Balancing psychological assessments: including strengths and hope in client reports.

Borrowing from B. A. Wright's (1991) suggestions, a balanced approach is advocated for gathering information and writing the subsequent report. Specifically, it is suggested that the clinician attend to four aspects of an interviewee: (a) the strengths in the client's psychological makeup, (b) the weaknesses in the client's psychological makeup, (c) the strengths in the client's environment, and (d) the weaknesses in the client's environment. Additionally, using hope theory (C. R. Snyder, 1994) as a framework, the importance of including information about client goals, along with the routes to those goals (pathways thinking) and the motivation to use those pathways (agency thinking), is described. Furthermore, the implications of using this framework in conducting a diagnostic interview and writing the ensuing report are provided. Finally, the advantages of including human strengths to achieve a balanced interview and report are discussed.

[Relationship between hope and subjective well-being: reliability and validity of the dispositional Hope Scale, Japanese version].

We conducted three studies to translate the Snyder Hope Sales into Japanese, examine reliability and validity of the Japanese version, and investigate the relationship between the tendency to be hopeful and subjective well-being. In Study 1, confirmatory factor analysis was performed of the Hope Scale in the Japanese version: agency and pathways. Its test-retest reliability coefficients for the data from 113 undergraduates ranged from .81 to .84. In Study 2, concurrent validity of the Japanese version Hope Scale was examined with the data from 550 respondents, which looked at the correlations between hope and optimism, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Results suggested that the Japanese version had high validity. In addition, the tendency to be hopeful had negative correlations with stress response, hopelessness, depressive tendency, and trait anxiety, and positive one with feeling of happiness. In Study 3, 175 undergraduates completed the Hope Scale and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) immediately prior to final examinations. Results of regression analysis suggested that the tendency to be hopeful moderated examination anxiety. Taken together, results of the studies supported the hypothesis that hope had positive effects on subjective well-being.

Getting unstuck: the roles of hope, finding meaning, and rumination in the adjustment to bereavement among college students.

The relationships between hope, bereavement-related rumination, and finding meaning (making sense and benefit finding) were examined in 158 college students who experienced the death of a loved one within the latter half of their lives. Greater rumination was related significantly to lessened psychological well-being, and it mediated the relationship between being able to make sense of the death and superior well-being. Finding benefits in bereavement was associated with positive adjustment for those who recently experienced the death of a loved one, whereas it was related to negative adjustment for those who experienced the death longer ago. Higher hope predicted greater well-being, but it was not related to rumination or finding meaning.

Hopeful thinking in older adults: back to the future.

In a sample of 100 community-dwelling older adults (mean age of 76), higher hope related to greater life satisfaction and better perceived physical health, but hope did not relate to number of illnesses or functional disability. The high-relative to low-hope participants were more confident of reaching their goals, and felt that they were further along in their goal pursuits. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Twenty-first century graduate education in clinical psychology: a four level matrix model.

Clinical psychology is positioned to play key roles in mental and physical health issues of 21st century America. In this regard, however, the present Boulder model of educating clinical psychologists is not preparing our graduates to meet the diverse demands of either today's or tomorrow's marketplaces. Accordingly, we introduce a new, four level "matrix model" for the education of future clinical psychologists. The core focus of the proposed matrix model is on the weaknesses and strengths of people in their personalities and their environments. Moreover, this matrix model operates at the individual, interpersonal, institutional, and societal-community levels of analyses. The details and implications of this proposed educational curriculum are described.

Sharing open secrets in training future generations of clinical psychologists.

Commentary writers vary in their agreement with the ideas presented in the C.R. Snyder and T.R. Elliott lead article (this issue, PP. 1033-1054), but they share the view that clinical-counseling psychology already is in the midst of an evolution. There are two general camps to such commentaries. First, there are those who caution us to move slowly and carefully as we respond to the change-inducing forces. Second, there are those who see this time as one in which we should make bold moves in our field in response to the societal forces that we are encountering. We suggest that the lightning rod for potential changes in the field of clinical-counseling psychology must be a shared emphasis on our scientific heritage.

Hope against the cold: individual differences in trait hope and acute pain tolerance on the cold pressor task.

Hope theory (see Snyder, 1994) is presented as a useful framework for understanding reactions to pain. In Study 1, persons scoring higher on the trait Hope Scale (Snyder, Harris et al., 1991) kept their hands in the freezing water (of a cold pressor task) for significantly longer. In Study 2, the higher-hope males, and not females, as measured by both trait and state hope (Snyder, Sympson et al., 1996), recognized the onset of the pain threshold significantly later. Moreover, in Study 2, results showed that individual differences measures of optimism, self-efficacy, depression, and positive and negative affects did not relate to the pain onset and tolerance variables. The implications of hope as related to the pain process and related research are discussed.

Dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations.

Six studies regarding forgiveness are presented. The Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), a self-report measure of dispositional forgiveness (with subscales to assess forgiveness of self, others, and situations) was developed and demonstrated good psychometric properties. Forgiveness correlated positively with cognitive flexibility, positive affect, and distraction; it correlated negatively with rumination, vengeance, and hostility. Forgiveness predicted four components of psychological well-being (anger, anxiety, depression, and satisfaction with life); forgiveness of situations accounted for unique variance in these components of psychological well-being. Forgiveness and hostility demonstrated equivalent, inverse associations with relationship duration, and forgiveness accounted for unique variance in relationship satisfaction, even when controlling for trust. Forgiveness level correlated positively with decreased negativity in statements written about transgressions in the present versus the past tense.

Forgiveness as a mediator of the relationship between PTSD and hostility in survivors of childhood abuse.

It was hypothesised that forgiveness mediates the relationship between PTSD and hostility within a population of adult childhood abuse survivors. Of the three components of forgiveness-self, other, and situation-self and situation forgiveness were posited as potent mediators of the PTSD and hostility relationship. No differences in the mediational role of forgiveness in sexual versus physical abuse and female versus male abuse survivors were hypothesised. As posited, overall forgiveness mediated the PTSD-hostility relationship and the forgiveness of self and situation were strong mediators. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

"False" hope.

"False" hope is condemned in the literature on the grounds that it reflects the counterproductive use of: (a) expectations based on illusions rather than reality, (b) inappropriate goals, and (c) poor strategies to reach desired goals. Snyder, Harris, et al.'s (1991) hope theory involving self-referential thoughts about finding routes to desired goals (pathways) and the motivation to use those routes (agency) is used as a framework for examining these three criticisms of false hope. It is concluded that the presently available evidence does not support any of the false-hope criticisms. The implications of hope-related issues for the applied clinical arena are discussed.

Coping with terminal illness: the role of hopeful thinking.

Using Snyder's theory of hope, the role of hope in the process of dying from a terminal illness is discussed. In this theory, hope is defined as the perceived capability to produce workable routes to desired goals (pathways thinking) and the requisite motivation to use those routes (agency thinking). Strategies by which individuals can maintain and even increase hope during the dying process are described, along with interventions to maintain patients' hope. Directions for future research are suggested.

Seizures associated with fluoroquinolones.

OBJECTIVE: To report two cases of seizures following administration of levofoxacin and ciprofloxacin. CASE SUMMARY: A 75-year-old white woman admitted to the hospital was prescribed levofloxacin for ischemic toes. After receiving three doses of oral levofloxacin, the patient experienced a seizure. One month later, the patient was rechallenged with ciprofloxacin and again experienced a seizure. The patient was hypomagnesemic and had elevated serum creatinine at the time of both seizures, and was hyponatremic during the second seizure. A 74-year-old white woman admitted to the hospital was prescribed levofloxacin for bacterial pneumonia. After five doses, the patient experienced a seizure. The woman had no electrolyte imbalances at the time of the seizure and no history of a seizure disorder. DISCUSSION: Quinolone antibiotics vary in their ability to induce seizures, with trovafloxacin having the greatest potential and levofloxacin possibly having the least potential. Neither patient had a history of a previous seizure disorder. Electrolyte imbalances are common with previous reports of fluoroquinolone-induced seizures. CONCLUSIONS: Although levofloxacin monotherapy has not been implicated in inducing seizures, it appears to be the causative agent in the second case. In the first case, the quinolones may have been a necessary, but not sufficient, cause in a patient with electrolyte abnormalities. Risk factors for fluoroquinolone-induced seizures may Include seizure history, electrolyte imbalances,dose unadjusted for renal insufficiency, and concomitant treatment with agents that lower the seizure threshold.

Relations between hope and graduate students' coping strategies for studying and examination-taking.

In 1998, Onwuegbuzie reported a negative relationship between scores on hope and anxiety about statistics among graduate students who were enrolled in statistics classes. In 1999, Snyder posited that hope theory provides a useful framework for assessing students' coping strategies. In support of the utility of hope theory for identifying students with debilitating test-related anxieties, lower scores on the Pathways and Agency subscales which assess hope were related to 87 graduate students' problematic coping strategies for studying and taking statistics examinations. After a brief review of other recent data linking hope to academic performance at both public school and college levels, further research seems appropriate.

Hope, goal-blocking thoughts, and test-related anxieties.

Based on Onwuegbuzie's 1998 findings pertaining to the relationship of lower scores on hope to higher ones on anxiety about statistics, a brief overview of the etiology of test-related anxieties in the context of Snyder's hope theory is given, and the utility of hope theory for helping students with test-related anxieties is explored.

Reality negotiation in non-depressed and depressed persons.

OBJECTIVES: Non-depressed and depressed persons were hypothesized to input and recall self-referential information that was consistent with their self theories. DESIGN: Non-depressed and depressed persons were compared. METHODS: Non-depressed (14) and depressed (14) students chose between positive or negative audio statements, and then recalled the statements. RESULTS: Non-depressed relative to depressed participants: (i) listened more to the positive than the negative tapes; and (ii) fabricated (i.e. incorrectly recalled) less negative messages. CONCLUSION: Partial support is given to reality negotiation processes.