Self-awareness and psychosocial functioning following acquired brain injury: An evaluation of a group support programme

This study investigated a group support programme designed to improve self-awareness deficits and psychosocial functioning in a group of chronic patients (N = 21) with acquired brain injury (ABI). The participants were on average 8.6 years (range: 1-36 years) post-injury and were seen at the Brain Injury Association of Queensland, Australia. The assessment of participants involved two standardised measures of intellectual self-awareness with collateral reports from relatives. The present study introduced a new measure called the Self-Regulation Skills Interview (SRSI) which assessed higher levels of self awareness and self-regulation skills. Psychosocial functioning was assessed using a standardised self-report measure. At baseline the group had a relatively high level of intellectual self-awareness regarding their deficits, a low to moderate level of self-regulation skills, and significant psychosocial impairment. The participants were involved in a 16-week group programme which involved components of cognitive rehabilitation, cognitive-behavioural therapy, and social skills training. A post-intervention assessment indicated that participants had significantly improved levels of self-regulation skills and psychosocial functioning. A 6-month follow-up assessment indicated that overall, participants had maintained the gains made during the programme. The important role of self-regulation skills is emphasised as the principle factor contributing to the maintenance of the gains observed.

Group theory and quasiprobability integrals of Wigner functions

The integral of the Wigner function of a quantum-mechanical system over a region or its boundary in the classical phase plane, is called a quasiprobability integral. Unlike a true probability integral, its value may lie outside the interval [0, 1]. It is characterized by a corresponding selfadjoint operator, to be called a region or contour operator as appropriate, which is determined by the characteristic function of that region or contour. The spectral problem is studied for commuting families of region and contour operators associated with concentric discs and circles of given radius a. Their respective eigenvalues are determined as functions of a, in terms of the Gauss-Laguerre polynomials. These polynomials provide a basis of vectors in a Hilbert space carrying the positive discrete series representation of the algebra su(1, 1) approximate to so(2, 1). The explicit relation between the spectra of operators associated with discs and circles with proportional radii, is given in terms of the discrete variable Meixner polynomials.

Molecular evidence for definition of genera in the Oxylobium group (Fabaceae : Mirbelieae)

The circumscription of Oxylobium and related genera has been problematic for nearly 200 years. Traditional definitions of genera in the group have relied on morphological features of the leaves, flower, and fruit that overlap extensively between genera. Therefore sequences of cpDNA (trnL-F intron and spacer) and nrDNA (ITS) were used to estimate the phylogeny of the group in an attempt to redefine the genera as monophyletic groups. Oxylobium sens. str. was found to be a well supported clade in both data sets, with the inclusion of Mirbelia oxylobioides. No other genus in the group was supported by these data, except Gastrolobium sens. lat. Some species groups within Chorizema, Mirbelia, and Podolobium were supported but relationships among these, Oxylobium and Gastrolobium differed significantly between the chloroplast and nuclear data sets. No group supported by the molecular data had a morphological synapomorphy, not even Oxylobium or Gastrolobium. Therefore it may be necessary to adopt a much broader generic concept in this group than has been done previously. Incongruence between the two molecular data sets, and very short internal basal branches in both, suggest a rapid early radiation in this group, possibly combined with hybridization and lineage sorting.

Suppressing the negative effect of devaluation on group identification: The role of intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect

We examined (N = 76) how social creativity strategies such as intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect suppress the negative impact of threat to an ingroup's value on group identification. Threat was manipulated through false feedback concerning how other groups perceived an ingroup. Both intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect were higher when participants learned that the ingroup was devalued compared to when it was valued. Mediational analyses demonstrated that these factors suppressed the direct negative relationship between value threat and group identification. Discussion focused on the consequences of these social creativity strategies for group identification and collective action. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Generic delimitation and phylogenetic uncertainty: An example from a group that has undergone an explosive radiation

Phylogenetic trees can provide a stable basis for a higher-level classification of organisms that reflects evolutionary relationships. However, some lineages have a complex evolutionary history that involves explosive radiation or hybridisation. Such histories have become increasingly apparent with the use of DNA sequence data for phylogeny estimation and explain, in part, past difficulties in producing stable morphology-based classifications for some groups. We illustrate this situation by using the example of tribe Mirbelieae (Fabaceae), whose generic classification has been fraught for decades. In particular, we discuss a recent proposal to combine 19 of the 25 Mirbelieae genera into a single genus, Pultenaea sens. lat., and how we might find stable and consistent ways to squeeze something as complex as life into little boxes for our own convenience. © CSIRO.

Not so ancient: the extant crown group of Nothofagus represents a post-Gondwanan radiation

This study uses a molecular-dating approach to test hypotheses about the biogeography of Nothofagus. The molecular modelling suggests that the present-day subgenera and species date from a radiation that most likely commenced between 55 and 40 Myr ago. This rules out the possibility of a reconciled all-vicariance hypothesis for the biogeography of extant Nothofagus. However, the molecular dates for divergences between Australasian and South American taxa are consistent with the rifting of Australia and South America from Antarctica. The molecular dates further suggest a dispersal of subgenera Lophozonia and Fuscospora between Australia and New Zealand after the onset of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and west wind drift. It appears likely that the New Caledonian lineage of subgenus Brassospora diverged from the New Guinean lineage elsewhere, prior to colonizing New Caledonia. The molecular approach strongly supports fossil-based estimates that Nothofagus diverged from the rest of Fagales more than 84 Myr ago. However, the mid-Cenozoic estimate for the diversification of the four extant subgenera conflicts with the palynological interpretation because pollen fossils, attributed to all four extant subgenera, were widespread across the Weddellian province of Gondwana about 71 Myr ago. The discrepancy between the pollen and molecular dates exists even when confidence intervals from several sources of error are taken into account. In contrast, the molecular age estimates are consistent with macrofossil dates. The incongruence between pollen fossils and molecular dates could be resolved if the early pollen types represent extinct lineages, with similar types later evolving independently in the extant lineages.

Employee group memberships and organisational communication during organisational change

The preset study adopted an intergroup approach to information sharing and communication in three organisational samples during change. In Study 1, employees from a public hospital (N = 142) completed a survey measuring perceptions of organisational communication and strength of identification with the work unit and the organisation as a whole. Consistent with predictions, team members rated communication from double ingroup members (same work unit/same occupational group) more favourably than communication from partial group members (same work unit/different occupational group). Also as predicted, work unit identification was related to favourable ratings of work unit communication across occupational groups, whereas occupational identification was related to favourable ratings of work unit communication within occupational groups. In Study 2, strength of identification with three organisational groups was associated with positive ratings of communication among employees from the same public hospital (N = 189) and a military organisation (N = 2119). Based on these results, intergroup strategies for the management of information sharing and organisational communication during change are discussed.

On the distance between distinct group Latin squares

In an article in 1992, Drapal addressed the question of how far apart the multiplication tables of two groups can be? In this article we continue this investigation; in particular, we study the interaction between partial equalities in the multiplication tables of the two groups and their subgroup structure. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.