Internet-based individually versus group guided self-help treatment for social anxiety disorder: protocol of a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most common mental disorders and causes subjective suffering and economic burden worldwide. Although effective treatments are available, a lot of cases go untreated. Internet-based self-help is a low-threshold and flexible treatment alternative for SAD. Various studies have already shown that internet-based self-help can be effective to reduce social phobic symptoms significantly. Most of the interventions tested include therapist support, whereas the role of peer support within internet-based self-help has not yet been fully understood. There is evidence suggesting that patients' mutual exchange via integrated discussion forums can increase the efficacy of internet-based treatments. This study aims at investigating the added value of therapist-guided group support on the treatment outcome of internet-based self-help for SAD. METHODS/DESIGN: The study is conducted as a randomized controlled trial. A total of 150 adults with a diagnosis of SAD are randomly assigned to either a waiting-list control group or one of the active conditions. The participants in the two active conditions use the same internet-based self-help program, either with individual support by a psychologist or therapist-guided group support. In the group guided condition, participants can communicate with each other via an integrated, protected discussion forum. Subjects are recruited via topic related websites and links; diagnostic status will be assessed with a telephone interview. The primary outcome variables are symptoms of SAD and diagnostic status after the intervention. Secondary endpoints are general symptomology, depression, quality of life, as well as the primary outcome variables 6 months later. Furthermore, process variables such as group processes, the change in symptoms and working alliance will be studied. DISCUSSION: The results of this study should indicate whether group-guided support could enhance the efficacy of an internet-based self-help treatment for SAD. This novel treatment format, if shown effective, could represent a cost-effective option and could further be modified to treat other conditions, as well.

E-Health towards ecumenical framework for personalized medicine via Decision Support System

The purpose of the present manuscript is to present the advances performed in medicine using a Personalized Decision Support System (PDSS). The models used in Decision Support Systems (DSS) are examined in combination with Genome Information and Biomarkers to produce personalized result for each individual. The concept of personalize medicine is described in depth and application of PDSS for Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and Type-1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) are analyzed. Parameters extracted from genes, biomarkers, nutrition habits, lifestyle and biological measurements feed DSSs, incorporating Artificial Intelligence Modules (AIM), to provide personalized advice, medication and treatment.

Longitudinal data on telomere length in leukocytes from newborn baboons support a marked drop in stem cell turnover around 1 year of age

Stem cells of various tissues are typically defined as multipotent cells with 'self-renewal' properties. Despite the increasing interest in stem cells, surprisingly little is known about the number of times stem cells can or do divide over a lifetime. Based on telomere-length measurements of hematopoietic cells, we previously proposed that the self-renewal capacity of hematopoietic stem cells is limited by progressive telomere attrition and that such cells divide very rapidly during the first year of life. Recent studies of patients with aplastic anemia resulting from inherited mutations in telomerase genes support the notion that the replicative potential of hematopoietic stem cells is directly related to telomere length, which is indirectly related to telomerase levels. To revisit conclusions about stem cell turnover based on cross-sectional studies of telomere length, we performed a longitudinal study of telomere length in leukocytes from newborn baboons. All four individual animals studied showed a rapid decline in telomere length (approximately 2-3 kb) in granulocytes and lymphocytes in the first year after birth. After 50-70 weeks the telomere length appeared to stabilize in all cell types. These observations suggest that hematopoietic stem cells, after an initial phase of rapid expansion, switch at around 1 year of age to a different functional mode characterized by a markedly decreased turnover rate.

Connectionism as metaphor: Towards an integrated, unified conception of self-system and individual difference

Comments on an article by Kashima et al. (see record 2007-10111-001). In their target article Kashima and colleagues try to show how a connectionist model conceptualization of the self is best suited to capture the self's temporal and socio-culturally contextualized nature. They propose a new model and to support this model, the authors conduct computer simulations of psychological phenomena whose importance for the self has long been clear, even if not formally modeled, such as imitation, and learning of sequence and narrative. As explicated when we advocated connectionist models as a metaphor for self in Mischel and Morf (2003), we fully endorse the utility of such a metaphor, as these models have some of the processing characteristics necessary for capturing key aspects and functions of a dynamic cognitive-affective self-system. As elaborated in that chapter, we see as their principal strength that connectionist models can take account of multiple simultaneous processes without invoking a single central control. All outputs reflect a distributed pattern of activation across a large number of simple processing units, the nature of which depends on (and changes with) the connection weights between the links and the satisfaction of mutual constraints across these links (Rummelhart & McClelland, 1986). This allows a simple account for why certain input features will at times predominate, while others take over on other occasions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Support for the predictions of the pollinator-mediated stabilizing selection hypothesis

Aims Floral traits are frequency used in traditional plant systematics because Of their assumed constancy. One potential reason for the apparent constancy of flower size is that effective pollen transfer between flowers depends oil the accuracy of the physical fit between the flower and pollinator. Therefore, dowels are likely to he under stronger stabilizing selection for uniform size than vegetative plant parts. Moreover, as predicted by the pollinator-mediated stabilizing selection (PMSS) hypothesis, all accurate fit between flowers and their pollinators is likely to he more important for specialized pollination systems as found in many species with bilaterally symmetric (zygomorphic) flowers than for species, with radially symmetric (actinomorphic) flowers. Methods In a comparative study of 15 zygomorphic and 13 actinomorphic species ill Switzerland, we tested whether variation in flower size, among and within individuals, is smaller than variation ill leaf size and whether variation in flower size is smaller ill zygomorphic compared to actinomorphic species. Important findings Indeed, variation ill leaf length was significantly larger than variation in flower length and width. Within-individual variation ill flower and leaf sizes did not differ significantly between zygomorphic and actinomorphic species. In line with the predictions of the PMSS, among-individual variation ill flower length and flower width was significantly smaller for zygomorphic species than for actinomorphic species, while the two groups did not differ in leaf length variation. This suggests that plants with zygomorphic flowers have undergone stronger selection for uniform flowers than plants with actinomorphic flowers. This supports that the uniformity of flowers compared to vegetative structures within species, as already observed in traditional plant systematics, is, at least in part, a consequence of the requirement for effective pollination.

Individual and structural factors of member commitment in sports clubs

This article analyses the conditions influencing the commitment of members of sports clubs. It focuses not only on individual characteristics of members, but also on the corresponding structural conditions of sports clubs related to the individual decision to quit or continue their membership. The influences of both the individual and context levels on the commitment of members are estimated in different multi-level models. Results of these multi-level analyses indicate that commitment of members is not just an outcome of individual characteristics such as strong commitment to the club, positively perceived communication and cooperation, satisfaction with sports clubsʼ offers, or voluntary engagement. It is also influenced by club-specific structural conditions: commitment is more probable in rural sports clubs, and clubs who explicitly support sociability, whereas success-oriented sporting goals in clubs have a destabilizing effect.

Predictors of depressed mood 12 months after injury. Contribution of self-efficacy and social support

Abstract Purpose: There is evidence that depressed mood and perception of pain are related in patients with chronic illness. However, how individual resources such as self-efficacy and social support play a role in this association remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of both variables as either moderator or mediator. Method: In a longitudinal study, 274 injured workers (M = 43.24 years) were investigated. Data were collected on sociodemographics, depressed mood, pain, social support, and self-efficacy at three months post-injury, and depressed mood one year post-injury. Results: Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses revealed that pain (β = 0.14; p < 0.01) and social support (β = -0.18; p < 0.001) were significant predictors of depressed mood. Self-efficacy moderated the relationship of pain (β = -0.12; p < 0.05) and depressed mood after one year. Lower self-efficacy in combination with pain had a stronger impact than higher self-efficacy and pain on depressed mood. Social support did not moderate the association. Conclusions: Self-efficacy for managing pain is important in the development of depressed mood. According to the results of this study, we suggest that the detection of low social support and low self-efficacy might be important in long-term rehabilitation process. Implications for Rehabilitation Risk for depressed mood one year after an accident is high: One in five workers report depressed mood. Protective factors for depressed mood in injured workers needs to be considered in the rehabilitation. Focusing on resources like social support and self-efficacy could be protective against depressed mood. The early detection of low social support and low self-efficacy might be important in long-term rehabilitation processes

Assessing and mapping LD and SLM to directly support the planning and scaling up of SLM interventions to combat desertification

Global investment in Sustainable Land Management (SLM) has been substantial, but knowledge gaps remain. Overviews of where land degradation (LD) is taking place and how land users are addressing the problem using SLM are still lacking for most individual countries and regions. Relevant maps focus more on LD than SLM, and they have been compiled using different methods. This makes it impossible to compare the benefits of SLM interventions and prevents informed decision-making on how best to invest in land. To fill this knowledge gap, a standardised mapping method has been collaboratively developed by the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT), FAO’s Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA) project, and the EU’s Mitigating Desertification and Remediating Degraded Land (DESIRE) project. The method generates information on the distribution and characteristics of LD and SLM activities and can be applied at the village, national, or regional level. It is based on participatory expert assessment, documents, and surveys. These data sources are spatially displayed across a land-use systems base map. By enabling mapping of the DPSIR framework (Driving Forces-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responses) for degradation and conservation, the method provides key information for decision-making. It may also be used to monitor LD and conservation following project implementation. This contribution explains the mapping method, highlighting findings made at different levels (national and local) in South Africa and the Mediterranean region. Keywords: Mapping, Decision Support, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Ecosystem Services, Participatory Expert Assessment

Streaming Support for Data Intensive Cloud-Based Sequence Analysis

Cloud computing provides a promising solution to the genomics data deluge problem resulting from the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. Based on the concepts of “resources-on-demand” and “pay-as-you-go”, scientists with no or limited infrastructure can have access to scalable and cost-effective computational resources. However, the large size of NGS data causes a significant data transfer latency from the client’s site to the cloud, which presents a bottleneck for using cloud computing services. In this paper, we provide a streaming-based scheme to overcome this problem, where the NGS data is processed while being transferred to the cloud. Our scheme targets the wide class of NGS data analysis tasks, where the NGS sequences can be processed independently from one another. We also provide the elastream package that supports the use of this scheme with individual analysis programs or with workflow systems. Experiments presented in this paper show that our solution mitigates the effect of data transfer latency and saves both time and cost of computation.

Sizing up your enemy: individual predation vulnerability predicts migratory probability

Partial migration, in which a fraction of a population migrate and the rest remain resident, occurs in an extensive range of species and can have powerful ecological consequences. The question of what drives differences in individual migratory tendency is a contentious one. It has been shown that the timing of partial migration is based upon a trade-off between seasonal fluctuations in predation risk and growth potential. Phenotypic variation in either individual predation risk or growth potential should thus mediate the strength of the trade-off and ultimately predict patterns of partial migration at the individual level (i.e. which individuals migrate and which remain resident). We provide cross-population empirical support for the importance of one component of this model—individual predation risk—in predicting partial migration in wild populations of bream Abramis brama, a freshwater fish. Smaller, high-risk individuals migrate with a higher probability than larger, low-risk individuals, and we suggest that predation risk maintains size-dependent partial migration in this system.

Individual Video Training iVT and Annotating Academic Videos AAV: two complementing technologies

Individual Video Training iVT and Annotating Academic Videos AAV: two complementing technologies 1. Recording communication skills training sessions and reviewing them by oneself, with peers, and with tutors has become standard in medical education. Increasing numbers of students paired with restrictions of financial and human resources create a big obstacle to this important teaching method. 2. Everybody who wants to increase efficiency and effectiveness of communication training can get new ideas from our technical solution. 3. Our goal was to increase the effectiveness of communication skills training by supporting self, peer and tutor assessment over the Internet. Two technologies of SWITCH, the national foundation to support IT solutions for Swiss universities, came handy for our project. The first is the authentication and authorization infrastructure providing all Swiss students with a nationwide single login. The second is SWITCHcast which allows automated recording, upload and publication of videos in the Internet. Students start the recording system by entering their single login. This automatically links the video with their password. Within a few hours, they find their video password protected on the Internet. They now can give access to peers and tutors. Additionally, an annotation interface was developed. This software has free text as well as checklist annotations capabilities. Tutors as well as students can create checklists. Tutor’s checklists are not editable by students. Annotations are linked to tracks. Tracks can be private or public. Public means visible to all who have access to the video. Annotation data can be exported for statistical evaluation. 4. The system was well received by students and tutors. Big numbers of videos were processed simultaneously without any problems. 5. iVT http://www.switch.ch/aaa/projects/detail/UNIBE.7 AAV http://www.switch.ch/aaa/projects/detail/ETHZ.9

Does Social Support Really Help to Eat a Low-Fat Diet? Main Effects and Gender Differences of Received Social Support within the Health Action Process Approach

BACKGROUND: Most theories of health-behavior change focus exclusively on individual self-regulation without taking social factors, such as social support, into account. This study's first aim was to systematically test the added value of received instrumental and emotional social support within the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) in the context of dietary change. In the social support literature, gender effects emerge with regard to the effectiveness of social support. Thus, a second aim was the examination of gender differences in the association of social support with dietary behavior. METHODS: Participants were 252 overweight and obese individuals. At baseline and 12 months later, participants completed questionnaires on HAPA variables; diet-specific received social support and low-fat diet. RESULTS: For the prediction of intentions 12 months later, instrumental support was more beneficial for men than for women over and above individual self-regulation. In terms of dietary behavior at T2, a moderate main effect of instrumental support emerged. Moreover, received emotional social support was beneficial for men, but not for women in terms of a low-fat diet 12 months later. CONCLUSIONS: Effects of received instrumental social support found in this study provide new evidence for the added value of integrating social support into the HAPA.

Individual group efficacy beliefs and performance motivation: A mediational approach

Introduction: According to the theoretical model of Cranach, Ochsenbein, and Valach (1986) understanding group actions needs consideration of aspects at both the group level and the level of individual members. For example individual action units constituting group actions are motivated at the individual level while potentially being affected by characteristics of the group. Theoretically, group efficacy beliefs could be a part of this motivational process as they are an individual’s cognitive contents about group-level abilities to perform well in a specific task. Positive relations between group level efficacy-beliefs and group performance have been reported and Bandura and Locke (2003) argue that this relationship is being mediated by motivational processes and goal setting. The aims of this study were a) to examine the effects of group characteristics on individual performance motivation and b) to test if those are mediated by individual group efficacy beliefs. Methods: Forty-seven students (M=22.83 years, SD=2.83, 34% women) of the university of Berne participated in this scenario based experiment. Data were collected on two collection points. Subjects were provided information about fictive team members with whom they had to perform a group triathlon. Three values (low, medium, high) of the other team members’ abilities to perform in their parts of the triathlon (swimming and biking respectively) were combined in a 3x3 full factorial design (Anderson, 1982) yielding nine groups. Subjects were asked how confident they were that the teams would perform well in the task (individual group efficacy beliefs), and to provide information about their motivation to perform at their best in the respective group contexts (performance motivation). Multilevel modeling (Mplus) was used to estimate the effects of the factors swim and bike, and the context-varying covariate individual group efficacy beliefs on performance motivation. Further analyses were undertaken to test if the effects of group contexts on performance motivation are mediated by individual group efficacy beliefs. Results: Significant effects were reported for both the group characteristics (βswim = 7.86; βbike = 8.57; both p < .001) and the individual group efficacy beliefs (βigeb; .40, p < .001) on performance motivation. The subsequent mediation model indicated that the effects of group characteristics on performance motivation were partly mediated by the individual group efficacy beliefs of the subjects with significant mediation effects for both factors swim and bike. Discussion/Conclusion: The results of the study provide further support for the motivational character of efficacy beliefs and point out a mechanism by which team characteristics influence performance relevant factors at the level of individual team members. The study indicates that high team abilities lead to augmented performance motivation, adding a psychological advantage to teams already high on task relevant abilities. Future investigations will be aiming at possibilities to keep individual performance motivation high in groups with low task relevant abilities. One possibility could be the formulation of individual task goals. References: Anderson, N. H. (1982). Methods of information integration theory. New York: Academic Press. Bandura, A. & Locke, E. A. (2003). Negative self-efficacy and goal effects revisited. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 87-99. Cranach, M. von, Ochsenbein, G. & Valach, L. (1986). The group as a self-active system: Outline of a theory of group action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 16, 193-229.