Relations between the attentional blink and aspects of psychometric intelligence: A fixed-links modeling approach

The attentional blink phenomenon (AB) represents impaired identification of the second of two targets presented in rapid succession within a stream of stimuli. Despite the well-known association between attentional processes and psychometric intelligence (PI), evidence for a relationship between AB and PI is highly inconsistent. Theory and empirical findings suggest AB to be multifaceted. Hence, relations between AB and PI may be blurred when AB is measured as a single process. Furthermore, different aspects of PI might be differentially related to AB. The present study explored the relationship between processes underlying AB and general PI as well as specific aspects of PI (Reasoning, Speed, Memory, and Creativity) in 201 female students. Fixed-links modeling revealed three processes underlying AB: (1) a U-shaped process positively related to Speed and negatively related to Memory but unrelated to Reasoning, Creativity, and general PI, (2) an increasing process positively related to Reasoning, Speed, Memory, and general PI but not to Creativity, and (3) a decreasing process positively related to general PI and Memory but not to other aspects of PI. Our findings demonstrate that dissociating processes underlying AB and considering specific aspects of PI is required to understand the relationship between AB and PI.

Structural, metamorphic and geochronological relations between the Zanskar Shear Zone and the Miyar Shear Zone (NW Indian Himalaya): Evidence for two distinct tectonic structures and implications for the evolution of the High Himalayan Crystalline of Zanskar

The geologic structures and metamorphic zonation of the northwestern Indian Himalaya contrast significantly with those in the central and eastern parts of the range, where the high-grade metamorphic rocks of the High Himalayan Crystalline (HHC) thrust southward over the weakly metamorphosed sediments of the Lesser Himalaya along the Main Central Thrust (MCT). Indeed, the hanging wall of the MCT in the NW Himalaya mainly consists of the greenschist facies metasediments of the Chamba zone, whereas HHC high-grade rocks are exposed more internally in the range as a large-scale dome called the Gianbul dome. This Gianbul dome is bounded by two oppositely directed shear zones, the NE-dipping Zanskar Shear Zone (ZSZ) on the northern flank and the SW-dipping Miyar Shear Zone (MSZ) on the southern limb. Current models for the emplacement of the HHC in NW India as a dome structure differ mainly in terms of the roles played by both the ZSZ and the MSZ during the tectonothermal evolution of the HHC. In both the channel flow model and wedge extrusion model, the ZSZ acts as a backstop normal fault along which the high-grade metamorphic rocks of the HHC of Zanskar are exhumed. In contrast, the recently proposed tectonic wedging model argues that the ZSZ and the MSZ correspond to one single detachment system that operates as a subhorizontal backthrust off of the MCT. Thus, the kinematic evolution of the two shear zones, the ZSZ and the MSZ, and their structural, metamorphic and chronological relations appear to be diagnostic features for discriminating the different models. In this paper, structural, metamorphic and geochronological data demonstrate that the MSZ and the ZSZ experienced two distinct kinematic evolutions. As such, the data presented in this paper rule out the hypothesis that the MSZ and the ZSZ constitute one single detachment system, as postulated by the tectonic wedging model. Structural, metamorphic and geochronological data are used to present an alternative tectonic model for the large-scale doming in the NW Indian Himalaya involving early NE-directed tectonics, weakness in the upper crust, reduced erosion at the orogenic front and rapid exhumation along both the ZSZ and the MSZ.

Relations between adolescents' self-evaluations, time perspectives, motivation for school and their achievement in different countries and at different ages

The present study focused on the relations between the self-efficacy, social self-concept, time perspectives, school investment and academic achievement of students in four different European countries and in different adolescence periods. A total of 1623 students completed questionnaires. The relations between the concepts proved not to be specific to the Western or to the former Communist bloc countries studied. The expected general decline in investment and academic achievement over the adolescence period showed up in all four countries studied. Contrary to our hypothesis, however, this decline could not be explained by growing influences of either social self-concept or time perspectives regarding personal development on their investment. In fact, the effects of social self-concept were strongest for the youngest adolescence group. Students’ social self-concept was the best predictor for their investment, while self-efficacy proved to predict academic achievement best in all adolescence periods.

The moderating effect of personal mastery and the relations between stress and Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) antigen

OBJECTIVE: This study tested whether feelings of personal control over one's life circumstances (i.e., personal mastery) would attenuate the relations between stress (i.e., negative life events and caregiving distress) and Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor (PAI)-1 antigen, an inhibitor of fibrinolysis implicated in the development of cardiovascular disease. DESIGN: Seventy-one spousal dementia caregivers were assessed for plasma levels of PAI-1 antigen, negative life events, caregiver distress, and feelings of personal mastery. Regression analysis was used to determine if personal mastery moderated the relations between stress (i.e., life stress and caregiving distress) and PAI-1 antigen levels. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 antigen in plasma. RESULTS: After controlling for other factors associated with PAI-1 antigen levels, negative life events were positively associated with plasma PAI-1 antigen concentrations in participants low in personal mastery (beta = .31; p = .050) but not in individuals high in personal mastery (beta = .22; p = .184). The moderating effect of mastery on the relations between caregiving distress and PAI-1 antigen did not reach statistical significance (p = .091). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that mastery may protect individuals from some of the alterations in hemostatic factors that have been linked to cardiovascular risk.

Relaxation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hypertensive heart disease: relations between hypertrophy and diastolic function

AIM To determine the relation between the extent and distribution of left ventricular hypertrophy and the degree of disturbance of regional relaxation and global left ventricular filling. METHODS Regional wall thickness (rWT) was measured in eight myocardial regions in 17 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 12 patients with hypertensive heart disease, and 10 age matched normal subjects, and an asymmetry index calculated. Regional relaxation was assessed in these eight regions using regional isovolumetric relaxation time (rIVRT) and early to late peak filling velocity ratio (rE/A) derived from Doppler tissue imaging. Asynchrony of rIVRT was calculated. Doppler left ventricular filling indices were assessed using the isovolumetric relaxation time, the deceleration time of early diastolic filling (E-DT), and the E/A ratio. RESULTS There was a correlation between rWT and both rIVRT and rE/A in the two types of heart disease (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: r = 0.47, p < 0.0001 for rIVRT; r = -0.20, p < 0.05 for rE/A; hypertensive heart disease: r = 0.21, p < 0.05 for rIVRT; r = -0.30, p = 0.003 for rE/A). The degree of left ventricular asymmetry was related to prolonged E-DT (r = 0. 50, p = 0.001) and increased asynchrony (r = 0.42, p = 0.002) in all patients combined, but not within individual groups. Asynchrony itself was associated with decreased E/A (r = -0.39, p = 0.01) and protracted E-DT (r = 0.69, p < 0.0001) and isovolumetric relaxation time (r = 0.51, p = 0.001) in all patients. These correlations were still significant for E-DT in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (r = 0.56, p = 0.02) and hypertensive heart disease (r = 0.59, p < 0.05) and for isovolumetric relaxation time in non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (n = 8, r = 0.87, p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS Non-invasive ultrasonographic examination of the left ventricle shows that in both hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hypertensive heart disease, the local extent of left ventricular hypertrophy is associated with regional left ventricular relaxation abnormalities. Asymmetrical distribution of left ventricular hypertrophy is indirectly related to global left ventricular early filling abnormalities through regional asynchrony of left ventricular relaxation.

Scaling relations between trabecular bone volume fraction and microstructure at different skeletal sites

In this study, we investigated the scaling relations between trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and parameters of the trabecular microstructure at different skeletal sites. Cylindrical bone samples with a diameter of 8mm were harvested from different skeletal sites of 154 human donors in vitro: 87 from the distal radius, 59/69 from the thoracic/lumbar spine, 51 from the femoral neck, and 83 from the greater trochanter. μCT images were obtained with an isotropic spatial resolution of 26μm. BV/TV and trabecular microstructure parameters (TbN, TbTh, TbSp, scaling indices (< > and σ of α and αz), and Minkowski Functionals (Surface, Curvature, Euler)) were computed for each sample. The regression coefficient β was determined for each skeletal site as the slope of a linear fit in the double-logarithmic representations of the correlations of BV/TV versus the respective microstructure parameter. Statistically significant correlation coefficients ranging from r=0.36 to r=0.97 were observed for BV/TV versus microstructure parameters, except for Curvature and Euler. The regression coefficients β were 0.19 to 0.23 (TbN), 0.21 to 0.30 (TbTh), −0.28 to −0.24 (TbSp), 0.58 to 0.71 (Surface) and 0.12 to 0.16 (<α>), 0.07 to 0.11 (<αz>), −0.44 to −0.30 (σ(α)), and −0.39 to −0.14 (σ(αz)) at the different skeletal sites. The 95% confidence intervals of β overlapped for almost all microstructure parameters at the different skeletal sites. The scaling relations were independent of vertebral fracture status and similar for subjects aged 60–69, 70–79, and >79years. In conclusion, the bone volume fraction–microstructure scaling relations showed a rather universal character.

Semantic, perceptual and number space: relations between category width and spatial processing.

Coarse semantic encoding and broad categorization behavior are the hallmarks of the right cerebral hemisphere's contribution to language processing. We correlated 40 healthy subjects' breadth of categorization as assessed with Pettigrew's category width scale with lateral asymmetries in perceptual and representational space. Specifically, we hypothesized broader category width to be associated with larger leftward spatial biases. For the 20 men, but not the 20 women, this hypothesis was confirmed both in a lateralized tachistoscopic task with chimeric faces and a random digit generation task; the higher a male participant's score on category width, the more pronounced were his left-visual field bias in the judgement of chimeric faces and his small-number preference in digit generation ("small" is to the left of "large" in number space). Subjects' category width was unrelated to lateral displacements in a blindfolded tactile-motor rod centering task. These findings indicate that visual-spatial functions of the right hemisphere should not be considered independent of the same hemisphere's contribution to language. Linguistic and spatial cognition may be more tightly interwoven than is currently assumed.