The Associations Between the Maladaptive Personality Dimensions of Neediness and Self-Criticism, Defense Styles, Selfobject Needs, and Attachment Styles in an Iranian Sample

The present study extends previous findings by examining whether defense styles, selfobject needs, attachment styles relate to Neediness and Self-Criticism, as maladaptive personality dimensions focused, respectively, on relatedness and self-definition in an Iranian sample. Three hundred and fifty two participants completed a socio-demographic questionnaire as well as the Persian forms of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, Experience of Close Relationships-Revised, Defense Style Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory–II and Selfobject Needs Inventory. Two Multiple Linear Regression Analyses, entering Self-criticism and Neediness as criterion variables, were computed. According to the results high Attachment anxiety, high Immature defenses, high depressive symptoms, and high need for idealization were related to self-criticism, and explained 47% of its variance. In addition, high attachment anxiety, low mature defenses, high neurotic defenses, high avoidance of mirroring, and low avoidance of idealization/twinship were related to neediness, and explained 40% of its variance. A Principal Component Analysis was performed, entering all the studied variables. Three factors emerged; one describing a maladaptive form of psychological functioning and two describing more mature modes of psychological functioning. The results are discussed in their implications for the understanding of neediness and self-criticism as maladaptive personality dimensions focused, respectively, on relatedness and self-definition.

Technological characterization of molded islamic pottery from Iberian Peninsula

The thesis examines the technical aspects of unglazed molded ceramics from Mértola, in the context of Islamic archaeology of the Iberian Peninsula (Almohad period, end of 12th and the beginning of 13th century). Ceramics of the time period under discussion (12th – 13th century) are understudied, including in what concern to shaping and firing of ceramic vessels, the origin of raw materials used in ceramics and glazes, and decoration methods such as slip painting and/or colored glazes. Moreover, the use of archaeometry tools is rare. Along with providing a general picture of molded ceramic production in Mértola, this work provides a new dimension to the discipline of Islamic ceramic studies by the analytical tool used and demonstrating the importance of archaeological ceramics of the western peripheries to the understanding the production of ceramics and the transmission of knowledge and cultural traditions within the Islamic caliphate. The chemical and mineralogical characterization of 12th/13th century Almohad unglazed molded ware from Mértola was accomplished through multi – analytical approach combining SEM, Powder/uXRD and LA-ICP-MS methods. In this paper unglazed and glazed samples were analyzed but the attention was given to unglazed specimens, while the glazed samples were used for the comparison with the previous group in order to determine possible similarities or dissimilarities, thus providing enough data to discuss about technical aspects and potential provenance; Resumo: A tese debruça-se sobre os aspetos técnicos de cerâmica de molde não-vidrada de Mértola, no contexto da arqueologia islâmica da Península Ibérica (período Almóada, final de XII e início do século XIII). A cerâmica do período em discussão (séculos XII-XIII) é pouco estudada inclusive no que concerne ao fabrico e à cozedura, à de fonte de matérias-primas, na pasta ou nos esmaltes e aos métodos de decoração, como pintura, presença de engobes ou esmaltes. Além disso, o uso de ferramentas de Arqueometria é raro. Para fornecer uma visão geral da produção de cerâmica moldada em Mértola, este trabalho oferece uma nova dimensão para a disciplina de cerâmica islâmicas pelas ferramentas analíticas utilizadas. Demonstrando a importância da cerâmica arqueológica da periferia ocidental para a compreensão da produção cerâmica e a transmissão de conhecimentos e tradições culturais no califado islâmico. A caracterização mineralógica e química das cerâmicas de molde e não-vidrada, Almóada, dos séculos XII-XIII de Mértola foi realizada através de uma abordagem multi-analítica que combina métodos de SEM-EDS, uXRD e LA-ICP-MS. Neste trabalho, as cerâmicas vidradas e não-vidradas foram analisadas conjuntamente, dando mais atenção aos espécimes não vidrados. As amostras de cerâmicas vidradas foram utilizados para a comparação com o grupo anterior, a fim de determinar as possíveis semelhanças ou diferenças, proporcionando, assim, dados suficientes para discutir os aspetos técnicos e o potencial de proveniência das cerâmicas não vidradas

Institutional problems of the emerging scientific community in Iran

This article attempts to explore the concept of scientific community at the macro-national level in the context of Iran. Institutionalisation of science and its professional growth has been constrained by several factors. The article first conceptualises the notion of science community as found in the literature in the context of Iran, and attempts to map through some indicators. The main focus, however, lies in mapping some institutional problems through empirical research. This was undertaken in 2002–04 in order to analyse the structure of the scientific community in Iran in the ‘exact sciences’ (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and earth sciences). The empirical work was done in two complementary perspectives: through a questionnaire and statistical analysis of it, and through semistructured interviews with the researchers. There are number of problems confronting scientists in Iran. Facilities provided by institutions is one of the major problems of research. Another is the tenuous cooperation among scientists. This is reported by most of the researchers, who deplore the lack of cooperation among their group. Relationships are mostly with the Ph.D. students and only marginally with colleagues. Our research shows that the more brilliant the scientists, the more frustrated they are from scientific institutions in Iran. Medium-range researchers seem to be much happier about the scientific institution to which they belong than the brighter scholars. The scientific institutions in Iran seem to be built for the needs of the former rather than the latter. These institutions seem not to play a positive role in the case of the best scientists. On the whole, many ingredients of the scientific community, at least at its inception, are present among Iranian scientists: the strong desire for scientific achievement in spite of personal, institutional and economic problems.

A solid state Marx generator with a novel configuration

The new configuration proposed in this paper for Marx Generator (MG.) aims to generate high voltage for pulsed power applications through reduced number of semiconductor components with a more efficient load supplying process. The main idea is to charge two groups of capacitors in parallel through an inductor and take the advantage of resonant phenomenon in charging each capacitor up to a double input voltage level. In each resonant half a cycle, one of those capacitor groups are charged, and eventually the charged capacitors will be connected in series and the summation of the capacitor voltages can be appeared at the output of the topology. This topology can be considered as a modified Marx generator which works based on the resonant concept. Simulated models of this converter have been investigated in Matlab/SIMULINK platform and the acquired results fully satisfy the anticipations in proper operation of the converter.

University students’ depression : a cross-cultural investigation

Australian, Iranian and Portuguese university students (N = 967) completed University Students Depression Inventory (USDI; Khawaja & Bryden, 2006) in English, Persian, and Portuguese languages respectively. A series of MANOVA were used to examine differences in depression symptoms as an effect of the country and demographic variables. Interactions were also examined. The results indicated that country, gender, and year level had some impact on the depressive symptoms of the university students. Australian students were more depressed than the Iranian and Portuguese students, while Iranian students were more depressed than the Portuguese students. Subscales of USDI: Lethargy, Motivation, and Cognitive/Emotional were also used to compare the depressive symptoms of students. The Australian female students reported a significantly higher level of lethargy than their male counterparts. Similarly, the first year male students from Iran were significantly more lethargic than the first year Iranian female students. Iranian and Portuguese male students, compared to the female students of these countries, experienced a lower level of motivation. The Australian and Iranian students, compared to the Portuguese students, reported a significantly higher level of cognitive and affective symptoms. The scores on the Cognitive/Emotional subscale increased with the year level. Differences among students’ depression are described and implications discussed.

An Introduction to Political Communication, 5th Edition

An Introduction to Political Communication introduces students to the complex relationship between politics, the media and democracy in the United Kingdom, United States and other contemporary societies. Brian McNair examines how politicians, trade unions, pressure groups, NGOs and terrorist organisations make use of the media. Individual chapters look at political media and their effects, the work of political advertising, marketing and public relations, and the communicative practices of organizations at all levels, from grass-root campaigning through to governments and international bodies. This fifth edition has been revised and updated to include: • the 2008 US presidential election, and the early years of Barack Obama’s term • the MPs’ expenses scandal in Britain, and the 2010 UK election campaign • the growing role of bloggers and online pundits such as Guido Fawkes in the political agenda setting process • the emergence of social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, and their destabiising impact on the management of political crises all over the world, including the Iranian pro-reform protests of July 2009 and the Israeli atack on the anti-blockade flotilla of May 2010 • the growing power of Wikileaks and other online information sources to challenge state control of classified information

CT scanning in archaeology

In this chapter we will review the use of x-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning in the field of archaeology. The story will be told in roughly chronological order, starting with the first reported use of a CT scanner in the field of archaeology and then look at some some possibilities for the future. Since the introduction of the x-ray CT scanner in the 1970’s the quality of the images has steadily improved enabling the role of the CT scanner to expand into the field of archaeology. In the context of this chapter, archaeology will be deemed to include the study of ancient human remains and artefacts but exclude remains from pre-history, which normally comes under the heading of palaeontology. (It would perhaps be appropriate to note that CT scanners have been successfully applied in the study of fossils). CT scans have mostly been used to study mummies but have also been used to examine other archaeological artefacts such as clay tablets, scrolls, pottery, bronze statues and swords.