Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating disorder characterized by significant mood disturbance. In laboratory studies, MDD has been characterized by both blunted positive (PER) and negative emotional reactivity (NER). However, mood disordered persons' emotional reactivity has rarely been studied in naturalistic settings, and it is unknown how less severe forms of depression relate to emotional reactivity. To address these issues, the current study utilized two naturalistic sampling methods (the Day Reconstruction Method and the Experience Sampling Method) to examine PER and NER to daily life events in 35 individuals currently experiencing a major depressive episode (MDD), 26 individuals currently experiencing a minor depressive episode (mD), and 38 healthy controls. Both methods demonstrated that individuals with major and minor depression exhibited blunted PER relative to controls. In surprising contrast to previous laboratory findings, both individuals with MDD and mD showed increased NER relative to controls. Correlational analyses with severity measures indicated that depression and anxiety severity were positively related to NER and negatively related to PER. Findings suggest that NER in mood disorders may diverge as a function of assessment context and may be heightened in naturalistic environments. Despite the fact that mD is a milder mood disorder, findings suggest that mD results in similar emotional impairments as found in MDD.

<p>This thesis presents four studies investigating (1) whether incidentally primed control-related words can attenuate the impact of activated stereotypes on subsequent evaluation of a target person, (2) the impact of motivated forgetting on the recall of stereotypically congruent and incongruent information, and (3) the impact of a directed forgetting instruction on the false recall and recognition of nonpresented stereotypical information.</p><p>In three experiments, Study I showed that participants initially primed with the social category, <i>immigrant, </i>and subsequently primed with words that were evocative of control or self-control made less negative impression of a target displaying ambiguous behaviors than participants not exposed to such words.</p><p>Study II, using a directed-forgetting paradigm, demonstrated in two experiments that participants subliminally primed with Swedish facial photographs who later studied stereotypically incongruent words roughly recalled an equal number of items regardless of the forget or remember instructions. </p><p>Study III showed that participants primed with the social category, <i>immigrant</i> and then studied a list of stereotypically related and unrelated words falsely recognized more nonpresented stereotypical words when they were furnished with a forget than a remember instruction. Similarly, Study IV (Experiment 2) demonstrated that participants primed with the social category, <i>immigrant</i>, but not with a neutral category, falsely recalled more nonpresented stereotypical words when their cognitive capacity was depleted through a concurrent memory load task. </p><p>The thesis presents a review and a discussion of some of the theoretical underpinnings of the extant literature on stereotyping and intergroup relations and of the social implications of the present findings.</p>

This thesis presents four studies investigating (1) whether incidentally primed control-related words can attenuate the impact of activated stereotypes on subsequent evaluation of a target person, (2) the impact of motivated forgetting on the recall of stereotypically congruent and incongruent information, and (3) the impact of a directed forgetting instruction on the false recall and recognition of nonpresented stereotypical information. In three experiments, Study I showed that participants initially primed with the social category, immigrant, and subsequently primed with words that were evocative of control or self-control made less negative impression of a target displaying ambiguous behaviors than participants not exposed to such words. Study II, using a directed-forgetting paradigm, demonstrated in two experiments that participants subliminally primed with Swedish facial photographs who later studied stereotypically incongruent words roughly recalled an equal number of items regardless of the forget or remember instructions. Study III showed that participants primed with the social category, immigrant and then studied a list of stereotypically related and unrelated words falsely recognized more nonpresented stereotypical words when they were furnished with a forget than a remember instruction. Similarly, Study IV (Experiment 2) demonstrated that participants primed with the social category, immigrant, but not with a neutral category, falsely recalled more nonpresented stereotypical words when their cognitive capacity was depleted through a concurrent memory load task. The thesis presents a review and a discussion of some of the theoretical underpinnings of the extant literature on stereotyping and intergroup relations and of the social implications of the present findings.

A series of 5 experiments investigated whether false memory in associated word lists present with serial position effects (SPE) and how any such effects behave in response to manipulations of true recall SPE. Recall for a series of events is typified by SPE such that items nearer the beginning, primacy effect, and end, recency effect, of a series are remembered better than middle items. Recall is also typified by the intrusion of falsely remembered information. Word-lists segmented into trimesters of either semantically (e.g., hot, snow, warm.../ bed, rest, awake.../ looking, lens, shatter...) or phonologically (e.g., code, called, fold.../ sweep, sleet, steep.../ class, grass, glad...) associated words produced false recall (e.g., cold, sleep, glass), allowing for the simultaneous investigation of SPE for true and false recall. Typical SPE for true recall were observed for each of the five Experiments. For immediate free recall, semantic false recall declined from early to late study trimesters whereas phonological false recall displayed a false primacy and recency effect similar to true recall SPE. Phonological false recall was significantly reduced when a 15 second distractor task was implemented during the retention interval. Dividing attention during study using a concurrent handwriting task reduced true recall whereas semantic false recall increased at primacy and phonological false recall increased at recency. This suggests distinct processes underlying the two forms of false recall. Dividing attention using an articulatory suppression task produced less true recall and less false recall than using concurrent handwriting. This research indicates that false recall SPE exist and that the semantic and phonological forms of false recall SPE are distinct. Current theories of false memory and of true recall SPE are considered.

A series of 5 experiments investigated whether false memory in associated word lists present with serial position effects (SPE) and how any such effects behave in response to manipulations of true recall SPE. Recall for a series of events is typified by SPE such that items nearer the beginning, primacy effect, and end, recency effect, of a series are remembered better than middle items. Recall is also typified by the intrusion of falsely remembered information. Word-lists segmented into trimesters of either semantically (e.g., hot, snow, warm.../ bed, rest, awake.../ looking, lens, shatter...) or phonologically (e.g., code, called, fold.../ sweep, sleet, steep.../ class, grass, glad...) associated words produced false recall (e.g., cold, sleep, glass), allowing for the simultaneous investigation of SPE for true and false recall. Typical SPE for true recall were observed for each of the five Experiments. For immediate free recall, semantic false recall declined from early to late study trimesters whereas phonological false recall displayed a false primacy and recency effect similar to true recall SPE. Phonological false recall was significantly reduced when a 15 second distractor task was implemented during the retention interval. Dividing attention during study using a concurrent handwriting task reduced true recall whereas semantic false recall increased at primacy and phonological false recall increased at recency. This suggests distinct processes underlying the two forms of false recall. Dividing attention using an articulatory suppression task produced less true recall and less false recall than using concurrent handwriting. This research indicates that false recall SPE exist and that the semantic and phonological forms of false recall SPE are distinct. Current theories of false memory and of true recall SPE are considered.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:38:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CAIO BRUNO QUINTA DE SOUZA LEAL - PARTE 1.pdf: 34304765 bytes, checksum: 476dda15021939ae8be633403ae9dabe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-31 / Monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) who receive treatment with Imatib mesylate (IM) is extremely important, because it enables the evaluation of the response to the treatment and the early diagnosis of possible recurrences. The objective of this study was to standardize molecular methods used in order to monitor MRD in patients with CML, on therapy with IM. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 11 patients diagnosed with CML in October 2012 to September 2013, in the Department of Hematology of Hospital Araújo Jorge of the Association to Combat Cancer in Goiás. Three months after starting treatment, patients underwent a new peripheral blood collection for evaluation of MRD. Detecting bcr-abl transcripts and endogenous controls (abl and &#946;2m) employed reverse transcription methods associated with polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), while quantification of bcr-abl transcripts was achieved by using reverse transcription associated with real-time PCR (RQ-PCR) and Taqman probes. Specific oligonucleotides and probes recognizing e13a2 and e14a2 junctions of bcr-abl transcripts and to the abl endogenous control were used in this study. By the time of diagnosis, three patients (27.3%) expressed the b2a2 transcript, five patients (45.5%) expressed the b3a2 transcript, two patients (18.2%) expressed both transcripts and one patient (9%) did not express any of the transcripts. The endogenous controls analysis resulted in better amplification for the abl transcript, which was used in the RQ-PCR reactions. The assessment of DRM was possible in only eight patients, due to the loss of follow-up. Three months after starting treatment with IM, all patients presented complete hematologic response. However, only one patient (12.5%) presented the undetectable transcript, reaching the full molecular response, while the other seven patients (87.95%) presented MRD. One (12.5%) of the seven patients who presented MRD, reached complete molecular response, while six patients (75%) presented a reduction of two logs, achieving minor molecular response, and one patient (12.5%) presented only partial molecular response. By using molecular biology methods, our results have enabled the standardization and the establishment of a laboratory routine, according to the international guidelines, for monitoring MRD in patients with CML. / O monitoramento de doença residual mínima (DRM) em pacientes com leucemia meilóide crônica (LMC) que recebem tratamento com mesilato de imatibe (MI) é extremamente relevante, pois possibilita o acompanhamento da resposta e o diagnóstico precoce de eventuais recidivas da doença. O objetivo deste estudo foi padronizar métodos moleculares utilizados na avaliação de DRM em pacientes com LMC, em tratamento com MI. Amostras de sangue periférico foram coletadas de 11 pacientes diagnosticados com LMC, no período de outubro de 2012 a setembro de 2013, no Setor de Hematologia do Hospital Araújo Jorge da Associação de Combate ao Câncer em Goiás. Três meses após o início do tratamento, os pacientes foram submetidos a uma nova coleta de sangue periférico para avaliação de DRM. A detecção dos transcritos bcr-abl e controles endógenos (abl e &#946;2m) empregaram os métodos de transcrição reversa associados à reação em cadeia da polimerase (RT-PCR), enquanto a quantificação dos transcritos bcr-abl foi feita por meio de transcrição reversa associada à PCR em tempo real (RQ-PCR), utilizando a metodologia de sondas de hidrólise (TaqMan). Oligonucleotídeos e sondas Taqman específicos para as junções e13a2 e e14a2 dos transcritos bcr-abl e para o controle endógeno (abl) foram usados neste estudo. Ao diagnóstico, três pacientes (27,3%) expressaram o transcrito b2a2, cinco pacientes (45,5%) o transcrito b3a2, dois pacientes (18,2%) expressaram ambos os transcritos e um paciente (9%) não expressou nenhum dos transcritos. A amplificação dos controles endógenos resultou em melhor amplificação para o transcrito abl, que foi usado nas reações de RQ-PCR. A avaliação de DRM foi possível em oito pacientes, devido à perda de seguimento dos demais. Três meses após o início do tratamento com MI, todos os pacientes apresentaram resposta hematológica completa. No entanto, apenas um paciente (12,5%) apresentou o transcrito bcr-abl indetectável, alcançando a reposta molecular completa, enquanto os outros sete pacientes (87,95%) apresentaram DRM. Dentre os sete pacientes que apresentaram DRM, seis (75%) apresentaram redução de um a dois logs, alcançando resposta molecular menor, enquanto um (12,5%) apresentou resposta molecular parcial. Nossos resultados possibilitaram a padronização e o estabelecimento de uma rotina segundo as diretrizes internacionais, para monitoramento da DRM em pacientes com LMC, utilizando métodos de biologia molecular

Currently, digital music is evolving. In connection with this development new business models are formed, e.g. between majors and mobile operators. In the thesis, I am analysing the current trends and czech and foreign music services in this field. In my own research I am evaluating czech customers preferences in respect to digital music, their music habits and their idea of an ideal music service offered by mobile operator. On basis of music services analysis and the research results, I am suggesting an ideal music service to the biggest mobile operator in the Czech republic.

Video game developers have implemented multiple measures to combat piracy throughout history. One of these measures, defined in this study as in-game anti-piracy measures, prevents player progression on unauthorized copies by degrading gameplay or drastically increasing the difficulty.This study conducts a content analysis research on textual data gathered from the world wide web to assess the public perception in regards to this type of anti-piracy measures. The data gathered for this study consists of 425 statements in the form of comments and forum posts that have been coded, divided into themes and then analyzed inductively to generate findings that can be linked to Moshirnia’s (2012) previous research.Even though no clear results occurred that can confirm Moshirnia’s (2012) findings, this study has discovered a potential connection between in-game anti-piracy measures promoting piracy. The findings also suggest that the unique “broke features” might lead to the popularization of games modded to let legitimate users experience them too.

False memories happen when someone mis-remembers a past event that occurred. The study of false memories is commonly done using the DRM paradigm which can form false memories through semantic list learning. The current study is evaluating false memory, deception, and truth-telling using the DRM paradigm while measuring cortical activation with fNIRS. Results indicated no interactions between specific condition responses and brain regions in the prefrontal cortex. A main effect of condition was found indicating that correct responses have the lowest level of activation. Additionally, there were no significant differences found between deception and false memory responses. Further research needs to be conducted to help further analyze possible differences between these conditions as well as in more subcortical regions of the prefrontal cortex.

The goal of the thesis is to formulate suggestion to Czech universities regarding publication of textbooks and academic texts in electronic formats. The thesis also provides a general view of the Czech ebook market -- the history, formats and digital right management of ebooks are described. The process of ebook elaboration and reading devices with their pros and cons are also mentioned. The comparison of world and Czech ebook and etextbook market is emphasized and the availability of Czech etextbooks and academic text in Czech higher education institutions is mapped. The hypothesis that Czech students' demand for etextbooks is sufficient for profitable etextbook elaboration by Czech higher education institutions in the way that prevents from illegal sharing of content and violating of authorial laws is examined.