Kent State University

About: Kent State University is a education organization based out in Kent, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Liquid crystal & Population. The organization has 10897 authors who have published 24607 publications receiving 720309 citations. The organization is also known as: Kent State & KSU.

K(892)(*) resonance production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Abstract: The short-lived K(892)* resonance provides an efficient tool to probe properties of the hot and dense medium produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We report measurements of K* in {radical}(s{sub NN})=200 GeV Au+Au and p+p collisions reconstructed via its hadronic decay channels K(892)*{sup 0}{yields}K{pi} and K(892)*{sup {+-}}{yields}K{sub S}{sup 0}{pi}{sup {+-}} using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The K*{sup 0} mass has been studied as a function of p{sub T} in minimum bias p+p and central Au+Au collisions. The K* p{sub T} spectra for minimum bias p+p interactions and for Au+Au collisions in different centralities are presented. The K*/K yield ratios for all centralities in Au+Au collisions are found to be significantly lower than the ratio in minimum bias p+p collisions, indicating the importance of hadronic interactions between chemical and kinetic freeze-outs. A significant nonzero K*{sup 0} elliptic flow (v{sub 2}) is observed in Au+Au collisions and is compared to the K{sub S}{sup 0} and {lambda} v{sub 2}. The nuclear modification factor of K* at intermediate p{sub T} is similar to that of K{sub S}{sup 0} but different from {lambda}. This establishes a baryon-meson effect over a mass effect in the particle production atmore » intermediate p{sub T} (2

Spousal similarity in subjective well-being: The cardiovascular health study.

Abstract: This study examines the extent to which one spouse's subjective well-being predicts that of the partner (N = 1,040 spousal pairs, 65 years or older). Prior research is extended in two ways: (a) The similarity of both affective domains (depressive symptoms, feelings about life as a whole, and satisfaction with the meaning and purpose of life) and nonaffective domains (perceived health) are examined, and (b) known predictors of well-being in older adults (sociodemographic variables, self and spouse health status variables, and exposure to common environmental events) are statistically controlled. Results indicate that one spouse's assessments of well-being and depression predict the other's well-being even after controlling for known predictors of these outcomes. Given the similarity of findings for affective and nonaffective domains, multiple mechanisms, including contagion, mate selection, and common environmental influences, are speculated as likely to contribute to this phenomenon.

The Ease-of-Processing Heuristic and the Stability Bias Dissociating Memory, Memory Beliefs, and Memory Judgments

Abstract: Judgments about memory are essential in promoting knowledge; they help identify trustworthy memories and predict what information will be retained in the future. In the three experiments reported here, we investigated the mechanisms underlying predictions about memory. In Experiments 1 and 2, single words were presented once or multiple times, in large or small type. There was a double dissociation between actual memory and predicted memory: Type size affected predicted but not actual memory, and future study opportunities affected actual memory but scarcely affected predicted memory. The results of Experiment 3 suggest that beliefs and judgments are largely independent, and neither consistently resembles actual memory. Participants’ underestimation of future learning—a stability bias—stemmed from an overreliance on their current memory state in making predictions about future memory states. The overreliance on type size highlights the fundamental importance of the ease-of-processing heuristic: Information that is easy to process is judged to have been learned well.

Longitudinal patterns of risk for depression in dementia caregivers: objective and subjective primary stress as predictors.

Abstract: The present study examined how patterns of risk for depression over 1 year in 188 dementia caregivers (consistently asymptomatic, n = 88; consistently symptomatic, n = 40; changing risk, n = 60) could be predicted by objective (behavior problems of the relative) and subjective (role captivity and overload) primary stress. Results reveal that all primary stressors differentiated caregivers who remained at low levels of symptomatology over the course of 1 year from those who were at risk for experiencing a depressive disorder. In addition, caregivers' subjective experience of role captivity predicted the chronicity of risk. Findings extend prior caregiving research on patterns of depressive symptomatology by highlighting the relationship between subjective primary stressors and stability and change in caregivers' mental health.

Risk of Psychological Difficulties Among Children Raised by Custodial Grandparents

Abstract: Although increasing numbers of grandparents are becoming surrogate parents to grandchildren (1), little is known about how custodial grandchildren fare in these families. Yet there are two major reasons why custodial grandchildren may encounter greater risk of behavioral and emotional difficulties than children in general. One reason is that custodial grandchildren typically receive care from grandparents because of such predicaments among their parents as substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, teenage pregnancy, death, illness, divorce, incarceration, and HIV-AIDS (2). Such predicaments bear numerous risks of psychopathology among custodial grandchildren, including exposure to prenatal toxins, early childhood trauma, insufficient interaction with parents, family conflict, uncertainty about the future, and societal stigma (3,4). Another reason why custodial grandchildren may experience higher risk of emotional and behavioral difficulties concerns the numerous challenges that grandparents face as caregivers. For many this role is developmentally off time, unplanned, ambiguous, and undertaken with considerable ambivalence (5-7). Additional challenges to raising custodial grandchildren include inadequate support, social stigma, isolation, disrupted leisure and retirement plans, age-related adversities, anger toward grandchildren’s parents, and financial strain (8-10). Thus custodial grandparents typically show elevated rates of anxiety, irritability, anger, and guilt (11-15). Such heightened psychological strain among parental figures is troubling because abundant research shows that psychological distress is associated with increased dysfunctional parenting, which, in turn, negatively affects children’s psychological well-being (16). Recently, it was found that psychological distress among custodial grandmothers results in lower-quality parenting, which ultimately leads to higher maladjustment of custodial grandchildren (17). Despite these speculations that custodial grandchildren may experience greater mental health difficulties than children in general, scant research has examined the well-being of custodial grandchildren in comparison with other children. A handful of studies, however, provide preliminary evidence that custodial grandchildren do face higher risk. For instance, Ghuman and colleagues (18) found that 22% of 233 youths attending an inner-city community mental health center for treatment of psychological difficulties were cared for by grandparents. Although this rate was disproportionately higher than the 6% of all children living in a grandparent’s household (19), generalizability of these findings is unknown because the sample was restricted to custodial grandchildren from a single clinic. Further evidence of increased risk of psychological difficulties among custodial grandchildren comes from studies of children who receive kinship care. Dubowitz and colleagues (20-23) reported studies showing that children under kinship care have more behavioral, emotional, and school-related problems than children in general. Billing and colleagues (24) analyzed data from the 1997 and 1999 rounds of the National Survey of America’s Families and found that children under age 18 living with relatives fared worse than children living with biological parents on most measures of behavioral, emotional, and physical well-being. They also found that children in care of relatives were more likely to have caregivers with symptoms of poor mental health themselves. Using a nationally representative sample of middle-school children from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study, Sun (25) compared the educational, psychological, and behavioral outcomes of children in non–biological-parent families with outcomes of children in households containing two biological parents, a single mother, a stepmother, or a stepfather. According to Sun, non–biological-parent households were found to provide a less favorable family environment for children to live in, as shown by the shortage of parental functions and resources in these households that were associated with lower levels of well-being among children. Because none of the studies reviewed above differentiated children raised by grandparents from children raised by other relatives, the applicability of their findings in regard to custodial grandchildren remains unknown. In the only published national study focused on custodial grandchildren, Solomon and Marx (26) used secondary data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to address how custodial grandchildren compare with children from traditional and other types of alternative family (single-parent and blended families) on health and school-adjustment indicators. Caregivers were asked about their perceptions of children in their care. Children from traditional nuclear families were perceived as being better students and less likely to repeat a grade compared with custodial grandchildren, whereas children raised in families with one biological parent did not perform any better on these indicators than custodial grandchildren. Children from traditional families were not better behaved at school than custodial grandchildren, and children from families with one biological parent were more likely than custodial grandchildren to experience school-related behavioral problems. Solomon and Marx also examined indices of physical health status and found that custodial grandchildren fared quite well relative to children in all other family structures. On the basis of overall findings, the authors concluded that “children being raised solely by grandparents appear to be relatively healthy and well-adjusted.” However, a major limitation of their investigation is that an established measure of children’s psychological adjustment was unavailable in the 1988 NHIS data set.