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Phenomenological Aspects (phenomenological + aspect)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Panic disorder phenomenology in urban self-identified caucasian,non-hispanics and caucasian,hispanics

DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 1 2003
Michael Hollifield M.D.
Abstract The epidemiology of panic disorder is well known, but data about some phenomenological aspects are sparse. The symptom criteria for panic disorder were developed largely from rational expert consensus methods and not from empirical research. This fact calls attention to the construct validity of the panic disorder diagnosis, which may affect accuracy of epidemiological findings. Seventy self-identified Non-Hispanic,Caucasian (Anglo) and Hispanic,Caucasian (Hispanic) people who were diagnosed with DSM-III-R panic disorder with or without agoraphobia were invited to complete a Panic Phenomenological Questionnaire (PPQ), which was constructed for this study from the Hamilton Anxiety Scale Items and The DSM-III-R panic symptoms. Fifty (71%) subjects agreed to participate, and there was no response bias detected. Seven symptoms on the PPQ that are not in the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria were reported to occur with a high prevalence in this study. Furthermore, many symptoms that occurred with a high frequency and were reported to be experienced as severe are also not included in current nosology. A few of the DSM-IV criterion symptoms occurred with low prevalence, frequency, and severity. Cognitive symptoms were reported to occur with higher frequency and severity during attacks than autonomic or other symptoms. There were modest differences between ethnic groups with regard to panic attack phenomena. Further research using multiple empirical methods aimed at improving the content validity of the panic disorder diagnosis is warranted. This includes utilizing consistent methods to collect data that will allow for rational decisions about how to construct valid panic disorder criteria across cultures. Depression and Anxiety 18:7,17, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Clinical and phenomenological comparisons of delusional and non-delusional major depression in the Chinese elderly

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 6 2003
Tien-Wen Lee
Abstract Objective Distinct clinical entities, with and without delusions, have been reported for depressed patients. This study explores the clinical and phenomenological aspects of delusional and non-delusional major depression in elderly Chinese patients. Methods A total of 156 depressed patients (105 males and 51 females) admitted to our geriatric psychiatry ward were investigated. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were compared between patients divided into two groups,according to presence or absence of delusions. Results On admission, higher risk of suicide attempt, higher chance of guilt feelings, and greater daily functional impairment were observed for the deluded group. Further, the score of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was higher and the score of Mini-Mental State Examination was lower for delusional depressives. Conclusion Our findings were grossly concordant with previous Western reports, and highlight the importance of identifying the delusional subgroup of depressive patients because of the higher risk of suicide attempt. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Predictive membrane transport model for nanofiltration processes in water treatment

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 6 2001
Shih-Chieh Tu
A membrane transport model was developed for prediction and simulation of membrane filtration (nanofiltration) dynamics with reference to permeate flux. It incorporates important phenomenological aspects of membrane transport, such as concentration polarization and gel layer formation, and illustrates the concentration of solutes as foulants in the mass-transfer boundary layer on the membrane surface. Membrane filtration tests using tannic acid as a model organic compound were designed for investigating permeate fluxes, as well as solute concentration profiles for permeates and concentrates. Membrane performance experiments were conducted under various operation conditions by varying several parameters including solute concentrations, transmembrane pressures, and reject flow rates. The tests showed that the NF-45 membrane composed of polypiperazine amide was more susceptible to organic fouling by tannic acid than the NF-70 membrane made of cross-linked aromatic polyamide. These observations were supported by surface-potential measurements that demonstrated higher negative surface charges and greater hydrophilicity for the NF-70 membrane in the presence of tannic acid. The predictive capability of the membrane transport model was evaluated using the results from membrane filtration tests. Model sensitivity studies were conducted to obtain information on effects of various input parameters pertaining to operating conditions and fluid-dynamic regimes. [source]

Semiclassical quantum gravity: statistics of combinatorial Riemannian geometries

ANNALEN DER PHYSIK, Issue 8 2005
L. Bombelli
Abstract This paper is a contribution to the development of a framework, to be used in the context of semiclassical canonical quantum gravity, in which to frame questions about the correspondence between discrete spacetime structures at "quantum scales" and continuum, classical geometries at large scales. Such a correspondence can be meaningfully established when one has a "semiclassical" state in the underlying quantum gravity theory, and the uncertainties in the correspondence arise both from quantum fluctuations in this state and from the kinematical procedure of matching a smooth geometry to a discrete one. We focus on the latter type of uncertainty, and suggest the use of statistical geometry as a way to quantify it. With a cell complex as an example of discrete structure, we discuss how to construct quantities that define a smooth geometry, and how to estimate the associated uncertainties. We also comment briefly on how to combine our results with uncertainties in the underlying quantum state, and on their use when considering phenomenological aspects of quantum gravity. [source]