How the Aeneid portrays Caeser Augustus

How the Aeneid portrays Caeser Augustus One obvious notion of pro-Augustan propaganda that almost serves as a blunt reminder of the original purpose of the epic shows up in Book Six, where Aeneas travels to the underworld and talks with Anchises. Anchises begins to talk of future heroes of the Roman world, and in the midst of the his prophecy, he begins of Caesar Augustus by saying, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Here, here is the man, Whom many a time thou hearest promised to thee, Augustus Caesar, the son of a being divine. He shall renew once more the Ages of Gold, in the ploughlands of Latium lorded by Saturn of old, Beyond Garamantes and Indians stretching his empireà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (6 791-796) This section may obviously be supportive of Augustus, but it is the plain truth of how Augustus wants his citizens to view him. The quote brings up the point that Caesar Augustus is the son of God (Apollo), how he has brought peace among the Roman Empire, and how Augustus has and will continue to spread the empire. The quote also provides a sense of assurance by saying that Augustus was meant to be the ruler before he was even born. Throughout Book Two of the Aeneid, over the destruction of Troy, Aeneas shows his great characteristic of piety à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ the loyalty to the gods and to family. In the book, he rescues his father and the Trojan gods, the Penates, from destructive mayhem at Troyà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s fall by carrying them by himself on his shoulders. These brave acts are clear example of piety. This reflects positively on Augustus, who is also well known for his piety. It is a trait that Augustus spent much of his leadership showing to the people of Rome by creating a more family-friendly and religious city by building more housing, temples, and places for socials gatherings. The text shows a connection between both Augustus and Aeneas, where both of these men put piety high into their priorities. It also prophecies that Augustus will be a great leader for Rome just like Aeneas was for the Trojans. Another Character trait they both share is that they seemingly the lack the desire for power. After showing no signs of wanting to lead others Aeneas says, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½From all sides they had come there, ready at heart, with their chattels, for whatever lands I might take them to, over the sea.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ And Aeneas, even after all the encouragement, hesitated to accept for a awhile before accepting to be leader of the Trojans. This is an obvious parallel with Augustus. Augustus was extremely reluctant to accept the position of consul several times even though he was elected. Looking at this parallel allows the explanation that in both cases the people unanimously wanted Augustus or Aeneas to lead them, However neither preferred to lead at first. This trait can be looked at in a positive or negative manner, however there is a clear connection be Augustus and the Virgilà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s character, Aeneas. However, in Book Four less positive notions are being placed upon the view of Augustus. In her final madness, Dido curses the Roman people for an à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½unknown avengerà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½to follow the Trojan settlers fire and with sword, to-day, to-morrow, whenever strength shall be givenà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½.(624) It seems likely that she speaks of true events to come. Representing the wars between Rome and Carthage which was to never end until one or the other was destroyed. In Book One, Virgil talks about Carthage describing it as a Republic structure much like Romeà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s. And since Rome did come out victorious the curse of Dido symbolizes the destruction of Carthage. Back to Book Two there are some more pessimistic observations within the text. Virgil describes the scenes of the assassination of Priam during the destruction of Troy by saying the following: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Then Pyrrhus repliedà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Now die.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ The trembling old man, who slipped in his sonà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s very blood; In his left hand he coiled Priamà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s hair, with his right drew aloft his glittering blade, and sank it in Priamà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s side right up to the hilt. So perished the fortunes of Priam; Such his allotted end, to see Troy set afire and Pergamus fallen, he who aforetime was lord of Asia, adorned with so many a nation and land. He lies on the shore now, a mighty trunk and a head shorn from its shoulders, a body without a name.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (545) The death of Priam marked the fall of Troy. However, this gruesome death is very similar to that of Pompey when he assassinated by the orders of Julius Caesar. Mills describes the parallel by saying, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½As the death of Pompey marked the end of the end of one period in Romeà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s political struggles, so the death of Priam also marked the end of an age in history.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (165) Therefore, Augustusà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ father Julius Caesar was the killer Pompey and therefore, ultimately the killer of the Republic. Since Augustus is the adopted son of Julius Caesar, it brings up a negative point towards Augustus by saying that he could become like Caesar and kill anyone one who stands in his way without any remorse against his enemy. Turnus appears as a somewhat humble character, who initially denies the option of going to war against the Trojans and does retain a lot of pride despite his power. However, the intervention of Allecto, causes him to launch the attack on the Trojans. But, Turnusà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ humble character is shown at the conclusion, when Turnus pleads and begs for Aeneas to save his life and keeps no pride. He is unarmed, but is still wearing a trophy item from a man of Aeneas that he killed, thus Aeneas kills him in rage. In the last line of the Aeneid Virgil writes, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½He angrily buried his sword full in the breast of his foe; the body of Turnus grew limp and cold, and down to the shadows below, moaning in protest against it, his soul fled away.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ When looking at Aeneas like he is Augustus, the story ends very pessimistically. Aeneas had gone against his fatherà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s word that he should be merciful and this is also very counter-Roman by acting is such a barbaric manner. This is implying Augustus uses tactics that are not respected or supposed to be used by any Roman in order to receive his political power and military strength. Virgil is claiming that Aeneas went about his way to getting his desires in a very immoral manner. Simply put, Augustus receives his power in the same way as Aeneas receiving his reward of the princess Lavinia through the unjust murder of Turnus. Perhaps one of the most pessimistic, but subtle text is the one about the Gate of Ivory in Book Six. Virgil refers to the journey of Aeneas exiting the underworld. Aeneas has the choice between two specific gates in order to leave the underworld. One called the Gate of Horn which would simply bring him back to the real world and the other is called the Gate of Ivory where those who enter, enter a world of false dreams. And with the guidance of his father Aeneas walked through Gate of Ivory. When using the representation of Aeneas as Caesar Augustus, Virgil does not view Augustus as a wise man or great hero. By sending Aeneas in the Gate of Ivory Virgil claiming that Augustus is using his power in a manner that is virtually filled with false dreams, and that he convincing citizens and senators to follow him by giving them false hope. This might also create false hope among all of the empire. This text clearly disagrees with almost everything that Augustus stands for. With Anchises guiding him foreshadow of what disappointments are sure to occur. Anchises attempts to warn Aeneas to be merciful to everyone showing how Virgil disagrees with Augustusà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ methods of unnecessary violence and foreshadows Aeneas killing Turnus.

Factor affecting pulse rate Essay

Our heart is a muscle. It’s located a little to the left of the middle of our chest, and it’s about the size of our fist. There are lots of muscles all over our body — in our arms, in our legs, in our back etc. But the heart muscle is special because of what it does. The heart sends blood around our body. The blood provides our body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. It also carries away waste. Our heart is sort of like a pump or two pumps in one. The right side of our heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart does the exact opposite: It receives blood from the lungs and pumps it out to the body. Every time when blood travels through heart it produces a sound called lub-dub. Lub happens when the upper chambers of the heart contract to squeeze the blood downward into the ventricles. A dub happens when the lower chambers contract. Every time the lower chambers of the heart contract, the blood in the left ventricle rushes upward into the aorta. It quickly speeds away from the heart causing the aorta to expand as it passes. As the blood races along, some of it pushes into the first artery that branches off from the aorta. Some of the blood enters the next artery. The blood from each contraction of the heart produces a bulge in the artery. This bulge of the arteries is called a pulse. One pulse is equal to one Heartbeat. The rate at which heart beats is called pulse rate. It can be varied by various factors such as:- Body Build and Size. A short, fat person may have a higher rate than a tall, slender person. The larger the size, the slower the rate. For example, a grizzly bear has a heart rate of about 30 beats a minute while a hummingbird’s is about 200 beats per minute. Gender: a woman’s heart rate is generally faster than a man’s. Age: generally the younger a person is, the faster the heart rate. An infant’s heart rate is about 120 beats per minute; a child’s is around 100; an adult’s is between 70 and 80; an elderly person generally hovers in the 60s. Exercise and Muscular Activity. An  increase in pulse rate will occur with increased activity to meet increased oxygen and nutrient demands. A regular aerobic exercise program can lower the resting pulse. A person, who exercises a great deal, such as an athlete, will develop bradycardia that is a normal, health condition. The body slows the heartbeat to compensate for the greater volume of blood pumped with each beat. Emotional Status. Fear, anger, and anxiety will all increase the pulse rate. Hormones: influence heart rate, especially epinephrine, norepinephrine, and thyroid hormones, all of which can increase the rate. Pathology: certain diseases affect heart rate, causing it either to slow or to race. Medications and drugs: Stimulants will increase the pulse rate; depressants will decrease the pulse rate. For example, Digitalis slows the rate, while epinephrine (Adrenalin) increases it. Caffeine can also cause palpitations or extra beats. Blood Pressure. As the blood pressure decreases, the pulse will frequently increase. Elevated Body Temperature. The pulse increases approximately 10 beats per minute for every 1 F (0.56 º C) increase in body temperature. These conditions cause a temporary increase in the heartbeat and pulse. Pain. When the patient is in pain, the pulse rate will increase. Hypothesis I think that exercise will vary the pulse rate because when we are working out or exercising, oxygen is released from our body more rapidly as the cells metabolize and use up the oxygen quicker, and so our body requires a greater amount of oxygen. Due to which our heart rate increases to carry oxygenated blood to our muscles and organs. Hence, increasing our pulse rate. Variables Independent Variable: In this the independent variable is exercise because the pulse rate is varied by the exercise we do. Dependent Variable: In this the dependant variable is the pulse rate because it is dependent on exercise and many other factors that are kept constant. Constant Variable: In this all other factors excluding exercise are kept constant. This allows us to measure the effect of exercise on pulse rate and minimize confounding effects due to any other factors that may influence heart rate. Apparatus and Procedure Stop watch 1. Sit down comfortably on a chair, locate the pulse and calculate the number of pulse per minute. 2. Walk gently measuring different feet and calculate the pulse rate after each distance. 3. Repeat these steps twice and calculate the average number of pulses per minute and record. Observation table 1. Person-1 Pulse rate after walking 1 2 3 Average pulse rate At rest 74 72 77 74 100 feet 74 77 78 76 200 feet 77 79 76 77 300 feet 81 85 82 82 400 feet 87 84 89 86 500 feet 93 91 96 93 2. Person-2 Pulse rate after walking 1 2 3 Average pulse rate Pulse rate at rest 70 75 73 72 100 feet 73 72 77 74 200 feet 78 74 80 77 300 feet 79 81 83 81 400 feet 85 82 88 85 500 feet 91 94 98 94 3. Person-3 Pulse rate at rest 1 2 3 Average pulse rate Pulse rate at rest 73 72 75 73 100 feet 77 84 87 82 200 feet 94 96 93 94 300 feet 104 106 107 105 400 feet 104 110 108 107 500 feet 106 109 104 106 Conclusion BY observing my graphs I came to the conclusion that exercise raises the pulse rate because When the body is exercising the muscles respire to produce energy, so the muscles can contract. Oxygen is needed, the oxygen is carried in the haemoglobin of the red blood cell. The heart and lungs need to work harder in order to get a greater amount of oxygen to the muscles for respiration. In muscle cells digested food substances are oxidised to release energy. The heart rate rises because during exercise, respiration in the muscles increases, so the level of carbon dioxide in the blood rises. Carbon dioxide is slightly acid; the brain detects the rising acidity in the blood, the brain then sends a signal through the nervous system to the lungs to breathe faster and deeper. Gaseous exchange in the lungs increases allowing more oxygen into the circulatory system and removing more carbon dioxide. The brain then sends a signal to make the heart beat faster. As a result this, heart rate would rise. My graph confirms my hypothesis in that as the length of exercise is increased, the number of beats per minute rises. Hence the result shown by our experiment seems to be correct. Therefore I think that the procedure we used was reliable. Although there are some sources of error but these do not makes much difference and can be ignored. Sources of error As experiment is fully performed by humans so there are some human errors involved in the experiment. Firstly, we didn’t use pulse rate meter so there may be some errors in counting the pulse rate making some changes to our  result. Secondly, the person might not have properly relaxed so; factors like stress, excitement can affect the pulse rate making changes to our result. Thirdly, it took time to count the pulse rate after exercise, because of which the increased pulse rate might have come to normal in this meantime. Improvements By making some improvements in our experiment we could get more better and exact result. For example Instead of counting the pulse we could have used pulse rate meter to calculate pulse rate. Secondly, we could have taken pulse rate of more persons for better and accurate result.

A New Intervention to Reduce Anhedonia in Schizophrenia

Meta-analyses of cognitive behavioral therapy for positive symptoms of schizophrenia have demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing hallucinations or delusions. In schizophrenia â€Å"negative symptoms’ refer to a reduction of normal functioning, and it encompasses apathy, anhedonia, flat effect, avolition, social withdrawal, and, sometimes, psychomotor retardation. The purpose of this study is the idea that Anhedonia is a challenging symptom of schizophrenia and remains largely recalcitrant to current pharmacological treatments. The goal of this exploratory pilot study was to assess if a cognitive-sensory intervention could improve anticipatory pleasure. Results show that the patients improved on the anticipatory scale of the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale. Daily activities of the patients were also increased. In nursing research, it has been shown that the sense of mastery is negatively correlated with negative symptoms or even with the fact of being left alone. Two research questions were addressed in a sample of five participants. Does cognitive-sensory training in anticipatory pleasure in persons with schizophrenia? Does cognitive-sensory training in anticipatory pleasure lead to an increase in the number and complexity of daily activities performed by persons with schizophrenia? They did not expect that anticipatory pleasure cognitive skills training would directly improve consummatory pleasure. If persons with schizophrenia show a deficit in their ability to anticipate pleasure rather than consummatory pleasure, then it becomes possible to consider cognitive training might help these individuals anticipate pleasure from foreseeable, future activities. I feel the author did a good job using literature to support their predictions and I was convinced by their argument. The author used well supporting concepts to prove their points as they discussed theories about Anticipatory Pleasure Skills Training: A New Intervention to Reduce Anhedonia in Schizophrenia. I particularly liked the idea that they did a two year comprehensive program including assertive community treatment, social skills training, and multifamily therapy groups that led to significantly less positive and negative symptoms, less comorbid substance buse, and significantly greater satisfaction with treatment. The author thought a more specific and symptom-centered approach because they felt it might lead to specific improvement in a shorter period of time. This symptom-specific strategy has been used in other studies for positive symptoms, allowing the development of successful specific therapeutic techniques. The case studies presented in this article highlight the use of this specific symptom approach for Anhedonia. Anhedonia has been defined as a reduction in the ability to experience pleasure. It has been regarded as a core clinical feature of schizophrenia. Research has produced a paradoxical set of findings, raising questions about its nature. Individuals with schizophrenia typically report experiencing lower levels of pleasure in their daily lives than non-patients on self-report measures of trait social and physical Anhedonia. Anticipatory pleasure is linked to motivational processes that promote goal-directed behaviors; consummatory pleasure is associated with satiety. The Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale is a trait measure of pleasure that distinguishes between â€Å"momentary pleasure† and â€Å"anticipation of future pleasure activities. The illumination of a new way of conceptualizing Anhedonia in schizophrenia permits redefinition and calibration of the symptom complex as a target for treatment. If persons with schizophrenia show a deficit in their ability to anticipate pleasure rather than consummatory pleasure, then it becomes possible to consider that cognitive training might help these individuals anticipate pl easure from foreseeable, future activities. Greater ability to anticipate pleasure would lead to a meaningful increase in spontaneous daily activities performed. Five participants were included in this pilot study. The participants were recruited from the regular clinical practices of the authors. The first and second authors were working in a mobile team of a community psychiatry outpatient service. The different members of this team worked as clinical case managers and were specialized in engaging difficult-to-reach patients in a comprehensive recovery program including therapeutic, occupational, and vocational services. The third author was working in a nursing home for psychiatric patients. The intervention was proposed to the patient when Anhedonia was reported as a challenging behavior impeding improvement in the care of the patient. To be included, participants had to be on a moderate dose of maintenance antipsychotic medication, with stable dosage for at least the past 3 months, and not be suffering from a major depression (score less than 12 on the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia [CDSS]). As the intervention was delivered in the routine care, signed informed consent to use the gathered data was obtained retrospectively for patients 1, 2, and 3. The internal review board of the nursing home approved the study, and patients 4 and 5 signed the informed consent form before their participation in the study. The participants were four men and one woman. All participants met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition, Text Revision) criteria for schizophrenia (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Diagnosis was obtained at the referral time with discussion with the referring psychiatrist. Participant 1 left school by the age of 16 and had no further education or training. He had been housebound for 3 years except during acute somatic or psychiatric care. Participants 2 and 3 were working part time in competitive employment. Participants 1 and 2 lived at home with their parents; participant 3 lived alone in her own apartment. Participants 4 and 5 had been institutionalized in a nursing home for 14 years and 30 years, respectively, and did not work. Participants 1, 4, and 5 had a history of alcohol abuse. Participant 1 used cannabis when friends visited him at home. The intervention is a cognitive-sensory intervention that aims at increasing anticipatory pleasure. Participants are trained in state of relaxation to anticipate pleasure from potential enjoyable activities and to get the sensation of the pleasure in their bodies. The different steps of the program are described below. 1. Building the rationale for the intervention. The rationale is built by asking questions to participants in order to elicit the importance of being able to anticipate pleasure from future activities, and the links between desire and motivation. Examples of these questions are: How do you prompt yourself to engage in activities? What makes an activity more or less attractive? What are your criteria to assess if the effort to engage in an activity is worthwhile? 2. List of pleasant activities. The therapist and the patient will list past enjoyable activities that the person would like to resume, actual activities that the person would like to increase, and novel activities associated with new roles that the person would like to assume. For example, a participant who wants to be closer to his/her sister could engage in the activity of preparing a dinner for his/her sister and her boyfriend. . Classifying activities according to their difficulty. These listed activities are then classified according to the difficulty and complexity of the task. The classification is done from easy-to-do to difficult-to-do. Examples of simple activities are (a) going to the corner of the street and having a kebab, (b) taking a walk with a good friend, (c) taking a shower, etc. Complex activities related to social or professional roles are split in smaller reachable units before engaging in a more challenging activity. For example, going to the stadium to support one's favorite hockey team could be split in a more achievable goal such as inviting a friend to watch one's team on TV if going to a crowded sports arena is an obstacle to engaging in the activity. 4. Anticipating pleasure. During the first sessions, the therapist uses standardized material to teach the anticipatory skills. The material is composed of attractive picture-viewing activities such as biting an appetizing apple, drinking a frothy coffee presented in a lovely cup, or walking in a beautiful park. In subsequent sessions, the training focuses on the activities listed with the patient. At the beginning of each session, as patients may be â€Å"contaminated† by co-occurring unpleasant emotions (Horan, Green, Kring, & Nuechterlein, 2006), the therapist will start with a mindfulness or relaxation exercise to help the patient be in a comfortable, pleasant emotional state. Then, the patient is asked to imagine doing the chosen activity. The therapist guides the patient to imagine the sensations linked to the activity through the senses involved (sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste). The patient is invited to remember past positive experiences of the activity (e. g. , Imagine that you are smelling the odor of the best kebab you have ever eaten . . . Feel the smell of the grilled meat in your nose . . . Concentrate on this odor . . . Try to feel it as vividly as possible). The patient is asked to anticipate pleasant emotions (e. g. , Feel the sensations associated with the joy of being with your friend . . . You told me that this friend is funny . . . Imagine the sensations that go with laughing. Scan your body and remember how it is to laugh . . . ). According to the anticipated activity, the patient may be guided to anticipate the feeling of accomplishment (e. g. , Feel the contentment of getting out of the shower. . . How is it to feel clean and fresh? Try to get this feeling fully . . . Anticipate the sensation of reward. . . How is it? ). If the patient shows difficulty in imagining sensations and feelings, pictures can be presented. Patients have to assess their desire to perform the activity on a 5-point scale before and after each exercise. 5. Prescribing homework exercises. As participants develop anticipatory pleasure skills, the therapist prescribes homework exercises. After participants accomplish single activities in daily living, more difficult activities are trained. Participant 1 received 10 hours of training at home, aimed at giving him the desire to go outside. Participants 2 and 3 received, respectively, 25 hours and 20 hours of training at the therapist's office. Participants 4 and 5 received 11 sessions of 1. 5 hours of training each in a weekly group session. Instruments: The therapists have administrated the instruments as clinical tools to assess anticipatory and consummatory pleasure, time budget, negative symptoms, and depression. The TEPS. The TEPS measures momentary pleasure and pleasure in anticipation of future activities. It is an 18-item self-report measure of trait, and anticipatory (10 items) and consummatory (8 items) pleasure (Gard et al. , 2006). The validation of the French version of the TEPS shows psychometric characteristics similar to the original version (Favrod et al. , 2009) with a satisfactory internal and external validity. The mean theoretical range of the two scales goes from 1 to 6; higher scores indicate more pleasure. The scale was administrated in pretests and posttests. The Time Budget Measure: The measure developed by Jolley et al. (2005, 2006) takes the form of a weekly diary completed retrospectively during a structured interview with the participant. In completing the measure, interviewers probe for activities, degree of independence in activities, and number and nature of social contacts. They also check that the week is a typical or average week, and, if not, complete the time budget on a different occasion to assess an average week. Each day is divided into four time blocks (morning, lunchtime, afternoon, evening). Each time period or block is then rated from 0 to 4 as below: 0 = nothing – lying, thinking, sleeping, sitting, etc. , 1 = predominantly passive activity (e. g. , watching TV, listening to the radio), 2 = an independent activity requiring some planning and motivation, but relatively simple or brief (e. g. , a walk to the local shops to get cigarettes, tidying room, washing up, preparing a simple meal for oneself), 3 = several two-rated activities completely filling a time period, sounding ‘busy', or a more complex and demanding, but unvaried or shorter activity (e. g. a visit involving public transport, prolonged social contact with others), and 4 = time period filled with a variety of demanding independent activities requiring significant motivation and planning, and with some variation in tasks (e. g. , work, a course of study, a trip out requiring organization). When more than one activity is present, the highest scoring activity is rated. There are 28 time blocks for the week, and the total possible score ranges from 0 to 112. The time budget was not used for the patients in the nursing home because the time-budget of these patients depended on the institutional routine. The week assessed should be a typical or average week, and if not, the time budget is completed in relation to a week chosen to be more representative. Time budget has a satisfactory criterion and construct validity, and shows good inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability (Jolley et al. , 2005, 2006). In the present study, the participants were interviewed on their time budget starting from the day before the assessment meeting until 7 days before this meeting. The time budget was assessed in pretests and posttests. The CDSS. The CDSS was used to assess depressive symptoms (Addington, Addington, Maticka-Tyndale, & Joyce, 1992). The CDSS is a largely validated interview-based measure that has been shown to assess depression rather than positive, negative, or extrapyramidal symptoms (Addington, Addington, & Maticka-Tyndale, 1993, 1994; Addington et al. , 1992). The scale is validated in French (Lan?on, Auquier, Reine, Bernard, & Toumi, 2000; Lan?on, Auquier, Reine, Toumi, & Addington, 1999). The CDSS was administrated in pretest only to assess the severity of depression. Depression defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition, Text Revision) criteria for major depressive episode corresponds to a mean score of 11. 8 (standard deviation [SD] = 3. 8) on the CDSS (Kim et al. , 2006). The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms Anhedonia/ Asociality. The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) assesses five symptom complexes to obtain clinical ratings of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. They are affective blunting, alogia (impoverished thinking), avolition/apathy, anhedonia /asociality, and disturbance of attention. The final symptom complexes seem to have less obvious relevance to negative symptoms compared with the other four complexes. Assessments are conducted on a 6-point scale (0 = not at all to 5 = severe; Andreasen, 1989). The SANS is a valid instrument (Peralta & Cuesta, 1995); however, interrater reliability is reduced when clinicians use it in comparison to highly trained research assistants (Norman, Malia, Cortese, & Diaz, 1996). In the present study, only the anhedonia /asociality scale of the SANS was administrated in the pretest to assess the severity of Anhedonia. I feel the researchers can test their predictions using these methods because of what lengths they went to in presenting their techniques. They incorporated a lot of various useful ideas when testing their participants. Many angles were used to go into full detail in what steps were taken to evaluate each participant in this study. The authors I feel gave a very detail analysis of each step that was taken as to not leave out any variables in each case scenario. A cognitive-sensory training package focusing on anticipating future pleasant feelings about performing activities appears to improve anticipatory pleasure as measured by the TEPS. The high RCI indicates that the posttest scores of the anticipatory pleasure scale are reflecting important change for the five participants. These results, although preliminary, are very interesting because Anhedonia remains a particularly challenging symptom. Our second question related to whether an increase in anticipatory pleasure would be accompanied by an increase in daily activities. Concurrently, change in anticipatory pleasure, as measured by the scale, was accompanied by an increase in activity for the three participants for whom it was possible to fulfill the time budget. Participant 4 had been ritually visiting his mother once a week for years before training. At the end of the training, the nursing home team observed that the patient had added in every week a new spontaneous activity such as going to town to do shopping, planning a little trip, or spontaneously organizing an appointment with the hairdresser outside of the nursing home. Participant 5 had been accomplishing five household chores a day for many years and did not change his program at the end of the training. The participant had been institutionalized for a great part of his life. In previous work, we found a significant negative correlation between anticipatory pleasure and the avolition/apathy of the SANS (Favrod et al. , 2009). This correlation was lower than the one with the Anhedonia/asociality scale of the SANS, indicating a weaker link between these two variables. Apathy and avolition are probably associated with anticipatory pleasure. However, several other variables may affect activity and willingness, such as planning skills, motor skills, reinforcements provided by the environment, etc. The results indicated that the training did not seem to improve consummatory pleasure as a consequence of an increase in anticipatory pleasure. The lack of follow-up assessment did not allow observation of an eventual delay for improvement in consummatory pleasure as a consequence of improvement of anticipatory pleasure and engagement in new activities. Another explanation could be that both kinds of pleasure have some independence between them. Anticipatory pleasure is linked to motivational processes and consummatory pleasure with satiety processes. I feel the researchers did a very good job in describing every detail of their research. My reaction to this article is that I think Pleasure Skills Training can really help people with schizophrenia if done properly over an extended period of time under the right conditions. I as well sense that the article does contribute something interesting and important to the field. Individuals with schizophrenia already have a hard enough time in life and to go on living without experiencing a sense of pleasure is disheartening. This study shows that people living with schizophrenia if trained with the right circumstances can eventually learn how to experience pleasure. I felt this article was presented well and easy to read with what was presented. Going through this article it was clear where each step was and what was going on. The authors used wording appropriate to this article without using too much technical jargon where it was not needed. The readability for me was quite familiar because I have had to do assignments like this before. I think when any author presents an empirical article to the world where others besides advanced Psychologists read it; they indeed try and make it easily readable so that their ideas presented get across in the best way possible.

Bond Order - Definition in Chemistry

Bond order is a measurement of the number of electrons involved in bonds between two atoms in a molecule. It is used as an indicator of the stability of a chemical bond. Usually, the higher the bond order, the stronger the chemical bond.Most of the time, bond order is equal to the number of bonds between two atoms. Exceptions occur when the molecule contains antibonding orbitals.Bond order is calculated by the equation:Bond order (number of bonding electrons - number of antibonding electrons)/2If bond order 0, the two atoms are not bonded. While a compound can have a bond order of zero, this value is not possible for elements. Bond Order Examples The bond order between the two carbons in acetylene is equal to 3. The bond order between the carbon and hydrogen atoms is equal to 1. Sources Clayden, Jonathan; Greeves, Nick; Warren, Stuart (2012). Organic Chemistry (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927029-3.Housecroft, C. E.; Sharpe, A. G. (2012). Inorganic Chemistry (4th ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-273-74275-3.Manz, T. A. (2017). Introducing DDEC6 atomic population analysis: part 3. Comprehensive method to compute bond orders. RSC Adv. 7 (72): 45552–45581. doi:10.1039/c7ra07400j