Academic literature on the topic 'Negative past experiences'

Those who use self-enhancing and affiliative humor styles tend to recall positive experiences with their parents and primary caretakers, whereas those who use the self-defeating humor style tend to recall negative experiences with them. Considering the importance of experiences with parents and primary caretakers for life satisfaction and happiness, it was hypothesized that the affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles would be positively correlated with past-positive experiences and negatively correlated with past-negative experiences, and that the self-defeating humor style would be positively correlated with past-negative experiences and negatively correlated with past-positive experiences. The Humor Styles Questionnaire and the Past-Positive and Past-Negative subscales of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory were administered to 114 undergraduates. The hypotheses were partially supported despite the retrospective nature of the Past-Positive and Past-Negative Subscales and the correlational nature of the study, indicating further research is needed.

Background: The occurrence of behavioural changes and problems, and degree of paranoid thoughts, are significantly higher among people who have experienced extreme trauma such as during the Holocaust. People with dementia and traumatic past experiences may have flashbacks reminding them of these experiences, which is of relevance in caring situations. In nursing homes for people with dementia, nursing assistants are often the group of staff who provide help with personal needs. They have firsthand experience of care and managing the devastating outcomes of inadequate understanding of a person’s past experiences. Aim: The aim was to describe nursing assistants’ experiences of caring for older people with dementia who have experienced Holocaust trauma. Research design: A qualitative descriptive and inductive approach was used, including qualitative interviews and content analysis. Participants and research context: Nine nursing assistants from a Jewish nursing home were interviewed. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board, Stockholm. Findings: The theme ‘Adapting and following the survivors’ expression of their situation’ was built on two categories: Knowing the life story enables adjustments in the care and Need for flexibility in managing emotional expressions. Discussion and conclusion: The world still witnesses genocidal violence and such traumatic experiences will therefore be reflected in different ways when caring for survivors with dementia in the future. Person-centred care and an awareness of the meaning of being a survivor of severe trauma make it possible to avoid negative triggers, and confirm emotions and comfort people during negative flashbacks in caring situations and environments. Nursing assistants’ patience and empathy were supported by a wider understanding of the behaviour of people with dementia who have survived trauma.

Abstract Individuals’ past experiences with a hazard can encompass many different aspects, which can influence how they judge and respond to a future hurricane risk. This study, which utilizes survey data from coastal residents who are at risk from hurricanes, adds to understanding of past hazard experience in two ways. First, it examines six different aspects of people’s past hurricane experiences and the relationships among them. Then, it draws on risk theories of behavioral responses to explore how these different experiences influence people’s evacuation intentions for a hypothetical hurricane as mediated through multiple dimensions of risk perception (cognitive, negative affective) and efficacy beliefs (self efficacy, response efficacy). The results suggest that people can experience emotional or otherwise severe impacts from a hurricane even if they do not have experiences with evacuation, property damage, or financial loss. The results also reveal that different past hurricane experiences operated through different combinations of mediating variables to influence evacuation intentions. Some of these processes enhanced intentions; for instance, experience with evacuation, financial loss, or emotional impacts heightened negative affective risk perceptions, which increased evacuation intentions. Other processes dampened evacuation intentions; for instance, people with past hurricane-related emotional impacts had lower self efficacy, which decreased evacuation intentions. In some cases, these enhancing and dampening processes competed. Exploring people’s different past weather experiences and the mechanisms by which they can influence future behaviors is important for more deeply understanding populations at risk and how they respond to weather threats.

We examined negative life events and time perspective in adolescents. Negative life events were nonnormative experiences including school suspension, running away from home, or the death of a family member. Time perspective referred to thoughts and feelings about the past, present, and future. We assessed multiple dimensions including orientations and positive and negative feelings about time. Participants were 790 adolescents and data were self-reported. Findings indicated that (a) adolescents who experienced the highest number of negative life events were oriented toward the past, whereas adolescents who experienced the fewest negative life events were oriented toward the three time periods equally, and (b) negative life events were positively associated with negative feelings and inversely associated with positive feelings about time.

Research finds that Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is effective in promoting mental health, and that greater emotional depth in therapy increases this effectiveness. CBT on the other hand is a here-and-now therapy and does not consider the childhood experiences from which the core schema and consequently the negative ways of thinking were learned. This article presents a six-step hypnotic procedure using the uncovered childhood experiences in CBT: 1) uncovering the emotionally painful experience that cause the negative ways of thinking; 2) experiencing the emotions associated with these painful experiences; 3) defining the dysfunctional ways of thinking; 4) stating needs; 5) finding new positive ways of thinking; and 6) becoming the positive way of thinking. The uncovered emotionally experience is generally found to be one of four potential parental control patterns: threats-fear, shaming-guilt, ridicule-inadequacy, and rejection-insecurity. Each of the parental control patterns has implications in determining the nature of the emotional disorder.

I was born in NSW and was apart of the assimilation policies of the late 1960s onwards. My experiences with this have always been negative, but I have managed somehow to stay positive with life. This, I believe, is where my identity has given me strength, my dreamtime has supported me and life generally has been a rollercoaster ride.

A previous report of a bias to list distant past experiences first and distant future experiences last was replicated with 62 undergraduates. Negative correlations (-.38 to -.46) between the number of past and future experiences support the bidirectional model; however, the prediction of distant future experiences by distant past, near past, present, and by near future experiences suggests that temporal orientation is related primarily to the number of goals in the distant future.

ObjectivesLittle research has looked at how people who do not use mental health services experience psychosis. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the experiences and views of people with psychosis who have neither sought nor received support from mental health services for at least 5 years.DesignA narrative interview study. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.SettingEngland.ParticipantsTwenty-eight participants with self-defined psychotic experiences were asked to provide a free narrative about their experiences.ResultsFive themes were identified: (1) Perceiving psychosis as positive; (2) Making sense of psychotic experiences as a more active psychological process to find explanations and meaning; (3) Finding sources of strength, mainly in relationships and the environment, but outside of services; (4) Negative past experiences of mental health services, leading to disengagement and (5) Positive past experiences with individual clinicians, as an appreciation of individuals despite negative views of services as a whole.ConclusionsPerceiving psychosis as something positive, a process of making sense of psychotic experiences and the ability to find external sources of strength all underpin—in addition to negative experiences with services—a choice to live with psychosis outside of services. Future research may explore to what extent these perceptions, psychological processes and abilities can be facilitated and strengthened, in order to support those people with psychosis who do not seek treatment and possibly also some of those who are in treatment.

This study of 1,492 emerging adults focuses on the relationships among negative family of origin experiences, attitudes about marriage, positive communication and the influence of past romantic relationships. The data used in this study comes from a survey questionnaire, READY (see www.relate-institute.org) completed by emerging adult participants (18-25). Results from the Structural Equation Model showed both aversive family of origin experiences and negative beliefs about marriage have a significant and negative influence on perceptions of romantic relationship experiences. Also, positive communication has a significant and positive influence on perceptions of past romantic relationships. However, positive communication did not mediate the relationships between negative family of origin experiences, attitudes about marriage, and the influence of past romantic relationship experiences. Implications for clinicians as well as directions for and content of future research on family of origin experiences, attitudes about marriage, and the influence of past romantic relationship experiences are explored.

Abstract This study explored mathematical identity work by drawing on the cases of Finnish and Slovenian pre-service elementary teachers. All cases reported having had negative experiences with mathematics during their school years. These experiences were shown to have a central meaning for pre-service teachers’ mathematical identities. However, identity also extends to the future. For this reason, pre-service teachers’ anticipations of the future were also explored. The concepts of narrative identity (Ricoeur, 1992) and possible selves (Markus &#38; Nurius, 1989) were applied in the context of mathematics education. The overall narrative perspective of the study enabled a psycho-social understanding of identity. The special interest of the study was confined to an understanding of the role that educational contexts play in pre-service teachers’ mathematical identity work. Narrative inquiry was applied as a research methodology. In-depth interviews invited pre-service teachers to construct narratives of their mathematics-related experiences. These narratives were analysed holistically and categorically, as well as in terms of content and form. The findings showed striking similarities in pre-service teachers’ school-time memories. The cases in question felt like victims of their own mathematical experiences. The anticipations of mathematics teaching were also underlined by the challenges rooted in their school-time experiences. However, a surprising finding was that the identity work in which the Finnish and Slovenian cases engaged during their teacher education differed substantially. The main reasons for the differences in identity work seemed to stem from different emphases and pedagogical practices in mathematics education courses within the Finnish and Slovenian teacher education settings. The study argued that identity work can be facilitated during teacher education. To begin such a process, it would be central to focus on pre-service teachers’ biographical context through narrative pedagogical tools. The findings also showed that neglecting issues from school-time experiences might engender further challenges for pre-service teachers’ future mathematics teaching. Finally, the study argued for the need to openly address identity during teacher education. The significant theoretical contribution of the study is the conceptualisation of ‘mathematical identity work’<br>Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin matemaattista identiteettityötä suomalaisten ja slovenialaisten luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden kokemusten kautta. Opiskelijoiden mukaan heillä oli ollut omana kouluaikanaan kielteisiä matematiikan opintoihin liittyviä kokemuksia, joilla osoitettiin olevan negatiivisia vaikutuksia opiskelijoiden matemaattisiin identiteetteihin. Koska tutkimuksessa korostuu identiteetin tulevaisuusaspekti, tarkastelun kohteina olivat opiskelijoiden tulevaisuuteen liittyvät toiveet ja odotukset. Tutkimuksessa sovellettiin narratiivisen identiteetin (Ricoeur, 1992) ja mahdollisten minuuksien (Markus &#38; Nurius, 1989) käsitteitä matematiikan opetuksen kontekstissa. Identiteetin ymmärtämisen psyko-sosiaalisena ilmiönä mahdollisti narratiivinen näkökulma. Erityinen huomio kohdistettiin siihen, millainen merkitys kasvatuksellisilla konteksteilla on luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden matemaattisessa identiteettityössä. Tutkimusmetodologiana käytettiin narratiivista tutkimusta. Opiskelijat kertoivat syvähaastatteluissa matematiikkaan liittyvistä kokemuksistaan. Nämä narratiivit analysoitiin holistisesti ja kategorisesti ottaen huomioon myös niiden sisältö ja muoto. Tuloksista ilmenee merkittävää samankaltaisuutta luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden omaan kouluaikaan liittyvissä muistoissa. Monet esimerkiksi kuvailivat itsensä uhreiksi. Myös tulevaan matematiikan opetukseen liittyvät ennakko-odotukset olivat värittyneet opettajaopiskelijoiden omaan kouluaikaan liittyvien haasteellisten kokemusten kautta. Yllättävä tulos oli se, että suomalaisten ja slovenialaisten opiskelijoiden luokanopettajakoulutuksen aikainen identiteettityö erosi huomattavasti toisistaan. Erojen pääsyynä ovat nähtävästi erilaiset painotukset ja käytänteet opettajankoulutuksen matematiikan pedagogisissa opinnoissa. Tutkimus osoittaa, että identiteettityötä voidaan pyrkiä edistämään opettajankoulutuksen aikana. Prosessin aloittamiseksi olisi tärkeää kohdentaa huomio opettajaopiskelijoiden elämäkerrallisiin konteksteihin soveltamalla narratiivisia pedagogisia työkaluja. Sillä että omaan kouluaikaan liittyviä kokemuksia ei oteta huomioon, voi olla kielteisiä heijastuksia opettajaopiskelijoiden tulevaan matematiikan opetukseen. Tutkimuksen mukaan identiteetti on syytä ottaa avoimesti tarkasteluun opettajankoulutuksen aikana. Tutkimuksen teorian kannalta merkittävä anti on termin matemaattinen identiteettityö käsitteellistäminen

Dissertação de mestrado em Marketing e Estratégia<br>Num mundo cada vez mais globalizado e onde aceder a informação sobre qualquer assunto ou marca está á distancia de um clique e com consumidores cada vez mais atentos e exigentes as marcas tem de redobrar os seus esforços para manter uma imagem positiva perante os seus consumidores. Para tal é necessário que se compreenda que o ódio às marcas existe e afeta marcas e consumidores. A revisão de literatura neste estudo ajudou na compreensão do que é o ódio às marcas, ajudou na definição do que são as marcas, o que é o sentimento de ódio, como este se adapta às marcas, quais as suas causas e efeitos. Este estudo teve o propósito de aprofundar e ajudar na compreensão do fenómeno de ódio às marcas e para o efeito realizou-se um questionário a 208 consumidores que apontaram diversas marcas pelas quais tinham sentimentos negativo, a causa para esses sentimentos e aquilo que eles acreditavam ser comportamentos derivados desse mesmo ódio. Assim sendo a presente dissertação apresenta os resultados de uma investigação quantitativa cujo objetivo é avaliar as potenciais causas de ódio às marcas e os seus efeitos e consequentemente avaliar as potenciais correlações entre as variáveis estudadas. Após a recolha dos dados realizouse uma análise descritiva dos mesmos o que permitiu realizar a descrição sucinta dos dados, depois uma análise inferencial dos dados foi feita o que permitiu tomar algumas conclusões em relação às propostas definidas, sempre com base na amostra de consumidores que participaram no estudo. Com o estudo terminado pode concluir-se que existe ódio às marcas e pode ter origem principalmente em três situações diferentes que são elas as experiências negativas passadas, as incongruências simbólicas e as incompatibilidades ideológicas que depois causam na maioria das situações evitação das marcas odiadas, boca a boca negativo e atos de retaliação á marca e em certos casos podem até estar presentes mais do que só uma razão e consequências dependendo dos níveis de ódio do consumidor.<br>In a world more global every day and were accessing information on any subject or brand is only a click away and with consumers increasingly more aware and demanding, brands have to double their efforts to maintain a positive image in front of their consumers. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the hate that can be associated with brands and its affections on the brand and consumers. The revision of literature in this study as helped the understanding of what is brand hate, it helped in the definition of what is a brand, what is the feeling of hate and how does it adapt to brands, what are its causes and effects. This study served the purpose of helping understand the phenomenon of brand hate a questionnaire was performed by 208 consumers that pointed several brands for which they had negative feelings, they also pointed the causes for those feelings and behaviours believed to be the offspring of that same hate. So being the present thesis presents the results of a quantitative investigation, whose purpose was to evaluate potential causes for brand hate and its effects and consequently evaluate potential correlations between the studied variables. After the data collection a descriptive analysis was performed in order to allow for a concise description of the data, afterwards an inferential analysis was performed which allowed to draw some conclusions regarding the defined propositions always with the consumer sample at base. With the termination of this study some conclusions were drawn as to the underlying existence of brand hate and its origins being mostly three distinct situations being negative past experiences, symbolic incongruency and ideological incompatibility that also cause in most situations brand avoidance of the hated brands, negative word of mouth and acts of brand retaliation and in certain cases there might be more than one reason and consequence present, depending on the levels of hate experienced by the consumer.

The book commemorating the centenary of the establishment of the Faculty of Arts is also a contribution to the anniversary of the whole Masaryk University. Its aim is to walk through the history of the faculty by means of a biographical method, i.e., using short biographies that introduce representative, prominent or interesting personalities whose fates and work were connected with the faculty. There was certainly no lack of biographical views in the research of the faculty history, still, such a complex set of biograms has not been collected so far. And the publication offers much more: the authors use a large set of biographical data to interpret the history of the faculty from the perspective of alternating academic generations and contemplate the formative generation experience as well as the phenomena that affected the lives of academics and students over the past 100 years. These include, as a matter of fact, both positive and negative phenomena, therefore, the publication is not just an overview of deserving personalities, respected scientists and charismatic teachers, but it also openly discusses the lives of controversial scholars. Thus, the collection of biograms provides a credible testimony to the one-hundred-year work of the faculty, continually blending studies, science and politics.

Casual sexual relationships and experiences (CSREs) such as hookups, one-night stands, friends with benefits relationships, and booty calls have received increasing attention in the past decade. This review examines the role of CSREs during emerging adulthood, as well as similarities and differences among the different types of CSREs. The authors also examine the predictors and positive and negative consequences of engaging in CSREs. Although research in the area of CSREs has provided important information about the development and course of these relationships/experiences, future research should focus on exploring these relationships and experiences using an integrated theoretical perspective and longitudinal methods, in diverse, non-college samples.

This chapter examines parental responses to pregnancy complications and having a high-risk infant. Women with high-risk pregnancies have more depressive symptoms, stress, and anxiety than healthy pregnant women. They experience shock, worry, sadness, frustration, anger, guilt, and grief; perform fewer health-promoting behaviors; and have less intense maternal–fetal attachment. Parents also experience emotional distress after the birth of a high-risk infant, including worry about infant survival and outcomes, stress, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, grief, hostility, and powerlessness. Distressed parents perceive their infants more negatively and are less sensitive in interactions than nondistressed parents. Several postnatal interventions have been implemented to ameliorate these negative responses. Overall, the responses of mothers to a high-risk pregnancy or birth of a high-risk infant are remarkably similar. More needs to be known about the effect of the parent’s past history, paternal responses, responses of minorities, experiences of parents of high-risk full-term infants, and interventions to ameliorate negative parental responses.

The law does not square with people’s experiences of segregation and diversity. An empirical look at the legal system’s effectiveness in addressing school segregation reveals, from a practical perspective, that segregation persists and even surpasses levels before the civil rights movement. Yet, the legal system continues as though segregation is a thing of the past. Even more bizarre, the negative effects of racial and ethnic disparities in schooling are well documented, and the legal system compels itself to ignore much of them. To exacerbate matters, legal analysts increasingly interpret the law as a system that operates in a different world than the one documented by researchers who describe disparities and what could be done about them. For their part, researchers pervasively continue to document experiences without considering the legal system’s basic concerns. This book details the source of these gaps, evaluates their empirical and legal foundation, explains why they persist, and reveals what can be done about them.

Two important contributing factors to any understanding of Iran and the identity of Iranians are the centrality of history, and the subtle nature of Iran’s relationship with the West. ‘Reading Iran’ explains that an understanding of Iran’s history is not only important for the context and frame of reference it provides, but also the light it sheds on the experiences that Iranians consciously claim to share. Western writers approach Iran with considerable cultural baggage, not all of it negative, but which is undoubtedly coloured by an extensive cultural, literary, and occasionally political relationship. The Iranian present imagines its past and, in so doing, constructs a thoroughly cosmopolitan, inclusive, and frequently contradictory identity.

Spontaneous thoughts occur by default in the interstices between directed, task-oriented thoughts or moments of perceptual scrutiny. Their contents are overwhelmingly related to thinkers’ current goals, either directly or indirectly via associative networks, including past and future goals. Their evocation is accompanied by emotional responses that vary widely in type, valence, and intensity. Given these properties of thought flow, spontaneous thoughts are highly adaptive as (1) reminders of the individual’s larger agenda of goals while occupied with pursuing any one of them, (2) promotion of planning for future goal pursuits, (3) deeper understanding of past goal-related experiences, and (4) development of creative solutions to problems in goal pursuit. The same mechanisms may occasion repetitive but unproductive thoughts about the pursuit, the consequences of the failure, or the self, and strong negative emotions steering the train of thought may lead to narrowing of its focus, thus producing rumination.

The focus in this book is on the historical consciousness of the Jews of Spain and southern France in the late Middle Ages, and specifically on their perceptions of Christianity and Christian history and culture. The book shows that in these southern European lands Jews experienced a relatively open society that was sensitive to and knowledgeable about voices from other cultures, and that this had significant consequences for shaping Jewish historical consciousness. Among the topics discussed are what Jews knew of the significance of Rome, of Jesus and the early days of Christianity, of Church history, and of the history of the Iberian monarchies. The book demonstrates that, despite the negative stereotypes of Jewry prevalent in Christian literature, they were more influenced by their interactions with Christian society at the local level. Consequently, there was no single stereotype that dominated Jewish thought, and frequently little awareness of the two societies as representing distinct cultures. The book demonstrates that in Spain and southern France, Jews of the later Middle Ages evinced a genuine interest in history, including the history of non-Jews, and that in some cases they were deeply familiar with Christian and sometimes also classical historiography. The book enriches our understanding of medieval historiography, polemic, Jewish–Christian relations, and the breadth of interests characterizing Provencal and Spanish Jewish communities.

Because pain is in part an affective experience, investigators over the past several decades have sought to elaborate the nature of pain-affect connections. Our evolving understanding of the intersection of pain and affect is especially relevant to intervention efforts designed to enhance the quality of life and functional health of individuals managing chronic pain. This chapter describes how pain influences arousal of the vigilance/defensive and appetitive/approach motivational systems and thus the affective health of chronic pain patients. The focus then moves to the dynamic relations between changes in pain and other stressors and changes in positive and negative affect as observed in daily life and laboratory-based experiments. A consensus emerges that sustaining positive affect during pain and stress flares may limit their detrimental effects and promote better functional health. The authors consider the implications of increased understanding of the dynamic interplay between pain and affective experience for enhancing existing interventions.

Although the United States spends almost one-fifth of all its resources on funding healthcare, the American system is dogged by persistent inequities in the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities and women. Invisible Visits analyzes how Black women navigate the complexities of dealing with doctors in this environment. It challenges the idea that race and gender discrimination, particularly in healthcare settings, is a thing of the past. In telling the stories of Black women who are middle class, Invisible Visits also questions the persistent myth that discrimination only affects racial minorities who are poor. In so doing, Invisible Visits expands our understanding of how Black middle-class women are treated when they go to the doctor and why they continue to face inequities in securing proper medical care. The book also analyzes the strategies Black women use to fight for the best treatment and the toll that these adaptations take on their health. Invisible Visits shines a light on how women perceive the persistently negative stereotypes that follow them into the exam room and makes the bold claim that simply providing more cultural competency or anti-bias training to doctors is insufficient to overcome the problem. For Americans to really address these challenges, we must first reckon with how deeply embedded discrimination is in our prized institutions, including healthcare. Invisible Visits tells the story of Black women in their own words and forces us to consider their experiences in the context of America’s fraught history of structural discrimination.

This treatment is designed to address eating disorders along with other emotional problems that individuals with eating disorders also commonly experience. Eating disorders are related to emotional functioning in many important ways. First, negative emotions—and the desire to avoid or control negative emotions—have been shown repeatedly to be related to the development of eating disorders, as well as most other emotional disorders, for many people. Depression and anxiety are known risk factors for the development of an eating disorder. Research also shows that emotional events—such as feeling sadness, feeling anxiety, or feeling stress—are often the immediate triggers for eating disorder symptoms. Furthermore, having an eating disorder is a difficult emotional experience, and many people develop depression and anxiety in reaction to their eating disorder symptoms. Therefore, emotions often create the context in which eating disorders develop, emotions are a part of what drives eating disorder symptoms on a daily level, and emotional experience become worse as a result of having an eating disorder. This Unified Treatment (UT) manual, like the Unified Protocol (UP) manual, is cohesive, with a continuous focus on the relationship between the interventions/concepts included in each module and the overall goal of reducing emotion avoidance and promoting emotion regulation.

AbstractThe proliferation of digital technology has swelled the amount of time people spent in cyberspace and weakened our sensibility of the physical world. Human beings in this digital era are already cyborgs as the smart devices have become an integral part of our life. Imagining a future where human totally give up mobile phones and embrace nature is neither realistic nor reasonable. What we should aim to explore is the opportunities and capabilities of digital technology in terms of fighting against its own negative effect - cyber addiction, and working as a catalyst that re-embeds human into outdoor world.Cyborgian systems behave through embedded intelligence in the environment and discrete wearable devices for human. In this way, cyborgian approach enables designers to take advantages of digital technologies to achieve two objectives: one is to improve the quality of environment by enhancing our understanding of non-human creatures; the other is to encourage a proper level of human participation without disturbing eco-balance.Finally, this paper proposed a cyborgian eco-interaction design model which combines top-down and bottom-up logics and is organized by the Internet of Things, so as to provide a possible solution to the concern that technologies are isolating human and nature.

Abstract Proactively addressing religious and spiritual (r/s) issues has a strong intervention effect on patients, which is generally more important than the detailed content of spiritual screenings and assessments. When asked about r/s needs or problems, patients may feel bothered, surprised, annoyed, or, conversely, satisfied, supported, acknowledged in their coping efforts. Consequently, documentation should first and foremost reflect the patient’s reaction towards the clinician’s r/s intervention and to what extent the patient wishes this interaction to be shared within the healthcare team. In psychiatry and psychotherapy, patients’ spirituality is less pathologized than in former times and more and more accepted as a universal dimension of human experience, transcending individual religions. In mental health and in other medical fields, r/s may be part of the problem or part of the solution (K. Pargament), or both. Consequently, spiritual charting should not only differentiate pathological/negative and resilient/positive coping but consists of the patient’s r/s healthcare preferences and goals as well as the role he or she attributes to the health professional.

AbstractThe vulnerability of the climate change in the South of the Mediterranean’s south regions varies depending on the part of their climate which is sensitive to the economy. In Tunisia, agriculture represents 16% of the workforce and 12% of GDP in 2006. In Algeria, agriculture represents 20% of the workforce and 8% of GDP in 2009. In Morocco, agriculture accounts for 40% of the workforce and 17.7% of GDP in 2006. The agriculture is directly related to the availability of water which in turn is directly related to rainfall. The drought has affected all countries of the Maghreb. It is considered the most severe in the history of these countries. The drought has forced the agricultural sector in Morocco to the limitation of annual crops which are not needed, the prohibition of any new tree planting and the ban on vegetable crops in dry years. During the years 1987, 1988, and 1989, Tunisia has experienced the most critical drought. It led to a water deficit of around 30%. For Morocco the rainfall shows a negative trend at national and regional scales, and spring rainfall has declined by over 40% since the 1960s. For Algeria, the western region has recorded a considerable reduction in rainfall. The winter rains have decreased between 40% and 70%. Contributions to dams have decreased between 30% and 50%. These changes had a negative influence on the water resource and crop yield. Many programs have been initiated since then to meet the growing demand.

AbstractThe vulnerability of the climate change in the South of the Mediterranean’s south regions varies depending on the part of their climate which is sensitive to the economy. In Tunisia, agriculture represents 16% of the workforce and 12% of GDP in 2006. In Algeria, agriculture represents 20% of the workforce and 8% of GDP in 2009. In Morocco, agriculture accounts for 40% of the workforce and 17.7% of GDP in 2006. The agriculture is directly related to the availability of water which in turn is directly related to rainfall. The drought has affected all countries of the Maghreb. It is considered the most severe in the history of these countries. The drought has forced the agricultural sector in Morocco to the limitation of annual crops which are not needed, the prohibition of any new tree planting and the ban on vegetable crops in dry years. During the years 1987, 1988, and 1989, Tunisia has experienced the most critical drought. It led to a water deficit of around 30%. For Morocco the rainfall shows a negative trend at national and regional scales, and spring rainfall has declined by over 40% since the 1960s. For Algeria, the western region has recorded a considerable reduction in rainfall. The winter rains have decreased between 40% and 70%. Contributions to dams have decreased between 30% and 50%. These changes had a negative influence on the water resource and crop yield. Many programs have been initiated since then to meet the growing demand.

AbstractBased on evidence and theory, we state that facilitating and supporting people’s meaning-making processes are health promoting. Hence, meaning-in-life is a salutogenic concept.Authors from various disciplines such as nursing, medicine, psychology, philosophy, religion, and arts argue that the human search for meaning is a primary force in life and one of the most fundamental challenges an individual faces. Research demonstrates that meaning is of great importance for mental as well as physical well-being and crucial for health and quality of life. Studies have shown significant correlations between meaning-in-life and physical health measured by lower mortality for all causes of death; meaning is correlated with less cardiovascular disease, less hypertension, better immune function, less depression, and better coping and recovery from illness. Studies have shown that cancer patients who experience a high degree of meaning have a greater ability to tolerate bodily ailments than those who do not find meaning-in-life. Those who, despite pain and fatigue, experience meaning report better quality-of-life than those with low meaning. Hence, if the individual finds meaning despite illness, ailments, and imminent death, well-being, health, and quality-of-life will increase in the current situation. However, when affected by illness and reduced functionality, finding meaning-in-life might prove more difficult. A will to search for meaning is required, as well as health professionals who help patients and their families not only to cope with illness and suffering but also to find meaning amid these experiences. Accordingly, meaning-in-life is considered a vital salutogenic resource and concept.The psychiatrist Viktor Emil Frankl’s theory of “Will to Meaning” forms the basis for modern health science research on meaning; Frankl’s premise was that man has enough to live by, but too little to live for. According to Frankl, logotherapy ventures into the spiritual dimension of human life. The Greek word “logos” means not only meaning but also spirit. However, Frankl highlighted that in a logotherapeutic context, spirituality is not primarily about religiosity—although religiosity can be a part of it—but refers to a specific human dimension that makes us human. Frankl based his theory on three concepts: meaning, freedom to choose and suffering, stating that the latter has no point. People should not look for an inherent meaning in the negative events happening to them, or in their suffering, because the meaning is not there. The meaning is in the attitude people choose while suffering from illness, crises, etc.

AbstractAdequate and proper adaptation strategies to climate change depend largely on activities in the rural sector, which drives national economy through exploitation of natural resources. Consequently, actions in rural areas are essential to successful climate change adaptation. Rural communities are highly dependent upon natural resources that are affected by climate change, thus affecting their food security, livelihoods, health, and physical infrastructure. Women and their livelihood practices are thereby affected negatively, leading to increased poverty level and low income, because they find it difficult to respond adequately to climate change effects. This study examines the past and existing interventions on climate change adaptation strategies in two rural communities in Oyo State, introduces climatepreneurship strategy, and assesses its effectiveness. This is an explorative study, employing qualitative approach to gather information through in-depth interview (IDIs) from 50 farmers, before and after the interventions. Data collected were analyzed using Atlas ti. This is a powerful workbench for qualitative data analysis using coding and annotating activities to generate different thematic issues for discussions and interpretations with networks. Study revealed that communities had previously experienced some interventions. Such had no impact on livelihood practices because steps to successful intervention were not followed. Socio-cultural practices hinder women development. The newly introduced climatepreneurship strategy improved livelihood practices. Study outcomes will expectedly be integrated into policy framework for sustainable rural women entrepreneurship development and also replicated in other rural areas in Nigeria.

Focussing on the negative aspect of work life, this chapter deliberates on burnout, organizational cynicism, and alienation. In past research, organizational productivity has been shown to be causally linked to employee appraisal, experience of the workplace, and employee affect and attitude. Past studies have shown the link between productive employees and positive attitudes. However, organizations are also a source of negative influence on health and attitudes, which often outweigh the benefits resulting from positive experiences. Such negative outcomes not only harm the individual but also the organization. The chapter explores the negative behaviours, attitudes, beliefs, and cognitions that employees are likely to develop towards their organizations. Specifically, the research on burnout, organizational cynicism, and alienation is examined. For each of the constructs, research is reviewed around its definition, antecedents, consequences, and measurement. The need for more research in this area in the current economic and social context is highlighted.

This chapter investigates the role of the 1990s for the political legitimation of Russia’s current political leadership. It builds on the constructivist approach to analyze the role of collective trauma in Russia and demonstrates that the cultural and political constructions in Russia over the past two decades have gone hand in hand in their modes of representing the collective experience of the 1990s. This decade has been represented entirely in black colors, highlighting and exaggerating the negative side of these experiences. The chapter demonstrates that this frame of the 1990s is propagated by the pro-Kremlin media personalities and is frequently invoked by Vladimir Putin in his speeches and press conferences.

Abstract This paper draws motivation from the fact that engineering optimizations were mostly carried out from scratch. In contrast, however, humans routinely take advantage of the knowledge from past experiences whenever a new task is met. Such a transfer learning process by leveraging knowledge from already completed tasks can be promising to significantly improve the performance of current state-of-the-art algorithms, particularly in solving expensive black-box problems. In light of the above, we propose a Cokriging based transfer optimization framework for the design of turbomachinery cascades, which is demonstrated by optimization to re-design the first-stage vane of GEE3. Specifically, when building Cokriging surrogate in such a transfer optimization context, the samples from already completed tasks are treated as low-fidelity (LF) data. The acquisition function of expected improvement is adopted to guide the search for high-fidelity (HF) data. In order to make full use of the “past experiences”, one of our efforts was drawn to designing selection strategies of initial HF samples. In addition, as the “past experiences” may do harm to the optimization of the target task, the correlation coefficients between source and target tasks in each optimization process were calculated to avoid “negative transfer”. The test results show that, by learning from the past, the transfer optimization framework can reduce the computational cost by much as 50%. More importantly, our proposed transfer learning strategy can effectively avoid “negative transfer” and thus always achieve better solutions than the compared state-of-the-art algorithms.

The use of best practices and their lateral expansion as a benchmark is one of effective methods of “knowledge management (NK)”. Best practices of human resources development were collected (selected examples are listed below) from all 11 training centers annexed to the nuclear power plants in Japan and lessons were learned for possible lateral development for improving other stakeholders’ NK. Such best practices will provide productive information for designing their own human resources development strategies. Examples of collected good practices: • Exhibition of troubles and negative legacies: The actual machineries, equipment or components, explanatory documents or news articles of the past troubles experienced by themselves are effective to maintain and refresh the awareness and preparedness of trainees and other employees for recurrence prevention. The exhibitions are open to the visitors, too. • Experience-type training facilities: Off-normal conditions of components and systems are simulated for the staff practical training by the use of the facilities which provide an off-normal environment. Examples are: water hammers, abnormal vibrations and noises of rotating machineries, pump cavitations, pinholes, plumbing airs, etc. • Advanced simulators for operators training: Each electric company has its own simulators for training their own operating staff. These simulators are annexed to the nuclear power plants and used to train the operation staff by the experienced shift managers. The operation staff use the simulator for continually confirming the operation procedures and the plant behavior, etc. specific to their plants. Training for generic plant behavior and operators’ responses are mainly outsourced to the dedicated training centers run by the Owners’ Groups (BWR, PWR). • The SAT methods: The IAEA proposed SAT (Systematic Approach to Training) approach is applied to the training of the operating staff and the maintenance staff. It is structured in a flow of Job analysis ← Training program design ← Training material development ← Training ← Evaluation. • Training in real situations: An example is a trainee actually hung with a lifeline on a harness to learn a method of putting on the lifeline. On the other hand, the efficiency (availability) of the training facilities for maintenance work is very limited, because each electric company installs the training facilities individually. Experiences of ICONE-16 participants from other countries in improving the availability are of our interest.

The aim of the article was to characterize the aspects of social and economic conditions and circumstances for the establishment and operation of groups of agricultural producers in Poland. The discussion is theoretical. In the article the monographic method was used. The following issues were subsequently examined: the nature and status of groups of producers in Poland, the social capital of farmers, advantages and obstacles in the cooperation of agricultural farmers and financial aid opportunities under the Rural Development Programmes for 2007–2013 and 2014–2020. As the example, the model of agricultural producer groups functioning in Poland was described. The results of the consideration has broad spectrum. It follows from the analysis conducted that the reasons for creating groups of producers are economic benefits related to production on a higher scale and to achievement of synergies through acting together. They also include EU financial aid opportunities. The benefits are also of a social character and are related, among others, to farmers learning how to act together as well as to increased trust in cooperation. In spite of numerous benefits that may arise from acting together, there are also certain obstacles related to the level of knowledge or educational background of farmers, typical responses to change or lack of trust between organisation members. This is often an effect of negative past experiences connected with overall socialisation that affects post-communist nations.

Biofouling is a serious problem in marine finfish aquaculture with a number of negative impacts. Marine growth obstructs net openings, thereby reducing water exchange through the net and affecting fish welfare and health, as well as the spreading of dissolved nutrients, particles and pathogens. Furthermore, additional water blockage leads to increased hydrodynamic forces on fish cages, which potentially threaten the structural integrity of the fish farm. However, detailed knowledge about the effects of biofouling on the flow past, and the resulting forces on fish cages, is limited and systematic investigations of the effects of different types of fouling have been called for. This study investigates the effects of different amounts and sizes of two important fouling organisms in Norwegian aquaculture, blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and kelp (Saccharina latissima) on the drag on net panels. Drag forces on a number of clean and fouled nets were measured in a flume tank at a flow speed of 0.1 m/s. Net solidity was calculated from images acquired of all nets in the current. The relationship between net solidity and drag was then found for clean nets and for each type of fouling, and biofouling was parameterized by comparing clean and fouled net results: for a given fouled net, a clean net can be found that experiences the same drag. The latter can then be used in numerical models to estimate the effect of fouling on net drag. That means existing models can be used to model the drag effect of fouling. This study found a solidity increase due to mussel and kelp fouling to affect drag roughly at the same rate as an increase in clean net solidity at a flow speed of 0.1 ms−1 and within the tested fouling size range for two net types. Therefore, existing models, describing the relationship between net solidity and drag, can be used directly or with minor alterations (especially at high solidities) to estimate effects of additional mussel and kelp fouling on drag. In contrast, wet weight seems to be unsuitable as a measure to estimate drag on nets fouled with seaweed or mussels. It should be noted that these findings are only valid under similar conditions, and that other fouling types and sizes, as well as test parameters and tank size can affect the relationship between solidity and drag.

Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) models were first developed in Enbridge Liquids Pipelines in 2006 and in the last 3 years have contributed over $200 Million in capital cost avoidance while maintaining or improving the reliable design and operation of the pipeline system. These models constitute a very effective, factual and dependable tool to assess the throughput performance of a pipeline system over its entire life cycle or a specified time of interest. In addition, the RAM model cost is a small fraction of the overall monetary benefit, in the order of 1%, hence making RAM models a highly leveraged activity. The concept of a RAM model stems from Reliability Block Diagram methods (also known as Dependent Diagrams). Interaction of large, complex and multi layered systems can then be analyzed using the Monte Carlo simulation methods (or Stochastic Discrete Event Simulation) hence quantifying the output of the entire system with greater accuracy than other estimating tools or methods. Over 10 years, Enbridge Liquids Pipelines has developed its own failure database for equipment and operational events consequently almost all model inputs are based on in-house data rather than industry generic data, making the model output more robust, accurate and appropriate for internal use. Initially, in Enbridge Liquids Pipelines, RAM models were mainly built to assess and confirm the design capabilities of future pipelines designs and assist in the optimal selection of specific design options. Because of the effectiveness of the tool combined with the current cost constrained business environment, the company is moving towards building RAM models for assets already in operation in order to optimize their performance. This is proving to be an extremely cost effective addition to internal decision making processes. The approach has been used in risk based budgeting, asset maintenance, design modifications and throughput optimization initiatives. In various industries including Oil and Gas, RAM models have proven their worth over time as an effective cost avoidance tool. This approach has now been successfully deployed in the Pipeline Industry at Enbridge. As an example, a RAM model conducted during the design phase of a pipeline project saved $28 million in capital by proving that an additional storage tank and significant new infrastructure was not required. Another benefit of RAM models has been their ability to confirm or counter stated assumptions by internal stakeholders. Equipment upgrades and equipment sparing decisions are often seriously debated and costly decisions may not always be based on complete economical foundations but rather on avoiding past negative experiences or by following basic guidelines that are less than optimal. When a project or operational team needs to find an alternative, a RAM model is a tool of choice to evaluate, and justify the best option. Because of its proven value, RAM models are now an integral part of Enbridge Liquids Pipelines Design Standards and are used on all large projects. Models recently built for operational pipelines delivered similar value so in the near future the work will be expanded to encompass the entire existing network of integrated pipelines to improve on performance and operational costs.

In the late 1970’s, Benckert and Wachter (Technical University Stuttgart) tested labyrinth seals using air as the test media and measured direct and cross-coupled stiffness coefficients. They reported the following results: (1) Fluid pre-swirl in the direction of shaft rotation creates destabilizing cross-coupled stiffness coefficients, and (2) Effective swirl brakes at the inlet to the seal can markedly reduce the cross-coupled stiffness coefficients, in many cases reducing them to zero. In recent years, “negative-swirl” swirl brakes have been employed that attempt to reverse the circumferential direction of inlet flow, changing the sign of the cross-coupled stiffness coefficients and creating stabilizing stiffness forces. This study presents test results for a 16-tooth labyrinth seal with positive inlet preswirl (in the direction of shaft rotation) for the following inlet conditions: (1) No swirl brakes, (2) Straight, conventional swirl brakes, and (3) Negative-swirl swirl brakes. The negative-swirl swirl-brake designs were developed based on CFD predictions. Tests were conducted at 10.2, 15.35, and 20.2 krpm with 70 bars of inlet pressure for pressure ratios of 0.3, 0.4, 0.5. Test results include leakage and rotordynamic coefficients. In terms of leakage, the negative-swirl brake configuration leaked the least, followed by the conventional brake, followed by the no-brake design. Normalized to the negative-swirl brake configuration, the conventional-brake and no-brake configurations mass flow rate were greater, respectively, by factors of 1.04 and 1.09. The direct stiffness coefficients are negative but small, consistent with past experience. The conventional swirl brake drops the destabilizing cross-coupled stiffness coefficients k by a factor of about 0.8 as compared to the no-brake results. The negative-swirl brake produces a change in sign of k with an appreciable magnitude; hence, the stability of forwardly-precessing modes would be enhanced. In descending order, the direct damping coefficients C are: no-swirl, negative-swirl, conventional-swirl. Normalized in terms of the no-swirl case, C for the negative and conventional brake designs are, respectively, 0.7 and 0.6 smaller. The effective damping Ceff combines the effect of k and C. Ceff is large and positive for the negative-swirl configuration and near zero for the no-brake and conventional-brake designs. The present results for a negative-brake design are very encouraging for both eye-packing seals (where conventional swirl brakes have been previously employed) and division-wall and balance-piston seals where negative shunt injection has been employed.

In the modern world, most people have various difficulties both in regulating their behavior and in establishing social contacts, and the more such difficulties, the more attractive for a person is communication in a virtual space. This article discusses the resource formats of personality in the context of digitalization: it analyzes in detail the strategies for coping behavior of men and women, the vector of their interpersonal communication, the level of adaptation and frustration of a person to modern social conditions of life , as well as the conditions for choosing a person to leave a real social group in communication in a virtual space. The leading research methods for this problem are diagnostic and static methods that reveal the presence of significant differences in the characteristics of personal resources and coping strategies of men and women in the context of digitalization. According to the results of an empirical study, our hypothesis about the presence of differences in coping behavior strategies, the severity of indicators of socio-psychological adaptation and social anxiety of participants in real and virtual groups was confirmed. It was found that women are more than men inclined to overcome negative experiences by subjectively reducing their significance and the degree of emotional involvement in them; men are less likely to distance themselves from experiences and problems through internal psychological work. As part of the study, differences were found in the severity of indicators of socio-psychological adaptation among participants in a virtual and a real group: participants in a virtual group are less adapted to social life, are more likely to experience emotional discomfort and are more difficult to accept other people and someone else’s point of view, but they don’t have social frustration observed. From the obtained results of the study, we can conclude that there are certain psychological difficulties in the data of the subjects, which are either compensated or replaced by participation in a virtual group.

Shopping is much more than a wealth-generator in post-modern societies; it is intrinsically linked with the way people experience the city and an indivisible part of their day-to-day social experiences. Consequently, the literature has gradually recognized that commercial geographies are not just a consequence of economic market logics. It has been proven that there is a relationship between store-types and urban morphology, and that commerce is an important catalyst for urban regeneration and revitalization. Thus, the urban form can also be a cause for the lack of success of a shop. The amount of vacant shops has been signaled as an important problem in urban areas, affecting the structure and the identity of neighborhoods, and reflects the negative effects of the economic-crisis. Strategies to overcome this problem are usually economically-oriented and fail to capitalize on the new-found relationships between store-success and urban morphology. Thus this research wishes to test whether there are indeed correlations between specific morphological features and the existence of vacant shops, and consequently to propose how changes in the urban environment can contribute to overcome, and even prevent, such cases. The geographical distribution of vacant shops in a sample of Portuguese cities was set against morphological variables such as building age or centrality in the network (Space Syntax). Positive association was found, for example, between new developments and vacant shops, questioning the need for more store space in certain areas; and, particularly outside central neighborhoods, between open shops and high ‘choice’ (rather than high ‘integration’) axes.

Negative pressure is one of the metastable states of liquids at which it can be extended up to a certain limit without a gap of continuity. There are numerous experimental studies where a negative pressure up to 40 MPa has been obtained at laboratory conditions. However, these results of the experimental works were not practically implemented, as real liquids both in the nature and the technological processes contain impurities. Under certain kinetic and hydrodynamic conditions the waves of negative pressure in real liquids (crude oil, water, and water-based solutions) were observed. The wave of negative pressure is a turned soliton wave with one negative hump. It is a conservative wave, which maintains its shape and dimensions, and travels long distances with the speed of sound. An advanced technology of generation of the negative pressure wave in real systems allowed creating completely new energy saving technology. This technology based on negative pressure phenomenon has been already used for increasing oil production efficiency during various oil well operations, cleaning of oil well bore, and pipelines from various accumulations. It is shown that a new technology has a lot of potentials for bottom-hole cleaning operations, oil recovery enhancement, pipeline transportation, gas-lift operation etc. Negative pressure is known to be one of the metastable states at which liquids can be extended up to a certain limit. Theoretic evaluations show that in pure liquids negative pressure may reach large values while the liquid may stand significant extending efforts. For instance, the maximum negative pressure that may be sustained by ideally pure water is estimated as −109N/m2. It means that an imaginable rope of completely pure water with the diameter of 0.01m can sustain a huge extending effort more than 105 N. It is evident that the real experimental values of negative pressure are much less than the corresponding theoretic estimations. It is connected with the impossibility of obtaining ideally pure liquids without any “weak places” (gas bubbles, admixture, etc) and with the circumstance that in experience, the rupture often happens not in the liquid volume but on the surface touching the walls of the vessels weakened by the existence of thin films, embryos, etc. There are numerous results of the experimental work of static and dynamic character, where negative pressure has appeared in one or another degree [1]. In laboratory conditions, negative pressure apparently was first revealed in the experiences made by F. M. Donny (1843), who used degassed sulfuric acid and obtained negative pressure only −0.012 MPa. Among the further attempts of receiving bigger negative pressure, it is worth mentioning the experiences made by O.Reynolds, M.Bertelot and J.Meyer. Basing upon a centrifugal method and using mercury, L.J.Briggs obtained the record value of negative pressure (−42.5 MPa). But as a matter of fact, beginning from the first experiences by F. M. Donny, the main condition in the investigations for the appearance of negative pressure has been the homogeneous character of the liquid and high degree of the purity the liquid-vessel system. Significant values of negative pressure has been obtained under those conditions, however these results of a great scientific importance have no effective applications in practice as real liquids in Nature and technological processes are heterogeneous multicomponent systems. A long-term experimental work has been done to generate negative negative pressure in real liquid systems and investigate influence of this state on thermohydrodynamical characteristics of natural and technological processes [2,3]. Basing on the idea that negative pressure can be created due to the sudden character of extending efforts a direct wave of the negative pressure in real liquids (water, oil, solutions etc.) have been obtained experimentally. For impulsive entering into metastable (overheated) zone in a phase diagram “liquid-vapor” the pressure should drop so fast that the existing centers of evaporation (bubbles, embryos, admixtures etc.) would not be able to manifest themselves for this period. In these terms purity of the liquid is not decisive, and herewith there might exist states of an overheated liquid with the manifestation of negative pressure. It was determined that wave of the negative pressure resembling overturned soliton wave with one but negative peak propagates with speed of sound. The typical variation of the pressure in the petroleum stream in pipe is given in Figure 1. Reversed wave of the negative pressure was not recorded during the experiments. Evidently this is associated with considerable structural changes in the liquid after the passing of the direct wave. The arising negative pressure though being a short-term, results in a considerable overheating of the fluid system and leads to spontaneous evaporation and gas-emanation with the further cavitation regime. It was determined that after passing of the negative pressure wave hydraulic resistance in the system becomes much less, and significant increase of permeability of the porous medium and intensification of the filtration process take place. On the base of the investigations it was made a conclusion that any discharge in the hydraulic systems when the drop of the pressure requires much less time that relaxation of the pressure in the system inevitably results in the arising of rarefaction wave, in particular, the negative pressure wave [4]. The larger is the hydraulic system and the higher is the depression of the pressure, the more intensively the negative pressure wave may manifest itself. In certain terms waves of the positive pressure may be reflected from free surfaces, different obstacles, from contact surfaces between phases in the form of the reverse wave of the negative pressure. On this base there were presented numerous theoretical and experimental works on the simulation of the process, investigation of impact of the negative pressure on certain physical features of real systems [5]. The negative pressure wave may lead to very hard complications: showings of oil and gas leading sometimes to dreadful open fountains, borehole wall collapse, column crushing, gryphon appearance [6]. Analysis of numerous facts of complications, troubles in wells as water-oil-gas showings, crushing of columns, collapses, gryphon formation demonstrates that they arise usually as a result of round-trip operations in drilling of wells and their capital repairs. The negative pressure wave may be initiated by a sudden pulling of pipes or drilling equipment, as well as their sudden braking, quick opening of a valve at the well exit, etc, resulting in metastable extension of the working fluid agent. Though impulse negative pressure manifests itself as a significant dynamic factor, its structural consequences are more dangerous for an oil well. Moving along a well the negative pressure wave results in the spontaneous boiling of the water in the drilling fluid, and as a result of considerable reduction of its specific weight the hydrostatic column is “switched-off’ for some seconds and this may be sufficient for oil and gas showings of the well to be appeared accompanied often by crushing of columns and collapsing of wells due to great destroying energy manifestation. Negative pressure waves may be considered also as one of the dominant factors in geophysical processes, especially, in evolution and appearance of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes [7,8]. Extreme dynamic processes in the underground medium as a matter of fact can be considered as a synergetic manifestation of the negative pressure together with other thermohydrodynamical factors. The waves of negative pressure in the underground environment may be initiated by tectonic dislocations and faults as a result of different dynamic processes, dramatic decrease of pressure during the displacement of fluids and rocks. They may arise also in the form of a reverse waves as a result of reflection of ordinary seismic waves from different underground surfaces. On the basis of received results the method of artificial creation of negative pressure waves has been created [4]. The essence of the method is that negative pressure waves can be generated by means of discharge in hydraulic systems (pipes, wells, etc) when the drop of the pressure takes place during the characteristic time much less than that of pressure relaxation in the system. The greater is the volume of hydraulic system and the higher is the depression of the pressure, the more intensively the negative pressure wave may manifest itself. This method was taken as a basis of elaboration of principally new technologies and installations to increase effectiveness and efficiency of some oil recovery processes. It has been worked out and widely tested in field conditions new technologies on using of the negative pressure phenomenon for cleaning of oil producing hydraulic systems/well bore, pipeline/from various accumulations and increasing of effectiveness of oil producing at different well operation methods. The technology provides generation negative pressure waves in the well using the special mechanisms that leads to the shock depression impact upon the oil stratum, and as a result, to considerable growth in the oil influx, bottom-hole cleaning, accompanied by essential saving both reservoir and lifting energies, elimination and prevention of sandy bridging, paraffin, silt, water, etc. accumulations. For implementations of these technologies corresponding installations have been elaborated, in part, equipments for cleaning out of oil holes from sand plugs, increasing of efficiency and effectiveness of gas-lift well operations and bottom-hole pumping. In cleaning out of oil-holes from sand plugs the most operative and effective liquidation of different sand plugs irrespective of their rheological character is provided, associated with complete bottom-hole cleaning, essential increase of oil recovery and overhaul period. Elaborated equipment is simple and easy to use. Other comparatively advantageous application of the technology provides increase of efficiency of a gas-lift well operation, expressed in considerable reduction of a specific gas consumption associated with essential increase of oil recovery and overhaul period. The design of the equipment is reliable and simple to service. There are different modifications of the equipment for single-row, double-row lifts in packer and packerless designs. The introduced technologies have passed broad test in field conditions. The operative and complete cleaning of numerous oil wells was carried out, where the altitude of sand plugs varied from 20m to 180m; oil output of wells and their overhaul period have been increased and specific gas discharge reduced significantly.

"Studies have shown that women facing infertility and undergoing the IVF process generally belong to the mentally healthy group of the population. However, their stress level and emotional reactions vary significantly. Besides, there are women who report higher anxiety and/or depression levels up to six months after an (unsuccessful) IVF process. The aim of this study is to determine the perception of the infertility experience and the functioning of domains particularly affected by overcoming infertility through IVF. Fourteen women were excluded from the study sample due to their secondary infertility: 9 women had already had a child conceived though IVF and 5 had conceived naturally – these respondents have a successful experience of overcoming infertility, as they do not face the possibility of remaining involuntarily childless. The final sample was comprised of 149 women, 23 to 45 years of age (M=35,50, SD=4,48). For 83,9% of the women, the ongoing IVF procedure was the first (38,3), the second (25,5) or the third (20,1) attempt, while the rest of respondents were going though IVF for the fourth to the eighth time. Infertility is considered the worst experience of their life by 67,8% of the respondents. 95,3% of the respondents in the study want psychological counseling, which is not an integral part of the IVF process in Serbia and thus not covered by the national health insurance. The “Fertility quality of Life” (FertiQoL; Boivin, Takefman and Braverman, 2011) Questionnaire was used for the assessment of quality of life. A one sample t-test shows statistically significant differences in experiencing difficulties in the observed domains. The respondents have the lowest scores on the Emotional subscale, meaning that the most pronounced feature is the impact of negative emotions (e.g., jealousy and resentment, sadness, depression) on quality of life. The score on the Social subscale is highest, which means that social interactions have not significantly been affected by fertility problems. In conclusion, the infertility experience is highly stressful for a significant number of women and they are in need of psychological support, especially for overcoming negative emotions. This can be done by defining a new way of life filled with contentment, one that is in accordance with their value systems, despite their experience of infertility."

The experiences and marginalisation of international organisation employees with caring responsibilities has a direct negative impact on the type of security and justice being built in conflict-affected environments. This is in large part because international organisations fail to respond to the needs of those with caring responsibilities, which leads to their early departure from the field, and negatively affects their work while in post. In this toolkit we describe this problem, the exacerbating factors, and challenges to overcoming it. We offer a theory of change demonstrating how caring for carers can both improve the working conditions of employees of international organisations as well as the effectiveness, inclusivity and responsiveness of peace and justice interventions. This is important because it raises awareness among employers in the sector of the severity of the problem and its consequences. We also offer a guide for employers for how to take the caring responsibilities of their employees into account when developing human resource policies and practices, designing working conditions and planning interventions. Finally, we underscore the importance of conducting research on the gendered impacts of the marginalisation of employees with caring responsibilities, not least because of the breadth and depth of resultant individual, organisational and sectoral harms. In this regard, we also draw attention to the way in which gender stereotypes and gender biases not only inform and undermine peacebuilding efforts, but also permeate research in this field. Our toolkit is aimed at international organisation employees, employers and human resources personnel, as well as students and scholars of peacebuilding and international development. We see these communities of knowledge and action as overlapping, with insights to be brought to bear as well as challenges to be overcome in this area. The content of the toolkit is equally relevant across these knowledge communities as well as between different specialisms and disciplines. Peacebuilding and development draw in experts from economics, politics, anthropology, sociology and law, to name but a few. The authors of this toolkit have come together from gender studies, political science, and development studies to develop a theory of change informed by interdisciplinary insights. We hope, therefore, that this toolkit will be useful to an inclusive and interdisciplinary set of knowledge communities. Our core argument - that caring for carers benefits the individual, the sectors, and the intended beneficiaries of interventions - is relevant for students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners alike.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in mass school closures across the world. It is expected that the closures in low- and -middle-income countries (LMICs) will have long-term negative consequences on education and also on broader development outcomes. Countries face a number of obstacles to effectively delivering alternative forms of education. Obstacles include limited experience in facing such challenges, limited teacher digital and pedagogical capacity, and infrastructure constraints related to power and connectivity. Furthermore, inequalities in learning outcomes are expected to widen within LMICs due to the challenges of implementing alternative modes of education in remote, rural or marginalised communities. It is expected that the most marginalised children will feel the most substantial negative impacts on their learning outcomes. Educational technology (EdTech) has been identified as a possible solution to address the acute impact of school closures through its potential to provide distance education. In this light, the DFID Pakistan team requested the EdTech Hub develop a topic brief exploring the use of EdTech to support distance learning in Pakistan. Specifically, the team requested the brief explore ways to provide distance education to children in remote rural areas and urban slums. The DFID team also requested that the EdTech Hub explore the different needs of those who have previously been to school in comparison to those who have never enrolled, with reference to EdTech solutions. In order to address these questions, this brief begins with an overview of the Pakistan education landscape. The second section of the brief explores how four modes of alternative education — TV, interactive radio instruction, mobile phones and online learning — can be used to provide alternative education to marginalised groups in Pakistan. Multimodal distance-learning approaches offer the best means of providing education to heterogeneous, hard-to-reach groups. Identifying various tools that can be deployed to meet the needs of specific population segments is an important part of developing a robust distance-learning approach. With this in mind, this section highlights examples of tools that could be used in Pakistan to support a multimodal approach that reaches the most hard-to-reach learners. The third and final section synthesises the article’s findings, presenting recommendations to inform Pakistan’s COVID-19 education response.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; This topic brief is available on Google Docs.

This research sought to understand the impact of probation inspection on probation policy, practice and practitioners. This important but neglected area of study has significant ramifications because the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation has considerable power to influence policy through its inspection regime and research activities. The study utilised a mixed methodological approach comprising observations of inspections and interviews with people who work in probation, the Inspectorate and external stakeholders. In total, 77 people were interviewed or took part in focus groups. Probation practitioners, managers and leaders were interviewed in the weeks after an inspection to find out how they experienced the process of inspection. Staff at HMI Probation were interviewed to understand what inspection is for and how it works. External stakeholders representing people from the voluntary sector, politics and other non-departmental bodies were interviewed to find out how they used the work of inspection in their own roles. Finally, leaders within the National Probation Service and Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service were interviewed to see how inspection impacts on policy more broadly. The data were analysed thematically with five key themes being identified. Overall, participants were positive about the way inspection is carried out in the field of probation. The main findings are: 1. Inspection places a burden on practitioners and organisations. Practitioners talked about the anxiety that a looming inspection created and how management teams created additional pressures which were hard to cope with on top of already high workloads. Staff responsible for managing the inspection and with leadership positions talked about the amount of time the process of inspection took up. Importantly, inspection was seen to take people away from their day jobs and meant other priorities were side-lined, even if temporarily. However, the case interviews that practitioners take part in were seen as incredibly valuable exercises which gave staff the opportunity to reflect on their practice and receive positive feedback and validation for their work. 2. Providers said that the findings and conclusions from inspections were often accurate and, to some extent, unsurprising. However, they sometimes find it difficult to implement recommendations due to reports failing to take context into account. Negative reports have a serious impact on staff morale, especially for CRCs and there was concern about the impact of negative findings on a provider’s reputation. 3. External stakeholders value the work of the Inspectorate. The Inspectorate is seen to generate highly valid and meaningful data which stakeholders can use in their own roles. This can include pushing for policy reform or holding government to account from different perspectives. In particular, thematic inspections were seen to be useful here. 4. The regulatory landscape in probation is complex with an array of actors working to hold providers to account. When compared to other forms of regulation such as audit or contract management the Inspectorate was perceived positively due to its methodological approach as well as the way it reflects the values of probation itself. 5. Overall, the inspectorate appears to garner considerable legitimacy from those it inspects. This should, in theory, support the way it can impact on policy and practice. There are some areas for development here though such as more engagement with service users. While recognising that the Inspectorate has made a concerted effort to do this in the last two years participants all felt that more needs to be done to increase that trust between the inspectorate and service users. Overall, the Inspectorate was seen to be independent and 3 impartial although this belief was less prevalent amongst people in CRCs who argued that the Inspectorate has been biased towards supporting its own arguments around reversing the now failed policy of Transforming Rehabilitation. There was some debate amongst participants about how the Inspectorate could, or should, enforce compliance with its recommendations although most people were happy with the primarily relational way of encouraging compliance with sanctions for non-compliance being considered relatively unnecessary. To conclude, the work of the Inspectorate has a significant impact on probation policy, practice and practitioners. The majority of participants were positive about the process of inspection and the Inspectorate more broadly, notwithstanding some of the issues raised in the findings. There are some developments which the Inspectorate could consider to reduce the burden inspection places on providers and practitioners and enhance its impact such as amending the frequency of inspection, improving the feedback given to practitioners and providing more localised feedback, and working to reduce or limit perceptions of bias amongst people in CRCs. The Inspectorate could also do more to capture the impact it has on providers and practitioners – both positive and negative - through existing procedures that are in place such as post-case interview surveys and tracking the implementation of recommendations.

Parasocial communication is defined as an illusory and one-sided interaction between the viewer and the media person, which is analogous to interpersonal communication. Among the classic media, television has the greatest potential for such interaction through a combination of audio and visual series and a wide range of television content – from newscasts to talent shows. Viewers’ reaction to this product can be seen as a defining element of parasociality and directly affect the popularity of a media person and the ratings of the TV channel. In this article we will consider feedback as part of parasocial communication and describe ways to express it in times of media transformations. The psychological interaction «media person – viewer» had been the focus of research by both psychologists and media experts for over 60 years. During the study, scientists described the predictors, functions, manifestations and possible consequences of paracommunication. One of the key elements of the formed parasocial connections is the real audience reaction. Our goal is to conceptualize the concept of feedback in the paradigm of parasocial communication and describe the main types of reactions to the media person in long-term parasocial relationships. The research focuses on the ways in which the viewer’s feedback on the television media person is expressed, bypassing the issue of classifying the audience’s feedback as «positive» and «negative». For this purpose, more than 20 interdisciplinary scientific works on the issue of parasocial interaction were analyzed and their generalization was carried out. Based on pre­vious research, the types and methods of feedback in the television context are separated. With successful parasocial interaction, the viewer can react in different ways to the media person. The type of feedback will directly depend on the strength of the already established communication with the media person. We distinguish seven types of feedback and divide them into those that occur during or after a television show; those that are spontaneous or planned; aimed directly at the media person or third parties. We offer the following types of feedback from TV viewers: «talking to the TV»; telling about the experience of parasocial communication to others; following on social networks; likes and comments; imitation of behavior and appearance; purchase of recommended brands; fanart.

1.1 Macroeconomic summary Economic recovery has consistently outperformed the technical staff’s expectations following a steep decline in activity in the second quarter of 2020. At the same time, total and core inflation rates have fallen and remain at low levels, suggesting that a significant element of the reactivation of Colombia’s economy has been related to recovery in potential GDP. This would support the technical staff’s diagnosis of weak aggregate demand and ample excess capacity. The most recently available data on 2020 growth suggests a contraction in economic activity of 6.8%, lower than estimates from January’s Monetary Policy Report (-7.2%). High-frequency indicators suggest that economic performance was significantly more dynamic than expected in January, despite mobility restrictions and quarantine measures. This has also come amid declines in total and core inflation, the latter of which was below January projections if controlling for certain relative price changes. This suggests that the unexpected strength of recent growth contains elements of demand, and that excess capacity, while significant, could be lower than previously estimated. Nevertheless, uncertainty over the measurement of excess capacity continues to be unusually high and marked both by variations in the way different economic sectors and spending components have been affected by the pandemic, and by uneven price behavior. The size of excess capacity, and in particular the evolution of the pandemic in forthcoming quarters, constitute substantial risks to the macroeconomic forecast presented in this report. Despite the unexpected strength of the recovery, the technical staff continues to project ample excess capacity that is expected to remain on the forecast horizon, alongside core inflation that will likely remain below the target. Domestic demand remains below 2019 levels amid unusually significant uncertainty over the size of excess capacity in the economy. High national unemployment (14.6% for February 2021) reflects a loose labor market, while observed total and core inflation continue to be below 2%. Inflationary pressures from the exchange rate are expected to continue to be low, with relatively little pass-through on inflation. This would be compatible with a negative output gap. Excess productive capacity and the expectation of core inflation below the 3% target on the forecast horizon provide a basis for an expansive monetary policy posture. The technical staff’s assessment of certain shocks and their expected effects on the economy, as well as the presence of several sources of uncertainty and related assumptions about their potential macroeconomic impacts, remain a feature of this report. The coronavirus pandemic, in particular, continues to affect the public health environment, and the reopening of Colombia’s economy remains incomplete. The technical staff’s assessment is that the COVID-19 shock has affected both aggregate demand and supply, but that the impact on demand has been deeper and more persistent. Given this persistence, the central forecast accounts for a gradual tightening of the output gap in the absence of new waves of contagion, and as vaccination campaigns progress. The central forecast continues to include an expected increase of total and core inflation rates in the second quarter of 2021, alongside the lapse of the temporary price relief measures put in place in 2020. Additional COVID-19 outbreaks (of uncertain duration and intensity) represent a significant risk factor that could affect these projections. Additionally, the forecast continues to include an upward trend in sovereign risk premiums, reflected by higher levels of public debt that in the wake of the pandemic are likely to persist on the forecast horizon, even in the context of a fiscal adjustment. At the same time, the projection accounts for the shortterm effects on private domestic demand from a fiscal adjustment along the lines of the one currently being proposed by the national government. This would be compatible with a gradual recovery of private domestic demand in 2022. The size and characteristics of the fiscal adjustment that is ultimately implemented, as well as the corresponding market response, represent another source of forecast uncertainty. Newly available information offers evidence of the potential for significant changes to the macroeconomic scenario, though without altering the general diagnosis described above. The most recent data on inflation, growth, fiscal policy, and international financial conditions suggests a more dynamic economy than previously expected. However, a third wave of the pandemic has delayed the re-opening of Colombia’s economy and brought with it a deceleration in economic activity. Detailed descriptions of these considerations and subsequent changes to the macroeconomic forecast are presented below. The expected annual decline in GDP (-0.3%) in the first quarter of 2021 appears to have been less pronounced than projected in January (-4.8%). Partial closures in January to address a second wave of COVID-19 appear to have had a less significant negative impact on the economy than previously estimated. This is reflected in figures related to mobility, energy demand, industry and retail sales, foreign trade, commercial transactions from selected banks, and the national statistics agency’s (DANE) economic tracking indicator (ISE). Output is now expected to have declined annually in the first quarter by 0.3%. Private consumption likely continued to recover, registering levels somewhat above those from the previous year, while public consumption likely increased significantly. While a recovery in investment in both housing and in other buildings and structures is expected, overall investment levels in this case likely continued to be low, and gross fixed capital formation is expected to continue to show significant annual declines. Imports likely recovered to again outpace exports, though both are expected to register significant annual declines. Economic activity that outpaced projections, an increase in oil prices and other export products, and an expected increase in public spending this year account for the upward revision to the 2021 growth forecast (from 4.6% with a range between 2% and 6% in January, to 6.0% with a range between 3% and 7% in April). As a result, the output gap is expected to be smaller and to tighten more rapidly than projected in the previous report, though it is still expected to remain in negative territory on the forecast horizon. Wide forecast intervals reflect the fact that the future evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic remains a significant source of uncertainty on these projections. The delay in the recovery of economic activity as a result of the resurgence of COVID-19 in the first quarter appears to have been less significant than projected in the January report. The central forecast scenario expects this improved performance to continue in 2021 alongside increased consumer and business confidence. Low real interest rates and an active credit supply would also support this dynamic, and the overall conditions would be expected to spur a recovery in consumption and investment. Increased growth in public spending and public works based on the national government’s spending plan (Plan Financiero del Gobierno) are other factors to consider. Additionally, an expected recovery in global demand and higher projected prices for oil and coffee would further contribute to improved external revenues and would favor investment, in particular in the oil sector. Given the above, the technical staff’s 2021 growth forecast has been revised upward from 4.6% in January (range from 2% to 6%) to 6.0% in April (range from 3% to 7%). These projections account for the potential for the third wave of COVID-19 to have a larger and more persistent effect on the economy than the previous wave, while also supposing that there will not be any additional significant waves of the pandemic and that mobility restrictions will be relaxed as a result. Economic growth in 2022 is expected to be 3%, with a range between 1% and 5%. This figure would be lower than projected in the January report (3.6% with a range between 2% and 6%), due to a higher base of comparison given the upward revision to expected GDP in 2021. This forecast also takes into account the likely effects on private demand of a fiscal adjustment of the size currently being proposed by the national government, and which would come into effect in 2022. Excess in productive capacity is now expected to be lower than estimated in January but continues to be significant and affected by high levels of uncertainty, as reflected in the wide forecast intervals. The possibility of new waves of the virus (of uncertain intensity and duration) represents a significant downward risk to projected GDP growth, and is signaled by the lower limits of the ranges provided in this report. Inflation (1.51%) and inflation excluding food and regulated items (0.94%) declined in March compared to December, continuing below the 3% target. The decline in inflation in this period was below projections, explained in large part by unanticipated increases in the costs of certain foods (3.92%) and regulated items (1.52%). An increase in international food and shipping prices, increased foreign demand for beef, and specific upward pressures on perishable food supplies appear to explain a lower-than-expected deceleration in the consumer price index (CPI) for foods. An unexpected increase in regulated items prices came amid unanticipated increases in international fuel prices, on some utilities rates, and for regulated education prices. The decline in annual inflation excluding food and regulated items between December and March was in line with projections from January, though this included downward pressure from a significant reduction in telecommunications rates due to the imminent entry of a new operator. When controlling for the effects of this relative price change, inflation excluding food and regulated items exceeds levels forecast in the previous report. Within this indicator of core inflation, the CPI for goods (1.05%) accelerated due to a reversion of the effects of the VAT-free day in November, which was largely accounted for in February, and possibly by the transmission of a recent depreciation of the peso on domestic prices for certain items (electric and household appliances). For their part, services prices decelerated and showed the lowest rate of annual growth (0.89%) among the large consumer baskets in the CPI. Within the services basket, the annual change in rental prices continued to decline, while those services that continue to experience the most significant restrictions on returning to normal operations (tourism, cinemas, nightlife, etc.) continued to register significant price declines. As previously mentioned, telephone rates also fell significantly due to increased competition in the market. Total inflation is expected to continue to be affected by ample excesses in productive capacity for the remainder of 2021 and 2022, though less so than projected in January. As a result, convergence to the inflation target is now expected to be somewhat faster than estimated in the previous report, assuming the absence of significant additional outbreaks of COVID-19. The technical staff’s year-end inflation projections for 2021 and 2022 have increased, suggesting figures around 3% due largely to variation in food and regulated items prices. The projection for inflation excluding food and regulated items also increased, but remains below 3%. Price relief measures on indirect taxes implemented in 2020 are expected to lapse in the second quarter of 2021, generating a one-off effect on prices and temporarily affecting inflation excluding food and regulated items. However, indexation to low levels of past inflation, weak demand, and ample excess productive capacity are expected to keep core inflation below the target, near 2.3% at the end of 2021 (previously 2.1%). The reversion in 2021 of the effects of some price relief measures on utility rates from 2020 should lead to an increase in the CPI for regulated items in the second half of this year. Annual price changes are now expected to be higher than estimated in the January report due to an increased expected path for fuel prices and unanticipated increases in regulated education prices. The projection for the CPI for foods has increased compared to the previous report, taking into account certain factors that were not anticipated in January (a less favorable agricultural cycle, increased pressure from international prices, and transport costs). Given the above, year-end annual inflation for 2021 and 2022 is now expected to be 3% and 2.8%, respectively, which would be above projections from January (2.3% and 2,7%). For its part, expected inflation based on analyst surveys suggests year-end inflation in 2021 and 2022 of 2.8% and 3.1%, respectively. There remains significant uncertainty surrounding the inflation forecasts included in this report due to several factors: 1) the evolution of the pandemic; 2) the difficulty in evaluating the size and persistence of excess productive capacity; 3) the timing and manner in which price relief measures will lapse; and 4) the future behavior of food prices. Projected 2021 growth in foreign demand (4.4% to 5.2%) and the supposed average oil price (USD 53 to USD 61 per Brent benchmark barrel) were both revised upward. An increase in long-term international interest rates has been reflected in a depreciation of the peso and could result in relatively tighter external financial conditions for emerging market economies, including Colombia. Average growth among Colombia’s trade partners was greater than expected in the fourth quarter of 2020. This, together with a sizable fiscal stimulus approved in the United States and the onset of a massive global vaccination campaign, largely explains the projected increase in foreign demand growth in 2021. The resilience of the goods market in the face of global crisis and an expected normalization in international trade are additional factors. These considerations and the expected continuation of a gradual reduction of mobility restrictions abroad suggest that Colombia’s trade partners could grow on average by 5.2% in 2021 and around 3.4% in 2022. The improved prospects for global economic growth have led to an increase in current and expected oil prices. Production interruptions due to a heavy winter, reduced inventories, and increased supply restrictions instituted by producing countries have also contributed to the increase. Meanwhile, market forecasts and recent Federal Reserve pronouncements suggest that the benchmark interest rate in the U.S. will remain stable for the next two years. Nevertheless, a significant increase in public spending in the country has fostered expectations for greater growth and inflation, as well as increased uncertainty over the moment in which a normalization of monetary policy might begin. This has been reflected in an increase in long-term interest rates. In this context, emerging market economies in the region, including Colombia, have registered increases in sovereign risk premiums and long-term domestic interest rates, and a depreciation of local currencies against the dollar. Recent outbreaks of COVID-19 in several of these economies; limits on vaccine supply and the slow pace of immunization campaigns in some countries; a significant increase in public debt; and tensions between the United States and China, among other factors, all add to a high level of uncertainty surrounding interest rate spreads, external financing conditions, and the future performance of risk premiums. The impact that this environment could have on the exchange rate and on domestic financing conditions represent risks to the macroeconomic and monetary policy forecasts. Domestic financial conditions continue to favor recovery in economic activity. The transmission of reductions to the policy interest rate on credit rates has been significant. The banking portfolio continues to recover amid circumstances that have affected both the supply and demand for loans, and in which some credit risks have materialized. Preferential and ordinary commercial interest rates have fallen to a similar degree as the benchmark interest rate. As is generally the case, this transmission has come at a slower pace for consumer credit rates, and has been further delayed in the case of mortgage rates. Commercial credit levels stabilized above pre-pandemic levels in March, following an increase resulting from significant liquidity requirements for businesses in the second quarter of 2020. The consumer credit portfolio continued to recover and has now surpassed February 2020 levels, though overall growth in the portfolio remains low. At the same time, portfolio projections and default indicators have increased, and credit establishment earnings have come down. Despite this, credit disbursements continue to recover and solvency indicators remain well above regulatory minimums. 1.2 Monetary policy decision In its meetings in March and April the BDBR left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75%.

In the face of the multiple shocks currently experienced by the domestic economy (resulting from the drop in oil prices and the appearance of a global pandemic), the Colombian financial system is in a position of sound solvency and adequate liquidity. At the same time, credit quality has been recovering and the exposure of credit institutions to firms with currency mismatches has declined relative to previous episodes of sudden drops in oil prices. These trends are reflected in the recent fading of red and blue tonalities in the performance and credit risk segments of the risk heatmaps in Graphs A and B.1 Naturally, the sudden, unanticipated change in macroeconomic conditions has caused the appearance of vulnerabilities for short-term financial stability. These vulnerabilities require close and continuous monitoring on the part of economic authorities. The main vulnerability is the response of credit and credit risk to a potential, temporarily extreme macroeconomic situation in the context of: (i) recently increased exposure of some banks to household sector, and (ii) reductions in net interest income that have led to a decline in the profitability of the banking business in the recent past. Furthermore, as a consequence of greater uncertainty and risk aversion, occasional problems may arise in the distribution of liquidity between agents and financial markets. With regards to local markets, spikes have been registered in the volatility of public and private fixed income securities in recent weeks that are consistent with the behavior of the international markets and have had a significant impact on the liquidity of those instruments (red portions in the most recent past of some market risk items on the map in Graph A). In order to adopt a forward-looking approach to those vulnerabilities, this Report presents a stress test that evaluates the resilience of credit institutions in the event of a hypothetical scenario thatseeks to simulate an extreme version of current macroeconomic conditions. The scenario assumes a hypothetical negative growth that is temporarily strong but recovers going into the middle of the coming year and has extreme effects on credit quality. The results suggest that credit institutions have the ability to withstand a significant deterioration in economic conditions in the short term. Even though there could be a strong impact on credit, liquidity, and profitability under the scenario being considered, aggregate capital ratios would probably remain at above their regulatory limits over the horizon of a year. In this context, the recent measures taken by both Banco de la República and the Office of the Financial Superintendent of Colombia that are intended to help preserve the financial stability of the Colombian economy become highly relevant. In compliance with its constitutional objectives and in coordination with the financial system’s security network, Banco de la República will continue to closely monitor the outlook for financial stability at this juncture and will make the decisions that are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the economy, facilitate the flow of sufficient credit and liquidity resources, and further the smooth functioning of the payment system. Juan José Echavarría Governor