Linguistic analysis of the valence, arousal and dominance of auditory hallucinations and internal thoughts in schizophrenia: Implications for psychoeducation and CBT

70% of patients with schizophrenia suffer from auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) which are frequently described as distressing and disabling. The content of AVH, in relation to internal thought, has never been linguistically tested in a self-monitoring study. The aim of this preliminary study was to establish if there was a significant difference between AVH and inner thoughts on the key linguistic parameters of valence (pleasantness), dominance (control) and arousal (intensity of emotion produced). Six volunteers with a diagnosis of schizophrenia from voice hearing support groups produced real-time, detailed diaries of AVH and inner thoughts using randomised/fixed timers. Analysis of content was completed using an established linguistic database. AVH were significantly more unpleasant and controlling but not more emotionally arousing than inner thoughts. Psychoeducation around the experience of hallucination in schizophrenia should include information that the voices will be significantly more unpleasant and controlling than their own thoughts but not more emotionally arousing. CBT might therefore include the use of compassion focussed techniques to help with the unpleasantness of AVH and schema level techniques to improve coping with the dominance of AVH

Physiological Effects of Chronic Copper Exposure to Rainbow Trout (\u3cem\u3eOncorhynchus Mykiss\u3c/em\u3e) in Hard and Soft Water: Evaluation of Chronic Indicators

Effects of chronic copper exposure on a suite of indicators were examined: acute toxicity, acclimation, growth, sprint performance, whole-body electrolytes, tissue residues, and gill copper binding characteristics. Juvenile rainbow trout were exposed for 30 d to waterborne copper in hard water (hardness = 120 μg/L as CaCO3, pH = 8.0, Cu = 20 and 60 μg/L) and soft water (hardness = 20 μg/L as CaCO3, pH = 7.2, Cu = 1 and 2 μg/L). Significant acclimation to the metal occurred only in fish exposed to 60 mg/L, as seen by an approx. twofold increase in 96-h LC50 (153 vs 91 μg Cu/L). Chronic copper exposure had little or no effect on survival, growth, or swimming performance in either water hardness, nor was there any initial whole-body electrolyte loss (Na+ and Cl-). The present data suggest that the availability of food (3% wet body weight/day, distributed as three 1% meals) prevented growth inhibition and initial ion losses that usually result from Cu exposure. Elevated metal burdens in the gills and livers of exposed fish were measures of chronic copper exposure but not of effect. Initial gill binding experiments revealed the necessity of using radiolabeled Cu (64Cu) to detect newly accumulated Cu against gill background levels. Using this method, we verified the presence of saturable Cu-binding sites in the gills of juvenile rainbow trout and were able to make estimates of copperbinding affinity (log Kgill=Cu) and capacity (Bmax). Furthermore, we showed that both chronic exposure to Cu and to low water calcium had important effects on the Cu-binding characteristics of the gills

Judging Communicative Competence: Investigating Age-Related Stereotypes in Speech-Language Pathology Students

The proportion of the US population over age 65 is projected to reach almost 80 million by the year 2040, doubling the numbers from 2000 (Administration on Aging, 2012). With the aging of the population, the incidence of age-related diseases and disorders like stroke and dementia is expected to increase, adding to the caseloads of speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Most SLPs, by contrast, are younger adults; over a quarter of SLPs in the US are under age 35 (ASHA, 2012). Thus, as the elderly population grows, more intergenerational communication encounters will occur between SLPs and their aging clients, increasing demands for cultural competence, specifically with regard to ageism. However, the field of speech-language pathology has seen little research into the impact of age-related stereotypes on service delivery (Armstrong & McKechnie, 2003). One’s interactions with people are implicitly shaped by stereotypes, widely held unconscious representations of groups of people (Devine, 1989). According to the Age Stereotypes in Interaction model (Hummert, 2012), there are three main factors that trigger stereotypes: the perceiver’s self-system, the context of the interaction, and physical traits. ‘Self-system’ refers to one’s beliefs and attitudes, which are themselves determined by one’s age, cognitive complexity, and past experiences (Hummert, 2012; Ryan, 2007). Stereotypes can be reinforced by the context in which intergenerational encounters occur. To illustrate, Hummert and colleagues (1998) found that younger adults used different language when speaking to older adults in the hospital vs an apartment. Aspects of physical appearance (e.g. grey hair, stooped posture) create an immediate impression of the older individual (Adams et al., 2012). Using photographs, Hummert and colleagues (1997) found that adults perceived to be older were stereotyped more negatively than younger-looking adults. Negative stereotypes may, in turn, affect older adult’s responses, resulting in a cycle of reinforced stereotypes and negative interactions (Ryan, 2007). Williams and colleagues (2009) found that nurses who used ‘elderspeak’ met with more resistance to care in their patients with dementia. To prevent such negative interactions, SLPs must become aware of the potential impact of implicit age-related stereotypes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether SLP students are influenced by age-related stereotypes when judging the communication of older adults

Monitoring Frog Communities: An Application of Machine Learning

Automatic recognition of animal vocalisations would be a valuable tool for a variety of biological research and environmental monitoring applications . We report the development of a software system which can recognise the vocalisations of 22 species of frogs which occur in an area of Northern Australia. This software system will be used in unattended operation to monitor the effect on frog populations of the introduced Cane Toad. The system is based around classification of local peaks in the spectrogram of the audio signal using Quinlan's machine learning system, C4.5 (Quinlan 1993). Unreliable identifications of peaks are aggregated together using a hierarchical structure of segments based on the typical temporal vocalisation species' patterns. This produces robust system performance

Developing supervisory competence: Preliminary data on the impact of CBT supervision training

Clinical supervision is key to the delivery and governance of effective psychological work. We place increasing emphasis on the evidence base in our clinical decision making, and yet there is no comparable body of information to inform our supervisory practice. This is a serious problem for psychological therapists; there is an urgent need for theoretically driven and empirically evaluated approaches to supervision, and the training of such skills. This preliminary evaluation examined the impact of a 5-day training designed for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) supervisors new to the role. A within-subject, repeated-measures design was used to compare self-assessed supervision competencies over the course of training. Twenty-eight IAPT supervisors completed 5 days’ training based on the Supervision Competencies Framework and IAPT Supervision Guidance. Significant improvements were found in ratings of generic, specific, applied and meta-supervision competencies, as well as overall competency. This evaluation gives preliminary support for the impact of training on supervisory competencies. There are clear limitations, particularly the lack of objective measures and comparison training. Nevertheless, in the context of a very limited evidence base to date, the study contributes to a more robust approach to developing supervisory competence in clinical practice

Tracking and data system support for the Mariner Mars 1969 mission. Volume 2: Midcourse maneuver through end of nominal mission

Tracking and data system support for Mariner Mars 1969 mission from midcourse maneuver through end of nominal missio

“They just scraped off the calluses”: a mixed methods exploration of foot care access and provision for people with rheumatoid arthritis in south-western Sydney, Australia

Background: There is little indication that foot health services in Australia are meeting modern day recommendations for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients. The overall objective of this study was to explore the current state of foot health services for patients with RA with an emphasis on identifying barriers to the receipt of appropriate foot care in South-West Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Methods: A mixed (quantitative and qualitative) approach was adopted. Indications for appropriate access to foot care were determined by comparing the foot health, disease and socio-demographic characteristics of patients with unmet foot care demands, foot care users and patients with no demands for foot care. Perceptions of provision of, and access to, foot care were explored by conducting telephone-based interviews using an interpretative phenomenology approach with thematic analysis.Results: Twenty-nine participants took part in the cross-sectional quantitative research study design, and 12 participants took part in the interpretative phenomenological approach (qualitative study). Foot care access appeared to be driven predominantly by the presence of rearfoot deformity, which was significantly worse amongst participants in the foot care user group (p = 0.02). Five main themes emerged from the qualitative data: 1) impact of disease-related foot symptoms, 2) footwear difficulties, 3) medical/rheumatology encounters, 4) foot and podiatry care access and experiences, and 5) financial hardship.Conclusions: Foot care provision does not appear to be driven by appropriate foot health characteristics such as foot pain or foot-related disability. There may be significant shortfalls in footwear and foot care access and provision in Greater Western Sydney. Several barriers to adequate foot care access and provision were identified and further efforts are required to improve access to and the quality of foot care for people who have RA. Integration of podiatry services within rheumatology centres could resolve unmet needs of people with RA by permitting rapid access to expert-led multidisciplinary foot care for people with RA