Reformulation letters in cognitive analytic therapy: The practitioner's experience

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore (1) cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) practitioners' experiences of receiving their own reformulation letter as part of their training and (2) CAT practitioners' perceptions about how receiving their own reformulation letter altered their clinical practice. Design: Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit participants' (N= 9) experiences of having received their personal CAT, with a particular focus on the reformulation letter, and their perceptions of its impact on them as clinicians and their clinical practice. Methods: Inductive “bottom up” thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts and extract overarching themes and subthemes across all participants. Results: Four overarching themes emerged from the data: the power of the reformulation letter; inhabiting the client's role; absorbing thinking as a CAT practitioner; and evolving the therapist's technique. Conclusions: Cognitive analytic therapy practitioners report experiences of the reformulation letter that indicate a positive impact on their self-awareness, learning about CAT and consciousness about how their own clients experience therapy. This was also the case when the reformulation letter did not resonate with them to the desired extent as learning from their therapist's limitations was experienced as having an impact on their learning and subsequent practice

Cut-off scores for mild and moderate dementia on the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-III and the Mini-Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination compared with the Mini-Mental State Examination

Aims and method: We aimed to establish cut-off scores to stage dementia on the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-III (ACE-III) and the Mini-Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (M-ACE) compared with scores traditionally used with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Our cross-sectional study recruited 80 patients and carers from secondary care services in the UK. Results: A score ≤76 on the ACE-III and ≤19 on the M-ACE correlated well with MMSE cut-offs for mild dementia, with a good fit on the receiver operating characteristic analysis for both the ACE-III and M-ACE. The cut-off for moderate dementia had lower sensitivity and specificity. There were low to moderate correlations between the cognitive scales and scales for everyday functioning and behaviour. Clinical implications: Our findings allow an objective interpretation of scores on the ACE-III and the M-ACE relative to the MMSE, which may be helpful for clinical services and research trials

The determinants of electoral registration quality: A cross-national analysis

Electoral registers provide the definitive record of who can participate in an election, but there is often thought to be considerable variations in their quality cross-nationally. This leads to concerns about eligible voters being de facto disenfranchised on election day; but also ineligible voters or fictitious names appearing on the roll which can enable electoral fraud. In either case, the legitimacy of the election can be questioned. The electoral register is also used for other purposes such as drawing electoral boundaries. This article introduces some common international terminology for electoral register quality and a conceptualisation of the different ways in which an electoral register can be compiled. It then introduces a new global dataset on registration procedures (n = 159). The article hypotheses that automatic voter registration, as well as organisational and structural factors, strongly affects accuracy and completeness. The results show that automatic voter registration increases the completeness of the electoral register and also has a positive impact on accuracy. The organisational performance of the electoral management body was also shown to have positive effects on completeness and accuracy, suggesting an additional means of improving electoral registers beyond the registration model, which also rest in the hands of policy makers

Sialic acids in infection and their potential use in detection and protection against pathogens

In structural terms, the sialic acids are a large family of nine carbon sugars based around an alpha-keto acid core. They are widely spread in nature, where they are often found to be involved in molecular recognition processes, including in development, immunology, health and disease. The prominence of sialic acids in infection is a result of their exposure at the non-reducing terminus of glycans in diverse glycolipids and glycoproteins. Herein, we survey representative aspects of sialic acid structure, recognition and exploitation in relation to infectious diseases, their diagnosis and prevention or treatment. Examples covered span influenza virus and Covid-19, Leishmania and Trypanosoma, algal viruses, Campylobacter, Streptococci and Helicobacter, and commensal Ruminococci

Basic human values and preferences for an EU-wide social benefit scheme

Previous explanations regarding transnational solidarity in the European Union (EU) have mainly focussed on factors including left–right self-placement, support for European integration and European identity. We expand this model by considering deeper psychological determinants of transnational solidarity: values, operationalised as Schwartz's basic human values of universalism and security. We expect them to exert (1) direct effects on transnational solidarity – measured as support for pan-European social benefits – and (2) indirect effects via the three aforementioned factors. We test and find evidence to support our theoretical framework using multigroup structural equation modelling and data from the European Social Survey. We further show that the effect size of the value of universalism on preferences for an EU social benefit scheme in each country is positively moderated by that country's net contribution to the EU budget, highlighting the interaction between material interests and psychological value motivations

Cover crops in cereal rotations: A quantitative review

The use of cover crops in conventional agriculture is not fully accepted. This is probably due to the substantial variability in outcomes reported and is complicated by the conflation of a host of techniques under the same umbrella term, often without the appropriate benchmarking. This review addresses these issues with a quantitative synthesis of the last 11 years of research on cover crops in cereal rotations in temperate climates. Strict inclusion criteria focus the scope of the review to studies offering comparisons with an equally treated bare fallow control. Coded variables included duration, fertiliser, irrigation and tillage regime, cover and cash crop type and termination mode. The result is a quantitative review of 100 parameters covered by multiple publications, with an additional overview on 124 parameters covered by single studies. The investigated response variables range from microbiology and chemical parameters to hydrology, soil structure, weed and pest control and crop performance. Relevant trends were identified regarding strengths and weaknesses of cover cropping, with predictions formulated about the conditions necessary for their successful implementation. Additionally, trade-offs specific to cover cropping are discussed, together with the variables at play in determining the final balance of net gain or loss. The main findings are that cash crop performance is best enhanced by legume cover crops and in low-tillage regimes, and the soil biotic effects of cover crops tend to be short-lived, fading by the end of the season. Most importantly, a positive effect of cover cropping on soil carbon is potentially offset by increased GHG emissions

Genre-based instruction and corpora

Genre, understood most simply, is a term for grouping texts together, representing broad rhetorical templates that writers draw on to respond to recurring situations: what users see as effective ways of getting things done using language. In this forum piece I discuss how genres are understood and used to support corpus-based approaches to language pedagogy

Research priorities for climate mobility

The escalating impacts of climate change on the movement and immobility of people, coupled with false but influential narratives of mobility, highlight an urgent need for nuanced and synthetic research around climate mobility. Synthesis of evidence and gaps across the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report highlight a need to clarify the understanding of what conditions make human mobility an effective adaptation option and its nuanced outcomes, including simultaneous losses, damages, and benefits. Priorities include integration of adaptation and development planning; involuntary immobility and vulnerability; gender; data for cities; risk from responses and maladaptation; public understanding of climate risk; transboundary, compound, and cascading risks; nature-based approaches; and planned retreat, relocation, and heritage. Cutting across these priorities, research modalities need to better position climate mobility as type of mobility, as process, and as praxis. Policies and practices need to reflect the diverse needs, priorities, and experiences of climate mobility, emphasizing capability, choice, and freedom of movement

A view on vitamin D: A pleiotropic factor?

Vitamin D is precursor of the steroid hormone calcitriol and has important functions throughout the body, including increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium and phosphate. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked with a range of disorders, including several bone diseases. However, large trials of vitamin D supplementation have produced mixed results. Here, experts from around the world discuss several key questions in the vitamin D research and clinical fields