A Proposal To Support Wellbeing in People With Borderline Personality Disorder: Applying Reminiscent Theory in a Mobile App

In this paper the research draws upon reminiscence therapy, which is used in treating dementia, as an applied theory to promote well being in people who experience low moods. The application proposed here aims to promote wellbeing for people suffering from mood disorders and dementia but could potentially be used to enhance wellbeing for many types of users. Use of the application is anticipated to improve mood in a group of users where severe emotional problems are prevalent. The research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a reminiscence based application in promoting well being in people specifically with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The long term objective of this research is to establish the effectiveness of reminiscence theory on user groups aside from dementia, particularly other mental illnesses. The research advocates involving end users within the design process both to inform and evaluate the development of a mobile and tablet application.Comment: Conference pape

Cognitive Linguistics and the Evolution of Body and Soul \ud in the Western World: from Ancient Hebrew to Modern English

A philological and comparative analysis of the lexical items\ud concerning personhood in Ancient Hebrew, Ancient Greek and Modern English reveals semantic shifts concerning the relative lexical concepts. Ancient Hebrew presents an essentially holistic idea of personhood, whereas, via Biblical translations and Greek philosophical influences, the Western World has conceptualized humans as being\ud dualistic in nature. I analyze the polysemy and semantic shifts in the lexicon used for "body" and "soul" in Ancient Hebrew and Ancient Greek, which are the two linguistic systems known by St. Paul of Tarsus, and then confront them with Paul's usage context, and finally with Modern English, hypothesizing a possible case of linguistic relativity

A survey of the material and intellectual consequences of trading in undocumented ancient coins : a case study on the North American trade

Ancient coins are among the most widely collected and demanded objects among American collectors of antiquities. A vocal lobby of ancient coin dealers/collectors has arisen to protect the importation of undocumented material into the United States and also seeks to make a distinction between antiquities trafficking and that in ancient coins. Coins are an equally important historical source and are no less important 'antiquities' than a Greek painted vase. I examine the scale of the trade in ancient coins in North America and address some points made by proponents of a continued unfettered ancient coin trade

Ancient rhetoric as a hermeneutical tool for the analysis of characterization in narrative literature

This article argues that the conceptualization of the notions of character and characterization in ancient rhetorical treatises can serve as a hermeneutical tool for the analysis of characterization in narrative literature. It offers an analysis of ancient rhetorical loci and techniques of character depiction and points out that ancient rhetorical theory discusses direct, metaphorical, and metonymical techniques of characterization. Ultimately, it provides the modern scholar with a paradigm for the analysis of characterization in (ancient) narrative literature

Metagenomic analysis of dental calculus in ancient Egyptian baboons

Dental calculus, or mineralized plaque, represents a record of ancient biomolecules and food residues. Recently, ancient metagenomics made it possible to unlock the wealth of microbial and dietary information of dental calculus to reconstruct oral microbiomes and lifestyle of humans from the past. Although most studies have so far focused on ancient humans, dental calculus is known to form in a wide range of animals, potentially informing on how human-animal interactions changed the animals' oral ecology. Here, we characterise the oral microbiome of six ancient Egyptian baboons held in captivity during the late Pharaonic era (9th-6th centuries BC) and of two historical baboons from a zoo via shotgun metagenomics. We demonstrate that these captive baboons possessed a distinctive oral microbiome when compared to ancient and modern humans, Neanderthals and a wild chimpanzee. These results may reflect the omnivorous dietary behaviour of baboons, even though health, food provisioning and other factors associated with human management, may have changed the baboons' oral microbiome. We anticipate our study to be a starting point for more extensive studies on ancient animal oral microbiomes to examine the extent to which domestication and human management in the past affected the diet, health and lifestyle of target animals

South Arabian and Yemeni dialects

It has traditionally been assumed that with the Islamic conquests Arabic overwhelmed the original ancient languages of the Peninsula, leaving the language situation in the south-western Arabian Peninsula as one in which dialects of Arabic are tinged, to a greater or lesser degree, with substrate features of the ancient South Arabian languages. The ancient Arab grammarians had clear ideas concerning the difference between the non-Arabic languages of the Peninsula and Arabic, including the -t feminine nominal ending in all states and -n versus the -l definite article.. Today, however, we read about ‘Arabic’ dialects that exhibit large proportions of ‘non-Arabic’ features. Here I compare phonological, morphological, lexical and syntactic data from several contemporary varieties spoken within historical Yemen – within the borders of current Yemen into southern ‘Asīr – with data from Ancient South Arabian, Sabaean, and Modern South Arabian, Mehri, as spoken in the far east of Yemen. On the basis of these comparisons I suggest that Arabic may not have replaced all the ancient languages of the Peninsula, and that we may be witnessing the rediscovery of descendants of the ancient languages. The Yemeni and ‘Asīri dialects considered are: Yemen: Rāziḥīt, Minabbih, Xašir, San‘ani, Ġaylħabbān ‘Asīr: Rijāl Alma‛, Abha, Faif

A survey of the coverage, use and application of ancient woodland indicator lists in the UK

This report presents the results of a survey into the current use of ancient woodland indicator species lists in the UK. The idea of using species particularly vascular plants as indicators of ancient woodlands can be dated back to the 1970s and the work of Peterken. Since then a wide number of lists of Ancient Woodland Indicators (AWIs)have been produced, some based on expert opinions, some utilising field surveys, others adapted from existing lists. Recently developed lists, e.g. the lists for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been based on either robust reviews of existing lists, and/or expert opinion and/or field surveys and statistical analysis. Concerns however have been expressed regarding the use of lists and these concerns appear to be supported by the uncritical use of indicator species in recent planning inquiries, e.g. not recognising that indicators are indicators and considering them to be the key value of a woodland. A survey was undertaken of relevant individuals working in biological record centres, local authorities and key agencies across the UK. The survey sought to identify what lists of Ancient Woodland Indicators are currently in use, where possible to determine the methods used in developing these lists. The survey also sought to assess the awareness of ancient woodland indicator lists and review the ways in which these were used. A total of 419 questionnaires were sent out; a response rate of 11% was obtained. Follow up phone conversations were held with key individuals involved in developing ancient woodland indicator lists. Responses were received from all counties excluding: Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Essex, Huntingdonshire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire. In addition, the Lancashire respondent stated there was no AWI list for Lancashire. The key findings of the survey were: • There is a wide variety of lists of Ancient Woodland Indicators lists available covering most of the UK. • Most individuals using indicator lists are unaware of the methods used to produce the lists and therefore of their robustness. Some key stakeholders are unaware of the existence of indicator lists in their area. • Attitudes to ancient woodland indicator lists are variable, as is their use. • Few lists use species thresholds or weightings in determining whether a site is ancient, several lists are currently under review. • There are over 200 species listed on the various Ancient Woodland Indicators lists, few species are common to more than a quarter of the lists