The clinical effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy for the treatment of body image disturbance in women with eating disorders

Body image disturbance is one of the necessary criteria for the diagnosis of both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and has been demonstrated to play a role in both the development and maintenance of eating pathology. Body image disturbance tends to persist after successful eating disorder treatment and is a strong predictor of relapse. A number of published studies have evaluated and demonstrated the effectiveness of stand-alone cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for the treatment of body image disturbance in college samples, in obese individuals, and in those suffering from body dysmorphic disorder. In contrast, very few studies have investigated the effectiveness of treatment dedicated to body image disturbance in women suffering from an eating disorder. The purpose of the proposed study was to evaluate the effectiveness of group CBT for the treatment of body image disturbance in women previously diagnosed with, and treated for, an eating disorder. Women who had previously completed standard eating disorder treatment at a local outpatient treatment centre were recruited and quasi-randomly assigned to either a 10 week CBT group body image therapy or to a waitlist control (N = 22). All participants completed a comprehensive body image assessment and a variety of measures assessing general psychological functioning before and after treatment. Compared to waitlist controls, it was hypothesized that women who received body image therapy would demonstrate statistically and clinically significant improvements on all components of body image disturbance. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that women who participated in body image therapy would experience improvements in eating pathology and psychological functioning. In contrast to study predictions, statistical significance testing revealed no differences between women who took part in treatment compared to women who participated in the wait-list condition on measures of body image, eating pathology, and psychological functioning. However, clinical significance testing revealed that a higher percentage of women who participated in treatment were both reliably and clinically improved on various outcome measures, lending some support to the hypothesis that CBT for body image disturbance is an efficacious treatment for women with eating disorders. Qualitative information obtained from participants\u27 answers to open ended questions regarding group satisfaction suggest that body image treatment for women with eating disorders may benefit from being delivered over a longer period of time than was offered here. Additional sessions may create better conditions for eating disorder patients to overcome fears associated with confronting body image cognitive and emotional content

Identification and modelling of displacement fields due to slope movements for the vulnerability analysis of historic buildings

ABSTRACT: Modelling the influence of deep excavations or tunnelling on the serviceability of existing buildings is a well-known geotechnical engineering problem, while the knowledge and scientific contri-butions referable to the assessment of the damage induced by landslide movements on buildings are lack-ing. The present study concerns the analyses of slope movements, in order to be able to define an intensi-ty parameter useful for the definition of fragility curves for historic buildings subjected to slow slope movements. For this purpose, several numerical analyses have been carried out to assess the pattern of displacement in slope under free-field conditions, as the geometric and geotechnical characteristics of the slope vary. These variations are associated with the relative global slope safety factors, which be-come the reference intensity parameter in the analyses. The results have been obtained in terms of verti-cal and horizontal strains in different sections of interest along the slope, which have been related to the relevant safety factor

Investigation on the damages induced by slope movements on historic buildings: the case of San Nicol\uf2 di Capodimonte church in Liguria

ABSTRACT: Italy has more cultural heritage to preserve than any other country on earth and, unfortunately, it is ex-posed to several nature hazards that pose in a serious risk historical buildings located in critical areas. A specific research is underway with the aim of proposing a methodology to analyze the effects and damage induced by slope movements on historic buildings and churches. In this context, some case histories have been selected. The case study proposed in the paper is the Romanic church of S.Nicol\uf2 di Capodimonte located on the Portofino promontory (Liguria), which vulnerability is particularly increased by its loca-tion, as demonstrated by existing crack patterns presently under monitoring. After data collection, several numerical analyses were performed, changing hazard scenarios. The results have been compared with the damage in the church, allowing the interpretation of the crack pattern according to the direction of movement. Finally, an assessment of the damage level has been performed, which shows the critical con-text for the monument under investigation

Thomas Beyer, interviewed by Alexander L. Berardi

As of Fall 2020, Thomas Beyer is currently a student at SUNY Brockport, enrolled in the 3+3 Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. He currently works as a Resident Assistant at McFarlane Hall

Accounting for Local Water Storages in Assessing WDN Supply Capacity

AbstractIn many real WDNs, as in the Mediterranean area, customers are traditionally supplied by local water storages (i.e. roof or basement tanks) fed from the top by service pipes of the urban WDN through volume-controlled orifices. The present contribution shows that the prediction of WDN water supply capacity achieved by a model accounting for the filling/emptying of local tanks, is different from both classical demand-driven analysis and the pressure-driven analysis based on Wagner's demand-pressure relationship at each node. The WDNetXL system (www.hydroinformatics.it) is used to perform multiple simulation runs to assess WDN capacity under increasing demand scenarios

Supporting Decision on Energy vs. Asset Cost Optimization in Drinking Water Distribution Networks

AbstractOne of the challenges for water utilities is the optimal asset design (i.e. maximum power of pump systems, tank volumes and pipe diameters) of water distribution networks (WDN) while optimizing operational efficiency (i.e. energy consumption and cost). Besides the classical minimization of capital cost while providing sufficient supply service, the operational sustainability is an emerging issue. As the reduction of each component of capital and energy costs are conflicting with each other, the optimization problem is multi-objective. This work presents the study of the robustness of solutions of the Pareto set as a further element to support the decision

Personalizing Quantitative Homework Assignments to Facilate Student Learning

Electronic business tools, technology, and approaches have enabled organizations to reach new customers and markets more effectively and efficiently than ever before. A parallel process has occurred in the education industry. In many of these educational ventures, the desire to reach underserved populations is a primary motivation. In others, efficiencies and cost reductions are paramount. Still other e-learning and innovative teaching initiatives have been initiated by the sincere and direct desire to improve existing educational effectiveness. The project described in this paper is focused on educational effectiveness of teaching operations management to college students. The idea is to have a student-friendly approach to developing customized homework problems where each student has the same problem type but unique values, answers, and decisions. In this way, we seek to encourage student interaction and discussion of the problems while minimizing the risk of cheating through rote copying

PESTICIDE REGULATION AND THE RULE-MAKING PROCESS

Agricultural and Food Policy,