Can written disclosure reduce psychological distress and increase objectively measured injury mobility of student-athletes? A randomized controlled trial

Injured students-athletes took part in a randomized controlled trial to test whether written disclosure could reduce psychological distress and improve injury mobility. Writing took place alongside prescribed physical rehabilitation and consisted of three 20- minute writing sessions, once a week for three consecutive weeks. Participants in the experimental injury-writing group (푛 = 25) followed a structured form of written disclosure, called the guided disclosure protocol (GDP). They firstly, wrote about the onset of their injury in a chronological manner, secondly, they explicitly labelled their emotions and described the impact of the injury, finally they wrote about future coping and psychological growth. Controls(푛 = 21)wrote about nonemotional and noninjury related topics. In addition to self-report measures, a physiotherapist, blind to experimental condition, assessed mobility at the injury site. Although self-report indices remained unchanged, the GDP group evidenced a significant improvement in injury mobility compared to controls

Investigating Incidents of Emotion in Daily Life Using the Technique of Structured Diaries

I present a method of recording emotions in structured diaries. For each incident of emotion that is sufficiently salient to notice in the course of daily life people are asked to note its characteristics on a page structured like a questionnaire. In the first study, which saw, the launch of the diary a total of 57 students each recorded five incidents of emotion, looking out specifically for happiness, sadness, anger and fear. In a second study in which I addressed some of the problems that were encountered in the first study 47 people randomly selected from two occupational groups each recorded four incidents of emotion, looking out happiness, sadness, anger, fear and on this occasion also disgust. Happiness was the most frequent emotion for the students, but anger was the most frequent for employed people. There were few differences in emotions as a function of gender. Emotions were typically caused by goal-relevant events. In agreement with Oatley and Johnson-Laird's (1987) theory, around 1 in 20 incidents of four basic emotions (happiness, sadness, anger and fear) occurred for reasons that the experiencer was not aware of. Emotions that depend for their definition on knowing something about the context, like embarrassment, shame and jealousy were not experienced without the subject knowing what caused them. This was established in a study utilizing a different version of the diary where the incidence of anger, a basic emotion was compared to that of the complex emotions named above. In all studies reports of mixtures of emotions were common, occurring in more than a third of all incidents. In one of several applied projects, diaries were administered to a sample of psychiatric patients and a comparison sample of patients with organic gastro-intestinal disease. The diaries were administered followed by semi-structured interviews to obtain more details about each incident of emotion. In comparison with the organic gastro-intestinal patients, psychiatric patients had more episodes of emotion that they were not able fully to understand, and more incidents that reminded them of comparable emotion incidents in the past. Using the same methods the obtained emotions of these organic gastro-intestinal patients were compared to non-organic gastro-intestinal patients to test the proposal that a different pattern would emerge in these two groups as to how they experienced anxiety and anger. There were few quantitative differences, in such elements as duration, intensity, but qualitative differences were apparent, with respect to the effects of emotions on the self-image of the non-organic patients. This thesis also includes a study solely devoted to investigating the characteristics of hatred and disgust. One reason for a study of this nature is that there is a dearth of psychological literature concerning these emotions. Secondly, there were relatively few episodes of disgust or hatred recorded by my subjects using the diary method. Thus a semi-structured interview method was employed to inform of the nature of these emotions and stimulate further research. Although diaries need to be validated by other methods based on behavioral observation and physiological responses, self-reports are useful, perhaps essential, for understanding emotions. Structured diaries offer a way of beginning to investigate the epidemiology of normal and abnormal emotions. Diaries allow recording of incidents of emotion of the kind that people discuss, and give causal status to, in their explanations of their own and others' behaviour

Dietitians’ perceptions and experience of blenderised feeds for paediatric tube-feeding

Objective: There is an emerging interest in the use of blenderised food for tube-feeding (BFTF). This survey explored paediatric dietitians' perceptions and experiences of BFTF use. Design: A web-based questionnaire was distributed to the Paediatric group of the British Dietetic Association. The survey captured dietitians' personal opinions and experience supporting children on BFTF, and the perceptions of carers. Results: Of the 77 respondents, 19 were aware of professional guidelines and 63 had never received training on BFTF. Thirty-four would not recommend BFTF and 11 would advise against its use; yet 43 would recommend it to supplement commercial feeds. Fifty-seven would change their perception about BFTF if there were evidence-based guidelines. Forty-four would feel confident to support a patient using BFTF. Forty-three had previous experience supporting a patient with BFTF. The main concerns perceived by dietitians, pertinent to the use of BFTF, were nutritional inadequacy (n=71), tube blockages (n=64) and increased infection risk (n=59) but these were significantly higher than those experienced by themselves in clinical practice (p<0.001 for all three). A reduction in reflux and vomiting and increased carer involvement were the main perceived and observed benefits by both dietitians and carers. Conclusions: The use of these feeds for tube-fed children is increasingly being seen as a viable choice. Dietitians experienced significantly fewer issues with the use of BFTF in clinical practice compared with their self-reported apprehensions in the survey. Well-controlled studies are now needed to objectively assess the benefits, risks, costs and practicality of BFTF

Use of a Bayesian belief network to predict the impacts of commercializing non-timber forest products on livelihoods

Commercialization of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has been widely promoted as a means of sustainably developing tropical forest resources, in a way that promotes forest conservation while supporting rural livelihoods. However, in practice, NTFP commercialization has often failed to deliver the expected benefits. Progress in analyzing the causes of such failure has been hindered by the lack of a suitable framework for the analysis of NTFP case studies, and by the lack of predictive theory. We address these needs by developing a probabilistic model based on a livelihood framework, enabling the impact of NTFP commercialization on livelihoods to be predicted. The framework considers five types of capital asset needed to support livelihoods: natural, human, social, physical, and financial. Commercialization of NTFPs is represented in the model as the conversion of one form of capital asset into another, which is influenced by a variety of socio-economic, environmental, and political factors. Impacts on livelihoods are determined by the availability of the five types of assets following commercialization. The model, implemented as a Bayesian Belief Network, was tested using data from participatory research into 19 NTFP case studies undertaken in Mexico and Bolivia. The model provides a novel tool for diagnosing the causes of success and failure in NTFP commercialization, and can be used to explore the potential impacts of policy options and other interventions on livelihoods. The potential value of this approach for the development of NTFP theory is discussed

An Investigation into the Geography, Theology, and Architecture of the Byzantine Monastery at Tel Masos

The impetus for this study was the seeming lack of interest in Tel Masos as the site of a potential second East Syrian monastery in Palestine. Upon closer examination, the monastery's ascription as East Syrian was cast into doubt and a broader investigation began. It became clear that the monastery at Tel Masos had fallen into a void between academic disciplines. Geographically, the site falls within the discipline of Byzantine and early Islamic archaeology in Palestine, while theologically it belongs in the field of Syrian Christianity. Since the publication of the site, no one had taken the opportunity to bring the site into a dialogue wherein both facets, geographical and theological, were engaged. The main goal for this study was to start such a conversation

Performance characteristics of a soil-release finish on polyester knit fabrics

The main objectives of this study were to determine if the manufacturer's claims for a soil-release-finished fabric were true and to determine if the finished fabrics were satisfactory from the consumers' point of view. Differently colored (white, blue and yellow) blouses constructed from soil-release-finished polyester knit fabrics and comparable unfinished polyester knit fabrics were worn by six women for 24 wearings each. For comparison purposes, test specimens cut from each fabric were laundered but not worn, and test specimens were neither worn nor laundered, but were used as controls. The participants in the wear study found that the soil-release-finished blouses were more comfortable to wear in terms of temperature and water-carrying properties than the unfinished blouses. The white test specimens after 24 launderings had the greatest change in color as perceived by consumers. Reflectance readings found this to hold true for the soil-release-finished fabrics, but showed that the greatest change in color for the unfinished fabrics occurred with the color yellow. The greatest change in color for the blouses as perceived by consumers was for the color blue. This was consistent with the reflectance readings. Consumers would accept a change in color if it were uniform within the garment more readily than they would if the two pieces were in one garment. From reflectance readings it was found that there was a difference in color on the original fabrics due to the soil-release finish. There were indications that the soil-release-finished blouses had a greater tendency to pill than the unfinished blouses. Consumers rated the blouses made from the soil-releasefinished fabrics as having better soil-release than the unfinished blouses. Artificially soiled soil-release-finished specimens had considerably less soil build-up after laundering than the unfinished sample. There was no soil redeposited during laundering on the soilrelease- finished fabric. There was a loss of durable press appearance due to the soilrelease finish. Residual shrinkage occurred through the entire 24 launderings with the exception of the white fabrics (warp knit construction) in the course direction. The amount of dimensional change would be considered acceptable for all fabrics tested. From electron micrographs, distinct differences in the surfaces of the unfinished and soil-release-finished fibers were found. The soil-release-finished fibers had very etched surfaces compared to smooth surfaces for the unfinished fibers. Based upon the findings of this study it can be concluded that the soil-release-finished polyester knit fabrics would be acceptable from the consumers' point of view

Nutritional status, growth and disease management in children with single and dual diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus and coeliac disease

Background: The consequences of subclinical coeliac disease (CD) in Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) remain unclear. We looked at growth, anthropometry and disease management in children with dual diagnosis (T1DM + CD) before and after CD diagnosis.<p></p> Methods: Anthropometry, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and IgA tissue transglutaminase (tTg) were collected prior to, and following CD diagnosis in 23 children with T1DM + CD. This group was matched for demographics, T1DM duration, age at CD diagnosis and at T1DM onset with 23 CD and 44 T1DM controls.<p></p> Results: No differences in growth or anthropometry were found between children with T1DM + CD and controls at any time point. Children with T1DM + CD, had higher BMI z-score two years prior to, than at CD diagnosis (p <0.001). BMI z-score change one year prior to CD diagnosis was lower in the T1DM + CD than the T1DM group (p = 0.009). At two years, height velocity and change in BMI z-scores were similar in all groups. No differences were observed in HbA1c between the T1DM + CD and T1DM groups before or after CD diagnosis. More children with T1DM + CD had raised tTg levels one year after CD diagnosis than CD controls (CDx to CDx + 1 yr; T1DM + CD: 100% to 71%, p = 0.180 and CD: 100% to 45%, p < 0.001); by two years there was no difference.<p></p> Conclusions: No major nutrition or growth deficits were observed in children with T1DM + CD. CD diagnosis does not impact on T1DM glycaemic control. CD specific serology was comparable to children with single CD, but those with dual diagnosis may need more time to adjust to gluten free diet

International Space Station Alpha user payload operations concept

International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) will accommodate a variety of user payloads investigating diverse scientific and technology disciplines on behalf of five international partners: Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the United States. A combination of crew, automated systems, and ground operations teams will control payload operations that require complementary on-board and ground systems. This paper presents the current planning for the ISSA U.S. user payload operations concept and the functional architecture supporting the concept. It describes various NASA payload operations facilities, their interfaces, user facility flight support, the payload planning system, the onboard and ground data management system, and payload operations crew and ground personnel training. This paper summarizes the payload operations infrastructure and architecture developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to prepare and conduct ISSA on-orbit payload operations from the Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC), and from various user operations locations. The authors pay particular attention to user data management, which includes interfaces with both the onboard data management system and the ground data system. Discussion covers the functional disciplines that define and support POIC payload operations: Planning, Operations Control, Data Management, and Training. The paper describes potential interfaces between users and the POIC disciplines, from the U.S. user perspective

Supporting transplant athletes:perspectives on delivery of a sports performance and well-being service at the British Transplant Games

Evidence suggests that engaging in physical activity improves the mental and physical health of transplant recipients. An opportunity to be more active could be participating in the national and international network of Transplant Games. Although the literature on motivations for and the experience of taking part in the Games is available, little is known about what role applied practitioners, specifically sport and exercise psychologists could play as transplant recipients prepare and compete. This paper offers perspectives on the provision of a sports performance well-being service delivered at the British Transplant Games. The paper consists of several sections. The first offers background and how the service came into being. The second provides details of the model and philosophy that underpinned the service delivery. The third includes the trainee and exercise practitioner's casework and the challenges therein. Informed by the team's reflections and post-games survey the final section proposes recommendations for future applied sport and exercise services at this unique event