Dealing with anxiety:Relationships among interpersonal attachment style, psychological wellbeing and trait anxiety

Anxiety is a major contributor to poor quality mental health for many people in our community, and is a leading cause of presentations at medical and health clinics. Patterns of trait anxiety, or dysfunctional responding, have become ingrained in individuals’ approaches to problems they face. Research has shown that psychological wellbeing and interpersonal attachment style are both predictors of trait anxiety. However, the relationships among these variables have not been clarified. The current study sought to determine whether psychological wellbeing mediates the relationship between interpersonal attachment style and trait anxiety, and which of the six psychological wellbeing subscales would contribute most to any mediation effects. A convenience sample of 149 adult participants from South East Queensland, Australia completed a series of online questionnaires including a demographic questionnaire, the Trait Anxiety subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Form Y2), the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), Ryff’s Psychological Wellbeing Scale (PWB), and a Social Desirability Scale (SDS-17). Psychological Wellbeing was found to partially mediate the relationship between interpersonal attachment style and trait anxiety. The Positive Relations with Others subscale of the PWB was the only significant sub-scale of the PWB that significantly predicted trait anxiety. Overcoming anxiety appears to be most related in our sample to those who deal better with interpersonal relations. Targeting this aspect in treatment approaches appears most likely to lead to improved outcomes for clients.</jats:p

"Yeah, it's funny how words can be so open to interpretation" - The effect of intralingual subtitling on characterisation in Breaking Bad

This research investigates the effects of intralingual (or same language) subtitling on characterisation, with a specific focus on the AMC drama, Breaking Bad. A corpus-stylistic approach was used, with a focus on several characters. Corpora of the subtitle track to the third season were compared with similar corpora containing the transcribed speech of the same season, in order to generate data which could then be compared. Sub-corpora were also created for the eight individual characters chosen to research. In order to investigate the stylistic side of the research, Jonathan Culpeper's triggers of characterisation were utilised, and Paul Rayson's Wmatrix corpus software was then used to identify statistically significant words and domains. This list was compared against the statistics produced by Wmatrix in order to understand their significance, if any. The differences and similarities between the subtitle corpora and the spoken corpora for each individual character were investigated, as well as more general trends which were shown to occur throughout all of the data. The subtitle data proved particularly cohesive with the spoken data, meaning that the subtitles were remarkably faithful to the original dialogue, with a much lower level of reduction than most other subtitles. Efforts appeared to be taken to preserve certain linguistic features often considered for deletion by subtitles, a number of these relating to characterisation

The Biology and Biochemistry of PhoH2 proteins

PhoH2 proteins are found in a diverse range of organisms. To date little is known about these proteins and the role they play in the organisms in which they reside. PhoH2 is a PIN PhoH domain fusion, and these proteins are currently annotated as having unknown function and are described as PhoH like. PhoH domains are thought to be ATPases and all characterised PIN domain proteins are RNases. Most efforts have focussed on determining the role of PIN domain proteins that comprise the toxic component (VapC) of VapBC toxin antitoxin systems, in which the PIN domain is coexpressed as part of an operon with an inhibitor (VapB). In the remaining cases where PIN domain proteins can be found such as PIN PhoH domain fusions, these cases remain unexamined. This thesis describes the biological and biochemical characterisation of the PIN PhoH protein, PhoH2 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium smegmatis, along with a preliminary structural characterisation of a thermophilic PhoH2 protein homologue. The phoH2 gene from both mycobacterial organisms was found to be expressed as part of a long mRNA transcript. Examination of these transcripts revealed possible alternative 5’ start sites out of frame with the phoH2 gene. For protein overexpression, and ‘normal’ growth and colony formation with conditional overexpression, phoH2 from M. tuberculosis required 152 bp of the 5’ sequence directly upstream of the annotated phoH2 gene (annotated here as phoH2alt). PhoH2 proteins: PhoH2alt MTB, PhoH2alt MSMEG and PhoH2MSMEG show ATP/Mg²⁺ dependent, sequence specific RNA unwinding and cleavage. The sequence (A C) (A/U) (A/U) (G/C) U was deduced as a substrate for PhoH2, and PhoH2alt MTB also demonstrated unwinding and cleavage activity on its upstream ~152 base RNA transcript, suggesting a potential autoregulatory mechanism. Structural analysis of a thermophilic PhoH2 protein homologue has provided preliminary crystallographic data which along with electron microscopy suggest a ring like hexameric PhoH2 oligomer

TEACH LIKE A CHAMPION VS AN ENQUIRY APPROACH – IS THERE A MIDDLE GROUND?

We were appointed as Co-Heads at Thomas’s Putney Vale, in London, in Sept 2022, after a year of working together as Director of Curriculum Innovation and Director of Teaching and Learning at Thomas’s Battersea. We are developing an enquiry curriculum where students are not left to their own devices to discover independently as some might believe in an enquiry model. Instead, teachers guide students through structured enquiries using recommendations from Doug Lemov’s ‘Teach like a Champion’ (Lemov, 2010; Lemov, 2015; Lemov, 2021)

Characteristics of Adults with Anxiety or Depression Treated at an Internet Clinic: Comparison with a National Survey and an Outpatient Clinic

Background There is concern that people seeking treatment over the Internet for anxiety or depressive disorders may not resemble the general population or have less severe disorders than patients attending outpatient clinics or cases identified in community surveys. Thus the response to treatment in Internet based trials might not generalize. Methodology We reviewed the characteristics of applicants to an Australian Internet-based treatment clinic for anxiety and depression, and compared this sample with people from a national epidemiological survey and a sample of patients at a specialist outpatient anxiety and depression clinic. Participants included 774 volunteers to an Internet clinic, 454 patients at a specialist anxiety disorders outpatient clinic, and 627 cases identified in a national epidemiological survey. Main measures included demographic characteristics, and severity of symptoms as measured by the Kessler 10-Item scale (K-10), the 12-item World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule second edition (WHODAS-II), the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), the Body Sensations Questionnaire (BSQ), the Automatic Cognitions Questionnaire (ACQ), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS). Principal Findings The severity of symptoms of participants attending the two clinics was similar, and both clinic samples were more severe than cases in the epidemiological survey. The Internet clinic and national samples were older and comprised more females than those attending the outpatient clinic. The Internet clinic sample were more likely to be married than the other samples. The Internet clinic and outpatient clinic samples had higher levels of educational qualifications than the national sample, but employment status was similar across groups. Conclusions The Internet clinic sample have disorders as severe as those attending an outpatient clinic, but with demographic characteristics more consistent with the national sample. These data indicate that the benefits of Internet treatment could apply to the wider population.5 page(s

Exploring the use of images to support short break conversations with unpaid carers

Purpose: Short breaks enable unpaid carers of all ages to have a life alongside caring, supporting their physical and emotional wellbeing. In the United Kingdom, short breaks are usually explored during a Carers Assessment. The conversations underpinning these assessments require considerable skill and presently there are few tools to support the exploration of short break needs, desired outcomes, and options. Images are used in other conversations to enhance communication, help people consider options and broaden thinking. We explored whether and how stakeholders thought images might support short break conversations. Approach: To improve access to meaningful short breaks, we need to be guided by the insights of unpaid carers, practitioners, commissioners, and policy makers. We hosted two online involvement events, designed to facilitate the exchange of perspectives and ideas amongst these diverse stakeholders. The events explored the acceptability, facilitators, and challenges of using images to enhance unpaid carer short break conversations. Findings: The online events were attended by 47 short break stakeholders. These stakeholders saw merit in using images to support short break conversations. They identified several facilitators and challenges to introducing images into practice. The paper highlights how this learning can inform future research and practice development. Originality: Supporting the wellbeing of older unpaid carers is a pertinent concern as the number of older unpaid carers continues to grow. This paper reports on how stakeholders have informed the earliest stages of practice and research development in a relevant area and provides a model of involvement that others can emulate

Representing Visual Foreshadowing in Audio Description

This thesis is concerned with the way in which audio description for blind and partially sighted individuals represents instances of visual foreshadowing. Audio description is relatively under-researched, particularly when compared with other media accessibility options such as subtitling, and so this thesis represents further work in a still developing area of research. By analysing six separate examples of foreshadowing events, this thesis found that audio description often relies on the successful deployment of foreshadowing across multiple modes in order to effectively represent foreshadowing in the audio description track. The case studies represented a mixture of genres and included examples of both fictional and non-fictional telecinematic programming. The case studies also represent a mixture of event foreshadowing, which directly ties the foreshadowing to a specific occurrence within the narrative, and character foreshadowing which allows audiences to make observations and inferences about the role and function of individual characters. This work found that there had been little existing consideration for foreshadowing in audio description both on the part of academics studying audiovisual translation, and within the guidance directly provided to audio describers. Previous work relating to foreshadowing is concerned primarily with twist endings or mysteries, particularly those with buried information. This thesis argues that foreshadowing can also occur as a result of foregrounding as well, and that less attention has been paid to this particular approach.The case studies examined show a variety of techniques, with some deployed more successfully than others, as well as providing a good overview of the different restrictions and difficulties faced by audio describers. Whilst current audio description guidelines are adequate, more work is required to marry the developing academic research with the actual implementation of such features by audio description providers, This thesis recommends further research and collaboration in this area that in order to develop better, codified guidance with real consideration for stylistic features

Fault tree based fault diagnostics methodology for an aircraft fuel system

improved by reducing the time taken to restore systems to the working state when faults occur. The fault identification process can be a significant proportion of the time taken in the repair process. Having diagnosed the problem the restoration of the system back to its fully functioning condition can then take place. This paper describes the development of a fault diagnostic methodology for an aircraft fuel system. The approach takes into account the dynamics of the system. Using sensors installed to provide information about the current status of certain critical parameters. The information produced for these parameters are then categorised into different trend types using a simple pattern recognition technique. Non-coherent fault trees are then used to identify all possible causes of the observed sensor reading trends. By combining the information provided from all sensors the causal faults can be detected. The approach presented has been developed and tested for small demonstration systems – this paper describes how it has been scaled up for a larger, more representative system and the issues that have been overcome in doing this. The system used exists as an experimental facility where the procedure developed can now be fully tested

System fault diagnostics using fault tree analysis

Over the last 50 years advances in technology have led to an increase in the complexity and sophistication of systems. More complex systems can be harder to maintain and the root cause of a fault more difficult to isolate. Down-time resulting from a system failure can be dangerous or expensive depending on the type of system. In aircraft systems the ability to quickly diagnose the causes of a fault can have a significant impact on the time taken to rectify the problem and return the aircraft to service. In chemical process plants the need to diagnose causes of a safety critical failure in a system can be vital and a diagnosis may be required within minutes. Speed of fault isolation can save time, reduce costs and increase company productivity and therefore profits. System fault diagnosis is the process of identifying the cause of a malfunction by observing its effect at various test points. Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a method that describes all possible causes of a specified system state in terms of the state of the components within the system. A system model is used to identify the states the system should be in at any point in time. This paper presents a method for diagnosing faults in systems using FTA to explain the deviations from normal operation observed in sensor outputs. The causes of a system's failure modes will be described in terms of the component states. This will be achieved with the use of coherent and non-coherent fault trees. A coherent fault tree is constructed from AND and OR logic, therefore only considers component failed states. The non-coherent method expands this allowing the use of NOT logic which implies that the existence of component failed states and working states are both taken into account. This paper illustrates the concepts of this method by applying the technique to a simplified water tank level control system