No Man is an Island: Exploring the Links between Social Connectedness and Trust in Clinical Paranoia using a Virtual Reality Paradigm

This thesis addresses the links between social support and isolation and symptoms of psychosis. Part One presents a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies investigating the association between social support at baseline and symptomatic recovery at a later time-point. It considers whether the type of social support measure, or the length of time between baseline and follow-up, impact on this association. A small, significant positive association was found between higher levels of social support and likelihood of symptomatic recovery. No impact of social support measure or time to follow-up was identified. Part Two reports on an empirical virtual reality study which examines associations of current social connectedness and attachment style with the experience of trust towards a friendly avatar, in eighteen males with clinical paranoia. Significant negative associations were found between level of social factors involving resource and integration, and objective trusting behaviour towards the avatar. Secure versus insecure attachment style was differentially related to level of objective trust. Associations were not found between social connectedness measures or attachment style and subjective trust of the avatar. The empirical study was a joint project completed with Gail Wingham (GW), a fellow University College London D. Clin. Psy. Trainee. The findings from this researcher’s thesis are presented separately. Part Three is a critical appraisal of the meta-analysis and empirical study. It considers recruitment of clinical populations for virtual reality research, discusses methods of effectively analysing the findings of small-n research, and reflects on the field of virtual reality and its potential implications for future research and clinical applications

Facial Electromyography-based Adaptive Virtual Reality Gaming for Cognitive Training

Cognitive training has shown promising results for delivering improvements in human cognition related to attention, problem solving, reading comprehension and information retrieval. However, two frequently cited problems in cognitive training literature are a lack of user engagement with the training programme, and a failure of developed skills to generalise to daily life. This paper introduces a new cognitive training (CT) paradigm designed to address these two limitations by combining the benefits of gamification, virtual reality (VR), and affective adaptation in the development of an engaging, ecologically valid, CT task. Additionally, it incorporates facial electromyography (EMG) as a means of determining user affect while engaged in the CT task. This information is then utilised to dynamically adjust the game's difficulty in real-time as users play, with the aim of leading them into a state of flow. Affect recognition rates of 64.1% and 76.2%, for valence and arousal respectively, were achieved by classifying a DWT-Haar approximation of the input signal using kNN. The affect-aware VR cognitive training intervention was then evaluated with a control group of older adults. The results obtained substantiate the notion that adaptation techniques can lead to greater feelings of competence and a more appropriate challenge of the user's skills

Winter 1967

Massachusetts Turf and Lawn Grass Council Better Turf Through Research and Educatio

Laser surface colouring of titanium for contemporary jewellery

This paper describes work which emerged through a need to understand more about the potential of laser surface engineering for use in the creative industries. The method of creation of contemporary jewellery pieces and the resultant 'Ocular' jewellery series are described from the creative point of view. The work demonstrates how laser controlled oxide growth on Ti–6Al–4V alloy under ambient conditions can be used as an artistic tool by producing precisely defined colours. Use of the method to produce regular areas of even colour and to reproduce freehand drawings on a titanium alloy surface is described. Analysis highlights interference as the main colouring mechanism and suggests a graded surface layer, progressing from an outer layer of TiO2 to lower layers rich in TiO and Ti2O. The model of research by practice presented in this paper offers a contribution to the current debate on partnerships between art and science and engineering

Effects due to overlapping large impact basins on Mars

Many ancient, highly degraded large impact basins exist on Mars. In many cases these basins overlap or are overlapped by more easily observed, presumably younger, impact basins. While impact basin overlap is becoming more recognized, the effects of such overlap have only occassionally been described. Such effects will depend on a variety of factors including the absolute and relative size of the basins, the degree of overlap, the state of the lithosphere and its thermal gradient at the time of impact, and the time between impacts. There now exists enough evidence for overlapping basins of different sizes that some of these can be discussed. This paper highlights some examples of the obvious effects of basin overlap

Gender Role Attitudes and Male Adolescent Dating Violence Perpetration: Normative Beliefs as Moderators

Commonly used dating violence prevention programs assume that promotion of more egalitarian gender role attitudes will prevent dating violence perpetration. Empirical research examining this assumption, however, is limited and inconsistent. The current study examined the longitudinal association between gender role attitudes and physical dating violence perpetration among adolescent boys (n=577; 14% Black, 5% other race/ethnicity) and examined whether injunctive (i.e., acceptance of dating violence) and descriptive (i.e., beliefs about dating violence prevalence) normative beliefs moderated the association. As expected, the findings suggest that traditional gender role attitudes at T1 were associated with increased risk for dating violence perpetration 18 months later (T2) among boys who reported high, but not low, acceptance of dating violence (injunctive normative beliefs) at T1. Descriptive norms did not moderate the effect of gender role attitudes on dating violence perpetration. The results suggest that injunctive norms and gender role attitudes work synergistically to increase risk for dating violence perpetration among boys; as such, simultaneously targeting both of these constructs may be an effective prevention approach

Personal protective equipment solution for UK military medical personnel working in an Ebola virus disease treatment unit in Sierra Leone.

The combination of personal protective equipment (PPE) together with donning and doffing protocols was designed to protect British and Canadian military medical personnel in the Kerry Town Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) in Sierra Leone. The PPE solution was selected to protect medical staff from infectious risks, notably Ebola virus, and chemical (hypochlorite) exposure. PPE maximized dexterity, enabled personnel to work in hot temperatures for periods of up to 2h, protected mucosal membranes when doffing outer layers, and minimized potential contamination of the doffing area with infectious material by reducing the requirement to spray PPE with hypochlorite. The ETU was equipped to allow medical personnel to provide a higher level of care than witnessed in many existing ETUs. This assured personnel working as part of the international response that they would receive as close to Western treatment standards as possible if they were to contract Ebola virus disease (EVD). PPE also enabled clinical interventions that are not seen routinely in West African EVD treatment regimens, whilst providing a robust protective barrier. Competency in using PPE was developed during a nine-day pre-deployment training programme. This allowed over 60 clinical personnel per deployment to practice skills in PPE in a simulated ETU and in classrooms. Overall, the training provided: (i) an evidence base underpinning the PPE solution chosen; (ii) skills in donning and doffing of PPE; (iii) personnel confidence in the selected PPE; and (iv) quantifiable testing of each individual's capability to don PPE, perform tasks and doff PPE safely

Author correction to: Structure and distribution of an unrecognized interstitium in human tissues

© 2018 The Author(s). The Supplementary Figure file that accompanies this Article contains an error in Supplementary Figure S1, where the Small Intestine CD34 panel was duplicated from the Gallbladder CD34 panel. The correct Figure S1 appears below as Figure 1. (Figure Presented)