Participants’ Experiences of EMDR Training.

This research projects spans a 6-year period surveying 485 participants’ experiences of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) training in the United Kingdom and Ireland between the periods of 2005 and 2011. This research used a mixed research methodology exploring EMDR training participants’ application of EMDR within their current clinical practice. The rationale was to explore potential differences between EMDR-accredited and EMDR-nonaccredited clinicians in relation to retrospective reports of treatment. Results indicate that EMDR-accredited clinicians report better treatment outcomes. An argument is presented that EMDR has progressed from a convergent technique to a divergent psychotherapeutic approach. Consequently, the research explored whether current EMDR training is “fit for purpose.” A comprehensive model for EMDR training is outlined, proposing the importance of developing more EMDR training in academic institutions

Federal Legislation Needed to Improve Towing Vessel Safety

To the casual observer, towing vessels and barges, with their low profile and unassuming presence, may seem to be an uninspiring and small part of the shipping scene. However, tank and dry cargo barges actually carry sixty-nine percent of our nation\u27s domestic waterborne commerce. Regulations for large ships, especially oil tankers, have touched every aspect of the shipping industry, including naval architecture, engineering, damage control, manning, training, licensing, etc. Towing vessels and barges however, have largely managed to escape the proliferation of regulation. Current legislation does not provide for the inspection of sea-going towing vessels under three hundred gross tons or any inland towing vessels. This research will begin by examining the need for such legislation. The magnitude of the safety problems that plague the towing industry will be illustrated with commerce and casualty statistics, as well as descriptions of actual incidents that demonstrate how the lack of regulation has contributed to many disasters. Next, previous attempts to regulate the towing industry will be examined. Finally, changes in towing vessel equipment, tank barges, manning, and licensing will be proposed

Our brains make us out to be unique in ways we are not

Humans have long viewed themselves in a favorable light. This bias is consistent with a general pattern of self-enhancement. Neural systems in the medial prefrontal cortex underlie this way of thinking, which, even when false, may be beneficial for survival. It is hence not surprising that we often disregard contrary evidence in believing ourselves superior

Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers in the UK: appraisal of systematic reviews and policy options

Background: The UK Department of Health recommends annual influenza vaccination for healthcare workers, but uptake remains low. For staff, there is uncertainty about the rationale for vaccination and evidence underpinning the recommendation. Objectives: Clarify the rationale, and evidence-base, for influenza vaccination of healthcare workers from the occupational health, employer, and patient safety perspectives. Design: Systematic appraisal of published systematic reviews Results: The quality of the 11 included reviews was variable; some included exactly the same trials but made conflicting recommendations. Three reviews assessed vaccine effects in healthcare workers and found one trial reporting a vaccine efficacy of 88%. Six reviews assessed vaccine effects in healthy adults and vaccine efficacy was consistent with a median of 62% (95% CI 56 to 67). Two reviews assessed effects on working days lost in healthcare workers (three trials), and three reported effects in healthy adults (four trials). The meta-analyses presented by the most recent reviews do not reach standard levels of statistical significance, but may be misleading as individual trials suggest benefit with wide variation in size of effect. The 2013 Cochrane review reported absolute effects close to zero for laboratory-confirmed influenza, and hospitalization for patients, but excluded data on clinically-suspected influenza and all-cause mortality which had shown potentially important effects in previous editions. A more recent systematic review reports these effects as a 42% reduction in clinically-suspected influenza (95% CI 27 to 54), and a 29% reduction in all-cause mortality (95% CI 15 to 41). Conclusions: The evidence for employer and patient safety benefits of influenza vaccination is not straightforward, and has been interpreted differently by different systematic review authors. Future uptake of influenza vaccination among healthcare workers may benefit from a fully transparent guideline process by a panel representing all relevant stakeholders, which clearly communicates the underlying rationale, evidence-base, and judgements made

Children's emergent relations of equivalence using stimuli with opposite verbal labels: Exclusion and minimal training conditions

The present study examined different conditions under which exclusion responding in conditional discrimination tasks would generate emergent equivalence relations in young children based on shared relationships with verbal labels. Both visual stimuli (Sets A, B, C, and D) and auditory stimuli (spoken words, Set N: N1 "correct"; N2: "incorrect") were used. Following a pilot study, three experiments were conducted, each involving eight preschool children. These experiments systematically investigated under which conditions responding by exclusion (i.e., responding away from a designated S - comparison in a matching to sample context) would generate sufficiently stable sample-S + relations for arbitrary stimulus classes to establish. The results showed that young children's exclusion responding under test conditions will only contribute to arbitrary stimulus class formation and expansion when training has already established two arbitrary stimulus classes involving at least two stimuli each. For young children to demonstrate emergent conditional discrimination performances that are indicative of the formation of equivalence relations, it is necessary to have training and/or reinforced exposure to both S + and S - control elements required for deriving the appropriate emergent relations with at least two conditional relations involving different samples. These findings not only contribute to existing research and theory on the conditions under which exclusion responding may contribute to fundamental language and learning processes, they also contribute to the experimental predictability of emergent conditional matching behaviours in preschool children by further unravelling the conditions under which emergent matching based on exclusion generates arbitrary conditional relations of equivalence. </p

Differential Dependence of GABAergic and Glutamatergic Neurons on Glia for the Establishment of Synaptic Transmission

In the mammalian cortex, GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons represent 2 major neuronal classes, which establish inhibitory and excitatory synapses, respectively. Despite differences in their anatomy, physiology and developmental origin, both cell types require support from glial cells, particularly astrocytes, for their growth and survival. Recent experiments indicate that glutamatergic neurons also depend on astrocytes for synapse formation. However, it is not clear if the same holds true for GABAergic neurons. By studying highly pure GABAergic cell cultures, established through fluorescent activated cell sorting, we find that purified GABAergic neurons are smaller and have reduced survival, nevertheless they establish robust synaptic transmission in the absence of glia. Support from glial cells reverses morphological and survival deficits, but does little to alter synaptic transmission. In contrast, in cultures of purified glutamatergic neurons, morphological development, survival and synaptic transmission are collectively dependent on glial support. Thus, our results demonstrate a fundamental difference in the way GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons depend on glia for the establishment of synaptic transmission, a finding that has important implications for our understanding of how neuronal networks develop

Collaborating with Wheat Producers in Demonstrating Areawide Integrated Pest Management

Focus groups were used to initiate collaborative relationships with wheat producers while learning about their farming history and decision-making. Focus group transcripts illustrate that producers were less confident in evaluating insect management problems compared to weed management. Producers do rely on Cooperative Extension in managing insect problems. Extension educators continue to play an important role in increasing producer\u27s knowledge of simplified field scouting and insect identification technology