Guidelines for farmers, transporters and official veterinarians to assess the fitness for transport and slaughter of slaughter pigs

Legislative provisions related to animal transport and ante-mortem meat inspection of farm animals exist both at national and at European level. The Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005 characterizes the transport criteria that are to be met with regard to the animals’ health and welfare

An operational model of joint attention - timing of gaze patterns in interactions between humans and a virtual human

Pfeiffer-Leßmann N, Pfeiffer T, Wachsmuth I. An operational model of joint attention - timing of gaze patterns in interactions between humans and a virtual human. In: Miyake N, Peebles D, Cooper RP, eds. Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society; 2012: 851-856

Guidelines for farmers, transporters and official veterinarians to assess the "fitness for transport and slaughter" of slaughter pigs

Legislative provisions related to animal transport and ante-mortem meat inspection of farm animals exist both at national and at European level. The Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005 characterizes the transport criteria that are to be met with regard to the animals’ health and welfare.</p

New ways to cope with depression—study protocol for a randomized controlled mixed methods trial of bouldering psychotherapy (BPT) and mental model therapy (MMT)

Abstract Background Due to the growing gap between the demand and supply of therapeutic services for people suffering from depression, with this study, we are investigating the effectiveness and factors of influence of new approaches in group treatments for depression. Two previous studies have already identified bouldering psychotherapy (BPT) as an effective option. It combines psychotherapeutic interventions with action- and body-oriented bouldering exercises. Mental model therapy (MMT) is a new cognitive-behavioral approach for treating depression. It focuses on identifying cognitive distortions, biases in decision making, and false assumptions and aims to correct and replace them with useful mental models. We aim to investigate the effectiveness of the interventions compared with a control group (CG) and to assess the factors of influence in a mixed methods approach. Methods The study is being conducted as a randomized controlled intervention trial. Adult participants with unipolar depression are being randomized into three groups (BPT, MMT, or CG), and the first two groups are undergoing a 10-week treatment phase. CG follows their individual standard treatment as usual. A priori power analysis revealed that about 120 people should be included to capture a moderate effect. The primary outcome of the study is depression rated with the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) before (t0), directly after (t1), and 12 months after the intervention phase (t2). Data are being collected via questionnaires, computer-assisted video interviews, and physical examinations. The primary hypotheses will be statistically analyzed by mixed model ANOVAs to compare the three groups over time. For secondary outcomes, further multivariate methods (e.g., mixed model ANOVAs and regression analyses) will be conducted. Qualitative data will be evaluated on the basis of the qualitative thematic analysis. Discussion This study is investigating psychological and physical effects of BPT and MMT and its factors of influence on outpatients suffering from depression compared with a CG in a highly naturalistic design. The study could therefore provide insight into the modes of action of group therapy for depression and help to establish new short-term group treatments. Methodological limitations of the study might be the clinical heterogeneity of the sample and confounding effects due to simultaneous individual psychotherapy. Trial registration ISRCTN, ISRCTN12347878. Registered 28 March 2022, https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN12347878

A Sustainability-Fitting Interpretation of the Capability Approach: Integrating the Natural Dimension by Employing Feedback Loops

Combining the Capability Approach with Sustainable Development is a promising project that has gained much attention. Recently, scholars from both perspectives have worked on narrowing gaps between these development approaches, with focus on the connection between the CA as a partial justice-theory and SD as a concept embracing justice and ecological fragility and relative scarcity. We argue that to base an SD-conception on the CA, the CA must be further developed. To provide the rationale for this claim we begin by clarifying how we look upon the relation between SD and the CA and how we understand SD (1). We then argue for an integration of the natural dimension in the CA (2). By analyzing similarities of recent contributions integrating the natural dimension, we identify how the CA-structure may be developed to include the recursive relation between the human and natural dimensions and especially to include the circumstances of justice relevant to SD (3). Finally, we argue that a new recursive and dynamic CA-structure is related to the debate on criteria for ‘valuable’ in the term ‘valuable functionings’ and that this points to an expansion of the CA’s evaluative space (4)