Changes in positive and negative voice content in cognitive‐behavioural therapy for distressing voices

Objective People who experience distressing voices frequently report negative (e.g. abusive or threatening) voice content and this is a key driver of distress. There has also been recognition that positive (e.g. reassuring, or guiding) voice content contributes to better outcomes. Despite this, voice content has been neglected as a standalone outcome in evaluations of psychological therapies for distressing voices. We aimed to examine whether a modular cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) intervention for voices led to changes in negative and positive voice content. Design/Methods In a naturalistic, uncontrolled pre- and post- service evaluation study, 32 clients at an outpatient psychology service for distressing voices received eight sessions of CBT for distressing voices and completed self-report measures of negative and positive voice content at pre-, mid- and post- therapy. Results There was no significant change in positive voice content. There was no significant change in negative voice content from pre- to post-therapy; however, there was a significant change in negative voice content between mid and post-treatment in which the cognitive therapy component was delivered. The CBT treatment was also associated with significant changes in routinely reported outcomes of voice-related distress and voice severity. Conclusions The cognitive component of CBT for distressing voices may be associated with changes in negative, but not positive, voice content. There may be benefit to enhancing these effects by developing treatments targeting specific processes involved in negative and positive voice content and further exploring efficacy in well-powered, controlled trials with more comprehensive measures of voice content

Subacute exposure of rats by metal oxide nanoparticles through the airways: general toxicity and neuro-functional effects

In order to create an animal model of human inhalational exposure by industrial trAct metal fumes, nanoparticulate metal oxides (MnO2 , CdO2 , PbO) were synthesized and instilled into the trachea of rats 5 times a week for 6 weeks (metal doses per kg b.w.: 2.63 and 5.26 mg Mn; 0.04 and 0.4 mg Cd; 2 and 4 mg Pb). At the end, the rats’ body weight gain during the treatment was determined, the animals had an open field session to investigate their spontaneous motility, and finally spontaneous and stimulus-evoked cortical activity was recorded in urethane anaesthesia. Mn caused decrease of open field ambulation and rearing, Cd had no effect, whereas Pb caused decreased rearing and increased ambulation. Spontaneous cortical activity was shifted to higher frequencies with each metal. Cortical evoked potentials had lengthened latency, mainly with Mn and Cd; and increased frequency dependence with Cd and Pb but hardly with Mn. The effects proved indirectly that the metal content of the nanoparticles had access form the airways to the CNS. Our method seems suitable for modelling human nervous system damage due to inhaled nanoparticles

Imagery‐focused therapy for visual hallucinations: a case series

Introduction Visual hallucinations (VH) are more common than previously thought and are linked to higher levels of distress and disability in people with a psychotic illness. Despite this, scant attention has been given to VHs in the clinical literature, and the few therapy case series of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) published to date have not demonstrated reliable change. In other areas of clinical research, problematic mental imagery has been found to be more strongly related to negative affect in psychological disorders than negative linguistic thinking, and imagery focused techniques have commonly been found to improve the outcomes in CBT trials. Given VHs have many similarities with visual mental imagery and many of the distressing beliefs associated with VHs targeted in CBT are maintained by accompanying mental imagery (i.e., imaging a hallucinated figure attacking them), it seems plausible that an imagery-focused approach to treating VHs may be most effective. Methods The current study is a multiple baseline case series (N = 11) of a 10-session imagery-focused therapy for VH in a transdiagnostic sample. Results The study had good attendance and feedback, no adverse events and only one [seemly unrelated] drop-out, suggesting good feasibility, safety and acceptability. The majority of clients reported reduction on both full-scale measures (administered at 3 baselines, midtherapy, posttherapy and 3-month follow-up) and weekly measures of VH severity and distress, ranging from medium to large effect sizes. Conclusions The case series suggests that an imagery-focused approach to treating VHs may be beneficial, with a recommendation for more rigorous clinical trials to follow

Local Sensitivity Analysis of Kinetic Models for Cellulose Pyrolysis

Abstract: The first and nth order kinetic models are usually used to describe cellulose pyrolysis. In this work, the local sensitivities of the conversion and derivative conversion with respect to the frequency factor, the logarithm of the frequency factor, the activation energy and the reaction order for the first and nth order kinetic models are calculated by using the finite difference method. The results show that the sensitivities of the first and nth order kinetic models with respect to the activation energy and the logarithm of the frequency factor are significant, while the frequency factor and the reaction order affect the nth order kinetic model slightly. Compared with the frequency factor, the natural logarithm of the frequency factor is a better choice in the parameter estimation of the first and nth order kinetic models. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.