Applying emotion-focused therapy to work with the ‘anorexic voice’ within anorexia nervosa: a brief intervention

Existent treatments for anorexia nervosa (AN) have produced dissatisfactory outcomes. Research suggests that many people with AN experience an internal “voice” that is related to eating disorder symptoms and relapse. This study was designed to consider the feasibility and acceptability of a new emotion-focused therapy (EFT) of AN, which is designed to work directly with the anorexic voice (AV; EFT-AV). Six adult clients diagnosed with AN who were experiencing an AV and awaiting psychological treatment were recruited from an adult outpatient service. Informed by EFT and previous AV research, the intervention involved six weekly individual sessions that focused on transforming AV experiences and promoting self-compassion. Participants completed standardized measures of eating disorder symptoms, relating to the AV, illness beliefs, motivation to change, and hope of recovery. Participants were also interviewed at the conclusion of the intervention to ascertain their views of on its acceptability. Findings suggested good recruitment, retention, and treatment adherence, which supported the feasibility of the EFT-AV intervention. Thematic analysis of participant interviews indicated the intervention was acceptable and tolerable. Future directions for the treatment of AN, including the potential value of EFT-AV as an adjunct to existing therapies, are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved

Structured specifications for better verification of heap-manipulating programs

Abstract. Conventional specifications typically have a flat structure that is based primarily on the underlying logic. Such specifications lack structures that could have provided better guidance to the verification process. In this work, we propose to add three new structures to a specification framework for separation logic to achieve a more precise and better guided verification for pointer-based programs. The newly introduced structures empower users with more control over the verification process in the following ways: (i) case analysis can be invoked to take advantage of disjointness conditions in the logic. (ii) early, as opposed to late, instantiation can minimise on the use of existential quantification. (iii) formulae that are staged provide better reuse of the verification process. Initial experiments have shown that structured specifications can lead to more precise verification without incurring any performance overhead.

Analytic solutions and Singularity formation for the Peakon b--Family equations

Using the Abstract Cauchy-Kowalewski Theorem we prove that the $b$-family equation admits, locally in time, a unique analytic solution. Moreover, if the initial data is real analytic and it belongs to $H^s$ with $s > 3/2$, and the momentum density $u_0 - u_{0,{xx}}$ does not change sign, we prove that the solution stays analytic globally in time, for $b\geq 1$. Using pseudospectral numerical methods, we study, also, the singularity formation for the $b$-family equations with the singularity tracking method. This method allows us to follow the process of the singularity formation in the complex plane as the singularity approaches the real axis, estimating the rate of decay of the Fourier spectrum

Spectral Measures and Generating Series for Nimrep Graphs in Subfactor Theory II: SU(3)

We complete the computation of spectral measures for SU(3) nimrep graphs arising in subfactor theory, namely the SU(3) ADE graphs associated with SU(3) modular invariants and the McKay graphs of finite subgroups of SU(3). For the SU(2) graphs the spectral measures distill onto very special subsets of the semicircle/circle, whilst for the SU(3) graphs the spectral measures distill onto very special subsets of the discoid/torus. The theory of nimreps allows us to compute these measures precisely. We have previously determined spectral measures for some nimrep graphs arising in subfactor theory, particularly those associated with all SU(2) modular invariants, all subgroups of SU(2), the torus, SU(3), and some SU(3) graphs.Comment: 38 pages, 21 figure

Dexamethasone and supportive care with or without whole brain radiotherapy in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases unsuitable for resection or stereotactic radiotherapy (QUARTZ): results from a phase 3, non-inferiority, randomised trial

Background Whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and dexamethasone are widely used to treat brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), although there have been no randomised clinical trials showing that WBRT improves either quality of life or overall survival. Even after treatment with WBRT, the prognosis of this patient group is poor. We aimed to establish whether WBRT could be omitted without a signifi cant eff ect on survival or quality of life. Methods The Quality of Life after Treatment for Brain Metastases (QUARTZ) study is a non-inferiority, phase 3 randomised trial done at 69 UK and three Australian centres. NSCLC patients with brain metastases unsuitable for surgical resection or stereotactic radiotherapy were randomly assigned (1:1) to optimal supportive care (OSC) including dexamethasone plus WBRT (20 Gy in five daily fractions) or OSC alone (including dexamethasone). The dose of dexamethasone was determined by the patients’ symptoms and titrated downwards if symptoms improved. Allocation to treatment group was done by a phone call from the hospital to the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit at University College London using a minimisation programme with a random element and stratifi cation by centre, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), gender, status of brain metastases, and the status of primary lung cancer. The primary outcome measure was quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). QALYs were generated from overall survival and patients’ weekly completion of the EQ-5D questionnaire. Treatment with OSC alone was considered noninferior if it was no more than 7 QALY days worse than treatment with WBRT plus OSC, which required 534 patients (80% power, 5% [one-sided] signifi cance level). Analysis was done by intention to treat for all randomly assigned patients. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN3826061. Findings Between March 2, 2007, and Aug 29, 2014, 538 patients were recruited from 69 UK and three Australian centres, and were randomly assigned to receive either OSC plus WBRT (269) or OSC alone (269). Baseline characteristics were balanced between groups, and the median age of participants was 66 years (range 38–85). Signifi cantly more episodes of drowsiness, hair loss, nausea, and dry or itchy scalp were reported while patients were receiving WBRT, although there was no evidence of a difference in the rate of serious adverse events between the two groups. There was no evidence of a diff erence in overall survival (hazard ratio 1·06, 95% CI 0·90–1·26), overall quality of life, or dexamethasone use between the two groups. The diff erence between the mean QALYs was 4·7 days (46·4 QALY days for the OSC plus WBRT group vs 41·7 QALY days for the OSC group), with two-sided 90% CI of –12·7 to 3·3. Interpretation Although the primary outcome measure result includes the prespecifi ed non-inferiority margin, the combination of the small diff erence in QALYs and the absence of a diff erence in survival and quality of life between the two groups suggests that WBRT provides little additional clinically signifi cant benefi t for this patient group

The Nakayama automorphism of the almost Calabi-Yau algebras associated to SU(3) modular invariants

We determine the Nakayama automorphism of the almost Calabi-Yau algebra A associated to the braided subfactors or nimrep graphs associated to each SU(3) modular invariant. We use this to determine a resolution of A as an A-A bimodule, which will yield a projective resolution of A.Comment: 46 pages which constitutes the published version, plus an Appendix detailing some long calculations. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1110.454

The PanCam Instrument for the ExoMars Rover

The scientific objectives of the ExoMars rover are designed to answer several key questions in the search for life on Mars. In particular, the unique subsurface drill will address some of these, such as the possible existence and stability of subsurface organics. PanCam will establish the surface geological and morphological context for the mission, working in collaboration with other context instruments. Here, we describe the PanCam scientific objectives in geology, atmospheric science, and 3-D vision. We discuss the design of PanCam, which includes a stereo pair of Wide Angle Cameras (WACs), each of which has an 11-position filter wheel and a High Resolution Camera (HRC) for high-resolution investigations of rock texture at a distance. The cameras and electronics are housed in an optical bench that provides the mechanical interface to the rover mast and a planetary protection barrier. The electronic interface is via the PanCam Interface Unit (PIU), and power conditioning is via a DC-DC converter. PanCam also includes a calibration target mounted on the rover deck for radiometric calibration, fiducial markers for geometric calibration, and a rover inspection mirror.publishersversionPeer reviewe

The development and assessment of a scale to measure the experience of an anorexic voice in anorexia nervosa

The anorexic voice (AV) is defined as a critical internal dialogue which has been implicated in the development and maintenance of anorexia nervosa (AN). Systematic research to explore this further requires a valid and reliable measurement tool. This study aimed to develop and assess the validity of the Experience of an Anorexic VoicE Questionnaire (EAVE-Q). EAVE-Q items were developed and checked for face and content validity through cognitive interviews with seven individuals diagnosed with AN. Participants with a diagnosis of AN (N = 148) completed the EAVE-Q, sociodemographic questions and measures of mood and quality of life to assess internal consistency and construct 3 validity. Forty-nine participants completed the EAVE-Q twice more to assess test-retest reliability. The EAVE-Q had good face and content validity and good acceptability. Principal axis factoring resulted in an 18-item scale organised into five domains with high internal consistency (α = .70 to α = .85). Domains correlated significantly with eating disorder symptoms, psychological distress and quality of life. The EAVE-Q did not discriminate between participants on the basis of body mass index. Test-retest reliability was moderate. Although the factor structure of the EAVE-Q requires replication in other AN samples, the EAVE-Q is the first measure of a critical internal dialogue in AN. It is hoped that it will aid future research to increase understanding of AN and the continued development of person-centred treatments

Tenure, gender and household structure

Starting with a review of recent literature on gender and housing, this paper goes on to develop a new theory of household structure, in which concepts of gender and generation play a key role. The utility of this theory is then demonstrated in the analysis of data from a survey of households in the City of Salford