Schizophrenia (and other psychotic disorders) cognitive-behaviour therapy research programme : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a treatment that combined techniques from Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to alleviate the psychological distress and symptom severity resultant from psychotic-type disorders. This treatment (EVoLVE Therapy: an acronym for Exposing Virtues of Living Valued Existences) was designed to primarily target the psychological distress associated with psychotic disorders and secondarily to facilitate improvement in psychotic-type symptoms. Participants in this study were selected based on previous diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective, and other psychiatric disorders with psychotic features. Seven participants, who had each been long-term consumers of mental health services, completed 10 weeks of therapy. Post-graduate students, in training to become professional psychologists, delivered supervised therapy using a structured treatment manual written by the researcher. Pre-treatment, post-treatment and 5-week follow-up data were collected, using a variety of measures to assess the effectiveness of treatment. Results were quite positive overall, with some clients making considerable improvements in a number of domains. All 7 participants showed a decrease in symptom severity after treatment. In addition, 6 out of the 7 participants reported an improved quality of life following treatment. Marked improvement in negative affect was also evident, with a slight improvement in positive affect noted

Network device ad-blocker

While surfing the web, users are frequently bombarded with the abundance of digital advertisements, or simply called ads, in the form of images and videos. These often unwanted and sometimes obnoxious ads can be blocked by installing an often lagging ad-blocker in the web browser on your computer. This becomes even complicated in smartphones and tablets, as ads can also appear in other apps. Therefore, this project introduces the Network Device Ad-Blocker hardware to overcome the mentioned problems. The Rapid Application Development (RAD) methodology is used to realize this project. Subsequent testing shows that no ads appear after the deployment this hardware with significant improvements in the download speed

String Chamber Concert, December 1, 2008

This is the concert program of the String Chamber Concert performance on Monday, December 1, 2008 at 7:30 p.m., at the Marshall Room, 855 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts. Works performed were Trout Quintet by Franz Schubert, Piano Trio by Johannes Brahms, Piano Trio by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Viola Quintet K593 in D Major by Wolfgang Amadé Mozart, and "Archduke" Piano Trio, op. 97 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Center for the Humanities Library Endowed Fund

The influence of lime sulphur on the quality and sulphur content of organic 'Royal Gala' and 'Braeburn' apples : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Agribusiness at Massey University

Black spot or apple scab is a major disease in apple (Malus domestica) production. Its control is especially difficult in organic production systems that rely on copper- and sulphur-based fungicides which are not very effective and demand a high number of applications throughout the season. The most commonly used fungicide in organic apple production is lime sulphur, which is known to be phytotoxic, especially towards the cultivar 'Braeburn'. The influence of different application rates of lime sulphur (1% anti 2%) was evaluated when applied 11 times throughout the growing season from October to February. As varieties differ in their susceptibility to lime sulphur, the two cultivars 'Royal Gala' and 'Braeburn' were compared in this study. Black spot incidence and severity, russet development and postharvest quality parameters were evaluated. At harvest, residues of sulphur on and in the apple were determined as total sulphur, total water-soluble non-protein thiol compounds and cysteine content. Both cultivars behaved similarly to the application of lime sulphur, but 'Braeburn' was affected to a greater extent. Lime sulphur decreased background colour, blush, firmness, soluble solids content and dry matter content in both cultivars; fruit size in 'Braeburn' and titratable acidity in 'Royal Gala'. The changes observed can possibly be attributed at least in part to the decrease in the photosynthetic rate, which was especially drastic in 'Braeburn'. Lime sulphur caused increased russet on 'Royal Gala', but not on 'Braeburn'. Significant sulphur residues were found in the skin and flesh of both cultivars and part of the lime sulphur applied was metabolized into water-soluble non-protein thiols and cysteine. These results are of significant interest to the organic industry as the use of lime sulphur may compromise the residue-free status of organic apples and could have an influence on consumer acceptance and flavour

A review of neuroleptic malignant syndrome : incidence and features in Malta

This paper describes Malta’s first sample of Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) and reviews the current literature. A retrospective sample of all diagnosed cases of NMS was reviewed using Pope’s (1986) criteria. Twelve cases were identified yielding an incidence of 0.67%. The range of associated risk factors and complications agreed with other reports. There were also two cases of uncontrolled diabetes. Treatments commonly used were Bromocriptine and Levodopa. There were no deaths due to NMS and no recurrence on re-exposure. The sample is too small to draw any statistically significant conclusions, however, the results are mostly in line with those obtained from larger samples. Malta’s incidence is towards the lower end of the reported range of 0.02% to 3.23%, but higher than that reported in centres trying to recognise NMS early and reduce risk factors. This suggests that Malta could benefit from trying to adopt such measures. Given Malta’s small size, it would be relatively easy to disseminate such information. This study, despite its comprehensive sample, failed to reveal any other reported cases. Nor has it been demonstrated that diabetics were at higher risk of developing NMS or its complications. It would be important to explore these possibilities further in future studies.peer-reviewe

Proposal to encode modern Bamum in the BMP of the UCS

This is a proposal to encode the modern Bamum script in the international character encoding standard Unicode. The script was published in Unicode Standard version 5.2 in October 2009. The script was developed between 1896 and 1910, primarily by King Ibrahim Njoya of the Bamum Kingdom. The script went through six stages; the modern version, contained in this proposal, is a simplified version of the historic script (which was separately proposed in and published in Unicode 6.0)

KH15D: a star eclipsed by a large scale dusty vortex?

We propose that the large photometric variations of KH15D are due to an eclipsing swarm of solid particles trapped in giant gaseous vortex rotating at \~0.2 AU from the star. The efficiency of the capture-in-vortex mechanism easily explains the observed large optical depth. The weaker opacity at mid-eclipse is consistent with a size segregation of the particles toward the center of the vortex. This dusty structure must extend over ~1/3 of an orbit to account for the long eclipse duration. The estimated size of the trapped particles is found to range from 1 to 10cm, consistent with the gray extinction of the star. The observations of KH15D support the idea that giant vortices can grow in circumstellar disks and play a central role in planet formation.Comment: Accepted in ApJ Letters - 4 pages - 2 figure

A Shakespearean Spring, Time's Arrow, April 9, 1996

This is the concert program of the A Shakespearean Spring performance on Tuesday, April 9, 1996 at 7:00 p.m., at the Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts. Works performed were Three Songs from William Shakespeare by Igor Stravinsky and Cymbeline - a Drama after Shakespeare for Soprano, Tenor, Narrator and Ten Players with Bagpipe by Charles Fussell. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Humanities Library Endowed Fund