What do we need to know to safely store CO2 beneath our shelf seas? Stakeholder workshop report

This report summarises the content and discussion of an Agile Initiative workshop held at the University of Oxford on March 1st 2024, discussing “what do we need to know to safely store CO2 in our UK continental shelf seas?

A qualitative study of women's experiences of communication in antenatal care: Identifying areas for action

To identify key features of communication across antenatal (prenatal) care that are evaluated positively or negatively by service users. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were used to explore communication experiences of thirty pregnant women from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds affiliated to a large London hospital. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Women reported a wide diversity of experiences. From the users’ perspective, constructive communication on the part of health care providers was characterised by an empathic conversational style, openness to questions, allowing sufficient time to talk through any concerns, and pro-active contact by providers (e.g. text message appointment reminders). These features created reassurance, facilitated information exchange, improved appointment attendance and fostered tolerance in stressful situations. Salient features of poor communication were a lack of information provision, especially about the overal

Melancholic features and dream masochism in patients with major depression

To investigate whether untreated depressed subjects with melancholic features have higher dream masochism scores than those without melancholic features, the dreams of a group of community volunteers undergoing divorce were recorded in the sleep laboratory. A second question of interest was whether there was a gender difference in dream masochism. We also examined whether melancholic depressed individuals tend to report masochistic dreams closer to morning. Three groups of depressed with and without melancholic features and a non-depressed group had three laboratory nights of sleep. On the third night, dream reports were elicited from each period of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Dream masochism, as defined by Beck (1967), was scored as present if the dreams had any one of ten characteristics. Subjects with melancholic features had higher dream masochism scores than those who did not meet depression criteria. Presence of melancholic features did not affect gender difference in dream masochism. Melancholic depressed individuals had higher DM scores in the second half than the first half night, whereas nonmelancholic depressed individuals and non-depressed subjects did not differ between the halves of the night. These findings suggest that melancholic depressed individuals express deeper levels of self-criticism and self-blaming in their dreams. REM sleep deprivation closer to morning by dream collection method may improve diurnal mood symptoms and negative dream content in major depression.National Institute of Mental Health: MH-5047

The influence of a conscious wish on dreams: A methodological study of dream meaning and function

A self-ideal-self trait discrepancy, identified from Q sorts for 19 subjects, was used as a presleep stimulus. Subjects were instructed to wish to change their trait so as to reduce the discrepancy. Dream reports were collected for each rapid eye movement (REM) period that followed. A blind judge rated the target trait as present in the dreams of a significant number of the subjects. Two other nontarget control traits were not rated present in the dreams of a significant number of the subjects. Few subjects had dreams in which the ideal trait was ascribed to the self. Dreaming thought, while responsive to the instruction to attend to that trait, revealed a difference in emotional value than that stated in waking. The question of the relation of dreaming to waking mental activity has been a difficult one to approach experimentally. Dreams must first be retrieved, the images translated into verbal statements, and the meaning decoded

The role of sleep in changing our minds: A psychologist's discussion of papers on memory reactivation and consolidation in sleep

The group of papers on memory reactivation and consolidation during sleep included in this volume represents cutting edge work in both animals and humans. They support that the two types of sleep serve different necessary functions. The role of slow wave sleep (SWS) is reactivation of the hippocampal-neocortical circuits activated during a waking learning period, while REM sleep is responsible for the consolidation of this new learning into long-term memory. These studies provide further insights into mechanisms involved in brain plasticity. Robeiro has demonstrated the upregulation of an immediate-early gene (IEG zif 268) to waking levels, which occurs only in REM and only in connection with new learning. McNaughton and his group have identified electrical indicators that the hippocampus and neocortex are talking to each other by testing the coactivation of hippocampal sharp wave bursts in SWS and shifts from down to up states of activation in the neocortex. In human studies Smith's group reports work on individual differences such as intelligence and presleep alcohol that affect postsleep performance, and Stickgold and collaborators report that a short nap will improve performance if it contains REM sleep. Payne and Nadel suggest that the recall benefit associated with REM sleep may be due to its association with increased cortisol levels. These papers are important not only in their individual contributions but also in revitalizing the work coordinating waking and sleep. This promises to further the understanding of how our unique capacity to learn from experience and modify our behavior takes place