The extended mind theory of cognitive distortions in sex offenders

An innovative theory of the nature of cognition, the extended mind theory (EMT), has emerged recently in the cognitive science literature. According to the EMT, the boundaries of the mind extend beyond the boundaries of skull and skin, into the world beyond. My aim in this paper is to consider the practical implications of the EMT for therapists working with sex offenders\u27 cognitive distortions. First, I provide an overview of the key assumptions of EMT. Secondly, I draw out the major implications of this novel theory of cognition for the assessment and treatment of cognitive distortions in sex offenders. Thirdly, to make the analysis more concrete, I discuss briefly how the treatment module of cognitive restructuring could proceed according to the EMT

On a clear day you can see forever : integrating values and skills in sex offender treatment

The topic of sex offender rehabilitation frequently evokes fierce reactions, ranging from strident demands for harsher sentences contrasted with calls for more imaginative and compassionate sentencing options. There seems to be a polarization of positions centred on the question of offenders\u27 moral standing: are they moral strangers or fellow travellers? This fundamental disagreement about offenders\u27 moral status is at the core of a number of independent, although related current practice and research issues confronting the field, namely: (1) risk management versus strength-based treatment approaches; (2) the utility of utilizing individually tailored versus manual-based programmes for offenders; (3) focusing on the technical aspects or therapy as opposed to relationship and therapist factors (what has been called process issues); and (4) the conflict between protecting the community versus promoting the interests of offenders. In this paper I suggest that an approach to sex offender treatment based on a combination of human rights theory (an ethical resource) and strengths-based approaches can help us navigate our way through the above dilemmas in a way that addressees both the needs of offenders and those of the community

Teaching Students to Attain Annual Transition Goals Using the Take Action Goal Attainment Lessons

This study used the Take Action goal attainment lesson package and assistive technology to teach nine high school students with mild to moderate disabilities to attain annual transition goals. The Take Action lessons increased students’ goal attainment knowledge, and this knowledge generalized to improved Plan Organizers, and slightly increased students attaining transition goals. Added weekly teacher check-ins improved adjusting plan components that did not work and goal attainment increased. Students who took action on four or five Plan Organizer components attained the most goals, and on average, students used four weekly Plan Organizers to attain a goal. Stronger interventions need to be developed to enable more students to increase the action taken on Plan Organizer components.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Mapping the column density and dust temperature structure of IRDCs with Herschel

Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are cold and dense reservoirs of gas potentially available to form stars. Many of these clouds are likely to be pristine structures representing the initial conditions for star formation. The study presented here aims to construct and analyze accurate column density and dust temperature maps of IRDCs by using the first Herschel data from the Hi-GAL galactic plane survey. These fundamental quantities, are essential for understanding processes such as fragmentation in the early stages of the formation of stars in molecular clouds. We have developed a simple pixel-by-pixel SED fitting method, which accounts for the background emission. By fitting a grey-body function at each position, we recover the spatial variations in both the dust column density and temperature within the IRDCs. This method is applied to a sample of 22 IRDCs exhibiting a range of angular sizes and peak column densities. Our analysis shows that the dust temperature decreases significantly within IRDCs, from background temperatures of 20-30 K to minimum temperatures of 8-15 K within the clouds, showing that dense molecular clouds are not isothermal. Temperature gradients have most likely an important impact on the fragmentation of IRDCs. Local temperature minima are strongly correlated with column density peaks, which in a few cases reach NH2 = 1 x 10^{23} cm^{-2}, identifying these clouds as candidate massive prestellar cores. Applying this technique to the full Hi-GAL data set will provide important constraints on the fragmentation and thermal properties of IRDCs, and help identify hundreds of massive prestellar core candidates.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Herschel special issu

Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Glucose Transport and Glucose Metabolism by Exercise Training

Aerobic exercise training and resistance exercise training are both well-known for their ability to improve human health; especially in individuals with type 2 diabetes. However, there are critical differences between these two main forms of exercise training and the adaptations that they induce in the body that may account for their beneficial effects. This article reviews the literature and highlights key gaps in our current understanding of the effects of aerobic and resistance exercise training on the regulation of systemic glucose homeostasis, skeletal muscle glucose transport and skeletal muscle glucose metabolism

Galactic cold cores VIII. Filament formation and evolution : Filament properties in context with evolutionary models

Context. The onset of star formation is intimately linked with the presence of massive unstable filamentary structures. These filaments are therefore key for theoretical models that aim to reproduce the observed characteristics of the star formation process in the Galaxy. Aims. As part of the filament study carried out by the Herschel Galactic Cold Cores Key Programme, here we study and discuss the filament properties presented in GCC VII (Paper I) in context with theoretical models of filament formation and evolution. Methods. A conservatively selected sample of filaments located at a distance D <500 pc was extracted from the GCC fields with the getfilaments algorithm. The physical structure of the filaments was quantified according to two main components: the central (Gaussian) region of the filament (core component), and the power-law-like region dominating the filament column density profile at larger radii (wing component). The properties and behaviour of these components relative to the total linear mass density of the filament and the column density of its environment were compared with the predictions from theoretical models describing the evolution of filaments under gravity-dominated conditions. Results. The feasibility of a transition from a subcritical to supercritical state by accretion at any given time is dependent on the combined effect of filament intrinsic properties and environmental conditions. Reasonably self-gravitating (high M-line,M-core) filaments in dense environments (Av greater than or similar to 3 mag) can become supercritical on timescales of t similar to 1 Myr by accreting mass at constant or decreasing width. The trend of increasing M-line,M-tot (M-line,M-core and M-line,M-wing) and ridge A(v) with background for the filament population also indicates that the precursors of star-forming filaments evolve coevally with their environment. The simultaneous increase of environment and filament Av explains the observed association between dense environments and high Mlille,co values, and it argues against filaments remaining in constant single-pressure equilibrium states. The simultaneous growth of filament and background in locations with efficient mass assembly, predicted in numerical models of filaments in collapsing clouds, presents a suitable scenario for the fulfillment of the combined filament mass-environment criterium that is in quantitative agreement with Herschel observations.Peer reviewe

Shifting attention in viewer- and object-based reference frames after unilateral brain injury

The aims of the present study were to investigate the respective roles that object- and viewer-based reference frames play in reorienting visual attention, and to assess their influence after unilateral brain injury. To do so, we studied 16 right hemisphere injured (RHI) and 13 left hemisphere injured (LHI) patients. We used a cueing design that manipulates the location of cues and targets relative to a display comprised of two rectangles (i.e., objects). Unlike previous studies with patients, we presented all cues at midline rather than in the left or right visual fields. Thus, in the critical conditions in which targets were presented laterally, reorienting of attention was always from a midline cue. Performance was measured for lateralized target detection as a function of viewer-based (contra- and ipsilesional sides) and object-based (requiring reorienting within or between objects) reference frames. As expected, contralesional detection was slower than ipsilesional detection for the patients. More importantly, objects influenced target detection differently in the contralesional and ipsilesional fields. Contralesionally, reorienting to a target within the cued object took longer than reorienting to a target in the same location but in the uncued object. This finding is consistent with object-based neglect. Ipsilesionally, the means were in the opposite direction. Furthermore, no significant difference was found in object-based influences between the patient groups (RHI vs. LHI). These findings are discussed in the context of reference frames used in reorienting attention for target detection

The role of ocean gateways in the dynamics and sensitivity to wind stress of the early Antarctic Circumpolar Current

The date of inception of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is debated due to uncertainty in the relative opening times of Drake Passage and the Tasman Seaway. Using an idealized eddy-resolving numerical ocean model, we investigate whether both ocean gateways have to be open to allow for a substantial circumpolar current. We find that overlapping continental barriers do not impede a circumpolar transport in excess of 50Sv, as long as a circumpolar path can be traced around the barriers. However, the presence of overlapping barriers does lead to an increased sensitivity of the current's volume transport to changes in wind stress. This change in sensitivity is interpreted in terms of the role of pressure drops across continental barriers and submerged bathymetry in balancing the momentum input by the surface wind stress. Specifically, when the pressure drop across continents is the main balancing sink of momentum, the zonal volume transport is sensitive to changes in wind stress. Changes in zonal volume transport take place via altering the depth-independent part of the circumpolar transport rather than that arising from thermal wind shear. In such a scenario, isopycnals continue to slope steeply across the model Southern Ocean, implying a strong connection between the deep and surface oceans. This may have consequences for the meridional overturning circulation and its sensitivity to wind stress

An Unbiased Survey of 500 Nearby Stars for Debris Disks: A JCMT Legacy Program

We present the scientific motivation and observing plan for an upcoming detection survey for debris disks using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The SCUBA-2 Unbiased Nearby Stars (SUNS) Survey will observe 500 nearby main sequence and sub-giant stars (100 of each of the A, F, G, K and M spectral classes) to the 850 micron extragalactic confusion limit to search for evidence of submillimeter excess, an indication of circumstellar material. The survey distance boundaries are 8.6, 16.5, 22, 25 and 45 pc for M, K, G, F and A stars, respectively, and all targets lie between the declinations of -40 deg to 80 deg. In this survey, no star will be rejected based on its inherent properties: binarity, presence of planetary companions, spectral type or age. This will be the first unbiased survey for debris disks since IRAS. We expect to detect ~125 debris disks, including ~50 cold disks not detectable in current shorter wavelength surveys. A substantial amount of complementary data will be required to constrain the temperatures and masses of discovered disks. High resolution studies will likely be required to resolve many of the disks. Therefore, these systems will be the focus of future observational studies using a variety of observatories to characterize their physical properties. For non-detected systems, this survey will set constraints (upper limits) on the amount of circumstellar dust, of typically 200 times the Kuiper Belt mass, but as low as 10 times the Kuiper Belt mass for the nearest stars in the sample (approximately 2 pc).Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures (3 color), accepted by the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacifi

The structural properties of sexual fantasies for sexual offenders : a preliminary model

While the phenomenon of sexual fantasy has been researched extensively, little contemporary inquiry has investigated the structural properties of sexual fantasy within the context of sexual offending. In this study, a qualitative analysis was used to develop a descriptive model of the phenomena of sexual fantasy during the offence process. Twenty-four adult males convicted of sexual offences provided detailed retrospective descriptions of their thoughts, emotions and behaviours&mdash;before, during and after their offences. A data-driven approach to model development, known as Grounded Theory, was undertaken to analyse the interview transcripts. A model was developed to elucidate the structural properties of sexual fantasy in the process of sexual offending, as well as the physiological and psychological variables associated with it. The Sexual Fantasy Structural Properties Model (SFSPM) comprises eight categories that describe various properties of sexual fantasy across the offence process. These categories are: origin, context, trigger, perceptual modality, clarity, motion, intensity and emotion. The strengths of the SFSPM are discussed and its clinical implications are reviewed. Finally, the limitations of the study are presented and future research directions discussed