‘I download my prayer schedule’: exploring the technological mediation of Islamic religious practice at work

The practice of daily prayers in Islam and how observances such as Ramadan fall each year follow specific solar or lunar calendars different from the Gregorian calendar of UK work places. Identifying the time for daily prayers and finding a place to practise is a skilled activity requiring ways to ascertain the correct (and changing) time and a place in which prayer can take place. In the absence of traditional mediation such as the call to prayer broadcast from a local mosque, new, often technologically innovative, approaches are being adopted. This paper reports on a study of how Muslims practise and negotiate the difficulties of performing daily prayers in a UK university. Though technological mediation is a significant aspect of daily prayers, it is but one part of a complex practice which often involves multiple technologies and multiple ways of working.     

轻度阿尔茨海默症患者的前瞻记忆

轻度阿尔茨海默症往往伴随着不同程度的前瞻记忆衰退。已有研究以轻度阿尔茨海默症与前瞻记忆衰退的关联程度为主线, 对比了这一关联与“其他认知缺陷疾病-前瞻记忆衰退”、“轻度阿尔茨海默症-回溯记忆衰退”以及“轻度阿尔茨海默症-遗传表达”这三种关联的类似程度。此外, 也有研究涉及到了如何促进轻度阿尔茨海默症患者的前瞻记忆。将来的研究应引入病情程度、前瞻记忆任务类型等变量, 深入探讨轻度阿尔茨海默症与前瞻记忆衰退的关联, 并使用ERP、fMRI等神经生理技术确定轻度阿尔茨海默症患者前瞻记忆衰退的机制。     

医保DIP改革与医疗服务供给的伦理思考：冲突与对策

区域点数法总额预算下的按病种分值支付（diagnosis-intervention packet,DIP）是当前国内医保支付方式改革的最大热点,但尚需完善。对医疗服务供给侧结构性改革的主要目标进行了梳理,以此为基础对DIP改革的潜在伦理问题进行了分析,认为DIP多劳多得的激励机制不利于机构间协作,控费导向支付机制不利于服务行为规范,等级系数设置和低费用偏好机制不利于机构服务能力提升。从制定连续服务支付策略、提高病种分组精细程度、统一各类医保支付政策及构建能力导向支付机制等方面提出了DIP改革的优化策略。

     

‘Would it not be better to get someone out workin?’: ‘Safe prejudice’ against Polish workers

One recurring criticism of immigrant groups is their alleged failure to be employed and contribute to the host society. Here we examine how speakers mobilise a criticism that has attracted less research attention: that through their economic activity immigrant groups usurp others’ employment entitlements. Discourse analysis of data from seven focus group discussions about pre-Brexit Polish immigration into the UK, involving 31 UK nationals, shows that participants accomplish exclusionary outcomes in two divergent ways. The first attributes qualities to Polish workers but also makes explicit the consequences of these attributions for UK nationals, rendering speakers’ investment in such claims visible. The second relies on the production of category pairs, within which claims can be made for the category that excludes Polish workers. This use of categories comprises ‘safe prejudice’, a form of prejudice not previously identified but which is less open to challenge than other forms of prejudiced talk.     

Defining the Assessment and Treatment Competencies to Deliver Low-Intensity Cognitive Behavior Therapy: A Multi-Center Validation Study

Despite the vastly increased dissemination of the low-intensity (LI) version of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for the treatment of anxiety and depression, no valid and reliable indices of the LI-CBT clinical competencies currently exist. This research therefore sought to develop and evaluate two measures: the low-intensity assessment competency scale (LIAC) and the low-intensity treatment competency scale (LITC). Inductive and deductive methods were used to construct the competency scales and detailed rating manuals were prepared. Two studies were then completed. The first study used a quantitative, fully-crossed design and the second a multi-center, quantitative longitudinal design. In study one, novice, qualified, and expert LI-CBT practitioners rated an LI-CBT assessment session (using the LIAC) and an LI-CBT treatment session (using the LITC). Study two used the LIAC and LITC across four training sites to analyze the competencies of LI-CBT practitioners over time, across raters, and in relation to the actor/patients’ feedback concerning helpfulness, the alliance, and willingness to return. Both the LIAC and LITC were found to be single factor scales with good internal, test-retest reliability and reasonable inter-rater reliability. Both measures were sensitive to measuring change in clinical competence. The LIAC had good concurrent, criterion, discriminant, and predictive validity, while the LITC had good concurrent, criterion, and predictive validity, but limited discriminant validity. A score of 18 accurately delineated a minimum level of competence in LI-CBT assessment and treatment practice, with incompetent practice associated with patient disengagement. These observational ratings scales can contribute to the clinical governance of the burgeoning use of LI-CBT interventions for anxiety and depression in routine services and also in the methods of controlled studies.     

Semi De Morgan Logic Properly Displayed

Studia Logica - In the present paper, we endow semi De Morgan logic and a family of its axiomatic extensions with proper multi-type display calculi which are sound, complete, conservative, and...     

Correlations between Dual-Pathway White Matter Alterations and Language Impairment in Patients with Aphasia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Neuropsychology Review - While converging evidence suggests linguistic roles of white matter tracts, detailed associations between white matter alterations of dual pathways and language abilities...