Time-limited desensitisation, implosion and shaping for phobic patients: A crossover study

A comparison was made of the short-term time-limited efficacy of three forms of behaviour therapy in phobic patients: Systematic Desensitization (in imagination), Implosion (in imagination) and Shaping, or Reinforced Practice. A block design was used, all patients receiving all treatments in randomised order. Improvement was measured behaviourally and by symptom rating scales. Differences emerged only on the behavioural measures: Shaping was significantly superior to Desensitisation, with Implosion between the two, and not significantly different from either. Comparison of treated with untreated phobias within subjects showed Shaping to be more specific than the other two forms of treatment. It was concluded that Implosion and Shaping are potentially useful types of therapy, worthy of further study and application.     

Skipping breakfast,sedentarism and overweight in children

To show by use of path analysis how in children of 9 and 10 years of age the known relationship between breakfast and high body mass index (BMI) is mediated by sedentary leisure time activities. A random sample of 291 9-year-old and 10-year-old school children from the Principality of Asturias (Spain) was taken. A transversal design was used, their weight and height were measured and an individual standardized interview was carried out in which they were asked about their breakfast habits and the time they spent each week on sedentary leisure activities. Using path analysis, a model was tested in which breakfast habits and leisure time were the independent variables and the BMI was the dependent variable. The results showed that there was an inverse correlation between number of breakfasts and BMI and a direct correlation between the time spent on sedentary leisure activities and BMI. Path analysis showed that the relationship between the frequency with which breakfast was eaten and BMI was mediated by the time spent on sedentary leisure activities. The above appears to confirm the direct role played by failing to have breakfast in the pandemic of obesity as this habit tends to increase children’s BMI. This relationship is, however, mediated by sedentary leisure. According to the data compiled, being overweight in children can only be prevented by modifying not just one of the habits that have been associated with it, but rather the whole group of habits as these appear to make up an obesogenic cluster in which sedentary leisure and not having breakfast are included.     

The personal is the organizational in the ethics of hospital social workers

Understanding the social context of clinical ethics is vital for making ethical discourse central in professional practice and for preventing harm. In this paper, we present findings about clinical ethics from in-depth interviews and consultation with 7 members of a hospital social work department. Workers gave different accounts of ethical dilemmas and resources for ethical decision making than did their managers, whereas workers and managers agreed on core-guiding ethical principles and on ideal situations for ethical discourse. We discuss the research team's initial interpretations, the relevance of the extant ethics literature to organizational structures and dynamics, and alternative perspectives on clinical ethics.     

Two notions of epistemic validity

How to accept a conditional? F. P. Ramsey proposed the following test in (Ramsey 1990). (RT) ‘If A, then B’ must be accepted with respect to the current epistemic state iff the minimal hypothetical change of it needed to accept A also requires accepting B. In this article we propose a formulation of (RT), which unlike some of its predecessors, is compatible with our best theory of belief revision, the so-called AGM theory (see (Gärdenfors 1988), chapters 1–5 for a survey). The new test, which, we claim, encodes some of the crucial insights defended by F. P. Ramsey in (Ramsey 1990), is used to study the conditionals epistemically validated by the AGM postulates. Our notion of validity (PV) is compared with the notion of negative validity (NV) used by Gärdenfors in (Gärdenfors 1988). It is observed that the notions of PV and NV will in general differ and that when these differences arise it is the notion of PV that is preferable. Finally we compare our formulation of the Ramsey test with a previous formulation offered by Gärdenfors (GRT). We show that any attempt to interpret (GRT) as delivering acceptance conditions for Ramsey's conditionals is doomed to failure.     

Temporal aspects of female musk shrew (Suncus murinus) sexual behavior

The effects of testing condition on sexual behavior were examined in female musk shrews (Suncus murinus). Females were tested in 2 conditions, a pair test and a paced test. The pair test was similar to traditional sex test conditions in which the female and male are placed into the same chamber together until mating occurs. The paced condition allowed the female to leave the male's chamber and revisit him at will, thus "pacing" the interaction. Females displayed receptivity continuously for 14 days in both conditions. In the paced condition, females were less likely to become receptive within 30 min and mate to ejaculation. However, few additional differences were found between test conditions. Because this is the 1st experiment to use a pacing test paradigm in a species with induced ovulation, the authors speculate that the absence of pacing behavior during mating may be shown by other species that have induced ovulation.     

A solid-state device for eliminating electrical noise and biopotentials in electromyographic (EMG) recordings

A small, low-cost, integrated circuit device is described. This circuit reduces electrical noise, such as that produced from a poor electrode-skin interface and power-line interference (60 Hz). Advantages of this device, with regard to use in electrically noisy environments and with long cables, are discussed.