scholarly journals The Role of Sense of Voice Presence and Anxiety Reduction in AVATAR Therapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 2748
Author(s):  
Mar Rus-Calafell ◽  
Thomas Ward ◽  
Xiao Chi Zhang ◽  
Clementine J. Edwards ◽  
Philippa Garety ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Reduction ◽  
Therapy Outcomes ◽  
Virtual Reality Technology ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Relational Processes ◽  
First Time ◽  
Therapy Sessions ◽  
The Voice

AVATAR therapy offers a unique therapeutic context that uses virtual reality technology to create a virtual embodiment of the voice-hearing experience, enabling the person to visualize their persecutory voice and engage in real-time “face-to-face” dialogue. The present study explores, for the first time, the contribution of sense of voice presence, together with session-by-session reduction of anxiety and paranoid attributions about the avatar, to changes in primary outcomes following AVATAR therapy. Data from 39 participants, who completed AVATAR therapy and attended a 12-week follow-up assessment, were analysed. Mid- to high-levels of sense of voice presence were reported across the therapy sessions, along with significant reductions of anxiety levels and paranoid attributions about the avatar. The interaction of sense of voice presence and reduction of anxiety was associated with two of the significant therapy outcomes: PSYRATS total and frequency of voices. The findings suggest that improvements in voice severity and frequency at post AVATAR therapy may be influenced by the combination of feeling less anxious in the context of a realistic simulation of the voice, while voice-related distress may involve additional cognitive and relational processes.

Psychological Resilience Provides No Independent Protection From Suicidal Risk

Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danica W. Y. Liu ◽  
A. Kate Fairweather-Schmidt ◽  
Richard Burns ◽  
Rachel M. Roberts ◽  
Kaarin J. Anstey
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Psychological Resilience ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Resilience Factors ◽  
First Time

Abstract. Background: Little is known about the role of resilience in the likelihood of suicidal ideation (SI) over time. Aims: We examined the association between resilience and SI in a young-adult cohort over 4 years. Our objectives were to determine whether resilience was associated with SI at follow-up or, conversely, whether SI was associated with lowered resilience at follow-up. Method: Participants were selected from the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project from Canberra and Queanbeyan, Australia, aged 28–32 years at the first time point and 32–36 at the second. Multinomial, linear, and binary regression analyses explored the association between resilience and SI over two time points. Models were adjusted for suicidality risk factors. Results: While unadjusted analyses identified associations between resilience and SI, these effects were fully explained by the inclusion of other suicidality risk factors. Conclusion: Despite strong cross-sectional associations, resilience and SI appear to be unrelated in a longitudinal context, once risk/resilience factors are controlled for. As independent indicators of psychological well-being, suicidality and resilience are essential if current status is to be captured. However, the addition of other factors (e.g., support, mastery) makes this association tenuous. Consequently, resilience per se may not be protective of SI.

scholarly journals Clinical significance of late diastolic tissue doppler parameters after onset of STEMI: from the view point of the timing of the echocardipography

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
N Iwahashi ◽  
J Kirigaya ◽  
M Horii ◽  
T Abe ◽  
E Akiyama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Doppler ◽  
Atrial Function ◽  
Diastolic Velocity ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Group A ◽  
St Elevation ◽  
Group B ◽  
First Time

Abstract Background The early transmitral flow velocity (E) divided by the early diastolic velocity of the mitral valve annulus (e') is referred to as the “E/e' ratio,” is useful even for ST elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, the role of late diastolic velocity (a') which reveals the atrial function for STEMI is still unclear. Objectives We evaluated the clinical usefulness of tissue Doppler including atrial function for a first-time STEMI by long time follow up. Furthermore, we evaluated the meaning of each parameters by performing immediately after PCI or 2 weeks later. Methods We treated consecutive 571 first-time STEMI patients by immediate PCI within 12 hours after onset, and we examined 270 patients at immediately after PCI (GroupA, 65 years, 250 male) and 301 patients at 2 weeks after onset (GroupB, 64 years, 243 male). We examined trans mitral flow and TDI, then defined E/e' as LV filling pressure and A/a' as left atrial function. We followed them for a long time (>5 years). The primary end point (PE) was cardiac death or re-admission for heart failure (HF). Results We followed the patients in Group A for 10 years, Group B for 5 years. PE occurred in 64 patients in GroupA during 10 years, and 45 patients in GroupB during 5 years. We analyzed the univariate and multivariate Cox hazard analyses and we compared e' and a', E/e' and A/a' (Table). In GroupA, a' and A/a' were the independent predictors, on the other hand neither a' nor A/a' were the predictors in GroupB. E/e' was an independent predictor both in GroupA and B. Conclusion TDI parameters have different meanings by the timing of echocardiography after onset of a first-time STEMI. These results demonstrated that atrial dysfunction immediately after onset of STEMI suggests the poor prognosis after STEMI. Cox Hazard Proportional Analysis Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Some Origins of Nationalism in East Africa

1968 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Lonsdale
Keyword(s):  
Central Government ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
National Movements ◽  
New Type ◽  
First Time ◽  
Official Recognition

This paper attempts to provide a frame of reference for evaluating the role of ordinary rural Africans in national movements, in the belief that scholarly preoccupation with élites will only partially illumine the mainsprings of nationalism. Kenya has been taken as the main field of enquiry, with contrasts and comparisons drawn from Uganda and Tanganyika. The processes of social change are discussed with a view to establishing that by the end of the colonial period one can talk of peasants rather than tribesmen in some of the more progressive areas. This change entailed a decline in the leadership functions of tribal chiefs who were also the official agents of colonial rule, but did not necessarily mean the firm establishment of a new type of rural leadership. The central part of the paper is taken up with an account of the competition between these older and newer leaderships, for official recognition rather than a mass following. A popular following was one of the conditions for such recognition, but neither really achieved this prior to 1945 except in Kikuyuland, and there the newer leaders did not want official recognition. After 1945 the newer leadership, comprising especially traders and officials of marketing co-operatives, seems everywhere to have won a properly representative position, due mainly to the enforced agrarian changes which brought the peasant face to face with the central government, perhaps for the first time. This confrontation, together with the experience of failure in earlier and more local political activity, resulted in a national revolution coalescing from below, co-ordinated rather than instigated by the educated élite.

Introducing multivariate Markov modeling within QFD to anticipate future customer preferences in product design

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 762-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katerina Gotzamani ◽  
Andreas Georgiou ◽  
Andreas Andronikidis ◽  
Konstantina Kamvysi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Function Deployment ◽  
Fuzzy Ahp ◽  
Markov Modeling ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Preferences ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Product Specifications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an enhanced version of quality function deployment (QFD) that captures customers’ present and future preferences, accurately prioritizes product specifications and eventually translates them into desirable quality products. Under rapidly changing environments, customer requirements and preferences are constantly changing and evolving, rendering essential the realization of the dynamic role of the “Voice of the Customer (VoC)” in the design and development of products. Design/methodology/approach The proposed methodological framework incorporates a Multivariate Markov Chain (MMC) model to describe the pattern of changes in customer preferences over time, the Fuzzy AHP method to accommodate the uncertainty and subjectivity of the “VoC” and the LP-GW-AHP to discover the most important product specifications in order to structure a robust QFD method. This enhanced QFD framework (MMC-QFD-LP-GW-Fuzzy AHP) takes into consideration the dynamic nature of the “VoC” captures the actual customers’ preferences (WHATs) and interprets them into design decisions (HOWs). Findings The integration of MMC models into the QFD helps to handle the sequences of customers’ preferences as categorical data sequences and to consider the multiple interdependencies among them. Originality/value In this study, a MMC model is introduced for the first time within QFD, in an effort to extend the concept of listening to further anticipating to customer wants. Gaining a deeper understanding of current and future customers’ preferences could help organizations to design products and plan strategies that more effectively and efficiently satisfy them.

The Rise of the Virtual Human

2020 ◽  
pp. 1459-1488
Author(s):  
Wendy A. Powell ◽  
Natalie Corbett ◽  
Vaughan Powell
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Facial Animation ◽  
Virtual Human ◽  
Virtual Humans ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Design Challenges

Virtual Humans are here to stay. From the voice in your satNav to Apple's “Siri”, we are accustomed to engaging in some level of conversation with our technology, and it is rapidly becoming apparent that natural language interfaces have potential in a wide range of applications. Whilst audio-only communication has its place, most natural conversations take place face to face, and believable embodiment of virtual humans is the necessary next step for them to be fully integrated into our lives. Much progress has been made in the creation of relatable characters for film, but real-time facial animation presents a unique set of design challenges. This chapter examines the role of the virtual human, its history, and approaches to design and creation. It looks at ways in which they can be brought to life, interacting, assisting and learning. It concludes with a view into popular culture and perceptions of the future, where fact and fiction meet.

MEDIA-CAPITALISM: COLLOQUIAL MASS CULTURE AND NATIONALISM IN EGYPT, 1908–18

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziad Fahmy
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Premature Death ◽  
Independence Movement ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Voice

In Egypt, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, older, fragmented, and more localized forms of identity were replaced with new, alternative concepts of community, which for the first time had the capacity to collectively encompass the majority of Egyptians. The activism of Mustafa Kamil (1874–1908) and the populist message of the Watani Party began the process of defining and popularizing urban Egyptian nationalism. After Kamil's premature death in 1908, there was more of an “urgent need,” as described by Zachary Lockman, for “tapping into and mobilizing new domestic constituencies in order to build a more broadly based independence movement.” This article argues that the eventual mobilization of the Egyptian urban masses, and their “incorporation into the Egyptian nation,” was due in large part to the materialization of a variety of mass media catering to a growing national audience. To be more specific, I will examine early Egyptian nationalism through the lens of previously neglected audiovisual colloquial Egyptian sources. This, I argue, is crucial to any attempt at capturing the voice of “ordinary” Egyptians. Finally, the article documents the role of early colloquial Egyptian mass culture as a vehicle and forum through which, among other things, “hidden transcripts” of resistance and critiques of colonial and elite authority took place.

scholarly journals Non-financial corporations in Lebanon: Who governs? “The governance myopia”

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireille Chidiac El Hajj ◽  
Richard Abou Moussa ◽  
Maha Akiki ◽  
Anthony Sassine
Keyword(s):  
Capital Market ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Exchange Market ◽  
Quality Of Information ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
First Time

The purpose of this paper is to study governance practices in non-financial enterprises in Lebanon, and it is the first time that such enterprises are studied in the Lebanese context. Only three non-financial institutions are listed in the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), which constitute the whole population of this research. Built on Principles, Governance is based on transparency and on accurate, relevant, and timely information in order to support the Board members’ decision-making (OECD, 2015). Balanced between Jensen and Meckling’s (1976) agency theory and Donaldson and Davis’ (1991) Stewardship theory, the results of our Qualitative study showed that the main problems faced by the enterprises are not in the quality of information but rather in its selection and filtering, which opens doors to “Governance Myopia”. Face-to-face interviews showed that the primary conflict in our case is between the non-financial enterprises and the BSE, since the BSE is controlled by the enterprises and is not controlling them. The main reason of such practices come from the fear of the BSE of losing a potential position in the MENA Exchange Market, doubled with the fear of losing potential investors. All these reasons weigh heavily on the Administrators of the BSE in Lebanon, forcing them to choose the “Laisser passer” way. Referring to the soft Law when dealing with the companies, the BSE is playing the double role of a marketer and a controller, thus not willing to impose restrictions. A need for “harder laws”, for “Privatization” of the BSE, and a call to the Capital Market Authority (CMA) to put more restrictions on Corporations should be observed.

scholarly journals UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS’ REFLECTIONS ON THEIR FIRST ONLINE TEACHING EXPERIENCES

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Conrad
Keyword(s):  
Social Presence ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
University Instructors ◽  
First Time ◽  
Depth Interviews

Moving from traditional face-to-face teaching to teaching online can be a precarious process for instructors. In this qualitative study, I interviewed instructors who were engaged in online teaching, for the first time, in a graduate program at a Canadian university. All instructors had some postsecondary face-to-face teaching experience. In-depth interviews with the instructors showed that they had very little knowledge of the new medium they were entering and relied heavily on their face-to-face experiences and their own pedagogy. Instructors’ reflections on their performances centered largely on their roles as deliverers of content. They revealed very little awareness of issues of collaborative learning, of learners’ social presence, or of the role of community in online learning environments.

scholarly journals Burden of comorbid conditions in children and young people with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a collaborative analysis of 3 JIA registries

Rheumatology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lianne Kearsley-Fleet ◽  
Jens Klotsche ◽  
Joeri W van Straalen ◽  
Wendy Costello ◽  
Gianfranco D’Angelo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Characteristics ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Varicella Vaccination ◽  
Patient Registries ◽  
Biologic Treatment ◽  
Systemic Jia ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time

Abstract Objectives Burden of comorbidities are largely unknown in JIA. From 2000, national and international patient registries were established to monitor biologic treatment, disease activity and adverse events in patients with JIA. The aim of this analysis was to investigate in parallel, for the first time, three of the largest JIA registries in Europe/internationally—UK JIA Biologic Registers (BCRD/BSPAR-ETN), German biologic registers (BiKeR/JuMBO), multinational Pharmachild—to quantify the occurrence of selected comorbidities in patients with JIA. Methods Information on which data the registers collect were compared. Patient characteristics and levels of comorbidity were presented, focussing on four key conditions: uveitis, MAS, varicella, and history of tuberculosis. Incidence rates of these on MTX/biologic therapy were determined. Results 8066 patients were registered into the three JIA registers with similar history of the four comorbidities across the studies; however, varicella vaccination coverage was higher in Germany (56%) vs UK/Pharmachild (16%/13%). At final follow-up, prevalence of varicella infection was lower in Germany (15%) vs UK/Pharmachild (37%/50%). Prevalence of TB (0.1–1.8%) and uveitis (15–19%) was similar across all registers. The proportion of systemic-JIA patients who ever had MAS was lower in Germany (6%) vs UK (15%) and Pharmachild (17%). Conclusion This analysis is the first and largest to investigate the occurrence of four important comorbidities in three JIA registries in Europe and the role of anti-rheumatic drugs. Combined, these three registries represent one of the biggest collection of cases of JIA worldwide and offer a unique setting for future JIA outcome studies.

The role of a virtual telephone clinic in the follow-up management of lateral skull base tumours

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
S Hogan ◽  
J Hintze ◽  
C Fitzgerald ◽  
M Javadpour ◽  
D Rawluk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skull Base ◽  
Travel Distance ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Skull Base Tumours ◽  
Lateral Skull Base ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mean Time

Abstract Objective The purpose of this article was to determine the impact of employing a telephone clinic for follow-up of patients with stable lateral skull-base tumours. Method An analysis of 1515 patients in the national lateral skull-base service was performed, and 148 patients enrolled in the telephone clinic to date were identified. The length of time that patients waited for results of their follow-up scans and the travel distance saved by patients not having to attend the hospital for their results was determined. Results The mean time from scan to receiving results was 30.5 ± 32 days, 14 days sooner than in the face-to-face group (p = 0.0016). The average round-trip distance travelled by patients to the hospital for results of their scans was 256 ± 131 km. Conclusion The telephone clinic led to a significant reduction in time until patients received their scan results and helped reduce travel distance and clinic numbers in traditional face-to-face clinics.

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