Applying implementation science theories to support practice change in the assessment of cognition by occupational therapists.

Background Understanding cognitive impairments is essential for effective rehabilitation and discharge planning for adults with neurological conditions. The aim of this study was to identify barriers to completing standardised cognitive assessments and evaluate the implementation of an intervention to support practice change. Methods A mixed-methods approach was applied to translate cognitive assessment recommendations into clinical practice using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Behaviour model (COM-B) theories.

Impact of Evidence Type and Judicial Warning on Juror Perceptions of Global and Specific Witness Evidence.

The Court of Appeal in England and Wales held (R. v. Sardar, 2012) there had been no exceptional circumstances that justified a jury retiring with a transcript of the complainant's interview.

Subjective cues to deception/honesty in a high stakes situation: an exploratory approach.

The low ecological validity of much of the research on deception detection is a limitation recognized by researchers in the field. Consequently, the present studies investigated subjective cues to deception using the real life, high stakes situation of people making public appeals for help with missing or murdered relatives. It was expected that cues related to affect would be particularly salient in this context.

Evidence in court: witness preparation and cross-examination style effects on adult witness accuracy.

Witnesses play a clear and pivotal role in the criminal justice system and there is an obvious public interest in identifying procedures that both undermine and maximize the quality of evidence received by the criminal courts. This paper reports an investigation into the effects of witness familiarization and cross-examination type on adult witness accuracy that situates outcomes in both legal and psychological context. 60 mock witnesses observed a crime event and each witness was then cross-examined by a practising barrister in a moot courtroom according to two conditions - either via a scripted complex version of cross-examination or by a simpler but equivalent scripted examination.

Are high hypnotizables especially vulnerable to false memory effects? A sociocognitive perspective.

This article examines issues raised by a recent UK legal case in which the defense argued that the accusations made by the highly hypnotizable plaintiff were likely based on false memories. The authors argue that the evidence related to hypnotizability and false memory production is inconsistent but may be illuminated by a sociocognitive perspective. They present 2 preliminary studies that indicate that when the instructions imply that accurate reporting is a feature of hypnosis, higher hypnotizables may actually be more resistant than low or medium hypnotizables to false memories arising from misleading information given during hypnosis.

Enhancing witness memory with techniques derived from hypnotic investigative interviewing: focused meditation, eye-closure, and context reinstatement.

Due to several well-documented problems, hypnosis as a forensic interviewing tool has been largely replaced by the cognitive interview; however, the latter is problematic in time and complexity. This article builds on previous research showing that some procedures used in traditional hypnotic forensic interviewing might still be useful in developing alternative procedures for use in investigative interviewing. Two experiments are described that include a focused meditation with eye-closure technique with similarities to conventional hypnotic induction but without the label of hypnosis.

Abnormalities of serotonin metabolism and their relation to symptoms in untreated celiac disease.

Background And Aims: Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) is a key modulator of gut function that in excess causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. We recently showed that patients with post-infective irritable bowel syndrome have increased postprandial release of 5-HT associated with low-grade T-cell mediated inflammation. Celiac disease is another common disease in which a T-cell enteropathy is associated with increased mucosal 5-HT levels.

Enterochromaffin cell hyperplasia and decreased serotonin transporter in a mouse model of postinfectious bowel dysfunction.

Patients with postinfective irritable bowel syndrome and Trichinella spiralis-infected mice share many features including visceral hypersensitivity and disordered motility. We assessed enterochromaffin (EC) numbers and serotonin transporter (SERT) using National Institute of Health (NIH) female mice studied for up to 56 days post-T. spiralis infection.

Tolerance of uncertainty, extroversion, neuroticism and attitudes to randomized controlled trials among surgeons and physicians.

Background: Surgeons have a reputation for decisiveness and self-confidence, which suggests that they may tolerate uncertainty poorly and therefore be less capable than other doctors of experiencing clinical equipoise. Their 'typical' behaviour is characteristic of the stable extrovert personality and so they may prefer spontaneous clinical judgement over randomized trials. The aim of this study was to compare personality dimensions and tolerance of uncertainty among surgeons and hospital physicians, to determine whether differences in either property might help to explain the apparently poor performance of surgeons in conducting randomized controlled trials.

Facilitating memory with hypnosis, focused meditation, and eye closure.

Three experiments examined some features of hypnotic induction that might be useful in the development of brief memory-facilitation procedures. The first involved a hypnosis procedure designed to facilitate face identification; the second employed a brief, focused-meditation (FM) procedure, with and without eye closure, designed to facilitate memory for an emotional event. The third experiment was a check for simple motivation and expectancy effects.

Tyvelose and protective responses to the intestinal stages of Trichinella spiralis.

The unusual sugar tyvelose is the immunodominant portion of the major larval glycoprotein antigens of Trichinella spiralis, which play an important role in generating immunity against the intestinal stages of infection. The possibility that the tyvelose component itself may have a host- or parasite-protective role in the intestine was tested by following the outcome of challenge infections in mice primed and boosted with tyvelose-BSA, or in mice primed with tyvelose-BSA before boosting with larval antigen. Although antibody responses were raised against tyvelose there was no evidence of protective immunity against the intestinal stages, as assessed by total adult worm recovery or by size and fecundity of female worms in immunized mice.