The present paper gives a review of diary methods in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. After a brief discussion of the history and the development of the diary method a description of the methodology and technology of diaries in their scientific and practical uses is given. The main part of the paper presents an overview of instruments used in research and practice in clinical psychology concerning mood and affectivity, anxiety disorders, pain, psycho-physiological states, eating disorders and alcoholism. Additionally, methodological advantages and problems of these tools are discussed. Finally strategies for the assurance and enhancement of the methodological quality of diary data are discussed. The paper comes to several conclusions: (1) although many instruments have been developed during recent years for research and practical aims, they are concerned with only a few of the many clinical phenomena; (2) although some diaries achieve favourable psychometric results, the reliability and validity of most of the instruments has not yet been explored in a satisfactory manner; (3) although most diaries would also be useful for practical reasons, many deal with research aims. Therefore, future work should focus on practical use as well as on psychometric testing. Copyright  2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. INTRODUCTIONThe diary approach is important as an assessment and intervention strategy in various areas of clinical and psychotherapeutic research and practice. Historically, this approach started with the cognitive turn in psychology and behaviour therapy in the early 1960s; new technologies of investigation (e.g. micro-computers, palm-tops) and of data analysis (e.g. computerized techniques) during the * Correspondence to: Dr A-R. Laireiter, Institute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria.1990s made diaries into a very intensively used methodology in psychology and psychotherapy (Fahrenberg and Myrtek, 1996;Foster et al., 1999). At present, two methodological strategies can be differentiated: (1) structured instruments relying on standardized questionnaires, and (2) narrative diaries using qualitative self-disclosure documents that become content analysed for scientific use. Numerically and scientifically the first group is much more important and is not only used in clinical psychology but also in various other fields of psychology (personality; Buse and Pawlik, 1996; social psychology;Reis and Wheeler, 1991; coping research;Eckenrode and Bolger, 1995; personal Duck, 1991;Laireiter and Thiele, 1995; developmental psychology;Shapiro and Cole, 1999; psychophysiology; Fahrenberg and Myrtek, 1996). The present paper deals with diaries in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. It starts from a short historical note on the developmental roots of this approach. In a second step the technology of diaries is introduced. The main part of the paper gives an overview of the most important instruments in the six major areas of applic...

A fast track "Hot Start" process was implemented to launch the European Bank for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (EBiSC) to provide early release of a range of established control and disease linked human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines. Established practice amongst consortium members was surveyed to arrive at harmonised and publically accessible Standard Operations Procedures (SOPs) for tissue procurement, bio-sample tracking, iPSC expansion, cryopreservation, qualification and distribution to the research community. These were implemented to create a quality managed foundational collection of lines and associated data made available for distribution. Here we report on the successful outcome of this experience and work flow for banking and facilitating access to an otherwise disparate European resource, with lessons to benefit the international research community. ETOC: The report focuses on the EBiSC experience of rapidly establishing an operational capacity to procure, bank and distribute a foundational collection of established hiPSC lines. It validates the feasibility and defines the challenges of harnessing and integrating the capability and productivity of centres across Europe using commonly available resources currently in the field.

Our study suggests that manual stimulation of acupuncture needles at ST36 and PC6 affects gastric myoelectrical as well as cardiac activities in healthy volunteers. The effect of stimulation in acupuncture deserves further investigation.

No abstract

Objective: To create a German version of the Southampton Needle Sensation Questionnaire (SNSQ) in order to measure deqi (needling sensation) in subjects receiving different forms of acupuncture and to evaluate the translated questionnaire in an acupuncture study. Methods: A forward and backward translation procedure was applied to create a German version of the SNSQ. Discrepancies between translations were resolved by consensus. Healthy participants from an experimental acupuncture trial were asked to fill in the resulting questionnaire comprising of 17 items (none (0) to intense (3)) and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain (0–100 mm) after receiving either sham or real acupuncture with or without stimulation. The questionnaire was validated using factor analysis and correlation analysis. Results: Questionnaires from 63 subjects (mean 27.1 years; 69.8% female) were included in the analysis. Participants tended to score toward the low end of each of the 17 items (mean sum score (± SD): 8.9 ± 7.0). Four factors with eigenvalues > 1 were identified using exploratory factor analysis. Both of the original subscales, aching deqi (AD) and tingling deqi (TD), showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α: AD: 0.71; TD: 0.78) and medium test-retest reliability (AD: r = 0.538, p = 0.002; TD: r = 0.603, p < 0.001). AD feeling (r = 0.574, p < 0.001) and TD feeling (r = 0.496, p < 0.001) correlated with the VAS for pain. Conclusion: Factor structure of the original questionnaire could not be reproduced with the German version of the SNSQ in an experimental setting. The questionnaire could not discriminate between pain and deqi. Further research is needed to create a German tool which is more suitable to measure deqi.