IntroductionPhantom limb pain (PLP) is a chronic condition that can greatly diminish quality of life. Control over the phantom limb and exercise of such control have been hypothesised to reverse maladaptive brain changes correlated to PLP. Preliminary investigations have shown that decoding motor volition using myoelectric pattern recognition, while providing real-time feedback via virtual and augmented reality (VR-AR), facilitates phantom motor execution (PME) and reduces PLP. Here we present the study protocol for an international (seven countries), multicentre (nine clinics), double-blind, randomised controlled clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of PME in alleviating PLP.Methods and analysisSixty-seven subjects suffering from PLP in upper or lower limbs are randomly assigned to PME or phantom motor imagery (PMI) interventions. Subjects allocated to either treatment receive 15 interventions and are exposed to the same VR-AR environments using the same device. The only difference between interventions is whether phantom movements are actually performed (PME) or just imagined (PMI). Complete evaluations are conducted at baseline and at intervention completion, as well as 1, 3 and 6 months later using an intention-to-treat (ITT) approach. Changes in PLP measured using the Pain Rating Index between the first and last session are the primary measure of efficacy. Secondary outcomes include: frequency, duration, quality of pain, intrusion of pain in activities of daily living and sleep, disability associated to pain, pain self-efficacy, frequency of depressed mood, presence of catastrophising thinking, health-related quality of life and clinically significant change as patient’s own impression. Follow-up interviews are conducted up to 6 months after the treatment.Ethics and disseminationThe study is performed in agreement with the Declaration of Helsinki and under approval by the governing ethical committees of each participating clinic. The results will be published according to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines in a peer-reviewed journal.Trial registration numberNCT03112928; Pre-results.

This paper explores the way in which announcers created spectacle in the Eurosport coverage of the men's and women's tennis singles semifinals and finals at the Australian Open 2015. This was an event where gender representations were under global social media scrutiny after two female players were asked to 'twirl' for the audience. We used a two-phase thematic analysis. Semantic thematic analysis showed that more personal descriptions were directed at women than men and these often described off-court features. Descriptions of men included detailed and specific portrayals of physical characteristics, while women's bodies were seldom referred to specifically. Discourse analysis showed that men's games were spoken of as physical clashes between titans. In contrast, women's matches were described in aesthetic rather than physical terms and 'divalike' personalities and relationships were important features of women's game narratives. While male bodies were described in specific detail where relevant to technical features of the game, women's bodies were only described indirectly and non-specifically. For the women's game, this dialogical repression of specific body talk in combination with a strong focus on aesthetic judgements invoked stereotypes by omission, simultaneously reinscribing gender stereotypes and

Background A new legal capacity act was introduced in Ireland in 2015. This study aimed to identify and critically examine key issues in the area of decisionmaking capacity from the perspective of psychologists working with adults with an intellectual disability. Methods A qualitative exploratory approach was employed, and the study was positioned in a social constructionist framework. Purposive and snowballing sampling methods were used to recruit 15 clinical psychologists working with adults with an intellectual disability. Data were collected with the use of individual semistructured interviews. Interview transcripts were analysed using a model of thematic analysis. Results Six themes were identified: (1) a presumption of capacity but a culture of incapacity, (2) supporting decision making as a process, (3) authenticity of decision making, (4) need for support and training, (5) contributions of psychology and (6) the way forward. Conclusions Participants described that people with intellectual disabilities were often excluded from decision-making processes. They welcomed the functional approach to decision making, considered substituted decision making to be necessary within a support framework and described supporting decision making as a process. Systemic, resource and attitudinal challenges were identified.

Empathetic perspective-taking (PT) may be critical in modulating attention and associated responses to another's pain. However, the differential effects of imagining oneself to be in the pain sufferer's situation ('Self-perspective') or imagining the negative impacts on the pain sufferer's experience ('Other-perspective') on attention have not been studied. The effects of observer PT (Self vs. Other) and level of facial pain expressiveness (FPE) upon attention to another person's pain was investigated. Fifty-two adults were assigned to one of three PT conditions; they were instructed to view pairs of pain expressions and neutral faces and either 1) consider their own feelings (Self-perspective), 2) consider the feelings of the person in the picture (Other-perspective), or 3) received no further instructions (Control). Eye movements provided indices of early (probability and duration of first fixation) and later (total gaze duration) attentional deployment. Pain faces were more likely to be fixated upon first. A significant first fixation duration bias towards pain was observed, which increased with increasing levels of FPE, and was higher in the Self-PT than the Control condition. The proportion of total gaze duration on pain faces was higher in both experimental conditions than the Control condition. This effect was moderated by FPE in the Self-PT condition; there was a significant increase from low to high FPE. When observers attend to another's facial display of pain, top-down influences (such as PT) and bottom-up influences (such as sufferer's FPE) interact to control deployment and maintenance of attention.