Development and Validation of the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire

At a fundamental level, taxonomy of behavior and behavioral tendencies can be described in terms of approach, avoid, or equivocate (i.e., neither approach nor avoid). While there are numerous theories of personality, temperament, and character, few seem to take advantage of parsimonious taxonomy. The present study sought to implement this taxonomy by creating a questionnaire based on a categorization of behavioral temperaments/tendencies first identified in Buddhist accounts over fifteen hundred years ago. Items were developed using historical and contemporary texts of the behavioral temperaments, described as “Greedy/Faithful”, “Aversive/Discerning”, and “Deluded/Speculative”. To both maintain this categorical typology and benefit from the advantageous properties of forced-choice response format (e.g., reduction of response biases), binary pairwise preferences for items were modeled using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). One sample (n1 = 394) was used to estimate the item parameters, and the second sample (n2 = 504) was used to classify the participants using the established parameters and cross-validate the classification against multiple other measures. The cross-validated measure exhibited good nomothetic span (construct-consistent relationships with related measures) that seemed to corroborate the ideas present in the original Buddhist source documents. The final 13-block questionnaire created from the best performing items (the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire or BTQ) is a psychometrically valid questionnaire that is historically consistent, based in behavioral tendencies, and promises practical and clinical utility particularly in settings that teach and study meditation practices such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Family coordination in families who have a child with autism spectrum disorder

Little is known about the interactions of families where there is a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study applies the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP) to explore both its applicability to this population as well as to assess resources and areas of deficit in these families. The sample consisted of 68 families with a child with ASD, and 43 families with a typically developing (TD) child. With respect to the global score for family coordination there were several negative correlations: the more severe the symptoms (based on the child’s ADOS score), the more family coordination was dysfunctional. This correlation was particularly high when parents had to play together with the child. In the parts in which only one of the parents played actively with the child, while the other was simply present, some families did achieve scores in the functional range, despite the child’s symptom severity. The outcomes are discussed in terms of their clinical implications both for assessment and for interventio

Evaluation of a commercial web-based weight loss and weight loss maintenance program in overweight and obese adults: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obesity rates in adults continue to rise and effective treatment programs with a broad reach are urgently required. This paper describes the study protocol for a web-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a commercially available program for overweight and obese adult males and females. The aim of this RCT was to determine and compare the efficacy of two web-based interventions for weight loss and maintenance of lost weight.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Overweight and obese adult males and females were stratified by gender and BMI and randomly assigned to one of three groups for 12-weeks: waitlist control, or basic or enhanced online weight-loss. Control participants were re-randomized to the two weight loss groups at the end of the 12-week period. The basic and enhanced group participants had an option to continue or repeat the 12-week program. If the weight loss goal was achieved at the end of 12, otherwise on completion of 24 weeks of weight loss, participants were re-randomized to one of two online maintenance programs (maintenance basic or maintenance enhanced), until 18 months from commencing the weight loss program. Assessments took place at baseline, three, six, and 18 months after commencing the initial weight loss intervention with control participants repeating the initial assessment after three month of waiting. The primary outcome is body mass index (BMI). Other outcomes include weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, plasma markers of cardiovascular disease risk, dietary intake, eating behaviours, physical activity and quality of life.</p> <p>Both the weight loss and maintenance of lost weight programs were based on social cognitive theory with participants advised to set goals, self-monitor weight, dietary intake and physical activity levels. The enhanced weight loss and maintenance programs provided additional personalized, system-generated feedback on progress and use of the program. Details of the methodological aspects of recruitment, inclusion criteria, randomization, intervention programs, assessments and statistical analyses are described.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Importantly, this paper describes how an RCT of a currently available commercial online program in Australia addresses some of the short falls in the current literature pertaining to the efficacy of web-based weight loss programs.</p> <p>Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) number: ACTRN12610000197033</p

Depicting the tree of life in museums: guiding principles from psychological research

The Tree of Life is revolutionizing our understanding of life on Earth, and, accordingly, evolutionary trees are increasingly important parts of exhibits on biodiversity and evolution. The authors argue that in using these trees to effectively communicate evolutionary principles, museums need to take into account research results from cognitive, developmental, and educational psychology while maintaining a focus on visitor engagement and enjoyment. Six guiding principles for depicting evolutionary trees in museum exhibits distilled from this research literature were used to evaluate five current or recent museum trees. One of the trees was then redesigned in light of the research while preserving the exhibit’s original learning goals. By attending both to traditional factors that influence museum exhibit design and to psychological research on how people understand diagrams in general and Tree of Life graphics in particular, museums can play a key role in fostering 21st century scientific literacy

Chemotherapy-Induced Amenorrhea in Patients With Breast Cancer With a BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutation

PURPOSE: To determine the likelihood of long-term amenorrhea after treatment with chemotherapy in women with breast cancer who carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a multicenter survey of 1,954 young women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation who were treated for breast cancer. We included premenopausal women who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 26 and 47 years of age. We determined the age of onset of amenorrhea after breast cancer for women who were and were not treated with chemotherapy, alone or with tamoxifen. We considered chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea to have occurred when the patient experienced ≥ 2 years of amenorrhea, commencing within 2 years of initiating chemotherapy, with no resumption of menses. RESULTS: Of the 1,426 women who received chemotherapy, 35% experienced long-term amenorrhea. Of the 528 women who did not receive chemotherapy, 5.3% developed long-term amenorrhea. The probabilities of chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea were 7.2% for women diagnosed before age 30 years, 33% for women age 31 to 44 years, and 79% for women diagnosed after age 45 years (P trend < .001). The probability of induced amenorrhea was higher for women who received tamoxifen than for those who did not (52% v 29%; P < .001). CONCLUSION: Age at treatment and use of tamoxifen are important predictors of chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea in women who carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. The risk of induced long-term amenorrhea does not seem to be greater among mutation carriers than among women who do not carry a mutation.published_or_final_versio

Defining the tipping point. A complex cellular life/death balance in corals in response to stress

Apoptotic cell death has been implicated in coral bleaching but the molecules involved and the mechanisms by which apoptosis is regulated are only now being identified. In contrast the mechanisms underlying apoptosis in higher animals are relatively well understood. To better understand the response of corals to thermal stress, the expression of coral homologs of six key regulators of apoptosis was studied in Acropora aspera under conditions simulating those of a mass bleaching event. Significant changes in expression were detected between the daily minimum and maximum temperatures. Maximum daily temperatures from as low as 3°C below the bleaching threshold resulted in significant changes in both pro- and anti-apoptotic gene expression. The results suggest that the control of apoptosis is highly complex in this eukaryote-eukaryote endosymbiosis and that apoptotic cell death cascades potentially play key roles tipping the cellular life/death balance during environmental stress prior to the onset of coral bleaching

Association Between Statin Use and Prevalence of Exercise-Related Injuries: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Amateur Runners in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) are the first-choice therapy for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Some maintain that statins cause adverse musculoskeletal outcomes in highly active individuals, but few studies have examined the effects of statins on exercise-related injuries. OBJECTIVE: We sought to compare the prevalence of exercise-related injuries between runners who do or do not use statins. METHODS: Amateur runners (n = 4460) completed an extensive online questionnaire on their exercise patterns and health status. Participants replied to questions on the prevalence of exercise-related injuries in the previous year. Injuries were divided into general injuries, tendon- and ligament-related injuries, and muscle-related injuries. Participants were also queried about statin use: the type of statin, statin dose, and duration of treatment. Runners were divided into statin users, non-statin users with hypercholesterolemia, and controls for analysis. RESULTS: The crude odds ratios (ORs) for injuries, tendon- or ligament-related injuries, and muscle-related injuries in statin users compared with controls were 1.14 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79-1.66), 1.10 (95% CI 0.71-1.72), and 1.15 (95% CI 0.69-1.91), respectively. After adjustment for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and metabolic equivalent of task (MET) h/week of exercise, the ORs were 1.11 (95% CI 0.76-1.62), 1.06 (95% CI 0.68-1.66), and 0.98 (95% CI 0.58-1.64), respectively. Similar effect measures were found when comparing non-statin users with hypercholesterolemia and controls. CONCLUSION: We did not find an association between statin use and the prevalence of exercise-related injuries or tendon-, ligament-, and muscle-related injuries. Runners receiving statins should continue normal physical activity without concern for increased risk of injuries

Connectivity and systemic resilience of the Great Barrier Reef

Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef (GBR) continues to suffer from repeated impacts of cyclones, coral bleaching, and outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), losing much of its coral cover in the process. This raises the question of the ecosystem’s systemic resilience and its ability to rebound after large-scale population loss. Here, we reveal that around 100 reefs of the GBR, or around 3%, have the ideal properties to facilitate recovery of disturbed areas, thereby imparting a level of systemic resilience and aiding its continued recovery. These reefs (1) are highly connected by ocean currents to the wider reef network, (2) have a relatively low risk of exposure to disturbances so that they are likely to provide replenishment when other reefs are depleted, and (3) have an ability to promote recovery of desirable species but are unlikely to either experience or spread COTS outbreaks. The great replenishment potential of these ‘robust source reefs’, which may supply 47% of the ecosystem in a single dispersal event, emerges from the interaction between oceanographic conditions and geographic location, a process that is likely to be repeated in other reef systems. Such natural resilience of reef systems will become increasingly important as the frequency of disturbances accelerates under climate change

The chemical interactome space between the human host and the genetically defined gut metabotypes

The bacteria that colonize the gastrointestinal tracts of mammals represent a highly selected microbiome that has a profound influence on human physiology by shaping the host's metabolic and immune system activity. Despite the recent advances on the biological principles that underlie microbial symbiosis in the gut of mammals, mechanistic understanding of the contributions of the gut microbiome and how variations in the metabotypes are linked to the host health are obscure. Here, we mapped the entire metabolic potential of the gut microbiome based solely on metagenomics sequencing data derived from fecal samples of 124 Europeans (healthy, obese and with inflammatory bowel disease). Interestingly, three distinct clusters of individuals with high, medium and low metabolic potential were observed. By illustrating these results in the context of bacterial population, we concluded that the abundance of the Prevotella genera is a key factor indicating a low metabolic potential. These metagenome-based metabolic signatures were used to study the interaction networks between bacteria-specific metabolites and human proteins. We found that thirty-three such metabolites interact with disease-relevant protein complexes several of which are highly expressed in cells and tissues involved in the signaling and shaping of the adaptive immune system and associated with squamous cell carcinoma and bladder cancer. From this set of metabolites, eighteen are present in DrugBank providing evidence that we carry a natural pharmacy in our guts. Furthermore, we established connections between the systemic effects of non-antibiotic drugs and the gut microbiome of relevance to drug side effects and health-care solutions.link_to_subscribed_fulltex