Adolescent Yoga: Goals and Settings in Therapeutic Practice

Mindfulness practices, such as yoga, involve being fully present in the moment and practicing a non-judgmental acceptance of experiences. Among the last 10 years there has been an increased popularity of mind-body practices, but there is limited information examining how yoga is practiced by adolescents in therapeutic settings. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to answer how certified professionals use mind-body techniques, such as yoga and mindfulness, with adolescents and the intended goals. Synthesis of qualified articles revealed six common themes involving improved academic performance, stress, mood, emotional regulation, emotional intelligence and resilience. It is recommended to seek clarification and more significant findings regarding the correlation between participants’ yoga practice and their GPA in future research. Professional practice will benefit by beginning to provide yoga on a regular basis and then assessing it

Adolescent Yoga: Goals and Settings in Therapeutic Practice

Mindfulness practices, such as yoga, involve being fully present in the moment and practicing a non-judgmental acceptance of experiences. Among the last 10 years there has been an increased popularity of mind-body practices, but there is limited information examining how yoga is practiced by adolescents in therapeutic settings. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to answer how certified professionals use mind-body techniques, such as yoga and mindfulness, with adolescents and the intended goals. Synthesis of qualified articles revealed six common themes involving improved academic performance, stress, mood, emotional regulation, emotional intelligence and resilience. It is recommended to seek clarification and more significant findings regarding the correlation between participants’ yoga practice and their GPA in future research. Professional practice will benefit by beginning to provide yoga on a regular basis and then assessing it

Balancing the Scales: Examining relationships between Maternal Agency and Child Nutrition in Differing Developing World Contexts

This paper examines the relationship between maternal agency and child nutritional outcomes through a series of statistical analyses using data from developing countries. Malnutrition remains a major global disease burden and with increasing political attention surrounding the issue, it is necessary to understand the underlying factors contributing to it. One of these may be poor maternal care practices due to low maternal agency. The literature on maternal agency is conflicted about the nature of the relationship between maternal agency and child nutrition, and if there is a relationship at all. By comparing results from a 12-country study, a study in one district in rural Uganda, and the methodologies and data used in the two we are able to identify strong relationships in larger studies while simultaneously recognizing disparate and more specific relationships in more specific contexts. Our results point to a need for standardization in the field as well as a prioritization of future research tailored to unique socioeconomic contexts in developing countries

Obsessive compulsive disorder: a review

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterised by the presence of obsessions or compulsions, or commonly of both. OCD is the fourth most common mental disorder after depression, alcohol/substance misuse, and social phobia, with a lifetime prevalence in community surveys of 1.6%.1 The severity of OCD differs markedly from one person to another. People are often able to hide their OCD, even from their own family, although it can cause problems in relationships and interfere with the ability to study or work. Health consequences can also occur: fear of contamination can, for example, prevent the accessing of appropriate health services or lead to dermatitis from excessive washing. When the disorder starts in childhood or adolescence, young people may avoid socialising with peers or become unable to live independently. The World Health Organization ranks OCD as one of the 10 most handicapping conditions by lost income and decreased quality of life.2 This clinical review summarises the evidence on how to recognise, assess, and manage people with OCD

Fireworks for the Emperor. A new hand-colored impression of Sebald Beham’s “Military Display in Honor of the Visit of Emperor Charles V to Munich”

A little studied Einblattdruck, or single-sheet woodcut, from the sixteenth century shows early incendiary devices used to honor the entry of the Holy Roman Emperor in 1530. The large woodcut displays the military honors given to the emperor: cannons firing on a castle constructed for the occasion and fireworks. Harnessing the potential of powders for both pyrotechnics and color added by hand to prints was among the many cultural developments of the sixteenth century. This article makes known a recently rediscovered impression of the print, unique with hand coloring, which serves as the focus of discussion for several aspects of the print including the ephemeral and incendiary, the states, and related prints with rocket Turks. A technical analysis discusses the color azurite and completes the article. “The Military Display in Honor of the Visit of Emperor Charles V to Munich” ( Pauli 1115)1 measures slightly over 1 foot x 4 feet (360 x 1340 mm, 14.17 x 52.76 in.). It was printed from five wood blocks onto five sheets of paper glued side-by-side, with each image and sheet measuring ca. 350/360 x 1330/1340 mm.2 The banderole at the top indicates that the “The Princely City of Munich – Die Furstlich Statt München” is the location depicted. The year 1530 is included at lower left, and although the print is not signed, the style is unmistakably Sebald Beham’s. It is initialed “NM” at center bottom indicating the printer was Niklas Meldemann, also from Nuremberg, for whom Beham designed other prints.3 Meldemann included his name and date in the placard at upper right as the person responsible for printing the woodcut (“ytzd im druck verfertigt vnd auszgangen […] 1530. Des 10. Tags Junij”). The date of 10 June 1530 indicates the day Charles V victoriously entered Munich after his defeat of the Ottoman Turks at Vienna. The Bavarian and Austrian coat of arms, upper left and right, underscore the connection to the men identified in the placard as Bavarian dukes, the brothers Wilhelm and Ludwig. The print appears to have been made both to commemorate the event and to honor the two brothers (“Zu eren den Hochgebornen Fürsten vnd Herrn”) on the occasion of the entry of his Imperial Majesty. The inscription calls the woodcut a “true record – aigentlich verzeichnus”) of the event. The Emperor’s name, Charles V, appears to have been included only in the first state of the print, which is now lost, and his image is almost impossible to locate in the composition as are those of Wilhelm and Ludwig. Zu den bedeutendsten Stücken in der Sammlung des Historischen Vereins von Oberbayern gehört das einzige bekannte altkolorierte Exemplar von Sebastian Behams Holzschnitt »Manöver zu Ehren Kaiser Karls V. anlässlich dessen München-Besuchs 1530«. Das von Niklas Meldemann gedruckte Blatt wurde 1860 im Rahmen der Gesamttagung der Geschichtsvereine an den Verein geschenkt und jahrzehntelang in den Vereinsräumen ausgestellt. Durch den vorliegenden Beitrag wird es aus seiner zwischenzeitlichen Versenkung wieder hervorgeholt und – im Vergleich mit eindrucksvollen Abbildungen verschiedener Siegesfeiern – als herausragende Dokumentation eines Huldigungsevents und einer militärischen Darbietung der Zeit vorgestellt. Neben der Darstellung militärischer Macht wurden auf Blättern dieser Art stets die technischen Errungenschaften der Zeit, darunter die verschiedenen Formen der Pyrotechnik, mit Freude am Detail illustriert. Auch die besiegten »Feinde« – insbesondere die einfach darzustellenden Türken – wurden gerne vorgeführt. Unter vergleichbaren Siegesfeier-Darstellungen nimmt der Beham-Holzschnitt des Historischen Vereins aufgrund seiner außergewöhnlichen Größe, seines theatralischen Aufbaus und vor allem seiner Farbigkeit eine Sonderstellung ein. Jüngst auf Anregung der Autorin Alison Stewart durchgeführte Analysen der eingesetzten Farben bestätigten, dass die eindrucksvolle Kolorierung – mit der Ausnahme einer kleinen Retusche – aus der Zeit des Drucks stammt. Die reichhaltige Farbpalette beinhaltet Pigmente, die zu dieser Zeit in der Malerei weit verbreitet waren. Die Farben kamen aus den gleichen Quellen, die auch die Chemikalien für das abgebildete Schießpulver und die Pyrotechnik lieferten – den deutschen Apotheken des 16. Jahrhunderts. Dieser Beitrag ist das Ergebnis einer Zusammenarbeit von Alison G. Stewart und Nicole Roberts. Letztere schrieb den Abschnitt »Farbanalyse« am Ende des Aufsatzes

Structure/function relationships in the rosette cellulose synthesis complex illuminated by an evolutionary perspective

Cellulose microfibrils are a key component of plant cell walls, which in turn compose most of our renewable biomaterials. Consequently, there is considerable interest in understanding how cellulose microfibrils are made in living cells by the plant cellulose synthesis complex (CSC). This remarkable multi-subunit complex contains cellulose synthase (CESA) proteins, and it is often called a rosette due to its six-lobed shape. Each CSC moves within the plasma membrane as it spins a strong cellulose microfibril in its wake. To accomplish this biological manufacturing process, the CESAs harvest an activated sugar substrate from the cytoplasm for use in the polymerization of glucan chains. An elongating glucan is simultaneously translocated across the plasma membrane by each CESA, where the group of chains emanating from one CSC co-crystallizes into a cellulose microfibril that becomes part of the assembling cell wall. Here we review major advances in understanding CESA and CSC structure/function relationships since 2013, when ground-breaking insights about the structure of cellulose synthases in bacteria and plants were published. We additionally discuss: (a) the relationship of CSC substructure to the size of the fundamental cellulose fibril; (b) an evolutionary perspective on the driving force behind the existence of hetero-oligomeric CSCs that currently appear to dominate in land plants; and (c) how cellulose properties may be regulated by CESA and CSC activity. We also pose major questions that still remain in this rapidly changing and exciting research field

Differentiating captive and wild African lion (Panthera leo) populations in South Africa, using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis

The international trade in lion (Panthera leo) products, particularly bone, has increased substantially over the last decade. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has established a zero-export quota for wild- origin lion bones. Whilst the trade of lion bone is permittable from captive-bred South African populations, there is no established method to differentiate between captive and wild-sourced lion derivatives in trade. This study acts as a preliminary investigation, by examining the stable carbon (d13C) and nitrogen (d15N) isotope composition of hair from wild and captive lion populations as well as wild prey animals in South Africa, to judge the accuracy and applicability of this method for future bone analysis. Isotopic values for d15N are found to be significantly enriched in some wild populations, however it is not possible to discriminate between captive and wild populations using d13C analysis alone. Using the classification algorithm k-Nearest Neighbour, the origin of simulated data was identified with 70% accuracy. When using the model to test the origin of seized samples, 63% were classified as of wild origin. Our study indicates the potential for stable isotope analysis to discriminate between captive and wild populations. Additional study of captive husbandry, and analysis of bone samples from populations of a known origin and feeding regime is recommended to improve the utility of this method for maintaining transparency in trade

Moss cell walls: structure and biosynthesis

The genome sequence of the moss Physcomitrella patens has stimulated new research examining the cell wall polysaccharides of mosses and the glycosyl transferases that synthesize them as a means to understand fundamental processes of cell wall biosynthesis and plant cell wall evolution. The cell walls of mosses and vascular plants are composed of the same classes of polysaccharides, but with differences in side chain composition and structure. Similarly, the genomes of P. patens and angiosperms encode the same families of cell wall glycosyl transferases, yet, in many cases these families have diversified independently in each lineage. Our understanding of land plant evolution could be enhanced by more complete knowledge of the relationships among glycosyl transferase functional diversification, cell wall structural and biochemical specialization, and the roles of cell walls in plant adaptation. As a foundation for these studies, we review the features of P. patens as an experimental system, analyses of cell wall composition in various moss species, recent studies that elucidate the structure and biosynthesis of cell wall polysaccharides in P. patens, and phylogenetic analysis of P. patens genes potentially involved in cell wall biosynthesis

Work-based skills development: A context-engaged approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give a successful example of how universities can work with business to identify and address skills needs through a context-engaged approach to developing learning to meet the needs identified. Design/methodology/approach – Using a case study approach the business-university collaboration to introduce work-based learning programmes is explained. The paper sets out how learning interventions were researched, designed and introduced to meet identified skills needs throughout the organisation. It highlights the practicalities of the management approach adopted and the benefits achieved through partnership working. Findings – Key to the success of the collaboration was the recruitment of a “Training Centre Facilitator” (TCF) who was co-managed by the company and the university and who was located within the company. The TCF was able to fully understand the company’s and learners’ requirements and thus propose a context-engaged solution that met the needs of the individuals and the organisation. The work-based learning programmes introduced reflected the organisational requirements, individuals’ needs and took into account constraints and restraints on their design and implementation. Originality/value – The paper presents a case study that investigates an innovative approach to partnership working between HE, FE and a private business organisation. The appointment of a TCF, employed within the company to undertake research and implement identified training interventions is an unusual and original approach to bringing together the three organisations to achieve the planned business improvements. The process used and the key principles for achieving a successful partnership are presented and could be applied in other business-education collaborations to develop in-company work-based learning