Teaching Mindfulness Across Generations: A Case Study

While people interested in mindfulness can access teachings in many ways, learning situations that include interaction with instructors and other students can enhance learning. In particular, intergenerational groups can provide an important context for increasing generational awareness and decreasing ageism. This case study describes a semester-long class about mindfulness that included reading, discussion, and practice. Participants included 10 young adults (ages 21-23) and 5 elders (ages 67-96). Thematic analysis of student writing showed that students understood mindfulness both as a potential means of coping with age-related challenges and as a way to enhance the wisdom that can come with greater lived experience. The paper concludes with recommendations for bringing mindfulness into an intergenerational context

George Santayana: A critical anomaly

The events of George Santayana*s life provide a valuable introduction to any study of his works. Though it cannot fceally be said that his life was filled with the sort of excitement or intrigue which makes for suspenseful biography, his life was one of steady productivity and ever increasing fame, first as poet, then as philosopher, essayist, critic, and novelist

For Emergency Duty- Kitchens on Wheels

Betty Ann Erickson explains how canteen workers are being aided by mobile kitchen unit

Learning and memory in individuals with agenesis of the corpus callosum

Damage to long white matter pathways in the cerebral cortex is known to affect memory capacity. However, the specific contribution of interhemispheric connectivity in memory functioning is only beginning to become understood. The present study examined verbal and visual memory processing in individuals with agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) using the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1997b). Thirty participants with AgCC (FSIQ >78) were compared against 30 healthy age and IQ matched controls on auditory/verbal (Logical Memory, Verbal Paired Associates) and visual (Visual Reproduction, Faces) memory subtests. Performance was worse in AgCC than controls on immediate and delayed verbal recall for rote word pairs and on delayed recall of faces, as well as on percent recall for these tasks. Immediate recall for thematic information from stories was also worse in AgCC, but groups did not differ on memory for details from narratives or on recall for thematic information following a time delay. Groups also did not differ on memory for abstract figures or immediate recall of faces. On all subtests, individuals with AgCC had greater frequency of clinically significant impairments than predicted by the normal distribution. Results suggest less efficient overall verbal and visual learning and memory with relative weaknesses processing verbal pairs and delayed recall for faces. These findings suggest that the corpus callosum facilitates more efficient learning and recall for both verbal and visual information, that individuals with AgCC may benefit from receiving verbal information within semantic context, and that known deficits in facial processing in individuals with AgCC may contribute to their impairments in recall for faces

Structural and biochemical studies of zinc finger-DNA complexes

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 1998.Vita.Includes bibliographical references.by Monica Elrod-Erickson.Ph.D

Evidence for Nodal Superconductivity in LaFePO from Scanning SQUID Susceptometry

We measure changes in the penetration depth $\lambda$ of the $T_c \approx 6$ K superconductor LaFePO. In the process scanning SQUID susceptometry is demonstrated as a technique for accurately measuring {\it local} temperature-dependent changes in $\lambda$, making it ideal for studying early or difficult-to-grow materials. $\lambda$ of LaFePO is found to vary linearly with temperature from 0.36 to $\sim$2 K, with a slope of 143$\pm$15 \AA/K, suggesting line nodes in the superconducting order parameter. The linear dependence up to $\sim T_c/3$ is similar to the cuprate superconductors, indicating well-developed nodes.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Comparison of wet and dry distillers grains plus solubles to corn as an energy source in forage-based diets

Four experiments compared wet or dry distillers grains plus solubles (WDGS or DDGS) to corn as energy sources in forage-based diets. In Exp. 1, 66 individually fed steers (268 kg of initial BW) were fed a 60:40 blend of sorghum silage and alfalfa hay and supplemented at 0, 0.33, 0.67, or 1.0% of BW with either WDGS or DDGS. In Exp. 2, 160 steers (286 kg of initial BW) were fed 25% WDGS or 33.6% dry rolled corn (DRC) in 35% sorghum silage and grass hay diets (DM basis). In Exp. 3, 60 individually fed steers (231 kg of initial BW) were fed DRC at 22.0, 41.0, or 60.0%, or WDGS at 15.0, 25.0, or 35.0% of diet DM in 30% sorghum silage and grass hay diets. In Exp. 4, 120 individually fed steers (282 kg of initial BW) were fed DDGS, WDGS (15 or 30% of diet DM), or DRC (22 or 50% of diet DM) in sorghum silage and grass hay diets. In Exp. 1, 3, and 4, increasing DGS inclusion increased ADG (P \u3c 0.01) in forage-based diets. In Exp. 3, cattle consuming WDGS gained more BW than cattle fed DRC (P \u3c 0.01). Using regression analysis, data from Exp. 2, 3, and 4 were pooled to calculate the energy value of WDGS relative to DRC in forage diets. The energy value of WDGS was 137% and 136% of DRC when fed at 15 and 30% of diet DM, respectively

Abnormal Glycosylation of Procathepsin L Due to N-terminal Point Mutations Correlates with Failure to Sort to Lysosomes

A single point mutation in the lysosomal proenzyme receptor-inhibiting sequence near the N terminus of mouse procathepsin L can result in glycosylation of a normally cryptic site near its C terminus. When alanine replaced His36, Arg38, or Tyr40, the nascent chain of the mutant protein cotranslationally acquired a high mannose oligosaccharide chain at Asn268. In contrast, when alanine replaced Ser34, Arg37, or Leu39, this second carbohydrate chain was not added. This alternating pattern of abnormal glycosylation suggested that propeptide residues 36-40 normally assume an extended conformation having the side chains of residues 36, 38, and 40 facing in the same direction. When tyrosine conservatively replaced His36 or lysine replaced Arg38, Asn268 was not glycosylated. But the procathepsin L mutant having phenylalanine in place of Tyr40 was glycosylated at Asn268, which indicates that the hydrogen bond between the hydroxyl group of Tyr40 and the carboxylate group of Asp82 is necessary for normal folding of the nascent proenzyme chain. Mutation of the adjacent alpha2p (ERININ) helix of the propeptide or addition of a C-terminal epitope tag sequence to procathepsin L also induced misfolding of the proenzyme, as indicated by addition of the second oligosaccharide chain. In contrast, the propeptide mutation KAKK99-102AAAA had no effect on carbohydrate modification even though it reduced the positive charge of the proenzyme. Misfolded mutant mouse procathepsin L was not efficiently targeted to lysosomes on expression in human HeLa cells, even though it acquired phosphate on mannose residues. The majority of the mutant protein was secreted after undergoing modification with complex sugars. Similarly, epitope-tagged mouse procathepsin L was not targeted to lysosomes in homologous mouse cells but was efficiently secreted. Since production of mature endogenous protease was not reduced in cells expressing the tagged protein, the tagged protein did not compete with endogenous procathepsin L for targeting to lysosomes

Comparison of wet and dry distillers grains plus solubles to corn as an energy source in forage-based diets

Four experiments compared wet or dry distillers grains plus solubles (WDGS or DDGS) to corn as energy sources in forage-based diets. In Exp. 1, 66 individually fed steers (268 kg of initial BW) were fed a 60:40 blend of sorghum silage and alfalfa hay and supplemented at 0, 0.33, 0.67, or 1.0% of BW with either WDGS or DDGS. In Exp. 2, 160 steers (286 kg of initial BW) were fed 25% WDGS or 33.6% dry rolled corn (DRC) in 35% sorghum silage and grass hay diets (DM basis). In Exp. 3, 60 individually fed steers (231 kg of initial BW) were fed DRC at 22.0, 41.0, or 60.0%, or WDGS at 15.0, 25.0, or 35.0% of diet DM in 30% sorghum silage and grass hay diets. In Exp. 4, 120 individually fed steers (282 kg of initial BW) were fed DDGS, WDGS (15 or 30% of diet DM), or DRC (22 or 50% of diet DM) in sorghum silage and grass hay diets. In Exp. 1, 3, and 4, increasing DGS inclusion increased ADG (P \u3c 0.01) in forage-based diets. In Exp. 3, cattle consuming WDGS gained more BW than cattle fed DRC (P \u3c 0.01). Using regression analysis, data from Exp. 2, 3, and 4 were pooled to calculate the energy value of WDGS relative to DRC in forage diets. The energy value of WDGS was 137% and 136% of DRC when fed at 15 and 30% of diet DM, respectively