Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction as a Culturally Relevant Treatment for Racial or Ethnic Minorities

Racial or ethnic minorities (REM) are at a particularly high risk of experiencing mental health conditions. Unlike their White counterparts, social determinants of health (e.g., poverty, racialized violence, or discrimination) exacerbate REM quality of life. REM are less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to seek and receive mental health treatment. Additionally, REM are more likely to experience systemic barriers (e.g., cultural mistrust, stigma, lack of access, and financial barriers), which further complicates their willingness and capacity to seek treatment. While Evidence-Based Treatments (EBTs) are identified as empirically supportive treatments for a range of mental health conditions, there is skepticism about their cultural appropriateness and relevance for REM populations. Clinicians must be culturally competent and use clinical tools (e.g., Multidimensional Model for Developing Cultural Competence) to assist in promoting cultural competence. Likewise, practitioners must be conscientious and knowledgeable about the pitfalls of EBTs when working with REM. Mindfulness-based techniques, such as MBSR, are culturally sensitive and inclusive of historical, social, and cultural ideologies that align with the needs of REM. MBSR has the potential to offer holistic coping given its effectiveness in promoting neurological, physical, and psychological healing

Oceans without history? Marine Cultural Heritage and the sustainable development agenda

This paper aims to set out the role Marine Cultural Heritage (MCH) can play in informing responses to global challenges and enhancing the sustainable development of coastal zones. This requires recognition of the importance of MCH as a knowledge base amongst marine ocean scientists, policy makers and marine stakeholders on the one hand and a greater effort by marine heritage specialists to engage with the 2030 Agenda on the other. The forthcoming UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) provides an opportunity to engage with the sea more widely but it is argued that the cultural element provided by considering past human action is currently lacking. The importance of understanding human interaction with the sea in terms of gaining a more complete picture of human history is briefly presented and a definition of MCH as all past action in the human zone is given. The article then sets out how MCH can enhance sustainable development in the marine zone with particular reference to SDG14 considering heritage tourism, coastal development and infrastructure, development aid policy, climate change, coastal management, fisheries and the offshore industry. The article highlights that the knowledge and data from MCH should be seen as crucial in evidence-based decision making across the coastal and marine sectors. The paper concludes that the inclusion of MCH approaches in initiatives aiming at coastal and ocean sustainability is not just advisable—it is essentia

Identifying Key Factors Associated with Aggression on Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Wards

Aggressive behaviour is a critical issue for modern acute psychiatric services, not just because of the adverse impact it has on patients and staff, but also because it puts a financial strain on service providers. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of patient violence to other variables: patient characteristics, features of the service and physical environment, patient routines, staff factors, the use of containment methods, and other patient behaviours. A multivariate cross sectional design was utilised. Data were collected for a six month period on 136 acute psychiatric wards in 26 NHS Trusts in England. Multilevel modelling was conducted to ascertain those factors most strongly associated with verbal aggression, aggression toward objects, and physical aggression against others. High levels of aggression were associated with a high proportion of patients formally detained under mental health legislation, high patient turnover, alcohol use by patients, ward doors being locked, and higher staffing numbers (especially qualified nurses). The findings suggest that the imposition of restrictions on patients exacerbates the problem of violence, and that alcohol management strategies may be a productive intervention. Insufficient evidence is available to draw conclusions about the nature of the link between staffing numbers and violence

The Golden Dawn for Wind Ensemble. (Original Composition).

The Golden Dawn is a composition for wind ensemble. The title of the work is taken from a mystical Hermetic order of the same name that flourished in Great Britain at the end of the nineteenth century. Crucial to the dogma of this Rosicrucian brotherhood was the philosophy and symbolism of the Tarot, the pack of seventy-eight cards from which the modern deck of fifty-two playing cards is derived. Though scholars had placed the earliest appearance of the Tarot at around the fourteenth century, the members of the Golden Dawn believed its arcane symbols to have roots that lay deep in antiquity and attributed much astrological and Qabalistic significance to them. The special group of twenty-two Tarot cards called the Major Arcana (which are not used in modern playing decks) were especially important to the members of the Golden Dawn, and it is from six of these cards that the six movements of The Golden Dawn are derived; the Magician, The High Priestess, The Hierophant, The Tower, The Devil and The World. The work proceeds through each movement without pause presenting unique melodic and harmonic material that reflects the mystical meaning of each card. A short, chorale-like succession of chords heard at the beginning of the work appears several times and links the separate movements together. Written in a combination of chromatic and tonal languages, The Golden Dawn exhibits a wedge-like form. After the dramatic first movement (The Magician), the work suddenly reduces its energy within the mysterious second movement (The High Priestess) and slowly and inexorably builds in intensity until reaching a gr and synthesis and climax in the final movement (The World).Ph.D.MusicUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/160620/1/8520844.pd

MISAME

Recordings of Jeffery Bass's Hadron collisions for tape

Diva Meets Divo

Kemp Recital Hall Wednesday Evening April 12, 2000 8:00 p.m

Eliciting Operations Requirements for Applications

Abstract—The DevOps community advocates communication between the operations staff and the development staff as a means of ensuring that the developers understand the issues associated with operations. This paper argues that “communication ” is too vague and that there are a variety of specific and well known sources that developers can examine to determine requirements to support the installation and operations of an application product. These sources include standards, process descriptions, studies about sources of failure in configuration and upgrade, and models that include both product and process. Index Terms—operations processes, applications requirements, devops I

Mate choice in adult female Bengalese finches: females express consistent preferences for individual males and prefer female-directed song performances.

In the process of mate selection by female songbirds, male suitors advertise their quality through reproductive displays in which song plays an important role. Females evaluate the quality of each signal and the associated male, and the results of that evaluation guide expression of selective courtship displays. Some studies reveal broad agreement among females in their preferences for specific signal characteristics, indicating that those features are especially salient in female mate choice. Other studies reveal that females differ in their preference for specific characteristics, indicating that in those cases female evaluation of signal quality is influenced by factors other than simply the physical properties of the signal. Thus, both the physical properties of male signals and specific traits of female signal evaluation can impact female mate choice. Here, we characterized the mate preferences of female Bengalese finches. We found that calls and copulation solicitation displays are equally reliable indicators of female preference. In response to songs from an array of males, each female expressed an individual-specific song preference, and those preferences were consistent across tests spanning many months. Across a population of females, songs of some males were more commonly preferred than others, and females preferred female-directed songs more than undirected songs, suggesting that some song features are broadly attractive. Preferences were indistinguishable for females that did or did not have social experience with the singers, indicating that female preference is strongly directed by song features rather than experiences associated with the singer. Analysis of song properties revealed several candidate parameters that may influence female evaluation. In an initial investigation of those parameters, females could be very selective for one song feature yet not selective for another. Therefore, multiple song parameters are evaluated independently. Together these findings reveal the nature of signal evaluation and mate choice in this species