Coping with stress in medical students: results of a randomized controlled trial using a mindfulness-based stress prevention training (MediMind) in Germany

BACKGROUND: High prevalence rates of psychological distress in medical training and later professional life indicate a need for prevention. Different types of intervention were shown to have good effects, but little is known about the relative efficacy of different types of stress management interventions, and methodological limitations have been reported. In order to overcome some of these limitations, the present study aimed at evaluating the effect of a specifically developed mindfulness-based stress prevention training for medical students (MediMind) on measures of distress, coping and psychological morbidity. METHODS: We report on a prospective randomized controlled trial with three study conditions: experimental treatment (MediMind), standard treatment (Autogenic Training) and a control group without treatment. The sample consisted of medical or dental students in the second or eighth semester. They completed self-report questionnaires at baseline, after the training and at one year follow-up. Distress (Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress, TICS) was assessed as the primary outcome and coping (Brief COPE) as a co-primary outcome. Effects on the psychological morbidity (Brief Symptom Inventory, BSI) as a secondary outcome were expected one year after the trainings. RESULTS: Initially, N = 183 students were randomly allocated to the study groups. At one year follow-up N = 80 could be included into the per-protocol analysis: MediMind (n =31), Autogenic Training (n = 32) and control group (n = 17). A selective drop-out for students who suffered more often from psychological symptoms was detected (p = .020). MANCOVA’s on TICS and Brief COPE revealed no significant interaction effects. On the BSI, a significant overall interaction effect became apparent (p = .002, η2partial = .382), but post hoc analyses were not significant. Means of the Global Severity Index (BSI) indicated that MediMind may contribute to a decrease in psychological morbidity. CONCLUSION: Due to the high and selective dropout rates, the results cannot be generalized and further research is necessary. Since the participation rate of the trainings was high, a need for further prevention programs is indicated. The study gives important suggestions on further implementation and evaluation of stress prevention in medical schools. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial is recorded at German Clinical Trials Register under the number DRKS00005354 (08.11.2013)

Radiations and male fertility

During recent years, an increasing percentage of male infertility has to be attributed to an array of environmental, health and lifestyle factors. Male infertility is likely to be affected by the intense exposure to heat and extreme exposure to pesticides, radiations, radioactivity and other hazardous substances. We are surrounded by several types of ionizing and non-ionizing radiations and both have recognized causative effects on spermatogenesis. Since it is impossible to cover all types of radiation sources and their biological effects under a single title, this review is focusing on radiation deriving from cell phones, laptops, Wi-Fi and microwave ovens, as these are the most common sources of non-ionizing radiations, which may contribute to the cause of infertility by exploring the effect of exposure to radiofrequency radiations on the male fertility pattern. From currently available studies it is clear that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) have deleterious effects on sperm parameters (like sperm count, morphology, motility), affects the role of kinases in cellular metabolism and the endocrine system, and produces genotoxicity, genomic instability and oxidative stress. This is followed with protective measures for these radiations and future recommendations. The study concludes that the RF-EMF may induce oxidative stress with an increased level of reactive oxygen species, which may lead to infertility. This has been concluded based on available evidences from in vitro and in vivo studies suggesting that RF-EMF exposure negatively affects sperm quality

DNA fingerprinting of closely related cultivars of sweet cherry

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were evaluated in an effort to reliably DNA fingerprint sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars and advanced selections from the breeding program at the Summerland Research and Development Center (Summerland, BC, Canada). SSR markers were found that differentiated the 35 cultivars and selections tested. However, groups of cultivars closely related to the parental cultivars, Lapins and Sweetheart, were differentiated by only a few SSR markers each. These last few markers were discovered by specifically screening within these small groups of cultivars and the resulting markers had lower discriminating power (Dj) statistics within the full set of 35 cultivars and selections. To further characterize the differences in one of these closely related groups, SNP markers were identified in the cultivar Sweetheart and an analysis was made of how these markers segregated into three of its open-pollinated progeny. Large blocks of the ‘Sweetheart’ genome (34%) did not contain informative SNP markers, which was consistent with its ancestry where the cultivar Van is both a parent and grandparent. The three progeny cultivars differed from ‘Sweetheart’ at 14%, 31%, and 29% of the 3011 SNP positions tested. These were located in blocks of linked haplotypes covering from 2.5 to 20 million bps each and were distinct for the three cultivars. The cultivar Staccato®, which required the most effort for SSR marker discrimination, also had the lowest number of SNP position differences from ‘Sweetheart’ (14%). These informative SNP markers were located in only five small regions of the sweet cherry genome, which also contained the discriminating SSR markers and provides an explanation for the difficulty of locating SSR markers for this cultivar. In addition to clearly differentiating these cultivars, this SNP analysis shows the level of variation expected within this closely related group. © 2018, American Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved

Comparison of the use of zeolite and perlite as substrate for crisp-head lettuce

WOS: 000232737700002This research was carried out to assess the effects of zeolite and perlite on growth and nutrient status of lettuce plants and the amount of waste elements. The trials were done in a PE covered tunnel during autumn and spring seasons. Plant material was Lactuca sativa var. capitata, and the cultivars Bombola and Brogan were used for autumn and spring seasons, respectively. Five different growing media based on perlite and clinoptilolite, a kind of zeolite, mixed at different ratios (1 + 0, 3 + 1, 1 + 1, 1 + 3, 0 + 1, v/v) were tested. It was concluded that the use of zeolite led to increased plant growth, higher N and K contents in plant tissues and to reduced K leaching. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Genetic diversity analysis of Hericium isolates by ISSR and SRAP markers

Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) and Sequence-Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) markers were applied for genomic fingerprinting of 8 Hericium isolates of Turkey and American origin. The ISSR, SRAP and combined ISSR/SRAP analyses based dendrograms were generated by the UPGMA method. Fifteen ISSR primers amplified a total of 154 bands of which 151 (97.4%) were polymorphic, whereas 16 SRAP primer combinations amplified 164 bands of which 156 (95.1%) were polymorphic. All the Hericium isolates analyzed was divided into three major clusters and H. americanum independently located on the one cluster in all dendograms. The dendrograms indicated a clear pattern of clustering and the 8 Hericium isolates showed significant differences suggesting that they were far to each other in genetic relation. These results demonstrated that both methods were highly effective for discriminating among species and strains of Hericium. Finally, to our knowledge, this is the first application of ISSR and SRAP markers on the systematics of Hericium isolates and these findings would benefit future research in Hericium spp. © 2018, Slovak University of Agriculture

The use of organic manure for iceberg lettuce plants grown in substrates

International Symposium on the Horizons of Using Organic Matter and Substrates in Horticulture -- APR 06-09, 2002 -- CAIRO, EGYPTWOS: 000185090200006This research was carried out to compare inorganic nutrient solution as traditional hydroponic nutrition method with organic manure in substrate culture. The experiment was designed according to the split-split-plot design with 3 replicatees. Main plots, subplots and sub-subplots were assigned to nutrition methods (1. inorganic nutrient solution, 2. organic manure), substrates (1. perlite + clinoptilolite, 1:1; 2. perlite + clinoptilolite, 3:1; 3. tuff + clinoptilolite, 1:1; tuff + clinoptilolite, 3:1, v/v), and iceberg lettuce cultivars (1.Bombola, 2.Gloria), respectively. Cow manure was used as the source of organic manure and mixed to substrate before planting at 200 g per plant. During the growing season, only water was applied to the plants in organic manure treatment, whereas complete nutrient solution was applied to control plants daily via drip irrigation system. Chemical content of complete nutrient solution was as follows (mg/l): N 150, P 50, K 150, Mg 50, Ca 150, Fe 5, Mn 0.5, Cu 0.03, Zn 0.05, B 0.5 and Mo 0.02. Results showed that there were no significant difference between nutrition methods in respect to earliness and plant growth. It was concluded that organic manure could be used as a complete feeding source for iceberg lettuce production in perlite and tuff based media. Organic nutrition was evaluated as an environmentally sound method since it reduced element contents in drained out solution. Differences between substrates were not statistically significant in respect to plant growth. It was determined that using the substrate containing clinoptilolite at higher ratio resulted in lower concentrations of K and higher concentrations of Na in drained out solution.ISH