Effects of Yoga on Perceived Stress Level and Cognitive Ability in College-Aged Females

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if perceived stress levels and response inhibition scores (measure of cognitive function) differ in female college students who regularly participate in yoga compared to female college students who do not. Methods: College-aged females ranging from 19-24 years of age were recruited to participate in this study. Subjects filled out a personal information sheet followed by a perceived stress level questionnaire to measure the amount of yoga each participant performed and assess their perceived stress level, respectively. Response inhibition and accuracy (cognitive function) were measured via a computerized Stroop Effect test consisting of three modules. The research project implemented a cross-sectional design, with the independent variable being past yoga experience (no previous experience & regular yoga participation) and the dependent variables being perceived stress level and response inhibition (speed & accuracy) score of the Stroop Effect test. Significance was accepted at p ≤0.05. Results: An independent t-test revealed that there were no differences in average reaction time or percent accuracy between yogis and novice yogis. The difference between average perceived stress scores (PSS) in advanced versus novice yogis was approaching significance (p ≤ 0.06). The PSS for novice yogis was 17.28 ± 4.20 while that for advanced yogis was 21.59 ± 7.96. Conclusion: The study concludes that yogis reported higher PSS compared to non-yogis; however, there was no significant difference in cognitive ability between the groups. Future studies should seek to further investigate various measures of cognitive abilities in these populations. Furthermore, more research should be implemented to discern the true effects of yoga on an individual’s perceived stress level

Detection and quantification of CO2 seepage in seawater using the stoichiometric Cseep method:Results from a recent subsea CO2 release experiment in the North Sea

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a potential significant mitigation strategy to combat climate change and ocean acidification. The technology is well understood but its current implementation must be scaled up nearly by a hundredfold to become an effective tool that helps meet mitigation targets. Regulations require monitoring and verification at storage sites, and reliable monitoring strategies for detection and quantification of seepage of the stored carbon need to be developed. The Cseep method was developed for reliable determination of CO2 seepage signal in seawater by estimating and filtering out natural variations in dissolved inorganic carbon (C). In this work, we analysed data from the first-ever subsea CO2 release experiment performed in the north-western North Sea by the EU STEMM−CCS project. We successfully demonstrated the ability of the Cseep method to (i) predict natural C variations around the Goldeneye site over seasonal to interannual time scales; (ii) establish a process-based baseline C concentration with minimal variability; (iii) determine CO2 seepage detection threshold (DT) to reliably differentiate released−CO2 signal from natural variability and quantify released−CO2 dissolved in the sampled seawater. DT values were around 20 % of the natural C variations indicating high sensitivity of the method. Moreover, with the availability of DT value, the identification of released−CO2 required no pre-knowledge of seepage occurrence, but we used additional available information to assess the confidence of the results. Overall, the Cseep method features high sensitivity, automation suitability, and represents a powerful future monitoring tool both for large and confined marine areas

Self-Collected Mid-Turbinate Swabs for the Detection of Respiratory Viruses in Adults with Acute Respiratory Illnesses

BACKGROUND: The gold standard for respiratory virus testing is a nasopharyngeal (NP) swab, which is collected by a healthcare worker. Midturbinate (MT) swabs are an alternative due to their ease of collection and possible self-collection by patients. The objective of this study was to compare the respiratory virus isolation of flocked MT swabs compared to flocked NP swabs. METHODS: Beginning in October 2008, healthy adults aged 18 to 69 years were recruited into a cohort and followed up for symptoms of influenza. They were asked to have NP and MT swabs taken as soon as possible after the onset of a fever or two or more respiratory symptoms with an acute onset. The swabs were tested for viral respiratory infections using Seeplex® RV12 multiplex PCR detection kit. Seventy six pairs of simultaneous NP and MT swabs were collected from 38 symptomatic subjects. Twenty nine (38%) of these pairs were positive by either NP or MT swabs or both. Sixty nine (91%) of the pair results were concordant. Two samples (3%) for hCV OC43/HKU1 and 1 sample (1%) for rhinovirus A/B were positive by NP but negative by MT. One sample each for hCV 229E/NL63, hCV OC43/HKU1, respiratory syncytial virus A, and influenza B were positive by MT but negative by NP. CONCLUSIONS: Flocked MT swabs are sensitive for the diagnosis of multiple respiratory viruses. Given the ease of MT collection and similar results between the two swabs, it is likely that MT swabs should be the preferred method of respiratory cell collection for outpatient studies. In light of this data, larger studies should be performed to ensure that this still holds true and data should also be collected on the patient preference of collection methods

Extensive soot compaction by cloud processing from laboratory and field observations

Soot particles form during combustion of carbonaceous materials and impact climate and air quality. When freshly emitted, they are typically fractal-like aggregates. After atmospheric aging, they can act as cloud condensation nuclei, and water condensation or evaporation restructure them to more compact aggregates, affecting their optical, aerodynamic, and surface properties. Here we survey the morphology of ambient soot particles from various locations and different environmental and aging conditions. We used electron microscopy and show extensive soot compaction after cloud processing. We further performed laboratory experiments to simulate atmospheric cloud processing under controlled conditions. We find that soot particles sampled after evaporating the cloud droplets, are significantly more compact than freshly emitted and interstitial soot, confirming that cloud processing, not just exposure to high humidity, compacts soot. Our findings have implications for how the radiative, surface, and aerodynamic properties, and the fate of soot particles are represented in numerical models

Extensive Soot Compaction by Cloud Processing from Laboratory and Field Observations

Soot particles form during combustion of carbonaceous materials and impact climate and air quality. When freshly emitted, they are typically fractal-like aggregates. After atmospheric aging, they can act as cloud condensation nuclei, and water condensation or evaporation restructure them to more compact aggregates, affecting their optical, aerodynamic, and surface properties. Here we survey the morphology of ambient soot particles from various locations and different environmental and aging conditions. We used electron microscopy and show extensive soot compaction after cloud processing. We further performed laboratory experiments to simulate atmospheric cloud processing under controlled conditions. We find that soot particles sampled after evaporating the cloud droplets, are significantly more compact than freshly emitted and interstitial soot, confirming that cloud processing, not just exposure to high humidity, compacts soot. Our findings have implications for how the radiative, surface, and aerodynamic properties, and the fate of soot particles are represented in numerical models.Peer reviewe

Characterization of the relationship between integrase, excisionase and antirepressor activities associated with a superinfecting Shiga toxin encoding bacteriophage

Shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli emerged as new food borne pathogens in the early 1980s, primarily driven by the dispersal of Shiga toxin-encoding lambdoid bacteriophages. At least some of these Stx phages display superinfection phenotypes, which differ significantly from lambda phage itself, driving through in situ recombination further phage evolution, increasing host range and potentially increasing the host's pathogenic profile. Here, increasing levels of Stx phage Φ24B integrase expression in multiple lysogen cultures are demonstrated along with apparently negligible repression of integrase expression by the cognate CI repressor. The Φ24B int transcription start site and promoter region were identified and found to differ from in silico predictions. The unidirectional activity of this integrase was determined in an in situ, inducible tri-partite reaction. This indicated that Φ24B must encode a novel directionality factor that is controlling excision events during prophage induction. This excisionase was subsequently identified and characterized through complementation experiments. In addition, the previous proposal that a putative antirepressor was responsible for the lack of immunity to superinfection through inactivation of CI has been revisited and a new hypothesis involving the role of this protein in promoting efficient induction of the Φ24B prophage is proposed

Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students

Aims To investigate physical activity levels of nursing and medicine students; examine predictors of physical activity level; and examine the most influential benefits and barriers to exercise. Background Healthcare professionals have low levels of physical activity, which increases their health risk and may influence their health promotion practices with patients. Design We surveyed 361 nursing (n=193) and medicine (n=168) students studying at a UK medical school. Methods Questionnaire survey, active over 12 months in 2014-2015. Measures included physical activity level, benefits and barriers to exercise, social support, perceived stress and self-efficacy for exercise. Results Many nursing and medicine students did not achieve recommended levels of physical activity (nursing: 48%; medicine: 38%). Perceived benefits of exercise were health-related, with medicine students identifying additional benefits for stress-relief. Most notable barriers to exercise were: lack of time, facilities having inconvenient schedules and exercise not fitting around study or placement schedules. Nursing students were less active than medicine students; they perceived fewer benefits and more barriers to exercise and reported lower social support for exercise. Physical activity of nursing and medicine students was best predicted by self-efficacy and social support, explaining 35% of the variance. Conclusion Physical activity should be promoted in nursing and medicine students. Interventions should aim to build self-efficacy for exercise and increase social support. Interventions should be developed that are targeted specifically to shift-working frontline care staff, to reduce schedule-related barriers to exercise and increase accessibility to workplace health and wellbeing initiatives