Mindfulness interventions delivered by technology without facilitator involvement : what research exists and what are the clinical outcomes?

New cost-effective psychological interventions are needed to contribute to treatment options for psychiatric and physical health conditions. This systematic review aims to investigate the current literature on one potentially cost-effective form of mindfulness-based therapy, those delivered through technological platforms without any mindfulness facilitator input beyond the initial design of the programme. Three electronic databases (Ovid Medline, PsychINFO and Embase) were searched for relevant keywords, titles, medical subject headings (MeSH) and abstracts using search terms derived from a combination of two subjects: ‘mindfulness’ and ‘technology’. Overall, ten studies were identified. The majority of studies were web-based and similar in structure and content to face-to-face mindfulness-based stress reduction courses. Clinical outcomes of stress (n = 5), depression (n = 6) and anxiety (n = 4) were reported along with mindfulness (n = 4), the supposed mediator of effects. All eight studies that measured significance found at least some significant effects (p .005). However, methodological issues (e.g. selection bias, lack of control group and follow-up) which reflect the early nature of the work mean these largest effects are likely to be representative of maximal rather than average effects. Whilst there are important differences in the construction, length and delivery of interventions, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about the most effective models. Suggestions of key characteristics are made though, needing further investigation preferably in standardised interventions. Given the existing research and the speed at which technology is making new platforms and tools available, it seems important that further research explores two parallel lines: first, refinement and thorough evaluation of already established technology-based mindfulness programmes and second, exploration of novel approaches to mindfulness training that combine the latest technological advances with the knowledge and skills of experienced meditation teachers.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The influence of infant irritability on maternal sensitivity in a sample of very premature infants

The relationship between maternal sensitivity and infant irritability was investigated in a short-term longitudinal study of 29 very preterm infants. Infant irritability was assessed at term with the Brazelton NBAS, the Mother and Baby Scales (MABS) and the Crying Pattern Questionnaire (CPQ). Maternal sensitivity was assessed by nurses' ratings in the neonatal care unit and at three months during motherinfant interaction observation. Cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that neonatal irritability did not influence sensitivity at 3 months nor did maternal sensitivity in the newborn period lead to reduced irritability at 3 months. Both irritability and maternal sensitivity showed moderate stability over time (r=.55 and r=.60, respectively). It is concluded that in early infancy maternal sensitivity shows little influence on infant irritability in very preterm infants

Persistent Asymmetric Structure of Sagittarius A^* on Event Horizon Scales

The Galactic Center black hole Sagittarius A^* (Sgr A^*) is a prime observing target for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which can resolve the 1.3 mm emission from this source on angular scales comparable to that of the general relativistic shadow. Previous EHT observations have used visibility amplitudes to infer the morphology of the millimeter-wavelength emission. Potentially much richer source information is contained in the phases. We report on 1.3 mm phase information on Sgr A^* obtained with the EHT on a total of 13 observing nights over four years. Closure phases, which are the sum of visibility phases along a closed triangle of interferometer baselines, are used because they are robust against phase corruptions introduced by instrumentation and the rapidly variable atmosphere. The median closure phase on a triangle including telescopes in California, Hawaii, and Arizona is nonzero. This result conclusively demonstrates that the millimeter emission is asymmetric on scales of a few Schwarzschild radii and can be used to break 180° rotational ambiguities inherent from amplitude data alone. The stability of the sign of the closure phase over most observing nights indicates persistent asymmetry in the image of Sgr A^* that is not obscured by refraction due to interstellar electrons along the line of sight

Forensic Tournament Management via Computer Program

With the increased emphasis on individual events at college forensic tournaments, both high school and college tournaments have become extremely difficult to manage manually. The shift has been to computer managed tournaments, and the reasons for this are as varied as they are valid

An Examination of Frequent Emergency Department Use and Emergency Department Reliance among OIF/OEF Veterans

Frequent emergency department (ED) use has been studied for decades but frequent ED user subgroups have not been adequately studied, classified, and validated by the research community so designing clear, focused policies have remained problematic. This study used a cross-sectional design, using secondary data obtained from national Veteran Health Administration’s (VHA) administrative databases for fiscal years 2010- 2011 in order to inform and enhance the VHA’s understanding about frequent ED users among the Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veteran group through the classification of distinct subgroups within the frequent ED user group including examining factors that explain variation in ED utilization among OIF/OEF veterans, address whether using Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) secondary data sources can classify distinct subgroups within a frequent ED user population, and determine if prior fiscal year ED utilization and associated factors can be used to predict future ED utilization. Using counts of ED visits as the dependent variable, results indicated that 5.2% of all ED OEF/OIF veteran users could be considered frequent ED users which is in alignment with previous studies. The adapted model of Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use was adept at selecting predisposing, enabling, and need variables for our predictive models with a Zero-inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) regression model. Results showed that veterans over 30 years of age within the OEF/OIF cohort had significant decreased odds of having another ED visit compared to the younger under 30 group. Compared to Whites, Blacks or African Americans were the only race group found to be significantly more likely to have increased numbers of ED visits. However, the final ZINB predictive regression model was unable to accurately predict future year utilization using only one prior year’s utilization and associated factors. Three distinct subgroups within ED users were identified, classified and characterized in this study: The Low ED-use/Low EDR subgroup constituted the majority of the sample, Based on primary care use, this subgroup has a primary care physician but never use the ED except in rare circumstances when they find themselves in the ED due to a traumatic event such as a broken bone, car accident or other type of true emergency; The Low EDuse/High EDR subgroup, which consisted of veterans who based on primary care use also have a primary care physician who helps them manage a chronic illness such as Asthma or Diabetes but had an incident where their chronic illness gets out of control after business hours and requires a trip to the ED for care. The High ED-use/High EDR subgroup consisted of those veterans who based on primary care use may or may not have a primary care physician and appear to use the ED as a source of usual care or as a method to access the VA system in order to obtain pain medications, care for their physical needs, or counseling for mental health needs since all of these services are in high demand within the VA system and often difficult to gain access to these services in a timely manner

Matching times of leading and following suggest cooperation through direct reciprocity during V-formation flight in ibis

One conspicuous feature of several larger bird species is their annual migration in V-shaped or echelon formation. When birds are flying in these formations, energy savings can be achieved by using the aerodynamic up-wash produced by the preceding bird. As the leading bird in a formation cannot profit from this up-wash, a social dilemma arises around the question of who is going to fly in front? To investigate how this dilemma is solved, we studied the flight behavior of a flock of juvenile Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) during a human-guided autumn migration. We could show that the amount of time a bird is leading a formation is strongly correlated with the time it can itself profit from flying in the wake of another bird. On the dyadic level, birds match the time they spend in the wake of each other by frequent pairwise switches of the leading position. Taken together, these results suggest that bald ibis cooperate by directly taking turns in leading a formation. On the proximate level, we propose that it is mainly the high number of iterations and the immediacy of reciprocation opportunities that favor direct reciprocation. Finally, we found evidence that the animals' propensity to reciprocate in leading has a substantial influence on the size and cohesion of the flight formations

PassNote: A Feedback Tool for Improving Student Success Outcomes

When Purdue University faculty asked for assistance in composing feedback messages to students, Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP) developed PassNote, a feedback tool that integrates good practice into the process of providing formative assessments. PassNote gives faculty customizable feedback prompts (snippets) and lets them connect students with information and links to services such as tutoring,Supplemental Instruction, library resources, technology tools, and workshops. PassNote message starters are often incomplete, allowing instructors to include course-specific information such as office hours and departmental resources

Experimental evaluation into novel, low cost, modular PEMFC stack

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)The Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), despite being regarded as an ideal replacement to the internal combustion engine, is still not an economically attractive pri-mover due to a number of key challenges that have yet to be fully resolved; some of which include degradation to cell components resulting in inadequate lifetimes, specialised and costly manufacturing processes and poor gravimetric/volumetric energy densities. This paper presents a novel stack concept which removes the conventional bi polar plate (BPP), a component that is responsible for up to 80% of total stack weight and 90+% of stack volume in some designs. The removal of said component not only improves the volumetric and gravimetric energy density of the PEMFC stack but drastically reduces the cost of the stack by removing all costly manufacturing processes associated with PEMFC component machining while the functionality of the traditional BPP is still retained by the unique stack design. The stack architecture is first presented and then the characterisation of the PEMFC is shown over a wide range of operating scenarios. The experimental studies suggest that the performance of the new design is comparable to that of traditional stacks but at significantly less cost price.Final Published versio

A correlational study of building principal emotional intelligence and the connection to academic achievement

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on August 22, 2012Dissertation advisor: Jennifer FriendVitaIncludes bibliographic references (p. 180-191)Thesis (Ed.D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012While student achievement is only one indicator of a building principal's effectiveness, it is widely considered to be one of the most important. This is especially true in regard to the current climate of accountability surrounding education. Multiple studies have yielded results concerning the behaviors and characteristics of building principals who are effective at increasing student achievement. However, many of these studies have not been able to show a direct and substantial connection between specific behaviors or traits and student achievement. The definition of emotional intelligence provided by Salovey and Mayer (1990) can be interpreted to encompass a range of these previously studied abilities under the umbrella of a distinct intelligence. This study incorporated the use of a hierarchical regression model, in order to determine the amount of variance in student achievement that can be accounted for by a principal's measured emotional intelligence or EQ. The use of EQ as an omnibus test of principal traits has the potential to inform both pre-service training for aspiring principals and professional development for current administrators. Results of this study indicate that there is a small, but statistically significant effect of a building principal's emotional intelligence on student achievement in the areas of communication arts and mathematics.Introduction -- Review of Literature -- Methodology -- Results -- Implications, limitations, and future research -- Appendix A. Letter to district level personnel -- Appendix B. Letter to potential study participants -- Appendix C. Informed consent study participant form -- Appendix D. Demographic data collection sheet for study participants -- Appendix E. SSIRB approva