1,038 research outputs found
On right conjugacy closed loops of twice prime order
The right conjugacy closed loops of order 2p, where p is an odd prime, are
classified up to isomorphism.Comment: Clarified definitions, added some remarks and a tabl
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care
BACKGROUND: Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an 8-week course developed for patients with relapsing depression that integrates mindfulness meditation practices and cognitive theory. Previous studies have demonstrated that non-depressed participants with a history of relapsing depression are protected from relapse by participating in the course. This exploratory study examined the acceptability and effectiveness of MBCT for patients in primary care with active symptoms of depression and anxiety METHODS: 13 patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety were recruited to take part in the study. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted three months after completing the MBCT programme. A framework approach was used to analyse the data. Beck depression inventories (BDI-II) and Beck anxiety inventories (BAI) provided quantitative data and were administered before and three months after the intervention. RESULTS: The qualitative data indicated that mindfulness training was both acceptable and beneficial to the majority of patients. For many of the participants, being in a group was an important normalising and validating experience. However most of the group believed the course was too short and thought that some form of follow up was essential. More than half the patients continued to apply mindfulness techniques three months after the course had ended. A minority of patients continued to experience significant levels of psychological distress, particularly anxiety. Statistically significant reductions in mean depression and anxiety scores were observed; the mean pre-course depression score was 35.7 and post-course score was 17.8 (p = 0.001). A similar reduction was noted for anxiety with a mean pre-course anxiety score of 32.0 and mean post course score of 20.5 (p = 0.039). Overall 8/11 (72%) patients showed improvements in BDI and 7/11 (63%) patients showed improvements in BAI. In general the results of the qualitative analysis agreed well with the quantitative changes in depression and anxiety reported. CONCLUSION: The results of this exploratory mixed methods study suggest that mindfulness based cognitive therapy may have a role to play in treating active depression and anxiety in primary care
Revealing the footprints of squark gluino production through Higgs search experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at 7 TeV and 14 TeV
The invariant mass distribution of the di-photons from the decay of the
lighter scalar Higgs boson(h) to be carefully measured by dedicated h search
experiments at the LHC may be distorted by the di-photons associated with the
squark-gluino events with much larger cross sections in Gauge Mediated
Supersymmetry Breaking (GMSB) models. This distortion if observed by the
experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at 7 TeV or 14 TeV, would disfavour
not only the standard model but various two Higgs doublet models with
comparable h - masses and couplings but without a sector consisting of new
heavy particles decaying into photons. The minimal GMSB (mGMSB) model
constrained by the mass bound on h from LEP and that on the lightest neutralino
from the Tevatron, produce negligible effects. But in the currently popular
general GMSB(GGMSB) models the tail of the above distribution may show
statistically significant excess of events even in the early stages of the LHC
experiments with integrated luminosity insufficient for the discovery of h. We
illustrate the above points by introducing several benchmark points in various
GMSB models - minimal as well as non-minimal. The same conclusion follows from
a detailed parameter scan in a simplified GGMSB model recently employed by the
CMS collaboration to interpret their searches in the di-photon + \etslash
channel. Other observables like the effective mass distribution of the
di-photon + X events may also reveal the presence of new heavy particles beyond
the Higgs sector. The contamination of the h mass peak and simple remedies are
also discussed.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, title and organization of the paper is changed,
detailed parameter scan in a simplified GGMSB model is added, conclusions and
old numerical results remain unchange
The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Memory for Positively and Negatively Valenced Stimuli
A core component of mindfulness is non-judgmental observation of internal and external stimuli. The present study investigated the effect of mindfulness on memory for emotional stimuli. Participants were exposed to a brief mindfulness intervention and subsequently performed a verbal learning test consisting of positive, neutral, and negative words. Control participants received no intervention and directly performed the verbal learning test. After 20 min, participants recalled as many words as possible. Participants in the mindfulness condition remembered a significantly lower proportion of negative words compared to control participants. No differences between both groups were observed for the proportion of remembered positive words. These findings suggest that memory processes may be a potential mechanism underlying the link between mindfulness and subjective well-being
Mindfulness as a General Ingredient of Successful Psychotherapy
In this chapter I present a psychological conceptualization of mindfulness based on constructs in common therapeutic parlance. Taking a functional approach based on the skills and recognitions patients gain from the exercises commonly used in mindfulness training and avoiding exotic and cryptic language, it makes apparent both the commonality mindfulness has with modalities therapists will be already using in their clinical practice and the ways in which it may add something new and therapeutically useful. It also describes the evolutionary pressures that have shaped the biological imperatives driving the default movements of attention that result in day-to-day experience being experienced as less than pleasant; defaults that result in both the need for, and the challenge of cultivating mindfulness. So, while the instructions and narrative within which these principles are introduced into therapy will need to be adapted to the patient’s background and circumstances, an understanding and grounding in the principles enables the therapist both to skillfully make these adaptations to the training exercises and to make them immediately sensible to the patient, including the challenges they will meet in getting started
Higgs decay with monophoton + MET signature from low scale supersymmetry breaking
We study the decay of a standard model-like Higgs boson into a gravitino and
a neutralino, which subsequently decays promptly into another gravitino and a
photon. Such a decay can be important in scenarios where the supersymmetry
breaking scale is of the order of a few TeV, and in the region of low
transverse momenta of the photon, it may provide the dominant contribution to
the final state with a photon and two gravitinos. We estimate the relevant
standard model backgrounds and the prospects for discovering this Higgs decay
through a photon and missing transverse energy signal at the LHC in terms of a
simplified model. We also give an explicit model with manifest, but
spontaneously broken, supersymmetry in which the usual MSSM soft terms are
promoted to supersymmetric operators involving a dynamical goldstino
supermultiplet. This model can give rise to a SM-like CP-even neutral Higgs
particle with a mass of 125 GeV, without requiring substantial radiative
corrections, and with couplings sufficiently large for a signal discovery
through the above mentioned Higgs decay channel with the upcoming data from the
LHC.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables; v2: updated to JHEP version,
references adde
Diagnosing Spin at the LHC via Vector Boson Fusion
We propose a new technique for determining the spin of new massive particles
that might be discovered at the Large Hadron Collider. The method relies on
pair-production of the new particles in a kinematic regime where the vector
boson fusion production mechanism is enhanced. For this regime, we show that
the distribution of the leading jets as a function of their relative azimuthal
angle can be used to distinguish spin-0 from spin-1/2 particles. We illustrate
this effect by considering the particular cases of (i) strongly-interacting,
stable particles and (ii) supersymmetric particles carrying color charge. We
argue that this method should be applicable in a wide range of new physics
scenarios.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Psychometric properties of the Dutch Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) in patients with fibromyalgia
Mindfulness-based interventions are increasingly being used in clinical populations to reduce psychological distress and improve functioning. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is a questionnaire that measures five facets of mindfulness: observe, describe, actaware, nonjudge and nonreact. The goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the FFMQ in a clinical population of fibromyalgia patients. A total of 141 patients completed an online questionnaire on mindfulness (FFMQ) and theoretically related (e.g. acceptance, openness, alexithymia) and unrelated (physical health) constructs. Thirty-eight patients filled in the FFMQ twice. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the five-factor structure of the FFMQ. Internal consistency and test–retest reliability were respectively assessed with Cronbach’s α and intraclass correlation coefficients. Construct validity was examined by correlating FFMQ facets with theoretically related and unrelated constructs. Incremental validity in predicting mental health and psychological symptoms was examined with regression analyses. CFA confirmed the correlated five-factor structure of the FFMQ. Internal consistency of the five facets was satisfactory and test–retest reliability was good to excellent. Construct validity was excellent, as shown by the moderate to large correlations with related constructs (except observe facet) and weak correlation with a theoretically unrelated construct. Two of the five facets (actaware and nonjudge) had incremental validity over the others in predicting mental health and psychological symptoms. After controlling for related constructs, the actaware facet remained a significant predictor. This study showed satisfactory psychometric properties of the Dutch FFMQ in fibromyalgia patients. The observe facet, however, should be used with caution given its deviant relationship with theoretically related constructs
A randomized controlled pilot study of a brief web-based mindfulness training
Background: Mindfulness has been shown to be effective in treating various medical and mental problems. Especially its incorporation in cognitive-behavioural interventions has improved long-term outcomes of those treatments. It has also been shown, that brief mindfulness-based trainings are effective in reducing distress. There have been few web-based interventions incorporating mindfulness techniques in their manual and it remains unclear whether a brief web-based mindfulness intervention is feasible.
Methods: Out of 50 adults (different distress levels; exclusion criteria: < 18 years, indication of psychotic or suicidal ideation in screening) who were recruited via e-mail and screened online, 49 were randomized into an immediate 2-weeks-treatment group (N = 28) or a waitlist-control group (N = 21), starting with a 2-week delay. Distress (BSI), perceived stress (PSQ), mindfulness (FMI), as well as mood and emotion regulation (PANAS/SEK-27) were measured at pre-, post- and 3-month follow-up (3MFU). Intention-to-treat analyses using MI for missing data and per-protocol analyses (≥ 50% attendance) were performed.
Results: 26 participants of the treatment group completed post-measures. Most measures under ITT-analysis revealed no significant improvement for the treatment group, but trends with medium effect sizes for PSQ (d = 0.46) and PANASneg (d = 0.50) and a small, non-significant effect for FMI (d = 0.29). Per-protocol analyses for persons who participated over 50% of the time revealed significant treatment effects for PSQ (d = 0.72) and PANASneg (d = 0.77). Comparing higher distressed participants with lower distressed participants, highly distressed participants seemed to profit more of the training in terms of distress reduction (GSI, d = 0.85). Real change (RCI) occurred for PSQ in the treatment condition (OR = 9). Results also suggest that participants continued to benefit from the training at 3MFU.
Conclusion: This study of a brief web-based mindfulness training indicates that mindfulness can be taught online and may improve distress, perceived stress and negative affect for regular users. Although there were no significant improvements, but trends, for most measures under ITT, feasibility of such a program was demonstrated and also that persons continued to use techniques of the training in daily life
Yukawa Unification and the Superpartner Mass Scale
Naturalness in supersymmetry (SUSY) is under siege by increasingly stringent
LHC constraints, but natural electroweak symmetry breaking still remains the
most powerful motivation for superpartner masses within experimental reach. If
naturalness is the wrong criterion then what determines the mass scale of the
superpartners? We motivate supersymmetry by (1) gauge coupling unification, (2)
dark matter, and (3) precision b-tau Yukawa unification. We show that for an
LSP that is a bino-Higgsino admixture, these three requirements lead to an
upper-bound on the stop and sbottom masses in the several TeV regime because
the threshold correction to the bottom mass at the superpartner scale is
required to have a particular size. For tan beta about 50, which is needed for
t-b-tau unification, the stops must be lighter than 2.8 TeV when A_t has the
opposite sign of the gluino mass, as is favored by renormalization group
scaling. For lower values of tan beta, the top and bottom squarks must be even
lighter. Yukawa unification plus dark matter implies that superpartners are
likely in reach of the LHC, after the upgrade to 14 (or 13) TeV, independent of
any considerations of naturalness. We present a model-independent, bottom-up
analysis of the SUSY parameter space that is simultaneously consistent with
Yukawa unification and the hint for m_h = 125 GeV. We study the flavor and dark
matter phenomenology that accompanies this Yukawa unification. A large portion
of the parameter space predicts that the branching fraction for B_s to mu^+
mu^- will be observed to be significantly lower than the SM value.Comment: 34 pages plus appendices, 20 figure
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