Integrating eastern philosophy into western psychology: a primer for students of applied psychology

A review of undergraduate texts marketed as providing an introduction to clinical psychology located no chapters devoted to the emerging practice of integrating Eastern philosophy with Western psychological practices. Thus, this paper provides students with a primer of this important emerging area by reviewing cultural differences that challenge the successful integration of Eastern philosophy with Western psychology, before focusing specifically on Taoist philosophy and its implications for Western psychotherapy. The congruence of Taoism with the common factors of Western psychotherapy (i.e., those mechanisms of change thought to transcend theoretical psychotherapy orientation) will be discussed, as will congruence with specific cognitive behavioral therapy factors (i.e., those mechanisms of therapeutic change that are thought to be specific to particular therapeutic orientations). The ties between new third wave cognitive behavioral therapies, primarily Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Taoism will also be discussed

Engineering ClpS for enhanced N-terminal amino acid binding and use in peptide sequencing

As different single-molecule protein sequencing technologies emerge, the need for reagents that can selectively recognized and detect amino acids with high affinity has become apparent. Naturally occurring proteins that function through recognition of amino (N)-terminal amino acids (NAAs), such as the N-end rule pathway adaptor protein ClpS can be engineered for enhanced affinity and specificity to meet this requirement. The native ClpS protein has a high specificity albeit modest affinity for the amino acid Phe at the N-terminus but also recognizes other residues at the N-terminal position. We employed directed evolution methods to select for ClpS variants with enhanced affinity and selectivity for NAAs. In addition, we combined these mutations with rationally designed mutations to improve the thermal stability of the protein. The results and their possible implication to peptide sequencing will be presented. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Towards a Plural History of 'Impact Investing'

Conceived in 2007, ‘impact investing’ is an activity whereby investors intentionally pursue social and/or environmental return alongside financial return. It has attracted increasing interest, including from transnational financial institutions, and proponents offer it as a means to help tackle historically underfunded sustainable development initiatives. The mostly positive reception for impact investing in the literature, however, tends to neglect both the North-South tensions that characterized global financial governance over the previous five decades and the recent emergence of South-South cooperation. Utilizing a critical realist approach, this thesis seeks to interpret the phenomenon of impact investing and understand why it has become popular. I use a framework partially derived from the concept of transnational neopluralism and perform a thematic analysis of written texts about the sector. Though originally nurtured by philanthropic organizations, the results show that impact investing became a central component of a new posture adopted by many Northern governments with respect to developing nations, especially after the 2008 financial crisis. This shift was reinforced by structural economic changes that altered the profit prospects for many transnational corporations based in the North; these included, but were not limited to, a growing emphasis on the management of the environment and natural resources. By connecting the phenomenon to a broader political context, this project adds to the nascent body of academic literature about impact investing and contributes to the institutionalization of the field

Friends of the Public Libraries, Indiana Origins and Outlook

"Where there are friends, there is wealth," wrote Titus Maccius Plaurus more than 2,000 years ago (An Invitation). An advocacy group in Syracuse, N.Y., whose interest lay in the promotion of the welfare of its community's branch libraries and main libraries, took this sentiment to heart when they established their organization in 1922. They called themselves the Friends of Reading of Onondanga County, Inc., and in the process started a Friends of Libraries movement that has resulted in the strengthening of libraries nationwide. Friends of Libraries are very much an influential presence today, providing support for public, university, and special libraries at local, state and national levels

Long-Term Monitoring Of A High-Latitude Coral Reef System Off Southeast Florida, Usa: A Partnership Between Academia And Resource Management

Significant coral reef community development exists along the eastern shelf of the United States from the Dry Tortugas through the Florida Keys (Monroe County) and Southeast (SE) Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Martin Counties). State and county resource managers have partnered with academia to monitor the health of the SE Florida reef system. Since 2000, more than 20 sites have been monitored annually offshore Broward County. Quantitative data includes stony coral species cover, colony size, density, and condition (bleaching, disease, etc.) and gorgonian and sponge density. The SE Florida Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project (SECREMP) was established in 2003 as an expansion of the Florida Keys Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project (CREMP). Thirteen SECREMP sites are monitored annually across the 4 SE Florida counties. The stony coral, gorgonian, sponge, and other functional group cover data collected within the SECREMP sites and the Keys CREMP sites provides status and trend information for the entire Florida reef tract. The SE Florida reef system typically has 2-4% stony coral cover with more than 30 stony coral species and a diverse assemblage of octocoral, sponges, and fishes. Since their inception, monitoring efforts have shown relatively stable levels in stony coral cover and density. However, there have been many impacts to the SE Florida ecosystem resulting from its proximity to the highly developed and urbanized SE Florida coast. These reefs are influenced by many factors including commercial and recreational fishing and diving, major shipping ports, sewer outfalls, ship groundings, and coastal construction activities. SE Florida’s coral reef ecosystems generate $1.1 billion in annual income and support 36,000 jobs in the region. The uniqueness and value of these resources to the community demands sustained cooperative monitoring efforts and increased investigations into limiting environmental/ecological processes

Predictive validity of the UK clinical aptitude test in the final years of medical school:a prospective cohort study

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