Multi-Cultural Expedition into Mindfulness among High School Students

Many international college students know first-hand that striving for academic success can be stressful, especially far apart from the support and comfort of home. In today’s fast paced world, hardly anyone is exempt from stress, and American high school students are no exception. A recent University of California at Los Angeles study discovered that, among 106 secondary school students, the percentage reporting good or above-average high school emotional well-being declined from 55.3 percent in 2009 to 51.9 percent in 2010 (Nauert, 2011). In an attempt to curb this trend, during the fall semester of 2011, a local high school psychology teacher invited the authors of this article to speak with her 4 psychology classes about stress and relaxation as part of a continuing collaboration with Arkansas State University professors of psychology

Semitransparent Perovskite Solar Cells for Building Integrated Photovoltaics: Recent Advances

Perovskite solar cells technology is one of the most advanced and fascinating technologies in the field of photovoltaics due to its low-cost processing and delivering efficient power conversion efficiencies. The ability to become transparent is another prolific property of the perovskite solar cells, which this property has been tried to be exploited in recent times by researchers to serve the environmental and energy needs of human beings. Using this transparency and enabling semitransparent perovskite solar cells (ST-PSCs) to be placed on the windows and rooftops of buildings will reduce room temperature along with fulfilling certain requirements of power needs. This review pays attention to the recent developments in the semitransparent perovskite solar cells from the perspective of the structure of ST PSCs, electrodes and others

Clinical outcomes and response to treatment of patients receiving topical treatments for pyoderma gangrenosum: a prospective cohort study

Background: pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is an uncommon dermatosis with a limited evidence base for treatment. Objective: to estimate the effectiveness of topical therapies in the treatment of PG. Methods: prospective cohort study of UK secondary care patients with a clinical diagnosis of PG suitable for topical treatment (recruited July 2009 to June 2012). Participants received topical therapy following normal clinical practice (mainly Class I-III topical corticosteroids, tacrolimus 0.03% or 0.1%). Primary outcome: speed of healing at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes: proportion healed by 6 months; time to healing; global assessment; inflammation; pain; quality-of-life; treatment failure and recurrence. Results: Sixty-six patients (22 to 85 years) were enrolled. Clobetasol propionate 0.05% was the most commonly prescribed therapy. Overall, 28/66 (43.8%) of ulcers healed by 6 months. Median time-to-healing was 145 days (95% CI: 96 days, ∞). Initial ulcer size was a significant predictor of time-to-healing (hazard ratio 0.94 (0.88;80 1.00); p = 0.043). Four patients (15%) had a recurrence. Limitations: No randomised comparator Conclusion: Topical therapy is potentially an effective first-line treatment for PG that avoids possible side effects associated with systemic therapy. It remains unclear whether more severe disease will respond adequately to topical therapy alone

Varied Clinical Presentations of Congenital Syphilis in Infants: A Case Series of 7 Cases

Congenital Syphilis (CS), also known as mother-to-child transmission of syphilis is caused by Treponema pallidum. Infected pregnant women can transmit the infection vertically to the foetus. Diagnosis of CS can be difficult because more than two-thirds of affected infants remain asymptomatic at birth, and signs may be non-specific or subtle. In this case series, seven cases of CS with varied presentations are described. In cases 1, 2, 6, mothers were screened after the baby was tested positive for Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test. In two cases (Case-4,6), the mothers received inadequate treatment for syphilis antenatally. In the present case series, Case-6 presented with renal manifestations early in the course of the disease, Case-2 had skin manifestations like vesicular lesions and peeling of skin and Case-7 had symptoms suggestive of meningitis. Because of its varied presentations, high index of suspicion is the key to diagnosis and treatment of CS and prognosis. Screening of pregnant women and treating them is the most effective way in preventing CS and its related morbidity and mortality

Risk of tuberculosis with the use of anti-TNF medications in psoriasis: incidence, screening and management

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) plays an important role in containing mycobacterial infections. With the rapidly increasing role of TNF inhibitors in dermatology, tuberculosis (TB) is becoming an important and worrisome concern to dermatologists. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review on the incidence of TB in patients treated with anti-TNF, the variety of TB screening methods, and management of these cases. Various national recommendations have been highlighted. The monoclonal antibodies, infliximab and adalimumab, appear to be more associated with the risk of TB reactivation than the soluble receptor etanercept. Tuberculosis associated with TNF inhibitors, in contrast to classical TB, is more likely to be disseminated, atypical, extra pulmonary, and life threatening. Vigilance for typical and atypical presentations of active TB is mandatory until the end of therapy. Although tuberculin standard test (TST) has been the gold standard for screening of latent TB infection (LTBI) for close to a century, it has several inadequacies and may be unreliable in patients with widespread psoriasis. Interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) with better diagnostic specificity and sensitivity are a promising adjunct to diagnose LTBI at present. Although appropriate screening and treatment of LTBI will lower the risk of reactivation to a great extent, no chemoprophylactic regimen is fully protective