Phenomenology of spiritual experience

The purpose of this study was to describe the phenomenon of spiritual experience in the lives of contemporary persons. Using phenomenological interview procedures, twelve participants were asked to describe when they were aware of or felt spiritual. Results of the present study indicate that spiritual experiences are located within the realm of everyday human experience, involving the existential grounds of others, world, body, and time. The present thematic descriptions are based on a rigorous hermeneutical analysis of phenomenological interviews covering this topic without a priori assumptions. Data were analyzed within the dialogic process of a phenomenological research group in addition to the researcher\u27s individual work. The thematic structure derived from the data describes the experiential themes of spirituality and their inter relationships. Participant narratives revealed that connection was the ground against which the each of the various themes emerged: around which they revolve and are interrelated. The major themes emerging against this ground were: (1) awe and Wonder, (2) knowing, and (3) possibility. Findings indicate that spiritual experiences occur in the realm of human experience that Heidegger termed everydayness. Such experiences are profoundly relational and are described in terms of relationships with other people and the world around them. The majority of the spiritual experiences described did not involve descriptions of transcendence or God, suggesting that psychological analyses using such concepts have adopted unnecessary theological presuppositions about spiritual experience. Contemporary spiritual experience is connection to other people and the world that evokes a sense of awe and wonder that is powerful and peaceful, engenders awareness that brings about knowing that is not arrived at by cognitive means and cannot be adequately described by language. These experiences provide possibilities for persons to be open to new ideas and ways of behavior, and permits them to make significant changes in their lives. As such the results have something significant to tell the clinical psychologist about the importance of spiritual experience as therapeutic and potentially curative

The relationship between sleep and behavior in autism spectrum disorder (ASD): a review

Although there is evidence that significant sleep problems are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and that poor sleep exacerbates problematic daytime behavior, such relationships have received very little attention in both research and clinical practice. Treatment guidelines to help manage challenging behaviors in ASD fail to mention sleep at all, or they present a very limited account. Moreover, limited attention is given to children with low-functioning autism, those individuals who often experience the most severe sleep disruption and behavioral problems. This paper describes the nature of sleep difficulties in ASD and highlights the complexities of sleep disruption in individuals with low-functioning autism. It is proposed that profiling ASD children based on the nature of their sleep disruption might help to understand symptom and behavioral profiles (or vice versa) and therefore lead to better-targeted interventions. This paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations of current knowledge and proposes areas that are important for future research. Treating disordered sleep in ASD has great potential to improve daytime behavior and family functioning in this vulnerable population

Lipid binding proteins from the endosperms of wheat and Oats

A protein, designated lipid binding protein (LBP), has been purified from the petrol extracts of wheat and oat endosperms by hydrochloric acid precipitation in a non-polar medium and preparative electrophoresis. The purified LBP appeared to be homogeneous both by electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide (SDS-PAGE) gels (MW ca 14 500) and by electrophoresis (PAGE) at pH 3.2. The amino acid composition indicates a high degree of homology between the LBPs from the two sources, as judged by the indexes of Cornish-Bowden and of Harris and Teller. As in the case of thionin, a previously characterized polypeptide from the ether extract, LBP becomes ether-insoluble, chloroform-soluble by precipitation with acetone, and solubility in ether is restored by binding of digalactosyl diglyceride to the chloroform-soluble form

Different luminance- and texture-defined contrast sensitivity profiles for school-aged children.

Funder: Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000156Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000024Our current understanding of how the visual brain develops is based largely on the study of luminance-defined information processing. This approach, however, is somewhat limiting, since everyday scenes are composed of complex images, consisting of information characterized by physical attributes relating to both luminance and texture. Few studies have explored how contrast sensitivity to texture-defined information develops, particularly throughout the school-aged years. The current study investigated how contrast sensitivity to luminance- (luminance-modulated noise) and texture-defined (contrast-modulated noise) static gratings develops in school-aged children. Contrast sensitivity functions identified distinct profiles for luminance- and texture-defined gratings across spatial frequencies (SFs) and age. Sensitivity to luminance-defined gratings reached maturity in childhood by the ages of 9-10 years for all SFs (0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 cycles/degree or cpd). Sensitivity to texture-defined gratings reached maturity at 5-6 years for low SFs and 7-8 years for high SFs (i.e., 4 cpd). These results establish that the processing of luminance- and texture-defined information develop differently as a function of SF and age

Translational recoding as a feedback controller : systems approaches reveal polyamine-specific effects on the antizyme ribosomal frameshift

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Investigation of memory, executive functions, and anatomic correlates in asymptomatic FMR1 premutation carriers

AbstractFragile X–associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a late-onset movement disorder associated with FMR1 premutation alleles. Asymptomatic premutation (aPM) carriers have preserved cognitive functions, but they present subtle executive deficits. Current efforts are focusing on the identification of specific cognitive markers that can detect aPM carriers at higher risk of developing FXTAS. This study aims at evaluating verbal memory and executive functions as early markers of disease progression while exploring associated brain structure changes using diffusion tensor imaging. We assessed 30 aPM men and 38 intrafamilial controls. The groups perform similarly in the executive domain except for decreased performance in motor planning in aPM carriers. In the memory domain, aPM carriers present a significant decrease in verbal encoding and retrieval. Retrieval is associated with microstructural changes of the white matter (WM) of the left hippocampal fimbria. Encoding is associated with changes in the WM under the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region implicated in relational memory encoding. These associations were found in the aPM group only and did not show age-related decline. This may be interpreted as a neurodevelopmental effect of the premutation, and longitudinal studies are required to better understand these mechanisms

Effects of a safflower tea supplement on antioxidative status and bone markers in postmenopausal women

We conducted this study to examine the effects of safflower seed granular tea containing physiologically active polyphenols on antioxidative activities and bone metabolism. Forty postmenopausal women ages 49 to 64-years were recruited from Daegu and Gyeongbuk and were randomly assigned to either a safflower tea supplement (Saf-tea) group (n = 27) or a placebo group (n = 13). The Saf-tea group received 20 g of safflower seed granule tea per day containing a 13% ethanol extract of defatted safflower seeds, whereas the placebo group received a similar type of tea that lacked the ethanol extract. No significant changes in nutrient intake for either the placebo or Saf-tea groups were observed before or after the study period, except vitamin A intake increased after 6 months in the Saf-tea group. Dietary phytoestrogen intakes were similar in the Saf-tea group (60.3 mg) and placebo group (52.5 mg). Significant increases in plasma genistein and enterolactone were observed in the Saf-tea group. After 6 months of supplementation, serum levels of antioxidant vitamins such as α-tocopherol and ascorbic acid increased significantly, and TBARS levels decreased in the Saf-tea group compared to the placebo group. Serum osteocalcin levels were reduced (P < 0.05) in the Saf-tea group after 6 months, whereas serum osteocalcin did not change in the placebo group. Urinary deoxypyridinoline/creatinine excretion was not different between the two groups at baseline, and did not change in either group after 6 months. Bone mineral density decreased significantly in the placebo group (P < 0.01) but not in the supplemented group. It was concluded that polyphenols (72 mg/day), including serotonin derivatives, in the Saf-tea had both antioxidant and potential bone protecting effects in postmenopausal women without liver toxicity

HCV treatment for prevention among people who inject drugs: Modeling treatment scale-up in the age of direct-acting antivirals.

UNLABELLED: Substantial reductions in hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence among people who inject drugs (PWID) cannot be achieved by harm reduction interventions such as needle exchange and opiate substitution therapy (OST) alone. Current HCV treatment is arduous and uptake is low, but new highly effective and tolerable interferon-free direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatments could facilitate increased uptake. We projected the potential impact of DAA treatments on PWID HCV prevalence in three settings. A dynamic HCV transmission model was parameterized to three chronic HCV prevalence settings: Edinburgh, UK (25%); Melbourne, Australia (50%); and Vancouver, Canada (65%). Using realistic scenarios of future DAAs (90% sustained viral response, 12 weeks duration, available 2015), we projected the treatment rates required to reduce chronic HCV prevalence by half or three-quarters within 15 years. Current HCV treatment rates may have a minimal impact on prevalence in Melbourne and Vancouver (&lt;2% relative reductions) but could reduce prevalence by 26% in 15 years in Edinburgh. Prevalence could halve within 15 years with treatment scale-up to 15, 40, or 76 per 1,000 PWID annually in Edinburgh, Melbourne, or Vancouver, respectively (2-, 13-, and 15-fold increases, respectively). Scale-up to 22, 54, or 98 per 1,000 PWID annually could reduce prevalence by three-quarters within 15 years. Less impact occurs with delayed scale-up, higher baseline prevalence, or shorter average injecting duration. Results are insensitive to risk heterogeneity or restricting treatment to PWID on OST. At existing HCV drug costs, halving chronic prevalence would require annual treatment budgets of US $3.2 million in Edinburgh and approximately$50 million in Melbourne and Vancouver. CONCLUSION: Interferon-free DAAs could enable increased HCV treatment uptake among PWID, which could have a major preventative impact. However, treatment costs may limit scale-up, and should be addressed.<br/

Emergent Properties of Tumor Microenvironment in a Real-life Model of Multicell Tumor Spheroids

Multicellular tumor spheroids are an important {\it in vitro} model of the pre-vascular phase of solid tumors, for sizes well below the diagnostic limit: therefore a biophysical model of spheroids has the ability to shed light on the internal workings and organization of tumors at a critical phase of their development. To this end, we have developed a computer program that integrates the behavior of individual cells and their interactions with other cells and the surrounding environment. It is based on a quantitative description of metabolism, growth, proliferation and death of single tumor cells, and on equations that model biochemical and mechanical cell-cell and cell-environment interactions. The program reproduces existing experimental data on spheroids, and yields unique views of their microenvironment. Simulations show complex internal flows and motions of nutrients, metabolites and cells, that are otherwise unobservable with current experimental techniques, and give novel clues on tumor development and strong hints for future therapies.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in PLOS One. The published version contains links to a supplementary text and three video file

Three particles in an external trap: Nature of the complete J=0 spectrum

Three bosonic, spin-polarized atoms in a spherical oscillator potential constitutes the simplest nontrivial Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The present paper develops the tools needed to understand the nature of the complete J=0 energy spectrum for this prototype system, assuming a sum of two-body potentials. The resulting spectrum is calculated as a function of the two-body scattering length a_sc, which documents the evolution of certain many-body levels that evolve from BEC-type to molecular-type as the scattering length is decreased. Implications for the behavior of the condensate excited-state spectrum and for condensate formation and decay are elucidated. The energy levels evolve smoothly, even through the regime where the number of two-body bound states N_b increases by 1, and a_{sc} switches from -infinity to infinity. We point out the possibility of suppressing three-body recombination by tuning the two-body scattering length to values that are larger than the size of the condensate ground state. Comparisons with mean-field treatments are presented