Meditation or Medication? Mindfulness training versus medication in the treatment of childhood ADHD: a randomized controlled trial

Background Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder (ADHD) is, with a prevalence of 5 %, a highly common childhood disorder, and has severe impact on the lives of youngsters and their families. Medication is often the treatment of choice, as it currently is most effective. However, medication has only short-term effects, treatment adherence is often low and most importantly; medication has serious side effects. Therefore, there is a need for other interventions for youngsters with ADHD. Mindfulness training is emerging as a potentially effective training for children and adolescents with ADHD. The aim of this study is to compare the (cost) effectiveness of mindfulness training to the (cost) effectiveness of methylphenidate in children with ADHD on measures of attention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Methods/design A multicenter randomized controlled trial with 2 follow-up measurements will be used to measure the effects of mindfulness training versus the effects of methylphenidate. Participants will be youngsters (aged 9 to 18) of both sexes diagnosed with ADHD, referred to urban and rural mental healthcare centers. We aim to include 120 families. The mindfulness training, using the MYmind protocol, will be conducted in small groups, and consists of 8 weekly 1.5-h sessions. Youngsters learn to focus and enhance their attention, awareness, and self-control by doing mindfulness exercises. Parents will follow a parallel mindful parenting training in which they learn to be fully present in the here and now with their child in a non-judgmental way, to take care of themselves, and to respond rather than react to difficult behavior of their child. Short-acting methylphenidate will be administered individually and monitored by a child psychiatrist. Assessments will take place at pre-test, post-test, and at follow-up 1 and 2 (respectively 4 and 10 months after the start of treatment). Informants are parents, children, teachers, and researchers. Discussion This study will inform mental health care professionals and health insurance companies about the clinical and cost effectiveness of mindfulness training for children and adolescents with ADHD and their parents compared to the effectiveness of methylphenidate. Limitations and several types of bias that are anticipated for this study are discussed

"Light-assisted evaporation induced self-assembly": an efficient approach toward ordered carbon materials

The synthesis of ordered porous carbons by a green, simple and rapid approach based on light exposure of a solution of carbon precursors and a soft-template in the presence or not of a photosensitizer is demonstrated herein along with their formation mechanism. The influence of the benzophenone amount on the formation of phenolic resin and the carbon structure, morphology and textural properties was systematically studied. The polymerization, self-assembly and carbonization are promoted in the same step by light. The benzophenone accelerates several times the reaction rate modifying mainly the phenolic-resin structure (higher degree of cross-linking and carbonization) via radical formation, as highlighted by Raman spectroscopy. In addition, the increase of benzophenone amount gradually induces the modification of carbon morphology from a worm-like disordered structure to a highly organized hexagonal one while the surface area and pore volume remain unchanged. The13C and1H solid state and relaxation NMR analysis pointed out that this behavior is triggered by the different micellar structuration of the template in the presence of benzophenone, the phenolic-resin composition involving only carbon precursor derived compounds and not benzophenone

Thermal properties and stability of cassava starch films cross-linked with tetraethylene glycol diacrylate

The thermal stability of starch cross-linked with tetraethylene glycol diacrylate was studied under nitrogen atmosphere by thermogravimetry (TG) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The cross-linking reaction was confirmed by the increase in intensity of the absorption band at ca. 3330 cm(-1) indicating the reinforcement of hydrogen bonds and the appearance of a new band at 1726 cm-1 associated with the carbonyl group of the cross-linking agent. After cross-linking the solubility of starch in water decreased to the range 9%-16%. The thermogravimetric curves of pure and cross-linked starches showed an initial stage of degradation (up to ca. 150 degrees C) associated with the loss of water. The main stage of degradation occurred in the range 250-400 degrees C corresponding to ca. 60%-70% mass loss. The activation energy (E) for the degradation process increased from 145 kJ mol(-1) (pure starch) to 195 kJ mol(-1) and 198 kJ mol(-1) for starch treated for 60 min by UV (30 degrees C) and at 90 degrees C, suggesting high stability after cross-linking. A higher value (240 kJ mol(-1)) was obtained for starch treated by UV for 120 min. The main volatile products determined by FTIR which correspond to hydrocarbons and carbonyl groups are apparently associated with the scission of weak bonds in the chain (probably branched groups) and the scission of stronger bonds (glycosidic linkages), respectively

Phase Separation and Nanodomain Formation in Hybrid Polymer/Lipid Vesicles

Hybrid polymer/lipid large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) were studied by small angle neutron scattering (SANS), time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET), and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). For the first time in hybrid vesicles, evidence for phase separation at the nanoscale was obtained, leading to the formation of stable nanodomains enriched either in lipid or polymer. This stability was allowed by using vesicle-forming copolymer with a membrane thickness close to the lipid bilayer thickness, thereby minimizing the hydrophobic mismatch at the domain periphery. Hybrid giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) with the same composition have been previously shown to be unstable and susceptible to fission, suggesting a role of curvature in the stabilization of nanodomains in these structures