Mindfulness and its Ability to Alleviate State and Trait Anxiety in College Students

Society today puts extreme pressure on individuals to take on a magnitude of daily responsibilities in order to be successful. We are pushed beyond our limits both mentally and physically, which results in heightened state and trait anxiety. Adopting the theory of mindfulness teaches us to live in the present moment and not criticize our thoughts (Bormann et. al, 2013). The current study tests the effects of daily mindfulness meditation on state and trait anxiety as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Participants were Trinity College students that engaged in formal meditation sessions twice a week, but maintained the practice on their own every day. Students completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory before the first session began and after their sixth session. The inventory was also given before and after the fourth session. Based on past research, it was hypothesized that the participants that engaged in daily mindfulness meditation for six weeks would have a reduction in trait anxiety when compared to the control group. It was also hypothesized that the participants would see a reduction in state anxiety when measured before and after the meditation session. If mindfulness meditation is proved to be a significant reduction method for state and trait anxiety, this easy to learn lifestyle can be an effective alternative to medication

Impacts of anthropogenic aerosols on regional climate: extreme events, stagnation, and the United States warming hole

Extreme temperatures, heat waves, heavy rainfall events, drought, and extreme air pollution events have adverse effects on human health, infrastructure, agriculture and economies. The frequency, magnitude and duration of these events are expected to change in the future in response to increasing greenhouse gases and decreasing aerosols, but future climate projections are uncertain. A significant portion of this uncertainty arises from uncertainty in the effects of aerosol forcing: to what extent were the effects from greenhouse gases masked by aerosol forcing over the historical observational period, and how much will decreases in aerosol forcing influence regional and global climate over the remainder of the 21st century? The observed frequency and intensity of extreme heat and precipitation events have increased in the U.S. over the latter half of the 20th century. Using aerosol only (AER) and greenhouse gas only (GHG) simulations from 1860 to 2005 in the GFDL CM3 chemistry-climate model, I parse apart the competing influences of aerosols and greenhouse gases on these extreme events. I find that small changes in extremes in the “all forcing” simulations reflect cancellations between the effects of increasing anthropogenic aerosols and greenhouse gases. In AER, extreme high temperatures and the number of days with temperatures above the 90th percentile decline over most of the U.S., while in GHG high temperature extremes increase over most of the U.S. The spatial response patterns in AER and GHG are significantly anti-correlated, suggesting a preferred regional mode of response that is largely independent of the type of forcing. Extreme precipitation over the eastern U.S. decreases in AER, particularly in winter, and increases over the eastern and central U.S. in GHG, particularly in spring. Over the 21st century under the RCP8.5 emissions scenario, the patterns of extreme temperature and precipitation change associated with greenhouse gas forcing dominate. The temperature response pattern in AER and GHG is characterized by strong responses over the western U.S. and weak or opposite signed responses over the southeast U.S., raising the question of whether the observed U.S. “warming hole” could have a forced component. To address this question, I systematically examine observed seasonal temperature trends over all time periods of at least 10 years during 1901-2015. In the northeast and southern U.S., significant summertime cooling occurs from the early 1950s to the mid 1970s, which I partially attribute to increasing anthropogenic aerosol emissions (median fraction of the observed temperature trends explained is 0.69 and 0.17, respectively). In winter, the northeast and southern U.S. cool significantly from the early 1950s to the early 1990s, which I attribute to long-term phase changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Rather than being a single phenomenon stemming from a single cause, both the warming hole and its dominant drivers vary by season, region, and time period. Finally, I examine historical and projected future changes in atmospheric stagnation. Stagnation, which is characterized by weak winds and an absence of precipitation, is a meteorological contributor to heat waves, extreme pollution, and drought. Using CM3, I show that regional stagnation trends over the historical period (1860-2005) are driven by changes in anthropogenic aerosol emissions, rather than rising greenhouse gases. In the northeastern and central United States, aerosol-induced changes in surface and upper level winds produce significant decreases in the number of stagnant summer days, while decreasing precipitation in the southeast US increases the number of stagnant summer days. Outside of the U.S., significant drying over eastern China in response to rising aerosol emissions contributed to increased stagnation during 1860-2005. Additionally, this region was found to be particularly sensitive to changes in local aerosol emissions, indicating that decreasing Chinese emissions in efforts to improve air quality will also decrease stagnation. In Europe, I find a dipole response pattern during the historical period wherein stagnation decreases over southern Europe and increases over northern Europe in response to global increases in aerosol emissions. In the future, declining aerosol emissions will likely lead to a reversal of the historical stagnation trends, with increasing greenhouse gases again playing a secondary role. Aerosols have a significant effect on a number of societally important extreme events, including heat waves, intense rainfall events, drought, and stagnation. Further, uncertainty in the strength of aerosol masking of historical greenhouse gas forcing is a significant source of spread in future climate projections. Quantifying these aerosol effects is therefore critical for our ability to accurately project and prepare for future changes in extreme events

A novel mechanical analogy based battery model for SoC estimation using a multi-cell EKF

The future evolution of technological systems dedicated to improve energy efficiency will strongly depend on effective and reliable Energy Storage Systems, as key components for Smart Grids, microgrids and electric mobility. Besides possible improvements in chemical materials and cells design, the Battery Management System is the most important electronic device that improves the reliability of a battery pack. In fact, a precise State of Charge (SoC) estimation allows the energy flows controller to exploit better the full capacity of each cell. In this paper, we propose an alternative definition for the SoC, explaining the rationales by a mechanical analogy. We introduce a novel cell model, conceived as a series of three electric dipoles, together with a procedure for parameters estimation relying only on voltage measures and a given current profile. The three dipoles represent the quasi-stationary, the dynamics and the istantaneous components of voltage measures. An Extended Kalman Filer (EKF) is adopted as a nonlinear state estimator. Moreover, we propose a multi-cell EKF system based on a round-robin approach to allow the same processing block to keep track of many cells at the same time. Performance tests with a prototype battery pack composed by 18 A123 cells connected in series show encouraging results.Comment: 8 page, 12 figures, 1 tabl

Nonreactive solute transport in soil columns: classical and fractional-calculus modeling

Vertical nonreactive solute transport data collected in three laboratory soil columns (made out of sediment samples from the Pampean aquifer located southeast of the Buenos Aires province) are contrasted with the explicit solutions of two model 1D linear PDEs: the classical advection–dispersion equation (ADE), and a fractional advection–dispersion equation (FADE) which has proven to be a useful modeling tool for highly inhomogeneous media exhibiting nontrivial scaling laws. Whereas two of the samples turn out to be quite homogeneous (thus requiring a fractional-derivative order γ → 2), the third one is best described by a FADE with fractional-derivative order γ = 1.68. This example illustrates the FADE’s ability to reveal self-similar geometric structures inside the sample.Fil: Benavente, Micaela Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Deza, Roberto Raul. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Físicas de Mar del Plata. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Físicas de Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Grondona, Sebastian. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mascioli, S.. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Daniel Emilio. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario; Argentin

Perception of Visible Body Art in Healthcare: Perceptions on a College Campus

This project aims to determine if there is a relationship between visible body art on a healthcare provider and perceptions of that person’s ability to render care. During the literature review, it was clear there was a lack of research on this topic. A survey was designed by the researchers. The data was collected during social justice week on Sacred Heart University’s campus. The data was then compared to regional healthcare facilities and nursing program policies and procedures to see if they are synonymous with the survey findings

Analisi di un sistema energetico per il recupero di cascami termici a medio-alta entalpia di tipo "dual-loop"

Lo studio descritto in questa tesi riguarda l’analisi di diverse soluzioni di layout per lo sfruttamento di un cascame termico, al fine di produrre potenza elettrica. Questa sorgente di calore è rappresentata da una corrente di prodotti di combustione emessa da una turbina a gas, con temperatura superiore a 550 °C. Tale condizione ha indotto a prendere in considerazione innovative applicazioni della tecnologia ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle), da tempo impiegata nel mercato del recupero di calore, ma che trova il suo principale limite nella massima temperatura di esercizio dei fluidi di lavoro. Infatti, tradizionalmente gli impianti ORC sono adottati in abbinamento a sorgenti di calore con temperature inferiori a 500 °C, quindi il caso proposto in questo studio rappresenta una sfida per la tecnologia ORC e per i fluidi impiegati. Pertanto, all’interno di questa tesi viene mostrato un confronto, sia dal punto di vista prestazionale sia dal punto di vista di parametri attinenti al costo e alla complessità impiantistica, tra un sistema energetico di nuova concezione configurato con due cicli in cascata, che implementa la cosiddetta tecnologia VHT-ORC (Very High Temperature ORC), e altre soluzioni da più tempo disponibili sul mercato

Laparoscopic mesogastrium excision for gastric cancer. Only the beginning

Background: Surgery, with the aid of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, is the only curative chance for gastric cancer. Unfortunately, gastric cancer had an elevated recurrence rate, primarily locally. Mesogastrium excision (MGE) during D2 lymphadenectomy has the aim to remove all possible contaminated tissue around the stomach. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Web of Science (WOS) were systematically searched for MGE reports in gastric cancer up to March 2020. The outcome reported were the number of lymph nodes retrieved, operative time (OT), overall morbidity, intra- and postoperative complications, conversion rate, and length of hospital stay. Results: A total of six studies, including 518 patients, were considered eligible for this analysis. All the studies reported laparoscopic cases. The mean number of lymph nodes retrieved was 36.7 ± 10.1. Mean OT was 240.7 ± 10.1 minutes. One case of conversion is reported. Overall morbidity was 6%. Medium estimated blood loss was 50.2 ± 39.6 mL. Overall length of stay was 10.7 ± 0.7 days. Mean follow-up was 11 ± 1.4 months. Conclusions: Only few studies evaluated this item, and according to the available evidence, MGE is a feasible technique that could be performed, also laparoscopically, in all surgical resections for gastric cancer with curative intent. Further studies are essential to establish the clear indication of this invasive procedure

Why the House of Representatives Must Be Expanded and How Today’s Congress Can Make It Happen

The House of Representatives was designed to expand alongside the country’s population—yet its membership stopped growing a century ago. Larger and, in some cases, unequal sized congressional districts have left Americans with worse representation, including in the Electoral College, which allocates electors partially on the size of states’ House delegations. This report recommends tying the House’s size to the cube root of the nation’s population, which would lead to 141 more seats. It also calls for an approach to drawing districts that would eliminate gerrymandering. This report was researched and written during the 2018-2019 academic year by students in Fordham Law School’s Democracy and the Constitution Clinic, which is focused on developing non-partisan recommendations to strengthen the nation’s institutions and its democracy. The clinic\u27s reports are available at law.fordham.edu/democracyreports

Representaciones sobre el género crónica de los autores Josefina Licitra, Cristian Alarcón y Leila Guerriero

La presente investigación busca reflexionar y conocer las representaciones que los autores contemporáneos Cristian Alarcón, Josefina Licitra y Leila Guerriero tienen acerca del género crónica. Se optó por la elección de estos tres autores porque han escrito en una misma época, han sido reconocidos y premiados por su labor y también por sus obras. Para ello se parte del concepto de “representaciones” de Serge Moscovici, quien considera que son una modalidad del conocimiento cuyo objetivo es elaborar comportamientos. En torno a la metodología de trabajo, se retoma la Teoría Anclada iniciada por Glaser y Strauss en el año 1967, que permite la utilización de categorías de análisis y para eso, se emplea el método de comparación constante. Cabe destacar que a lo largo de esta tesis no se intenta generar teoría en términos absolutos, sino que se realizan reflexiones que partieron de la comparación constante de categorías previas y emergentes.Facultad de Periodismo y Comunicación Socia