The development of the Meaning in Life Index (MILI) and its relationship with personality and religious behaviours and beliefs among UK undergraduate students

The scales available for assessing meaning in life appear to be confounded with several related constructs, including purpose in life, satisfaction with life, and goal-directed behaviour. The Meaning in Life Index (MILI), a new instrument devised as a specific measure of meaning in life, was developed from responses to a pool of 22 items rated by a sample of 501 undergraduate students in Wales. The nine-item scale demonstrated sufficient face validity, internal consistency, and scale reliability to commend the instrument for future use. With respect to personality, the MILI scores were most strongly predicted by neuroticism (negatively), and less strongly by extraversion (positively) and psychoticism (negatively). With respect to several religious behavioural variables, those who attended church at least weekly returned significantly higher MILI scores than those who attended church less frequently. Intrinsic religiosity was the only orientation to be significantly associated with the MILI scale scores, although the magnitude of the association was smaller than anticipated. These results suggest that meaning in life is associated more strongly with individual differences in personality than with specific religious behaviours and attitudes. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of individual's personal values and attitudes that might underlie their experience of a meaning in life

The limited usefulness of real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography in obtaining normal reference ranges for right ventricular volumes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To obtain normal reference ranges and intraobserver variability for right ventricular (RV) volume indexes (VI) and ejection fraction (EF) from apical recordings with real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE), and similarly for RV area indexes (AI) and area fraction (AF) with 2-dimensional echocardiography (2DE).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>166 participants; 79 males and 87 females aged between 29–79 years and considered free from clinical and subclinical cardiovascular disease. Normal ranges are defined as 95% reference values and reproducibility as coefficients of variation (CV) for repeated measurements.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>None of the apical recordings with RT3DE and 2DE included the RV outflow tract. Upper reference values were 62 ml/m²for RV end-diastolic (ED) VI and 24 ml/m²for RV end-systolic (ES) VI. Lower normal reference value for RVEF was 41%. The respective reference ranges were 17 cm²/m²for RVEDAI, 11 cm²/m²for RVESAI and 27% for RVAF. Males had higher upper normal values for RVEDVI, RVESVI and RVEDAI, and a lower limit than females for RVEF and RVAF. Weak but significant negative correlations between age and RV dimensions were found with RT3DE, but not with 2DE. CVs for repeated measurements ranged between 10% and 14% with RT3DE and from 5% to 14% with 2DE.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although the normal ranges for RVVIs and RVAIs presented in this study reflect RV inflow tract dimensions only, the data presented may still be regarded as a useful tool in clinical practice, especially for RVEF and RVAF.</p

The holistic phase model of early adult crisis

The objective of the current study was to explore the structural, temporal and experiential manifestations of crisis episodes in early adulthood, using a holistic-systemic theoretical framework. Based on an analysis of 50 interviews with individuals about a crisis episode between the ages of 25 and 35, a holistic model was developed. The model comprises four phases: (1) Locked-in, (2) Separation/Time-out, (3) Exploration and (4) Rebuilding, which in turn have characteristic features at four levels—person-in-environment, identity, motivation and affect-cognition. A crisis starts out with a commitment at work or home that has been made but is no longer desired, and this is followed by an emotionally volatile period of change as that commitment is terminated. The positive trajectory of crisis involves movement through an exploratory period towards active rebuilding of a new commitment, but ‘fast-forward’ and ‘relapse’ loops can interrupt Phases 3 and 4 and make a positive resolution of the episode less likely. The model shows conceptual links with life stage theories of emerging adulthood and early adulthood, and it extends current understandings of the transitional developmental challenges that young adults encounter

Strength in numbers : patient experiences of group exercise within hospice palliative care

Background: Exercise is increasingly recognized as a core component of palliative rehabilitation. The group exercise model is often adopted as a means of reaching more patients with limited resource. Despite the growth of quantitative research examining this area of practice, few qualitative studies have looked at the patient experience of participating in group exercise in a palliative setting, and most exclude patients with a non-cancer diagnosis. Methods: The aim of this study was to explore patients’ experiences of participating in group exercise classes in a hospice setting. In this qualitative, phenomenological study, nine patients participating in a group exercise programme at a South London hospice completed semi-structured interviews. Participants were purposively sampled by gender, age, ethnicity and diagnosis; to include diagnoses across cancer, respiratory and neurological conditions. Transcripts were interpreted using thematic analysis. Results: All patients reported positive experiences of participating in group exercise classes. Improvements reported in physical function had a positive effect on ability to complete activities of daily living and enhanced patient mood. Other reported psychosocial benefits included: promotion of self-management; space and opportunity for reflection; supportive relationships; sharing of information; and a deeper appreciation of patients’ own abilities. Conclusion: This study highlights the positive experiences and value of group exercise classes to groups of people with diverse cancer and non-cancer conditions. The physical, emotional and psychosocial benefits suggest hospices and other palliative services should explore similar programmes as part of their rehabilitation services. The recognition that exercise groups can be mixed and need not be bespoke to one condition has positive cost and staff resource ramifications

Surviving rather than thriving: Understanding the experiences of women coaches using a theory of gendered social well-being

In shifting our gaze to the sociological impact of being in the minority, the purpose of this study was to substantiate a model of gendered social well-being to appraise women coaches’ circumstances, experiences and challenges as embedded within the social structures and relations of their profession. This is drawn on indepth interviews with a sample of head women coaches within the UK. The findings demonstrate that personal lives, relationships, social and family commitments were sidelined by many of the participants in order to meet the expectations of being a (woman) coach. We locate these experiences in the organisational practices of high performance sport which hinder women coaches from having meaningful control over their lives. The complexities of identity are also revealed through the interplay of gender with (dis)ability, age and whiteness as evidence of hegemonic femininity within the coaching profession. Consequently, for many women, coaching is experienced as a ‘developmental dead-end’

An initial psychometric evaluation and exploratory cross-sectional study of the Body Checking Questionnaire among Brazilian women

Body checking is considered an expression of an excessive preoccupation with appearance. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Brazilian Portuguese version of the Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ). Additionally, we wanted to examine the questionnaire’s associations with body avoidance behaviour, body mass index, dietary habits, and the intensity, frequency, and length of physical exercise. Finally, we also examined the differences between the total BCQ score and the individual BCQ factor scores. Differences between active and sedentary persons and between non-dieters and those on weight-loss diets were also analyzed. For the psychometric study, 546 female public university students from four different courses were surveyed. Two minor samples of university students and eating disorders women were also recruited. In the second part of the study, 403 women were recruited from weight-loss programs, gyms, and a university. All participants were verbally invited to participate in the research and voluntarily took part. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit to the original model of the Brazilian BCQ that retained all 23 items. Satisfactory evidence of construct validity and internal consistency were also generated through analysis of factor loadings, t-values, Cronbach’s alpha, and construct reliability tests. The results also showed associations among body checking and body avoidance, body satisfaction, social anxiety, body mass index, and the frequency and intensity of physical exercise. Significant differences were found between non-dieters and weight-loss dieters for all BCQ factors and the total BCQ score. For physically active and sedentary persons, a significant difference was only observed for idiosyncratic checking behaviour. In conclusion, the BCQ appears to be a valid and reliable scale for Brazilian research, and the associations and differences found in this study suggest that women at gyms and especially in weight-loss programs should be targeted for future body checking studies

Dignity and Narrative Medicine

Critiques of the dehumanising aspects of contemporary medical practice have generated increasing interest in the ways in which health care can foster a holistic sense of wellbeing. We examine the relationship between two areas of this humanistic endeavour: narrative and dignity. This paper makes two simple arguments that are intuitive but have not yet been explored in detail: that narrative competence of carers is required for maintaining or recreating dignity, and that dignity promotion in health care practice is primarily narrative in form. The multiple meanings that dignity has in a person’s life are what give the concept power and can only be captured by narrative. This has implications for health care practice where narrative work will be increasingly required to support patient dignity in under-resourced and over-subscribed health care system

The Transcriptional Regulatory Network of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Under the perspectives of network science and systems biology, the characterization of transcriptional regulatory (TR) networks beyond the context of model organisms offers a versatile tool whose potential remains yet mainly unexplored. In this work, we present an updated version of the TR network of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), which incorporates newly characterized transcriptional regulations coming from 31 recent, different experimental works available in the literature. As a result of the incorporation of these data, the new network doubles the size of previous data collections, incorporating more than a third of the entire genome of the bacterium. We also present an exhaustive topological analysis of the new assembled network, focusing on the statistical characterization of motifs significances and the comparison with other model organisms. The expanded M.tb transcriptional regulatory network, considering its volume and completeness, constitutes an important resource for diverse tasks such as dynamic modeling of gene expression and signaling processes, computational reliability determination or protein function prediction, being the latter of particular relevance, given that the function of only a small percent of the proteins of M.tb is known

Rest and Dobutamine stress echocardiography in the evaluation of mid-term results of mitral valve repair in Barlow's disease

BACKGROUND: Surgical "anatomical" repair is the most frequent technique used to correct mitral regurgitation due to severe myxomatous valve disease. Debate, however, persists on the efficacy of this technique, as well as on the durability of the repaired valve, and on its functioning and hemodynamics under stress conditions. Thus, a basal and Dobutamine echocardiographic (DSE) study was carried out to evaluate these parameters at mid-term follow-up. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty patients selected for the study (12 men and 8 women, mean age 60 ± 9 years) underwent pre- and post-operative transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and intra-operative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). At mid-term follow-up (20 ± 5 months) all patients underwent rest TTE and DSE (3 min. dose increments up to 40 microg/Kg/min protocol). Pre-discharge and one-month TTE showed absence of MR in 11 pts., trivial or mild MR in 9 pts. and normal mitral valve area and gradients. Mid-term TTE showed decrease in left atrial and ventricular dimension, in pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) and grade of MR. During DSE a significant increase in mitral valve area, maximum and mean gradients, sPAP, heart rate and cardiac output and a decrease in systolic annular diameter and left ventricular volume were found; in 6 pts. a transient left ventricular outflow tract obstruction was observed. CONCLUSION: Basal and Dobutamine stress echocardiography proved to be valuable tools for evaluation of mid-term results of mitral valve repair. In our study population, the surgical technique employed had a favourable impact on several cardiac parameters, evaluated by these methods