Mindfulness as a Psychological Approach to Managing Self-Harming Behaviours: Application and Review within Clinical Settings

Given the prevalence of suicide and self-harm throughout global societies, the need to more readily manage associated behaviours is of central importance. Particularly as in many countries and cultures harmful acts towards oneself remain a prosecutable crime if the person in crisis survives. Yet despite once constituting a novel approach, mindfulness techniques within clinical settings have rapidly grown in popularity and become an integral component of behavioural regulation and management. Recognising the potential benefits of mindful techniques including increased self-awareness and enhanced coping strategies, application of the technique has now been widely used as a tool to help individuals desist from engaging in deliberate self-harm and experiencing suicidal ideations. Addressing the need for a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of mindfulness applications within clinical settings as an approach to managing self-harming behaviours, the present exploration concludes mindfulness techniques are an appropriate intervention but ongoing evaluation is required to provide greater clarity in explaining the specific link to effective emotional management

The Relationship Between Impulsivity, Aggression and Self-Harming Behaviours in Male, Young and Adult Offenders

Self-harming and suicidal behaviour in prison are serious concerns, given the continued rise in incidents occurring, particularly in the male estate (Ministry of Justice, 2017). This thesis assesses both objective and subjective measures of impulsivity and aggression; two psychological constructs which have shown promise in enhancing our understanding of these behaviours in respect to the management, treatment and support of those at risk of self-harming. Subjective measures included the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11; Patton, Stanford, & Barratt, 1995) and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ; Buss & Perry, 1992) and objective measures included four, computer-based behavioural tasks used to assess impulsive decision making (Delay Discounting and Information Sampling Task) and response inhibition (Go/No-Go and Stop Signal Tasks). These measures were tested in young (n = 75) and adult (n = 150), male offenders, in three groups; those currently self-harming and on an ACCT, those assessed as vulnerable and on an ACCT but not currently self-harming and those in the general prison population. The results identified important differences between young and adult offenders; with subjective measures being better able to discriminate between all of the groups in adult offenders than in young offenders. Objective measures of impulsive behaviour were also able to discriminate between all groups in adult male offenders, whereas, in young offenders, these measures only discriminated between those who are vulnerable to self-harm (both at imminent risk and with a history) and the general prison population. These findings strongly support the notion that interventions with individuals who are currently self-harming should not only focus on the prevention of self-harming behaviours but also work to address the negative emotional states associated with this behaviour. Whilst our theoretical knowledge of the different dimensions of aggression and impulsive behaviour is limited, this thesis gives rise to the possibility of using existing programmes in a new and more holistic way

A DFT Study of Iron-Oxide Nanoparticle Ground-State Geometries

Density Functional Theory was used to construct a ground state configuration for Fe203, or maghemite. The bipyramidal structure that resulted from a numerical optimization scheme was computationally stable with a lower energy than individual (free) components of the molecule. These stable bipyramids form a basic building block to generate iron-oxide nanoparticles. The primary focus of the study is understanding appropriate input geometries and using proper basis sets to model the real system, and to approximate possible reaction kinetics with other compounds

Domain and stripe formation between hexagonal and square ordered fillings of colloidal particles on periodic pinning substrates

Using large scale numerical simulations, we examine the ordering of colloidal particles on square periodic two-dimensional muffin-tin substrates consisting of a flat surface with localized pinning sites. We show that when there are four particles per pinning site, the particles adopt a hexagonal ordering, while for five particles per pinning site, a square ordering appears. For fillings between four and five particles per pinning site, we identify a rich variety of distinct ordering regimes, including disordered grain boundaries, crystalline stripe structures, superlattice orderings, and disordered patchy arrangements. We characterize the different regimes using Voronoi analysis, energy dispersion, and ordering of the domains. We show that many of the boundary formation features we observe occur for a wide range of other fillings. Our results demonstrate that grain boundary tailoring can be achieved with muffin-tin periodic pinning substrates

Motivation: A Critical Consideration of Freud and Rogers’ Seminal Conceptualisations

Humans vary in many aspects of their psychology with differences routinely found in patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, setting individuals apart across time and place. Though many psychologists have attempted to account for these individual differences, one area that has continued to generate interest and disagreement is the concept of motivation. Today, understanding behavioural motivation remains one of the most important questions facing personality theorists. In an attempt to better account for human motivation, the present exploration reviews seminal theoretical positions put forward by Sigmund Freud from a Psychoanalytical perspective and contrastingly, that of Carl Rogers from the Humanistic approach. Critical consideration is specifically applied to how verifiable each perspective may be and the degree of empirical support either account has attained to date. Whilst understanding human motivation is not a new endeavour, the present exploration provides a contemporary critical assessment of traditional psychological explanations

Accelerating Space Life Sciences: Successes and Challenges of Biospecimen and Data Sharing

NASA's current human space flight research is directed towards enabling human space exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). To that end, NASA Space Flight Payload Projects; Rodent Research, Cell Science, and Microbial Labs, flown on the International Space Station (ISS), benefit the global life sciences and commercial space communities. Verified data sets, science results, peer-reviewed publications, and returned biospecimens, collected and analyzed for flight and ground investigations, are all part of the knowledge base collected by NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate's Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications (SLPSRA) Division, specifically the Human Research and Space Biology Programs. These data and biospecimens are made available through the public Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA) website to promote basic discovery, pre-clinical and clinical science.The NASA Institutional Scientific Collection (ISC), stores flight and ground biospecimens from Space Shuttle and ISS programs. These specimens are curated and managed by the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA), an internal node of NASA's LSDA. The ISC stores over 30,000 specimens from experiments dating from 1984 to present. Currently available specimens include tissues from the circulatory, digestive, endocrine, excretory, integumentary, muscular, neurosensory, reproductive, respiratory and skeletal systems.NASA's biospecimen collection represents a unique and limited resource of unique spaceflight payload and ground control research subjects. These specimens are harvested according to well established SOPs that maintain their quality and integrity. Once the primary scientific objectives have been met, the remaining specimens are made available to provide secondary opportunities for complementary studies or new investigations to broaden research without large expenditures of time or resources. Website: https://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov

Brain-responsive neurostimulation for the treatment of adults with epilepsy in tuberous sclerosis complex: A case series

OBJECTIVE: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder primarily characterized by the development of multisystem benign tumors. Epilepsy is the most common neurologic manifestation, affecting 80%-90% of TSC patients. The diffuse structural brain abnormalities and the multifocal nature of epilepsy in TSC pose diagnostic challenges when evaluating patients for epilepsy surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the safety experience and efficacy outcomes of five adult TSC patients who were treated with direct brain-responsive neurostimulation (RNS System, NeuroPace, Inc). RESULTS: The average follow-up duration was 20 months. All five patients were responders (≥50% disabling seizure reduction) at last follow-up. The median reduction in disabling seizures was 58% at 1 year and 88% at last follow-up. Three of the five patients experienced some period of seizure freedom ranging from 3 months to over 1 year. SIGNIFICANCE: In this small case series, we report the first safety experience and efficacy outcomes in patients with TSC-associated drug-resistant focal epilepsy treated with direct brain-responsive neurostimulation

Incarcerated transmesosigmoid hernia presenting in a 60-year-old man: a case report

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