The Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Early Parenting

The present study sought to examine the effects of a brief loving-kindness meditation (LKM) training on early parenting behaviors, specifically maternal bonding and sensitivity to infant emotion cues. Postpartum women with infants aged 3-6 months were randomly assigned to complete a two-week daily LKM practice at home or to a no-intervention control. Although there was a significant improvement in maternal reports of bonding over time, there was no indication of difference by group. Moreover, although mothers were significantly better at identifying happy versus sad displays of emotion and with less intensity, there were no differences between women who practiced LKM and controls. Findings are discussed with respect to study limitations and important directions for future research

Novel Fibrous Catalyst in the Decomposition of Airborne Chemical Agents at Moderate Temperatures

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are an important source of air pollution. The reduction of VOCs concentration in air, including their catalytic oxidation is becoming increasingly important, not only because of their toxicity, and typical or unpleasant odour, but also because of their environmental impact (smog, greenhouse gases, acid rain, etc). Many effective catalysts (mostly noble metals or metal oxides deposited on different supports) have been developed and tested for the catalytic decomposition of different classes of VOCs. The main disadvantage of these catalysts is the high working temperatures (most of them above 500 °C) and sometimes high operating pressures. The need of fast, efficient and economical decontamination technologies was also recognized in the security sector, especially for the use in the clean-up phase after a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incident (deliberate or accidental) that affects the quality of air and water. The aim of this research was to develop an alternative technology for the decomposition of airborne VOCs, based on the use of a novel heterogeneous modified polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibrous catalyst, used as yarn or as knitted mesh, with or without the addition of H2O2 solution, and operating under mild conditions (moderate temperature and ambient pressure), contrary to most catalytic oxidation processes reported to date. The efficiency of the modified PAN catalyst was first tested in static mode, for the decomposition of a variety of chemical agents. This study provided the first comprehensive experimental evaluation of the potential use of the novel catalyst for gas phase reactions. A fixed bed catalytic reactor (44 cm3 volume) with temperature control and on-line analysis of gas samples was designed and constructed, enabling dynamic mode tests (at 45 °C and atmospheric pressure) on the efficiency of the fibrous catalyst in the decomposition of sulphur VOCs. The reaction products for the catalytic decomposition of ethyl mercaptan (EtSH) were identified and quantified and the conversion of reactant and turnover frequency for the catalyst were evaluated. The main product of this reaction was diethyldisulphide. It was determined that the physical form, but mainly the packing of the catalyst in reactor was responsible for differences in breakthrough time, which increased from 2.5 hours for catalyst used as threads to 29 hours for catalyst used as mesh. Further, a novel laboratory scale decontamination unit comprising of an absorption column and a three-phase (gas-liquid-solid) catalytic reactor with temperature control and the possibility of online analysis of gas samples was developed. The designed unit ensured the simultaneous and continuous presence of organic pollutant, fibrous catalyst and H2O2 solution in the system, being suitable for the decontamination of a continuous flow of polluted air, at moderate or ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. The operating conditions were optimized in order to achieve the best performance for the unit. The efficiency of this system was evaluated for the decomposition of EtSH (93.3 mg/m3 air) at 45 °C and at ambient temperature, and for a mixture of EtSH (93.3 mg/m3 air) and dimethyl sulphide (DMS, 100 mg/m3 air) at ambient temperature. Ethane sulphonic acid was identified and quantified for the oxidation of EtSH both at 45 °C and at ambient temperature and the mixture of ethane and methane sulphonic acids was identified for the oxidation of the mixture of EtSH and DMS. The system was operated in steady state, with the main reaction products being the sulphonic acids. An amount of 20.1 g catalytic mesh (50% catalytic threads, [Fe] = 0.52 mmol Fe/g threads) was used in the presence of 100 mg/L H2O2 solution (2.4 mL/min) for a total of 1504 hours (about 62 days) as following: 415 hours in the decomposition of EtSH at 45 °C, 309 hours in the decomposition of EtSH at ambient temperature and 780 hours in the decomposition of the mixture of EtSH and DMS. A total of 45.12 L of air were treated, the total amount of VOCs passing through the unit was 252.67 mg EtSH and 140.4 mg DMS

Development of an Online Training Module for the Shifting Cultural Lenses Model

There is a growing need for mental health professionals to provide evidence-based practices in a culturally competent manner, in part, due to the current and projected increases in racial and ethnic minority and immigrant populations in the United States and barriers to mental health services for those populations. In light of many barriers to access to mental health services for underserved populations, one crucial factor is cultural incompetence of providers. This study sought to address the mental health imperative to improve the culture competence of clinicians by creating a cultural competence training for health professionals using a behavioral model and methodological framework that would be effective, scalable, efficient, and cost and time-effective. The present study aimed to 1) develop a cultural competence training module from an existing model, and 2) evaluate preliminary efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of the cultural competence training module using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that compared a standard therapy training (Behavioral Activation) with that therapy training plus the cultural competence training. The training took place bi-weekly over 18 weeks in 6 one-hour and a half sessions. Training content was delivered online and through self-paced materials. Study findings are presented as preliminary and exploratory. Results overall were promising suggesting that the trainings provided significant increases in cultural competence skills as evidenced by the cultural competence subscale of the Behavioral Activation Skills Assessment (BASA) and the skills subscale of the Multicultural Awareness, Knowledge and Skills Survey (MAKSS) for participants that underwent the cultural competence training. However, results on the BASA evidenced a slightly smaller, yet significant improvement in cultural competence for participants who did not participate in the cultural competence training. Lastly, results on the other BASA scales indicate that participants significantly improved in their BA competency at similar rates as those found in previous pilot studies

Cultural Correlates of PTSD in Latinos Residing in the U.s.

The present study examined the associations between cultural variables (i.e., acculturative stress, discrimination, social support, migration planning, and reasons for migrating) and exposure to trauma and PTSD in a sample of Latinos (N=2,554) residing in the United States, who participated in the National Latino and Asian America Study (NLAAS). Results showed that there were significant positive associations between trauma exposure and migrating because of political reasons, migrating in search of medical attention, migrating due to marital or family problems, and forced migration, suggesting they may be risk factors for being exposed to trauma. There was a negative association between trauma exposure and migrating in search of a better future, indicating it may be a protective factor against being exposed to trauma. Family and friend demands was positively associated with both trauma exposure and PTSD severity, indicating it may be the case that demands from family and friends could in themselves constitute trauma or that once trauma has occurred there are more perceived family and friend demands, thus exacerbating PTSD symptom severity. There was also a positive association between acculturative stress and PTSD, indicating that either acculturative stress worsens PTSD or that having PTSD makes it harder to adjust to life in the U.S. (i.e., acculturative stress). Overall, the results from the present study indicate cultural factors play a role in exposure to trauma, as well as subsequent development of PTSD. Study strengths, limitations, and future directions are discussed

Spectral characteristics of phase sensitivity and discharge rate of neurons in the ascending tectofugal visual system

Drifting gratings can modulate the activity of visual neurons at the temporal frequency of the stimulus. In order to characterize the temporal frequency modulation in the cat's ascending tectofugal visual system, we recorded the activity of single neurons in the superior colliculus, the suprageniculate nucleus, and the anterior ectosylvian cortex during visual stimulation with drifting sine-wave gratings. In response to such stimuli, neurons in each structure showed an increase in firing rate and/or oscillatory modulated firing at the temporal frequency of the stimulus (phase sensitivity). To obtain a more complete characterization of the neural responses in spatiotemporal frequency domain, we analyzed the mean firing rate and the strength of the oscillatory modulations measured by the standardized Fourier component of the response at the temporal frequency of the stimulus. We show that the spatiotemporal stimulus parameters that elicit maximal oscillations often differ from those that elicit a maximal discharge rate. Furthermore, the temporal modulation and discharge-rate spectral receptive fields often do not overlap, suggesting that the detection range for visual stimuli provided jointly by modulated and unmodulated response components is larger than the range provided by a one response component

ASSOCIATION OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS AND MENTAL TRAINING WITH PERFORMANCE IN ROAD RACES

This study aimed to describe the psychological and nutritional aspects of runners and identify the association of mental training and dietary supplements with performance in road races. For this, a cross-sectional study was performed with 560 recreational runners, who participated in 2014 or 2015 Unicamp Running. The participants answered a Google Docs questionnaire about personal, emotional and nutritional aspects. A sub-sample of 302 runners was monitored using chip technology to identify the running time in 5 km and 10 km. The main motivations for the run were to improve health (73%), well-being (62,5%) and quality of life (57%). Approximately 34% consumed dietary supplements, among which 70.5% consumed proteins and 40.2% carbohydrates. The main motivations for this consumption were increased competitiveness (62.1%) and health (46.3%). There was no association between the consumption of dietary supplements and performance in road races. The participants who did mental training presented 2.5 to 2.3 times higher chance of better performance compared to the participants who did not do mental training (p=0.020 and 0.039, respectively). We hypothesized that dietary supplementation without nutritional follow-up does not offer sporting advantage and that mental training is associated with better performance in recreational runners. Article visualizations

Simulating the Need of Working Capital for Decision Making in Investments

Simulation is one of the main instruments within the financial techniques of modeling decisions in condition of risk. The paper compares a couple of simulation methods for Sales and their impact on the need of short term financing. For simulating the need of working capital, the original software implementation is based on the data analysis and statistical facilities of a common spreadsheet program. The case study aims at proving the utility of the software for furnishing results with three of the main known simulation methods and helping the decisional process

Light-harvesting bio-nanomaterial using porous silicon and photosynthetic reaction center

Porous silicon microcavity (PSiMc) structures were used to immobilize the photosynthetic reaction center (RC) purified from the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides R-26. Two different binding methods were compared by specular reflectance measurements. Structural characterization of PSiMc was performed by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The activity of the immobilized RC was checked by measuring the visible absorption spectra of the externally added electron donor, mammalian cytochrome c. PSi/RC complex was found to oxidize the cytochrome c after every saturating Xe flash, indicating the accessibility of specific surface binding sites on the immobilized RC, for the external electron donor. This new type of bio-nanomaterial is considered as an excellent model for new generation applications of silicon-based electronics and biological redox systems

Directed evolution of G protein-coupled receptors in yeast for higher functional production in eukaryotic expression hosts

Despite recent successes, many G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) remained refractory to detailed molecular studies due to insufficient production yields, even in the most sophisticated eukaryotic expression systems. Here we introduce a robust method employing directed evolution of GPCRs in yeast that allows fast and efficient generation of receptor variants which show strongly increased functional production levels in eukaryotic expression hosts. Shown by evolving three different receptors in this study, the method is widely applicable, even for GPCRs which are very difficult to express. The evolved variants showed up to a 26-fold increase of functional production in insect cells compared to the wild-type receptors. Next to the increased production, the obtained variants exhibited improved biophysical properties, while functional properties remained largely unaffected. Thus, the presented method broadens the portfolio of GPCRs accessible for detailed investigations. Interestingly, the functional production of GPCRs in yeast can be further increased by induced host adaptation

CRISPR-clear imaging of melanin-rich B16-derived solid tumors

Tissue clearing combined with deep imaging has emerged as a powerful technology to expand classical histological techniques. Current techniques have been optimized for imaging sparsely pigmented organs such as the mammalian brain. In contrast, melanin-rich pigmented tissue, of great interest in the investigation of melanomas, remains challenging. To address this challenge, we have developed a CRISPR-based gene editing approach that is easily incorporated into existing tissue-clearing workflows such the PACT clearing method. We term this method CRISPR-Clear. We demonstrate its applicability to highly melanin-rich B16-derived solid tumors, including one made transgenic for HER2, constituting one of very few syngeneic mouse tumors that can be used in immunocompetent models. We demonstrate the utility in detailed tumor characterization by staining for targeting antibodies and nanoparticles, as well as expressed fluorescent proteins. With CRISPR-Clear we have unprecedented access to optical interrogation in considerable portions of intact melanoma tissue for stained surface markers, expressed fluorescent proteins, of subcellular compartments, and of the vasculature