Mindfulness for Psychologists: Paying Kind Attention to the Perceptible

Basic definitions, assumptions, and working principles of the Buddhist and mindfulness-based intervention conception of "mindfulness” are characterized. Fundamental distinctions are drawn between Buddhist psychology and mainstream Western behavioral science in terms of aims, types of acquired knowledge, and professional training requirements. Particular emphasis is placed upon issues related to clinical intervention and biopsychosocial dysfunction. An argument is made and examples presented to show that mindfulness is best understood within an experience-based psychological perspective, integrating cognitive, affective, and ethical dimensions. The systematic nature of the development of mindfulness is illustrated by examination of an ancient program aimed at mindful awareness of breathing. Comparisons are made between developmental progression of mindful awareness and a neuroscience-based model of the ontogenesis of capacities of human consciousness; also, the act of awareness or being conscious is distinguished from the capacity for consciousness. In conclusion, acknowledgement of inherent differences—and tensions—between Buddhist and Western psychologies may actually serve to safeguard the concept of mindfulness from being denatured, banalized, or distorted. The potential of mindfulness-based approaches may, in turn, be enhanced for contributing to critical aspects of healthcare, quality of life, and wellbein

What interventions reduce the risk of contrast nephropathy for high-risk patients?

Several interventions may reduce the risk of contrast nephropathy for high-risk patients; however, most evidence uses surrogate markers for clinically relevant outcomes. Because dehydration is a risk factor for developing contrast nephropathy, periprocedural hydration is routinely recommended (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C, expert opinion). Single studies have suggested that isotonic saline is associated with less risk than half-normal saline, and hydration with fluids containing sodium bicarbonate is more efficacious than those containing isotonic saline (SOR: B, single randomized controlled trial [RCT])

Continuous electronic data capture of physiology, behavior and experience in real life: towards ecological momentary assessment of emotion

Emotions powerfully influence our physiology, behavior, and experience. A comprehensive assessment of affective states in health and disease would include responses from each of these domains in real life. Since no single physiologic parameter can index emotional states unambiguously, a broad assessment of physiologic responses is desirable. We present a recently developed system, the LifeShirt, which allows reliable ambulatory monitoring of a wide variety of cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, motor-behavioral, and experiential responses. The system consists of a garment with embedded inductive plethysmography and other sensors for physiologic data recording and a handheld computer for input of experiential data via touch screen. Parameters are extracted offline using sophisticated analysis and display software. The device is currently used in clinical studies and to monitor effects of physical and emotional stress in naturalistic settings. Further development of signal processing and pattern recognition algorithms will enhance computerized identification of type and extent of physical and emotional activatio

Community reporting thresholds : Sharing information with authorities concerning violent extremist activity and involvement in foreign conflict: A UK replication study

The first people to suspect or know about someone becoming involved in planning acts of violent extremism will often be those closest to them: their friends, family and community insiders. However, whilst these 'intimates' have a vital role to play against potential terrorist threats and offer a first line of defence, very little is known about what reporting of the potential violent extremist involvement of an ‘intimate’ means for community members. 'Intimates' reporting is a critical blind spot in current Countering Violent Extremism (CVE)/Prevent thinking and strategy internationally. These new findings from CREST-funded research by the University of Huddersfield and Deakin University, Australia address this evidential gap in the UK. Replicating and developing a previous Australian study, the ‘Community Reporting Thresholds’ project has used qualitative, in-depth interviews with community members (particularly young adults) and front-line professional practitioners (CT police personnel, Prevent practitioners and community organisation staff) to investigate thresholds, barriers and enablers for community members sharing concerns about the involvement on an ‘intimate’ in violent extremism. Key findings are that community members are primarily motivated by care and concern for their intimate in considering reporting. The gravity of reporting to the police means that most community respondents would only report after a staged process, whereby they first attempt to dissuade the intimate, and also take counsel and guidance from family members, friends and trusted ‘community leaders’. Community respondents want to report to local police, not CT specialists, and to do so by face to face means. They also want support and updates after reporting through a feedback loop. Some respondents are unsure how to report, a perspective echoed by professional practitioners who see national reporting mechanisms as confusing and made more difficult by the public image of Prevent. These findings have enabled identification in the Final Report and the Executive Summary of clear strategic directions for future policy and practice consideration

Artificial Intelligence as Evidence

This article explores issues that govern the admissibility of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) applications in civil and criminal cases, from the perspective of a federal trial judge and two computer scientists, one of whom also is an experienced attorney. It provides a detailed yet intelligible discussion of what AI is and how it works, a history of its development, and a description of the wide variety of functions that it is designed to accomplish, stressing that AI applications are ubiquitous, both in the private and public sectors. Applications today include: health care, education, employment-related decision-making, finance, law enforcement, and the legal profession. The article underscores the importance of determining the validity of an AI application (i.e., how accurately the AI measures, classifies, or predicts what it is designed to), as well as its reliability (i.e., the consistency with which the AI produces accurate results when applied to the same or substantially similar circumstances), in deciding whether it should be admitted into evidence in civil and criminal cases. The article further discusses factors that can affect the validity and reliability of AI evidence, including bias of various types, “function creep,” lack of transparency and explainability, and the sufficiency of the objective testing of AI applications before they are released for public use. The article next provides an in-depth discussion of the evidentiary principles that govern whether AI evidence should be admitted in court cases, a topic which, at present, is not the subject of comprehensive analysis in decisional law. The focus of this discussion is on providing a step-by-step analysis of the most important issues, and the factors that affect decisions on whether to admit AI evidence. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of practical suggestions intended to assist lawyers and judges as they are called upon to introduce, object to, or decide on whether to admit AI evidence

Conclusions from CDF Results on CP Violation in D^0 \to \pi^+\pi^-, K^+K^- and Future Tasks

Within the Standard Model (SM) one predicts both direct and indirect CP violation in D^0 \to \pi^+\pi^-, K^+K^- transitions, although the effects are tiny: Indirect CP asymmetry cannot exceed O(10^{-4}), probably even O(10^{-5}); direct effects are estimated at not larger than 10^{-4}. At B factories direct and indirect asymmetries have been studied with /\tau_{D^0} ~ 1; no CP asymmetry was found with an upper bound of about 1%. CDF has shown intriguing data on CP violation in D^0 \to \pi^+\pi^- [K^+K^-] with /\tau_{D^0} ~ 2.4 [2.65]. Also, CDF has not seen any CP violation. For direct CP asymmetry, CDF has a sensitivity similar to the combination of the B factories, yet for indirect CP violation it yields a significantly smaller sensitivity of a_{cp}^{ind}=(-0.01 +- 0.06_{stat} +- 0.05_{syst})% due to it being based on longer decay times. New Physics models (NP) like Little Higgs Models with T-Parity (LHT) can produce an indirect CP asymmetry up to 1%; CDF's findings thus cover the upper range of realistic NP predictions ~ 0.1 - 1%. One hopes that LHCb and a Super-Flavour Factory will probe the lower range down to ~0.01%. Such non-ad-hoc NP like LHT cannot enhance direct CP violation significantly over the SM level in D^0 \to \pi^+\pi^-, K^+K^- and D^{\pm} \to \pi^{\pm}K^+K^- transitions, but others might well do so.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure. V2 has minor corrections and corresponds to the published versio