Mindfulness-Based Gratitude: Curriculum Guide for an Online Six-Week Course

This is a two-part paper. The first part of the paper presents research on how both mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and gratitude interventions (GIs) offer a promising way to help mitigate the physiological and psychological effects caused by chronic stress by increasing one’s overall sense of well-being (Keng et al., 2011; Wood et al., 2010). Individually, mindfulness and gratitude practices may enhance positive effect and well-being, which suggest that combining both practices may further increase positive outcomes (Hicks et al., 2017) due to their complementary nature. However, research should be approached with caution as there are many methodological limitations that need to be addressed to provide more accurate results in future study (Wood et al., 2010). The second part of this paper presents a Curriculum Guide for Facilitators: An Online Six-Week Mindfulness-Based Gratitude Course which was developed for participants to learn how to integrate mindfulness-based gratitude practices into their daily lives as a means to potentially decrease stress while increasing one’s overall sense of well-being

Dosisvergleich von Bestrahlungsplänen bei HNO-Tumoren für IMRT-Techniken

Auswertung und Vergleich von Bestrahlungsparametern von Intensitätsmodulierter Radiotherapie sowie Volumenmodulierter Strahlentherapie für Kopf-Hals-Tumore

Tenderness, Sensory, and Fatty Acid Attributes of Pasture Versus Grain Finished Beef Aged 14 and 28 Days

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of two finishing systems, grain and pasture, and postmortem aging on the sensory, tenderness, display color, and fatty acid profiles of beef from their carcasses. All cattle (n = 473) were on a forage diet during the stocker period. They were randomly assigned to either a grain based or pasture-based finishing diet. Conventionally finished cattle were fed for 94 d, and pasture cattle were fed for either 88 or 130 d. Average age of cattle at slaughter was 18.2 mo for concentrate finished and 18.9 mo for alfalfa finished. Strip loins (n = 445) were cut into 2.54 cm thick steaks and vacuum packaged. Display color was evaluated from a sub-set of steaks during 1 year of the study (n = 60). The data were analyzed using the Mixed and Glimmax Procedures of SAS. No interaction for treatment x year was indicated, so data were analyzed by finishing system and aging time (if applicable). Carcasses from cattle finished on a grain diet were fatter (P 0.05), was found for Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBS) or sensory tenderness. There was an interaction between finishing type and days aged (P 0.05) for protein, moisture, and collagen. The fatty acid chemical analysis found a difference (P 0.05) for MUFA with grain finished being higher. Finally, SFA, PUFA n-6, VA, and OT had no differences (P > 0.05) between finishing system

CRISPR-TSKO : a technique for efficient mutagenesis in specific cell types, tissues, or organs in Arabidopsis

Detailed functional analyses of many fundamentally important plant genes via conventional loss-of-function approaches are impeded by the severe pleiotropic phenotypes resulting from these losses. In particular, mutations in genes that are required for basic cellular functions and/or reproduction often interfere with the generation of homozygous mutant plants, precluding further functional studies. To overcome this limitation, we devised a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based tissue-specific knockout system, CRISPR-TSKO, enabling the generation of somatic mutations in particular plant cell types, tissues, and organs. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), CRISPR-TSKO mutations in essential genes caused well-defined, localized phenotypes in the root cap, stomatal lineage, or entire lateral roots. The modular cloning system developed in this study allows for the efficient selection, identification, and functional analysis of mutant lines directly in the first transgenic generation. The efficacy of CRISPR-TSKO opens avenues for discovering and analyzing gene functions in the spatial and temporal contexts of plant life while avoiding the pleiotropic effects of system-wide losses of gene function

The effect of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica

(1) Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory disease characterised by pain, morning stiffness, and reduced quality of life. Recently, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was shown to have anti-inflammatory effects. We aimed to examine the effect of transcutaneous VNS (t-VNS) on PMR. (2) Fifteen treatment-naïve PMR patients completed the study. Patients underwent a 5-day protocol, receiving 2 min of t-VNS stimulation bilaterally on the neck, three times daily. Cardiac vagal tone (CVT) measured on a linear vagal scale (LVS), blood pressure, heart rate, patient-reported outcome, and biochemical changes were assessed. (3) t-VNS induced a 22% increase in CVT at 20 min after initial stimulations compared with baseline (3.4 ± 2.2 LVS vs. 4.1 ± 2.9 LVS, p = 0.02) and was accompanied by a 4 BPM reduction in heart rate (73 ± 11 BPM vs. 69 ± 9, p p = 0.04). No changes in CRP or proinflammatory analytes were observed. (4) t-VNS modulates the autonomic nervous system in patients with PMR, but further investigation of t-VNS in PMR patients is warranted

MicroRNA-224 is Readily Detectable in Urine of Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus and is a Potential Indicator of Beta-Cell Demise.

MicroRNA (miRNA) are a class of non-coding, 19-25 nucleotide RNA critical for network-level regulation of gene expression. miRNA serve as paracrine signaling molecules. Using an unbiased array approach, we previously identified elevated levels of miR-224 and miR-103 to be associated with a monogenic form of diabetes; HNF1A-MODY. miR-224 is a novel miRNA in the field of diabetes. We sought to explore the role of miR-224 as a potential biomarker in diabetes, and whether such diabetes-associated-miRNA can also be detected in the urine of patients. Absolute levels of miR-224 and miR-103 were determined in the urine of n = 144 individuals including carriers of a HNF1A mutation, participants with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and normal controls. Expression levels were correlated with clinical and biochemical parameters. miR-224 was significantly elevated in the urine of carriers of a HNF1A mutation and participants with T1DM. miR-103 was highly expressed in urine across all diabetes cohorts when compared to controls. For both miR-224 and-103, we found a significant correlation between serum and urine levels (p \u3c 0.01). We demonstrate that miRNA can be readily detected in the urine independent of clinical indices of renal dysfunction. We surmise that the differential expression levels of miR-224 in both HNF1A-MODY mutation carriers and T1DM may be an attempt to compensate for beta-cell demise

A vision to strengthen resources and capacity of the Palestinian health research system: a qualitative assessment

The World Health Organization has proposed a global strategy to build a robust Health Research System Resources and Infrastructural Capacity (HRSRIC). Despite the growing research productivity, HRSRIC in Palestine has rarely been investigated.; To analyse perceptions of health research system performers to understand the status of HRSRIC, identify its gaps, and propose policy solutions to strengthen HRSRIC.; This qualitative study targeted 3 health sectors: government, academia, and local and international organizations. Fifty-two in-depth interviews and 6 focus group discussions were conducted with key informants who were selected purposively. Data were analysed using MAXQDA 12.; Despite the availability of competent personnel, the overall HRSRIC, such as human and financial resources, and facilities, forms a central challenge. HR financing is limited, unsustainable, and flows from external and individual sources. The public and private funds are largely in shortage with resources misallocation and donors' conditionality. HR quality is moderate while knowledge transfer and translation are not well conceptualized and inappropriately performed. Lack of governance, coordination, HRSRIC strategy, resource allocation, systematic and reliable data, evidence-informed culture, and environmental impacts are the main common gaps.; The overall status of HRSRIC in Palestine is still lacking and major challenges persist where the pace of strengthening efforts is steady. There is an emphasis that strengthening HRSRIC is an imperative step and real investment opportunity for building a successful health research system. Political commitment, consolidated leadership structure, operational capacity building strengthening strategy, resources mobilization, and sovereignty are key requirements

A unified platform to manage, share, and archive morphological and functional data in insect neuroscience

Insect neuroscience generates vast amounts of highly diverse data, of which only a small fraction are findable, accessible and reusable. To promote an open data culture, we have therefore developed the InsectBrainDatabase (IBdb), a free online platform for insect neuroanatomical and functional data. The IBdb facilitates biological insight by enabling effective cross-species comparisons, by linking neural structure with function, and by serving as general information hub for insect neuroscience. The IBdb allows users to not only effectively locate and visualize data, but to make them widely available for easy, automated reuse via an application programming interface. A unique private mode of the database expands the IBdb functionality beyond public data deposition, additionally providing the means for managing, visualizing, and sharing of unpublished data. This dual function creates an incentive for data contribution early in data management workflows and eliminates the additional effort normally associated with publicly depositing research data

U.S. West Coast trawl groundfish: Have economic goals been met under catch shares?

Implemented in 2011, the West Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program was designed to achieve multiple economic goals and objectives for a diverse multispecies fishery, including increasing net benefits, profitability, flexibility, and utilization of harvest allocations. Here, we leverage seven years of comprehensive cost and earnings data to evaluate progress towards these goals, with a focus on harvesters. Our assessment shows that five years post-implementation, net benefits to the nation have doubled, and indicators of productivity and profitability for the two primary fleets have increased. The fleet that targets Pacific whiting has seen the largest gains, due in part to increases in total allowable catch and the elimination of the race-to-fish, distributing landings across the season. However, increased revenues have not been realized to the degree that was expected for harvesters targeting non-whiting groundfish, likely due to lower than predicted consolidation and relatively low quota utilization. Economic outcomes indicate that trade-offs exist between certain objectives of the program, specifically between achieving full utilization and increasing flexibility for harvesters. Results are discussed in the context of the design and evaluation of catch share programs for multispecies fisheries