Investigating the impact of distinct contemplative mental trainings on daily life stress, thoughts and affect: Evidence from a nine-month longitudinal ecological momentary assessment study

Mindfulness-based mental training interventions have become a popular means to alleviate stress and stress-associated health risks. Previous scientific investigations emphasize the importance of exploring the effects of such interventions in naturalistic settings to evaluate their implementation into daily life. Therefore, the current study examined the effects of three distinct mental training modules on a range of measures of daily life experience in the scope of the ReSource Project, a 9-month longitudinal mental training study comparing modules targeting attention and interoception (Presence), socio-affective (Affect) or socio-cognitive abilities (Perspective). We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to repeatedly probe levels of stress and stress-coping efficacy combined with stress-reactive cortisol levels, and further explored arousal, affective states, and thought patterns in the daily lives of 289 healthy adults (172 women; 20–55 years). We found increased presence-focused thought and heightened arousal after a training duration of 3–6 months, independent of the type of prior training. Increased coping efficacy emerged specifically after socio-cognitive Perspective training, following 6–9 months of training duration. No training effects were found for subjective stress, stress-reactive cortisol levels, or daily life affect. Our findings corroborate and add ecological validity to previous ReSource findings by showing that they replicate in participants’ everyday environment. Regarding endocrine and subjective stress markers, our results suggest caution in generalizing acute laboratory findings to individuals’ everyday routines. Overall, the current study provides substantiated insights into how cultivating one’s mind through contemplative mental training translates to daily life experience, enhances stress-coping, and may ultimately aide in maintaining health

Open and reproducible science practices in psychoneuroendocrinology: Opportunities to foster scientific progress

This perspective article was written by invitation of the editors in chief as a summary and extension of the symposium entitled Psychoneuroendocrine Research in the Era of the Replication Crisis which was held at the virtual meeting of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology 2021. It highlights the opportunities presented by the application of open and reproducible scientific practices in psychoneuroendocrinology (PNE), an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of psychology, endocrinology, immunology, neurology, and psychiatry. It conveys an introduction to the topics preregistration, registered reports, quantifying the impact of equally-well justifiable analysis decisions, and open data and scripts, while emphasizing ‘selfish’ reasons to adopt such practices as individual researcher. Complementary to the call for adoption of open science practices, we highlight the need for methodological best practice guidelines in the field of PNE, which could further contribute to enhancing replicability of results. We propose concrete steps for future actions and provide links to additional resources for those interested in adopting open and reproducible science practices in future studies

The leaching of natural colloids from forest surface soils and their role for the P transfer

Soil nanoparticles (d<100nm) and colloids (d<1µm) exert a decisive control on the mobilisation of strongly sorbing compounds such as phosphorus (P). We investigated the nanoparticles and colloids present in forest soil leachates examining their role for the P fixation and for the vertical P transfer in forest soils. Mesocosm experiments with three German forest soils (upper 20 cm) were conducted. The mesocosms were irrigated with artificial rain for 22 months and the nanoparticles and colloids were characterised in the soil leachates with special attention to P. The field flow fractionation (FFF) technique coupled online to UV- and DLS- detectors and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) or to an organic carbon detector (OCD) enabled a size resolved characterization and quantification of the nanoparticulate and colloidal fractions and their elemental composition (P, Corg, Fe, A, Si, Ca. Mn). To visualise and better characterise the particles present in the leachates, transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDX) measurements were performed. The translocated particles exhibited sizes up to 350 nm. Using FFF we separated the colloids in three size fractions i) 3-20 nm ii) 20-70 nm and iii) 70-350 nm. The particle fractions showed different chemical compositions. However their composition and characteristics were similar between the three forest sites and comparable to the natural nanoparticles and colloids from soils (“water dispersible colloids”) and streams described in literature. Up to 90% (on average ~45 %) of the leached P was associated with the nanoparticles and colloids. Our qualitative and quantitative analysis of the soil leachates showed that nanoparticles and colloids are crucial vectors controlling the P fluxes in forest ecosystems and could be a significant, but as yet still poorly quantified P loss factor

Romance, risk, and replication: Can consumer choices and risk-taking be primed by mating motives?

Interventions aimed at influencing spending behavior and risk-taking have considerable practical importance. A number of studies motivated by the costly signaling theory within evolutionary psychology have reported that priming inductions (such as looking at pictures of attractive opposite sex members) designed to trigger mating motives increase males' stated willingness to purchase conspicuous consumption items and to engage in risk-taking behaviors, and reduce loss aversion. However, a meta-analysis of this literature reveals strong evidence of either publication bias or p-hacking (or both). We then report 8 studies with a total sample of over 1,600 participants which sought to reproduce these effects. None of the studies, including one that was fully preregistered, was successful. The results question the claim that romantic primes can influence risk-taking and other potentially harmful behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Recor

Shot noise from action correlations

We consider universal shot noise in ballistic chaotic cavities from a semiclassical point of view and show that it is due to action correlations within certain groups of classical trajectories. Using quantum graphs as a model system we sum these trajectories analytically and find agreement with random-matrix theory. Unlike all action correlations which have been considered before, the correlations relevant for shot noise involve four trajectories and do not depend on the presence of any symmetry.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures (a mistake in version 1 has been corrected

Semiclassical Approach to Chaotic Quantum Transport

We describe a semiclassical method to calculate universal transport properties of chaotic cavities. While the energy-averaged conductance turns out governed by pairs of entrance-to-exit trajectories, the conductance variance, shot noise and other related quantities require trajectory quadruplets; simple diagrammatic rules allow to find the contributions of these pairs and quadruplets. Both pure symmetry classes and the crossover due to an external magnetic field are considered.Comment: 33 pages, 11 figures (appendices B-D not included in journal version

Free carrier effects in gallium nitride epilayers: the valence band dispersion

The dispersion of the A-valence-band in GaN has been deduced from the observation of high-index magneto-excitonic states in polarised interband magneto-reflectivity and is found to be strongly non-parabolic with a mass in the range 1.2-1.8 m_{e}. It matches the theory of Kim et al. [Phys. Rev. B 56, 7363 (1997)] extremely well, which also gives a strong k-dependent A-valence-band mass. A strong phonon coupling leads to quenching of the observed transitions at an LO-phonon energy above the band gap and a strong non-parabolicity. The valence band was deduced from subtracting from the reduced dispersion the electron contribution with a model that includes a full treatment of the electron-phonon interaction.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, 5 figure

Infection prevention during anaesthesia ventilation by the use of breathing system filters (BSF): Joint recommendation by German Society of Hospital Hygiene (DGKH) and German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (DGAI)

An interdisciplinary working group from the German Society of Hospital Hygiene (DGKH) and the German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (DGAI) worked out the following recommendations for infection prevention during anaesthesia by using breathing system filters (BSF). The BSF shall be changed after each patient. The filter retention efficiency for airborne particles is recommended to be >99% (II). The retention performance of BSF for liquids is recommended to be at pressures of at least 60 hPa (=60 mbar) or 20 hPa above the selected maximum ventilation pressure in the anaesthetic system

Role of stem cell transplant in CD30+ PTCL following frontline brentuximab vedotin plus CHP or CHOP in ECHELON-2

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are a heterogeneous group of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas, the majority of which have high relapse rates following standard therapy. Despite use of consolidative stem cell transplant (SCT) following frontline therapy, there remains no consensus on its utility. The double-blind randomized phase 3 ECHELON-2 study (#NCT01777152; clinicaltrials.gov) demonstrated improved progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival with frontline brentuximab vedotin plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (A+CHP). Herein, we conducted an exploratory subgroups analysis of the impact of consolidative SCT on PFS in patients with previously untreated CD30+ PTCL (ALK- anaplastic large cell lymphoma [ALCL] and non-ALCL) who were in complete response (CR) after frontline treatment with A+CHP or cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone. Median PFS follow-up was 47.57 months. The PFS hazard ratio was 0.36, equating to a 64% reduction in the risk of a PFS event in patients who underwent SCT. The median PFS in patients who underwent SCT was not reached, vs 55.66 months in patients who did not undergo SCT. PFS results favored the use of SCT in both ALK- ALCL and non-ALCL subgroups. These data support the consideration of consolidative SCT in patients with CD30+PTCL who achieve CR following treatment with A+CHP