Young Adult Brain Capital: A New Opportunity for Dementia Prevention

The potential for future prevention of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) through healthy lifestyle change is spurring a positive brain health movement. However, most ADRD research continues to focus on mid- and later life. We lack evidence regarding risk exposure and protective factors in young adulthood, i.e., 18-39 years. Brain capital is an emerging framework that represents the combination of education, knowledge, skills, and optimal brain health that people accumulate over their lives. Building on this framework, we present a new model that focuses on optimizing brain health in young adulthood; namely, young adult brain capital. Increasing focus on younger populations is critical for developing citizens who are emotionally intelligent, resilient and can anticipate and cope with rapid changes in the world. By understanding the values that are key drivers and motivators for young adults, we can empower the next generation to become active agents in optimizing their brain health and reducing their risk for future ADRD

Mindful Living in Older Age: a Pilot Study of a Brief, Community-Based, Positive Aging Intervention

Although mindfulness-based interventions have been successfully used with older adults, there have been few interventions that, (a) are created specifically for older adults, (b) are delivered in the community, and (c) aim to promote ‘successful aging’ (rather than just treating dysfunction/disorder). To this end, the current study piloted a brief ‘positive aging’ intervention, comprising two 150 minute sessions, with six female older adults living in the community. Data were gathered through focus groups that were interwoven throughout the intervention. Using thematic analysis, four main themes were identified: (a) aging as a mixed blessing; (b) understanding mindfulness; (c) the challenges of mindfulness; and (d) the benefits of mindfulness. Overall, the intervention was successful in introducing participants to mindfulness and potentially forming the basis of a longer term practice. However, the study also highlighted important points on the challenges of practising mindfulness, in relation to which the paper makes recommendations pertaining to the teaching of mindfulness with older adults

Dual-fuel combustion fundamentals: experimental-numerical analysis into a constant-volume vessel

Dual-fuel combustion has shown high potential for the reduction of emissions (especially nitric oxides and particulate matter) keeping almost unchanged fuel conversion efficiency compared with conventional Diesel engines. However, a deep understanding of the phenomena controlling dual-fuel ignition and combustion processes is still needed to further improving engine behavior especially at low load. To this aim, a combined experimental/numerical approach is proposed in this paper, consisting in a detailed experimental test campaign along with a numerical model to represent and then verify the similarities between engine and chamber local thermodynamics conditions. The design and operation of a tailored experimental setup to study the fundamentals of the dual-fuel combustion process at engine-like operating conditions in optically accessible constant volume combustion chamber is a challenging task. In this paper, similar conditions characterizing the engine operation are represented with a first combustion of a lean air-methane mixture. Then, methane is injected into the chamber to mimic low load engine operation condition in terms of overall equivalence ratio. The oxygen left from the first combustion supports the oxidation of the post-injected methane whose ignition is triggered by a diesel pilot injection. Special care is addressed in characterizing heat and mass losses as well as the mass of methane introduced. During experiments, chamber pressure is measured and thus the evolution of the combustion process is characterized. Numerical simulations, carried out by means of the CONVERGE CFD code, are used to check the charge distribution inside the chamber, and evaluate the local thermodynamic conditions after the gas exchange process. A comparison between the experimental and numerical pressure trace profiles has been performed to validate the numerical model. Results obtained confirm the validity of the proposed approach highlighting the need for a careful calibration of the injection parameters to achieve the target conditions close to the spray injection location

Positive emotion regulation and well-being : comparing the impact of eight savoring and dampening strategies

Although previous research has uncovered various ways people can savor or dampen their positive emotional experiences, the unique impact of each of these strategies on well-being remains unknown. The present study examines the relative impact of the main positive emotion regulation strategies on two components of well-being: positive affect (PA) and life satisfaction (LS). A total of 282 participants completed measures of PA. LS, overall happiness, and the savoring and dampening strategies they typically used. Results show that when experiencing positive events, focusing attention on the present moment and engaging in positive rumination promoted PA, whereas telling others promoted LS. In contrast, being distracted diminished PA, while focusing on negative details and engaging in negative rumination reduced LS. As the strategies targeted different components of well-being, our results further show that regulatory diversity (i.e., typically using various strategies rather than a few specific ones), was beneficial to overall happiness. Our findings suggest that there are several independent ways to make the best (or the worst) out of our positive emotions, and that the cultivation of multiple savoring strategies might be required to achieve lasting happiness. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Money giveth, money taketh away : the dual effect of wealth on happiness

This study provides the first evidence that money impairs people's ability to savor everyday positive emotions and experiences. In a sample of working adults, wealthier individuals reported lower savoring ability (the ability to enhance and prolong positive emotional experience). Moreover, the negative impact of wealth on individuals' ability to savor undermined the positive effects of money on their happiness. We experimentally exposed participants to a reminder of wealth and produced the same deleterious effect on their ability to savor as that produced by actual individual differences in wealth, a result supporting the theory that money has a causal effect on savoring. Moving beyond self-reports, we found that participants exposed to a reminder of wealth spent less time savoring a piece of chocolate and exhibited reduced enjoyment of it compared with participants not exposed to wealth. This article presents evidence supporting the widely held but previously untested belief that having access to the best things in life may actually undercut people's ability to reap enjoyment from life's small pleasures

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