Using fNIRS to Measure Emotional Processing Following Mindful Meditation

Mindful meditation, an exercise which encourages its practitioners to be present in the moment and to be aware of their current emotions, thoughts, and sensations, has been shown to affect the processing of emotional information (Sobolewski et al., 2011) and to increase empathy (Tan, Lo, & Macrae, 2014). The prefrontal cortex has been implicated in these processes (Seitz, Nickel, & Azari, 2006). We sought to investigate the neural mechanisms which underlie how mindful meditation affects emotional processing and to determine whether any changes in brain activity could be linked to changes in empathy. Participants in our experimental group practiced mindful meditation for ten minutes. Those in the control groups either listened to an unexciting newscast or sat quietly for ten minutes. Next, participants in all conditions viewed a series of emotionally valenced images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) (Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 2008). As they viewed the images, activity in the prefrontal cortex was monitored with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Following the presentation of the IAPS images, participants completed questionnaires and inventories that measured empathy, previous experience with meditation, and personality traits. As well as differences in empathy between participants who meditated and participants who did not, we expect to discover any variations in patterns of prefrontal cortical activity during the viewing of positive, negative, and neutral imagery. We hope that our results will elucidate how mindful meditation affects emotional processing and the development of empathy, and to determine whether certain personality traits, social conservatism, or lack of sleep may predict neural and behavioral responses to mindful meditation. Lang, P.J., Bradley, M.M., & Cuthbert, B.N. (2008). International affective picture System (IAPS): Affective ratings of pictures and instruction manual. Technical Report A-8. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Seitz, R.J., Nickel, J., & Azari, N.P. (2006). Functional modularity of the medial prefrontal cortex: Involvement in human empathy. Neuropsychology, 20(6), 743-751. Sobolewski, A., Holt, E., Kublik, E., & Wróbel, A. (2011). Impact of meditation on emotional processing—A visual ERP study. Neuroscience Research, 71(1), 44–48. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2011.06.002 Tan, L.B.G., Lo, B.C.Y., & Macrae, C.N. (2014). Brief Mindfulness Meditation Improves Mental State Attribution and Empathizing. PLoS ONE, 9(10). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.011051

Role of immediate reconstruction for elderly breast cancer patients

With rising numbers of elderly women developing breast cancer, treatment options must evolve which take into consideration quality of life and functional status. Although fewer women at all ages are undergoing mastectomy, for those elderly women who undergo mastectomy, reconstruction options should be offered. Over the past 5 years, increasing numbers of elderly women are electing immediate reconstruction (IM)

Global Roughness Texture of the Moon and Mars

Statistical measures of patterns (textures) in surface roughness are used to quantitatively differentiate regional geomorphic units on the Moon and Mars (e.g. cratered highlands, volcanic terrains and planar lowlands). The existence of vastly distinct crustal types on Mars and the Moon is well established [e.g. 1, 2, 3, & 4]. Here, a new methodology developed for differentiating terrestrial volcanic deposits using ~1 m resolution topography data [5], is tested on two global data sets where roughness pixels are much larger (1/4 of a degree)

Breast specific gamma imaging: Role in evaluation of breast disease

Although mammography is the gold standard for screening for breast cancer, 10 to 15% of lesions are missed, and this is higher with dense breasts. Alternative diagnostic modalities are being developed. One of these, breast specific gamma imaging (BSGI), which is not effected by dense tissue, utilizes the increased metabolic activity of tumors to localize and distinguish benign from malignant processes in the breast. The test can be used for screening and diagnostic purposes

Resposta sorológica de adultos à vacinação contra a rubéola

The effect of Wistar RA 27/3 live attenuated rubella virus vaccine, given subcutaneously, was evaluated in 30 susceptible female schoolteachers aged 20 to 35 years and over, from the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The serum samples, to be tested for hemagglutination-inhibiting (HI) and complement fixing (CF) antibodies, were collected 10, 30, 90 and 180 days after vaccination. Of the 30 susceptible adults who received the Wistar RA 27/3 vaccine, 96,6% showed seroconversion in the HI and CF tests. No unusual reactions occured.Foi estudada a resposta sorológica à vacinação contra a rubéola, por via subcutânea, com a cepa vacinal viva atenuada Wistar RA 27/3, num grupo de 30 professoras da rede municipal de ensino de São Paulo. Foram escolhidos, como participantes do grupo, indivíduos destituídos de imunidade contra a rubéola, tendo as dosagens de anticorpos inibidores da hemaglutinação e fixadores do complemento sido feitas em amostras de soro colhidas 10, 30, 90 e 180 dias após a vacinação. Tanto nas provas de inibição da hemaglutinação, como fixação do complemento, observou-se uma soro-conversão de 96,6%. Não se observaram quaisquer relações vacinais no grupo em estudo

Identificação por contraimunoeletroforese de rotavirus em casos de diarréia infantil

The faecal samples of 162 children with acute diarrhea were tested by counterimmunoelectrophoresis in order to detect rotaviruses. In 72.7%, 77.7% and 66.6% of samples from children of different age groups, varying from 6 to 8 months to 1 year or older, a positive result was found.Os resultados obtidos na identificação de rotavirus, usando a técnica da contraimunoeletroforese, com 162 amostras de feses de crianças com quadros diarréicos agudos, mostram uma distribuição percentual de positividade de 72,7%, 77,7% e 66,6% em diferentes grupos etários de 6 a 8 meses até um ano de idade

Measurements and modeling of optical-equivalent snow grain sizes under arctic low-sun conditions

The size and shape of snow grains directly impacts the reflection by a snowpack. In this article, different approaches to retrieve the optical-equivalent snow grain size (r$_{opt}$) or, alternatively, the specific surface area (SSA) using satellite, airborne, and ground-based observations are compared and used to evaluate ICON-ART (ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic—Aerosols and Reactive Trace gases) simulations. The retrieval methods are based on optical measurements and rely on the r$_{opt}$-dependent absorption of solar radiation in snow. The measurement data were taken during a three-week campaign that was conducted in the North of Greenland in March/April 2018, such that the retrieval methods and radiation measurements are affected by enhanced uncertainties under these low-Sun conditions. An adjusted airborne retrieval method is applied which uses the albedo at 1700 nm wavelength and combines an atmospheric and snow radiative transfer model to account for the direct-to-global fraction of the solar radiation incident on the snow. From this approach, we achieved a significantly improved uncertainty (<25%) and a reduced effect of atmospheric masking compared to the previous method. Ground-based in situ measurements indicated an increase of r$_{opt}$ of 15 µm within a five-day period after a snowfall event which is small compared to previous observations under similar temperature regimes. ICON-ART captured the observed change of r$_{opt}$ during snowfall events, but systematically overestimated the subsequent snow grain growth by about 100%. Adjusting the growth rate factor to 0.012 µm$^{2}$ s$^{-1}$ minimized the difference between model and observations. Satellite-based and airborne retrieval methods showed higher r$_{opt}$ over sea ice (<300 µm) than over land surfaces (<100 µm) which was reduced by data filtering of surface roughness features. Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrievals revealed a large spread within a series of subsequent individual overpasses, indicating their limitations in observing the snow grain size evolution in early spring conditions with low Sun

A reação de fixação do complemento na identificação de rotavírus humano

Após a eliminação da anticomplementaridade, foi utilizada a reação de fixação do complemento na identificação de rotavírus em 134 amostras de fezes de crianças até um ano de idade, com quadros diarréicos agudos. A percentagem total de positividade foi de 28,7% com percentagens mais elevadas de casos positivos nos grupos etários de 6 meses a 1 ano de idade.After eliminating the anticomplementarity of the fecal extracts, complement fixation was used to detect human rotavirus in the stools of 35 (28.7%) out of 122 one-to twelve-month-old children with acute gastroenteritis. Infection was nigher in the 6-to 12-month-old children