The Role of Learning in an Aging Society with Fewer Children: Referring to Education in America and New Zealand

研究資料・報

Mindfulness online: a preliminary evaluation of the feasibility of a web-based mindfulness course and the impact on stress

OBJECTIVES: Stress has been shown to have a number of negative effects on health over time. Mindfulness interventions have been shown to decrease perceived stress but access to interventions is limited. Therefore, the effectiveness of an online mindfulness course for perceived stress was investigated. DESIGN: A preliminary evaluation of an online mindfulness course. PARTICIPANTS: This sample consisted of 100 self-referrals to the online course. The average age of participants was 48 years and 74% were women. INTERVENTIONS: The online programme consisted of modules taken from Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and lasted for approximately 6 weeks. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) before the course, after the course and at 1-month follow-up. Completion of formal (eg, body scan, mindful movement) and informal (eg, mindful meal, noticing) mindfulness activities was self-reported each week. RESULTS: Participation in the online mindfulness course significantly reduced perceived stress upon completion and remained stable at follow-up. The pre-post effect size was equivalent to levels found in other class-based mindfulness programmes. Furthermore, people who had higher PSS scores before the course reported engaging in significantly more mindfulness practice, which was in turn associated with greater decreases in PSS. CONCLUSIONS: Because perceived stress significantly decreased with such limited exposure to mindfulness, there are implications for the accessibility of mindfulness therapies online. Future research needs to evaluate other health outcomes for which face-to-face mindfulness therapies have been shown to help, such as anxiety and depressive symptoms

Enantioselective Narasaka-Heck Cyclizations:Synthesis of Tetrasubstituted Nitrogen-Bearing Stereocenters

A SPINOL-derived P,N-ligand system enables Pd-catalyzed 5-exo cyclization of oxime esters with trisubstituted alkenes to generate dihydropyrroles in up to 86% yield and 95 : 5 e.r.</p

What are the characteristics of a professional teacher educator? A think piece

This question - ‘What are the characteristics of a professional teacher educator?’ - was simply sent out as a survey to all teacher educators who engage with the Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN). The aim was to give respondents the opportunity to comment from their own perspectives, whatever they were, thus adding their voices to our search for the characteristics of professional teacher educators. The resulting data were collated and refined by the authors of this paper who then worked together to write the think piece. As a think piece it sets out to provoke a response from its readers and hopes that readers will ‘think’ and use it to share in dialogue with colleagues and continue to add their voices to this debate

Copper catalyzed Heck-like cyclizations of oxime esters

Copper catalyzed Heck-like cyclizations of oxime esters are described. This new protocol is an effective alternative to Pd-based systems and highlights the value of replacing precious metal catalysts with cheaper and more sustainable variants.</p

Cold temperature does not affect perceived exertion in males and females during submaximal cycling

Background: Perceived exertion is an acknowledged indicator of exercise intensity and homeostasis disturbance of an individual, however, there are few studies that have examined the influence of cold temperatures on perceived exertion measurements. Cognition is crucial to perception and exposure to cold temperatures can elicit decrements in cognition. Aims & Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine if, and to what extent, exposure to cold environments may influence perceived exertion and cognitive ability. Study Design: Randomised controlled trial. Materials & Methods: Sixteen participants (m= 8, f= 8, age: 22.3 ± 1.7 years (mean ± SD)), completed two trials in a randomised order in COLD (5°C) and CONTROL (18 °C, 55% relative humidity) conditions. During each trial, following a standardised warm up, participants performed a 6-minute cycle ergometer submaximal exercise. Cognitive ability was assessed pre and post exercise with a reaction time (RT) test. Participant’s physiological responses were measured using Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), Heart Rate (HR), Oxygen consumption (VO2), Minute Ventilation (VE), Tympanic (Tt) and Skin Temperature (Tsk) continuously during testing. Statistics: Two-way repeated measures Analysis of Variances (ANOVA), were between environmental conditions over time.Data are reported as mean (M) ± standard deviation (SD).Ordinal Friedman ANOVA tests were conducted on RPE data between environmental conditions and gender. Non-parametric descriptive statistics were reported as medians (Mdn) and inter-quartile ranges (IQR) (25th–75thPercentile). Statistical significance was accepted at p 0.05) reported in RPE, VO2 and VEbetween COLD and CONTROL groups, however, significant decreases in Tsk(p= 0.001) and Tt(p= 0.001) were observed in COLD compared to CONTROL groups. Additionally, no significant differences (p > 0.05) in RT occurred between COLD and CONTROL. Furthermore, no significant differences in RPE were established between genders. Conclusions: Short-term exposure to cold temperatures does not significantly affect physical exertion perception or cognitive abilit

An open resource combining multi-contrast MRI and microscopy in the macaque brain

Understanding brain structure and function often requires combining data across different modalities and scales to link microscale cellular structures to macroscale features of whole brain organisation. Here we introduce the BigMac dataset, a resource combining in vivo MRI, extensive postmortem MRI and multi-contrast microscopy for multimodal characterisation of a single whole macaque brain. The data spans modalities (MRI and microscopy), tissue states (in vivo and postmortem), and four orders of spatial magnitude, from microscopy images with micrometre or sub-micrometre resolution, to MRI signals on the order of millimetres. Crucially, the MRI and microscopy images are carefully co-registered together to facilitate quantitative multimodal analyses. Here we detail the acquisition, curation, and first release of the data, that together make BigMac a unique, openly-disseminated resource available to researchers worldwide. Further, we demonstrate example analyses and opportunities afforded by the data, including improvement of connectivity estimates from ultra-high angular resolution diffusion MRI, neuroanatomical insight provided by polarised light imaging and myelin-stained histology, and the joint analysis of MRI and microscopy data for reconstruction of the microscopy-inspired connectome. All data and code are made openly available

A gene expression-based model predicts outcome in children with intermediate-risk classical Hodgkin lymphoma

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is a common malignancy in children and adolescents. Although cHL is highly curable, treatment with chemotherapy and radiation often come at the cost of long-term toxicity and morbidity. Effective risk-stratification tools are needed to tailor therapy. Here, we used gene expression profiling (GEP) to investigate tumor microenvironment (TME) biology, to determine molecular correlates of treatment failure, and to develop an outcome model prognostic for pediatric cHL. A total of 246 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue biopsies from patients enrolled in the Children’s Oncology Group trial AHOD0031 were used for GEP and compared with adult cHL data. Eosinophil, B-cell, and mast cell signatures were enriched in children, whereas macrophage and stromal signatures were more prominent in adults. Concordantly, a previously published model for overall survival prediction in adult cHL did not validate in pediatric cHL. Therefore, we developed a 9-cellular component model reflecting TME composition to predict event-free survival (EFS). In an independent validation cohort, we observed a significant difference in weighted 5-year EFS between high-risk and low-risk groups (75.2% vs 90.3%; log-rank P = .0138) independent of interim response, stage, fever, and albumin. We demonstrate unique disease biology in children and adolescents that can be harnessed for risk-stratification at diagnosis. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00025259