THERAPEUTIC INTENT AND THE ART OF OBSERVATION

T herapeutic Intent. The idea that consciousness can have a direct effect on a living organism is an andent and culturally universal belief. The shamanic cave art of Altimira, Tres Freres, and Lascaux presents compelling testimony that our genetic forbearers had a complex view of spiritual and physical renewal, one that has survived to the present unchanged in at least one fundamental respect: Therapeutic Intent. The intent to heal, either oneself or another, whether expressed as God, a force, an energy, or one of many gods, has consistentlybeenbelieved to be capable of produdng a therapeutic result

CREATIVITY, INTUITION, AND INNOVATION

They come in the night, or unexpectedly in a walk across the park, with friends playing games, or in the quiet of meditation. These are the provenances of creative breakthroughs that have changed the course ofhuman history; the intuitive insights ofsingle men orwomen. Nikola T esla's invention ofthe electric motor, at the end ofthe 19th century, came in a vision as he walked across acitypark.l Mozart and Copeland had music come to them in an instant.2 Einstein "saw" Relativity as he idled away time in a canoe, after an illness. He later wrote: "1 believe in intuition and inspiration. .. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge islimited,wherea.4iiimagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research."

Clinical impact of splicing in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Clinical exome sequencing is frequently used to identify gene-disrupting variants in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. While splice-disrupting variants are known to contribute to these disorders, clinical interpretation of cryptic splice variants outside of the canonical splice site has been challenging. Here, we discuss papers that improve such detection

Connected k-Partition of k-Connected Graphs and c-Claw-Free Graphs

w_k. In particular for the balanced version, i.e. w? = w? == w_k, this gives a partition with 1/3w_i ? w(T_i) ? 3w_i

Genotyping of Environmental and Clinical Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Isolates and their Pathogenic Potential

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a highly versatile species with useful biotechnological potential but also with pathogenic properties. In light of possible differences in virulence characteristics, knowledge about genomic subgroups is therefore desirable. Two different genotyping methods, rep-PCR fingerprinting and partial gyrB gene sequencing were used to elucidate S. maltophilia intraspecies diversity. Rep-PCR fingerprinting revealed the presence of 12 large subgroups, while gyrB gene sequencing distinguished 10 subgroups. For 8 of them, the same strain composition was shown with both typing methods. A subset of 59 isolates representative for the gyrB groups was further investigated with regards to their pathogenic properties in a virulence model using Dictyostelium discoideum and Acanthamoeba castellanii as host organisms. A clear tendency towards accumulation of virulent strains could be observed for one group with A. castellanii and for two groups with D. discoideum. Several virulent strains did not cluster in any of the genetic groups, while other groups displayed no virulence properties at all. The amoeba pathogenicity model proved suitable in showing differences in S. maltophilia virulence. However, the model is still not sufficient to completely elucidate virulence as critical for a human host, since several strains involved in human infections did not show any virulence against amoeba

Strange-Face-in-the-Mirror Illusion and Schizotypy During Adolescence

Patients with schizophrenia can sometimes report strange face illusions when staring at themselves in the mirror; such experiences have been conceptualized as anomalous self-experiences that can be experienced with a varying degree of depersonalization. During adolescence, anomalous self-experiences can also be indicative of increased risk to develop schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. To date however, the Mirror-Gazing test (MGT), an experimentally validated experiment to evaluate the propensity of strange face illusions in nonclinical and clinical adults, has yet to be investigated in an adolescent sample. The first goal of the present study was to examine experimentally induced self-face illusions in a nonclinical sample of adolescents, using the MGT. The second goal was to investigate whether dimensions of adolescent trait schizotypy were differentially related to phenomena arising during the MGT. One hundred and ten community adolescents (59 male) aged from 12 to 19 years (mean age = 16.31, SD age = 1.77) completed the MGT and Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. The results yielded 4 types of strange face illusions; 2 types of illusions (slight change of light/color [20%] and own face deformation [45.5%]) lacked depersonalization-like phenomena (no identity change), while 2 other types (vision of other identity [27.3%], and vision of non-human identity [7.3%]) contained clear depersonalization-like phenomena. Furthermore, the disorganization dimension of schizotypy associated negatively with time of first illusion (first press), and positively with frequency of illusions during the MGT. Statistically significant differences on positive and disorganized schizotypy were found when comparing groups on the basis of degree of depersonalization-like phenomena (from slight color changes to non-human visions). Similarly to experimentally induced self-face illusions in patients with schizophrenia, such illusions in a group of nonclinical adolescents present significant associations to schizotypy dimension

National Identification and Attitudes Towards Russian Immigrants in Finland: Investigating the Role of Perceived Threats and Gains

In this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationship between national identification of majority Finns (nation-wide probability sample, N = 335) and their attitudes towards Russian immigrants living in Finland. As previous research indicates both possibilities, we tested whether this relationship was moderated or mediated by threats and gains perceived to result from immigration. The results supported the mediation hypothesis; those individuals who identified stronger with their national ingroup perceived more threats than gains related to increased immigration and these perceptions, in turn, were associated with more negative attitudes towards immigrants. The role of realistic as opposed to symbolic threats and gains was particularly pronounced. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of their theoretical relevance and practical means to improve intergroup relations, with a particular focus on the relations between Finns and Russian immigrants in Finland.Peer reviewe

Towards a unified picture of polarization transfer -- pulsed DNP and chemically equivalent PHIP

Nuclear spin hyperpolarization techniques, such as dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) and parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP), have revolutionized nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic resonance imaging. In these methods, a readily available source of high spin order, either electron spins in DNP or singlet states in hydrogen for PHIP, is brought into close proximity with nuclear spin targets, enabling efficient transfer of spin order under external quantum control. Despite vast disparities in energy scales and interaction mechanisms between electron spins in DNP and nuclear singlet states in PHIP, a pseudo-spin formalism allows us to establish an intriguing equivalence. As a result, the important low-field polarization transfer regime of PHIP can be mapped onto an analogous system equivalent to pulsed-DNP. This establishes a correspondence between key polarization transfer sequences in PHIP and DNP, facilitating the transfer of sequence development concepts. This promises fresh insights and significant cross-pollination between DNP and PHIP polarization sequence developers.Comment: 11+5 pages, 5 figure