The Role of Mindfulness in Alexithymia, Depression and Meditation

This item is only available electronically.Alexithymia is characterised by a difficulty in identifying and describing emotions, as well as an externally oriented style of thinking. Alexithymia particularly impacts upon social and emotional abilities, such as empathy, which can harm psychological well-being. Additionally, alexithymia increases vulnerability to mental health disorders. Alexithymia and depression have been observed as related constructs, in that alexithymia predicts depression. The characteristics of alexithymia make it difficult to treat with typical psychotherapies, however a recent systematic review has given support for mindfulness-based interventions in decreasing levels of alexithymia. The present study utilised an online survey to measure alexithymia (TAS-20), depression (CES-D), mindfulness (FFMQ) and meditation practice in 112 participants. Correlational analyses supported hypotheses that there would be a significant positive relationship between alexithymia and depression, and significant negative relationships between alexithymia and mindfulness, and depression and mindfulness. No significant relationships between meditation and the other variables were observed, credited to the low number of meditators in the study. A simple mediation model with mindfulness and depression, mediated by alexithymia had a significant indirect effect. This supports the idea that mindfulness has an impact on reducing alexithymia, which in turns has an effect on depression. The implications of this suggest that mindfulness-based interventions may be suitable in reducing both alexithymia and depression. Further research should directly test the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on alexithymia and depression.Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 202

A Phenomenological Examination of Virtual Game Developers\u27 Experiences Using Jacob\u27s Ladder Pre-Production Design Tactic

Edutainment refers to curriculum and instruction designed with a clear educational purpose, including multi-faceted virtual learning game design. Tools such as the Jacob\u27s Ladder pre-production design tactic have been developed to ensure that voices of both engineers and educators are heard. However, it is unclear how development team members experience and perceive their collaborative work while designing a virtual game using such tactics. This phenomenological study examined the experiences of agile software team members using Jacob\u27s Ladder pre-production design as an interdisciplinary collaboration tool while designing a virtual learning game. Seven design team members (3 educators and 4 engineers) participated in semi-structured interviews and transcripts were analyzed via an inductive coding process that led to the development of key themes. Findings indicated that using Jacob\u27s Ladder design tactic influenced the experience of the team by keeping the team focused on common goals and learner needs, organizing the team work, supporting interdisciplinary collaboration, and promoting shared understandings of the software platform limitations. Individuals played various roles, appreciated diverse views, recognized prior experience and idea sharing, and felt the design tactic supported flexibility for interdisciplinary collaboration. By linking integration strategies to interdisciplinary collaboration, findings from this study may be used by organizational leaders to consider best practices in team building for virtual learning game design, which will further support the development of effective games and growth of the edutainment industry

Relationship between PERMA and children’s wellbeing, resilience and mental health: A scoping review

The PERMA (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, Achievement) model can be used to describe the factors that contribute to wellbeing. As many children face mental health challenges worldwide, strategies to increase wellbeing and resilience have become increasingly desirable. The aim of this scoping review was to establish what is known from the literature about the relationship between the components of PERMA, including character strengths, and primary school-aged children’s mental health, resilience and wellbeing. Four databases were systematically searched, and 20,128 articles were identified, 190 of which were included in the review. The relationships were typically in the expected directions, with PERMA aspects associated with greater wellbeing and resilience, and fewer symptoms of mental illness. There are notable gaps in the existing literature, particularly in the Engagement and Meaning facets of PERMA. Overall, it appears that the components of PERMA do have a positive impact on children and can be considered as an approach for protecting children against mental ill-health

Developmental assistance for child and adolescent mental health in low- and middle-income countries (2007-2014): Annual trends and allocation by sector, project type, donors and recipients.

BACKGROUND: Globally, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability among children and adolescents. To date, there has been no estimate of developmental assistance supporting mental health projects that target children and adolescents (DAMH-CA). This study aimed to identify, describe and analyse DAMH-CA with respect to annual trends (2007-2014), sector, project type, recipient regions, and top donor and recipient countries, and estimate annual DAMH-CA per child/adolescent by region. METHODS: Developmental assistance for all projects focused on children and adolescent mental health between 2007 and 2014 was identified on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Creditor Reporting System, and analysed by target population, sector, project type, donors, and recipients. The study did not include governmental or private organisation funds, nor funding for projects that targeted the community or those that included mental health but not as a primary objective. RESULTS: Between 2007 and 2014, 704 projects were identified, constituting US$88.35 million in DAMH-CA, with an average of 16.9$ 63.24 million, 72%), while little in absolute and relative terms supported capacity building, prevention, promotion or research, with the latter receiving just US$1.2 million over the eight years (1.4$ 0.02 in Europe, less than US$0.01 in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, and US$ 0 in Oceania. CONCLUSIONS: To mitigate the growing burden of mental and neurological disorders, increased financial aid must be invested in child and adolescent mental health, especially with respect to capacity building, research and prevention of mental disorder projects. The present findings can be used to inform policy development and guide resource allocation, as current developmental assistance is described by sector and project type, thereby facilitating the identification of specific areas of investment need

A First Survey on the Diversity of the R Community

The study presented here is a first attempt to capture the demographics and opinions of the R community, starting with the attendees of the useR! conference 2016. One aim of Forwards, the R Foundation taskforce on women and other under-represented groups, is to identify groups that are under-represented in the R community and to further stimulate ideas and take initiatives for widening their participation. Since R is an open-source software with various platforms for exchange, however, it is difficult to obtain information about its community – let alone define this community in the first place. As a starting point, a survey was conducted with the attendees of the useR! conference 2016 to document their sociodemographic and computational backgrounds, experiences and opinions. The present paper gives an overview of the results of this first survey. Most of the analysis focuses on women participants, that are generally under-represented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) disciplines, but the results also show a severe underrepresentation of minorities. A surprising finding concerns a gender difference with regard to the experience with R and the publication of R packages. We investigated possible reasons for this difference by the means of a logistic regression analysis. The self-evident limitations of this first survey are discussed and directions for future research as well as potential means for improvement are outlined

OCT2, SSX and SAGE1 reveal the phenotypic heterogeneity of spermatocytic seminoma reflecting distinct subpopulations of spermatogonia

Spermatocytic seminoma (SS) is a rare testicular neoplasm that occurs predominantly in older men. In this study, we aimed to shed light on the histogenesis of SS by investigating the developmental expression of protein markers that identify distinct subpopulations of human spermatogonia in the normal adult testis. We analysed the expression pattern of OCT2, SSX2-4, and SAGE1 in 36 SS cases and four intratubular SS (ISS) as well as a series of normal testis samples throughout development. We describe for the first time two different types of SS characterized by OCT2 or SSX2-4 immunoexpression. These findings are consistent with the mutually exclusive antigenic profile of these markers during different stages of testicular development and in the normal adult testis. OCT2 was expressed predominantly in Adark spermatogonia, SSX2-4 was present in Apale and B spermatogonia and leptotene spermatocytes, whilst SAGE1 was exclusively present in a subset of post-pubertal germ cells, most likely B spermatogonia. The presence of OCT2 and SSX2-4 in distinct subsets of germ cells implies that these markers represent germ cells at different maturation stages. Analysis of SAGE1 and SSX2-4 in ISS showed spatial differences suggesting ongoing maturation of germ cells during progression of SS tumourigenesis. We conclude that the expression pattern of OCT2, SSX2-4, and SAGE1 supports the origin of SS from spermatogonia and provides new evidence for heterogeneity of this tumour, potentially linked either to the cellular origin of SS or to partial differentiation during tumour progression, including a hitherto unknown OCT2-positive variant of the tumour likely derived from Adark spermatogonia. Copyright © 2011 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Patients' continuing use of an online health record:a quantitative evaluation of 14,000 patient years of access data

BACKGROUND: Online access to all or part of their health records is widely demanded by patients and, where provided in form of patient portals, has been substantially used by at least subgroups of patients, particularly those with chronic disease. However, little is reported regarding the longer-term patient use of patient-accessible electronic health record services, which is important in allocating resources. Renal PatientView (RPV) is an established system that gives patients with chronic kidney disease access to live test results and information about their condition and treatment. It is available in most UK renal units with up to 75% of particular patient groups registered in some centers. We have analyzed patient use out to 4 years and investigated factors associated with more persistent use. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to investigate RPV use by patients over time from initial registration in order to understand which patients choose to access RPV and the endurance of its appeal for different patient groups. METHODS: We analyzed an anonymized extract of the database underlying RPV containing information on patient registration and events including patient access and the arrival of new blood test results or letters that patients might wish to view. RESULTS: At the time of the extract, there were 11,352 patients registered on RPV for 0-42 months (median 17). More than half of registrants became persistent users, logging in a median of 2.0 times each month over post-registration intervals of up to 42 months (median 18.9). Provision of assistance with first logon was strongly associated with becoming a persistent user, even at 3 years. Logons by persistent users occurred around the time of consultations/tests, strongly suggestive of patient engagement. While indices indicative of greater deprivation were the strongest determinants of non-participation, they had negligible influence on drop-out rates among established users. CONCLUSIONS: In this mature patient portal system, a large proportion of patients made regular use of their online health records over protracted periods. The patterns and timing of use indicate strong patient interest in detailed information such as recent test results and clinic letters. Supporting patients through the first steps of establishing access to their online records is associated with much higher rates of long-term use of RPV and likely would increase use of other electronic health records provided for patients with chronic disease

Gastric Prolapse with Pseudocysts Following Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding

Nonpancreatic pseudocysts may be associated with gastric prolapse in patients who have undergone laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding

On the presence and functional significance of sympathetic premotor neurons with collateralized spinal axons in the rat

KEY POINTS: Spinally-projecting neurons of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) determine sympathetic outflow to different territories of the body. Previous studies suggest the existence of RVLM neurons with distinct functional classes, such as neurons that target sympathetic nerves bound for functionally-similar tissue types (e.g. muscle vasculature). The existence of RVLM neurons with more general actions had not been critically tested. Using viral tracing, we show that a significant minority of RVLM neurons send axon collaterals to disparate spinal segments (T2 and T10 ). Furthermore, optogenetic activation of sympathetic premotor neurons projecting to lumbar spinal segments also produced activation of sympathetic nerves from rostral spinal segments that innervate functionally diverse tissues (heart and forelimb muscle). These findings suggest the existence of individual RVLM neurons for which the axons branch to drive sympathetic preganglionic neurons of more than one functional class and may be able to produce global changes in sympathetic activity. ABSTRACT: We investigate the extent of spinal axon collateralization of rat rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) sympathetic premotor neurons and its functional consequences. In anatomical tracing experiments, two recombinant herpes viral vectors with retrograde tropism and expressing different fluorophores were injected into the intermediolateral column at upper thoracic and lower thoracic levels. Histological analysis revealed that ∼21% of RVLM bulbospinal neurons were retrogradely labelled by both vectors, indicating substantial axonal collateralization to disparate spinal segments. In functional experiments, another virus with retrograde tropism, a canine adenovirus expressing Cre recombinase, was injected into the left intermediolateral horn around the thoracolumbar junction, whereas a Cre-dependent viral vector encoding Channelrhodopsin2 under LoxP control was injected into the ipsilateral RVLM. In subsequent terminal experiments, blue laser light (473 nm × 20 ms pulses at 10 mW) was used to activate RVLM neurons that had been transduced by both vectors. Stimulus-locked activation, at appropriate latencies, was recorded in the following pairs of sympathetic nerves: forelimb and hindlimb muscle sympathetic fibres, as well as cardiac and either hindlimb muscle or lumbar sympathetic nerves. The latter result demonstrates that axon collaterals of lumbar-projecting RVLM neurons project to, and excite, both functionally similar (forelimb and hindlimb muscle) and functionally dissimilar (lumbar and cardiac) preganglionic neurons. Taken together, these findings show that the axons of a significant proportion of RVLM neurons collateralise widely within the spinal cord, and that they may excite preganglionic neurons of more than one functional class