Practical tips for teaching mindfulness to children and adolescents in school-based settings

Mindfulness derives from Buddhist practice and is described as “the process of engaging a full, direct, and active awareness of experienced phenomena that is spiritual in aspect and that is maintained from one moment to the next” (Van Gordon, Shonin, Zangeneh, & Griffiths, 2014). In a previous issue of Education and Health, we briefly reviewed research findings and discussed the growing interest amongst educational stakeholders into the applications of mindfulness for improving both the health and learning environment of school-aged children (Shonin, Van Gordon, & Griffiths, 2012). For example, mindfulness has been shown to improve levels of anxiety, depression, somatic distress, self-esteem, and sleep quality in schoolchildren with and without a psychiatric history (Biegel, Brown, Shapiro, & Schubert, 2009; Burke, 2010). Mindfulness has also been shown to improve childrens’ problematic responses to social stress (e.g., thought rumination, intrusive thoughts, emotional arousal, etc.) (Mendelson et al., 2010) as well as teacher-rated classroom social competant behaviours (Schonert-Reichl & Lawlor, 2010). Additionally, there is preliminary evidence to suggest that mindfulness can enhance metacognition and executive functioning in schoolchildren (Flook et al., 2010)

Young stars at large distances from the galactic plane: mechanisms of formation

We have collected from the literature a list of early-type stars, situated at large distances from the galactic plane, for which evidence of youth seems convincing. We discuss two possible formation mechanisms for these stars: ejection from the plane by dynamical interactions within small clusters, and formation away from the plane, via induced shocks created by spiral density waves. We identify the stars that could be explained by each mechanism. We conclude that the ejection mechanism can account for about two thirds of the stars, while a combination of star formation at z = 500-800 pc from the plane and ejection, can account for 90 percent of these stars. Neither mechanism, nor both together, can explain the most extreme examples.Comment: 6 pages, No figures. Sixth Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics - A tribute to Helmut Abt, (Kluwer

Estimates for the ergodic measure and polynomial stability of plane stochastic curve shortening flow

We establish moment estimates for the invariant measure of a stochastic partial differential equation describing motion by mean curvature flow in (1+1) dimension, leading to polynomial stability of the associated Markov semigroup. We also prove maximal dissipativity for the related Kolmogorov operator

Two-dimensional spatiotemporal monitoring of temperature in photothermal therapy using hybrid photoacoustic-ultrasound transmission tomography

Recently, we presented an add-on to a photoacoustic (PA) computed tomography imager that permits the simultaneous imaging of ultrasound (US) transmission parameters such as the speed of sound (SOS), without additional measurements or instruments. This method uses strong absorbers positioned outside the object in the path of light for producing laser-induced US to interrogate the object in a conventional PA imager. Here, we investigate the feasibility of using this approach, first with PA to pin-point the location of photothermal therapeutic agents and then with serial SOS tomograms to image and monitor the resulting local temperature changes when the agents are excited with continuous wave (CW) light. As the object we used an agar-based tissue-mimicking cylinder carrying beads embedded with different concentrations of gold nanospheres. PA and SOS tomograms were simultaneously acquired as the gold nanospheres were photothermally heated using a 532-nm CW laser. In a first approximation, using the relation between SOS of water and temperature, the SOS tomograms were converted into temperature maps. The experimental results were verified using simulations: Monte Carlo modeling of light propagation through a turbid medium and using the obtained absorbed energy densities in heat diffusion modeling for spatial temperature distributio

Thermoluminescence of zircon: a kinetic model

The mineral zircon, ZrSiO4, belongs to a class of promising materials for geochronometry by means of thermoluminescence (TL) dating. The development of a reliable and reproducible method for TL dating with zircon requires detailed knowledge of the processes taking place during exposure to ionizing radiation, long-term storage, annealing at moderate temperatures and heating at a constant rate (TL measurements). To understand these processes one needs a kinetic model of TL. This paper is devoted to the construction of such amodel. The goal is to study the qualitative behaviour of the system and to determine the parameters and processes controlling TL phenomena of zircon. The model considers the following processes: (i) Filling of electron and hole traps at the excitation stage as a function of the dose rate and the dose for both (low dose rate) natural and (high dose rate) laboratory irradiation. (ii) Time dependence of TL fading in samples irradiated under laboratory conditions. (iii) Short time annealing at a given temperature. (iv) Heating of the irradiated sample to simulate TL experiments both after laboratory and natural irradiation. The input parameters of the model, such as the types and concentrations of the TL centres and the energy distributions of the hole and electron traps, were obtained by analysing the experimental data on fading of the TL-emission spectra of samples from different geological locations. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) data were used to establish the nature of the TL centres. Glow curves and 3D TL emission spectra are simulated and compared with the experimental data on time-dependent TL fading. The saturation and annealing behaviour of filled trap concentrations has been considered in the framework of the proposed kinetic model and comparedwith the EPR data associated with the rare-earth ions Tb3+ and Dy3+, which play a crucial role as hole traps and recombination centres. Inaddition, the behaviour of some of the SiOmn− centres has been compared with simulation results.

Corrective Osteotomy in a Patient With Congenital Absence of Pronation Based on Three-Dimensional Statistical Shape Modeling

We present a new indication of a three-dimensional statistical shape model (SSM): a patient with bilateral impaired forearm rotation due to a congenital variance in bone shape. A corrective osteotomy was planned and performed to best match the SSM created by computed tomography (CT) scans of 18 peers. Postoperatively, pronation increased by 70°, and the patient was pain-free. A CT scan showed accurate correction of the deformity and union of all osteotomies. This technique offers opportunities for patients with bilateral nontraumatic osseous forearm pathology.</p

Three-dimensional character of atom-chip-based rf-dressed potentials

We experimentally investigate the properties of radio-frequency-dressed potentials for Bose-Einstein condensates on atom chips. The three-dimensional potential forms a connected pair of parallel waveguides. We show that rf-dressed potentials are robust against the effect of small magnetic-field variations on the trap potential. Long-lived dipole oscillations of condensates induced in the rf-dressed potentials can be tuned to a remarkably low damping rate. We study a beam-splitter for Bose-Einstein condensates and show that a propagating condensate can be dynamically split in two vertically separated parts and guided along two paths. The effect of gravity on the potential can be tuned and compensated for using a rf-field gradient.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Pluralising critical technical practice

In this special issue, we turn to ideas of and approaches to critical technical practices (CTPs) as entry points to doing critique and doing things critically in digitally mediated cultures and societies. We explore the pluralisation of ‘critical technical practice’, starting from its early formulations in the context of AI research and development (Agre, 1997a, 1997b) to the many ways in which it has resonated and been taken up by different publications, projects, groups, and communities of practice, and what is has come to mean. Agre defined CTP as a situational, practical, and constructive way of working: ‘a technical practice for which critical reflection upon the practice is part of the practice itself’ (1997a: XII). Communities of practice in which the notion has been adopted, adapted, and put to use range from human–computer interaction (HCI) to media art and pedagogy, from science and technology studies (STS) and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) to digital humanities, media studies and data studies. This special issue affirms the pluralisation of CTP, and serves as an invitation to (re)consider what it means to use this notion drawing on a wider body of work, including beyond Agre. In this introduction, we review and discuss CTPs according to (1) Agre, (2) indexed research, and (3) contributors to this special issue. We conclude with some questions and considerations for those interested in working with this notion