Meditation increases the depth of information processing

During meditation, practitioners are required to center their attention on a specific object for extended periods of time. When their thoughts get diverted, they learn to quickly disengage from the distracter. We hypothesized that learning to respond to the dual demand of engaging attention on specific objects and disengaging quickly from distracters enhances the efficiency by which meditation practitioners can allocate attention. We tested this hypothesis in a global-to-local task while measuring electroencephalographic activity from a group of eight highly trained Buddhist monks and nuns and a group of eight age and education matched controls with no previous meditation experience. Specifically, we investigated the effect of attentional training on the global precedence effect, i.e., faster detection of targets on a global than on a local level. We expected to find a reduced global precedence effect in meditation practitioners but not in controls, reflecting that meditators can more quickly disengage their attention from the dominant global level. Analysis of reaction times confirmed this prediction. To investigate the underlying changes in brain activity and their time course, we analyzed event-related potentials. Meditators showed an enhanced ability to select the respective target level, as reflected by enhanced processing of target level information. In contrast with control group, which showed a local target selection effect only in the P1 and a global target selection effect in the P3 component, meditators showed effects of local information processing in the P1, N2, and P3 and of global processing for the N1, N2, and P3. Thus, meditators seem to display enhanced depth of processing. In addition, meditation altered the uptake of information such that meditators selected target level information earlier in the processing sequence than controls. In a longitudinal experiment, we could replicate the behavioral effects, suggesting that meditation modulates attention already after a 4-day meditation retreat. Together, these results suggest that practicing meditation enhances the speed with which attention can be allocated and relocated, thus increasing the depth of information processing and reducing response latency

Övervikt och parodontit hos hund

Till de vanligaste vardagsskadorna hos hund hör övervikt och parodontit och studier visar att veterinärbesök för dessa sjukdomar har ökat. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att beskriva delar av det vetenskapliga kunskapsläget gällande övervikt och parodontit hos hund samt via en enkätstudie undersöka svenska hundägares kunskaper kring dessa sjukdomar. En enkät skapades med det digitala verktyget Netigate och målgruppen var hundägare över 18 år. Totalt fullföljde 564 respondenter enkäten som också innehöll bilder på hundar av olika hull. Av litteraturstudien framgick att det finns ett flertal riskfaktorer, både kopplade till hunden och dess ägare, som kan leda till ökad risk för övervikt hos hund. Utvärdering av övervikt hos hund kan ske genom semi-objektiva mätningsmetoder så som Body condition score (BCS) vilken hundägaren själv kan utföra. Övervikt hos hund kan ge konsekvenser som förkortat liv och försämrad livskvalité, kroniska sjukdomar, ortopediska problem samt försvårade undersöknings- och operationsmöjligheter. Gällande riskfaktorer för parodontit hos hund fanns det faktorer som kunde kopplas till hundens ålder och ras. Förebyggande åtgärder för parodontit är främst genom tandvård. Hundar som drabbas av sjukdomen parodontit riskerar att få tandlossning och försämrad livskvalité. Enkätstudien visade att majoriteten av respondenterna visste att övervikt är ett allvarligt hälsoproblem men färre hade kännedom om de allvarligaste konsekvenserna av övervikt. Många av respondenterna visste inte vad BCS är och det framkom att respondenterna hade svårigheter med att korrekt bedöma hundarnas hull. Den normalviktiga hunden (BCS 5) klassades som underviktig och den lindrigt överviktiga samt överviktiga hunden (BCS 6-7) klassades som normalhull. Respondenterna hade olika svårt (P <0,0001) att skatta de olika hundarnas hull (BCS 5-8) där de hade lättast att identifiera en fet hund (BCS 8) och svårast att identifiera en normalviktig hund (BCS 5). Åldersgruppen 61 år eller äldre var sämre än gruppmedel (P=0,04) på att korrekt hullbedöma den normalviktiga hunden (BCS 5). Även gällande parodontit fanns en viss kunskapsbrist om vad parodontit faktiskt är samt hur förebyggande arbete kan ske. Sjukdomen parodontit trodde majoriteten av respondenterna var tandlossning vilket också är det svenska namnet på sjukdomen. Respondenterna visste att parodontit kan förebyggas genom tandborstning och 75 % visste att detta ska ske dagligen hos hund. Respondenterna fick skatta sin egen kunskapsnivå gällande både parodontit och övervikt i slutet av enkäten och det fanns ett positivt samband mellan antalet ägda hundar och upplevelsen av tillräcklig kunskap för båda sjukdomarna (P <0,0001, R square 0,035). Om de som ägt fler hundar faktiskt besatt mer kunskap gällande hullbedömning testades med en utvald fråga men sambandet kunde inte bekräftas. Denna studie visar att det föreligger en viktblindhet hos hundägare vilket behöver adresseras så den lindrigt eller överviktiga hunden inte felaktigt klassas som normalviktig. Kunskap kring vad BCS är och hur hullbedömning utförs behöver läras ut samt att de allvarligaste konsekvenserna av övervikt behöver nå ut till hundägarna så att de förstår allvaret med sjukdomen. Djurhälsopersonal behöver informera om vad parodontit faktiskt är samt hur förebyggande arbete kan ske. Vidare studier behöver utföras för att undersöka anledningarna bakom respondenternas kunskapsluckor gällande dessa vardagsskador hos hund vilka båda är ytterst ogynnsamma för hunden. Information gentemot hundägare bör beakta att olika åldersgrupper av hundägare kan besitta olika typer av kunskap samt att den upplevda kunskapen hos hundägaren kan färgas av hur många hundar personen har ägt.The most common everyday diseases in dogs include overweight and periodontitis, and studies show that veterinary visits for these diseases have increased. The purpose of the present study was to describe parts of the scientific knowledge regarding overweight and periodontitis in dogs and, via a questionnaire study, investigate the Swedish dog owners’ knowledge about these diseases. The survey was created with the digital tool Netigate and the target group was dog owners over 18 years old. A total of 564 responses were collected by the survey that included pictures of dogs with different body condition. The literature study showed that there are several risk factors linked to both the dog and its owner which can lead to an increased risk of overweight. It also showed that evaluation of overweight in dogs can be performed with semi-objective methods such as Body condition scoring (BCS) which the dog owners can perform themselves. Overweight in dogs has consequences such as shortened lifespan, reduced quality of life, development of chronic diseases and difficulties of clinical examinations and surgeries. There are risk factors for periodontitis linked to the dog’s age and breed, and the preferred way to prevent the disease is through dental care. Dogs who suffer from periodontitis can be at risk of tooth loss and reduced quality of life. The survey showed that the majority of respondents knew that overweight is a serious health problem in dogs but not as many were aware of the most serious consequences of being overweight. Many of the respondents did not know what BCS is and the survey showed that the respondents had difficulties in correctly assessing the dog's body condition. The normal-weight dog (BCS 5) was classified as underweight and the slightly overweight or overweight dogs (BCS 6-7) were classified as normal body condition. The respondents showed differences (P <0.0001) in how well they assessed BCS of the different dogs (BCS 5-8) were they most frequently identified the obese dog (BCS 8) and least frequently identified the normal weight dog (BCS 5). The age group 61 years or older had significant difficulties (P = 0.04) in correctly assessing the normal weight dog compared to group mean. The survey showed that periodontitis was believed to be tooth loss by the majority of respondents, which is the Swedish name for the disease. The respondents knew that the disease can be prevented by brushing the dog’s teeth and 75% knew that it should be performed once daily. The respondents estimated their own level of knowledge regarding periodontitis and overweight in the end of the survey. A positive association was observed between self-assed knowledge and the number of owned dogs (P <0.0001, R square 0.035). If respondents that had owned many dogs also had better knowledge was tested with one question in BCS assessment but an association could not be confirmed. This study shows that there is a weight blindness in dog owners which needs to be addressed so that slight overweight, or overweight dogs are not considered to be in normal body condition. Knowledge about what BCS is and how it is performed needs to be disseminated and taught, and information regarding the most serious consequences of overweight needs to be spread so that dog owners understand the seriousness of the disease. Animal health personnel need to inform about what periodontitis actually is and how preventive work can be done. Further studies should investigate the reasons behind the respondents' absence of knowledge of those everyday diseases. Information to dog owners should consider that different age groups may have different types of knowledge and that the perceived knowledge of the dog owner can be influenced by how many dogs the person has owned

Reconstitution of recombination-associated DNA synthesis with human proteins.

The repair of DNA breaks by homologous recombination is a high-fidelity process, necessary for the maintenance of genome integrity. Thus, DNA synthesis associated with recombinational repair must be largely error-free. In this report, we show that human DNA polymerase delta (δ) is capable of robust DNA synthesis at RAD51-mediated recombination intermediates dependent on the processivity clamp PCNA. Translesion synthesis polymerase eta (η) also extends these substrates, albeit far less processively. The single-stranded DNA binding protein RPA facilitates recombination-mediated DNA synthesis by increasing the efficiency of primer utilization, preventing polymerase stalling at specific sequence contexts, and overcoming polymerase stalling caused by topological constraint allowing the transition to a migrating D-loop. Our results support a model whereby the high-fidelity replicative DNA polymerase δ performs recombination-associated DNA synthesis, with translesion synthesis polymerases providing a supportive role as in normal replication

Meditation Increases the Depth of Information Processing and Improves the Allocation of Attention in Space

During meditation, practitioners are required to center their attention on a specific object for extended periods of time. When their thoughts get diverted, they learn to quickly disengage from the distracter. We hypothesized that learning to respond to the dual demand of engaging attention on specific objects and disengaging quickly from distracters enhances the efficiency by which meditation practitioners can allocate attention. We tested this hypothesis in a global-to-local task while measuring electroencephalographic activity from a group of eight highly trained Buddhist monks and nuns and a group of eight age and education matched controls with no previous meditation experience. Specifically, we investigated the effect of attentional training on the global precedence effect, i.e., faster detection of targets on a global than on a local level. We expected to find a reduced global precedence effect in meditation practitioners but not in controls, reflecting that meditators can more quickly disengage their attention from the dominant global level. Analysis of reaction times confirmed this prediction. To investigate the underlying changes in brain activity and their time course, we analyzed event-related potentials. Meditators showed an enhanced ability to select the respective target level, as reflected by enhanced processing of target level information. In contrast with control group, which showed a local target selection effect only in the P1 and a global target selection effect in the P3 component, meditators showed effects of local information processing in the P1, N2, and P3 and of global processing for the N1, N2, and P3. Thus, meditators seem to display enhanced depth of processing. In addition, meditation altered the uptake of information such that meditators selected target level information earlier in the processing sequence than controls. In a longitudinal experiment, we could replicate the behavioral effects, suggesting that meditation modulates attention already after a 4-day meditation retreat. Together, these results suggest that practicing meditation enhances the speed with which attention can be allocated and relocated, thus increasing the depth of information processing and reducing response latency

Symmetries and Casimirs of radial compressible fluid flow and gas dynamics in n>1 dimensions

Symmetries and Casimirs are studied for the Hamiltonian equations of radial compressible fluid flow in n>1 dimensions. An explicit determination of all Lie point symmetries is carried out, from which a complete classification of all maximal Lie symmetry algebras is obtained. The classification includes all Lie point symmetries that exist only for special equations of state. For a general equation of state, the hierarchy of advected conserved integrals found in recent work is proved to consist of Hamiltonian Casimirs. A second hierarchy that holds only for an entropic equation of state is explicitly shown to comprise non-Casimirs which yield a corresponding hierarchy of generalized symmetries through the Hamiltonian structure of the equations of radial fluid flow. The first-order symmetries are shown to generate a non-abelian Lie algebra. Two new kinematic conserved integrals found in recent work are likewise shown to yield additional first-order generalized symmetries holding for a barotropic equation of state and an entropic equation of state. These symmetries produce an explicit transformation group acting on solutions of the fluid equations. Since these equations are well known to be equivalent to the equations of gas dynamics, all of the results obtained for n-dimensional radial fluid flow carry over to radial gas dynamics.Comment: 19 page

Suitability test on dogs

För att avgöra om en hund är lämplig att arbeta som tjänstehund inom försvarsmakten och polisen måste hunden klara av lämplighetstesterna (L-testerna). L-testerna är till för att bedöma hundens mentala egenskaper. I genomförandet av L-testerna utsätts hunden för olika situationer för att ”locka” fram reaktioner. En besiktningsman bedömer och analyserar hundens beteende för att avgöra om hunden uppfyller kriterierna för godkänt eller icke godkänt. De mentala egenskaperna hos hunden som analyseras i L-testerna är bland annat: dådkraft, skärpa, försvarslust, kamplust, nervkonstitution, temperament, hårdhet och tillgänglighet. Efter godkänt L-test följer en prövotid för att säkerhetsställa hundens lämplighet som tjänstehund. I dagsläget är det brist på tjänstehundar och flertalet hundar som genomgår L-testerna uppfyller ej kriterierna för godkänt eller klarar inte den kommande prövotiden och blir till följd därav inte tjänstehundar. År 2007 var det cirka 40 % av de hundar som utförde L-testerna som bedöms icke godkända på grund av bristande mentala egenskaper. Av de hundar som klarat L-testerna har forskare sett att dessa hundar har högre kortisolhalt i kroppen och är dem som hyperaktiva i hemmet. C-BARQ och Mentalbeskrivning hund (MH) är två andra metoder som används för bedömning av hundens mentalitet. C-BARQ är ett frågeformulär för att mäta hundens beteende där hundägaren får svara på olika frågor. Vid MH-testet får hund genomgå en testbana med olika moment där intensiteten i hundens reaktioner bedöms. Det finns begränsat vetenskapligt stöd för L-testerna och de innehåller utrymme för subjektiva tolkningar. Trots att det finns andra vetenskapligt beprövade metoder som exempel C-BARQ för att bedöma hundens mentalitet används främst L-testerna i uttagning av tjänstehundar till försvarsmakten och polisen. Området behöver mer forskning för att säkerställa att analys av rätt beteende görs och för att se om L-testerna mäter det som de är avsett för att mäta.To determine if a dog is suitable to work as a service dog in the armed forces or the police the dog must pass the aptitude tests (L-tests). Suitability tests are designed to assess the dog's mental qualities. During the suitability tests the dog is exposed to different situations in order to "attract" reactions. The reaction and behavior of the dog is analyzed by an inspector to determine if the dog fulfil the test-criteria and gets approved or not. The mental characteristics of the dog that is being analyzed in the aptitude tests are for example: strength to act, sharpness, defense, desire to fight, nerve constitution, temperament, hardness and availability. After having passed the aptitude test there is a trial period to ensure that the dog is suitable as a service dog. In the current situation, there is a lack of service dogs and the majority of dogs that undergoes the suitability test do not pass or fail later during the trial period. In year 2007 about 40% of the participants were judged not qualified due to lack of mental qualities. Researches have showed that the dogs that do pass the suitability test have a higher cortisol level and are hyperactive in the home. C-BARQ and Mental test dog (MH) are two other methods for assessing the dog's mentality. CBARQ is a questionnaire to measure the dog's behavior, where the dog owner answers several of questions. In MH-test the dog goes through a test track with different obstacles where the intensity of the dog's reactions are evaluated. There is limited scientific evidence of the suitability tests and it contains space for subjective interpretations. Although there are other scientifically proved methods to assess the dog's mentality the aptitude test are mainly used in the selection of service dogs to the armed forces and the police. The topic needs more research to ensure that the right behavior is being analyzed and to see if the test measures what it is designed to measure

Influence of combined aerobic and resistance training on metabolic control, cardiovascular fitness and quality of life in adolescents with type 1 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of combined exercise training on metabolic control, physical fitness and quality of life in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. DESIGN: A double-blind randomized controlled trial with patients receiving combined aerobic and strength or no training. SETTING: University Hospital Ghent (Belgium). SUBJECTS: Sixteen children with type 1 diabetes were randomized into a control group (n = 8) and an intervention group (n = 8). INTERVENTIONS: Patients participated twice a week for 20 weeks in the combined aerobic and strength group. The control group continued their normal daily activities. MAIN MEASURES: Before and after the intervention anthropometric variables (weight, length, BMI, body composition), metabolic control (glycaemia, HbA1c, daily insulin injected), aerobic capacity (peak Vo(2), peak power, peak heart rate, 6-minute walk distance), strength (1 repetition maximum of upper and lower limb, hand grip strength, muscle fatigue resistance, sit-to-stand) and quality of life (SF-36) were assessed. RESULTS: At baseline, none of the measured parameters differed significantly between the two groups. There was no significant evolution in the groups concerning anthropometric indices, glycaemia and HbA1c. However, the daily doses of insulin injected were significantly lowered in the training group (0.96 IU/kg.day pre versus 0.90 IU/kg.day post; P < 0,05), while it was increased in the control group. Physical fitness increased significantly in the training group. General health, vitality and role emotional had a tendency to improve. CONCLUSION: Combined exercise training seemed to lower daily insulin requirement and improve physical fitness, together with better well-being