The grinch who stole wisdom

Dr. Seuss is wise. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Seuss, 1957) could serve as a parable for our time. It can also be seen as a roadmap for the development of contemplative wisdom. The abiding popularity of How the Grinch Stole Christmas additionally suggests that contemplative wisdom is more readily available to ordinary people, even children, than is normally thought. This matters because from the point of view of contemplatives in any of the world's philosophies or religions, people are confused about wisdom. The content of the nascent field of wisdom studies, they might say, is largely not wisdom at all but rather what it's like to live in a particular kind of prison cell, a well appointed cell perhaps, but not a place that makes possible either personal satisfaction or deep problem solving. I believe that what the contemplative traditions have to say is important; they offer a different orientation to what personal wisdom is, how to develop it, and how to use it in the world than is presently contained in either our popular culture or our sciences. In order to illustrate this I will examine, in some detail, one contemplative path within Buddhism. Buddhism is particularly useful in this respect because its practices are nontheistic and thus avoid many of the cultural landmines associated with the contemplative aspects of Western religions

Cranio-spinal migration of a metallic clip placed during arteriovenous malformation resection - A case report, review of the literature, and management strategies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Microclip placement during AVM resection is generally accepted to be a safe practice in neurosurgery. Here, we describe an unusual complication involving cranio-spinal clip migration discovered five years after the initial AVM surgery.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>A 53-year-old man underwent resection of a superior vermian AVM that required the placement of two microclips during the procedure. Five years after surgery, the patient suffered from descending sensory radiculopathy that resolved spontaneously. The workup revealed cranio-spinal migration of one of the previously placed microclips.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>AVM clip migration is a rare phenomenon; however, the diagnosis should be entertained in patients with posterior fossa instrumentation who suffer from unusual neurologic symptoms.</p

Extended pharmacodynamic responses observed upon PROTAC-mediated degradation of RIPK2.

Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) are heterobifunctional small-molecules that can promote the rapid and selective proteasome-mediated degradation of intracellular proteins through the recruitment of E3 ligase complexes to non-native protein substrates. The catalytic mechanism of action of PROTACs represents an exciting new modality in drug discovery that offers several potential advantages over traditional small-molecule inhibitors, including the potential to deliver pharmacodynamic (PD) efficacy which extends beyond the detectable pharmacokinetic (PK) presence of the PROTAC, driven by the synthesis rate of the protein. Herein we report the identification and development of PROTACs that selectively degrade Receptor-Interacting Serine/Threonine Protein Kinase 2 (RIPK2) and demonstrate in vivo degradation of endogenous RIPK2 in rats at low doses and extended PD that persists in the absence of detectable compound. This disconnect between PK and PD, when coupled with low nanomolar potency, offers the potential for low human doses and infrequent dosing regimens with PROTAC medicines

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) For Health Anxiety (Hypochondriasis): Rationale, Implementation and Case Illustration.

Recent research has shown that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) could be a useful alternative approach to the treatment of health anxiety and deserves further investigation. In this paper, we outline the rationale for using MBCT in the treatment of this condition, namely its hypothesised impact on the underlying mechanisms which maintain health anxiety, such as rumination and avoidance, hypervigilance to body sensations and misinterpretation of such sensations. We also describe some of the adaptations which were made to the MBCT protocol for recurrent depression in this trial and discuss the rationale for these adaptations. We use a case example from the trial to illustrate how MBCT was implemented and outline the experience of one of the participants who took part in an 8-week MBCT course. Finally, we detail some of the more general experiences of participants and discuss the advantages and possible limitations of this approach for this population, as well as considering what might be useful avenues to explore in future research

Dynamics and transport near quantum-critical points

The physics of non-zero temperature dynamics and transport near quantum-critical points is discussed by a detailed study of the O(N)-symmetric, relativistic, quantum field theory of a N-component scalar field in $d$ spatial dimensions. A great deal of insight is gained from a simple, exact solution of the long-time dynamics for the N=1 d=1 case: this model describes the critical point of the Ising chain in a transverse field, and the dynamics in all the distinct, limiting, physical regions of its finite temperature phase diagram is obtained. The N=3, d=1 model describes insulating, gapped, spin chain compounds: the exact, low temperature value of the spin diffusivity is computed, and compared with NMR experiments. The N=3, d=2,3 models describe Heisenberg antiferromagnets with collinear N\'{e}el correlations, and experimental realizations of quantum-critical behavior in these systems are discussed. Finally, the N=2, d=2 model describes the superfluid-insulator transition in lattice boson systems: the frequency and temperature dependence of the the conductivity at the quantum-critical coupling is described and implications for experiments in two-dimensional thin films and inversion layers are noted.Comment: Lectures presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Dynamical properties of unconventional magnetic systems", Geilo, Norway, April 2-12, 1997, edited by A. Skjeltorp and D. Sherrington, Kluwer Academic, to be published. 46 page

Phase Structure and Compactness

In order to study the influence of compactness on low-energy properties, we compare the phase structures of the compact and non-compact two-dimensional multi-frequency sine-Gordon models. It is shown that the high-energy scaling of the compact and non-compact models coincides, but their low-energy behaviors differ. The critical frequency $\beta^2 = 8\pi$ at which the sine-Gordon model undergoes a topological phase transition is found to be unaffected by the compactness of the field since it is determined by high-energy scaling laws. However, the compact two-frequency sine-Gordon model has first and second order phase transitions determined by the low-energy scaling: we show that these are absent in the non-compact model.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, minor changes, final version, accepted for publication in JHE

Initial validation of the mindful eating scale

Published Mindfulness, 2013, 5(6), pp. 719-729. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12671-013-0227-5Self-report scales for mindfulness are now widely used in applied settings, and have made a contribution to research, for instance in demonstrating mediation effects. To date there are no convincing data as to whether mindfulness skills generalise fully across life domains, and so some researchers have developed mindfulness scales for particular domains of behaviour. We present the development of a self-report scale to measure mindfulness with respect to eating behaviours

Revisiting the five-facet structure of mindfulness

The current study aimed to replicate the development of the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) in a sample of 399 undergraduate students. We factor analyzed the Mindful Attention and Awareness Questionnaire (MAAS), the Freiburg Mindfulness Scale, the Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire (SMQ), the Cognitive Affective Mindfulness Scale Revised (CAMS-R), and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS), but also extended the analysis by including a conceptually related measure, the Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale (PHLMS), and a conceptually unrelated measure, the Langer Mindfulness Scale (LMS). Overall, we found a partial replication of the five-factor structure, with the exception of non-reacting and non-judging which formed a single factor. The PHLMS items loaded as expected with theoretically related factors, whereas the LMS items emerged as separate factor. Finally, we found a new factor that was mostly defined by negatively worded items indicating possible item wording artifacts within the FFMQ. Our conceptual validation study indicates that some facets of the FFMQ can be recovered, but item wording factors may threaten the stability of these facets. Additionally, measures such as the LMS appear to measure not only theoretically, but also empirically different constructs

The FH mutation database: an online database of fumarate hydratase mutations involved in the MCUL (HLRCC) tumor syndrome and congenital fumarase deficiency

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fumarate hydratase (HGNC approved gene symbol – <it>FH</it>), also known as fumarase, is an enzyme of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, involved in fundamental cellular energy production. First described by Zinn <it>et al </it>in 1986, deficiency of FH results in early onset, severe encephalopathy. In 2002, the Multiple Leiomyoma Consortium identified heterozygous germline mutations of <it>FH </it>in patients with multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas, (MCUL: OMIM 150800). In some families renal cell cancer also forms a component of the complex and as such has been described as hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC: OMIM 605839). The identification of FH as a tumor suppressor was an unexpected finding and following the identification of subunits of succinate dehydrogenase in 2000 and 2001, was only the second description of the involvement of an enzyme of intermediary metabolism in tumorigenesis.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>The <it>FH </it>mutation database is a part of the TCA cycle gene mutation database (formerly the succinate dehydrogenase gene mutation database) and is based on the Leiden Open (source) Variation Database (LOVD) system. The variants included in the database were derived from the published literature and annotated to conform to current mutation nomenclature. The <it>FH </it>database applies HGVS nomenclature guidelines, and will assist researchers in applying these guidelines when directly submitting new sequence variants online. Since the first molecular characterization of an <it>FH </it>mutation by Bourgeron <it>et al </it>in 1994, a series of reports of both FH deficiency patients and patients with MCUL/HLRRC have described 107 variants, of which 93 are thought to be pathogenic. The most common type of mutation is missense (57%), followed by frameshifts & nonsense (27%), and diverse deletions, insertions and duplications. Here we introduce an online database detailing all reported <it>FH </it>sequence variants.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The <it>FH </it>mutation database strives to systematically unify all current genetic knowledge of <it>FH </it>variants. We believe that this knowledge will assist clinical geneticists and treating physicians when advising patients and their families, will provide a rapid and convenient resource for research scientists, and may eventually assist in gaining novel insights into FH and its related clinical syndromes.</p

Conjectures on exact solution of three - dimensional (3D) simple orthorhombic Ising lattices

We report the conjectures on the three-dimensional (3D) Ising model on simple orthorhombic lattices, together with the details of calculations for a putative exact solution. Two conjectures, an additional rotation in the fourth curled-up dimension and the weight factors on the eigenvectors, are proposed to serve as a boundary condition to deal with the topologic problem of the 3D Ising model. The partition function of the 3D simple orthorhombic Ising model is evaluated by spinor analysis, by employing these conjectures. Based on the validity of the conjectures, the critical temperature of the simple orthorhombic Ising lattices could be determined by the relation of KK* = KK' + KK'' + K'K'' or sinh 2K sinh 2(K' + K'' + K'K''/K) = 1. For a simple cubic Ising lattice, the critical point is putatively determined to locate exactly at the golden ratio xc = exp(-2Kc) = (sq(5) - 1)/2, as derived from K* = 3K or sinh 2K sinh 6K = 1. If the conjectures would be true, the specific heat of the simple orthorhombic Ising system would show a logarithmic singularity at the critical point of the phase transition. The spontaneous magnetization and the spin correlation functions of the simple orthorhombic Ising ferromagnet are derived explicitly. The putative critical exponents derived explicitly for the simple orthorhombic Ising lattices are alpha = 0, beta = 3/8, gamma = 5/4, delta = 13/3, eta = 1/8 and nu = 2/3, showing the universality behavior and satisfying the scaling laws. The cooperative phenomena near the critical point are studied and the results obtained based on the conjectures are compared with those of the approximation methods and the experimental findings. The 3D to 2D crossover phenomenon differs with the 2D to 1D crossover phenomenon and there is a gradual crossover of the exponents from the 3D values to the 2D ones.Comment: 176 pages, 4 figure