Examining the Relationship Between Five Factors of Mindfulness and Parenting Stress: A Correlational Study of New Mothers

It can be tempting to want to dissociate from the stress of parenting. The implication being that the early years of parenthood are meant to simply be endured. In contrast, mindfully embracing all aspects of parenthood, including the difficult moments, may allow the appreciation of beauty, growth, and connection, which is so essential to the human experience, especially as it relates to the parent-child relationship. As the popularity of mindfulness research increases, so does the information we have about using it with parents in general, and mothers in particular. The current study explores what, if any, relationship exists between levels of mindfulness and levels of parenting stress in new mothers. The author hypothesized that as mindfulness levels increase, parental stress levels will decrease. A total of 144 new mothers (“new mothers” was defined as mothers with children younger than 4 years old) participated in an online survey that included basic demographics, two formal measures including a mindfulness measure, the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and a measure of parenting stress, the Parenting Stress Index, 4th edition, short form (PSI-4-SF). Results demonstrated a statistically significant negative correlation between mindfulness and parenting stress. Further analysis of the mindfulness factors indicated that all factors were significantly correlated to parental stress and that nonjudgment of inner experience had the strongest negative correlation, followed by acting with awareness, non-reactivity to inner experience, observing, and describing. Given the statistically significant negative correlation between mindfulness and parenting stress, it appears that clinical interventions aimed at increasing a person’s level of overall mindfulness may be a good choice for working with new mothers whether or not parenting stress is the primary presenting concern for a new mother. Furthermore, if we can inform and more successfully provide mindful clinical interventions for new mothers, the outlook for children may be more positive as mothers are able to remain more present in their parenting role. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu)

Productivity and growth in organic value chains in East Africa – potentials and challenges for accessing local high value markets

The project ‘Productivity and Growth in Organic Value Chains (ProGrOV)’ is a collaboration between universities in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Denmark addressing the need for sustainable development of smallholder farming systems in East Africa with focus on value chains for local high-value markets as well as export chains. While some research has focused on improving productivity and Natural Resource Management of smallholder farmers in Eastern Africa this has most often not been linked with studies of how to link improved production to market access and quality demands. NGO’s have demonstrated the synergy of supporting ecological intensification through improved marketing and innovation capacity of groups of smallholder farmers but only very few research projects have studied this potential synergy (Pali et al., 2007; Hawkins et al., 2009; Høgh-Jensen et al., 2010). ProGrOV contributes to the development of a platform of scientific capacity and evidence on potentials of organic value chains and agroecological approaches to agricultural development

The polarized expression of Na+,K+-ATPase in epithelia depends on the association between beta-subunits located in neighboring cells

The polarized distribution of Na+,K+-ATPase plays a paramount physiological role, because either directly or through coupling with co- and countertransporters, it is responsible for the net movement of, for example, glucose, amino acids, Ca2+, K+, Cl-, and CO3H- across the whole epithelium. We report here that the beta-subunit is a key factor in the polarized distribution of this enzyme. 1) Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells (epithelial from dog kidney) express the Na+,K+-ATPase over the lateral side, but not on the basal and apical domains, as if the contact with a neighboring cell were crucial for the specific membrane location of this enzyme. 2) MDCK cells cocultured with other epithelial types (derived from human, cat, dog, pig, monkey, rabbit, mouse, hamster, and rat) express the enzyme in all (100%) homotypic MDCK/MDCK borders but rarely in heterotypic ones. 3) Although MDCK cells never express Na+,K+-ATPase at contacts with Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, they do when CHO cells are transfected with beta(1)-subunit from the dog kidney (CHO-beta). 4) This may be attributed to the adhesive property of the beta(1)-subunit, because an aggregation assay using CHO (mock-transfected) and CHO-beta cells shows that the expression of dog beta(1)-subunit in the plasma membrane does increase adhesiveness. 5) This adhesiveness does not involve adherens or tight junctions. 6) Transfection of beta(1)-subunit forces CHO-beta cells to coexpress endogenous a-subunit. Together, our results indicate that MDCK cells express Na+,K+-ATPase at a given border provided the contacting cell expresses the dog P,-subunit. The cell-cell interaction thus established would suffice to account for the polarized expression and positioning of Na+,K+-ATPase in epithelial cells

Sterculiaceae

Árboles, arbustos o subarbustos, raro lianas o hierbas con pelos ramificados de dos o pocos brazos. Hojas estipuladas, alternas, generalmente pecioladas, simples, enteras, crenadas o aserradas. Flores monoclinas o diclinas, homostilas o heterostilas, actinomorfas o pseudozigomorfas, reunidas en cimas breves axilares o terminales. Sépalos 5, prefloración valvar, soldados o connados en la base. Pétalos 5, planos o con una larga uña cuculada adosada al tubo estaminal, en este caso lámina simple o bífida, a veces más pequeña que la uña. Androginóforo a veces presente, corto o sobrepasando la corola. Estambres 5-15, oposipétalos, libres o soldados formando un tubo; anteras 2-3-tecas, paralelas o divergentes; estaminodios 0-5. Ovario (1-) 5-carpelar, súpero, carpelos 1-∞-ovulados, placentación axilar; estilos 1-5, libres o soldados; estigmas aguzados, capitados plumosos o penicilados. Fruto cápsula, cocos dehiscentes o indehiscentes. Semillas lisas o rugosas, con o sin endosperma, cotiledones planos, a menudo replegados y enrollados alrededor del eje hipocotilar. Unos 67 géneros y cerca de 1100 especies de regiones tropicales y subtropicales de todo el mundo. En la Argentina 6 géneros con 41 especies (Cristóbal, 1999: 1114). En Salta hay 5 de ellos. Solamente el género Guazuma Mill. se halla en el nordeste y no llega a nuestra provincia. En el valle de Lerma 3 géneros con 6 especies, todas ellas indígenas

Analysis and Inter-Calibration of Wet Path Delay Datasets to Compute the Wet Tropospheric Correction for CryoSat-2 over Ocean

Unlike most altimetric missions, CryoSat-2 is not equipped with an onboard microwave radiometer (MWR) to provide wet tropospheric correction (WTC) to radar altimeter measurements, thus, relying on a model-based one provided by the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). In the ambit of ESA funded project CP4O, an improved WTC for CryoSat-2 data over ocean is under development, based on a data combination algorithm (DComb) through objective analysis of WTC values derived from all existing global-scale data types. The scope of this study is the analysis and inter-calibration of the large dataset of total column water vapor (TCWV) products from scanning MWR aboard Remote Sensing (RS) missions for use in the WTC computation for CryoSat-2. The main issues regarding the computation of the WTC from all TCWV products are discussed. The analysis of the orbital parameters of CryoSat-2 and all other considered RS missions, their sensor characteristics and inter-calibration is presented, providing an insight into the expected impact of these datasets on the WTC estimation. The most suitable approach for calculating the WTC from TCWV is investigated. For this type of application, after calibration with respect to an appropriate reference, two approaches were found to give very similar results, with root mean square differences of 2 mm

Mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates with Discordant Results for Drug-Susceptibility Testing in Peru

Evaluation of resistance to antituberculosis drugs is routinely performed with genotypic or phenotypic methods; however, discordance can be seen between these different methodologies. Our objective was to identify mutations that could explain discordant results in the evaluation of susceptibility to rifampicin and isoniazid between molecular and phenotypic methods, using whole genome sequencing (WGS). Peruvian strains showing sensitive results in the GenoType MTBDRplus v2.0 test and resistant results in the proportions in the agar-plaque test for isoniazid or rifampin were selected. Discordance was confirmed by repeating both tests, and WGS was performed, using the Next Generation Sequencing methodology. Obtained sequences were aligned "through reference" (genomic mapping) using the program BWA with the algorithm "mem", using as a reference the genome of the M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain. Discordance was confirmed in 14 strains for rifampicin and 21 for isoniazid, with 1 strain in common for both antibiotics, for a total of 34 unique strains. The most frequent mutation in the rpoB gene in the discordant strains for rifampicin was V170F. The most frequent mutations in the discordant strains for isoniazid were katG R463L, kasA G269S, and Rv1592c I322V. Several other mutations are reported. This is the first study in Latin America addressing mutations present in strains with discordant results between genotypic and phenotypic methods to rifampicin and isoniazid. These mutations could be considered as future potential targets for genotypic tests for evaluation of susceptibility to these drugs.Revisión por pare

Developing Critical Thinking in OT Education: Effectiveness of a Fishbowl Approach

This paper explores the effectiveness of peer assisted learning on developing critical thinking skills in an occupational therapy graduate course. The use of peer teaching strategies, including a Fishbowl discussion and case-based problem solving, were compared to a faculty-led lecture approach to determine which approach best prepared student critical thinking. Participants included 115 first year graduate occupational therapy students. No statistically significant differences were noted in student ability to express knowledge, comprehension, and application of information. However, statistically significant differences were noted on graduate student ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate using newly learned information when peer teaching strategies were used in the classroom. Therefore, the authors concluded peer assisted learning approaches may support better integration of knowledge at higher levels of Bloom’s knowledge for critical thinking than traditional faculty-led teaching approaches

Validation of the GATE Monte Carlo simulation platform for modelling a CsI(Tl) scintillation camera dedicated to small animal imaging

Monte Carlo simulations are increasingly used in scintigraphic imaging to model imaging systems and to develop and assess tomographic reconstruction algorithms and correction methods for improved image quantitation. GATE (GEANT 4 Application for Tomographic Emission) is a new Monte Carlo simulation platform based on GEANT4 dedicated to nuclear imaging applications. This paper describes the GATE simulation of a prototype of scintillation camera dedicated to small animal imaging and consisting of a CsI(Tl) crystal array coupled to a position sensitive photomultiplier tube. The relevance of GATE to model the camera prototype was assessed by comparing simulated 99mTc point spread functions, energy spectra, sensitivities, scatter fractions and image of a capillary phantom with the corresponding experimental measurements. Results showed an excellent agreement between simulated and experimental data: experimental spatial resolutions were predicted with an error less than 100 mu m. The difference between experimental and simulated system sensitivities for different source-to-collimator distances was within 2%. Simulated and experimental scatter fractions in a [98-182 keV] energy window differed by less than 2% for sources located in water. Simulated and experimental energy spectra agreed very well between 40 and 180 keV. These results demonstrate the ability and flexibility of GATE for simulating original detector designs. The main weakness of GATE concerns the long computation time it requires: this issue is currently under investigation by the GEANT4 and the GATE collaboration

Total serum cholesterol levels and suicide attempts in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients

Associations between cholesterol and suicidal behavior in adolescent patients have not been explored in depth. In this study, 66 patients consecutively admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit following attempted suicide were compared with a control group of 54 patients with no history of suicide attempts. The age range of the sample was from 8 to 18 years old. Cholesterol levels were significantly lower in attempted suicide patients than in controls (p < 0.02), supporting the hypothesis that lower cholesterol levels might be associated with suicidal behavior in patients with similar acute phase of their disorder