THE ROLE OF DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING IN SELF-REGULATION SKILLS TRAINING

A central component of many psychological interventions is breathing training. Breathing training protocols based on a mindfulness or a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have demonstrated value in the management of psychological and medical ailments. Yet, despite the wealth of literature examining each approach, little direct comparison exists. An additional concern is the proliferation of smart phone health (mHealth) applications (apps) providing breathing training with little empirical evidence to support their clinical use. A possible explanation for the interest in breathing and mHealth apps is the growing body of literature indicating breathing training provides wide ranging health benefits through improved stasis of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). As ANS dysregulation underlies many chronic health conditions such as persistent temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), there is a need for empirical research to identify the most effective modality of breathing training and validate the clinical efficacy of breathing based mHealth apps. Study One compared the effectiveness of a mindfulness breathing meditation (MB) and a CBT based protocol teaching diaphragmatic breathing (DB) to improve biomarkers of ANS stasis. An attention control approach based on the Nolen-Hoeksema task (C) was included as a comparison group. Ninety participants were randomly assigned to either the MB, DB, or C condition. Within each condition, 30 participants were provided skills training with practice time and completed a behavioral self-regulation task. Participants in the DB condition approach had significantly lower breathing rates than those in the MB and C conditions (p \u3c .001). DB condition participants experienced improvements on high-frequency heart rate variability (p \u3c .05) and the standard deviation in NN intervals (p \u3c .001), which served as indicators for ANS stasis. No differences were found between conditions on the behavioral self-regulation task (p’s \u3e .05). Given these results, the DB training protocol was converted into a mHealth app to facilitate a clinical trial with patients suffering persistent TMDs. Study Two examined the additive benefits of including the mHealth app with standard dental care (SDC+) versus standard dental care alone (SDC). Nineteen patients seeking care for persistent TMDs were recruited. All participants were asked to track daily ratings of pain (VAS), relaxation (RR), and complete weekly assessments on several comorbid psycho-social factors. Within the SDC+ condition participants were asked to track the proximate effects of each breathing practice on VAS and RR ratings. Given a high drop-out rate (nine participants) and low overall sample size (N = 10), results are exploratory at best. Within the SDC+ condition, results indicated reliable improvements in average VAS and RR ratings from before and after SDC+ participants used the mHealth app (p’s \u3c .05). Within a one session training paradigm, results supported the use of a DB based intervention above the use of a MB or C intervention. Future research should consider the effects of having multiple training sessions. Study Two results were complicated by a limited sample size and failed to provide a clear picture of whether the conjunctive treatment in the SDC+ condition provided additional symptom relief above traditional dental care alone. Although exploratory results indicated the mHealth app provided temporary improvements in pain and feelings of relaxation, a well powered trial is needed to clarify whether the finding represents an enduring treatment effect

Detection of Lyman-Alpha Emission From a Triple Imaged z=6.85 Galaxy Behind MACS J2129.4-0741

We report the detection of Ly$\alpha$ emission at $\sim9538$\AA{} in the Keck/DEIMOS and \HST WFC3 G102 grism data from a triply-imaged galaxy at $z=6.846\pm0.001$ behind galaxy cluster MACS J2129.4$-$0741. Combining the emission line wavelength with broadband photometry, line ratio upper limits, and lens modeling, we rule out the scenario that this emission line is \oii at $z=1.57$. After accounting for magnification, we calculate the weighted average of the intrinsic Ly$\alpha$ luminosity to be $\sim1.3\times10^{42}~\mathrm{erg}~\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ and Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width to be $74\pm15$\AA{}. Its intrinsic UV absolute magnitude at 1600\AA{} is $-18.6\pm0.2$ mag and stellar mass $(1.5\pm0.3)\times10^{7}~M_{\odot}$, making it one of the faintest (intrinsic $L_{UV}\sim0.14~L_{UV}^*$) galaxies with Ly$\alpha$ detection at $z\sim7$ to date. Its stellar mass is in the typical range for the galaxies thought to dominate the reionization photon budget at $z\gtrsim7$; the inferred Ly$\alpha$ escape fraction is high ($\gtrsim 10$\%), which could be common for sub-$L^*$ $z\gtrsim7$ galaxies with Ly$\alpha$ emission. This galaxy offers a glimpse of the galaxy population that is thought to drive reionization, and it shows that gravitational lensing is an important avenue to probe the sub-$L^*$ galaxy population.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter

DANSR: A tool for the detection of annotated and novel small RNAs

Existing small noncoding RNA analysis tools are optimized for processing short sequencing reads (17-35 nucleotides) to monitor microRNA expression. However, these strategies under-represent many biologically relevant classes of small noncoding RNAs in the 36-200 nucleotides length range (tRNAs, snoRNAs, etc.). To address this, we developed DANSR, a tool for the detection of annotated and novel small RNAs using sequencing reads with variable lengths (ranging from 17-200 nt). While DANSR is broadly applicable to any small RNA dataset, we applied it to a cohort of matched normal, primary, and distant metastatic colorectal cancer specimens to demonstrate its ability to quantify annotated small RNAs, discover novel genes, and calculate differential expression. DANSR is available as an open source tool

Microdomain heterogeneity in 3D affects the mechanics of neonatal cardiac myocyte contraction

Abstract Cardiac muscle cells are known to adapt to their physical surroundings, optimizing intracellular organization and contractile function for a given culture environment. A previously developed in vitro model system has shown that the inclusion of discrete microscale domains (or microrods) in three dimensions (3D) can alter long-term growth responses of neonatal ventricular myocytes. The aim of this work was to understand how cellular contact with such a domain affects various mechanical changes involved in cardiac muscle cell remodeling. Myocytes were maintained in 3D gels over 5 days in the presence or absence of 100 − µm-long microrods, and the effect of this local heterogeneity on cell behavior was analyzed via several imaging techniques. Microrod abutment resulted in approximately twofold increases in the maximum displacement of spontaneously beating myocytes, as based on confocal microscopy scans of the gel xy-plane or the myocyte long axis. In addition, microrods caused significant increases in the Electronic supplementary material The online version of this articl

Global warming in the pipeline

Improved knowledge of glacial-to-interglacial global temperature change implies that fast-feedback equilibrium climate sensitivity is at least ~4{\deg}C for doubled CO2 (2xCO2), with likely range 3.5-5.5{\deg}C. Greenhouse gas (GHG) climate forcing is 4.1 W/m2 larger in 2021 than in 1750, equivalent to 2xCO2 forcing. Global warming in the pipeline is greater than prior estimates. Eventual global warming due to today's GHG forcing alone -- after slow feedbacks operate -- is about 10{\deg}C. Human-made aerosols are a major climate forcing, mainly via their effect on clouds. We infer from paleoclimate data that aerosol cooling offset GHG warming for several millennia as civilization developed. A hinge-point in global warming occurred in 1970 as increased GHG warming outpaced aerosol cooling, leading to global warming of 0.18{\deg}C per decade. Aerosol cooling is larger than estimated in the current IPCC report, but it has declined since 2010 because of aerosol reductions in China and shipping. Without unprecedented global actions to reduce GHG growth, 2010 could be another hinge point, with global warming in following decades 50-100% greater than in the prior 40 years. The enormity of consequences of warming in the pipeline demands a new approach addressing legacy and future emissions. The essential requirement to "save" young people and future generations is return to Holocene-level global temperature. Three urgently required actions are: 1) a global increasing price on GHG emissions, 2) purposeful intervention to rapidly phase down present massive geoengineering of Earth's climate, and 3) renewed East-West cooperation in a way that accommodates developing world needs.Comment: 48 pages, 27 figures. Correction of formatting error on page 21, which messed up placement of all following figure

The gravitational-wave background null hypothesis: Characterizing noise in millisecond pulsar arrival times with the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array

The noise in millisecond pulsar (MSP) timing data can include contributions from observing instruments, the interstellar medium, the solar wind, solar system ephemeris errors, and the pulsars themselves. The noise environment must be accurately characterized in order to form the null hypothesis from which signal models can be compared, including the signature induced by nanohertz-frequency gravitational waves (GWs). Here we describe the noise models developed for each of the MSPs in the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) third data release, which have been used as the basis of a search for the isotropic stochastic GW background. We model pulsar spin noise, dispersion measure variations, scattering variations, events in the pulsar magnetospheres, solar wind variability, and instrumental effects. We also search for new timing model parameters and detected Shapiro delays in PSR~J0614$-$3329 and PSR~J1902$-$5105. The noise and timing models are validated by testing the normalized and whitened timing residuals for Gaussianity and residual correlations with time. We demonstrate that the choice of noise models significantly affects the inferred properties of a common-spectrum process. Using our detailed models, the recovered common-spectrum noise in the PPTA is consistent with a power law with a spectral index of $\gamma=13/3$, the value predicted for a stochastic GW background from a population of supermassive black hole binaries driven solely by GW emission.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Estimating species relative abundances from museum records

Funding: C.F., U.B. and D.J.R. acknowledge COST Action ‘European Soil-Biology Data Warehouse for Soil Protection’ (EUdaphobase), CA18237, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). AEM thanks the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2019-401). D.B.B. was supported by an NSF Postdoc Research Fellowship in Biology (NSF 000733206), S.M.R. was supported by an NSERC Discovery Grant Author Contributions, A.V.S. was supported by NSF 1755336, C.S.M was supported by NSF 1398620 and N.J.G was supported by NSF 2019470.1. Dated, geo-referenced museum specimens are a rich data source for reconstructing species' distribution and abundance patterns. However, museum records are potentially biased towards over-representation of rare species, and it is unclear whether museum records can be used to estimate relative abundance in the field. 2. We assembled 17 coupled field and museum datasets to quantitatively compare relative abundance estimates with the Dirichlet distribution. Collectively, these datasets comprise 73,039 museum records and 1,405,316 field observations of 2,240 species. 3. Although museum records of rare species overestimated relative abundance by 1-fold to over 100-fold (median study = 9.0), the relative abundance of species estimated from museum occurrence records was strongly correlated with relative abundance estimated from standardized field surveys (r2 range of 0.10-0.91, median study = 0.43). 4. These analyses provide a justification for estimating species relative abundance with carefully curated museum occurrence records, which may allow for the detection of temporal or spatial shifts in the rank ordering of common and rare species.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

ABCB1 (MDR1) polymorphisms and ovarian cancer progression and survival: A comprehensive analysis from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium and The Cancer Genome Atlas

<b>Objective</b> <i>ABCB1</i> encodes the multi-drug efflux pump P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and has been implicated in multi-drug resistance. We comprehensively evaluated this gene and flanking regions for an association with clinical outcome in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).<p></p> <b>Methods</b> The best candidates from fine-mapping analysis of 21 <i>ABCB1</i> SNPs tagging C1236T (rs1128503), G2677T/A (rs2032582), and C3435T (rs1045642) were analysed in 4616 European invasive EOC patients from thirteen Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC) studies and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Additionally we analysed 1,562 imputed SNPs around ABCB1 in patients receiving cytoreductive surgery and either ‘standard’ first-line paclitaxel–carboplatin chemotherapy (n = 1158) or any first-line chemotherapy regimen (n = 2867). We also evaluated ABCB1 expression in primary tumours from 143 EOC patients.<p></p> <b>Result</b> Fine-mapping revealed that rs1128503, rs2032582, and rs1045642 were the best candidates in optimally debulked patients. However, we observed no significant association between any SNP and either progression-free survival or overall survival in analysis of data from 14 studies. There was a marginal association between rs1128503 and overall survival in patients with nil residual disease (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.77–1.01; p = 0.07). In contrast, <i>ABCB1</i> expression in the primary tumour may confer worse prognosis in patients with sub-optimally debulked tumours.<p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> Our study represents the largest analysis of <i>ABCB1</i> SNPs and EOC progression and survival to date, but has not identified additional signals, or validated reported associations with progression-free survival for rs1128503, rs2032582, and rs1045642. However, we cannot rule out the possibility of a subtle effect of rs1128503, or other SNPs linked to it, on overall survival.<p></p&gt

Search for an isotropic gravitational-wave background with the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array

Pulsar timing arrays aim to detect nanohertz-frequency gravitational waves (GWs). A background of GWs modulates pulsar arrival times and manifests as a stochastic process, common to all pulsars, with a signature spatial correlation. Here we describe a search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background (GWB) using observations of 30 millisecond pulsars from the third data release of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA), which spans 18 years. Using current Bayesian inference techniques we recover and characterize a common-spectrum noise process. Represented as a strain spectrum $h_c = A(f/1 {\rm yr}^{-1})^{\alpha}$, we measure $A=3.1^{+1.3}_{-0.9} \times 10^{-15}$ and $\alpha=-0.45 \pm 0.20$ respectively (median and 68% credible interval). For a spectral index of $\alpha=-2/3$, corresponding to an isotropic background of GWs radiated by inspiraling supermassive black hole binaries, we recover an amplitude of $A=2.04^{+0.25}_{-0.22} \times 10^{-15}$. However, we demonstrate that the apparent signal strength is time-dependent, as the first half of our data set can be used to place an upper limit on $A$ that is in tension with the inferred common-spectrum amplitude using the complete data set. We search for spatial correlations in the observations by hierarchically analyzing individual pulsar pairs, which also allows for significance validation through randomizing pulsar positions on the sky. For a process with $\alpha=-2/3$, we measure spatial correlations consistent with a GWB, with an estimated false-alarm probability of $p \lesssim 0.02$ (approx. $2\sigma$). The long timing baselines of the PPTA and the access to southern pulsars will continue to play an important role in the International Pulsar Timing Array.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ