Brief mindfulness training enhances cognitive control in socioemotional contexts: Behavioral and neural evidence.

In social contexts, the dynamic nature of others' emotions places unique demands on attention and emotion regulation. Mindfulness, characterized by heightened and receptive moment-to-moment attending, may be well-suited to meet these demands. In particular, mindfulness may support more effective cognitive control in social situations via efficient deployment of top-down attention. To test this, a randomized controlled study examined effects of mindfulness training (MT) on behavioral and neural (event-related potentials [ERPs]) responses during an emotional go/no-go task that tested cognitive control in the context of emotional facial expressions that tend to elicit approach or avoidance behavior. Participants (N = 66) were randomly assigned to four brief (20 min) MT sessions or to structurally equivalent book learning control sessions. Relative to the control group, MT led to improved discrimination of facial expressions, as indexed by d-prime, as well as more efficient cognitive control, as indexed by response time and accuracy, and particularly for those evidencing poorer discrimination and cognitive control at baseline. MT also produced better conflict monitoring of behavioral goal-prepotent response tendencies, as indexed by larger No-Go N200 ERP amplitudes, and particularly so for those with smaller No-Go amplitude at baseline. Overall, findings are consistent with MT's potential to enhance deployment of early top-down attention to better meet the unique cognitive and emotional demands of socioemotional contexts, particularly for those with greater opportunity for change. Findings also suggest that early top-down attention deployment could be a cognitive mechanism correspondent to the present-oriented attention commonly used to explain regulatory benefits of mindfulness more broadly

Filaggrin-stratified transcriptomic analysis of pediatric skin identifies mechanistic pathways in patients with atopic dermatitis

BackgroundAtopic dermatitis (AD; eczema) is characterized by a widespread abnormality in cutaneous barrier function and propensity to inflammation. Filaggrin is a multifunctional protein and plays a key role in skin barrier formation. Loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding filaggrin (FLG) are a highly significant risk factor for atopic disease, but the molecular mechanisms leading to dermatitis remain unclear.ObjectiveWe sought to interrogate tissue-specific variations in the expressed genome in the skin of children with AD and to investigate underlying pathomechanisms in atopic skin.MethodsWe applied single-molecule direct RNA sequencing to analyze the whole transcriptome using minimal tissue samples. Uninvolved skin biopsy specimens from 26 pediatric patients with AD were compared with site-matched samples from 10 nonatopic teenage control subjects. Cases and control subjects were screened for FLG genotype to stratify the data set.ResultsTwo thousand four hundred thirty differentially expressed genes (false discovery rate, P < .05) were identified, of which 211 were significantly upregulated and 490 downregulated by greater than 2-fold. Gene ontology terms for “extracellular space” and “defense response” were enriched, whereas “lipid metabolic processes” were downregulated. The subset of FLG wild-type cases showed dysregulation of genes involved with lipid metabolism, whereas filaggrin haploinsufficiency affected global gene expression and was characterized by a type 1 interferon–mediated stress response.ConclusionThese analyses demonstrate the importance of extracellular space and lipid metabolism in atopic skin pathology independent of FLG genotype, whereas an aberrant defense response is seen in subjects with FLG mutations. Genotype stratification of the large data set has facilitated functional interpretation and might guide future therapy development

Oma1 Links Mitochondrial Protein Quality Control and TOR Signaling To Modulate Physiological Plasticity and Cellular Stress Responses

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Dennis Winge (University of Utah) and the members of the Khalimonchuk laboratory for critical comments. We also thank Christoph Schuller (University of Natural Resources, Austria) and Paul Herman (Ohio State University) for reagents. We acknowledge the expert technical assistance of Nataliya Zahayko. We also thank Donna MacCallum for help with the Candida virulence assays. This research was supported by grants from the NIH (P30GM103335 and 5R01GM108975 [O.K.], GM071775-06 and GM105781-01 [A.B.], DK079209 [J.L.]), the U.K. Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BB/K017365/1 [A.J.P.B.]), the U.K. Medical Research Council (MR/ M026663/1 [A.J.P.B.]), and the European Research Council (C-2009- AdG-249793 [A.J.P.B.]). We declare that we have no competing financial interests. FUNDING INFORMATION This work, including the efforts of Alistair J. P. Brown, was funded by Biotechnology and Biological Research Counsil (BB/K017365/1). This work, including the efforts of Oleh Khalimonchuk, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (5R01GM108975). This work, including the efforts of Oleh Khalimonchuk, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (P30GM103335).This work, including the efforts of Antoni Barrientos, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (GM071775-06). This work, including the efforts of Antoni Barrientos, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (GM105781-01). This work, including the efforts of Jaekwon Lee, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DK079209). This work, including the efforts of Alistair J. P. Brown, was funded by Medical Research Council (MRC) (MR/M026663/1). This work, including the efforts of Alistair J. P. Brown, was funded by EC | European Research Council (ERC) (C-2009-AdG-249793).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Contemplating Mindfulness at Work: An Integrative Review

Mindfulness research activity is surging within organizational science. Emerging evidence across multiple fields suggests that mindfulness is fundamentally connected to many aspects of workplace functioning, but this knowledge base has not been systematically integrated to date. This review coalesces the burgeoning body of mindfulness scholarship into a framework to guide mainstream management research investigating a broad range of constructs. The framework identifies how mindfulness influences attention, with downstream effects on functional domains of cognition, emotion, behavior, and physiology. Ultimately, these domains impact key workplace outcomes, including performance, relationships, and well-being. Consideration of the evidence on mindfulness at work stimulates important questions and challenges key assumptions within management science, generating an agenda for future research

The Mechanism of Flexible Controlling as an Innovative Method in Management of Corporate Structures

У статті представлений принцип дії механізму гнучкого контролінгу як інноваційного методу управління корпоративними структурами. Розглянуто принципи застосування даного методу як інструменту ефективного управління корпоративними структурами, що дозволяють забезпечити різноманітність і гнучкість процесів управління для досягнення поставлених цілей. Розглянуто особливості контролінгу в управлінні корпоративними структурами в умовах нестабільного економічного середовища. Подано концепцію механізму контролінгу в управлінні корпоративними структурами, яка дозволяє забезпечити необхідну різноманітність процесів управління для досягнення динамічного комплексу цілей. Розглянуто особливості функціонування корпоративних структур у нестабільному ринковому оточенні. На прикладі механізму гнучкого контролінгу як способу адаптації до реалій сформованої нестабільності в економіці України представлена його здатність оперативно і тонко спрямовувати управління корпоративними структурами для прийняття правильних рішень та погодження роботи всіх підсистем підприємства.В статье представлен принцип действия механизма гибкого контроллинга как инновационного метода управления корпоративными структурами. Рассмотрены принципы применения данного метода как инструмента эффективного управления корпоративными структурами, позволяющие обеспечить разнообразие и гибкость процессов управления для достижения поставленных целей. Рассмотрены особенности контроллинга в управлении корпоративными структурами в условиях нестабильной экономической среды. Представлена концепция механизма контроллинга в управлении корпоративными структурами, которая позволяет обеспечить необходимое разнообразие процессов управления для достижения динамического комплекса целей. Рассмотрены особенности функционирования корпоративных структур в нестабильном рыночном окружении. На примере механизма гибкого контроллинга как способа адаптации к реалиям сложившейся нестабильности в экономике Украины представлена его способность оперативно и тонко направлять управление корпоративными структурами для принятия правильных решений и согласования работы всех подсистем предприятия.This article presents the principle of the mechanism controlling the flexible as an innovative method of managing corporate structures. The principles of this method as a tool for the effective management of corporate structures, allowing for variety and flexibility of management processes to achieve their goals. Features of controlling in management of corporate structures in the conditions of the unstable economic environment are considered. The concept of the mechanism of controlling in management of corporate structures which allows to provide a necessary variety of management processes for achievement of a dynamic complex of the purposes is presented. Features of functioning of corporate structures in an unstable market environment are considered. On the example of controlling a flexible mechanism as a way of adapting to the realities of the current instability in the economy of Ukraine, represented by its ability to quickly and subtly direct the management of the corporate structure to make the right decisions and coordination of all sub-systems of the enterprise