Fearing Compassion Impacts Psychological Well-being but has no Effect on Physiological Indicators.

Fearing Compassion Impacts Psychological Well-being but has no Effect on Physiological Indicators. Objective: Fears of compassion are feelings of threat towards receiving and giving kindness. This study examined the fears towards compassion on physiological responses during compassionate exercises. It has been argued that such fears are a barrier to a relaxation system normally reducing physiological activity but there has been no empirical evidence to support this. Exercises have been developed to increase compassion by activating a physiological soothing system, however if fears to compassion block the effectiveness of compassion then new methods may need to be developed to increase self-compassion. Participants and Methods: A non-clinical sample of sixty participants took part in two compassionate exercises. Heart rate and skin conductance were recorded during these exercises to indicate physiological activity. Social safeness, self-criticism and symptoms of depression were also assessed via the Fears of Compassion Scale, the Forms of Self-Criticism/Self-Reassuring Scale, the Social Safeness Scale and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS). Results: Multivariate analysis indicated there was no effect between high and low fears of compassion on both heart rate and skin conductance. However, social safeness and symptoms of mental illness were significantly affected by fears of compassion from psychological indicators of well-being, (F(3,56)= 5.721, p<.01, Wilks Lambda = .765, partial n2=.235). Independent analysis found differences in social safeness (F(1,58)= 14.46, p<.01, partial n2=.20) and DASS (F(1,58)= 6.53, p<.05, partial n2= .101). Social safeness was higher in the low fears of compassion group, 46.87 (SD= 6.06), whilst DASS was greater in the high fears group, 23.34 (SD=12.91). Conclusions: The findings did not support that fears are a barrier towards building compassion suggesting that compassionate exercises can be effective for both higher and lower fears of compassion. These results support a dynamic relationship between social safeness and fears towards compassion. The implications are that fears do not prevent activation of the self-soothing system but have an effect on social safeness and abnormal behaviour development

Eudaimonic Pathways of Activating Compassion Reduce Vulnerabilities to Paranoia

This study aimed to identify if compassion benefits paranoia and, if so what type of compassion. Following a series of different compassionate exercises in 104 participants it was found that mindfulness approaches were the most significant in reducing paranoia suggesting a new approach for psychological problems characterised by paranoia

Development of and adherence to a gamified environment promoting health and wellbeing in older people with mild cognitive impairment

Overview and aims: This project aimed to promote active aging by delivering tasks via a tablet computer to participants aged 65-80 with mild cognitive impairment. The aims were to develop an age-appropriate gamified environment and to assess application adherence through an intervention. Methods: The gamified environment was developed through a series of three iterative user-centered focus groups. Adherence was assessed by the time spent engaging with applications over 47 days supplemented with participant interviews. There were two groups of participants: one of 11 people living in a retirement village (1 male; mean age=75.4, SD=5.14; mean MoCA=26.0, SD=2.28) and the other of 13 people living separately across a city (1 male; mean age=74.9, SD=3.68; mean MoCA=24.4, SD=1.19). Results: There was a significant difference in the mean number of sessions for retirement village participants (mean=29.1, SD=14.8) and those living separately (mean=8.8, SD=7.5), adjusted t(14.3)=4.1, p=0.001 with retirement village participants engaging in three times the number of game sessions compared to the other group possibly because of different between group social arrangements. Interview thematic analysis at follow-up revealed that participants enjoyed the social aspects of the project, liked computer games and engaging in them made them feel better. Discussion and Conclusions: An age-appropriate user-designed gamified environment can help older people with mild cognitive impairment engage in computer-based applications and can impact them positively. However, social and community factors influence adherence in a longer-term intervention

The effect of sudden source buoyancy flux increases on turbulent plumes

Building upon the recent experimentally verified modelling of turbulent plumes which are subject to decreases in their source strength (Scase et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 563, 2006b, p. 443), we consider the complementary case where the plume's source strength is increased. We consider the effect of increasing the source strength of an established plume and we also compare time-dependent plume model predictions for the behaviour of a starting plume to those of Turner (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 13, 1962, p. 356)

Emerging business ventures under market socialism: entrepreneurship in China

There are few empirical case studies of management practices in China. The rapidly changing Chinese market economy requires a more informed understanding of management practices and business landscape in which they operate based upon the empirical study of business practices This book adopts a holistic perspective to assess the impact of state-sponsored market socialism upon evolving economic enterprises and their ownership forms. Its emphasis is upon the outcomes of market socialist policies in shaping contrasting management patterns and behaviours longitudinally in China between 2005-2012. The book provides a comparative perspective on organizational development and management systems by focusing on three key emerging issues associated with the development of economic enterprise and market socialism in China: the emergence of different types of business venture; their contrasting management processes and patterns; and the shaping and the impact upon these of the political and institutional environment. Based on longitudinal empirical research on selected case studies between 2005 and 2012, the book explores the distinctive characteristics of emerging forms of economic enterprise under market socialism in China and identifies how rapid environmental and institutional changes in economic reforms are impacting upon their practice; particularly the role of Communist Party policies in shaping their ownership and management processes. General patterns in the development of business ventures are identified to outline the dynamics of industrial and organizational change under this dynamic transitional phase in Chinese market socialism

Estrogen Receptor and Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 Expression in Equine Mammary Tumors.

Equine mammary tumors are uncommon, and relatively sparse histopathologic and molecular data exist. The present study describes the histopathologic features of 7 such tumors, which exhibited infiltrative growth, intermediate to high mitotic rates, and focally extensive necrosis. The tumors exhibited variably strong staining for vimentin and cytokeratin 14, as well as frequently weak cytoplasmic staining for pan-cytokeratin. E-cadherin expression was strong. Interestingly, a subgroup of the tumors exhibited strong nuclear staining for estrogen receptor α. Three of 7 tumors exhibited nuclear expression of the transcription factor STAT3, suggesting that STAT3 was transcriptionally active. Rare to absent nuclear STAT3 expression was observed in carcinomas exhibiting moderate to intense staining for cytokeratin 14. This investigation confirms previous investigators' assertions that equine mammary tumors have a malignant phenotype. A subset of the equine mammary tumors exhibited estrogen receptor α expression, suggesting that these tumors may potentially have similar molecular characteristics to their feline and canine counterparts.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Sage via http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/030098581455940