Self-compassion and physical health: Exploring the roles of perceived stress and health-promoting behaviors

Growing evidence indicates that self-compassion is associated with better physical health, but the pathways that mediate this relationship are not well understood. This study tested a serial mediation model that linked self-compassion, perceived stress, health behaviors, and a comprehensive index of physical health. A sample of 176 individuals completed an online survey posted on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Self-compassion had an indirect effect on physical health via both mediators as well as through the sequential pathway, suggesting that taking a kind, accepting and mindful stance toward one’s flaws and failures may have benefits for reducing stress and promoting health behaviors

Fake people, real effects : the presence of virtual onlookers can impair performance and learning

Can effects of social influence be elicited in virtual contexts, and if so, under which conditions can they be observed? Answering these questions has theoretical merit, as the answers can help broaden our understanding of the interaction mechanisms described by social psychology. The increasing popularity of immersive media in training applications, however, has made these questions of practical significance. Virtual reality (VR), in particular, is a weapon of choice in designing training and education simulations, as it can be used to generate highly realistic characters and environments. As a consequence, it is key to understand under which circumstances virtual ‘others’ can facilitate or impede performance and – especially – learning. In this study, we investigated the impact of virtual onlookers on an adapted Serial Reaction Time (SRT) task that was presented in VR. In each trial, participants responded to a series of spherical stimuli by tapping them with handheld controllers when they lit up. Depending on the experiment block, the sequence order was either the permutation of a fixed order (and therefore predictable given the first stimulus), or fully random (and therefore unpredictable). Participants were divided into three groups (audience variable), depending on the environment in which the task was set: a group without onlookers (none condition), a group with a computer-generated audience (CGI condition), and a group being watched by a prerecorded audience (filmed condition). Results showed that the presence of a virtual audience can hamper both overall performance and learning, particularly when the audience appears more realistic. This study further reinforces the notion that the effects of social influence transcend the physical presence of others, but rather extend to virtual audiences

An epidemiologic study of early biologic effects of benzene in Chinese workers.

Benzene is a recognized hematotoxin and leukemogen, but its mechanisms of action in humans are still uncertain. To provide insight into these processes, we carried out a cross-sectional study of 44 healthy workers currently exposed to benzene (median 8-hr time-weighted average; 31 ppm), and unexposed controls in Shanghai, China. Here we provide an overview of the study results on peripheral blood cells levels and somatic cell mutation frequency measured by the glycophorin A (GPA) gene loss assay and report on peripheral cytokine levels. All peripheral blood cells levels (i.e., total white blood cells, absolute lymphocyte count, platelets, red blood cells, and hemoglobin) were decreased among exposed workers compared to controls, with the exception of the red blood cell mean corpuscular volume, which was higher among exposed subjects. In contrast, peripheral cytokine levels (interleukin-3, interleukin-6, erythropoietin, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, tissue necrosis factor-alpha) in a subset of the most highly exposed workers (n = 11) were similar to values in controls (n = 11), suggesting that benzene does not affect these growth factor levels in peripheral blood. The GPA assay measures stem cell or precursor erythroid cell mutations expressed in peripheral red blood cells of MN heterozygous subjects, identifying NN variants, which result from loss of the GPA M allele and duplication of the N allele, and N phi variants, which arise from gene inactivation. The NN (but not N phi) GPA variant cell frequency was elevated in the exposed workers compared with controls (mean +/- SD, 13.9 +/- 8.4 mutants per million cells versus 7.4 +/- 5.2 per million cells, (respectively; p = 0.0002), suggesting that benzene produces gene-duplicating but not gene-inactivating mutations at the GPA locus in bone marrow cells of exposed humans. These findings, combined with ongoing analyses of benzene macromolecular adducts and chromosomal aberrations, will provide an opportunity to comprehensively evaluate a wide range of early biologic effects associated with benzene exposure in humans

California Current seascape influences juvenile salmon foraging ecology at multiple scales

Juvenile salmon Oncorhynchus spp. experience variable mortality rates during their first few months in the ocean, and high growth during this period is critical to minimize size selective predation. Examining links between the physical environment and foraging ecology is important to understand mechanisms that drive growth. These mechanisms are complex and include interactions among the physical environment, forage availability, bioenergetics, and salmon foraging behavior. Our objectives were to explore how seascape features (biological and physical) influence juvenile Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha foraging at annual and feedingevent scales in the California Current Ecosystem. We demonstrate that forage abundance was the most influential determinant of mean salmon stomach fullness at the annual scale, while at the feeding-event scale, fullness increased with greater cumulative upwelling during the 10 d prior and at closer distances to thermal fronts. Upwelling promotes nutrient enrichment and productivity, while fronts concentrate organisms, likely resulting in available prey to salmon and increased stomach fullness. Salmon were also more likely to consume krill when there was high prior upwelling,andswitchedtonon-krillinvertebrates(i.e.amphipods,decapods,copepods)inweaker upwelling conditions. As salmon size increased from 72−250 mm, salmon were more likely to consume fish, equal amounts of krill, and fewer non-krill invertebrates. Broad seascape processes determined overall prey availability and fullness in a given year, while fine- and meso-scale processes influenced local accessibility of prey to individual salmon. Therefore, processes occurring at multiple scales will influence how marine organisms respond to changing environment

Exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background A substantial number of epidemiologic studies have provided estimates of the relation between exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia, but the results have been heterogeneous. To bridge this gap in knowledge, we synthesized the existing epidemiologic evidence on the relation between occupational exposure to benzene and the risk of leukemia, including all types combined and the four main subgroups acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Methods A systematic literature review was carried out using two databases 'Medline' and 'Embase' from 1950 through to July 2009. We selected articles which provided information that can be used to estimate the relation between benzene exposure and cancer risk (effect size). Results In total 15 studies were identified in the search, providing 16 effect estimates for the main analysis. The summary effect size for any leukemia from the fixed-effects model was 1.40 (95% CI, 1.23-1.57), but the study-specific estimates were strongly heterogeneous (I2 = 56.5%, Q stat = 34.47, p = 0.003). The random-effects model yielded a summary- effect size estimate of 1.72 (95% CI, 1.37-2.17). Effect estimates from 9 studies were based on cumulative exposures. In these studies the risk of leukemia increased with a dose-response pattern with a summary-effect estimate of 1.64 (95% CI, 1.13-2.39) for low (< 40 ppm-years), 1.90 (95% CI, 1.26-2.89) for medium (40-99.9 ppm-years), and 2.62 (95% CI, 1.57-4.39) for high exposure category (> 100 ppm-years). In a meta-regression, the trend was statistically significant (P = 0.015). Use of cumulative exposure eliminated heterogeneity. The risk of AML also increased from low (1.94, 95% CI, 0.95-3.95), medium (2.32, 95% CI, 0.91-5.94) to high exposure category (3.20, 95% CI, 1.09-9.45), but the trend was not statistically significant. Conclusions Our study provides consistent evidence that exposure to benzene at work increases the risk of leukemia with a dose-response pattern. There was some evidence of an increased risk of AML and CLL. The meta-analysis indicated a lack of association between benzene exposure and the risk of CML

Wake response to an ocean-feedback mechanism: Madeira Island case study

This discussion focused on the numerical study of a wake episode. The Weather Research and Forecasting model was used in a downscale mode. The current literature focuses the discussion on the adiabatic dynamics of atmospheric wakes. Changes in mountain height and consequently on its relation to the atmospheric inversion layer should explain the shift in wake regimes: from a 'strong-wake' to a 'weak-wake' scenario. Nevertheless, changes in SST variability can also induce similar regime shifts. Increase in evaporation, contributes to increase convection and thus to an uplift of the stratified atmospheric layer, above the critical height, with subsequent internal gravity wave activity.Comment: Under review proces

Early detection of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in Chagas' disease

BACKGROUND: Chagas' disease may cause left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and its early detection in asymptomatic patients would allow to stratify the risk and to optimize medical treatment. The aim of this study is to investigate if transmitral Doppler flow can detect early abnormalities of the diastolic left ventricular function in patients during the indeterminate phase of Chagas' disease, in which the electrocardiogram (ECG), chest x-ray and 2-D echocardiogram (2D-echo) are normal. METHODS: a group of 54 patients with Chagas' disease was studied and compared to a control group of 27 subjects of similar age. All were assessed with an ECG, chest X-ray, 2-D echo, and transmitral Doppler flow. RESULTS: both groups had similar values in the 2D-echo. In patients with Chagas' disease, the transmitral Doppler showed a higher peak A velocity (control group: 0.44 m/sec, Chagas group: 0.55 m/sec, p = 0.001), a lower E/A ratio (control group: 1.45, Chagas group: 1.22, p < 0.05), and a lengthening of the deceleration time of early diastolic filling (control: 138.7 ± 26.8 msec, Chagas group: 167.9 ± 34.6 msec, p = 001), thus revealing an early disorder of the diastolic left ventricular function in patients with Chagas' disease. CONCLUSION: in patients with Chagas' disease who are in the indeterminate phase, transmitral Doppler flow allowed to identify early abnormalities of the left ventricular diastolic function, which provide useful clinical information for prognostic stratification and treatment

Errors in recall of age at first sex

Aims: To measure the degree and direction of errors in recall of age at first sex. Method: Participants were initially recruited in 1994–1995 (Wave I) with 3 subsequent follow-ups in: 1996 (Wave II); 2001– 2002 (Wave III); and 2007–2008 (Wave IV). Participants' individual errors in recall of their age at first sex at Wave IV were estimated by the paired difference between responses given for age at first sex in Wave I and Wave IV (recalled age at first sex obtained at Wave IV minus the age at first sex obtained at Wave I). Results: The mean of the recall-estimation of age at first sex at Wave IV was found to be slightly increased comparing to the age at first sex at Wave I (less than 1 year). The errors in the recalled age at first sex tended to increase in participants who had their first sex younger or older than the average, and the recalled age at first sex tended to bias towards the mean (i.e. participants who had first sex younger than the average were more likely to recall an age at first sex that was older than the age, and vice versa). Conclusions: In this U.S. population-based sample, the average recall error for age at first sex was small. However, the accuracy of recalled information varied significantly among subgroup populations

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