How best to support change in health-related behaviors is an important public health challenge. The role of mindfulness training in this process has received limited attention. We sought to explore ...whether mindfulness training is associated with changes in health-related behaviors. The Health Behaviors Questionnaire was used to obtain self-reported data on dietary behaviors, drinking, smoking, physical activity, and sleep quality before and after attendance at an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. T-tests for paired data and χ2 tests were used to compare pre–post intervention means and proportions of relevant variables with P = .05 as level of significance. Participants (n = 174; mean age 47 years, range 19-68; 61% female) reported significant improvements in dietary behaviors and sleep quality. Partial changes were seen in physical activity but no changes in smoking and drinking habits. In conclusion, mindfulness training promotes favorable changes in selected health-related behaviors deserving further study through randomized controlled trials.
There is a lack of understanding among professional staff performing intervention with academically at-risk students if resource intensive intervention is associated with improved scholastic standing ...of post-secondary academic probation students. Via a quantitative ex post-facto quasi-experimental study with a two-group pretest-posttest design, researchers examined the association of resource intensive academic probation student intervention with improved scholastic standing of post-secondary probation students receiving intervention (n = 102) compared to students (n = 366) not receiving intervention. This study blended elements of social integration theory, student involvement theory, connectedness theory, student integration theory, student attrition model, and the theory of planned behavior. Multivariate analysis via independent-samples t-tests evaluated the difference between pre- and post-semester GPA means for Academic Probation I and Academic Probation II treatment and control groups. The results from this study showed a statistically significant difference in µ delta scores between Academic Probation I students who received intervention and those who did not receive intervention yet no statistically significant difference in µ delta scores between Academic Probation II students who received intervention and those that did not receive intervention. Additionally, analysis of two-way ANOVA results showed no significant interaction between µ GPA delta and gender, ethnicity, nor year of birth among treatment or control groups. Results of this study expand the limited understanding of academic probation student intervention within the community college education arena with implications on future practice and research. Recommendations for practice include mandatory completion of pre-semester intake meetings led by support staff trained in intrusive advising techniques. Longitudinal study, replication at other 2-year colleges, and capturing participant voices via a qualitative study are recommendations for future research.
New statistical procedures are introduced to analyse typical microRNA expression data sets. For each separate microRNA expression, the null hypothesis to be tested is that there is no difference ...between the distributions of the expression in different groups. The test statistics are then constructed having certain type of alternatives in mind. To avoid strong (parametric) distributional assumptions, the alternatives are formulated using probabilities of different orders of pairs or triples of observations coming from different groups, and the test statistics are then constructed using corresponding several-sample U-statistics, natural estimates of these probabilities. Classical several-sample rank test statistics, such as the Kruskal–Wallis and Jonckheere–Terpstra tests, are special cases in our approach. Also, as the number of variables (microRNAs) is huge, we confront a serious simultaneous testing problem. Different approaches to control the family-wise error rate or the false discovery rate are shortly discussed, and it is shown how the Chen–Stein theorem can be used to show that family-wise error rate can be controlled for cluster-dependent microRNAs under weak assumptions. The theory is illustrated with an analysis of real data, a microRNA expression data set on Finnish (aggressive and non-aggressive) prostate cancer patients and their controls.
Meta-DP, a domain prediction meta-server provides a simple interface to predict domains in a given protein sequence using a number of domain prediction methods. The Meta-DP is a convenient resource ...because through accessing a single site, users automatically obtain the results of the various domain prediction methods along with a consensus prediction. The Meta-DP is currently coupled to 10 domain prediction servers and can be extended to include any number of methods. Meta-DP can thus become a centralized repository of available methods. Meta-DP was also used to evaluate the performance of 13 domain prediction methods in the context of CAFASP-DP. Availability: The Meta-DP server is freely available at http://meta-dp.bioinformatics.buffalo.edu and the CAFASP-DP evaluation results are available at http://cafasp4.bioinformatics.buffalo.edu/dp/update.html Contact: hkaur@bioinformatics.buffalo.edu Supplementary information: Available at http://cafasp4.bioinformatics.buffalo.edu/dp/update.html
Robots in the health care sector are often envisioned as a kind of social interaction partner. We suggest a different approach, where robots become adaptable tools for facilitating positive social ...interaction between and learning for special needs users. The paper presents the development and a series of field tests of a new robot game platform, which is envisioned to level the playing field for users with distinct motor and cognitive capacities by adapting the robots to their abilities. The series of field tests shows that the system is successful in triggering positive social interactions between the players.
Abstract Gaucher disease is an autosomal recessive disease, caused by a lack or functional deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme, glucocerebrosidase (GCase). Recently, mutations in the ...glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) have been associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) and GBA mutations are now considered the most important genetic vulnerability factor for PD. In this study, we have investigated (i) in vivo whether inhibition of the enzyme glucosylceramide synthase by miglustat may protect C57Bl/6 mice against subchronic 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) intoxication and (ii) in vitro whether a decrease of GCase activity may render dopaminergic neurons susceptible to MPP+ (1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium) or alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) toxicity and amenable to miglustat treatment. We could demonstrate that reduction of glucocerebroside by inhibition of glucosylceramide synthase partially protects mice against MPTP-induced toxicity. Conversely, we could show that inhibition of GCase activity with conduritol-B-epoxide (CBE) enhances both α-Syn and MPP+ induced toxicity in vitro . However, only CBE-induced enhancement of MPP+ toxicity could be reversed by miglustat. Moreover, we were unable to reveal any alterations of complex I activity or cell respiration upon treatment with either CBE or miglustat. Our findings suggest that the reduction of GCase activity rather than an accumulation of glucocerebroside increases aSyn toxicity.
The charge‐carrier mobility of organic semiconductors extracted from thin‐film transistors is highly dependent on film morphology. Morphological defects can lead to the underestimation of charge ...transport properties, which may impede the rational design of novel materials. Herein, a novel analytical method is presented to functionally characterize entire active layers of solution‐processed thin‐film transistors. By correlating imaging and spectroscopy of secondary electrons, nano‐sized morphological defects are discovered and the effective current paths between source and drain electrodes are directly visualized. After image‐processing, the as‐measured mobility values of zone‐cast thin‐films of a tetraazaperopyrene derivative are corrected, obtaining charge–carrier mobilities of up to five times higher than the as‐measured values. The direct visualization of the electric functionality of the organic thin‐films facilitates a unique quantification of the impact of morphological defects and provides a solid benchmark to estimate the potential for further improvement of device performance.
The effective current paths in an organic thin‐film transistor are visualized using dynamic surface potential in‐situ generated by ultra‐low voltage scanning electron microscopy. Nano‐ to micro‐scaled morphological defects blocking charge flow between contacts are recognized and thus, the as‐measured charge–carrier mobilities are corrected.
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