"One woman's brave journey to take action against her genetic predisposition to cancer. After a routine pap smear in 2009, Angela Schmidt Fishbaugh discovered that she had tested positive for BRCA1, a genetic trait that predisposed her to breast and ovarian cancer. After her initial shock-and subsequent to consulting with medical professionals, friends, and family-the proactive mother and teacher embarked on a mission to nip the issue at the bud. Written with unbridled candor and lively prose, Angela's Decision follows Angela Schmidt Fishbaugh's yearlong journey through a myriad of clinics, hospitals, and numerous operations. It is a story of struggle and trial, highlighting the challenges both she and her family faced in her crusade against her genetic condition, and the great courage she showed in ensuring the mistakes of her parents did not become her own."- "Written with unbridled candor and lively prose, Angela's Decision follows Angela's yearlong journey through a myriad of clinics, hospitals, and numerous operations. It is a story of struggle and trial, highlighting the challenges both she and her family faced in her crusade against her genetic predisposition to cancer, and the great courage she showed in ensuring that the mistakes of her parents did not become her own"-
Most economic models are based on the self-interest hypothesis that assumes that material self-interest exclusively motivates all people. Experimental economists have gathered overwhelming evidence in recent years, however, that systematically refutes the self-interest hypothesis, suggesting that concerns for altruism, fairness, and reciprocity strongly motivate many people. Moreover, several theoretical papers demonstrate that the observed phenomena can be explained in a rigorous and tractable manner. These theories then induced a first wave of experimental research which offered exciting insights into both the nature of preferences and the relative performance of competing fairness theories. The purpose of this chapter is to review these developments, to point out open questions, and to suggest avenues for future research. We also discuss recent neuroeconomic evidence that is consistent with the view that many people have a taste for mutual cooperation and the punishment of norm violators. We further illustrate the powerful impact of fairness concerns on cooperation, competition, incentives, and contract design.
Background:Tinnitus can be defined as the perception of an auditory sensation, perceivable without the presence of an external sound.
Purpose:
The aim of this article is to systematically review the peer-reviewed literature on treatment approaches for tinnitus based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and to provide a historical overview of developments within these approaches.
Research Design:
Experimental studies, (randomized) trials, follow-up assessments, and reviews assessing educational, counseling, psychological, and CBT treatment approaches were identified as a result of an electronic database metasearch.
Results:
A total of 31 (of the initial 75 studies) were included in the review. Results confirm that CBT treatment for tinnitus management is the most evidence-based treatment option so far. Though studied protocols are diverse and are usually a combination of different treatment elements, and tinnitus diagnostics and outcome assessments vary over investigations, a common ground of therapeutic elements was established, and evidence was found to be robust enough to guide clinical practice.
Conclusions:
Treatment strategy might best be CBT-based, moving toward a more multidisciplinary approach. There is room for the involvement of different disciplines, using a stepped-care approach. This may provide brief and effective treatment for a larger group of tinnitus patients, and additional treatment steps can be provided for those suffering on a more severe level.
The classical texts of Christianity and Zen Buddhism contain resources with potent appeal to contemporary spirituality. The 'apophatic', or 'negative', may offer a means to integrate the conservation of traditional religious practices and beliefs with an openness to experience beyond the limits of doctrine and of rational thought. Here, J.P. Williams argues for a new understanding of what is meant by apophatic theology. He demonstrates how an apophatic spirituality might inform personal and communal spiritual development, sketching out the contribution it can offer to the modern debate on theology and postmodernism, entropy, and interfaith dialogue, while developing an active theological commitment to humanity.
This paper reviews retrospective, prospective, and case research on workplace applications of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation technique for developing consciousness and human potential. The distinctive psychophysiological state of restful alertness produced by the Transcendental Meditation technique appears to improve employee health, well-being, job satisfaction, efficiency and productivity, in turn influencing organizational climate, absenteeism, and financial performance.
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You can't understand climate change in pieces, says climate scientist Gavin Schmidt. It's the whole, or it's nothing. In this illuminating talk, he explains how he studies the big picture of climate change with mesmerizing models that illustrate the endlessly complex interactions of small-scale environmental events.
You can't understand climate change in pieces, says climate scientist Gavin Schmidt. It's the whole, or it's nothing. In this illuminating talk, he explains how he studies the big picture of climate change with mesmerizing models that illustrate the endlessly complex interactions of small-scale environmental events.
<p>The empowerment ritual is sometimes called the indispensable door to Vajrayana Buddhism. It activates our natural right to an enlightened rule over our life and spiritual practice. The clearly, comprehensible 'Empowerment' contains a wealth of instructions on all the key points of Buddhist training, particularly the path of liberation of Mahamudra and Dzogchen.</p>
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Recently, there has been a lot of enthusiasm for mindfulness practice and its use in healthcare, businesses and schools. An increasing number of studies give us ground for cautious optimism about the potential of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) to improve people's lives across a number of dimensions. This paper identifies and addresses some of the main ethical and political questions for larger-scale MBIs. First, how far are MBIs compatible with liberal neutrality given the great diversity of lifestyles and conceptions of the good characteristic of modern societies? It will be argued that the potential benefits of contemporary secular mindfulness practice are indeed of a sufficiently primary or all-purpose nature to qualify as suitable goals of liberal public policy. Second, what challenges are brought up if mindfulness is used in contexts and applications—such as military settings—whose goals seem incompatible with the ethical and soteriological views of traditional mindfulness practice? It will be argued that, given concerns regarding liberal neutrality and reasonable disagreement about ethics, MBIs should avoid strong ethical commitments. Therefore, it should, in principle, be applicable in contexts of controversial moral value. Finally, drawing on recent discussions within the mindfulness community, it is argued that we should not overstate the case for mindfulness and not crowd out discussion of organisational and social determinants of stress, lowered well-being, and mental illness and the collective measures necessary to address them.
<p>The quantitative evidence of human impacts on the Earth System has produced new calls for planetary stewardship. At the same time, numerous scholars reject modern social sciences by claiming that the Anthropocene fundamentally changes the human condition. However, we cannot simply dismiss all previous forms of cultural learning or transmission. Instead, this paper examines ethics in the Anthropocene, and specifically what it implies for: (1) reassessing our normative systems in view of human impacts on the Earth System; (2) identifying novel ethical problems in the Anthropocene; and (3) repositioning traditional issues concerning fairness and environmental ethics. It concludes by situating ethics within the challenge of connecting multiple social worlds to a shared view of human and Earth histories and calls for renewed engagement with ethics.</p>
The quantitative evidence of human impacts on the Earth System has produced new calls for planetary stewardship. At the same time, numerous scholars reject modern social sciences by claiming that the Anthropocene fundamentally changes the human condition. However, we cannot simply dismiss all previous forms of cultural learning or transmission. Instead, this paper examines ethics in the Anthropocene, and specifically what it implies for: (1) reassessing our normative systems in view of human impacts on the Earth System; (2) identifying novel ethical problems in the Anthropocene; and (3) repositioning traditional issues concerning fairness and environmental ethics. It concludes by situating ethics within the challenge of connecting multiple social worlds to a shared view of human and Earth histories and calls for renewed engagement with ethics.
OBJECTIVE:To assess whether a self-directed, computer-guided meditation training program is useful for stress reduction in hospital nurses.
DESIGN:
We prospectively evaluated participants before and after a month-long meditation program. The meditation program consisted of 15 computer sessions that used biofeedback to reinforce training. Participants were instructed to practice the intervention for 30 minutes per session, four times a week, for four weeks. Visual analogue scales were used to measure stress, anxiety, and quality of life (assessments were performed using Linear Analogue Self-Assessment [LASA], State Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI], and Short-Form 36 [SF-36] questionnaires). Differences in scores from baseline to the study's end were compared using the paired t test.
RESULTS:
Eleven registered nurses not previously engaged in meditation were enrolled; eight completed the study. Intent-to-treat analysis showed significant improvement in stress management, as measured by SF-36 vitality subscale (P = .04), STAI (P = .03), LASA stress (P = .01), and LASA anxiety (P = .01). Nurses were highly satisfied with the meditation program, rating it 8.6 out of 10.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results of this pilot study suggest the feasibility and efficacy of a biofeedback-assisted, self-directed, meditation training program to help hospital nurses reduce their stress and anxiety. Optimal frequency of use of the program, as well as the duration of effects, should be addressed in future studies.
Human cooperation is a key driving force behind the evolutionary success of our hominin lineage. At the proximate level, biologists and social scientists have identified other-regarding preferences – such as fairness based on egalitarian motives, and altruism – as likely candidates for fostering large-scale cooperation. A critical question concerns the ontogenetic origins of these constituents of cooperative behavior, as well as whether they emerge independently or in an interrelated fashion. The answer to this question will shed light on the interdisciplinary debate regarding the significance of such preferences for explaining how humans become such cooperative beings. We investigated 15-month-old infants' sensitivity to fairness, and their altruistic behavior, assessed via infants' reactions to a third-party resource distribution task, and via a sharing task. Our results challenge current models of the development of fairness and altruism in two ways. First, in contrast to past work suggesting that fairness and altruism may not emerge until early to mid-childhood, 15-month-old infants are sensitive to fairness and can engage in altruistic sharing. Second, infants' degree of sensitivity to fairness as a third-party observer was related to whether they shared toys altruistically or selfishly, indicating that moral evaluations and prosocial behavior are heavily interconnected from early in development. Our results present the first evidence that the roots of a basic sense of fairness and altruism can be found in infancy, and that these other-regarding preferences develop in a parallel and interwoven fashion. These findings support arguments for an evolutionary basis – most likely in dialectical manner including both biological and cultural mechanisms – of human egalitarianism given the rapidly developing nature of other-regarding preferences and their role in the evolution of human-specific forms of cooperation. Future work of this kind will help determine to what extent uniquely human sociality and morality depend on other-regarding preferences emerging early in life.
Mindfulness, a concept originally derived from Buddhist psychology, is essential for some well-known clinical interventions. Therefore an instrument for measuring mindfulness is useful. We report here on two studies constructing and validating the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) including a short form. A preliminary questionnaire was constructed through expert interviews and extensive literature analysis and tested in 115 subjects attending mindfulness meditation retreats. This psychometrically sound 30-item scale with an internal consistency of Cronbach alpha = .93 was able to significantly demonstrate the increase in mindfulness after the retreat and to discriminate between experienced and novice meditators. In a second study we broadened the scope of the concept to 86 subjects without meditation experience, 117 subjects with clinical problems, and 54 participants from retreats. Reducing the scale to a short form with 14 items resulted in a semantically robust and psychometrically stable (alpha = .86) form. Correlation with other relevant constructs (self-awareness, dissociation, global severity index, meditation experience in years) was significant in the medium to low range of correlations and lends construct validity to the scale. Principal Component Analysis suggests one common factor. This short scale is sensitive to change and can be used also with subjects without previous meditation experience.
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ObjectiveMindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a structured group program that employs mindfulness meditation to alleviate suffering associated with physical, psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. The program, nonreligious and nonesoteric, is based upon a systematic procedure to develop enhanced awareness of moment-to-moment experience of perceptible mental processes. The approach assumes that greater awareness will provide more veridical perception, reduce negative affect and improve vitality and coping. In the last two decades, a number of research reports appeared that seem to support many of these claims. We performed a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished studies of health-related studies related to MBSR.
Methods
Sixty-four empirical studies were found, but only 20 reports met criteria of acceptable quality or relevance to be included in the meta-analysis. Reports were excluded due to (1) insufficient information about interventions, (2) poor quantitative health evaluation, (3) inadequate statistical analysis, (4) mindfulness not being the central component of intervention, or (5) the setting of intervention or sample composition deviating too widely from the health-related MBSR program. Acceptable studies covered a wide spectrum of clinical populations (e.g., pain, cancer, heart disease, depression, and anxiety), as well as stressed nonclinical groups. Both controlled and observational investigations were included. Standardized measures of physical and mental well-being constituted the dependent variables of the analysis.
Results
Overall, both controlled and uncontrolled studies showed similar effect sizes of approximately 0.5 (P<.0001) with homogeneity of distribution.
Conclusion
Although derived from a relatively small number of studies, these results suggest that MBSR may help a broad range of individuals to cope with their clinical and nonclinical problems.
Objective: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a structured group program that employs mindfulness meditation to alleviate suffering associated with physical, psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. The program, nonreligious and nonesoteric, is based upon a systematic procedure to develop enhanced awareness of moment-to-moment experience of perceptible mental processes. The approach assumes that greater awareness will provide more veridical perception, reduce negative affect and improve vitality and coping. In the last two decades, a number of research reports appeared that seem to support many of these claims. We performed a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished studies of health-related studies related to MBSR. Methods: Sixty-four empirical studies were found, but only 20 reports met criteria of acceptable quality or relevance to be included in the meta-analysis. Reports were excluded due to (I) insufficient information about interventions, (2) poor quantitative health evaluation, (3) inadequate statistical analysis, (4) mindfulness not being the central component of intervention, or (5) the setting of intervention or sample composition deviating too widely from the health-related MBSR program. Acceptable studies covered a wide spectrum of clinical populations (e.g., pain, cancer, heart disease, depression, and anxiety), as well as stressed nonclinical groups. Both controlled and observational investigations were included. Standardized measures of physical and mental well-being constituted the dependent variables of the analysis. Results: Overall, both controlled and uncontrolled studies showed similar effect sizes of approximately 0.5 (P <.0001) with homogeneity of distribution. Conclusion: Although derived from a relatively small number of studies, these results suggest that MBSR may help a broad range of individuals to cope with their clinical and nonclinical problems.
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ObjectiveMindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) is a structured group programme that employs insight meditation to alleviate suffering associated with physical, psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. The programme, non‐religious and non‐esoteric, is based upon a systematic procedure to develop enhanced awareness of moment‐to‐moment experience of perceptible mental processes. The approach assumes that greater awareness will provide more veridical perception, reduce negative affect and improve vitality and coping. In the last two decades, a number of research reports have suggested support for these claims. We performed a comprehensive review and meta‐analysis of published and unpublished studies of health‐related studies related to MBSR.
Materials and methods
Seventy empirical studies were found, and 25 investigations met criteria of acceptable quality or relevance for inclusion in the meta‐analysis. Reports were excluded because of (1) insufficient information about interventions, (2) poor quantitative evaluation, (3) inadequate statistics, (4) mindfulness not being the central component, or (5) aspects of intervention or sample composition deviating from the health‐related MBSR programme. Acceptable studies covered a wide spectrum of clinical populations (e.g. pain, cancer, heart disease and anxiety) and stressed non‐clinical groups. Both controlled and observational investigations were included. Standardised measures of physical and mental well‐being constituted the dependent variables of the analysis.
Results
Overall, controlled and uncontrolled studies both showed effect sizes of about 0.5 (P < 0.05) with homogeneity of distribution.
Conclusion
Although derived from a relatively small number of studies, these results suggest that MBSR may help a broad range of individuals to cope with their clinical and nonclinical conditions.
<p>The authors perform a comprehensive meta-analysis based on an overview of 20 previous studies on mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a meditation technique widely practiced in clinical settings for the treatment of stress and a variety of other health related conditions. While many more than 20 studies have been conducted on MBSR, the authors limited their meta-analysis to only the select few which met specific criteria (as described in the abstract. See link to the URL lower on this page). Results show that MBSR seems to be effective for a wide variety of conditions both for long term and short term periods. (Zach Rowinski 2005-03-05)</p>
Background: A pilot study of an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on a sample of low back pain patients was conducted in order to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of the intervention as well as changes in an EEG pattern called thalamocortical dysrhythmia which is associated with chronic pain. Patients and Methods: 22 patients with chronic low back pain participated in an MBSR program. Effect sizes were measured for psychological functioning, pain severity, and quality of life. Furthermore, 4 parameters of the EEG power spectral density were assessed. Results: Medium size effect sizes were found for health-related quality of life (EQ-5D, VAS, d = 0.43, p = 0.02; SF-12, psychological functioning, d = 0.50, p = 0.05), health-related life satisfaction (questions on life satisfaction d = 0.69, p = 0.01), depression (HADS, d = 0.48, p = 0.04, Brief Symptom Inventory d = 0.41, p = 0.04), and affective pain perception (pain perception scale d = 0.50, p = 0.04). The most relevant pain severity measurements improved in the range of d = 0.45-0.75 (p = 0.01-0.24). EEG analyses revealed no differences between the pre- and post-intervention. Conclusion: MBSR is a feasible intervention for patients with low back pain. They benefit from medium size effects which are comparable to similar behavioral interventions. Randomized controlled trials are needed in order to determine the specificity of these benefits.
<p>The Mirror of Mindfulness is a presentation of the Tibetan Buddhist teachings on the endless cycles of experience, the four bardos - life, death, after-death, and rebirth. It is aimed at inspiring and helping the practitioner achieve liberation from deluded existence and awaken to complete enlightenment for the benefit of others.</p>
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Amyloid-beta peptide is central to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease, because it is neurotoxic—directly by inducing oxidant stress, and indirectly by activating microglia. A specific cell-surface acceptor site that could focus its effects on target cells has been postulated but not identified. Here we present evidence that the 'receptor for advanced glycation end products' (RAGE) is such a receptor, and that it mediates effects of the peptide on neurons and microglia. Increased expression of RAGE in Alzheimer's disease brain indicates that it is relevant to the pathogenesis of neuronal dysfunction and death.
Cognitive impairments are currently regarded as important determinants of functional domains and are promising treatment goals in schizophrenia. Nevertheless, the exact nature of the interdependent relationship between neurocognition and social cognition as well as the relative contribution of each of these factors to adequate functioning remains unclear. The purpose of this article is to systematically review the findings and methodology of studies that have investigated social cognition as a mediator variable between neurocognitive performance and functional outcome in schizophrenia. Moreover, we carried out a study to evaluate this mediation hypothesis by the means of structural equation modeling in a large sample of 148 schizophrenia patients. The review comprised 15 studies. All but one study provided evidence for the mediating role of social cognition both in cross-sectional and in longitudinal designs. Other variables like motivation and social competence additionally mediated the relationship between social cognition and functional outcome. The mean effect size of the indirect effect was 0.20. However, social cognitive domains were differentially effective mediators. On average, 25% of the variance in functional outcome could be explained in the mediation model. The results of our own statistical analysis are in line with these conclusions: Social cognition mediated a significant indirect relationship between neurocognition and functional outcome. These results suggest that research should focus on differential mediation pathways. Future studies should also consider the interaction with other prognostic factors, additional mediators, and moderators in order to increase the predictive power and to target those factors relevant for optimizing therapy effects.
The Anthropocene presents novel challenges for environmental management. This paper considers the challenges that the Anthropocene poses for social learning techniques in adaptive management. It situates these challenges with respect to how anthropogenic forcing on the Earth system affects the conditions required for: (1) The cooperative exercises of social learning; (2) The techniques used for assessing the fit of institutions to social-ecological systems; and, (3) The strategies employed for identifying management targets that are transformed by human action. In view of these challenges, the paper then examines how the practices of shadow networks may provide paths for incorporating a broader, more robust suite of social learning practices in the Anthropocene. The paper emphasizes how novel challenges in the Anthropocene demand increased attention to ethical practices, particularly those that establish center-periphery relationships between social learning communities and shadow networks.
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