One of society’s greatest challenges is to sustain natural resources while promoting economic growth and quality of life. In the face of this challenge, society must measure the effectiveness of programs established to safeguard the environment. The impetus for demonstrating positive results from government-sponsored research and regulation in the United States comes from Congress (General Accountability Office; GAO) and the Executive Branch (Office of Management and Budget; OMB). The message is: regulatory and research programs must demonstrate outcomes that justify their costs. Although the concept is simple, it is a complex problem to demonstrate that environmental research, policies, and regulations cause measurable changes in environmental quality. Even where changes in environmental quality can be tracked reliably, the connections between government actions and environmental outcomes seldom are direct or straightforward. In this article, we describe emerging efforts (with emphasis on the role of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; EPA) to frame and measure environmental outcomes in terms of ecosystem services and values—societally and ecologically meaningful metrics for gauging how well we manage environmental resources. As examples of accounting for outcomes and values, we present a novel, low-cost method for determining relative values of multiple ecosystem services, and describe emerging research on indicators of human well-being.
<p>BACKGROUND: In 2012, yoga was practiced by 20 million Americans, of whom 82% were women. A recent literature review on prenatal yoga noted a reduction in some pregnancy complications (ie, preterm birth, lumbar pain, and growth restriction) in those who practiced yoga; to date, there is no evidence on fetal response after yoga. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to characterize the acute changes in maternal and fetal response to prenatal yoga exercises using common standardized tests to assess the well-being of the maternal-fetal unit. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a single, blinded, randomized controlled trial. Uncomplicated pregnancies between 28 0/7 and 36 6/7 weeks with a nonanomalous singleton fetus of women who did not smoke, use narcotics, or have prior experience with yoga were included. A computer-generated simple randomization sequence with a 1:1 allocation ratio was used to randomize participants into the yoga or control group. Women in the yoga group participated in a 1-time, 1 hour yoga class with a certified instructor who taught a predetermined yoga sequence. In the control group, each participant attended a 1-time, 1 hour PowerPoint presentation by an obstetrician on American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommendations for exercise, nutrition, and obesity in pregnancy. All participants underwent pre- and postintervention testing, which consisted of umbilical and uterine artery Doppler ultrasound, nonstress testing, a biophysical profile, maternal blood pressure, and maternal heart rate. A board-certified maternal-fetal medicine specialist, at a different tertiary center, interpreted all nonstress tests and biophysical profile data and was blinded to group assignment and pre- or postintervention testing. The primary outcome was a change in umbilical artery Doppler systolic to diastolic ratio. Sample size calculations indicated 19 women per group would be sufficient to detect this difference in Doppler indices (alpha, 0.05; power, 80%). Data were analyzed using a repeated-measures analysis of variance, a chi(2), and a Fisher exact test. A value of P < .05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Of the 52 women randomized, 46 (88%) completed the study. There was no clinically significant change in umbilical artery systolic to diastolic ratio (P = .34), pulsatility index (P = .53), or resistance index (P = .66) between the 2 groups before and after the intervention. Fetal and maternal heart rate, maternal blood pressure, and uterine artery Dopplers remained unchanged over time. When umbilical artery indices were individually compared with gestational age references, there was no difference between those who improved or worsened between the groups. CONCLUSION: There was no significant change in fetal blood flow acutely after performing yoga for the first time in pregnancy. Yoga can be recommended for low-risk women to begin during pregnancy.</p>
<p>URL: <a href="https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(15)02580-6/fulltext" target="_blank">https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(15)02580-6/fulltext</a></p>
<p>Twenty-six younger (ages 18–36 years) and 19 older (ages 60–88 years) healthy right-handed men and women were tested for interhemispheric transfer by using visual evoked potentials lo laterally presented checkerboards. Interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) was estimated by subtracting latencies for both P100 and N160 peaks of the waveform contralateral to the stimulus from the waveform ipsilateral to the stimulus for homologous sites. The quality of interhemispheric transfer was estimated by comparing peak-to-peak amplitudes for homologous sites. IHTT did not change across age, but there was a suppression of the waveform over the indirectly stimulated hemisphere in the older participants. The significance of this finding for age-related changes in functions mediated by the corpus callosum is discussed.</p>
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The amygdalae are important, if not critical, brain regions for many affective, attentional and memorial processes, and dysfunction of the amygdalae has been a consistent finding in the study of clinical depression. Theoretical models of the functional neuroanatomy of both normal and psychopathological affective processes which posit cortical hemispheric specialization of functions have been supported by both lesion and functional neuroimaging studies in humans. Results from human neuroimaging studies in support of amygdalar hemispheric specialization are inconsistent. However, recent results from human lesion studies are consistent with hemispheric specialization. An important, yet largely ignored, feature of the amygdalae in the primate brain--derived from both neuroanatomical and electrophysiological data--is that there are virtually no direct interhemispheric connections via the anterior commissure (AC). This feature stands in stark contrast to that of the rodent brain wherein virtually all amygdalar nuclei have direct interhemispheric connections. We propose this feature of the primate brain, in particular the human brain, is a result of influences from frontocortical hemispheric specialization which have developed over the course of primate brain evolution. Results consistent with this notion were obtained by examining the nature of human amygdalar interhemispheric connectivity using both functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). We found modest evidence of amygdalar interhemispheric functional connectivity in the non-depressed brain, whereas there was strong evidence of functional connectivity in the depressed brain. We interpret and discuss the nature of this connectivity in the depressed brain in the context of dysfunctional frontocortical-amygdalar interactions which accompany clinical depression.
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<p>Contains a Tibetan vocabulary which refers the reader to discussions of words found in the text. (Michael Walter and Manfred Taube 2006-05-15, revised by Bill McGrath 2008-01-03)</p>
Over the past century, the total material wealth of humanity has been enhanced. However, in the twenty-first century, we face scarcity in critical resources, the degradation of ecosystem services, and the erosion of the planet’s capability to absorb our wastes. Equity issues remain stubbornly difficult to solve. This situation is novel in its speed, its global scale and its threat to the resilience of the Earth System. The advent of the Anthropence, the time interval in which human activities now rival global geophysical processes, suggests that we need to fundamentally alter our relationship with the planet we inhabit. Many approaches could be adopted, ranging from geo-engineering solutions that purposefully manipulate parts of the Earth System to becoming active stewards of our own life support system. The Anthropocene is a reminder that the Holocene, during which complex human societies have developed, has been a stable, accommodating environment and is the only state of the Earth System that we know for sure can support contemporary society. The need to achieve effective planetary stewardship is urgent. As we go further into the Anthropocene, we risk driving the Earth System onto a trajectory toward more hostile states from which we cannot easily return.
The term Anthropocene, proposed and increasingly employed to denote the current interval of anthropogenic global environ- mental change, may be discussed on stratigraphic grounds. A case can be made for its consideration as a formal epoch in that, since the start of the Industrial Revolution, Earth has endured changes sufficient to leave a global stratigraphic signature dis- tinct from that of the Holocene or of previous Pleistocene inter- glacial phases, encompassing novel biotic, sedimentary, and geochemical change. These changes, although likely only in their initial phases, are sufficiently distinct and robustly estab- lished for suggestions of a Holocene-Anthropocene bound- ary in the recent historical past to be geologically reasonable. The boundary may be defined either via Global Stratigraphic Section and Point ("golden spike") locations or by adopting a numerical date. Formal adoption of this term in the near future will largely depend on its utility, particularly to earth scientists working on late Holocene successions. This datum, from the perspective of the far future, will most probably approximate a distinctive stratigraphic boundary.
BackgroundAsthma is a chronic inflammatory disease noteworthy for its vulnerability to stress and emotion-induced symptom intensification. The fact that psychological stress and mood and anxiety disorders appear to increase expression of asthma symptoms suggests that neural signaling between the brain and lung at least partially modulates the inflammatory response and lung function. However, the precise nature of the neural pathways implicated in modulating asthma symptoms is unknown. Moreover, the extent to which variations in neural signaling predict different phenotypes of disease expression has not been studied.Methods and ResultsWe used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neural signals in response to asthma-specific emotional cues, following allergen exposure, in asthmatics with a dual response to allergen challenge (significant inflammation), asthmatics with only an immediate response (minimal inflammation), and healthy controls. The anterior insular cortex was differentially activated by asthma-relevant cues, compared to general negative cues, during the development of the late phase of the dual response in asthmatics. Moreover, the degree of this differential activation predicted changes in airway inflammation.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that neurophenotypes for asthma may be identifiable by neural reactivity of brain circuits known to be involved in processing emotional information. Those with greater activation in the anterior insula, in response to asthma-relevant psychological stimuli, exhibit greater inflammatory signals in the lung and increased severity of disease and may reflect a subset of asthmatics most vulnerable to the development of psychopathology. This approach offers an entirely new target for potential therapeutic intervention in asthma.
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This literature review focuses on the use of Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness, and Brief Motivational Interventions (BMI) during individual evidence-based therapeutic interventions with college students engaging in high-risk drinking. A review of family history, drinking motives, and the collegiate environment is also examined for empirical and theoretical etiology of college student alcohol abuse.
<p>There truly is an art to being here in this world, and like any art, it can be mastered.In this elegant, practical book, Angel Kyodo Williams combines the universal wisdom of Buddhism with an inspirational call for self-acceptance and community empowerment. Written by a woman who grew up facing the challenges that confront African-Americans every day, Being Black teaches us how a "warrior spirit" of truth and responsibility can be developed into the foundation for real happiness and personal transformation. With her eloquent, hip, and honest perspective, Williams--a Zen priest, social activist, and entrepreneur--shares personal stories, time-tested teachings, and simple guidelines that invite readers of all faiths to step into the freedom of a life lived with fearlessness and grace.</p>
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Speaking about empathy between humans and animals requires a robust philosophy of nature. Such a philosophy can guide us in thinking more deeply about what it means to be human and how the human animal can better be connected to the broader animal world.
Biological systems are particularly prone to variation, and the authors argue that such variation must be regarded as important data in its own right. The authors describe a method in which individual differences are studied within the framework of a general theory of the population as a whole and illustrate how this method can be used to address three types of issues: the nature of the mechanisms that give rise to a specific ability, such as mental imagery; the role of psychological or biological mediators of environmental challenges, such as the biological bases for differences in dispositional mood; and the existence of processes that have nonadditive effects with behavioral and physiological variables, such as factors that modulate the response to stress and its effects on the immune response.
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Objective:Because evidence-based psychotherapies of 12 to 20 sessions can be perceived as too lengthy and time intensive for the treatment of depression in primary care, a number of studies have examined abbreviated psychotherapy protocols. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the efficacy of brief psychotherapy (i.e., < 8 sessions) for depression.
Methods:
We used combined literature searches in PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and an Internet-accessible database of clinical trials of psychotherapy to conduct two systematic searches: one for existing systematic reviews and another for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Included studies examined evidence-based psychotherapy(s) of eight or fewer sessions, focused on adults with depression, contained an acceptable control condition, were published in English, and used validated measures of depressive symptoms.
Results:
We retained 2 systematic reviews and 15 RCTs evaluating cognitive behavioral therapy, problem-solving therapy, and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. The systematic reviews found brief psychotherapies to be more efficacious than control, with effect sizes ranging from −0.33 to −0.25. Our meta-analysis found six to eight sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy to be more efficacious than control (ES −0.42, 95% CI −0.74 to −0.10, I2 = 56%). A sensitivity analysis controlled for statistical heterogeneity but showed smaller treatment effects (ES −0.24, 95% CI −0.42 to −0.06, I2 = 0%).
Conclusions:
Depression can be efficaciously treated with six to eight sessions of psychotherapy, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy and problem-solving therapy. Access to non-pharmacologic treatments for depression could be improved by training healthcare providers to deliver brief psychotherapies.
<p>The author argues that for understanding of Jirel cultural meanings, in-depth investigation of all aspects of their language is necessary. The article then surveys some Jirel vocabulary. Jirel is one of the languages included in the Sino-Tibetan language family. The article includes tables containing Jirel kin terms and their extensions, raksi and chang vocabulary, and Jirel household terms. (Rajeev Ranjan Singh 2006-10-12)</p>
This dissertation claims that the turn of the fourteenth century marks a previously unrecognized period of intellectual unification and standardization in the Tibetan medical tradition. Prior to this time, approaches to healing in Tibet were fragmented, variegated, and incommensurable--an intellectual environment in which lineages of tantric diviners and scholarly literati came to both influence and compete with the schools of clinical physicians. Careful engagement with recently published manuscripts reveals that centuries of translation, assimilation, and intellectual development culminated in the unification of these lineages in the seminal work of the Tibetan tradition, the Four Tantras, by the end of the thirteenth century. The Drangti family of physicians--having adopted the Four Tantras and its corpus of supplementary literature from the Yutok school--established a curriculum for their dissemination at Sakya monastery, redacting the Four Tantras as a scripture distinct from the Eighteen Partial Branches addenda. Primarily focusing on the literary contributions made by the Drangti family at the Sakya Medical House, the present dissertation demonstrates the process in which the Tibetan medical tradition transitioned from controversy, competition, and change, to a narratively unified set of theories and practices that came to be taught at Buddhist institutions throughout the Tibetan plateau. From the fourteenth century onward, sharing an established Buddhist origin, bodhisattva code of ethics, and monastic institutional center, the theories and practical instructions of the Tibetan medical tradition continued to be transmitted and diffused throughout the Buddhist networks of Asia, from the center of the Tibetan plateau to the periphery of the Mongolian steppe and beyond.
<p>Here is an accessible introduction to Buddhist thought, which takes readers completely unfamiliar with the subject as quickly as possible to an accurate appreciation and understanding of the main ideas, tracing their development from teh time of Buddha, and opening up the latest scholarly perspectives and controversies. by focusing on classical India (including modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) as well as areas of Central Asia and South-East Asia direcly influenced by India, this book provides the essential foundation for an appreciation of Buddhism as a whole.</p>
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This chapter elaborates the psychophysiological basis of a forensic assessment that helps in eliciting truth from a person during a forensic assessment interview (FAINT). The FAINT is set up as a scientific experiment where the only stimulus presented is the interviewer's question, and all extraneous stimuli are controlled. A FAINT utilizes relevant questions dealing with the crime, to pose the greatest threat to the guilty suspect because he will be forced to either confess to or lie about the matter at hand. Comparison questions designed to deal with earlier transgressions or peccadilloes are utilized to threaten the innocent suspect. Under these circumstances, when a suspect lies, emotional changes occur because of conditioning, conflict, or psychological set. This emotional imbalance causes subsequent physiological changes resulting in observable behaviors, the degree of which may be affected by various factors. These factors include the interviewee's perception of the interviewer's ability to detect deception, the interviewee's past experiences at deception, and the interviewee's perception of the seriousness of being caught. Through the use of relevant and comparison questions, and given the ability to observe and detect changes associated with sympathetic arousal, the trained interviewer can monitor the suspect's psychological set and solve the puzzle of truth or deception.
Individuals with chronic schizophrenia exhibit performance deficits on tasks of social cognition, particularly in the domains of emotion processing, theory of mind, social perception, and attributional style, and these impairments are uniquely associated with poor functional outcome. Researchers have begun to investigate the pattern and magnitude of social cognitive impairment among individuals early in the course of schizophrenia and in people considered to be at elevated risk for psychosis, such as clinical high-risk samples and unaffected relatives of probands. This chapter evaluates the emerging research literature on social cognition in the early phase of schizophrenia. For each of the four social cognitive domains noted above, we provide an overview of common assessment methods and review relevant research comparing first episode/recent-onset schizophrenia patients, clinical high-risk samples (i.e., putatively prodromal), and genetic high-risk (i.e., unaffected relatives) to matched healthy control subjects. Deficits in emotion processing, theory of mind, and social perception are clearly detectable in first-episode/recent-onset patients and are comparable in magnitude to those seen in chronically ill patients. Among clinical high-risk and unaffected relatives, the magnitude of impairment is more variable and, in general, appears to be smaller than impairments seen among those with established illness. Attributional style is the least studied social cognitive domain and consistent patterns have not yet been identified. The implications and limitations of existing studies, and important areas for further research, are discussed.
Paleoclimatology courses are growing, attracting a wide variety of students in earth and environmental sciences, geography, ecology, and related fields. Earth's Climate: Past and Future works as either a nonmajors introduction to Earth system science or climate change, or as a majors/graduate-level overview of the processes and techniques in climate science. Written from a multidisciplinary perspective by one of the field's preeminent researcher/instructors, the text summarizes the major lessons to be learned from 550 million years of climate changes, as a way of evaluating the climatological impact on and by humans in this century. The book also looks ahead to possible effects during the next several centuries of fossil fuel use.
Summer programs that experiment with combining media literacy and social-emotional learning can potentially affect students' academic performance. Based on a six-week program, working with rising eighth grade students in a low-income school district, this program allowed students to work on media projects while trying to develop stronger capacities of self-awareness, positive decision-making, and stronger relationship development. The article offers practitioners some insight on how to implement social and emotional learning into media literacy and media production classrooms.
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