What are the benefits of mindfulness? A practice review of psychotherapy-related research.

Research suggests that mindfulness practices offer psychotherapists a way to positively affect aspects of therapy that account for successful treatment. This paper provides psychotherapists with a synthesis of the empirically supported advantages of mindfulness. Definitions of mindfulness and evidence-based interpersonal, affective, and intrapersonal benefits of mindfulness are presented. Research on therapists who meditate and client outcomes of therapists who meditate are reviewed. Implications for practice, research, and training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of S-residues in grains and grain fractions fumigated with S-labelled carbonyl sulfide

³⁵S-labelled carbonyl sulfide (CO³⁵S) was used to measure the amount of sorbed ³⁵S residues and converted ³⁵S residues in grains and grain fractions after fumigation with CO³⁵S. Hard wheat, soft wheat, paddy rice, brown rice, polished rice, sorghum, maize, canola, barley, oats and peas were exposed for 4 days to 50 mg L⁻¹ of CO³⁵S with a total radioactivity of 20 mCi. After exposure, the samples were aired. The levels of ³⁵S residues varied with extraction solvent, e.g. 0.003–0.02 mg (COS equivalents) kg⁻¹ (grain) in chloroform extractions and 0.09–0.38 mg kg⁻¹ in water extractions. More than 90% of ³⁵S (COS equivalents) residues were in the water extractions. The total radioactivity determined by scanning radiation images (fluorescent image) of extractions and sectioned commodities ranged from 0.1 to 0.4 mg kg⁻¹. The radiation image shows that more than 90% of ³⁵S residues were located or distributed in the embryo, testa, pericarp and husk, and that the ³⁵S was still slowly desorbing from grains after 2 days aeration.     

Acknowledging and adapting to dietetic students' changing needs

PURPOSE: Various societal influences have shaped the way dietetic students view and react to current educational situations. Students' perspectives were sought on conditions that caused stress in the educational environment, what they thought educators did not understand about them, and changes their faculty or preceptors had made to address their needs. METHODS: Third- and fourth-year university students, interns in their final rotations, and master's degree students completed a questionnaire (n=284). RESULTS: Several stressors were identified: thinking about getting a job as a dietitian, lack of finances or debt, competing for internship positions, the ability to meet program demands, and envisioning the area in which they would specialize. The qualitative analysis highlighted gaps in understanding between students and educators. Gaps concerned student finances, the evaluation process, inflexible undergraduate and internship structures, competition among students, ineffective communication, and finding a balance between academics and other competing interests. CONCLUSIONS: A conflict exists between what students expect as part of their educational experience and what they actually experience. Students appreciated educators who engaged them in the learning process and recognized the realities of their lives.     

Caregiver beliefs and dysphoric affect directed to difficult children.

It was predicted that affective responses of caregivers occur as an interactive function of child characteristics and adult attributions. Mothers in counseling at a child-abuse agency identified one of their children as relatively difficult (and more subject to discipline) and a second child as relatively easy; objective observations revealed that difficult children were more socially unresponsive and acted more inappropriately than did their easier siblings. Sibling pairs were videotaped interacting with unrelated mothers from the general community. Facial and vocal affect directed to difficult children was more dysphoric than that directed to their siblings—in particular among women who attributed relatively high control to children and low control to adults over unsuccessful caregiving. A similar relation between affect and attributions was found for related mothers. Adults with low-control attributions were interpreted as having a low threshold of affective reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characterisation of surface roughness and sediment texture of intertidal flats using ERS SAR imagery

High resolution, synoptic information on sediment characteristics of intertidal flats is required for coastal management, e.g., for habitat mapping and dredging studies. This study aims to derive such information from space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Estimates of the backscattering coefficient were extracted from ERS-1 SAR and ERS-2 SAR PRI imagery of four intertidal flats in the Westerschelde (southwest Netherlands). They were related to field measurements of surface roughness, moisture conditions and sediment texture. The field data were also used as input to the backscattering model IEM. The data and model predictions show that on the intertidal flats, backscattering depends mainly on vertical surface roughness, with rougher surfaces associated with more backscattering. Surface roughness, mainly determined by the ripple structure of the bed, decreased with the amount of mud in the sediment. This resulted in a significant negative correlation between backscattering and mud content, and a significant positive correlation between backscattering and median grain-size of the sediment. Sediment texture was also correlated with the volumetric moisture content of the sediment, with finer sediments being associated with higher moisture contents. However, moisture contents were generally high, and therefore the backscatter signal was not sensitive to differences in moisture content. The relationships allowed the development of regression models for the prediction of surface characteristics from SAR imagery, from which maps of, for example, mud content, have been derived.     

Anxiety and hostility to an "outsider," as moderated by low perceived power.

The hostile and anxious responses of young adults to an immigrant (vs. native-born) stranger were examined as a function of participants' self-perceived power. In Studies 1 and 2, individuals with low perceived social power (males, in particular) showed high anxiety toward an "outsider" but more so if that individual was an immigrant (and thus posed an ambiguous threat to their position in the hierarchy). In Study 3, young adult males competed on a reaction time test with an immigrant or native-born rival. With immigrant rivals, males with low perceived social power showed relatively high aggression toward an immigrant rival and derogation of the rival's formidability; however, they showed a more deferential pattern with native-born rivals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of mastic resin and its essential oil on the growth of proteolytic Clostridium botulinum

Studies were done to determine the effect of mastic resin and its essential oil, alone and in conjunction with ethanol, on the growth of proteolytic strains of Clostridium botulinum in media, and on neurotoxin production in challenge studies with English-style crumpets. Preliminary studies, using a spot-on-the-lawn method, indicated that high levels of mastic resin in ethanol ( approximately 8% w/w) were required for complete inhibition of all strains of C. botulinum tested, but mastic resin in ethanol had a greater anti-botulinal effect than ethanol alone. However, only low levels of mastic oil ( approximately 0.3% v/v) were required for inhibition of proteolytic strains of C. botulinum. Both studies showed a strain specific inhibition, with C. botulinum type A strains being more sensitive to mastic resin and its essential oil than type B strains. However, mastic resin in ethanol proved to be more effective when used as a vapor phase inhibitor applied to cotton pads and placed inside inoculated plates than when added directly to media. While both mastic resin and its essential oil inhibited the growth of proteolytic strains of C. botulinum in vitro, they failed to inhibit neurotoxin production in challenge studies with C. botulinum in English-style crumpets.