A Qualitative Analysis of Experiential Challenges Associated with Meditation Practice

Although empirical interest in meditation has flourished in recent years, few studies have addressed possible downsides of meditation practice, particularly in community populations. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 male meditators in London, UK, recruited using principles of maximum variation sampling, and analysed using a modified constant comparison approach. Having originally set out simply to inquire about the impact of various meditation practices (including but not limited to mindfulness) on men’s wellbeing, we uncovered psychological challenges associated with its practice. While meditation was generally reported to be conducive to wellbeing, substantial difficulties accounted for approximately one quarter of the interview data. Our paper focuses specifically on these issues in order to alert health professionals to potential challenges associated with meditation. Four main problems of increasing severity were uncovered: Meditation was a difficult skill to learn and practise; participants encountered troubling thoughts and feelings which were hard to manage; meditation reportedly exacerbated mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety; and in a few cases, meditation was associated with psychotic episodes. Our paper raises important issues around safeguarding those who practise meditation, both within therapeutic settings and in the community

The deuteron: structure and form factors

A brief review of the history of the discovery of the deuteron in provided. The current status of both experiment and theory for the elastic electron scattering is then presented.Comment: 80 pages, 33 figures, submited to Advances in Nuclear Physic

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

The International Human Epigenome Consortium: A Blueprint for Scientific Collaboration and Discovery

The International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) coordinates the generation of a catalog of high-resolution reference epigenomes of major primary human cell types. The studies now presented (see the Cell Press IHEC web portal at http://www.cell.com/consortium/IHEC) highlight the coordinated achievements of IHEC teams to gather and interpret comprehensive epigenomic datasets to gain insights in the epigenetic control of cell states relevant for human health and disease

Asymmetric Bidirectional Transcription from the FSHD-Causing D4Z4 Array Modulates DUX4 Production

Facioscapulohumeral Disease (FSHD) is a dominantly inherited progressive myopathy associated with aberrant production of the transcription factor, Double Homeobox Protein 4 (DUX4). The expression of DUX4 depends on an open chromatin conformation of the D4Z4 macrosatellite array and a specific haplotype on chromosome 4. Even when these requirements are met, DUX4 transcripts and protein are only detectable in a subset of cells indicating that additional constraints govern DUX4 production. Since the direction of transcription, along with the production of non-coding antisense transcripts is an important regulatory feature of other macrosatellite repeats, we developed constructs that contain the non-coding region of a single D4Z4 unit flanked by genes that report transcriptional activity in the sense and antisense directions. We found that D4Z4 contains two promoters that initiate sense and antisense transcription within the array, and that antisense transcription predominates. Transcriptional start sites for the antisense transcripts, as well as D4Z4 regions that regulate the balance of sense and antisense transcripts were identified. We show that the choice of transcriptional direction is reversible but not mutually exclusive, since sense and antisense reporter activity was often present in the same cell and simultaneously upregulated during myotube formation. Similarly, levels of endogenous sense and antisense D4Z4 transcripts were upregulated in FSHD myotubes. These studies offer insight into the autonomous distribution of muscle weakness that is characteristic of FSHD

Nationwide Investigation of the Pyrethroid Susceptibility of Mosquito Larvae Collected from Used Tires in Vietnam

Pyrethroid resistance is envisioned to be a major problem for the vector control program since, at present, there are no suitable chemical substitutes for pyrethroids. Cross-resistance to knockdown agents, which are mainly used in mosquito coils and related products as spatial repellents, is the most serious concern. Since cross-resistance is a global phenomenon, we have started to monitor the distribution of mosquito resistance to pyrethroids. The first pilot study was carried out in Vietnam. We periodically drove along the national road from the north end to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and collected mosquito larvae from used tires. Simplified susceptibility tests were performed using the fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus. Compared with the other species, Ae. aegypti demonstrated the most prominent reduction in susceptibility. For Ae. aegypti, significant increases in the susceptibility indices with a decrease in the latitude of collection points were observed, indicating that the susceptibility of Ae. aegypti against d-allethrin was lower in the southern part, including mountainous areas, as compared to that in the northern part of Vietnam. There was a significant correlation between the susceptibility indices in Ae. aegypti and the sum of annual pyrethroid use for malaria control (1998–2002). This might explain that the use of pyrethroids as residual treatment inside houses and pyrethroid-impregnated bed nets for malaria control is attributable to low pyrethroid susceptibility in Ae. aegypti. Such insecticide treatment appeared to have been intensively administered in the interior and along the periphery of human habitation areas where, incidentally, the breeding and resting sites of Ae. aegypti are located. This might account for the strong selection pressure toward Ae. aegypti and not Ae. albopictus

Randomised controlled trial of welfare rights advice accessed via primary health care: pilot study [ISRCTN61522618]

BACKGROUND: Little research has directly evaluated the impact of increasing financial or material resources on health. One way of assessing this lies with assisting people to obtain full welfare benefit entitlements. In 2000–1, 2.3 million pensioners were living in poverty in the UK and estimates suggest that around one million do not claim the financial support to which they are entitled. The effectiveness of welfare rights advice services delivered via primary health care to promote health and reduce health inequalities is unknown. METHODS: The main objectives of this study were to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a randomised controlled trial of welfare rights advice in a community setting and identify appropriate health and social outcome measures in order to plan a definitive trial. This was a single blind, community-based, pilot randomised controlled trial. 126 men and women aged 60 years and over, recruited from 4 general practices in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, participated. The intervention comprised a structured welfare rights assessment followed by active assistance with welfare benefit claims over the following 24 months. The control group received the intervention after a six month delay. A range of socio-economic, health, behavioural and psycho-social outcomes were measured. RESULTS: 126 out of 400 people invited agreed to participate and 109 were followed up at 24 months. Both the intervention and research procedures were feasible and acceptable to participants and professionals involved. 68 (58%) of all participants received a welfare benefit award (31 financial, 16 non-financial and 21 both). Median time to receipt of benefits from initial assessment was 14 (range 1 to 78) weeks and median financial award was £55 (€81, $98) per household per week. There was little evidence of health-related differences between groups or over time, which could be due to limitations of the study design. CONCLUSION: Modification of the study design, including selection of study participants, timing of interventions and length of follow up are recommended for a definitive trial. More appropriate health and psycho-social outcome measures relevant to the elderly population should be sought, particularly focussing on those issues highlighted in the accompanying qualitative study

The effect of parental rearing conditions on offspring life history in Anopheles stephensi

Background The environmental conditions experienced by parents are increasingly recognized to impact the success of offspring. Little is known on the presence of such parental effects in Anopheles. If present, parental effects could influence mosquito breeding programmes, some malaria control measures and have epidemiological and evolutionary consequences. Methods The presence of parental effects on offspring emergence time, size, survival, blood meal size and fecundity in laboratory reared An. stephensi were tested. Results Parental rearing conditions did not influence the time taken for offspring to emerge, or their size or survival as adults. However, parental effects were influential in determining the fecundity of daughters. Counter-intuitively, daughters of parents reared in low food conditions produced larger egg clutches than daughters of parents reared in high food conditions. Offspring reared in low food conditions took larger blood meals if their parents had also experienced a low food environment. Conclusion So far as we are aware, this is the first evidence of parental effects on progeny in Anophele