Effects of Diaphragmatic Breathing and Guided Imagery on Heart Rate Variability, Interleukin-1 Beta, and Mood in Adult Women with Thyroid Diseases

Chronic diseases, specifically autoimmune disorders, take an enormous physical, psychological, and financial toll on patients, families, and the healthcare system. Mainstream biomedicine offers limited solutions outside of pharmacological interventions. Mind-Body Medicine (MBM) lifestyle intervention strategies offer low-cost, low-risk options to reducing stress and managing health. A review of relevant biomedical literature regarding effects of cumulative stress on psychological and physiological health was completed. To my knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the effects of relaxation strategies on immune function, mood, and heart rate variability in adult women diagnosed with thyroid diseases. This quasi-experimental study measured the effects of diaphragmatic breathing (DB) and guided imagery (GI) in a small convenience sample of 15 participants (DB, n = 7; GI, n = 8). Pre- and post-intervention data were collected on (a) heart rate variability, (b) mood using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and (c) immune response with salivary interleukin-1beta (IL-1β). Saliva samples were tested utilizing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Within-subject data from Wilcoxon signed rank tests showed both interventions significantly decreased negative mood (DB, p = .02; GI, p = .01). In contrast, only the DB group showed significant changes in HRV (SDNN, p = .02; RMSSD, p = .04; pNN50, p = .05; LF(n.u.), p = .04). Interestingly, the IL-1β results for both interventions showed an unexpected increase, with the GI group showing statistical significance (p = .05). Between-group analysis using the Mann-Whitney U test showed statistically significant change scores along with moderate effect sizes for HRV (SDNN, p = .04, r = –.54; LF(n.u.), p = .04, r = –.54; HF(n.u.), p = .04, r = –.54). This study provides important clinical implications for the field of Psychoneuroimmunology and lends support for integrative care by using lifestyle interventions to positively impact and optimize health, specifically for those diagnosed with thyroid diseases. Future research assessing the effects of relaxation interventions would elucidate the impact of these self-regulation techniques within this medical population. Specifically, studies with larger sample size and including salivary IL-1β would enhance the literature regarding this cytokine’s role in inflammation and the healing process

Dynamic configuration of user’s interface and server’s logics using client-server architecture

Šis darbs piedāvā vienu no iespējamiem klientservera lietojumprogrammu uzturēšanas problēmu risinājuma veidiem, kas balstās uz elastīgas sistēmas jēdzienu. Par elastīgu tiek uzskatīta sistēma, kas ļauj plaši konfigurēt dažādas sistēmas daļas – biznes-loģiku un lietotāja saskarni. Darba mērķis ir sistēmas prototipa izveidošana, kas realizē apskatīto pieeju. Tas dos iespēju veidot jaunas informācijas sistēmas bez tradicionālas programmēšanas piesaistīšanas. Visa sistēmas konfigurācija ir veikta izmantojot strukturētus XML dokumentus un XSLT transformācijas. Šī pieeja nodrošina galasistēmas dinamisku uzvedības un lietotāja ekrānformu izskata maiņu atkarībā no lietotāju prasībām. Rezultāta tika izveidota sistēmas bāze, kura realizē doto pieeju. Kā piemērs, šī pieeja tika veiksmīgi izmēģināta integrēšana ar weather.yahoo.com laika ziņu dienesta.The work presents a research and a solution on client-server applications support problems using elastic system definition. A system is elastic if it supports flexible configuration of different system’s parts – business-logics and user’s interface. The main goal was a platform’s prototype design that implements this approach. This gives ability for creating new informational systems without using classical programming. All system’s parameters and functions are configured using structured XML documents and XSLT transformations that give possibility for dynamic system’s behavior setup depending on user’s requirements. As a result, system’s basis that implements the designed approach was created. It was successfully integrated with weather.yahoo.com weather service

Automatic code generation for rule-based systems

Maģistra darbā ir apskatīta iespēja formāli pierakstīt programmatūras specifikāciju uz likumiem balstītām sistēmām, lai varētu automātiski ģenerētu pirmkodu. Apskatāmās metodes pielietošanas apgabals darbā tiek ierobežots ar pirmkoda ģenerēšanu biznesa loģikai. Darbā ir aplūkota pašveidota domēna specifiska valoda, ar kuras palīdzību formāli deklaratīvā stilā tiek definētas prasības biznesa likumu veidā. Šādi pierakstīta specifikācija tiek translēta uz atbilstošu pirmkodu mērķa programmēšanas valodā Java. Pieeja tiek demonstrēta ar neliela piemēra palīdzību. Izveidotajai tehnoloģijai un rīkiem ir veikta daudzpusīga analīze – ātrdarbības novērtējums, testēšanas iespējas, izmantošanas vadlīnijas, priekšrocības un trūkumi, salīdzinot ar citām analoģiskām pieejām.The Master’s work presents an approach to formalize software requirements specification for rule-based system that will be used for automatic source code generation. The covered area is limited by business-logics’ source code generation. A self-designed domain specific language that is suited for formal business-rules definition was introduced. The rules are specified in declarative style. The specification created using this approach can be translated to target programming language Java. This process is demonstrated using a simple case study. Also the designed solution and corresponding tools were elaborated using the following techniques – performance analysis, source code testing and usage guidelines. The advantages and disadvantages to the similar approaches were discovered and analyzed

Kinematic analysis of outcrop-scale structures, southern Big Sur segment of Highway 1, Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties, California

The Nacimiento Block is located in the Southern Coast Ranges of California, and consists mainly of Franciscan Complex accretionary prism rocks. It is cross-cut by the San Gregorio-Hosgri Fault Zone, a major right-lateral strand of the San Andreas Fault System. The Nacimiento Block is bounded on the east by the Nacimiento Fault, of debated timing and kinematics, which separates it from the Salinian Block. The Salinian Block is a piece of the Sierra Nevada Batholith, and both the Salinian and Nacimiento Blocks have been displaced from southern California by right-lateral slip on the San Andreas Fault System. To address the question of fault kinematics, a 48 kilometer long section of the Nacimiento Block was examined along California Highway 1 between Lopez Point and Ragged Point. Exposure occurs along approximately 20 kilometers of the transect, and landsliding obscures approximately half of the exposure. The remaining 10 kilometers of outcrop were mapped. Kinematic data were taken on 29 outcrops, totaling 542 minor faults, 406 with slickenlines and 258 with sense of slip indicators, along with 314 veins. Of the faults, 202 are dip-slip (60-90° rake), 113 are oblique-slip (31-59° rake), and only 91 are strike-slip (0-30° rake). The dominant mode of minor faulting is normal, with 111 faults observed, compared to 25 reverse, 24 left-lateral, and 28 right-lateral strike-slip. Two sets of vein and one set of dike orientations were measured. Stereographic analysis reveals the normal and reverse faults dip steeply to the southwest and strike northwest-southeast, subparallel to the coast and San Gregorio-Hosgri and Nacimiento Faults. There is no dominant orientation to the strike-slip faults. Faults of all types cut 17 slab-window related andesitic dikes, which are likely Early Miocene in age according to apatite and zircon fission track ages. The character of all fault planes is similar, indicating they are coeval. Three stages of deformation are recognized. Subduction generated mélange, the dominant lithology in this area, and "broken formations". A second stage of deformation is recorded in the emplacement of dikes and one set of veins. A third stage of deformation is recorded in the minor planar faults that were measured in this study. It is proposed that this latest phase of deformation is caused by the gravitational collapse of the western edge of the Santa Lucia Range. The normal faults parallel the coastline and local slope angles are up to 40°. Coeval strike-slip associated with the San Gregorio-Hosgri Fault Zone is superimposed on this deformation. Apatite fission track ages (n=3) indicate that the dikes mapped along Highway 1 cooled to 110°C at approximately 11 Ma. This indicates an unroofing rate on the order of 300 m/my. This anomalously fast unroofing is accomplished by side-inwards gravitational collapse and erosionGeological Science