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Randomised clinical non-inferiority trial of breathing-based meditation and cognitive processing therapy for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans
Get PDFObjective Test whether Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) was non-inferior to cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for treating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans via a parallel randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.
Setting Outpatient Veterans Affairs healthcare centre.
Participants 85 veterans (75 men, 61% white, mean age 56.9) with symptoms of PTSD participated between October 2015 and March 2020: 59 participants completed the study.
Interventions SKY emphasises breathing routines and was delivered in group format in a 15-hour workshop followed by two 1-hour sessions per week for 5 weeks. CPT is an individual psychotherapy which emphasises shifting cognitive appraisals and was delivered in two 1-hour sessions per week for 6 weeks.
Measures The primary outcome measure was the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C). The secondary measures were the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS).
Results Mean PCL-C at baseline was 56.5 (±12.6). Intent-to-treat analyses showed that PCL-C scores were reduced at 6 weeks (end of treatment) relative to baseline (SKY, −5.6, d=0.41, n=41: CPT, −6.8, d=0.58, n=44). The between-treatment difference in change scores was within the non-inferiority margin of 10 points (−1.2, 95% CI −5.7 to 3.3), suggesting SKY was not inferior to CPT. SKY was also non-inferior at 1-month (CPT–SKY: −2.1, 95% CI −6.9 to 2.8) and 1-year (CPT–SKY: −1.8, 95% CI −6.6 to 2.9) assessments. SKY was also non-inferior to CPT on the BDI-II and PANAS at end of treatment and 1 month, but SKY was inferior to CPT on both BDI-II and PANAS at 1 year. Dropout rates were similar (SKY, 27%, CPT, 34%: OR=1.36, 95% CI 0.51 to 3.62, p=0.54).
Conclusions SKY may be non-inferior to CPT for treating symptoms of PTSD and merits further consideration as a treatment for PTSD
Proteome phenotypes discriminate the growing location and malting traits in Field-Grown Barley
Get PDFBarley is one of the key cereal grains for malting and brewing industries. However, climate variability and unprecedented weather events can impact barley yield and end-product quality. The genetic background and environmental conditions are key factors in defining the barley proteome content and malting characteristics. Here, we measure the barley proteome and malting characteristics of three barley lines grown in Western Australia, differing in genetic background and growing location, by applying liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Using data-dependent acquisition LC–MS, 1571 proteins were detected with high confidence. Quantitative data acquired using sequential window acquisition of all theoretical (SWATH) MS on barley samples resulted in quantitation of 920 proteins. Multivariate analyses revealed that the barley lines’ genetics and their growing locations are strongly correlated between proteins and desired traits such as the malt yield. Linking meteorological data with proteomic measurements revealed how high-temperature stress in northern regions affects seed temperature tolerance during malting, resulting in a higher malt yield. Our results show the impact of environmental conditions on the barley proteome and malt characteristics; these findings have the potential to expedite breeding programs and malt quality prediction
Perspectives on Maritime Archaeology in Southeast Asia
No full textMaritime archaeology in Southeast Asia is a vibrant area of research that entails a hugely diverse dataset. Historical and anthropological records are combined with archaeological material in attempts to interpret the tangible and intangible heritage connected to the use of the aquatic environment. Seas, rivers, and lakes create fluid environments and provide space for socioeconomic activities. The role of maritime archaeologists is to interpret that connection and exchange by looking at the issue from a water perspective, taking into account the intricate entanglement between humans, objects, and the watery environment that make up maritime communities. From this perspective, maritime archaeology has also developed specific theoretical frameworks to interpret archaeological data. This chapter provides an overview of the discipline in Southeast Asia, of the current projects and trends, and explores different ways of inquiry that can be used to apprehend human-environment interactions in sea, rivers, and lakes
Author Correction: A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textCorrection to: Nature Human Behaviour https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01173-x, published online 2 August 2021.
In the version of this article initially published, the following authors were omitted from the author list and the Author contributions section for “investigation” and “writing and editing”: Nandor Hajdu (Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary), Jordane Boudesseul (Facultad de Psicología, Instituto de Investigación Científica, Universidad de Lima, Lima, Perú), Rafał Muda (Faculty of Economics, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland) and Sandersan Onie (Black Dog Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia & Emotional Health for All Foundation, Jakarta, Indonesia). In addition, Saeideh FatahModares’ name was originally misspelled as Saiedeh FatahModarres in the author list. Further, affiliations have been corrected for Maria Terskova (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia), Susana Ruiz Fernandez (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Essen; Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, and LEAD Research Network, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany), Hendrik Godbersen (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Essen, Germany), Gulnaz Anjum (Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada, and Department of Economics & Social Sciences, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan). The changes have been made to the HTML and PDF versions of the article
Intronic NEFH variant is associated with reduced risk for sporadic ALS and later age of disease onset
Get PDFNeurofilament heavy (NEFH) is one of the critical proteins required for the formation of the neuronal cytoskeleton and polymorphisms in NEFH are reported as a rare cause of sporadic ALS (sALS). In the current study, a candidate tetranucleotide (TTTA) repeat variant in NEFH was selected using an in-silico short structural variant (SSV) evaluation algorithm and investigated in two cohorts of North American sALS patients, both separately and combined (Duke cohort n = 138, Coriell cohort n = 333; combined cohort n = 471), compared to a group of healthy controls from the Coriell Institute biobank (n = 496). Stratification according to site of disease onset revealed that the 9 TTTA allele was associated with reduced disease risk, specifically confined to spinal-onset sALS patients in the Duke cohort (p = 0.001). Furthermore, carriage of the 10 TTTA allele was associated with a 2.7 year later age of disease onset in the larger combined sALS cohort (p = 0.02). These results suggest that the 9 and 10 TTTA motif length may have a protective advantage for potentially lowering the risk of sALS and delaying the age of disease onset, however, these results need to be replicated in larger multicenter and multi-ethnic cohorts
Linkage QTL Mapping and Genome-Wide Association Study on Resistance in Chickpea to Pythium ultimum
Get PDFThe soilborne oomycete plant pathogen Pythium ultimum causes seed rot and pre-emergence damping-off of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The pathogen has been controlled for several decades using the fungicide metalaxyl as seed treatment but has re-emerged as a severe problem with the detection of metalaxyl-resistant isolates of the pathogen from infested fields in the United States Pacific Northwest. The objective of this study was to identify genetic markers and candidate genes associated with resistance to P. ultimum in an interspecific recombinant inbred line population (CRIL-7) derived from a cross between C. reticulatum (PI 599072) x C. arietinum (FLIP 84-92C) and conduct genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for disease resistance using a chickpea diversity panel consisting of 184 accessions. CRIL-7 was examined using 1029 SNP markers spanning eight linkage groups. A major QTL, “qpsd4-1,” was detected on LG 4 that explained 41.8% of phenotypic variance, and a minor QTL, “qpsd8-1,” was detected on LG8 that explained 4.5% of phenotypic variance. Seven candidate genes were also detected using composite interval mapping including several genes previously associated with disease resistance in other crop species. A total of 302,902 single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers were used to determine population structure and kinship of the diversity panel. Marker–trait associations were established by employing different combinations of principal components (PC) and kinships (K) in the FarmCPU model. Genome-wide association studies detected 11 significant SNPs and seven candidate genes associated with disease resistance. SNP Ca4_1765418, detected by GWAS on chromosome 4, was located within QTL qpsd4-1 that was revealed in the interspecific CRIL-7 population. The present study provides tools to enable MAS for resistance to P. ultimum and identified genomic domains and candidate genes involved in the resistance of chickpea to soilborne diseases
Contribution of species and functional richness to carbon storage in eucalypt woodland restoration
No full textBiologically diverse forest and woodland restoration can mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. Understanding the trade-off between carbon storage and biodiversity is important to maximise the value of restoration opportunities. Ecological theory suggests biological diversity contributes positively to carbon storage until the relationship plateaus (i.e., species are added with no effect on carbon storage), and yet in practice, tree monocultures are perceived to sequester more carbon than diverse plantings. Here, we measured the contribution of plant diversity to carbon storage in trees and shrubs ten years after planting for yate (Eucalyptus occidentalis) woodland restoration. We found no evidence for a trade-off between carbon storage and plant diversity. We planted yate with mixes of yate woodland species including native grasses, shrubs, and trees. Ten years after planting, grass establishment was poor, and density of trees and shrubs was patchy. There was some unassisted recruitment of woody species. Diversity was measured as observed species richness and observed functional richness, which incorporated taxonomic diversity, structural diversity, and presence/absence of nitrogen-fixing legumes. Carbon stocks measured were above and belowground tree and shrub biomass, leaf and twig litter biomass, and organic carbon (%) in the topsoil. Across all three carbon stocks diverse yate plantings sequestered as much carbon as yate monocultures. Observed species richness had a weak negative effect on tree and shrub biomass in the best linear mixed model but this effect diminished with the removal of an outlier. Tree density had a positive effect on tree and shrub biomass in models with and without the outlier. There was no effect of diversity on litter biomass and soil organic carbon. Instead, linear mixed models of these stocks showed the influence of soil properties. Litter biomass increased with soil potassium and decreased with soil pH. Soil organic carbon increased with initial soil organic carbon and soil nitrogen. There are potential additional biodiversity benefits of diverse plantings that we did not measure (e.g., soil erosion control, wildlife habitat). We call for more field experiments to explore these potential benefits and to generate the ecological knowledge needed to improve the quality of global forest and woodland restoration efforts
Improvement of pasting and gelling properties of potato starch using a direct vapor-heat moisture treatment
No full textConventional hydrothermal methods are lengthy and require high energy consumption. In this study, a quick and energy-saving direct vapor-heat moisture treatment (DV-HMT) method was used to improve the pasting and gelling properties of potato starch under the condition of high temperature (130 °C) and short periods (1, 3, 5, and 7 min). X-ray diffraction analysis exhibited that the relative crystallinity of DV-HMT starches decreased with the extension of treatment time. Small angle X-ray scattering measurements showed that the average thickness of the crystalline lamellae decreased from 6.193 to 5.937 nm, while the average thickness of the amorphous lamellae increased from 3.160 to 3.395 nm. Rapid visco-analyzer measurements exhibited that the breakdown values decreased to 0 mPa s for DV-HMT starches, indicating that this hydrothermal treatment led to starches with high resistance to heating and shearing. The gel hardness of starch treated by DV-HMT for 3 min (266 g) was around 5.4-fold higher than for non-treated starch (41 g). Considering the simple operation of DV-HMT and the short treatment periods (≤ 7 min) used in this study, DV-HMT could be a superior option to enhance the physicochemical and functional properties of starch
Thiomorpholino oligonucleotides as a robust class of next generation platforms for alternate mRNA splicing
Get PDFRecent advances in drug development have seen numerous successful clinical translations using synthetic antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). However, major obstacles, such as challenging large-scale production, toxicity, localization of oligonucleotides in specific cellular compartments or tissues, and the high cost of treatment, need to be addressed. Thiomorpholino oligonucleotides (TMOs) are a recently developed novel nucleic acid analog that may potentially address these issues. TMOs are composed of a morpholino nucleoside joined by thiophosphoramidate internucleotide linkages. Unlike phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) that are currently used in various splice-switching ASO drugs, TMOs can be synthesized using solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis methodologies. In this study, we synthesized various TMOs and evaluated their efficacy to induce exon skipping in a Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in vitro model using H2K mdx mouse myotubes. Our experiments demonstrated that TMOs can efficiently internalize and induce excellent exon 23 skipping potency compared with a conventional PMO control and other widely used nucleotide analogs, such as 2′-O-methyl and 2′-O-methoxyethyl ASOs. Notably, TMOs performed well at low concentrations (5–20 nM). Therefore, the dosages can be minimized, which may improve the drug safety profile. Based on the present study, we propose that TMOs represent a new, promising class of nucleic acid analogs for future oligonucleotide therapeutic development
Literature circles enhancing cultural awareness and language acquisition for adult learners of Arabic
Get PDFLanguage and culture are inextricably linked. Consequently, the teaching of cultural awareness as part of additional language instruction is crucial to increasing language proficiency. This paper examines how literature circles are utilized and actively modelled in the teaching and learning of the Arabic language and its culture in an adult Arabic as an Additional Language classroom in Iraq with beginner, intermediate and advanced learners. The impact of the literature circles pedagogy is explored through the analysis of audio transcripts of the interactions during the class, student journals reflections on their experiences participating in the study, and the researcher’s field notes recording their observations during the literature circle activities. Eight participants from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds were divided into two multi-level groups. The data revealed that the literature circle methodology increased student-to-student interaction and collaborative learning and understanding of Arabic culture. These outcomes resulted in enhanced confidence in using the language and, consequently language proficiency in the Arabic language