First Report of Neofusicoccum mediterraneum and Neofusicoccum parvum Causing Pine Ghost Canker on Pinus spp. in Southern California.

Pinus eldarica, P. halepensis and P. radiata are important conifer species native to Mediterranean regions that are cultivated in the southwestern United States for landscaping (Phillips and Gladfelter, 1991; Chambel et al., 2013). Among them, Monterey pine (P. radiata) is native to restricted areas of California and Mexico, but it is extensively grown for timber production in other countries, especially in the Southern Hemisphere (Rogers, 2004). From 2018 to 2022, severe dieback and cankers have been detected on more than 30 mature pines of the three species within a 40-ha urban forest in Orange County, Southern California. Symptoms initiate on the lower portion of the canopy and advance into the crown, leading to quick dieback and, in some cases, to tree death. Cross sections of affected branches revealed wedged cankers with irregular, indistinct margins, and cryptic discoloration (i.e., "ghost cankers"). Pycnidia were observed on the surface of each bark scale of branches with advanced infections. Two morphotypes of Botryosphaeriaceae colonies (n = 34 isolates) were recovered consistently from more than 90% of the symptomatic pines. Two isolates per morphotype were grown on pistachio leaf agar (Chen et al., 2014) for 14 days to induce pycnidia formation. Conidia (n = 50) were hyaline, thin-walled and fusoid to ellipsoidal in shape, ranging from 16.1 to 27.9 (22.6) × 5.4 to 8.2 (6.8) µm for the first morphotype and 11.5 to 20.4 (16.3) × 4.8 to 8.6 (6.3) µm for the second morphotype. The rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), beta-tubulin (tub2), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1-α) partial gene regions were amplified and sequenced using the primers ITS5/ITS4 (White et al., 1990), Bt2a/Bt2b (Glass and Donaldson, 1995), and EF1-728F/EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn, 1999), respectively. A multi-locus phylogenetic analysis revealed that isolates UCD9433 and UCD10439 clustered with the ex-type strain of Neofusicoccum mediterraneum (CBS:113083), and isolates UCD9161 and UCD9434 grouped with N. parvum (CMW:9081). Sequences were submitted to GenBank (nos. OP535391 to OP535394 for ITS, OP561946 to OP561949 for tef1-α, and OP561950 to OP561953 for tub2). Pathogenicity tests were performed with above-mentioned isolates on 20-mm-diameter healthy branches of mature Monterey pines (n = 10, 14 years old) located in a research field at UC Davis. Isolates were grown for 7 days on potato dextrose agar and inoculated in the internode area by removing a 5-mm-diameter disk of the bark with a sterile cork borer and placing a 5-mm-diameter mycelial plug. Controls were mock-inoculated with sterile agar plugs, and the experiment was performed twice. After three months, inoculations resulted in vascular lesions that ranged from 20.6 to 49.7 (32.7) mm with N. mediterraneum and from 13.5 to 71.0 (33.6) mm with N. parvum, and the same pathogens were reisolated (70 to 100% recovery). Controls remained symptomless and no botryosphaeriaceous colonies were recovered. Both N. mediterraneum and N. parvum are polyphagous pathogens associated with multiple woody plant hosts (Phillips et al., 2013). Previously, only N. parvum has been associated with pine cankers in Iran, however, the pine species was not indicated (Abdollahzadeh et al., 2013). The detection of these pathogens in urban forests raises concerns of potential spillover events to other forest and agricultural hosts in Southern California. To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. mediterraneum and N. parvum causing Pine Ghost Canker on P. eldarica, P. halepensis and P. radiata.

The Mathematical Characterization of the Complexity Matching during a Healing Circle Meditation.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the complexity matching between the HRVs of the group of Healers and the Healee during the various stages of the meditation protocol by employing a novel mathematical approach based on the H-rank algorithm. The complexity matching of heart rate variability is assessed before and during a heart-focused meditation in a close non-contact healing exercise. The experiment was conducted on a group of individuals (eight Healers and one Healee) throughout the various phases of the protocol over a ~75-minute period. The HRV signal for the cohort of individuals was recorded using high resolution HRV recorders with internal clocks for time synchronization. The Hankel transform (H-rank) approach was employed to reconstruct the real-world complex time series in order to measure the algebraic complexity of the heart rate variability and to assess the complexity matching between the reconstructed H-rank of the Healers and Healee during the different phases of the protocol. The integration of the embedding attractor technique was used to aid in the visualization of reconstructed H-rank in state space across the various phases. The findings demonstrate the changes in the degree of reconstructed H-rank (between the Healers and the Healee) during the heart-focused meditation healing phase by employing mathematically anticipated and validated algorithms. It is natural and thought-provoking to contemplate the mechanisms causing the complexity of the reconstructed H-rank to come closer; it can be explicitly stated that the purpose of the study is to communicate a clear idea that the H-rank algorithm is capable of registering subtle changes in the healing process, and that there was no intention of delving deep to uncover the mechanisms involved in the HRV matching. Therefore, the latter might be a distinct goal of future research.

Radiation Doses Received by Major Organs at Risk in Children and Young Adolescents Treated for Cancer with External Beam Radiation Therapy: A Large-scale Study from 12 European Countries.

PURPOSE: Childhood cancer survivors, in particular those treated with radiation therapy, are at high risk of long-term iatrogenic events. The prediction of risk of such events is mainly based on the knowledge of the radiation dose received to healthy organs and tissues during treatment of childhood cancer diagnosed decades ago. We aimed to set up a standardized organ dose table to help former patients and clinicians in charge of long-term follow-up clinics. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We performed whole body dosimetric reconstruction for 2646 patients from 12 European countries treated between 1941 and 2006 (median, 1976). Most plannings were 2- or 3-dimensional. A total of 46% of patients were treated using Cobalt 60, and 41%, using a linear accelerator. The median prescribed dose was 27.2 Gy (IQ1-IQ3, 17.6-40.0 Gy). A patient-specific voxel-based anthropomorphic phantom with more than 200 anatomic structures or substructures delineated as a surrogate of each subject's anatomy was used. The radiation therapy was simulated with a treatment planning system based on available treatment information. The radiation dose received by any organ of the body was estimated by extending the treatment planning system dose calculation to the whole body, by type and localization of childhood cancer. RESULTS: The integral dose and normal tissue doses to most of the 23 considered organs increased between the 1950s and 1970s and decreased or plateaued thereafter. Whatever the organ considered, the type of childhood cancer explained most of the variability in organ dose. The country of treatment explained only a small part of the variability. CONCLUSIONS: The detailed dose estimates provide very useful information for former patients or clinicians who have only limited knowledge about radiation therapy protocols or techniques, but who know the type and site of childhood cancer, sex, age, and year of treatment. This will allow better prediction of the long-term risk of iatrogenic events and better referral to long-term follow-up clinics.

Low dose irradiation of thyroid cells reveals a unique transcriptomic and epigenetic signature in RET/PTC-positive cells.

The high doses of radiation received in the wake of the Chernobyl incident and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been linked to the increased appearance of thyroid cancer in the children living in the vicinity of the site. However, the data gathered on the effect of low doses of radiation on the thyroid remain limited. We have examined the genome wide transcriptional response of a culture of TPC-1 human cell line of papillary thyroid carcinoma origin with a RET/PTC1 translocation to various doses (0.0625, 0.5, and 4Gy) of X-rays and compared it to response of thyroids with a RET/PTC3 translocation and against wild-type mouse thyroids irradiated with the same doses using Affymetrix microarrays. We have found considerable overlap at a high dose of 4Gy in both RET/PTC-positive systems but no common genes at 62.5mGy. In addition, the response of RET/PTC-positive system at all doses was distinct from the response of wild-type thyroids with both systems signaling down different pathways. Analysis of the response of microRNAs in TPC-1 cells revealed a radiation-responsive signature of microRNAs in addition to dose-responsive microRNAs. Our results point to the fact that a low dose of X-rays seems to have a significant proliferative effect on normal thyroids. This observation should be studied further as opposed to its effect on RET/PTC-positive thyroids which was subtle, anti-proliferative and system-dependent.

Using a Birth Defects Surveillance Program to Enhance Existing Surveillance of Stillbirth.

Objective: Fetal death certificates (FDCs) are the main source of stillbirth surveillance data in the United States, yet previous studies suggest FDCs have incomplete ascertainment. The objectives of this analysis were (1) to evaluate whether the use of an existing birth defects surveillance program (the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program [MACDP]) to conduct surveillance on stillbirths enhances case ascertainment, and (2) to compare stillbirth prevalence estimates in metropolitan Atlanta using data from MACDP and FDCs, independently and combined, from 2009-2015. Methods: Stillbirths were ascertained by MACDP and FDCs from 2009-2015. Capture-recapture methods were used to estimate the relative contributions of each data source. Prevalence estimates generated from each data source independently and combined were compared. Results: There were 3,031 stillbirths ascertained by FDCs and MACDP in metropolitan Atlanta from 2009-2015. It was assumed that 35% of FDCs unlinked to MACDP were misclassified as stillbirth. Under this assumption, an estimated 2,610 total stillbirths occurred. Accounting for potential misclassification in the FDC, the prevalence rate for stillbirth was 6.9 per 1,000 live births plus stillbirths for stillbirths captured only in FDC, and 6.2 per 1,000 live births plus stillbirths for stillbirths caught only in MACDP. Using both sources combined for casefinding, the prevalence rate was 10.0 per 1,000 live births plus stillbirths for all years combined. Conclusions: Expanding certain birth defects surveillance programs to conduct surveillance on stillbirths could potentially enhance existing surveillance data on stillbirths when linked to FDCs.

Software Tools for the Evaluation of Clinical Signs and Symptoms in the Medical Management of Acute Radiation Syndrome-A Five-year Experience.

ABSTRACT: A suite of software tools has been developed for dose estimation (BAT, WinFRAT) and prediction of acute health effects (WinFRAT, H-Module) using clinical symptoms and/or changes in blood cell counts. We constructed a database of 191 ARS cases using the METREPOL (n = 167) and the SEARCH-database (n = 24). The cases ranged from unexposed (RC0), to mild (RC1), moderate (RC2), severe (RC3), and lethal ARS (RC4). From 2015-2019, radiobiology students and participants of two NATO meetings predicted clinical outcomes (RC, H-ARS, and hospitalization) based on clinical symptoms. We evaluated the prediction outcomes using the same input datasets with a total of 32 teams and 94 participants. We found that: (1) unexposed (RC0) and mildly exposed individuals (RC1) could not be discriminated; (2) the severity of RC2 and RC3 were systematically overestimated, but almost all lethal cases (RC4) were correctly predicted; (3) introducing a prior education component for non-physicians significantly increased the correct predictions of RC, ARS, and hospitalization by around 10% (p<0.005) with a threefold reduction in variance and a halving of the evaluation time per case; (4) correct outcome prediction was independent of the software tools used; and (5) comparing the dose estimates generated by the teams with H-ARS severity reflected known limitations of dose alone as a surrogate for H-ARS severity. We found inexperienced personnel can use software tools to make accurate diagnostic and treatment recommendations with up to 98% accuracy. Educational training improved the quality of decision making and enabled participants lacking a medical background to perform comparably to experts.

Identifying a Diagnostic Window for the Use of Gene Expression Profiling to Predict Acute Radiation Syndrome.

In the event of a mass casualty radiological or nuclear scenario, it is important to distinguish between the unexposed (worried well), low-dose exposed individuals and those developing the hematological acute radiation syndrome (HARS) within the first three days postirradiation. In previous baboon studies, we identified altered gene expression changes after irradiation, which were predictive for the later developing HARS severity. Similar changes in the expression of four of these genes were observed using an in vitro human whole blood model. However, these studies have provided only limited information on the time frame of the changes after exposure in relationship to the development of HARS. In this study we analyzed the time-dependent changes in mRNA expression after in vitro irradiation of whole blood. Changes in the expression of informative mRNAs (FDXR, DBB2, POU2AF1 and WNT3) were determined in the blood of eight healthy donors (6 males, 2 females) after irradiation at 0 (control), 0.5, 2 and 4 Gy using qRT-PCR. FDXR expression was significantly upregulated (P < 0.001) 4 h after ≥0.5 Gy irradiation, with an 18-40-fold peak attained 4-12 h postirradiation which remained elevated (4-9-fold) at 72 h. DDB2 expression was upregulated after 4 h (fold change, 5-8, P < 0.001 at ≥ 0.5 Gy) and remained upregulated (3-4-fold) until 72 h (P < 0.001). The earliest time points showing a significant downregulation of POU2AF1 and WNT3 were 4 h (fold change = 0.4, P = 0.001, at 4 Gy) and 8 h (fold change = 0.3-0.5, P < 0.001, 2-4 Gy), respectively. These results indicate that the diagnostic window for detecting HARS-predictive changes in gene expression may be opened as early as 2 h for most (75%) and at 4 h postirradiation for all individuals examined. Depending on the RNA species studied this may continue for at least three days postirradiation.

Emotion self-regulation, psychophysiological coherence, and test anxiety: results from an experiment using electrophysiological measures.

This study investigated the effects of a novel, classroom-based emotion self-regulation program (TestEdge) on measures of test anxiety, socioemotional function, test performance, and heart rate variability (HRV) in high school students. The program teaches students how to self-generate a specific psychophysiological state--psychophysiological coherence--which has been shown to improve nervous system function, emotional stability, and cognitive performance. Implemented as part of a larger study investigating the population of tenth grade students in two California high schools (N = 980), the research reported here was conducted as a controlled pre- and post-intervention laboratory experiment, using electrophysiological measures, on a random stratified sample of students from the intervention and control schools (N = 136). The Stroop color-word conflict test was used as the experiment's stimulus to simulate the stress of taking a high-stakes test, while continuous HRV recordings were gathered. The post-intervention electrophysiological results showed a pattern of improvement across all HRV measures, indicating that students who received the intervention program had learned how to better manage their emotions and to self-activate the psychophysiological coherence state under stressful conditions. Moreover, students with high test anxiety exhibited increased HRV and heart rhythm coherence even during a resting baseline condition (without conscious use of the program's techniques), suggesting that they had internalized the benefits of the intervention. Consistent with these results, students exhibited reduced test anxiety and reduced negative affect after the intervention. Finally, there is suggestive evidence from a matched-pairs analysis that reduced test anxiety and increased psychophysiological coherence appear to be directly associated with improved test performance--a finding consistent with evidence from the larger study.

New hope for correctional officers: an innovative program for reducing stress and health risks.

This study investigated the impact of a new stress management program on physiological and psychological stress and health risk factors among 75 correctional officers. The experimental group received training in emotion self-regulation techniques intended to reduce stress and health risk factors. Practice of the techniques was enhanced by heart rate variability feedback, which helped participants learn and sustain use of the self-management tools. Measures of physiological stress included cortisol, DHEA, cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose levels, 10-min resting electrocardiogram, heart rate variability, and blood pressure. Three psychological questionnaires assessed emotional stress and work-related variables. There were significant improvements in the experimental group in cholesterol, glucose, heart rate, blood pressure and positive outlook and significant reductions in overall psychological distress. There were significant increases in productivity, motivation, goal clarity, and perceived support. The mean difference between pre- and post-intervention projected health care costs was calculated to be $1,179 per employee per year.

Identification of a Group's Physiological Synchronization with Earth's Magnetic Field.

A new analysis technique for the evaluation of the degree of synchronization between the physiological state of a group of people and changes in the Earth's magnetic field based on their cardiac inter-beat intervals was developed and validated. The new analysis method was then used to identify clusters of similar synchronization patterns in a group of 20 individuals over a two-week period. The algorithm for the identification of slow wave dynamics for every person was constructed in order to determine meaningful interrelationships between the participants and the local magnetic field data. The results support the hypothesis that the slow wave rhythms in heart rate variability can synchronize with changes in local magnetic field data, and that the degree of synchronization is affected by the quality of interpersonal relationships.

Synchronization of Human Autonomic Nervous System Rhythms with Geomagnetic Activity in Human Subjects.

A coupling between geomagnetic activity and the human nervous system's function was identified by virtue of continuous monitoring of heart rate variability (HRV) and the time-varying geomagnetic field over a 31-day period in a group of 10 individuals who went about their normal day-to-day lives. A time series correlation analysis identified a response of the group's autonomic nervous systems to various dynamic changes in the solar, cosmic ray, and ambient magnetic field. Correlation coefficients and p values were calculated between the HRV variables and environmental measures during three distinct time periods of environmental activity. There were significant correlations between the group's HRV and solar wind speed, Kp, Ap, solar radio flux, cosmic ray counts, Schumann resonance power, and the total variations in the magnetic field. In addition, the time series data were time synchronized and normalized, after which all circadian rhythms were removed. It was found that the participants' HRV rhythms synchronized across the 31-day period at a period of approximately 2.5 days, even though all participants were in separate locations. Overall, this suggests that daily autonomic nervous system activity not only responds to changes in solar and geomagnetic activity, but is synchronized with the time-varying magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic field-line resonances and Schumann resonances.

Impact of a workplace stress reduction program on blood pressure and emotional health in hypertensive employees.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the impact of a workplace-based stress management program on blood pressure (BP), emotional health, and workplace-related measures in hypertensive employees of a global information technology company. DESIGN: Thirty-eight (38) employees with hypertension were randomly assigned to a treatment group that received the stress-reduction intervention or a waiting control group that received no intervention during the study period. The treatment group participated in a 16-hour program, which included instruction in positive emotion refocusing and emotional restructuring techniques intended to reduce sympathetic nervous system arousal, stress, and negative affect, increase positive affect, and improve performance. Learning and practice of the techniques was enhanced by heart rate variability feedback, which helped participants learn to self-generate physiological coherence, a beneficial physiologic mode associated with increased heart rhythm coherence, physiologic entrainment, parasympathetic activity, and vascular resonance. BP, emotional health, and workplace-related measures were assessed before and 3 months after the program. RESULTS: Three months post-intervention, the treatment group exhibited a mean adjusted reduction of 10.6 mm Hg in systolic BP and of 6.3 mm Hg in diastolic BP. The reduction in systolic BP was significant in relation to the control group. The treatment group also demonstrated improvements in emotional health, including significant reductions in stress symptoms, depression, and global psychological distress and significant increases in peacefulness and positive outlook. Reduced systolic BP was correlated with reduced stress symptoms. Furthermore, the trained employees demonstrated significant increases in the work-related scales of workplace satisfaction and value of contribution. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that a brief workplace stress management intervention can produce clinically significant reductions in BP and improve emotional health among hypertensive employees. Implications are that such interventions may produce a healthier and more productive workforce, enhancing performance and reducing losses to the organization resulting from cognitive decline, illness, and premature mortality.

Electrophysiological evidence of intuition: Part 2. A system-wide process?

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to contribute to a scientific understanding of intuition, a process by which information normally outside the range of conscious awareness is perceived by the body's psychophysiological systems. The first objective, presented in two empirical reports (Part 1 and Part 2), was to replicate and extend the results of previous experiments demonstrating that the body can respond to an emotionally arousing stimulus seconds before it is actually experienced. The second objective, to be presented in a forthcoming publication (Part 3), is to develop a theory that explains how the body receives and processes information involved in intuitive perception. DESIGN: The study used a counterbalanced crossover design, in which 30 calm and 15 emotionally arousing pictures were presented to 26 participants under two experimental conditions: a baseline condition of "normal" psychophysiologic function and a condition of physiological coherence. Primary measures included: skin conductance; the electroencephalogram (EEG), from which cortical event-related potentials (ERP) and heartbeatevoked potentials (HBEP) were derived; and the electrocardiogram (ECG), from which cardiac decelerations/ accelerations were derived. These measures were used to investigate where and when in the brain and body intuitive information is processed. RESULTS: The main findings presented here are: (1) surprisingly, both the heart and brain appear to receive and respond to intuitive information; (2) even more surprisingly, there is compelling evidence that the heart appears to receive intuitive information before the brain; (3) there were significant differences in prestimulus ERPs for calm versus emotional stimuli; (4) the frontal cortex, temporal, occipital, and parietal areas appear to be involved in the processing of prestimulus information; (5) there were significant differences in prestimulus calm/emotional HBEPs, primarily in the coherent mode; (6) there were significant gender differences in the processing of prestimulus information. Especially noteworthy is the apparent interaction between the HBEPs and ERPs in the females, which suggests that the heart modulates the ERP and that females are more attuned to intuitive information from the heart. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our data suggest that the heart and brain, together, are involved in receiving, processing, and decoding intuitive information. On the basis of these results and those of other research, it would thus appear that intuitive perception is a system-wide process in which both the heart and brain (and possibly other bodily systems) play a critical role. To account for the study's results, Part 3 will develop a theory based on holographic principles explaining how intuitive perception accesses a field of energy into which information about "future" events is spectrally enfolded.

Electrophysiological evidence of intuition: part 1. The surprising role of the heart.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to contribute to a scientific understanding of intuition, a process by which information normally outside the range of conscious awareness is perceived by the psychophysiological systems. The first objective, presented in two empirical papers (Part 1 and Part 2), was to replicate and extend the results of previous experiments demonstrating that the body can respond to an emotionally arousing stimulus seconds before it is actually experienced. The second objective, to be presented in a third paper (Part 3), is to develop a theory that explains how the body receives and processes information involved in intuitive perception. DESIGN: The study used a counterbalanced crossover design, in which 30 calm and 15 emotionally arousing pictures were presented to 26 participants under two experimental conditions: a baseline condition of normal psychophysiologic function and a condition of physiological coherence. Primary measures included: skin conductance; the electroencephalogram (EEG), from which cortical event-related potentials and heartbeat-evoked potentials were derived; and the electrocardiogram (ECG), from which cardiac decelerations/accelerations were derived. These measures were used to investigate where and when in the brain and body intuitive information is processed. RESULTS: The study's results are presented in two parts. The main findings in relation to the heart's role in intuitive perception presented here are: (1) surprisingly, the heart appears to receive and respond to intuitive information; (2) a significantly greater heart rate deceleration occurred prior to future emotional stimuli compared to calm stimuli; (3) there were significant gender differences in the processing of prestimulus information. Part 2 will present results indicating where in the brain intuitive information is processed and data showing that prestimulus information from the heart is communicated to the brain. It also presents evidence that females are more attuned to intuitive information from the heart. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we have independently replicated and extended previous research documenting prestimulus responses. It appears that the heart is involved in the processing and decoding of intuitive information. Once the prestimulus information is received in the psychophysiologic systems, it appears to be processed in the same way as conventional sensory input. This study presents compelling evidence that the body's perceptual apparatus is continuously scanning the future. To account for the results presented in Parts 1 and 2, Part 3 will develop a theory based on holographic principles explaining how intuitive perception accesses a field of energy into which information about future events is spectrally enfolded.

Electrophysiology of Intuition: Pre-stimulus Responses in Group and Individual Participants Using a Roulette Paradigm.

This study used electrophysiological measures of pre-stimulus effects that can occur prior to an unknown future event as an indicator of nonlocal intuition. Intuition in this context is considered as a process by which information normally outside the range of conscious awareness is detected at the cellular level by the heart, the brain, and the autonomic nervous system. This study extends the findings of previous experiments demonstrating that aspects of our physiology can respond to an emotionally engaging stimulus before it is actually experienced. The study evaluated a revised version of a roulette protocol, which included two pre-stimulus segments and included an analysis of the individual participant's data over eight separate trials in addition to a group-level analysis. We also assessed the potential effects of the moon phase on the pre-stimulus response outcomes and participant winning and amount won ratios. Data were collected under controlled laboratory conditions from 13 participants in 8 separate sessions using a modified version of a gambling paradigm protocol based on roulette. Half of the experimental sessions were conducted during the full moon phase and half during the new moon phase. Within each trial a total of three segments of physiological data were assessed. There were two separate pre-stimulus periods, pre-bet (4 sec) and postbet (12 sec), and a post-result period (6 sec). Participants were told that they were participating in a gambling experiment and were given an initial starting kitty and told they could keep any winnings over the course of 26 trials for each of the eight sessions. The physiological measures included the electrocardiogram (ECG), from which cardiac inter-beat-intervals (heart rate variability, HRV) were derived, and skin conductance. Before the participants participated in the first session, they completed the Cognitive Styles Index questionnaire, which assesses analytical vs intuitive styles. Overall, the results indicate that the revised protocol provides an effective objective measure for detecting a pre-stimulus response, which reflects a type of nonlocal intuition. We found significant differences between the win and loss responses in the aggregated physiological waveform data during both pre-stimulus segments, which provides important information about nonlocal intuition. On average, we detected a significant pre-stimulus response starting around 18 seconds prior to participants knowing the future outcome. Interestingly, there was not a strong overall relationship between the pre-stimulus responses and the amount of money the participants won or lost. We also found a significant difference in both pre-stimulus periods during the full moon phase but not in the new moon phase. The results suggest that the protocol is a reliable means of prompting physiological detection of pre-stimulus effects and can be used in future studies investigating aspects of nonlocal intuition. The findings also suggest that if participants had been able to become more attuned to their internal physiological responses, they would have performed much better on the betting choices they made.

Systematic improvement of lentivirus transduction protocols by antibody fragments fused to VSV-G as envelope glycoprotein.

Lentiviral vectors (LV) are widely used to successfully transduce cells for research and clinical applications. Lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) can be produced to high titers and mediate high transduction efficiencies in vitro. For clinical applications the need for optimized transduction protocols and the limited activity of retronectin as LV enhancer, results in the application of a high multiplicity of infection (MOI) to achieve effective transduction efficiencies for a number of therapeutically relevant cells, e.g. CD34(+) hematopoietic stem cells, T- and B-cells. Our study describes an optimized LV infection protocol including a non-toxic poloxamer-based adjuvant combined with antibody-retargeted lentiviral particles, improving transduction efficiency at low MOI. Cell specificity of lentiviral vectors was increased by displaying different ratios of scFv-fused VSV-G glycoproteins on the viral envelope. The system was validated with difficult to transduce human CD30(+) lymphoma cells, and EGFR(+) tumor cells. Highly efficient transduction of lymphoma cells was achieved, >50% of cells were transduced when MOI 1 was used. The scFv displaying lentiviral particles gained relative specificity for transduction of target cells. Preferential gene delivery to CD30(+) or EGFR(+) cells was increased 4-fold in mixed cell cultures by presenting scFv antibody fragments binding to respective surface markers. A combination of spinoculation, poloxamer-based chemical adjuvant, and LV displaying scFv fragments increases transduction efficiencies of hard-to-transduce suspension lymphoma cells, and promises new chances for the future development of improved clinical protocols.

Resilience Training Program Reduces Physiological and Psychological Stress in Police Officers.

Research suggests that police work is among the most stressful occupations in the world and officers typically suffer a variety of physiological, psychological, and behavioral effects and symptoms. Officers operating under severe or chronic stress are likely to be at greater risk of error, accidents, and overreactions that can compromise their performance, jeopardize public safety, and pose significant liability costs to the organization. Therefore, this study explored the nature and degree of physiological activation typically experienced of officers on the job and the impact of the Coherence Advantage resilience and performance enhancement training on a group of police officers from Santa Clara County, California. Areas assessed included vitality, emotional well-being, stress coping and interpersonal skills, work performance, workplace effectiveness and climate, family relationships, and physiological recalibration following acute stressors. Physiological measurements were obtained to determine the real-time cardiovascular impact of acutely stressful situations encountered in highly realistic simulated police calls used in police training and to identify officers at increased risk of future health challenges. The resilience-building training improved officers' capacity to recognize and self-regulate their responses to stressors in both work and personal contexts. Officers experienced reductions in stress, negative emotions, depression, and increased peacefulness and vitality as compared to a control group. Improvements in family relationships, more effective communication and cooperation within work teams, and enhanced work performance also were noted. Heart rate and blood pressure measurements taken during simulated police call scenarios showed that acutely stressful circumstances typically encountered on the job result in a tremendous degree of physiological activation, from which it takes a considerable amount of time to recover. Autonomic nervous system assessment based on heart rate variability (HRV) analysis of 24-hour electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings revealed that 11% of the officers were at higher risk for sudden cardiac death and other serious health challenges. This is more than twice the percentage typically found in the general population and is consistent with epidemiological data indicating that police officers have more than twice the average incidence of cardiovascular-related disease. The data suggest that training in resilience building and self-regulation skills could significantly benefit police organizations by improving judgment and decision making and decreasing the frequency of onthe-job driving accidents and the use of excessive force in high-stress situations. Potential outcomes include fewer citizens' complaints, fewer lawsuits, decreased organizational liabilities, and increased community safety. Finally, this study highlights the value of 24-hour HRV analysis as a useful screening tool to identify officers who are at increased risk, so that efforts can be made to reverse or prevent the onset of disease in these individuals.

La investigación sugiere que el trabajo de policía se cuenta entre las ocupaciones más estresantes del mundo y que los oficiales de policía suelen sufrir diversos efectos y síntomas fisiológicos, psicológicos y conductuales. Los oficiales de policía que trabajan en condiciones de estrés grave o crónico tienen más probabilidades de cometer errores, sufrir accidentes y sobrerreaccionar, lo que puede poner en peligro su rendimiento y la seguridad pública, además de suponer costes por responsabilidad civil importantes para la organización. Por consiguiente, este estudio exploró la naturaleza y el grado de la activación fisiológica que suelen experimentar los oficiales de policía en el trabajo y el impacto de la formación Coherence Advantage para la mejora del rendimiento y de la resistencia sobre un grupo de oficiales de policía del condado de Santa Clara (California, Estados Unidos).Las áreas evaluadas incluyeron la vitalidad, el bienestar emocional, la capacidad de resistir el estrés y las destrezas interpersonales, el rendimiento laboral, la efectividad y el clima en el lugar de trabajo, las relaciones familiares y la recalibración fisiológica después de las situaciones de estrés agudo. Se obtuvieron medidas fisiológicas para determinar el impacto cardiovascular en tiempo real de las situaciones causantes de estrés agudo en casos de llamadas simuladas de gran realismo a la policía que se utilizan en la formación policial y para identificar a los oficiales de policía que presentaban un aumento del riesgo de futuros retos de salud.La formación en el aumento de la resistencia mejoró la capacidad de los oficiales de policía para reconocer y autorregular sus respuestas a las situaciones de estrés, tanto en el contexto laboral como personal. En comparación con el grupo control, los oficiales de policía obtuvieron reducciones del estrés, de las emociones negativas y de la depresión, además de un aumento de la tranquilidad y la vitalidad. También se observaron mejoras en las relaciones familiares, más efectividad en la comunicación y cooper-ación en los equipos de trabajo y mejora del rendimiento laboral.Las medidas de la frecuencia cardíaca y la presión arterial tomadas durante las simulaciones de las llamadas a la policía mostraron que las circunstancias de estrés agudo que suelen encontrarse en el trabajo resultan en un grado tremendo de activación fisiológica, cuya recuperación tarda un tiempo considerable.La evaluación del sistema nervioso autónomo basada en el análisis de la variabilidad de la frecuencia cardíaca en los registros de electro-cardiogramas (ECG) durante 24 horas reveló que el 11 % de los oficiales de policía presentaba una elevación del riesgo de muerte cardíaca súbita y otros retos graves para la salud. Esto es más del doble del porcentaje que suele hallarse en la población en general y coincide con los datos epidemiológicos que indican que los oficiales de policía tienen más del doble de la incidencia media de la enfermedad relacionada con causas cardiovasculares.Los datos indican que la formación en el aumento de la resistencia y en las destrezas de autorregulación podría beneficiar de forma significativa a las organizaciones policiales mediante la mejora del criterio y de la toma de decisiones, la reducción de la frecuencia de los accidentes de tráfico en el trabajo y del uso excesivo de la fuerza en situaciones de gran estrés. Los posibles resultados incluyen la reducción de las quejas de los ciudadanos, la reducción de los pleitos, la reducción de la responsabilidad civil de la organización y el aumento de la seguridad de la comunidad. Por último, este estudio resalta el valor del análisis de la variabilidad de la frecuencia cardíaca en 24 horas como una herramienta útil de cribado para identificar a los oficiales de policía que presentan un aumento del riesgo, de modo que puedan realizarse esfuerzos para invertir o prevenir el inicio de la enfermedad en estas personas.

Efficacy of an Emotion Self-regulation Program for Promoting Development in Preschool Children.

This work reports the results of an evaluation study to assess the efficacy of the Early HeartSmarts (EHS) program in schools of the Salt Lake City, Utah, School District. The EHS program is designed to guide teachers with methods that support young children (3-6 y old) in learning emotion self-regulation and key age-appropriate socioemotional competencies with the goal of facilitating their emotional, social, and cognitive development. The study was conducted over one school year using a quasiexperimental longitudinal field research design with 3 measurement points (baseline, preintervention, and postintervention) using The Creative Curriculum Assessment (TCCA), a teacher-scored, 50-item instrument measuring students growth in 4 areas of development: social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language development. Children in 19 preschool classrooms in the Salt Lake City School District were divided into intervention and control group samples (n = 66 and n = 309, respectively; mean age = 3.6 y). The intervention classes were specifically selected to target children of lower socioeconomic and ethnic minority backgrounds. Overall, there is compelling evidence of the efficacy of the EHS program in increasing total psychosocial development and each of the 4 development areas measured by the TCCA: the results of a series of analyses of covariance found a strong, consistent pattern of large, significant differences on the development measures favoring preschool children who received the EHS program over those in the control group.

Este trabajo informa los resultados de un estudio de evaluación de la eficacia del programa Early Heartsmarts (EHS) en las escuelas del Distrito Escolar de Salt Lake City, Utah. El programa EHS está diseñado para orientar a los maestros respecto de métodos de asistencia a niños pequeños (entre 3 y 6 años de edad) en el aprendizaje de técnicas de autorregulación emocional y competencias socioemocionales fundamentales, adecuadas para su edad, con el fin de favorecer su desarrollo emocional, social y cognitivo. Este estudio se realizó durante un año escolar, conforme un diseño de investigación de campo cuasi experimental y longitudinal, diseñada con tres puntos de medición (punto de partida, intervención previa e intervención posterior), en la que se utilizó una Evaluación del Currículo Creativo (TCCA, por sus siglas en inglés), un instrumento calificado por el maestro de 50 puntos para medir el crecimiento de los estudiantes en 4 áreas del desarrollo: social y emocional, físico, cognitivo y desarrollo del lenguaje. Los niños de los 19 salones de clase de nivel preescolar en el Distrito Escolar de Salt Lake City, se analizaron de manera fraccionada según muestras de intervención y de control de grupo (n=66 y n=309, respectivamente; edad promedio=3 a 6 años). Las clases de intervención fueron seleccionadas específicamente para examinar a niños de bajo nivel socioeconómico y pertenecientes a minorías étnicas. En general, existen pruebas convincentes de la eficacia del programa EHS para fomentar el desarrollo psicosocial total. Respecto de cada una de las 4 áreas de desarrollo que fueron medidas por la TCCA: los resultados de una serie de análisis de la covarianza mostraron un patrón sólido y consistente de diferencias notorias y significativas en las medidas de desarrollo que favorecen a los niños de preescolar que recibieron el programa EHS, respecto de aquellos del grupo de control.

MiRNA expression patterns predict survival in glioblastoma.

BACKGROUND: In order to define new prognostic subgroups in patients with glioblastoma a miRNA screen (> 1000 miRNAs) from paraffin tissues followed by a bio-mathematical analysis was performed. METHODS: 35 glioblastoma patients treated between 7/2005 - 8/2008 at a single institution with surgery and postoperative radio(chemo)therapy were included in this retrospective analysis. For microarray analysis the febit biochip "Geniom® Biochip MPEA homo-sapiens" was used. Total RNA was isolated from FFPE tissue sections and 1100 different miRNAs were analyzed. RESULTS: It was possible to define a distinct miRNA expression pattern allowing for a separation of distinct prognostic subgroups. The defined miRNA pattern was significantly associated with early death versus long-term survival (split at 450 days) (p = 0.01). The pattern and the prognostic power were both independent of the MGMT status. CONCLUSIONS: At present, this is the first dataset defining a prognostic role of miRNA expression patterns in patients with glioblastoma. Having defined such a pattern, a prospective validation of this observation is required.

Assessing cancer risks of low-dose radiation.

Ionizing radiation is considered a non-threshold carcinogen. However, quantifying the risk of the more commonly encountered low and/or protracted radiation exposures remains problematic and subject to uncertainty. Therefore, a major challenge lies in providing a sound mechanistic understanding of low-dose radiation carcinogenesis. This Perspective article considers whether differences exist between the effects mediated by high- and low-dose radiation exposure and how this affects the assessment of low-dose cancer risk.