Evolving Conceptions of Mindfulness in Clinical Settings

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Carmody

A number of issues important to the clinical utility of mindfulness require systematic study. These include the most parsimonious definition of mindfulness for clinical purposes, how mindfulness is best described to be most approachable to patients, and the extent to which mindfulness shares common mechanisms with other mind–body programs. The discussion includes a brief review of the transition of mindfulness from traditional into clinical settings as well as the components commonly contained within clinical descriptions of mindfulness. A model based on facility in the use of attention is proposed, and a description of mechanisms by which attentional skill may lead to the recognition of internal associational processes and account for psychological outcomes is given. Using constructs already familiar to patients, an attention-based conception may also be more accessible to patients than more elaborate descriptions and have greater utility in identifying commonalities that mindfulness training may have with other mind–body programs.

Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (24) ◽  
pp. e2577-e2580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nedelina Slavova ◽  
Niklaus Denier ◽  
Marwan El-Koussy ◽  
Roland Wiest ◽  
Frauke Kellner-Weldon ◽  
...  

ObjectiveThis case series describes and discusses the potential clinical utility of a prominent vein (index vein) found on susceptibility-weighted MRI during migraine aura that drains the cortical area responsible for patients' symptoms.MethodsSix patients with acute migraine aura had a prominent draining sulcal vein on emergency MRI done initially for suspected stroke. The location of the prominent vein was correlated to patients' symptoms, and the diameter was compared to the corresponding contralateral vein.ResultsIn our patients with typical migraine aura, an accentuated sulcal vein pointed towards the cortical area correlating with the clinical presentation. Such an index vein outstands the ipsilateral area of hypoperfusion and exceeds the corresponding contralateral vessel in diameter by a factor 2.0 ± 1.6 (mean ± SD).ConclusionThis case series provides a definition of an index vein in MRI pointing to the area where the patients' symptoms originate. Although confirmation in a larger systematic study is necessary, the presence of such an index vein might support that, in patients with an acute neurologic deficit, migraine aura is the underlying etiology.


Author(s):  
Eduardo Sánchez-Sánchez ◽  
Ylenia Avellaneda-López ◽  
Esperanza García-Marín ◽  
Guillermo Ramírez-Vargas ◽  
Jara Díaz-Jimenez ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to determine healthcare providers’ knowledge and practices about dysphagia. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out based on a self-administered and anonymous questionnaire addressed to healthcare providers in Spain. A total of 396 healthcare providers participated in the study. Of these, 62.3% knew the definition of dysphagia as a swallowing disorder. In addition, up to 39.2% of the participants reported that they did not know whether the EatingAssessmentTool (EAT-10) dysphagia screening test was usedin their own clinical settings. Similarly, up to 49.1% of them did not know the ClinicalExaminationVolume-Viscosity (MECV-V) method. Nearly all participants (98.8%) reported that thickeners must be used forall liquids administered to patients. A higher percentage of respondents based the choice of texture on patient’s tolerance (78.2%) rather than on the MECV-V result (17.3%). In addition,76.4% of the professionals had witnessed a bronchoaspiration; after it, 44.4% (n = 175) of them reported the appearance of pneumonia, and 14.5% (n = 57) the death of the patient (p = 0.005). The participants revealeda moderate/low knowledge ofthe definition, diagnosis, and clinical management of liquid dysphagia, which indicates some room for improvements.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Angel Orellana Postigo ◽  
José Reinaldo Silva

Microgrid is a technically and economically viable opportunity to meet the demands of populations that, for various reasons, do not have access to electricity. The complexity of Smart Grid (SG) systems requires considerable engineering effort in the design process. Designing this type of complex system requires new approaches, methods, concepts and engineering tools. Where, requirements analysis plays a major role in better characterizing, understanding and specifying the domain of application that SG systems should solve. This work presents a systemic proposal based specifically on System Systems (SoS) which anticipates the formalization of requirements, aiming to understand, analyze and design SG within the scope of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). The definition of a microgrid from the SoS perspective is presented in order to provide a complete view of its life cycle. Requirements would be represented in an Objective Oriented  Requirements Engineering (GORE) approach, specifically using visual diagrams based on the Keep All  Objectives Satisfied (KAOS) method, where network operation and control will be formally represented. A case  study for small communities in the equatorial Amazon forest is used as a case study for the proposed method.


Author(s):  
Yuqing Li ◽  
Xing He ◽  
Dawen Xia

Chaotic maps with higher chaotic complexity are urgently needed in many application scenarios. This paper proposes a chaotification model based on sine and cosecant functions (CMSC) to improve the dynamic properties of existing chaotic maps. CMSC can generate a new map with higher chaotic complexity by using the existing one-dimensional (1D) chaotic map as a seed map. To discuss the performance of CMSC, the chaos properties of CMSC are analyzed based on the mathematical definition of the Lyapunov exponent (LE). Then, three new maps are generated by applying three classical 1D chaotic maps to CMSC respectively, and the dynamic behaviors of the new maps are analyzed in terms of fixed point, bifurcation diagram, sample entropy (SE), etc. The results of the analysis demonstrate that the new maps have a larger chaotic region and excellent chaotic characteristics.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Giovanni Carta ◽  
Antonio Preti

Adjustment disorder is a condition of subjective emotional distress triggered as a consequence of a meaningful change in life. The diagnosis of adjustment disorder is hindered by the difficult operational definition of stress and of its related concept of “vulnerability,” by the problem of disentangling symptoms of adjustment disorder from those attributable to comorbid anxiety and mood disorders, and by the poor boundaries of the disorder with other stress-related conditions on the one hand and with common adaptation to life events on the other. Despite the high frequency of its diagnosis in clinical settings, there has been relatively little research on the adjustment disorder and, consequently, very few hints about its treatments. Several psychotherapies have been developed to deal with patients diagnosed with adjustment disorder, with inconclusive evidence on their effectiveness. Antidepressants may abate the symptoms and help patients reacquire occupational and social functioning. The medium-term outcome of adjustment disorder is good, with 70 to 80% of those diagnosed with it showing no evidence of psychopathology when reassessed 5 years from the episode. However, when comorbid with a personality disorder or a substance use disorder, the short-term risk of suicide may be increased. The long-term outcome of adjustment disorder seems to be worse in children and adolescents than in adults. In particular, adolescents diagnosed with adjustment disorder were more likely than adults to have received a diagnosis of a severe mental disorder at the 5-year follow-up, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder. This review contains 1 figure, 6 tables, and 52 references. Key words: adaptation, adjustment disorder, anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, treatment, vulnerability


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louisa G Sylvia ◽  
Mitchell R Lunn ◽  
Juno Obedin-Maliver ◽  
Robert N McBurney ◽  
W Benjamin Nowell ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Mindfulness can improve overall well-being by training individuals to focus on the present moment without judging their thoughts. However, it is unknown how much mindfulness practice and training are necessary to improve well-being. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare standard with brief mindfulness training to improve overall well-being. METHODS Participants were recruited from 17 Patient-Powered Research Networks, online communities of stakeholders interested in a common area of research. Participants were randomized to either a standard 8-session mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) or a brief 3-session mindfulness training intervention accessed online. Participants were followed for 12 weeks. The primary outcome of the study was well-being as measured by the World Health Organization (WHO)-5 Index. We hypothesized that MBCT would be superior to brief mindfulness training. RESULTS We randomized 4,411 participants, 88% of whom were white and 80% female sex assigned at birth. Baseline WHO-5 score mean was 50.3 (SD = 20.7). Average self-reported well-being in each group increased over the intervention period (baseline to 8 weeks) (model-based slope [95% CI] for MBCT group: 0.78 [0.63, 0.93]; brief mindfulness group: 0.76 [0.60, 0.91]) as well as the full study period (i.e., intervention plus follow-up; baseline to 20 weeks) (model-based slope [95% CI] for MBCT group: 0.41 [0.34, 0.48]; brief mindfulness group: 0.33 [0.26, 0.40]). Change in self-reported well-being was not statistically significantly different between MBCT and brief mindfulness during the intervention period (model-based difference in slopes [95% CI]: -0.02 [-0.24, 0.19], P = .80) or during the intervention period plus 12-week follow-up (-0.08 [-0.18, 0.02], P = .10). During the intervention period, younger participants (P = .05) and participants who completed a higher percentage of intervention sessions (P = .005) experienced greater improvements in well-being across both interventions, effects that were stronger for participants in the MBCT condition. CONCLUSIONS Standard MBCT improved well-being but was not superior to a brief mindfulness intervention. Younger patients and those able to complete more training sessions improved the most. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03844321, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03844321


2021 ◽  
pp. 182-203
Author(s):  
R. Andrew Lee

“Cultivating Learning Agility Through Mindfulness Training: A Framework and Recommendations” reviews the research related to the role of mindfulness in enhancing learning agility and presents a model to guide future research and applications. It begins by presenting a definition of mindfulness as characterized by three qualities: a focus on present moment experience, an attitude of receptiveness and curiosity, and an emergent capacity for metacognition. It then outlines a process model for learning agility; the model consists of five factors: mindset, awareness, action, integration, and application. This model is then used as a framework to summarize the research linking mindfulness and learning agility. Finally, recommendations are presented for implementing mindfulness training to enhance learning agility.


Author(s):  
Paula Estrella ◽  
Nikos Tsourakis

When it comes to the evaluation of natural language systems, it is well acknowledged that there is a lack of common evaluation methodologies, making the fair comparison of such systems a difficult task. Many attempts to standardize this process have used a quality model based on the ISO/IEC 9126 standards. The authors have also used these standards for the definition of a weighted quality model for the evaluation of a medical speech translator, showing the relative importance of the system's features depending on the potential user (patient or doctor, developer). More recently, ISO/IEC 9126 has been replaced by a new series of standards, the 25000 or SQuaRE series, indicating that the model should be migrated to the new series in order to maintain compliance adherence to current standards. This chapter demonstrates how to migrate from ISO/IEC 9126 to ISO 25000 by using the authors' previous work as a use case.


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