Mindfulness at school reduces (likelihood of) depression-related symptoms in adolescents

Mar. 15, 2013 ? Secondary school students who follow an in-class mindfulness programme report reduced indications of depression, anxiety and stress up to six months later. Moreover, these students were less likely to develop pronounced depression-like symptoms. The study, conducted by Professor Filip Raes (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven), is the first to examine mindfulness in a large sample of adolescents in a school-based setting.

Mindfulness is a form of meditation therapy focused on exercising 'attentiveness'. Depression is often rooted in a downward spiral of negative feelings and worries. Once a person learns to more quickly recognise these feelings and thoughts, he or she can intervene before depression sinks in.

While mindfulness has already been widely tested and applied in patients with depression, this is the first time the method has been studied in a large group of adolescents in a school-based setting, using a randomised controlled design. The study was carried out at five middle schools in Flanders, Belgium. About 400 students between the ages of 13 and 20 took part. The students were divided into a test group and a control group. The test group received mindfulness training, and the control group received no training. Before the study, both groups completed a questionnaire with questions indicative of depression, stress or anxiety symptoms. Both groups completed the questionnaire again directly after the training, and then a third time six months later.

Before the start of the training, both the test group (21%) and the control group (24%) had a similar percentage of students reporting evidence of depression. After the mindfulness training, that number was significantly lower in the test group: 15% versus 27% in the control group. This difference persisted six months after the training: 16% of the test group versus 31% of the control group reported evidence of depression. The results suggest that mindfulness can lead to a decrease in symptoms associated with depression and, moreover, that it protects against the later development of depression-like symptoms.

The study was carried out in cooperation with the Belgian not-for-profit Mindfulness and with support from the Go for Happiness Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by KU Leuven, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. Filip Raes, James W. Griffith, Katleen Gucht, J. Mark G. Williams. School-Based Prevention and Reduction of Depression in Adolescents: a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of a Mindfulness Group Program. Mindfulness, 2013; DOI: 10.1007/s12671-013-0202-1

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/kyGQJdoL4zM/130315095916.htm

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Master P Says There's No Limit To Louie V Mob With Alley Boy

'I feel there's no other artist on the street hotter than him, making the type of music he makes,' he tells MTV News of Alley Boy.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by FLX

Alley Boy and Master P
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1703791/master-p-alley-boy-louie-v-mob-no-limit.jhtml

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Penelope Cruz Flaunts Her Baby Bump in Skimpy Bikini!

Penelope Cruz is putting her baby belly on display! Plus, check out more pics of your favorite stars on the scene!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/star-snapshots-celebrity-photo-gallery-2012/1-b-450006?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Astar-snapshots-celebrity-photo-gallery-2012-450006

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Westinghouse UW40T2BW

Not long ago, if $500 was all you had in your HDTV spending budget, you likely ended up with a 27- or 32-inch set that maxed out at 720p resolution and looked like, well, a cheap TV?and it probably performed like one. These days, that same $500 gets you into a 40- or 42-inch model that offers full 1080p HD, LED backlighting, and in some cases, 120Hz refresh technology. Westinghouse's UW40T2BW{ offers LED-backlit LCD HDTVs that deliver a good picture and can handle fast-moving video. The 40-inch screen is avalable for $499.99 (list), and while it comes with some color and tinting issues, it has a powerful set of speakers for under half a grand.

Design
The UW40T2BW?offers a simple, yet attractive, cabinet design. It has very thin (0.75-inch) matte black, lightly textured top and side bezels, and a wider (1.5-inch) bottom bezel adorned with a Westinghouse logo. The cabinet measures 2.3 inches at its thickest point and weighs 27 pounds. In addition to the 40-inch panel, it houses two down-firing 10-watt speakers that are loud and powerful. The TV comes with a rectangular, no-swivel stand and has the requisite four VESA mounting holes for placement on a wall.

Touch-sensitive Menu, Input, Volume, Channel, and Power buttons sit on the right side of the lower bezel. The on-screen menu system is well-organized and includes Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness, Color Temperature, and Hue adjustments. There are five preset picture modes (Showroom, Movie, Game, Sports, and Custom), and a handful of audio options. In addition to Bass, Treble, and Balance settings there are five audio presets (Rock, Pop, Classical, Flat, and Custom) and a Surround 3D setting. The surround effect doesn't come close to the output of a true multi-channel speaker setup, but it does give the TV a fuller-than-typical sound.

As with the 42-inch RCA LED42C45RQ, the UW40T2BW only has two HDMI ports. The same-size Insignia NS-42E480A13, on the other hand, gives you three. Both of the Westinghouse's HDMI ports are at the rear of the cabinet and face downward, making them difficult to access without tilting the TV all the way forward. They are joined by a USB port and an SPDIF audio jack. Right-facing ports include composite A/V, VGA and PC audio (analog) inputs, stereo audio outputs, and an antenna/cable coaxial jack.

The included remote is 7 inches long and contains 38 smallish buttons and a four-way arrow array. None of the buttons are backlit and there's no dedicated Picture Mode button, but it does have a button that toggles between Bright Room, Medium Room, and Dark Room backlighting settings.

Performance
In testing, the UW40T2BW's fast motion prowess was impressive; the 120Hz panel provided a smooth, stutter-free picture while watching 2012 on Blu-ray, a slight improvement in motion over the Editors' Choice (but 60Hz) RCA LED42C45RQ. Its contrast ratio, as measured with a Klein K10-A Colorimeter, was the lowest of the sub-$500 HDTVs we've recently tested, coming in at just 1,514:1. Image quality was aided some by a respectable 0.07 cd/m² black level, which helped give the overall picture a bit of much-needed pop. The RCA's black level was an inferior 0.18 cd/m², but its much brighter panel produced a contrast ratio of 1,796:1.

Color accuracy isn't good, as seen in the CIE color comparison chart below (the circles represent the measured readings, and the squares represent the ideal measurements). Red, green, and blue levels were all oversaturated, but the heavy greens had the most impact, causing tinting in skin tones and highlights. For example, in the movie Piranha, Elisabeth Shue's blond hair showed a noticeable green tinge around the edges.

The set offers relatively wide viewing angles for an LCD set. Colors remained mostly intact when viewed from the sides and the picture didn't lose luminance like it did with the Insignia NS-42E480A13. Reds appeared slightly lighter when viewed from an extreme side angle though.

The UW40T2BW used 53 watts of power during testing, which is average for a 40-inch LED backlit HDTV. The 42-inch RCA LED42C45RQ and Insignia NS42E480A13 consumed 67 watts and 64 watts, respectively.

Conclusion
If you're looking for a sub-$500 40-inch HDTV that has a 120Hz panel and is capable of displaying 1080p video, the Westinghouse UW40T2BW fits the bill. ?It could use some tweaking to correct its color accuracy issues, but still delivers a reasonably good picture, good motion handling, and respectable viewing angle performance. Still, our Editors' Choice for budget HDTVs, the RCA LED42C45RQ is a better deal, offering a 42-inch screen and a better all-around picture for $50 less.

More HDTV Reviews:
??? Westinghouse UW40T2BW
??? Insignia NS-42E480A13
??? TCL LE40FHDE3000
??? RCA LED42C45RQ
??? Samsung PN60E7000FF
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/gBig2zug2CU/0,2817,2416142,00.asp

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Cancer and cooking: How my low carb diet is helping me to fight this ...

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Source: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/14/cancer-and-cooking-how-my-low-carb-diet-is-helping-me-to-fight-this-disease/

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Length of DNA strands can predict life expectancy

Mar. 9, 2013 ? Can the length of strands of DNA in patients with heart disease predict their life expectancy? Researchers from the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, who studied the DNA of more that 3,500 patients with heart disease, say yes it can.

In the new study, presented Saturday, March 9, at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session in San Francisco, the researchers were able to predict survival rates among patients with heart disease based on the length of strands of DNA found on the ends of chromosomes known as telomeres -- the longer the patient's telomeres, the greater the chance of living a longer life.

The study is one of 17 studies from the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center that are being presented at the scientific session, which is being attended by thousands of cardiologists and heart experts from around the world.

Previous research has shown that telomere length can be used as a measure of age, but these expanded findings suggest that telomere length may also predict the life expectancy of patients with heart disease.

Telomeres protect the ends of chromosome from becoming damaged. As people get older, their telomeres get shorter until the cell is no longer able to divide. Shortened telomeres are associated with age-related diseases such as heart disease or cancer, as well as exposure to oxidative damage from stress, smoking, air pollution, or conditions that accelerate biologic aging.

"Chromosomes by their nature get shorter as we get older," said John Carlquist, PhD, director of the Intermountain Heart Institute Genetics Lab. "Once they become too short, they no longer function properly, signaling the end of life for the cell. And when cells reach this stage, the patient's risk for age-associated diseases increases dramatically."

Dr. Carlquist and his colleagues from the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center tested the DNA samples from more than 3,500 heart attack and stroke patients.

"Our research shows that if we statistically adjust for age, patients with longer telomeres live longer, suggesting that telomere length is more than just a measure of age, but may also indicate the probability for survival. Longer telomere length directly correlate with the likelihood for a longer life -- even for patients with heart disease," said Dr. Carlquist.

Dr. Carlquist and his colleagues from the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center drew on two unique resources that offer unparalleled opportunity for researchers to study the effects of telomere length and survival rates of heart patients:

• An archive of peripheral blood DNA samples collected from almost 30,000 heart patients, with as much as 20 years of follow-up clinical and survival data. This is stored in Intermountain Healthcare's computerized medical informatics record system.

"With so many samples and very complete electronic records, it's a unique resource," said Dr. Carlquist. "It's unmatched in the world, and it allows us to measure the rate of change in the length of a patient's telomeres over time rather than just a snapshot in time, which is typical for most studies."

• The opportunity to work with experts from around the world, including Richard Cawthon, MD, PhD, who's an international expert on telomere measurement and function.

"I believe telomere length could be used in the future as a way to measure the effectiveness of heart care treatment," said Dr. Carlquist. "We can already test cholesterol and blood pressure of a patient to see how treatment is working, but this could give us a deeper view into how the treatment is affecting the body and whether or not the treatment is working."

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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/VwVtxCY5cow/130310164232.htm

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Come Dine With Cabot Circus: March 18th-22nd 2013 | Bristol Bites

?

Cabot Circus will launch its first ever ?Come Dine with Cabot? week in March ? giving foodies the chance to dine in style at many of its restaurants and cafes from just ?10.

Taking place from Monday 18 ? Friday 22 March, visitors will be able to enjoy a delicious set-price lunch or dinner at 15 of Cabot Circus? eateries, with many also including a glass of wine or drink as part of the offer.

Raymond Blanc?s Brasserie Blanc is one of those taking part, offering a starter and main course from its classic French set menu for ?10. Italian food fans will have plenty to choose from, with Carluccio?s, Piccolino and Bella Italia all tempting diners with special set menus. Or if you?re looking for somewhere with a bit of buzz, Yo Sushi!, Giraffe and Caf? Rouge are also taking part in the promotion.

Fans of deli delights and all things sweet will be drawn to Chandos Deli and Patisserie Valerie, where delicious platters and gorgeous puddings will take centre stage.

Kevin Duffy, Cabot Circus Centre Director, commented: ?Whether you?re meeting friends for lunch, treating your partner or having dinner with colleagues, Cabot Circus has a fantastic restaurant offer with some of the best chefs and venues in the city. Come Dine with Cabot gives us an opportunity to showcase our vibrant food and drink scene and offers customers a great value dining experience, and the perfect excuse to try something new.?

Cabot Circus features a mix of fine dining, family restaurants and caf?s clustered around two main areas ? Quakers Friars and a restaurant terrace overlooking Cabot Circus. They include Brassiere Blanc, Harvey Nichols Restaurant & Bar, Carluccio?s and Piccolino and a wide range of popular names such as Zizzi, Caf? Rouge, La Tasca, Giraffe, Tampopo and Yo Sushi!

?Come Dine with Cabot? will offer five days of fine dining, from just ?10 per person, from 18 ? 22 March. For a full list of participating restaurants and menus, visit www.cabotcircus.com.

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Source: http://www.bristolbites.co.uk/2013/03/09/come-dine-with-cabot-circus-march-18th-22nd-2013/

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