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CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28-CRP, Disease Activity Score in 28 joints; DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; MBSR, mindfulness-based stress reduction; PGA, patient global assessment; VAS, visual analogue scale.

Although mindfulness has been generally linked to superior emotional functioning, several areas remain unclear. In extending prior work, the current report evaluated the link between trait mindfulness and physiological patterns of recovery from negative emotion and investigated possible associations between trait mindfulness and emotion differentiation. After completing a trait mindfulness measure, 80 healthy volunteers were block-randomized (matched on gender and relatively high versus relatively low trait mindfulness) to complete either emotional (EN) or neutral (NE) writing tasks first. In the EN order, participants wrote about an upsetting experience and, in the NE order, about the events of an average day. In partial support of expectation, relatively more mindful men showed greater physiological reactivity to an emotional task followed by superior recovery, but only in the EN order; supplementary analyses suggest that greater non-reactivity scores among males may be involved in the physiological regulation of emotional stress. As expected, relatively more versus relatively less mindful participants also differentiated more among discrete negative emotions but, again, only in the EN order. Taken together, findings offer preliminary evidence that the more differentiated emotional responding associated with aspects of trait mindfulness may facilitate more adaptive responding under stress and contribute to superior mental and physical health.

Although the current randomized controlled trial has previously reported an effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on improving disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the possible mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unknown. This report presents secondary analyses examining anxiety and depression as potential mediators of the effect of MBSR on changes in RA disease activity. Fifty-one RA patients were randomized to either MBSR or to a wait-list control group. Depression and anxiety (Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale) and RA disease activity (DAS28-CRP) were assessed at baseline (T1), post-treatment (T2), and at two (T3) and four (T4) months’ follow-up. Intention to treat (ITT) and per protocol (PP) analyses using multivariate analyses of variance showed that depression was lower in the MBSR than in the control group, post-treatment and at both follow-up time points. PP analyses suggested that anxiety was lower in the MBSR than in the control group post-treatment. In partial support of expectation, mediation analyses showed that a reduction in depression across the intervention (T2-T1) mediated the effect of MBSR on improvements in RA disease activity at both follow-up time points (T3-T1; T4-T1). This effect held across ITT and PP analyses. PP analyses also suggested an indirect effect of MBSR on RA disease activity via increased anxiety at T3, but not at T4. Together, findings suggest that improvements in depression (rather than anxiety) may mediate the effect of MBSR on RA disease activity. Screening for, and treating depression in RA with MBSR, may have downstream benefits for RA disease activity.

Introduction: This study investigates psychological distress and quality of life (QoL) amongst first year premedical and health science students. The primary aim of this study was to investigate potential differences in QoL and psychological distress between students who sought entry into a medicine programme when compared to those opting for a non-medicine career. Methods: We examined participant responses to measures of QoL, psychological distress, and course preference (medicine or other). A structural equation model was conducted to consider the interrelationships among future course preference, gender, QoL, depression, anxiety and stress. Results: Three hundred and sixty-five students completed the online survey. An a priori conceptual model was developed and then evaluated using a structural equation model. The values obtained for RMSEA (0.027), CFI (0.999), and SRMR (0.016) indicated an excellent model fit. The overall model fit statistic, chi-square (χ2 = 7.626, df=6, p= .267), confirmed a good model fit. Students aiming to enrol in medicine generated higher psychological health and environmental QoL scores compared to their non-medicine oriented peers. In addition, physical QoL and psychological health QoL scores significantly predicted psychological distress measures. Conclusion: The study raises a potential debate regarding placing students with mixed career intentions into the same course and the potential implications this may have on teaching in interprofessional and large student groups in relation to wellbeing, pedagogy, equity, and expenditure. The findings clearly indicated that medical students are not as adversely impacted upon in terms of QoL and psychological distress compared with their non-medical peers.

Harmonia dunlopi (Crotch), a rare lady beetle species, was originally described from 'India' by Crotch (1874). But information on subsequent sightings of this species is absent and it has not been reported by anyone from India and its neighbouring countries ever since its original description. Because of this, Indian records of H. dunlopi were suspected to be probably misidentifications of H. dimidiata (F.), a species common in northern and northeastern India and also widely distributed in the Oriental region. A single male specimen of a species collected in recent surveys from Arunachal Pradesh, India, was suspected to be H. dunlopi . Comparison of this specimen with the collections at the Natural History Museum, London, confirmed that it belonged to Harmonia manillana (Mulsant), hitherto known from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Harmonia manillana is a highly polymorphic species with many synonyms and based on examination of the type material, the following nomenclatural changes are proposed. Harmonia dunlopi was found to be only a color variant of H. manillana and hence it is reduced to a junior synonym of H. manillana ( syn. nov. ). Harmonia decussata (Crotch 1874) is removed from synonymy with H. manillana and reinstated as a valid species ( stat. rev. ) and H. flavomarginata Bielawski 1968 is a new junior synonym of H. decussata ( syn. nov. ). This is the first record of H. manillana for India and South Asia. The male genitalia of H. manillana are illustrated and compared with those of H. dimidiata , the more common Indian species, to facilitate its recognition.

At this university, a Biomedical Common Year 1 occurs prior to admission to the medical programme. Students achieving a minimum GPA of 6.0 are eligible for consideration for an admissions interview. The aim of this research was to assess the psycho-educational factors that underpin students’ intention to study medicine. The research question driving the research was, ‘If students have an interest in becoming a future doctor in their premedical course, does this relate to their levels of motivation, competitiveness, perceived stress, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and grade attainment?’ A total of 339 students (response rate = 25%) who completed a biosciences assessment filled in a survey that asked them to disclose their grade and to respond to a series of questionnaires, namely the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, World Health Organisation Quality Of Life questionnaire – New Zealand Version, Perceived Stress Scale, and Revised Competitiveness Index. The findings from the binary logistic regression indicated that several variables predicted students’ career intentions: grade achievement, Perceived Stress, Physical HRQOL, and Environmental HRQOL. Perceived Stress and Physical HRQOL were found to be influential variables that interacted with other variables reducing variability in the model and increasing its predictability. Students with an intention to become a doctor tend to attain higher grades and have better environmental HRQOL scores. Nonetheless, variable interactions suggested that those students with high levels of physical HRQOL and low levels of perceived stress have higher levels of enjoyment regarding competition, self-efficacy, and intrinsic value.

The principal concern of this book is to show how uncovering the history of legal development can serve as a control for the conclusions of tradition history. In this groundbreaking study, the author brings his own professional experience as a lawyer to bear upon questions of Jewish law and of Gospel criticism. Dr Booth first establishes redaction-critically and form-critically which elements of Mark 7.1-23 are to be assigned to Mark, which to the early church, and which to the probable legal disputes of Jesus with the Pharisees. Then he charts the history of the purity laws, determining which legal statements in the text are credible in the situation of AD 30. This methodologically original approach enables him to formulate telling criticisms of some current procedures and conclusions of traditio-historical and form-critical scholars.

\"We have a law …\": The Trials of Jesus of Nazareth

Early Jewish Law and University Education