Effects of tai chi chuan on anxiety and sleep quality in young adults: lessons from a randomized controlled feasibility study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine feasibility and estimate the effect of a 10-week tai chi chuan (TCC) intervention on anxiety and sleep quality in young adults. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-five adults (18-40 years) from a predominately undergraduate midsized university. METHODS: This was an assessor blinded, randomized feasibility trial, and participants were randomized into one of three groups: 10 weeks of TCC meeting 2 times per week, 10 weeks of TCC with a DVD of the curriculum, and control group receiving a handout on anxiety management. Anxiety and sleep quality were assessed 4 times: baseline, 4 weeks, 10 weeks (immediate post-intervention), and 2 months post-intervention. Retention was defined as a participant attending the baseline assessment and at least one other assessment. Adherence to the intervention was set a priori as attendance at 80% of the TCC classes. RESULTS: Eighty-five percent of participants were retained during the intervention and 70% completed the 2 month follow-up assessments. To increase statistical power, the two TCC groups were combined in the analyses of anxiety and sleep quality measures. No significant changes in anxiety were found in the control group, while levels of anxiety decreased significantly over time in the two TCC groups. Sleep quality scores improved across time for all three groups, but adherent TCC participants reported greater improvement than control participants. CONCLUSION: TCC may be an effective nonpharmaceutical means of improving anxiety and poor sleep quality in young adults.

Scenarios involving future climate and water extraction: ecosystem states in the estuary of Australia's largest river.

Management of natural resources, particularly water, increasingly requires that likely benefits of particular actions (e.g., allocating an environmental flow) are quantified in advance. Therefore, new techniques are required that enable those potential benefits to be objectively compared among competing options for management (e.g., compared to a "do nothing" scenario). Scenario modeling is one method for developing such an objective comparison. We used existing hydrologic, hydrodynamic, and ecosystem response models for a case study location, the Coorong, an inverse estuary in South Australia, to illustrate the potential for such scenario modeling to inform natural resource management. We modeled a set of 12 scenarios that included different levels of water extraction, potential future climate change, and sea-level change, thereby enabling a comparison of the different drivers of possible future reductions in water availability in the Coorong. We discovered that potential future climate change combined with current extraction levels has the capacity to devastate the ecology of the Coorong, but also that much of the degradation could be averted by reducing upstream extractions of water. The inclusion of possible sea-level change had a surprising effect, whereby higher sea levels increased hydrodynamic connectivity between the Coorong's two lagoons. Increased hydrodynamic connectivity limited the occurrence of extremely low water levels and high salinities due to evapoconcentration that were simulated for dry future climates in the absence of sea-level rise. These findings strongly suggest that future ecological degradation in the Coorong is not a foregone conclusion, and that management decisions regarding water allocations upstream will determine the ecological future of this coastal lagoon.

Pilates, Mindfulness and Somatic Education.

The Pilates Method is a form of somatic education with the potential to cultivate mindfulness - a mental quality associated with overall well-being. However, controlled studies are needed to determine whether changes in mindfulness are specific to the Pilates Method or also result from other forms of exercise. This quasi-experimental study compared Pilates Method mat classes and recreational exercise classes on measures of mindfulness and well-being at the beginning, middle and end of a 15 week semester. Total mindfulness scores increased overall for the Pilates Method group but not for the exercise control group, and these increases were directly related to end of semester ratings of self-regulatory self-efficacy, perceived stress and mood. Findings suggest that the Pilates Method specifically enhances mindfulness, and these increases are associated with other measures of wellness. The changes in mindfulness identified in this study support the role of the Pilates Method in the mental well-being of its practitioners and its potential to support dancers' overall well-being.

Developing mindfulness in college students through movement-based courses: effects on self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, stress, and sleep quality.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether mindfulness increased through participation in movement-based courses and whether changes in self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, and perceived stress mediated the relationship between increased mindfulness and better sleep. PARTICIPANTS: 166 college students enrolled in the 2007-2008 academic year in 15 week classes in Pilates, Taiji quan, or GYROKINESIS. METHODS: At beginning, middle, and end of the semester, participants completed measures of mindfulness, self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, perceived stress, and sleep quality. RESULTS: Total mindfulness scores and mindfulness subscales increased overall. Greater changes in mindfulness were directly related to better sleep quality at the end of the semester after adjusting for sleep disturbance at the beginning. Tiredness, Negative Arousal, Relaxation, and Perceived Stress mediated the effect of increased mindfulness on improved sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Movement-based courses can increase mindfulness. Increased mindfulness accounts for changes in mood and perceived stress, which explain, in part, improved sleep quality.

'Not of this world': the subjective experience of late-onset psychosis.

OBJECTIVES: Psychosis with first onset after the age of 60 arising in the absence of dementia or primary affective disorder is thought to affect 2-4% of older people. Up to half will not respond fully to medication.The subjective experience of living with late-onset psychosis (LOP) has not yet been considered and this study represents a preliminary attempt to explore the subjective experience and psychological features of older people living with LOP. METHOD: The study was conducted in Ireland. Seven participants between the ages of 67 and 87 years who met diagnostic criteria for very late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Participants spoke about previous life experiences as well as the experience of developing and living with LOP. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to identify common themes within their accounts. RESULTS: Four themes emerged which reflected participants' subjective experiences of earlier life stages as well as their current experiences of LOP. Three interrelated themes described participants' experiences of social isolation, a solitary coping style and the experience of the self as 'different'. A final theme reflected participants' attempts to explain and find meaning in their psychotic experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the view that the experience of LOP emerges in the context of psychosocial vulnerabilities combined with adversities associated with the experience of ageing.