Well-being: Strengthening and Broadening a Key Psychological Construct.

Park et al.'s (2022) goal of bringing conceptual clarity to the study of psychological aspects of well-being is a good one. We consider their work in terms of its implications for moving towards an understanding of well-being that reflects the full spectrum of human experience, especially the experience of people who remain underrepresented, and poorly accounted for, in psychological science. In our view, there is reason to think that strengthening existing frameworks and broadening in terms of methodologies will be most productive for developing a comprehensive and inclusive understanding of well-being. We describe the distinct strength of the subjective well-being (SWB) construct for this purpose and offer two empirical examples that highlight the value of multiple measures and methods for understanding well-being. We suggest that continued use of the SWB measure, combined with state-of-the-art emotion measurement, and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies be recommended as the way forward.

The influence of mindfulness and social support on stress reactivity during pregnancy.

Exaggerated stress reactivity can lead to negative health outcomes, which can be especially harmful during important periods of development such as pregnancy. Therefore, studies are needed to examine potential protective factors associated with lower perceived stress reactivity and lower cortisol awakening response (CAR) during pregnancy. The current cross-sectional study examined whether low-income women (n = 152) with higher mindfulness (attentiveness and awareness of the present moment) and more perceived social support had lower levels of perceived stress reactivity and a lower CAR during pregnancy. Women completed self-report measures of mindfulness (Mindful Attention Awareness Scale), social support (Medical Outcomes Study-Social Support Scale), and perceived stress reactivity (Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale) during their first trimester of pregnancy and collected saliva using the passive drool procedure at home (at awakening and at 30 min after awakening). Results showed that women with greater mindfulness and greater perceived social support had significantly lower perceived stress reactivity, but not a lower CAR. These results provide preliminary support for mindfulness and social support as potential protective factors of perceived stress reactivity and have implications for experimental studies aimed at improving pregnant women's mindfulness and social support for reducing their stress reactivity and potentially improving health outcomes.

Applied genomic in cerebrovascular disease / Genómica funcional en la enfermedad vascular cerebral

Abstract Cerebrovascular disease involve the alterations caused by pathology process of the sanguineous vessels, affecting one or many brain areas. Cerebrovascular disease is also known like stroke or ictus; it is the third cause of death around the world and is the neurologic pathology with the most prevalence rate. Cerebrovascular disease induces several changes in genetic expression inside the neurovascular unit (glia cells, neurons and ependymal cells); principally, changes in the oxidative stress and calcium inflow into the cells, this could start cellular death and tissue destruction, causing an irreversible injury in brain, losing several functions. The injury causes the activation of signaling pathways to respond to the stress, where many molecules such as proteins and mRNA are involved to act as intermediaries to activate or deactivate stress mechanisms; these molecules are able to transmit extracellular signals into the nucleus activating early gene expression like proto-oncogenes and several transcription factors to repair the cerebral injury. It is important to know the relation of the changes in genetic expression and proteins to avoid the development of injury and to activate the brain recovery. This knowledge let us diagnose the injury rate and propose therapeutic mechanisms to reduce or avoid the adverse effects on time, before the cellular death start.

Resumen Las enfermedades cerebrovasculars implican las alteraciones causadas por el proceso patológico de los vasos sanguíneos, que afectan a una o varias áreas del cerebro. La enfermedad cerebro-vascular también se conoce como ictus o ictus; Es la tercera causa de muerte en todo el mundo y es la patología neurológica con mayor tasa de prevalencia. La enfermedad cerebrovascular induce varios cambios en la expresión genética dentro de la unidad neurovascular (células gliales, neuronas y células ependimales); Principalmente, los cambios en el estrés oxidativo y la entrada de calcio en las células, podrían iniciar la muerte celular y la destrucción del tejido, causando una lesión irreversible en el cerebro, perdiendo varias funciones. La lesión hace que la activación de las vías de señalización responda al estrés, donde muchas moléculas, como las proteínas y el ARNm, actúan como intermediarios para activar o desactivar los mecanismos de estrés; estas moléculas son capaces de transmitir señales extracelulares en el núcleo activando la expresión génica temprana como protooncogenes y varios factores de transcripción para reparar la lesión cerebral. Es importante conocer la relación de los cambios en la expresión genética y las proteínas para evitar el desarrollo de lesiones y activar la recuperación del cerebro. Este conocimiento nos permite diagnosticar la tasa de lesiones y proponer mecanismos terapéuticos para reducir o evitar los efectos adversos a tiempo, antes de que comience la muerte celular.