http://localhost:1111/xmlui The CRFDL repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material. http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/930 Challenges for future energy usage Rebhan, E. In the last 2000 years the world’s population and the worldwide total energy consumption have been continuously increasing, at a rate even greater than exponential. By now a situation has been reached in which energy resources are running short, which for a long time have been treated as though they were almost inexhaustible. The ongoing growth of the world’s population and a growing hunger for energy in underdeveloped and emerging countries imply that the yearly overall energy consumption will continue to grow, by about 1.6 percent every year so that it would have doubled by 2050. This massive energy consumption has led to and is progressively leading to severe changes in our environment and is threatening a climatic state that, for the last 10 000 years, has been unusually benign. The coincidence of the shortage of conventional energy resources with the hazards of an impending climate change is a dangerous threat to the well-being of all, but it is also a challenging opportunity for improvements in our energy usage. On a global scale, conventional methods such as the burning of coal, gas and oil or the use of nuclear fission will still dominate for some time. In their case, the challenge consists in making them more efficient and environmentally benign, and using them only where and when it is unavoidable. Alternative energies must be expanded and economically improved. Among these, promising techniques such as solar thermal and geothermal energy production should be promoted from a shadow existence and further advanced. New technologies, for instance nuclear fusion or transmutation of radioactive nuclear waste, are also quite promising. Finally, a careful analysis of the national and global energy flow systems and intelligent energy management, with emphasis on efficiency, overall effectiveness and sustainability, will acquire increasing importance. Thereby, economic viability, political and legal issues as well as moral aspects such as fairness to disadvantaged countries Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/929 Stress Reduction through Mindfulness Meditation: Effects on Psychological Symptomatology, Sense of Control, and Spiritual Experiences Astin, John A. Background:This study examined the effects of an 8-week stress reduction Program based on training in mindfulness meditation. Previous research efforts suggesting this program may be beneficial in terms of reducing stress- related symptomatology and helping patients cope with chronic pain have Been limited by a lack of adequate comparison control groups. Methods: Twenty-eight individuals who volunteered to participate in the present study Were randomized into either an experimental group or an onintervention con- troll group. Results: Following participation, experimental subjects, when compared with controls, evidenced significantly greater changes in terms of: (1)reductions in overall psychological symptomatology; (2) increases in over- all domain-specific sense of control and utilization of an accepting or yielding mode of control in their lives, and (3) higher scores on a measure of spiritual experiences. Conclusions: The techniques of mindfulness meditation, with their emphasis on developing detached observation and awareness of the con- tents of consciousness, may represent a powerful cognitive behavioral. coping strategy for transforming the ways in which we respond to life events. They may also have potential for relapse prevention in affective disorders. Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/928 Delirium Burns, A. Gallagley, A. Byrne, J. Delirium is a common cause of mortality and morbidity in older people in hospital, and indicates severe illness in younger patients. Identification of risk factors, education of professional carers, and a systematic approach to management can improve the outcome of the syndrome. Physicians should be aware that delirium sufferers often have an awareness of their experience, which may be belied by their varying grasp of reality. Mon, 01 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/927 Increased visual cortical excitability in ecstasy users: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study Oliveri, M. Calvo, G. Methods: Ecstasy users and control subjects underwent single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the occipital cortex. The phosphene threshold was analysed and compared in the two groups. Results: Phosphene thresholds were significantly lower in ecstasy users compared with control subjects, and were correlated negatively with frequency of ecstasy use. Frequency of use was positively correlated with the presence of visual hallucinations. The phosphene threshold of subjects with hallucinations was significantly lower than that of subjects without hallucinations. Conclusions: The use of ecstasy as a recreational drug is associated with an increased excitability of the visual cortex, possibly linked with massive serotonin release, followed by serotonin depletion, in this cortical area. Fri, 01 Aug 2003 00:00:00 GMT