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This project investigates the impact of Daoist Zhanzhuang (sometimes spelled as Chan Chuang) on human flourishing, and explores the physiological, psychological, and spiritual mechanisms. This study will be a two-arm randomized controlled trial, with mixed-methods and repeated-measures assessment of outcome variables. The two arms will include an active control condition (i.e., sham wall squat) and the Daoist Zhanzhuang condition. Outcome variables will include physiological measures of heart rate variability and inflammatory biomarkers, psychological scales of human flourishing variables, phenomenological interviews of mystical experiences, and daily ecological momentary assessment of human flourishing and mysticism. Randomly assigned into two conditions, 120 participants will complete a three-week intensive practice phase with 9 in-person sessions, followed by a nine-week self-guided practice phase with 4 in-person check-in sessions, and 3 follow-up practice and assessment sessions. Complete assessment (physiological measures, psychological scales, and phenomenological interviews) will be administered at five time points: T1 at about two weeks before the intervention, T2 at the end of the three-week intensive practice, T3 at the end of the 3-month intervention, T4 at the 6-month follow-up, and T5 at the 12-month follow-up. In addition, daily ecological momentary assessment of flourishing variables and practice-induced experiences will be administered daily after the practice for the entire 3-month intervention period.
The purpose of this prospective single-center, blinded\*, randomized, proof-of-concept study is to determine whether OnabotulinumtoxinA (BOTOX®) injections will change the level of stress perceived by generally healthy adult female participants. It is hypothesized that BOTOX® injections will be associated with decreases in perceived stress levels, measured by scores on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaire. The primary outcome measure is a chronological decrease in PSS scores between any two points of the study period. Comparison of the placebo- and BOTOX®-treated participant scores will either support or disprove the study hypothesis. Qualified participants who meet the study requirements, including a one-time completion of basic laboratory testing before treatment. The treatment visit starts on day-1 of a 12-week period, which consists a total of four clinic visits and one online visit, which involve: * vital signs and Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements * basic/interval history and physical * 2 Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaires * injection of 64 units of either BOTOX® or sterile salt solution * stay for 60-minutes after treatment for monitoring and to complete study tasks
Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFABs) are specialized United States Army units formed to train, advise, assist, enable and accompany operations with allied and partner nations. Security Force Assistance Brigades are composed of roughly 800 senior military personnel, primarily commissioned and non-commissioned officers selected from regular Army units across a wide range of military specialties. Because of the high operational tempo (OPTEMPO) of these units, individual resiliency is of utmost importance in maintaining readiness to successfully execute critical, high-stress missions. Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is an evidence-based intervention with strong potential to enhance resiliency by bolstering psychological flexibility along with other factors which have been demonstrated to optimize individual and group performance. This project will compare an Acceptance and Commitment Training-based resiliency-enhancement training program as compared to training as usual in 600 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigades soldiers stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. Assessment measures related to resilience will be administered before and after training as well as before and after deployment. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, and every 4 months thereafter for a total of 16-months.
Chronic widespread pain (CWP) is a common chronic pain condition in youth and often associated with significant pain-related and psychosocial impairment. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms that may underlie pediatric chronic pain and pain-related impairment can inform future treatments to ameliorate patients' suffering, making it a critical area of empirical investigation.
This study, at the Western Human Nutrition Research Center (WHNRC), will focus on whether or not achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight is the most important health promoting recommendation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).The investigators hypothesize that improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors resulting from eating a DGA style diet will be greater in people whose energy intake is restricted to result in weight loss compared to those who maintain their weight. The investigators further propose that during a state of energy restriction, a higher nutrient quality diet such as the DGA style diet pattern, will result in greater improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors compared to a typical American diet (TAD) pattern that tends to be lower nutrient quality (more energy-dense and less nutrient-rich.)