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Understanding of the exact trajectories of mood improvements during mindfulness practice helps to optimize mindfulness‐based interventions. The Mindfulness‐to‐Meaning model expects mood improvements to be linear, incremental, and cumulative. Our findings align with this expectation. We used multilevel growth curve models to analyze daily changes in positive mood reported by 190 Polish participants during 42 days of a mobile‐app‐supported, mindfulness‐based intervention. The daily positive mood increased among 83.68% of participants. Participants who started the training reported worse mood improved more and faster than participants with better mood at the baseline. Dispositional mindfulness and narcissism – individual difference variables associated with high vs. low emotion regulation ability, respectively – were not associated with mood improvement trajectories. A small group of participants (16.32%) showed a steady decline in positive mood during the intervention. The results underscore the importance of a more comprehensive understanding of individual variability in benefiting from mindfulness‐based interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A randomized‐controlled‐trial study (N = 219) tested two pre‐registered hypotheses that mobile‐phone app‐based mindfulness training improves wellbeing and increases self‐transcendent emotions: gratitude, self‐compassion, and awe. Latent change score modeling with a robust maximum likelihood estimator was used to test how those changes are associated in the training versus the waiting‐list group. The training increased wellbeing and all self‐transcendent emotions regardless of interindividual variance in the changes across time. Changes in all self‐transcendent emotions were positively associated with changes in wellbeing. The strength of those associations was comparable in the waiting‐list group and the training group. More studies are needed to test whether the effects of mindfulness practice on wellbeing are driven by increases in self‐transcendent emotions. The study was conducted over 6 weeks during the COVID19 pandemic. The results indicate that the mindfulness training can be an easily accessible effective intervention supporting eudaimonic wellbeing in face of adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the analysis of material discovered during archaeological excavations conducted in the areas of former concentration camps, based on the results of work carried out on the site of the former German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The specificity of the sites from the 20th century forces the development of new research methods and procedures, slightly different from those traditionally used in archaeology. One of the significant problems is the mass nature of the discovered artefacts. These items were substantially made of decay-resistant materials such as plastic, glass or metal alloys. In addition to the amount of acquired items, difficulties are also caused due to the way they are classified and processed. The classifications used in traditional archaeology, focusing primarily on the type of raw material used to produce the artefact, have proven to be unsuitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative consequences of personal exclusion have been demonstrated by multiple studies. Less is known about the consequences of witnessing one's own group being excluded by other groups, although studies suggest exclusion can be experienced vicariously and negatively affects members of the excluded group. Results of the present lab‐based experiment (N = 153) indicate, in line with our predictions, that witnessing intergroup exclusion (a national majority excluded by a minority, manipulated by an adapted intergroup Cyberball paradigm) produced a sense of personal exclusion. It also increased self‐reported distress and behavioral aggression measured in the Taylor Aggression Paradigm), especially among participants high on collective narcissism: a belief that the exaggerated greatness of the in‐group is not sufficiently appreciated by others. Contrary to expectations, a short mindful decentration intervention (instructing participants to observe thoughts and emotions as transient mental products without engaging with them) delivered while participants were witnessing intergroup exclusion (vs. inclusion) produced changes in heart rate variability reactivity indicative of emotional arousal, especially among collective narcissists. We concluded that collective narcissism is associated with distress in the face of intergroup exclusion, aggressive retaliation, and in consequence, it is a risk‐factor predisposing group members to stress‐related health and psychosocial problems. Furthermore, a mindful decentration, despite being an effective strategy to reduce maladaptive stress in most people, may be counterproductive in addressing high collective narcissists' responses to threat to the in‐group's image. This study demonstrated that mindfulness‐based interventions may not mitigate, but rather exacerbate the distressing effects of observed intergroup exclusion in individuals scoring high on collective narcissism. The finding was observed on the psychophysiological level (HF HRV), but not on the psychological level (self‐reported distress), indicating that individuals high in collective narcissism may not consciously perceive, or choose to report their stronger reactions occurring after a mindfulness‐based intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Drug screening for the identification of compounds with anticancer activity is commonly performed using cell lines cultured under normal oxygen pressure and physiological pH. However, solid tumors are characterized by a microenvironment with limited access to nutrients, reduced oxygen supply and acidosis. Tumor hypoxia and acidosis have been identified as important drivers of malignant progression and contribute to multicellular resistance to different forms of therapy. Tumor acidosis represents an important mechanism mediating drug resistance thus the identification of drugs active on acid-adapted cells may improve the efficacy of cancer therapy. Methods: Here, we characterized human colon carcinoma cells (HCT116) chronically adapted to grow at pH 6.8 and used them to screen the Prestwick drug library for cytotoxic compounds. Analysis of gene expression profiles in parental and low pH-adapted cells showed several differences relating to cell cycle, metabolism and autophagy. Results: The screen led to the identification of several compounds which were further selected for their preferential cytotoxicity towards acid-adapted cells. Amongst 11 confirmed hits, we primarily focused our investigation on the benzoporphyrin derivative Verteporfin (VP). VP significantly reduced viability in low pH-adapted HCT116 cells as compared to parental HCT116 cells and normal immortalized epithelial cells. The cytotoxic activity of VP was enhanced by light activation and acidic pH culture conditions, likely via increased acid-dependent drug uptake. VP displayed the unique property to cause light-dependent cross-linking of proteins and resulted in accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins without inducing inhibition of the proteasome. Conclusions: Our study provides an example and a tool to identify anticancer drugs targeting acid-adapted cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]