Body awareness refers to the individual ability to process signals originating from within the body, which provide a mapping of the body’s internal landscape (interoception) and its relation with space and movement (proprioception). The present study aims to evaluate psychometric properties and validate in French two self-report measures of body awareness: the Postural Awareness Scale (PAS), and the last version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness questionnaire (version 2, MAIA-2). We collected data in a non-clinical, adult sample (N = 308; 61% women, mean age 35 ± 12 years) using online survey, and a subset of the original sample (n = 122; 62% women, mean age 44 ± 11 years) also completed the retest control. Factor analyses and reliability analyses were conducted. Construct validity of the PAS and the MAIA-2 were examined by testing their association with each other, and with self-report measures of personality (Big Five Inventory), alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale) and dispositional trait mindfulness (Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory). Factor analyses of the PAS supported the same two-factor structure as previously published versions (in other languages). For the MAIA-2, factor analyses suggested that a six-factor structure, excluding Not-Worrying and Not-Distracting factors, could successfully account for a common general factor of self-reported interoception. We found satisfactory internal consistency, construct validity, and reliability over time for both the PAS and the MAIA-2. Altogether, our findings suggest that the French version of the PAS and the MAIA-2 are reliable self-report tools to assess both components of body awareness (proprioception and interoception dimension, respectively).

A strain of Nocardia was isolated from a pulmonary abscess of a human immunodeficiency virus-infected patient in France. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the isolate represented a strain of Nocardia beijingensis. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was essential to guide the clinicians to successfully treat this infection. CASE REPORTA strain of Nocardia beijingensis was isolated from a 47-yearold male who was admitted to our unit on 23 December 2010 for chest pain and a history of amoxicillin-resistant pneumonia. His main medical history was chronic sinusitis. On examination, he appeared asthenic, without fever. Physical examination concluded there was deteriorated general status, with a weight loss of 5 kg in 8 weeks. Laboratory test results were as follows: hemoglobin, 11.9 g/dl; neutrophils, 13 ϫ 10 9 /liter; lymphocytes, 1.2 ϫ 10 9 /liter; platelets, 357 ϫ 10 9 /liter; and C-reactive protein level, 241 mg/liter (normal range, Ͻ6 mg/liter). A chest radiograph disclosed mediastinal widening with a left paraaortic mass. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest revealed an abscess (Fig. 1). Blood cultures were negative.A bronchoalveolar lavage and a lung biopsy of the abscess were performed. In the laboratory, sputum was processed for mycobacterial study: the strain was also isolated from the mycobacterial culture medium. In a modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain, the strain was partially acid fast. The samples were tested for tuberculosis by PCR on the MTB/RIF test platform (GeneXpert; Cepheid) and were negative, except for, interestingly, one of the five probes that target the rpoB gene. Gram-stained smears revealed Gram-positive short filaments, coccoid forms, and branching rods. Primary cultures from the pulmonary abscess and a bronchoalveolar lavage on blood and chocolate agar plates, incubated at 37°C in 5% CO 2 , yielded within 3 days small, chalky white, dome-shaped rough colonies. On Coletsos medium, the colonies appeared irregular and orange colored (Fig. 2). They were Gram-positive rod-shaped organisms producing aerial hyphae. They were partially acid fast and were considered most likely to represent Nocardia spp.Antibiotic susceptibility among isolates within the genus Nocardia is unpredictable (15); therefore, we assessed susceptibility according to the guidelines of the French Society for Microbiology, using the disk diffusion method or the Etest (AB Biodisk, Solna, Sweden) on Mueller-Hinton plates. Although broth microdilution is now recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), two reports suggest that MIC determination by broth microdilution and the Etest give similar results (1, 2), making the Etest suitable and more convenient for routine work. The results were recorded after 48 h (or after 72 h if growth was insufficient after 48 h) and interpreted according to the MIC breakpoints published by the CLSI. However, the Etest method was not available for every antibiotic in our laboratory. Therefore, the agar disk diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton ...

Neuroimaging, behavioral and self-report evidence suggests that there are four main cognitive mechanisms that support mindfulness: 1) self-regulation of attention, 2) improved body awareness, 3) improved emotion regulation, and 4) change in perspective on the self. The current paper discusses these mechanisms, based on studies of Event Related Potential (ERP). We review the ERP literature related to mindfulness and examine a dataset of 29 articles. Our findings show that the neural features of mindfulness are consistently associated with the self-regulation of attention and, in most cases, reduced reactivity to emotional stimuli and improved cognitive control. On the other hand, there appear to be no studies of body awareness. We link these electrophysiological findings to models of consciousness, and introduce a unified, mechanistic mindfulness model. The main idea in this refined model is that mindfulness decreases the threshold of conscious access. We end with several working hypotheses that could direct future mindfulness research, and clarify our results.

The piezoelectric cage-floor sensors have been used to successfully dissect sleep patterns in mice based on signal features related to respiration and body movements.We studied performance of the piezoelectric system to quantify the sleep-wake pattern in the rat over 7 days of recording compared with a visual electroencephalogram/electromyogram scoring, and under two light/dark (LD12:12 and LD16:8) photoperiods leading to change in the 24-hr sleep characteristics (N = 7 per group).The total sleep time (%/24 hr) over the 7 days recording and hourly sleep time over the last 24-hr recording were not statistically different between methods under the two photoperiods. Both methods detected higher total sleep time with the LD16:8 photoperiod compared with LD12:12 (p < .05), and correlated significantly (p < .001) at light and dark periods during each photoperiod. The accuracies for discrimination of sleep-wake patterns between methods were 81.9% and 84.9% for LD12:12 and LD16:8, respectively. In addition, spectral analysis of the respiratory signal given by piezo during all 10-s periods of the corresponding non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement sleep periods recorded by electroencephalogram/electromyogram resulted in selection of 36 features that could be inserted in an automated non-rapid eye movement sleep and rapid eye movement sleep classification, with 90% accuracy with the electroencephalogram/electromyogram visual scoring. The piezo system proved to be a reliable non-invasive alternative to electroencephalogram recording to study total sleep time in rat, with feasibility to discriminate between non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement sleep stages. This will be interesting in pharmacological or bio-behavioural studies evaluating sleep patterns or the restorative functions of sleep in the body and the brain.

Neuroimaging, behavioral, and self-report evidence suggests that there are four main cognitive mechanisms that support mindfulness: (a) self-regulation of attention, (b) improved body awareness, (c) improved emotion regulation, and (d) change in perspective on the self. In this article, we discuss these mechanisms on the basis of the event-related potential (ERP). We reviewed the ERP literature related to mindfulness and examined a data set of 29 articles. Our findings show that the neural features of mindfulness are consistently associated with the self-regulation of attention and, in most cases, reduced reactivity to emotional stimuli and improved cognitive control. On the other hand, there appear to be no studies of body awareness. We link these electrophysiological findings to models of consciousness and introduce a unified, mechanistic mindfulness model. The main idea in this refined model is that mindfulness decreases the threshold of conscious access. We end with several working hypotheses that could direct future mindfulness research and clarify our results.