title: Systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing mindfulness-based programs for mental health promotion

authors: Galante, J

abstract: Mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) are widely used to prevent mental ill health. Evidence suggests beneficial average effects but wide variability. We aimed to confirm the effect of MBPs and to understand whether and how baseline distress, gender, age, education, and dispositional mindfulness modify the effect of MBPs on distress among adults in non-clinical settings. We conducted a systematic review and individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42020200117). Databases were searched in December 2020 for randomized controlled trials satisfying a quality threshold and comparing in-person, expert-defined MBPs with passive-control groups. Two researchers independently selected, extracted and appraised trials using the revised Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool. IPD of eligible trials were sought from authors. The primary outcome was psychological distress (unpleasant mental or emotional experiences including anxiety and depression) at 1 to 6 months after program completion. Data were checked and imputed if missing. Pairwise, random-effects, two-stage IPD meta-analyses were conducted. Effect modification analyses followed a within-studies approach. Stakeholders were involved throughout this study. Fifteen trials were eligible; 13 trialists shared IPD (2,371 participants representing 8 countries. In comparison with passive-control groups, MBPs reduced average distress between 1 and 6 months post-intervention with a small to moderate effect size (standardized mean difference, −0.32; 95% confidence interval, −0.41 to −0.24; 0.001; no heterogeneity). Results were robust to sensitivity analyses and similar for the other timepoint ranges. Confidence in the primary outcome result is high. We found no clear indication that this effect is modified by the pre-specified candidates. Group-based teacher-led MBPs generally reduce psychological distress among volunteering community adults. More research is needed to identify sources of variability in outcomes at an individual level.

text: Systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing mindfulness-based programs for mental health promotion Mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) are widely used to prevent mental ill health. Evidence suggests beneficial average effects but wide variability. We aimed to confirm the effect of MBPs and to understand whether and how baseline distress, gender, age, education, and dispositional mindfulness modify the effect of MBPs on distress among adults in non-clinical settings. We conducted a systematic review and individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42020200117). Databases were searched in December 2020 for randomized controlled trials satisfying a quality threshold and comparing in-person, expert-defined MBPs with passive-control groups. Two researchers independently selected, extracted and appraised trials using the revised Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool. IPD of eligible trials were sought from authors. The primary outcome was psychological distress (unpleasant mental or emotional experiences including anxiety and depression) at 1 to 6 months after program completion. Data were checked and imputed if missing. Pairwise, random-effects, two-stage IPD meta-analyses were conducted. Effect modification analyses followed a within-studies approach. Stakeholders were involved throughout this study. Fifteen trials were eligible; 13 trialists shared IPD (2,371 participants representing 8 countries. In comparison with passive-control groups, MBPs reduced average distress between 1 and 6 months post-intervention with a small to moderate effect size (standardized mean difference, −0.32; 95% confidence interval, −0.41 to −0.24; 0.001; no heterogeneity). Results were robust to sensitivity analyses and similar for the other timepoint ranges. Confidence in the primary outcome result is high. We found no clear indication that this effect is modified by the pre-specified candidates. Group-based teacher-led MBPs generally reduce psychological distress among volunteering community adults. More research is needed to identify sources of variability in outcomes at an individual level.

year: 2023

title: Leveraging plasticity in incremental decision trees

authors: Heyden, Marco

subjects: computer science

abstract: Commonly used incremental decision trees for mining data streams include Hoeffding Trees (HT) and Extremely Fast Decision Trees (EFDT). EFDT exhibits faster learning than HT. However, due to its split revision procedure, EFDT suffers from sudden and unpredictable accuracy decreases caused by subtree pruning. To overcome this, we propose PLASTIC, an incremental decision tree that restructures the otherwise pruned subtree. This is possible due to decision tree plasticity: one can alter a tree’s structure without affecting its predictions. We conduct extensive evaluations comparing PLASTIC with state-of-the-art methods on synthetic and real-world data streams. Our results show that PLASTIC improves EFDT’s worst-case accuracy by up to 50% and outperforms the current state of the art on real-world data. We provide an open-source implementation of PLASTIC within the MOA framework for mining high-speed data streams.

text: Leveraging plasticity in incremental decision trees Commonly used incremental decision trees for mining data streams include Hoeffding Trees (HT) and Extremely Fast Decision Trees (EFDT). EFDT exhibits faster learning than HT. However, due to its split revision procedure, EFDT suffers from sudden and unpredictable accuracy decreases caused by subtree pruning. To overcome this, we propose PLASTIC, an incremental decision tree that restructures the otherwise pruned subtree. This is possible due to decision tree plasticity: one can alter a tree’s structure without affecting its predictions. We conduct extensive evaluations comparing PLASTIC with state-of-the-art methods on synthetic and real-world data streams. Our results show that PLASTIC improves EFDT’s worst-case accuracy by up to 50% and outperforms the current state of the art on real-world data. We provide an open-source implementation of PLASTIC within the MOA framework for mining high-speed data streams.

year: 2024

title: “We wanted to see if you were the real deal”: Teaching as a cultural practice in a challenging environment

authors: Lemon, Katrina Suezanne

abstract: Teaching can be viewed as a cultural practice in which teaching is embedded in the culture of the teacher and informed by the culture of the students (Bell, 2011). In this paper, a narrative is presented detailing an authentic example of teaching in New Zealand in which culture is prioritised. It describes the challenges faced by a young female teacher as she worked in a low decile secondary school with male students, the majority of whom were involved in the Mongrel Mob[1] gang. Her approach and responses were centred in her belief in culturally responsive teaching. The deliberate actions of the teacher led to a turning point for the students, allowing their mana to remain intact as she acknowledged their identity, language and culture. This teacher’s experience provides an example of how a teacher can enable learners in diverse classrooms to succeed in their learning.

text: “We wanted to see if you were the real deal”: Teaching as a cultural practice in a challenging environment Teaching can be viewed as a cultural practice in which teaching is embedded in the culture of the teacher and informed by the culture of the students (Bell, 2011). In this paper, a narrative is presented detailing an authentic example of teaching in New Zealand in which culture is prioritised. It describes the challenges faced by a young female teacher as she worked in a low decile secondary school with male students, the majority of whom were involved in the Mongrel Mob[1] gang. Her approach and responses were centred in her belief in culturally responsive teaching. The deliberate actions of the teacher led to a turning point for the students, allowing their mana to remain intact as she acknowledged their identity, language and culture. This teacher’s experience provides an example of how a teacher can enable learners in diverse classrooms to succeed in their learning.

year: 2017