Research on meditation
Since the 1950s hundreds of studies on meditation have been conducted, though many of the early studies were flawed and thus yielded unreliable results. More recent reviews have pointed out many of these flaws with the hope of guiding current research into a more fruitful path.
Research on the processes and effects of meditation is a growing subfield of neurological research. Modern scientific techniques and instruments, such as fMRI and EEG, have been used to see what happens in the bodies of people when they meditate, and how their bodies and brains change after meditating regularly.
Meditation is a broad term which encompasses a number of practices.
Mindfulness
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Christian meditation
Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to become aware of and reflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditārī, which has a range of meanings including to reflect on, to study and to practice. Christian meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts (such as a bible passage) and reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of God.
Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion. Both in Eastern and Western Christianity meditation is the middle level in a broad three-stage characterization of prayer: it involves more reflection than first level vocal prayer, but is more structured than the multiple layers of contemplative prayer. Teachings in both the Eastern and Western Christian churches have emphasized the use of Christian meditation as an element in increasing one's knowledge of Christ.
Méditation (Thaïs)
"Méditation" (pronounced: [meditasjɔ̃]) is a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thaïs by French composer Jules Massenet. The piece is written for solo violin and orchestra. The opera premiered at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on March 16, 1894.
Description
The Méditation is a symphonic entr'acte performed between the scenes of Act II in the opera Thaïs. In the first scene of Act II, Athanaël, a Cenobite monk, confronts Thaïs, a beautiful and hedonistic courtesan and devotée of Venus, and attempts to persuade her to leave her life of luxury and pleasure and find salvation through God. It is during a time of reflection following the encounter that the Méditation is played by the orchestra. In the second scene of Act II, following the Méditation, Thaïs tells Athanaël that she will follow him to the desert.
The piece is in D major and is approximately five minutes long (although there are a number of interpretations that stretch the piece to over six minutes). Massenet may also have written the piece with religious intentions; the tempo marking is Andante religioso, signifying his intention that it should be played religiously (which could mean either strictly in the tempo or literally with religiously-founded emotion) and at walking tempo. The piece opens with a short introduction by the harps, with the solo violin quickly entering with the motif. After the violin plays the melody twice, the piece goes into a section marked animato, gradually becoming more and more passionate (Massenet wrote poco a poco appassionato). The climax is reached at a place marked poco piu appassionato (a little more passion) and is then followed by a short cadenza-like passage from the soloist and returns to the main theme. After the theme is played twice, the soloist joins the orchestra while playing harmonics on the upper register as the harps and strings quietly play below the solo line.
Permanganate
A permanganate is the general name for a chemical compound containing the manganate(VII) ion, (MnO4−). Because manganese is in the +7 oxidation state, the permanganate(VII) ion is a strong oxidizing agent. The ion has tetrahedral geometry. Permanganate solutions are purple in color and are stable in neutral or slightly alkaline media.The exact chemical reaction is dependent upon the organic contaminants present and the oxidant utilized. For example, trichloroethene (C2HCl3) is oxidized by sodium permanganate to form carbon dioxide (CO2), manganese dioxide (MnO2), sodium ions (Na+), hydronium ions (H+), and chloride ions (Cl−).
In an acidic solution, permanganate(VII) is reduced to the colourless +2 oxidation state of the manganese(II) (Mn2+) ion.
In a strongly basic solution, permanganate(VII) is reduced to the green +6 oxidation state of the manganate ion, MnO42−.
In a neutral medium however, it gets reduced to the brown +4 oxidation state of manganese dioxide MnO2.
Production
Permanganates can be produced by oxidation of manganese compounds such as manganese chloride or manganese sulfate by strong oxidizing agents, for instance, sodium hypochlorite or lead dioxide:
Manganese(II) oxide
Manganese(II) oxide (systematically named manganese(2+) oxide(2−)) is an inorganic compound with chemical formula MnO. It forms green crystals. The compound is produced on a large scale as a component of fertilizers and food additives.
Structure, stoichiometry, reactivity
Like many monoxides, MnO adopts the rock salt structure, where cations and anions are both octahedrally coordinated. Also like many oxides, manganese(II) oxide is often nonstoichiometric: its composition can vary from MnO to MnO1.045.
Below 118 K MnO is antiferromagnetic. MnO has the distinction of being one of the first compounds to have its magnetic structure determined by neutron diffraction, the report appearing in 1951. This study showed that the Mn2+ ions form a face centered cubic magnetic sub-lattice where there are ferromagnetically coupled sheets that are anti-parallel with adjacent sheets.
Manganese(II) oxide undergoes the chemical reactions typical of an ionic oxide. Upon treatment with acids, it converts to the corresponding manganese(II) salt and water. Oxidation of manganese(II) oxide gives manganese(III) oxide.
Lomná (river)
Lomná (Polish: Łomna , Cieszyn Silesian: Łómno ) also known as Lomňanka (Polish: Łomnianka , Cieszyn Silesian: Łómnianka ) is a 17 kilometres (11 mi)-long river in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.
It is the left tributary of the Olza River, to which it enters in Jablunkov (Jabłonków). It originates near the border with Slovakia and flows through the villages of Horní Lomná (Łomna Górna), Dolní Lomná (Łomna Dolna) and Bocanovice (Boconowice).
It was mentioned in 1592 as przi rzece Lomny. The name is derived from the words łom (clatter, rumble, susurrus) or załom (turn, bend).
Lomná in Dolní Lomná
Lomná in Dolní Lomná
Lomná in Dolní Lomná
Lomná in Dolní Lomná
Footnotes
References
Coordinates: 49°34′42.58″N 18°45′50.70″E / 49.5784944°N 18.7640833°E / 49.5784944; 18.7640833
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