Topic Review
Shallow Affect
Reduced affect display, sometimes referred to as emotional blunting, is a condition of reduced emotional reactivity in an individual. It manifests as a failure to express feelings (affect display) either verbally or nonverbally, especially when talking about issues that would normally be expected to engage the emotions. Expressive gestures are rare and there is little animation in facial expression or vocal inflection. Reduced affect can be symptomatic of autism, schizophrenia, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, depersonalization disorder, schizoid personality disorder or brain damage. It may also be a side effect of certain medications (e.g., antipsychotics and antidepressants). Reduced affect should be distinguished from apathy and anhedonia, which explicitly refer to a lack of emotion, whereas reduced affect is a lack of emotional expression (affect display) regardless of whether emotion (underlying affect) is actually reduced or not.
  • 6.1K
  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Sati (Buddhism)
Sati (from Pali: सति; Sanskrit: स्मृति smṛti) is mindfulness or awareness, a spiritual or psychological faculty (indriya) that forms an essential part of Buddhist practice. It is the first factor of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. "Correct" or "right" mindfulness (Pali: sammā-sati, Sanskrit samyak-smṛti) is the seventh element of the Noble Eightfold Path.
  • 5.9K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Ohaguro
Ohaguro (お歯黒) is a custom of dyeing one's teeth black. It was most popular in Japan until the Meiji era. Tooth painting is also known and practiced in the southeastern parts of China , Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia. Dyeing is mainly done by married women, though occasionally men do it as well. It was also beneficial, as it prevented tooth decay, in a similar fashion to modern dental sealants.
  • 5.7K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Plant-Dominant Low-Protein Diet
Plant-dominant low-protein diet (LPD), also abbreviated as "PLADO" is a patient-centered LPD of 0.6–0.8 g/kg/day composed of >50% plant-based sources, administered by dietitians trained in providing nutrition care to patients with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD). PLADO's composition and meal plans can be designed and adjusted based on individualized needs and according to the principles of precision nutrition. The goal of PLADO is to slow kidney disease progression, to avoid or delay dialysis therapy initiation, and to ensure cardiovascular health and longevity.  The ideal type of PLADO is a heart-healthy, safe, flexible, and feasible diet that could be the centerpiece of the conservative and preservative management of CKD.
  • 5.4K
  • 05 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Mental Distress
Mental distress (or psychological distress) is a term used, by some mental health practitioners and users of mental health services, to describe a range of symptoms and experiences of a person's internal life that are commonly held to be troubling, confusing or out of the ordinary. Mental distress can potentially lead to a change of behavior, affect a person's emotions in a negative way, and affect their relationships with the people around them. Certain traumatic life experiences such as: bereavement, stress, lack of sleep, use of drugs or alcohol, assault, abuse or accidents can induce mental distress. This may be something which resolves without further medical intervention, though people who endure such symptoms longer term are more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness. This definition is not without controversy as some mental health practitioners would use the terms mental distress and mental illness interchangeably. Some users of mental health services prefer the term mental distress in describing their experience as they feel it better captures that sense of the unique and personal nature of their experience, while also making it easier to relate to, since everyone experiences distress at different times. The term also fits better with the social model of disability.
  • 5.2K
  • 06 Oct 2022
Topic Review
The Pathogenesis of Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurring spontaneous seizures. Drug resistance appears in 30% of patients and it can lead to premature death, brain damage or a reduced quality of life. The purpose of the study was to analyze the drug resistance mechanisms, especially neuroinflammation, in the epileptogenesis. The information bases of biomedical literature Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar and SciVerse were used. To obtain full-text documents, electronic resources of PubMed Central and Research Gate were used. The article examines the recent research of the mechanisms of drug resistance in epilepsy and discusses the hypotheses of drug resistance development (genetic, epigenetic, target hypothesis, etc.). Drug-resistant epilepsy is associated with neuroinflammatory, autoimmune and neurodegenerative processes. Neuroinflammation causes immune, pathophysiological, biochemical and psychological consequences. Focal or systemic unregulated inflammatory processes lead to the formation of aberrant neural connections and hyperexcitable neural networks. Inflammatory mediators affect the endothelium of cerebral vessels, destroy contacts between endothelial cells and induce abnormal angiogenesis (the formation of “leaky” vessels), thereby affecting the blood–brain barrier permeability. Thus, the analysis of pro-inflammatory and other components of epileptogenesis can contribute to the further development of the therapeutic treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy.
  • 5.2K
  • 26 May 2021
Topic Review
Psychological Effects of Method Acting
Method acting is employed by actors to evoke realistic emotions into their performance by drawing on personal experiences. Raymond Hamden, doctor of Clinical and Forensic Psychology, defines the purpose of method acting as “compartmentalizing their own feelings while playing another character [so] they could bring the emotions of that personal feeling to cry if they needed to with that character.” However, when these emotions are not compartmentalized, they can encroach on other facets of life, often seeming to disrupt the actor’s psyche. This occurs as the actor delves into previous emotional experiences, be they joyful or traumatic. The psychological effects, like emotional fatigue, comes when suppressed or unresolved raw emotions are unburied to add to the character, not just from the employing personal emotions in performance. The question becomes whether the actor calls up resolved or unresolved emotions in their acting.
  • 5.1K
  • 16 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Social Construct Theory of ADHD
The social construction theory of ADHD argues that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not necessarily an actual pathology, but that an ADHD diagnosis is a socially constructed explanation to describe behaviors that simply do not meet prescribed social norms. Some proponents of the social construct theory of ADHD seem to regard the disorder as genuine, though over-diagnosed in some cultures. These proponents cite as evidence that the DSM IV, favored in the United States for defining and diagnosing mental illness, arrives at levels of ADHD three to four times higher than criteria in the ICD 10, the diagnostic guide favored by the World Health Organization. A popular proponent of this theory, Thomas Szasz, has argued that ADHD was "invented and not discovered."
  • 5.0K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Immunoformulation for COVID-19
The number of patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 is still growing worldwide, with no current vaccine or medicinal treatment up to this date. Here we describe the cases of four COVID-19 patients that used a combination of therapeutic/nutraceutical agents for improvement of their symptoms. The ingredients were: immune transfer factor (oligo- and polypeptides fractions from porcine spleen, ultrafiltered at <10 kDa; Imuno TF®), anti-inflammatory natural blend (Uncaria tomentosa, Endopleura uchi and Haematoccocus pluvialis; Miodesin®), zinc, selenium, ascorbic acid, cholecalciferol, ferulic acid, spirulina, N-acetylcysteine, glucosamine sulfate potassium hydrochloride, trans-resveratrol, and maltodextrin-stabilized orthosilicic acid (SiliciuMax®). The four showed improvement in general symptoms after using the combination proposed here. The cases presented here are just a first hint towards its benefit (decreases time necessary for the recovery of the patients), this would be a good starting point to the further investigation of this possible add-on therapy in controlled clinical studies. Limited sample size and study design are limitations for definitive conclusions on the add-on therapy.
  • 4.7K
  • 05 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Lipid-Based Nanoparticles
COVID-19 vaccines have been developed with unprecedented speed which would not have been possible without decades of fundamental research on delivery nanotechnology. Lipid-based nanoparticles have played a pivotal role in the successes of COVID-19 vaccines and many other nanomedicines, such as Doxil® and Onpattro®, and have therefore been considered as the frontrunner in nanoscale drug delivery systems. In this review, we aim to highlight the progress in the development of these lipid nanoparticles for various applications, ranging from cancer nanomedicines to COVID-19 vaccines. The lipid-based nanoparticles discussed in this review are liposomes, niosomes, transfersomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, and nanostructured lipid carriers. We particularly focus on the innovations that have obtained regulatory approval or that are in clinical trials. We also discuss the physicochemical properties required for specific applications, highlight the differences in requirements for the delivery of different cargos, and introduce current challenges that need further development. This review serves as a useful guideline for designing new lipid nanoparticles for both preventative and therapeutic vaccines including immunotherapies.
  • 4.4K
  • 19 May 2021
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