Psychosocial Factors Associated With Vulvodynia.

Objectives: We set out to identify the psychosocial factors associated with vulvodynia and the effects on sexuality, mental health, and quality of life.

Materials And Methods: PubMed, LILACS, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO were searched in August 2023. Two authors selected and extracted the data independently.

Volumetric alterations in the basal ganglia in autism Spectrum disorder: A systematic review.

Introduction: Recent research indicates that some brain structures show alterations in conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Among them, are the basal ganglia that are involved in motor, cognitive and behavioral neural circuits.

Objective: Review the literature that describes possible volumetric alterations in the basal ganglia of individuals with ASD and the impacts that these changes have on the severity of the condition.

Italian Validation of the Online Student Engagement Scale (OSE) in Higher Education.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, entire university courses were moved online. This represented a challenge for universities, who were required to move toward an entirely online learning environment without adequate time to manage the change from traditional courses to online courses. However, beyond the emergency of the pandemic, higher education does increasingly incorporate an online learning element, and such a provision does appear to reflect both the desires of modern-day students and university offerings.

Onset risk factors for youth involvement in cyberbullying and cybervictimization: A longitudinal study.

Introduction: Cyberbullying and cybervictimization are spread worldwide, and due to COVID-19, an increasing number of children and adolescents have been impacted. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, research has investigated and highlighted the key risk factors for cyberbullying and cybervictimization, and numerous anti-cyberbullying prevention and intervention programs have been developed and assessed for their efficacy. Despite this, no studies have specifically focused on the individual, relational, and contextual risk factors associated with the onset of youth involvement in cyberbullying and cybervictimization.

The matching effect in persuasive communication about lockdown.

Scientific literature about persuasion has shown that the effectiveness of persuasive communication may depend on the match between the affective or cognitive contents of the message and the affective [(Need for Affect (NFA)] or cognitive [Need for Cognition (NFC)] orientation of the recipient. The present work aims to contribute to studying this effect by considering the context of health-related communication during the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Specifically, we aim to demonstrate that, when the message is characterized by affective and cognitive contents having the same (congruent message) or different valence (incongruent message), the attitude toward the target (i.

Prenatal exposure to fluoxetine modulates emotionality and aversive memory in male and female rat offspring.

During pregnancy, women are prone to depression, for which selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as fluoxetine, are usually the first-line treatment. However, fluoxetine can cross the placental barrier and affect fetuses, causing changes in serotonin levels early in life. Long-term effects in the brain circuits that control cognitive and emotional behavior are related to early fluoxetine exposure during development.

Brain and behavioral contributions to individual choices in response to affective-cognitive persuasion.

Affective and cognitive information conveyed by persuasive stimuli is evaluated and integrated by individuals according to their behavioral predispositions. However, the neurocognitive structure that supports persuasion based on either affective or cognitive content is poorly understood. Here, we examine the neural and behavioral processes supporting choices based on affective and cognitive persuasion by integrating 4 information processing features: intrinsic brain connectivity, stimulus-evoked brain activity, intrinsic affective-cognitive orientation, and explicit target evaluations.

Effects of prenatal exposure to fluoxetine on circadian rhythmicity in the locomotor activity and neuropeptide Y and 5-HT expression in male and female adult Wistar rats.

Serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors, such as fluoxetine, are the most prescribed antidepressant for maternal depression. In this sense, it exposes mothers and the brains of infants to increased modulatory and trophic effects of serotonergic neurotransmission. 5-HT promotes essential brain changes throughout its development, which include neuron migration, differentiation and organisation of neural circuitries related to emotional, cognitive and circadian behavior.

Intrinsic Shapes of Empathy: Functional Brain Network Topology Encodes Intersubjective Experience and Awareness Traits.

Trait empathy is an essential personality feature in the intricacy of typical social inclinations of individuals. Empathy is likely supported by multilevel neuronal network functioning, whereas local topological properties determine network integrity. In the present functional MRI study (N = 116), we aimed to trace empathic traits to the intrinsic brain network architecture.

University Students' Online Learning During COVID-19: The Role of Grit in Academic Performance.

The governmental restriction due to COVID-19 pandemic led to Italian Universities moving teaching from face-to-face, to online. This represented an unexpected transition from traditional learning to what can be considered "e-learning." This, together with the psychological distress that may be associated with the experience of lockdown, might have affected students' performance.

Endoscopic mucosal resection of a large inflammatory fibroid polyp (Vanek's tumor): a case report.

Vanek's Tumor (inflammatory fibroid polyp) is a rare benign mesenchymal lesion occurring throughout the digestive tract. Classical Vanek's tumor ("gastric") contains concentric formations of proliferating spindle cells, which are CD34 positive. Atypical-inflammatory pseudotumor-like Vanek's tumor ("intestinal") lacks concentric formations and is CD34 negative.

Postnatal exposure to fluoxetine led to cognitive-emotional alterations and decreased parvalbumin positive neurons in the hippocampus of juvenile Wistar rats.

The exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during development results in behavioural impairment in adulthood in humans and animal models. Indeed, serotonergic overexpression in early life leads to structural and functional changes in brain circuits that control cognition and emotion. However, the effects of developmental exposure to these substances on the behaviour of adolescent rats are conflicting and remain poorly characterised.

A narrative review of MET inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer with exon 14 skipping mutations.

Treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has radically improved in the last years due to development and clinical approval of highly effective agents including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and oncogene-directed therapies. Molecular profiling of lung cancer samples for activated oncogenes, including epidermal growth factor receptor (), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (), c-ros oncogene 1 () and , is routinely performed to select the most appropriate up-front treatment. However, the identification of new therapeutic targets remains a high priority.

Aging Alters Daily and Regional Calretinin Neuronal Expression in the Rat Non-image Forming Visual Thalamus.

Aging affects the overall physiology, including the image-forming and non-image forming visual systems. Among the components of the latter, the thalamic retinorecipient inter-geniculate leaflet (IGL) and ventral lateral geniculate (vLGN) nucleus conveys light information to subcortical regions, adjusting visuomotor, and circadian functions. It is noteworthy that several visual related cells, such as neuronal subpopulations in the IGL and vLGN are neurochemically characterized by the presence of calcium binding proteins.

TV News and COVID-19: Media Influence on Healthy Behavior in Public Spaces.

The COVID-19 outbreak has dramatically changed our life. Despite the rapid growth of scientific publications about medical aspects of the pandemic, less has been explored about the effects of media communication regarding COVID-19 on healthy behaviors. Yet, the scientific literature has widely debated on how media can influence people's health-related evaluations, emotions, and behaviors.

The influence of core affect on cyclo-ergometer endurance performance: Effects on performance outcomes and perceived exertion.

Background: Core affect is defined as the most general affective construct consciously accessible that is experienced constantly. It can be experienced as free-floating (mood) or related to prototypical emotional episodes. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of pleasant and unpleasant core affect on cyclo-ergometer endurance performance.

Closed-loop Electroencephalogram-based modulated audio to fall and deepen sleep faster.

The transition from wake to sleep is a continuum that is well characterized by the electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectral ratio (ρ) between the beta (15 to 30 Hz) and theta (4 to 8 Hz) bands. From wake to sleep, the value of ρ gradually decreases.We have designed and implemented a single EEG-signal based closed-loop system that leverages ρ to modulate the volume of a pink-noise type of audio such that the volume becomes gradually softer as sleep initiates.

Sense or sensibility? The neuro-functional basis of the structural matching effect in persuasion.

The present study investigates the neural pathways underlying individual susceptibility to affective or cognitive information in persuasive communication, also known as the structural matching effect. Expanding on the presumed involvement of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) in persuasion, we hypothesized that the vMPFC contributes to the evaluation of persuasive information depending on its match with the recipient's affective or cognitive predominance. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, 30 participants evaluated 10 consumable products presented with both affective and cognitive persuasive messages.

Hybrid in-phase and continuous auditory stimulation significantly enhances slow wave activity during sleep.

Recent evidence has shown that enhancing slow-wave activity (SWA) during sleep has positive effects on cognitive, metabolic, and autonomic function. We have developed a consumer, integrated device that automatically detects sleep stages from a single electroencephalogram (EEG) signal and delivers auditory stimulation in a closed-loop manner. The stimulation was delivered in 15-auditory tone blocks separated from each other by at least 15 seconds.

Closed-loop system to enhance slow-wave activity.

Objective: Recent evidence reports cognitive, metabolic, and sleep restoration benefits resulting from the enhancement of sleep slow-waves using auditory stimulation. Our objective is to make this concept practical for consumer use by developing and validating an electroencephalogram (EEG) closed-loop system to deliver auditory stimulation during sleep to enhance slow-waves.

Approach: The system automatically detects slow-wave sleep with 74% sensitivity and 97% specificity and optimally delivers stimulation in the form of 50 ms-long tones separated by a constant one-second inter-tone interval at a volume that is dynamically modulated such that louder tones are delivered when sleep is deeper.

The effects of exercise training associated with low-level laser therapy on biomarkers of adipose tissue transdifferentiation in obese women.

Investigations suggest the benefits of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) to improve noninvasive body contouring treatments, inflammation, insulin resistance and to reduce body fat. However, the mechanism for such potential effects in association with exercise training (ET) and possible implications in browning adiposity processes remains unclear. Forty-nine obese women were involved, aged between 20 and 40 years with a body mass index (BMI) of 30-40 kg/m.

Photonic technology for the treatments of venous and arterial ulcers: Case report.

In this report, we report a case study on a 50-year-old male patient with different chronic wounds, such as venous ulcer and arterial ulcer in both legs. These wounds have persisted for more than 10 years, despite the different treatments applied, including, different dressings, hyperbaric camera, as well as the used of several medicines of oral and topical application. The case is addressed with the aim to evaluate if treatment that uses combined techniques such as low level laser therapy (LLLT), photodynamic therapy and cellulose membrane is able to improve healing and reduction of time of treatment in those types of chronic wounds.

Subtle Alterations in Spatial Memory Induced by Amyloid Peptides Infusion in Rats.

The cause of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains uncertain. The accumulation of amyloid peptides (Aβ) is the main pathophysiological hallmark of the disease. Spatial deficit is an important initial sign of AD, while other types of memory impairments that appear in later stages.

Region-specific glial hyperplasia and neuronal stability of rat lateral geniculate nucleus during aging.

The normal aging process is accompanied by functional declines in image-forming and non-image forming visual systems. Among the components of these systems, the thalamic lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) offers a good model for aging studies since its three anatomical subdivisions, namely dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN), intergeniculate leaflet (IGL) and ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN), receives light information from retina and projects to different brain areas involved in visual-related functions. Nevertheless, there is very little data available about quantitative morphological aspects in LGN across lifespan.