Publications by authors named "Ileana Benga"
Article Synopsis
- The idea of "contempt" in folk culture helps researchers understand the complicated social practice called charivari.
- This connection is helpful for ethno-anthropology, which studies people and their cultures, because it can reveal why certain social behaviors happen.
- It also benefits evolutionary psychology by examining how long traditions last and how widely they are practiced, showing that they serve important social purposes.
Article Synopsis
- The authors, who study cultures, found a surprising connection between therapy methods and important ceremonies people have when they grow up or change their roles in society.
- These ceremonies, called rites of passage, happen in many different cultures around the world.
- They show how people transition from one important stage in life to another, like from childhood to adulthood.
The aim of this article is to describe the roles of water channel proteins (WCPs) in some neurological diseases in which the implications of these proteins became obvious in the decades after the discovery of WCPs of their presence in the CNS. The diseases which were selected for this review include: epilepsies, muscular dystrophies, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, Parkinson's disease, and spongiform encephalopathies. The priorities of Benga group from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, are mentioned, such as the idea of a generalized membrane defect affecting water permeability in epilepsy and in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
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- * Results show that children on polytherapy experience significantly less REM sleep and lower sleep efficiency, along with more frequent awakenings, compared to those not on medication.
- * The findings suggest that sleep disturbances are common in childhood epilepsy and that antiepileptic drugs may contribute to these issues, highlighting the need for sleep assessments in managing epilepsy.
Background: micro-Opiate receptor agonism has been associated with weight gain, whereas micro-antagonists have been associated with weight neutrality, or even weight loss.
Aim: This study examined the course of weight changes in opiate-dependent patients over the first 6 months of treatment in methadone (agonist) versus naltrexone (antagonist) maintenance.
Design: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 36 opiate-dependent patients maintained on methadone (n=16) or naltrexone (n=20).
The aim of this study is to evaluate the bioelectrical and structural-functional changes in frontal cortex after the bee venom (BV) experimental treatments simulating both an acute envenomation and a subchronic BV therapy. Wistar rats were subcutaneously injected once with three different BV doses: 700 μg/kg (T(1) group), 2100 μg/kg (T(3) group), and 62 mg/kg (sublethal dose-in T(SL) group), and repeated for 30 days with the lowest dose (700 μg/kg-in T(S) group). BV effects were assessed by electrophysiological, histological, histochemical, and ultrastructural methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNumerous studies have assessed the acute efficacy of antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, in treating dysthymic disorder; however, escitalopram, the S-enantiomer of citalopram, has not been studied. Thirty-six outpatients with Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R-diagnosed dysthymic disorder, aged 23-65 years (mean±SD=44.7±11 years), were randomly assigned to double-blind escitalopram (maximum dose 20 mg/day) versus placebo for 12 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutism spectrum disorders (ASDs), which include the prototypic autistic disorder (AD), Asperger's syndrome (AS) and pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), are complex neurodevelopmental conditions of unknown aetiology. The current study investigated the metabolites in the methionine cycle, the transsulphuration pathway, folate, vitamin B(12) and the C677T polymorphism of the MTHFR gene in three groups of children diagnosed with AD (n= 15), AS (n= 5) and PDD-NOS (n= 19) and their age- and sex-matched controls (n= 25). No metabolic disturbances were seen in the AS patients, while in the AD and PDD-NOS groups, lower plasma levels of methionine (P= 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutism spectrum disorders (ASD) comprise a complex and heterogeneous group of conditions of unknown aetiology, characterized by significant disturbances in social, communicative and behavioural functioning. Recent studies suggested a possible implication of the high-density lipoprotein associated esterase/lactonase paraoxonase 1 (PON1) in ASD. In the present study, we aimed at investigating the PON1 status in a group of 50 children with ASD as compared to healthy age and sex matched control participants.
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