Craving induction through virtual reality cue-exposure for patients with alcohol dependence in rehabilitation treatment.

New therapeutic approaches for alcohol dependence (AD) include virtual reality (VR)-based treatments offering scalable options for cue exposure (CE), a well-established strategy in cognitive behavioral therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and tolerability of a new VR-CE paradigm. On an explorative basis, factors influencing the induction of craving were examined.

Long-term effects of alcohol-avoidance training: Do changes in approach bias predict who will remain abstinent?

Background: Patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) tend to selectively approach alcohol cues in the environment, demonstrating an alcohol-approach bias. Alcohol-approach-bias modification (Alcohol-ApBM) effectively increases abstinence rates in patients with AUD when added to abstinence-focused treatment, but the evidence for its proposed working mechanism (reduction of the alcohol-approach bias) is limited. Moreover, not all patients benefit from Alcohol-ApBM, and previous research did not identify reliable pretreatment predictors of Alcohol-ApBM effectiveness.

Implementing Approach-Bias Modification as Add-On to Varieties of Clinical Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders: Results of a Multicenter RCT.

Introduction: Abstinence rates after inpatient treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) are modest (1-year rate around 50%). One promising approach is to re-train the automatically activated action tendency to approach alcohol-related stimuli (alcohol-approach bias) in AUD patients, as add-on to regular treatment. As efficacy has been demonstrated in well-controlled randomized controlled trials, the important next step is to add alcohol-approach-bias modification (alcohol-ApBM) to varieties of existing treatments for AUD.

An explorative single-arm clinical study to assess craving in patients with alcohol use disorder using Virtual Reality exposure (CRAVE)-study protocol.

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) belongs to the most burdensome clinical disorders worldwide. Current treatment approaches yield unsatisfactory long-term effects with relapse rates up to 85%. Craving for alcohol is a major predictor for relapse and can be intentionally induced via cue exposure in real life as well as in Virtual Reality (VR).

Does selective inhibition training reduce relapse rates when added to standard treatment of alcohol use disorder? A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Alcohol-dependent individuals tend to selectively approach alcohol cues in the environment, demonstrating an alcohol approach bias. Because approach bias modification (ApBM) training can reduce the approach bias and decrease relapse rates in alcohol-dependent patients when added to abstinence-focused treatment, it has become a part of regular treatment. Moreover, in selective inhibition (SI) training, responses to one category of stimuli (i.

Sex-Related Differences and Factors Associated with Peri-Procedural and 1 Year Mortality in Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia Patients from the CLIMATE Italian Registry.

Background: Identifying sex-related differences/variables associated with 30 day/1 year mortality in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI).

Methods: Multicenter/retrospective/observational study. A database was sent to all the Italian vascular surgeries to collect all the patients operated on for CLTI in 2019.

Genetic and functional analyses implicate microRNA 499A in bipolar disorder development.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a complex mood disorder with a strong genetic component. Recent studies suggest that microRNAs contribute to psychiatric disorder development. In BD, specific candidate microRNAs have been implicated, in particular miR-137, miR-499a, miR-708, miR-1908 and miR-2113.

Covid-19 and personal protective equipment: The experience of nurses engaged in care of Sars-Cov-2 patients: A phenomenological study.

Aim: The study aims to explore the experiences of nurses who have worked in Covid-19 wards providing care for Covid-19 patients.

Background: During the Covid-19 pandemic, personal protective equipment (PPE) was considered an effective and guaranteed protective measure.

Methods: This is a descriptive qualitative study with thematically analysed interviews.

How the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Patients' Hospital Admission and Care in the Vascular Surgery Divisions of the Southern Regions of the Italian Peninsula.

Background: To investigate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on the vasculopathic population. Methods: The Divisions of Vascular Surgery of the southern Italian peninsula joined this multicenter retrospective study. Each received a 13-point questionnaire investigating the hospitalization rate of vascular patients in the first 11 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the preceding 11 months.

Does comorbid anxiety or depression moderate effects of approach bias modification in the treatment of alcohol use disorders?

Approach bias modification (ApBM) is a promising new add-on training intervention for patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Given that comorbid anxiety and major depressive disorders are very common in AUD, and that such comorbidity affects psychological treatments negatively, the primary aim of the present study was investigating whether ApBM training is moderated by anxiety/major depressive disorder comorbidity. The secondary aim was to examine whether ApBM's relapse-preventive effect can be replicated.

Psychological Analysis of Non-surgical Rhinoplasty.

The aim of this study is to analyze the psychological outcomes for patients undergoing non-surgical correction of nasal defects using injections of cross-linked hyaluronic acid. We assessed changes in the subjective perception of nasal appearance after non-surgical rhinoplasty using the Rhinoplasty Outcomes Evaluation (ROE) questionnaire, which is validated and widely used in the literature. One hundred adult subjects without prior history of surgical or non-surgical rhinoplasty underwent non-surgical recontouring using the hyaluronic acid filler from December 2016 to December 2018.

A comparison of implicit and explicit reward learning in low risk alcohol users versus people who binge drink and people with alcohol dependence.

Chronic alcohol use leads to specific neurobiological alterations in the dopaminergic brain reward system, which probably are leading to a reward deficiency syndrome in alcohol dependence. The purpose of our study was to examine the effects of such hypothesized neurobiological alterations on the behavioral level, and more precisely on the implicit and explicit reward learning. Alcohol users were classified as dependent drinkers (using the DSM-IV criteria), binge drinkers (using criteria of the USA National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) or low-risk drinkers (following recommendations of the Scientific board of trustees of the German Health Ministry).

Relapse prevention in abstinent alcoholics by cognitive bias modification: Clinical effects of combining approach bias modification and attention bias modification.

Objective: Alcohol-dependent patients show attentional and approach biases for alcohol-related stimuli. Computerized cognitive bias modification (CBM) programs aim to retrain these biases and reduce relapse rates as add-ons to treatment. Retraining of alcohol-approach tendencies has already yielded significant reductions of relapse rates in previous studies, and retraining of biased attention toward alcohol is promising approach.

Positivity-approach training for depressive symptoms: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Depression is highly comorbid and depressive symptoms are very common. Symptom severity adversely affects treatment outcome and later health status. Established interventions for depression leave ample room for improvement.

Novel Diagnostic Biomarkers of Prostate Cancer: An Update.

Objective: In recent years, several biomarkers alternative to standard prostate specific antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis have become available. The aim of this systematic review is to assess the current knowledge about alternative serum and urinary biomarkers for the diagnosis of PCa.

Material And Methods: A research was conducted in Medline, restricted to English language articles published between December 2014 and June 2018 with the aim to update previously published series on PCa biomarkers.

Self-esteem consistency predicts the course of therapy in depressed patients.

Previous studies on self-esteem and depression demonstrated the usefulness of both implicit and explicit self-esteem as well as their congruence (also known as self-esteem consistency) to predict future depressive symptoms. High self-esteem consistency describes when implicit and explicit self-esteem match (e.g.

EFAS Score - Multilingual development and validation of a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) by the score committee of the European Foot and Ankle Society (EFAS).

Background: A scientifically sound validated foot and ankle specific score validated ab initio for different languages is missing. The aim of a project of the European Foot and Ankle Society (EFAS) was to develop, validate, and publish a new score(the EFAS-Score) for different European languages.

Methods: The EFAS Score was developed and validated in three stages: (1) item (question) identification, (2) item reduction and scale exploration, (3) confirmatory analyses and responsiveness.

Predictors of Utilization of an Addiction-Specific Behavioural Couple Therapy in Alcohol Dependence.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine predictors that lead to the utilization of Behavioural Couple Therapy (BCT) for patients with alcohol dependence (AD) in a -European health care system and to identify groups that have a low probability of utilizing BCT.

Methods: Using routinely collected data from a German rehabilitation clinic, a sample of 1,843 inpatients with AD living in a couple relationship was examined. Each patient could freely choose to participate in an addiction-specific BCT as a voluntary additional intervention during an inpatient treatment program.

Retraining of automatic action tendencies in individuals with obesity: A randomized controlled trial.

Obesity is a major health concern, characterized by an automatically activated tendency to (over)-eat. Recent research suggests that an effective way to counteract automatic approach tendencies in unhealthy consumption behavior might be approach bias modification. Therefore, we investigated an approach-avoidance training for unhealthy food cues in 189 patients with obesity of a psychosomatic inpatient clinic who were participating in a nutrition advice program.

Effects of depressive symptoms and peripheral DAT methylation on neural reactivity to alcohol cues in alcoholism.

In alcohol-dependent (AD) patients, alcohol cues induce strong activations in brain areas associated with alcohol craving and relapse, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and amygdala. However, little is known about the influence of depressive symptoms, which are common in AD patients, on the brain's reactivity to alcohol cues. The methylation state of the dopamine transporter gene (DAT) has been associated with alcohol dependence, craving and depression, but its influence on neural alcohol cue reactivity has not been tested.

Implementation of approach bias re-training in alcoholism-how many sessions are needed?

Background: Computerized cognitive bias modification (CBM) programs have generated promising results regarding the treatment of alcohol dependence and anxiety disorders. However, there is hardly any research yet on the implementation of alcohol-CBM into clinical practice. This article addresses the question of the optimal number of training sessions for a specific form of CBM: approach bias re-training in alcohol-dependent patients.

Approach bias modification in alcohol dependence: do clinical effects replicate and for whom does it work best?

Background: Alcoholism is a progressive neurocognitive developmental disorder. Recent evidence shows that computerized training interventions (Cognitive Bias Modification, CBM) can reverse some of these maladaptively changed neurocognitive processes. A first clinical study of a CBM, called alcohol-avoidance training, found that trained alcoholic patients showed less relapse at one-year follow-up than control patients.

Rosiglitazone effects on blood pressure and metabolic parameters in nondipper diabetic patients.

The class of antidiabetic drugs called thiazolidinediones (TZD), possesses as its main feature, the ability to ameliorate insulin sensitivity. As diabetes and hypertension share common ground in insulin resistance, the aim of this study was to evaluate if Rosiglitazone (RSG) may exert antihypertensive properties. Diabetic patients selected for the study were free from complications and/or other diseases.

Pioglitazone reduces blood pressure in non-dipping diabetic patients.

Aim: The association between insulin resistance and hypertension is firmly established and has been extensively investigated. Thiazolidinediones (TZD), a class of oral hypoglycemic agents that act as insulin sensitizers have been demonstrated, in many in vivo and in vitro studies, to possess antihypertensive properties. Whether the ability of TZD to lower blood pressure (BP) should be ascribed to a reduction of insulin resistance, or to a direct vasodilating effect, is matter of debate.