Protective effect of olive and juniper leaves extracts on nephrotoxicity induced by thioacetamide in male mice

AbstractThis study, for the first time, evaluates the effect of olive and juniper leaves extracts and their combination on thioacetamide (TAA)-induced nephrotoxicity in male mice. The experimental mice were divided into eight groups. Group 1 was served as control. Group 2 was exposed to TAA. Group 3 was treated with TAA and olive leaves extract. Group 4 was subjected to TAA and juniper leaves extract. Group 5 was exposed to TAA and olive and juniper leaves extracts. Groups 6, 7 and 8 were treated with olive, juniper, and olive and juniper leaves extracts respectively. In mice treated with only TAA, significant increases of blood urea nitrogen and uric acid were observed after six weeks. Moreover, levels of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and uric acid were statistically increased in mice administrated with only TAA for twelve weeks. Insignificant alterations in levels of these haematobiochemical parameters were noted in other treated groups after six and twelve weeks. Histopathological evaluations of renal sections from mice treated with only TAA for twelve weeks showed severe damage of the renal corpuscles. Furthermore, the renal sections from mice treated with TAA and olive leaves extract, TAA and juniper leaves extract, TAA and olive and juniper leaves extracts, olive leaves extract, juniper leaves extract, and olive and juniper leaves extracts showed normal structures. In addition, it is conceivable therefore, that these extracts exhibit protective influences against TAA-induced nephrotoxicity, probably mediated through the antioxidative pathway roles

Online Peer Support Groups to Combat Digital Addiction: User Acceptance and Rejection Factors

The obsessive usage of digital media may exhibit symptoms traditionally associated with behavioural addictions such as mood modification, salience, tolerance and conflict. The educational methods, interventions, and treatments available to prevent or control such a digital addiction are, currently, very limited. Digital Addiction (DA) is yet not formally recognised as a mental disorder by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Recently, in 2018, the World Health Organization recognised gaming disorder. Fortunately, the nature of digital media can also help the hosting of methods and mechanics to combat DA, e.g. in the monitoring of online usage and enabling individuals to stay in control of it. One of the techniques proposed in the literature is Online Peer Groups platforms, towards allowing people to form a group and provide peer support to control and regulate their usage, collectively. Online peer support groups are meant to provide peer support, counselling, motivational and learning environment, and ambivalence reduction through sharing and hope installation. However, there is a lack of research about the factors influencing people with DA to accept or reject online peer support groups. In this work, we conduct user studies and explore the acceptance and rejection factors to join and participate in such DA regulation and relapse prevention method. This will help to design and introduce the method and increase its adoption

Digital wellbeing tools through users lens

There is a growing recognition of excessive, compulsive, and hasty use of technology as an emerging form of problematic behavior affecting individuals' emotional, social, and occupational wellbeing. Smartphone overuse, in particular, has been linked to negative effects on users' quality of life, such as anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance and loss in productivity. One strategy to help regulate digital usage and, potentially, increase digital wellbeing is to devise smartphone applications to collect data about usage and increase users' awareness of it and enable them to set limits and alert users accordingly. However, such applications have not been extensively evaluated from the users' perspective and whether they help the basic requirements for digital wellbeing. In this paper, we examine the quality of the emerging family of digital wellbeing smartphone applications from the users' perspective and based on persuasive design and established behavioral change theories. We performed a thematic analysis on the users’ reviews on two popular applications, SPACE Break Phone Addiction and Google Digital Wellbeing (GDW). We report on the factors influencing user acceptance and rejection towards digital wellbeing applications and identify possible challenges and opportunities to improve their design and role in future releases

Predictors of Acceptance and Rejection of Online Peer Support Groups as a Digital Wellbeing Tool

© 2020, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Digital media usage can be problematic; exhibiting symptoms of behavioural addiction such as mood modification, tolerance, conflict, salience, withdrawal symptoms and relapse. Google Digital Wellbeing and Apple Screen Time are examples of an emerging family of tools to help people have a healthier and more conscious relationship with technology. Peer support groups is a known technique for behaviour change and relapse prevention. It can be facilitated online, especially with advanced social networking techniques. Elements of peer support groups are being already embedded in digital wellbeing tools, e.g. peer comparisons, peer commitments, collective usage limit-setting and family time. However, there is a lack of research about the factors influencing people acceptance and rejection of online peer support groups to enhance digital wellbeing. Previous work has qualitatively explored the acceptance and rejection factors to join and participate in such groups. In this paper, we quantitatively study the relationship between culture, personality, self-control, gender, willingness to join the groups and perception of their usefulness, on such acceptance and rejection factors. The qualitative phase included two focus groups and 16 interviews while the quantitative phase consisted of a survey (215 participants). We found a greater number of significant models to predict rejection factors than acceptance factors, although in all cases the amount of variance explained by the models was relatively small. This demonstrates the need to design and, also, introduce such technique in a contextualised and personalised style to avoid rejection and reactance

COPE.er Method: Combating Digital Addiction via Online Peer Support Groups

Digital addiction (hereafter DA) denotes a problematic relationship with technology described by being compulsive, obsessive, impulsive and hasty. New research has identified cases where users’ digital behaviour shows symptoms meeting the clinical criteria of behavioural addiction. The online peer groups approach is one of the strategies to combat addictive behaviours. Unlike other behaviours, intervention and addictive usage can be on the same medium; the online space. This shared medium empowers influence techniques found in peer groups, such as selfmonitoring, social surveillance, and personalised feedback, with a higher degree of interactivity, continuity and real-time communication. Social media platforms in general and online peer groups, in particular, have received little guidance as to how software design should take it into account. Careful theoretical understanding of the unique attributes and dynamics of such platforms and their intersection with gamification and persuasive techniques is needed as the ad-hoc design may cause unexpected harm. In this paper, we investigate how to facilitate the design process to ensure a systematic development of this technology. We conducted several qualitative studies including user studies and observational investigations. The primary contribution of this research is twofold: (i) a reference model for designing interactive online platforms to host peer groups and combat DA, (ii) a process model, COPE.er, inspired by the participatory design approach to building Customisable Online Persuasive Ecology by Engineering Rehabilitation strategies for different groups

Método de trazado de rayos con láser para control de calidad de lentes y sistemas ópticos en general

Referencia OEPM: P9901542.-- Fecha de solicitud: 09/07/1999.-- Titular: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).Método de trazado de rayos con láser para control de calidad de lentes y sistemas ópticos en general. La invención consiste en un método donde un rayo de láser se dirige a un scanner bidimensional, el rayo es deflectado según ángulos a y b, que se programan y controlan por un ordenador, un colimador hace que todos los rayos entren paralelo al sistema óptico, cada rayo tras atravesar el sistema óptico llega a un punto en donde es registrado por una cámara CCD digital, calculando el ordenador las coordenadas del impacto, que definen la aberración del rayo. El método se aplica a cualquier sistema óptico compuesto por lentes, espejos, primas, filtros, etc [Ver gráfico en archivo asociado].Peer reviewe