Effectiveness of integrated neurocognitive therapy on cognitive impairment and functional outcome for schizophrenia outpatients

Cognitive impairment is highly prevalent in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Many interventions have been developed to treat cognitive deficit, since it has a strong impact on functional outcome; however, there are no integrated interventions targeting multiple neuro-and social-cognitive domains with a particular focus on the generalization of the effects of therapy on the functional outcome. Recently, a group of experts has developed a cognitive remediation group therapy approach called Integrated Neurocognitive Therapy (INT), which includes exercises to improve the MATRICS (Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia) neuro-and social-cognitive domains. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the efficacy of this approach. We conducted a search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO to select primary studies evaluating INT in schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients. The primary outcomes of the meta-analysis included negative and positive symptoms and global functioning. Two randomized controlled trials met inclusion criteria. A total of 217 participants were included. Based on the results from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), a significant pooled effect size was observed for negative symptoms, which demonstrated not only an improvement in the patients treated immediately after therapy but also a permanence of positive results at a 9-12-month follow-up. On the other hand, no significant effect size was observed for positive symptoms. In addition, a significant pooled effect size was found for Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), which shows how INT's integrated approach has lasting positive implications on patients' functional outcome. We concluded that INT might be an effective treatment for negative symptoms and global functioning in patients with schizophrenia, compared to treatment as usual (TAU)

Gingival Abscess Removal Using a Soft-Tissue Laser

Gingival abscess, also known as parulis, is defined as a localized, acute inflammatory lesion that may arise from a number of sources, including microbial plaque infection, trauma, and foreign body impaction. It often presents as a smooth, fluctuant, red-color swelling and can occasionally be painful. It is generally limited to marginal and interdental gingiva. Based on its location it has been classified as a type of periodontal abscess which does not involve any attachment loss. The treatment comprises of removal of the cause and, in acute situations, excision of the abscess. A typical gingival abscess is easy to diagnose; however, as suggested by the lack of literature, it is rarely seen in clinical situations. This article presents a clinical case of a gingival abscess located adjacent to recently-placed implants, and discusses its etiology, histopathology, and treatment with an 810-nm soft-tissue diode laser

Antonimia e canonicita. Evidenze sperimentali e distribuzionali

Il lavoro di ricerca qui presentato si occupa della relazione di antonimia, ed in particolare del fenomeno della canonicità da questa manifestato. Tale relazione è di principale interesse in quanto sembra essere il principio organizzativo della classe degli aggettivi; inoltre si pone a metà strada tra il sintagmatico ed il paradigmatico, mostrando caratteristiche al tempo stesso di una relazione semantica e di una relazione lessicale. Tale peculiarità è resa evidente dal fenomeno della canonicità, è infatti possibile individuare una serie di coppie di antonimi canoniche, ovvero che la totalità dei parlanti riconosce essere in opposizione, come ad esempio caldo-freddo o alto-basso. A queste si affianca un ben più vasto gruppo di coppie non-canoniche, i cui membri risultano in opposizione grazie all'uso di specifiche strutture sintattiche o a necessità contestuali. L'obiettivo della ricerca è quello di stabilire quali siano i parametri che permettono il riconoscimento di una coppia di antonimi come canonica, a partire dai due modelli di spiegazione proposti. Il primo modello, sviluppato in ambito strutturalista, è di tipo lessicale, e vede la canonicità come causata dall'alta frequenza di co-occorrenza dei due membri di una coppia all'interno di un corpus. Il secondo modello, di tipo cognitivista e prototipico, considera invece la co-occorrenza come un effetto della canonicità, che sarebbe invece dovuta all'allineamento dei membri di una coppia lungo una dimensione semplice e saliente. Entrambi i modelli sono stati testati attraverso un'analisi sperimentale e distribuzionale. In primo luogo è stato condotto un esperimento di elicitazione, tramite metodi di crowdsourcing, al fine di individuare una serie di coppie di antonimi, canoniche e non-canoniche. A tale scopo sono stati selezionati 70 aggettivi, 35 concreti e 35 astratti. Per le coppie così ottenute è stata calcolata la frequenza di co-occorrenza (nel corpus Paisà) e valutata l'interazione tra questa e la canonicità. In un secondo momento sono stati analizzati i contesti nominali di occorrenza di questi aggettivi, ovvero i sostantivi che modificano o di cui sono predicato. Ipotizzando che i membri di una coppia canonica tendano ad occorrere più frequentemente con gli stessi sostantivi di quelli di una coppia non-canonica, è stata quindi valutata la similarità distribuzionale di questi, grazie al calcolo del coseno di similitudine

A critical discourse analysis of Barack Obama's campaign speech in Berlin

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.O uso da língua na política desempenha papel significante na divulgação das propostas e ações políticas dos governantes através de debates, campanhas e discursos políticos, por exemplo. Hoje em dia, o discurso político tem recebido maior proeminência devido a sua divulgação através da mídia e assim tem despertado um interesse maior das pessoas. O presente estudo analisa o uso da língua em um dos discursos políticos do candidato à presidência dos EUA em 2008, Barack Obama, em Berlim. Com o objetivo de investigar a forma como Obama usa a língua para ganhar projeção política e viabilizar sua candidatura à presidência, este estudo analisa o uso da língua no discurso político de Obama com base na Gramática Sistêmico-Funcional de Halliday e Matthiessen (2004) na qual a metafunção ideacional é explorada. A partir dessas evidências linguísticas, amplia-se a discussão através da Análise Crítica do Discurso por meio do conceito de Suposições de Fairclough (2003) e também das estratégias de Legitimação baseadas nos estudos de discursos políticos de Chilton (2004). Primeiro, uma macro-análise do discurso foi conduzida revelando que o discurso é constituído de onze temas principais. A partir destes onze temas, a micro-análise das 375 orações foi conduzida revelando que grande parte do discurso é composta por Processos Materiais (63% das orações) e que os Atores são compostos, na sua grande maioria, pelos Participantes Nós (referentes ao próprio Obama e aos Estados Unidos) e Outros (referentes a outros países, entidades ou ações). A micro-análise revela que os Processos Materiais constroem eventos, ações e acontecimentos significantes para legitimar o papel de Obama como um líder multirracial, com os EUA, ele mesmo, e o nós inclusivo como principais Atores. O discurso gira em torno de histórias de união, orgulho, justiça, igualdade, reconstrução, poder militar, conflito ideológico e aspirações compartilhadas pelas pessoas ao redor do mundo. Neste sentido, a análise de Suposições sugere que há uma avaliação positiva acerca do participante Nós. A análise das estratégias de Legitimação revelou que as ideologias e os objetivos políticos apresentados no discurso tendem a manter a hegemonia dos Estados Unidos, mas ao mesmo tempo tendem a dar um tom de diálogo conciliatório entre os países.The use of language in politics plays a significant role in promoting political purposes and actions of political figures through debates, campaigns and political speeches, for instance. Nowadays, political speech has received great prominence due to its publicity by the media and, thus, it has aroused great interest. The present study analyzes the use of language in one of the political speeches of the 2008 U.S. presidential candidate, Barack Obama, in Berlin. It aims at investigating the way Obama uses language to earn political projection and to enable his candidacy for the presidency of the United States. Additionally, this study analyzes the use of language in Obama#s political speech based on Systemic Functional Grammar (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004) in which the ideational metafunction is explored. From this linguistic evidence, the discussion is broadened through Critical Discourse Analysis via Fairclough#s concept of Assumptions (2003) and also via strategies of Legitimisation based on Chilton#s political studies (2004). First, a macro analysis was carried out which reveals that the speech is constituted of eleven main themes. Taking these eleven themes into account, a micro analysis of 375 clauses was carried out revealing that most clauses in the speech are constituted of Material Processes (63% of the clauses) and Actors are mostly represented by The Self (referring to Obama and United States) and The Others (other countries, entities, or actions). The micro analysis reveals that the Material Processes construe significant events, actions and happenings to legitimate the role Obama wants to convey as a multiracial leader, with the United States, Obama himself, and the inclusive we as the main Actors. The speech revolves around stories of unity, pride, justice, equality, reconstruction, military power, ideological power, and aspirations shared by people around the world. In this sense, the analysis of Assumptions suggests that there is a positive evaluation on the participant The Self. The analysis of Legitimisation revealed that the ideologies and the political objectives presented in the speech tend to maintain the hegemony of the United States, but at the same time they tend to set a conciliatory tone among the countries

Lexical means which indicate the (in)credibility of media contents : a psycholinguistic experiment

W nawiązaniu do częstego naruszania maksymy jakości Paula Grice'a o prawdzie podjęto próbę odpowiedzi na pytania: czy Bułgarzy rozpoznają niewiarygodne informacje w mediach oraz jaka jest rola środków językowych w procesie interpretowania prawdy dotyczącej zawartości mediów? Omówiono wyniki eksperymentu mającego na celu sprawdzenie roli trzech grup wyrażeń językowych w kształtowaniu poczucia wiarygodności lub zawodności informacji dziennikarskich wśród odbiorców.In reference to the frequent breach of Paul Grice's maxim about truth, this article seeks answers to the questions: do Bulgarians recognize unreliable information in the media and what is the role of linguistic means in the process of interpreting the truth of the media contents? It discusses the results of an experiment aimed at verifying the roles of three groups of language expressions in forming a sense of credibility or unreliability of journalistic information among recipients

THE PREVALENCE OF BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING COSMETIC SURGERY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a somatoform disorder characterised by a distressing obsession with an imagined or slight appearance defect, which can significantly impair normal day-to-day functioning. Patients with BDD often first present, and are hence diagnosed, in cosmetic surgery settings. Several studies have investigated the prevalence rate of BDD in the general population or have done so for patients referring to cosmetic medical centers. To date, however, no review has been undertaken to compare the prevalence in the general community versus in a cosmetic surgery setting. Despite the lack of such a review it is a commonly held belief that BDD is more common in patients seeking cosmetic surgery. The current study aims to review the available literature in order to investigate whether BDD is indeed more prevalent in patients requesting cosmetic surgery, and if that is the case, to provide possible reasons for the difference in prevalence. In addition this review provides evidence on the effectiveness of cosmetic surgery as a treatment of BDD

Gestational Diabetes: What About Your Exercise?

Previous research on exercise as a form of preventative care to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes has produced conflicting views. When and why exercise is the most beneficial during pregnancy has been widely debated, as well as which trimester exercise is the most effective to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes. It has been argued that if a woman has not previously incorporated exercise into her lifestyle, during pregnancy is not the ideal time to start. Conversely, light to moderate exercise is encouraged to decrease the chances of gestational diabetes, but which gestation period exercise will have the greatest impact on preventing gestational diabetes can be confounded by many variables. The purpose of this research is to find the correlation between gestation date, intensity and duration of exercise to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes

Young People, Social Media, and Impacts on Well-being

Millennials and Generation Z were born into an age where social media and digital technology have been integrated in nearly all aspects of their lives. While social media has proven to be a valuable communication tool in connecting with each other and sharing information, the long-term psychosocial effects are beginning to become more apparent as social media matures. This study analyzes what these effects are and how communication is impacted for these young people. It questions how young people can leverage social media and decrease harm. The study will be conducted through a literature review and analysis. Its goal is to synthesize the current knowledge on social media well-being and how it relates to young people, specifically Millennials and Generation Z, in order to ultimately recommend strategies to optimize well-being in the digital age

Night of the Witch: Alternative Spirituality, Identity and Media

This thesis works to understand the relationships witches and conjurors have with the film and television depictions of them. Employing the method of film critique, I argue that the witch stands as a cultural symbol in the US of women and femmes with power, and that their stories serve as lessons to these populations about what it means to be an acceptable woman or femme, while simultaneously creating and perpetuating stereotypes of magic practitioners. Then, using the combination of hashtag ethnography, in-person and video interviewing and internet surveys, I argue that #witchblr and #witchesofcolor, as well as the space of an interview with another practitioner, serves as a counterspace where the counternarratives against oppression, of resistance, and of personal identity work can take place. I connect the language practitioners use to describe themselves and witches and conjurors in film and television to the embracing and distancing marginalized communities engage in when crafting their identities around stereotyped notions of their group, and argue for the need for a simpler, softer, more diverse witchcraft in United States film and television