The osmotic demyelination syndrome:the resilience of thalamic neurons is verified with transmission electron microscopy

The development of a murine model of osmotic demyelinating syndrome (ODS) allowed to study changes incurred in extrapontine zones of the CNS and featured neuron and glial cell changes in the relay thalamic ventral posterolateral (VPL) and ventral posteromedial (VPM) nuclei before, during and after ODS induction, and characterized without immune response. There, the neuron Wallerian-type deteriorations were verified with fine structure modifications of the neuron cell body, including some nucleus topology and its nucleolus changes. Morphologic analyses showed a transient stoppage of transcriptional activities while myelinated axons in the surrounding neuropil incurred diverse damages, previously reported. Even though the regional thalamus myelin deterioration was clearly recognized with light microscopy 248 h after osmotic recovery of ODS, ultrastructure analyses demonstrated that, at that time, the same damaged parenchyma regions contained nerve cell bodies that have already reactivated nucleus transcriptions and neuroplasm translations because peculiar accumulations of fibro-granular materials, similar to those detected in restored ODS astrocytes, were revealed in these restructuring nerve cell bodies. Their aspects suggested to be accumulations of ribonucleoproteins. The findings suggested that progressive neural function's recovery in the murine model could imitate some aspects of human ODS recovery cases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Social movements and collective behavior: an integration of meta-analysis and systematic review of social psychology studies

Background: The impact of social movements (SMs) and collective behavior (CB) supports the relevance of approaching this phenomenon from social psychology. Several systematic reviews (10) and meta-analyses (6) have been carried out in the 21st century, but there is a lack of integration. Aim: This study seeks to review the patterns of CB and corroborate the psychosocial factors that explain participation in CB and SMs, as well as the long-term psychological effects of participating in them. Method: A systematic search was carried out in the databases Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Willey Online Library, EBSCO, and JSTOR for articles dated between 1969 and 2022. We searched for meta-analyses and systematic reviews that empirically evaluated social movements and collective behavior. Of the 494 initial records, after scanning and eligibility phases, 16 meta-analyses and systematic reviews were analyzed in the present work. Results: The evidence reviewed shows that participation in collective gatherings and CB are common. A cross-cultural survey suggests that collective gatherings are mostly of a leisure type, to a lesser extent religious and sporting, and to an even lesser extent, demonstrations and large religious rites. World Value surveys found that one to three persons out of 10 participate in protests or CB related to SMs and four out of 10 movements achieved some kind of success. Studies challenged that CBs were characterized by unanimity of beliefs, identification and behavior, generalized excitement, as well as mass panic and riot after catastrophes. Only two out of 10 CB are violent. Meta-analysis and systematic reviews confirm that participation in CB and SMs was associated with (a) intergroup conflict and realistic threat (r = 0.30); (b) positive attitudes, expectations, or agreement with goals or collective motive (r = 0.44); (c) cognitive fraternal relative deprivation (r = 0.25); (d) collective efficacy (r = 0.36); (e) collective identity (r = 0.34); (f) emotions and affective relative deprivation (r = 0.35); (g) moral conviction and threat to moral (r = 0.29); and (h) disagreement with system justification belief (r = −0.26). Participation in successful CB and SMs provokes positive changes in emotions, social identity and social relationships, values and beliefs, and empowerment, as well as negative effects such as depression, stress, burnout, and disempowerment related to the failures of SMs. Conclusion: Studies confirm the importance of explanatory factors for SMs, with data from various cultural regions. There is a lack of systematic studies of CB as well as meta-analyses and more culturally diverse studies of the effects of participation in them

Social Network Sites and Well-Being: Is it Only a Matter of Content?

Are social network sites harmful to our well-being? Despite the topicality of this question, the literature is still inconsistent. Possible reasons include the over-use of cross-sectional designs, the centration on Facebook, and the omission of the different ways of using these platforms. Two preregistered experimental studies were therefore conducted to investigate the effects of passive and active usages of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter on subjective well-being. For both the first (N = 244) and the second (N = 164) study, the results did not yield any significant effects of the type of social network sites and their passive-active usages on subjective well-being. In contrast, surfing content was associated with subjective well-being in Study 2: the more positive the content was, the more life satisfaction increased, and the more the negative affect decreased. Further investigation of this research question will be necessary in larger samples, including longitudinal studies that could provide greater ecological validity while testing the effects of social network sites in the long-term. These findings are therefore to be taken with caution; above all, they open new avenues of research to understand the relationship between social network sites and subjective well-being

Regards croisés sur un Centenaire. Un premier bilan des commémorations de la Première Guerre mondiale à Bruxelles

Le Centenaire de la Première Guerre mondiale marque une rupture : on ne commémorera plus jamais de la même manière les événements historiques, tout particulièrement en Belgique. Les entités fédérées y ont démontré le rôle qu’elles entendaient désormais jouer, en toute autonomie, dans de futurs événements de ce type. La Région de Bruxelles-capitale n’a pas été en reste. Si le choix politique de s’impliquer directement dans les commémorations y fut postérieur à celui des autres grandes régions et communautés, elle a démontré sa volonté et sa capacité à mettre en place une politique volontariste et ambitieuse visant à toucher un très large public. L’étude systématique d’un peu plus de 430 activités recensées entre janvier 2014 et juin 2017 sur le territoire de la Région de Bruxelles-capitale met ainsi en exergue leur extrême diversité mais aussi l’exceptionnel dynamisme des communes bruxelloises qui ont été à l’initiative d’un quart d’entre eux. Globalement, la thématique de la majorité des événements étudiés oscilla entre deux axes: le quotidien des Bruxellois et l’histoire globale du conflit dans sa dimension belge mais ces approches furent aussi utilisées pour susciter débats et réflexions sur des questions d’actualité, pour présenter certaines valeurs qui font sens pour la société actuelle : la défense de la liberté, la solidarité, la démocratie, la cohésion sociale… L’approche historique a donc été utilisée comme outil de cohésion et levier d’intégration à travers un passé qui s’adressait à tous : les Bruxellois d’ici et d’ailleurs, les passionnés d’histoire, les amateurs de tourisme de mémoire, les allochtones, les expatriés, les touristes d’un jour

Gekruiste blikken op een honderdste verjaardag. Een eerste balans van de herdenkingen van de Eerste Wereldoorlog in Brussel

De viering van de honderdste verjaardag van de Eerste Wereldoorlog betekent een breuk: historische gebeurtenissen zullen nooit meer op dezelfde manier worden herdacht, zeker niet in België. De deelgebieden hebben duidelijk laten verstaan welke rol ze voortaan volledig autonoom wensen te spelen bij toekomstige evenementen van dat type. Het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest is daarbij niet achtergebleven. Het besliste weliswaar later dan de andere grote gewesten en gemeenschappen om de herdenkingen zelf te organiseren, maar toonde aan dat het bereid en in staat is om een krachtdadig en ambitieus herdenkingsbeleid op poten te zetten dat tot een zeer ruim publiek gericht is. Een systematisch onderzoek van iets meer dan 430 activiteiten die tussen januari 2014 en juni 2017 werden geregistreerd op het grondgebied van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, wijst op hun extreme diversiteit, maar ook op de uitzonderlijke dynamiek van de Brusselse gemeenten die het initiatief hebben genomen voor een kwart van de activiteiten. In het algemeen werden in het merendeel van de evenementen twee thematische benaderingen gevolgd: het dagelijkse leven van de Brusselaars en de algemene geschiedenis van het conflict in zijn Belgische dimensie, maar die benaderingen werden ook gevolgd om debatten en reflecties over actuele vraagstukken op gang te brengen en om bepaalde waarden te presenteren die van betekenis zijn voor de hedendaagse samenleving: verdediging van de vrijheid, solidariteit, democratie, sociale cohesie… De historische benadering werd dus vaak gebruikt als instrument van cohesie en als hefboom voor integratie via een verleden dat zich tot iedereen richt: de Brusselaars van hier en elders, de gepassioneerden van geschiedenis, de liefhebbers van herdenkingstoerisme, de allochtonen, de expats, de dagjestoeristen

A comparative look at a centenary. A review of World War I commemorative events in Brussels

The centenary of World War I has marked an abrupt change: historical events will never be commemorated in the same way, especially in Belgium. The federated entities have demonstrated the autonomous role which they intend to play in future events of this type. The Brussels-Capital Region was not outdone. While the political choice to be directly involved in the commemorative events was made later there than in the other main regions and communities, it demonstrated its will and capacity to implement different activities aimed at reaching a very wide public. The systematic study of just over 430 activities identified between January 2014 and June 2017 in the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region thus highlights their extreme diversity as well as the exceptional dynamism of the municipalities which were at the origin of one quarter of them. Overall, the theme of the majority of events studied wavered between two main lines: the daily life of the inhabitants of Brussels and the global history of the conflict in its Belgian dimension. But these approaches were also used to prompt debates and reflection on current issues which make sense in today's society: the defence of freedom, solidarity, democracy, social cohesion, etc. The historical approach was therefore used as a tool for cohesion and as a lever for integration, with a past which concerns everybody: the inhabitants of Brussels from here and elsewhere, history enthusiasts, lovers of historical memory tourism, non-natives, expatriates, tourists for a day, etc

Perceived Emotional Synchrony in Collective Gatherings: Validation of a Short Scale and Proposition of an Integrative Measure

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in the relationship between participation in collective gatherings and rituals and different important psychosocial variables and processes, such as social sharing of emotions, group cohesion, identity fusion, prosocial tendencies and behaviors, and well-being (e.g.,Rime, 2009;Xygalatas et al., 2013;Khan et al., 2015;Paez et al., 2015). These studies, coming from different lines of research, have proposed diverse explanatory mechanisms to explain the positive social and psychological effects of collective gatherings. In the present article, we focus on one of these mechanisms, known as collective effervescence, emotional communion, emotional entrainment, or perceived emotional synchrony (PES). First, we briefly discuss current conceptions of the emotional states and experience during collective gatherings and what they bring to the definition of PES. We close this point by proposing an integrative definition of PES. Second, structural validity of the original PES scale is examined. Third, incremental validity of PES is examined in two longitudinal studies, particularly with respect to well-being. Finally, we propose an integrative short form of the PES Scale, which measures antecedents and behavioral effects of collective effervescence.This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness [under Grant PSI2017-84145-P], the Basque Government [under Grant IT-1187-19], Postdoctoral Research Grant ESPDOC18/33 granted to LZ, and FONDECYT Iniciacion 11190980 granted to AW

Social identity, perceived emotional synchrony, creativity, social representations, and participation in social movements: the case of the 2019 chilean populist protests

This paper analyzes the socio-cognitive and emotional processes related to collective action in the context of the 2019 populist social movement in Chile. It proposes an integrative explanation of populism as social movements and collective gatherings along with their relation with creativity and social representations of mass movements. A comprehensive online survey was used (n = 262) that included measures of participation in demonstrations, identification with protesters or the government, agreement with social movement grievances, collective efficacy, perceived emotional synchrony, collective action, self-reported cognitive creativity, and individuals’ proposals for improvement of society and ideas associated with stimuli (e.g., the concepts of majority or minority). Our results revealed that identification with demonstrators, agreement with protesters’ grievances, a high perceived emotional synchrony or collective effervescence, and higher creativity responses were associated with an active participation in the social movement. Higher participation and factors conducive to participation were associated with lexical clusters of responses to stimuli that include words such as rights, justice, injustice, bravery, dignity, or hope, which were conceived of as positive social representations of the populist social movement. These findings are discussed within the neo-Durkheimian framework of collective gatherings and the perspective of populism as a social movement that seeks to renew and expand democracy. Copyright © 2021 Castro-Abril, Da Costa, Navarro-Carrillo, Caicedo-Moreno, Gracia-Leiva, Bouchat, Cordero, Méndez and Paez