Ruptures and repairs of group therapy alliance. an untold story in psychotherapy research

Although previous studies investigated the characteristics of therapeutic alliance in group treatments, there is still a dearth of research on group alliance ruptures and repairs. The model by Safran and Muran was originally developed to address therapeutic alliance in individual therapies, and the usefulness of this approach to group intervention needs to be demonstrated. Alliance ruptures are possible at member to therapist, member to member, member to group levels. Moreover, repairs of ruptures in group are quite complex, i.e., because other group members have to process the rupture even if not directly involved. The aim of the current study is to review the empirical research on group alliance, and to examine whether the rupture repair model can be a suitable framework for clinical understanding and research of the complexity of therapeutic alliance in group treatments. We provide clinical vignettes and commentary to illustrate theoretical and research aspects of therapeutic alliance rupture and repair in groups. Our colleague Jeremy Safran made a substantial contribution to research on therapeutic alliance, and the current paper illustrates the enduring legacy of this work and its potential application to the group therapy context

Magic mirror on the wall: Selfie-related behavior as mediator of the relationship between narcissism and problematic smartphone use

Objective: Recent research has suggested that problematic smartphone use is associated with several psychological factors and that mobile apps and smartphone-related behavior (i.e. selfi e behavior) may encourage the development of problematic smartphone use. However, little is known about how the interplay between dysfunctional personality characteristics and selfi e-related behavior can infl uence problematic smartphone use. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between narcissism and problematic smartphone use, as well as the mediating role of selfi e-related behavior in this relationship among young men and women. Method: In the current study, a total of 627 undergraduate students (283 males and 344 females) completed a cross-sectional survey. A structural equation model was tested separately for males and females in order to evaluate the associations between narcissism, selfi e-related behavior and problematic smartphone use. Results: The results showed that greater narcissism was related to increased selfi e-related behavior, which in turn were positively associated with problematic smartphone use both for males and females. However, selfi e-related behavior mediated the relationship between narcissism and problematic smartphone use only for females. Conclusions: The study provides fresh insight into our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying problematic smartphone use, which may inform prevention and treatment interventions

The impact of Facebook use on self-reported eating disorders during the COVID-19 lockdown

Background: The social isolation due to the COVID-19-related lockdown has had an impact on social media consumption around the world. This study examines the relationship between fear of COVID-19, Facebook use and disordered eating. Methods: Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyse two-wave survey data (T0: Italian first lockdown; T1: after two months) during the pandemic. Young adults with self-reported dysfunctional eating behaviors (N = 115; 91.3% females; mean age = 28.60 ± 7.31) were recruited to complete an online survey at T0; 66 participants (92.4% females; mean age = 28.85 ± 7.85) completed the survey at T1. They were assessed on Facebook use, dysfunctional eating cognitions, and fear of COVID-19. Results: Participants’ disordered eating cognitions increased during the pandemic. At T0, higher fear of COVID-19 was positively associated to time spent on Facebook, which in turn predicted disordered eating cognitions at T1. Moreover, maladaptive Facebook use mediated the relationship between daily time on Facebook and Shape concerns. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest an influence of dysfunctional Facebook use in increasing disordered eating cognitions during the pandemic

An entropy evaluation algorithm to improve transmission efficiency of compressed data in pervasive healthcare mobile sensor networks

Data transmission is the most critical operation for mobile sensors networks in term of energy waste. Particularly in pervasive healthcare sensors network it is paramount to preserve the quality of service also by means of energy saving policies. Communication and data transmission are among the most critical operation for such devises in term of energy waste. In this paper we present a novel approach to increase battery life-span by means of shorter transmission due to data compression. On the other hand, since this latter operation has a non-neglectable energy cost, we developed a compression efficiency estimator based on the evaluation of the absolute and relative entropy. Such algorithm provides us with a fast mean for the evaluation of data compressibility. Since mobile wireless sensor networks are prone to battery discharge-related problems, such an evaluation can be used to improve the electrical efficiency of data communication. In facts the developed technique, due to its independence from the string or file length, is extremely robust both for small and big data files, as well as to evaluate whether or not to compress data before transmission. Since the proposed solution provides a quantitative analysis of the source's entropy and the related statistics, it has been implemented as a preprocessing step before transmission. A dynamic threshold defines whether or not to invoke a compression subroutine. Such a subroutine should be expected to greatly reduce the transmission length. On the other hand a data compression algorithm should be used only when the energy gain of the reduced transmission time is presumably greater than the energy used to run the compression software. In this paper we developed an automatic evaluation system in order to optimize the data transmission in mobile sensor networks, by compressing data only when this action is presumed to be energetically efficient. We tested the proposed algorithm by using the Canterbury Corpus as well as standard pictorial data as benchmark test. The implemented system has been proven to be time-inexpensive with respect to a compression algorithm. Finally the computational complexity of the proposed approach is virtually neglectable with respect to the compression and transmission routines themselves

Analysis of the drainage density of experimental and modelled tidal networks

Abstract. Based on controlled laboratory experiments, we numerically simulate the initiation and long-term evolution of back-barrier tidal networks in micro-tidal and meso-tidal conditions. The simulated pattern formation is comparable to the morphological growth observed in the laboratory, which is characterised by relatively rapid initiation and slower adjustment towards an equilibrium state. The simulated velocity field is in agreement with natural reference systems such as the micro-tidal Venice Lagoon and the meso-tidal Wadden Sea. Special attention is given to the concept of drainage density, which is measured on the basis of the exceedance probability distribution of the unchannelled flow lengths. Model results indicate that the exceedance probability distribution is characterised by an approximately exponential trend, similar to the results of laboratory experiments and observations in natural systems. The drainage density increases greatly during the initial phase of tidal network development, while it slows down when the system approaches equilibrium. Due to the larger tidal prism, the tidal basin has a larger drainage density for the meso-tidal condition (after the same amount of time) than the micro-tidal case. In both micro-tidal and meso-tidal simulations, it is found that there is an initial rapid increase of the tidal prism which soon reaches a relatively steady value (after approximately 40 yr), while the drainage density adjusts more slowly. In agreement with the laboratory experiments, the initial bottom perturbations play an important role in determining the morphological development and hence the exceedance probability distribution of the unchannelled flow lengths. Overall, our study indicates an agreement of the geometric characteristics between the numerical and experimental tidal networks

The psychological impact of COVID-19 on people suffering from dysfunctional eating behaviours: A linguistic analysis of the contents shared in an online community during the lockdown

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread several months ago from China and it is now a global pandemic. The experience of lockdown has been an undesirable condition for people with mental health problems, including eating disorders. The present study has the aim of understanding the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with selfreported disordered eating behaviours. A linguistic analysis was carried out with regard to the online posts and comments published by 1971 individuals (86% women) in a Facebook online community focusing on EDs during the lockdown. A total of 244 posts and 3603 comments were collected during the 56 days of lockdown (from the 10th of March until the 4th of May 2020) in Italy and were analysed by Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software. The results showed that words related to peer support decreased in posts over time, and that anxiety and anger increased in the published comments. Moreover, greater feelings of negativity and anxiety were found in posts and comments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as lesser use of words related to positive emotions. Thematic qualitative analysis revealed eight themes that described the main subjective components of ED symptomatology and distress during the first COVID-19 lockdown. The current findings can help in delivering tailored treatments to people with eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic

Liquid biopsy in non-small cell lung cancer: highlights and challenges

Non-small cell lung cancer is one leading cause of death worldwide, and patients would greatly benefit from an early diagnosis. Since targeted and immunotherapies have emerged as novel approaches for more tailored treatments, repeated assessments of the tumor biology have become pivotal to drive clinical decisions. Currently, tumor tissue biopsy is the gold standard to investigate potentially actionable biomarkers, but this procedure is invasive and may prove inadequate to represent the whole malignancy. In this regard, liquid biopsy represents a minimally invasive and more comprehensive option for early detection and investigation of this tumor. Today, cell-free DNA is the only approved circulating marker to select patients for a targeted therapy. Conversely, the other tumor-derived markers (i.e., circulating tumor cells, miRNAs, exosomes, and tumor educated platelets) are still at a pre-clinical phase, although they show promising results for their application in screening programs or as prognostic/predictive biomarkers. The main challenges for their clinical translation are the lack of reliable cutoffs and, especially for miRNAs, the great variability among the studies. Moreover, no established tool has been approved for circulating tumor cells and exosome isolation. Finally, large prospective clinical trials are mandatory to provide evidence of their clinical utility

Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on eating disorders and obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine: the pooled prevalence of symptomatic behaviours and mental health deterioration amongst individuals with eating disorders (EDs) and obesity during the COVID-19 confinement. Moreover, we examined changes in EDs and distress before and during the confinement, and the association between psychosocial factors and EDs symptoms. METHOD: A systematic search was carried out in biomedical databases from January 2020 to January 2021. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that used quantitative measures of ED symptoms and psychological distress during and after the COVID-19 confinement were included. RESULTS: A total of 26 studies met inclusion criteria (n = 3399, 85.7% female). The pooled prevalence of symptomatic deterioration in EDs was 65% (95% CI[48,81], k = 10). The pooled prevalence of increased weight in obesity was 52% (95% CI[25,78], k = 4). More than half of the participants experienced depression and anxiety. Moreover, at least 75% of the individuals with EDs reported shape and eating concerns, and increased thinking about exercising. However, the pooled analyses of longitudinal studies showed no significant differences from pre-pandemic levels to the first lockdown phase in Body Mass Index and ED symptoms, whereas only few studies suggested increased distress, particularly among individuals with anorexia nervosa. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of individuals with EDs and obesity reported symptomatic worsening during the lockdown. However, further longitudinal studies are needed to identify vulnerable groups, as well as the long-term consequences of COVID-19

Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on eating disorders and obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine: the pooled prevalence of symptomatic behaviours and mental health deterioration amongst individuals with eating disorders (EDs) and obesity during the COVID-19 confinement. Moreover, we examined changes in EDs and distress before and during the confinement, and the association between psychosocial factors and EDs symptoms. Method: A systematic search was carried out in biomedical databases from January 2020 to January 2021. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that used quantitative measures of ED symptoms and psychological distress during and after the COVID-19 confinement were included. Results: A total of 26 studies met inclusion criteria (n = 3399, 85.7% female). The pooled prevalence of symptomatic deterioration in EDs was 65% (95% CI[48,81], k = 10). The pooled prevalence of increased weight in obesity was 52% (95% CI[25,78], k = 4). More than half of the participants experienced depression and anxiety. Moreover, at least 75% of the individuals with EDs reported shape and eating concerns, and increased thinking about exercising. However, the pooled analyses of longitudinal studies showed no significant differences from pre-pandemic levels to the first lockdown phase in Body Mass Index and ED symptoms, whereas only few studies suggested increased distress, particularly among individuals with anorexia nervosa. Conclusions: The majority of individuals with EDs and obesity reported symptomatic worsening during the lockdown. However, further longitudinal studies are needed to identify vulnerable groups, as well as the long-term consequences of COVID-19

The Cupuacu (Theobroma Grandiflorum) fruit. High performance liquid chromatographic determination of antioxidant phenolic substances in cupuacu seed powder

A method for the qualitative analysis of antioxidant phenolic substances in cupuacu seed powder by high performance liquid chromatography is described. We have used n-exhane to degrease the cupuacu seed powder and a methanol-water (80:20) solution for the extraction of the analytes. HPLC separation was carried out by using a binary gradient elution utilizing methanol-acetonitrile 1:1 (v/v) and 0.5% (w/v) phosphoric acid. Spectral scans were continuously collected in the range 210-370 nm and the spectrophotometric chromatogram was plotted at 280 nm. Spectrofluorimetric detection was carried out with excitation at 280 nm and emission at 330 nm. Epicatechin and quercetin were identified by comparing the chromatographic behaviour and the UV spectrum of the extracted components with those of pure standards, while the spectrofluorimetric detection, by stopped flow technique, has allowed the identification of catechin and has confirmed the spectrophotometric identification of epicatechin