Taking a Break. Some Thoughts about Media Consumption

This article examines the structural characteristics of media consumption as a routine break from habitual activity. While acknowledging the existence and importance of “taking a breather” in everyday life, one may ask if and when it is possible to characterize taking a break in today’s media field. The “media break” refers to communications consumption that is not directed at finding out what is occurring in the outside world, correlating between parts of the social and/or political system or responding to the environment and/or passing on the social heritage to the next generation. During the media breather, individuals cut themselves off from their obligations to surveillance, adaptation, connection, continuity, and enlistment. They isolate themselves from systemic constraints and needs and delay any overt contribution to the system. The media break can occur at any hour of the day, or even several times a day. In light of the contribution of routine activity to the stability of the social fabric, this article suggests that media consumption of the “breather” type can provide a structural basis for social stability

"I'm on a break…" The contribution of taking a break to emotional coping

Lately we are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of taking a break. Whereas modern social thoughtconcerns itself with activity, with doing, less attention has been given to the emotional implications of not-doing,of inaction. Hence, this article focuses on decoding the notion of the break, its structural characteristics and emotionalsignificance in everyday life. The break’s features will be examined, as well as the role they play in copingwith emotional pressures. Moreover, analyzing the essential components of the break -- cutting-off and isolation -- reveals the latent mechanisms which ensure emotional continuity and stability.Últimamente nos estamos volviendo cada vez más conscientes de la importancia de tomar un descanso. Considerando que el pensamiento social moderno se ocupa de la actividad, se ha prestado menos atención a las implicaciones emocionales de no-hacer, de no hacer nada. Por lo tanto, este artículo se centra en la decodificación de la noción de descanso, sus características estructurales y su significado emocional en la vida cotidiana. Las características del descanso se examinarán, así como el papel que desempeñan en hacer frente a las presiones emocionales. Por otra parte, el análisis de los componentes esenciales del descanso -corte y aislamiento- revela los mecanismos latentes que garantizan la continuidad y la estabilidad emocional

Effect of Local Delivery of GDNF Conjugated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles on Nerve Regeneration along Long Chitosan Nerve Guide

Local delivery of neurotrophic factors is a pillar of neural repair strategies in the peripheral nervous system. The main disadvantage of the free growth factors is their short half‐life of few minutes. In previous studies, it was demonstrated that conjugation of various neurotrophic factors to iron oxide nanoparticles (IONP) led to stabilization of the growth factors and to the extension of their biological activity compared to the free factors. In vitro studies performed on organotypic dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cultures seeded in NVR gel (composed mainly of hyaluronic acid and laminin) revealed that the glial cell–derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) conjugated to IONP‐enhanced early nerve fiber sprouting and accelerated the onset and progression of myelin significantly earlier than the free GDNF and other free and conjugated factors. The present article summarizes results of in vivo study, aimed to test the effect of free versus conjugated GDNF on regeneration of the rat sciatic nerve after a severe segment loss. We confirmed that nerve device enriched with a matrix with GDNF gives more successful results in term of regeneration and functional recovery in respect to the hollow tube; moreover, there are no detectable differences between free versus conjugated GDNF

Peripheral Nerve Reconstruction Using Enriched Chitosan Conduits

The repair of peripheral nerve traumatic lesions still represents a major cause of permanent motor and sensory impairment. In case of substance loss, a nerve guide should be used to bridge the proximal with the distal stump of the severed nerve. The effectiveness of hollow nerve guides is limited by the delay of axonal growth due to the absence of a regeneration substrate inside the conduit. To fasten up nerve regeneration, nerve guides should thus be enriched by a luminal filler. In this study, we investigated, in a 12-mm rat sciatic nerve defect experimental model, the effectiveness of chitosan-based conduits of different acetylation filled either with a hyaluronic acid gel (NVR gel) or with a magnetic fibrin hydrogel, in comparison with traditional autografts. Results showed that all types of artificial nerve conduits led to functional recovery not significantly different from autografts. By contrast, morphological and morphometrical analyses showed that the best results among nerve guides were found in medium degree of acetylation (DAII: ∼5%) chitosan conduits enriched with the NVR gel

"I'm on a break…" The contribution of taking a break to emotional coping

Últimamente nos estamos volviendo cada vez más conscientes de la importancia de tomar un descanso. Considerando que el pensamiento social moderno se ocupa de la actividad, se ha prestado menos atención a las implicaciones emocionales de no-hacer, de no hacer nada. Por lo tanto, este artículo se centra en la decodificación de la noción de descanso, sus características estructurales y su significado emocional en la vida cotidiana. Las características del descanso se examinarán, así como el papel que desempeñan en hacer frente a las presiones emocionales. Por otra parte, el análisis de los componentes esenciales del descanso -corte y aislamiento- revela los mecanismos latentes que garantizan la continuidad y la estabilidad emocional

"Estoy en un descanso ... ": La contribución de tomar un descanso para el afrontamiento emocional

Lately we are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of taking a break. Whereas modern social thought concerns itself with activity, with doing, less attention has been given to the emotional implications of not-doing, of inaction. Hence, this article focuses on decoding the notion of the break, its structural characteristics and emotional significance in everyday life. The break’s features will be examined, as well as the role they play in coping with emotional pressures. Moreover, analyzing the essential components of the break -- cutting-off and isolation - - reveals the latent mechanisms which ensure emotional continuity and stability.Últimamente nos estamos volviendo cada vez más conscientes de la importancia de tomar un descanso. Considerando que el pensamiento social moderno se ocupa de la actividad, se ha prestado menos atención a las implicaciones emocionales de no-hacer, de no hacer nada. Por lo tanto, este artículo se centra en la decodificación de la noción de descanso, sus características estructurales y su significado emocional en la vida cotidiana. Las características del descanso se examinarán, así como el papel que desempeñan en hacer frente a las presiones emocionales. Por otra parte, el análisis de los componentes esenciales del descanso -corte y aislamiento revela los mecanismos latentes que garantizan la continuidad y la estabilidad emocional

Shaming 2.0. Social Interaction and the Construction of Shame and Shaming

With the rise and spread of the Web 2.0 culture the nature of “old”/“traditional” social interaction, including shame and shaming, is changing as more and more attention is given to online vs. offline social interactions. Amongst those on-going changes lies the construction of Shaming 2.0, i.e., a public attempt to impose shame on “the Other” by using Web 2.0 technological capabilities. Thus, Shaming 2.0 can be defined as a pragmatic social negotiation regarding the boundaries of what is allowed and forbidden, what is acceptable and unacceptable while performing on-line and off-line social interactions. The illustration of Shaming 2.0 was conducted by utilizing Israeli rabbinical court decisions in the era of Web 2.0 cultural features. Via the implementation of critical discourse analysis, the rise of the ‘Virtual Mirror’ is portrayed side by side with “new” social interactions behind the scenes of Shame 2.0