Az elvonulás mint kommunikációs színtér: Felkészültségek és problémamegoldás egy buddhista közösségben

Az értekezésben egy kommunikációs perspektívából elvégzett, antropológiai jellegű kutatás eredményeinek értelmezése történt meg egy tágabb, interdiszciplináris elméleti keretben. A kutatás egy magyarországi buddhista kisközösségben zajlott résztvevő megfigyeléssel és mélyinterjúkkal. A fő elméleti keret a kommunikáció participációs modellje. A kutatás arra kereste a választ, mit jelent a közösség elvonulásain részt vevők számára a buddhizmus, a közösség, az elvonulás; hogyan tudják az itt megszerzett felkészültségeiket felhasználni a mindennapi életükben, esetlegesen milyen konfliktusokkal szembesülnek; mennyire értik meg a buddhista tan elveit magyarul, illetve angol nyelven közvetítve; hogyan élik meg az elvonulás szakrális dimenzióját; valamint a kutatás eredményei hogyan illeszkednek a nyugati buddhizmussal kapcsolatos szakirodalom megállapításaihoz. A kutatás főbb eredményei: – A közösség vallásossága a William James-féle, a személyes élményt középpontba helyező vallásfogalommal, az „autonóm vallásosság”, „maga módján vallásosság”, „spirituális érdeklődés/útkeresés” vagy „életfilozófia” fogalmakkal írható le. – A nyelvi megértés ugyan korlátozott a többnyelvű környezetben, de ez a megértési szint elégséges az életminőség javítására irányuló gyakorláshoz. – Jelentős vonzerőt jelent a nyugati buddhizmus, azon belül a „mindennapi” vagy „elkötelezett” buddhizmus mindennapi életvitellel és tudományos világnézettel való összeegyeztethetősége. Ennek oka a közösség összetétele: felsőfokú végzettségű, urbánus, különböző életkorú nők és férfiak, akik jelentős része a pszichológia területén (vagy más segítő foglalkozásban) dolgozik, illetve egyéb értelmiségi munkát végez. – Az elvonulás funkciója a kiszakadás a mindennapi életből, a befelé figyelés, az elme lecsendesítése, az empátia erősítése, az önfejlesztés, a „jelenben levés”. Az elvonuláson való részvételt motiválhatja a kíváncsiság, a nehéz élethelyzetre való megoldáskeresés, a rekreáció igénye és a közösségben való gyakorlás lehetősége. – A szertartások, rítusok funkciója kevésbé szakrális, inkább az egyéni és közösségi megerősítő szerepük a hangsúlyos. – A közösség tagsága leírható a „mag” és a „holdudvar” fogalmaival, azonban ezek között nem éles a választóvonal. A közösség rugalmasan kezeli a tagságot, ami egyrészt ronthatja a kohéziót, másrészt azonban könnyebbé teszi a bekapcsolódást. A tanító fontos szerepet tölt be a közösség életében, a személye nagy vonzerőt jelent. A közösség összetételéből következően a tanító pszichológiai irányultsága kifejezetten előnyként jelenik meg. – A kutatás bizonyította, hogy a buddhista tanításból, a közösségben és kifejezetten az elvonulásokon a résztvevők olyan felkészültségeket szereznek, amelyek segítik őket a problémamegoldásban. Ez igaz mind a magánéletre, mind a munkavégzésre és a munkahelyi kapcsolatokra. A buddhista tanítások által képviselt elvek és attitűdök fokozatosan beépülnek a gondolkodásba, és belső késztetésként segítik a döntéseket bizonyos élethelyzetekben. A felkészültségek jelentősen befolyásolják az emberi kapcsolatokat: emelik a tolerancia és empátia mértékét. Nagyobb önismeretet eredményeznek, segítik a nehéz helyzetek és a konfliktusok kezelését

A magyar emlőrákos betegek igényei a korszerű onkoplasztikus emlősebészeti ellátásra

The significant need for breast reconstruction resulting from the spread of oncoplastic breast surgery raises a number of systemic issues. Clarification and regulation of the indications are needed for aesthetic changes of the reconstructed breast due to oncotherapy treatments, ageing and technical problems of implants; a number of operations, targeted aesthetic goals as well as surgical capacities and financial background should also be determined.Our aim was to conduct a survey on the opinions and needs of the Hungarian breast cancer population about a modern breast reconstruction system.A study was conducted enrolling 500 patients who underwent mastectomy with immediate or delayed reconstruction. A structured questionnaire containing eleven questions was used to measure the attitude for loss and reconstruction of breast, the expectation of cosmetic outcome and qualification of the operating surgeon and the needs relating to the health system and funding.The median age was 47 years (min.-max.: 26-73), 59% (n = 294) was married and 52% (n = 260) had graduated in university. The majority of women (70%; n = 348) would like to have nakedly also similar breasts after the reconstruction process. To achieve this, 43% (n = 217) and 37% (n = 184) would undergo maximum two or four procedures, respectively, supported by the national health insurance company. 86% (n = 430) would like to choose qualified breast surgeon for her treatment.The modern oncoplastic treatment raises complex, systemic issues. Women with breast cancer would like to have qualified breast surgeons restoring their breasts by two operations, all funded by the national health insurance company. Orv Hetil. 2020; 161(29): 1221-1228

Meta-Analysis of the Long Term Success Rate of Different Interventions in Benign Biliary Strictures.

BACKGROUND: Benign biliary stricture is a rare condition and the majority of the cases are caused by operative trauma or chronic inflammation based on various etiology. Although the initial results of endoscopic, percutaneous and surgical treatment are impressive, no comparison about long term stricture resolution is available. AIMS: The goal of this study was to compare the long term disease free survival in benign biliary strictures with various etiology after surgery, percutaneous transhepatic-and endoscopic treatment. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched by computer and manually for published studies. The investigators selected the publications according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, processed the data and assessed the quality of the selected studies. Meta-analysis of data of 24 publications was performed to compare long term disease free survival of different treatment groups. RESULTS: Compared the subgroups surgery resulted in the highest long term stricture resolution rate, followed by the percutaneous transhepatic treatment, the multiple plastic stent insertion and covered self-expanding metal stents (SEMS), however the difference was not significant. All compared methods are significantly superior to the single plastic stent placement. Long term stricture resolution rate irrespectively of any therapy is still not more than 84%. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the use of single plastic stent is not recommended. Further randomized studies and innovative technical development are required for improving the treatment of benign biliary strictures

A convenient method to pre-screen candidate guide RNAs for CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing by NHEJ-mediated integration of a 'self-cleaving' GFP-expression plasmid.

The efficacies of guide RNAs (gRNAs), the short RNA molecules that bind to and determine the sequence specificity of the Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 nuclease, to mediate DNA cleavage vary dramatically. Thus, the selection of appropriate target sites, and hence spacer sequence, is critical for most applications. Here, we describe a simple, unparalleled method for experimentally pre-testing the efficiencies of various gRNAs targeting a gene. The method explores NHEJ-cloning, genomic integration of a GFP-expressing plasmid without homologous arms and linearized in-cell. The use of 'self- cleaving' GFP-plasmids containing universal gRNAs and corresponding targets alleviates cloning burdens when this method is applied. These universal gRNAs mediate efficient plasmid cleavage and are designed to avoid genomic targets in several model species. The method combines the advantages of the straightforward FACS detection provided by applying fluorescent reporter systems and of the PCR-based approaches being capable of testing targets in their genomic context, without necessitating any extra cloning steps. Additionally, we show that NHEJ-cloning can also be used in mammalian cells for targeted integration of donor plasmids up to 10 kb in size, with up to 30% efficiency, without any selection or enrichment

Low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAP) diet improves symptoms in adults suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) compared to standard IBS diet: A meta-analysis of clinical studies

BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional digestive tract disorders, e.g. functional bloating, carbohydrate maldigestion and intolerances, are very common disorders frequently causing significant symptoms that challenge health care systems. A low Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols (FODMAP) diet is one of the possible therapeutic approaches for decreasing abdominal symptoms and improving quality of life. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to meta-analyze data on the therapeutic effect of a low-FODMAP diet on symptoms of IBS and quality of life and compare its effectiveness to a regular, standard IBS diet with high FODMAP content, using a common scoring system, the IBS Symptom Severity Score (IBS-SSS). METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library as well as in the references in a recent meta-analysis. Adult patients diagnosed with IBS according to the Rome II, Rome III, Rome IV or NICE criteria were included in the analysis. STATISTICAL METHODS: Mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were calculated from studies that contained means, standard deviation (SD) or mean differences and SD of differences and p-values. A random effect model was used because of the heterogeneity (Q test (chi2) and I2 indicator). A p-value of less than 0.05 was chosen to indicate a significant difference. RESULTS: The literature search yielded 902 publications, but only 10 were eligible for our meta-analysis. Both regular and low-FODMAP diets proved to be effective in IBS, but post-diet IBS-SSS values were significantly lower (p = 0.002) in the low-FODMAP group. The low-FODMAP diet showed a correlation with the improvement of general symptoms (by IBS-SSS) in patients with IBS. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis provides high-grade evidence of an improved general symptom score among patients with irritable bowel syndrome who have maintained a low-FODMAP diet compared to those on a traditional IBS diet, therefore showing its superiority to regular IBS dietary therapy. These data suggest that a low-FODMAP diet with dietitian control can be a candidate for first-line therapeutic modality in IBS. Because of a lack of data, well-planned randomized controlled studies are needed to ascertain the correlation between improvement of separate key IBS symptoms and the effect of a low-FODMAP diet

The Role of Silence at the Retreats of a Buddhist Community

The purpose of the study is to establish that the definition of silence as simply an absence of something or as the background of communication proves to be inadequate in a number of communicative instances. The interpretation of silence is culturally determined, and the underappreciation of its role is typical in low-context Western cultures; this is also evinced by the neglect of the topic in the literature. The present study will describe the communicative functions of silence through the findings of field work conducted at the retreats of a Buddhist community in Hungary, providing empirical input for the relevant theoretical constructs. The research findings show that silence is accorded a central role in essentially every component of the retreat (meditations, relaxation, ceremonies, teachings, small-group sharings, meals and rest); and while each event at the retreat focuses primarily on a different specific function of communication, the entire retreat does involve the linkage, affecting, revelational and – to a certain extent – activating functions (to follow the five-element typology of J. Vernon Jensen), as well as – to a lesser extent – the judgmental function. The research also shows that it requires time for individuals in a low-context culture to recognize the “point” of silence – something that the retreats provide the right opportunity for. In fact, the insights the individuals arrived at through these occasions could be put to use in their daily lives, helping their problem-solving and social relationships and in general improving their quality of life

A novel percutaneous transhepatic treatment of a benign bile duct stricture – a pilot study

Aim To assess the effectiveness and outcome of repeated percutaneous transhepatic balloon dilatation combined with targeted intramucosal corticosteroid injection in patients with benign biliary stricture. Methods This single-center pilot study, conducted between February 2014 and June 2016, involved five patients with benign biliary stricture (4 men and 1 woman, mean age 58.2 years). The study included only patients in whom previous surgical or/and non-surgical treatments failed or could not be performed due to patients’ medical history and local status.Results We successfully developed an alternative treatment for patients with benign biliary stricture and performed it without side effects. There were no major complications, and the only one minor complication was cholangitis. In the median follow-up period of 30.24 months (range 14.5 to 44.6 months), no re-occlusion was detected. The disease-free survival, calculated after excluding the first patient (who died of heart attack), was 34.175 months. Conclusion Percutaneous transhepatic corticosteroid injection combined with balloon dilatation could provide an alternative method for the treatment of benign biliary strictures that is effective in the long term and results in positive outcomes