Randomized Trial on the Effects of a Group EMDR Intervention on Narrative Complexity and Specificity of Autobiographical Memories: A Path Analytic and Supervised Machine-Learning Study

Narratives of autobiographical memories may be impaired by adverse childhood experiences, generating narrative fragmentation and increased levels of perceived distress. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) proved to be an effective treatment to overcome traumatic experiences and to promote coherent autobiographical narratives. However, the specific mechanisms by which EMDR promotes narrative coherence remains largely unknown. We conducted a randomized controlled pilot trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT05319002) in a non-clinical sample of 27 children recruited in a primary school. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent a three-week group EMDR intervention. Subjective unit of distress (SUD), validity of cognition (VoC), classification of autobiographical memories, narrative complexity and specificity were assessed before and after the group EMDR intervention. The group EMDR intervention was able to improve SUD and VoC scales, narrative complexity and specificity, and promoted the classification of autobiographical memories as relational. The path analysis showed that SUD was able to predict VoC and narrative specificity, which, in turn, was able to predict both narrative complexity and the classification of autobiographical memories as relational. Machine-learning analysis showed that random tree classifier outperformed all other models by achieving a 93.33% accuracy. Clinical implications are discussed

Risk Factors for Immediate and Delayed-Onset Fever After Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage

Objectives To prospectively investigate the pre and intraprocedural risk factors for immediate (IF) and delayedonset (DOF) fever development after percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD). Methods Institutional review board approval and informed patient consent were obtained. Between February 2013 and February 2014, 97 afebrile patients (77 at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy and 20 at the Sun Yatsen University of Guangzhou, China) with benign (n = 31) and malignant (n = 66) indications for a first PTBD were prospectively enrolled. Thirty pre- and intra-procedural clinical/radiological characteristics, including the amount of contrast media injected prior to PTBD placement, were collected in relation to the development of IF (within 24 h) or DOF (after 24 h). Fever was defined as C37.5 C. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess independent associations with IF and DOF. Results Fourteen (14.4 %) patients developed IF and 17 (17.5 %) developed DOF. At multivariable analysis, IF was associated with pre-procedural absence of intrahepatic bile duct dilatation (OR 63.359; 95 % CI 2.658–1510.055; P = 0.010) and low INR (OR 4.7 9 10-4 ; 95 % CI 0.000–0.376; P = 0.025), while DOF was associated with unsatisfactory biliary drainage at the end of PTBD (OR 4.571; 95 % CI 1.161–17.992; P = 0.030)

A critical period for experience-dependent development of the feelings of safety during early infancy: A polyvagal perspective on anger and psychometric tools to assess perceived safety

Due to its distinct and widely recognizable pattern of face expression, anger has always been included in the repertoire of basic emotions (Ekman, 1999). Relying on polyvagal theory, Beauchaine et al. (2007) summarized the results of three studies (Beauchaine, 2001; Mead et al., 2004; Crowell et al., 2006) evaluating autonomic nervous system functioning in children manifesting aggression and conduct problems, aged 4–18. Children with aggressive oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder exhibited both sympathetic hypo-arousal at baseline and sympathetic insensitivity to reward at a very early age, marking a general disinhibitory tendency. In addition to this disinhibition, PNS deficiencies were found and contributed to increased emotional lability. Using transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), Steenbergen et al. (2021), investigating subjects with age ranging from 18 to 28, found that active tVNS, compared to sham stimulation, enhanced the recognition of anger but reduced the ability to recognize sadness. According to developmental research, an actual expression of anger does not emerge until the last months of the first year of life (Sroufe, 1996). According to this, research on 5-, 12-, and 15-month-old infants has shown that an adult-like, late, non-linear pattern of cortical response to masked faces at various levels of visibility emerged as early as 5 months of age, starting around 900 ms, possibly due to the development of the right fusiform gyrus (Guy et al., 2016) and its increased sensitivity to fearful faces from 5 to 12 months (Xie et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2021). Subsequently, this late component shifted to a more sustained and faster response in older infants (~750 ms), to reach around 300 ms in adults (Kouider et al., 2013). Consequently, in infants aged 5–12 months exposed to facial expressions of happiness, fear, and anger with normal levels of visibility, the N290 event-related potential (ERP) component was found to be larger in amplitude in response to angry and happy faces than to angry ones, revealing greater cortical activation in the right fusiform face area, while the P400 and the negative-central (Nc) ERP components were found to be larger in amplitude in response to angry faces than to happy and fearful ones, revealing greater activation of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus associated with the allocation of infants' attention. Interestingly, these effects emerged at 5 months, became well established at 7 months, and then disappeared at 12 months (Xie et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2021). As extensively shown for sensory development (Berardi et al., 2003; Hübener and Bonhoeffer, 2014; Ribot et al., 2021), this evidence may suggest a sensitive period for emotional development (Woodard and Pollak, 2020) related, in particular, to the learning of safety (Porges, 2015, 2022)

Randomized trial on the effects of an EMDR intervention on traumatic and obsessive symptoms during the COVID-19 quarantine: a psychometric study

IntroductionIt has been suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic was a potentially traumatic occurrence that may have induced generalized anxiety and discomfort, particularly in susceptible populations like individuals with mental illnesses. The therapeutic approach known as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has been shown to be successful in helping patients process traumatic events and restore wellbeing. Nevertheless, little is known about the precise processes through which EMDR fosters symptom recovery. MethodsIn order to disentangle these issues, we conducted a randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT06110702) with 107 participants who were selected from university hospitals as a sample of investigation. Random assignments were applied to the participants in order to assign them to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group, but not the control group, underwent an 8-week EMDR intervention. Body perception, disgust, and emotions of guilt and shame, as well as mental contamination and posttraumatic and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, were investigated before and after the EMDR intervention.ResultsThe EMDR intervention was able to improve all of the variables investigated. Path analysis showed that body perception was able to predict both disgust and emotions of guilt and shame. Disgust was able to predict both mental contamination and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, while guilt and shame were able to predict post-traumatic symptoms. ConclusionsEMDR is an effective therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic and obsessive symptoms that acts through the promotion of improvement of the emotions of guilt/shame and disgust, respectively. Implications for clinical practice are examined.Clinical trial registrationhttps://www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT06110702

Evaluation of polymorphisms at the 3´ UTR SLC11A1 gene microsatellites and their associations with the outcome of Brucella abortus infection in Bos taurus cattle

In ruminants, polymorphisms in microsatellites at 3´untranslated region (3´ UTR) of the SLC11A1 gene were associated with natural resistance to Brucella spp. and Mycobacterium spp. infection, but its relevance to prevent brucellosis is controversial in cattle. The aim of this study was to re-evaluate the role of these polymorphisms in the outcome of Brucella abortus infection in European bovine breeds. Initially, the presence or absence of specific antibodies against Brucella abortus in beef (n=74) or dairy (n=69) Bos taurus cattle at high risk of natural Brucella infection was used to identify susceptible (cases, infected) or resistant (control, non-infected) animals. Then, innate resistance to Brucella infection was evaluated in B. taurus peripheral blood monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) challenged with the pathogen. Finally, a bioinformatics analysis of the 3′ UTR of the SLC11A1 gene was performed to evaluate its putative functional impact on gene regulation. Fifty four (54) brucellosis positive and 89 brucellosis negative animals were genotyped for both microsatellites by multiplex PCR-capillary electrophoresis. Our results showed that the homozygous genotypes 159 and 175 for Ms1 and Ms2 respectively, previously defined as “resistant” genotypes, were the most frequent among the animal population. Independently, no association was detected between these or other polymorphisms and the absence or presence of humoral immune response against brucellosis. Moreover, no association was observed between the resistant genotype with the restricted B. abortus-intracellular growth phenotype in MDMs. In silico analysis of 3′ UTR sequence predicted two canonical binding sites for transcriptional regulatory elements belonging to TEF-1 and SMAD families, but most importantly, the secondary structure of the 3’UTR remains unchanged regardless of the length of the microsatellites. Taken together, these results show no evidence of an association between the 3’UTR SLC11A1 polymorphisms and natural resistance against brucellosis in cattle.Los polimorfismos presentes en los microsatélites de la región 3’UTR del gen SLC11A1 de los rumiantes fue asociada a la resistencia natural a la infección por Brucella spp. y Mycobacterium spp., aunque su relevancia en la prevención de la brucelosis bovina es controversial. El objetivo de este estudio fue reevaluar el rol de esos polimorfismos frente a una infección por B. abortus en bovinos de razas europeas. Inicialmente se utilizó la presencia o ausencia de anticuerpos específicos anti B. abortus en bovinos de carne (n=74) o leche (n=69) con alto riesgo de infección natural para identificar animales susceptibles (casos, infectados) o resistentes (controles, no infectados) a la infección. Posteriormente, la resistencia innata a la infección por B. abortus fue evaluada en macrófagos derivados de monocitos sanguíneos (MDMs) desafiados con la bacteria. Finalmente, se realizó un análisis bioinformático de la porción 3’UTR del gen SLC11A1 para evaluar el impacto funcional en la regulación del gen. Se genotiparon por electroforesis capilar– PCR multiplex para ambos microsatélites, 54 animales serológicamente positivos y 89 negativos a brucelosis. Nuestros resultados mostraron que los genotipos 159 y 175 para los Ms1 y Ms2 respectivamente, previamente definidos como “resistentes”, fueron los más frecuentes entre la población estudiada. Independientemente de esto, no se detectó asociación entre estos u otros polimorfismos con la ausencia o presencia de respuesta inmune humoral a Brucella. Tampoco se observó asociación entre los genotipos resistentes y el fenotipo de crecimiento de B. abortus en MDMs. El análisis in silico de la secuencia 3’ UTR predijo dos sitios de unión canónicos para elementos reguladores transcripcionales pertenecientes a las familias TEF-1 y SMAD, además de indicar que la estructura secundaria de esa porción génica permanecía inalterable independientemente de la extensión de los microsatélites. En conjunto, estos resultados indican una falta de asociación entre los polimorfismos en la porción 3’UTR del gen SLC11A1 y la resistencia natural a la brucelosis en los bovinos de origen europeos.Instituto de PatobiologíaFil: Hasenauer, Flavia Carolina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Patobiología; ArgentinaFil: Hasenauer, Flavia Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Hasenauer, Flavia Carolina. Université Paris Cité, CNRS, INSERM; FranciaFil: Caffaro, Marí­a Eugenia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética; ArgentinaFil: Poli, Mario Andres. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética; ArgentinaFil: Rossetti, Carlos Alberto. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Patobiología; Argentin

Phenoloxidase activity and haemolymph cytology in honeybees challenged with a virus suspension (deformed wings virus DWV) or phosphate buffered suspension (PBS)

The innate immune system of honeybees mainly consists in antimicrobial peptides, cellular immunity and melanisation. In order to investigate the immune response of honeybees to immune stressors, three stress degrees were tested. Newly emerged bees naturally DWV-infected were collected from a Varroa mite free apiary and divided into three experimental groups: naturally DWV infected bees. PBS injected bees. and artificially DWV super infected bees. Phenoloxidase activity and haemolymph cellular subtype count were investigated. Phenoloxidase activity was highest (P<0.05) in DWV-superinfected bees. and the haemocyte population differed within the three observed groups. Although. immune responses following DWV infection have still not been completely clarified. this investigation sheds light on the relation between cell immunity and the phenoloxidase activity of DWV naturally infected honeybees exposed to additional stress such as injury and viral superinfection

Detection of Hepatitis E Virus Antibodies in Domestic and Wild Animal Species in Central Italy

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is known for its zoonotic potential. Although several mammalian species have been indicated as possible viral reservoir, the host range of the infection is partially defined. In this work serum samples collected from wild brown hares, red deer, wild rabbits, cattle living in semi-wild state and wild boar-hunting dogs were tested by a multi-species ELISA assay. Only sera from red deer (5.6%), wild rabbit (38.5%) and wild-boar hunting dogs (14.3%) scored positive. The investigation indicated the circulation and the high endemicity of HEV in various animal species in Central Italy, and the importance that these species can play in the epidemiology of infection