Neurotheology of islam and higher consciousness states

Generally speaking, human life is characterized by an array of experiences, which, both in health and disease, can have a spiritual/religious dimension. In the last decades, spirituality/religiosity has attracted a huge body of research and neurotheology or spiritual neuroscience is emerging as a modern multidisciplinary field aimed at understanding religious experiences and practices, as well its impact on well-being, with a focus on mental health, and its potential therapeutic implications in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. For this purpose, neurotheology combines a variety of approaches and theoretical frameworks, deriving influences from theology, divinities and religious studies, philosophy, sociology, cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, and anthropology. Available scientific evidences seem to suggest that Islam and Sufism (prayer and meditation) can contribute to the achievement of higher consciousness states

Probing the genomic landscape of human sexuality: a critical systematic review of the literature

Whether human sexuality is the result of nature or nurture (or their complex interplay) represents a hot, often ideologically driven, and highly polarized debate with political and social ramifications, and with varying, conflicting findings reported in the literature. A number of heritability and behavioral genetics studies, including pedigree-based investigations, have hypothesized inheritance patterns of human sexual behaviors. On the other hand, in most twin, adoption, and nuclear family studies, it was not possible to disentangle between underlying genetic and shared environmental sources. Furthermore, these studies were not able to estimate the precise extent of genetic loading and to shed light both on the number and nature of the putative inherited factors, which remained largely unknown. Molecular genetic studies offer an unprecedented opportunity to overcome these drawbacks, by dissecting the molecular basis of human sexuality and allowing a better understanding of its biological roots if any. However, there exists no systematic review of the molecular genetics of human sexuality. Therefore, we undertook this critical systematic review and appraisal of the literature, with the ambitious aims of filling in these gaps of knowledge, especially from the methodological standpoint, and providing guidance to future studies. Sixteen studies were finally retained and overviewed in the present systematic review study. Seven studies were linkage studies, four studies utilized the candidate gene approach, and five studies were GWAS investigations. Limitations of these studies and implications for further research are discussed

Outcomes evaluation of ORTHOS: an intensive residential program for gambling addiction treatment

Según el DSM-V, la ludopatía puede definirse como una "adicción al juego problemática, persistente y recurrente que conduce a un deterioro o angustia clínicamente significativos", no mejor definido por un episodio maníaco. ORTHOS es un programa de intervención residencial intensiva de tres semanas con tres reuniones de seguimiento durante el año posterior a intervenciones residenciales intensivas. La filosofía de ORTHOS prevé un enfoque no moralista y perjudicial para el juego (Zerbetto, 2002). Los hallazgos del presente estudio confirman la eficacia del tratamiento con ORTHOS en comparación con la reducción de los síntomas de juego, con más del 85% de la muestra en la que los síntomas ya no manifestaron relevancia clínica (puntuaciones inferiores a 5 en SOGS).According to the DSM-V, gambling can be defined as a “persistent and recurrent problematic gambling behavior leading to clinically significant impairment or distress”, not better defined by a manic episode. ORTHOS is a three-week intensive residential intervention program with three follow- up meetings during the year following intensive residential interventions. ORTHOS’ philosophy envisages a non-moralistic and prejudicial approach to gambling (Zerbetto, 2002). The findings of the present study confirm the efficacy of ORTHOS treatment compared to the reduction of gambling symptoms, with over 85% of the sample in which the symptoms manifested no longer clinical relevance (scores below 5 in SOGS).peerReviewe

Overview on electrical issues faced during the SPIDER experimental campaigns

SPIDER is the full-scale prototype of the ion source of the ITER Heating Neutral Beam Injector, where negative ions of Hydrogen or Deuterium are produced by a RF generated plasma and accelerated with a set of grids up to ~100 keV. The Power Supply System is composed of high voltage dc power supplies capable of handling frequent grid breakdowns, high current dc generators for the magnetic filter field and RF generators for the plasma generation. During the first 3 years of SPIDER operation different electrical issues were discovered, understood and addressed thanks to deep analyses of the experimental results supported by modelling activities. The paper gives an overview on the observed phenomena and relevant analyses to understand them, on the effectiveness of the short-term modifications provided to SPIDER to face the encountered issues and on the design principle of long-term solutions to be introduced during the currently ongoing long shutdown.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figures. Presented at SOFT 202

Development and Preliminary Validation of the “Teacher of Physical Education Burnout Inventory” (TPEBI) in Arabic Language: Insights for Sports and Occupational Psychology

Background: Burnout is an inappropriate response to chronic work stress, leading to emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (D), and low personal accomplishment (PA). Burnout can affect workers in the helping professions. To quantitatively assess the burnout level among teachers, Maslach has adapted the “Maslach Burnout Inventory” (MBI) to the educational environment (the so-called MBI Educators Survey version or MBI-ES). Among teachers, sports and physical education teachers may suffer from burnout due to high workload.Aims: No reliable psychometric tool in Arabic language exists that can be used to measure the burnout level among sports and physical education teachers. The objective of the present study was to develop a burnout measurement scale according to the Maslach’s three-dimensional theoretical model for physical education teachers in Tunisia and to test its factor structure, in terms of internal consistency/reliability, predictive validity, and sensitivity.Methods: A total of 525 Tunisian teachers teaching in secondary schools from different Tunisian governorates volunteered to participate in this study. The sample comprised of 285 males (54.3%) and of 240 females (45.7%). More in detail, 327 were teachers of primary school of physical education (62.3%) and 198 teachers of secondary school (37.7%). Teachers were administered both the ad hoc developed “Teacher of Physical Education Burnout Inventory” (TPEBI) and the MBI-ES. Both exploratory [principal component analysis (PCA)] and confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were performed.Results: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were excellent (0.93, 0.94, and 0.91 for EE, D, and PA, respectively). The correlation matrix indicated significant correlations between the TPEBI and MBI-ED dimensions. However, CFA fit indices were not completely satisfactory.Conclusion: Given the good PCA factor loadings, the correlation matrix, the sensitivity analysis, and the excellent internal consistency, it can be concluded that the TPEBI is a reliable psychometric tool that can be used to quantitatively assess the burnout level among teachers of physical education in the Arabic-speaking world. However, considering the CFA fit indices, further modifications to fully support the model are warranted

Cosa accomuna e cosa differenzia le professioni nella relazione d’aiuto? L’esempio della psicoterapia e prospettive future per le professioni affini

L’orientamento umanistico-esistenziale vede nel disagio psichico, quando non determinato da componenti psichiatriche endogene, l’espressione di una “non realizzazione del potenziale umano” inteso non solo nel raggiungimento di obiettivi esteriori (socio-economici o nella vita di relazione) ma soprattutto nell’accettazione profonda della nostra natura e di quel “conosci te stesso” a cui ci rimanda una saggezza millenaria. Questa “rinascita” ad una nuova consapevolezza di sé implica una “maieusi” (che è l’arte della levatrice) che può esprimersi in molti aspetti del “prendersi cura” che vanno da quelli più “sintomatici” a quelli di carattere esistenziale più vasto e delicato e che presuppone una crescita umana e una formazione professionale adeguata. La sfida che il CIPRA si propone è quella di sostenere un processo di maggiore professionalizzazione nell’ambito delle Relazioni di Aiuto, che valga anche a definire meglio le specificità e le “competenze” di ciascuna professione in un disegno articolato di interventi a vari livelli nel compito a cui tutti i professionisti della relazione d’aiuto tendono: quello di essere di aiuto, appunto, a nostri simili in un momento di difficoltà. Dopo una panoramica sulla relazione d’aiuto, sul comportamento curativo, sulla funzione materno-accuditiva, sul corpus condiviso in psicoterapia e sulle competenze richieste per un percorso di evoluzione psicologica, l’autore propone una modalità di entrare nella specificità delle professioni della relazione di aiuto, prendendo come spunto la psicoterapia e sostenendo che un’azione del genere potrebbe giovare all’intero mondo delle professioni della relazione di aiuto

A multiscale approach to coupled nuclear and electronic dynamics. II. Exact and approximated evaluation of nonradiative transition rates

Thisworkfollowsacompanionarticle,whichwillbereferredtoasPaperI[Campeggioetal.,J.Chem.Phys.158,244104(2023)]inwhicha quantum-stochasticLiouvilleequationforthedescriptionofthequantum–classicaldynamicsofamoleculeinadissipativebathhasbeenformulatedincurvilinearinternalcoordinates.Insuchanapproach,thecoordinatesofthesystemareseparatedintothreesubsets:thequantum coordinates,theclassicalrelevantnucleardegreesoffreedom,andtheclassicalirrelevant(bath)coordinates.Theequationhasbeenderived innaturalinternalcoordinates,whicharebondlengths,bondangles,anddihedralangles.Theresultingequationneedstobeparameterized.Inparticular,oneneedstocomputethepotentialenergysurfaces,thefrictiontensor,andtherateconstantsforthenonradiativejumps amongthequantumstates.Whilestandardmethodsexistforthecalculationofenergyanddissipativeproperties,anefficientevaluationof thetransitionratesneedstobedeveloped.Inthispaper,anapproximatedtreatmentisintroduced,whichleadstoasimpleexplicitformula withasingleadjustableparameter.Suchanapproximatedexpressioniscomparedwiththeexactcalculationoftransitionratesobtainedvia moleculardynamicssimulations.Tomakesuchacomparisonpossible,asimplesandboxsystemhasbeenused,withtwoquantumstates andasingleinternalcoordinate(togetherwithitsconjugatemomentum).Resultsshowthattheadjustableparameter,whichisaneffective decoherencetime,canbeparameterizedfromtheeffectiverelaxationtimesoftheautocorrelationfunctionsoftheconjugatedmomentaof therelevantnuclearcoordinates

A multiscale approach to coupled nuclear and electronic dynamics. I. Quantum-stochastic Liouville equation in natural internal coordinates

Multiscalemethodsarepowerfultoolstodescribelargeandcomplexsystems.Theyarebasedonahierarchicalpartitioningofthedegrees offreedom(d.o.f.)ofthesystem,allowingonetotreateachsetofd.o.f.inthemostcomputationallyefficientway.Inthecontextofcoupled nuclearandelectronicdynamics,amultiscaleapproachwouldoffertheopportunitytoovercomethecomputationallimitsthat,atpresent, donotallowonetotreatacomplexsystem(suchasabiologicalmacromoleculeinexplicitsolvent)fullyatthequantummechanicallevel. BasedonthepioneeringworkofKapralandCiccotti[R.KapralandG.Ciccotti,J.Chem.Phys.110,8919(1999)],thisworkisintendedto presentanonadiabatictheorythatdescribestheevolutionofelectronicpopulationscoupledwiththedynamicsofthenucleiofamoleculein adissipativeenvironment(condensedphases).Thetwoelementsofnoveltythatarehereintroducedare(i)thecastingofthetheoryinthe natural,internalcoordinates,thatarebondlengths,bondangles,anddihedralangles;(ii)theprojectionofthosenucleard.o.f.thatcanbe consideredatthelevelofathermalbath,thereforeleadingtoaquantum-stochasticLiouvilleequation.Usingnaturalcoordinatesallowsthe descriptionofstructureanddynamicsinthewaychemistsareusedtodescribemoleculargeometryanditschanges.Theprojectionofbath coordinatesprovidesanimportantreductionofcomplexityandallowsustoformulatetheapproachthatcanbeuseddirectlyinthestatistical thermodynamicsdescriptionofchemicalsystems

Outcomes evaluation of Orthos for gamblers: impulsivity, attachment styles, alexithymia, and parental bonding

El juego patológico (GAP) se considera un trastorno en el que el sujeto involucrado no puede dejar de jugar a pesar de problemas familiares, laborales y sociales persistentes y evidentes. Está incluido entre los trastornos de control de impulsos en los manuales de diagnóstico (DSM, ICD, PDM) debido al importante papel que tiene el rasgo impulsivo en la vida de las personalidades de los jugadores. La impulsividad es una construcción multidimensional denotada por la tendencia a actuar un comportamiento o hacer una elección sin mediación reflexiva. Un acto inmediato en reacción a un estímulo físico o psíquico. Numerosas investigaciones atestiguan cómo la impulsividad es la característica estructurante de la conducta de los jugadores. Alexitimia, del griego “a-lex-thymos”, se refiere a la imposibilidad de reconocer y expresar los estados emocionales de uno. Encontrado con mayor frecuencia en pacientes psicosomáticos, el constructo alexitímico también enfatiza la pobreza imaginativa y la consecuente concreción del pensamiento (pensamiento operativo) de los sujetos que se dirigen principalmente hacia los aspectos "materiales" de sus acciones, al no tener espacio reflexivo para los aspectos psicológicos adecuados de su comportamiento. El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar los resultados del programa Orthos durante un período de 24 meses en referencia a construcciones específicas de las BPA, tales como: las características del juego, la impulsividad, la alexitimia, las dimensiones de los estilos de apego y la calidad de los cuidados ofrecidos por ambos padres durante la infancia en jugadores patológicos.Pathological gambling (GAP) is considered a disorder in which the subject involved can not stop playing despite persistent and evident family, work and social problems. It is listed among the Impulse Control Disorders in the Diagnostic Manuals (DSM, ICD, PDM) because of the significant role that the impulsive trait has in the lives of the players’ personalities. Impulsivity is a multidimensional construct denoted by the tendency to act a behavior or to make a choice without reflective mediation. An immediate act in reaction to a physical or psychic stimulus. Numerous researches testify how impulsivity is the structuring characteristic of the conduct of the gamblers. Alexithymia, from the Greek “a-lex-thymos”, refers to the impossibility of recognizing and expressing one’s emotional states. Most often found in psychosomatic patients, the alexithymic construct also emphasizes imaginative poverty and the consequent concreteness of thought (operative thought) of subjects who are mainly directed towards the “material” aspects of their actions, having no reflexive space for the properly psychological aspects of their behavior. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of the Orthos program over a period of 24 months in reference to specific constructs of the GAP such as: the characteristics of the game, the impulsivity, alexithymia, the dimensions of the attachment styles and the quality of the cures offered by both parents during childhood in pathological gamblers.peerReviewe

Mesoporous Carbon with Different Density of Thiophenic‐Like Functional Groups and Their Effect on Oxygen Reduction

Metal-support interaction between sulfur-doped carbon support (SMC) and Pt NPs was investigated, aiming at verifying how sulfur functional groups can improve the electrocatalytic performance of Pt NPs towards oxygen reduction (ORR). SMC were synthetized, tailoring the density of sulfur functional groups, while Pt NPs were deposited by thermal reduction of Pt(acac)2. The extent of the metal support interaction was proved by XPS analysis which revealed a strong electronic interaction, proportional to the density of sulfur defects, whereas XRD spectra evidenced a higher strain in Pt NPs loaded on SMC. DFT simulations confirmed that the metal-support interaction was strongest in the presence of a high density of sulfur defects. The combination of microstrain and electronic effects resulted in a high catalytic activity of supported Pt NPs towards ORR, with linear correlations of E1/2 or jk with the sulfur content in the support. Furthermore, a mass activity value (550 A g-1) well above the United States Department of Energy target of 440 A g-1 at 0.9 V vs. RHE, was determined