Whole-Body Hyperthermia (WBH) in Psychiatry

New effective therapies for managing and treating psychiatric disorders such as major depression are urgently needed. Mood-enhancing effects have repeatedly been observed after whole-body hyperthermia (WBH) treatment in other medical disciplines, and there is promising evidence that WBH may be used in psychiatry for patients suffering from depressive disorders. Most importantly, a recent study demonstrated a significant, rapid, and partially lasting reduction of depressive symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder following a single session of water-filtered infrared-A induced whole-body hyperthermia (wIRA-WBH). Underlying mechanisms of actions may include immune modulation and serotonergic neurotransmission via warm-sensitive afferent thermosensory pathways to the midbrain. Current studies are focused on verifying these earlier findings and clarifying the mechanisms involved. Herein, we report on the establishment of WBH methodology in the psychiatry setting and provide our opinions on necessary future research

Australian journalism students’ professional views and news consumption: results from a representative study

Journalism education's role in shaping students' professional views has been a topic of interest among scholars for the past decade in particular. Increasing numbers of studies are concerned with examining students' backgrounds and views in order to identify what role exposure to the tertiary environment may play in socialising them into the industry. This study reports on the results of the largest survey of Australian journalism students undertaken to date, with a sample size of 1884 students. The study finds that time spent studying journalism appears to be related to changes in role perceptions and news consumption. Final-year students are significantly more likely to support journalism's watchdog role and to reject consumer-oriented and "loyal" roles. They also consume more news than first-year students. On the other hand, journalism education appears to have little impact on views of controversial practices, with only marginal differences between final- and first-year students

A closer look into two-step perovskite conversion with X-ray scattering

Recently, hybrid perovskites have gathered much interest as alternative materials for the fabrication of highly efficient and cost-competitive solar cells; however, many questions regarding perovskite crystal formation and deposition methods remain. Here we have applied a two-step protocol where a crystalline PbI2 precursor film is converted to MAPbI3–xClx perovskite upon immersion in a mixed solution of methylammonium iodide and methylammonium chloride. We have investigated both films with grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering to probe the inner film morphology. Our results demonstrate a strong link between lateral crystal sizes in the films before and after conversion, which we attribute to laterally confined crystal growth. Additionally, we observe an accumulation of smaller grains within the bulk in contrast with the surface. Thus, our results help to elucidate the crystallization process of perovskite films deposited via a two-step technique that is crucial for controlled film formation, improved reproducibility, and high photovoltaic performance

News discourses on distant suffering: A critical discourse analysis of the 2003 SARS outbreak

News carries a unique signifying power, a power to represent events in particular ways (Fairclough, 1995). Applying Critical Discourse Analysis and Chouliaraki's theory on the mediation of suffering (2006), this article explores the news representation of the 2003 global SARS outbreak. Following a case-based methodology, we investigate how two Belgian television stations have covered the international outbreak of SARS. By looking into the mediation of four selected discursive moments, underlying discourses of power, hierarchy and compassion were unraveled. The analysis further identified the key role of proximity in international news reporting and supports the claim that Western news media mainly reproduce a Euro-American centered world order. This article argues that news coverage of international crises such as SARS constructs and maintains the socio-cultural difference between 'us' and 'them' as well as articulating global power hierarchies and a division of the world in zones of poverty and prosperity, danger and safety

The Citation Field of Evolutionary Economics

Evolutionary economics has developed into an academic field of its own, institutionalized around, amongst others, the Journal of Evolutionary Economics (JEE). This paper analyzes the way and extent to which evolutionary economics has become an interdisciplinary journal, as its aim was: a journal that is indispensable in the exchange of expert knowledge on topics and using approaches that relate naturally with it. Analyzing citation data for the relevant academic field for the Journal of Evolutionary Economics, we use insights from scientometrics and social network analysis to find that, indeed, the JEE is a central player in this interdisciplinary field aiming mostly at understanding technological and regional dynamics. It does not, however, link firmly with the natural sciences (including biology) nor to management sciences, entrepreneurship, and organization studies. Another journal that could be perceived to have evolutionary acumen, the Journal of Economic Issues, does relate to heterodox economics journals and is relatively more involved in discussing issues of firm and industry organization. The JEE seems most keen to develop theoretical insights

Der Umzug der Menschheit: Die transformative Kraft der Städte

Die Wucht der derzeitigen Urbanisierungsdynamik und ihre Auswirkungen sind so groß, dass sich weltweit Städte, Stadtgesellschaften, Regierungen und Internationale Organisationen diesem Trend stellen müssen. Ein „Weiter so wie bisher“, würde ohne gestaltende Urbanisierungspolitik zu einer nicht-nachhaltigen Welt-Städte-Gesellschaft führen. Nur wenn Städte und Stadtgesellschaften ausreichend handlungsfähig werden, können sie ihre Kraft für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung entfalten: In den Städten wird sich entscheiden, ob die Große Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit gelingt. In diesem Buch werden die Erfolgsbedingungen dafür diskutiert

Humanity on the move: Unlocking the transformative power of cities

The momentum of urbanization and its impacts are so massive that we must face up to this trend. In view of the existing cognitive, technical, economic and institutional path dependencies, a policy of business as usual – i.e. an unstructured, quasi-automatic urbanization – would lead to a non-sustainable ‘world cities society’. Only if cities and urban societies are sufficiently empowered can they make use of the opportunities for sustainability and successfully follow the urban transformation pathways. The success or failure of the Great Transformation will be decided in the cities. The WBGU discusses the relevant conditions for the success of this transformation in this report

Team-taught versus individually taught undergraduate education: A qualitative study of student experiences and preferences

Team teaching is becoming more common in undergraduate programmes of study although the relative merits to the more traditional individually taught courses have not been determined for best practice. For this study, 15 final year undergraduate students were interviewed to gain insight into their learning experiences. A thematic analysis of the interview data identified the perceived advantages and disadvantages of each mode of teaching. The advantages of individually taught courses included: Consistency of content delivery and advice, Familiarity with the lecturer’s teaching style and better Continuity of the subject content. The disadvantage of individually taught modules included Missing knowledge, compared to a team approach. Advantages of team taught modules included: Greater insight into a topic delivered by multiple team members. Disadvantages included: Content overlap, Conflicting messages relating to assessment, team members not taking Ownership of their roles and responsibilities and a belief that overall Team failure is worse than individual failure to deliver a module well. The results revealed that individually taught modules were generally preferred to team taught modules. A set of best practice recommendations are proposed to address the challenges when delivering team-taught teaching and become more student focused

Preoperative short-term radiation therapy (25 Gy, 2.5 Gy twice daily) for primary resectable rectal cancer (phase II)

To evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness, and long-term bowel function of preoperative hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy in primary resectable rectal cancer. A total of 184 consecutive patients (median age 65 years, male : female=2 : 1) with clinical T3Nx rectal adenocarcinoma received preoperative pelvic radiation therapy with single fractions of 2.5 Gy twice daily (interval 6 h between fractions) to a total dose of 25 Gy within 1 week. Surgery was conducted the following week. Postoperative histology revealed UICC stage I in 33%, stage II in 26%, stage III in 34%, and stage IV in 7% of the patients. Median follow-up was 43 months (53 months for surviving patients). The actuarial 4-year-local-recurrence rate was 2.1%, overall recurrence 23%. Disease-specific and disease-free survivals at 4 years (excluding stage IV) were 82 and 69%, respectively. Overall survival for 4 years was 68%. Postoperative mortality was 0.5% (one patient), early anastomotic leakage occurred in 11.4%, and anastomotic stenosis requiring treatment in 6%, of 132 patients with primary anastomosis. Seven of 184 patients (3.8%) died of abdominal complications, all within the first year. Bowel function was satisfactory after more than 5 years. Local control in primarily resectable rectal cancer after 10 × 2.5 Gy is excellent, warranting further evaluation of this treatment