Neuromodulation in eating disorders and obesity: A promising way of treatment?

Neuromodulation can affect the functioning of the central nervous system (CNS), and emotional/eating behavior is an exciting facet of that functioning. Therefore, it would be possible to offer an alternative (or complement) treatment to psychotropic medications and different psychological and nutritional approaches to both eating disorders (EDs) and obesity. Although there are a number of publications in these areas, a systematic review has not been conducted to date. Abstracts, letters, conference reports, dissertations, and reviews were excluded. Clinical trials and controlled human clinical trials were filtered and included in this study. Articles included were based on the population suffering from anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge ED, overweight, and obesity. No restrictions were placed on the sample size. Only trials investigating the effect of neuromodulation by means of deep brain stimulation (DBS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) were included. The following databases were used to conduct the search: MEDLINE/ PubMed, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, and Cochrane (Search Trials, CENTRAL). Study selection was performed following the PRISMA process (PRISMA 2009 Checklist). The total number of participants in all the trials was 562 (DBS, 25; tDCS, 138; TMS, 399; range, 3–90; median, 23.5). As a result, 50% of the studies had samples of between 14 and 38 participants. Neuromodulation in ED seems to have certain clinical potential, and therefore, this is a promising area for further research. Developments in ED neuromodulation will be linked to neuroimaging to identify potential stimulation targets and possible biomarkers of treatment response. To date, TMS and/or direct current stimulation (DCS) is not the first-line treatment yet, but it could become a preferred option of treatment in the future. Further studies should avoid small sample sizes and the use of different methodologies. Currently, neuromodulation techniques are in the experimental phase, and they are not an evidence-based treatment for ED

Entanglement enhancement and postselection for two atoms interacting with thermal light

The evolution of entanglement for two identical two-level atoms coupled to a resonant thermal field is studied for two different families of input states. Entanglement enhancement is predicted for a well defined region of the parameter space of one of these families. The most intriguing result is the possibility of probabilistic production of maximally entangled atomic states even if the input atomic state is factorized and the corresponding output state is separable.Comment: accepted for publication in J. Phys.

EstrellaNueva: an open-source software to study the interactions and detection of neutrinos emitted by supernovae

Supernovae emit large fluxes of neutrinos which can be detected by detectors on Earth. Future tonne-scale detectors will be sensitive to several neutrino interaction channels, with thousands of events expected if a supernova emerges in the galaxy neighborhood. There is a limited number of tools to study the interaction rates of supernova neutrinos, although a plethora of available supernova models exists. EstrellaNueva is an open-source software to calculate expected rates of supernova neutrinos in detectors using target materials with typical compositions, and additional compositions can be easily added. This software considers the flavor transformation of neutrinos in the supernova through the adiabatic Mikheyev--Smirnov--Wolfenstein effect, and their interaction in detectors through several channels. Most of the interaction cross sections have been analytically implemented, such as neutrino-electron and neutrino-proton elastic scattering, inverse beta decay, and coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. This software provides a link between supernova simulations and the expected events in detectors by calculating fluences and event rates to ease any comparison between theory and observation. It provides a simple and standalone tool to explore many physics scenarios offering an option to add analytical cross sections and define any target material

Rotational Effects of Twisted Light on Atoms Beyond the Paraxial Approximation

The transition probability for the emission of a Bessel photon by an atomic system is calculated within first order perturbation theory. We derive a closed expression for the electromagnetic potentials beyond the paraxial approximation that permits a systematic multipole approximation . The matrix elements between center of mass and internal states are evaluated for some specially relevant cases. This permits to clarify the feasibility of observing the rotational effects of twisted light on atoms predicted by the calculations. It is shown that the probability that the internal state of an atom acquires orbital angular momentum from light is, in general, maximum for an atom located at the axis of a Bessel mode. For a Gaussian packet, the relevant parameter is the ratio of the spread of the atomic center of mass wave packet to the transversal wavelength of the photon.Comment: 10 pages, no figure

Attachment and emotion regulation in substance addictions and behavioral addictions

Background Risky behaviors have been related to emotional regulation and attachment, which may constitute risk factors for developing an addictive behavior. However, there may also be differences between substance and non-substance-related addictions. Aims This study aimed to examine the relationship of emotional regulation and attachment, with substance (alcohol and drug abuse), and non-substance-related addictions (gambling disorder, video game addiction, and problematic Internet use) in adolescents and emerging adults. The study also aimed to examine gender differences for such predictors. Methods The sample comprised 472 students aged 13–21 years recruited from high schools and vocational education centers. Results Findings demonstrated that emotion regulation was predictive of all addictive behaviors assessed in this study (alcohol and drug abuse, gambling disorder, video game addiction, and problematic Internet use), whereas attachment predicted non-substance-related addictions (gambling disorder, video game addiction, and problematic Internet use). In addition, gender differences were found, with females scoring significantly higher in maternal and peer attachment, whereas males scored significantly higher in gambling disorder and video game addiction. Conclusion The findings may be useful for preventive and clinical interventions conducted with youth regarding addictive behaviors

Properties of Squeezed-State Excitations

The photon distribution function of a discrete series of excitations of squeezed coherent states is given explicitly in terms of Hermite polynomials of two variables. The Wigner and the coherent-state quasiprobabilities are also presented in closed form through the Hermite polynomials and their limiting cases. Expectation values of photon numbers and their dispersion are calculated. Some three-dimensional plots of photon distributions for different squeezing parameters demonstrating oscillatory behaviour are given.Comment: Latex,35 pages,submitted to Quant.Semiclassical Op

Allergic rhinitis: continuous or on demand antihistamine therapy?

Allergic rhinitis is an inflammatory disease of the nasal mucosa, caused by an IgE-mediated reaction after exposure to the allergen to which the patient is sensitized. Histamine is the most important preformed mediator released in the early stage of the allergic reaction, and also contributes to the late phase of the latter, exhibiting proinflammatory effects. Minimal persistent inflammation is a physiopathological phenomenon induced by the presence of an inflammatory cell infiltrate, together with ICAM-1 expression in the epithelial cells of the mucosa exposed to the allergen to which they are sensitized, in the absence of clinical symptoms. This molecule is considered to be an allergic inflammatory marker. The priming effect first described by Connell in 1968 consists of the reduction in the allergen concentration required to elicit a nasal hyper-response when performing a daily nasal exposure test. This implies that with natural exposure to inhaled allergens, small amounts of environmental allergen will maintain the patient symptoms, and thus of course minimal persistent inflammation. Considering the above, it is questionable whether antihistamines should be administered on a continuous basis or upon demand. The antihistamines, and fundamentally the second-generation drugs, have been shown to exert an antiinflammatory effect, and this effect is greater when the drug is administered continuously than when administered upon demand. Likewise, a reduction in treatment cost and an improvement in quality of life among patients treated on a continuous basis has been documented. However, no studies have been specifically designed to clarify the indication of treatment on a continuous basis or upon demand, as occurs in the GINA. As a result, the individualization of treatment according to the concrete characteristics of each patient seems to be the best approach, at least for the time being