scholarly journals A Research Pathway for Experimental Psychopathology: The Role of External Validity Criteria

2017 ◽  
Vol a4 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham C L Davey

This paper outlines a putative pathway for experimental psychopathology research developing psychological models of clinical disorders. The pathway uses established external validity criteria to define the pathway and clarifies the important role that research conducted on healthy participants can play in our understanding of clinical disorders. Defining a research pathway for experimental psychopathology in this way has a number of benefits It would (1) make explicit the need to address the external validity of developed models, (2) provide a clear set of criteria that would be required to extend research on healthy individuals to diagnostic populations, and (3) recommend using general psychological knowledge when developing models of psychopathology.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1396-1399
Author(s):  
Disha Bhatero ◽  
Punam Sawarkar ◽  
Gaurav Sawarkar

Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by novel Coronavirus. The overall prevalence rate of Covid-19 in Worldwide ( 9.94M )& it is (529 K) & (153 K) in India and Maharashtra. This situation can be considered under JanapadodhwansaVyadhi in Ayurveda. The primary purpose of Ayurveda  is the prevention of the disease in healthy individuals and eradication of disease, which are curable. Immunity comes under the Vyadhikshamatva. Further, Covid-19 infection is correlated with Vataj-Kaphaj Jwara. In Ayurveda Rasayana therapy to boost up immunity (Bala  & Vyadhikshamatva). The present study aimed to explore the concept of infectious disease and its prevention through different lifestyles described in Ayurveda. The above need-based information is collected from various Ayurvedicliterature (Laghutrayee, Bruhatryayi) along with numerous research articles from databases, such as PubMed, Google Scholar. All collected data were depicted in narrative form and tabular manner under different heads. Considering the above aspect in the prevention of Covid-19, the role of Ayurveda intervention may be proved more beneficial in Covid-19. Further, adoption of code of conduct may efficiently overcome the current pandemic situation by maintaining good immunity & implementation of Ahar, Vihar Vidhis, Dincharya, and Rutucharya& Sadvritta  for improving disease resistance.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ольга Батыровна Цагараева

В статье рассматривается роль психологических знаний в процессе обучения, анализируются современные подходы к организации подготовки преподавателей высшей школы в Узбекистане, выявлены основные тенденции и этапы формирования их компетентности, выявлены наиболее эффективные методы и формы повышения методической и психологической квалификации будущих преподавателей.The article discusses the role of psychological knowledge in the learning process, analyzes modern approaches to the organization of training of high school teachers in Uzbekistan, identifies the main trends and stages of formation their competencies, the most effective methods and forms of improving the methodological and psychological qualifications and future teachers.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Robert Harrison Brown

Attention has long been characterised within prominent models as reflecting a competition between goal-driven and stimulus-driven processes. It remains unclear, however, how involuntary attentional capture by affective stimuli, such as threat-laden content, fits into such models. While such effects were traditionally held to reflect stimulus-driven processes, recent research has increasingly implicated a critical role of goal-driven processes. Here we test an alternative goal-driven account of involuntary attentional capture by threat, using an experimental manipulation of goal-driven attention. To this end we combined the classic ‘contingent capture’ and ‘emotion-induced blink’ (EIB) paradigms in an RSVP task with both positive or threatening target search goals. Across six experiments, positive and threat distractors were presented in peripheral, parafoveal, and central locations. Across all distractor locations, we found that involuntary attentional capture by irrelevant threatening distractors could be induced via the adoption of a search goal for a threatening category; adopting a goal for a positive category conversely led to capture only by positive stimuli. Our findings provide direct experimental evidence for a causal role of voluntary goals in involuntary capture by irrelevant threat stimuli, and hence demonstrate the plausibility of a top-down account of this phenomenon. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to current cognitive models of attention and clinical disorders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Smith ◽  
◽  
Justin S. Feinstein ◽  
Rayus Kuplicki ◽  
Katherine L. Forthman ◽  
...  

AbstractThis study employed a series of heartbeat perception tasks to assess the hypothesis that cardiac interoceptive processing in individuals with depression/anxiety (N = 221), and substance use disorders (N = 136) is less flexible than that of healthy individuals (N = 53) in the context of physiological perturbation. Cardiac interoception was assessed via heartbeat tapping when: (1) guessing was allowed; (2) guessing was not allowed; and (3) experiencing an interoceptive perturbation (inspiratory breath hold) expected to amplify cardiac sensation. Healthy participants showed performance improvements across the three conditions, whereas those with depression/anxiety and/or substance use disorder showed minimal improvement. Machine learning analyses suggested that individual differences in these improvements were negatively related to anxiety sensitivity, but explained relatively little variance in performance. These results reveal a perceptual insensitivity to the modulation of interoceptive signals that was evident across several common psychiatric disorders, suggesting that interoceptive deficits in the realm of psychopathology manifest most prominently during states of homeostatic perturbation.


Author(s):  
Michela Bottani ◽  
Aasne K. Aarsand ◽  
Giuseppe Banfi ◽  
Massimo Locatelli ◽  
Abdurrahman Coşkun ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives Thyroid biomarkers are fundamental for the diagnosis of thyroid disorders and for the monitoring and treatment of patients with these diseases. The knowledge of biological variation (BV) is important to define analytical performance specifications (APS) and reference change values (RCV). The aim of this study was to deliver BV estimates for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), thyroglobulin (TG), and calcitonin (CT). Methods Analyses were performed on serum samples obtained from the European Biological Variation Study population (91 healthy individuals from six European laboratories; 21–69 years) on the Roche Cobas e801 at the San Raffaele Hospital (Milan, Italy). All samples from each individual were evaluated in duplicate within a single run. The BV estimates with 95% CIs were obtained by CV-ANOVA, after analysis of variance homogeneity and outliers. Results The within-subject (CV I ) BV estimates were for TSH 17.7%, FT3 5.0%, FT4 4.8%, TG 10.3, and CT 13.0%, all significantly lower than those reported in the literature. No significant differences were observed for BV estimates between men and women. Conclusions The availability of updated, in the case of CT not previously published, BV estimates for thyroid markers based on the large scale EuBIVAS study allows for refined APS and associated RCV applicable in the diagnosis and management of thyroid and related diseases.


2021 ◽  
pp. 140349482110270
Author(s):  
Knut Ole Sundnes ◽  
Geir Sverre Braut

The COVID-19 epidemic has revealed a shortage of basic knowledge and understanding of pandemics, especially regarding their dynamics and how to contain them. The results are a host of governments’ decrees and instructions, one replacing the other, often within the same week. It has further, in a truly short time, resulted in an overwhelming number of publications, many of them prioritising early publication over quality. This commentary addresses the concept of structured research related to disasters and how the use of endorsed guidelines will facilitate well-designed evaluation research with improved rigour and external validity, even if applied retrospectively. The outcome should be a solidified knowledge base. Further, the important role of public health efforts is to be highlighted, as their role has proved crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1437.2-1438
Author(s):  
T. Kvlividze ◽  
V. Polyakov ◽  
В. Zavodovsky ◽  
Y. Polyakova ◽  
L. Seewordova ◽  
...  

Background:Interest in highly specialized tissue cytokines contributed to the discovery of new biologically active molecules. Nesfatin-1 (NF) - discovered in 2006 as an anorexigenic factor. NF-1 is believed to be involved in the regulation of energy homeostasis by regulating appetite and water intake. The role of NF-1 in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases is poorly understood. Recently, studies have found a relationship between an increased level of NF-1 and inflammatory markers in various pathologies.Objectives:Study of the level of nesfatin-1 in the blood serum of healthy people, determination of the correlation between the level of NF-1 with the severity of clinical symptoms and classic markers of inflammation in patients with RA.Methods:120 persons were examined: 90 patients with RA and 30 healthy people. All patients underwent a complete clinical and laboratory examination. Plasma NF-1 levels were determined using commercial test systems (RaiBiotech, cat # EIA-NESF) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Patients with various forms of RA were comparable in age to the group of healthy individuals. Statistical processing of clinical examination data was carried out using the “STATISTICA 10.0 for Windows” software package. Quantitative data were processed statistically using the parametric Student’s t-test, qualitative data using the non-parametric chi-square test. The significance of differences between groups was determined using analysis of variance. The results were considered statistically significant at p <0.05.Results:The average level of NF-1 in blood serum in healthy individuals was 31.79 ± 3.21 ng / ml (M ± σ). The level of normal NF-1 values in healthy individuals, defined as M ± 2σ, ranged from 25.3 to 37.83 ng / ml. There was no significant difference in the levels of circulating NF-1 and BMI in healthy individuals and patients with RA (p> 0.05). The inverse relationship of a lower level of NF-1 with an increase in BMI was not significant.Group 1 (66 patients with RA) with increased serum NF-1 levels (> 37.83 ng / ml), and group 2 (44 patients) with normal values (<37.83 ng / ml). A high level of NF-1 was characteristic for patients with high activity according to DAS28, RF seropositive, ACCP-positive, with extra-articular manifestations, who had been ill for 10 years or more. A reliable relationship between the level of NF-1 in the blood serum and laboratory parameters of RA activity - ESR, CRP, was shown, and secondary synovitis was more common. Our data show a direct correlation between the NF-1 level of the pro-inflammatory markers of RA.Conclusion:The positive correlation between the level of NF-1 and classical markers of inflammation, such as CRP and ESR, confirms the involvement of NF-1 in the pathophysiology of inflammation in RA. This is also evidenced by the correlation of a high level of NF-1 in the blood serum with a more severe clinical picture of RA. It is known that NF-1 can promote the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and macrophage inflammatory protein-1a (MIP-1a) in the chondrocytes of RA patients.It is necessary to further study the role of NF-1 in the pathogenesis of systemic inflammatory reactions and the possibility of targeting pro-inflammatory cytokines, the possibility of regulating the level of NF-1 by drugs.References:[1]Kvlividze T.Z., Zavodovsky B.V., Akhverdyan Yu.R. Kvlividze T.Z., Zavodovsky B.V., Akhverdyan Yu.R., Polyakova Yu.V., Sivordova L.E., Yakovlev A.T., Zborovskaya I.A. Serum nesfatin -1 as a marker of systemic inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. Klinicheskaya Laboratornaya Diagnostika (Russian Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics). 2019; 64 (1): 53-56 (in Russ.).Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 960
Author(s):  
Mina Kheirkhah ◽  
Philipp Baumbach ◽  
Lutz Leistritz ◽  
Otto W. Witte ◽  
Martin Walter ◽  
...  

Studies investigating human brain response to emotional stimuli—particularly high-arousing versus neutral stimuli—have obtained inconsistent results. The present study was the first to combine magnetoencephalography (MEG) with the bootstrapping method to examine the whole brain and identify the cortical regions involved in this differential response. Seventeen healthy participants (11 females, aged 19 to 33 years; mean age, 26.9 years) were presented with high-arousing emotional (pleasant and unpleasant) and neutral pictures, and their brain responses were measured using MEG. When random resampling bootstrapping was performed for each participant, the greatest differences between high-arousing emotional and neutral stimuli during M300 (270–320 ms) were found to occur in the right temporo-parietal region. This finding was observed in response to both pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. The results, which may be more robust than previous studies because of bootstrapping and examination of the whole brain, reinforce the essential role of the right hemisphere in emotion processing.


Lupus ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 096120332110103
Author(s):  
Anna Truszewska ◽  
Agnieszka Wirkowska ◽  
Kamila Gala ◽  
Piotr Truszewski ◽  
Łucja Krzemień-Ojak ◽  
...  

Background For long Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) has been suspected to be involved in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of this study was to verify the association between EBV, cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and kidney disease in SLE. Methods Blood samples were obtained from 43 SLE patients and 50 healthy individuals. EBV load was measured via real-time PCR assay. Sizing and quantification of plasma cfDNA was performed on Bioanalyzer. We proposed that the uniformity of cfDNA fragmentation can be described using cfDNA fragmentation index. Results SLE patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD +) had higher EBV load compared to CKD(–) patients (P = 0.042). Patients with high cfDNA level had higher EBV load (P = 0.041) and higher cfDNA fragmentation index (P < 0.001) compared to patients with low cfDNA level. Among patients with high cfDNA level, EBV load was higher in CKD(+) group compared to CKD(–) group (P = 0.035). EBV load was positively correlated with the fragmentation index in all SLE patients (P = 0.028, R2 = 0.13), and the correlation was even more pronounced in CKD (+) patients (P < 0.001, R2 = 0.20). Conclusions We showed that EBV load was associated with non-uniform cfDNA fragmentation, higher cfDNA levels, and kidney disease in SLE patients. Although the causality of this relationship could not be determined with the current study, it brings rationale for further investigations on the role of EBV and cfDNA interplay in SLE pathogenesis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 1404-1421
Author(s):  
Kelsey K. Sundby ◽  
Johanna Wagner ◽  
Adam R. Aron

Being in the state of having both a strong impulse to act and a simultaneous need to withhold is commonly described as an “urge.” Although urges are part of everyday life and also important to several clinical disorders, the components of urge are poorly understood. It has been conjectured that withholding an action during urge involves active response suppression. We tested that idea by designing an urge paradigm that required participants to resist an impulse to press a button and gain relief from heat (one hand was poised to press while the other arm had heat stimulation). We first used paired-pulse TMS over motor cortex (M1) to measure corticospinal excitability of the hand that could press for relief, while participants withheld movement. We observed increased short-interval intracortical inhibition, an index of M1 GABAergic interneuron activity that was maintained across seconds and specific to the task-relevant finger. A second experiment replicated this. We next used EEG to better “image” putative cortical signatures of motor suppression and pain. We found increased sensorimotor beta contralateral to the task-relevant hand while participants withheld the movement during heat. We interpret this as further evidence of a motor suppressive process. Additionally, there was beta desynchronization contralateral to the arm with heat, which could reflect a pain signature. Strikingly, participants who “suppressed” more exhibited less of a putative “pain” response. We speculate that, during urge, a suppressive state may have functional relevance for both resisting a prohibited action and for mitigating discomfort.


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