Evaluation of an Ayurvedic preparation-‘Ekangaveera Rasa' for possible metal toxicity: Behavioral, Biochemical and Histopathological Analysis

Ayurveda, an ancient Indian medicinal system, is highly regarded as complementary and alternative medicine in recent years. However, there are reports to show the toxic effects of specific Ayurvedic preparations, which use metals as an ingredient in them. One such medicine is 'Ekangaveera Rasa' This herbo-minero-metallic preparation is used to treat the pain of neurological origin. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the possible alteration caused by Ekangaveera Rasa on the brain, liver, and kidneys by histological, biochemical, and behavioral analysis. For this evaluation, Wistar rats were divided into four groups: Group 1- normal control; group 2, 3 and 4 were treated with Ekangaveera Rasa at doses of 120, 240 and 600 mg/kg bodyweight for 30 days. Behavioral parameters were assessed on the 15th and 30th day by using the passive avoidance test. At the end of the treatment period, blood was collected and subjected to the basophilic stripling and biochemical analysis. Tissues were processed for histopathological evaluation. The histopathological, biochemical, and behavioral analysis did not show any harmful effect, thereby rendering Ekangaveera Rasa nontoxic and further glorifying the healing benefits of Ayurveda.

Behavioral Analysis of Individuals in Crises

Political, social, economic, and civilization changes trigger a number of issues that require the development of personal characteristics sufficient for survival and adaptation to life in a society stricken by a crisis. In general, we can talk about a neurotic personality, the signs of which manifest themselves in anxiety, the actualization of specific negative defenses, suspicion, feelings of resentment and guilt, loss of sense in life. To prevent or counteract these disrupting behaviors, one needs to seek meanings and ideas of self-actualization, to grow spiritually, acquire "psychological culture" while learning to build their life experience in the form of the worldview of reality, so-called semantic pictureу of the world. The development and reinforcement of this worldview are made possible due to spiritual values, reflective thinking, conscience, intuition, achieving integrity and the highest cognitive and aesthetic human needs, which are respect and self-actualization. Such type of individual is open-minded and inquisitive, ready to push the boundaries, which is also a sign of the capability for transcendence.

Adding an app-based intervention to the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP): Concept and Feasibility in a Pilot Routine Clinical Trial (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP), developed specifically for the treatment of persistent depressive disorder (PDD), is an empirically supported treatment. However, given the high rates of non-response and relapse, there is need for optimization. Studies suggest that outcomes can be improved by increasing the treatment dose, e.g., by constant online-based application of therapy strategies between sessions. The highly structured nature of CBASP encourages augmenting it with online interventions, which are of increasing importance for mental health care. OBJECTIVE We developed the app-based intervention "CBASPath", which is designed to be used in addition to face-to-face CBASP therapy in terms of blended therapy. CBASPath offers eight sequential modules with interactive exercises to facilitate additional engagement with the therapy content and a separate exercise to conduct situational analyses within the app at any time. METHODS CBASPath was tested in an open pilot study as part of routine outpatient CBASP treatment. Participating patients (n=13) were asked to report their usage patterns and blended use (integrated use of app as part of therapy sessions) at three assessment points over the 6-month test period and to rate the usability, quality, and their satisfaction with CBASPath. RESULTS Results of the pilot trial show that 12 participants used CBASPath as a blended tool during their therapy and maintained this throughout the study period. Overall, they reported good usability and quality ratings along with high user satisfaction. All participants showed favourable engagement with CBASPath, but with frequency of use differing widely among participants and assessment points. The situational analysis was used by all participants, while the number of completed modules ranged between 1 and 7. All participants reported blended use, although the frequency of integration in face-to-face sessions varied widely. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that a digital augmentation of the complex and highly interactive CBASP therapy in the form of blended therapy with CBASPath is feasible in routine outpatient care. Therapeutic guidance might contribute to the high adherence and increase patients’ self-management. Few adjustments within the app could facilitate higher user engagement. A randomized controlled trial to investigate the efficacy and the added value of this blended approach is now needed. In the long term, CBASPath could help optimize PDD treatment and reduce relapse by intensifying therapy and providing long-term patient support through the app. CLINICALTRIAL No Registration due to pilot character of the study.

Assessing Patient Engagement in Health Care: Proposal for a Modeling and Simulation Framework for Behavioral Analysis

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/30092

Contribution to the systemic modeling of a photovoltaic devices

The modelling of systems using systemic tools has been for a few years, a subject which has attracted the attention of scientists and especially researchers to allow designers to acquire a rigorous approach to problem solving using the capabilities of already existing methods and tools. This document presents a contribution in the field of modelling, where a methodology based on two methods has been proposed. The first concerns the functional analysis to extract the use functions and the constraint parameters from the system. In this methodology, the static functional study is carried out using the SADT method. On the other hand, the dynamic behavioral analysis is carried out by the SA-RT method. Then, we used a behavioral and parametric analysis, the Bond Graph method, to observe the evolution of representative quantities of a photovoltaic system.