Nanoemulsions: A Review on the Conceptualization of Treatment for Psoriasis Using a ‘Green’ Surfactant with Low-Energy Emulsification Method

Psoriasis is a skin disease that is not lethal and does not spread through bodily contact. However, this seemingly harmless condition can lead to a loss of confidence and social stigmatization due to a persons’ flawed appearance. The conventional methods of psoriasis treatment include taking in systemic drugs to inhibit immunoresponses within the body or applying topical drugs onto the surface of the skin to inhibit cell proliferation. Topical methods are favored as they pose lesser side effects compared to the systemic methods. However, the side effects from systemic drugs and low bioavailability of topical drugs are the limitations to the treatment. The use of nanotechnology in this field has enhanced drug loading capacity and reduced dosage size. In this review, biosurfactants were introduced as a ‘greener’ alternative to their synthetic counterparts. Glycolipid biosurfactants are specifically suited for anti-psoriatic application due to their characteristic skin-enhancing qualities. The selection of a suitable oil phase can also contribute to the anti-psoriatic effect as some oils have skin-healing properties. The review covers the pathogenic pathway of psoriasis, conventional treatments, and prospective ingredients to be used as components in the nanoemulsion formulation. Furthermore, an insight into the state-of-the-art methods used in formulating nanoemulsions and their progression to low-energy methods are also elaborated in detail.

Visuo-tactile predictive mechanisms of peripersonal space

Our daily living includes bodily contacts with objects and people. While this physical contact occurs naturally, it could also pose a risk of bodily harm—for example, when objects are sharp, or people have bad intentions. It is therefore imperative to have a mechanism that predicts the consequences of bodily contact before it occurs, to guide our interactions appropriately. Evidence from a range of studies suggests a neurofunctional coupling between external visual or auditory stimuli near the body and tactile stimuli on the body. While these multisensory peripersonal representations have been linked to spatial attention, motor control, and social behaviour, a discussion on whether these functions involve a similar mechanism has been missing. Here we suggest that prediction is central to this multimodal coding: visual or auditory stimuli near the body predict tactile consequences of bodily contact. This predictive mechanism is based on learned visuo-tactile associations and modulated by higher-order visual contextual information.

Wrestling with Spirits: A Medieval Internal Jewish Debate on the Nature of Biblical Angels and its Arabic and Latin Sources

The article’s point of departure is a debate that took place in about 1290 between Zeraḥyah b. Isaac Ḥen and Hillel b. Samuel, two Jewish-Italian thinkers, that presents us with a surprisingly great variety of Arab, Jewish, and Latin-Christian exegetical and cosmological approaches regarding angelic nature. Zeraḥyah, following the dominant attitude among Arab, Muslim, and Jewish philosophers, strives to interpret the biblical angel-figure either naturalistically or allegorically. Conversely, Hillel cleaves more closely to Christian scholastic conceptions, adhering to the biblical narrative in the literal sense. The struggle between Jacob and the angel (Gen 32) posed one of the most challenging cases, presenting the interpreter with a situation in which an angel did not only appear but was also engaged in bodily contact. In the case of Hillel, his dual commitment as a Jewish Maimonidean heavily influenced by Latin Scholasticism led to the development of a highly unique solution.

Occurrence of Pasteurella multocida in Dogs Being Trained for Animal-Assisted Therapy

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a non-pharmacological therapy aimed at people with physical and/or mental disabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out interventions that guarantee its benefits for patients while also avoiding the risk of zoonoses due to contact with the animals or their mucous membranes. The present study aimed to detect the occurrence of Pasteurella multocida in the oral cavity of dogs attending a “dog educational centre” and training for AAT interventions. In addition, some of the potential predictable factors of infection (i.e., age, sex, breed, and living conditions) were analyzed. In total, 25/200 dogs examined (12.5%; 95% confidence interval = 8.4–18.1%) were positive for P. multocida, as confirmed by PCR. Sex, breed, and living conditions were risk factors associated with P. multocida as revealed by the logistic regression analysis. Specifically, cross-bred female dogs living prevalently outdoors were significantly associated with the presence of P. multocida (p < 0.05). This study represents the first epidemiological survey of the prevalence of P. multocida in the oral cavity of dogs involved subsequently in AAT interventions, highlighting the potential risk of P. multocida infection in patients, often belonging to risk categories (e.g., children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals). Therefore, healthcare guidelines could be suggested to integrate the current literature related to the health check of dogs involved in AAT. In this way, it could be ensured that, even with bodily contact during AAT, the risk of pathogen transmission by the co-therapist dog can be avoided.

Managing Fear and Fantasy: Cultural Politics and Gameplay Governance in the National Basketball Association, 1990–2006

In the 1990s and 2000s, National Basketball Association (NBA) officials instituted a series of new penalties for players initiating bodily contact on the court. This article demonstrates, through a focus on the rhetoric by which the new rules were written and supported, that gameplay governance reflected cultural-political context. Officials navigated Blackophobia and Blackophilia, as theorized by Yousman, by promising to both contain the threat and unleash the exciting athleticism of the Black athlete/body. Amid turn-of-the-century “crime” discourse, this rhetoric reiterated, and continues to reiterate, the apparent necessity of White neoliberal paternalism in relation to Black subjects. Such reiteration of dominant ideology has been central to officials’ efforts to integrate the NBA spectacle into the global-capitalist system.

Synchronous Caregiving from Birth to Adulthood Tunes Humans’ Social Brain

Mammalian young are born with immature brains and rely on the mother’s body and caregiving behavior for maturation of neurobiological systems that sustain adult sociality. However, the parent-child precursors of humans’ social brain are unknown. We followed human neonates, who received or were deprived of maternal bodily contact, to adulthood, repeatedly measuring mother-child interactive synchrony. We tested the neural basis of empathic accuracy in adulthood and utilized multivariate techniques to distinguish brain regions sensitive to others’ distinct emotions from those globally activated by the vicarious stance. A network comprising the amygdala, insula, and temporal pole underpinned empathic accuracy, which was shaped by mother-child synchrony across development. Synchronous experiences with mother or father in infancy impacted adults’ neural empathy, highlighting the benefits of humans’ bi-parental rearing. Findings demonstrate the centrality of synchronous caregiving across development for tuning humans’ social brain.

Books about postdramatic theatre

The review considers three books on post-dramatic theatre (in various studies it is also called anti-mimetic, radical, post-modern theatre, metatheatre, etc.). Different concepts of post-dramatic theatre are brought together by what may be considered as experiments per se, overcoming or problematizing genre and media boundaries, neutralizing binary oppositions, such as subject – object, playwright – director, platform – hall, actor – character, etc. I analyze the concept of H.-T. Lehmann (“Postdramatic theatre: 1999), who argues concerning the main feature of the “radical theatre” in weakening the connection with the text of the play, “re-theatricalization”, and rejection of the mimesis. For E. Fischer-Lichte (“Ästhetik des Performativen”, 2004 / “The Transformative Power of Performance: A New Aesthetics”, 2008), the main feature of the newest theatre is “performativity” – the production of aesthetic meaning within the event of a performance, and not in the perception of an artifact by an observing subject. The criteria for the so called “performative turn” in drama and theatre, which, according to Fischer-Lichte, are self-reference, materiality, bodily contact, the liminality of aesthetic experience, and the transformation of the spectator. The neoconservative point of view of G. Stadelmaier (“Director’s Theatre. On the Scenes of the Spirit of the Times”, 2016), which expresses nostalgia for the tradition, is considered as polemic in respect to the innovations of the post-drama

Haemophilus influenzae

Haemophilus influenzae is a Gram-negative bacillus that is an exclusively human pathogen and commensal. There are six capsular serotypes (a–f), of which type b (Hib) is a major cause of childhood infectious disease. Transmission occurs by close bodily contact, the main source being other children. Carriage of the organism may be followed by disease in susceptible individuals. In infants, Hib causes symptoms ranging from a mild non-specific febrile illness (occult bacteraemia) to fully blown sepsis with meningitis, epiglottitis, pneumonia, septic arthritis, or cellulitis. Non-typeable H. influenzae are common nasopharyngeal commensals and cause otitis media and conjunctivitis in children. In adults, non-typeable H. influenzae cause exacerbations of chronic bronchitis, sinusitis, and pneumonia. Other Haemophilus species, including H. parainfluenzae, are common commensals and rare causes of infective endocarditis and other sepsis.

IETV

The potential of IETV is examined from the perspective of intervention, as a mental action of acquiring knowledge and understanding through sensual augmentation. The mutual relationship between external stimuli, agitated conditions, situations, and awareness involving bodily contact and activity is correlated with accomplishments and expertise, determining in the learning sphere of IETV indicators for task suitability.

Targets, Tactics, and Cooperation in the Play Fighting of Two Genera of Old World Monkeys (Mandrillus and Papio):Accounting for Similarities and Differences

Play fighting in many species involves partners competing to bite one another while avoiding being bitten. Species can differ in the body targets that are bitten and the tactics used to attack and defend those targets. However, even closely related species that attack and defend the same body target using the same tactics can differ markedly in how much the competitiveness of such interactions is mitigated by cooperation. A degree of cooperation is necessary to ensure that some turn-taking between the roles of attacker and defender occurs, as this is critical in preventing play fighting from escalating into serious fighting. In the present study, the dyadic play fighting of captive troops of 4 closely related species of Old World monkeys, 2 each from 2 genera of Papio and Mandrillus, was analyzed. All 4 species have a comparable social organization, are large bodied with considerable sexual dimorphism, and are mostly terrestrial. In all species, the target of biting is the same – the area encompassing the upper arm, shoulder, and side of the neck – and they have the same tactics of attack and defense. However, the Papio species exhibit more cooperation in their play than do the Mandrillus species, with the former using tactics that make biting easier to attain and that facilitate close bodily contact. It is possible that species differences in how rigidly dominance relationships are maintained are expressed in the play of juveniles by altering the balance between competition and cooperation.