Discourse and bipolar disorder: Narrative therapy on northeast Brazil

Background: The expression 'bipolar disorder' refers to any of several psychological disorders of mood that alternate episodes of depression and mania. Also called manic depression or manic-depressive illness, it is a relatively common but unknown pathology that brings some stigmas for patients and provokes deleterious effects for their lives. This research aimed to comprehend actions, behaviors and emotions involved with bipolar disorder, through narratives of patient's personal and familiar histories. Methods: We surveyed 30 patients from a psychiatric service located in Aparecida, Paraiba, Brazil. Selected patients had bipolar disorder according to DSM-IV. For data collection, we used non-structured interview, approaching specific aspects related to bipolar disorder. Quantitative and qualitative analysis were done and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) was used. Results: Most of patients presented depressive actions associated with moderate euphoria. 11 of them related familiar history of psychopathology. Mania and hippomania were prevalent on male gender, while psychotic symptoms overlay ate female. Conclusion: Patients lack a translation of behavioral and temperamental processes to minimize harm caused to their lives.

Scientific metaphors in the journalistic discourse

Scientific education and divulgation not only amplify people's vocabulary and repertory of scientific concepts but, at the same time, promote the diffusion of certain conceptual and cognitive metaphors. Here we describe this process and propose a classification in terms of visible, invisible, basic and derived metaphors. We focus our attention on physical metaphors applied to psychological and socio-economical phenomena, by studying two exemplar cases through an exhaustive exam of the online content of large Brazilian journalistic portals. Finally, we present implications and suggestions from Lakiff and Johnson's cognitive metaphor theory for the scientific education and divulgation process.

Homophobic discourse in blogs: Weaving of violence and network

This article aims at analyzing the effects of meaning installed in the discursive space of a blog, especially a formulation of discriminatory nature which was posted in November, 2011 and considerably discussed in other discursive spaces on the Internet. By means of French Discourse Analysis, we sought to track the memory networks and the ideological effects that are at play in the discourse on homosexuals posted by browsers-subjects and how they update the meanings already there in order to install effects of prejudice and hatred. Our interest is also to catch the meanings of violence inscribed in the electronic network and analyze the functioning of the language in motion in this space bordered by the imaginary in which it is possible to say anything. Hence, by means of the analyses performed in this study, we observed these effects of the subject's full freedom when he/she subscribes to the electronic network without fear of any punishment of any order. The discourses of intolerance and hatred posted on the blog by the subject give voice to a discursive confrontation observed by marks of agreement or indignation, supported by the discursive memory. Thus, we observed the interruption of regularities that break up with a supposed linearity in the discourse, putting the contradiction and the heterogeneous nature of the sayings on the net in motion.

Group cognitive-behavioral therapy versus selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A practical clinical trial

Clinical effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral therapy (GCBT) versus fluoxetine in obsessive-compulsive disorder outpatients that could present additional psychiatric comorbidities was assessed. Patients (18-65 years; baseline Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive-Scale [Y-BOCS] scores >= 16; potentially presenting additional psychiatric comorbidities) were sequentially allocated for treatment with GCBT (n = 70) or fluoxetine (n = 88). Mean Y-BOCS scores decreased by 23.13% in the GCBT and 21.54% in the SSRI groups (p = 0.875). Patients presented a mean of 2.7 psychiatric comorbidities. and 81.4% showed at least one additional disorder. A reduction of at least 35% in baseline Y-BOCS scores and CGI ratings of 1 (much better) or 2 (better) was achieved by 33.3% of GCBT patients and 27.7% in the SSRI group (p = 0.463). The Y-BOCS reduction was significantly lower in patients with one or more psychiatric comorbidities (21.15%, and 18.73%, respectively) than in those with pure OCD (34.62%; p = 0.034). Being male, having comorbidity of Major Depression, Social Phobia, or Dysthymia predicted a worse response to both treatments. Response rates to both treatments were similar and lower than reported in the literature, probably due to the broad inclusion criteria and the resulting sample more similar to the real world population. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulation results and applications of an advection bounded scheme to practical flows

This paper reports experiments on the use of a recently introduced advection bounded upwinding scheme, namely TOPUS (Computers & Fluids 57 (2012) 208-224), for flows of practical interest. The numerical results are compared against analytical, numerical and experimental data and show good agreement with them. It is concluded that the TOPUS scheme is a competent, powerful and generic scheme for complex flow phenomena.

Practical synthesis of a functionalized 1-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid

The synthesis of a functionalized 1-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid has been performed in 10 steps from the readily available dimedone. Only three purifications by flash chromatography are required through the whole sequence. The key step is the reaction between a dimedone derivative and a chlorotetrolic ester, that gives a tetrasubstituted benzene ring (through a Diels-Alder/retro- Diels-Alder process) bearing the substituents in the suitable positions for further functionalization. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Structuring depressive discourse: A descriptive narrative process

This study aimed to evaluate the importance of a descriptive narrative process of the significance involved in a depressive phenomenon. The research population consisted of 324 adult and adolescent patients of both genders, located in the central area of the city of Paraiba, for clinical and psychological health care. For surveyed patients, suffering and or psychological pain were the most common complaints. A sample of 159 patients was taken, including male and female adolescents and adults. Data were collected through a narrative interview. Shutz' procedure was used for information analysis. The obtained data offered the opportunity to review concepts, discuss life history and listen to narrative positioning episodes of manifested depression. The narratives were considered to be a determinant factor to consider inherent conflicts.

Novel Sealing Technique for Practical Liquid-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers

In this letter, we describe a simple and effective technique to prevent evaporation in liquid-core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). The technique consists of using a micropipette to deploy a micro-droplet of an ultraviolet curable polymer adhesive in both core inputs. After it is cured, the adhesive creates sealing polymer plugs with quite satisfactory insertion loss (overall optical transmission of about 15%). Processed fibers remained liquid-filled for at least six weeks. From a practical point of view, we conducted a supercontinuum generation experiment in a water-core PCF to demonstrate a 120-minute spectral width stability and the ability to withstand at least 3-mW average power at the sealed fiber input. Similar experiments carried out with nonsealed fibers produced supercontinuum spectra lasting no longer than 10 minutes, with average powers kept below 0.5 mW to avoid thermally induced evaporation.

Effects of Methylphenidate on performance of a practical pistol shooting task: a quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) study

Abstract Background The present study examined absolute alpha power using quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) in bilateral temporal and parietal cortices in novice soldiers under the influence of methylphenidate (MPH) during the preparatory aiming period in a practical pistol-shooting task. We anticipated higher bi-hemispheric cortical activation in the preparatory period relative to pre-shot baseline in the methylphenidate group when compared with the control group because methylphenidate has been shown to enhance task-related cognitive functions. Methods Twenty healthy, novice soldiers were equally distributed in control (CG; n = 10) and MPH groups 10 mg (MG; n = 10) using a randomized, double blind design. Subjects performed a pistol-shooting task while electroencephalographic activity was acquired. Results We found main effects for group and practice blocks on behavioral measures, and interactions between group and phases on electroencephalographic measures for the electrodes T3, T4, P3 and P4. Regarding the behavioral measures, the MPH group demonstrated significantly poorer in shooting performance when compared with the control and, in addition, significant increases in the scores over practice blocks were found on both groups. In addition, regarding the electroencephalographic data, we observed a significant increase in alpha power over practice blocks, but alpha power was significantly lower for the MPH group when compared with the placebo group. Moreover, we observed a significant decrease in alpha power in electrodes T4 and P4 during PTM. Conclusion Although we found no correlation between behavioral and EEG data, our findings show that MPH did not prevent the learning of the task in healthy subjects. However, during the practice blocks (PBs) it also did not favor the performance when compared with control group performance. It seems that the CNS effects of MPH demanded an initial readjustment period of integrated operations relative to the sensorimotor system. In other words, MPH seems to provoke a period of initial instability due to a possible modulation in neural activity, which can be explained by lower levels of alpha power (i.e., higher cortical activity). However, after the end of the PB1 a new stabilization was established in neural circuits, due to repetition of the task, resulting higher cortical activity during the task. In conclusion, MPH group performance was not initially superior to that of the control group, but eventually exceeded it, albeit without achieving statistical significance.