Adv Exp Med Biol
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Behavioral cognitive therapy is recommended for lung cancer-related pain. The aim of the study was to analyze the strategies of coping with pain in relation to the histological type of lung cancer. The study included 257 lung cancer patients, divided into small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) group (n = 72) and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) group (n = 185). ⋯ The significant independent determinants of pain perception in the NSCLC group were: pain control strategy (β = -0.39) and coping self-statement (β = 0.72). We conclude that in NSCLC patients both pain control and the ability to decrease pain are the strategies which decrease the intensity of perceived pain. In contrast, SCLC patients have no clear strategy for pain-coping.
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The first massive open online courses or MOOCs were offered in 2008 in the USA, since then MOOCs have hit the higher education (HE) section by storm and have continued to grow rapidly since 2012, with hundreds of HE establishments across the globe engaged in providing MOOCs. MOOCs are online courses that are open to everyone and anyone to join with typically no limits to the number of participants or prerequisite qualifications. In some MOOCs there is an option to pay for a certificate upon completion. ⋯ There is also a growing use of MOOCs in higher education as a recourse for campus degree programmes, known as hybrid MOOCs, where the MOOC provides the learning and the assessment is undertaken by the educational institution. The growing number of MOOCs available for credit is changing the way some learners are accessing higher education and the development of micro degrees obtained through the completion of a number of MOOCs may potentially change the way higher education is provided in the future. Finally, the potential of artificial intelligence to provide virtual classroom assistants is also a possible game changer, allowing more personalised learning to be delivered at scale.
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The Cannabis plant has been used for many of years as a medicinal agent in the relief of pain and seizures. It contains approximately 540 natural compounds including more than 100 that have been identified as phytocannabinoids due to their shared chemical structure. The predominant psychotropic component is Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), while the major non-psychoactive ingredient is cannabidiol (CBD). ⋯ The legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes and for recreational use in some regions will allow for much needed research on the pharmacokinetics and pharmocology of medical cannabis. This brief review focuses on the use of cannabis as a medicinal agent in the treatment of pain, epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases. Despite the paucity of information, attention is paid to the mechanisms by which medical cannabis may act to relieve pain and seizures.
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Surgery can be a life-saving procedure; however, significant complications may occur after routine procedures especially in older and more frail patients. Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PNDs), including delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction, are the most common complications in older adults following common procedures such as orthopedic or cardiac surgery. ⋯ In this regard, resolution of inflammation, once thought to be a passive process, may provide novel approaches to treat neuroinflammation and PNDs. Herein we review the role for impaired resolution after surgery and the growing role of specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) in regulating postoperative neuroinflammation and neurological complications after surgery.
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Because of the poor link between psychiatric diagnosis and neurobiological findings, it is difficult to classify mental disorders. The changes made to psychiatric diagnostic systems over the years can be understood in terms of "practical conservatism." The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-I and DSM-II were theoretically supported by the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approach. Subsequently, psychiatric diagnoses of this kind were opposed by the anti-psychiatry movement, as well as by the findings of the Rosenhan experiment. ⋯ To overcome the limitations of the categorical approach, psychiatrists have considered adopting a dimensional approach. However, their efforts were frustrated in the DSM-5 revision process. Thus, the DSM-5 is characterized by the rearrangement of psychiatric diagnoses, the partial adoption of a dimensional approach, the introduction of new diagnoses, and harmonization with the International Classification of Diseases.