Abstract
Background and aims
Time perception is a cognitive process involving both the ability to estimate the duration of an event (time estimation, TE) and the subjective perception of its passage (time passage, TP). Studies show that alteration in TE/TP is associated with substance use disorders. However, little is known about the impact of these alterations in potentially problematic online behaviors. We explore TE and TP while participants were exposed to cues related to videogames, pornography, and TV series, and the relationship of TE and TP with scores from instruments that measure problematic gaming (PG), problematic pornography use (PPU), and problematic binge-watching (BW).
Methods
Participants from three independent samples (40 men from Luxembourg; 99 Spanish men, 111 Spanish women) completed an experimental task designed to assess TE and TP while they were exposed to short clips related to videogames, pornography, TV series, and documentaries (control condition). Participants also completed different self-reports.
Results
Whereas men underestimated the time that they were exposed to pornography and TV series, women overestimated it. For videogames, we showed a consistent pattern of overestimation of time duration. Time was systematically perceived as passing faster while participants were presented with TV series and pornography. Regarding the association between time perception and PG, PPU, and BW, TE did not correlate with any of the indicators of problematic engagement assessed; but TP correlated with several of these indicators.
Discussion and conclusions
The present preliminary results showed mixed evidence regarding the involvement of time perception in gaming, pornography use, and binge-watching.
Abstract
The present study offers a speech-act analysis of the phatic interaction taking place within the ritual frame of casual encounters in the elevator. The corpus consists of 70 encounters that took place in Madrid, Spain, between 2020 and 2023. The analysis draws from Edmondson & House's (1981) originally proposed interactional typology of speech acts, also found in House & Kádár (2021a, 2023) and Edmondson, House & Kádár (2022). The main findings show, among other things, that some acts that are not conceived as phatic in the typology can migrate into the phatic slots, and that the speech-act pattern of this type of encounters can be affected by sociopragmatic variables such as the relational history of the interactants, or the co-created humorous episodes in the encounters.
Abstract
The current interpretive study aimed to characterize the (non-)ritual, phatic clusters of speech acts that conventionally recur around the opening/closing phases of Persian speaking students' social encounters or occur during the core (or ‘business’) phase of natural interactions as small talk in Persian. The study was conducted in Iran's Persian linguaculture where considerable social-cultural-economic changes have taken place over the last decade or so impacting the form and content of phatic interaction in all sectors of the society. The participants of the study were 97 Persian-speaking university students attending a state-run university located in the southwest of Iran. The students were asked to audio-record their natural interactions in four different social encounters varied based on the standard sociolinguistic parameters of Social Distance and Power (+/−SD, +/−P). We adopted House & Kádár's (2022) pragmalinguistic and speech act-anchored model of phatic interaction to code the (non-)ritual realization patterns of small talks around the opening, closing, and core phases of interaction. The results indicate that small talks which are co-constructed by the Persian interactants at the opening and closing phases of their social encounters are highly ritualized in terms of the speech act types and pragmalinguistic structures employed. Further, interpersonal interchanges which involve differential sociolinguistic P and SD values require more tactfulness and care in adhering to the greeting and parting conventions as more face-threat is potentially implicated. In terms of the medial phase, except for a small number of ostensible realizations of different speech acts such as invites, offers, and apologies, core off-topic phaticity was perceived to be non-ritual and discursive in Persian the interpretation of which heavily relies upon shared sociopragmatic knowledge of the linguaculture.
Abstract
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a major human pathogen as it is responsible for various infections. In the past years hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (hvKP) emerged and disseminated worldwide. In this review a summary will be given about epidemiology, detection and antibiotic resistance of hypervirulent K. pneumoniae. A common feature of hypervirulent K. pneumoniae is a combined expression of several virulence factors. A mucoviscosus phenotype, certain capsulare serotypes (e.g.: K1, K2, K28, K47, K63) together with additional genetic markers namely, magA, rmpA or iucABCD, are needed in combinations to achieve the hypervirulent pathotype. Plasmid coded virulence determinants are also detected, that indicates horizontal gene transfer of hypervirulence factors in K. pneumoniae.
Interestingly, infections caused by hypervirulent K. pneumoniae occur usually in the community in otherwise healthy people, and during these infections multiple infection sites are detected. Clinical pictures include both invasive infections and local abscess formation. Pyogenic liver abscess is the most frequently reported clinical manifestation and abscess formation in brain, spleen and lung are also diagnosed. Additionally, meningitis, endophthalmitis, trombophlebitis, pneumonia can also develop.
In the early reports, hypervirulent K. pneumoniae strains exhibited enhanced virulence but these were susceptible to commonly used antibiotics. However, recently KPC, VIM, NDM and OXA-48 carbapenemase producing hypervirulent K. pneumoniae strains are increasingly reported, furthermore, well-known high-risk K. pneumoniae clones (e.g.: ST11, ST147, ST307) can develop hypervirulent pathotype, that poses an even more alarming challenge.
Abstract
Background and aims
The intertemporal and risk decision-making impairments are vital cognitive mechanisms in internet use disorder (IUD). However, the underlying neural mechanisms for these two decision-making dysfunctions in individuals with IUD remain unclear.
Methods
This study employed Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record changes in blood oxygen concentration in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with IUD during intertemporal and risk decision-making tasks.
Results
The findings revealed that the intertemporal decision-making deficits in IUD group were primarily associated with reduced activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and FC from the left dlPFC to the right dlPFC. On the other hand, risk decision-making impairments were linked to decreased OFC activation and weakened functional connectivity from the left dlPFC to the right dlPFC and OFC.
Discussions and Conslusions
These results suggested that while there were common neural mechanisms underlying intertemporal and risk decision-making impairments in individuals with IUD, specific neural foundations existed for each type of dysfunction.
In 2017, Further Research on Khitan Small Script was published, which revised and summarized the phonetic value of 300 glyphs. However, with the discovery of new materials and an increasing number of researchers, new progress has been made in the reconstruction of Khitan small script. This paper aims to introduce the latest research results on the reconstruction of 8 glyphs in Khitan small script.
Abstract
Gaming disorder (GD) screening often involves self-report survey measures to detect the presence of symptoms. Studies have shown that gamers' responses vary greatly across survey items. Some symptoms, such as preoccupation and tolerance, are frequently reported by highly engaged but non-problematic gamers, and therefore these symptoms are thought to lack specificity and are suggested to be less important in classification decisions. We argue that the influence of response categories (e.g., dichotomous responses, such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’; or frequency categories, such as ‘rarely’ and ‘often’) on item responses has been relatively underexplored despite potentially contributing significantly to the psychometric performance of items and scales. In short, the type of item response may be just as important to symptom reporting as the content of survey questions. We propose some practical alternatives to currently used item categories across GD tools. Research should examine the performance of different response categories, including whether certain response categories aid respondents' comprehension and insight, and better capture pathological behaviours and harms.
Béta-laktám antibiotikumok terápiás gyógyszerszint-monitorozása kritikus állapotú felnőtt betegekben: egycentrumos, prospektív, obszervációs pilotvizsgálat
Therapeutic drug monitoring of beta-lactam antibiotics in critically ill adult patients.
A single-center prospective observational pilot study
Introduction: Beta-lactams are among the most commonly used antibiotics. Their efficacy is time-dependent, thus the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) recommends that their plasma concentrations should remain above the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the pathogenic bacteria throughout the dosing period (100%fT>MIC). However, according to several studies, it appears that the plasma concentrations of beta-lactam antibiotics can be suboptimal in critically ill patients. Objective: The aim of our study was to determine the pharmacodynamic target achievement of beta-lactam antibiotics (meropenem, piperacillin/tazobactam, and ceftriaxone) among critically ill adult patients admitted to an intensive care unit. Method: We conducted a prospective, observational single-centre study in a teaching hospital. Critically ill patients who were prescribed meropenem, piperacillin or ceftriaxone were enrolled. Trough antibiotic plasma concentration was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) to assess the achievement of the pharmacodynamic target of 100%fT>MIC. The target concentration was determined based on the definitions of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST), depending on the pathogen. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients not achieving therapeutic plasma concentrations. Results: A total of 60 antibiotic level measurements were performed in 28 patients. The median age of the patients was 64.5 ± 28,7 years, 80% (n = 22 patients) were male. The reason for admission was medical in 35.7% (n = 10), surgical/trauma in 53.5% (n = 15) and burns in 10.7% (n = 3) of patients. The therapeutic target was not achieved in 39.3% (n = 11) of patients, 66.6% (n = 6) in the meropenem group, 41.6% (n = 5) in the piperacillin group and 12.5% (n = 1) in the ceftriaxone group. Discussion: A significant proportion of critically ill patients receiving beta-lactam antibiotics did not achieve their target concentration, particularly piperacillin and meropenem. Conclusion: Our pilot study confirms the importance of therapeutic drug monitoring in critically ill patients receiving beta-lactam therapy. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(48): 1904–1911.
A bölcsességfogak sebészete 2023-ban.
Változások, irányelvek
Wisdom tooth surgery in 2023.
Changes, guidelines
One of the most common dentoalveolar surgical procedures, with the most difficulties and complications, is the surgical removal of wisdom teeth. The topic is very topical, both because of its frequency and its diversity. It is diverse because its diagnostic evaluation in relation to the root canal mandibulae requires great expertise, the surgical technique is not standardised in the majority of the cases and the surgeon is often forced to improvise. The complications, the treatment of which is part of our daily tasks, are relatively frequent and sometimes require a strong institutional background. The literature on the subject is vast and the guidelines proposed often change from year to year. The authors review the indications, contraindications, diagnostics, surgical management, complications associated with the surgical removal of the wisdom teeth and their management. The authors present an overview of the protocols of the different international schools and formulate current recommendations for general practitioners, dentists and dentoalveolar surgeons in Hungary. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(48): 1887–1894.
Húgyhólyag-schistosomiasis.
Az első hazai dokumentált eset
Schistosomiasis of the urinary bladder.
The first documented case in Hungary
Schistosomiasis, a worm infection known as bilharziasis or blood fluke, typically occurs in tropical regions. In temperate climates like Hungary, only imported cases are reported. The disease can affect the skin, gastrointestinal tract, or bladder, depending on the subtype of the worm. We present the case of a 32-year-old male of African origin who visited the urology clinic with macroscopic hematuria. Despite initial antibiotic therapy, the hematuria persisted. A cystoscopy revealed polyp-like lesions in the bladder, which were resected. Histological examination excluded bladder cancer and described a granulomatous and eosinophil granulocyte-rich inflammation. On top of that, the presence of Schistosoma haematobium eggs and sexually mature parasites in the venules was confirmed. After that, antihelmintic therapy was administered, leading to the resolution of symptoms. Notably, this case is the first documented instance of bladder schistosomiasis diagnosed in Hungary. Our paper aims to raise awareness of this rare condition while providing insights into its development, treatment, and potential complications. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(48): 1920–1924.
