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The Journal of Nervous and Mental... Mar 2023Dysfunctional parenting styles are risk factors for eating disorders (EDs). In this observational study, we examined 57 women with ED, a psychiatric control group (n =... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
Dysfunctional parenting styles are risk factors for eating disorders (EDs). In this observational study, we examined 57 women with ED, a psychiatric control group (n = 26), and healthy participants (n = 60). Several instruments were administered: Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40) to examine the type of defense mechanism used, Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) to investigate the perception of the relationship with parents, Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire and Eating Disorder Inventory-3 to assess the severity of the ED, and Body Shape Questionnaire to investigate the perception of their body shape. In patients with anorexia and bulimia, neurotic factor (p = 0.007) and immature factor (p = 0.002) are associated with perception of relationship with their own parents. In the PBI, maternal care was associated with higher scores in the DSQ-40 in the immature factor (p = 0.012), whereas paternal overprotection was associated with lower scores in the DSQ-40 in the mature factor (p = 0.016). Patients with anorexia and bulimia overutilize more neurotic and primitive defense mechanisms compared with nonclinical subjects, and this use is associated with greater severity of eating symptomatology. This can be related to diversified ego forces, can inform about the nature and severity of disease, and can characterize prognostic and psychotherapeutic value.
Topics: Humans; Female; Bulimia; Parenting; Anorexia; Bulimia Nervosa; Defense Mechanisms
PubMed: 36827633
DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001597 -
Plant Science : An International... May 2024Laticifers have been utilized as paradigms to enhance comprehension of specific facets of plant ecology and evolution. From the beginning of seedling growth, autonomous... (Review)
Review
Laticifers have been utilized as paradigms to enhance comprehension of specific facets of plant ecology and evolution. From the beginning of seedling growth, autonomous laticifer networks are formed throughout the plant structure, extending across all tissues and organs. The vast majority of identified products resulting from laticifer chemistry and metabolism are linked to plant defense. The latex, which is the fluid contained within laticifers, is maintained under pressure and has evolved to serve as a defense mechanism against both aggressors and invaders, irrespective of their capabilities or tactics. Remarkably, the latex composition varies among different species. The current goal is to understand the specific functions of various latex components in combating plant enemies. Therefore, the study of latex's chemical composition and proteome plays a critical role in advancing our understanding about plant defense mechanisms. Here, we will discuss some of these aspects.
PubMed: 38810884
DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2024.112136 -
Phytopathology Apr 2023One important discovery in plant pathology over recent decades is the natural antiviral defense mechanism mediated by RNA interference (RNAi). In antiviral RNAi, virus... (Review)
Review
One important discovery in plant pathology over recent decades is the natural antiviral defense mechanism mediated by RNA interference (RNAi). In antiviral RNAi, virus infection triggers Dicer processing of virus-specific double-stranded RNA into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Frequently, further amplified by host enzyme and cofactors, these virus-derived siRNAs direct specific virus clearance in an Argonaute protein-containing effector complex. The siRNAs derived from viruses and viroids accumulate to very high levels during infection. Because they overlap extensively in nucleotide sequence, this allows for deep sequencing and bioinformatics assembly of total small RNAs for rapid discovery and identification of viruses and viroids. Antiviral RNAi acts as the primary defense mechanism against both RNA and DNA viruses in plants, yet viruses still successfully infect plants. They do so because all currently recognized plant viruses combat the RNAi response by encoding at least one protein as a viral suppressor of RNAi (VSR) required for infection, even though plant viruses have small genome sizes with a limited coding capacity. This review article will recapitulate the key findings that have revealed the genetic pathway for the biogenesis and antiviral activity of viral siRNAs and the specific role of VSRs in infection by antiviral RNAi suppression. Moreover, early pioneering studies on transgene silencing, RNAi, and virus-plant/virus-virus interactions paved the road to the discovery of antiviral RNAi.
Topics: RNA, Small Interfering; RNA Interference; RNA, Double-Stranded; Antiviral Agents; Plant Diseases; Plants; Viroids; Transgenes; Defense Mechanisms
PubMed: 36441873
DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-10-22-0358-IA -
The Primary Care Companion For CNS... Mar 2020To investigate the self-esteem and defense mechanisms in patients diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the self-esteem and defense mechanisms in patients diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
METHODS
This prospective, cross-sectional study included 29 patients diagnosed with HIV/AIDS admitted to inpatient or outpatient clinics between March 2018 and January 2019 and 29 healthy subjects. Participants were assessed using a sociodemographic and clinical data form, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory (RSEI), the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ), and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI).
RESULTS
Patients with HIV/AIDS had significantly higher scores on the fantasy, psychosomatic symptoms, and parental interest subscales of the RSEI. There was no significant difference between the groups on the other subscales, including the self-esteem subscale. There was no correlation between the duration of the disease and self-esteem. The neurotic defense mechanism and immature defense mechanism subscale scores of the DSQ were significantly higher in the HIV/AIDS group compared to the control group (P < .01). Undoing and reaction formation scores in neurotic defense mechanisms and projection, devaluation, autistic fantasy, and splitting scores in immature defense mechanisms were significantly higher in the HIV/AIDS group compared to controls (P < .05). There was no significant difference between the groups based on the mature defense mechanisms subscale scores.
CONCLUSIONS
No difference was found in the self-esteem scores of the HIV/AIDS and control groups, and this finding could be associated with the stability of the self-esteem concept. It was also determined that patient group members utilized neurotic and immature defense mechanisms more often compared to the healthy group, and there was no difference between the groups based on mature defense mechanisms.
Topics: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Defense Mechanisms; Female; HIV Infections; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Self Concept
PubMed: 32220150
DOI: 10.4088/PCC.19m02577 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2021Breast cancer (BC) is one of the highest incidence rates in Lebanon. Previous studies had focused scarcely on the unconscious protective shield of patients with BC or...
Breast cancer (BC) is one of the highest incidence rates in Lebanon. Previous studies had focused scarcely on the unconscious protective shield of patients with BC or BC survivors against cancer, while only some studies had focused on the relationship between defense mechanisms (DMs) and high adaptation with the disease process and progress. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the reaction of inpatients with BC toward the disease by measuring DMs in the Lebanon context. Seventy inpatients with BC were recruited randomly from six hospitals. Their DMs were measured using the Defense Mechanism Rating Scale. Moreover, the Relationship Anecdotes Paradigm (RAP) was used with three recent life vignettes of initial diagnosis, family, and daily life. The data were analyzed using repeated measure ANOVA, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and Spearman's rank. Patients with stage 2 BC used more high-adaptive defense levels than patients with stage 4 BC who used more minor image distorting defense levels. Moreover, patients with stage 2 BC used more self-observation and undoing, while patients with stage 4 BC used more devaluation. The severity of BC, the age of carriers, and the social status may lead to higher use of DMs, at the level of the individual defense and the hierarchal or the tripartite levels.
PubMed: 34456786
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.666373 -
Trends in Parasitology Dec 2022Toxoplasma gondii encysts preferentially within neurons in the central nervous system, establishing lifelong persistence. Despite recent discoveries, this neuronal...
Toxoplasma gondii encysts preferentially within neurons in the central nervous system, establishing lifelong persistence. Despite recent discoveries, this neuronal preference was thought, in part, to be secondary to a lack of neuronal cell-autonomous immunity. By showing that neurons can mount interferon-gamma (IFN-γ)-mediated cell-autonomous anti-T. gondii defenses, Chandrasekaran et al. have challenged long held assumptions.
Topics: Toxoplasma; Interferon-gamma; Neurons; Immunity, Cellular; Defense Mechanisms
PubMed: 36280528
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2022.10.001 -
Health Psychology Review Sep 2021Pain is a major source of global suffering, with women bearing the greatest burden. Alongside biology, psychological and social factors, including gender, help explain...
Pain is a major source of global suffering, with women bearing the greatest burden. Alongside biology, psychological and social factors, including gender, help explain these differences. However, there has been no direct attempt to develop a unified social psychological model of men and women's pain. By drawing on approaches to both gender and pain, a gender context model of pain is presented. It proposes that pain is partly influenced by the gender context in which it occurs, which operates at both individual and interpersonal levels. The model is used to structure an appraisal of the existing evidence around gender and pain, and explore whether the model helps explain why such variation occurs. It is argued that despite evidence for an association between gender and pain, there are empirical gaps that need to be addressed. Implications and directions for future investigations into sex, gender and pain are considered.
Topics: Female; Femininity; Gender Identity; Humans; Male; Models, Psychological; Pain
PubMed: 32875959
DOI: 10.1080/17437199.2020.1813602 -
Heliyon Dec 2023The potato plant is one of the main crops in the world. However, relatively little is known about key virulence factors of major fungal and bacterial diseases in... (Review)
Review
The potato plant is one of the main crops in the world. However, relatively little is known about key virulence factors of major fungal and bacterial diseases in potatoes, biocontrol measures to improve activity and stability, and the core driving forces in the control process. Here, we focus on analyzing the mechanisms by which genes, proteins, or (and) metabolites of potato pathogens as key virulence factors. Then, the single strain biocontrol agents, synthetic microbial communities, microbial microcapsule strategies were introduced, and the latter two strategies can improve stability and activity in biocontrol. Meanwhile, summarized the defense mechanisms of biocontrol and their specific issues in practical applications. Furthermore, explore how potato crop management, soil management, and climate effects, as crucial driving forces affect potato biocontrol in the system. Dynamic and systematic research, excavation of biocontrol strain resources, find the causes of regional disease resistance and exploration of biocontrol mechanism will provide promising solutions for biotic stress faced by potato in the future.
PubMed: 38046151
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22390 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2021The study investigated the extent to which defensive functioning and defense mechanisms predict clinically meaningful symptomatic improvement within brief psychodynamic...
The study investigated the extent to which defensive functioning and defense mechanisms predict clinically meaningful symptomatic improvement within brief psychodynamic psychotherapy for recurrent and chronic depression in an inpatient setting. Treatment response was defined as a reduction in symptom severity of 46% or higher from the baseline score on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). A subsample of 41 patients (19 responders and 22 non-responders) from an RCT was included. For each case, two sessions (the second and the penultimate) of brief inpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy (a manualized 12-session therapy program developed in Lausanne) were transcribed and then coded using the Defense Mechanism Rating Scales (DMRS) and the Psychotic Defense Mechanism Rating Scales (P-DMRS), an additional scale developed to study psychotic defenses. Results showed that defensive functioning and mature and immature defense changed during psychotherapy and predicted treatment response. Patient's defenses observed throughout therapy also predicted treatment response at 12-month follow-up. The addition of psychotic defenses allows a better prediction of the treatment response. Overall, these results are in line with previous research and provide further validation of defensive functioning as a predictor of outcomes and a mechanism of change in psychotherapy.
PubMed: 33815219
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633939 -
American Journal of Psychoanalysis Mar 2023The paper analyzes Ferenczi's contributions to contemporary debates on gender. It does not strictly adhere to what he wrote about masculinity and femininity, where he...
The paper analyzes Ferenczi's contributions to contemporary debates on gender. It does not strictly adhere to what he wrote about masculinity and femininity, where he reveals himself as a man of his time, with the some of the prejudices of his time. Instead, the paper highlights the utraquistic method and the pluralist monism of Ferenczi, whereby he appears as an analyst who remains in synch with current problems. Against the purity of dualisms, Ferenczi embraced multiplicity, mixtures, and the transit between different spaces, beyond divisive frontiers. In terms of method, it resonates with Judith Butler's proposals, with the ideas defended by Paul Preciado and by Queer theory.
Topics: Male; Female; Humans; History, 20th Century; Psychoanalysis; Psychoanalytic Theory; Masculinity; Femininity
PubMed: 36750630
DOI: 10.1057/s11231-023-09391-0