Evaluating Stress in Dogs Involved in Animal-Assisted Interventions

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) are co-therapies in which the animal is an integral and active part of the treatment process. Dogs are widely involved in AAI projects, but little data are available to determine if AAI sessions are a source of stress for the dogs. Understanding the emotional state of animals and highlighting any signal of stress is crucial maintaining the wellness of the animals and in enhancing the probability of success of the AAI. The purpose of this study is to assess if dogs present signs of stress during animal assisted therapies sessions. The sample consisted of nine dogs, belonging to the members of the A.N.U.C.S.S. (the National Association for the Use of Dogs for Social Aims) association. Dogs lived with their owners and their health was checked by a vet once a week. Patients involved in the AAI project had disabilities due to mental disorder and/or psychomotor problems. During the therapeutic sessions, patients had to guide the dog along facilitated agility routes and/or perform the activities of cuddling and brushing the dog. When a dog accomplished a task, the patient gave him/her a reward (throwing a ball or a biscuit). Dogs were observed for a total of 174 h, 47 h before, 81 h during, and 46 h after AAI sessions. Each session of observation lasted 10–30 min. The differences of behavioural patterns in the three contexts were analysed by mean of the non-parametric Friedman test. Dogs never showed aggressive and stereotyped behaviour; the level of anxious behaviour was low and similar in all three kinds of sessions. During therapeutic sessions, attention, affiliative behavioural patterns, and sniffing behaviour increased. The highest level of attention of dogs was directed toward their conductor, rather than to the patient and to the other operator present. The results suggest that the amount of work dogs went through was adequate and that dogs did not show behavioural signs of stress.

Cypermethrin Influence on Oxidative Status and Anxious Behaviour in Paracheirodon innensi Species

The non-discriminatory use of pesticides and herbicides to increase agricultural production has caused great concern, as these products are likely to reach the aquatic environment, thus representing a health problem for aquatic species, but also for humans. Cypermethrin, a pyrethroid type II insecticide, is widely used in agriculture, but also for pest control of plants and stored agricultural products, as well as for combating the biological vectors of human and animal diseases. The administration of cypermethrin to Paracheirodon innensi determined ample variations in the activity of oxidative stress enzymes and malondialdehyde concentration, in close correlation with the concentration used, but also the occurrence of some locomotor deficiency and an anxiety state.

Psychobiome Feeding Mind: Polyphenolics in Depression and Anxiety

Recently gut bacterial populations seem to be involved in many functions and in the pathogenesis of several medical conditions. Traditionally the intestinal microbiome has been recognized to play an important role in metabolizing food compounds in simpler chemical structures for the absorption of different nutrients, and in maintenance control of gastrointestinal pathogens species. Bacterial populations are implicated in a complicated network of interactions within the immune system, epithelial cells local endocrine system, that affects the peripheral and the central nervous system, via blood circulation. Microbiome influencing the mind via immune, endocrine and metabolic signalling, is able to exert some clinical effects in different mental diseases. It releases endocrine substances through several pathways involved in the modulation of neuroinflammation and production of several neurotrasmitter precursors. It has recently been named psychobiome. It is known that phenolic compounds are able to influence microbiome proliferation and to exert several roles, especially regarding neuroinflammation in depressive and anxious behaviour. The clinical effects are reported in the literature. The aim of this study is to highlight the interaction between polyphenols and microbiota- gut-brain axis.

Gender Differences in Dental Anxiety and Medical Fear in Croatian Adolescents

Objectives: The aim of this study was to differentiate anxious from nonanxious adolescents and evaluate gender differences in anxiety with respect to previous negative dental and medical experiences. The purpose was also to evaluate a causative relationship between child medical fear and dental anxiety. Study Design: This study sampled 113 Croatian adolescents from 15 to18 years of age. Children's Fear Survey Schedule – Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) was used for the assessment of child dental anxiety regarding visits to the dentist and receiving dental treatment. A modified version of Child Medical Fear Questionnaire (CMFQ-M) was used for evaluation of child medical fear related to medical treatment and doctors in general. Results and Conclusion: The results showed significantly higher dental anxiety (CFSS-DS) and medical fear (CMFQ-M) in adolscent girls (p<0,001) as compared to adolescent boys. A significantly strong correlation between medical fear and dental anxiety in adolescent girls was proved by Pearson's correlation coefficient (p < 0,01). In this study, CMFQ-M and CFSS-DS questionnaires were standardized in the Croatian adolescent population and proved reliable in the estimation of anxious behaviour with respect to specific medical and dental situations.

The Social and Economic Factors Influence upon the Healthcare Services Consumers Behaviour

The research in the field of healthcare services consumer behaviour represents a very complex task with multiple implications. The consumer behaviour is much nuanced depending on the type of services or products that we are referring on. In the case of healthcare services, the behaviour is more complex than other services and is influenced mainly by special motivations like the need for a proper health status or the need to recover from a certain disease. The present article is proposing a qualitative type research as an in-depth interview with dentists regarding their perception about the influence that social and economic factors can have upon the consumers’ behaviour. The results of the research suggest that the influence of social factors is very complex, from the simple more intense concern related with dental hygiene and appearance of teeth up to anxious behaviour and isolation in the case of patients with severe dental diseases that have affected their face bones structure or the capacity to chew and speak. These findings shows that the consumers’ behaviour can be shaped by the complex interaction of different factors, and the response from dentists and those in charge with the provision of dental healthcare services can make the difference between a sustainable consumption and a dramatic route of unsatisfied consumers’ expectations.