Mucositis is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa resulting from high doses of radio/chemotherapy treatment and may lead to interruption of antineoplasic therapy. Soluble fibres, like pectin, increase SCFA production, which play a role in gut homoeostasis and inflammation suppression. Due to the properties of pectin, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a high-fibre (HF) diet on chemotherapy-induced mucositis in a murine model. C57/BL6 mice received control (AIN93M), HF, low/zero fibre (LF) diets for 10 d prior to mucositis challenging with irinotecan (75 mg/kg), or they were treated with acetate added to drinking water 5 d prior to and during the mucositis induction. Mice that received the HF diet showed decreased immune cells influx and improved histopathological parameters in the intestine, compared with mice that received the normal diet. Furthermore, the HF diet decreased intestinal permeability induced in the mucositis model when compared with the control group. This effect was not observed for acetate alone, which did not improve gut permeability. For instance, mice that received the LF diet had worsened gut permeability, compared with mice that received the normal diet and mucositis. The effects of the HF and LF diets were shown to modulate the intestinal microbiota, in which the LF diet increased the levels of Enterobacteriaceae, a group associated with gut inflammation, whereas the HF diet decreased this group and increased Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium (SCFA producers) levels. In conclusion, the results demonstrated the importance of dietary fibre intake in the modulation of gut microbiota composition and homoeostasis maintenance during mucositis in this model.

Estuarine habitats are major nurseries for the European flounder Platichthys flesus, with different year classes sharing food and space resources. Hence, an understanding of feeding strategies that optimize resource use and maintain carrying capacity is fundamental for sustainable and successful ecosystem management. The main feeding areas of juvenile European flounder (including 0-group and 1-group age classes) in the Lima estuary (northern Portugal) nursery ground were investigated by integrating stomach content analyses with stable isotopic values (δ13C and δ15N) and fish condition indices (Fulton K and RNA:DNA ratio). The 0-group flounder that were associated with the upstream section of the estuary presented the lowest δ13C value (−25.58 ± 1.86‰), while 1-group flounder exhibited a higher δ13C value (−22.59 ± 2.51‰), indicating use of the more saline areas of the estuary (lower and middle sections). The two age groups did not differ in terms of δ15N (0-group: 13.93 ± 0.29‰; 1-group: 13.50 ± 0.96‰), indicating similar trophic levels. The low salinity upper estuary was the main feeding area of 0-group flounder (74%), while 1-group flounder fed along the estuary both upstream (52%) and downstream (48%). Juvenile flounder showed high individual condition based on the Fulton K index (0-group: 1.05 ± 0.08; 1-group: 1.07 ± 0.05) and RNA:DNA (0-group: 1.70 ± 0.70; 1-group: 1.41 ± 0.47). These indices deal with fish health, and hence indicate nursery habitat quality. It is concluded that in this temperate nursery habitat, different feeding strategies sustained the condition of the European flounder juveniles, compared with other flounder populations.

Differences in how individuals cope with stressful conditions (e.g. novel/unfamiliar environment, social isolation and increases in human contact) can explain the variability in data collection from nutrient digestibility trials. We used the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), which is under process of domestication and shows high individual behavioral distinctiveness in reactions toward humans, to test the hypothesis that behavioral differences play a role in nutrient digestibility. We assessed the individual behavioral traits of 24 adult male collared peccaries using both the ‘behavioral coding’ and the ‘subjective ratings’ approaches. For the behavioral coding assessment, we recorded the hourly frequency of behaviors potentially indicative of stress during the 30-day habituation period to the experimental housing conditions. The subjective ratings were performed based on the individuals’ reactions to three short-term challenge tests (novel environment, novel object and threat from a capture net) over a period of 56 days. During the last 26 days, the collared peccaries were fed diets either high (n = 12) or low (n = 12) in dietary fiber levels, and we determined the total tract apparent digestibility of nutrients. The individual subjective ratings showed consistency in the correlated measures of ‘relaxedness’, ‘quietness’ and ‘satisfaction’ across the three challenge tests, which were combined to produce z score ratings of one derived variable (‘calmness’). Individual frequency of BPIS/h and calmness scores were negatively correlated and both predicted the total tract digestibility of acid detergent fiber (ADF), which ranged from 0.41 to 0.79. The greater the calmness z scores (i.e. calmer individuals), the greater the total tract digestibility of ADF. In contrast, the higher the frequency of BPIS/h, the lower the total tract digestibility of ADF. Therefore, our results provide evidence that by selecting calmer collared peccaries, there will be an increase in their capacity to digest dietary fiber.

Modified state of consciousness (MSC) is defined as a mental state that can be subjectively recognized by an individual or by an objective observer of the individual, as representing a difference in the psychological functioning of the “normal” state, alert and awake of the individual. Drugs are products with definitions and conceptual boundaries, historically defined. The use of psychoactive drugs is related to the increased plasticity of human subjectivity which is reflected in various technical means to change the perception, cognition, affect and mood. The authors propose to conduct a literature review on the types of MSC, the way to achieve them and their implications in drug consumption pattern.

A MSC consists of dimensions such as self-oceanic limitlessness, agonizing self-dissolution and visionary restructuring.

Normal MSC includes dreams, hypnagogic state and sleep. Others may be induced by hypnosis, meditation or psychoactive substances. Those achieved by drugs allow the subject to access feelings and sensations which go beyond the everyday reality or, on the other hand, leakage of reality.

Anthropological studies show that in almost all civilizations, man sought ways to induce MSC.

What characterizes the problematic or abusive use of certain substances is not necessarily the amount and frequency of drug use, but the disharmony in the socio-cultural, family and psychosocial contexts of the individual.

Shame is considered a painful emotion that emerges in social contexts when the individual perceives that others see the self as inferior, inadequate or defective. This emotion is associated with decreased levels of self-compassion and may trigger several defensive responses, such as the need to present a perfect body image. Furthermore, shame has been conceptualized as a key component of eating psychopathology.

This study aims to explore the role of external shame in the engagement in disordered eating attitudes and behaviours through the mechanisms of self-compassion and body image-related perfectionistic self-presentation. A path analysis testing a mediational model was conducted in a sample of 469 women from the general community, aged between 18 and 35 years old.

The tested model explained 49% of the eating psychopathology's variance and presented excellent fit indices. Results demonstrated that external shame has a direct effect on disordered eating behaviours and simultaneously an indirect effect through the mechanisms of self-compassion and the need to present a perfect physical appearance.

These results seem to corroborate the link between shame and eating psychopathology. Additionally, these data suggest that women who present higher levels of shame show decreased self-compassion and tend to adopt compensatory maladaptive strategies, such as striving for a perfect body. Furthermore, these findings have significant clinical implications, highlighting the importance of developing new programs focused on shame and on the promotion of adaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as self-compassion.

Shame is a universal emotion, that has been emphasized as a pathogenic phenomenon in well-being and mental health. In fact, although shame has been considered an adaptive defensive response, higher levels of this painful emotion are strongly associated with different mental health conditions. The current study aimed to test whether the association of external shame with eating psychopathology would be explained by the mechanisms of body image-related cognitive fusion, psychological inflexibility, and also dietary restraint. A path analysis testing a mediational model was conducted in a sample of 787 women from the general community, aged between 18 and 51 years old. The tested model accounted for 71% of the variance of eating psychopathology and revealed an excellent fit to the data. Results demonstrated that external shame's impact on disordered eating attitudes and behaviors is indirect, carried through increased body image-related cognitive fusion, psychological inflexibility related to physical appearance, and dietary restraint. These findings seem to support the association between shame and eating psychopathology. Furthermore, these data add to literature by suggesting that individuals who present higher levels of shame may present increased tendency to engage in dietary restraint and other maladaptive eating behaviors, through higher levels of body image-related psychological inflexibility and cognitive fusion. The current study seems to hold important clinical implications, highlighting the importance of developing intervention programs in the community which target shame and body image-related maladaptive attitudes and behaviors and, in turn, promote adaptive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., acceptance abilities).

Committed action is defined as the ability to take action guided by personal life values, i.e., to be persistent in valued behaviours even when such pursuit implicates facing setbacks and experiencing discomfort. This is a key process for acceptance and commitment therapy, and is linked to several positive mental health outcomes. Although current literature has stressed the pervasive impact of shame on psychopathology, especially on depression, data concerning the role of committed action on the impact of shame on depression is considered insufficient. Considering these premises, the current study intended to explore the moderator role of committed action in the relationship between external shame and depressive symptomatology, in an adult sample of 178 participants of both sexes. Path analysis’ results showed that shame holds a positive effect on depression (β = 1.19, P < .001), and that committed action serves as a moderator of the effect of shame on depression (β = –.63, P < .010). The tested model accounted for 45% of the variance of depression symptoms. A graphical representation allowed to observe that committed action presents a buffer effect for the harmful impact of shame on symptoms of depression. That is, at any level of shame experienced, those individuals who revealed higher levels of committed action showed less depression symptoms. This study has corroborated the powerful effect of external shame on depression symptoms, which was found to be buffered by committed action. The present findings thus highlight the pertinence of identifying personal life values and motivating committed action, particularly in prevention and intervention programs for depression.

Shame experiences have been highly associated with the engagement in maladaptive strategies (such as experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion) to cope with unwanted thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, these maladaptive processes have been linked to different psychopathological conditions.

The current study aimed to test the mediational effect of two different emotional regulation processes, cognitive fusion (i.e., the entanglement with unwanted inner events) and experiential avoidance (i.e., the unwillingness to be in contact with these inner experiences and the tendency to avoid and control them), on the association between external shame and psychological quality of life.

Participants were 421 (131 males and 290 females), aged between 18 and 34 years old.

The tested path model explained 40% of the variance of psychological quality of life and showed excellent model fit indices. Results demonstrated that external shame presented a significant direct effect on psychological quality of life and, in turn, an indirect effect, through the mechanisms of cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance. In fact, these findings seem to suggest that higher levels of external shame are linked to a higher tendency to engage in cognitive fusion and to lower acceptance abilities, which appear to explain decreased levels of psychological quality of life.

The present findings seem to offer significant clinical implications, emphasizing the importance of targeting maladaptive emotion strategies through the development of acceptance and decentering abilities.

Self-reassurance and social safeness are both positive factors linked with a lighter experience of shame and depression symptoms. Self-reassurance is defined as an adaptive emotion regulation process, and social safeness as an emotion experience related to feelings of being safe around others, accepted by others, and connected to one's social world. Nevertheless, data about how self-reassurance and social safeness and pleasure operate in the association between external shame and depression is still scarce. A path model which hypothesised that self-reassurance and social safeness and pleasure may act as mediators on the association between shame and depressive symptomatology was tested. This study's sample consisted of adult men (n = 54) and women (n = 125), from the Portuguese general population. Results indicated that self-reassurance and social safeness act as mediators in the relationship between shame and depression symptoms. Specifically, a higher report of shame seems to explain higher levels of depressive symptomatology, via lower tendency for self-reassurance and poorer experience of social safeness. The tested model explained 45% of the variance of depressive symptomatology and was revealed to be invariant between men and women. This study's results underline the profound impact of the experience of comfort within secure and warm social relationships, but mostly the importance of self-soothing and self-compassion abilities which associate with greater social functioning. Moreover, in practical terms, these findings reinforce the pertinence of cultivating self-compassion, which has proven to be particularly relevant when intervening with high levels of shame, and in the prevention of depression.

The inability of recalling warm and safe memories with parents and close relatives has been often associated in literature with a negative and judgmental sense of self, and a higher proneness to experience feelings of inferiority, inadequacy, and defectiveness. Thus, intending to deal with self-judgment and inferiority, individuals may become submissive as a way of compensating one's negative emotional states with other's positive attention and desirability. However, both early negative affiliative memories and submissiveness are associated with higher vulnerability to psychopathology, namely depression. Using a sample of 338 young women, the present study intended to examine the association between early affiliative memories and depressive symptomatology, and the mediator roles of self-judgment and submissive attitudes and behaviours on this association, through a path analysis. The tested model provided an excellent fit to the data, accounting for 41% of the depressive symptomatology's variance. Results revealed a direct effect of early affiliative memories on depressive symptomatology; and also on self-judgement and submissiveness, explaining 28% and 23% of their variances, respectively. Moreover, part of these memories’ effect on depressive symptomatology was explained by self-judgment and submissiveness, which seems to suggest that submissiveness, although used to compensate feelings of inferiority and a judging attitude towards the self, may be a maladaptive strategy due to its positive association with depressive symptoms. This study's findings appear to emphasize the relevance of targeting submissiveness, especially in the context of a scarce recall of early affiliative experiences, when approaching women's depressive symptomatology on mental health promotion programs.

It is widely accepted that shame plays a significant role in the development and maintenance psychopathology, namely depressive symptoms. In fact, the experience of shame is highly associated with the adoption of maladaptive strategies to cope with negative feelings, such as experiential avoidance (i.e., the unavailability to accept one's private experiences), and the inability of decenter oneself from unwanted internal events. The present study aims to explore a mediation model that examines whether external shame's effect on depressive symptomatology is mediated through the mechanisms of decentering and experimental avoidance, while controlling for age. Participants were 358 adults of both genders from the general population that completed a battery of self-report scales measuring external shame, decentering, experimental avoidance and depression. The final model explained 33% of depression and revealed excellent model fit indices. Results showed that external shame has a direct effect on depressive symptomatology and simultaneously an indirect effect mediated by the mechanisms of decentering and experiential avoidance. These data seem to support the association between shame and depressive symptomatology. Nevertheless, these findings add to literature by suggesting that when the individual presents higher levels of shame he or she may present lower decentering abilities and tends to engage in experiential avoidance, which amplify the impact of external shame and depression. Furthermore, our findings seem to have important clinical implications, stressing the importance of developing intervention programs in the community that target shame and experimental avoidance and that promote adaptive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., decentering) to deal with adverse experiences.

Body image-related cognitive fusion is described as the perception that undesired and distressing internal events related to body image are reliable representations of reality. This maladaptive emotion regulation process is known for its impact on human suffering, namely eating psychopathology. On the contrary, body appreciation is a positive body image construct, defined as an attitude of acceptance and affection toward one's body image characteristics, despite some level of dissatisfaction. Although body appreciation associates negatively with several pathogenic processes, its relationship with body image-related cognitive fusion is still unexplored. The present study intended to analyse the power of body image related cognitive fusion regarding its impact on body appreciation, and also on the engagement in disordered eating. The study's sample comprised 308 women, aged between 18 and 35. A path model tested the mediator role of body image related cognitive fusion in the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and body appreciation, and eating disorders symptomatology, controlled for the effect of body mass index.

The tested model accounted for 67% of the variance of disordered eating. Body image related cognitive fusion appeared as a significant mediator of the association between body dissatisfaction and body appreciation. Body appreciation presented a significant direct effect on eating disorders symptomatology. These findings highlight the disturbing effect of cognitive fusion related to body image on the construction of a positive body image, presenting an impact on the engagement in disordered eating. In this line, cognitive fusion may be a pertinent target in clinical practice and also within eating disorders prevention.