Primary polydipsia, excessive drinking without known medical cause, continues to occur with a significant prevalence in psychiatric populations. While the etiology of polydipsia remains unknown, the fact that it is significantly associated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia has led some to postulate that the two may share common neurological pathophysiologies. Animal models of schizophrenia-like symptoms have focused on modeling the core behavioral and neurochemical features of the illness, like cognitive deficits and enhanced dopamine transmission. Here, we used three well-established models, including repeated amphetamine treatment, subchronic MK-801 (an N-methyl-D-aspartate [NMDA]-receptor antagonist), and post-weaning social isolation. We also examined a “double-hit” model, combining NMDA-receptor antagonism and social isolation. We paired these models to test the hypothesis that drinking will be enhanced in a paradigm of excessive drinking in the rat. In rodents, non-physiologic drinking can be induced by intermittent presentation of food (e.g., one sugar-pellet a minute) in the presence of a drinking spout to a hungry animal, termed schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP). Animals pretreated with pharmacological or non-pharmacological models of schizophrenia-like symptoms showed significantly increased SIP, The “double hit” model did not further increase drinking above that of either social isolation or MK-801 treatment alone. A moderate amount of spontaneous polydipsia in the homecage of MK-801-treated rats was also observed and resulted in one death secondary to excessive drinking, a phenomenon also found in inpatients with schizophrenia. Following repeated treatment with AMPH, there was some evidence that over time, animals learned to drink increased amounts independently of the scheduled food presentation. This evidence suggests that the excessive drinking behavior observed in polydipsia associated with schizophrenia may have a learned component. In summary, animal models of schizophrenia-like symptoms augmented SIP behavior, showing that polydipsia associated with schizophrenia may be modeled in rodents. As each model has been shown to modify dopamine transmission to some degree, the evidence suggests augmented SIP may reflect changes in dopamine transmission and dopamine may be the common link between polydipsia and schizophrenia. Further research is necessary to fully elucidate the mechanisms underlying SIP, polydipsia and schizophrenia. / Thesis (Ph.D, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-10-31 17:43:18.34

EVERYDAY LIFE AND SOCIAL ISOLATION OF ELDERLY PEOPLE IN URBAN AND RURAL ENVIRONMENTS THE ABSTRACT: My presented diploma thesis includes two concepts. The first one describes the quality of life and residential environments; the second concerns social isolation. Both of these examine a different view on the quality of life within the senior generation because the daily life of the older generation is influenced by the intensity and frequency of sociable relations together with the quality of residential environment in which they live. In the study I chose two different types of environments - an urban environment of Plzeň, a borough of Doubravka and a rural environment of a small village - Pasečnice. In the work, I observed the strengths and weaknesses of these environments in a group of people, who were interviewed. The research was made with semi-structural interview and analyzes the disposition of social isolation and the personal feeling about each residential environment. Diploma thesis concentrates on the main factors in senior's daily lives such as social relations, housing, basic service facilities, transportation availability, free time, and safety in the mentioned area of living. Key words: social isolation, quality of residential environments, seniors, city, country, civic facilities

Stress can induce prolonged deleterious effects on many characteristics in chickens (Gallus gallus). Particular interest has been paid to early life stress. Social isolation as an early life stressor results in increased plasma corticosterone levels. Moreover, it induces behavioural and physiological changes as well as gene expression modifications in the hypothalamus. In the first part of my study, I aim to inquire into social isolation impacts on the short and long-term. Short and long-term effects were assessed by immune system, behaviour and weight. 82 male chickens were assigned to three groups (stress, control and enrichment). The stress group was exposed to social isolation, the enrichment group was provided with enrichment substrates while the control group was left untreated. According to my knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the effects of social isolation on the interuleikn-6 levels as an indicator of immune system response. My findings suggest that social isolation induces short and long-term effects on immune response as well as on body weight. In the second part of my study, I aim to develop a method investigating effects of early stress on DNA methylation in blood and sperm. For this purpose, two methods GBS (Genotyping by sequencing) and MeDIP (Methylated DNA immuneprecipitation) were f using pooled DNA from all individuals for the first time. Moreover, I developed a protocol for extracting sperm DNA from frozen testis. Combining both methods has many advantages, such as cost effectiveness and the ability to evaluate epigenetic signatures in large number of individuals

This study explored how the structural aspects of a social network (that is, number of social ties, frequency of contact, as well as social participation), along with the functional aspect (social support), relate to mental health. Using data from the baseline questionnaire for the tracking cohort of participants in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, community-dwelling older adults aged 65-85 years old were studied. Cluster analysis was used to group individuals into different clusters, based on their structural social network characteristics. Six clusters were found, ranging from most socially integrated, to moderately integrated, to socially isolated. Univariate analyses indicated that as level of social integration decreased, individuals fared increasingly worse in terms of their mental health outcomes. Furthermore, a series of mediation analyses showed that social support mediated the relationship between social integration level, and mental health, an effect that was strongest for the most socially isolated individuals. / May 2016

Bakgrund: Ensamhet och social isolering är ett utbrett problem bland många äldre personer och kan bidra till hälsorisker och för tidig död. I takt med att befolkningen blir allt äldre förväntas ensamhet och social isolering öka vilket kommer att kräva större behov av vård och omsorg. Trots att sjuksköterskan och övrig hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal känner till de negativa effekterna av ensamhet och social isolering är det lågt prioriterat inom äldreomsorgen. Syfte: Syftet var att belysa hur äldre personer över 65 år upplever ensamhet och social isolering. Metod: En litteraturöversikt genomfördes med resultat från elva kvalitativa artiklar inhämtade från databaserna CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, PubMed och PsycINFO. Artiklarnas resultat färgkodades för att identifiera likheter och skillnader och som tematiserades i sex teman. Resultat: I resultatet framkom sex teman; Känslor av ensamhet, Social ensamhet och brist på samhörighet, Förlust av partner och närstående, Fysiska hinder och förluster, Ensamhet kopplat till tid och rum och Ensamhet som en känsla av frihet. Äldres subjektiva upplevelse av ensamhet och social isolering är unik med en bred variation av känslor kopplade till olika livshändelser. Somliga uttryckte smärtsamma känslor som medförde lidande medan andra uppgav positiva känslor av frihet. Diskussion: Ensamhet och social isolering kan leda till allvarliga konsekvenser, det är därför viktigt att hälso- och sjukvården fångar upp utsatta äldre genom preventivt och hälsofrämjande arbete. Katie Erikssons teori om att lindra lidande har använts som en fördjupad del i resultatdiskussionen som stöd för sjuksköterskans arbete i att förstå och bemöta ensamma och socialt isolerade äldre personer. En holistisk människosyn är av betydelse för att lindra lidande samt att beakta de äldres grundläggande behov som är meningsfullhet och gemenskap. Sjuksköterskan har i sin profession ett ansvar att främja äldres hälsa och sociala behov vilket kan möjliggöras genom ökade kunskaper som kan införas i vården av äldre. / Background: Loneliness and social isolation are a widespread problem among older people and may contribute to bad health and premature death. As the population grow older loneliness and social isolation are expected to become an increasing problem in society and will require greater need for care. Although nurses and other healthcare professionals are aware of the negative effects of loneliness and social isolation it is low prioritized. Aim: The aim was to illustrate how older people over 65 years experiences loneliness and social isolation. Method: A literature review was performed with results from eleven qualitative articles collected from the databases CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, PubMed and PsycINFO. The results of the articles were color-coded to identify similarities and differences that were sorted into six themes. Results: The result showed six themes; Feelings of loneliness, Social loneliness and lack of affinity, Loss of partner and close relatives, Physical barriers and losses, Loneliness linked to time and space and Loneliness as a sense of freedom. Older people’s experiences of loneliness and social isolation is subjective and unique and wide-ranging emotionally linked to different life events. The older people expressed painful feelings and suffering while others stated positive feelings of freedom. Discussion: Since loneliness and social isolation can lead to serious consequences, it is important that the health care system identify older people at risk through preventive and health promotive work. Katie Eriksson's theory of relieving suffering has been used as an in-depth part of the performance discussion as support for the nurse's work in understanding and responding to lonely and socially isolated elderly people. A holistic view of humanity is of importance for alleviating suffering and for considering the basic needs of the elderly, which are meaningfulness and solidarity. The nurse responsibility is to prevent older people from bad health and social discomfort through realizing what knowledge is needed and how to apply it.

Loneliness – the feeling that manifests when one perceives one’s social needs are not being met by the quantity or especially the quality of one’s social relationships – is a common but typically short-lived and fairly harmless experience. However, recent research continues to uncover a variety of alarming health effects associated with longterm loneliness. The present study examines the psychological mechanisms underlying how persons scoring high in trait loneliness perceive their social environments. Evaluations of transient facial expression morphs are analyzed in R using dynamical systems methods. We hypothesize that, consistent with Cacioppo and Hawkley’s sociocognitive model, subjects scoring high in loneliness will exhibit hypervigilance in their evaluations of cold and neutral emotions and hypovigilance in their evaluations of warm emotions. Results partially support the socio-cognitive model but point to a relationship between loneliness and a global dampening in evaluations of emotions. Keywords: loneliness, perceived social isolation, social dynamics, emotion recognition. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Objetivo: As relações sociais são importantes em diversas condições crônicas, com impacto nos resultados terapêuticos. Neste estudo nós relatamos as percepções de mulheres com endometriose e dor pélvica crônica sobre as suas interações sociais. Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo qualitativo sobre 29 mulheres com endometriose e dor pélvica crônica. O estudo foi realizado em um hospital universitário, localizado no sudeste do Brasil, entre fevereiro de 2013 e janeiro de 2014. As mulheres foram divididas em seis grupos focais. As transcrições das entrevistas foram analisadas, segundo a abordagem da teoria fundamentada, e enviadas as categorias emergentes, que foram codificadas utilizando a plataforma WebQDA. Resultados: O isolamento social foi o principal tema emergente. O isolamento social foi percebido como associado à falta de compreensão sobre sintomas de endometriose, à resignação diante dos episódios recorrentes de dor. Evitar a intimidade parceiro, isolamento da família e isolamento dos amigos foram às subcategorias identificadas. Conclusão: Nosso estudo fornece evidências que mulheres com endometriose desenvolvem isolamento social progressivo após o início da dor pélvica crônica. Este achado é importante para a abordagem multidisciplinar da doença / Objective: Social ties have been associated with outcomes of several chronic conditions. In this study we report perceptions of women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain about their social interactions. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study on 29 women with chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis. The study was conducted in a university hospital, localized in the southwest of Brazil, between February 2013 and January 2014. Women were enrolled in six focus groups interviews. Transcripts were analysed according to the grounded theory approach and the emerging categories were coded using the WebQDA platform. Results: Social isolation was the main emerging theme. Social isolation was perceived as associated with lack of understanding about endometriosis symptoms, and with resignation in face of recurrent pain episodes. Avoiding partner intimacy, isolation from family and isolation from friends were components of social isolation. Conclusion: Our study provides evidence that women with endometriosis develop progressive social isolation after the onset of chronic pelvic pain. This finding is important for the multidisciplinary management of the disease

Experimentos têm mostrado que ratos criados isolados consumem mais álcool durante a idade adulta que ratos criados em condições de interação social; no entanto, poucos experimentos têm explorado os efeitos do isolamento sobre a persistência na procura de álcool. A presente serie de estudos avaliou os efeitos do isolamento em etapas iniciais do desenvolvimento sobre a persistência na procura de álcool em contextos associados à sua entrega. Nos estudos, ratos foram distribuídos imediatamente depois do desmame em duas condições alojamento: isolamento (ISO) e interação (INT). Na idade adulta, os ratos foram treinados em esquemas múltiplos nos quais diferentes contextos de estímulos foram associados a diferentes taxas de entrega de álcool -magnitudes ou a reforçadores diferentes-. A persistência na procura de álcool foi avaliada como resistência à mudança em sessões de extinção. No Capítulo I foi avaliada a persistência em contextos associados a diferentes frequências de entrega de álcool. Foi achado que ratos ISO mostraram maior persistência que ratos INT em contextos associado a frequências altas e baixas de entrega de álcool. No Capítulo II foi estudado o efeito da concentração (5% ou 15%) de álcool sobre a persistência do comportamento de procura. Os resultados mostraram que concentrações altas de álcool geram maior persistência do comportamento de procura, embora gerem taxas baixas de resposta na linha de base. No capítulo III foram realizados dois estudos nos quais foi achado que ratos criados em isolamento persistem mais em contextos associados a concentrações altas de álcool (Experimento 3) e que o isolamento afeta particularmente a procura em contextos associados ao álcool quando comparados com contextos associados a outros reforçadores (Experimento 4). Os achados gerais demonstram que o isolamento em etapas inicias do desenvolvimento incrementa tanto o consumo quanto a persistência na procura por álcool, o que sugere que o estresse social em etapas iniciais do desenvolvimento é um fator de risco para o desenvolvimento de dependência ao álcool / Several experiments have shown increased alcohol consumption in rats reared in social isolation compared to rats reared in group conditions; however, few experiments had explored the effects of social isolation on persistence of alcohol seeking. The studies presented here assessed the effects of social isolation on persistence of seeking in alcoholrelated contexts. For the studies, rats were assigned to on of two conditions after weaning: Social Isolation (ISO) or social Interaction (INT). During adulthood, rats were trained within a multiple schedule of reinforcement, in which different contextual stimuli were related to differential frequencies, magnitudes or qualities of alcohol. Persistence was assessed as resistance to extinction in extinction sessions. Chapter I measured persistence by ISO and INT rats in contexts related to high and low rates of alcohol reinforcement. It was found that ISO rats persisted more than INT rats regardless of the frequency of reinforcement. In Chapter II was studied the effect of alcohol concentration (5% and 15%) on persistence of alcohol seeking. Results showed that high alcohol concentrations are related to higher persistence during extinction. Chapter III presented two studies that found that ISO rats are more persistent in contexts related to high alcohol concentrations (Experiment 3), also that isolation differentially increased persistence in contexts related to alcohol compared to contexts related to other reinforcers (Experiment 4). General findings show that social isolation increase both consumption and persistence in alcohol related contexts, suggesting that social stress early in the development could be a considered a risk factor for alcohol use disorders

Background: Eating disorders are more common among adolescents and younger adults and are formed through body images and beauty standards from the society. This study focuses on anorxia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Aim: The aim of this study was to illuminate patients' experiences of living with an eating disorder. Method: This study is a literature study where eleven articles were analysed and formed into a new result. Results: This study revealed four main themes and eight sub themes. The main themes were negative experiences and feelings, with the subthemes shame over the disease and guilt and responsibility. To handle life with the subthemes to be controlled or to be in control and to conceal or to not conceal. To search for understanding and confirmation with the subthemes social isolation and understanding and helplessness or confirmation. The way to health with the subthemes to see the person behind the disease and to allow oneself to recover. Conclusion: The patients’ experiences revealed both positive and negative aspects of living with an eating disorder. Patients’ experiences showed that healthcare professionals have little knowledge about eating disorders and have to increase their knowledge on the subject in order to know how to properly guide and care for patients with an eating disorder.

abstract: Advances in health care have resulted in an increase in life expectancy causing a rapid growth in the number of older adults at a global level. At the same time, socioeconomic development is transitioning family structures and social relationships. With reduced family engagement, many older adults are more at risk for physical and psychological health issues including loneliness, which is considered a public health issue affecting their quality of life and well-being. This descriptive, exploratory study aims to describe the significance of loneliness in three northern regions of the Sultanate of Oman. The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence and correlates of loneliness and the relationship of loneliness to health statuses among older Omani adults aged 60 years and above. A demographic data questionnaire, the UCLA loneliness scale, and SF-12-v-1 health status instruments were used for data collection. The sample includes 113 Omani older adults, male (n = 36) and female (n = 77), who experienced a mixture from low to high and severe levels of loneliness. Among these older adults, 34.5% perceived low level, 34.5% moderate level, 22.1% high, and 8.8% were severely lonely. The main demographic factors that were associated with the older adults level of loneliness were female gender, older age 80 years and above, living with others who were not a family member, and being unemployed. When controlling for demographic and environmental factors loneliness was a significant predictor (p < .001) for lower mental health status but not for physical health status (p > .05). / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Nursing 2019