[{"id":543,"title":"Redefining Addiction to Recognize Compulsive Video Gaming as a Disorder","sha":"6b63362a9a3c59a24cd3ab9fdbd6b365","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"Recognizing compulsive video gaming as a disorder is critical for developing corresponding treatment and prevention programs while reinforcing the various therapeutic, educational, and social benefits associated with gaming. Gaming addiction—like many other compulsive behaviors—is not currently recognized as a disorder, although the APA did include “Internet Gaming Disorder” in the DSM-V as a potential condition. One argument against redefining addiction to include criteria for compulsive behaviors is that it becomes too inclusive; however, this only occurs upon mistakenly conflating behaviors and delivery mechanisms.\r\n\r\nWhereas psychoactive, exogenous substances directly elicit addictive physiological changes, compulsive behaviors indirectly elicit addictive psychological effects through physical changes in endogenous neurochemistry. For example, while smokers addicted to e-cigarettes are actually addicted to nicotine, compulsive gamers find video games differentially addicting because of how they variably affect them psychologically: one player may crave the satisfaction from solving puzzles, another the adrenaline from an intense battle scene, another the feelings of accomplishment and boosts to self-esteem derived from completing a mission, and another the online social interactions that are otherwise lacking from their non-virtual life. Neurochemical imbalances may be both a cause and a consequence of gaming addiction, suggesting that surrogate activities and/or psychoactive substances may prove therapeutic.\r\n","created_at":"2018-12-21T21:39:53.002Z","updated_at":"2019-02-09T13:33:03.801Z","zenodo_id":2548943,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2548943","subject":null,"tags":["addiction","video games","compulsive behavior","mental disorders","psychotherapy"],"vote_count":1,"view_count":1,"score":1.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":false,"attachment_file_name":null,"attachment_content_type":null,"attachment_file_size":null,"attachment_updated_at":null},{"id":558,"title":"Toward Developing a Comprehensive Theory of Immunology for Guiding Future Immunological Research","sha":"03111b36267c547db30e1cc76aa625cb","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"Concluding my research in plant and comparative immunology, I theorized that immunity is fundamentally the genetic program’s ability to resist change and maintain homeostasis. All immunological phenomena are governed not by molecular discontinuities mediated by receptor-ligand interactions—known as Continuity Theory—but more specifically by discontinuities that ultimately disrupt the program’s stability. Immunity is the program’s ability to stabilize—to resist natural selection—as replication perpetuates existence. Perceived this way, immunity may be considered the program’s intrinsic predisposition toward adaptation, with evolution originating as the interplay between immunity and natural selection.\r\n\r\nRequisite for biological life is the genetic program’s abilities of replication and stability under environmental forces. Polymerization/replication coexists with the reverse reaction of depolymerization/de-replication. Genetic code strand variants formed through imperfect replication might interfere with the parent molecule’s stability; therefore, parent molecules may—as a form of resistance—catalyze the depolymerization of interfering progeny. Progeny resistant to this degradation could persist and outcompete inferior, less stable replicants. To test this hypothesis and support the aforementioned theory, we must conduct experiments involving competition among identical self-replicating ribozymes occupying finite space and resources, and analyze the resultant spectrum, respective concentration, 3D structure, and catalytic capabilities of ribozyme variants formed over time.","created_at":"2019-01-26T22:43:45.875Z","updated_at":"2019-06-02T06:01:15.447Z","zenodo_id":3236946,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3236946","subject":null,"tags":["evolution","immunity","immunology","adaptation","genetics","homeostasis","natural selection","replication","resistance"],"vote_count":0,"view_count":1,"score":0.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":false,"attachment_file_name":null,"attachment_content_type":null,"attachment_file_size":null,"attachment_updated_at":null}]