Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
September 30, 2026
Jagdish Appasaheb Sardesai, Amol Appaso Kamble
preprint
Abstract Generation Z is navigating profound challenges defined by an unprecedented mental health crisis, reporting the highest rates of stress, anxiety, and depression among age groups. As the first true digital natives, they grapple with the dual-edged sword of technology, where constant connection and social media exposure contribute to feelings of inadequacy and isolation. By investigating...
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive Mobile Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies
September 30, 2026
Mengxi Liu, Danyang Peng, Sizhen Bian et al.
Biofeedback has been proposed to support meditation and mindfulness practices through wearables, mobile applications, VR/AR systems for decades, and other interactive devices. However, evidence of its effectiveness remains mixed and fragmented across existing research in psychophysiology and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). This work analyzes 39 studies published between 2015 and 2025 on...
Frontiers in Psychology
September 30, 2026
Achim Schilling, Patrick Krauss
Recent advances in artificial intelligence, connectomics, and computational neuroscience increasingly raise the question of whether artificial systems—or even pure computer simulations—could become conscious. Contemporary theories emphasize embodiment, predictive processing, homeostatic regulation, and continuous interaction between cognition, body, and environment rather than isolated...
Entropy
September 30, 2026
Ahmed Farag Ali, Nader Inan, Ruben Laukkonen et al.
We develop a theoretical proposal linking vacuum stability and brain dynamics through superconductivity-inspired coherence, symmetry reduction, and the thermodynamic stabilization of low-entropy regimes. We take an unbroken SU(3) structure as a candidate stable residue of the low-temperature vacuum. At the neural level, we formulate a coarse-grained analog in which a two-fluid model with...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
September 30, 2026
Kacper Żełabowski, Tomasz Wieczorek, Adam Hamed
Stroboscopic light stimulation (SLS) and psilocybin each induce altered states whose phenomenology and neurophysiology partly overlap, including posterior alpha-band changes and visual imagery. The two states engage the alpha band through different operations - pharmacological suppression under psilocybin and frequency-selective visual drive under SLS. We formalize their possible interaction...
PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation)
September 29, 2026
Luis Gustavo Coelho Catelani
preprint
This paper formalizes, in terms of computability theory and coinduction, a philosophical thesis about self-reference: the self and the process are fused, a system can only recognize what is contained within itself, the other is always supposed and never proven, and consciousness is a function of the state variations generated by this closure. We dene a self-referential computational system as a...
Critical humanistic social theory.
September 29, 2026
Haoyuan Zheng, Zi Yang
Xiufu (merit cultivation) is a women-centered folk belief tradition within Tunpu culture in central Guizhou. Based on fieldwork in Liuguan Township, Anshun, this study examines how Futou (female ritual leaders), Taoist priests, village elders' organizations, Dixi (local opera) troupes, spirit mediums, and ordinary believers interact across ritual practice, village governance, and cultural...
Canadian Journal of Health Technologies
September 29, 2026
What Is the Issue? Canada continues to experience a toxic drug crisis driven by an increasingly complex and rapidly changing unregulated drug supply. Drug-checking services help identify substances and contaminants in unregulated drug samples, supporting harm reduction and public health responses. In response to the ongoing toxic drug crisis, new drug-checking technologies (DCTs) are emerging....
The International Journal of Medical Science and Health Research
September 29, 2026
Arby Shafara Sekundaputra
Introduction: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) affects approximately one-third of patients with major depressive disorder and accounts for disproportionate disability and mortality. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has long been the definitive intervention, whereas subanaesthetic intravenous ketamine has emerged as a rapid-acting alternative. Direct head-to-head evidence has accumulated...
September 29, 2026
Itzchak Angel, Yoseph Caraco, Chana Sternberg et al.
Background: Ketamine, a high-affinity NMDA receptor antagonist, is used off-label for neuropathic pain but has limited clinical utility due to poor oral bioavailability, narrow therapeutic window, and dissociative effects. Ketamir-2 is a novel low-affinity, phencyclidine-site-selective NMDA antagonist (IC50 ~100 µM versus ketamine's low single-digit µM), designed to retain analgesic activity...