Abertay University

This study aimed to compare the clinical outcomes and patient comfort levels after gingival depigmentation using ablative and non-ablative 450 nm diode lasers. Gingival pigmentation is a common esthetic concern that affects patients' self-confidence. Laser-assisted depigmentation has emerged as a popular treatment, with both ablative and non-ablative techniques showing promising results. However, limited comparative data exist regarding their relative efficacy and patient experience. A split-mouth, single-blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted on 20 patients with physiological gingival pigmentation scores of ≥2, based on the Dummett Oral Pigmentation Index (OPI). Each participant received ablative laser treatment on one side of the mouth and non-ablative treatment on the contralateral side. Outcome measures included changes in OPI and Melanin Pigmentation Index at baseline, 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months. Patient-reported pain and discomfort were assessed using a modified McGill Pain Questionnaire. Both techniques achieved successful depigmentation. Ablative laser treatment resulted in immediate pigment removal with lower repigmentation rates but was associated with higher intraoperative discomfort. Non-ablative treatment caused less pain and faster healing but required multiple sessions to achieve comparable results. Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences in repigmentation rates and patient comfort levels between the two modalities. Both ablative and non-ablative 450 nm diode lasers are effective for gingival depigmentation. The choice of technique should be tailored to patient preferences, with ablative lasers favored for immediate results and non-ablative lasers preferred for enhanced comfort and faster recovery.

Receiving a diagnosis of a vision-threatening eye condition is a psychologically salient event for many patients. Across ophthalmology, fear, uncertainty, and emotional distress are commonly observed at the time of diagnosis, often before substantial functional vision loss occurs. Although depression and anxiety are well documented in chronic eye disease, diagnosis-linked distress remains inconsistently recognised and is rarely addressed systematically within routine ophthalmic care. This article introduces post-visual diagnosis distress (PVDD) as a descriptive, nondiagnostic framework to characterise the predictable, loss-related emotional responses that may arise following the diagnosis of a vision-threatening or irreversible eye condition. PVDD is not proposed as a psychiatric disorder, but as a clinically meaningful construct that helps legitimise patient experience, supports empathetic communication, and facilitates timely recognition and appropriate signposting when distress is significant. Drawing on evidence from age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and other chronic eye diseases, and informed by multidisciplinary perspectives spanning ophthalmology, psychiatry, counselling, patient advocacy, and public health, the article argues that recognising PVDD may improve patient engagement, quality of life, and psychological outcomes.

Objective: The paper aims to model Health-and-Social-Care (H&Sc) services as Cause–Effect (CE) groups within a Bayesian framework, using cross- and self-causation dynamics. The contribution is that the data used are open and never studied before and are posted online by National Health Services Scotland (NHSS). Method and Material: The paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on how Machine Learning(ML), and Bayesian inference, can inform the purposes of policymaking. Cause–effect relationships and Bayesian methods can associate public services as causes-effects, through suitable likelihood functions and priors that binomial and normal distributions can imlplement. The study identified the optimal predictive distribution using the Maximum-a-Posteriori (MAP) estimation method. Moreover, the CE-matrix approach, enables the representation of multiple causes linked to a single effect-target in a tabular format, that facilitates interpretability and prediction. Results: The findings indicate that services related to 'Alcohol' can be predictors of other effect-services, while home-based services were identified as causes of subsequent hospital admissions. Moreover, low-demand services were observed in earlier years, particularly those with no records after 1997, whereas higher-demand services were newly introduced in later years. These findings may offer insights into latent inter-service relationships, and inform policy development. The cross- and self-causation in a Bayesian framework, determined that the posterior can be predicted by 5 to 10 previous observations and this is significantly affected by the level of zero-padding (percentage of past no-records). In later years, the CE models yield more probable demand patterns. Cause–effect relationships were identified between smoking-related services, mental-health support, and the epidemiological index of Primary-1-Education children's Body-Mass-Index (BMI). Conclusions: The conclusions drawn from this analysis may be particularly relevant for insurance providers and public policymakers, who can leverage Bayesian CE-linked service models for long-term care planning, especially for elderly and low-income populations. The validation of ser-vice interlinkages further enhances the potential for precise and efficient resource allocation.

This article contributes to discussion on the aesthetic and affective aspects of sports videogames by adapting thinking from the philosophy of sport into analysis of sporting action in golf games. Specifically, the article is concerned with the concept of performer aesthetics: the qualities that emerge from direct experience of performing a sporting movement. Selecting the golf swing as a case study, this article draws on the philosophy of sport to develop a hermeneutic analysis of performed golf swings across a selection of golf simulation games, from mainstream console titles through motion-controlled games, driving range games, and games controlled by touch. Framed by the author’s own lived experience of golf participation, this article draws attention to the tensions that can arise between theory and intuition, quantification of movement and quality of experience, when sporting actions are adapted into digital play.

In this comment piece, the author uses the analogy of jelly to understand the complexity of working with the risk of suicide ethically and effectively, including the impact of acts or omissions of mental health service interventions. The article explores the dilemma of how to contain risk, emphasising that while recognition of the complexity is important, perfection is impossible when working with the risk of suicide.

The long-standing claim that young children are the main agents of language change is often presented as an established fact, and has tacitly guided research in developmental science and evolutionary linguistics. It rests on the assumption that language change arises from language acquisition errors predominantly committed by children. Here, we review whether arguments in support of this idea stand up to logical and empirical scrutiny. We conclude that while children's imperfect learning indeed leads them to produce input-divergent linguistic variants, there is no convincing evidence that it is these child-generated innovations that eventually spread through the language community, nor that language change is mainly driven by constraints and biases operating uniquely in children. By exposing the conceptual and empirical shortcomings of overemphasizing children as the agents of language change, we hope to rebalance the field toward a more nuanced understanding of how individual- and population-level processes shape language change. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

This paper explores competing meanings which may arise through receiving a diagnosis of “borderline personality disorder,” discussing how this may impact a person’s treatment and their sense of self. This paper is informed by qualitative case study research, which utilized interviews to explore experiences of crisis and crisis intervention for people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, their family and friends, and professionals who work with them. Utilizing this qualitative research data, alongside wider literature, the conceptualization of “borderline personality disorder” and the actual and potential real-world consequences of receiving this label are explored. Potential meanings are mapped onto a “black hole” model where potential competing meanings exist in the same place at the same time, and harm a persons sense of self. “Borderline personality disorder” is the most controversial personality disorder diagnosis. People may conceptualize their distress through four different labels for borderline personality disorder, be seen as “not real mental illness,” “borderline of what?”, not personality disorder, only personality disorder, and too unstable for therapy. Spaghettification, a term from astrophysics, is used as a metaphor to explain how a persons sense of self can fragment as they are pulled into the confusion of this black hole.