Extremist acts and the process of radicalizations got into researchers’ attention worldwide since 2001. The aim of this paper is to offer a broad image on radicalization and extremist acts and to bring a new perspective for the conceptualization of radicalization. Radicalization is a process of developing extremist beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. The extremist beliefs are profound convictions opposesd to the fundamental values of society, the laws of democracy and the universal human rights, advocating the supremacy of a certain group (racial, religious, political, economic, social etc.). The extremist emotions and behaviors may be expressed both in non-violent pressure and coercion and in actions that deviate from the norm and show contempt for life, freedom, and human rights. A complete inroad to psychological mechanism involved in the process of radicalization is offered in order to have a broad image regarding current research in the field. Starting from this point, a rational emotive and behavioral conceptualization on radicalization has been developed, bringing together all the concepts and knowledge in the field. A complete and clear conceptualization is crucial for developing prevention/intervention programs and good practices in dealing with this process which has been spreading in the past years. The final part deals with directions regarding prevention/intervention programs from a rational emotive and behavioral perspective, and also from the perspective of European policies.

Skin has an integrative role in daily life, being a communication organ between the patient and the world. Skin affection in psoriasis has consequences on the patient's self-esteem, with direct implications on the quality of life. This study focused on the impairment of self-esteem in a group of 110 patients: Patients with severe cutaneous and psoriasis arthritis and patients with mild types of psoriasis, using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Patients with severe cutaneous and psoriasis arthritis have a lower self-esteem compared with patients with mild psoriasis. The statistical data of two groups regarding the degree of education (secondary and higher education), in the male patients with severe cutaneous and psoriasis arthritis with higher education showed a lower self-esteem, compared with male patients with severe cutaneous and psoriasis arthritis with secondary education. In mild forms of psoriasis, the self-esteem of women and men is relatively equal, but below the general population average. Male patients with psoriasis arthritis have a much lower self-esteem compared with that of women, looking at life prospects more negatively. Psoriasis has a major impact on self-esteem, which correlates with quality of life in patients with psoriasis arthritis, depending on the skin condition that creates a major visual impact in society.

The tripartite model of militant extremist mind-set proposed by Stankov et al. ( 2010b ) includes three components: War (justification of violent acts as war); God (violence is seeing extremist acts as moral because they are done in the name of God or Allah); and West (violence against Western countries is justified because they are perceived as evil and/or immoral). There is a lack of conceptual framework regarding psychological mechanism that underlie radicalization and extremism, and there is little evidence regarding risk factors for radicalization in the scientific literature. In the present study, it is hypothesized that irrational beliefs and a constellation of personality factors are two possible psychological mechanisms that put adolescents in a vulnerable position and could influence them to develop an extremist mind-set. The sample consists in 295 Romanian adolescents, ages 15–18 years, and the mean age being 16.41. The present study was conducted in several schools from Bihor County located in the north-western part of Romania. Adolescents took part on a voluntary basis in the study after the written, informed consent was obtained from their parents. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the structure of Militant Extremist Mind-Set Scale confirmed the three-factor model of the extremist mind-set. Two confirmatory factor analyses were also conducted for the other two administered scales: CASI and Mini-IPIP. The results support the previous models for both scales, including items loading on factors. SEM analysis was performed with AMOS 23 statistical package on a final sample size of 242 participants and there were no missing data. Fifth structural models were specified. The fifth model had adequate fit based on all three indices including the RMSEA (0.054), CFI (0.958), and SRMS (0.047). Global evaluation of self seems to be the only irrational belief that was somewhat related with the extremis mind-set, being part of it. Neuroticism was not identified as being a variable that could have a direct influence on mind-set extremism, or an indirect influence through personality. Religious adherence is a good predictor of extremist ideology. A global personality factor consisting in low Intellect/Imagination, low Extraversion and high Agreeableness seems to be a vulnerability factor that influences people to believe in extremist ideology.

Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) determines the mineral contents for the spine, the proximal femur and the entire body. A group of 36 patients with psoriatic arthritis were chosen, with different types of arthropathy, from the total 82 patients with psoriatic arthritis in the study group, for which bone mineral density (BMD) was measured, using the DEXA technique. The chosen study group comprised 12 men, 12 premenopausal women and 12 menopausal women, with psoriatic joint damage and a group of 36 healthy individuals, divided based on the same criteria: Men, premenopausal and menopausal women. This study did not emphasize an association between the patient type and the presented bone demineralization type (χ 2 (2) =4.473, P=0.107) in men. In premenopausal women, there was a significant association between the patient type and the presented bone demineralization type (χ 2 (2) =8.778, P=0.012), as the female patients with psoriatic arthritis presented total and partial demineralization to a larger degree, compared with healthy individuals. In menopausal women, this study did not highlight an association between the patient type and the presented bone demineralization type (χ 2 (2) = 4.523, P= 0.104). Bone demineralization was significant in all three patient groups, both total and partial, in patients with psoriatic arthritis compared with healthy patients. Bone demineralization manifested as osteopenia, with T-scores ranging from-2.5 to-1, and not as osteoporosis. Determining B MD by DEXA technique revealed osteopenia to a higher degree within the group of patients with psoriatic arthritis compared with the healthy patients, as well as the absence of osteoporosis in psoriatic arthritis.