Psychotherapy Augmentation through Preconscious Priming.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that repeated preconscious (masked) priming of personalized positive cognitions could augment cognitive change and facilitate achievement of patients' goals following a therapy. METHODS: Twenty social phobic patients (13 women) completed a 36-weeks study beginning by 12 weeks of group behavioral therapy. After the therapy, they received 6 weeks of preconscious priming and 6 weeks of a control procedure in a randomized cross-over design. The Priming condition involved listening twice daily with a passive attitude to a recording of individualized formulations of appropriate cognitions and attitudes masked by music. The Control condition involved listening to an indistinguishable recording where the formulations had been replaced by random numbers. Changes in social cognitions were measured by the Social Interaction Self Statements Test (SISST). RESULTS: Patients improved following therapy. The Priming procedure was associated with increased positive cognitions and decreased negative cognitions on the SISST while the Control procedure was not. The Priming procedure induced more cognitive change when applied immediately after the group therapy. CONCLUSION: An effect of priming was observed on social phobia related cognitions in the expected direction. This self administered addition to a therapy could be seen as an augmentation strategy

The Role of the Cerebellum in Schizophrenia: an Update of Clinical, Cognitive, and Functional Evidences

The role of the cerebellum in schizophrenia has been highlighted by Andreasen's hypothesis of “cognitive dysmetria,” which suggests a general dyscoordination of sensorimotor and mental processes. Studies in schizophrenic patients have brought observations supporting a cerebellar impairment: high prevalence of neurological soft signs, dyscoordination, abnormal posture and propioception, impaired eyeblink conditioning, impaired adaptation of the vestibular-ocular reflex or procedural learning tests, and lastly functional neuroimaging studies correlating poor cognitive performances with abnormal cerebellar activations. Despite those compelling evidences, there has been, to our knowledge, no recent review on the clinical, cognitive, and functional literature supporting the role of the cerebellum in schizophrenia. We conducted a Medline research focusing on cerebellar dysfunctions in schizophrenia. Emphasis was given to recent literature (after 1998). The picture arising from this review is heterogeneous. While in some domains, the role of the cerebellum seems clearly defined (ie, neurological soft signs, posture, or equilibrium), in other domains, the cerebellar contribution to schizophrenia seems limited or indirect (ie, cognition) if present at all (ie, affectivity). Functional models of the cerebellum are proposed as a background for interpreting these results

The use of portfolio credit risk models in Central Banks.

This report summarises the findings of the task force. It is organised as follows. Section 2 starts with a discussion of the relevance of credit risk for central banks. It is followed by a short introduction to credit risk models, parameters and systems in Section 3, focusing on models used by members of the task force. Section 4 presents the results of the simulation exercise undertaken by the task force. The lessons from these simulations as well as other conclusions are discussed in Section 5.

Alertness can be improved by an interaction between orienting attention and alerting attention in schizophrenia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Attention is impaired in schizophrenia. Early attention components include orienting and alerting, as well as executive control networks. Previous studies have shown mainly executive control deficits, while few of them found orienting and alerting abnormalities. Here we explore the different attentive networks, their modulation and interactions in patients with schizophrenia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty-one schizophrenic patients (DSMIV), compared to 21 controls, performed a modified version of the Attention Network Task, in which an orienting paradigm (with valid, invalid and no cues) was combined with a flanker task (congruent/incongruent) and an alerting signal (tone/no tone), to assess orienting, executive control and alerting networks independently.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients showed an abnormal alerting effect and slower overall reaction time compared to controls. Moreover, there was an interaction between orienting and alerting: patients are helped more than controls by the alerting signal in a valid orientation to solve the incongruent condition.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that patients with schizophrenia have altered alerting abilities. However, the orienting and alerting cues interact to improve their attention performance in the resolution of conflict, creating possibilities for cognitive remediation strategies.</p

Social capital: a roadmap of theoretical and empirical contributions and limitations

The general idea of social capital is that relationships matter. In this sense, the trust, cooperation and reciprocity involved in these relationships can have a positive impact on the wealth of society by reducing transaction costs, facilitating collective actions, and lowering opportunistic behavior. This work sheds light on the different theoretical and empirical problems that a scholar is likely to face in dealing with social capital research and analysis. We propose a critical roadmap of the social capital theories and applications for a general audience, nonusers included, with particular attention to the works of political and social economists. We provide a critical debate on the different definitions and measures produced, the theoretical frameworks developed, and the empirical techniques adopted so far in the analysis of the impact of social capital on socio-economic outcomes. We turn to the limitations of these techniques and suggest some basic strategies to reduce the magnitude of these limitations

Alignment of Free-Space Coupling of Few-Mode Fibre to Multi-Mode Fibre using Digital Holography

Off-axis digital holography is used to align a few-mode fiber to a multi-mode fiber in a free-space optical setup. Alignment based on power coupling measurements alone cannot guarantee low mode-dependent loss. The proposed alignment method enables reliable fiber coupling with low mode-dependent loss and crosstalk

Variabilidade espacial da planta daninha azevém em cultivo de trigo utilizando diferentes malhas amostrais

Ao longo dos últimos anos a principal planta daninha da cultura do trigo tem sido o azevém, a qual infesta lavouras e compete com a cultura por recursos naturais. O levantamento das plantas daninhas, de forma geral, é realizado de forma indiscriminada, não levando em consideração sua variabilidade espacial. Uma forma para realizar o levantamento das plantas daninhas de forma precisa é utilizando malhas amostrais. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a variabilidade espacial da distribuição da planta daninha azevém com diferentes tamanhos de malhas amostrais. Foram geradas cinco malhas amostrais com dimensões de 6,125 x 6,125 m, 12,5 x 12,5 m, 25 x 25 m, 50 x 50 m, e 100 x 100 m. A avaliação de levantamento da população da planta daninha azevém foi realizada com o auxílio de quadrados amostrais metálicos, quando a cultura do trigo se apresentava no início do afilhamento. Malhas amostrais de 6,125 x 6,125 m, 12,5 x 12,5 m, 25 x 25 m e 50 x 50 m, com exceção da malha 100 x 100 m, apresentaram elevado coeficiente de variação, o que caracteriza a heterogeneidade de sua presença e grau de infestação na área. Pode-se concluir que a medida que reduz o tamanho da malha amostral aumenta a precisão na caracterização da variabilidade espacial de densidade da planta daninha, possibilitando a confecção de mapas temáticos da infestação de azevém com precisão

KRAS Mutation Detection in Paired Frozen and Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) Colorectal Cancer Tissues

KRAS mutation has been unambiguously identified as a marker of resistance to cetuximab-based treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. However, most studies of KRAS mutation analysis have been performed using homogenously archived CRC specimens, and studies that compare freshly frozen specimens and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens of CRC are lacking. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of tissue preservation on the determination of KRAS mutational status. A series of 131 mCRC fresh-frozen tissues were first analyzed using both high-resolution melting (HRM) and direct sequencing. KRAS mutations were found in 47/131 (35.8%) using both approaches. Out of the 47 samples that were positive for KRAS mutations, 33 had available matched FFPE specimens. Using HRM, 2/33 (6%) demonstrated suboptimal template amplification, and 2/33 (6%) expressed an erroneous wild-type KRAS profile. Using direct sequencing, 6/33 (18.1%) displayed a wild-type KRAS status, and 3/33 (9.1%) showed discordant mutations. Finally, the detection of KRAS mutations was lower among the FFPE samples compared with the freshly frozen samples, demonstrating that tissue processing clearly impacts the accuracy of KRAS genotyping

Constructing Memory through Television in Argentina

La televisión representa el pasado reciente de la Argentina a través de vínculos específicos con la memoria social: como un “emprendedor de la memoria” definiendo las agendas públicas, como un vehículo de transmisión intergeneracional sobre el pasado y como un creador de significados por medio de imágenes, sonidos y palabras, esto es, un “escenario para la memoria”. Un análisis de los vínculos entre televisión y memorias, construido alrededor de la desaparición forzada de personas durante la dictadura militar de 1976 a 1983, revela la manera compleja en la cual los obstáculos para relatar ese periodo trágico se combinan con el intento de vender un producto y entretener al espectador.Television represents Argentina’s recent past through three specific links with social memory: as an “entrepreneur of memory,” shaping public agendas, as a vehicle of intergenerational transmission of past events, and as a creator of meaning through images, sounds, and words, a “stage for memory”. An analysis in terms of the links between television and the memories constructed around the forced disappearance of persons during the 1976–1983 military dictatorship reveals the complex way in which the obstacles when narrating an extreme experience are combined with the attempt to sell a product and entertain the spectator.Fil: Feld, Claudia Viviana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones Sociales. Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social. Centro de Investigaciones Sociales; Argentin