I Say “no”. You Say “it Isn't”. About a New Understanding of the Concept of Negation

Introduction: In our opinion there is still confusion about the exact meaning of the term negation. As a consequence of this the importance of negation in the psychotherapeutic work is until now underestimated. Objectives For psychiatrists who work according to Fagioli's human birth theory the concept of negation is fundamental. Negation is a notion that refers to unconscious reality. Aims: The task of the psychiatrist is to identify and to interpret the negation in the deformed dream images during the psychotherapeutic process. Methods: In contrast to an intentional lie, which is communicated through verbal speech, negation corresponds to unconscious thoughts, which we can find in dreams. During sleep a transformation occurs, language is altered and expressed through images. Negation deforms the image. This deformation of the image happens in an unconscious process. This negation distorts the reality of the patient and his ability to interact with the other. Corresponding the relationship will be aggressive/destructive. The only way to identify this deformation is dream interpretation. Results: Through this therapeutic process the patient will be able to intuit and realize instead of negate the positive qualities of the other and integrate these into his reality. Only human interaction that is free from negation enable the patient to overcome the ideo-affective splitting, which allows recovery of positive affects and the possibility of developing evolutive relationships. Conclusions: Only a clarification of the term negation allows a psychotherapeutic process with the aim of developing evolutive relationships

Study on psychoeducation enhancing results of adherence in patients with schizophrenia (SPERA-S): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Poor adherence to pharmacotherapy negatively affects the course and the outcome of schizophreniaspectrum psychoses, enhancing the risk of relapse. Falloon and coworkers developed a Psychoeducation Program aimed at improving communication and problem-solving abilities in patients and their families. This study set out to evaluate changes in adherence to pharmacotherapy in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum psychoses, by comparing one group exposed to the Falloon Psychoeducation Program (FPP) with another group exposed to family supportive therapy with generic information on the disorders. METHODS: 340 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and related disorders according to standardized criteria from 10 participating units distributed throughout the Italian National Health System (NHS), will be enrolled with 1:1 allocation by the method of blocks of randomized permutations. Patients will be reassessed at 6, 12 and 18 months after start of treatment (duration: 6 months).The primary objective is to evaluate changes in adherence to pharmacotherapy after psychoeducation. Adherence will be assessed at three-month intervals by measuring blood levels of the primary prescribed drug using high pressure liquid chromatography, and via the Medication Adherence Questionnaire and a modified version of the Adherence Interview. Secondary objectives are changes in the frequency of relapse and readmission, as the main indicator of the course of the disorder.Enrolled patients will be allocated to the FPP (yes/no) randomly, 1:1, in a procedure controlled by the coordinating unit; codes will be masked until the conclusion of the protocol (or the occurrence of a severe negative event). The raters will be blind to treatment allocation and will be tested for blinding after treatment completion. Intention-to-treat will be applied in considering the primary and secondary outcomes. Multiple imputations will be applied to integrate the missing data. The study started recruitment in February 2013; the total duration of the study is 27 months. DISCUSSION: If the psychoeducation program proves effective in improving adherence to pharmacotherapy and in reducing relapse and readmissions, its application could be proposed as a standard adjunctive psychosocial treatment within the Italian NHS

Time course of nigrostriatal system changes after tract hemisection and effects of ganglioside treatment: a multiple retrograde fluorescent tracing study

The postlesion phenomena of nigrostriatal neurons following partial tract hemisection have been studied with retrograde axonal transport of dyes in rats treated with saline or GM1 ganglioside (30 mg/kg, i.p., daily for varying times). The time course of the plastic changes in both experimental animal groups was determined by a double retrograde fluorescent tracing technique, utilizing Fast blue (FB) as prelesion tracer, and Diamidino yellow (DY) as postlesion tracer. The data show that the number of nigral cells retrogradely labeled by the prelesion intrastriatal injection of FB declined progressively to 50% of their initial number over 3 weeks. The ganglioside treatment did not significantly influence this temporal pattern of labeled cell loss. By DY-labeling, an almost complete block of the retrograde axonal transport was observed up to 1 week postlesion and only after 3 weeks a partial recovery was evident, positively influenced by the GM1 treatment. Therefore, together with the findings on nigrostriat al cell loss, these data indicate that ganglioside treatment favors and/or accelerates the recovery of axonal transport of surviving nigral neurons but does not significantly affect their degenerative rate in the first 3 weeks after the lesion

Evidence for crossed catecholaminergic nigrostriatal projections by combining wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase retrograde transport and tyrosine hydroxylase immunocytochemistry

After unilateral injections of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase into the rat caudate-putamen, a few retrogradely labeled neurons were found in the contralateral pars compacta of the substantia nigra. These contralaterally projecting nigral cell bodies also immunoreacted positively to a specific tyrosine hydroxylase antiserum. We conclude that crossed catecholaminergic nigrostriatal projections may contribute to the reciprocal regulation exerted by the two nigrostriatal dopaminergic systems

Influenza di un tensioattivo anionico sulle caratteristiche elettriche della pelle di rana in situ

L\u2019effetto tossico dei tensioattivi sugli animali acquatici \ue8 stato ampiamente studiato, soprattutto sui pesci, ma non \ue8 ancora conosciuto il meccanismo di tale azione. Per questo motivo \ue8 stato intrapreso lo studio dell\u2019influenza dei tensioattivi sulla pelle isolata di rana, il cui comportamento \ue8 ben noto. In questa i tensioattivi anionici, cationici e non ionici provocano un rapido abbassamento della differenza di potenziale transmembrana (ddp) e della corrente di corto circuito (ccc), interpretato come effetto dell\u2019inibizione della pompa sodio-potassio. Scopo del presente lavoro era la verifica di tali risultati sulla pelle di rana in situ

Influence of surfactants upon the electrical characteristics of frog skin "in situ"

Anionic, cationic and non ionic surfactants decrease both electrical potential difference and short circuit current of frog skin "in situ", as already proved for the isolated skin. Some kinds of surfactants affect also the transcutaneous resistance. The effect seems to be of a double nature. High surfactant concentrations or a long exposure decrease the resistance of the shunt path while with low concentrations or short exposures the series resistance is increased. Active sodium pump is also affected