Development of a Moderated Online Intervention to Treat Social Anxiety in First-Episode Psychosis.

Background: It is well established that social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a significant clinical problem for individuals with a psychotic disorder. Comorbid social anxiety in individuals with psychosis has been associated with poorer premorbid functioning, increased depression, and a reduced quality of life. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is recommended for people with psychosis as a first-line psychological treatment; however, its focus and evaluation primarily revolves around reducing psychotic symptoms and not necessarily targeting comorbid social anxiety symptoms. We developed a novel online social cognitive behavioral intervention (entitled EMBRACE) specifically designed to treat social anxiety symptoms in first episode psychosis (FEP). Methods: The key clinical and engagement features of the intervention were established through integrating evidence-based material derived from 1) CBT-based treatment models for SAD, 2) relevant literature findings related to psychosis and its clinical correlates (e.g., shame, social rank, and its relationship with social anxiety and paranoia), 3) feedback from youth focus groups in order to inform a user-centered intervention design, and 4) a highly multidisciplinary collaborative development approach to design therapy comics. Results: A detailed description of the final version of the 12-week online social intervention to treat social anxiety in FEP is presented. Conclusion: The EMBRACE intervention was designed to provide young people with the necessary skills and confidence to overcome social anxiety within a supportive, safe online space. By design, it allows young people the opportunity to practice their newly learnt skills to connect with others and in doing so, learn to embrace their true authentic selves

Generation of an induced pluripotent stem cell line, CSSi011-A (6534), from an Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patient with heterozygous L145F mutation in SOD1 gene

Among the known causative genes of familial ALS, SOD1 mutation is one of the most common. It encodes for the ubiquitous detoxifying copper/zinc binding SOD1 enzyme, whose mutations selectively cause motor neuron death, although the mechanisms are not as yet clear. What is known is that mutant-mediated toxicity is not caused by loss of its detoxifying activity but by a gain-of-function. In order to better understand the pathogenic mechanisms of SOD1 mutation, a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) line was generated from the somatic cells of a female patient carrying a missense variation in SOD1 (L145F)

Estudo de caso : avaliação do impacto no desempenho e satisfação da força de trabalho com a reestruturação organizacional do departamento de gestão integrada (DGI) - UFRGS

A administração pública no Brasil é um tema bastante estudado e criticado por diversos autores, pois ainda está imersa em dúvidas acerca das melhores governanças, práticas de gestão e estruturas organizacionais que impactem positivamente o desempenho e, consequentemente, promova o crescimento e vigor dessas instituições. O setor da administração pública em nosso país é constantemente criticado pela disfunção da burocracia pertinente ao sistema, bem como a dificuldade de acompanhar as mudanças que são vivenciadas pelo setor privado, por exemplo. No presente trabalho, é realizado um estudo de caso no Departamento de Gestão Integrada (DGI) da PROPLAN – UFRGS (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul), que passou por mudanças na sua atuação e função como departamento perante a instituição. As modificações que foram propostas ao departamento podem ser divididas em dois campos. O primeiro em relação à orientação e função do departamento como um todo, que também influenciou uma mudança de mesmo teor em suas divisões internas. O segundo campo, pelo qual as modificações passaram, é o da força de trabalho, ou seja, pessoas. Em outras palavras, uma realocação de funções que promovesse um melhor aproveitamento das competências dos membros foi promovida. O presente estudo traça um paralelo entre o período anterior as modificações em contraste com o período após as modificações, verificando, junto ao departamento, questões ligadas ao desempenho e satisfação das pessoas que trabalham nesse espaço. Com os resultados, foi possível concluir que houve um aumento na satisfação geral dos membros, bem como aspectos relativos ao desempenho foram impactados positivamente pelas mudanças promovidas no DGI.Public administration in Brazil is a theme widely studied and criticized by authors in this area, because it stills immerged in doubts concerning the best managing practices, governance and organizational structures that impact positively the performance and, as a result, generate growth in this kind of institutions. The public administration sector in Brazil is constantly criticized by its burocracy disfunction related to the system it is involved, as well as a strong effort to be up to date with the changes that happen in the private sector of the economy. In this study, its presented a case study in the “Departamento de Gestão Integrada - (DGI)” which can be understood as the department responsible for the strategy deployment in the institution, that has been under several changes in its function an operation towards the university (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul – UFRGS). The changes on the department can be split in two, in order to be easily understood. The first is related to the orientation and function of the entire department, that influenced changes in its intern divisions. The second point in which the changes went through is people functions in the department. In other words, shifts in personal roles in the department aiming a better exploitation of each ones capacities and competences was implemented. This case study draws a parallel between the period before the changes and after them, verifying issues linked to the department’s overall performance and personal satisfaction with the role each person has in the organization. Analyzing the results, it was possible to conclude an increase in people satisfaction and aspects related to the department’s performance

X-ray holography with a customizable reference

In X-ray Fourier-transform holography, images are formed by exploiting the interference pattern between the X-rays scattered from the sample and a known reference wave. To date, this technique has only been possible with a limited set of special reference waves. We demonstrate X-ray Fourier-transform holography with an almost unrestricted choice for the reference wave, permitting experimental geometries to be designed according to the needs of each experiment and opening up new avenues to optimize signal-to-noise and resolution. The optimization of holographic references can aid the development of holographic techniques to meet the demands of resolution and fidelity required for single-shot imaging applications with X-ray lasers

Association of Genetic Markers with CSF Oligoclonal Bands in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Objective:to explore the association between genetic markers and Oligoclonal Bands (OCB) in the Cerebro Spinal Fluid (CSF) of Italian Multiple Sclerosis patients.Methods:We genotyped 1115 Italian patients for HLA-DRB1*15 and HLA-A*02. In a subset of 925 patients we tested association with 52 non-HLA SNPs associated with MS susceptibility and we calculated a weighted Genetic Risk Score. Finally, we performed a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) with OCB status on a subset of 562 patients. The best associated SNPs of the Italian GWAS were replicated in silico in Scandinavian and Belgian populations, and meta-analyzed.Results:HLA-DRB1*15 is associated with OCB+: p = 0.03, Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.6, 95% Confidence Limits (CL) = 1.1-2.4. None of the 52 non-HLA MS susceptibility loci was associated with OCB, except one SNP (rs2546890) near IL12B gene (OR: 1.45; 1.09-1.92). The weighted Genetic Risk Score mean was significantly (p = 0.0008) higher in OCB+ (7.668) than in OCB- (7.412) patients. After meta-analysis on the three datasets (Italian, Scandinavian and Belgian) for the best associated signals resulted from the Italian GWAS, the strongest signal was a SNP (rs9320598) on chromosome 6q (p = 9.4×10-7) outside the HLA region (65 Mb).Discussion:genetic factors predispose to the development of OCB

Etiological research in pediatric multiple sclerosis: A tool to assess environmental exposures (PEDiatric Italian Genetic and enviRonment ExposurE Questionnaire)

Background: The etiology of pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis is unknown although putative genetic and environmental factors appear to be involved. Among children multiple sclerosis onset occurs closer to the susceptibility window thank in adults and the exposure to etiological environmental factors is more informative. An Italian multicentre case-control study (the PEDiatric Italian Genetic and enviRonment ExposurE, PEDIGREE study) was designed to investigate environmental exposures in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis and their interaction with genetics. Objectives: To collect evidence on exposures to environmental risk factors in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis, a questionnaire was developed for the Italian population (PEDIGREE Questionnaire) and is presented. Methods: PEDIGREE Questionnaire develops from an existing tool used in case-control studies on pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis in US Americans, and was translated, adapted and tested for the contents perceived relevance, acceptability, feasibility and reliability in a population of Italian pediatric subjects and their parents recruited from clinics and general population. Results: PEDIGREE Questionnaire contents were overall deemed relevant by the study population, acceptable for 100% participants and feasible for at least 98%. PEDIGREE Questionnaire degree of reliability ranged 56% to 72%. Conclusion: PEDIGREE Questionnaire proves to be an efficient tool to assess environmental exposures in the Italian pediatric population. We encourage the dissemination of population-specific questionnaires and shared methodology to optimize efforts in MS etiological research

Measurement of the Z/gamma* + b-jet cross section in pp collisions at 7 TeV

The production of b jets in association with a Z/gamma* boson is studied using proton-proton collisions delivered by the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and recorded by the CMS detector. The inclusive cross section for Z/gamma* + b-jet production is measured in a sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.2 inverse femtobarns. The Z/gamma* + b-jet cross section with Z/gamma* to ll (where ll = ee or mu mu) for events with the invariant mass 60 < M(ll) < 120 GeV, at least one b jet at the hadron level with pT > 25 GeV and abs(eta) < 2.1, and a separation between the leptons and the jets of Delta R > 0.5 is found to be 5.84 +/- 0.08 (stat.) +/- 0.72 (syst.) +(0.25)/-(0.55) (theory) pb. The kinematic properties of the events are also studied and found to be in agreement with the predictions made by the MadGraph event generator with the parton shower and the hadronisation performed by PYTHIA.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physic

Search for supersymmetry in events with b-quark jets and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for physics beyond the standard model based on events with large missing transverse energy, at least three jets, and at least one, two, or three b-quark jets. The study is performed using a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2011. The integrated luminosity of the sample is 4.98 inverse femtobarns. The observed number of events is found to be consistent with the standard model expectation, which is evaluated using control samples in the data. The results are used to constrain cross sections for the production of supersymmetric particles decaying to b-quark-enriched final states in the context of simplified model spectra.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review

Prognostic implications of residual disease tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and residual cancer burden in triple-negative breast cancer patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Abstract Background For primary triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), higher pretreatment tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) correlates with increased pathologic complete response (pCR) rates, and improved survival. We evaluated the added prognostic value of residual disease (RD) TILs to residual cancer burden (RCB) in predicting survival post-NAC. Patients and methods We combined four TNBC NAC patient cohorts who did not achieve pCR. RD TILs were investigated for associations with recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) using Cox models with stromal TILs as a continuous variable (per 10% increment). The likelihood ratio test was used to evaluate added prognostic value of RD TILs. Results A total of 375 RD TNBC samples were evaluable for TILs and RCB. The median age was 50 years, with 62% receiving anthracycline/taxane chemotherapy. The RCB class after NAC was 11%, 50%, and 39% for I, II, and III, respectively. The median RD TIL level was 20% (IQR 10–40). There was a positive correlation between RD TIL levels and CD8+ T-cell density (ρ = 0.41). TIL levels were significantly lower with increasing post-NAC tumor (P = 0.005), nodal stage (P = 0.032), but did not differ by RCB class (P = 0.84). Higher RD TILs were significantly associated with improved RFS (HR: 0.86; 95% CI 0.79–0.92; P  Conclusions TIL levels in TNBC RD are significantly associated with improved RFS and OS and add further prognostic information to RCB class, particularly in RCB class II