Effectiveness of integrated neurocognitive therapy on cognitive impairment and functional outcome for schizophrenia outpatients

Cognitive impairment is highly prevalent in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Many interventions have been developed to treat cognitive deficit, since it has a strong impact on functional outcome; however, there are no integrated interventions targeting multiple neuro-and social-cognitive domains with a particular focus on the generalization of the effects of therapy on the functional outcome. Recently, a group of experts has developed a cognitive remediation group therapy approach called Integrated Neurocognitive Therapy (INT), which includes exercises to improve the MATRICS (Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia) neuro-and social-cognitive domains. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the efficacy of this approach. We conducted a search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO to select primary studies evaluating INT in schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients. The primary outcomes of the meta-analysis included negative and positive symptoms and global functioning. Two randomized controlled trials met inclusion criteria. A total of 217 participants were included. Based on the results from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), a significant pooled effect size was observed for negative symptoms, which demonstrated not only an improvement in the patients treated immediately after therapy but also a permanence of positive results at a 9-12-month follow-up. On the other hand, no significant effect size was observed for positive symptoms. In addition, a significant pooled effect size was found for Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), which shows how INT's integrated approach has lasting positive implications on patients' functional outcome. We concluded that INT might be an effective treatment for negative symptoms and global functioning in patients with schizophrenia, compared to treatment as usual (TAU)

Gedisciplineerd kijken

Vergelijkende beeldanalyse als epistemologisch gefundeerd alternatief (‘historisch formalisme’) voor zowel de traditionele kunstgeschiedenis als de postmoderne cultural en visual culture studiesKijken is voor alle wetenschappers die visuele artefacten uit de geschiedenis onderzoeken – fotografie, schilderijen, film, architectuurtekeningen, prenten en reclame – een eerste vereiste. Maar om te weten wat men ziet moet men beschikken over begrippen om gelijktijdig en gelijksoortig beeldmateriaal te kunnen vergelijken. Gedisciplineerd kijken vraagt dan ook om reflectie ten aanzien van het kunst- historisch taalgebruik: de woorden en de concepten die men gebruikt om beeldmateriaal te benoemen en te beschrijven doen er toe. Zonder kennis van de woorden en hun samenhang in historische teksten kan er geen kunsthistorische analyse van schilderijen plaatsvinden. De schilderijen zijn immers temidden van bepaalde opvattingen over kunst ontstaan. Hoe men de status van de kunstenaar aanduidt (in termen van ingenium of in termen van psychologische zelfexpressie), of men de imitatio van een schilderij vermakelijk noemt vanwege het vermogen lelijkheid en schoonheid weer te geven of vanwege de ideale schoonheid die het oproept, hoe over schilderen wordt gedacht, als een handwerk of een ars (waartoe naast een leerbaar systeem, ook aanleg en oefening behoort), dan wel als een systeem van academische schoonheidsidealen of als het product van een maatschappelijke voorhoede die per definitie culturele grenzen overschrijdt – dat alles is historisch gedateerd

Regulation of glycerol efflux in adipocytes. Structural and functional studies of the glycerol channel aquaporin 7.

Glycerol levels in adipocytes depend on the lipolysis, the hydrolysis of triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids, and the efflux of glycerol across the plasma membrane through glycerol channels. The aims of this work were to investigate how glycerol levels are regulated on a molecular level by PLIN1, a major lipid droplet-associated protein and a key regulator of the lipolysis by scaffolding for lipolytic proteins on the lipid droplet. Furthermore to elucidate the selectivity and conducting mechanisms of aquaporin 7 (AQP7), the major glycerol channel in adipocytes.PLIN1 was found to form micro domains in human primary adipocytes during basal conditions, and the micro domains dispersed after lipolytic stimulation. Interactions specifically with cholesteryl esters, DPPC and triglycerides on the lipid droplet formed the basis for the dynamic PLIN1 micro domains. The dispersion of PLIN1 along with bound lipolytic proteins results in a fully activated lipolysis. Further, PLIN1 was identified as an interacting partner to AQP7. Protein kinase A phosphorylation of the AQP7 N-terminus decreased the binding to PLIN1, resulting in translocation from the lipid droplet to the plasma membrane for glycerol efflux. The high-resolution crystal structure of AQP7 was determined with glycerol and water molecules lining the channel. A conducting mechanism was proposed in which the glycerol partly rotates as it travels along the pore, possibly facilitating the transition by altering the hydrogen bond network and releasing the glycerol from more tightly bound positions. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulations suggested that glycerol hinders water from diffusing through the pore at a high rate. Initial crystal growth of AQP7 for neutron diffraction studies was carried out, in order to be able to precisely locate hydrogen atoms and gain a deeper understanding of the selectivity and conducting mechanisms.Glycerol metabolism has implications in metabolic diseases and AQP7-knockout mice develop obesity and type 2 diabetes. This research has deepened our knowledge of how glycerol levels in adipocytes are regulated by PLIN1. Adipocyte lipolysis is upregulated by certain cancers in order to supply energy for rapid tumor growth. The structure of AQP7 unraveled the details of glycerol efflux through AQP7 and provides a structural basis for development of small- molecules drugs targeting AQP7

Welsprekende waarschijnlijkheden

Epistemological analysis of the Dutch debate on documentary, concerning the documentary film FORD TRANSIT (2002) by the Dutch-Palestine director Hany Abu-Assad"Documentary in Dispute: A Reconsideration of Premises" In 2002 the VPRO, a critical Dutch cultural television channel sponsored the documentary Ford Transit made by the Dutch-Palestine director Hany Abu-Assad. The documentary, focusing on the white vans, originally Israeli, now used in Palestine areas as taxis, turned out to be partly based on a script, with (professional) actors in stead of social actors and with invented Israeli shooting. The fierce, but unclear debate that followed spoke in terms of truth or fake and was devoted to the question whether this film might be called a documentary or not. Academics and journalists on the one hand claimed that only social actors made a film a documentary. On the other hand directors confessed that they often artificially remade/ invented a situation for the benefit of the documentary. Be it the artificially produced smoke instead of morning mist on the meadow (Jos de Putter), be it the singer André Hazes who bought the birthday present for his wife twice (John Appel), be it that the director waited for the ‘right’ gesture of a social actor (Pirjo Honkasalo). Meanwhile, the VPRO has detached itself from Ford Transit. Up till now the documentary is sparsely shown, and if so with a reminder in advance that it is not a documentary. Perhaps ‘capturing the truth’ is – in terms of ‘recording the real’, ‘realism’, ‘non-fiction’, ‘social actor ’- not the right way to think about documentaries. Documentary as well as feature film have access to the same artificial cinematographic techniques and both are ‘manipulative’ and ‘fictitious’, although in different ways. Whereas feature film has been accepted as ‘dreamlike fiction’, the acceptance of documentary is based on the strong belief in the indexical bond between ‘reality’ and ‘film’, independent of the various aesthetic modalities. ‘Truth’ in documentaries, then, has to do with knowledge about the historical world we share, and the persuasive way in which the specific view is presented. Understanding ‘documentary truth’ in terms of ‘knowledge’, ‘rhetoric’ and ‘representation’ may be a more fruitful way in differentiate between documentaries that present a moral reassurance, confirming - in word and image - existing opinions, and documentaries that offer an ethical discourse, with discursive and visual arguments, ‘new facts’ and ‘fresh (re)interpretations’ that can be debated and criticized. Claims of ‘documentary truth’ in general invite to investigate the nature of the presented knowledge and the ethical boundaries of documentaries. What knowledge is offered by ‘(poetical) registrations of the harsh reality’ that won humanitarian awards, such as Checkpoint (Joris Ivens Award 2003) or The 3 Rooms of Melancholia (Amnesty International-DOEN Award 2004) in comparison with documentaries of Michael Moore (Oscar, Palme d’Or)? What is the role of intense emotion in (dis)approval documentaries by the (modern, Western) public? This given the fact that rage is often evoked by formal (‘rhetoric’, ‘lying’) features that are in fact applicable to all documentaries, and that approval is evoked by content (showing for instance severe circumstances in which an individual or groups of people live) with which people identify with compassion. In short, documentary as ‘Film for thought’ (IDFA 2004) urges for a clear frame of thinking

Feministiese kunst bestaat niet

Epistemologische analyse van de verschillende kunstbegrippen die in Nederland zijn gehanteerd in de (feministische)kunstkritiek.Analyse van de kunstbegrippen die gehanteerd zijn in de Nederlandse tentoonstelling Feministische Kunst Internationaal (1978-1979) en in de kritieken op de tentoonstelling zoals verschenen in kunst-, dag- en weekbladen aan de hand van de marxistische kritiek van Nicos Hadjinicolaou op de kunstgeschiedenis