NEUROCOGNITIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE PRIMARY NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA: A ROLE OF ATYPICAL ANTIPSYCHOTICS

Patients with schizophrenia have profound and disabling cognitive deficits while negative symptoms represent a separate symptom domain, with respect to depression, neurocognition, and social cognition. Particularly, primary negative symptoms of schizophrenia represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, In this study we try to evaluate the cognitive symptoms in 51 primary negative schizophrenic inpatients by the administration of simple, fast and understandable scales (MMSE, DSST, EpiTrack, PANSS cognitive factor). We also evaluate the correlation with some SGAs (aripiprazole, quetiapine, olanzapine, paliperidone). Our results support the evidence of the use of simple, rapid and acceptable scales for cognitive evaluation in clinical practice. Overall data indicate no statistically significant variations of the negative symptomatology in all the examined sample, although a reduction of the statistical averages in each group is observed (paliperidone and olanzapine, particularly)

Gain- and Loss-of-Function CFTR Alleles Are Associated with COVID-19 Clinical Outcomes

Carriers of single pathogenic variants of the CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) gene have a higher risk of severe COVID-19 and 14-day death. The machine learning post-Mendelian model pinpointed CFTR as a bidirectional modulator of COVID-19 outcomes. Here, we demonstrate that the rare complex allele [G576V;R668C] is associated with a milder disease via a gain-of-function mechanism. Conversely, CFTR ultra-rare alleles with reduced function are associated with disease severity either alone (dominant disorder) or with another hypomorphic allele in the second chromosome (recessive disorder) with a global residual CFTR activity between 50 to 91%. Furthermore, we characterized novel CFTR complex alleles, including [A238V;F508del], [R74W;D1270N;V201M], [I1027T;F508del], [I506V;D1168G], and simple alleles, including R347C, F1052V, Y625N, I328V, K68E, A309D, A252T, G542*, V562I, R1066H, I506V, I807M, which lead to a reduced CFTR function and thus, to more severe COVID-19. In conclusion, CFTR genetic analysis is an important tool in identifying patients at risk of severe COVID-19

Does acute myocardial infarction kill more people on weekends? Analysis of in-hospital mortality rates for weekend admissions in Portugal

©The Author(s) 2018Objectives: To investigate a possible weekend effect in the in-hospital mortality rate for acute myocardial infarction in Portugal, and whether the delay in invasive intervention contributes to this effect. Methods: Data from the National 2011-2015 Diagnostic-Related-Group databases were analysed. The focus was on adult patients admitted via the emergency department and with the primary diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Patients were grouped according to ST-elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction episodes. We employed multivariable logistic regressions to determine the association between weekend admission and in-hospital mortality, controlling for episode complexity (through a severity index and acute comorbidities), demographic characteristics and hospital identifications. The association between the probability of a prompt surgery (within one day) and the day of admission was investigated to explore the possible delay of care delivery for patients admitted during weekends. Results: Our results indicate that in-hospital mortality rates were not significantly higher for weekend admissions than for weekday admissions in both ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-STEMI episodes. This result is robust to the inclusion of a number of potential confounding mechanisms. Patients admitted on weekends had lower probabilities of undergoing invasive cardiac surgery within the day after admission, but delay in care delivery during the weekend was not associated with worse outcomes in terms of in-hospital mortality. Conclusions: There is no evidence for the existence of a weekend effect due to admission for acute myocardial infarction in Portugal, in both STEMI and non-STEMI episodes.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Nicoletta Rosati gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the Fundação para a Ciência and Tecnologia (FCT Portugal) through Project CEMAPRE – UID/MULTI/00491/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Indagini archeologiche nel villaggio neolitico di Masseria Pantano (Foggia)

Indagini archeologiche nel vi llaggio neolitico di Masseria Pantano (Foggia) - Si presentano i risultati delle indagini archeologiche svolte nel 2011 nell\u2019insediamento di Masseria Pantano (Foggia), uno dei tipici villaggi trincerati che caratterizzano il popolamento del Neolitico antico e medio del Tavoliere di Puglia. Il villaggio si presenta cinto da tre fossati, ad eccezione del tratto meridionale, che racchiudono numerosi compound separati da spazi apparentemente vuoti. Il contributo analizza brevemente le caratteristiche dei fossati indagati, uno dei quali caratterizzato da una deposizione infantile in fase di defunzionalizzazione, e i resti ceramici e bioarcheologici (resti di fauna domestica e di cereali e leguminose) rinvenuti

Indagini archeologiche nel villaggio neolitico di Masseria Pantano (Foggia)

Indagini archeologiche nel vi llaggio neolitico di Masseria Pantano (Foggia) - Si presentano i risultati delle indagini archeologiche svolte nel 2011 nell\u2019insediamento di Masseria Pantano (Foggia), uno dei tipici villaggi trincerati che caratterizzano il popolamento del Neolitico antico e medio del Tavoliere di Puglia. Il villaggio si presenta cinto da tre fossati, ad eccezione del tratto meridionale, che racchiudono numerosi compound separati da spazi apparentemente vuoti. Il contributo analizza brevemente le caratteristiche dei fossati indagati, uno dei quali caratterizzato da una deposizione infantile in fase di defunzionalizzazione, e i resti ceramici e bioarcheologici (resti di fauna domestica e di cereali e leguminose) rinvenuti

NMR Profiling of Ononis diffusa Identifies Cytotoxic Compounds against Cetuximab-Resistant Colon Cancer Cell Lines

In the search of new natural products to be explored as possible anticancer drugs, two plant species, namely Ononis diffusa and Ononis variegata, were screened against colorectal cancer cell lines. The cytotoxic activity of the crude extracts was tested on a panel of colon cancer cell models including cetuximab-sensitive (Caco-2, GEO, SW48), intrinsic (HT-29 and HCT-116), and acquired (GEO-CR, SW48-CR) cetuximab-resistant cell lines. Ononis diffusa showed remarkable cytotoxic activity, especially on the cetuximab-resistant cell lines. The active extract composition was determined by NMR analysis. Given its complexity, a partial purification was then carried out. The fractions obtained were again tested for their biological activity and their metabolite content was determined by 1D and 2D NMR analysis. The study led to the identification of a fraction enriched in oxylipins that showed a 92% growth inhibition of the HT-29 cell line at a concentration of 50 µg/mL

A Micro-Immunotherapy Sequential Medicine MIM-seq Displays Immunomodulatory Effects on Human Macrophages and Anti-Tumor Properties towards In Vitro 2D and 3D Models of Colon Carcinoma and in an In Vivo Subcutaneous Xenograft Colon Carcinoma Model

In this study, the immunomodulatory effects of a sequential micro-immunotherapy medicine, referred as MIM-seq, were appraised in human primary M1 and M2 macrophages, in which the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-12, IL-23, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, was inhibited. In addition, the potential anti-proliferative effects of MIM-seq on tumor cells was assessed in three models of colorectal cancer (CRC): an in vitro two-dimensions (2D) model of HCT-116 cells, an in vitro tri-dimensional (3D) model of spheroids, and an in vivo model of subcutaneous xenografted mice. In these models, MIM-seq displayed anti-proliferative effects when compared with the vehicle. In vivo, the tumor growth was slightly reduced in MIM-seq-treated animals. Moreover, MIM-seq could slightly reduce the growth of our spheroid models, especially under serum-deprivation. When MIM-seq was combined with two well-known anti-cancerogenic agents, either resveratrol or etoposide, MIM-seq could even further reduce the spheroid’s volume, pointing up the need to further assess whether MIM-seq could be beneficial for CRC patients as an adjuvant therapy. Altogether, these data suggest that MIM-seq could have anti-tumor properties against CRC and an immunomodulatory effect towards the mediators of inflammation, whose systemic dysregulation is considered to be a poor prognosis for patients