Why the idea of framework propositions cannot contribute to an understanding of delusions

One of the tasks that recent philosophy of psychiatry has taken upon itself is to extend the range of understanding to some of those aspects of psychopathology that Jaspers deemed beyond its limits. Given the fundamental difficulties of offering a literal interpretation of the contents of primary delusions, a number of alternative strategies have been put forward including regarding them as abnormal versions of framework propositions described by Wittgenstein in On Certainty. But although framework propositions share some of the apparent epistemic features of primary delusions, their role in partially constituting the sense of inquiry rules out their role in helping to understand delusions

Estimating the Predictive Value of Negative SARS-CoV-2 Results: A Prospective Study

© 2020 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved. We performed a prospective study of 501 patients, regardless of symptoms, admitted to the hospital, to estimate the predictive value of a negative Nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2. At a positivity rate of 10.2%, the estimated Negative Predictive Value (NPV) was 97.2% and NPV rose as prevalence decreased during the study

Practice Patterns and Preferences Among Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Clinicians

Hematopoietic cell transplantation can cure many high-risk diseases but is associated with complexity, cost, and risk. Several areas in transplantation practice were identified in the 2014 Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network State of the Science Symposium (BMT CTN SOSS) as high priorities for further study. We developed a survey for hematopoietic cell transplantation clinicians to identify current practices in BMT CTN SOSS priority areas and to understand, more generally, the variation in approach to transplantation and estimation of transplantation benefit in current medical practice. Of 1439 transplantation clinicians surveyed, 305 responded (20% response rate). Clinicians were well represented by age, experience, geography, and size of practice. We found that several techniques identified in the BMT CTN SOSS, such as maintenance therapy for acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes after allogeneic transplantation, were already being utilized in practice on and off study, with higher rates of use in higher-volume centers. There was significant variation among clinicians in use of transplantation technologies and approaches to common transplantation scenarios. Appraisals of risks and benefits of transplantation appeared to converge upon similar estimates despite the presentation of different hypothetical scenarios. These results suggest overall equipoise in several BMT CTN SOSS high-priority areas and support the need for better data to inform clinical practice

Agonist Activation of ␦-Opioid Receptor but not -Opioid Receptor Potentiates Fetal Calf Serum or Tyrosine Kinase Receptor-Mediated Cell Proliferation in a Cell- Line-Specific Manner

SUMMARY -enkephalin. This ␦-opioid agonist effect was not observed at FCS concentrations Ͼ0.1% and could be blocked by pretreating cells with pertussis toxin, indicating that G i /G o were involved in this action. In addition, ␦-opioid agonists could potentiate CHO cell proliferation stimulated by those growth factors that are mediated by tyrosine kinase receptors (i.e., insulin, insulin-like growth factor 1, and fibroblast-derived growth factor b). This ␦-opioid agonist potentiation of growth apparently was dependent on the level of ␦-opioid receptors that were expressed and had cell-line selectivity. Activation of ␦-opioid receptors expressed in Rat-1 or NIH3T3 fibroblast did not result in a modulation of the cell growth induced by FCS or by growth factors. Interestingly, in CHO cells transfected with -opioid receptor cDNA, activation with agonists did not produce a potentiation of FCS-stimulated proliferation. This lack of -opioid receptor effect was not due to the differences among CHO clones. In a CHO cell line transfected with both ␦-opioid receptor cDNA and -opioid receptor cDNA, activation of ␦-but not -opioid receptors resulted in a potentiation of growth. These data suggest that ␦-and -opioid receptors in CHO cells activate similar but divergent second messenger pathways, resulting in the differential regulation of cell growth. Numerous studies have indicated that endogenous opioid peptides, products of proenkephalin or pro-opiomelanocortin, inhibit DNA synthesis in in vitro neuronal or glial cultures or in neuroblastoma cells (1-4). These studies were supported by the observation that opioid antagonists could stimulate DNA synthesis and proliferation in some neuroblastoma cell lines. The opioid antagonist, naltrexone, stereoselectively stimulates cell proliferation in murine neuroblastoma NS20Y and N1E-115 cells, human neuroblastoma SK-N-MC cells, and human fibrosarcoma cells (5). This antagonistic effect on NS20Y cells was demonstrated further by the ability of in vivo administration of naltrexone to stimulate the growth of these cells when they were implanted in rodents (6). The suppression effects exhibited by opioid peptide agonists and the stimulatory effects exhibited by naltrexone on neuroblastoma proliferation were rather surprising. By contrast, a substantial volume of evidence suggests that activation of GPCRs could lead to the enhancement of cell proliferation, mitogenesis, and tumorigenicity. Activation of bombesin receptors in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts and small-cell lung carcinomas resulted in a stimulation of the mitogenic respons

Assessment and treatment of distorted schemas in sexual offenders

The aim of this review is to examine the literature related to the assessment and treatment of sex offenders’ distorted schemas. Where appropriate, the review draws upon current insights from the field of social cognition to aid in the critical evaluation of the findings. First, the review considers the various different methodologies for assessing distorted schemas, discussing their strengths and limitations. Second, the review examines the work related to the treatment of sex offenders’ schemas. Suggestions for future research, and the implications for clinical practice, are highlighted in the article

Theories of Reference: What Was the Question?

The new theory of reference has won popularity. However, a number of noted philosophers have also attempted to reply to the critical arguments of Kripke and others, and aimed to vindicate the description theory of reference. Such responses are often based on ingenious novel kinds of descriptions, such as rigidified descriptions, causal descriptions, and metalinguistic descriptions. This prolonged debate raises the doubt whether different parties really have any shared understanding of what the central question of the philosophical theory of reference is: what is the main question to which descriptivism and the causal-historical theory have presented competing answers. One aim of the paper is to clarify this issue. The most influential objections to the new theory of reference are critically reviewed. Special attention is also paid to certain important later advances in the new theory of reference, due to Devitt and others