Epistemological models in psychoacoustics: a historical overview

Since Fechner set the basis for psychophysics, psychology of sound and musical perception started its course as a scientific discipline. During less than two centuries of history, anyway, it passed through many different epistemological paradigms, influenced by the changes occurred into the historical and philosophical panorama. Starting from Fechner's 1860 volume Elemente der Psychophysik, we explore these paradigm shifts, tracking some of the principal steps made by psychology of sound and music in its attempts to offer a model for discovering and explaining the scientific phenomena and laws underlying acoustic sensations and perception, “in tune” with the different theoretical frames of the most influent psychological theories of the XIXth and XXth century

Localizzare nel cervello le funzioni cognitive

Riassunto: I modelli adottati nella neuropsicologia per indagare le funzioni cognitive in relazione alle loro basi neurali sono il risultato tangibile di un processo che, lungo un secolo e mezzo di storia, ha coinvolto a pieno titolo medici, psicologi, neurobiologi e filosofi della mente. Oggi, le nuove criticità e i punti di forza dei paradigmi di ricerca attuali necessitano di una profonda e fertile integrazione tra le riflessioni teoriche, i dati clinici e le acquisizioni sperimentali provenienti da diverse discipline, ma anche di un processo di storicizzazione in grado di creare consapevolezza della complessità di un tema tanto dibattuto e controverso. La sezione Studi di questo volume di Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia propone una selezione dei contributi presentati nel convegno La Mente nel Cervello, svoltosi nel dicembre 2011 presso l’Università di Roma “Tor Vergata” in occasione del 150° anniversario della scoperta dell’area del linguaggio articolato da parte di Paul Broca. I lavori proposti in questa sezione presentano riflessioni storico-epistemologiche legate alla nascita delle neuroscienze, contributi inerenti il linguaggio e le sue basi neurobiologiche, una esposizione ragionata delle nuove acquisizioni cliniche e sperimentali nel campo delle neuroscienze in relazione alle funzioni linguistiche.Parole chiave: Storia della neuropsicologia; Facoltà del linguaggio; Paul Broca; Modelli della mente; Neuropsicologia cognitiva.Localizing the Cognitive Functions in the BrainAbstract: Current neuropsychological models for investigating the neural bases of cognitive functions are the product of continuous development over the past 150 years involving medical doctors, psychologists, neurobiologists and philosophers of mind. To address issues arising from these models and to enhance their strengths, clinical data and experimental evidence must be integrated with broader theoretical reflections. Taking a historical perspective is also important in raising awareness of the complexity of the wide-ranging and controversial debates on these topics. The section Studies in this Volume of Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia offers a selection of the research presented at the conference La Mente nel Cervello which took place in December 2011 at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Paul Broca’s discovery of the brain area responsible for articulated language. The papers included in this section offer historical-epistemological reflections on the origin of the neurosciences, various investigations into language and its neurobiological bases as well as critical examinations of new clinical and experimental findings on linguistic functions from the neurosciences.Keywords: History of Neuropsychology; Faculty of Language; Paul Broca; Models of Mind; Cognitive Neuropsychology

First-Line Chemotherapy for HER-2–Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Who Received Anthracyclines as Adjuvant Treatment

Learning Objectives After completing this course, the reader will be able to: Discuss the value of retreatment with anthracyclines for HER-2–negative metastatic breast cancer patients who received anthracyclines as adjuvant treatment.Discuss the role of liposomal anthracyclines, taxanes, and combinations without anthracyclines and taxanes, or innovative treatments, including target-based agents.Comment on the weakness and quality of available evidence. Access and take the CME test online and receive 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ at CME.TheOncologist.co

Involvement of fractalkine and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha in moderate-severe depression.

Moderate-severe depression (MSD) is linked to overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Fractalkine (FKN) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1alpha) are, respectively, members of CX3C and C-C chemokines, and both are involved in recruiting and activating mononuclear phagocytes in the central nervous system. We analysed the presence of FKN and MIP-1alpha in sera of untreated MSD patients and healthy donors. High FKN levels were observed in all MSD patients as compared with values only detectable in 26% of healthy donors. MIP-1alpha was measurable in 20% of patients, while no healthy donors showed detectable chemokine levels. In conclusion, we describe a previously unknown involvement of FKN in the pathogenesis of MSD, suggesting that FKN may represent a target for a specific immune therapy of this disease

Gefitinib in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer

Gefitinib is an oral, reversible, tyrosine kinase inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) that plays a key role in the biology of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Phase I studies indicated that the recommended dose of gefitinib was 250 mg/day. Rash, diarrhea, and nausea were the most common adverse events. The positive results obtained in early phase 2 clinical trials with gefitinib were not confirmed in large phase 3 trials in unselected patients with advanced NSCLC. The subsequent discovery that the presence of somatic mutations in the kinase domain of EGFR strongly correlates with increased responsiveness to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors prompted phase 2 and 3 trials with gefitinib in the first line-treatment of EGFR-mutated NSCLC. The results of these trials have demonstrated the efficacy of gefitinib that can be now considered as the standard first-line treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC harbouring activating EGFR mutations

Functional evaluation of awareness in vegetative and minimally conscious state

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess differences in brain activation in a large sample of Vegetative State (VS) and Minimally Conscious State (MCS) patients, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods: We studied 50 patients four to seven months after brain injury. By using international clinical criteria and validated behavioural scales such as the Glasgow Coma Scale and the Clinical Unawareness Assessment Scale, the patients were grouped into VS (n=23) and MCS (n=27). All patients underwent to fMRI examination. After 6 months, the patients were reassessed using Glasgow Outcome Scale and Revised Coma Recovery Scale. Results: fMRI showed significant (p<0.01, cluster-corrected) brain activation in the primary auditory cortex bilaterally during the acoustic stimuli in patients with both VS and MCS. However, ten patients clinically classified as VS, showed a pattern of brain activation very similar to that of MCS patients. Six months later, these ten VS patients had significant clinical improvement, evolving into MCS, whereas the other VS patients and patients with MCS remained clinically stable. Conclusion: Brain activity could help in discerning whether the status of wakefulness in VS is also accompanied by partial awareness, as occurs in MCS. This may have very important prognostic implications

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #102 to #122

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 9 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 34 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Calabria, Latium, Lombardy, Marche, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #60 to #82

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 8 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 49 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Campania, Calabria, Marche, Piedmont, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria. Relevés and figures are provided as Supplementary material respectively 1 and 2

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #45 to #59

New Italian data on the distribution of Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 8 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 27 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Apulia, Campania, Calabria, Lazio, Tuscany, Umbria, Sardinia, and Sicily