What Do We Know About Neuropsychological Aspects Of Schizophrenia?

Application of a neuropsychological perspective to the study of schizophrenia has established a number of important facts about this disorder. Some of the key findings from the existing literature are that, while neurocognitive impairment is present in most, if not all, persons with schizophrenia, there is both substantial interpatient heterogeneity and remarkable within-patient stability of cognitive function over the long-term course of the illness. Such findings have contributed to the firm establishment of neurobiologic models of schizophrenia, and thereby help to reduce the social stigma that was sometimes associated with purely psychogenic models popular during parts of the 20th century. Neuropsychological studies in recent decades have established the primacy of cognitive functions over psychopathologic symptoms as determinants of functional capacity and independence in everyday functioning. Although the cognitive benefits of both conventional and even second generation antipsychotic medications appear marginal at best, recognition of the primacy of cognitive deficits as determinants of functional disability in schizophrenia has catalyzed recent efforts to develop targeted treatments for the cognitive deficits of this disorder. Despite these accomplishments, however, some issues remain to be resolved. Efforts to firmly establish the specific neurocognitive/neuropathologic systems responsible for schizophrenia remain elusive, as do efforts to definitively demonstrate the specific cognitive deficits underlying specific forms of functional impairment. Further progress may be fostered by recent initiatives to integrate neuropsychological studies with experimental neuroscience, perhaps leading to measures of deficits in cognitive processes more clearly associated with specific, identifiable brain systems

Carbon Dioxide Utilisation -The Formate Route

UIDB/50006/2020 CEEC-Individual 2017 Program Contract.The relentless rise of atmospheric CO2 is causing large and unpredictable impacts on the Earth climate, due to the CO2 significant greenhouse effect, besides being responsible for the ocean acidification, with consequent huge impacts in our daily lives and in all forms of life. To stop spiral of destruction, we must actively reduce the CO2 emissions and develop new and more efficient “CO2 sinks”. We should be focused on the opportunities provided by exploiting this novel and huge carbon feedstock to produce de novo fuels and added-value compounds. The conversion of CO2 into formate offers key advantages for carbon recycling, and formate dehydrogenase (FDH) enzymes are at the centre of intense research, due to the “green” advantages the bioconversion can offer, namely substrate and product selectivity and specificity, in reactions run at ambient temperature and pressure and neutral pH. In this chapter, we describe the remarkable recent progress towards efficient and selective FDH-catalysed CO2 reduction to formate. We focus on the enzymes, discussing their structure and mechanism of action. Selected promising studies and successful proof of concepts of FDH-dependent CO2 reduction to formate and beyond are discussed, to highlight the power of FDHs and the challenges this CO2 bioconversion still faces.publishersversionpublishe

Additional file 1: of Genetic variation and population structure of maize inbred lines adapted to the mid-altitude sub-humid maize agro-ecology of Ethiopia using single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers

Summary of the 265 inbred lines and population structure. (XLSX 47 kb

Hunting techniques along the rain shadow gradient in North-Central Patagonia, Argentina

The forest and the steppe of North-Central Patagonia (Argentina) are contiguous yet contrasting environments that have been connected throughout their peopling history. Human occupation began in the early Holocene, became more regular ca. 3500 years BP, and has increased since 2200–1700 years BP. Beyond this general picture, the nature of the relationship between forest and steppe over time is a matter of debate. To better our understanding of the human use of both environments, where assessed and investigated various hunting techniques employed over the last 3500 years, a central activity for hunter-gatherer societies. First, we modeled hunting techniques combining ecology, size, and behavior of prey, ethnographic, historical, and archaeological data, and the environmental settings (topography and vegetation). Then, we evaluated the models using weapon lithic technology and the zooarchaeological records recovered from archaeological sites located in both the forest (Cholila, Epuyén, and Manso) and the steppe (Piedra Parada area) and dated to the last 3500 years. The analysis showed that in both environments the ungulates of medium to large sizes were the main prey (huemul, Hippocamelus bisulcus, and guanaco, Lama guanicoe). They were captured near the sites, in hunting events involving few animals. In the forest, small huemul social groups were hunted by ‘encounter’ technique mainly with bows and arrows. This weapon system would have enabled more recurrent and/or longer stays in the forest. In the steppe, the ‘approach’ method was the most used technique to hunt guanacos and lesser rheas (choique, Pterocnemia pennata). These animals could be captured in high productive wetlands (mallines) using mainly throwing weapons, and handheld weapons to a lesser extent. Our results reinforce the idea that by the end of the peopling process of both environments, distinctive traits had developed beyond the existing networks of interaction.Fil: Carballido Calatayud, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Sección de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano. Departamento de Arqueología; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Pablo Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Sección de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano. Departamento de Arqueología; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentin