Schizophrenia and work: aspects related to job acquisition in a follow-up study

Objective: Work is considered one of the main forms of social organizationhowever, few individuals with schizophrenia find work opportunities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between schizophrenia symptoms and job acquisition. Method: Fifty-three individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia from an outpatient treatment facility were included in an 18-month follow-up study. After enrollment, they participated in a prevocational training group. At the end of training (baseline) and 18 months later, sociodemographic, clinical data and occupational history were collected. Positive and negative symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale - PANSS), depression (Calgary Depression Scale), disease severity (Clinical Global Impression - CGI), functionality (Global Assessment of Functioning - GAF), personal and social performance (Personal and Social Performance - PSP) and cognitive functions (Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia - MATRICS battery) were applied at baseline and at the end of the study. Results: Those with some previous work experience (n = 19) presented lower scores on the PANSS, Calgary, GAF, CGI and PSP scales (p < 0.05) than those who did not work. Among those who worked, there was a slight worsening in positive symptoms (positive PANSS). Conclusions: Individuals with less severe symptoms were more able to find employment. Positive symptom changes do not seem to affect participation at workhowever, this calls for discussion about the importance of employment support.Programa de Esquizofrenia (PROESQ)Centro de Atencao Integrada a Saude Mental (CAISM)Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2011/50740-5]Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)FAPESPConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)CAPESUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Psiquiatria, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Carlos UFSCar, Dept Med, Sao Carlos, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Carlos, Dept Terapia Ocupac, Sao Carlos, SP, BrazilFac Ciencias Med Santa Casa Sao Paulo, Dept Psiquiatria, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Psiquiatria, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilFAPESP [2011/50740-5]Web of Scienc

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to assess the efficacy of topiramate in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Topiramate might be effective in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of its antikindling effect and its action in both inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters. Open-label studies and few controlled trials have suggested that this anticonvulsant may have therapeutic potential in PTSD. This 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial will compare the efficacy of topiramate with placebo and study the tolerability of topiramate in the treatment of PTSD.</p> <p>Methods and design</p> <p>Seventy-two adult outpatients with DSM-IV-diagnosed PTSD will be recruited from the violence program of Federal University of São Paulo Hospital (UNIFESP). After informed consent, screening, and a one week period of wash out, subjects will be randomized to either placebo or topiramate for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint will be the change in the Clinician-administered PTSD scale (CAPS) total score from baseline to the final visit at 12 weeks.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The development of treatments for PTSD is challenging due to the complexity of the symptoms and psychiatric comorbidities. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the mainstream treatment for PTSD, but many patients do not have a satisfactory response to antidepressants. Although there are limited clinical studies available to assess the efficacy of topiramate for PTSD, the findings of prior trials suggest this anticonvulsant may be promising in the management of these patients.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>NCT 00725920</p

Heme oxygenase-1 activity is involved in the control of Toxoplasma gondii infection in the lung of BALB/c and C57BL/6 and in the small intestine of C57BL/6 mice

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is an enzyme that catabolizes free heme, which induces an intense inflammatory response. The expression of HO-1 is induced by different stimuli, triggering an anti-inflammatory response during biological stress. It was previously verified that HO-1 is able to induce indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme that is induced by IFN-γ in Toxoplasma gondii infection. To verify the role of HO-1 during in vivo T. gondii infection, BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were infected with the ME49 strain and treated with zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPPIX) or hemin, which inhibit or induce HO-1 activity, respectively. The results show that T. gondii infection induced high levels of HO-1 expression in the lung of BALB/c and C57BL6 mice. The animals treated with ZnPPIX presented higher parasitism in the lungs of both lineages of mice, whereas hemin treatment decreased the parasite replication in this organ and in the small intestine of infected C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, C57BL/6 mice infected with T. gondii and treated with hemin showed higher levels of IDO expression in the lungs and small intestine than uninfected mice. In conclusion, our data suggest that HO-1 activity is involved in the control of T. gondii in the lungs of both mouse lineages, whereas the hemin, a HO-1 inducer, seems to be involved in the control of parasitism in the small intestine of C57BL/6 mice.This work was supported by Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa Científica e Tecnológica (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Vacinas (INCTV)

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

: High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on-demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high-quality X-ray crystal structures, or manual cherry-picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug-like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small-molecule drug discovery

Educación en ciencias: experiencias investigativas en el contexto de la didáctica, la historia, la filosofía y la cultura

En este texto se presenta una gran variedad de manifestaciones conceptuales, que permiten al lector acercarse a una visión contemporánea de la Educación en Ciencias, en la que los roles de maestros y estudiantes se dinamizan, logrando un importante acercamiento a diversas consideraciones alrededor de una enseñanza en contextos culturalmente diferenciados y en escenarios en donde el Territorio, el Racismo Científico, la naturaleza de las Ciencias y la Filosofía de la misma abren espacio a nuevas discusiones teóricas y metodológicas

Efficacy of Different Cold-Water Immersion Temperatures on Neuromotor Performance in Young Athletes

Cold-Water-Immersion (CWI) has been frequently used to accelerate muscle recovery and to improve performance after fatigue onset. In the present study, the aim was to investigate the effects of different CWI temperatures on neuromuscular activity on quadriceps after acute fatigue protocol. Thirty-six young athletes (16.9 &plusmn; 1.4 years-old; 72.1 &plusmn; 13.8 kg; 178.4 &plusmn; 7.2 cm) were divided into three groups: passive recovery group (PRG); CWI at 5 &deg;C group (5G); and CWI at 10 &deg;C group (10G). All participants performed a fatigue exercise protocol; afterwards, PRG performed a passive recovery (rest), while 5G and 10G were submitted to CWI by means of 5 &deg;C and 10 &deg;C temperatures during 10 min, respectively. Fatigue protocol was performed by knee extension at 40% of isometric peak force from maximal isometric voluntary contraction. Electromyography was used to evaluate neuromuscular performance. The passive recovery and CWI at 5 &deg;C were associated with normalized isometric force and quadriceps activation amplitude from 15 until 120 min after exercise-induced fatigue (F = 7.169, p &lt; 0.001). CWI at 5 &deg;C and 10 &deg;C showed higher muscle activation (F = 6.850, p &lt; 0.001) and lower median frequency (MF) than passive recovery after 15 and 30 min of fatigue (F = 5.386, p &lt; 0.001). For neuromuscular efficiency (NME) recovery, while PRG normalized NME values after 15 min, 5G and 10G exhibited these responses after 60 and 30 min (F = 4.330, p &lt; 0.01), respectively. Passive recovery and CWI at 5 &deg;C and 10 &deg;C revealed similar effects in terms of recovery of muscle strength and NME, but ice interventions resulted in higher quadriceps activation recovery

Stress during development alters anxiety-like behavior and hippocampal neurotransmission in male and female rats

Epidemiological data indicate that early stress increases vulnerability to psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression. in the present study we sought to investigate the long-term behavioral and neurochemical consequences of increased and sustained corticosterone levels induced by a 24 h bout of maternal deprivation (DEP) imposed on postnatal day 11 (DEP11). As adults, animals were exposed to the elevated plus maze for assessment of anxiety-like behavior and corticosterone response to this challenge, or decapitated for determination of monoamines and amino acid neurotransmitters content in the hippocampus by HPLC method. the results showed that DEP11 male and female rats displayed increased time in the central hub of the maze and more risk assessment behavior, reflecting increased anxiety-like behavior; in addition, these animals continuously secreted corticosterone in response to the behavioral test until the latest time-point, e.g., 60 min post-stress. in males, maternal deprivation increased aspartate and glutamate levels and reduced taurine levels compared to non-deprived (NDEP) rats. DEP11 females displayed reduced noradrenaline, aspartate and GABA levels compared to NDEP counterparts. These results indicate that maternal deprivation at 11 days of age produced changes in hippocampal neurotransmission that may mediate the increased anxiety-like behavior observed in male and female deprived rats.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Anxiety and Depression'. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)INNTCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)CInNAPCeAssociacao Fundo de Incentivo a Psicofarmacologia (AFIP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psicobiol, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psiquiatria, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Expt Neurol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed ABC, Ctr Matemat Comp & Cognicao, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Fisiol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psicobiol, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psiquiatria, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Expt Neurol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Fisiol, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 2004/15039-0FAPESP: 2006/06415-4Web of Scienc