Implications of a longitudinal cognitive intervention program in mild Alzheimer's disease.

The implications of a longitudinal (5 years) intervention program in a mild Alzheimer's disease (mAD) patient targeting mainly the language deficits were investigated. The program had 2 parts: the intensive one included training strategies and tasks that enhanced his impairments (memory, naming, comprehension), and the second one (the next 4 years), without guidelines or teaching. The first follow up (11 months later) showed significant improvements to memory, categorical verbal fluency, comprehension and written narrative ability even to untrained functions (behavior and functional ability).

Could language deficits really differentiate Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) from mild Alzheimer's disease?

Naming abilities seem to be affected in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, though MCI individuals tend to exhibit greater impairments in category fluency. In this study we: (1) detect language deficits of amnestic MCIs (aMCIs) and mild AD (mAD) participants and present their language performance (the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination - BDAE scores) according to educational level, (2) study the diagnostic value of language deficits according to the cognitive state of the participants. One hundred nineteen participants, 38 normal controls (NC), 28 aMCIs and 53 mADs, were recruited randomly as outpatients of 2 clinical departments and administered clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging assessment.

Comparison of cognitive performance in mild cognitive impairment and dementia patients with that in normal children and adults.

Background: It is well known that there is rapid cognitive development in childhood and cognitive decline during aging, but the volume of these changes using the same clinical tool is not well documented in the literature. The aim of our study was to investigate and compare the cognitive performance of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia patients with that of children, adolescents and adults, using a worldwide screening tool, the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), and considering the age, educational level and mental status of the participants.

Methods: Our sample included 1364 Greek participants and consisted of normal children, adolescents, adults and non-demented, MCI and demented elderly participants.

Eosinophilic pneumonia associated with heroin inhalation: a case report.

Drugs are known to be a cause of pulmonary eosinophilia and several case reports of acute eosinophilic pneumonia associated with the use of cocaine have been reported. The changing pattern of heroin use, with a shift from intravenous use to smoking/inhalation of the substance, may lead to increased prevalence of heroin-induced pulmonary eosinophilia. We report on a case of a patient who had been inhaling heroin for about ten years.

A decision-aid framework to provide guidance for the enhanced use of best available techniques in industry.

Best Available Techniques (BATs) contribute significantly to the reduction of industrial environmental burdens with respect to air pollution, wastewater, and solid wastes. In Europe, the application of BATs is prescribed by Directive 96/61/EC, which, however, leaves the selection of specific BATs to plant operators. In making their choices, installations have to consider not only the environmental benefits of BATs, but also all relevant cost components.