[Validation of the French Version of the Life Skills Profile with people suffering of schizophrenia].

Introduction: Since the discovery of neuroleptics and the reintegration of people with schizophrenia in the community, psycho-social reeducation became an essential part of the treatment. The Life Skills Profile is a tool of reference for assessment of the dimensions, which have an impact on the adaptation in community. Each item describes an observable behavior, written in common language, to allow the care-givers and the family to evaluate it without having a specific formation.

Trazodone addition for insomnia in venlafaxine-treated, depressed inpatients: a semi-naturalistic study.

In this paper, we present the results of a prospective semi-naturalistic study of the addition of trazodone for insomnia to a 4 week, 300mg/day venlafaxine treatment in 50 depressed inpatients. The Montgomery and Asberg depression rating scale was used as a rating instrument. The study is designated as semi-naturalistic due to the fact that, although the venlafaxine treatment regimen was strictly defined, the timing of the trazodone introduction and the dosage were determined by the clinicians.

Impact of executive function deficits and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on academic outcomes in children.

The association between executive function deficits (EFDs) and functional outcomes were examined among children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were children and adolescents with (n = 259) and without (n = 222) ADHD, as ascertained from pediatric and psychiatric clinics. The authors defined EFD as at least 2 executive function measures impaired.

Impact of haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine in South Africa and Argentina.

Introduction: Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) persists as a major cause of pediatric meningitis and pneumonia in developing countries in which Hib conjugate vaccines are not used. Demonstration of decreases in severe Hib disease after countries introduce Hib conjugate vaccine will help justify the resources necessary to purchase and provide the vaccine. Because surveillance for culture-confirmed Hib meningitis is not available in many countries, alternative means to measure the impact of Hib conjugate vaccine would be useful.

[Prevalence of tobacco use among pediatric residents in Argentina].

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of smoking among pediatric residents in Argentina, to evaluate the risk factors associated with that habit, and to analyze the attitudes of these professionals with regard to tobacco use by their patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using anonymous self-administered questionnaire surveys. The surveys were used in May 2002 with pediatric residents in eight hospitals in five provinces of Argentina: Buenos Aires, Córdoba, La Plata, Mendoza, and Neuquen.

[Analgesia, sedation and neuromuscular block in pediatric intensive care units: present procedures and recent progress].

Anxiolysis and pain control are a duty for physicians and must be treated very carefully in the Pediatric Intensive Care Units, although it is very difficult to assess them: in critically ill children sedatives and/or analgesic medications are routinely provided and titrated to obtain a satisfactory level of sedation, but different evaluation scores are needed to discriminate between light or inadequate and deep or excessive sedation, especially when the clinical examination is unavailable. It is usual to associate a benzodiazepin with an opioid, more often Midazolam and Morphine or Fentanyl; other drugs as Propofol, Clonidine and Ketamine have specific indications, brief painful procedures and weaning from long periods of sedation to avoid withdrawal. Sometimes it can be useful to add a neuromuscular blocking agent to help mechanical ventilation.

Insight in relation to psychosocial adjustment in schizophrenia.

Insight impairment occurs commonly in patients with schizophrenia, and it can be expected that patients with impaired insight may subsequently have poorer psychosocial adjustment. The aim of the present study was to measure the relationship between insight and psychosocial adjustment in 38 inpatients with a diagnosis of DSM-IV schizophrenia. Insight was assessed using the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder.

Familiality of symptom dimensions in depression.

Background: Depression is a clinically heterogeneous disorder thought to result from multiple genes interacting with environmental and developmental components. A dimensional rather than a categorical approach to depressive phenotype definition may be more useful for identification of susceptibility genes.

Objectives: To perform an exploratory factor analysis on a range of depressive and anxiety symptoms in a large, well-defined sample of depressed siblings, as well as a confirmatory factor analysis in a separate large group of unrelated depressed subjects, and to analyze correlations of identified symptom dimensions between depressed siblings.

[New treatments of schizophrenia].

During the past few years, a renewal of interest in the study and treatment of schizophrenic disorders has quite fortunately become noticeable, undoubtedly thanks in part to different works concerning early psychoses and the development of new therapeutic approaches. Psychopharmacology occupies a significant position in the treatment plan and the range of therapeutic options has grown larger since the appearance of the second generation of antipsychotics. However, if we take note of the conclusions of the task force of the World Psychiatric Association, there is still much to do in order to provide "evidence based" proof that shows the superiority of the second generation of these medications and, most importantly, in order to make comparisons between them.

[Diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in children--an updated review of an old problem].

Objective: Tuberculosis is still one of the most severe chronic diseases, especially in the world's poorest regions. Developing countries still have to face serious problems related to this endemic disease, in spite of the control programs they have implemented. The present study aims at updating the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in three South American countries: Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

Is executive function associated with symptom severity in schizophrenia?

This paper reports on a study that was designed to investigate the relationship between psychopathology and executive functions in schizophrenia. Correlations were sparse and mostly weak. The most robust finding was the association between letter fluency and negative symptoms; however, most other applied tasks were not associated with symptom level.

Dark-rearing decreases NR2A N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit in all visual cortical layers.

Maturation of the visual cortex is a visual experience-dependent process. It has been shown that visual input triggers changes in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) subunit expression in the visual cortex. However, no data are available on the layer distribution of these molecular changes.

Multicenter, randomized, controlled study of porcine surfactant in severe respiratory syncytial virus-induced respiratory failure.

OBJECTIVE: Recently, natural exogenous surfactant replacement has been used in experimental models and clinical trials for the treatment of severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease. The present study was aimed at verifying this hypothesis and confirming the results of our previous pilot study by assessing the effect of surfactant treatment in mechanically ventilated infants with severe RSV-induced respiratory failure. DESIGN: Multicenter, randomized, controlled study.

Dysexecutive syndrome and social adjustment in schizophrenia.

Objective: This paper reports on a study designed to (i) assess levels of executive functions among patients suffering from schizophrenia; (ii) investigate associations between measures of executive functions and psychosocial adjustment; and (iii) examine the influence of psychopathology on the relationship between executive functions and psychosocial adjustment. Clear knowledge of executive functions and of their impact on social adjustment in patients with schizophrenia may play a decisive role in preparing and structuring appropriate outpatient care.

Method: An extensive battery constituted of several tests developed for the assessment of executive functions was used in 38 inpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Crying as a precipitating factor for migraine and tension-type headache.

Context: Scarcely reported in the literature, crying seems to be an important precipitating factor for both migraine and tension-type headache in daily practice.

Objective: To evaluate the role of crying as a precipitating factor for migraine and tension-type headache.

Type Of Study: Prospective evaluation.

Antidepressant-induced mania, rapid cycling and the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism.

The genes involved in the serotonin system are major candidates in association studies on affective disorders and responses to antidepressants. We studied a functional polymorphism of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene (a 44 bp insertion/deletion in the 5-HTT-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR)) and lifetime history of antidepressant-induced mania (AIM) in a population of 305 patients with bipolar affective disorder. AIM was defined using a broad definition and a restrictive definition.

Misalignment of lung vessels: diagnostic role of conventional histology and immunohistochemistry.

Misalignment of lung vessels represents a rare congenital anomaly that may cause respiratory failure in the newborn. It is characterized by abnormal position of pulmonary veins and venules that lie adjacent to arteries and bronchi, and it is usually associated with a decreased number of alveolar capillaries (i.e.

Acoustic analysis of voice quality with or without false vocal fold displacement after cordectomy.

Conventional cordectomy by means of a laryngofissure is one of the therapeutic options for treatment of early glottic cancer. To improve the poor voice quality related to this kind of operation, many authors have developed different techniques to repair the mucosal defect. We analyzed voice quality acoustically and compared it after cordectomy alone and after cordectomy with the reconstruction of the vocal cord in a group of 14 patients affected by T1 glottic carcinoma.

Assessing efficacy of chronic therapy when disease is characterized by frequent relapses: the example of schizophrenia.

In assessing the efficacy of therapy for schizophrenia, the effect of medication on relapse needs to be distinguished from the influence of relapse on medication. Typically, effective medication prevents relapse, but relapse generally induces medication. Conventional analyses using either treatment or disease as outcome do not separate these two effects.

Antipyretic effects of dipyrone versus ibuprofen versus acetaminophen in children: results of a multinational, randomized, modified double-blind study.

This study compared the antipyretic effectiveness of acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and dipyrone in young children with fever. The results were based on a modified double-blind, randomized, multinational trial that evaluated 628 febrile children, aged 6 months to 6 years. All three drugs lowered temperature in the 555 patients completing the study.

Diagnostic interview for genetic studies (DIGS): inter-rater and test-retest reliability of alcohol and drug diagnoses.

The semi-structured diagnostic interview for genetic studies (DIGS) was developed to assess major mood and psychotic disorders and their spectrum manifestations in genetic studies. Our research group developed a French version of the DIGS and tested its inter-rater and test-retest reliability in psychiatric patients. In this article, we present estimates of the reliability of substance use and antisocial personality disorders.

Prodromes of first-episode psychosis: how can we challenge nonspecificity?

Prevention of functional psychosis is a major concern of modern psychiatry. The aim is to avoid biological and psychosocial deterioration at the earliest possible stage of the illness. The term "prodrome" has become crucial for identification of the very early stage.

Antibodies in haystacks: how selection strategy influences the outcome of selection from molecular diversity libraries.

Antibodies against most antigens can be isolated from high quality phage antibody libraries. However, not all antibodies binding a particular antigen are necessarily found when standard selections are performed. Here we investigate the effect of two different selection strategies on the isolation of antibodies against a number of different antigens, and find that these different strategies tend to select different antibodies, with little overlap between them.

Prevalence estimates of pathological gambling in Switzerland.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of pathological gambling in the Swiss adult population before the introduction of new forms of gambling, and the link between pathological gambling and alcohol abuse.

Method: 2526 telephone interviews were completed using standardized assessment instruments for identifying potential and probable pathological gamblers (SOGS) and alcohol abuse (CAGE).

Results: The current prevalence of probable and potential pathological gamblers were estimated to be 0.

Association between bipolar disorder and monoamine oxidase A gene polymorphisms: results of a multicenter study.

Objective: Although genetic factors have been implicated in the etiology of bipolar disorder, no specific gene has been conclusively identified. Given the link between abnormalities in serotonergic neurotransmission and bipolar disorder, a candidate gene association approach was applied to study the involvement of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene, which codes for a catabolic enzyme of serotonin, in the susceptibility to bipolar disorder.

Method: In France and Switzerland, 272 patients with bipolar disorder and 122 healthy subjects were typed for three polymorphic markers of the MAOA gene: the MAOA-CA repeat, the MAOA restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and a repeat directly adjacent to the variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) locus.