Improving measurement of attributional style in schizophrenia; A psychometric evaluation of the Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ).

While attributional style is regarded as a core domain of social cognition, questions persist about the psychometric characteristics of measures used to assess it. One widely used assessment of attributional style is the Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ). Two limitations of the AIHQ include (1) a possible restricted range resulting from too few and too homogenous item scenarios, and (2) use of rater scores that are cumbersome and time-consuming to score and have unknown incremental validity.

The Clinical Significance of Specific Antibody Deficiency (SAD) Severity in Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS).

Background: Despite the increased identification of specific antibody deficiency (SAD) in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), little is known about the relationship between SAD severity and the severity and comorbidities of CRS. The prevalence of an impaired antibody response in the general population is also unknown.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if the SAD severity stratification applies to real-life data of patients with CRS.

Biogen's portfolio and research efforts in multiple sclerosis: an interview with Dr Ralph Kern.

Ralph Kern speaks to Laura Dormer, Commissioning Editor: Dr Ralph Kern is Senior Vice President and Head of Worldwide Medical at Biogen in Cambridge, MA, USA. In this role, he oversees Biogen's global therapeutic, regional and country medical teams, global medical operations, as well as medical research and scientific communications functions. Prior to joining Biogen, he was head of the Neuroscience Medical Unit at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and held various medical and commercial leadership roles at Genzyme Corporation.

Chronic airway inflammation provides a unique environment for B cell activation and antibody production.

Background: B cells play many roles in health and disease. However, little is known about the mechanisms that drive B cell responses in the airways, especially in humans. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is an inflammatory disease of the upper airways that affects 10% of Europeans and Americans.

Neutrophils are a major source of the epithelial barrier disrupting cytokine oncostatin M in patients with mucosal airways disease.

Background: We have previously shown that oncostatin M (OSM) levels are increased in nasal polyps (NPs) of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), as well as in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, after segmental allergen challenge in allergic asthmatic patients. We also showed in vitro that physiologic levels of OSM impair barrier function in differentiated airway epithelium.

Objective: We sought to determine which hematopoietic or resident cell type or types were the source of the OSM expressed in patients with mucosal airways disease.

Classical complement pathway activation in the nasal tissue of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background: Complement plays a major role in inflammatory diseases, but its involvement and mechanisms of activation in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are not known.

Objectives: After earlier studies discovering autoantibodies in patients with CRS, we sought to investigate the nature, extent, and location of complement activation in nasal tissue of patients with CRS. Specifically, we were interested in whether antibody-mediated activation through the classical pathway was a major mechanism for complement activation in patients with CRS.

Access, timing and frequency of very early stroke rehabilitation - insights from the Baden-Wuerttemberg stroke registry.

Background: While the precise timing and intensity of very early rehabilitation (VER) after stroke onset is still under discussion, its beneficial effect on functional disability is generally accepted. The recently published randomized controlled AVERT trial indicated that patients with severe stroke might be more susceptible to harmful side effects of VER, which we hypothesized is contrary to current clinical practice. We analyzed the Baden-Wuerttemberg stroke registry to gain insight into the application of VER in acute ischemic stroke (IS) and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in clinical practice.

Proprotein convertases generate a highly functional heterodimeric form of thymic stromal lymphopoietin in humans.

Rationale: Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is known to be elevated and truncated in nasal polyps (NPs) of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and might play a significant role in type 2 inflammation in this disease. However, neither the structure nor the role of the truncated products of TSLP has been studied.

Objective: We sought to investigate the mechanisms of truncation of TSLP in NPs and the function of the truncated products.

Seasonal fecundity is not related to geographic position across a species' global range despite a central peak in abundance.

The range of a species is determined by the balance of its demographic rates across space. Population growth rates are widely hypothesized to be greatest at the geographic center of the species range, but indirect empirical support for this pattern using abundance as a proxy has been mixed, and demographic rates are rarely quantified on a large spatial scale. Therefore, the texture of how demographic rates of a species vary over its range remains an open question.

Proton pump inhibitors decrease eotaxin-3/CCL26 expression in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps: Possible role of the nongastric H,K-ATPase.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is often characterized by tissue eosinophilia that is associated with poor prognosis. Recent findings that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) directly modulate the expression of eotaxin-3, an eosinophil chemoattractant, in patients with eosinophilic diseases suggest therapeutic potential for PPIs in those with CRSwNP.

Objective: We assessed the effect of type 2 mediators, particularly IL-13 and eotaxin-3, on tissue eosinophilia and disease severity in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS).

Limited Time from the Diabetes Patients' Perspective: Need for Conversation with the Eye Specialist.

Purpose: Facing the lack of time, busy retina consultants should be aware of how the patients would prefer that time is spent and whether they wish the specialist to talk more at the expense of other medical activities.

Methods: 810 persons with diabetes were asked to divide the time of 10 min between examination, consultation and treatment when envisioning a real-life scenario of diabetic retinopathy (NCT02311504).

Results: With the increasing duration of diabetes, patients wanted significantly more time for diagnostics (p = 0.

Neural Stem Cell Tumorigenicity and Biodistribution Assessment for Phase I Clinical Trial in Parkinson's Disease.

Human pluripotent stem cells (PSC) have the potential to revolutionize regenerative medicine. However undifferentiated PSC can form tumors and strict quality control measures and safety studies must be conducted before clinical translation. Here we describe preclinical tumorigenicity and biodistribution safety studies that were required by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) prior to conducting a Phase I clinical trial evaluating the safety and tolerability of human parthenogenetic stem cell derived neural stem cells ISC-hpNSC for treating Parkinson's disease (ClinicalTrials.

Assessment of attachment in psychosis: A psychometric cause for concern.

Attachment has recently been proposed as a key developmental construct in psychosis, in particular with respect to interpersonal functioning and social cognition. The current study examined the latent structure of the self-report Psychosis Attachment Measure (PAM) and its relationship to lower-level perceptual and higher-order inferential social cognitive processes. The PAM was administered to 138 psychiatrically stable outpatients with schizophrenia alongside a battery of symptom, social cognitive, and functional measures.

Transbronchial Cryobiopsy in Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease: Retrospective Analysis of 74 Cases.

Background: Diagnostic evaluation of patients with diffuse parenchymal lung disease (DPLD) is best achieved by a multidisciplinary team correlating clinical, radiological, and pathologic features. Surgical lung biopsy remains the gold standard for histopathologic diagnosis of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias. Emerging data suggest an increasing role for transbronchial cryobiopsy (TBC) in DPLD evaluation.

Open versus endoscopic medial orbital decompression: Utilization, cost, and operating room time.

Background: The advent of endoscopic sinus surgery has created an exciting interface between rhinology and ophthalmology in the area of orbital and optic nerve decompression Objectives: (1) To study the utilization of open versus endoscopic medial orbital decompression based on geography and indication, (2) to describe the demographics of the patient populations who underwent these different techniques, and (3) to compare outcomes, including mean charges and operating room (OR) times Methods: Cases identified by Current Procedural and Terminology codes were extracted from the California, Florida, Maryland, and New York State Ambulatory Surgery Databases from 2009 to 2011. Patient demographics, diagnoses, mean charge, and OR time were compared.

Results: A total of 1009 patients underwent orbital decompression; 93.

Heterogeneous inflammatory patterns in chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps in Chicago, Illinois.

CRSsNP is a heterogenous disease but type 2 inflammation in CRSsNP was more common than type 1 inflammation among patients in Chicago, Illinois. Distinct therapeutic strategies may be needed depending on the type of inflammation found in CRSsNP.

Ruminal expression of the NQO1, RGS5, and ACAT1 genes may be indicators of feed efficiency in beef steers.

Ruminal genes differentially expressed in crossbred beef steers from USMARC with variation in gain and feed intake were identified in a previous study. Several of the genes identified with expression patterns differing between animals with high gain-low feed intake and low gain-high feed intake were evaluated in a separate, unrelated population of Angus × Hereford beef steers from the University of Wyoming that was classified to differ in residual feed intake (RFI). Of the 17 genes tested, two were differentially expressed by RFI class in the Angus × Hereford animals.

Nasal and sinus symptoms and chronic rhinosinusitis in a population-based sample.

Background: The objective of this study was to describe the first US-based study to use the European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis (EPOS) criteria to study the prevalence of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) in a general-population sample.

Methods: A CRS symptom questionnaire was mailed to 23 700 primary care patients from Geisinger Clinic, a health system serving 45 counties in Pennsylvania. CRS cases were categorized into four unique subgroups based on EPOS symptoms: obstruction and discharge with no smell loss or pain/pressure; smell loss without pain/pressure; facial pain and/or pressure without smell loss; and both smell loss and pain/pressure.

Predictors of employment in schizophrenia: The importance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Unemployment is a primary functional deficit for the majority of adults with schizophrenia. Research indicates that over two-thirds of adults living in the community with schizophrenia are unemployed. Despite effective programs to assist with job identification and placement, the ability to attain and maintain employment remains a pressing concern.

Profile of the Spleen Transcriptome in Beef Steers with Variation in Gain and Feed Intake.

We have previously identified components of the immune system contributing to feed intake and gain in both the rumen and small intestine of beef steers. In this study, we examined the spleen, a major lymphatic organ near the digestive tract, to determine whether it was also influencing individual feed efficiency status through immune responses. Animals (n = 16) that were divergent for gain and intake were selected for tissue sampling.

Study design of PANGAEA 2.0, a non-interventional study on RRMS patients to be switched to fingolimod.

Background: The therapeutic options for patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have steadily increased due to the approval of new substances that now supplement traditional first-line agents, demanding a paradigm shift in the assessment of disease activity and treatment response in clinical routine. Here, we report the study design of PANGAEA 2.0 (Post-Authorization Non-interventional GermAn treatment benefit study of GilEnyA in MS patients), a non-interventional study in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) identify patients with disease activity and monitor their disease course after treatment switch to fingolimod (Gilenya®), an oral medication approved for patients with highly active RRMS.

Chronic rhinosinusitis: the rationale for current treatments.

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a broad clinical syndrome linked by mucosal inflammation. Primary treatment modalities are corticosteroids and antibiotics with surgery an option for failures, but the level of supporting evidence is generally low. The primary reason is that CRS is a symptom complex and not a specific disease.

Multiple sclerosis: clinical profiling and data collection as prerequisite for personalized medicine approach.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a highly heterogeneous disease as it can present inter-individually as well as intra-individually, with different disease phenotypes emerging during different stages in the long-term disease course. In addition to advanced immunological, genetic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) profiling of the patient, the clinical profiling of MS patients needs to be widely implemented in clinical practice and improved by including a greater range of relevant parameters as patient-reported outcomes. It is crucial to implement a high standard of clinical characterization of individual patients as this is key to effective long-term observation and evaluation.

Longitudinal stability of social cognition in schizophrenia: A 5-year follow-up of social perception and emotion processing.

Background: Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit marked and disproportional impairment in social cognition, which is associated with their level of community functioning. However, it is unclear whether social cognitive impairment is stable over time, or if impairment worsens as a function of illness chronicity. Moreover, little is known about the longitudinal associations between social cognition and community functioning.