Improving neurocognitive functioning in schizophrenia by addition of cognitive remediation therapy to a standard treatment of metacognitive training.

Cognitive dysfunctions are a common clinical feature of schizophrenia and represent important indicators of outcome among patients who are affected. Therefore, a randomized, controlled, monocentric, singleblind trial was carried out to compare two different rehabilitation strategies adopted for the restoration and recovery of cognitive functioning of residential patients with schizophrenia. A sample of 110 residential patients were selected and, during the experimental period, a group of 55 patients was treated with sets of exercises (SRT+CRT), whereas an equal control group was treated with sets of exercises (SRT+PBO) belonging to the Cogpack® software.

A fine functional homology between chitinases from host and parasite is relevant for malaria transmissibility.

High levels of plasma chitotriosidase are a marker of macrophage activation in several pathologies and, in particular, in human malaria. Plasmodium falciparum, during its maturative cycle in the midgut of the Anopheles mosquito, secretes a chitinase to disrupt the peritrophic membrane, a necessary step in the migration of the parasite from the midgut to the salivary glands of malaria's vector. The cooperation between human chitotriosidase (Chit) and the chitinase from P.

Whole blood culture for measuring mitogen induced T cell proliferation provides superior correlations with disease state and T cell phenotype in asymptomatic HIV-infected subjects.

Proliferative responses to a panel of mitogens were compared in parallel for two sources of cells, whole blood (WB) and conventionally prepared peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), obtained from asymptomatic HIV seropositive and control subjects. Weak but statistically significant correlations of the proliferative responses were observed. Use of either lymphocyte source produced significant differences in the proliferative responses between the HIV seropositive and control subjects, but the use of WB was more powerful, with a smaller sample size being required to discriminate between the proliferative responses of the two study groups.

Immunological characterization of (tight skin/NZB)F1 hybrid mice with connective tissue and autoimmune features resembling human systemic sclerosis.

A new murine model of Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) has been developed by breeding the Tsk+/+pa tight skin mouse (TSK) and the autoimmune disease-prone NZB strain to produce an F1 hybrid displaying the connective tissue abnormalities of the TSK parent and the autoimmune abnormalities of the NZB parent. The interscapular skin thickness in the (TSK/NZB)F1 was significantly greater than in the (+pa/NZB)F1 litter mates. Protein biosynthesis in skin punch biopsies was over 3.

Evidence for autoimmunity in the tight skin mouse model of systemic sclerosis.

The tight skin mouse strain has been proposed for use as an animal model of systemic sclerosis because this animal exhibits a condition that has biochemical and pathologic similarities to the human disease. To date, however, evidence of inflammatory and immunologic changes in the tight skin mouse has been scarce. We demonstrated the presence of antinuclear antibodies in approximately half of these mice ages 8 months and older.