Results. The patients with schizophrenia showed no deficit in identifying facial NU7441 emotion, although they were slower than the controls. They were, however, impaired on judging the intensity of emotional expression without identification. They showed impairment in recognizing familiar faces but not on the BFRT.

Conclusions. When steps are taken to reduce the effects of general intellectual impairment, there is no deficit in identifying facial emotions in schizophrenia. There may, however, be a deficit in judging emotional intensity. The impairment found in naming familiar faces is consistent with other evidence of semantic memory impairment in the disorder.”
“Understanding

the natural history of thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) is essential to patient care and surgical decision making. In this evidence summary we discuss some of the most clinically relevant features of WZB117 supplier the disease. The true incidence of TAAs is likely to be higher than currently reported because of the inherently silent nature of TAAs. However, TAAs can become rapidly lethal once dissection or rupture occurs, highlighting the need for more robust screening. The impressive discovery of familial patterns and novel genetic loci for TAAs challenges the idea that most TAAs are simply sporadic. Although the aorta grows in an indolent manner, its rate of growth and its current diameter both have important clinical implications. Biomechanical studies have supported clinical findings

of 6.0 cm as a dangerous threshold. Surgical extirpation of TAAs is currently the mainstay of effective treatment. Although endovascular TAA repair is becoming increasingly common, long-term safety remains unproven. We still need more data to support the check details concept that any medical therapy is effective. (J Vasc Surg 2012;56:565-71.)”
“Background.

Interest in the neuro-cognitive profile of patients with schizophrenia and co-morbid obsessive compulsive disorder (schizo-OCD) is rising in response to reports of high co-morbidity rates. Whereas schizophrenia has been associated with global impairment in a wide range of neurocognitive domains, OCD is associated with specific deficits featuring impaired performance on tasks of motor and cognitive inhibition involving frontostriatal neuro-circuitry.

Method. We compared cognitive function using the CANTAB battery in patients with schizo-OCD (n=12) and a schizophrenia group without OCD symptoms (n =16). The groups were matched for IQ, gender, age, medication, and duration of illness.

Results. The schizo-OCD patients made significantly more errors on a task of attentional set-shifting (ID-ED set-shift task). By contrast, no significant differences emerged on the Stockings of Cambridge task, the Cambridge Gamble Task or the Affective Go/NoGo tasks. No correlation emerged between ID-ED performance and severity of schizophrenia, OCD or depressive symptoms, consistent with neurocognitive impairment holding trait rather than statemarker status.