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The development of appropriate and valid multicultural and multilingual instruments research is necessary due to a growing multicultural and multilingual society in the 21st century. We explored the use of a cognitive scale related to subjective complaints, focusing on the first step: a cross-cultural and semantic validation. This study presents the translation and cross-validation process of the “Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Schizophrenia” (SSTICS) for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) region via different languages used in Dubaï/Abu Dhabi. This scale measures cognitive complaints and has been validated with psychosis and used in 20 clinical trials worldwide. It evaluates areas of the illness related to self-awareness focusing on memory dysfunction and deficits of attention, language, and praxis. We described the method of cross-cultural validation, with back-translation, semantic steps, and societal contexts. The use of the Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Emirates (SSTIC-E) was explored with different samples of UAE Arabic-speaking subjects. First, a pilot sample mean SSTICS total score was 16.5 (SD:16.9); (p

Objective: This study investigated the long-term effects of bilateral prefrontal leukotomy on lexical abilities in schizophrenia subjects. Method: We compared performances of leukotomized (LSP), non-leukotomized schizophrenia patients (NLSP) and normal controls, using a test of verbal fluency. Multiple case and triple comparison design were implemented. i.e., the performance of each LSP was compared to that of NLSP and that of a normal control. The sample consisted of four LSP, four NLSP, and four normal subjects. Subjects were matched in sex, age, handedness, and schooling. In Addition, schizophrenia groups were matched in diagnosis and years of hospitalization. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of generated words and errors produced by subjects were carried out. Results: A deficiency in both groups of schizophrenia was observed, although a better performance in LSP patients was detected. Conclusion: Intact Lexical ability in LSP indicates its poor relation to the frontal lobe.

Background: Brain morphology and physiological measures in schizophrenia have yielded inconsistent results. This may be due in part to difficulties in ascertaining precisely to what degree each measure deviates from its genetically and environmentally determined potential level. We attempted to surmount this problem in a paradigm involving monozygotic twin pair discordant for schizophrenia. In this paradigm, the difference score and reaction time between the unaffected member and affected member of a twin pair should represent the degree of pathologic involvement irrespective of actual level. Method: We investigated, using fMRI, the neural substrate underlying encoding and retrieval of aversive and neutral IAPS pictures. Results: An ANOVA on reaction time (RT) between schizophrenia patient (J) and normal sister (D) significant difference, (F=5.2, p=less than 0.02) for J had less RT than D. Conversely, the ANOVA for the correct pictures retrieved was insignificant (F=1.8, p=0.2). When the brain activity associated with the encoding and retrieval of the aversive pictures was subtracted (J-D and D-J) from that associated with the neutral ones, significant loci of activation were found. During encoding: for J-D the right fusiform gyrus was significantly activated (p is less than 0.0001) and for D-J the orbitofrontal cortex was significantly activated (p is less than 0.05). During retrieval: for J-D the right anterior cingulate (p is less than 0.0001) was activated and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (p is less than 0.002). For D-J only the cerebellum showed activation (p is less than 0.0001). Conclusion: Results indicated subtle attenuations in some aspects of memory, thus providing another evidence for cognitive markers of a genetic component in schizophrenia. New approaches in neuropsychiatry-based on genetic methodologies should further define the cerebral physiology responsible for schizophrenia.

Objective: To investigate which cognitive and affective features contribute most to responder/non-responder group separation during a switching trial with atypical antipsychotic. Design: A prospective open trial with an atypical antipsychotic (olanzapine). Patients: One hundred and thirty-four patients meeting diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, schizophreniform or schizoaffective disorder began an 8-week open-label olanzapine treatment at a dose of 5mg/day which was increased to 10mg/day after one week. Interventions: Olanzapine during 8 weeks. Patients were considered as responders if their BPRS score decreased of at least 20% (n=96) and non-responders if it did not (n=38). Neuropsychological assessments were carried out at baseline, at four and at eight weeks. Results: Neurocognitive measures were analyzed for discriminate factors between responder and non-responder groups. A regression analysis was applied to explain the effects of depression on each cognitive variable. Depression was found to be a weak discriminant factor, however this finding could not firmly establish that depression is a potential factor in explaining deficits and improvements in cognition.

An assay system that involves a MHC class II-matched or autologous allogeneic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed B-cell line helps generate antigens from tumor cell lysates to analyze whether melanoma-specific CD4+ T cells identify shared melanoma antigens. The assay system reveals that the CD4+ T cells recognize the melanoma-associated antigens from the tyrosinase gene that also expresses the CD8+ T cells-identified class I restricted epitopes. The T cell clones exhibit a single, distinct recognition scheme, indicating the existence of an immunodominant epitope that is a tyrosinase gene product.