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If “theory of mind” is conceived as reasoning in a strict sense, then it can be said to be useful only at certain times; however, this leaves the rest of social cognition hardly comprehensible. If “theory of mind” is used instead to refer to a mentalist ontology and the consequent awareness that we ourselves and the others function on mental states, then we need new approaches that explain the flow of social experience. To illustrate these points, we outline the general conceptual framework that underlies most empirical studies of theory of mind and discuss their pros and cons; then, we discuss the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale, a tool developed to investigate the complexity of theory of mind, which adopts a different perspective and has been successfully tested on numerous populations.

Previous studies indicated atypical Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at different ages. However, research focused on adolescents with ASD is still rare. This study aims to fill the gaps in the literature, by investigating ToM abilities in adolescents with ASD and in a group of typically developing ones. We applied the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s.), a semi-structured interview that allows a multi-dimensional measurement of ToM, including different perspectives (first/s-order, first/third-person, egocentric/allocentric), various mental states (emotions, desires, beliefs) and metacognitive abilities related with mental states (awareness, relation, and strategies). The results indicated that ToM develops atypically in ASD, with strengths and weaknesses. First, participants with ASD were comparable to controls in some specific ToM aspects, i.e., third-person ToM, both from an egocentric and an allocentric perspective. However, they were significantly weaker in attributing an understanding of the mental states of others, both in first- and second-order ToM scenarios. Second, they showed the same level of awareness about mental states as controls, but they were significantly weaker in conceptualizing the relationship between mental states and behavior. Also, they found it very difficult to think about possible strategies that they or others might employ to realize desires and needs. Finally, they performed similarly to controls in understanding emotions, while they poorly understood desires and beliefs. These results point out the distinctive characteristics of ToM development in individuals with ASD, with important implications for individualized interventions.

To assess the susceptibility of elk (Cervus canadensis) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) to SARS-CoV-2, we performed experimental infections in both species. Elk did not shed infectious virus but mounted low-level serologic responses. Mule deer shed and transmitted virus and mounted pronounced serologic responses and thus could play a role in SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology.

ABSTRACTIntroduction The COVID-19 pandemic diminished opportunities for medical students to gain clinical confidence and the ability to contribute to patient care. Our study sought out to understand the value of telephone outreach to schedule COVID-19 vaccines on medical student education.Materials and Methods Forty students engaged in telephone outreach targeting patients aged 65+ without active patient portals to schedule COVID-19 vaccines. Data consisted of a single administration retrospective pre/post survey inquiring about what students learned, expectations, other health-care processes that would benefit from outreach, and interest in a population health elective. Likert items were analyzed and open response analysis involved inductive coding and generation of thematic summaries by condensing codes into broader themes. Demographic data of patients called and subsequently received the vaccine were also collected.Results There were 33 survery respondents. There was a statistically significant increase in net comfortability for pre-clerkship students for documenting in Epic, providing telehealth care, counseling on common health-care myths, having challenging conversations, cold-calling patients, and developing an initial trusting relationship with patients. The majority called and who received the vaccine were non-Hispanic Black, within the high SVI category, and had Medicare and/or Medicaid. Qualitative data showed that students emphasized communication, the role of trusted messengers, the need to be open minded, and meeting patients where they are.Discussion Engaging students in telephone outreach early in the COVID-19 pandemic provided students the opportunity to develop their skills as physicians-in-training, contribute to combating the ongoing pandemic, and add value to the primary care team. This experience allowed students to practice patience, empathy, and vulnerability to understand why patients had not received the COVID-19 vaccine; this was an invaluable experience that helped students develop the skills to become empathetic and caring physicians, and supports the continued role of telehealth in future medical school curriculum.

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) emerged in the United States in 2018 and has spread in both domestic and wild rabbits nationwide. The virus has a high mortality rate and can spread rapidly once introduced in a rabbit population. Vaccination against RHDV2 provides the best protection against disease and should be considered by all rabbit owners. Here, we investigate the duration of immunity provided by vaccination with the Medgene Platform conditionally licensed commercial vaccine 6 months following the initial series. Rabbits received either the vaccination or a placebo and were challenged with RHDV2 6 months later. All vaccinated rabbits survived challenge whereas 18/19 non-vaccinated controls succumbed to infection within 10 or fewer days post-challenge. These results demonstrate lasting immunity following vaccination with the Medgene RHDV2 vaccine.

We assessed 2 wild canid species, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and coyotes (Canis latrans), for susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. After experimental inoculation, red foxes became infected and shed infectious virus. Conversely, experimentally challenged coyotes did not become infected; therefore, coyotes are unlikely to be competent hosts for SARS-CoV-2.

Abstract Background Ageing refers to the natural and physiological changes that individuals experience over the years. This process also involves modifications in terms of communicative-pragmatics, namely the ability to convey meanings in social contexts and to interact with other people using various expressive means, such as linguistic, extralinguistic and paralinguistic aspects of communication. Very few studies have provided a complete assessment of communicative-pragmatic performance in healthy ageing. Methods The aim of this study was to comprehensively assess communicative-pragmatic ability in three samples of 20 (N = 60) healthy adults, each belonging to a different age range (20–40, 65–75, 76–86 years old) and to compare their performance in order to observe any potential changes in their ability to communicate. We also explored the potential role of education and sex on the communicative-pragmatic abilities observed. The three age groups were evaluated with a between-study design by means of the Assessment Battery for Communication (ABaCo), a validated assessment tool characterised by five scales: linguistic, extralinguistic, paralinguistic, contextual and conversational. Results The results indicated that the pragmatic ability assessed by the ABaCo is poorer in older participants when compared to the younger ones (main effect of age group: F(2,56) = 9.097; p

African swine fever is a high-consequence foreign animal disease endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and the island of Sardinia. The U.S. is the world’s third largest pork producer, and ASF introduction would severely disrupt the pork supply chain, emphasizing the need to protect market access for U.S. proteins. However, niche producers raising swine intended for exhibition may not follow stringent biosecurity protocols, and livestock show circuits may promote untracked animal movement across the country, potentially exacerbating virus’ spread in the event of ASF incursion into the U.S. Youth membership in state or national swine organizations offers a route for outreach and educational activities to enhance foreign animal disease preparedness, and adult presence at swine exhibitions allows a wide variety of programming for all ages to better serve all levels of understanding.

Anthrax is a disease of concern in many mammals, including humans. Management primarily consists of prevention through vaccination and tracking clinical-level observations because environmental isolation is laborious and bacterial distribution across large geographic areas difficult to confirm. Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species with an extensive range in the southern United States that rarely succumbs to anthrax. We present evidence that feral swine might serve as biosentinels based on comparative seroprevalence in swine from historically defined anthrax-endemic and non–anthrax-endemic regions of Texas. Overall seropositivity was 43.7% (n = 478), and logistic regression revealed county endemicity status, age-class, sex, latitude, and longitude were informative for predicting antibody status. However, of these covariates, only latitude was statistically significant (β = –0.153, p = 0.047). These results suggests anthrax exposure in swine, when paired with continuous location data, could serve as a proxy for bacterial presence in specific areas.

Abstract Early in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic concerns were raised regarding infection of new animal hosts and the effect on viral epidemiology. Infection of other animals could be detrimental by causing clinical disease, allowing further mutations, and bares the risk for the establishment of a non-human reservoir. Cats were the first reported animals susceptible to natural and experimental infection with SARS-CoV-2. Given the concerns these findings raised, and the close contact between humans and cats, we aimed to develop a vaccine candidate that could reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection and in addition to prevent spread among cats. Here we report that a Replicon Particle (RP) vaccine based on Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, known to be safe and efficacious in a variety of animal species, could induce neutralizing antibody responses in guinea pigs and cats. The design of the SARS-CoV-2 spike immunogen was critical in developing a strong neutralizing antibody response. Vaccination of cats was able to induce high neutralizing antibody responses, effective also against the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant. Interestingly, in contrast to control animals, the infectious virus could not be detected in oropharyngeal or nasal swabs of vaccinated cats after SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Correspondingly, the challenged control cats spread the virus to in-contact cats whereas the vaccinated cats did not transmit the virus. The results show that the RP vaccine induces protective immunity preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission. These data suggest that this RP vaccine could be a multi-species vaccine useful to prevent infection and spread to and between animals should that approach be required.

Wild animals have been implicated as the origin of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but it is largely unknown how the virus affects most wildlife species and if wildlife could ultimately serve as a reservoir for maintaining the virus outside the human population. We show that several common peridomestic species, including deer mice, bushy-tailed woodrats, and striped skunks, are susceptible to infection and can shed the virus in respiratory secretions. In contrast, we demonstrate that cottontail rabbits, fox squirrels, Wyoming ground squirrels, black-tailed prairie dogs, house mice, and racoons are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our results expand the knowledge base of susceptible species and provide evidence that human–wildlife interactions could result in continued transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Abstract An impairment in pragmatic communication is a core feature of schizophrenia, often associated with difficulties in social interactions. The pragmatic deficits regard various pragmatic phenomena, e.g., direct and indirect communicative acts, deceit, irony, and include not only the use of language but also other expressive means such as non-verbal/extralinguistic modalities, e.g., gestures and body movements, and paralinguistic cues, e.g., prosody and tone of voice. The present paper focuses on the identification of those pragmatic features, i.e., communicative phenomena and expressive modalities, that more reliably discriminate between individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls. We performed a multimodal assessment of communicative-pragmatic ability, and applied a machine learning approach, specifically a Decision Tree model, with the aim of identifying the pragmatic features that best separate the data into the two groups, i.e., individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls, and represent their configuration. The results indicated good overall performance of the Decision Tree model, with mean Accuracy of 82%, Sensitivity of 76%, and Precision of 91%. Linguistic irony emerged as the most relevant pragmatic phenomenon in distinguishing between the two groups, followed by violation of the Gricean maxims, and then extralinguistic deceitful and sincere communicative acts. The results are discussed in light of the pragmatic theoretical literature, and their clinical relevance in terms of content and design of both assessment and rehabilitative training.

Arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) populations exist as mutant swarms that are maintained between arthropods and vertebrates. West Nile virus (WNV) population dynamics are host-dependent. In American crows, purifying selection is weak and population diversity is high compared to American robins, which have 100- to 1000-fold lower viremia. WNV passed in robins leads to fitness gains, whereas that passed in crows does not. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that high crow viremia allows for higher genetic diversity within individual avian peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), reasoning that this could have produced the previously observed host-specific differences in genetic diversity and fitness. Specifically, we infected cells and birds with a molecularly barcoded WNV and sequenced viral RNA from single cells to quantify the number of WNV barcodes in each. Our results demonstrate that the richness of WNV populations within crows far exceeds that in robins. Similarly, rare WNV variants were maintained by crows more frequently than by robins. Our results suggest that increased viremia in crows relative to robins leads to the maintenance of defective genomes and less prevalent variants, presumably through complementation. Our findings further suggest that weaker purifying selection in highly susceptible crows is attributable to this higher viremia, polyinfections and complementation.

Abstract Patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) have a core impairment in the communicative-pragmatic domain, characterized by severe difficulties in correctly inferring the speaker’s communicative intentions. While several studies have investigated pragmatic performance of patients with SCZ, little research has analyzed the errors committed in the comprehension of different communicative acts. The present research investigated error patterns in 24 patients with SCZ and 24 healthy controls (HC) during a task assessing the comprehension of different communicative acts, i.e., sincere, deceitful and ironic, and their relationship with the clinical features of SCZ. We used signal detection analysis to quantify participants’ ability to correctly detect the speakers’ communicative intention, i.e., sensitivity, and their tendency to wrongly perceive a communicative intention when not present, i.e., response bias. Further, we investigated the relationship between sensitivity and response bias, and the clinical features of the disorder, namely symptom severity, pharmacotherapy, and personal and social functioning. The results showed that the ability to infer the speaker’s communicative intention is impaired in SCZ, as patients exhibited lower sensitivity, compared to HC, for all the pragmatic phenomena evaluated, i.e., sincere, deceitful, and ironic communicative acts. Further, we found that the sensitivity measure for irony was related to disorganized/concrete symptoms. Moreover, patients with SCZ showed a stronger response bias for deceitful communicative acts compared to HC: when committing errors, they tended to misattribute deceitful intentions more often than sincere and ironic ones. This tendency to misattribute deceitful communicative intentions may be related to the attributional bias characterizing the disorder.

Deficits in social cognition and more specifically in communication have an important impact on the real-life functioning of people with schizophrenia (SZ). In particular, patients have severe problems in communicative-pragmatics, for example, in correctly inferring the speaker’s communicative intention in everyday conversational interactions. This limit is associated with morphological and functional alteration of the left middle temporal gyrus (L-MTG), a cerebral area involved in various communicative processes, in particular in the distinction of ironic communicative intention from sincere and deceitful ones. We performed an fMRI study on 20 patients with SZ and 20 matched healthy controls (HCs) while performing a pragmatic task testing the comprehension of sincere, deceitful, and ironic communicative intentions. We considered the L-MTG as the region of interest. SZ patients showed difficulties in the correct comprehension of all types of communicative intentions and, when correctly answering to the task, they exhibited a higher activation of the L-MTG, as compared to HC, under all experimental conditions. This greater involvement of the L-MTG in the group of patients could depend on different factors, such as the increasing inferential effort required in correctly understanding the speaker’s communicative intentions, and the higher integrative semantic processes involved in sentence processing. Future studies with a larger sample size and functional connectivity analysis are needed to study deeper the specific role of the L-MTG in pragmatic processes in SZ, also in relation to other brain areas.

Anthrax is a disease that affects livestock, wildlife, and humans worldwide; however, its relative impacts on these populations remain underappreciated. Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are relatively resistant to developing anthrax, and past serosurveys have alluded to their utility as sentinels, yet empirical data to support this are lacking. Moreover, whether feral swine may assist in the dissemination of infectious spores is unknown. To address these knowledge gaps, we intranasally inoculated 15 feral swine with varying quantities of Bacillus anthracis Sterne 34F2 spores and measured the seroconversion and bacterial shedding over time. The animals also were inoculated either one or three times. The sera were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibodies against B. anthracis, and nasal swabs were cultured to detect bacterial shedding from the nasal passages. We report that the feral swine developed antibody responses to B. anthracis and that the strength of the response correlated with the inoculum dose and the number of exposure events experienced. Isolation of viable bacteria from the nasal passages of the animals throughout the study period suggests that feral swine may assist in the spread of infectious spores on the landscape and have implications for the identification of environments contaminated with B. anthracis as well as the exposure risk to more susceptible hosts.

Invasive feral swine (Sus scrofa) are one of the most important wildlife species for disease surveillance in the United States, serving as a reservoir for various diseases of concern for the health of humans and domestic animals. Brucella suis, the causative agent of swine brucellosis, is one such pathogen carried and transmitted by feral swine. Serology assays are the preferred field diagnostic for B. suis infection, as whole blood can be readily collected and antibodies are highly stable. However, serological assays frequently have lower sensitivity and specificity, and few studies have validated serological assays for B. suis in feral swine. We conducted an experimental infection of Ossabaw Island Hogs (a breed re-domesticated from feral animals) as a disease-free proxy for feral swine to (1) improve understanding of bacterial dissemination and antibody response following B. suis infection and (2) evaluate potential changes in the performance of serological diagnostic assays over the course of infection. Animals were inoculated with B. suis and serially euthanized across a 16-week period, with samples collected at the time of euthanasia. The 8% card agglutination test performed best, whereas the fluorescence polarization assay demonstrated no capacity to differentiate true positive from true negative animals. From a disease surveillance perspective, using the 8% card agglutination test in parallel with either the buffered acidified plate antigen test or the Brucella abortus/suis complement fixation test provided the best performance with the highest probability of a positive assay result. Application of these combinations of diagnostic assays for B. suis surveillance among feral swine would improve understanding of spillover risks at the national level.

We report pilot studies to evaluate the susceptibility of common domestic livestock (cattle, sheep, goat, alpaca, rabbit, and horse) to intranasal infection with SARS-CoV-2. None of the infected animals shed infectious virus via nasal, oral, or faecal routes, although viral RNA was detected in several animals. Further, neutralizing antibody titres were low or non-existent one month following infection. These results suggest that domestic livestock are unlikely to contribute to SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is presumed to have originated from wildlife and shares homology with other bat coronaviruses. Determining the susceptibility of North American bat species to SARS-CoV-2 is of utmost importance for making decisions regarding wildlife management, public health, and conservation. In this study, Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) were experimentally infected with two strains of SARS-CoV-2 (parental WA01 and Delta variant), evaluated for clinical disease, sampled for viral shedding and antibody production, and analyzed for pathology. None of the bats (n = 18) developed clinical disease associated with infection, shed infectious virus, or developed histopathological lesions associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. All bats had low levels of viral RNA in oral swabs, six bats had low levels of viral RNA present in the lungs during acute infection, and one of the four bats that were maintained until 28 days post-infection developed a neutralizing antibody response. These findings suggest that Brazilian free-tailed bats are permissive to infection by SARS-CoV-2, but they are unlikely to contribute to environmental maintenance or transmission.

La evaluación de líneas endocriadas en un programa de maíces híbridos requiere no sólo determinar la producción perse de las mismas, sino también el comportamiento promedio de sus combinaciones híbridas (Aptitud Combinatoria General) y la capacidad de producir combinaciones híbridas superiores al cruzarse entre sí (Aptitud Combinatoria Específica). El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar la Aptitud Combinatoria General (ACG) de once líneas endocriadas de maíces forrajeros derivados de la cruza original entre Zea mays L. x Zea dipioperennis litis, Doebley y Guzman y la Aptitud Combinatoria Específica (ACE) de la progenie de un dialélico simple directo entre ellas. Se evaluó la biomasa aérea total de la planta y sus componentes morfológicos en comparación con un híbrido comercial. La proporción de ACG/ACE fue alta en todos los caracteres de producción evaluados indicando poco efecto de dominancia o sobredominancia, quizás producto de una escasa divergencia entre las líneas. Sólo se encontró ACG significativa para la producción de hojas. Sobresale en tal sentido la línea 4 (LE 785) que también presentó los mayores valores en la producción de tallo y planta entera. La línea 2 (LE 769) se destacó por su ACG en la producción de mazorca. La cruza (2 x 4) tuvo buen comportamiento en la producción de forraje y teniendo en cuenta que se debe a la transmisión de los genes de sus líneas progenitoras sería interesante iniciar un programa de selección recurrente a partir de la primera generación segregante de esa cruza, intentando una recombinación génica favorable en la producción de biomasa.

Se presentan las principales características de la primera mini-destilería para producción agroindustrial de bioetanol de proceso de molienda seca con sistema de cocción fría que fue desarrollada en forma conjunta por profesionales del área de ingeniería de proyectos de Porta Hnos. S.A. e investigadores del GISIQ de la FRVM. Esta fue construida y puesta en marcha por la empresa y se ofrece como una alternativa tecnológica de bajo costo para el procesamiento de maíz u otros cereales, que opera en el lugar de producción de la materia prima, resultando una opción atractiva para áreas agrícolas distantes, en las cuales los costos de transporte desalientan su producción. La puesta a punto de la etapa de cocción fría para el proceso fue desarrollada de manera experimental. Como conclusiones se destaca la eficiencia alcanzada, su autonomía de operación y la demanda un mínimo requerimiento de personal con un entrenamiento básico para su manejo.

OBJECTIVE:Schizophrenia is associated with a severe impairment in the communicative-pragmatic domain. Recent research has tried to disentangle the relationship between communicative impairment and other domains usually impaired in schizophrenia, i.e. Theory of Mind (ToM) and cognitive functions. However, the results are inconclusive and this relationship is still unclear. Machine learning (ML) provides novel opportunities for studying complex relationships among phenomena and representing causality among multiple variables. The present research explored the potential of applying ML, specifically Bayesian network (BNs) analysis, to characterize the relationship between cognitive, ToM and pragmatic abilities in individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls, and to identify the cognitive and pragmatic abilities that are most informative in discriminating between schizophrenia and controls. METHODS:We provided a comprehensive assessment of different aspects of pragmatic performance, i.e. linguistic, extralinguistic, paralinguistic, contextual and conversational, ToM and cognitive functions, i.e. Executive Functions (EF)-selective attention, planning, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, working memory and speed processing-and general intelligence, in a sample of 32 individuals with schizophrenia and 35 controls. RESULTS:The results showed that the BNs classifier discriminated well between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. The network structure revealed that only pragmatic Linguistic ability directly influenced the classification of patients and controls, while diagnosis determined performance on ToM, Extralinguistic, Paralinguistic, Selective Attention, Planning, Inhibition and Cognitive Flexibility tasks. The model identified pragmatic, ToM and cognitive abilities as three distinct domains independent of one another. CONCLUSION:Taken together, our results confirmed the importance of considering pragmatic linguistic impairment as a core dysfunction in schizophrenia, and demonstrated the potential of applying BNs in investigating the relationship between pragmatic ability and cognition.

Patients with schizophrenia are often described as impaired in several cognitive domains. Specifically, patients with schizophrenia often exhibit problems in solving tasks requiring theory of mind (ToM), i.e., the ability to ascribe mental states to oneself and others, communicative-pragmatic ability, i.e., the ability to use language and non-verbal expressive means to convey meaning in a given context, and executive functions (EF). This study aims to investigate the role of cognitive functions, such as general intelligence, selective attention, processing speed, and especially EF (working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and planning), and ToM in explaining the performance of individual with schizophrenia in comprehending and producing communicative acts expressed with different communicative intentions (i.e., sincere, deceitful, and ironic), and realized through linguistic and extralinguistic/non-verbal expressive means. Thirty-two patients with schizophrenia and an equal number of healthy controls performed tasks aiming to investigate their capacity to comprehend and produce sincere, deceitful, and ironic communicative acts in addition to a series of cognitive tasks evaluating EF and ToM. The results indicated that individuals with schizophrenia performed worse than the controls in the comprehension and production of all pragmatic phenomena investigated, as well as in all the cognitive functions examined. The patients with schizophrenia also exhibited an increasing trend of difficulty in comprehending and producing sincere, deceitful, and ironic communicative acts expressed through either linguistic or extralinguistic means. Furthermore, a multiple regression analysis of the patients’ performance on the pragmatic tasks revealed that overall, the role of attention, general intelligence, and processing speed did not appear to significantly explain the patients’ communicative-pragmatic performance. The inclusion of EF into the analysis did not contribute to increase the explained variance of the patients’ ability to comprehend and produce the various pragmatic phenomena investigated. Only the addition of ToM could significantly increase the explained variance, but only in the comprehension and production of deceit expressed by language and the production of sincere communicative acts, also limited to linguistic production. We conclude that neither EF nor ToM are able to explain the decreasing trend detected in the patients’ pragmatic performance.

Heartland virus (HRTV) is a recently described phlebovirus initially isolated in 2009 from 2 humans who had leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. Serologic assessment of domestic and wild animal populations near the residence of 1 of these persons showed high exposure rates to raccoons, white-tailed deer, and horses. To our knowledge, no laboratory-based assessments of viremic potential of animals infected with HRTV have been performed. We experimentally inoculated several vertebrates (raccoons, goats, chickens, rabbits, hamsters, C57BL/6 mice, and interferon-α/β/γ receptor–deficient [Ag129]) mice with this virus. All animals showed immune responses against HRTV after primary or secondary exposure. However, neutralizing antibody responses were limited. Only Ag129 mice showed detectable viremia and associated illness and death, which were dose dependent. Ag129 mice also showed development of mean peak viral antibody titers >8 log10 PFU/mL, hemorrhagic hepatic lesions, splenomegaly, and large amounts of HRTV antigen in mononuclear cells and hematopoietic cells in the spleen.

Aim of the paper is to discuss the extent to which pragmatics, i.e., the ability to use language and other expressive means to convey meaning in a specific interactional context, overlaps with Theory of Mind (ToM), i.e., the ability to ascribe mental states to oneself and the others. We present empirical data available in the current literature concerning the relation between these two faculties, with specific reference to the developmental and clinical domains. Part of the literature we take into account appears to show that ToM does correlate with pragmatic ability; however, other studies appear to show that pragmatic ability alone cannot explain the empirical differences of performance across different kinds of pragmatic tasks, and therefore that another, at least partially different faculty is required to account for human communication. We argue that to conceive pragmatics as a sort of subcomponent of ToM, and thus to conflate or reduce the notion of pragmatics into the (wider) notion of ToM, is not theoretically correct and a possible cause of methodological confusion in the relevant empirical research. It thus turns out to be necessary that the two faculties be investigated with separate theories as well as different experimental tasks.