Use of virtual reality to explore the decision making in obsessive–compulsive disorder and Parkinson’s disease

Assessment of Executive Functions in Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by NeuroVR

Executive functions are often impaired in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). We used a Virtual Reality (VR) version of the Multiple Errand Test (MET) inside a virtual supermarket, in order to evaluate the executive functions in daily life in 10 OCD patients and 10 controls. It is performed in a shopping setting where there are items to be bought and information to be obtained. The specific goal of this study was to implement a tool for the assessment of executive functions.

Visual Field defects, type A personality,anxiety and coping style in patients with primary open angle glaucoma.

Classification of glaucomatous visual field defects for different severity levels is important. The reasons for this are numerous, and include: to distinguish between healthy and diseased individuals, to have homogeneous grouping criteria when perimetry is used to define the severity of glaucoma, to adjust therapy on the basis of disease severity, to describe visual field conditions in a short and simple format, to monitor the progression of the disease, and to provide a common language for both clinical and research purposes. Many severity classification methods have been proposed, although none have had widespread use in clinical practice. Other methods, like the cumulative defect curve (…

SCHEDE DEI PROVVEDIMENTI SANZIONATORI DI PRATICHE COMMERCIALI SCORRETTE, PUBBLICITÀ INGANNEVOLE E COMPARATIVA ILLECITA EMESSI DALL’AGCM. CONCORRENZA E MERCATO

Effectiveness of clays and copper products in the control of Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin)and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) in organic farming

Tests on the effect of clays (kaolin and bentonite) and copper products (hydroxide and oxychloride) in the control of olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin), and Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), were carried out from 2003 to 2006 in olive groves, and in 2005 and 2006 in organic orange orchards (early ripening cv. Navelina). Results demonstrate an efficacy of kaolin products in reducing attacks of Bactrocera oleae to olives and those of Ceratitis capitata to oranges. In olive groves, they gave similar or better results than copper hydroxide. Bentonite AG/W8 showed a significant reduction in punctures towards C. capitata. Bentonite products and BPLK kaolin are clea…

Vision and emotional flow in a cognitive architecture for human-machine interaction

The detection and recognition of a human face should meet the need for social interaction that drives a humanoid robot, and it should be consistent with its cognitive model and the perceived scene. The paper deals with the description of the potential of having a system of emotional contagion, and proposes a simple implementation of it. An emotional index allows to build a mechanism which tends to align the emotional states of the robot and the human when a specific object is detected in the scene. Pursuing the idea of social interaction based on affect recognition, a first practical application capable of managing the emotional flow is described, involving both conceptual spaces and an emo…

A Decision Support System for Reverse Engineering Gene Regulatory Networks

In this paper we present a knowledge-based system that aims at helping scientists in the reverse engineering process of gene regulatory networks. The main motivation of the proposed approach is to support scientists in the choice of the wide variety of algorithms and methods currently applied in the literature to infer Gene Regulatory Networks starting from gene expression measured using microarray technology. The Decision Support System (DSS) architecture is based on an ontology to model the knowledge base, a logical reasoner that builds the workflow of tasks to be done starting from the user’s request and a set of rules, and, finally, an agenda that runs the algorithms and software schedu…

Influenza delle variabili socio-demografiche sull’uso di internet in un gruppo di pazienti psichiatrici.

Psychometric assessment using classic neuropsychological and virtual reality based test: A study in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenic patients

Assessment of neurocognitive functioning is a critical task in clinical settings. In many disorders, cognitive impairment precedes the onset of behavioral symptoms, and cognitive decline is a major factor contributing to functional disability. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the executive functions by comparing the evaluations obtained using a neuropsychological battery with the one obtained using the virtual reality version of the Multiple Errands Test (V-MET). The study population included three groups: 10 patients affected by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD); 10 Schizophrenic patients; 10 healthy Controls. The results identified executive problems in clinical samples.…

Ansia,stili di coping e danno campimetrico in pazienti con Glaucoma cronico ad angolo aperto

La riabilitazione delle funzioni cognitive dei pazienti schizofrenici attraverso l’uso della realtà virtuale: un’indagine pilota

Metric Learning in Histopathological Image Classification: Opening the Black Box

The application of machine learning techniques to histopathology images enables advances in the field, providing valuable tools that can speed up and facilitate the diagnosis process. The classification of these images is a relevant aid for physicians who have to process a large number of images in long and repetitive tasks. This work proposes the adoption of metric learning that, beyond the task of classifying images, can provide additional information able to support the decision of the classification system. In particular, triplet networks have been employed to create a representation in the embedding space that gathers together images of the same class while tending to separate images w…

Cognitive thought diary in supportive psychology for people undergoing radiotherapy: a feasibility study

BAC KGROUND: Radiation therapy (RT ) has become one of the most widely-used and efficient treatments for cancer; nevertheless, people who undergo radiotherapy suffer the physical and psychological consequences of this stressful treatment, in addition to the psychosocial distress related to cancer. However, a Radiotherapy Unit is often a place where several patients crowd in from various hospitals with restricted timetables and, for logistic reasons, it is not easy to provide regular psychological sessions for each one. It is important to find a setting that allows us the involvement of the largest number of patients referred to the unit. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the feasibility a…

SCHEDE DEI PROVVEDIMENTI SANZIONATORI DI PRATICHE COMMERCIALI SCORRETTE, PUBBLICITÀ INGANNEVOLE E COMPARATIVA ILLECITA EMESSI DALL’AGCM.

Il testamento biologico: dimensioni culturali, prospettive simboliche e psicodinamiche

Recenti vicende umane e giuridiche hanno portato in primo piano il tema del testamento biologico e del rapporto tra l’uomo, la malattia e la morte. L’interrogativo sulla morte è connesso con quello della vita umana che viene considerata ora come la semplice sopravvivenza dell’organismo biologico, ora come un’esperienza che racchiude aspetti emotivi, affettivi e relazionali. Le discipline psicologiche possono aiutare a riflettere sul rapporto della società contemporanea con la malattia e con la morte, sui riti che accompagnano tali esperienze, sui processi decisionali che sottostanno al testamento biologico. Nell’epoca contemporanea la medicina si accosta al morente con l’idea di vincere la …

An ontological-based knowledge organization for bioinformatics workflow management system

Ansia, Depressione e Qualità della Vita nei pazienti oncologici in trattamento radioterapico

Introduzione: La gestione del paziente oncologico in corso di trattamento radioterapico non può prescindere da un’attenta valutazione delle variabili soggettive legate all’emotività e al vissuto interno del paziente, essendo tali aspetti implicati nella compliance al trattamento (Neilson et al., 2010). Questo lavoro si pone un duplice obiettivo: indagare la presenza di ansia, depressione e qualità della vita in un gruppo di pazienti oncologici non omogeneo per patologia, stadio della malattia e trattamento; valutare in che termini l’introduzione di un intervento psicologico possa avere delle ricadute sul benessere psico-fisico dei pazienti. Metodologia: Il campione è costituito da 50 pazien…

Stili difensivi, alessitimia e percezione della qualità della vita in pazienti affette da neoplasia al seno

Introduzione: Il presente lavoro indaga la qualità delle reazioni emotive e psicologiche delle pazienti affette da cancro mammario, sottoposte a intervento chirurgico e in diversi stadi di malattia. Metodologia: Il campione è composto da 110 pazienti così suddivise: 40 in follow-up, 41 sottoposte a chemioterapia adiuvante, 29 metastatiche. Strumenti: Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI, Ihilevich e Gleser, 1986), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20, Taylor GJ,1992), EORTC QLQ-C30-BR23 (Fayers PM et al 1998). Risultati: Nei tre gruppi si rivela differenza alle scale F1 (p<.01), F2 (p<.03), F3 (p<.00) della TAS-20 e QoL (p<.02) e FS (p<.01) dell’EORTC. Al DMI si riscontrano punteggi più elevati a…

La robotica come strumento per il potenziamento delle abilità cognitive e metacognitive nella scuola

Dose-dependent effects of decaffeinated coffee on endothelial function in healthy subjects

ackground/Objectives: Coffee is known to contain antioxidant substances whose effects may be blunted because of caffeine that may unfavorably affect the cardiovascular system. This study was designed to investigate the acute dose-dependent effects of decaffeinated coffee (DC) on endothelial function measured by the brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD). Subjects/Methods: A total of 15 (8 men and 7 women) healthy nonobese subjects underwent a single-blind, crossover study. Subjects ingested one and two cups of decaffeinated Italian espresso coffee in random order at 5- to 7-day intervals. Results: In the hour following the ingestion of two cups of DC, FMD increased (mean±s.e.m.): 0 mi…

Metacognitive Therapy in Patients with Tinnitus: a Single Group Study

Tinnitus is often in comorbidity with anxiety and depression, and several authors have proposed a reduced efficiency of the top-down executive control in its perception. This single-group study describes a novel application of the metacognitive therapy (MCT), which works on a top-down engagement of proactive attentional control mechanisms on a group of patients with tinnitus, to see its impact on the perception of tinnitus and its anxiety and depression correlates. Eight metacognitive therapy group-sessions were proposed to a group of nine patients, as part of a regional project conducted at the University General Hospital “Paolo Giaccone” of Palermo. The last was a follow-up session, propo…

Neuropsychological Assessment through NeuroVirtual Reality in OCD patients

Assessment of executive functions in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder by NeuroVirtual Reality