CONTEXTO: Pessoas diagnosticadas com esquizofrenia apresentam um défice significativo na cognição social com implicações negativas relativamente ao funcionamento interpessoal e social. A realidade virtual apresenta grandes potencialidades para a avaliação e o treino de competências em pessoas com doença mental. OBJETIVOS: Apresentar os resultados preliminares de um programa construído para avaliação do reconhecimento emocional de faces por pessoas com esquizofrenia, utilizando avatares 3D e realidade virtual. MÉTODOS: Apresentação de avatares 3D que reproduzem expressões emocionais, construídas por meio do FaceGen® e integradas num ambiente virtual tridimensional. Apresentou-se cada avatar a 12 doentes com esquizofrenia e a 12 pessoas sem patologia psiquiátrica, avaliando as respostas de reconhecimento e a atividade eletroencefalográfica frontal. RESULTADOS: Os resultados demonstraram que as expressões de alegria e raiva foram as mais bem reconhecidas pelos dois grupos, enquanto de medo e nojo foram as de maior dificuldade. Verificaram-se alterações na atividade alfa frontal para os estímulos raiva e nojo na amostra de doentes com esquizofrenia. CONCLUSÃO: Apesar de algumas expressões emocionais poderem ser melhoradas, o programa desenvolvido pode constituir uma mais-valia para o paciente e para o terapeuta, proporcionando a execução da tarefa em condições não ansiogênicas e aproximadas à experiência real.

BACKGROUND: Significant deficits in emotional recognition and social perception characterize patients with schizophrenia and have direct negative impact both in inter-personal relationships and in social functioning. Virtual reality, as a methodological resource, might have a high potential for assessment and training skills in people suffering from mental illness. OBJECTIVES: To present preliminary results of a facial emotional recognition assessment designed for patients with schizophrenia, using 3D avatars and virtual reality. METHODS: Presentation of 3D avatars which reproduce images developed with the FaceGen® software and integrated in a three-dimensional virtual environment. Each avatar was presented to a group of 12 patients with schizophrenia and a reference group of 12 subjects without psychiatric pathology. RESULTS: The results show that the facial emotions of happiness and anger are better recognized by both groups and that the major difficulties arise in fear and disgust recognition. Frontal alpha electroencephalography variations were found during the presentation of anger and disgust stimuli among patients with schizophrenia. DISCUSSION: The developed program evaluation module can be of surplus value both for patient and therapist, providing the task execution in a non anxiogenic environment, however similar to the actual experience.

Orthotopic liver transplantation has become the treatment of choice for familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy. The aims of this study were to evaluate the renal complications post orthotopic liver transplantation in familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy and their impact. We retrospectively studied 185 recipients who underwent 217 orthotopic liver transplants. Mean age 3 6.8±9.5 years, 59% males, 14.3% with renal dysfunction pre orthotopic liver transplantation. Mean follow-up 3.6±3.7 years. Thirty-two patients died. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed, and p<0.05 was considered significant. Acute kidney injury occurred in 57 patients and renal replacement therapy was needed in 16/57. In multivariate analysis, acute kidney injury was correlated with development of chronic kidney disease (p<0.001). Relating to development of chronic kidney disease, 23.5% had progress to stage 3, 6% to stage 4 and 5.1% to stage 5 d. According to Spearmen correlation, risk factors for chronic kidney disease development were age (p<0.001), renal dysfunction pre orthotopic liver transplantation (p<0.001) and acute kidney injury post orthotopic liver transplantation (p<0.001). Mortality was correlated with age (p<0.001), retransplantation need (p=0.004), renal dysfunction pre orthotopic liver transplantation (p<0.001), acute kidney injury post orthotopic liver transplantation (p=0.04), and chronic kidney disease stage 5 (p<0.001). Using binary regression, mortality was correlated with chronic kidney disease development (p=0.02). In conclusion, familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy patients are disposed to renal complications that have a negative impact on the survival of these patients

O uso de animais isogênicos apresenta grandes vantagens experimentais, como uniformidade fenotípica e genotípica (reduzindo o número de animais em experimentos) e histocompatibilidade, permitindo, assim, o acúmulo de informações e a repetibilidade dos experimentos. A linhagem isogênica de Rattus norvegicus Fischer 344 existe há 90 anos, entretanto pouco se sabe sobre as razões de seu baixo índice reprodutivo. O presente estudo demonstrou que ratos Fischer F344 são fotorresponsivos quanto à reprodução, tendo seus índices de prenhezes acrescidos com o aumento do fotoperíodo. Os melhores índices são obtidos quando os machos são submetidos a 14 horas de luz e fêmeas a 16 horas de luz, indicando dimorfismo sexual na fotorresponsividade.

The use of isogenic animals presents great experimental advantages, as phenotypic and genotypic uniformity (reducing the number of experimental animals) and histocompatibility, thus allowing, the accumulation of information, and the repeatability of the experiments. The isogenic strain of Rattus norvegicus Fischer 344 has existed for 90 years, however the reasons of its low reproductive index are not knew. The present study has demonstrated that Fischer F344 rats are photoresponsive regarding reproduction, having improved its pregnancy index with the increase of the photoperiod. The best indexes were achieved when the males had been submitted to 14 hours of light and females to 16 hours of light, indicating sexual dimorphism in photoresponsivity.