The effects of amisulpride on five dimensions of psychopathology in patients with schizophrenia: a prospective open- label study

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of antipsychotics can be evaluated using the dimensional models of schizophrenic symptoms. The D(2)/D(3)-selective antagonist amisulpride has shown similar efficacy and tolerability to other atypical antipsychotics. The aim of the present study was to determine the efficacy of amisulpride on the dimensional model of schizophrenic symptoms and tolerability in latin schizophrenic patients. METHOD: Eighty schizophrenic patients were enrolled and 70 completed a prospective open-label 3-month study with amisulpride. The schizophrenic symptoms, psychosocial functioning and side-effects were evaluated with standardized scales. RESULTS: The patients showed significant improvement in the five dimensions evaluated. Amisulpride (median final dose 357.1 mg/d) was well-tolerated without treatment-emergent extrapyramidal side-effects. CONCLUSION: Amisulpride showed efficacy on different psychopathological dimensions and was well tolerated, leading to consider this drug a first line choice for the treatment of schizophrenia

Cooperation and Competition Strategies in Multi-objective Shape Optimization - Application to Low-boom/Low-drag Supersonic Business Jet

International audienceCooperation and competition are natural laws that regulate the interactions between agents in numerous physical, or social phenomena. By analogy, we transpose these laws to devise e cient multi-objective algorithms applied to shape optimization problems involving two or more disciplines. Two e cient strategies are presented in this paper: a multiple gradient descent algorithm (MGDA) and a Nash game strategy based on an original split of territories between disciplines. MGDA is a multi-objective extension of the steepest descent method. The use of a gradient-based algorithm that exploits the cooperation principle aims at reducing the number of iterations required for classical multi-objective evolutionary algorithms to converge to a Pareto optimal design. On the other hand side, the Nash game strategy is well adapted to typical aeronautical optimization problems, when, after having optimized a preponderant or fragile discipline (e.g. aerodynamics), by the minimization of a primary objective-function, one then wishes to reduce a secondary objective-function, representative of another discipline, in a process that avoids degrading excessively the original optimum. Presently, the combination of the two approaches is exploited, in a method that explores the entire Pareto front. Both algorithms are rst analyzed on analytical test cases to demonstrate their main features and then applied to the optimum-shape design of a low-boom/low-drag supersonic business jet design problem. Indeed, sonic boom is one of the main limiting factors to the development of civil supersonic transportation. As the driving design for low-boom is not compliant with the low-drag one, our goal is to provide a trade-o between aerodynamics and acoustics. Thus Nash games are adopted to de ne a low-boom con guration close to aerodynamic optimality w.r.t. wave drag

Singular thermal relaxation limit for the moore-gibson-thompson equation arising in propagation of acoustic waves

Moore-Gibson-Thompson (MGT) equations, which describe acoustic waves in a heterogeneous medium, are considered. These are the third order in time evolutions of a predominantly hyperbolic type. MGT models account for a finite speed propagation due to the appearance of thermal relaxation coefficient $$\tau \u3e 0$$ in front of the third order time derivative. Since the values of $$\tau$$ are relatively small and often negligible, it is important to understand the asymptotic behavior and characteristics of the model when $$\tau \rightarrow 0$$. This is a particularly delicate issue since the $$\tau -$$ dynamics is governed by a generator which is singular as $$\tau \rightarrow 0.$$ It turns out that the limit dynamics corresponds to the linearized Westervelt equation which is of a parabolic type. In this paper, we provide a rigorous analysis of the asymptotics which includes strong convergence of the corresponding evolutions over infinite horizon. This is obtained by studying convergence rates along with the uniform exponential stability of the third order evolutions. Spectral analysis for the MGT-equation along with a discussion of spectral uppersemicontinuity for both equations (MGT and linearized Westervelt) will also be provided