Thermal characterization of materials using Karhunen–Loève decomposition techniques – Part I. Orthotropic materials

International audienc

Minocycline benefits negative symptoms in early schizophrenia : a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial in patients on standard treatment

The onset and early course of schizophrenia is associated with subtle loss of grey matter which may be responsible for the evolution and persistence of symptoms such as apathy, emotional blunting, and social withdrawal. Such ‘negative’ symptoms are unaffected by current antipsychotic therapies. There is evidence that the antibiotic minocycline has neuroprotective properties. We investigated whether the addition of minocycline to treatment as usual (TAU) for 1 year in early psychosis would reduce negative symptoms compared with placebo. In total, 144 participants within 5 years of first onset in Brazil and Pakistan were randomised to receive TAU plus placebo or minocycline. The primary outcome measures were the negative and positive syndrome ratings using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Some 94 patients completed the trial. The mean improvement in negative symptoms for the minocycline group was 9.2 and in the placebo group 4.7, an adjusted difference of 3.53 (s.e. 1.01) 95% CI: 1.55, 5.51; p < 0.001 in the intention-to-treat population. The effect was present in both countries. The addition of minocycline to TAU early in the course of schizophrenia predominantly improves negative symptoms. Whether this is mediated by neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory or others actions is under investigation

Development and validation of the Human Activity Profile into Chinese language: Lessons in determining equivalence

The Human Activity Profile (HAP), and associated Dyspnea Scale, is a self-report instrument for assessing levels of human activity. Although it has been used in studies examining the levels of activity in people, it is limited to people who are only able to understand English. However, many countries are multicultural with significant numbers of people whose native language is not English. This study sought to demonstrate the equivalence between the Chinese and English versions of the HAP and Dyspnea scales.Thirty-five bilingual university students completed both the Chinese and English versions of each questionnaire. There was 89% and 85% agreement between items across the HAP and Dyspnea Scale questionnaires, respectively. Although the psychometric evaluations suggested there was equivalence between the Chinese and English versions of both the HAP and Dyspnea Scale, lessons have been learnt regarding the different written forms of Chinese. © 2006 The Authors Journal Compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.C