Is Safinamide Effective as an Add-on Medication in Treating Parkinson\u27s Disease Motor Symptoms?

Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to determine whether or not “Is safinamide effective as an add-on medication in treating Parkinson\u27s disease motor symptoms?” Study Design: Review of three randomized, controlled studies published in peer reviewed journals in English between 2012-2014. Data Sources: The three randomized, double-blind clinical trials were found via PubMed and EBSCOhost Web. Articles were selected based on relevance, the date of publication, and whether or not they included patient outcomes. Outcomes Measured: Among other measures, each trial measured improvement in motor symptoms using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) Part III (motor) scores, a clinician-scored motor evaluation. Results: UPDRS III scores significantly improved in 100 mg/day safinamide experimental group compared to the placebo control group. Conclusions: All three of the randomized clinical trials included in this review indicated that safinamide 100 mg/day is an effective add-on medication to dopaminergic drugs in improving motor function and reducing motor fluctuations

A technique for estimating tropical open ocean rainfall from satellite observations

M. S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 1974Bibliography: leaf 82.M.S

WRRCTR No.112 Diurnal Variation in Rainfall and Cloudiness

Maps of diurnal rainfall patterns based on hourly rainfall records are presented for the six major Hawaiian islands. The resulting rainfall distributions demonstrate the complexity of the interaction between trade winds and large islands. Distributions for windward stations on the low islands have early morning maxima common to the tradewind rainfall over open oceans. Mesoscale circulations and moisture extraction by windward mountain barriers modify the oceanic pattern, particularly on the high islands. Patterns on Hawaii shift from nocturnal maxima on windward coasts to pronounced daytime maxima on the leeward coasts. At higher windward elevations on Mauna Loa and Mauna Ke'a, the pattern shows afternoon peaks as contrasted to nocturnal maxima at windward coasts, such as at Hilo. First harmonic R^2 approached .90 at windward stations on small islands and in regions of strong mesoscale circulations. For the largest island, Hawai'i, R^2 exceeded .60 for all stations examined. Hourly mean cloudiness maps for a two-week period in July 1976 are presented for Hawai'i Island based on SMS-2 geostationary satellite images. Tests verify the subjective analysis procedure, particularly when applied to the visible images. Although rainfall over most of the island was below normal, rainfall frequencies were not, indicating that observed cloudiness was typical of summer conditions. Stations were geographically grouped. Windward coastal stations have small diurnal cloudiness variations but produced nocturnal rainfall maxima. Higher elevation windward stations have larger cloudiness variation but smaller rainfall variation, while leeward stations have large and pronounced variations in both rainfall frequency and cloudiness, with maxima occurring in the late afternoon.U.S. Department of the Interior Grant Agreement No. 14-34-001-7026 OWRT Project No. A-072-H