Which antidepressants have demonstrated superior efficacy? A review of the evidence

A review of published evidence of superior efficacy of a particular antidepressant in major depressive disorder may assist clinicians in making considered treatment choices. To identify such candidates, an international group of experts met to assess published evidence (identified through searches in Medline and Embase databases and discussions with experts in the field) from randomized, controlled trials and meta-analyses comparing two antidepressants under conditions of fair comparison. Criteria were defined to judge the strength of evidence. Two pivotal studies in moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder that demonstrate superiority on the primary efficacy measure, or alternatively one pivotal study supported by consistent results from meta-analyses, was considered to constitute evidence for definite superiority. Three antidepressants met these criteria: clomipramine, venlafaxine, and escitalopram. Three antidepressants were found to have probable superiority: milnacipran, duloxetine, and mirtazapine. Only escitalopram was found to have definite superiority in the treatment of severe depression; probable superiority was identified for venlafaxine and possible superiority for milnacipran and clomipramine. This review of published data found evidence that only a very few antidepressants are shown to be more effective than other

Eclipses during the 2010 eruption of the recurrent nova U Scorpii

The eruption of the recurrent nova U Scorpii on 2010 January 28 is now the all-time best observed nova event. We report 36,776 magnitudes throughout its 67 day eruption, for an average of one measure every 2.6 minutes. This unique and unprecedented coverage is the first time that a nova has had any substantial amount of fast photometry. With this, two new phenomena have been discovered: the fast flares in the early light curve seen from days 9-15 (which have no proposed explanation) and the optical dips seen out of eclipse from days 41-61 (likely caused by raised rims of the accretion disk occulting the bright inner regions of the disk as seen over specific orbital phases). The expanding shell and wind cleared enough from days 12-15 so that the inner binary system became visible, resulting in the sudden onset of eclipses and the turn-on of the supersoft X-ray source. On day15, a strong asymmetry in the out-of-eclipse light points to the existence of the accretion stream. The normal optical flickering restarts on day 24.5. For days 15-26, eclipse mapping shows that the optical source is spherically symmetric with a radius of 4.1 R⊙. For days 26-41, the optical light is coming from a rim-bright disk of radius 3.4 R ⊙. For days 41-67, the optical source is a center-bright disk of radius 2.2 R⊙. Throughout the eruption, the colors remain essentially constant. We present 12 eclipse times during eruption plus five just after the eruption

Canopy spectral invariants, Part 2: Application to classification of forest types from hyperspectral data

Many studies have been conducted to demonstrate the ability of hyperspectral data to discriminate plant dominant species. Most of them have employed the use of empirically based techniques, which are site specific, requires some initial training based on characteristics of known leaf and/or canopy spectra and therefore may not be extendable to operational use or adapted to changing or unknown land cover. In this paper we propose a physically based approach for separation of dominant forest type using hyperspectral data. The radiative transfer theory of canopy spectral invariants underlies the approach, which facilitates parameterization of the canopy reflectance in terms of the leaf spectral scattering and two spectrally invariant and structurally varying variables—recollision and directional escape probabilities. The methodology is based on the idea of retrieving spectrally invariant parameters from hyperspectral data first, and then relating their values to structural characteristics of three-dimensional canopy structure

Study of the continuum in heavy ion inelastic spectra by light particle coincidence measurements

Spectromètre SPE

Association of childhood adversities and early-onset mental disorders with adult-onset chronic physical conditions

Context: The physical health consequences of childhood psychosocial adversities may be as substantial as the mental health consequences, but whether this is the case remains unclear because much prior research has involved unrepresentative samples and a selective focus on particular adversities or physical outcomes. The association between early-onset mental disorders and subsequent poor physical health in adulthood has not been investigated. Objective: To investigate whether childhood adversities and early-onset mental disorders are independently associated with increased risk of a range of adult-onset chronic physical conditions in culturally diverse samples spanning the full adult age range. Design: Cross-sectional community surveys of adults in 10 countries. Setting: General population. Participants: Adults (ie, aged >= 18 years; N=18 303), with diagnostic assessment and determination of age at onset of DSM-IV mental disorders, assessment of childhood familial adversities, and age of diagnosis or onset of chronic physical conditions. Main Outcome Measures: Risk (ie, hazard ratios) of adult-onset (ie, at age > 20 years) heart disease, asthma, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, chronic spinal pain, and chronic headache as a function of specific childhood adversities and early-onset (ie, at age < 21 years) DSM-IV depressive and anxiety disorders, with mutual adjustment. Results: A history of 3 or more childhood adversities was independently associated with onset of all 6 physical conditions (hazard ratios, 1.44 to 2.19). Controlling for current mental disorder made little difference to these associations. Early-onset mental disorders were independently associated with onset of 5 physical conditions (hazard ratios, 1.43 to 1.66). Conclusions: These results are consistent with the hypothesis that childhood adversities and early-onset mental disorders have independent, broad-spectrum effects that increase the risk of diverse chronic physical conditions in later life. They require confirmation in a prospectively designed study. The long course of these associations has theoretical and research implications

The high precision measurement of 208^{208}Pb+208^{208}Pb Mott scattering at energies under the Coulomb barrier: the observation of new atomic effects

International audienc