Treatment of the Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia with Verapamil

The illness of schizophrenia, as it is understood today, appears to consist of a heterogeneous group of disorders which share several common features, such as partial response to medications, poor long-term prognosis, and the presence of psychotic symptoms. These psychotic symptoms have been arbitrarily divided into two subgroups, positive and negative, in an attempt to better understand this disease process (1,2). The positive symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations, generally have an acute onset with frequent exacerbations and remissions and a favorable long-term prognosis and response to medications. The negative symptoms, which include affective blunting , social withdrawal, apathy, and anhedonia, tend to be chronic and typically fail to respond satisfactorily to standard neuroleptics (3). This fact has been illustrated in some schizophrenic patients by the retention of negative symptoms even after treatment and subsequent reduction of their positive symptoms. Researchers have concluded that the negative symptoms are more refractory than their positive counterparts based upon this frequently observed phenomenon (4)

Screening Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Genotypes for Drought Tolerance Under Field Conditions

We evaluated the root pulling resistance (RPR) technique developed at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.) to determine its applicability for assessing the drought tolerance of direct seeded rice. Experiments were conducted in 1988 and 1989 at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Agricultural Research Farm. Fifty genotypes from four countries were grown with and without irrigation. The genotypes identified as drought tolerant germplasm by the RPR method in both years were significantly correlated. In both 1988 and 1 989, RPR was directly related to maximum root length, root number, and root dry weight. Root dry weight (RWT) had the highest correlation with RPR in both 1988 (r= 0.82 ** ) and 1989 (r=0.46 * * ). Cultivars with the greatest root lengths and root dry weights had the highest root pulling resistances

Contrasting ability of deep and shallow rooting rice genotypes to grow through plough pans containing simulated biopores and cracks

Fundings: Commonwealth Scholarship Commission Open access via Springer agreement Acknowledgements This study was funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK. We thank all people that contributed to this work. In particular, Luke Harrold, Rong Qu, Yehia Hazzazi, Licida Maria Giuliani and Istiaq Ahmed with their stimulating discussion during and after setting experiment. We are highly grateful to Annette Rafan, Dr. Stewart J Chalmers and Jaime Buckingham for providing technical supportPeer reviewedPublisher PD

A 22-year-old man with pleural tuberculosis associated hydropneumothorax: Case report and literature review.

A 22-year-old Asian male presented with fever, non-productive cough, right-sided pleuritic chest pain and was found to have a large right hydropneumothorax. A chest tube was placed. Pleural fluid analysis revealed a lymphocytic predominant exudate and he was subsequently started on four-drug daily anti-tuberculosis therapy (isoniazid, ethambutol, rifampin, pyrazinamide). Pleural biopsy revealed acid-fast bacilli. Given his persistent pleural effusion, he was given four doses of intrapleural tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and dornase alpha (DNase) via his chest tube over a period of 6 days resulting in clinical and radiologic improvement. Pleural biopsy and pleural fluid culture specimens later revealed Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Intrapleural tPA-DNase therapy has demonstrated improved resolution of infections and shortened hospitalizations for parapneumonic infectious effusions. However, there is little literature on the use of intrapleural fibrinolytics specifically for pleural tuberculosis associated effusions. Furthermore, the American Thoracic Society does not comment on therapeutic thoracentesis or intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy in their recommendations for treatment of pleural tuberculosis. In our case of pleural TB-associated hydropneumothorax, the use of intrapleural tPA-DNase therapy facilitated pleural fluid drainage and resulted in near-complete resolution of the effusion

Therapeutic daylight for hospital patients: a search for the benchmarks

To evaluate the therapeutic potential of daylit in-patient rooms, it is important to know the characteristics of daylight objectively (e.g. intensity and duration) which might support patient health effectively and are merely different from lighting requirements for visual purposes, such as viewing objects and doing work or movement. In the absence of a suitable standard, the upper and lower limits of daylight recommended by previous researchers to support patient health and comfort were selected for verification as the benchmarks of therapeutic daylight for hospital patients. Therapeutic daylight was defined as the level of daylight that can support patients to recover quickly. A field survey was conducted to collect real-world patient data from an existing hospital building. Clinical and demographic information were collected from hospital records. The amount of daylight that a particular patient might experience on the head during his/her stay in the bed was estimated by calculating the average ratio between two indoor data loggers: one installed at the back wall of patient bed (head side) and the other kept on vacant beds at the location of patient head. Based on the amount of daylight experienced, the sample patients were grouped under three categories and their post operative length of stay (LoS) inside in-patient rooms were compared using Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis. The coefficient estimates of the developed MLR model (adjusted R square = 0.516, F = 40.931 (Sig. < 0.001)) shows that while holding the other explanatory variables constant (provision of outdoor view, rent of the rooms, mean arterial pressure, heart rate and diabetes mellitus), being in lower daylight group (below 190 lx) adds 42 hours (t=3.096, P value=0.002), and being in higher daylight group (above 2000 lx) adds 29 hours (t=2.094, P value<0.037) in patient post operative LoS in hospital rooms with respect to the group experienced the moderate levels of daylight (between 190 – 2000 lx). It was concluded that the range of 190 – 2000 lx can be regarded as effective daylight intensities within which positive health outcomes are more likely to occur, and architects could use this benchmark for therapeutic daylighting design

Daylight simulation in architectural practice: shading design for hospitals in London

To achieve precision and satisfy the standards in daylight design, incorporation of computer based simulation tools during design development and decision making process could be useful. In addition to environmental factors several issues, such as construction and aesthetic, need to be considered concurrently during building projects which sometimes difficult to judge by simulation program in early stage of architectural design. To optimise time and achieve sensible design solutions this paper presents a case of therapeutic daylight shading design for an imaginary hospital in-patient room window configurations, located at London, where simulation guided results and other practical factors such as solar control criteria, line of vision, aesthetics and intuitive judgements of the authors were considered to meet the design goals. Though the simulation study is based on London climate, the principle of developing shading devices presented in this paper is also applicable for other types of building windows

A simulation assessment of the height of light shelves to enhance daylighting quality in tropical office buildings under overcast sky conditions in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The objective of this paper is to highlight the effectiveness of light shelves in tropical office buildings to enhance interior daylighting quality. Daylight simulation was performed for custom light shelves for a typical office floor of Dhaka City in Bangladesh, to determine the best possible location under overcast sky conditions. Six alternative models of a 3m high study space were created with varying heights of light shelves. The 3D models were first generated in the Ecotect to study the distribution and uniformity of daylight in the interior space with split- flux method. These models were then exported to a physically-based backward raytracer, Radiance Synthetic Imaging software to generate realistic lighting levels for validating and crosschecking the Ecotect results. The results showed that for achieving light levels closest to specified standards, light shelves at a height of 2m above floor level perform better among the seven alternatives studied including the alternative where no light shelves are present. Finally, the decisions were verified with DAYSIM simulation program to ensure the compliance of the decisions with dynamic annual climate-based daylight performance metrics