bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Delineation of Ground Water Potential Zones in Chinhat Block, District Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh - An Integrated Approach
Authors: Tripathi Shashank , Tiwari Atul , Singh Arjun
Published: April 2020

The identification of ground water potential zones in the Chinhat block, district Lucknow, U.P. has been carried out based on the scientific investigation of drainage, gydro-geomorphology, lithology, soil, land use and land cover, geo-resistivity data and their inter-relationship. Thematic layers of drainage, canal, surface water body, geomorphology, lithology, lineament, soil, and land use and land cover were prepared with the help of satellite images. Field traverses along litho-stratigraphic units was made to check ground truth. Dug well data were collected at different locations in the district. digital elevation model (DEM) of the area was generated using SRTM data. Slope map was prepared from DEM. To generate these layers a step-approach, i.e., digitization, editing, building topological structure and finally, polygonization for GIS overlay analysis was followed.

Every class in the thematic layers were placed into one of the following categories viz. (i) excellent (ii) good (iii) moderate (iv) poor, and (v) very poor depending on their level of groundwater potential. Considering their behavior with respect to groundwater control, the different classes were given suitable values, according to their importance relative to other classes in the same thematic layer.

To find out the more realistic ground water potentiality map of the area, the relevant layers which include geomorphology, lithology, lineament, slope, drainage density, soil type and landuse/landcover were integrated in Arc/Info grid environment. Criteria for GIS analysis have been defined on the basis of ground water conditions and appropriate weightage were assigned to each information layer according to relative contribution towards the desired output.

The inferred results have also been validated by the yield data collected from the existing sources. The findings based on the drilling data confirms that the higher yield categories fall in the excellent ground water potential zones while the area marked as very poor ground water potential zone fall under low yield categories.
A GIS-based Approach in Drainage Morphometrie Analysis of Sai River Basin, Uttar Pradesh, India
Authors: Gautam Pawan Kumar , Singh Dhruv Sen , Kumar Dhirendra , Singh Anoop Kumar
Published: April 2020

This study focuses on hydrogeological processes and sub-surface geological activities. The basin area measured is 11,161 km2 with NW-SE sloping trend. Sinuosity Index is 2.7 which show meandering nature. The drainage density, stream frequency and drainage intensity values were 0.62 km−1, 0.23km−1 and 0.37 respectively which implies that low surface runoff, high permeable alluvium, high infiltration rate, easily erodible alluvium and low relief. Mean Bifurcation ratio of 5.11 indicates that the basin is structurally controlled. Stream length ratio shows mature stage of erosion and low runoff. The basin is found to be significantly elongated circularity ratio, elongation ratio, form factor, shape index and shape factor is 0.07, 0.33, 0.09, 4.28 and 11.61 respectively. Drainage texture of 0.15 (km−1) suggest the smooth topography and high drainage density. Relief ratio is 0.23, low surface run-off, low erosion, and gentle slope. The constant of channel maintenance, length of overland flow, ruggedness number is 1.60, 0.80, 0.05 respectively, conclude the gentle slope, low surface runoff, high infiltration rate, least erodible and high permeability. The Rho coefficient of 0.11 shows the low capacity of water. The basin relief is 84 and relief ratio is 0.23 m indicating low run-off and low erosion. Hypsometric curve and integral show that the river is having intermediate stage of incision and erosion, Asymmetric factor, drainage basin shape, presence of high escarpment zones, fall displacement and uplifted barrier occur in the path of the channel identified in the transverse profile, longitudinal profiles due to intra-basinal sub-surface tectonic activity.
Runoff Induced Soil Erosion and its Impact on the Quality of Water for Upper-Patiala-Ki-Rao Catchment Lying on Shivalik Hills
Authors: Walia Sushma , Singh Sarbjit , Babbar Richa
Published: April 2020

In this research paper runoff induced soil erosion and its impact on the quality of water of upper Patiala-Ki-Rao catchment located on Shivalik hills of Punjab and Haryana states of India were quantified. The selected ungauged basin is divided into two sub-watersheds and there are four gauged micro-watersheds nested within it. The simultaneous calibration is carried out for selected ungauged watershed, sub-watersheds and four gauged micro-watersheds to simulate the discharge and soil loss using Arc-SWAT and remote sensing. The model is first validated for four gauged micro-watersheds and then the predicted discharge and soil loss was validated for selected ungauged watershed and two sub-watersheds using a regionalization approach to make sure that the model was representing the watershed as a whole. The results of statistical analysis after thorough manual calibration and validation predicts that the SWAT model can satisfactorily simulate stream-flow and sediment yield for the upper Patiala-Ki-Rao watershed. In addition, water samples were collected for each runoff producing rain event during monsoon season for two years to access the impact of soil loss on the quality of water.
Impacts of Land Use Land Cover Change on Surface Temperature and Groundwater Fluctuation in Raipur District
Authors: Jaiswal Tanushri , Jhariya D. C.
Published: April 2020

This study is aimed to analyse the impacts of Land Use / Land Cover (LULC) to Land Surface Temperature (LST) and water level fluctuation in Raipur city, for which pre- & post-monsoon data for four years 2000, 2008, 2014 and 2018 have been analysed. By this study, it has been observed that changing LULC has its direct impact on surface temperature as it is increasing with rapid urbanization. Also due to the modern agricultural practices and increasing urbanization as the major factor responsible for changing LULC, and the declining water level.
Groundwater Quality Analysis of Northeastern Haryana using Multivariate Statistical Techniques
Authors: Ravish Sandeep , Setia Baldev , Deswal Surinder
Published: April 2020

Sub-surface water contamination has become a topic of main concern due to anthropogenic activities. MSTs were performed to appraise the seasonal and spatial variations in quality of sub-surface water and to trace the sources in NE Haryana. WQI was computed to analyse the quality of overall groundwater for domestic purposes during pre- and post-monsoon periods. The post-monsoon season water samples were found to be good for human consumption compared to pre-monsoon season. HCA, DA and PCA were performed to the quality of sub-surface water data computed on 14 elements from 30 locations geographically well-distributed across the area. Thirty sampling sites were classified into 02 clusters using HCA, group two having higher contamination than group one. The most significant elements accounting for spatial and seasonal variations in quality of sub-surface water of the study region was obtained by using DA. For the combined dataset of the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons of 2017 the temporal and spatial DA identified pH, Na, Cl, TDS, Mg and F as the six most significant element, which distinguishes between water pre-eminence in the two seasons and accounts for 88.34% spatial and 100% seasonal assignation of cases. PCA was used to the data observed from the 02 groups, which obtained four varimax-factors in each group, accounting 77.54 and 84.77% of the total variance, respectively. Varimax factors evolved from PCA represented that quality of sub-surface water variation is possibly attributed by multiple geogenic, anthropogenic factors, ion exchange processes and rock-water interactions in groundwater.
The unconquerable country: the Babylonian marshes in the Neo-Assyrian sources
Authors: Bagg Ariel M.
Published: April 2020

The Assyrians ruled in the first half of the first millennium BCE over most part of the Ancient Near East. The Neo-Assyrian Empire was constructed on the base of a powerful, well organized and trained army, which defeated all enemies and seemed to be invincible. Babylonia was a special case, because of the complicated political situation and especially its particular geography. Southern Babylonia (nowadays Southern Iraq) was a region of marshes and lagoons, an ideal refuge for rebels. The area could become a mortal trap for those who entered it without knowing it well enough. This region, which represented a severe challenge for the Assyrian army, was called in the Assyrian sources the “Sealand”, a region where water played a crucial role. The aim of this paper is to show how this particular landscape was perceived by the Assyrians as well as to point out its decisive role in the development of the historical events on the base of the cuneiform sources and the depictions on the stone plates, which decorated the walls of the Assyrian palaces.
Recent Advances on Boosting the Cell Voltage of Aqueous Supercapacitors
Authors: Gou Qianzhi , Zhao Shuang , Wang Jiacheng , Li Meng , Xue Junmin
Published: April 2020

Due to its ultra-fast charge/discharge rate, long cyclic life span, and environmental benignity, aqueous supercapacitor (SC) is considered as a proper next-generation energy storage device. Unfortunately, limited by undesirable water electrolysis and unreasonable electrode potential range, aqueous SC normally generates a narrow cell voltage, resulting in a low energy density. To address such challenge, enormous efforts have been made to construct high-voltage aqueous SCs. Despite these achievements, the systematic reviews about this field are still rare. To fill this knowledge gap, this review summarizes the recent advances about boosting the cell voltage of aqueous SCs. From the viewpoint of electrode, doping alkali cations, modulating the electrode mass ratio, and optimizing the surface charge density are regarded as three effective pathways to achieve this goal. However, adjusting the appropriate pH level, introducing redox mediators, and constructing “water-in-salt” electrolyte are other three universal routes from the electrolyte aspect. Furthermore, it is also effective to obtain the high-voltage aqueous SCs through asymmetric design, such as designing asymmetric SCs. The confronting challenges and future development tendency towards the high-voltage aqueous SCs are further discussed.
Die Gelegenheit nutzen: Die Evaluation der Friedens- und Konfliktforschung durch den Wissenschaftsrat aus der Perspektive der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (AFK)
Authors: Engels Bettina , Schetter Conrad
Published: April 2020

In diesem Forumsbeitrag kommentieren wir die aktuelle Evaluation der Friedens- und Konfliktforschung in Deutschland durch den Wissenschaftsrat als (ehemalige) Vorsitzende der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (AFK e. V.). Wir reflektieren, was die Evaluation aus der Perspektive der AFK für das Forschungsfeld der Friedens- und Konfliktforschung und für den Verband selbst bedeutet. Dazu stellen wir dar, wie die AFK als Fachverband in der Evaluation berücksichtigt wurde. Anschließend beleuchten wir zentrale Themenfelder, die im Evaluationsbericht angesprochen werden: Professionalisierung, die normative Ausrichtung des Forschungsfelds, Interdisziplinarität, Internationalisierung, die Standortfrage, politischer Nutzen, Finanzierung und Nachwuchsförderung. Wir argumentieren, dass die Evaluation eine Gelegenheit für das Forschungsfeld generell und für die AFK im Besonderen darstellt, um über die Stärken und Perspektiven der Friedens- und Konfliktforschung in Deutschland reflektieren und Strategien entwickeln, diese strukturell und institutionell zu sichern und auszubauen. Die AFK als standort- und institutionenübergreifender Fachverband könnte hierbei und als Lobbyorganisation eine wichtige Rolle übernehmen.
LAW, RELIGION, AND SOCIETY IN CHINA: A CONTESTED TERRAIN
Authors: Mauldin Joshua T.
Published: April 2020

The tumult of the twentieth century had a great impact on the role of religion in Chinese society. Antipathy toward religion reached its height in China during the Cultural Revolution, one of the few times in history when religion was almost completely wiped out in a single country. Religion in China has experienced a resurgence since the beginning of the Reform and Opening Up period in 1978. With the renewal of religious practice, new proposals have been put forward for the role of religious ideas in public life. In addition to the endurance of Marxist and liberal conceptions of the place of religion in society, new voices have emerged, arguing for return to Confucianism as the source of moral vitality in public life, or advancing Christian public theology as a moral resource for individuals adrift and alienated by the rapid changes of a modernizing economy. These realities have reshaped debates about the protection of religious freedom in China. This article introduces these new social and discursive realities and sets the stage for the articles that follow.
Contributions to Proto-Jê Archaeology in the Southern Brazilian Highlands: Wood, Fire, and Landscape
Authors: de Azevedo Leonardo Waisman , Scheel-Ybert Rita
Published: April 2020

The anthracological analyses of domestic and ceremonial contexts of proto-Jê archaeological sites in southern Brazil and Argentina have yielded data regarding landscape, fire technology, fuel economy, wood selection, and wood use from about 1200 to 250 years BP. The inhabitants of these sites built up the landscape that they occupied, actively constructing and experiencing their domestic and ceremonial places and possibly engaging in vegetation management practices. They gathered timber and firewood in the Araucaria Forest and in intensely modified areas covered by secondary vegetation. These practices likely included logging and gathering fallen deadwood. Our data indicate cultural selection of particular species. Inga sp., Jacaranda sp., and Araucaria angustifolia were probably selected because of the meaning of these woods in the cosmological dual system of proto-Jê societies. Bamboos and palm stems may have been used as kindling and for fire making. These results are an important contribution to our understanding of the proto-Jê occupation and the relationships that these groups maintained with their plant environment.
Logical Constraints: The Limitations of QCA in Social Science Research
Authors: Clarke Kevin A.
Published: April 2020

Researchers employing qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and its variants use two-element Boolean algebra to compare cases and identify putative causal conditions. I show that the two-element Boolean algebra constrains research in three important ways: it restricts what we can say about sets and the interactions between sets, it embodies a logical language that is too weak to capture modern social science theories, and it restricts our analysis of causation to necessity and sufficiency accounts and does not allow for counterfactuals. Modern quantitative analysis suffers none of these restrictions and provides a much richer way to understand the social world.
Giving the Microphone to the Other
Authors: Waltham-Smith Naomi
Published: April 2020

This response to Pooja Rangan’s bold provocation inImmediationsreflects, from a Derridean standpoint, on the impossible responsibility of speakingforthe other. In particular, it examines the role played by the microphone as technological prosthesis for the voice in activist practices of audio documentary, analyzing the actions of performance artist Sharon Hayes and sound art collective Ultra-red.
Alegropolis: Wakanda andBlack Panther’s Hall of Mirrors
Authors: Kabir Ananya Jahanara
Published: April 2020

The climax of the filmBlack Panther(directed by Ryan Coogler, 2018) shows the two heirs claiming the Black Panther’s mantle battling it out in a tunnel that is modernity's dark hull. My article teases out the complex relationship between the film’s doubled Black Panthers as a hall of mirrors, where the African American filmmaker and the assembled African and Afro-diasporic cast confront each other, their collective memories of slavery, and the complex relationship of those on the African continent to those memories. What in the structure of cinema might take us out of this hall of mirrors to a futurity beyond trauma? In answer, I offer a reading of Wakanda as “Alegropolis”: a lavish and loving cinematic creation that draws on Afro-Futurist play with temporality and technology to reinscribe this circum-Atlantic history within a planetary frame. An affiliative afro-modernity is generated thereby, which invites a global audience to share the film’s ethical and emotional concerns as what Michael Rothberg calls “implicated subjects.”
An immunoproteomics approach to identifyLeishmania infantumproteins to be applied for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis and human immunodeficiency virus co-infection
Authors: Machado Amanda S. , Ramos Fernanda F. , Oliveira-da-Silva João A. , Santos Thaís T. O. , Tavares Grasiele S. V. , Costa Lourena E. , Lage Daniela P. , Teixeira-Ferreira André , Perales Jonas , Fernandes Ana Paula , Moreira Ricardo L. F. , Duarte Mariana C. , Tupinambás Unaí , Caligiorne Rachel B. , Cota Gláucia F. , Coelho Eduardo A. F. , Ludolf Fernanda
Published: April 2020

The co-infection between visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has increased in several countries in the world. The current serological tests are not suitable since they present low sensitivity to detect the most of VL/HIV cases, and a more precise diagnosis should be performed. In this context, in the present study, an immunoproteomics approach was performed usingLeishmania infantumantigenic extracts and VL, HIV and VL/HIV patients sera, besides healthy subjects samples; aiming to identify antigenic markers for these clinical conditions. Results showed that 43 spots were recognized by antibodies in VL and VL/HIV sera, and 26 proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. Between them,β-tubulin was expressed, purified and tested in ELISA experiments as a proof of concept for validation of our immunoproteomics findings and results showed high sensitivity and specificity values to detect VL and VL/HIV patients. In conclusion, the identified proteins in the present work could be considered as candidates for future studies aiming to improvement of the diagnosis of VL and VL/HIV co-infection.
The VNTR of the AS3MT gene is associated with brain activations during a memory span task and their training-induced plasticity
Authors: Zhao Wan , Zhang Qiumei , Chen Xiongying , Li Yang , Li Xiaohong , Du Boqi , Deng Xiaoxiang , Ji Feng , Wang Chuanyue , Xiang Yu-Tao , Dong Qi , Chen Chuansheng , Li Jun
Published: April 2020

Background

The Arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT) gene has been identified as a top risk gene for schizophrenia in several large-scale genome-wide association studies. A variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) of this gene is the most significant expression quantitative trait locus, but its role in brain activity in vivo is still unknown.

Methods

We first performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan of 101 healthy subjects during a memory span task, trained all subjects on an adaptive memory span task for 1 month, and finally performed another fMRI scan after the training. After excluding subjects with excessive head movements for one or more scanning sessions, data from 93 subjects were included in the final analyses.

Results

The VNTR was significantly associated with both baseline brain activation and training-induced changes in multiple regions including the prefrontal cortex and the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex. Additionally, it was associated with baseline brain activation in the striatum and the parietal cortex. All these results were corrected based on the family-wise error rate method across the whole brain at the peak level.

Conclusions

This study sheds light on the role of AS3MT gene variants in neural plasticity related to memory span training.
The reduced left hippocampal volume related to the delayed P300 latency in amnestic mild cognitive impairment
Authors: Gao Lijuan , Gu Lihua , Shu Hao , Chen Jiu , Zhu Jianli , Wang Bi , Shi Yachen , Song Ruize , Li Kun , Li Xianrui , Zhang Haisan , Zhang Hongxing , Zhang Zhijun
Published: April 2020

Background

Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is characterized by delayed P300 latency and reduced grey matter (GM) volume, respectively. The relationship between the features in aMCI is unclear. This study was to investigate the relationship between the altered P300 latency and the GM volume in aMCI.

Methods

Thirty-four aMCI and 34 well-matched normal controls (NC) were studied using electroencephalogram during a visual oddball task and scanned with MRI. Both tests were finished in the same day.

Results

As compared with the NC group, the aMCI group exhibited delayed P300 latency in parietal cortex and reduced GM volumes in bilateral temporal pole and left hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus. A remarkable negative correlation was found between delayed P300 latency and reduced left hippocampal volume only in the aMCI group. Interestingly, the mediating analysis found P300 latency significantly mediated the association between right supramarginal gyrus volume and information processing speed indicated by Stroop Color and Word Test A scores.

Conclusions

The association between delayed P300 latency and reduced left hippocampal volume in aMCI subjects suggests that reduced left hippocampal volume may be the potential structural basis of delayed P300 latency.
The Flies of Summer: A Kantian Reply to Burke
Authors: Church Jeffrey
Published: April 2020

This paper takes up a deep objection to liberalism associated most clearly with Edmund Burke, that liberalism's tendency to rapid change from generation to generation frustrates a fundamental human desire to participate in what is unchanging. To address this criticism, I examine Kant's political theory from the 1780s and 1790s, focusing on the themes of perpetual peace, revolution, and punishment. I argue that for Kant, the liberal community is best understood as an enduring partnership for the liberation of humanity, rather than as a partnership to protect material interests or rights. Understanding Kant's liberalism in this way confronts Burke's challenge and also helps solve some difficult puzzles in Kant scholarship.
Zeal without Fanaticism: Jean-Jacques Rousseau on the Religion of the Citizen
Authors: Cortes Alyssa
Published: April 2020

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is well known for his love of the ancients. His use of examples from Sparta and republican Rome emphasized what he found lacking in modern times. This article attempts to establish how Rousseau's views on the ancients are related to his religious-political thought, particularly as it relates to his description of citizen religion in the last chapter of the Social Contract. While Rousseau admired many aspects of citizen religion, he rejects it for two reasons: reasons of humanity in the Geneva Manuscript and reasons of self-interest in the Social Contract. This article attempts to understand how the two can be reconciled through the view of citizen religion's contribution to patriotism and fanaticism.
Emotional blunting and sensation seeking in HIV-infected individuals
Authors: Bungener C , Lacour C , Carton S , Lefrere J J , Widlocher D , Jouvent R
Published: April 2020

Twenty five asymptomatic HIV-1 seropositive subjects were matched with 25 healthy seronegative low-risk individuals to evaluate emotional patterns. Seropositive subjects scored significantly higher, and an important emotional deficit was noticed. Sensation seeking subscores were significantly lower in the seropositive group.
Therapeutic strategies in atypical depressive syndrome in the UK
Authors: Peveler R
Published: April 2020

In the UK, the majority of patients with depressive disorders are treated by general practitioners, and there is little agreement on the nomenclature for atypical disorders including dysthymia, atypical depression, neurasthenia and recurrent brief depression. Mixed depressive and anxiety symptoms are considered to be the norm, and antidepressant drugs are increasingly being used in place of benzodiazepines. Unfortunately, antidepressant regimens prescribed by GPs tend to be inadequate in terms of both duration and dosage, and an educational campaign is underway to remedy this problem. British psychiatrists employ the full range of available antidepressant drugs for depression, and the severity of the disorder is not a primary determinant for choice of drug; on the other hand, ECT is reserved primarily for psychotic depression. Neurasthenia is frequently diagnosed as “chronic fatigue syndrome”, or “myalgic encephalomyelitis”, and a psychological treatment protocol has given encouraging initial results.
Diagnostic and therapeutic issues of atypical depression in Japan
Authors: Asai M , Nakane Y , Kanba S
Published: April 2020

Depressive conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, persistent depression and chronic mild depression have recently been the subject of much interest in Japan. The term “atypical depression” is not in common use, however depressive states falling outside the “typical” categories of the major depressive disorders (MDD) can be discussed in terms of symptomatology, etiology, and response to treatment. The term “neurasthenia” which refers to a hypochondriacal disorder with or without physical illness, as well as to a subtype of neurosis (ICD-9, 300.5), is no longer extensively used. “Dysthymia” is classically employed to signify either a dysphoric state accompanied by mild depression and irritability, as defined by the German school, or a mild depressive personality disorder; it is currently used as an alternative to “neurotic depression” (ICD-9 300.4), or “dysthymic disorder” (DSM III-R). Recurrent brief depression is not yet a prevalent concept in Japan. Despite the observation of depression with hyperphagia and/or hypersomnia, these phenomena have not received a specific designation. Therapeutic approaches to depression include both non-drug modalities (psychotherapy, environmental modification, etc) and the standard drug regimens (antidepressants, anxiolytics, etc); clinical trials are currently underway with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors which we expect to be effective in treatment-resistant depression. Plant-based traditional remedies are still widely employed in Japan, and several of these are described. Finally, we discuss the Morita therapy, a specifically Japanese modality for treatment of mild depression with obsessive-compulsive symptoms based upon the Zen philosophy. This approach involves an initial period of absolute bed-rest, followed by gradual resumption of work and social activities with support and counseling.
Therapeutic strategies in atypical depression. A German perspective
Authors: Möller HJ
Published: April 2020

In Germany a major distinction is made between endogenous and neurotic depression. While traditionally neurotic depression was seen as being amenable only to psychotherapy, there is an increasing tendency to treat neurotic patients presenting the full depressive syndrome with antidepressant drugs. Those psychiatrists who are aware of the concept of atypical depression in the stricter sense (anxiety-depression, depression with reversed somatic symptoms, etc) tend to treat these patients with monoamine oxidase inhibitors. The diagnosis of “dysthymia”, Possibly equivalent to “neurotic depression”, has not yet come into common usage. While the term “neurasthenia” is traditional, general Practitioners prefer other designations; treatment involves supportive psychotherapy, benzodiazepines and sedative antidepressants. Mixed anxiety-depression is treated with anxiolytic antidepressants, sedatives or, for the milder cases, with low-dose neuroleptics. This indication for neuroleptics is controversial, and a treatment protocol has been codified for use by the general practitioners so as to avoid the potential major adverse reactions seen with the class. The new concept of recurrent brief depression is confined to academic milieu, where treatment is the same as for unipolar depression.
Clinical target syndromes in psychiatry: latent structure analysisversusfactor analysis
Authors: Bech P
Published: April 2020

The algorithms for the demonstration of shared phenomenology of psychiatric syndromes in DSM-III are resistant to quantification. In contrast, the rating scale approach quantifies clinical target syndromes in psychiatry. The two most useful statistical models for quantifying shared phenomenology by symptom rating scales have been reviewed; namely factor analysis and latent structure analysis. Results have shown that factor analysis has demonstrated dimensions of dementia, delirium, schizophrenia, mania, outward aggression, depression and anxiety. Latent structure analysis has confirmed that the items of brief rating scales (such as the Melancholia Scale) are additively related implying that their total scores are sufficient statistics for the measurement of these factors or dimensions. Latent structure analysis should be considered as a psychometric “glasnost” compared to algorithm-resistant logic of quantification in DSM-III.
Diagnostic criteria in psychiatry: a straitjacket or a prop?
Authors: Jablensky A
Published: April 2020

Clinical psychiatrists face the dilemma of ‘humanism’ versus ‘reductionism’ when confronting the problem of diagnosing and classifying patients. The introduction of ‘operational’ or ‘explicit’ diagnostic criteria (ODC) should provide a middle-ground enabling the clinician to combine person-oriented approach with a more rigorous application of knowledge-based decision rules. More than a decade of world-wide experience with ODC should enable at least a preliminary evaluation of their utility and cost not only from the point of view of the clinician and researcher but also from the position of mental health care consumers. In order to maximize usefulness, the developpers and users of ODC should avoid their ‘reification’ as the ultimate standard in psychiatric diagnosis and retain an attitude of epistemological openness.
Evaluation of safety and side effects in the process of anti-anxiety drug development *
Authors: Bourin M , Couetoux du Tertre A , Payeur R
Published: April 2020

As with other drugs it is necessary to look for changes induced by anxiolytics on vital signs, laboratory parameters and adverse events. In return, in a more specific way for anxiolytics, we will look at side effects at the central nervous system level with psychological and physiological battery tests. We will also assess the safety of use of anxiolytics in certain specific conditions, such as overdose or withdrawal and in certain populations such as the elderly, neonates and children. The assessment of safety and side effects, whatever the drug type studied, must come early in the developing process of a drug (phases I, II and III).
Comparison of the efficacy of moclobemide and fluvoxamine in elderly patients with a severe depressive episode
Authors: Bocksberger JP , Gachoud JP , Richard J , Dick Ρ
Published: April 2020

In a double-blind study carried out on elderly patients (older than 65 years) the efficacy and tolerability of the new antidepressant moclobemide was compared. Moclobemide belongs to a new class of substances called RIMA (Reversible inhibitor of the monoamine oxidase type A). Fluvoxamine, a selective reuptake-inhibitor of 5-HT, belongs to a class of antidepressants known for their better tolerability compared to tricyclic especially with elderly patients. Forty elderly patients (mean age 75 years) with major depression (according to DSM III) were randomized to receive either moclobemide (300 mg) or fluvoxamine (100 mg) twice daily. Dosages were increased when necessary on day 8, to a maximum of 450 mg moclobemide or 200 mg fluvoxamine and in most cases were maintained at these levels for the remainder of the study period (four weeks). Moclobemide was more effective than fluvoxamine showing a marked antidepressant effect and an earlier effect on psychomotor retardation. The two drugs were well tolerated showing a low incidence of side effects.
Secondary psychotic symptoms in a patient with biphasic meningo-encephalitis
Authors: Modell S , Kurtz G , Müller-Spahn F , Schmölz E
Published: April 2020

We report on the case of a patient who developed an acute meningitis and, after a period of about two weeks, without any neuropsychiatric problems, an acute paranoid-hallucinatory and catatonic syndrome. The symptomatology is discussed, in relation with the diagnostic difficulties of differentiating between a biphasic meningo-encephalitis with an organic psychosis or a first manifestation of an endogenous psychosis.
Cortical metabolic patterns in schizophrenia: a mismatch with the positive-negative paradigm
Authors: Huret JD , Mazoyer BM , Lesur A , Martinot JL , Pappata S , Baron JC , Lemperière T , Syrota A
Published: April 2020

The cortical metabolic patterns of 12 schizophrenics experiencing hallucinations and/or pseudo-hallucinations were investigated using positron tomography and 18F-fluoro-deoxy-glucose. Andreasen's scales were scored and the patients (all “mixed“) were classified in a “positive” or a “negative” group and compared to a group of 6 normal controls. The data were analyzed across groups for absolute metabolic rates, metabolic indices (cortical region/whole studied cortex), and specific indices exploring the sensory non-association/posterior parietal association and the prefrontal association/posterior parietal association dimensions. Whole-cortex metabolic rate in the negative group was found to be lower than both the control (P=0.02) and the positive group (P = 0.002) while the positive group did not differ significantly from the controls. We found “hypofrontality” to be without difference between the positive and the negative group (controls: 7±0.7, positive: 5.9±0.2, negative: 4.9±0.15, mean±SEM in mg/min/100 g). However, the prefrontal association/posterior parietal association ratio was increased in the negative group (P=0.02). A major finding was an increase in the posterior non-association/posterior parietal association ratio in the whole schizophrenic group as compared to the controls (P = 0.004), this being more marked in the negative (P=0.01) than in the positive group. Arguments are given to support the hypothesis that this particular increase could be related to the hallucinatory activity of the patients.
Widlöcher's Depressive Retardation Scale and Montgomery Asberg's Depression Rating Scale: an inter-rater study
Authors: Lang F , Pellet J , Postic Y , Beau JM , Lancrenon S , Blanchon Y , Chazot L , Decrat M , Marcon M , Perrier E , Ouvry MC
Published: April 2020

To study the reliability of two depression assessment scales, the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale and the Psychomotor Retardation Scale, 30 patients with depression according to Feighner's criteria were evaluated, by two groups of raters: 5 were trained psychiatrists or psychologists, and 6 were untrained raters. The experiment lasted three months. The patients were recorded on video-tape by two psychiatrists who did not take part in the experiment, during pre-designed interviews. Each scoring was discussed by the trained group but not by the untrained group. The Kappa test and the sign-test were used for the statistical analysis of global and itemized results, respectively. Intraclass coefficient Q3 was applied to global scores. With regard to global scores, there was no significant difference among the members of the trained group, who scored higher than those of the untrained group; a significant difference between some of the untrained raters, induced a significant difference with the trained group. With regard to each item of both scales, reliability appeared to be slight to moderate, and there was no significant difference between trained and inexpert raters. These results are discussed and modifications are proposed to improve the consistency of the two scales. The authors emphasize the necessity for therapeutic trials to be conducted with permanent groups of assessors who continue training even outside of trial procedures.
Placebo response in schizophrenia
Authors: Lewander Τ
Published: April 2020

A review of the literature on placebo-controlled studies in schizophrenia reveals, that the percentage of placebo responders in short-term trials amounts to 0–40%; on active treatment the response rate is 40–60%. In relapse prevention studies 18–100% of patients on placebo relapsed as compared to 0–40% on active treatment. Factors of importance for the variability between studies are discussed. Desirable designs of explanatory and pivotal studies, the importance of placebo controlled relapse prevention studies, and more rigorous assessment methods,egvideo-taped and structured interviews for diagnostic and symptom rating purposes, are proposed as a means to improve the quality of the clinical documentation of new drugs.
Problems of generalization of findings. Regulatory attitudes
Authors: Kern U
Published: April 2020

To approve a drug means to release it for use in a specific patient population which should be characterized as clearly as possible in the labelled indications in the Summary of Product Characteristics (eg patients with major depression according to DSM III-R).

Ideally, the patient samples in various clinical trials should be representative of this specific patient population, and the crucial question is whether the study data allow an extrapolation to the wider patient population which we intend to treat.

Basically, what is valid for preclinical data and animal exposure, should also be valid for humans: more or less all regulatory authorities agree that they should accept valid data and information from all regions and all clinical studies available in order to minimize unnecessary human exposures and needless duplication. This is especially important in therapeutic fields where there is an urgent need for treatment due to the lack of suitable alternatives.
The “appropriate” conditions for establishing interrater reliability of interview-based rating scales. A controversial issue
Authors: Hafkenscheid A
Published: April 2020

For many of the conditions with which psychiatry is concerned, there is still no anatomical or physiological abnormality that is reliably found in those affected with the conditions and not in other people. Some evidence exists that, for instance, severe and chronical psychopathological symptoms such as persistent auditory hallucinations, may be linked to structural brain abnormalities in certain subgroups of schizophrenic patients. However, such associations are not well-established as yet and the research in this field does not have practical implications for psychiatric assessment so far.

Because objective (physical) indices for measuring (the severity of) psychopathological states have hardly been available up to now, the rating scale is an essential instrument in clinical (psychopharmacological) research.
Psychiatric comorbidity of bulimia nervosa inpatients: relationship to clinical variables and treatment outcome
Authors: Bossert-Zaudig S , Zaudig M , Junker M , Wiegand M , Krieg J-C
Published: April 2020

Experimental evidence suggesting that psychiatric comorbidity has important clinical and prognostic implications in bulimia nervosa has mostly been based on outpatient studies investigating a selection of co-existing psychopathological features with rather unstructured and not standardized diagnostic instruments. Using structured instruments (SCID-P, MDCL) for the diagnoses of DSM III-R axis I disorders and clinical interviews for the diagnosis of DSM III-R axis II disorders in 24 hospitalized bulimics, the present study demonstrated that more than half of the patients had two or three axis I disorders in addition to bulimia nervosa and almost half of the patients met criteria of at least one personality disorder. Subgroups of patients classified according to the type of psychiatric comorbidity did not differ significantly with respect to clinical features; regarding measures of hospital behavior therapy outcome. However, the findings provided evidence for a negative impact of anxiety disorder in addition to bulimia nervosa on the improvement of bulimic behavior and possibly also on self-rated depression.
Failure of fixed-dose verapamil treatment in adult sleep-related enuresis
Authors: Grinshpoon A , Mark M , Apter A , Modai I , Bleich A , Rehavi M , Weizman A
Published: April 2020

Calcium channel blockers increase the capacity of the urinary bladder. The antienuretic activity of verapamil was examined in young adult enuretics. Eleven drug-free, healthy, sleep-related enuretic males, were treated for two weeks with verapamil (240 mg, per os, at 9 pm). Verapamil failed to display an antienuretic effect.
Platelet serotonin-binding and dexamethasone suppression test in melancholia and dysthymia
Authors: Gastó C , Vallejo J , Menchón JM , Catalán R , Otero A , Martínez de Osaba M Jesus , Ribera F
Published: April 2020

Platelet serotonin-binding (Bmax), using tritiated-seroionin as the ligand, was determined in 75 patients suffering from major depression with melancholia and in 26 patients diagnosed from dysthymic disorder. Twenty-five normal subjects were used as a control group. The melancholic group had significantly lower Bmaxvalues (mean: 6.7 ± 6.1 pmol/108platelets) than either dysthymic (9.3 ± 3.9 pmol/108platelets) or control (9.2 ± 4.8 pmol/108platelets) groups, while there were no significant differences between the two latter groups. There was also a significant difference on postdexamethasone Cortisol between melancholic (6.3 ± 7.1μg/dL) and dysthymic (1.4 ± 1.4μg/dL) groups, with a higher rate of nonsuppressors in melancholic groups. Although both tests were abnormal in the melancholic group, no relationship was found between platelet serotonin-binding and the dexaniethasone suppression test.
Expressed emotion in the therapeutic relationship with schizophrenic patients
Authors: Stark FM , Siol T
Published: April 2020

Patterns of interaction and attitudes in the relationships of 21 young schizophrenic patients, their parents and therapists were explored and compared with each other in this pilot study. The focus was on expressed emotion (EE), which was revealed to have an important impact on the course of the illness. In this study, the EE status of the relatives as well as of the therapists was rated using the five-minute speech sample method. Furthermore, data on the quality of interaction of therapists and parents with the patients were derived from the therapist/relative-patient interaction scale. Results showed that one-third of both the therapists and the parents were rated high on EE. High-EE relatives were rejected and perceived as inscrutable by the patients. The assessment of the therapeutic and familial relationships demonstrated the patients’ need for unequivocal communication. Differences and similarities in the interaction styles, and their implications for research and therapy are discussed.
Physical anhedonia and subtypes of major depressive disorder
Authors: Loas G , Perot JM , Hardy P , Jouvent R , Boyer P
Published: April 2020

A study was conducted on a group of 73 patients suffering from major depressive disorder (DSMIII) compared with 120 normal subjects using a subscale of physical pleasure (Fawcett Clark pleasure capacity scale-physical pleasure, FCPCS-PP). The major depressives were significantly more anhedonic than the normals and the distribution of the FCPCS-PP scores in these subjects was unimodal.
Increased serum drug concentrations in concomitant treatment with citalopram, clomipramine and alprazolam
Authors: Lepola U , Leinonen E , Koponen H
Published: April 2020

We report the case of a patient with major depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder who had simultaneously high serum citalopram, clomipramine, and alprazolam concentrations probably due to the reciprocal competitive inhibition of the cytochrome P450-catalyzed oxidative metabolism.
Mild cognitive dysfunction in physically asymptomatic HIV infection: recent research evidence and professional implications
Authors: Maj M
Published: April 2020

Cognitive abnormalities may occur in the physically asymptomatic phases of the infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and poor education may represent a risk factor for their development. These abnormalities are usually mild, and apparently do not affect subjects’ daily living performance, although this notion should be regarded as preliminary, due to the present primitive stage of development of the instruments which assess functioning in daily living activities. The above evidence has emerged from the cross-sectional phase of the WHO Neuropsychiatric AIDS Study, carried out in the five geographic areas predominantly affected by the HIV epidemic (sub-Saharian Africa, Latin America, North America, South-East Asia, Western Europe), on subject samples that are representative of the whole population of HIV-infected persons living in those areas. The professional implications of HIV-associated early cognitive dysfunction are open to research: for example the current debate on the impact of dysfunction on aviation-related skills emphasizes the need for test batteries with a higher predictive potential than those presently available.
Psychopathological profile in chronic bronchial asthma
Authors: Henry M , Morera A , Frugoni A , Gonzàlez-Martin I
Published: April 2020

The psychopathological profile in a sample of 43 adult chronic asthmatic outpatients is analyzed. The SCL-90-R Self-Report Questionnaire was applied. The symptomatic profile in our sample is characterized by a main elevation of the dimension of somatization (1.80) followed by the areas of depression (1.64), obsession-compulsion (1.53) and anxiety (1.45). These dimensions contribute to the leading features of psychopathology in our patients.
What do we know about the aetiology of late-onset schizophrenia?
Authors: Castle DJ , Howard R
Published: April 2020

Late-onset schizophrenia remains an understudied area. Neuroimaging techniques, which have been widely employed in the study of earlier-onset schizophrenic patients, have only recently been applied to patients with a later onset of illness. This paper reviews current knowledge about brain abnormalities in late-onset schizophrenia, and attempts an integration of the findings with clinical, genetic and epidemiological factors which pertain in such disorders. Suggestions are made for future research regarding this group of patients.
Assessing social integration in the elderly: development of a brief self-report assessment scale: the social integration and independence questionnaire
Authors: Kowal P , Guelfi JD
Published: April 2020

The paper describes the construction and validation of a brief self-rating scale for social integration in the elderly: the 17-item Social Integration and Independence Questionnaire (SIIQ). The questionnaire was tested on a sample of 160 individuals over the age of 65. Principle component analysis elicited four factors accounting for 48.8% of the cumulative variance: ‘Independence’, ‘Social Integration’, ‘Familial’ and ‘Depression’ (20.7, 10.6, 9.0 and 8.4% of the cumulative variance). The four factors measure the adjustment of elderly people in the community.
Dysthymic disorder in an inpatient population. A descriptive study
Authors: Scherillo P , Gasperini M , Cescon A , Smeraldi E
Published: April 2020

Patients suffering from various subtypes of dysthymia were compared with regard to demographic, clinical and personality characteristics. Patients with secondary dysthymia, as compared to those with primary dysthymia, had an earlier age of onset and a higher frequency of Axis I co-diagnoses (in particular anxiety disorders). Patients with pure dysthymia, as compared to those with double depression, showed an earlier age of onset of Axis I co-diagnoses, a later age of onset of dysthymic disorder and a shorter duration of the disease.