title: A novel way to quantify schizophrenia symptoms in clinical trials

authors: Medvedev, Oleg N.

subjects: Clinical Trial

abstract: BACKGROUND: A major problem in quantifying symptoms of schizophrenia is establishing a reliable distinction between enduring and dynamic aspects of psychopathology. This is critical for accurate diagnosis, monitoring and evaluating treatment effects in both clinical practice and trials. 
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We applied Generalisability Theory, a robust novel method to distinguish between dynamic and stable aspects of schizophrenia symptoms in the widely used Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) using a longitudinal measurement design. The sample included 107 patients with chronic schizophrenia assessed using the PANSS at five time points over a 24-week period during a multi-site clinical trial of N-Acetylcysteine as an add-on to maintenance medication for the treatment of chronic schizophrenia. 
RESULTS: The original PANSS and its three subscales demonstrated good reliability and generalisability of scores (G=0.77-0.93) across sample population and occasions making them suitable for assessment of psychosis risks and long-lasting change following a treatment, while subscales of the five factor models appeared less reliable. The most enduring symptoms represented by the PANSS were poor attention, delusions, blunted affect, and poor rapport. More dynamic symptoms with 40-50% of variance explained by patient transient state including grandiosity, preoccupation, somatic concerns, guilt feeling and hallucinatory behaviour. 
CONCLUSIONS: Identified dynamic symptoms are more amendable to change and should be the primary target of interventions aiming at effectively treating schizophrenia. Separating out the dynamic symptoms would increase assay sensitivity in trials, reduce the signal to noise ratio and increase the potential to detect the effects of novel therapies in clinical trials.

text: A novel way to quantify schizophrenia symptoms in clinical trials BACKGROUND: A major problem in quantifying symptoms of schizophrenia is establishing a reliable distinction between enduring and dynamic aspects of psychopathology. This is critical for accurate diagnosis, monitoring and evaluating treatment effects in both clinical practice and trials. 
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We applied Generalisability Theory, a robust novel method to distinguish between dynamic and stable aspects of schizophrenia symptoms in the widely used Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) using a longitudinal measurement design. The sample included 107 patients with chronic schizophrenia assessed using the PANSS at five time points over a 24-week period during a multi-site clinical trial of N-Acetylcysteine as an add-on to maintenance medication for the treatment of chronic schizophrenia. 
RESULTS: The original PANSS and its three subscales demonstrated good reliability and generalisability of scores (G=0.77-0.93) across sample population and occasions making them suitable for assessment of psychosis risks and long-lasting change following a treatment, while subscales of the five factor models appeared less reliable. The most enduring symptoms represented by the PANSS were poor attention, delusions, blunted affect, and poor rapport. More dynamic symptoms with 40-50% of variance explained by patient transient state including grandiosity, preoccupation, somatic concerns, guilt feeling and hallucinatory behaviour. 
CONCLUSIONS: Identified dynamic symptoms are more amendable to change and should be the primary target of interventions aiming at effectively treating schizophrenia. Separating out the dynamic symptoms would increase assay sensitivity in trials, reduce the signal to noise ratio and increase the potential to detect the effects of novel therapies in clinical trials.

year: 2020

title: Dark clouds on the horizon

authors: Barbour, Karen

abstract: In the face of our current political and economic environment, particularly in the context of education, community and arts, dark clouds on our horizon have fast become storms. Storms raining down on us in the South Pacific with a force and subsequent devastation that is soul destroying. Some days I feel we might be in the eye of the storm and other days a glimmer of light sparkles off the rain from the aspirational agendas of UNESCO and our international organisations. But most days, it is dark clouds and storms. Thundering requests for more evidence, gales of economic cuts poorly disguised as enhancement projects, and rain that no arts educator can withstand alone. Where is the sheltering umbrella for a dancing academic in the university? This presentation is a critical autoethnography of hope embodied, a practice of withdrawing to the shelter in my own skin to survive this storm.

text: Dark clouds on the horizon In the face of our current political and economic environment, particularly in the context of education, community and arts, dark clouds on our horizon have fast become storms. Storms raining down on us in the South Pacific with a force and subsequent devastation that is soul destroying. Some days I feel we might be in the eye of the storm and other days a glimmer of light sparkles off the rain from the aspirational agendas of UNESCO and our international organisations. But most days, it is dark clouds and storms. Thundering requests for more evidence, gales of economic cuts poorly disguised as enhancement projects, and rain that no arts educator can withstand alone. Where is the sheltering umbrella for a dancing academic in the university? This presentation is a critical autoethnography of hope embodied, a practice of withdrawing to the shelter in my own skin to survive this storm.

year: 2016

title: Te Tarata

authors: Maxwell, Te Kahautu

subjects: Haka

abstract: He whakamārama mō te haka 
Ko tēnei haka he whakamauharatanga ki te riri whenua i waenganui i Te Whakatōhea me te Karauna i te 23 o Poutūterangi 1865. Ko te ingoa o te pakanga nei ko Te Tarata. Hai tēnei marama kua eke ki te kotahi rau e rima tekau tau mai i tēnei pakanga. Ka kōrerotia te patunga i te mihinare a Te Wākana i te 2 o Poutūterangi i te tau kotahi mano e waru rau e ono tekau mā rima (1865). Nā Kereopa o Ngāti Rangiwewehi i patu a Te Wākana. I haramai a Te Kereopa i raro i te Paimārire (Hauhau) ki Ōpōtiki. Ko tā Te Paimārire kaupapa i tae atu ai ko te kauhau i te whakapono hou a Te Ua Haumēne o Taranaki. Ko ngā āpōtoro i tukuna atu e Te Ua Haumēne ko Pātara Rakataura me Te Kereopa, hoi anō ko te kauhau i te rongopai tā Te Ua Haumēne i whakahau ai. Hoi anō he take tā Te Kereopa, tā te mea i kōhurutia tana wahine me āna tamāhine tokorua ki te whare karakia i Rangiaowhia ki roto o Tainui. Nara i pau a Ngāti Apakura ki te mate ki roto i te ahi, i tahuna te whare karakia e ngā hoia me te iwi o Ngāti Apakura ki roto. Ā i patua anō tana tamāhine hoki ki te pakanga i Hairini. Koiarā tā Kereopa he rānaki i te mate o tana whānau i pau i te ahi nukarau a te Karauna. Nā tēnei patunga i a Te Wākana i riro ai te 250,000 eka o Te Whakatōhea. I tēnei rā tonu o Te Matatini i tēnei tau 2015 kua eke ki te kotahi rau e rima tekau (150) tau o te parekuranui o Te Whakatōhea mō te patunga i te tangata kotahi nā tētahi atu ko Te Kereopa o Ngāti Rangiwewehi. Ko te kōhuru i a Te Whakatōhea me āna tamariki, āna mokopuna, ko te tāwharona i ngā tāne, i ngā wāhine, ko te ekeeke kino te rarahu i ngā wāhine me ngā tamariki kōtiro, tāne hoki. Mutu ana te rarahu ko te kōhuru i a rātou ki te pū, ki te mata o te pēneti ko te tahu rānei. Ko te urupatu anō tērā ko te tahu i ngā pā, i ngā whare tīpuna, i ngā māra, i ngā mira mahi paura, i ngā kaipuke tauhokohoko ki Tāmaki, ki Poihākena, ki Ingarangi. Ko te parekura nui tēnei o Te Whakatōhea, ko te kōhuru i tō mātou katoa, tō mātou ao, tō mātou wairua, tō mātou hinengaro, tō mātou tinana o Te Whakatōhea mō te mate kotahi a te tangata kotahi. Ahakoa he mihingare, he pūrahorua hoki he kawe o kōrero nōna ki a Kāwana Kerei mō ngā nekeneke a Te Whakatōhea ki te tautoko i a Kīngi Tāwhiao me ngā pakanga whenua i Rangiriri, i Ōrakau i te tau kotahi mano e waru rau e ono tekau mā whā (1864). Ki te pakanga o Te Tarata, 14 ngā Māori i mate i tēnei pakanga me ngā hoia pākeha, ngā maemanerau 26. E 500 ngā manemanerau i roto i te ope taua a Kuini Wikitōria. I tēnei pakanga nā Hira Te Popo te rangatira o Ngāti Ira, hapū o Te Whakatōhea i herehangaia ngā tīkouka me ōna rau ki ngā pou o te tūwatawata. Nara i pupuhi ngā pūrepō ngā ki te pā o Te Tarata i hinga ngā tūwatawata me te tū anō. Koirā te mahi a te tīkouka he rākau māmā kāore i whati pēnei i te mānuka me ngā rākau mārō ehara ko tāna he tiaki i te tūwatawata ka tūohu ka tū anō me te maka anō i ngā kariri o te pūrepō ki ngā hōia a te Karauna. Ana nā te tīkouka i āhei a Te Whakatōhea me ōna haumi te rere whakauta ki te tuawhenua. I huihui rātou ki tētahi pā anō ki Kohipawa kīhai i tareka e te Karauna.

text: Te Tarata He whakamārama mō te haka 
Ko tēnei haka he whakamauharatanga ki te riri whenua i waenganui i Te Whakatōhea me te Karauna i te 23 o Poutūterangi 1865. Ko te ingoa o te pakanga nei ko Te Tarata. Hai tēnei marama kua eke ki te kotahi rau e rima tekau tau mai i tēnei pakanga. Ka kōrerotia te patunga i te mihinare a Te Wākana i te 2 o Poutūterangi i te tau kotahi mano e waru rau e ono tekau mā rima (1865). Nā Kereopa o Ngāti Rangiwewehi i patu a Te Wākana. I haramai a Te Kereopa i raro i te Paimārire (Hauhau) ki Ōpōtiki. Ko tā Te Paimārire kaupapa i tae atu ai ko te kauhau i te whakapono hou a Te Ua Haumēne o Taranaki. Ko ngā āpōtoro i tukuna atu e Te Ua Haumēne ko Pātara Rakataura me Te Kereopa, hoi anō ko te kauhau i te rongopai tā Te Ua Haumēne i whakahau ai. Hoi anō he take tā Te Kereopa, tā te mea i kōhurutia tana wahine me āna tamāhine tokorua ki te whare karakia i Rangiaowhia ki roto o Tainui. Nara i pau a Ngāti Apakura ki te mate ki roto i te ahi, i tahuna te whare karakia e ngā hoia me te iwi o Ngāti Apakura ki roto. Ā i patua anō tana tamāhine hoki ki te pakanga i Hairini. Koiarā tā Kereopa he rānaki i te mate o tana whānau i pau i te ahi nukarau a te Karauna. Nā tēnei patunga i a Te Wākana i riro ai te 250,000 eka o Te Whakatōhea. I tēnei rā tonu o Te Matatini i tēnei tau 2015 kua eke ki te kotahi rau e rima tekau (150) tau o te parekuranui o Te Whakatōhea mō te patunga i te tangata kotahi nā tētahi atu ko Te Kereopa o Ngāti Rangiwewehi. Ko te kōhuru i a Te Whakatōhea me āna tamariki, āna mokopuna, ko te tāwharona i ngā tāne, i ngā wāhine, ko te ekeeke kino te rarahu i ngā wāhine me ngā tamariki kōtiro, tāne hoki. Mutu ana te rarahu ko te kōhuru i a rātou ki te pū, ki te mata o te pēneti ko te tahu rānei. Ko te urupatu anō tērā ko te tahu i ngā pā, i ngā whare tīpuna, i ngā māra, i ngā mira mahi paura, i ngā kaipuke tauhokohoko ki Tāmaki, ki Poihākena, ki Ingarangi. Ko te parekura nui tēnei o Te Whakatōhea, ko te kōhuru i tō mātou katoa, tō mātou ao, tō mātou wairua, tō mātou hinengaro, tō mātou tinana o Te Whakatōhea mō te mate kotahi a te tangata kotahi. Ahakoa he mihingare, he pūrahorua hoki he kawe o kōrero nōna ki a Kāwana Kerei mō ngā nekeneke a Te Whakatōhea ki te tautoko i a Kīngi Tāwhiao me ngā pakanga whenua i Rangiriri, i Ōrakau i te tau kotahi mano e waru rau e ono tekau mā whā (1864). Ki te pakanga o Te Tarata, 14 ngā Māori i mate i tēnei pakanga me ngā hoia pākeha, ngā maemanerau 26. E 500 ngā manemanerau i roto i te ope taua a Kuini Wikitōria. I tēnei pakanga nā Hira Te Popo te rangatira o Ngāti Ira, hapū o Te Whakatōhea i herehangaia ngā tīkouka me ōna rau ki ngā pou o te tūwatawata. Nara i pupuhi ngā pūrepō ngā ki te pā o Te Tarata i hinga ngā tūwatawata me te tū anō. Koirā te mahi a te tīkouka he rākau māmā kāore i whati pēnei i te mānuka me ngā rākau mārō ehara ko tāna he tiaki i te tūwatawata ka tūohu ka tū anō me te maka anō i ngā kariri o te pūrepō ki ngā hōia a te Karauna. Ana nā te tīkouka i āhei a Te Whakatōhea me ōna haumi te rere whakauta ki te tuawhenua. I huihui rātou ki tētahi pā anō ki Kohipawa kīhai i tareka e te Karauna.

year: 2017