Direct detection of dark matter-APPEC committee report

This report provides an extensive review of the experimental programme of direct detection searches of particle dark matter. It focuses mostly on European efforts, both current and planned, but does it within a broader context of a worldwide activity in the field. It aims at identifying the virtues, opportunities and challenges associated with the different experimental approaches and search techniques. It presents scientific and technological synergies, both existing and emerging, with some other areas of particle physics, notably collider and neutrino programmes, and beyond. It addresses the issue of infrastructure in light of the growing needs and challenges of the different experimental searches. Finally, the report makes a number of recommendations from the perspective of a long-term future of the field. They are introduced, along with some justification, in the opening overview and recommendations section and are next summarised at the end of the report. Overall, we recommend that the direct search for dark matter particle interactions with a detector target should be given top priority in astroparticle physics, and in all particle physics, and beyond, as a positive measurement will provide the most unambiguous confirmation of the particle nature of dark matter in the Universe.

Effects of combined fluoxetine and counseling in the outpatient treatment of cocaine abusers

Three methods of analysis were used to determine the effects of the combination of counseling with fluoxetine (20, 40, or 60 mg) and "active" placebo (diphenhydramine, 12.5 mg) randomly assigned. Forty-five cocaine-only dependent subjects were treated as outpatients with "interpersonal" counseling, medication, and drug use monitoring three times per week for up to 12 weeks. Treatment effects were analyzed: first, by comparing the three original assignments and placebo; second, by comparing the placebo group to fluoxetine subjects with detectable fluoxetine/norfluoxetine blood levels and those with no detectable medication blood level; third, by examining relapse prevention versus use cessation through stratifying the subjects into four groups according to fluoxetine or placebo assignment and initial urine cocaine positivity or negativity. All three analyses showed improvement on some measures over time regardless of group assignment. The 60-mg fluoxetine group showed least effectiveness, the group with detectable blood levels had less cravings, and the fluoxetine subjects who were abstinent at the start of treatment were somewhat less likely to avoid relapse than those on placebo.

[Field research on third-world immigrants in the Trento area]

"The main findings of three empirical [surveys] conducted in the province of Trento [Italy] are presented with a view to gain knowledge about...quantitative aspects...socio-anthropological characteristics and the impact of immigrants from non-European countries on the local economic structure. These findings...reveal the functional role exercised by immigrants, particularly in some central and northern areas of the country, for its economic growth...." The need to improve housing and make health services more accessible to migrants are discussed. The surveys were conducted during 1990 and 1991. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)

Seasonal changes in rule infractions among prisoners: a preliminary test of the temperature-aggression hypothesis

To test the temperature-aggression hypothesis, seasonal changes in aggression as indexed by reported rule infractions were studied for prisoners located at the Patuxent Institution, Jessup, Maryland. 5383 reports of rule infractions occurred between July 1987 and March 1991. Rule infractions occurred more frequently during the hot summer months than the three other seasons of the year. This summer effect, though significant, is only a few percent above a theoretical chance level based on the number of days comprising the seasons. A much stronger monthly effect over 45 months was found, but the bases of erratic fluctuations are not known.

Inpatient diagnoses during Adolf Meyer's tenure as director of the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic, 1913-1940

Between 1936 and 1950, detailed abstracts were prepared on all patients admitted to The Phipps Psychiatric Clinic from its opening in 1913 through 1950. Of these abstracts, 74% contained follow-up reports. Except for four papers on schizophrenia and affective disorders published between 1939 and 1943, none of this material has ever been analyzed. The present paper, the first of a series, examines the 8172 first admissions from 1913 through 1940, the period of Adolf Meyer's tenure as Clinic Director. Based on discharge diagnoses, we have sorted the patients into eight diagnostic groups with the following frequencies; schizophrenia, 17%; paranoid state, 3%; manic-depressive, 7%; depression, 27%; organic, 20%; neuroses, 15%; substance abuse, 6%; psychopath, 5%. Our manic-depressive group contains cases discharged primarily as hyperthymergasia, mania, or manic depressive insanity (MDI). Of the 349 cases diagnosed MDI at discharge, 10 had neither a history of nor present symptoms of mania, and these were put in the depression group. Frequencies for most of the diagnoses remained remarkably stable over the 28-year period. Only 9% were discharged recovered, whereas 43% were rated unimproved. Mean length of hospitalization was 76 days, with 10% of the patients readmitted. The mean length of follow-up was 9 years. Correlations of diagnoses, year of admission, length of stay, condition at discharge, age, sex, readmissions, change of diagnoses, somatic treatment, length of follow-up, and deaths in the clinic are presented. Meyer's influence on diagnostic practice is discussed.

Imipramine and chlordiazepoxide in depressive and anxiety disorders. II. Efficacy in anxious outpatients

A double-blind, placebo-controlled comparison at three collaborating university sites included 242 patients diagnosed as having anxiety disorders. A two-week placebo washout period preceded random assignment to eight weeks of imipramine hydrochloride, chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride, or placebo treatment. Antianxiety effects of imipramine were superior to those of the other two agents by the second treatment week; these effects became more clearly significant thereafter and were independent of degree of both baseline depression and anxiety. Excluding patients with possible panic-phobic syndromes from the analyses removed most significant antiphobic and antidepressant effects of imipramine but left intact imipramine's significantly superior antianxiety effects.

Imipramine and chlordiazepoxide in depressive and anxiety disorders. I. Efficacy in depressed outpatients

We randomly assigned 425 outpatients, independently classified as primarily depressed by two trained psychiatrists, to double-blind treatment with Imipramine hydrochloride, chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride, or placebo. Those patients who remained at least moderately depressed (following a two-week placebo washout period) were treated for an additional eight weeks. An endpoint analysis of 387 patients who completed two or more weeks of medication disclosed early therapeutic advantages of chlordiazepoxide. By week 4 of treatment, however, imipramine produced more improvement than did placebo and chlordiazepoxide. By six and eight weeks a general, marked therapeutic advantage was found for imipramine relative to placebo and to chlordiazepoxide on measures of depression, anxiety, anger-hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, and global improvement. Chlordiazepoxide-treated patients generally did significantly better on sleep difficulty but significantly worse on anger-hostility and interpersonal sensitivity than did imipramine- or placebo-treated patients.

Cognitive group psychotherapy of depression: the close-ended group

One of the most important recent contributions to the understanding and treatment of depression is that of the cognitive theory and cognitive-behavior therapy developed by A. T. Beck. This paper describes the rationale and the technique of a short-term group psychotherapy based on Beck's Cognitive Therapy. The therapy was conducted with small closed-membership groups of patients with major depressive illness who were participating in a treatment-outcome study. Details of the role induction, session structure, roles of therapist and cotherapist, phases of group treatment course, and possible effectiveness are discussed. The technique presented here includes two individual cognitive sessions for purposes of role induction and establishing a therapeutic relationship before the first group session. We make use of flipcharts and a blackboard to illustrate various cognitive techniques, highly structured sessions with specific individualized agendas, defined therapist and cotherapist roles. The usual phases in a 15-session group course are described and our present experience of the techniques effectiveness are discussed.

The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL)--factors derived from the HSCL-90

A factor analysis of the 90-item version of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, performed on the pretreatment self-ratings of nonpsychotic outpatients with symptoms of depression and anxiety, revealed the presence of 8 clinically meaningful factors. These eight orthogonal factors each contained at least 5 items with loadings above 0.40 and explained 4.5% or more of the matrix variance. They were labeled Somatization, Phobic-Anxiety, Retarded Depression, Agitated Depression, Obsessive-Compulsive, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Anger-Hostility and Psychoticism.

Symptomatic volunteers in multicenter drug trials

1. Symptomatic volunteers were recruited at two collaborating institutions for anti-anxiety and antidepressant drug trials. Advertisements were placed for volunteers with significant symptoms of anxiety, depression, or both, and who were not currently in treatment. 2. It was possible to recruit adequate numbers of volunteers who met the numerous criteria for severity of distress; and who were not ruled out by various exclusion criteria, such as medical contraindications, etc. 3. Acceptable homogeneity across the samples at the collaborating institutions was found for demographic characteristics, level of distress, duration of symptoms, etc. 4. Attrition rates for these volunteers were lower than for the typical anxiolytic and antidepressant trials using outpatients. 5. Symptomatic volunteers appear to present a feasible alternative to the increasingly diminishing pool of outpatients.

Drug and psychotherapy interactions in depression

The authors conducted a series of multiple regression analyses of data from depressed patients. They found that 8 factors consistently predicted treatment response: a lower initial level of distress, imipramine treatment, a positive attitude toward group psychotherapy, and a good employment history predicted lower posttreatment distress levels; estrogen maintenance treatment was related to better response to diazepam, and a low level of intelligence predicted better response to both diazepam and imipramine; and a low initial level of interpersonal sensitivity and a significant other's having an unfavorable attitude toward psychiatric treatment were associated with better response to group psychotherapy.

Replication Of Symptom Distress Factors In Anxious Neurotic Outpatients

In an attempt to replicate the factor structure of symptom distress re- ported by Mattsson et al. in their study of 404 anxious neurotic outpatients, the same 68-item pretreatment self-report Symptom Check List was administered to an independent but clinically similar sample of 1,116 patients. Using an identical factor-analytic procedure, five useful factors were extracted: Neurotic Feelings, Somatization, Performance Difficulty, Fear-Anxiety, and Depression. Four of these factors were almost identical to those reported by Mattsson e t al. while the fifth factor, Depression, seemed to represent a composite of the two small Depression factors (Anxious and Somatic) found in the earlier study. This minor discrepancy was discussed and the future research potential of these factors was indicated.