A review of patient outcomes in pharmacological studies from the psychiatric literature, 1966–1993

A literature search was conducted on studies of new drugs used with patients with schizophrenia reported by U.S. and non-U.S. researchers from 1966–1993, yielding 41 U.S., and a total of 24 other non-U.S. studies, among them 11 British studies. Results of the U.S. and non-U.S. studies were pooled separately and compared. Among several comparable conditions discussed, the lack of any data on suicides in the U.S. studies was observed. For a second statistical analysis of suicide rates ‘person-years’ were calculated to adjust for differing washout durations. The results obtained include findings that the percentage of patients relapsing in U.S. studies was slightly lower (37.9%) than in non-U.S. studies (46%); the percentage of patients dropping out in U.S. studies (10.5%) was higher than in non-U.S. studies (7.6%); known location of dropout patients in U.S. studies was 1.7%, compared to 2.6% in non-U.S. studies. The most interesting finding was that no suicides were reported in U.S. studies, compared to 0.6% of patients reported in British studies. Some U.S. studies used ‘challenge doses’, such as amphetamines or L-dopa; no non-U.S. studies reported their use. Compared to U.S. studies, those by non-U.S., and particularly British, researchers appeared to report adverse events in their studies. ‘Challenge’ drugs were not used; suicides were reported. It is estimated that the probability that no patients suicided who participated in the U.S. is small—one in 500.     

Transformation of Perception of Trauma by Child Survivors of the Holocaust in Group Therapy

Intensive work with child survivors of the Holocaust has made us aware of the clinical importance of understanding the ways children perceive their traumas and the conclusions they draw about how they must live their lives. When these perceptions are transformed congruently with the child's development, the survivors can cope quite well. In this paper we refer to now middle-aged survivors who are still guided by their child perceptions. We will describe how we have used conjoint group psychotherapy to facilitate processes of transformation even at this late stage. The model we provide for trauma work with Holocaust survivors whose traumatization occurred decades ago may well provide tools to reduce future suffering of children who are victims of massive traumatization today.     

Are there nontrivial constraints on colour categorization?

In this target article the following hypotheses are discussed: (1) Colour is autonomous: a perceptuolinguistic and behavioural universal. (2) It is completely described by three independent attributes: hue, brightness, and saturation: (3) Phenomenologically and psychophysically there are four unique hues: red, green, blue, and yellow; (4) The unique hues are underpinned by two opponent psychophysical and/or neuronal channels: red/green, blue/yellow. The relevant literature is reviewed. We conclude: (i) Psychophysics and neurophysiology fail to set nontrivial constraints on colour categorization. (ii) Linguistic evidence provides no grounds for the universality of basic colour categories. (iii) Neither the opponent hues red/green, blue/yellow nor hue, brightness, and saturation are intrinsic to a universal concept of colour. (iv) Colour is not autonomous.     

Mini-Review; Stress Genes: An Introductory Overview

Molecular sequence data, made available in the last 15 years or so, have led to the classification of living cells into three phylogenetic domains: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eucarya. All the organisms that have been tested belonging to either domain were capable of mounting a stress response with essentially the same characteristics, regardless of the stressor. The protagonists in the cell's stress response are the stress genes and their protein products. Some of the latter are molecular chaperones. Under physiological conditions, these chaperones aid other cellular proteins to fold properly and achieve a native -functional- configuration, and to translocate from the place of synthesis to the cell's locale in which they will operate. In a stressed cell, the stress proteins that are chaperones protect other molecules from denaturation and help those partially damaged to regain a functional configuration. Thus, cell death is avoided and recovery is enhanced. The study of stress genes and proteins has progressed considerably in organisms belonging to the domains Bacteria and Eucarya. Less is known about the archaeal stress genes. Here, research with an organism from the Archaea is discussed, focusing on the stress genes of the hsp70 (dnaK) locus. Future perspectives for basic and applied research within the health sciences and biotechnology industries are presented.     

Multiple information sources in interceptive timing

This study was designed to explore the limitations of tau (τ) as an explanatory construct for the timing of interceptive action. This was achieved by examining the effects of environmental structure and binocular vision on the timing of the grasp in a simple one-handed catch. In two experiments, subjects were required to catch luminous balls of different diameters (4, 6, 8 and 10 cm) in a completely darkened room. In the first experiment the influence of the presence vs. absence of an environmental background structure (both under monocular viewing) was tested, and in the second experiment the influence of monocular vs. binocular vision was examined. It was found that irrespective of the presence of environmental structure, an effect of ball size occurred in the monocular viewing conditions. That is, in monocular viewing conditions the grasp was initiated and completed earlier for the larger balls as compared to the smaller ones, while in the binocular viewing condition subjects behaved in accordance with a constant time to contact strategy: no effects of ball size were found. It is concluded that under binocular viewing a binocular information source is used, while in the monocular viewing condition a lower order information source like image size or image velocity is probably involved.     

The Development of a Clinical Rating Scale the McMaster Model of Family Functioning

This article describes the development and validation of the McMaster Clinical Rating Scale (MCRS). The MCRS is a 7-item scale designed to be completed by a trained rater after completion of an in-depth interview of the family. We present data from four new studies and review previously published articles concerning the reliability, validity, and clinical utility of the MCRS. Adequate interrater reliability and rater stability were obtained. The MCRS was found to correlate significantly with the self-report Family Assessment Device and to discriminate between families in different phases of a depressive disorder.     

ON ULTIMATE EPISTEMIC FOUNDATIONS1

This paper is a contribution to the debate on epistemic foundationalism. Section I expounds and criticises Hans Albert's critical rationalist antifoundationalism position. Section I1 discusses Karl-Otto Apel's ‘transcendental pragmatic’ argument for ultimate epistemic foundations. Section III suggests how the latter argument can be restated so as to avoid ambiguity and yield a plausible case for epistemic foundationalism.     

Measurement and the interpretation of quantum mechanics and relativity theory

The axiomatic approaches of quantum mechanics and relativity theory are compared with approaches in which the theories are thought to describe readings of certain measurement operations. The usual axioms are shown to correspond with classes of ideal measurements. The necessity is discussed of generalizing the formalisms of both quantum mechanics and relativity theory so as to encompass more realistic nonideal measurements. It is argued that this generalization favours an empiricist interpretation of the mathematical formalisms over a realist one.