OBJECTIVE We investigated the efficacy and tolerability of paliperidone extended-release (ER) tablets in patients with first-episode psychosis (n=75). METHODS This was an 8-week, open-label, multicenter trial. The primary outcome variable was scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS); secondary measures included the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), the Co...

A great number of investigations on person characterization rely on the assessment of the Big-Five personality traits, a prevalent and widely accepted model with strong psychological foundation. However, in the context on characterizing unfamiliar individuals from their voices only, it may be hard for assessors to determine the Big-Five traits based on their first impression. In this study, a 2...

We report on the current state and important older findings of empirical studies on corporate credit ratings and their relationship to ratings of other entities. Specifically, we consider the results of three lines of research: The correlation of credit ratings and corporate default, the influence of ratings on capital markets, and the determinants of credit ratings and rating changes. Results ...

We propose a new chemical detection technique in which an analyte's vibrational frequencies are interrogated directly using an array of nanomechanical resonators. This "nanomechanical resonance spectroscopy" (NRS) could permit label-free chemical detection, combining the high sensitivity of nanomechanical approaches with the high selectivity of traditional spectroscopy. A computational proof of...

IN PREVIOUS studies [l] it has been established that a cluster of social events requiring change in ongoing life adjustment is significantly associated with the time of illness onset. Similarly, the relationship of what has been called ‘life stress,’ ‘emotional stress,’ ‘object loss,’ etc. and illness onset has been demonstrated by other investigations [2-131. It has been adduced from these stu...

Objective: To develop and test the reliability and validity of the State Behavioral Scale for use in describing sedation/agitation levels in young intubated patients supported on mechanical ventilation. Design: In this prospective, psychometric evaluation, pairs of trained pediatric critical care nurse evaluators simultaneously and independently assessed a convenience sample of pediatric intens...

BACKGROUND Numerical rating scales (NRS), and verbal rating scales (VRS) showed to be reliable and valid tools for subjective cancer pain measurement, but no one of them consistently proved to be superior to the other. Aim of the present study is to compare NRS and VRS performance in assessing breakthrough or episodic pain (BP-EP) exacerbations. METHODS In a cross sectional multicentre study ...