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Cristina Domenech,1,2 Adriana Pastore,3 A Carlo Altamura,4 Corrado Bernasconi,5 Ricardo Corral,6 Helio Elkis,7 Jonathan Evans,8 Ashok Malla,9 Francesco Margari,3 Marie-Odile Krebs,10 Anna-Lena Nordstroem,5 Mathias Zink,11 Josep Maria Haro1,2 1Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; 2Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, CIBERSAM, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; 3Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, ‘Policlinico’ Hospital, University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’, Bari, Italy; 4University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy; 5F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland; 6Fundación para el Estudio y Tratamiento de las Enfermedades Mentales (FETEM), Buenos Aires, Argentina; 7Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria – FMUSP, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 8Centre for Academic Mental Health, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK; 9Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada; 10Service Hospitalo Universitaire, Laboratoire de Physiopathologie des Maladies Psychiatriques, Inserm, Université Paris Descartes, Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris, France; 11Central Institute of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany and Regional Clinical Centre, Ansbach, GermanyCorrespondence: Josep Maria HaroParc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu - Antoni Pujadas, 42 - 08830 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, SpainTel +34 93 600 26 85Email jmharo@pssjd.orgBackground: Generic health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scales are increasingly being used to assess the effects of new treatments in schizophrenia. The objective of this study is to better understand the usefulness of generic and condition specific HRQoL scales in schizophrenia by analyzing their correlates.Methods: Data formed part of the Pattern study, an international observational study among 1379 outpatients with schizophrenia. Patients were evaluated with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Inventory, the Clinical Global Impression-Schizophrenia (CGI-SCH) Scale and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and reported their HRQoL using the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS), the Short Form-36 (SF-36), and the EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D). The two summary values of the SF-36 (the Mental Component Score and the Physical Component Score, SF-36 MCS and SF-36 PCS) were calculated.Results: Higher PANSS positive dimension ratings were associated with worse HRQoL for the SQLS, EQ-5D VAS, SF-36 MCS, and SF-36 PCS. Higher PANSS negative dimension ratings were associated with worse HRQoL for the EQ-5D VAS, SF-36 MCS, and SF-36 PCS, but not for the SQLS or the EQ-5D tariff. PANSS depression ratings were associated with lower HRQoL in all the scales. There was a high correlation between the HRQoL scales. However, in patients with more severe cognitive/disorganized PANSS symptoms, the SQLS score was relatively higher than the EQ-5D tariff and SF-36 PCS scores.Conclusion: This study has shown substantial agreement between three HRQoL scales, being either generic or condition specific. This supports the use of generic HRQoL measures in schizophrenia.Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01634542 (July 6, 2012, retrospectively registered).Keywords: schizophrenia, health-related quality of life, epidemiology, persistent symptoms

Une réponse possible au problème de la déstabilisation par démixtion des mélanges supercarburant-alcools est l'abaissement de leur teneur en eau par adsorption physique. La forte affinité pour l'eau des résines échangeuses d'ions de type polystyrène sulfonate permet d'envisager leur utilisation dans ce cas spécifique d'application. Le principal intérêt de ce nouveau matériau adsorbant est de pouvoir se régénérer avec des calories de bas niveau (100-120°C). Nous avons donc étudié, du point de vue capacité d'adsorption et cinétique d'adsorption, le comportement de cet adsorbant et comparé ses performances à celles d'adsorbants plus classiques tels que le silicagel, l'alumine et le tamis moléculaire 3 Å. Les formes ioniques de la résine mises en oeuvre sont les formes : K+, Na+ et Mg2+. Sur le plan de la capacité totale d'adsorption, la résine, quelle que soit sa forme ionique, présente des performances supérieures à celles de l'alumine et du silicagel. Seule la forme Mg2+ adsorbe autant d'eau que le tamis moléculaire. L'efficacité de la résine est sensible à la nature de l'alcool du mélange considéré et augmente selon la séquence méthanol < éthanol < tertiobutanol. Du point de vue cinétique, c'est la résine sous forme K+ qui donne les meilleurs résultats ; sa vitesse d'adsorption est près de dix fois supérieure à celle du tamis moléculaire, viennent ensuite la résine sous forme Na+, l'alumine, la résine sous forme Mg2+ et le tamis moléculaire. La résine sous forme K+, qui réalise le meilleur compromis capacité-vitesse d'adsorption, s'avère donc être un adsorbant efficace de l'eau présente dans les mélanges supercarburant-alcools. Cette aptitude est confirmée lors de sa mise en oeuvre en lit fixe, où elle s'avère nettement plus efficace que le tamis moléculaire. Toutefois, son efficacité est limitée à des mélanges renfermant moins de 10% en volume de composés oxygénés. A possible answer to the problem of destabilization by the segregation of premium-fuel/alcohol blends lies in decreasing their water content by physical adsorption. The strong affinity of water for ion-exchange resins of the polystyrene sulfonate type suggests their use for this specific application. The main advantage of this newadsorbent material is that it can be regenerated with low-level heat (100-120°C). We thus investigated the behavior of this adsorbent from the standpoint of its adsorption capacity and adsorption kinetics. Its performances were compared to those of more conventional adsorbents, such as silicagel, alumina and a 3Å molecular sieve. The ionic forms of the resin used are in the form of K+, Na+ and Mg2+. From the standpoint of total adsorption capacity, resin, whatever its ionic form may be, has better performances then alumina and silicagel. Only the Mg2+ form adsorbs as much water as a molecular sieve. The effectiveness of resin is sensitive to the nature of the alcohol in the blend considered and increases via the methanol < ethanol < tert-butanol sequence. From the kinetic standpoint, resin in the K+ form is the one that gives the best results. Its adsorption rate is nearly ten times higher than that of a molecular sieve. Then come resin in the Na+ form, alumina, resin in the Mg2+ form and the molecular sieve. Resin in the K+ form, which achieves the best compromise between adsorption capacity and rate, thus proves to be an effective adsorbent of water present in premium-fuel/alcohol blends. This ability is confirmed when it is implemented in a fixed bed, where it is much more effective than a molecular sieve. However, its effectiveness is limited to blends containing less than 10% volume of oxygenated compounds.

The processing of perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) solar cells (SCs) usually incorporates ligand washing (LW) procedures. We show that a LW step of FAI in EtAc assists in the removal of the oleic acid/oleylamine ligands and improves the JSC and FF values of FAPbI3 based SCs. Although by increasing the exposure time of EtAc the removal of oleic acid/oleylamine ligands is more effective, sintering/necking of the FAPbI3 results to NC agglomerations and formation of defects/traps are observed within the active layer by the reported photoluminescence studies. Despite identifying the balanced in LW procedure exposure time, limitations on the performance of FAPbI3 PNCs SCs are reported. To identify the photovoltaic limitations impedance spectroscopy studies are presented and show that in the case of FAPbI3 PNC SCs an intermediate frequency response manifests. The observed impedance spectroscopy intermediate frequency response correlates with a parasitic resistance effect, indicating charge transport limitations and charge recombination losses even after the applied LW processing procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The processing of perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) solar cells (SCs) usually incorporates ligand washing (LW) procedures. We show that a LW step of FAI in EtAc assists in the removal of the oleic acid/oleylamine ligands and improves the JSC and FF values of FAPbI3 based SCs. Although by increasing the exposure time of EtAc the removal of oleic acid/oleylamine ligands is more effective, sintering/necking of the FAPbI3 results to NC agglomerations and formation of defects/traps are observed within the active layer by the reported photoluminescence studies. Despite identifying the balanced in LW procedure exposure time, limitations on the performance of FAPbI3 PNCs SCs are reported. To identify the photovoltaic limitations impedance spectroscopy studies are presented and show that in the case of FAPbI3 PNC SCs an intermediate frequency response manifests. The observed impedance spectroscopy intermediate frequency response correlates with a parasitic resistance effect, indicating charge transport limitations and charge recombination losses even after the applied LW processing procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]