Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy Programs for Schizophrenia: Results of a Short-Term Randomized Control Trial.

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of two different cognitive-behavioural therapy programs in patients with schizophrenia and clarify which techniques are more effective on psychotic symptoms. With this purpose, 39 schizophrenia outpatients-assessed by independent assessors using Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and by researchers using Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scales-were randomly assigned to routine care (RC), RC plus COPE-CBT or RC plus CBT groups. The repeated measures ANOVA results show that there was a significant reduction in the severity and frequency of hallucinations in CBT group and delusions in COPE-CBT group. Both CBT programs were found to be superior to RC group on some measures at post-treatment, as well as 3 months follow-up.

Effects of tartrazine on proliferation and genetic damage in human lymphocytes.

The color additive, tartrazine (TRZ), is widely used in food products, drugs and cosmetics. Genotoxicity of TRZ and its metabolites has not been investigated in detail in the presence and absence of a metabolic activator (S9 mix) in human. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of TRZ and its metabolites on cultured human lymphocytes by using chromosome aberration (CA) and micronucleus (MN) tests. Cultures were treated with 625, 1250 and 2500 µg/ml of TRZ in the presence and absence of S9 mix. TRZ showed cytotoxic activity at the highest concentration due to significant decrease in mitotic index (MI) in the absence of S9 mix when compared with solvent control. TRZ and metabolites significantly increased the CAs and aberrant cells in the presence and absence of S9 mix at the higher concentrations. Increased MN values in cultures with and without S9 mix were found to significantly at the highest concentration when tested. Our results indicated that while both TRZ and its metabolites have genotoxic potential on human lymphocyte cultures with and without S9 mix, TRZ can induce cytotoxicity at the highest concentration in culture without S9 mix under the experimental conditions.

[The Assessment of the Auditory Hallucinations and Delusions: The Reliability and the Validity of Turkish Version of the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS)]. / Isitsel Varsani ve Sanrilarin Degerlendirilmesi: Psikotik Belirti Degerlendirme Ölçeklerinin (PSYRATS) Türkçe Formunun Güvenilirligi ve Geçerligi.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of Turkish version of PSYRATS Auditory Hallucinations Scales (AHS) and Delusion Scales (DS). METHOD: 85 schizophrenic outpatients or inpatients aged between 18 and 65 years were the subjects of this study. The patients diagnosed by using the DSM-IV-TR and who have psychosis with alcohol or drug dependence, organic, mental and physical deficit were not included to the study. PSYRATS scales were translated and corrected by the authors. PSYRATS were applied for two times per week to 57 patients to determine test-retest reliability. 85 patients were applied PANSS and 71 of them were applied SAPS to determine the concurrent validity. RESULTS: Cronbach Alpha coefficient was calculated as .79 for AHS and .80 for DS. For the AHS each item correlated between .59 and .98; for the DS each correlated between .66 and .93. For the test-retest reliability, item correlation coefficient of AHS is determined between .68 and .89, DS is .61 and .76 (p<0.01). Supporting the concurrent validity, a significant correlation was found between PANSS and SAPS (p<0.01). Three factor groups for AHS and also DH were revealed and examined more than 90 % of the variance. The results were supported by the original study findings. CONCLUSION: PSYRATS Auditory Hallucination and Delusion Scales were found to be reliable and valid measures to assess the dimensions of psychotic symptoms in Turkish schizophrenia patients.