bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evolutionary history ofTrypanosoma cruziaccording to antigen genes
Authors: ROZAS M. , DE DONCKER S. , CORONADO X. , BARNABÉ C. , TIBYARENC M. , SOLARI A. , DUJARDIN J.-C.
Published: August 2008

Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease is associated with a very high clinical and epidemiological pleomorphism. This might be better understood through studies on the evolutionary history of the parasite. We explored here the value of antigen genes for the understanding of the evolution withinT. cruzi. We selected 11 genes and 12 loci associated with different functions and considered to be involved in host-parasite interaction (cell adhesion, infection, molecular mimicry). The polymorphism of the respective genes in a sample representative of the diversity ofT. cruziwas screened by PCR-RFLP and evolutionary relationships were inferred by phenetic analysis. Our results support the classification ofT. cruziin 2 major lineages and 6 discrete typing units (DTUs). The topology of the PCR-RFLP tree was the one that better fitted with the epidemiological features of the different DTUs: (i) lineage I, being encountered in sylvatic as well as domestic transmission cycles, (ii) IIa/c being associated with a sylvatic transmission cycle and (iii) IIb/d/e being associated with a domestic transmission cycle. Our study also supported the hypothesis that the evolutionary history ofT. cruzihas been shaped by a series of hybridization events in the framework of a predominant clonal evolution pattern.
The Place of Beauty
Authors: Skillen Anthony
Published: August 2008

The article seeks to function as a cluster of reminders of the rich, robust and subtle place of ‘our’ concept of beauty—hence of its contrasts. It illustrates this through everyday life examples as well as through criticism of writings that, in apparent embarrassment about using the idea, seek to supplant it with something less suspect. The article seeks to show the concept of beauty at work not only in art but, as Plato urged, in human action and reaction at all levels, as well of course in nature. I try to sketch an epistemology of sensibility and a logic of beauty as a more-or-less topic neutral concept attaching to whole, hence individual and perhaps unique situations.
An experimental investigation of hypervigilance for threat in children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder
Authors: DALGLEISH T. , MORADI A. R. , TAGHAVI M. R. , NESHAT-DOOST H. T. , YULE W.
Published: August 2008

Background. The present study examined biases in visual attention for emotional material in children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and healthy controls.

Methods. The participants carried out an attentional deployment task in which probe detection latency data were used to determine the distribution of visual attention for threat-related and depression-related material.

Results. The results showed that children and adolescents with PTSD, relative to controls, selectively allocated processing resources towards socially threatening stimuli and away from depression-related stimuli. This attentional avoidance of depression-related information in the PTSD participants declined with age.

Conclusions. The results of the study are interpreted as a consolidation and extension of previous research on attentional bias and emotional disorder in younger participants.
The context of delusional experiences in the daily life of patients with schizophrenia
Authors: MYIN-GERMEYS I. , NICOLSON N. A. , DELESPAUL P. A. E. G.
Published: August 2008

Background. Global characteristics and psychosocial risk factors related to delusions have been identified. The present study extends these findings to the level of everyday functioning, identifying characteristics of delusional moments (DMs) and contextual risk and protective factors for delusional exacerbations in daily life.

Methods. Data were collected using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), a time-sampling technique. Forty-eight chronic patients diagnosed with schizophrenia rated the intensity of pathological symptoms and mood states and described their thoughts and the environmental context during consecutive moments in daily life. Delusions were defined on the basis of self-rated suspicion, preoccupation, feeling controlled, and coded thought pathology. Daily context included current activity, persons present and location. Characteristics of DMs and non-delusional moments (nDMs) were compared, and a multilevel logistic regression model was used to identify contexts that might trigger or prevent DMs.

Results. On average, patients experienced delusions less than one-third of the time. DMs were characterized by higher negative affect and lower positive affect. The presence of family or acquaintances decreased the risk of subsequently experiencing a DM, whereas withdrawal from activities increased this risk.

Conclusions. Data support the validity of ESM for investigating delusions in schizophrenia. Daily life contexts appear to alter the probability that delusions will occur. Knowledge about such contexts may therefore be useful in helping patients develop better coping strategies and in creating therapeutic interventions that can lessen emotional distress.
The longitudinal effect of depression on functional limitations and disability in older adults: an eight-wave prospective community-based study
Authors: GEERLINGS S. W. , BEEKMAN A. T. F. , DEEG D. J. H. , TWISK J. W. R. , VAN TILBURG W.
Published: August 2008

Background. The temporal relationship between depression and adverse functional outcomes in older adults is ambiguous. In the present eight-wave prospective community-based study, the longitudinal effect of depression on functional limitations and disability (in terms of disability days and bed days) was studied, thereby taking into account the role of chronic physical diseases.

Methods. The study is based on a sample which at the outset consisted of 325 non-depressed and 327 depressed persons (55–85 years) drawn from a larger random community based sample in the Netherlands. Generalized estimating equations time-lag models were used to examine the longitudinal relation between depression and both functional limitations and disability.

Results. Functional limitations were very persistent over time, whereas disability days and bed days were more fluctuating functional outcomes. Only in the presence of chronic physical diseases, there was a significant longitudinal association between depression at the previous measurement and functional limitations, disability days and bed days at the next measurement. The effect on functional limitations was small, which was probably partly due to their persistent nature.

Conclusions. The finding of a longitudinal relationship between depression and functional outcomes in older adults with a compromised health status provides a rationale for treatment of chronic physical diseases as well as depression in depressed chronically ill elderly, in order to prevent a spiralling decline in psychological and physical health.
Health problems, impairment and illnesses associated with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder among primary care and obstetric gynaecology patients
Authors: JOHNSON J. G. , SPITZER R. L. , WILLIAMS J. B. W.
Published: August 2008

Background. Although psychiatric patients with eating disorders are known to be at risk for a variety of health problems, relatively little is known about eating disorders and associated health problems in other populations. An epidemiological study was conducted to investigate health problems and impairment associated with bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED) among female primary care and obstetric gynaecology patients.

Methods. Psychiatric disorders, physical illnesses, disabilities, functional status and stress were assessed among 4651 female patients (age range:18 to 99 years) at 8 primary care and 7 obstetric gynaecology clinics throughout the United States.

Results. Two hundred eighty-nine women (6·2%) were diagnosed with BN or BED. The prevalence of BN was approximately 1% among young and middle-aged women. The prevalence of BED increased steadily from early (3·3%) through middle (8·5%) adulthood. Anxiety disorders, mood disorders and diabetes were much more common among women with BN or BED than among women without these eating disorders. Women with BN or BED reported markedly poorer functioning and much higher levels of disability, health problems, insomnia, psychosocial stress and suicidal thoughts than did women without BN or BED, after co-occurring psychiatric disorders were controlled statistically. Yet, fewer than one of ten cases of BN or BED was recognized by the patients’ physicians.

Conclusions. Patients with BN or BED often experience considerable disability, impairment, distress and co-occurring illnesses. Increased recognition of eating disorders may be a crucial step towards encouraging more patients to seek treatment for these disabling conditions.
Stress and well-being in mothers of young children 11 years after the Chornobyl nuclear power plant accident
Authors: ADAMS R. E. , BROMET E. J. , PANINA N. , GOLOVAKHA E. , GOLDGABER D. , GLUZMAN S.
Published: August 2008

Background. This paper examines the association between exposure to the Chornobyl nuclear power plant explosion and the psychological and physical well-being of mothers with young children. The study also examines whether exposure to Chornobyl increased the vulnerability of mothers to subsequent economic and social stress, and thus represents a unique test of the stress–vulnerability model in a non-Western setting.

Method. The sample consisted of mothers evacuated from the contamination zone surrounding the plant (evacuees) and mothers who had never lived in a radiation-contaminated area (controls). In addition to exposure status, the interview obtained data on perceived economic stress, social stress and stress moderators. The dependent variables were measured by the SCL-90 global severity index (GSI), perceived physical health and number of days unable to work due to illness.

Results. Overall, evacuees reported fewer stressors and greater personal and social resources than control mothers. Nevertheless, evacuees scored higher on the GSI, reported lower perceived physical health and took more sick days relative to control mothers, even after controlling for demographic factors, stressors and stress moderators. Tests of interaction effects were not statistically significant.

Conclusions. The findings confirmed that married women with young children evacuated to Kyiv following the Chornobyl nuclear power plant explosion reported significantly poorer psychological and perceived physical health than controls 11 years later. Although perceived social and economic adversities also affected these outcomes, there was no evidence that exposure to the Chornobyl accident increased the vulnerability of mothers to these stressors, giving support to the additive burden model of stress.
Serotonergic and cognitive impairment in impulsive aggressive personality disordered offenders: are there implications for treatment?
Authors: DOLAN M. , DEAKIN W. J. F. , ROBERTS N. , ANDERSON I.
Published: August 2008

Background. Reduced serotonin (5-HT) function and deficits on neuropsychological tasks have been separately reported in antisocial populations. We investigated whether these impairments are independent or associated factors underlying impulsivity in aggressive personality disordered (PD) offenders and healthy controls and whether there are associated changes in quantitative brain measures.

Methods. This study reports on the findings from a sample of 51 PD offenders and 24 controls, recruited from maximum security psychiatric hospitals, who were characterized using the Special Hospital Assessment of Personality and Socialisation (SHAPS). Subjects underwent assessment of 5-HT function (prolactin response to D-fenfluramine challenge), neuropsychological testing and had a diagnostic MRI scan. Of this sample 19 controls and 24 patients also had quantitative measurement of frontal and temporal lobe volumes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Results. Non-psychopathic (low-impulsive) aggressive PDs had enhanced 5-HT function compared with controls and highly impulsive aggressive psychopaths. Primary and secondary psychopaths had poorer executive/frontal, but not memory/temporal neuropsychological function than controls and non-psychopaths. There were no significant group differences in frontal or temporal lobe brain volumes. Although impulsivity and aggression are correlated constructs impulsivity appeared to be related to both executive function and 5-HT function, while aggression only correlated inversely with executive/frontal and memory/temporal function. 5-HT did not directly correlate with frontal or temporal volume or function.

Conclusion. Impulsivity appears to be contributed to by both impaired neuropsychological function and 5-HT function. Impaired neuropsychological function alone makes a contribution to aggression. Treatment needs to take account of the neuropsychological and biochemical deficits in this challenging population.
Distributed grey and white matter deficits in hyperkinetic disorder: MRI evidence for anatomical abnormality in an attentional network
Authors: OVERMEYER S. , BULLMORE E. T. , SUCKLING J. , SIMMONS A. , WILLIAMS S. C. R. , SANTOSH P. J. , TAYLOR E.
Published: August 2008

Background. Previous neuroimaging studies of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have demonstrated anatomic and functional abnormalities predominantly in frontal and striatal grey matter. Here we report the use of novel image analysis methods, which do not require prior selection of regions of interest, to characterize distributed morphological deficits of both grey and white matter associated with ADHD.

Methods. Eighteen children with a refined phenotype of ADHD, who also met ICD-10 criteria for hyperkinetic disorder (mean age 10·4 years), and 16 normal children (mean age 10·3 years) were compared using magnetic resonance imaging. The groups were matched for handedness, sex, height, weight and head circumference. Morphological differences between groups were estimated by fitting a linear model at each voxel in standard space, applying a threshold to the resulting voxel statistic maps to generate clusters of spatially contiguous suprathreshold voxels, and testing cluster ‘mass’, or the sum of suprathreshold voxel statistics in each 2D cluster, by repeated random resampling of the data.

Results. The hyperkinetic children had significant grey matter deficits in right superior frontal gyrus (Brodmann area (BA) 8/9), right posterior cingulate gyrus (BA 30) and the basal ganglia bilaterally (especially right globus pallidus and putamen). They also demonstrated significant central white matter deficits in the left hemisphere anterior to the pyramidal tracts and superior to the basal ganglia.

Conclusions. This pattern of spatially distributed grey matter deficit in the right hemisphere is compatible with the hypothesis that ADHD is associated with disruption of a large scale neurocognitive network for attention. The left hemispheric white matter deficits may be due to dysmyelination.
Vascular risk factors in late onset mania
Authors: CASSIDY FREDERICK , CARROLL BERNARD J.
Published: August 2008

Background. Previous researches have suggested that late onset mania is a distinct subtype associated with medical and neurological disorders. Few studies, however, have focused on vascular risk factors.

Methods. Records of 366 bipolar patients were reviewed and age of first psychiatric hospitalization determined. Late-onset cases were determined empirically from a distribution histogram. Late onset cases were matched to early onset cases and histories of vascular disease/risks and current cholesterol levels compared.

Results. The distribution of age of first psychiatric hospitalization was bimodal with an intermode at age 47. Using that threshold, 6·3% of the cohort was classified as having late onset mania. Vascular risks factors were greater and current cholesterol levels higher in the late onset group.

Conclusions. Late onset mania is associated with greater vascular risk factors. The bimodal appearance of age of first psychiatric hospitalization in this study provides further support of late onset mania as a distinct manic subtype with possibly a different, vascular aetiology. Control of these vascular risks may impact on the incidence of late onset mania, as well as on its clinical management.
Genetic and environmental risk factors for depression assessed by subject-rated Symptom Check List versus Structured Clinical Interview
Authors: FOLEY D. L. , NEALE M. C. , KENDLER K. S.
Published: August 2008

Background. It is not known if a subject's characteristic level of self-rated depression symptoms index their genetic or environmental liability to major depressive disorder when measurement error and other occasion-specific influences are taken into account.

Method. Monozygotic (N = 408) and dizygotic (N = 295) adult female twin pairs from a population-based registry were surveyed twice with an average follow-up interval of 61 months. At each occasion subjects completed a structured clinical interview (SCID) to assess lifetime history of major depression and the subject-rated Symptom Check List (SCL) to assess current level of depressive symptomatology. A bivariate measurement model was used to estimate the genetic and environmental correlations between liability to reliably diagnosed lifetime history of major depression and the characteristic or temporally stable SCL depression score.

Results. The genetic and non-familial environmental correlation between liability to reliably diagnosed major depression and the characteristic level of SCL depression symptoms (and the proportion of variance shared between measures) is +0·70 and +0·24 respectively.

Conclusions. When allowance is made for diagnostic unreliability and temporal fluctuations in the level of subject-rated symptoms, 70% of the variance in genetic risk factors and 24% of the variance in environmental risk factors is shared by a diagnosis of lifetime major depression and total SCL depression symptom score. SCL depression scores may therefore be a useful screening measure for many of the genetic risk factors which influence liability to major depression.
Childhood behaviour, psychotic symptoms and psychosis onset in young people at high risk of schizophrenia: early findings from the Edinburgh High Risk Study
Authors: MILLER P. M. , BYRNE M. , HODGES A. , LAWRIE S. M. , JOHNSTONE E. C.
Published: August 2008

Background. Several studies suggest that many patients with schizophrenia have pre-morbid neurodevelopmental abnormalities. This study examines how behavioural abnormalities are associated with mild psychotic symptoms and later schizophrenic illness.

Methods. Maternal ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) of the early behaviour of 155 subjects were obtained at entry to the Edinburgh study of people at high risk of schizophrenia. These maternal ratings were compared in those with and without psychotic symptoms and used to predict the later onset of psychosis.

Results. The CBCL syndrome scores for the children prior to age 13 did not distinguish any of the study groups at entry to the study. In the ratings made for the subjects when aged from 13 to 16, delinquent behaviour and ‘other problems’ were weakly associated with these symptoms. However, with the exception of somatic symptoms and thought problems, the age 13–16 scales were significant predictors of later schizophrenic illness. This was true also for some of the ratings prior to age 13.

Conclusions. Various behaviours, in particular, withdrawn and delinquent–aggressive behaviour in adolescents at risk of schizophrenia may predict later onset of the illness. These behaviours, however, are far less predictive of isolated psychotic symptoms prior to psychosis onset.
Spousal resemblance for history of major depressive episode in the previous year
Authors: LINDEMAN S. , KAPRIO J. , ISOMETSÄ E. , POIKOLAINEN K. , HEIKKINEN M. , HÄMÄLÄINEN J. , HAARASILTA L. , LAUKKALA T. , ARO H.
Published: August 2008

Background. There is discrepancy in findings on spousal concordance for major depression. Here we report the risk of depression and its determinants in spouses of persons with or without depression, taking into account several known risk factors for major depression.

Methods. A random sample of non-institutionalized Finnish individual aged 15–75 years was interviewed in the 1996 National Health Care Survey. The sample included 1708 male–female spouse pairs. Major depressive episode (MDE) during the last 12 months was assessed using the Short Form of the University of Michigan version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (the UM-CIDI Short Form). Risk factors were assessed in the same interview.

Results. Factors associating with MDE were spouse's MDE, own alcohol intoxication at least once a week and own chronic medical conditions. In addition, there was a strong association between female's current smoking and male's MDE, independently of other risk factors and spousal MDE. The association of MDE with spouses's MDE was not affected by taking into account other assessed risk factors (own or spouse's).

Conclusions. The results indicate elevated spouse concordance for MDE independent of the risk factors assessed in the present study.
Early adolescent marijuana use: risks for the transition to young adulthood
Authors: BROOK J. S. , ADAMS R. E. , BALKA E. B. , JOHNSON E.
Published: August 2008

Background. This study assessed the relationship of early adolescent marijuana use to performance of developmental tasks integral to the transition to young adulthood. The tasks concerned intimacy, education, and work and social conformity.

Methods. African American (N = 617) and Puerto Rican (N = 531) youths completed questionnaires in their classrooms. Five years later they were individually interviewed. Logistic regression analysis estimated the increased likelihood that early marijuana users would make an inadequate transition to young adult social roles.

Results. Analyses examining the association between early marijuana use and 20 outcome variables found significant relationships for 10 of them: (a) having lower educational and occupational expectations; (b) being suspended or expelled from school, fired from jobs, ‘high’ at school or work, collecting welfare; and (c) rebelliousness, not participating in productive activities, not attending church, and being an unmarried parent. Marijuana use was not related to any of the intimate relationship measures. These finding emerged with controls on gender, ethnicity, age and mother's education.

Conclusions. Among African Americans and Puerto Ricans, early marijuana use predicts less adequate performance on some developmental tasks integral to becoming an independent young adult. Marijuana is not a benign drug and is associated with future risks for the individual and society at large.
Circumscribed numerical deficit of dorsal raphe neurons in mood disorders
Authors: BAUMANN B. , BIELAU H. , KRELL D. , AGELINK M. W. , DIEKMANN S. , WURTHMANN C. , TRÜBNER K. , BERNSTEIN H.-G. , DANOS P. , BOGERTS B.
Published: August 2008

Background. Neurocircuits comprising limbic, striato–pallidal and thalamo–cortical brain areas are assumed to be involved in the pathophysiology of mood disorders. All these brain regions receive serotonergic afferents arising from the rostral raphe, mainly the dorsal raphe. Although serotonergic systems appear to be involved in the pathology of mood disorders, there is uncertainty as to whether structural alterations in raphe nuclei exist alongside a functional dysregulation of the serotonergic system.

Methods. In the brains of 12 patients with mood disorders (major depressive disorder N = 6, bipolar disorder N = 6) and 12 normal subjects we performed a morphometric post-mortem study on neuronal morphology in all subnuclei of the dorsal raphe nucleus using Nissl stained 20 μm axial serial sections of the brainstem.

Results. The number of neurones of the ventrolateral subnucleus of the dorsal raphe was reduced by 31% in patients with mood disorders compared with non-psychiatric control subjects. Ventrally located subnuclei of the rostral dorsal raphe (ventrolateral, ventral, interfascicular) taken together also showed a smaller number of neurones. Neurone numbers of the dorsal and the caudal subnucleus and volumes of all single subnuclei appeared to be unchanged. Analysis of morphological neuronal types revealed a smaller number of triangular neurones in the ventrolateral subnucleus. Numbers of ovoid and round neurones in the ventrolateral subnucleus also showed a trend to reduction. No correlation was found between neurone numbers in any subnucleus of the dorsal raphe and duration of illness. Neurone numbers did not differ in any subnucleus between patients with unipolar and those with bipolar affective disorder.

Conclusions. Results indicate that patients with primary mood disorders have a circumscribed numerical neuronal deficiency in the dorsal raphe. This structural deviation may contribute to impaired serotonergic innervation of brain regions which are involved in the pathology of mood disorders.
Recollection memory deficits in patients with major depressive disorder predicted by past depressions but not
current mood state or treatment status
Authors: MacQUEEN G. M. , GALWAY T. M. , HAY J. , YOUNG L. T. , JOFFE R. T.
Published: August 2008

Background. Neuropsychological studies have suggested that memory systems reliant on medial temporal lobe structures are impaired in patients with depression. There is less data regarding whether this impairment is specific to recollection memory systems, and whether clinical features predict impairment. This study sought to address these issues.

Method. A computerized process-dissociation memory task was utilized to dissociate recollection and habit memory in 40 patients with past or current major depression and 40 age, sex and IQ matched non-psychiatric control subjects. The Cognitive Failures Questionnaire was used to assess patients’ perceptions of day-to-day memory failures.

Results. Patients had impaired recollection memory (t = 4·7, P<0·001), but no impairment in habit memory when compared to controls. Recollection memory performance was not predicted by indices of current mood state, but was predicted by self-assessments of impairment (β = −0·33; P = 0·008) and past number of depressions (β = −0·41; P = 0·001). There was no evidence that standard therapy with antidepressant medication either improved or worsened memory performance.

Conclusions. The results confirm that patients with multiple past depressions have reduced function on recollection memory tasks, but not on habit memory performance. The memory deficits were independent of current mood state but related to past course of illness and significant enough that patients detected impairment in day-to-day memory function.
To the Editor
Authors: GOODING DIANE C. , TALLENT KATHLEEN A. , KÉRI SZABOLCS , KELEMEN OGUZ , BENEDEK GYÖRGY , JANKA ZOLTÁN
Published: August 2008

We read with considerable interest the recent paper by Kéri et al. (31, 915–922) in which they observed that siblings of schizophrenia patients could be distinguished from siblings of bipolar patients on the basis of dysfunctions of visual backward masking and spatial working memory.
Perceived need for mental health care: influences of diagnosis, demography and disability
Authors: MEADOWS G. , BURGESS P. , BOBEVSKI I. , FOSSEY E. , HARVEY C. , LIAW S.-T.
Published: August 2008

Background. Recent major epidemiological studies have adopted increasingly multidimensional approaches to assessment. Several of these have included some assessment of perceived need for mental health care. The Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, conducted in 1997, included a particularly detailed examination of this construct, with an instrument with demonstrated reliability and validity.

Methods. A clustered probability sample of 10641 Australians responded to the field questionnaire for this survey, including questions on perceived need either where there had been service utilization, or where a disorder was detected by administration of sections of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. The confidentialized unit record file generated from the survey was analysed for determinants of perceived need.

Results. Perceived need is increased in females, in people in the middle years of adulthood, and in those who have affective disorders or co-morbidity. Effects of diagnosis and disability can account for most of the differences in gender specific rates. With correction for these effects through regression, there is less perceived need for social interventions and possibly more for counselling in females; disability is confirmed as strongly positively associated with perceived need, as are the presence of affective disorders or co-morbidity.

Conclusions. The findings of this study underscore the imperative for mental health services to be attentive and responsive to consumer perceived need. The substantial majority of people who are significantly disabled by mental health problems are among those who see themselves as having such needs.
Prevalence, incidence and stability of premenstrual dysphoric disorder in the community
Authors: WITTCHEN H.-U. , BECKER E. , LIEB R. , KRAUSE P.
Published: August 2008

Background. Despite an abundance of clinical research on premenstrual and menstrual symptoms, few epidemiological data provide estimates of the prevalence, incidence, co-morbidity, stability and correlates of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) in the community.

Aims. To describe the prevalence, incidence, 12 co-morbidity factors and correlates of threshold and subthreshold PMDD in a community sample of young women.

Methods. Findings are based on prospective–longitudinal community survey of 1488 women aged 14–24, who were followed-up over a period of 48 months (follow-up, N = 1251) as part of the EDSP sample. Diagnostic assessments were based on the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and its 12-month PMDD diagnostic module administered by clinical interviewers. Diagnoses were calculated using DSM-IV algorithms, but daily ratings of symptoms, as required, were not available.

Results. The baseline 12-month prevalence of DSM-IV PMDD was 5·8%. Application of the diagnostic exclusion rules with regard to concurrent major depression and dysthymia decreased the rate only slightly (5·3%). An additional 18·6% were ‘near-threshold’ cases, mostly because they failed to meet the mandatory impairment criterion. Over the follow-up period only few new PMDD cases were observed: cumulative lifetime incidence was 7·4%. PMDD syndrome was stable across 48 months with <10% complete remissions among baseline PMDD cases. The 12-month and lifetime co-morbidity rates were high (anxiety disorders 47·4%, mood disorders 22·9%; somatoform 28·4%), only 26·5% had no other mental disorder. Particularly high odds ratios were found with nicotine dependence and PTSD. In terms of correlates increased rates of 4-weeks impairment days, high use of general health and mental health services, and increased rates of suicide attempts were found.

Conclusion. In this sample of adolescents and young adults, premenstrual symptoms were widespread. However, DSM-IV PMDD was considerably less prevalent. PMDD is a relatively stable and impairing condition, with high rates of health service utilization, increased suicidality and substantial co-morbidity.
Sibling pairs with affective disorders: resemblance of demographic and clinical features
Authors: O'MAHONY E. , CORVIN A. , O’CONNELL R. , COMERFORD C. , LARSEN B. , JONES I. R. , McCANDLESS F. , KIROV G. , CARDNO A. G. , CRADDOCK N. , GILL M.
Published: August 2008

Background. As part of a collaborative linkage study, the authors obtained clinical and demographic data on 160 families in which more than one sibling was affected with a bipolar illness. The aim of the study was to identify clinical characteristics that had a high degree of familiality.

Method. Data on age at onset, gender, frequency of illness-episodes and proportion of manic to depressive episodes were examined to determine intra-pair correlations in affected sibling pairs. Dimension scales were developed measuring frequency and severity of lifetime mania, depression, psychosis and mood-incongruence of psychotic symptoms; degree of familial aggregation for scores on these dimensions was calculated.

Results. Sibling pairs correlated significantly for age at onset (ρ = 0·293, P<0·001); dimension scores for psychosis (ρ = 0·332, P < 0·001); and proportion of manic to depressive episodes (ρ = 0·184, P = 0·002). These findings remained significant when correcting for multiple testing. Of the other test variables; mania (ρ = 0·171, P = 0·019); incongruence dimensions (ρ = 0·242, P = 0·042); frequency of manic episodes (ρ = 0·152, P = 0·033); and frequency of depressive episodes (ρ = 0·155, P = 0·028) were associated with modest correlations but these were not significant after correction. Degree of familial aggregation was not significant for sex (κ = 0·084) or dimension scores for depression (ρ = 0·078, P = 0·300).

Conclusions. Significant but modest familial resemblance has been shown for some specific features of bipolar illness, particularly age at onset and degree of psychosis. Further research may establish the extent to which these findings are mediated by genetic and/or environmental factors.
Combined effect of mental disorder and low social support on care service use for mental health problems in the Dutch general population
Authors: TEN HAVE M. , VOLLEBERGH W. , BIJL R. , ORMEL J.
Published: August 2008

Background. People with a mental disorder have high rates of service utilization for emotional or addiction problems. Little is known about the role of functional impairments and low social support in such service use. This article investigates: (1) whether the presence of multiple functional impairments mediates the link between mental disorder and service use; and (2) whether social support modifies that association.

Methods. Data were derived from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study, NEMESIS, a prospective general population study. Predictors of service use (mental disorder; functional impairments; social support) were recorded in the second wave of the study, and service use in the third wave.

Results. Persons with a DSM-III-R disorder and persons with multiple functional impairments were three to seven times as likely to use primary or mental health care. People with low perceived social support were two to three times as likely to use them, and living alone increased the likelihood by 30% to 80%. The effect of mental disorder on service use was mediated by multiple functional impairments. In people with a mental disorder, low levels of social support intensified mental health service use.

Conclusion. Service utilization by people with mental problems can be better understood through a model incorporating: (1) independent effects of mental disorder, functional impairments and social support on service use; (2) a mediating effect of multiple functional impairments on the link between mental disorder and service use; and (3) interaction effects of mental disorder and low social support on service use.
Sustained attention in young people at high risk for schizophrenia
Authors: COSWAY R. , BYRNE M. , CLAFFERTY R. , HODGES A. , GRANT E. , MORRIS J. , ABUKMEIL S. S. , LAWRIE S. M. , MILLER P. , OWENS D. G. C. , JOHNSTONE E. C.
Published: August 2008

Background. Sustained attention has been found to be impaired in individuals suffering from schizophrenia and their close relatives. This has led to the hypothesis that impaired sustained attention is an indicator of vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Methods. The Edinburgh High Risk Study used the Continuous Performance Test-Identical Pairs version (CPT-IP) to assess sustained attention in 127 high risk participants, 30 controls and 15 first-episode schizophrenic patients. A second assessment was completed by 59 high risk and 18 control participants 18 months to 2 years after the first.

Results. No differences in attentional capacity were found between the high risk and control groups and there was no association between genetic liability to schizophrenia and poor performance on the CPT-IP. Additionally, no association between occurrence of psychotic symptoms in the high risk group and impaired attentional capacity was found.

Conclusions. The results suggest that deficits in sustained attention are not indicative of a genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia, and are not associated with the occurrence of psychotic symptoms.
Psychosocial work characteristics as risk factors for the onset of fatigue and psychological distress: prospective results from the Maastricht Cohort Study
Authors: BÜLTMANN U. , KANT IJ. , VAN DEN BRANDT P. A. , KASL S. V.
Published: August 2008

Background. Prolonged fatigue has recently attracted attention in occupational (mental) health research since it may lead to sickness absenteeism and work disability. To date, little is known about the role of psychosocial work characteristics in the aetiology of fatigue. In this study we examined prospectively a wide range of psychosocial work characteristics as possible risk factors for the onset of fatigue and psychological distress in the working population.

Methods. This study is based on 8833 employees, participating in the Maastricht Cohort Study of ‘Fatigue at Work’. A wide range of psychosocial work characteristics, measured at baseline, was used to predict the onset of fatigue and psychological distress 1 year later. Fatigue was measured with the Checklist Individual Strength; the General Health Questionnaire was used to measure psychological distress.

Results. The cumulative incidence of fatigue during 1 year follow-up was 9·7% (N = 492) in men, and 13·5% (N = 241) in women. Psychological demands at work as well as physical and emotional demands increased the risk for fatigue in men, whereas decision latitude in men and co-worker social support in women were protective against fatigue. These prospective associations remained significant after adjustments for potential confounders and baseline fatigue. As regards psychological distress, no association was found with decision latitude, while conflicts at work increased the risk of psychological distress.

Conclusions. Psychosocial work characteristics were significant predictors for the onset of fatigue in the working population. The prospective associations suggest some differential effects in the aetiology of fatigue and psychological distress. Good interpersonal relationships at work and high decision authority were demonstrated to be relevant aspects that should be targeted for prevention.
Evidence that three dimensions of psychosis have a distribution in the general population
Authors: STEFANIS N. C. , HANSSEN M. , SMIRNIS N. K. , AVRAMOPOULOS D. A. , EVDOKIMIDIS I. K. , STEFANIS C. N. , VERDOUX H. , VAN OS J.
Published: August 2008

Background. The aims of the study were: first to examine, using clinical symptoms of patients as a template, whether the correlated but independent dimensions of positive, negative and depressive symptoms that have been identified in clinical psychosis, also have a distribution as non-clinical experiences in the general population; and second, to establish to what degree population variation in experience of positive and negative features of psychosis is actually independent of experience of depression.

Method. In a representative population sample of 932 young men, we measured experiences of positive, negative and depressive features of psychosis, using a 40-item self-report instrument. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the fit of hypothesized one-, two- and three-factor solutions.

Results. A three-factor model of separate depressive, positive and negative dimensions provided a better fit to the data than either a two-factor or unidimensional model. All three dimensions were correlated with each other, but also showed good discriminant validity in relation to established scales, confirming their relative independence.

Conclusion. The data suggest that the correlated dimensions of clinical psychosis also have a distribution in the general population, and that depressive symptoms may form an integral part of psychosis-like experiences in the general population.
Suicide in female nurses in England and Wales
Authors: HAWTON K. , SIMKIN S. , RUE J. , HAW C. , BARBOUR F. , CLEMENTS A. , SAKAROVITCH C. , DEEKS J.
Published: August 2008

Background. Female nurses appear to have an increased risk of suicide but the reasons are unknown.

Method. We have concluded a study of nurse suicides (N = 106) in England and Wales, including a psychological autopsy study (N = 42) and case–control comparison with living nurses (N = 84).

Results. Nearly three-quarters of the nurse suicides had previous contact with psychiatric services and almost half had been psychiatric in-patients in the past. There were particularly marked differences between the cases and controls for current psychiatric disorder (90·5% v. 7·1%, OR = 68·5), personality disorder (38·1% v. 1·2%, OR = 32), and history of deliberate self-harm (71·4% v. 2· 4%, OR = 58·5). Family background and social factors (especially concerning interpersonal relationships) also distinguished the two groups. Smoking and serious alcohol abuse were much more frequent in the suicides. There was some indication that while many of the suicides were in contact with psychiatric services, care may not have been optimal in some cases.

Conclusions. The most important strategies for suicide prevention in nurses are in prevention, detection and management of psychiatric disorders. In assessing suicide risk a history of DSH and the presence of comorbid psychiatric and personality disorders are particularly important.
Biochemical stress of caring
Authors: DA ROZA DAVIS J. M. , COWEN P. J.
Published: August 2008

Background. Carers of patients with clinical dementia have increased rates of depressive illness but the biological mechanisms by which the stress of caring can lead to mood disorders is not well understood.

Methods. We recruited 30 full-time carers of patients with dementia and 28 age and gender-matched controls. None of the subjects were suffering from a significant depressive disorder. We measured salivary cortisol at four time points throughout a single day and also took a single fasting morning blood sample for plasma tryptophan.

Results. Salivary cortisol levels were significantly higher in carers than controls at 12.00 h and 22.00 h. Plasma total tryptophan but not free tryptophan levels were significantly lower in carers.

Conclusions. The changes found in these non-depressed carers were essentially similar to those in patients with major depression. We suggest that increased cortisol secretion and lowered tryptophan availability increase the risk of mood disorders in carers.
Dynamics of biochemical and biophysical reactions: insight from computer simulations
Authors: Warshel Arieh , W. Parson William
Published: August 2008

1. Introduction 563

2. Obtaining rate constants from molecular-dynamics simulations 564

2.1 General relationships between quantum electronic structures and reaction rates 564

2.2 The transition-state theory (TST) 569

2.3 The transmission coefficient 572

3. Simulating biological electron-transfer reactions 575

3.1 Semi-classical surface-hopping and the Marcus equation 575

3.2 Treating quantum mechanical nuclear tunneling by the dispersed-polaron/spin-boson method 580

3.3 Density-matrix treatments 583

3.4 Charge separation in photosynthetic bacterial reaction centers 584

4. Light-induced photoisomerizations in rhodopsin and bacteriorhodopsin 596

5. Energetics and dynamics of enzyme reactions 614

5.1 The empirical-valence-bond treatment and free-energy perturbation methods 614

5.2 Activation energies are decreased in enzymes relative to solution, often by electrostatic effects
that stabilize the transition state 620

5.3 Entropic effects in enzyme catalysis 627

5.4 What is meant by dynamical contributions to catalysis? 634

5.5 Transmission coefficients are similar for corresponding reactions in enzymes and water 636

5.6 Non-equilibrium solvation effects contribute to catalysis mainly through Δg[Dagger], not the
transmission coefficient 641

5.7 Vibrationally assisted nuclear tunneling in enzyme catalysis 648

5.8 Diffusive processes in enzyme reactions and transmembrane channels 651

6. Concluding remarks 658

7. Acknowledgements 658

8. References 658

Obtaining a detailed understanding of the dynamics of a biochemical reaction is a formidable
challenge. Indeed, it might appear at first sight that reactions in proteins are too complex to
analyze microscopically. At room temperature, even a relatively small protein can have as
many as 1034 accessible conformational states (Dill, 1985). In many cases, however, we have
detailed structural information about the active site of an enzyme, whereas such information
is missing for corresponding chemical systems in solution. The atomic coordinates of the
chromophore in bacteriorhodopsin, for example, are known to a resolution of 1–2 Å.
In addition, experimental studies of biological processes such as photoisomerization and
electron transfer have provided a wealth of detailed information that eventually may make
some of these processes classical problems in chemical physics as well as biology.
Freedom, damnation, and the power to sin with impunity
Authors: TALBOTT THOMAS
Published: August 2008

I argue that the idea of a freely embraced eternal destiny in hell is
deeply incoherent and implies, quite apart from its incoherence, that we are free
both to sin with impunity and to defeat God's justice forever.
The fine-tuning argument
Authors: BRADLEY M. C.
Published: August 2008

A frequent objection to the fine-tuning argument has been that although
certain necessary conditions for life were admittedly exceedingly improbable, still,
the many possible alternative sets of conditions were all equally improbable, so that
no special significance is to be attached to the realization of the conditions of life.
Some authors, however, have rejected this objection as fallacious. The object of this
paper is to state the objection to the fine-tuning argument in a more telling form
than has been done hitherto, and to meet the charge of fallacy.
Infant suffering revisited
Authors: CHIGNELL ANDREW
Published: August 2008

In two recent articles in this journal, David Basinger and Nathan Nobis
raise objections to my characterization of infant suffering and the problem that it
presents to theism. My main theses were that infant suffering to death is not
‘horrendous’ in the technical sense defined, and that a good God need only balance
off rather than ‘defeat’ such suffering. Basinger, on the other hand, claims that
some infant suffering should be considered horrendous, while Nobis suggests that
such suffering must be defeated by God rather than merely balanced off. In this response I will
briefly summarize my view and then respond to Basinger and Nobis.
Why God's beliefs are not hard-type soft facts
Authors: WIDERKER DAVID
Published: August 2008

John Fischer has attacked the Ockhamistic solution to the freedom–foreknowledge dilemma by arguing that: (1) God's prior beliefs about the future, though being soft facts about the past, are soft facts of a special sort, what he calls ‘hard-type soft facts’, i.e. soft facts, the constitutive properties of which are ‘hard’, or ‘temporally non-relational properties’; (2) in this respect, such facts are like regular past facts which are subject to the fixity of the past. In this paper, I take issue with this argument by Fischer, claiming that it does not succeed for two reasons: (i) Fischer's account of the notion of a hard property is unsatisfactory; (ii) his notion of a hard-type soft fact is incoherent. Despite this criticism, I agree with Fischer that there is a fundamental difference between God's beliefs about the future and regular soft facts with regard to their fixity-status, but I argue that the reason for this difference is that God's forebeliefs are plain hard facts about the past.