Assessment of depression in adolescents using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

Operating characteristics of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were examined by using data from 4 samples of students in Grades 9–12. The CES-D was found to have good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Dimensionality was comparable to that found for adults. Structure varied little by order of assessment (Trial 1 of Trial 2), age, or gender. Salience of items, in terms of rank order of mean item scores, was remarkably similar to that reported for college and general adult samples. With the standard cutoff score of 16 or more, half of the high school students were classified as depressed. There was a pronounced gender effect, with proportionately more women reporting depressive symptoms across the 4 samples. Although it appears that the CES-D scale may be appropriate for use with adolescents, the issues of stability of scores over time, appropriate cutoff scores, and usefulness in detecting cases of clinical depression remain unresolved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Heme Oxygenase-1 Transducer Model of Degenerative and Developmental Brain Disorders

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a 32 kDa protein which catalyzes the breakdown of heme to free iron, carbon monoxide and biliverdin. The Hmox1 promoter contains numerous consensus sequences that render the gene exquisitely sensitive to induction by diverse pro-oxidant and inflammatory stimuli. In “stressed” astroglia, HO-1 hyperactivity promotes mitochondrial iron sequestration and macroautophagy and may thereby contribute to the pathological iron deposition and bioenergetic failure documented in Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease and certain neurodevelopmental conditions. Glial HO-1 expression may also impact neuroplasticity and cell survival by modulating brain sterol metabolism and the proteasomal degradation of neurotoxic proteins. The glial HO-1 response may represent a pivotal transducer of noxious environmental and endogenous stressors into patterns of neural damage and repair characteristic of many human degenerative and developmental CNS disorders.     

Postviral gastroparesis: presentation, treatment, and outcome

We describe the clinical features and long-term outcome of 11 children who had persistent gastroparesis after an acute viral illness, eight of whom tested positive for rotavirus. Gastric emptying was delayed in the 10 children evaluated with scintigraphy. Antroduodenal manometry confirmed postprandial antral hypomotility in 10 subjects. All children recovered within 6 to 24 months.     

Sex differences and adolescent depression.

This study investigates the role of certain psychosocial variables—sex, age, body image/self-esteem, self-consciousness, stressful life events, and the degree to which an individual identifies with the cultural stereotype of masculinity—as correlates and antecedents to depression in adolescents and explores possible intraindividual mediators of the stress–depression relationship in adolescents. A battery of self-report measures was administered to public high school students in Grades 9–12 in their classrooms at two different times 1 month apart. Female adolescents reported more depressive symptoms, self-consciousness, stressful recent events, feminine attributes, and negative body image and self-esteem; no age effects were obtained. Results suggest a model of adolescent depression in which body image/self-esteem and stressful recent events are significant contributors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A search method for homologs of small proteins. Ubiquitin-like proteins in prokaryotic cells?

The question of protein homology versus analogy arises whenproteins share a common function or a common structural foldwithout any statistically significant amino acid sequence similarity.Even though two or more proteins do not have similar sequencesbut share a common fold and the same or closely related function,they are assumed to be homologs, descendant from a common ancestor.The problem of homolog identification is compounded in the caseof proteins of 100 or less amino acids. This is due to a limitednumber of basic single domain folds and to a likelihood of identifyingby chance sequence similarity. The latter arises from two conditions:first, any search of the currently very large protein databaseis likely to identify short regions of chance match; secondly,a direct sequence comparison among a small set of short proteinssharing a similar fold can detect many similar patterns of hydrophobicityeven if proteins do not descend from a common ancestor. In aneffort to identify distant homologs of the many ubiquitin proteins,we have developed a combined structure and sequence similarityapproach that attempts to overcome the above limitations ofhomolog identification. This approach results in the identificationof 90 probable ubiquitin-related proteins, including examplesfrom the two prokaryotic domains of life, Archaea and Bacteria. Received December 1, 2002; revised October 22, 2003; accepted October 24, 2003     

Development of Agglomerated Talc II: Optimization of the Processing Parameters for the Preparation of Granulated Talc

Agglomerated talc was prepared by the wet granulation method using a planetary mixer and a high speed mixer. The effect of the amount of water added and granulation time for the planetary mixer on the physical properties of the agglomerated talc were investigated by a response surface design. The speed of the agitator and granulation time for the high speed mixer were selected as the two independent variables to study the granulation processing using the same statistical design. Several characteristics of the product prepared by a planetary mixer or high speed mixer were well expressed as a quadratic function of the two independent variables studied in coded level. By superimposing contour plots of granule friability and percent fine of granule, a region was obtained where the requirements of friability and percent fines could be satisfied by controlling the processing variables. The optimal granulation condition was chosen from that region. The values of the measured responses of the agglomerated talc produced using the optimal granulation condition agreed well with the predicted values obtained from the regression equations.     

Effects of age, sex, and ethnicity on the association between apolipoprotein E genotype and Alzheimer disease. A meta-analysis. APOE and Alzheimer Disease Meta Analysis Consortium

OBJECTIVE: To examine more closely the association between apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype and Alzheimer disease (AD) by age and sex in populations of various ethnic and racial denominations. DATA SOURCES: Forty research teams contributed data on APOE genotype, sex, age at disease onset, and ethnic background for 5930 patients who met criteria for probable or definite AD and 8607 controls without dementia who were recruited from clinical, community, and brain bank sources. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for AD, adjusted for age and study and stratified by major ethnic group (Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Japanese) and source, were computed for APOE genotypes epsilon2/epsilon2, epsilon2/epsilon3, epsilon2/epsilon4, epsilon3/epsilon4, and epsilon4/epsilon4 relative to the epsilon3/epsilon3 group. The influence of age and sex on the OR for each genotype was assessed using logistic regression procedures. RESULTS: Among Caucasian subjects from clinic- or autopsy-based studies, the risk of AD was significantly increased for people with genotypes epsilon2/epsilon4 (OR=2.6, 95% CI=1.6-4.0), epsilon3/epsilon4 (OR=3.2, 95% CI=2.8-3.8), and epsilon4/epsilon4 (OR=14.9, 95% CI= 10.8-20.6); whereas, the ORs were decreased for people with genotypes epsilon2/epsilon2 (OR=0.6, 95% CI=0.2-2.0) and epsilon2/epsilon3 (OR=0.6, 95% CI=0.5-0.8). The APOE epsilon4-AD association was weaker among African Americans and Hispanics, but there was significant heterogeneity in ORs among studies of African Americans (P<.03). The APOE epsilon4-AD association in Japanese subjects was stronger than in Caucasian subjects (epsilon3/epsilon4: OR=5.6, 95% CI=3.9-8.0; epsilon4/epsilon4: OR=33.1, 95% CI=13.6-80.5). The epsilon2/epsilon3 genotype appears equally protective across ethnic groups. We also found that among Caucasians, APOE genotype distributions are similar in groups of patients with AD whose diagnoses were determined clinically or by autopsy. In addition, we found that the APOE epsilon4 effect is evident at all ages between 40 and 90 years but diminishes after age 70 years and that the risk of AD associated with a given genotype varies with sex. CONCLUSIONS: The APOE epsilon4 allele represents a major risk factor for AD in all ethnic groups studied, across all ages between 40 and 90 years, and in both men and women. The association between APOE epsilon4 and AD in African Americans requires clarification, and the attenuated effect of APOE epsilon4 in Hispanics should be investigated further.     

Age- and gender-specific effects of parental depression: A commentary.

Depressive symptoms were characterized as a female-typic response class with depressive episodes as the amplification of age- and gender-specific normal socialization practices. The parenting skill deficits of parents with depression may contribute to this outcome by increasing stressful life circumstances. The need for studies of the precise functional effects of intrafamilial processes that contribute to the intergenerational transmission of depression is discussed, including the importance of specific behavior patterns characteristic of depressed individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kinetochores distinguish GTP from GDP forms of the microtubule lattice

During prometaphase in mitotic cell division, chromosomes attach to the walls of microtubules and subsequently move to microtubule ends, where they stay throughout mitosis. This end-attachment seems to be essential for correct chromosome segregating. However, the mechanism by which kinetochores, the multiprotein complexes that link chromosomes to the microtubules of the mitotic spindle, recognize and stay attached to microtubule ends is not understood. One clue comes from the hydrolysis of GTP that occurs during microtubule polymerization. Although tubulin dimers must contain GTP to polymerize, this GTP is rapidly hydrolysed following the addition of dimers to a growing polymer. This creates a microtubule consisting largely of GDP-tubulin, with a small cap of GTP-tubulin at the end. It is possible that kinetochores distinguish the different structural states of a GTP- versus a GDP-microtubule lattice. We have examined this question in vitro using reconstituted kinetochores from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found that kinetochores in vitro bind preferentially to GTP- rather than GDP-microtubules, and to the plus-end preferentially over the lattice. Our results could explain how kinetochores stay at microtubule ends and thus segregate chromosomes correctly during mitosis in vivo. This result demonstrates that proteins exist that can distinguish the GTP conformation of the microtubule lattice.