The characterization of depressive disorders in serious juvenile offenders

The authors systematically evaluated a selected population of juvenile offenders for the prevalence of affective disorders. Seventy-one (40 male, 31 female) serious juvenile offenders were interviewed using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS). They were then diagnosed using the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) and the DSM-III. The Hamilton Rating Scales (HRS), Carroll Self-Rating Scale (CSRS), and Global Rating Scale for Depression (GRS) were also obtained for each subject. Eleven (15%) subjects were diagnosed as having an active major depressive disorder (MDDa), 6 (8%) subjects were diagnosed as having a major depressive disorder in remission (MDDr), and 9 (13%) as having a minor depressive disorder (mDD). The HRS, CSRS, and GRS differentiated the MDDa from the other three groups including MDDr, mDD and all other psychiatric diagnoses. RDC subtypes of depressive disorders were identified in those juvenile offenders with active major depressive disorders (MDDa) and compared to a population of hospitalized adolescents with major depressive disorders. There were significant differences in the distribution of the subtypes identified. Secondary, gitated and endogenous subtypes occured significantly more often. The diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic significance of these findings are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24911/1/0000338.pd

Novel genetic loci associated with hippocampal volume

The hippocampal formation is a brain structure integrally involved in episodic memory, spatial navigation, cognition and stress responsiveness. Structural abnormalities in hippocampal volume and shape are found in several common neuropsychiatric disorders. To identify the genetic underpinnings of hippocampal structure here we perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 33,536 individuals and discover six independent loci significantly associated with hippocampal volume, four of them novel. Of the novel loci, three lie within genes (ASTN2, DPP4 and MAST4) and one is found 200 kb upstream of SHH. A hippocampal subfield analysis shows that a locus within the MSRB3 gene shows evidence of a localized effect along the dentate gyrus, subiculum, CA1 and fissure. Further, we show that genetic variants associated with decreased hippocampal volume are also associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (rg =-0.155). Our findings suggest novel biological pathways through which human genetic variation influences hippocampal volume and risk for neuropsychiatric illness

Novel genetic loci underlying human intracranial volume identified through genome-wide association

Intracranial volume reflects the maximally attained brain size during development, and remains stable with loss of tissue in late life. It is highly heritable, but the underlying genes remain largely undetermined. In a genome-wide association study of 32,438 adults, we discovered five novel loci for intracranial volume and confirmed two known signals. Four of the loci are also associated with adult human stature, but these remained associated with intracranial volume after adjusting for height. We found a high genetic correlation with child head circumference (ρgenetic=0.748), which indicated a similar genetic background and allowed for the identification of four additional loci through meta-analysis (Ncombined = 37,345). Variants for intracranial volume were also related to childhood and adult cognitive function, Parkinson’s disease, and enriched near genes involved in growth pathways including PI3K–AKT signaling. These findings identify biological underpinnings of intracranial volume and provide genetic support for theories on brain reserve and brain overgrowth

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Partners No More: Relational Transformation and the Turn to Litigation in Two Conservationist Organizations

The rise in litigation against administrative bodies by environmental and other political interest groups worldwide has been explained predominantly through the liberalization of standing doctrines. Under this explanation, termed here the floodgate model, restrictive standing rules have dammed the flow of suits that groups were otherwise ready and eager to pursue. I examine this hypothesis by analyzing processes of institutional transformation in two conservationist organizations: the Sierra Club in the United States and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI). Rather than an eagerness to embrace newly available litigation opportunities, as the floodgate model would predict, the groups\u27 history reveals a gradual process of transformation marked by internal, largely intergenerational divisions between those who abhorred conflict with state institutions and those who saw such conflict as not only appropriate but necessary to the mission of the group. Furthermore, in contrast to the pluralist interactions that the floodgate model imagines, both groups\u27 relations with pertinent agencies in earlier eras better accorded with the partnership-based corporatist paradigm. Sociolegal research has long indicated the importance of relational distance to the transformation of interpersonal disputes. I argue that, at the group level as well, the presence or absence of a (national) partnership-centered relationship determines propensities to bring political issues to court. As such, well beyond change in groups\u27 legal capacity and resources, current increases in levels of political litigation suggest more fundamental transformations in the structure and meaning of relations between citizen groups and the state

Delinquency in Adolescent Children of Divorce.

The burgeoning literature on children of divorce has focused attention on psychopathology and delinquent behavior. For the most part, however, these problems have been studied in clinical and delinquent populations. Few studies have been conducted on truly normative, non-self-selected populations. Those which have been based on normative populations have, in some cases, generated doubts about the long-term deleterious effects of parental divorce. The present study addresses the issue of relationships between delinquency and psychopathology in a normative population of adolescent children of divorce. A national sample of 1,395 adolescents was interviewed, using st and ard sampling techniques and a structured interview. From this sample, 119 children of divorce were identified as subjects to be compared with 991 children from intact homes. Four measures of delinquent behavior served as the bases for comparisons. These measures were indices of frequency of all delinquent acts, frequency of serious delinquent acts, seriousness of delinquent behavior, and delinquent self-image. Eight psychological and cognitive factors were chosen, based on the literature in this area, as predictors to delinquency. Children of divorce were found to be significantly more delinquent than children from intact homes. This finding was true on all four measures of delinquency among the girls, and on the two measures of frequencies of delinquent behaviors among the boys. Children of divorce of both sexes had significantly lower school grades than did their same-sex peers from intact homes. Additionally, male children of divorce were more anxious, and female children of divorce felt more acutely a sense of having more problems than their peers. Only school grades, however, had a significant impact on the relationship between domestic status and delinquency, attenuating the significance of that relationship completely among the boys while leaving it unaffected among the girls.Ph.D.Clinical psychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/158407/1/8125075.pd

The vibratory transport of bulk materials

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/3810/5/bab3080.0001.001.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/3810/4/bab3080.0001.001.tx

Borderline personality in serious delinquents

Seventy-one seriously delinquent adolescents (40 male, 31 female) were evaluated by two of the authors (an interviewer and an observer) using the Social Adaptation and Interpersonal Relations sections of the DIB (Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines) in combination with the SADS (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia). DIB scores and DSM-III diagnoses were assigned to each subject by the consensus of the two evaluators. Twenty-six subjects received a primary DSM-III diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Nineteen (73%) of these subjects were also identified as borderline by the DIB. The DIB was generally successful in differentiating the DSM-III borderlines from subjects with other DSM-III diagnoses on DIB total, subscale and statement scores. Subjects with a DSM-III diagnosis of major affective disorder were frequently inappropriately categorized as borderline by the DIB, however, reasons for the difficulty of the DIB in distinguishing delinquent adolescents with borderline personalities from those with major affective disorder are discussed, comparisons with adult studies using the DIB are made and directions for future research are indicated.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24772/1/0000196.pd