SHAPS-C: the Snaith-Hamilton pleasure scale modified for clinician administration

Anhedonia, a diminished or lack of ability to experience and anticipate pleasure represents a core psychiatric symptom in depression. Current clinician assessment of anhedonia is generally limited to one or two all-purpose questions and most well-known psychometric scales of anhedonia are relatively long, self-administered, typically not state sensitive, and are unsuitable for use in clinical settings. A user-friendly tool for a more in-depth clinician assessment of hedonic capacity is needed. The present study assessed the validity and reliability of a clinician administered version of the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale, the SHAPS-C, in 34 depressed subjects. We compared total and specific item scores on the SHAPS-C, SHAPS (self-report version), Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Rating version (IDS-SR). We also examined construct, content, concurrent, convergent, and discriminant validity, internal consistency, and split-half reliability of the SHAPS-C. The SHAPS-C was found to be valid and reliable. The SHAPS and the SHAPS-C were positively correlated with one another, with levels of depression severity, as measured by the MADRS, and the IDS-SR total scores, and with specific items of the MADRS and IDS-SR sensitive to measuring hedonic capacity. Our investigation indicates that the SHAPS-C is a user friendly, reliable, and valid tool for clinician assessment of hedonic capacity in depressed bipolar and unipolar patients

Reward Processing After Catecholamine Depletion in Unmedicated, Remitted Subjects with Major Depressive Disorder

BACKGROUND: We investigated whether performance on a reward processing task differs between fully remitted patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy control subjects after catecholamine depletion. METHODS: Seventeen unmedicated subjects with remitted MDD (RMDD) and 13 healthy control subjects underwent catecholamine depletion with oral alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine (AMPT) in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study. The main outcome measure was the reaction time on the monetary incentive delay (MID) task. RESULTS: A diagnosis x drug interaction was evident (p = .001), which was attributable to an increase in reaction time across all incentive levels after AMPT in RMDD subjects (p = .001) but no significant AMPT effect on reaction time in control subjects (p = .17). There was no drug x diagnosis interaction on control tasks involving working memory or attention. In the RMDD sample the AMPT-induced depressive symptoms correlated with AMPT-induced changes in reaction time at all incentive levels of the MID task (r values = .58-.82, p < .002). CONCLUSIONS: Under catecholamine depletion the RMDD subjects were robustly differentiated from control subjects by development of performance deficits on a reward processing task. These performance deficits correlated directly with the return of depressive symptoms after AMPT administration. The sensitivity of central reward processing systems to reductions in brain catecholamine levels thus seems to represent a trait-like marker in MDD

Tying Processing Parameters to the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Nanostructured FeNiZr Consolidated via the Field Assisted Sintering Technique

An oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) nanostructured FeNiZr alloy was fabricated via high energy mechanical alloying, and subsequently consolidated by the field assisted sintering technique (FAST). A range of input parameters: Temperature, hold time and pressure were evaluated in an effort to optimize the mechanical response of the material. Improvements in density, up to 98.6% of theoretical, were observed with increasing consolidation temperature and hold time at the cost of decreasing hardness values resulting from microstructural coarsening. Hardness values decreased from 650 to 275 HV by increasing processing temperatures from 750 to 1100 &#176;C. The relationships between the varied processing parameters, microstructure and the experimentally measured yield and ultimate tensile strengths are discussed. Specifically, the effect of varying the temperature and hold time on the resulting porosity, as observed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in tensile and compression samples, is emphasized

Tying Processing Parameters to the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Nanostructured FeNiZr Consolidated via the Field Assisted Sintering Technique

An oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) nanostructured FeNiZr alloy was fabricated via high energy mechanical alloying, and subsequently consolidated by the field assisted sintering technique (FAST). A range of input parameters: Temperature, hold time and pressure were evaluated in an effort to optimize the mechanical response of the material. Improvements in density, up to 98.6% of theoretical, were observed with increasing consolidation temperature and hold time at the cost of decreasing hardness values resulting from microstructural coarsening. Hardness values decreased from 650 to 275 HV by increasing processing temperatures from 750 to 1100 °C. The relationships between the varied processing parameters, microstructure and the experimentally measured yield and ultimate tensile strengths are discussed. Specifically, the effect of varying the temperature and hold time on the resulting porosity, as observed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in tensile and compression samples, is emphasized.</jats:p