Diabetes Distress but Not Clinical Depression or Depressive Symptoms Is Associated With Glycemic Control in Both Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses

ObjectiveTo determine the concurrent, prospective, and time-concordant relationships among major depressive disorder (MDD), depressive symptoms, and diabetes distress with glycemic control.Research design and methodsIn a noninterventional study, we assessed 506 type 2 diabetic patients for MDD (Composite International Diagnostic Interview), for depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression), and for diabetes distress (Diabetes Distress Scale), along with self-management, stress, demographics, and diabetes status, at baseline and 9 and 18 months later. Using multilevel modeling (MLM), we explored the cross-sectional relationships of the three affective variables with A1C, the prospective relationships of baseline variables with change in A1C over time, and the time-concordant relationships with A1C.ResultsAll three affective variables were moderately intercorrelated, although the relationship between depressive symptoms and diabetes distress was greater than the relationship of either with MDD. In the cross-sectional MLM, only diabetes distress but not MDD or depressive symptoms was significantly associated with A1C. None of the three affective variables were linked with A1C in prospective analyses. Only diabetes distress displayed significant time-concordant relationships with A1C.ConclusionsWe found no concurrent or longitudinal association between MDD or depressive symptoms with A1C, whereas both concurrent and time-concordant relationships were found between diabetes distress and A1C. What has been called "depression" among type 2 diabetic patients may really be two conditions, MDD and diabetes distress, with only the latter displaying significant associations with A1C. Ongoing evaluation of both diabetes distress and MDD may be helpful in clinical settings

Differences in the Visual Perception of Symmetric Patterns in Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus abelii) and Two Human Cultural Groups: A Comparative Eye- Tracking Study

Symmetric structures are of importance in relation to aesthetic preference. To investigate whether the preference for symmetric patterns is unique to humans, independent of their cultural background, we compared two human populations with distinct cultural backgrounds (Namibian hunter-gatherers and German town dwellers) with one species of non-human great apes (Orangutans) in their viewing behavior regarding symmetric and asymmetric patterns in two levels of complexity. In addition, the human participants were asked to give their aesthetic evaluation of a subset of the presented patterns. The results showed that humans of both cultural groups fixated on symmetric patterns for a longer period of time, regardless of the pattern’s complexity. On the contrary, Orangutans did not clearly differentiate between symmetric and asymmetric patterns, but were much faster in processing the presented stimuli and scanned the complete screen, while both human groups rested on the symmetric pattern after a short scanning time. The aesthetic evaluation test revealed that the fixation preference for symmetric patterns did not match with the aesthetic evaluation in the Hai//om group, whereas in the German group aesthetic evaluation was in accordance with the fixation preference in 60 percent of the cases. It can be concluded that humans prefer well-ordered structures in visual processing tasks, most likely because of a positive processing bias for symmetry, which Orangutans did not show in this task, and that, in humans, an aesthetic preference does not necessarily accompany the fixation preference

ONYX-015: mechanisms of action and clinical potential of a replication-selective adenovirus

Accumulated knowledge in the molecular processes of tumour development combined with the availability of genetically modified viruses resemble the basis for new promising cancer therapeutics. The main advantages of employing replication-competent viruses are achievement of tumour selective killing and amplification of their oncolytic potential within the tumour mass. In this review, we describe the development of ONYX-015, one of the first and most advanced replication-competent viruses for cancer therapy. We discuss the molecular biology of this therapeutic approach and the interesting results obtained with this virus in clinical trials

Prevalence, nature, and comorbidity of depressive disorders in primary care

This article examines the prevalence, nature, and comorbidity of depressive disorders using DSM-III-R criteria among patients recruited from the waiting rooms of family physicians. A total of 1928 family practice patients completed a screening form including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and patients with elevated CES-D scores were oversampled for possible interviews using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-III-R (SCID). In the resulting weighted sample of 425, a prevalence of 13.5% was obtained for major depression and 22.6% for all depressive disorders. Over 40% of the patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) were only mildly depressed. Gender and other demographic variables failed to distinguish depressed patients, but a variety of self-ratings did. Depression was associated with comorbid anxiety disorders and substance abuse. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of depression in primary care as a public health problem, but also in terms of some diagnostic issues, particularly the use of an impairment criterion for major depression.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/31474/1/0000396.pd