The natural history of insomnia: a population-based 3-year longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: Despite its high prevalence, little information is available about the natural history of insomnia. The extent to which episodes of insomnia will persist or remit over time is difficult to predict. We examined the natural history of insomnia and describe the most common trajectories over 3 years. METHODS: Three hundred eighty-eight adults (mean [SD] age, 44.8 [13.9] years; 61% women) were selected from a larger population-based sample on the basis of the presence of insomnia at baseline. They completed standardized sleep/insomnia questionnaires at 3 annual follow-up assessments. For each follow-up assessment, participants were classified into 1 of 3 groups (individuals with an insomnia syndrome, individuals with insomnia symptoms, and individuals with good sleep) on the basis of algorithms using standard diagnostic criteria for insomnia. Rates of persistent insomnia, remission, and relapse were computed for each group. RESULTS: Of the study sample, 74% reported insomnia for at least 1 year (2 consecutive assessments) and 46% reported insomnia persisting over the entire 3-year study. The course of insomnia was more likely to be persistent in those with more severe insomnia at baseline (ie, insomnia syndrome) and in women and older adults. Remission rate was 54%; however, 27% of those with remission of insomnia eventually experienced relapse. Individuals with subsyndromal insomnia at baseline were 3 times more likely to remit than worsen to syndrome status, although persistence was the most frequent course in that group as well. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that insomnia is often a persistent condition, in particular when it reaches the diagnostic threshold for an insomnia disorder

Electronic instabilities and irradiation effects in the (TMTTF)2X series

The paper presents a single-crystal ESR study of a series of pristine and X-ray irradiated (TMTTF)2X salts, where TMTTF is tetramethyltetrathiafulvalene and X is either a centro-symmetrical (SbF6 and Br) or a non-centro-symmetrical (ReO4, ClO4, BF4, SCN and NO3) monovalent anion. Besides standard line-width and spin-susceptibility measurements, the analysis of the asymmetry of the ESR line shape allows to obtain simultaneous information on the electrical conductivity. This whole set of data is used to determine the charge and spin gaps related to the charge ordering (CO) and anion ordering (AO) ground states and their evolution as a function of X-ray irradiation damages. We show in particular that the sensibility of (TMTTF)2X salts to irradiation depends upon the nature of the anion X and that the CO ground state is drastically affected by irradiation damages at the difference of the AO ground state. We also present evidence of a CO transition and of a decoupling between the AO transition and the opening of a spin gap in (TMTTF)2NO3

Observation of multiple hard photon final states at root s=130-140 GeV at LEP

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