Psychometric Properties Of Responses By Clinicians And Older Adults To A 6-Item Hebrew Version Of The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D6)

Background The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) is commonly used as a screening instrument, as a continuous measure of change in depressive symptoms over time, and as a means to compare the relative efficacy of treatments. Among several abridged versions, the 6-item HAM-D6 is used most widely in large degree because of its good psychometric properties. The current study compares both self-report and clinician-rated versions of the Hebrew version of this scale. Methods A total of 153 Israelis 75 years of age on average participated in this study. The HAM-D6 was examined using confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) models separately for both patient and clinician responses. Results Reponses to the HAM-D6 suggest that this instrument measures a unidimensional construct with each of the scales’ six items contributing significantly to the measurement. Comparisons between self-report and clinician versions indicate that responses do not significantly differ for 4 of the 6 items. Moreover, 100% sensitivity (and 91% specificity) was found between patient HAM-D6 responses and clinician diagnoses of depression. Conclusion These results indicate that the Hebrew HAM-D6 can be used to measure and screen for depressive symptoms among elderly patients

T^3-Stern-Gerlach Matter-Wave Interferometer

We present a unique matter-wave interferometer whose phase scales with the cube of the time the atom spends in the interferometer. Our scheme is based on a full-loop Stern-Gerlach interferometer incorporating four magnetic field gradient pulses to create a state-dependent force. In contrast to typical atom interferometers which make use of laser light for the splitting and recombination of the wave packets, this realization uses no light and can therefore serve as a high-precision surface probe at very close distances.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett., in print, https://journals.aps.org/prl

T 3 Stern-Gerlach matter-wave interferometer

The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.083601We present a unique matter-wave interferometer whose phase scales with the cube of the time the atom spends in the interferometer. Our scheme is based on a full-loop Stern-Gerlach interferometer incorporating four magnetic field gradient pulses to create a state-dependent force. In contrast to typical atom interferometers which make use of laser light for the splitting and recombination of the wave packets, this realization uses no light and can therefore serve as a high-precision surface probe at very close distances.This work is funded in part by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 856/18) and the German- Israeli DIP projects (Hybrid devices: FO 703/2-1, AR 924/1-1, DU 1086/2-1) supported by the DFG. We also acknowledge support from the Israeli Council for Higher Education (Israel). M.A.E. is thankful to the Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST ) for its generous financial support. W.P.S. is grateful to Texas A&M University for a Faculty Fellowship at the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, and to Texas A&M AgriLife Research for the support of this work. The research of the IQST is financially supported by the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts, Baden-Wurttemberg. F.A.N. is grateful for a generous Laboratory University Collaboration Initiative (LUCI) grant from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.This work is funded in part by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 856/18) and the German- Israeli DIP projects (Hybrid devices: FO 703/2-1, AR 924/1-1, DU 1086/2-1) supported by the DFG. We also acknowledge support from the Israeli Council for Higher Education (Israel). M.A.E. is thankful to the Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST ) for its generous financial support. W.P.S. is grateful to Texas A&M University for a Faculty Fellowship at the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, and to Texas A&M AgriLife Research for the support of this work. The research of the IQST is financially supported by the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts, Baden-Wurttemberg. F.A.N. is grateful for a generous Laboratory University Collaboration Initiative (LUCI) grant from the Office of the Secretary of Defense

Spatial and topological organization of DNA chains induced by gene co-localization

Transcriptional activity has been shown to relate to the organization of chromosomes in the eukaryotic nucleus and in the bacterial nucleoid. In particular, highly transcribed genes, RNA polymerases and transcription factors gather into discrete spatial foci called transcription factories. However, the mechanisms underlying the formation of these foci and the resulting topological order of the chromosome remain to be elucidated. Here we consider a thermodynamic framework based on a worm-like chain model of chromosomes where sparse designated sites along the DNA are able to interact whenever they are spatially close-by. This is motivated by recurrent evidence that there exists physical interactions between genes that operate together. Three important results come out of this simple framework. First, the resulting formation of transcription foci can be viewed as a micro-phase separation of the interacting sites from the rest of the DNA. In this respect, a thermodynamic analysis suggests transcription factors to be appropriate candidates for mediating the physical interactions between genes. Next, numerical simulations of the polymer reveal a rich variety of phases that are associated with different topological orderings, each providing a way to increase the local concentrations of the interacting sites. Finally, the numerical results show that both one-dimensional clustering and periodic location of the binding sites along the DNA, which have been observed in several organisms, make the spatial co-localization of multiple families of genes particularly efficient.Comment: Figures and Supplementary Material freely available on http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.100067

Lung Cancer in Pulmonary Fibrosis: Tales of Epithelial Cell Plasticity

Lung epithelial cells exhibit a high degree of plasticity. Alterations to lung epithelial cell function are critically involved in several chronic lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by repetitive injury and subsequent impaired repair of epithelial cells, which leads to aberrant growth factor activation and fibroblast accumulation. Increased proliferation and hyper- and metaplasia of epithelial cells upon injury have also been observed in pulmonary fibrosis; this epithelial cell activation might represent the basis for lung cancer development. Indeed, several studies have provided histopathological evidence of an increased incidence of lung cancer in pulmonary fibrosis. The mechanisms involved in the development of cancer in pulmonary fibrosis, however, remain poorly understood. This review highlights recently uncovered molecular mechanisms shared between lung cancer and fibrosis, which extend the current evidence of a common trait of cancer and fibrosis, as provided by histopathological observations. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base