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Sample records for short half-life antidepressants

  1. ESOL facility for the generation and radiochemical separation of short half-life fission products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gehrke, R.J.; Meikrantz, D.H.; Baker, J.D.; Anderl, R.A.; Novick, V.J.; Greenwood, R.C.

    1988-01-01

    A facility has been developed at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for the generation and rapid radiochemical separation of short half-life mixed fission products. This facility, referred to as the Idaho Elemental Separation On Line (ESOL), consists of electro-plated sources of spontaneously fissioning 252 Cf with a helium jet transport arrangement to continuously deliver short half-life, mixed fission products to the radiochemistry laboratory for rapid, computer controlled, radiochemical separations. 18 refs., 13 figs

  2. Half-life measurement of 89Rb

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo Xiaoqing; Yuan Daqing; Xu Lijun; Chen Kesheng; Wu Yongle; Zheng Yanming; Yao Shunhe

    2013-01-01

    89 Rb is an important fission product used for monitoring possible release of fission products from fuel element. The half-life is one of important nuclear parameters. The half-life of 89 Rb was determined using reference source method with two sets of HPGe detectors by place-relay way. In reference source method, the ratio of net full- energy peak areas from the measure nuclide and the reference source was used to avoid the count correction caused by dead time and pileup. For the very short half-life of 89 Rb, the half-life iterative method was used in data analysis and the translation method was used in data unification. Finally, the measured half-life of 89 Rb is (14.41±0.04) min. (authors)

  3. Fast renal trapping of porcine Luteinizing Hormone (pLH shown by 123I-scintigraphic imaging in rats explains its short circulatory half-life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Locatelli Alain

    2003-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Sugar moieties of gonadotropins play no primary role in receptor binding but they strongly affect their circulatory half-life and consequently their in vivo biopotencies. In order to relate more precisely hepatic trapping of these glycoproteic hormones with their circulatory half-life, we undertook a comparative study of the distribution and elimination of porcine LH (pLH and equine CG (eCG which exhibit respectively a short and a long half-life. This was done first by following half-lives of pLH in piglets with hepatic portal circulation shunted or not. It was expected that such a shunt would enhance the short half-life of pLH. Subsequently, scintigraphic imaging of both 123I-pLH and 123I-eCG was performed in intact rats to compare their routes and rates of distribution and elimination. Methods Native pLH or eCG was injected to normal piglets and pLH was tested in liver-shunted anæsthetized piglet. Blood samples were recovered sequentially over one hour time and the hormone concentrations were determined by a specific ELISA method. Scintigraphic imaging of 123I-pLH and 123I-eCG was performed in rats using a OPTI-CGR gamma camera. Results In liver-shunted piglets, the half-life of pLH was found to be as short as in intact piglets (5 min. In the rat, the half-life of pLH was also found to be very short (3–6 min and 123I-pLH was found to accumulate in high quantity in less than 10 min post injection at the level of kidneys but not in the liver. 123I-eCG didn't accumulate in any organ in the rats during the first hour, plasma concentrations of this gonadotropin being still elevated (80% at this time. Conclusion In both the porcine and rat species, the liver is not responsible for the rapid elimination of pLH from the circulation compared to eCG. Our scintigraphic experiments suggest that the very short circulatory half-life of LH is due to rapid renal trapping.

  4. Half-life determination for 27Mg

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zahn, G. S.; Genezini, F. A.

    2015-07-01

    In this work, the half-life of the short-lived magnesium radionuclide 27Mg was measured by following the activity of samples after they were irradiated in the IEA-R1 reactor. An exponential decay function was then fitted to the results using the counts from a 60Co source as livetime chronometer; the individual half-life values obtained for each irradiation were compiled using both the usual unweighted and σ-2-weighted averages, as well as the robust averages obtained using the Normalized Residuals and the Rajeval techniques. The final halflive values obtained aren't compatible with the ENSDF compilation values, but have a similar uncertainty; analysis of the experimental literature values, all from the 50’s-60’s, show that further measurements should be undertaken in order to achieve a more robust consensus value for this half-life.

  5. Determination of short half-life elements in biological, foodstuff, and environmental samples qualitatively by neutron activation analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Syukria Kurniawati; Muhayatun Santoso; Diah Dwiana Lestiani

    2010-01-01

    NAA applications at routine operation power of 15 MW at Multipurpose Reactor GA Siwabessy (MPR-GAS) for sample matrices analysis have been widely applied. However, the results are not optimum for some matrices especially for short half-live elements. Preliminary study of short half-life elements determination in biological, foodstuff, and environmental samples using 1 MW power have been conducted to solve this problem. The samples were irradiated in rabbit system of MPR-GAS for 5 minutes, counted for 200 seconds by HPGe detector, and the spectrum were analyzed further using software Genie 2000 and Bandung NAA Utility. Analysis under 1 MW power on biological and foodstuff samples were capable to detect eight elements: Al, Br, CI, Ca, I, K, Mg, Ti, and Na for biological samples; Al, Br, CI, Ca, I, K, Mg, Mn, and Na for foodstuff samples, while at 15 MW power only three elements (CI, K, Na) were detected. At 1 MW power the counting process is more optimum due to smaller radiation exposure and dead time. For the environmental samples, the number of elements detected by 1 MW and 15 MW powers did not differ significantly. Generally, the results on the three types of samples showed that the elements of short half-life are better detected at 1 MW than that of 15 MW power. Further research needs to be done to obtain the optimum analytical conditions for irradiation and counting time determination. (author)

  6. Analytical studies by activation. Part A and B: Counting of short half-life radio-nuclides. Part C: Analytical programs for decay curves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Junod, E.

    1966-03-01

    Part A and B: Since a radio-nuclide of short half-life is characterized essentially by the decrease in its activity even while it is being measured, the report begins by recalling the basic relationships linking the half-life the counting time, the counting rate and the number of particles recorded. The second part is devoted to the problem of corrections for counting losses due to the idle period of multichannel analyzers. Exact correction formulae have been drawn up for the case where the short half-life radionuclide is pure or contains only a long half-life radio-nuclide. By comparison, charts have been drawn up showing the approximations given by the so-called 'active time' counting and by the counting involving the real time associated with a measurement of the overall idle period, this latter method proving to be more valid than the former. A method is given for reducing the case of a complex mixture to that of a two-component mixture. Part C: The problems connected with the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the decay curves of a mixture of radioactive sources of which one at least has a short half-life are presented. A mathematical description is given of six basic processes for which some elements of Fortran programs are proposed. Two supplementary programs are drawn up for giving an overall treatment of problems of dosage in activation analysis: one on the basis of a simultaneous irradiation of the sample and of one or several known samples, the other with separate irradiation of the unknown and known samples, a dosimeter (activation, or external) being used for normalizing the irradiation flux conditions. (author) [fr

  7. Innovative methodology for intercomparison of radionuclide calibrators using short half-life in situ prepared radioactive sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oliveira, P. A.; Santos, J. A. M.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: An original radionuclide calibrator method for activity determination is presented. The method could be used for intercomparison surveys for short half-life radioactive sources used in Nuclear Medicine, such as 99m Tc or most positron emission tomography radiopharmaceuticals. Methods: By evaluation of the resulting net optical density (netOD) using a standardized scanning method of irradiated Gafchromic XRQA2 film, a comparison of the netOD measurement with a previously determined calibration curve can be made and the difference between the tested radionuclide calibrator and a radionuclide calibrator used as reference device can be calculated. To estimate the total expected measurement uncertainties, a careful analysis of the methodology, for the case of 99m Tc, was performed: reproducibility determination, scanning conditions, and possible fadeout effects. Since every factor of the activity measurement procedure can influence the final result, the method also evaluates correct syringe positioning inside the radionuclide calibrator. Results: As an alternative to using a calibrated source sent to the surveyed site, which requires a relatively long half-life of the nuclide, or sending a portable calibrated radionuclide calibrator, the proposed method uses a source preparedin situ. An indirect activity determination is achieved by the irradiation of a radiochromic film using 99m Tc under strictly controlled conditions, and cumulated activity calculation from the initial activity and total irradiation time. The irradiated Gafchromic film and the irradiator, without the source, can then be sent to a National Metrology Institute for evaluation of the results. Conclusions: The methodology described in this paper showed to have a good potential for accurate (3%) radionuclide calibrators intercomparison studies for 99m Tc between Nuclear Medicine centers without source transfer and can easily be adapted to other short half-life radionuclides

  8. Vitamin E plasma kinetics in swine show low bioavailability and short half-life of -α-tocopheryl acetate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Kempen, T A T G; Reijersen, M H; de Bruijn, C; De Smet, S; Michiels, J; Traber, M G; Lauridsen, C

    2016-10-01

    Vitamin E is important for animal production because of its effects on health and product quality, but the amount and form required remains controversial. Our objective was to quantify the absolute bioavailability of oral -α-tocopheryl acetate (α-TAc) in swine (22 ± 1 kg and 8 wk old, fitted with jugular catheters) adapted to a diet supplemented with 75 mg/kg -α-TAc; 75 mg/kg was chosen because this level represents the nonweighted average inclusion level in piglet diets across Western key swine-producing countries. For this, a 350-g test meal (6% fat) was supplied at time 0 containing 75 mg deuterated (D9) -α-TAc to 9 animals, and 8 animals received an intravenous () dose containing deuterated (D6) RRR-α-tocopherol (α-T) at one-eighth the oral dose and a test meal without supplemental vitamin E. Plasma samples (12 to 13 per animal) were obtained at incremental intervals over 75 h for analysis of deuterated α-T using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Surprisingly, the i.v. dose rapidly disappeared from plasma and then reappeared. The half-life for this first peak was only 1.7 ± 0.3 min. The second peak had an appearance rate (Ka) of 0.10 ± 0.06 d and a half-life of 5.9 ± 1.2 h. Oral dosing resulted, after a lag of 56 min, in a Ka of 0.91 ± 0.21 d and a half-life of 2.6 ± 0.8 h. The bioavailability for oral α-TAc was 12.5%, whereas the area under the curve was only 5.4%. This low bioavailability, small area under the curve, and short half-life are likely because of various factors, that is, the use of only 6% fat in the diet, the use of the acetate ester and , and the high dose relative to requirements. In conclusion, i.v. dosed vitamin E shows both a rapid and a very slow pool, whereas orally dosed vitamin E shows a single slow pool. The oral material has a very short half-live (44% of i.v. or 2.6 h), low bioavailability (12.5%), and a very small area under the curve (5.4%), bringing into question the efficacy of typical doses of vitamin

  9. Systematic measurement of beta-decay half-lives of short-lived isotopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirose, T.; Yamamoto, H.; Kawade, K. [Nagoya Univ. (Japan); Iida, T.; Takahashi, A.; Kasugai, Y.; Ikeda, Y.

    1997-03-01

    We have measured the half-lives of short-lived isotopes for past decade and deduced the half-lives of 6 isotopes further. These results demonstrated that most of the literature values shorter than 10 min systematically deviated from our measurement ones. The cause seems to be that a large number of the previous half-life studies were performed with scintillation counters before 1970 and they had a difficulty in distinguishing the interest {gamma}-ray from the contamination and correcting for pile-up and dead-time losses. Moreover, the deviated data found to be quoted for evaluation. (author)

  10. Tests of a Fast Plastic Scintillator for High-Precision Half-Life Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laffoley, A. T.; Dunlop, R.; Finlay, P.; Leach, K. G.; Michetti-Wilson, J.; Rand, E. T.; Svensson, C. E.; Grinyer, G. F.; Thomas, J. C.; Ball, G.; Garnsworthy, A. B.; Hackman, G.; Orce, J. N.; Triambak, S.; Williams, S. J.; Andreoiu, C.; Cross, D.

    2013-03-01

    A fast plastic scintillator detector is evaluated for possible use in an ongoing program of high-precision half-life measurements of short lived β emitters. Using data taken at TRI-UMF's Isotope Separator and Accelerator Facility with a radioactive 26Na beam, a detailed investigation of potential systematic effects with this new detector setup is being performed. The technique will then be applied to other β-decay half-life measurements including the superallowed Fermi β emitters 10C, 14O, and T = 1/2 decay of 15O.

  11. Half-life determination of 125I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Felice, P.; Ientile, P.; Zicari, C.

    1990-01-01

    The half-life of 125 I was determined by measuring the activity of an initial 3 kBq source at several times. Over a period of two months, 96 absolute measurements were performed, using the sum-peak method to give a half-life of (59.38±0.03) d. A discussion is presented on the effect of correcting for accidental coincidences on the half-life measurements by comparing the results with and without this correction. (orig.)

  12. Half-life of 230Th

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meadows, J.W.; Armani, R.J.; Callis, E.L.; Essling, A.M.

    1980-01-01

    The half-life of 230 Th was measured by the specific activity method. Alpha counting was done in a low geometry counter whose geometry factor was calculated from its dimensions. Sample weights were determined by isotopic dilution. Measurements were made on four isotopic mixtures ranging from 0.383 to 99.52% 230 Th. The half-life is 75381 +- 295 years

  13. Investigation concerning the relative formation rate and half-life time of short-lived nuclides with a fast conveyor tube system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kreiner, H.J.

    1976-01-01

    Since the installation of the 'Ultrafast Rabbit System' at the FRN in end of 1974, some research was started concerning the possibility of neutron activation analysis of short-lived nuclides (0.02 1/2 < 1 s) and measurements of short-lived fission products of U-235 and Pu-239. One of the results of the investigations is a more exact gamma-energy determination of the 0.8 s Cl-38m with 671.33 keV. In NAA it was possible to reach a sensitivity for lead and boron near 2 μg per sample respectively 10 ppm. In measurements of light fission products 0.1 - 8s after a pulse irradiation some differences of the relative formation rate and half-life in the region of A approximately 100 were found in comparison to literature. For example a strong build-up could be seen measuring the gamma-energy of 276.1 keV that belongs to Nb-101. Therefore we suppose the existence of an isomeric state of Nb-101. In comparison to our own results of yield ratio of the Pu- and U-fission products a good agreement with known data was found. Furthermore the measuring method gives the possibility of coordination of unknown gamma-lines to nuclides using the rate of formation, the half-life, the yield ratio between U and Pu and the build-up factor. That could be verified in some cases, e.g. Nb-103 and Sr-96. (author)

  14. No interactions between genetic polymorphisms and stressful life events on outcome of antidepressant treatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bukh, Jens Drachmann; Bock, Camilla; Vinberg, Maj

    2009-01-01

    Genetic polymorphisms seem to influence the response on antidepressant treatment and moderate the impact of stress on depression. The present study aimed to assess, whether allelic variants and stressful life events interact on the clinical outcome of depression. In a sample of 290 systematically...... recruited patients diagnosed with a single depressive episode according to ICD-10, we assessed the outcome of antidepressant treatment and the presence of stressful life events in a 6-month period preceding onset of depression by means of structured interviews. Further, we genotyped nine polymorphisms...... dependent on stressful life events experienced by the individual prior to onset of depression....

  15. Economic impact of antidepressant treatment duration in naturalistic conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tournier, M; Crott, R; Gaudron, Y; Verdoux, H

    2013-05-01

    To assess the economic impact of the duration of antidepressant drug treatment in a real-life setting. A historical fixed cohort study included 27 917 patients aged 18 and over with a new antidepressant treatment registered in the national insurance database. The economic impact concerned healthcare expenditure in the first 3 months after treatment discontinuation. Generalized linear models were used to compare two groups of treatment duration: adjustment for care costs before and during treatment episode, gender, age, chronic diseases, welfare and prescriber specialty, total healthcare costs (in log) [-0.06 (-0.14;0.01) P = 0.11] and psychiatric care costs (in square root) [-0.08 (-0.41;0.25) P = 0.6] were similar in both groups. Non-psychiatric care costs were significantly lower in the 'long treatment duration' group compared with the 'short treatment duration' group [-11.4 (-15.8; -7.0) P costs over the antidepressant treatment episode were larger in the 'long treatment duration' group compared with the 'short treatment duration' group. With regard to healthcare costs and global health, antidepressant drug treatments of short duration appear less effective than treatment of recommended duration. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  16. Micooprecessor controlled facility for I.N.A.A. using short half life nuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bode, P.; Korthoven, P.J.M.; Bruin, M. de

    1986-01-01

    At IRI a new, fully atomated facility for short half life INAA is being developed and installed at the Institute 2 MW reactor. The fast rabbit transfer system is constructed only of plastic and carbonfiber parts, so that rabbit contamination is minimized. This system is automated in such a way that it can operate safely without direct supervision; the sequence of irradiations and measurements is optimized by a computer-program for a given set of samples and analysis procedures. The rabbit system is controlled by an Apple IIe-computer connected to the central PDP 11/44 system of the Radiochemistry department. For a given set of samples and required analysis procedures (irradiation-,decay-, and measurement times) the central computer calculates an optimal sequence of individual actions (transfer from and to the reactor, sample storage of detector) to be carried out by the system. This sequence is loaded into the Apple-computer as a series of commands together with timing information. Actual control of the procedure occurs through the peripheral computer, which makes the system independent of delays or break-downs of the central multi-user computer system. Hardware, software and operating characteristics of the fast rabbit system will be discussed. (author)

  17. Half Life Measurements in 155Gd

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malmskog, S.G.

    1966-08-01

    In the literature there exists a definite difference for the half life of the 86.5 keV level in Gd depending on whether 155 Eu or 155 Tb sources have been used. Using a good energy resolution electron-electron coincidence spectrometer and a 155 Eu source, a half life of 6.48 ± 0.26 nsec was obtained for the 86.5 keV level. This is in agreement with the values previously measured with 155 Tb sources. The half life of the 105.4 keV level was measured to be 1.12 ± 0.05 nsec

  18. 243Cm half-life determinaton

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Timofeev, G.A.; Kalygin, V.V.; Privalova, P.A.

    1986-01-01

    By molar ratios of 243 Cm mixture with 244 Cm and Pu nuclides formed as a result of Cm nuclides α-decay the 243 Cm half-life T α243 is determined. The 244 Cm half-life is measured earlier with high accuracy. The 243 Cm/ 244 Cm ratio measured by means of a mass spectrometer equals 0.989+-0.004. The obtained value T α243 =29.20+-0.14 years

  19. On the biological half-life of caesium in pregnant women and infants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rundo, J.; Turner, F.M.

    1992-01-01

    In the 1960s, changes were observed in the levels of 137 Cs in women who were pregnant or who had recently given birth. These were not associated with changes in the rate of fall-out, and were interpreted as the consequences of changes in the biological half-life. It was deduced that the biological half-life of caesium just before parturition averaged 59% of the value (87±33 days) after the birth of the baby; and that there was a step change at parturition. The behaviour of the levels during pregnancy suggested there was a gradual decrease in the biological half-life. Similar measurements were made in very young children. The concentration of the radionuclide in a breast-fed baby was usually a little less than that in the mother, indicating some discrimination in the transfer from plasma to milk; the concentration in a bottle-fed baby increased substantially and rapidly from the level at or shortly after birth. Data for three babies were sufficiently extensive to permit determination of the biological half-life in each. Values of 8.7±0.6 days, 15.4±1.1 days, and 14.9±3.6 days were derived. (author)

  20. Persistent antidepressant effect of low-dose ketamine and activation in the supplementary motor area and anterior cingulate cortex in treatment-resistant depression: A randomized control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Mu-Hong; Li, Cheng-Ta; Lin, Wei-Chen; Hong, Chen-Jee; Tu, Pei-Chi; Bai, Ya-Mei; Cheng, Chih-Ming; Su, Tung-Ping

    2018-01-01

    A single low-dose ketamine infusion exhibited a rapid antidepressant effect within 1h. Despite its short biological half-life (approximately 3h), the antidepressant effect of ketamine has been demonstrated to persist for several days. However, changes in brain function responsible for the persistent antidepressant effect of a single low-dose ketamine infusion remain unclear METHODS: Twenty-four patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) were randomized into three groups according to the treatment received: 0.5mg/kg ketamine, 0.2mg/kg ketamine, and normal saline infusion. Standardized uptake values (SUVs) of glucose metabolism measured through 18 F-FDG positron-emission-tomography before infusion and 1day after a 40-min ketamine or normal saline infusion were used for subsequent whole-brain voxel-wise analysis and were correlated with depressive symptoms, as defined using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HDRS-17) score RESULTS: The voxel-wise analysis revealed that patients with TRD receiving the 0.5mg/kg ketamine infusion had significantly higher SUVs (corrected for family-wise errors, P = 0.014) in the supplementary motor area (SMA) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) than did those receiving the 0.2mg/kg ketamine infusion. The increase in the SUV in the dACC was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms at 1day after ketamine infusion DISCUSSION: The persistent antidepressant effect of a 0.5mg/kg ketamine infusion may be mediated by increased activation in the SMA and dACC. The higher increase in dACC activation was related to the reduction in depressive symptoms after ketamine infusion. A 0.5mg/kg ketamine infusion facilitated the glutamatergic neurotransmission in the SMA and dACC, which may be responsible for the persistent antidepressant effect of ketamine much beyond its half-life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Propose of a model for dose and hazard calculation due the Rn-222, Rn-220 and its short half-life daugthers inhalation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mauricio, C.L.P.

    1982-01-01

    The compartimental dosimetric model is used to simulate, by computer, the interactions of the inhalated radon atom radiations and its short half-life daugthers with cells. The metabolic trajectory of these radionuclides is described by differential equations of continuous medium dynamics, where the elements transform by radioactive decay. This work permits to determine the individual retenction function, beeing useful in radioprotection routines or emergence situations. The results of internal dosimetry are consistent with the new I.C.R.P. - 32 international recommendations. (L.C.) [pt

  2. Half Life Measurements in {sup 155}Gd

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malmskog, S G

    1966-08-15

    In the literature there exists a definite difference for the half life of the 86.5 keV level in Gd depending on whether {sup 155}Eu or {sup 155}Tb sources have been used. Using a good energy resolution electron-electron coincidence spectrometer and a {sup 155}Eu source, a half life of 6.48 {+-} 0.26 nsec was obtained for the 86.5 keV level. This is in agreement with the values previously measured with {sup 155}Tb sources. The half life of the 105.4 keV level was measured to be 1.12 {+-} 0.05 nsec.

  3. Half-life of samarium-147

    CERN Document Server

    Kinoshita, N; Nakanishi, T

    2003-01-01

    The alpha-decay half-life of sup 1 sup 4 sup 7 Sm has been reevaluated. Known amounts of natural Sm and an alpha-emitter standard ( sup 2 sup 1 sup 0 Po, sup 2 sup 3 sup 8 U, or sup 2 sup 4 sup 1 Am) were mixed well to prepare thin sources for the simultaneous counting of sup 1 sup 4 sup 7 Sm and the alpha-emitter standard by means of an alpha-spectrometer using a silicon surface barrier detector. The alpha-disintegration rate of known amounts of sup 1 sup 4 sup 7 Sm was determined by reference to the alpha activity of the standard. The source preparation and counting were repeated to establish the reproducibility of the present half-life determination, and supplementary alpha spectrometry was carried out by a liquid-scintillation spectrometer. The arithmetic mean of the experimental half-life values was obtained to be (1.17 +- 0.02) x 10 sup 1 sup 1 y. This value is about 10% longer than the currently adopted value, (1.06 +- 0.02) x 10 sup 1 sup 1 y, and the possible factors for this difference are discussed...

  4. Immunological half-life of porcine proinsulin C-peptide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oyama, H; Horino, M; Matsumura, S [Kawasaki Medical Coll., Kurashiki (Japan). Div. of Endocrinology; Kobayshi, K; Suetsugu, N [Yamaguchi Univ., Ube (Japan). School of Medicine

    1975-11-01

    Immunological half-lifes of injected porcine C-peptide and insulin with RIA were studied and calculated as 9.8 and 8.0 minutes. Higher circulating levels of C-peptide as compared to insulin in normal young swines lead to speculation about a longer half-life of C-peptide. This hypothesis was verified in this study. Immunological half-lifes of porcine proinsulin and insulin in the pig were 20 and 6 minutes, respectively.

  5. Half-life and mass measurement of the short-lived {sup 215}Po isotope (1.78 ms) at the FRS ion catcher

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rink, Ann-Kathrin; Bergmann, Julian; Ebert, Jens; Hornung, Christine; Miskun, Ivan; Reiter, Moritz P. [Justus-Liebig Universitaet Giessen (Germany); Ayet San Andres, Samuel; Dickel, Timo; Plass, Wolfgang R.; Scheidenberger, Christoph [Justus-Liebig Universitaet Giessen (Germany); GSI, Darmstadt (Germany); Geissel, Hans; Purushothaman, Sivaji [GSI, Darmstadt (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    At the Low-Energy Branch (LEB) of the Super-FRS at FAIR, precision experiments with exotic nuclei will be performed using ion traps and lasers. The nuclei will be produced at relativistic energies, slowed down, thermalised in a cryogenic stopping cell (CSC) and made available to various experiments. The thermalisation is a challenging task because of the large energy straggling of the nuclei after production, which requires a stopping cell with large areal densities. Also, the process needs to be performed on a millisecond time scale in order to give access to short-lived nuclides. This method has already been successfully applied at the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI using a prototype CSC. Recently the potential of the method has been demonstrated by the mass and half-life measurement of the {sup 215}Po nuclide with a half-life of 1.78 ms only. The multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer at the FRS Ion Catcher has been used to determine the mass to a sub-ppm accuracy and to provide a mass-selected beam for alpha spectroscopy. Furthermore, experiments have been performed with the prototype CSC in order to test novel concepts to be used with the final version of the CSC for the LEB.

  6. Stressful life events and social health factors in women using anxiolytics and antidepressants: an Italian observational study in community pharmacies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Incau, Paola; Barbui, Corrado; Tubini, Jacopo; Conforti, Anita

    2011-04-01

    In Italy, as in all of Europe, women differ from men in that they are somewhat more sensitive to the depressogenic effects of stressful life events related to their social networks and emotional sphere. Women are more likely than men to have experienced poverty, gender discrimination, and physical and sexual abuse. The purpose of this study was to expand the knowledge about the occurrence of stressful life events in women exposed and not exposed to anxiolytics and antidepressants in a community pharmacy setting. Women attending 100 community pharmacies in the Italian Veneto region were surveyed by pharmacists with regard to a number of general features of their current pharmacologic treatment. Women independently completed a written self-assessment questionnaire that focused on stressful life events. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between anxiolytics and antidepressants use and potential factors, including stressful life events. The study population comprised 11,357 women. One or more stressful life events occurred in 90% of the women treated with anxiolytics and/or antidepressants (users [n = 3848]) and in 74% of the women not treated with these drugs (nonusers [n = 7509]) (odds ratio = 3.19; 95% CI, 2.83-3.60). On average, the life events occurred during the previous 6 months and the women considered the influence of these events on their well-being to be severe. After the unconditional logistic regression analysis, the association between anxiolytics and/or antidepressants use remained positive for most of the stressful life events studied as well as for other factors: separation/divorce, living alone or with others (family or friends), unemployment, whether currently being seen by a psychologist/psychiatrist, and treatment with drugs for the alimentary tract and metabolism, cardiovascular system, or nervous system. A significant association between stressful life events and anxiolytics and

  7. Half-life of 51Mn

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graves, Stephen A.; Ellison, Paul A.; Valdovinos, Hector F.; Barnhart, Todd E.; Nickles, Robert J.; Engle, Jonathan W.

    2017-07-01

    The half-life of 51Mn was measured by serial gamma spectrometry of the 511-keV annihilation photon following decay by β+ emission. Data were collected every 100 seconds for 100,000-230,000 seconds within each measurement (n =4 ). The 511-keV incidence rate was calculated from the 511-keV spectral peak area and count duration, corrected for detector dead time and radioactive decay. Least-squares regression analysis was used to determine the half-life of 51Mn while accounting for the presence of background contaminants, notably 55Co. The result was 45.59 ±0.07 min, which is the highest precision measurement to date and disagrees with the current Nuclear Data Sheets value by over 6 σ .

  8. The ecological half-life of 137Cs in undisturbed silt soil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Drosg, M.

    2012-01-01

    The time necessary to safely cultivate agricultural areas after they have been contaminated by radioactivity (e.g. after the Chernobyl accident) is not determined by the physical half-life of the radioactive isotopes in question but by their (usually much shorter) ecological half-life (). This half-life not only depends on the type of soil but also on whether the soil was fertilized or not. Therefore it is not possible to determine an ecological half-life that is universally valid. However, the value for undisturbed, unfertilized soil should provide a general indication for the duration of ecological half-life. In a silt soil in Vienna, Austria, the ecological half-life of 137 Cs was determined to be 0.8 years, which is much shorter than the physical half-life of 30 years. - Highlights: ► Absolute measurements of 137 Cs radioactivity in leaves of perennial plants. ► The natural 40 K radioactivity served as reference. ► The ecological half-life of 137 Cs in loamy soil was determined.

  9. Half-life of 90Sr - measurement and critical review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woods, M.J.; Lucas, S.E.M.

    1996-01-01

    Recent evaluations of the half-life of 90 Sr have demonstrated the variable quality of the available experimental data which has prevented the estimation and adoption of a value that commands confidence. In an attempt to reduce the uncertainty in the half-life to an acceptable level, the decay of a 90 Sr source has been followed for over six years at NPL. The equipment comprised matching, re-entrant, high-pressure ionization chambers and a long-lived reference source to reduce non-random effects. The experimental technique is described together with the statistical procedure used to analyse the measured data. A half-life value was determined together with an estimate of the associated uncertainties. A new evaluation of the 90 Sr half-life has been made, taking account of the new NPL data and other recent measurements. Particular attention has been paid to the experimental techniques used to produce the data and the uncertainties attributed to them. An objective evaluation has been conducted to produce a new recommended half-life value of 10 516 ± 21 days. (orig.)

  10. The half-life of 227Th by direct and indirect measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collins, S.M.; Pommé, S.; Jerome, S.M.; Ferreira, K.M.; Regan, P.H.; Pearce, A.K.

    2015-01-01

    Utilising a chemically purified solution the radioactive half-life of 227 Th has been determined indirectly by observation of the ingrowth of 223 Ra using an ionisation chamber (IC) and for the first time by direct observation of the change in activity with time using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) γ-ray spectrometer. The radioactive decay was observed for ~104 days (~5.6 half-lives) by γ-ray spectrometry and approximately 63 days and 72 days (~3.4 and ~3.9 half-lives) using an ionisation chamber (IC). The resulting half-life values – 18.695 (4) days (IC) and 18.683 (20) days (HPGe) – are consistent and detailed uncertainty budgets are presented for the two measurement techniques. A weighted mean of our results of 18.695 (4) days is inconsistent with the most precise published half-life value of 18.7176 (52) days (Jordan and Blanke, 1967). A critical evaluation of literature data has been performed, indicating a paucity of reliable and independent measurements. Selected independent published values have been used to determine a recommended half-life of 18.697 (7) days. A method has been introduced in the course of this work so that the recommended half-life of 227 Th as determined by ingrowth can be modified if a different 223 Ra half-life has been determined, evaluated and adopted. - Highlights: • First direct measurement of 227 Th half-life by HPGe γ-ray spectrometry. • Precision half-life measurement by ionisation chamber. • New half-life of 18.695 (4) days determined. • Critical evaluation of published half-lives and recommended value determined

  11. Experimental half-life determination of 176Lu

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kossert, Karsten; Jörg, Gerhard; Gostomski, Christoph Lierse v.

    2013-01-01

    The half-life of the naturally occurring long-lived rare earth isotope 176 Lu was determined by a combination of highly sophisticated experimental procedures in order to further improve the reliability and the precision of literature data. The amount of lutetium in the samples was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) using a NIST reference standard. The isotopic ratio N( 176 Lu)/N(Lu) in the samples was measured by means of inductively coupled plasma high resolution mass spectrometry (ICP-HRMS). The activity divided by the mass of Lu was determined by applying liquid scintillation (LS) counting. The LS counting efficiency of the beta/gamma emitter 176 Lu was determined with the CIEMAT/NIST efficiency tracing technique with low uncertainty. The influences of colour quenching and background effects are discussed in this paper. The half-life was found to be 3.640(35)×10 10 y. The result is in good agreement with other evaluations and the relative standard uncertainty of 0.95% is among the lowest of previously published data. - Highlights: • The half-life of 176 Lu was determined by ICP-OES, ICP-HRMS and LSC. • The LSC efficiency was determined with the CIEMAT/NIST method. • The half-life was found to be 3.640(35)×10 10 y

  12. Measurement of the 230U half-life

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pommé, S.; Altzitzoglou, T.; Van Ammel, R.; Suliman, G.; Marouli, M.; Jobbágy, V.; Paepen, J.; Stroh, H.; Apostolidis, C.; Abbas, K.; Morgenstern, A.

    2012-01-01

    The 230 U half-life was determined by measuring the decay curve of 230 U sources by various nuclear detection techniques: α-particle counting at a defined small solid angle; 4πα+β counting with a windowless CsI sandwich spectrometer, a liquid scintillation counter and a pressurised proportional counter; gamma-ray spectrometry with a HPGe detector and nearly-2π α-particle counting with an ion-implanted silicon detector. Depending on the technique, the decay was followed for 100–200 d, which is 5–10 times the 230 U half-life. The measurement results of the various techniques were in good mutual agreement. The mean value, T 1/2 ( 230 U)=20.23 (2) d, is lower than the literature value which is based on one measurement in 1948 and resulted in a half-life value of 20.8 d without statement of uncertainty. A correction for the ingrowth of the long-lived 210 Pb and its daughter products may have been overlooked in the past. - Highlights: ► Half-life of 230 U determined by various nuclear detection techniques. ► Result T 1/2 ( 230 U)=20.23 (2) d is lower than the literature value. ► 230 U/ 226 Th decay series has potential use in alpha-immunotherapy.

  13. Half-life of Xe120

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, A. A.; Andreoiu, C.; Ball, G. C.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Behr, J. A.; Chupp, T. E.; Finlay, P.; Garrett, P. E.; Grinyer, G. F.; Hackman, G.; Hayden, M. E.; Hyland, B.; Nuss-Warren, S. R.; Pearson, M. R.; Schumaker, M. A.; Smith, M. B.; Svensson, C. E.; Tardiff, E. R.; Valiente-Dobón, J. J.; Warner, T.

    2006-08-01

    We have measured the half-life of Xe120 using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector to monitor the 176, 178, and 762 keV γ rays from Xe120 β+ decay. The result, 46±0.6 min, differs significantly from the value 40±1 min reported by Andersson [Ark. Fys. 28, 37 (1964)]. We have also measured the half-lives of Cs120 and I120 to be 60±0.7 s and 82.1±0.6 min, respectively, both of which are consistent with previous measurements.

  14. A new determination of the 209Po half-life

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collé, R; Fitzgerald, R P; Laureano–Perez, L

    2014-01-01

    A substantial 25% error in the then-known and accepted (102 ± 5) year half-life of 209 Po was reported on in 2007. This error was detected from decay data from two separate primary standardizations of a 209 Po solution standard, which were performed approximately 12 years apart. Despite author claims that this observation was not a new half-life determination, it was nevertheless included in subsequent nuclear data evaluations and compilations to obtain a currently tabulated value of (115 ± 13) a, computed from the median and range of the two half-life reports. A third primary standardization on the identical 209 Po solution has since been performed to derive a new half-life value of (125.2 ± 3.3) a. This half-life determination was obtained from 30 distinct data sets over a period of 20.7 years, encompassing over 700 liquid scintillation measurements with nearly 50 counting sources all prepared from the same solution, and as obtained over a very broad range of measurement conditions (composition of cocktails, characteristics of counters, time sequencing) during five periods in 1993, 1994, 2005, and 2013. (paper)

  15. Measurement of the 20F half-life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, M.; George, E. A.; Naviliat-Cuncic, O.; Voytas, P. A.; Chandavar, S.; Gade, A.; Huyan, X.; Liddick, S. N.; Minamisono, K.; Paulauskas, S. V.; Weisshaar, D.

    2018-05-01

    The half-life of the 20F ground state was measured using a radioactive beam implanted in a plastic scintillator and recording β γ coincidences together with four CsI(Na) detectors. The result, T1 /2=11.0011 (69) stat(30) sys s, is at variance by 17 combined standard deviations with the two most precise results. The present value revives the poor consistency of results for this half-life and calls for a new measurement, with a technique having different sources of systematic effects, to clarify the discrepancy.

  16. Measurements of half-lives of short-lived nuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elmali, A.

    2001-01-01

    In this work 19 F(n,p) 19 O (26.94 sec.), 76 Ge(n,2n) 75m Ge(47.73 sec.), 23 Na(n,p) 23 Ne (37.24 sec.) 23 Na(n,α) 20 F (11.12 sec.), 68 Zn(n,p) 68g Cu (31.11 sec.), 46 Ti(n,P) 46m Sc (18.70 sec.), 19 F(n,α) 16 N (7.13 sec.) and 92 Mo(n,2n) 91m Mo (65.40 sec.) half lives were determined. The half life measurements were performed utilizing the Sames T-400 neutron generator at the Physics Department of Cekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center, Istanbul. Fast neutrons (∼ 14 MeV) were produced via T(d,n)He reaction in a TIT target which was bombarded by 300 KeV deuterons. The samples bombarded with 14 MeV neutrons were transferred with a fast sample transport system from neutron source to the HPGe detector were the gamma measurements are performed. The time elapsed during the transport of the sample between the two stations were about 0.5 sec. in the experimental data, corrections were made for coincidence summing, pules pile up, dead time and background elimination. In order to test the accuracy and the sensitivity of the half-life measurement system used in this work, the 19 O half life form the 19 F(n,p) 19 O reaction were measured first and compared with the data given in a recently published JAERI report

  17. Precise half-life measurement of the superallowed emitter 30S

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iacob, V. E.; Hardy, J. C.; Chen, L.; Horvat, V.; Bencomo, M.; Nica, N.; Park, H. I.; Roeder, B. T.; Saastamoinen, A.

    2018-03-01

    We have measured the half-life of 30S, the parent of a superallowed 0+→0+β transition, to a high precision using very pure sources and a 4 π proportional gas counter to detect the decay positrons. Our result for the half-life is 1.179 92(34) s. As a by-product of this measurement, we determine the half-life of its daughter, 30P, to be 2.501(2) min.

  18. Beryllium-10: Half-life and AMS-standards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hofmann, H.J.; Beer, J.; Bonani, G.; von Gunten, H.R.; Raman, S.; Suter, M.; Walker, R.L.; Woelfli, W.; Zimmermann, D.

    1987-01-01

    Absolute AMS measurements of 10 Be require reliable standards for calibration. Among the existing standards, rather large differences have been observed. These differences were found partially to be due to the different half-life values which were assumed. Also for comparison of AMS data with activity measurements, it is necessary to know the 10 Be half-life as precisely as possible. Starting with 5 ml of the standardized ORNL-MASTER solution, a working solution with a well-defined 10 Be content was prepared. Its specific activity was determined by liquid scintillation counting. This measurement yielded a new value of (1.52 +- 0.05) My for the 10 Be half-life, which is in agreement with the previously reported values but is about three times more accurate. Two independent dilution series produced new AMS standards with 10 Be/ 9 Be ratios of the order of 10 -10 and 10 -11 . These standards were measured at the ETH/SIN AMS facility with high accuracy and are compared with other available 10 Be standards. 15 refs, 2 figs., 3 tabs

  19. Ketamine: A New Antidepressant?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feride Karacaer

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Standart antidepressants are needed for the many individuals with major depressive disorder. However they do not respond adequately to treatment and because of a delay of weeks before the emergence of therapeutic effects. Recent studies show that subanesthetic dose of ketamine is efficacy and safety for the treatment of depression. Antidepressant effects of ketamine have been found to be short-lived and its psychotomimetic properties may limit the use of ketamine to depressive patients. Future research studies should focus on identifying predictors of response (pharmalogical and clinical , investigating application of different doses and routes of administration and maintaining antidepressant effect. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2015; 7(1: 30-40

  20. Effectiveness of antidepressants: an evidence myth constructed from a thousand randomized trials?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ioannidis John PA

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Antidepressants, in particular newer agents, are among the most widely prescribed medications worldwide with annual sales of billions of dollars. The introduction of these agents in the market has passed through seemingly strict regulatory control. Over a thousand randomized trials have been conducted with antidepressants. Statistically significant benefits have been repeatedly demonstrated and the medical literature is flooded with several hundreds of "positive" trials (both pre-approval and post-approval. However, two recent meta-analyses question this picture. The first meta-analysis used data that were submitted to FDA for the approval of 12 antidepressant drugs. While only half of these trials had formally significant effectiveness, published reports almost ubiquitously claimed significant results. "Negative" trials were either left unpublished or were distorted to present "positive" results. The average benefit of these drugs based on the FDA data was of small magnitude, while the published literature suggested larger benefits. A second meta-analysis using also FDA-submitted data examined the relationship between treatment effect and baseline severity of depression. Drug-placebo differences increased with increasing baseline severity and the difference became large enough to be clinically important only in the very small minority of patient populations with severe major depression. In severe major depression, antidepressants did not become more effective, simply placebo lost effectiveness. These data suggest that antidepressants may be less effective than their wide marketing suggests. Short-term benefits are small and long-term balance of benefits and harms is understudied. I discuss how the use of many small randomized trials with clinically non-relevant outcomes, improper interpretation of statistical significance, manipulated study design, biased selection of study populations, short follow-up, and selective and distorted

  1. Experimental study of half-life determinations using 60Co

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rutledge, A.R.; Smith, L.V.; Merritt, J.S.

    1983-01-01

    The half-life of 60 Co was determined by two methods, (i) the 4π#betta# ionization chamber method and (ii) the 4π #betta#-#betta# coincidence method. The first is a relative counting method in which the only rate-dependent correction is for background, whereas the second is an 'absolute' counting method which involves several rate-dependent corrections. In addition, various methods of calculation of the results were tested. The half-life values for the two counting systems were in good agreement and the weighted mean value for the half-life of 60 Co was found to be 1925.02+-0.47 d. (orig.)

  2. Determination of plutonium-241 half-life by mass spectrometric measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hiyama, Takashi; Wada, Yukio; Onishi, Koichi

    1982-01-01

    Much data for Pu-241 half-life have been reported, but these values range from 13.8 years to 15.1 years depending on investigators. In order to define the half-life of Pu-241, the half-life was calculated by analyzing the mass spectrometry data obtained in the author's laboratory over the past six years on Plutonium Isotopic Standard Reference Materials prepared at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). The sample used for this work consisted of SRM-947 and SRM-948 prepared at NBS. Before mass spectrometric analysis, the plutonium aliquot was separated from its Am-241 daughter by anion exchange chromatography, since Am-241 is not distinguished from Pu-241 in the mass spectrometer. 241 Pu/ 239 Pu and 241 Pu/ 240 Pu ratios were calculated from the values of mass spectrometric measurement. From the relation of log N to time, the half-life of Pu-241 was determined, based on the slope using a least squares fit. The half-life of Pu-241 was estimated to be 14.29+-0.15 years. (Yoshitake, I.)

  3. Half-life evaluations for 3H, 90Sr, and 90Y

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MacMahon, Desmond

    2006-01-01

    A recent paper has reviewed methods for the evaluation of discrepant sets of data and demonstrated the results of applying these methods to the published half-life data of 90 Sr and 137 Cs [MacMahon, T.D., Pearce, A., Harris, P., 2004. Convergence of techniques for the evaluation of discrepant data. Appl. Radiat. Isot. 60, 275-281]. The half-life data for 3 H has been subject to a comprehensive review and critical evaluation by Lucas and Unterweger [2000. Comprehensive review and critical evaluation of the half-life of tritium. J. Res. Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. 105, 541-549]. The current paper reports the results of applying the various evaluation procedures of MacMahon et al. Convergence of techniques for the evaluation of discrepant data. Appl. Radiat. Isot. 60, 275-281] to the data of Lucas and Unterweger [Comprehensive review and critical evaluation of the half-life of tritium. J. Res. Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. 105, 541-549], resulting in a recommended half-life of 4497(4) days. MacMahon et al. [Convergence of techniques for the evaluation of discrepant data. Appl. Radiat. Isot. 60, 275-281] highlighted problems in the evaluation of the discrepant half-life data of 90 Sr, in particular the worrying upward trend in the data, where the weighted mean of all the measurements increases, on average, by 35 days each time a new measurement result is added. The current paper reports on further analyses of these data. New measurements of the half-life of 90 Y have been reported by Kossert and Schrader [2004. Standardization by liquid scintillation counting and half-life measurements of 90 Y. Appl. Radiat. Isot. 60, 741]. This has prompted a new evaluation of all available published 90 Y half-life data. The data are fairly consistent, and a value of 64.063(16) h is recommended

  4. The interpersonal adverse effects reported by 1008 users of antidepressants; and the incremental impact of polypharmacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Read, John; Gee, Aimee; Diggle, Jacob; Butler, Helen

    2017-10-01

    Antidepressant drugs are being prescribed at ever increasing rates internationally, despite marginal benefit compared to placebo and a range of adverse effects. Most studies of adverse effects focus on biological phenomena. This article presents the results of an online survey of 1008 self-selected anti-depressant users in Britain, which asked about five adverse effects in the interpersonal domain. The most commonly reported among participants who took only antidepressants were: Sex Life - 43.7%, Work or Study - 27.0% and Social Life - 23.5%. These rates of interpersonal adverse effects were even higher for the 52% of participants who were also taking one or more other psychiatric drugs. Only about a half (48%) felt they had been given enough information about side effects by the prescriber. Those initially prescribed medication by a psychiatrist were more likely to be on several types of drugs and reported more adverse effects than those whose prescriber was a General Practitioner (GP). Researchers and prescribers are encouraged to pay greater attention to interpersonal adverse effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Increased use of antidepressants at the end of life

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Dorte Gilså; Rosholm, Jens-Ulrik; Gichangi, Anthony

    2007-01-01

    of antidepressants increases steadily over time in all age groups. Among the 65+ year-olds it also increases with age and differs substantially between the youngest and the oldest. Very high prevalences are observed: 26.8% among females 85-89 years old and 17.5% among males 85 years and above in 2004. In all age......BACKGROUND: The new antidepressants are generally effective and safe for older people, but may have serious side-effects. The use has been rapidly increasing, but focus on upper age groups has been limited. The pattern of antidepressant use as death approaches has never been analysed. OBJECTIVE......: To analyse the use of antidepressants among individuals aged 65 years and above with respect to time trends, age and proximity to death. DESIGN: Population-based prescription study. SETTING: The County of Funen, Denmark, 1992-2004 (approximately 470,000 inhabitants). RESULTS: The 1-year prevalence...

  6. Half-life of the superallowed β+ emitter Ne18

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grinyer, G. F.; Smith, M. B.; Andreoiu, C.; Andreyev, A. N.; Ball, G. C.; Bricault, P.; Chakrawarthy, R. S.; Daoud, J. J.; Finlay, P.; Garrett, P. E.; Hackman, G.; Hyland, B.; Leslie, J. R.; Morton, A. C.; Pearson, C. J.; Phillips, A. A.; Schumaker, M. A.; Svensson, C. E.; Valiente-Dobón, J. J.; Williams, S. J.; Zganjar, E. F.

    2007-08-01

    The half-life of Ne18 has been determined by detecting 1042-keV γ rays in the daughter F18 following the superallowed-Fermi β+ decay of samples implanted at the center of the 8πγ-ray spectrometer, a spherical array of 20 HPGe detectors. Radioactive Ne18 beams were produced on-line, mass-separated, and ionized using an electron-cyclotron-resonance ionization source at the ISAC facility at TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada. This is the first high-precision half-life measurement of a superallowed Fermi β decay to utilize both a large-scale HPGe spectrometer and the isotope separation on-line technique. The half-life of Ne18, 1.6656 ± 0.0019 s, deduced following a 1.4σ correction for detector pulse pile-up, is four times more precise than the previous world average. As part of an investigation into potential systematic effects, the half-life of the heavier isotope Ne23 was determined to be 37.11 ± 0.06 s, a factor of 2 improvement over the previous precision.

  7. Measurement of the half-life of 68Ga

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    García-Toraño, Eduardo; Peyrés Medina, Virginia; Romero, Eduardo; Roteta, Miguel

    2014-01-01

    The half-life of the positron-emitter 68 Ga has been measured by following the decay rate with two systems based on ionization chamber and Ge detectors. The decay rate was measured for periods of time up to 10 half-lives. The combination of the 6 results obtained with both systems gives a value of T 1/2 =67.845(18) min, in good agreement with recommended data and with an uncertainty lower than any other previously reported value. - Highlights: • The half-life of the positron-emitter radionuclide 68 Ga was measured. • Two measurement setups (ionization chamber and Ge detector) were used. • Results agree with evaluated data but exhibit lower uncertainty

  8. The antitumor agent 3-bromopyruvate has a short half-life at physiological conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glick, Matthew; Biddle, Perry; Jantzi, Josh; Weaver, Samantha; Schirch, Doug

    2014-09-12

    Clinical research is currently exploring the validity of the anti-tumor candidate 3-bromopyruvate (3-BP) as a novel treatment for several types of cancer. However, recent publications have overlooked rarely-cited earlier work about the instability of 3-BP and its decay to 3-hydroxypyruvate (3-HP) which have obvious implications for its mechanism of action against tumors, how it is administered, and for precautions when preparing solutions of 3-BP. This study found the first-order decay rate of 3-BP at physiological temperature and pH has a half-life of only 77 min. Lower buffer pH decreases the decay rate, while choice of buffer and concentration do not affect it. A method for preparing more stable solutions is also reported. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Transport of short lived radioactive contaminants with prologed half-lives of daughters through river water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Metwally, S.M.; Prohl, G.

    2005-01-01

    One of the main pathways for transporting contaminants to other parts in the environment, are rivers. This work is devoted for deriving and assessment the concentration of soluble radio contaminants along a river at any time after discharge, including the short-lived radionuclides in comparison with the discharge time interval, and prolonged half-life of the produced daughter nuclei. The assumed boundary conditions and deduced formulas can be applied either in case of accidental release or discharge under authority control. The formulas determining the produced daughter nuclei concentration require inequality of the parent and daughter nuclei half-lives. Because of the regional variation of river morphology, the assumed constancy of the flow velocity and dispersion coefficient requires dividing the river path into zones of similar hydrologic characteristics

  10. Short- and long-term antidepressant effects of ketamine in a rat chronic unpredictable stress model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Yinghong; Wang, Yiqiang; Sun, Xiaoran; Lian, Bo; Sun, Hongwei; Wang, Gang; Du, Zhongde; Li, Qi; Sun, Lin

    2017-08-01

    This research was aimed to evaluate the behaviors of short- or long-term antidepressant effects of ketamine in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable stress (CUS). Ketamine, a glutamate noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist, regulates excitatory amino acid functions, such as anxiety disorders and major depression, and plays an important role in synaptic plasticity and learning and memory. After 42 days of CUS model, male rats received either a single injection of ketamine (10 mg/kg; day 43) or 15 daily injections (days 43-75). The influence of ketamine on behavioral reactivity was assessed 24 hr (short-term) or 7 weeks after ketamine treatment (long-term). Behavioral tests used to assess the effects of these treatments included the sucrose preference (SP), open field (OF), elevated plus maze (EPM), forced swimming (FS), and water maze (WM) to detect anxiety-like behavior (OF and EPM), forced swimming (FS), and water maze (WM). Results: Short-term ketamine administration resulted in increases of body weight gain, higher sensitivity to sucrose, augmented locomotor activity in the OF, more entries into the open arms of the EPM, along increased activity in the FS test; all responses indicative of reductions in depression/despair in anxiety-eliciting situations. No significant differences in these behaviors were obtained under conditions of long-term ketamine administration ( p  > .05). The CUS + Ketamine group showed significantly increased activity as compared with the CUS + Vehicle group for analysis of the long-term effects of ketamine (* p   .05). Taken together these findings demonstrate that a short-term administration of ketamine induced rapid antidepressant-like effects in adult male rats exposed to CUS conditions, effects that were not observed in response to the long-term treatment regime.

  11. Half-life predictions for decay modes of superheavy nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duarte, S.B.; Tavares, O.A.P.; Goncalves, M.; Rodriguez, O.; Guzman, F.; Barbosa, T.N.; Garcia, F.; Dimarco, A.

    2004-09-01

    We applied the Effective Liquid Drop Model (ELDM) to predict the alpha-decay, cluster emission and cold fission half-life-values of nuclei in the region of Superheavy Elements (SHE). The present calculations have been made in the region of the ZN-plane defined by 155 <=N <=220 and 110<=Z<=135. Shell effects are included via the Q-value of the corresponding decay case. We report the results of a systematic calculation of the half-life for the three nuclear decay modes in a region of the ZN-plane where superheavy elements are expected to be found. Results have shown that, among the decay modes investigated here, the alpha decay is the dominant one. i.e, the decay mode of smallest half-lives. Half-life predictions for alpha decay, cluster emission and cold fission for the isotopic family of the most recent SHE detected of Z=115 and for the isotopic family of the already consolidated SHE of Z=111 are presented. (author)

  12. Intrinsically disordered segments and the evolution of protein half-life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babu, M.

    2013-03-01

    Precise turnover of proteins is essential for cellular homeostasis and is primarily mediated by the proteasome. Thus, a fundamental question is: What features make a protein an efficient substrate for degradation? Here I will present results that proteins with a long terminal disordered segment or internal disordered segments have a significantly shorter half-life in yeast. This relationship appears to be evolutionarily conserved in mouse and human. Furthermore, upon gene duplication, divergence in the length of terminal disorder or variation in the number of internal disordered segments results in significant alteration of the half-life of yeast paralogs. Many proteins that exhibit such changes participate in signaling, where altered protein half-life will likely influence their activity. We suggest that variation in the length and number of disordered segments could serve as a remarkably simple means to evolve protein half-life and may serve as an underappreciated source of genetic variation with important phenotypic consequences. MMB acknowledges the Medical Research Council for funding his research program.

  13. Designing of peptides with desired half-life in intestine-like environment

    KAUST Repository

    Sharma, Arun

    2014-08-20

    Background: In past, a number of peptides have been reported to possess highly diverse properties ranging from cell penetrating, tumor homing, anticancer, anti-hypertensive, antiviral to antimicrobials. Owing to their excellent specificity, low-toxicity, rich chemical diversity and availability from natural sources, FDA has successfully approved a number of peptide-based drugs and several are in various stages of drug development. Though peptides are proven good drug candidates, their usage is still hindered mainly because of their high susceptibility towards proteases degradation. We have developed an in silico method to predict the half-life of peptides in intestine-like environment and to design better peptides having optimized physicochemical properties and half-life.Results: In this study, we have used 10mer (HL10) and 16mer (HL16) peptides dataset to develop prediction models for peptide half-life in intestine-like environment. First, SVM based models were developed on HL10 dataset which achieved maximum correlation R/R2 of 0.57/0.32, 0.68/0.46, and 0.69/0.47 using amino acid, dipeptide and tripeptide composition, respectively. Secondly, models developed on HL16 dataset showed maximum R/R2 of 0.91/0.82, 0.90/0.39, and 0.90/0.31 using amino acid, dipeptide and tripeptide composition, respectively. Furthermore, models that were developed on selected features, achieved a correlation (R) of 0.70 and 0.98 on HL10 and HL16 dataset, respectively. Preliminary analysis suggests the role of charged residue and amino acid size in peptide half-life/stability. Based on above models, we have developed a web server named HLP (Half Life Prediction), for predicting and designing peptides with desired half-life. The web server provides three facilities; i) half-life prediction, ii) physicochemical properties calculation and iii) designing mutant peptides.Conclusion: In summary, this study describes a web server \\'HLP\\' that has been developed for assisting scientific

  14. On the 209Po half-life error and its confirmation. A critique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colle, R.; Colle, A.M.

    2016-01-01

    A recent report on 209 Po claimed to have made a determination of the 125-a half-life from measurements made over 0.8 % of one half-life. A careful reanalysis of the original data with a more complete and rigorous consideration of the underlying uncertainties demonstrates that this claim cannot withstand critical scrutiny. More importantly, this critique examines the larger issue as to what constitutes a valid half-life determination, and highlights that a careful and realistic analysis beyond the mere fitting of decay data to an exponential function is required for the measurement and reporting of half-life values. (author)

  15. The short half-life descendents from radon measured in Sao Jose dos Campos and Cachoeira Paulista, Brazil, and its correlation with meteorological data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andrade Marinho, E.V. de.

    1985-09-01

    The correlations between the activity of the short half-life radon decay products in the low atmosphere and the meterological parameters, measuring the atmospheric polonium 214 are studied. The aerosols were collected on membrane filters and analysed by alpha spectrometry. Measurements have been made in Sao Jose dos Campos and Cachoeira Paulista, in Brazil. At S. Jose dos Campos the influence of the pluviometry on the concentration of atmospheric Po 214 has been analysed, showing that high activity correspond to low pluviometry and inversely, low activities correspond to high pluviometry. At Cachoeira Paulista, the variation in the atmospheric Po 214 activity in corresation with the air stability, measured, showing the accumulation of radioactive aerosols during the greater stability in the the lower atmospheric layers, was studied. (author) [pt

  16. On the way to high-power linear proton accelerator for the long half-life radionuclides transmutation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Batskikh, G.I.; Lupandin, O.S.; Murin, B.P.; Fedotov, A.P.

    1991-01-01

    The concept of continuous mode high-power linear proton accelerator with 1.5 GeV energy, 0.3 A current for the long half-life nuclides transmutation into the short ones (waste of atomic power plants (APP)) is proposed. The accelerator design main principles, scheme and parameters are presented. The accent is made on the accelerator efficiency, reliability and radiation purity. (author)

  17. Determination of the {sup 151}Sm half-life

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Be, Marie-Martine; Cassette, Philippe [CEA, LIST, Gif sur Yvette (France). LNE-Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel; Isnard, Helene [CEA-LANIE, Gif sur Yvette (France); and others

    2015-07-01

    New measurements have been undertaken to determine the half-life of {sup 151}Sm. A pure {sup 151}Sm solution was obtained after chemical separation from a samarium solution resulting from the dissolution of an irradiated samarium sample. The concentration of {sup 151}Sm in the solution was measured by mass spectrometry, combined with the isotope dilution technique. The activity of the solution was measured by liquid scintillation counting by six European laboratories as part of an international comparison. These combined results lead to a half-life of T{sub 1/2} = 94.6(6)a.

  18. 18F half-life measurement using a high-purity germanium detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, Jubong; Lee, K.B.; Park, T.S.; Lee, J.M.; Oh, P.J.; Lee, S.H.; Kang, Y.S.; Ahn, J.K.

    2012-01-01

    The half-life of 18 F has been measured using HPGe detectors with a 137 Cs reference source. The counting ratio of 511 keV γ-rays from 18 F to 622 keV γ-rays from 137 Cs was fitted for the half-life with a weighted least-square method. Uncertainties due to the systematic effects arising from the measurement of a high activity 18 F source were studied in detail. The half-life of 18 F was found to be (109.72±0.19) min. The result is in a good agreement with the recommended value of (109.728±0.019) min evaluated at the Laborotaire National Henri Becquerel (LNHB). - Highlights: ► The 18 F half-life was measured with a reference source and without it using HPGe detectors. ► We found the systematic effect ‘activity dynamic range effect’ by monitoring the counts of the reference source. ► This activity dynamic range effect was corrected by using the reference source method. ► The 18 F half-life using the reference source method was in a good agreement with the recommended value of LNHB.

  19. Relabeling the Medications We Call Antidepressants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Antonuccio

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper raises the question about whether the data on the medications we call antidepressants justify the label of antidepressant. The authors argue that a true antidepressant should be clearly superior to placebo, should offer a risk/benefit balance that exceeds that of alternative treatments, should not increase suicidality, should not increase anxiety and agitation, should not interfere with sexual functioning, and should not increase depression chronicity. Unfortunately, these medications appear to fall short on all of these dimensions. Many of the “side effects” of these medications have larger effect sizes than the antidepressant effect size. To call these medications antidepressants may make sense from a marketing standpoint but may be misleading from a scientific perspective. Consumers deserve a label that more accurately reflects the data on the largest effects and helps them understand the range of effects from these medications. In other words, it may make just as much sense to call these medications antiaphrodisiacs as antidepressants because the negative effects on libido and sexual functioning are so common. It can be argued that a misleading label may interfere with our commitment to informed consent. Therefore, it may be time to stop calling these medications antidepressants.

  20. Using gamma distribution to determine half-life of rotenone, applied in freshwater

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rohan, Maheswaran, E-mail: mrohan@aut.ac.nz [Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland (New Zealand); Fairweather, Alastair; Grainger, Natasha [Science and Capability, Department of Conservation, Hamilton (New Zealand)

    2015-09-15

    Following the use of rotenone to eradicate invasive pest fish, a dynamic first-order kinetic model is usually used to determine the half-life and rate at which rotenone dissipated from the treated waterbody. In this study, we investigate the use of a stochastic gamma model for determining the half-life and rate at which rotenone dissipates from waterbodies. The first-order kinetic and gamma models produced similar values for the half-life (4.45 days and 5.33 days respectively) and days to complete dissipation (51.2 days and 52.48 days respectively). However, the gamma model fitted the data better and was more flexible than the first-order kinetic model, allowing us to use covariates and to predict a possible range for the half-life of rotenone. These benefits are particularly important when examining the influence that different environmental factors have on rotenone dissipation and when trying to predict the rate at which rotenone will dissipate during future operations. We therefore recommend that in future the gamma distribution model is used when calculating the half-life of rotenone in preference to the dynamic first-order kinetics model. - Highlights: • We investigated the use of the gamma model to calculate the half-life of rotenone. • Physical and environmental variables can be incorporated into the model. • A method for calculating the range around a mean half-life is presented. • The model is more flexible than the traditionally used first-order kinetic model.

  1. High-precision half-life determination for the superallowed β+ emitter Ga62

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grinyer, G. F.; Finlay, P.; Svensson, C. E.; Ball, G. C.; Leslie, J. R.; Austin, R. A. E.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Chaffey, A.; Chakrawarthy, R. S.; Garrett, P. E.; Hackman, G.; Hyland, B.; Kanungo, R.; Leach, K. G.; Mattoon, C. M.; Morton, A. C.; Pearson, C. J.; Phillips, A. A.; Ressler, J. J.; Sarazin, F.; Savajols, H.; Schumaker, M. A.; Wong, J.

    2008-01-01

    The half-life of the superallowed β+ emitter Ga62 has been measured at TRIUMF's Isotope Separator and Accelerator facility using a fast-tape-transport system and 4π continuous-flow gas proportional counter to detect the positrons from the decay of Ga62 to the daughter Zn62. The result, T1/2=116.100±0.025 ms, represents the most precise measurement to date (0.022%) for any superallowed β-decay half-life. When combined with six previous measurements of the Ga62 half-life, a new world average of T1/2=116.121±0.021 ms is obtained. This new half-life measurement results in a 20% improvement in the precision of the Ga62 superallowed ft value while reducing its mean by 0.9σ to ft=3074.3(12) s. The impact of this half-life measurement on precision tests of the CVC hypothesis and isospin symmetry breaking corrections for A⩾62 superallowed decays is discussed.

  2. Precision half-life measurement of 17F

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brodeur, M.; Nicoloff, C.; Ahn, T.; Allen, J.; Bardayan, D. W.; Becchetti, F. D.; Gupta, Y. K.; Hall, M. R.; Hall, O.; Hu, J.; Kelly, J. M.; Kolata, J. J.; Long, J.; O'Malley, P.; Schultz, B. E.

    2016-02-01

    Background: The precise determination of f t values for superallowed mixed transitions between mirror nuclide are gaining attention as they could provide an avenue to test the theoretical corrections used to extract the Vu d matrix element from superallowed pure Fermi transitions. The 17F decay is particularly interesting as it proceeds completely to the ground state of 17O, removing the need for branching ratio measurements. The dominant uncertainty on the f t value of the 17F mirror transition stems from a number of conflicting half-life measurements. Purpose: A precision half-life measurement of 17F was performed and compared to previous results. Methods: The life-time was determined from the β counting of implanted 17F on a Ta foil that was removed from the beam for counting. The 17F beam was produced by transfers reaction and separated by the TwinSol facility of the Nuclear Science Laboratory of the University of Notre Dame. Results: The measured value of t1/2 new=64.402 (42) s is in agreement with several past measurements and represents one of the most precise measurements to date. In anticipation of future measurements of the correlation parameters for the decay and using the new world average t1/2 world=64.398 (61) s, we present a new estimate of the mixing ratio ρ for the mixed transition as well as the correlation parameters based on assuming Standard Model validity. Conclusions: The relative uncertainty on the new world average for the half-life is dominated by the large χ2=31 of the existing measurements. More precision measurements with different systematics are needed to remedy to the situation.

  3. Fenobody: A Ferritin-Displayed Nanobody with High Apparent Affinity and Half-Life Extension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Kelong; Jiang, Bing; Guan, Zhe; He, Jiuyang; Yang, Dongling; Xie, Ni; Nie, Guohui; Xie, Can; Yan, Xiyun

    2018-04-10

    Nanobodies consist of a single domain variable fragment of a camelid heavy-chain antibody. Nanobodies have potential applications in biomedical fields because of their simple production procedures and low cost. Occasionally, nanobody clones of interest exhibit low affinities for their target antigens, which, together with their short half-life limit bioanalytical or therapeutic applications. Here, we developed a novel platform we named fenobody, in which a nanobody developed against H5N1 virus is displayed on the surface of ferritin in the form of a 24mer. We constructed a fenobody by substituting the fifth helix of ferritin with the nanobody. TEM analysis showed that nanobodies were displayed on the surface of ferritin in the form of 6 × 4 bundles, and that these clustered nanobodies are flexible for antigen binding in spatial structure. Comparing fenobodies with conventional nanobodies currently used revealed that the antigen binding apparent affinity of anti-H5N1 fenobody was dramatically increased (∼360-fold). Crucially, their half-life extension in a murine model was 10-fold longer than anti-H5N1 nanobody. In addition, we found that our fenobodies are highly expressed in Escherichia coli, and are both soluble and thermo-stable nanocages that self-assemble as 24-polymers. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that fenobodies have unique advantages over currently available systems for apparent affinity enhancement and half-life extension of nanobodies. Our fenobody system presents a suitable platform for various large-scale biotechnological processes and should greatly facilitate the application of nanobody technology in these areas.

  4. Mass Measurement of Very Short Half-Lived Nuclei

    CERN Document Server

    Duma, M; Iacob, V E; Thibault, C

    2002-01-01

    The MISTRAL (Mass measurements at ISolde with a Transmission RAdiofrequency spectrometer on-Line) experiment exploits a rapid measurement technique to make accurate mass determinations of very short-lived nuclei. The physics goals are to elucidate new nuclear structure effects and constrain nuclear mass models in regions of interest to nuclear astrophysics.\\\\ \\\\The spectrometer, installed in May 97, performed as promised in the proposal with mass resolution exceeding 100,000. In its first experiment in July 1998, neutron-rich Na isotopes having half-lives as short as 31 ms were measured. A second experiment in November 1998 enabled us to improve the measurement precision of the isotopes $^{26-30}$Na to about 20 keV. The measurement program continues as experiment IS 373.

  5. Dependence of radiocaesium biological half-life in freshwater fish on water potassium concentration and temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carreiro, M.C.V.; Corisco, J.A.G.

    1998-01-01

    Short-term experiments (35-49 days) showed that the rate of cesium elimination from fish increases with increasing potassium concentration in water (the biological half-life decreases); this, however, is only true of the potassium concentration range of 0.35 to 3.5 ppm, whereas higher potassium concentrations do not seem to affect the elimination rate. Decrease in water temperature within the 20 degC to 5 degC range slows down the cesium elimination process. (P.A.)

  6. A half-life the divided life of Bruno Pontecorvo, physicist or spy

    CERN Document Server

    Close, Frank

    2015-01-01

    Bruno Pontecorvo dedicated his career to hunting for the Higgs boson of his day: the neutrino, a nearly massless particle considered essential to the process of nuclear fission. His work on the Manhattan project under Enrico Fermi confirmed his reputation as a brilliant physicist and helped usher in the nuclear age. He should have won a Nobel Prize, but late in the summer of 1950 he vanished. At the height of the Cold War, Pontecorvo had disappeared behind the Iron Curtain. In Half-Life, physicist and historian Frank Close offers a heretofore untold history of Pontecorvo’s life, based on unprecedented access to his friends, family, and colleagues. With all the elements of a Cold War thriller—classified atomic research, an infamous double agent, a kidnapping by Soviet operatives—Half-Life is a history of particle physics at perhaps its most powerful: when it created the bomb.

  7. Radionuclide biological half-life values for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beresford, N.A.; Beaugelin-Seiller, K.; Burgos, J.; Cujic, M.; Fesenko, S.; Kryshev, A.; Pachal, N.; Real, A.; Su, B.S.; Tagami, K.; Vives i Batlle, J.; Vives-Lynch, S.; Wells, C.; Wood, M.D.

    2015-01-01

    The equilibrium concentration ratio is typically the parameter used to estimate organism activity concentrations within wildlife dose assessment tools. Whilst this is assumed to be fit for purpose, there are scenarios such as accidental or irregular, fluctuating, releases from licensed facilities when this might not be the case. In such circumstances, the concentration ratio approach may under- or over-estimate radiation exposure depending upon the time since the release. To carrying out assessments for such releases, a dynamic approach is needed. The simplest and most practical option is representing the uptake and turnover processes by first-order kinetics, for which organism- and element-specific biological half-life data are required. In this paper we describe the development of a freely available international database of radionuclide biological half-life values. The database includes 1907 entries for terrestrial, freshwater, riparian and marine organisms. Biological half-life values are reported for 52 elements across a range of wildlife groups (marine = 9, freshwater = 10, terrestrial = 7 and riparian = 3 groups). Potential applications and limitations of the database are discussed. - Highlights: • 1907 biological half-life values have been collated for wildlife species. • Data cover 52 elements. • 27 marine, freshwater, riparian and terrestrial organisms are included.

  8. HALO--a Java framework for precise transcript half-life determination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedel, Caroline C; Kaufmann, Stefanie; Dölken, Lars; Zimmer, Ralf

    2010-05-01

    Recent improvements in experimental technologies now allow measurements of de novo transcription and/or RNA decay at whole transcriptome level and determination of precise transcript half-lives. Such transcript half-lives provide important insights into the regulation of biological processes and the relative contributions of RNA decay and de novo transcription to differential gene expression. In this article, we present HALO (Half-life Organizer), the first software for the precise determination of transcript half-lives from measurements of RNA de novo transcription or decay determined with microarrays or RNA-seq. In addition, methods for quality control, filtering and normalization are supplied. HALO provides a graphical user interface, command-line tools and a well-documented Java application programming interface (API). Thus, it can be used both by biologists to determine transcript half-lives fast and reliably with the provided user interfaces as well as software developers integrating transcript half-life analysis into other gene expression profiling pipelines. Source code, executables and documentation are available at http://www.bio.ifi.lmu.de/software/halo.

  9. Antidepressants for bipolar disorder A meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, controlled trials

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yingli Zhang; Huan Yang; Shichang Yang; Wei Liang; Ping Dai; Changhong Wang; Yalin Zhang

    2013-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To examine the efficacy and safety of short-term and long-term use of antidepres-sants in the treatment of bipolar disorder. DATA SOURCES:A literature search of randomized, double-blind, control ed trials published until December 2012 was performed using the PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Medline and Cochrane Central Register of Control ed Trials databases. The keywords“bipolar disorder, bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, bipolar mania, bipolar depression, cyclothymia, mixed mania and depression, rapid cycling and bipolar disorder”, AND “antidepressant agent, antidepressive agents second-generation, antidepressive agents tricyclic, monoamine oxidase inhibitor, noradrenaline uptake in-hibitor, serotonin uptake inhibitor, and tricyclic antidepressant agent” were used. The studies that were listed in the reference list of the published papers but were not retrieved in the above-mentioned databases were supplemented. STUDY SELECTION: Studies selected were double-blind randomized control ed trials assessing the efficacy and safety of antidepressants in patients with bipolar disorder. Al participants were aged 18 years or older, and were diagnosed as having primary bipolar disorder. Antidepressants or antidepressants combined with mood stabilizers were used in experimental interventions. Placebos, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics and other antide pressants were used in the control interventions. Studies that were quasi-randomized studies, or used antidepressants in combination with antipsy-chotics in the experimental group were excluded. Al analyses were conducted using Review Man-ager 5.1 provided by the Cochrane Col aboration. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The primary outcome was the response and switching to mania. The secondary outcomes included remission, discontinuation rate, and suicidality. RESULTS: Among 5 001 treatment studies published, 14 double-blind randomized control ed trials involving 1 244 patients were included in the meta

  10. Variation in absorption and half-life of hydrocortisone influence plasma cortisol concentrations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindmarsh, Peter C; Charmandari, Evangelia

    2015-04-01

    Hydrocortisone therapy should be individualized in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) patients to avoid over and under replacement. We have assessed how differences in absorption and half-life of cortisol influence glucocorticoid exposure. Forty-eight patients (21 M) aged between 6·1 and 20·3 years with CAH due to CYP21A2 deficiency were studied. Each patient underwent a 24-h plasma cortisol profile with the morning dose used to calculate absorption parameters along with an intravenous (IV) hydrocortisone (15 mg/m(2) body surface area) bolus assessment of half-life. Parameters derived were maximum plasma concentration (Cmax ), time of maximum plasma concentration (tmax ), time to attaining plasma cortisol concentration cortisol. Mean half-life was 76·5 ± 5·2 (range 40-225·3) min, Cmax 780·7 ± 61·6 nmol/l and tmax 66·7 (range 20-118) min. Time taken to a plasma cortisol concentration less than 100 nmol/l was 289 (range 140-540) min. Those with a fast half-life and slow tmax took longest to reach a plasma cortisol concentration less than 100 nmol/l (380 ± 34·6 min), compared to those with a slow half-life and fast tmax (298 ± 34·8 min) and those with a fast half-life and fast tmax (249·5 ± 14·4 min) (One-way anovaF = 4·52; P = 0·009). Both rate of absorption and half-life of cortisol in the circulation play important roles in determining overall exposure to oral glucocorticoid. Dose regimens need to incorporate estimates of these parameters into determining the optimum dosing schedule for individuals. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Calculation of the biological half-life of radioactive isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szabo, S.A.

    1982-01-01

    The biological half-life of 137 Cs and 90 Sr was determined based on K and Ca metabolism and on the considerable chemical similarity of K and Ca, carriers of Cs and Sr, resp. The tsub(1/2)=a/bxln2 formula was used for the calculation, where a is the quantity of the element in question, while b is the daily need of the animal for the given element. The biological half-life for cattle of both 137 Cs and 90 Sr was found to be 30 days, while that for swine 20 days and 35 days respectively. (Sz.J.)

  12. Accurate γ-ray spectrometry measurements of the half-life of 92Sr

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leconte, P.; Hudelot, J.P.; Antony, M.

    2008-01-01

    Studies of the nuclear fuel cycle require an accurate knowledge of the energy release from the decay of radioactive nuclides produced in a reactor, including precise half-life data for the short-lived radionuclides. Moreover, short-lived fission products are crucial for fission rate distribution measurements performed in low-power facilities, such as EOLE and MINERVE of CEA Cadarache [Fougeras, P., 2005. EOLE, MINERVE and MASURCA facilities and their associated neutron experimental programs. In: 13th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, Beijing, China, 16-20 May 2005], and their nuclear decay data need to be known to high precision. For these reasons, the half-life of 92 Sr has been measured to solve a recently observed inconsistency identified with the quoted value in the main nuclear applications libraries (including JEFF3.1): T 1/2 =2.71±0.01 h [Parsa, B., Ashari, A., Goolvard, L., Nobar, Y.M., 1971. Decay scheme of 2.71 h 92 Sr. Nucl. Phys. A 175, 629-640]. An overestimation of 4.5% has been identified in this work, based on two independent methods. Specific γ-ray spectrometry measurements on activated fissile foils have been carried out, using two HPGe detectors. Influencing factors such as net area measurements of photopeaks, pulse pile-up accuracy and dead time corrections in the presence of decaying activity are discussed. A new value has been obtained by combining eight series of measurements: T 1/2 =2.594±0.006 h. The uncertainty has been reduced by a factor of two with respect to previous evaluations. This measured value also shows good agreement with the most recent studies of T 1/2 =2.627±0.009 h [Nir-El, Y., 2003. Private Communications. Soreq Research Centre, Yavne, Israel

  13. Re-measurement of the half-life of sup 7 sup 9 Se

    CERN Document Server

    Jiang Song Sheng; Diao Li Jun; Li Chun Shen; GouJingRu; Wu Shao Yon

    2002-01-01

    A new attempt has been made for the re-measurement of the half-life of sup 7 sup 9 Se. We made two major improvements over our earlier sup 7 sup 9 Se half-life determination (Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 123 (1997) 403). Firstly, the half-life of sup 7 sup 9 Se was measured relative to the precisely known half-life of sup 7 sup 5 Se, rather than an absolute measurement of sup 7 sup 9 Se/Se. Secondly, the Projectile X-ray Detection technique was used for the separation of sup 7 sup 9 Se from its isobar, sup 7 sup 9 Br, rather than measuring sup 8 sup 1 Br for the deduction of sup 7 sup 9 Br interference, and this technique was also used for separation of sup 7 sup 5 Se and its isobar, sup 7 sup 5 As. A detailed description of the sample preparations, experimental setup and measurements are given. The re-measured half-life of sup 7 sup 9 Se was (2.95+-0.38)x10 sup 5 a, about a factor of 3 lower than the previous value, 1.1x10 sup 6 a. The problems in the previous measurement are discussed.

  14. The half-life of 207Bi and decays of 211At and 211Po

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yanokura, M.; Kudo, H.; Nakahara, H.; Miyano, K.; Ohya, S.; Nitoh, O.

    1978-01-01

    The half-life of 207 Bi was obtained from the genetic relation between 207 Po and 207 Bi, and between 211 At and 207 Bi. The half-life was found to be 33.4 +- 0.8 y. The half-life of 207 Po was determined to be 5.81 +- 0.04 h by following the decay of the characteristic γ-rays from 207 Po. The half-life of 211 At was determined to be 7.23 +- 0.02 h by following the decay of γ-rays and α-particles from 211 At and 211 Po. The half-lives determined in the present work for 207 Po and 211 At agree with the literature although the half-life of 207 Bi differs considerably from the currently accepted value of 38 y. The branching ratio of 211 At decaying through EC and α-decay modes was determined together with the branching ratios of the three α-particles emitted from 211 Po. (Auth.)

  15. Switching antidepressants

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Antidepressants are widely prescribed for depression in primary care,1 but a lack ... all antidepressants are capable of causing discontinuation .... antidepressant, or maintaining an antidepressant, in elderly, medically compromised (e.g. renal.

  16. Glucagon-like Peptide 1 Conjugated to Recombinant Human Serum Albumin Variants with Modified Neonatal Fc Receptor Binding Properties. Impact on Molecular Structure and Half-Life

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bukrinski, Jens T.; Sønderby, Pernille; Antunes, Filipa

    2017-01-01

    Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a small incretin hormone stimulated by food intake, resulting in an amplification of the insulin response. Though interesting as a drug candidate for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, its short plasma half-life of less than 3 minutes limits its clinical...... use. A strategy to extend the half-life of GLP-1 utilizes the long half-life of human serum albumin (HSA) by combining the two via chemical conjugation or genetic fusion. HSA has a plasma half-life of around 21 days owing to its interaction with the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) expressed in endothelial...... with the available structural information on the FcRn and GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) obtained from X-ray crystallography, we can explain the observed in-vitro and in-vivo behaviour. We conclude that the conjugation of GLP-1 to rHSA does not affect the interaction between rHSA and FcRn, while the observed decrease...

  17. Intrinsically Disordered Segments Affect Protein Half-Life in the Cell and during Evolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robin van der Lee

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Precise control of protein turnover is essential for cellular homeostasis. The ubiquitin-proteasome system is well established as a major regulator of protein degradation, but an understanding of how inherent structural features influence the lifetimes of proteins is lacking. We report that yeast, mouse, and human proteins with terminal or internal intrinsically disordered segments have significantly shorter half-lives than proteins without these features. The lengths of the disordered segments that affect protein half-life are compatible with the structure of the proteasome. Divergence in terminal and internal disordered segments in yeast proteins originating from gene duplication leads to significantly altered half-life. Many paralogs that are affected by such changes participate in signaling, where altered protein half-life will directly impact cellular processes and function. Thus, natural variation in the length and position of disordered segments may affect protein half-life and could serve as an underappreciated source of genetic variation with important phenotypic consequences.

  18. Update of NIST half-life results corrected for ionization chamber source-holder instability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Unterweger, M.P.; Fitzgerald, R.

    2014-01-01

    As reported at the ICRM 2011, it was discovered that the source holder used for calibrations in the NIST 4πγ ionization chamber (IC) was not stable. This has affected a large number of half-life measurement results previously reported and used in compilations of nuclear data. Corrections have been made on all of the half-life data based on the assumption that the changes to the ionization chamber response were gradual. The corrections are energy dependent and therefore radionuclide specific. This presentation will review our results and present the recommended changes in half-life values and/or uncertainties. - Highlights: • The NIST half-life data is corrected for sample positioning variations and refitted. • These results are reported and increased errors in the reported values are given. • Longer lived radionuclides are discussed

  19. Validation of effective half-life of tritium and computation of dose at Madras Atomic Power Station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moolya, L.L.; Kannan, R.K.; Sreekumaran Nair, B.; Mohandas, P.G.; Rajan, R.

    2001-01-01

    In Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) tritium is produced by the activation of deuterium present in the moderator and coolant system. Hence, the inventory of tritium in PHWR is high and it contributes about 20 percent of the Station Dose. Tritium enters body by inhalation, ingestion and skin absorption. Dose received by an individual depends on its elimination rate from the body and hence the effective half-life. It is found that the effective half-life varies from person to person. The effective half-life also depends on the weather condition. The variation of effective half-life is taken care of in dose estimation by average method. However, in case of dose calculation for single uptake cases, there is a need to take fixed effective half-life. ICRP has taken the effective half-life as 10 days. The effective half-life is taken as 6 days in Indian conditions based on the studies conducted earlier in MAPS and elsewhere. Now with available data for about 16 years a fresh study was conducted to validate the effective half-life. This paper gives the study of effective half-life of tritium and its variation during different seasons of the year in MAPS. This paper also gives methods used for computing dose due to tritium. (author)

  20. Influence of sex and age on the biological half-life of cadmium in mice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taguchi, T.; Suzuki, S.

    1981-01-01

    The influence of age on the whole-body biological half-life of 109 Cd was studied in male mice following ip injection. The influence of sex on whole-body and organ retention was ascertained after sc injection. The whole-body biological half-life of 109 Cd of the older mice was more than twice that of the younger mice, and that of the female mice was longer than that of the males. These differences demonstrate a biological difference between males and females with respect to whole-body half-life of 109 Cd. The effects of age and sex on the biological half-life of Cd in mice are assessed quantitatively

  1. Measurement of the 8Li half-life

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flechard, X.; Lienard, E.; Naviliat-Cuncic, O.; Ban, G.; Carniol, B.; Etasse, D.; Fontbonne, J. M.; Rodriguez, D.; Lallena, A. M.; Alvarez, M. A. G.; Praena, J.

    2010-01-01

    We report a new measurement of the 8 Li half-life using a plastic scintillator and an ultrafast waveform digitizing module. The result, T 1/2 =(838.40±0.36) ms, improves by a factor of 2.5 the most precise result obtained so far and is furthermore deduced with negligible corrections due to dead time.

  2. Half-life distribution table of radioactive nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gugenberger, P.

    1954-01-01

    This table allows to identify an element if its period is known. Data for this table were taken from the half-life values adopted by Hollander, PERLMAN and SEABORG (Rev. mod. Phys., 1953, 22 number 2). Moreover for each nucleus, the mass number, the charge number and the type of decay are given in the table. (author) [fr

  3. Antidepressants use in children and adolescents and the risk of suicide

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wohlfarth, Tamar D.; van Zwieten, Barbara J.; Lekkerkerker, Frits J.; Gispen-de Wied, Christine C.; Ruis, Jerry R.; Elferink, Andre J. A.; Storosum, Jitschak G.

    2006-01-01

    Antidepressants use in paediatric patients has been linked with risk of suicidal behaviours. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to examine whether all antidepressants are associated with such risk. All 22 paediatric short-term placebo-controlled trials of SSRIs and NSRIs that were submitted to

  4. Potential fitness benefits of the half-pounder life history in Klamath River steelhead

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodge, Brian W.; Wilzbach, Peggy; Duffy, Walter G.

    2014-01-01

    Steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss from several of the world's rivers display the half-pounder life history, a variant characterized by an amphidromous (and, less often, anadromous) return to freshwater in the year of initial ocean entry. We evaluated factors related to expression of the half-pounder life history in wild steelhead from the lower Klamath River basin, California. We also evaluated fitness consequences of the half-pounder phenotype using a simple life history model that was parameterized with our empirical data and outputs from a regional survival equation. The incidence of the half-pounder life history differed among subbasins of origin and smolt ages. Precocious maturation occurred in approximately 8% of half-pounders and was best predicted by individual length in freshwater preceding ocean entry. Adult steelhead of the half-pounder phenotype were smaller and less fecund at age than adult steelhead of the alternative (ocean contingent) phenotype. However, our data suggest that fish of the half-pounder phenotype are more likely to spawn repeatedly than are fish of the ocean contingent phenotype. Models predicted that if lifetime survivorship were equal between phenotypes, the fitness of the half-pounder phenotype would be 17–28% lower than that of the ocean contingent phenotype. To meet the condition of equal fitness between phenotypes would require that first-year ocean survival be 21–40% higher among half-pounders in freshwater than among their cohorts at sea. We concluded that continued expression of the half-pounder phenotype is favored by precocious maturation and increased survival relative to that of the ocean contingent phenotype.

  5. Development of new organometallic species for the labelling of radiotracers with short half-lives radioisotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huet-Dales, A.

    2003-11-01

    The reactivity of clean organotins have been studied in the Stille coupling reaction in fast conditions, witch can be used with short half-life radioisotope. In a first part, development of the reaction conditions have been studied for the transfer of a methyl group by the Stille coupling reaction, via the synthesis of the correspond mono-organotin. The reaction time was optimized onto model compounds in 12-carbon and 11-carbon chemistry. In a second part, this methodology was applied to the synthesis of NK3 receptors radioligands, in 12-carbon and 11-carbon chemistry. Biological studies showed that these ligands have a good affinity with NK3 receptors, and are potential positron emission tomography tracers. (author)

  6. Adverse effects of the SSRI antidepressant sertraline on early life stages of marine invertebrates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Estévez-Calvar, Noelia; Canesi, Laura; Montagna, Michele; Faimali, Marco; Piazza, Veronica; Garaventa, Francesca

    2017-07-01

    Widespread contamination of coastal environments by emerging compounds includes low concentrations of pharmaceuticals. These pollutants are not currently incorporated in monitoring programs despite their effects on non-target organisms are very little documented. Among the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, sertraline (SRT) is one of the most prescribed globally. In this work, earlier life stages of Amphibalanus amphitrite, Brachionus plicatilis and Mytilus galloprovincialis were exposed to environmental concentrations of SRT in order to study both sub-lethal and lethal responses in 24/48 h-tests. Low concentrations of SRT altered significantly swimming behavior in A. amphitrite and B. plicatilis giving 48 h-EC 50 (μg/L) of 113.88 and 282.23, respectively whereas higher values were observed for mortality and immobilization. EC 50 embryotoxicity with M. galloprovincialis was 206.80 μg/L. This work add new data about SRT ecotoxicity on marine invertebrates and confirms the applicability of behavioral endpoints to evaluate the environmental impact of antidepressants in marine organisms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. On the half-life of luminescence signals in dosimetric applications: A unified presentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pagonis, V.; Kitis, G.; Polymeris, G. S.

    2018-06-01

    Luminescence signals from natural and man-made materials are widely used in dosimetric and dating applications. In general, there are two types of half-lives of luminescence signals which are of importance to experimental and modeling work in this research area. The first type of half-life is the time required for the population of the trapped charge in a single trap to decay to half its initial value. The second type of half-life is the time required for the luminescence intensity to drop to half of its initial value. While there a handful of analytical expressions available in the literature for the first type of half-life, there are no corresponding analytical expressions for the second type. In this work new analytical expressions are derived for the half-life of luminescence signals during continuous wave optical stimulation luminescence (CW-OSL) or isothermal luminescence (ITL) experiments. The analytical expressions are derived for several commonly used luminescence models which are based on delocalized transitions involving the conduction band: first and second order kinetics, empirical general order kinetics (GOK), mixed order kinetics (MOK) and the one-trap one-recombination center (OTOR) model. In addition, half-life expressions are derived for a different type of luminescence model, which is based on localized transitions in a random distribution of charges. The new half-life expressions contain two parts. The first part is inversely proportional to the thermal or optical excitation rate, and depends on the experimental conditions and on the cross section of the relevant luminescence process. The second part is characteristic of the optical and/or thermal properties of the material, as expressed by the parameters in the model. A new simple and quick method for analyzing luminescence signals is developed, and examples are given of applying the new method to a variety of dosimetric materials. The new test allows quick determination of whether a set of

  8. Radioactive source simulation for half-life experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wanitsuksombut, Warapon; Decthyothin, Chanti

    1999-01-01

    A simulation of radioactivity decay by using programmable light source with a few minutes half-life is suggested. A photodiode with digital meter label in cps is use instead of radiation detector. Both light source and photodiode are installed in a black box to avoid surrounding room light. The simulation set can also demonstrate Inverse Square Law experiment of radiation penetration. (author)

  9. The half-life of 125I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simpson, B.R.S.; Meyer, B.R.

    1989-01-01

    The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) organized an international comparison of activity measurements of a solution of 125 I. The half-life value adopted was 59.5±0.4d. The large uncertainty took account of a recently published value (Schrader, 1986) which is considerably lower than the widely used value of 60.0±0.1d. The present work, which was undertaken at the suggestion of the BIPM, has yielded a value which confirms the lower measurement. (author)

  10. Measurements of beta-decay half-lives of short-lived nuclei

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirose, T.; Tsurita, Y.; Yamamoto, H.; Kawade, K. [Nagoya Univ. (Japan); Iida, T.; Takahashi, A.; Kasugai, Y.; Ikeda, Y.

    1997-03-01

    The {beta}-decay half-lives of short-lived nuclei produced by 14 MeV neutron bombardments were measured with Ge detectors, a High-rate spectroscopy amplifier (EG and G ORTEC model 973) and a Spectrum multi-scaler (Laboratory equipment corporation SMS-48) in the multi-scaling mode. The adequate corrections for pile-up and dead-time losses were made by applying source and pulser methods. The half-lives of {sup 53}V, {sup 53g}Fe, {sup 89m}Y and {sup 162}Tb were determined with uncertainties of 0.13-0.65%. It has been shown that previous values shorter than 10 min were systematically longer than the present ones. (author)

  11. Determination of disintegration half-life of 252Cf

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Keliang; Liu Guoxing; Wang Sufang; Zheng Jiwen

    1991-01-01

    The follow-up measurements have been made by using a Si(Au) detector with small solid angle geometry for α disintegration of 252 Cf. The measured half-life of disintegration is 2.638 ± 0.009 year. This value is in accordance with other previous results

  12. Extending the half-life of a fab fragment through generation of a humanized anti-human serum albumin Fv domain: An investigation into the correlation between affinity and serum half-life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Ralph; Griffin, Laura; Compson, Joanne E; Jairaj, Mark; Baker, Terry; Ceska, Tom; West, Shauna; Zaccheo, Oliver; Davé, Emma; Lawson, Alastair Dg; Humphreys, David P; Heywood, Sam

    2016-10-01

    We generated an anti-albumin antibody, CA645, to link its Fv domain to an antigen-binding fragment (Fab), thereby extending the serum half-life of the Fab. CA645 was demonstrated to bind human, cynomolgus, and mouse serum albumin with similar affinity (1-7 nM), and to bind human serum albumin (HSA) when it is in complex with common known ligands. Importantly for half-life extension, CA645 binds HSA with similar affinity within the physiologically relevant range of pH 5.0 - pH 7.4, and does not have a deleterious effect on the binding of HSA to neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn). A crystal structure of humanized CA645 Fab in complex with HSA was solved and showed that CA645 Fab binds to domain II of HSA. Superimposition with the crystal structure of FcRn bound to HSA confirmed that CA645 does not block HSA binding to FcRn. In mice, the serum half-life of humanized CA645 Fab is 84.2 h. This is a significant extension in comparison with Fab variant. The Fab-HSA structure was used to design a series of mutants with reduced affinity to investigate the correlation between the affinity for albumin and serum half-life. Reduction in the affinity for MSA by 144-fold from 2.2 nM to 316 nM had no effect on serum half-life. Strikingly, despite a reduction in affinity to 62 µM, an extension in serum half-life of 26.4 h was still obtained. CA645 Fab and the CA645 Fab-HSA complex have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) with accession codes, 5FUZ and 5FUO, respectively.

  13. Update of NIST half-life results corrected for ionization chamber source-holder instability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Unterweger, M P; Fitzgerald, R

    2014-05-01

    As reported at the ICRM 2011, it was discovered that the source holder used for calibrations in the NIST 4πγ ionization chamber (IC) was not stable. This has affected a large number of half-life measurement results previously reported and used in compilations of nuclear data. Corrections have been made on all of the half-life data based on the assumption that the changes to the ionization chamber response were gradual. The corrections are energy dependent and therefore radionuclide specific. This presentation will review our results and present the recommended changes in half-life values and/or uncertainties. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  14. Neutron activation analyses and half-life measurements at the usgs triga reactor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Robert E.

    Neutron activation of materials followed by gamma spectroscopy using high-purity germanium detectors is an effective method for making measurements of nuclear beta decay half-lives and for detecting trace amounts of elements present in materials. This research explores applications of neutron activation analysis (NAA) in two parts. Part 1. High Precision Methods for Measuring Decay Half-Lives, Chapters 1 through 8 Part one develops research methods and data analysis techniques for making high precision measurements of nuclear beta decay half-lives. The change in the electron capture half-life of 51Cr in pure chromium versus chromium mixed in a gold lattice structure is explored, and the 97Ru electron capture decay half-life are compared for ruthenium in a pure crystal versus ruthenium in a rutile oxide state, RuO2. In addition, the beta-minus decay half-life of 71mZn is measured and compared with new high precision findings. Density Functional Theory is used to explain the measured magnitude of changes in electron capture half-life from changes in the surrounding lattice electron configuration. Part 2. Debris Collection Nuclear Diagnostic at the National Ignition Facility, Chapters 9 through 11 Part two explores the design and development of a solid debris collector for use as a diagnostic tool at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). NAA measurements are performed on NIF post-shot debris collected on witness plates in the NIF chamber. In this application NAA is used to detect and quantify the amount of trace amounts of gold from the hohlraum and germanium from the pellet present in the debris collected after a NIF shot. The design of a solid debris collector based on material x-ray ablation properties is given, and calculations are done to predict performance and results for the collection and measurements of trace amounts of gold and germanium from dissociated hohlraum debris.

  15. Numerical solution of stiff burnup equation with short half lived nuclides by the Krylov subspace method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamoto, Akio; Tatsumi, Masahiro; Sugimura, Naoki

    2007-01-01

    The Krylov subspace method is applied to solve nuclide burnup equations used for lattice physics calculations. The Krylov method is an efficient approach for solving ordinary differential equations with stiff nature such as the nuclide burnup with short lived nuclides. Some mathematical fundamentals of the Krylov subspace method and its application to burnup equations are discussed. Verification calculations are carried out in a PWR pin-cell geometry with UO 2 fuel. A detailed burnup chain that includes 193 fission products and 28 heavy nuclides is used in the verification calculations. Shortest half life found in the present burnup chain is approximately 30 s ( 106 Rh). Therefore, conventional methods (e.g., the Taylor series expansion with scaling and squaring) tend to require longer computation time due to numerical stiffness. Comparison with other numerical methods (e.g., the 4-th order Runge-Kutta-Gill) reveals that the Krylov subspace method can provide accurate solution for a detailed burnup chain used in the present study with short computation time. (author)

  16. The impact of extended half-life versus conventional factor product on hemophilia caregiver burden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, Carolyn E; Powell, Victoria E; Su, Jun; Zhang, Jie; Eldar-Lissai, Adi

    2018-05-01

    Extended half-life factor products have reduced annualized bleeding rates in hemophilia patients. The impact of extended half-life versus conventional factor products on hemophilia caregiver burden has not been investigated. This study aimed to evaluate caregiver burden in extended half-life versus conventional factor products for hemophilia A and B. This cross-sectional web-based study of caregivers of people with hemophilia A or B was recruited from a panel research company and by word of mouth. Participants completed the Hemophilia Caregiver Impact measure, the PedsQL Family Impact Module (PedsQL), and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI). We also collected demographic, insurance coverage, and medical information related to the hemophilia patient(s). Burden differences were assessed using linear regression and matched cohort analyses. The sample (n = 448) included 49 people who were caring for people on extended half-life factor products. Worse caregiver burden was associated with more infusions per week and more bleeds in the past 6 months. Regression analyses suggested that caring for someone who is on a extended half-life factor product is associated with lower emotional impact (β = - 0.11, p factor product had lower Emotional Impact and Practical Impact scores (t = - 2.95 and - 2.94, respectively, p factor product infusions of extended half-life factor products appears to reduce the emotional distress and practical burden of caregiving. Future work should evaluate the longitudinal impact.

  17. Beliefs of people taking antidepressants about the causes of their own depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Read, John; Cartwright, Claire; Gibson, Kerry; Shiels, Christopher; Magliano, Lorenza

    2015-03-15

    The beliefs of people receiving treatment about the causes of their own mental health problems are researched less often than the causal beliefs of the public, but have important implications for relationships with prescribers, treatment choices and recovery. An online survey on a range of beliefs about depression, and experiences with antidepressants, was completed by 1829 New Zealand adults prescribed anti-depressants in the preceding five years, 97.4% of whom proceeded to take antidepressants. Six of 17 beliefs about the causes of their own depression were endorsed by more than half the sample: chemical imbalance, family stress, work stress, heredity, relationship problems and distressing events in childhood. There were some marked differences in content, structure and level of conviction of beliefs about one׳s own depression and the sample׳s previously published beliefs about depression in general. There were also significant differences between the beliefs of demographic groupings. Regression analyses revealed that self-reported effectiveness of the antidepressants was positively associated with bio-genetic causal beliefs. The quality of the relationship with the prescribing doctor was positively related to a belief in chemical imbalance as a cause and negatively related to a belief in unemployment as a cause. The convenience sample may have been biased towards a favourable view of bio-genetic explanations, since 83% reported that the medication reduced their depression. People experiencing depression hold complex, multifactorial and idiosyncratic sets of beliefs about the causes of their own depression, apparently based at least in part on their own life experiences and circumstances. Exploring those beliefs may enhance the doctor-patient relationship and selection of appropriate treatment modality. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Superior serum half life of albumin tagged TNF ligands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueller, Nicole; Schneider, Britta; Pfizenmaier, Klaus; Wajant, Harald

    2010-01-01

    Due to their immune stimulating and apoptosis inducing properties, ligands of the TNF family attract increasing interest as therapeutic proteins. A general limitation of in vivo applications of recombinant soluble TNF ligands is their notoriously rapid clearance from circulation. To improve the serum half life of the TNF family members TNF, TWEAK and TRAIL, we genetically fused soluble variants of these molecules to human serum albumin (HSA). The serum albumin-TNF ligand fusion proteins were found to be of similar bioactivity as the corresponding HSA-less counterparts. Upon intravenous injection (i.v.), serum half life of HSA-TNF ligand fusion proteins, as determined by ELISA, was around 15 h as compared to approximately 1 h for all of the recombinant control TNF ligands without HSA domain. Moreover, serum samples collected 6 or 24 h after i.v. injection still contained high TNF ligand bioactivity, demonstrating that there is only limited degradation/inactivation of circulating HSA-TNF ligand fusion proteins in vivo. In a xenotransplantation model, significantly less of the HSA-TRAIL fusion protein compared to the respective control TRAIL protein was required to achieve inhibition of tumor growth indicating that the increased half life of HSA-TNF ligand fusion proteins translates into better therapeutic action in vivo. In conclusion, our data suggest that genetic fusion to serum albumin is a powerful and generally applicable mean to improve bioavailability and in vivo activity of TNF ligands.

  19. Improving the control of systematic uncertainties in precision measurements of radionuclide half-life

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Towers, S.

    2013-01-01

    Many experiments designed to precisely determine the half-life of a radionuclide employ a long lived reference source to help determine the impact on the data of any systematic variation in the detector and associated electronics. The half-life of the radionuclide of interest is determined from the ratio of its decay rate data to the decay rate data from the reference source. This correction procedure assumes that any underlying systematic affects the data and reference measurements in exactly the same way. In this paper we show that when some systematic effects affect the two differently, the ratio procedure can leave artifacts in the corrected data that can compromise an unbiased and precise assessment of the radionuclide half-life. We describe two methods that can help overcome this problem. We also describe several statistical tests that help determine which effects may underlie systematic variations in the data. We discuss an illustrative example based on previously published 32 Si and 36 Cl data recorded by an experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory. We correct the data for systematic variation related to climate variation and estimate the 32 Si half-life to be T 1/2 =171.8±1.8. The reduction in uncertainty in the 32 Si half-life, relative to the previous estimate based upon this data, is equivalent to that which would be achieved through increasing the size of the data set by almost 3.5 times. - Author-Highlights: • Isotope decay data and reference source data can have differing systematics. • Differing systematics can inflate uncertainty of isotope half-life estimate. • We describe two methods to overcome this problem. • We describe statistical tests to determine which variables cause systematics. • We analyze Brookhaven 32Si/36Cl decay data as an illustrative example

  20. High-precision half-life determination for 21Na using a 4 π gas-proportional counter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finlay, P.; Laffoley, A. T.; Ball, G. C.; Bender, P. C.; Dunlop, M. R.; Dunlop, R.; Hackman, G.; Leslie, J. R.; MacLean, A. D.; Miller, D.; Moukaddam, M.; Olaizola, B.; Severijns, N.; Smith, J. K.; Southall, D.; Svensson, C. E.

    2017-08-01

    A high-precision half-life measurement for the superallowed β+ transition between the isospin T =1 /2 mirror nuclei 21Na and 21Ne has been performed at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive ion beam facility yielding T1 /2=22.4506 (33 ) s, a result that is a factor of 4 more precise than the previous world-average half-life for 21Na and represents the single most precisely determined half-life for a transition between mirror nuclei to date. The contribution to the uncertainty in the 21Na F tmirror value due to the half-life is now reduced to the level of the nuclear-structure-dependent theoretical corrections, leaving the branching ratio as the dominant experimental uncertainty.

  1. In utero exposure to antidepressants and the use of drugs for pulmonary diseases in children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    ter Horst, P. G. J.; Bos, H. J.; de Jong-van de Berg, L. T. W.; Wilffert, B.

    Purpose The use of antidepressants during pregnancy is common. Some studies suggest an association between in utero exposure to antidepressants and the occurrence of pulmonary diseases like asthma later in life. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) as well tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are

  2. Half-life and intensities of photons of 103Pd isotope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Popov, Yu.S.; Zakharova, L.V.; Kupriyanov, V.N.; Andreev, O.I.; Pakhomov, A.N.; Vakhetov, F.Z.

    2001-01-01

    Half-life and intensities of photons forming during 103 Pd isotope decay are determined by the methods of semiconductor x-ray and γ-spectrometry. 103 Pd is applied in nuclear medicine for preparation of 103m Rh isomer (T 1/2 =56 min) being used in irradiation of prostate neoplasms. Half-life of 103 Pd isotope is 16±0.6 days, relative intensities of x-ray and γ-photons are: K α /Kβ=5.1±0.4; 358 keV - 100 rel.units; 295 keV - 12.3±0.4 rel.units; 497 keV - 17.6±0.6 rel.units. Errors are represented for confidence probability 95 % [ru

  3. Goiania radiation accident: 30 years - a half-life for a whole life..

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reis, R.G.; Lucena, E.A.; Arantes, R.R.; Silva, A.A.; Reis, A.A.

    2017-01-01

    The radiological accident in Goiânia, Brazil, considered the largest urban radiological accident in the world, generated several publications in the technical area that are widely disseminated in the scientific literature, given the importance of the lessons learned. However, in a simple conversation with people who worked on that accident, it is noted that many reports have not been recorded. In this year in which 30 years of the event is completed, it will be of great value to record personal testimonies that are not in technical or scientific books. And what can we tell after a half-life that lasted for a lifetime? The lived stories, the situations, the improvisations, the way to solve, the overcoming, the human side, the emotions, happy or sad, short or long, funny or not. The objective of this work is to preserve, maintain and divulge reports and situations experienced by people who worked on the radiological accident with Cs-137 in Goiânia. Audio or video recordings about experiences lived in Goiânia by people who worked in that emergency situation were carried out. The reports are free and the form of registration is always at the discretion of the narrator. Storing records allows to preserve, maintain, and disclose the accident to other generations

  4. Beyond effective half-life characterization of radionuclide dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hermanska, J.; Blazek, T.; Karny, M.

    1996-01-01

    A refined model was set up and tested of the effective radionuclide half-life in nuclear medicine, making allowance for the fact that the basic assumption that the observed data can be fitted by a mono-exponential, as well as some other assumptions, is not true. The results are discussed. (P.A.). 1 tab., 32 refs

  5. Development of controller of acquisition and sample positioner for activation for use in measurements of short half-life radioisotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Secco, Marcello

    2016-01-01

    High resolution gamma spectroscopy measurements have several applications. Those involving short half-life radioisotope measurements may present low precision problems when the radioactive source is far from detector end cup and in the very high activity situations also can present accuracy loss due to dead time and pile-up effects. A way to overcome these problems is changing the source detector distance as the activity is decreasing, and thereby maximizing the statistical counting. In the present study, the Controller of Acquisition and Sample Positioner for Activation (CASPA) was developed. It is a low cost and weight device, made with low atomic number materials designed to assist gamma spectroscopy measurements, which is able to control the distance between the source and the detector, even allowing that there is a change of this distance during the measurement process. Because it is automated it optimizes the time of the operator, who has complete freedom to program their routine measurements in the device besides minimizing the radiation dose in the operator. An interface that allow the user control the CASPA system and to program the acquisition system was created. Tests aiming to optimize the operation of CASPA system were carried out and the safety of the CASPA operation was verified, it was not presented any failure during their tests. It was applied the repeatability tests by the acquisition 60 Co standard source and was found that the positioning of automated system has reproduced the results of static system with a 95% of confidence level. (author)

  6. Antidepressants and dementia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kessing, Lars Vedel; Søndergård, Lars; Forman, Julie Lyng

    2009-01-01

    BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that antidepressants may have neuroprotective abilities but it has newer been investigated lately whether treatment with antidepressants reduces the risk of dementia. METHOD: Linkage of registers of all prescribed antidepressants and diagnoses of dementia...... in Denmark during a period from 1995 to 2005. RESULTS: Persons who purchased antidepressants once (N=687,552) had an increased rate of dementia compared to persons unexposed to antidepressants (N=779,831). Nevertheless, the rate of dementia changed over time; thus during the initial prescription periods...... the rate increased with the number of prescriptions but continued long-term antidepressants treatment was associated with a reduction in the rate of dementia, however, not to the same level as the rate for the general population. This pattern was found for all classes of antidepressants (SSRIs, newer non...

  7. Adherence to antidepressant treatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Hanne Vibe; Kessing, Lars Vedel

    2007-01-01

    Depression is a common disorder with painful symptoms and, frequently, social impairment and decreased quality of life. The disorder has a tendency to be long lasting, often with frequent recurrence of symptoms. The risk of relapse and the severity of the symptoms may be reduced by correct...... of dependence of antidepressant medicine, have a great influence on adherence to treatment....

  8. Half-life data--a critical review of TECDOC-619 update

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woods, M.J.; Collins, S.M.

    2004-01-01

    An accurate knowledge of selected nuclear decay data is critical to a wide range of processes involving radionuclides. An IAEA publication in 1991 was dedicated to the evaluation of half-lives and specific gamma-ray emission probabilities for 39 selected radionuclides considered to be important for detector efficiency calibrations. A new exercise was initiated in December 1998 to update this previous evaluation and to include a number of new radionuclides of interest; 62 radionuclides were considered along with specific parent-daughter combinations (to give a total of 64 radionuclides). That work is now being completed and a new set of recommended data is being prepared for publication. A critical comparison of the 1991 and 2003 half-life data suggests that there has not been any significant improvement in the accuracy of the recommended data. The possible reasons for this situation are discussed together with the evaluation procedure and the quality of the available data. Proposals are made for concerted actions that could lead to a significant improvement in these recommended half-life data

  9. Antidepressant-Resistant Depression and Antidepressant-Associated Suicidal Behaviour: The Role of Underlying Bipolarity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoltan Rihmer

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The complex relationship between the use of antidepressants and suicidal behaviour is one of the hottest topics of our contemporary psychiatry. Based on the literature, this paper summarizes the author's view on antidepressant-resistant depression and antidepressant-associated suicidal behaviour. Antidepressant-resistance, antidepressant-induced worsening of depression, antidepressant-associated (hypomanic switches, mixed depressive episode, and antidepressant-associated suicidality among depressed patients are relatively most frequent in bipolar/bipolar spectrum depression and in children and adolescents. As early age at onset of major depressive episode and mixed depression are powerful clinical markers of bipolarity and the manic component of bipolar disorder (and possible its biological background shows a declining tendency with age antidepressant-resistance/worsening, antidepressant-induced (hypomanic switches and “suicide-inducing” potential of antidepressants seem to be related to the underlying bipolarity.

  10. Effect of change in half-life of Se-79 on the safety of HLW geological disposal system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishihara, Yoshinao; Ishiguro, Katsuhiko; Umeki, Hiroyuki

    1999-11-01

    Se-79 is one of key radionuclides in the performance assessment of the geological disposal system. Based on recent measurements, it is possible that the half-life of Se-79 will be changed longer than the present value in most handbooks and tables of isotopes. This study presents performance assessment calculations to investigate the overall effect of change in half-life of Se-79 on the repository system safety. The total system performance analyses for Se-79 were carried out, which focussed on the Reference-Case of the safety assessment in the H12 Project. As results, the maximum release rate in Becquerel unit of Se-79 from the engineered barrier system with new half-life decreases about one order of magnitude than that with half-life used so far. It is, however, that the maximum release rate in Becquerel unit of Se-79 from the natural barrier system is almost same for both half-life because of the channelling effects of groundwater flow. Consequently, the calculated maximum dose rate of Se-79 with new half-life does not change. It can be concluded that the change in half-life of Se-79 does not affect overall safety of the H12 disposal concept. (author)

  11. Standardization of 40 K by liquid scintillation counting. Determination of the half-life

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grau Carles, A.; Grau Malonda, A.

    1997-01-01

    The relative abundance of the natural radioisotope ''40 K in environmental samples frequently generates interferences in low activity measurements. In the present study we propose the determination of ''40 K by the CIEMAT/NIST method. On this context, the verification of ''40 K half-life is required. We present a half-life value obtained by liquid scintillation counting in excellent agreement with those reported in the literature. (Author)

  12. Drug-drug interactions involving antidepressants: focus on desvenlafaxine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Low, Yvette; Setia, Sajita; Lima, Graca

    2018-01-01

    Psychiatric and physical conditions often coexist, and there is robust evidence that associates the frequency of depression with single and multiple physical conditions. More than half of patients with depression may have at least one chronic physical condition. Therefore, antidepressants are often used in cotherapy with other medications for the management of both psychiatric and chronic physical illnesses. The risk of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) is augmented by complex polypharmacy regimens and extended periods of treatment required, of which possible outcomes range from tolerability issues to lack of efficacy and serious adverse events. Optimal patient outcomes may be achieved through drug selection with minimal potential for DDIs. Desvenlafaxine is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor approved for the treatment of adults with major depressive disorder. Pharmacokinetic studies of desvenlafaxine have shown a simple metabolic profile unique among antidepressants. This review examines the DDI profiles of antidepressants, particularly desvenlafaxine, in relation to drugs of different therapeutic areas. The summary and comparison of information available is meant to help clinicians in making informed decisions when using desvenlafaxine in patients with depression and comorbid chronic conditions.

  13. Near-optimum procedure for half-life measurement by high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, J.L.

    1989-01-01

    A near-optimum procedure for using high-resolution γ-ray spectrometry to measure the half-lives of appropriate γ-ray- emitting-nuclides is presented. Among the important points of the procedure are the employment of the reference source method for implicit correction of pileup and deadtime losses; the use of full-energy peak-area ratios as the fundamental measured quantities; and continuous, high-rate data acquisition to obtain good results in a fraction of a half-life if desired. Equations are given for estimating the precision of the computed half-lives in terms of total measurement time, number of spectral acquisitions, and the precision of peak-area ratios. Results of 169 Yb half-life measurements are given as an example of the procedure's application. 3 refs., 2 tabs

  14. Antidepressant effects of ketamine: mechanisms underlying fast-acting novel antidepressants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caroline Ann Browne

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Newer antidepressants are needed for the many individuals with major depressive disorder that do not respond adequately to treatment and because of a delay of weeks before the emergence of therapeutic effects. Recent evidence from clinical trials shows that the NMDA antagonist ketamine is a revolutionary novel antidepressant because it acts rapidly and is effective for treatment-resistant patients. A single infusion of ketamine alleviates depressive symptoms in treatment-resistant depressed patients within hours and these effects may be sustained for up to 2 weeks. Although the discovery of ketamine’s effects has reshaped drug discovery for antidepressants, the psychotomimetic properties of this compound limit the use of this therapy to the most severely ill patients. In order to develop additional antidepressants like ketamine, adequate preclinical behavioral screening paradigms for fast-acting antidepressants need to be established and used to identify the underlying neural mechanisms. This review examines the preclinical literature attempting to model the antidepressant-like effects of ketamine. Acute administration of ketamine has produced effects in behavioral screens for antidepressants like the forced swim test, novelty suppression of feeding and in rodent models for depression. Protracted behavioral effects of ketamine have been reported to appear after a single treatment that last for days. This temporal pattern is similar to its clinical effects and may serve as a new animal paradigm for rapid antidepressant effects in humans. In addition, protracted changes in molecules mediating synaptic plasticity have been implicated in mediating the antidepressant-like behavioral effects of ketamine. Current preclinical studies are examining compounds with more specific pharmacological effects at glutamate receptors and synapses in order to develop additional rapidly acting antidepressants without the hallucinogenic side effects or abuse

  15. Precision half-life measurement of 11C: The most precise mirror transition F t value

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valverde, A. A.; Brodeur, M.; Ahn, T.; Allen, J.; Bardayan, D. W.; Becchetti, F. D.; Blankstein, D.; Brown, G.; Burdette, D. P.; Frentz, B.; Gilardy, G.; Hall, M. R.; King, S.; Kolata, J. J.; Long, J.; Macon, K. T.; Nelson, A.; O'Malley, P. D.; Skulski, M.; Strauss, S. Y.; Vande Kolk, B.

    2018-03-01

    Background: The precise determination of the F t value in T =1 /2 mixed mirror decays is an important avenue for testing the standard model of the electroweak interaction through the determination of Vu d in nuclear β decays. 11C is an interesting case, as its low mass and small QE C value make it particularly sensitive to violations of the conserved vector current hypothesis. The present dominant source of uncertainty in the 11CF t value is the half-life. Purpose: A high-precision measurement of the 11C half-life was performed, and a new world average half-life was calculated. Method: 11C was created by transfer reactions and separated using the TwinSol facility at the Nuclear Science Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame. It was then implanted into a tantalum foil, and β counting was used to determine the half-life. Results: The new half-life, t1 /2=1220.27 (26 ) s, is consistent with the previous values but significantly more precise. A new world average was calculated, t1/2 world=1220.41 (32 ) s, and a new estimate for the Gamow-Teller to Fermi mixing ratio ρ is presented along with standard model correlation parameters. Conclusions: The new 11C world average half-life allows the calculation of a F tmirror value that is now the most precise value for all superallowed mixed mirror transitions. This gives a strong impetus for an experimental determination of ρ , to allow for the determination of Vu d from this decay.

  16. Association study of a brain-derived neurotrophic factor polymorphism and short-term antidepressant response in major depressive disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lung-Cheng Huang

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Eugene Lin1,7, Po See Chen2,6,7, Lung-Cheng Huang3,4, Sen-Yen Hsu51Vita Genomics, Inc., Wugu Shiang, Taipei, Taiwan; 2Department of Psychiatry, Hospital and College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; 3Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch, Taiwan; 4Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 5Department of Psychiatry, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan, Taiwan; 6Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Dou-liou Branch, Yunlin, Taiwan; 7These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: Major depressive disorder (MDD is one of the most common mental disorders worldwide. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs can be used in clinical association studies to determine the contribution of genes to drug efficacy. A common SNP in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF gene, a methionine (Met substitution for valine (Val at codon 66 (Val66Met, is a candidate SNP for influencing antidepressant treatment outcome. In this study, our goal was to determine the relationship between the Val66Met polymorphism in the BDNF gene and the rapid antidepressant response to venlafaxine in a Taiwanese population with MDD. Overall, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was found not to be associated with short-term venlafaxine treatment outcome. However, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism showed a trend to be associated with rapid venlafaxine treatment response in female patients. Future research with independent replication in large sample sizes is needed to confirm the role of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism identified in this study.Keywords: antidepressant response, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, major depressive disorder, serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, single nucleotide polymorphisms

  17. Tricyclic antidepressant overdose necessitating ICU admission ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) overdose necessitating intensive care unit (ICU) admission remains a significant problem in the Western Cape. In this retrospective study, we reviewed the course of life-threatening TCA overdose in our centre to identify potential prognostic indicators. TCA levels >1 000 ng/ml were associated ...

  18. Lithium as an adjunct to radioiodine therapy in Graves' disease for prolonging the intrathyroidal effective half-life of radioiodine. Useful or not?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dunkelmann, S.; Kuenstner, H.; Nabavi, E.; Eberlein, U.; Groth, P.; Schuemichen, C. [Rostock Univ. (Germany). Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Nuklearmedizin, Zentrum fuer Radiologie

    2006-07-01

    Aim: Evaluation of intrathyroidal kinetics of radioiodine with and without lithium as adjunct with respect to the increase in radiation dose delivered to the thyroid. Patients, methods: 267 patients in three groups were included in the study. Group I with 227 patients served as control group, Group II with 21 patients and Group III with 19 patients were distinguished by an intrathyroidal half-life of radioiodine below 3.5 days in the diagnostic test. Patients in Group III received 885 mg lithium carbonate a day for 2 weeks as adjunct to radioiodine therapy. Both diagnostic and therapeutic radioiodine kinetics were followed up by at least 10 uptake measurements within a minimum of 48 h. Kinetics of radioiodine were defined mathematically as balance of the thyroidal iodine intake and excretion by a two-compartment model. Results: Under therapy the maximum uptake of radioiodine was reduced by nearly 10% in all groups, in Group I, the effective half-life as well as the product of maximum uptake x effective half-life as an equivalent of radiation dose independent of thyroid volume was lowered in the same magnitude. In Group II, the energy-dose equivalent remained constant under therapy. With adjunct lithium in Group III, the effective half-life was prolonged significantly by factor 1.61{+-}0.49 and the volume-independent energy-dose equivalent by factor 1.39{+-}0.37. No severe side effects of lithium were observed. Conclusion: Using lithium as adjunct to radio-iodine therapy increases the radiation dose delivered to the thyroid by 39% on average and nearly 30% of radioiodine activity can be saved in these patients. Lithium is recommended in patients with very short effective half-life in the diagnostic test in order to reduce the activity required and whole-body radiation dose. (orig.)

  19. Pre-Clinical Intravenous Serum Pharmacokinetics of Albumin Binding and Non-Half-Life Extended Nanobodies®

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sven Hoefman

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Nanobodies are antigen-binding, single variable domain proteins derived from naturally-occurring, heavy chain only antibodies. They are highly soluble, stable, and can be linked to build multi-specific formats. Several Nanobodies are currently in clinical development in different therapeutic areas, for both chronic and acute applications. For the former, prolonged exposure is achieved by half-life extending moieties that target endogenous albumin, while for the latter, non-half-life extended constructs are preferable. To demonstrate the general pharmacokinetic behavior of both formats, serum levels of seven intravenously administered Nanobodies were analyzed in cynomolgus monkeys, mice or rabbits. In monkeys, the total clearance of a monomeric irrelevant Nanobody was rapid (2.0 mL/(min*kg and approximated the species glomerular filtration rate, indirectly suggesting that the Nanobody was mainly eliminated via the kidneys. When linked to an anti-albumin Nanobody, a 376-fold decrease in clearance was observed, resulting in a terminal half-life of 4.9 days, corresponding to the expected species albumin half-life. Similar conclusions were drawn for (non- half-life extended mono-, bi- and trimeric Nanobodies in mice or rabbits, suggesting that these kinetic principles apply across species. Applying this knowledge to species translation and study design is crucial for successful pre-clinical development of novel therapeutic Nanobody candidates.

  20. Half-life of each dioxin and PCB congener in the human body

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ogura, Isamura [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba (Japan)

    2004-09-15

    It is well known that dioxin and PCB congeners accumulate in the human body. For assessing their toxicological risk, it is important to know the half-life of each congener in the human body. This study summarizes the overall half-lives of congeners in humans as reported in the literature, and compares them with the half-lives due to fecal and sebum excretions, as estimated by data on the concentrations of congeners in feces and sebum in the literature. In addition, the overall half-lives of congeners for the general Japanese population were estimated from the data on dietary intakes and concentrations in the human body reported by the municipalities.

  1. Antidepressant therapy in epilepsy: can treating the comorbidities affect the underlying disorder?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardamone, L; Salzberg, MR; O'Brien, TJ; Jones, NC

    2013-01-01

    There is a high incidence of psychiatric comorbidity in people with epilepsy (PWE), particularly depression. The manifold adverse consequences of comorbid depression have been more clearly mapped in recent years. Accordingly, considerable efforts have been made to improve detection and diagnosis, with the result that many PWE are treated with antidepressant drugs, medications with the potential to influence both epilepsy and depression. Exposure to older generations of antidepressants (notably tricyclic antidepressants and bupropion) can increase seizure frequency. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that newer (‘second generation’) antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, have markedly less effect on excitability and may lead to improvements in epilepsy severity. Although a great deal is known about how antidepressants affect excitability on short time scales in experimental models, little is known about the effects of chronic antidepressant exposure on the underlying processes subsumed under the term ‘epileptogenesis’: the progressive neurobiological processes by which the non-epileptic brain changes so that it generates spontaneous, recurrent seizures. This paper reviews the literature concerning the influences of antidepressants in PWE and in animal models. The second section describes neurobiological mechanisms implicated in both antidepressant actions and in epileptogenesis, highlighting potential substrates that may mediate any effects of antidepressants on the development and progression of epilepsy. Although much indirect evidence suggests the overall clinical effects of antidepressants on epilepsy itself are beneficial, there are reasons for caution and the need for further research, discussed in the concluding section. PMID:23146067

  2. Atypical Antidepressants

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... health-medications/index.shtml. Accessed May 16, 2016. Hirsch M, et al. Atypical antidepressants: Pharmacology, admininstration, and ... www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed May 23, 2016. Hirsch M, et al. Discontinuing antidepressant medications in adults. ...

  3. Drug–drug interactions involving antidepressants: focus on desvenlafaxine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Low, Yvette; Setia, Sajita; Lima, Graca

    2018-01-01

    Psychiatric and physical conditions often coexist, and there is robust evidence that associates the frequency of depression with single and multiple physical conditions. More than half of patients with depression may have at least one chronic physical condition. Therefore, antidepressants are often used in cotherapy with other medications for the management of both psychiatric and chronic physical illnesses. The risk of drug–drug interactions (DDIs) is augmented by complex polypharmacy regimens and extended periods of treatment required, of which possible outcomes range from tolerability issues to lack of efficacy and serious adverse events. Optimal patient outcomes may be achieved through drug selection with minimal potential for DDIs. Desvenlafaxine is a serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor approved for the treatment of adults with major depressive disorder. Pharmacokinetic studies of desvenlafaxine have shown a simple metabolic profile unique among antidepressants. This review examines the DDI profiles of antidepressants, particularly desvenlafaxine, in relation to drugs of different therapeutic areas. The summary and comparison of information available is meant to help clinicians in making informed decisions when using desvenlafaxine in patients with depression and comorbid chronic conditions. PMID:29497300

  4. An albumin-oligonucleotide assembly for potential combinatorial drug delivery and half-life extension applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kuhlmann, Matthias; Hamming, Jonas Bohn Refslund; Voldum, Anders

    2017-01-01

    The long blood circulatory property of human serum albumin, due to engagement with the cellular recycling neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn), is an attractive drug half-life extension enabling technology. This work describes a novel site-specific albumin double-stranded (ds) DNA assembly approach, in wh...... technology platform that offers potential combinatorial drug delivery and half-life extension applications.......The long blood circulatory property of human serum albumin, due to engagement with the cellular recycling neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn), is an attractive drug half-life extension enabling technology. This work describes a novel site-specific albumin double-stranded (ds) DNA assembly approach......, in which the 3' or 5' end maleimide-derivatized oligodeoxynucleotides are conjugated to albumin cysteine at position 34 (cys34) and annealed with complementary strands to allow single site-specific protein modification with functionalized ds oligodeoxynucleotides. Electrophoretic gel shift assays...

  5. Advanced oxidation treatment and photochemical fate of selected antidepressant pharmaceuticals in solutions of Suwannee River humic acid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Santoke, Hanoz, E-mail: hsantoke@uci.edu [Urban Water Research Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2175 (United States); Song, Weihua, E-mail: wsong@uci.edu [Urban Water Research Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2175 (United States); Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433 (China); Cooper, William J., E-mail: wcooper@uci.edu [Urban Water Research Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2175 (United States); Peake, Barrie M., E-mail: bpeake@chemistry.otago.ac.nz [Chemistry Department, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054 (New Zealand)

    2012-05-30

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We elucidate the photochemical degradation of three antidepressant pharmaceuticals. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Hydroxyl radical is the most significant contributor to the degradation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Excited state dissolved organic matter also plays a significant role for duloxetine. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Tentative reaction byproducts are identified. - Abstract: Antidepressant pharmaceuticals have recently been detected at low concentrations in wastewater and surface water. This work reports studies of the direct and indirect photochemical fate and treatment by advanced oxidation of three antidepressant compounds (duloxetine, venlafaxine and bupropion) in solutions of humic acid in order to elucidate their behavior in the natural environment prior to reaching a water treatment facility and potentially entering a potable water supply. Humic acid solution was prepared by adding to distilled water a known amount of organic matter as a photosensitizer. All three antidepressants react very rapidly with hydroxyl radicals ({center_dot}OH) and hydrated electrons (e{sup -}{sub aq}) with rate constants of {approx}10{sup 8} to 10{sup 10} M{sup -1} s{sup -1}, but significantly slower with singlet oxygen ({sup 1}{Delta}O{sub 2}) ({approx}10{sup 3} to 10{sup 5} M{sup -1} s{sup -1}). The steady-state concentrations of {center_dot}OH and {sup 1}{Delta}O{sub 2}, in a sample of humic acid solution were measured and used with the second order rate constants to show that the hydroxyl radical was an order of magnitude more effective than the singlet oxygen in the solar-induced photochemical degradation of the antidepressants. Excited state dissolved organic matter also accounted for a substantial portion of degradation of duloxetine, decreasing its half-life by 27% under solar irradiation. Several reaction pathways and by-products arising from the photodegradation were identified using gamma-irradiation followed by LC

  6. Designing of peptides with desired half-life in intestine-like environment

    KAUST Repository

    Sharma, Arun; Singla, Deepak; Rashid, Mamoon; Raghava, Gajendra Pal Singh

    2014-01-01

    hindered mainly because of their high susceptibility towards proteases degradation. We have developed an in silico method to predict the half-life of peptides in intestine-like environment and to design better peptides having optimized physicochemical

  7. Skeletal effects of central nervous system active drugs: anxiolytics, sedatives, antidepressants, lithium and neuroleptics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vestergaard, Peter

    2008-09-01

    Many central nervous system active drugs can alter postural balance, increasing the risk of fractures. Anxiolytics and sedatives include the benzodiazepines, and these have been associated with a limited increase in the risk of fractures, even at low doses, probably from an increased risk of falls. No systematic differences have been shown between benzodiazepines with long and short half-lives. Although the increase in risk of fractures was limited, care must still be taken when prescribing for older fall-prone subjects at risk of osteoporosis. Neuroleptics may be associated with a decrease in bone mineral density and a very limited increase in fracture risk. Antidepressants are associated with a dose-dependent increase in the risk of fractures. The increase in relative risk of fractures seems to be larger with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) than with tricyclic antidepressants. The reason for this is not known but may be linked to serotonin effects on bone cells and the risk of falls. With the wide use of SSRIs, more research is needed. Lithium is associated with a decrease in the risk of fractures. This may be linked to its effects on the Wnt glycoprotein family, which is a specialised signalling system for certain cell types.

  8. Human amygdala engagement moderated by early life stress exposure is a biobehavioral target for predicting recovery on antidepressants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein-Piekarski, Andrea N; Korgaonkar, Mayuresh S; Green, Erin; Suppes, Trisha; Schatzberg, Alan F; Hastie, Trevor; Nemeroff, Charles B; Williams, Leanne M

    2016-10-18

    Amygdala circuitry and early life stress (ELS) are both strongly and independently implicated in the neurobiology of depression. Importantly, animal models have revealed that the contribution of ELS to the development and maintenance of depression is likely a consequence of structural and physiological changes in amygdala circuitry in response to stress hormones. Despite these mechanistic foundations, amygdala engagement and ELS have not been investigated as biobehavioral targets for predicting functional remission in translational human studies of depression. Addressing this question, we integrated human neuroimaging and measurement of ELS within a controlled trial of antidepressant outcomes. Here we demonstrate that the interaction between amygdala activation engaged by emotional stimuli and ELS predicts functional remission on antidepressants with a greater than 80% cross-validated accuracy. Our model suggests that in depressed people with high ELS, the likelihood of remission is highest with greater amygdala reactivity to socially rewarding stimuli, whereas for those with low-ELS exposure, remission is associated with lower amygdala reactivity to both rewarding and threat-related stimuli. This full model predicted functional remission over and above the contribution of demographics, symptom severity, ELS, and amygdala reactivity alone. These findings identify a human target for elucidating the mechanisms of antidepressant functional remission and offer a target for developing novel therapeutics. The results also offer a proof-of-concept for using neuroimaging as a target for guiding neuroscience-informed intervention decisions at the level of the individual person.

  9. Antidepressants, antimicrobials or both? Gut microbiota dysbiosis in depression and possible implications of the antimicrobial effects of antidepressant drugs for antidepressant effectiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macedo, Danielle; Filho, Adriano José Maia Chaves; Soares de Sousa, Caren Nádia; Quevedo, João; Barichello, Tatiana; Júnior, Hélio Vitoriano Nobre; Freitas de Lucena, David

    2017-01-15

    The first drug repurposed for the treatment of depression was the tuberculostatic iproniazid. At present, drugs belonging to new classes of antidepressants still have antimicrobial effects. Dysbiosis of gut microbiota was implicated in the development or exacerbation of mental disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD). Based on the current interest in the gut-brain axis, the focus of this narrative review is to compile the available studies regarding the influences of gut microbiota in behavior and depression and to show the antimicrobial effect of antidepressant drugs. A discussion regarding the possible contribution of the antimicrobial effect of antidepressant drugs to its effectiveness/resistance is included. The search included relevant articles from PubMed, SciELO, LILACS, PsycINFO, and ISI Web of Knowledge. MDD is associated with changes in gut permeability and microbiota composition. In this respect, antidepressant drugs present antimicrobial effects that could also be related to the effectiveness of these drugs for MDD treatment. Conversely, some antimicrobials present antidepressant effects. Both antidepressants and antimicrobials present neuroprotective/antidepressant and antimicrobial effects. Further studies are needed to evaluate the participation of antimicrobial mechanisms of antidepressants in MDD treatment as well as to determine the contribution of this effect to antidepressant resistance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. A formula for half-life of proton radioactivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhi-Xing; Dong, Jian-Min

    2018-01-01

    We present a formula for proton radioactivity half-lives of spherical proton emitters with the inclusion of the spectroscopic factor. The coefficients in the formula are calibrated with the available experimental data. As an input to calculate the half-life, the spectroscopic factor that characterizes the important information on nuclear structure should be obtained with a nuclear many-body approach. This formula is found to work quite well, and in better agreement with experimental measurements than other theoretical models. Therefore, it can be used as a powerful tool in the investigation of proton emission, in particular for experimentalists. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11435014, 11405223, 11675265, 11575112), the 973 Program of China (2013CB834401, 2013CB834405), National Key Program for S&T Research and Development (2016YFA0400501), the Knowledge Innovation Project (KJCX2-EW-N01) of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Funds for Creative Research Groups of China (11321064) and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences

  11. Fission rates measured using high-energy gamma-rays from short half-life fission products in fresh and spent nuclear fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kroehnert, H.

    2011-02-01

    In recent years, higher discharge burn-ups and initial fuel enrichments have led to more and more heterogeneous core configurations in light water reactors (LWRs), especially at the beginning of cycle when fresh fuel assemblies are loaded next to highly burnt ones. As this trend is expected to continue in the future, the Paul Scherrer Institute has, in collaboration with the Swiss Association of Nuclear Utilities, swissnuclear, launched the experimental programme LIFE(at)PROTEUS. The LIFE(at)PROTEUS programme aims to better characterise interfaces between burnt and fresh UO 2 fuel assemblies in modern LWRs. Thereby, a novel experimental database is to be made available for enabling the validation of neutronics calculations of strongly heterogeneous LWR core configurations. During the programme, mixed fresh and highly burnt UO 2 fuel lattices will be investigated in the zero-power research reactor PROTEUS. One of the main types of investigations will be to irradiate the fuel in PROTEUS and measure the resulting fission rate distributions across the interface between fresh and burnt fuel zones. The measurement of fission rates in burnt fuel re-irradiated in a zero-power reactor requires, however, the development of new experimental techniques which are able to discriminate against the high intrinsic activity of the fuel. The principal goal of the present research work has been to develop such a new measurement technique. The selected approach is based on the detection of high-energy gamma-ray lines above the intrinsic background (i.e. above 2200 keV), which are emitted by short-lived fission products freshly created in the fuel. The fission products 88 Kr, 142 La, 138 Cs, 84 Br, 89 Rb, 95 Y, 90m Rb and 90 Rb, with half-lives between 2.6 min and 2.8 h, have been identified as potential candidates. During the present research work, the gamma-ray activity of short-lived fission products has, for the first time, been measured and quantitatively evaluated for re

  12. Precision half-life measurement of .sup.140 La with Ge-detector

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Adam, Jindřich; Belov, A. G.; Brandt, R.; Chaloun, P.; Honusek, Milan; Kalinnikov, V. G.; Krivopustov, M. I.; Kulakov, B. A.; Langrock, E. J.; Pronskikh, V. S.; Sosnin, A. N.; Stegailov, V. I.; Tsoupko-Sitnikov, V. M.; Wan, J. S.; Westmeier, W.

    2002-01-01

    Roč. 187, - (2002), s. 419-426 ISSN 0168-583X R&D Projects: GA AV ČR KSK1048102 Keywords : radioastive nuclei * Ge-detectors * half-life measurements Subject RIV: BG - Nuclear, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Colliders Impact factor: 1.158, year: 2002

  13. Antidepressants differentially related to 1,25-(OH)₂ vitamin D₃ and 25-(OH) vitamin D₃ in late-life depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oude Voshaar, R C; Derks, W J; Comijs, H C; Schoevers, R A; de Borst, M H; Marijnissen, R M

    2014-04-15

    A low plasma 25-OH vitamin D3 level is a universal risk factor for a wide range of diseases and has also been implicated in late-life depression. It is currently unknown whether the biologically active form of vitamin D, that is, 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3, is also decreased in late-life depression, or whether vitamin D levels correlate with specific depression characteristics. We determined plasma 25-OH vitamin D3, 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3 and parathormone levels in 355 depressed older persons and 124 non-depressed comparison subjects (age 60 years). Psychopathology was established with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 2.1, together with potential confounders and depression characteristics (severity, symptom profile, age of onset, recurrence, chronicity and antidepressant drug use). Adjusted for confounders, depressed patients had significantly lower levels of 25-OH vitamin D33 (Cohen's d =0.28 (95% confidence interval: 0.07-0.49), P=0.033) as well as 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3 (Cohen's d =0.48 (95% confidence interval: 0.27-0.70), Pdepression characteristics tested, only the use of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) was significantly correlated with lower 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3 levels (Cohen's d =0.86 (95% confidence interval: 0.53-1.19), Pprecursor 25-OH vitamin D3. As vitamin D levels were significantly lower after adjustment for confounders, vitamin D might have an aetiological role in late-life depression. Differences between depressed and non-depressed subjects were largest for the biologically active form of vitamin D. The differential impact of TCAs on 25-OH vitamin D3 and 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3 levels suggests modulation of 1-α-hydroxylase and/or 24-hydroxylase, which may in turn have clinical implications for biological ageing mechanisms in late-life depression.

  14. Antidepressants and Valvular Heart Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Chia-Hui; Hsiao, Fei-Yuan; Liu, Yen-Bin; Gau, Susan Shur-Fen; Wang, Chi-Chuan; Shen, Li-Jiuan

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Empirical evidence regarding the association between antidepressants and valvular heart disease (VHD) is scarce. Using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research database, this nested case-control study assessed the association between antidepressants and VHD in a Chinese population. Among a cohort of patients who used at least 3 prescription antidepressants, 874 cases with VHD and 3496 matched controls (1:4 ratio) were identified. Conditional logistic regression models were used to examine the timing, duration, dose and type of antidepressants use, and the risk of VHD. Current use of antidepressants was associated with a 1.4-fold increase in the risk of VHD (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–1.77). Among current users, a dose–response association was observed in terms of the cumulative duration and the cumulative antidepressant dose. Significantly higher risks of VHD were observed among the current users of tricyclic antidepressants (aOR 1.40 [1.05–1.87]). We found that the use of antidepressants was associated with a greater risk of VHD and that the risks varied according to different antidepressants. PMID:27057841

  15. Safety limits of half-mask cartridge respirators for organic solvent vapors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1975-01-01

    Recent studies of the effective service life (safety limits) for typical half-mask cartridge respirators have shown these devices to be unsuitable for certain organic vapors, e.g., methanol, methylamine, vinyl chloride, and dichloromethane, because the effective service life is too short. For these vapors other forms of protection such as air-supplied respirators are recommended. The experimentally determined service life for many vapors is shorter--sometimes significantly shorter--than predicted by adsorption theory

  16. High-Precision Half-Life Measurement for the Superallowed β+ Emitter Alm26

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finlay, P.; Ettenauer, S.; Ball, G. C.; Leslie, J. R.; Svensson, C. E.; Andreoiu, C.; Austin, R. A. E.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Cross, D. S.; Demand, G.; Djongolov, M.; Garrett, P. E.; Green, K. L.; Grinyer, G. F.; Hackman, G.; Leach, K. G.; Pearson, C. J.; Phillips, A. A.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Triambak, S.; Williams, S. J.

    2011-01-01

    A high-precision half-life measurement for the superallowed β+ emitter Alm26 was performed at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive ion beam facility yielding T1/2=6346.54±0.46stat±0.60systms, consistent with, but 2.5 times more precise than, the previous world average. The Alm26 half-life and ft value, 3037.53(61) s, are now the most precisely determined for any superallowed β decay. Combined with recent theoretical corrections for isospin-symmetry-breaking and radiative effects, the corrected Ft value for Alm26, 3073.0(12) s, sets a new benchmark for the high-precision superallowed Fermi β-decay studies used to test the conserved vector current hypothesis and determine the Vud element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark mixing matrix.

  17. The role of antidepressants in the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): a short report on a clinical case-note audit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikocka-Walus, Antonina A; Gordon, Andrea L; Stewart, Benjamin J; Andrews, Jane M

    2012-02-01

    This study sought to determine the frequency of use and types of antidepressants used in IBD patients and to collect data with respect to any effect of antidepressants on the course of IBD in a usual care setting. A case-note audit was conducted at an IBD Service in a public tertiary hospital. Included patients were those diagnosed with IBD by a gastroenterologist; and have had contact with the IBD Service in the last 6months. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data. Overall, 313 patients were eligible and 287 had complete data. Overall, 51 (17.8%) patients were currently taking antidepressants and 71 (24.7%) previously received antidepressants. Eighty-three (28.9%) patients had used an antidepressant at some time. In terms of disease activity while on antidepressants, the majority of patients had inactive disease but presented with what were thought by their clinicians to be functional symptoms. Antidepressants are commonly prescribed in IBD patients. In our cohort, they appear to be mostly used for functional symptoms. The current data do not allow us to judge whether they improve IBD disease activity. Targeted studies are needed to answer this question and to improve practice and patient outcomes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. The Use of Gene Ontology Term and KEGG Pathway Enrichment for Analysis of Drug Half-Life.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Hang Zhang

    Full Text Available A drug's biological half-life is defined as the time required for the human body to metabolize or eliminate 50% of the initial drug dosage. Correctly measuring the half-life of a given drug is helpful for the safe and accurate usage of the drug. In this study, we investigated which gene ontology (GO terms and biological pathways were highly related to the determination of drug half-life. The investigated drugs, with known half-lives, were analyzed based on their enrichment scores for associated GO terms and KEGG pathways. These scores indicate which GO terms or KEGG pathways the drug targets. The feature selection method, minimum redundancy maximum relevance, was used to analyze these GO terms and KEGG pathways and to identify important GO terms and pathways, such as sodium-independent organic anion transmembrane transporter activity (GO:0015347, monoamine transmembrane transporter activity (GO:0008504, negative regulation of synaptic transmission (GO:0050805, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction (hsa04080, serotonergic synapse (hsa04726, and linoleic acid metabolism (hsa00591, among others. This analysis confirmed our results and may show evidence for a new method in studying drug half-lives and building effective computational methods for the prediction of drug half-lives.

  19. Epigenetic Mechanisms of Depression and Antidepressants Action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vialou, Vincent; Feng, Jian; Robison, Alfred J.; Nestler, Eric J.

    2013-01-01

    Epigenetic mechanisms, which control chromatin structure and function, mediate changes in gene expression that occur in response to diverse stimuli. Recent research has established that environmental events and behavioral experience induce epigenetic changes at particular gene loci that help shape neuronal plasticity and function, and hence behavior, and that some of these changes can be very stable and even persist for a lifetime. Increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that aberrations in chromatin remodeling and subsequent effects on gene expression within limbic brain regions contribute to the pathogenesis of depression and other stress-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety syndromes. Likewise, the gradually developing but persistent therapeutic effects of antidepressant medications may be achieved in part via epigenetic mechanisms. This review discusses recent advances in understanding epigenetic regulation of stress-related disorders and focuses on three distinct aspects of stress-induced epigenetic pathology: the effects of stress and antidepressant treatment during adulthood, the life-long effects of early life stress on subsequent stress vulnerability, and the possible trans-generational transmission of stress-induced abnormalities. PMID:23020296

  20. Short-lived non-coding transcripts (SLiTs): Clues to regulatory long non-coding RNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tani, Hidenori

    2017-03-22

    Whole transcriptome analyses have revealed a large number of novel long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Although the importance of lncRNAs has been documented in previous reports, the biological and physiological functions of lncRNAs remain largely unknown. The role of lncRNAs seems an elusive problem. Here, I propose a clue to the identification of regulatory lncRNAs. The key point is RNA half-life. RNAs with a long half-life (t 1/2 > 4 h) contain a significant proportion of ncRNAs, as well as mRNAs involved in housekeeping functions, whereas RNAs with a short half-life (t 1/2 regulatory ncRNAs and regulatory mRNAs. This novel class of ncRNAs with a short half-life can be categorized as Short-Lived non-coding Transcripts (SLiTs). I consider that SLiTs are likely to be rich in functionally uncharacterized regulatory RNAs. This review describes recent progress in research into SLiTs.

  1. Anti-restenotic effect of copper-62 liquid-filled balloon in porcine coronary arteries: novel use of a short half-life positron emitter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chan, Rosanna C.; Lacy, Jeffrey L.; Bhargava, Balram; Collins, Sara D.; Cates, Pamela; Cottin, Yves; Kollum, Marc; Yang, Nathan; Haynes, Neal G.; Martin, Christopher S.; Nayak, Nisha; Vodovotz, Yoram; Kim, Han-Soo; Waksman, Ron

    2000-01-01

    Purpose: To determine the efficacy of the use of copper-62, a positron emitter with a half-life of 9.7 minutes, as an intracoronary brachytherapy (IRBT) source in the prevention of neointima formation (NF) following overstretch balloon injury (BI) in the porcine model. Methods and Materials: Sixteen swine were treated after BI to their left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex (LCX), and/or right coronary artery (RCA). Twelve of the injured arteries received placebo and 10 received 25 Gy, delivered to 0.5 mm from the surface of the treatment balloon filled with liquid 62 Cu. Dosimetry was based on Monte Carlo calculations. Two weeks after treatment, the animals were sacrificed, and the treated coronaries were perfusion-fixed and stained. Intimal area (IA) and medial fracture length (FL) were analyzed by computer-aided histomorphometry. Results: The ( 62 Zn/ 62 Cu) generator, together with a rapid concentration process, was successful in delivering the short-lived 62 Cu at the high concentration required for intravascular brachytherapy (IVBT). The fracture length in the two groups was similar (2.10 ± 0.57; 2.02 ± 0.77; p = NS). Arteries studied showed significant reduction in NF (IA: 0.23 ± 0.47 mm 2 vs. 1.08 ± 0.57 mm 2 ; p 62 Cu as an IVBT source is safe and feasible. All 16 swine tolerated the treatment well with no radiation-induced side effects or symptoms throughout the 2-week period. The isotope delivered the dose necessary to inhibit NF in the porcine coronary BI model

  2. Ubiquitin-fusion as a strategy to modulate protein half-life: A3G antiviral activity revisited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cadima-Couto, Iris; Freitas-Vieira, Acilino; Nowarski, Roni; Britan-Rosich, Elena; Kotler, Moshe; Goncalves, Joao

    2009-01-01

    The human APOBEC3G (A3G) is a potent inhibitor of HIV-1 replication and its activity is suppressed by HIV-1 virion infectivity factor (Vif). Vif neutralizes A3G mainly by inducing its degradation in the proteasome and blocking its incorporation into HIV-1 virions. Assessing the time needed for A3G incorporation into virions is, therefore, important to determine how quickly Vif must act to induce its degradation. We show that modelling the intracellular half-life of A3G can induce its Vif-independent targeting to the ubiquitin-proteasome system. By using various amino acids (X) in a cleavable ubiquitin-X-A3G fusion, we demonstrate that the half-life (t1/2) of X-A3G can be manipulated. We show that A3G molecules with a half-life of 13 min are incorporated into virions, whereas those with a half-life shorter than 5 min were not. The amount of X-A3G incorporated into virions increases from 13 min (Phe-A3G) to 85 min (Asn-A3G) and remains constant after this time period. Interestingly, despite the presence of similar levels of Arg-A3G (t1/2 = 28 min) and Asp-A3G (t1/2 = 65 min) into HIV-1 Δvif virions, inhibition of viral infectivity was only evident in the presence of A3G proteins with a longer half-life (t1/2 ≥ 65 min).

  3. New systematics of cluster- and alpha-decay half lives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poenaru, D.N.; Greiner, W.

    1994-01-01

    Available as short communication only. The cluster (or 'exotic') radioactivities belong to a rich variety of nuclear decay modes which are phenomena intermediate between fission and alpha decay. In this contribution a single universal curve for the logarithm of the partial half-life for each kind of cluster radioactivity of even-even parent nuclei is presented. This handy relationship reproduces well the up to now 14 even-even half-life measurements within a ratio of 3.86 or rms=0.587 orders of magnitude. Its universality consists in the fact that instead of having different lines for various parent nuclei, like in the 'classical' systematics (Geiger-Nuttall plot) one can get practically only one line for each decay mode. (Author) 1 Fig., 2 Refs

  4. Application of genetic algorithms for determination biological half-life of 137 Cs in milk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pantelic, G.

    1998-01-01

    Genetic algorithm an optimization method involving natural selection mechanisms, was used to determine biological half-life of sup 1 sup 3 sup 7 Cs in the milk, after the Chernobyl accident, based on a two compartment linear system model. Genetic algorithms operate on populations of strings. Reproduction, crossover and mutation are applied to successive string population to create new string population. A model parameter estimation is performed by minimizing square differences between fitting function and experimental data. The calculated biological half-life of sup 1 sup 3 sup 7 Cs in milk is (32(+(-) days (author)

  5. High-precision half-life measurements of the T =1 /2 mirror β decays 17F and 33Cl

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grinyer, J.; Grinyer, G. F.; Babo, M.; Bouzomita, H.; Chauveau, P.; Delahaye, P.; Dubois, M.; Frigot, R.; Jardin, P.; Leboucher, C.; Maunoury, L.; Seiffert, C.; Thomas, J. C.; Traykov, E.

    2015-10-01

    Background: Measurements of the f t values for T =1 /2 mirror β+ decays offer a method to test the conserved vector current hypothesis and to determine Vud, the up-down matrix element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. In most mirror decays used for these tests, uncertainties in the f t values are dominated by the uncertainties in the half-lives. Purpose: Two precision half-life measurements were performed for the T =1 /2 β+ emitters, 17F and 33Cl, in order to eliminate the half-life as the leading source of uncertainty in their f t values. Method: Half-lives of 17F and 33Cl were determined using β counting of implanted radioactive ion beam samples on a moving tape transport system at the Système de Production d'Ions Radioactifs Accélérés en Ligne low-energy identification station at the Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds. Results: The 17F half-life result, 64.347 (35) s, precise to ±0.05 % , is a factor of 5 times more precise than the previous world average. The half-life of 33Cl was determined to be 2.5038 (22) s. The current precision of ±0.09 % is nearly 2 times more precise compared to the previous world average. Conclusions: The precision achieved during the present measurements implies that the half-life no longer dominates the uncertainty of the f t values for both T =1 /2 mirror decays 17F and 33Cl.

  6. $\\beta$-decay half-life of $^{70}$Kr a bridge nuclide for the rp-process beyond A = 70

    CERN Document Server

    Oinonen, M; Jokinen, A; Baumann, P; Didierjean, François; Huck, A; Knipper, A; Ramdhane, M; Walter, G; Van Duppen, P; Huyse, M; Marguier, G; Novikov, Yu N; Popov, A; Seliverstov, D M; Schatz, H

    2000-01-01

    The $\\beta$-decay half-life of $^{70}$Kr has been measured for the first time at the ISOLDE PSB Facility at CERN. Mass separated $^{70}$Kr ions were produced by 1 GeV proton induced spallation reactions in a Nb foil. The measured half-life is 57(21) ms. This value is consistent with the half-life calculated assuming a pure Fermi decay, but is clearly lower than the value used in a recent rp-process reaction flow calculation. The result shows that the reaction flow via two-proton-capture of $^{68}$Se is 2.5 times faster than previously calculated assuming an astrophysical temperature of 1.5 GK and a density of 10$^{6}$g/cm$^{3}$.

  7. Agmatine enhances antidepressant potency of MK-801 and conventional antidepressants in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neis, Vivian Binder; Moretti, Morgana; Manosso, Luana Meller; Lopes, Mark W; Leal, Rodrigo Bainy; Rodrigues, Ana Lúcia S

    2015-03-01

    Agmatine, an endogenous guanidine amine, has been shown to produce antidepressant-like effects in animal studies. This study investigated the effects of the combined administration of agmatine with either conventional monoaminergic antidepressants or the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK-801 in the tail suspension test (TST) in mice. The aim was to evaluate the extent of the antidepressant synergism by examining the ability of a fixed dose of agmatine to shift the antidepressant potency of fluoxetine, imipramine, bupropion and MK-801. A sub-effective dose of agmatine (0.0001 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly increased the potency by which fluoxetine, imipramine, bupropion and MK-801 decreased immobility time in the TST by 2-fold (fluoxetine), 10-fold (imipramine and bupropion) and 100-fold (MK-801). Combined with previous evidence indicating a role of monoaminergic systems in the effect of agmatine, the current data suggest that agmatine may modulate monoaminergic neurotransmission and augment the activity of conventional antidepressants. Moreover, this study found that agmatine substantially augmented the antidepressant-like effect of MK-801, reinforcing the notion that this compound modulates NMDA receptor activation. These preclinical data may stimulate future clinical studies testing the effects of augmentation therapy with agmatine for the management of depressive disorders. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Calculation of chemical elimination half-life from blood with an ongoing exposure source: the example of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Mark H; Waterland, Robert L; Wong, Fiona

    2015-06-01

    Determination of the chemical clearance rate from human blood is a critical component of toxicokinetic exposure assessment. Analysis of temporal biomonitoring data without consideration of ongoing exposure results in calculation of apparent elimination half-life values that are longer than the intrinsic value. The intrinsic elimination half-life is solely a function of the rate of elimination while the apparent elimination half-life reflects the processes of both elimination and ongoing exposure. Confusion between intrinsic and apparent half-life values can lead to misinterpretation of biomonitoring data and can result in exaggerated predictions in subsequent modeling efforts. This work provides a review of the first-order equations that have been developed to calculate intrinsic and apparent half-life values and the potential bias that can result from confusing these two values. Published human biomonitoring data for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are analyzed using these equations to provide examples of low, medium and high bias in determination of the intrinsic elimination half-life from plasma or serum, the components of blood typically analyzed for PFOA. An approach is also provided to estimate the extent of exposure reduction that is indicated by declining longitudinal or cross-sectional biomonitoring data. Based on the evaluation methodology presented in this work, the intrinsic elimination half-life of PFOA in humans is 2.4years, representing the average of independent estimates of 2.5years (95% CI, 2.4-2.7) and 2.3years (95% CI, 2.1-2.4). The declining concentration of PFOA in blood of the general USA adult population represents an estimated exposure reduction of 20-30% over the period 1999-2008. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Drug–drug interactions involving antidepressants: focus on desvenlafaxine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Low Y

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Yvette Low,1 Sajita Setia,2 Graca Lima3 1Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore; 2Medical Affairs, Pfizer Pte. Ltd., Singapore; 3Global Medical Affairs, Asia-Pacific Region, Pfizer, Hong Kong Abstract: Psychiatric and physical conditions often coexist, and there is robust evidence that associates the frequency of depression with single and multiple physical conditions. More than half of patients with depression may have at least one chronic physical condition. Therefore, antidepressants are often used in cotherapy with other medications for the management of both psychiatric and chronic physical illnesses. The risk of drug–drug interactions (DDIs is augmented by complex polypharmacy regimens and extended periods of treatment required, of which possible outcomes range from tolerability issues to lack of efficacy and serious adverse events. Optimal patient outcomes may be achieved through drug selection with minimal potential for DDIs. Desvenlafaxine is a serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor approved for the treatment of adults with major depressive disorder. Pharmacokinetic studies of desvenlafaxine have shown a simple metabolic profile unique among antidepressants. This review examines the DDI profiles of antidepressants, particularly desvenlafaxine, in relation to drugs of different therapeutic areas. The summary and comparison of information available is meant to help clinicians in making informed decisions when using desvenlafaxine in patients with depression and comorbid chronic conditions. Keywords: desvenlafaxine, polypharmacy, comorbidities, depression, pharmacokinetics

  10. Dual Constant Domain-Fab: A novel strategy to improve half-life and potency of a Met therapeutic antibody.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cignetto, Simona; Modica, Chiara; Chiriaco, Cristina; Fontani, Lara; Milla, Paola; Michieli, Paolo; Comoglio, Paolo M; Vigna, Elisa

    2016-06-01

    The kinase receptor encoded by the Met oncogene is a sensible target for cancer therapy. The chimeric monovalent Fab fragment of the DN30 monoclonal antibody (MvDN30) has an odd mechanism of action, based on cell surface removal of Met via activation of specific plasma membrane proteases. However, the short half-life of the Fab, due to its low molecular weight, is a severe limitation for the deployment in therapy. This issue was addressed by increasing the Fab molecular weight above the glomerular filtration threshold through the duplication of the constant domains, in tandem (DCD-1) or reciprocally swapped (DCD-2). The two newly engineered molecules showed biochemical properties comparable to the original MvDN30 in vitro, acting as full Met antagonists, impairing Met phosphorylation and activation of downstream signaling pathways. As a consequence, Met-mediated biological responses were inhibited, including anchorage-dependent and -independent cell growth. In vivo DCD-1 and DCD-2 showed a pharmacokinetic profile significantly improved over the original MvDN30, doubling the circulating half-life and reducing the clearance. In pre-clinical models of cancer, generated by injection of tumor cells or implant of patient-derived samples, systemic administration of the engineered molecules inhibited the growth of Met-addicted tumors. Copyright © 2016 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. An improved method for determination of technetium-99m half-life for the quality assurance procedures of radiopharmaceuticals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abd Jalil Abd Hamid; Juhari Mohd Yusof; Zakaria Ibrahim; Wan Mohd Ferdaus Wan Ishak; Mohamad Hafiz Ahmad

    2009-01-01

    An improve method for identity tests of technetium-99m for the quality assurance procedures are presented. Computerized methods based on the least-squares of decay curve fitting for half-life estimation of technetium-99m was tested. Thus, least-squares method was employ as a decay curve fitting procedures in our software. Theoretical calculated half-life of technetium-99m for evaluation was performed for comparison. In Fig. 3 is shown, the decay curve fitting of a sample over one second counting time interval. The R2 value of the curve suggests that the time of the study was too short to obtain acceptable value. A similar measurement for another data set was done for a longer period of time and in Table 1 is shown a representative decay curve fitting. The value was found to be 6.006 hours with a discrepancy of -0.28% from the value taken from the literature. The value is in agreement with the literature for time interval greater than 2 seconds. The results obtained by this method show that the used of least-squares method for decay curve fitting are appropriate for routine identity tests. This confirmed that the least-squares method applied in our decay curve fitting software are remarkably improved and convenient for routine identity tests purposes. (Author)

  12. [Influence of interleukin-1 beta gene polymorphism and childhood maltreatment on antidepressant treatment].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ying; Zhang, Zhijun; Xu, Zhi; Pu, Mengjia; Geng, Leiyu

    2015-12-01

    To explore the influence of interleukin-1 beta (IL1B) gene polymorphism and childhood maltreatment on antidepressant treatment. Two hundred and four patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have received treatment with single antidepressant drugs and were followed up for 8 weeks. Hamilton depression scale-17 (HAMD-17) was used to evaluate the severity of depressive symptoms and therapeutic effect. Childhood maltreatment was assessed using Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, a 28-item Short Form (CTQ-SF). Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the IL1B gene was determined using a SNaPshot method. Correlation of rs16944 gene polymorphism with response to treatment was analyzed using Unphased 3.0.13 software. The main and interactive effects of SNP and childhood maltreatment on the antidepressant treatment were analyzed using Logistic regression analysis. No significant difference of gender, age, year of education, family history, episode time, and antidepressant agents was detected between the remitters and non-remitters. Association analysis has found that the SNP rs16944 in the IL1B AA genotype carriers antidepressant response was poorer (χ2=3.931, P=0.047). No significant difference was detected in the CTQ scores between the two groups. Genetic and environmental interaction analysis has demonstrated a significant correlation between rs16944 AA genotype and childhood maltreatment and poorer response to antidepressant treatment. The SNP rs16944 in the IL1B gene and its interaction with childhood maltreatment may influence the effect of antidepressant treatment for patients with MDD.

  13. High-Precision Half-life Measurements for the Superallowed β+ Emitter 14O

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laffoley, A. T.; Svensson, C. E.; Andreoiu, C.; Austin, R. A. E.; Ball, G. C.; Blank, B.; Bouzomita, H.; Cross, D. S.; Diaz Varela, A.; Dunlop, R.; Finlay, P.; Garnsworthy, A. B.; Garrett, P. E.; Giovinazzo, J.; Grinyer, G. F.; Hackman, G.; Hadinia, B.; Jamieson, D. S.; Ketelhut, S.; Leach, K. G.; Leslie, J. R.; Tardiff, E. R.; Thomas, J. C.; Unsworth, C.

    2014-03-01

    The half-life of 14O, a superallowed Fermi β+ emitter, has been determined via simultaneous γ and β counting experiments at TRIUMF's Isotope Separator and Accelerator facility. Following the implantation of 14O samples at the center of the 8π spectrometer, a γ counting measurement was performed by detecting the 2313 keV γ-rays emitted from the first excited state of the daughter 14N using 20 high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors. A simultaneous β counting experiment was performed using a fast plastic scintillator positioned directly behind the implantation site. The results, T½(γ) = 70:632 ± 0:094 s and T½(β) = 70:610 ± 0:030 s, are consistent with one another and, together with eight previous measurements, establish a new average for the 14O half-life of T½ = 70:619 ± 0:011 s with a reduced χ2 of 0.99.

  14. A New Method to Determine the Half-Life for Penicillin Using Microcalorimeter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Z. X.; Zhao, W. W.

    2015-01-01

    The dissolution process of penicillin in normal saline and isotonic glucose solution was reported using a microcalorimeter. Both the integral and differential heats of solution were measured. The quantitative relationships between the amount of heat released and the quantity of dissolved penicillin were established. Meanwhile, the kinetics and the half-life of the dissolution processes as well as the enthalpy of solution, the entropy of dissolution, and the free energy of dissolution were determined. The results showed that a change of the solvent from normal saline to isotonic glucose solution had little effect on the half-life of penicillin in the dissolution process, and there was no significant difference between the stabilities of penicillin in isotonic glucose solution and normal saline. Moreover, the dissolution process of penicillin in isotonic glucose solution followed the first-order kinetics. These results could provide a theoretical basis for the clinical applications of penicillin.

  15. Determination of {sup 126}Sn half-life from ICP-MS and gamma spectrometry measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bienvenu, P.; Arnal, N.; Comte, J. [CEA Cadarache DEN/DEC/SA3C/LARC, Paul Lez Durance (France); Ferreux, L.; Lepy, M.C.; Be, M.M. [CEA Saclay LIST LNE/LNHB, Gif sur Yvette (France); Andreoletti, G. [AREVA Cogema SL/UP2-800, Beaumont Hague (France)

    2009-07-01

    A new value of {sup 126}Sn half-life was determined by combination of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and gamma spectrometry measurements on purified sample solutions collected from nuclear fuel reprocessing. {sup 126}Sn was isolated through dissolution of fission product precipitates and liquid-liquid extraction with N-benzoyl-N-phenyl-hydroxylamine (BPHA). The abundance of {sup 126}Sn atoms together with the absence of interfering species in the analysed solutions made it possible to measure both mass concentration and nuclide activity with high precision and accuracy. This led to a {sup 126}Sn half-life value of 1.980 (57) x 10{sup 5} a. (orig.)

  16. Modulation of neuroplasticity pathways and antidepressant-like behavioural responses following the short-term (3 and 7 days) administration of the 5-HT₄ receptor agonist RS67333.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pascual-Brazo, Jesús; Castro, Elena; Díaz, Alvaro; Valdizán, Elsa M; Pilar-Cuéllar, Fuencisla; Vidal, Rebeca; Treceño, Begoña; Pazos, Angel

    2012-06-01

    It has been recently suggested that activation of 5-HT₄ receptors might exert antidepressant-like effects in rats after 3 d treatment, suggesting a new strategy for developing faster-acting antidepressants. We studied the effects of 3 d and 7 d treatment with the 5-HT₄ receptor partial agonist RS67333 (1.5 mg/kg.d) in behavioural tests of chronic efficacy and on neuroplastic-associated changes, such as adult hippocampal neurogenesis, expression of CREB, BDNF, β-catenin, AKT and 5-HT₄ receptor functionality. RS67333 treatment up-regulated hippocampal cell proliferation, β-catenin expression and pCREB/CREB ratio after 3 d treatment. This short-term treatment also reduced immobility time in the forced swim test (FST), together with a partial reversion of the anhedonic-like state (sucrose consumption after chronic corticosterone). Administration of RS67333 for 7 d resulted in a higher increase in the rate of hippocampal cell proliferation, a significant desensitization of 5-HT₄ receptor-coupled adenylate cyclase activity and a more marked increase in the expression of neuroplasticity-related proteins (BDNF, CREB, AKT): these changes reached the same magnitude as those observed after 3 wk administration of classical antidepressants. Consistently, a positive behavioural response in the novelty suppressed feeding (NSF) test and a complete reversion of the anhedonic-like state (sucrose consumption) were also observed after 7 d treatment. These results support the antidepressant-like profile of RS67333 with a shorter onset of action and suggest that this time period of administration (3-7 d) could be a good approximation to experimentally predict the onset of action of this promising strategy.

  17. Evaluation of Overactive Bladder in Male Antidepressant Users: A Prospective Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volkan Solmaz

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Purpose In this study, we investigated overactive bladder (OAB functions in male patients who used antidepressant drugs (ADs that were previously examined in female patients, based on conflicting data in literature regarding the effects of AD on OAB and the differences between male and female urinary system physiologies (anatomical and hormonal. Methods The study included 202 male patients (a control group of 90 healthy subjects, and an experimental group of 112 patients taking ADs for different disorders. All the patients completed the overactive bladder-validated 8 (OAB-V8 questionnaire, the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDS. Results The OAB-V8, ICIQ-SF, and BDS scores for the antidepressant users were significantly higher than those of the control group. The highest prevalence of OAB symptoms was observed in patients taking venlafaxine (68.2%, and the lowest prevalence was in patients taking sertraline (28.0%. Moreover, the frequency of OAB between the antidepressant groups was statistically significant. The univariate logistic regression analyses showed a significant relationship between the presence of OAB, antidepressant usage, BDS score, and the age of a patient. In the multivariate logistic regression analyses, the association between the presence of OAB and antidepressant usage was statistically significant. Conclusions The present study showed that the incidence of OAB and the severity of OAB symptoms increased in males using antidepressants for various disorders. This may have been due to unique pharmacological effects, on a molecular or individual level, of serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors.

  18. Increased Functional Half-life of Fibroblast Growth Factor-1 by Recovering a Vestigial Disulfide Bond

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jihun Lee

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The fibroblast growth factor (FGF family of proteins contains an absolutely conserved Cys residue at position 83 that is present as a buried free cysteine. We have previously shown that mutation of the structurally adjacent residue, Ala66, to cysteine results in the formation of a stabilizing disulfide bond in FGF-1. This result suggests that the conserved free cysteine residue at position 83 in the FGF family of proteins represents a vestigial half-cystine. Here, we characterize the functional half-life and mitogenic activity of the oxidized form of the Ala66Cys mutation to identify the effect of the recovered vestigial disulfide bond between Cys83 and Cys66 upon the cellular function of FGF-1. The results show that the mitogenic activity of this mutant is significantly increased and that its functional half-life is greatly extended. These favorable effects are conferred by the formation of a disulfide bond that simultaneously increases thermodynamic stability of the protein and removes a reactive buried thiol at position 83. Recovering this vestigial disulfide by introducing a cysteine at position 66 is a potentially useful protein engineering strategy to improve the functional half-life of other FGF family members.

  19. Measurements of Actual Effective Half - Life in 131I Therapy for Graves' Hyperthyroidism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    So, Yong Seon; Kim, Myung Seon; Kwon, Ki Hyun; Kim, Seok Whan; Kim, Tae Hyung; Han, Sang Woong; Kim, Eun Sil; Kim, Chong Soon

    1996-01-01

    Radioiodine[131I] has been used for the treatment of Graves' hyperthyroidism since the late 1940's and is now generally regarded as the treatment of choice for Graves' hyperthyroidism who does not remit following a course of antithyroid drugs. But for the dose given, several different protocols have been described by different centers, each attempting to reduce the incidence of long-term hypothyroidism while maintaining an acceptable rate control of Graves' hyperthyroidism. Our goals were to evaluate effective half-life and predict absorbed dose in Graves' hyperthyroidism patients, therefore, to calculate and read minister radioiodine activity needed to achieve aimed radiation dose. Our data showed that the mean effective 131I half-life for Graves' disease is 5.3 days(S.D=0.88) and mean biologic half-life is 21 days, range 9.5-67.2 days. The mean administered activity and the mean values of absorbed doses wet: 532 MBq(S.D.=254), 112 Gy (S.D.=50.9), respectively. The mean activity needed to achieve aimed radiation dose were 51 MBq and marked differences of 131I thyroidal uptake between tracer and therapy occurred in our study. We are sure that the dose calculation method that uses 5 days thyroidal 131I uptake measurements after tracer and therapy dose, provides sufficient data about the effective treatment in Graves' hyperthyroidism.

  20. Fission rates measured using high-energy gamma-rays from short half-life fission products in fresh and spent nuclear fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kroehnert, H.

    2011-02-15

    In recent years, higher discharge burn-ups and initial fuel enrichments have led to more and more heterogeneous core configurations in light water reactors (LWRs), especially at the beginning of cycle when fresh fuel assemblies are loaded next to highly burnt ones. As this trend is expected to continue in the future, the Paul Scherrer Institute has, in collaboration with the Swiss Association of Nuclear Utilities, swissnuclear, launched the experimental programme LIFE(at)PROTEUS. The LIFE(at)PROTEUS programme aims to better characterise interfaces between burnt and fresh UO{sub 2} fuel assemblies in modern LWRs. Thereby, a novel experimental database is to be made available for enabling the validation of neutronics calculations of strongly heterogeneous LWR core configurations. During the programme, mixed fresh and highly burnt UO{sub 2} fuel lattices will be investigated in the zero-power research reactor PROTEUS. One of the main types of investigations will be to irradiate the fuel in PROTEUS and measure the resulting fission rate distributions across the interface between fresh and burnt fuel zones. The measurement of fission rates in burnt fuel re-irradiated in a zero-power reactor requires, however, the development of new experimental techniques which are able to discriminate against the high intrinsic activity of the fuel. The principal goal of the present research work has been to develop such a new measurement technique. The selected approach is based on the detection of high-energy gamma-ray lines above the intrinsic background (i.e. above 2200 keV), which are emitted by short-lived fission products freshly created in the fuel. The fission products {sup 88}Kr, {sup 142}La, {sup 138}Cs, {sup 84}Br, {sup 89}Rb, {sup 95}Y, {sup 90m}Rb and {sup 90}Rb, with half-lives between 2.6 min and 2.8 h, have been identified as potential candidates. During the present research work, the gamma-ray activity of short-lived fission products has, for the first time, been

  1. Half Life - The divided life of Bruno Maximovitch Pontecorvo

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2016-01-01

    When Bruno Pontecorvo fled to the USSR at the height of the Cold War in 1950, half way through his life, the British Government, MI5 and FBI tried to portray him as scientifically insignificant, and to imply that his disappearance posed no threat to the West. In reality Pontecorvo was already one of the leading experts in nuclear physics, and recently declassified papers reveal that a prime agenda of FBI and MI5 was to cover up their errors. . During his time in the USSR he made major contributions to physics, and justified the sobriquet: "Mr Neutrino". This talk will reveal the background to his sudden flight, and also evaluate his work in theoretical physics in the aftermath of his arrival in Dubna. Previously secret documents now show that he proposed the concept of associated production before Gell Mann and Pais, and he had an idea to discover the neutrino at a reactor. He may be considered the father of neutrino astronomy with his successful prediction that neutrinos from a supernova could be detected, b...

  2. Importance of neonatal FcR in regulating the serum half-life of therapeutic proteins containing the Fc domain of human IgG1: a comparative study of the affinity of monoclonal antibodies and Fc-fusion proteins to human neonatal FcR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Takuo; Ishii-Watabe, Akiko; Tada, Minoru; Kobayashi, Tetsu; Kanayasu-Toyoda, Toshie; Kawanishi, Toru; Yamaguchi, Teruhide

    2010-02-15

    The neonatal FcR (FcRn) binds to the Fc domain of IgG at acidic pH in the endosome and protects IgG from degradation, thereby contributing to the long serum half-life of IgG. To date, more than 20 mAb products and 5 Fc-fusion protein products have received marketing authorization approval in the United States, the European Union, or Japan. Many of these therapeutic proteins have the Fc domain of human IgG1; however, the serum half-lives differ in each protein. To elucidate the role of FcRn in the pharmacokinetics of Fc domain-containing therapeutic proteins, we evaluated the affinity of the clinically used human, humanized, chimeric, or mouse mAbs and Fc-fusion proteins to recombinant human FcRn by surface plasmon resonance analysis. The affinities of these therapeutic proteins to FcRn were found to be closely correlated with the serum half-lives reported from clinical studies, suggesting the important role of FcRn in regulating their serum half-lives. The relatively short serum half-life of Fc-fusion proteins was thought to arise from the low affinity to FcRn. The existence of some mAbs having high affinity to FcRn and a short serum half-life, however, suggested the involvement of other critical factor(s) in determining the serum half-life of such Abs. We further investigated the reason for the relatively low affinity of Fc-fusion proteins to FcRn and suggested the possibility that the receptor domain of Fc-fusion protein influences the structural environment of the FcRn binding region but not of the FcgammaRI binding region of the Fc domain.

  3. High-precision half-life and branching-ratio measurements for superallowed Fermi β+ emitters at TRIUMF - ISAC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laffoley, A. T.; Dunlop, R.; Finlay, P.; Grinyer, G. F.; Andreoiu, C.; Austin, R. A. E.; Ball, G. C.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Blank, B.; Bouzomita, H.; Chagnon-Lessard, S.; Chester, A.; Cross, D. S.; Demand, G.; Diaz Varela, A.; Djongolov, M.; Ettenauer, S.; Garnsworthy, A. B.; Garrett, P. E.; Giovinazzo, J.; Glister, J.; Green, K. L.; Hackman, G.; Hadinia, B.; Jamieson, D. S.; Ketelhut, S.; Leach, K. G.; Leslie, J. R.; Pearson, C. J.; Phillips, A. A.; Rand, E. T.; Starosta, K.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Svensson, C. E.; Tardiff, E. R.; Thomas, J. C.; Towner, I. S.; Triambak, S.; Unsworth, C.; Williams, S. J.; Wong, J.; Yates, S. W.; Zganjar, E. F.

    2014-03-01

    A program of high-precision half-life and branching-ratio measurements for superallowed Fermi β emitters is being carried out at TRIUMF's Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC) radioactive ion beam facility. Recent half-life measurements for the superallowed decays of 14O, 18Ne, and 26Alm, as well as branching-ratio measurements for 26Alm and 74Rb are reported. These results provide demanding tests of the Standard Model and the theoretical isospin symmetry breaking (ISB) corrections in superallowed Fermi β decays.

  4. Determination of half life of tellurium isotopes: a proposal for the teaching of nuclear physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruivo, Julio C.; Zamboni, Cibele B.; Batista, Wagner F.

    2013-01-01

    This work aimed at the development of courseware for teaching nuclear physics, using experimental data of half-life measurement (T1/2) of Tellurium isotopes (A=127 and 131). The choice of Tellurium was established for providing nuclear data, which are fundamental in related investigations of nuclear structure and its use in various areas such as geochemistry, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, astrophysics etc. For evaluation of the proposal performance, the material was made available, bringing a lot of information about nuclear safety, production and storage of radioactive material and concepts of radioactive decay, subatomic particles, emission of gamma radiation, half-life, etc.

  5. Determination of half life of tellurium isotopes: a proposal for the teaching of nuclear physics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ruivo, Julio C.; Zamboni, Cibele B.; Batista, Wagner F., E-mail: julio.ruivo.costa@usp.br, E-mail: czamboni@ipen.br, E-mail: fisicawagner@gmail.com [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

    2013-07-01

    This work aimed at the development of courseware for teaching nuclear physics, using experimental data of half-life measurement (T1/2) of Tellurium isotopes (A=127 and 131). The choice of Tellurium was established for providing nuclear data, which are fundamental in related investigations of nuclear structure and its use in various areas such as geochemistry, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, astrophysics etc. For evaluation of the proposal performance, the material was made available, bringing a lot of information about nuclear safety, production and storage of radioactive material and concepts of radioactive decay, subatomic particles, emission of gamma radiation, half-life, etc.

  6. Study of the half-life of 123I and the determination of possible radionuclidic impurities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delgado, Jose Ubiratan; Araujo, Miriam Taina Ferreira de; Silva, Carlos Jose da; Araujo, Camila Cristina Cunha; Candido, Marcos Antonio; Pereira, Wagner do Prado

    2013-01-01

    During the process of production of the radiopharmaceutical nuclear reactor or cyclotron, impurities can be generated from biological, chemical and radionuclidic. The development of the present work was to study the half-life of Na 123 I sample produced in IEN (Institute of Nuclear Engineering) using the technique of gamma-ray spectrometry with germanium detector in order to Identify such impurities. The results Indicate values of half-life consistent with recent publications with a deviation of 0,08% and 0:11% of uncertainty as well as the identification of impurities to radionuclides 95m Tc, 96 Tc and 121 Te. (author)

  7. The HP 9825 A program for the determination of an isotope half-life

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jujuratisbela, Uju.

    1980-01-01

    Determination of half life of gold 198, indium 116, manganese 56, copper 64 are presented, using least squares method in HP 9825 A. This method is more accurate and needs less time than graphic method. (author tr.)

  8. On-line nuclear half life and spectroscopic measurements on mass-separated fission product nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDonald, J.; Fogelberg, B.; Baecklin, A.

    1979-01-01

    A description is given of the methods and equipment employed for nuclear spectroscopy studies of short lived fission product nuclei at the OSIRIS ISOL facility in Studsvik, Sweden. Furthermore a table of new nuclear half-lives measured with this equipment is presented. (author)

  9. Persistence and dissipation pathways of the antidepressant sertraline in agricultural soils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Hongxia; Sumarah, Mark W.; Topp, Edward

    2013-01-01

    Sertraline is a widely-used antidepressant that is one of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. It has been detected in biosolids and effluents from sewage treatment plants. Since sertraline can reach agriculture land through the application of municipal biosolids or reclaimed water, the persistence and dissipation pathways of 3 H-sertraline were determined in laboratory incubations using three agriculture soils varying in textures and properties. The total solvent extractable radioactivity decreased in all three soils with times to dissipate 50% of material (DT 50 ) ranging from 48.1 ± 3.5 (loam soil) to 84.5 ± 13.8 (clay soil) days. Two hydroxylated sertraline transformation products were identified in all three soils by high performance liquid chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC–TOF-MS), but the accumulation did not exceed 10% of the initial parent concentration. The addition of liquid municipal biosolids to the loam soil had no effect on the rate of sertraline dissipation, or production of transformation products. In summary, sertraline was persistent in agricultural soils with major dissipation pathways including the production of non-extractable soil-bound residues, and accumulation of hydroxylated transformation products. The biologically active sertraline transformation product norsertraline was not detected in soil. - Highlights: • The antidepressant drug sertraline is carried in biosolids used as fertilizers. • The persistence of this drug in agricultural soils was determined using radioisotope methods. • The half-life ranged from about 50 to 85 days. • Hydroxylated transformation products accumulated to less than 10% of the concentration of the added parent

  10. Persistence and dissipation pathways of the antidepressant sertraline in agricultural soils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Hongxia; Sumarah, Mark W.; Topp, Edward, E-mail: ed.topp@agr.gc.ca

    2013-05-01

    Sertraline is a widely-used antidepressant that is one of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. It has been detected in biosolids and effluents from sewage treatment plants. Since sertraline can reach agriculture land through the application of municipal biosolids or reclaimed water, the persistence and dissipation pathways of {sup 3}H-sertraline were determined in laboratory incubations using three agriculture soils varying in textures and properties. The total solvent extractable radioactivity decreased in all three soils with times to dissipate 50% of material (DT{sub 50}) ranging from 48.1 ± 3.5 (loam soil) to 84.5 ± 13.8 (clay soil) days. Two hydroxylated sertraline transformation products were identified in all three soils by high performance liquid chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC–TOF-MS), but the accumulation did not exceed 10% of the initial parent concentration. The addition of liquid municipal biosolids to the loam soil had no effect on the rate of sertraline dissipation, or production of transformation products. In summary, sertraline was persistent in agricultural soils with major dissipation pathways including the production of non-extractable soil-bound residues, and accumulation of hydroxylated transformation products. The biologically active sertraline transformation product norsertraline was not detected in soil. - Highlights: • The antidepressant drug sertraline is carried in biosolids used as fertilizers. • The persistence of this drug in agricultural soils was determined using radioisotope methods. • The half-life ranged from about 50 to 85 days. • Hydroxylated transformation products accumulated to less than 10% of the concentration of the added parent.

  11. Work Dissatisfaction and Sleep Problems among Canadians in the Latter Half of Life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Kyla; Bierman, Alex

    2017-09-01

    This study examined the relationship between work dissatisfaction and sleep problems among Canadian adults in the latter half of life, as well as how gender and social contact moderate this relationship. Data were obtained from the Canadian General Social Survey, Cycle 21 (2007), which sampled adults aged 45 and older in 2007. Analyses focused on individuals with employment as their main activity. Analyses show that work dissatisfaction positively predicts trouble sleeping. There are no significant gender differences in this relationship. Social contact with friends buffers this relationship, but social contact with family does not, and buffering does not vary significantly between men and women. This research contributes to knowledge on sleep problems by showing that work dissatisfaction is adversely associated with sleep problems among Canadians in the latter half of life, but social contact with friends can weaken this deleterious relationship.

  12. New evaluation of alpha decay half-life of 190Pt isotope for the Pt-Os dating system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tavares, O.A.P.; Medeiros, E.L.; Terranova, M.L.

    2005-08-01

    A semiempirical model based on the quantum mechanical tunnelling mechanism of alpha emission from nuclei has been used to evaluate the half-life of the Pt isotopes. For the important naturally occurring 190 Pt isotope, the radiogenic parent in the 190 Pt → 186 Os dating system, the model yielded a half-life value of (3.7± 0.3) versus 10 11 y. This is comparable to (3.2±0.1) versus 10 11 y which was obtained in the last direct counting experiment to measure the alpha activity of 190 Pt (Tavares and Terranova, Rad. Measurem. 27 (1997) 19). A literature survey of available alpha decay half-life values for 190 Pt isotope is also reported. The significant discrepancies found between data obtained by direct counting, indirect geological methods and different calculation models are analysed and discussed. (author)

  13. High-precision half-life measurements of the T=1/2 mirror beta decays F-17 and Cl-33

    OpenAIRE

    Grinyer, J; Grinyer, G. F; Babo, Mathieu; Bouzomita, H; Chauveau, P; Delahaye, P; Dubois, M; Frigot, R; Jardin, P; Leboucher, C; Maunoury, L; Seiffert, C; Thomas, J. C; Traykov, E

    2015-01-01

    Background: Measurements of the ft values for T=1/2 mirror β+ decays offer a method to test the conserved vector current hypothesis and to determine Vud, the up-down matrix element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. In most mirror decays used for these tests, uncertainties in the ft values are dominated by the uncertainties in the half-lives. Purpose: Two precision half-life measurements were performed for the T=1/2β+ emitters, 17F and 33Cl, in order to eliminate the half-life as th...

  14. High-precision half-life measurements of the T=1/2 mirror β decays F17 and Cl33

    OpenAIRE

    Grinyer, J; Grinyer, G F; Babo, M; Bouzomita, H; Chauveau, P; Delahaye, P; Dubois, M; Frigot, R; Jardin, P; Leboucher, C; Maunoury, L; Seiffert, C; Thomas, J C; Traykov, E

    2015-01-01

    Background: Measurements of the ft values for T=1/2 mirror β+ decays offer a method to test the conserved vector current hypothesis and to determine Vud, the up-down matrix element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. In most mirror decays used for these tests, uncertainties in the ft values are dominated by the uncertainties in the half-lives. Purpose: Two precision half-life measurements were performed for the T=1/2β+ emitters, F17 and Cl33, in order to eliminate the half-life as the le...

  15. A novel exendin-4 human serum albumin fusion protein, E2HSA, with an extended half-life and good glucoregulatory effect in healthy rhesus monkeys

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Ling; Wang, Lin; Meng, Zhiyun; Gan, Hui; Gu, Ruolan; Wu, Zhuona; Gao, Lei; Zhu, Xiaoxia; Sun, Wenzhong; Li, Jian; Zheng, Ying; Dou, Guifang, E-mail: douguifang@vip.163.com

    2014-03-07

    Highlights: • E2HSA has an extended half-life and good plasma stability. • E2HSA could improve glucose-dependent insulin secretion. • E2HSA has excellent glucoregulatory effects in vivo. • E2HSA could potentially be used as a new long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist for type 2 diabetes management. - Abstract: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) has attracted considerable research interest in terms of the treatment of type 2 diabetes due to their multiple glucoregulatory functions. However, the short half-life, rapid inactivation by dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) and excretion, limits the therapeutic potential of the native incretin hormone. Therefore, efforts are being made to develop the long-acting incretin mimetics via modifying its structure. Here we report a novel recombinant exendin-4 human serum albumin fusion protein E2HSA with HSA molecule extends their circulatory half-life in vivo while still retaining exendin-4 biological activity and therapeutic properties. In vitro comparisons of E2HSA and exendin-4 showed similar insulinotropic activity on rat pancreatic islets and GLP-1R-dependent biological activity on RIN-m5F cells, although E2HSA was less potent than exendin-4. E2HSA had a terminal elimation half-life of approximate 54 h in healthy rhesus monkeys. Furthermore, E2HSA could reduce postprandial glucose excursion and control fasting glucose level, dose-dependent suppress food intake. Improvement in glucose-dependent insulin secretion and control serum glucose excursions were observed during hyperglycemic clamp test (18 h) and oral glucose tolerance test (42 h) respectively. Thus the improved physiological characterization of E2HSA make it a new potent anti-diabetic drug for type 2 diabetes therapy.

  16. Prescription of antidepressants is increased in Danish patients with polycystic ovary syndrome and is associated with hyperandrogenism. A population-based cohort study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Altinok, M L; Glintborg, D; Christensen, René dePont

    2014-01-01

    Quality of life is impaired in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In this study, we compared the time to first prescription of antidepressants (ADM) in PCOS vs two control groups.......Quality of life is impaired in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In this study, we compared the time to first prescription of antidepressants (ADM) in PCOS vs two control groups....

  17. Gemfibrozil has antidepressant effects in mice: Involvement of the hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Yu-Fei; Wang, Hao; Gu, Qiu-Yan; Wang, Fei-Ying; Wang, Ying-Jie; Wang, Jin-Liang; Jiang, Bo

    2018-04-01

    Major depressive disorder has become one of the most serious neuropsychiatric disorders worldwide. However, currently available antidepressants used in clinical practice are ineffective for a substantial proportion of patients and always have side effects. Besides being a lipid-regulating agent, gemfibrozil is an agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α). We investigated the antidepressant effects of gemfibrozil on C57BL/6J mice using the forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST), as well as the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model of depression. The changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling cascade in the brain after CUMS and gemfibrozil treatment were further assessed. Pharmacological inhibitors and lentivirus-expressed short hairpin RNA (shRNA) were also used to clarify the antidepressant mechanisms of gemfibrozil. Gemfibrozil exhibited significant antidepressant actions in the FST and TST without affecting the locomotor activity of mice. Chronic gemfibrozil administration fully reversed CUMS-induced depressive-like behaviors in the FST, TST and sucrose preference test. Gemfibrozil treatment also restored CUMS-induced inhibition of the hippocampal BDNF signaling pathway. Blocking PPAR-α and BDNF but not the serotonergic system abolished the antidepressant effects of gemfibrozil on mice. Gemfibrozil produced antidepressant effects in mice by promoting the hippocampal BDNF system.

  18. Effect of parent and daughter deformation on half-life time in exotic ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Shi and Swiatecki [6] put forward a model for exotic decay studies that uses Coulomb and proximity potential as interacting barrier for post-scission region and uses simple power law for overlap region. These authors [7] studied the effect of deformation of parent, daughter and shell attenuation on half-life time treating ...

  19. Differential behavioral effects of the antidepressants reboxetine, fluoxetine, and moclobemide in a modified forced swim test following chronic treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cryan, John F; Page, Michelle E; Lucki, Irwin

    2005-11-01

    The forced swim test (FST) is the most widely used model for assessing potential antidepressant activity in rodents following acute or short-term treatment. However, few studies have compared the effects of short- and long-term antidepressant treatment on behaviors in the test, despite the need to treat patients chronically to produce clinical effects. The current studies examined whether antidepressants from different classes produce different behavioral effects following short-term treatment and whether such effects change following administration for a longer duration. The effects of administering short-term (3 days) and long-term (14 days) treatments of antidepressants from three different chemical classes with distinct mechanisms of action via osmotic minipump were examined: the selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor reboxetine (10 and 60 mg kg(-1) day(-1)), the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine (2.5 and 15 mg kg(-1) day(-1)), and the reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase moclobemide (2.5 and 15 mg kg(-1) day(-1)). All testing was carried out in a 15-min test with no preswim session in order to negate any confounding aspect of an induction procedure. The majority of antidepressant-sensitive behavioral changes were observed in the first 5 min of the test. The low dose of reboxetine failed to alter behavior in the test after 3 days but significantly decreased immobility and increased climbing behavior following administration for 14 days, whereas the high dose of reboxetine was equally effective following 3 and 14 days of treatment. In a similar fashion, the low dose of fluoxetine failed to alter behavior in the test following 3 days, but showed an augmented response on immobility and increased swimming following administration for 14 days. The high dose of fluoxetine was slightly more effective at reducing immobility following administration for 14 days than 3 days. The low dose of moclobemide decreased immobility and increased climbing

  20. Emotional blunting with antidepressant treatments: A survey among depressed patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodwin, G M; Price, J; De Bodinat, C; Laredo, J

    2017-10-15

    Emotional blunting is regularly reported in depressed patients on antidepressant treatment but its actual frequency is poorly understood. We have previously used qualitative methods to develop an appropriate scale, the Oxford Questionnaire on the Emotional Side-Effects of Antidepressants (OQESA). Six hundred and sixty nine depressed patients on treatment and 150 recovered (formerly depressed) controls (aged ≥18 years) participated in this internet-based survey. The rate of emotional blunting in treated depressed patients was 46%, slightly more frequent in men than women (52% versus 44%) and in those with higher Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale scores. There was no difference according to antidepressant agent, though it appeared less frequent with bupropion. Depressed patients with emotional blunting had much higher total blunting scores on OQESA than controls (42.83 ± 14.73 versus 25.73 ± 15.00, p 7 (n = 170) had a higher total questionnaire score, 49.23±12.03, than those with HAD-D score ≤7 (n = 140), 35.07 ± 13.98, and the difference between the two groups was highly significant. However, patients with HAD-D score ≤7 (n = 140) had a higher total score (35.07 ± 13.98) than the recovered controls (n = 150) (25.73 ± 15.00), and the difference between the two groups was significant. Among the patients with emotional blunting, 37% had a negative perception of their condition and 38% positive. Men reported a more negative perception than women (p=0.008), and patients with a negative perception were more likely to have higher HAD scores. Higher levels of emotional blunting are associated with a more negative perception of it by the patient (r = -0.423). Include self-evaluation and the modest size of the sample for detection of differences between antidepressants. Emotional blunting is reported by nearly half of depressed patients on antidepressants. It appears to be common to all monoaminergic antidepressants. The OQESA scores are highly

  1. Going Beyond the Binary : The body, Sexuality and Identity in Shelley Jackson’s Half Life: a novel

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Linjing

    2012-01-01

    The thesis focuses on Shelley Jackson’s Half Life: a Novel with efforts directed towards a literary interpretation considering relevant issues within the context of gender and feminist theory. The argument rests upon four basic units: the theoretical framework at the outset, the question of the body next, thirdly an investigation of sexuality, and finally a consideration of identity. In Jackson’s Half Life: a Novel the non-dualist thinking underlies a deliberate play of dualism. To go beyond ...

  2. The effects of drugs on human models of emotional processing: an account of antidepressant drug treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pringle, Abbie; Harmer, Catherine J

    2015-12-01

    Human models of emotional processing suggest that the direct effect of successful antidepressant drug treatment may be to modify biases in the processing of emotional information. Negative biases in emotional processing are documented in depression, and single or short-term dosing with conventional antidepressant drugs reverses these biases in depressed patients prior to any subjective change in mood. Antidepressant drug treatments also modulate emotional processing in healthy volunteers, which allows the consideration of the psychological effects of these drugs without the confound of changes in mood. As such, human models of emotional processing may prove to be useful for testing the efficacy of novel treatments and for matching treatments to individual patients or subgroups of patients.

  3. Improved half-life determination and β-delayed γ-ray spectroscopy for 18Ne decay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grinyer, G. F.; Ball, G. C.; Bouzomita, H.; Ettenauer, S.; Finlay, P.; Garnsworthy, A. B.; Garrett, P. E.; Green, K. L.; Hackman, G.; Leslie, J. R.; Pearson, C. J.; Rand, E. T.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Svensson, C. E.; Thomas, J. C.; Triambak, S.; Williams, S. J.

    2013-04-01

    The half-life of the superallowed Fermi β+ emitter 18Ne has been determined to ±0.07% precision by counting 1042 keV delayed γ rays that follow approximately 8% of all β decays. The deduced half-life, T1/2=1.6648(11) s, includes a 0.7% correction that accounts for systematic losses associated with rate-dependent detector pulse pileup that was determined using a recently developed γ-ray photopeak-counting technique. This result is a factor of two times more precise than, and in excellent agreement with, a previous lower-statistics measurement that employed the same experimental setup. High-resolution β-delayed γ-ray spectroscopy results for the relative γ-ray intensities and β-decay branching ratios to excited states in the daughter 18F are also presented.

  4. A review on antidepressant effect of medicinal plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahra Rabiei

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Depression is a life-threatening, debilitating, and common disease affecting different segments of community. Chemical and synthetic drugs available to treat this disease cause many adverse effects and may lead to complete recovery in only 50% of patients. At the same time, medicinal plants have been reported to exert optimal pharmacological effects in treating depression in different models. In this review, the relevant articles indexed in the reliable databases PubMed, PubMed central, Scopus and Web of Science were review-ed. The review indicated that most medicinal plants exerted antidepressant effects through synaptic regulation of serotonin, noradrenaline, and dopamine, regulating activity of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, reinfor-cing anti-oxidant defense system, and decreasing inflammatory mediators. The medicinal plants and their active compounds can relieve depression through different pathways and hence are considered a new source to produce antidepressants.

  5. Safety and Efficacy of BAY 94-9027, a Prolonged-Half-Life Factor VIII

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Reding, M T; Ng, H J; Poulsen, Lone Hvitfeldt

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: BAY 94-9027 is a B-domain-deleted prolonged-half-life recombinant factor VIII (FVIII) conjugates in a site-specific manner with polyethylene glycol. OBJECTIVE: Assess efficacy and safety of BAY 94-9027 for prophylaxis and treatment of bleeds in patients with severe hemophilia A PATIEN...

  6. High-precision half-life measurements for the superallowed Fermi β+ emitter 14O

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laffoley, A. T.; Svensson, C. E.; Andreoiu, C.; Austin, R. A. E.; Ball, G. C.; Blank, B.; Bouzomita, H.; Cross, D. S.; Diaz Varela, A.; Dunlop, R.; Finlay, P.; Garnsworthy, A. B.; Garrett, P. E.; Giovinazzo, J.; Grinyer, G. F.; Hackman, G.; Hadinia, B.; Jamieson, D. S.; Ketelhut, S.; Leach, K. G.; Leslie, J. R.; Tardiff, E.; Thomas, J. C.; Unsworth, C.

    2013-07-01

    The half-life of the superallowed Fermi β+ emitter 14O has been determined via simultaneous direct β and γ counting experiments at TRIUMF's Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC) facility. A γ-ray counting measurement was performed by detecting the 2312.6-keV γ rays emitted from an excited state of the daughter 14N following the implantation of samples at the center of the 8π γ-ray spectrometer, a spherical array of 20 high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors. A simultaneous β counting experiment was performed using a fast plastic scintillator positioned behind the implantation site with a solid angle coverage of ˜20%. The results, T1/2(β)=70.610±0.030s and T1/2(γ)=70.632±0.094s, form a consistent set and, together with eight previous measurements, establish a new average for the 14O half-life of T1/2=70.619±0.011s with a reduced χ2 of 0.99.

  7. Potentiation of omega-3 fatty acid antidepressant-like effects with low non-antidepressant doses of fluoxetine and mirtazapine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laino, Carlos Horacio; Fonseca, Cristina; Sterin-Speziale, Norma; Slobodianik, Nora; Reinés, Analía

    2010-12-01

    Despite the advances in psychopharmacology, the treatment of depressive disorders is still not satisfactory. Side effects and resistance to antidepressant drugs are the greatest complications during treatment. Based on recent evidence, omega-3 fatty acids may influence vulnerability and outcome in depressive disorders. The aim of this study was to further characterize the omega-3 antidepressant-like effect in rats in terms of its behavioral features in the depression model forced swimming test either alone or in combination with antidepressants fluoxetine or mirtazapine. Ultimately, we prompted to determine the lowest dose at which omega-3 fatty acids and antidepressant drugs may still represent a pharmacological advantage when employed in combined treatments. Chronic diet supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids produced concentration-dependent antidepressant-like effects in the forced swimming test displaying a behavioral profile similar to fluoxetine but different from mirtazapine. Fluoxetine or mirtazapine at antidepressant doses (10 and 20 mg/kg/day, respectively) rendered additive effects in combination with omega-3 fatty acid supplementation (720 mg/kg/day). Beneficial effects of combined treatment were also observed at sub-effective doses (1 mg/kg/day) of fluoxetine or mirtazapine, since in combination with omega-3 fatty acids (720 mg/kg/day), antidepressants potentiated omega-3 antidepressant-like effects. The antidepressant-like effects occurred in the absence of changes in brain phospholipid classes. The therapeutic approach of combining omega-3 fatty acids with low ineffective doses of antidepressants might represent benefits in the treatment of depression, especially in patients with depression resistant to conventional treatments and even may contribute to patient compliance by decreasing the magnitude of some antidepressant dose-dependent side effects. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. The Half-Life of the HSV-1 1.5 kb LAT Intron is similar to the half-Life of the 2.0 kb LAT Intron

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brinkman, Kerry K.; Mishra, Prakhar; Fraser, Nigel W.

    2013-01-01

    Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) establishes a latent infection in the sensory neurons of the peripheral nervous system of humans. Although about 80 genes are expressed during the lytic cycle of the virus infection, essentially only one gene is expressed during the latent cycle. This gene is known as the latency associated transcript (LAT) and it appears to play a role in the latency cycle through an anti-apoptotic function in the 5’ end of the gene and miRNA encoded along the length of the transcript which down regulate some of the viral immediate early (IE) gene products. The LAT gene is about 8.3 kb long and consists of two exons separated by an unusual intron. The intron between the exons consists of two nested introns. This arrangement of introns has been called a twintron. Furthermore, the larger (2 kb) intron has been shown to be very stable. In this study we measure the stability of the shorter 1.5 kb nested intron and find its half-life is similar to the longer intron. This was achieved by deleting the 0.5 kb overlapping intron from a plasmid construct designed to express the LAT transcript from a tet-inducible promoter, and measuring the half-life of the 1.5 kb intron in tissue culture cells. This finding supports the hypothesis that it is the common branch-point region of these nested introns that is responsible for their stability. PMID:23335177

  9. Methodological Flaws, Conflicts of Interest, and Scientific Fallacies: Implications for the Evaluation of Antidepressants' Efficacy and Harm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hengartner, Michael P

    2017-01-01

    In current psychiatric practice, antidepressants are widely and with ever-increasing frequency prescribed to patients. However, several scientific biases obfuscate estimates of antidepressants' efficacy and harm, and these are barely recognized in treatment guidelines. The aim of this mini-review is to critically evaluate the efficacy and harm of antidepressants for acute and maintenance treatment with respect to systematic biases related to industry funding and trial methodology. Narrative review based on a comprehensive search of the literature. It is shown that the pooled efficacy of antidepressants is weak and below the threshold of a minimally clinically important change once publication and reporting biases are considered. Moreover, the small mean difference in symptom reductions relative to placebo is possibly attributable to observer effects in unblinded assessors and patient expectancies. With respect to trial dropout rates, a hard outcome not subjected to observer bias, no difference was observed between antidepressants and placebo. The discontinuation trials on the efficacy of antidepressants in maintenance therapy are systematically flawed, because in these studies, spontaneous remitters are excluded, whereas half of all patients who remitted on antidepressants are abruptly switched to placebo. This can cause a severe withdrawal syndrome that is easily misdiagnosed as a relapse when assessed on subjective symptom rating scales. In accordance, the findings of naturalistic long-term studies suggest that maintenance therapy has no clear benefit, and non-drug users do not show increased recurrence rates. Moreover, a growing body of evidence from hundreds of randomized controlled trials suggests that antidepressants cause suicidality, but this risk is underestimated because data from industry-funded trials are systematically flawed. Unselected, population-wide observational studies indicate that depressive patients who use antidepressants are at an increased

  10. Yueju Pill Rapidly Induces Antidepressant-Like Effects and Acutely Enhances BDNF Expression in Mouse Brain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenda Xue

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The traditional antidepressants have a major disadvantage in delayed onset of efficacy, and the emerging fast-acting antidepressant ketamine has adverse behavioral and neurotoxic effects. Yueju pill, an herb medicine formulated eight hundred years ago by Doctor Zhu Danxi, has been popularly prescribed in China for alleviation of depression-like symptoms. Although several clinical outcome studies reported the relative short onset of antidepressant effects of Yueju, this has not been scientifically investigated. We, therefore, examined the rapid antidepressant effect of Yueju in mice and tested the underlying molecular mechanisms. We found that acute administration of ethanol extract of Yueju rapidly attenuated depressive-like symptoms in learned helpless paradigm, and the antidepressant-like effects were sustained for at least 24 hours in tail suspension test in ICR mice. Additionally, Yueju, like ketamine, rapidly increased the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF in the hippocampus, whereas the BDNF mRNA expression remained unaltered. Yueju rapidly reduced the phosphorylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2, leading to desuppression of BDNF synthesis. Unlike ketamine, both the BDNF expression and eEF2 phosphorylation were revered at 24 hours after Yueju administration. This study is the first to demonstrate the rapid antidepressant effects of an herb medicine, offering an opportunity to improve therapy of depression.

  11. Analytical basis for neutron-activation analysis measuring nuclides with a half-life of second order

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yonezawa, Chushiro; Ichimura, Shigeju; Matsue, Hideaki; Kurosawa, Tatsuya

    1998-01-01

    An analytical basis for a neutron-activation analysis (NAA) for measuring nuclides of second-order half-lives produced by the (n, γ) reaction has been studied using a neutron-activation analysis facility (PN-3) of JRR-3M. The NAA facility, comprising a fast pneumatic irradiation system and a high count-rate gamma-ray spectrometer, is able to automatically conduct NAA with short-lived nuclides. Basic experimental conditions, such as a high count-rate gamma-ray measurement, the effects of irradiation-capsule material and the stability of the neutron flux, were examined. The analytical sensitivities and detection limits for 20 elements of which activated radionuclide having half-lives from 0.7 to 100 s were obtained. Scandium, In, Dy and Hf were elements having the highest analytical sensitivity, with detection limits down to 4.2 to 14 ng. Fluorine, which is difficult to determine by other methods, can be detected at above 530 ng. Analytical applications of NAA with short-lived nuclides have been carried out for F, Se, Sc, Hf, In and Dy in various materials, including reference materials. The accuracy, precision and detection limits of NAA with short-lived nuclides have been evaluated. (author)

  12. Hour Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty? Future Time Perspective and Preoccupation with Negative Events Across the Life Span

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strough, JoNell; de Bruin, Wändi Bruine; Parker, Andrew M.; Lemaster, Philip; Pichayayothin, Nipat; Delaney, Rebecca

    2016-01-01

    According to socioemotional selectivity theory, older adults' emotional well-being stems from having limited future time perspective that motivates them to maximize well-being in the “here and now.” Presumably, then, older adults' time horizons are associated with emotional competencies that boost positive affect and dampen negative affect, but little research has addressed this. Using a US national adult life-span sample (N= 3,933, 18-93 yrs), we found that a two-factor model of future time perspective (focus on future opportunities; focus on limited time) fit the data better than a one-factor model. Through middle age, people perceived the life-span hourglass as half full—they focused more on future opportunities than limited time. Around age 60, the balance changed to increasingly perceiving the life-span hourglass as half empty—they focused less on future opportunities and more on limited time. This pattern held even after accounting for perceived health, self-reported decision-making ability, and retirement status. At all ages, women's time horizons focused more on future opportunities compared to men's, and men's focused more on limited time. Focusing on future opportunities was associated with reporting less preoccupation with negative events, whereas focusing on limited time was associated with reporting more preoccupation. Older adults reported less preoccupation with negative events and this association was stronger after controlling for their perceptions of limited time and fewer future opportunities, suggesting that other pathways may explain older adults' reports of their ability to disengage from negative events. Insights gained and questions raised by measuring future time perspective as two dimensions are discussed. PMID:27267222

  13. Hour glass half full or half empty? Future time perspective and preoccupation with negative events across the life span.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strough, JoNell; Bruine de Bruin, Wändi; Parker, Andrew M; Lemaster, Philip; Pichayayothin, Nipat; Delaney, Rebecca

    2016-09-01

    According to socioemotional selectivity theory, older adults' emotional well-being stems from having a limited future time perspective that motivates them to maximize well-being in the "here and now." Presumably, then, older adults' time horizons are associated with emotional competencies that boost positive affect and dampen negative affect, but little research has addressed this. Using a U.S. adult life-span sample (N = 3,933; 18-93 years), we found that a 2-factor model of future time perspective (future opportunities; limited time) fit the data better than a 1-factor model. Through middle age, people perceived the life-span hourglass as half full-they focused more on future opportunities than limited time. Around Age 60, the balance changed to increasingly perceiving the life-span hourglass as half empty-they focused less on future opportunities and more on limited time, even after accounting for perceived health, self-reported decision-making ability, and retirement status. At all ages, women's time horizons focused more on future opportunities compared with men's, and men's focused more on limited time. Focusing on future opportunities was associated with reporting less preoccupation with negative events, whereas focusing on limited time was associated with reporting more preoccupation. Older adults reported less preoccupation with negative events, and this association was stronger after controlling for their perceptions of limited time and fewer future opportunities, suggesting that other pathways may explain older adults' reports of their ability to disengage from negative events. Insights gained and questions raised by measuring future time perspective as 2 dimensions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. Effects of BDNF polymorphisms on antidepressant action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Shih-Jen; Hong, Chen-Jee; Liou, Ying-Jay

    2010-12-01

    Evidence suggests that the down-regulation of the signaling pathway involving brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a molecular element known to regulate neuronal plasticity and survival, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of major depression. The restoration of BDNF activity induced by antidepressant treatment has been implicated in the antidepressant therapeutic mechanism. Because there is variability among patients with major depressive disorder in terms of response to antidepressant treatment and since genetic factors may contribute to this inter-individual variability in antidepressant response, pharmacogenetic studies have tested the associations between genetic polymorphisms in candidate genes related to antidepressant therapeutic action. In human BDNF gene, there is a common functional polymorphism (Val66Met) in the pro-region of BDNF, which affects the intracellular trafficking of proBDNF. Because of the potentially important role of BDNF in the antidepressant mechanism, many pharmacogenetic studies have tested the association between this polymorphism and the antidepressant therapeutic response, but they have produced inconsistent results. A recent meta-analysis of eight studies, which included data from 1,115 subjects, suggested that the Val/Met carriers have increased antidepressant response in comparison to Val/Val homozygotes, particularly in the Asian population. The positive molecular heterosis effect (subjects heterozygous for a specific genetic polymorphism show a significantly greater effect) is compatible with animal studies showing that, although BDNF exerts an antidepressant effect, too much BDNF may have a detrimental effect on mood. Several recommendations are proposed for future antidepressant pharmacogenetic studies of BDNF, including the consideration of multiple polymorphisms and a haplotype approach, gene-gene interaction, a single antidepressant regimen, controlling for age and gender interactions, and pharmacogenetic

  15. Safety objectives and basic design for surface centres for long-term storage of solid radioactive waste with short or medium half-life and low or medium specific activity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1984-06-01

    RFS or Regles Fondamentales de Surete (Basic Safety Rules) applicable to certain types of nuclear facilities lay down requirements with which compliance, for the type of facilities and within the scope of application covered by the RFS, is considered to be equivalent to compliance with technical French regulatory practice. The object of the RFS is to take advantage of standardization in the field of safety, while allowing for technical progress in that field. They are designed to enable the operating utility and contractors to know the rules pertaining to various subjects which are considered to be acceptable by the Service Central de Surete des Installations Nucleaires, or the SCSIN (Central Department for the Safety of Nuclear Facilities). These RFS should make safety analysis easier and lead to better understanding between experts and individuals concerned with the problems of nuclear safety. The SCSIN reserves the right to modify, when considered necessary, any RFS and specify, if need be, the terms under which a modification is deemed retroactive. The role of this RFS is to define the safety objectives and the basic design philosophy for surface centres for long-term storage of packages of radioactive waste with short or medium half-life and with low or medium specific activity

  16. Adherence to antidepressants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abimbola Farinde

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available While major depression is considered a frequent mental illness there are ongoing reports of high non-adherence to antidepressant medications which places suffers at high risk for relapse, recurrence, or greater impairment,. The World Health Organization (WHO defines adherence as the extent to which a person′s behavior (e.g. taking medications can align with the agreed recommendations of a health care provider. Unfortunately while patient may recognize the importance of adherence to antidepressant medications the majority of patients do not adhere to their prescribed antidepressants. Some of the factors that may contribute to or lead to non-adherence include knowingly or unknowingly missing doses, taking extra doses, delaying administration times, or taking drug holidays. Pharmacists have the unique ability to deter non-adherence through the performance of continuous assessment and monitoring of adherence in this population given these accessibility. Additionally, pharmacists are able to develop therapeutic alliances with patients that can help to increase the likelihood of achieving positive patient outcomes. Antidepressant non-adherence can be viewed as a significant public health concern so it is important for patients to be educated about the importance of adherence, and health care professionals should be aware of factors or patient characteristics that can serve as barriers to non-adherence.

  17. Precise half-life measurement of the superallowed β+ emitter 38Km

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ball, G. C.; Boisvert, G.; Bricault, P.; Churchman, R.; Dombsky, M.; Lindner, T.; Macdonald, J. A.; Vandervoort, E.; Bishop, S.; D'Auria, J. M.; Hardy, J. C.; Iacob, V. E.; Leslie, J. R.; Mak, H.-B.

    2010-01-01

    The half-life of 38 K m has been measured to be 924.46(14) ms, a result that is a factor of two more precise than any of the five previous measurements of this quantity. The previous results are not consistent with one another, but our result agrees well with the two most recent ones. The derived ft value for 38 K m is now one of the three most precisely known superallowed ft values.

  18. Label-free Fab and Fc affinity/avidity profiling of the antibody complex half-life for polyclonal and monoclonal efficacy screening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Read, Thomas; Olkhov, Rouslan V; Williamson, E Diane; Shaw, Andrew M

    2015-09-01

    A unified approach to affinity screening for Fab and Fc interactions of an antibody for its antigen and FcγR receptor has been developed. An antigen array is used for the Fab affinity and cross-reactivity screening and protein A/G proxy is the FcγR receptor. The affinities are derived using a simple 1:1 binding model with a consistent error analysis. The association and dissociation kinetics are measured over optimised times for accurate determination. The Fab/Fc affinities are derived for ten antibodies: mAb-actin (mouse), pAb-BSA (sheep), pAb-collagen V (rabbit), pAb-CRP (goat), mAb-F1 (mouse), mAbs (mouse) 7.3, 12.3, 29.3, 36.3 and 46.3 raised against LcrV in Yersinia pestis. The rate of the dissociation of antigen-antibody complexes relates directly to their immunological function as does the Fc-FcγR complex and a new half-life plot has been defined with a Fab/Fc half-life range of 17-470 min. The upper half-life value points to surface avidity. Two antibodies that are protective as an immunotherapy define a Fab half-life >250 min and an Fc half-life >50 min as characteristics of ideal interactions which can form the basis of an antibody screen for immunotherapy.

  19. Efficacy and feasibility of antidepressants for the prevention of migraine in adults: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, X-M; Yang, C; Liu, Y; Dong, M-X; Zou, D-Z; Wei, Y-D

    2017-08-01

    Migraine has greatly impacted the quality of life for migraineurs and was ranked as the seventh highest specific cause of disability worldwide in 2012. Because of the role of serotonin in migraine mechanisms, antidepressants have been used in the prevention of migraine. However, the role of antidepressants for migraine prophylaxis in adults has not been completely established. Our aim was systematically to assess the efficacy and feasibility of antidepressants for the prevention of migraine in adults based on currently available literature. A comprehensive search of databases was conducted including the Cochrane, PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases from inception to July 2016. Randomized controlled trials that assigned adults with a clinical diagnosis of migraine to antidepressant or placebo treatment were included. The primary outcome was the reduction of migraine frequency or index. Overall, 16 randomized controlled trials including 1082 participants were identified. Antidepressants had a significant advantage over placebo in reducing the migraine frequency or index of adults with a standardized mean difference of -0.79 [95% confidence interval (CI) -1.13 to -0.45, P < 0.00001]. Patients receiving antidepressant therapy were more likely to experience an at least 50% reduction of headache burden than those receiving placebo (28.9% vs. 20.2%; risk ratio 1.40; 95% CI 0.97-2.02; P = 0.07). However, antidepressants were less well tolerated than placebo because of some adverse events (risk ratio 1.74, 95% CI 1.05-2.89, P = 0.03). Antidepressants are effective in the prophylaxis of migraine in adults, but the level of evidence for antidepressants except for amitriptyline seems to be quite shaky. © 2017 EAN.

  20. Examination of the biological half-life and organ d;stribution of tritiated lysin-vasopressin in Brattleboro rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laczi, F.; Laszlo, F.

    1980-01-01

    15 μCi tritiated lysin-vasopressin (spec. act. 3.5 Ci per mmol) was administered to control and Brattleboro rats, suffering from hereditary hypothalamic diabetes insipidus. The biological half-life and the distribution of the labelled compound in the different organs were determined. The biological half-life demonstrated no significant difference, however, the vasopressin content of the small intestine was higher in the Brattleboro rats. In the other organs no significant difference was found. It can be concluded that the hereditary diabetes insipidus is not due to faster elimination of circulating vasopressin. (L.E.)

  1. Examination of the biological half-life and organ d; stribution of tritiated lysin-vasopressin in Brattleboro rats

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Laczi, F; Laszlo, F [Szegedi Orvostudomanyi Egyetem Szeged (Hungary). 1. Belgyogyaszati Klinika; Keri, Gy; Teplan, I [Semmelweis Orvostudomanyi Egyetem, Budapest (Hungary)

    1980-04-01

    15 ..mu..Ci tritiated lysin-vasopressin (spec. act. 3.5 Ci per mmol) was administered to control and Brattleboro rats, suffering from hereditary hypothalamic diabetes insipidus. The biological half-life and the distribution of the labelled compound in the different organs were determined. The biological half-life demonstrated no significant difference, however, the vasopressin content of the small intestine was higher in the Brattleboro rats. In the other organs no significant difference was found. It can be concluded that the hereditary diabetes insipidus is not due to faster elimination of circulating vasopressin.

  2. Teaching Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stacy, Gerald

    2000-01-01

    Considers many ways to teach Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." Explores the ironic implications of Macomber's experience and compares it with the experience of Sammy in another initiation story, John Updike's "A&P." Describes how he leads the discussion about this story, and ends the discussion by…

  3. The efficacy of antidepressants on overall well-being and self-reported depression symptom severity in youth: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spielmans, Glen I; Gerwig, Katherine

    2014-01-01

    Recent meta-analyses of the efficacy of second-generation antidepressants for youth have concluded that such drugs possess a statistically significant advantage over placebo in terms of clinician-rated depressive symptoms. However, no meta-analysis has included measures of quality of life, global mental health, self-esteem, or autonomy. Further, prior meta-analyses have not included self-reports of depressive symptoms. Studies were selected through searching Medline, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials databases as well as GlaxoSmithKline's online trial registry. We included self-reports of depressive symptoms and pooled measures of quality of life, global mental health, self-esteem, and autonomous functioning as a proxy for overall well-being. We found a nonsignificant difference between second-generation antidepressants and placebo in terms of self-reported depressive symptoms (k = 6 trials, g = 0.06, p = 0.36). Further, pooled across measures of quality of life, global mental health, self-esteem, and autonomy, antidepressants yielded no significant advantage over placebo (k = 3 trials, g = 0.11, p = 0.13). Though limited by a small number of trials, our analyses suggest that antidepressants offer little to no benefit in improving overall well-being among depressed children and adolescents. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  4. Using tests and models to assess antidepressant-like activity in rodents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kedzierska Ewa

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In today's world, depression is one of the more prevalent forms of mental illness. According to WHO, about 10%-30% of all women and 7%-15% of all men are afflicted by depression at least once in their life-times. Today, depression is assessed to be affecting 350 million people. Regarding this issue, an important challenge for current psychopharmacology is to develop new, more effective pharmacotherapy and to understand the mechanism of action of known antidepressants. Furthermore, there is the necessity to improve the effectiveness of anti-depression treatment by way of bringing about an understanding of the neurobiology of this illness. In achieving these objectives, animal models of depression can be useful. Yet, presently, all available animal models of depression rely on two principles: the actions of known antidepressants or the responses to stress. In this paper, we present an overview of the most widely used animal tests and models that are employed in assessing antidepressant-like activity in rodents. These include amphetamine potentiation, reversal of reserpine action, the forced swimming test, the tail suspension test, learned helplessness, chronic mild stress and social defeat stress. Moreover, the advantages and major drawbacks of each model are also discussed.

  5. High-Precision Half-Life Measurements for the Superallowed Fermi β+ Emitters 14O and 18Ne

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laffoley, A. T.; Andreoiu, C.; Austin, R. A. E.; Ball, G. C.; Bender, P. C.; Bidaman, H.; Bildstein, V.; Blank, B.; Bouzomita, H.; Cross, D. S.; Deng, G.; Diaz Varela, A.; Dunlop, M. R.; Dunlop, R.; Finlay, P.; Garnsworthy, A. B.; Garrett, P.; Giovinazzo, J.; Grinyer, G. F.; Grinyer, J.; Hadinia, B.; Jamieson, D. S.; Jigmeddorj, B.; Ketelhut, S.; Kisliuk, D.; Leach, K. G.; Leslie, J. R.; MacLean, A.; Miller, D.; Mills, B.; Moukaddam, M.; Radich, A. J.; Rajabali, M. M.; Rand, E. T.; Svensson, C. E.; Tardiff, E.; Thomas, J. C.; Turko, J.; Voss, P.; Unsworth, C.

    High-precision half-life measurements, at the level of ±0.04%, for the superallowed Fermi emitters 14O and 18Ne have been performed at TRIUMF's Isotope Separator and Accelerator facility. Using 3 independent detector systems, a gas-proportional counter, a fast plastic scintillator, and a high-purity germanium array, a series of direct β and γ counting measurements were performed for each of the isotopes. In the case of 14O, these measurements were made to help resolve an existing discrepancy between detection methods, whereas for 18Ne the half-life precision has been improved in anticipation of forthcoming high-precision branching ratio measurements.

  6. Comparison of isotope dilution and excretion methods for determining the half-life of ascorbic acid in the guinea pig

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kipp, D.E.; Rivers, J.M.

    1984-01-01

    The half-life of ascorbic acid (AA) in guinea pigs was investigated by the isotope dilution and excretion methods. The dilution method measures [1-14C]AA disappearance from the plasma, whereas the excretion method measures the elimination of [1-14C]AA and the metabolites from the body. Two groups of animals underwent both isotope studies in reverse order. Animals were conditioned to the experimental procedures and fed 2.5 mg AA/100 g body weight orally to maintain a daily intake of the vitamin independent of food consumption. The two isotope procedures imposed similar stress on the animals, as determined by plasma cortisol levels and body weight changes. The AA half-life calculations of the rapidly exchangeable pool by the isotope dilution method yielded values of 1.23 and 0.34 hours for the two groups, respectively. The half-life of the slowly exchangeable pool for the two groups was 60.2 and 65.8 hours, respectively. The half-life of AA in the rapidly exchangeable pool, as measured by the excretion studies, was 4.57-8.75 hours. For the slowly exchangeable pool, it was 146-149 hours. The longer half-life of both pools obtained with the excretion method indicates that the isotope is disappearing from the plasma more rapidly than it is being excreted. This suggests that a portion of the [1-14C]AA leaving the plasma is removed to a body pool that is not sampled by the isotope excretion method

  7. Towards a measurement of the half-life of {sup 60}Fe for stellar and early Solar System models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ostdiek, K.; Anderson, T. [University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Bauder, W. [University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Bowers, M.; Collon, P. [University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Dressler, R. [Paul Scherrer Institute – Laboratory for Radiochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, 5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Greene, J. [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Kutschera, W. [Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator Laboratory, Waehringer Strasse 17, 1090 Vienna (Austria); Lu, W. [University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Paul, M. [Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904 (Israel); Robertson, D. [University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Schumann, D. [Paul Scherrer Institute – Laboratory for Radiochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, 5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Skulski, M. [University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Wallner, A. [The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200 (Australia)

    2015-10-15

    Radioisotopes, produced in stars and ejected into the Interstellar Medium, are important for constraining stellar and early Solar System (ESS) models. In particular, the half-life of the radioisotope, {sup 60}Fe, can have an impact on calculations for the timing for ESS events, the distance to nearby Supernovae, and the brightness of individual, non-steady-state {sup 60}Fe gamma ray sources in the Galaxy. A half-life measurement has been undertaken at the University of Notre Dame and measurements of the {sup 60}Fe/{sup 56}Fe concentration of our samples using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry has begun. This result will be coupled with an activity measurement of the isomeric decay in {sup 60}Co, which is the decay product of {sup 60}Fe. Preliminary half-life estimates of (2.53 ± 0.24) × 10{sup 6} years seem to confirm the recent measurement by Rugel et al. (2009).

  8. Half-life, branching-ratio, and Q-value measurement for the superallowed 0+→0+β+ emitter 42Ti

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nieto, T. Kurtukian; Souin, J.; Audirac, L.; Blank, B.; Giovinazzo, J.; Eronen, T.; Aeystoe, J.; Elomaa, V.-V.; Hager, U.; Hakala, J.; Jokinen, A.; Kankainen, A.; Karvonen, P.; Kessler, T.; Moore, I. D.; Penttilae, H.; Rahaman, S.; Reponen, M.; Rissanen, J.; Saastamoinen, A.

    2009-01-01

    The half-life, the branching ratio, and the decay Q value of the superallowed β emitter 42 Ti were measured in an experiment performed at the JYFLTRAP facility of the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyvaeskylae. 42 Ti is the heaviest T z =-1 nucleus for which high-precision measurements of these quantities have been tried. The half-life (T 1/2 =208.14±0.45 ms) and the Q value [Q EC =7016.83(25) keV] are close to or reach the required precision of about 0.1%. The branching ratio for the superallowed decay branch [BR=47.7(12)%], a by-product of the half-life measurement, does not reach the necessary precision yet. Nonetheless, these results allow one to determine the experimental ft value and the corrected Ft value to be 3114(79) and 3122(79) s, respectively.

  9. Antidepressants: Can They Lose Effectiveness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... t seem to be having the same effect. Can antidepressants lose effectiveness? Answers from Daniel K. Hall- ... some people and not in others. There also can be other reasons an antidepressant is no longer ...

  10. Tests of the methods of analysis of picosecond lifetimes and measurement of the half-life of the 569.6 keV level in 207Pb

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lima, E. de; Kawakami, H.; Lima, A. de; Hichwa, R.; Ramayya, A.V.; Hamilton, J.H.; Dunn, W.; Kim, H.J.

    1978-01-01

    Customarily one extracts the half-life of the nuclear state from a delayed time spectrum by an analysis of the centroid shift, the slope and lately by the convolution method. Recently there have been two formulas relating the centroid shift to the half-life of the nuclear state. These two procedures can give different results for the half-life when Tsub(1/2) the same order or less than the time width of one channel. An extensive investigation of these two formulas and precedures has been made by measuring the half-life of the first excited state in 207 Pb at 569.6 keV. This analysis confirms Bay's formula relating the centroid shift to the half-life of the state. The half-life of the 569.6 keV level in 207 Pb is measured to be (129+-3) ps in excellent agreement with Weisskopf's single particle estimate of 128 ps for an E2 transition. (Auth.)

  11. Measurements of Actual Effective Half - Life in {sup 131}I Therapy for Graves' Hyperthyroidism

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    So, Yong Seon; Kim, Myung Seon; Kwon, Ki Hyun; Kim, Seok Whan; Kim, Tae Hyung; Han, Sang Woong; Kim, Eun Sil; Kim, Chong Soon [Hanil General Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1996-03-15

    Radioiodine[131I] has been used for the treatment of Graves' hyperthyroidism since the late 1940's and is now generally regarded as the treatment of choice for Graves' hyperthyroidism who does not remit following a course of antithyroid drugs. But for the dose given, several different protocols have been described by different centers, each attempting to reduce the incidence of long-term hypothyroidism while maintaining an acceptable rate control of Graves' hyperthyroidism. Our goals were to evaluate effective half-life and predict absorbed dose in Graves' hyperthyroidism patients, therefore, to calculate and read minister radioiodine activity needed to achieve aimed radiation dose. Our data showed that the mean effective 131I half-life for Graves' disease is 5.3 days(S.D=0.88) and mean biologic half-life is 21 days, range 9.5-67.2 days. The mean administered activity and the mean values of absorbed doses wet: 532 MBq(S.D.=254), 112 Gy (S.D.=50.9), respectively. The mean activity needed to achieve aimed radiation dose were 51 MBq and marked differences of 131I thyroidal uptake between tracer and therapy occurred in our study. We are sure that the dose calculation method that uses 5 days thyroidal 131I uptake measurements after tracer and therapy dose, provides sufficient data about the effective treatment in Graves' hyperthyroidism.

  12. Healthcare professionals' perceptions on the emotional impact of having an inadequate response to antidepressant medications: survey and prospective patient audit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mago, Rajnish; Fagiolini, Andrea; Weiller, Emmanuelle; Weiss, Catherine

    2018-01-01

    Despite the availability of effective antidepressants, about half of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) display an inadequate response to their initial treatment. A large patient survey recently reported that 29.8% of MDD patients experiencing an inadequate treatment response felt frustrated about their medication and 19.2% were frustrated with their healthcare provider. This survey and chart audit evaluated healthcare professionals' (HCP) views on the emotional impact of having an inadequate response to antidepressant medication. HCPs who frequently treat patients with MDD completed a survey and chart audit of their MDD patients currently experiencing an inadequate response to antidepressant treatment. 287 HCPs completed 1336 chart audits. HCPs reported that 38% of their patients were trusting/accepting of their MDD medications and 41% of their patients trusted/felt confident with their healthcare provision. Conversely, HCPs reported that 11% of their patients were frustrated with their medication and 5% with their healthcare benefits. HCPs cited impact on daily life (53%) and treatment issues (lack of efficacy and side effects; 50%) as the main drivers for their patients' feelings of frustration. When HCPs recognized patients' feelings of frustration, the top concerns of the HCPs were worsening of symptoms (43%) and non-compliance (41%). This survey and chart audit highlights the emotional burden associated with inadequate responses to MDD treatment in addition to persistent symptoms. Differences between the views of the HCPs and patients are highlighted and suggest that HCPs may underestimate the full impact that having to try numerous medications has on their patients.

  13. Sexual side effects of serotonergic antidepressants: mediated by inhibition of serotonin on central dopamine release?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bijlsma, Elisabeth Y; Chan, Johnny S W; Olivier, Berend; Veening, Jan G; Millan, Mark J; Waldinger, Marcel D; Oosting, Ronald S

    2014-06-01

    Antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction adversely affects the quality of life of antidepressant users and reduces compliance with treatment. Animal models provide an instructive approach for examining potential sexual side effects of novel drugs. This review discusses the stability and reproducibility of our standardized test procedure that assesses the acute, subchronic and chronic effects of psychoactive compounds in a 30 minute mating test. In addition, we present an overview of the effects of several different (putative) antidepressants on male rat sexual behavior, as tested in our standardized test procedure. By comparing the effects of these mechanistically distinct antidepressants (paroxetine, venlafaxine, bupropion, buspirone, DOV 216,303 and S32006), this review discusses the putative mechanism underlying sexual side effects of antidepressants and their normalization. This review shows that sexual behavior is mainly inhibited by antidepressants that increase serotonin neurotransmission via blockade of serotonin transporters, while those that mainly increase the levels of dopamine and noradrenaline are devoid of sexual side effects. Those sexual disturbances cannot be normalized by simultaneously increasing noradrenaline neurotransmission, but are normalized by increasing both noradrenaline and dopamine neurotransmission. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the sexual side effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may be mediated by their inhibitory effects on dopamine signaling in sex brain circuits. Clinical development of novel antidepressants should therefore focus on compounds that simultaneously increase both serotonin and dopamine signaling. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Analytical studies by activation. Part A and B: Counting of short half-life radio-nuclides. Part C: Analytical programs for decay curves; Etudes d'analyse par activation. Parties A et B: le comptage des radio-nucleides de periodes courtes. Partie C: programme de depouillement des courbes de decroissance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Junod, E [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique Grenoble (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1966-03-01

    Part A and B: Since a radio-nuclide of short half-life is characterized essentially by the decrease in its activity even while it is being measured, the report begins by recalling the basic relationships linking the half-life the counting time, the counting rate and the number of particles recorded. The second part is devoted to the problem of corrections for counting losses due to the idle period of multichannel analyzers. Exact correction formulae have been drawn up for the case where the short half-life radionuclide is pure or contains only a long half-life radio-nuclide. By comparison, charts have been drawn up showing the approximations given by the so-called 'active time' counting and by the counting involving the real time associated with a measurement of the overall idle period, this latter method proving to be more valid than the former. A method is given for reducing the case of a complex mixture to that of a two-component mixture. Part C: The problems connected with the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the decay curves of a mixture of radioactive sources of which one at least has a short half-life are presented. A mathematical description is given of six basic processes for which some elements of Fortran programs are proposed. Two supplementary programs are drawn up for giving an overall treatment of problems of dosage in activation analysis: one on the basis of a simultaneous irradiation of the sample and of one or several known samples, the other with separate irradiation of the unknown and known samples, a dosimeter (activation, or external) being used for normalizing the irradiation flux conditions. (author) [French] Parties A et B: Un radionucleide de periode courte etant defini specialement par la decroissance de son activite pendant la duree meme du comptage, on rappelle en premiere partie de ce rapport les relations fondamentales qui lient periode, temps de comptage, taux de comptage et nombre d'impulsions enregistrees. La seconde partie

  15. Usefulness of analytical CEA doubling time and half-life time for overlooked synchronous metastases in colorectal carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ito, Katsuki; Hibi, Kenji; Ando, Hideyuki; Hidemura, Kazuhiko; Yamazaki, Taiji; Akiyama, Seiji; Nakao, Akimasa

    2002-02-01

    Measurement of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has been widely applied to detect recurrence, especially of colorectal carcinoma. The validity however, is still controversial. We investigated serial changes in CEA values to calculate whether the CEA doubling time and half-life time could predict metastatic progression or prognosis in colorectal carcinoma. Pre- and post-operative serial serum CEA contents were determined in 22 cases of colorectal cancer with or without metastasis. CEA values were determined by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Patients were assigned depending upon survival time (within vs. more than 18 months after primary resection) for assessment of CEA doubling time. From the gradient of the semi-logarithmic CEA graph, the preoperative doubling time was calculated and the postoperative half-life time was estimated according to the diagnosis of metastases within 2 years after primary resection [metastasis (+) or (-)]. In spite of the effect of curative re-operation of metastatic lesions or of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, the CEA doubling time of the groups showed a relation with prognosis (p = 0.045, Student's t-test) when the patients were divided into >18 and time. The CEA half-life time of the groups without overlooked metastases was statistically longer than those with (mean +/- SD 8.01 +/- 2.07 and 4.33 +/- 1.11, respectively, p Clearance (k) showed a significant difference between the groups (p time appeared to be a less independent prognostic factor, whereas prolongation of the CEA half-life time might potentially suggest the existence of overlooked synchronous metastases from colorectal carcinoma.

  16. The Present Status of the Half-Life Measuring Equipment and Technique at Studsvik

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malmskog, S G

    1967-10-15

    The present article presents the equipment and technique used at Studsvik for measuring half-lives of nuclear excited states using the delayed coincidence method. The experimental set up includes an electron-electron coincidence spectrometer and a fast pneumatic rabbit system attached to the high flux reactor R2 at Studsvik. Special efforts have been made to adapt the system for work with short lived radioactive isotopes with decay times of the order of seconds.

  17. Factors influencing the choice of antidepressants: A study of antidepressant prescribing practice at University psychiatric clinic in Belgrade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marić Nađa P.

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background/Aim. Antidepressants are a widely used class of drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate different aspects of antidepressant prescribing practice at University Psychiatric Clinic in Belgrade. Methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out by retrospective analysis of the patient's medical charts. The study included all patients with antidepressant prescribed at discharge during 2009 (n = 296. The evaluation was focused on patient- related factors (socio-demographic and illness related, psychiatrist-related factors (sex and duration of working experience and drug related factors (type of antidepressant, dose, polypharmacy and reimbursement by national health insurance. Results. Antidepressants were prescribed for unipolar depression (F32-34, ICD X either without comorbidity (46.2% or with comorbidity (24.7%, mostly as a monotherapy (91% had one antidepressant, to the patients who were 65% female, aged 50.1 ± 8.9, most of them with 12 years of education (52.6%, married (69.3% and employed (55.9%. The majority of patients had a history of two hospitalizations (Med 2; 25th-75th perc. 1-4 during nine years (Med 9; 25th-75th perc. 2-15 after the first episode of depression. Among them, 19% were found to be suicidal in a lifetime. The single most prescribed antidepressant was sertraline (20.4%, followed by fluoxetine (13.3% and maprotiline (11.7%. Utilization of antidepressants was positively correlated with the rate of reimbursement (p < 0.01. The most prescribed antidepressant group was selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI (47.8%, followed by tricyclic antidepresants (TCA (25.3% and new antidepressants - venlafaxine, tianeptine, mirtazapine, bupropion, trazodone (15.1%. Most of the drugs were prescribed in doses which are at the lower end of the recommended dose-range. Regarding severity of the actual depressive episode, TCA were prescribed for severe depression with psychotic features, while SSRI were choice for

  18. Antidepressants for Children and Teens

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... et al. Antidepressant drugs and the risk of suicide in children and adolescents. Pediatric Drugs. 2014;16:115. Gibbons RD, et al. Antidepressant treatment and suicide attempts and self-inflicted injury in children and adolescents. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2015;24: ...

  19. Study of niobium isotopes having excess neutrons and a short half-life; Etude des isotopes du niobium excedentaires en neutrons et de courte periode

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huebenthal, K [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Grenoble (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1968-02-01

    By irradiating Mo with 14 MeV neutrons isomers have been found for {sup 98}Nb (2.8 s half-life) {sup 99}Nb (9 s) and {sup 100}Nb (2.4 s). No isomer of this type seems to exist for {sup 96}Nb. Rapid separation methods are developed for isolating {sup 98}Zr from fission products, and for separating Zr and Nb. The half-life of {sup 98}Zr is measured (31 s) and the formation of {sup 98}Nb (2.8 s) from {sup 98}Zr (31 s) is shown by milking. Rough {beta} and {gamma} measurements of these nuclei are described. The {gamma} spectrum of {sup 98}Nb (51 mn) is studied with a high-resolution Ge/Li - detector. (authors) [French] Des irradiations des isotopes de molybdene avec des neutrons de 14 MeV ont mis en evidence l'existence des isomeres de {sup 98}Nb (periode 2.8 s) {sup 99}Nb (9 s) et {sup 100}Nb (2.4 s). Pour le {sup 96}Nb un isomere de ce type ne semble pas exister. Des methodes rapides de separation sont mises au point pour isoler le zirconium 98 des produits de fission, et pour separer ensuite le niobium du zirconium. La periode du {sup 98}Zr est de 3l s, et on demontre la formation du {sup 98}Nb (2.8 s) a partir du Zr (31 s). Ces corps sont etudies sommairement en spectroscopie {beta} et {gamma}. Le spectre gamma de {sup 98}Nb (periode 51 mn) est etudie avec un detecteur Ge/Li de haute resolution. (auteurs)

  20. Ultra-High Precision Half-Life Measurement for the Superallowed &+circ; Emitter ^26Al^m

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finlay, P.; Demand, G.; Garrett, P. E.; Leach, K. G.; Phillips, A. A.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Svensson, C. E.; Triambak, S.; Grinyer, G. F.; Leslie, J. R.; Andreoiu, C.; Cross, D.; Austin, R. A. E.; Ball, G. C.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Djongolov, M.; Ettenauer, S.; Hackman, G.; Pearson, C. J.; Williams, S. J.

    2009-10-01

    The calculated nuclear structure dependent correction for ^26Al^m (δC-δNS= 0.305(27)% [1]) is smaller by nearly a factor of two than the other twelve precision superallowed cases, making it an ideal case to pursue a reduction in the experimental errors contributing to the Ft value. An ultra-high precision half-life measurement for the superallowed &+circ; emitter ^26Al^m has been made at the Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC) facility at TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada. A beam of ˜10^5 ^26Al^m/s was delivered in October 2007 and its decay was observed using a 4π continuous gas flow proportional counter as part of an ongoing experimental program in superallowed Fermi β decay studies. With a statistical precision of ˜0.008%, the present work represents the single most precise measurement of any superallowed half-life to date. [4pt] [1] I.S. Towner and J.C. Hardy, Phys. Rev. C 79, 055502 (2009).

  1. Antidepressant treatment and suicide attempts and self-inflicted injury in children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbons, Robert D; Coca Perraillon, Marcelo; Hur, Kwan; Conti, Rena M; Valuck, Robert J; Brent, David A

    2015-02-01

    In the 2004, FDA placed a black box warning on antidepressants for risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in children and adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to examine the risk of suicide attempt and self-inflicted injury in depressed children ages 5-17 treated with antidepressants in two large observational datasets taking account time-varying confounding. We analyzed two large US medical claims databases (MarketScan and LifeLink) containing 221,028 youth (ages 5-17) with new episodes of depression, with and without antidepressant treatment during the period of 2004-2009. Subjects were followed for up to 180 days. Marginal structural models were used to adjust for time-dependent confounding. For both datasets, significantly increased risk of suicide attempts and self-inflicted injury were seen during antidepressant treatment episodes in the unadjusted and simple covariate adjusted analyses. Marginal structural models revealed that the majority of the association is produced by dynamic confounding in the treatment selection process; estimated odds ratios were close to 1.0 consistent with the unadjusted and simple covariate adjusted association being a product of chance alone. Our analysis suggests antidepressant treatment selection is a product of both static and dynamic patient characteristics. Lack of adjustment for treatment selection based on dynamic patient characteristics can lead to the appearance of an association between antidepressant treatment and suicide attempts and self-inflicted injury among youths in unadjusted and simple covariate adjusted analyses. Marginal structural models can be used to adjust for static and dynamic treatment selection processes such as that likely encountered in observational studies of associations between antidepressant treatment selection, suicide and related behaviors in youth. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2. Years of life lost due to external radiation exposure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raičević Jagoš J.

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper a new approach for calculation of the years of life lost per excess death due to stochastic health effects is applied to external exposure pathways. The short-term external exposures are due to the passage of radioactive cloud and due to the skin and clothes contamination. The long-term external exposure is the one from the radioactive material deposited on the ground (groundshine. Three nuclides, 131I, 137Cs, and 239Pu, and with the extremely wide range of half-life are considered in order to examine their possible influence on the calculated values of years of life lost. For each of these nuclides, the number of years of life lost has been found as a decreasing function of the age at the expo sure and presented graphically in this paper. For protracted exposures, the fully averaged number of years of life lost is negative correlated with the nuclide’s half-life. On the other hand, the short-term external exposures do not depend on the nuclide’s half-life. In addition, a weak years of life lost dependence of the dose has been commented.

  3. Depression, antidepressants and driving safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Linda L; Lauzon, Vanessa L; Winbrock, Elise L; Li, Guohua; Chihuri, Stanford; Lee, Kelly C

    2017-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to review to review the reported associations of depression and antidepressants with motor vehicle crashes. A literature search for material published in the English language between January, 1995, and October, 2015, in bibliographic databases was combined with a search for other relevant material referenced in the retrieved articles. Retrieved articles were systematically reviewed for inclusion criteria: 19 epidemiological studies (17 case-control and 2 cohort studies) fulfilled the inclusion criteria by estimating the crash risk associated with depression and/or psychotropic medications in naturalistic settings. The estimates of the odds ratio (OR) of crash involvement associated with depression ranged from 1.78 to 3.99. All classes of antidepressants were reported to have side effects with the potential to affect driving safety. The majority of studies of antidepressant effects on driving reported an elevated crash risk, and ORs ranged from 1.19 to 2.03 for all crashes, and 3.19 for fatal crashes. In meta-analysis, depression was associated with approximately 2-fold increased crash risk (summary OR = 1.90; 95% CI, 1.06 to 3.39), and antidepressants were associated with approximately 40% increased crash risk (summary OR = 1.40; 95%CI, 1.18 to 1.66). Based on the findings of the studies reviewed, depression, antidepressants or the combination of depression and antidepressants may pose a potential hazard to driving safety. More research is needed to understand the individual contributions of depression and the medications used to treat depression.

  4. Systematic study of α half-lives of superheavy nuclei

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budaca, A. I.; Silisteanu, I.

    2014-03-01

    Two different descriptions of the α-decay process, namely, the shell model rate theory and phenomenological description are emphasized to investigate the α-decay properties of SHN. These descriptions are shortly presented and illustrated by their results. Special attention is given to the shell structure and resonance scattering effects due to which they exist and decay. A first systematics of α-decay properties of SHN was performed by studying the half-life vs. energy correlations in terms of atomic number and mass number. Such a systematics shows that the transitions between even-even nuclei are favored, while all other transitions with odd nucleons are prohibited. The accuracy of experimental and calculated α-half-lives is illustrated by the systematics of these results.

  5. Pharmacogenetics of antidepressant response: An update

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Drago Antonio

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The past few decades have witnessed much progress in the field of pharmacogenetics. The identification of the genetic background that regulates the antidepressant response has benefited from these advances. This review focuses on the pharmacogenetics of the antidepressant response through the analysis and discussion of the most compelling evidence in this line of research. Online databases (Medline and PsycINFO have been searched and the most replicated association findings relating to the genetics of the antidepressant response have been reported and discussed. Some replicated findings in the literature have suggested the serotonin transporter promoter (5-HTTLPR, serotonin receptor 1A (HTR1A, serotonin receptor 2A (HTR2A, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, corticotropin releasing hormone receptor 1 (CRHR1 and FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5 as putative regulators of the antidepressant response. A high rate of failure of replication has also been reported. Pharmacogenetics will hopefully provide the basis for personalised antidepressant treatment that is able to maximise the probability of a good response and to minimise side effects; however, this goal is not achievable at the moment. The extent of the validity of the replicated findings and the reasons for the poor results obtained from studies of the pharmacogenetics of the antidepressant response are discussed.

  6. The effects of depression and use of antidepressive medicines during pregnancy on the methylation status of the IGF2 imprinted control regions in the offspring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soubry A

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract In utero exposures to environmental factors may result in persistent epigenetic modifications affecting normal development and susceptibility to chronic diseases in later life. We explored the relationship between exposure of the growing fetus to maternal depression or antidepressants and DNA methylation at two differentially methylated regions (DMRs of the imprinted Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 (IGF2 gene. Aberrant DNA methylation at the IGF2 and neighboring H19 DMRs has been associated with deregulated IGF2 expression, childhood cancers and several chronic diseases during adulthood. Our study population is comprised of pregnant mothers and their newborns (n = 436, as part of the Newborn Epigenetics Study (NEST. A standardized questionnaire was completed and medical record data were abstracted to ascertain maternal depression and antidepressive drug use. DMR methylation levels in umbilical cord blood leukocytes were quantified using pyrosequencing. From the 436 newborns, laboratory data were obtained for 356 individuals at the IGF2 DMRs, and for 411 individuals at the H19 DMRs; about half of each group was African American or Caucasian. While overall no association between depression and methylation profiles was found, we observed a significant hypermethylation of the H19 DMRs in newborns of African American (n = 177 but not Caucasian (n = 168 mothers who reported the use of antidepressive drugs during pregnancy (β = +6.89, p = 0.01. Of note, our data reveal a race-independent association between smoking during pregnancy and methylation at the IGF2 DMR (+3.05%, p = 0.01. In conclusion, our findings suggest a race-dependent response related to maternal use of antidepressants at one of the IGF2 DMRs in the offspring.

  7. A Half-Life Measurement of the 343.4 keV Level in {sup 175}Lu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoejeberg, M; Malmskog, S G

    1969-05-15

    Great theoretical interest has recently been shown in the asymptotically forbidden 5/2 5/2+ [402] - 7/2 7/2+ [404] M1-transitions in {sup 181}Ta and {sup 175}Lu . Half-lives of the 5/2 5/2+ [402] level in {sup 175}Lu have been reported which differ by more than a factor of 10. Using an electron-electron coincidence spectrometer the half-life of this level has been re-measured and a value of (0.26 {+-} 0.02) nsec has been established.

  8. Do Antidepressant Advertisements Educate Consumers and Promote Communication Between Patients with Depression and Their Physicians?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Robert A.; Taylor, Laramie D.; Kravitz, Richard L.

    2010-01-01

    Objective To examine how online depression support group members respond to direct-to-consumer (DTC) antidepressant advertising. Methods Survey of 148 depression forum members, administered via an online questionnaire. Results Chronicity was high, as 79.1% had received a diagnosis of depression 3 or more years earlier. Respondents reported seeing advertisements for an average of 4.3 of 7 brands investigated. A majority rated the information quality of these advertisements as “poor” or “fair.” Attitudes toward antidepressant advertisements were neutral (mean: 2.96 on a 5-point scale). More than half (52.4%) visited official websites provided in these advertisements, 39.9% had talked with a doctor after seeing an advertisement, 20.3% made an advertisement-induced prescription request, and 25.7% said these advertisements reminded them to take their antidepressants. Amount of attention given to these advertisements correlated positively with belief in the brain chemical imbalance causal model, but belief in this model did not predict prescription requests. Conclusion Awareness of DTC antidepressant advertisements is high among individuals with depression, but so is skepticism. Practice Implications Among members of an on-line support group, these advertisements encourage patient-doctor dialogue, prescription requests, and adherence, but might also reduce the acceptability of psychotherapy and encourage doctor switching in a small number of patients. PMID:20176456

  9. Dependence of the half-life of 221Fr on the implantation environment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olaizola, B.; Fraile, L.M.; Riisager, Karsten

    2010-01-01

    The possible dependence of the half-life of 221Fr on the solid-state environment has been investigated by the simultaneous measurement of implanted 221Fr ions in an insulator (Si) and a metallic substrate (Au) at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. Our results indicate that, if existing, the difference ...

  10. Telephone-administered psychotherapy in combination with antidepressant medication for the acute treatment of major depressive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corruble, Emmanuelle; Swartz, Holly A; Bottai, Thierry; Vaiva, Guillaume; Bayle, Frank; Llorca, Pierre-Michel; Courtet, Philippe; Frank, Ellen; Gorwood, Philip

    2016-01-15

    Telephone-administered psychotherapies (T-P) provided as an adjunct to antidepressant medication may improve response rates in major depressive disorder (MDD). The goal of this study was to compare telephone-administered social rhythm therapy (T-SRT) and telephone-administered intensive clinical management (T-ICM) as adjuncts to antidepressant medication for MDD. A secondary goal was to compare T-P with Treatment as Usual (TAU) as adjunctive treatment to medication for MDD. 221 adult out-patients with MDD, currently depressed, were randomly assigned to 8 sessions of weekly T-SRT (n=110) or T-ICM (n=111), administered as an adjunct to agomelatine. Both psychotherapies were administered entirely by telephone, by trained psychologists who were blind to other aspects of treatment. The 221 patients were a posteriori matched with 221 depressed outpatients receiving TAU (controls). The primary outcome measure was the percentage of responders at 8 weeks post-treatment. No significant differences were found between T-SRT and T-ICM. But T-P was associated with higher response rates (65.4% vs 54.8%, p=0.02) and a trend toward higher remission rates (33.2% vs 25.1%; p=0.06) compared to TAU. Short term study. This study is the first assessing the short-term effects of an add-on, brief, telephone-administered psychotherapy in depressed patients treated with antidepressant medication. Eight sessions of weekly telephone-delivered psychotherapy as an adjunct to antidepressant medication resulted in improved response rates relative to medication alone. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Antidepressants in the treatment of neuropathic pain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sindrup, Søren H.; Otto, Marit; Finnerup, Nanna Brix

    2005-01-01

    Neuropathic pain is due to lesion or dysfunction of the peripheral or central nervous system. Tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsants have long been the mainstay of treatment of this type of pain. Tricyclic antidepressants may relieve neuropathic pain by their unique ability to inhibit...... presynaptic reuptake of the biogenic amines serotonin and noradrenaline, but other mechanisms such as N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor and ion channel blockade probably also play a role in their pain-relieving effect. The effect of tricyclic antidepressants in neuropathic pain in man has been demonstrated...... in numerous randomised, controlled trials, and a few trials have shown that serotonin noradrenaline and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants also relieve neuropathic pain although with lower efficacy. Tricyclic antidepressants will relieve one in every 2-3 patients with peripheral...

  12. The analysis of predictability of α-decay half-life formulae and the α partial half-lives of some exotic nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dasgupta-Schubert, N.; Reyes, M.A.; Tamez, V.A.

    2009-01-01

    The predictabilities of the three α-decay half-life formulae, the Royer GLDM, the Viola-Seaborg and the Sobiczewski-Parkhomenko formulae, have been evaluated by developing a method based on the ansatz of standard experimental benchmarking. The coefficients of each formula were re-derived using the reliable data of the α -standards nuclei. The modified formulae that resulted were used to evaluate the accuracies of the formulae towards the prediction of half-lives of a set of nuclides with well-studied α spectroscopic data as well as a set of exotic α emitters. Further, a simple linear optimisation of the modified formulae allowed adjustments for the insufficient statistics of the primary data set without changing the modified formulae. While the three modified formulae showed equivalent results for all the medium heavy nuclei except the odd-odd, the modified GLDM showed relatively the best figures of merit for the odd-odd and superheavy nuclides. (orig.)

  13. The efficacy of primary care chaplaincy compared with antidepressants: a retrospective study comparing chaplaincy with antidepressants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macdonald, Gordon

    2017-07-01

    Aim To determine the effectiveness of primary care chaplaincy (PCC) when used as the sole intervention, with outcomes being compared directly with those of antidepressants. This was to be carried out in a homogenous study population reflective of certain demographics in the United Kingdom. Increasing numbers of patients are living with long-term conditions and 'modern maladies' and are experiencing loss of well-being and depression. There is an increasing move to utilise non-pharmacological interventions such as 'talking therapies' within this context. Chaplaincy is one such 'talking therapy' but within primary care its evidence base is sparse with only one quantitative study to date. There is therefore a need to evaluate PCC excluding those co-prescribed antidepressants, as this is not evidenced in the literature as yet. PCC also needs to be directly compared with the use of antidepressants to justify its use as a valid alternative treatment for loss of well-being and depression. This was a retrospective observational study based on routinely collected data. There were 107 patients in the PCC group and 106 in the antidepressant group. Socio-demographic data were collected. Their pre- and post-intervention (either chaplaincy or antidepressant) well-being was assessed, by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) which is a validated Likert scale. Findings The majority of both groups were female with both groups showing marked ethnic homogeneity. PCC was associated with a significant and clinically meaningful improvement in well-being at a mean follow-up of 80 days. This treatment effect was maintained after those co-prescribed antidepressants were removed. PCC was associated with an improvement in well-being similar to that of antidepressants with no significant difference between the two groups.

  14. Calibration on Pegase of a selective D.R.G. installation for short life and long life fission gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vasnier, F.

    1968-01-01

    Pegase irradiation loops are equipped with a detection installation which measures the global activity of short-life and long-life fission gases which are released in CO 2 , but the reduced size of circuits in the loop results in an accumulation of long life fission gases, and therefore in problems in the interpretation of measured signals. Thus, the authors propose an additional detection installation which allows long-life fission gases to be separately measured. The principle is to ensure a partial decay of the sampled gas by imposing an additional transit time in order to get rid of short-life fission gases which have a radioactive period of some tenths of a second. A second detector is then used to measure the residual activity of long-life fission gases. The author describes the installation (the normal circuit and the modified circuit), reports the performed tests and the calibration, presents and discusses the obtained results and the installation sensitivity (for short-life and long-life fission gases), and reports their application to the relationship between DRG (sheath failure detection) signals obtained on Pegase and on EDF and EL4 reactors

  15. Systematics of half-lives for proton radioactivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medeiros, E.L.; Rodrigues, M.M.N.; Duarte, S.B.; Tavares, O.A.P.

    2007-01-01

    Half-life measurements for both ground-state and isomeric transitions in proton radioactivity are systematized by using a semiempirical, one-parameter model based on tunneling through a potential barrier, where the centrifugal and overlapping effects are taken into account within the spherical nucleus approximation. This approach, which has been successfully applied to alpha decay cases covering ∼ 30 orders of magnitude in half-life, has shown, in addition, very adequate at fitting all existing data on partial half-life, T 1/2p , of proton emission from nuclei. Nearly 70 measured half-life values have been analysed, and the data could be described by two straight lines relating the pure Coulomb contribution to half life with the quantity Z d (μ 0 /Q p ) 1/2 (Z d is the atomic number of the daughter nucleus, μ 0 is the reduced mass, and Q p is the total nuclear energy available for decay). These straight lines are shown to correspond to different degrees of deformation, namely, very prolate (δ> approx. 0.1), and other shaped (delta < approx. 0.1) parent nuclei. The goodness in reproducing the data attained in the present systematics allows for half-life predictions for a few possible cases of proton radioactivity not yet experimentally accessed. (author)

  16. High-Precision Half-Life and Branching Ratio Measurements for the Superallowed β+ Emitter 26Alm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finlay, P.; Svensson, C. E.; Demand, G. A.; Garrett, P. E.; Green, K. L.; Leach, K. G.; Phillips, A. A.; Rand, E. T.; Ball, G.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Djongolov, M.; Ettenauer, S.; Hackman, G.; Pearson, C. J.; Leslie, J. R.; Andreoiu, C.; Cross, D.; Austin, R. A. E.; Grinyer, G. F.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Williams, S. J.; Triambak, S.

    2013-03-01

    High-precision half-life and branching-ratio measurements for the superallowed β+ emitter 26Alm were performed at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive ion beam facility. An upper limit of ≤ 15 ppm at 90% C.L. was determined for the sum of all possible non-analogue β+/EC decay branches of 26Alm, yielding a superallowed branching ratio of 100.0000+0-0.0015%. A value of T1/2 = 6:34654(76) s was determined for the 26Alm half-life which is consistent with, but 2.5 times more precise than, the previous world average. Combining these results with world-average measurements yields an ft value of 3037.58(60) s, the most precisely determined for any superallowed emitting nucleus to date. This high-precision ft value for 26Alm provides a new benchmark to refine theoretical models of isospin-symmetry-breaking effects in superallowed β decays.

  17. Precision measurement of the half-life of {sup 90m}Nb and {sup 99m}Tc

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kikunaga, H.; Fujisawa, H.; Ooe, K. [Osaka Univ., Toyonaka (Japan). Graduate School of Science] [and others

    2011-07-01

    We have produced {sup 90m}Nb and {sup 99m}Tc in the reactions of {sup nat}Zr(p, xn){sup 90m}Nb and {sup 100}Mo({gamma}, n){sup 99}Mo, followed by disintegration to {sup 99m}Tc, respectively, and measured the halflives of these nuclides by using a reference source method. In order to determine the short half-lives of {sup 90m}Nb precisely, an on-line gas-jet system has been employed. As a result, the half-lives of these nuclides were determined with good precision on the order of magnitude of 0.1%. (orig.)

  18. Real-World Analysis of Dispensed IUs of Coagulation Factor IX and Resultant Expenditures in Hemophilia B Patients Receiving Standard Half-life Versus Extended Half-life Products and Those Switching from Standard Half-life to Extended Half-life Products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tortella, Bartholomew J; Alvir, José; McDonald, Margaret; Spurden, Dean; Fogarty, Patrick F; Chhabra, Amit; Pleil, Andreas M

    2018-01-24

    Hemophilia B requires replacement therapy with factor IX (FIX) coagulation products to treat and prevent bleeding episodes. A recently introduced extended half-life (EHL) recombinant FIX replacement product provided the opportunity to compare the amount of dispensed factor and expenditures for EHL treatment compared with a standard half-life (SHL) product. To determine factor international units (IUs) dispensed and expenditures associated with switching from nonacog alfa, the most commonly used SHL replacement product, to eftrenonacog alfa, an EHL FIX replacement product. Two U.S. claims databases were analyzed. A large national specialty pharmacy dispensation claims database was used to identify the number of IUs dispensed and monthly charges for all patients with hemophilia B from April 2015 to June 2016. Truven Health MarketScan Research Databases (January 2010-July 2016) were used to identify IUs and expenditures for patients with claims data for at least 3 months before and after switching from the SHL to the EHL product. Medians for IUs and expenditures are presented to accommodate for skewness of data distribution. The national specialty pharmacy database analysis included 296 patients with moderate or severe hemophilia B (233 on SHL; 94 on EHL). Median monthly factor dispensed was 11% lower (2,142 IU) in the EHL versus SHL cohort over the study period, while individual monthly reductions ranged from 32% to 47% (9,838 IU to 16,514 IU). Using the wholesale acquisition cost, the median per-patient monthly factor expenditures over the 15-month study period were 94% higher ($23,005) for the EHL than for the SHL product. Individual median monthly expenditure differences ranged from 15% ($6,562) to 49% ($19,624). In the Truven database, 14 patients switched from the SHL to the EHL product. The amount of factor dispensed was variable; in the 1-year period before and after the switch from the SHL to the EHL product, mean IUs dispensed decreased by 3,005 IU, while

  19. Teduglutide for the treatment of short bowel syndrome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeppesen, P B

    2013-01-01

    Glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) decreases gastric and intestinal motility, reduces gastric secretions, promotes intestinal growth and improves post-resection structural and functional adaptation in short bowel syndrome (SBS). Teduglutide, an analogue of GLP-2, has a prolonged half-life and provides...

  20. ORIGEN-S Decay Data Library and Half-Life Uncertainties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hermann, O.W.

    1998-01-01

    The results of an extensive update of the decay data of the ORIGEN-S library are presented in this report. The updated decay data were provided for both the ORIGEN-S and ORIGEN2 libraries in the same project. A complete edit of the decay data plus the available half-life uncertainties are included in Appendix A. A detailed description of the types of data contained in the library, the format of the library, and the data sources are also presented. Approximately 24% of the library nuclides are stable, 66% were updated from ENDF/B-VI, about 8% were updated from ENSDF, and the remaining 2% were not updated. Appendix B presents a listing of percentage changes in decay heat from the old to the updated library for all nuclides containing a difference exceeding 1% in any parameter

  1. Half-life of the 3/2/sup +/ level of /sup 119/Sn

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abreu, M C; Gil, F B [Faculdade de Ciencias da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon (Portugal). Grupo de Espectroscopia Nuclear, Laboratorio de Fisica

    1976-01-01

    The half-life of the 3/2/sup +/, 23.87 keV level of /sup 119/Sn is measured by the delayed coincidence technique. Magnetic spectrometry associated with scintillation techniques and scintillation spectrometry only have been used. The results obtained with these techniques were respectively Tsub(1/2) = 17.87 +- 0.11 ns and Tsub(1/2) = 18.48 +- 0.30 ns. The measured reduced M1 transition probability is compared with the single-particle and Kisslinger and Sorensen model predictions.

  2. Placental transfer of antidepressant medications: implications for postnatal adaptation syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ewing, Grace; Tatarchuk, Yekaterina; Appleby, Dina; Schwartz, Nadav; Kim, Deborah

    2015-04-01

    Seven to thirteen percent of women are either prescribed or taking (depending on the study) an antidepressant during pregnancy. Because antidepressants freely cross into the intrauterine environment, we aim to summarize the current findings on placental transfer of antidepressants. Although generally low risk, antidepressants have been associated with postnatal adaptation syndrome (PNAS). Specifically, we explore whether the antidepressants most closely associated with PNAS (paroxetine, fluoxetine, venlafaxine) cross the placenta to a greater extent than other antidepressants. We review research on antidepressants in the context of placental anatomy, placental transport mechanisms, placental metabolism, pharmacokinetics, as well as non-placental maternal and fetal factors. This provides insight into the complexity involved in understanding how placental transfer of antidepressants may relate to adverse perinatal outcomes. Ultimately, from this data there is no pattern in which PNAS is related to placental transfer of antidepressant medications. In general, there is large interindividual variability for each type of antidepressant. To make the most clinically informed decisions about the use of antidepressants in pregnancy, studies that link maternal, placental and fetal genetic polymorphisms, placental transfer rates and infant outcomes are needed.

  3. Pile-up corrections for high-precision superallowed β decay half-life measurements via γ-ray photopeak counting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grinyer, G. F.; Svensson, C. E.; Andreoiu, C.; Andreyev, A. N.; Austin, R. A. E.; Ball, G. C.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Chakrawarthy, R. S.; Finlay, P.; Garrett, P. E.; Hackman, G.; Hyland, B.; Kulp, W. D.; Leach, K. G.; Leslie, J. R.; Morton, A. C.; Pearson, C. J.; Phillips, A. A.; Sarazin, F.; Schumaker, M. A.; Smith, M. B.; Valiente-Dobón, J. J.; Waddington, J. C.; Williams, S. J.; Wong, J.; Wood, J. L.; Zganjar, E. F.

    2007-09-01

    A general technique that corrects γ-ray gated β decay-curve data for detector pulse pile-up is presented. The method includes corrections for non-zero time-resolution and energy-threshold effects in addition to a special treatment of saturating events due to cosmic rays. This technique is verified through a Monte Carlo simulation and experimental data using radioactive beams of Na26 implanted at the center of the 8π γ-ray spectrometer at the ISAC facility at TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada. The β-decay half-life of Na26 obtained from counting 1809-keV γ-ray photopeaks emitted by the daughter Mg26 was determined to be T=1.07167±0.00055 s following a 27σ correction for detector pulse pile-up. This result is in excellent agreement with the result of a previous measurement that employed direct β counting and demonstrates the feasibility of high-precision β-decay half-life measurements through the use of high-purity germanium γ-ray detectors. The technique presented here, while motivated by superallowed-Fermi β decay studies, is general and can be used for all half-life determinations (e.g. α-, β-, X-ray, fission) in which a γ-ray photopeak is used to select the decays of a particular isotope.

  4. Frontal white matter anisotropy and antidepressant remission in late-life depression.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Warren D Taylor

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Neuroanatomic features associated with antidepressant treatment outcomes in older depressed individuals are not well established. This study used diffusion tensor imaging to examine frontal white matter structure in depressed subjects undergoing a 12-week trial of sertraline. We hypothesized that remission would be associated with higher frontal anisotropy measures, and failure to remit with lower anisotropy.74 subjects with Major Depressive Disorder and age 60 years or older were enrolled in a twelve-week open-label trial of sertraline and completed clinical assessments and 1.5T magnetic resonance brain imaging. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC and fractional anisotropy (FA were measured in regions of interest placed in the white matter of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and corpus callosum. Differences in ADC and FA values between subjects who did and did not remit to treatment over the study period were assessed using generalized estimating equations, controlling for age, sex, medical comorbidity and baseline depression severity.Subjects who did not remit to sertraline exhibited higher FA values in the superior frontal gyri and anterior cingulate cortices bilaterally. There were no statistically significant associations between ADC measures and remission.Failure to remit to sertraline is associated with higher frontal FA values. Functional imaging studies demonstrate that depression is characterized by functional disconnection between frontal and limbic regions. Those individuals where this disconnection is related to structural changes as detected by DTI may be more likely to respond to antidepressants.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00339066.

  5. [Tricyclic antidepressant therapy in headache].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magyar, Máté; Csépány, Éva; Gyüre, Tamás; Bozsik, György; Bereczki, Dániel; Ertsey, Csaba

    2015-12-01

    The two most important representatives of the primary headaches are migraine and tension-type headache. More than 10% of the population suffer from migraine and even a greater part, approximately 30-40% from tension-type headache. These two headache types have a great effect both on the individual and on the society. There are two types of therapeutic approaches to headaches: the abortive and the prophylactic therapy. Prophylactic treatment is used for frequent and/or difficult-to-treat headache attacks. Although both migraine and tension-type headache are often associated with depression, for their treatment - in contrast to the widespread medical opinion - not all antidepressants were found to be effective. Amitriptyline, which is a tricyclic antidepressant, is used as a prophylactic therapy for headache since 1968. Its efficacy has been demonstrated in several double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. Although the newer types of antidepressant, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and selective serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, have a more favorable side-effect profile than tricyclic antidepressants, their headache prophylactic effect has not been proven yet.

  6. Biological half-life of bromide in the rat depends primarily on the magnitude of sodium intake

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Pavelka, Stanislav; Babický, Arnošt; Vobecký, Miloslav

    2005-01-01

    Roč. 54, č. 6 (2005), s. 639-644 ISSN 0862-8408 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50110509 Keywords : biological half-life * bromide * sodium Subject RIV: ED - Physiology Impact factor: 1.806, year: 2005

  7. Sexual dysfunction, depression, and the impact of antidepressants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, Sidney H; Rizvi, Sakina

    2009-04-01

    Sexual dysfunction is a common symptom of depression. Although decreased libido is most often reported, difficulties with arousal, resulting in vaginal dryness in women and erectile dysfunction in men, and absent or delayed orgasm are also prevalent. Sexual dysfunction is also a frequent adverse effect of treatment with most antidepressants and is one of the predominant reasons for premature drug discontinuation. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are the most widely prescribed antidepressants and have significant effects on arousal and orgasm compared with antidepressants that target norepinephrine, dopamine, and melatonin systems. The availability of an antidepressant that does not cause or exacerbate sexual dysfunction represents an advance in pharmacotherapy for mood disorders and should reduce treatment noncompliance and decrease the need for switching antidepressants or adding antidotes. The purpose of this review was to provide an update on the prevalence, psychobiology, and relative adverse effect burden of sexual dysfunction associated with different antidepressants.

  8. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis: an important target associated with antidepressant effects of exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Lina; Sun, Qingshan; Qi, Jinshun

    2017-10-26

    Depression is a prevalent devastating mental disorder that affects the normal life of patients and brings a heavy burden to whole society. Although many efforts have been made to attenuate depressive/anxiety symptoms, the current clinic antidepressants have limited effects. Scientists have long been making attempts to find some new strategies that can be applied as the alternative antidepressant therapy. Exercise, a widely recognized healthy lifestyle, has been suggested as a therapy that can relieve psychiatric stress. However, how exercise improves the brain functions and reaches the antidepressant target needs systematic summarization due to the complexity and heterogeneous feature of depression. Brain plasticity, especially adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus, is an important neurophysiology to facilitate animals for neurogenesis can occur in not only humans. Many studies indicated that an appropriate level of exercise can promote neurogenesis in the adult brains. In this article, we provide information about the antidepressant effects of exercise and its implications in adult neurogenesis. From the neurogenesis perspective, we summarize evidence about the effects of exercise in enhancing neurogenesis in the hippocampus through regulating growth factors, neurotrophins, neurotransmitters and metabolism as well as inflammations. Taken together, a large number of published works indicate the multiple benefits of exercise in the brain functions of animals, particularly brain plasticity like neurogenesis and synaptogenesis. Therefore, a new treatment method for depression therapy can be developed by regulating the exercise activity.

  9. Sertraline: a new antidepressant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auster, R

    1993-08-01

    Sertraline is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor that has been approved for use in the treatment of depression. Its side-effect profile is similar to that of fluoxetine, a drug of the same class. The side effects of these drugs most often affect the gastrointestinal tract. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors are nonsedating and free of cardiac effects; they do not cause hypotension, urinary retention or blurred vision. Sertraline, like fluoxetine, appears to be safer than tricyclic antidepressants in overdose. However, no clinical studies comparing sertraline and fluoxetine have been published. The wholesale cost of a month's supply of sertraline is about $50, compared with about $5 for a generic tricyclic antidepressant. Despite their cost, serotonin uptake inhibitors may be the initial drugs of choice in depressed elderly patients, because these patients are at increased risk for suicide and have a low tolerance for the side effects of tricyclic antidepressants.

  10. Reduction in the latency of action of antidepressants by 17 beta-estradiol in the forced swimming test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Estrada-Camarena, E; Rivera, N M Vega; Berlanga, C; Fernández-Guasti, A

    2008-12-01

    Antidepressants (ADs) are slow to produce their therapeutic effect. This long latency promotes the development of new strategies to short their onset of action. Previous reports indicated that 17beta-estradiol (E(2)) promotes the antidepressant-like activity of fluoxetine (FLX) and desipramine (DMI) in the forced swimming test (FST). The aim of the present work was to analyze if E(2) reduces the antidepressant-like onset of action of venlafaxine (VLX), FLX, and DMI. Independent groups of ovariectomized female Wistar rats were tested in the FST and in the open field after chronic (1 to 14 days) treatment with VLX (20 mg/kg/day), FLX (1.25 mg/kg/day), or DMI (1.25 mg/kg/day) alone or in combination with a single injection of E(2) (2.5 microg/rat sc, 8 h before FST). VLX, FLX, or DMI by themselves at these doses did not induce changes in the FST at short intervals after their injection (from 1 to 7 days). The addition of E(2) promoted the antidepressant-like effect of VLX and DMI as early as day 1. Such action was also evident after 3, for FLX, and 14 days for both FLX and DMI, but not for VLX. The behavioral actions of these ADs combined with E(2) were not accompanied by increases in general activity in the open-field test. E(2) clearly reduced the latency to the onset of action for these ADs in the FST. These results represent an interesting therapeutic strategy for the treatment of depression in perimenopausal women.

  11. Location of the Antidepressant Binding Site in the Serotonin Transporter IMPORTANCE OF SER-438 IN RECOGNITION OF CITALOPRAM AND TRICYCLIC ANTIDEPRESSANTS

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Jacob; Taboureau, Olivier; Hansen, Kasper B.

    2009-01-01

    antidepressants, including the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram and the tricyclic antidepressants imipramine, clomipramine, and amitriptyline. A conservative mutation of Ser-438 to threonine (S438T) selectively increased the K-i values for these antidepressants up to 175-fold. The effects...

  12. Fab-dsFv: A bispecific antibody format with extended serum half-life through albumin binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davé, Emma; Adams, Ralph; Zaccheo, Oliver; Carrington, Bruce; Compson, Joanne E; Dugdale, Sarah; Airey, Michael; Malcolm, Sarah; Hailu, Hanna; Wild, Gavin; Turner, Alison; Heads, James; Sarkar, Kaushik; Ventom, Andrew; Marshall, Diane; Jairaj, Mark; Kopotsha, Tim; Christodoulou, Louis; Zamacona, Miren; Lawson, Alastair D; Heywood, Sam; Humphreys, David P

    2016-10-01

    An antibody format, termed Fab-dsFv, has been designed for clinical indications that require monovalent target binding in the absence of direct Fc receptor (FcR) binding while retaining substantial serum presence. The variable fragment (Fv) domain of a humanized albumin-binding antibody was fused to the C-termini of Fab constant domains, such that the VL and VH domains were individually connected to the Cκ and CH1 domains by peptide linkers, respectively. The anti-albumin Fv was selected for properties thought to be desirable to ensure a durable serum half-life mediated via FcRn. The Fv domain was further stabilized by an inter-domain disulfide bond. The bispecific format was shown to be thermodynamically and biophysically stable, and retained good affinity and efficacy to both antigens simultaneously. In in vivo studies, the serum half-life of Fab-dsFv, 2.6 d in mice and 7.9 d in cynomolgus monkeys, was equivalent to Fab'-PEG.

  13. Thyroid fractional deposition and half life of radioiodine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujita, Minoru

    1974-01-01

    In order to measure the absorbed dose of radioiodine in the thyroid gland, which was incorporated by halation or ingestion, iodine intake (fa), 131 I thyroid uptake rate(fw), 131 I thyroid uptake rate compared to the rate in the whole body (f 2 ) and the half life of iodine in the thyroid gland(Teff) were examined. Thyroid fractional deposition of 131 I was compared between Japanese and European. The rate of 131 I which moved from the blood into the thyroid gland in children (f 2 ') and the effect of the iodine in meals on 131 I thyroid uptake (fw) were also studied. In Japanese, f 2 was 0.28 and the mean Teff was 6.9 +- 0.7 days in 11 Japanese adults. There was an individual difference in these biological parameter and the values in adults were different from those in children. A little difference in value between Japanese and European suggested to be caused by the greater amount of stable iodine in meals in Japanese. (Serizawa, K.)

  14. Influence of antithyroid medication on effective half-life and uptake of 131 I following radioiodine therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moka, D.; Voth, E.; Schicha, H.

    1997-01-01

    Aim: A radioiodine therapy (RIT) in thyrotoxic patients receiving antithyroid drugs (ATD) leads in comparison to nonpretreated patients either to higher therapeutic doses or to higher treatment failure rates. Aim of this study was to optimize the effect of RIT in patients pretreated with ATD. Methods: Therefore, the influence of ATD was assessed in 109 patients with shortened effective half-life of 131 I. RIT was performed under stationary conditions. Radioiodine activity of the thyroid gland was stopped three days after RIT. The patients antithyroid medication was stopped three days after RIT. The progress of the first RIT and of a second radioiodine application, which still was necessary in 29 patients, was compared to 32 patients receiving ATD, continuously. Results: Values of effective half-life for 131 I rose significantly from 3.2±0.2 to 5.7±0.2 days (Graves' disease: 3.4 to 5.7 days; toxic goiters' disease: Multifocal autonomy 3.2 to 6.2 days; unifocal autonomy 2.5 auf 5.0 days) 2-3 days after stopping ATD. There was an increase of the 131 I-uptake of a second RIT decreased significantly in patients receiving ATD, continuously. Conclusion: Effective half-life and uptake of 131 I was affected significantly by ATD. The stop taking of ATD after RIT is useful to improve an apparent insufficient RIT in thyrotoxic patients receiving ATD. (orig.) [de

  15. Years of life lost due to external radiation exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raicevic, J.J.; Merkle, J.M.; Ehrhardt, J.; Ninkovic, M.M.

    2002-01-01

    A new approach for calculation of the years of life lost per excess death (YLL) due to stochastic health effects is applied to external exposure pathways. The short-term external exposures are due to the passage of radioactive cloud (CL) and due to the skin and clothes contamination (SK). The long-term external exposure is the one from the radioactive material deposited on ground (GR). Three nuclides, 131 I , 137 Cs and 239 Pu with extremely wide range of the half-life are considered to examine its possible influence on the calculated YLL values. For each of these nuclides, the YLL is found as a decreasing function of the age at exposure and presented graphically in this paper. Another negative correlation is established between the fully averaged YLL and the duration of the nuclide's half-life has been found for protracted exposure (GR). On the other hand, the YLL for the short-term external exposures (CL and SK) practically does not depend on the nuclide's half-life. In addition, a weak YLL dependence of the dose was commented. (author)

  16. Study on the biological half-life and organ-distribution of tritiated lysine-vasopressin in Brattleboro rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laczi, F.; Laszlo, F.A.; Keri, Gy.; Teplan, I.

    1980-01-01

    The biological half-life and organ-distribution of tritiated lysine-vasopressin were determined in R-Amsterdam rats, and in homozygous and heterozygous Brattleboro rats with hereditary central diabetes insipidus. It was found that the biological half-life of the tritiated lysin-vasopressin in the Brattleboro rats did not differ significantly from that found in the R-Amsterdam rats. The highest radioactivities were observed in the neuro- and adenohypophyses and in the kidneys of both the R-Amsterdam and the Brattleboro rats. The accumulation of tritiated LVP was higher in the small intestine of the Brattleboro rats than in that of the R-Amsterdam animals. The results have led to the conclusion that the accelerated elimination of vasopressin and its pathologic organ-accumulation are probably not involved in the water metabolism disturbance of Brattleboro rats with hereditary hypothalamic diabetes insipidus. (author)

  17. Antidepressant-like effect of fluoxetine may depend on translocator protein activity and pretest session duration in forced swimming test in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kudryashov, Nikita V; Kalinina, Tatiana S; Shimshirt, Alexander A; Korolev, Anton O; Volkova, Anna V; Voronina, Tatiana A

    2018-06-01

    The antidepressant-like effect of fluoxetine (20 mg/kg i.p.) has been assessed using the forced swimming test (FST) in IRC (CD-1) mice exposed or not to a pretest session of different duration (5 or 20 min). The influence of the mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO) activity on the antidepressant-like effect of fluoxetine (20 mg/kg i.p.) in the FST was also studied. The antidepressant-like effect of fluoxetine was observed only in mice subjected to a 5-min pretest session 24 h before the FST. The TSPO antagonist PK11195 [1-(2-chlorophenyl)-N-methyl-N-(1-methylpropyl)-3-isoquinolinecarboxamide; 1 or 3 mg/kg i.p.] inhibited the antidepressant activity of fluoxetine in the FST. In the present study, fluoxetine or PK11195 was administered for a short duration. We suppose that the functional activity of TSPO may depend on a pretest session and that using this procedure is necessary to detect antidepressant activity of fluoxetine-like drugs.

  18. Genetic predictors of response to serotonergic and noradrenergic antidepressants in major depressive disorder: a genome-wide analysis of individual-level data and a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tansey, Katherine E; Guipponi, Michel; Perroud, Nader; Bondolfi, Guido; Domenici, Enrico; Evans, David; Hall, Stephanie K; Hauser, Joanna; Henigsberg, Neven; Hu, Xiaolan; Jerman, Borut; Maier, Wolfgang; Mors, Ole; O'Donovan, Michael; Peters, Tim J; Placentino, Anna; Rietschel, Marcella; Souery, Daniel; Aitchison, Katherine J; Craig, Ian; Farmer, Anne; Wendland, Jens R; Malafosse, Alain; Holmans, Peter; Lewis, Glyn; Lewis, Cathryn M; Stensbøl, Tine Bryan; Kapur, Shitij; McGuffin, Peter; Uher, Rudolf

    2012-01-01

    It has been suggested that outcomes of antidepressant treatment for major depressive disorder could be significantly improved if treatment choice is informed by genetic data. This study aims to test the hypothesis that common genetic variants can predict response to antidepressants in a clinically meaningful way. The NEWMEDS consortium, an academia-industry partnership, assembled a database of over 2,000 European-ancestry individuals with major depressive disorder, prospectively measured treatment outcomes with serotonin reuptake inhibiting or noradrenaline reuptake inhibiting antidepressants and available genetic samples from five studies (three randomized controlled trials, one part-randomized controlled trial, and one treatment cohort study). After quality control, a dataset of 1,790 individuals with high-quality genome-wide genotyping provided adequate power to test the hypotheses that antidepressant response or a clinically significant differential response to the two classes of antidepressants could be predicted from a single common genetic polymorphism. None of the more than half million genetic markers significantly predicted response to antidepressants overall, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, or differential response to the two types of antidepressants (genome-wide significance panalysis of NEWMEDS and another large sample (STAR*D), with 2,897 individuals in total. Polygenic scoring found no convergence among multiple associations in NEWMEDS and STAR*D. No single common genetic variant was associated with antidepressant response at a clinically relevant level in a European-ancestry cohort. Effects specific to particular antidepressant drugs could not be investigated in the current study. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

  19. Absorption and biological half-life in humans of intrinsic and extrinsic 54Mn tracers from foods of plant origin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, P.E.; Lykken, G.I.; Korynta, E.D.

    1991-01-01

    Absorption and biological half-life of 54 Mn were measured in adult men and women fed foods labeled intrinsically or extrinsically with 54 Mn. Each subject consumed a series of three test meals consisting of a food labeled intrinsically, a food labeled extrinsically or MnCl 2 (control) served in random order. The foods tested were lettuce, spinach, wheat and sunflower seeds. Lettuce meals and their controls contained 9.65 mumol Mn; other meals contained 22.50 mumol Mn. In addition to the test food or MnCl 2 , each meal consisted of vegetable oil (5 g), salt (NaCl, 0.15 g) and crackers (10 g), which provided 0.55 mumol Mn. There were no differences in percentage of Mn absorption or biological half-life of 54 Mn for any of the intrinsically/extrinsically labeled food pairs. Absorption of 54 Mn from MnCl 2 (8.90%) was greater than from lettuce (5.20%), spinach (3.81%), wheat (2.16%) or sunflower seeds (1.71%), but the biological half-life did not vary with the source of Mn. Absorption of 54 Mn from lettuce was significantly (P less than 0.05) greater than from wheat or sunflower seeds. Although the Mn dose in the test meal was less for lettuce than for the other foods, there was no difference in Mn absorption from MnCl 2 between the subjects fed lettuce and subjects fed other foods. There was no correlation of either 54 Mn absorption or biological half-life with whole blood or plasma Mn

  20. NMDAR inhibition-independent antidepressant actions of ketamine metabolites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zanos, Panos; Moaddel, Ruin; Morris, Patrick J.; Georgiou, Polymnia; Fischell, Jonathan; Elmer, Greg I.; Alkondon, Manickavasagom; Yuan, Peixiong; Pribut, Heather J.; Singh, Nagendra S.; Dossou, Katina S.S.; Fang, Yuhong; Huang, Xi-Ping; Mayo, Cheryl L.; Wainer, Irving W.; Albuquerque, Edson X.; Thompson, Scott M.; Thomas, Craig J.; Zarate, Carlos A.; Gould, Todd D.

    2016-01-01

    Major depressive disorder afflicts ~16 percent of the world population at some point in their lives. Despite a number of available monoaminergic-based antidepressants, most patients require many weeks, if not months, to respond to these treatments, and many patients never attain sustained remission of their symptoms. The non-competitive glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, (R,S)-ketamine (ketamine), exerts rapid and sustained antidepressant effects following a single dose in depressed patients. Here we show that the metabolism of ketamine to (2S,6S;2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine (HNK) is essential for its antidepressant effects, and that the (2R,6R)-HNK enantiomer exerts behavioural, electroencephalographic, electrophysiological and cellular antidepressant actions in vivo. Notably, we demonstrate that these antidepressant actions are NMDAR inhibition-independent but they involve early and sustained α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptor activation. We also establish that (2R,6R)-HNK lacks ketamine-related side-effects. Our results indicate a novel mechanism underlying ketamine’s unique antidepressant properties, which involves the required activity of a distinct metabolite and is independent of NMDAR inhibition. These findings have relevance for the development of next generation, rapid-acting antidepressants. PMID:27144355

  1. The beta(+) decay and cosmic-ray half-life of Mn-54

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dacruz, M. T. F.; Norman, E. B.; Chan, Y. D.; Garcia, A.; Larimer, R. M.; Lesko, K. T.; Stokstad, R. G.; Wietfeldt, F. E.

    1993-03-01

    We performed a search for the beta(+) branch of Mn-54 decay. As a cosmic ray, Mn-54, deprived of its atomic electrons, can decay only via beta(+) and beta(-) decay, with a half-life of the order of 106 yr. This turns Mn-54 into a suitable cosmic chronometer for the study of cosmic-ray confinement times. We searched for coincident back-to-back 511-keV gamma-rays using two germanium detectors inside a Nal(Tl) annulus. An upper limit of 2 x 10-8 was found for the beta(+) decay branch, corresponding to a lower limit of 13.7 for the log ft value.

  2. Treatment of short-lived radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamaguchi, Chiri

    1976-01-01

    Recently short life nuclides have come to be utilized increasingly as diagnostic radioisotopes, and Tc-99m (half-life; 6.05 hours) and Ga-67 (half-life 7.79 hours) are replacing the most nuclides fomerly used in vivo test. Such development of radioactive products inevitably causes the rapid increase of their wastes. At present, the radioactive wastes produced by hospitals and university laboratories in Japan are collected by the Japan Radioisotope Association, and treated by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. These wastes are divided into combustibles and incombustibles to store in the store house in the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. The present law in Japan contains the contradiction which treats the matter with one several millionth of radioactivity after decay same as the original radioactive matter. Thus solid must be stored permanently, while gas and liquid can be discharged after dilution. (Kobatake, H.)

  3. Energy dependence of average half-life of delayed neutron precursors in fast neutron induced fission of 235U and 236U

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Isaev, S.G.; Piksaikin, L.E.; Kazakov, L.E.; Tarasko, M.Z.

    2000-01-01

    The measurements of relative abundances and periods of delayed neutrons from fast neutron induced fission of 235 U and 236 U have been made at the electrostatic accelerator CG-2.5 at IPPE. The preliminary results were obtained and discussed in the frame of the systematics of the average half-life of delayed neutron precursors. It was shown that the average half-life value in both reactions depends on the energy of primary neutrons [ru

  4. Measurement of the two-neutrino double-beta decay half-life of {sup 130}Te with the CUORE-0 experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alduino, C.; Avignone, F.T.; Chott, N.; Creswick, R.J.; Rosenfeld, C.; Wilson, J. [University of South Carolina, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Columbia, SC (United States); Alfonso, K.; Hickerson, K.P.; Huang, H.Z.; Liu, X.; Trentalange, S.; Zhu, B.X. [University of California, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Artusa, D.R. [University of South Carolina, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Columbia, SC (United States); INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi, L' Aquila (Italy); Azzolini, O.; Camacho, A.; Keppel, G.; Palmieri, V.; Pira, C. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Legnaro, Padova (Italy); Banks, T.I.; Drobizhev, A.; Freedman, S.J.; Hennings-Yeomans, R.; O' Donnell, T.; Wagaarachchi, S.L. [University of California, Department of Physics, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Nuclear Science Division, Berkeley, CA (United States); Bari, G.; Deninno, M.M. [INFN-Sezione di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Beeman, J.W. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Berkeley, CA (United States); Bellini, F.; Cardani, L.; Casali, N.; Cosmelli, C.; Ferroni, F. [Sapienza Universita di Roma, Dipartimento di Fisica, Rome (Italy); INFN-Sezione di Roma, Rome (Italy); Bersani, A.; Caminata, A. [INFN-Sezione di Genova, Genova (Italy); Biassoni, M.; Carbone, L.; Cremonesi, O.; Ferri, E.; Giachero, A.; Pessina, G.; Previtali, E.; Rusconi, C. [INFN-Sezione di Milano Bicocca, Milan (Italy); Brofferio, C.; Capelli, S.; Carniti, P.; Cassina, L.; Chiesa, D.; Clemenza, M.; Faverzani, M.; Fiorini, E.; Gironi, L.; Gotti, C.; Maino, M.; Nucciotti, A.; Pavan, M.; Pozzi, S.; Sisti, M.; Terranova, F.; Zanotti, L. [Universita di Milano-Bicocca, Dipartimento di Fisica, Milan (Italy); INFN-Sezione di Milano Bicocca, Milan (Italy); Bucci, C.; Cappelli, L.; D' Addabbo, A.; Di Vacri, M.L.; Gorla, P.; Pattavina, L.; Pirro, S. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi, L' Aquila (Italy); Canonica, L. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi, L' Aquila (Italy); Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States); Cao, X.G.; Fang, D.Q.; Ma, Y.G.; Wang, H.W.; Zhang, G.Q. [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Shanghai (China); Copello, S.; Di Domizio, S.; Fernandes, G.; Marini, L.; Pallavicini, M. [INFN-Sezione di Genova, Genova (Italy); Universita di Genova, Dipartimento di Fisica, Genova (Italy); Cushman, J.S.; Davis, C.J.; Heeger, K.M.; Lim, K.E.; Maruyama, R.H. [Yale University, Department of Physics, New Haven, CT (United States); Dafinei, I.; Morganti, S.; Mosteiro, P.J.; Orio, F.; Pettinacci, V.; Tomei, C.; Vignati, M. [INFN-Sezione di Roma, Rome (Italy); Dell' Oro, S. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi, L' Aquila (Italy); INFN-Gran Sasso Science Institute, L' Aquila (Italy); Feintzeig, J.; Fujikawa, B.K.; Mei, Y.; Smith, A.R. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Nuclear Science Division, Berkeley, CA (United States); Franceschi, M.A.; Ligi, C.; Napolitano, T.; Piperno, G. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Frascati, Rome (Italy); Giuliani, A.; Tenconi, M. [Universite Paris-Saclay, CSNSM, Univ. Paris-Sud, CNRS/IN2P3, Orsay (France); Gladstone, L.; Leder, A.; Winslow, L.A. [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States); Gutierrez, T.D. [California Polytechnic State University, Physics Department, San Luis Obispo, CA (United States); Haller, E.E. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Berkeley, CA (United States); University of California, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Berkeley, CA (United States); Han, K. [Yale University, Department of Physics, New Haven, CT (United States); Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai (China); Hansen, E. [University of California, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States); Kadel, R. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Physics Division, Berkeley, CA (United States); Kolomensky, Yu.G. [University of California, Department of Physics, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Nuclear Science Division, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Physics Division, Berkeley, CA (United States); Martinez, M. [Sapienza Universita di Roma, Dipartimento di Fisica, Rome (Italy); INFN-Sezione di Roma, Rome (Italy); Universidad de Zaragoza, Laboratorio de Fisica Nuclear y Astroparticulas, Zaragoza (Spain); Moggi, N. [INFN-Sezione di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Alma Mater Studiorum-Universita di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze per la Qualita della Vita, Bologna (Italy); Nones, C. [Service de Physique des Particules, CEA/Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Norman, E.B.; Wang, B.S. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA (United States); University of California, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Berkeley, CA (United States); Ouellet, J.L. [University of California, Department of Physics, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Nuclear Science Division, Berkeley, CA (United States); Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States); Pagliarone, C.E. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi, L' Aquila (Italy); Universita degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Meccanica, Cassino (Italy); Sangiorgio, S.; Scielzo, N.D. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA (United States); Santone, D. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi, L' Aquila (Italy); Universita dell' Aquila, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, L' Aquila (Italy); Singh, V. [University of California, Department of Physics, Berkeley, CA (US); Taffarello, L. [INFN-Sezione di Padova, Padova (IT); Wise, T. [Yale University, Department of Physics, New Haven, CT (US); University of Wisconsin, Department of Physics, Madison, WI (US); Woodcraft, A. [University of Edinburgh, SUPA, Institute for Astronomy, Edinburgh (GB); Zimmermann, S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Engineering Division, Berkeley, CA (US); Zucchelli, S. [INFN-Sezione di Bologna, Bologna (IT); Alma Mater Studiorum-Universita di Bologna, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Bologna (IT)

    2017-01-15

    We report on the measurement of the two-neutrino double-beta decay half-life of {sup 130}Te with the CUORE-0 detector. From an exposure of 33.4 kg year of TeO{sub 2}, the half-life is determined to be T{sub 1/2}{sup 2ν} = [8.2 ± 0.2 (stat.) ± 0.6 (syst.)] x 10{sup 20} year. This result is obtained after a detailed reconstruction of the sources responsible for the CUORE-0 counting rate, with a specific study of those contributing to the {sup 130}Te neutrinoless double-beta decay region of interest. (orig.)

  5. New generation of antidepressants in pregnant women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ladan Kashani

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available Although pregnancy was once thought to protect against psychiatric disorders, gravid and non gravid women have similar risks for major depression, at 10% to 15%. Both depression and antidepressant treatment during pregnancy have been associated with risks. Few medications have been proved unequivocally safe during pregnancy. Although certain antidepressants have not been linked with an increased risk of birth defects or impaired development including bupropion, citalopram, escitalopram and venlafaxine, the latest studies aren't necessarily reassuring. As researchers continue to learn more about antidepressants, the risks and benefits of taking the drugs during pregnancy must be weighed carefully on a case-by-case basis. This review discusses about the use of new generation of antidepressants in pregnancy

  6. Activation analysis with neutron generators using short-lived radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salma, I.

    1993-01-01

    The short half-life involves a number of important differences in production, transportation and measurement of radionuclides, and in counting statistics as compared with those in traditional activation analysis. Experiments were performed to investigate the analytical possibilities and prospective utilization of short-lived radionuclides produced by 14-MeV neutron irradiation. A rapid pneumatic transfer system for use with neutron generators was installed and applied for detecting radionuclides with a half-life from 300 ms to 30 s. The transport time for samples with a total mass of 1-4 g is between 130 and 160 ms for pressurized air of 0.1-0.4 MPa. 11 elements were studied by the conventional activation method using both a typical pneumatic transport system (run time 3 s) and the fast pneumatic transport facility. The effect of the cyclic activation technique on the elemental sensitivities was also investigated. (orig.)

  7. Measurement of the two neutrino double beta decay half-life of Zr-96 with the NEMO-3 detector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Argyriades, J. [LAL, Universite Paris-Sud 11, CNRS/IN2P3, F-91405 Orsay (France); Arnold, R. [IPHC, Universite de Strasbourg, CNRS/IN2P3, F-67037 Strasbourg (France); Augier, C. [LAL, Universite Paris-Sud 11, CNRS/IN2P3, F-91405 Orsay (France); Baker, J. [INL, Idaho National Laboratory, 83415 Idaho Falls (United States); Barabash, A.S. [ITEP, Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, 117259 Moscow (Russian Federation); Basharina-Freshville, A. [University College London, WC1E 6BT London (United Kingdom); Bongrand, M. [LAL, Universite Paris-Sud 11, CNRS/IN2P3, F-91405 Orsay (France); Broudin-Bay, G. [Universite Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33175 Gradignan (France); CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR5797, F-33175 Gradignan (France); Brudanin, V. [JINR, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna (Russian Federation); Caffrey, A.J. [INL, Idaho National Laboratory, 83415 Idaho Falls (United States); Chapon, A. [LPC, ENSICAEN, Universite de Caen, CNRS/IN2P3, F-14032 Caen (France); Chauveau, E. [Universite Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33175 Gradignan (France); CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR5797, F-33175 Gradignan (France); Daraktchieva, Z. [University College London, WC1E 6BT London (United Kingdom); Durand, D. [LPC, ENSICAEN, Universite de Caen, CNRS/IN2P3, F-14032 Caen (France); Egorov, V. [JINR, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna (Russian Federation); Fatemi-Ghomi, N. [University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester (United Kingdom); Flack, R. [University College London, WC1E 6BT London (United Kingdom); Guillon, B. [LPC, ENSICAEN, Universite de Caen, CNRS/IN2P3, F-14032 Caen (France); Hubert, Ph. [Universite Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33175 Gradignan (France); CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR5797, F-33175 Gradignan (France); Jullian, S. [LAL, Universite Paris-Sud 11, CNRS/IN2P3, F-91405 Orsay (France)

    2010-12-08

    Using 9.4 g of {sup 96}Zr isotope and 1221 days of data from the NEMO-3 detector corresponding to 0.031 kg y, the obtained 2{nu}{beta}{beta} decay half-life measurement is T{sub 1/2}{sup 2{nu}=}[2.35{+-}0.14(stat){+-}0.16(syst)]x10{sup 19} yr. Different characteristics of the final state electrons have been studied, such as the energy sum, individual electron energy, and angular distribution. The 2{nu} nuclear matrix element is extracted using the measured 2{nu}{beta}{beta} half-life and is M{sup 2{nu}=}0.049{+-}0.002. Constraints on 0{nu}{beta}{beta} decay have also been set.

  8. Racial and ethnic disparities in antidepressant drug use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jie; Rizzo, John A

    2008-12-01

    Little is known about racial and ethnic disparities in health care utilization, expenditures and drug choice in the antidepressant market. This study investigates factors associated with the racial and ethnic disparities in antidepressant drug use. We seek to determine the extent to which disparities reflect differences in observable population characteristics versus heterogeneity across racial and ethnic groups. Among the population characteristics, we are interested in identifying which factors are most important in accounting for racial and ethnic disparities in antidepressant drug use. Using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data from 1996-2003, we have an available sample of 10,416 Caucasian, 1,089 African American and 1,539 Hispanic antidepressant drug users aged 18 to 64 years. We estimate individual out-of-pocket payments, total prescription drug expenditures, drug utilization, the probability of taking generic versus brand name antidepressants, and the share of drugs that are older types of antidepressants (e.g., TCAs and MAOIs) for these individuals during a calendar year. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition techniques are employed to determine the extent to which disparities reflect differences in observable population characteristics versus unobserved heterogeneity across racial and ethnic groups. Caucasians have the highest antidepressant drug expenditures and utilization. African-Americans have the lowest drug expenditures and Hispanics have the lowest drug utilization. Relative to Caucasians and Hispanics, African-Americans are more likely to purchase generics and use a higher share of older drugs (e.g., TCAs and MAOIs). Differences in observable characteristics explain most of the racial/ethnic differences in these outcomes, with the exception of drug utilization. Differences in health insurance and education levels are particularly important factors in explaining disparities. In contrast, differences in drug utilization largely reflect unobserved

  9. IC Treatment: Antidepressants

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Federal Campaign ICA Resources for Donors Corporate Contributions Social Media ... depression. Did you know that antidepressants are also effective in treating symptoms of people with interstitial cystitis ( ...

  10. Biological half-life of radiophosphorus in desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria Forskal (orthoptera:acrididae)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ulagaraj, S.M.; Singh, K.M.; Sethi, G.R.

    1975-01-01

    Adult desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria Forskal were fed with cabbage leaves, painted with carrier free 32 P 1mCi/ml. Radioactivity of five adults of both sexes and of feces was measured daily for 28 days. The amount of radioactivity appearing in the feces of males was consistently below that found in female locusts. The mean biological half-life of 32 P for males and females were 35.04 and 15.01 days, respectively. (author)

  11. Advances in therapeutic Fc engineering - modulation of IgG associated effector functions and serum half-life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abhishek Saxena

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Today monoclonal immunoglobulin gamma (IgG antibodies have become a major option in cancer therapy especially for the patients with advanced or metastatic cancers. Efficacy of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs are achieved through both its antigen binding fragment (Fab and crystallizable fragment (Fc. Fab can specifically recognize tumor associated antigen (TAA and thus modulate TAA-linked downstream signaling pathways that may lead to inhibition of tumor growth, induction of tumor apoptosis and differentiation. The Fc region can further improve mAbs’ efficacy by mediating effector functions such as antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC, complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC and antibody dependent cell-mediated phagocytosis (ADCP. Moreover, Fc is the region interacting with the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn in a pH-dependent manner that can slow down IgG’s degradation and extend its serum half-life. Loss of the antibody Fc region dramatically shortens its serum half-life and weakens its anti-cancer effects. Given the essential roles that the Fc region plays in the modulation of the efficacy of mAb in cancer treatment, Fc engineering has been extensively studied in the past years. This review focuses on the recent advances in therapeutic Fc engineering that modulates its related effector functions and serum half-life. We also discuss the progress made in aglycosylated mAb development that may substantially reduce cost of manufacture but maintain similar efficacies as conventional glycosylated mAb. Finally, we highlight several Fc engineering based mAbs under clinical trials.

  12. A new value for the half-life of {sup 10}Be by Heavy-Ion Elastic Recoil Detection and liquid scintillation counting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Korschinek, G., E-mail: Gunther.Korschinek@ph.tum.d [Physik Department, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Bergmaier, A. [Universitaet der Bundeswehr Muenchen, Fakultaet fuer Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik, Institut fuer Angewandte Physik und Messtechnik LRT2, Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39, D-85577 Neubiberg (Germany); Faestermann, T. [Physik Department, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Gerstmann, U.C. [Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Radiation Protection, Ingolstaedter Landstr. 1, D-85764 Neuherberg (Germany); Knie, K.; Rugel, G. [Physik Department, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Wallner, A. [VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Waehringer Strasse 17, A-1090 Wien (Austria); Dillmann, I. [Physik Department, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Dollinger, G. [Universitaet der Bundeswehr Muenchen, Fakultaet fuer Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik, Institut fuer Angewandte Physik und Messtechnik LRT2, Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39, D-85577 Neubiberg (Germany); Lierse von Gostomski, Ch. [Lehrstuhl fuer Radiochemie, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Kossert, K. [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig (Germany); Maiti, M.; Poutivtsev, M. [Physik Department, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Remmert, A. [Lehrstuhl fuer Radiochemie, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85748 Garching (Germany)

    2010-01-15

    The importance of {sup 10}Be in different applications of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is well-known. In this context the half-life of {sup 10}Be has a crucial impact, and an accurate and precise determination of the half-life is a prerequisite for many of the applications of {sup 10}Be in cosmic-ray and earth science research. Recently, the value of the {sup 10}Be half-life has been the centre of much debate. In order to overcome uncertainties inherent in previous determinations, we introduced a new method of high accuracy and precision. An aliquot of our highly enriched {sup 10}Be master solution was serially diluted with increasing well-known masses of {sup 9}Be. We then determined the initial {sup 10}Be concentration by least square fit to the series of measurements of the resultant {sup 10}Be/{sup 9}Be ratio. In order to minimize uncertainties because of mass bias which plague other low-energy mass spectrometric methods, we used for the first time Heavy-Ion Elastic Recoil Detection (HI-ERD) for the determination of the {sup 10}Be/{sup 9}Be isotopic ratios, a technique which does not suffer from difficult to control mass fractionation. The specific activity of the master solution was measured by means of accurate liquid scintillation counting (LSC). The resultant combination of the {sup 10}Be concentration and activity yields a {sup 10}Be half-life of T{sub 1/2} = 1.388 +- 0.018 (1 s, 1.30%) Ma. In a parallel but independent study (Chmeleff et al. ), found a value of 1.386 +- 0.016 (1.15%) Ma. Our recommended weighted mean and mean standard error for the new value for {sup 10}Be half-life based on these two independent measurements is 1.387 +- 0.012 (0.87%) Ma.

  13. Development and application of the generator for the short-living nuclides production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsejner, A.

    1979-01-01

    The results are stated of investigations by means of radioisotopes on the substance transfer in technological equipment. For these purposes, in most cases, nuclides with high gamma-activity are used and, if possible, having short half-life because the short half-life gives certain advantages in the cases when it is impossible to store radioactive substances in the technological equipment for a long time. It is noted that in connection with short half-life of the nucludes used for labelling and for the economic and radiation safety reasons, activity of these nuclides can not be high. It has been established that the most suitable nuclide for the labelling purpose is lanthanum-140 produced either in a nuclear reactor, or by means of separation from barium=-140 transforming into lanthanum-140 in an isotopic generator. Some methods of lanthanum separation from barium are described, in particular, in the isotopic generator described, barium is adsorbed on the cation-exchanger KPS-200 having high enough stability with respect to the ionozing radiations. As an eluent the 10 -2 M solution of the complexone (Na 2 - EDTA) was used. The complexone solution can be easely obtained and, because of the hydrolysis, it serves as a buffer solution. The data are given for radiation purity and yield of lanthanum-=140 [ru

  14. GPs motivations of prescribing antidepressants and their practical relevance.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Volkers, A.; Jong, A. de; Braspenning, J.C.C.; Bakker, D. de; Dijk, L. van

    2004-01-01

    Background: Insight in the motivations of prescribing antidepressants may contribute to advance the efficiency of the current, large antidepressant prescription rate. Less is known about why general practitioners (GPs) treat patients with antidepressants or not and choose modern SSRIs instead of the

  15. Antidepressants: Selecting One That's Right for You

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antidepressants: Selecting one that's right for you Confused by the choice in antidepressants? With persistence, you and your doctor should find one that works so ... Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved.

  16. Migraine Medications and Antidepressants: A Risky Mix?

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... What are the health risks associated with taking migraine medications and antidepressants at the same time? Answers ... W. Swanson, M.D. Reports suggest that combining migraine medications called triptans with certain antidepressants — including selective ...

  17. Antidepressant Medication Management among Older Patients Receiving Home Health Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bao, Yuhua; Shao, Huibo; Bruce, Martha L.; Press, Matthew J.

    2014-01-01

    Objective Antidepressant management for older patients receiving home health care (HHC) may occur through two pathways: nurse-physician collaboration (without patient visits to the physician) and physician management through office visits. This study examines the relative contribution of the two pathways and how they interplay. Methods Retrospective analysis was conducted using Medicare claims of 7,389 depressed patients 65 or older who received HHC in 2006–7 and who possessed antidepressants at the start of HHC. A change in antidepressant therapy (vs. discontinuation or refill) was the main study outcome and could take the form of a change in dose, switch to a different antidepressant, or augmentation (addition of a new antidepressant). Logistic regressions were estimated to examine how use of home health nursing care, patient visits to physicians, and their interactions predict a change in antidepressant therapy. Results About 30% of patients experienced a change in antidepressants versus 51% who refilled and 18% who discontinued. Receipt of mental health specialty care was associated with a statistically significant, 10–20 percentage-point increase in the probability of antidepressant change; receipt of primary care was associated with a small and statistically significant increase in the probability of antidepressant change among patients with no mental health specialty care and above-average utilization of nursing care. Increased home health nursing care in absence of physician visits was not associated with increased antidepressant change. Conclusions Active antidepressant management resulting in a change in medication occurred on a limited scale among older patients receiving HHC. Addressing knowledge and practice gaps in antidepressant management by primary care providers and home health nurses and improving nurse-physician collaboration will be promising areas for future interventions. PMID:25158915

  18. A prospective naturalistic study of antidepressant-induced jitteriness/anxiety syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harada T

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Tsuyoto Harada, Ken Inada, Kazuo Yamada, Kaoru Sakamoto, Jun Ishigooka Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Women’s Medical University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan Objective: Patients often develop neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety and agitation after they have started taking an antidepressant, and this is thought to be associated with a potentially increased risk of suicide. However, the incidence of antidepressant-induced jitteriness/anxiety syndrome has not been fully investigated, and little has been reported on its predictors. The aim of this study was to survey the incidence of antidepressant-induced jitteriness/anxiety syndrome and clarify its predictors in a natural clinical setting.Materials and methods: Between January 2009 and July 2012, we prospectively surveyed 301 patients who had not taken any antidepressants for 1 month before presentation, and who were prescribed antidepressants for 1 month after their initial visit. Patients were classified as developing antidepressant-induced jitteriness/anxiety syndrome if they experienced any symptoms of anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, akathisia, hypomania, or mania during the first month.Results: Among the 301 patients, 21 (7.0% developed antidepressant-induced jitteriness/anxiety syndrome. Major depressive disorder and a diagnosis of mood disorder in first-degree relatives of patients were significantly associated with induction of antidepressant-induced jitteriness/anxiety syndrome (odds ratio 10.2, P=0.001; odds ratio 4.65, P=0.02; respectively. However, there was no such relationship for sex, age, class of antidepressant, combined use of benzodiazepines, or diagnosis of anxiety disorder.Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that major depressive disorder and a diagnosis of mood disorder in first-degree relatives may be clinical predictors of antidepressant-induced jitteriness/anxiety syndrome

  19. Antidepressant Treatment for Acute Bipolar Depression: An Update

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ben H. Amit

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available While studies in the past have focused more on treatment of the manic phase of bipolar disorder (BD, recent findings demonstrate the depressive phase to be at least as debilitating. However, in contrast to unipolar depression, depression in bipolar patients exhibits a varying response to antidepressants, raising questions regarding their efficacy and tolerability. Methods. We conducted a MEDLINE and Cochrane Collaboration Library search for papers published between 2005 and 2011 on the subject of antidepressant treatment of bipolar depression. Sixty-eight articles were included in the present review. Results. While a few studies did advocate the use of antidepressants, most well-controlled studies failed to show a robust effect of antidepressants in bipolar depression, regardless of antidepressant class or bipolar subtype. There was no significant increase in the rate of manic/hypomanic switch, especially with concurrent use of mood stabilizers. Prescribing guidelines published in recent years rely more on atypical antipsychotics, especially quetiapine, as a first-line therapy. Conclusions. Antidepressants probably have no substantial role in acute bipolar depression. However, in light of conflicting results between studies, more well-designed trials are warranted.

  20. Measurement of the half-life of sup 1 sup 7 sup 6 Lu

    CERN Document Server

    Nir-El, Y

    1998-01-01

    The half-life of sup 1 sup 7 sup 6 Lu was determined by measuring the disintegration rate of a solution of lutetium oxide, using a calibrated HPGe detector, and found to be (3.69+-0.02)x10 sup 1 sup 0 y. It is recommended that the current adopted value be calculated from the grouping of three published values since 1983, including our value, the weighted mean of which is (3.73+-0.01)x10 sup 1 sup 0 y.

  1. Biological half-life of iodine in adults with intact thyroid function and in athyreotic persons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kramer, G.H.; Hauck, B.M.; Chamberlain, M.J

    2002-07-01

    A joint project between the Human Monitoring Laboratory (HML) and the Ottawa Hospital has measured the retention of {sup 131}I in patients who have received the radioiodine diagnostically. Thirty-nine subjects with intact thyroid glands and nine athyreotic subjects were measured in the HML's whole-body/thyroid counter to determine the retention of {sup 131}I following its medical administration. The average biological half-life of {sup 131}I in 26 euthyroid subjects was found to be 66.1{+-}6.3 days which may be statistically significantly lower than the ICRP recommended value of 80 days. Nine hyperthyroid patients had a mean biological half-life of 38.2{+-}8.6 days and in three hypothyroid patients the corresponding value was 29.3{+-}8.8 days. Thyroid {sup 131}I uptake was measured in a conventional clinical fashion at the Ottawa Hospital Civic campus 24 h after oral administration of the radioiodine using a collimated thick sodium iodide detector placed over the neck arteriorly. Measured values were 0.144{+-}0.009, 0.314{+-}0.035 and 0.045{+-}0.010 of the administered dose in euthyroid, hyperthyroid and hypothyroid patients respectively. The euthyroid range at the hospital is 0.06-0.22. Uptake was significantly lower for the euthyroid group than the ICRP value of 0.3. The radioiodine retention in athyreotic subjects followed a two compartment model with biological half-lives of 1.0{+-}0.2 days and 18.4{+-}1.1. days. (author)

  2. Chirality of Modern Antidepressants: An Overview

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monica Budău

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The majority of modern antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors have one or two centers of asymmetry in their structure; resulting in the formation of enantiomers which may exhibit different pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties. Recent developments in drug stereochemistry has led to understanding the role of chirality in modern therapy correlated with increased knowledge regarding the molecular structure of specific drug targets and towards the possible advantages of using pure enantiomers instead of racemic mixtures. The current review deals with chiral antidepressant drugs; presenting examples of stereoselectivity in the pharmacological actions of certain antidepressants and their metabolites and emphasizing the differences between pharmacological actions of the racemates and pure enantiomers.

  3. SSRI antidepressants: altered psychomotor development following exposure in utero?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-01

    Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants (SSRIs) are sometimes prescribed to pregnant women. The potential consequences for the unborn child are gradually becoming clearer. In a case-control study of 298 children with autism and 1507 controls, 6.7% of mothers of autistic children had been prescribed an antidepressant during the year before delivery, compared to 3.3% of control mothers. The antidepressant was usually an SSRI. A dozen other small epidemiological studies of neurological development in children exposed to antidepressants in utero have provided mixed results. Two of these studies suggested a risk of psychomotor retardation. In practice, SSRI antidepressants should only be considered for pregnant women when non-drug measures fail and when symptoms are sufficiently serious to warrant drug therapy.

  4. Peripheral administration of lactate produces antidepressant-like effects

    KAUST Repository

    Carrard, A; Elsayed, M; Margineanu, Michael B.; Boury-Jamot, B; Fragniè re, L; Meylan, E M; Petit, J-M; Fiumelli, Hubert; Magistretti, Pierre J.; Martin, J-L

    2016-01-01

    In addition to its role as metabolic substrate that can sustain neuronal function and viability, emerging evidence supports a role for l-lactate as an intercellular signaling molecule involved in synaptic plasticity. Clinical and basic research studies have shown that major depression and chronic stress are associated with alterations in structural and functional plasticity. These findings led us to investigate the role of l-lactate as a potential novel antidepressant. Here we show that peripheral administration of l-lactate produces antidepressant-like effects in different animal models of depression that respond to acute and chronic antidepressant treatment. The antidepressant-like effects of l-lactate are associated with increases in hippocampal lactate levels and with changes in the expression of target genes involved in serotonin receptor trafficking, astrocyte functions, neurogenesis, nitric oxide synthesis and cAMP signaling. Further elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the antidepressant effects of l-lactate may help to identify novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of depression.

  5. Peripheral administration of lactate produces antidepressant-like effects

    KAUST Repository

    Carrard, A

    2016-10-18

    In addition to its role as metabolic substrate that can sustain neuronal function and viability, emerging evidence supports a role for l-lactate as an intercellular signaling molecule involved in synaptic plasticity. Clinical and basic research studies have shown that major depression and chronic stress are associated with alterations in structural and functional plasticity. These findings led us to investigate the role of l-lactate as a potential novel antidepressant. Here we show that peripheral administration of l-lactate produces antidepressant-like effects in different animal models of depression that respond to acute and chronic antidepressant treatment. The antidepressant-like effects of l-lactate are associated with increases in hippocampal lactate levels and with changes in the expression of target genes involved in serotonin receptor trafficking, astrocyte functions, neurogenesis, nitric oxide synthesis and cAMP signaling. Further elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the antidepressant effects of l-lactate may help to identify novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of depression.

  6. Estimating the biological half-life for radionuclides in homoeothermic vertebrates: a simplified allometric approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beresford, N.A. [Lancaster Environment Centre, NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster (United Kingdom); Vives i Batlle, J. [Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Mol (Belgium)

    2013-11-15

    The application of allometric, or mass-dependent, relationships within radioecology has increased with the evolution of models to predict the exposure of organisms other than man. Allometry presents a method of addressing the lack of empirical data on radionuclide transfer and metabolism for the many radionuclide-species combinations which may need to be considered. However, sufficient data across a range of species with different masses are required to establish allometric relationships and this is not always available. Here, an alternative allometric approach to predict the biological half-life of radionuclides in homoeothermic vertebrates which does not require such data is derived. Biological half-life values are predicted for four radionuclides and compared to available data for a range of species. All predictions were within a factor of five of the observed values when the model was parameterised appropriate to the feeding strategy of each species. This is an encouraging level of agreement given that the allometric models are intended to provide broad approximations rather than exact values. However, reasons why some radionuclides deviate from what would be anticipated from Kleiber's law need to be determined to allow a more complete exploitation of the potential of allometric extrapolation within radioecological models. (orig.)

  7. Potentials of Curcumin as an Antidepressant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.K. Kulkarni

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Major depression, a debilitating psychiatric disorder, is predicted to be the second most prevalent human illness by the year 2020. Various antidepressants, ranging from monoamine oxidase inhibitors to recently developed dual reuptake inhibitors, are prescribed for alleviating the symptoms of depression. Despite the availability of these blockbuster molecules, approximately 30% of depressed patients do not respond to the existing drug therapies and the remaining 70% fails to achieve complete remission. Moreover, antidepressants are associated with a plethora of side effects and drug-drug/drug-food interactions. In this context, novel approaches are being tried to find more efficacious and safer drugs for the treatment of major depression. Curcumin is one such molecule that has shown promising efficacy in various animal models of major depression. Although the mechanism of the antidepressant effect of curcumin is not fully understood, it is hypothesized to act through inhibiting the monoamine oxidase enzyme and modulating the release of serotonin and dopamine. Moreover, evidences have shown that curcumin enhances neurogenesis, notably in the frontal cortex and hippocampal regions of the brain. The use of curcumin in clinics for the treatment of major depression is limited due to its poor gastrointestinal absorption. The present review attempts to discuss the pharmacological profile along with molecular mechanisms of the antidepressant effect of curcumin in animal models of depression. A need for clinical trials in order to explore the antidepressant efficacy and safety profile of curcumin is emphasized.

  8. The elimination half-life of benzodiazepines and fall risk: two prospective observational studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vries, Oscar J; Peeters, Geeske; Elders, Petra; Sonnenberg, Caroline; Muller, Majon; Deeg, Dorly J H; Lips, Paul

    2013-11-01

    the STOPP criteria advise against the use of long-acting benzodiazepines (LBs). to study whether LBs are associated with a higher fall risk than short-acting benzodiazepines (SBs) (elimination half-life ≤ 10 h). we used base-line data and prospective fall follow-up from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a longitudinal cohort study including 1,509 community-dwelling older persons (Study 1) and from a separate fall prevention study with 564 older persons after a fall (Study 2). Time to the first fall after inclusion and number of falls in the first year after inclusion were the primary endpoints. both in Study 1 and Study 2 the use of SBs was associated with time to the first fall, hazard ratio (HR) 1.62 (95% CI: 1.03-2.56) and HR 1.64 (95% CI: 1.19-2.26),respectively. LBs were not significantly associated with time to first fall, HR 1.40 (0.85-2.31) and HR 1.08 (0.72-1.62). In both studies, the use of SBs was also associated with number of falls, odds ratio (OR) 1.28 (95% CI: 1.01-1.61) and OR 1.37 (95% CI: 1.10-1.70). LBs were not significantly associated with number of falls, OR 1.23 (0.96-1.57) and 1.10 (0.82-1.48). the use of SBs is not associated with a lower fall risk compared with LBs. The use of both SBs and LBs by old persons should be strongly discouraged.

  9. Deuterated (d6)-dextromethorphan elicits antidepressant-like effects in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Linda; Scandinaro, Anna L; Matsumoto, Rae R

    2017-10-01

    The over-the-counter antitussive dextromethorphan (DM) may have rapid antidepressant actions based on its overlapping pharmacology with ketamine, which has shown fast antidepressant effects but whose widespread use remains limited by problematic side effects. We have previously shown that DM produces antidepressant-like effects in the forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) that are mediated in part through α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic (AMPA) and sigma-1 receptors, two protein targets associated with a faster onset of antidepressant efficacy. To utilize DM clinically, however, a major challenge that must be addressed is its rapid first-pass metabolism. Two strategies to inhibit metabolism of DM and maintain stable therapeutic blood levels are 1) chemically modifying DM and 2) adding quinidine, an inhibitor of the primary metabolizer of DM, the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 enzyme. The purpose of this study was to determine if modified DM (deuterated (d6)-DM) elicits antidepressant-like effects and if AMPA and sigma-1 receptors are involved. Furthermore, d6-DM was tested in conjunction with quinidine to determine if further slowing the metabolism of d6-DM affects its antidepressant-like actions. In the FST and TST, d6-DM produced antidepressant-like effects. Upon further investigation in the FST, the most validated animal model for predicting antidepressant efficacy, d6-DM produced antidepressant-like effects both in the absence and presence of quinidine. However, pretreatment with neither an AMPA receptor antagonist (NBQX) nor sigma-1 receptor antagonists (BD1063, BD1047) significantly attenuated the antidepressant-like effects. The data suggest d6-DM has antidepressant-like effects, though it may be recruiting different molecular targets and/or acting through a different mix or ratio of metabolites from regular DM. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Short communication: Influence of labeling on Australian and Chinese consumers' liking of milk with short (pasteurized) and long (UHT) shelf life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liem, D G; Bolhuis, D P; Hu, X; Keast, R S J

    2016-03-01

    Sixty percent of milk consumed in China has a long shelf life (UHT), presumably because milk with a short shelf life (pasteurized) is comparatively expensive. This in contrast to Australia, where 10% of consumed milk is UHT and the price between UHT and pasteurized milk is equivalent. Whether UHT is actually more liked than pasteurized milk by Chinese consumers is unknown. However, the potential positive halo around the expensive pasteurized milk might result in Chinese consumers liking milk more when it is labeled as "short shelf-life milk." To test these hypotheses, Chinese (n=48, 20 males, 28 females, 23 ± 7.2 yr) and Australian (n=93, 11 males, 82 females, 24 ± 5.6 yr) consumers tasted and rated (9-point hedonic scale), in a randomized order, 3 × 30-mL samples of UHT milk (labeled as "long shelf-life milk," "short shelf-life milk," or "milk") and 3 × 30-mL samples of pasteurized milk (also labeled as "long shelf-life milk," "short shelf-life milk," or "milk"). Australian participants' liking of milk was not influenced by labeling. Regardless of what the label stated, they always preferred the taste of pasteurized milk over the taste of UHT milk. This was different for Chinese participants, who preferred the taste of UHT milk over the taste of pasteurized milk, but in general had a higher liking for any milk that was labeled "short shelf-life milk." Both Australian and Chinese were more positive about pasteurized than UHT milk. In conclusion, Chinese, but not Australian, consumers' liking of milk was guided by the positive expectations of pasteurized milk and the negative expectations of UHT milk. Further research is needed to investigate if the present findings can be extrapolated to a larger and more varied group of Chinese and Australian consumers. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Placebo and antidepressant treatment for major depression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hougaard, Esben

    2010-01-01

    Antidepressant medication is generally considered the primary treatment for major depressive disorders (MDD), but antidepressant treatment has recently approached a crisis with shrinking specific effects and growing placebo responses in current trials. The aim of the paper is to review the placebo...

  12. Decay properties of short-lived mass-separated fission products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lund, E.

    1977-01-01

    The present work describes determinations of total β-decay energies and studies of delayed neutron emission including the identification and half-life determinations of delayed neutron precursors and the measurement of neutron spectra. It also includes a short review of the OSIRIS on-line isotope separator facility. (Auth.)

  13. The effects of antidepressants on gastric ulcer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehmet Latif Güneş

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In their daily practice, psychiatrists often experience gastriccomplaints in patients beside psychiatric disorders.Peptic ulcer is one of the diseases, which accompanyto psychiatric disorders including mainly depression. Itis shown that antidepressants can inflame the bleedingsincluding gastrointestinal (GI bleedings, while they havepositive effect on ulcer healing. In this review, studies,which conducted about the positive or negative effects ofantidepressant drugs on ulcer treatment were examined.Accordingly; it was found that opipramol, amitriptyline,imipramine that of tricyclic antidepressants was found tobe helpful in healing of the ulcer. It was stated that SelectiveSerotonin Reuptake Inhibitors generally inflamedulcers, exceptionally fluvoxamine and fluoxetine reducedulcer; moclobemide that of monoamine-oxidase inhibitorand tianeptine and mirtazapine that of atypical antidepressantshad positive effect in ulcer healing. To be carefulin choosing the appropriate antidepressant in psychiatricpatients with gastric ulcer is important in the prognosisof both ulcer and depression.Key words: peptic ulcer; depression; antidepressant drugs

  14. Efficacy and Safety of Antidepressants for the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yunfeng; Yu, Ting; Wang, Yun; Jiang, Liuqin; Lin, Lin

    2015-01-01

    Aim The aim of this meta-analysis was to analyze the efficacy and safety of antidepressants for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and The Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials investigating the efficacy and safety of antidepressants in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Article quality was evaluated by Jadad score. RevMan 5.0 and Stata 12.0 were used for the meta-analysis. Results Twelve randomized controlled trials were included in this study and most of these trials were of high quality (Jadad score ≥4). Five articles focused on tricyclic antidepressants, six articles involved selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and one article investigated both types of treatment. The pooled risk ratio showed antidepressant treatment can improve global symptoms (RR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.08, 1.77). In the subgroup analysis, treatment with tricyclic antidepressants showed an improvement in global symptoms (RR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.07, 1.71), while treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors showed no statistically significant difference in global symptoms compared with the control groups (RR = 1.38, 95% CI 0.83, 2.28). The pooled risk ratio of dropout due to side effects following antidepressant treatment was 1.71 with 95% CI (0.98, 2.99). The subgroup analysis showed the pooled risk ratio of dropout in the tricyclic antidepressants group was 1.92 with 95% CI (0.89, 4.17). In the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors group, the pooled risk ratio of dropout was 1.5 with 95% CI (0.67, 3.37). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors showed no benefit in alleviating abdominal pain and improving quality of life. There was no difference in the incidence of common adverse events between treatment and control groups. Conclusions TCAs can improve global symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, while there was no strong evidence to confirm the effectiveness of SSRIs for the treatment of IBS. PMID:26252008

  15. Efficacy and Safety of Antidepressants for the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Xie

    Full Text Available The aim of this meta-analysis was to analyze the efficacy and safety of antidepressants for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and The Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials investigating the efficacy and safety of antidepressants in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Article quality was evaluated by Jadad score. RevMan 5.0 and Stata 12.0 were used for the meta-analysis.Twelve randomized controlled trials were included in this study and most of these trials were of high quality (Jadad score ≥4. Five articles focused on tricyclic antidepressants, six articles involved selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and one article investigated both types of treatment. The pooled risk ratio showed antidepressant treatment can improve global symptoms (RR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.08, 1.77. In the subgroup analysis, treatment with tricyclic antidepressants showed an improvement in global symptoms (RR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.07, 1.71, while treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors showed no statistically significant difference in global symptoms compared with the control groups (RR = 1.38, 95% CI 0.83, 2.28. The pooled risk ratio of dropout due to side effects following antidepressant treatment was 1.71 with 95% CI (0.98, 2.99. The subgroup analysis showed the pooled risk ratio of dropout in the tricyclic antidepressants group was 1.92 with 95% CI (0.89, 4.17. In the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors group, the pooled risk ratio of dropout was 1.5 with 95% CI (0.67, 3.37. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors showed no benefit in alleviating abdominal pain and improving quality of life. There was no difference in the incidence of common adverse events between treatment and control groups.TCAs can improve global symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, while there was no strong evidence to confirm the effectiveness of SSRIs for the treatment of IBS.

  16. Antidepressants and gastrointestinal symptoms in the general Dutch adult population

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schurink, B.; Tielemans, M.M.; Aaldering, B.R.; Eikendal, T.; Jaspers Focks, J.; Laheij, R.J.F.; Jansen, J.B.M.J.; Rossum, L.G.M. van; Oijen, M.G.H. van

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal symptoms are frequently reported adverse effects of antidepressants, but antidepressants are also a treatment modality in functional gastrointestinal disorders. We aimed to assess the association between antidepressant use and gastrointestinal symptoms in the general

  17. Genetic predictors of response to serotonergic and noradrenergic antidepressants in major depressive disorder: a genome-wide analysis of individual-level data and a meta-analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katherine E Tansey

    Full Text Available It has been suggested that outcomes of antidepressant treatment for major depressive disorder could be significantly improved if treatment choice is informed by genetic data. This study aims to test the hypothesis that common genetic variants can predict response to antidepressants in a clinically meaningful way.The NEWMEDS consortium, an academia-industry partnership, assembled a database of over 2,000 European-ancestry individuals with major depressive disorder, prospectively measured treatment outcomes with serotonin reuptake inhibiting or noradrenaline reuptake inhibiting antidepressants and available genetic samples from five studies (three randomized controlled trials, one part-randomized controlled trial, and one treatment cohort study. After quality control, a dataset of 1,790 individuals with high-quality genome-wide genotyping provided adequate power to test the hypotheses that antidepressant response or a clinically significant differential response to the two classes of antidepressants could be predicted from a single common genetic polymorphism. None of the more than half million genetic markers significantly predicted response to antidepressants overall, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, or differential response to the two types of antidepressants (genome-wide significance p<5×10(-8. No biological pathways were significantly overrepresented in the results. No significant associations (genome-wide significance p<5×10(-8 were detected in a meta-analysis of NEWMEDS and another large sample (STAR*D, with 2,897 individuals in total. Polygenic scoring found no convergence among multiple associations in NEWMEDS and STAR*D.No single common genetic variant was associated with antidepressant response at a clinically relevant level in a European-ancestry cohort. Effects specific to particular antidepressant drugs could not be investigated in the current study. Please see later in the article for the

  18. Milnacipran: a unique antidepressant?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siegfried Kasper

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Siegfried Kasper, Gerald PailDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, AustriaAbstract: Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs are among the most effective antidepressants available, although their poor tolerance at usual recommended doses and toxicity in ­overdose make them difficult to use. While selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs are ­better tolerated than TCAs, they have their own specific problems, such as the aggravation of sexual dysfunction, interaction with coadministered drugs, and for many, a discontinuation syndrome. In addition, some of them appear to be less effective than TCAs in more severely depressed patients. Increasing evidence of the importance of norepinephrine in the etiology of depression has led to the development of a new generation of antidepressants, the serotonin and ­norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs. Milnacipran, one of the pioneer SNRIs, was designed from theoretic considerations to be more effective than SSRIs and better tolerated than TCAs, and with a simple pharmacokinetic profile. Milnacipran has the most balanced potency ratio for reuptake inhibition of the two neurotransmitters compared with other SNRIs (1:1.6 for milnacipran, 1:10 for duloxetine, and 1:30 for venlafaxine, and in some studies milnacipran has been shown to inhibit norepinephrine uptake with greater potency than serotonin (2.2:1. Clinical studies have shown that milnacipran has efficacy comparable with the TCAs and is superior to SSRIs in severe depression. In addition, milnacipran is well tolerated, with a low potential for pharmacokinetic drug–drug interactions. Milnacipran is a first-line therapy suitable for most depressed patients. It is frequently successful when other treatments fail for reasons of efficacy or tolerability.Keywords: milnacipran, SNRI, antidepressant efficacy, tolerability

  19. Short-term planning and the life-cycle consumption puzzle

    OpenAIRE

    Frank Caliendo; David Aadland

    2004-01-01

    This paper provides a new explanation for the hump-shaped age- consumption profile observed in household data. Standard life-cycle models are based on an optimization problem that spans the entire life expectancy. Alternatively, we examine the consumption profile of an individual with a shorter planning horizon. The actual consumption profile is the envelope of a continuum of control problems because the agent’s short-term planning horizon continually slides along the time- scale, and the age...

  20. [Consumption of antidepressants in Chile from 1992 to 2004].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jirón, Marcela; Machado, Márcio; Ruiz, Inés

    2008-09-01

    Data from the Ministry of Health show that in Chile in 2004, 17% of the population had some form of depression, and mood disorders are the tenth cause of disability-adjusted life years (DALY) loss. To determine consumption of antidepressants (ADs) in Chile from 1992 to 2004. National sales data were obtained from the company IMS Health Chile and converted into defined daily doses (DDDs) per 1,000 inhabitants per day. Available ADs were classified in four pharmacological groups (i.e., serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, SNRLs; selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSRLs; tricyclic antidepressants, TCAs; and others). Total economic burden of ADs utilization and cost per DDDs were also calculated. Trends over time were analyzed using Pearson-R2. Total ADs consumption in Chile measured by DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DHD) increased linearly (y =0.901x + 1.9129; R2 =0.9296; p economic burden of ADs in Chile (total cost of DDDs consumed) increased from US$65.4 million in 2001 to US$74.6 million in 2004 (14% increase). Average cost per DDD of all AD increased linearly, however not significantly from US$ 0.94 in 2001 to US$ 1.04 in 2004 (y =0.0362x + 0.8784; R2 =0.7382; p =0,262). DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day increased linearly over 470% from 1992-2004. SSRLs were the most commonly consumed drugs in Chile. Future research should evaluate the cost-effectiveness of antidepressants in Chile, comparing the results with drug utilization, and determining if unnecessary expenditures have been paid out.

  1. Antidepressants for non-specific low back pain

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Urquhart, D. M.; Hoving, J. L.; Assendelft, W. W. J. J.; Roland, M.; van Tulder, M. W.

    2008-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Antidepressants are commonly used in the management of low-back pain. However, their use is controversial. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review was to determine whether antidepressants are more effective than placebo for the treatment of non-specific low-back pain. SEARCH STRATEGY:

  2. Development of a time-variable nuclear pulser for half life measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zahn, Guilherme S.; Domienikan, Claudio; Carvalhaes, Roberto P. M.; Genezini, Frederico A.

    2013-01-01

    In this work a time-variable pulser system with an exponentially-decaying pulse frequency is presented, which was developed using the low-cost, open-source Arduino microcontroler plataform. In this system, the microcontroller produces a TTL signal in the selected rate and a pulse shaper board adjusts it to be entered in an amplifier as a conventional pulser signal; both the decay constant and the initial pulse rate can be adjusted using a user-friendly control software, and the pulse amplitude can be adjusted using a potentiometer in the pulse shaper board. The pulser was tested using several combinations of initial pulse rate and decay constant, and the results show that the system is stable and reliable, and is suitable to be used in half-life measurements.

  3. Development of a time-variable nuclear pulser for half life measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zahn, Guilherme S.; Domienikan, Claudio; Carvalhaes, Roberto P. M.; Genezini, Frederico A. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP. P.O. Box 11049, Sao Paulo, 05422-970 (Brazil)

    2013-05-06

    In this work a time-variable pulser system with an exponentially-decaying pulse frequency is presented, which was developed using the low-cost, open-source Arduino microcontroler plataform. In this system, the microcontroller produces a TTL signal in the selected rate and a pulse shaper board adjusts it to be entered in an amplifier as a conventional pulser signal; both the decay constant and the initial pulse rate can be adjusted using a user-friendly control software, and the pulse amplitude can be adjusted using a potentiometer in the pulse shaper board. The pulser was tested using several combinations of initial pulse rate and decay constant, and the results show that the system is stable and reliable, and is suitable to be used in half-life measurements.

  4. Evaluating Persistent Postoperative Pain in One Tertiary Hospital: Incidence, Quality of Life, Associated Factors, and Treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guimaraes-Pereira, Luis; Valdoleiros, Ines; Reis, Pedro; Abelha, Fernando

    2016-04-01

    Persistent postoperative pain (PPP) is defined as persistent pain after surgery of greater than three months' duration. Identify the incidence of PPP in our hospital and its associated factors; evaluate quality of life (QoL) and treatment of patients. We conducted an observational prospective study in adults proposed to various types of surgery using the brief pain inventory short form preoperatively (T0), one day after surgery, and three months later (T3). If the patient had pain at T3 and other causes of pain were excluded, they were considered to have PPP, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire Short Form was applied. QoL was measured with the EuroQol 5-dimension questionnaire (EQ-5D). One hundred seventy-five patients completed the study. The incidence of PPP was 28%, and the affected patients presented lower QoL. The majority referred to a moderate to severe level of interference in their general activity. Cholecystectomies were less associated with PPP, and total knee/hip replacements were more associated with it. Preoperative pain, preoperative benzodiazepines or antidepressants, and more severe acute postoperative pain were associated with the development of PPP. Half of the patients with PPP were under treatment, and they refer a mean symptomatic relief of 69%. This study, apart from attempting to better characterize the problem of PPP, emphasizes the lack of its treatment.

  5. Escitalopram versus other antidepressive agents for depression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cipriani, Andrea; Santilli, Claudio; Furukawa, Toshi A; Signoretti, Alessandra; Nakagawa, Atsuo; McGuire, Hugh; Churchill, Rachel; Barbui, Corrado

    2014-01-01

    Background Although pharmacological and psychological interventions are both effective for major depression, antidepressant drugs remain the mainstay of treatment in primary and secondary care settings. During the last 20 years, antidepressant prescribing has risen dramatically in western countries, mainly because of the increasing consumption of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and newer antidepressants, which have progressively become the most commonly prescribed antidepressants. Escitalopram is the pure S-enantiomer of the racemic citalopram. Objectives To assess the evidence for the efficacy, acceptability and tolerability of escitalopram in comparison with tricyclics, other SSRIs, heterocyclics and newer agents in the acute-phase treatment of major depression. Search methods Electronic databases were searched up to July 2008. Trial databases of drug-approving agencies were hand-searched for published, unpublished and ongoing controlled trials. Selection criteria All randomised controlled trials comparing escitalopram against any other antidepressant (including non-conventional agents such as hypericum) for patients with major depressive disorder (regardless of the diagnostic criteria used). Data collection and analysis Data were entered by two review authors (double data entry). Responders and remitters to treatment were calculated on an intention-to-treat basis. For dichotomous data, odds ratios (ORs) were calculated with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Continuous data were analysed using standardised mean differences (with 95% CI) using the random effects model. Main results Fourteen trials compared escitalopram with another SSRI and eight compared escitalopram with a newer antidepressive agent (venlafaxine, bupropion and duloxetine). Escitalopram was shown to be significantly more effective than citalopram in achieving acute response (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.87). Escitalopram was also more effective than citalopram in terms of remission (OR

  6. Applications of short lived nuclides in activation analysis, problems and progress

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grass, F [Atominstitut, Vienna (Austria)

    1976-07-01

    Short lived nuclides or isomeric transitions, respectively would have some advantages over long lived ones. Although we published a paper concerning a germanium-determination in iron meteorites some years ago, only few laboratories use this technique, the main reason being that the high matrix activity disturbs the measurement of energy-spectra. A multichannel analyzer in the time sequence mode enables Li-8 determination by a purely instrumental method which is therefore used more frequently. In the time sequence mode much higher counting rates up to 10 - 50 MHz are processed then by taking energy-spectra. This is the reason why activation analysis with short lived isomeric states is seldom applied when counting rate and pulse height are to be detected simultaneously. Exceptional difficulties are encountered in measurement of samples activated by a reactor pulse. Further difficulties arise from the fact that an optimal expelling time depends on the half life of the nuclide, and is more critical if the half life is short and the full width half maximum of the reactor pulse is small. Commercial Ge-Li-detectors can be used only at low counting rates, so that samples with high matrix activities cannot be measured. Modifying the electronic system enables registration of samples with high matrix activities. For short lived nuclides emitting hard beta-rays, e.g. B-12 or Li-8, a Cerenkov-detector is optimal. These problems are discussed in examples. (author)

  7. Analysis of existing data and specification of an experiment to determine the 252Cf half-life to the required degree of accuracy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lorenz, A.; Kharitonov, I.A.

    1994-02-01

    The methods used and the results obtained in measurements of the 252 Cf half-life are analyzed. In calculating the weighted mean value, additional error components as well as those given by the authors are taken into account. In order to reduce the error in the weighted mean value to less than 0.1%, the need and the requirements for an exact measurement are specified. A half-life of 2.6473±0.0028 years is recommended. (author). 16 refs, 3 tabs

  8. Study of the Bs meson and measurement of its half-life with the ALEPH detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duarte, H.

    1994-01-01

    The B s 0 meson is the bound state of a quark anti-quark pair made up of a beauty particle and a strange particle. In the first chapter we review different experimental results leading to the existence of B S 0 meson and we draw the theoretical framework of the concept of beauty particles. The second chapter deals with the probability of the formation of a meson containing a strange quark during the fragmentation. This chapter also contains a re-analysis of the whole data constraining the mixing parameter B s 0 -B s 0 -bar. The relevancy of the analysis relies on the assumption that the B s 0 meson decays only into one D s , one lepton and one neutrino. The ALEPH detector is described in chapter 3, this four-pi, multi-particle detector is installed on the e + e - LEP (Large Electron Positron Collider). The signature selected for the measurement of the half-life is the combination of one D s in the decay modes: φπ, K *0 K with a lepton having opposite charge. This measurement implies the knowledge of the B s 0 momentum and of its flight length. In order to assess the momentum of the neutrino, a technique of measuring missing energy is presented in the chapter 4. The selection of B s 0 events is detailed in the chapter 5. A cutting limit on the energy of B s 0 based on the missing energy is used to deduce the production rate of B s 0 . In the chapter 6 we present the measurement of the half-life of B s 0 , the method used for the reconstruction of decay vertices and of the event main vertex is detailed. The validity of the method has been tested on Monte-Carlo simulations. The final result concerning the measurement of the half-life is: τ(B s )=[1.92(+0.45-0.35)±0.04] ps [fr

  9. Hair-to-blood ratio and biological half-life of mercury: experimental study of methylmercury exposure through fish consumption in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yaginuma-Sakurai, Kozue; Murata, Katsuyuki; Iwai-Shimada, Miyuki; Nakai, Kunihiko; Kurokawa, Naoyuki; Tatsuta, Nozomi; Satoh, Hiroshi

    2012-02-01

    The hair-to-blood ratio and biological half-life of methylmercury in a one-compartment model seem to differ between past and recent studies. To reevaluate them, 27 healthy volunteers were exposed to methylmercury at the provisional tolerable weekly intake (3.4 µg/kg body weight/week) for adults through fish consumption for 14 weeks, followed by a 15-week washout period after the cessation of exposure. Blood was collected every 1 or 2 weeks, and hair was cut every 4 weeks. Total mercury (T-Hg) concentrations were analyzed in blood and hair. The T-Hg levels of blood and hair changed with time (p < 0.001). The mean concentrations increased from 6.7 ng/g at week 0 to 26.9 ng/g at week 14 in blood, and from 2.3 to 8.8 µg/g in hair. The mean hair-to-blood ratio after the adjustment for the time lag from blood to hair was 344 ± 54 (S.D.) for the entire period. The half-lives of T-Hg were calculated from raw data to be 94 ± 23 days for blood and 102 ± 31 days for hair, but the half-lives recalculated after subtracting the background levels from the raw data were 57 ± 18 and 64 ± 22 days, respectively. In conclusion, the hair-to-blood ratio of methylmercury, based on past studies, appears to be underestimated in light of recent studies. The crude half-life may be preferred rather than the recalculated one because of the practicability and uncertainties of the background level, though the latter half-life may approximate the conventional one.

  10. RBC-/Cr-51/ half-life and albumin turnover in growing Beagle dogs during chronic radial acceleration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beckman, D. A.; Evans, J. W.; Oyama, J.

    1979-01-01

    The effects of chronic centrifugation on growing Beagle dogs exposed to -2 or -2.6 Gx on albumin and RBC turnover rates, albumin concentration and space, and total blood volume were determined and compared with caged and run control of animals. Albumin-(I-125) and autologous RBC-(Cr-51) preparations were injected into all dogs at day 82 of the centrifugation periods, and the disappearance curves were determined by successive bleedings of the animals over the next 35 d, during which the centrifugation was continued. There were no differences in albumin turnover rates or space. Two populations of RBCs were found in both centrifugated groups, one with a normal half-life of 27 + or - 1 S.E.M. d, and one with a significantly (p less than 0.01) shorter half-life of 15 + or - 2 S.E.M. d. An absolute polycythemia was also observed in both centrifuged groups. The results suggest that chronic centrifugation acts through some as-yet unknown mechanism to affect RBC population kinetics.

  11. Thirty years after Chernobyl: Long-term determination of 137Cs effective half-life in the lichen Stereocaulon vesuvianum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savino, F; Pugliese, M; Quarto, M; Adamo, P; Loffredo, F; De Cicco, F; Roca, V

    2017-06-01

    It has been widely shown that nuclear fallout includes substances, which accumulate in organisms such as crustaceans, fish, mushrooms and lichens, helping to evaluate the activity concentration of contaminants accumulated on a long time. In this context, radiocaesium deposited in soil following the Chernobyl accident on 26 April 1986 is known to have remained persistently available for plant uptake in many areas of Europe. Studies on the lichen Stereocaulon vesuvianum show the plant's high capacity to retain radionuclides from the substrate and the air. After the Chernobyl accident, starting from September 1986, at the Radioactivity Laboratory (LaRa) of the University of Naples Federico II, four monitoring campaigns to evaluate the activity concentration of four isotopes of the two elements caesium and ruthenium ( 134 Cs, 137 Cs, 103 Ru and 106 Ru) were carried out until 1999. This study allowed the effective half-life of 134 Cs and 137 Cs to be estimated. Twenty-eight years after the accident, in December 2014, a further sampling was carried out; only 137 Cs was revealed beyond the detection limits, measuring activity concentrations ranging from 20 to 40 Bq/kg, while the other radionuclides were no longer observed due to their shorter half-life. The last sampling allowed more precise determination of the effective half-life of 137 Cs (6.2 ± 0.1 year), due to the larger dataset on a large time period. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Preliminary measurements of the 87Rb half-life by means of the needle counter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zastawny, A.; Rabsztyn, B.

    1989-01-01

    In order to test the detector and to obtain the experience before starting the exact measurements, the measurements of 87 Rb half-life have been made. RbNO 3 produced by Merck was used to prepare the samples. The samples were prepared by evaporation of RbNO 3 water solution on an aluminium foil of 2,9 mg/cm 2 . The water solutions were changed in the range from (3286,4±1,8) x 10 -6 to (480,85±0,3) x 10 -6 . The background of the aluminium foil was equal to (0,117±0,007) cpm. In other measurements the back-scattering effect of 87 Rb beta rays on the aluminium foil amounted to 4%, as the measurements were performed in the 2π geometry. The diameters of samples were about 10 mm. The specific radioactivities of samples were measured versus the surface changed in the range (60-320) μg/cm 2 . The extrapolated value of the half-life, corrected for the chemical purity of the compound (as declared by the manufacterer) is equal to (4,86±0,1) x 10 10 years. This value is in good agreement with commonly accepted value of 4,88 x 10 10 years and with another last measurements. 10 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs. (author)

  13. Prevalence of depression among recently admitted long-term care patients in Norwegian nursing homes: associations with diagnostic workup and use of antidepressants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iden, Kristina Riis; Engedal, Knut; Hjorleifsson, Stefan; Ruths, Sabine

    2014-01-01

    We aimed to establish the prevalence of depression among recently admitted long-term care patients and to examine associations with diagnostic initiatives and treatment as recorded in patients' medical records. Eighty-eight long-term care patients were included. Depression was diagnosed according to the ICD-10 criteria; patients were screened for depression using the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) and for dementia with the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale. Depression was found in 25% of the patients according to the ICD-10 criteria and in 31% according to a CSDD sum score of ≥ 8. Diagnostic initiatives were documented in the medical records of half of the patients with depression. Forty-four percent of the patients were prescribed antidepressants and 23% actually received them for the treatment of depression. Depression was prevalent among recently admitted long-term care patients, but diagnostic initiatives were too rarely used. Antidepressants were commonly prescribed, but depression was the indication for treatment in only half of the cases. Screening for depression should be mandatory on admission.

  14. Is the antidepressive effect of second-generation antidepressants a myth?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bech, P

    2010-01-01

    Two recent meta-analyses on second-generation antidepressants versus placebo in mild to moderate forms of major depression, based on data on all randomized clinical trials using the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) submitted to FDA, have shown an effect size of approximately 0.30 in favour...

  15. Plane-wave scattering from half-wave dipole arrays

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Niels E.

    1970-01-01

    A matrix equation for determination of plane-wave scattering from arrays of thin short-circuited dipoles of lengths about half a wavelength is derived. Numerical and experimental results are presented for linear, circular, and concentric circular arrays.......A matrix equation for determination of plane-wave scattering from arrays of thin short-circuited dipoles of lengths about half a wavelength is derived. Numerical and experimental results are presented for linear, circular, and concentric circular arrays....

  16. Prevalence of depression, quality of life and antidepressant treatment in the Danish General Suburban Population Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ellervik, Christina; Kvetny, Jan; Christensen, Kaj Sparle

    2014-01-01

    to describe the prevalence of antidepressants received by the respondents in the GESUS study and the correspondence to their subjective well-being on the WHO-5 questionnaire. Methods: To evaluate the validity (scalability) of the MDI and the WHO-5 in the GESUS study we performed the non-parametric Mokken...

  17. Methodical Challenges and a Possible Resolution in the Assessment of Receptor Reserve for Adenosine, an Agonist with Short Half-Life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judit Zsuga

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The term receptor reserve, first introduced and used in the traditional receptor theory, is an integrative measure of response-inducing ability of the interaction between an agonist and a receptor system (consisting of a receptor and its downstream signaling. The underlying phenomenon, i.e., stimulation of a submaximal fraction of receptors can apparently elicit the maximal effect (in certain cases, provides an opportunity to assess the receptor reserve. However, determining receptor reserve is challenging for agonists with short half-lives, such as adenosine. Although adenosine metabolism can be inhibited several ways (in order to prevent the rapid elimination of adenosine administered to construct concentration–effect (E/c curves for the determination, the consequent accumulation of endogenous adenosine biases the results. To address this problem, we previously proposed a method, by means of which this bias can be mathematically corrected (utilizing a traditional receptor theory-independent approach. In the present investigation, we have offered in silico validation of this method by simulating E/c curves with the use of the operational model of agonism and then by evaluating them using our method. We have found that our method is suitable to reliably assess the receptor reserve for adenosine in our recently published experimental setting, suggesting that it may be capable for a qualitative determination of receptor reserve for rapidly eliminating agonists in general. In addition, we have disclosed a possible interference between FSCPX (8-cyclopentyl-N3-[3-(4-(fluorosulfonylbenzoyloxypropyl]-N1-propylxanthine, an irreversible A1 adenosine receptor antagonist, and NBTI (S-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl-6-thioinosine, a nucleoside transport inhibitor, i.e., FSCPX may blunt the effect of NBTI.

  18. The monoaminergic pathways and inhibition of monoamine transporters interfere with the antidepressive-like behavior of ketamine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Glauce Socorro de Barros Viana

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Ketamine (KET, a NMDA receptor antagonist, has been studied for its rapid and efficacious antidepressant effect, even for the treatment-resistant depression. Although depression is a major cause of disability worldwide, the treatment can be feasible, affordable and cost-effective, decreasing the population health burden. We evaluated the antidepressive-like effects of KET and its actions on monoamine contents (DA and its metabolites, as well as 5-HT and on tyrosine hydroxylase (TH. In addition DAT and SERT (DA and 5-HT transporters, respectively were also assessed. Male Swiss mice were divided into Control and KET-treated groups. The animals were acutely treated with KET (2, 5 or 10 mg/kg, i.p. and subjected to the forced swimming test, for evaluation of the antidepressive-like behavior. Imipramine and fluoxetine were used as references. The results showed that KET decreased dose-dependently the immobility time and shortly after the test, the animals were euthanized for striatal dissections and monoamine determinations. In addition, the brain (striata, hippocampi and prefrontal cortices was immunohistochemically processed for TH, DAT and SERT. KET at its higher dose increased DA and its metabolites (DOPAC and HVA and mainly 5-HT contents, in mice striata, effects associated with increases in TH and decreases in DAT immunoreactivities. Furthermore, reductions in SERT immunoreactivities were observed in the striatum and hippocampus. The results indicate that KET antidepressive-like effect probably involves, among other factors, monoaminergic pathways, as suggested by the increased striatal TH immunoreactivity and reduced brain DA (DAT and 5-HT (SERT transporters. Keywords: Ketamine, Antidepressive effect, Dopaminergic neurotransmission, Serotonergic neurotransmission, Monoamine transporters

  19. Pharmacogenetics and Imaging-Pharmacogenetics of Antidepressant Response: Towards Translational Strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lett, Tristram A; Walter, Henrik; Brandl, Eva J

    2016-12-01

    Genetic variation underlies both the response to antidepressant treatment and the occurrence of side effects. Over the past two decades, a number of pharmacogenetic variants, among these the SCL6A4, BDNF, FKBP5, GNB3, GRIK4, and ABCB1 genes, have come to the forefront in this regard. However, small effects sizes, mixed results in independent samples, and conflicting meta-analyses results led to inherent difficulties in the field of pharmacogenetics translating these findings into clinical practice. Nearly all antidepressant pharmacogenetic variants have potentially pleiotropic effects in which they are associated with major depressive disorder, intermediate phenotypes involved in emotional processes, and brain areas affected by antidepressant treatment. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of the advances made in the field of pharmacogenetics of antidepressant efficacy and side effects, imaging findings of antidepressant response, and the latest results in the expanding field of imaging-pharmacogenetics studies. We suggest there is mounting evidence that genetic factors exert their impact on treatment response by influencing brain structural and functional changes during antidepressant treatment, and combining neuroimaging and genetic methods may be a more powerful way to detect biological mechanisms of response than either method alone. The most promising imaging-pharmacogenetics findings exist for the SCL6A4 gene, with converging associations with antidepressant response, frontolimbic predictors of affective symptoms, and normalization of frontolimbic activity following antidepressant treatment. More research is required before imaging-pharmacogenetics informed personalized medicine can be applied to antidepressant treatment; nevertheless, inroads have been made towards assessing genetic and neuroanatomical liability and potential clinical application.

  20. Progress and prospects in pharmacogenetics of antidepressant drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fabbri, Chiara; Crisafulli, Concetta; Calabrò, Marco; Spina, Edoardo; Serretti, Alessandro

    2016-10-01

    Depression is responsible for the most part of the personal and socio-economic burden due to psychiatric disorders. Since antidepressant response clusters in families, pharmacogenetics represents a meaningful tool to provide tailored treatments and improve the prognosis of depression. This review aims to summarize and discuss the pharmacogenetics of antidepressant drugs in major depressive disorder, with a focus on the most replicated genes, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), but also on the findings provided by new and promising analysis methods. In particular, multimarker tests such as pathway analysis and polygenic risk scores increase the power of detecting associations compared to the analysis of individual polymorphisms. Since genetic variants are not necessarily associated with a change in protein level, gene expression studies may provide complementary information to genetic studies. Finally, the pharmacogenetic tests that have been investigated for clinical application are discussed. Despite the lack of widespread clinical applications, preliminary results suggest that pharmacogenetics may be useful to guide antidepressant treatment. The US Food and Drug Administration included pharmacogenetic indications in the labeling of several antidepressants. This represented an important official recognition of the clinical relevance of genetic polymorphisms in antidepressant treatment.

  1. Antidepressants for depression in adults with HIV infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eshun-Wilson, Ingrid; Siegfried, Nandi; Akena, Dickens H; Stein, Dan J; Obuku, Ekwaro A; Joska, John A

    2018-01-22

    group.There was no evidence of a difference in follow-up CD4 count at study termination (MD -6.31 cells/mm 3 , 95% CI -72.76 to 60.14; participants = 176; studies = 3; I 2 = 0%; low quality evidence). Only one study evaluated quality of life score (MD 3.60, 95% CI -0.38 to 7.58; participants = 87; studies = 1; very low quality evidence), due to the poor quality evidence we could not draw conclusions for this outcome.There were few studies comparing different antidepressant classes. We are uncertain if SSRIs differ from TCAs with regard to improvement in depression as evaluated by HAM-D score (MD -3.20, 95% CI -10.87 to 4.47; participants = 14; studies = 1; very low quality evidence). There was some evidence that mirtazapine resulted in a greater improvement in depression compared to an SSRI (MD 9.00, 95% CI 3.61 to 14.39; participants = 70; studies = 1; low quality evidence); however, this finding was not consistent for all measures of improvement in depression for this comparison.No studies reported on virological suppression or any other HIV specific outcomes.The studies included in this review had an overall unclear or high risk of bias due to under-reporting of study methods, high risk of attrition bias and inadequate sequence generation methods. Heterogeneity between studies and the limited number of participants, and events lead to downgrading of the quality of the evidence for several outcomes. This review demonstrates that antidepressant therapy may be more beneficial than placebo for the treatment of depression in PLWH. The low quality of the evidence contributing to this assessment and the lack of studies representing PLWH from generalized epidemics in low- to middle-income countries make the relevance of these finding in today's context limited. Future studies that evaluate the effectiveness of antidepressant therapy should be designed and conducted rigorously. Such studies should incorporate evaluation of stepped care models and health system strengthening

  2. Computational Model of Antidepressant Response Heterogeneity as Multi-pathway Neuroadaptation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariam B. Camacho

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Current hypotheses cannot fully explain the clinically observed heterogeneity in antidepressant response. The therapeutic latency of antidepressants suggests that therapeutic outcomes are achieved not by the acute effects of the drugs, but rather by the homeostatic changes that occur as the brain adapts to their chronic administration. We present a computational model that represents the known interactions between the monoaminergic neurotransmitter-producing brain regions and associated non-monoaminergic neurotransmitter systems, and use the model to explore the possible ways in which the brain can homeostatically adjust to chronic antidepressant administration. The model also represents the neuron-specific neurotransmitter receptors that are known to adjust their strengths (expressions or sensitivities in response to chronic antidepressant administration, and neuroadaptation in the model occurs through sequential adjustments in these receptor strengths. The main result is that the model can reach similar levels of adaptation to chronic administration of the same antidepressant drug or combination along many different pathways, arriving correspondingly at many different receptor strength configurations, but not all of those adapted configurations are also associated with therapeutic elevations in monoamine levels. When expressed as the percentage of adapted configurations that are also associated with elevations in one or more of the monoamines, our modeling results largely agree with the percentage efficacy rates of antidepressants and antidepressant combinations observed in clinical trials. Our neuroadaptation model provides an explanation for the clinical reports of heterogeneous outcomes among patients chronically administered the same antidepressant drug regimen.

  3. The Half Life of the 53 keV Level in {sup 197}Pt

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malmskog, S G

    1967-02-15

    The half life of the recently proposed 53 keV level in {sup 197}Pt has been measured to 18.5 {+-} 1.5 nsec using the delayed coincidence technique. This level, which is identified with the f{sub 5/2} single particle state, decays directly to the p{sub 1/2} ground state in {sup 197}Pt. The reduced E2 transition probability for this 53 keV transition has been deduced and compared with the results obtained for the corresponding transitions in other Pt, Hg, and Pb isotopes and with the theoretical predictions by Sorensen and by Wahlborn and Martinson.

  4. First 0ν half-life limit from the Gotthard xenon time projection chamber

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wong, H.T.; Boehm, F.; Fisher, P.

    1991-01-01

    A xenon Time Projection Chamber with an active volume of 207 liters has been built to study 0ν and 2ν double beta decay in 136 Xe. The TPC has been installed in the Gotthard Tunnel Underground Laboratory, and is currently taking data with 5 atm of xenon enriched in 62.5% 136 Xe. The first 166 hours of data are presented. Based on this data set, we deduce a half-life limit of T(0 + → 0 + ) > 6.2 x 10 21 years for the 0ν mode, at a 90% C.L. (author)

  5. A Two-pronged Binding Mechanism of IgG to the Neonatal Fc Receptor Controls Complex Stability and IgG Serum Half-life

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Pernille Foged; Schoch, Angela; Larraillet, Vincent

    2017-01-01

    The success of recombinant monoclonal immunoglobulins (IgG) is rooted in their ability to target distinct antigens with high affinity combined with an extraordinarily long serum half-life, typically around 3 weeks. The pharmacokinetics of IgGs is intimately linked to the recycling mechanism...... half-life of ∼8 days. Here we dissect the molecular origins of excessive FcRn binding in therapeutic IgGs using a combination of hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry and FcRn affinity chromatography. We provide experimental evidence for a two-pronged IgG-FcRn binding mechanism involving direct...

  6. Segregating the cerebral mechanisms of antidepressants and placebo in fibromyalgia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, Karin B; Petzke, Frank; Carville, Serena; Choy, Ernest; Fransson, Peter; Gracely, Richard H; Vitton, Olivier; Marcus, Hanke; Williams, Steven C R; Ingvar, Martin; Kosek, Eva

    2014-12-01

    Antidepressant drugs are commonly used to treat fibromyalgia, but there is little knowledge about their mechanisms of action. The aim of this study was to compare the cerebral and behavioral response to positive treatment effects of antidepressants or placebo. Ninety-two fibromyalgia patients participated in a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with milnacipran, a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. Before and after treatment, measures of cerebral pain processing were obtained using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Also, there were stimulus response assessments of pressure pain, measures of weekly pain, and fibromyalgia impact. Following treatment, milnacipran responders exhibited significantly higher activity in the posterior cingulum compared with placebo responders. The mere exposure to milnacipran did not explain our findings because milnacipran responders exhibited increased activity also in comparison to milnacipran nonresponders. Stimulus response assessments revealed specific antihyperalgesic effects in milnacipran responders, which was also correlated with reduced clinical pain and with increased activation of the posterior cingulum. A short history of pain predicted positive treatment response to milnacipran. We report segregated neural mechanisms for positive responses to treatment with milnacipran and placebo, reflected in the posterior cingulum. The increase of pain-evoked activation in the posterior cingulum may reflect a normalization of altered default mode network processing, an alteration implicated in fibromyalgia pathophysiology. This study presents neural and psychophysical correlates to positive treatment responses in patients with fibromyalgia, treated with either milnacipran or placebo. The comparison between placebo responders and milnacipran responders may shed light on the specific mechanisms involved in antidepressant treatment of chronic pain. Copyright © 2014 American Pain Society. Published by

  7. A new simplified allometric approach for predicting the biological half-life of radionuclides in reptiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beresford, N.A.; Wood, M.D.

    2014-01-01

    A major source of uncertainty in the estimation of radiation dose to wildlife is the prediction of internal radionuclide activity concentrations. Allometric (mass-dependent) relationships describing biological half-life (T 1/2b ) of radionuclides in organisms can be used to predict organism activity concentrations. The establishment of allometric expressions requires experimental data which are often lacking. An approach to predict the T 1/2b in homeothermic vertebrates has recently been proposed. In this paper we have adapted this to be applicable to reptiles. For Cs, Ra and Sr, over a mass range of 0.02–1.5 kg, resultant predictions were generally within a factor of 6 of reported values demonstrating that the approach can be used when measured T 1/2b data are lacking. However, the effect of mass on reptilian radionuclide T 1/2b is minimal. If sufficient measured data are available for a given radionuclide then it is likely that these would give a reasonable estimate of T 1/2b in any reptile species. - Highlights: • An allometric approach to predict radionuclide T 1/2b values in reptiles is derived. • Predictions are generally within a factor of six of measured values. • Radionuclide biological half-life is in-effect mass independent

  8. Involvement of AMPA receptors in the antidepressant-like effects of dextromethorphan in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Linda; Matsumoto, Rae R

    2015-12-15

    Dextromethorphan (DM) is an antitussive with rapid acting antidepressant potential based on pharmacodynamic similarities to ketamine. Building upon our previous finding that DM produces antidepressant-like effects in the mouse forced swim test (FST), the present study aimed to establish the antidepressant-like actions of DM in the tail suspension test (TST), another well-established model predictive of antidepressant efficacy. Additionally, using the TST and FST, we investigated the role of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors in the antidepressant-like properties of DM because accumulating evidence suggests that AMPA receptors play an important role in the pathophysiology of depression and may contribute to the efficacy of antidepressant medications, including that of ketamine. We found that DM displays antidepressant-like effects in the TST similar to the conventional and fast acting antidepressants characterized by imipramine and ketamine, respectively. Moreover, decreasing the first-pass metabolism of DM by concomitant administration of quinidine (CYP2D6 inhibitor) potentiated antidepressant-like actions, implying DM itself has antidepressant efficacy. Finally, in both the TST and FST, pretreatment with the AMPA receptor antagonist NBQX (2,3-dioxo-6-nitro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[f]quinoxaline-7-sulfonamide) significantly attenuated the antidepressant-like behavior elicited by DM. Together, the data show that DM exerts antidepressant-like actions through AMPA receptors, further suggesting DM may act as a safe and effective fast acting antidepressant drug. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Influence of psychotherapist density and antidepressant sales on suicide rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapusta, N D; Niederkrotenthaler, T; Etzersdorfer, E; Voracek, M; Dervic, K; Jandl-Jager, E; Sonneck, G

    2009-03-01

    Antidepressant sales and suicide rates have been shown to be correlated in industrialized countries. The aim was to study the possible effects of psychotherapy utilization on suicide rates. We assessed the impact of antidepressant sales and psychotherapist density on suicide rates between 1991 and 2005. To adjust for serial correlation in time series, three first-order autoregressive models adjusted for per capita alcohol consumption and unemployment rates were employed. Antidepressant sales and the density of psychotherapists in the population were negatively associated with suicide rates. This study provides evidence that decreasing suicide rates were associated with both increasing antidepressant sales and an increasing density of psychotherapists. The decrease of suicide rates could reflect a general improvement in mental health care rather than being caused by antidepressant sales or psychotherapist density alone.

  10. Antidepressants for the treatment of abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders in children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaminski, Angela; Kamper, Adrian; Thaler, Kylie; Chapman, Andrea; Gartlehner, Gerald

    2011-07-06

    feeling better in the amitriptyline group compared with 53% in the placebo group (RR 1.12; 95% CI: 0.77 to 1.63; P = 0.54). The risk of bias for this study was rated as low.The second RCT enrolled 33 adolescents with irritable bowel syndrome. Patients receiving amitriptyline experienced greater improvements in the primary outcome, overall quality of life, at weeks 6, 10, and 13 compared with those on placebo (P= 0.019, 0.004, and 0.013, respectively). No effect estimates were calculated for the quality of life outcome because mean quality of life scores and standard deviations were not reported. For most secondary outcomes no statistically significant differences between amitriptyline and placebo could be detected. The risk of bias for this study was rated as unclear for most items. However, it was rated as high for other bias due to multiple testing. The results of this study should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of patients and multiple testing.The larger study reported mild adverse events including fatigue, rash and headache and dizziness. On ITT analysis, 4% of the amitriptyline group experienced at least one adverse event compared to 2% of the placebo group. There was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of patients who experienced at least one adverse event (RR 1.91; 95% CI 0.18 to 20.35; P = 0.59). The smaller study reported no adverse events. The methods of adverse effects assessment was poorly reported in both studies and no clear conclusions on the risks of harms of amitriptyline can be drawn. Clinicians must be aware that for the majority of antidepressant medications no evidence exists that supports their use for the treatment of abdominal pain-related FGIDs in children and adolescents. The existing randomised controlled evidence is limited to studies on amitriptyline and revealed no statistically significant differences between amitriptyline and placebo for most efficacy outcomes. Amitriptyline does not appear to

  11. Suppressive immunoregulatory effects of three antidepressants via inhibition of the nuclear factor-κB activation assessed using primary macrophages of carp (Cyprinus carpio)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qiu, Wenhui; Wu, Minghong; Liu, Shuai; Chen, Bei; Pan, Chenyuan; Yang, Ming; Wang, Ke-Jian

    2017-01-01

    Antidepressants, having been applied for the treatment of major depressive disorder and other conditions for decades, are among the most commonly detected human pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. This study evaluated the immunotoxicity of acute exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of amitriptyline, fluoxetine and mianserin using an in vitro primary macrophage model isolated from red common carp (Cyprinus carpio), and also explored their potential mechanisms of action. A potential suppressive immunoregulatory effect of antidepressant exposure was suggested based on the observed suppressive effects on oxidative stress parameters, bactericidal activity, NO production, and NO synthase activity, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression, and a significant stimulatory effect on anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 and interferon cytokine gene expression and ATPase activities in macrophages after 6 h-exposure to three individual antidepressants and a combination thereof. Notably, we also found these effects were significantly associated with a corresponding decrease in nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity after antidepressants exposure, and the NF-κB antagonist significantly restrained the effects of antidepressants on gene expression of cytokines, indicating that antidepressants could alter the response of various immune-associated components via the inhibition of NF-κB. Moreover, time-dependent lethal concentrations of three antidepressants on primary macrophages were firstly determined at mg/L levels, and the synergetic effects of antidepressant mixtures were suggested and in particular, for some parameters including total antioxidant capacity and cytokine genes expression, they could be significantly affected by antidepressants exposure at concentrations as low as 10 ng/L, which together thereby revealed the potential risk of antidepressants to aquatic life. - Highlights: • Three different antidepressants all have immunoregulatory

  12. Suppressive immunoregulatory effects of three antidepressants via inhibition of the nuclear factor-κB activation assessed using primary macrophages of carp (Cyprinus carpio)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qiu, Wenhui [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005 (China); School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055 (China); Wu, Minghong; Liu, Shuai [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Chen, Bei [State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005 (China); Pan, Chenyuan [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Yang, Ming, E-mail: mingyang@shu.edu.cn [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Wang, Ke-Jian, E-mail: wkjian@xmu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005 (China)

    2017-05-01

    Antidepressants, having been applied for the treatment of major depressive disorder and other conditions for decades, are among the most commonly detected human pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. This study evaluated the immunotoxicity of acute exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of amitriptyline, fluoxetine and mianserin using an in vitro primary macrophage model isolated from red common carp (Cyprinus carpio), and also explored their potential mechanisms of action. A potential suppressive immunoregulatory effect of antidepressant exposure was suggested based on the observed suppressive effects on oxidative stress parameters, bactericidal activity, NO production, and NO synthase activity, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression, and a significant stimulatory effect on anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 and interferon cytokine gene expression and ATPase activities in macrophages after 6 h-exposure to three individual antidepressants and a combination thereof. Notably, we also found these effects were significantly associated with a corresponding decrease in nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity after antidepressants exposure, and the NF-κB antagonist significantly restrained the effects of antidepressants on gene expression of cytokines, indicating that antidepressants could alter the response of various immune-associated components via the inhibition of NF-κB. Moreover, time-dependent lethal concentrations of three antidepressants on primary macrophages were firstly determined at mg/L levels, and the synergetic effects of antidepressant mixtures were suggested and in particular, for some parameters including total antioxidant capacity and cytokine genes expression, they could be significantly affected by antidepressants exposure at concentrations as low as 10 ng/L, which together thereby revealed the potential risk of antidepressants to aquatic life. - Highlights: • Three different antidepressants all have immunoregulatory

  13. Antidepressants during pregnancy, risks for mother and child

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ververs, F.F.T.

    2009-01-01

    The use of antidepressant drugs during pregnancy is increasing without firm evidence on safety or efficacy. When managing depression and anxiety with antidepressants, the expected benefits must outweigh the risks. For health care processionals it is difficult to balance the benefits against the

  14. Duloxetine versus other anti-depressive agents for depression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cipriani, Andrea; Koesters, Markus; Furukawa, Toshi A; Nosè, Michela; Purgato, Marianna; Omori, Ichiro M; Trespidi, Carlotta; Barbui, Corrado

    2014-01-01

    Background Although pharmacological and psychological interventions are both effective for major depression, in primary and secondary care settings antidepressant drugs remain the mainstay of treatment. Amongst antidepressants many different agents are available. Duloxetine hydrochloride is a dual reuptake inhibitor of serotonin and norepinephrine and has been licensed by the Food and Drug Administration in the US for major depressive disorder (MDD), generalised anxiety disorder, diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia and chronic musculoskeletal pain. Objectives To assess the evidence for the efficacy, acceptability and tolerability of duloxetine in comparison with all other antidepressant agents in the acute-phase treatment of major depression. Search methods MEDLINE (1966 to 2012), EMBASE (1974 to 2012), the Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Controlled Trials Register and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials up to March 2012. No language restriction was applied. Reference lists of relevant papers and previous systematic reviews were hand-searched. Pharmaceutical company marketing duloxetine and experts in this field were contacted for supplemental data. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials allocating patients with major depression to duloxetine versus any other antidepressive agent. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently extracted data and a double-entry procedure was employed. Information extracted included study characteristics, participant characteristics, intervention details and outcome measures in terms of efficacy, acceptability and tolerability. Main results A total of 16 randomised controlled trials (overall 5735 participants) were included in this systematic review. Of these, three trials were unpublished. We found 11 studies (overall 3304 participants) comparing duloxetine with one selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) (six studies versus paroxetine, three studies

  15. Quality of life among dots (directly observed treatment short course ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Quality of life among dots (directly observed treatment short course) cured patients: ... which is a specific instrument and covers four domains of health i.e. physical, ... thereby necessitating measures for the improvement of the overall health of ...

  16. Poor guideline adherence in the initiation of antidepressant treatment in children and adolescents in the Netherlands : choice of antidepressant and dose

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Vries, Ymkje Anna; de Jonge, Peter; Kalverdijk, Luuk; Bos, Jens H. J.; Schuiling-Veninga, Catharina C. M.; Hak, Eelko

    2016-01-01

    The Dutch guideline for the treatment of depression in young people recommends initiating antidepressant treatment with fluoxetine, as the evidence for its efficacy is strongest and the risk of suicidality may be lower than with other antidepressants. Furthermore, low starting doses are recommended.

  17. Isolation of human anti-serum albumin Fab antibodies with an extended serum-half life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Hyeon-Ju; Kim, Hye-Jin; Cha, Sang-Hoon

    2016-01-01

    The serum albumin (SA) has been exploited to generate long-acting biotherapeutics by taking advantage of the FcRn-mediated recycling mechanism in a direct or an indirect way. Since Fab fragments have been proven to be clinically safe for human usage, we assumed that human anti-SA Fab antibodies could have a great potential as a carrier molecule to extend the serum half-life of therapeutic proteins. We, herein, had attempted to isolate anti-SA Fab antibodies from HuDVFab-8L antibody library via a phage display technology, and identified eight discrete human Fab antibodies. One of the Fab antibodies, SL335, showed the strongest binding reactivity to human SA with nM range of affinity at both pH 6 and pH 7.4, and cross-reacted to SAs from various species including rat, mouse, canine and monkey. The in vivo pharmacokinetic assay using a rat model indicated that SL335 has approximately 10 fold longer serum half-life and 26 to 44-fold increase in AUC0 → ∞ compared to the negative control Fab molecule in both intravenous and subcutaneous administrations. Knowing that Fabs have proven to be safe in clinics for a long time, SL335 seems to have a great potential in generating long-acting protein drugs by tagging effector molecules with either chemical conjugation or genetic fusion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Generic penetration in the retail antidepressant market.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ventimiglia, Jeffrey; Kalali, Amir H

    2010-06-01

    In this article, we explore the accelerated penetration of generic antidepressants in the United States market following the availability of generic citalopram and sertraline. Analysis suggests that overall, generic penetration into the antidepressant market has grown from approximately 41 percent in January 2004 to over 73 percent in January 2010. Similar trends are uncovered when branded and generic prescriptions are analyzed by specialty.

  19. Mechanisms Underlying the Antidepressant Response and Treatment Resistance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marjorie Rose Levinstein

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Depression is a complex and heterogeneous disorder affecting millions of Americans. There are several different medications and other treatments that are available and effective for many patients with depression. However, a substantial percentage of patients fail to achieve remission with these currently available interventions, and relapse rates are high. Therefore, it is necessary to determine both the mechanisms underlying the antidepressant response and the differences between responders and non-responders to treatment. Delineation of these mechanisms largely relies on experiments that utilize animal models. Therefore, this review provides an overview of the various mouse models that are currently used to assess the antidepressant response, such as chronic mild stress, social defeat, and chronic corticosterone. We discuss how these mouse models can be used to advance our understanding of the differences between responders and non-responders to antidepressant treatment. We also provide an overview of experimental treatment modalities that are used for treatment-resistant depression, such as deep brain stimulation and ketamine administration. We will then review the various genetic polymorphisms and transgenic mice that display resistance to antidepressant treatment. Finally, we synthesize the published data to describe a potential neural circuit underlying the antidepressant response and treatment resistance.

  20. Precision half-life determination of a mirror β transition: The decay of 31S

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bacquias, A.; Kurtukian-Nieto, T.; Ascher, P.; Audirac, L.; Blank, B.; Giovinazzo, J.; Aeystoe, J.; Elomaa, V.V.; Eronen, T.; Hakala, J.; Jokinen, A.; Kankainen, A.; Karvonen, P.; Kolhinen, V.S.; Moore, I.D.; Rahaman, S.; Reponen, M.; Rissanen, J.; Saastamoinen, A.; Souin, J.

    2012-01-01

    The half-life of the mirror β decay of 31 S has been measured at the IGISOL facility at the University of Jyvaeskylae. The value obtained is T 1/2 ( 31 S)=(2553.4±1.8) ms, in agreement with previous measurements, but with a precision that is better by a factor of ten than the literature value previously adopted. When the new result is combined with the Q EC value measured recently at JYFLTRAP, a precision of better than 10 -3 is obtained for the ft value. (orig.)

  1. Neural Plasticity Is Involved in Physiological Sleep, Depressive Sleep Disturbances, and Antidepressant Treatments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meng-Qi Zhang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Depression, which is characterized by a pervasive and persistent low mood and anhedonia, greatly impacts patients, their families, and society. The associated and recurring sleep disturbances further reduce patient’s quality of life. However, therapeutic sleep deprivation has been regarded as a rapid and robust antidepressant treatment for several decades, which suggests a complicated role of sleep in development of depression. Changes in neural plasticity are observed during physiological sleep, therapeutic sleep deprivation, and depression. This correlation might help us to understand better the mechanism underlying development of depression and the role of sleep. In this review, we first introduce the structure of sleep and the facilitated neural plasticity caused by physiological sleep. Then, we introduce sleep disturbances and changes in plasticity in patients with depression. Finally, the effects and mechanisms of antidepressants and therapeutic sleep deprivation on neural plasticity are discussed.

  2. Acute antidepressant drug administration and autobiographical memory recall

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Papadatou-Pastou, Marietta; Miskowiak, Kamilla W; Williams, J Mark G

    2012-01-01

    Antidepressants affect memory and neural responses to emotionally valenced stimuli in healthy volunteers. However, it is unclear whether this extends to autobiographical memory for personally experienced events. The current study investigated the effects of acute administration of the antidepress...... of reboxetine on emotional memory extends to recall of personally experienced events. Such effects may be relevant to the cognitive improvements found with recovery from depression and with the mechanism of action of contemporary antidepressant drugs.......Antidepressants affect memory and neural responses to emotionally valenced stimuli in healthy volunteers. However, it is unclear whether this extends to autobiographical memory for personally experienced events. The current study investigated the effects of acute administration...... in the processing of positive versus negative memories was reduced following reboxetine compared with placebo in the left frontal lobe (extending into the insula) and the right superior temporal gyrus. This was paired with increased memory speed in volunteers given reboxetine versus placebo. The effect...

  3. Effects of Calcium Channel Blockers on Antidepressant Action of Alprazolam and Imipramine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gorash ZM

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Alprazolam is effective as an anxiolytic and in the adjunct treatment of depression. In this study, the effects of calcium channel antagonists on the antidepressant action of alprazolam and imipramine were investigated. A forced swimming maze was used to study behavioral despair in albino mice. Mice were divided into nine groups (n = 7 per group. One group received a single dose of 1% Tween 80; two groups each received a single dose of the antidepressant alone (alprazolam or imipramine; two groups each received a single dose of the calcium channel blocker (nifedipine or verapamil; four groups each received a single dose of the calcium channel blocker followed by a single dose of the antidepressant (with same doses used for either in the previous four groups. Drug administration was performed concurrently on the nine groups. Our data confirmed the antidepressant action of alprazolam and imipramine. Both nifedipine and verapamil produced a significant antidepressant effect (delay the onset of immobility when administered separately. Verapamil augmented the antidepressant effects of alprazolam and imipramine (additive antidepressant effect. This may be due to the possibility that verapamil might have antidepressant-like effect through different mechanism. Nifedipine and imipramine combined led to a delay in the onset of immobility greater than their single use but less than the sum of their independent administration. This may be due to the fact that nifedipine on its own might act as an antidepressant but blocks one imipramine mechanism that depends on L-type calcium channel activation. Combining nifedipine with alprazolam produced additional antidepressant effects, which indicates that they exert antidepressant effects through different mechanisms.

  4. Relationship between isotope half-life and prostatic edema for optimal prostate dose coverage in permanent seed implants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villeneuve, Maxime; Leclerc, Ghyslain; Lessard, Etienne; Pouliot, Jean; Beaulieu, Luc

    2008-01-01

    The robustness of treatment planning to prostatic edema for three different isotopes ( 125 I, 103 Pd, and 131 Cs) is explored using dynamical dose calculations on 25 different clinical prostate cases. The treatment plans were made using the inverse planning by simulated annealing (IPSA) algorithm. The prescription was 144, 127, and 125 Gy for 125 I, 131 Cs, and 103 Pd, respectively. For each isotope, three dose distribution schemes were used to impose different protection levels to the urethra: V 120 =0%, V 150 =0%, and V 150 =30%. Eleven initial edema values were considered ranging from 1.0 (no edema) to 2.0 (100%). The edema was assumed to resolve exponentially with time. The prostate volume, seed positions, and seed activity were dynamically tracked to produce the final dose distribution. Edema decay half-lives of 10, 30, and 50 days were used. A total of 675 dynamical calculations were performed for each initial edema value. For the 125 I isotope, limiting the urethra V 120 to 0% leads to a prostate D 90 under 140 Gy for initial edema values above 1.5. Planning with urethra V 150 at 0% provides a good response to the edema; the prostate D 90 remains higher than 140 Gy for edema values up to 1.8 and a half-life of 30 days or less. For 103 Pd, the prostate D 90 is under 97% of the prescription dose for approximately 66%, 40%, and 30% of edema values for urethra V 120 =0%, V 150 =0%, and V 150 =30%, respectively. Similar behavior is seen for 131 Cs and the center of the prostate becomes 'cold' for almost all edema scenarios. The magnitude of the edema following prostate brachytherapy, as well as the half-life of the isotope used and that of the edema resorption, all have important impacts on the dose distribution. The 125 I isotope with its longer half-life is more robust to prostatic edema. Setting up good planning objectives can provide an adequate compromise between organ doses and robustness. This is even more important since seed misplacements will contribute

  5. Half-lives for selected actinides and long-lived radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holden, N.E.

    1988-01-01

    Long-lived actinide nuclides are of interest for their use in nuclear reactors, for nuclear reactor burnup studies in waste management, and for safeguard applications, e.g., α counting is used to determine the amount of material present. Some long-lived radionuclides are of interest for their use in determining geological ages using various dating methods, and in calculating the cosmic-ray exposure ages of meteorites. Recommended values are presented for both the total half-life and for the spontaneous fission half-life of /sup 232-236,238/U, of /sup 236,238-242,244/Pu, of /sup 241,242m,243/Am, and of /sup 242-248,250/Cm. Problems with the presentation of uncertainties are discussed. The impact of the revised 14 C half-life on the carbon dating technique and various 14 C ages is discussed. The possible primordial occurrence of 92 Nb is now definitely ruled out. Based on examination of the 26 Al half-life, the calculated value for the cosmic-ray exposure age of meteorites remains too high compared to the age calculated using other radionuclide half-life values. 204 Pb, which was once thought to be radioactive, is shown to be stable. 37 refs., 5 tabs

  6. Optimal antidepressant dosing. Practical framework for selection, titration, and duration of therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nielsen, J W; Witek, M W; Hurwitz, S

    2000-10-01

    Appropriate antidepressant dosing and trial duration are crucial for successful treatment of depression. Before prescribing an antidepressant, primary care physicians should take into account each patient's history, responses to previous antidepressants, depressive symptoms, coexisting illnesses, and current prescriptions. Physicians must be able to help patients manage side effects and know when to discontinue treatment, switch antidepressants, or refer patients to a psychiatrist.

  7. Is Customization in Antidepressant Prescribing Associated with Acute-Phase Treatment Adherence?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merrick, Elizabeth L; Hodgkin, Dominic; Panas, Lee; Soumerai, Stephen B; Ritter, Grant

    2012-03-01

    OBJECTIVES: The objective was to explore whether prescribing variation is associated with duration of antidepressant use during the acute phase of treatment. Improving quality of care and increasing the extent to which treatment is patient-centered and customized are interrelated goals. Prescribing variation may be considered a marker of customization, and could be associated with better antidepressant treatment adherence. METHODS: A cross-sectional secondary data analysis examining the association between providers' antidepressant prescribing variation and patient continuity of antidepressant treatment. The data source was two states' Medicaid claims for dual-eligible Medicaid/Medicare patients. The sample included 383 patients with new episodes of antidepressant treatment, representing 70 providers with at least four patients in the sample. We tested two alternate measures of prescribing concentration: 1) share of prescriber's initial antidepressant prescribing accounted for by the two most common regimens, and 2) Herfindahl index. The HEDIS performance measure of effective acute-phase treatment (at least 84 out of 114 days with antidepressant) was the dependent variable. KEY FINDINGS: In multivariate analyses, the concentration measure based on the top two regimens was significant and inversely related to duration adequacy (p customized care.

  8. Platelet half-life in patients with primary hyperlipoproteinemia type IIa, IIb, and IV according to Fredrickson with and without clinical signs of atherosclerosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jaeger, E; Sinzinger, H; Widhalm, K; Kaliman, J; Hoefer, R [Vienna Univ. (Austria). 2. Medizinische Klinik; Ludwig Boltzmann-Institut fuer Nuklearmedizin, Vienna (Austria); Vienna Univ. (Austria). Kinderklinik; Vienna Univ. (Austria). Kardiologische Klinik)

    1982-09-01

    It is generally accepted that platelet half-life is shortened in atherosclerotic vascular diseases. Concerning changes due to hyperlipoproteinemia (HLP), however, there exist only few data. Therefore, we examined the platelet-half life in 60 patients with recently discovered HLP type IIa, IIb and IV according to Fredrickson before treatment in comparison to 60 controls. 33 of the HLP-patients had no clinical symptoms of angiopathy. 27 patients suffered from peripheral vascular disease or from coronary heart disease as verified by angiography. The labelling of autologous platelets was performed with 100..mu..Ci of /sup 111/Indium-oxine-sulfate at 37/sup 0/C for 5 minutes. The mean labelling efficiency was 90%, the recovery after 2 hours about 70%. Serum lipoproteins were estimated by means of ultracentrifugation and polyanionprecipitation according to Lipid Research Clinic Methods. In the patients with HLP platelet half-life was significantly shortened in comparison to the control group (p < 0.01). These changes were most pronounced in patients with HLP-type IIa and with atherosclerotic lesions, respectively. In patients with HLP-type IIa a very close correlation could be demonstrated between platelet half-life and LDL-cholesterol (r = -0.72; p < 0.001) as well as total cholesterol (r = -0.73; p < 0.001). These data prove that in HLP in-vivo platelet function as measured by platelet survival is significantly influenced even before the occurrence of clinically relevant symptoms of atherosclerosis.

  9. Antidepressant use in children and adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder: what can we learn from published data?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gentile, Salvatore

    2010-01-01

    The consequences of major depression disorder (MDD) in youths are likely to be devastating for both the patient and his/her family. Thus, this review analyzes systematically the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs (ADDs) in managing such patients. Medical literature reporting primary data on use of ADDs in children and adolescents was identified through searches (1966-January 2010) of MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and The Cochrane Library databases. Additional studies were manually identified from the reference lists of published articles. Search terms (variously combined) were: children, childhood, adolescents, adolescence, MDD, mood/affective disorders, depression, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) SSRIs, Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), noradrenergic/specific serotoninergic antidepressants (NaSSA). A separate search was conducted to complete the profile of effectiveness of each single antidepressant agent. 43 peer-reviewed articles met the inclusion criteria. Reviewed information does not definitively support the use of antidepressants in children younger than 10 years old. In contrast, robust information suggests that fluoxetine should be considered as first-line agent in depressed adolescents whose clinical conditions require psychopharmacological approach. Depressed children should be primarily approached with non-pharmacological interventions that should include the evaluation of potential parental psychiatric disorders. In adolescents with MDD, the decision to use fluoxetine should be associated with specific social and health protocols focused to reinforce self-esteem, improve the quality of relationships with parents and peers, facilitate healthy life-style changes, and identify the potential onset/worsening of suicidality.

  10. Stimulation of entorhinal cortex-dentate gyrus circuitry is antidepressive.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yun, Sanghee; Reynolds, Ryan P; Petrof, Iraklis; White, Alicia; Rivera, Phillip D; Segev, Amir; Gibson, Adam D; Suarez, Maiko; DeSalle, Matthew J; Ito, Naoki; Mukherjee, Shibani; Richardson, Devon R; Kang, Catherine E; Ahrens-Nicklas, Rebecca C; Soler, Ivan; Chetkovich, Dane M; Kourrich, Saïd; Coulter, Douglas A; Eisch, Amelia J

    2018-04-16

    Major depressive disorder (MDD) is considered a 'circuitopathy', and brain stimulation therapies hold promise for ameliorating MDD symptoms, including hippocampal dysfunction. It is unknown whether stimulation of upstream hippocampal circuitry, such as the entorhinal cortex (Ent), is antidepressive, although Ent stimulation improves learning and memory in mice and humans. Here we show that molecular targeting (Ent-specific knockdown of a psychosocial stress-induced protein) and chemogenetic stimulation of Ent neurons induce antidepressive-like effects in mice. Mechanistically, we show that Ent-stimulation-induced antidepressive-like behavior relies on the generation of new hippocampal neurons. Thus, controlled stimulation of Ent hippocampal afferents is antidepressive via increased hippocampal neurogenesis. These findings emphasize the power and potential of Ent glutamatergic afferent stimulation-previously well-known for its ability to influence learning and memory-for MDD treatment.

  11. Continued antidepressant treatment and suicide in patients with depressive disorder

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Søndergård, Lars; Lopez, Ana Garcia; Andersen, Per Kragh

    2007-01-01

    1995 to 2000, we investigated the relation between continued treatment with antidepressants and suicide in a population of all patients discharged from hospital psychiatry with a diagnosis of depressive disorder. Patients discharged from hospital psychiatry with a diagnosis of depressive disorder had...... of prescriptions. On individualized data from a cohort of patients with a known history of depressive disorder, continued antidepressant treatment was associated with reduced risk of suicide.......Antidepressant use in Denmark, as in many developed countries, has substantially increased during recent years, coinciding with a decreasing suicide rate. In a nationwide observational cohort study with linkage of registers of all prescribed antidepressants and recorded suicides in Denmark from...

  12. Hippocampal Neurogenesis, Depressive Disorders, and Antidepressant Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eleni Paizanis

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available There is a growing body of evidence that neural stem cells reside in the adult central nervous system where neurogenesis occurs throughout lifespan. Neurogenesis concerns mainly two areas in the brain: the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus and the subventricular zone, where it is controlled by several trophic factors and neuroactive molecules. Neurogenesis is involved in processes such as learning and memory and accumulating evidence implicates hippocampal neurogenesis in the physiopathology of depression. We herein review experimental and clinical data demonstrating that stress and antidepressant treatments affect neurogenesis in opposite direction in rodents. In particular, the stimulation of hippocampal neurogenesis by all types of antidepressant drugs supports the view that neuroplastic phenomena are involved in the physiopathology of depression and underlie—at least partly—antidepressant therapy.

  13. The Shorts of Bury St Edmunds: medicine, Catholicism and politics in the 17th century.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Francis

    2008-11-01

    The Short family of Bury St Edmunds produced at least eight doctors between the first half of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th. Some of these practised locally and others went on to achieve fame in London or abroad. They included Richard Short (d. 1668), a medical polemicist, and Thomas Short (1635-85) who treated Charles II in his last illness and became the subject of poetry and other literature. The Shorts generated controversy through their adherence to the Roman Catholic faith at a time of persecution and suspicion. Richard Short used medical polemic as a vehicle for advancing his religious views, and his son and nephew became involved in James II's political programme to introduce religious toleration in 1688. After the Revolution the Shorts withdrew from political life but continued in their medical practice and their recusancy. This paper is the first to unravel the family relationships of the Shorts, which previously have eluded most historians.

  14. Antidepressants and Weight Gain

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... 2015;37:46. Blumenthal SR, et al. An electronic health records study of long-term weight gain following antidepressant ... your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy ...

  15. Optimal issuing of perishables with a short fixed shelf life

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haijema, R.

    2011-01-01

    The management of inventories of perishable products with a short maximal shelf life takes a good issuing policy next to a good ordering policy. Ordering policies of non-perishables are well studied in literature and implemented in Automated Store Ordering (ASO) systems and Computer Assisted

  16. Use of antidepressants in dentistry: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lino, P A; Martins, C C; Miranda, Gfpc; de Souza E Silva, M E; de Abreu, Mhng

    2017-08-24

    Previous research has suggested that antidepressants can be used in oral health care. The aim of this systematic review was to search for scientific evidence of the efficacy of the use of antidepressants in dentistry. The clinical question was as follows (PICO question): dentistry patients (Patients); antidepressants (Intervention); no use or placebo or other drug (Comparison); and efficacy in oral health problems (Outcome). An electronic search was conducted in seven databases, as well as a manual search without restriction regarding language and date of publication. Two independent reviewers selected studies based on eligibility criteria, extracted data and assessed methodological quality based on the PEDro scale. The PROSPERO record is number CRD42016037442. A total of 15 randomized controlled trials were associated with the use of antidepressants to control chronic or acute pain in dentistry, among other conditions such as bruxism and burning mouth syndrome. The most commonly used drug in clinical trials was amitriptyline (more than 50% of studies). Antidepressants may be effective in dentistry for acute and chronic pain, but there is a large amount of methodological heterogeneity among the evaluated studies. In summary, there is rationality for the indication of this class of medicine in dentistry in specific clinical situations. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Antidepressant medication and the risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ter Heijne, Loes F.; Zakiyah, Neily; Bos, Jens H.J.; Hak, Eelko; Schuiling-Veninga, Catharina C.M.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Increased activity of the sympatic nervous system could possibly cause pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). Previous studies have suggested that antidepressants could contribute to this increased activity. Objectives: To examine whether the use of antidepressants during pregnancy

  18. Antidepressant use during pregnancy and asthma in the offspring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Xiaoqin; Olsen, Jørn; Pedersen, Lars Henning

    2015-01-01

    in the offspring. METHODS: A cohort study was performed among all live singletons born in Denmark between 1996 and 2007. Mothers who had a diagnosis of depressive disorder and/or who used antidepressants 1 year before or during the index pregnancy were identified. Using a Cox proportional hazards regression model...... or use of antidepressants 1 year before or during pregnancy). Prenatal maternal depression was associated with childhood asthma (HR: 1.25 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20–1.30]). Overall, 8895 children were exposed to antidepressants in utero. Compared with children born to mothers with prenatal......BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It has been suggested that maternal depression during pregnancy is abstract associated with asthma in the offspring, but the role of medical treatment of depression is not known. Our goal was to examine whether prenatal antidepressant use increases the risk of asthma...

  19. Depressive symptomatology in severe dementia in a European sample: prevalence, associated factors and prescription rate of antidepressants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giebel, Clarissa M; Sutcliffe, Caroline; Renom-Guiteras, Anna; Arve, Seija; Hallberg, Ingalill Rahm; Soto, Maria; Zabalegui, Adelaida; Hamers, Jan; Saks, Kai; Challis, David

    2015-04-01

    Depression is a common comorbid disorder of dementia. This study explores the prevalence of and factors associated with depressive symptomatology, and antidepressant prescription rates in severe dementia across eight European countries. In total, 414 people with severe dementia completed measures of cognition and quality of life (QoL), whilst carers completed proxy measures of activities of daily living (ADLs), depression, neuropsychiatric symptoms, QoL and comorbidity. Findings indicated that 30% of the sample had depression, whilst the highest and lowest prevalence of depression was reported in Germany and Finland, respectively. Lower QoL, the presence of pain and more frequent neuropsychiatric symptoms were associated with depressive symptomatology, whilst no significant relationship between impairment of ADLs, comorbidity, and depression emerged. Spain and Estonia had the highest and lowest rates of antidepressant prescribing, respectively, whilst Germany had the highest discrepancy between depressive symptomatology and prescription. The study highlights variations across countries in the prevalence of depressive symptomatology in severe dementia and prescription of antidepressants. Information about factors associated with depressive symptomatology may help to better identify and manage depression.

  20. Cost effectiveness analysis comparing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to antidepressant medications after a first treatment failure for major depressive disorder in newly diagnosed patients - A lifetime analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voigt, Jeffrey; Carpenter, Linda; Leuchter, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) commonly is used for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) after patients have failed to benefit from trials of multiple antidepressant medications. No analysis to date has examined the cost-effectiveness of rTMS used earlier in the course of treatment and over a patients' lifetime. We used lifetime Markov simulation modeling to compare the direct costs and quality adjusted life years (QALYs) of rTMS and medication therapy in patients with newly diagnosed MDD (ages 20-59) who had failed to benefit from one pharmacotherapy trial. Patients' life expectancies, rates of response and remission, and quality of life outcomes were derived from the literature, and treatment costs were based upon published Medicare reimbursement data. Baseline costs, aggregate per year quality of life assessments (QALYs), Monte Carlo simulation, tornado analysis, assessment of dominance, and one way sensitivity analysis were also performed. The discount rate applied was 3%. Lifetime direct treatment costs, and QALYs identified rTMS as the dominant therapy compared to antidepressant medications (i.e., lower costs with better outcomes) in all age ranges, with costs/improved QALYs ranging from $2,952/0.32 (older patients) to $11,140/0.43 (younger patients). One-way sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the model was most sensitive to the input variables of cost per rTMS session, monthly prescription drug cost, and the number of rTMS sessions per year. rTMS was identified as the dominant therapy compared to antidepressant medication trials over the life of the patient across the lifespan of adults with MDD, given current costs of treatment. These models support the use of rTMS after a single failed antidepressant medication trial versus further attempts at medication treatment in adults with MDD.

  1. Cost effectiveness analysis comparing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to antidepressant medications after a first treatment failure for major depressive disorder in newly diagnosed patients - A lifetime analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffrey Voigt

    Full Text Available Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS commonly is used for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD after patients have failed to benefit from trials of multiple antidepressant medications. No analysis to date has examined the cost-effectiveness of rTMS used earlier in the course of treatment and over a patients' lifetime.We used lifetime Markov simulation modeling to compare the direct costs and quality adjusted life years (QALYs of rTMS and medication therapy in patients with newly diagnosed MDD (ages 20-59 who had failed to benefit from one pharmacotherapy trial. Patients' life expectancies, rates of response and remission, and quality of life outcomes were derived from the literature, and treatment costs were based upon published Medicare reimbursement data. Baseline costs, aggregate per year quality of life assessments (QALYs, Monte Carlo simulation, tornado analysis, assessment of dominance, and one way sensitivity analysis were also performed. The discount rate applied was 3%.Lifetime direct treatment costs, and QALYs identified rTMS as the dominant therapy compared to antidepressant medications (i.e., lower costs with better outcomes in all age ranges, with costs/improved QALYs ranging from $2,952/0.32 (older patients to $11,140/0.43 (younger patients. One-way sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the model was most sensitive to the input variables of cost per rTMS session, monthly prescription drug cost, and the number of rTMS sessions per year.rTMS was identified as the dominant therapy compared to antidepressant medication trials over the life of the patient across the lifespan of adults with MDD, given current costs of treatment. These models support the use of rTMS after a single failed antidepressant medication trial versus further attempts at medication treatment in adults with MDD.

  2. nfluence of antidepressants on glucose homeostasis : effects and mechanisms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Derijks, H.J.

    2009-01-01

    Depression has shown to be a common morbidity in patients with diabetes mellitus and comorbid depression in diabetes mellitus patients is frequently treated with antidepressants. It has been postulated that antidepressants may interfere with glucose homeostasis and that the interference of

  3. Biological effect of pulsed dose rate brachytherapy with stepping sources if short half-times of repair are present in tissues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowler, Jack F.; Limbergen, Erik F.M. van

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: To explore the possible increase of radiation effect in tissues irradiated by pulsed brachytherapy (PDR) for local tissue dose rates between those 'averaged over the whole pulse' and the instantaneous high dose rates close to the dwell positions. Increased effect is more likely for tissues with short half-times of repair of the order of a few minutes, similar to pulse durations. Methods and Materials: Calculations were done assuming the linear quadratic formula for radiation damage, in which only the dose-squared term is subject to exponential repair. The situation with two components of T (1(2)) is addressed. A constant overall time of 140 h and a constant total dose of 70 Gy were assumed throughout, the continuous low dose rate of 0.5 Gy/h (CLDR) providing the unitary standard effects for each PDR condition. Effects of dose rates ranging from 4 Gy/h to 120 Gy/h (HDR at 2 Gy/min) were studied, covering the gap in an earlier publication. Four schedules were examined: doses per pulse of 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 Gy given at repetition frequencies of 1, 2, 3, and 4 h, respectively, each with a range of assumed half-times of repair of 4 min to 1.5 h. Results are presented for late-responding tissues, the differences from CLDR being two or three times greater than for early-responding tissues and most tumors. Results: Curves are presented relating the ratio of increased biological effect (proportional to log cell kill) calculated for PDR relative to CLDR. Ratios as high as 1.5 can be found for large doses per pulse (2 Gy) if the half-time of repair in tissues is as short as a few minutes. The major influences on effect are dose per pulse, half-time of repair in tissue, and--when T (1(2)) is short--the instantaneous dose rate. Maximum ratios of PDR/CLDR occur when the dose rate is such that pulse duration is approximately equal to T (1(2)) . As dose rate in the pulse is increased, a plateau of effect is reached, for most T (1(2)) s, above 10 to 20 Gy/h, which is

  4. Phenobarbital administration every eight hours: improvement of seizure management in idiopathic epileptic dogs with decreased phenobarbital elimination half-life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stabile, F; Barnett, C R; De Risio, L

    2017-02-18

    Estimated prevalence of canine idiopathic epilepsy is 0.6 per cent in the first-opinion canine population in the UK. Phenobarbital monotherapy has been reported to reduce/eradicate seizure activity in 60-93 per cent of idiopathic epileptic dogs (IEDs). The objective of this study was to evaluate safety and efficacy of the administration of phenobarbital orally every eight hours in IEDs with phenobarbital elimination half-life less than 20 hours. Medical records of 10 IEDs in which steady state trough serum phenobarbital levels were within the reference range and phenobarbital elimination half-life had become less than 20 hours following prolonged administration every 12 hours were reviewed. Side effects and seizure frequency when phenobarbital was administered every 12 hours or 8 hours were compared. In all dogs the side effects of the antiepileptic medication treatment improved. When phenobarbital was administered every eight hours, 9/10 dogs experienced improvement in seizure frequency and 8/10 dogs maintained seizure freedom for a period three times longer than the longest interictal interval period previously recorded. Reduction in the severity and number of clusters of seizures was recorded in one of the remaining two dogs. The administration of phenobarbital orally every eight hours in IEDs with decreased phenobarbital elimination half-life appears safe and can improve seizure management. The results of this study were presented in abstract form (poster) for the 28th symposium of the European Society of Veterinary Neurology - European College of Veterinary Neurology (ESVN), September 18-19, 2015, Amsterdam, Netherlands. British Veterinary Association.

  5. Depression, Antidepressants, and Neurogenesis: A Critical Reappraisal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, Nicola D; Owens, Michael J; Nemeroff, Charles B

    2011-01-01

    The neurogenesis hypothesis of depression posits (1) that neurogenesis in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus is regulated negatively by stressful experiences and positively by treatment with antidepressant drugs and (2) that alterations in the rate of neurogenesis play a fundamental role in the pathology and treatment of major depression. This hypothesis is supported by important experimental observations, but is challenged by equally compelling contradictory reports. This review summarizes the phenomenon of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, the initial and continued evidence leading to the development of the neurogenesis hypothesis of depression, and the recent studies that have disputed and/or qualified those findings, to conclude that it can be affected by stress and antidepressants under certain conditions, but that these effects do not appear in all cases of psychological stress, depression, and antidepressant treatment. PMID:21937982

  6. Warfarin: pharmacological profile and drug interactions with antidepressants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juliana Souto Teles

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Oral anticoagulants are among the drugs with the greatest numberof drug interactions. The concomitant use of several medications isa common practice in patients with cardiovascular problems, whooften also present with depression; therefore, the probability of aninteraction occurring between warfarin and the antidepressants ishigh, and may result in increased or decreased anticoagulant activity.Since the possible interactions between these two classes of drugshave been poorly explored in literature, with a risk to the patients who use them, we reviewed the pharmacology of warfarin and its possible interactions with antidepressants. Of the antidepressants analyzed, those that showed relevant effects on the interaction with warfarin were, in decreasing order: paroxetine, venlafaxine, fluoxetine, and duloxetine.

  7. Antidepressant exposure during early pregnancy and congenital malformations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Lars Henning

    are reassuring, however, an association with heart malformations has been suggested for e.g. paroxetine. A potential biological explanation will be reviewed. The potential teratogenic potential of antidepressants needs to be balanced against the obvious problems associated with under-treated maternal depression......Pharmacological treatment of pregnant women with depression is hampered by concerns for the developing fetus. The presentation will summarize existing knowledge on the potential association between antidepressants and congenital malformations, elaborate on the scientific background, and discuss...... the clinical significance. Most information on malformations in humans is derived from epidemiological studies. The strengths and limitations of the different designs need careful consideration, including issues of confounding by indication, recall bias, and power. For most antidepressants existing data...

  8. Antidepressant Use and Risk of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Weeke, P; Jensen, Aksel Karl Georg; Folke, F

    2012-01-01

    being the most frequently used type of antidepressant (50.8%). Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs; odds ratio (OR) = 1.69, confidence interval (CI): 1.14-2.50) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs; OR = 1.21, CI: 1.00-1.47) were both associated with comparable increases in risk of OHCA.......17-12.2). An association between cardiac arrest and antidepressant use could be documented in both the SSRI and TCA classes of drugs....

  9. Be-7 as a tracer for short-term soil surface changes - opportunities and limitations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumgart, Philipp

    2013-04-01

    Within the last 20 years the cosmogenic nuclide Beryllium-7 was successfully established as a suitable tracer element to detect soil surface changes with a high accuracy. Particularly soil erosion rates from single precipitation events are in the focus of different studies due to the short radioactive half-life of the Be-7 isotope. High sorption at topmost soil particles and immobility at given pH-values enable fine-scaled erosion modelling down to 2 mm increments. But some important challenging limitations require particular attention, starting from sampling up to the final data evaluation. E.g. these are the realisation of the fine increment soil collection, the limiting amount of measurable samples per campaign due to the short radioactive half-life and the specific requirements for the detector measurements. Both, the high potential and the challenging limitations are presented as well as future perspectives of that tracer method.

  10. Increase in antidepressant medication in the US adult population between 1990 and 2003.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mojtabai, Ramin

    2008-01-01

    The rate of antidepressant treatment in the US has significantly increased in the past decade. There are, however, concerns about undertreatment among traditionally underserved groups and overtreatment in less severely ill individuals. This study examines trends in the prevalence of antidepressant drug treatment in two US general population surveys. The prevalence of antidepressant treatment within a 12-month period was compared in the US National Comorbidity Survey (1990-1992) and the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (2001-2003). Variations in trends across groups were examined using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models. The rate of antidepressant drug treatment increased more than four times between early 1990s and early 2000s. The trend was similar across sociodemographic groups. Younger adults, men and racial/ethnic minorities continued to receive antidepressant treatment at a lower rate compared to middle-aged adults, women and non-Hispanic whites, respectively. The rate of antidepressant treatment increased more in the group of less severely ill individuals than in those with more severe psychopathology. Sociodemographic disparities in antidepressant treatment persisted over the last decade in the US, lending support to concerns about undertreatment among traditionally underserved groups, whereas the greater increase in the rate of antidepressant treatment in the less severely ill group lends support to concerns about antidepressant overtreatment in this population.

  11. Risks for oral health with the use of antidepressants

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Peeters, FPML; deVries, MW; Vissink, A

    In this article, attention is focused on ornl pathology, particularly dental caries, caused by hyposalivation as a consequence of (long-term) use of antidepressants. Changes in clinical psychiatric practice and increasing numbers of presciptions of antidepressants in primary care and specialty care

  12. Antidepressant treatment of depression in rural nursing home residents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerber, Cindy Sullivan; Dyck, Mary J; Culp, Kennith R; Buckwalter, Kathleen

    2008-09-01

    Under-diagnosis and under-treatment of depression are major problems in nursing home residents. The purpose of this study was to determine antidepressant use among nursing home residents who were diagnosed with depression using three different methods: (1) the Geriatric Depression Scale, (2) Minimum Data Set, and (3) primary care provider assessments. As one would expect, the odds of being treated with an antidepressant were about eight times higher for those diagnosed as depressed by the primary care provider compared to the Geriatric Depression Scale or the Minimum Data Set. Men were less likely to be diagnosed and treated with antidepressants by their primary care provider than women. Depression detected by nurses through the Minimum Data Set was treated at a lower rate with antidepressants, which generates issues related to interprofessional communication, nursing staff communication, and the need for geropsychiatric role models in nursing homes.

  13. Antidepressant induced excessive yawning and indifference

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Palazzo Nazar

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Antidepressant induced excessive yawning has been described as a possible side effect of pharmacotherapy. A syndrome of indifference has also been described as another possible side effect. The frequency of those phenomena and their physiopathology are unknown. They are both considered benign and reversible after antidepressant discontinuation but severe cases with complications as temporomandibular lesions, have been described. Methods We report two unprecedented cases in which excessive yawning and indifference occurred simultaneously as side effects of antidepressant therapy, discussing possible physiopathological mechanisms for this co-occurrence. Case 1: A male patient presented excessive yawning (approximately 80/day and apathy after venlafaxine XR treatment. Symptoms reduced after a switch to escitalopram, with a reduction to 50 yawns/day. Case 2: A female patient presented excessive yawning (approximately 25/day and inability to react to environmental stressors with desvenlafaxine. Conclusion Induction of indifference and excessive yawning may be modulated by serotonergic and noradrenergic mechanisms. One proposal to unify these side effects would be enhancement of serotonin in midbrain, especially paraventricular and raphe nucleus.

  14. The role of dopamine and norepinephrine in depression and antidepressant treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nutt, David J

    2006-01-01

    Most antidepressants in use today are descendants of the monoamine oxidase inhibitor iproniazid and the tricyclic agent imipramine. These agents were both originally developed for other indications but then were serendipitously determined to have antidepressant effects. Elucidation of the mechanisms of action of these first antidepressants, along with those of reserpine and amphetamine, led to the monoamine theories of depression. Through the past several decades, approaches undertaken to clarify the roles of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin in depression have included animal studies, human biological and postmortem studies, inferences drawn from antidepressant drug actions, and challenge or depletion studies; most recently, brain imaging studies have proved to be especially informative. This research has identified novel potential targets, with the goal of developing new antidepressant drugs with better efficacy and faster onset of action than current "gold-standard" treatments.

  15. Antidepressant Controlled Trial For Negative Symptoms In Schizophrenia (ACTIONS): a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnes, Thomas R E; Leeson, Verity C; Paton, Carol; Costelloe, Céire; Simon, Judit; Kiss, Noemi; Osborn, David; Killaspy, Helen; Craig, Tom K J; Lewis, Shôn; Keown, Patrick; Ismail, Shajahan; Crawford, Mike; Baldwin, David; Lewis, Glyn; Geddes, John; Kumar, Manoj; Pathak, Rudresh; Taylor, Simon

    2016-04-01

    Negative symptoms of schizophrenia represent deficiencies in emotional responsiveness, motivation, socialisation, speech and movement. When persistent, they are held to account for much of the poor functional outcomes associated with schizophrenia. There are currently no approved pharmacological treatments. While the available evidence suggests that a combination of antipsychotic and antidepressant medication may be effective in treating negative symptoms, it is too limited to allow any firm conclusions. To establish the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of augmentation of antipsychotic medication with the antidepressant citalopram for the management of negative symptoms in schizophrenia. A multicentre, double-blind, individually randomised, placebo-controlled trial with 12-month follow-up. Adult psychiatric services, treating people with schizophrenia. Inpatients or outpatients with schizophrenia, on continuing, stable antipsychotic medication, with persistent negative symptoms at a criterion level of severity. Eligible participants were randomised 1 : 1 to treatment with either placebo (one capsule) or 20 mg of citalopram per day for 48 weeks, with the clinical option at 4 weeks to increase the daily dosage to 40 mg of citalopram or two placebo capsules for the remainder of the study. The primary outcomes were quality of life measured at 12 and 48 weeks assessed using the Heinrich's Quality of Life Scale, and negative symptoms at 12 weeks measured on the negative symptom subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. No therapeutic benefit in terms of improvement in quality of life or negative symptoms was detected for citalopram over 12 weeks or at 48 weeks, but secondary analysis suggested modest improvement in the negative symptom domain, avolition/amotivation, at 12 weeks (mean difference -1.3, 95% confidence interval -2.5 to -0.09). There were no statistically significant differences between the two treatment arms over 48-week

  16. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of antidepressants in primary care: a multiple treatment comparison meta-analysis and cost-effectiveness model.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joakim Ramsberg

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To determine effectiveness and cost-effectiveness over a one-year time horizon of pharmacological first line treatment in primary care for patients with moderate to severe depression. DESIGN: A multiple treatment comparison meta-analysis was employed to determine the relative efficacy in terms of remission of 10 antidepressants (citalopram, duloxetine escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine mirtazapine, paroxetine, reboxetine, sertraline and venlafaxine. The estimated remission rates were then applied in a decision-analytic model in order to estimate costs and quality of life with different treatments at one year. DATA SOURCES: Meta-analyses of remission rates from randomised controlled trials, and cost and quality-of-life data from published sources. RESULTS: The most favourable pharmacological treatment in terms of remission was escitalopram with an 8- to 12-week probability of remission of 0.47. Despite a high acquisition cost, this clinical effectiveness translated into escitalopram being both more effective and having a lower total cost than all other comparators from a societal perspective. From a healthcare perspective, the cost per QALY of escitalopram was €3732 compared with venlafaxine. CONCLUSION: Of the investigated antidepressants, escitalopram has the highest probability of remission and is the most effective and cost-effective pharmacological treatment in a primary care setting, when evaluated over a one year time-horizon. Small differences in remission rates may be important when assessing costs and cost-effectiveness of antidepressants.

  17. Biological Half-Life Measurements of Radioactive Strontium in Hormonal-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haquin, G.; Riemer, T.; Kaniun, N.; Datz, H.; Yungreiss, Z.; Vexler, A.; Ben-Yosef, R.; Pelled, O.; German, U.; Marko, R.; Teshuva, A.; Kol, R.

    2004-01-01

    Therapy for metastatic bone pain in Hormonal-Resistant Prostate Cancer (HRPC) patients is performed by administering systemic radioisotope therapy [1]. The beta radiation emitted by the radioactive strontium 89 Sr [T 1/2 =50.5 d, E β (max)=1.49 MeV], an adequate radionuclide for this therapy procedure, irradiates the metastatic cells in the bone, producing the desired palliative effect. The beta disintegration of 89 Sr is followed by a low abundance (0.00945%) gamma ray with energy of 909 keV. The commercially available 89 Sr is in the form of Sr Cl and contains an impurity of less than 0.5% of 85 Sr [T 1/2 =64.8 d] ,which decays by electron capture, emitting gamma rays at 511 keV (95.71%). The radiation dose to the metastatic cells due to the gamma rays is negligible compared to the dose given by the beta radiation, assuming that the 89 Sr is concentrated at the metastatic bony lesions. Accurate information about retention and excretion of Sr in the patient's body will contribute to better evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment. he effective half-life of 89 Sr can be calculated either from Whole Body Counting (WBC) measurements or by measuring 85 Sr and/or 89 Sr in urine/blood. WBC measurements, using collimated HPGe detectors, allow the follow-up of 89 Sr and 85 Sr at different sites in the skeletal bones of the patient. Biological half-lives of Sr in different body sections measured by WBC and the correlation with excretion-rate-based biological half-lives are presented

  18. Efficacy of antidepressants on orofacial pain: a systematic review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Martin, W.J.J.M.; Perez, R.S.G.M.; Tuinzing, D.B.; Forouzanfar, T.

    2012-01-01

    Orofacial pain is a common complaint with multiple diagnoses. There is controversy about the effectiveness of antidepressants for the management of orofacial pain disorders. In order to be able to make a best evidence choice between available antidepressants for the treatment of orofacial pain, a

  19. Harmane induces anxiolysis and antidepressant-like effects in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aricioglu, Feyza; Altunbas, Hale

    2003-12-01

    A forced swim test (FST) and an elevated plus maze (EPM) were used to determine antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of harmane in rats in comparison with a known antidepressant, imipramine (30 mg/kg i.p.). Harmane (2.5, 5.0, or 10 mg/kg, i.p.), saline, or imipramine were given 30 minutes before the tests. Administration of harmane decreased the time of immobility in the FST dose-dependently and increased the time spent in open arms in the EPM, as compared with the saline group. As an endogenous substance, harmane therefore has anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects.

  20. Citalopram versus other anti-depressive agents for depression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cipriani, Andrea; Purgato, Marianna; Furukawa, Toshi A; Trespidi, Carlotta; Imperadore, Giuseppe; Signoretti, Alessandra; Churchill, Rachel; Watanabe, Norio; Barbui, Corrado

    2014-01-01

    Background Recent US and UK clinical practice guidelines recommend that second-generation antidepressants should be considered amongst the best first-line options when drug therapy is indicated for a depressive episode. Systematic reviews have already highlighted some differences in efficacy between second-generation antidepressants. Citalopram, one of the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) introduced in the market, is one of these antidepressant drugs that clinicians use for routine depression care. Objectives To assess the evidence for the efficacy, acceptability and tolerability of citalopram in comparison with tricyclics, heterocyclics, other SSRIs and other conventional and non-conventional antidepressants in the acute-phase treatment of major depression. Search methods We searched The Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Controlled Trials Register and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials up to February 2012. No language restriction was applied. We contacted pharmaceutical companies and experts in this field for supplemental data. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials allocating patients with major depression to citalopram versus any other antidepressants. Data collection and analysis Two reviewers independently extracted data. Information extracted included study characteristics, participant characteristics, intervention details and outcome measures in terms of efficacy (the number of patients who responded or remitted), patient acceptability (the number of patients who failed to complete the study) and tolerability (side-effects). Main results Thirty-seven trials compared citalopram with other antidepressants (such as tricyclics, heterocyclics, SSRIs and other antidepressants, either conventional ones, such as mirtazapine, venlafaxine and reboxetine, or non-conventional, like hypericum). Citalopram was shown to be significantly less effective than escitalopram in achieving acute response (odds

  1. Evaluating the life cycle environmental impact of short span bridges

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Du, Guangli; Pettersson, Lars; Karoumi, Raid

    2016-01-01

    impact of the construction sector. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic method for assessing the environmental impact of products and systems, but its application in bridges is scarce. In Swede, most of the bridges are short spans and the type of concrete slab-frame bridge (CFB) accounts...... for a large share. Soil steel composite bridge (SSCB) is a functional equivalent solution for CFB. In order to mitigate the environmental burdens of short span bridges, this paper performed a comparative LCA study between these two types of bridge. The results indicate that the initial material consumption...

  2. Direct Deposition Effect on the Distribution of Radiocesium in Persimmon Trees and the Effective Half-life

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tagami, Keiko; Uchida, Shigeo [National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Anagawa 4-9-1, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-7444 (Japan)

    2014-07-01

    Radiocesium ({sup 137}Cs) concentrations in persimmon tree tissues collected at Chiba, about 220 km south from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP), were measured to obtain half-life of radiocesium in the trees. Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) is a deciduous tree and bears edible fruits in autumn. There were no leaves when the sampling area was received the radioactive fallout in March 2011 due to the FDNPP accident; the amount of {sup 137}Cs radioactivity in this area was ca. 13 kBq/m{sup 3} Both {sup 137}Cs and {sup 134}Cs were found in the newly emerged shoots of the persimmon trees collected at 26 April 2011 mainly due to foliar uptake. The concentrations were 1.1 kBq/kg-dry for {sup 137}Cs and 1.3 kBq/kg-dry for {sup 134}Cs. After that, continuous sampling of leaves, branches and fruits of the persimmon trees had been carried out for two years. Immediately after the collection, samples were transferred to our laboratory and weighed to obtain fresh weight. Leaf samples were usually separated into two portions; one portion was washed with tap water to remove dust from the surface and the other portion was not treated. For fruit samples, if it is possible, fruit flesh, peal and non-edible part were separated. All the samples were oven-dried at 80 deg. C for three days at least. Each dried sample was chopped into fine pieces, mixed well, and then transferred into plastic vessels separately. Radioactivity concentration was measured by a Ge-detecting system (Seiko EG and G Ortec) using 3000-40000 s counting intervals. By August 14, 2013, about 140 samples were collected from the trees; about 60 samples were leaves (both washed and untreated). Radiocesium concentrations in tree leaves decreased with time, and the effective half-life was about 190 d; the value was similar to those in branches (160 d for new branches, and 250 d for 1-2 y.o. branches) and fruits (250 d for fruit flesh and 230 d for peals). Thus we concluded that the half-life of radiocesium in

  3. Measuring radioactive half-lives via statistical sampling in practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorusso, G.; Collins, S. M.; Jagan, K.; Hitt, G. W.; Sadek, A. M.; Aitken-Smith, P. M.; Bridi, D.; Keightley, J. D.

    2017-10-01

    The statistical sampling method for the measurement of radioactive decay half-lives exhibits intriguing features such as that the half-life is approximately the median of a distribution closely resembling a Cauchy distribution. Whilst initial theoretical considerations suggested that in certain cases the method could have significant advantages, accurate measurements by statistical sampling have proven difficult, for they require an exercise in non-standard statistical analysis. As a consequence, no half-life measurement using this method has yet been reported and no comparison with traditional methods has ever been made. We used a Monte Carlo approach to address these analysis difficulties, and present the first experimental measurement of a radioisotope half-life (211Pb) by statistical sampling in good agreement with the literature recommended value. Our work also focused on the comparison between statistical sampling and exponential regression analysis, and concluded that exponential regression achieves generally the highest accuracy.

  4. Antidepressants during pregnancy and autism in offspring: population based cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rai, Dheeraj; Lee, Brian K; Dalman, Christina; Newschaffer, Craig; Lewis, Glyn; Magnusson, Cecilia

    2017-07-19

    Objectives  To study the association between maternal use of antidepressants during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring. Design  Observational prospective cohort study with regression methods, propensity score matching, sibling controls, and negative control comparison. Setting  Stockholm County, Sweden. Participants  254 610 individuals aged 4-17, including 5378 with autism, living in Stockholm County in 2001-11 who were born to mothers who did not take antidepressants and did not have any psychiatric disorder, mothers who took antidepressants during pregnancy, or mothers with psychiatric disorders who did not take antidepressants during pregnancy. Maternal antidepressant use was recorded during first antenatal interview or determined from prescription records. Main outcome measure  Offspring diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, with and without intellectual disability. Results  Of the 3342 children exposed to antidepressants during pregnancy, 4.1% (n=136) had a diagnosis of autism compared with a 2.9% prevalence (n=353) in 12 325 children not exposed to antidepressants whose mothers had a history of a psychiatric disorder (adjusted odds ratio 1.45, 95% confidence interval 1.13 to 1.85). Propensity score analysis led to similar results. The results of a sibling control analysis were in the same direction, although with wider confidence intervals. In a negative control comparison, there was no evidence of any increased risk of autism in children whose fathers were prescribed antidepressants during the mothers' pregnancy (1.13, 0.68 to 1.88). In all analyses, the risk increase concerned only autism without intellectual disability. Conclusions  The association between antidepressant use during pregnancy and autism, particularly autism without intellectual disability, might not solely be a byproduct of confounding. Study of the potential underlying biological mechanisms could help the understanding of modifiable mechanisms in the

  5. Increased use of antidepressants in Wuhan, China: a retrospective study from 2006 to 2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Ping; Zhang, Huanian; Xu, Hua; Zhang, Chengliang; Liu, Dong

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the trend of antidepressant use and analyze the daily cost of antidepressants in Wuhan, China. The data on the expenditure of antidepressants in Wuhan from 2006 to 2012 were retrospectively analyzed based on the defined daily dose (DDD) method recommended by the World Health Organization. In addition, the daily cost of antidepressants was calculated for the pharmacoeconomic evaluation. The overall sales of antidepressants increased by 566.7% over the 7-year period. The utilization of antidepressants increased annually from 1.067 DDDs per 1000 inhabitants per day in 2006 to 4.144 in 2012. This upward trend was mainly driven by an increase in the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which accounted for about 60% of antidepressant use. Notably, the use of traditional Chinese patent medicines (TCMs) approved to treat depression in China in 2010 increased from 0.158 DDDs per 1000 inhabitants per day in 2010 to 0.305 in 2012. The daily drug cost analysis indicated that selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and other new antidepressants were more expensive while tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants (TCAs) had a low-cost advantage. Antidepressants were increasingly used over the study period. Among them, SSRIs followed by SNRIs were the most commonly used. After the approval for the treatment of depression, TCMs were generally accepted by physicians and patients. The low-cost advantage allowed TCAs to be used in the antidepressant therapy.

  6. Investigation into the possibility of using short silver half-lives for the determination of silver in nuclear emulsions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guazzoni, P.; Laverlochere, M.; Heilmann, C.; Jung, M.; Francois, H.

    1982-01-01

    The 24 s and 2.4 mn short halft-life Ag 110 and Ag 108 isotopes were used to determine the quantity of silver remaining in developed nuclear emulsions after exposure to various neutron and gamma radiations. The test carried out should lead to the development and construction of automatic measurement equipment [fr

  7. Determination of the half-life of sup 1 sup 0 sup 5 sup m Rh

    CERN Document Server

    Kronenberg, A K; Weber, R; Esterlund, R A; Patzelt, P

    1998-01-01

    Following a fast chemical separation of Ru isotopes from a fission-product mixture, sup 1 sup 0 sup 5 sup m Rh was periodically extracted from its precursor (4.44-h sup 1 sup 0 sup 5 Ru) for measurements of its half-life. The new value for the T sub 1 sub / sub 2 of sup 1 sup 0 sup 5 sup m Rh of (43.0+-0.3) s resolves the long-standing conflict in the literature between the two earlier measured values of 45 and 30 s.

  8. Antidepressant-Like Effect of Isorhynchophylline in Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xian, Yan-Fang; Fan, Ding; Ip, Siu-Po; Mao, Qing-Qiu; Lin, Zhi-Xiu

    2017-02-01

    Isorhynchophylline (IRN), an oxindole alkaloid, has been identified as the main active ingredient responsible for the biological activities of Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq) Miq ex Havil. (Rubiaceae). Previous studies in our laboratory have revealed that IRN possesses potent neuroprotective effects in different models of Alzheimer's disease. However, the antidepressant-like effects of IRN are remained unclear. The present study aims to evaluate the antidepressant-like effects of IRN. The antidepressant-like effects of IRN was determined by using animal models of depression including forced swimming and tail suspension tests. The acting mechanism was explored by determining the effect of IRN on the levels of monoamine neurotransmitters and the activities of monoamine oxidases. Intragastric administration of IRN at 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg for 7 days caused a significant reduction of immobility time in both forced swimming and tail suspension tests, while IRN did not stimulate locomotor activity in the open-field test. In addition, IRN treatment antagonized reserpine-induced ptosis and significantly enhanced the levels of monoamine neurotransmitters including norepinephrine (NE) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and the activity of monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of mice. These results suggest that the antidepressant-like effects of IRN are mediated, at least in part, by the inhibition of monoamine oxidases.

  9. Antidepressant medications and osteoporosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rizzoli, R; Cooper, C; Reginster, J-Y

    2012-01-01

    Use of antidepressant medications that act on the serotonin system has been linked to detrimental impacts on bone mineral density (BMD), and to osteoporosis. This article reviews current evidence for such effects, and identifies themes for future research. Serotonin receptors are found in all major...

  10. Involvement of sigma-1 receptors in the antidepressant-like effects of dextromethorphan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Linda; Robson, Matthew J; Healy, Jason R; Scandinaro, Anna L; Matsumoto, Rae R

    2014-01-01

    Dextromethorphan is an antitussive with a high margin of safety that has been hypothesized to display rapid-acting antidepressant activity based on pharmacodynamic similarities to the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine. In addition to binding to NMDA receptors, dextromethorphan binds to sigma-1 (σ1) receptors, which are believed to be protein targets for a potential new class of antidepressant medications. The purpose of this study was to determine whether dextromethorphan elicits antidepressant-like effects and the involvement of σ1 receptors in mediating its antidepressant-like actions. The antidepressant-like effects of dextromethorphan were assessed in male, Swiss Webster mice using the forced swim test. Next, σ1 receptor antagonists (BD1063 and BD1047) were evaluated in conjunction with dextromethorphan to determine the involvement of σ receptors in its antidepressant-like effects. Quinidine, a cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 inhibitor, was also evaluated in conjunction with dextromethorphan to increase the bioavailability of dextromethorphan and reduce exposure to additional metabolites. Finally, saturation binding assays were performed to assess the manner in which dextromethorphan interacts at the σ1 receptor. Our results revealed dextromethorphan displays antidepressant-like effects in the forced swim test that can be attenuated by pretreatment with σ1 receptor antagonists, with BD1063 causing a shift to the right in the dextromethorphan dose response curve. Concomitant administration of quinidine potentiated the antidepressant-like effects of dextromethorphan. Saturation binding assays revealed that a Ki concentration of dextromethorphan reduces both the Kd and the Bmax of [(3)H](+)-pentazocine binding to σ1 receptors. Taken together, these data suggest that dextromethorphan exerts some of its antidepressant actions through σ1 receptors.

  11. Short-distance expansion for the electromagnetic half-space Green's tensor: general results and an application to radiative lifetime computations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Panasyuk, George Y; Schotland, John C; Markel, Vadim A

    2009-01-01

    We obtain a short-distance expansion for the half-space, frequency domain electromagnetic Green's tensor. The small parameter of the theory is ωε 1 L/c, where ω is the frequency, ε 1 is the permittivity of the upper half-space, in which both the source and the point of observation are located, and which is assumed to be transparent, c is the speed of light in vacuum and L is a characteristic length, defined as the distance from the point of observation to the reflected (with respect to the planar interface) position of the source. In the case when the lower half-space (the substrate) is characterized by a complex permittivity ε 2 , we compute the expansion to third order. For the case when the substrate is a transparent dielectric, we compute the imaginary part of the Green's tensor to seventh order. The analytical calculations are verified numerically. The practical utility of the obtained expansion is demonstrated by computing the radiative lifetime of two electromagnetically interacting molecules in the vicinity of a transparent dielectric substrate. The computation is performed in the strong interaction regime when the quasi-particle pole approximation is inapplicable. In this regime, the integral representation for the half-space Green's tensor is difficult to use while its electrostatic limiting expression is grossly inadequate. However, the analytical expansion derived in this paper can be used directly and efficiently. The results of this study are also relevant to nano-optics and near-field imaging, especially when tomographic image reconstruction is involved

  12. Study of radioactive nuclides of very short half-life produced by fast neutrons; Etude de corps radioactifs a vie tres breve produits par neutrons rapides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Monnand, E [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Grenoble (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1965-07-01

    Several radionuclides, already known, with half-lives ranging from 5 10{sup -5} to 1 second were observed by pulsed irradiations of C - Mg - Al - Y - In - Tl - Pb - Bi with 14.3 MeV neutrons. These radionuclides are: {sup 12}B (20 {+-} 0.4 ms) - {sup 24m}Na (20 {+-} 0.6 ms) - {sup 88m1}Y (0.332 {+-} 0.012 ms) - {sup 88m2}Y (14.6 {+-} 0.4 ms) - {sup 114m}In (43.5 {+-} 2 ms) - {sup 202m}Tl (0.570 {+-} 0.010 ms) - {sup 204m}Tl (0.063 {+-} 0.002 ms) - {sup 205m}Pb (5.5 {+-}0.3 ms) - {sup 206m}Pb (0.126 {+-} 0.006 ms) - {sup 207m}Pb (830 {+-} 30 ms) - {sup 208m}Bi (2.56 {+-} 0.1 ms). Their half-life, the {beta} and {gamma} rays energies and the production cross sections were measured. (author) [French] Plusieurs radionucleides deja connus, de periode comprise entre 5 10{sup -5} et 1 seconde ont ete observes par irradiation pulsee avec des neutrons de 14,3 MeV, des elements suivants: C - Mg - Al - Y - In - Tl - Pb - Bi. Ces radionucleides sont: {sup 12}B (20 {+-} 0.4 ms) - {sup 24m}Na (20 {+-} 0.6 ms) - {sup 88m1}Y (0.332 {+-} 0.012 ms) - {sup 88m2}Y (14.6 {+-} 0.4 ms) - {sup 114m}In (43.5 {+-} 2 ms) - {sup 202m}Tl (0.570 {+-} 0.010 ms) - {sup 204m}Tl (0.063 {+-} 0.002 ms) - {sup 205m}Pb (5.5 {+-}0.3 ms) - {sup 206m}Pb (0.126 {+-} 0.006 ms) - {sup 207m}Pb (830 {+-} 30 ms) - {sup 208m}Bi (2.56 {+-} 0.1 ms). Leur periode, l'energie des rayonnements {beta} et {gamma} emis, et la section efficace de production ont ete mesurees. (auteur)

  13. Short-Term Choriocapillaris Changes in Patients with Central Serous Chorioretinopathy after Half-Dose Photodynamic Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Nassisi

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Background: Although photodynamic therapy (PDT has become the standard treatment for central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC, its mechanism of action remains unclear. It is assumed that PDT induces short-term choriocapillaris (CC occlusion and long-term choroidal vascular remodeling. In this paper, we describe the short-term CC changes induced by Half-Dose PDT (HD-PDT in chronic CSC using optical coherence tomography-angiography (OCTA. Methods: This is a prospective interventional case series. Chronic CSC eyes underwent Spectral-Domain OCT, Fundus Autofluorescence, FA, ICGA (Heidelberg Spectralis, Heidelberg, Germany and OCTA (RTVue XR Avanti with AngioVue; Optovue Inc., Fremont, CA, USA before HD-PDT, with follow-up after one hour, one week, and one month. Vascular changes after PDT were analyzed within the CC layer. The CC vessel density was defined as the percentage of an area occupied by flow pixels, using Image J software to obtain measurements by applying a grey level threshold. All pixels with a grey level above the threshold were considered as indicators of blood flow. Results: 20 eyes of 19 patients were included. At baseline the mean CC vessel density was 94.87 ± 2.32%. It significantly differed from the density at 1 week and 1 month (92.79 ± 3.16% and 95.55 ± 2.05%, p < 0.001, respectively, but not with values at 1 h (94.8 ± 2.28%, p = 0.516. Conclusions: CC vessel density was significantly reduced at 1 week as compared with baseline, suggesting a possible short-term effect of PDT on CC perfusion. After 1 month however, the CC vessel density was even higher than the baseline, probably due to a CC recovery. OCTA seems to be useful in the visualization of CC vessels and in confirming the mechanism of action of PDT treatment in eyes with chronic CSC.

  14. Development of the k0-based cyclic neutron activation analysis for short-lived radionuclides

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dung, H.M.; Blaauw, M.; Beasley, D.; Freitas, M.D.C.

    2011-01-01

    The k0-based cyclic neutron activation analysis (k0-CNAA) technique has been studied to explore the applicability at the Portuguese research reactor (RPI). In particular, for the determination of elements which form short-lived radionuclides, particularly fluorine (20F, 11.16 s half-life) and

  15. Half-period optical pulse generation using a free-electron laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaroszynski, D.A.; Chaix, P.; Piovella, N.

    1995-01-01

    Recently there has been growth, in interest in non-equilibrium interaction of half-period long optical pulses with matter. To date the optical pulses have been produced by chopping out a half-period long segment from a longer pulse using a semiconductor switch driven by a femtosecond laser. In this paper we present new methods for producing tunable ultra-short optical pulses as short as half an optical period using a free-electron laser driven by electron bunches with a duration a fraction of an optical period. Two different methods relying on the production of coherent spontaneous emission will be described. In the first method we show that when a train of ultra-short optical pulses as short as one half period. We present calculations which show that the small signal gain is unimportant in the early stages of radiation build up in the cavity when the startup process is dominated by coherent spontaneous emission. To support our proposed method we present encouraging experimental results from the FELIX experiment in the Netherlands which show that interference effects between the coherent spontaneous optical pulses at start-up are very important. The second proposed method relies on the fact that coherent spontaneous emission mimics the undulations of electrons as they pass through the undulator. We show that ultra-short optical pulses are produced by coherent spontaneous emission when ultra-short electron bunches pass through an ultra-short undulator. We discuss the interesting case of such undulator radiation in the presence of an optical cavity and show that the optical pulse can be open-quotes tayloredclose quotes by simply adjusting the optical cavity desynchronism. The proposed methods may be realisable using existing rf driven FELs in the far-infrared

  16. Pregnancy and postpartum antidepressant use moderates the effects of sleep on depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, Kristen C; Salisbury, Amy L; Miller-Loncar, Cynthia L; Mattera, Jennifer A; Battle, Cynthia L; Johnsen, Dawn M; O'Grady, Kevin E

    2017-10-01

    This study examined the course of antidepressant use, sleep quality, and depression severity from pregnancy through 6-month postpartum in women with and without a depressive disorder during pregnancy. Women (N = 215) were interviewed during pregnancy, 1- and 6-month postpartum. Mixed linear models were used to examine the longitudinal course and inter-relationships for the time-varying variables of antidepressant use, subjective sleep quality, and depression severity. Pregnant women with a depressive disorder who did not use antidepressants had more variable depression severity over time with improvements in depression severity by 6-month postpartum. In contrast, the depression severity of their medicated counterparts remained stable and high throughout. Pregnant women without a depressive disorder had worse sleep quality when using antidepressants compared with when they were not. Antidepressant use significantly strengthened the magnitude of the effect of sleep quality on depression severity in women with a depressive disorder during pregnancy. When prenatally depressed women use antidepressants, their sleep disturbance is more highly linked to depression severity than when they do not. Furthermore, antidepressants are not adequately treating the sleep disturbance of these women or their remitted counterparts, leaving both groups vulnerable to significant negative mental and physical health outcomes.

  17. Least square method of estimation of ecological half-lives of radionuclides in sediments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ranade, A.K.; Pandey, M.; Datta, D.; Ravi, P.M.

    2012-01-01

    Long term behavior of radionuclides in the environment is an important issue for estimating probable radiological consequences and associated risks. It is also useful for evaluating potential use of contaminated areas and the possible effectiveness of remediation activities. The long term behavior is quantified by means of ecological half life, a parameter that aggregates all processes except radioactive decay which causes a decrease of activity in a specific medium. The process involved in ecological half life depends upon the environmental condition of the medium involved. A fitting model based on least square regression approach was used to evaluate the ecological half life. This least square method has to run several times to evaluate the number of ecological half lives present in the medium for the radionuclide. The case study data considered here is for 137 Cs in Mumbai Harbour Bay. The study shows the trend of 137 Cs over the years at a location in Mumbai Harbour Bay. First iteration model illustrate the ecological half life as 4.94 y and subsequently it passes through a number of runs for more number of ecological half-life present by goodness of fit test. The paper presents a methodology for evaluating ecological half life and exemplifies it with a case study of 137 Cs. (author)

  18. Body weight as a predictor of antidepressant efficacy in the GENDEP project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Uher, Rudolf; Mors, Ole; Hauser, Joanna

    2009-01-01

    Background: Being overweight or obese may be associated with poor response to antidepressants. The present report explores the moderation of antidepressant response by body weight to establish the specificity to antidepressant mode of action, type of depressive symptoms and gender. Methods: Height....... The relationship between body weight and change in neurovegetative symptoms was moderated by gender with obese men responding less to nortriptyline and obese women having poorer response to both antidepressants. Limitations: As no placebo arm was included, the specificity of findings to antidepressants is relative...... and weight were measured in 797 men and women with major depression treated with escitalopram or nortriptyline for twelve weeks as part of the Genome Based Therapeutic Drugs for Depression (GENDEP) project. Body mass index (BMI) and obesity (BMI > 30) were tested as predictors of change in depressive...

  19. Biological half-life and distribution of radiocesium in a contaminated population of green treefrogs Hyla cinerea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dapson, R.W.; Kaplan, L.

    1975-01-01

    Radiocesium content of adult male green treefrogs Hyla cinerea from a contaminated habitat is adequately described by a log normal distribution with mean 2.277 log 10 pCi g -1 dry wt (189.2 pCi g -1 ) and variance of 0.031. There was significant negative correlation of body burden with body length and weight (p 2 = 0.10). Biological half-life of radiocesium in unfed, captive frogs held at 20 deg - 30 deg C averaged 30.1 d. (author)

  20. FKBP5/FKBP51 enhances autophagy to synergize with antidepressant action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gassen, Nils C; Hartmann, Jakob; Schmidt, Mathias V; Rein, Theo

    2015-01-01

    Levels of autophagy markers rise upon treatment of cells with antidepressants. However, it was not known whether this phenomenon might be linked to other antidepressant pathways or to any physiological effect. In this punctum, we summarize and discuss our recent findings that provide evidence for a role of the cochaperone FKBP5/FKBP51 (FK506 binding protein 5) in autophagy as a prerequisite for antidepressant action in cells, mice, and humans. FKBP5 associates with BECN1, changes its phosphorylation and protein levels and enhances markers of autophagy and autophagic flux. The effects of antidepressants on autophagy as well as their physiological effects in mice and human depend on FKBP5. PMID:25714272

  1. Effect of antidepressants and neuroleptics on phosphoinositide turnover in human platelets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pandey, S.C.; Davis, J.M.; Schwertz, D.; Pandey, G.N. (Illinois State Psychiatric Inst., Chicago (United States))

    1990-02-26

    The authors previously reported that tricyclic antidepressants and iprindole inhibit thrombin-stimulated formation of inositol-1, 4 bisphosphate (IP2) and inositol-1,4,5 triphosphate (IP3) but do not cause any change in inositol-1 phosphate (IP1). In order to examine if this decrease in IP2 and IP3 formation by antidepressants is related to the inhibition of the enzyme phospholipase C (PLC), the authors determined the effects of antidepressants and neuroleptics on the levels of 3(H) phosphotidylinositol (PI), 3(H) PI-4 phosphate (PIP), 3(H) PI-4, 5 bisphosphate (PIP2) in human platelets. The implications of the findings and their relevance to the mode of action of antidepressants are discussed.

  2. The effects of antenatal depression and antidepressant treatment on placental gene expression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jocelien DA Olivier

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The effects of antenatal depression and antidepressant treatment during pregnancy on both mother and child are vigorously studied, but the underlying biology for these effects is largely unknown. The placenta plays a crucial role in the growth and development of the fetus. We performed a gene expression study on the fetal side of the placenta to investigate gene expression patterns in mothers with antenatal depression and in mothers using antidepressant treatment during pregnancy.Placental samples from mothers with normal pregnancies, from mothers with antenatal depression, and from mothers using antidepressants were collected. We performed a pilot microarray study to investigate alterations in the gene expression and selected several genes from the microarray for biological validation with qPCR in a larger sample.In mothers with antenatal depression 108 genes were differentially expressed, whereas 109 genes were differentially expressed in those using antidepressants. Validation of the microarray revealed more robust gene expression differences in the seven genes picked for confirmation in antidepressant-treated women than in depressed women. Among the genes that were validated ROCK2 and C12orf39 were differentially expressed in both depressed and antidepressant-treated women, whereas ROCK1, GCC2, KTN1, and DNM1L were only differentially expressed in the antidepressant-treated women. In conclusion, antenatal depression and antidepressant exposure during pregnancy are associated with altered gene expression in the placenta. Findings on those genes picked for validation were more robust among antidepressant-treated women than in depressed women, possibly due to the fact that depression is a multifactorial condition with varying degrees of endocrine disruption. It remains to be established whether the alterations found in the gene expression of the placenta are found in the fetus as well.

  3. Involvement of sigma-1 receptors in the antidepressant-like effects of dextromethorphan.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Nguyen

    Full Text Available Dextromethorphan is an antitussive with a high margin of safety that has been hypothesized to display rapid-acting antidepressant activity based on pharmacodynamic similarities to the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine. In addition to binding to NMDA receptors, dextromethorphan binds to sigma-1 (σ1 receptors, which are believed to be protein targets for a potential new class of antidepressant medications. The purpose of this study was to determine whether dextromethorphan elicits antidepressant-like effects and the involvement of σ1 receptors in mediating its antidepressant-like actions. The antidepressant-like effects of dextromethorphan were assessed in male, Swiss Webster mice using the forced swim test. Next, σ1 receptor antagonists (BD1063 and BD1047 were evaluated in conjunction with dextromethorphan to determine the involvement of σ receptors in its antidepressant-like effects. Quinidine, a cytochrome P450 (CYP 2D6 inhibitor, was also evaluated in conjunction with dextromethorphan to increase the bioavailability of dextromethorphan and reduce exposure to additional metabolites. Finally, saturation binding assays were performed to assess the manner in which dextromethorphan interacts at the σ1 receptor. Our results revealed dextromethorphan displays antidepressant-like effects in the forced swim test that can be attenuated by pretreatment with σ1 receptor antagonists, with BD1063 causing a shift to the right in the dextromethorphan dose response curve. Concomitant administration of quinidine potentiated the antidepressant-like effects of dextromethorphan. Saturation binding assays revealed that a Ki concentration of dextromethorphan reduces both the Kd and the Bmax of [(3H](+-pentazocine binding to σ1 receptors. Taken together, these data suggest that dextromethorphan exerts some of its antidepressant actions through σ1 receptors.

  4. Uranium half-lives: a critical review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holden, N.E.

    1981-01-01

    The experimental data are evaluated and values for the spontaneous fission half-life of 238 U and the total half-lives for 232 U, 233 U, 234 U, 235 U, 236 U, and 238 U are recommended. Also the variation of the isotopic abundance of 234 U in nature and the error involved in the assumption of secular equilibrium between 234 U and 238 U in the determination of the specific activity of natural uranium samples are discussed. The recommended half-life values and 95% confidence limits are: 238 U spontaneous fission: 8.09 +- 0.26 x 10 15 years; 232 U total: 69.8 +- 1.0 years; 233 U total: 1.592 +- 0.002 x 10 5 years; 234 U total: 2.454 +- 0.006 x 10 5 years; 235 U total: 7.037 +- 0.011 x 10 8 years; 236 U total: 2.342 +- 0.003 x 10 7 years 238 U total: 4.468 +- 0.005 x 10 9 years

  5. Mechanisms of action of antidepressants: from neurotransmitter systems to signaling pathways

    OpenAIRE

    Taylor, Chirisse; Fricker, Ashwana D.; Devi, Lakshmi A.; Gomes, Ivone

    2005-01-01

    Antidepressants are commonly used in the treatment of anxiety and depression, medical conditions that affect ~17–20% of the population. The clinical effects of antidepressants take several weeks to manifest, suggesting that these drugs induce adaptive changes in brain structures affected by anxiety and depression. In order to develop shorter-acting and more effective drugs for the treatment of anxiety and depression, it is important to understand how antidepressants bring about their benefici...

  6. The Effect of Sympathetic Antagonists on the Antidepressant Action of Alprazolam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gorash ZM

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Alprazolam is an anti-anxiety drug shown to be effective in the treatment of depression. In this study, the effect of sympathetic receptor antagonists on alprazolam–induced antidepressant action was studied using a mouse model of forced swimming behavioral despair. The interaction of three sympathetic receptor antagonists with benzodiazepines, which may impact the clinical use of alprazolam, was also studied. Behavioral despair was examined in six groups of albino mice. Drugs were administered intraperitoneally. The control group received only a single dose of 1% Tween 80. The second group received a single dose of alprazolam, and the third group received an antagonist followed by alprazolam. The fourth group was treated with imipramine, and the fifth group received an antagonist followed by imipramine. The sixth group was treated with a single dose of an antagonist alone (atenolol, a β1-selective adrenoceptor antagonist; propranolol, a non selective β-adrenoceptor antagonist; and prazocin, an α1-adrenoceptor antagonist. Results confirmed the antidepressant action of alprazolam and imipramine. Prazocin treatment alone produced depression, but it significantly potentiated the antidepressant actions of imipramine and alprazolam. Atenolol alone produced an antidepressant effect and potentiated the antidepressant action of alprazolam. Propranolol treatment alone produced depression, and antagonized the effects of alprazolam and imipramine, even producing depression in combined treatments. In conclusion, our results reveal that alprazolam may produce antidepressant effects through the release of noradrenaline, which stimulates β2 receptors to produce an antidepressant action. Imipramine may act by activating β2 receptors by blocking or down-regulating β1 receptors.

  7. Antidepressant-Like Effects of Central BDNF Administration in Mice of Antidepressant Sensitive Catalepsy (ASC) Strain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tikhonova, Maria; Kulikov, Alexander V

    2012-08-31

    Although numerous data evidence the implication of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the pathophysiology of depression, the potential for BDNF to correct genetically defined depressive-like states is poorly studied. This study was aimed to reveal antidepressant-like effects of BDNF (300 ng, 2×, i.c.v.) on behavior and mRNA expression of genes associated with depression-like state in the brain in mice of antidepressant sensitive catalepsy (ASC) strain characterized by high hereditary predisposition to catalepsy and depressive-like features. Behavioral tests were held on the 7th-16th days after the first (4th-13th after the second) BDNF injection. Results showed that BDNF normalized impaired sexual motivation in the ASC males, and this BDNF effect differed, with advantageous effects, from that of widely used antidepressants. The anticataleptic effect of two BDNF injections was enhanced compared with a single administration. A tendency to decrease the immobility duration in tail-suspension test was observed in BDNF-treated ASC mice. The effects on catalepsy and sexual motivation were specific since BDNF did not alter locomotor and exploratory activity or social interest in the ASC mice. Along with behavioral antidepressant-like effects on the ASC mice, BDNF increased hippocampal mRNA levels of Bdnf and Creb1 (cAMP response element-binding protein gene). BDNF also augmented mRNA levels of Arc gene encoding Arc (Activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated) protein involved in BDNF-induced processes of neuronal and synaptic plasticity in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. The data suggest that: [1] BDNF is effective in the treatment of some genetically defined behavioral disturbances; [2] BDNF influences sexually-motivated behavior; [3] Arc mRNA levels may serve as a molecular marker of BDNF physiological activity associated with its long-lasting behavioral effects; [4] ASC mouse strain can be used as a suitable model to study mechanisms of BDNF effects on

  8. Short-term duloxetine administration affects neural correlates of mood-congruent memory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tendolkar, Indira; van Wingen, Guido; Urner, Maren; Verkes, Robbert Jan; Fernández, Guillén

    2011-01-01

    It is unknown how antidepressants reverse mood-congruent memory bias, a cognitive core factor causing and maintaining depression. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design, we investigated the effect of a short-term treatment (14 days) with the dual reuptake inhibitor duloxetine on

  9. Use of antidepressants in the treatment of depression in Asia: guidelines, clinical evidence, and experience revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treuer, Tamás; Liu, Chia-Yih; Salazar, Gerardo; Kongsakon, Ronnachai; Jia, Fujun; Habil, Hussain; Lee, Min-Soo; Lowry, Amanda; Dueñas, Héctor

    2013-12-01

    Major depressive disorder is prevalent worldwide, and only about half of those affected will experience no further episodes or symptoms. Additionally, depressive symptoms can be challenging to identify, with many patients going undiagnosed despite a wide variety of available treatment options. Antidepressants are the cornerstone of depression treatment; however, a large number of factors must be considered in selecting the treatment best suited to the individual. To help support physicians in this process, international and national treatment guidelines have been developed. This review evaluates the current use of antidepressant treatment for major depressive disorder in six Asian countries (China, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand). No remarkable differences were noted between Asian and international treatment guidelines or among those from within Asia as these are adapted from western guidelines, although there were some local variations. Importantly, a shortage of evidence-based information at a country level is the primary problem in developing guidelines appropriate for Asia, so most of the guidelines are consensus opinions derived from western research data utilized in western guidelines. Treatment guidelines need to evolve from being consensus based to evidence based when evidence is available, taking into consideration cost/effectiveness or cost/benefit with an evidence-based approach that more accurately reflects clinical experience as well as the attributes of each antidepressant. In everyday practice, physicians must tailor their treatment to the patient's clinical needs while considering associated external factors; better tools are needed to help them reach the best possible prescribing decisions which are of maximum benefit to patients. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  10. Antidepressant-like effect of peony glycosides in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Qing-Qiu; Ip, Siu-Po; Tsai, Sam-Hip; Che, Chun-Tao

    2008-09-26

    The root part of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. (Ranunculaceae), known as peony, is often used in Chinese herbal formulae for the treatment of depression-like disorders. Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that an ethanol extract of peony produced antidepressive effects in mouse models of depression. It is well known that peony contains glycosides such as paeoniflorin and albiflorin, yet it remains unclear whether the total glycosides of peony (TGP) are effective. The present study aims to evaluate the antidepressant-like effects of TGP. The antidepressant-like effects of TGP was determined by using animal models of depression including forced swim and tail suspension tests. The acting mechanism was explored by determining the effect of TGP on the activities of monoamine oxidases. Intragastric administration of TGP at 80 and 160 mg/kg for seven days caused a significant reduction of immobility time in both forced swim and tail suspension tests, yet TGP did not stimulate locomotor activity in the open-field test. In addition, TGP treatment antagonized reserpine-induced ptosis and inhibited the activities of monoamine oxidases in mouse cerebrum. These results suggest that the antidepressive effects of TGP are mediated, at least in part, by the inhibition of monoamine oxidases.

  11. Effect of antidepressant medication use on emotional information processing in major depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wells, Tony T; Clerkin, Elise M; Ellis, Alissa J; Beevers, Christopher G

    2014-02-01

    Acute administration of antidepressant medication increases emotional information processing for positive information in both depressed and healthy persons. This effect is likely relevant to the therapeutic actions of these medications, but it has not been studied in patients with major depressive disorder taking antidepressants as typically prescribed in the community. The authors used eye tracking to examine the effects of antidepressant medication on selective attention for emotional stimuli in a sample of 47 patients with major depressive disorder (21 medicated and 26 unmedicated) and 47 matched comparison subjects without depression. Participants completed a passive-viewing eye-tracking task assessing selective attention for positive, dysphoric, threatening, and neutral stimuli in addition to providing medication information and self-report measures of depression and anxiety severity. Depressed participants currently taking antidepressants and nondepressed comparison subjects demonstrated greater total gaze duration and more fixations for positive stimuli compared with unmedicated depressed participants. Depressed participants on medication also had fewer fixations for dysphoric stimuli compared with depressed participants not on medication. Antidepressants, as prescribed in the community to patients with depression, appear to modify emotional information processing in the absence of differences in depression severity. These results are consistent with previous work and indicate a robust effect for antidepressants on positive information processing. They also provide further evidence for modification of information processing as a potential mechanism of action for antidepressant medication.

  12. Effects of antidepressant drugs on different receptors in the brain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hall, H.; Oegren, S.-O.

    1981-01-01

    Radioligand receptor binding techniques were used to characterize the effects of different structural types of antidepressant drugs on neurotransmitter receptors. The tricyclic antidepressants more or less potently inhibited the binding to rat brain preparations of several different radiolabelled ligands ([ 3 H]WB4101, [ 3 H]QNB, [ 3 H]d-LSD, [ 3 H]mepyramine). The potency of the nontricyclic antidepressants varied greatly. Mianserin, potently displaced [ 3 H]mepyramine, [ 3 H]d-LSD and [ 3 H]WB4101 while it was very weak on [ 3 H]QNB-binding. Nomifensine and the specific 5-HT uptake inhibitors zimelidine and alaproclate had very low affinity for these receptors. All the antidepressants tested were practically devoid of activity on [ 3 H]DHA binding, [ 3 H]spiroperidol binding, [ 3 H]flunitrazepam binding, [ 3 H]muscimol binding and [ 3 H]naloxone binding. The implications of these findings for biogenic amine theories of affective disorders are discussed. (Auth.)

  13. Increase in depression diagnoses and prescribed antidepressants among young girls

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skovlund, Charlotte Wessel; Kessing, Lars Vedel; Mørch, Lina Steinrud

    2017-01-01

    AIMS: To analyse trends in depression diagnoses and antidepressant use according to age and gender. METHODS: Nationwide cohort study including all women and men of 10-49 years living in Denmark during 2000-2013. The Psychiatric Registry and Prescription Registry provided data on depression...... diagnoses and antidepressant medication, respectively. Incidence rates as well as 1-year prevalence rates were calculated. RESULTS: The incidence and 1-year prevalence rates of depression diagnoses increased during 2000-2013. The women/men rates were 2.0 for both 1-year prevalence of depressions diagnoses...... and antidepressant use. For adolescent girls, the absolute increase was 3 per 1000 for depression diagnoses and 8 per 1000 for first use of antidepressants, compared to boys who had an increase of 1.1 and 3 per 1000, respectively. Before puberty, boys and girls had almost the same incidence rates of both depression...

  14. High-precision measurement of the 19Ne half-life and implications for right-handed weak currents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Triambak, S; Finlay, P; Sumithrarachchi, C S; Hackman, G; Ball, G C; Garrett, P E; Svensson, C E; Cross, D S; Garnsworthy, A B; Kshetri, R; Orce, J N; Pearson, M R; Tardiff, E R; Al-Falou, H; Austin, R A E; Churchman, R; Djongolov, M K; D'Entremont, R; Kierans, C; Milovanovic, L; O'Hagan, S; Reeve, S; Sjue, S K L; Williams, S J

    2012-07-27

    We report a precise determination of the (19)Ne half-life to be T(1/2)=17.262±0.007 s. This result disagrees with the most recent precision measurements and is important for placing bounds on predicted right-handed interactions that are absent in the current standard model. We are able to identify and disentangle two competing systematic effects that influence the accuracy of such measurements. Our findings prompt a reassessment of results from previous high-precision lifetime measurements that used similar equipment and methods.

  15. High-Precision Measurement of the Ne19 Half-Life and Implications for Right-Handed Weak Currents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Triambak, S.; Finlay, P.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Hackman, G.; Ball, G. C.; Garrett, P. E.; Svensson, C. E.; Cross, D. S.; Garnsworthy, A. B.; Kshetri, R.; Orce, J. N.; Pearson, M. R.; Tardiff, E. R.; Al-Falou, H.; Austin, R. A. E.; Churchman, R.; Djongolov, M. K.; D'Entremont, R.; Kierans, C.; Milovanovic, L.; O'Hagan, S.; Reeve, S.; Sjue, S. K. L.; Williams, S. J.

    2012-07-01

    We report a precise determination of the Ne19 half-life to be T1/2=17.262±0.007s. This result disagrees with the most recent precision measurements and is important for placing bounds on predicted right-handed interactions that are absent in the current standard model. We are able to identify and disentangle two competing systematic effects that influence the accuracy of such measurements. Our findings prompt a reassessment of results from previous high-precision lifetime measurements that used similar equipment and methods.

  16. The interaction between thermodynamic stability and buried free cysteines in regulating the functional half-life of fibroblast growth factor-1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jihun; Blaber, Michael

    2009-10-16

    Protein biopharmaceuticals are an important and growing area of human therapeutics; however, the intrinsic property of proteins to adopt alternative conformations (such as during protein unfolding and aggregation) presents numerous challenges, limiting their effective application as biopharmaceuticals. Using fibroblast growth factor-1 as model system, we describe a cooperative interaction between the intrinsic property of thermostability and the reactivity of buried free-cysteine residues that can substantially modulate protein functional half-life. A mutational strategy that combines elimination of buried free cysteines and secondary mutations that enhance thermostability to achieve a substantial gain in functional half-life is described. Furthermore, the implementation of this design strategy utilizing stabilizing mutations within the core region resulted in a mutant protein that is essentially indistinguishable from wild type as regard protein surface and solvent structure, thus minimizing the immunogenic potential of the mutations. This design strategy should be generally applicable to soluble globular proteins containing buried free-cysteine residues.

  17. Risk of drug interaction: combination of antidepressants and other drugs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miyasaka Lincoln Sakiara

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of combination of antidepressants with other drugs and risk of drug interactions in the setting public hospital units in Brazil. METHODS: Prescriptions of all patients admitted to a public hospital from November 1996 to February 1997 were surveyed from the hospital's data processing center in São Paulo, Brazil. A manual search of case notes of all patients admitted to the psychiatric unit from January 1993 to December 1995 and all patients registered in the affective disorders outpatient clinic in December 1996 was carried out. Patients taking any antidepressant were identified and concomitant use of drugs was checked. By means of a software program (Micromedex® drug interactions were identified. RESULTS: Out of 6,844 patients admitted to the hospital, 63 (0.9% used antidepressants and 16 (25.3% were at risk of drug interaction. Out of 311 patients in the psychiatric unit, 63 (20.2% used antidepressants and 13 of them (20.6% were at risk. Out of 87 patients in the affective disorders outpatient clinic, 43 (49.4% took antidepressants and 7 (16.2% were at risk. In general, the use of antidepressants was recorded in 169 patients and 36 (21.3% were at risk of drug interactions. Twenty different forms of combinations at risk of drug interactions were identified: four were classified as mild, 15 moderate and one severe interaction. CONCLUSION: In the hospital general units the number of drug interactions per patient was higher than in the psychiatric unit; and prescription for depression was lower than expected.

  18. Half-Life Measurements in {sup 134}l

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berg, V; Hoeglund, Aa

    1970-07-01

    Properties of levels in I following the decay of {sup 13T}e have been investigated using a Ge(Li) detector and a double lens coincidence spectrometer. 4 new transitions were found. Half-lives of the lowest excited levels were measured with the following results: T{sub 1/2} (79.5 keV) = 1.62 {+-} 10 ns; T{sub 1/2} (181.1 keV) < 100 ps; T{sub 1/2} (210.8 keV) < 150 ps.

  19. Experimental demonstration of 608Gbit/s short reach transmission employing half-cycle 16QAM Nyquist-SCM signal and direct detection with 25Gbps EML.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Kangping; Zhou, Xian; Wang, Yiguang; Wang, Liang; Yuan, Jinhui; Yu, Changyuan; Lau, Alan Pak Tao; Lu, Chao

    2016-10-31

    In this paper, we experimentally demonstrated an IM/DD short reach transmission system with a total capacity of 608Gbit/s (net capacity of 565.4Gbit/s exclude 7% FEC overhead) employing half-cycle 16QAM Nyquist-SCM signal and 25Gbps EML at O band. Direct detection-faster than Nyquist (DD-FTN) technique was employed to compensate channel impairments. Number of taps of DD-LMS and tap coefficient of post filter in DD-FTN were experimentally studied for different baud rates. Single-lane 152Gbit/s transmission over 10km of SSMF was experimentally demonstrated. Employing a 4-lanes LAN-WDM architecture, a total capacity of 608Gbit/s transmission over 2km was successfully achieved with a receiver sensitivity lower than -4dBm. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the highest reported baud rate of half-cycle 16QAM Nyquist-SCM signal and the highest bit rate employing IM/DD and 25Gbps EML in a four lanes LAN-WDM architecture for short reach systems in the O band.

  20. Reevaluating Antidepressant Selection in Patients With Bruxism and Temporomandibular Joint Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajan, Royce; Sun, Ye-Ming

    2017-05-01

    Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) is a broad pain disorder that refers to several conditions affecting the temporomandibular joint of the jaw and the muscles of mastication. As with most pain disorders, a high prevalence of depression and anxiety is associated with TMD. Research has shown that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the first-line drug therapy for major depressive disorder, may not be suitable for TMD patients because SSRIs can induce teeth-grinding, otherwise known as bruxism. This is problematic because bruxism is believed to further exacerbate TMD. Therefore, the purpose of this literature review is to better understand the mechanism of SSRI-induced bruxism, as well as discuss alternative antidepressant options for treating depression and anxiety in patients with bruxism and TMD. Alternative classes of antidepressants reviewed include serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, atypical antidepressants, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Findings indicate that dopamine agonists and buspirone are currently the most effective medications to treat the side effects of SSRI-induced bruxism, but results regarding the effectiveness of specific antidepressants that avoid bruxism altogether remain inconclusive.

  1. Antidepressant use in 27 European countries: associations with sociodemographic, cultural and economic factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewer, Dan; O'Reilly, Claire; Mojtabai, Ramin; Evans-Lacko, Sara

    2015-09-01

    Prescribing of antidepressants varies widely between European countries despite no evidence of difference in the prevalence of affective disorders. To investigate associations between the use of antidepressants, country-level spending on healthcare and country-level attitudes towards mental health problems. We used Eurobarometer 2010, a large general population survey from 27 European countries, to measure antidepressant use and regularity of use. We then analysed the associations with country-level spending on healthcare and country-level attitudes towards mental health problems. Higher country spending on healthcare was strongly associated with regular use of antidepressants. Beliefs that mentally ill people are 'dangerous' were associated with higher use, and beliefs that they 'never recover' or 'have themselves to blame' were associated with lower and less regular use of antidepressants. Contextual factors, such as healthcare spending and public attitudes towards mental illness, may partly explain variations in antidepressant use and regular use of these medications. © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015.

  2. Age-related response to redeemed antidepressants measured by completed suicide in older adults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Erlangsen, Annette; Conwell, Yeates

    2014-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To examine if the suicide rate of older adults prescribed antidepressants varies with age and to assess the proportion of older adults who died by suicide that had recently been prescribed antidepressants. METHODS: A population-based cohort study using a nationwide linkage of individua...... between estimated prevalence of depression and antidepressant prescription rate in persons dying by suicide underscores the need for assessment of depression in the oldest old.......OBJECTIVE: To examine if the suicide rate of older adults prescribed antidepressants varies with age and to assess the proportion of older adults who died by suicide that had recently been prescribed antidepressants. METHODS: A population-based cohort study using a nationwide linkage of individual......-level records was conducted on all persons aged 50+ living in Denmark during 1996-2006 (1,215,524 men and 1,343,568 women). Suicide rates by treatment status were calculated using data on all antidepressant prescriptions redeemed at pharmacies. RESULTS: Individual-level data covered 9,354,620 and 10...

  3. On the statistical evaluation of inconsistent measurement results illustrated on the example of the 90Sr half-life

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zijp, W.L.

    1985-12-01

    The problem how to make an objective evaluation of inconsistent numerical observations made by different authors or laboratories on the same physical quantity is dealt with. The problem is treated in a practical way in the light of the example on the half-life of 90 Sr, and it is to some extent a response to a document by Gray (1985) on the same topic

  4. Differential Risk of Peptic Ulcer Among Users of Antidepressants Combined With Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Ju-Young; Song, Inmyung; Lee, Jin-Ho; Yoon, Jong Lull; Kwon, Jun Soo; Park, Byung-Joo

    2017-04-01

    Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been reported to have an increased risk of gastrointestinal adverse events, and the risk may be further increased by combined use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). However, little has been known about the risk of peptic ulcer associated with other classes of antidepressants or individual antidepressants combined with NSAIDs. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to define the risk of peptic ulcer associated with combined use of antidepressants and NSAIDs, as compared with use of antidepressants alone. Using the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database, we identified a total of 1,127,622 patients who began receiving antidepressants between 2009 and 2012. Propensity-based matching and Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare the risk of peptic ulcer between antidepressant users with NSAIDs and those without NSAIDs matched in a 1:1 ratio, for a total of 768,850 patients. The risk of peptic ulcer did not increase with combined use of overall antidepressants and NSAIDs, as compared with antidepressant use alone (hazard ratio [HR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99-1.06). A slightly increased risk was observed for combined use of NSAIDs with tricyclic antidepressants (HR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.09-1.21) and with SSRIs (HR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.01-1.16). We found that although concomitant use of NSAIDs and antidepressants was not associated with an increased risk of peptic ulcer for antidepressants in general, it was so for some specific classes including tricyclic antidepressants and SSRIs. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that the increased risk was solely due to NSAID use.

  5. Gross theory of beta-decay and half-lives of short-lived nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, Masami; Kondo, Norikatsu.

    1976-01-01

    The gross theory of beta-decay has been developed, and this theory offers the means of calculating directly the function of beta-decay intensity, then half-lives, complex beta spectra and so on are estimated from it. This paper presents the more refined theory by introducing the shell effect. The shell effect is considered in the intensity function. The half-lives in the electron decay of In with spin of 9/2 + , the positron decay of Bi, Po, At and Rn, and the decay of odd-odd nuclei were estimated. The introduction of the shell effect shows better agreement between the theory and the experimental data. The inequality relations of intensity functions and half-lives of two adjacent nuclei were obtained. When the spins and parities of two nuclei are same, the inequality relations hold especially good. (Kato, T.)

  6. [Unpredictable chronic mild stress effects on antidepressants activities in forced swim test].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kudryashov, N V; Kalinina, T S; Voronina, T A

    2015-02-01

    The experiments has been designed to study unpredictable chronic mild stress effect on anti-depressive activities of amitriptyline (10 mg/kg) and fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) in forced swim test in male outbred mice. It is shown that acute treatment with fluoxetine does not produce any antidepressant effects in mice following stress of 14 days while the sub-chronic injections of fluoxetine result in more deep depressive-like behavior. In 28 daily stressed mice, antidepressant effect of fluoxetine is observed independently of the injection rates. Amitriptyline demonstrates the antidepressant activity regardless of the duration of stress or administration scheduling, but at the same time the severity of anti-immobilization effect of amitriptyline in stressed mice is weaker in compare to non-stressed trails. Thus, the injection rates and duration of unpredictable mild chronic stress are the parameters that determine the efficiency of antidepressants in the mouse forced swimming test.

  7. Do continued antidepressants protect against dementia in patients with severe depressive disorder?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kessing, Lars Vedel; Forman, Julie Lyng; Andersen, Per Kragh

    2011-11-01

    Studies on humans show that depressive disorder is associated with an increased risk of developing cognitive dysfunction, and animal studies suggest that antidepressants may have neuroprotective abilities. On the basis of these observations, it was hypothesized that treatment with antidepressants may decrease the risk of developing dementia in patients with depression. We investigated whether continued treatment with antidepressants is associated with a decreased rate of dementia in a population of patients discharged from psychiatric healthcare service with a diagnosis of depression. We used register data on all prescribed antidepressants in all patients discharged from psychiatric healthcare service with a diagnosis of depression and with subsequent diagnoses of dementia in Denmark from 1995 to 2005. A total of 37 658 patients with a diagnosis of depression at their first psychiatric contact and who were exposed to antidepressants after discharge were included in the study. A total of 2007 patients (5.3%) were subsequently diagnosed with dementia of any kind. The rate of dementia decreased during periods of two or more prescriptions of older antidepressants compared with the period of only one prescription of older antidepressants [relative risk (RR)=0.83 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.70-0.98)]. This finding was replicated with Alzheimer's disease as the outcome [RR=0.66 (95% CI=0.47-0.94)] but not with dementia of other kinds as the outcome [RR=0.88 (95% CI=0.73-1.06)]. In contrast, during periods of continued use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or newer nonselective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, the rate of dementia was not decreased, regardless of the subtype of dementia. It was concluded that continued long-term treatment with older antidepressants is associated with a reduced rate of dementia in patients treated in psychiatric healthcare settings, whereas continued treatment with other kinds of antidepressants is not. Methodological reasons for

  8. The Life Review in Five Short Stories about Characters Facing Death.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicholl, Grier

    1985-01-01

    Uses five modern short stories about people facing death to illustrate and connect various observations of and theories about the dying process developed by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and Robert N. Butler. In response to the imminence of their deaths, the characters survey their past, attempting to reintegrate their life's experiences. (JAC)

  9. Antidepressant medications and osteoporosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizzoli, R; Cooper, C; Reginster, J-Y; Abrahamsen, B; Adachi, J D; Brandi, M L; Bruyère, O; Compston, J; Ducy, P; Ferrari, S; Harvey, N C; Kanis, J A; Karsenty, G; Laslop, A; Rabenda, V; Vestergaard, P

    2012-09-01

    Use of antidepressant medications that act on the serotonin system has been linked to detrimental impacts on bone mineral density (BMD), and to osteoporosis. This article reviews current evidence for such effects, and identifies themes for future research. Serotonin receptors are found in all major types of bone cell (osteoblasts, osteocytes, and osteoclasts), indicating an important role of the neuroendocrine system in bone. Observational studies indicate a complex relationship between depression, antidepressants, and fracture. First, the presence of depression itself increases fracture risk, in relation with decreased BMD and an increase in falls. A range of aspects of depression may operate, including behavioral factors (e.g., smoking and nutrition), biological changes, and confounders (e.g., comorbidities and concomitant medications). A substantial proportion of depressed patients receive antidepressants, mostly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Some of these have been linked to decreased BMD (SSRIs) and increased fracture risk (SSRIs and tricyclic agents). Current use of SSRIs and tricyclics increases fracture risk by as much as twofold versus nonusers, even after adjustment for potential confounders. While there is a dose-response relationship for SSRIs, the effect does not appear to be homogeneous across the whole class of drugs and may be linked to affinity for the serotonin transporter system. The increase in risk is the greatest in the early stages of treatment, with a dramatic increase after initiation, reaching a peak within 1 month for tricyclics and 8 months for SSRIs. Treatment-associated increased risk diminishes towards baseline in the year following discontinuation. The body of evidence suggests that SSRIs should be considered in the list of medications that are risk factors for osteoporotic fractures. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Antidepressant treatment outcomes of psychogenic movement disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voon, Valerie; Lang, Anthony E

    2005-12-01

    Psychogenic movement disorder (PMD) is a subtype of conversion disorder. We describe the outcomes of a series of PMD patients following antidepressant treatment. Twenty-three outpatients with chronic PMD, diagnosed using Fahn and Williams' criteria, underwent psychiatric assessment. The patients were referred for assessment and management from January 2003 to July 2004. Fifteen agreed to be treated with antidepressants. Patients received citalopram or paroxetine; those who did not respond after 4 weeks of taking an optimal dose were switched to venlafaxine. Concurrently, 3 had supportive psychotherapy, and 1 had family intervention. Assessments included the DSM-IV-based Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and scales measuring depression, anxiety, and motor and global severity. Eighteen patients (78%) had at least 1 Axis I diagnosis in addition to the somatoform diagnosis, and 3 (13%) had somatization disorder. Five (22%) had previous psychiatric contact. Nine (39%) had previously been treated with antidepressants, but only 4 (17%) had adequate trials. No significant differences existed in patient characteristics between treated and untreated groups. Among treated patients, Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale scores improved from baseline (p hypochondriasis, somatization disorder, or probable factitious disorder/malingering, of whom none improved. All of the patients with primary conversion disorder had a current or previous depressive or anxiety disorder compared with 40% (N = 2) of the patients with additional somatoform diagnoses. Our preliminary findings suggest that chronic PMD with primary conversion symptoms and with recent or current depression or anxiety may respond to antidepressants. Further well-designed studies, now under way, are required to confirm these findings.

  11. Measurement of the half-life of 60Fe using the Argonne FN tandem-superconducting Linac system as an accelerator mass spectrometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kutschera, W.; Billquist, P.J.; Frekers, D.

    1983-01-01

    An experiment to improve the accuracy in the half-life value of 60 Fe by measuring both the amount of 60 Fe nuclei and the decay-rate of a spallation produced sample using the relation dN/dt = -lambda N is briefly discussed

  12. The effective and environmental half-life of 137Cs at Coral Islands at the former US nuclear test site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robison, William L.; Conrado, Cynthia L.; Bogen, Kenneth T.; Stoker, A. Carol

    2003-01-01

    The United States (US) conducted nuclear weapons testing from 1946 to 1958 at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the northern Marshall Islands. Based on previous detailed dose assessments for Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utirik Atolls over a period of 28 years, cesium-137 ( 137 Cs) at Bikini Atoll contributes about 85-89% of the total estimated dose through the terrestrial food chain as a result of uptake of 137 Cs by food crops. The estimated integral 30, 50, and 70-year doses were based on the radiological decay of 137 Cs (30-year half-life) and other radionuclides. However, there is a continuing inventory of 137 Cs and 90 Sr in the fresh water portion of the groundwater at all contaminated atolls even though the turnover rate of the fresh groundwater is about 5 years. This is evidence that a portion of the soluble fraction of 137 Cs and 90 Sr inventory in the soil is lost by transport to groundwater when rainfall is heavy enough to cause recharge of the lens, resulting in loss of 137 Cs from the soil column and root zone of the plants. This loss is in addition to that caused by radioactive decay. The effective rate of loss was determined by two methods: (1) indirectly, from time-dependent studies of the 137 Cs concentration in leaves of Pisonia grandis, Guettarda specosia, Tournefortia argentea (also called Messerschmidia), Scaevola taccada, and fruit from Pandanus and coconut trees (Cocos nucifera L.), and (2) more directly, by evaluating the 137 Cs/ 90 Sr ratios at Bikini Atoll. The mean (and its lower and upper 95% confidence limits) for effective half-life and for environmental-loss half-life (ELH) based on all the trees studied on Rongelap, Bikini, and Enewetak Atolls are 8.5 years (8.0 years, 9.8 years), and 12 years (11 years, 15 years), respectively. The ELH based on the 137 Cs/ 90 Sr ratios in soil in 1987 relative to the 137 Cs/ 90 Sr ratios at the time of deposition in 1954 is less than 17 years. The magnitude of the decrease below 17 years depends on

  13. The effective and environmental half-life of 137Cs at Coral Islands at the former US nuclear test site.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robison, William L; Conrado, Cynthia L; Bogen, Kenneth T; Stoker, A Carol

    2003-01-01

    The United States (US) conducted nuclear weapons testing from 1946 to 1958 at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the northern Marshall Islands. Based on previous detailed dose assessments for Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utirik Atolls over a period of 28 years, cesium-137 (137Cs) at Bikini Atoll contributes about 85-89% of the total estimated dose through the terrestrial food chain as a result of uptake of 137Cs by food crops. The estimated integral 30, 50, and 70-year doses were based on the radiological decay of 137Cs (30-year half-life) and other radionuclides. However, there is a continuing inventory of 137Cs and 90Sr in the fresh water portion of the groundwater at all contaminated atolls even though the turnover rate of the fresh groundwater is about 5 years. This is evidence that a portion of the soluble fraction of 137Cs and 90Sr inventory in the soil is lost by transport to groundwater when rainfall is heavy enough to cause recharge of the lens, resulting in loss of 137Cs from the soil column and root zone of the plants. This loss is in addition to that caused by radioactive decay. The effective rate of loss was determined by two methods: (1) indirectly, from time-dependent studies of the 137Cs concentration in leaves of Pisonia grandis, Guettarda specosia, Tournefortia argentea (also called Messerschmidia), Scaevola taccada, and fruit from Pandanus and coconut trees (Cocos nucifera L.), and (2) more directly, by evaluating the 137Cs/90Sr ratios at Bikini Atoll. The mean (and its lower and upper 95% confidence limits) for effective half-life and for environmental-loss half-life (ELH) based on all the trees studied on Rongelap, Bikini, and Enewetak Atolls are 8.5 years (8.0 years, 9.8 years), and 12 years (11 years, 15 years), respectively. The ELH based on the 137Cs/90Sr ratios in soil in 1987 relative to the 137Cs/90Sr ratios at the time of deposition in 1954 is less than 17 years. The magnitude of the decrease below 17 years depends on the ELH for 90Sr

  14. Use of anti-depressants and the risk of fracture of the hip or femur

    OpenAIRE

    van den Brand, M. W. M.; Samson, M. M.; Pouwels, S.; van Staa, T. P.; Thio, B.; Cooper, C.; Leufkens, H. G. M.; Egberts, A. C. G.; Verhaar, H. J. J.; de Vries, F.

    2009-01-01

    Summary Anti-depressants are used largely, but have serious side effects. We show that both selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic anti-depressants (TCAs) increase the risk of hip/femur fracture and that this risk is time related and depends on the degree of serotonin transporter inhibition. This should be considered when prescribing anti-depressants to patients. Introduction Anti-depressants are known to have serious side effects. We examined the association between t...

  15. The Association of Antidepressant Medication and Body Weight Gain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara Ranjbar

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To review the literature and discover which antidepressants are responsible for weight gain and then to discuss the areas with lack of adequate knowledge. Method: An electronic search was conducted through Medline, Pubmed, Cochrane library, and ScienceDirect. Forty nine empirical researches were identified and reviewed. Results: Amitriptyline, clomipramine, and mirtazapine have been associated with more weight gain induction in clinical studies, but not in animal-based studies. All TCAs have been reported to cause weight gain except protriptyline. MAOIs have been associated with weight gain. In SSRI group, citalopram and ecitalopram induce weight, yet mixed results exist for paroxetine and fluoxetine. Researches unanimously reported weight loss effect for bupropion. Some studies suggest contributing factors in the relationship of antidepressants with body weight changes including age, gender, base-line weights and treatment duration. Various results of different treatment durations have been reported in some cases but there are not continuous time-dependent studies for the influences of antidepressants on body weight changes. Conclusion: More studies are required to discover underlying mechanisms and the time-dependent effects of antidepressants on body weight changes.

  16. [Trends in participation in nonformal education in the second half of life : Increasing educational participation in retirement].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiest, Maja; Hoffmann, Madlain; Widany, Sarah; Kaufmann, Katrin

    2017-05-22

    Research on nonformal education often focuses on participation within employment. Participation of workers decreases with age; however, recent studies show an increase in participation in nonformal education of older workers. It remains, however, unclear if this trend spills over to retirement. In the context of social change processes, trends in nonformal educational participation are analyzed. The study addresses employment and retirement as opportunity structures and investigates their impact on educational participation in the second half of life. Predictors of educational participation are modeled in logistic regression, including interaction effects. Analyses are based on cross-sectional data of the German Ageing Survey and covers 20,129 respondents aged 40-85 years (T 1 : 1996 n = 4838; T 2 : 2002 n = 3084; T 3 : 2008 n = 6205; T 4 : 2014 n = 6002). Educational level, age, gender, employment status, region, social integration, and subjective health predict participation in nonformal education for people aged 40 to 85 years. Employment as an opportunity structure has a constant impact on participation, whereas retirees' participation increases over the course of time. The increase of retirees' participation in nonformal education is discussed in the context of social change processes and connected to theoretical und empirical research gaps with regard to educational participation in the second half of life.

  17. Relationships between serum BDNF and the antidepressant effect of acute exercise in depressed women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Jacob D; Koltyn, Kelli F; Stegner, Aaron J; Kim, Jee-Seon; Cook, Dane B

    2016-12-01

    Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has recently emerged as one potential mechanism with which exercise improves mood in major depressive disorder (MDD). This study examined the relationship between changes in serum total BDNF and mood following acute exercise in MDD. It was hypothesized that acute exercise would increase BDNF in an intensity-dependent manner and that changes in BDNF would be significantly related to improvement in depressed mood post-exercise. Twenty-four women (age: 38.6±14.0years) with MDD exercised for 30min on a stationary bicycle at light, moderate and hard exercise intensities and performed a quiet rest session using a within-subjects, randomized and counter-balanced design. Before, 10 and 30min after each session, participants completed the profile of mood states (POMS). Blood was drawn before and within 10min after completion of each session and serum total BDNF (sBDNF) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Acute exercise-induced changes in POMS Depression and sBDNF were analyzed via 4 session (quiet rest, light, moderate, hard) by 2 measurement (pre, post) ANOVA. Secondary analyses examined the effects of baseline mood and antidepressant usage on sBDNF. Exercise resulted in an acute improvement in depressed mood that was not intensity dependent (p>0.05), resulting in significant acute increases in sBDNF (p=0.006) that were also not intensity-dependent (p>0.05). Acute changes in sBDNF were not significantly correlated to changes in POMS depression at 10m (r=-0.171, p=0.161) or 30m (r=-0.151, p=0.215) post-exercise. The fourteen participants taking antidepressant medications exhibited lower post-exercise sBDNF (p=0.015) than the participants not currently taking antidepressants, although mood responses were similar. Acute exercise is an effective mood-enhancing stimulus, although sBDNF does not appear to play a role in this short-term response. Patients who are not currently taking antidepressant medications and those who

  18. Is social stress in the first half of life detrimental to later physical and mental health in both men and women?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steverink, N.; Veenstra, R.; Oldehinkel, A.J.; Gans, R.O.B.; Rosmalen, J.G.M.

    This study examined gender differences in the associations between affection-and status-related stressors encountered in the first half of life and physical and mental health problems later on. Based on the theory of Social Production Functions (SPF) two hypotheses have been formulated, which were

  19. Regulation of neurotrophic factors and energy metabolism by antidepressants in astrocytes

    KAUST Repository

    Martin, Jean Luc; Magistretti, Pierre J.; Allaman, Igor

    2013-01-01

    There is growing evidence that astrocytes are involved in the neuropathology of major depression. In particular, decreases in glial cell density observed in the cerebral cortex of individuals with major depressive disorder are accompanied by a reduction of several astrocytic markers suggesting that astrocyte dysfunction may contribute to the pathophysiology of major depression. In rodents, glial loss in the prefrontal cortex is sufficient to induce depressive-like behaviors and antidepressant treatment prevents the stress-induced reduction of astrocyte number in the hippocampus. Collectively, these data support the existence of a link between astrocyte loss or dysfunction, depressive-like behavior and antidepressant treatment. Astrocytes are increasingly recognized to play important roles in neuronal development, neurotransmission, synaptic plasticity and maintenance of brain homeostasis. It is also well established that astrocytes provide trophic, structural, and metabolic support to neurons. In this article, we review evidence that antidepressants regulate energy metabolism and neurotrophic factor expression with particular emphasis on studies in astrocytes. These observations support a role for astrocytes as new targets for antidepressants. The contribution of changes in astrocyte glucose metabolism and neurotrophic factor expression to the therapeutic effects of antidepressants remains to be established. © 2013 Bentham Science Publishers.

  20. Regulation of neurotrophic factors and energy metabolism by antidepressants in astrocytes

    KAUST Repository

    Martin, Jean Luc

    2013-09-01

    There is growing evidence that astrocytes are involved in the neuropathology of major depression. In particular, decreases in glial cell density observed in the cerebral cortex of individuals with major depressive disorder are accompanied by a reduction of several astrocytic markers suggesting that astrocyte dysfunction may contribute to the pathophysiology of major depression. In rodents, glial loss in the prefrontal cortex is sufficient to induce depressive-like behaviors and antidepressant treatment prevents the stress-induced reduction of astrocyte number in the hippocampus. Collectively, these data support the existence of a link between astrocyte loss or dysfunction, depressive-like behavior and antidepressant treatment. Astrocytes are increasingly recognized to play important roles in neuronal development, neurotransmission, synaptic plasticity and maintenance of brain homeostasis. It is also well established that astrocytes provide trophic, structural, and metabolic support to neurons. In this article, we review evidence that antidepressants regulate energy metabolism and neurotrophic factor expression with particular emphasis on studies in astrocytes. These observations support a role for astrocytes as new targets for antidepressants. The contribution of changes in astrocyte glucose metabolism and neurotrophic factor expression to the therapeutic effects of antidepressants remains to be established. © 2013 Bentham Science Publishers.

  1. The Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor as a Target for Antidepressant Drug Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noah S. Philip

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available An important new area of antidepressant drug development involves targeting the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR. This receptor, which is distributed widely in regions of the brain associated with depression, is also implicated in other important processes that are relevant to depression, such as stress and inflammation. The two classes of drugs that target nAChRs can be broadly divided into mecamylamine- and cytisine-based compounds. These drugs probably exert their effects via antagonism at α4β2 nAChRs, and strong preclinical data support the antidepressant efficacy of both classes when used in conjunction with other primary antidepressants (e.g., monoamine reuptake inhibitors. Although clinical data remain limited, preliminary results in this area constitute a compelling argument for further evaluation of the nAChR as a target for future antidepressant drug development.

  2. Decisional conflict among women considering antidepressant medication use in pregnancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walton, Georgia D; Ross, Lori E; Stewart, Donna E; Grigoriadis, Sophie; Dennis, Cindy-Lee; Vigod, Simone

    2014-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine decision-making among women considering antidepressant medication use in pregnancy. Decisional conflict was assessed using the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) among pregnant women considering antidepressant medication treatment (N = 40). Overall DCS and subscale scores were compared between women who were antidepressant users and non-users. Semi-structured interviews (N = 10) explored barriers and facilitators of decision-making. Twenty-one women (52 %) had moderate or high decisional conflict (DCS ≥ 25). Overall DCS scores did not differ between groups, but antidepressant use was associated with feeling more adequately informed (subscale mean 17.5, SD 17.9 vs. 42.1, SD 23.8, p = 0.001) and clear about values (subscale mean 16.7, SD 15.1 vs. 29.8, SD 24.0, p = 0.043). Barriers to decision-making were (1) difficulty weighing maternal versus infant health, (2) lack of high quality information, (3) negative external influences, and (4) emotional reactions to decision-making. Facilitators were (1) interpersonal supports, (2) accessible subspecialty care, and (3) severe depressive symptoms. Many pregnant women facing decisions regarding antidepressant medication use experience decisional conflict. Interventions that provide accurate information, assistance with weighing risks and benefits of treatment, management of problematic external influences, and emotional support may reduce decisional conflict and facilitate the decision-making process.

  3. Serotonin 5-HT4 receptors: A new strategy for developing fast acting antidepressants?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vidal, Rebeca; Castro, Elena; Pilar-Cuéllar, Fuencisla; Pascual-Brazo, Jesús; Díaz, Alvaro; Rojo, María Luisa; Linge, Raquel; Martín, Alicia; Valdizán, Elsa M; Pazos, Angel

    2014-01-01

    The regulation of the activity of brain monoaminergic systems has been the focus of attention of many studies since the first antidepressant drug emerged 50 years ago. The search for novel antidepressants is deeply linked to the search for fast-acting strategies, taking into account that 2-4 weeks of treatment with classical antidepressant are required before clinical remission of the symptoms becomes evident. In the recent years several hypotheses have been proposed on the basis of the existence of alterations in brain synaptic plasticity in major depression. Recent evidences support a role for 5-HT4 receptors in the pathogenesis of depression as well as in the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs. In fact, chronic treatment with antidepressant drugs appears to modulate, at different levels, the signaling pathway associated to 5-HT4 receptors, as well as their levels of expression in the brain. Moreover, several experimental studies have identified this receptor subtype as a promising new target for fast-acting antidepressant strategy: the administration of partial agonists of this receptor induces a number of responses similar to those observed after chronic treatment with classical antidepressants, but with a rapid onset of action. They include efficacy in behavioral models of depression, rapid desensitization of 5-HT1A autoreceptors, and modifications in the expression of several molecular markers of brain neuroplasticity. Although much work remains to be done in order to clarify the real therapeutic potential of these drugs, the evidences reviewed below support the hypothesis that 5-HT4 receptor partial agonists could behave as rapid and effective antidepressants.

  4. Determination of half-life of Ks0

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Urrutia, Z.; Felix, J.

    1999-01-01

    In a K s 0 high statistics sample, created in pp reactions at 27.5 GeV, we determined K s 0 mean life to be (0.893 ± 0.006) x 10 -10 s. This result agrees, inside experimental errors, with the world wide accepted value. In this paper we describe the experimental details and the used technique to measure K s 0 mean life. (Author)

  5. Increased volume of distribution for recombinant activated factor VII and longer plasma-derived factor VII half-life may explain their long lasting prophylactic effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathijssen, Natascha C J; Masereeuw, Rosalinde; Holme, Pal Andre; van Kraaij, Marian G J; Laros-van Gorkom, Britta A P; Peyvandi, Flora; van Heerde, Waander L

    2013-08-01

    Prophylaxis with plasma-derived or recombinant activated factor VII is beneficial in severe factor VII deficiency. To understand why prophylactic treatment with both products is efficacious, we conducted a pharmacokinetic study. Ten factor VII deficient patients were treated with either recombinant activated (20 μg/kg) or plasma-derived (25 IU/kg) factor VII in a cross-over design. Pharmacokinetic parameters were analyzed through activated factor VII activity, factor VII clotting activity, and factor VII antigen levels on depicted time points. Factor VII activity half-lifes, determined by non-compartmental and one-compartmental analysis (results in brackets), were shorter for recombinant activated (1.4h; 0.7h) than for plasma-derived factor VII (6.8h; 3.2h); both recombinant activated (5.1h; 2.1h and plasma-derived factor VII (5.8h; 3.2h) resulted in longer half-lives of factor VII antigen. Activated factor VII half-lives (based on activated factor VII activity levels) were significantly higher compared to factor VII clotting activity (1.6h; 0.9h). Volumes of distribution were significantly higher for activated factor VII (236 ml/kg; 175 ml/kg, measured by activated factor VII) as compared to plasma-derived factor VII (206 ml/kg; 64 ml/kg, measured by factor FVII activity), suggesting a plasma- and extracellular fluid distribution for recombinant activated factor VII. Recombinant activated factor VII showed significantly shorter half-lifes than plasma-derived factor VII. Volumes of distribution were significantly higher for treatment with recombinant activated factor VII. The longer half-life for plasma-derived factor VII, compared to recombinant activated factor VII, and the increased volume of distribution for recombinant activated factor VII, compared to plasma-derived factor VII may further elucidate the beneficial effect of prophylactic treatment of both products. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Cognitive-emotional reactivation during deep transcranial magnetic stimulation over the prefrontal cortex of depressive patients affects antidepressant outcome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isserles, Moshe; Rosenberg, Oded; Dannon, Pinchas; Levkovitz, Yechiel; Kotler, Moshe; Deutsch, Frederic; Lerer, Bernard; Zangen, Abraham

    2011-02-01

    Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) enables non-surgical activation of specific brain areas. TMS over the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is emerging as a significant tool that can augment or replace non/partially effective antidepressant medications. Deep TMS (DTMS) utilizes newly developed coils that enable effective stimulation of deeper cortical layers involved in the pathophysiology of depression. We aimed to assess the H1-DTMS coil as an add-on to antidepressants in treating patients with major depression. We also intended to evaluate whether the antidepressant outcome of DTMS treatment is affected by a cognitive-emotional procedure performed during stimulation. 57 patients were enrolled in the study that included 4 weeks of daily 20 Hz stimulation sessions and additional 4 weekly sessions as a short maintenance phase. Two subgroups of patients received either positive or negative cognitive-emotional reactivation along with the stimulation sessions. 21 of 46 patients (46%) who received at least 10 stimulation sessions achieved response (improvement of ≥ 50% in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS)) and 13 of them (28%) achieved remission (HDRS-24 ≤ 10) by the end of the daily treatment phase. Improvements were smaller in the negatively reactivated group and Beck Depression Inventory scores were not significantly improved in this group. DTMS over the PFC proved to be safe and effective in augmenting antidepressant medications. Negative cognitive-emotional reactivation can disrupt the therapeutic effect of DTMS. A large sham controlled study is required to further establish the effectiveness of DTMS as an augmentation treatment and the role of cognitive reactivation during stimulation. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Effects of early-life lead exposure on oxidative status and phagocytosis activity in great tits (Parus major)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rainio, Miia J.; Eeva, Tapio; Lilley, Thomas; Stauffer, Janina; Ruuskanen, Suvi

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Lead is a highly poisonous metal with a very long half-life, distributing throughout the body in blood and accumulating primarily in bones and kidney. We studied the short and long-term effects of early-life lead exposure on antioxidant defense and phagocytosis activity in a small passerine

  8. New limit on the half-life of 78Kr with respect to the 2K(2ν)-capture decay mode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gavriljuk, Ju.M.; Kuzminov, V.V.; Osetrova, N.Ya.; Ratkevich, S.S.

    2000-01-01

    The features of data accumulated for 1817 h in an experimental search for the 2K(2ν)-capture mode of 78 Kr decay are discussed. A new limit on the half-life for this decay is found: T 1sol2 ≥ 2.3 x 10 20 yr (at a 90% C.L.)

  9. Real-time RT-PCR analysis of mRNA decay: half-life of Beta-actin mRNA in human leukemia CCRF-CEM and Nalm-6 cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barredo Julio C

    2002-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We describe an alternative method to determine mRNA half-life (t1/2 based on the Real-Time RT-PCR procedure. This approach was evaluated by using the β-actin gene as a reference molecule for measuring of mRNA stability. Results Human leukemia Nalm-6 and CCRF-CEM cells were treated with various concentrations of Actinomycin D to block transcription and aliquots were removed periodically. Total RNA was isolated and quantified using the RiboGreen® fluorescent dye with the VersaFluor Fluorometer System. One μg of total RNA was reverse transcribed and used as template for the amplification of a region of the β-actin gene (231 bp. To generate the standard curve, serial ten-fold dilutions of the pBactin-231 vector containing the cDNA amplified fragment were employed, β-actin mRNAs were quantified by Real-Time RT-PCR using the SYBR® Green I fluorogenic dye and data analyzed using the iCycle iQ system software. Using this method, the β-actin mRNA exhibited a half-life of 6.6 h and 13.5 h in Nalm-6 and CCRF-CEM cells, respectively. The t1/2 value obtained for Nalm-6 is comparable to those estimated from Northern blot studies, using normal human leukocytes (5.5 h. Conclusions We have developed a rapid, sensitive, and reliable method based on Real-Time RT-PCR for measuring mRNA half-life. Our results confirm that β-actin mRNA half-life can be affected by the cellular growth rate.

  10. Poisoining with Tricyclic Antidepressants and Current Treatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muge Gulen

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Poisoning with tricyclic antidepressants is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality compared to all the antidepressants. Main toxic effects are on the cardiovascular system and central nervous system and manifests itself as anticholinergic symptoms. There is no antidote known to be used in the treatment. But sodium bicarbonate treatment is effective in preventing ventricular arrhythmias and hypotension, and resolving metabolic acidosis. There are some treatments that has been used for relief of symptoms and some of them still are in research stage. The drugs that are used can be customized according to the patients symptoms. [Archives Medical Review Journal 2016; 25(4.000: 608-621

  11. Guidelines on treatment of perinatal depression with antidepressants: An international review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molenaar, Nina M; Kamperman, Astrid M; Boyce, Philip; Bergink, Veerle

    2018-04-01

    Several countries have developed Clinical Practice Guidelines regarding treatment of perinatal depressive symptoms and perinatal use of antidepressant. We aimed to compare guidelines to guide clinicians in best clinical practice. An extensive search in guideline databases, MEDLINE and PsycINFO was performed. When no guidelines were (publicly) available online, we contacted psychiatric-, obstetric-, perinatal- and mood disorder societies of all first world countries and the five largest second world countries. Only Clinical Practice Guidelines adhering to quality criteria of the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation instrument and including a systematic review of evidence were included. Data extraction focussed on recommendations regarding continuation or withdrawal of antidepressants and preferred treatment in newly depressed patients. Our initial search resulted in 1094 articles. After first screening, 40 full-text articles were screened. Of these, 24 were excluded for not being an official Clinical Practice Guidelines. In total, 16 Clinical Practice Guidelines were included originating from 12 countries. Eight guidelines were perinatal specific and eight were general guidelines. During pregnancy, four guidelines advise to continue antidepressants, while there is a lack of evidence supporting this recommendation. Five guidelines do not specifically advise or discourage continuation. For new episodes, guidelines agree on psychotherapy (especially cognitive behavioural therapy) as initial treatment for mild to moderate depression and antidepressants for severe depression, with a preference for sertraline. Paroxetine is not preferred treatment for new episodes but switching antidepressants for ongoing treatment is discouraged (three guidelines). If mothers use antidepressants, observation of the neonate is generally recommended and breastfeeding encouraged.

  12. A Pilot Study: Cardiac Parameters in Children Receiving New-Generation Antidepressants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uchida, Mai; Spencer, Andrea E; Kenworthy, Tara; Chan, James; Fitzgerald, Maura; Rosales, Ana Maria; Kagan, Elana; Saunders, Alexandra; Biederman, Joseph

    2017-06-01

    Because of concerns about potential associations between high doses of citalopram and QTc prolongation in adults, this study examined whether such associations are operant in children. We hypothesized that therapeutic doses of nontricyclic antidepressant medications (non-TCAs) prescribed to children would be cardiovascularly safe. The sample consisted of 49 psychiatrically referred children and adolescents 6 to 17 years old of both sexes treated with a non-TCA (citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline, bupropion, duloxetine, venlafaxine, mirtazapine). To standardize the doses of different antidepressants, we converted doses of individual medicines into "citalopram equivalent doses" (CEDs) based on dosing recommendation for individual antidepressants. Correlation analysis was carried out to compare the continuous and weight-based CED to variables of interest. A QTc grouping was defined as normal, borderline, or abnormal, and CED was compared across QTc groupings using linear regression. An antidepressant dosage group was defined as low or high dose, and a t test compared variables of interest across dosage groups. No significant associations were found between total or weight-corrected CEDs of any antidepressant examined and QTc or any other electrocardiogram or blood pressure parameters. In patients taking citalopram or escitalopram, a significant correlation was found between PR interval and total daily dose, which disappeared when weight-based doses were used or when corrected by age. Although limited by a relatively small sample size, these results suggest that therapeutic doses of non-TCA antidepressants when used in children do not seem to be associated with prolonged QTc interval or other adverse cardiovascular effects.

  13. Factors associated with the prescription of antidepressive medication to breast cancer patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Suppli, Nis P; Deltour, Isabelle; Damkjaer, Lars H

    2011-01-01

    We evaluated factors associated with use of antidepressant medication subsequent to a diagnosis of breast cancer. We also evaluated the effect of participation in a cancer rehabilitation program on use of antidepressants....

  14. Antidepressants and Youth Suicide in New York City, 1999-2002

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leon, Andrew C.; Marzuk, Peter M.; Tardiff, Kenneth; Bucciarelli, Angela; Piper, Tinka Markham; Galea, Sandro

    2006-01-01

    Objective: To determine the proportion of youth suicides in New York City from 1999 to 2002 in which antidepressants were detected at autopsy. Method: This is a medical examiner surveillance study of suicides in New York City among those younger than 18 years of age. The outcome measure is serum toxicology for antidepressants. Results: From 1999…

  15. Antidepressant-Induced Female Sexual Dysfunction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenz, Tierney; Rullo, Jordan; Faubion, Stephanie

    2016-09-01

    Because 1 in 6 women in the United States takes antidepressants and a substantial proportion of patients report some disturbance of sexual function while taking these medications, it is a near certainty that the practicing clinician will need to know how to assess and manage antidepressant-related female sexual dysfunction. Adverse sexual effects can be complex because there are several potentially overlapping etiologies, including sexual dysfunction associated with the underlying mood disorder. As such, careful assessment of sexual function at the premedication visit followed by monitoring at subsequent visits is critical. Treatment of adverse sexual effects can be pharmacological (dose reduction, drug discontinuation or switching, augmentation, or using medications with lower adverse effect profiles), behavioral (exercising before sexual activity, scheduling sexual activity, vibratory stimulation, psychotherapy), complementary and integrative (acupuncture, nutraceuticals), or some combination of these modalities. Copyright © 2016 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Meta-analysis: Risk of dry mouth with second generation antidepressants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cappetta, Kiley; Beyer, Chad; Johnson, Jessica A; Bloch, Michael H

    2018-06-08

    The goal of this meta-analysis was to quantify the risk of dry mouth associated with commonly prescribed antidepressant agents and examine the potential implications of medication class, dose, and pharmacodynamics and dose on risk of treatment-induced dry mouth. A PubMed search was conducted to identify double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials examining the efficacy and tolerability of second generation antidepressant medications for adults with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and OCD. A random-effects meta-analysis was used to quantify the pooled risk ratio of treatment-emergent dry mouth with second generation antidepressants compared to placebo. Stratified subgroup analysis and meta-regression was utilized to further examine the effects antidepressant agent, class, dosage, indication, and receptor affinity profile on the measured risk of dry mouth. 99 trials involving 20,868 adults. SNRIs (Relative Risk (RR)=2.24, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.95-2.58, z=11.2, pz=5.8, pz=10.32, pz=5.85, pz=3.26, p=0.001) and Alpha-2 (PE=0.49, 95% CI: 0.22-0.75, z=3.64, pz=2.10, p<0.05) was significantly associated with increased risk of dry mouth. The current meta-analysis suggests that SSRIs, SNRIs, and atypical antidepressants are all associated with varying degrees of increased risk of dry mouth. SNRIs were associated with a significantly greater risk of dry mouth compared to SSRIs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Exposure to antidepressants during pregnancy--prevalences and outcomes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jimenez-Solem, Espen

    2014-01-01

    conflicting. The main challenge is how to discern between the effects of the drug and the effect of the depression itself. We approached this dire problem conducting a nation-wide register based study analyzing the relation between use of antidepressants during pregnancy and the risk of congenital...... that the apparent risk associated with use of SSRIs during pregnancy is not related to the drug exposure, but to unknown characteristics associated with mothers redeeming a prescription for an antidepressant. We found no increased risk of stillbirths or neonatal mortality among off-spring exposed in utero...

  18. Antidepressants Increase REM Sleep Muscle Tone in Patients with and without REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCarter, Stuart J; St Louis, Erik K; Sandness, David J; Arndt, Katlyn; Erickson, Maia; Tabatabai, Grace; Boeve, Bradley F; Silber, Michael H

    2015-06-01

    REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is associated with antidepressant treatment, especially in younger patients; but quantitative REM sleep without atonia (RSWA) analyses of psychiatric RBD patients remain limited. We analyzed RSWA in adults receiving antidepressants, with and without RBD. We comparatively analyzed visual, manual, and automated RSWA between RBD and control groups. RSWA metrics were compared between groups, and regression was used to explore associations with clinical variables. Tertiary-care sleep center. Participants included traditional RBD without antidepressant treatment (n = 30, 15 Parkinson disease [PD-RBD] and 15 idiopathic); psychiatric RBD receiving antidepressants (n = 30); and adults without RBD, including antidepressant-treated psychiatric (n = 30), untreated psychiatric (n = 15), and OSA (n = 60) controls. N/A. RSWA was highest in traditional and psychiatric RBD, intermediate in treated psychiatric controls, and lowest in untreated psychiatric and OSA controls (P sleep without atonia (RSWA) even without REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), suggesting that antidepressants, not depression, promote RSWA. Differences in RSWA distribution and type were also seen, with higher anterior tibialis RSWA in antidepressant-treated patients and higher tonic RSWA in Parkinson disease-RBD patients, which could aid distinction between RBD subtypes. These findings suggest that antidepressants may mediate different RSWA mechanisms or, alternatively, that RSWA type and distribution evolve during progressive neurodegeneration. Further prospective RSWA analyses are necessary to clarify the relationships between antidepressant treatment, psychiatric disease, and RBD. © 2015 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

  19. Adverse Effects of Antidepressants for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carina Riediger

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundAntidepressants are widely used in the treatment of chronic pain. Applied doses are lower than those needed to unfold an antidepressive effect. While efficacy of antidepressants for chronic pain has been reported in large randomized-controlled trials (RCT, there is inconsistent data on adverse effects and tolerability. We aimed at synthesizing data from RCT to explore adverse effect profiles and tolerability of antidepressants for treatment of chronic pain.MethodsSystematic literature research and meta-analyses were performed regarding side effects and safety of different antidepressants in the treatment of chronic pain according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The National Center for Biotechnology Information library and MEDLINE were searched. Randomized placebo-controlled trials were included in quantitative data synthesis.ResultsOut of 1,975 screened articles, 33 papers published between 1995 and 2015 were included in our review and 23 studies were included in the meta-analyses. A higher risk for adverse effects compared to placebo was observed in all antidepressants included in our analyses, except nortriptyline. The most prevalent adverse effects were dry mouth, dizziness, nausea, headache, and constipation. Amitriptyline, mirtazapine, desipramine, venlafaxine, fluoxetine, and nortriptyline showed the highest placebo effect-adjusted risk of adverse effects. Risk for withdrawal due to adverse effects was highest in desipramine (risk ratio: 4.09, 95%-confidence interval [1.31; 12.82] followed by milnacipran, venlafaxine, and duloxetine. The most common adverse effects under treatment with antidepressants were dry mouth, dizziness, nausea, headache, and constipation followed by palpitations, sweating, and drowsiness. However, overall tolerability was high. Each antidepressant showed distinct risk profiles of adverse effects.ConclusionOur synthesized data analysis confirmed overall

  20. Attitudes and beliefs of patients with chronic depression toward antidepressants and depression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacob SA

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Sabrina Anne Jacob,1 Ab Fatah Ab Rahman,2 Mohamed Azmi Ahmad Hassali3 1School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Sunway, 2Faculty of Health Sciences, Gong Badak Campus, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA, Kuala Terengganu, 3School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Science Malaysia, Minden, Malaysia Background: Many patients have erroneous views with regard to depression and its management, and it was noted that these attitudes and beliefs significantly affected their adherence rates.Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to determine the attitudes and beliefs of patients with depression toward depression and antidepressants. A secondary aim was to assess the influence of ethnicity on patients’ attitudes and beliefs.Patients and methods: The study involved patients with chronic depression being followed up at an outpatient clinic at a government-run hospital in Malaysia. Patients’ attitudes and beliefs were assessed using the Antidepressant Compliance Questionnaire.Results: A total of 104 patients of Malay, Chinese, and Indian ethnic groups met the selection criteria. Chinese patients had significantly negative attitudes and beliefs toward depression and antidepressants compared to Malays and Indians (b=-8.96, t103=-3.22; P<0.05. Component analysis revealed that 59% of patients believed that antidepressants can cause a person to have less control over their thoughts and feelings, while 67% believed that antidepressants could alter one’s personality; 60% believed it was okay to take fewer tablets on days when they felt better, while 66% believed that antidepressants helped solve their emotional problems and helped them worry less.Conclusion: Patients had an overall positive view as to the benefits of antidepressants, but the majority had incorrect views as to the acceptable dosing of antidepressants and had concerns about the safety of the medication. Assessing patients’ attitudes and beliefs, as well as the

  1. Assessment of health-related quality of life, mental health status and psychological distress based on the type of pharmacotherapy used among patients with depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Drishti; Vaidya, Varun; Patel, Amit; Borovicka, Mary; Goodman, Monica-Holiday

    2017-04-01

    Effectiveness of antidepressants is generally comparable between and within classes. However, real-world studies on antidepressant treatment and its consequences on the overall quality of life and mental health of individuals are limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of specific class of antidepressants with the health-related quality of life, psychological distress and self-reported mental health of individuals suffering from depression who are on monotherapy. This retrospective, longitudinal study included individuals with depression who were on antidepressant monotherapy, using data from 2008 to 2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Changes in health-related quality of life, self-reported mental health and psychological distress over a year's time were observed. A multinomial logistic regression model was built to examine the association between the class of antidepressant medications and the dependent variables. A total of 688 adults met the study inclusion criteria. No significant difference was observed in the change in Physical Component Summary (PCS), self-reported mental health and psychological distress based on the class of antidepressants. However, individuals on serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) (OR 0.337, 95 % CI 0.155-0.730) were significantly less likely to show improvement on Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores as compared to those on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The study findings suggest that practitioners should be aware of the differences in the health-related quality of life of those taking SSRIs versus other classes of antidepressants. Further research needs to be done to determine the reason for SSRIs to show greater improvement on mental health as compared to SNRIs.

  2. Do continued antidepressants protect against dementia in patients with severe depressive disorder?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kessing, Lars Vedel; Forman, Julie Lyng; Andersen, Per Kragh

    2011-01-01

    may decrease the risk of developing dementia in patients with depression. We investigated whether continued treatment with antidepressants is associated with a decreased rate of dementia in a population of patients discharged from psychiatric healthcare service with a diagnosis of depression. We used...... register data on all prescribed antidepressants in all patients discharged from psychiatric healthcare service with a diagnosis of depression and with subsequent diagnoses of dementia in Denmark from 1995 to 2005. A total of 37 658 patients with a diagnosis of depression at their first psychiatric contact......Studies on humans show that depressive disorder is associated with an increased risk of developing cognitive dysfunction, and animal studies suggest that antidepressants may have neuroprotective abilities. On the basis of these observations, it was hypothesized that treatment with antidepressants...

  3. Age dependence of the rapid antidepressant and synaptic effects of acute NMDA receptor blockade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena eNosyreva

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Ketamine is a NMDA receptor antagonist that produces rapid antidepressant responses in individuals with major depressive disorder. The antidepressant action of ketamine has been linked to blocking NMDA receptor activation at rest, which inhibits eukaryotic elongation factor2 kinase leading to desuppression of protein synthesis and synaptic potentiation in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. Here, we investigated ketamine mediated antidepressant response and the resulting synaptic potentiation in juvenile animals. We found that ketamine did not produce an antidepressant response in juvenile animals in the novelty suppressed feeding or the forced swim test. In addition ketamine application failed to trigger synaptic potentiation in hippocampal slices obtained from juvenile animals, unlike its action in slices from older animals (6-9 weeks old. The inability of ketamine to trigger an antidepressant response or subsequent synaptic plasticity processes suggests a developmental component to ketamine mediated antidepressant efficacy. We also show that the NMDAR antagonist AP5 triggers synaptic potentiation in mature hippocampus similar to the action of ketamine, demonstrating that global competitive blockade of NMDA receptors is sufficient to trigger this effect. These findings suggest that global blockade of NMDA receptors in developmentally mature hippocampal synapses are required for the antidepressant efficacy of ketamine.

  4. Goiania radiation accident: 30 years - a half-life for a whole life..; Acidente radiológico em Goiânia: 30 - anos - uma meia-vida para uma vida inteira...

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reis, R.G.; Lucena, E.A.; Arantes, R.R.; Silva, A.A.; Reis, A.A., E-mail: rocio@ird.gov.br [Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Serviço de Ensino

    2017-07-01

    The radiological accident in Goiânia, Brazil, considered the largest urban radiological accident in the world, generated several publications in the technical area that are widely disseminated in the scientific literature, given the importance of the lessons learned. However, in a simple conversation with people who worked on that accident, it is noted that many reports have not been recorded. In this year in which 30 years of the event is completed, it will be of great value to record personal testimonies that are not in technical or scientific books. And what can we tell after a half-life that lasted for a lifetime? The lived stories, the situations, the improvisations, the way to solve, the overcoming, the human side, the emotions, happy or sad, short or long, funny or not. The objective of this work is to preserve, maintain and divulge reports and situations experienced by people who worked on the radiological accident with Cs-137 in Goiânia. Audio or video recordings about experiences lived in Goiânia by people who worked in that emergency situation were carried out. The reports are free and the form of registration is always at the discretion of the narrator. Storing records allows to preserve, maintain, and disclose the accident to other generations.

  5. Antidepressive and BDNF effects of enriched environment treatment across ages in mice lacking BDNF expression through promoter IV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jha, S; Dong, B E; Xue, Y; Delotterie, D F; Vail, M G; Sakata, K

    2016-01-01

    Reduced promoter IV-driven expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is implicated in stress and major depression. We previously reported that defective promoter IV (KIV) caused depression-like behavior in young adult mice, which was reversed more effectively by enriched environment treatment (EET) than antidepressants. The effects of promoter IV-BDNF deficiency and EET over the life stages remain unknown. Since early-life development (ED) involves dynamic epigenetic processes, we hypothesized that EET during ED would provide maximum antidepressive effects that would persist later in life due to enhanced, long-lasting BDNF induction. We tested this hypothesis by determining EET effects across three life stages: ED (0–2 months), young adult (2–4 months), and old adult (12–14 months). KIV mice at all life stages showed depression-like behavior in the open-field and tail-suspension tests compared with wild-type mice. Two months of EET reduced depression-like behavior in ED and young adult, but not old adult mice, with the largest effect in ED KIV mice. This effect lasted for 1 month after discontinuance of EET only in ED mice. BDNF protein induction by EET in the hippocampus and frontal cortex was also the largest in ED mice and persisted only in the hippocampus of ED KIV mice after discontinuance of EET. No gender-specific effects were observed. The results suggest that defective promoter IV causes depression-like behavior, regardless of age and gender, and that EET during ED is particularly beneficial to individuals with promoter IV-BDNF deficiency, while additional treatment may be needed for older adults. PMID:27648918

  6. Half-life distribution table of radioactive nuclei; Table de distribution des periodes des noyaux radioactifs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gugenberger, P [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay(France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1954-07-01

    This table allows to identify an element if its period is known. Data for this table were taken from the half-life values adopted by Hollander, PERLMAN and SEABORG (Rev. mod. Phys., 1953, 22 number 2). Moreover for each nucleus, the mass number, the charge number and the type of decay are given in the table. (author) [French] Cette table permet l'identification d'un element dont la periode est connue. Elle a ete etablie en utilisant les valeurs des periodes donnees par HOLLANDER, PERLMAN et SEABORG dans Rev. mod. Phys., 1953, 25 numero 2. On y trouve en outre, pour chaque nuclide, les caracteristiques suivantes: Z, A, modes de desintegration. (auteur)

  7. Half-life distribution table of radioactive nuclei; Table de distribution des periodes des noyaux radioactifs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gugenberger, P. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay(France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1954-07-01

    This table allows to identify an element if its period is known. Data for this table were taken from the half-life values adopted by Hollander, PERLMAN and SEABORG (Rev. mod. Phys., 1953, 22 number 2). Moreover for each nucleus, the mass number, the charge number and the type of decay are given in the table. (author) [French] Cette table permet l'identification d'un element dont la periode est connue. Elle a ete etablie en utilisant les valeurs des periodes donnees par HOLLANDER, PERLMAN et SEABORG dans Rev. mod. Phys., 1953, 25 numero 2. On y trouve en outre, pour chaque nuclide, les caracteristiques suivantes: Z, A, modes de desintegration. (auteur)

  8. Parallel-group placebo-controlled trial of testosterone gel in men with major depressive disorder displaying an incomplete response to standard antidepressant treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pope, Harrison G; Amiaz, Revital; Brennan, Brian P; Orr, Guy; Weiser, Mark; Kelly, John F; Kanayama, Gen; Siegel, Arthur; Hudson, James I; Seidman, Stuart N

    2010-04-01

    Exogenous testosterone therapy has psychotropic effects and has been proposed as an antidepressant augmentation strategy for depressed men. We sought to assess the antidepressant effects of testosterone augmentation of a serotonergic antidepressant in depressed, hypogonadal men. For this study, we recruited 100 medically healthy adult men with major depressive disorder showing partial response or no response to an adequate serotonergic antidepressant trial during the current episode and a screening total testosterone level of 350 ng/dL or lower. We randomized these men to receive testosterone gel or placebo gel in addition to their existing antidepressant regimen. The primary outcome measure was the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) score. Secondary measures included the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, the Clinical Global Impression Scale, and the Quality of Life Scale. Our primary analysis, using a mixed effects linear regression model to compare rate of change of scores between groups on the outcome measures, failed to show a significant difference between groups (mean [95% confidence interval] 6-week change in HDRS for testosterone vs placebo, -0.4 [-2.6 to 1.8]). However, in one exploratory analysis of treatment responders, we found a possible trend in favor of testosterone on the HDRS. Our findings, combined with the conflicting data from earlier smaller studies, suggest that testosterone is not generally effective for depressed men. The possibility remains that testosterone might benefit a particular subgroup of depressed men, but if so, the characteristics of this subgroup would still need to be established.

  9. Efficacy of antidepressants for dysthymia: a meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomized trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levkovitz, Yeciel; Tedeschini, Enrico; Papakostas, George I

    2011-04-01

    The authors sought to determine the efficacy of antidepressants in dysthymic disorder and to compare antidepressant and placebo response rates between major depressive disorder (MDD) and dysthymic disorder. PubMed/MEDLINE databases were searched for double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials of antidepressants used as monotherapy for treatment of MDD or dysthymic disorder. We defined antidepressants as those with a letter of approval by the US, Canadian, or European Union drug regulatory agencies for treatment of MDD or dysthymic disorder, which included the following: amitriptyline, nortriptyline, imipramine, desipramine, clomipramine, trimipramine, protriptyline, dothiepin, doxepin, lofepramine, amoxapine, maprotiline, amineptine, nomifensine, bupropion, phenelzine, tranylcypromine, isocarboxazid, moclobemide, brofaromine, fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, citalopram, escitalopram, fluvoxamine, zimelidine, tianeptine, ritanserin, trazodone, nefazodone, agomelatine, venlafaxine, desvenlafaxine, duloxetine, milnacipran, reboxetine, mirtazapine, and mianserin. Eligible studies were identified by cross-referencing the search term placebo with each of the above-mentioned agents. The search was limited to articles published between January 1, 1980, and November 20, 2009 (inclusive). To expand our database, we also reviewed the reference lists of the identified studies. We selected randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of antidepressants for either MDD or dysthymic disorder according to preset criteria relating to comorbidities, patient age, drug formulation, study duration, diagnostic criteria, choice of assessment scales, and whether or not the study reported original data. Final selection of articles was determined by consensus among the authors. A total of 194 studies were found that were eligible for inclusion in our analysis. Of these, 177 focused on the treatment of MDD and 17 on the treatment of dysthymic disorder. We found that

  10. EMSAM (deprenyl patch: how a promising antidepressant was underutilized

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asnis GM

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Gregory M Asnis,1,2 Margaret A Henderson2 1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 2Anxiety and Depression Clinic, Montefiore Medical Center, New York, NY, USA Abstract: The EMSAM patch is a unique monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI being the only antidepressant utilizing a transdermal delivery system. This was welcomed by clinicians who hoped that EMSAM would be better tolerated than oral MAOIs and non-MAOI antidepressants, as well as being effective for treatment in a wide spectrum of depressed patients including atypical depression, bipolar depression, and refractory depression. Unfortunately, the clinical use of EMSAM has been underutilized and its potential usefulness overlooked. This article suggests that fear of possible side effects, particularly the “cheese reaction” and serotonin syndrome, are some of the main contributors to underutilization by clinicians. These risks have been significantly exaggerated with the 6 mg/day dose not even requiring a special diet. Other contributing factors leading to underutilization are reviewed such as: the lack of studies addressing many important clinical questions; inadequate data analyses; not evaluating the effect of EMSAM on comorbid psychiatric conditions, particularly anxiety disorders; lack of antidepressant comparators versus EMSAM; no dose–response relationship examined; various depressive subtypes and conditions are unexplored, eg, bipolar depression and refractory depression; poor insurance coverage for an expensive medication; as well as minimal marketing efforts and postmarketing studies. On the other hand, many potential advantages of EMSAM are not highlighted enough in the literature and by pharmaceutical companies which might have increased clinical interest and utilization of the antidepressant. For example, the advantages of EMSAM include: avoidance of swallowing issues, as can be seen with oral antidepressants

  11. Is the efficacy of antidepressants in panic disorder mediated by adverse events? A mediational analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irene Bighelli

    Full Text Available It has been hypothesised that the perception of adverse events in placebo-controlled antidepressant clinical trials may induce patients to conclude that they have been randomized to the active arm of the trial, leading to the breaking of blind. This may enhance the expectancies for improvement and the therapeutic response. The main objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that the efficacy of antidepressants in panic disorder is mediated by the perception of adverse events. The present analysis is based on a systematic review of published and unpublished randomised trials comparing antidepressants with placebo for panic disorder. The Baron and Kenny approach was applied to investigate the mediational role of adverse events in the relationship between antidepressants treatment and efficacy. Fourteen placebo-controlled antidepressants trials were included in the analysis. We found that: (a antidepressants treatment was significantly associated with better treatment response (ß = 0.127, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.21, p = 0.003; (b antidepressants treatment was not associated with adverse events (ß = 0.094, 95% CI -0.05 to 0.24, p = 0.221; (c adverse events were negatively associated with treatment response (ß = 0.035, 95% CI -0.06 to -0.05, p = 0.022. Finally, after adjustment for adverse events, the relationship between antidepressants treatment and treatment response remained statistically significant (ß = 0.122, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.23, p = 0.039. These findings do not support the hypothesis that the perception of adverse events in placebo-controlled antidepressant clinical trials may lead to the breaking of blind and to an artificial inflation of the efficacy measures. Based on these results, we argue that the moderate therapeutic effect of antidepressants in individuals with panic disorder is not an artefact, therefore reflecting a genuine effect that doctors can expect to replicate under real-world conditions.

  12. Antidepressant drugs specifically inhibiting noradrenaline reuptake enhance recognition memory in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feltmann, Kristin; Konradsson-Geuken, Åsa; De Bundel, Dimitri; Lindskog, Maria; Schilström, Björn

    2015-12-01

    Patients suffering from major depression often experience memory deficits even after the remission of mood symptoms, and many antidepressant drugs do not affect, or impair, memory in animals and humans. However, some antidepressant drugs, after a single dose, enhance cognition in humans (Harmer et al., 2009). To compare different classes of antidepressant drugs for their potential as memory enhancers, we used a version of the novel object recognition task in which rats spontaneously forget objects 24 hr after their presentation. Antidepressant drugs were injected systemically 30 min before or directly after the training phase (Session 1 [S1]). Post-S1 injections were used to test for specific memory-consolidation effects. The noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors reboxetine and atomoxetine, as well as the serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor duloxetine, injected prior to S1 significantly enhanced recognition memory. In contrast, the serotonin reuptake inhibitors citalopram and paroxetine and the cyclic antidepressant drugs desipramine and mianserin did not enhance recognition memory. Post-S1 injection of either reboxetine or citalopram significantly enhanced recognition memory, indicating an effect on memory consolidation. The fact that citalopram had an effect only when injected after S1 suggests that it may counteract its own consolidation-enhancing effect by interfering with memory acquisition. However, pretreatment with citalopram did not attenuate reboxetine's memory-enhancing effect. The D1/5-receptor antagonist SCH23390 blunted reboxetine's memory-enhancing effect, indicating a role of dopaminergic transmission in reboxetine-induced recognition memory enhancement. Our results suggest that antidepressant drugs specifically inhibiting noradrenaline reuptake enhance cognition and may be beneficial in the treatment of cognitive symptoms of depression. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  13. Fluoxetine, an antidepressant, suppresses glioblastoma by evoking AMPAR-mediated calcium-dependent apoptosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Kao-Hui; Yang, Shun-Tai; Lin, Yen-Kuang; Lin, Jia-Wei; Lee, Yi-Hsuan; Wang, Jia-Yi; Hu, Chaur-Jong; Lin, En-Yuan; Chen, Shu-Mei; Then, Chee-Kin; Shen, Shing-Chuan

    2015-01-01

    The efficacy of glioblastoma chemotherapy is not satisfactory; therefore, a new medication is expected to improve outcomes. As much evidence shows that antidepressants decrease cancer incidence and improve patients' quality of life, we therefore attempted to explore the potential for fluoxetine to be used to treat GBM and its possible underlying mechanism. The expression level of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) was determined using immunohistochemical staining and PCR analysis. The mechanism of fluoxetine-induced apoptosis of gliomas was elucidated. Computer modeling and a binding assay were conducted to investigate the interaction of fluoxetine with the AMPAR. The therapeutic effect of fluoxetine was evaluated using an animal model. We found that fluoxetine directly bound to AMPAR, thus inducing transmembrane Ca2+ influx. The rise in the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) causes mitochondrial Ca2+ overload, thereby triggering apoptosis. AMPARs are excessively expressed in glioma tissues, suggesting that fluoxetine specifically executes glioma cells. Our in vivo study revealed that fluoxetine suppressed the growth of glioblastomas in brains of Nu/Nu mice, an effect similar to that produced by temozolomide. Our preclinical studies suggest fluoxetine, a commonly used antidepressant, might be selectively toxic to gliomas and could provide a new approach for managing this disease. PMID:25671301

  14. Personality, Stressful Life Events, and Treatment Response in Major Depression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulmash, Eric; Harkness, Kate L.; Stewart, Jeremy G.; Bagby, R. Michael

    2009-01-01

    The current study examined whether the personality traits of self-criticism or dependency moderated the effect of stressful life events on treatment response. Depressed outpatients (N = 113) were randomized to 16 weeks of cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, or antidepressant medication (ADM). Stressful life events were…

  15. Antidepressants for depression in patients with dementia: a review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leong, Christine

    2014-04-01

    To evaluate the literature investigating the efficacy and safety of antidepressants for treating depression in individuals with dementia. A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, PUBMED, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases from inception to May 2013 for studies in English that evaluated the treatment of depression in patients with dementia. All relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses were identified using the search terms "dementia" or "Alzheimer's disease," and "depression" or "major depressive disorder." Reference lists from retrieved articles and practice guidelines were also searched for relevant literature. Only randomized, placebo-controlled trials and meta-analyses that compared an antidepressant with placebo for the treatment of depression in patients with dementia were included. In this systematic review, 10 RCTs and 3 meta-analyses were identified that examined the efficacy and safety of antidepressants compared with placebo in treating depression in patients with dementia. The majority of the RCTs consisted of a small sample size, and the antidepressants studied were not routinely used in practice. The evidence for antidepressants in the treatment of depression in patients with dementia is inconclusive. The accumulation of evidence suggests nonpharmacologic approaches and watchful waiting be attempted for the first 8 to 12 weeks in a patient who presents with both mild-to-moderate depression and dementia. In cases of severe depression, or depression not managed through nonpharmacologic means, a trial of an antidepressant may be initiated. However, further well-designed trials are needed to support these recommendations.

  16. Psychological therapies versus antidepressant medication, alone and in combination for depression in children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, Georgina R; Callahan, Patch; Churchill, Rachel; Hunot, Vivien; Merry, Sally N; Parker, Alexandra G; Hetrick, Sarah E

    2014-11-30

    outcomes were measured on different scales. We included eleven studies, involving 1307 participants in this review. We also identified one ongoing study, and two additional ongoing studies that may be eligible for inclusion. Studies recruited participants with different severities of disorder and with a variety of comorbid disorders, including anxiety and substance use disorder, therefore limiting the comparability of the results. Regarding the risk of bias in studies, just under half the studies had adequate allocation concealment (there was insufficient information to determine allocation concealment in the remainder), outcome assessors were blind to the participants' intervention in six studies, and in general, studies reported on incomplete data analysis methods, mainly using intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses. For the majority of outcomes there were no statistically significant differences between the interventions compared. There was limited evidence (based on two studies involving 220 participants) that antidepressant medication was more effective than psychotherapy on measures of clinician defined remission immediately post-intervention (odds ratio (OR) 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.27 to 0.98), with 67.8% of participants in the medication group and 53.7% in the psychotherapy group rated as being in remission. There was limited evidence (based on three studies involving 378 participants) that combination therapy was more effective than antidepressant medication alone in achieving higher remission from a depressive episode immediately post-intervention (OR 1.56, 95% CI 0.98 to 2.47), with 65.9% of participants treated with combination therapy and 57.8% of participants treated with medication, rated as being in remission. There was no evidence to suggest that combination therapy was more effective than psychological therapy alone, based on clinician rated remission immediately post-intervention (OR 1.82, 95% CI 0.38 to 8.68).Suicide-related Serious Adverse

  17. Factors associated with the prescription of antidepressive medication to breast cancer patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Suppli, Nis P; Deltour, Isabelle; Damkjaer, Lars H

    2011-01-01

    We evaluated factors associated with use of antidepressant medication subsequent to a diagnosis of breast cancer. We also evaluated the effect of participation in a cancer rehabilitation program on use of antidepressants. Material and methods. We conducted a register-based cohort study of 1 247...... women with breast cancer diagnosed between 1998 and 2006 who attended a week-long rehabilitation program and a comparison group of 2 903 women who did not attend the program matched through the registers of the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group. The associations between breast cancer......-related, treatment-related, and sociodemographic factors and use of antidepressants were evaluated in multivariate Cox proportional hazard models separated on use of antidepressants before diagnosis of breast cancer. Results. The mean follow-up for the 4 150 women in the study was 3.3 years (5-95% range, 0...

  18. The International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) Task Force Report on Antidepressant Use in Bipolar Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pacchiarotti, Isabella; Bond, David J.; Baldessarini, Ross J.; Nolen, Willem A.; Grunze, Heinz; Licht, Rasmus W.; Post, Robert M.; Berk, Michael; Goodwin, Guy M.; Sachs, Gary S.; Tondo, Leonardo; Findling, Robert L.; Youngstrom, Eric A.; Tohen, Mauricio; Undurraga, Juan; González-Pinto, Ana; Goldberg, Joseph F.; Yildiz, Ayşegül; Altshuler, Lori L.; Calabrese, Joseph R.; Mitchell, Philip B.; Thase, Michael E.; Koukopoulos, Athanasios; Colom, Francesc; Frye, Mark A.; Malhi, Gin S.; Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N.; Vázquez, Gustavo; Perlis, Roy H.; Ketter, Terence A.; Cassidy, Frederick; Akiskal, Hagop; Azorin, Jean-Michel; Valentí, Marc; Mazzei, Diego Hidalgo; Lafer, Beny; Kato, Tadafumi; Mazzarini, Lorenzo; Martínez-Aran, Anabel; Parker, Gordon; Souery, Daniel; Özerdem, Ayşegül; McElroy, Susan L.; Girardi, Paolo; Bauer, Michael; Yatham, Lakshmi N.; Zarate, Carlos A.; Nierenberg, Andrew A.; Birmaher, Boris; Kanba, Shigenobu; El-Mallakh, Rif S.; Serretti, Alessandro; Rihmer, Zoltan; Young, Allan H.; Kotzalidis, Georgios D.; MacQueen, Glenda M.; Bowden, Charles L.; Ghaemi, S. Nassir; Lopez-Jaramillo, Carlos; Rybakowski, Janusz; Ha, Kyooseob; Perugi, Giulio; Kasper, Siegfried; Amsterdam, Jay D.; Hirschfeld, Robert M.; Kapczinski, Flávio; Vieta, Eduard

    2014-01-01

    Objective The risk-benefit profile of antidepressant medications in bipolar disorder is controversial. When conclusive evidence is lacking, expert consensus can guide treatment decisions. The International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) convened a task force to seek consensus recommendations on the use of antidepressants in bipolar disorders. Method An expert task force iteratively developed consensus through serial consensus-based revisions using the Delphi method. Initial survey items were based on systematic review of the literature. Subsequent surveys included new or reworded items and items that needed to be rerated. This process resulted in the final ISBD Task Force clinical recommendations on antidepressant use in bipolar disorder. Results There is striking incongruity between the wide use of and the weak evidence base for the efficacy and safety of antidepressant drugs in bipolar disorder. Few well-designed, long-term trials of prophylactic benefits have been conducted, and there is insufficient evidence for treatment benefits with antidepressants combined with mood stabilizers. A major concern is the risk for mood switch to hypomania, mania, and mixed states. Integrating the evidence and the experience of the task force members, a consensus was reached on 12 statements on the use of antidepressants in bipolar disorder. Conclusions Because of limited data, the task force could not make broad statements endorsing antidepressant use but acknowledged that individual bipolar patients may benefit from antidepressants. Regarding safety, serotonin reuptake inhibitors and bupropion may have lower rates of manic switch than tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants and norepinephrine-serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The frequency and severity of antidepressant-associated mood elevations appear to be greater in bipolar I than bipolar II disorder. Hence, in bipolar I patients antidepressants should be prescribed only as an adjunct to mood-stabilizing medications

  19. Neurogenesis and The Effect of Antidepressants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philippe Taupin

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The recent evidence that neurogenesis occurs throughout adulthood and neural stem cells (NSCs reside in the adult central nervous system (CNS suggests that the CNS has the potential for self-repair. Beside this potential, the function of newly generated neuronal cells in the adult brain remains the focus of intense research. The hippocampus of patients with depression show signs of atrophy and neuronal loss. This suggests that adult neurogenesis may contribute to the biology of depression. The observations that antidepressants, like fluoxetine, increase neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG and neurogenesis is required for the behavioral effect of antidepressants, lead to a new theory for depression and the design of new strategies and drugs for the treatment of depression. However, the role of adult neurogenesis in the etiology of depression remains the source of controversies and debates.

  20. Neurogenesis and the Effect of Antidepressants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philippe Taupin

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The recent evidence that neurogenesis occurs throughout adulthood and neural stem cells (NSCs reside in the adult central nervous system (CNS suggests that the CNS has the potential for self-repair. Beside this potential, the function of newly generated neuronal cells in the adult brain remains the focus of intense research. The hippocampus of patients with depression show signs of atrophy and neuronal loss. This suggests that adult neurogenesis may contribute to the biology of depression. The observations that antidepressants, like fluoxetine, increase neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG and neurogenesis is required for the behavioral effect of antidepressants, lead to a new theory for depression and the design of new strategies and drugs for the treatment of depression. However, the role of adult neurogenesis in the etiology of depression remains the source of controversies and debates.

  1. Beliefs about medications predict adherence to antidepressants in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fawzi, Waleed; Abdel Mohsen, Mohamed Yousry; Hashem, Abdel Hamid; Moussa, Suaad; Coker, Elizabeth; Wilson, Kenneth C M

    2012-01-01

    Adherence to treatment is a complex and poorly understood phenomenon. This study investigates the relationship between older depressed patients' adherence to antidepressants and their beliefs about and knowledge of the medication. Assessment was undertaken of 108 outpatients over the age of 55 years diagnosed with depressive disorder and treated for at least four weeks with antidepressants. Adherence was assessed using two self-report measures: the Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS) and a Global Adherence Measure (GAM). Potential predictors of adherence investigated included sociodemographic, medication and illness variables. In addition, 33 carers were interviewed regarding general medication beliefs. 56% of patients reported 80% or higher adherence on the GAM. Sociodemographic variables were not associated with adherence on the MARS. Specific beliefs about medicines, such as "my health depends on antidepressants" (necessity) and being less worried about becoming dependant on antidepressants (concern) were highly correlated with adherence. General beliefs about medicines causing harm or being overprescribed, experiencing medication side-effects and severity of depression also correlated with poor adherence. Linear regression with the MARS as the dependent variable explained 44.3% of the variance and showed adherence to be higher in subjects with healthy specific beliefs who received more information about antidepressants and worse with depression severity and autonomic side-effects. Our findings strongly support a role for specific beliefs about medicines in adherence. Challenging patients' beliefs, providing information about treatment and discussing side-effects could improve adherence. Poor response to treatment and medication side-effects can indicate poor adherence and should be considered before switching medications.

  2. Depression, antidepressants, and bone mineral density in a population-based cohort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mezuk, Briana; Eaton, William W; Golden, Sherita Hill; Wand, Gary; Lee, Hochang Benjamin

    2008-12-01

    It is uncertain whether depression and antidepressant use are associated with decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and whether these relationships differ for men and women. The study used a case-cohort design within the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study, a population-based sample of adults that recently completed its 23-year follow-up. Depression was measured at four time points during the follow-up period by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Lower spine BMD was measured at the fourth wave by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. The association of BMD with lifetime history of depression and antidepressant medication use was studied using linear regression with bootstrap standard errors. A history of depression was associated with lower spine BMD after controlling for age, sex, race, calcium intake, alcohol use, smoking status, level of physical activity, percent body fat, and antidepressant medication use (-0.140 g/cm(2); p history of depression predicted decreased lumbar spine BMD in men and women, and antidepressant use predicted decreased BMD in women even after controlling for depression. The magnitude of the effect of depression on BMD was approximately equivalent to 1 standard deviation in BMD and was therefore clinically significant. Providers should be aware of the physiologic consequences of depression as well as the possible risks to bone strength associated with antidepressant use in older patients.

  3. Antidepressant Use is Associated with Increased Energy Intake and Similar Levels of Physical Activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elsbeth Jensen-Otsu

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Antidepressants have been associated with weight gain, but the causes are unclear. The aims of this study were to assess the association of antidepressant use with energy intake, macronutrient diet composition, and physical activity. We used data on medication use, energy intake, diet composition, and physical activity for 3073 eligible adults from the 2005–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES. Potential confounding variables, including depression symptoms, were included in the models assessing energy intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Antidepressant users reported consuming an additional (mean ± S.E. 215 ± 73 kcal/day compared to non-users (p = 0.01. There were no differences in percent calories from sugar, fat, or alcohol between the two groups. Antidepressant users had similar frequencies of walking or biking, engaging in muscle-strengthening activities, and engaging in moderate or vigorous physical activity. Antidepressant users were more likely to use a computer for ≥2 h/day (OR 1.77; 95% CI: 1.09–2.90, but TV watching was similar between the two groups. These results suggest increased energy intake and sedentary behavior may contribute to weight gain associated with antidepressant use. Focusing on limiting food intake and sedentary behaviors may be important in mitigating the weight gain associated with antidepressant use.

  4. Improving Thin Bed Identification in Sarawak Basin Field using Short Time Fourier Transform Half Cepstrum (STFTHC) method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nizarul, O.; Hermana, M.; Bashir, Y.; Ghosh, D. P.

    2016-02-01

    In delineating complex subsurface geological feature, broad band of frequencies are needed to unveil the often hidden features of hydrocarbon basin such as thin bedding. The ability to resolve thin geological horizon on seismic data is recognized to be a fundamental importance for hydrocarbon exploration, seismic interpretation and reserve prediction. For thin bedding, high frequency content is needed to enable tuning, which can be done by applying the band width extension technique. This paper shows an application of Short Time Fourier Transform Half Cepstrum (STFTHC) method, a frequency bandwidth expansion technique for non-stationary seismic signal in increasing the temporal resolution to uncover thin beds and improve characterization of the basin. A wedge model and synthetic seismic data is used to quantify the algorithm as well as real data from Sarawak basin were used to show the effectiveness of this method in enhancing the resolution.

  5. Dopamine D2/D3 but not dopamine D1 receptors are involved in the rapid antidepressant-like effects of ketamine in the forced swim test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yan; Zhu, Zhuo R; Ou, Bao C; Wang, Ya Q; Tan, Zhou B; Deng, Chang M; Gao, Yi Y; Tang, Ming; So, Ji H; Mu, Yang L; Zhang, Lan Q

    2015-02-15

    Major depressive disorder is one of the most prevalent and life-threatening forms of mental illnesses. The traditional antidepressants often take several weeks, even months, to obtain clinical effects. However, recent clinical studies have shown that ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, exerts rapid antidepressant effects within 2h and are long-lasting. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether dopaminergic system was involved in the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine. The acute administration of ketamine (20 mg/kg) significantly reduced the immobility time in the forced swim test. MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg), the more selective NMDA antagonist, also exerted rapid antidepressant-like effects. In contrast, fluoxetine (10 mg/kg) did not significantly reduced the immobility time in the forced swim test after 30 min administration. Notably, pretreatment with haloperidol (0.15 mg/kg, a nonselective dopamine D2/D3 antagonist), but not SCH23390 (0.04 and 0.1 mg/kg, a selective dopamine D1 receptor antagonist), significantly prevented the effects of ketamine or MK-801. Moreover, the administration of sub-effective dose of ketamine (10 mg/kg) in combination with pramipexole (0.3 mg/kg, a dopamine D2/D3 receptor agonist) exerted antidepressant-like effects compared with each drug alone. In conclusion, our results indicated that the dopamine D2/D3 receptors, but not D1 receptors, are involved in the rapid antidepressant-like effects of ketamine. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Use of antidepressants and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mørch, Lina S; Dehlendorff, Christian; Baandrup, Louise

    2017-01-01

    antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, other antidepressants, and potential confounder drugs), medical and reproductive history and socioeconomic parameters, were obtained from nationwide registries. We used conditional logistic regression models to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and two.......80 (95% CI, 0.60-1.08). Among postmenopausal women, the inverse association was restricted to users of menopausal hormone therapy. In conclusion, use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors was associated with a decreased risk of epithelial ovarian cancer; thereby implying potential chemopreventive...

  7. The short life radionuclides in meat after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smelcerovic, M.; Popovic, D.; Djuric, G.

    1992-01-01

    The paper presents the results of identification and short life radionuclides (I-131, Te (I)-132, Cs-136, Ce-141, 144, Ru-103, 106, Ba(La)-140, Zr-95, Nb-95, Mo-99, Sb-125) mass activities evaluation in meat (lamb, rabbit, game) after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl in 1986. (author)

  8. Antidepressant potential of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic moieties: An updated review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadeem Siddiqui

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Depression is currently the fourth leading cause of disease or disability worldwide. Antidepressant is approved for the treatment of major depression (including paediatric depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (in both adult and paediatric populations, bulimia nervosa, panic disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia and anxiety disorders such as social anxiety disorder. Many drugs produce an antidepressant effect, but restrictions on their use have caused controversy and off-label prescription a risk, despite claims of superior efficacy. Our current understanding of its pathogenesis is limited and existing treatments are inadequate, providing relief to only a subset of people suffering from depression. Reviews of literature suggest that heterocyclic moieties and their derivatives has proven success in treating depression.

  9. Psychosocial work environment and antidepressant medication: a prospective cohort study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bonde, Jens Peter; Munch-Hansen, T.; Wieclaw, J.

    2009-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Adverse psychosocial work environments may lead to impaired mental health, but it is still a matter of conjecture if demonstrated associations are causal or biased. We aimed at verifying whether poor psychosocial working climate is related to increase of redeemed subscription...... alone. None of the measured psychosocial work environment factors were consistently related to prescription of antidepressant drugs during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: The study does not indicate that a poor psychosocial work environment among public service employees is related to prescription...... of antidepressant medication. METHODS: Information on all antidepressant drugs (AD) purchased at pharmacies from 1995 through 2006 was obtained for a cohort of 21,129 Danish public service workers that participated in work climate surveys carried out during the period 2002-2005. Individual self...

  10. Maternal depression, antidepressant use in pregnancy and Apgar scores in infants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Hans Mørch; Grøn, Randi; Lidegaard, Øjvind

    2013-01-01

    Use of antidepressants during pregnancy has been associated with a low Apgar score in infants but a contribution from the underlying depressive disorder might influence this association.......Use of antidepressants during pregnancy has been associated with a low Apgar score in infants but a contribution from the underlying depressive disorder might influence this association....

  11. Precision measurement of the half-life of $^{109}$In in large and small lattice environments

    CERN Multimedia

    We propose to undertake high precision measurements of the half-life of $^{109}$In in large and small lattice environments to study the effect of compression on the electron capture nuclear decay rate. Such studies are of general interest having implications in many areas ranging from astrophysics to geophysics. At present, very little data is available on the change of electron capture decay rate under compression and the available data seems to indicate that the observed increase of the electron capture decay rate under compression is much greater than the predictions of the best available density functional calculations as obtained from TB-LMTO or WIEN2K codes. The proposed experiment should generate more data thus clarifying the experimental situation.

  12. Is nitric oxide signalling involved in the antidepressant action of ketamine?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liebenberg, Nico; Müller, Heidi Kaastrup; Elfving, Betina

    2012-01-01

    Background and Aim: Stress-induced excessive glutamate transmission at N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors may underlie a major mechanism in the pathophysiology that leads to depression, while ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, has been shown to induce a rapid antidepressant effect in depre......Background and Aim: Stress-induced excessive glutamate transmission at N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors may underlie a major mechanism in the pathophysiology that leads to depression, while ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, has been shown to induce a rapid antidepressant effect...... in depressed patients following a single intravenous administration that is sustained for ± 7 days. A number of downstream cellular mechanisms appear to mediate the antidepressant action of ketamine, and the majority of evidence point to a rapid activation of protein translation leading to increased synaptic...... receptors, while the uncoupling of the nNOS-NMDA receptor complex prevents NMDA-induced excitotoxicity. Thus, it is possible that the inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) signalling underlies a key upstream mechanism in the antidepressant action of ketamine. Methods: We used a genetic rat model of depression...

  13. Antidepressant Drugs for Chronic Urological Pelvic Pain: An Evidence-Based Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christos Papandreou

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The use of antidepressant drugs for the management of chronic pelvic pain has been supported in the past. This study aimed to evaluate the available evidence for the efficacy and acceptability of antidepressant drugs in the management of urological chronic pelvic pain. Studies were selected through a comprehensive literature search. We included all types of study designs due to the limited evidence. Studies were classified into levels of evidence according to their design. Ten studies were included with a total of 360 patients. Amitriptyline, sertraline, duloxetine, nortriptyline, and citalopram are the antidepressants that have been reported in the literature. Only four randomized controlled trials (RCTs were identified (two for amitriptyline and two for sertraline with mixed results. We conclude that the use of antidepressants for the management of chronic urological pelvic pain is not adequately supported by methodologically sound RCTs. From the existing studies amitriptyline may be effective in interstitial cystitis but publication bias should be considered as an alternative explanation. All drugs were generally well tolerated with no serious events reported.

  14. Antidepressant effects of Mentha pulegium in mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahra Rabiei

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the antidepressant effects of Mentha pulegium essential oil in BALB/c mice. Six experimental groups (7 mice each were used. Forced swim test was performed 30 min after essential oil injection. In the groups receiving M. pulegium essential oil (50, 75 and 100 mg/kg, immobility duration significantly decreased compared to the control group. M. pulegium (50 and 75 mg/kg resulted in significant decrease in nitrate/nitrite content in serum compared to the control group. M. pulegium essential oil antidepressant effect that may be due to the inhibition of oxidative stress. The results showed that decrease in nitrate/nitrite content in serum and high anti-oxidant effects of M. pulegium essential oil.

  15. Antidepressant-like responses in the forced swimming test elicited by glutathione and redox modulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosa, Juliana M; Dafre, Alcir Luiz; Rodrigues, Ana Lúcia S

    2013-09-15

    Glutathione (GSH) displays a broad range of functions, among them a role as a neuromodulator with some neuroprotective properties. Taking into account that oxidative stress has been associated with depressive disorders, this study investigated the possibility that GSH, a major cell antioxidant, elicits an antidepressant-like effect in mice. Thus, GSH was administered by i.c.v. route to mice that were tested in the forced swimming test and in the tail suspension test, two predictive tests for antidepressant drug activity. In addition, GSH metabolism and the redox environment were modulated in order to study the possible mechanisms underlying the effects of GSH in the forced swimming test. The administration of GSH decreased the immobility time in the forced swimming test (300-3000nmol/site) and tail suspension test (100-1000nmol/site), consistent with an antidepressant-like effect. GSH depletion elicited by l-buthionine sulfoximine (3.2μmol/site, i.c.v.) did not alter the antidepressant-like effect of GSH, whereas the inhibition of extracellular GSH catabolism by acivicin (100nmol/site, i.c.v.) prevented the antidepressant-like effect of GSH. Moreover, a sub-effective dose (0.01nmol/site, i.c.v.) of the oxidizing agent DTNB (5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid)) potentiated the effect of GSH (100nmol/site, i.c.v.), while the pretreatment (25-100mg/kg, i.p.) with the reducing agent DTT (dl-dithiothreitol) prevented the antidepressant-like effect of GSH (300nmol/site, i.c.v.). DTNB (0.1nmol/site, i.c.v.), produced an antidepressant-like effect, per se, which was abolished by DTT (25mg/kg, i.p.). The results show, for the first time, that centrally administered GSH produces an antidepressant-like effect in mice, which can be modulated by the GSH metabolism and the thiol/disulfide reagents. The redox environment may constitute a new venue for future antidepressant-drug development. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Chronic antidepressant administration alleviates frontal and hippocampal BDNF deficits in CUMS rat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yang; Gu, Fenghua; Chen, Jia; Dong, Wenxin

    2010-12-17

    Stress activates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, regulates the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the brain, and mediates mood. Antidepressants alleviate stress and up-regulate BDNF gene expression. In this study, we investigated the effect of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and the different kinds of antidepressant treatments on the HPA axis and the BDNF expression in the rat brain. Adult Wistar male rats were exposed to a six-week CUMS procedure and received different antidepressant treatments including venlafaxine, mirtazapine, and fluoxetine. Immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR were used to measure BDNF expression levels in the rat brain, and ELISAs were used to investigate the plasma corticosterone (CORT) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels. CUMS significantly decreased the BDNF protein level in the DG, CA1, and CA3 of the hippocampus and increased plasma CORT level. Chronic antidepressant treatments all significantly increased BDNF protein levels in the hippocampus and the pre-frontal cortex. In addition, venlafaxine and mirtazapine inhibited the increase of plasma CORT level. These results suggested that an increase in the BDNF level in the brain could be a pivotal mechanism of various antidepressants to exert their therapeutic effects. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Antidepressant activity of curcumin: involvement of serotonin and dopamine system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulkarni, Shrinivas K; Bhutani, Mohit Kumar; Bishnoi, Mahendra

    2008-12-01

    Curcumin is a major active principle of Curcuma longa, one of the widely used preparations in the Indian system of medicine. It is known for its diverse biological actions. The present study was designed to investigate the involvement of monoaminergic system(s) in the antidepressant activity of curcumin and the effect of piperine, a bioavailability enhancer, on the bioavailability and biological effects of curcumin. Behavioral (forced swim test), biochemical (monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzyme inhibitory activity), and neurochemical (neurotransmitter levels estimation) tests were carried out. Curcumin (10-80 mg/kg, i.p.) dose dependently inhibited the immobility period, increased serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) as well as dopamine levels (at higher doses), and inhibited the monoamine oxidase enzymes (both MAO-A and MAO-B, higher doses) in mice. Curcumin (20 mg/kg, i.p.) enhanced the anti-immobility effect of subthreshold doses of various antidepressant drugs like fluoxetine, venlafaxine, or bupropion. However, no significant change in the anti-immobility effect of imipramine and desipramine was observed. Furthermore, combination of subthreshold dose of curcumin and various antidepressant drugs resulted in synergistic increase in serotonin (5-HT) levels as compared to their effect per se. There was no change in the norepinephrine levels. The coadministration of piperine (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.), a bioavailability enhancing agent, with curcumin (20 and 40 mg/kg, i.p.) resulted in potentiation of pharmacological, biochemical, and neurochemical activities. The study provides evidences for mechanism-based antidepressant actions of curcumin. The coadministration of curcumin along with piperine may prove to be a useful and potent natural antidepressant approach in the management of depression.

  18. Differential effect of an anticholinergic antidepressant on sleep-dependent memory consolidation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goerke, Monique; Cohrs, Stefan; Rodenbeck, Andrea; Kunz, Dieter

    2014-05-01

    Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is considered critical to the consolidation of procedural memory - the memory of skills and habits. Many antidepressants strongly suppress REM sleep, however, and procedural memory consolidation has been shown to be impaired in depressed patients on antidepressant therapy. As a result, it is important to determine whether antidepressive therapy can lead to amnestic impairment. We thus investigated the effects of the anticholinergic antidepressant amitriptyline on sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel-group study. Sleep laboratory. Twenty-five healthy men (mean age: 26.8 ± 5.6 y). 75 mg amitriptyline versus placebo. To test memory consolidation, a visual discrimination task, a finger-tapping task, the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, and the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test were performed. Sleep was measured using polysomnography. Our findings show that amitriptyline profoundly suppressed REM sleep and impaired perceptual skill learning, but not motor skill or declarative learning. Our study is the first to demonstrate that an antidepressant can affect procedural memory consolidation in healthy subjects. Moreover, considering the results of a recent study, in which selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors were shown not to impair procedural memory consolidation, our findings suggest that procedural memory consolidation is not facilitated by the characteristics of REM sleep captured by visual sleep scoring, but rather by the high cholinergic tone associated with REM sleep. Our study contributes to the understanding of potentially undesirable behavioral effects of amitriptyline.

  19. Antidepressant drugs and the risk of suicide in children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isacsson, Göran; Rich, Charles L

    2014-04-01

    Government agencies have issued warnings about the use of antidepressant medications in children, adolescents, and young adults since 2003. The statements warn that such medications may cause de novo 'suicidality' in some people. This review explores the data on the treatment of depression that led to these warnings and subsequent data that are relevant to the warnings. It also addresses the effectiveness of antidepressant treatment in general and the relationship of suicide rates to antidepressant treatment. It concludes that the decisions for the 'black box' warnings were based on biased data and invalid assumptions. Furthermore, the decisions were unsupported by the observational data regarding suicide in young people that existed in 2003. The following recommendations would seem to follow from these observations. First, drug authorities should re-evaluate the basis for their imposed warnings on antidepressant medicines, and analyze the actual public health consequences the warnings have had. In the absence of substantial evidence supporting the warnings, they should be removed. Second, physicians and other providers with prescription privileges should continue to be educated regarding the importance of aggressively treating depression in young people, using antidepressants when indicated. Third, physicians and other professionals who treat depressed young people must always be aware of the risk of suicide (albeit quite low) and observe them closely for any signs of increased risk of suicide. This is necessary regardless of the type of treatment being provided.

  20. The effective and environmental half-life of {sup 137}Cs at Coral Islands at the former US nuclear test site

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robison, William L. E-mail: robison1@llnl.gov; Conrado, Cynthia L.; Bogen, Kenneth T.; Stoker, A. Carol

    2003-07-01

    The United States (US) conducted nuclear weapons testing from 1946 to 1958 at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the northern Marshall Islands. Based on previous detailed dose assessments for Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utirik Atolls over a period of 28 years, cesium-137 ({sup 137}Cs) at Bikini Atoll contributes about 85-89% of the total estimated dose through the terrestrial food chain as a result of uptake of {sup 137}Cs by food crops. The estimated integral 30, 50, and 70-year doses were based on the radiological decay of {sup 137}Cs (30-year half-life) and other radionuclides. However, there is a continuing inventory of {sup 137}Cs and {sup 90}Sr in the fresh water portion of the groundwater at all contaminated atolls even though the turnover rate of the fresh groundwater is about 5 years. This is evidence that a portion of the soluble fraction of {sup 137}Cs and {sup 90}Sr inventory in the soil is lost by transport to groundwater when rainfall is heavy enough to cause recharge of the lens, resulting in loss of {sup 137}Cs from the soil column and root zone of the plants. This loss is in addition to that caused by radioactive decay. The effective rate of loss was determined by two methods: (1) indirectly, from time-dependent studies of the {sup 137}Cs concentration in leaves of Pisonia grandis, Guettarda specosia, Tournefortia argentea (also called Messerschmidia), Scaevola taccada, and fruit from Pandanus and coconut trees (Cocos nucifera L.), and (2) more directly, by evaluating the {sup 137}Cs/{sup 90}Sr ratios at Bikini Atoll. The mean (and its lower and upper 95% confidence limits) for effective half-life and for environmental-loss half-life (ELH) based on all the trees studied on Rongelap, Bikini, and Enewetak Atolls are 8.5 years (8.0 years, 9.8 years), and 12 years (11 years, 15 years), respectively. The ELH based on the {sup 137}Cs/{sup 90}Sr ratios in soil in 1987 relative to the{sup 137}Cs/{sup 90}Sr ratios at the time of deposition in 1954 is less