Cross-correlation registration algorithm enhancements for multipixel inverse synthetic aperture LiDAR.

The accurate registration and realignment of complex signal volumes is critical for cross-range aperture gain in 3D LiDAR aperture synthesis. For targets at long range, only a limited number of diffraction-limited pixels will be projected on the target, resulting in low cross-range support. In addition, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is typically low.

Antidepressant discontinuation in bipolar depression: a Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) randomized clinical trial of long-term effectiveness and safety.

Objective: To assess long-term effectiveness and safety of randomized antidepressant discontinuation after acute recovery from bipolar depression.

Method: In the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) study, conducted between 2000 and 2007, 70 patients with DSM-IV-diagnosed bipolar disorder (72.5% non-rapid cycling, 70% type I) with acute major depression, initially responding to treatment with antidepressants plus mood stabilizers, and euthymic for 2 months, were openly randomly assigned to antidepressant continuation versus discontinuation for 1-3 years.

Sequencing of substance use and affective morbidity in 166 first-episode bipolar I disorder patients.

Objectives: Since bipolar disorder (BPD) patients have high rates of comorbid substance abuse, and the temporal relationships involved are unclear, we evaluated the sequencing of specific substance use and affective morbidity.

Methods: Prospective follow-up (4.7 years) of 166 first-episode DSM-IV type I BPD patients with reliable, standardized assessments provided data for longitudinal analysis of temporal distribution of alcohol and cannabis use versus manic or depressive episodes or symptoms, using generalized estimating equation regression modeling.

Birth outcomes following prenatal exposure to antidepressants.

Background: Antidepressant use during pregnancy and the peripartum period is common despite the absence of clear evidence-based guidelines to direct clinical use of these compounds.

Method: We compared obstetrical and neonatal outcomes as recorded in medical records among 84 pregnant women with major depressive or anxiety disorders (DSM-IV criteria) who took antidepressants during pregnancy (cases) versus a 2:1 age- and parity-matched control group of 168 unexposed women. Women in the case group had sought psychiatric consultation regarding the use of medication from the Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital between 1996 and 2000.

Adherence to pharmacotherapy in bipolar disorder patients with and without co-occurring substance use disorders.

Objective: To examine patterns of adherence to mood stabilizers and reasons for nonadherence in patients with bipolar disorder, with and without substance use disorder (SUD).

Method: From December 2003 to October 2004, 115 patients with DSM-IV-diagnosed bipolar disorder (58 with SUD and 57 without SUD) were administered a structured interview regarding their lifetime experience with mood stabilizers.

Results: Lifetime adherence with mood stabilizers for the SUD group was 65.

Enhanced norepinephrine output during long-term desipramine treatment: a possible role for the extraneuronal monoamine transporter (SLC22A3).

To study the delay (2-6 weeks) between initial administration of norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor antidepressants and onset of clinical antidepressant action, we examined the effects of desipramine treatment on urinary and plasma catecholamines and their metabolites during the initial 6 weeks of treatment in depressed patients. Catecholamines and metabolites in 24-h urine collections and 8:00 a.m.

Greater depression severity in elderly patients with memory complaints is associated with decreased left temporal-parietal dominance indicated by dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging cerebral blood volume measures.

Objective: To assess the relationships among depressive signs and symptoms and left versus right temporal-parietal cerebral blood volumes (CBVs) in elderly patients with a primary complaint of memory loss.

Methods: Total Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (GDS-SF) scores, left and right temporal-parietal cerebral blood volume values, and other prospectively recorded data were obtained via chart review of 24 patients aged >/=65 years, evaluated between 1995 and 2000 at McLean Hospital for a primary complaint of memory loss. Multivariate regression analyses were carried out with GDS-SF total scores as outcome variables, with CBV values as explanatory factors and with several patient characteristics as covariates.

Patterns of psychotropic drug prescription for U.S. patients with diagnoses of bipolar disorders.

Objective: Bipolar disorders are prevalent major illnesses with high rates of morbidity, comorbidity, disability, and mortality. A growing number of psychotropic drugs are used to treat bipolar disorder, often off-label and in untested, complex combinations.

Methods: To quantify utilization rates for psychotropic drug classes, this study used the 2002-2003 U.

A randomized trial of integrated group therapy versus group drug counseling for patients with bipolar disorder and substance dependence.

Objective: Although bipolar disorder and substance use disorder frequently co-occur, there is little information on the effectiveness of behavioral treatment for this population. Integrated group therapy, which addresses the two disorders simultaneously, was compared with group drug counseling, which focuses on substance use. The authors hypothesized that patients receiving integrated group therapy would have fewer days of substance use and fewer weeks ill with bipolar disorder.

A strategy for identifying phenotypic subtypes: concordance of symptom dimensions between sibling pairs who met screening criteria for a genetic linkage study of childhood-onset bipolar disorder using the Child Bipolar Questionnaire.

Background: Specific symptom dimensions have been used to establish phenotypic subgroups in recent genetic studies of bipolar disorder. In preparation for a genetic linkage study of childhood-onset bipolar disorder (COBPD), we conducted an exploratory analysis of the concordance of prominent symptom dimensions between sibling pairs (N=260) who screened positive for COBPD. This report presents data on the potential usefulness of these dimensions in genotyping.

The child bipolar questionnaire: a dimensional approach to screening for pediatric bipolar disorder.

Background: The Child Bipolar Questionnaire (CBQ) is a rapid screener with a Core Index subscale of symptom dimensions frequently reported in childhood-onset bipolar disorder (BD) and scoring algorithms for DSM-IV BD, with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and the proposed Narrow, Broad, and Core phenotypes. This report provides preliminary data on the reliability and validity of the CBQ.

Method: Test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the CBQ were assessed.

An ongoing study of group treatment for men involved in problematic Internet-enabled sexual behavior.

Exponential advances have been made regarding computer/Internet technology in the past decade. This growth, in large part, can be attributed to greater access to, affordability of, and anonymity while on the computer. However, this progress has also produced negative psychological issues.

Prediction of the 10-year course of borderline personality disorder.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the most clinically relevant baseline predictors of time to remission for patients with borderline personality disorder.

Method: A total of 290 inpatients meeting criteria for both the Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines and DSM-III-R for borderline personality disorder were assessed during their index admission with a series of semistructured interviews and self-report measures. Diagnostic status was reassessed at five contiguous 2-year time periods.

Clinical outcome in patients with bipolar I disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder or both.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BPD) is often comorbid with obsessive-compulsive (OCD) and other anxiety disorders, but the impact of such comorbidity on long-term outcome has not been evaluated systematically.

Methods: Extensive follow-up assessments were carried out at 4.3 years after index hospitalizations in a mixed BPD-OCD group (N=20) compared to matched groups with BPD (N=22) or OCD (N=20) alone.

Reported childhood onset of self-mutilation among borderline patients.

The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of borderline patients who first engaged in self-mutilation as children and to compare the parameters of their self-harm to those of borderline patients who first harmed themselves at an older age. Two hundred and ninety inpatients meeting both Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB-R; Zanarini, Gunderson, Frankenburg, & Chauncey, 1989) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed. ref.

Effects of type 1 diabetes on gray matter density as measured by voxel-based morphometry.

The effects of type 1 diabetes and key metabolic variables on brain structure are not well understood. Sensitive methods of assessing brain structure, such as voxel-based morphometry (VBM), have not previously been used to investigate central nervous system changes in a diabetic population. Using VBM, we compared type 1 diabetic patients aged 25-40 years with disease duration of 15-25 years and minimal diabetes complications with an age-matched, nondiabetic control group.

The McLean Study of Adult Development (MSAD): overview and implications of the first six years of prospective follow-up.

The McLean Study of Adult Development (MSAD) began 12 years ago. It is the first NIMH-funded prospective study of the course and outcome of borderline personality disorder (BPD). After careful analysis of the first six years of follow-up, 5 main findings concerning the symptomatic and psychosocial course of BPD have emerged from this study.

Obsessive fears about harm to self or others and overt aggressive behaviors in youth diagnosed with juvenile-onset bipolar disorder.

Background: Obsessive fear-of-harm, either fear of doing harm or fear of harm coming to self, may be closely associated with aggressive behaviors in juvenile-onset bipolar disorder.

Methods: We analyzed parent-report data on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) and Overt Aggression Scale (OAS) for 1601 children/adolescents with a clinician-assigned diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The summing of 6 YBOCS items rated "often" or "very often or almost constant" yielded a biphasic distribution of scores.

Use of combinations of antipsychotics: McLean Hospital inpatients, 2002.

Background: The empirical use of combinations of antipsychotic agents appears to be increasing with little research support for the relative efficacy, safety or cost-effectiveness of this practice. Such treatment was evaluated in hospitalized psychiatric patients.

Methods: Samples of consecutive inpatients treated with > or = 2 ('polytherapy') vs 1 antipsychotic ('monotherapy') were matched on age, sex, diagnosis and admission clinical ratings, and these groups were compared on total daily chlorpromazine-equivalent doses, days in hospital, and changes in clinical ratings between admission and discharge.

Prefrontal GABA levels in cocaine-dependent subjects increase with pramipexole and venlafaxine treatment.

Rationale: There is evidence that prefrontal lobe GABA levels are low in cocaine-dependent (CD) individuals, and treatment with GABA agonists decreases cocaine self-administration.

Objectives: The aim of the study is to measure changes in GABA levels in CD subjects at baseline and after 8 weeks of treatment with pramipexole, venlafaxine, or placebo.

Methods: CD subjects enrolled in a treatment trial for cocaine dependence were recruited for this proton (1H) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) study.

Adult experiences of abuse reported by borderline patients and Axis II comparison subjects over six years of prospective follow-up.

The main objective of this study was to assess the rates of adult experiences of verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse reported by borderline patients and Axis II comparison subjects during 6 years of prospective follow-up. A semistructured interview was administered to 290 borderline patients and 72 Axis II comparison subjects during their index admission. A follow-up analogue to this interview was administered at three contiguous 2-year follow-up periods.