Dexamethasone for the treatment of depression: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial.

Objective: The authors' goal was to assess dexamethasone for the treatment of depression.

Method: Thirty-seven outpatients (11 men and 26 women) meeting DSM-III-R criteria for major depressive disorder were randomly assigned to receive either placebo or 4 mg/day of oral dexamethasone for 4 days. Baseline Hamilton depression scale scores were compared with scores obtained 14 days after the first dose of study medication.

A community-based public-academic liaison program.

Objective: The authors discuss obstacles and incentives associated with successful community-based public-academic liaison activities and illustrate their conclusions by describing their public-academic liaison program, which received the American College of Psychiatrists' first annual Award for Creativity in Psychiatric Education.

Method: The first 8 years of a state/university collaboration are described in which the parties involved first developed a variety of innovative services designed to fill specific gaps in the public service delivery system and subsequently integrated academic research and training components.

Results: The carefully planned and monitored process resulted in the exponential growth of interest in public sector work, the realization of the university's primary goals of developing high quality training and research sites, a substantial increase in the number of graduates accepting positions in the public sector, several projects funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, and two national awards.

Acrodysostosis: report of a 13-year-old boy with review of literature and metacarpophalangeal pattern profile analysis.

We report on a 13-yr-old boy with acrodysostosis, a review of 30 cases in the literature, and metacarpophalangeal pattern profile (MCPP) analysis. The prominent manifestations (present in greater than 75% of cases) of this condition include nasal and maxillary hypoplasia, peripheral dysostosis, first ray hyperplasia of the foot, acromesomelic brachymelia, decreased interpedicular distance, advanced skeletal maturation and mental retardation. Results of chromosome studies have been normal.

Cytogenetic studies of individuals from four kindreds with multiple endocrine neoplasia type II syndrome.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type II (MEN-II) syndrome is an autosomal dominant condition characterized by medullary carcinoma of the thyroid, pheochromocytoma, and parathyroid adenoma. A cytogenetic investigation was conducted on 13 MEN-II syndrome patients from four unrelated kindreds and 13 age-matched control subjects for chromosome instability and the chromosome 20 deletion reported in MEN-II syndrome. A significant increase (p less than 0.

The usefulness of screening tests for pyuria in combination with culture in the diagnosis of urinary tract infection.

A prospective study was conducted to examine the usefulness of screening tests for pyuria in combination with culture in the diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) in outpatients. Midstream urine specimens were collected from 340 patients seen in the emergency treatment center (ETC) and were examined for pyuria using the chamber count method and the Leukocyte Esterase Dipstick test (LE; Bio Dynamics, Indianapolis, IN). All specimens were cultured quantitatively using both 0.

Blood pressure and its significance in childhood.

Hypertension is an important accelerator of the atherosclerotic process. Detection in childhood may be important although longitudinal data are lacking of the prognosis of blood pressure measurement in childhood through adult life. The blood pressure of children should be measured.

Normal blood pressure and the evaluation of sustained blood pressure elevation in childhood: the Muscatine study.

This study describes the seated blood pressure distributions of 6,622 predominantly white schoolchildren in Muscatine, Iowa. Subjects with seated pressures equal to or greater than the 95th percentile for age and sex or 140 mm Hg systolic or 90 mm Hg diastolic were examined on repeated occasions. Approximately 13% of subjects were found to have blood pressures at these levels when first examined, but less than 1% were found to have persistent blood pressure elevations.

Zinc metabolism in aminonucleoside-induced nephrosis.

Nephrosis was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats in two separate studies by injections of aminonucleoside with sacrifice of animals on days 20 and 54, respectively. Experimental animals in both studies showed the typical findings of nephrosis, i.e.