EVA: a new theoretically based molecular descriptor for use in QSAR/QSPR analysis.

A new descriptor of molecular structure, EVA, for use in the derivation of robustly predictive QSAR relationships is described. It is based on theoretically derived normal coordinate frequencies, and has been used extensively and successfully in proprietary chemical discovery programmes within Shell Research. As a result of informal dissemination of the methodology, it is now being used successfully in related areas such as pharmaceutical drug discovery.

The relationship of cancer pain to anxiety.

The interaction between pain and anxiety in the setting of somatic illness is a widely recognised association. More accurate knowledge about the association and also about the means of assessing anxiety in a clinical setting are of use to the clinician. The present study used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for assessment of anxiety, and the set of linear analogue scales for detecting the presence and severity of anxiety and pain in an oncology clinic, where patients were undergoing active treatment for cancer.

Anhedonia: a neglected symptom of psychopathology.

In the last century psychopathologists attached importance to the concept of anhedonia, the loss of ability to experience pleasure. Its role in the diagnosis of melancholia was considered to be crucial. In the present century attention to anhedonia has faded, possibly because of the focus upon depressed mood as the pathognomonic feature of depressive disorders.

What do depression rating scales measure?

A large number of rating scales have been devised to assess the clinical construct of 'depression'. These scales have been universally used in research with little consideration of their content, or how they relate to accepted definitions of depressive disorder. The scales are often arbitrarily selected and used for the study on the assumption that all measure the same construct.

Sex reassignment surgery. A study of 141 Dutch transsexuals.

"This is an evaluation of the therapeutic effect of sex reassignment surgery on 36 female-to-male transsexuals and 105 male-to-female transsexuals in the Netherlands. Data were collected by means of structured interviews. The evaluation was made on the basis of subjective data only, that is on what the persons themselves reported on their gender identity, gender role, and physical condition.

Body image disorders.

The concepts of disorders of body image are reviewed from three aspects: sociocultural, neurological and psychiatric disorders. Particular attention is paid to the construct of body dysmorphic disorder as defined in the DSM III-R and the separation of this from somatic delusional disorder. The recognition of associated psychopathology will frequently lead to successful treatment before too much time is spent on fruitless attempts at treatment of the presenting complaint.

Assessment and treatment of pervasive anxiety.

Definitions of the central symptoms of anxiety disorders are given and these are followed by the principles underlying assessment; a discussion of rating scales for the detection and measurement of morbid degrees of anxiety follows. The important points in assessment prior to therapy are outlined and emphasis is placed on the possibility of distinguishing biogenic (endogenous) anxiety states from the more usual psychogenic forms of anxiety disorder. This distinction is of major importance when devising the therapeutic plan: biogenic depressive states, of which the early stage of panic disorder is one form, are resistant to psychotherapeutic intervention but may respond to treatment with antidepressant drugs.