This report describes the GRID-Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (GRID-HAMD), an improved version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale that was developed through a broad-based international consensus process. The GRID-HAMD separates the frequency of the symptom from its intensity for most items, refines several problematic anchors, and integrates both a structured interview guide and consensus-derived conventions for all items. Usability was established in a small three-site sample of convenience, evaluating 29 outpatients, with most evaluators finding the scale easy to use. Test-retest (4-week) and interrater reliability were established in 34 adult outpatients with major depressive disorder, as part of an ongoing clinical trial. In a separate study, interrater reliability was found to be superior to the Guy version of the HAMD, and as good as the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (SIGH-D), across 30 interview pairs. Finally, using the SIGH-D as the criterion standard, the GRID-HAMD demonstrated high concurrent validity. Overall, these data suggest that the GRID-HAMD is an improvement over the original Guy version as well as the SIGH-D in its incorporation of innovative features and preservation of high reliability and validity.

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The Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory-Female (SIDI-F) is a 13-item scale developed as a clinician-administered assessment tool to quantify the severity of symptoms in women diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). The present investigation assessed the reliability and validity of the SIDI-F as a measure of HSDD severity. Results show that the SIDI-F exhibits excellent internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha of 0.9. The validity of the SIDI-F as a measure of HSDD severity was confirmed by a number of observations. Women with a clinical diagnosis (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000]) of HSDD had significantly lower SIDI-F scores than women not meeting diagnostic criteria for any subtype of female sexual dysfunction and women diagnosed with female orgasmic disorder. There was a high correlation between scores on the SIDI-F and scores on the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI; Rosen et al., 2000) and an interactive voice response version of the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (CSFQ; Clayton, McGarvey, & Clavet, 1997; Clayton, McGarvey, Clavet, & Piazza, 1997), two validated measures that assess general female sexual dysfunction. In contrast, there was a poor correlation between SIDI-F scores and scores on a slightly modified Marital Adjustment Scale (Locke, Wallace, 1959; MAS), an assessment of general (nonsexual) relationship satisfaction. Taken together, the results of the present investigation indicate that the SIDI-F is a reliable and valid measure of HSDD severity, independent of relationship issues.

Huntington disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that involves preferential atrophy in the striatal complex and related subcortical nuclei. In this paper, which is based on a dataset extracted from the PREDICT-HD study, we use statistical shape analysis with deformation markers obtained through Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping of cortical surfaces to highlight specific atrophy patterns in the caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus, at different prodromal stages of the disease. Based on the relation to cortico-basal-ganglia circuitry, we propose that statistical shape analysis, along with other structural and functional imaging studies, may help expand our understanding of the brain circuitry affected and other aspects of the neurobiology of HD, and also guide the most effective strategies for intervention.

The endogenous peptides of human serum may have regulatory functions, have been associated with physiological states, and their modifications may reveal some mechanisms of disease. In order to correlate levels of specific peptides with disease alongside internal standards, the polypeptides must first be reliably extracted and identified. Endogenous blood peptides can be effectively enriched by precipitation of the serum with organic solvents followed by selective extraction of peptides using aqueous solutions modified with organic solvents. Polypeptides on filter paper were assayed with Coomasie brilliant blue binding. The polypeptides were resolved by detergent tricine polyacrylamide electrophoresis and visualized by diamine silver staining. Peptides in the extracts were collected by C18 and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) quadrupole time-of-flight MS/MS. Peptides were resolved as multiple isotopic peaks in MS mode with mass deviation of 0.1 Da or less and similar accuracy for fragments. The sensitivity of MS and MS/MS analysis was estimated to be in the picomolar range or less. The peptide composition of the extracts was dependent on solvent formulation. Multiple peptides from apolipoproteins, complement proteins, coagulation factors, and many others were identified by X!Tandem with high mass accuracy of peptide ions and fragments from collision-induced dissociation. Many previously unreported posttranslational modifications of peptides including phosphorylations, oxidations, glycosylations, and others were detected with high mass accuracy and may be of clinical importance. About 4,630 redundant peptides were identified with 99% confidence separately, and together some 1,251 distinct proteins were identified with 99% confidence or greater using the Paragon algorithm.