Depression and risk of coronary heart disease in elderly men and women: New Haven EPESE, 1982-1991. Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly

BACKGROUND: Results of several recent studies suggest that depression is predictive of incident coronary disease. However, few studies have examined this relationship in the elderly, the age at which most coronary heart disease (CHD) becomes clinically manifest. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data are from the New Haven, Conn, cohort (N = 2812) of the Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly project. Baseline information on depressive symptoms and CHD risk factors was collected during an in-person interview in 1982. Nonfatal myocardial infarctions were identified through monitoring of admissions to local hospitals and were validated by medical chart review. Cause of death was obtained from death certificates for all deceased participants. Outcomes were defined as CHD deaths (n = 255) and total incident CHD events (n = 391) between January 1, 1982, and December 31, 1991. There was no association between depressive symptoms and CHD outcomes in men. Among women, depressive symptoms were associated with an age-adjusted relative risk of 1.03 (per unit increase on the symptom scale) for CHD mortality (P=.001) and total CHD incidence (P=.002). These associations were largely unaffected by adjustment for established CHD risk factors but were reduced to nonsignificant levels after additional adjustment for impaired physical function. Additional analysis showed a significant association for depressive symptoms among women who had no physical function impairments or who survived at least 3 years without an event. CONCLUSION: Depressive symptoms may not be independent risk factors for CHD outcomes in elderly populations in general but may increase risk among relatively healthy older women.     

The design of a biochip: a self-assembling molecular-scale memory device

A design for a biochip memory device based on known materialsand existing principles is presented. The fabrication of thismemory system relies on the self-assembly of the nucleic acidjunction system, which acts as the scaffolding for a molecularwire consisting of polyacetylene-like units. A molecular switchto control current is described which is based on the formationof a charge - transfer complex. A molecular-scale bit is presentedwhich is based on oxidation - reduction potentials of metalatoms or clusters. The readable ‘bit’ which canbe made of these components has a volume of 3x10⁷ ų andshould operate at electronic speeds over short distances.     

Toward a concept of personality integration.

A central idea in thinking about effective behavior is "organismic integration" which suggests an inclusive phenomenon and suggests also "some form of interaction which takes place among subsystems of the organism—more specifically, an interaction which is adaptive or self-enhancing." Personality integration "is a many vectored thing, that is defined by events which go on within a variety of specific behavioral planes within the organism." Systems are grouped "on a continuum ranging from microcosmic to macrocosmic, or from molecular to molar, or even from the inside of the organism out… . The model covers events from a single heartbeat to the behavior of peoples… . The variables tentatively identified as relevant to personality integration include stability, high environmental contact, high internal communication, and affective complexity." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-assembling DNA graphs

It has been shown theoretically that three dimensional graph structure and DNA self-assembly can be used to solve numerous computational problems such as 3-SAT and 3-colorability in a constant number of laboratory steps. In this assembly, junction molecules and duplex DNA molecules are the basic building blocks. This paper presents experimental results of DNA self-assembly of non regular graphs using junction molecules as vertices and duplex DNA molecules as edge connections.