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PMS (premenstrual syndrome) affects 30-40% of the reproductive female population and hence creates significant impairment amongst women of working age [1]. Having such an economical and financial impact makes it an important disorder to know more about in terms of diagnosis and treatment. In this article, as well as addressing diagnosis and treatments, we focus mainly on peri-menopausal women who are equally (if not more) affected by this disorder and who are subjected to PMS via a host of widely used hormonal treatments. We describe the vicious cycle that exists between exogenous progestogen stimulating PMS-like symptoms and the progestogen that is required for endometrial protection and ways of avoiding this. The treatment should address all concerns of the individual, namely contraceptive requirements, control of PMS and menopausal symptoms. The main theory behind treatment of PMS is to suppress ovulation along the hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis, however neurotransmitters are also implicated in reducing sensitivity to progesterone via receptors, and therefore selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are also useful. Surgical methods are strongly discouraged and are a last resort. With so many pitfalls, this article aims to tackle the issues commonly encountered with diagnosis and treatment of PMS in the peri-menopause., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The mouse major urinary proteins are pheromone-binding proteins that function as carriers of volatile effectors of mouse physiology and behavior. Crystal structures of recombinant mouse major urinary protein-I (MUP-I) complexed with the synthetic pheromones, 2-sec-butyl-4,5-dihydrothiazole and 6-hydroxy-6-methyl-3-heptanone, have been determined at high resolution. The purification of MUP-I from mouse liver and a high-resolution structure of the natural isolate are also reported. These results show the binding of 6-hydroxy-6-methyl-3-heptanone to MUP-I, unambiguously define ligand orientations for two pheromones within the MUP-I binding site, and suggest how different chemical classes of pheromones can be accommodated within the MUP-I beta-barrel.

Responses to an open-ended questionnaire were obtained from 250 hearing-aid candidates who had never worn a hearing aid and from 250 experienced hearing-aid users. The questionnaire stated 'Please make a list of the difficulties which you have as a result of your hearing loss.' The responses were divided into six major categories. The hearing-aid candidates reported more problems than the experienced users in the categories of (a) understanding speech where speechreading would normally be used (92% versus 81%), and (b) understanding speech where speechreading would normally not be used (51% versus 43%). A similar number of respondents in both groups reported problems in the categories of (c) personal difficulties (11%), (d) audiological or medical difficulties (18%), and (e) difficulties associated with environmental sounds (34%). Thirty-five per cent of the hearing-aid users reported (f) difficulties associated with their hearing aids. The most frequently reported specific difficulty in both groups was watching television (47% of the candidates and 37% of the users). Twenty-one per cent in each group reported difficulty conversing on the telephone.

This review focuses on characteristics of the Type A behavior pattern in women in studies of demographic characteristics, physiological responses, laboratory performance, and personality. With some exceptions, these characteristics parallel those previously described for Type A men. The incidence of Type A behavior in the United States is comparable for men and women when socioeconomic factors are controlled. Type A behavior in women is positively correlated with socioeconomic status, occupation, education, and incidence of coronary heart disease. Type A women tend to show greater autonomic arousal to laboratory stressors as well as greater time urgency and speed, more goal directedness, a preference to work alone under stress conditions, and more competitiveness/aggressiveness than Type B women. Type A positively correlates with various estimates of anger, hostility, and masculine sex role orientation. Depression and anxiety in Type A's are found to vary as a function of sex role orientation and locus of control. Methodological problems in the existing studies are discussed.

This study used imagery instructions to examine cardiac patients' physiological responses to Type A-relevant situations. Twenty Type A and Type B patients, classified by the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS), were presented both "Type A" and "Neutral" imagery scripts, followed by the administration of the Structured Interview (SI). Subjects rated each scene for vividness and their emotional reaction to the image. Heart period, pulse transit time, finger temperature, finger pulse volume, frontalis EMG, neck EMG, forearm flexor EMG, and forearm extensor EMG were monitored throughout the experiment. Results showed that (a) Type A's had greater heart period and neck EMG responses to Type A scenes compared to Neutral scenes, (b) Type A's had faster pulse transit times and lower finger temperatures than Type B's throughout the imagery task and the SI, (c) both Type A's and Type B's rated Type A scenes as more emotionally arousing than Neutral scenes, and (d) although the pattern of results was the same when subjects were classified by the SI, results were no longer statistically significant.

The present study examined the effects of a footshock reminder in restoring memory after discrete electrical brain stimulation. Rats received low-level bilateral electrical stimulation of either the amygdala or the hippocampus after training in a one-trial passive avoidance task. Rats receiving stimulation showed amnesia when tested 24 hr after training. One hour after the retention test, rats received a footshock reminder cue. Twenty-three hours later, in a second retention test, hippocampus-stimulated animals showed recovery of memory, while amygdala-stimulated rats did not. Stimulated rats that did not receive a reminder footshock remained amnesic. In addition, the effects of amygdala and hippocampal stimulation applied after the footshock reminder cue were examined. On the second retention test, amygdala stimulation disrupted the reminder effect, while hippocampal stimulation had no deleterious effects. The data are interpreted from a memory-attribute point of view which suggests that the amygdala and hippocampus may be differentially involved in the processing of particular attributes of the learning task.

Ninety-seven members of a tinnitus self-help group were asked to list the difficulties that they had as a result of their tinnitus. Seventy-two replies were returned from 22 men and 48 women (sex not reported in two cases) whose average age was 61 years. Tinnitus was associated with hearing difficulties in 53%, effects on lifestyle in 93%, effects on general health in 56%, and emotional difficulties in 70% of the sample. Getting to sleep was the most frequently mentioned difficulty, and many respondents indicated that they experienced depression, annoyance, and insecurity. The clinical application of this open-ended questionnaire are discussed.

A survey of clinical psychologists determined that both objective and projective tests were used with high frequency. The two tests clinicians most frequently recommended clinical students learn to administer were projective (the Rorschach and the TAT) and, among the 10 most frequently recommended tests, projective tests were recommended approximately 30% more often than objective tests. Clinicians who were frequent test users recommended both objective and projective tests more often than those not using tests. Clinicians doing substantial teaching and research tended to recommend projective tests less often than clinicians not engaged in those activities. Behavior therapists recommended projective tests less often than eclectic, Freudian, and neo-Freudian therapists.