The general therapeutic effect of light on seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been widely acknowledged. However, the antidepressant effect of light does not seem to be the same for different spectra of light. In this study, the authors attempted to study the spectral properties of phototherapy for SAD using a meta-analytical procedure. The findings suggested that light of short to medium wavelengths (blue/green/yellow) seem to be essential for the therapeutic effect of light on SAD. Red wavelengths were relatively ineffective. It was then postulated that SAD may be predisposed and/or precipitated by the inefficiency of the S and M cones in the retina. Furthermore, ultraviolet (UV) waves did not seem to be essential for SAD symptom alleviation by artificial light. Therefore, these potentially harmful UV waves should be blocked in any clinical application of phototherapy for SAD.

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Sertraline pharmacotherapy has been demonstrated to be an effective and well-tolerated therapy for out patients with SAD. As such, sertraline offers an important pharmacological option in the clinical management of this condition.

A method for end group analysis of ribonucleate preparations using purified snake venom phosphodiesterase is described. Unusual difficulties encountered with the method are discussed. The technique is useful for detection of end groups resulting from enzymic and chemical fragmentation of high molecular weight ribonucleates. Preliminary studies indicate that the method has limited usefulness because of a spontaneous hydrolysis of ribonucleates which occurs under the conditions which are optimal for hydrolysis with snake venom phosphodiesterase (pH 9, in the presence of magnesium). Physicochemical studies have shown that the pronounced dependence of sedimentation coefficient on ionic strength which has been reported by other investigators is also observed with fragmented high molecular weight ribonucleates and with 16S + 24S ribonucleates of Ehrlich ascites cells. The changes of sedimentation rate are associated with configurational and aggregation effects.

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