A comparison of self-reported drug use with a urine drug screen in a working population: Correction.

Reports an error in the original article by R. Bharucha-Reid et al (Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 1995, Vol 3 [3], 280–286). Rachel Kaufmann was inadvertently misspelled. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1996-92908-001.) This study summarized information on 162 workers who completed urine screen and self-report concerning drug use. It is the first to compare self-report of drug use in the workplace with a urine screen in which individual participant (nonaggregate) data were used. The findings indicate that agreement between the 2 methods of drug detection, although statistically significant, is at best only moderate. The level of agreement was consistent for segments of the sample when divided by sociodemographic characteristics. Although urine screen may be the more reliable and accurate method of detecting prevalence of drug use, self-report must be considered to assess drug use histories and the role of other variables. These 2 methods should be considered as complementary assessment techniques; the appropriate method depends on the conditions and purposes of the drug use study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SUCCEEDING IN OUTSOURCING Cultivate the Outsourcing Relationship

In most discussions of outsourcing the IS function, the debate over cost savings versus loss of control is often the focus. Equally important, however, is how companies can forge a productive working relationship with vendors to obtain the maximum benefits once the outsourcing option has been selected.     

A comparison of self-reported drug use with a urine drug screen in a working population.

This study summarized information on 162 workers who completed urine screen and self-report concerning drug use. It is the first to compare self-report of drug use in the workplace with a urine screen in which individual participant (nonaggregate) data were used. The findings indicate that agreement between the 2 methods of drug detection, although statistically significant, is at best only moderate. The level of agreement was consistent for segments of the sample when divided by sociodemographic characteristics. Although urine screen may be the more reliable and accurate method of detecting prevalence of drug use, self-report must be considered to assess drug use histories and the role of other variables. These 2 methods should be considered as complementary assessment techniques; the appropriate method depends on the conditions and purposes of the drug use study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multistep navigation and the combinatorial control of leukocyte chemotaxis

Cells migrating within tissues may encounter multiple chemoattractant signals in complex spatial and temporal patterns. To understand leukocyte navigation in such settings, we have explored the migratory behavior of neutrophils in model scenarios where they are presented with two chemoattractant sources in various configurations. We show that, over a wide range of conditions, neutrophils can migrate "down" a local chemoattractant gradient in response to a distant gradient of a different chemoattractant. Furthermore, cells can chemotax effectively to a secondary distant agonist after migrating up a primary gradient into a saturating, nonorienting concentration of an initial attractant. Together, these observations suggest the potential for cells' step-by-step navigation from one gradient to another in complex chemoattractant fields. The importance of such sequential navigation is confirmed here in a model system in which neutrophil homing to a defined domain (a) requires serial responses to agonists presented in a defined spatial array, and (b) is a function of both the agonist combination and the sequence in which gradients are encountered. We propose a multistep model of chemoattractant-directed migration, which requires that leukocytes display multiple chemoattractant receptors for successful homing and provides for combinatorial determination of microenvironmental localization.     

Hygienic practices and acute respiratory illness in family and group day care homes

BACKGROUND: The Dutch guideline on hospital policy for the prevention of nosocomial spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) states that patients transferred from hospitals abroad must be placed in strict isolation immediately on admission to a hospital in the Netherlands. Three patients colonized with both MRSA and a multiresistant Acinetobacter were transferred from hospitals in Mediterranean countries to 3 different hospitals in the Netherlands. Despite isolation precautions, Acinetobacter spread in 2 of the 3 hospitals, whereas nosocomial spread of MRSA did not occur. METHODS: For outbreak analysis, the Acinetobacter isolates, identified as Acinetobacter baumannii by the use of amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis, were comparatively typed by 4 methods. Comparison of isolation measures in the hospitals was performed retrospectively. RESULTS: In the 2 hospitals in which nosocomial spread of Acinetobacter occurred, most of the epidemiologically related isolates were indistinguishable from the index strains. In these 2 hospitals, isolation measures were in concordance with those recommended for the prevention of contact transmission. The precautions of the hospital in which no outbreak occurred included the prevention of airborne transmission. CONCLUSIONS: Precautions recommended for multiresistant gram-negative organisms are insufficient for the prevention of nosocomial spread of multiresistant Acinetobacter. The airborne mode of spread of acinetobacters should be taken into account, and guidelines should be revised accordingly.     

Effect of cognitive rehearsal on rat phobic behavior.

An adaptation conceptualization of anxiety reduction was postulated in 1970 by J. Foxman and R. Radtke. By cognitively rehearsing an expected negative task, anxiety is induced and the continued anxiety induction produces an adaptation of its effects for the specific stimulus rehearsed, and all stimuli that induce anxiety. 216 female undergraduates, 1/2 with high and 1/2 with low fear ratings of rats, were given 1 of 3 sets of instructions: (a) expected to touch the rat, (b) expected to eat caterpillars, (c) no expectation, and were also given 1 of 3 time intervals to think about the task (0, 10, and 40 min.) before being given the choice of performing the aversive task (touching the rat) or a neutral 1 (performing a weight discrimination task). Dependent measures of choice and approach to the aversive task generally support the hypotheses, while the ratings give minimal support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employee drug use, demographic characteristics, work reactions, and absenteeism.

Investigated the relationships between employee use of illicit drugs, perceptions of and reactions to the work environment, and employee absenteeism and tardiness above and beyond that accounted for by demographic and work reaction variables. 162 employees in a large work organization completed demographic and background information and assessments of work perceptions and reactions and absenteeism and tardiness. Drug use was assessed with a questionnaire and urine testing. Employee drug use accounted for additional statistically significant variance in overall absenteeism and in absenteeism due to injuries and suspensions, as well as days tardy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electronic structure of dinuclear gold(i) complexes

Cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments on LL(AuSR *)(2) complexes [LL = diphenylphosphinomethane (dppm), diphenylphosphinopentane (dpppn); R(*) = p-SC(6)H(4)CH(3)] show anodic sweeps that broaden by about 25 mV on going from the longer (dpppn) to the shorter (dppm) bidentate phosphine ligand. Changing concentrations had no effect on the shape of the waveform. The result suggests a weak intramolecular metal-metal interaction in dppm(AuSR *)(2) that correlates well with rate acceleration occurring in the reaction of dppm(AuSR *)(2) with organic disulfides. Quantum yields for cis-dppee(AuX)(2) [dppee = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethylene; X = Cl, Br, I] complexes, (disappearance) Phi , are significantly higher in complexes with a softer X ligand, a trend that correlates well with aurophilicity. This result also suggests that electronic perturbation caused by Au(I)-Au(I) interactions is important in explaining the reactivity of some dinuclear gold(I) complexes. The crystal structure for cis-dppee(Aul)(2) shows short intramolecular Au(I)-Au(I) interactions of 2.9526 (6) A degrees , while the structure of trans-dppee(AuI)(2) , shows intermolecular Au(I)-Au(I) interactions of 3.2292 (9) A degrees . The substitution of .As for P results in a ligand, cis-diphenylarsinoethylene (cis-dpaee), that is photochemically active, in contrast to the cis-dppee ligand. The complexes, cis-dpaee(AuX)(2), are also photochemically active but with lower quantum yields than the cis-dppee(AuX)(2) complexes.     

In-roads to the spread of antibiotic resistance: regional patterns of microbial transmission in northern coastal Ecuador

The evolution of antibiotic resistance (AR) increases treatment cost and probability of failure, threatening human health worldwide. The relative importance of individual antibiotic use, environmental transmission and rates of introduction of resistant bacteria in explaining community AR patterns is poorly understood. Evaluating their relative importance requires studying a region where they vary. The construction of a new road in a previously roadless area of northern coastal Ecuador provides a valuable natural experiment to study how changes in the social and natural environment affect the epidemiology of resistant Escherichia coli. We conducted seven bi-annual 15 day surveys of AR between 2003 and 2008 in 21 villages. Resistance to both ampicillin and sulphamethoxazole was the most frequently observed profile, based on antibiogram tests of seven antibiotics from 2210 samples. The prevalence of enteric bacteria with this resistance pair in the less remote communities was 80 per cent higher than in more remote communities (OR = 1.8 [1.3, 2.3]). This pattern could not be explained with data on individual antibiotic use. We used a transmission model to help explain this observed discrepancy. The model analysis suggests that both transmission and the rate of introduction of resistant bacteria into communities may contribute to the observed regional scale AR patterns, and that village-level antibiotic use rate determines which of these two factors predominate. While usually conceived as a main effect on individual risk, antibiotic use rate is revealed in this analysis as an effect modifier with regard to community-level risk of resistance.