Assessing Consequences of Substance Use: Psychometric Properties of the Inventory of Drug Use Consequences.

Negative consequences are an important component of the substance use change process, yet no standardized measure exists to assess consequences of use. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Inventory of Drug Use Consequences, a self-report measure assessing drinking and drug use consequences. Participants (N=252) were assessed at entry into outpatient substance abuse treatment. Items loaded strongly on 1 factor, and internal consistency of the total scale was high. Fifteen items with the highest correlations with the total scale were chosen to represent the construct. The shortened measure exhibited good internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity, and detected change over time and may be the measure of substance use consequences that is lacking in the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Imposing temporal consistency on deep monocular body shape and pose estimation

Computational Visual Media - Accurate and temporally consistent modeling of human bodies is essential for a wide range of applications, including character animation, understanding human social...     

Surface spin polarization in Fe(1 1 0) and Ni(1 1 0)

The magnetism of Ni(1 1 0) and Fe(1 1 0) surfaces was investigated by electron capture spectroscopy. He⁺ and He²⁺ ions impinged on the Fe(1 1 0) and Ni(1 1 0) surfaces under grazing incidence, and the degree of polarization of the light emitted by the neutralized projectiles was analyzed. Our measurements show that in Ni(1 1 0) minority electrons have a higher density of states at the Fermi energy than majority electrons, opposed to the Fe(1 1 0) case. From a comparison of our measurements we estimate the ratio between captured minority and majority electrons in Ni(1 1 0) to be similar as the ratio between captured majority and minority electrons in Fe(1 1 0).     

A practical clinical trial of coordinated care management to treat substance use disorders among public assistance beneficiaries.

This study tested whether coordinated care management (CCM), a continuity of care intervention for substance use disorders (SUD), improved rates of abstinence when compared with usual welfare management for substance-using single adults and adults with dependent children applying for public assistance. The study was designed as a practical clinical trial and was implemented in partnership with a large city welfare agency. Participants were 421 welfare applicants identified via SUD screening and assigned via an unbiased computerized allocation program to a site that provided either CCM (n = 232) or usual care (UC; n = 189). Outcomes were assessed for 1 year postbaseline with self-reports and biological measures of substance use. As hypothesized, for participants not enrolled in methadone maintenance programs (n = 313), CCM clients received significantly more services than did UC clients. Nonmethadone CCM also showed significantly higher abstinence rates (odds ratio = 1.75; 95% confidence interval = 1.12, 2.76; d = 0.31) that emerged early in treatment and were sustained throughout follow-up. In contrast, no treatment services or outcome effects were found for methadone maintenance clients (n = 108). Findings suggest that CCM is promising as a wraparound to SUD treatment for welfare recipients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A randomized controlled trial of goal choice interventions for alcohol use disorders among men who have sex with men.

This study tested the efficacy of behavioral treatments for alcohol use disorders (AUD) among men who have sex with men (MSM) and who are at risk for HIV transmission. HIV-negative MSM with current AUD (N = 198) were recruited, offered treatment focused on reducing drinking and HIV risk, and followed during treatment and 12 months posttreatment. Participants (n = 89) accepted treatment and were randomized to either 4 sessions of motivational interviewing (MI) or 12 sessions of combined MI and coping skills training (MI + CBT). Other participants (n = 109) declined treatment but were followed, forming a non-help-seeking group (NHS). MI yielded significantly better drinking outcomes during the 12-week treatment period than MI + CBT, but posttreatment outcomes were equivalent. NHS participants significantly reduced their drinking as well. Service delivery and treatment research implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive and negative symptoms in chronic psychiatric outpatients: Reliability, stability, and factor structure.

This study evaluates 2 instruments measuring positive and negative symptoms, the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, for their reliability, internal consistency, and temporal stability. The interrelationships and course of specific symptoms are examined to ask whether they represent 1, 2, or more separate pathological processes. Symptoms were assessed in 399 outpatients followed for the long-term effects of antipsychotic medications; a subset (n?=?229) was given the instruments twice, approximately 24 months apart. Results suggest four distinct types of symptoms in severe mental disorders. Two correspond to general definitions of positive and negative symptoms. Attentional Impairment, Formal Thought Disorder, and possibly Bizarreness and Avolition-Apathy emerge as separate categories of symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of strategies for reducing air pollutant emissions in the European community

In view of increasing economic and environmental problems, energy supply strategies as well as air pollutant emission reduction strategies are required. These strategies should be designed in accordance with the specific development of a country or region. In the past they were mainly considered with respect to the finiteness of natural resources and the scarcity of economic resources. In recent years the ‘joint-production’ of air pollutant emissions in the energy sector has been increasingly recognized as an additional argument. As a consequence, concepts on future energy pathways, which should be efficient with respect to both economic development and environmental protection, have to be devised. For this purpose energy-environmental models such as EFOM-ENV can be used as analytic tools. The paper discusses optimal future energy supply structures that result from different strategies for air-pollution control in the countries of the European Community. The results have been obtained by applying the energy flow optimization model (EFOM), which has been extended by additional environmental modules to EFOM-ENV. The issues of the paper are based on research activities that the authors are performing for the Commission of the European Communities (CEC), Brussels, and the European Research Center for Air Pollution Control Measures (PEF), Karlsruhe, in close co-operation with research institutes in member countries of the European Community.