Older and younger patients with substance use disorders: Outpatient mental health service use and functioning over a 12-month interval.

This observational study compared a nationwide sample of older patients with substance use disorders (n = 3,598; age > 55) with a demographically and diagnostically matched sample of younger patients on initial functioning, subsequent outpatient mental health service use, and 12-month follow-up outcomes. Older patients were initially functioning as well as or better than younger patients according to substance use, psychiatric, family, and legal criteria. The groups received comparable amounts of outpatient mental health care. At a 12-month follow-up, older patients generally had better substance use and functioning outcomes than did younger patients. The findings suggest that older patients with substance use disorders are keeping pace with demographically and diagnostically comparable younger patients in obtaining specialized outpatient mental health services and that they have positive treatment prognoses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in serum osteocalcin, plasma phylloquinone, and urinary gamma-carboxyglutamic acid in response to altered intakes of dietary phylloquinone in human subjects

The response of osteocalcin and other biochemical markers of vitamin K status to diets formulated to contain different amounts of phylloquinone was assessed in nine healthy subjects aged 20-33 y. Subjects resided in a metabolic ward for two 15-d cycles with a minimum of 6 wk between cycles. A mixed diet containing 100 micrograms phylloquinone/d was fed throughout both cycles; however, the phylloquinone content of one of the cycles was increased to a total of 420 micrograms/d on days 6 through 10 by fortifying corn oil in the diet with phylloquinone (supplemented diet). Total serum osteocalcin concentrations were not affected by either of the dietary treatments. The percentage of undercarboxylated osteocalcin increased an average of 28% over the 15-d cycle with the mixed diet (P < 0.05) and declined significantly an average of 41% with 5 d of the supplemented diet (day 6: 21.9 +/- 1.3%, day 11: 12.8 +/- 1.1%; P = 0.0001) with a rise after the return to the mixed diet (16.7 +/- 1.3%, P < 0.001). Plasma phylloquinone concentrations increased significantly with supplementation (day 6: 0.95 +/- 0.16 nmol/L, day 11: 1.40 +/- 0.29 nmol/L; P < 0.001) and then rapidly returned to presupplementation concentrations on returning to the mixed diet. Twenty-four-hour ratios of urinary gamma-carboxyglutamic acid to creatinine were unchanged with the supplemented diet; however, excretion declined to 91 +/- 2% of baseline after 10 d on the mixed diet (P = 0.01). These results show that undercarboxylated osteocalcin, plasma phylloquinone, and urinary gamma-carboxyglutamic acid excretion appear to be sensitive measures of vitamin K nutritional status because all of these variables were responsive to changes in dietary intake.     

An optimal method for the solution of the constrained eigenvalue/response problem for large structures comprising rigidly-connected substructures

Dynamic substructuring or modal synthesis is established as a powerful means by which the computational effort required to perform dynamic analyses of large structures comprising many degrees of freedom can be reduced. For the case where the substructures are rigidly connected a method of synthesis is proposed which gives very substantial improvements in efficiency over existing methods both in terms of the number of floating-point operations which must take place and the on-board computer memory required. The proposed method makes use of a stable co-ordinate transformation which reduces the mass matrix for the constrained composite-system to the identity matrix and makes the stiffness matrix banded. The bandwidth is exactly equal to twice the total number of constraints plus 1. This is usually very small in comparison with the total number of degrees of freedom in the constrained composite-system. The proposed method is ideal for combining a number of substructures into a single new substructure in an efficient way without necessarily disposing of any degrees of freedom. Approximate formulae are presented which give the ratios of the number of operations required for established methods compared with the number needed for the proposed method. These formulae determine when it is appropriate to use the method proposed here.     

Structures of the O-antigens of Proteus bacilli belonging to OX group (serogroups O1-O3) used in Weil-Felix test

Structures of the O-specific polysaccharide chains of lipopolysaccharides from Proteus group OX strains (serogroups O1-O3) used as antigens in Weil-Felix test for diagnosis of rickettsiosis, were established. From them, the acid-labile polysaccharide of Proteus vulgaris OX19 (O1) is built up of the following branched pentasaccharide repeating units connected via a phosphate group: [structure in text] where QuiNAc stands for 2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxyglucose (N-acetylquinovosamine). The basis of serospecificity of the Proteus group OX antigens and their cross-reactivity with human anti-rickettsial antibodies is discussed.     

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of primary visual processing using a 1.0 Tesla scanner

Recent advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at > or = 1.5 T magnetic field strength and with high speed single-shot echo planar imaging techniques have made it possible to monitor local changes in cerebral blood volume, cerebral blood flow, and blood oxygenation level in response to sensory stimulation, simple motor activity, and possibly also to more complex cognitive processing. However, fMRI has also been accomplished on conventional MR scanners of medium field strength (approximately 1.0 T) using special pulse sequences and appropriate methods for image analysis. We present results from six subjects on photic stimulation using a standard 1.0 T MR scanner together with special software for off-line image analysis. Continuous serial T2-weighted imaging were performed for 6 minutes in the plane of the calcarine fissure. There were 3 repetitions of 1 minute resting state of darkness (OFF) and 1 minute activated state (ON) with 8 Hz flicker stimulation. To directly map these functional images to the underlying anatomy we also acquired a high resolution T1-weighted image from the same axial slice. The results demonstrated that stimulus-related signals can be obtained from primary visual cortex with a conventional 1.0 T MR scanner. Further methodological improvements are discussed and related to present and future possibilities for the use of fMRI within psychophysiology.     

Synthesis of indolylalkoxyiminoalkylcarboxylates as leukotriene biosynthesis inhibitors

A series of substituted indolylalkoxyiminoalkylcarboxylates were found to be potent leukotriene biosynthesis inhibitors. The structure-activity relationships were investigated. Representative potent inhibitors identified were the quinolyl 3a (A-86885) and pyridyl 3b (A-86886) congeners with in vitro IC50s of 21 and 9 nM and in vivo leukotriene inhibition in the rat with oral ED50s of 0.9 and 1.7 mg/kg, respectively.     

Increases in Calls to the CDC National STD and AIDS Hotline Following AIDS-Related Episodes in a Soap Opera

In the United States, minority women are at risk of HIV infection and comprise a disproportionate share of daytime soap opera viewers. In August 2001, a soap opera subplot delivered HIV prevention messages to viewers and displayed the National STD and AIDS Hotline's toll-free number (800–342–2437) after 2 episodes. On both days, the number of attempted calls to the Hotline in the 1-hour time slots during and just after the 30-minute broadcasts rose dramatically. These increases in information-seeking behavior are consistent with predictions based on social cognitive theory, the health belief model, and various models of information processing. The increases also provide support for the Education-Entertainment approach and underscore the importance of a productive partnership between public health and the entertainment industry.     

"Approach and avoidance coping responses among older problem and nonproblem drinkers": Clarification.

Reports a clarification in the article by R. H. Moos et al (Psychology and Aging, 1990[Mar], Vol 5[1], 31–40). The authors wish to note that research reported in the article by P. L. Brennan and R. H. Moos (see record 1991-10154-001) was based on the sample used in the research reported by Moos et al and that this information was inadvertently deleted in the Brennan and Moos article. (The following abstract of the article by Moos et al originally appeared in PA, Vol 77:14961.) The Coping Responses Inventory (CRI) was used to study coping among older problem and nonproblem drinkers. The CRI organizes coping efforts according to their focus (approach or avoidance) and method (cognitive or behavioral). Compared with nonproblem drinkers, older problem drinkers were more likely to use cognitive and behavioral avoidance responses to manage life stressors. Problem drinkers who experienced more negative life events and more severe stressors used both more approach and more avoidance coping. Those who had more financial and social resources relied more on approach and less on avoidance coping. Problem drinkers who relied more on avoidance coping tended to have more drinking problems and to report more depression and physical symptoms and less self-confidence. Positive reappraisal was associated with less depression and more self-confidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of insulin on farnesyltransferase. Specificity of insulin action and potentiation of nuclear effects of insulin-like growth factor-1, epidermal growth factor, and platelet-derived growth factor

We have previously demonstrated that insulin activates farnesyltransferase (FTase) and augments the amounts of farnesylated p21 (Goalstone, M. L., and Draznin, B. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 27585-27589). We postulated that this aspect of insulin action might explain the "priming effect" of insulin on the cellular response to other growth factors. In the present study, we show the specificity of the effect of insulin on FTase. Insulin, but not insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), epidermal growth factor (EGF), or platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), stimulated the phosphorylation of the alpha-subunit of FTase and the amounts of farnesylated p21. Even though all four growth factors utilized the Ras pathway to stimulate DNA synthesis, only insulin used this pathway to influence FTase. Insulin failed to stimulate FTase in cells expressing the chimeric insulin/IGF-1 receptor and in cells derived from the insulin receptor knock-out animals. Insulin potentiated the effects of IGF-1, EGF, and PDGF on DNA synthesis in cells expressing the wild type insulin receptor, but this potentiation was inhibited in the presence of the FTase inhibitor, alpha-hydroxyfarnesylphosphonic acid. We conclude that the effect of insulin on FTase is specific, requires the presence of an intact insulin receptor, and serves as a conduit for the "priming" influence of insulin on the nuclear effects of other growth factors.