Methadone Patients: dosage, psychopathology, and research participation

High and low dose methadone patients from a private methadone clinic were studied to determine whether severity of psychopathology is correlated with methadone dosage. It was found that methadone dosage was not positively correlated with psychopathology, but that diffuse nonspecific psychopathology was observed in all participants. Despite financial incentives it was very difficult to obtain the participation of many individuals in the clinic, and those who agreed to participate saw the research as a means to obtain personal psychiatric treatment. This differential participation based on viewing the research as "therapeutic" must be considered in future evaluation of methadone treatment.     

Body image and marital satisfaction: Evidence for the mediating role of sexual frequency and sexual satisfaction.

How does women’s body image shape their interpersonal relationships? Based on recent theories of risk regulation and empirical evidence that sex is an emotionally risky behavior, we predicted that women’s body image would predict increased sexual frequency and thus increased sexual and marital satisfaction for both members of established relationships. The current study of 53 recently married couples provided results consistent with this prediction. Specifically, wives’ perceptions of their sexual attractiveness were positively associated with both wives’ and husbands’ marital satisfaction, controlling for wives’ body mass index (BMI) wives’ global self-esteem, wives’ neuroticism, and reports of whether or not the couple was trying to get pregnant, and both of these associations were mediated by increased sexual frequency and higher sexual satisfaction. Notably, wives’ perceptions of their sexual attractiveness accounted for 6% of the variance in husbands’ marital satisfaction and 19% of the variance in wives’ marital satisfaction that was unique from BMI and the other controls. Accordingly, marital interventions may greatly benefit by addressing women’s body esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability of arsenic compounds in seafood samples during processing and storage by freezing

In this study, the stability of arsenic compounds in fresh and frozen samples of raw, boiled and fried Atlantic cod (Gadhus morhua), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) were examined. Results show that the total arsenic concentrations of the fresh Atlantic cod and Atlantic salmon samples were not different from the frozen samples within the same seafood type. For blue mussel, the total arsenic concentration decreased significantly after storage. Inorganic arsenic was found only in blue mussels and, importantly, no significant increase of inorganic arsenic was observed after processing or after storage by freezing. The content of tetramethylarsonium ion was generally low in all samples types, but increased significantly in all fried samples of both fresh and frozen seafood. Upon storage by freezing, the arsenobetaine content was reduced significantly, but only in the samples of blue mussels.     

Plasmonics—A Route to Nanoscale Optical Devices

The further integration of optical devices will require the fabrication of waveguides for electromagnetic energy below the diffraction limit of light. We investigate the possibility of using arrays of closely spaced metal nanoparticles for this purpose. Coupling between adjacent particles sets up coupled plasmon modes that give rise to coherent propagation of energy along the array. A point dipole analysis predicts group velocities of energy transport that exceed 0.1c along straight arrays and shows that energy transmission and switching through chain networks such as corners (see Figure) and tee structures is possible at high efficiencies. Radiation losses into the far field are expected to be negligible due to the near‐field nature of the coupling, and resistive heating leads to transmission losses of about 6 dB/μm for gold and silver particles. We analyze macroscopic analogues operating in the microwave regime consisting of closely spaced metal rods by experiments and full field electrodynamic simulations. The guiding structures show a high confinement of the electromagnetic energy and allow for highly variable geometries and switching. Also, we have fabricated gold nanoparticle arrays using electron beam lithography and atomic force microscopy manipulation. These plasmon waveguides and switches could be the smallest devices with optical functionality.     

Relationship between clinical efficacy and clozapine concentrations in plasma in schizophrenia: effect of smoking

Concentrations in plasma of clozapine and norclozapine, the major metabolite of clozapine, were measured in 59 treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients at a random time period during the course of treatment. A lower sum of the concentrations of clozapine and norclozapine or either alone predicted less improvement in the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) Total and Positive symptoms in a multivariate analysis that controlled for baseline BPRS rating and dose. The mean doses of clozapine after 6 months of treatment and at the time of blood sampling were not significantly different in 30 responders and 29 nonresponders to clozapine, on the basis of the decrease in BPRS Total scores, whereas the concentrations in plasma in clozapine of norclozapine and the sum of their concentrations were significantly higher in responders. Clozapine and norclozapine concentrations in plasma correlated both with dose at the time of sampling and with dose at 6 months. A clozapine concentration of 370 ng/ml was the optimal cutoff for distinguishing responders from nonresponders. Clozapine and norclozapine concentrations did not differ in male smokers and nonsmokers.     

Haptoglobin phenotypes and gene frequencies in unipolar major depression

OBJECTIVE: Studies from the authors' laboratory have shown that major depression is accompanied by significantly increased plasma concentrations of positive acute-phase proteins such as haptoglobin. Haptoglobin is characterized by a molecular variation with three known phenotypes (Hp 1-1, Hp 2-1, and Hp 2-2). This study investigated haptoglobin plasma levels and phenotype and gene frequencies in unipolar major depression. METHOD: Haptoglobin plasma levels of 22 healthy volunteers, 32 patients with minor depression, and 72 patients with major depression were determined by means of a laser nephelometric method. Haptoglobin phenotyping of these 126 subjects and 200 healthy blood donors was also carried out. RESULTS: The patients with major depression exhibited significantly higher haptoglobin plasma levels than the healthy comparison subjects and the patients with minor depression. Subjects with the haptoglobin phenotype Hp 2-2 had significantly lower haptoglobin levels than the phenotype Hp 1-1 and Hp 2-1 carriers. The frequencies of haptoglobin phenotypes Hp 2-1 (61.1%) and Hp 2-2 (20.8%) in the patients with major depression were significantly higher and lower, respectively, than the frequencies in the normal population (i.e., the blood donors: 48.0% and 37.0%, respectively). The frequency of the Hp-1 gene was significantly greater in the patients with major depression (48.6%) than in the normal population (39.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Major depression is characterized by a hyperhaptoglobinemia that is largely independent of haptoglobin phenotypes. This altered distribution of haptoglobin phenotypes and genes suggests that genetic variation on chromosome 16 may be associated with that illness.     

The influence of age and sex on the prevalence of depressive conditions: report from the National Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity

The Toxic Exposure Surveillance System or TESS is a comprehensive poisoning surveillance database maintained by the American Association of Poison Control Centers. It now includes data on more than 20.3 million human poison exposures reported to US poison centres. TESS data are submitted by 67 of the 75 US poison control centres, covering 87% of the US population. Reports to US poison centres included in TESS originate both from the general public and from health professionals (12.9%) and include both patients managed at home or at the site of the exposure (73.6%) and those managed in hospitals, emergency departments, or other healthcare facilities (22.8%). TESS data are used by the pharmaceutical industry to monitor or defend product safety, by regulatory agencies proposing new regulations or considering new approvals or over-the-counter switches, and by clinical researchers attempting to characterise toxicity profiles or determine treatment protocols. TESS is a key component of an effective post-marketing surveillance programme, allowing early identification of previously unsuspected hazards, and early changes in formulations, labelling, or packaging when needed, thereby minimising injuries, deaths and product liability. Deaths, severe outcomes and comparisons of poisoning outcomes and hospitalisation rates between products or product categories are used to identify safety outliers. TESS data for each case of poisoning include identification of the substances implicated (including brand and formulation where known), patient age, outcome, specific clinical effects, exposure route, reason for the exposure (unintentional, suicidal, therapeutic error, etc.), antidotes used and the level of healthcare intervention utilised. Pharmaceuticals are implicated in 42% of TESS poisoning cases. About 53% of all cases of poisoning occur in children under 6 years of age. Of the more than 2.1 million cases reported to TESS in 1996, 123,095 (5.7%) were therapeutic errors and 32,866 (1.5%) were adverse reactions to pharmaceuticals. TESS is an essential but under-utilised resource for product-specific toxicity and safety data. Use of TESS data to identify hazards, followed by remedial action to reformulate, repackage, re-label, or recall, will protect patients and consumers from needless hazards, and prevent unnecessary product-related morbidity and mortality.