Treating addictive patients at suicidal risk.

Presents a model for conceptualizing 4 basic types of suicidality among substance abusers (avoidance of painful consequences, the depressive experience of "crashing," the threat of personal loss, and environmental strain) and offers practical tips for treating the problem. Four general forms of intervention are discussed: pacing the crisis encounter; desensitizing the patient's sense of desperation; talking frankly about the suicidality; and attending to one's own needs as a counselor. These crisis-intervention tips are intended to aid counselors in handling suicidality as it is manifested in substance-abusing populations. Tips and guidelines for suicidal risk assessment with drug and alcohol abusers are given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quality of life following percutaneous transluminal angioplasty for claudication

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer and the incidence of BCC is expected to rise, with increased demand on dermatology resources. Little is known of the effect on people's lives of having skin cancer. The aim of this study was to quantify the handicap caused gy basal cell carcinomas before and after therapy. Forty-four patients (22 males, mean age = 65 yrs, range = 35-81 yrs) with 48 BCCs were recruited and 37 patients completed the study. Each patient completed the UK Sickness Impact Profile (UKSIP) and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) at the initial visit to the dermatology clinic, 1 week after treatment and 3 months after treatment. Lesions had been present for a mean of 25 months (range = 1-240 months), their mean diameter was 9.6mm (range = 3-35mm) and the sites were head and neck (79%), trunk (17%) and limbs (4%). There was no relationship between the quality of life score and size of lesion. Overall the scores at presentation were very low, rising 1 week after treatment and falling to below the initial scores at 3 months (mean UKSIP 0.4%, 0.7%, 0.13%; mean DLQI 5.3% 8.7%, 1.2%). BCCs cause little handicap. This may explain the delay in seeking medical attention and should be considered in planning public health education about BCCs.     

The role of dopamine in the mechanism of the regulation of the digestive-transport functions of the enterocyte membrane during stress

The L-DOPA and sulpiridinum effects on the enzymatic transporting function of the enterocytes' membrane, were studied in rats under stress. The L-DOPA was shown to hinder the absorption rate of glucose, whereas sulpiridinum was shown to suppress the main enzymes excepting snerase and alkaline phosphatase, to increase the monomeric and hydrolysate glucose transport. The L-DOPA seems to play a modifying role in the regulation and integration of the digestive-transporting function of the enterocytes' membrane in rats under stress.     

Understanding the contributions of normal-fatigue and static loading to the dwell fatigue in a near-alpha titanium alloy

This article presents the results of a recent study of the response of an α/β-forged Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo alloy during static, normal-fatigue, and dwell-fatigue loading. The plastic-strain accumulation under different loading conditions is reported. The failure modes and associated fractographic features under static, normal-fatigue, and dwell-fatigue loading conditions are also discussed. These results are used to obtain a better understanding of the relative contributions of the cyclic and creep processes to the overall damage under dwell-fatigue conditions.     

Production of silver‐doped analcime by isomorphous substitution technique

BACKGROUND: Metal‐exchanged zeolites have been reported to have significant limitations on cayalytic activity, such as counterbalancing the negative framework charges and limitation of active space. Alternative methods of incorporating silver ions into the framework of zeolites are therefore necessary. This paper reports on a technique for producing silver doped analcime by isomorphous substitution of silver ion into the framework of analcime. The amount of aluminium in the gel composition was reduced by a factor of 5%, 10% and 20% and an equivalent amount of silver was added to the gel and treated in a conventional manner for zeolite crystallisation. Some of the aluminium in the reaction gel was replaced with the silver. The silver‐doped analcime samples where characterised by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X‐rays (EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma‐atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP‐AES) analysis. RESULTS: The amount of silver ions loaded for each reduction of aluminium as determined by EDX were found to be (w/w) 0.29%, 1.41% and 2.10%, respectively. XRD pattern SEM images of the silver‐doped analcime showed the presence of zeolite P in addition to analcime. CONCLUSION: Silver‐doped analcime was successfully produced with different silver loadings and may exhibit higher anti‐microbial activities than silver‐exchanged counterparts. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Maternal depression and early positive parenting predict future conduct problems in young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for adverse outcomes such as substance abuse and criminality, particularly if they develop conduct problems. Little is known about early predictors of the developmental course of conduct problems among children with ADHD, however. Parental psychopathology and parenting were assessed in 108 children who first met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for ADHD at 4-7 years old. When demographic variables and baseline ADHD and conduct problems were controlled, maternal depression predicted conduct problems 2-8 years following the initial assessment, whereas positive parenting during the structured parent- child interaction task predicted fewer future conduct problems. These findings suggest that maternal depression is a risk factor, whereas early positive parenting is a protective factor, for the developmental course of conduct problems among children with ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)