Contracting, prompting, and reinforcing substance use disorder continuing care: A randomized clinical trial.

Although continuing care is strongly related to positive treatment outcomes for substance use disorder (SUD), participation rates are low and few effective interventions are available. In a randomized clinical trial with 150 participants (97% men), 75 graduates of a residential Veterans Affairs Medical Center SUD program who received an aftercare contract, attendance prompts, and reinforcers (CPR) were compared to 75 graduates who received standard treatment (STX). Among CPR participants, 55% completed at least 3 months of aftercare, compared to 36% in STX. Similarly, CPR participants remained in treatment longer than those in STX (5.5 vs. 4.4 months). Additionally, CPR participants were more likely to be abstinent compared to STX (57% vs. 37%) after 1 year. The CPR intervention offers a practical means to improve adherence among individuals in SUD treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

No Direct Postconditioning Effect of Poloxamer 188 on Mitochondrial Function after Ischemia Reperfusion Injury in Rat Isolated Hearts

Myocardial infarction is a leading cause for morbidity and mortality worldwide. The only viable treatment for the ischemic insult is timely reperfusion, which further exacerbates myocardial injury. Maintaining mitochondrial function is crucial in preserving cardiomyocyte function in ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury. Poloxamer (P) 188 has been shown to improve cardiac IR injury by improving cellular and mitochondrial function. The aim of this study was to show if P188 postconditioning has direct protective effects on mitochondrial function in the heart. Langendorff prepared rat hearts were subjected to IR injury ex-vivo and reperfused for 10 min with 1 mM P188 vs. vehicle. Cardiac mitochondria were isolated with 1 mM P188 vs. 1 mM polyethylene glycol (PEG) vs. vehicle by differential centrifugation. Mitochondrial function was assessed by adenosine triphosphate synthesis, oxygen consumption, and calcium retention capacity. Mitochondrial function decreased significantly after ischemia and showed mild improvement with reperfusion. P188 did not improve mitochondrial function in the ex-vivo heart, and neither further P188 nor PEG induced direct mitochondrial protection after IR injury in this model.     

Utility of Multivariate Analysis in Modeling the Effects of Raw Material Properties and Operating Parameters on Granule and Ribbon Properties Prepared in Roller Compaction

This article aimed to model the effects of raw material properties and roller compactor operating parameters (OPs) on the properties of roller compacted ribbons and granules with the aid of principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) projection. A database of raw material properties was established through extensive physical and mechanical characterization of several microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and lactose grades and their blends. A design of experiment (DoE) was used for ribbon production. PLS models constructed with only OP-modeled roller compaction (RC) responded poorly. Inclusion of raw material properties markedly improved the goodness of fit (R²?=?.897) and model predictability (Q²?=?0.72).     

The effect of dietary supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid on the phospholipid and fatty acid composition of erythrocytes of marmoset

Adult male marmoset monkeys were fed eicosapentaenoic acid (20∶5n−3) as the ethyl ester in diets containing either 32% (reference diet, no added cholesterol) or 7% (atherogenic diet with 0.2% added cholesterol) linoleic acid (18∶2n−6) for 30 wk. No changes were seen in the level of phosphatidylcholine (PC) or phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) but minor changes were observed in both the sphingomyelin (SPM) and phosphatidylinositol plus phosphatidylserine (PI+PS) fractions of erythrocyte lipids. The extent of total n−3 fatty acid incorporation into membrane lipids was higher in atherogenic diets (polyunsaturated/monounsaturated/saturated (P/M/S) ratio 0.2∶0.6∶1.0) than reference diets (P/M/S ratio 1∶1∶1) and this was true for both PE (33.4±1.0%vs 24.3±1.1%) and PC (9.3±0.5%vs 4.9±0.3%). Although suitable controls for cholesterol effects were not included in the study, earlier results obtained with marmosets lead us to believe such effects were probably small. Regardless of basic diet (atherogenic, reference), 20∶5n−3 was preferentially incorporated into PE (10.8±0.2%, 6.0±0.02%) while smaller amounts were incorporated into PC (6.9±0.4%, 3.2±0.2%). The major n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acid found in PE in response to dietary 20∶5n−3 was the elongation metabolite 22∶5n−3 in both the atherogenic (17.7±0.7%) and reference (14.3±1.0%) dietary groups; 22∶6n−3 levels were less affected by diet (4.7±0.3% and 3.9±0.2%, respectively). The results can be interpreted to indicate an inverse relationship between the amount of dietary 18∶2n−6 and incorporation of 20∶5n−3 into erythrocyte membrane phospholipids regardless of whether the major dietary n−3 fatty acid was α-linolenate (18∶3n−3) or 20∶5n−3. This interpretation is supported by theoretical calculations.     

Direct utilization of methanol on impregnated Ni/YSZ and Ni-Zr0.35Ce0.65O2/YSZ anodes for solid oxide fuel cells

Some of the limits on fuel cell development include the issues of hydrogen availability and storage. Methanol has many advantages as an alternative fuel for fuel cells but depending on the anode composition, the formation of carbon may be a problem. In this paper, the direct utilization of methanol in solid oxide fuel cells with impregnated Ni/YSZ and Ni-Zr_0.35Ce_0.65O_2−δ (ZDC)/YSZ anodes was investigated at 1073 K. Performance and stability of these anodes, as measured by steady-state polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, were improved by the presence of ZDC; although, the deposition of carbon, as detected by scanning electron microscopy and temperature-programmed oxidation analysis, was not entirely avoided. The impact of the carbon, however, was different depending on the anode. That is, carbon formation caused the delamination of impregnated Ni/YSZ anodes, while the structural integrity of Ni-ZDC/YSZ anodes was maintained and the cell performance was not negatively impacted. Increasing the fuel utilization decreased coking, as predicted by equilibrium calculations.     

Civil engineers' managerial roles and needs: report of survey

Attitudes to the monetary risks associated with business decisions are thought to vary in response to at least three identifiable stimuli: the amount of money involved, background economic conditions and the framing of the decision. This paper reports a study of peoples' attitude to risk before and after a real turning point in the real business cycle. This work sheds light on the extent to which (i) risk attitudes remain robust when economic conditions change, (ii) risk attitude is influenced by whether the choice problem is concerned with losses or with gains, and (iii) risk attitude may be subordinated to some other dominating objective.     

Rasch measurement in the assessment of amytrophic lateral sclerosis patients

This paper examines the sensitivity to change over time of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire (ALSAQ-40). Individuals' health status change was assessed by means of the Rasch-based Reliable Change Index (RCI) for ALSAQ-40 questionnaires completed on two occasions, three months apart. In addition, at follow-up respondents indicated how much change they had experienced since baseline via dimension-specific self reported transition questions. 764 individuals returned questionnaires at baseline and follow-up. For all dimensions, of respondents defined by the RCI as worse, a majority rated themselves as worse. However, on two dimensions over 60% of the respondents who rated themselves as being worse were defined as unchanged by the RCI. As with effect size smaller RCI cut-off points might be needed for subjects with ALS. This study confirms that the ALSAQ-40 is a valid and responsive disease specific health related quality of life instrument for use in studies of patients with ALS or other motor neuron diseases.     

Effects of dose, interdose interval, and drug-signal parameters on morphine analgesic tolerance: Implications for current theories of tolerance.

Some unique predictions of a dual-process priming model of morphine analgesic tolerance were tested. Two experiments in which morphine injections during a tolerance acquisition phase were accompanied by nociceptive testing on a hot plate, confirmed the predictions that tolerance acquisition, retention, and environment-specificity would be augmented under signaled drug conditions when low doses or long interdose intervals (IDIs) were used but not when high doses or short IDIs were used. The implications for current alternative theories of morphine tolerance are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enzymatic Evidence for a Revised Congocidine Biosynthetic Pathway

Naturally produced pyrrolamides, such as congocidine, are nonribosomal peptides that bind to the minor groove of DNA. Efforts to delineate the biosynthetic machinery responsible for their assembly have mainly employed genetic methods, and the enzymes responsible for their biosynthesis remain largely uncharacterized. We report the biochemical characterization of four proteins involved in congocidine formation: the adenylation‐thiolation (A–T) di‐domain Cgc18(1–610), its MbtH‐like partner SAMR0548, the AMP‐binding enzyme Cgc3*, and the T domain Cgc19. We assayed the ATP‐dependent activation of various commercially available and chemically synthesized compounds with Cgc18(1–610) and Cgc3*. We report the revised substrate specificities of Cgc18(1–610) and Cgc3*, and loading of 4‐acetamidopyrrole‐2‐carboxylic acid onto Cgc19. Based on these biochemical studies, we suggest a revised congocidine biosynthetic pathway.     

Extraction of wheatgerm: The production of wheatgerm oil and de‐fatted stabilised wheatgerm

Wheatgerm is one of the main by‐products of the wheat milling industry, and is generally used for animal feed or oil production. With wheatgerm containing anywhere up to 14% oil, extraction of this oil via pressing and solvent extraction has had some success. The resulting oil is rich in the essential omega‐6 fatty acids and vitamin E, thus making it a speciality oil. The resulting stabilised de‐fatted wheatgerm has an increased protein content enabling it to be a very viable ingredient within the bakery and cereal industry.