Identification and brief treatment of alcohol problems with medical patients: an international perspective.

This article summarizes the proceedings of a symposium at the 2002 RSA meeting in San Francisco, California. The chair was Peter Monti and co-chair was Nancy Barnett. The aim of the symposium was to bring together researchers from the United States, Sweden, and Mexico to present current findings on the development and implementation of screening and intervention research in Emergency Departments (ED).

Substrate reduction therapy: miglustat as a remedy for symptomatic patients with Gaucher disease type 1.

Gaucher disease (GD) is an inborn error of glycosphingolipid metabolism, associated with multisystemic manifestations resulting from the lysosomal accumulation of an incompletely degraded material (glucosylceramide) within cells of monocyte/macrophage lineage. In the majority of GD patients with non-neurological involvement (type 1), the clinical features are dominated by haematological, visceral (hepatic and splenic) and skeletal complications. Infrequently, cardiopulmonary involvement may develop and lead to major morbidity.

Response distortion in adolescents who smoke: a pilot study.

A wide range of data are obtained with self-report. Information obtained from persons using substances is generally reliable and valid, however, many studies show that some proportion of self-reports regarding substance use are inaccurate. This study examines self-reported response distortion in adolescents who received a brief intervention to reduce their smoking.

Potential biases in case detection of alcohol involvement among adolescents in an emergency department.

Objective: To determine the factors associated with physician decisions to test for alcohol involvement in adolescents treated in an emergency department (ED) and to examine patient and event characteristics associated with being identified as alcohol positive, either by testing or by clinical examination.

Methods: Medical chart reviews were conducted for all adolescent patients (n = 9,660; age range, 13-19 y) treated over a 1-year period in a Level I regional trauma center/ED.

Results: Among all 9,660 patients in the ED, 298 (3.

Progressive age-related changes similar to age-related macular degeneration in a transgenic mouse model.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the major cause of blindness in the developed world. Its pathomechanism is unknown and its late onset, complex genetics and strong environmental components have all hampered investigations. Here we demonstrate the development of an animal model for AMD that reproduces features associated with geographic atrophy; a transgenic mouse line (mcd/mcd) expressing a mutated form of cathepsin D that is enzymatically inactive thus impairing processing of phagocytosed photoreceptor outer segments in the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells.

Does alcohol use mediate the association between alcohol evaluations and alcohol-related problems in adolescents?

Alcohol use becomes more frequent during adolescence, with the percentage of youth who drink doubling from 8th grade to 12th grade. The escalation in drinking behavior during adolescence is often associated with increased problems and other risk behavior, such as drunk driving. In this study, adolescents (N = 557) were recruited from an emergency department to assess their alcohol use, positive and negative evaluations about alcohol, driving after drinking, and problems experienced from drinking.

Predictors of motivation to change after medical treatment for drinking-related events in adolescents.

Characteristics associated with intention to change drinking were examined in 254 adolescents treated in an emergency department for alcohol. Younger age, living at home, lower baseline level of drinking and drinking problems, greater depression, having penalties for breaking family drinking rules, higher injury severity, being frightened, and being admitted to the hospital predicted greater intention to change drinking at the time of the event. Baseline characteristics related to being in the action stage of change 3 months later were younger age; lower drinking; having penalties for breaking family drinking rules; injury severity; and number of anticipated consequences, including being in trouble with parents.

Antagonists of protein kinase C inhibit rat retinal glutamate transport activity in situ.

Neuronal and glial high-affinity transporters regulate extracellular glutamate concentration, thereby terminating synaptic transmission and preventing neuronal excitotoxicity. Glutamate transporter activity has been shown to be modulated by protein kinase C (PKC) in cell culture. This is the first study to demonstrate such modulation in situ, by following the fate of the non-metabolisable glutamate transporter substrate, d-aspartate.

Synthesis and preliminary analytical evaluation of the chemiluminescence from (4-[4-(dichloromethylsilanyl)-butyl]-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridyl)bis(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) covalently bonded to silica particles.

This paper describes, for the first time, a simple and effective synthetic route for covalently bonding the chemiluminescence reagent, (4-[4-(dichloromethylsilanyl)-butyl]-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridyl)bis(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) onto silica particles. The subsequent preparation of chemically regeneratable detection cells and their preliminary analytical evaluation with both sequential injection analysis and flow injection analysis are also reported. Unoptimised analytical figures of merit were established for standard solutions of codeine and sodium oxalate with detection limits calculated from three times the standard deviation of the blank signal, of 1 x 10(-8) M and 3 x 10(-7) M respectively.

Near-infrared spectroscopy in the assessment of cerebral oxygenation at high altitude.

Hypoxia plays a key role in the pathogenesis of acute mountain sickness (AMS), but individual susceptibility is variable and cerebral symptoms do not always correlate with PaO2 measurements. Cerebral hypoxia may be more relevant than PaO2. We studied trends in cerebral regional oxygen saturation by the technique of near-infrared spectroscopy in 20 subjects ascending rapidly to 4680 m.

Alcohol use disorders identification test: factor structure in an adolescent emergency department sample.

Background: This study examined whether the factor structure of a modified version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) represented the three intended conceptual domains of consumption, dependence symptoms, and alcohol-related consequences in an adolescent sample. Additionally, the utility of factor-specific cut scores in identifying patients with DSM-IV alcohol diagnoses was investigated.

Methods: Adolescents treated for an injury in an emergency department and who reported alcohol use in the last year (n = 173; 57% male, 72% white) constituted the study sample.

Effects of hydrocortisone administration on cognitive function in the elderly.

Previous studies have found adverse effects of both acute and chronic elevations of corticosteroids on cognitive function in humans and that cortisol levels may predict cognitive decline in elderly subjects. However, no previous studies have directly investigated the effects of hydrocortisone on cognitive functioning in the healthy elderly. Sixteen healthy elderly subjects took part in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over trial.

Long-term care. The best of both worlds.

An NHS/housing association venture has produced good accommodation for 30 elderly people in need of long-term care. The housing organisation takes responsibility for support services such as laundry, cleaning, security and catering. The unit remains part of the NHS.

Partnership in nursing care (PINC): the Blackburn model.

Concerns that partnership in care was not really working brought about the need to establish new documentation. A written management plan of care which actively involves the child and family to identify the partnership in care component is essential. Integration of medical and nursing history forms the basic assessment for a jointly managed plan of care.

Distinguishing depression from dementia in later life: a pilot study employing the Emotional Stroop task.

Objectives: In later life, cognitive impairment is common in depression often making it difficult to distinguish a dementing illness from depression. We examined whether people with depression could be differentiated from those with dementia on their performance on a task that examines attentional bias to depression related material.

Methods: Twelve older adults who fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for major depression were compared with 12 people with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and 12 age matched controls on a test of cognitive biases: the Emotional Stroop task.

Risks associated with alcohol-positive status among adolescents in the emergency department: a matched case-control study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, other risk-taking behaviors, and parental monitoring in adolescents who tested positive for alcohol in an emergency department.

Study Design: A matched case-control design was implemented for adolescents presenting to a pediatric emergency department who were screened for alcohol use. An alcohol-positive sample (N = 150) was compared with a matched alcohol-negative sample (N = 150) for alcohol use, alcohol problems, depression, smoking, risk-taking behavior, and parental monitoring.

Differential perturbation of neuronal and glial glutamate transport systems in retinal ischaemia.

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the retina and is removed from the extracellular space by an energy-dependent process involving neuronal and glial cell transporters. The radial glial Müller cells express the glutamate transporter, GLAST, and preferentially accumulate glutamate. However, during an ischaemic episode, extracellular glutamate concentrations may rise to excitotoxic levels.

Australia's university courses: are they meeting the educational expectations of the National Environmental Health Strategy?

Australia has developed a national strategy to encourage an intersectoral approach to environmental health and the creation of an environment that promotes good health and prevents problems. This strategy has implications for the education and training of the workforce. Therefore, the authors conducted a survey of courses in environmental health and other courses highly relevant to the environment offered by Australian universities in 2000.

Combined effect of cyclosporine and sirolimus on improving the longevity of recombinant adenovirus-mediated transgene expression in the retina.

Objectives: To reevaluate the longevity and intraocular safety of recombinant adenovirus (rAd)-mediated gene delivery after subretinal injection, and to prolong transgene expression through the combination of 2 synergistic immunosuppressants.

Methods: An rAd vector carrying green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene was delivered subretinally in the rat eye. The GFP expression was monitored in real time by fundus fluorescent photography.

Critical review of epidemiological studies of the association between smoking and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Smoking has been suggested to increase the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) but the results of epidemiological studies have been inconsistent. The aim of this work was to assess whether the findings of individual studies might have arisen by chance, bias or confounding and whether any associations found between smoking and NHL represent cause-and-effect. Reports of the association between smoking and NHL were identified from Medline.

Helicobacter pylori infection and fasting plasma glucose concentration.

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection raises basal and meal stimulated serum gastrin concentrations and lowers iron stores, which may in turn reduce fasting plasma glucose concentrations in the population.

Aim: To determine whether H pylori infection leads to lower fasting plasma glucose concentrations in the population.

Methods: One hundred and seventy three women and 165 men, randomly selected from the electoral rolls of an Australian city, participated in a cardiovascular risk factor survey.