Influence of placement stability on developmental outcomes of children and young people in out-of-home care: Findings from the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study.

Background: Placement stability is an important indicator of the functioning of an out-of-home care system. Previous research suggests that frequent placement changes have a negative impact on the outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care.

Objective: This paper examines the association between placement stability in out-of-home care and children's socio-emotional, cognitive and physical health outcomes.

The impact of Indigenous-led programs on alcohol-related criminal incidents: a multiple baseline design evaluation.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a multi-component, Aboriginal-led strategy to reduce alcohol-related criminal incidents for Aboriginal people in four rural/remote communities in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Methods: A retrospective multiple baseline design (MBD), using interrupted time series analysis of routinely collected crime data.

Results: A statistically significant reduction in alcohol-related criminal incidents was observed in one community for both victims of crime (parameter estimate -0.

Characteristics and causes of death in children with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Aim: To determine characteristics of death in children with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).

Methods: A population-based linkage study of children from birth to 13 years of age in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, born 1 July 2000 to 31 December 2011. Infants with an International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Problems, Australian modification coding of NAS (P96.

Opioid Use Fueling HIV Transmission in an Urban Setting: An Outbreak of HIV Infection Among People Who Inject Drugs-Massachusetts, 2015-2018.

To describe and control an outbreak of HIV infection among people who inject drugs (PWID). The investigation included people diagnosed with HIV infection during 2015 to 2018 linked to 2 cities in northeastern Massachusetts epidemiologically or through molecular analysis. Field activities included qualitative interviews regarding service availability and HIV risk behaviors.

Understanding remote Aboriginal drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation clients: Who attends, who leaves and who stays?

Introduction And Aims: Aboriginal residential rehabilitation services provide healing for Aboriginal people who misuse substances. There is limited available research that empirically describes client characteristics of these services. This study examined 5 years of data of a remote Aboriginal residential rehabilitation service.

"I just feel comfortable out here, there's something about the place": staff and client perceptions of a remote Australian Aboriginal drug and alcohol rehabilitation service.

Background: The need for effective, culturally safe residential rehabilitation services for Aboriginal people is widely acknowledged, however the combination of treatment components that is optimally effective, is not well defined. Most existing Aboriginal residential rehabilitation research has focused on describing client characteristics, and largely ignored the impact of treatment and service factors, such as the nature and quality of therapeutic components and relationships with staff.

Methods: This qualitative study was undertaken as part of a three-year mixed methods community-based participatory research (CBPR) project that aimed to empirically describe a remote Aboriginal drug and alcohol rehabilitation service.

Hepatitis C testing in general practice settings: A cross-sectional study of people who inject drugs in Australia.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) often do not receive confirmatory RNA testing following positive HCV antibody testing. Expanding access to adequate testing and assessment will improve the progression of patients through the HCV care cascade with the potential to improve diagnosis as well as linkage to treatment. We aimed to determine current utilisation of general practitioners (GPs) by PWID in Australia compared to other settings for HCV testing and post-test discussions.

How does the use of multiple needles/syringes per injecting episode impact on the measurement of individual level needle and syringe program coverage?

Background: Recent work by McCormack et al. (2016) showed that the inclusion of syringe stockpiling improves the measurement of individual-level syringe coverage. We explored whether including the use of a new parameter, multiple sterile syringes per injecting episode, further improves coverage measures.

Trends in reports of driving following illicit drug consumption among regular drug users in Australia, 2007-2013: Has random roadside drug testing had a deterrent effect?

Introduction: Driving following illicit drug consumption ('drug-driving') is a potential road safety risk. Roadside drug testing (RDT) is conducted across Australia with the dual aims of prosecuting drivers with drugs in their system and deterring drug-driving. We examined trends over time in self-reported past six-month drug-driving among sentinel samples of regular drug users and assessed the impact of experiences of RDT on drug-driving among these participants.

New psychoactive substances: Purchasing and supply patterns in Australia.

Objective: To examine the purchasing and supply patterns of new psychoactive substance (NPS) consumers in Australia.

Method: Data were obtained from a self-selected sample of 296 past-year NPS consumers, with comparisons made across dimethyltryptamine (n = 104), 2C-x (n = 59), NBOMe (n = 27), and synthetic cannabinoid (n = 22) users.

Results: Most consumers (58%) nominated a friend as their main NPS source, and almost half (46%) reported that they had supplied NPS to others in the past year (predominantly "social supply").

The recovery of online drug markets following law enforcement and other disruptions.

Introduction: Online drug markets operating on the 'darknet' ('cryptomarkets') facilitate the trade of illicit substances at an international level. The present study assessed the longitudinal impact on cryptomarket trading of two major disruptions: a large international law enforcement operation, 'Operation Onymous'; and the closure of the largest cryptomarket, Evolution.

Methods: Almost 1150 weekly snapshots of a total of 39 cryptomarkets were collected between October 2013 and November 2015.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and High School Performance.

Background And Objectives: Little is known of the long-term, including school, outcomes of children diagnosed with Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) (International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Problems [10th Edition], Australian Modification, P96.1).

Methods: Linked analysis of health and curriculum-based test data for all children born in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, between 2000 and 2006.

Managing Maternal Substance Use in the Perinatal Period: Current Concerns and Treatment Approaches in the United States and Australia.

Substance use in pregnancy can have adverse effects on mother and fetus alike. Australia and the US are countries with high levels of substance use and policies advising abstinence, although the Australian approach occurs within a broader framework of harm minimization. Less attention has been paid to treatment of the mothers' substance use and what is considered gold standard.

Epidemiological Evidence for a Decreasing Incidence of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, 2000-11.

Background: This study analyses the incidence of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) in a large geographically defined population in Australia.

Method: Database linkage analysis of all births between 2000 and 2011 in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The diagnosis of NAS was derived from hospital coding P96.

Reasons for Rehospitalization in Children Who Had Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.

Background And Objectives: Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) occurs after in utero exposure to opioids, but outcomes after the postnatal period are unclear. Our objectives were to characterize childhood hospitalization after NAS.

Methods: Population-based linkage study of births, hospitalization, and death records of all children registered in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, between 2000 and 2011 to a maximum of 13 years.

The effectiveness of community action in reducing risky alcohol consumption and harm: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: The World Health Organization, governments, and communities agree that community action is likely to reduce risky alcohol consumption and harm. Despite this agreement, there is little rigorous evidence that community action is effective: of the six randomised trials of community action published to date, all were US-based and focused on young people (rather than the whole community), and their outcomes were limited to self-report or alcohol purchase attempts. The objective of this study was to conduct the first non-US randomised controlled trial (RCT) of community action to quantify the effectiveness of this approach in reducing risky alcohol consumption and harms measured using both self-report and routinely collected data.

Buprenorphine maintenance versus placebo or methadone maintenance for opioid dependence.

Background: Buprenorphine maintenance treatment has been evaluated in randomised controlled trials against placebo medication, and separately as an alternative to methadone for management of opioid dependence.

Objectives: To evaluate buprenorphine maintenance compared to placebo and to methadone maintenance in the management of opioid dependence, including its ability to retain people in treatment, suppress illicit drug use, reduce criminal activity, and mortality.

Search Methods: We searched the following databases to January 2013: Cochrane Drugs and Alcohol Review Group Specialised Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Current Contents, PsycLIT, CORK, Alcohol and Drug Council of Australia, Australian Drug Foundation, Centre for Education and Information on Drugs and Alcohol, Library of Congress, reference lists of identified studies and reviews.

Identifying individual- and population-level characteristics that influence rates of risky alcohol consumption in regional communities.

Objective: To examine the extent to which individual- and community- level characteristics account for differences in risky alcohol consumption.

Method: A cross-sectional postal survey of 2,977 randomly selected individuals from 20 regional communities in NSW, Australia. Individuals drinking at harmful levels on the AUDIT and for risk of harm in the short term and long-term were identified.

Real-time characterization of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1 ) allosteric modulators reveals novel mechanism of action.

Background And Purpose: The cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1 ) has an allosteric binding site. The drugs ORG27569 {5-chloro-3-ethyl-N-[2-[4-(1-piperidinyl)phenyl]ethyl]-1H-indole-2-carboxamide} and PSNCBAM-1 {1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-[3-(6-pyrrolidin-1-ylpyridin-2-yl)phenyl]urea} have been extensively characterized with regard to their effects on signalling of the orthosteric ligand CP55,940 {(-)-cis-3-[2-hydroxy-4-(1,1-dimethylheptyl)phenyl]-trans-4-(3-hydroxypropyl)cyclohexanol}, and studies have suggested that these allosteric modulators increase binding affinity but act as non-competitive antagonists in functional assays. To gain a deeper understanding of allosteric modulation of CB1 , we examined real-time signalling and trafficking responses of the receptor in the presence of allosteric modulators.

Alcohol use in pregnancy: prevalence and predictors in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

Introduction And Aims: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and describe the patterns of alcohol use during pregnancy among Australian mothers. The study also aimed to examine the characteristics associated with alcohol use in pregnancy.

Design And Methods: Data comprised two representative samples of families (infant cohort = 5107 parents of 0- to 1-year-olds; child cohort = 4983 parents of 4- to 5-year-olds) from the 2005 Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

Counting fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in Australia: the evidence and the challenges.

Issues: Alcohol exposure in utero is associated with a range of adverse outcomes in pregnancy and can cause long-term disability. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is an umbrella term to describe a range of effects from prenatal alcohol exposure including fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Determining the prevalence of FASD is challenging.

An empirical approach to selecting community-based alcohol interventions: combining research evidence, rural community views and professional opinion.

Background: Given limited research evidence for community-based alcohol interventions, this study examines the intervention preferences of rural communities and alcohol professionals, and factors that influence their choices.

Method: Community preferences were identified by a survey of randomly selected individuals across 20 regional Australian communities. The preferences of alcohol professionals were identified by a survey of randomly selected members of the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and Other Drugs.

The atypical cannabinoid O-1602 increases hind paw sensitisation in the chronic constriction injury model of neuropathic pain.

O-1602 is an atypical cannabinoid that acts as an agonist at GPR55, a g protein-coupled receptor that previous studies have indicated may have a pronociceptive role in neuropathic pain. We administered O-1602 to both naive rats and rats that had undergone chronic constriction injury surgery. O-1602 did not cause any changes in hind paw responses to Von Frey hair testing in naive rats.