The linkage between mental health, delinquency, and trajectories of delinquency: Results from the Boricua Youth Study.

Purpose: To examine the longitudinal relationship between depression, delinquency, and trajectories of delinquency among Hispanic children and adolescents.

Methods: Propensity score matching is used to match depressed and non-depressed youth and a combination of group-based trajectory and multinomial logistic regression techniques are used.

Results: After adjusting for pre-existing differences between depressed and non-depressed youth, the causal relationship between depression and delinquency and the association between depression and trajectories of delinquency appears to be largely spurious.

Emergency department tobacco cessation program: staff participation and intervention success among patients.

Context: The emergency department (ED) is often the primary source of healthcare for uninsured and underinsured patients.

Objectives: To evaluate ED staff attitudes toward and participation in referring patients to a tobacco cessation program, and to assess the program's effectiveness.

Methods: A nonvalidated survey on smoking cessation and preventative services for ED patients was mailed to ED staff at a suburban hospital.

Difference-frequency generation of 4-microm radiation from Nd:YAG lasers.

More than 30 mJ of mid-IR 4-microm energy was generated with difference-frequency mixing of 1.064- and 1.444-microm Nd:YAG laser pulses in a lithium niobate crystal.

Determination of fluphenazine in plasma by high-performance thin-layer chromatography.

Determination of fluphenazine in blood plasma by in situ fluorescent detection after separation by high-performance thin-layer chromatography is described. Enhancement of fluorescent emission of the drug is accomplished by exposure to UV light in the presence of paraffin oil which permits a limit of detectability of approximately 0.1 ng/ml in blood plasma.

Rapid microanalysis of anticonvulsants by high-performance thin-layer chromatography.

A rapid microanalytical method is described for phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone and carbamazepine utilizing high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC). This procedure incorporates a single extraction of a 50-microliter plasma sample. One tenth of the extract is concentrated and applied to the HPTLC plate by a Contact Spotter, chromatographically separated and quantitated by in situ ultraviolet reflectance densitometry.

Determination of drugs in plasma by high-performance thin-layer chromatography.

High-performance thin-layer chromatography was used to determine chlorpromazine, amitriptyline, nortriptyline, imipramine, desipramine, phenobarbital, and phenytoin in plasma, to demonstrate the utility of this technique for routine analysis. We quantitated the separated components by use of ultraviolet reflectance spectrometry with detection limits as low as 1 microgram/liter. Regressions of psychoactive agents extracted from plasma were linear over the range of 0 to 300 microgram/liter.

The placental transfer and materno-fetal disposition of methadone in monkeys.

A method is described for the quantitation of levo-methadone[3H] in biological samples which involves sample extraction and thin-layer chromatographic separation. Four pregnant Macaca mulata monkeys, two in early gestation and two in late gestation, were given single i.m.

High-performance thin-layer chromatographic determination of psychopharmacologic agents in blood serum.

High-performance thin-layer chromatography affords a rapid, sensitive method for determination of psychopharmacologic agents in blood serum samples. Quantitation of the representative drugs chlorpromazine, amitriptyline, nortriptyline, imipramine, and desipramine at levels as low as 5 ng/ml is demonstrated by scanning the developed thin-layer plates with a chromatographic spectrophotometer in the ultraviolet absorption mode. Neither derivatization prior to, nor color development after chromatographic separation is required to achieve sensitivity and reproducibility of determinations.

Nickel gas chromatographic columns: an alternative to glass for biological samples.

Nickel tubing may be substituted for glass in the fabrication of gas chromatographic columns for use with samples of biological interest. Comparisons of separations of mixtures of steroids, narcotic alkaloids, phenothiazines, and amphetamines on stainless stell, glass, and nickel packed columns showed little or no observable sample decomposition on glass or nickel as contrasted to complete loss of certain compounds on stainless steel. The nickel columns are easily prepared, durable, economical, and not subject to breakage.

Improved gas chromatographic analysis of chlorpromazine in blood serum.

Reliable determinations of chlorpromazine levels in blood serum samples obtained from patients were accomplished by electron capture gas chromatography. By using modifications of the procedure to insure stability of the sample, minimal losses during sample preparation and gas chromatography, and by selecting appropriate operating parameters of the electron capture detector, excellent agreement was obtained in replicate analyses with a limit of sensitivity of 1 ng/ml in 1 ml of plasma.