Assessing Aerobic Fitness Level in Relation to Affective and Behavioral Functioning in Emerging Adult Cannabis Users.

Background: Cannabis use is common amongst emerging adults and increasingly linked to negative mood and neurocognitive performance. Aerobic fitness, however, may be positively linked. Therefore we assess the potential moderating influence of aerobic fitness on affective and behavioral functioning associated with cannabis.

5-HTTLPR Genotype Moderates the Effects of Past Ecstasy Use on Verbal Memory Performance in Adolescent and Emerging Adults: A Pilot Study.

Objective: Ecstasy use is associated with memory deficits. Serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) polymorphisms have been linked with memory function in healthy samples. The present pilot study investigated the influence of 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms on memory performance in ecstasy users, marijuana-using controls, and non-drug-using controls, after a minimum of 7 days of abstinence.

Predictors of Nursing Home Placement from Assisted Living Settings in Canada.

We sought to estimate the incidence of long-term care (LTC) placement and to identify resident- and facility-level predictors of placement among older residents of designated assisted living (AL) facilities in Alberta, Canada. Included were 1,086 AL residents from 59 facilities. Research nurses completed interRAI-AL resident assessments and interviewed family caregivers and administrators.

Dare to delay? The impacts of adolescent alcohol and marijuana use onset on cognition, brain structure, and function.

Throughout the world, drug and alcohol use has a clear adolescent onset (Degenhardt et al., 2008). Alcohol continues to be the most popular drug among teens and emerging adults, with almost a third of 12th graders and 40% of college students reporting recent binge drinking (Johnston et al.

What, why, and how care protocols are implemented in Ontario nursing homes.

The aim of this study was to better understand care protocol implementation, including the influence of organizational-contextual factors on implementation approaches, in long-term care homes operating in Ontario. We surveyed directors of care employed in all 547 Ontario LTC homes, and combined survey data with secondary organizational data on rural/urban location, nursing home size, chain membership, type of ownership, and accreditation status. Motivations for the use/selection of care protocols in nursing homes primarily derived from beliefs in continuous improvement and in evidence-based care.

Spanning the know-do gap: understanding knowledge application and capacity in long-term care homes.

Using a multiple case study design, this article explores the translation process that emerges within Ontario long-term care (LTC) homes with the adoption and implementation of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). Within-organization knowledge translation is referred to as knowledge application. We conducted 28 semi-structured interviews with a range of administrative and care staff within 7 homes differentiated by size, profit status, chain membership, and rural/urban location.

The contingencies of organizational learning in long-term care: factors that affect innovation adoption.

We apply the theoretical frameworks of knowledge transfer and organizational learning, and findings from studies of clinical practice guideline (CPG) implementation in health care, to develop a contingency model of innovation adoption in long-term care (LTC) facilities. Our focus is on a particular type of innovation, CPGs designed to improve the quality of LTC. Our interest in this area is founded on the premise that the ability of LTC organizations to adopt and sustain the use of innovations like CPGs is contingent on the initial capacity these institutions have to learn about them, and on the presence of factors that contribute to capacity building at each stage of innovation adoption.

Assessing guidelines for use in family practice.

With more than 1000 new guidelines produced annually over the past decade, it is impossible for the practicing family physician to determine which ones should be adapted into their clinical practice. The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ontario Medical Association formed the Guideline Advisory Committee (GAC) in 1997 to assess and disseminate guidelines that would improve the quality and utilization of health care services in the province. Over the past 3 years the GAC has developed a strategy to identify important topics, to rank order guidelines published on these topics based on the quality of their development, and to reformat guidelines as necessary to make them user-friendly for implementation in clinical practice.

Effects of propofol, etomidate, and pentobarbital on critical oxygen delivery.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that propofol, etomidate, and pentobarbital increase critical oxygen delivery in a dose-dependent manner during progressive hemorrhage.

Design: Prospective, randomized laboratory investigation.

Setting: University laboratory.

Improvement in cumulative response rates following implementation of a financial incentive.

Risk estimates arising from case-control studies can be unreliable if the level of response to mailed questionnaires is inadequate. Several studies have reported improved early response rates to mailed questionnaires following the implementation of financial incentives. Improvements in cumulative response rates at the completion of the follow-up period, however, have not been as pronounced.

Laparoscopic anatomical (hepatic) left lateral segmentectomy-technical aspects.

Laparoscopic liver surgery is a tremendous challenge. The authors report a left liver lobectomy and removal by a total laparoscopic approach. Anatomical left lateral laparoscopic segmentectomy was performed on a woman who had a symptomatic hepatic adenoma.

Detection of tissue hypoxia by arteriovenous gradient for PCO2 and pH in anesthetized dogs during progressive hemorrhage.

The present study tested the hypothesis that, during acute bleeding, the development of tissue hypoxia might be reflected by an abrupt widening in arteriovenous gradient for PCO2 (AV PCO2) and for pH (AV pH) as accurately as by an increase in blood lactate levels. Twenty-four anesthetized (isoflurane 1.4% end-tidal), paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated dogs submitted to progressive hemorrhage were studied.

Cardiovascular effects of moderate normovolaemic haemodilution during enflurane-nitrous oxide anaesthesia in man.

The cardiovascular effects of mild normovolaemic haemodilution during enflurane-nitrous oxide anaesthesia were studied in 20 patients with normal cardiac function before, during and after total hip replacement. After induction of anaesthesia, patients were randomly allocated to one control group (C), or one haemodiluted group (H) where Hct was decreased to 30% by replacement of blood volume by an identical volume of hydroxyethyl starch 200/05. Each patient was monitored with a pulmonary artery catheter allowing the measurement of right ventricular ejection fraction.

Influence of hematocrit on tissue O2 extraction capabilities during acute hemorrhage.

This study was performed to test the hypothesis that tissue O2 extraction capabilities during hemorrhage may be greater when hematocrit (Hct) is initially reduced. Twenty-four anesthetized and splenectomized dogs were randomly assigned in three groups of eight dogs each: group 1 (Hct 40), 40-45% Hct; group 2 (Hct 30), 30-35% Hct; and group 3 (Hct 20), 20-25% Hct. In each animal, the desired Hct was obtained by normovolemic hemodilution using hydroxyethyl starch 450/0.

Effects of anesthetic agents on systemic critical O2 delivery.

The present study tested the hypothesis that anesthetic agents can alter tissue O2 extraction capabilities in a dog model of progressive hemorrhage. After administration of pentobarbital sodium (25 mg/kg iv) and endotracheal intubation, the dogs were paralyzed with pancuronium bromide, ventilated with room air, and splenectomized. A total of 60 dogs were randomized in 10 groups of 6 dogs each.

Adrenergic support during anesthesia in experimental endotoxin shock: norepinephrine versus dobutamine.

The effects of norepinephrine and dobutamine were compared during endotoxin shock in dogs anesthetized either with enflurane (E: 1.5%, N = 12) or with i.v.

Comparison of halothane, isoflurane, alfentanil, and ketamine in experimental septic shock.

The effects of four commonly used anesthetic agents, halothane, isoflurane, alfentanil, and ketamine, on cardiovascular function and oxygen balance were studied in a dog model of septic shock. After initial pentobarbital administration, the dogs were given Escherichia coli endotoxin (3 mg/kg) and, after 30 min, fluids to restore cardiac filling pressures to baseline levels. This resulted in a low resistance shock in all animals.

Effects of clonidine on anesthetic drug requirements and hemodynamic response during aortic surgery.

The authors studied in a double-blind placebo-controlled study the effects of oral preoperative administration of 5 micrograms/kg clonidine upon the alfentanil and droperidol requirements, hemodynamic lability, distribution of the values of heart rate and blood pressure, and plasma noradrenaline levels, in two groups of ten normotensive patients undergoing infrarenal aortic surgery. The amounts of alfentanil supplementing a standardized continuous infusion, injected to maintain hemodynamic stability, were statistically identical between the groups (P = 0.23).

Determination of right ventricular volumes during aortic surgery.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate right ventricular (RV) preload by measurements of right ventricular volumes during aortic clamping and unclamping. Nine patients (aged 67 +/- 9 years) undergoing infrarenal aortic aneurysmectomy were monitored with a pulmonary artery catheter equipped with a fast-response thermistor, allowing determination of RV volumes by the thermodilution technique. Anesthesia consisted of a continuous infusion of alfentanil and 50% N2O.