Effectiveness of distraction-based interventions for relieving anxiety, fear, and pain in hospitalized children during venous blood sampling: a systematic review protocol.

Objective: The aim of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of active compared with passive distraction-based interventions for relieving anxiety, fear, and pain in hospitalized preschool and school-age children during venous blood sampling.

Introduction: Venous blood sampling remains the most common procedure that causes anxiety, fear, and pain among the pediatric population. It is important that health care professionals relieve a child's pain and the related emotions because untreated pain may have long-term effects on children's growth and development.

Effectiveness of technology-based interventions compared with other non-pharmacological interventions for relieving procedural pain in hospitalized neonates: a systematic review.

Objective: The objective of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of technology-based interventions for relieving procedural pain among hospitalized neonates compared with other non-pharmacological interventions.

Introduction: Neonates who require hospital care often experience acute pain during medical procedures. The current best practice for relieving pain in neonates is the use of non-pharmacological interventions, such as oral solutions or intervention-based human touch.

Chemometrics in Forensic Chemistry - Part III: Quality assessment and interpretation of chemometric output.

The number of samples sent to forensic laboratories as well as the complexity of the drug situation has increased tremendously during recent years. At the same time the amount of data gathered from chemical measurements has been mounting. This creates challenges for forensic chemists: how to handle the data, how to reliably answer the questions asked, and how to examine the data to find new properties or how to disclose connections with respect to source attribution of samples within a case or retrospective to past cases, stored in a database.

The current status of environmental forensic science in the member institutes of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI).

The paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey carried out by The Forensic laboratory of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI-FL), aiming to get an overview of the current status of environmental forensic science (EFS) and environmental crimes investigation in the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI). A questionnaire was sent out to 71 ENFSI member institutes and the response rate was 44%. The results of the survey indicate that the issue of environmental crime is taken seriously in most participating countries, but a need for improvement in the approach to the issue was identified.

Effectiveness of technology-based interventions compared with other non-pharmacological interventions for relieving procedural pain in hospitalized neonates: a systematic review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of technology-based interventions in relieving procedural pain in hospitalized neonates compared with other non-pharmacological interventions.

Introduction: Neonates requiring hospital care often experience acute pain during medical procedures. The current best practice for relieving pain in neonates is the use of non-pharmacological interventions, such as oral solutions or intervention-based human touch.

Illicit drug profiling practices in Finland: An exploratory study about end users' perceptions.

Illicit drug profiling (i.e. chemical and/or physical profiling) to compare and relate illicit drugs samples has been actively used in routine case work at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Finland.

Chemometrics in forensic chemistry - Part II: Standardized applications - Three examples involving illicit drugs.

In the recently published article "Chemometrics in forensic chemistry - Part I: Implications to the forensic workflow" the application of chemometric methods in forensic casework was described. The steps to facilitate standardized chemometric procedures and the availability of chemometric tools such as software and a guideline are under development. Three examples of typical illicit drugs casework, wherein chemometric methods were applied, are presented in the current paper.

Chemometrics in forensic chemistry - Part I: Implications to the forensic workflow.

The forensic literature shows a clear trend towards increasing use of chemometrics (i.e. multivariate analysis and other statistical methods).

First systematic chemical profiling of cocaine police seizures in Finland in the framework of an intelligence-led approach.

For the first time in Finland, the chemical profiling of cocaine specimens was performed at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The main goals were to determine the chemical composition of cocaine specimens sold in the Finnish market and to study the distribution networks of cocaine in order to provide intelligence related to its trafficking. An analytical methodology enabling through one single GC-MS injection the determination of the added cutting agents (adulterants and diluents), the cocaine purity and the chemical profile (based on the major and minor alkaloids) for each specimen was thus implemented and validated.

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for C60 fullerene analysis: optimisation and comparison of three ionisation techniques.

The increasing use and production of nanomaterials have led to growing concern over the release of new pollutants to the environment. Fullerenes have been a subject of intense research, both because of their unique chemistry and because of technological applications. The development of analytical methods to quantify the fullerenes in complex sample matrices is a crucial step in the study of their occurrence and exposure, and thus in risk assessment.

Photochemical reactivity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in conditions representing surface water.

Potential of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to degrade via indirect photolysis in aquatic solution under conditions representing surface water was studied. Globally distributed and bioaccumulative PFOA does not absorb solar radiation by itself, but may be potentially photochemically transformed by the natural sensitizers such as dissolved organic matter (DOM), nitrate or ferric iron. Reaction solutions containing purified water, fulvic acid (representing DOM), nitrate, ferric iron or sea water from the Baltic Sea were spiked with PFOA and irradiated with an artificial sun (290-800 nm).

In vivo and in vitro toxicity of decabromodiphenyl ethane, a flame retardant.

Toxicity of a relative new flame retardant, namely decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE), marketed as an alternative to decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) was assessed both in vivo and in vitro using the freshly separated fish hepatocyte assay and standardized water flea and zebrafish egg-larvae tests. The fish hepatocyte assay, based on the synthesis and secretion of vitellogenin from isolated male liver cells produced a clear dose-response curve in the presence of DBDPE. DBDPE induced the induction of hepatic ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity at low test concentrations, but started to inhibit the activity at higher concentrations.

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of polychlorinated biphenyls using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and atmospheric pressure photoionization microchips.

Gas chromatography (GC) and ion trap mass spectrometry (MS) were combined with microchip atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (microAPCI) and microchip atmospheric pressure photoionization (microAPPI) sources. Selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, IUPAC Nos. 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 180) were analyzed by GC/microAPCI-MS and GC/microAPPI-MS to demonstrate the applicability of the miniaturized ion sources in negative ion mode analysis.

Comparison of toxicity of congener-153 of PCB, PBB, and PBDE to Daphnia magna.

Acute and reproductive toxicity tests were performed to assess the effects of two polybrominated flame retardants, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB)-153, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE)-153, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-153 on Daphnia magna. According to the 24-h acute toxicity test, up to concentration of 210 microg/L, these chemicals were not toxic to Daphnia. In the reproductive tests, we used concentrations of 12.

Effects of atipamezole--a selective alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist--on cardiac parasympathetic regulation in human subjects.

1 This double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled study on six healthy male volunteers was designed to evaluate the effects of alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonism on cardiac parasympathetic regulation. 2 The subjects received atipamezole intravenously as a three-step infusion, which aimed at steady-state serum concentrations of 10, 30 and 90 ng ml(-1) at 50-min intervals. 3 Drug effects were assessed with repeated recordings of blood pressure and electrocardiogram, in which the high-frequency (0.

Pregnancy during the use of levonorgestrel intrauterine system.

Objectives: This study was undertaken to evaluate the pregnancy rate with the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG IUS) and to analyze the outcome of pregnancies with the LNG IUS in situ in regular use.

Study Design: Questionnaires from 17,360 users of the LNG IUS were analyzed. With the consent of women reporting pregnancy during the use of the LNG IUS, related hospital records were reviewed concerning the pregnancies.

Advance information improves user satisfaction with the levonorgestrel intrauterine system.

Objective: To evaluate parameters associated with and the impact of advance information given in a regular outpatient setting on user satisfaction with the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system.

Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 23,885 women in Finland who had had a levonorgestrel intrauterine system inserted between 1990 and 1993. The number of returned questionnaires was 17,914 (response rate 75%).

Sixty thousand woman-years of experience on the levonorgestrel intrauterine system: an epidemiological survey in Finland.

Objective: An epidemiological survey was carried out in Finland to establish the performance of the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) in a large population of women regularly using the system for contraception.

Study Design: All women who had LNG-IUS inserted between 1990 and 1993 were sent a questionnaire with questions about general health status, reproductive and contraceptive history and gynecological problems and a set of questions about their experience on the LNG-IUS.

Results: The women who had a LNG-IUS inserted between April 1990 and December 1993 were asked to participate in an epidemiological survey.

Management of testicular cancer--16 years' experience from southwest Finland.

Objective: This study investigated the outcome of testicular cancer treatment in Finland.

Material And Methods: Data on 88 testicular cancer patients treated in Turku University Central Hospital between 1976 and 1992 were studied to analyse outcome and survival.

Results: The histological diagnosis was seminoma for 39 patients and non-seminoma for 49 patients.

Docetaxel, a promising novel chemotherapeutic agent in advanced breast cancer.

Unlabelled: Clinical practice in chemotherapy of breast cancer is undergoing changes. This study investigated the efficacy and toxicity of docetaxel, a novel chemotherapeutic agent in metastatic breast cancer. Focus was on the effect of the cumulative dose of previous anthracycline treatment on response rate, toxicity and survival in our own patients; published data were reviewed.

Sixty thousand woman-years of experience on the levonorgestrel intrauterine system: an epidemiological survey in Finland.

Objective: An epidemiological survey was carried out in Finland to establish the performance of the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) in a large population of women regularly using the system for contraception.

Study Design: All women who had LNG-IUS inserted between 1990 and 1993 were sent a questionnaire with questions about general health status, reproductive and contraceptive history and gynecological problems and a set of questions about their experience on the LNG-IUS.

Results: The women who had a LNG-IUS inserted between April 1990 and December 1993 were asked to participate in an epidemiological survey.

Prognostic value of the expression of tumor suppressor genes p53, p21, p16 and prb, and Ki-67 labelling in high grade astrocytomas treated with radiotherapy.

Cumulative inactivation of tumor suppressor genes and/or amplification of oncogenes lead to progressively more malignant astrocytic tumors. We have analyzed the significance of tumor suppressor genes p53, p21, p16 and retinoblastoma protein (pRb) and proliferative activity for survival in 77 high grade astrocytic tumors. After operation, the patients--25 anaplastic astrocytomas (AA) and 52 glioblastomas (GBs)--were treated with similar radiotherapy.

Length of use and symptoms associated with premature removal of the levonorgestrel intrauterine system: a nation-wide study of 17,360 users.

Objective: To establish the continuation rates of the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG IUS) and symptoms associated with its premature removal.

Sample And Setting: All women in Finland who had a LNG IUS inserted between April 1990 and December 1993 and whose doctor had filled in and returned a form at the insertion visit. This study population consists of 46% of all the LNG IUSs sold in Finland between 1990 and 1993.

Docetaxel: standard recommended dose of 100 mg/m(2) is effective but not feasible for some metastatic breast cancer patients heavily pretreated with chemotherapy-A phase II single-center study.

Purpose: Patients with metastatic breast cancer, especially those with progression after several prior chemotherapy treatments, need efficient chemotherapy. This study investigates the efficacy and toxicity of docetaxel in metastatic breast cancer patients with previous chemotherapy for metastatic disease.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-one women (median age, 52 years; range, 40 to 65 years) treated for metastatic breast cancer with docetaxel were included.

Pharmacokinetics of oral entacapone after frequent multiple dosing and effects on levodopa disposition.

Objective: Entacapone is a peripherally acting catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor used as an adjunct to each daily levodopa/dopa decarboxylase (DDC) inhibitor dose in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonian patients with advanced disease and motor fluctuations take several doses of levodopa daily, due to the short action of levodopa in this patient population. The present study was conducted in order to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of entacapone after multiple dosing and the pattern of COMT inhibition in erythrocytes during the first day of dosing as well as during steady state.