Substance use among pregnant women in NSW prisons.

Introduction And Aims: Little is published about pregnant women in custody. Existing data on the prevalence of substance use among incarcerated pregnant women or their needs are scant. This study sought to determine the prevalence and characteristics of women with substance use histories who present to prison pregnant in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Alcohol relapse prevention health care after alcohol withdrawal in New South Wales prisons, Australia: A patient file review.

Introduction: People who enter custody have complex health issues and comorbidities may include alcohol use disorders. We investigated clinical service provision and comorbidities recorded among individuals with a likely alcohol withdrawal syndrome within prison in New South Wales, Australia.

Methods: For this clinical case series review, electronic medical data were used to identify 50 people entering custody between August and November 2018 who likely had a treated alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

Health and correctional staff acceptability of depot buprenorphine in NSW prisons.

Background: Provision of opioid agonist treatment (OAT) in custodial settings is resource-intensive and may be associated with diversion, non-medical use, and violence. A clinical trial of a new OAT, depot buprenorphine (the UNLOC-T study), provided the opportunity to obtain health and correctional staff perspectives regarding this treatment prior to widespread roll-out.

Methods: Sixteen focus groups with 52 participants were conducted, including 44 health staff (nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, and operational staff) and eight correctional staff.

Treatment of opioid dependence with depot buprenorphine (CAM2038) in custodial settings.

Background And Aims: Opioid agonist treatment is effective but resource intensive to administer safely in custodial settings, leading to significant under-treatment of opioid dependence in these settings world-wide. This study assessed the safety of subcutaneous slow-release depot buprenorphine in custody.

Design: Open-label, non-randomized trial.

Combined Electric and Acoustic Stimulation (EAS) in Children: Investigating Benefit Afforded by Bilateral Versus Unilateral Acoustic Hearing.

Purpose: Electric and acoustic stimulation (EAS) with preserved hearing in the implanted ear provides benefit for speech understanding, spatial hearing, and quality of life in adults. However, there is limited research on EAS outcomes in children. The aims of this study were to estimate the magnitude of EAS-related benefit on speech understanding in children with preserved acoustic hearing and to determine what role acoustic interaural time difference (ITD) sensitivity may have on said EAS benefit.

Feasibility and acceptability of take-home naloxone for people released from prison in New South Wales, Australia.

Introduction And Aims: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of a take-home naloxone program for people with a history of opioid use released from prison in New South Wales, Australia.

Design And Methods: Cross-sectional interviews with people with a history of opioid use who were recently released from prison (n = 105), and semi-structured interviews with key clinical and operational staff of Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network and Corrective Services NSW (n = 9).

Results: Among people with a history of opioid use who had recently left prison, there was very high awareness of the elevated risk of overdose following release from prison (95%) and the potential for naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose (97%).

Effect of Microphone Configuration and Sound Source Location on Speech Recognition for Adult Cochlear Implant Users with Current-Generation Sound Processors.

Background: Microphone location has been shown to influence speech recognition with a microphone placed at the entrance to the ear canal yielding higher levels of speech recognition than top-of-the-pinna placement. Although this work is currently influencing cochlear implant programming practices, prior studies were completed with previous-generation microphone and sound processor technology. Consequently, the applicability of prior studies to current clinical practice is unclear.

Intraoperative Electrically Evoked Compound Action Potential (ECAP) Measurements in Traditional and Hearing Preservation Cochlear Implantation.

Background: In current practice, the status of residual low-frequency acoustic hearing in hearing preservation cochlear implantation (CI) is unknown until activation two to three weeks postoperatively. The intraoperatively measured electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP), a synchronous response from electrically stimulated auditory nerve fibers, is one of the first markers of auditory nerve function after cochlear implant surgery and such may provide information regarding the status of residual low-frequency acoustic hearing.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between intraoperative ECAP at the time of CI and presence of preoperative and postoperative low-frequency acoustic hearing.

Determination of ochratoxin A in cocoa beans using immunoaffinity column cleanup with high-performance liquid chromatography.

A method was developed and validated for the determination of ochratoxin A (OTA), a fungal metabolite, in cocoa beans of high fat content. The sample was extracted by blending with a 1% sodium bicarbonate solution (pH 10) followed by ultrasonication, and the sample was defatted by treatment with a flocculant. The defatted sample was purified using immunoaffinity column chromatography, and OTA was detected using HPLC with fluorescence detection.

The quality of life of elderly women who underwent radiofrequency ablation to treat breast cancer.

The purpose of this article is to explore the effects of radiofrequency ablation (RFA), an investigational treatment for breast cancer, on the quality of life of elderly women. For this descriptive phenomenological study, the authors interviewed 12 White women (aged 60-81 years) 4 months to 1 year after treatment and analyzed these interviews for common themes. They asked questions regarding the lived experience of RFA treatment and its effects on quality of life.

Quality of life of patients who have undergone the Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum: Preliminary findings.

Background/purpose: The current project is a preliminary qualitative exploration of changes in quality of life of patients who have undergone the Nuss Procedure. The current study explores quality of life after surgical repair from the perspectives of both the patients and the parent(s) of the younger participants.

Methods: This research constitutes the first segment in a mixed-method longitudinal design.