Modeling of fiber-optic fluorescence probes for strongly absorbing samples.

The dynamic range of fiber-optic fluorescent probes such as single fibers and fiber bundles is calculated for strongly absorbing samples, such as process liquids, foodstuffs, and lubricants. The model assumes an excitation beam profile based on a Lambertian light source and uses analytical forms of the collection efficiency, followed by an Abel transformation and numerical integration. It is found that the effect of primary absorption of the excitation light and secondary absorption of the fluorescence is profound.

Web-based alcohol intervention for Māori university students: double-blind, multi-site randomized controlled trial.

Aims: Like many indigenous peoples, New Zealand Māori bear a heavy burden of alcohol-related harm relative to their non-indigenous compatriots, and disparities are greatest among young adults. We tested the effectiveness of web-based alcohol screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) for reducing hazardous drinking among Māori university students.

Design: Parallel, double-blind, multi-site, randomized controlled trial.

Hyperfractionated radiotherapy with concurrent cisplatin/5-Fluorouracil for locoregional advanced head and neck cancer: analysis of 105 consecutive patients.

Objective. We reviewed a cohort of patients with previously untreated locoregional advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) who received a uniform chemoradiotherapy regimen. Methods.

NMDA antagonist MK801 recreates auditory electrophysiology disruption present in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Autism is a highly disabling neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social deficits, language impairment, and repetitive behaviors. There are few effective biological treatments for this disorder, partly due to the lack of translational biomarkers. However, recent data suggest that autism has reliable electrophysiological endophenotypes, along with evidence that some deficits may be caused by NMDA receptor (NMDAR) dysfunction.

Tests of correlation between immediate postoperative gastroduodenal transit times and weight loss after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Background: Previous studies have shown accelerated gastric emptying after sleeve gastrectomy. This study aimed to determine whether a correlation exists between immediate postoperative gastroduodenal transit time and weight loss after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Specifically, correlation tests were conducted to determine whether more rapid transit after LSG correlated with increased weight loss.

Subchronic ketamine treatment leads to permanent changes in EEG, cognition and the astrocytic glutamate transporter EAAT2 in mice.

Ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist with psychotomimetic, dissociative, amnestic and euphoric effects. When chronically abused, ketamine users display deficits in cognition and information processing, even following long-term abstinence from the drug. While animal studies have shown evidence of behavioral changes and cognitive deficits that mimic those seen in humans within the period immediately following subchronic ketamine, a few animal studies have assessed long-term changes following cessation of ketamine exposure.

Membrane bioreactor treatment of commonly used organophosphate pesticides.

Five pesticide formulations registered for use in Canada containing organophosphate-insecticide active ingredients azinphos-methyl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, malathion and phorate were subjected to treatment by membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology. The target active ingredients were introduced to the MBR at ppm level concentrations. The biodegradation of these compounds was analyzed daily using selected ion monitoring gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS-SIM) following extraction of the analytes using solid-phase extraction (SPE).

Automated generation of turn mimetics: proof of concept study for the MC4 receptor.

An algorithm has been devised for the automatic design of peptide turn mimetics, particularly applicable to peptide-activated GPCRs. The method is based on flexible alignments using a new design paradigm and scoring system that aims to reduce the molecular weight of the compound and preferentially lead to drug like molecules. The process can be applied either as a de novo design or a virtual screening tool.

Where do young men want to access STI screening? A stratified random probability sample survey of young men in Great Britain.

Objectives: Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in UK young people remain high in men and women. However, the National Chlamydia Screening Programme has had limited success in reaching men. The authors explored the acceptability of various medical, recreational and sports venues as settings to access self-collected testing kits for STIs and HIV among men in the general population and those who participate in sport.

Enhancing the ICD system in recording alcohol's involvement in disease and injury.

Among the tasks facing those who code alcohol-related disorders in an international classification of disease are an examination of the multiple places in which the involvement of alcohol and other psychoactive substances (and their associated disorders) are captured and finding out how this can be optimized for clinical and epidemiological purposes. It is important to adjust the current coding system so that the involvement of alcohol in injuries is routinely recorded. The suggestions by Touquet and Harris (2012) for enhancing the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) system are valuable input for this process, pointing to the importance of codes that can be used in the emergency-department environment both for capturing alcohol's involvement and to point to the necessary therapeutic response.

Nicotine normalizes event related potentials in COMT-Val-tg mice and increases gamma and theta spectral density.

Regulation of dopamine neurotransmission is essential for cognitive processes. In humans and rodents, the relationship between dopamine signaling and cognitive performance is described as a dose-dependent, inverted-U curve whereby excess or insufficiency of dopamine in prefrontal cortex has detrimental effects. Previous studies have indicated that prefrontal dopamine levels are associated with genetic variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), a regulatory enzyme that controls dopamine availability.

Comparison of acute toxicities in two primary chemoradiation regimens in the treatment of advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: The optimal dosage and frequency of platinum-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) regimen for treating advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma remains unresolved. This study aims to compare the toxicity and efficacy of weekly versus more dose-intensive cisplatin-based CRTs.

Methods: We reviewed 155 stage III/IV head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients with no evidence of distant metastasis treated with one of two CRT regimens from 2000 to 2010 at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

NMDA antagonists recreate signal-to-noise ratio and timing perturbations present in schizophrenia.

Rationale: There is increasing evidence that functional deficits in schizophrenia may be driven by a reduction in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and consistent timing of neural signals. This study examined the extent to which exposure to the NMDA receptor antagonists ketamine and MK801, frequently used pharmacological models of schizophrenia, recreate deficits in electrophysiological markers of disturbed brain circuits that are thought to underlie the illness. Furthermore, this study characterizes the specificity of these differences across the frequency spectrum so as to help identify the nature of selective circuit abnormalities that mediate each oscillatory response as relevant to schizophrenia.

Safety of hepatic resections in obese veterans.

Objective: To determine the effects of body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) on outcomes after liver resection performed at Veterans Affairs medical centers.

Design, Setting, And Patients: We queried the Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program database for liver resections (2005-2008) and grouped the patients into 5 BMI categories: normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.

Evidence-based guidelines for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders in low- and middle-income countries: summary of WHO recommendations.

Shekhar Saxena and colleagues summarize the recent WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) intervention guide that provides evidence-based management recommendations for mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders.

Bringing back Aristotle.

Ethical analysis in medicine has been dominated by an approach derived from "the four principles" which focus on actions. By contrast, consideration of the virtues emphasises the importance of the moral agent. A renewed emphasis on virtue ethics, not as a rival, but integrated into deontological ethics is proposed.

Reduced parenteral nutrition requirements following anastomosis of a short residual colonic segment to a short jejunum.

A 22-year-old man suffered an acute small bowel infarct leading to extensive bowel resection, resulting in only 20 cm of jejunum to a jejunostomy, although he also had 50 cm of residual colon with a mucous fistula. The patient was out on long-term home parenteral nutrition (PN) but endured high stomal losses of 5-6 L per day and, despite all conventional measures, required 6.1 L of fluid (including PN) and 555 mmol sodium per day.

Efficient screening of cytochrome P450 BM3 mutants for their metabolic activity and diversity toward a wide set of drug-like molecules in chemical space.

In the present study, the diversity of a library of drug-metabolizing bacterial cytochrome P450 (P450) BM3 mutants was evaluated by a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based screening method. A strategy was designed to identify a minimal set of BM3 mutants that displays differences in regio- and stereoselectivities and is suitable to metabolize a large fraction of drug chemistry space. We first screened the activities of six structurally diverse BM3 mutants toward a library of 43 marketed drugs (encompassing a wide range of human P450 phenotypes, cLogP values, charges, and molecular weights) using a rapid LC-MS method with an automated method development and data-processing system.

The DrugCheck Problem List: a new screen for substance use disorders in people with psychosis.

Despite considerable recent interest in the issue of comorbid substance use disorders in people with serious mental illness, there remains a need to refine approaches to screening. This paper describes the development and testing of a new screen for substance-related comorbidity, the 12-item DrugCheck Problem List (PL). Exploratory factor analysis with inpatient samples suggested a single-factor structure, although confirmatory factor analysis in a further sample found similar fit from a two-factor model.

Percutaneous treatment of thoracic duct injuries.

Background: Major thoracic or neck surgery or penetrating trauma can cause injury to the thoracic duct and development of a chylothorax. Chylothorax results in metabolic and immunologic disorders that can be life threatening, with a mortality rate reaching 50%. The management of chyle leaks is dependent on the etiology and daily output.

Transoral robotic surgery of the vocal cord.

The standard endoscopic surgical approach in the management of laryngeal lesions is by the use of a laryngoscope, microscope, and laser. This requires the surgeon to work within the confines of the laryngoscope. At times, it requires repositioning of the laryngoscope and microscope to gain access to a specific area.