Everyday memory deficits in ecstasy-polydrug users.

Recent research suggests that not only does the use of recreational drugs impact on working memory functioning, but more ;everyday' aspects of memory (e.g. remembering to do something in the future) are also affected.

Identification of emissive lanthanide complexes suitable for cellular imaging that resist quenching by endogenous anti-oxidants.

Excited state quenching by urate and ascorbate of selected europium and terbium(III) macrocyclic complexes has been assessed and related to the ease of complex visualisation by optical microscopy inside various living cells, e.g. CHO, COS and NIH 3T3.

Tracking physical activity and sedentary behavior in young children.

Tracking of total physical activity (PA), moderate to vigorous activity (MVPA), and sedentary behavior was assessed in 42 young children (mean age at baseline 3.8 years) over a 2-year period using the Actigraph accelerometer. Tracking was analyzed using Spearman rank correlations, percentage agreements, and kappa statistics.

Emergency department patient satisfaction survey in Alberta's Capital Health region.

In 2005, a large Canadian health region conducted an emergency department patient feedback survey to obtain information on patient perceptions of satisfaction with emergency services received. The Capital Health region is one of nine Alberta Health Authorities, located in the central portion of the province, serving a population of 1.6 million people in metropolitan Edmonton and the surrounding area.

Information processing speed in ecstasy (MDMA) users.

Previous research draws parallels between ecstasy-related and age-related deficits in cognitive functioning. Age-related impairments in working memory have been attributed to a slow down in information processing speed. The present study compared 29 current ecstasy users, 10 previous users and 46 non-users on two tests measuring information processing speed and a computation span task measuring working memory.

Parental feeding style, energy intake and weight status in young Scottish children.

Parental feeding style, as measured by the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ), may be an important influence on child feeding behaviour and weight status in early to mid childhood, but more evidence on parental feeding style is required from samples outside the USA. We aimed to use the CFQ in a sample of 117 Scottish children (boys n 53, girls n 64 mean age 4.6 (SD 0.

Intravenous nalbuphine 50 microg x kg(-1) is ineffective for opioid-induced pruritus in pediatrics.

Purpose: This investigation evaluated the efficacy of nalbuphine in treating postoperative opioid-induced pruritus (Pr) in pediatric patients.

Methods: After Ethics Board approval, the dual site, tertiary care teaching centre study recruited 212 subjects, age > or = seven years, who received opioid analgesia postoperatively. A modified, self-report colour analogue scale (CAS) scored pruritus intensity (PrI).

Monitoring of Physical Activity in Young Children: How Much Is Enough?

There is limited evidence on how much and on which days accelerometry monitoring should be performed to obtain a representative measurement of physical activity (PA) in young children. We measured 76 children (40 M and 36 F, mean age 5.6 years ([SD ± 0.

Intravenous nalbuphine 50 µg·kg(-1) is ineffective for opioid-induced pruritus in pediatrics.

Purpose: This investigation evaluated the efficacy of nalbuphine in treating postoperative opioid-induced pruritus (Pr) in pediatric patients.

Methods: After Ethics Board approval, the dual site, tertiary care teaching centre study recruited 212 subjects, age ≥ seven years, who received opioid analgesia postoperatively. A modified, self-report colour analogue scale (CAS) scored pruritus intensity (PrI).

'To help them is to educate them': power and pedagogy in the prevention and treatment of malaria in Tanzania.

Objectives: Acknowledging that mothers are often the primary caregivers at the household level, malaria control efforts have emphasized educating women in its early recognition. This fails to consider the context in which knowledge will be transformed into action, as women lack decision-making responsibility and financial resources. We examine the knowledge and power dynamics of provider-patient interactions and the implications for malaria treatment of educating mothers during consultations.

Physical activity to prevent obesity in young children: cluster randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To assess whether a physical activity intervention reduces body mass index in young children.

Design: Cluster randomised controlled single blinded trial over 12 months.

Setting: Thirty six nurseries in Glasgow, Scotland.

The effects of concurrent cannabis use among ecstasy users: neuroprotective or neurotoxic?

The research evidence regarding the potential effects of ecstasy suggests that it may be neurotoxic and that its use is associated with cognitive impairment. In recent years evidence has emerged suggesting that cannabinoids, the active ingredients in cannabis, can be neuroprotective under certain conditions. Given that many ecstasy users also consume cannabis at the same time, the possibility emerges that these individuals might be less susceptible to ecstasy-related impairment.

In vitro modulation of cytokine expression by enkephalin-derived peptides.

Objective: We have previously reported that low doses of [Met(5)]-enkephalin (YGGFM, met-enkephalin) and two of its derivatives (YGG and YG) enhanced and accelerated delayed-type hypersensitivity responses while much higher doses of these compounds suppressed these reactions. Since the underlying mechanisms by which this and other immunomodulatory effects occur have not been established, this report explores the in vitro modulation of Th1 and Th2 cytokine expression by these peptides.

Methods: Murine splenocytes were stimulated with suboptimal concentrations of concanavalin A (ConA) in serum-free medium in the absence or presence of met-enkephalin, YGG, YG, [des-Tyr(1)]-met-enkephalin (GGFM), [D-Ala(2)], [D-Met(5)]-enkephalin or tyrosine (Y).

Perioperative pain management education: a short structured regional anesthesia course compared with traditional teaching among medical students.

Background And Objectives: Previous research has demonstrated that a brief course on pain management improved knowledge and attitudes toward analgesic use among medical students. The purpose of this study is to compare a structured clinical instruction course on regional anesthesia techniques for perioperative pain management with traditional teaching given to senior medical students.

Methods: During a 1-month clerkship in anesthesiology, 40 fourth-year medical students were randomly and equally divided into 2 groups.

Men's involvement in the South African family: engendering change in the AIDS era.

The literature on the South African family and its response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic is rife with accounts of men that reflect a deficit model of male involvement. Few acknowledge the historical, economic and social complexities of male involvement in family life. As the South African family undergoes demographic, social and economic transformation there is a need to describe the range of roles played by all household members, including men.

Auditory backward masking deficits in children with reading disabilities.

Studies evaluating temporal auditory processing among individuals with reading and other language deficits have yielded inconsistent findings due to methodological problems () and sample differences. In the current study, seven auditory masking thresholds were measured in fifty-two 7- to 10-year-old children (26 diagnosed with reading disability [RD], 26 without reading disability). Hierarchic multiple regression analyses indicated that RD status predicted performance only in the backward-bandpass noise (p<.

Effect of socioeconomic status on objectively measured physical activity.

Background: A socioeconomic gradient in childhood obesity is known to be present by the age of school entry in the UK. The origin of this gradient is unclear at present, but must lie in socioeconomic differences in habitual physical activity, sedentary behaviour, or dietary intake.

Aims: To test the hypothesis that habitual physical activity and/or sedentary behaviour are associated with socioeconomic status (SES) in young Scottish children.

Staphylococcus aureus sepsis and the Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome in children.

Staphylococcus aureus has increasingly been recognized as a cause of severe invasive illness. We describe three children who died at our institution after rapidly progressive clinical deterioration from this infection, with necrotizing pneumonia and multiple-organ-system involvement. The identification of bilateral adrenal hemorrhage at autopsy was characteristic of the Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome, a constellation of findings usually associated with fulminant meningococcemia.

VGF ablation blocks the development of hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia in several mouse models of obesity.

Targeted deletion of the gene encoding the neuronal and endocrine secreted peptide precursor called VGF (nonacronymic) produces a lean, hypermetabolic, hyperactive mouse. Because VGF mutant mice are resistant to specific forms of diet-, lesion-, and genetically induced obesity, we investigated the role that this polypeptide plays in glucose homeostasis. We report that VGF mutant mice have increased insulin sensitivity by hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp analysis, and by insulin and glucose tolerance testing.

Changes in attitudes about importance of and willingness to pay for salmon recovery in Oregon.

Salmon are perhaps the quintessential icon of the Pacific Northwest, affecting the region's culture, politics, and economy. The importance Oregonians place on salmon recovery and their willingness to pay for salmon recovery efforts was assessed biennially between 1996 and 2002 through the Oregon Population Survey. Based on these data, we found that Oregonians appear to have become less supportive toward salmon recovery and salmon recovery efforts over that time period; they were less likely to say salmon recovery is important and chose lower willingness to pay responses in 2002 than in 1996.

Prenatal and congenital syphilis in British Columbia.

Objective: To describe the incidence of maternal syphilis and the corresponding rate of infection in exposed neonates in British Columbia before and after a serious outbreak of infectious syphilis in the heterosexual population.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of pregnant women with positive syphilis serology and reported cases of congenital syphilis in British Columbia from 1994 to 2003. Clinical charts were reviewed for demographic information, staging of maternal syphilis, and stage of pregnancy when treatment was received.

Porous tin oxide nanostructured microspheres for sensor applications.

We have sought to enhance the sensitivity of conductometric gas microsensors through the design and fabrication of porous, three-dimensional tin oxide nanoparticle structures. Electrostatically controlled layer-by-layer processing in aqueous solutions was used to decorate sacrificial latex microspheres with Sb:SnO2 nanoparticles. To evaluate their sensing performance, these structures were then deposited as films, via micropipetting, on MEMS micro-hot-plate platforms with interdigitated electrodes.

Reasoning deficits in ecstasy (MDMA) polydrug users.

Rationale/objectives: Previous research has shown that ecstasy users are impaired in thinking and reasoning. The present study sought to explore the possibility that syllogistic reasoning errors in ecstasy users were due to an inability to construct a model of the premises due to working memory limitations.

Methods: Twenty-nine ecstasy users and 25 nonecstasy user controls completed abstract syllogistic reasoning problems varying in difficulty.

The differential effects of ecstasy/polydrug use on executive components: shifting, inhibition, updating and access to semantic memory.

Rationale/objectives: Recent theoretical models suggest that the central executive may not be a unified structure. The present study explored the nature of central executive deficits in ecstasy users.

Methods: In study 1, 27 ecstasy users and 34 non-users were assessed using tasks to tap memory updating (computation span; letter updating) and access to long-term memory (a semantic fluency test and the Chicago Word Fluency Test).