Allylation and Thermosetting of Acetosolv Wheat Straw Lignin.

The acetosolv extraction, allylation and subsequent cross-linking of wheat straw lignin to thermoset biomaterials is herein described. The extraction temperature proved to be of great importance for the quality of the resulting lignin, with moderate temperature being key for preservation of β-O-4' linkages. The allylation of the acetosolv lignin was carried out using three different synthetic strategies, resulting in selective installation of either benzylic or phenolic allyl ethers, or unselective allylation of various hydroxyl groups via etherification and carboxyallylation.

An Asynchronous Curriculum to Address Substance Use Disorder Training Needs for Medical and Surgical Residents.

Developing substance use (SU) skills in medical training remains a challenge. Residents in teaching hospitals bear a large burden in managing SU sequelae and often lack support. Preventive and addiction medicine faculty defined broadly applicable core knowledge and skills for residents across specialties in a tertiary care center.

Engaging health professional students in substance abuse research: development and early evaluation of the SARET program.

Objective: There is a need to build the ranks of health care professionals engaged in substance abuse (SA)-focused clinical research. The authors simultaneously developed and evaluated SARET, the Substance Abuse Research Education and Training program. The fundamental goal of this interprofessional program is to stimulate medical, dental, and nursing student interest and experience in SA research.

Buprenorphine-naloxone maintenance following release from jail.

Primary care is understudied as a reentry drug and alcohol treatment setting. This study compared treatment retention and opioid misuse among opioid-dependent adults seeking buprenorphine/naloxone maintenance in an urban primary care clinic following release from jail versus community referrals. Postrelease patients were either (a) induced to buprenorphine in-jail as part of a clinical trial, or (b) seeking buprenorphine induction post release.

Undergraduate medical education in substance abuse: a review of the quality of the literature.

Purpose: To prepare to develop a medical school curriculum on substance abuse disorders (SADs), the authors conducted a review of the quality of the sparse published literature.

Method: The authors searched MEDLINE (1950 through December 2008) using OVID, PsycINFO, and PubMed to identify all studies of SAD interventions targeted toward undergraduate medical students. Of the 1,084 studies identified initially, 31 reported sufficient data to allow the authors to evaluate quality using Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) scores.

Teaching physicians to address unhealthy alcohol use: a randomized controlled trial assessing the effect of a Web-based module on medical student performance.

Background: The authors developed and evaluated an interactive, Web-based module to train medical students in screening and brief intervention (SBI) for unhealthy alcohol use.

Methods: First-year students were randomized to module versus lecture. Change in knowledge, attitudes, and confidence were compared.

Keep on track: a volunteer-run community-based intervention to lower blood pressure in older adults.

Uncontrolled hypertension in older adults is a common yet preventable threat to healthy aging. Improvements in blood pressure (BP) control and related health outcomes require innovative approaches that reach beyond the clinical environment. Keep on Track (KOT), a volunteer-run, community-based BP-monitoring program that aims to lower BP of community-dwelling older adults through senior center programming, is described and evaluated.

New measures to establish the evidence base for medical education: identifying educationally sensitive patient outcomes.

Researchers lack the rich evidence base and benchmark patient outcomes needed to evaluate the effectiveness of medical education practice and guide policy. The authors offer a framework for medical education research that focuses on physician-influenced patient outcomes that are potentially sensitive to medical education. Adapting the concept of ambulatory care sensitive conditions, which provided traction to health services research by defining benchmark patient outcomes to measure health system performance, the authors introduce the concept and propose the adoption of educationally sensitive patient outcomes and suggest two measures: patient activation and clinical microsystem activation.

Extended-release naltrexone for treatment of alcohol dependence in primary care.

The feasibility of using extended-release injectable naltrexone (XR-NTX) to treat alcohol dependence in routine primary care settings is unknown. An open-label, observational cohort study evaluated 3-month treatment retention, patient satisfaction, and alcohol use among alcohol-dependent patients in two urban public hospital medical clinics. Adults seeking treatment were offered monthly medical management (MM) and three XR-NTX injections (380 mg, intramuscular).

Working with patients with alcohol problems: a controlled trial of the impact of a rich media web module on medical student performance.

Introduction/aims: We designed an interactive web module to improve medical student competence in screening and interventions for hazardous drinking. We assessed its impact on performance with a standardized patient (SP) vs. traditional lecture.

The reliability of a self-reported measure of disease, impairment, and function in persons with spinal cord dysfunction.

Objective: To develop a self-report instrument that would provide information about the different levels of the disablement process, and that (1) was suitable for persons with spinal cord disease (SCD), (2) could be completed quickly, (3) could be mailed, (4) had acceptable reliability, and (5) would be clinically useful.

Study Design: Test-retest using a convenience sample.

Methods: Review of the literature and an expert panel were used to develop the instrument.

Primary structure and tissue-specific expression of blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) metallothionein isoforms.

In aquatic animals, synthesis of the metal-binding protein metallothionein (MT) can be induced through exposure to elevated levels of metals in food or water. Whether the different routes of exposure lead to expression of different metallothionein isoforms in different tissues in unknown. In this study we examined the induction of metallothionein isoforms in the hepatopancreas and gills of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus.