Behavioral assessments in Russian addiction treatment inpatients: a comparison of audio computer-assisted self-interviewing and interviewer-administered questionnaires.

Purpose: Assess agreement between reported sex and drug use behaviors from audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) and interviewer-administered questionnaire (IAQ).

Method: Participants (N = 180) enrolled in an HIV intervention trial in Russia completed ACASI and IAQ on the same day. Agreement between responses was evaluated.

Mitigating risky sexual behaviors among Russian narcology hospital patients: the PREVENT (Partnership to Reduce the Epidemic Via Engagement in Narcology Treatment) randomized controlled trial.

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of a sexual risk reduction intervention in the Russian narcology hospital setting.

Design, Setting And Participants: This was a randomized controlled trial from October 2004 to December 2005 among patients with alcohol and/or heroin dependence from two narcology hospitals in St Petersburg, Russia.

Intervention: Intervention subjects received two personalized sexual behavior counseling sessions plus three telephone booster sessions.

Implications of cannabis use and heavy alcohol use on HIV drug risk behaviors in Russian heroin users.

Cannabis and heavy alcohol use potentially increase HIV transmission by increasing risky drug behaviors. We studied 404 subjects entering treatment for heroin dependence, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Gender differences in neurocognitive functioning among alcohol-dependent Russian patients.

Background: There are a limited number of studies that have examined gender differences in the neurocognitive test performances of alcohol-dependent individuals. Those that have been conducted reported that compared with men, women's visuospatial skills, psychomotor speed, and working memory are more profoundly affected by chronic alcohol abuse despite a shorter duration of drinking and a lesser quantity of alcohol consumed.

Methods: The performances of Russian male and female alcoholic and nonalcoholic control subjects were compared on a series of neurocognitive tasks that assess motor speed, visuoperceptual processing, visuospatial processing, decision making, and cognitive flexibility.

Neurocognitive characterizations of Russian heroin addicts without a significant history of other drug use.

Research on the neurocognitive characteristics of heroin addiction is sparse and studies that do exist include polydrug abusers; thus, they are unable to distinguish neurocognitive effects of heroin from those of other drugs. To identify neurocognitive correlates specific to heroin addiction, the present study was conducted in St. Petersburg, Russia where individuals typically abuse and/or become addicted to only one substance, generally alcohol or heroin.

Nonverbal behavior of human addicts: multimetric analysis.

Aims: Ethological approach followed by multimetric statistical analysis was applied to characterize and discriminate alcohol, heroin and dual, alcohol and heroin, dependent subjects.

Design: Heroin, alcohol, and dual dependent patients (n=51) after one month of stabilization of remission and control volunteers (n=34) without a history of significant drug or alcohol use were interviewed and videotaped during the interview by approbation. Nonverbal behavioral cues monitored during the interview were analyzed by means of general linear procedure followed by correlation, factor and discriminant function analyses.

Naltrexone with or without fluoxetine for preventing relapse to heroin addiction in St. Petersburg, Russia.

This randomized placebo-controlled trial tested the efficacy of oral naltrexone with or without fluoxetine for preventing relapse to heroin addiction and for reducing HIV risk, psychiatric symptoms, and outcome. All patients received drug counseling with parental or significant-other involvement to encourage adherence. Patients totaling 414 were approached, 343 gave informed consent, and 280 were randomized (mean age, 23.

Naltrexone for heroin dependence treatment in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Naltrexone may be more effective for treating opioid (heroin) dependence in Russia than in the U.S. because patients are mostly young and living with their parents, who can control medication compliance.

Na2CO3 influence on DNA double helix stability: strong anion destabilizing effect.

Addition of Na(2)CO(3) to almost salt-free DNA solution (5.10(-5)M EDTA, pH=5.7, T(m)=26.