Peer support and online cognitive behavioural therapy for substance use concerns: protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Hazardous alcohol and drug use is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality and societal cost worldwide. Yet, only a minority of those struggling with substance use concerns receive specialised services. Numerous barriers to care exist, highlighting the need for scalable and engaging treatment alternatives.

Abdominal Ultrasound Assists the Diagnosis and Management of Necrotizing Enterocolitis.

Background: Abdominal x-ray (KUB) routinely aids in detecting necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), one of the most serious neonatal intestinal diseases. However, a KUB may miss up to 50% of the early signs of NEC. Recent advances in abdominal ultrasound (AUS) can expedite this diagnosis and improve clinical management.

The revised Approved Instructional Resources score: An improved quality evaluation tool for online educational resources.

Background: Free Open-Access Medical education (FOAM) use among residents continues to rise. However, it often lacks quality assurance processes and residents receive little guidance on quality assessment. The Academic Life in Emergency Medicine Approved Instructional Resources tool (AAT) was created for FOAM appraisal by and for expert educators and has demonstrated validity in this context.

Attributable fractions for substance use in relation to crime.

Aims: Building upon an existing methodology and conceptual framework for estimating the association between the use of substances and crime, we calculated attributable fractions that estimate the proportion of crimes explained by alcohol and six other categories of psychoactive substances.

Design: Cross-sectional surveys.

Setting: Canadian federal correctional institutions.

Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of the Breaking Free Online Health and Justice program for substance misuse in prison settings.

Background: Substance misuse, including problematic drug and alcohol use, are significant issues in society that can have multiple detrimental effects. Many people access support for their substance misuse during prison sentences, due to the associations between substance misuse and offending, and the high proportion of the prison population who have drug and alcohol issues. Breaking Free Online Health and Justice is a computer-assisted therapy program that has been developed to support substance-involved offenders to address their substance misuse and associated offending within prison settings.

Mental Disorder Symptoms among Public Safety Personnel in Canada.

Background: Canadian public safety personnel (PSP; e.g., correctional workers, dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics, police officers) are exposed to potentially traumatic events as a function of their work.

The effect of a decaffeinated green tea extract formula on fat oxidation, body composition and exercise performance.

Background: The cardio-metabolic and antioxidant health benefits of caffeinated green tea (GT) relate to its catechin polyphenol content. Less is known about decaffeinated extracts, particularly in combination with exercise. The aim of this study was therefore to determine whether a decaffeinated green tea extract (dGTE) positively influenced fat oxidation, body composition and exercise performance in recreationally active participants.

Hypermobility and musculoskeletal pain in children: a systematic review.

Objective: To examine the evidence of an association between hypermobility and musculoskeletal pain in children.

Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed using the databases PubMed, EMBASE, NHS Evidence, and Medline. Inclusion criteria were observational studies investigating hypermobility and musculoskeletal pain in children.

Effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis.

To date, there has been inconclusive evidence regarding the effect of magnesium supplements on blood pressure (BP). This meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effect of magnesium supplementation on BP and to establish the characteristics of trials showing the largest effect size. Primary outcome measures were systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at the end of the follow-up period.

Conducting research with racial/ethnic minorities: methodological lessons from the NIDA Clinical Trials Network.

Background: Multiple studies in the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network (CTN) demonstrate strategies for conducting effective substance abuse treatment research with racial/ethnic minorities (REMs).

Objectives: The objectives of this article are to describe lessons learned within the CTN to (1) enhance recruitment, retention, and other outcomes; (2) assess measurement equivalence; and (3) use data analytic plans that yield more information.

Method: This article includes background information and examples from multiple CTN studies on inclusion, measurement, and data analysis.

Predictors of substance use among black urban adolescents with asthma: a longitudinal assessment.

The physical and psychological consequences of asthma, a chronic respiratory disease disproportionately affecting black urban adolescents, may be amplified by substance use, yet studies have not assessed rates or predictors of substance use in this at-risk population. Therefore, this study examined rates of substance use and mental health/ asthma-related predictors of use among 110 black urban adolescents with asthma. Participants completed study questionnaires at baseline and 11 to 14 months post baseline.

Spirituality and religiosity in urban adolescents with asthma.

Predictors of multiple dimensions of spirituality/religiosity (S/R) and adolescents' preferences for having S/R (e.g., prayer) addressed in hypothetical medical settings were assessed in a sample of urban adolescents with asthma.

Irinotecan therapy and molecular targets in colorectal cancer: a systemic review.

Irinotecan is the second line chemotherapy for advanced stage colorectal cancer (CRC) after failure of first line chemotherapy with oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil. The aim of this review is to analyse the data on irinotecan as second line chemotherapy for advanced CRC and the potential roles of the molecular markers, p53 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the management of advanced CRC. Thus, the English literature from 1980 to 2008 concerning irinotecan, p53, VEGF and CRC was reviewed.

Green schools: strengthening our economy by investing in our children.

An architect looks at the history of school design and construction in the United States, which by 2008 had approximately 97,000 public schools holding 54.3 million students and five million teachers. About 73 percent of the schools were built prior to 1969.

Recurrent community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections among HIV-infected persons: incidence and risk factors.

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections are well described among the general population, but little is known regarding the incidence of and predictors for recurrent CA-MRSA infections among HIV-infected persons. We retrospectively evaluated HIV-infected patients seen at the Naval Medical Center San Diego from January 1, 2000 to June 30, 2007 for wound culture-proven MRSA infections defined as community-associated based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria. Data on skin/soft tissue infections (SSTIs) following an initial CA-MRSA infection were collected by review of medical records and culture results.

Syphilitic hepatitis among HIV-infected patients.

Syphilis is an important public health issue and continues to occur at high rates among HIV-infected patients. Although abnormal liver function tests are common among HIV-infected persons, the incidence of syphilitic hepatitis in this population is currently unknown. We present two cases of syphilitic hepatitis and performed a retrospective study to determine the incidence of hepatitis during early syphilis infections among HIV-infected persons.

Review: thromboses among HIV-infected patients during the highly active antiretroviral therapy era.

Venous thrombotic events (VTEs) may occur at higher rates among patients with HIV; some studies suggest that highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) may increase the risk for these potentially life-threatening events. We performed a retrospective study among patients with HIV to evaluate the incidence and risk factors for VTEs during the HAART era. A literature review was performed examining VTEs in the pre- and post-HAART eras.

Appendicitis in HIV-infected patients during the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Limited studies have suggested increased incidence rates and unusual clinical presentations of appendicitis among HIV-infected patients during the pre-highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. Data in the HAART era are sparse, and no study has evaluated potential HIV-related risk factors for the development of appendicitis.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 449 HIV-infected patients receiving care at a US Naval hospital involving 4750 person-years (PY) of follow-up.

Preventing HIV transmission among Iranian prisoners: initial support for providing education on the benefits of harm reduction practices.

Background: Harm reduction is a health-centred approach that seeks to reduce the health and social harms associated with high-risk behaviors, such as illicit drug use. The objective of this study is to determine the association between the beliefs of a group of adult, male prisoners in Iran about the transmission of HIV and their high-risk practices while in prison.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2004.

Scintigraphic evaluation of the stifle in normal horses and horses with forelimb lameness.

We tested the hypotheses that mature horses without lameness have a repeatable radiopharmaceutical uptake pattern in the stifle, which is bilaterally symmetric; immature horses have a different radiopharmaceutical uptake pattern; and forelimb lameness alters the radiopharmaceutical uptake pattern in the stifle. The objectives of the study were to describe the normal radiopharmaceutical uptake patterns using region of interest (ROI) analysis; to compare uptake patterns between left and right stifles of the same horse and between mature and immature horses; to compare radiopharmaceutical uptake in mature normal horses with those with forelimb lameness. Lateral scintigraphic images of the stifle from 51 horses aged 2-16 years were evaluated using seven ROIs and a reference site (midfemur).

Scintigraphic evaluation of the proximal metacarpal and metatarsal regions of horses with proximal suspensory desmitis.

The aim of the study was to characterize radiopharmaceutical uptake patterns in horses with clinical and ultrasonographic evidence of proximal suspensory desmitis. It was hypothesized that radiopharmaceutical uptake in the proximal palmar (plantar) aspect of the third metacarpal (metatarsal) bone would be greater in lame limbs of horses with proximal suspensory desmitis than in sound limbs and that there would be a positive correlation between the severity of ultrasonographic abnormalities and the degree of radiopharmaceutical uptake. Nuclear scintigraphic evaluation of the proximal metacarpal or metatarsal regions of 126 horses with ultrasonographic evidence of proximal suspensory desmitis was performed.