Relationship of serum prolactin with severity of drug use and treatment outcome in cocaine dependence.

RATIONALE: Alteration in serum prolactin (PRL) levels may reflect changes in central dopamine activity, which modulates the behavioral effects of cocaine. Therefore, serum PRL may have a potential role as a biological marker of drug severity and treatment outcome in cocaine dependence. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether serum PRL levels differed between cocaine-dependent (CD) subjects and controls, and whether PRL levels were associated with severity of drug use and treatment outcome in CD subjects. METHODS: Basal PRL concentrations were assayed in 141 African-American (AA) CD patients attending an outpatient treatment program and 60 AA controls. Severity of drug use was assessed using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). Measures of abstinence and retention during 12 weeks of treatment and at 6-month follow-up were employed as outcome variables. RESULTS: The basal PRL (ng/ml) in CD patients (9.28+/-4.13) was significantly higher than controls (7.33+/-2.94) (t=3.77, P\u3c0.01). At baseline, PRL was positively correlated with ASI-drug (r=0.38, P\u3c0.01), ASI-alcohol (r=0.19, P\u3c0.05), and ASI-psychological (r=0.25, P\u3c0.01) composite scores, and with the quantity of cocaine use (r=0.18, P\u3c0.05). However, PRL levels were not significantly associated with number of negative urine screens, days in treatment, number of sessions attended, dropout rate or changes in ASI scores during treatment and at follow-up. Also, basal PRL did not significantly contribute toward the variance in predicting any of the outcome measures. CONCLUSION: Although cocaine use seems to influence PRL levels, it does not appear that PRL is a predictor of treatment outcome in cocaine dependence

“The door will be kept open”. Il 1917 e le relazioni internazionali dell’Asia-Pacifico nella stampa statunitense

The 1917 was the turning point in United States decision of getting into the Great War because of the developments of the European theater. However, during the same year, in the American public opinion the previous tensions with the Empire of Japanese for the Asia-Pacific equilibrium rushed. Economic interests and geopolitical considerations guided US public discourse to the need for a more diplomatic assertiveness in China, to counterbalance a possible Japanese hegemony and to ensure the “open door” in the new republi

Sub-Nyquist Field Trial Using Time Frequency Packed DP-QPSK Super-Channel Within Fixed ITU-T Grid

Sub-Nyquist time frequency packing technique was demonstrated for the first time in a super channel field trial transmission over long-haul distances. The technique allows a limited spectral occupancy even with low order modulation formats. The transmission was successfully performed on a deployed Australian link between Sydney and Melbourne which included 995 km of uncompensated SMF with coexistent traffic. 40 and 100 Gb/s co-propagating channels were transmitted together with the super-channel in a 50 GHz ITU-T grid without additional penalty. The super-channel consisted of eight sub-channels with low-level modulation format, i.e. DP-QPSK, guaranteeing better OSNR robustness and reduced complexity with respect to higher order formats. At the receiver side, coherent detection was used together with iterative maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) detection and decoding. A 975 Gb/s DP-QPSK super-channel was successfully transmitted between Sydney and Melbourne within four 50GHz WSS channels (200 GHz). A maximum potential SE of 5.58 bit/s/Hz was achieved with an OSNR=15.8 dB, comparable to the OSNR of the installed 100 Gb/s channels. The system reliability was proven through long term measurements. In addition, by closing the link in a loop back configuration, a potential SE*d product of 9254 bit/s/Hz*km was achieved

Systematic review of the literature on the clinical effectiveness of the cochlear implant procedure in paediatric patients

The aim of this systematic review of the literature was to summarize the results of scientific publications on the clinical effectiveness of the cochlear implant (CI) procedure in children. The members of the Working Group first examined existing national and international literature and the principal international guidelines on the procedure. They considered as universally-accepted the usefulness/effectiveness of unilateral cochlear implantation in severely-profoundly deaf children. Accordingly, they focused attention on systematic reviews addressing clinical effectiveness and cost/efficacy of the CI procedure, with particular regard to the most controversial issues for which international consensus is lacking. The following aspects were evaluated: post-CI outcomes linked to precocity of CI; bilateral (simultaneous/ sequential) CI vs. unilateral CI and vs. bimodal stimulation; benefits derived from CI in deaf children with associated disabilities. With regard to the outcomes after implantation linked to precocity of intervention, there are few studies comparing post-CI outcomes in children implanted within the first year of life with those of children implanted in the second year. The selected studies suggest that children implanted within the first year of life present hearing and communicative outcomes that are better than those of children implanted after 12 months of age. Concerning children implanted after the first year of life, all studies confirm an advantage with respect to implant precocity, and many document an advantage in children who received cochlear implants under 18 months of age compared to those implanted at a later stage. With regard to bilateral CI, the studies demonstrate that compared to unilateral CI, bilateral CI offers advantages in terms of hearing in noise, sound localization and during hearing in a silent environment. There is, however, a wide range of variability. The studies also document the advantages after sequential bilateral CI. In these cases, a short interval between interventions, precocity of the first CI and precocity of the second CI are considered positive prognostic factors. In deaf children with associated disabilities, the studies analyzed evidence that the CI procedure is also suitable for children with disabilities associated with deafness, and that even these children may benefit from the procedure, even if these may be slower and inferior to those in children with isolated deafness, especially in terms of high communicative and perceptive skills

Experimental Assessment of Cuff Pressures on the Walls of a Trachea-Like Model Using Force Sensing Resistors: Insights for Patient Management in Intensive Care Unit Settings

The COVID-19 outbreak has increased the incidence of tracheal lesions in patients who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation. We measured the pressure exerted by the cuff on the walls of a test bench mimicking the laryngotracheal tract. The test bench was designed to acquire the pressure exerted by endotracheal tube cuffs inflated inside an artificial model of a human trachea. The experimental protocol consisted of measuring pressure values before and after applying a maneuver on two types of endotracheal tubes placed in two mock-ups resembling two different sized tracheal tracts. Increasing pressure values were used to inflate the cuff and the pressures were recorded in two different body positions. The recorded pressure increased proportionally to the input pressure. Moreover, the pressure values measured when using the non-armored (NA) tube were usually higher than those recorded when using the armored (A) tube. A periodic check of the cuff pressure upon changing the body position and/or when performing maneuvers on the tube appears to be necessary to prevent a pressure increase on the tracheal wall. In addition, in our model, the cuff of the A tube gave a more stable output pressure on the tracheal wall than that of the NA tube

Effect of Free Water Molecules on the Structure of Mg-ATP-Dipyridylamine and Overview on Selected Metal-Adenosine Triphosphate Structures in Model Compounds and in Enzymes

The X-ray diffraction (XRD) structures for new isoforms of [M(H2O)6]·[M(HATP)2]·2(HDPA)·xH2O, ATP = adenosine 5’-triphosphate, DPA = 2,2’-dipyridylamine, M = Mg(II), x = 6H2O, 1, M = Ca(II), x = 8H2O, 2 were determined by using rotating anode on molybdenum target X-ray source and Kappa CCD with confocal focusing mirror. The accuracy of the presently refined structure for 1 is the highest reported so far based on agreement factors (R1 = 0.0579) and estimated standard deviations (esds) on geometrical parameters. The comparative analysis was extended to the structures of other low molecular weight metal-triphosphate complexes, to the structures of metal-triphosphate-protein systems as well as to computed models of metal-triphosphate complexes. The structures of 1 and 2 reported in this work show that on changing the number of co-crystallized water molecules, the interaction of the metal to the phosphate chain (for 1) and the conformation of ribose (for 2) undergo subtle but significant changes. Interestingly, the vast majority of Mg-nucleoside triphosphate (NTP)-enzyme systems have similar pattern of coordination to the phosphate chain when compared to 1 and 2. The three phosphate groups have variable M-O bond distances, depending on the systems. The structures for 1 and 2 have a high significance as general model compounds for experimental solid state and computations for these types of biological systems

Expression of POU-domain transcription factor, Oct-6, in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression

BACKGROUND: The POU-domain transcription factor Oct-6 has been reported to be differentially expressed between schizophrenic and control post-mortem brains. In this study, we attempted to replicate this finding and to discover whether Oct-6 was also dysregulated in bipolar disorder and major depression. METHODS: Oct-6 mRNA and protein expression were determined by in-situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry respectively in sections of post-mortem brain. RESULTS: We did not observe any differences in Oct-6 expression between any of the groups under study. Oct-6 mRNA and protein was identically expressed in the hippocampal and cortical regions of most specimens in all groups, including controls. CONCLUSION: Oct-6 is, therefore, unlikely to be a specific marker for any psychological disorder; rather its expression in controls suggests that it is normally expressed in most adult brains