The Edinburgh Addiction Cohort: recruitment and follow-up of a primary care based sample of injection drug users and non drug-injecting controls.

BACKGROUND: Injection drug use is an important public health problem. Epidemiological understanding of this problem is incomplete as longitudinal studies in the general population are difficult to undertake. In particular little is known about early life risk factors for later drug injection or about the life course of injection once established including the influence of medical and social interventions. METHODS: Individuals thought to be drug injectors were identified through a single primary medical care facility in Edinburgh between 1980 and 2006 and flagged with the General Registry Office. From October 2005 - October 2007, these cases were traced and invited to undergo interview assessment covering early life experience, substance use, health and social histories. Age and sex matched controls for confirmed cases (alive and dead) were later recruited through the same health facility. Controls for living cases completed the same structured interview schedule. Data were also collected on cases and controls through linkage to routine primary care records, death registrations, hospital contact statistics and police and prison records. All interviews were conducted with the knowledge and permission of the current GP. RESULTS: The initial cohort size was 814. At start of follow up 227 had died. Of the remaining 587: 20 had no contact details and 5 had embarked from the UK; 40 declined participation; 38 did not respond to invitations; 14 were excluded by their GP on health or social grounds and 22 had their contact details withheld by administrative authorities. 448 were interviewed of whom 16 denied injection and were excluded. Of 191 dead cases with medical records 4 were excluded as their records contained no evidence of injection. 5 interviewed cases died before follow up was concluded though these individuals were counted as "live" cases. 1 control per case (dead and alive) was recruited. Linkage to Scottish Morbidity Records data (available from 1981 onwards) on general acute inpatient and day cases, mental health inpatient and day cases and cancer was provided by Information Services, NHS Scotland, for all cases interviewed and all dead cases. The Scottish Prison Service provided records for 198 (46%) of cases interviewed, 48 cases not interviewed and 34 (18%) of dead cases. For a sub-sample of 100 interviewees a search of the Lothian and Borders police database was made for official criminal records and 94 had criminal records. Data linkage for controls is ongoing. CONCLUSIONS: Injecting drug users recruited from a community setting can be successfully followed-up through interviews and record linkage. Information from injecting cases is being analysed in terms of injecting patterns and possible influences on these. Comparisons between cases and controls will allow identification of possibly modifiable early life risk factors for drug injection and will also clarify the burden of disease associated with injection and the influence on this of different health and social interventions.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Survival and cessation in injecting drug users: prospective observational study of outcomes and effect of opiate substitution treatment

Objectives To examine survival and long term cessation of injecting in a cohort of drug users and to assess the influence of opiate substitution treatment on these outcomes

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Multiorgan MRI findings after hospitalisation with COVID-19 in the UK (C-MORE): a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study

Introduction: The multiorgan impact of moderate to severe coronavirus infections in the post-acute phase is still poorly understood. We aimed to evaluate the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities after hospitalisation with COVID-19, evaluate their determinants, and explore associations with patient-related outcome measures. Methods: In a prospective, UK-wide, multicentre MRI follow-up study (C-MORE), adults (aged ≥18 years) discharged from hospital following COVID-19 who were included in Tier 2 of the Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) and contemporary controls with no evidence of previous COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody negative) underwent multiorgan MRI (lungs, heart, brain, liver, and kidneys) with quantitative and qualitative assessment of images and clinical adjudication when relevant. Individuals with end-stage renal failure or contraindications to MRI were excluded. Participants also underwent detailed recording of symptoms, and physiological and biochemical tests. The primary outcome was the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities (two or more organs) relative to controls, with further adjustments for potential confounders. The C-MORE study is ongoing and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04510025. Findings: Of 2710 participants in Tier 2 of PHOSP-COVID, 531 were recruited across 13 UK-wide C-MORE sites. After exclusions, 259 C-MORE patients (mean age 57 years [SD 12]; 158 [61%] male and 101 [39%] female) who were discharged from hospital with PCR-confirmed or clinically diagnosed COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and Nov 1, 2021, and 52 non-COVID-19 controls from the community (mean age 49 years [SD 14]; 30 [58%] male and 22 [42%] female) were included in the analysis. Patients were assessed at a median of 5·0 months (IQR 4·2–6·3) after hospital discharge. Compared with non-COVID-19 controls, patients were older, living with more obesity, and had more comorbidities. Multiorgan abnormalities on MRI were more frequent in patients than in controls (157 [61%] of 259 vs 14 [27%] of 52; p<0·0001) and independently associated with COVID-19 status (odds ratio [OR] 2·9 [95% CI 1·5–5·8]; padjusted=0·0023) after adjusting for relevant confounders. Compared with controls, patients were more likely to have MRI evidence of lung abnormalities (p=0·0001; parenchymal abnormalities), brain abnormalities (p<0·0001; more white matter hyperintensities and regional brain volume reduction), and kidney abnormalities (p=0·014; lower medullary T1 and loss of corticomedullary differentiation), whereas cardiac and liver MRI abnormalities were similar between patients and controls. Patients with multiorgan abnormalities were older (difference in mean age 7 years [95% CI 4–10]; mean age of 59·8 years [SD 11·7] with multiorgan abnormalities vs mean age of 52·8 years [11·9] without multiorgan abnormalities; p<0·0001), more likely to have three or more comorbidities (OR 2·47 [1·32–4·82]; padjusted=0·0059), and more likely to have a more severe acute infection (acute CRP >5mg/L, OR 3·55 [1·23–11·88]; padjusted=0·025) than those without multiorgan abnormalities. Presence of lung MRI abnormalities was associated with a two-fold higher risk of chest tightness, and multiorgan MRI abnormalities were associated with severe and very severe persistent physical and mental health impairment (PHOSP-COVID symptom clusters) after hospitalisation. Interpretation: After hospitalisation for COVID-19, people are at risk of multiorgan abnormalities in the medium term. Our findings emphasise the need for proactive multidisciplinary care pathways, with the potential for imaging to guide surveillance frequency and therapeutic stratification

A.V.G. Betts et al. 1998. The Harra and the Hamad. Excavations and surveys in Eastern Jordan.

Copeland Lorraine. A.V.G. Betts et al. 1998. The Harra and the Hamad. Excavations and surveys in Eastern Jordan.. In: Paléorient, 2002, vol. 28, n°1. p. 142

Observations on the Prehistory of the Balikh Valley, Syria, during the 7th to 4th Millennia B.C.

The interest for prehistory of the Balikh Valley, north-central Syria, lies in its position, almost mid-way between the Levant and Mesopotamia. Interesting links, both to the east and the west, can be deduced from flint, obsidian and ceramic material collected from early tells during a survey in 1978. Two of these seem to refer to an early pottery Neolithic dating to the end of the 7th Mil. (hence, pre Amuq A) and known in the Euphrates and Balikh Valleys from Bouqras and Aswad. The Halaf and Ubaid sites can be dated, based on the stratifled pottery sequence at Tell Aqab, to various phases of the Halaf and Ubaid cultures.La vallée du Balikh, située au centre nord de la Syrie, presque à mi-chemin entre le Levant et la Mésopotamie, présente un grand intérêt pour la préhistoire de cette région. Des relations économiques, tant avec l'ouest qu'avec l'est, peuvent être déduites de l'étude du matériel lithique (silex et obsidienne) et de la céramique provenant de ramassages de surface effectués en 1978 sur des tells anciens. Deux d'entre eux peuvent, semble-t-il, être attribués à un Néolithique ancien avec céramique, vers la fin du 7e mil. (soit pré-Amouq A), représenté dans les vallées de l'Euphrate et du Balikh sur les sites de Bouqras et d'Aswad. Les sites de l'horizon de Halaf et d'Obeid peuvent être datés d'après la séquence céramique de Tell Aqab et attribués aux différentes phases des cultures de Halaf et d'Obeid.Copeland Lorraine. Observations on the Prehistory of the Balikh Valley, Syria, during the 7th to 4th Millennia B.C.. In: Paléorient, 1979, vol. 5. pp. 251-275

Report on the Royal Society Discussion Meeting, Feb. 1992 : The Origin of Modern Humans and the Impact of Science-Based Dating.

Copeland Lorraine. Report on the Royal Society Discussion Meeting, Feb. 1992 : The Origin of Modern Humans and the Impact of Science-Based Dating.. In: Paléorient, 1992, vol. 18, n°1. pp. 142-145

Forty-six Emireh points from the Lebanon in the context of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in the Levant.

In the Levant the stratigraphic positions in which Emireh points have been found (when in situ) refer, in ways not fully understood, to the period of transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. A corpus of 46 specimens, largely unpublished, and mainly from the surface, from the Lebanon is presented. A detailed examination of their attributes was made so as to arrive at a workable definition of this tool-type. The ecology and environment of the three areas where the points were exclusively found are described, as an aid to identification of their possible function (as hafted hunting weapons ?), bringing in recent data from the late Mousterian. Other issues relevant to the Transitional Period of с 50 000 years ago, such as dating, tool kit change, culture and human type, are briefly discussed.Аu Levant, les contextes stratigraphiques où les pointes d'Emireh ont été trouvées in situ se placent à la période de Transition, entre le Paléolithique Moyen et Supérieur. Quarante- six pointes d'Emireh trouvées au Liban, la plupart inédites et ramassées en surface, sont présentées ici. Leurs caractéristiques morphologiques sont analysées afin de mieux les définir. L'environnement et l'écologie des trois régions spécifiques où elles furent recueillies sont décrits afin d'établir la fonction possible de ce type d'outil (arme de chasse ?) à la lumière des nouvelles données du Moustérien d'Umm el-Tlel. D'autres thèmes concernant cette période de Transition (c. 50 000 BP) tels que datations, changement soudain de l 'outillage et anthropologie sont brièvement discutés.Copeland Lorraine. Forty-six Emireh points from the Lebanon in the context of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in the Levant.. In: Paléorient, 2000, vol. 26, n°1. pp. 73-92

Témoignage de Lorraine Copeland

Copeland Lorraine. Témoignage de Lorraine Copeland. In: Hommage à Francis Hours. Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 1989. pp. 19-21. (Collection de la Maison de l'Orient. Hors série, 4

The Ksar Akil Scraper. A late Upper Paleolithic tooltype of the Levant

Copeland Lorraine. The Ksar Akil Scraper. A late Upper Paleolithic tooltype of the Levant. In: Archéologie au Levant. Recueil à la mémoire de R. Saidah. Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 1982. pp. 57-67. (Collection de la Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen. Série archéologique, 12