Contemporary perspective on addictive behaviors: underpinning mechanisms, assessment, and treatment

This special issue gathered contributions from authors in the scientifc community working on addictive behaviors. In particular, authors were solicited to relate about underpinning mechanisms, assessment protocols, and intervention programs that are currently proposed for substance abuse, Internet addiction, and other forms of problematic conducts in pediatric populations, adolescence, and adulthood. Most of the papers used a biopsychosocial model for the onset and maintaining of addictive behaviors and their comorbidities with other psychopathologies. Although the intent was accept contributions focused on all forms of addictive behaviors, this special issue is composed of four papers concerning problematic use of the web and two articles focusing on substance use. Of note, all papers addressed the developmental phases of childhood and adolescence

Solitary colonic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma presenting as a surgical emergency nine years post-nephrectomy

Late colonic metastasis following curative surgery for renal cell carcinoma has rarely been described. We present the first reported case of solitary colonic renal cell carcinoma metastasis presenting as an intra-abdominal bleed, nine years post-nephrectomy

An integrated software system for geometric correction of LANDSAT MSS imagery

A system for geometrically correcting LANDSAT MSS imagery includes all phases of processing, from receiving a raw computer compatible tape (CCT) to the generation of a corrected CCT (or UTM mosaic). The system comprises modules for: (1) control of the processing flow; (2) calculation of satellite ephemeris and attitude parameters, (3) generation of uncorrected files from raw CCT data; (4) creation, management and maintenance of a ground control point library; (5) determination of the image correction equations, using attitude and ephemeris parameters and existing ground control points; (6) generation of corrected LANDSAT file, using the equations determined beforehand; (7) union of LANDSAT scenes to produce and UTM mosaic; and (8) generation of output tape, in super-structure format

Scanning Quantum Decoherence Microscopy

The use of qubits as sensitive magnetometers has been studied theoretically and recent demonstrated experimentally. In this paper we propose a generalisation of this concept, where a scanning two-state quantum system is used to probe the subtle effects of decoherence (as well as its surrounding electromagnetic environment). Mapping both the Hamiltonian and decoherence properties of a qubit simultaneously, provides a unique image of the magnetic (or electric) field properties at the nanoscale. The resulting images are sensitive to the temporal as well as spatial variation in the fields created by the sample. As an example we theoretically study two applications of this technology; one from condensed matter physics, the other biophysics. The individual components required to realise the simplest version of this device (characterisation and measurement of qubits, nanoscale positioning) have already been demonstrated experimentally.Comment: 11 pages, 5 low quality (but arXiv friendly) image

Uma abordagem fuzzy para a avaliação técnico-econômica de redes de acesso

The rising of new technologies and services imposes significant changes to the traditional telecommunications system. The diversity of system evolution settings makes the planning stage an increasingly desirable procedure, mainly in a competitive environment. The use of comprehensive and flexible methodologies that can support the decision process, based in optimization mathematical models, seems to be indispensable. This paper proposes a mixed-integer linear programming model devoted to help the strategic planning of the telecommunication systems, and in the special of the access network. Major components of costs and revenues are identified. The model intends to determine the network configuration (services, technologies, etc.) which maximizes the expected revenue. In order to perform some techno-economical risk analyses in situations with lack of precision in the demand data, fuzzy sets concepts are adopted. Results of computational experiments are presented and discussed.O surgimento de novas tecnologias e serviços vem impondo mudanças substanciais ao tradicional sistema de telecomunicações. Múltiplas possibilidades de evolução do sistema fazem da etapa de planejamento um procedimento não só desejável como necessário, principalmente num ambiente de competitividade. A utilização de metodologias abrangentes e flexíveis que possam auxiliar no processo de decisão, fundadas em modelos de otimização, parece um caminho inevitável. Este artigo propõe um modelo de programação linear inteiro misto para ajudar no planejamento estratégico de sistemas de telecomunicações, e em particular da rede de acesso. Os principais componentes de custo e receita são identificados e o modelo é desenvolvido para determinar a configuração da rede (serviços, tecnologias, etc) que maximize a receita esperada pelo operador do sistema. O conceito de números fuzzy é adotado para avaliar o risco técnico-econômico em situações de imprecisão nos dados de demanda. Resultados de experimentos computacionais são apresentados e discutidos.22624

Resource Utilization Due to Breakthrough Pain in Patients With Chronic Painful Conditions

Objectives Primary: To capture healthcare resource consumption and work loss in a population of patients with chronic pain who have pain flares from one or more non-cancer conditions. Secondary: To explore the relationship between anxiety, depression, and pain in this population

Perception of Breakthrough Pain in Patients with Chronic Painful Conditions

Objective: To understand how patients with chronic non-cancer pain define and describe pain flares

PrP is a central player in toxicity mediated by soluble aggregates of neurodegeneration-causing proteins

Neurodegenerative diseases are an enormous public health problem, affecting tens of millions of people worldwide. Nearly all of these diseases are characterized by oligomerization and fibrillization of neuronal proteins, and there is great interest in therapeutic targeting of these aggregates. Here, we show that soluble aggregates of α-synuclein and tau bind to plate-immobilized PrP in vitro and on mouse cortical neurons, and that this binding requires at least one of the same N-terminal sites at which soluble Aβ aggregates bind. Moreover, soluble aggregates of tau, α-synuclein and Aβ cause both functional (impairment of LTP) and structural (neuritic dystrophy) compromise and these deficits are absent when PrP is ablated, knocked-down, or when neurons are pre-treated with anti-PrP blocking antibodies. Using an all-human experimental paradigm involving: (1) isogenic iPSC-derived neurons expressing or lacking PRNP, and (2) aqueous extracts from brains of individuals who died with Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and Pick's disease, we demonstrate that Aβ, α-synuclein and tau are toxic to neurons in a manner that requires PrPC. These results indicate that PrP is likely to play an important role in a variety of late-life neurodegenerative diseases and that therapeutic targeting of PrP, rather than individual disease proteins, may have more benefit for conditions which involve the aggregation of more than one protein

Barriers and Facilitators to Testing, Treatment Entry, and Engagement in Care by HIV-Positive Women of Color

Women of color (WOC) are at increased risk of dying from HIV/AIDS, a disparity that may be partially explained by the care barriers they face. Based in a health care disparity model and the socio-ecological framework, the objective of this study was to identify the barriers and facilitators to HIV care at three points along the HIV continuum: HIV testing, entry/early care, and engagement. Two focus groups (n=11 women) and 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted with HIV-positive WOC in an academic medical setting in North Carolina. Content was analyzed and interpreted. We found barriers and facilitators to be present at multiple levels of the ecological framework, including personal-, provider-, clinic-, and community-levels. The barriers reported by women were aligned with the racial health care disparity model constructs and varied by stage of HIV. Identifying the salient barriers and facilitators at multiple ecological levels along the HIV care continuum may inform intervention development