Heroin addiction: the past and future

Substance misuse, in particular heroin addiction contributes to health and social problems. Although effective medical treatment was available, earlier efforts confined the treatment of heroin addicts to in-house rehabilitation which required them to be estranged from the community and their families for 2 years. The in-house rehabilitative programme, implemented for at least three decades has produced low abstinence rates. On the other hand, being ‘away’ meant that many heroin addicts faced employment problems and family relationship difficulties upon completing the in-house rehabilitation. However, recently, the concerted efforts by various government and non-government organisations, and the acknowledgement that heroin addiction is a medical illness has resulted in a revamp to approaching treatment of heroin addiction. At present, methadone substitution programmes have been offered as part of treatment programme for heroin addicts in Malaysia. This new programme has been shown to be effective in treating heroin addiction and would need support and cooperation from all groups involved

Follicular and ovulatory responses of the right versus left ovaries to eCG treatment in Shall Iranian ewes

The present study considers the right versus the left ovarian responses to the different doses of eCG treatment in ewe. The estrous cycles of 32 adult Shall Iranian ewes were synchronized by CIDR during breeding period. At the time of CIDR removal, 0 (n = 8), 450 (n = 8), 550 (n = 8) and 650 (n = 8) IU of eCG (Intervet, Booxmer, Netherlands) was administered to ewes. The number of large follicles (> 3 mm, LF) and CL in the right and left ovaries was monitored by transrectal ultrasonography on the day of estrus and 6 days later. In another analysing view, all ewes (n = 32) were set into 3 groups. Following superovulation, groups A and D ewes had at least one extra large follicle and CL, respectively, in their right ovary than that of the left one. Group B and E had the opposite position and group C and F had equal LF in their ovaries. The data were analysed by GLM procedure of SAS. The mean number of LF in the right (2.35 ± 0.14) was higher (P < 0.001) in comparison to the left (1.42 ± 0.14) ovaries in all treatment groups. Also, the mean number of LF in the right was higher (P < 0.05) than that in the left ovaries between every treatment group. In addition, the mean number of CL in the right (1.92 ± 0.47) was higher (P < 0.05) in comparison to the left (1.33 ± 0.25) ovaries in all treatment groups. Furthermore, in the other analysis, we observed 62.5% of the ewes were in group A (n = 20) which was a higher (P < 0.001) percentage compared to group B (n = 4, 12.5%) and group C (n = 8, 25%). Also, it is observed that 44% of the ewes were set into group D (n = 16) (the right ovary had at least one CL extra in comparison with the left ovary) which was a higher (P < 0.05) percentage compared to groups E and F; and that both groups had equal number of ewes. The results suggest that the greater responses of follicular development occur in the right ovaries after eCG treatment in Shall Iranian ewes

Effect of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) treatment on multiple births in Afshari ewes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) administration on the induction of multiple births in synchronized Afshari ewes. 16 cycling, multiparous fat-tailed Iranian Afshari ewes, weighing 66.5 ± 2.5 kg, were used in the trail. Estrus was synchronized using controlled internal drug release CIDR’s; inserted for 14 days. Pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) (300 IU) was injected to ewes a day before CIDR removal. The ewes was randomly allocated to two groups (n = 8). Synchronization treatment was initiated with a week interval in two groups (weeks 1 and 2). 24 h following CIDR removal (day 1), GnRH (50 μg) was administered to half of each group ewes (GnRH and control groups), and ewes mated with the proven rams. Pregnancy was diagnosed with the aid of transabdominal ultrasonograpy 30 days after mating. Ovarian follicular activity was monitored with the aid of transrectal ultrasonograpy on the days of CIDR removal and at estrus (approximately day 1). Following PMSG treatment, the mean number of large follicles on total ovaries increased from CIDR removal to estrus 1.48 ± 0.71 vs. 2.85 ± 0.82 (P < 0.05). Lambing rate in GnRH group (162.5%) was higher (P < 0.05) compared to the control group (125%). The mean weights of lambs born in the GnRH and control groups were 5.5 ± 0.1 and 5.2 ± 0.1, respectively.Key words: GnRH, estrus synchronization, Afshari, ewe, lambing rate

Mediastinal plasmacytoma with multiple myeloma presenting as a diagnostic dilemma

Plasmacytoma are extramedullary accumulations of plasma cells. Most extramedullary Plasmacytomas are associated with the upper respiratory tract. The mediastinum is rarely involved. We report a rare case of mediastinal plasmacytoma with multiple myeloma. The patient is 66 year old woman presented with bone pains and mediastinal mass on CT scan and MRI. The preliminary diagnosis of occult lung cancer with mediastinal involvement, and widespread skeletal metastasis was made, although lymphoproliferative disorder along with germ cell tumor was also kept in differentials

Optimized intermolecular potential for nitriles based on Anisotropic United Atoms model

An extension of the Anisotropic United Atoms intermolecular potential model is proposed for nitriles. The electrostatic part of the intermolecular potential is calculated using atomic charges obtained by a simple Mulliken population analysis. The repulsion-dispersion interaction parameters for methyl and methylene groups are taken from transferable AUA4 literature parameters [Ungerer et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2000, 112, 5499]. Non-bonding Lennard-Jones intermolecular potential parameters are regressed for the carbon and nitrogen atoms of the nitrile group (–C≡N) from experimental vapor-liquid equilibrium data of acetonitrile. Gibbs Ensemble Monte Carlo simulations and experimental data agreement is very good for acetonitrile, and better than previous molecular potential proposed by Hloucha et al. [J. Chem. Phys., 2000, 113, 5401]. The transferability of the resulting potential is then successfully tested, without any further readjustment, to predict vapor-liquid phase equilibrium of propionitrile and n-butyronitrile

Systematic Design of edical Capsule Robots

Medical capsule robots that navigate inside the body as diagnostic and interventional tools are an emerging and challenging research area within medical CPSs. These robots must provide locomotion, sensing, actuation, and communication within severe size, power, and computational constraints. This paper presents the first effort for an open architecture, platform design, software infrastructure, and a supporting modular design environment for medical capsule robots to further this research area

Vocational perspectives after spinal cord injury

Objective: To give insight into the vocational situation several years after a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) and describe the personal experiences and unmet needs; to give an overview of health and functional status per type of SCI and their relationship with employment status. Design: Descriptive analysis of data from a questionnaire. Setting: Dutch rehabilitation centre with special department for patients with spinal cord injuries. Subjects: Fifty-seven patients with a traumatic SCI, aged 18-60 years, admitted to the rehabilitation centre from 1990 to 1998. Main measures: Questionnaire with items related to vocational outcome, job experiences, health and functional status. Results: Of 49 patients who were working at the moment of SCI 60% currently had a paid job. Vocational outcome was related to a higher educational level. A significant relation between the SCI-specific health and functional status and employment was not found. The respondents who changed to a new employer needed more time to resume work, but seemed more satisfied with the job and lost fewer working hours than those who resumed work with the same employer. In spite of reasonable to good satisfaction with the current work situation, several negative experiences and unmet needs were reported. Conclusions: Despite a high participation in paid work following SCI, the effort of the disabled worker to have and keep a job should not be underestimated

Determination of total phenol, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Avena sativa and Ocimum basilicum

The present study investigated the total content of phenolic compounds, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of water extracts oat (Avena sativa) and basil (Ocimum basilicum), medicinal plants. The Folin-ciocalteu reagent assay was used to estimate the total phenolic content of plants extract. The antioxidant capacity of the plants extract was tested by ferric reducing/antioxidant power Assay (FRAP) and ferric reducing scavenging activity using DPPH method, and the antimicrobial activity was measured against [Staphylococcus epidermidis; Staphylococcus aureus; Proteus spp.; Klebsiella spp.; Escherichia coli; Candida albicans] as tester strains. The total phenolic content of Avena sativa and Ocimum basilicum extracts revealed that the mixture of plants showed higher content. The mixture of Avena sativa and Ocimum basilicum extracts showed the highest antioxidant capacity followed by Avena sativa extract and Ocimum basilicum extract with FRAP and DPPH assay. However, mixture of Avena sativa and Ocimum basilicum extracts exhibited the highest antimicrobial activity when compared to the other extracts. Thus the study revealed that the consumption of mixture herbs may enhance the immune power of our body against diseases due to free radicals