National and Regional Estimates of the Prevalence of Opiate and/or Crack Cocaine use 2008-09: A summary of key findings

<p>This report summarises the results of a follow-up study to a three year project to estimate the prevalence of ‘problem drug use’ (defined as use of opiates and/or crack cocaine) nationally (England only), regionally and locally. The follow-up was carried out two years after the final sweep of the original project, so could therefore be considered as ‘sweep 5’. An overview of the national and regional estimates are presented in this report, as are comparisons with the estimates produced by the third (2006-07) sweep of the study. Estimates for 2007-08 are not available as a study was not commissioned for that year.</p> <p>Information about the number of people who use illicit drugs such as heroin, other opiates or crack cocaine is key to formulating effective policies for tackling drug-related harm as these drugs are associated with the highest levels of harm. It also helps inform service provision at the local level and provides a context in which to understand the population impact of interventions to reduce drug-related harm.</p> <p>Direct enumeration of those engaged in a largely covert activity such as the use of class A drugs is difficult and standard household survey techniques tend to underestimate the extent of such activity. Indirect techniques making use of various data sources offer a more reliable way of calculating prevalence estimates for the use of opiates and/or crack cocaine. The estimates presented in this report are derived using two indirect measurement techniques: the capture-recapture method (CRC ); and the multiple indicator (MIM ) method. These methods are described in detail in Hay et al., 2006 and Hay et al., 2007a. Methodological developments throughout the course of the previous three sweeps are discussed elsewhere (Hay et al., 2007b, Hay et al., 2008). The individuals covered by this study were people aged 15 to 64 and resident in each DAT area, and known to be using heroin, methadone, other opiate drugs or crack cocaine.</p&gt

ICF core sets for low back pain: do they include what matters to patients?

To investigate whether the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) Core Sets for low back pain encompass the key functional problems of patients

Serial Position Effects in Short-term Visual Memory: A SIMPLE Explanation?

A version of Sternberg’s (1966) short-term, visual memory recognition paradigm with pictures of unfamiliar faces as stimuli was used in three experiments to assess the applicability of the distinctiveness based SIMPLE model proposed by Brown, Neath & Chater (2002). Initial simulations indicated that the amount of recency predicted increased as the parameter measuring the psychological distinctiveness of the stimulus material (c) increased, and that the amount of primacy was dependent on the extent of proactive interference from previously presented stimuli. The data from experiment 1, which used memory lists of four and five faces varying in visual similarity confirmed the predicted, extended recency effect. However, changes in visual similarity were not found to produce changes in c. In Experiments 2 and 3, the conditions that influence the magnitude of c were explored. These revealed that both the familiarity of the stimulus class before testing, and changes in familiarity due to perceptual learning, influenced distinctiveness as indexed by the parameter c. Overall the empirical data from all three experiments were well-fit by SIMPLE

Labeling research in support of through-the-season area estimation

The development of LANDSAT-based through-the-season labeling procedures for corn and soybeans is discussed. A model for predicting labeling accuracy within key time periods throughout the growing season is outlined. Two methods for establishing the starting point of one key time period, viz., early season, are described. In addition, spectral-temporal characteristics for separating crops in the early season time period are discussed

echinus, required for interommatidial cell sorting and cell death in the Drosophila pupal retina, encodes a protein with homology to ubiquitin-specific proteases

Background: Programmed cell death is used to remove excess cells between ommatidia in the Drosophila pupal retina. This death is required to establish the crystalline, hexagonal packing of ommatidia that characterizes the adult fly eye. In previously described echinus mutants, interommatidial cell sorting, which precedes cell death, occurred relatively normally. Interommatidial cell death was partially suppressed, resulting in adult eyes that contained excess pigment cells, and in which ommatidia were mildly disordered. These results have suggested that echinus functions in the pupal retina primarily to promote interommatidial cell death. Results: We generated a number of new echinus alleles, some of which are likely null mutants. Analysis of these alleles provides evidence that echinus has roles in cell sorting as well as cell death. echinus encodes a protein with homology to ubiquitin-specific proteases, which cleave ubiquitin-conjugated proteins at the ubiquitin C-terminus. The echinus locus encodes multiple splice forms, including two proteins that lack residues thought to be critical for deubiquitination activity. Surprisingly, ubiquitous expression in the eye of versions of Echinus that lack residues critical for ubiquitin specific protease activity, as well as a version predicted to be functional, rescue the echinus loss-of-function phenotype. Finally, genetic interactions were not detected between echinus loss and gain-of-function and a number of known apoptotic regulators. These include Notch, EGFR, the caspases Dronc, Drice, Dcp-1, Dream, the caspase activators, Rpr, Hid, and Grim, the caspase inhibitor DIAP1, and Lozenge or Klumpfuss. Conclusions: The echinus locus encodes multiple splice forms of a protein with homology to ubiquitin-specific proteases, but protease activity is unlikely to be required for echinus function, at least when echinus is overexpressed. Characterization of likely echinus null alleles and genetic interactions suggests that echinus acts at a novel point(s) to regulate interommatidial cell sorting and/or cell death in the fly eye

Does ursodeoxycholic acid change the proliferation of the colorectal mucosa? A randomized, placebo-controlled study

Background: In animal models ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) showed a chemoprotective effect against colon cancer. To explain this, a reduced proliferation of the colorectal mucosal proliferation was suggested. We, therefore, examined the influence of UDCA on the proliferation of normal colorectal mucosa in humans. Methods: Following endoscopic polypectomy, 20 patients with colorectal adenomas were randomized to receive either UDCA (750 mg/day, n = 10, group A) or placebo (n = 10, group B) for 6 months in a double-blinded way. Colorectal biopsies were sampled before and at the end of the medication by total colonoscopy. Colorectal mucosal proliferation was measured by FACScan analysis of propidium iodine labeling. Serum was sampled, and serum bile acids were analyzed by gas chromatography. Results: The proliferation rates at the end of the study were similar in both groups (median 15.4%; range 12.0-20.9 in group A; median 16.0%, 14.0-20.2 in group B, p = 0.41). Serum lithocholic acid levels at the end of the study were significantly higher in group A (1.3 mumol/l, 0.9-1.8) than in group B (0.7 mumol/l, 0-1.7, p < 0.02), whereas serum deoxycholic acid levels were similar in both groups. Conclusions: In this study, UDCA treatment for 6 months does not seem to induce changes in the proliferative behavior of the colorectal mucosa in patients with adenomas. It seems likely that a putative chemopreventive effect of UDCA in humans is not exerted by a reduction of the colorectal proliferation. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel

Teacher preparedness for inclusive education

Since the report of the National Department of Education, “Quality Education for All” was published in 1997, it has became evident that inclusive education is going to be the way forward in special (and regular) education. Both the Consultative Paper on Special Education (30 August 1999) and the Draft White Paper on Special Education (23 March 2000), which appeared subsequently, point strongly in the direction of inclusion. This investigation focused on the preparedness of teachers for this new policy of inclusion. An eventual sample of 2 577 Free State teachers was utilised from the total of 12 education districts. Through a comprehensive questionnaire an effort was made to ascertain the knowledge, skills and attitudes of teachers towards inclusive education - this measure was utilised to determine (and deduce) their level of readiness for inclusion. The results of the investigation indicate that a huge effort will have to be made by policy makers and provincial education departments to effect a paradigm shift towards inclusion. It appeared that respondents still think in terms of past specialised education models that were utilised in previous eras. They also appear to be mindful of South African related problems, and apparently do not exhibit adequate knowledge on inclusive education. (South African Journal of Education: 2001 21(4): 213-218

Language skills of profoundly deaf children who received cochlear implants under 12 months of age: a preliminary study

Conclusion. This study demonstrated that children who receive a cochlear implant below the age of 2 years obtain higher mean receptive and expressive language scores than children implanted over the age of 2 years. Objective. The purpose of this study was to compare the receptive and expressive language skills of children who received a cochlear implant before 1 year of age to the language skills of children who received an implant between 1 and 3 years of age. Subjects and methods. Standardized language measures, the Reynell Developmental Language Scale (RDLS) and the Preschool Language Scale (PLS), were used to assess the receptive and expressive language skills of 91 children who received an implant before their third birthday. Results. The mean receptive and expressive language scores for the RDLS and the PLS were slightly higher for the children who were implanted below the age of 2 years compared with the children who were implanted over 2 years old. For the PLS, both the receptive and expressive mean standard scores decreased with increasing age at implantation