Is Counseling Integral to Buprenorphine-Assisted Opioid Addiction Treatment? Examining Counseling Participation and Treatment Retention at a Richmond, Virginia Clinic

Treatment providers in Virginia are required by law to offer counseling or referrals to all clients receiving medication-assisted opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment (American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2016; Medical Society of Virginia, 2018). Prescribing physicians widely regard counseling as a critical component of medication-assisted OUD treatment (Lin, Lofwall, Walsh, & Knudsen, 2019), and clients perceive counseling to be among the most important factors promoting recovery from opioid dependence (Hay, Huhn, Tompkins, & Dunn, 2019). Research investigating the efficacy of counseling as an OUD treatment component, however, has been equivocal to date (Brown, 2018; Dugosh et al., 2016). The current study explored associations between counseling type, counseling attendance rates, and treatment duration among a convenience sample of 71 clients receiving buprenorphine-assisted OUD treatment at a Richmond, Virginia outpatient clinic. Among early phase clients (in treatment for 1 to 11 months) only, counseling type was significantly associated with treatment length (p = .019). Among all clients, counseling attendance rate was significantly associated with treatment length (p = .006). Findings suggest that treatment phase moderates the effects of counseling on retention. While this study corroborates previous research linking counseling to positive OUD treatment outcomes for some clients (Dugosh et al., 2016), results emphasize the need for individualized, client-centered treatment planning with ongoing adjustment according to evolving client needs and treatment goals

Signature Recognition: Reading the Signs of Explosive Ordnance

Signature recognition can be a valuable tool for identifying types of ordnance emplaced, clearing ordnance and enhancing mine-risk education. Additionally, it aids medical professionals in determining the cause of injury and can identify illegal ordnance use. While signature recognition is already a major component of explosive-ordnance-disposal training, it can also provide substantial benefits for local communities affected by landmines

Demining: Enhancing the Process

There is a good deal of frustration surrounding the demining component of mine action; much stems from the sneaking suspicion that technology to improve the process already exists. Almost everybody recognises that humanitarian demining is slow and dangerous, and most see a need to enhance it. But despite years of research, little has changed in the field: what\u27s going wrong

Demining Programme Office in the Falkland Islands - Technical Support 2013

A series of three reports were published by the Demining Programme Office in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). This publication reports on exploitation work that was carried out on SB-33, SB-81 and P4B mines during Phase 1 of clearance operations. This work was conducted on the following items: C3B anti-tank mines recovered from SA064 An SB-33 anti-personnel mine discovered outside the mine rows of SA064 Components of booby traps recovered from SA064 The findings from this work were intended to assess the condition of the ordnance in order to: Establish the general condition of the mines Indicate their ability to function, either as designed, or by other mechanisms Highlight significant changes in their characteristics that might effect detectability or sensitivity The aim of this report is to outline the findings from exploitation work provided within the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) demining programme during the third phase of clearance

Destruction of Cluster Munitions in Moldova

For some countries affected by cluster munitions, the obligations to demilitarize that accompany ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions may appear daunting. In 2009, however, Norwegian People’s Aid undertook a pilot project in Moldova to find a cheaper, more efficient alternative-disposal method. They discovered that not only can destruction of cluster munitions be done more effectively, but also that by using locally administered programs, international organizations can promote capacity building and increased employment while also bolstering national pride and commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

The Exploitation of Landmines in the Falkland Islands

Throughout the eleven-year mine clearance program in the Falkland Islands, the exploitation (disassembly, detailed analysis, and testing) of live mines was a regular feature. In addition to assessing the condition of the mines in order to optimize the safety and efficiency of the clearance process, there was intense interest in the subject of long-term residual risk. The rigorous demining program was highly successful, and the Falkland Islands have now been declared clear. However, a mine recently washed up on the shore near the Capital, Stanley, and it’s possible that others will do so over the next few years. It is also clear that findings from exploitation work in the Falkland Islands can make a significant contribution to the understanding of residual risk in other mine-affected regions

Landmines in Libya

Landmines are an unfortunate part of Libya’s past and present. As such, the author discusses the various types of mines that have been found so far, providing a technical overview of each. With his landmine analysis, King warns of the difficulties that lie ahead as deminers begin to address the problem

Tripwires: An Invisible Component?

Most landmines are pressure-actuated, but a number of other initiation mechanisms are used. This article explains why tripwires are particularly significant, and examines their implications for clearance operations

Disruption of Caveolae Lipid Rafts and the Effects on Melanin-concentrating Hormone Receptor-1 Localization: A Pharmacological Study

Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is integral to the regulation of human appetite. MCH targets G protein-coupled receptors in the brain and peripheral tissues. When MCH receptor 1 binds MCH on the surface of cells, it activates multiple signaling pathways, then desensitizes. Internalization of MCH-bound MCHR1 is only thought to be partially responsible for the loss of MCH signaling capacity of cells. Previous research has shown that MCH receptors are enriched in caveolae and specifically complex with caveolin-1. Caveolin-1 is a key structural component of caveolae, which are cholesterol-based lipid rafts that are known for concentrating signaling molecules and clathrin-independent endocytosis. This study aims to investigate how MCH signaling would be affected if MCH receptors weren’t enriched in these regions. Pharmacological treatments were used to achieve this goal as caveolae formation was disrupted with the antibiotic nystatin, a cholesterol inhibitor. It has been shown that sodium carbonate-based extraction procedure followed by flotation on sucrose density centrifugation isolates caveolae from other cell contents. Caveolae-isolation procedures to detect caveloin-1 were undertaken to indicate that untreated BHK-570 cells contained caveolin-1 in fractions 4 and 5 of the sucrose gradients while a gradient shift of caveolin-1 to fractions 7-10 in nystatin-treated cells occurred. Such shift confirmed that there was a partial disruption of caveolae within the treated cells. Future experiments will test whether other pharmacological inhibitors such as filipin and methyl-β-cyclodextrin as well as caveolin-1 RNAi are better able to deplete caveolae from cells as well as their impact on MCH signaling

As Mines Grow Old

In most cases, the mines being cleared around the world were emplaced decades ago; yet the techniques and equipment being used during clearance treat them as though they were new. The author looks briefly at the effects of ageing on mines and considers possible implications