Motivational enhancement therapy to improve treatment utilization and outcome in pregnant substance users

Pregnant substance users can benefit significantly from substance abuse treatment but treatment retention can be challenging. Two hundred pregnant substance users entering outpatient substance abuse treatment at 1 of 4 treatment programs were randomized to receive either 3 individual sessions of Motivational Enhancement Therapy for pregnant substance users (MET-PS) or the first 3 individual sessions normally provided by the program. All participants were encouraged to participate in all other treatment offered by the program. Outcome measures included treatment utilization according to clinic records, qualitative urine toxicology measures, and self-report of substance use. One hundred and sixty two participants (i.e., 81%) completed the 1 month active phase. Participants attended 62% of scheduled treatment on average and reported decreased substance use during the first month of treatment, with no differences between MET-PS and treatment as usual participants. There was some evidence that the efficacy of MET-PS varied between sites and that MET-PS might be more beneficial than TAU in decreasing substance use in minority participants. These results suggest that MET-PS is not more effective than treatment as usual for pregnant substance users in general but that there might be particular subgroups or treatment programs for which MET-PS might be more or less effective than treatment as usual

The use of plants in the traditional management of diabetes in Nigeria: Pharmacological and toxicological considerations

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The prevalence of diabetes is on a steady increase worldwide and it is now identified as one of the main threats to human health in the 21st century. In Nigeria, the use of herbal medicine alone or alongside prescription drugs for its management is quite common. We hereby carry out a review of medicinal plants traditionally used for diabetes management in Nigeria. Based on the available evidence on the species׳ pharmacology and safety, we highlight ways in which their therapeutic potential can be properly harnessed for possible integration into the country׳s healthcare system. Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical information was obtained from a literature search of electronic databases such as Google Scholar, Pubmed and Scopus up to 2013 for publications on medicinal plants used in diabetes management, in which the place of use and/or sample collection was identified as Nigeria. ‘Diabetes’ and ‘Nigeria’ were used as keywords for the primary searches; and then ‘Plant name – accepted or synonyms’, ‘Constituents’, ‘Drug interaction’ and/or ‘Toxicity’ for the secondary searches. Results: The hypoglycemic effect of over a hundred out of the 115 plants reviewed in this paper is backed by preclinical experimental evidence, either in vivo or in vitro. One-third of the plants have been studied for their mechanism of action, while isolation of the bioactive constituent(s) has been accomplished for twenty three plants. Some plants showed specific organ toxicity, mostly nephrotoxic or hepatotoxic, with direct effects on the levels of some liver function enzymes. Twenty eight plants have been identified as in vitro modulators of P-glycoprotein and/or one or more of the cytochrome P450 enzymes, while eleven plants altered the levels of phase 2 metabolic enzymes, chiefly glutathione, with the potential to alter the pharmacokinetics of co-administered drugs. Conclusion: This review, therefore, provides a useful resource to enable a thorough assessment of the profile of plants used in diabetes management so as to ensure a more rational use. By anticipating potential toxicities or possible herb–drug interactions, significant risks which would otherwise represent a burden on the country׳s healthcare system can be avoided

Shockwave and cavitation bubble dynamics of atmospheric air

The generation and evolution of laser induced shock waves (SWs) and the hot core plasma (HCP) created by focusing 7 ns, 532 nm laser pulses in ambient air is studied using time resolved shadowgraphic imaging technique. The dynamics of rapidly expanding plasma releasing SWs into the ambient atmosphere were studied for time delays ranging from nanoseconds to milliseconds with ns temporal resolution. The SW is observed to get detached from expanding HCP at around 3μs. Though the SWs were found to expand spherically following the Sedov-Taylor theory, the rapidly expanding HCP shows asymmetric expansion during both the expansion and cooling phase similar to that of inertial cavitation bubble (CB) dynamics. The asymmetric expansion of HCP leads to oscillation of the plasma boundary, eventually leading to collapse by forming vortices formed by the interaction of ambient air

Genomewide Linkage Analyses of Bipolar Disorder: A New Sample of 250 Pedigrees from the National Institute of Mental Health Genetics Initiative

We conducted genomewide linkage analyses on 1,152 individuals from 250 families segregating for bipolar disorder and related affective illnesses. These pedigrees were ascertained at 10 sites in the United States, through a proband with bipolar I affective disorder and a sibling with bipolar I or schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. Uniform methods of ascertainment and assessment were used at all sites. A 9-cM screen was performed by use of 391 markers, with an average heterozygosity of 0.76. Multipoint, nonparametric linkage analyses were conducted in affected relative pairs. Additionally, simulation analyses were performed to determine genomewide significance levels for this study. Three hierarchical models of affection were analyzed. Significant evidence for linkage (genomewide P<.05) was found on chromosome 17q, with a peak maximum LOD score of 3.63, at the marker D17S928, and on chromosome 6q, with a peak maximum LOD score of 3.61, near the marker D6S1021. These loci met both standard and simulation-based criteria for genomewide significance. Suggestive evidence of linkage was observed in three other regions (genomewide P<.10), on chromosomes 2p, 3q, and 8q. This study, which is based on the largest linkage sample for bipolar disorder analyzed to date, indicates that several genes contribute to bipolar disorder

Expression and distribution patterns of Mas-related gene receptor subtypes A-H in the mouse intestine: inflammation-induced changes

Mas-related gene (Mrg) receptors constitute a subfamily of G protein-coupled receptors that are implicated in nociception, and are as such considered potential targets for pain therapies. Furthermore, some Mrgs have been suggested to play roles in the regulation of inflammatory responses to non-immunological activation of mast cells and in mast cell-neuron communication. Except for MrgD, E and F, whose changed expression has been revealed during inflammation in the mouse intestine in our earlier studies, information concerning the remaining cloned mouse Mrg subtypes in the gastrointestinal tract during (patho) physiological conditions is lacking. Therefore, the present study aimed at identifying the presence and putative function of these remaining cloned Mrg subtypes (n = 19) in the (inflamed) mouse intestine. Using reverse transcriptase-PCR, quantitative-PCR and multiple immunofluorescence staining with commercial and newly custom-developed antibodies, we compared the ileum and the related dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of non-inflamed mice with those of two models of intestinal inflammation, i.e., intestinal schistosomiasis and 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced ileitis. In the non-inflamed ileum and DRG, the majority of the Mrg subtypes examined were sparsely expressed, showing a neuron-specific expression pattern. However, significant changes in the expression patterns of multiple Mrg subtypes were observed in the inflamed ileum; for instance, MrgA4, MrgB2and MrgB8 were expressed in a clearly increased number of enteric sensory neurons and in nerve fibers in the lamina propria, while de novo expression of MrgB10 was observed in enteric sensory neurons and in newly recruited mucosal mast cells (MMCs). The MrgB10 expressing MMCs were found to be in close contact with nerve fibers in the lamina propria. This is the first report on the expression of all cloned Mrg receptor subtypes in the (inflamed) mouse intestine. The observed changes in the expression and cellular localization of the Mrg subtypes suggest that these receptors are involved in the mediation of primary afferent responses, mast cell responses, and in neuroimmune communication during intestinal inflammation

Protein Design: Toward Functional Metalloenzymes

The scope of this Review is to discuss the construction of metal sites in designed protein scaffolds. We categorize the effort of designing proteins into redesign, which is to rationally engineer desired functionality into an existing protein scaffold,(1-9) and de novo design, which is to build a peptidic or protein system that is not directly related to any sequence found in nature yet folds into a predicted structure and/or carries out desired reactions.(10-12) We will analyze and interpret the significance of designed protein systems from a coordination chemistry and biochemistry perspective, with an emphasis on those containing constructed metal sites as mimics for metalloenzymes