570 research outputs found
Decision for reconstructive interventions of the upper limb in individuals with tetraplegia: the effect of treatment characteristics
Objective: To determine the effect of treatment characteristics on the\ud
decision for reconstructive interventions for the upper extremities (UE) in\ud
subjects with tetraplegia. - \ud
Setting: Seven specialized spinal cord injury centres in the Netherlands. - \ud
Method: Treatment characteristics for UE reconstructive interventions were\ud
determined. Conjoint analysis (CA) was used to determine the contribution\ud
and the relative importance of the treatment characteristics on the decision\ud
for therapy. Therefore, a number of different treatment scenarios using these\ud
characteristics were established. Different pairs of scenarios were presented\ud
to subjects who were asked to choose the preferred scenario of each set. - \ud
Results: forty nine subjects with tetraplegia with a stable C5, C6 or C7\ud
lesion were selected. All treatment characteristics significantly influenced\ud
the choice for treatment. Relative importance of treatment characteristics\ud
were: intervention type (surgery or surgery with FES implant) 13%, number\ud
of operations 15%, in patient rehabilitation period 22%, ambulant\ud
rehabilitation period 9%, complication rate 15%, improvement of elbow\ud
function 10%, improvement of hand function 15%. In deciding for therapy\ud
40% of the subjects focused on one characteristic. - \ud
Conclusion: CA is applicable in Spinal Cord Injury medicine to study the\ud
effect of health outcomes and non-health outcomes on the decision for\ud
treatment. Non-health outcomes which relate to the intensity of treatment\ud
are equally important or even more important than functional outcome in the\ud
decision for reconstructive UE surgery in subjects with tetraplegia
Entangled-State Cycles of Atomic Collective-Spin States
We study quantum trajectories of collective atomic spin states of
effective two-level atoms driven with laser and cavity fields. We show that
interesting ``entangled-state cycles'' arise probabilistically when the (Raman)
transition rates between the two atomic levels are set equal. For odd (even)
, there are () possible cycles. During each cycle the
-qubit state switches, with each cavity photon emission, between the states
, where is a Dicke state in a rotated
collective basis. The quantum number (), which distinguishes the
particular cycle, is determined by the photon counting record and varies
randomly from one trajectory to the next. For even it is also possible,
under the same conditions, to prepare probabilistically (but in steady state)
the Dicke state , i.e., an -qubit state with excitations,
which is of particular interest in the context of multipartite entanglement.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Using Touchscreen Electronic Medical Record Systems to Support and Monitor National Scale-Up of Antiretroviral Therapy in Malawi
Gerry Douglas and colleagues describe the rationale and their experience with scaling up electronic health records in six antiretroviral treatment sites in Malawi
Attentional bias retraining in cigarette smokers attempting smoking cessation (ARTS): study protocol for a double bline randomised controlled trial
YesSmokers attend preferentially to cigarettes and other smoking-related cues in the environment, in what is
known as an attentional bias. There is evidence that attentional bias may contribute to craving and failure to stop smoking.
Attentional retraining procedures have been used in laboratory studies to train smokers to reduce attentional bias, although
these procedures have not been applied in smoking cessation programmes. This trial will examine the efficacy of multiple
sessions of attentional retraining on attentional bias, craving, and abstinence in smokers attempting cessation.
This is a double-blind randomised controlled trial. Adult smokers attending a 7-session weekly stop
smoking clinic will be randomised to either a modified visual probe task with attentional retraining or placebo training.
Training will start 1 week prior to quit day and be given weekly for 5 sessions. Both groups will receive 21 mg transdermal
nicotine patches for 8–12 weeks and withdrawal-orientated behavioural support for 7 sessions. Primary outcome measures
are the change in attentional bias reaction time and urge to smoke on the Mood and Physical Symptoms Scale at 4 weeks
post-quit. Secondary outcome measures include differences in withdrawal, time to first lapse and prolonged abstinence at
4 weeks post-quit, which will be biochemically validated at each clinic visit. Follow-up will take place at 8 weeks, 3 months
and 6 months post-quit.
This is the first randomised controlled trial of attentional retraining in smokers attempting cessation.
This trial could provide proof of principle for a treatment aimed at a fundamental cause of addiction.National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellowship (DRF) awarded to RB (DRF-2009-02-15
Effects of alcohol preload on attentional bias towards cocaine-related cues
Background
Drug and alcohol users have an ‘attentional bias’ for substance-related cues, which is likely to reflect the incentive-motivational properties of those cues. Furthermore, administration of an alcohol preload increases attentional bias for alcohol and tobacco-related cues in heavy drinkers and tobacco smokers, respectively. The present study investigated attentional bias for cocaine cues in cocaine users and non-users following administration of either alcohol or placebo.
Method
Thirty-two regular cocaine users and 40 non-users took part. Participants were administered alcohol or placebo, and administration was double blind. After drink administration, a Visual Probe task and Modified Stroop task were used to assess attentional bias. Subjective craving and alcohol outcome expectancies were also measured.
Results
There was a significant interaction between group and drink type on the visual probe task indicating that cocaine users who had received alcohol had increased attentional bias for cocaine pictures compared to non-users and cocaine users who received placebo. The cocaine Stroop revealed no differences between cocaine users and non-users, and no effects of alcohol in either group.
Conclusions
Alcohol preload in regular cocaine users increases attentional bias for cocaine cues. However, cocaine users who received placebo did not show attentional bias for cocaine stimuli. Future research should investigate the effects of alcohol preload on attentional bias in cocaine-dependent individuals
Stress-Induced Reinstatement of Drug Seeking: 20 Years of Progress
In human addicts, drug relapse and craving are often provoked by stress. Since 1995, this clinical scenario has been studied using a rat model of stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. Here, we first discuss the generality of stress-induced reinstatement to different drugs of abuse, different stressors, and different behavioral procedures. We also discuss neuropharmacological mechanisms, and brain areas and circuits controlling stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. We conclude by discussing results from translational human laboratory studies and clinical trials that were inspired by results from rat studies on stress-induced reinstatement. Our main conclusions are (1) The phenomenon of stress-induced reinstatement, first shown with an intermittent footshock stressor in rats trained to self-administer heroin, generalizes to other abused drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine, and alcohol, and is also observed in the conditioned place preference model in rats and mice. This phenomenon, however, is stressor specific and not all stressors induce reinstatement of drug seeking. (2) Neuropharmacological studies indicate the involvement of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), noradrenaline, dopamine, glutamate, kappa/dynorphin, and several other peptide and neurotransmitter systems in stress-induced reinstatement. Neuropharmacology and circuitry studies indicate the involvement of CRF and noradrenaline transmission in bed nucleus of stria terminalis and central amygdala, and dopamine, CRF, kappa/dynorphin, and glutamate transmission in other components of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system (ventral tegmental area, medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and nucleus accumbens). (3) Translational human laboratory studies and a recent clinical trial study show the efficacy of alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists in decreasing stress-induced drug craving and stress-induced initial heroin lapse
Measurement of the Dipion Mass Spectrum in X(3872) -> J/Psi Pi+ Pi- Decays
We measure the dipion mass spectrum in X(3872)--> J/Psi Pi+ Pi- decays using
360 pb-1 of pbar-p collisions at 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector.
The spectrum is fit with predictions for odd C-parity (3S1, 1P1, and 3DJ)
charmonia decaying to J/Psi Pi+ Pi-, as well as even C-parity states in which
the pions are from Rho0 decay. The latter case also encompasses exotic
interpretations, such as a D0-D*0Bar molecule. Only the 3S1 and J/Psi Rho
hypotheses are compatible with our data. Since 3S1 is untenable on other
grounds, decay via J/Psi Rho is favored, which implies C=+1 for the X(3872).
Models for different J/Psi-Rho angular momenta L are considered. Flexibility in
the models, especially the introduction of Rho-Omega interference, enable good
descriptions of our data for both L=0 and 1.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures -- Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Forward-Backward Asymmetry in Top Quark Production in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV
Reconstructable final state kinematics and charge assignment in the reaction
ppbar->ttbar allows tests of discrete strong interaction symmetries at high
energy. We define frame dependent forward-backward asymmetries for the outgoing
top quark in both the ppbar and ttbar rest frames, correct for experimental
distortions, and derive values at the parton-level. Using 1.9/fb of ppbar
collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV recorded with the CDF II detector at the
Fermilab Tevatron, we measure forward-backward top quark production asymmetries
in the ppbar and ttbar rest frames of A_{FB,pp} = 0.17 +- 0.08 and A_{FB,tt} =
0.24 +- 0.14.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.Lett, corrected references
and change of tex
Study of CP violation in Dalitz-plot analyses of B0 --> K+K-KS, B+ --> K+K-K+, and B+ --> KSKSK+
We perform amplitude analyses of the decays , , and , and measure CP-violating
parameters and partial branching fractions. The results are based on a data
sample of approximately decays, collected with the
BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy factory at the SLAC National
Accelerator Laboratory. For , we find a direct CP asymmetry
in of , which differs
from zero by . For , we measure the
CP-violating phase .
For , we measure an overall direct CP asymmetry of
. We also perform an angular-moment analysis of
the three channels, and determine that the state can be described
well by the sum of the resonances , , and
.Comment: 35 pages, 68 postscript figures. v3 - minor modifications to agree
with published versio
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