Danger! Danger! Danger!, or When Animals Might Attack: The Adventure Activist Genre

An analysis of the current state of the adventure activist genre in film, centering on The Crocodile Hunter and Project Grizzly

Arc-Flags in Dynamic Graphs

Computation of quickest paths has undergoing a rapid development in recent years. It turns out that many high-performance route planning algorithms are made up of several basic ingredients. However, not all of those ingredients have been analyzed in a emph{dynamic} scenario where edge weights change after preprocessing. In this work, we present how one of those ingredients, i.e., Arc-Flags can be applied in dynamic scenario

ADHD characteristics: I. Concurrent co-morbidity patterns in children & adolescents

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>342 Caucasian subjects with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were recruited from pediatric and behavioral health clinics for a genetic study. Concurrent comorbidity was assessed to characterize the clinical profile of this cohort.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Subjects 6 to 18 years were diagnosed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders & Schizophrenia for School aged Children (K-SADS-P IVR).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The most prevalent diagnoses co-occurring with ADHD were Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) (40.6%), Minor Depression/Dysthymia (MDDD) (21.6%), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) (15.2%). In Inattentive ADHD (n = 106), 20.8% had MDDD, 20.8% ODD, and 18.6% GAD; in Hyperactive ADHD (n = 31) 41.9% had ODD, 22.2% GAD, and 19.4% MDDD. In Combined ADHD, (n = 203), 50.7% had ODD, 22.7% MDDD and 12.4% GAD. MDDD and GAD were equally prevalent in the ADHD subtypes but, ODD was significantly more common among Combined and Hyperactive ADHD compared to Inattentive ADHD. The data suggested a subsample of Irritable prepubertal children exhibiting a diagnostic triad of ODD, Combined ADHD, and MDDD may account for the over diagnosing of Bipolar Disorder.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Almost 2/3^rdof ADHD children have impairing comorbid diagnoses; Hyperactive ADHD represents less than 10% of an ADHD sample; ODD is primarily associated with Hyperactive and Combined ADHD; and, MDDD may be a significant morbidity for ADHD youths from clinical samples.</p

Relationship of serum prolactin with severity of drug use and treatment outcome in cocaine dependence.

RATIONALE: Alteration in serum prolactin (PRL) levels may reflect changes in central dopamine activity, which modulates the behavioral effects of cocaine. Therefore, serum PRL may have a potential role as a biological marker of drug severity and treatment outcome in cocaine dependence. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether serum PRL levels differed between cocaine-dependent (CD) subjects and controls, and whether PRL levels were associated with severity of drug use and treatment outcome in CD subjects. METHODS: Basal PRL concentrations were assayed in 141 African-American (AA) CD patients attending an outpatient treatment program and 60 AA controls. Severity of drug use was assessed using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). Measures of abstinence and retention during 12 weeks of treatment and at 6-month follow-up were employed as outcome variables. RESULTS: The basal PRL (ng/ml) in CD patients (9.28+/-4.13) was significantly higher than controls (7.33+/-2.94) (t=3.77, P\u3c0.01). At baseline, PRL was positively correlated with ASI-drug (r=0.38, P\u3c0.01), ASI-alcohol (r=0.19, P\u3c0.05), and ASI-psychological (r=0.25, P\u3c0.01) composite scores, and with the quantity of cocaine use (r=0.18, P\u3c0.05). However, PRL levels were not significantly associated with number of negative urine screens, days in treatment, number of sessions attended, dropout rate or changes in ASI scores during treatment and at follow-up. Also, basal PRL did not significantly contribute toward the variance in predicting any of the outcome measures. CONCLUSION: Although cocaine use seems to influence PRL levels, it does not appear that PRL is a predictor of treatment outcome in cocaine dependence

Aetiologic diagnosis of hearing loss in children identified through newborn hearing screening testing

With the implementation of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) programmes and early diagnosis and treatment of hearing problems, the need has clearly emerged to implement and carry out a systematic and coordinated protocol for the aetiological diagnosis of permanent hearing impairment (PHI). Within the framework of the Italian Ministry of Health project CCM 2013 “Preventing Communication Disorders: a Regional Program for early Identification, Intervention and Care of Hearing Impaired Children”, it has been decided to consider the problems relative to aetiological diagnosis of child PHI within UNHS programmes. The specific objective was to apply a shared diagnostic protocol that can identify the cause in at least 70% of cases of PHI. For this part of the project, four main recommendations were identified that can be useful for an efficient aetiological diagnosis in children affected by PHI and that can offer valid suggestions to optimise resources and produce positive changes for third-level audiologic centres

Systematic review of the scientific literature on the economic evaluation of cochlear implants in adult patients

A systematic review of the economic literature of cochlear implants (CI) was conducted with the aim of summarizing the results of studies on the cost effectiveness of monolateral and bilateral (sequential/simultaneous) CI in adult patients affected by severe to profound prelingual and postlingual hearing impairment. The literature search was performed using “PubMed MEDLINE” and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination search engines. Inclusion criteria related to economic evaluation included primary studies published in English language from January 2000 to May 2010 and aimed to quantify costs of CI and compare monolateral CI vs. acoustic prosthesis and bilateral (sequential/ simultaneous) CI vs. monolateral CI in terms of cost per unit of effectiveness. Four articles were identified. The mean direct medical cost of the monolateral CI varied from € 30,026 to € 45,770 in postlingually deafened patients, and the cost of device represented the main cost component. Additional median costs of simultaneous and sequential bilateral CI were, respectively, € 21,831 and € 25,459. The mean direct medical cost of monolateral CI was € 31,942 in prelingually deafened patients. The monolateral CI in postlingually deafened patients represented a cost effective intervention as compared with no implant (€ /QALY varied from € 7,930, € 24,983 to € 33,094). Monolateral CI were not a cost effective intervention for traditional patients with more than 40 years of hearing impairment (€ 64,604/QALY ) or for patients with marginal benefits from using acoustic prosthesis with more than 30 years of hearing impairment (€ 106,267/QALY ). The cost effectiveness of monolateral CI worsened with increasing age (€ /QALY from € 23,439 for patients < 30 years old to € 55,369 for patients > 70 years). Bilateral CI in postlingually deafened patients were less cost effective than monolateral CI (from € 91,943/QALY to € 102,640/QALY ). Monolateral CI were cost effective in prelingually deafened patients (€ /QALY : € 8,096). Given the few economic evaluation studies in literature, future researches are needed to support the cost effectiveness results of CI in adults and to evaluate the cost effectiveness of bilateral CI, as well as to estimate the non-medical direct and indirect cost components

Cavernous Sinus Hemangioma: Diagnosis and Treatment

Cavernous hemangiomas of the maxillary sinus are rare. Here, we describe the management of a rare case of this vascular tumor of the maxillary sinus. We propose that an effective treatment can be achieved by performing endoscopic sinus surgery, preceded by a pre-operative embolization