An Implementation of Remote Alcohol Monitoring in Alaska

The Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) system is an ankle bracelet monitoring device implemented for use in 2003–2005 in Anchorage, Palmer, Fairbanks, Bethel, and Kotzebue. The SCRAM devices monitor the wearers' consumption of alcohol through transdermal analysis. By July 2005 there were 130 units in operation in Alaska, with 202 clients participating in the program in 2003 and 2004, and 176 clients in the first half of 2005, when this evaluation took place. Results showed that the devices functioned effectively in Alaska, including in rural areas (using the Alaska satellite telecommunications network), in extreme cold, and under other inclement conditions.National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center National Institute of Justice, United States Department of JusticeSummary / Introduction / Implementation / Findings / Technolog

Drugs and Crime in Anchorage, Alaska: A Note

Also published in Alaska Justice Forum 22(1): 7 (Spring 2005).This research note examines the relationship between drug use and offense charged through data collected in 2003 from 259 recent arrestees in Anchorage, Alaska using the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) protocol. The analysis is restricted to examining those ADAM participants who tested positive for marijuana and cocaine use.Research note supported in part by Grant No. 2002-BJ-CX-K018 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice

Seasonal Use of Marijuana and Cocaine by Arrestees in Anchorage, Alaska

Previously presented at the Western Society of Criminology, Honolulu, HI, Feb 2005.This paper explores the relation between season (fall, winter, spring and summer) and drug use among arrestees. The analysis examines seasonal differences of proportions of drug tests positive for marijuana or cocaine among recently arrested and booked suspects in Anchorage, Alaska. The study is based on Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) data collected in Anchorage during the period between 1999 and the third quarter of 2003.Paper supported in part by Grant No. 2002-BJ-CX-K018 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.Abstract / Seasonal Use of Drugs / Data and Methods of Analysis / Seasonality and Marijuana Use / Seasonality and Cocaine Use / Discussion / Reference

Anchorage Wellness Court: Summary of Facts — 2005 Update

This brief report presents summary statistics for 2001–2005 for the Anchorage Wellness Court, a therapeutic court for alcoholic misdemeanants which has operated for five years in the Anchorage District Court. Participants enter the 18-month program under a plea agreement that gives them a reduced sentence if they complete the program, which includes specific treatment measures, regular appearances before the Wellness Court judge, monitoring for continued sobriety over an 18-month period, employment and/or school attendance, and other requirements aimed at helping the offender to overcome alcohol addiction and avoid reoffending. As of December 31, 2005, 44 participants had completed the program. Recidivism data indicate a recidivism rate of 25 percent for the 44 program graduates, compared with a average recidivism rate nationally of 65 percent for alcohol-related misdemeanors.Partners for Progres

Anchorage Wellness Court: Summary of Facts — 2003 Update

This brief report presents summary statistics for 2001–2003 for the Anchorage Wellness Court, a therapeutic court for alcoholic misdemeanants which has operated for three years in the Anchorage District Court. Participants enter the 18-month program under a plea agreement that gives them a reduced sentence if they complete the program, which includes specific treatment measures, regular appearances before the Wellness Court judge, monitoring for continued sobriety over an 18-month period, employment and/or school attendance, and other requirements aimed at helping the offender to overcome alcohol addiction and avoid reoffending. As of December 31, 2003, 25 participants had completed the program. Recidivism data indicate a recidivism rate of 12 percent for the 25 program graduates, compared with a average recidivism rate nationally of 67 percent for alcohol-related misdemeanors.Partners for Progres

Anchorage Wellness Court: Summary of Facts — 2004 Update

This brief report presents summary statistics for 2001–2004 for the Anchorage Wellness Court, a therapeutic court for alcoholic misdemeanants which has operated for four years in the Anchorage District Court. Participants enter the 18-month program under a plea agreement that gives them a reduced sentence if they complete the program, which includes specific treatment measures, regular appearances before the Wellness Court judge, monitoring for continued sobriety over an 18-month period, employment and/or school attendance, and other requirements aimed at helping the offender to overcome alcohol addiction and avoid reoffending. As of December 31, 2004, 38 participants had completed the program. Recidivism data indicate a recidivism rate of 18 percent for the 38 program graduates, compared with a average recidivism rate nationally of 67 percent for alcohol-related misdemeanors.Partners for Progres

Atlas of Anchorage Community Indicators

The Anchorage Community Indicators (ACI) project is designed to make information (extracted from data) accessible so that conversations about the health and well-being of Anchorage may become more completely informed. Policy makers, social commentators, service delivery systems, and scholars often stake out positions based on anecdotal evidence or hunches when, in many instances, solid, empirical evidence could be compiled to support or challenge these opinions.The Atlas of Anchorage Community Indicators makes empirical information about neighborhoods widely accessible to many different audiences. The initial selection of indicators for presentation in the Atlas was inspired by Peter Blau and his interest in measures of heterogeneity (diversity) and inequality and by the work of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. In both cases the measures they developed were well-conceptualized and validated. The Atlas presents community indicators at the census block group level derived from data captured in the 2000 U.S. Census and the 2005 Anchorage Community Survey. All maps in the Atlas are overlaid by Community Council boundaries to facilitate comparisons across maps.Introduction / COMMUNITY COUNCIL BOUNDARY MAPS / Eagle River Community Councils / North Anchorage Community Councils / South Anchorage Community Councils / Girdwood Community Councils / CENSUS-DERIVES INDICATORS AT BLOCK GROUP LEVEL / 1. Concentrated Affluence / 2. Concentrated Disadvantage / 3. Housing Density / 4. Immigrant Concentration / 5. Index of Concentration at Extremes / 6. Industrial Heterogeneity / 7. Multiform Disadvantage / 8. Occupational Heterogeneity / 9. Population Density / 10. Racial Heterogeneity / 11. Ratio of Adults to Children / 12. Residential Stability / 13. Income Inequality // APPENDIX: ACI Technical Report: Initial Measures Derived from Censu

Prevalence and significance of alterations in cardiac structure and function in patients with heart failure and a preserved ejection fraction

<p><b>Background:</b> The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of abnormalities in cardiac structure and function present in patients with heart failure and a preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) and to determine whether these alterations in structure and function were associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.</p> <p><b>Methods and Results:</b> The Irbesartan in HFPEF trial (I-PRESERVE) enrolled 4128 patients; echocardiographic determination of left ventricular (LV) volume, mass, left atrial (LA) size, systolic function, and diastolic function were made at baseline in 745 patients. The primary end point was death or protocol-specific cardiovascular hospitalization. A secondary end point was the composite of heart failure death or heart failure hospitalization. Associations between baseline structure and function and patient outcomes were examined using univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazard analyses. In this substudy, LV hypertrophy or concentric remodeling was present in 59%, LA enlargement was present in 66%, and diastolic dysfunction was present in 69% of the patients. Multivariable analyses controlling for 7 clinical variables (including log N-terminal pro-B–type natriuretic peptide) indicated that increased LV mass, mass/volume ratio, and LA size were independently associated with an increased risk of both primary and heart failure events (all P<0.05).</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> Left ventricular hypertrophy or concentric remodeling, LA enlargement, and diastolic dysfunction were present in the majority of patients with HFPEF. Left ventricular mass and LA size were independently associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. The presence of structural remodeling and diastolic dysfunction may be useful additions to diagnostic criteria and provide important prognostic insights in patients with HFPEF.</p&gt

Defining and detecting malaria epidemics in south-east Iran

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A lack of consensus on how to define malaria epidemics has impeded the evaluation of early detection systems. This study aimed to develop local definitions of malaria epidemics in a known malarious area of Iran, and to use that definition to evaluate the validity of several epidemic alert thresholds.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Epidemic definition variables generated from surveillance data were plotted against weekly malaria counts to assess which most accurately labelled aberrations. Various alert thresholds were then generated from weekly counts or log counts. Finally, the best epidemic definition was used to calculate and compare sensitivities, specificities, detection delays, and areas under ROC curves of the alert thresholds.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The best epidemic definition used a minimum duration of four weeks and week-specific and overall smoothed geometric means plus 1.0 standard deviation. It defined 13 epidemics. A modified C-SUM alert of untransformed weekly counts using a threshold of mean + 0.25 SD had the highest combined sensitivity and specificity. Untransformed C-SUM alerts also had the highest area under the ROC curve.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Defining local malaria epidemics using objective criteria facilitated the evaluation of alert thresholds. This approach needs further study to refine epidemic definitions and prospectively evaluate epidemic alerts.</p