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PubMed1975

Personality correlates of drug preference among college undergraduates.

Three groups of college drug users--those expressing a preference for marijuana, amphetamines, or barbiturates--reported on experiences resulting from their drugs, and these groups, together with a group of nondrug-users, completed the Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI). On the OPI the nonusers appeared more conventional and conforming than each drug group. Those preferring marijuana were less anxious than any other group, but the most distinctive group was that preferring barbiturates, which appeared the least intellectually inclined and the most emotionally distressed. This group's personality dispositions also seemed generally concordant with the experiences they reported from the drug.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Psychiatric diagnosis: some implications for mental health nursing care.

Psychiatric diagnosis: some implications for mental health nursing care This article explores some of the functions of psychiatric diagnosis and the implications this has for the mental health nursing care that service users receive. It proposes that because a psychiatric diagnosis often fails to describe the individual's experience of mental distress it can be regarded as a categorization process that, while not necessarily intentionally, serves to maintain oppressive power relations within society. It does this by establishing and maintaining the parameters of normality and abnormality in a manner that reflects particular gender, culture and class biases. The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders will be used to illustrate some of the inherent biases in the diagnostic process. Mental health nursing practice needs to demonstrate an awareness of the power relations inherent in any diagnostic process and make attempts to redress these at both the individual and sociopolitical levels. If mental health nursing practice is a patient-centred partnership, as many of our nursing standards suggest, then nursing's focus should be on the patient's experience rather than the psychiatric diagnosis with which the experience is attributed. Mental health nurses need to turn to service users to learn how best to help.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1999

A tutorial on creating logfiles for event-driven applications.

This paper describes the practical steps necessary to write logfiles for recording user actions in event-driven applications. Data logging has long been used as a reliable method to record all user actions, whether assessing new software or running a behavioral experiment. With the widespread introduction of event-driven software, the logfile must enable accurate recording of all the user's actions, whether with the keyboard or another input device. Logging is only an effective tool when it can accurately and consistently record all actions in a format that aids the extraction of useful information from the mass of data collected. Logfiles are often presented as one of many methods that could be used, and here a technique is proposed for the construction of logfiles for the quantitative assessment of software from the user's point of view.

Computers↗

PubMed2000

Monaural and binaural loudness measures in cochlear implant users with contralateral residual hearing.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to measure the loudness of monaural and binaural stimuli in a group of cochlear implant users who had residual hearing in the nonimplanted ear, and to consider the implications of these measures for a binaural fitting consisting of a hearing aid and an implant in opposite ears. Three independent hypotheses were addressed: that the shapes of the electric and acoustic loudness growth functions would be similar, although the dynamic ranges would differ; that standard implant and hearing aid fittings would result in substantial loudness mismatches between the acoustic and electric signals; and that loudness summation would occur for binaural combinations of electric and acoustic signals. DESIGN: A modified version of the "Loudness Growth in 1/2-Octave Bands" method (Allen, Hall, & Jeng, 1990) was used to measure loudness growth for each ear of nine subjects. At the time of the experiment, the subject group included all implant users in Melbourne and Denver who were available for research and who also had sufficient residual hearing to use a hearing aid in the nonimplanted ear. Five acoustic frequencies and five electrodes were measured for each subject. The same subjects also estimated the loudness of a set of stimuli including monaural and binaural signals chosen to cover the loudness range from very soft to loud. RESULTS: The shapes of the averaged loudness growth functions were similar in impaired and electrically stimulated ears, although the shapes of iso-loudness curves were quite different in the two ears, and dynamic ranges varied considerably. Calculations based on the psychophysical data demonstrated that standard fitting procedures for cochlear implants and hearing aids lead to a complex pattern of loudness differences between the ears. A substantial amount of loudness summation was observed for the binaural stimuli, with most summation occurring when the acoustic and electric components were of equal loudness. This is consistent with observations for subjects with normal hearing and subjects with bilaterally impaired hearing. CONCLUSIONS: These experiments provide data on which criteria and methods for the binaural fitting of cochlear implants and hearing aids may be based. It is unlikely that standard monaural fitting methods for cochlear implants and hearing aids will result in balanced loudness between the two ears across a reasonably broad range of frequencies and levels. It is also likely that output levels of both devices will need to be reduced relative to a monaural fitting to compensate for the binaural summation of loudness in some listeners.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

A pilot study of the NGO-based relational intervention model for HIV prevention among drug users in China.

The rapid growth of the HIV epidemic in China has raised a number of concerns among health care providers, governmental agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). This article (a) briefly discusses the HIV epidemic in China, (b) explains why Chinese NGOs need to join the fight against the epidemic, (c) describes the development of an indigenous culture-based model for use by NGOs to prevent HIV among injection drug users, and (d) discusses a Chinese NGO's experience in piloting the model. Data from the pilot study indicate that the model was successful in increasing knowledge about HIV/AIDS, increasing condom use, and decreasing needle and syringe sharing among a sample of female injection drug users (n = 100). The results of this study could have potential for other NGOs that are interested in adopting and adapting this model for HIV prevention.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Reflective testing--what do our service users think?

BACKGROUND: Reflective testing incorporates the clinical judgement, knowledge and experience of an individual biochemist to request additional tests appropriate to the clinical scenario. Despite being vigorously debated within the biochemistry profession, little is known about how the clinicians directly involved in patient care feel about it. We have conducted a survey to elicit our service users' opinion of reflective testing. METHODS: Ten clinical scenarios, each involving the possible addition of a specific test, were circulated to 520 hospital doctors and 152 general practitioners. The four response options were to add further tests, phone and discuss the case, add a comment to the original results or do nothing. RESULTS: A total of 216 (32%) responses were received. Overall, the majority were in favour of 'adding on' free triiodothyronine (86%), gamma-glutamyltransferase (78%), lipid profile (59%), thyroid peroxidase antibodies (63%), pituitary hormones (58%), troponin (55%) and serum electrophoresis (68%) in the given scenarios. However, only 30% would like a pregnancy test added and only 45% a prostate-specific antigen added without prior consultation. The response differed according to grade and specialty. CONCLUSIONS: Reflective testing is generally welcomed by our service users, provided the nature and implications of the specific test is considered in addition to the full clinical scenario.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

The sharing of injecting equipment among drug users attending prescribing clinics and those using needle-exchanges.

Three groups of injecting drug-users were defined in terms of their experience of methadone treatment: treatment for periods longer than 6 months, treatment for shorter periods, and no treatment. Methadone treatment and the use of needle exchanges were related in subsequent analysis to the sharing of injecting equipment. Comparisons between groups were made on other variables believed to be associated with sharing. Significant differences were observed between treatment groups in the recency of sharing and in the use of needle-exchanges. Age and length of drug use were important factors in sharing, which was least prevalent among older respondents in long-term treatment. Regular use of needle-exchanges was associated with the passing on of used equipment to others. Subsequent analysis of regular users suggested respondents in long-term treatment were less likely to pass on their equipment than those in the other two groups.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Postponement of withdrawal bleeding with a monophasic oral contraceptive containing desogestrel and ethinylestradiol.

This study investigated the ability of a monophasic sub-50 oral contraceptive, containing desogestrel and ethinylestradiol, to postpone withdrawal bleeding in normal healthy women. In the analyzed group of 105 regular users of Marvelon, about 75% did not experience any vaginal bleeding during the 21 days of postponement. A 95% confidence interval was calculated which suggests that the percentage of women able to postpone their withdrawal bleeding successfully for 19 days ranges between 67.0% and 83.5%. Women with no vaginal blood loss in the postponement period were more willing to try this method of postponement again, compared to women who experienced vaginal blood loss in the postponement period. This difference was statistically significant. Nevertheless, the majority of women with vaginal blood loss were also willing to try this method again if necessary. The study results suggest that Marvelon offers an effective and acceptable method of postponing withdrawal bleeding for three weeks for most regular users of this contraceptive.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Real-time haptic-teleoperated robotic system for motor control analysis.

A versatile teleoperated robotic system was created as an assessment device for testing upper-extremity motor control adaptation using different control strategies. While many systems display output virtually on a computer monitor, this system was designed to output in three-dimensional physical space. The system accepts haptic force and torque input, and outputs robot end-effector displacements and rotations in three spatial dimensions. Benefits of this system include flexibility to conduct a variety of dissimilar tasks and reality of user feedback in physical space. Two separate experiments validated the teleoperated robotic system. The first experiment tested unimanual human motor control and the second tested bimanual motor control. This teleoperated robotic system can be used as an assessment device to study neuromuscular adaptability via a variety of control strategies providing a new and functional approach to human motor control analysis.

Arm↗

PubMed1992

Relationships between ingestion and gustatory perception of caffeine.

We observed that taste detection thresholds for caffeine (CAF) are elevated in habitual CAF users relative to nonusers. A series of experiments were carried out to explore that relationship and assess the influences of salivary CAF and acute vs. chronic CAF ingestion. A significant correlation between CAF ingestion and taste threshold was noted in two studies of U.S. adults, although this was not observed in a parallel study involving an Argentinean population. Acute CAF ingestion (5.5 mg/kg) had no appreciable effect on taste thresholds. Threshold values greatly exceeded even peak salivary CAF levels, indicating that classical taste adaptation was an unlikely influence. Chronic CAF ingestion (450 mg/day for 3 weeks) also had no consistent effect on taste thresholds for CAF or other taste stimuli. Although a number of explanations are considered, we suggest that the sensory phenomenon may reflect preexisting differences between CAF users and nonusers or perhaps an effect of exposure to other bitter and/or CAF-containing foods and beverages.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Epidemiological analysis of alcohol and drug use as risk factors for psychotic experiences.

Clinical and laboratory studies link alcohol and other drug use to the occurrence of psychotic experiences, but epidemiologic evidence has been lacking. In this study, the quantitative relationships between alcohol or other drug use and psychotic experiences were examined by analysis of prospective data from 4994 adult household residents sampled in a multisite survey of mental disorders in the population, the NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program. After control for sociodemographic factors and preexisting psychiatric conditions, the risk for onset of self-reported delusions or hallucinations was observed to be greater for daily users of marijuana or cocaine and for users of anxiolytics or sympathomimetics compared with nonusers. After control for daily cocaine use and alcohol disorder, the risk of onset of psychotic experiences for daily users of marijuana was double that for nonusers. Alcohol disorder in men was associated with eightfold risk and in women with threefold risk. Baseline depressive episodes, manic episodes, agoraphobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder also were associated with increased risk of onset of psychotic experiences.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1986

Real-time acquisition and data analysis of skeletal muscle contraction in a multi-user environment.

A data acquisition system is described which acquires data from contracting skeletal muscle. The system is designed to run in a multi-user environment while acquiring contractile data in real-time. Time dedicated solely to laboratory experiments is thus eliminated. A menu-driver is included to allow users to enter experimental commands with or without command arguments. Error monitoring functions prevent operator errors from causing data loss. Data storage in both ASCII and binary formats maximizes file flexibility, readability and accessibility. Finally, an on-line tutorial and help facility is provided for user training. The system developed is applicable to any experimental environment involving data acquisition, storage and analysis.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Psychophysical responses to single and multiple presentations of the oral irritant zingerone: relationship to frequency of chili consumption.

There are few data on the psychophysical properties of zingerone, one of the pungent components in ginger, particularly in contrast to capsaicin. The time-intensity characteristics of zingerone irritation were examined using high-frequency, intermediate-frequency, and low-frequency users of chili, who rated the intensity of whole-mouth rinses of 1% zingerone at 6-s intervals for 3 min. Maximum intensity was reached within the first 20 s, while the zingerone was in the mouth. At this stage, there were no differences between groups. Following expectoration at 30 s, frequent users showed a more rapid decline in rated intensity than did intermediate users, who showed a more rapid decline than infrequent users. Capsaicin sensitization and desensitization are dependent upon the interstimulus intervals (ISIs) used. A second experiment, also using groups of high-, intermediate-, and low-frequency chili users, examined whether sensitization to zingerone could be demonstrated using ISIs based on the point of maximum intensity observed in the first study. In contrast to sensitization effects found with capsaicin, slight desensitization was observed over 10 successive zingerone stimuli. Following a 5-min hiatus in stimulation, further desensitization was observed over 10 results point to the ability of zingerone to self-desensitize, although the effect is of a smaller magnitude than that of capsaicin. None of these effects varied as a function of chili use. Analysis of the qualities that constituted zingerone irritation found that the sensations produced are predominantly burning and warmth, making it qualitatively similar to capsaicin.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Nitrate-enhanced bioremediation of BTEX-contaminated groundwater: parameter estimation from natural-gradient tracer experiments.

Two natural-gradient pulse tracer tests were conducted in a petroleum-contaminated aquifer to evaluate the potential for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) biodegradation under enhanced nitrate-reducing conditions. Addition of nitrate resulted in loss of toluene, ethylbenzene, and m,p-xylenes (TEX) after an initial lag period of approximately 9 days. Losses of benzene were not observed over the 60-day monitoring period. Tracer breakthrough curves (BTCs) were analyzed to derive transport and biodegradation parameters, including advective velocities, retardation factors, dispersion coefficients, biodegradation rate constants, and nitrate utilization ratios. Using the parameters derived from the BTC analysis, numerical simulations of one of the tracer experiments were conducted using BIONAPL/3D [Molson, J., BIONAPL/3D User Guide, A 3D Coupled Flow and Multi-Component Reactive transport model. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada]. Simulations using the BTC-derived transport and biodegradation parameters successfully reproduced benzene, TEX, and nitrate concentrations measured during the tracer experiment. Comparisons of observed and simulated nitrate concentrations indicate that the mass ratio of nitrate-N utilized to TEX degraded increased over time during the experiment, reaching values many times that expected based on stoichiometry of TEX oxidation coupled to nitrate reduction. Excess nitrate loss is likely due to oxidation of other organics in addition to TEX.

Bacteria, Anaerobic↗

PubMed1998

Incidence and predictors of smokeless tobacco use among US youth.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to provide estimates of the cumulative incidence of initiation of smokeless tobacco use in a cohort of young persons and to explore sociodemographic, environmental, behavioral, and personal predictors of experimentation with and regular use of snuff or chewing tobacco. METHODS: The data for this cohort study were derived from the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey and its 1993 follow-up. The study included 7830 young people 11 through 19 years of age at baseline. RESULTS: During the 4 years, 12.7% of participants (20.9% of male participants) first tried smokeless tobacco, and 4.0% (8.0% of male participants) became self-classified regular users. This suggests that, each year, approximately 824000 young people in the United States 11 to 19 years of age experiment with smokeless tobacco and about 304 000 become regular users. Cumulative incidence was highest for male non-Hispanic Whites. Predictors of regular use included age, geographic region, cigarette smoking, participation in organized sports, and perceived friends' approval or indifference. CONCLUSIONS: Public health approaches to preventing use of smokeless tobacco should include development of skills for responding to pressures to use tobacco.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Increased intensity of Ecstasy and polydrug usage in the more experienced recreational Ecstasy/MDMA users: a WWW study.

Recreational Ecstasy/MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) users often take a variety of psychoactive drugs, but there is little empirical data on how these drug consumption patterns change with greater experience of Ecstasy. The aim of this study was to compare the polydrug usage patterns reported by non-Ecstasy users, novice Ecstasy users, moderate Ecstasy users, and heavy Ecstasy users. In a WWW study of 763 unpaid volunteers, 481 had never taken Ecstasy, whereas 282 reported they had taken it. The Ecstasy users comprised 109 novice users (1-9 occasions), 136 moderate Ecstasy users (10-99 occasions), and 36 heavy Ecstasy users (+100 occasions). Each participant also reported their experience with a range of other psychoactive drugs. The Ecstasy users reported significantly greater psychoactive drug usage than the non-Ecstasy users. The novice, moderate, and heavy Ecstasy users also differed significantly from each other in the use of cocaine, amphetamine, LSD, and psilocybin mushrooms, but not of alcohol, cannabis, or cigarettes/nicotine. Experienced Ecstasy users also took significantly more MDMA tablets on each occasion, and reported a higher maximum weekly intake. The increased use of Ecstasy is associated with more intensive patterns of Ecstasy/MDMA intake, and the greater use of illicit CNS stimulants and hallucinogens, but not of alcohol, nicotine, or cannabis. These results are discussed in the context of cross-tolerance and drug predisposition/preference.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Cultural innovation and transmission of tool use in wild chimpanzees: evidence from field experiments.

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are the most proficient and versatile users of tools in the wild. How such skills become integrated into the behavioural repertoire of wild chimpanzee communities is investigated here by drawing together evidence from three complementary approaches in a group of oil-palm nut- ( Elaeis guineensis) cracking chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea. First, extensive surveys of communities adjacent to Bossou have shown that population-specific details of tool use, such as the selection of species of nuts as targets for cracking, cannot be explained purely on the basis of ecological differences. Second, a 16-year longitudinal record tracing the development of nut-cracking in individual chimpanzees has highlighted the importance of a critical period for learning (3-5 years of age), while the similar learning contexts experienced by siblings have been found to result in near-perfect (13 out of 14 dyads) inter-sibling correspondence in laterality. Third, novel data from field experiments involving the introduction of unfamiliar species of nuts to the Bossou group illuminates key aspects of both cultural innovation and transmission. We show that responses of individuals toward the novel items differ markedly with age, with juveniles being the most likely to explore. Furthermore, subjects are highly specific in their selection of conspecifics as models for observation, attending to the nut-cracking activities of individuals in the same age group or older, but not younger than themselves. Together with the phenomenon of inter-community migration, these results demonstrate a mechanism for the emergence of culture in wild chimpanzees.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

[Data collection methods and results in user surveys in mental health care].

BACKGROUND: Questionnaires on patient experience are increasingly used as quality indicators in the health services. There is limited evidence relating to alternative approaches to surveying patients within this field. We wanted to assess the effect of different methods of data collection on response rates and scores produced by a self-administered questionnaire on patient experience for adult inpatients receiving mental health care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data were collected from adult inpatients treated at three community mental health centres affiliated with the psychiatric clinic at Stavanger University hospital in spring 2005. The inclusion period was nine weeks, with three designs at consecutive time periods: A, a postal survey following discharge; B, a clinical survey before discharge; and C, patients given the choice of A or B. RESULTS: The response rate was highest with the postal design (38% vs. 24% and 23% respectively), but the differences were related to one additional reminder in the postal design. Out of the 11 questions, 4 had significantly poorer scores for the postal design. Questionnaire scores were significantly poorer with the postal design; 50 (on a scale from 0 to 100), vs. 59 and 63 in design B and C respectively. INTERPRETATION: The choice of data collection methods influences the results in user surveys in mental health care. This is an important consideration in the planning of studies and in the interpretation of the results, and in the comparison of results between studies using different data collection methods.

Adult↗