bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Dutch instant lottery: prevalence and correlates of at‐risk playing
Authors: HENDRIKS VINCENT M. , MEERKERK GERT‐JAN , VAN OERS HANS A. M. , GARRETSEN HENK F. L. 
Published: January 2006

AbstractAfter a long and contentious political debate, the instant lottery was introduced in the Netherlands in 1994. One of the conditions for allowing the introduction was that an evaluation study should be conducted with regard to possible negative side effects of the instant lottery in terms of excessive playing or addiction. This article reports on the main results of this evaluation study. In a random sample of 4497 instant lottery players, at‐risk players were differentiated from recreative players on the basis of level of involvement in the instant lottery, impaired control and the experienced negative consequences of playing. Of the sample, 4.1% could be classified as an at‐risk player. Actual problems resulting from playing in the instant lottery were experienced by 0.7% of the players. At‐risk players and recreative players did not only differ substantially in their playing behaviour, but also with regard to their socio‐economic background, playing motivation, participation in other games of chance, and involvement in alcohol use and use of marijuana. To summarize, at‐risk players were more likely to come from a poor socio‐economic background, to play the instant lottery with a negative playing motivation, to be heavily involved in other forms of gambling, to have used marijuana and to drink alcohol excessively.
Saliva cotinine levels as a function of collection method
Authors: SCHNEIDER NINA G. , JACOB PEYTON , NILSSON FREDRIK , LEISCHOW SCOTT J. , BENOWITZ NEAL L. , OLMSTEAD RICHARD E. 
Published: January 2006

AbstractSaliva cotinine is commonly used to estimate nicotine intake but laboratories use different methods of collection. In three small trials, comparisons were made between (1) sugar vs. unstimulated saliva production (n= 29), (2) wax chewing vs. unstimulated production (n= 15) and (3) between two consecutive unstimulated saliva samples (n = 10). Sugar‐stimulated saliva cotinine scores were 26% below unstimulated levels (p < 0.001); correlation between measures was high (r = 0.90; p < 0.001), Wax stimulated saliva yielded levels 6% below unstimulated (p < 0.05; correlation: r = 0.98; p < 0.001). No differences were observed between two unstimulated samples taken within a ∼ 20‐minute period (correlation: r = 0.99; p < 0.001). It is postulated that changes in salivary flow can account for the findings.
Health, Society and Alcohol
Authors: Anderson Peter 
Published: January 2006

AbstractThe European Conference, Health, Society and Alcohol held in Paris, 12–14 December 1995, was a meeting point between science and policy. Science informed the policy process. As a tool for policy implementation, the Conference adopted the European Charter on Alcohol, a set of ethical principles and strategies for action. Of a number of important issues that frame policy, three deserve mention. First, market forces, as opposed to health and social policy decisions are increasingly influencing the policy debate. Second, existing policy options to reduce alcohol‐related harm are unlikely to lead to an increased risk of coronary heart disease among older age groups. And third, policy developments and changes in drinking patterns in countries of southern Europe are an important driving force in European policy on alcohol.
Alcohol and European transformation
Authors: SIMPURA JUSSI 
Published: January 2006

AbstractAgainst the background of papers and discussions from the East‐West seminar at the European Conference on Health, Society and Alcohol, the differences and similarities in eastern and western European transformation processes are discussed. After some remarks on the general nature of eastern transition and western integration, the two sides of Europe are compared with respect to various alcohol‐specific issues. It will be shown that the ongoing transition touches alcohol‐related phenomena on a broad spectrum, and no single characterization (e.g. commercialization and the rise of market interests) is sufficient alone. The changing balance between state, markets and civil society provides, however, an interesting perspective for comparing alcohol‐related changes in various European societies. Finally, the prospects for a common European alcohol agenda are discussed briefly from the point of view of international mobilization on the dimensions of state, markets and civil society. There are signs of increased cooperation along all dimensions, but an all‐European alcohol agenda seems unlikely.
Alcohol and the future health of Europe
Authors: LEHTO JUHANI 
Published: January 2006

AbstractThe impact of alcohol consumption on trends in the European health situation is analysed. Particular attention is given to the impact of alcohol on the widening of the East‐West health gap in Europe. It is concluded that between 1950–75 the negative health impact of a rapid increase in per capita alcohol consumption in most European countries was hidden behind a strong positive development in many other socio‐economic determinants of health. Between 1980 and 1995, health trends have been more closely parallel to trends in alcohol consumption. Changes in alcohol consumption explain a significant proportion of changes in life expectancy, particularly in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Public health policy on alcohol, as part of a general development of public health policies outside the health sector, is important in reducing the East‐West health gap and sustaining the positive health trend in western Europe.
Alcohol and health: individual and population perspectives
Authors: REHM JÜRGEN , ASHLEY MARY JANE , DUBOIS GERARD 
Published: January 2006

AbstractThis paper summarizes the relationships between alcohol consumption and health from both the individual and the population perspectives. On the individual level adverse consequences of alcohol consumption on mortality, morbidity and social harm are summarized. The potential health benefits of drinking are listed next, especially in the context of trying to balance positive and negative consequences. Even though the final decision rests with the individual it is suggested that from a health perspective light drinking on a regular basis is most advisable. In terms of advice to populations it should be noted that, due to the mutual interdependence of drinking behaviour in a society, the average individual consumption associated with the lowest individual risk is not necessarily the average per capita consumption associated with the lowest population risk. Thus, research at the population level has to be integrated with individual epidemiological research in order to come up with the best advice for the population in any given society.
Place of work, communities and municipalities
Authors: RITSON BRUCE 
Published: January 2006

AbstractThe Paris conference recognized that although national social policy and international research were undoubtedly important, a local dimension to research action and planning was essential. The potential for community and municipal action was illustrated in a number of papers which are summarized here. It was also the subject of a publication in the series associated with the European Alcohol Action Plan. The work‐place was taken as a significant microcosm of a community, where healthy company policy and an enlightened approach to providing early help and support to individuals with alcohol‐related problems is particularly beneficial.
Where treatment and prevention merge: the need for a broader approach
Authors: HEATHER NICK 
Published: January 2006

AbstractFour papers were presented in a Parallel Session chaired by Dr Jorge Gleser (Israel) and these are summarized here. The papers were: (1) “Supporting primary health care physicians” by Dr Galina A. Korchagina of the Medical Academy of Postgraduate Studies, St Petersburg, the Russian Federation; (2) “A new role for nurses” by Ms Iveta Kelle, Nursing Consultant, Riga, Latvia; (3) “Broadening the base of treatment” by Dr Nina Kerimi of the Research Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; and (4) “Primary health care and alcohol reduction strategies” by Dr Leo Pas of the Academic Centre of General Practice, Free University Brussels, Belgium. Following a discussion, participants agreed on the wording of a draft Policy for Primary Health Care and Community Action and this is also included here.
Impulsivity in pathological gambling: the antisocial impulsivist
Authors: BLASZCZYNSKI A. , STEEL Z. , McCONAGHY N. 
Published: January 2006

AbstractThe construct of impulsivity has to date remained relatively unexplored in the pathological gambling literature. This is in spite of recent claims suggesting that impulsivity may be an important feature characterizing a subgroup of pathological gamblers who are claimed to suffer from a Multi‐Impulse Personality Disorder. The present study examined the potential role of impulsivity using the Eysenck Impulsivity Scale among 115 pathological gamblers. Results indicate that heightened impulsivity is associated with the degree of severity of psychological and behavioural change in pathological gamblers. However, the findings also indicate that impulsivity closely mirrors components contained in Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Psychoticism Scale, the California Personality Inventory Socialization Scale and DSM‐III Antisocial Personality Disorder. This is manifest both in terms of high intercorrelations between the measures of psychopathy and impulsivity and in their predictive relationship to the level of psychological distress suggesting a uniform impulsivity/psychopathy construct. Thus, the research supports a model of pathological gambling in which the severity of associated behavioural and psychological disturbance is mediated by a impulsivity/psychopathy construct.
The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as a screen for at‐risk drinking in primary care patients of different racial/ethnic backgrounds
Authors: VOLK ROBERT J. , STEINBAUER JEFFREY R. , CANTOR SCOTT B. , HOLZER CHARLES E 
Published: January 2006

AbstractThis study examined the operating characteristics of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as a screen for “at‐risk” drinking in a multi‐ethnic sample of primary care patients, from a family practice center located in the southwestern United States. A probability sample of 1333 family medicine patients, stratified by gender and racial/ethnic background (white, African‐American and Mexican‐American) completed the AUDIT, followed by the Alcohol Use Disorders and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule (AUDADIS) to determine ICD‐10 diagnoses. Indicators of hazardous alcohol use and alcohol‐related problems were included as measures of “at‐risk” drinking. Despite differences in the spectrum of alcohol problems across patient subgroups, there was no evidence of gender or racial/ethnic bias in the AUDIT as indicated by Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve analysis. Excluding abstainers from the analysis had little impact on screening efficacy. In this patient population, the A UDIT appears to be an unbiased measure of “at‐risk” drinking.
Trends in alcohol‐related harms and offences in a liberalized alcohol environment
Authors: Huckle Taisia , Pledger Megan , Casswell Sally 
Published: January 2006

ABSTRACTAim  To assess alcohol‐related harms and offences in New Zealand from 1990 to 2003, a period of alcohol policy liberalization, that included the lowering of the purchase age from 20 to 18  years in 1999. Design, setting and participants  Time trend analyses were carried out on routinely collected data for prosecutions for driving with excess alcohol; alcohol‐involved vehicle crashes (all and fatal) and prosecutions for disorder offences. These were carried out separately for those aged 14–15, 16–17, 18–19, 20–24 and 25 years and over. Measurements  Rates of: prosecutions for driving with excess alcohol (1990–2003); rates of alcohol‐ involved vehicle crashes (all and fatal) (1990–2003); and rates of prosecutions for disorder offences (1994–2003). Findings  Effects of alcohol policy liberalization: positive trends were found in the rates of prosecutions for disorder in the 16–17, 18–19, 20–24 and 25 + age groups; with 18–19‐year‐olds and 16–17‐year‐olds having the largest rates and largest positive trend in rates. For 16–17‐year‐olds, there was a positive trend in the rates of prosecutions for excess breath alcohol. Negative trends in rates were found for alcohol‐related crashes (all and fatal) among all age groups. Negative trends for those over 16–17 years were found for prosecutions for driving with excess breath alcohol (this was prior to the lowering of the purchase age). Effects of lowering the minimum purchase age: the lowering of minimum purchase age coincided with an increase in the trend of alcohol‐related crashes for 18–19‐year‐olds; the next largest increase was among the 20–24‐year‐olds (all other age groups also increased but at a much lower rate). A similar result was found for driving with excess alcohol for those aged 18–19 (and those aged 20–24 years). An increase in the rates of prosecutions for disorder offences occurred for the 14–15‐year‐old group following the lowering of the purchase age.Conclusion  The liberalization of alcohol throughout the 1990s may have influenced younger people more, as reflected in increases in their disorder offences and drink driving. The lowering of the minimum purchase age may have led to an increase in drink‐driving among the 18–19‐year‐olds (those directly affected by the change in purchase age).
Enforcing the minimum drinking age: state, local and agency characteristics associated with compliance checks and Cops in Shops programs
Authors: Montgomery Jacob M. , Foley Kristie Long , Wolfson Mark 
Published: January 2006

ABSTRACTAims  To identify state, local and organizational characteristics associated with local law enforcement agencies’ implementation of two dramatically different approaches to enforcement of underage drinking laws: compliance checks and Cops in Shops programs. Compliance checks use underage decoys to attempt to purchase alcohol from retail merchants, while Cops in Shops programs deploy undercover law enforcement officers in alcohol outlets to detect and cite persons under the age of 21 who attempt to purchase alcohol.Design  Cross‐sectional telephone interview conducted as part of the Tobacco Enforcement Study (TES), which examined enforcement of laws related to youth access to tobacco.Setting  Data were collected in 1999 among law enforcement agencies in all 50 states of the United States.Participants  Representatives of city police departments, departments of public safety, sheriffs or county police were included (n = 920 local agencies).Measurements  Alcohol compliance checks and Cops in Shops programs were the primary outcomes. Covariates included state level policies (e.g. beer tax), agency resources (e.g. number of sworn officers) and community demographics (e.g. college dormitory population).Findings  Local enforcement agencies were more likely to perform alcohol compliance checks than to have a Cops in Shops program (73.9% compared to 41.1% in cities > 25 000 and 55.7% compared to 23.9% in cities ≤ 25 000). Conducting compliance checks for tobacco age‐of‐sale laws was positively associated with alcohol compliance checks and Cops in Shops (OR 3.30, P < 0.001; OR 1.84, P = 0.001, respectively). Having a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) officer was negatively related to conducting compliance checks (OR 0.67, P = 0.03). Special community policing units were associated with departments having Cops in Shops programs (OR 1.80, P = 0.006).Conclusions  This study used a nationally representative sample of communities to better understand state and local factors that shape local law enforcement agencies’ use of two distinct approaches to underage drinking enforcement. The strong link observed between tobacco and alcohol compliance checks may indicate a culture within some law enforcement agencies supporting strict enforcement of age‐of‐sale laws.
Temporal expression of inflammatory mediators in brain basilar artery vasculitis and cerebrospinal fluid of rabbits with coccidioidal meningitis
Authors: Zucker K E , Kamberi P , Sobel R A , Cloud G , Meli D N , Clemons K V , Stevens D A , Williams P L , Leib S L 
Published: January 2006

Summary
Strokes due to transmural vasculitis associated with coccidioidal meningitis result in significant morbidity and mortality. The immunological and inflammatory processes responsible are poorly understood. To determine the inflammatory mediators, i.e. cytokines, chemokines, iNOS, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), that possibly contribute to vasculitis, temporal mRNA expression in brain basilar artery samples and MMP-9 protein in the CSF of male NZW rabbits infected intracisternally with 6·5 × 104 arthroconidia of Coccidioides immitis were assessed. Five infected and 3 sham-injected rabbits at each time point were euthanized 4, 9, 14 and 20 days post infection. All infected rabbits had neurological abnormalities and severe vasculitis in the basilar arteries on days 9–20. In basilar arteries of infected animals versus controls, mRNAs encoding for IL-6, iNOS, IFN-γ, IL-2, MCP-1, IL-1β, IL-10, TNF-α, CCR-1, MMP-9, TGF-β, as well as MMP-9 protein in CSF, were found to be significantly up-regulated. Thus, this study identified inflammatory mediators associated with CNS vasculitis and meningitis due to C. immitis infection. Assessment of the individual contribution of each mediator to vasculitis may offer novel approaches to the treatment of coccidioidal CNS infection. This study also provides unique methodology for immunology studies in a rabbit model.
Factors affecting the intensity of epidermal papillomatosis in populations of roach,Rutilus rutilus(L.), estimated as scale coverage
Authors: Korkea‐aho T , Vainikka A , Taskinen J 
Published: January 2006

AbstractStudies of epidermal papillomatosis in fish populations have only rarely focused on the intensity of the disease, i.e. the number and size of papillomas. Furthermore, the methods used to evaluate the intensity of papillomatosis have not been standardized. We tested the reliability of a method based on counting of scales covered by papilloma tumours in roach,Rutilus rutilus(L). In addition, we studied the frequency distributions of the number of scales covered by papillomas within populations, evaluated the correlation between the prevalence and mean intensity of the disease among populations and examined the intensity of papillomatosis in roach with respect to sex and size of fish. Reliability of the scale coverage method was high. Therefore, the method could offer an effective way to determine the intensity of papillomatosis in fish species with large scales. The frequency distribution of the scale coverage of papillomas was highly aggregated within all populations studied. The mean intensity of papillomatosis increased with the size of the fish and was higher in males than in females. However, there was no correlation between the mean intensity and prevalence of the disease among the 19 roach populations studied.
The eel immune system: present knowledge and the need for research
Authors: Nielsen M E , Esteve‐Gassent M D 
Published: January 2006

AbstractThe European eel, Anguilla anguilla, is one of the most important warm water fish species cultured in southern Europe and the Mediterranean as well as in northern countries including Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. The Japanese eel, A. japonica, is an important cultured fish in several Asiatic countries including Japan, China and Taiwan. During recent decades, research has been performed to elucidate the immune response of these species against different pathogens (viruses, bacteria or parasites). Nevertheless, there is very limited information in terms of both cellular and humoral immune responses. This review summarizes the present knowledge relating to the eel immune system and includes new data.
A shared treatment decision‐making approach between patients with chronic conditions and their clinicians: the case of diabetes
Authors: Montori Victor M. , Gafni Amiram , Charles Cathy 
Published: January 2006

AbstractIn this paper, we discuss the Charles et al. approach to shared treatment decision‐making (STDM) as applied to patients with chronic conditions and their clinicians. We perceive differences between the type of treatment decisions (e.g. end‐of‐life care, surgical treatment of cancer) that generated existing approaches of shared decision‐making for acute care conditions (including the Charles et al. model) and the treatment decisions that patients with chronic conditions need to make and revisit on an ongoing basis. For instance, treatment decisions in the chronic care setting are more likely to require a more active patient role in carrying out the decision and to offer a longer window of opportunity to make decisions and to revisit and reverse them without important loss than acute care decisions. The latter may require minimal patient participation to realize, are often urgent, and may be irreversible. Given these differences, we explore the applicability of the Charles et al. model of STDM in the chronic care context, especially chronic care that relies heavily on patient self‐management (e.g. diabetes). To apply the Charles et al. model in this clinical context, we suggest the need to emphasize the patient–clinician relationship as one of partners in making difficult treatment choices and to add a new component to the shared decision‐making approach: the need for an ongoing partnership between the clinical team (not just the clinician) and the patient. In the last section of the paper, we explore potential healthcare system barriers to STDM in chronic care delivery. Throughout the discussion we identify areas for further research.
The introduction of integrated out‐of‐hours arrangements in England: a discrete choice experiment of public preferences for alternative models of care
Authors: Gerard Karen , Lattimer Val , Surridge Heidi , George Steve , Turnbull Joanne , Burgess Abigail , Lathlean Judith , Smith Helen 
Published: January 2006

AbstractObjective  To establish which generic attributes of general practice out‐of‐hours health services are important to the public.Methods  A discrete choice experiment postal survey conducted in three English general practitioner (GP) co‐operatives. A total of 871 individuals aged 20–70 years registered with a GP. Outcomes were preferences for, and trade‐offs between: time to making initial contact, time waiting for advice/treatment, informed of expected waiting time, type of contact, professional providing advice, chance contact relieves anxiety, and utility estimates for valuing current models of care.Results  Response rate was 37%. Respondents valued out‐of‐hours contact for services for reducing anxiety but this was not the only attribute of importance. They had preferences for the way in which services were organized and valued information about expected waiting time, supporting findings from elsewhere. Participants were most willing to make trade‐offs between waiting time and professional person. Of the predicted utility for three models of care utility was higher for fully integrated call management.Conclusions  Greater utility might be achieved if existing services are re‐configured more in line with the government's fully integrated call management model. Because the attributes were described in generic terms, the findings can be applied more generally to the plethora of models that exist (and many that might exist in the future). The approach used is important for achieving greater public involvement in how health services develop. Few experiments have elicited public preferences for health services in the UK to date. This study showed valid preferences were expressed but there were problems obtaining representative views from the public.