1,354,283 research outputs found
Evaluation des Drogenhilfesystems von Zypern
No full textIn April 2007 a European twinning project started between Cyprus and Germany, in order to assist Cyprus in the implementation of adequate drug services and harmonisation with the European Community’s legislation. The overall objective of the twinning project was to enhance the capacity of the Mental Health Services (MHS), a body of the Ministry of Health, as regards the implementation of a continuum of care for drug addicts. Hereby, the evaluation of the governmental and non-governmental drug services in Cyprus and their coordination, as well the improvement of existing and the introduction of new drug treatment services were main targets. The evaluation of this process was undertaken by a team of German experts.
A field investigation studied parameters as population in need, treatment demand and coverage, showing an individual place of Cyprus in the international drug ranking, with cannabis being the most widespread illicit substance used by adults (last-month prevalence). However, the life-time prevalence for cannabis use was among the lowest compared to other European countries. But while the life-time prevalence of illicit drug use among the general population in Cyprus is comparable low, the last month prevalence is relatively high, especially for amphetamines, cocaine and ecstasy. In particular the last month use of ecstasy (0.8%) among young population was on top in Europe. The last month prevalence is one indicator for current drug use, therefore showing the extent of treatment needs within a community. Considering the high last month prevalence, it can be assumed that current users might develop a problematic drug use and are consequently a target group for drug services. Nevertheless heroin remains the primary drug of abuse in persons seeking treatment, although Cyprus was until 2008 the only country of the European Union without a substitution treatment. In comparison with other European countries, current heroin injecting is on the highest level along with countries such as Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria.
In 2007 there were 20 treatment units located mainly in the capital Nicosia but also in Limassol, Larnaka and Pafos. In relation to the estimated total number of problem drug users, the treatment coverage in Cyprus accounts for 59%. In 2006, 560 drug users made use of one of the six governmental drug services. The clients were on average 28 years old and 87% of them were male. For 41% of the clients it was the first contact with addiction services. In the last years the number of new clients increased, implying that the total number of drug users in Cyprus may have increased as well. Among all clients, heroin users were the main group (55%) requesting treatment. Cannabis users were the second main client group accounting for one fourth of all clients, followed by cocaine users, representing 15% of all clients in treatment. Within the period from 2001 to 2006 the number of new clients with primary use of cannabis increased from 30% to 43%, a high number when compared with other European countries. In the same period the number of new clients with primary use of cocaine tripled up to 18%. The proportion of new clients with heroin use decreased from almost 53% to 35%.
The coverage and gaps in the Cyprus treatment system were evaluated with special attention drawn to the concordance with standards for drug treatment services within the European Union. The evaluation of the current situation as to health policy tasks, coverage and functioning of the current drug treatment services, and the assessment of the existing drug services as regards European standards resulted in the elaboration of recommendations, which describe future demands for an improvement of the drug treatment policy in Cyprus.
Cyprus belongs to the EU countries where the provision and financing of drug treatment services is provided by both public agencies and NGOs. With the introduction of high-dosage buprenorphine maintenance treatment in Cyprus in 2007, substitution treatment is now available in all Member States. Nevertheless, Cyprus shows a poor diversification of treatment provision and services in comparison to other EU Member States. Thus, suggestions were aimed at more harm reduction measures, including maintenance treatment with other substances, and a good balance between multifunctional services with a low threshold and specific treatment options. In addition, Cyprus does not manage to keep up with international standards concerning specific target group specialised treatment options: Gender specific programmes for women, special migrant programmes, prison-based substitution treatment and other harm reduction programmes are lacking. There is also a lack of communication between the involved public bodies, which limits an effective planning and coordination of drug treatment. Finally, there is no clear structure for the distribution of the budget, while the strategic planning of the national drug policy remains unclear.
The Cypriot addiction services offer the presuppositions for an efficient and good functioning drug care system in the future. As drug services in Cyprus are still adapting to the increasing special needs of the population, an evaluation can guide needed reforms to achieve a more efficient system. Some crucial changes with respect to the structure and coordination of the facilities, in combination with a redefinition of several objectives, in order to cover existing gaps in the treatment offer, can guarantee the continuity of care within a drug treatment conformed to the international state of the art
Influence of religious aspects and personal beliefs on psychological behavior: focus on anxiety disorders
No full textAgorastos Agorastos,1 Cüneyt Demiralay,1 Christian G Huber2 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; 2Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland Abstract: The current paper presents literature relevant to the relationship of religiosity, spirituality, and personal beliefs with mental health and, in particular, anxiety disorders as an empirical narrative review, providing an overview on the most important and clinically relevant research results on the topic. The relationship between religiosity/spirituality, personal beliefs (ie, magical ideation and paranormal beliefs), and mental health has lately been studied extensively, and results have indicated significant associations among these variables. However, scientific approaches to this field are complex and multidimensional, partly leading to poor operationalization, incomparable data, and contradictory results. Literature demonstrates that higher religiosity/spirituality and magical ideation scores have often been associated with increased obsessive–compulsive traits. Similar results could not be confidently replicated for other anxiety disorders. However, it is still unclear if these differences suggest a specific association with obsessive–compulsive traits and reflect deviating etiopathogenetic and cognitive aspects between obsessive–compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders, or if these results are biased through other factors. Religiosity/spirituality and personal beliefs constitute important parameters of human experience and deserve greater consideration in the psychotherapeutic treatment of psychiatric disorders. Keywords: spirituality, religiosity, religion, paranormal beliefs, magical ideation anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD, anxiety, copin
Pathophysiological trajectories and biological consequences of early life trauma
No full textExperience of early life stress (ELS) (childhood trauma, maltreatment, neglect, separation, physical and sexual abuse, parental loss and other severe anxiety/stress symptoms) is highly prevalent in the general population and constitutes a major public health problem (Gilbert et al., ). The objective of this paper is to review evidence on epidemiological risk factors, pathophysiological trajectories and neurobiological pathways exerting the enduring adverse effects of ELS and leading to compromised overall health in adulthood. Prolonged neuropsychobiological alterations as sequelae of early trauma could mediate the risk of disease in adulthood, and lead to cumulative disadvantages and increased physical and mental morbidity in later life. In particular, a higher risk of psychiatric disorders (e.g. depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders) and their unfavourable outcomes (e.g. treatment resistance, suicide) has been associated with a history of ELS in several retrospective but also prospective studies, while the moderating interaction of ELS and pre-existing genetic vulnerability in these disorders has been extensively discussed in recent literature. Nevertheless, the chronic physical health consequences of childhood adversities may be as substantial as mental health consequences. Prior research suggests an association of ELS with cardiovascular, pulmonary and metabolic diseases, chronic inflammatory and pain syndromes, frequency of medical consultations and number of medical diagnoses. In addition, risk behaviour patterns such as substance use, and especially tobacco and alcohol consumption, are considered significantly increased in individuals with experience of ELS. Consequently, many studies have reported a negative impact of ELS on adult general mental and physical health-related quality of life, while recognizing the additive effect of the number or different types of childhood adversities is important for understanding their cumulative effect on later life adjustment (Agorastos, Pittman et al., ). The distinct impact of ELS may lie in enhanced plasticity mechanisms during this period that lead to persistent functional and epigenetic alterations and to higher allostatic load over time. Experience of ELS has been shown to lead to an increased neuroendocrine stress response and vulnerability to stress, hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis dysregulation, long-lasting alterations in emotional and psychophysiological reactivity, impaired adaptive functioning, malfunction of fear response circuits and structural changes in the central nervous system. ELS can also lead to epigenetic modifications in response to environmental influences through stress-related gene expression and, thus, play a central role in the long-term biological trajectories leading to stress-related disease, and may explain interindividual variation. In addition, ELS represents an independent risk factor for neuroendocrine–immunological abnormalities with the development, to some level, of a proinflammatory phenotype in adulthood. Finally, recent literature has focused on the potentially fundamental role of sleep and circadian rhythms in the development of ELS-related disorders. Central and peripheral circadian disruption after severe stress in childhood could engrave pathophysiological trajectories of ELS through impaired homeostatic balance, with overall neuroendocrine, immune, metabolic and autonomic dysregulation (Agorastos, Kellner et al., ). Taken together, persistent structural, functional and epigenetic changes in neural circuits after ELS could foster chronic chronodisruption and thus mediate the risk of disease and resilience in adults, following a distinct dose–response relationship. The long-term effects of ELS may be conceptualized as a common developmental risk factor triggering a health-related risk cascade with high public health impact. Future studies should focus on prospective investigation of potential predictors and mediators, their temporal sequence and combined effects at epidemiological, biological and epigenetic levels, while taking into account the potentially delayed time-frame for the expression of their effects. Screening strategies for ELS need to be improved, as they would help to identify an individual’s risk level for disease development and predict the response to treatment, towards a better understanding of the relationship between gene and environmental exposures that impacts resilience
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The Short Chronicle of the priest Theophilactos Agorastos on the Venetian Conquest of the Morea (1683-1690)
No full textThis articles publishes and comments for the first time the autograph chronicle written in Demotic Greek prose by the Greek monk Theofilaktos Agorastos. The chronicle portraits a vivid picture of the events that between 1683 and 1690 brought to the constitution of the Venetian kingdom of Morea, which later, in 1699, was officially recognized to the Republic of Venice by the treaty of Carlowitz (Ottoman Empire, Poland, and Venice). The events are recalled by the author between 1728 and 1729, with the nostalgic spirit of those who were born Christian in a province of the Ottoman Empire and who lived from adolescence until about forty years in territories governed by Serenissima, and in 1715 saw the Turkish reconquest of the Peloponnese and the end of the short Venetian kingdom, to which the Republic of Venice officially renounced only in 1718 with the treaty of Passarowitz (Požarevac).Accepted versio
Variations on the Author
No full text“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Cell-specific and nuclear targeting with M(CO)(3)](+) (M=Tc-99m, Re)-based complexes conjugated to acridine orange and bombesin
No full textReceptor-specific nuclear targeting requires trifunctional metal complexes. We have synthesized M(L (2)-pept)(L-1-acr)(CO)(3)] (pept = peptide; acr=acridine-based agent) in which the fac-M(CO)(3)](+) moiety (1st function, M=Tc-99m, Re) couples an acridine-based nuclear-targeting agent (2nd function, L-1-acr) and the specific cell-receptor-binding peptide bombesin (3rd function, L-2-pept). The metal-mediated coupling is based on the mixed ligand 2+1] principle. The nuclear targeting agents have been derivatised with an isocyanide group for monodentate (L-1) and bombesin (BBN) with a bidentate ligand (L-2) for complexation to fac-M(CO)(3)](+). For nuclear uptake studies, the model complexes Re(L-2) (C-acr)(CO)(3)] (L-2 = pyridine-2-carboxylic acid and pyridine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid) were synthesized and structurally characterized. We selected acridine derivatives as nuclear-targeting agents, because they are very good nucleus-staining agents and exhibit strong fluorescence. Despite the bulky metal complexes attached to acridine, all Re(L-2) (L-1-acr)(CO)(3)] showed high accumulation in the nuclei of PC3 and B16F1 cells, as evidenced by fluorescence microscopy. For radiopharmaceutical purposes, the Tc-99m analogues have been prepared and radioactivity distribution confirmed the fluorescence results. Coupling of BBN to L-2 gave the receptor-selective complexes M(L-2-BBN)(L-1-acr)(CO)(3)]. Whereas no internalization was found with B16F1 cells, fluorescence microscopy on PC3 cells bearing the BBN receptor showed high and rapid uptake by receptor-mediated endocytosis into the cytoplasm, but not into the nucleus
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Author, publisher and bookseller : a tripartite synergy in Nigerian book industry
No full textThis work is about the roles of Author, Publisher and Bookseller in Book development in
Nigeria. The paper started by delving into the history of Book Publishing in Nigeria after
which it proceeded by defining who an author, a publisher, and a bookseller is and
expatiated on the indispensable roles of these key actors in Nigerian Book Industry and in
the emerging Information Society. Furthermore, the various constraints to book
development were identified while the paper advised on how the Book Industry can be
further promoted in Nigeria. However, the paper concluded and made recommendations
on how the Book sector can help in enhancing scholarship in the country
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