First defined in the mid-1990s, prebiotics, which alter the composition and activity of gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota to improve health and well-being, have generated scientific and consumer interest and regulatory debate. The Life Sciences Research Organization, Inc. (LSRO) held a workshop, Prebiotics and the Health Benefits of Fiber: Future Research and ...

The evidence base underpinning most traditional scar reduction approaches is limited, but some of the novel strategies are promising and accumulating. We review a number of commonly adopted strategies for scar reduction. The outlined novel agents are paradigmatic of the value of translational medical research and are likely to change ...

Abstract. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines organized its first Neglected Diseases and Innovation Symposium to address expanding roles of public sector research institutions in innovation in research and development of biomedical technologies for treatment of diseases, particularly neglected tropical diseases. Universities and other public research institutions are increasingly integrated into ...

Cystic echinococcosis is a zoonotic disease affecting mainly various species of livestock and humans. This study aims at highlighting the course of research on cystic echinococcosis in different animals and humans in Sudan (including the recently independent state of South Sudan) since the disease was first reported in 1908. Recent ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Taxonomy or biological systematics is the basic scientific discipline of biology, postulating hypotheses of identity and relationships, on which all other natural sciences dealing with organisms relies. However, the scientific contributions of taxonomists have been largely neglected when using species names in scientific publications by not citing the ...

Awareness has grown over the past few years that needs specific to cancer survivors have long been neglected. Clinicians and policy makers continue to struggle, however, with exactly how to address these needs. We present a comprehensive framework for survivorship research and couple it with a model for translating research ...

Solomon Nwaka was born in Nigeria and grew up seeing at first hand the impact of neglected diseases. His research efforts have taken him across the globe, in both the developed and developing world. Following posts in academia, industry and at the Medicines for Malaria Venture, he is now at ...

One of the major problems in psychiatric practice worldwide is inability to reach a consensus as regards a globally acceptable classificatory system for the different psychopathologies. Consequently, apart from the WHO's International Classification of Diseases (ICD) that is expected to be universally applicable there are regional-based classificatory systems in some ...

James McKerrow's research interests focus on the biology of the host-parasite relationship, from primitive single-cell protozoa to complex multicellular bloodflukes. His group employs techniques from a variety of disciplines to develop new drugs for parasitic diseases. He speaks to Future Medicinal Chemistry about what inspired him to enter research and ...

Approximately 20 years after the initial report of the measurement of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) in the exhaled air of humans, numerous publications have evaluated the possible applications of the fraction of exhaled NO (FeNO) in patients with asthma. The aim of the present review is to evaluate the technical ...

The medical sciences in Sasanian society, in late Antiquity, constitute a rather neglected field of inquiry. Our most reliable sources for the study of this particular period in the history of science include a number of texts that were written in several older Iranian languages. In the following pages, we ...

The idea that individuals drink alcohol to fit in with their peers has been investigated by many researchers. However, the related concept that consumption of alcohol may serve as a means of avoiding the social costs associated with being a non-drinker has received little attention. Three studies (N = 94, ...

This article amplifies the decision to subtitle the INEBRIA2009 Conference 'Breaking New Ground'. The effectiveness of screening and brief intervention (SBI) for hazardous and harmful drinking is now well-established for primary health care and is promising for other medical settings. In addition, significant advances in the implementation of SBI are ...

Aims  The purpose of this paper is to introduce the social science alcohol and drug research undertaken by the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research (CRF) and at the same time offer an insight into the development in Danish alcohol and drug research throughout the past 15-20 years. Method  A ...

Alcohol drinking is highly prevalent in many cultures and contributes to the global burden of disease. In fact, it was shown that alcohol constitutes 3.2% of all worldwide deaths in the year 2006 and is linked to more than 60 diseases, including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, liver cirrhosis, neuropsychiatric disorders, injuries ...

Reductions in control group consumption over time that are possibly related to research design affect the impact of brief alcohol interventions (BAI) in clinical settings. We conducted a systematic review to identify research design factors that may contribute to control group change, strategies to limit these effects and implications for ...

A literature review was performed to look at the interactions between alcohol and methotrexate in non-malignant disease. The evidence from research into psoriasis and inflammatory arthritis, and an overview of international and national guidelines, was amalgamated into some consensus recommendations.

There is a shortage of high-quality intervention-based evidence in the drug and alcohol misuse field. That is, evidence based on replicated effects using rigorous methodology, to establish a causal knowledge base around ethical, cost-effective methods relevant to clinical practice. The knowledge base in this field is limited participant recruitment challenges; ...

Experimental ethnography enables the use of fictionalized accounts that celebrate partial truths and challenge realist and positivist ethnographic authority. Literary devices drawn from fiction arguably allow social researchers to better portray real events. Fiction, which should not be regarded as synonymous with falsehood, enables the telling of tales in dramatic ...

A strong body of evidence guides clinical responses to alcohol and tobacco dependence and there is an emerging evidence base informing responses to cannabis dependence. Nevertheless, there are still important gaps in the evidence base. Three researchers, with backgrounds in alcohol, tobacco and cannabis research examine current clinical research and ...

Implementation of effective policies to reduce harmful alcohol consumption requires both a good understanding of the policy development process and which strategies are likely to work. To contribute to this understanding by reviewing four specific policy development initiatives that have taken place in South Africa between 1994 and 2009: restrictions ...

The National Alcohol Program--PróAlcool, created by the government of Brazil in 1975 resulted less dependency on fossil fuels. The addition of 25% ethanol to gasoline reduced the import of 550 million barrels oil and also reduced the emission CO(2) by 110 million tons. Today, 44% of the Brazilian energy matrix ...

OBJECTIVE: To contextualise and provide an overview of two review papers--prepared as part of a larger research program--dealing with different aspects of the treatment of Indigenous Australians with alcohol-related problems. METHOD: The papers were reviewed thematically and compared to identify key issues raised in them. FINDINGS: Together, the papers highlight ...

The morbidity and mortality resulting from alcohol-related diseases globally impose a substantive cost to society. To minimize the financial burden on society and improve the quality of life for individuals suffering from the ill effects of alcohol abuse, substantial research in the alcohol field is focused on understanding the mechanisms ...

The aim of this paper is to present a concise account of the history, mission, structure and some recent achievements of the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Created by the US Congress 40 years ago, the NIAAA has evolved from an entity charged mainly with building ...

There is concern that research reimbursements to adolescents may increase substance use. However, these concerns have not been examined empirically. Participants were 70 adolescents (13-19 years) with at least one non-nicotine substance use disorder (SUD) enrolled in a 12-week clinical trial of atomoxetine/placebo for attention/deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Adolescent participants received ...

INTRODUCTION: Alcohol is the most commonly used drug within Australia. Recently, there have been indications that there is a greater incidence of high-risk drinking within rural populations as compared with their urban counterparts. High-risk drinking is associated with numerous conditions, such as diabetes, heart attack and cancer, as well as ...

Alcohol-induced hangover is commonly experienced after excessive alcohol consumption. This paper presents a critical review of literature on the next day effects of excessive alcohol consumption on subjective ratings of mood. The review has identified 7 comprehensive studies which have followed either the pharmacological approach or the naturalistic approach to ...

Alcohol-induced hangover, defined by a series of symptoms, is the most commonly reported consequence of excessive alcohol consumption. Alcohol hangovers contribute to workplace absenteeism, impaired job performance, reduced productivity, poor academic achievement, and may compromise potentially dangerous daily activities such as driving a car or operating heavy machinery. These socioeconomic ...

Impulsivity represents a complex, multifaceted construct with relevance to alcohol use, abuse, and dependence. Researchers are refining the definitions and assessment of different subtypes of impulsive behavior and relating these to the causes and consequences of alcohol-related behaviors and disorders. A satellite symposium on alcohol and impulsivity was held at ...

Research suggests that alcoholic beverage advertisements may have an adverse effect on teenagers and young adults, owing to their vulnerability to suggestive message content. This study was designed to evaluate perceived violations of the content guidelines of the Brazilian alcohol marketing self-regulation code, based on ratings of the five most ...

OBJECTIVE: Researchers who study the etiology of college drinking typically employ measures of alcohol-use behaviors as outcomes; however, relatively little is known about the properties of alcohol-related problems (AP). This study aims to develop a single continuous measure of AP. PARTICIPANTS: The sample included 531 undergraduate college students who were ...

The lack of reliable measures of alcohol intake is a major obstacle to the diagnosis, treatment, and research of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Successful development of a biomarker that allows for accurate assessment of alcohol intake and drinking patterns would not only be a major advance in clinical care but ...

Biomarkers to detect past alcohol use and identify alcohol-related diseases have long been pursued as important tools for research into alcohol use disorders as well as for clinical and treatment applications and other settings. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) sponsored a workshop titled "Workshop on Biomarkers ...

During the past decade, advances have been made in the identification, development, and application of alcohol biomarkers. This is important because of the unique functions that alcohol biomarkers can serve in various applied settings. To carry out these functions, biomarkers must display several features including validity, reliability, adequacy of temporal ...

The paper considers conceptual and methodological issues in studying the scope of alcohol's harm to others. Reasons are suggested for the relative neglect of the topic. The approaches in two relevant research traditions are considered: population surveys on alcohol problems, and economic cost of alcohol studies. Ways of conceptualizing and ...

Data are from the 2000 National Alcohol Survey Methodological Follow-up, which includes 323 individuals from across the United States. Directly measured estimates of drink volume and amount left unfinished along with self-report of the frequency and reasons for which drinks are not finished and are compared across groups. Overall, 12% ...

The Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs (SoRAD) was established as a national research centre and department within the Faculty of Social Science at Stockholm University in 1997, following a Government Report and with the aim to strengthen social alcohol and drug research. Initially, core funding came from ...

The commentary by Moss et al. (2010) disagrees with policy recommendations we did not give. Our main conclusions were that "Our study warrants further studies... [and]... implies a modification of the 'folk wisdom' of not drinking on an empty stomach." Our conclusions were based on a laboratory experiment where we ...

Despite the declining overall rate of cigarette smoking in the general population in the United States, the prevalence of smoking is estimated to be as high as 80% among treatment-seeking alcoholics. The serious adverse health effects of tobacco and heavy alcohol use are synergistic and recent evidence suggests that smoking ...

Individuals who have maladaptive patterns of drinking alcohol fall into the category of vulnerable research participants for many reasons, not the least of which includes the stigma often placed on individuals who abuse alcohol. Vulnerable subgroups within the population of people who abuse alcohol include women; older adults; incarcerated, socioeconomically ...

Brief intervention (BI) is intended as an early intervention for non-treatment-seeking, non-alcohol-dependent, hazardous and harmful drinkers. This text provides a brief summary of key BI research findings from the last three decades and discusses a number of knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. Five areas are described: patient intervention ...

Treating alcohol use disorders represents a main goal in public health, but the effect of current medications is modest. Thus, in the last few years, research has been focusing on identifying new neuropharmacological targets for alcohol dependence. This review will summarize recent research, which has identified new targets to treat ...

Alcohol dependence represents a chronic, relapsing condition with a multifactorial aetiology that includes genetic, neurobiological,psychological, and environmental components. Evidence for the effectiveness of medications in alcohol dependence treatment along with the increased number of compounds available is increasing the use of adjunctive pharmacotherapies. In particular, pharmacotherapies could conceivably address some ...

This article is a product of a breakout session on injury prevention from the 2009 Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference on "Public Health in the ED: Screening, Surveillance, and Intervention." The emergency department (ED) is an important entry portal into the medical care system. Given the epidemiology of substance use ...

This article highlights the research presented at the inaugural meeting of Alcoholism and Stress: A Framework for future Treatment Strategies. This meeting was held on May 6-8, 2008 in Volterra, Italy. It is an international meeting dedicated to developing preventive strategies and pharmacotherapeutic remedies for stress- and alcohol-related disorders. For ...

AIMS: This report argues that the growing involvement of the alcohol industry in scientific research needs to be acknowledged and addressed. It suggests a set of principles to guide ethical decision-making in the future. METHODS: We review relevant issues with regard to relationships between the alcohol industry and the international ...

OBJECTIVE: Findings from previous prospective research suggest the association between alcohol use and undergraduate academic performance is negligible. This study was designed to address weaknesses of the past research by relying on objective measures of both drinking and academic performance. METHOD: A prospective study was conducted with repeated measures of ...

This review examines the empirical literature on fraternity and sorority drinking published during the last decade. This body of 69 research studies indicates that both socialization and selection influence alcohol use in the Greek system, as do normative perceptions and the enabling environment of Greek housing. This review also details ...

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) contains 10% of the world's population and 60% of all people living with AIDS. Consequently, research investigating risk factors associated with HIV acquisition is a public health priority and one such risk factor is alcohol consumption. This article is a review of empirical studies on the association ...