The efficacy of atomoxetine as adjunctive treatment for co-morbid substance use disorders and externalizing symptoms.

BACKGROUND: We examined the effect of atomoxetine supplementation in treated-as-usual patients with alcohol, tobacco and other drug dependence (ATOD) and co-morbid externalizing symptoms (ES). METHOD: Subjects were selected from a substance dependence treatment-cohort and assessed for: (a) high ES counts, (b) maximum prior period of abstinence, (c) quality of life during that period, and (d) shortest time from prior relapse to restarting treatment. Subjects were prescribed atomoxetine and followed up to their first relapse. RESULTS: Out of 262 subjects screened during the study period (March-April 2008), 18 subjects who fulfilled eligibility criteria were recruited. All subjects were male, with early onset of substance dependence to at least two substances. Atomoxetine treatment led to significant treatment benefits: ES reduction, longer abstinence, shorter turnaround time and better quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Atomoxetine has a potential role in the treatment of early onset ATOD patients with ES, as an adjuvant to the standard treatment.

A new fast fractal modeling approach for the detection of microcalcifications in mammograms.

In this paper, a novel fast method for modeling mammograms by deterministic fractal coding approach to detect the presence of microcalcifications, which are early signs of breast cancer, is presented. The modeled mammogram obtained using fractal encoding method is visually similar to the original image containing microcalcifications, and therefore, when it is taken out from the original mammogram, the presence of microcalcifications can be enhanced. The limitation of fractal image modeling is the tremendous time required for encoding. In the present work, instead of searching for a matching domain in the entire domain pool of the image, three methods based on mean and variance, dynamic range of the image blocks, and mass center features are used. This reduced the encoding time by a factor of 3, 89, and 13, respectively, in the three methods with respect to the conventional fractal image coding method with quad tree partitioning. The mammograms obtained from The Mammographic Image Analysis Society database (ground truth available) gave a total detection score of 87.6%, 87.6%, 90.5%, and 87.6%, for the conventional and the proposed three methods, respectively.

Tobacco consumption in India: a new look using data from the National Sample Survey.

This paper examines the various issues surrounding tobacco use in India, using National Sample Survey and other data. The study demonstrates that 150 million Indians used tobacco in 1998 and that during the 1990's, the prevalence increased for both rural and urban areas, as well as in both sexes and in all age groups. Such large numbers have staggering implications for the country's economy, health outcomes and resources, and the magnitude of tobacco control challenges. Bidis hand-rolled cigarettes remain the most commonly used form of tobacco. However, major differences in rates and types of tobacco used were seen among various sex, age, economic and social class groups, suggesting that public health efforts to reduce consumption will require focused initiatives to target various populations and products.