Let’s celebrate recovery. Inclusive Cities working together to support social cohesion

Recovery from illicit drug and alcohol use takes place over time and is characterised by a dynamic interaction between internal and external components. An integral part of all recovery journeys is effective community reintegration. After all, recovery is not mainly an issue of personal motivation rather it is about acceptance by family, by friends and by a range of organisations and professionals across the community. Therefore to support pathways to recovery, structural and contextual endeavours are needed to supplement individually-oriented interventions and programmes. One way to do this, is by introducing Inclusive Cities. An Inclusive City promotes participation, inclusion, full and equal citizenship to all her citizens, including those in recovery, based on the idea of community capital. The aim of building recovery capital at a community level through connections and 'linking social capital' to challenge stigmatisation and exclusion, is seen as central to this idea. Inclusive Cities is an initiative to support the creation of Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care at a city level, that starts with but extends beyond substance using populations. This paper describes (and gives examples of) how it is possible to use recovery as a starting point for generating social inclusion, challenging the marginalisation of other excluded populations as well by building community connections

Is schizoaffective disorder a distinct categorical diagnosis? A critical review of the literature

Considerable debate surrounds the inclusion of schizoaffective disorder in psychiatric nosology. Schizoaffective disorder may be a variant of schizophrenia in which mood symptoms are unusually prominent but not unusual in type. This condition may instead reflect a severe form of either major depressive or bipolar disorder in which episode-related psychotic symptoms fail to remit completely between mood episodes. Alternatively, schizoaffective disorder may reflect the co-occurrence of two relatively common psychiatric illnesses, schizophrenia and a mood disorder (major depressive or bipolar disorder). Each of these formulations of schizoaffective disorder presents nosological challenges because the signs and symptoms of this condition cross conventional categorical diagnostic boundaries between psychotic disorders and mood disorders. The study, evaluation, and treatment of persons presently diagnosed with schizoaffective may be more usefully informed by a dimensional approach. It is in this context that this article reviews and contrasts the categorical and dimensional approaches to its description, neurobiology, and treatment. Based on this review, an argument for the study and treatment of this condition using a dimensional approach is offered

Clinically Actionable Hypercholesterolemia and Hypertriglyceridemia in Children with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

OBJECTIVE: To determine the percentage of children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in whom intervention for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or triglycerides was indicated based on National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines. STUDY DESIGN: This multicenter, longitudinal cohort study included children with NAFLD enrolled in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network. Fasting lipid profiles were obtained at diagnosis. Standardized dietary recommendations were provided. After 1 year, lipid profiles were repeated and interpreted according to National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction. Main outcomes were meeting criteria for clinically actionable dyslipidemia at baseline, and either achieving lipid goal at follow-up or meeting criteria for ongoing intervention. RESULTS: There were 585 participants, with a mean age of 12.8 years. The prevalence of children warranting intervention for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol at baseline was 14%. After 1 year of recommended dietary changes, 51% achieved goal low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 27% qualified for enhanced dietary and lifestyle modifications, and 22% met criteria for pharmacologic intervention. Elevated triglycerides were more prevalent, with 51% meeting criteria for intervention. At 1 year, 25% achieved goal triglycerides with diet and lifestyle changes, 38% met criteria for advanced dietary modifications, and 37% qualified for antihyperlipidemic medications. CONCLUSIONS: More than one-half of children with NAFLD met intervention thresholds for dyslipidemia. Based on the burden of clinically relevant dyslipidemia, lipid screening in children with NAFLD is warranted. Clinicians caring for children with NAFLD should be familiar with lipid management

The problem of equilibration and the computation of correlation functions on a quantum computer

We address the question of how a quantum computer can be used to simulate experiments on quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. We present two approaches for the preparation of the equilibrium state on a quantum computer. For both approaches, we show that the output state of the algorithm, after long enough time, is the desired equilibrium. We present a numerical analysis of one of these approaches for small systems. We show how equilibrium (time)-correlation functions can be efficiently estimated on a quantum computer, given a preparation of the equilibrium state. The quantum algorithms that we present are hard to simulate on a classical computer. This indicates that they could provide an exponential speedup over what can be achieved with a classical device.Comment: 25 pages LaTex + 8 figures; various additional comments, results and correction

The importance of science-informed policy and what the data really tell us about e-cigarettes

A possible future end-game for cigarettes is explored in the context of the historical progress made to date by tobacco control. Despite good progress, there remains an urgent need to increase the use of proven tobacco control policies and practices for prevention and cessation. The problem is worse than previously thought and the 50(th) anniversary United States Surgeon General’s report indicates the overwhelming majority of avoidable deaths are caused by combusting of tobacco, primarily cigarettes. The report highlights for the first time the addition of a harm minimization strategy to enhance proven tobacco control efforts and thus much more rapidly speed the obsolescence of cigarettes. Harm minimization can be two pronged. First, it can boost proven tobacco control polices to make cigarettes more expensive and less appealing and accessible to maximize the fact that cigarettes are orders of magnitude the most harmful of all tobacco delivery systems. Second, harm minimization can support use of substantially less harmful but appealing alternatives to substitute for lethal cigarettes for those users who are unable or unwilling to quit smoking. A future end-game might prudently manage emerging new products like e-cigarettes to help boost the difference in harm between them and lethal cigarettes. Harm minimization could help to accelerate the end of the century-long dominance of the cigarette in what has been called “the golden holocaust”. Rather than these emerging delivery devices being used to replace lethal cigarettes in what might be termed a David versus Goliath strategy to disrupt the status quo, there is also legitimate concern that these new products could undermine historically successful tobacco control efforts, especially youth prevention, if allowed free reign. What can the data really tell us about the potential for e-cigarettes to be helpful or harmful? The emerging but limited scientific evidence and the inherent methodological constraints in study designs, points to the need for caution in prematurely interpreting results in a manner that could mislead policymakers

Evidence for the Rare Decay B -> K*ll and Measurement of the B -> Kll Branching Fraction

We present evidence for the flavor-changing neutral current decay $B\to K^*\ell^+\ell^-$ and a measurement of the branching fraction for the related process $B\to K\ell^+\ell^-$, where $\ell^+\ell^-$ is either an $e^+e^-$ or $\mu^+\mu^-$ pair. These decays are highly suppressed in the Standard Model, and they are sensitive to contributions from new particles in the intermediate state. The data sample comprises $123\times 10^6$ $\Upsilon(4S)\to B\bar{B}$ decays collected with the Babar detector at the PEP-II $e^+e^-$ storage ring. Averaging over $K^{(*)}$ isospin and lepton flavor, we obtain the branching fractions ${\mathcal B}(B\to K\ell^+\ell^-)=(0.65^{+0.14}_{-0.13}\pm 0.04)\times 10^{-6}$ and ${\mathcal B}(B\to K^*\ell^+\ell^-)=(0.88^{+0.33}_{-0.29}\pm 0.10)\times 10^{-6}$, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The significance of the $B\to K\ell^+\ell^-$ signal is over $8\sigma$, while for $B\to K^*\ell^+\ell^-$ it is $3.3\sigma$.Comment: 7 pages, 2 postscript figues, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Measurement of the quasi-elastic axial vector mass in neutrino-oxygen interactions

The weak nucleon axial-vector form factor for quasi-elastic interactions is determined using neutrino interaction data from the K2K Scintillating Fiber detector in the neutrino beam at KEK. More than 12,000 events are analyzed, of which half are charged-current quasi-elastic interactions nu-mu n to mu- p occurring primarily in oxygen nuclei. We use a relativistic Fermi gas model for oxygen and assume the form factor is approximately a dipole with one parameter, the axial vector mass M_A, and fit to the shape of the distribution of the square of the momentum transfer from the nucleon to the nucleus. Our best fit result for M_A = 1.20 \pm 0.12 GeV. Furthermore, this analysis includes updated vector form factors from recent electron scattering experiments and a discussion of the effects of the nucleon momentum on the shape of the fitted distributions.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, 6 table

Measurement of Branching Fraction and Dalitz Distribution for B0->D(*)+/- K0 pi-/+ Decays

We present measurements of the branching fractions for the three-body decays B0 -> D(*)-/+ K0 pi^+/-$and their resonant submodes$B0 -> D(*)-/+ K*+/- using a sample of approximately 88 million BBbar pairs collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric energy storage ring. We measure: B(B0->D-/+ K0 pi+/-)=(4.9 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.5 (syst)) 10^{-4} B(B0->D*-/+ K0 pi+/-)=(3.0 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) 10^{-4} B(B0->D-/+ K*+/-)=(4.6 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.5 (syst)) 10^{-4} B(B0->D*-/+ K*+/-)=(3.2 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) 10^{-4} From these measurements we determine the fractions of resonant events to be : f(B0-> D-/+ K*+/-) = 0.63 +/- 0.08(stat) +/- 0.04(syst) f(B0-> D*-/+ K*+/-) = 0.72 +/- 0.14(stat) +/- 0.05(syst)Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures submitted to Phys. Rev. Let