Hsu W-Y, Chiu N-Y, Liu J-T, Wang C-H, Chang T-G, Liao Y-C, Kuo P-I. Sleep quality in heroin addicts under methadone maintenance treatment.

Background: Sleep disturbance is a common phenomenon among opiate addicts. The side effects of opiate addiction or opiate withdrawal might result in sleep disturbance. However, their problems might be related to sedative medication abuse, alcohol abuse or heroin relapse. Sleep is an important issue in this population.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of sleep disorders in heroin addicts receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and analyse the correlation between related factors, such as age at opiate exposure, opiate exposure duration, duration in MMT, methadone current dosage, methadone attendance rate and the severity of sleep disorders.

Method: We enrolled 121 heroin addicts who were receiving MMT. We collected data on the duration of insomnia, hypnotic history, Visual Analogue Scale-10 of sleep quality, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), methadone dosage, methadone history and opiate history.

Results: The mean of the PSQI was 9.1 ± 5.4, and 70.2% of patients had PSQI scores >5, indicating they were poor sleepers. We also found the PSQI scores were correlated significantly with the methadone dosage.

Conclusions: The sleep disturbance prevalence rate of opiate addicts under MMT was high in Taiwan, as shown in the previous studies, and the severity of sleep disturbance has been underestimated.

Background: Executive dysfunction is not uncommon in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). This study aimed to investigate the applicability of executive function tests (EFTs) in aMCI as an aid in establishing the diagnosis of multi-domain MCI.

Methods: One hundred and twenty (120) aMCI patients, 126 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, and 100 normal controls were enrolled. The EFTs evaluated included the trail making test, digit backward span, Stroop color–word test, and design fluency and category fluency tests.

Results: Of the aMCI participants, 66% exhibited impairment in at least one EFT. Among the five selected EFTs, the category fluency test was the most discriminative in detecting executive dysfunction between patients with aMCI (standardized β = 0.264) or AD (standardized β = 0.361) with the controls, followed by the Stroop test. The performance of aMCI patients with two or more impaired EFTs was significantly different from those of controls but not from those of AD patients.

Conclusion: In the clinical setting, aMCI patients who fail in two or more EFTs may represent a unique population with multi-domain MCI that require close follow-up.

In the current research, we successfully prepared TiO2/Ni–Cu–Zn ferrite composite powder for magnetic photocatalyst. The core Ni–Cu–Zn ferrite powder was synthesized using the steel pickling liquor and the waste solution of electroplating as the starting materials. The shell TiO2 nanocrystal was prepared by sol-gel hydrolysis precipitation of titanium isopropoxide [Ti(OC3H7)4] on the Ni–Cu–Zn ferrite powder followed by heat treatment. From transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image, the thickness of the titania shell was found to be approximately 5 nm. The core of Ni–Cu–Zn ferrite is spherical or elliptical shape, and the particle size of the core is in the range of 70–110 nm. The magnetic Ni–Cu–Zn ferrite nanopowder is uniformly encapsulated in a titania layer forming core-shell structure of TiO2/Ni–Cu–Zn ferrite powder. The degradation efficiency for methylene blue (MB) increases with magnetic photocatalyst (TiO2/Ni–Cu–Zn ferrite powder) content. When the magnetic photocatalyst content is 0.40 g in 150 mL of MB, the photocatalytic activity reached the largest value. With a further increase in the content of magnetic photocatalyst, the degradation efficiency slightly decreased. This occurs because the ultraviolet (UV) illumination is covered by catalysts, which were suspended in the methylene blue solution and resulted in the inhibition in the photocatalytic reaction. The photocatalytic degradation result for the relationship between MB concentration and illumination revealed a pseudo first-order kinetic model of the degradation with the limiting rate constant of 1.717 mg/L·min and equilibrium adsorption constant 0.0627 L/mg. Furthermore, the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model can be used to describe the degradation reaction, which suggests that the rate-determining step is surface reaction rather than adsorption is in photocatalytic degradation.

Episodic memory tasks are one of the most sensitive tools to discriminate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed to validate a shorter version verbal memory test that will efficiently assess Chinese elderly with memory complaints. One hundred and eighty-five elderly with normal cognition (NC) and 217 AD patients were evaluated. Each participant received the Chinese Version Verbal Learning Test (CVVLT) consisting of 9 two-character nouns with 4 learning trials, 2 delayed recalls in 30 seconds and 10 minutes, and a word recognition test. In the NC elderly, age and sex had significant effects on recall scores in CVVLT, while education level showed an inverse correlation with 3 different patterns of errors made during the learning, recall, and recognition trials. AD patients had lower scores across all recall tests. In those with lower educational level, NC elderly had higher perseveration errors than AD patients. The cutoff value between the AD and NC groups in the 10-minute recall was 4/5 for those aged >75 years and 5/6 for those aged <75 years. This study has good validity in discriminating AD participants and the data here can help in diagnosing AD and mild cognitive impairment using the CVVLT. (JINS, 2010, 16, 244–251.)

Described is a method for preparing crystalline silver nanorods in water, in the absence of a surfactant or polymer to direct nanoparticle growth, and without externally added seed crystallites. The procedure used is one in which a silver salt is reduced to silver metal by sodium citrate under the influence of microwave irradiation. Key aspects for the production of these nanorods are the use of a closed-chamber microwave heating system that allows precise temperature control and judicious choice of the citrate concentration. This novel finding demonstrates the utility of microwave-assisted synthesis and provides a promising method for the preparation of silver nanorods.

The Figure 2 caption that was published in the above referenced article (Volume 9, Number 2, 2000, pp. 344–352) is incorrect. We are reproducing Figure 2 below with its correct caption. As a consequence of this error, we are reprinting the following section from Results and discussion.

The in vitro refolding of hen egg-white lysozyme is studied in the presence of various osmolytes. Proline is found to prevent aggregation during protein refolding. However, other osmolytes used in this study fail to exhibit a similar property. Experimental evidence suggests that proline inhibits protein aggregation by binding to folding intermediate(s) and trapping the folding intermediate(s) into enzymatically inactive, “aggregation-insensitive” state(s). However, elimination of proline from the refolded protein mixture results in significant recovery of the bacteriolytic activity. At higher concentrations (>1.5 M), proline is shown to form loose, higher-order molecular aggregate(s). The supramolecular assembly of proline is found to possess an amphipathic character. Formation of higher-order aggregates is believed to be crucial for proline to function as a protein folding aid. In addition to its role in osmoregulation under water stress conditions, the results of this study hint at the possibility of proline behaving as a protein folding chaperone.