(C) 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel”
“Purpose: To investigate the incidence and correlates of cocaine injection initiation and the impacts of daily cocaine injection among a cohort of injection drug users.

Methods: Among 1603 participants, from May 1996 to December 2005, risk factors for initiation of cocaine injection among baseline heroin users were determined by Cox proportional hazards regression and correlates of daily cocaine injection by generalized estimating equations.

Findings: Of the 238 individuals who had never injected cocaine, 200 (84%) had at least one follow-up visit and 121 (61%) consequently initiated into cocaine injection, yielding an incidence density

of initiation into cocaine injection of 21.9% (95% confidence interval (121): 17.9-25.8) per 100 person-years. In a multivariate

model, Downtown Eastside (DTES) residence (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR)=2.46, BLZ945 purchase 95% Cl:1.68-3.60) incarceration (AHR = 1,507 95% Cl: 1.01-2.24), requiring help injecting (AHR = 1.57, 95% CI: 0.99-2.49), and binge drug use (AHR = 1.82, 95% Cl: 1.22-2.73) remained associated with initiation into cocaine injection. DTES residence (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.99, 95% Cl: 1.62-2.46), unstable housing (AOR NVP-LDE225 mouse = 1.28, 95% Cl: 1.04-1.53), incarceration (AOR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.04-1.60), sex trade involvement (AOR = 1.46, 95% Cl: 1.15-1.85), requiring help injecting (AOR = 2.11, 95% Cl: 1.73-2.58)), borrowing syringes (AOR = 1.81, 95% Cl: 1.35-2.43) and binge drug use (AOR = 2.16, 95% Cl: 1.81-2.58) were independently associated with daily cocaine injection.

Conclusions: The baseline prevalence and subsequent incidence of initiation into cocaine injection was high. Daily cocaine injection was independently associated with a number of health and social harms, including elevated HIV risk behavior.

(c) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“BACKGROUND

Optical transfer diagnosis is a novel melanoma detection system that uses morphologic-physiologic mapping.

OBJECTIVE

To further evaluate the potential of optical transfer diagnosis for distinguishing benign from malignant pigmented melanocytic neoplasms.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Ninety-four patients Sapitinib in vitro with pigmented lesions suggestive of melanoma were referred for optical transfer diagnosis. After lesions were scanned with the camera, they were removed for histopathologic examination by two dermatopathologists each. From the recorded images, morphologic-physiologic maps were created with prediction models of light absorption and scattering by chromophores such as hemoglobin, keratin, and melanin at different epidermal and dermal depths. Entropy and relative entropy values derived from the morphologic-physiologic maps and a set of pure morphologic parameters were analyzed for output prediction of melanoma versus nonmelanoma.