Caspase inhibition, started soon after MI and continued for four weeks, preserves myocardial contractile proteins, reduces systolic dysfunction, and attenuates ventricular remodeling. These findings may have important therapeutic implications in post-MI HF.

Enoxaparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), is widely used for the treatment and prophylaxis of thromboembolic disorders, such as deep vein thrombosis. Low-molecular-weight heparin products have smaller and more uniform molecular weights than unfractionated heparin, allowing them to exhibit a much greater affinity for factor Xa than factor IIa. Compared with traditional unfractionated heparin, LMWHs have proved to be equally efficacious and may be safer. The distinctive characteristics of LMWHs have resulted in decreased rates of bleeding and equivalent rates of thrombocytopenia compared with unfractionated heparin. This favorable safety profile has been identified in several studies and may have led clinicians to believe that LMWHs have lower frequencies of all common side effects. A 66-year-old woman developed increased hepatic transaminases during treatment with enoxaparin for a deep vein thrombosis; they returned to normal after enoxaparin discontinuation. A causal relationship between unfractionated heparin and asymptomatic, transient increases in hepatic transaminase levels has been documented; these increased levels also appear to be an underrecognized, adverse effect of LMWH therapy.

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Policy efforts to involve religious organizations in provision of HIV/AIDS-related assistance should take into account that organization's resources, institutional goals, and social characteristics.

In this exploratory study the authors examined the social contexts of American Indian youths' encounters with drug offers and their relationship to substance use. Using an inventory of drug use-related problem situations developed specifically for American Indian youth, questionnaires were completed by 71 American Indian youth at public middle schools in a Southwest metropolitan area. Regression analyses highlight the importance of situational and relational contexts in understanding substance use among the youth in this sample. Exposure to drug offers through parents, other adults, cousins, friends and other peers was associated with different types of substance use. Exposure through parents was particularly salient in predicting the drug use of female respondents. The study underscores the need for development of culturally grounded prevention programs in schools, reservations, and nonreservation communities. KeywordsAmerican Indians; youth; adolescence; substance use; drug offers In this study we examined the relationship between the social ecology and drug use behaviors of American Indian youth. Using a recently developed survey focused on the ecosystemic context of drug and alcohol use of American Indian youth, The Problem Situations Inventory for American Indian Youth (Okamoto, LeCroy, Dustman, HohmannMarriott, & Kulis, 2004), we analyzed salient environmental characteristics in relation to substance-using behaviors. The purpose of this process was to identify the characteristics of the environment that exerted the most influence in the substance-using behavior of American Indian youth. These findings have implications for the development of culturally grounded prevention programs in schools, reservations, and nonreservation communities. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptCultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 March 1. Jackson, and Hecht (2000), for example, found within a multiracial sample of youth that factors such as positive family relations, low parental permissiveness, and perceived neighborhood safety were related to lifetime use of fewer types of substances. The social context appears to have differential effects on drug use and drug resistance based on gender and ethnicity (Hecht, Trost, Bator, & MacKinnon, 2000;Moon, Hecht, Jackson, & Spellers, 1999;Moon et al., 2000). For example, Moon et al. (1999) found that Mexican American youth received more drug offers than African American and Caucasian youth, and that males were more at risk for offers and use at a younger age than females. Although in their research Hecht et al. emphasize that drug offers and use are situated within a social context and are mediated by gender and ethnicity, they did not elucidate the culturally specific factors that contribute to youth drug use. Further, their findings are limited to the drug use behaviors of youth from three specific cultural groups (Caucasians, African Americans, and Mexican Americans). In terms of future research directions, Hecht et al. (2000) state t...

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This mixed methods study examined motivations and barriers to substance abuse treatment entry and treatment continuation among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) substance users. AAPI substance users (N = 61) were recruited from substance abuse treatment programs in California and Hawaii. Semi-structured interviews and interviewer-administered surveys assessed barriers and facilitators to entering substance abuse treatment. Barriers included peer pressure, family influences, and face loss concerns. Facilitators included peer support, involvement in the criminal justice system, a perceived need for treatment, and culturally competent substance abuse treatment services. Family and peer influences may act as both facilitators and impediments. AAPI substance using populations face many of the same individual-level and structural and systems barriers to entry to treatment as other substance using populations. However, similar to other racial/ethnic minority groups, it is important to address cultural differences and develop culturally competent substance abuse treatments for the AAPI population.