An examination of a proposed DSM-IV pathological gambling hierarchy in a treatment seeking population: similarities with substance dependence and evidence for three classification systems

Toce-Gerstein et al. (Addiction 98:1661–1672, 2003) investigated the distribution of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) pathological gambling criteria endorsement in a U.S. community sample for those people endorsing a least one of the DSM-IV criteria (n = 399). They proposed a hierarchy of gambling disorders where endorsement of 1–2 criteria were deemed ‘At-Risk’, 3–4 ‘Problem gamblers’, 5–7 ‘Low Pathological’, and 8–10 ‘High Pathological’ gamblers. This article examines these claims in a larger Australian treatment seeking population. Data from 4,349 clients attending specialist problem gambling services were assessed for meeting the ten DSM-IV pathological gambling criteria. Results found higher overall criteria endorsement frequencies, three components, a direct relationship between criteria endorsement and gambling severity, clustering of criteria similar to the Toce-Gerstein et al. taxonomy, high accuracy scores for numerical and criteria specific taxonomies, and also high accuracy scores for dichotomous pathological gambling diagnoses. These results suggest significant complexities in the frequencies of criteria reports and relationships between criteria.

Outpatient versus inpatient IV antibiotic management for pediatric oncology patients with low risk febrile neutropenia: a randomised trial

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a frequent, serious complication of intensive pediatric chemotherapy regimens. The aim of this trial was to compare quality of life (QOL) between inpatient and outpatient intravenous antibiotic management of children and adolescents with low risk febrile neutropenia (LRFN).

A review of recent advances in chemiluminescence detection using nano-colloidal manganese(IV)

The application of 'soluble' (colloidal) manganese(IV) for chemiluminescence detection is reviewed, focussing on papers published since the last comprehensive review of the subject in 2008. Advances in this reagent system include: the on-line formation of manganese(IV); new insight into the light-producing pathway and selectivity of the reagent; its application to assess total antioxidants in plant derived samples and oxidative stress in biological fluids and tissues; and the replacement of the formaldehyde enhancer with ethanol.

Ethanol as an alternative to formaldehyde for the enhancement of manganese(IV) chemiluminescence detection.

Previous applications of manganese(IV) as a chemiluminescence reagent have required the use of formaldehyde to enhance the emission intensity to analytically useful levels. However, this known human carcinogen (by inhalation) is not ideal for routine application. A wide range of alternative enhancers have been examined but to date none have been found to provide the dramatic increase in chemiluminescence intensities obtained using formaldehyde. Herein, we demonstrate that ethanol offers a simple, safe and inexpensive alternative to the use of formaldehyde for manganese(IV) chemiluminescence detection, without compromising signal intensity or sensitivity. For example, chemiluminescence signals for opiate alkaloids using 50-100% ethanol were 0.8-1.6-fold those using 2M formaldehyde. This innocuous alternative enhancer is shown to be a particularly effective for the direct detection of thiols and disulfides by manganese(IV) chemiluminescence, which we have applied to a simple HPLC procedure to determine a series of biomarkers of oxidative stress.