Tobacco smoking is considered the big killer and one of the most avoidable risk factors for many human pathologies. Reducing and controlling tobacco smoking should be a primary aim for a certain population, in order to reduce harms to health caused by this important risk factor, and it seems urgent to adopt intervention tools involved in responsibility fields such as health care, education, politics, economy and media. Among health professionals the prevalence of tobacco smoke is extremely high, more than other professional categories, and this could be partly attributed to a low weight that tobacco smoking has in the medical curriculum of future physicians, that will contribute in a determinant way to healthy choices of their patients. In order to realise that, the medical students need to be adequately trained with the aim of acquire competences and skills that help patients to prevent tobacco smoking and to increase smoking cessation, through a programme oriented to specific issue related to the potential harm of tobacco products. A survey conducted by Ferry et al. in the American Schools of Medicine underlined the lack of courses related to tobacco smoking. Moreover, a randomised trial carried out by Cummings et al., the Schools of Medicine result as the ideal setting to teach smoking cessation techniques to health professionals. The National Cancer Institute in 1992 recommended that primary and secondary prevention interventions on tobacco smoking will become mandatory in the curriculum of Medical USA students. However, until now this recommendation still is far from being fully implemented. The aim of the book is to give an overview on the epidemiology of tobacco smoking among different settings and populations, but with a special focus on health professionals and medicals students, and to show available examples of smoking prevention and cessation training in different settings.

Drug addiction remains one of the most important public health problems in western societies and is a rising concern for developing nations. Over the past 3 decades, experimental research on the neurobiology and psychology of drug addiction has generated a torrent of exciting data, from the molecular up to the behavioral levels. As a result, a new and pressing challenge for addiction research is to formulate a synthetic theoretical framework that goes well beyond mere scientific eclectism to deepen our understanding of drug addiction and to foster our capacity to prevent and to cure drug addiction. Intrigued by the apparent irrational behavior of drug addicts, researchers from a wide range of scientific disciplines have formulated a plethora of theoretical schemes over the years to understand addiction. However, most of these theories and models are qualitative in nature and are formulated using terms that are often ill-defined. As a result, the empirical validity of these models has been difficult to test rigorously, which has served to generate more controversy than clarity. In this context, as in other scientific fields, mathematical and computational modeling should contribute to the development of more testable and rigorous models of addiction.

Understanding diversity will help break down barriers to effective treatment and research of substance dependence. In this textbook, the author defines what is meant by diversity and reviews what we know today about the effects of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine and crack, hallucinogens and heroin. This is then put into a broader context by examining the development of policy with particular emphasis on those who were perceived to be the most fervent users of substance. Communities examined include: + African Americans; + Asian and Pacific Islanders; + Hispanic / Latinos; + Women; + Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender. The book concludes with guidelines for the integration of diversity considerations into treatment programs for and research procedures within these communities. This is a useful textbook for classes on substance abuse and will also help the seasoned clinician to break down barriers in the understanding and treatment of substance dependence within specific communities.

A review of the literature pertaining to the neurobehavioral pharmacology of abusable drugs, this is the only book to survey each of the eleven classes of addictive drugs from the perspectives of neurological, behavioral, and clinical pharmacology. Designed to serve as a companion text to the DSM-IV manual, the Handbook provides comprehensive information about each drug and drug class having abuse potential with respect to their pharmaceutical mechanisms and actions.

Chronic alcohol use is associated with heart, liver, brain, and other organ pathology. Alcohol is a drug of abuse and a caloric food and it causes poor intake and absorption of nutrients, thus playing a major role in many aspects of clinical consequences. Alcohol use lowers consumption of fruit and vegetables, lowers tissue nutrients, and, in some cases, requires nutritional therapy by clinicians."Alcohol, Nutrition, and Health Consequences"will help the clinician define the causes and types of nutritional changes due to alcohol use and also explain how nutrition can be used to ameliorate its consequences. Chapters present the application of current nutritional knowledge by physicians and dietitians. Specific areas involving alcohol-related damage due to nutritional changes are reviewed, including heart disease, obesity, digestive tract cancers, lactation, brain function, and liver disease. In addition, alcohol's effects on absorption of minerals and nutrients, a key role in causing damage are treated. The importance of diet in modifying alcohol and its metabolite damage is also explained.

"Alcohol, Nutrition, and Health Consequences"is essential reading for alcohol therapists and researchers as well as primary care physicians and dietitians and is an easy reference to help the clinician, student, and dietitian comprehend the complex changes caused by direct and indirect effects of ethanol at the cellular level via its nutritional modification. "

Inquiry into signed languages has added to what is known about structural variation and language, language learning, and cognitive processing of language. However, comparatively little research has focused on communication disorders in signed language users. For some deaf children, atypicality is viewed as a phase that they will outgrow, and this results in late identification of linguistic or cognitive deficits that might have been addressed earlier. This volume takes a step towards describing different types of atypicality in language communicated in the signed modality such as linguistic impairment caused by deficits in visual processing, difficulties with motor movements, and neurological decline. Chapters within the book also consider communication differences in hearing children acquiring signed and spoken languages.

Inquiry into signed languages has added to what is known about structural variation and language, language learning, and cognitive processing of language. However, comparatively little research has focused on communication disorders in signed language users. For some deaf children, atypicality is viewed as a phase that they will outgrow, and this results in late identification of linguistic or cognitive deficits that might have been addressed earlier. This volume takes a step towards describing different types of atypicality in language communicated in the signed modality such as linguistic impairment caused by deficits in visual processing, difficulties with motor movements, and neurological decline. Chapters within the book also consider communication differences in hearing children acquiring signed and spoken languages.

In the last 15 years, the prison population in the U.S. increased by more than 188 percent. The increase has been fueled largely by increases in the number of individuals convicted of drug-related offenses. These offenders constitute a disproportionate number of recidivists who, in turn, are responsible for a relatively large proportion of criminal activity in our society. The vast majority of these offenders were arrested for committing violent crimes, and most of the offenders are poor, unemployed, uneducated, come from dysfunctional families, and are African-American. Contrary to public opinion, many of these offenders are tired of their "revolving door" relationship with the police, courts, and correctional institutions. However, without appropriate social and therapeutic support, there is little hope of altering their behavior. This volume seeks to address specific issues relevant to prisons in America and includes contributions by practitioners in the field of prison-based drug treatment and therapy programs. The work is an important contribution to the literature examining the extent to which rehabilitation (i.e., prison-based drug treatment programs) has effectively reduced recidivism, drug relapse, and violent crime in our society.

This volume draws together current research on dyslexia and literacy in multilingual settings across disciplines and methodologies. The contributors, all internationally recognised in the field, address developmental and acquired literacy difficulties and dyslexia in a range of language contexts including EAL/EFL. The book uses theories and analytical frameworks of a critical nature to reveal prejudicial social practices, and suggests future research directions towards a critical re-consideration of current understandings of dyslexia in multilingual settings, with a view to foregrounding the potential for interdisciplinarity. The book also suggests ways forward for evidence-informed practice, and it will be a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners and students alike.

This is the tenth volume in the Research Advances series and the seventh published by Plenum Press. Volume 10 is another omnibus volume, providing specialized and advanced reviews in a number of areas related to the use of alcohol, illicit drugs, and tobacco. We include also a brief history of the Center for Alcohol Studies that gives Mark Keller's unique perspective on this noted institution. Two of the chapters are decidedly longer than the others-very long chapters have appeared occasionally in the past, and we think that it is one of the strengths of the series that we are able to accommodate such reviews. Again the editorial board has changed. After several years of service, Reginald G. Smart has stepped down. New to the board are Helen M. Annis, Michael S. Goodstadt, Lynn T. Kozlowski, and Evelyn R. Vingilis. This is likely to be the sole volume for which Goodstadt is on the board, since before completion of this volume he moved from the Addiction Research Foundation to the Center for Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University.

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, and their major practical theoretical contributions. In this volume: Overweight and obesity rates have increased dramatically in most industrialized countries, even though more and more people are chronically dieting. Dieters can manage to lose substantial amounts of weight while actively dieting, but most regain it within a few years. So why do most chronic dieters have such difficulty controlling their weight and why is there only a small minority of successful dieters? To address these questions, Stroebe developed the goal conflict model of eating behavior, a social cognitive theory that attributes the difficulty of chronic dieters to a conflict between two incompatible goals: eating enjoyment and weight control. Although chronic dieters are motivated to pursue their weight control goal, most fail in food-rich environments: Surrounded by palatable food cues that activate thoughts of eating enjoyment, incompatible weight control thoughts are inhibited and weight control intentions are "forgotten". For successful dieters - probably due to past success in exerting self-control - tasty high-calorie food has become associated with weight control thoughts. For them, exposure to palatable food makes weight control thoughts more accessible, enabling them to control their body weight in food-rich environments. This book contains the key articles of a research program by Stroebe and collaborators to assess the validity of this theory. They succeeded in tracing the processes that lead from temptation to a breakdown of dieting intentions. They also demonstrated that these theoretical principles can be used to develop effective weight loss interventions. The book should be of value for all researcgers, students and clinicians involved in obesity research and treatment.

A reference guide that answers the questions people have about addiction and addictive behaviors of all kinds, including drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, Internet usage, and more. Addiction: A Reference Encyclopedia offers straight talk and clear answers on a topic often sensationalized in the media and politicized during campaigns. Drawing from a wide variety of sources, it provides readers with a concise yet thorough review of what we know about all kinds of addictive behavior. Addiction surveys both the science of addiction and its history in the United States with two main sections: a narrative of the history of addiction as a scientific and public policy issue in the United States followed by a series of alphabetically organized entries focused on organizations, individuals, and events that have impacted our thinking about addiction. Much of the work focuses on substance abuse-alcohol, tobacco, opiates, cocaine-but the book also examines behaviors that have only recently been recognized as potentially addictive, including gambling, sexual activity, Internet usage, and more. Comprises 127 A-Z entries on major individuals, concepts, laws, organizations, and events in the history of addiction in the United States 17 primary source documents highlight major ideas and developments in the history of addiction in the United States Offers suggestions for further reading for readers interested in learning more about the topics examined in the encyclopedia

RNA Interference: Challenges and Therapeutic Opportunities provides readers with recent advances in siRNA design, delivery, targeting and methods to minimize siRNA's unwanted effects. Preclinical and clinical use of synthetic siRNAs, the roles of miRNAs in cancer and the promise of extracellular miRNAs for diagnosis are also covered in this meticulous collection, along with novel methods for identifying endogenous siRNAs and the annotation of small RNA transcriptomes. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include the kind of detail and key implementation advice that ensures successful results in the laboratory. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, RNA Interference: Challenges and Therapeutic Opportunities will aid researchers, clinicians, teachers and biotechnologists interested in the power of RNA-based therapies.

This, the third edition of Berta Bobath's classic work, shows the continuation and development of treatment, while the underlying concept on which treatment was based has not changed. However, the emphasis on treatment is now more on the patient's active participation in partnership with the therapist in the holistic approach to the patient's individual problems. Moreover, treatment is no longer confined to academic exercises divorced from daily life, but makes use of familiar daily items, for example beds, tables, chairs, walls and stairs so that the patient can apply the treatment 'sessions' to daily activities. Berta Bobath has introduced some 25 per cent of new material consisting of the nature of the handicap, neurophysiological considerations, normal automatic postural reactions and abnormal postural reflex activity. In addition to the new artwork included, most of the existing artwork has been replaced. All the remaining sections have been considerably revised, updated and expanded. This new edition enables both therapy students and their teachers to increase their awareness of the problems and needs of individual patients and so increase their ability to provide the greatest possible assistance.

The last two decades have seen prodigious growth in the application of brain imaging methods to questions of substance abuse and addiction. Despite considerable advances in our understanding of the central effects of drugs provided by preclinical data, relatively little direct evidence was known of how substances of abuse affect the brain and other eNS processes in humans. Brain imaging techniques have allowed access to the human brain and enabled the asking of questions never before imagined. The positron emission tomography (PET) data ofVolkow and her colleagues in the late 1980s, showing the uptake and time course of cocaine's binding in the human brain, revealed for the first time the distinct sites of action of this drug. This work was extremely important because it showed clearly, through imaging a drug in the brain of a living human, that the time course of its action paralleled the behavioral state of "high. " This study marked a turning point in our understanding of drug-brain-behav ior interactions in humans. Many more investigations of drug effects on the structure and function of the human brain were soon to follow, leading to much better insights into brain systems. Brain imaging allowed for the direct assessment of structural and functional anatomy, biology, and chemistry in substance abusers.

This well-written text thoroughly addresses two quality of life issues in patients with a variety of neurological disorders: sexual and reproductive function. The de vasta stating effects of a variety of neurological diseases are well known to both the lay and medical communitIes, and are treated in numerous texts. However, as we continue to experience therapeutic breakthroughs in the tields of neurology and rehabilitation medicine, physicians and patients must become more aware of the issues discussed in this text. It is particularly important, as emphasized throughout the chapters, that the physician or therapist initiate conversations with the patients concerning both the possibility of parenting a child, as well as the ability of the patient to enhance his/her sexual functioning. Commonly in the patient who is otherwise perfectly normal, there is a reluctance to discuss these topics and couples often feel embarrassed to initiate a conversation with their physi cians. This reluctance to initiate a discussion is even more apparent in patients with a variety of neurological disorders, in which there are overriding fears concerning both function and survival, as well as deep concerns about their own attractiveness, and their sexual and repro ductive ability."

Alcohol and its consumption is a major topic for public policy-making. Growing awareness of alcohol-related health problems among the general public has led to high levels of interest in alcohol consumption and its impact on society. This innovative collection of new perspectives on this critically important issue is informed by a leading group of international social scientists. Topics covered include alcoholism, the family, minimum pricing, paternalistic controls, and Socially Responsible Investment programs. Together, these essays reveal illuminating new insights into how public policy might be improved. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.

This collection is a resource book for those working with language disordered clients in a range of languages. It collects together versions of the well-known Language Assessment Remediation Screening Procedure (LARSP) prepared for different languages. Starting with the original version for English, the book then presents versions in more than a dozen other languages. Some of these are likely to be encountered as home languages of clients by speech-language therapists and pathologists working in the UK, Ireland, the US and Australia and New Zealand. Others are included because they are major languages found where speech-language pathology services are provided, but where no grammatical profile already exists.

Sunshine plays an important role in all aspects of life but there has been little social analysis of the sun and its place in our world. Recently experts have warned us that the sun's rays are dangerous. Yet, a suntan can still be taken as a sign of health. How did we arrive at this ambivalent relationship to the sun and what does this say about our changing attitudes to the human body and environment? Rise and Shine takes as its starting point a view of sunlight as part of our material and social culture. How did the use of sunlight to treat tuberculosis and rickets in the early twentieth century alter our relationship with the sun? When was suntan lotion invented? By drawing on a range of archival and historical sources, Rise and Shine traces the network of social and medical forces that constitute our current, sometimes problematic, relationship with sun and sunlight.