Opiate overdose is a significant cause of mortality among injection drug users (IDUs) in the United States (US). Opiate overdose can be reversed by administering naloxone, an opiate antagonist. Among IDUs, prevalence of witnessing overdose events is high, and the provision of take-home naloxone to IDUs can be an important intervention to reduce the number of overdose fatalities. The Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) Project was the first naloxone prescription program (NPP) established in partnership with a county health department (San Francisco Department of Public Health), and is one of the longest running NPPs in the USA. From September 2003 to December 2009, 1,942 individuals were trained and prescribed naloxone through the DOPE Project, of whom 24% returned to receive a naloxone refill, and 11% reported using naloxone during an overdose event. Of 399 overdose events where naloxone was used, participants reported that 89% were reversed. In addition, 83% of participants who reported overdose reversal attributed the reversal to their administration of naloxone, and fewer than 1% reported serious adverse effects. Findings from the DOPE Project add to a growing body of research that suggests that IDUs at high risk of witnessing overdose events are willing to be trained on overdose response strategies and use take-home naloxone during overdose events to prevent deaths.

Electrically polarized biomaterials and their interactions with the surrounding biological environment is important for understanding the host response, growth and inhibition of biological species as well as the long-term fate and performance of the implants. Polarized materials possess electrical charges at the surface due to polar or electret properties. As these surfaces are at the frontier of biological reactions understanding biological interactions at the interface with polarized biomaterials requires a convergence of understanding multiple disciplines. This article discusses progress that has taken place in the fields of surface and interface science, materials science and biomedical device engineering to obtain a better perspective of such interactions.

Physically or externally stimulated nanostructures often employ multimodality and show encouraging results at preclinical stage in cancer therapy. Specially designed smart nanostructures such as hybrid nanostructures are responsive to external physical stimuli such as light, magnetic field, electric, ultrasound, radio frequency, X-ray, etc. These physically responsive nanostructures have been widely explored as nonconventional innovative “nanotheranostics” in cancer therapies. Physically stimulated (particularly magnetic and light) nanotheranostics provide a unique combination of important properties to address key challenges in modern cancer therapy: (i) an active tumor targeting mechanism of therapeutic drugs driven by a physical force rather than passive antibody matching, (ii) an externally/remotely controlled drugs on-demand release mechanism, and (iii) a capability for advanced image guided tumor therapy and therapy monitoring. Although primarily addressed to the scientific community, this review offers valuable and accessible information for a wide range of readers interested in the current technological progress with direct relevance to the physics, chemistry, biomedical field, and theranostics. We herein cover magnetic and light-triggered modalities currently being developed for nonconventional cancer treatments. The physical basis of each modality is explained; so readers with a physics or, materials science background can easily grasp new developments in this field.

Background The aims of the study were (a) to assess individual meaning in life (MiL) in a mixed sample of cancer patients with the Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluation (SMiLE), (b) to evaluate the acceptability of its French version, and (c) to compare it to a student sample. Materials and methods Consecutive cancer patients (N = 100) treated as outpatients in the University Hospital Lausanne (N = 80) and in a nearby hospice (N = 20) were evaluated with the SMiLE, a reliable and validated respondent-generated instrument for the assessment of MiL. The respondents list three to seven areas, which provide meaning to their life and rate the level of importance (weighting) and satisfaction of each area. Indices of total weighting (index of weighting (IoW), range 20-100), total satisfaction (index of satisfaction (IoS), range 0-100), and total weighted satisfaction (index of weighted satisfaction (IoWS), range 0-100) are calculated. Results Patients most often indicated areas related to relationships as providing MiL, while material things were listed less often. Since satisfaction with relevant areas was high, cancer patients reported the same level of weighted satisfaction (IoWS) as a healthy student sample, assessed with the SMiLE in a prior validation study. Patients judged the SMiLE as reflecting well their MiL, not distressing to fill in and were moderately positive with regard to its helpfulness. Conclusions MiL of cancer patients was surprisingly high, possibly due to the "response shift" of the severely ill. The SMiLE might become a useful tool for research and an opener to communication between patients and clinicians about this highly relevant topic in cancer care. Further studies with larger sample sizes and different designs, complemented by qualitative research, are needed to deepen our understanding of this so characteristically human topic, which is so easy to perceive and so difficult to grasp.