Research evidence

Alkaloids are active bioagents in animal tissues. There is clear scientific evidence of this. Crawford and Kocan have tested the toxicity of steroidal alkaloids from the potato Solanum tuberosum), such as a-chaconine, a-solanine, solanidine and solasodine, and Veratrum alkaloid, jervine on fish. The results of Crawford and Kocan s research proved that rainbow trout exhibited a toxic response to chaconine, solasidine and solanine, while medaka only did so to chaconine and solanine. Embryo mortality was observed as an effect of toxicity in both species. Many other alkaloids are known to disturb or cause disorder in animal reproductive systems. For example, gossypol from cotton-seed oil is known as a clear reducer of spermatogenesis and premature abortion of the embryo. 

Piperidine alkaloids such as coniine and (—)-coniceine are very poisonous. They occur in hemlock (Conium maculatum L.), known as a very toxic plant. One of the characteristics of these piperidine alkaloids is smell. Moreover, they are neurotoxins which have acute effects such as chronic toxicity. 

---

Since we have previously touched on this topic, you will probably remember that occurrences of this kind are very rare indeed - so to begin with, you can reassure those concerned of this fact. To back this up, it would be good if you found research evidence or anecdotal reports from other companies or divisions that nm mentoring schemes. Next, you should also formulate program guidelines stating that sexual relationships between mentors and mentees are prohibited, and that the onset of such a relationship wiU lead to the immediate termination of the mentoring association. 

Bodner and Domin (2000) provide research evidence that even some university students do not find it easy to visualise these stractures. Students were asked to give the systematic names of the compounds whose molecules were represented as in Fig. 1.10. 

FA McAlister, SE Straus, GH Guyatt, RB Haynes. Users guides to the medical literature XX. Integrating research evidence with the care of the individual patient. Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group. JAMA 283 2829-2836, 2000. 

Previous studies of Vapor Cloud Explosions (VCE) have used a correlation between the mass of a gas in the cloud and equivalent mass of TNT to predict explosion overpressures. This was always thought to give conservative results, but recent research evidence indicates that this approach is not accurate to natural gas and air mixtures. The TNT models do not correlate well in the areas near to the point of ignition, and generally over estimate the level of overpressures in the near field. Experiments on methane explosions in "unconfined" areas have indicated a maximum overpressure of 0.2 bar (2.9 psio). This overpressure then decays with distance Therefore newer computer models have been generated to better simulate the effects... 

By best research evidence Sackett means clinically relevant research, often from the basic sciences of medicine, but especially from patient centred clinical research into the accuracy and precision of diagnostic tests (including the clinical examination), the power of prognostic markers, and the efficacy and safety of therapeutic,... 

Cochrane Reviews are systematic assessments of evidence of the effects of healthcare interventions, intended to help people to make informed decisions about health care, their own or someone else s. Cochrane Reviews are needed to help ensure that healthcare decisions throughout the world can be informed by high quality, timely research evidence. This is described in Systematic reviews and The Cochrane Collaboration (www.cochrane. org/docs/whycc.htm). Cochrane Reviews are published in full in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, one of several databases in The Cochrane Library (www.thecochranelibrary.com). 

The SSRls as a class are now widely considered to be appropriate first-line anxiolytic drugs in particular paroxetine, the most potent 5-HT reuptake blocker, has been licensed in the UK for the treatment of each of the major anxiety disorders. Short-term efficacy has been clearly demonstrated in randomised controlled trials, but in common with other antidepressants, research evidence is lacking for long-term efficacy and necessary duration of treatment. 

There is little research evidence to guide a decision on duration of treatment. Some studies have shown continued improvement for up to 12 months, and for most disorders there is a significant relapse rate when treatment is stopped (Lecrubier and Judge 1997 Michelson et al. 1999). Guidelines suggest a duration of 12-24 months if treatment is successful, but if there are risk factors for relapse treatment may be required for much longer. Treatment discontinuation should be carefully planned and medication tapered. 

The current state on the pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders is summarized by J.R. Nash and D.J. Nutt. The recent shift in clinical practice towards the use of antidepressants, particularly SSRIs, for the first-fine treatment of anxiety disorders is supported by research evidence from randomized controlled trials. It is only in recent years that drugs acting via GABA neurotransmission have been supplanted as first-line treatments, and new drugs in this class with improved tolerability compared to the benzodiazepines are likely to be marketed in the near future. 

More recently, Canadian investigators (246) examined the efficacy and tolerability of clomipramine compared with the SSRIs in OCD therapy. Based on the results of their findings, these authors concluded that recently expressed opinions that clomipramine should be used to treat OCD after two to three failed SSRI trials are not supported by research evidence. They concluded that both clomipramine and the SSRIs may be used as first-line treatment. 

Most biomolecules, such as polysaccharides, simple sugars, lipids, and proteins, are crystalline (International Centre for Diffraction Data, 2006). If HS consist merely of associations of biological residues, they should have characteristic crystal structures that can be rigorously studied and identified by X-ray diffraction analysis. However, the research evidence clearly shows that environmental organic matter has to be considered as highly amorphous material, which additionally contains microcrystalline regions like polymethylene crystallite (Hu et al., 2000 Schaumann, 2006b). 

Ul. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of methods of androgen suppression in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment 4, 1-6 (1999). 

Maj M. The effect of lithium in bipolar disorder a review of recent research evidence. Bipolar Disord. 2003 5 180-8. 

An important future objective in the present field of research evidently concerns surface characterization during and after the anodic and open-circuit processes under consideration, not only as far as the surface composition is concerned, but also from the viewpoint of the surface microstructure and defect structure. Recently developed in-situ techniques such as FTIR, photocurrent imaging by laser scanning and STM may constitute excellent tools for this purpose. 

In consideration of the extent, thoroughness, and history of the research evidence that micro-organisms are inactivated in a regular fashion in response to temperature and time, it is periodically suggested that biovalidation should not be necessary where there is evidence of adequate heat penetration. In practice, however, the expected lethality may not always be achieved. Most frequently, such deviations from ideality occur in equipment and porous load sterilization... 

Research evidence has documented the effectiveness of DARE, the most popular school-based drug prevention program. 

Research evidence indicates that mass media prevention strategies do not result in significant changes in patterns of alcohol or drug use. 

Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of death in developed countries, making prevention a priority for public health policy. Research evidence over years has shown that cardiovascular diseases can be managed and even prevented by healthful eating practices involving a resveratrol-enriched diet of whole plant foods such as offered by superfruits. For more than fifty years, research has shown that a healthful, active lifestyle combined with the dietary benefit of high fruit and vegetable intake may lower blood lipid levels, blood pressure, and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. 

---