AATOD and NAMA praise DEA methadone van proposal

The two big organizations representing opioid treatment programs (OTPs), on the one hand, and methadone patients, on the other, were unified in cheering the long‐awaited proposal by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to allow clinics to transport the medication to patients via “conveyances,” or vans. These vans would obviate the necessity of traveling, sometimes for hours, to get medication. Both the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD) and NAMA Recovery (NAMA) sent official comments to the DEA, citing three ways the vans can be used.     

Former SAMHSA official on need for mobile methadone

Bob Lubran was at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) when the methadone mobile units were seen as vital — long before the current opioid crisis. The former head of SAMHSA's Division of Pharmacologic Therapies (DPT), Lubran told ADAW last week that the mobile units were being approved up until the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) stopped them in 2007 due to a legal issue. We were curious about what went on behind the scenes at SAMHSA after the approvals were shut down, during the same years when the opioid crisis was growing.     

Pharmacy model for methadone,NAS link to demographics

In “Methadone Matters: What the United States Can Learn from the Global Effort to Treat Opioid Addiction,” senior author Jeffrey H. Sabet, M.D., and colleagues write about the lack of access to methadone treatment, in particular, for opioid use disorder (OUD) in the United States. They look at three pharmacy‐based models that exist in other countries. In their article, published online Feb. 6 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, they promote the model of patients picking up methadone from pharmacies, as is done in, for example, Canada. The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (from the United States) and cited by many as a call to reform the current opioid treatment program (OTP) system in the United States, where patients often prefer buprenorphine simply because they don't have to abide by methadone regulations.     

PURE: a proposal for more retirement income security

Despite large public policy efforts over the past 30 years, a large minority of households remains consistently inadequately prepared for retirement. If policymakers want to address this shortcoming, public policy has to change from its current path. This paper suggests a system of mandatory private pensions funded by a minimum mandatory contribution of 3% of payroll. In addition, a number of institutional changes are suggested to reduce the costs and risks of individual accounts.     

A proposal for an ergonomic redesign for a mixer Mondial B-02

This research aimed to redesign an appliance based on the biomechanical aspects in applied ergonomics. The product chosen for analysis was the household mixer, it is readily found in most homes of several families. The study enabled the identification of several potential risks and proposed biomechanical ergonomic solutions for each. Finally, it was possible to redesign the handle of the mixer, making it suitable form and human use.     

Homelessness: a proposal for a global definition and classification

On the base of an analysis of the definitions of homelessness currently in use, first a change of the notion “homelessness” to “houselessness” is proposed. Houseless persons are then defined as those sleeping rough or using public or private shelters. To better understand the causes of houselessness, its environment is involved in this classification under the notion of inadequate shelter. This comprises the following non-exclusive categories: risk of houselessness, concealed houselessness and substandard housing situations. This classification has the advantage to be adaptable to regional and national differences, while at the same time providing a global basis for data collection and comparison.     

Chemical toilet for persons with disabilities: proposal for an urban furniture affordable

Street furniture is an important element to the social and democratic life in the cities. In this case, public restrooms must be available to practically all kinds of citizens that inhabit the city. However disabled people have many difficulties in using the existing models, particularly public chemical toilets. Through a design project, a new proposition for a public chemical toilet addressed to wheelchair users was conceived. In this way, the main aspect of this work refers to the actual participation of the disabled expressing their opinion through interviews and usability analysis as well as the observation on technical recommendations for accessibility.     

Overcoming terms of service: a proposal for ethical distributed research

ABSTRACT

The last two years has marked a turning point in access to large-scale social media data for many researchers, as platforms hobbled their APIs and made recording, archiving, and analyzing social life online far more difficult. Particularly in the context of the United States, where violating the rules put in place by social platforms has the potential to lead to criminal charges, the balance of power between the extremely financially successful social media industry on one side, and the users and researchers of these platforms on the other, has become dangerously skewed. This article argues for a pragmatic partnering with the users to do research, rather than with the platform owners, and suggests some ways in which this might be accomplished.     

当前房地产市场形势及对策建议

2012年,上海房地产业在面临"史上最强的调控政策"后发生了较大变化,主要表现为:房地产增加值占GDP的比重、房地产开发投资建设及住宅销售情况均表现出明显的下降趋势。国家宏观调控已取得一定的成效,达到了限制房价过快上涨的目的。但鉴于房地产业在国民经济体系中的重要作用,如何在进一步巩固调控成果的同时,对房地产业进行合理的引导,促进其健康、稳定的发展也是一个重要的议题。据此,在详细分析上海当前房地产的市场形势后,提出制定相关房地产调控政策一些方向性建议。