bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Successful Treatment of Severe Anaphylactic Shock with Vasopressin
Authors: Kill Clemens , Wranze Erich , Wulf Hinnerk
Published: June 2004

Severe anaphylactic shock is a life-threatening situation that needs immediate treatment of progressive hemodynamic failure. We report two cases of severe anaphylactic shock treated with arginine-vasopressin (AVP): In a 42-year-old male patient anaphylactic shock was caused by the sting of a hornet. At the scene, he was found unconscious, cyanotic, with a heart rate of 130/min without measurable blood pressure. The patient was intubated and ventilated with 100% oxygen, intravenous epinephrine (1 mg over 2 min) had no effect on blood pressure. After injection of 10 IU vasopressin, followed by infusion of 40 IU vasopressin, hemodynamics could be stabilized at once. In the second case, a 47-year-old male patient was stung by a wasp. At the scene he was unconscious, blood pressure was not measurable, heart rate was 140/min. The patient was treated with 40 IU vasopressin followed by rapid infusion of 500 ml NaCl 0.9%. After injection of vasopressin, blood pressure raised to 80/50 mm Hg and heart rate decreased to 90/min. Both patients needed ventilator therapy for several days and recovered fully.
Hormone Therapy after Endometrial Cancer
Authors: Mueck Alfred O. , Seeger Harald
Published: June 2004

Endometrial carcinoma is listed among the absolute contra-indications to hormone therapy. After all the existing opinions so far, hormone therapy after FIGO stage I or II endometrial cancer is still thought of as a possibility, and up to now the continuous combined oestrogen/progestogen replacement therapy would be recommended. However, until today, only observational studies have been put forward. Although no study has established an increased rate of recurrences or mortality, alternatives such as phytopreparations, tibolone, or, in, particular, psychotherapeutic drugs such as venlafaxine should be considered for the relief of climacteric complaints. Progestogen-only therapy also comes particularly into question. Indeed, the wider discussion about the gestagen effects regarding the risks of breast cancer is to be considered. Generally, after hysterectomy, at least for patients with cardiovascular risk factors, the preference today is to use low-dose oestrogen therapy (patches, gels) instead of continuous combined oestrogen/progestogen replacement therapy, and this also is now recommended for patients after endometrial cancer. This is to be noted because of the risk factors for endometrial carcinomas, such as hypertension, obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes mellitus, etc. However, each form of hormone therapy should only be exceptionally recommended, and the patients must be informed about the risks that exist and the use of alternatives.
Contrasting Effects of Urokinase and Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activators on Neointima Formation and Vessel Remodelling after Arterial Injury
Authors: Parfyonova Yelena , Plekhanova Olga , Solomatina Marina , Naumov Vladimir , Bobik Alex , Berk Bradford , Tkachuk Vsevolod
Published: June 2004

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) has been implicated in neointima formation and arterial lumen narrowing after angioplasty. To determine the specificity of the action of uPA on vessel remodelling after arterial injury we compared the effects of the recombinant urokinase- and tissue-type plasminogen activators on vessel morphology, cell migration and proliferation. We used a standard model of the balloon catheter injury of the rat carotid artery followed by the periadventitial application to the injured vessel of the one of the recombinant PAs or recombinant α2-antiplasmin (α-AP) in pluronic gel with further immunohistochemistry and morphometry. The perivascular application of α-AP immediately after injury attenuated the healing response, significantly reducing neointima size and neointimal SMC numbers. The periadventitial application to the injured artery of recombinant uPA stimulated neointima formation as well as cell proliferation and migration in vivo and induced greater reductions in lumen size than injury alone. In contrast, recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator reduced the number of neointimal smooth muscle cells and the neointimal area and increased both the lumen area and the area encompassed by the external elastic laminae after balloon catheter injury of the rat carotid artery. In the meantime both PAs nearly doubled medial and adventitial SMC numbers in the vessels. We conclude that the ability to stimulate neointima formation and inward arterial remodelling is a specific property for urokinase plasminogen activator that could not be mimicked by tissue-type plasminogen activator.
Subpressor Dose Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Modulates Renal Function in Humans through Nitric Oxide Synthase Inhibition
Authors: Kielstein J.T. , Simmel S. , Bode-Böger S.M. , Roth H.J. , Schmidt-Gayk H. , Haller H. , Fliser D.
Published: June 2004

Increased blood concentrations of the endogenous nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) have been linked to high blood pressure and to cardiovascular mortality. We evaluated the effects of a subpressor ADMA dose on NO production, renal hemodynamics, sodium handling and active renin and noradrenalin plasma concentrations in 12 healthy subjects (age 26 ± 1 year) using a double-blind placebo-controlled study design. Infusion of ADMA caused a significant decrease in plasma cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) levels, i.e. the second messenger of NO (from 6.1 ± 0.4 to 4.3 ± 0.3 pmol/l; p < 0.05). In parallel, effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) decreased while renovascular resistance (RVR) increased significantly (ERPF from 667 ± 9 to 603 ± 10 ml/min/1.73 m²; RVR from 79 ± 2 to 91 ± 2 ml/min/mm Hg; both p < 0.05 vs. baseline). Infusion of placebo did not cause significant changes in plasma cGMP levels, ERPF and RVR (cGMP from 5.7 ± 0.5 to 5.9 ± 0.6 pmol/l; ERPF from 665 ± 12 to 662 ± 11 ml/min/1.73 m²; RVR from 79 ± 2 to 78 ± 2 ml/min/mm Hg; all non-significant). Moreover, urinary sodium excretion was significantly lower with infusion of ADMA as compared with placebo infusion (128 ± 8 vs. 152 ± 7 µmol/min; p < 0.05). In contrast, blood pressure, active renin and noradrenalin plasma concentrations did not change significantly with either infusion protocol. Acute infusion of a subpressor ADMA dose modulates several aspects of renal function in humans without affecting the activity of the renin-angiotensin and sympathetic system. Whether chronic (intrarenal) NO synthase inhibition in individuals with increased ADMA blood levels may cause persistent renal vasoconstriction and sodium retention must be evaluated.
Hyperghrelinemia Is a Common Feature of Prader-Willi Syndrome and Pituitary Stalk Interruption: A Pathophysiological Hypothesis
Authors: Tauber Maithé , Conte Auriol Françoise , Moulin Pierre , Molinas Catherine , Delagnes Véronique , Salles Jean Pierre
Published: June 2004

Background: Elevated plasma ghrelin levels have recently been reported in adults and children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between obesity, growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD) and ghrelinemia in PWS and to examine whether hyperghrelinemia is specific to PWS. Methods: We measured fasting ghrelinemia in children with PWS, idiopathic GHD (iGHD), obese children, controls and in 6 children presenting another congenital syndrome associated with GHD: pituitary stalk interruption (PSI). Results: Children with PWS exhibited significantly higher ghrelin levels (995 pg/ml (801/1,099, median 1st/3rd quartile)) than iGHD (517 pg/ml (392/775)), obese (396 pg/ml (145/610)) and control (605 ng/ml (413/753)) children. Similar to PWS hyperghrelinemia was found in PSI children (1,029 pg/ml (705/1,151)), and was not modified by GH treatment. Conclusion: We conclude that hyperghrelinemia in PWS and PSI is not related to GH secretion. We hypothesize that a major site of ghrelin action is at the hypothalamic level and that a ‘ghrelin resistance’ syndrome may be present in these patients, primarily due to a hypothalamic defect. Combined alterations such as impaired serotonin receptor regulation associated with abnormal ghrelin responsiveness are probably responsible for obesity in PWS.
The Latent Structure of Wallerstein’s Scales of Psychological Capacities
Authors: Sundin Eva C.
Published: June 2004

Background: Wallerstein’s Scales of Psychological Capacities (SPC) is a fairly new measure of psychological change, developed to meet the need for an instrument which can be used by clinicians and researchers from different psychotherapy directions and schools. This study examined whether Blatt’s theory of 2 different types of psychopathology can be used to interpret the latent structure of the SPC. Sampling and Methods: Data from 224 individuals with mild to severe psychopathology were factor analyzed. Results: A 2-factor solution was meaningfully interpreted from Blatt’s theory, and the factors were used for computing summary scales. The scales had adequate reliabilities and discriminated well between different classifications according to DSM-III-R. Patients with depressive or anxiety disorder had more problems with issues concerning self-definition compared to patients with cluster B personality disorder. Conclusion: The findings supported the assumption that the concept of psychological capacity is based on an integrative model of the mind, and that the SPC can be a useful tool for clinicians and researchers in understanding psychological problems and resources in patients with various psychiatric disorders. A weakness of the study was that reliability data for DSM diagnoses were not gathered. Moreover, the group of patients with depressive or anxiety disorder was small.
Delusion of Test-Tube Pregnancy in a Sexually Abused Girl
Authors: Manoj P.N. , John John P. , Gandhi Ashu , Kewalramani Madhu , Murthy Pratima , Chaturvedi Santosh K. , Isaac Mohan K.
Published: June 2004

We report the case of a patient who presented with catatonic features and delusion of test-tube pregnancy in the background of previous sexual abuse. The reported case illustrates the importance of contemporary themes in the evolution of psychopathology.
Will the Real WSIS Please Stand Up?
Authors: Siochrú Se·n Ó
Published: June 2004

Understanding the encounter at the WSIS requires an enquiry spanning over 30 years, covering two main strands that converged in Geneva December 2003. One, the ‘information society’ debate, takes in the role of information, the internet and the ‘digital divide’ and can be traced to the 1970s. The other, the ‘communication debate’, encompasses broader issues of knowledge ownership and use, media diversity and communication. Its defining moment came in the early 1980s with the MacBride Report of UNESCO. Although each has its (uniquely compromised) history, only one, the latter, is likely to have a future. At the WSIS, these intersected in both official and unofficial fora. The impact was felt within the intergovernmental process, but more profoundly within the spaces of civil society. Burdened with ideologically inspired promises it could never fulfil, comprised by a worn out neoliberal agenda, the outcome of the ‘information society’ debate in the plenary halls was always going to be limited. The ‘communication society’ debate, on the other hand, marked the completion of a shift from governments to civil society as the driving force, and a potentially deeper and more democratic articulation of the issues. It culminated with the publication of the Civil Society Declaration. The further development of this agenda must look outside the WSIS road to Tunis, and develop a stronger presence at civil society venues such as the World Social Forum, and at global governance meetings and events.
Did WSIS Achieve Anything at All?
Authors: Hamelink Cees J.
Published: June 2004

The focus of this article is on the lack of political and economic context in the WSIS discourse. It points out that the official WSIS final texts do not refer to the already existing international agreements for information and communication, which render most of the WSIS recommendations exercises in futility. The author concludes that unless fundamentally new governance institutions are created, all the WSIS visions and proposals are destined to fail.
Person–Environment Fit and Creative Behavior: Differential Impacts of Supplies–Values and Demands–Abilities Versions of Fit
Authors: Choi Jin Nam
Published: June 2004

Numerous studies that have demonstrated interaction effects between individual and contextual factors suggest the potential positive effect of congruent personal and environmental characteristics on creativity. None of the prior studies, however, has explicitly and systematically tested the formal theory of person–environment fit in the context of creativity. This study examined the effects of two versions of person–environment fit (supplies–values and demands–abilities fit) on creative behavior and context satisfaction. The results, based on longitudinal data collected from management students and their instructors, showed that creative behavior was almost exclusively predicted by personal characteristics (desire for creative climate, actual creative abilities), whereas context satisfaction was strongly influenced by environmental characteristics (current creative climate, required creative abilities). The present results indicate a potential division of roles between personal and environmental characteristics with respect to affective and behavioral outcomes. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
‘Flying the Friendly Skies:’ Why US Commercial Airline Pilots Want to Carry Guns
Authors: Fraher Amy L.
Published: June 2004

Previous studies of social systems have shown that organizations develop mechanisms to defend against anxiety inherent in the system. This article uses field theory, systems psychodynamics and a participant observer methodology to examine certain defenses that became activated within a US commercial airline in the post-11 September 2001 period. In particular, it analyzes forces affecting the event of arming pilots with handguns at work. This article’s central claim is that pilots’ desire to be armed resulted from a combination of external and internal pressures, personal valencies and work life changes.
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Covert Aid to the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39
Authors: Tierney Dominic
Published: June 2004

In 1938, US president Franklin D. Roosevelt became involved in an illegal scheme to circumvent the US arms embargo, which applied to both sides in the Spanish Civil War. Seeking strategies to aid the Spanish Republic against General Franco’s Nationalists, Roosevelt supported a scheme to ship to France aircraft, which would then quietly be trans-shipped to Spain. The scheme was notable for three elements: its colourful nature, involving sending FDR’s alcoholic brother-in-law to Paris as a secret emissary; its deep flaws and ignominious collapse; and its importance as an indication of Roosevelt’s changing perceptions of the Spanish Civil War and his ideas about creative policy-making in a deeply constrained domestic and international environment.
Beyond Consumerism: New Historical Perspectives on Consumption
Authors: Trentmann Frank
Published: June 2004

Consumer culture has moved to the centre of contemporary debates about society, identity and citizenship. This article cuts a critical, comparative pathway through the literature to point to new directions for historical work. Initially driving research, concepts like ‘consumer revolution’, ‘consumer society’ and ‘consumerism’ have become problematic analytical concepts for understanding the changing dynamics, practices and meanings of consumption. Historical research has lost touch with theoretical and conceptual developments in the social sciences. Engaging with recent work on urban spaces, retailing, work-place, scarcity, the state and consumer politics, this article develops perspectives to frame historical debate. Problematizing a stage-theory of global convergence, the article draws attention to divergence and disjunctures. Instead of drawing a contrast between ‘traditional’ culture and ‘modern’ acquisitive, consumerist mentality, it emphasizes the persistence of social and collective dimensions of consumption practices and identities. Instead of privileging a utility-maximizing individual or self-fashioning and self-oriented individual, it points to contingent civic sensibilities and political practices of consumers. To foster dialogue with the growing interdisciplinary field of consumer studies, historians need to broaden their conception of consumption, become more self-critical of invoking an essentialist consumer and unitary western model of consumerism, and instead, be more sensitive of how historical actors have developed their knowledge of consumption and identity as ‘consumers’.
The Trade in Political Prisoners between the Two German States, 1962-89
Authors: Horster Maximilian
Published: June 2004

The building of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 greatly increased the number of people who were sent to prison for their opposition to the German Democratic Republic (GDR) or for trying to leave it. Shortly after the wall was built, pressure by different groups in the Federal Republic led to the release of some GDR prisoners in exchange for payments to the GDR government. After the first few successful releases, the Federal Republic’s government and the GDR started to institutionalize these release payments in 1964. This system was secretly maintained without any major changes until 1990. Overall, 33,755 prisoners were released from the GDR, for a total amount of 3,436,900,755 DM and 12 pfennigs. This article discusses the advantages and drawbacks of the prisoner purchases for both systems. It questions the common interpretation that the prisoner purchases were a form of blackmail by the GDR and shows that the idea for the scheme originated in the West. It demonstrates that the prisoner purchases were, at some points, a convenient and necessary institution for the Federal Republic’s government and political parties. The research presented here reveals how the emotionally-charged post-reunification period has influenced public perception of the GDR in such an oversimplified way that history has become misrepresented.
Effect of Acute Marijuana on Cardiovascular Function and Central Nervous System Pharmacokinetics of [15O]Water: Effect in Occasional and Chronic Users
Authors: Ponto Laura L. Boles , O'Leary Daniel S. , Koeppel Julie , Block Robert I. , Watkins G. Leonard , Richmond John C. W. , Ward Christine A. , Clermont Dean A. , Schmitt Beth A. , Hichwa Richard D.
Published: June 2004

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the acute administration of marijuana (MJ) on cardiovascular (CV) function and CNS pharmacokinetics (PK) of [15O]water in occasional (O) versus chronic (C) MJ users. Each subject received four injections of [15O]water (one prior and three postsmoking) on two occasions in which they received active or placebo MJ. For each injection, measures of CV function and CNS PK [15O]water were made. Postsmoking, MJ influenced all measured CV and [15O]water PK parameters. C users reported significantly lower “highness” and smaller heart rate (HR) changes, which resulted in reduced rate pressure product (RPP) changes compared to O users, even though Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol levels were higher, whereas changes in blood pressure (BP), arrival time, and [15O]water concentration were not significantly different between the groups. Significant CV changes resulted in changes in the whole‐body distribution of cardiac output rather than changes in cerebral blood flow. Chronic MJ use produces tolerance to the HR increases induced by acute MJ smoking compared to changes observed in occasional users, without changing the effects on BP and [15O]water PK.
Moderate Liver Impairment Has No Influence on Daptomycin Pharmacokinetics
Authors: Dvorchik Barry
Published: June 2004

Daptomycin (N‐decanoyl‐L‐tryptophyl‐L‐asparaginyl‐L‐aspartyl‐L‐threonylglycyl‐L‐ornithyl‐L‐aspartyl‐D‐alanyl‐L‐aspartylglycyl‐D‐seryl‐threo‐3‐methyl‐L‐glutamyl‐3‐anthraniloyl‐L‐alanine‐lactone) is a novel cyclic lipopeptide antibiotic derived from the fermentation of Streptomyces roseosporus. Daptomycin was recently approved for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections caused by aerobic gram‐positive bacteria, including those caused by methicillin‐resistant and methicillin‐susceptible Staphylococcus aureus. This single‐dose, parallel‐design, matchedcontrolled study was designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of daptomycin in subjects between ages 18 and 80 years with moderately impaired hepatic function (Child‐Pugh Class B, n = 10). Subjects were administered a single intravenous dose (6 mg/kg total body weight) over 30 minutes using a syringe pump. A normal volunteer control group matched by weight (±25 lb/11 kg), age (±10 years), and sex was included in this study for comparison to the hepatic‐impaired group. The pharmacokinetic parameters of daptomycin were similar in both groups. Adverse events occurred only in the hepatic‐impaired patients and were consistent with the subjects' disease state. In conclusion, subjects with moderate hepatic impairment receiving daptomycin do not require an adjustment in daptomycin dose or dose regimen.
Effects of a New Antibacterial, Telavancin, on Cardiac Repolarization (QTc Interval Duration) in Healthy Subjects
Authors: Barriere Steven , Genter Fredric , Spencer Elizabeth , Kitt Michael , Hoelscher David , Morganroth Joel
Published: June 2004

Telavancin is a rapidly bactericidal antibiotic with multiple mechanisms of action against gram‐positive bacteria. Preclinical and early clinical data suggested possible effects on cardiac repolarization requiring the conduct of a definitive evaluation of QT effects in healthy subjects. A total of 160 subjects were randomized into four groups to receive placebo (telavancin vehicle), telavancin at a dose of 7.5 mg/kg or 15 mg/kg, or moxifloxacin 400 mg (positive control). All medications were administered once daily for 3 days as 60‐minute IV infusions. Sixteen ECGs were obtained over 24 hours following an infusion of D5W (baseline) and following Day 3 infusions of each medication. ECGs were analyzed digitally in a blinded fashion by a validated core ECG laboratory. The primary endpoint was QT data corrected for heart rate by the Fridericia formula (QTcF). Placebo‐corrected mean changes in QTcF values for 7.5 mg/kg telavancin, 15 mg/kg telavancin, and moxifloxacin were 4.1 msec, 4.5 msec, and 9.2 msec, respectively. The mean change from baseline in QTcF for moxifloxacin, which served as the assay‐sensitive positive control in the study, helped to establish that telavancin had a minimal effect on QT prolongation. No subject had a QTcF ≥ 450 msec, and none experienced clinically significant ECG abnormalities. The telavancin treatment groups were not significantly different from each other. There was no correlation of the magnitude of change in QTc and plasma concentrations of telavancin. Telavancin has a < 5‐msec mean effect on cardiac repolarization, with a flat‐dose response over a twofold exposure range.
The Differential Effects of Steady‐State Fluvoxamine on the Pharmacokinetics of Olanzapine and Clozapine in Healthy Volunteers
Authors: Wang Chuan‐Yue , Zhang Zhang‐Jin , Li Wen‐Biao , Zhai Yi‐Min , Cai Zhuo‐Ji , Weng Yong‐Zhen , Zhu Rong‐Hua , Zhao Jing‐Ping , Zhou Hong‐Hao
Published: June 2004

The combination of atypical antipsychotics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors is an effective strategy in the treatment of certain psychiatric disorders. However, pharmacokinetic interactions between the two classes of drugs remain to be explored. The present study was designed to determine whether there were different effects of steady‐state fluvoxamine on the pharmacokinetics of a single dose of olanzapine and clozapine in healthy male volunteers. One single dose of 10 mg olanzapine (n = 12) or clozapine (n = 9) was administered orally. Following a drug washout of at least 4 weeks, all subjects received fluvoxamine (100 mg/day) for 9 days, and one single dose of 10 mg olanzapine or clozapine was added on day 4. Plasma concentrations of olanzapine, clozapine, and N‐desmethylclozapine were assayed at serial time points after the antipsychotics were given alone and when added to fluvoxamine. No bioequivalence was found in olanzapine alone and cotreatment with fluvoxamine for the mean peak plasma concentration (Cmax), the area under the concentration‐time curve from time 0 to last sampling time point (AUC0‐t), and from time 0 to infinity (AUC0‐∞). Under the cotreatment, Cmax of olanzapine was significantly elevated by 49%, with a 32% reduced time (tmax) to Cmax, whereas the Cmax and tmax of clozapine were unaltered. The cotreatment increased the AUC0‐t and AUC0‐∞ of olanzapine by 68% and 76%, respectively, greater than those of clozapine (40% and 41%). The presence of fluvoxamine also prolonged the elimination half‐life (t1/2) of olanzapine by 40% and, to a much greater extent, clozapine by 370% but reduced the total body clearance (CL/F) of clozapine (78%) more significantly than it did for olanzapine (42%). The apparent volume of distribution (Vd) was suppressed by 31% in olanzapine combined with fluvoxamine but was unaltered in the clozapine regimen. A significant reduction in the N‐desmethylclozapine to clozapine ratio was present in the clozapine with fluvoxamine regimen. The effects of fluvoxamine on different aspects of pharmacokinetics of the two antipsychotics may have implications for clinical therapeutics.
Simulation of the Impact of Atropisomer Interconversion on Plasma Exposure of Atropisomers of an Endothelin Receptor Antagonist
Authors: Zhou Y. S. , Tay L. K. , Hughes D. , Donahue S.
Published: June 2004

BMS‐207940, a potent endothelin receptor antagonist, exists as rapidly interconverting atropisomers. The plasma interconversion t1/2 is ∼2.5 hours at 400 μg/mL under room temperature and decreases to < 0.1 hours at 20 μg/mL, making it extremely difficult to conduct pharmacokinetic studies of individual atropisomers. The pharmacokinetics of the 50/50 racemate of BMS‐207940 in humans were reasonably described by a one‐compartmental model with an apparent terminal elimination t1/2 of 15 hours. Given the above rates, simulations were conducted based on a one‐compartmental model to explore the possible range of individual rates of atropisomer elimination and potential difference in plasma exposure to the two atropisomers. Simulations demonstrated that the elimination rates of the individual atropisomers are bounded between 0 and 0.046 h−1 and between 0.046 and 0.092 h−1, respectively. The estimation of the upper bounds for atropisomer elimination rate constants is robust and relatively insensitive to the rate of atropisomer interconversion compared to the rate of racemate elimination. Simulations of the administration of a single atropisomer or the 50/50 racemate, based on all the possible scenarios of individual atropisomer elimination, showed little difference in plasma exposure to the two atropisomers. Potential differences in plasma exposure to the two atropisomers depend, to a larger extent, on the ratio of the rate of atropisomer interconversion versus racemate elimination and, to a lesser extent, on the conformation of atropisomers administered. When atropisomer interconversion is 10‐fold or more rapid than racemate elimination, the largest possible difference in plasma exposure between the two atropisomers is below 20%, regardless of the route and conformation of the atropisomer(s) administered.
Meloxicam Does Not Affect the Antiplatelet Effect of Aspirin in Healthy Male and Female Volunteers
Authors: van Ryn Joanne , Kink‐Eiband Monika , Kuritsch Ingrid , Feifel Ulrich , Hanft Gertraud , Wallenstein Gudrun , Trummlitz Guenter , Pairet Michel
Published: June 2004

This study determined if meloxicam, a selective cyclooxygenase (COX)‐2 inhibitor, interferes with the antiplatelet effect of aspirin using platelet aggregation and thromboxane (Tx) B2 endpoints in healthy volunteers. Eight male and 8 female volunteers participated in this open‐label, randomized, two‐treatment, two‐way crossover trial. Treatment 1 was meloxicam (15 mg qd) over 4 days, and then aspirin (100 mg qd) was ingested 2 hours after meloxicam for an additional 7 days. Blood samples were taken 2, 6, and 24 hours after the last dose. Treatment 2 consisted of only aspirin (100 mg) over 2 days. Samples were taken at the same time points. Each subject received both treatments with a 2‐week washout between the treatment periods. Treatments were safe and well tolerated. The initial 4‐day treatment with meloxicam had no effect on platelet aggregation but reduced serum TxB2 by 64% ± 19%. Addition of aspirin (100 mg qd) for 7 days resulted in complete inhibition of aggregation and TxB2 for 24 hours. Two‐day treatment with only 100 mg aspirin also resulted in complete inhibition of platelet aggregation and TxB2. These results indicate that meloxicam does not affect the ability of aspirin to inhibit COX‐1 in platelets, thereby allowing aspirin to effectively prevent platelet aggregation and reduce TxB2 levels, and that meloxicam is selective for COX‐2
Comparison of Various Urine Collection Intervals for Caffeine and Dextromethorphan Phenotyping in Children
Authors: Kennedy Mary Jayne , Abdel‐Rahman Susan M. , Kashuba Angela D. M. , Leeder J. Steven
Published: June 2004

Caffeine and dextromethorphan have been used successfully both alone and in combination to assess phenotype and enzyme activity in children of various ages. Previous pediatric phenotyping studies with these agents have used varying durations of urine collection. However, the minimum duration required for accurate phenotypic assessment with these compounds in children remains unknown. We calculated the cumulative metabolite recoveries and molar ratios in urine collected from children for 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours after caffeine and dextromethorphan administration to determine when respective urinary molar ratios stabilize and thus likely accurately reflect enzyme activity. Subjects (n = 24, ages 3–8 years) were given 4 oz of Coca‐Cola®(∼11.5 mg caffeine) and a single oral dose of dextromethorphan (0.5 mg/kg). Urine was collected at discrete intervals (0–2, 2–4, 4–6, and 6–8 h) during an 8‐hour period, and the cumulative metabolite recoveries and urinary molar ratios were calculated. CYP2D6 genotyping was also performed in 21 of 24 subjects. In CYP2D6 extensive metabolizers, the extent of recovery for relevant metabolites was equivalent by 4 hours and represented 45% to 60% of the total amount recovered in the 8‐hour period. The 2‐hour CYP1A2 ratio was significantly different from those of longer collection intervals. Metabolite ratios for all other enzymes (i.e., NAT‐2, XO, and CYP2D6) were independent of the duration of urine collection. These data suggest that a 4‐hour urine collection is adequate for the concurrent assessment of hepatic CYP1A2, NAT‐2, XO, and CYP2D6 activity in children ages 3 to 8 years who are CYP2D6 extensive metabolizers, using standard caffeine and dextromethorphan phenotyping methods. Longer collection periods may be required, however, in younger children or CYP2D6 poor metabolizers.
Absolute Bioavailability and Absorption Characteristics of Divalproex Sodium Extended‐Release Tablets in Healthy Volunteers
Authors: Dutta Sandeep , Reed Ronald C. , Cavanaugh John H.
Published: June 2004

Conventional delayed‐release, enteric‐coated divalproex sodium tablet has an absolute bioavailability of ∼100%. Divalproex sodium extended‐release (ER) tablet is a novel formulation of valproic acid (VPA) designed to release the drug slowly at a constant zero‐order rate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the absolute bioavailability and absorption characteristics of divalproex ER. Healthy adult volunteers (n = 16) received divalproex ER and intravenous VPA in crossover fashion. Absolute bioavailability was calculated as the divalproex ER/intravenous VPA ratio of area under the curve extrapolated to infinity. The duration and rate of absorption of VPA from divalproex ER tablets were determined by deconvolution analysis. The geometric mean absolute bioavailability of divalproex ER was 0.896. The mean (coefficient of variation) duration of drug absorption from divalproex ER was 21.8 (17%) hours, and the zero‐order absorption rate was 21.6 (24%) mg/h for a 500‐mg tablet. Divalproex ER has a lower absolute bioavailability than conventional divalproex tablets but exhibits good extended‐release characteristics without any dose dumping
Oral Discourse in the Preschool Years and Later Literacy Skills
Authors: Griffin Terri M. , Hemphill Lowry , Camp Linda , Wolf Dennis Palmer
Published: June 2004

This study investigated relationships between preschoolers’ oral discourse and their later skill at reading and writing. Thirty-two children participated in narrative and expository oral language tasks at age 5 years and reading comprehension and writing assessments at age 8 years. Children’s ability to mark the significance of narrated events through the use of evaluation at age 5 predicted reading comprehension skills at age 8. Children’s ability to represent informational content in expository talk at age 5 also predicted reading comprehension at age 8. Control of discourse macrostructures in both narrative and expository talk at age 5 was associated with written narrative skill at age 8. These findings point to a complex and differentiated role for oral language in supporting early literacy.
Preschool Children’s Narratives and Performance on the Peabody Individualized Achievement Test – Revised: Evidence of a Relation between Early Narrative and Later Mathematical Ability
Authors: O’Neill Daniela K. , Pearce Michelle J. , Pick Jennifer L.
Published: June 2004

In this study, different measures derived from 41 3- to 4-year-old children’s selfgenerated picture-book narratives and their performance on a general measure of language development (TELD-2, Hresko, Reid & Hammill, 1991) were evaluated with respect to their possible predictive relation two years later with 5 areas of academic achievement (General information, Reading recognition, Reading comprehension, Math, Spelling) assessed using the Peabody Individualized Achievement Test – Revised (PIAT-R, Markwardt, 1998). Children’s TELD-2 scores were significantly predictive of their General information scores. The narrative measures of conjunction use, event content, perspective shift, and mental state reference were significantly predictive of later Math scores. Post-hocanalyses revealed that, for the same children, the observed relations with Math achievement did not arise with nonspontaneous adult-prompted narrations.
Learning to Represent Vowels in Written Hebrew: Different Factors across Development
Authors: Ravid Dorit , Schiff Rachel
Published: June 2004

The study investigates novice and veteran Hebrew readers’ perception of words containing a vowel letter in different orthographic and morphological contexts. In the first experiment, children and adults were asked to judge pointed words with different morphological structures with and without the grapheme W. Half of the words had consistent (obligatory) W and half had inconsistent (optional) W. In the second experiment, the same procedure was repeated using the same words without pointing marks. Response latencies and accuracy were measured. Accuracy scores improved with age and schooling, and at the same time lexical decision times dropped. Only expert adult readers found it easier to correctly identify words with consistent W than words with inconsistent W. Participants generally found it easier to reach a decision if the word contained a W, but in the pointed experiment adults alone were able to judge words correctly even when W was absent. Morphological structure affected all readers in the same way. The study supports a root-based view of Hebrew spelling. It also supports a reading/spelling processing model which claims that internal orthographic representations of words are increasingly strengthened with each exposure during reading, but not all graphemes are strengthened equally.
‘If She Had of Shutted the Cage, the Rabbit Wouldn’t Escape’: Past Counterfactuals Elicited from 6-to 11-Year-Old Children
Authors: Crutchley Alison
Published: June 2004

Past counterfactual constructions of the type ‘If she had shut the cage, the rabbit wouldn’t have escaped’ form part of a wider set of conditional constructions expressing hypotheticality in English. Past counterfactual constructions were elicited from a large representative sample of UK 6- to 11-year-old children. They produced a total of 36 different ‘conditional-type’ constructions (as well as a number of non-conditional structures) in response to the task. Despite this variety, developmental trends were seen in the data as well as evidence of possible sociolinguistic variants on the standard English form given above. Moreover, children’s productions showed systematicity which revealed their tacit knowledge of the structure of conditional forms and their use. Wider implications, including children’s variable control of grammatical features thought to be earlier-acquired, and the possibility that adult usage is far more variable than is suggested by traditional hierarchies of conditional forms, are also discussed.
Comic Relief: Subversion and Catharsis in Organizational Comedic Theatre
Authors: Westwood Robert
Published: June 2004

There has been a growth of interest in the role of humour in organizations from both practitioner and academic perspectives. Various claims for the functionality of humour have been made, ranging from stress reduction to helping form and cement corporate cultures. Latching on to these presumed benefits, businesses and consultants have begun to employ humour and comedy in a direct and explicit manner. However, there is a counterpoint, which suggests that humour cannot always be managed and in fact has subversive qualities. This article addresses the issue of the subversive potential of comedy in organizational contexts. It draws illustratively on the case of a successful corporate comedian to do so. The article argues, through an analysis of the case, the history and philosophy of comedy, and theories of the comedic, that while comedy has inherent subversive potential, it most often is contained. Indeed, it suggests that comedy works by intruding as a potential threat to mundane reality, but offers comic relief when it is apparent that the threat will not be actualized and the status quo ante prevails. Implications for using corporate comedy are drawn.
Globalizing Surveillance
Authors: Lyon David
Published: June 2004

If surveillance was once thought of as primarily the domain of the nation-state, or of organizations such as firms within the nation-state, in the 21st century it must be considered in a broader context. Surveillance has to do with the rationalized control of information within modern organizations, and involves in particular processing personal data for the purposes of influence, management, or control. It also depends for its success on the involvement of its ‘data-subjects’. In countries of the global north, surveillance expanded with increasing rapidity after computerization from the 1970s onwards, a process that also enabled it to spread more readily to other areas, especially from workers and citizens to consumers and travellers. Since the 1980s, surveillance has become increasingly globalized, as populations become more mobile, and as social relations and transactions have stretched more elastically over time and space. Globalizing surveillance was also catalyzed by the events of 11 September 2001. However, surveillance processes occur differently in different cultural contexts, as do responses to them. Understanding comparatively the various modes of surveillance, understood sociologically, helps us grasp one of the key features of today’s world and also to see political and policy responses to it in perspective.
From ‘Common Observation’ to Behavioural Risk Management
Authors: Hansen Susan
Published: June 2004

This article seeks to introduce a new site for surveillance studies. While a considerable body of literature has been devoted to the issue of workplace surveillance, little if any attention has been paid to the ‘caring cousin’ of workplace monitoring practices – employee assistance programmes. Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) work in concert with other forms of workplace monitoring, to identify threats to productivity. However, EAPs seek not only to identify, as do electronic and traditional modes of workplace monitoring, those workers who are, through their observable conduct, behaving in an unproductive or not optimally productive manner, they also seek to detect and address potential problems, or workers at particular risk of becoming unproductive, and to encourage the prophylactic treatment of such risks through ‘employee assistance’. In this attention to the detection of problems in potentia, EAPs are one of a family of peculiarly postindustrial surveillance technologies concerned with foresight, and with preventative systems of social administration.
Targeted!
Authors: Henman Paul
Published: June 2004

Targeting is increasingly used to manage people. It operates by segmenting populations and providing different levels of opportunities and services to these groups. Each group is subject to different levels of surveillance and scrutiny. This article examines the deployment of targeting in Australian social security. Three case studies of targeting are presented in Australia’s management of benefit overpayment and fraud, the distribution of employment services and the application of workfare. In conceptualizing surveillance as governance, the analysis examines the rationalities, technologies and practices that make targeting thinkable, practicable and achievable. In the case studies, targeting is variously conceptualized and justified by calculative risk discourses, moral discourses of obligation and notions of welfare dependency. Advanced information technologies are also seen as particularly important in giving rise to the capacity to think about and act on population segments.
The Birth of Public Order Policy
Authors: Hörnqvist Magnus
Published: June 2004

Over the last twenty years, the nature of the rule of law and the basis on which nation states employ force has been changing fundamentally. The distinction between what is criminal, to be dealt with by the legal and justice system, and what creates a ‘perception of insecurity’ - formerly to be dealt with by social policy - is being eroded at both the macro (‘war on terror’) and micro (‘public order’) levels. This paves the way for the unbridled use of state force, in the first instance, and the criminalisation of behaviours that are not necessarily illegal, in the second. Fear becomes a controlling mechanism for the maintenance of the social order and any element of non-conformity is construed as a threat.
The New American McCarthyism: Policing Thought about the Middle East
Authors: Beinin Joel
Published: June 2004

September 11 ushered in a sustained campaign by the American Right and the Bush administration to delegitimise critical thought about the Middle East, Islam and the Arab world. The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) has borne much of the brunt of this campaign, some of it conducted by think-tanks with close links to Israel’s ruling circles. Such attacks on MESA date back to 1967 and the Arab-Israeli war. The role of organisations such as ADL, AIPAC, AVOT and ACTA is examined, as is Campus-Watch and the attempt to introduce legislation in 2003 to place university-level Middle East studies under much closer government control (via HR 3077).
Wired for War: Military Technology and the Politics of Fear
Authors: Kundnani Arun
Published: June 2004

Through the influence of Project for the New American Century, the structure and thrust of US military power is being fundamentally reshaped, with massive increases in defence spending, the revival of ‘Star Wars’, the projected militarisation of space and constant technological innovation. The aim is ‘full spectrum dominance’ across the globe; one result is Iraq; another the widespread US public acceptance of pax Americana; yet another, the notion that war could be fought at virtually no human cost to US forces. If so, the last restraint on the US war machine has been removed.
Alcohol and the Family in Canada
Authors: Marquis Greg
Published: June 2004

In the context of the family in Western society, alcohol often has been viewed as a problem. This article traces how the use of beverage alcohol in Canada related to the family in the transition from the preindustrial to late-twentieth-century era. Powerful temperance movements in the nineteenth century, and divisive prohibition policies in the early twentieth, attempted to protect the material and moral health of the family. Although liquor laws and social attitudes became more open starting in the 1930s, the medicalized discourse on alcoholism in the 1940s and 1950s was linked to notions of the family. Liberalization of retail and on-premise sales of alcohol in the 1960s and 1970s attempted to portray moderate drinking by adults as “normal” family activity. In the last quarter of the century, a neotemperance movement, reacting to issues such as impaired and driving and teenage drinking, suggested that alcohol’s relationship to the family remained highly ambiguous.
Drinking, Family Relations, and Authority in Early Modern Germany
Authors: Tlusty B. Ann
Published: June 2004

The ideal of orderly family life in early modern Germany did not exclude drinking. In fact, drinks shared at the family table were closely tied to early modern notions of the marital bond and were also a necessary component of normal work relations. Drinking became a problem only when it threatened the stability of the household. The amount of alcohol involved in such cases might be as little as one drink if the circumstances were unsuitable. On the other hand, drinking that would by our standards be viewed as excessive or chronic could be considered acceptable. Even during and immediately after the period of Reformation, when polemical and prescriptive literature addressing the household was dominated by the problem of sin, drunkenness was rarely treated as a spiritual issue. The primary concern of both authorities and populace was not to protect the health or the rights of individuals but to protect the sanctity of the household and the stability of the community.
“A Star that Gathers Lustre from the Gloom of Night”: Wives, Marriage, and Gender in Early-Nineteenth-Century American Temperance Reform
Authors: Martin Scott C.
Published: June 2004

This article argues that wives occupied a more central place than mothers in the early nineteenth-century American temperance movement, and that temperance literature portrayed them in two ways. First, temperance writers depicted the drunkard’s wife as a pitiable example of the dire effects of male drinking on women and families. Second, they cast wives as potent moral influences on their husbands, capable of preventing the sober from faltering and reclaiming the drunkard. These portrayals coexisted with overtly misogynist views of women within the temperance movement that accused women of making men drunkards through perverted influence and blamed drunkard’s wives for their own predicament. The temperance movement’s depiction of wives’gender both reflected and contributed to the larger ambivalence toward women in American society.