bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Program Evaluation Using a Follow-Up Telephone Survey
Authors: Snow Robert E. , Prather James E. , Hutcheson John D.
Published: March 2007

Program evaluation requiring postprogram follow-up with clients is often complicated by systematic inability to contact certain types of clients. In-person contact can be extremely expensive and mail follow-up is prone to error attributable to nonresponse. Problems in contacting and obtaining the cooperation of former clients often bring evaluation results into question. Employing a split-half design, this research examines the effects of prior letters, in conjunction with a follow-up telephone survey, on three factors affecting evaluation results: contact rates, response rates, and respondent cooperation. Contrary to what would be expected based upon the results of experimentation with general population surveys, the prior letter did not increase contact, improve cooperation, or decrease refusals. Discussion focuses on the reasons for the differences between the findings of this experiment and previous research and suggests that additional procedures for increasing contact in postprogram follow-up surveys be examined.
Offender Expectations and Identification of Crime Supply Functions
Authors: Pogue Thomas F.
Published: March 2007

Econometric studies of crime have typically assumed that crime rates and sanction levels are determined simultaneously. and to achieve identification they have assumed that particular exogenous variables affect sanction levels but not crime rates. In this article it is suggested that individuals'decisions on whether to participate in criminal activity depend on perceived sanction levels that depend in turn on sanction levels realized in past periods. With decisions made in this manner, crime rates and sanction levels are not determined simultaneously, and the identification problem in its usual form does not arise. Our econometric results are consistent with this view; arrest and imprisonment sanctions have little contemporaneous effect on burglary, larceny, and robbery rates. Lagged effects, although greater than contemporaneous effects, are statistically significant only in the case of robbery.
Global Thinking, Local Acting
Authors: Gerlach Luther P.
Published: March 2007

Environmental and futurist movements have taken up the issue of managing global environmen tal change. They have transformed "thinking globally, acting locally" from its original use as cautionary caption to its new use as militant maxim for change. René Dubos coined thinking globally, acting locally to warn that global programs cannot be easily translated everywhere into local actions. Movements now use it as a maxim to encourage people to act locally to save the world. Thinking globally, acting locally has become a model for a future in which planet Earth is to be managed comprehensively as a living system, not centrally, through command from a global government, but polycentrically, up from the global grassroots. Globalizing en vironmentalist and futurist movements have thus reinterpreted thinking globally, acting locally because the changed interpretation helps its user to deal with two major contradictions: (a) the goals of managing comprehensively and integratively to serve global system interests versus the goal of promoting freedom, equality, and personal or ethnic identity to serve individual or local interests; (b) the goal of protecting the biophysical environment versus the goal of expanding economies to advance material welfare. Thinking globally, acting locally functions like myth to promise that these contradictions can be overcome, and charts paths to victory. This motivates people to act to make change and legitimates the movements that promote the changes. Also, thinking globally, acting locally mirrors movement organization: many local groups, each pursuing its local goals, yet interacting in networks coordinated by overarching ideology.
The spaces of music and its foundation of values – music teaching and young people's own music experience
Authors: Stålhammar Börje
Published: March 2007

How do young people experience music today? Can their experience be counted as knowledge? What learning processes do they employ, and what forms of acquisition of knowledge can they participate in? These are among the central questions which arise with regard to educational strategies and quality enhancement at the university colleges of music in Sweden. For it is at these institutions that young people's music teachers receive their own education.

In the world of the young there is no dissection of a subject into fragments, nor are there firm boundaries between subjects. Music is linked to the person and to the interaction with the world around. Young people try it and judge it directly on the basis of their own experience and practical everyday knowledge. When their own experience comes into conflict with the process of acquisition of knowledge offered by (for instance) the school, it is understandable that they will begin to form their own values, their own attitudes, their own practice – values, attitudes and practice which are not to be found within the established institutions.
Spheres of Influence: the Interplay Between Music Research, Technology, Heritage, and Music Education
Authors: Upitis Rena
Published: March 2007

The centrality of music to the human experience is explored in this article through the contrasting lenses of heritage and technology. The importance of social participation is highlighted, along with the need for a closer interplay between music educators, music researchers and the public.

It is argued that by making music education research more accessible to the broader public-including policy makers, parents, teachers, taxi drivers, grocery clerks, dancers and politicians-some of the goals that are inherent in our work might be brought to fruition through the interplay between research, education, policy and practice.
Heritage: the Survival of Cultural Traditions In a Changing World
Authors: Aguilar María Del Carmen
Published: March 2007

Access to the world's cultures through the media, and the preservation of cultural products in the frame of changes and migrations, present both benefits and challenges to musicians and educators. The author notes the effects of media coverage of a cultural phenomenon as typically selective, incomplete, inaccurate, and distorted by the producers, and advises that “the owners” of culture be consulted for a valid representation or image of themselves. She draws on local examples of Latin American music genres, blends of indigenous, European, and African expressions, to argue the need by teachers to recognize that no tradition remains identical in time, that cultural fusion is inevitable, and that it is the responsibility of the musical and educational communities to be present a realistic representation of a musical culture, including its roots and transformations.
Reel Music Teachers: Use of Popular Films in Music Teacher Education
Authors: Brand Manny
Published: March 2007

Popular movies present fictional portrayals and Hollywood fantasies. Since such films serve as a lens through which our values are reflected and our perceptions shaped, this article examines cinematic portrayals of music teaching and music education. Specifically, this article identifies popular films that depict music teachers, examines and analyses the collective images of music teachers and music education as reflected in these popular commercial films, and reports on the use of these films in music teacher education.
Music education liberated from new praxis
Authors: Swanwick K.
Published: March 2007

This article is in response to that of Robert Walker (IJME, 27, 2-15). It is proposed that attempts to define music in terms of either sonic material or socio-cultural acoustic phenomena are inadequate. Furthermore, it is important to distinguish between the view that all music is culturally rooted and the doubtful assertion that all music is uniquely reflective and expressive of a culture. This form of referentialism overlooks the transactional nature of musical discourse. The concept of discourse suggests a group of principles for music educators: care for music as conversation, care for the autonomy of students, teaching for expressiveness and promoting fluency before literacy. These complement the main dimensions of a formal music curriculum: analysis of cosmopolitan musical elements (by participation) and involvement in local musical events.
Court Welfare Work: Practice and Theory
Authors: Bretherton Harriet
Published: March 2007

Let me get my credentials out of the way first. They are nothing to boast about but may go some way to explaining my audacity in tackling such an austere and relatively unmined subject as court welfare work. First, a plug for my employers, the Middlesex Probation and After-Care Committee, who nearly three years ago, when I had produced a second baby, agreed to cut my hours to eight a week. Second, grateful thanks to my senior who came up with the answer to what you do with someone who only works eight hours a week. Put them on custody and access reports. This was a brilliant solution. The office had an ever willing taker for those tiresome, time-consuming and distracting reports that fit so badly into most probation officers' workloads. When I first envisaged a future of welfare reports, I too feared the worst, but part-time em ployees cannot be choosers and the alternative was full-time nappies. I did have one or two bad cases to begin with but it did not take me long to realise that the worst part was reading the affidavit. I soon dis covered that those debauched petitioners and vicious respondents were even more anxious about me than I was about them. Before long, I was not putting a brave face on it when I assured my colleagues that I liked doing welfare reports. It was perfectly true. However, doubts and questions soon began to assail me. What was I doing? Was it sensible? Was it worthwhile? Was it the best way of doing it? Who was I trying to help? I looked for others in the same line of work to compare notes. I searched inexpertly for relevant literature. I finally concluded that only the discipline of pen and paper would begin to order a chaos of hunches, homegrown theories and vivid experiences. As a starting point I ordered my questions. The key ones seemed to me: first, what is the place of court welfare work within that modern and expanding industry which has developed to enable couples to separate? Second, what are the tasks and objectives of court welfare officers? Third, what theoretical principles should govern their work?
Supper at Six
Authors: King N.A.
Published: March 2007

Thousands of men are sentenced to imprisonment each year simply because they are socially isolated or lack the social skills to survive in society in a satisfying way. This article is about working alongside young adults living in bed-sit accommodation provided by the Pro bation Service. As a group their contribution to the crime rate was well above average. The method is based on the social work group with an aim of establishing links between the members of the group and legitimate resource systems.
Law Enforcement in Community Service: Probation, Defence or Prosecution?
Authors: Vass Antony A.
Published: March 2007

The author reviews the national statistics of breach proceedings in community service, and refers to his own local research on the same subject. He discusses the role conflicts for the probation officer initiating breach proceedings, and points out some of the internal and public problems to which this gives rise. Finally he outlines some of the changes which may occur in a community service worker's self-image and position in the organisation as a whole.
Diagnosis and Description: Who Owns the Problem ?
Authors: Raynor Peter
Published: March 2007

A small study of problem assessment by probation officers and by clients at the Pontypridd DTC offers some useful indicators for developing methods of assessment other than those characterised by "pseudo-medical diagnostic pretensions" or by "radical laissez-faire". The article is also illustrative of how useful small, modest studies can be in providing material for speculation about and discussion of large and important issues.
Community Service for Juveniles? A Critical Comment
Authors: Vass Anthony A.
Published: March 2007

There is now convincing evidence that the diversionary efforts of CS are in the region of only 45-50 per cent, and that the sentence is used as an alternative to other non-custodial sentences, and as a disposal in its own right. The author reviews this evidence and argues that the Government should seriously reconsider its proposal to extend CS to sixteen year olds if there is a real commitment to reducing custodial sentences, and to eliminating some of the other unanticipated—and undesirable—consequences of the availability of CS.
The New Orthodoxy
Authors: Burnham David
Published: March 2007

In the second of his articles reflecting on the current state of the Probation Service, the author sees its organisational structure as the source of many of the problems and much of the disillusionment.
Acquisition of Scientific Literature in Developing Countries
Authors: Jalaluddin Syed
Published: March 2007

The third of a series of articles on the acquisition of scientific literature by libraries in developing countries. Deals mainly with university libraries. Summarizes the Pakistan background and the development of science and technology in Pakistan, the background to library and information development and the existing library resources in science and technology. Describes the organization of acquisitions work, including acquisitions policy, book selection, financial aspects, the procurement of books, import restrictions, book order work, the procurement of periodicals, gifts and exchanges. Presents proposals for further action.
Microcomputers in the Caribbean
Authors: Kochhar Jaishree
Published: March 2007

Many libraries and documentation centres in the Third World have introduced microcomputers as a first step towards automation. A number of microcomputer projects at the Main Library, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, provide the background for a consideration of hardware selection criteria, installation and maintenance of microcomputer systems, hardware appropriateness, output requirements, software, the role of user groups, systems documentation and training.
Botswana and the Southern African Interlibrary Lending System: cooperation or dependency?
Authors: Datta Ansu , Baffour-Awuah Margaret
Published: March 2007

Edited version of a paper presented at the 12th Southern African Universities Social Science Conference (SAUSSC) held in Gaborone, Botswana, 3 to 7 July, 1989. Examines the Southern African Interlibrary Lending System, based at the State Library in Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, from the Botswana point of view. Focuses on two of the seven Botswana members of the system: the University of Botswana and the Botswana National Library Service. The historical development of the system is traced as a background to the analysis. Raw data from the files of both institutions are analyses and the current manner of operation examined. In conclusion the paper, through an Index of Relative Utilization, attempts to answer the question of cooperation or dependency.
Libraries as centres for community literacy
Authors: Jones Adele
Published: March 2007

In developing countries, as well as in many so- called developed societies, libraries have tended to remain the domain of the literate and more 'educated' sectors of society. Library and literacy workers alike have been faced with the question of how libraries can serve those without literacy skills and the bigger issue of how to make libraries accessible to this often large and untapped group within so many communities. Calls for a rethinking of the traditional role of libraries and suggests that both taking the library to the people as well as the people creating their own texts within the library setting can do much to encourage adult literacy.
Information for agriculture in Kenya
Authors: Shibanda Gundu
Published: March 2007

Outlines the aims of the Kenya government with regard to agricultural development and describes the role, aims, structure, and problems of the Agricultural Extension Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. The role of agricultural research and methods of disseminating research information to farmers are described. The Agricultural Extension Services Division is responsible for the Agricultural Information Services, comprising a National Agricultural Documentation Centre, an Agricultural Information Centre and a central Library with ninety-three branches in provincial and district offices, Agricultural Institutes and Farmer Training Centres. In addition, there are thirty- two libraries in agricultural research stations. The aims, activities and problems of these services are described. More attention needs to be paid to communicating information directly to farmers.
Newsletters and development communication
Authors: Fernando Vijita
Published: March 2007

A personalized account of some experiences with producing newsletters for non-governmental organizations in Sri Lanka. Discusses the role of a newsletter in this context, the means of producing successful newsletters, how to reach the correct audience and how far such a form of communication can be successful in transmitting development messages.
Marketing of information in the water sector in Tanzania: a strategy for MAJIDOC
Authors: Michael Benedict P.
Published: March 2007

Outlines a strategy for marketing the information products and services of the Water and Sanitation Information and Documentation Centre (MAJIDOC) of the Water Resources Institute in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Discusses the market environment, resource requirements and objectives of the marketing strategy, and outlines an action programme involving internal and external promotion through various types of media and activities. Includes a budget plan for financing the implementation of the strategy.
Human resources for information development in Sudan
Authors: Wesley Cecile
Published: March 2007

Outlines the scope, function and process of human resources development (HRD). Describes the HRD situation in the information sector in Sudan and identifies lack of effective training and misuse of trained personnel as causes of the poor state of information resources and services in the country. Briefly discusses problems in connection with training. The emigration of high level manpower is a serious setback to development in all sectors and a waste of Sudan's investment in HRD. The reasons for migration and United Nations concern are discussed. Factors contributing to realizing the full potential of HRD are identified and the need to establish national institutional machinery for HRD is emphasized.
Alterations in dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) function during barbiturate dependence and withdrawal in mice
Authors: Gray P.L. , Dawbarn D. , Taberner P.V.
Published: March 2007

Mice were rendered barbiturate-dependent by chronic feeding with barbital-con taining food. Brain dopamine turnover was significantly increased in barbital withdrawal, whereas 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) turnover was significantly decreased. Severity of with drawal was assessed by measuring the convulsions following a dose of 33 mg/kg mer captopropionate (MPA). The neurotoxins 6-hydroxydopamine and 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine as well as metergoline (5 mg/kg) increased the severity of MPA convulsions. Quipazine (20 mg/ kg) attenuated the convulsions. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that diminished 5-HT function may contribute to the barbital withdrawal syndrome. Behavioural responses to serotonergic drugs were enhanced in barbital-dependent mice compared to controls, but [3H]- 5-HT binding to crude membrane fractions was similar in both groups with a single high affinity site.
Interactions of antidepressants and ethanol on spontaneous locomotor activity and rotarod performance in NMRI and C57BL/6 mice
Authors: Strömberg C.
Published: March 2007

In order to find appropriate doses for studying antidepressant-ethanol interaction in two mouse strains, spontaneous locomotor activity and rotarod performance were first studied in NMRI mice after amitriptyline 3-30 mg/kg, mianserin 3-30 mg/kg, nomifensine 1- 10 mg/kg, citalopram 3-100 mg/kg, and ethanol 1-3 g/kg intraperitoneally. Ethanol increased significantly locomotor activity at 1 g/kg and impaired rotarod performance at 2 and 3 g/kg. Amitriptyline and mianserin decreased dose-dependently locomotor activity at doses ≥ 10 mg/kg. Nomifensine and citalopram increased locomotor activity at 10 mg/kg and citalopram 100 mg/kg decreased it. Rotarod performance was affected only by amitriptyline 10 and 30 mg/kg and citalopram 100 mg/kg, which impaired performance. Interaction studies with the two strains using amitriptyline, mianserin, nomifensine and citalopram 10 mg/kg and ethanol 1 g/kg showed that C57BL/6 mice were less sensitive than NMRI mice to the stimu lating effects of ethanol and more sensitive to impairment of rotarod performance by amitrip tyline and mianserin. C57BL/6 mice had a significantly poorer baseline performance on rotarod, and the citalopram plus ethanol combination impaired their performance severely, although drugs alone did not impair this test. The results suggest that decreased locomotor activity as a measure of antidepressant-induced sedation does not parallel with impaired performance on rotarod and that significant strain differences can be seen in psy chopharmacological tests and responses to drugs in mice.
The prehistory of psychotherapeutic agents
Authors: Sneader Walter
Published: March 2007

In the absence of a coherent understanding of the pathological basis of a disease, only serendipity can provide effective drugs for its treatment. Nowhere is this more evident than in an examination of the history of psychotherapeutic drugs (Sneader, 1985, pp. 175- 191 ).
The psychopharmacological era: notes toward a history
Authors: Healy David T.
Published: March 2007

Cultural and economic influences on the psychopharmacological era are reviewed, in an attempt to bring into focus what has been happening in psychopharmacology for the past thirty years. It is argued that the belief that clinical advances are made through the heroic achievements of disinterested scientists is a simplistic view that may militate against future significant discoveries. Such discoveries, it is argued, still come about for the most part serendipitously, despite a widespread belief that psychopharmacology has become a rational science.
The use of a scopolamine model to study the potential nootropic effects of aniracetam and piracetam in healthy volunteers
Authors: Wesnes K. , Anand R. , Simpson P. , Christmas L.
Published: March 2007

In this study 26 healthy volunteers received scopolamine 0.7 mg subcutaneously on seven occasions at least a week apart. Cognitive efficiency was measured with a test battery before and 60 min following scopolamine on each occasion. Following this, over the seven occasions, a range of oral and intravenous dose regimens were administered including aniracetam 2 mg intravenously, 100 mg intravenously, 200 mg intravenously, 1500 mg per os and piracetam 2400 mg per os. On each session the test battery was then performed again at 120 and 200 min following scopolamine. The seven treatments were administered double- blind and the order was counterbalanced between volunteers over visits using a Latin Square design. At 60 min, scopolamine produced marked and significant decrements in all of the measures of memory and information processing. Aniracetam 1500 mg was able to sig nificantly antagonize decrements on both memory and information processing tasks. The other active treatments also produced significant effects, but for two these were equal to, and for two slightly above, the number which may have occurred by chance, and thus were questionable. Overall, the findings demonstrate that aniracetam 1500 mg can antagonize cognitive decrements produced by cholinergic blockade in healthy volunteers, and suggest that the drug possesses nootropic properties.
The effects of caffeine, impulsivity and time of day on performance, mood and cardiovascular function
Authors: Smith A.P. , Rusted J.M. , Savory M. , Eaton-Williams P. , Hall S.R.
Published: March 2007

Two experiments were carried out to examine the effects of caffeine on performance, mood and cardiovascular function. The results showed that the effects of caffeine depended on the dose, time of administration, the function being examined and the impulsivity of the subject. Changes in blood pressure were only observed when a high dose (3 mg/kg) was used. The effects of this dose on performance depended on the impulsivity of the subject, with high impulsives performing worse in the de-caffeinated condition but getting a greater benefit from the caffeine. The high dose of caffeine also removed the post-lunch dip in sustained attention. The second experiment, which used a lower dose of caffeine (~60 mg), failed to demonstrate any caffeine x impulsivity or caffeine x time of day effects on performance. However, caffeine improved performance on a logical reasoning task and caffeine x time of day x impulsivity effects were found in analyses of visual search tasks. The mood data also support the view that the effects of caffeine depend on a combination of factors similar to those outlined for performance.
The effects of scopolamine on retrieval from semantic memory
Authors: Lines C.R. , Preston G.C. , Broks P. , Dawson C.E.
Published: March 2007

The effects of two doses of scopolamine (0.6 and 1.2 mg p.o.) on retrieval from semantic memory in normal young volunteers were examined using tests of verbal fluency and categorization latency. A visual contrast sensitivity test, which has previously shown a scopolamine-induced impairment at these doses (Broks et al., 1988), was also administered. In agreement with the work of Dunne (1990) and others, no evidence for a scopolamine deficit in semantic retrieval was found; in fact scopolamine improved letter fluency. However, scopolamine did produce the expected decrease in visual contrast sensitivity. The doses of scopolamine used here have also been shown to impair learning and attention (Broks et al., 1988). It is possible that earlier studies which found a scopolamine deficit on semantic retrieval, did so because they used elderly subjects and/or large drug doses.
Psychology and pharmacology in the treatment of anxiety disorders: co-operation or confrontation
Authors: Middleton H.C.
Published: March 2007

5-HT3 and cholecystokinin receptor antagonists with anxiolytic properties threaten a further round of the 'tranquilizers or treatment' debate. Tricyclic antidepressants have been shown to enhance the effect of exposure therapy upon agoraphobic patients, and it can be argued that the therapeutic success of cognitive therapy in the treatment of anxiety disorders depends upon guided exposure to threatening situations. A consideration of the effects of agents already in use for the treatment of anxiety, and experimental and neuroanatomical findings, suggests that pathological anxiety might well include relatively independent abnormalities of autonomic regulation and psychological reactivity. Proper evaluation of these new compounds is therefore going to require careful evaluation of their cognitive and behavioural effects, as well as their physiology. This work should, therefore, draw the contributions of clinical pharmacology and clinical psychology closer together rather than drive them further apart.
Treatment-resistant depression: additional perspectives
Authors: Rosenzweig Martin H. , Amsterdam Jay D.
Published: March 2007

Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is usually thought to characterize -10-15% of patients who are refractory to all conventional antidepressant therapy. However, in its broadest definition, TRD occurs across a spectrum of severity and is not an uncommon clinical problem, defining a sizeable portion of patients with mood disorders. Although the majority of treatment outcome studies report response rates to antidepressants in the 60-70% range, this figure should not be viewed as indicating the rate of remission, but rather an estimate of improvement from minimal response to complete remission. Thus, while as many as 60% of depressed patients may have some degree of response to antidepressant treatment, only ~ 25-30% of patients will achieve clinical remission. Therefore, estimates of response rate can hide the fact that most patients who are described as 'improved' with pharmacotherapy actually have a form of partial TRD. In this framework, a more realistic view of the TRD syndrome should encompass a broad spectrum of cases ranging from partial to complete drug resistance. It is in this context that we view this timely review on TRD by Malizia and Bridges.
Investigation of psychotropic drug-induced blood agranulocytosis
Authors: Hoffbrand A.V. , Veys P.A. , Wilkes S.
Published: March 2007

Psychotropic drugs frequently cause agranulocytosis. It is therefore important that patients on these drugs who develop symptoms or signs of infection should have a full blood count performed, and if the neutrophil count is reduced, prompt withdrawal of the drug and, if necessary, immediate supportive care should be given to reduce the incidence of mortality. Once the patient has recovered, investigations can be performed to confirm the diagnosis and incriminate the responsible drug. It is imperative, in order that these tests may be performed, that serum samples are taken at the time of diagnosis of the neutropenic episode, throughout its course and during the recovery period.
Levels of GABAa receptor subunit mRNA in rat brain following flurazepam treatment
Authors: O'Donovan Michael C. , Buckland Paul R. , McGuffin Peter
Published: March 2007

The regulation of the subunit composition of GABAA receptors may be a mechanism by which tolerance to the effects of benzodiazepines occurs. We have investigated this hypothesis by examining the levels of mRNA which codes for the GABAA β1, 2, 3 and γ2 subunits. Male Wistar rats were injected once daily with either flurazepam or vehicle, sacrificed after treatment regimes of up to 32 days and the brain RNA isolated. The levels of specific mRNAs encoding the receptor subunits were measured relative to a β-actin standard. No changes were found in the levels of these mRNAs at any time points. Our results lend no support to the hypothesis that alterations in the β or γ2 subunit composition of GABAA receptors is the mechanism responsible for the development of tolerance to, or dependence on, benzodiazepines.
Further evidence that scopolamine can improve verbal fluency
Authors: Dunne M.P. , Statham D. , Raphael B. , Kemp R. , Kelly B.
Published: March 2007

Scopolamine usually is found to impair various aspects of human cognitive performance. Recently, however, a significant (though modest) improvement in verbal fluency has been reported following scopolamine hydrobromide (0.6 and 1.2 mg p.o.). This study replicated that effect, finding significantly better FAS letter fluency in contrast to poorer performance on other neuropsychological measures following sub cutaneous injection of 0.4 mg scopolamine. Data are discussed in terms of a functional state model of drug action.
Lasting effects of FG-7142 on anxiety, aggression and limbic physiology in the cat
Authors: Adamec Robert E.
Published: March 2007

The effect of the anxiogenic β-carboline, FG-7142, on behavior and limbic physiology was investigated. A single systemic injection of FG-7142 (10 mg/kg) changed behavior for at least 43 days. Two days after drug administration, defensive response to rats was increased. In addition, predatory attack was suppressed in some, but not all, animals. Cats that were more predatory (killers, n=2) before drug administration showed suppression of predatory attack after FG-7142. The attack of less predatory cats (non-killers, n=3) was unaffected by FG-7142. Suppression of attack was not correlated with changes in defense. This finding suggests FG-7142 acts on separate substrates of defense and attack suppression to change these behaviors lastingly. FG-7142 produced long-term potentiation (LTP) in two of three limbic pathways investigated. LTP was observed in the amygdalo-ventromedial hypothalamic (AM-VMH) pathway. AM-VMH LTP depended on changes within the amygdala and not in the efferent synapses or in the VMH. LTP lasted 6 days, returning to baseline by 21 days after FG-7142. The only behavioral change correlated with AM-VMH LTP was defensive response at 2 days after FG-7142. Increased defense from 6 to 43 days after the drug was not correlated with AM-VMH LTP. Therefore, AM-VMH LTP may be necessary for the initiation, but not maintenance, of increased defensive response. LTP of the population spike of the perforant path-CA3 (PP-CA3) field potential in the ventral hippocampus was also seen. LTP appeared 6 days after drug administration, after cats had been exposed to rats. Before the appearance of PP-CA3 LTP, there was a transient failure of recurrent inhibition in area CA3. It is likely that exposure to a rat during the period of failed inhibition facilitated the PP-CA3 LTP. In addition, following FG-7142, facilitation in area CA3 increased lastingly, consistent with a lasting increase in the duration of excitatory neurotransmitter release. Changes in hippocampal inhibition and facilitation correlated with changes in attack behavior, but not with changes in defensive response. Systemic flumazenil (10 mg/kg) partially reversed the lasting changes in defense and approach-attack in a drug-dependent manner. Limbic physiology was unchanged by flumazenil. Flumazenil probably did not affect AM-VMH transmission in the present study because AM-VMH LTP had returned to baseline when flumazenil was given. These findings suggest flumazenil only acts on potentiated AM-VMH transmission.
Acute exacerbation of psychosis with buspirone?
Authors: Pantelis Christos , Barnes Thomas R. E.
Published: March 2007

We report a patient with schizophrenia who suffered an acute exacerbation of psychosis when treated with buspirone to alleviate anxiety. This psychotic reaction appeared to be dose dependent. Discontinuing buspirone resulted in a rapid improvement of psychotic symptoms. Re-introduction of buspirone at a modest dose helped to alleviate anxiety without exacerbating his schizophrenic symptoms. The other case studies of psychosis due to buspirone are reviewed and possible mechanisms for this association are discussed, particularly the role of dopamine and serotonin.
Specific memory and sedative effects of the benzodiazepine triazolam
Authors: Weingartner H.J. , Joyce E.M. , Sirocco K.Y. , Adams C.M. , Eckardt M.J. , George T. , Lister R.G.
Published: March 2007

Fifteen normal volunteers were administered placebo, 0.250, 0.375 and 0.500 mg of triazolam in a double- blind cross-over design. Triazolam induced robust dose-dependent impairments in explicit memory of information presented after drug administration. Subjects were unaware of their memory deficit (an impairment in meta-cognition). In contrast, memory for information presented prior to the administration of triazolam was facilitated following the administration of low doses of triazolam. Implicit memory and access to knowledge memory was unaltered by this benzodiazepine. An analysis of these results controlling for concurrent sedation as measured subjectively, through the use of self rating scales and objectively, based upon psychomotor performance, demonstrated that the amnestic effects of triazolam are largely independent of sedative effects. The pattern of memory changes induced by benzodiazepines, such as triazolam, is similar to the memory inpairment expressed in amnestic patients but unlike the pattern of impaired memory evident in dementia such as Alzheimer's disease.
Complex of rapid movements and vocalization induced by RX336-M in mice: possible relevance to Tourette's syndrome
Authors: Dursun Serdar M. , Handley Sheila L.
Published: March 2007

RX336-M (7,8-dihydro-5',6'-dimethylcyclohex-5'-eno-1',2',8',14 codeinone) induced a complex of simultaneous rapid movements of body parts accompanied by a single squeak-vocalization, which occurred at irregular intervals, when injected i.p. in mice. The complex included whole body jerks and head-shakes and its frequency was dose dependent between 0.1 and 20 mg/kg. Frequency after a 5 mg/kg dose was reduced by haloperidol (0.5-10 mg/kg, i.p.), ritanserin (0.1-10 mg/kg, i.p.) and ICI 169,369 (2.0 mg/kg, i.p.), suggesting the possible involvement of 5-HT2A and/or dopamine receptors. The possible relevance of the behavioural effects of RX336-M to the tics and vocalization of Tourette's syndrome is discussed.
The effects of chronic lithium chloride administration on some behavioural and immunological changes in the bilaterally olfactory bulbectomized rat
Authors: Cai Song  , Leonard B.E.
Published: March 2007

The effect of chronic lithium chloride (3 mmol/kg for 15 days) on the 'open field' activity and some aspects of immune function was studied in bilaterally olfactory bulbectomized and sham-operated rats. Chronic lithium chloride administration did not reverse the hyperactivity of the bulbectomized rats in the 'open field', neither did it affect the growth rate significantly. Lithium chloride treatment reversed the deficit in the neutrophil phagocytic response and slightly reversed the deficit in lymphocyte proliferation induced by mitogens that resulted from bulbectomy. The reduction in neutrophil catalase activity, and the increase in superoxide dismutase activity, that occurred following bulbectomy was reversed by chronic lithium treatment. However, the reduction in the proportion of lymphocytes, and the increase in the proportion of neutrophils that occurred in the bulbectomized rats was not reversed significantly by chronic lithium treatment. Chronic lithium treatment reversed the deficit in noradrenaline in the amygdaloid cortex and hypothalamus of the bulbectomized rats and the reduction in the dopamine concentration in the amygdaloid cortex. No changes in the concentrations of 5-HT and 5-HIAA could be detected in any of the brain regions studied. Thus there is a disparity between the lack of effect of lithium chloride on 'open field' behaviour and its beneficial effects in correcting some of the immune and neurotransmitter deficits which were observed in the bulbectomized rats.
Aniracetam improves behavioural responses and facilitates signal transduction in the rat brain
Authors: Ventra Carmelo , Grimaldi Maurizio , Meucci Olimpia , Scorziello Antonella , Apicella Antonio , Filetti Emilio , Marino Adriano , Schettini Gennaro
Published: March 2007

The effect of aniracetam (10, 50, 100 mg/kg i.p. daily for 15 days) on both behavioural and biochemical parameters was investigated in the adult rat. Animals given aniracetam (50 mg/kg 1 h before the trial) showed a significant increase in the percentage of conditioned active avoidance responses and a reduction of latency times. Aniracetam significantly counteracted the scopolamine-induced memory failure at the passive avoidance (step down) test, while it did not modify the locomotion of the animals. In purified frontocortical and hippocampal synaptic membranes of rats treated with aniracetam (50 mg/kg i.p. daily for 15 days) a potentiation of basal, carbamylcholine-, dopamine- and norepinephrine-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity was observed, while forskolin-stimulated enzyme activity was not modified. With regard to inositol phosphate production measured in fronto-cortical synaptoneurosomes, aniracetam potentiated the stimulation by angiotensin II, while the stimulation by carbamylcholine, not affected by 10 and 50 mg/kg aniracetam, was notably, although not significantly, decreased by 100 mg/kg aniracetam. Furthermore, in synaptosomes derived from hippocampus, aniracetam (50 mg/kg i.p. daily for 15 days) caused an increase of both basal and K+-stimulated intrasynaptosomal Ca2+ concentration. In conclusion, a correlation between the improvement of behavioural performance and the modulation of transducing systems by aniracetam seems to take place in brain areas, such as frontal cortex and hippocampus, known to play a major role in the control of cognitive functions.
Pimozide treatment of a male case with de Clérambault's syndrome and schizophrenia
Authors: Dursun S.M. , Mathew V.M. , Reveley M.A.
Published: March 2007

Effective treatment with pimozide of a male patient with secondary de Clérambault's syndrome (DCS) and schizophrenia is reported. There was no evidence of relapse at 24-month follow-up. Pimozide is suggested to be the drug of choice in DCS and may be in other disorders in which symptoms of erotomania are prominent. The unique anti-erotomanic activity of pimozide may be due to its calcium channel antagonist activity, a property which is not shared by the other antipsychotic drugs.
Amnesia following gastroscopy with midazolam: a comparison in two age groups
Authors: Kirkby Kenneth C. , Hennessy Maria J. , Montgomery Iain M. , Daniels Brett A.
Published: March 2007

Forty patients, in two age groups, undergoing gastroscopy, received intravenous midazolam as the sole pre- medication. Mean ages were 35 (range 19-47) and 65.5 (range 53-75) and mean dosages 4.52 and 5.82 mg, respectively in the two groups. Neuropsychological testing pre- and post-medication comprised the Rey auditory verbal learning test (RAVLT), word association test, digit span and face memory test. The elderly group gave significantly more false-positive responses on recognition recall on the RAVLT and had significant impairment of reverse digit span. Following midazolam, in both age groups there was a significantly reduced rate of verbal learning and a marked deficit in delayed free recall coupled with substantial preservation of recognition recall. Word fluency and forward digit span were not affected. There was an increase in false-positive responses for face memory. These findings are consistent with a specific processing deficit affecting the acquisition of episodic long-term memory.
Effects of ritanserin and 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI) in the murine elevated plus-maze test of anxiety: an ethopharmacological study
Authors: Rodgers R.J. , Johnson N.J.T. , Norton S.J. , Cole J.C.
Published: March 2007

The 5-HT2A/2c receptor antagonist, ritanserin, has produced highly variable results in animal models of anxiety. The present study addressed the effects of this compound (0.5-5.0 mg/kg) and those of the 5-HT2A/2C receptor agonist, 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (0.25-1.0 mg/kg), in an ethological version of the murine elevated plus-maze paradigm. In marked contrast to the potent effects produced by other compounds (anxiolytic and anxiogenic) under identical test conditions, results show that, over the dose ranges tested, neither compound significantly altered behavioural profiles. Findings are discussed in relation to the question of receptor affinities and the need for studies on compounds with more selective profiles of action.
A comparison of augmenting central serotonin and noradrenaline function in healthy subjects: implications for studies on the neurochemistry of anxiety
Authors: Dratcu Luiz , Keating James W. , Sherwood Roy , Lader Malcolm
Published: March 2007

Biochemical and psychophysiological effects of augmenting serotonergic and noradrenergic function were compared in 12 normal volunteers. Fluvoxamine (100 mg), a serotonin (5-HT) re-uptake inhibitor, maprotiline (75 mg), a noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor, and placebo were given for 7 days each to each subject. Subjects were tested pre-drug on days 1, 4 and 8 of each treatment. Catecholamines in 24 h urine, 'platelet-rich' plasma 5-HT and hormones, EEG, auditory evoked response, skin conductance, and bodily and psychological responses were monitored. Augmentation of central 5-HT by fluvoxamine was demonstrated by the decrease of 5-HT plasma levels. Fluvoxamine also reduced urinary dopamine, indicating a decrease in dopamine metabolism in response to augmentation of 5-HT function. Decrease in pulse rate, loss of appetite and a mild arousing effect were also detected with administration of fluvoxamine. Thus, further investigations on the neuro chemistry of anxiety disorders should include the study of mechanisms of interaction of neurotransmitters.
Plasma lipid peroxide and serum vitamin E levels in subjects taking antipsychotic drugs
Authors: McCreadie R.G. , Halliday J. , MacEwan T. , Hinselwood D. , Campbell G. , Paterson J.R.
Published: March 2007

Fourteen non-schizophrenic subjects were identified in a group general practice as taking antipsychotic medication. They were matched with a control group on age, gender and smoking status. Blood samples were taken to measure plasma lipid peroxide, serum vitamin E and cholesterol and vitamin E:cholesterol ratios. The majority of subjects were taking thioridazine (mean daily dose 42 mg, range 20-100 mg). There were no statistically significant differences between subjects and controls in any of the laboratory measures. The results in this small study therefore do not support the hypothesis that a possible source of increased free radical activity in schizophrenic patients is antipsychotic medication.
Dizziness predicts initial worsening in panic disorder: an otoneurological investigation
Authors: Ramos Renato T. , Formigoni Lázaro G. , Soares Jair C. , Demetrio Frederico N. , Oliveira Sergio R. C. , Gentil Valentim
Published: March 2007

Dizziness is a frequent complaint during the initial worsening of panic patients treated with clomipramine. In order to investigate the relationship between dizziness and initial worsening mechanisms, otoneurological tests were administered to 32 consecutive patients with panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, before treatment, 36 h after the first dose of 25 mg clomipramine and after treatment and full remission of the panic and agoraphobic symptoms. A pretreatment complaint of 'dizziness during panic attacks' but not the occurrence of otoneurological abnormalities, predicted the occurrence of clinical worsening at the start of treatment. A specific pattern of otoneurological abnormalities was not found, but only three patients had normal results in all three sessions. The inconsistent test results suggest that functional vestibular pathology is frequently associated with panic disorder.
The anatomical relationships of the prefrontal cortex with limbic structures and the basal ganglia
Authors: Groenewegen Henk J. , Wright Christopher I. , Uylings Harry B. M.
Published: March 2007

This paper briefly discusses the anatomical criteria that have been used to delineate the prefrontal cortex (PFC) from the (pre)motor cortical areas in the frontal lobe. Single anatomical criteria, such as cytoarchitecture, connectivity with the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus or a dopaminergic innervation, are insufficient to unequivocally define the PFC. It is argued that, with respect to a number of structural aspects, the prefrontal and the (pre)motor cortical areas must be viewed as a continuum, whereas a (functional) differentiation is based on the type of information that is being processed in different parts of the frontal lobe. The involvement of the PFC, like the premotor cortex, in a number of basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits may be interpreted in the same way. The paper also summarizes the organization of the inputs from midline/intralaminar thalamic nuclei, the basal amygdaloid complex and the hippocampus into the PFC-ventral striatal system. The results of tracing studies in rats indicate that these thalamic and limbic inputs both at the level of the PFC and the ventral striatum show various patterns of convergence and segregation. This leads to the conclusion that the PFC-ventral striatal system consists of a number of smaller modules.