bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Beyond the micro/macro distinction
Authors: SILVERMAN LAWRENCE
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Discrepant findings in electoral studies, particularly in relation to the importance of class, have re‐opened the issue of micro‐ versus macro‐levels of analysis. The ‘ecological’ and ‘individualist’ fallacies are again the subject of discussion. This article considers how similar issues arise in other sciences, natural as well as social, and shows how in many cases they are not resolved but lead to the development of sub‐sciences. It argues that beyond the micro/macro distinction lies another, that between ‘molecular’ and ‘structural’ approaches, which exist in parallel in most sciences. The corresponding types of data ‐ aggregate and integral ‐ are found at both levels of analysis. Thus we have to contend not with two distinct types of data, but with four: micro‐ and macro‐molecular, and micro‐ and macro‐structural. In electoral studies, as well as ‘individual’ and ‘ecological’, there are also ‘personal’ and ‘structural’ types of data to be considered, though the latter have largely been neglected in recent times. Drawing valid inferences between any two types of data is difficult. Even if fallacies are avoided, intractable problems may remain. On the experience of other sciences, electoral studies may well continue to develop along parallel but in some ways discrepant lines.
Assessing the validity of the logit method for ecological inference
Authors: THOMSEN SOREN RISBJERG , BERGLUND STEN , WÖRLUND INGEMAR
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The logit method for ecological inference, presented by Thomsen in 1987, estimates individual level voting behaviour from aggregate election results. Making comparisons with survey results, this article tests the validity of ecological estimates of voter mobility between parties at three Danish, five Swedish and three Finnish election periods. For all three countries, the ecological estimates are rather close to survey results, but in the cases of Denmark and Sweden the validity of the ecological estimates seems lower than the validity of the survey results. However, for both countries, the differences between the ecological estimates and the survey results show a stable pattern which can be interpreted within the framework of a general logit theory.
The silent counter‐revolution
Authors: IGNAZI PIERO
Published: May 2006

Abstract. This article has two aims. The first attempts to define the ‘extreme right’political family. The three criteria adopted — spatial, historic‐ideological, attitudinal‐systemic — have led us to identify two types of the extreme right party. One type comprises parties with a fascist imprint (old right‐wing parties); the other comprises recently‐born parties with no fascist associations, but with a right‐wing antisystem attitude (new right‐wing parties). The second aim of this article is to explain the recent ‘unexpected’rise of the new right‐wing parties. Changes in the cultural domain and in mass beliefs have favoured radicalization and system polarization on one side, and the emergence of attitudes and demands not treated by the established conservative parties on the other one. These two broad changes have set the conditions for the rise of extreme right parties.
New and old extreme right parties
Authors: IGNAZI PIERO , YSMAL COLETTE
Published: May 2006

Abstract.The French and Italian extreme right parties ‐ Front National (FN) and Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI) ‐ seem to belong to two different traditions of contemporary right radicalism. The analysis of survey data from both parties'middle level elites, dealing with the level of political experience, the degree of integration/alienation vis‐à‐vis the political system and the value system confirms that the FN and the MSI do indeed belong to two different types of the extreme right class.
Interests, politics, and European integration
Authors: TRAXLER FRANZ
Published: May 2006

Abstract This paper investigates the determinants of state action by using the role of European integration in Austrian politics as a case study. Based on the analysis of the conditions and process that led to Austria's application for EC membership, the explanatory power of the instrumentalist and structuralist approach to state action is discussed and some conclusions are drawn regarding state theory and the theory of corporatism.
Authoritarianism: Personality and ideology
Authors: MIDDENDORP CEES P.
Published: May 2006

Abstract.The concept of authoritarianism has generally been considered a personality construct, although the approach of Adorno et al. was inspired by previous approaches with an ideological ‘fascist’ angle. These two approaches were, to an appreciable extent, mixed in later conceptualizations. Here, I propose their disentanglement. The classical Adorno et al. F‐scale is considered a personality variable. Apart from that, an ideological libertarianism‐authoritarianism dimension is constructed, partly validated by its relationship to a shortened unidimensional version of the F‐scale. The personality variable of authoritarianism is shown to have no substantial empirical relationship to voting intentions in the Netherlands. However, theideologicalmeasure of authoritarianism is relatively strongly and stably associated with intended voting behaviour. The study also clarifies the ongoing debate over the relationship between authoritarianism and left‐right ideology. The weak relationships between measures of authoritarianism and left‐right ideology signify the existence of ‘left‐wing authoritarianism’ in the Dutch population.
Competition ruins the good life
Authors: STRØM KAARE
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Leadership practices in political parties reflect the necessity of delegation as well as the desire by the rank‐and‐file to control their leaders. Norwegian political parties have traditionally divided their leadership functions between two or even three offices, whose powers have varied between as well as within parties. Non‐socialist parties have vested more power in their parliamentary leaders, and socialist parties more in their organizational chairs. The electoral process is in principle open, but contested elections have traditionally been rare. In recent years, however, contested elections have become more common, parliamentary leaders have lost much of their autonomy, and leadership tenure, at least in some parties, has gone down. Heightened electoral competitiveness seems to be driving many of these changes.
Ideology and party support in comparative perspective
Authors: LISTHAUG OLA , MACDONALD STUART ELAINE , RABINOWITZ GEORGE
Published: May 2006

Abstract. From the original Downs (1957) conceptualization to the Enelow and Hinich (1984) reformulation, ideology has been the key organizing dimension for electoral competition in the spatial model. The unidimensional spatial model is best suited to responsible multiparty systems where left‐right position is known to be an important determinant of individual political behaviour. We contrast the traditional spatial model with the directional model recently proposed by Rabinowitz and Macdonald (1989) and test the models using data from six northern European democracies. Based on 57 different parties, the results suggest that even in this unidimensional ideological context the cleavage‐oriented directional model provides a better explanation of mass attachments to political parties.
From individual preferences to group decisions in foreign policy decision making: The Dutch Council of Ministers
Authors: GALLHOFER IRMTRAUD N. , SARIS WILLEM E. , VOOGT ROBERT
Published: May 2006

Abstract. This article describes the process of the aggregation of individual ministerial preferences into group decisions in a national cabinet, on the basis of a sample of crucial Dutch foreign policy decisions as described in the minutes of the council of ministers. The results of the study show that decisions in the cabinet were mainly made according to the norms of this group, which were consensus and the non‐interference of ministers in issues not concerning their department. Consensus turned out to be of secondary importance as compared with noninterference; key ministers could push through decisions by majority rule if they had consensus among themselves. Since specialists mostly made the decisions, the task of non‐specialist ministers was mainly to function as approvers or disapprovers, though they did make some minor contributions in cases of disagreement among the specialists. When there was agreement among the specialists they followed a process resembling the analytic model, i. e. one based on consideration of the consequences. However, when there was disagreement between specialists, they engaged in a cybernetic decision process, reviewing sequentially a large number of options, neglecting the consequences and striving for a consensus option such as incremental action, which would frequently be the result of a compromise.
Toward a theoretical explanation of premature cabinet termination
Authors: GROFMAN BERNARD , VAN ROOZENDAAL PETER
Published: May 2006

Abstract. We propose a rational choice model of premature cabinet termination involving considerations of expected gain in terms of electoral payoffs, policy payoffs, or portfolio payoffs. This approach, which distinguishes contextual variables that will generally affect the nature of cost‐benefit calculations made by political actors from the factors that are most likely to have a direct impact on a particular decision to precipitate a cabinet crisis, leads us to several testable hypotheses. We provide a first illustrative test of our predictions with data from the Netherlands.
Constraints, states, and wars
Authors: WEEDE ERICH
Published: May 2006

Abstract.The rational choice assumption is already disputable at the individual level of decisionmaking. At the level of collective decision‐makingunitaryrational action is an unrealistic assumption. It neglects the transitivity of collective preferences issue, the logic of collective action and freeriding, the agency problem, and the human tendency to agree with each other irrespective of the facts. While unitary rational action is rejected as a basis for theorizing on international relations and war, the idea of decision‐making under constraints seems as valid in the interstate context as in economics. The most important constraints on national security decision‐making are the anarchical character of the international system and the corresponding need for self‐help, the security and the territorial delimitation dilemmas, the presence or absence of plausible blueprints for victory, and the presence or absence of domestic constraints on bellicosity. A simple explanatory model of war built on these ideas is suggested and tested with dyadic data for the 1962–1980 period. In addition, there is some discussion of why collective security is doomed to fail, and why hegemony rather than balance improve the prospects of peace.
Comparing political systems: Establishing similarities and dissimilarities
Authors: DE MEUR GISÉLE , BERG‐SCHLOSSER DIRK
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Comparative political analysis at the macro‐level of political systems can reduce the inevitably high complexity of such comparisons by the systematic matching or contrasting of cases, depending on the particular problem. Such ‘most similar systems’ or ‘most different systems’ designs, in Przeworski & Teune's terminology, thus constitute one of the major ways out of the usual ‘small N—many variables’ dilemma. This paper proposes a detailed and comprehensive method to establish such similarities and dissimilarities in a systematic and at all stages transparent way. The examples chosen refer to an analysis of the conditions of survival or breakdown of democratic systems in the inter‐war period in Europe.
European Community fraud and the politics of institutional development
Authors: MENDRINOU MARIA
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Fraudulent activities against European Community resources (European Community fraud) can be shown to have various direct and indirect effects on the institutional system of the Community and the changes it undergoes. In a period characterized by a relative strengthening of Community institutions, fraud has become an issue in the organizational politics of the Community. Community fraud has been a symptom of strains in relations between the Community and member states as well as in intra‐Community institutional relations, exposing problems and difficulties in cooperation. At the same time, the issue of Community fraud has been a stimulus for expansion in the development of the Community's institutional system and has functioned as a vehicle of various ideas and designs on the future directions of the Community's organizational structure.
Effects of authoritarian and libertarian values on Conservative and Labour party support in Great Britain
Authors: PALMER HARVEY D.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. While there is strong evidence that a libertarian‐authoritarian dimension exists in Great Britain, there is only weak evidence that it contributed to the Conservative Party's electoral victories in 1979, 1983, and 1987. The present paper addresses this empirical divergence by presenting new evidence. Using a multivariate statistical analysis of British respondents in the 1979–1987 Eurobarometers, the paper estimates the impacts of political values and class‐based demographic characteristics on individual‐level support for the Conservative and Labour parties. The multivariate model is estimated separately for each year in order to compare the explanatory variables' effects over time. The paper's findings demonstrate that authoritarian and libertarian values significantly influenced party support, with the strongest effects occurring in 1983 and 1984. In addition, they show that class‐based support was negatively correlated with value‐based support during 1979–1987.
It's the government's fault! A cross‐section study of economic voting in Denmark, 1990/93
Authors: NANNESTAD PETER , PALDAM MARTIN
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The relationship between voters' support for the government and thirteen items tapping their evaluation of the economic situation is analyzed. One data set is collected under Conservative rule and another under Social Democratic rule. The answers are first aggregated into three factors. Two are egotropic: the economic situation of the family, and its unemployment situation. One is sociotropic: worry about the economic development in the country. The impact of the first is strongly significant, and greater than found in comparable studies. The impact of the second is mostly significant, while the impact of the third is the least reliable. We have thus found a clear case of pocketbook voting.
Parties, media, the public and the economy: Patterns of societal agenda‐setting
Authors: & JAN KLEINNIJENHUIS , RIETBERG EWALD M.
Published: May 2006

Abstract.The aim of this study is to assess the relative strength of the reciprocal causal relationships between the political agenda (the party agenda), the mass media agenda and the public agenda. Although the research literature is rather confusing and inconclusive, three causal patterns have often been suggested. The economic theory of representative democracy (‘public choice’ theory) assumesbottom‐up agenda‐setting.The political agenda is assumed to respond to the public agenda. However, theories on political communication suggesttop‐down agenda‐setting.The political agenda would set the media agenda, which in turn would set the public agenda. The central tenet ofmediacracy theoryis the proposition that the media agenda sets both the public agenda and the political agenda. This article uses data on economic issues in the Netherlands in the period 1980–1986 and linear structural equations models to test these three causal patterns. The results warrant both bottom‐up and top‐down agenda‐setting, but the mediacracy model is rejected. The conclusion should be that the economic theory of democracy, which prevails in the political science journals, has to incorporate findings from political communication research.
Consensus or dissensus about welfare in post‐communist societies?
Authors: ROSE RICHARD , MAKKAI TONI
Published: May 2006

Abstract.The first object of this paper is to determine whether in post‐Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe there is a cross‐class consensus in favour of the collective state provision of welfare; an egoistic consensus favouring individual responsibility; or dissensus. Factor analysis of data from the New Democracies Barometer, a multinational survey in nine countries ‐ the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus and the Ukraine ‐ produces a scale of attitudes toward state or individual provision of welfare. It shows dissensus in each country. Three alternative causes for dissensus ‐ socioeconomic differences, political values and national contexts ‐ are tested with multivariate statistical analysis. Socio‐economic differences are by far the most important cause of disagreement about welfare. Political values have little independent influence upon attitudes to welfare, and national differences are only marginally important. The results raise the possibility that there may be convergence on welfare values between East and West European countries through similar patterns of within‐nation dissensus.
Politicians against parties: Anti‐party arguments as weapons for change in Germany
Authors: SCARROW SUSAN E.
Published: May 2006

The language of anti‐party arguments provides clues about the likely consequences of upsurges in popular disaffection with political parties. Anti‐party rhetoric helps set the agenda for political action by mobilizing diffuse disaffection and discontent, and channelling it into support for specific reforms. Examining prevailing anti‐party arguments for their normative frameworks and their diagnoses of the causes of pressing problems provides clues about the kinds of political change anti‐party politics is likely to promote. This study develops distinctions between different types of anti‐party arguments and employs them to highlight key differences between past and current anti‐party debates in Germany.
Effects of Recombinant Human Insulin‐like Growth Factor‐1 and Recombinant Human Growth Hormone on Anabolism and Immunity in Calorie‐Restricted Alcoholic Rats
Authors: Mendenhall Charles L. , Roselle Gary A. , Gartside Peter , Grossman Charles J.
Published: May 2006

Patients with severe alcoholic liver injury exhibit very low serum insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1) concentrations, along with many of the symptoms that might occur with an IGF‐1 deficiency state (including severe protein calorie malnutrition and immunosuppres‐sion). This study was performed to assess the effects of recombinant human (rh) IGF‐1 and/or rh growth hormone (rhGH) on anabolism and immunity in the calorie‐restricted, immunosuppressed alcoholic rat. Methods: Undernutrition was induced by calorie restriction such that each animal consumed 40% of ad libitum‐fed controls. Alcohol was administered orally in the diet such that the mean daily intake was 9.4 g/kg/day. rhlGF‐1 was administered by continuous subcutaneous infusion (380 μday) using a 14‐day miniosmotic pump; rhGH was given by subcutaneous injections (400 μday). Matching placebo groups were also studied. Results: On this regimen, ad libitum‐fed controls were well nourished and increased body weight 34%, whereas Restricted controls lost 7.7% and Restricted alcohol‐fed rats lost 15.2%. Significant but incomplete reversal of undernubition was achieved with hormone therapy. Best improvement was obtained with combined therapy: rhlGF‐1 + rhGH (p < 0.005; placebo versus active treatments). Immunologic impairment was observed to be severe in both thymus and spleen. The most severe changes were seen in thymi of the calorie‐restricted, alcohol‐fed rats, wherein 98% of the T lymphocytes were lost. rhlGF‐1 treatment, but not rhGH, produced significant improvements in thymus. This was most pronounced in control rats (p < 0.005). Splenic T lymphocytes were less impaired and were more responsive to rhlGF‐1 treatment; there was a maximum loss of 71 % of T cells in Restricted, alcohol‐fed rats. rhlGF‐1 treatment completely restored splenic cellularity, as well as each of the T lymphocytes studied: CD5, CD4, and CD8. Functional status of splenic T lymphocytes was assessed by blast transformation after concanavalin A stimulation. Calorie restriction did not impair significantly this function in controls [Lieber‐DeCarli control diet (LCD)]. However, it was significantly impaired in the Restricted, alcohol‐fed rats (p= 0.003). In the presence of continued calorie restriction and alcohol, this function was not restored with either hormone (rhlGF‐1 and/or rhGH). Their role in facilitating functional recovery after calories is restored, and alcohol is discontinued is under investigation.
Alcohol Feeding Impedes Early Atherosclerosis in Low‐Density Lipoprotein Receptor Knockout Mice: Factors in Addition to High‐Density Lipoprotein‐Apolipoprotein A1 Are Involved
Authors: Dai Jiannong , Miller Barbara A. , Lin Renee C.
Published: May 2006

The effect of alcohol feeding on the development of atherosclerosis was investigated in low‐density lipoprotein receptor gene‐knockout (LDLR−/‐) mice. Eight‐week‐old male mice were pair‐fed athero‐genic liquid diets containing ethanol at different levels (w/v; group A, 5%; group B, 2.5%; and group C, 0%). Tissue sections of the heart were stained with Oil Red O to examine for fatty lesions in proximal aorta. Results showed that the lesion size of group A was 70% smaller than group C after 6 weeks. By contrast, the lesion size of group B was not significantly different from that of group C. Serum high‐density lipoprotein‐apolipoprotein A1 (apo A1) A1 in LDLR−I‐mice was suppressed by feeding the atherogenic diet, but the decrease was negated by alcohol (both groups A and B). The effectiveness of 5% alcohol to protect against atherosclerosis waned with time, but was still noticeable at 12 weeks, even though serum apo A1 remained high. Serum apolipoprotein E was increased by the high fat diet, but not altered by alcohol in the diet. Our data, therefore, show that: (1) alcohol‐feeding impedes early atherosclerosis in LDLR−/‐mice (this effect of alcohol is dose‐dependent); (2) the protective effect of alcohol is not entirely attributable to an elevated serum high‐density lipoproteiwapo Al; and (3) severe impairment of lipoprotein metabolism due to a lack of low‐density lipoprotein receptors can eventually overwhelm the protective effect of alcohol against atherosclerosis.
Effect of Surrogate Fostering on Splenic Lymphocytes in Fetal Ethanol Exposed Rats
Authors: Giberson Pamela K. , Weinberg Joanne
Published: May 2006

This study evaluated the effects of surrogate fostering as a procedure to control for postnatal effects of ethanol on the maternal female that may indirectly affect the offspring. Effects of fostering on the development of splenic lymphocytes, as well as possible differential effects of fostering on female and male offspring were examined. Litters from prenatal ethanol exposed (E), pair‐fed (PF), and ad libitum‐fed control (C) condRions were fostered at birth to surrogate untreated dams who had given birth within the same 12‐hr period, or were reared by their biological mothers. At 15 and 60 days of age, offspring from each of the conditions were sacrificed and splenic leukocytes were enumerated and analyzed for expression of differentiation antigens, using flow cytometry. At 15 days of age, fostering reduced the percentages of CD45RA+ and CD5+ cells in E compared with PF and in PF compared with C offspring, and reduced the percentage of CD4+ cells in E compared with C offspring. Fostering also had differential effects on E and C offspring, resulting in reduced percentages of CD45RA+ and CD5+ cells in fostered E compared with nonfostered E offspring, but increased percentages of CD45RA+, CD5+, and CD8+ cells in fostered C compared with non‐fostered C offspring. Fostering also down‐regulated CD5 antigen expression in E compared with C offspring and up‐regulated CD4 antigen expression in C offspring compared with their nonfostered counterparts. At 60 days of age, E females overall had higher percentages of CD45RA+ cells compared with C females and higher percentages of CD4+ cells compared with PF and C females. Nonfostered E females had higher percentages of CD5+ cells than nonfostered C females. In contrast, E males overall had greater percentages of CD4+ cells compared with PF and C males. Among males, the percentage of CD5+ cells was increased in nonfostered E compared with nonfostered C, whereas the percentages of CD45RA+ and CD5+ cells were decreased in fostered E males compared with nonfostered E. For both females and males in the nonfostered condition there were no effects of prenatal ethanol treatment on differentiation antigen expression. However, after fostering, E females had higher CD45RA and CD5 antigen expression compared with PF and C females, whereas E males had increased CD4 antigen expression and C males had decreased CD5 antigen expression compared with their nonfostwed Counterparts. These data demonstrate that fostering at birth has differential effects on splenic lymphocyte populations in E, PF, and C offspring. Moreover, the effect of fostering varies with age and has differential long‐term effects on female and male offspring. Thus, rather than serving as a control for indirect maternal effects of ethanol on offspring, fostering appears to be a treatment in itself and may actually confound the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure by differentially affecting E, PF, and C females and males.
Effects of Prenatal Ethanol Exposure on Brain Region NMDA‐Mediated Increase in Intracellular Calcium and the NMDAR1 Subunit in Forebrain
Authors: Spuhler‐Phillips Karen , Lee Young‐Hee , Hughes Peter , Randoll Lynne , Leslie Steven W.
Published: May 2006

The effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA)‐mediated calcium entry into neonatal dissociated neurons from hippocampus, forebrain, and cerebellum were investigated. Dissociated cells were isolated from less than 1‐day‐old pups of prenatally exposed, pair‐fed control and ad libitum control groups and loaded with fura‐2. Prenatal ethanol exposure significantly reduced the NMDA‐stimulated increase in intracellular calcium in all three brain regions compared to the two control groups. These findings are very similar to those previously observed in neonatal dissociated whole brain neurons using the same ethanol exposure protocol. Studies were also conducted using forebrain to determine if prenatal ethanol exposure alters NMDAR1 subunit protein expression in this major brain area; however, the results indicated no significant differences between ethanol‐exposed and control groups.
Effects of Alcohol Cues on Smoking Urges and Topography among Alcoholic Men
Authors: Rohsenow Damaris J. , Monti Peter M. , Colby Suzanne M. , Gulliver Suzy B. , Sirota Alan D. , Niaura Raymond S. , Abrams David B.
Published: May 2006

Although the prevalence of smoking among alcoholics ranges up to 97%, little is known about mechanisms underlying the co‐occurrence of smoking and alcohol use, or the role tobacco may play in alcohol treatment recovery. Adult male alcoholics in treatment (n = 30) were randomly assigned to visual and olfactory exposure either to alcohol cues or to control cues, and then were allowed to smoke while continuing visual exposure to the same cues. Exposure to alcohol cues resulted in significantly greater self‐reported urge to drink and urge to smoke but had no significant effect on the topography of smoking behavior. When variance due to urge to smoke was controlled, greater urge to drink correlated negatively with number of cigarette puffs. The results provide some support for a priming hypothesis of tobacco's role on alcoholism recovery. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Biphasic Effects of Alcohol on Heart Rate Are Influenced by Alcoholic Family History and Rate of Alcohol Ingestion
Authors: Conrod Patricia J. , Peterson Jordan B. , Pihl Robert O. , Mankowski Sophie
Published: May 2006

The present study investigated cardiac response to acute alcohol challenge along the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) curve in two groups of young adult nonalcoholic men with (MFH) and without (FH‐) multigenerational family histories of alcoholism, matched for drinking history. BACs and resting heart rate measurements were recorded every 10 min for 3 hr after ingestion of a 1.0 ml/kg dose of 95% USP alcohol at two different rates: one of 20 min (slow drinking) and the other of 5 min (fast drinking). Several analyses of variance were performed for each of the dependent measures [BAC and heart rate change from baseline (HRCH)]. A significant risk × BAC phase interaction emerged from the HRCH analysis, indicating that the MFH group was characterized by a significantly greater increase in resting heart rate along the ascending limb of the BAC curve. A significant risk × BAC phase × rate interaction indicated that, when alcohol was consumed at a faster rate, men with multigenerational family histories of alcoholism demonstrated a greater HRCH, which persisted throughout the BAC curve.
A Comparison of Children Affected by Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Coles Claire D. , Platzman Kathleen A. , Raskind‐Hood Cheryl L. , Brown Ronald T. , Falek Arthur , Smith Iris E.
Published: May 2006

Behavioral deficits are often noted in children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and other individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure, including mental retardation, learning problems, social problems, and deficits in attention. Because attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been diagnosed so frequently in children with FAS and other alcohol related birth defects, there has been speculation that alcohol is an etiological factor in ADHD. To examine the relationship between behavior characteristics of children with fetal alcohol exposure and those seen in children with a diagnosis of ADHD, 149 low socioeconomic status (SES), African‐American children (mean age = 7.63 years) were given a battery of neuropsychological and behavioral tests. One hundred and twenty‐two were a sub‐sample from a longitudinal study of prenatal alcohol exposure, whereas twenty‐seven were identified in an ADHD Clinic. Children were given two sets of tests: (1) “traditional model” of conventional behavioral and psychiatric measures of ADHD and externalizing behavior; and (2) measures of neurocognitive functioning reflecting a four‐factor model of the neurological basis of the components of attention (Mirsky AF, in Integrated Theory and Practice in Clinical Neuropsychology, Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989). Results indicated that children with the physical characteristics associated with prenatal alcohol exposure and those with a diagnosis of ADHD had equivalent intellectual abilities with both clinical groups performing more poorly than contrast children from the same SES and ethnic groups. However, there were clear distinctions on behavioral and neurocognitive measures between the two clinical groups with those with ADHD performing more poorly on conventional tests sensitive to attentional problems and conduct disorder. When these two groups were compared on measures designed to measure the model of the four factors of attention by Mirsky, they were noted to have distinct patterns of deficits. These results suggested that the alcohol‐affected children did not have the same neurocognitive and behavioral characteristics as children with a primary diagnosis of ADHD.
Effect of Bedtime Alcohol on Inspiratory Resistance and Respiratory Drive in Snoring and Nonsnoring Men
Authors: Dawson Arthur , Bigby Barbara G. , Poceta J. Steven , Mitler Merrill M.
Published: May 2006

We measured inspiratory resistance (R1), inspiratory occlusion pressure (P0–1), and the ventilatory responses to hypercapnia and isocapnic hypoxia during waking and during stage 2 non‐rapid eye movement sleep in nine young men who were habitual snorers. They were studied on 2 nights during the 3 hours after receiving a bedtime drink containing either a placebo or 100‐proof vodka (1.5 ml/kg) in orange juice. We compared the results with those we reported previously in 10 nonsnoring but otherwise similar men. Waking R1 was the same in nonsnorers and snorers, and it was not affected by ethanol. During sleep on the control night, R1 increased by 70% in nonsnorers and by 280% in snorers. On the ethanol night, the increase from waking to sleeping was more than doubled in both nonsnorers and snorers. P0–1 and the responses to hypercapnia and hypoxia showed no differences between nonsnorers and snorers, therefore the results from the two groups were pooled. Minute ventilation and the hypercapnic response decreased from waking to sleeping and P0–1 was more negative during sleep, but there was no significant effect of ethanol. There was a significant correlation between the changes from waking to sleeping in R1 and P0–1 on the ethanol night suggesting that inspiratory effort increased in response to the increased resistance. The response to isocapnic hypoxia showed no effect of either sleep state or drink. lnspiratory time did not change but mean inspiratory flow (VT/t1) was significantly reduced during sleep on both control and ethanol nights. The duty cycle ratio (T1/Ttot) was significantly increased during sleep on the ethanol night. Despite its great effect on inspiratory resistance, especially in snorers, ethanol, in the dose used in our study, does not augment the depression of minute ventilation or of the hypercapnic response that occur normally in stage 2 non‐rapid eye movement sleep. After ethanol, our subjects showed the decreased Vt/Ti and the increased Ti/Ttot that occur normally during sleep in response to an inspiratory resistive load. However, they also showed increased inspiratory effort. The combination of increased inspiratory resistance and greater inspiratory effort would increase the tendency of an unstable upper airway to collapse and could account for the aggravation of obstructive sleep apnea by ethanol.
Carbohydrate‐Deficient Transferrin and Alcohol Dependency: Variation in Response to Alcohol Intake among Different Groups of Patients
Authors: Huseby Nils‐Erik , Nilssen Odd , Erfurth Andreas , Wetterling Tillmann , Kanitz Rolf‐Dieter
Published: May 2006

Carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin (CDT) and γ‐glutamyltransferase (GT) were evaluated as markers of alcohol dependency in two different groups of patients. Sensitivity of CDT was nearly 75% for patients hospitalized for detoxification, but lower than 50% for alcohol‐dependent patients admitted to acute surgery. CDT correlated with self‐reported alcohol consumption in both groups, and sensitivity increased with higher alcohol intake. Sensitivity of CDT for females in both groups was considerably lower than for males, although their alcohol consumption was not significantly different. Serum activity of GT showed almost identical performance as CDT when evaluated by receiver‐operating characteristics curve analysis (ROC‐analysis), but sensitivity and specificity of the two markers varied differently with both alcohol consumption and age. Among the surgical patients, the highest sensitivity of CDT was found for the middle‐aged patients (36 to 50 years), whereas the highest sensitivity of GT was found for the eldest. A tendency for similar age‐related differences were also observed among the patients warded for detoxification, but these differences were not statistically significant. A particular difference between the two groups was noted among the youngest patients (21 to 35 years), with a very low sensitivity of CDT (<20%) for the surgical patients and a high sensitivity (77%) for the detoxification group. This difference was not only caused by differences in the present alcohol consumption, but would also be related to differences in drinking pattern or duration. Two commercial kits analyzing CDT were compared and ROC‐analysis indicated identical performance of the two. However, a kit determining CDT as percentage of total transferrin showed a somewhat higher sensitivity among patients with low serum transferrin. We conclude that CDT and GT show variant responses to alcohol consumption in different groups of patients. The level of the two markers are related to sex, age, and alcohol consumption. Furthermore, the performance of both markers depend on the patients' history of alcohol abuse. CDT and GT are statistically independent markers and may therefore supplement each other.
Hormonal, Psychological, and Alcohol Craving Changes after m‐Chlorophenylpiperazine Administration in Alcoholics
Authors: Buydens‐Branchey L. , Branchey M. , Fergeson P. , Hudson J. , McKernin C.
Published: May 2006

To assess the serotonergic function of alcoholics, their neuroendocrine and psychological responsivities to the serotonergic partial agonist meta‐chlorophenylpiperazine (m‐CPP) was compared with the responsitivity of healthy subjects. The effect of m‐CPP on craving for alcohol was also assessed in the alcoholics. Sixteen patients and 14 controls were tested under double‐blind, placebo‐controlled conditions. m‐CPP (0.5 mg/kg of body weight) was given orally. Alcoholics were tested after a period of abstinence of 15 to 39 days. The two groups of subjects did not differ in their cortisol response to m‐CPP, but the prolactin response of alcoholics was significantly blunted. Alcoholics reported a significantly more intense “high” feeling after m‐CPP than the healthy subjects. m‐CPP induced also a decreased craving for alcohol. Our data thus provide further evidence for the existence of a serotonergic dysfunction in alcoholics and a modulation of craving for alcohol by serotonergic systems.
Chromosomal Aberrations in Peripheral Lymphocytes of Abstinent Alcoholics
Authors: Gattas Gilka Jorge Figaro , Saldanha Pedro Henrique
Published: May 2006

The frequency of structural and/or numerical chromosomal aberrations in human metaphasic cells of lymphocyte cultures from abstinent alcoholics who were abstinent for 1 month up to 32 years was compared with those from controls not selected for alcohol consumption. Cytogenetic analyses revealed a significant increase of the frequencies of cells with structural aberrations in the abstinent alcoholics (7.1 %), compared with controls (2.4%). The frequency of numerical aberrations showed a significant regression on ages in abstinent alcoholics and controls. These results suggest specific action of chronic alcohol consumption impairing biological repair with aging. The increased frequency of chromosome‐type aberrations associated with alcohol consumption, even after long withdrawal, could be due to an action of ethanol or its metabolites on primordial leukopoietic cells.
Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone Analog TA‐0910 Suppresses Alcohol Intake in Alcohol Drinking African Green Monkeys
Authors: Rezvani Amir H. , Garbutt James C. , Overstreet David H. , Li Li , Walker Cheryl H. , Yang Y. , Mason George A.
Published: May 2006

In previous studies, we found that single injections of the thyrotropin‐releasing hormone analog TA‐0910 dose‐dependently reduced alcohol intake and preference in alcohol‐preferring (P) and Fawn‐Hooded (FH) rats over a 24‐hr period of continuous access to alcohol and water. However, several consecutive daily injections of TA‐0910 resulted in the development of tolerance to these effects. In the present study, we found that in a 5‐hr limited‐access schedule in which monkeys could select an aqueous alcohol solution (7.5% v/v) or tap water, single doses of TA‐0910 (0.0625, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 mg/kg), similar to those found effective in P and FH rats, reduced consumption of alcohol. In this protocol, tolerance to the attenuating effects of TA‐0910 on alcohol intake was not evident after five consecutive once‐daily doses of 0.5 mg/kg. Furthermore, it was shown that a single dose of 0.75 mg/kg TA‐0910 did not significantly influence 24‐hr water intake when water was the only available fluid, but did reduce the intake of a preferred solution of saccharin. These findings suggest that activation of brain thyrotropin‐releasing hormone systems reduces alcohol intake in primates and that tolerance to this effect is not evident within 5 days under a limited access schedule.
Antipyrine and Aminopyrine Induce Acetaldehyde Accumulation from Ethanol in Isolated Hepatocytes
Authors: Efthivoulou Mary‐Ann , Berry Michael N.
Published: May 2006

The addition of antipyrine or aminopyrine to isolated hepatocytes derived from normal rats and incubated with ethanol caused a significant decrease in the oxidation of ethanol to acetate. This decrease was associated with a corresponding accumulation of acetaldehyde. The degree of inhibition with each drug was concentration‐dependent, and there was a lag phase before inhibition of acetate formation and acetaldehyde accumulation became apparent. These effects were augmented in cells isolated from phenobarbital‐treated rats, and the lag phase was reduced, implying that the effects of both drugs were dependent on their cytochrome P–450‐mediated metabolism. The addition of the cytochrome P‐450 inhibitor, cimetidine, significantly reduced the amount of acetaldehyde accumulating from ethanol when hepatocytes were incubated with either antipyrine or aminopyrine. Neither drug added directly to mitochondrial extracts inhibited the activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase. However, when neutralized extracts of hepatocytes that had undergone a 40‐min incubation with ethanol and each drug were added to mitochondrial extracts, aldehyde dehydrogenase activity was substantially decreased. A greater inhibition was observed with neutralized extracts of hepatocytes from phenobarbital‐treated rats. The results suggest that cytochrome P‐450‐generated metabolites of antipytine and aminopyrine cause an inhibition of the low Km mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase and thus an accumulation of acetaldehyde from ethanol.
Free Radical Production during Ethanol Intoxication, Dependence, and Withdrawal
Authors: Vallett Mary , Tabatabaie Tahereh , Briscoe Richard J. , Baird Theodore J. , Beatty William W. , Floyd Robert A. , Gauvin David V.
Published: May 2006

Indices of free radical production and cell damage were examined in male Sprague‐Dawley rats chronically exposed to either ethanol (ETOH) or water vapor. In experiment 1, rats experienced either 1 or 11 cycles of ETOH exposure and withdrawal. Brain tissue was harvested 12 hr after ETOH exposure, and 1 hr after being injected with sodium salicylate as a scavenger. Brain tissue was analyzed for the formation of salicylate hydroxylation products as a measure of OH production during withdrawal. Significant group differences for OH production were demonstrated for 2,3‐ and 2,5‐dihydroxybenzoic acid in the single cycle ETOH exposed rats compared with their water cohorts. A significant between group difference for 2,5‐dihydroxybenzoic acid, only, was demonstrated for the multiple cycles of ETOH exposure. Spontaneous seizures were shown to correlate with increased production of OH in ETOH exposed rats. In experiment 2, brain tissue was harvested from different groups of rats after removal from the chambers, at 0, 2, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hr after a single exposure cycle. Tissue was analyzed for (1) salicylate hydroxylation (as above), (2) glutamine synthetase activity, (3) whole brain glutamate concentration, and (4) oxidized protein. A multiple regression analysis was conducted on the five dependent variables and found they could be predicted by specific behavioral and neurological ratings. These data suggest that cell damage during withdrawal may have multiple time‐dependent components.
Ethyl Palmitate and Ethyl Oleate Are the Predominant Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters in the Blood after Ethanol Ingestion and Their Synthesis Is Differentially Influenced by the Extracellular Concentrations of Their Corresponding Fatty Acids
Authors: Dan Li , Laposata Michael
Published: May 2006

The possibility that fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs), esterification products of fatty acids and ethanol, are mediators of ethanol‐induced organ damage was suggested by an autopsy study in which individuals who died while acutely intoxicated were found to have FAEEs predominantly in the organs damaged by ethanol abuse. We initially observed in human subjects after ethanol consumption that there is a marked preference for the synthesis of ethyl palmitate and ethyl oleate over other FAEEs. To investigate the basis for this relative fatty acid specificity for FAEE synthesis, we used an in vitro system of Hep G2 cells incubated with ethanol. The cells were capable of synthesizing FAEEs upon exposure to ethanol and they showed a preference for synthesis of ethyl palmitate and ethyl oleate, as was found in human plasma after ethanol ingestion. This finding allowed us to explore the metabolic preference for palmitate and oleate in FAEE synthesis at the biochemical level using intact cells. We demonstrated that the preferential selection of palmitate and oleate for FAEE synthesis was not likely to be the result of specificity for palmitate and oleate by FAEE synthase or preferential uptake of palmitate and oleate by Hep G2 cells. In studies to determine whether the preference for ethyl palmitate and ethyl oleate synthesis was a result of higher concentrations of palmitate and oleate in the extracellular medium, we observed that the synthesis of ethyl oleate, ethyl linoleate, and ethyl arachidonate, but not ethyl palmitate, is influenced by the extracellular concentration of its corresponding fatty acid. The results of our studies indicate that ethyl palmitate and ethyl oleate are the predominant ethyl esters synthesized, that there is no preferential uptake or enzyme atrinity for their fatly acid precursors to explain the predominance, and that ethyl palmitate synthesis is uniquely unaffected by the concentration of palmitate in the extracellular medium.
First‐Pass Metabolism of Ethanol Is Negligible in Rat Gastric Mucosa
Authors: Levitt Michael D. , Furne Julie , DeMaster Eugene
Published: May 2006

Controversy exists concerning whether first‐pass metabolism of imbibed ethanol occurs in the gastric mucosa or liver. We assessed ethanol metabolism in rat gastric mucosa by determining to what extent intact [14C]ethanol in body water plus hepatic metabolism could account for [14C]ethanol absorbed from the pylorus‐ligated stomach. Intact [14C]ethanol in systemic body water accounted for 84 ± 1.9% of the [14C]ethanol absorbed from the stomach over a 30‐min period. Assuming a 15 ml/min hepatic blood flow, the predicted hepatic metabolism of [14C]ethanol over the 30 min of the study was 18% of the dose. The sum of intact [14C]ethanol and predicted hepatic metabolism accounted for 100% of the ethanol absorbed from the stomach. We conclude that negligible metabolism of ethanol occurred in the gastric mucosa.