Oral Administration of Levo-Tetrahydropalmatine Attenuates Reinstatement of Extinguished Cocaine Seeking by Cocaine, Stress or Drug-Associated Cues in Rats

Cocaine addiction is characterized by a persistently heightened susceptibility to drug relapse. For this reason, the identification of medications that prevent drug relapse is a critical goal of drug abuse research. Drug re-exposure, the onset of stressful life events, and exposure to cues previously associated with drug use have been identified as determinants of relapse in humans and have been found to reinstate extinguished cocaine seeking in rats. This study examined the effects of acute oral (gavage) administration of levo-tetrahydropalmatine (l-THP), a tetrahydroprotoberberine isoquinoline with a pharmacological profile that includes antagonism of D1, D2 and D3 dopamine receptors, on the reinstatement of extinguished cocaine seeking by a cocaine challenge (10 mg/kg, ip), a stressor (uncontrollable electric footshock [EFS]) or response-contingent exposure to a stimulus (tone and light complex) previously associated with drug delivery in male Sprague–Dawley rats. Extinguished drug seeking was reinstated by ip cocaine, EFS, or response-contingent presentation of drug-associated cues in vehicle-pretreated rats following extinction of iv cocaine self-adminisration. Oral administration of either 3.0 or 10.0 mg/kg l-THP 1 h prior to reinstatement testing significantly attenuated reinstatement by each of the stimuli. Food-reinforced responding and baseline post-extinction responding were significantly attenuated at the 10.0, but not the 3.0 mg/kg, l-THP dose, indicating that the effects of 3 mg/kg l-THP on reinstatement were likely independent of non-specific motor impairment. These findings further suggest that l-THP may have utility for the treatment of cocaine addiction

The GRA Beam-Splitter Experiments and Particle-Wave Duality of Light

Grangier, Roger and Aspect (GRA) performed a beam-splitter experiment to demonstrate the particle behaviour of light and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer experiment to demonstrate the wave behaviour of light. The distinguishing feature of these experiments is the use of a gating system to produce near ideal single photon states. With the demonstration of both wave and particle behaviour (in two mutually exclusive experiments) they claim to have demonstrated the dual particle-wave behaviour of light and hence to have confirmed Bohr's principle of complementarity. The demonstration of the wave behaviour of light is not in dispute. But we want to demonstrate, contrary to the claims of GRA, that their beam-splitter experiment does not conclusively confirm the particle behaviour of light, and hence does not confirm particle-wave duality, nor, more generally, does it confirm complementarity. Our demonstration consists of providing a detailed model based on the Causal Interpretation of Quantum Fields (CIEM), which does not involve the particle concept, of GRA's which-path experiment. We will also give a brief outline of a CIEM model for the second, interference, GRA experiment.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure

Fifty-sixth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs opens in Vienna.

11 March 2013 - The Fifty-sixth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) kicks off today with over 1,000 representatives from Member States and civil society, as well as high level speakers and government ministers from across the globe. Policy-makers will meet in Vienna from 11 to 15 March to discuss issues ranging from international cooperation in combating drugs to public health and safety concerns, including the threat of new psychoactive substances. UNODC's Executive Director Yury Fedotov said this year's CND session "has a primary institutional role to play in defining the international drug control system of the 21st Century." The CND is the central policy-making body within the United Nations system dealing with illicit drugs and is the governing body for the work of UNODC in this area. The Commission provides Member States with the opportunity to exchange expertise, experiences and information on drug-related matters and to develop a coordinated response. A number of side events will be held during the session, covering a range of topics related to drug treatment and prevention as well as drug control and law enforcement responses. This includes an event to launch new international standards on drug use prevention and events to discuss the tracing of precursor chemicals and how to counter cash smuggling. Speaking at the opening of the Fifty-sixth Session, Yury Fedotov said that illicit drugs and crime were roadblocks to the rule of law and to democracy. As such, they represented a clear threat to the stability and security of entire regions and to economic and social development. In the area of international drug control, Mr. Fedotov said, "we must ask ourselves tough questions about whether we have managed to reduce the global drug threat. There are no easy answers." He also stressed the important role played by the drug conventions in containing and stabilizing levels of drug consumption, noting that, while there has been declines in the production of consumption of certain drugs, these trends have been offset by the rise of synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances, and that illicit drugs continued to kill more than five hundred men, women and children every day. This year's CND session precedes a high level review of the implementation of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action in 2014, which will be followed by a Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the drug problem in 2016. These reviews will help refine the international community's approach to illicit drugs in years to come