AMERICA IS SWINGING - INWARD

Political Economy,

The Role of the Press in an Open Society

I am especially happy to be here this evening and to be given the opportunity to talk to so distinguished a gathering about matters concerning our respective trades-the media and the military. A similar adventure before a comparable audience at the Marine Corps Schools in Quantico makes me fully aware that there exists in military circles a certain lack of affinity with the press. You might even call it a hostility. They were polite down at Quantico and militarily proper, standing up when we came in and again when we walked out. But in between it was Bangladesh

Metabolic perturbations associated with the consumption of a ketogenic medium-chain TAG diet in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy

Consumption of diets containing medium-chain TAG (MCT) has been shown to confer neuroprotective effects. We aim to identify the global metabolic perturbations associated with consumption of a ketogenic diet (medium-chain TAG diet (MCTD)) in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. We used ultra-performance liquid chromatography-MS (UPLC-MS) to generate metabolic and lipidomic profiles of fasted canine serum and made comparisons between the MCTD and standardised placebo diet phases. We identified metabolites that differed significantly between diet phases using metabolite fragmentation profiles generated by tandem MS (UPLC–MS/MS). Consumption of the MCTD resulted in significant differences in serum metabolic profiles when compared with the placebo diet, where sixteen altered lipid metabolites were identified. Consumption of the MCTD resulted in reduced abundances of palmitoylcarnitine, octadecenoylcarnitine, stearoylcarnitine and significant changes, both reduced and increased abundances, of phosphatidylcholine (PC) metabolites. There was a significant increase in abundance of the saturated C17 : 0 fatty acyl moieties during the MCTD phase. Lysophosphatidylcholine (17 : 0) (P=0·01) and PC (17:0/20:4) (P=0·03) were both significantly higher in abundance during the MCTD. The data presented in this study highlight global changes in lipid metabolism, and, of particular interest, in the C17 : 0 moieties, as a result of MCT consumption. Elucidating the global metabolic response of MCT consumption will not only improve the administration of current ketogenic diets for neurological disease models but also provides new avenues for research to develop better diet therapies with improved neuroprotective efficacies. Future studies should clarify the involvement and importance of C17 : 0 moieties in endogenous MCT metabolic pathways

Bullying and exclusion in intergroup contexts: The relation between social reasoning, social information processing, and personal experience

As many as 77% of children and young adolescents are bullied (Hoover, Oliver, & Hazler, 1992), with short- and long-term negative consequences for victims and victimizers (Hawker & Boulton, 2000). While physical bullying is the most visible method, exclusion is used frequently to bully (Seals & Young, 2003). Despite a strong theoretical link indicating that bullying falls squarely in the moral domain (Killen & Nucci, 1995; Smetana, 2006; Turiel, 1983; Wolke, Woods, Stanford, & Schulz, 2001), few studies have examined how children evaluate bullying from a moral perspective. Additionally, how moral reasoning is related to experiences with bullying has not been empirically tested, although theoretical work suggests that the two are influenced by social information processing (SIP; Arsenio & Lemerise, 2004). Race/ethnicity may also influence evaluations of bullying. Little research has examined race/ethnicity as it pertains to bullying, however, except to determine prevalence rates (Hanish & Guerra, 2000). While studies have found that race/ethnicity affects moral reasoning and decision-making (Dovidio & Gaertner, 1998; Lawrence, 1991; Margie, Killen, Sinno, & McGlothlin, 2005), race/ethnicity's impact on reasoning about bullying, especially exclusion as a form of bullying, is unknown. The current study surveyed 265 European-American 6th and 9th grade boys and girls to examine the relation between children's social reasoning (SR), SIP, and personal experiences with bullying, and how children's SR and SIP is affected by the race/ethnicity of those involved. The survey assessed judgments, justifications, intent attributions, social goals, and response selection in same-race and cross-race peer interactions (European-American and African-American), and assessed personal bullying experiences. Children with more bullying experience rated bullies' actions less wrong; were more likely to justify the bully's action by blaming the victim and less likely to consider the victim's feelings; attributed more hostile intent; chose more aggressive and less assertive responses; and chose more aggressive and less relational goals for victims. Participants were more likely to attribute aggressive goals to bullies and select aggressive goals for victims in same-race than in cross-race situations. Aggressive victim goals and aggressive responses partially mediated the relation between bullying experience and judgments, blaming victim justification, and victim's feelings justification

A randomised trial of a medium-chain TAG diet as treatment for dogs with idiopathic epilepsy

Despite appropriate antiepileptic drug treatment, approximately one-third of humans and dogs with epilepsy continue experiencing seizures, emphasising the importance for new treatment strategies to improve the quality of life of people or dogs with epilepsy. A 6-month prospective, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled cross-over dietary trial was designed to compare a ketogenic medium-chain TAG diet (MCTD) with a standardised placebo diet in chronically antiepileptic drug-treated dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. Dogs were fed either MCTD or placebo diet for 3 months followed by a subsequent respective switch of diet for a further 3 months. Seizure frequency, clinical and laboratory data were collected and evaluated for twenty-one dogs completing the study. Seizure frequency was significantly lower when dogs were fed the MCTD (2·31/month, 0–9·89/month) in comparison with the placebo diet (2·67/month, 0·33–22·92/month, P=0·020); three dogs achieved seizure freedom, seven additional dogs had ≥50 % reduction in seizure frequency, five had an overall <50 % reduction in seizures (38·87 %, 35·68–43·27 %) and six showed no response. Seizure day frequency were also significantly lower when dogs were fed the MCTD (1·63/month, 0–7·58/month) in comparison with the placebo diet (1·69/month, 0·33–13·82/month, P=0·022). Consumption of the MCTD also resulted in significant elevation of blood β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations in comparison with placebo diet (0·041 (sd 0·004) v. 0·031 (sd 0·016) mmol/l, P=0·028). There were no significant changes in serum concentrations of glucose (P=0·903), phenobarbital (P=0·422), potassium bromide (P=0·404) and weight (P=0·300) between diet groups. In conclusion, the data show antiepileptic properties associated with ketogenic diets and provide evidence for the efficacy of the MCTD used in this study as a therapeutic option for epilepsy treatment

New routes to nitrogen heterocycles & studies towards the total synthesis of (+)- grandisine B

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