The Development of High-Throughput and High-Precision Analytical Methods for the Screening of Drugs of Abuse in Biological Matrices

The qualitative determination of various opiates and benzodiazepines in human serum is described using a two-dimensional gas chromatograph (GC x GC) coupled to a time of flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS). Human serum was 'spiked' with known quantities of benzodiazepines and a 'street heroin' mixture including some of the major metabolites and impurities. The sample components were extracted from the matrix by solid phase extraction (SPE). Constituents containing polar hydroxyl and/or secondary amine groups were derivatised with N-methyl-N-(tert-butyldimethyl)trifluoracetamide (MTBSTFA) to improve the chromatographic performance. The sensitivity and repeatability of the method were evaluated by the preparation of calibration standards for flunitrazepam and its major metabolite 7-aminoflunitrazepam (7-amino- FN), in the concentration range 5- 1000 ng/ml. The limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantitation (LOQ), calculated by repeat injections (x10) of the lowest standard, were 1.6 and 5.4 ng/ml (flunitrazepam); 2.5 and 8.5 ng/ml (7-amino-FN), respectively. A qualitative analysis of hair samples provided by an external collaborator was performed and various drug types detected including opiates, cocaine, methadone and diazepam. The analysis also identified many of the minor components in street drugs which may help forensic scientists to identify the source of the drug. We propose a method to extract and analyse the pseudo-endogenous drug, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), in urine, by gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). Urine samples (13C values for 3 x reference standards (#1 mean -31.7 ‰; σn-1 0.15; n=3: #2 mean -34.0 ‰; σn-1 0.85; n=3: #3 mean -42.2 ‰; σn-1. 0.64; n=3). Selective extraction of GHB by affinity chromatography was investigated as a means to improve the sensitivity. A method was developed to synthesise tetrahydro-5-oxo-3-furanyl acetic acid (furanyl acetic acid) which was identified to contain the GHB sub-structure. It was postulated that the reaction of this compound with the lysine residues of a protein would produce an antigen whereby antibodies, with specific binding sites to GHB, could be created

The Influence of Teacher Unionization on Educational Outcomes: A Summarization of the Research, Popular Methodologies and Gaps in the Literature

This paper summarizes the research on the relationship between teacher unionization and educational outcomes at the state, district, school, and individual (student) levels. Although teachers are the largest organized professionals in the United States, much of educational policy literature has ignored unionization as a subject of study. An emerging consensus from the literature believes that collective bargaining raises teacher pay, increases district expenditure and reduces class size; however, union influence on student outcomes has not yet been established. The literature is unclear as to whether or not teacher unionization is associated with student graduation rates or standardized test scores

On Some Founding Ideas of Quailology and Their Propounders

Powerful ideas in quailology affect thinking over generations, even if the ideas are wrong. I discuss great ideas put forth by Aldo Leopold, Herbert Lee Stoddard, and Paul Lester Errington and comment on aspects of their personalities. Leopold, an extraordinarily good father, posited the Law of Dispersion (Interspersion), which became known as the Principle of Edge. The Law is a tautology that can be paraphrased ‘edge-obligate animals require edge.’ Leopold observed the ‘law’ held ‘within ordinary limits,’ which he did not define but which could mean ‘within compositionally simple landscapes.’ As a child, Stoddard, who dropped out of high school to support his family, recognized the value of fire in northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) habitat management in the Southeast; later he came to see tenant farming (patchwork agriculture) set up conditions favorable to northern bobwhites. Stoddard was given to after- the-fact hypothesis formulation (retroduction) on the causes of events he observed. Through this logically weak process he bequeathed many ‘facts’ that are really untested hypotheses. Errington, an apparent loner who survived polio as a child, had 2 great ideas. The Threshold of Security was a fairly constant spring density which implied harvest up to a certain level is fully compensatory (doomed- surplus model). The Principle of Inversity implies that relative productivity declines as breeding density increases. Errington’s own work refuted the doomed-surplus model because he could not have simultaneously observed a constant breeding population and inversity, which requires a variable breeding population. These great founding ideas, although not without flaw, arose through observation of nature and thought, not through null hypothesis significance testing and model selection

Book Review: \u3ci\u3eIt’s a Long Way from Llano: The Journey of a Wildlife Biologist\u3c/i\u3e By James G. Teer

The book has eleven chapters. Subject matter includes biography (he had a deadbeat dad), commentary, philosophy, and natural history. The biography will be fascinating to those of us who know Teer and worked under or with him. The national and international conservation issues—buck-only harvest, great cats, saiga antelope, wildlife management in Africa— will appeal to a more general audience. Teer aims the book at university students in wildlife conservation and management; his experiences and commentary certainly will be useful and informative to this audience

How Cultural Believes Support and Perpetuate Relational Violence: A Delphi Study for Violence Prevention

This study solicited experts in relational violence across the United States using the Delphi methodology and grounded theory. This research was conducted in two phases and designed to answer two primary questions: (1) What cultural beliefs are involved in relational violence in the United States? And (2) How are the beliefs about relational violence maintained? The findings showed agreement from the experts on the societal beliefs that hold relational violence, the specific beliefs held by the abuser, and the impacts of these beliefs on the survivor. The experts offered ideas for intervention and prevention, which are important contributions to professional counseling and the field of relational violence, including specific educational considerations. This study enhances current research by providing a systemic lens to how relational violence is perpetrated. Cultural spillover theory was applied to identify the overlapping relationship between structural forces and violence, while polyvagal theory informed the biological underpinnings of relational violence and how it is perpetuated

Book Review: \u3ci\u3eIt’s a Long Way from Llano: The Journey of a Wildlife Biologist\u3c/i\u3e By James G. Teer

The book has eleven chapters. Subject matter includes biography (he had a deadbeat dad), commentary, philosophy, and natural history. The biography will be fascinating to those of us who know Teer and worked under or with him. The national and international conservation issues—buck-only harvest, great cats, saiga antelope, wildlife management in Africa— will appeal to a more general audience. Teer aims the book at university students in wildlife conservation and management; his experiences and commentary certainly will be useful and informative to this audience