Colliding Worlds: Asteroid research and the legitimization of war in space

Accepted versio

Hemi-ovariossalpingohisterectomia em pacas prenhes e posterior ocorrência de prenhez (Agouti paca, Linnaeus, 1766) Hemiovarysalpingohysterectomy in pregnant pacas and further occurrency of pregnancy (Agouti paca, Linnaeus, 1766)

Foi descrita a hemi-ovariossalpingohisterectomia em cinco pacas prenhes mantidas em cativeiro no Setor de Animais Silvestres da Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV-UNESP) de Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brasil, a fim de observar futura prenhez no corno restante. A tranqüilização foi obtida após aplicação de azaperone (4mg/kg) seguida da aplicação de sulfato de atropina (0,06mg/kg) e da associação de cloridrato de quetamina (20mg/kg) e cloridrato de xilazina (1,5mg/kg), ambos na mesma seringa, para indução da anestesia. A anestesia geral foi obtida mediante inalação de halotano por máscara. Por meio de laparotomia mediana, foram retirados o corno uterino prenhe, o ovário e a tuba uterina, todos do mesmo antímero. Antibióticos (30.000UI/kg de três penicilinas e 12,5mg/kg de duas estreptomicinas) e analgésico (0,02mg/kg de buprenorfina) foram aplicados imediatamente após a cirurgia, sendo repetidos após dois dias. Todas as aplicações foram feitas por via intramuscular. Apesar da permanência de apenas um ovário após a cirurgia, nova prenhez ocorreu no corno restante nas cinco fêmeas submetidas à cirurgia, com o nascimento de filhotes (apenas um por parto) após 215, 248, 276, 302 e 310 dias da hemi-ovariossalpingohisterectomia.<br>The hemiovarysalpingohysterectomy in five captive pregnant pacas kept on the Wild Animal Section at the College of Agricultural and Veterinarian Sciences (FCAV-UNESP) in Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil, was conducted aiming at verifying the further occurrence of pregnancy on the remaining uterine horn. The tranquilization was achieved by using azaperone (4mg/kg) and consequent application of atropine sulphate (0.06mg/kg) and the association of ketamine (20mg/kg) and xylazine (1.5mg/kg) cloridrates, on the same syringe, for induction of anesthesia. The general anesthesia was performed via a face mask with halothane. By means of median laparotomy, the uterine horn with the fetus, the ovary and the uterine tube, all from the same antimere, were taken out. Antibiotics (30,000IU/kg of three penicillins and 12.5mg/kg of two streptomycins) and analgesic (buprenorfine 0.02 mg/kg) were injected immediately after surgery and repeated after two days. All injections were made intramuscularly. In spite of the permanence of only one ovary after surgery, new pregnancy occurred in the remaining uterine horn in the five females which went through surgery, and the birth (solely one by delivery) happened 210, 248, 276, 302 and 310 days after the hemiovarysalpingohysterectomy

MEASURING THE WAR ON DRUGS: A CYBERNETIC MODEL FOR ANALYZING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DRUG SEVERITY, DRUG SALIENCE AND DRUG FUNDING

This study explores the rationality of drug policy. It proposes a cybernetic relationship between actual drug severity, public salience of the drug problem, and anti-drug funding. The study hypothesizes that increases in the severity of the drug problem will cause an increase in the salience of the drug issue. Increased salience in turn leads to political pressure and increased drug funding. As funding increases, anti-drug programs become more robust and effective and drug severity decreases. When severity decreases, salience should in turn decrease. And so on. To test the cybernetic model, the study correlates trends of drug data from 1970 through 1996. It finds significant correlation between drug severity, measured by hospital emergency room drug episodes, and drug salience, measured by media coverage of drug events. The study finds correlations of drug funding and severity to be ambiguous, and finds no correlation between drug funding and drug salience. The findings do not support the overall hypothesis of a rational, cybernetic process but offer insights on drug policy dynamics. Copyright 2001 by The Policy Studies Organization.

A randomised, blinded, trial of clopidogrel versus aspirin in patients at risk of ischaemic events (CAPRIE). CAPRIE Steering Committee

Many clinical trials have evaluated the benefit of long-term use of antiplatelet drugs in reducing the risk of clinical thrombotic events. Aspirin and ticlopidine have been shown to be effective, but both have potentially serious adverse effects. Clopidogrel, a new thienopyridine derivative similar to ticlopidine, is an inhibitor of platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate. METHODS: CAPRIE was a randomised, blinded, international trial designed to assess the relative efficacy of clopidogrel (75 mg once daily) and aspirin (325 mg once daily) in reducing the risk of a composite outcome cluster of ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death; their relative safety was also assessed. The population studied comprised subgroups of patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease manifested as either recent ischaemic stroke, recent myocardial infarction, or symptomatic peripheral arterial disease. Patients were followed for 1 to 3 years. FINDINGS: 19,185 patients, with more than 6300 in each of the clinical subgroups, were recruited over 3 years, with a mean follow-up of 1.91 years. There were 1960 first events included in the outcome cluster on which an intention-to-treat analysis showed that patients treated with clopidogrel had an annual 5.32% risk of ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death compared with 5.83% with aspirin. These rates reflect a statistically significant (p = 0.043) relative-risk reduction of 8.7% in favour of clopidogrel (95% Cl 0.3-16.5). Corresponding on-treatment analysis yielded a relative-risk reduction of 9.4%. There were no major differences in terms of safety. Reported adverse experiences in the clopidogrel and aspirin groups judged to be severe included rash (0.26% vs 0.10%), diarrhoea (0.23% vs 0.11%), upper gastrointestinal discomfort (0.97% vs 1.22%), intracranial haemorrhage (0.33% vs 0.47%), and gastrointestinal haemorrhage (0.52% vs 0.72%), respectively. There were ten (0.10%) patients in the clopidogrel group with significant reductions in neutrophils (< 1.2 x 10(9)/L) and 16 (0.17%) in the aspirin group. INTERPRETATION: Long-term administration of clopidogrel to patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease is more effective than aspirin in reducing the combined risk of ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death. The overall safety profile of clopidogrel is at least as good as that of medium-dose aspirin