Alcohol and marijuana use while driving-an unexpected crash risk in Pakistani commercial drivers: a cross-sectional survey

Background:A significant proportion of road traffic crashes are attributable to alcohol and marijuana use while driving globally. Sale and use of both substances is illegal in Pakistan and is not considered a threat for road traffic injuries. However literature hints that this may not be the case. We did this study to assess usage of alcohol and marijuana in Pakistani commercial drivers.Methods:A sample of 857 commercial bus and truck drivers was interviewed in October 2008 at the largest commercial vehicle station in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. Time location cluster sampling was used to select the subjects and a structured questionnaire was used to assess the basic demographic profile, substance abuse habits of the drivers while on the road, and reasons for usage of illicit substances while driving were recorded. Self reported information was collected after obtaining informed consent. Chi square and fisher exact tests were used to assess differences between groups and logistic regression was used to identify significant associations between driver characteristics and alcohol and marijuana use.Results:Almost 10% of truck drivers use alcohol while driving on Pakistani roads. Marijuana use is almost 30% in some groups. Statistically different patterns of usage are seen between population subgroups based on age, ethnicity, education, and marital status. Regression analysis shows association of alcohol and marijuana use with road rage and error behaviours, and also with an increased risk of being involved in road crashes. The reported reasons for using alcohol or marijuana show a general lack of awareness of the hazardous nature of this practice among the commercial driver population.Conclusion:Alcohol and marijuana use is highly prevalent in Pakistani commercial drivers. The issue needs to be recognized by concerned authorities and methods such as random breath tests and sobriety check points need to be employed for proper law enforcement

Suppression of Ribosomal Function Triggers Innate Immune Signaling through Activation of the NLRP3 Inflammasome

Some inflammatory stimuli trigger activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by inducing efflux of cellular potassium. Loss of cellular potassium is known to potently suppress protein synthesis, leading us to test whether the inhibition of protein synthesis itself serves as an activating signal for the NLRP3 inflammasome. Murine bone marrow-derived macrophages, either primed by LPS or unprimed, were exposed to a panel of inhibitors of ribosomal function: ricin, cycloheximide, puromycin, pactamycin, and anisomycin. Macrophages were also exposed to nigericin, ATP, monosodium urate (MSU), and poly I:C. Synthesis of pro-IL-ß and release of IL-1ß from cells in response to these agents was detected by immunoblotting and ELISA. Release of intracellular potassium was measured by mass spectrometry. Inhibition of translation by each of the tested translation inhibitors led to processing of IL-1ß, which was released from cells. Processing and release of IL-1ß was reduced or absent from cells deficient in NLRP3, ASC, or caspase-1, demonstrating the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Despite the inability of these inhibitors to trigger efflux of intracellular potassium, the addition of high extracellular potassium suppressed activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. MSU and double-stranded RNA, which are known to activate the NLRP3 inflammasome, also substantially inhibited protein translation, supporting a close association between inhibition of translation and inflammasome activation. These data demonstrate that translational inhibition itself constitutes a heretofore-unrecognized mechanism underlying IL-1ß dependent inflammatory signaling and that other physical, chemical, or pathogen-associated agents that impair translation may lead to IL-1ß-dependent inflammation through activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. For agents that inhibit translation through decreased cellular potassium, the application of high extracellular potassium restores protein translation and suppresses activation of the NLRP inflammasome. For agents that inhibit translation through mechanisms that do not involve loss of potassium, high extracellular potassium suppresses IL-1ß processing through a mechanism that remains undefined

Vulnerability in the context of HIV and syphilis infection in a population of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil

Social, individual, and programmatic vulnerability of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the context of the HIV epidemic and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) is a reality in many countries. The survey Behavior, Attitudes, Practices, and Prevalence of HIV and Syphilis in Men Who Have Sex with Men in 10 Brazilian Cities selected 383 MSM in the city of Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil, using the respondent driven sampling (RDS) technique. Individual vulnerability: early sexual initiation (51%), average of eight sex partners, and unprotected receptive anal sex with casual (32%) and steady partners (45%) and positive rapid tests HIV (6.5%) and syphilis (9%). Social vulnerability: young adults (80%), black race/skin color (91%), mean monthly family income of BRL 1,000.00, and personal history of discrimination (57%). Programmatic factors: no previous HIV test (63%) and no access to lubricant gel (88%). The study showed a profile of vulnerability and the urgent need for interventions and STI prevention in the MSM population in Salvador, in addition to high prevalence rates for HIV and syphilis

An epistemological analysis of gossip and gossip-based knowledge

Gossip has been the object of a number of different studies in the past 50 years, rehabilitating it not only as something worth being studied, but also as a pivotal informational and social structure of human cognition: Dunbar (Rev Gen Psychol 8(2):100–110, 2004) interestingly linked the emergence of language to nothing less than its ability to afford gossip. Different facets of gossip were analyzed by anthropologists, linguists, psychologists and philosophers, but few attempts were made to frame gossip within an epistemological framework (for instance Ayim in (Good gossip, pp. 85–99, 1994)). Our intention in this paper is to provide a consistent epistemological (applied and social) account of gossip, understood as broadly evaluative talk between two or more people, comfortably acquainted between each other, about an absent third party they are both at least acquainted with. Hence, relying on the most recent multidisciplinary literature about the topic, the first part of this paper will concern the epistemic dynamics of gossip: whereas the sociobiological tradition individuates in gossip the clue for the (theoretically cumbersome) group mind and group-level adaptations Wilson et al. (The evolution of cognition, pp. 347–365, 2002), we will suggest the more parsimonious modeling of gossip as a soft-assembled epistemic synergy, understood as a function-dominant interaction able to project a higher organizational level—in our case, the group as group-of-gossips. We will argue that the aim of this synergy is indeed to update a Knowledge Base of social information between the group (as a projected whole) and its members. The second and third part will instead focus on the epistemological labeling of the inferences characterizing gossip: our contention is that the ever-present moral/evaluative dimension in gossip—be it tacit or explicit, concerning the objects or the partners of gossip—is best analyzed through the epistemological framework of abduction. Consequently, we will suggest that a significant role of gossip is to function as a group-based abductive appraisal of social matter, enacted at various levels