Toward a Comprehensive Approach to the Collection and Analysis of Pica Substances, with Emphasis on Geophagic Materials

Pica, the craving and subsequent consumption of non-food substances such as earth, charcoal, and raw starch, has been an enigma for more than 2000 years. Currently, there are little available data for testing major hypotheses about pica because of methodological limitations and lack of attention to the problem.In this paper we critically review procedures and guidelines for interviews and sample collection that are appropriate for a wide variety of pica substances. In addition, we outline methodologies for the physical, mineralogical, and chemical characterization of these substances, with particular focus on geophagic soils and clays. Many of these methods are standard procedures in anthropological, soil, or nutritional sciences, but have rarely or never been applied to the study of pica.Physical properties of geophagic materials including color, particle size distribution, consistency and dispersion/flocculation (coagulation) should be assessed by appropriate methods. Quantitative mineralogical analyses by X-ray diffraction should be made on bulk material as well as on separated clay fractions, and the various clay minerals should be characterized by a variety of supplementary tests. Concentrations of minerals should be determined using X-ray fluorescence for non-food substances and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy for food-like substances. pH, salt content, cation exchange capacity, organic carbon content and labile forms of iron oxide should also be determined. Finally, analyses relating to biological interactions are recommended, including determination of the bioavailability of nutrients and other bioactive components from pica substances, as well as their detoxification capacities and parasitological profiles.This is the first review of appropriate methodologies for the study of human pica. The comprehensive and multi-disciplinary approach to the collection and analysis of pica substances detailed here is a necessary preliminary step to understanding the nutritional enigma of non-food consumption

EAP Assessment: Issues, models, and outcomes

19 page(s

Acasp, a gene encoding a cathepsin D-like aspartic protease from the hookworm Ancylostoma caninum

Intestinal infection with the zoonotic hookworm Ancylostoma caninum can provoke human eosinophilic enteritis. A cDNA was isolated from A. caninum using an oligonucleotide primer designed to hybridize to the region encoding the consensus, catalytic site residues DTGSSNLW of aspartic proteases. This novel cDNA encoded an aspartic protease zymogen of 422 amino acids, exhibiting 47% identity to the lysosomal aspartic protease of Aedes aegypti, 46% identity to the aspartic protease of Schistosoma japonicum, and 48.5% to human cathepsin D. Its deduced structure differed from that of cathepsin D in the loop 2 'flap,' which holds the substrate at the active site, and by the presence of a COOH-terminal extension of ~ 30 residues

Pride, Preparation, Principle and Prejudice: The Tenet of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe as Applied to Marine Reptiles

The death of Robert Appleby in 2004 brought to light a wealth of unpublished ichthyosaur research. Amongst this body of work was a description of the first ichthyosaur from Iraq, dubbed ‘Iraqisaurus kurdistanensis’. Although the manuscript was sent to Palaeontology in 1979, doubts existed regarding the Jurassic age of the specimen. Archival correspondence was consulted and a fresh sample taken from the block, confirming the pre-Aptian Early Cretaceous results previously obtained by Norman Hughes for the specimen. When publication of the work was attempted, however, these results (indicating the survival of a non-ophthalmosaurid so far beyond the J-K horizon) were regarded as somewhat heretical by one reviewer, who became increasingly hostile as the manuscript progressed. Eventually, the editor and an arbiter overruled him, as it had become obvious that his resistance was fuelled less by flaws in the evidence presented, and more by his inherent belief that such things just ‘could not be’, unfavourably reminiscent of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe’s blind belief that Archaeopteryx was a fake, simply because it did not fit their idiosyncratic views on evolutionary mechanisms. Following publication, the reviewer has repeatedly attempted to dismiss the specimen from consideration by Cretaceous researchers, through casting aspersions on the preparatory and sampling work done on the specimen. Acknowledging that academic prejudice against technical work has been a longstanding problem in palaeontology, it is hoped that more thoroughly documenting the sampling of the specimen here will lay the question of the dating of Malawania anachronus to rest once and for all

Medicine Authentication Technology as a Counterfeit Medicine Detection Tool: A Delphi Method Study to Establish Expert Opinion on Manual Medicine Authentication Technology in Secondary Care

Objectives: This study aims to establish expert opinion and potential improvements for the Falsified Medicines Directive mandated medicines authentication technology. Design and Intervention: A two round Delphi method study using an online questionnaire. Setting: Large NHS foundation trust teaching hospital Participants: Secondary care pharmacists and accredited checking technicians. Primary outcome measures: Seven-point rating scale answers which reached a consensus of 70-80% with a standard deviation of less than 1.0. Likert scale questions which reached a consensus of 70-80%, a standard deviation of less than 1.0 and classified as important according to study criteria. Results: Consensus expert opinion has described database cross-checking technology as quick and user friendly and suggested the inclusion of an audio signal to further support the detection of counterfeit medicines in secondary care (70% consensus, 0.9 SD) other important consensus with a standard deviation of less than 1.0 included reviewing the colour and information in warning pop up screens to ensure they were not mistaken for the “already dispensed here” pop up, encouraging the dispenser/checker to act on the warnings and making it mandatory to complete an "Action Taken" documentation process to improve the quarantine of potentially counterfeit, expired or recalled medicines. Conclusions: This paper informs key opinion leaders and decision makers as to the positives and negatives of medicines authentication technology from an operator’s perspective and suggests the adjustments which may be required to improve operator compliance and the detection of counterfeit medicines in the secondary care sector