The Use of Very High-Doses of Baclofen for the Treatment of Alcohol-Dependence: A Case Series

Baclofen, particularly high-dose baclofen, has recently emerged as a treatment of major interest for alcohol-dependence. However, baclofen has many potentially dangerous side effects, and the maximal dose of baclofen that may be used is a matter of discussion. Here, the author analyses the medical charts of the last 100 patients seen in his clinic, 17 of whom have been taking a very high dose of baclofen, that is to say, more than 300mg per day. The analysis of the charts shows that the very high doses baclofen were justified in almost all the cases. Side effects are analyzed

La diffusion de la toponymie scandinave dans la Normandie ducale

En marge des relevés de noms de lieux d’origine scandinave présentés par les historiens et les linguistes, quelques réflexions méritent d’être formulées. On peut d’abord remarquer que certains appellatifs scandinaves se sont perpétués plus ou moins longtemps dans l’ancien parler régional (ainsi la londe, le londel, le thuit, le becquet, les hogues) et que les noms de lieux qui en sont dérivés peuvent être sensiblement postérieurs à l’établissement des Vikings ; il en est de même des noms de personnes scandinaves inclus dans les noms de lieux et qui demeurèrent en usage pendant plusieurs générations. En ce qui concerne la diffusion géographique des noms de lieux scandinaves, on constate qu’ils s’appliquèrent de façon assez impérative aux paroisses ou aux domaines ruraux, qui perdirent leurs dénominations carolingiennes, tandis que certains noms mineurs, ceux des cours d’eau et de hameaux secondaires, ont mieux survécu. Enfin la grande question en suspens est celle du contraste entre l’abondance du legs toponymique des Vikings et le petit nombre de témoins qu’ils ont laissé dans le vocabulaire régional.Behind scandinavian place names known by historians and linguists, some observations have to be formulated. Scandinavian appellatives can be seen in the ancient regional dialect (so, la londe, le londel, le thuit, le becquet, les hogues) and place names issued from it, may be noticeably later than viking settlement; it is the case for scandinavian person names included in places names and which have been used for several generations. Concerning the question of geographic diffusion of scandinavian place names, we observe they have been generally given to parishes or rural estates, which lost their Carolingian designations, whereas some minor names (rivers, hamlets) better survived. Last but not least, the question is the contrast between the affluence of viking place names and the small number of the evidences which have survived in the regional vocabulary

A Review of the Potential Mechanisms of Action of Baclofen in Alcohol Use Disorder

Baclofen, a GABA-B receptor agonist, is a promising treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Its mechanism of action in this condition is unknown. GABA-B receptors interact with many biological systems potentially involved in AUD, including transduction pathways and neurotransmitter systems. Preclinical studies have shown that GABA-B receptors are involved in memory storage and retrieval, reward, motivation, mood and anxiety; neuroimaging studies in humans show that baclofen produces region-specific alterations in cerebral activity; GABA-B receptor activation may have neuroprotective effects; baclofen also has anti-inflammatory properties that may be of interest in the context of addiction. However, none of these biological effects fully explain the mechanism of action of baclofen in AUD. Data from clinical studies have provided a certain number of elements which may be useful for the comprehension of its mechanism of action: baclofen typically induces a state of indifference toward alcohol; the effective dose of baclofen in AUD is extremely variable from one patient to another; higher treatment doses correlate with the severity of the addiction; many of the side effects of baclofen resemble those of alcohol, raising the possibility that baclofen acts as a substitution drug; usually, however, there is no tolerance to the effects of baclofen during long-term AUD treatment. In the present article, the biological effects of baclofen are reviewed in the light of its clinical effects in AUD, assuming that, in many instances, clinical effects can be reliable indicators of underlying biological processes. In conclusion, it is proposed that baclofen may suppress the Pavlovian association between cues and rewards through an action in a critical part of the dopaminergic network (the amygdala), thereby normalizing the functional connectivity in the reward network. It is also proposed that this action of baclofen is made possible by the fact that baclofen and alcohol act on similar brain systems in certain regions of the brain

HOW DO THE GOVERNMENTS PROMOTE THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF COMPANIES? A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY

In this article, we investigated the companies' internationalization process from the perspective of government actions in selected countries, through multiple case studies and content analyses. Key findings pointed out that the governments investigated tend to foster and support programs for the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), mostly family businesses, which in contrast, represent 96 percent of the SMEs in Brazil. The article provides a new perspective on the role of the governments in fostering greater participation in the internationalization process of companies in an ever-increasing globally integrated economy

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR CASE STUDY ANALYSIS ON THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF LATIN AMERICAN COMPANIES

A conceptual framework for case study analysis is developed through qualitative meta-analysis on N=26 articles on the internationalization of Latin American companies in countries with a GDP of more than $ 100 billion, published between 2010 and 2018. Key findings revealed a matrix comprising nine dimensions, and suggest that case studies should be improved through consistent (i) statement of the unit of analysis, (ii) the diversification of the use of data collection sources, and (iii) the use of analysis software for qualitative research. This article is provided scholars with a new perspective and taxonomy on the case study analysis, and implications of these findings are discussed

Estudio sobre la viruela

La epidemia de viruela desarrollada en Río en 1909 nos proporcionó la oportunidad de hacer estudios sobre el virus productor de esta enfermedad. Los resultados de las experiencias entonces practicadas fueron resumidamente publicadas en Münchner Medizinische Wochenschrift núm. 44,1908. La forma aforística de esa comunicación dio lugar a interpretaciones erróneas, por lo que nos decidimos a volver sobre el asunto en forma más minuciosa.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

BRAZILIAN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON INFORMATION SECURITY: A LITERATURE REVIEW

An extensive literature review on the organizational culture in Brazil is presented and compared to the information security culture, in the past decade. This article is provided scholars with a new perspective and taxonomy on the case study analysis, and implications of these findings are discussed, as part of the master’s thesis from one of the authors (Vieira, 2008). Recommendations for future investigation and discussion compile the present work

Differential resistance across paternal genotypes of honey bee brood to the pathogenic bacterium Melissococcus plutonius

Melissococcus plutonius is a pathogenic bacterium affecting immature stages of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) and leads to European foulbrood (EFB) disease. Despite EFB outbreaks increasing in frequency in several countries in recent decades, there is little knowledge on the epidemiology of M. plutonius or on the defence mechanisms of honey bees against this pathogen. Mating of honey bee queens with multiple males (polyandry) can be such a mechanism, as it has been shown to be beneficial to colony health and fitness. It is hypothesized that a high level of polyandry was selected for in response to pathogen pressure to maximize the probability that at least some patrilines among nestmates in a colony possess a high degree of resistance to specific pathogens, ultimately protecting colonies against infections. We show that M. plutonius infection provokes differential mortality among patrilines of immature honey bee workers. Such differences indicate a genetic origin of resistance against this pathogen—supporting the polyandry hypothesis—and open up avenues to improve control of EFB disease via selective breeding