Incorporating mindfulness: questioning capitalism

This paper engages with Buddhist critiques of capitalism and consumerism; and it challenges the capitalist appropriations of Buddhist techniques. We show how Buddhist modernism and Marxism/socialism can align, and how Engaged Buddhism spawns communalism and socially revolutionary impulses for sustainability and ecological responsibility within the framework of Buddhist thought and mindfulness traditions. Our case study of the Thai Asoke community exemplifies Buddhist communal mindfulness-in-action, explores successes and idiosyncrasies, and shows how communal principles can operate in such work-based communities

LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of artesunate and its metabolites dihydroartemisinin and dihydroartemisinin glucuronide in human plasma

Artesunate (AS), a hemisuccinate derivative of artemisinin, is readily soluble in water and can easily be used in formulations for parenteral treatment of severe malaria. AS is rapidly hydrolyzed to the active metabolite dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and primarily eliminated by biliary excretion after glucuronidation. To investigate systematically the AS metabolism and pharmacokinetics, a novel liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous quantification of AS and its metabolites DHA and DHA glucuronide (DHAG) in human plasma samples was developed. Compared to previous methods, our method includes for the first time the quantification of the glucuronide metabolite using a newly synthesized stable isotope-labeled analogue as internal standard. Sample preparation was performed with only 50 μL plasma by high-throughput solid-phase extraction in the 96-well plate format. Separation of the analytes was achieved on a Poroshell 120 EC-C18 column (50*2.1 mm, 2.7 μm, Agilent Technologies, Waldbronn, Germany). The method was validated according to FDA guidelines. Calibration curves were linear over the entire range from 1 to 2,500 nM (0.4–961.1 ng/mL), 165 to 16,500 nM (46.9–4,691.8 ng/mL), and 4 to 10,000 nM (1.8–4,604.7 ng/mL) for AS, DHA, and DHAG, respectively. Intra- and interbatch accuracy, determined as a deviation between nominal and measured values, ranged from −5.7 to 3.5 % and from 2.7 to 5.8 %, respectively. The assay variability ranged from 1.5 to 10.9 % for intra- and interbatch approaches. All analytes showed extraction recoveries above 85 %. The method was successfully applied to plasma samples from patients under AS treatment

Perceived outcomes of spiritual healing and explanations - a qualitative study on the perspectives of German healers and their clients

Background Limited research has been conducted on contemporary spiritual healing in European countries. The aim of this article is to report how German healers and their clients experienced and perceived the outcomes of spiritual healing and which explanations they use to describe the perceived effects. Methods Semistructured interviews and participatory observation was used to collect data from spiritual healers and their clients. Analyses were based on the methodological concept of directed qualitative content analysis. Data was analyzed using MAXQDA software, discussed and reviewed by a multidisciplinary research team consisting of medical anthropologists, medical doctors and a religious studies scholar. Results In total 15 healers and 16 clients participated in this study, 24 interviews with healers, 20 interviews with clients and 8 participatory observations were analyzed. Healers and clients reported outcomes as positively perceived body sensations, increased well-being, positive emotions and symptomatic relief of medical complaints. Clients often described changes in their self-concepts and adapted life values. Explanations for perceived effects included connecting with transcendent sources, construction of meaning, as a result of the client-healer relationship, and as empowerment to make changes. Because the interviewed clients were recruited by the healers, a selection bias towards positive healing experiences is possible. Conclusion We hypothesize that concepts of meaning construction, resource activation and the utilization of the clients’ expectations help to explain the data. Grounded in the emic perspective, we propose to use the following outcomes for further prospective studies: positive body sensations, changes of self-concepts and values, changes of medical symptoms and complaints. From the etic perspective, physical, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing, sense of coherence, meaningfulness of life, empowerment, resource activation, change and symptom control should be further explored as potential outcomes

Therapeutic drug monitoring by LC-MS-MS with special focus on anti-infective drugs

Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry nowadays plays an important role in the field of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), especially of new compounds for which no immunoassays are available. This paper reviews LC-MS(-MS) methods published recently for anti-infective drugs: antiretroviral drugs, other antiviral drugs, antibacterial drugs, antihelmintic drugs, antimalarial drugs, and other antiprotozoal drugs. An overview of the different methods is given, with special focus on selection of the internal standard and validation procedures