Usefulness of nabilone as an antiemetic in persistent vomiting due to refractory gastrointestinal disorders

Nabilone, a synthetic analogue of delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, is an agonist of cannabinoid receptors (CB-1 and CB-2) approved to treat chemotherapy-induced vomiting refractory to antiemetics. Its use in patients with refractory vomiting due to gastrointestinal dysmotility (GID) has not been reported. Our study aims are to assess nabilone usefulness and side-effects in patients with refractory vomiting due to GID. Patients prescribed nabilone at St. Mark's intestinal rehabilitation unit (January 2017 to September 2022) due to GID vomiting have been retrospectively reviewed. Descriptive analysis has been done. Variables measured: age, sex, comorbidities, antiemetics/prokinetics, enteral or parenteral nutrition, nabilone prescription, subjective symptom improvement and side-effects. Seven patients received nabilone. 5/7 (72%) were females. Median age:25 years (23-37). 3/7 (43%) had gastroparesis (1/3 related to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome -POTS- , 1/3 to Ehlers-Danlos' Syndrome, POTS, Crohn's Disease and adrenal insufficiency -AI- and 1/3 to sinus node ablation and AI), 2/7 (29%) had gastroparesis and intestinal dysmotility (1/2 related to POTS and 1/2 related to EDS and other connective tissue diseases) and 2/7 (29%) had intestinal dysmotility (1/2 because of polyglucosan body visceral myopathy and 1/2 to intestinal surgery). All patients had received antiemetics or prokinetics before (median of 5 drugs; 2-11). 1/7 (14%) received enteral supplements, 5/7 (72%) enteral nutrition through enteral tubes and 4/7 (57%) parenteral nutrition. 5/7 (72%) patients received 1mg of nabilone bd orally, 1/7 (14%) 2 mg bd through jejunostomy and 1/7 (14%) started nabilone at 2 mg bd orally, but had to be switched to 1 mg bd because of side-effects. The median treatment's duration was 9 days (7-35). Regarding the efficacy of nabilone, 3/7 (43%) had symptomatic improvement. In terms of side-effects 4/7 (57%) patients reported some incidence under the treatment such as headache, light-headedness, drowsiness, dizziness or hallucinations. Patients with refractory GID vomiting despite multiple anti-sickness are difficult to treat. Nabilone improved symptoms in almost half of the patients although adverse effects appeared in more than 50%. Doses higher than 1 mg bd po did not show benefit. Although our study has important limitations, nabilone might be a temporary measure in these patients. Side-effects should be taken into consideration

Microwave Spectroscopy

Contains reports on five research projects.United States Army Signal Corps (Contract DA36-039-sc-87376

Evolutionary instability of Zero Determinant strategies demonstrates that winning isn't everything

Zero Determinant (ZD) strategies are a new class of probabilistic and conditional strategies that are able to unilaterally set the expected payoff of an opponent in iterated plays of the Prisoner's Dilemma irrespective of the opponent's strategy, or else to set the ratio between a ZD player's and their opponent's expected payoff. Here we show that while ZD strategies are weakly dominant, they are not evolutionarily stable and will instead evolve into less coercive strategies. We show that ZD strategies with an informational advantage over other players that allows them to recognize other ZD strategies can be evolutionarily stable (and able to exploit other players). However, such an advantage is bound to be short-lived as opposing strategies evolve to counteract the recognition.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. Change in title (again!) to comply with Nature Communications requirements. To appear in Nature Communication

Emotions and ethics: A Foucauldian framework for becoming an ethical educator

This paper provides examples of how a teacher and a principal construct their ‘ethical selves’. In doing so we demonstrate how Foucault's four-part ethical framework can be a scaffold with which to actively connect emotions to a personal ethical position. We argue that ethical work is and should be an ongoing and dynamic life long process rather than a more rigid adherence to a ‘code of ethics’ that may not meaningfully engage its adherents. We use Foucault's four-part framework of ethical practice as a framework through which an ‘ethical self’ can be purposely constructed. This is important work, as those who have authority over others must know how to monitor themselves against the misuse of the power of their positions

Radiative decay of a massive particle and the non-thermal process in primordial nucleosynthesis

We consider the effects on big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) of the radiative decay of a long-lived massive particle. If high-energy photons are emitted after the BBN epoch ($t \sim 1 - 10^3$ sec), they may change the abundances of the light elements through photodissociation processes, which may result in a significant discrepancy between standard BBN and observation. Taking into account recent observational and theoretical developments in this field, we revise our previous study constraining the abundance of the radiatively-decaying particles. In particular, on the theoretical side, it was recently claimed that the non-thermal production of $^6$Li, which is caused by the photodissociation of \hefour, most severely constrains the abundance of the radiatively-decaying particle. We will see, however, it is premature to emphasize the importance of the non-thermal production of $^6$Li because (i) the theoretical computation of the $^6$Li abundance has large uncertainty due to the lack of the precise understanding of the $^6$Li production cross section, and (ii) the observational data of $^6$Li abundance has large errors.Comment: 15 pages, using REVTeX and 3 postscript figure

Microwave Spectroscopy

Contains reports on four research projects

Radiative Decay of a Long-Lived Particle and Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis

The effects of radiatively decaying, long-lived particles on big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) are discussed. If high-energy photons are emitted after BBN, they may change the abundances of the light elements through photodissociation processes, which may result in a significant discrepancy between the BBN theory and observation. We calculate the abundances of the light elements, including the effects of photodissociation induced by a radiatively decaying particle, but neglecting the hadronic branching ratio. Using these calculated abundances, we derive a constraint on such particles by comparing our theoretical results with observations. Taking into account the recent controversies regarding the observations of the light-element abundances, we derive constraints for various combinations of the measurements. We also discuss several models which predict such radiatively decaying particles, and we derive constraints on such models.Comment: Published version in Phys. Rev. D. Typos in figure captions correcte

Microwave Spectroscopy

Contains reports on four research projects

Microwave Spectroscopy

Contains research objectives and reports on five research projects.Signal Corps Contract DA36-039-sc-73014Signal Corps Contract DA36-039-sc-7489

Co-Curriculum Implementation and Assessment in Accredited Doctor of Pharmacy Programs

Objective. To determine how accredited Doctor of Pharmacy programs implement and evaluate the co-curriculum requirement as mandated by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Methods. A survey was administered to all ACPE-accredited pharmacy programs to collect information regarding how co-curriculum models were being implemented, including types of activities, structure, learning outcomes, oversight, and assessment. The frequency of responses to items were presented to describe the general features of co-curriculum models. Results. The types of co-curricular activities reported by programs were generally consistent, with the majority of programs categorizing these activities and allowing students to choose which they would engage in. Most respondents reported that the program mapped co-curricular activities to learning outcomes, primarily ACPE Standards 1-4. The structural oversight of the co-curriculum typically included a co-curriculum committee, subcommittee, or task force, and supporting offices. The most common offices/departments involved in the co-curriculum were assessment, student affairs/services, experiential education, and academic/curricular affairs. The most common assessments were reflections, self-assessment surveys, and checklists. Conclusion. In most programs, implementation of the co-curriculum was a joint effort among various individuals, committees, and offices. Given the developing nature of programs, descriptive studies should be repeated to identify how programs develop and enhance co-curriculum models. The study results may be useful to members of the Academy when evaluating the current state of co-curriculum implementation and potential areas for program development