6,165 research outputs found
Inhalant deaths in south Australia - A 20-year retrospective autopsy study
A 20-year retrospective study of inhalant deaths in South Australia, autopsied at Forensic Science SA, was undertaken from January 1983 to December 2002. Thirty-nine cases were identified from an autopsy pool of 18,880 cases, with a male to female ratio of 12:1. Sixty-four percent of the victims (N = 25) died during voluntary inhalation of volatile substances and 28% (N = 11) committed suicide utilizing a volatile substance or gas. The remaining 3 cases involved a workplace accident (N = 1) and 2 cases of autoerotic death where inhalants were being used to augment solitary sexual activity. The mean age of the 28 victims of accidental inhalant death of 21 years (range, 13-45 years) was considerably less than that of the 11 suicide victims of 31.5 years (range, 17-48 years). No homicides were found. Approximately one quarter of the victims were Aboriginal (N = 11), 10 of whom had died as a result of gasoline inhalation ("petrol sniffing"). Other common substances of abuse were aliphatic hydrocarbons such as butane. The study has shown that those most at risk for accidental or suicidal inhalant deaths were young males, with 92% of victims overall being male, and with 77% of victims being under 31 years of age. Gasoline inhalation remains a significant problem in Aboriginal communities in South Australia.Regula Wick, John D. Gilbert, Peter Felgate, and Roger W. Byar
Fatalities associated with the use of gamma-hydroxybutyrate and its analogues in Australasia
The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Objective: To identify deaths in Australasia associated with overdose of γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and its precursors (γ-butyrolactone and 1,4-butanediol). Design: A retrospective search of medical and scientific information sources, as well as popular newsprint, for the period January 2000 – August 2003, with formal clinical, toxicological and forensic evaluation of retrieved data. Main outcome measure: Death associated with forensic data implicating GHB or its analogues. Results: Ten confirmed GHB-associated deaths were identified, with eight considered to be directly attributable to GHB. Only two of these eight cases were positive for ethanol toxicology. Conclusions: Our study supports the existing evidence that GHB overdose is associated with fatalities, and that fatal overdoses occur in the context of isolated use.David G E Caldicott, Fiona Y Chow, Brian J Burns, Peter D Felgate and Roger W Byar
The Concept of Genius in D. A. Granin’s Work (Based on the Novel “Evenings with Peter the Great”)
The article deals with D. A. Granin’s concept of history as presented in the novel “Evenings with Peter the Great”. The author of the novel argues that historical process is driven and streamlined by people endowed with rare gifts and deep urge to create such as the first Russian emperor Peter the Great
Zechariah 9-14 as the substructure of 1 Peter’s eschatological program
The principal aim of this study is to discern what has shaped the author of 1 Peter to regard Christian suffering as a necessary (1.6) and to-be-expected (4.12) component of faithful allegiance to Jesus Christ. Most research regarding suffering in 1 Peter has limited the scope of inquiry to two particular aspects—its cause and nature, and the strategies that the author of 1 Peter employs in order to enable his addressees to respond in faithfulness. There remains, however, the need for a comprehensive explanation for the source that has generated 1 Peter’s theology of Christian suffering. If Jesus truly is the Christ, God’s chosen redemptive agent who has come to restore God’s people, then how can it be that Christian suffering is a necessary part of discipleship after his coming, death and resurrection? What led the author of 1 Peter to such a startling conclusion, which seems to runs against the grain of the eschatological hopes and expectations of Jewish restoration ideology?
This thesis analyzes the appropriation of shepherd and fiery trials imagery,
and argues that the author of 1 Peter is dependent upon Zechariah 9-14 for his
theology of Christian suffering. Said in another way, the eschatological program of
Zechariah 9-14, read through the lens of the Gospel, functions as the substructure
for 1 Peter’s eschatology and thus its theology of Christian suffering.
In support of this hypothesis, this study highlights the fact that Zechariah 9-
14 was available and appropriated in early Christianity, in particular in the Passion
Narrative tradition; that the shepherd imagery of 1 Pet 2.25 is best understood
within the milieu of the Passion Narrative tradition, and that it alludes to the
eschatological program of Zechariah 9-14; that the fiery trials imagery found in 1
Peter 1.6-7 and 1 Pet 4.12 is distinct from that which we find in Greco-Roman and OT
wisdom sources, and that it shares exclusive parallels with some unique features of
the eschatological program of Zechariah 9-14; that Zechariah 9-14 offers a more
satisfying explanation for the modification of Isa 11.2 in 1 Pet 4.14, the transition
from 4.12-19 to 5.1-4, why Peter has oriented his letter with the term διασπορά,
and why he has described his addresses as οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ; and finally that 1 Peter
contains an implicit foundational narrative that shares distinct parallels with the
eschatological program of Zechariah 9-14.
We can conclude that 1 Peter offers a unique vista into the way in which at
least one early Christian witness came to understand and to communicate the fact
that Christian suffering was a necessary feature of faithful allegiance to Jesus Christ
Copyright & Your Research
As publishing options increase in number, it is ever more important that university authors manage their copyrights in a way that ensures maximum benefit to them and to the university. Peter Hirtle, Senior Policy Advisor in the Cornell University Library and a Research Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, will give an overview of the sometimes puzzling issues surrounding creating, securing, owning, and using copyrighted works. Topics will include author agreements and contracts, the public access requirements in some federal grants, new publishing options, and the management of your copyrights. The session will benefit those who want to gain a better understanding of the changing nature of scholarly communications. PRESENTATION BY Peter B. Hirtle, Senior Policy Advisor, Cornell University Library, and Research Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet Security and Society, Harvard Universit
Population drug use in Australia: A wastewater analysis
Accurate information on drug use in communities is essential if health, social and economic harms associated with illicit drug use are to be addressed efficiently. In most countries population drug use is estimated indirectly via surveys, medical presentations and police and custom seizures. All of these methods have at least some problems due to bias, small samples and/or long time delays between collecting the information and analysing the results. Recently the direct quantification of drug residues in wastewater has shown promise as a means of monitoring drug use in defined geographical areas.
In this study we measured 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methamphetamine and benzoylecgonine in sewage inflows in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia and compared these data with published European data. Cocaine use was small compared to European cities (p < 0.001) but was compensated for by much greater consumption of methamphetamine (p < 0.001) and MDMA (p < 0.05). MDMA was more popular in regional areas (p < 0.05) whereas methamphetamine and cocaine were mainly consumed in the city (p < 0.05). Greater than 5-fold increases in MDMA use were detected on weekends (p < 0.001). This approach has the potential to improve our understanding of drug use in populations and should be further developed to improve prevention and treatment programs.Rodney J. Irvine, Chris Kostakis, Peter D. Felgate, Emily J. Jaehne, Chang Chen, Jason M. Whit
Plasma drug concentrations and physiological measures in 'dance party' participants
The increasing use of (7) 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in the setting of large dance parties (‘raves’) and clubs has been the source of some concern, because of potential acute adverse events, and because animal studies suggest that MDMA has the potential to damage brain serotonin (5-HT) neurons. However, it is not yet known whether MDMA, as used in the setting of dance parties, leads to plasma levels of MDMA that are associated with toxicity to 5-HT neurons in animals. The present study sought to address this question. Plasma MDMA concentrations, vital signs, and a variety of blood and urine measures were obtained prior to, and hours after, individuals attended a dance party. After the dance party, subjects were without clinical complaints, had measurable amounts of residual MDMA in plasma, and nearly half of the subjects also tested positive for methamphetamine, another amphetamine analog that has been shown to have 5-HT neurotoxic potential in animals. Plasma concentrations of MDMA did not correlate with self-reported use of ‘ecstasy’ and, in some subjects, overlapped with those that have been associated with 5-HT neurotoxicity in non-human primates. Additional subjects were likely to have had similar concentrations while at the dance party, when one considers the reported time of drug ingestion and the plasma half-life of MDMA in humans. Hematological and biochemical analyses were generally unremarkable. Moderate increases in blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature were observed in the subjects with the highest MDMA plasma concentrations. These findings are consistent with epidemiological findings that most people who use MDMA at dance parties do not develop serious clinical complications, and suggest that some of these individuals may be at risk for developing MDMA-induced toxicity to brain serotonin neurons.Rodney J Irvine, Michael Keane, Peter Felgate, Una D McCann, Paul D Callaghan and Jason M Whit
Evaluation of pre-analysis loss of dependent drugs in wastewater: stability and binding assessments
Article first published online: 9 OCT 2012Wastewater analysis has the potential to provide objective and timely data on population drug consumption, but some crucial factors such as pre-analysis drug loss during sample storage and filtration could affect the accuracy and reliability of the method, and these uncertainties have yet to be fully assessed. This study was designed to evaluate analyte stability in wastewater stored under different conditions with the aim of optimizing the sample storage procedures for future studies. It also investigated whether there is significant analyte loss during filtration before sample extraction and storage after that. The studied substances and metabolites were: cotinine, cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine, phenethylamines amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), opioids including codeine, methadone, 6-monoacetylmorphine (MAM) and morphine. In most situations, storing samples at 4 C is sufficient to stabilize analytes for at least 2weeks, and refrigeration is unnecessary during sample transportation within 3 days. However, additional measures need to be taken if unstable analytes such as cocaine and MAM are to be analyzed. No significant analyte loss was observed in the filtration process or in reconstituted extract stored at 4 C or 20 C for 2weeks. By choosing stable analytes and proper storage conditions, wastewater analysis has the potential to provide accurate data for estimation of community drug use.Chang Chen, Chris Kostakis, Rodney J. Irvine, Peter D. Felgate and Jason M. Whit
Critical pedagogy in hard financial times
Peter Mayo takes issue with education financing not from an economic or technical
viewpoint, but from a philosophical and systemic one, drawing on critical pedagogy.
There is no sense, this article argues, to talk of higher education or its funding without
reference to the capitalist system which the mainstream education discourse reaffirms. The author concludes with an alternative vision of lifelong learning as a social act for the creation and enhancing of democratic spaces, reflected in the ongoing global “Occupy” protests for social equality.peer-reviewe
A study of two wireless telecommunications companies' globalization strategies : an analysis of Vodafone's and NTT DoCoMo's foreign investments
Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2003 [first author]; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2003 [second author].Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-119).by Hyungchul Joo and Peter D. Honkanen.M.B.A.S.M
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