The detection of psilocin in human urine

Pharmacokinetic studies of psilocybin in humans have shown the rapid dephosphorylation of psilocybin to psilocin with further conversion to 4-hydroxy-tryptophole (4HT) and 4-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (4HIAA) in plasma. Our study shows that psilocin also undergoes conjugation and can be found in the urine as the psilocin-glucuronide conjugate. Recoveries after enzymatic hydrolysis of the urine with beta-glucuronidase (Helix Pomatia or E. Coli) when compared to non-hydrolyzed urine confirmed the presence of the glucuronide. Detection of psilocin from hydrolyzed and extracted samples was optimized for GC/MS by derivatization with MSTFA. The method developed allows for the detection of psilocin in urine with a limit of quantitation of 10 ng/mL, based on 5 mL of spiked urine. Using this method, our laboratory has confirmed the presence of psilocin in 6 out of 8 urine samples, with concentrations ranging from 10 ng/mL to greater than 200 ng/mL. Before implementation of the hydrolysis and derivatization steps, our limit of detection was 200 ng/mL, based on spiked urine standards. No case samples were positive without hydrolysis and derivatization.     

The U.K. overseas development administration and non-departmental public bodies in the field of educational aid

The educational aid programme sponsored by the U.K. Overseas Development Administration has been conducted using organizations in which substantial changes have been made in the last ten years. This article analyses the changes in the structure of non-departmental agencies and in the relations between the Overseas Development Administration and the agencies, and considers the rationale for these. It draws attention to the contrast between the formal independence of these non-departmental bodies and continuing departmental control, and to the limitations of non-departmental bodies as a means of securing advice and co-operation. The article points to the difficulties in organizational terms of marrying the aim of providing a framework for co-operating with the recipients of aid, and for securing advice, co-operation and support in its administration from bodies outside central government in the U.K., while preserving ministerial responsibility.     

Late adolescents' conceptualizations of home-leaving

Separation from the family, a key developmental task, has received scant attention from developmentalists. In this study, college students' dissimilarity ratings and ratings on 22 bipolar adjective scales were obtained for a set of 20 definitions of home-leaving. Results of a cluster analysis revealed that conceptualizations of the definitions are organized in terms of eight clusters. Ratings on the 22 adjective scales provided an empirical means for interpreting the typological structure of the home-leaving definitions. Convergence the results of this inductive study of home-leaving and elements of ego development theory was noted.Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1979. Major research interests are moral development, parent-adolescent separation, and attribution theory.Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1979. Major research interests are parent-adolescent separation, attitudes/values in adolescence, and evaluation research.     

An experimental comparison of question forms used to reduce vote overreporting

Via telephone, a national probability sample of 1464 respondents randomly received one of three question versions of a voter turnout question in the months of December, January, and February, following the November 1998 Congressional elections in the United States. The long version form contained memory cueing techniques and face-saving response options, the short form, modeled after the 2000 American National Election Studies (ANES) question, included only the face-saving response options, and the standard form, modeled after ANES questions used before 2000, included neither. The long form led to significantly lower reported turnout in comparison to both the short and standard forms, indicating that the long form successfully reduced vote overreporting in comparison to the other question versions.