Simultaneous identification/determination system for phentolamine and sildenafil as adulterants in soft drinks advertising roborant nutrition

An easily available, simultaneous identification/determination procedure for phentolamine (PHE) and sildenafil (SIL) in adulterated dietary supplements was established by using a combination of three different analytical methods; thin-layer chromatography (TLC), liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/photo-diode-array. The sample solution for TLC was applied to silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ plates with chloroform/ammonia solution (28)/methanol (70:5:3, lower layer) and chloroform/diethylamine/methanol (15:3:2) as the developing solvent. Spots were located under UV radiation at 254 nm. Mass spectra of PHE and SIL by LC/MS were investigated with electrospray ionization (ESI) interface, under both positive and negative ion mode. The HPLC analysis was performed on a column of Wakosil 5C18 (4.6 mm×150 mm, 5 μm) with water/methanol/acetonitrile/triethylamine (580:250:170:1) adjusted with phosphoric acid to pH 3.0 as the mobile phase, and the effluent was monitored with a photo-diode-array detector. Quantitative HPLC analysis of PHE and SIL were detected at 280 nm. When this procedure was applied to commercial soft drinks, PHE and SIL were identified and determined at a concentration of 17 mg PHE and 44 mg SIL per bottle, respectively. The procedure described here is available for the screening of PHE and SIL in adulterated supplements.     

Frequency and Clinical Features of Patients who Attempted Suicide by Hara‐Kiri in Japan

Hara‐kiri is a unique Japanese custom, primarily stemming from the manners and customs that a samurai held. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical features of individuals who attempted suicide by hara‐kiri. We enrolled 647 patients who had attempted suicide. Clinical features were compared between those who had employed hara‐kiri and those who had used other methods. 25 of the 647 subjects had attempted suicide by hara‐kiri. The ratio of men to women and the proportion of patients with mood disorders were significantly higher in the hara‐kiri group than in the other methods group. The average length of stay in either the hospital or in the intensive care unit was also longer in the hara‐kiri group than in the other methods group. Hara‐kiri is an original Japanese method of attempting suicide, and suicide attempts by hara‐kiri may be aimed at maintaining a reputation or taking responsibility.     

Positive Effects in Detecting Lies from Training to Recognize Behavioral Anomalies

We examined whether training in both the verbal and nonverbal indicators of truth telling and lying would have positive effects on Law Enforcement Officers’ (LEOs) ability to evaluate truths from lies. College course-level training on empirically validated verbal and nonverbal indicators of truth telling and lying was provided to mid- to advanced-career level LEOs, whose accuracy in detecting lies from truths was assessed pre- and post-training using truthful and deceptive videos of mock crimes and opinions. A marginally significant truth bias existed at pre-test; training, however, resulted in a significant improvement in accuracy rates for both truth and lie videos, and the truth bias that existed at pre-test was eliminated. Additional analyses indicated that accuracy rates improved for videos of mock crimes but not for opinions. These findings add to a small but growing literature that indicates that training on validated verbal and nonverbal indicators of truth telling and lying has positive benefits.     

Young Afghans in ‘transition’: towards Afghanisation,exit or violence?

This article (re)examines Afghan youth within the post-Taliban nation-building process through a close review of the growing academic literature on the nexus of development and conflict, as well as the author's personal, in-country interactions with Afghans over the past decade. It argues that when people believe in development, they view inequalities as a particular stage that they must pass through to emerge on the other side. Yet, when a country's people lose faith in the promise of development, they begin to view inequalities without the hope that reaching the other side is simply a matter of time and patience. When this ‘loss of faith’ occurs one option is to try to exit to a better place. The second option is violence—to break through to the ‘other side’ through force. This article argues that with the decade long failure of development in Afghanistan such trends are increasingly visible among Afghan youth, and suggests the need for a critical paradigm shift in the way that we view the country and the context of development there.     

An Inquiry into the Heterogeneous Outcomes of International Migration: Evidence from Rural Households in Bangladesh

There are considerable differences in the duration, intensity, and history of migration experiences among migrant households. The variation can have a significant effect on their investment behaviour. We classify our sample households in Bangladesh into four groups depending on the history and stage of migration and estimate its differential effect on physical and human capital investment. The results show that the patterns of investment are distinct between the groups and even of opposite directions in some cases. These heterogeneous effects often cancel each other out, leading to insignificant effects of migration when the average effect on all migrant households is estimated.     

Y-chromosomal STR haplotype in the Japanese population.

Allele and haplotype frequencies of seven Y-chromosome STR loci from samples of 108 unrelated Japanese males living in Aichi Prefecture.     

Effects of synthetic cannabinoids on electroencephalogram power spectra in rats

Several synthetic cannabinoids have recently been distributed as psychoactive adulterants in many herbal products on the illegal drug market around the world. However, there is little information on pharmacology and toxicology of such compounds. Although Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9)-THC), a psychoactive cannabinoid of marijuana, was reported to affect electroencephalograms (EEG) of rats, the effects of synthetic cannabinoids are unknown. We examined the pharmacological activities of three synthetic cannabinoids; cannabicyclohexanol (CCH), CP-47,497 and JWH-018; by analyzing EEG power spectra and locomotor activity after intraperitoneal administration to rats and compared them with those of Δ(9)-THC. The three compounds significantly increased the EEG power in the frequency range of 5.0-6.0 Hz for the first 3h, while Δ(9)-THC decreased the power spectra in the wide range of 7.0-20.0 Hz during the first hour. These results indicate that the effect of the three compounds on EEG is different from that of Δ(9)-THC. Additionally, CCH, CP-47,497 and JWH-018 significantly decreased the locomotor activity for 11.5h, 11h and 4.5h, respectively, after administration which was longer than that of Δ(9)-THC (3.5h). Furthermore, all three compounds significantly reduced the total amounts of locomotor activity during a 3-h, 6-h and 12-h period after injection, whereas no statistical difference was observed for the Δ(9)-THC injection. Among the three compounds, CCH and CP-47,497 exerted a longer duration of the change in the EEG power spectra and suppression of the locomotor activity than JWH-018.     

`Civil society' in Japanese politics: Implications for contemporary political research

Abstract. This article presents a definitional and historical summary of 'civil society' as a western concept, and then traces how it was used in Japanese political theory and practice. 'Civil society' discourse became a familiar term amongst post–war Japanese historians and social scientists in the period 1945–1970, and thus preceded the recent international proliferation of 'civil society' literature in the 'west' from the 1970s onwards. 'Civil society' discourse was politicised in practice in Japan in the 1950s and 1960s, principally in opposition movements wanting to encourage political participation by ordinary citizens. While some 'civil society' discourse in Japan was based on an idealisation of 'western' ideas and practice, it is also the case that the individualism and democratisation implied in 'civil society' discourse has been very differently understood in 'western' countries and very unevenly instituted in their political practice. A simple East–West frame makes significant similarities between Japanese ideas and practice and 'western' concepts and politics disappear, and additionally causes significant differences within the 'west' regarding individualism and democratisation to become invisible.