Suchergebnisse

During the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF), hormonal drugs are used to stimulate the woman's ovaries to produce multiple eggs. The injecting of the drugs is often performed by the women themselves outside of the clinical context, constituting a gendered burden of work that is rendered invisible by the dominant representations of treatment as undergone by couples and performed by doctors. Based on a series of interviews with women and couples who have undergone IVF unsuccessfully and who have ended treatment at least two years previously, this paper focuses on two aspects of the self-injection of hormonal drugs that emerged from the participants accounts: firstly, the gendered ways in which the drug regimen was experienced as compromising privacy and secondly, the strategic use of images of both illicit and medical drug use in the accounts. The paper argues that in spite of the dominant representation of IVF as a couples' technology, the IVF process is profoundly gendered, both in terms of bodily intervention and in the distribution of labour in the implementation of treatment; that the invisibility of the drug regimens from dominant representations of IVF can leave those undergoing treatment unprepared for some of the problems that the self-administration of the drugs can raise, particularly in terms of maintaining privacy; and finally, that images of the drug injection are mobilized strategically in the accounts to locate themselves within normative social reproductive standards. This highlights the extent to which the enduring ideological construction of proper womanhood as defined by motherhood continues to pose a dilemma for those who are involuntarily childless.

Abstract

Aims
Treatment with saikosaponin A (SSA)—an ingredient of the medicinal herb, Bupleurum falcatum—has been reported to suppress several addictive-like behaviors, including morphine, cocaine, alcohol and chocolate self-administration in male rats. The aim of this investigation was to investigate whether saikosaponins of B. falcatum other than SSA affect alcohol and chocolate self-administration in rats.


Methods
Ovariectomized female Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP) and Wistar rats were trained to self-administer alcohol (15%, v/v) and a chocolate solution [5% (w/v) Nesquik® in water], respectively, under fixed ratio schedules of reinforcement. The following saikosaponins were compared to SSA: saikosaponin D (SSD; epimer of SSA), saikosaponin C (SSC), saikosaponin B2 (SSB2) and saikosaponin B4 (SSB4). All saikosaponins were tested acutely at the doses of 0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg (i.p.).


Results
Treatment with SSA and SSD resulted in highly similar, marked reductions in alcohol self-administration; SSC failed to alter lever-responding for alcohol, while SSB2 and SSB4 produced intermediate reductions. Only SSA and SSD reduced chocolate self-administration, with SSC, SSB2 and SSB4 being ineffective.


Conclusions
The wide spectrum of efficacy of saikosaponins in reducing alcohol and chocolate self-administration suggests that even relatively small structural differences are sufficient to produce remarkable changes in their in vivo pharmacological profile. Together, these results confirm that roots of B. falcatum may be an interesting source of compounds with anti-addictive potential.

This article raises the question of the constitution of rural society in postsocialist countries, and explores the possibilities of participatory approaches in rural development and resource management in face of given social conditions in the local context. The unifying scientific "idea" is currently associated with the concept of social capital. The ability to form social capital can be seen as a central prerequisite both for economic development and the protection of resources (that is, for sustainable development). An important element of this concept is the networking of the actors within the region and with external actors. As a result of historical development the network relations in the rural areas of East Germany have a specific structure. What is especially remarkable is the continuing dominant role of the representatives of the big agricultural enterprises in the important local network structures despite the obvious decline in the economic importance of these enterprises. The structures uncovered in the case studies can certainly be taken to reflect the reality of many local contexts. It is argued that, as far as the creation of the beginnings of participation in rural development and resource management are concerned, that if the peculiarities are ignored there is a danger that the existing network structures wills simply be strengthened through participatory development. Therefore, the important contributions of participatory approaches to the solution of concrete problems must be supplemented by the prospect of its social embedding in the context of rural development. At the same time it also became clear in the project that the success of developed attempts at problem solution can only be ensured if the higher political levels are prepared to devolve downwards.

Purpose of the study: The article focuses on the research of the role of village elders in rural self-administration at the turn of the 20th century. The article shows how rural elders executed their duties, who was selected as a rural elder, as well as the attitude of the countrymen towards this authority. Methodology: In the process of the study, the authors relied mainly on documents of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the State Archive of the Tambov Region. The retrospective research method, first of all, allowed us to study the participation of rural residents in self-government. In addition, describe the role of the elder and the functions assigned to him in the process of managing the settlement. Main Findings: It has been revealed if the country people and elders had conflicts in the performance of their duties. Rural elders were supposed to eliminate arrears of taxes and levies. The article considers the cases when rural elders supported local people in confrontation with superior civil servants. In conclusion, the article estimates the "institution" of rural elders. Applications of this study: The results of the study are primarily useful for the formation of a program for the development of the organization of agriculture in the Tambov region. An understanding of the traditions, historical features of the development of the region should be taken into account by legislative bodies and municipal structures when searching for effective management tools. Understanding the features of rural management is interesting for researchers studying similar practices in different countries of the world. For example, the application of researchers involved in local government issues, when comparing the historical experience of different states and regions. Novelty/Originality of this study: The study shows not only how the functions of the elders in the process of managing rural territories changed, but also the reaction of the population to various actions of the authorities. In particular, the typical causes of discontent among local residents on the actions of the "elders". However, often these reasons were due to the peculiarities of interactions between elders and representatives of state authorities.

"This article raises the question of the constitution of rural society in post socialist countries, and explores the possibilities of participatory approaches in rural development and resource management in face of given social conditions in the local context. The unifying scientific 'idea' is currently associated with the concept of social capital. The ability to form social capital can be seen as a central prerequisite both for economic development and the protection of resources (that is, for sustainable development). An important element of this concept is the networking of the actors within the region and with external actors. As a result of historical development the network relations in the rural areas of East Germany have a specific structure. What is especially remarkable is the continuing dominant role of the representatives of the big agricultural enterprises in the important local network structures despite the obvious decline in the economic importance of these enterprises. The structures uncovered in the case studies can certainly be taken to reflect the reality of many local contexts. It is argued that, as far as the creation of the beginnings of participation in rural development and resource management are concerned, that if the peculiarities are ignored there is a danger that the existing network structures wills simply be strengthened through participatory development. Therefore, the important contributions of participatory approaches to the solution of concrete problems must be supplemented by the prospect of its social embedding in the context of rural development. At the same time it also became clear in the project that the success of developed attempts at problem solution can only be ensured if the higher political levels are prepared to devolve downwards." (author's abstract)

Die Autoren skizzieren den Aufbau der neuen kommunalen Verwaltungsstrukturen in Ostdeutschland. Sie schildern strukturelle und organisatorische Probleme, die Situation des beteiligten Personals, das oft keine Erfahrung mit kommunaler Selbstverwaltung hatte. Der Zuschnitt der Ämter, die Abgrenzung der Kompetenzen etc. hätten sich subjektiv als schwierige und zeitraubende Probleme erwiesen. Die neuen Dezernenten und Amtsleiter hätten die ernüchternde Erfahrung gemacht, daß kommunale Selbstverwaltung vielfältige Qualifikationen abverlange und sie sich oft in der Rolle des "Schülers" wiederfanden, der ohne die belehrenden Interpretationshilfen der Berater aus Westdeutschland nicht auskommt.

Beta-2 (β2) nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits have been particularly related with nicotine reinforcement. However, the importance of these subunits in the chronic aspects of nicotine addiction has not been established. In this study we evaluated the role of ventral tegmental area (VTA) β2 receptor subunits in the acquisition and maintenance of nicotine self-administration. We used an operant mouse model of intravenous self-administration of different doses of nicotine (15, 30, and 60 μg/kg/infusion) during 10 days in constitutive knockout mice lacking β2 receptor subunits (β2KO), wild-type (WT) controls, mice with β2 receptor subunits re-expressed in the VTA using a lentiviral vector (β2-VEC), and control knockout mice with a sham injection (KO-GFP). The results showed that β2KO mice did not reliably acquire nicotine self-administration at any of the doses tested, while WT controls showed dose-dependent acquisition of this behaviour. β2-VEC mice readily acquired and maintained nicotine self-administration at the effective dose of 15 μg/kg/infusion, while sham KO-GFP mice did not. The recovery of the WT phenotype by the re-expression of β2 receptor subunits within the VTA supports the role of this specific population in nicotine reinforcement, and reveals that they are sufficient for the acquisition and maintenance of systemic nicotine self-administration. ; This work was supported by the Spanish "Instituto de Salud Carlos III" (RD06/001/001 and PI10/01708), FEDER funds, and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (SAF2007-64062), the Catalan Government (SGR2009-00131), an FP7 ERANET programme (NICO-GENE), the ICREA Foundation (ICREA Academia-2008), and a post-doctoral fellowship from CONACyT to AHS