Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in blood samples from "driving under the influence" cases as indicator for prolonged excessive alcohol consumption.

Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is considered as specific biomarker of alcohol consumption. Due to accumulation after repeated drinking, PEth is suitable to monitor long-term drinking behavior. To examine the applicability of PEth in "driving under the influence of alcohol" cases, 142 blood samples with blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) ranging from 0.0-3.12 ‰ were analyzed for the presence of PEth homologues 16:0/18:1 (889 ± 878 ng/mL; range the 1.6 ‰ BAC limit. With a threshold of 700 ng/mL for PEth 16:0/18:1, prolonged excessive alcohol consumption was detected in 65.9 % of drunk drivers with a BAC ≥ 1.6 ‰ and in 31.6 % of the samples with a BAC < 1.6 ‰. Similar results were obtained for PEth 16:0/18:2 with a threshold of 300 ng/mL. Both criteria, PEth 16:0/18:1 and PEth 16:0/18:2, were conform in the evaluation of drinking habits in 88.7 % of blood samples. These results show the possibility to detect prolonged excessive alcohol consumption, even if the BAC is below the legal threshold of 1.6 ‰ for driving aptitude assessment. As a consequence, concentrations of PEth 16:0/18:1 ≥ 700 ng/mL and of PEth 16:0/18:2 ≥ 300 ng/mL may be considered as indicators for the necessity of driving aptitude assessment in addition to BAC.

Enhanced Cold Tolerance in Transgenic Tobacco Expressing a Chloroplast Omega-3 Fatty Acid Desaturase Gene under the Control of a Cold-inducible Promoter

A new cold-inducible genetic construct was cloned using a chloroplast-specific omega-3-fatty acid desaturase gene (FAD7) under the control of a cold-inducible promoter (cor15a) from Arabidopsis thaliana. RT-PCR confirmed a marked increase in FAD7 expression, in young Nicotiana tabacum (cv. Havana) plants harboring cor15a-FAD7, after a short-term exposure to cold. When young, cold-induced tobacco seedlings were exposed to low-temperature (0.5, 2 or 3.5 degrees C) for up to 44 days, survival within independent cor15a-FAD7 transgenic lines (40.2-96%) was far superior to the wild type (6.7-10.2%). In addition, the major trienoic fatty acid species remained stable in cold-induced cor15a-FAD7 N. tabacum plants under prolonged cold storage while the levels of hexadecatrienoic acid (16:3) and octadecatrienoic acid (18:3) declined in wild type plants under the same conditions (79 and 20.7% respectively). Electron microscopy showed that chloroplast membrane ultrastructure in cor15a-FAD7 transgenic plants was unaffected by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures. In contrast, wild type plants experienced a loss of granal stacking and disorganization of the thylakoid membrane under the same conditions. Changes in membrane integrity coincided with a precipitous decline in leaf chlorophyll concentration and low survival rates in wild type plants. Cold-induced double transgenic N. alata (cv. Domino Mix) plants, harboring both the cor15a-FAD7 cold-tolerance gene and a cor15a-IPT dark-tolerance gene, exhibited dramatically higher survival rates (89-90%) than wild type plants (2%) under prolonged cold storage under dark conditions (2 degrees C for 50 days).

View of the Orchesta Organ in Westminster Abbey under the Direction of Mr. James Wyatt, for the Commemoration of Handel

Signatur des Originals: S 36/G02677

An Inside View of the Pantheon exhibiting their Majesties Box & c. as fitted up under the direction of Mr. James Wyatt, for the Commemoration of Handel.

Signatur des Originals: S 36/G03858

Cortázar : The smiler with the knife under the cloak

Este trabajo se propone tratar tres postulaciones concomitantes en la obra de Cortázar: el pudor sexual, la ausencia del sentimiento amoroso como revancha contra el romanticismo y la asimetría en la relación del acto sexual. En esta lectura, el año de 1976, fecha de publicación del primer tomo de la Historia de la sexualidad, de Foucault, aparece como una divisoria de aguas frente a las consideraciones de los más variados aspectos de la vida sexual que entrarían en la discusión académica en las últimas décadas. Cortázar se ubica en este campo de intereses siguiendo muy de cerca el canon borgeano, en una cercanía que el propio Cortázar habría negado. En definitiva, el presente artículo pone el acento de cuánto le debe Cortázar a Borges, a pesar de sus intentos de separación de él, y cuánto habrá que esperar en la literatura argentina para que el gesto de emancipación que Cortázar había esbozado se hiciera realidad.

Under the sign of consumption

The series of enunciations exposed in this work attempts to establish a conceptualization of consumption in relation to the communication and reception processes of symbolic goods. In addition, it will attempt to account for some possible derivations of the problem in question. The article explores different definitions penned by diverse authors seeking to set out the essential aspects concerning the object of study Thus, consumption becomes a space within which the appropriation of material and symbolic goods, social differentiation and symbolic class distinctions, integration, communication, amongst other things, take place. Despite the fact that none can sufficiently explain all the peculiarities related to consumption practices, all offer enriching insights that help us understand the concept we are dealing with. This is why the purpose of the present formulation is to reflect from another perspective, stressing the particularisms. And, in this way, to begin to lift the veil that conceals the forces of the social matrix

Cortázar : The smiler with the knife under the cloak

Este trabajo se propone tratar tres postulaciones concomitantes en la obra de Cortázar: el pudor sexual, la ausencia del sentimiento amoroso como revancha contra el romanticismo y la asimetría en la relación del acto sexual. En esta lectura, el año de 1976, fecha de publicación del primer tomo de la Historia de la sexualidad, de Foucault, aparece como una divisoria de aguas frente a las consideraciones de los más variados aspectos de la vida sexual que entrarían en la discusión académica en las últimas décadas. Cortázar se ubica en este campo de intereses siguiendo muy de cerca el canon borgeano, en una cercanía que el propio Cortázar habría negado. En definitiva, el presente artículo pone el acento de cuánto le debe Cortázar a Borges, a pesar de sus intentos de separación de él, y cuánto habrá que esperar en la literatura argentina para que el gesto de emancipación que Cortázar había esbozado se hiciera realidad.

Under the sign of consumption

The series of enunciations exposed in this work attempts to establish a conceptualization of consumption in relation to the communication and reception processes of symbolic goods. In addition, it will attempt to account for some possible derivations of the problem in question. The article explores different definitions penned by diverse authors seeking to set out the essential aspects concerning the object of study Thus, consumption becomes a space within which the appropriation of material and symbolic goods, social differentiation and symbolic class distinctions, integration, communication, amongst other things, take place. Despite the fact that none can sufficiently explain all the peculiarities related to consumption practices, all offer enriching insights that help us understand the concept we are dealing with. This is why the purpose of the present formulation is to reflect from another perspective, stressing the particularisms. And, in this way, to begin to lift the veil that conceals the forces of the social matrix

Under the sign of consumption

The series of enunciations exposed in this work attempts to establish a conceptualization of consumption in relation to the communication and reception processes of symbolic goods. In addition, it will attempt to account for some possible derivations of the problem in question. The article explores different definitions penned by diverse authors seeking to set out the essential aspects concerning the object of study Thus, consumption becomes a space within which the appropriation of material and symbolic goods, social differentiation and symbolic class distinctions, integration, communication, amongst other things, take place. Despite the fact that none can sufficiently explain all the peculiarities related to consumption practices, all offer enriching insights that help us understand the concept we are dealing with. This is why the purpose of the present formulation is to reflect from another perspective, stressing the particularisms. And, in this way, to begin to lift the veil that conceals the forces of the social matrix

Cortázar : The smiler with the knife under the cloak

Este trabajo se propone tratar tres postulaciones concomitantes en la obra de Cortázar: el pudor sexual, la ausencia del sentimiento amoroso como revancha contra el romanticismo y la asimetría en la relación del acto sexual. En esta lectura, el año de 1976, fecha de publicación del primer tomo de la Historia de la sexualidad, de Foucault, aparece como una divisoria de aguas frente a las consideraciones de los más variados aspectos de la vida sexual que entrarían en la discusión académica en las últimas décadas. Cortázar se ubica en este campo de intereses siguiendo muy de cerca el canon borgeano, en una cercanía que el propio Cortázar habría negado. En definitiva, el presente artículo pone el acento de cuánto le debe Cortázar a Borges, a pesar de sus intentos de separación de él, y cuánto habrá que esperar en la literatura argentina para que el gesto de emancipación que Cortázar había esbozado se hiciera realidad.