Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor level is reduced in antidepressant-free patients with late-life depression

Objectives. The aim of the present study is to investigate serum BDNF levels in older depressed patients as compared to healthy elderly controls. Methods. Twenty-nine elderly subjects with major depression and 42 healthy older adults were enrolled to this study. All depressed patients were antidepressant-free for at least 1 month prior clinical and laboratorial assessments. Serum BDNF levels were determined by sandwich ELISA. Results. BDNF levels were lower in elderly depressed patients as compared to controls (P = 0.034). Patients with late-onset depression had the lowest BDNF level (median 478.5, interquartile range 373.5-740.9 pg/l) when compared to early-onset depression (median 620.7, interquartile range 366.1-971.9 pg/l) and healthy controls (median 711.3, interquartile range 534.7-1181.0 pg/l) (P < 0.03). Conclusions. Reduced serum BDNF level may be a state marker of late-life depression in non-medicated elderly patients. Our findings provide further evidences that reduced neurotrophic support may have an important role in the physiopathology of late-life depression.

Complicações Hemorrágicas e/ou Tromboembólicas em Doentes sob Anticoagulação Oral Regularmente Seguidos em Consulta Diferenciada

A consulta de hipocoagulação de um hospital central contempla uma população bastante diversificada, pelo que uma melhor compreensão das características da mesma, poderá levar à melhoria da prestação de cuidados de saúde e à diminuição do número de complicações tromboembólicas (resultantes da patologia base) e hemorrágicas [resultantes da própria terapêutica anticoagulante (ACO)]. Objectivos: Avaliar as características da população que frequenta a consulta de hipocoagulação e analisar quais podem predizer um maior risco de complicações. Métodos: Utilizaram-se os dados colhidos por um médico através de um questionário colocado a doentes durante a consulta de hipocoagulação. Foram efectuados 101 questionários e avaliaram-se as características demográficas (sexo, idade, escolaridade, grau de analfabetismo), os factores de risco clássicos para doença coronária, o diagnóstico que levou ao início da ACO, a duração da ACO, a periodicidade da determinação e valores mínimos, máximos e à data do questionário de INR e as complicações desta terapêutica. Consideraram-se como complicações o aparecimento de fenómenos hemorrágicos e/ou tromboembólicos, no decurso da terapêutica hipocoagulante. Resultados: Foram estudados 101 doentes, 74 do sexo feminino (73,3%), com idade média de 6410 anos (21-85). A população analisada tinha 4,5 ± 3,5 anos de escolaridade, com 15% de analfabetismo. A maioria dos doentes iniciou ACO após colocação de prótese valvular mecânica (56,4%). Em cada doente existia em média 1 factor de risco para doença coronária. O número de meses de ACO era de 99,489 (1-360). Sessenta e seis doentes (65,3%) conheciam o motivo pelo qual iniciaram esta terapêutica. Cada doente tinha efectuado 1,20,6 determinações de INR por mês e tinha, em média, um tempo máximo sem verificação do mesmo de 6,210,4 semanas. Quarenta e cinco doentes sofreram alguma complicação tromboembólica e/ou hemorrágica no decurso da terapêutica ACO. Ocorreram 50 complicações hemorrágicas, em 41 doentes, das quais 7 motivaram internamento. Detectaram-se 7 episódios de tromboembolismo central ou periférico, em 7 doentes. Posteriormente, dividiu-se a população em dois grupos: grupo I – com complicações (GI) e grupo II – sem complicações (GII). GI – 45 doentes, idade média 63,59,1 anos (39-80) e GII – 56 doentes, idade média 64,711,3 anos (21-85). Nos doentes que iniciaram ACO por prótese mitral detectou-se um maior número de complicações (60,6% no GI e 39,4% no GII, p=0,024). Também nos doentes com INR máximo recomendado > 3 (55,2% no GI e 44,8% no GII, p=0,013) e nos que tinham sido sujeitos a terapêutica estomatológica (68,3% no GI e 31,7% no GII, p<0,001) se verificou um maior número de complicações. A duração da ACO foi o factor mais significativo para o aparecimento de complicações (GI – 138,196,5 meses, GII – 67,868,2 meses, p <0,00005). Na análise multivariada apenas a duração da ACO se manteve como factor preditivo independente. Conclusões: Na população existe uma percentagem importante de doentes com baixa escolaridade, que se poderá repercutir sobre a compreensão desta terapêutica específica, não tendo contudo, neste estudo, revelado influência significativa na taxa de complicações. O aparecimento de complicações durante a terapêutica anticoagulante é dependente da duração desta, do valor do INR máximo recomendado e da realização ou não de procedimentos estomatológicos, sendo o primeiro factor o mais significativo.

Mesozooplankton of the northern Barents Sea in October 1998

Qualitative and quantitative mesozooplankton composition was examined on materials collected during an expedition carried out in October 1998 onboard the research icebreaker Akademik Fedorov. At different stations number of species varied from 25 to 33; wet biomass - from 20 to 109 g/m**2. Flux of autochthonous organic matter through plankton communities calculated from data on structural and functional analysis was from 2 to 40 mg C/m**2/day.

Bringing Non-governmental Actors into the Policymaking Process: The Case of Local Development Policy in Thailand

During the past two decades in Thailand, non-governmental actors, such as NGOs, intellectuals, and people's organizations, have found widening opportunities to participate in policy formation and in the implementation of local development. The government has facilitated the formation of civil society forums, in the expectation of influencing local-level governance. The last two national five-year development plans were formulated after taking into account the voices of people in the provinces. Even though they may seem petty, some state funds are now transmitted through non-governmental institutions for policy implementation at the grassroots level. These changes have their origin in a reformation of rural development administration in early 1980s. This reformation in due course led to policies that have allowed the participation of non-governmental actors. Meanwhile, rural people have proved their ability to engage in participatory development by forming various local organizations, while NGOs have grown to be proficient facilitators of local development. This paper describes the process whereby three leading actors, namely the government, local people, and the NGOs, have interacted to bring about a more participatory system of local development administration.

コンゴの農村開発 －政策と社会の対応－

農村開発政策の成功・失敗は、当該社会の論理をどのように把握するかに依存している。本稿は、コンゴ共和国プール州の農村地域における社会論理に関して、1970年代から80年代にかけて実施された「プール州農村開発計画」（PDR）の評価と、筆者が1992～94年にかけて行った農村実態調査に基づいて検討した。PDRでは、経済合理性を欠いた蔬菜生産・流通計画が失敗した一方で、いわゆる共同体的な土地保有制度のために土地収用が進まなかった。商品化された農産物の生産・流通がきわめて経済合理的になされる一方で、土地に関しては共同体原理が支配的である状況は筆者の調査でも確認された。共同体原理や生存維持経済の存在の上に、農産物の商品化が急速に進展している状況は、コンゴ農村社会の特質として留意すべきである。

Economic development capitalizing on brand agriculture : turning development strategy on its head

This paper explores the possibilities of two unique Japanese concepts - the One Village One Product Movement (OVOP) and Michino Eki (or Roadside Stations) - as potential tools for bridging the gap between cities and rural areas through community-driven development. From the viewpoint of spatial economics and endogenous growth theory, this paper considers both OVOP and Michino Eki as rural development strategies of a broader nature based on "brand agriculture." Here, brand agriculture represents a general strategy for community-based rural development that identifies, cultivates and fully utilizes local resources for the development of products or services unique to a certain "village." Selected examples of OVOP and Michino Eki from Japan and developing countries are introduced.

Publicness and Taken-for-granted Knowledge: A Case Study of Communal Land Formation in Rural Thailand

The lack of public-mindedness can cause problems in the social order of people’s daily lives, such as the tragedy of the commons and the problem of free riders. Some scholars such as Habermas assert that communicative rationality is the solution, expecting that individuals will communicate with each other to reach a consensus without being bounded by aspects of social background. Other scholars advocate the revitalization of traditional community culture. These arguments, however, are not based on reality. By using the case of communal land formation in rural Thailand, the author shows that collective action is neither a revival of tradition nor a result of communication free from social constraints. Rather, cooperation emerges because the people rationally respond to their present needs and have built, through daily social interactions, taken-for-granted knowledge about how they should behave for cooperation.

Reconstruction and development of rural Cambodia : from Krom Samakki to globalization

This paper reveals how rural Cambodian people reconstructed their social relationships after the collapse of the Pol Pot regime by examining farmland, which was the most important means of production in rural areas at that time. Section 1 and 2 illustrate the process of returning from collective farming under the Pol Pot regime to the family farming system. Section 3 analyzes the structure of land ownership created through land distribution by Krom Samakki. Section 4 studies the actualities of tenant farming. Section 5 examines the changes of the land ownership structure during a decade years after the distribution of Krom Samakki. This paper concludes that the legacy of Krom Samakki started to fade as early as the 1990s.

Na 1 Nachlass Max Horkheimer, 711 - Zu "Image de la France. Un sondage de l'opinion publique allemande" und "Enquête sur l'écoute et les conditions d'efficacité des émissions en langue allemande de la Radiodiffusion Francais à destination de l'Allemangne" sowie "The Effectiveness of Candid versus Evasive German-Language Broadcasts of the Voice of America. Final Report" (p. IX 185.3-22 - IX 186)

3. "Plan d'ensemble d'une enquête sur les attitudes generales de la population allemande a l'egard de la France et leurs consequences en ce qui concerne l'orientation des emissions en langue allemande de la radiodiffusion francaise", 18.05.1953. Typoskript, 7 Blatt; 4. "Note" Über Methode, Forschungsrichtung und Reichweite der Ergebnisse der Untersuchung; 18.05.1953; Typoskript, 7 Blatt; 5. "Note" Über Geschichte und Tätigkeit des Instituts für Sozialforschung; 18.05.1953; Typoskript, 5 Blatt; 6. Memorandum des Instituts zu Verfahren und ergebnissen der Untersuchung; 1954 [?]; Typoskript, 2 Blatt; 7.-17. Décamps, Jacques: Memoranden; 7. Memorandum, 12.09.1953; Typoskript, 1 Blatt; 8. "Memorandum re: Besprechung in Bad Godesberg in Bezug auf die französische Studie, am 04.September 1953", 10.09.1953. Typoskript, 1 Blatt; 9. "Memorandum re: Vorhaben des 'Centre d'Etudes Sociologiques, Paris', eine deutsch-französische Arbeitsgemeinschft für die Durchführung von Gemeindestudien zu gründen", 15.06.1953. Typoskript, 1 Blatt; 10. "Memorandum über den Besuch von M. Jean L. Pelosse, Centre d'Etudes sociologiques Paris", 12.06.1953. Typoskript, 3 Blatt; 11. "Bericht über die 'Journées d'Etudes eurropéennes sur la Population' Paris, 21., 22. und 23. Mai 1953", 01.06.1953; 12. "Bericht über den Stand der Verhandlungen mit dem Französischen Auswärtigen Amt und dem französischem Rundfunk. Besprechungen in Paris am 27. und 28. Mai 1953", 01.06.1953. Typoskript, 2 Blatt; 13. Angaben für Max Horkheimer zur Übergabe von Memoranden, Projektbeschreibungen und Briefentwürfen, Mai 1953; Typoskript, 1 Blatt; 14. "Bericht über das 'Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques'", 07.05.1953. Typoskript, 4 Blatt; 15. "Memorandum re: Methode der Gruppendiskussion", 04.05.1953. Typoskript, 1 Blatt; 16. "Besprechung im 'Institut francaise d'Opinion Publique, Paris' und bei der hohen Behörde Luxemburg" 30.04.1953; 17. "Besprechung im Auswärtigen Amt und bei dem französischen Rundfunk", 29.04.1953. Typoskript, 6 Blatt; 18. Horkheimer, Max: 1 Brief an den französischen Botschafter in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, ohen Ort, ohne Datum; Typoskript, 1 Blatt; 19. Radiodiffusion-Télévision Francaise, le Directeur: 1 Briefabschrift an Jacques Décamps, Paris, 09.03.1954; 1 Blatt; 20. Plessner, Helmuth: 1 Brief an den französischen Außenminister, ohne Ort, 18.05.1953; 1 Blatt; 21. Plessner, Helmuth: 1 Brief an Radiodiffusion Francaise, ohne Ort, 18.05.1953; 1 Blatt; 22. Plessner, Helmuth: 1 Brief an den Ministerialrat der Sektion "Agences et Radio" im französischem Außenministerium, ohne Ort, 18.05.1953; 1 Blatt; "The Effectiveness of Candid versus Evasive German-Language Broadcasts of the Voice of America. Final Report", 1953. Typoskript, gebunden, 432 Blatt;