scholarly journals Mini-Review: A Brief History of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Use in Neuropsychiatry

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Gillman

Background: Joseph Priestley’s discovery of nitrous oxide (N2O) was recorded in 1772. In the late 1790’s, Humphry Davy experimented with the psychotropic properties of N2O, describing his observations in a book, published in 1800. A dentist, Horace Wells discovered anaesthesia with N2O in 1844. Over a century after Davy, its potential usefulness in psychiatry was first recognised. The seminal researches in neuropsychiatry, between 1920 and 1950, mainly used anaesthetic concentrations of the gas. The psychotropic actions of N2O, at non-anaesthetic doses, were first used by dentists, mainly for its anxiolytic action. In modern dentistry, N2O is always mixed with at least 30% oxygen and titrated to doses rarely exceeding 40% of N2O. At these lower concentrations, untoward effects are almost always avoided, including over-sedation and/or anaesthesia. In the early 1980’s, the low-dose dental titration technique was first used to investigate and treat psychiatric conditions, including substance abuse. Until then, most physicians regarded the gas only as an anaesthetic agent. An exception was obstetricians who used a fixed 50% concentration of N2O diluted with oxygen for analgesia during parturition. In 1994, to clearly distinguish between anaesthetic and non-anaesthetic concentrations (as used in dentistry), the term Psychotropic Analgesic Nitrous oxide (PAN) was introduced. Objective: This paper will give a brief history of the use of the N2O in psychiatry since the psychotropic actions were first recognised in the 18th century until the present. Conclusion: The role of other non- opioid systems, and the extent to which they contribute to the psychotropic properties of N2O, still remains to be established.

Author(s):  
Oksana Kovalyshyn

Article investigates activities of the Ukrainian Secret University (USU) in Lviv during 1921–1925. The participation of education organizations of Galicia in raising of an illegal educational institution is considered. Functional structure of the USU in Lviv, which was based on the Senate headed by the rector, deans and three distinctions: philosophical, law and medical was discovered. Organizational and pedagogical principles of the activity of the higher school, conditions of its formation and development are analyzed. The participation of Ukrainian student youth as part of the activity of the Ukrainian secret university was determined. Analyzed contribution of the Shevchenko Scientific Society to the development of the pedagogical thought of Galicia. Participation of members of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in the founding of the «Pedagogical Commission» at the organization, which became an incentive for the organization of the pedagogical department at the Ukrainian secret university in Lviv. The role of educators of the department of pedagogy of the UTU of the philosophical section for the development of Ukrainian pedagogical science was determined. In addition, the participation of teachers: M. Makarushka, M. Galushchinsky and V. Kalinovich in the creation of pedagogical courses «Basics of education», «History of pedagogy from the 18th century», «Pedagogical seminar: works of Pestalozzi», «Newest pedagogical jets», «Education at home and at school», «Paidology «in number and» Children’s soul tests», based on their own pedagogical experience, knowledge and practice of scholars. Concluded that the Ukrainian secret university in Lviv, founded under the leadership of the largest scientific center of the Galicia Shevchenko Scientific Society, acted through the scientific, educational and cultural sphere of the society


Author(s):  
D.O. Gordienko ◽  

The article presents the results of a study devoted to the history of the British armed forces in the “long” 17th century. The militia was the backbone of England's national military system. The author examines the aspects of the development of the institutions of the modern state during the reign of the Stuart dynasty, traces the process of the development of the militia and the formation of the regular army. He reveals the role of the militia in the political events of the Century of Revolutions: the reign of Charles I, the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the Restoration age, the Glorious Revolution, and also gives a retrospective review of the eventsof the 18th century.


Author(s):  
Shilpa Asthana ◽  
Bandana Sodhi ◽  
Satish Kumar

Background: Thrombophilia is a disorder of haemostatic system that results in increased tendency of thrombus formation in both venous and arterial vascular system. The thrombotic events are not only restricted to venous thromboembolism but also can cause fetal loss (abortions or recurrent abortions and fetal demise), placental abruption, intrauterine growth restriction and severe pre-eclampsia. This study evaluates the role of administering thromboprophylaxis with heparin and ecosprin to patients with thrombophilia in pregnancy with previous history of adverse obstetric outcomes.Methods: This prospective study was conducted in 60 patients diagnosed with thrombophilia during pregnancy. The objective of the study was to determine the role of administering low dose ecosprin and heparin as thromboprophylaxis in achieving live births in these patients with thrombophilia. All patients included in this study were prophylactically administered low dose ecosprin with either unfractionated heparin (5000 IU s.c, BD) or low molecular weight heparin (40 mg s.c, OD) during pregnancy. Patients were followed up in the antenatal period and the obstetric outcome noted. Comparisons were made between the obstetric outcomes of these patients receiving the aforesaid thromboprophylaxis with those of previous untreated pregnancies during which no ecosprin or heparin had been administered. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using Students ‘t’ test and Chi square analysis. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Fifty nine of the sixty patients with thrombophilia and previous adverse pregnancy outcome who received prophylaxis with ecosprin and heparin during the present pregnancy had live births (98.33%; p <0.0001). Fifty-eight (96.66%) of these patients progressed to term delivery and one (1.67%) pregnancy resulted in a pre-term birth.Conclusions: Present study reveals that prophylaxis with low dose ecosprin and heparin administered to patients with thrombophilia (acquired or inherited) with history of previous adverse obstetric outcome resulted in a positive outcome in terms of a significantly higher number of live births. However, larger studies are needed to further elaborate on the role of thromboprophylaxis in pregnancies with inherited thrombophilia.


2000 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-497
Author(s):  
Hansjörg Geiges

This article highlights the position of mathematics within general culture at various stages of the development of Western civilization. Special emphasis is given to the role of mathematics in Greek philosophy, the influence of mathematics on Gothic architecture and the place of mathematics in 17th and 18th century society. Literary quotations illustrate the shifts in the view of mathematics in society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto G. Lucchini ◽  
Stefano Guazzetti ◽  
Stefano Renzetti ◽  
Karin Broberg ◽  
Margherita Caci ◽  
...  

Objective: In the province of Brescia, Italy, historical neurotoxic metal exposure has occurred for several decades. This study aimed to explore the role of metal exposure and genetics on Parkinson's Disease (PD) and Parkinsonism.Methods: Cases were enrolled from four local clinics for movement disorders. Randomly selected controls non-affected by neurological or psychiatric conditions were enrolled from the same health centers keeping a similar gender ratio and age distribution as for cases. Data on sociodemographic variables, clinical onset and life habits were collected besides accurate occupational and residential history. Blood samples were collected from all participants for genotyping of target polymorphisms in genes linked to PD and/or metal transport.Results: A total number of 432 cases and 444 controls were enrolled in the study, with average age of 71 years (72.2 for cases and 70 for controls). The average age at diagnosis was 65.9 years (SD 9.9). Among the potential risk factors, family history of PD or Parkinsonism showed the strongest association with the diseases (OR = 4.2, 95% CI 2.3, 7.6 on PD; OR = 4.3, 95% CI 1.9, 9.5 for Parkinsonism), followed by polymorphism rs356219 in the alpha-synuclein (SNCA) gene (OR = 2.03, 95% CI 1.3, 3.3 for CC vs. TT on PD; OR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.1, 5.3 for CC vs. TT on Parkinsonism), exposure to metals (OR = 2.4;, 95% CI 1.3, 4.2 on PD), being born in a farm (OR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.1, 2.8 on PD; OR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.4, 4.9 on Parkinsonism) and being born in the province of Brescia (OR = 1.7; 95% CI 1.0, 2.9 on PD). Conditional OR of having PD depending by SNCA polymorphism and metal exposure highlights higher risk of PD among CC SNCA carriers and being exposed to metals. However, the interaction term was not statistically significant.Conclusions: Lifetime exposure to metals and genetic variation in SNCA gene are relevant determinants of PD and Parkinsonism in the highly industrialized area of Brescia, Italy. The lack of evidence of statistical interaction between environmental and genetic factors may be due to the low frequencies of subjects representing the exposure categories and the polymorphism variants and does not rule out the biological interaction.


Author(s):  
Margaret C. Storrie

SynopsisThe earliest evidence of prehistoric activity in Scotland comes from Jura. Most of Jura has been rather inimical to settlement, in comparison with other islands of the southern Inner Hebrides—Colonsay and Oronsay, Gigha and Cara, and Islay—all endowed with deposits more useful to man than Jura. Land use and settlement in these islands spread from the coasts into and up the river valleys until the first half of the19th century, after which they retreated. There have, however, been several waves of retreat and readvance.This paper assesses the present stage of research in the chronicle of these changes in the southern islands, pointing to some of the unanswered questions. The archaeological, onomastic and historical evidence is briefly examined against a slowly changing environment that has been relatively favourable, in a Hebridean context. Areal expansion, upward extension and intensified use of the land increased in momentum, with interruptions, after the late medieval period. The time of greatest change began just after the middle of the 18th century and lasted for another century.Elements of this change and its effects on settlement are discussed, using records and maps from private and official archives, topographic and other writings, and population and agrarian censuses. The important role of landlords, their agents and subsequent planners in instituting, and even containing, change is briefly assessed. In the southern Inner Hebrides an unusual, non-crofting landscape resulted: an estate, farming and sporting landscape, with, in the case of Islay, over a dozen industrial and service villages.The characteristic ‘Highland Problem’ of landscape and land use, increasingly ill-suited to the needs of later 19th and 20th century economy and society, has been less evident in these islands than in others in the Hebrides, although they now show disturbing trends. Present land use and settlement are briefly examined.


Author(s):  
Rosa Maria Alabrús Iglesias

Resum: En aquest article es fa un estat de la qüestió sobre la història de la Universitats amb un estudi comparatiu de les Universitats de la Corona d’Aragó i, en particular, de les catalanes, amb les Universitats castellanes. S’examina la problemàtica institucional amb les tensions entre l’Església, la Monarquia i els Municipis pel control universitari, la població estudiantil, l’oferta cultural, en les diverses Facultats, l’estructura econòmica, la càrrega docent i la presumpta «revolució educativa» des de la segona meitat de segle xvi. S’analitza, d’altra banda, el període de la decadència final de les Universitats catalanes i la significació de Cervera amb el debat entre jesuïtes i dominics al voltant de la Universitat creada per Felip V i el paper de centres culturals alternatius com l’Acadèmia de Sant Tomàs o l’Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona. Paraules clau: Història de les Universitats, problemàtica institucional, càrrega docent, revolució educativa segle xvi, Cervera al segle XVIII Abstract: This article presents a state of the art on the history of Universities with a comparative study of the Universities of the Crown of Aragon and particularly of the Universities of the Crown of Aragon.The institutional problem is examined with the tensions between the Church, the Monarchy and the Municipalities by the university control, the student population, the cultural supply, in the diverse Faculties, the economic structure, the teaching load and the alleged «revolution educational» of the second half of the 16th century. It also analyses the period of the final decay of the Catalan Universities and the significance of Cervera with the debate between Jesuits and Dominicans around the University, create by Philip V, and the role of alternative cultural centres such as the one. Academia de Sant Tomàs or the Academy of Good Letters of Barcelona. Keywords: History of universities, institutional problems, teaching load, educational revolution sixteenth century, Cervera in the 18th century


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazzareno Diodato ◽  
Fredrik Charpentier Ljungqvist ◽  
Gianni Bellocchi

Rainfall erosivity causes considerable environmental damage by driving soil loss. However, the long-term evolution of erosive forcing (over centennial to millennial time-scales) remains essentially unknown. Using a rainfall erosivity model (REMARB), this study simulates the variability of rainfall erosivity in Arno River Basin (ARB), Italy, a Mediterranean fluvial basin, for the period 1000–2019 CE resulting in the world’s longest time-series of erosivity. The annual estimates show a noticeable and increasing variability of rainfall erosivity during the Little Ice Age (∼1250–1849), especially after c. 1490, until the end of 18th century. During this cold period, erosive forcing reached ∼1600 MJ mm hm−2 h−1 yr−1 once every four years, and ∼3000 MJ mm hm−2 h−1 yr−1 once every 20 years. The extremes of rainfall erosivity (the 98th percentile) followed a similar increasing trend, with an acceleration of the hydrological hazard (erosivity per unit of rainfall) during the 20th century. The comparison of REMARB output with the sediment yield of the basin (1951–2010) confirmed the model’s ability to predict geomorphological effects in the ARB. Thus, our methodology could be applied to simulate erosivity in environmentally similar basins. A relationship has been identified between the Atlantic Multidecadal Variation and erosivity patterns, suggesting a role of North Atlantic circulation dynamics on the hydrology of central Italy’s fluvial basins.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-301
Author(s):  
Kamila Staudigl-Ciechowicz

The current Austrian Civil Code goes back to 1811, after more than 200 years it still is in force in Austria –though with many amendments. Its origin and development is connected to the political history of the Austrian Empire, later the Dual Monarchy and its successor states in the 20th century. The paper analyses the significance of the Austrian Civil Code on the development of civil law in Central Europe on the verge of the collapse of the old empires and the emergence of the new political systems. Especially the question of the influence of the Austrian Civil Code on Polish law and inversely the influence of Polish lawyers on the development of the Austrian Civil Code is addressed. Due to the character of the inclusion of the Polish parts into the Austrian Empire in the 18th century the paper raises the question of the role of civil law in forced unions.


Author(s):  
Oksana A. Maltseva

The paper investigates the structure and significance of a mythopoetic component in the poem “Lieutenant Schmidt” (1926–1927) by B. Pasternak, revealing that mythopoetics contributes to the expression of the author’s Christian views on the events of the Russian revolution of 1905–1907. It depicts the Sevastopol Uprising as a kind of repetition of the tragic history of capture of Kyiv by Mongols-Tatars in the 13th century, as well as the represents bloody realities of the Great French Revolution of the late 18th century, since these events resulted from the fact that society neglected the spiritual and moral foundations of its existence. According to the author the images, arising in the subtext, the images of the Church of the Tithes destroyed in 1240, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) and the October Manifesto (1905), not implemented in time, are the embodiments of such foundations. At the same time, the study emphasizes the significance of a philistine appearance of the “sleeping” fortress-city of Sevastopol. The author draws attention to the fact that the leitmotif of representing the spiritual sleep, lying and violence is the image of the rampant demonic force which eventually engulfed both warring parties. As she argues, there is, however, an antagonistic spiritual origin of this element in the poem — it is exactly in the image of Lieutenant Schmidt who embodies the idea of evangelical self-sacrifice in the era of violence and lack of spirituality. The paper analyzes the nature of internal conflict experienced by the hero, as well as the dynamics of the plot lines connected with him and highlights the role of biblical, historical and literary allusions. The author concludes that the work under study reveals characteristic features of a historical and mythological poem.


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