Search

Current pharmacotherapies for smoking have only modest efficacy with failure rates of up to 90%. One potential target for new pharmacotherapies is the orexin/hypocretin system, a hypothalamic neuropeptide system involved in arousal, appetite and reward. The orexin system has been suggested as a potential therapeutic target for nicotine addiction because there are orexin/nicotine interactions following both acute and chronic nicotine administration, preclinical findings in animal models of nicotine addiction and some correlational studies in humans. Acute orexin administration activates cholinergic neurons and acute nicotine administration activates orexin neurons, while chronic nicotine causes an upregulation in orexin peptides and receptors while decreasing the availability of orexin binding sites. A small number of preclinical studies in animal models of nicotine addiction have found effects of orexin antagonists in reducing nicotine self-administration and/or reinstatement behavior, but results are not always entirely consistent between studies. A few human studies have found negative correlations between orexin levels and measures of nicotine craving in humans, or genetic associations between hypocretin receptor polymorphism and nicotine dependence. However, further research is required to reconcile discrepancies in the preclinical literature and to understand the role of the orexin system in nicotine dependence before clinical trials can be proposed.

The influence of socio-cultural factors on the adaptive capacity, resilience and trade-offs in decision-making of households and communities is receiving growing scholarly attention. In many partly transformed societies, where the market economy is not well developed, livelihood practices are heavily structured by kinship and indigenous social and economic values. Farm investment decisions and incentives to produce agricultural commodities are shaped by a host of considerations in addition to market imperatives like profit. In one such partly transformed society in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, we examine the adaptation decisions of smallholders in response to the drastic drop of yield in their cocoa plots caused by the sudden outbreak of Cocoa Pod Borer. To explain why the impact of the pest has been so great we examine the interconnections between household responses, the local socio-cultural and economic context of smallholder commodity crop production and the wider institutional environment in which household choices and decisions are made. We argue that the significant lifestyle changes and labour intensive farming methods required for the effective control of Cocoa Pod Borer are incompatible with existing smallholder farming systems, values and livelihoods. To adopt a high input cropping system requires more than a technical fix and some training; it also requires abandoning a 'way of life' that provides status, identity and a moral order, and which is therefore highly resistant to change. The paper highlights the enduring influence and significance of local, culturally-specific beliefs and socio-economic values and their influence on how individuals and communities make adaptation decisions.

This report evaluates the technical performance of 32 long-term drifters deployed in the Anomaly Dynamics Study special observing periods I and II. A description is given of the Random Access Measurement System on Nimbus 6, the design characteristics of the drifters, and the drogue indicator. We consider the overall technical performance of the system to be excellent. The satellite system has proved to be a highly reliable means of locating platforms and telemetering data from remote regions of the ocean. (Author)

An experiment is designed to test whether or not 'resonant' waves produced by two intersection trains of long-crested gravity waves can exist independently of their generating source and whether or not these waves can produce standing waves. The results of the experiment were inconclusive. Indications that the 'resonant' wave had these properties were counterbalanced by indications that the sought-for effects were just as strong for 'non-resonant' components. Difficulties were encountered because of the small scale of the experiment. It is recommended that the experiment be scaled up to a larger wave tank because of the practical importance of the problem in wave forecasting. (Author)