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Ponders on the rise and fall of the underground economy. Definition of underground economy; Characteristics of an underground economy; Factors that affect the activity of an underground economy.

In the context of the 1997 Report of the Medical Workforce Standing Advisory Committee, it is important that we develop an understanding of the factors influencing medical school retention rates. To analyse the determinants of the probability that an individual medical student will drop out of medical school during their first year of study. Binomial and multinomial logistic regression analysis of individual-level administrative data on 51 810 students in 21 medical schools in the UK for the intake cohorts of 1980-92 was performed. The overall average first year dropout rate over the period 1980-92 was calculated to be 3.8%. We found that the probability that a student would drop out of medical school during their first year of study was influenced significantly by both the subjects studied at A-level and by the scores achieved. For example, achieving 1 grade higher in biology, chemistry or physics reduced the dropout probability by 0.38% points, equivalent to a fall of 10%. We also found that males were about 8% more likely to drop out than females. The medical school attended also had a significant effect on the estimated dropout probability. Indicators of both the social class and the previous school background of the student were largely insignificant. Policies aimed at increasing the size of the medical student intake in the UK and of widening access to students from non-traditional backgrounds should be informed by evidence that student dropout probabilities are sensitive to measures of A-level attainment, such as subject studied and scores achieved. If traditional entry requirements or standards are relaxed, then this is likely to have detrimental effects on medical schools' retention rates unless accompanied by appropriate measures such as focussed student support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the determinants of occupational earnings of UK 1993 graduates and focus on the influence of the type of school the graduate attended prior to university entrance. For data reasons, we restrict attention to graduates who attended school in England. We estimate that, on average, a male (female) graduate who attended an Independent school receives an earnings premium of 3.1 per cent (3.4 per cent) over and above the earnings of a graduate who attended an LEA school, ceteris paribus. We also find considerable variation across different Independent schools in the size of the graduate earnings premium, especially for males, and show that in the case of males the premium increases with the level of school fees, but is not statistically related to measures of school–level average academic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents excerpts from the report `Financial Havens, Banking Secrecy and Money Laundering,' by Jack A. Blum, Michael Levi, R. Thomas Naylor and Phil Williams, published in the May 1998 issue of the `Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Newsletter.'

Newfoundland, Canada's easternmost province, the butt of innumerable jokes about its seemingly intractable state of underdevelopment, was in centuries past perhaps the single most important North American prize for the contending European mercantilist powers. The alternative to the market and diffused, depersonalized power is personalized exchange relationships, in effect, political power to be exercised as a tool of economic organization and an instrument for the accumulation of capital and wealth. Accumulation of wealth by emigré European entrepreneurs and the concomitant commercialization of social relations was at heart a political process reflecting the exigencies of power and the need to increase it through access to economic resources. During most of the post-Columbian half-millennium, the process of economic expansion and the accumulation of wealth differed from that of earlier historical epochs by virtue of the fact that it was commercial in nature. The market mechanism for allocating resources and distributing income and output spread abroad across geographic space while it percolated down at home through various levels of social space.

A wide variety of phenylethylamine derivatives were injected bilaterally into the nucleus accumbens of rat following a nialamide pretreatment and hyperactivity was recorded. 2-Phenylethylamine was shown to induced a low intensity hyperactivity but the inrroduction of hydroxyl functions on to the phenyl ring at the 3- and/or 4-positions enhanced activity and m- and p-tyramine and dopamine each caused marked hyperactivity in the 0.4-25 μg dosage range. Methylation of one hydroxyl function reduced activity (3-methoxy-4-hydroxy- and 3-hydroxy-4-methoxy-phenylethylamine); 2(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl) ethylamine was inactive. Agents with substitution of the side chain, such as noradrenaline, d-amphetamine and α-methyldopamine, were all shown to induced marked hyperactivity at doses of 1.6-25 μg. Alterations in the chain length markedly reduced activity (4-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) butylamine, 3,4-dihydroxybenzylamine). A variety of N-substituted compounds were shown to be potent inducers of hyperactivity from the nucleus accumbens (adrenaline, epinine, N-ethyldopamine, N-isopropyldopamine, isoprenaline) (0.2-25 μg). However, N-methyl-N-isopropyldopamine showed only weak activity and N,N-dimethyldopamine was inactive. All hyperactivity effects were shown to be dose-dependent. The hyperactivities induced by dopamine, noradrenaline and isoprenaline were each inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by subsequent injections of fluphenazine (1.25-25 μg) into the nucleus accumbens, although no reductions were recorded following similar injections of saline, solvent, 2% procaine, 50 μg propranolol or 50 μg piperoxan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cataleptic and antistereotypic abilities of clozapine, sulpiride and thioridazine were determined in the rat and compared with the responses of typical neuroleptic agents, haloperidol, fluphenazine and pimozide. Haloperidol and fluphenazine caused a dose-dependent cataleptic state which attained maximum intensity: the effects of pimozide were also dose-dependent but, although the catalepsy was marked, maximum intensity was not attained. In contrast, thioridazine, clozapine and sulpiride each caused a very weak, but definite, cataleptic response although a dose-dependency could not be demonstrated. Pretreatment of animals with α-methylparatyrosine was shown to significantly potentiate the cataleptic actions of haloperidol, fluphenazine, pimozide, thioridazine and sulpiride but failed to modify the action of clozapine. Threshold cataleptic doses of all agents markedly synergised in the production of catalepsy with threshold doses of the cholinergic drug RS86. Similarly, all 'neuroleptic' agents tested were shown to reduce the intensity of the stereotyped behaviour induced by amphetamine, apomorphine and nomifensine in a dose-dependent manner but only haloperidol, fluphenazine and pimozide were shown to be capable of 100% inhibition. The antistereotypic abilities of haloperidol, fluphenazine and pimozide were most marked against amphetamine, but this was not a consistent observation for thioridazine, clozapine and sulpiride. Threshold, or even subthreshold, doses of both the typical and atypical neuroleptic agents combined with threshold doses of RS86 markedly synergised in the antagonism of the Stereotypic actions of amphetamine, apomorphine and nomifensine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of D145 (1,3-dimethyl-5-aminoadamantan) and amantadine on dopaminergic mechanisms in the rat were investigated by use of pharmacological agents known to disrupt dopamine function, by placing electrolytic lesions in the dopamine-containing areas of the extrapyramidal and mesolimbic systems and by the direct application to dopamine sensitive areas. Stereotypy and circling behaviour were used as behavioural indices of dopaminergic stimulation and apomorphine and d-amphetamine were used as standard dopaminergic agonists. In addition, the possible importance of 5-hydroxytryptamine to the dopamine effects was investigated using electrolytic lesions of the midbrain raphé nuclei. Both D145 and amantadine caused a stereotyped behaviour characterised by periodic sniffing, repetitive limb movements and biting, but the effect of amantadine was far more periodic. In addition D145, but not amantadine, caused marked hyperactivity. These behavioural effects were resistant to pretreatment with α-methylparatyrosine but not to combined α-methylparatyrosine/reserpine or low doses of haloperidol. Also, the prior administration of D145 or amantadine inhibited the development of the biting components of apomorphine and d-amphetamine stereotypy. Both D145 and amantadine caused circling behaviour in animals with asymmetric lesions of the medial raphé nucleus or unilateral lesions of the substantia nigra but the action of D145 was more intense. Bilateral electrolytic lesions placed in the extrapyramidal (caudate-putamen, globus pallidus, substantia nigra), mesolimbic (nucleus accumbens septi, tuberculum olfactorium, nucleus interstitialis stria terminalis, nucleus amygdaloideus centralis) nuclei or the neuronal pathways supplying them showed D145 and amantadine to act in both areas although their action on the extrapyramidal system was most marked. However, of particular note was the significantly greater involvement of the substantia nigra with the D145 effect, and the greater involvement of the D145 effect with mesolimbic function. Lesions placed in the medial and/or dorsal raphé nucleus indicated some involvement of 5-hydroxytryptamine with the actions of both D145 and amantadine. The bilateral intrastriatal application of D145 or amantadine in nialamide pretreated animals failed to induce stereotyped or hyperactive behaviour although contralateral asymmetries, which were abolished by lesions of the substantia nigra, were recorded following the unilateral intrastriatal application of D145 or amantadine in haloperidol pretreated animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nomifensine was shown to be a potent Stereotypic agent in the rat. Its effect was resistant to α-methylparatyrosine pretreatment but was abolished by combined reserpine/α-methylparatyrosine and by haloperidol. Electrolytic lesions placed in dopamine-containing areas of the extra-pyramidal, mesolimbic and amygdaloid systems indicated an effect in all areas, but the globus pallidus and substantia nigra were shown to be most important for its action. Also, the effect of nomifensine was reduced by lesions of the medial and/or dorsal raphé nuclei. A circling behaviour was recorded following nomifensine administration to animals with unilateral electrolytic lesions of the substantia nigra or asymmetric lesions of the medial raphé nucleus. These effects were resistant to α-methylparatyrosine and inhibited by haloperidol. Nomifensine reduced the intensity of harmine-induced tremor. The M-metabolite of nomifensine mimicked the effects of the parent compound on peripheral administration but the onset of action was more rapid and the duration shorter. The M-metabolite was active on intrastriatal injection to induce stereotyped/hyperactive behaviour and contralateral asymmetries. In all experimental situations nomifensine was compared with apomorphine and d-amphetamine (dopamine and l-Dopa where appropriate). Nomifensine/metabolite was shown to be a potent dopaminergic agonist with an action mainly dependent upon functioning of the extrapyramidal system and partly independent of presynaptic mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apomorphine, d-amphetamine, methylphenidate, nomifensine, ET495 and amantadine each induced a dose-dependent stereotyped behaviour in the rat. l-Dopa was inactive in the absence of any pretreatment. The behaviour induced by apomorphine, methylphenidate, nomifensine and amantadine persisted following pretreatment with α-methylparatyrosine. However, only the effect of apomorphine developed following combined pretreatment with reserpine/ α-methylparatyrosine. The effects of all Stereotypic agents were inhibited by haloperidol, apomorphine, methylphenidate and nomifensine being most resistant. All agents, including l-Dopa, induced a dose-dependent contralateral circling behaviour in animals with asymmetric lesion of the medial raphé nucleus and a dose-dependent ipsilateral circling after unilateral lesion of the substantia nigra. Following unilateral lesions in the ventromedial area of the medial forebrain bundle (medial to the substantia nigra and carrying 5-hydroxytryptamine neurones) amphetamine caused an ipsilateral circling behaviour, amantadine a behaviour which was characterised by definite bursts in either direction, and all other agents caused contralateral circling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrolytic brain lesion technique was used to assess the role of the nucleus amygdaloideus centralis in the mediation of the catalepsy and stereotyped behaviour induced in the rat by the narcotic agonists and antagonists. M6029 and M6007 exhibited a biphasic action in the rat consisting initially of catalepsy induction followed by the development of stereotyped gnawing, biting and licking responses with a transition period when both behaviours were apparent. Morphine and M320 produced a cataleptic response in the rat but stereotyped behaviour did not develop. Bilateral ablation of the nucleus amygdaloideus centralis was found to abolish the cataleptic phase of the effects of M6029 and M6007 and to markedly enhance the stereotypic phase. The lesions were similarly shown to markedly reduce or abolish the cataleptic effects of morphine and M320 and, in contrast to the actions of these drugs in normal animals, a periodic stereotyped behaviour developed. A role is suggested for the nucleus amygdaloideus centralis in the genesis of the cataleptic action of the narcotic agonists and antagonists. An amygdaloid-cataleptic: striatal-stereotypic balance is hypothesised for the action of these agents in the rat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neuroleptic agents peromide and spiroxatrine induced an immobility in the rat which, in appearance, more resembled morphine catatonia than haloperidol catalepsy. Therefore, in a attempt to differentiate the behavioural states termed catalepsy and catatonia, haloperidol and morphine were closely compared using drug interaction and brain lesion studies. Atropine abolished or reduced the effects of haloperidol, peromide and spiroxatrine but not morphine, whilst morphine and spiroxatrine were similarly modified by nalorphine. The spiroxatrine effect was completely abolished by atropine and nalorphine combined. The cholinergic agent RS 86 synergised with haloperidol, peromide and spiroxatrine but not with morphine. Lesion of the dopaminergic extrapyramidal and/or mesolimbic innervation, of the caudate-putamen, globus pallidus and nucleus amygdaloideus centralis each reduced or abolished haloperidol, peromide and spiroxatrine catalepsy/catatonia. In contrast, morphine catatonia was only partially reduced by ablating the mesolimbic input, and was potentiated by lesions destroying the extrapyramidal/mesolimbic innervation, caudate-putamen and globus pallidus. Morphine catatonia was more susceptible to inhibition by the amygdaloid lesions than the catalepsy/catatonia induced by the other agents tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radioligand binding characteristics of [H]haloperidol (in the presence of spiperone, 25 nmolL) were investigated in rat and human cerebellar membranes. In both rat and human cerebellar membrane preparations saturation studies with [H]haloperidol (non-specific binding defined by pentazocine, 10 μmolL) demonstrated high affinity saturable specific binding to a homogenous population of binding sites (rat, Bmax 6693 ± 1242 fmol mg protein, pK 8.33 ± 0.08; human, Bmax 2550 ± 437 fmol mg protein, pK 8.59 ± 0.11; mean ± SEM, n = 3-6). Competition studies employing a wide range of structurally diverse competing compounds displayed that the [H]haloperidol binding site was pharmacologically similar in both preparations and comparable to sigma recognition sites previously identified in various tissues originating from different species. In addition, with reference to the potential subtypes of sigma recognition sites, the labelling of these sites by low nanomolar concentrations of [H]haloperidol provides evidence that they belong to the sigma-1 recognition site subtype. The present findings suggest that the pharmacology of the rat and human cerebellar sigma recognition site are directly comparable and provides further supporting evidence towards the use of [H]haloperidol radioligand binding studies in the rat to detect sigma receptor ligands with potential therapeutic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of [H]zacopride (1.0 nM) to putative 5-HT receptor recognition sites in the ferret hindbrain was assessed using autoradiography. Specific binding (defined by the inclusion of granisetron, 1.0 μM) was heterogeneously distributed with highest density within the dorsal vagal complex (area postrema, nucleus tractus solitarius and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve). Lower densities were detected in the spinal trigeminal nerve complex whilst no other significant specific binding was detected ventral to the dorsal vagal complex. The location of 5-HT receptor recognition sites within the dorsal vagal complex may provide sites of action for zacopride and other 5-HT receptor antagonists to inhibit the emesis induced by cancer chemotherapeutic agents and x-radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ketotifen was compared to diazepam to inhibit aversive responding of the mouse in a black and white test box and in the rat social interaction test. Both drugs reduced aversive responding in the mouse to the brightly illuminated area of the test box and facilitated social interaction in the rat; ketotifen was approximately 100 times more potent than diazepam. The chronic administration of diazepam, ethanol, nicotine and cocaine in the mouse also reduced aversive responding but their withdrawal was associated with an increased behavioural suppression. The administration of ketotifen during the period of withdrawal from diazepam, ethanol, nicotine and cocaine prevented the exacerbation in aversive responding. It is concluded that ketotifen, like diazepam and 5-HT receptor antagonists, can reduce behavioural suppression in rodent models of anxiety and attenuate the behavioural consequences of withdrawal from treatment with drugs of abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper dissects the global business of gold, from the ground, through the refining and marketing process and on into the hands of the final consumer, while examining the main forms of criminal activity associated with each stage. In one fundamental respect the black market for gold is quite different from that for other contraband goods. With opiates, for example, although there are occasional interrelations, it is reasonable to differentiate between legal and illegal sectors. The legal one uses raw material from designated producing areas, transforming it into a pharmaceutical product to supply a controlled medical demand. The illegal one uses illicitly obtained raw materials to make "recreational" drugs in order to service a demand that in most countries is defined as criminal by its very nature. By contrast, with gold, legally and illegally produced raw materials flow through the same channels to the same set of legitimate firms for refining and casting; and the product of these respectable refineries then is redivided into separate streams serving the overt and the covert portions of the market. Even then the cross-links do not stop. Legally sold gold can be diverted into illicit uses, while illegally obtained gold can end up in the hands of otherwise legitimate manufacturers or consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the growth and evolution of the modem underground economy. The notion that economically motivated crime is exclusively a police matter may have made sense in a world where most crimes were directed against individuals and/or their personal property and where most serious offenses tended to be the work of career criminals. It still makes sense with respect to modem predatory forms of economic crime- burglary or ransom kidnapping, for example. These are crimes purely of redistribution. They are bilateral, or, at most, trilateral- involving victim, perpetrator(s) and perhaps a middleman to dispose of the resulting merchandise or money. Since the transfers are involuntary, the morality is clear- both victim and society at large would be unambiguously better off without the crime. The objective of police action is to punish the perpetrator(s) and to restore to the victim the lost property. And the sums involved, however large in relation to the participants, are petty in relation to the economy as a whole.

This article focuses on reasons behind the increasing occurrence of social and political violence. All over the globe, a similar symbiosis between political insurgency, contraband trade and arms proliferation is occurring with a frequency that even the U.S. National Rifle Association might have trouble applauding. Much of the former Cold War arms boom was not so much preparation for actual conflict as it was history's greatest Potlach ceremony. The arms business is inherently dirty. Even when weapons are produced within major industrialized countries for sale strictly to their own military forces, business-as-usual means commercial espionage, bid-rigging, phony invoicing, and a revolving door relationship between producer, purchaser and public overseer that, a century earlier, would have made an American railroad baron blush. Subsequently bribes and kickbacks would become near-universal tools of the trade, sufficiently so that veteran arms-dealer, Adnan Khashoggi, contends that all arms manufacturers build into their cost estimates an allowance for "non-commercial" expenses.

Recent great advances in the neuropharmacology of the emetic pathways have led to better therapy and improved insight into pathophysiological processes in patients undergoing chemo- and radiotherapy. This article gives an overview of the area, outlines current controversies and makes recommendations for future clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of catecholaminergic systems in the mediation of ET495 stereotyped behaviour was investigated using agents known to modify presynaptic events. Pretreatment with the benzoquinolizine derivatives tetrabenazine and Ro 04-1284 and the indole derivatives oxypertine and solypertine, agents considered to exert their effects via depletion of catecholamines from the terminal storage granules, was found to reduce or abolish the stereotypic effects of ET495. Similarly, inhibition of the synthesis of catecholamines at the tyrosine hydroxylation stage using α-methyl-para-tyrosine was also found to reduce or abolish the effect of ET495. These observations suggest that presynaptic events are important for the mediation of the stereotypic effect of ET495. In the brain lesion studies it was found that the stereotypic effects of ET495 were completely abolished both during the acute and chronic stages following ablation of the ascending dopaminergic fibres to both the extrapyramidal and mesolimbic systems in the lateral hypothalamus. Pallidectomy similarly abolished the effect of ET495 although lesion of the neostriatum caused only a partial reduction. Destruction of the dopaminergic fibres at the level of the rostral hypothalamus, which supply only the mesolimbic systems, abolished all components of stereotypy during the acute phase, but only abolished the weaker intensity components during the chronic stage. This weaker intensity component was also reduced both during the acute and chronic stages following ablation of the tuberculum olfactorium but the more intense components were reduced following ablation of the nucleus amygdaloideus centralis. Lesions of the stria terminalis were ineffective on all components. The studies indicate that both extrapyramidal and mesolimbic dopaminergic systems are involved with the mediation or regulation of the stereotyped behaviour patterns induced by ET495. Further, the lesions were found to differenciate the different components of the stereotyped behaviour. Since the integrity of the dopaminergic pathways was found to be essential for the mediation of the ET495 effects, the lesion studies give some support to the suggestion made on the basis of initial drug interaction studies that the stereotypic effects of ET495 may be induced via an effect upon presynaptic catecholaminergic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the methods used in predicting blackgrass infestations. Importance of weed infestation prediction in crop production; Reasons for choosing blackgrass for a feasibility study; Weed Predictive Index and its measurement.

The electrolytic brain lesion technique was used in the rat to disrupt the ascending dopaminergic pathways to the extrapyramidal (striatal) and mesolimbic brain areas in the lateral hypothalamus and the pathways to the mesolimbic areas only in the rostral hypothalamus. The cataleptic effects of the neuroleptic agents spiroperidol and perphenazine were enhanced in the acute stage following the lateral hypothalamic lesions but were unmodifield or reduced by the rostral hypothalamic lesions. The cataleptic effects of the neuroleptic agents AHR 2277 and thioridazine were not significantly modified in the acute stage by either lesions. Both lateral and rostral hypothalamic lesions markedly reduced or abolished the cataleptic ability of all neuroleptics tested in the chronic stage. The cataleptic activities of the non-neuroleptic agents metoclopramide and bulbocapnine were unmodified or potentiated by lesions in the lateral hypothalamus and potentiated or unmodified by lesions in the rostral hypothalamus respectively during the acute stage. In the chronic stage the cataleptic effects of both agents were markedly reduced or abolished in animals with lateral or rostral hypothalamic lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]