The discovery of Arylex™ active and Rinskor™ active: Two novel auxin herbicides.

Multiple classes of commercially important auxin herbicides have been discovered since the 1940s including the aryloxyacetates (2,4-D, MCPA, dichlorprop, mecoprop, triclopyr, and fluroxypyr), the benzoates (dicamba), the quinoline-2-carboxylates (quinclorac and quinmerac), the pyrimidine-4-carboxylates (aminocyclopyrachlor), and the pyridine-2-carboxylates (picloram, clopyralid, and aminopyralid). In the last 10 years, two novel pyridine-2-carboxylate (or picolinate) herbicides were discovered at Dow AgroSciences. This paper will describe the structure activity relationship study that led to the discovery of the 6-aryl-picolinate herbicides Arylex™ active (2005) and Rinskor™ active (2010). While Arylex was developed primarily for use in cereal crops and Rinskor is still in development primarily for use in rice crops, both herbicides will also be utilized in additional crops.

Assessment of fungicide systemicity in wheat using LC-MS/MS.

BACKGROUND: Systemicity is an important attribute of fungicides that is difficult to measure in early-stage screening without labeling the compound with a radioisotope. A method of measuring translocation that does not require potent fungicidal activity or a radiolabel would guide identification of compounds with desirable attributes. RESULTS: The authors developed an analytical technique that mimics field application, using LC-MS/MS to screen compounds for translocation in wheat leaves. The method sorted commercial and experimental fungicides appropriately into systemic and non-systemic categories. A model using LC-MS/MS data was equivalent to a lipophilicity model and superior to a water solubility model at predicting compound systemicity. CONCLUSION: Early-stage compounds can be screened for systemicity on whole plants using LC-MS/MS.

Potential effectiveness and safety of olanzapine in refractory panic disorder.

Panic disorder is a common and disabling psychiatric disorder. Despite treatment advances, refractory panic disorder requires novel interventions. One such pharmacologic intervention with theoretical and case study support includes olanzapine, a thienobenzodiazepine medication currently approved for schizophrenia in the United States. Ten people with refractory DSM-IV diagnosed panic disorder completed an 8-week, open-label, flexible-dose clinical trial. Baseline, in-treatment, and end-of-treatment data for panic attacks, anticipatory anxiety, phobic avoidance, and impairment were collected. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Refractory panic disorder patients required a wide dose range averaging 12.3 mg/day of olanzapine to significantly improve or ablate panic attacks. On the average, number of attacks decreased from 6.1/week at baseline to 1.1/week at the end of treatment, and anticipatory anxiety from 32% of the day to 8% of the day. At treatment end, 5 of 10 participants (50%) were panic free, 4 (40%) had one attack in the previous week, 1 (10%) had seven attacks in the previous week, and 6 of 10 participants (60%) were anticipatory anxiety free. There were also statistically and clinically significant improvements in impairment over the course of the trial. There were no significant changes in vital signs, emergent side effects, or average weight, although 6 of 10 people did gain weight. Olanzapine is potentially effective and safe in panic disorder. Due to study limitations, further clinical trials are needed to demonstrate effectiveness.

Development of an inventory for measuring war-related events in refugees.

Knowledge about the range of war-related events experienced by refugees is lacking. This initial report of the New Mexico Refugee Project (NMRP) details the development of the Comprehensive Trauma Inventory (CTI), the first empirically developed instrument that measures war-related events in community-dwelling refugees. Both expert and participant methods using quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to broaden knowledge about the range of war-related experiences in refugees. The CTI-164, developed by expert rational methods, was administered to 36 Kurdish and 31 Vietnamese refugees along with an in-depth interview (IDI) and five other quantitative instruments measuring symptoms, impairment, and social support. Focus groups (FGs) were also conducted. Text and descriptive analyses, t tests, and correlations were used to analyze data. Refugees reported an average of 150 war-related events on the CTI-164, more than in other studies. IDIs and FGs revealed 123 war-related events and event types that were not on the CTI-164 or other measures currently used. Refugees reported multiple chronic symptoms and significant impairment in daily functioning. The CTI-164 was modestly correlated with symptoms and impairment. The definable number and type of war-related events endured by refugees is greater than in previously published research. Expert rational methods are not adequate to develop an instrument to define war-related events and measure their association with health outcomes. Participatory and qualitative methods reveal events and event types that have not been previously defined. The CTI warrants further testing after revision to incorporate items and event types determined by qualitative methods.

False positive mammograms and detection controlled estimation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the causes of false positive in mammograms. DATA SOURCES: Secondary data collected from extracts from computerized medical records from 1999 from five thousand patients at a single hospital in a medium-sized Southern city. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of electronic medical data on screening and diagnostic mammograms. Detection-controlled estimation (DCE) was used to compare the efficacy of alternative readers of mammogram films. Analysis was also conducted on follow-up exams of women who tested positive in the first stage of investigation. Key variables included whether the patient had had a prior mammogram, age of the patient, and identifiers for the individual physicians. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Hospital maintains electronic medical records (EMR) on all patients. Extracts were performed on this EMR system under the guidance of clinical expertise. Data were collected for all women who had mammograms in 1999. Random samples were employed for screening mammograms, and all data was used for diagnostic mammograms. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Study results imply that access to a previous mammogram greatly reduces the incidence of false positives readings. This has important consequences for benefit-cost, and cost-effectiveness analysis of mammography. Were previous mammograms always available, the results imply the number of false positives would decrease by at least half. The results here also indicate that there is no reason to believe this decrease in false positive would be accompanied by an increase in the number of false negatives. Other attributes also affected the number of false positives. Mondays and Wednesdays appear to be more prone to false positives than the other days in the week. There is also some disparity in false positive outcomes among the five physicians studied. With respect to detection-controlled estimation, the results are mixed. With follow-up data, the DCE estimator appears to generate reasonable, robust results. Without follow-up data, however, the DCE estimator is far less precise. CONCLUSIONS: Study results imply that access to a previous mammogram reduces by at least half the incidence of false positives readings. This has important consequences for benefit-cost, and cost-effectiveness analysis of mammography.