Efficacy and safety of rupatadine in Japanese adult and adolescent patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria: A double-blind,randomized, multicenter,placebo-controlled clinical trial

Background

Rupatadine, a novel nonsedating second-generation H1-antihistamine with antiplatelet-activating factor activity, has been used in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and urticaria in European countries since 2003. However, its efficacy and safety in Japanese patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) are unknown.

医学生开展组织胚胎学论坛活动的实践与体会

通过对刚学完组织胚胎学课程的大二本科学生开展组织胚胎学论坛活动,激发学生对医学知识的好奇心和求知欲,促其掌握能动性、系统性、整体性的自主学习方法,引导其接触医学科研前沿,培养其创新能力与协作精神。     

‘Tackling cancer in the EU: The role of innovation’

The objective of the workshop was to examine what Cancer Innovation in Europe means and what it should be standing for in the future. The panel discussion brought together patients, researchers, politicians and industry in order to examine what cancer innovation represents to them, what the challenges are to innovation, and how innovation in this research area can be encouraged and developed in the EU.     

Legitimacy through scaremongering: The discursive role of alcohol in online discussions of cannabis use and policy

In Sweden, prohibitionist drug policy has contributed to making cannabis an illegal drug, viewed as dangerous, while alcohol is considered a legitimate recreational commodity. But the official Swedish cannabis discourse is now being contested on internet. In virtual environments an often employed way to try to legitimize cannabis use is by comparing it to alcohol. This indicates the importance of analyzing how substances are attributed with meaning in various contexts. This study aims to describe and analyze the discursive role of alcohol in Swedish online discussions of cannabis use and policy. Approximately 700 alcohol-related comments, posted during one year period, were retrieved from the cannabis-section of Swedish Flashback Forum (a website open for public viewing). The sample was analyzed qualitatively with analytical tools such as nodal points, analogies, distinctions and typological examples. Two concepts, danger and discrimination, were identified as nodal points in a cannabis legalization discourse, and provided a backdrop from which comparisons between alcohol and cannabis were made meaningful. We have found that cannabis and alcohol “changed places” in these online discussions. The participants drew on a prohibitionist cannabis discourse but applied its arguments to alcohol; alcohol was thereby given the role of the “ideal enemy” while cannabis was presented as a harmless plant rejected by society on moral rather than scientific grounds. The relevance of acknowledging and reflecting upon the influence that online “talk” has on young people's attitudes towards drugs is discussed.