This is a report of the analytical findings in 13 cases investigated by either the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of Maryland or the Bexar County (San Antonio, TX) Medical Examiner's Office in which citalopram, a highly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor used therapeutically as an antidepressant, was identified. In 8 of the 9 cases in which both blood and urine specimens were received, the urine citalopram concentration exceeded the blood concentration, indicating that urine is an appropriate specimen for screening citalopram use. The average liver to blood citalopram concentration ratio was 6.5 (range 3.1-13, n = 6). Three cases had blood concentrations less than 0.24 mg/L, which is in the reported antemortem therapeutic range of the drug. Eleven cases had blood concentrations less than 1.3 mg/L; in each of these cases, citalopram was determined to be an incidental finding to the ultimate cause of death. Quantitation of citalopram and the metabolite desmethylcitalopram in these cases yielded an average parent-to-metabolite ratio of 6.4.
Background
The development of a relatively simple, noninvasive method for estimating blood ethanol concentrations in mice will be useful in behavioral studies related to alcoholism. This study validated such a method.
Methods
The apparatus consists of a body chamber fitted with a head stock through which the mouse head protrudes. This was fitted against a water-jacketed head-space chamber surrounding the mouse’s head. Rebreathed air maintained at 37°C in the head-space chamber was removed using a peristaltic pump and loaded into a 1-ml injection loop. Ethanol in the sample was quantified using gas chromatography. To validate this method, ethanol levels in breath samples were compared against those in tail blood samples collected immediately after the breath samples. Breath samples were collected at 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 120, and 160 minutes after ethanol (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.4, and 3.2 g/kg) was administered to male C57BL/6J mice.
Results
Breath and blood ethanol levels were well correlated (r2 = 0.96) across time points on the descending ethanol–time curve at doses below 2.4 g/kg. Correlation for these doses on the ascending portion of the curve had greater variance, but was still well correlated (r2 = 0.92).
Conclusions
The mouse breathalyzer is an accurate, convenient, noninvasive and well-tolerated method for estimating blood ethanol concentrations in mice across a range of behaviorally relevant concentrations below 2.4 g/kg, especially on the descending limb of the ethanol–time curve. Although this procedure requires a gas chromatograph in the animal facility, the ability to estimate ethanol concentrations quickly and easily will be especially useful in behavioral studies where repeated blood sampling is not feasible.
Information work generally occurs within a multitasking environment with attention focused on the computer screen, constant task switching and frequent interruptions. In this environment, software-based task management techniques may blend in too much to be optimally effective. The Time Machine is proposed as a physical interface distinctly separated from the task environment with real-world manifestations of arbitrary concepts of tasks and time, while providing constant visibility of status through an ambient display for selfreflection. The Time Machine aims to promote distributed cognition and utilize the stage-based model of personal informatics and the Pomodoro technique toward productive and enjoyable task management.
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