Bottle Labels Research Articles

Evaluation of Consistency in Dosing Directions and Measuring Devices for Pediatric Nonprescription Liquid Medications

In response to reports of unintentional drug overdoses among children given over-the-counter (OTC) liquid medications, in November 2009 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new voluntary industry guidelines that recommend greater consistency and clarity in OTC medication dosing directions and their accompanying measuring devices. To determine the prevalence of inconsistent dosing directions and measuring devices among popular pediatric OTC medications at the time the FDA's guidance was released. Descriptive study of 200 top-selling pediatric oral liquid OTC medications during the 52 weeks ending October 30, 2009. Sample represents 99% of the US market of analgesic, cough/cold, allergy, and gastrointestinal OTC oral liquid products with dosing information for children younger than 12 years. Inclusion of measuring device, within-product inconsistency between dosing directions on the bottle's label and dose markings on enclosed measuring device, across-product use of nonstandard units and abbreviations, and presence of abbreviation definitions. Measuring devices were packaged with 148 of 200 products (74.0%). Within this subset of 148 products, inconsistencies between the medication's dosing directions and markings on the device were found in 146 cases (98.6%). These included missing markings (n = 36, 24.3%) and superfluous markings (n = 120, 81.1%). Across all products, 11 (5.5%) used atypical units of measurement (eg, drams, cc) for doses listed. Milliliter, teaspoon, and tablespoon units were used for doses in 143 (71.5%), 155 (77.5%), and 37 (18.5%) products, respectively. A nonstandard abbreviation for milliliter (not mL) was used by 97 products. Of the products that included an abbreviation, 163 did not define at least 1 abbreviation. At the time the FDA released its new guidance, top-selling pediatric OTC liquid medications contained highly variable and inconsistent dosing directions and measuring devices.

Investigation of the hydrogeochemistry of some bottled mineral waters in Hungary

Bottled drinking water constitutes a significant part of total water consumption in developed countries and national and EU legislation regulates their market production. In the framework of an international project carried out by the EuroGeoSurveys Geochemistry Expert Group 36 bottled waters were obtained from public markets in Hungary in order to determine their hydrogeochemical composition. The objective of this study is to investigate the possible relationship between groundwater aquifer lithology and the processed and marketed bottled waters, and to develop a classification of bottled waters, based on their dissolved mineral content. Analytical results of this study are compared with the composition shown on bottle labels, and with archive hydrochemical data from the producing wells. Results show that, while processing of original groundwater, such as oxygen addition, iron or hydrogen-sulphide removal can significantly alter water composition, bottled water composition can be used for selection of sites for detailed hydrogeochemical and hydrogeological characterization. A simple and useful classification of bottled water quality is also presented that is based on natural groups of sampled waters derived by means of statistical data analysis methods.

General ground water geochemistry of Hellas using bottled water samples

Sixty-one still bottled water samples, representing 41 locations, were collected from Hellas for the purpose of studying the geochemistry of ground water. Since, the dominating lithology comprises limestone, dolomitic limestone, marble, and mafic–ultramafic rocks (ophiolites), the dominant major ions in Hellenic bottled waters are Ca 2+, Mg 2+, CO 3 2− and HCO 3 −, and are, thus, classified in the Ca 2+–Mg 2+–HCO 3 − hydrochemical facies. The source aquifers of Hellenic bottled water are apparently continuously replenished by fresh water. Comparison of values of Ca, Mg, K, Na, Cl −, HCO 3 −, NO 3 −, SO 4 2−, pH and electrical conductivity, displayed on bottle labels with those of this study, has shown that there is a fairly good correlation between the two data sets, suggesting that the geochemistry of source aquifers is relatively stable over time, at least from 1998 to 2008.

‘The drink has called it into being’: a year in a wine column

For a year, between 2009 and 2010, I wrote a wine-review column in a free regional newspaper as a passionate amateur. I conceive of the wine reviews as creative nonfiction and of myself as a role model for my students who have the option of writing on food. Genre has its courtiers and jesters and, in itself, it is bound for change as any other cultural phenomena. I think of my wine-writing practice as destablising that specific genre, attempting a transformation of it into an expanded field, via the efficacy of writing and wine as art. It is contentious to place winemaking in the realm of art. What I want to do is commend art, which includes creative writing and winemaking, for its efficacious capacity. This is also a contentious proposition. I think of my wine writing as public intellectual practice, linking wine as art to culture, politics and history, when, on the whole, wine columns stick solely to descriptions of the wine. Wine writing is about technical details, but it is also about what wine—its appearance (bottle label and wine colour), aroma and taste—sets the dreaming, remembering mind doing, and what links emerge to contemporary issues in the practice of the everyday.

The Rogue Winemaker of Bully Hill

Walter S. Taylor (1931––2001), a home-grown hero of Finger Lakes viticulture, pioneered the movement toward independent estate wine production in upstate New York. Although his family name was a prominent one in the wine industry of the 1960s, Walter's disputes with family business practices led him to set up his own winery, Bully Hill vineyards, by 1970. There, he committed himself to using hybrid-variety, locally grown grapes to produce bona fide New York State wine. His was the first independent winery to be established after Prohibition, and he advocated for legislation which allowed other farmers to bottle and sell their own vintages. Walter trumpeted an irreverent approach to the old winemaking establishment, particularly after his family's business brought legal action against him for using the Taylor name on his own bottle labels. To protest the oppression of the Taylor company corporation, Walter staged parades, promoted his own renegade image and that of Guilt Free (his pet goat), and insisted that wine must be produced with care and drunk with cheer. Walter's own artwork decorates Bully Hill bottles, and the winery shares his full-bodied spirit with thousands of visitors to this day.

Hormone-Mimicking Chemicals: What They Are, What They Do, and Where to Find Them

Rarely do we consider what the chemicals that go into our consumer products, that are sprayed onto our fruits, or that are released into the air actually do. For example, we assume that those difficult-to-read chemicals on our shampoo bottle labels are safe. However, few of the thousands of chemicals developed each year are thoroughly tested. Forgoing the precautionary principle, we are exposed to many chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCS) can mimic, block, or re-route the hormonal signaling of our bodies. This article addresses what EDCS are, how they act, and how they cause harmful effects, such as reproductive abnormalities, cancers, and behavioral changes. Finally, steps that we as consumers can take to avoid or negate those effects are enumerated.

Fluoride content of bottled water commercialized in two cities of northeastern Brazil

Aim: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the fluoride content of bottled water commercialized in two cities of northeastern Brazil and to compare the fluoride values measured in the water to the ones printed on the bottle label, considering risks (dental fluorosis) and benefits (caries control) of systemic fluoride exposure. Methods: Fifty-six water samples were collected from 20 brands available in several supermarkets with high turnover in different regions of the municipalities of Sao Luis (State of Maranhao) and Joao Pessoa (State of Paraiba) in 2009. Fluoride concentrations were determined by triplicate analysis using an ion-specific electrode. Results: The measured mean fluoride content varied from 0.001 to 0.270 ppmF with a mean (±SD) of 0.037 (±0.041) for the 56 samples. The majority of samples were found to contain less than 0.043 ppmF (92%). Conclusion: These results emphasize the importance of controlling the fluoride levels in bottled water enforced by the Brazilian Sanitary Surveillance Agency. Concerning the risks and benefits, fluoride concentrations in the evaluated bottled water samples were below the suggested concentration (0.7 mg F/l), having neither preventive effect nor the potential for causing dental fluorosis.

Impact of Interpreters on the Receipt of New Prescription Medication Information Among Spanish-Speaking Latinos

For Latinos, limited English proficiency (LEP) is a barrier to receiving important information about a new medication prescription. Access to interpreters may impact the receipt of important medication-related information. To examine the association between interpreter use and reports of new prescription medication advice among Latinos with LEP. We examined cross-sectional survey data from 1590 Latino adults with LEP from 8 sites across the United States. The main outcomes are 5 measures of new prescription medication advising: (1) explanation of medication purpose, (2) explanation of possible side effects, (3) explanation of medication directions, (4) receipt of written information in Spanish from pharmacy, and (5) receipt of medicine bottle with Spanish language label. Among patients prescribed a new medication, 72% reported being told about the purpose of the medication, 52% about possible side effects, and 70% about how to take the new medicine. Forty-four percent said they received written medication information in Spanish from pharmacy, and 47% said their medicine bottle label was written in Spanish. Interpreter use was independently associated with receiving explanations about: possible side effects (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.81; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.16-2.45); medication directions (AOR = 2.50; 95% CI: 1.67-3.59); and medication purpose (AOR = 3.55; 95% CI: 2.14-4.65). Among Latinos with LEP, interpreter use increases patient receipt of important information when a new medication is prescribed. There is a continuing need for effective policies and interventions to improve provider communication with LEP patients.

A Quality Initiative to Decrease Pathology Specimen Labeling Errors Using Radiofrequency Identification in a High-Volume Endoscopy Center

Purpose: Our institution has had problems with mislabeling of tissue specimens in our gastrointestinal and colorectal surgery endoscopy units. Most labeling errors have been due to either the wrong patient label or no label being affixed to a specimen bottle. As a result, an initiative was created to reduce the number of specimen labeling errors. This initiative involved the application of radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology to specimen bottles, moving to a paperless pathology requisition system and confirmation of the correct site, correct patient by both the endoscopy nursing staff and the endoscopist on each specimen bottle. Methods: We reviewed the number of specimen labeling errors from our endoscopy unit for the first three months of 2007, prior to the implementation of the initiative and the first three months of 2008, 6 months after the initiation of RFID specimen labeling with paperless requisition and two provider confirmation of correct site, correct patient specimen labeling. Specimen labeling errors were categorized as Class 1 (only typographical with no potential clinical consequences), Class 2 (minor error, unlikely to have clinical consequences) and Class 3 (significant error that has the potential to detrimentally impact patient care). The Fischer's exact test was used to compare the rate of specimen bottle labeling errors before and after the initiation of this new system. Results: In the first three months of 2007, our endoscopy unit sent 8231 specimen bottles to our pathology laboratory for evaluation and 8539 bottles in the first three months of 2008. There were 646 (7.85%) Class 1 errors in the first quarter of 2007 and 35 (0.41%) in the first quarter of 2008 (P < 0.001). There were 112 (1.36%) Class 2 errors in the first quarter of 2007 and ten (0.12%) in the first quarter of 2008 (P < 0.001). Finally, in the first quarter of 2007 there were seven (0.09%) Class 3 errors and in the first quarter of 2008, there were two (0.02%) Class 3 errors. However, with the new system in place, both Class 3 errors in the first quarter of 2008 were recognized and corrected prior to the processing of the specimens in the pathology laboratory (P= .001). Conclusion: These data suggest that the initiation of a new specimen labeling system that uses RFID technology, a paperless requisition process and confirmation of the correct site correct patient by two health-care providers significantly decreased specimen labeling errors of every level in a high volume endoscopy center.

Concentração de flúor em águas engarrafadas comercializadas no município de São Paulo

The objective of the study was to evaluate the fluoride concentration in bottled water available on the market, in comparison with the values printed on the bottle label. Two hundred and twenty-nine water samples were collected from 35 brands available in several supermarkets, grocery stores and snack bars with high turnover in different regions of the municipality of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, in 2006. Fluoride concentrations were determined by duplicate analysis using an ion-specific electrode. The fluoride concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 2.04 mg/l, with significant differences between the values stipulated on labels and those found in the analyses. These results emphasize the importance of controls over fluoride levels in bottled water enforced by the sanitary surveillance agency.

Evaluation of warfarin prescription labels

Introduction Due to warfarin’s frequent dosage adjustments and the potential for serious adverse consequences (bleeding, bruising, etc.), the dosage must be individualized for each patient according to the indication for therapy and patient response to the medication as measured by prothrombin time (PT)/international normalized ratio (INR). Ideally when there are dosing changes, the dosing instructions written on the prescription label should be the same as the patient’s actual dosage regimen. Patients may take incorrect warfarin doses secondary to having incorrect directions on the prescription label, which may lead to adverse events. Dosage instructions may not be reissued for each difference in dosage to save time, avoid waste of multiple bottles of medication, and to reduce cost. Objective To ascertain whether a discrepancy exists between the warfarin dosage listed on the prescription bottle label dispensed from the pharmacy and the patients’ actual dosage instruction obtained from the anticoagulation clinic at the Loma Linda VA Medical Center, and if the discrepancy existed, to determine its magnitude. If discrepancies existed, examine if there was a[10% difference in the weekly dose. Method A retrospective chart review utilizing an MS DOS based program Clinstat for randomization scheme of 300 charts was carried out of patients 18 years or older with active management of anticoagulation and received warfarin prescription from Loma Linda VA Medical Center between May 1,2005 and December 1, 2005. Results Of the 298 charts, which met inclusion criteria, 12 (4%) were unable to be assessed due to lack of patient’s inability to recall warfarin dosage documented in chart. Of the remaining 286, the mean age was 69.8 and males constituted 98.9%. Discrepancy was noted in 161 charts (56%). Of those, 122 (76%) had a [10% discrepancy: with a mean of 32%, and range of 11–100%. Conclusion/Discussion The results of the warfarin label retrospective review demonstrated that there was a discrepancy between patient’s prescription bottle label and patient’s verbalized dosage in over half of the patients’ from the anticoagulation clinic with a mean discrepancy of 32% of the warfarin dose and 76% of the discrepancies exceeding 10% of the warfarin dose. This study raises a question whether warfarin labels should simply read, ‘‘take as directed,’’ or with the specific dosing instructions provided on a separate instruction sheet or calendar. This study may also be significant to fuel future studies to look into the greater impact of this discrepancy such as patient safety (bleeding rates, hospitalization rates), and cost (new labels, medication waste).

Automatic multistage classification system for plastic bottles recycling

In this work, an artificial intelligent plastic bottles classification system is proposed, developed and tested. Classifying bottles based on their chemical composition and color is attempted. Near infrared (NIR) reflectance measurements are used to identify bottle composition class. Charged coupled device (CCD) camera with the fusion of quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) and tree classifiers are used to detect the bottle color. Results have shown that the dip wavelength and average values of the reflective NIR spectrum could be used as features to distinguish between chemical compositions. This resulted in 94.14% classification accuracy. In addition to various preprocessing techniques, the use of principal component analysis algorithm for bottle orientation facilitates the detection of the bottle color avoiding mixing it with the bottle's label or cap. Ninety-two percent color classification accuracy is achieved for clear bottles while 96% is achieved for opaque one, with proposed method. The aggregate classification accuracy of the combined system (i.e. accurate classification of color as well as chemical composition) is 83.48%.

Influence of Wine Packaging on Consumers' Decision to Purchase

The purchase of a bottle of wine is often a challenging decision for most consumers. The marketing of a wine's package, which consists of several interrelated cues (bottle shape, color, closure, and label design), interfaces with the key factors of the consumer's experience, knowledge of wines, self-confidence and the occasion at hand to form buying decisions. Some consumers know what they want and select a wine based on their experience or the wine's packaging cues. Other consumers examine a bottle's label to satisfy their information requirements. Using a self-administered questionnaire, this study evaluated the effect that the wine packaging has on the consumers' decision to purchase. Results showed that respondents placed great significance on the overall label and bottle packaging and that wine labels were intimidating, with females more concerned about making a wine buying decision.

What Determines Port Wine Prices?

AbstractIn this study, we estimate a cross-sectional hedonic price function for Port wines in order to determine the price influence of several Port wine characteristics. Drawing on a large sample of more than 14,000 sales from the biggest Port wine firms we find that market prices can be explained by objective characteristics such as age, type of Port and type of brand appearing on the bottle label and subjective characteristics such as firm reputation. The Port type is the main price determinant. (JEL Classification: C21, Q11)

You Have To Bleed a Little To Reach the Big Time

ISSUE: Contaminated blood cultures result in an increased use of antibiotics leading to potential antibiotic resistance, unnecessary treatment, increased length of stay, and an increase in the cost of care. The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has established an acceptable contamination rate at ≤3%. At our institution an average of 2500 blood cultures are collected monthly. Initial review of our data revealed a blood culture contamination rate of 7.3% (>CAP 90th percentile). PROJECT: A multidisciplinary team representing nursing, microbiology laboratory, Epidemiology, Materials Management, and Nursing Education and Professional Development was assembled to address this issue. Microbiology staff provided the contamination data. Materials Management provided information on the products available for use. Nursing staff was queried on practice, policy, and products used to perform collection. Epidemiology developed a web-based education program and with the support of hospital administration the education was mandated for all staff who drew blood cultures. Unit-based nurse educators were made accountable for completion of the education program by their staff. Trainees were evaluated via a posttest and a hands-on demonstration of competency. Product changes included replacement of povidone-iodine with chlorhexidine/alcohol for skin preparation, and a kit was developed that included all products needed to perform the procedure as well as an instruction sheet and bottle labels for designation of the culture site (central line or peripheral vein). A monthly report was generated and distributed, which included a contamination rate for each nursing unit in the inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department (ED) settings. Nurse clinicians reviewed the report and followed each contaminated culture down to the person who performed the culture collection. RESULTS: We achieved 98% compliance with mandatory education. The hospital-wide blood culture contamination rate decreased from 7.3% to 3.8%. Stratified by hospital area, the contamination rates fell to 3.2% for inpatient units and 2.3% for outpatient clinics. The ED is responsible for an average of 500 blood cultures/month; their rate decreased from a high of 11% to 5.4%. LESSONS LEARNED: The 3% rate continues to be our “Big Time” or long-range goal but we consider our progress to date to be highly significant. Monitoring continues, products continue to evolve, and education for new staff has been implemented. The ED and administration continue to review the collection process to achieve complete success. The additional success of educating hundreds of clinical staff via a web-based tutorial has opened the door to many possibilities when considering future educational programs for our 4000 clinical providers.

Improving the Safety of Immunotherapy: A Systematic Approach

RATIONALE: We examined our allergen vaccine immunotherapy (AVIT) practices in order to improve patient safety and quality of care.METHODS: A systematic review of the AVIT practice of a large academic medical center was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses and allied health. From this analysis, we developed and implemented policies to improve patient safety, including a time-stamp policy to improve post-AVIT wait-times. For ten consecutive days, PEFR results were used as a marker of compliance pre-intervention and time-stamp data was used post intervention.RESULTS: For a typical course of AVIT, 113 steps were identified; 46 were considered high risk for patient safety. Fourteen areas of immediate potential improvement were identified, including post-AVIT wait times, annual allergist consultation, vial labeling and documentation. Seventy percent(102/144) of patients waited the full 30 minutes before the improved time-stamp policy compared with 98% (140/146) after implementation. Additional improvement interventions include: mandatory annual allergist consultation for all AVIT patients, a form with current medications and medical problems, improved documentation of extract lot number, an improved storage system separating new lots and bottles from old, and improved bottle labeling to call attention to vaccines that were scheduled to expire within one week.CONCLUSIONS: Our systematic quality improvement project identified several patient safety improvement areas. This intervention that led to significantly improved post-immunotherapy wait-times is one example of a successful quality assurance initiative that may be generalizable to care at other large medical centers. RATIONALE: We examined our allergen vaccine immunotherapy (AVIT) practices in order to improve patient safety and quality of care. METHODS: A systematic review of the AVIT practice of a large academic medical center was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses and allied health. From this analysis, we developed and implemented policies to improve patient safety, including a time-stamp policy to improve post-AVIT wait-times. For ten consecutive days, PEFR results were used as a marker of compliance pre-intervention and time-stamp data was used post intervention. RESULTS: For a typical course of AVIT, 113 steps were identified; 46 were considered high risk for patient safety. Fourteen areas of immediate potential improvement were identified, including post-AVIT wait times, annual allergist consultation, vial labeling and documentation. Seventy percent(102/144) of patients waited the full 30 minutes before the improved time-stamp policy compared with 98% (140/146) after implementation. Additional improvement interventions include: mandatory annual allergist consultation for all AVIT patients, a form with current medications and medical problems, improved documentation of extract lot number, an improved storage system separating new lots and bottles from old, and improved bottle labeling to call attention to vaccines that were scheduled to expire within one week. CONCLUSIONS: Our systematic quality improvement project identified several patient safety improvement areas. This intervention that led to significantly improved post-immunotherapy wait-times is one example of a successful quality assurance initiative that may be generalizable to care at other large medical centers.

Richard Wilbur's Uncouth Muse

Koneazny continuedfrom previous page television obsessively, which functions as escape, tutor —"Oprah has trained Americans to say anything anywhere"—and newsreel. Watching is what she does when there is nothing to be done or when she can't sleep. Indeed, some ofus are already dead although still alive. Among the "illustrations" included in Don 'tLet Me Be Lonely are images of medicine bottle labels and television screens (some with pictures, others black except for lines ofwhite text or the white static snow one observes when the TV is on but there is nothing on). With their phonemic slip and slide of separation, the words mediate and medicate function as the flip sides of Rankine's thematic coin. She describes how at the beginning of the twenty-first century, we are staring into our medicine cabinets and at our television sets. This is how life happens to us: while under medication and as filtered through the media. Instead of a system ofvalues, instructions on how to live, we're left with the warning labels on our medicine bottles, our "life-saving" poisons. She draws a line between healing and harming that appears ever so thin, a border we can cross over as easily and as absurdly as her relatives crossed from life to death. We are always at that juncture. For this reader, the center of gravity in Claudia Rankine's poem/essay lies at the bottom of page sixty-three where she says, "A husband wakes up beside me, stretching, asking, // Sweetheart, honey, dearest, / how did you sleep?" As if to say that in the midst ofdevastation, despite an existential loneliness, there can be tenderness. However, not even such evidence of love seems sufficient to keep her mind focused on the elusive present rather than upon death. For her, death is the condition, the fact, and life the story, the fiction. Claudia Rankine's prose is both elegant and eloquent. In Don't Let Me Be Lonely, she holds up a mirror (the mirror on the door of the medicine cabinet ?) and what we see there can be chilling indeed. The loneliness she describes throughout her book "stems from a feeling of uselessness," a uselessness redeemed in the end by a handshake, which is the poem. As Rankine concludes, "In orderfor something to be handed over a hand must extend and a hand must receive. We must both be here in this world in this life in this place indicating the presence of." Paula Koneazny lives in Sebastopol, California. Her poetry has appeared most recently in Spinning Jenny and Double Room and isforthcoming in 580 Split, Volt, and Luna. Richard Wilbur's Uncouth Muse Anthony Cuda Collected Poems: 1943-2004 Richard Wilbur Harcourt http://www.harcourtbooks.com 608 pages; cloth, $35.00 ForYeats, the internal voice with which the poet struggles over the course ofhis career arose from the irascible daemon of the soul. For Eliot, it came from the dark angel of moral corruption. But for Richard Wilbur, who steps squarely into the modern tradition in this regard, its source isn't always so mysteriously angelic or demonic. "I set two voices going against each other," he reveals in a 1977 interview: "One is a kind of lofty and angelic voice, the other is a slob voice.... The slob, in whom I trust a great deal, is saying to the angelic part: 'Come off it. Get down here where you belong.'" Though he published his first volume, The Beautiful Changes, in 1947, he didn't submit to this belligerent muse until his Pulitzer Prize winning Things ofthis World (1956), in which he demands that the angels hidden in the radiantly clean laundry fluttering outside his window "[descend] once more in bitter love / To accept the waking body" and adorn "the backs of thieves" and lovers. The magisterial lyric "Love Calls Us to the Things of This World" was a breakthrough for Wilbur, and the chord that it strikes somewhere between the ideal and the actual (between the angel's impersonal "deep joy" and our own bitter, imperfect hopes and regrets) reverberates throughout his entire body ofwork, among the most generous, distinct, and accomplished of the later twentieth century. "The...

Ahlstrom gears up for growth

From car engine intake filters to surgeon's gowns, teabags and beer bottle labels, Ahlstrom's fibre-based products reach a multitude of markets. The Finnish company also produces glass fibre reinforcements for reinforced plastics. Amanda Jacob visited the company's Karhula site to find out more about its composites business.

Joyce and reality: the empirical strikes back

was a realist, but his reality was not ours, writes John Gordon in his new book. Here, he maintains that the shifting styles and techniques of Joyce's works is a function of two interacting realities - the external reality of a particular time and place and the internal reality of a character's mental state. In making this case Gordon offers up a number of new readings: how Stephen Dedalus conceives and composes his villanelle; why the Dubliners story about Little Chandler is titled Little Cloud; why MacDowell suddenly appears and disappears; what is happening when Leopold Bloom looks for two minutes at a beer bottle's label; why the triangle etched at the center of Finnegans Wake doubles itself and grows a pair of circles; why the next to last chapter of Ulysses has, by far, the book's highest incidence of the letter C; and who is the man in the macintosh. Gordon, whose authoritative Finnegans Wake: A Plot Summary received critical acclaim and is considered one of the standard references, revises - and challenges - the received version of that reality. For instance, Joyce features ghost visitations, telepathy, and other para-normal phenomena not as flights into fantasy but because he believed in the real possibility of such occurrences.

Determination of the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in foodstuffs by dynamic reaction cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) equipped with a dynamic reaction cell (DRC) was used for the determination of Ca and P in foodstuffs. In this study, two different reaction gases, CH4 and O2, were introduced successively through the different channels to alleviate different interferences in the same analysis run. The effect of the operating conditions of the DRC system was studied to get the best signal-to-noise ratio for each element. The interfering 40Ar+ at m/ z 40 was reduced in intensity by up to five orders of magnitude by using 1.0 mL min(-1) CH4 as reaction cell gas in the DRC. On the other hand, by using O2 as the reaction gas, 31P+ was converted to 31P16O+ that could be detected at m/z 47 where there was less interference. The limits of detection for Ca and P were 0.2 ng mL(-1) and 0.3 ng mL(-1), respectively. This method was used to determine the concentrations of Ca and P and the ratio of Ca to P in NIST SRM 1549 non-fat milk powder and NIST RM 8345 whole milk powder reference materials and an infant milk powder and an infant cereal-rice sample purchased locally. The results for the reference samples agreed satisfactorily with the reference values. The accuracy of the determination was better than 4.1 and 0.9% for Ca and P, respectively. The results for infant milk powder and infant cereal were also found to be in good agreement with the value on the bottle label. Precision (RSD) between sample replicates was better than 4.8% for all the determinations.