**6. References**

352 Pharmacology

market dynamics with a view to capitalising on research incentives has favoured the location of new laboratories in different countries; global excellence centres with research responsibilities have been created; and inter- and intra-firm networking has been intensified. When companies were ranked in descending order of the percentage of their papers involving international collaboration, two different patterns emerged, one for European and the other for North American companies. The percentages were higher in the former than in the latter. Several explanations can be given for this difference between countries on the two sides of the Atlantic. The United States is the critical location for pharmaceutical alliances as a result of the quality of the research conducted there, but especially of the size of its research base, i.e., the number and size of universities, companies and research departments. Other factors that distinguish the European and US include the latter's easy financing and marketing

The result is that companies based in the US have lower percentages of internationally coauthored papers than European companies: Abbott Laboratories 12.67 %, Schering-Plough

Switzerland's Novartis, by contrast, co-authored 66.72 % of its papers with other countries. Its US subsidiary had a collaboration rate of 69.87 %, while the figure for the French firm

The final indicator analysed was normalised citation, which measures a company's impact on the scientific community as a whole and compares the quality of the research conducted by organisations of different sizes. The highest score was obtained by Swiss Novartis' North American subsidiary, with a mean citation value 89 % higher than the world-wide mean (1.89). It was followed by its parent company, which had a mean citation value 86 % higher than the world-wide mean, and the Swiss subsidiary of North America's F. Hoffman La Roche, with a score of 84 %. The lowest values were recorded for Dow Chemical's pharmaceuticals division (US) and the Dr. Reddy laboratories in India, whose citation

This chapter reports on a multi-level analysis of scientific results in pharmacology. The findings confirmed that despite its scant weight in world-wide science, pharmacological scientific output is characterised by high quality and has citation per paper values higher

Two regions of the world have traditionally occupied the leading positions in terms of pharmacological scientific output, North America and Western Europe. Moreover, the impact of this output is high, measured in terms of citations in other papers. When only citations outside the home region are considered, however, other regions, such as Northern Africa, prove to have higher values. The regions with the largest absolute number of citations also have the highest percentage of domestic citations. By contrast, since the regions with smaller numbers of citations in absolute terms receive fewer domestic citations, the acknowledgement coming primarily from countries outside their own region carries

terms and fairly large number of start-up incubators and venture capitalists.

Research Institute, 12.73 %, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, 13 %.

Sanofi-Aventis was 43.75 %.

**4. Conclusions** 

much heavier weight.

values were below the international average.

than the mean for international scientific output as a whole.


http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0912/0912.4141.pdf

Gorraiz, J. and Schloegl, C. (2008). A bibliometric analysis of pharmacology and pharmacy journals: Scopus versus Web of Science. *Journal of Information Science*, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 715-725, ISSN 0165-5515

**17** 

*United Kingdom* 

**Mephedrone-Related** 

**Fatalities in the United Kingdom:** 

**Contextual, Clinical and Practical Issues** 

The misuse of mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) has been increasing greatly in Western countries over the last two years or so, especially in the club and dance scenes. This period has also been marked by claims that the substance has been implicated in a rising number of

This chapter explores the context(s) and evolution of mephedrone use in the UK, and the circumstances in which these fatalities occurred. Particular attention is paid to the settings in which these incidents took place, their symptomatology and physical characteristics; intervention/treatment opportunities; and toxicological and pathological findings. These results are related to the known pharmacological facts regarding mephedrone, its possible interactions with alcohol and other psychoactive drugs, and suggested clinical interventions

The relationship between mephedrone, other methcathinones, and other emerging novel psychoactive substances, as well as established stimulants is also examined. These developments are important as novel substances used for recreational use become more

Mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone; 'Plant Food', 'Meow Meow', 'Miaow', 'Drone', 'Meph', 'Bubbles', 'Spice E', 'Charge', 'M-Cat', 'Rush', 'Ronzio', 'Fiskrens' and 'MMC Hammer') ( Schifano et al, 2011) is the most popular of the cathinone derivatives, which also include butylone, flephedrone, MDPV, methedrone, methylone, pentylone, and other compounds (ACMD, 2010; Morris, 2010). It has been readily available for purchase both online and in head shops as a 'legal high', and more recently as a 'research chemical'; its circulation has been promoted by aggressive web-based marketing (Deluca et al., 2009). Mephedrone elicits stimulant and empathogenic effects similar to amphetamine, methylamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA (Winstock et al., 2010). However, as we write, relatively few formal related papers and experimental/clinical data have been published

deaths in the USA and Western Europe, especially the United Kingdom (UK).

**1. Introduction** 

and treatment(s).

**2. Recreational use** 

globally accessible through the use of the Internet.

(Dargan et al., 2010; Winstock et al., 2010; Winstock et al., 2011).

John M. Corkery, Fabrizio Schifano and A. Hamid Ghodse *University of Hertfordshire & St George's, University of London* 

