Pentamidine is an effective antimicrobial agent. To increase its poor oral bioavailability due to the strong basic amidine functionality, the less basic O-acetylamidoxime prodrug, the diacetyldiamidoximeester, was used, which has greatly improved lipophilicity. The objectives of this investigation were the synthesis of all potential metabolites of the double prodrug, the conformational analysis of its structure, and to study the in vitro and in vivo biotransformation by ester cleavage and N-reduction to pentamidine via four intermediate metabolites. The biotransformation of diacetyldiamidoximeester to pentamidine involving the reduction of the amidoxime function and the ester cleavage could be demonstrated. The kinetic parameters were determined. Amidoximes were efficiently metabolized by several enzyme systems located in microsomes and mitochondria of different organs including the final formation of the active metabolite pentamidine. The formation of pentamidine after oral administration of the diacetyldiamidoximeester to rats could be demonstrated as well.

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In this paper, we analyse the role that adult and continuing education (ACE) organisations play in the professionalisation of adult educators (AE) by providing and shaping opportunities for primary professional education and continuing professional development in two Central European countries: Germany and Slovenia. Theoretically, our discussion draws on classical profession theory, organisation theory, and the "new professionalism" discourse; empirically, we perform a comparative analysis between two countries and discuss similarities and differences in terms of state-society contexts, professional organisations, and professionalisation organisations. Our findings indicate that professional and professionalisation organisations represent main institutionalised contexts where the professionalisation of ACE is negotiated. In Slovenia, this is supported by strong state-society contexts, whereas in Germany, traditional regional and institutional diversity is achieved at the price of a unified AE occupational profile.

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Der Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über neuere Veröffentlichungen, in denen vertikale Ungleichheiten mit qualitativen Methoden untersucht werden. Zu Beginn werden grundsätzliche Trends in der deutschsprachigen Ungleichheitsforschung beschrieben sowie jeweils spezifische Schwerpunktsetzungen in quantitativen und qualitativen Studien thematisiert. Eine Darstellung von ausgewählten Fachartikeln (2012 bis 2017) ermöglicht es, inhaltliche Fokussierungen der Beiträge und methodische Entwicklungen zu skizzieren. Dabei wird deutlich, welche Potenziale die Erforschung von Themen wie symbolischen Grenzziehungen, Prekarisierungs-oder auch intergenerationalen Transmissionsprozessen mit qualitativen Erhebungs-und Auswertungsmethoden haben. Die abschließende Betrachtung − mit einer Unterscheidung von drei analytischen Perspektiven auf Ungleichheit − verweist auf spezifische Stärken qualitativer Vorgehensweisen.