MedWorm: Medical Ethics

Islam and New Kinship, Reproductive Technologies and the Shariah in Lebanon – By Morgan Clarke

Bioethics — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:58:51 +0100

(Source: Bioethics)

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Rotterdam 2012: the next world congress of bioethics

Bioethics — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:58:36 +0100

(Source: Bioethics)

The substance view: a critique

Bioethics — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:56:46 +0100

ABSTRACTAccording to the theory of intrinsic value and moral standing called the ‘substance view,’ what makes it prima facie seriously wrong to kill adult human beings, human infants, and even human fetuses is the possession of the essential property of the basic capacity for rational moral agency – a capacity for rational moral agency in root form and thereby not remotely exercisable. In this critique, I cover three distinct reductio charges directed at the substance view's conclusion that human fetuses have the same intrinsic value and moral standing as adult human beings. After giving consideration to defenders of the substance view's replies to these charges, I then critique each of them, ultimately concluding that none is successful. Of course, in order to understand all of thes...

A Time for Unity

AIBS BioScience Editorials — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:27:54 +0100

Although the US public remains for the most part favorably disposed to scientists, politically inspired efforts to discredit some kinds of science continue and could gain traction during what is likely to be an angry election year. Researchers, especially those working in fields that do not seem to offer the near-term promise of profitable products, have good reason to be apprehensive about their funding. Budget anxieties are driving up pressure on legislators to enact substantial cuts, and the brinksmanship on Capitol Hill suggests that ill-considered measures could be enacted through political grandstanding. Researchers worried about the future of the research enterprise should make efforts to stay informed and be ready to argue for its importance whenever the opportunity arises. The Un...

[Book Review] When Do Incentives Corrupt?

Science: Current Issue — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:34:11 +0100

Analyzing incentives in terms of power rather than as trades, Grant concludes that their use to further desired social and political goals raises some ethical concerns.Author: Tyler Cowen (Source: Science: Current Issue)

Today's mystery bird for you to identify | @GrrlScientist

Guardian Unlimited Science — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:30:02 +0100

This distinctive Australian mystery bird is named for one of its life history traitsMystery Bird photographed in New South Wales, Australia. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Marie-Louise Ng, 24 December 2011 (with permission) [velociraptorize].Nikon D7000 Question: This distinctive Australian mystery bird is named for one of its life history traits. What trait is that? Can you identify this bird's taxonomic family and species?The Rules:1. Keep in mind that people live in zillions of different time zones, and some people are following on their smart phones. So let everyone play the game. Don't spoil it for everyone else by identifying the bird in the first 24 to 36 hours.2. If you know the mystery bird's identity, answer the accompanying questions and provide subtle ID ...

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Is It Ethical to Own an iPhone?

Scientific American - Official RSS Feed — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:30:00 +0100

Recent media reports and ongoing protests over the reportedly abhorrent working conditions at factories where Apple's iPhones are produced have left socially conscious Americans with a dilemma: Is it ethical to own an iPhone? [More] (Source: Scientific American - Official RSS Feed)

Penn State defies Facebook campaign calling for it to drop climate lecture | Leo Hickman

Guardian Unlimited Science — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:13:14 +0100

University cites its First Amendment commitment in supporting its climate scientist Michael Mann's right to give lectureIn an uncharacteristically angry post at the New York Times's Dot Earth blog, Andy Revkin has hit out at a "shameful attack on free speech". It relates to a Facebook campaign which is calling on Pennsylvania State University to "disinvite" Professor Michael E. Mann, the director of its Earth System Science Center, from giving a lecture next week entitled: "Confronting the Climate Change Challenge."The Facebook campaign has been initiated by a seemingly conjoined group called the Common Sense Movement/Secure Energy for America Political Action Committee. Brad Johnson at ThinkProgress has investigated the people behind it and describes it as a "coal-industry astroturf group...

The Science of Concussion and Brain Injury

Scientific American - Official RSS Feed — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0100

How medicine, sports and society are trying to heal and protect the brains of millions amidst the growing awareness of the long-lasting effects of traumatic head injury [More] (Source: Scientific American - Official RSS Feed)

Guardian Open Weekend: two days of smashing science and technology

Guardian Unlimited Science — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:38:17 +0100

We're throwing open our doors on 24 and 25 March to host talks and debates about the frontiers of particle physics, neuroscience and the law, and host masterclasses on podcasting, journalism, web tools and photographyDo you have a burning question about the Higgs boson, supersymmetry or the standard of the coffee in the canteen at the home of the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva? On Sunday 25 March as part the Guardian's Open Weekend, three scientists at the cutting edge of physics will be on hand to answer all the most basic or esoteric questions that may have built up in your mind (where they might well be burning a hole) over the past year of incredible research results.Led by the Guardian's Ian Sample and our superstar physics blogger, Prof Jon Butterworth, this is your chance to get ...

Flap over Designer Sperm in India

Psychology Today Parenting Center — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:10:31 +0100

An ad for sperm from “tall and fair” technology students sparks a debate in India about designer babies.read more (Source: Psychology Today Parenting Center)

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Research ethics: Coercive citation in academic publishing

ScienceDaily Headlines — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:48:48 +0100

Scientists have examined the unethical practices of some journal publications, articulating results from their research to show that some editors coerce authors into adding unnecessary citations to articles in the same journal that is considering publishing the submitted work. Journal editors want to increase the number of times articles within their journals are cited by researchers -- because it raises the journal ranking and is used to make claims of prestige and importance. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)

Today's mystery bird for you to identify | GrrlScientist

Guardian Unlimited Science — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:30:00 +0100

This southeast Asian mystery bird is atypical amongst those species with similar habitsMystery Bird photographed at the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Chaiyaphum, Thailand. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Alex Vargas, 10 January 2012 (with permission) [velociraptorize].Nikon D5000, Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR 1/10s f/5.6 at 420.0mm iso500, With a Kenko 1.4X Teleconverter on. This southeast Asian mystery bird is atypical amongst those species with similar habits. Can you tell me in what way it is atypical? Can you identify this mystery bird's taxonomic family and species? The Rules:1. Keep in mind that people live in zillions of different time zones, and some people are following on their smart phones. So let everyone play the game. Don't spoil it for everyone els...

Reexamination of the ethics of placebo use in clinical practice

Bioethics — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

ABSTRACTA placebo is a substance or intervention believed to be inactive, but is administered by the healthcare professional as if it was an active medication. Unlike standard treatments, clinical use of placebo usually involves deception and is therefore ethically problematic. Our attitudes toward the clinical use of placebo, which inevitably includes deception or withholding information, have a tremendous effect on our practice regarding truth‐telling and informed consent. A casual attitude towards it weakens the current practice based on shared decision‐making and mutual trust between patients and healthcare professionals. Issues concerning the clinical use of placebo are thus intimately related to patient‐provider relationships, the public's trust in medicine, and medical educati...

Moral fiction or moral fact? the distinction between doing and allowing in medical ethics

Bioethics — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

ABSTRACTOpponents of physician‐assisted suicide (PAS) maintain that physician withdrawal‐of‐life‐sustaining‐treatment cannot be morally equated to voluntary active euthanasia. PAS opponents generally distinguish these two kinds of act by positing a possible moral distinction between killing and allowing‐to‐die, ceteris paribus. While that distinction continues to be widely accepted in the public discourse, it has been more controversial among philosophers. Some ethicist PAS advocates are so certain that the distinction is invalid that they describe PAS opponents who hold to the distinction as in the grip of ‘moral fictions’. The author contends that such a diagnosis is too hasty. The possibility of a moral distinction between active euthanasia and allowing‐to‐die has ...

Disputing the ethics of research: the challenge from bioethics and patient activism to the interpretation of the declaration of helsinki in clinical trials

Bioethics — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

ABSTRACTIn this paper we argue that the consensus around normative standards for the ethics of research in clinical trials, strongly influenced by the Declaration of Helsinki, is perceived from various quarters as too conservative and potentially restrictive of research that is seen as urgent and necessary. We examine this problem from the perspective of various challengers who argue for alternative approaches to what ought or ought not to be permitted. Key themes within this analysis will examine these claims and argue they have implications for the interests of the research subject, research governance and regulation. Using our work with TREAT‐NMD, the neuromuscular clinical trials network, we posit that there is a place for advancing the discourse of moral rights and moral duties in t...

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‘ethics is for bad guys!’ putting the ‘moral’ into moral enhancement

Bioethics — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Source: Bioethics)

Risk for attempted suicide in children and youths after contact with somatic hospitals: a Danish register based nested case-control study

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusions Based on the results of the study a strategy to minimise the risk of attempted suicide among children and youths must be implemented. The strategy should mainly focus on children at high risk—that is, children from families with low socioeconomic status, and children with a psychiatric history, a history of previous suicide attempts and with an unstable somatic disease subsequently causing many admissions. (Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health)

Educating non‐medical prescribers

British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

SummaryIntroduction: The decade has seen developments in non‐medical prescribing with the introduction of prescribing rights for healthcare professionals. In this article, we focus on the education, training and practice of non‐medical prescribers in the UK. There are around 20,000 nurse independent prescribers, 2,400 pharmacist supplementary/independent prescribers, several hundred allied health professional supplementary prescribers and almost 100 optometrist supplementary/independent prescribers. Many are active prescribers managing chronic conditions or acute episodes of infections and minor ailments.Aims: Key aims of non‐medical prescribing are: to improve patient care; increase patient choice in accessing medicines; and make better use of the skills of health professional...

Canadian Original: A doctor with a patient's perspective

CTV Health — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:18:13 +0100

A Canadian doctor who is being hailed for his work in medical ethics comes by his knowledge honestly -- as a Parkinson's disease patient whose experience with the health-care system hasn't always been positive. (Source: CTV Health)

Concussion Is a Serious Problem for Child Athletes

Scientific American - Official RSS Feed — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0100

The dangers of life in the National Football League made headlines in 2009, when a study commissioned by the NFL found that retired players were 19 times more likely than other men of similar ages to develop severe memory problems. The obvious culprit: continued play after repeated head injuries. Indeed, head injury can imitate many types of neurodegenerative disease, including Parkinson’s disease and, as journalist Jeffrey Bartholet reports in “The Collision Syndrome,” on page 66, perhaps even amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. [More] (Source: Scientific American - Official RSS Feed)

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Building a Muscular Empathy

Psychology Today Relationships Center — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:58:50 +0100

Bullying at schools has become a huge issue. In looking for innovative solutions, Canadian educators turned to a unique classroom program called Roots of Empathy.read more (Source: Psychology Today Relationships Center)

2nd Annual Achieving Clinical & Regulatory Excellence In Turkey, The Middle East & North Africa Conference, 11-14 June 2012, Istanbul, Turkey

Health News from Medical News Today — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0100

NextLevel Pharma's "Advancing clinical research in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa" conference will bring together the local regulators and ethics committees, alongside experienced investigators and study personnel, as well as clinical trial experts from pharma and CROs. It will examine in detail, the key regulatory, clinical, outsourcing and environmental factors which impact the clinical trials. Particular and specific attention will be given to Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Jordan & Lebanon via separate, focused, conference sessions... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Inadvertent Advocacy.

Conservation Biology — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Authors: Wilhere GF Abstract Policy advocacy is an issue regularly debated among conservation scientists. These debates have focused on intentional policy advocacy by scientists, but advocacy can also be unintentional. I define inadvertent policy advocacy as the act of unintentionally expressing personal policy preferences or ethical judgments in a way that is nearly indistinguishable from scientific judgments. A scientist may be well intentioned and intellectually honest but still inadvertently engage in policy advocacy. There are two ways to inadvertently engage in policy advocacy. First, a scientist expresses an opinion that she or he believes is a scientific judgment but it is actually an ethical judgment or personal policy preference. Second, a scientist expresses an opini...

Informing on prenatal screening for Down syndrome prior to conception. An empirical and ethical perspective

American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

AbstractIn most Western countries, information on prenatal screening for Down syndrome is provided in the first‐trimester of pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to examine whether this information should additionally be provided before pregnancy to improve the informed decision‐making process. In an empirical study, we obtained data from pregnant women with respect to their preferences regarding information on prenatal screening preconceptionally. Questionnaire data (n = 510) showed that 55.7% of responding women considered participating in prenatal screening for Down syndrome before pregnancy. 28.0% of women possessed information on prenatal screening preconceptionally. 84.6% preferred not to receive information preconceptionally in retrospect. In an ethical analysis, we elab...

Focusing, Situating, and Grounding Micro-Level Evaluation Field Experiences: An Instructional Tool

American Journal of Evaluation — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

This article identifies the challenges that students encountered with course-embedded, small-scale field experiences and introduces the development and application of an instructional tool to help them: (a) more strategically focus evaluation field experiences; (b) situate experiences in terms of the larger evaluation to which it is contributing; as well as (c) ground experiences in terms of relevant evaluation standards, ethical principles, and evaluator competencies. (Source: American Journal of Evaluation)

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A Conversation on Multicultural Competence in Evaluation

American Journal of Evaluation — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

This contribution to the Ethics section is intended to foster discussion about the relationship between multicultural competence and ethics; a timely discussion especially in view of the release in 2011 of the American Evaluation Association's Public Statement on Cultural Competence (http://www.eval.org/ccstatement.asp). Over the course of 2011, Leslie Goodyear, Ethics Section editor, conducted interviews with three experts on research with multicultural communities. Represented here, these discussions among Joseph Trimble, Ed Trickett and Celia Fisher covered important topics such as the meaning of multiculturalism, the ethical imperative of multicultural competence, and essential practices for competence in conducting research and evaluation in multicultural communities. (Source: America...

Swallowing Neurorehabilitation: From the Research Laboratory to Routine Clinical Application

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Abstract: Doeltgen SH, Huckabee M-L. Swallowing neurorehabilitation: from the research laboratory to routine clinical application. The recent application of neurostimulation techniques to enhance the understanding of swallowing neural plasticity has expanded the focus of rehabilitation research from manipulation of swallowing biomechanics to manipulation of underlying neural systems. Neuromodulatory strategies that promote the brain's ability to reorganize its neural connections have been shown to hold promising potential to aid the recovery of impaired swallowing function. These techniques include those applied to the brain through the intact skull, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation or transcranial direct current stimulation, or those applied to the sensorimotor system in the per...

Ethics for the Pediatrician: A Brave New Pediatrics? Managing the Desire for Better Children Through Biotechnological Enhancement

Pediatrics in Review — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Source: Pediatrics in Review)

Pediatric Analgesic Clinical Trial Designs, Measures, and Extrapolation: Report of an FDA Scientific Workshop

PEDIATRICS — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Analgesic trials pose unique scientific, ethical, and practical challenges in pediatrics. Participants in a scientific workshop sponsored by the US Food and Drug Administration developed consensus on aspects of pediatric analgesic clinical trial design. The standard parallel-placebo analgesic trial design commonly used for adults has ethical and practical difficulties in pediatrics, due to the likelihood of subjects experiencing pain for extended periods of time. Immediate-rescue designs using opioid-sparing, rather than pain scores, as a primary outcome measure have been successfully used in pediatric analgesic efficacy trials. These designs maintain some of the scientific benefits of blinding, with some ethical and practical advantages over traditional designs. Preferred outcome measures...

Communication and Education for Families Dealing with End-of-Life Decisions

Journal of the American Dietetic Association — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

This article demonstrates how several ethical principles in the Code address the values and obligations of the dietetics practitioner when communicating with and educating families as they deal with end-of-life decisions. (Source: Journal of the American Dietetic Association)

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Pulmonary complications after major head and neck surgery: A retrospective cohort study

The Laryngoscope — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusions:Patients undergoing major head and neck surgery are at high risk of PPCs. Advanced age and hypertension significantly correlated with PPCs. PPCs correlate with prolonged ICU and hospital stays, and increased mortality. Further research is needed to define risk factors, useful investigations, and effective optimization strategies to mitigate PPCs. (Source: The Laryngoscope)

Urinary pharmacokinetic methodology to determine the relative lung bioavailability of inhaled beclometasone

British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusions: The urinary pharmacokinetic methodology to determine the relative lung and systemic bioavailability post inhalation, using 30 minute and pooled 24 hour post inhalation samples, applies to BDP. The ratio between Qvar and Clenil is consistent with related clinical and gamma scintigraphy lung deposition studies.© 2012 The Authors. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology © 2012 The British Pharmacological Society (Source: British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology)

Open disclosure of adverse events: transparency and safety in health care.

The Surgical Clinics of North America — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

This article explores our experience of managing and implementing an open disclosure program in an acute and chronic tertiary care facility with university affiliation in the Veterans Health Administration. PMID: 22269269 [PubMed - in process] (Source: The Surgical Clinics of North America)

[Burnout : Can it be measured?].

Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

[Burnout : Can it be measured?]. Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz. 2012 Feb;55(2):164-71 Authors: Korczak D, Huber B Abstract Burnout is widely known as a work-related syndrome that is associated by serious individual and social consequences. The aim of the HTA report "Differential diagnostic of the burnout syndrome" published by DIMDI in 2010 was to determine how burnout can be diagnosed and distinguished from other disorders. Based on a systematic literature review of 36 databases, 852 studies published between 2004 and 2009 were identified. After considering inclusion and exclusion criteria, 25 medical and one ethical study remained. The study evidence is predominantly low. Self-assessment tools are mainly used. The analysis showed that no st...

‘You need to let your voice be heard’: research participants' views on research

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusions Our findings suggest that despite ethical challenges, researchers can and should pursue research that has the potential to improve the lives of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Such research is more likely to be both ethical and successful if researchers pay attention to enhancing autonomy and person‐centredness, while at the same time engendering participant trust. (Source: Journal of Intellectual Disability Research)

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Use of ECT in patients with an intellectual disability: review [Special articles]

Psychiatric Bulletin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Aims and method The literature on the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients with an intellectual disability is scarce, despite a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders than in the general adult population. We carried out a review of articles published before March 2010. All age ranges, severity of disability and diagnoses were included. Results We found 72 case reports, a retrospective chart review study and other reviews, but no controlled studies. Most patients (79%) showed a positive outcome following ECT. Complications were seen only in 13% and there were no reports of cognitive decline. Many patients relapsed following ECT (32%) and the majority were maintained with medication at follow-up (71%). Clinical implications Electroconvulsive therapy is a valuable treatment ...

Health Technology Assessment Implementation: The Politics of Ethics

Medical Decision Making — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Using a 2009 American debate on a federal public health recommendation on mammography screening for women under the age of 50 as a case study, it is argued that public acceptance of health technology assessment (HTA) depends on the ethical acceptability of its recommendations. At the same time, that acceptability cannot be separated from the politics and values of the health care system of which it is part. In the United States, those values display a sharp ideological split between a conservative individual-based ethic and a liberal community-oriented ethic. A clash of this kind cannot be solved by invocation of ethical principles when it is those principles themselves that are in conflict. Inevitably HTA acceptance is threatened by this conflict as is the fate of health care reform. (Sou...

Cochleo-vestibular clinical findings among drug resistant Tuberculosis Patients on therapy-a pilot study.

International Archives of Medicine — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusions: A multi-disciplinary close surveillance of MDR and XDR TB patients on therapy is imperative. Finally researches into therapeutic trials on antidotes and potent safer substitutes for aminoglycosides in the management are recommended. (Source: International Archives of Medicine)

Wrong Medicine: Doctors, Patients, and Futile Treatment [Book and Media Reviews]

JAMA — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Source: JAMA)

Tobacco Deception [Lab Reports]

JAMA — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Source: JAMA)

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The Ethical Hazards and Programmatic Challenges of Genomic Newborn Screening [Viewpoint]

JAMA — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Source: JAMA)

Therapeutic misconception, misestimation, and optimism in participants enrolled in phase 1 trials

Cancer — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

CONCLUSIONS:TM continues to be prevalent. Estimates of personal benefit were not usually meant to report facts, it remains unknown whether respondents in the current study had TMis. Although they are not more vulnerable, phase 1 participants need improved understanding of key TM concepts, with attention to risks that are not present in standard of care. Cancer 2012. © 2012 American Cancer Society (Source: Cancer)

New cell-therapy technique may obviate stem-cell research

Physics Today News Picks — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

BBC: Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in converting mouse skin cells into "neural precursor" cells, which can develop into three types of brain cell. The group's findings, which have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may be important for certain medical therapies, such as bone marrow transplants. Until now such transplants have relied on stem cells, which can divide and differentiate into many different specialized cell types. Stem-cell research has been hampered by ethical concerns, however, because one source of the cells has been human embryos. More work will have to be done to re-create the experiment using human skin cells. (Source: Physics Today News Picks)

New Doctors Without Borders Book Reveals Perils of Negotiating Access to Crisis Zones

MSF News — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:21:00 +0100

Angola 1999 © H.J. Burkard Live webcast Please join us for a live, online discussion of these issues featuring several experienced MSF aid workers. Tuesday, January 31, 2012 8:00 PM (ET) More information. #AnyPrice NEW YORK, NY, JANUARY 30, 2012 - In a new book launched in the United States today, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) takes readers behind the scenes of humanitarian action, revealing the complicated negotiations and precarious compromises required to negotiate access to populations trapped by armed conflicts and health crises. Inspired by MSF’s fierce internal debates on the evolution of its independence as a humanitarian organizatio...

World Lacks Enough Food, Fuel as Population Soars

Scientific American - Official RSS Feed — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0100

By Nina Chestney LONDON (Reuters) - The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N. report warned on Monday. [More] (Source: Scientific American - Official RSS Feed)

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5 Most Common Ways People Ruin Their Work Careers

Psychology Today Work Center — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:02:25 +0100

Even the most successful executives, professionals, leaders, and workers can suddenly "go off the track" and ruin their careers. Watch out for these in your own work career.read more (Source: Psychology Today Work Center)

Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Exposure of Circle of Willis (Cw); Can It be Applied in Vascular Neurosurgery in the Near Future? A Cadaveric Study of 26 Cases.

Turkish Neurosurgery — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:02 +0100

CONCLUSION: Endoscopic endonasal extended transsphenoidal exposure of CW can make the surgeon more efficient in removing midline skullbase lesions with safe handling of different parts of circle of Willis and it may help in development of endonasal endoscopic vascular neurosurgery in the near future. PMID: 22274974 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Turkish Neurosurgery)

'You give us Rangoli, we give you talk' - Using an art-based activity to elicit data from a seldom heard group

BMC Medical Research Methodology - Latest articles — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Background: The exclusion from health research of groups most affected by poor health is an issue not only of poor science, but also of ethics and social justice. Even if exclusion is inadvertent and unplanned, policy makers will be uninformed by the data and experiences of these groups. The effect on the allocation of resources is likely to be an exacerbation of health inequalities. Methods: We subject to critical analysis the notion that certain groups, by virtue of sharing a particular identity, are inaccessible to researchers - a phenomenon often problematically referred to as 'hard to reach'. We use the term 'seldom heard' to move the emphasis from a perceived innate characteristic of these groups to a consideration of the methods we choose as researchers. Drawing on a study exploring...

Visual cognition in disorders of consciousness: From V1 to top‐down attention

Human Brain Mapping — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

AbstractWhat is it like to be at the lower boundaries of consciousness? Disorders of consciousness such as coma, the vegetative state, and the minimally conscious state are among the most mysterious and least understood conditions of the human brain. Particularly complicated is the assessment of residual cognitive functioning and awareness for diagnostic, rehabilitative, legal, and ethical purposes. In this article, we present a novel functional magnetic resonance imaging exploration of visual cognition in a patient with a severe disorder of consciousness. This battery of tests, first developed in healthy volunteers, assesses increasingly complex transformations of visual information along a known caudal to rostral gradient from occipital to temporal cortex. In the first five levels, the b...

Traditional use of medicinal plants in the boreal forest of Canada: Review and perspectives

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this review is the most comprehensive to date to reveal the rich traditional medicinal knowledge of Aboriginal peoples of the Canadian boreal forest. Future ethnobotanical research endeavours should focus on documenting the knowledge held by Aboriginal groups that have so far received less attention, particularly those of the western boreal forest. In addition, several critical issues need to be addressed regarding the legal, ethical and cultural aspects of the conservation of medicinal plant species and the protection of the associated traditional knowledge. (Source: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine)

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Via synthetic shield, artist explores human desire for invulnerability

Physics Today News Picks — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

New Scientist: Jalila Essaïdi, a "bioartist" in the Netherlands, recently worked with an international team to blend spider silk with human skin to try to produce a bulletproof material. The project, called 2.6g 329m/s, involved a Utah State University team, which genetically engineered goats to produce spider-silk proteins in their milk. Researchers in South Korea and Germany spun the proteins and wove them into a fabric, which was then wedged between bioengineered skin cells by a biochemist at Leiden University in the Netherlands. In making the material, Essaïdi, who uses biology and life sciences as an artistic medium, says she wanted "to explore the social, political, ethical and cultural issues surrounding safety in a world with access to new biotechnologies." According to t...

What are your views on what happens to your genomic information?

EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute) An ethics team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute today launches an online survey to capture the views of as many people as possible: they hope it will be the largest collection of opinions gathered to date. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)

Effects on bladder function of combining elocalcitol and tolterodine in rats with outflow obstruction

BJU International — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

CONCLUSIONS• Elocalcitol‐treatment improved the effects of tolterodine on bladder compliance at the start of flow.• The effects of tolterodine on AUC suggest that elocalcitol exerts additional beneficial actions on PUO‐induced functional changes during the filling phase of micturition.• The reduction of FP and increase in FC by elocalcitol and tolterodine could have translational value and, if valid in humans, support combined therapy in benign prostatic obstruction (BPO)‐related lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). (Source: BJU International)

Reuse of Medical Devices: Implications for Infection Control

Infectious Diseases Clinics of North America — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:43:12 +0100

Reuse of both single-use and multiuse medical devices is a common practice and can result in transmission of infection when appropriate sterilization or reprocessing does not occur. Reuse of single-use devices can be problematic because there are no clear standards for reprocessing, although data regarding adverse outcomes are limited. Single-use devices are commonly reused, appropriately or inappropriately, in resource-limited settings because of cost constraints. Reuse of medical devices raises important legal and ethical questions. (Source: Infectious Diseases Clinics of North America)

Pass notes, No 3,115: Brooklyn

Guardian Unlimited Science — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:00:00 +0100

Some residents of the New York borough are to heat their houses with their own pooAge: Around 360.Appearance: Hipsterville, USA.Meaning what, exactly? Hordes of hat-wearing poseurs raiding racks of clothes at 5th Ave thrift stores – and wood-walled coffee places where would-be intellectuals chatter over piped-in Iron and Wine. Although admittedly, that's mostly Williamsburg.What's Williamsburg? Brooklyn's capital of cool: the land of the indoor shades-wearer, where the ironic man is king, kitsch is classy and classy kitsch and somehow, don't ask me why, but somehow it just makes sense to hand over $150 to a vintage store for a ceramic Minnie Mouse. Oh, and apparently barmen there are wearing their hair in buns now.Sounds awful. And therefore ironically really great.No, just awful. Whatev...

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Obama Family Values

Psychology Today Relationships Center — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:57:52 +0100

Credit should be given where credit is due. Here is a man who has spent decades in public life, a product of Chicago politics, an Illinois state senator, a US Senator and President of the United States, without a whiff of scandal about his personal life.read more (Source: Psychology Today Relationships Center)

More than a contract

American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:46:13 +0100

One of your patients is a college professor who has lost multiple teeth. The original treatment plan calls for uprighting the posterior quadrants followed by restorative rehabilitation with both conventional and implant-supported prostheses. As for all your interdisciplinary patients, you conduct a pretreatment conference with the restorative dentist and the periodontist, and then enroll the patient in a 24-month treatment plan consummated by a signed consent form and a financial contract. Despite the patient’s devotion to treatment, root divergence for implant placement after 27 months of fixed therapy is inadequate. A complication in case management is the sudden retirement of the restorative dentist because of newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. The patient is dissatisfied with the de...

Animals Get the Upper Paw, or Hoof, or Claw (preview)

Scientific American - Official RSS Feed — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0100

In journalism, there’s what you call your dog-bites-man situation. Which is anything too common and expected to be a good story (unless the dog is one of those Resident Evil hellhounds, or the man is Cesar Millan). An example of a dog-bites-man science story is yet another confirmation of Einstein and relativity. [More] (Source: Scientific American - Official RSS Feed)

Attitudes toward euthanasia among doctors in a tertiary care hospital in South India: A cross sectional study

Indian Journal of Palliative Care — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusions: A majority of the doctors in this study supported euthanasia for the relief of unbearable pain and suffering. Religion and speciality appear to be significant in determining attitudes toward euthanasia. (Source: Indian Journal of Palliative Care)

Fetal Laboratory Medicine: On the Frontier of Maternal-Fetal Medicine [Reviews]

Clinical Chemistry — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

BACKGROUND: Emerging antenatal interventions and care delivery to the fetus require diagnostic support, including laboratory technologies, appropriate methodologies, establishment of special algorithms, and interpretative guidelines for clinical decision-making. CONTENT: Fetal diagnostic and therapeutic interventions vary in invasiveness and are associated with a spectrum of risks and benefits. Fetal laboratory assessments are well served by miniaturized diagnostic methods for blood analysis. Expedited turnaround times are mandatory to support invasive interventions such as cordocentesis and intrauterine transfusions. Health-associated reference intervals are required for fetal test interpretation. Fetal blood sampling by cordocentesis carries substantial risk and is therefore performed o...

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Moral Hazard or Morality for Health: An Ethical Debate on Insurance Coverage for the Obese

Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:04:02 +0100

Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care , Vol. 0, No. 0. (Source: Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care)

How my Divorce Made me a Better Divorce Lawyer

Psychology Today Relationships Center — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:30:35 +0100

We are pleased to have Lawrence H. Bloom, a New York and New Jersey based matrimonial attorney present his views of divorce as a client - and not just as an attorney. Larry also hosts a weekly radio show, "The Divorce Hour with Larry Bloom", Fridays at noon Eastern Time at www.talkingalternative.com, with podcasts available on The Divorce Hour page of the same site.read more (Source: Psychology Today Relationships Center)

Support and Counseling After Maternal Death

Seminars in Perinatology — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:41:28 +0100

Teamwork, communication, critical incident debriefing, and grief counseling surrounding the events of an unexpected maternal death are important continuing education and practice topics for health care employees working with pregnant women. Social technologies have impacted health care institutions and systems. Ethical dilemmas have been created in hospitals as they develop policies and procedures regarding electronic communications and social networking Web sites. (Source: Seminars in Perinatology)

The Dark Side of Altruism

Psychology Today Personality Center — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:05:44 +0100

The mobster Jimmy Burke was renowned both for his spectacular generosity and his terrifying cruelty. How could two traits that seem so different co-exist in the same person? The answer to this question has important implications for our understanding of human altruism.read more (Source: Psychology Today Personality Center)

Safety, the Nursing Shortage, and the Bariatric Nurse: Is This an Ethical Debate?

Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:31:39 +0100

Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care , Vol. 0, No. 0. (Source: Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care)

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Are Canadian general surgery residents ready for the 80-hour work week? A nationwide survey.

Canadian Journal of Surgery — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:01:18 +0100

Conclusion: There is a training-level based dichotomy of opinion among general surgery residents in Canada regarding the perceived effects of work hour restrictions. Both groups have voted against abolishing 24-hour call, and neither group strongly supports the implementation of the 80-hour work week. PMID: 22269303 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Canadian Journal of Surgery)

Can Too Much Information Harm Patients? [Excerpt]

Scientific American Topic - Medical Technology — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0100

Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care (Basic Books, 2012), by Eric Topol, a professor of innovative medicine and the director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute. [More] (Source: Scientific American Topic - Medical Technology)

All Isn't Fair in Love... Nor Work

Psychology Today Relationships Center — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:45:42 +0100

A recent article in the New York Times investigated events and attitudes that led Apple to outsource the manufacture of its iPhone rather than continue to employ Americans to do the job.read more (Source: Psychology Today Relationships Center)

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Ethics of treating postoperative pain

Journal of Vascular Surgery — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:25:15 +0100

You received a call advising that Mr S. H. Irk was in the emergency room having considerable wound pain following an above-knee amputation you performed 6 months ago. You discharged him from your clinic 6 weeks postoperatively to his primary care physician, still complaining of more pain than usual. Your examination, clinical lab tests, and X-rays do not reveal any serious problems, but he is writhing in pain and begging for relief. Mr Irk has been to a number of different physicians in the interlude including a chiropractor, a pain specialist, several primary care physicians, and a psychiatrist without relief. He has braced up with increasing amounts of analgesics, the latest of which was oral Dilaudid. His last source of pain meds on the street has dried up. You admit him with orders for...

GDC issues new guidance on advertising by dental professionals

MEDEV News — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:40:45 +0100

New guidance aimed at ensuring that advertising by dental professionals is clear and never misleads the public, has been issued by the General Dental Council (GDC) today. The guidance covers all forms of promotion of services by dental professionals in print and on the internet. It also guides dental professionals on appropriate use of specialist titles. Specifically, dental care professionals (DCPs) must not imply they have specialist status by giving themselves a title with ‘specialist’ in it. Only those dentists who are on one of the 13 specialist lists held by the GDC may describe themselves as being a specialist, e.g. orthodontists. Under the guidance, dental professionals will be required to feature their GDC registration number in advertising their ser...

3D‐liver perfusion MRI with the MS‐325 blood pool agent: A noninvasive protocol to asses liver fibrosis

Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:29:14 +0100

Conclusion:HPI and portal perfusion could be relevant indicators for the clinical follow‐up in patients with chronic liver diseases. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2012;. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Source: Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

Research in resource-limited settings

Paediatrics and Child Health — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:16:38 +0100

Abstract: After long periods of vast child health disparities between industrialized countries and Resource-limited Settings (RLS) research has started to address and reduce the gap. It is well established worldwide, has yielded mutually rewarding collaborations and has a funding and career structure unthinkable even 25 years ago. Despite this progress, work remains to ensure academic and funding equity and ethical parity.This paper outlines the background to and history of research in RLS, illustrates the current situation and points to potential future developments. (Source: Paediatrics and Child Health)

Ethical issues of clinical trials in children

Paediatrics and Child Health — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:16:38 +0100

Abstract: Children should not be harmed by their participation in clinical trials, therefore should no clinical trials be performed? This is a view that needs to be balanced as clinical trials provide the evidence we need to allow children safe and effective prescribing of medicines. Therefore, is it unethical not to involve this population in research? The main push in the last decade has been to increase the number of medicines tested in the paediatric population. This culminated in the European Union ‘Paediatric Regulation’ in 2007 that meant that all new medicines, appropriate for use in children, must be researched in this population. The current challenge facing paediatricians involved in research is balancing harm, legislative requirements against the need for evidence based med...

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Clinical Ethics in Pediatrics: A case‐based textbook

Acta Paediatrica — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:02:59 +0100

(Source: Acta Paediatrica)

Mammography screening using independent double reading with consensus: Is there a potential benefit for computer-aided detection?

Acta Radiologica — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

ConclusionCAD may have the potential to increase cancer detection by up to 16%, and to reduce the number of interval cancers by up to 20% in SFM and FFDM screening programs using independent double reading with consensus review. The influence of true- and false-positive CAD marks on decision-making can, however, only be evaluated in a prospective clinical study. PMID: 22287148 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Acta Radiologica)

Experience on Healthcare Utilization in Seven Administrative Regions of Tanzania

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

This article presents findings on the study that aimed to get an experience of health care utilization from both urban and rural areas of seven administrative regions in Tanzania. A total of 33 health facility managers were interviewed on health care provision and availability of supplies including drugs, in their respective areas. The findings revealed that the health facilities were overburden with higher population to serve than it was planned. Consequently essential drugs and other health supplies were available only in the first two weeks of the month. Conventional health practitioners considered traditional health practitioners to be more competent in mental health management, and overall, they were considered to handle more HIV/AIDS cases knowingly or unknowingly due to shear need o...

Making Sense of Clinical Trial Data: Is Inverse Probability of Censoring Weighted Analysis the Answer to Crossover Bias? [STATISTICS IN ONCOLOGY]

Journal of Clinical Oncology — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Ideally, therapeutic interventions are evaluated through randomized clinical trials. These trials are commonly analyzed with an intent-to-treat (ITT) approach, whereby patients are analyzed in their assigned treatment group regardless of actual treatment received. If an interim analysis of such trials demonstrates compelling evidence of a difference in benefit, ethical considerations often dictate that the trial be unblinded and participants be provided access to the more efficacious agent. Because interim analysis may not address longer-term outcomes of interest, important clinical questions such as overall survival benefit—the ultimate test of efficacy to many—may remain unanswered. The ensuing crossover disturbs randomization and may lead to biased longer-term analysis, comp...

Uterine transplantation research: laboratory protocols for clinical application

Molecular Human Reproduction — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

The aim of this review is to summarize the state-of the-art methods that are used in clinical organ transplantation today, as well as the major findings of recent experimental uterus transplantation (UTx) research regarding organ donation/retrieval, ischemic preservation, surgical techniques for anastomosis, immunosuppression and pregnancy. Absolute uterine factor infertility lacks treatment despite the major developments in infertility treatment and assisted reproduction. Concerning uterine factor infertile patients, genetic motherhood is only possible through gestational surrogacy. The latter can pose medical, ethical and legal concerns such as lack of control of life habits during surrogate pregnancy, economic motives for women to become surrogate mothers, medical/psychological pregnanc...

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Should female genital cosmetic surgery and genital piercing be regarded ethically and legally as female genital mutilation?

BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:49:53 +0100

Please cite this paper as: Kelly B, Foster C. Should female genital cosmetic surgery and genital piercing be regarded ethically and legally as female genital mutilation? BJOG 2012; DOI: 10.1111/j.1471‐0528.2011.03260.x (Source: BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology)

Alain de Botton reveals plans for 'temple to atheism' in heart of London

Guardian Unlimited Science — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:08:26 +0100

Discussions with City authorities about a possible site stalled because "they can't be seen to be connected to anything to do with atheism", the project's architect, Tom Greenall, said.The temple features a single door for visitors who will enter as if it were an art installation. The roof will be open to the elements and there could be fossils and geologically interesting rocks in the concrete walls.Humanists said it was misplaced for non-believers to build quasi-religious buildings, because atheists did not need temples to probe the meaning of life."The things religious people get from religion – awe, wonder, meaning and perspective – non-religious people get them from other places like art, nature, human relationships and the narratives we give our lives in other ways," said Andrew ...

Male Fertility and Reduction in Semen Parameters: A Single Tertiary-Care Center Experience

Advances in Pharmacological Sciences — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:56:20 +0100

Conclusion. Our data highlights the possibility of a spontaneous conception with semen parameters below WHO reference values. Therefore, we support the importance of defining reference values on a population of fertile men. Finally, we analyzed the related ethical issues. (Source: Advances in Pharmacological Sciences)

14 Quotes on the Forbidden

Psychology Today Sex Center — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:44:25 +0100

The more something is forbidden, the more people want to do it. Learn more about people's thoughts on the forbidden. read more (Source: Psychology Today Sex Center)

Federal Court Denies the Fake Diagnosis of 'Hebephilia'

Psychology Today Sex Center — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:42:00 +0100

The current fad of misdiagnosing 'Paraphilia, Not Otherwise Specified'' in Sexually Violent Predator hearings is the most glaring error now occurring at the difficult boundary between psychiatry and the law. Misguided and incompetent psychiatric diagnosis too often has paraded as expert testimony.read more (Source: Psychology Today Sex Center)

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Scientists Manipulate and Erase Memories (preview)

Scientific American - Official RSS Feed — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0100

Joël Coutu knelt on the cold cement floor of the pet supply store he managed in Montreal, his wrists bound behind him with telephone wire. He could feel the barrel of a pistol pressed against the back of his neck. “You’re lying!” the gunman screamed. “And I am going to blow your head off.” [More] (Source: Scientific American - Official RSS Feed)

Oklahoma lawmaker wants to stop Pepsi from using aborted fetus cells in soda flavoring research

NaturalNews.com — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0100

In order to simulate various flavors in processed foods, some food manufacturers are actually using aborted fetal cells to test and produce these artificial chemical enhancers that millions of Americans consume every single day. Concerned about the ethical and moral... (Source: NaturalNews.com)

Code of Conduct for Healthcare Managers

NHS Networks — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Working with the Medical Royal Colleges, the RCN and others IHM's new Code of Conduct lays out expected behaviours from those managing healthcare services, and GGI commends all boards to ensure that their own managements have signed up to these. GGI Chief Executive Andrew Corbett-Nolan said 'Good governance isn't only about structures and systems, it is about ethics and behaviours too. This IHM initiative is essential, and we see no good reason why all NHS boards should not ask their senior teams to sign up to this new Code. Indeed, we see this as a critical element to maintaining the NHS reputation during the coming difficult years'. (Source: NHS Networks)

Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Sequential Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization and RF Ablation versus RF Ablation Alone: A Prospective Randomized Trial [Vascular and Interventional Radiology]

Radiology — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusion: The efficacy of sequential TACE-RF ablation is better than that of RF ablation alone for recurrent HCC. © RSNA, 2011 (Source: Radiology)

Ileal Crohn Disease: Mural Microvascularity Quantified with Contrast-enhanced US Correlates with Disease Activity [Ultrasonography]

Radiology — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusion: Contrast-enhanced US of the ileal wall is a promising method for objective, reproducible assessment of disease activity in patients with ileal CD. © RSNA, 2011 (Source: Radiology)

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Dose-Dependent Artifact in the Far Wall of the Carotid Artery at Dynamic Contrast-enhanced US [Ultrasonography]

Radiology — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusion: A dose-dependent, nonlinear propagation artifact known as pseudoenhancement occurs in the far wall adventitia of the carotid artery and should not be mistaken as a marker of plaque vulnerability. © RSNA, 2011 (Source: Radiology)

Enhancement Patterns and Parameters of Breast Cancers at Contrast-enhanced US: Correlation with Prognostic Factors [Breast Imaging]

Radiology — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusion: Enhancement patterns and parameters of contrast-enhanced US may be useful in the noninvasive prediction of prognostic factors of breast cancers. © RSNA, 2012 Supplemental material: http://radiology.rsna.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1148/radiol.11110789/-/DC1 (Source: Radiology)

Direct brain interventions to "treat" disfavored human behaviors: ethical and social issues.

Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:24:40 +0100

Direct brain interventions to "treat" disfavored human behaviors: ethical and social issues. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2012 Feb;91(2):163-5 Authors: Greely HT Abstract As neuroscience learns more about the causes of human behaviors, it will give us new ways to change those behaviors. When behaviors are caused by "brain diseases," effective actions that intervene directly in the brain will be readily accepted, but what about direct brain interventions that treat brain-based causes of socially disfavored behaviors that are not generally viewed as diseases? PMID: 22261682 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics)

Fried food study does not reflect UK diet

NHS News Feed — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0100

Conclusion This study found no association between how often people ate fried food and their risk of coronary heart disease or death from any cause in a large Spanish cohort. This study has strengths, including using a valid method of assessing diet, a large sample size and long follow-up time, but also has significant limitations. The following limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings of this study: The study looked at frying using olive oil or sunflower oil in the context of a Mediterranean diet. The authors make the important point that frying with other types of fats or reusing oils several times may still be harmful. Reusing oils is common in fast food preparation in the UK, and so this study does not show that consuming this type of food is not linked to hea...

Limbaugh and Hannity Endorse Obama!

Psychology Today Anxiety Center — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:45:00 +0100

My elementary school friends, Melvin Limbaugh and Charley Hannity were always such blowhards. They had an opinion about everything. And they always agreed about everything, which I could never quite understand. read more (Source: Psychology Today Anxiety Center)

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Meeting Summary: Consultation on Monitoring and Use of Laboratory Data Reported to HIV Surveillance

CDC HIV/AIDS Prevention — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0100

This is a brief summary of a consultation sponsored by DHAP in collaboration with the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB), sponsored a Consultation on Monitoring and Use of Laboratory Data Reported to HIV Surveillance, March 9-10, 2011, in Atlanta, Georgia. The purpose of the consultation was to explore science, program, and ethical considerations for collection and use of laboratory indicators in HIV surveillance for public health action and monitoring. (Source: CDC HIV/AIDS Prevention)

Beyond genome-wide association studies: the usefulness of mouse genetics in understanding the complex etiology of atherosclerosis.

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:07:43 +0100

Authors: Welch CL Abstract The development of population-based genome-wide association studies has led to the rapid identification of large numbers of genetic variants associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) and related traits. Together with large-scale gene-centric studies, at least 35 loci associated with CAD per se have been identified with replication. The majority of these associations are with common single-nucleotide polymorphisms exhibiting modest effects on relative risk. The modest nature of the effects, coupled with ethical/practical constraints associated with human sampling, makes it difficult to answer important questions beyond gene/locus localization and allele frequency via human genetic studies. Questions related to gene function, disease-causing mechanism(s...

Chorioallantoic membrane for in vivo investigation of tissue-engineered construct biocompatibility.

Biomed Res — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Authors: Baiguera S, Macchiarini P, Ribatti D Abstract In tissue engineering approach, the scaffold plays a key role for a suitable outcome of cell-scaffold interactions and for the success of tissue healing and regeneration. As a consequence, the characterization of scaffold properties and the in vivo evaluation of tissue responses and effects result to be essential in the development of suitable implantable device. Among the in vivo methods, the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay represents a rather simple and cost-effective procedure to study the biocompatibility responses of graft materials. CAM is indeed characterized by low experiment costs, simplicity, relative speed in obtaining the expected results, limited ethical concern, no need of high-level technical sk...

A step-by-step guide to systematically identify all relevant animal studies

Laboratory Animals — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Before starting a new animal experiment, thorough analysis of previously performed experiments is essential from a scientific as well as from an ethical point of view. The method that is most suitable to carry out such a thorough analysis of the literature is a systematic review (SR). An essential first step in an SR is to search and find all potentially relevant studies. It is important to include all available evidence in an SR to minimize bias and reduce hampered interpretation of experimental outcomes. Despite the recent development of search filters to find animal studies in PubMed and EMBASE, searching for all available animal studies remains a challenge. Available guidelines from the clinical field cannot be copied directly to the situation within animal research, and although there...

Construction and Validation of a Supervisor Principle Ethics Scale

Australian Journal of Rehabilitation Counselling — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Australian Journal of Rehabilitation Counselling 17(2): 96-105 Abstract Psychometric properties on a newly developed Supervisor Principle Ethics Scale (SPES) are reported. The SPES was created to measure supervisees' perceptions of supervisors' use of ethical principles (Autonomy, Beneficence/Nonmaleficence, Justice, Veracity, Fidelity). Participants were vocational rehabilitation counsellors with a state agency in the United States (US) (Males = 38, Females = 49). They completed the SPES and the Supervisory Working Alliance-Trainee Form (Efstation, Patton, & Kardash, 1990). The five factors of the SPES were significantly correlated with the Supervisory Working Alliance-Trainee Form (SWAI-T), suggesting evidence of construct validity. Potential uses for the SPES in research and training ac...

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Intentional activity and free will as core concepts in criminal law and psychology

Theory — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

This article presents an interdisciplinary model within the domain of criminal law and psychology explaining human intentional actions based on a scientific notion of free will as a real-world phenomenon. (Source: Theory)

Letters: Readers comment on Medical Economics stories

Modern Medicine — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Letters discuss 'death committees,' the growth of urgent care and decline of primary care, and increasing revenue streams without compromising one's ethics. (Source: Modern Medicine)

[Repair of chronic ruptures of the gluteus medius muscle using a nonresorbable patch.]

Operative Orthopadie und Traumatologie — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Authors: Fink B Abstract OBJECTIVE: Repair of a chronic rupture with a defect of the gluteus medius muscle with or without a total hip replacement. Improvement of gait and limping by functional stabilization of the pelvis. Reduction of pain in the region of the greater trochanter. INDICATIONS: Chronic rupture with a defect of the gluteus medius. CONTRAINDICATIONS: Complete bony defect and absence of the greater trochanter and hip infection. OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE: Lateral positioning of the patient. Longitudinal incision of 12-15 cm over the greater trochanter. Preparation to the fascia and longitudinal incision slightly dorsal to the greater trochanter. Preparation and mobilizatio...

Life Lessons from a Poodle

Psychology Today Parenting Center — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:06:20 +0100

It has been said that we live in the information age. Most people have more access to more information–fact, fiction, reality, opinion…–than ever before. Simultaneously we live in an age where the quality of primary and secondary education has deteriorated steadily. More and more people spend more and more time in cyberspace than in reality.read more (Source: Psychology Today Parenting Center)

Double Agricultural Research to Help World's Poorest

Scientific American - Official RSS Feed — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:35:00 +0100

By Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The world needs at least to double its spending on agricultural research if it is to produce reliable crops and improve the lives of the one billion people who battle starvation every day, Bill Gates said in an interview on Tuesday. [More] (Source: Scientific American - Official RSS Feed)

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Why Leaders Have More Willpower, and More Willpower Failures

Psychology Today Work Center — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:46:42 +0100

In my Science of Willpower course, we talk about willpower as a strength that can be trained. I encourage people to think of themselves as willpower athletes. Try doing something harder than you're used to; dig in to your determination and motivation; trust that by training, the difficult will become easier.read more (Source: Psychology Today Work Center)

Ethics of treating postoperative pain.

Pain Physician — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:49:00 +0100

Authors: Jones JW, McCullough LB Abstract You received a call advising that Mr S. H. Irk was in the emergency room having considerable wound pain following an above-knee amputation you performed 6 months ago. You discharged him from your clinic 6 weeks postoperatively to his primary care physician, still complaining of more pain than usual. Your examination, clinical lab tests, and X-rays do not reveal any serious problems, but he is writhing in pain and begging for relief. Mr Irk has been to a number of different physicians in the interlude including a chiropractor, a pain specialist, several primary care physicians, and a psychiatrist without relief. He has braced up with increasing amounts of analgesics, the latest of which was oral Dilaudid. His last source of pain meds on the ...

Court-visited obstetrical and fertility procedures

Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:34:52 +0100

Conclusions Court-ordered obstetrical procedures present an unsettled legal forum in terms of their complex interplay. The awareness of legal precedent can alert providers to possibility of an exception to the general presumption that the mother is competent, where it might trigger a legal or ethical council. Screening inventories (covering maternal–fetal attachment, judgmental fitness, prior obstetrical history, perinatal risk, formal/informal social support) jointly developed by the health providers and lawyers would assist involved parties in resolving complex situations without resorting to legal conflicts. Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Maternal-Fetal MedicinePages 1-9DOI 10.1007/s00404-012-2216-7Authors Naira Roland Matevosyan, Open Medical Institute...

Considerations in developing and delivering a non-pharmacological intervention for symptom management in lung cancer: the views of health care professionals

Supportive Care in Cancer — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:34:11 +0100

Discussion The participants agreed that the novel symptom management NPI should be individually personalised to the needs of each patient and be available for patients when they become receptive to it. Moreover, they agreed that the intervention would be most effective if delivered to patients individually rather than in groups, outside acute medical settings where possible and closer to patient’s homes, should be delivered by an HCP rather than a trained volunteer or lay person and should involve informal carers wherever practicable. Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Original ArticlePages 1-10DOI 10.1007/s00520-011-1362-yAuthors Richard Wagland, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UKJackie Ellis, Academic P...

On markets and morals—(re-)establishing independent decision making in healthcare

Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:31:52 +0100

Abstract Medical practitioners owe much of the significant progress made in the diagnosis and treatment of disease to industrial research. Hence, co-operation between providers of medical services, most notably medical practitioners, and the pharmaceutical industry is in the best interest of patients. Yet, empirical evidence shows how well-directed influence exerted by the pharmaceutical industry impacts physicians’ decision-making. Profit-motivated inducement by the pharmaceutical industry may expose patients to considerable risks. Against what many think to be based on overwhelming evidence, Joao Calinas-Correia takes the view that the criticism levelled at the pharmaceutical industry as well as the call for transparency in the relationships between physicians and the ...

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The desired moral attitude of the physician: (III) care

Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:31:52 +0100

Abstract In professional medical ethics, the physician traditionally is obliged to fulfil specific duties as well as to embody a responsible and trustworthy personality. In the public discussion, different concepts are suggested to describe the desired moral attitude of physicians. In a series of three articles, three of the discussed concepts are presented in an interpretation that is meant to characterise the morally emotional part of this attitude: “empathy”, “compassion” and “care”. In the first article of the series, “empathy” has been developed as a mainly cognitive and morally neutral capacity of understanding. In the second article, the emotional and virtuous core of the desired professional attitude—compassion—has been presented. Compassion as a...

Moral distress in nursing practice in Malawi.

Nursing Ethics — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Authors: Maluwa VM, Andre J, Ndebele P, Chilemba E Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the existence of moral distress among nurses in Lilongwe District of Malawi. Qualitative research was conducted in selected health institutions of Lilongwe District in Malawi to assess knowledge and causes of moral distress among nurses and coping mechanisms and sources of support that are used by morally distressed nurses. Data were collected from a purposive sample of 20 nurses through in-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. Thematic analysis of qualitative data was used. The results show that nurses, irrespective of age, work experience and tribe, experienced moral distress related to patient/nursing care. The major distressing factors were inadequate resources a...

[Confused woman shortly after childbirth].

Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Authors: Brauer H, Martinsen EW Abstract Shortly after the birth of her first child a young woman became confused and agitated and was finally involuntarily admitted to an acute psychiatric ward. In spite of appropriate treatment with narcoleptics, she deteriorated from day to day and the staff members were uncertain what to do. New information from her close family concerning previous depressive and hippomanic episodes pointed to probable bipolar disorder. The treatment of choice was electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). In Norway this treatment requires informed consent, which she was not able to give. After consideration and discussions she was finally given ECT as emergency treatment. This had an immediate effect, and after a few treatments she recovered. She was given lithium to pr...

Genetic Basis, Nutritional Challenges and Adaptive Responses in the Prenatal Origin of Obesity and Type-2 Diabetes.

Current Diabetes Reviews — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Authors: Gonzalez-Bulnes A, Ovilo C Abstract Obesity and type-2 diabetes are currently considered global pandemics. A large set of epidemiological evidences are addressing both the importance of a genetic predisposition -starting with the thrifty genotype hypothesis- and the determinant role of the maternal nutrition during pregnancy -starting with longitudinal studies of individuals born during the Dutch famine- on the adult onset of the disease. Compelling evidences suggest that both over- and under nutrition may modify the intrauterine environment of the conceptus and may alter the expression of its genome, predisposing to disease in the adult life. However, the most recent data indicate that the consequences of this phenomenon, termed as prenatal programming, are influenced bot...

The Picture of Health: Medical Ethics and the Movies [Book and Media Reviews]

JAMA — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Source: JAMA)

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Women Feel Pain More Intensely Than Men Do

Scientific American - Official RSS Feed — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0100

When a woman falls ill, her pain may be more intense than a man's, a new study suggests. [More] (Source: Scientific American - Official RSS Feed)

Words from the Heart: A Practical Guide to Writing an Ethical Will

Journal of Palliative Medicine — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:01:45 +0100

Journal of Palliative Medicine Jan 2012, Vol. 15, No. 1: 138-139. (Source: Journal of Palliative Medicine)

Today's mystery bird for you to identify | GrrlScientist

Guardian Unlimited Science — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:30:00 +0100

This North American mystery bird has no recognised subspeciesMystery Bird photographed at Illinois Beach State Park, Zion, Illinois (USA). [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Paul Sweet, 12 November 2011 (with permission) [velociraptorize to see the complete unaltered image].Sony Alpha-35 camera with a Sony 75-300 mm lens This North American mystery bird is interesting because it has no recognised subspecies, unlike its congeners. Can you identify this mystery bird's taxonomic family and species?About the Daily Mystery Bird: The Rules:1. Keep in mind that people live in 24 different time zones, and some people are following on their iPhones. So let everyone play the game. Don't spoil it for everyone else by identifying the bird in the first 24 to 36 hours.2. If you know t...

Law and Ethics in Intensive Care

Anaesthesia — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:16:24 +0100

(Source: Anaesthesia)

The case for egg-sharing

New Scientist - Health — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:59:36 +0100

More women are looking to donor eggs to conceive. Is there an ethical way to meet the rising demand without creating new patients? (Source: New Scientist - Health)

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How The Brain Decides Whether To 'Sell Out' - Decision-Making Over 'Sacred Values' Prompts A Distinct Cognitive Process

Health News from Medical News Today — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0100

An Emory University neuro-imaging study shows that personal values that people refuse to disavow, even when offered cash to do so, are processed differently in the brain than those values that are willingly sold. "Our experiment found that the realm of the sacred - whether it's a strong religious belief, a national identity or a code of ethics - is a distinct cognitive process," says Gregory Berns, director of the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University and lead author of the study. The results were published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Adolescent girls undergoing medical abortion have lower risk of haemorrhage, incomplete evacuation or surgical evacuation than women above 18 years old

Evidence-Based Medicine — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

This study was done to determine the short-term adverse effects of medical abortion in younger and older women. Methods This was a population-based retrospective cohort study using the Finnish abortion register from 2000 to 2006. The only exclusions were abortions over 20 weeks, and only the first-induced abortion was analysed for each woman. The main outcome measures were the incidence of adverse events (haemorrhage, infection, incomplete abortion, surgical evacuation, psychiatric morbidity, injury, thromboembolic disease and death) among adolescent (<18 years) and older (≥18 years) women through record linkage of Finnish registries. The data from the abortion were linked to data from inpatient and outpatient visits for 42 days postprocedure. Diagnoses of adverse events were based o...

What Is Professionalism?--Reply [Editor's Correspondence]

Archives of Internal Medicine — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Source: Archives of Internal Medicine)

What Is Professionalism? [Editor's Correspondence]

Archives of Internal Medicine — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Source: Archives of Internal Medicine)

Nurses’ patient‐education work: conditional factors – an integrative review

Journal of Nursing Management — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Conclusions The conditional factors are to be seen as either enabling or hindering the accomplishment of evidence‐based patient education and the level of person centredness, patient safe care and ethics – something that has to be considered when designing studies.Implications for nursing management More detailed studies are required to clarify the nature of patient education work and to create realistic conditions that enable the role to be fulfilled in everyday work. Such knowledge is of significance for nursing management in developing supportive activities for nurses. (Source: Journal of Nursing Management)

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Moral imagination as a key to overcoming work-related stigmas

EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Carlos III University of Madrid) Moral imagination is an essential faculty for workers who must overcome the stigmas of ethical conflicts and social rejection associated with certain types of jobs, according to a study carried out at the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)

Loving You Is Breaking My Heart

Psychology Today Relationships Center — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:18:39 +0100

Love, is "a many splendored thing"; but love also involves a lot of suffering—especially in the case of unrequited love. Love can feel like being in paradise as well as being in hell. In both cases, the best suggestion is to keep on going. Why is it that love is so ambivalent, and why do we keep on loving even when it leads to heartbreak?read more (Source: Psychology Today Relationships Center)

What Can Parents Do To Keep Their Children Safe on Playgrounds?

PediatricEducation.org — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:50:28 +0100

Discussion About 200,000 children are injured each year on playgrounds costing an estimated 1.2 billion dollars. Most of the playground injuries are at schools and daycare centers and gender rates and age rates depend on the study. More injuries occur in the summer months. Rates of severe injuries varies depending on classification and the specific study conducted. Fractures, lacerations, contusion/abrasion, and strains/sprains all are common injuries. Falls contribute to about 80% of injuries. Between 1990-2000, 147 children died from playground injuries – 82 from strangulation and 31 from falls. The number decreased from 2001-2008 to 40 deaths with 27 due to strangulation and 7 due to head injury. Climbing equipment and swings cause the most equipment-related injures. Learning Poin...

Breast cancer screening cannot be justified, says researcher

Guardian Unlimited Science — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:05:53 +0100

Book argues harm outweighs small number of lives saved, and accuses mammography supporters of misconductBreast cancer screening can no longer be justified, because the harm to many women from needless diagnosis and damaging treatment outweighs the small number of lives saved, according to a book that accuses many in the scientific establishment of misconduct in their efforts to bury the evidence of critics and keep mammography alive.Peter Gøtzsche, director of the independent Nordic Cochrane Collaboration, has spent more than 10 years investigating and analysing data from the trials of breast screening that were run, mostly in Sweden, before countries such as the UK introduced their national programmes.Mammography screening: truth, lies and controversy, from Radcliffe Publishing, spells o...

Single? To Seek Or Not To Seek Lost Love Closure, Part 2

Psychology Today Parenting Center — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:09:59 +0100

Several of my research participants confided to me that the night before their wedding, they were in a hotel room with their lost loves, having sex, crying and "saying goodbye." And next day, they got married to an unsuspecting new spouse! read more (Source: Psychology Today Parenting Center)

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Newt Gingrich: Sex, Lies, and Politics

Psychology Today Sex Center — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:01:40 +0100

Is infidelity ok, if we ask politely?read more (Source: Psychology Today Sex Center)

Pause in bird flu research amid safety fears

FT.com - Drugs and Healthcare — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:40:40 +0100

Two academic groups agreed a halt for 60 days on further work ahead of international debate on ethical and practical issues (Source: FT.com - Drugs and Healthcare)

The price of your soul: How the brain decides whether to 'sell out'

EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

(Emory University) A neuro-imaging study shows that personal values people refuse to disavow, even when offered cash, are processed differently in the brain than those values that are willingly sold. The experiment found that the realm of the sacred -- whether a strong religious belief, national identity or code of ethics -- is a distinct cognitive process, and prompts greater activation of a brain area associated with rules-based, right-or-wrong thought processes, as opposed to regions linked to costs-versus-benefits thought. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)

Reporting on end‐of‐life matters – academic meets activists

Bioethics — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:57:56 +0100

(Source: Bioethics)

Today's mystery bird for you to identify | @GrrlScientist

Guardian Unlimited Science — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:33:02 +0100

This Ethiopian mystery bird speaks to us like horsesMystery Bird photographed at Lake Zway, one of the freshwater Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia (Africa). [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Dan Logen, 6 February 2011 (with permission) [velociraptorize].Nikon D300s, 600 mm lens, f/8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 500 This Ethiopian mystery bird speaks to us like horses -- what am I talking about? Can you name this mystery bird's taxonomic family and species?About the Daily Mystery Bird: The Rules:1. Keep in mind that people live in zillions of different time zones, and some people are following on their iPhones. So let everyone play the game. Don't spoil it for everyone else by identifying the bird in the first 24 to 36 hours.2. If you know the bird's identity, provide subtle hints to l...

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To Drink or Not to Drink: Is That a Moral Question?

Psychology Today Addiction Center — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:38:49 +0100

We live in a morally ambiguous world and that's inevitableread more (Source: Psychology Today Addiction Center)

Healthcare expenditure in the United States of America in the last year of life: where ethics, medicine and economics collide?

International Journal of Clinical Practice — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:00:01 +0100

(Source: International Journal of Clinical Practice)

Working in high performance and professional sport

Physical Therapy in Sport — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:29:36 +0100

Welcome to the first issue of 2012, and as this heralds the start of an Olympic year, this is a special issue dedicated to research in high performance and professional sport. Working at the top level in sport is often the pinnacle of a clinician’s career and it can be one of the most rewarding experiences. However, working at this level can also raise many additional challenges to clinicians including working long hours under intense conditions, pressure from management and coaches in making decisions about players ability to train and play, responsibilities to the athlete and athlete confidentiality, working within your scope of practice, working in isolated situations in different locations both nationally and internationally, to name but a few. Sport has also become increasingly liti...

Genetic Testing for Neurologic Disorders

Seminars in Neurology — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Semin Neurol 2011; 31: 542-552DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1299792ABSTRACTNew technologies and more research in genetics have revealed an increasing amount of genetic data and identified new diseases. In parallel to the wider availability of genetic testing, efforts have been made to regulate the use of genetic technology and genetic information. The swift pace of developments, not surprisingly, may cause uncertainty among those confronted with genetics. The authors review the current state of genetic testing with a focus on movement disorders. They introduce terminology (inheritance patterns; penetrance; clinical and genetic heterogeneity and types of testing, including influences of direct-to-consumer testing) and discuss general aspects of genetics, including indication for testing, familial imp...

The harmful consequences of prelabour caesarean section on the baby

Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:20:54 +0100

Abstract: Interest in rising caesarean section (CS) rates, especially ‘non-medical’ planned prelabour CS (PLCS), has not usually focused on the potential detrimental effects on babies, especially as long-term health is harder to study. Shortening pregnancy and avoiding labour may affect fetal maturity. Babies who do not experience labour have significantly increased respiratory and other morbidities which may have profound effects on development, determining immediate and potentially life-long disease. As labour is usually beneficial, this must be factored into individual decisions. Consideration should be given to awaiting or inducing labour even in women with a high chance of CS or who are requesting this operation. Mothers must be fully informed of all the evidence before they can g...

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Newt Gingrich -- Avatar of the Sexual Future!

Psychology Today Food and Diet Center — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:30:14 +0100

Newt Gingrich -- instead of being attacked for his marital meanderings -- should be hailed for being the forward-looking sexual avatar and visionary that he is.read more (Source: Psychology Today Food and Diet Center)

Bird flu scientists suspend work amid epidemic fears

Guardian Unlimited Science — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:07:42 +0100

Researchers announce 60-day suspension to allow debate about security of their attempts to prevent spread of virusScientists trying to prevent bird flu from killing millions of people have suspended their work because of fears they might accidentally cause the epidemic they hope to stop, according to a letter published on Friday in scientific journals.Researchers from around the world signed a letter in the Nature and Science journals in which they announced a 60-day suspension to allow a public debate about the security of their work.The letter comes after developments in the study of bird flu in which scientists have created a similar virus that can be passed between mammals.Bird flu can only be caught by humans from birds such as chickens but it is usually lethal. Scientists fear that b...

Titilation, Pleasure and Power

Psychology Today Relationships Center — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:37:36 +0100

Is titillation about pleasure or about power? It may not surprise you to hear that it is mainly about power. But the real answer to "Whose power?" may be more convoluted than you'd expect. read more (Source: Psychology Today Relationships Center)

Morals of Childrearing

Psychology Today Parenting Center — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:07:05 +0100

I heard Elisabeth Young-Bruehl give a paper once called "Where Do We Fall When We Fall in Love?" I was struck by her wit and eloquence, by the poetry she crafted from the follies of human attachment. Afterwards I asked her to be my analyst.read more (Source: Psychology Today Parenting Center)

The Ethicon EndoSurgery anoscope retractor for anorectal procedures other than stapled haemorrhoidectomy.

Colorectal Disease — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:55:47 +0100

(Source: Colorectal Disease)

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Professional Societies and Commercial Conflicts of Interest: Critics Blast Circuslike Atmosphere, Barker Marketing at Conferences

Annals of Emergency Medicine — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:16:32 +0100

Practicing a learned profession within a commercial culture has never been simple. The overlapping status of medicine in the United States as both a vocation and a business means that the borderlines of ethics and self-interest are constantly being drawn and redrawn. Medical professional organizations, like physicians, need to balance their healing mission and their cash flow. To an increasingly visible community of observers, many of these groups have lost this balance, even to the point of forfeiting the credibility as an independent professional authority. (Source: Annals of Emergency Medicine)

A Tale of Two Steroids: Answers to the September 2011 Journal Club Questions

Annals of Emergency Medicine — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:16:32 +0100

Kravitz et al performed a randomized clinical trial to compare the efficacy of 2 steroid preparations in adult emergency department (ED) patients with acute asthma exacerbations. The responsible conduct of research mandates clinical equipoise as the ethical basis for enrolling human subjects in clinical trials. This principle of clinical equipoise states that there exists genuine uncertainty among investigators about the relative therapeutic benefits of each treatment arm in a clinical trial. (Source: Annals of Emergency Medicine)

Today's mystery bird for you to identify | @GrrlScientist

Guardian Unlimited Science — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:30:01 +0100

This Chinese mystery bird has a special morphological adaptation that is shared with a group of parrotsMystery Bird photographed at Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Marie-Louise Ng, 18 December 2011 (with permission) [velociraptorize].Nikon D7000 This Chinese mystery bird has a special morphological adaptation that is shared with a group of parrots. What morphological adaptation is that? What ecological character do these two unrelated bird groups share such that they evolved this similar trait? Can you identify this bird's taxonomic family and species?About the Daily Mystery Bird: The Rules:1. Keep in mind that people live in 24 different time zones, and some people are following on their iP...

AMA journal article suggests mandating participation in experimental vaccine trials 'for the greater good'

NaturalNews.com — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0100

Some of the most deranged and sociopathic individuals on the planet hold respected positions of authority in medicine and at institutions of higher learning, and a recent journal article in the American Medical Association (AMA)'s Journal of Ethics serves as a reminder... (Source: NaturalNews.com)