Enhancing Research Ethics Review Systems in Egypt: The Focus of an International Training Program Informed by an Ecological Developmental Approach to Enhancing Research Ethics Capacity

Recently, training programs in research ethics have been established to enhance individual and institutional capacity in research ethics in the developing world. However, commentators have expressed concern that the efforts of these training programs have placed ‘too great an emphasis on guidelines and research ethics review’, which will have limited effect on ensuring ethical conduct in research. What is needed instead is a culture of ethical conduct supported by national and institutional commitment to ethical practices that are reinforced by upstream enabling conditions (strong civil society, public accountability, and trust in basic transactional processes), which are in turn influenced by developmental conditions (basic freedoms of political freedoms, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees, and protective security). Examining this more inclusive understanding of the determinants of ethical conduct enhances at once both an appreciation of the limitations of current efforts of training programs in research ethics and an understanding of what additional training elements are needed to enable trainees to facilitate national and institutional policy changes that enhance research practices. We apply this developmental model to a training program focused in Egypt to describe examples of such additional training activities.     

Citrate synthase, sarcoplasmic reticular calcium ATPase, and choline acetyltransferase activities of specific pelvic floor muscles of the rabbit

There is a clear relationship between the pelvic floor muscles and urinary systems, which relates to urgency, frequency, incontinence, pelvic pain, and bowel complaints. The specific mechanisms which relate these two systems are not clear. Improved understanding of the relation between the pelvic floor muscles and bladder function is clinically relevant in establishing effective treatments to such problems as incontinence, secondary to birth. The following tissues were collected from normal adult female rabbits: pubococcygeus (Pc) and ischiocavernosus/bulbospongiosus (Ic/Bs) pelvic floor muscles. Bladder body muscle and mucosa, bladder base muscle and mucosa, and leg skeletal muscle were also collected. The following enzymatic assays were performed on each tissue: citrate synthase (CS), sarcoplasmic–endoplasmic reticular ATPase (SERCA), and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). CS and SERCA activities were significantly higher in the Pc compared with the Ic/Bs pelvic floor muscles, whereas the ChAT activity of the Ic/Bs was higher than that of the Pc muscle. Based on our results, the Pc muscle is expected to have a significantly greater capacity to contract and a higher metabolic activity than those of the Ic/Bs muscles. We believe that an understanding of the biochemical activities of these three biomarker enzymes in normal pelvic floor muscles is essential in evaluating the effects of specific experimental dysfunctions created in pelvic floor muscle activity.