Toward a Healthier Iraq

Health care in Iraq is the sector most influenced by variables such as political, cultural, social, and economic environments. The current status of national security, the deterioration of infrastructure, difficulty in accessing clean water and sewage services in some areas, and the national levels of poverty, malnutrition, and social fragility are all factors that negatively affect the health of the Iraqi people [1].There is a real need for a solid national health policy that is able to match the available resources against the health needs of a growing population, as provided in the Constitution of Iraq and National Development Plan, and oriented to a set of strategies and objectives that can drive development of the Iraqi health sector in the future [2].Establishment of a fair and comprehensive national health system requires sustainable commitment to this policy by all stakeholders and partners in order to focus efforts and achieve synergy in the optimal investment of available resources and to provide health care services and attain maximum effectiveness and efficiency of systemic response to the health needs of the Iraqi people and society.     

Locked into security,keyed into modernity: The selection of burglaries as source of risk in Greece

Consensus among Greeks claims that the rates of burglaries and thefts have been increasing during the last ten years and that this constitutes a major social problem for which immigrants, and, especially Albanians, are responsible. This article theorizes that the selection of burglaries as source of risk deploys the understanding that the flip side of the increase in property crime is increased affluence and that both are part of modernization. The selection of houses as targets of aggression enables people, especially men, to construe themselves as protectors of houses objectifying the longstanding ideals of household management and as members of a modern society in which security is a matter of individual consumer choice. The portrayal of immigrants as destitute thieves reinforces the construct of the Greek nation state as a successful albeit vulnerable household writ-large.     

从系统生物学到配伍西药:中药现代化的一个核心战略

国际范围内系统生物学的兴起和发展在为中药现代化发展提供机遇的同时,更容易为西药的创新研发提供方便的手段,因为西药在分子水平上的研究基础比中药要强大得多。系统生物学对分子网络包括基因网络的深层把握将自动把西药的设计引向配伍的道路,而配伍西药可能就是中药现代化的一个终极目标。所以说中药现代化其实面临着潜在的巨大危机。如何化不利形势为有利形势,需要中药现代化的决策部门在战略战术上提出及时的应对方案。需要从国家利益的角度吸纳不同领域的研究力量并在分子水平上极大地拓展相关研究,不失时机地开展与西药配伍潜势相结合的具体研究。     

中成药质量控制研究进展

中成药是我国医药学宝库的重要组成部分,在推动我国医药产业的发展过程中具有不可替代的作用。但是中成药有效成分复杂,药效物质基础不明确,以及单味药材易受品种、产地、加工方法等因素的影响,使得中成药的质量评价成为阻碍中成药走向现代化与国际化的障碍。所谓中成药的现代化就是指用现代化的分析检测手段去解决中成药的质量问题,而中成药的国际化就是指在我国传统中成药知识产权和法律制度的前提下,用国际化的视野和创造性的思维来促进中成药的科技创新,加强与国际之间的交流与合作,达成共识,创建国际化与标准化的中成药质量控制体系。本文从历代药典对中成药质量控制的变化、中成药质量控制的现状分析及存在问题三方面进行了综述,提出了完善中成药质量控制的策略,从而进一步使中成药走向现代化与国际化。     

中成药质量控制研究进展

中成药是我国医药学宝库的重要组成部分,在推动我国医药产业的发展过程中具有不可替代的作用。但是中成药有效成分复杂,药效物质基础不明确,以及单味药材易受品种、产地、加工方法等因素的影响,使得中成药的质量评价成为阻碍中成药走向现代化与国际化的障碍。所谓中成药的现代化就是指用现代化的分析检测手段去解决中成药的质量问题,而中成药的国际化就是指在我国传统中成药知识产权和法律制度的前提下,用国际化的视野和创造性的思维来促进中成药的科技创新,加强与国际之间的交流与合作,达成共识,创建国际化与标准化的中成药质量控制体系。本文从历代药典对中成药质量控制的变化、中成药质量控制的现状分析及存在问题三方面进行了综述,提出了完善中成药质量控制的策略,从而进一步使中成药走向现代化与国际化。     

The Solomon Islands Project: an introduction

The twin themes of the Solomon Islands Biomedical Project remain 1) the remarkable genetic heterogeneity of the groups in the Solomons; and 2) the differential responses to these groups to rapid modernization/acculturation over the past two decades of this long term study. This introduction summarizes the historical and ethnic relationships of the survey groups, their established genetic distances and their rankings with regard to acculturation at the times of their first survey, and changes occurring up to 1985-86. Relevant features of diet, life style, and epidemiology are described.