Suicide totals for MDs sad reminder of stresses facing medicine,conference told.

A recent conference on physician health cosponsored by the CMA and American Medical Association provided some sobering news. One physician reported on the suicides of physicians practising in the US. Another reported that inroads being made by managed health care is affecting physician morale. "Physicians'' lifetime calling of caring for the sick is being called into question," said Dr. Patricia Tighe. "They have become like factory workers who can''t take pride in their work and are denied a sense of belonging. They are part of a corporate enterprise, to be dispensed with when they are not profitable, and subjected to penalties if their work doesn''t measure up".     

Legalize use of marijuana for medical purposes,MDs and patients plead

As debate about the legalization of marijuana continues in Canada, physicians are joining the fray. Ottawa family physician Don Kilby is working hard to make it easier for ill patients to use the marijuana that alleviates their symptoms. A recent case in Toronto indicates that the courts are starting to share these views.     

Biological weapons, genetics, and social analysis: emerging responses, emerging issues--II

Recent terrorist attacks in the United States have generated significant attention in many countries to the threats posed by biological weapons. In response to these events and the specter of future attacks, bioscientists and professional organizations have begun or intensified asking questions about the possible malign applications of their research. Part II of this two-part article examines the emerging responses initiated by biomedical organizations and spokespersons in the US and the UK. In doing so it considers how scientific and medical research communities are defining and policing notions of professionalism, responsibility and accountability in the responses made. Through an examination of these issues, suggested lines for future social analysis are offered.     

Biological weapons, genetics and social analysis: emerging responses, emerging issues--I

Recent terrorist attacks in the USA have generated significant attention in many countries to the threats posed by biological weapons. In response to these events and the spectre of future attacks, bioscientists and professional organizations have begun or intensified asking questions about the possible malign applications of their research. As Part I of a two-part article, this paper surveys how genetics might contribute to the development of novel forms of weaponry. It is further argued that the dilemmas and difficulties facing bioscientists pose pressing and thorny questions for the hitherto agendas and orientations of those concerned with the social, ethical and political implications of genetics. Part II will examine the emerging responses initiated by biomedical organizations and spokespersons in the US and the UK. This will be done with a view to asking how scientific and medical research communities are defining and policing notions of professionalism, responsibility and accountability. On the basis of this, suggested lines for future social analysis will be offered.     

Rejoinder: whole-culture synchronization cannot, and does not, synchronize cells

There have been numerous proposals suggesting that whole-culture methods - in which all cells in a growing culture are treated identically - can synchronize cells. An explicit defense of these methods has been presented (Spellman and Sherlock, this issue, pp. 270-273, ). Here, this defense of whole-culture 'synchronization' is subjected to a critical evaluation leading to the conclusion that whole-culture synchronization cannot synchronize cells - at all. Whole-culture methods cannot produce a set of cells that reflects the size and genome composition of cells of any particular cell-cycle age during the normal cell cycle. Thus, in addition to the well-recognized problem of artifacts, it is proposed that experiments using whole-culture treatments (usually starvation or inhibition methods) are not suitable for cell-cycle analysis because these methods do not produce a synchronized culture.     

Neuropeptide Y,enkephalin and noradrenaline coexist in sympathetic neurons innervating the bovine spleen

Summary The subcellular distribution of noradrenaline (NA), neuropeptide Y (NPY), Met and Leu-enkephalin (ENK), substance P (SP), somatostatin (SOM), and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) was investigated in homogenates of bovine splenic nerve. The distribution of noradrenergic peptide-containing nerves in the bovine celiac ganglion, splenic nerve and terminal areas in spleen was studied by indirect immunofluorescence histochemistry using antisera to tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine--hydroxylase (DBH), NPY, enkephalin peptides, SP, SOM, VIP and peptide HI (PHI).After density gradient centrifugation, high levels of NPY and ENK-like immunoreactivity (LI) were found in high-density gradient fractions, coinciding with the main NA peak. SP, SOM and VIP were found in fractions with a lower density, VIP being also enriched in a heavy fraction; the latter three peptides were present in low concentrations.Immunohistochemistry revealed that staining for NPYLI and ENK-LI partly overlapped that for TH and DBH in celiac ganglia, splenic nerve axons and terminal areas of spleen. Almost all principal ganglion cells were TH- and DBH-immunoreactive. Many were also NPY-immunoreactive, whereas a smaller number were ENK-positive. In the celiac ganglion patches of dense SP-positive networks and some VIP/PHI- and ENK-immunoreactive fibers were seen around cell bodies.The results indicate that NPY and ENK are stored with NA in large dense-cored vesicles in unmyelinated axons of bovine splenic nerve. SP, SOM and VIP appear in different organelles in axon populations separate from sympathetic noradrenergic nerves.