Ethical and regulatory issues arising from proteomic research and technology

Over the last two decades, medical research has begun to make extensive use of products of human origin in therapeutics, oncology, and most recently, in genetic diseases. This has raised many ethical issues involving patient rights, including issues of consent. Besides informed consent, researchers should address several topics when designing studies using human tissues. Reward for the patient should be kept minimal. Sample transfer should be organized along non-profit lines, at least in Europe. Sampling procedures should be at no risk for human volunteers, and at minimal risk for patients. Biosafety aspects should be addressed, in particular when international collaborations are intended or when collaboration is existing between academia and industry. Regulations on importation and exportation of human tissues should be observed. Data acquisition and storage should be addressed in accordance with national data protection regulations, in particular when using computerized databases. If follow-up information is to be taken, the authorization for such information should be requested. The right for patient's information (or for no information) on the research results should also be addressed. The issues of validation and patenting should be also solved, usually by informing the patient that he/she will have no commercial rights on potential research results. The patient should be told if the samples are transferred to another research laboratory or private company. Samples and related data should be destroyed on request at any time point during the course of the study. If possible, traceability of the donor should be ensured.     

Control and prevention of tuberculosis in Britain: an updated code of practice. Subcommittee of the Joint Tuberculosis Committee of the British Thoracic Society.

A subcommitte was appointed by the Joint Tuberculosis Committee of the British Thoracic Society to review and bring up to date guidelines on control measures for tuberculosis. The updated code of practice emphasises that all cases of tuberculosis must be notified. A minority of patients need admission, and those with positive sputum smears should be regarded as infectious until they have received two weeks of chemotherapy. NHS staff at risk should be protected, and evidence of infectious tuberculosis should be sought as routine among certain prospective NHS employees, schoolteachers, and others. Contact tracing should be vigorously pursued, and all entrants to Britain from countries where tuberculosis is common should be screened. BCG vaccination should be offered in selected instances, and local organisation of tuberculosis services should be extended.     

突发公共卫生事件与综合性医院重症监护超负荷扩容

医院是社会应对突发公共卫生事件的主要机构。在超出正常负荷的情况下,合理有序地进行基础卫生设施扩容是保证医院成功应对突发事件的关键。医院必须能够通过增加重症监护单元（Intensive Care Unit, ICU）容量或通过改造其他区域增加实际ICU收治能力;有次序地将相关区域改造为临时重症监护单元;储备充足的病床和相关监护设施,在应对偶发事件时必须能得到政府协助以获取额外的呼吸机;制定ICU阶段性扩容人员工作计划,保证在应对偶发事件或危机时重症监护的仍可有效执行;抽调临床专业人员参与应急管理组,共同制定和执行扩容计划;为重症监护活动提供充足的基础设施支持。     

Rules for the use of model organisms in anti-aging pharmacology

The use of animal models for initially screening anti-aging drugs is a promising approach for drug discovery. However, there a number of potential artifacts, confounds and errors that can arise in such research programs. The following rules are intended to minimize such problems: (1) since aging occupies an increasing proportion of human adulthood, data that conflate aging and late life should not be extrapolated to human aging; (2) the response to candidate medications should show a normal dose-response pattern, although not necessarily a linear response; (3) medicated animal models should not be hypometabolic; (4) medicated animal models should not show pronounced reductions in fertility; (5) medicated animal models should not exhibit general nervous system depression; (6) the effect of the medication should not be highly sensitive to the culture environment; (7) the effect of the medication should not be highly dependent on the genetic ancestry of the stock employed, leaving aside inbreeding, which should be avoided because humans are not generally inbred. While these rules do not guarantee successful extrapolation of successful drug results from the animal model to humans in a clinical setting, the failure to adhere to these rules should raise doubts about such extrapolation.     

“食品微生物学”微课的开发设计与制作

微课作为一种以学习者为中心设计的可视化学习资源,因其短小精悍的特点已逐渐受到移动学习者的欢迎。本文介绍"食品微生物学"微课设计开发与制作方面的心得与体会。首先应有独具匠心的教学设计,在此基础上再采用有效的微课制作方式。教学设计时应精心选题,力求快速有效切题,线索清晰,亮点突出,收尾干净利落,还应树立危机意识。微课制作时要根据主题选择合适的微课表现形式,制作有视觉美感的PPT,录制清晰稳定的图像,最后剪辑、美化、合成得到微课视频。     

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Measures to be taken in blood transfusion establishments in order to protect the personnel

There is presently no evidence of AIDS transmission to laboratory workers. Because transmissible agent is suspected, precautions should be taken in laboratories. As a general rule, procedures appropriate for hepatitis B prevention are advised. These procedures concern blood collection, carrying, and processing. Measures should be taken in order to avoid blood spilling and work surfaces should be decontaminated. Disposable material should be preferred, and all potentially contaminated material should be decontaminated before disposal or reprocessing. All personnel should be aware of usual laboratory procedures concerning pipetting, hand washing, protective clothing and of general precautions against viral contaminations.     

Analysis of Your Professional Liability Insurance Policy

The most important lessons for the physician to learn in regard to his professional liability insurance coverage are the following:1. The physician should carefully read his professional liability policy and should secure the educated aid of his attorney and his insurance broker, if they are conversant with this field.2. He should particularly read the definition of coverage and carefully survey the exclusion clauses which may deny him coverage under certain circumstances.3. If the physician is in partnership or in a group, he should be certain that he has contingent partnership coverage.4. The physician should accept coverage only from an insurance carrier of sufficient size and stability that he can be sure his coverage will be guaranteed for “latent liability” claims as the years go along—certainly for his lifetime.5. The insurance carrier offering the professional liability policy should be prepared to offer coverages up to at least $100,000/$300,000.6. The physician should be assured that the insurance carrier has claims-handling personnel and legal counsel who are experienced and expert in the professional liability field and who are locally available for service.7. The physician is best protected by a local or state group program, next best by a national group program, and last, by individual coverage.8. The physician should look with suspicion on a cancellation clause in which his policy may be summarily cancelled on brief notice.9. The physician should not buy professional liability insurance on the basis of price alone; adequacy of coverage and service and a good insurance company for his protection should be the deciding factors.     

上海濒危植物现状及保护对策

通过实地网格化调查、标本查阅及历史资料搜集对上海濒危植物现状及保护对策进行了研究,结果表明:上海共有国家重点保护和濒危野生植物23科27属28种,建议上海重点保护的野生植物有54科82属101种。上海原生植物减少、外来植物增多、生物多样性降低等是上海一些原生植物变为濒危的主要原因。今后应建立上海濒危植物保护体系,重点保护上海的植物多样性中心,并尽快立法公布上海地方重点保护野生植物名录;加强植物多样性保护宣传,保护上海的野生植物资源并防范外来植物入侵。     

生物物种资源监测原则与指标及抽样设计方法

生物物种资源监测是了解生物物种资源现状、开展生物物种资源保护与管理的基础工作和重要手段.阐述了生物物种资源监测的科学性原则、可操作性原则和持续性原则.提出了监测计划的制定程序;监测计划应充分考虑所具有的人力、资金和后勤保障等条件,并进行定期评估.分析了指示物种在物种资源监测中的作用与不足;认为应选择具有不同生态需求和生活史的生物类群作为监测对象.讨论了监测指标的选取方法;监测指标应可测量、有科学基础、易被公众接受、低成本和高效益;监测方法应具有科学性,能检测到相应的变化,应采用高效率、低成本的标准化监测方法.分析了现有监测计划在抽样设计方面存在的问题,探讨了空间变异性和可检测率对监测数据误差的影响及其处理方式,讨论了样本量确定和监测样地的大小、形状及位置设计.监测样地要有较好的代表性,能在有限的监测面积中较好地反映监测区域内群落种类组成与数量特征.最后,讨论了生物物种资源监测的尺度和标准化问题.     

Biological safety in virological field with special considerations on class II biological safety cabinets

The most critical point for the biosafety is not sophisticated devices or facilities, but education of workers and their compliance to the regulation. Appropriate devices should be carefully selected in the introduction of new devices, and they should be properly maintained. The class II biosafety cabinet is one of the delicate safety equipments. It should be kept adequately maintained throughout the lifetime of the cabinet to insure safety of the laboratory. For the maintenance, appropriate measuring equipments should be used by trained technicians. The recently enforced law for control of recombinant DNA researches should be applied for the handling of pathogens even in non-recombinant DNA researches after proper modifications.     

Tectonics,topography, and mammalian diversity

Terrestrial vertebrates show striking changes in species richness across topographic gradients. For mammals, nearly twice as many species per unit area occur in topographically complex regions as in adjacent lowlands. The geological context of this pervasive biogeographic pattern suggests that tectonic processes have a first‐order impact on regional diversity. I evaluate ecological, evolutionary, and historical influences of tectonics and topography on the regional diversity of terrestrial mammals, focusing on the hypothesis that diversification rates are higher in active versus passive tectonic settings. Ten predictions follow from this hypothesis. 1) The timing of peaks in speciation should be congruent with the timescale for tectonic episodes. 2) The rates of speciation and genetic differentiation of populations should be greater for species inhabiting topographically complex regions than spatially continuous landscapes. 3) If topographic complexity per se promotes diversification, then a cluster of young divergences should occur for montane species compared to lowland relatives. 4) Endemism in tectonically active regions should reflect origination within the region rather than range reduction from larger areas. 5) Extinction rates should differ for lineages in tectonically active regions compared to adjacent lowlands. 6) The relationship between local and regional species richness should differ between topographic settings because of higher beta diversity in topographically complex regions. 7) Species originating in topographically complex regions should colonize adjacent lowlands more often than the reverse pattern. 8) North‐south mountain ranges should have higher regional species richness than east‐west mountain ranges. 9) Areas with multiple mountain ranges should have higher regional species richness than comparable areas with single mountain ranges. 10) Global climate changes should affect diversification in tectonically active regions. Research addressing these topics places elevational diversity gradients into a geohistorical context and integrates data from modern biotas and the fossil record.     

Audit of admission to medical school: III--applicants' perceptions and proposals for change.

Applicants to St Mary''s Hospital Medical School were asked to comment freely on the process of selection. They were particularly concerned about the role of interviews, excessive emphasis on academic achievement, the problem of rank-ordering choices on the UCCA form, and possible biases in selection. These concerns and the results of our survey suggest that candidates should not be asked to rank their choices in order of preference, that UCCA applications for medicine should be subject to an early closing date, that as many applicants as possible should be interviewed, that applicants should be encouraged to apply after taking A levels, that educational opportunity should be taken into account in assessing A level grades, and that mature students should be encouraged, not least by providing mandatory awards for a second degree in medicine.     

Guidelines for physicians reviewing proposed legislation on health care occupations

The premise of the CMA guidelines is that legislation on health care occupations should protect the public and therefore should be based on the needs of the patient rather than on the wishes of the health care worker. Health care should be provided by personnel with appropriate training; thus, the scope of practice of any group must be based on relevant educational preparation. In a review of legislation the procedure for amending both the statutes and the regulations should be examined.     

Electrical storms in Brugada syndrome: review of pharmacologic and ablative therapeutic options

Electrical storm occurring in a patient with the Brugada syndrome is an exceptional but malignant and potentially lethal event. Efficient therapeutic solutions should be known and urgently applied because of the inability of usual antiarrhythmic means in preventing multiple recurrences of ventricular arrhythmias. Isoproterenol should be immediately infused while oral quinidine should be further administrated when isoproterenol is not effective. In case of failure of these therapeutic options, ablation of the triggering ventricular ectopies should be attempted.     

Nτ-methylhistidine – An index of the true rate of myofibrillar degradation? An appraisal

The use of N^τ-methylhistidine excretion as an index of myofibrillar protein breakdown is reviewed. It is suggested that several criteria should be considered before the technique can be considered valid and these include (i) there should be no reutilization of His (τMe) during protein synthesis, (ii) there should be little change in the His (τMe) content of the muscle during development, (iii) the metabolism, if any, of the His (τMe) should be minimal, (iv) the diet should contain no His (τMe), (v) there should be no other significant source of His (τMe) in the animal other than myofibrillar protein. Following consideration of these factors and of the data obtained using the technique, it is concluded that, with caution, it can be considered a valuable tool in the study of myofibrillar protein breakdown.     

全面预算管理下公立医院的成本管理分析

成本管理是公立医院经济管理不可或缺的关键部分,但是当前我国公立医院的成本管理方面还存在着预算管理与成本核算模式单一、流于表面,医院运行规模庞大,支出过高造成浪费,规章制度不健全,职工成本控制意识淡漠,缺乏内部审计监督机制等问题。建立全面预算管理能使医院有效决策,能有效提高医院职工的成本意识,降低医院的管理成本。在全面预算管理下公立医院应当明确定位成本控制的目标,健全成本控制规章制度,财务部门统一管理,改善医院的资本结构,提高资金使用效益,重视人力成本的管理,树立成本控制的理念,加强内部审计监督,从而进行有效的成本管理。     

中国蕨科的数量分类研究

本文用聚类分析的方法,对中国蕨科23个种代表9个属做了数量分类研究,通过23OTUs×37个性状的原始数值矩阵标准化后,用欧氏距离系数计算相似性,采用WPGMA法进行聚类分析,以探索各属之间的系统位置和亲缘关系。其结果与我国植物学家经典分类处理基本上一致,并对粉背蕨属(Aleuritopteris)也做了修正,认为粉背蕨系(Ser.Farinosae)和银粉背蕨系(Sef.Argenteae)也可做为两个新属处理比较合理。另外对距离系数和结合线在类群划分申的作用进行了讨论和评价。     

构建公立医院有效监管体系策略探讨

通过对公立医院监管乏力、趋利行为失控、医疗服务失范等现象产生原因分析,提出应着力建立有效的公立医院监控体系框架,充分发挥政府的监管职能,建立和完善社会和行业监管职能,实施有效的监控措施,促进公立医院公益性回归,保证公立医院健康发展。     

Manganese-Dependent Cleavage of Nonphenolic Lignin Structures by Ceriporiopsis subvermispora in the Absence of Lignin Peroxidase

Vol. 62, no. 10, p. 3684, column 2, line 16: "Tri(methylsilyl)" should read "Tri(trimethylsilyl)." Line 17: "Di(methylsilyl)" should read "Di(trimethylsilyl)." Line 20: "Tri(methylsilyl)" should read "Trimethylsilyl." Page 3686, column 1, reference 12: The journal should be Dokl. Akad. Nauk Belarusi. [This corrects the article on p. 3679 in vol. 62.].