A warning to MDs: If you want to keep calls confidential,hang up the cordless phone

Medical professionals who use cordless telephones in the home or office may jeopardize both patient confidentiality and their personal privacy. A lengthy investigation revealed that many doctors are unaware that anyone with a radio-frequency scanner or tuneable very-high-frequency receiver can eavesdrop on conversations with patients, colleagues and business and financial advisers — anyone they talk to on a cordless phone.     

Bringing the visiting diary up to date.

A method is described for the systematic assessment and review of long term dependent patients in a small practice using a personally developed computer program and assessment scale.     

New issues and future legislation on biosafety.

The current debate on gene technology in Europe is reviewed with particular emphasis on the role of EFB and science in general. From this debate important lessons have been learned by scientists, industrial companies, legislators, parliamentarians and interest organisations. This gives confidence that the continued debate will eventually lead to public acceptance of gene technology even in the food area.     

Genosystematics: from E. Chargaff and A. N. Belozersky up to date

A review of history of genosystematics (macromolecular systematics) from E. Chargaff and A. N. Belozersky up to date. The role of A.N. Belozersky and his collaborators in the development of this new branch of systematics is analyzed. Genosystematics was the source of valuable information clarifying some aspects of biological evolution. Its methods were successfully employed in microorganisms--(e.g., discovery of archaebacteria) and in eucaryote systematics (origin of plastids, falcification of "molecular clock" hypothesis, substantial changes in higher plants phylogenetics, etc.). However, attempts to employ some fragmentary and unreliable data obtained by genosystematics for modifying the existing phylogenetic schemes and systems of organisms failed. Nowadays genosystematics is like a newborn child suffering from children's diseases well-known to "classical" systematics. It is rather far from final conclusions describing the evolution of genotypes. Some of its recent achievments, e.g., elaboration of the concept of PhyloCode, allow to believe that this science is able to suggest revolutionary changes in Linnean systematics.     

Properties of maximal spacing on a circle related to phyllotaxis and to the golden mean

A class of divergence angles φ_G of phyllotaxis is defined that distribute leaves about the stem of a plant in a more uniform manner than do nearby angles. A theorem of Swierczkowski concerning the intervals between adjacent points placed on a circle according to the divergence angle 137·5° is generalized to include the other angles encountered in phyllotaxis. These angles are characterized by having continued fraction expansions containing no intermediate fractions after a finite number of terms. This criterion is shown to be sufficient for uniform spacing of leaves.A morphogen concentration field established by the leaves acting as sources is determined principally by :he geometrical spacing of the leaves and hence by their divergence angle. It is shown that the mean square of such a concentration field, is a relative minimum if the leaves are positioned by means of one of the φ_G. Thornley's dynamic scheme for determining the phyllotaxis divergence angles by positioning a new leaf at the minimum of the concentration field of previously placed leaves is also shown to be related to the spacing properties of the φ_G.