bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Informed Consent and Multiplex Genetic Screening
Authors: Avard Denise , Harmsen Eef 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Recent advances in genome‐wide genotyping together with new technologies provide unprecedented opportunities for multiplex screening. These advances provide insight into diseases, hold promises to improve clinical practices to address lifestyle changes, inform reproductive decisions, identify newborns at risk as well as possibly move genetic screening out of the realm of the clinics into direct‐to‐consumer market forces. Advances in multiplex genetic screening raise ethical issues with regard to consent. Some of the concerns that may arise include how to: manage the incidental and excess information; integrate information about susceptibility testing into the clinic, given the complexity of the information; address the psychosocial impact and educate health professionals about the meaning of the results. If multiplex screening is used in genomic research and made available in the clinic, each ethical issue deserves consideration in the consent process and should be discussed.

Key concepts:

Become aware of new technologies that are being used to expand screening.

Understand the distinction between testing and screening.

Describe a spectrum of social, ethical issues that are involved in multiplex testing and screening.

Know why multiplex screening/testing requires informed consent.

Familiarize the reader with the concept of broad consent.

Identify the emerging issues relevant to multiplex screening/testing.

Consider whether multiplex screening/testing will shift the clinical approach towards a ‘direct‐to‐consumer’ model.
Using Evolutionary Biology in the Medical Sciences
Authors: Antolin Michael F 
Published: January 2010

AbstractApplying evolutionary thinking to medical practice can lead to unraveling ultimate causes of disease and in improving diagnostics and therapies. Genetic variation is central: adaptations evolve by natural selection of inherited differences linked to survival and reproduction. Thus we may ask why diseases persist. Genetic diseases recur because long‐term population size and histories of selection influence the number of disease‐causing mutations patients carry. Individuals present different symptoms because mutations interact with environmental and genetic backgrounds. Some diseases like diabetes and hypertension persist because of mismatches between previous adaptation and modern environments. For infectious diseases, rapid evolution in microbes underlies the drug resistance blocking improvement of public health and prevents design of vaccines with long‐lasting protection against human‐adapted pathogens like influenza and malaria. A key is that diseases represent convergence of several evolutionary histories: the patient's legacy of inherited mutations and adaptations, and the microbes' history of infection, pathogenicity and transmission.Key ConceptsEvolutionary thinking in medicine distinguishes between proximate and ultimate evolutionary causes of disease.Mutations that cause disease in modern times may have been adaptive in the past, and thus produce traits that are maladaptive (mismatched) in modern environments.Early developmental problems may lead to disease in adults because of trade‐offs in early versus late life history traits.Weak selection on diseases related to ageing explains their persistence in modern times especially as post‐reproductive longevity increases.The evolutionary potential of microbes ensures that infectious diseases will evade therapies and vaccines in the future.Disease symptoms may represent adaptations to slow pathogen reproduction, so treating symptoms may prolong the course of infections and opportunities for pathogen transmission.The evolutionary potential of microbes makes it likely that new diseases will continue to emerge from reservoirs in wild animal populations.Medical research on therapies and diagnostics depends on testing animals most closely related and thus most similar to humans.Individual patients’ presentation of disease will depend on complex interactions at the convergence of patients’ genetic legacies, the evolutionary history of pathogens to which they are exposed, and the environmental context where the patients and pathogens meet.
Bioethics in Asia: in Transition
Authors: Bhardwaj Minakshi 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Bioethics in Asia is in transformation. In parallel with technological innovations in medicine and other fields the importance of bioethics is gradually recognized. Asia is a vast continent with huge diversity of religious, social, cultural and political values. Asian perspectives are equally diverse in moral reasoning and ethical decision‐making. Research developments in biomedicine and technological advancements in genomics have brought new dimensions to debates on informed consent, privacy for example, and new concepts are developed as an attempt to integrate local values in global issues. Bioethics in Asia is explored both from country perspectives and conceptualized from religious and philosophical views. As much as Buddhist and Confucian views have dominated Bioethics debates in Asia, gradually Islamic, Hindu and Jain perspectives are beginning to surface. This article attempts to provide an overview of contemporary bioethical debates in Asia, and how such debates within the region are also influencing global debates.

Key Concepts

Asian perspectives are diverse in moral reasoning and ethical decision‐making.

Islamic, Hindu and Sikh perspectives are beginning to surface in bioethics debates in Asia where Buddhist and Confucian perspectives traditionally dominated in academic debates.

Integration of local cultural values is encouraged in global issues, such as informed consent.

Family and community values dominate decision‐making.

There is a huge gap between biomedical research and clinical applications.

Genetics is increasingly becoming understood in the public domain.

There is a growing momentum to compete with the west in medical research.

Questions are raised if there is ‘one’ Asian Bioethics, given the multicultural societies within Asia.
Stable Isotope Ecology
Authors: Newton Jason 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Stable isotope geochemistry has proved to be an extremely useful tool in elucidating many ecological problems, with stable isotope ecology comprising the theme of a series of international conferences (
http://www.isoecol.org
). Stable isotopes can be used as biological tracers in the following ways: (i) to identify sources, for instance in determining the identity of basal carbon in a food web; (ii) to distinguish sources, for example to determine whether a breeding animal is using local resources or its own reserves; (iii) to quantify relative inputs in a system, for example determining the proportions of different prey items to a consumer's diet. When utilized carefully, stable isotope geochemistry provides some advantages over conventional methods, and provides an additional device for the ecologist. The following article provides a short reference for ecologists considering the inclusion of stable isotope analysis as part of their methodology.

Key concepts:

Stable isotopes are useful tracers of ecological processes.

Carbon stable isotopes are useful for tracing carbon sources and plant physiology.

Nitrogen stable isotope ratios in animal tissues are useful indicators of trophic level.

Combined carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in animal tissues elucidate food webs and trophic niche.

Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in animals reflect those of local precipitation.
Electron Tomography
Authors: He Wanzhong , Fernández José‐Jesús 
Published: January 2010

AbstractElectron tomography (ET) is an emerging electron microscopy (EM) technique for the three‐dimensional (3D) visualization of the cellular architecture and molecular organization in native cells at nanometer scale. ET thus bridges the gap between the low‐resolution imaging techniques and the high‐resolution structural techniques. In ET a series of images is taken from a single specimen at different projecting orientations. The 3D map computed from these images is subsequently subjected to visualization and interpretation. Thanks to several recent innovations in EM, including improved specimen preparation techniques, novel EM hardware and software, reliable genetic and molecular labelling approaches, ET is rapidly becoming a powerful bioimaging tool for precisely dissecting the macromolecular organizations and cellular events captured from living cells in health and disease. Thus many previously unanswered molecular mechanisms responsible for the specific cellular functions could be clearly elucidated by the ET technology.Key concepts:Electron tomography allows visualization of cellular architecture and molecular organization in native cells at nanometer scale in 3D.Electron tomography bridges the resolution gap between the low resolution imaging techniques and the high‐resolution structural techniques.The biological specimen has to be specially prepared before it is imaged in the electron microscope.Data acquisition strategies have to be used to obtain reasonable image contrast and reduce the electron‐dose damage.The 3D map is calculated from a series of 2D EM projection images recorded from the specimen at different projecting orientations.Several post‐processing stages are intended to facilitate the interpretation of the complex 3D maps.
Scale‐dependence in Ecological Systems
Authors: Hewitt Judi E , Thrush Simon F , Lundquist Carolyn 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Scale has a profound influence on how we conduct ecological studies, interpret results and understand the links between processes operating at different rates. All of these factors profoundly influence our ability to predict responses to change. The ecological patterns and variability we observe range from millimetres to across ocean basins and from seconds to the expanse of evolutionary history. Patterns apparent at one scale can collapse to noise when viewed from other scales, indicating that perceptions of the importance of different processes vary in a scale‐dependent manner. Moreover, rather than the environment simply providing an arena within which organisms are born grow and die, many organisms interact with the environment, altering it for both for themselves and for other species. Because of these factors, studying ecological systems is far from simple and scale needs to be considered in study design and analysis.

Key concepts:

The pattern you see depends on the scale at which you study it.

Threats from human activities occur at varying scales, from small point sources to large diffuse threats and changes in disturbance regimes across landscapes.

How organisms interact with the environment depends on how they perceive it and how patchy it is.

How an organism moves and how far it can move is crucial to how an organism perceives and responds to their environment.

Many organisms can alter their environment, both for themselves and for other species.

Because most processes are scale‐dependent, studies must explicitly consider scale in their design.

Understanding both the scale of threats and the scale over which species live are essential for successful management and conservation.
Biobanking: Social, Political and Ethical Aspects
Authors: Tutton Richard 
Published: January 2010

AbstractProspective, population‐based biobanks designed for research into genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors associated with common, complex diseases or the genetic basis of drug response have garnered significant interest over the past 10 years from bioethicists, social scientists, lawyers and other commentators. There are a series of interrelated but distinct social, political and ethical issues raised by biobanking: the challenges of creating governance structures that win public confidence in these novel and uncertain scientific initiatives; the establishment of appropriate systems of consent; determining the rights of ownership, commercial exploitation and benefit‐sharing among different stakeholders and the ways biobanks invoke ideas about human population differences and might serve to help address the health needs of minority groups in society.Key concepts:Biobanking is an activity that spans research and clinical contexts and is undertaken by public sector agencies, charities and commercial actors.Biobanks should be understood as ‘sociotechnical’ enterprises that need to bring about novel arrangements for governance, gain the support of funders and the public, as well to develop scientific and technical procedures and infrastructures.Biobanks are situated on the blurred lines of ‘public’ and ‘private’ and raise significant, controversial issues about the role of commercial interests in biomedical research and the distribution of benefits from the use of human tissue and information on individuals.With the prospect of international networking of biobanks, questions of data sharing, consent, privacy and governance will remain significant and still need to be further debated and resolved.
The Development of Fluorescence Microscopy
Authors: Masters Barry R 
Published: January 2010

AbstractThe fluorescence microscope (wide‐field, scanning, confocal, one‐photon excitation, multiphoton excitation) is an extremely useful and ubiquitous instrument in biological and medical laboratories. The fluorescence microscope provides enhanced contrast, single protein specificity and single molecule sensitivity. Progress in the technical development over more than 100 years of instrument design and fluorescent probe synthesis has contributed to the continuing widespread utility of the fluorescence microscope. Modern advances in instrumentation include the use of continuous wave and pulsed laser light sources, dichroic filters, photomultipliers, avalanche photodetectors and charge‐coupled device detectors. The invention of the two‐photon excitation microscope provides for microscopic imaging of live cells and whole organisms. The development of specific dyes, physiological probes and molecular probes (intrinsic and extrinsic) stimulated the widespread use of fluorescence microscopy in the life sciences. Recently, genetically expressed fluorescent proteins and quantum dots provide new research capabilities for the intravital fluorescence microscope.Key concepts:The reader will gain an understanding of the development of both the fluorescence microscope instrumentation and the field of fluorescent probe synthesis, development, limitations and applications to the life sciences.The fluorescence microscope can provide single molecule detection sensitivity.The fluorescence microscope can provide single protein selectivity.A major advance in fluorescence microscope is the development of multiphoton excitation microscopy.Recent instrument advances include the following: laser light sources, dichroic mirror filters, different types of photodetectors and imaging cameras.Recent advances in fluorescent probe development include the following: genetically expressed fluorescent proteins and quantum dots.The limitations of the fluorescence microscope include the following: optical resolution, noise and aberrations; photon‐induced cell and tissue damage; the bleaching of fluorescent probes.There are microscopic techniques that do not depend on fluorescent probes, but have alternative contrast mechanisms, that is, coherent anti‐Stokes Raman microscopy and second‐harmonic generation microscopy.
Light Microscopy Imaging Facilities
Authors: Sanderson Jeremy 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Historically core imaging facilities have been associated with electron microscopes. With the very widespread use of fluorescent markers for both fixed and living cells and tissues the light microscope facility has emerged in its own right. Well‐run core light microscope imaging facilities are focal points within research institutions. Researchers want to do science, acquire images and manipulate data for publication; for them, the microscope and the computing infrastructure within the imaging facility are merely tools. Staff provide organization, continuity, tuition and knowledge and maintenance of equipment, which encompass the needs of both novice and advanced users. Increasingly, imaging facilities are considered from the outset as a component in the design of a new research building, and must recover the costs of operation. This article discusses the need for optical sectioning, the role of the light microscopy facility and points to consider in its design.

Key Concepts:

Fluorescent labelling is widely used in life science to study organelles, structures and proteins of interest within cells and tissues.

Fluorescent cells and tissues are self‐luminous and light up throughout their thickness. This is often greater than the depth of field (thickness of the in‐focus object plane) of the microscope objective, thus most of the image is composed of scattered light and out‐of‐focus blur which obscures the in‐focus detail and drastically reduces the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR).

Optical sectioning microscopy ‘cleans up’ the image at each point of focus, so allowing a sharply defined 3D Z‐stack to be constructed and analysed.

The light microscopes required to acquire multidimensional images over time, and the software packages needed to analyse the data, are both expensive and complex. Core image facilities provide the instrumentation and specialist staff to assist in this process.

The design and operation of a core light microscopy imaging facility which is capable of effectively supporting a research institution requires some forethought.
Brain
Authors: Oscar‐Berman Marlene , Mosher Susan M. 
Published: January 2010

Abstract
The human brain is a complex aggregate of billions of cells working together to process stimuli, to monitor needs, and to direct behavior. Developmentally, the brain begins at the most rostral extension of the neural tube; it bends over and convolutes as it expands within the confines of the skull (cranium). The brain's expansion is disproportionate relative to the growth of the spinal cord, the most caudal extension of the central nervous system. Figure 1 illustrates the development of the human brain, showing its major subdivisions.
C
hina, Psychology in
Authors: Yang Yufang 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Modern Chinese psychology was founded in the early years of the twentieth century. The Chinese reformer and educator Yuanpei Cai studied in Wilhelm Wundt's Leipzig laboratory between the years 1908 and 1911, returned to China, and became President of Peking University in 1917. In the same year, Daqi Chen, with Cai's support, established the first psychological laboratory in China. This marked the beginning of modern Chinese psychology. In the ensuing years many departments of psychology were established in various universities in China. The Chinese Psychological Society was founded in 1921, and in 1922 the first journal,
Psychology
, was published. The Institute of Psychology under Academia Sinica was established in 1929. The outbreak of the Sino‐Japanese war in 1937 caused a major setback to progress of psychology until the end of World War II.
Cognitive Therapy
Authors: Beck Judith S. 
Published: January 2010

Abstract
Cognitive therapy (CT), a system of psychotherapy with an operationalized treatment, is based on an elaborated theory of psychopathology and personality. The theory has been empirically validated in hundreds of cognitive science studies, and the therapy itself has been demonstrated to be effective in hundreds of randomized controlled trials for a wide variety of psychiatric disorders, psychological problems, and medical conditions with psychological components (Beck, 2005). Research has shown that CT is highly effective in helping patients not only overcome their disorders but also in preventing relapse (Hollon et al., 2005).
Drug Addiction
Authors: Koob George F. 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Substance dependence can be defined as a chronically relapsing disorder characterized by (1) compulsion to seek and take the drug, (2) loss of control in limiting intake, and (3) emergence of a negative emotional state (e.g., dysphoria, anxiety, irritability) when access to the drug is prevented (defined here as withdrawal). Addiction and substance dependence, as currently defined by the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM‐IV‐TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), are used interchangeably in this article to refer to a final stage of a usage process that moves from drug use to abuse to addiction. The term
dependence
has two meanings: (1) an acute withdrawal syndrome (defined here as dependence with a little “d”), and (2) a syndrome in which a subject meets the criteria for substance dependence. In addiction, drug‐taking behavior progresses from impulsivity to compulsivity in a three‐stage cycle consisting of binge/intoxication, withdrawal/negative affect, and preoccupation/anticipation.
Evidence‐Based Practice
Authors: Spring Bonnie , Hitchcock Kristin 
Published: January 2010

AbstractEvidence‐based practice (EBP) describes a process of decision making for high‐quality client care. The idea of basing practice on evidence was introduced in medicine as a way to promote clinical decision making that followed a rational process rather than intuition (Evidence‐Based Medicine Working Group, 1992). EBP was defined as “the conscientious, explicit, judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients” (Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Haynes, & Richardson, 1996). From the outset, EBP was seen as based on more than research alone. Research was depicted as one of three overlapping circles or data streams to be considered in clinical decision making. Sackett and colleagues (1996) defined EBP as “the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values.”
Black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) as sentinels of ecosystem health: patterns of zoonotic protozoa infection relative to degree of human–primate contact
Authors: Kowalewski Martin M. , Salzer Johanna S. , Deutsch Joseph C. , Raño Mariana , Kuhlenschmidt Mark S. , Gillespie Thomas R. 
Published: January 2010

AbstractExponential expansion of human populations and human activities within primate habitats has resulted in high potential for pathogen exchange creating challenges for biodiversity conservation and global health. Under such conditions, resilient habitat generalists such as black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) may act as effective sentinels to overall ecosystem health and alert us to impending epidemics in the human population. To better understand this potential, we examined noninvasively collected fecal samples from black and gold howler monkeys from remote, rural, and village populations in Northern Argentina. We examined all samples (n=90) for the zoonotic protozoaCryptosporidiumsp. andGiardiasp. via immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) detection. All samples were negative forCryptosporidiumsp. The prevalence ofGiardiasp. was significantly higher at the rural site (67%) compared with the remote forest (57%) and village (40%) sites. A lack ofCryptosporidiumsp. in all samples examined suggests that this pathogen is not a natural component of the howler parasite communities at these sites and that current land‐use patterns and livestock contact are not exposing Argentine howler monkeys to this pathogen. High prevalence ofGiardiasp. at all sites suggests that howler monkeys may serve as a viable reservoir forGiardia.Significantly higher prevalence ofGiardiasp. at the rural site, where primate–livestock contact is highest, suggests the presence of multipleGiardiaclades or increased exposure toGiardiathrough repeated zoonotic transmission among nonhuman primates, livestock, and/or people. These results highlight the need for future research into the epidemiology, cross‐species transmission ecology, and clinical consequences ofGiardiaand other infectious agents not only in humans and livestock, but also in the wild animals that share their environments. Am. J. Primatol. 73:75–83, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.