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Changes in fertility relative to starting, stopping, and spacing behaviors in a migrating Mennonite community, 1775-1889.

Fertility change over time in a migrating Mennonite church congregation is reconstructed through genealogies developed from church registries of vital events during 1725-1924. The congregation was located in Prussia from 1725-1821, in Russia from 1822-1874, and in Kansas, U.S.A., from 1875-1924. Age-specific marital fertility rates were relatively low and usually peaked for women aged 25-29. Total fertility rates ranged from 1.19 to 5.29. These relatively low figures for a natural fertility population may partly reflect underreporting of births and deaths of infants, but it also reflects the heterogeneity in fertility evident for this population. Some women had many children while others were having either few or none. This pattern changed twice. Fertility was lowest during residence late in Prussia and early in Russia, peaked during residence late in Russia, and has decreased slightly for women born in the United States.

Birth Intervals↗

[Medical philosophy reflected in the history of medicine].

The main aim of the Medical Humanics course, as well as that of this university, is to educate students so that they will continue philosophizing for themselves throughout their lives. Dr. Hisayoshi Omodaka, the founder of Japanese Medical Humanics (or Igaku Gairon), claimed that this discipline must be the philosophy of medicine. Medical Humanics should be the philosophy for physicians, researchers and all other health-related professionals. This philosophy is different from the philosophy which is taught independently to freshmen in the university. Thus the philosophy of medicine should embody those concrete materials which are harvested directly from the hot spots of medical practice. This paper is based on the author's series of lectures in medical humanics with the title: "Man and Medicine", given between October and December of 1982 to the 5th-year undergraduates. In this series the author attempted to express his own views, along with the philosophical thinking of many great physicians and thinkers, so far as they are reflected in the mirror of the history of medicine. The outline is as follows: (1) Usefulness of the history of medicine for medical students. (2) Origin of medicine and the occult sciences. (3) Western classic medicine: from Hippocrates to the Renaissance. (4) Chinese classic medicine. (5) Brief sketch of Japanese medicine: from ancient to Meiji period. There is a general tendency among both medical students and teachers to make little of the history of medicine. However, as William Hazlitt wrote in his poem, "By despising all that has preceded us, we teach others to despise ourselves".

Buddhism↗

The socio-cultural context of health behaviour among Esan communities, Edo State, Nigeria.

This paper reports on health beliefs and their influence on treatment decisions and behaviour among the Esan people of mid-west Nigeria. The sources for the study are my own experience of growing up in Esan society, anthropological field work, and focus groups. The research revealed a transitional society where both traditional and modern medicine are employed and where the choice between them is determined by belief systems which are themselves in the process of change, as well as by distance and costs. The traditional health-belief system was one which placed most responsibility and blame upon women, and a system of social control over the adult female population. Changing health beliefs are less the result of the introduction of a new health philosophy than of the retreat, under the impact of Christianity, of traditional religion which embodied the older health philosophy.

Culture↗

Religion and the body in medical research.

Religious discussion of human organs and tissues has concentrated largely on donation for therapeutic purposes. The retrieval and use of human tissue samples in diagnostic, research, and education contexts have, by contrast, received very little direct theological attention. Initially undertaken at the behest of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, this essay seeks to explore the theological and religious questions embedded in nontherapeutic use of human tissue. It finds that the "donation paradigm" typically invoked in religious discourse to justify uses of the body for therapeutic reasons is inadequate in the context of nontherapeutic research, while the "resource paradigm" implicit in scientific discourse presumes a reductionist account of the body that runs contrary to important religious values about embodiment. The essay proposes a "contribution paradigm" that provides a religious perspective within which research on human tissue can be both justified and limited.

Advisory Committees↗

Citation bias of hepato-biliary randomized clinical trials.

The objective of this study was to assess whether trials with a positive (i.e., statistically significant) outcome are cited more often than negative trials. We reviewed 530 randomized clinical trials on hepato-biliary diseases published in 11 English-language journals indexed in MEDLINE from 1985-1996. From each trial, we extracted the statistical significance of the primary study outcome (positive or negative), the disease area, and methodological quality (randomization and double blinding). The number of citations during two calendar years after publication was obtained from Science Citation Index. There was a significant positive association between a statistically significant study outcome and the citation frequency (beta, 0.55, 95% confidence interval, 0.39-0.72). The disease area and adequate generation of the allocation sequence were also significant predictors of the citation frequency. We concluded that positive trials are cited significantly more often than negative trials. The association was not explained by disease area or methodological quality.

Bias↗

Medical killing--an Evangelical perspective.

Evangelicals are unconditionally opposed to active euthanasia. Indirect euthanasia is seen as simply belonging to the risks inherent in any medical intervention. Passive euthanasia is accepted if used in order to save the dignity of the dying and is seen as merely ceasing to interfere with an irreversible dying process. The basis of evangelical ethics is the Bible supplemented by science and experience as a kind of natural law. Even though natural law comes under Biblical revelation, its acceptance is the reason for the similarity of the Evangelical and the Roman-Catholic position of Evangelicals. Evangelicals stress the necessity of a better counseling and investment for the deadly ill patient.

Bible↗

Reproductive biotechnology: an animal scientist's perspective.

This paper questions the extent of the "cultural mandate" given humankind in Genesis. How far does the authority granted to us extend? With the emergence of new biotechnologies that deal with reproduction come new questions of what science should and should not do. These questions are of added concern because techniques for human medicine are first developed in animal laboratories. It is suggested that new technologies should be developed for use in laboratory and domestic animals since they can benefit humankind, but that more restraint and prayerful consideration of each technological advance should be made before its application to human medicine.

Agriculture↗

Altruistic suicide: a few reflections.

In the last few centuries, science has become arithmetic, tabular, taxonomic, to explain living creatures, chemical elements and even diseases of the mind. Emile Durkheim attempted to do the same with his enduring volume, Suicide: A Study of Sociology, first published in 1897. Durkheim showed that suicide could be divided into an order: egoistic, altruistic, anomic and fatalistic-here, we focus on the question, who is the altruistic suicide? Durkheim's additional question is raised: When is a motive praiseworthy and when not-when to be called altruistic or heroic, and when terrorist? Further study is warranted-and thus, this opening editorial to an array of studies on the topic, from antiquity to the Christian martyrs into this century, to the act of Sati in India, to the suicide bomber in the Moslem world.

Journal Article↗

Sperm donation in Israel.

Science and technology in the field of human reproduction present new legal, ethical and religious questions which do not always have immediate answers. The first step in the rapidly developed field of reproductive technology was the use of sperm donation (artificial insemination by donor, AID) and the establishment of sperm banks. The state of Israel faced these problems when the regulations for sperm donation were discussed. The fact that the main holy places for the three monotheistic religions are in Israel directly influences the make-up of the population constituents. Therefore, besides a majority of secular people, a high percentage of the population of Israel is very religious: Jews, Moslems and Christians. Thus any resolution relating to AID should take this demographic combination into account. The practice of AID is opposed by the different monotheistic religions. To avoid the conflict between secular and religious people, and between the different religions' perspectives, the legal problem of AID in Israel was solved not by laws but by regulations which were published by the Ministry of Health. The main idea behind this attitude is that the state and its authorities should not and do not deal with ethical or religious questions. Thus, the decision was left to the couples and to the donors. The regulations address technical requirements, health problems and confidential issues concerning the couple, the donor and the child. In this paper we present the different views relating to these problems as perceived by the different religions, and describe the solution that was accepted by the Israeli Ministry of Health.

Government Regulation↗

Raman spectroscopy of fullerenes and fullerene-nanotube composites.

The discovery of fullerenes in 1985 opened a completely new field of materials research. Together with the single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) discovered later, these curved carbon networks are a playground for pure as well as applied science. We present a review of Raman spectroscopy of fullerenes, SWCNTs and composite materials. Beginning with pristine C(60), we discuss intercalated C(60) compounds and polymerized C(60), as well as higher and endohedral fullerenes. Concerning SWCNTs, we show how the diameter distribution can be obtained from the Raman spectra and how doping modifies the spectra. Finally, the Raman response of C(60) encapsulated into SWCNTs (C(60) peapods) is discussed.

Carbon↗

DNA: a programmable force sensor.

Direct quantification of biomolecular interaction by single-molecule force spectroscopy has evolved into a powerful tool for materials and life sciences. We introduce an approach in which the unbinding forces required to break intermolecular bonds are measured in a differential format by comparison with a known reference bond (here, a short DNA duplex). In addition to a marked increase in sensitivity and force resolution, which enabled us to resolve single-base pair mismatches, this concept allows for highly specific parallel assays. This option was exploited to overcome cross-reactions of antibodies in a protein biochip application.

Animals↗

Role of history and philosophy of medicine in the professional formation of a physician: writings of Polish school of philosophy of medicine.

Polish physicians-philosophers tried to find a compromise between medicine as a science and medicine as a healing art. They stated that clinical practice should be transformed into science, bearing in mind that there would be no medicine without the existence of the sick. A perfect physician is a good and wise person and not exclusively a proficient expert. Polish physicians exercised a science that they called philosophy of medicine. It included logic, psychology, and medical ethics. The Polish school claimed that the history of medicine and philosophy of medicine are necessary for future doctors. The historical and philosophical approach makes it possible to recognize the subject of medicine (health, disease, and the sick) and its aim (treatment, restoration of health or just alleviation of suffering). The ethics teaches what values are pursued by medicine, what moral duties a doctor has, and what role model to follow to become a good physician. Placing the sick in the focus of medical interest, the Polish school taught future physicians to see in them suffering fellow men who should be embraced with care, compassion, and Christian charity. Such an approach to the ethical aspect of medical philosophy became incorporated into an education towards humane values, responsibility for ones' life and health in the spirit of the ethics of care.

Education, Medical↗

Quantitative CT of dinosaur bones.

To develop a protocol for CT examinations of fossilized saurian bones and to provide paleontologists with morphometric and densitometric data suitable for functional analysis, four isolated long bones of Tendaguru dinosaurs from the Museum for Natural Sciences of the Humboldt University of Berlin were examined by CT. The demonstration of fossils in the axial CT proved optimal with the window set at a center of 2,640 Hounsfield units (HU) and a width of 1,040 HU. The petrified bones have a maximum density of 3,000 HU. The shape and structure of the skeletal remnants suggest that the extremities of Tendaguru dinosaurs were submitted to mainly compression but nearly no bending stress.

Animals↗

Bridging Proteomics and Medical Science - the 5th HUPO Brain Proteome Workshop in Dublin, Ireland.

More than 70 interested colleagues attended the 5th Workshop of the HUPO Brain Proteome Project (HUPO BPP) at the UCD Conway Institute, Dublin, Ireland. An overview of the outcome of the pilot study was presented and the new subprojects "Clinical Neuroproteomics of Human Body Fluids" as well as "Cerebellum 2D-mapping" were announced. In addition the election of the HUPO BPP committees and the future directions of this project were discussed and decided. The meeting was enhanced by several talks highlighting the application of proteomics in biomedical research.

Animals↗

Do neural correlates of consciousness cause conscious states?

Neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs) have been defined as neural systems and states of those systems, which are correlated with certain states of consciousness and which are minimally sufficient for these states of consciousness to occur. Here, it is discussed whether based on the identification of a NCC one may claim that this neural correlate causes the corresponding state of consciousness. In a strict sense, neural states and corresponding states of consciousness should occur simultaneously according to the definition of NCCs. However, two causally related events should occur consecutively in time according to the general view. Thus, within the NCC framework the question of a causal psychoneural relationship is only valid under the premise of a small and practically unobservable time shift between neural states and corresponding states of consciousness. The term causality is usually applied either in the sense of efficient causation or in the sense of explanatory causation. Efficient causality addresses the physical relation of two events and the criterion of an energy exchange between both events. Explanatory causality, on the other hand, refers to the law-like character of the conjoined occurrence of two events. Under a dualistic point of view, the interpretation that neural states effectively cause consciousness would not be justified, since effective causation, as understood in physical sciences, should be associated with energy transfer. But such an energy transfer between the domain of consciousness and the neural domain would violate presently accepted physical laws. Therefore, it is argued that one may state that neural states cause states of consciousness only in the broad sense of explanatory causality with regard to the observation of a law-like psychoneural relation. Within the viewpoint of identity theory, however, one would rather claim that certain states of consciousness basically are neural states.

Causality↗

Lost in Translation: Obstacles to Translational Medicine.

When we launched the Journal of Translational Medicine a few months ago, we were interested primarily in exploring scientific consideration of this discipline. However, as editors of JTM, we have been contacted almost daily to discuss the problems faced by scientists and clinicians around the world who are challenging the traditional boundaries of science and medicine. Through these conversations, we have learned that translational medicine is in fact "lost in translation," inspiring much angst, many promises and some Federal appropriations. However, little has been done to substantively promote this important field. Authoritative reviews on the subject are available to the interested reader 1234567. In this article, we will address JTM's "constituency" to report what we've learned about the obstacles to translational medicine from the myriad of phone conversations and e-mail interactions.

Editorial↗

The scientific and spiritual implications of psychic abilities.

Since ancient times, spiritual teachers have described paths and practices that a person could follow to achieve health, happiness, and peace of mind. Considerable recent research has indicated that any sort of spiritual practice is likely to improve one's prognosis for recovering from a serious illness. Many of these approaches to spirituality involve learning to quiet the mind rather than adhering to a prescribed religious belief. These meditative paths include the mystic branches of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity; Kabalistic Judaism; Sufism; and many others. What is hinted at in the subtext of these teachings is that as one learns to quiet his or her mind, one is likely to encounter psychic-seeming experiences or perceptions. For example, in The Sutras of Patanjali, the Hindu master tells us that on the way to transcendence we may experience all sorts of amazing visions, such as the ability to see into the distance, or into the future, and to diagnose illnesses and to cure them. However, we are told not to get attached to these psychic abilities--they are mere phenomena standing as stumbling blocks on the path to enlightenment. In this article, we describe the laboratory evidence for some of these remarkable phenomena and their implications for science, mental health, and peace of mind.

Humans↗