(Q)SAR Modelling of Nanomaterial Toxicity - A Critical Review

There is an increasing recognition that nanomaterials pose a risk to human health, and that the novel engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in the nanotechnology industry and their increasing industrial usage poses the most immediate problem for hazard assessment, as many of them remain untested. The large number of materials and their variants (different sizes and coatings for instance) that require testing and ethical pressure towards non-animal testing means that expensive animal bioassay is precluded, and the use of (quantitative) structure activity relationships ((Q)SAR) models as an alternative source of hazard information should be explored. (Q)SAR modelling can be applied to fill the critical knowledge gaps by making the best use of existing data, prioritize physicochemical parameters driving toxicity, and provide practical solutions to the risk assessment problems caused by the diversity of ENMs. This paper covers the core components required for successful application of (Q)SAR technologies to ENMs toxicity prediction, and summarizes the published nano-(Q)SAR studies and outlines the challenges ahead for nano-(Q)SAR modelling. It provides a critical review of (1) the present status of the availability of ENMs characterization/toxicity data, (2) the characterization of nanostructures that meets the need of (Q)SAR analysis, (3) the summary of published nano-(Q)SAR studies and their limitations, (4) the in silico tools for (Q)SAR screening of nanotoxicity and (5) the prospective directions for the development of nano-(Q)SAR models

Self-declaration in relation to faith and the ethical attitude of doctors in an urban environment

The author analysis the problem of the dependence between self-declaration towards faith and the ethical attitudes of doctors in an urban environment. The group under investigation (303 persons) differs in respect of sex, age and medical specialization. As to the self-declaration of faith 16,5% of them declared themselves deeply religious, 48.2% — religious, 20.8% — religiously indifferent and 14.5% — irreligious (atheists). The author discusses three groups of problems: 1. The attitude of doctors towards the specific problems of medical ethics, 2. their attitude towards their profession and 3. towards the closest environment (the family, the institution they work in). As regards the first group of problems the majority of the doctors tested pronounced themselves in favour of absolute ethics, at the same time ascribing a great role to conscience as a criterion in the evaluation of moral deeds. Conscience, however, should follow objective criterion of evaluation. In solving the problems of professional ethics the religious doctors show a greater sense of responsibility than the doctors form the remaining categories. The more religious the doctors are, the more often they use objective criterion of evaluation; the more indifferent their attitude towards faith is, the more often they employ subjective criterion. As to the second group of problems the author stages that religious attitudes influence practice to a certain extent, pointing out, at the same time, that in certain cases atheists display moral attitudes similar to those of religious doctors. On the other hand religious indifference influences the moral attitudes of doctors in a negative way. As regards the third group of problems the conflicts among doctors take place in their family environment more often than at work. It has not been noticed that the intensity of conflicts in both environments depends on the type of attitude towards faith

VTLS in Polish academic and research libraries

A short review of history and outline of the main and optional components and services of Virginia Tech Library System, VTLS, is given. A new product of the company, VIRTUA, is briefly presented. Comprehensive information on the system implementation in Polish academic and research libraries is provided, with special attention to computer and networking technology