Nicotine Vaccines for Smoking Prevention and Treatment from Utilitarian and Deontological Ethical Perspectives

Nicotine vaccines are a new prevention and treatment method for smoking addiction. They are promoted as a method to cease smoking among those who smoke and possibly prevent this behaviour from taking place among those who do not smoke. However, offering these vaccines to adults, adolescents, and children will undoubtedly raise an ethical debate among policy-makers, health professionals, and the public. This paper discusses the possibility of using nicotine vaccines treat and prevent smoking among adults/children/adolescents through the lenses of two ethical theories: utilitarianism and deontology (Kantianism). From an utilitarian perspective, nicotine vaccines are good for society because they provide the greatest benefit for the greatest number of individuals. Authors perceive them as a healthy ethical choice to prevent and treat smoking. And, from the deontological perspective, nicotine vaccines are justified because individuals can prevent the harm of nicotine addiction by choosing vaccines or any other smoking prevention and treatment methods

Applied Health Services Research as a Framework for Patient-Oriented Research: A Suggested Framework for Health Care Researchers

Engaging the general population in the research process provides new visions that may lead to innovations and research that are relevant to patients. Many developed countries like Canada are working toward engaging the population in healthcare research to achieve outcomes pertaining to enhanced accountability, transparency, and population empowerment in research. For example, Canada created Canada's Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) (Canadian Institute of Health Research [CIHR], 2011) to empower the patient's role in health research and the healthcare system.  However, there appears to be a gap in the literature because few studies or reports could be found on how applied health services research might be used as a framework for patient-oriented research. The aims of these authors in this paper are to (1) discuss how the applied health services research (AHSR) can be used as a framework for patient-oriented research (POR); and (2) describe salient challenges and potential outcomes that may result from implementing applied health research as a framework for patient-oriented research. This is a multidimensional framework for patient engagement using AHSR as a framework for POR as they have shared crossover research aspects between them. Conducting POR at different levels of AHSR reduces the gap between health research and practice, and empower patients to be responsible for their own health and health services (Gooberman-Hill et al., 2013). The multidisciplinary nature of AHSR and POR may face challenges related to research interests, patients, patient involvement, environmental/ organizational regulations and policies, and research culture

Establishment of a comprehensive epilepsy center in Pakistan: initial experiences, results, and reflections

Background. Developing countries, home to 80% of epilepsy patients, do not have comprehensive epilepsy surgery programs. Considering these needs we set up first epilepsy surgery center in Pakistan. Methods. Seventeen teleconferences focused on setting up an epilepsy center at the Aga Khan University (AKU), Karachi, Pakistan were arranged with experts from the University of Alberta Hospital, Alberta, Canada and the University of West Virginia, USA over a two-year period. Subsequently, the experts visited the proposed center to provide hands on training. During this period several interactive teaching sessions, a nationwide workshop, and various public awareness events were organized. Results. Sixteen patients underwent surgery, functional hemispherectomy (HS) was done in six, anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) in six, and neuronavigation-guided selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH) using keyhole technique in four patients. Minimal morbidity was observed in ATL and, SAH groups. All patients in SAH group (100%) had Grade 1 control, while only 5 patients (83%) in ATL group, and 4 patients (66%) in HS group had Grade 1 control according to Engel\u27s classification, in average followups of 12 months, 24 months and 48 months for SAH, ATL, and HS, respectively. Conclusion. As we share our experience we hope to set a practical example for economically constrained countries that successful epilepsy surgery centers can be managed with limited resources

Electronic Transitions and Photovoltaic Properties of New Compounds as Organic Dye Sensitizers for Solar Cell

This work deals with electronic and photovoltaic properties of new compounds as organic dye sensitized for solar cell. The ground state calculations are carried out by employing the B3LYP-DFT method and the TD-DFT for excitation properties at the Gaussian 09 package of programs. The results showed the HOMO and LUMO are slightly different and this suggests that different structures play significant roles on electronic properties and improving the electron accepting ability. The obtained values of energy gap and the open circuit voltage are the parameters manipulating to improving the quality of solar cell devices. Also, the results show these compounds can be used as organic sensitizers for solar cell due to possibility of the electron injection process from the compounds to the conduction band of TiO2

Long-tunneled versus short-tunneled external ventricular drainage: Prospective experience from a developing country

Background: External ventricular drains (EVD) are commonly utilized for temporary diversion of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Many neurosurgeons prefer long-tunneled EVDs in their routine practice. However, it is still unclear whether this extended tunneling helps in reducing CSF infection. Keeping this in mind, we decided to compare infection rates in long-tunneled versus short-tunneled EVDs in the setting of a developing country.Materials and methods: A prospective study of 60 patients was conducted. Consenting patients who underwent short-tunneled (Group A) or long-tunneled (Group B) EVDs between January 2008 and June 2009 were followed during the course of their inpatient care. All operational protocol was standardized during the trial. Serial samples of CSF were analyzed to detect infection.Results: Mean age of patients was 33.6 years with 32 males (53.3%). Mean duration of long-tunneled EVD was 13.4 ± 7.2 days, whereas that of short-tunneled EVD was 5.3 ± 2.7 days (P \u3c 0.001). Three patients with long-tunneled EVD (10.0%), whereas one patient with short-tunneled EVD (3.3%) developed drain-related infections; however, this was non-significant (P = 0.301). However, patients with short-tunneled EVD got infected earlier on day 3when compared with the long-tunneled EVDs, which got infected after a mean duration of 7.3 days. The overall risk of infection for long-tunneled EVDs was 7.46 per 1,000 ventricular drainage days which was comparable to the risk of 6.33 per 1,000 ventricular drainage days seen for short-tunneled EVDs.Conclusion: Long-tunneled EVDs appear to only delay potential infections without having any effect on the actual risk of infection. Long-tunneled EVD in a resource-limited setting is technically challenging and may not yield additional benefits to the patient. However, larger and prospective studies are needed to establish the rate of infections and other complications

Alterations in haematological parameters of multiple in-utero insonated rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

The fact that ultrasound is generally perceived as a safe imaging modality due to its use of non-ionizing radiation encouraged its increasing use in the diagnosis of cyesis in Veterinary practice. Ultrasound heating during obstetric scans has the potential of increasing body temperature via absorption. The study was conducted to determine the effect of multiple prenatal ultrasounds scanning on haematological parameters of rabbit fetuses. The research involves in vivo experimental model using 16 pregnant does and exposing them to ultrasound for average of 5 minutes at day 7, 12, 15, 20, 25, 27 and 29 of gestation. They were divided into two groups as insonated and control, the restrain and scanning procedures were mimicked on the group of does that were not scanned (positive control). Upon parturition, blood samples were collected from the kits via jugular venesection into ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid containing tubes for haematology. There was a significant reduction (p < 0.05) of red blood cell count and haemoglobin concentration of insonated group. Values of packed cell volume and platelet were lower but not significant (p > 0.05) in insonated as against the control while a non-significant slight increase in total white blood cell count was seen in the control. Therefore, ultrasound heating from multiple in-utero exposure can possibly cause alterations in haematological values in Rabbits. Keywords: Fetus, Haematology, Insonation, In-utero, Rabbit, Ultrasoun

Long scarf injuries

Long scarf (Dopatta) traditionally worn by females in South-East Asia have been described to make the females prone to sustain specific injuries when they ride pillion on the cycle powered rickshaw or motor bike. Two cases of females have been described