Religious perspectives on the use of psychopharmaceuticals as an enhancement technology

The use of psychopharmaceuticals as an enhancement technology has been the focus of attention in the bioethics literature. However, there has been little examination of the challenges that this practice creates for religious traditions that place importance on questions of being, authenticity and identity. We asked expert commentators from six major world religions to consider the issues raised by psychopharmaceuticals as an enhancement technology. These commentaries reveal that in assessing the appropriate place of medical therapies, religious traditions, like secular perspectives, rely upon ideas about health and disease and about normal human behavior. But unlike secular perspectives, faith traditions explicitly concern themselves with ways in which medicine should or should not be used to live a ‘good life’. KEYWORDS: Enhancement; bioethics, psychopharmacology, religio

Total hip replacement in young adults with hip dysplasia: Age at diagnosis, previous treatment, quality of life, and validation of diagnoses reported to the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register between 1987 and 2007

Background and purpose: Dysplasia of the hip increases the risk of secondary degenerative change and subsequent total hip replacement. Here we report on age at diagnosis of dysplasia, previous treatment, and quality of life for patients born after 1967 and registered with a total hip replacement due to dysplasia in the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register. We also used the medical records to validate the diagnosis reported by the orthopedic surgeon to the register. Methods: Subjects born after January 1, 1967 and registered with a primary total hip replacement in the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register during the period 1987–2007 (n = 713) were included in the study. Data on hip symptoms and quality of life (EQ-5D) were collected through questionnaires. Elaborating information was retrieved from the medical records. Results: 540 of 713 patients (76%) (corresponding to 634 hips) returned the questionnaires and consented for additional information to be retrieved from their medical records. Hip dysplasia accounted for 163 of 634 hip replacements (26%), 134 of which were in females (82%). Median age at time of diagnosis was 7.8 (0–39) years: 4.4 years for females and 22 years for males. After reviewing accessible medical records, the diagnosis of hip dysplasia was confirmed in 132 of 150 hips (88%). Interpretation: One quarter of hip replacements performed in patients aged 40 or younger were due to an underlying hip dysplasia, which, in most cases, was diagnosed during late childhood. The dysplasia diagnosis reported to the register was correct for 88% of the hips

The RACE Project: Robustness by Autonomous Competence Enhancement

This paper reports on the aims, the approach, and the results of the European project RACE. The project aim was to enhance the behavior of an autonomous robot by having the robot learn from conceptualized experiences of previous performance, based on initial models of the domain and its own actions in it. This paper introduces the general system architecture; it then sketches some results in detail regarding hybrid reasoning and planning used in RACE, and instances of learning from the experiences of real robot task execution. Enhancement of robot competence is operationalized in terms of performance quality and description length of the robot instructions, and such enhancement is shown to result from the RACE system

Bedside Interactions from the Other Side of the Bedrail

To assess the importance to patients of various aspects of bedside interactions with physician teams. Design : Cross-sectional survey. Setting : VA hospital. Patients : Ninety-seven medical inpatients. Intervention : Survey of 44 questions including short answer, multiple choice, and Likert-type questions. Measurements and Main Results : Data analysis included descriptive statistics. The sample was predominantly male, with a mean age of 62. Overall satisfaction with the hospital experience and with the team of doctors were both high (95% and 96% reported being very or mostly satisfied, respectively). Patients reported learning about several issues during their interactions with the teams; the 3 most highly rated areas were new problems, tests that will be done, and treatments that will be done. Most patients (76%) felt that their teams cared about them very much. Patients were made comfortable when the team showed that they cared, listened, and appeared relaxed (reported by 63%, 57%, and 54%, respectively). Patients were made uncomfortable by the team using language they did not understand (22%) and when several people examined them at once (13%). Many (58%) patients felt personally involved in teaching. The majority of patients liked having medical students and residents involved in their care (69% and 64%, respectively). Conclusions : Patients have much to teach about what is important about interacting with physician teams. Although patients' reactions to team interactions are generally positive, patients are different with respect to what makes them comfortable and uncomfortable. Taking their preferences into account could improve the experience of being in a teaching hospital.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75456/1/j.1525-1497.2005.40192.x.pd

What traits are carried on mobile genetic elements, and why?

Although similar to any other organism, prokaryotes can transfer genes vertically from mother cell to daughter cell, they can also exchange certain genes horizontally. Genes can move within and between genomes at fast rates because of mobile genetic elements (MGEs). Although mobile elements are fundamentally self-interested entities, and thus replicate for their own gain, they frequently carry genes beneficial for their hosts and/or the neighbours of their hosts. Many genes that are carried by mobile elements code for traits that are expressed outside of the cell. Such traits are involved in bacterial sociality, such as the production of public goods, which benefit a cell's neighbours, or the production of bacteriocins, which harm a cell's neighbours. In this study we review the patterns that are emerging in the types of genes carried by mobile elements, and discuss the evolutionary and ecological conditions under which mobile elements evolve to carry their peculiar mix of parasitic, beneficial and cooperative genes

Roy-Steiner equations for pion-nucleon scattering

Starting from hyperbolic dispersion relations, we derive a closed system of Roy-Steiner equations for pion-nucleon scattering that respects analyticity, unitarity, and crossing symmetry. We work out analytically all kernel functions and unitarity relations required for the lowest partial waves. In order to suppress the dependence on the high-energy regime we also consider once- and twice-subtracted versions of the equations, where we identify the subtraction constants with subthreshold parameters. Assuming Mandelstam analyticity we determine the maximal range of validity of these equations. As a first step towards the solution of the full system we cast the equations for the $\pi\pi\to\bar NN$ partial waves into the form of a Muskhelishvili-Omn\`es problem with finite matching point, which we solve numerically in the single-channel approximation. We investigate in detail the role of individual contributions to our solutions and discuss some consequences for the spectral functions of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors.Comment: 106 pages, 18 figures; version published in JHE

Micronuclei induced by reverse transcriptase inhibitors in mononucleated and binucleated cells as assessed by the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay

This study evaluated the clastogenic and/or aneugenic potential of three nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (zidovudine - AZT, lamivudine - 3TC and stavudine - d4T) using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay in human lymphocyte cultures. All three inhibitors produced a positive response when tested in binucleated cells. The genotoxicity of AZT and 3TC was restricted to binucleated cells since there was no significant increase in the frequency of micronuclei in mononucleated cells. This finding indicated that AZT and 3TC caused chromosomal breakage and that their genotoxicity was related to a clastogenic action. In addition to the positive response observed with d4T in binucleated cells, this drug also increased the frequency of micronuclei in mononucleated cells, indicating clastogenic and aneugenic actions. Since the structural differences between AZT and 3TC and AZT and d4T involve the 3' position in the 2'-deoxyribonucleoside and in an unsaturated 2',3',dideoxyribose, respectively, we suggest that an unsaturated 2', 3', dideoxyribose is responsible for the clastogenic and aneugenic actions of d4T

Long Term Follow-Up of the Endovascular Trans-Vessel Wall Technique for Parenchymal Access in Rabbit with Full Clinical Integration

OBJECTIVE: Endovascular techniques are providing options to surgical/percutaneous cell transplantation methods. Some cells, e.g. insulin producing cells, are not suitable for intra-luminal transplantation and for such cells, other options must be found. We have constructed a "nanocatheter" with a penetrating tip for vessel perforation, thereby creating a working channel for parenchymal access by endovascular technique. To finish the procedure safely, the distal tip is detached to provide a securing plug in the vessel wall defect. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have performed interventions with full clinical integration in the superior mesenteric artery (SMA), the subclavian artery and the external carotid artery in rabbits. No hemorrhagic- or thromboembolic events occurred during the procedure. Stenosis formation and distal embolisation were analyzed by angiography and macroscopic inspection during autopsy at five, 30 and 80 days. All animals and implanted devices were also evaluated by micro-dissections and histochemical analysis. RESULTS: In this study we show safety data on the trans-vessel wall technique by behavioral, angiographical and histological analysis. No stenosis formation was observed at any of the follow-up time points. No animals or organs have shown any signs of distress due to the intervention. Histological examination showed no signs of hemorrhage, excellent biocompatibility with no inflammation and a very limited fibrous capsule formation around the device, comparable to titanium implants. Further, no histological changes were detected in the endothelia of the vessels subject to intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The trans-vessel wall technique can be applied for e.g. cell transplantations, local substance administration and tissue sampling with low risk for complications during the procedure and low risk for hemorrhage, stenosis development or adverse tissue reactions with an 80 days follow-up time. The benefit should be greatest in organs that are difficult or risky to reach with surgical techniques, such as the pancreas, the CNS and the heart

Participant Reactions to Two-Way Immersion (TWI) Programs

The purpose of this study was to elicit participant reactions to two-way immersion (TWI) programs in the United States of America. A large number of recent studies have focused on instructor views and perspectives of two-way immersion programs, so this study aimed to gain insight from students who are, or who have, participated in TWI programs throughout North America. One hundred fifty-one TWI schools throughout the United States were contacted and asked to participate in this study. Two similar surveys were developed, one for current TWI students, and another for former TWI students. Students from these two groups were asked to fill out a confidential online survey that addressed specific linguistic skills, abilities, and preferences, as well as connection to the cultures of the target language. Forty-eight percent of the survey respondents were native speakers of English, and the remaining 52% were non-native speakers of English. The number of respondents to the former student survey was so low that the data were inconclusive, and, therefore, will not be included in this study. Since the survey was conducted online, the data were stored in a comma-delimited format for further evaluation. The data were then tallied and analyzed for common themes

Evaluation of gait symmetry in poliomyelitis subjects : Comparison of a conventional knee ankle foot orthosis (KAFO) and a new powered KAFO.

Background: Compared to able-bodied subjects, subjects with post polio syndrome and poliomyelitis demonstrate a preference for weight-bearing on the non-paretic limb, causing gait asymmetry. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the gait symmetry of the poliomyelitis subjects when ambulating with either a drop- locked knee ankle foot orthosis (KAFO) or a newly developed powered KAFO. Methods: Seven subjects with poliomyelitis who routinely wore conventional KAFOs participated in this study, and received training to enable them to ambulate with the powered KAFO on level ground, prior to gait analysis. Results: There were no significant differences in the gait symmetry index (SI) of step length (P=0.085), stance time (P=0.082), double limb support time (P=0.929) or speed of walking (p=0.325) between the two test conditions. However, using the new powered KAFO improved the SI in step width (P=0.037), swing time (P=0.014), stance phase percentage (P=0.008) and knee flexion during swing phase (p≤0.001) compared to wearing the dropped locked KAFO. Conclusion: The use of a powered KAFO for ambulation by poliomyelitis subjects affects gait symmetry in the base of support, swing time, stance phase percentage and knee flexion during swing phase