Search

Most published biomedical research involving animal models is evaluated carefully to ensure that appropriate ethical standards are met. In the current study, 500 journals randomly selected from MedLine were assessed for whether they presented animal research. Of the 138 journals that did, the instructions to authors of 85 (61.6%) included a requirement for author assurance of adherence to ethical standards during experiments involving animals. In comparison to a wider range of biologic journals, biomedical science journals were more likely to have some sort of ethical policy concerning the reporting and presentation of animal experiments.

Background: Agricultural injury and fatality pose a significant burden on farmers, families, health care systems, and economies. One way of increasing knowledge of this problem and promoting prevention is the use of printed mass media such as newspapers., Methods: We conducted a scan of all media reports contained in the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) archives for the period January, 2007 to September, 2009, inclusive, for injury and fatality and analyzed newspaper articles for prevention messages., Results: Of the 409 articles in the database, 392 met the inclusion criteria. Ninety-three of the articles (24%) contained a prevention message, and 39 (10%) of these were considered to be strong. Urban papers were two times more likely to have a safety message (OR = 2.03) while adult-related events were less likely to have a safety message included (OR = 0.49)., Conclusion: Print media reporting of agricultural injury and fatality represents a missed opportunity to provide a prevention message. More can be done to improve linkages between news media outlets and injury prevention specialists to improve prevention content in newsprint., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Decreasing reimbursement, increasing surgical volumes, and prohibitive institutional review board polices potentially deter residents from entering the subspecialty of joint replacement, while also inhibiting research production by existing surgeons. Our hypothesis is that there has been a decline in total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) research in the United States relative to other countries over the past decade.All original research involving THA and TKA published in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, American Volume, Journal of Arthroplasty, and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research over the past decade was queried. Country of origin and level of evidence of each publication were documented. From January 1999 to December 2008, 1724 original peer-reviewed research studies involving THA and TKA were identified. The percentage of publications from US institutions steadily declined from 65.8% in 1999 to 46.9% in 2008. The percentage of Level I and II studies from the United States increased from 9.7% in 1999 to 23.3% in 2008, which parallels the increase seen from all countries from 7.8% to 24.8% during the same decade.Despite the improving levels of evidence, the relative percentage of publications from the United States on THA and TKA has declined over the past 10 years. In contrast to the relatively constant number from the United States, publications on THA and TKA from non-US institutions have increased over the past decade. These trends may have significant implications for future THA and TKA research in the United States., (Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.)

The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published monthly online and in a DVD format four times a year. The April 2010 issue contains 6049 complete reviews, 1924 protocols for reviews in production, and 11887 one-page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of over 608,000 randomized controlled trials, and 12,700 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains over 7700 citations. This edition of the Library contains 91 new reviews, of which 9 have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine.

ABSTRACT The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly as a DVD and also has been updated monthly online since January 2010. Issue 1 for 2010 contains 4125 complete reviews, 1924 protocols for reviews in production, and 11,887 one-page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of 608,000 randomized controlled trials, and 12,700 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains over 7700 citations. This edition of the Library contains 98 new reviews, of which 7 that have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine are described.

Randomization is an internationally accepted methodological tool used to perform sound clinical research. To ensure the clinical value of medical interventions, both evidence based medicine and new drug approvals require that randomized controlled trials (RCT) be conducted. Randomization prevents the manipulation of participant allocation and balances unknown confounders in a way no other method can. The gold standard RCT, however, is complex to conduct and requires significant financial and structural resources. In consequence, drug development and registration are primarily driven by the pharmaceutical industry. Within the field of pediatrics, we need high quality research tailored to children in order to reduce off-label use and to ensure that we expose children only to effective and, above all, safe drug treatments. The American and European regulatory authorities now offer programs to support such studies and clinical researchers and pharmaceutical industries are obliged to put them into practice in the best interest of the children. Issues relating to feasibility as well as ethical issues must be born in mind when planning RCTs in child populations. Obtaining informed assent from children in an adequate manner is one of several key elements. Moreover, it is essential to ensure equipoise before conducting a trial. Thus, issues relating to acceptability can be addressed and the discrimination of treatment groups within RCTs can be prevented. This narrative review addresses ethical and methodological aspects of RCTs in adults and especially in children and includes a quantitative analysis, which explores issues relating to the publication of RCTs.

The media affects individuals' behaviors, especially by means of news and advertisements. In this study, we evaluated health content of organ donation and transplantation news in the printed media and on television programs for a 1-year period in Turkey. We examined 2449 news items in 230 newspapers and magazines; 1179 news programs on 45 television channels, all concerning organ donation and transplantation. The news obtained from the Media Pursuit Center were transferred to an electronic file to evaluate the format and content of the news. Nine variables were examined about the scope and the formal characteristics of the news: the publication name, its type, the province, the date, the headline, the title length, the presence of a photograph, or its kind, the news size, and the page number. In the content analysis of the news, we also examined 9 variables: the topic, the message of the headline, the property of the words in the title, the identification of photographs in the news, the age, gender of actors in the news, as well as donor or recipient. In a summary, print media and television channels, failed to show sufficient information about organ donation and transplantation. The percentage of news about organ donation and transplantation was small and mostly negative items in the media. On television channels, sufficient place was not given to organ donation and transplantation. The news in printed media and on television channels was not about motivated or altruistic behavior. The pattern of organ donation and transplantation news is important in terms of perception and comment by the public. Furthermore it directly affects the perception of the news by the reader.

In 1995, an international group of scientists met in Sheringham, Norfolk, UK, for a workshop entitled The Three Rs: The Way Forward. There, with the participation of William Russell and Rex Burch, the group discussed each of the Three Rs in detail, and made specific recommendations on how to promote them within the scientific community. The Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) was established as part of the US National Academy of Sciences, to develop and disseminate information and guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals. Over the years, the focus of ILAR has been to improve the health, welfare, and psychological well-being of the research animal, using the Three Rs as a foundation. ILAR's programmes include an international component, through which it reaches out to other countries via translations of its report; the ILAR Journal, a quarterly publication that focuses on animal models, animal welfare and protocol review; communications and outreach through the ILAR website and presence at scientific meetings; and special reports in which expert committees make recommendations to improve science and animal welfare. Through the efforts of ILAR and similar organisations, it is now recognised that high standards of humane care lead to better science. However, continued effort is needed to promote the Three Rs in developing countries., (2009 FRAME.)

Introduction: Media are main allies to encourage donation and transplantation. We sought to quantify the presence in the media of the topic "Donation and transplantation (D/Tx)" during the period 2005 to 2007 and to determine the relationship between the volume of information issued by the media and indexes related to the topic., Methods: We conducted a systematic recording of the news on the topic of D/Tx in print, radio, and television during 2005 to 2007., Results: There was an increased presence in the media by 100% in 2005 and 2006, and by 200% in 2007. The presence in print media was greater than radio (249 +/- 31.5 vs 131 +/- 5.49; P = .05) or television (249 +/- 31.5 vs 92 +/- 7.12; P = .01). We observed a positive correlation between the total number of contacts versus the number of registered volunteer donors (R(2) = 0.9713) and number of contacts versus total number of transplants from cadaveric donors (CTX; R(2) = 0905). The index CTX per million population increased by 30% (2006 vs 2005) and 100% (2007 vs 2005). The percent of family refusals fell from 41% in 2005 to 34% in 2006 and to 31% in 2007. The rate of donors per million population grew steadily from 1.8 in 2005 to 2.3 in 2006, and to 3.6 in 2007., Conclusion: The sustained increase in D/Tx briefing as a strategy of Sistema de Procura de Organos y Tejidos has helped to foster a positive perception that is reflected in the increased rate of donation and transplantation in Venezuela.

The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly. Issue 4 for 2008 contains 3625 complete reviews, 1921 protocols for reviews in production, and 9025 one-page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of 549,000 randomized controlled trials, and 10,900 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains 7500 citations. This edition of the Library contains 84 new reviews of which 5 have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine.

The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly. Issue 2 2009 contains 3826 complete reviews, 1959 protocols for reviews in production, and 9964 one-page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of 576,000 randomized controlled trials, and 11,500 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains 7717 citations. This edition of the Library contains 89 new reviews, of which 10 have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine.

The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly. Issue 2 2009 contains 3737 complete reviews, 1939 protocols for reviews in production, and 9403 one-page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of 564,000 randomized controlled trials, and 11,000 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains 7591 citations. This edition of the Library contains 112 new reviews of which 6 have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine.

Animal breeding reports in the Journal of Animal Science (JAS) and in its predecessor, Proceedings of the American Society of Animal Production, were counted and categorized. In 22 volumes of the Proceedings of the American Society of Animal Production, 155 articles had animal breeding content, of which 54% were research reports, 17% extension communications, and 28% syntheses or reviews. Several of the latter featured advice from the livestock industry to the scientific community. Thirty-one percent of articles concerned swine, whereas beef cattle, dairy cattle, and sheep each accounted for an additional 20%. In the 67 yr of JAS publication, 3,045 research papers were identified with animal breeding content, nearly half of them published since 1990. Growth in publication output was modest during the 1950s, robust in the 1960s through 1980s, moderate in the 1990s, and static in the 2000s. Important topics included genetic resource evaluation (a subject in 55% of all manuscripts), genetic parameter estimation, selection programs, and nonrandom mating systems. Maternal effects and genotype x environment interactions were featured in 17 and 15% of all manuscripts, respectively, whereas 6% dealt with a simply inherited trait. Only 4% of manuscripts included economic analysis of a breeding program or intervention. Interest in molecular biology and biometry has surged in the 1990s and 2000s. Approximately 50% of all papers involved cattle, a fifth of which concerned dairy cattle or beef x dairy crossbreds. A quarter of papers concerned swine, 15% concerned sheep, and 3% considered laboratory rodents, with the proportional contribution of sheep research decreasing across time. Authors from the Midwestern and Southern sections of the American Society of Animal Science had greater proportional contributions than Western and Northeastern section authors, and contributions of university and state experiment station authors outnumbered those of USDA-ARS authors. The proportional contribution of international authors increased across time, reaching 45% for the 2000s, as that of university and experiment station authors decreased and that of USDA-ARS authors remained fairly constant. Subjective analysis suggested substantial levels of creativity, innovation, and cooperation in JAS animal breeding research, a strong international perspective, but also a marked degree of imitation and repetition in subject matter content.

Acute and subacute ruminal acidosis, bloat, liver abscesses, and polioencephalomalacia (PEM) were reviewed with respect to contributions published in the Journal of Animal Science (JAS) regarding these metabolic and digestive disorders in beef cattle. Increased grain feeding and expansion of the feedlot industry in the 1960s led to considerable research on acidosis, and early publications defined ruminal changes with acute acidosis. The concept of subacute acidosis was developed in the 1970s. Significant research was published during the 1980s and 1990s on adaptation to high-grain diets, effects of ionophores, and the development of model systems to study ruminal and metabolic changes in acidosis. Since 2000, JAS publications on acidosis have largely focused on individual animal variability in response to acid loads and the role of management strategies in controlling acidosis. Increased grain feeding also was associated with an increase in the incidence of liver abscesses, which were quickly linked to insults to the ruminal epithelium associated with acidosis. The role of antibiotics, particularly tylosin, in decreasing the incidence and severity of liver abscesses was a significant contribution of JAS publications during the 1970s and 1980s. Papers on bloat were among the earliest published in JAS related to metabolic and digestive disorders in cattle. Noteworthy accomplishments in bloat research chronicled in JAS include the nature of ruminal contents in legume and feedlot bloat, the role of plant fractions and microbial populations in the development of bloat, and the efficacy of poloxalene, ionophores, and, more recently, condensed tannins in decreasing the incidence and severity of bloat. Although less research has been published on PEM in JAS, early publications highlighting the association between PEM and ruminal acidity and the role of thiaminase in certain forms of the disorder, as well as more recent publications related to the role of sulfur in the development of PEM, are noteworthy contributions. Since the 1940s, outstanding and often-cited review articles have made JAS a highly visible source of information on these disorders. Thus, JAS has played a significant role as a repository for information pertaining to metabolic and digestive disorders in cattle and other ruminants, and it will no doubt continue to be a premier resource for information on these conditions during the second century of the American Society of Animal Science.

The Cochrane Library is published quarterly. Issue 1, 2008, contains 3,385 complete reviews, 1,786 protocols for reviews in production, and 7,048 one-page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition there are citations of 527,000 randomized controlled trials, and 10,000 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains 7,177 citations. This edition of the Library contains 86 new reviews of which 7 have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine.

The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly. Issue 4 2007 contains 3298 complete reviews, 1755 protocols for reviews in production and 6761 one-page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of 522,000 randomized controlled trials and 10,000 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains 6087 citations. This edition of the Library contains 101 new reviews of which 7 have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine.

Purpose: The objectives of this study are to compare the hospital employees' and patients' recognition and attitudes toward the opening of the medical services market, to analyze the differences between hospital employees and patients on the factors in selecting a foreign hospital., Materials and Methods: This study collected and analyzed data using systematic questionnaires that were self-administered by employees and outpatients to compare their recognition of the opening of the medical services market and the factors involved in selecting a foreign hospital., Results: Employees exhibited a higher level of recognition than the patients. Reasons for agreement were to ensure the right of selection for both the employees and patients. Reasons for disagreement, however, were split between the two groups: degraded public characteristics of medical services, for employees; and expensive medical fees, for patients. The most urgent task to prepare for the opening of the medical services market is the improvement of the diagnosis and treatment technologies for employees, and improvement of the services provided by hospital staff for patients., Conclusion: Korean hospitals shall need to improve their diagnosis and treatment technologies and provide medical services of high quality in order to compete with foreign hospitals.

The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly. It now contains 2785 complete reviews, 1625 protocols of reviews and 5574 one page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition there are citations of 477,942 randomized controlled trials, 23 methodology reviews and 8408 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains 6011 citations. This edition of the Library contains 111 new reviews of which 9 have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine.