Comparison of basic methods in clinical studies and in vitro tissue and cell culture studies reported in three anaesthesia journals. (33/6044)

Tissue and cell culture (in vitro) studies reported in the 1997 issues of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, Anesthesia and Analgesia, and Anesthesiology were compared with groups of clinical studies selected at random from the same issues. Comparisons were of some basic aspects of study design and reporting that might lead to bias. The aspects examined were sample size, randomization and reporting of exclusions and withdrawals. Two groups of 53 articles were compared: sample size was smaller in in vitro than in clinical studies (median 6 vs 19); randomization was reported in five in vitro studies and in 37 studies; and failures were reported in two in vitro studies and in 43 clinical studies. This hinders interpretation of reported tissue and cell culture studies. Where possible, tissue and cell culture studies should be conducted, reported and assessed for publication to standards equivalent to those for clinical studies.  (+info)

Research priorities in environmental health.(34/6044)

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A holistic approach to environmental health research. (35/6044)

One of the most formidable questions facing the environmental health research community today is how to translate basic fundamental research into a product (e.g., disease outcome) that meets the needs of its stakeholders--the medical community, regulatory agencies, and ultimately, the citizens of our nation. Historically, a successful research program could be defined as one that received continuous funding, produced high-quality publications, and was respected by scientists in related fields. However, it is now apparent that this is not sufficient for attaining improved public health--the ultimate goal of these research efforts. Research results must be transferred in a more active way to the communities and professionals who have need of this information. The link must be recognized, and the roles of the stakeholders in the entire research process must be acknowledged to ensure full impact of the research endeavors.  (+info)

Research, ethics and conflicts of interest. (36/6044)

In this paper, I have tried to develop a critique of committee procedures and conflict of interest within research advisory committees and ethical review committees (ERCs). There are specific features of conflict of interest in medical research. Scientists, communities and the subjects of research all have legitimate stakeholdings. The interests of medical scientists are particularly complex, since they are justified by the moral and physical welfare of their research subjects, while the reputations and incomes of scientists depend on the success of their science. Tensions of this kind must at times produce conflict of interest. It is important to recognise that conflicts of interest may unwittingly lead to manipulation of research subjects and their lay representatives on research committees. It is equally important to recognise distinctions between the legal and moral aspects of conflict of interest. Some practical suggestions are made which may go some way towards resolving these difficulties. They indicate what might be needed to ensure the validity of ethical discourse, and to reduce the risks associated with conflict of interest.  (+info)

Public advocacy and allocation of federal funds for biomedical research. (37/6044)

Members of Congress and officials of the National Institutes of Health face heightened pressure from public advocacy groups seeking more funding for research on specific health conditions. In response, Congress and the Institute of Medicine have urged the NIH to create more opportunities for the public to participate in decision making on allocation of biomedical research resources. The ethical and policy implications of including advocates in the deliberations are explored, leading to the conclusion that public participation could contribute to more defensible decisions under three conditions: public participants are fairly selected and meaningful opinions are solicited; public participants look beyond their narrow constituencies to consider the health needs of the broader public; and NIH officials develop materials to assist participants with their deliberations.  (+info)

Misuse of correlation and regression in three medical journals. (38/6044)

Errors relating to the use of the correlation coefficient and bivariate linear regression are often to be found in medical publications. This paper reports a literature search to define the problems. All the papers and letters published in the British Medical Journal, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine during 1997 were screened for examples. Fifteen categories of errors were identified of which eight were important or common. These included: failure to define clearly the relevant sample number; the display of potentially misleading scatterplots; attachment of unwarranted importance to significance levels; and the omission of confidence intervals for correlation coefficients and around regression lines.  (+info)

PET and drug research and development. (39/6044)

The use of PET to examine the behavioral, therapeutic and toxic properties of drugs and substances of abuse is emerging as a powerful new scientific tool. PET provides a new perspective on drug research by virtue of its ability to directly assess both pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic events in humans and in animals. These parameters can be assessed directly in the human body both in healthy volunteers and in patients. Moreover, the new generation of high-resolution, small-animal cameras hold the promise of introducing imaging in the early stages of drug development and make it possible to carry out longitudinal studies in animals and to study genetically altered animals. This places PET in a unique position to contribute significantly to the process of drug development through understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying drug action while addressing some very practical questions such as determining effective drug doses for clinical trials for new drugs, determining the duration of drug action and examining potential drug interactions.  (+info)

Gene targeting: applications in transplantation research. (40/6044)

Gene targeting, the manipulation of gene in the mouse genome using homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells, is a powerful experimental tool that has been widely utilized in a number of disciplines. The ability to precisely alter genes in this way provides an avenue for investigating the role of a gene product in normal and pathological processes in the intact animal, with a precision and efficacy not possible using pharmacological agents, antibodies or engineered proteins. In transplant research, gene targeting provides a unique tool for discriminating the contributions of gene expression in donor versus recipient tissues. This review focuses on several areas in transplantation research where gene targeting has made useful contributions. These include studies of the role of donor and recipient multiple histocompatibility complex antigens in regulating rejection responses, the role of CD4+ T cell in mediating acute rejection, and the functions of cytokines during rejection and tolerance induction. These studies highlight the unique advantages of gene targeting in studies of complex processes in whole animals and illustrate the contributions of this technique to understanding the pathogenesis of allograft rejection.  (+info)