Three-dimensional head and upper arm orientations during kinematically redundant movements and at rest

The three rotational degrees of freedom of the head and the upper arm exceed the number needed in a two-dimensional (2-D) facing or pointing task, respectively. Previous studies reported a reduction of the number of degrees of freedom from three to two, with one degree of freedom being a unique function of the other two (Donders' law). This study investigated whether three-dimensional (3-D) orientations of the head and arm are the same at rest and during movement for corresponding pointing or facing directions. Two separate experiments were performed: one focused on head orientations, the other focused on upper arm orientations. We instructed subjects to direct the nose or to point the extended arm in the direction of targets, which appeared in a quasi-random order at 2-s intervals. The head and upper arm orientations at rest were described by a 2-D surface with a scatter less than 3 or 4 degrees, respectively. Both for the arm and the head, orientations started and ended near the 2-D surface, but for a number of the target pairs, the orientations deviated from those predicted by the 2-D surface during movement in a way that was consistent and reproducible for movements between each target pair. For upper arm movements, we often found that deviations of arm orientations from the 2-D surface increased with increasing movement velocity. Such a positive correlation between deviation and movement velocity was not found for head movements. These results clearly indicate violations of Donders' law during movement and argue against several models for movement control found in the literature.     

The legal mandate of drug registration authorities in theory and practice

In the course of this century all industrial nations witnessed a growth in the influence of the state over the individual. Usually, state intervention in private life is justified by the state's mandate to protect the health and security of its constituents, either through general, uniform precepts such as laws or decrees, or through individual arrangements such as licences or subsidies. The principle of state protection has also long been established in the pharmaceutical sector, and entails that regulatory agencies should only approve those drugs for market use, which--according to scientific knowledge--have benefits which outweigh their potential harmful effects. Although 'the state of scientific knowledge' seems to imply that safety decisions concerning drugs are predominantly based on medical, scientific criteria, it is argued in this paper, that regulatory agencies nevertheless have wide discretionary margins, which allow for a political dimension to such decisions. For this reason it is briefly examined how drug authorities react under political pressure, i.e. when a drug has become a public problem. Additionally, the issue is considered why especially so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's) have recently been the focus of controversy in the media. This attention has led to a situation in which it seems that regulatory agencies only accept drugs for market use with zero risk. The paper concludes by recommending that safety decisions of health authorities should involve two expert levels: in order to make precise risk assessments on the scientific level all relevant information about risks and benefits of drugs should be collated, whereas safety decisions should be taken by experts knowledgeable in the field of societal proportions.     

Genetic Analysis Workshop II: pedigree analysis of a binary trait without assuming an underlying liability

A model for concordance in a binary measure that does not rely on the assumption of an underlying latent liability dichotomized about a threshold has been demonstrated for twin pairs [Hannah et al, 1983]. It is extended here to pedigrees of arbitrary structure by making an assumption that is, for small incidence rates, almost equivalent to postulating that relative risks are multiplicative. The model is applied to the workshop data to determine the extent to which the known structure of the simulated models can be recovered.     

El manejo de la torsión testicular en Urgencias: lecciones aprendidas de las reclamaciones por responsabilidad profesional médica

ObjectiveTo evaluate emergency care for testicular torsion in medical professional liability claims.MethodClaims related to testicular torsion from 2000 to 2018 were located. The assistance provided and the association with medical professional liability were analyzed.ResultsEighty complaints were identified, testicular pain was reported in 83.75% of first consultations, with a mean evolution time of 15.5 h. The mean time to diagnosis was 7.98 days. The first consultation was at the hospital in 75.1% of cases, but an ultrasound was performed only in 7.5%. When testicular torsion diagnosis was performed, 97.3% had undergone ancillary tests. The medical professional liability was significantly associated with non-criminal proceedings and with less than 6 h of symptoms’ evolution, and, within this subgroup, without undergoing an ultrasound scan.ConclusionsLate consultations, wrong diagnosis and late diagnosis are claimed. When medical professional liability are claimed by means of non-criminal law, the existence of responsibility is frequently considered, even more in those cases when the consultation took place before 6 h of evolution with no ancillary tests having been performed.     

基于“病-药-量”探讨《中华医典》含竹沥中药方剂相应规律的数据挖掘

目的 分析《中华医典》中含有竹沥中药方剂“病-药-量”的相应规律,为竹沥的临床诊疗应用及深入研发提供参考。方法 收集整理《中华医典》中含有竹沥的中药方剂,录入Excel 2016构建临证方药数据库,对其病症、证型、药物使用频次、功效类别、性味归经、剂型及用量等进行统计分析,运用SPSS Statistics 22.0、IBM SPSS Modeler 18.0软件进行关联规则、聚类分析等数据挖掘。结果 共收集含竹沥方剂349首,主治病证分类共99种,其中高频病证（≥20次）主要为“中风”“痰饮”“咳嗽”,治疗“中风”证型以风痰瘀阻为主,“痰饮”以饮停胃肠为主,“咳嗽”以痰热郁肺为主;组方中使用频次≥50次的药物有19味,使用频次较高的有生姜、甘草、茯苓、陈皮等,药物功效种类以化痰止咳平喘药、补虚药、清热药为主;药性使用频次最高的为寒性药,其次为温性药,药味多选用甘、苦、辛味,药物归经以脾、胃、心经为主;高频病症剂型及药物用量分析显示,治疗“中风”时,剂型多为汤剂,竹沥用量多为100 mL,核心药物配伍重用防风以祛风化痰,改善脑络痹阻;治疗“痰饮”时,剂型多为丸剂,竹沥用量为200 mL...     

Behavioural analysis of the anorectic effects of fluoxetine and fenfluramine

Two sets of experiments were carried out to compare the effects of fenfluramine and fluoxetine on consummatory and operant behaviour. In food-deprived rats allowed access to a 35% sucrose solution, an initial period of sucrose consumption was followed by a short period of grooming and exploratory behaviour, later superceded by resting. This behavioural satiety sequence was advanced by fluoxetine, but disrupted bydl-fenfluramine, which suppressed post-prandial resting, even at sub-anorectic doses. Fluoxetine also elicited resting behaviour following water drinking. However, this did not appear to be a non-specific sedative effect, since fluoxetine increased post-prandial grooming. In rats performing on random interval schedules of food reinforcement, fluoxetine caused proportionally greater decreases in responding on a reinforcement-lean schedule (RI-300s), as compared to a reinforcement-rich schedule (RI-7.5s); this effect is similar to that of a reduction in level of food deprivation. By contrast, fenfluramine reduced responding equally on both schedules. In both paradigms, the effects of fluoxetine were compatible with an increase in postprandial satiety, but the effects of fenfluramine were not.     

关于临床教学中防范医疗纠纷思考

当前,在临床实践教学过程中,客观存在着临床带教老师履行带教义务与侵犯患者自主权的矛盾,医学生实践成才与侵犯患者隐私权的矛盾,这无疑给临床实践教学带来函 许多问题,为了维护患者的自主权,隐私权,有利于临床实践教学,防范医疗纠纷,必须完善医患权利和临床实践教学的法律、法规。     

Accounting for susceptibility in risk assessment: The need for full disclosure

Many Environmental Laws create the unrealistic expectation that science can be used to determine ‘safety'. The many uncertainties surrounding environmental risks, as well as individual, group and societal differences about what is considered ‘safe', make it inevitable that policy decisions must be made. It is appropriate that such decisions be shaped by politics and social issues, as well as be informed by science and economics, but care should be taken to distinguish between policy and fact. Not much is known about the nature and magnitude of environmental susceptibilities. Credible environmental decisions require that scientists, risk assessors and decision-makers acknowledge this, and that they take care to distinguish policy calls from scientific fact.     

Cannabis laws: an analysis of costs

There is evidence that the use of cannabis is increasing in Australia, with stable black-market prices, despite the 9-year National Campaign Against Drug Abuse, increasing expenditure to enforce the laws against cannabis use, and the seizure of large plantations of cannabis plants. Recent government data are used to estimate the conservative cost of drug-law enforcement against cannabis use as being $329m in 1991-92. Alternatives to the existing regime are examined, including expiation, decriminalization, and legalization.     

Surrogacy: Ethical,legal, and social aspects

In considering the interrelated ethical, legal and social aspects of surrogacy we acknowledge that society has long accepted the delegation of various parental functions and explore the role of a surrogate in relationship to this as well as alluding to commoner comparisons with prostitution and adultery. In particular, the birth mother rule, the public antipathy to commercial surrogacy and restrictive legislation are explored and found to be inappropriate. It is concluded that the regulation, surveillance and assessment needed to ensure the best outcome for all concerned would perhaps be easiest achieved in programmes that are formally licensed under permissive legislation and adequately funded by commercial means.