Each year at the annual meeting of The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), addresses are given in honor of the Society and a number of award winners. A summary of each of these addresses is given below. On the following pages, we have printed the Presidential Address and the ...

A reply by the author of "Obesity: Chasing an Elusive Epidemic" to.

Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common and complex cardiac arrhythmias. Using currently available evidence, leading medical societies have established recommendations for the optimal management of atrial fibrillation. These guidelines have recently been updated by 4 consensus groups: the European Society of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians, ...

International surrogacy is an increasingly common phenomenon and an important global health challenge. Legal rules are a key consideration for the participants in international surrogacy arrangements. In some cases the law can help to resolve the complex issues that arise in this context, but it is important to consider the ...

Purpose: The rapid continuous feed of new information from scientific discoveries related to the human genome makes translation and incorporation of information into the clinical setting difficult and creates ethical, legal, and social challenges for providers. This article overviews some of the legal and ethical foundations that guide our response ...

Drug trials in children engage with many ethical issues, from drug-related safety concerns to communication with patients and parents, and recruitment and informed consent procedures. This paper addresses the field of neuromuscular disorders where the possibility of genetic, mutation-specific treatments, has added new complexity. Not only must trial design address ...

The politics of reproduction dominate the political landscape now more than ever. One area of controversy has been informed consent statutes for abortion, which have been praised by the pro-life movement but derided by the pro-choice movement. More recently, legislatures have begun to enact informed consent statutes with respect to ...

In light of the worldwide epidemic of obesity, and in recognition of hypertension as a major factor in the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with obesity, The Obesity Society and The American Society of Hypertension agreed to jointly sponsor a position paper on obesity-related hypertension to be published jointly in ...

In light of the worldwide epidemic of obesity, and in recognition of hypertension as a major factor in the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with obesity, The Obesity Society and the American Society of Hypertension agreed to jointly sponsor a position paper on obesity-related hypertension to be published jointly in ...

Mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens Complex, including Culex pipiens, Cx. quinquefasciatus, and Cx. molestus, are important pest species and vectors of human and animal diseases throughout the world's tropical, temperate, and Holarctic regions. Diseases transmitted by member of the Pipiens Complex include: St. Louis encephalitis and West Nile virus in ...

A symposium on the mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens Complex (Pipiens Complex), including Cx. pipiens, Cx. quinquefasciatus, and Cx. molestus, invited 17 of the world's experts on this species Complex to explore the current state of knowledge on the systematic status, speciation, ecology, biology, vector competence, population genetics, endosymbionts, and ...

The field of abortion counseling originated in the abortion rights movement of the 1970s. During its evolution to the present day, it has faced significant challenges, primarily arising from the increasing politicization and stigmatization of abortion since legalization. Abortion counseling has been affected not only by the imposition of anti-abortion ...

Scientific developments take place in a socio-political context but scientists often ignore the ways their innovations will be both interpreted by the media and used by policy makers. In the rush to neuroscientific discovery important questions are overlooked, such as the ways: (1) the brain, environment and behavior are related; ...

Muslim ethics is cautiously engaging developments in neuroscience. In their encounters with developments in neuroscience such as brain death and functional magnetic resonance imaging procedures, Muslim ethicists might be on the cusp of spirited debates. Science and religion perform different kinds of work and ought not to be conflated. Cultural ...

The insanity defense presents many difficult questions for the legal system. It attracts attention beyond its practical significance (it is seldom used successfully) because it goes to the heart of the concept of legal responsibility. "Not guilty by reason of insanity" generally requires that as a result of mental illness ...

Dermatologic surgery presents a unique set of ethical dilemmas not frequently discussed within the medical literature. This contribution presents a few cases commonly encountered by dermatologic surgeons. The case-based discussion follows a principles-based framework for analysis and seeks to identify the central moral conflict and exemplify the development of sound ...

The debate on euthanasia in Spain has been ongoing from the beginning of the 20th century and remains extant. Three periods can be identified: prior to 1978, 1978-2002, and after 2002. The debate increased significantly after the Ramon Sampedro case (1995-1998), and was fuelled with new, although very different cases, ...

Cover: The nuclear envelope. Please see article by Walters et al., pages 2813-2821, this issue.

The tenth annual RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology symposium 'Quantitative Developmental Biology' held in March 2012 covered a range of topics from coat colour patterning to the mechanics of morphogenesis. The studies presented shared a common theme in which a combination of physical theory, quantitative analysis and experiment was used ...

Ethical issues commonly arise in inpatient dermatology consultations. We describe the case of an inpatient suffering from a severe, undiagnosable skin condition that raises key principles of medical ethics. The four principles include autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice. Ethical situations faced by inpatient dermatologists are similar to those experienced by ...

In 2011, the Danish government announced that from June that year it would no longer cover the costs of medical interpreters for patients who had been living in Denmark for more than seven years. The Dutch Ministry of Health followed with an even more draconian approach; from 1 January 2012, ...

Islamic ethico-legal assessments of brain death are varied and controversial. Some Islamic ethico-legal bodies have concluded that brain death is equivalent to cardiopulmonary death; others regard it as an intermediate state between life and death, and a few opine that it does not meet the standards for legal death according ...

The Fall/Winter 2012 conference season provides ample opportunities to attend meetings that feature topics relevant to antibody research and development (R&D). Meetings such as these serve critical informational and educational functions and are key networking opportunities. Locations are spread throughout the world, reflecting the global nature of antibody R&D.

This article is a summary of the Satellite Meeting, which followed on from the Discussion Meeting at the Royal Society on 'Ultra-precision engineering: from physics to manufacture', held at the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire, UK. The meeting was restricted to 18 invited experts in various aspects ...

The symposium 'What is Macroecology?' was held in London on 20 June 2012. The event was the inaugural meeting of the Macroecology Special Interest Group of the British Ecological Society and was attended by nearly 100 scientists from 11 countries. The meeting reviewed the recent development of the macroecological agenda. ...

The merit of Plato's Laws remains largely untapped by those seeking genuinely collaborative models of the doctor-patient tie as alternatives to paternalism and autonomy. A persistent difficulty confronting proposed alternatives has been surpassing the notion of pronounced intellectual and values asymmetry favoring the doctor. Having discussed two prominent proposals, both ...

The new guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) for the management of grown-up congenital heart disease were published in August 2010 and follow the first guidelines on this subject published by the society in 2003. This article discusses the rational for publishing this document and the difficulties of ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: A new organ transplant law in Israel, which gives priority in organ allocation to candidates who in various ways support organ donation, has resulted in a significant increase in organ donation in 2011. We provide an ethical analysis of the new law. RECENT FINDINGS: We note that ...

OBJECTIVE: In obstetrical and gynaecological healthcare, patients often find themselves in a vulnerable position. Sensitive issues such as sexual and reproductive health are addressed and certain procedures can be experienced as abusive. According to research a lifetime prevalence of abuse in healthcare (AHC) can be assumed for 13-28% of female ...

Regular meetings by pathology groups in veterinary oncology are an important issue. This article briefly discusses 2 national meetings concerning mast cell and mammary tumors, highlights other meetings by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, and discusses the importance of an international task force formed by several veterinary pathology colleges ...

For quite some time now, there have been discussions and debates in North America in the field of ethics concerning professionalization. From a talk given to graduate and undergraduate university students, the author tells the personal journey of an ethicist in the province of Quebec, Canada, and offers a narrative ...

This paper contends that the conventional ethical and legal ways of analysing the wrong involved in the misuse of human body parts are inadequate, and should be replaced with an analysis based on human dignity. It examines the various ways in which dignity has been understood, outlines many of the ...

Several statements on the still debated issue of stabilometry standardization were agreed upon by the ISPGR Standardization Committee.

The author relates how he ended up somewhat unexpectedly as a pediatric neurosurgeon and how fortunate he feels to have become a pediatric neurosurgeon. He reflects on his life and on the importance of trying to do one's best. He comments about the importance of listening, empathizing, and being compassionate ...

Unsafe abortion is one of the main causes of maternal mortality and severe morbidity in countries with restrictive abortion laws. In 2007, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) created a Working Group on the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion and its Consequences (WGPUA). This led to a FIGO initiative ...

The inaugural IgM event entitled "The new ParaDIgm: IgM from bench to clinic" brought together the increasingly active and growing IgM antibody community to discuss recent advances and challenges facing the discovery and development of IgM antibody therapies and technologies. Researchers, clinicians and biomanufacturing experts delivered 21 talks on the ...

This year's BVA Congress takes place on Friday September 28 and Saturday September 29, at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool. With the congress theme being 'Delivering a Healthy Future', there are, say David Catlow and Laura Parish, some very good reasons to attend …

Neuroscience is advancing at a rapid pace, with new technologies and approaches that are creating ethical challenges not easily addressed by current ethical frameworks and guidelines. One fascinating technology is neuroimaging, especially functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Although still in its infancy, fMRI is breaking new ground in neuroscience, potentially ...

PURPOSE: The Advance Directives (ADs) have been adopted in many countries to defend patients' autonomy. In Italy, the role of ADs has recently been the subject of heated debate involving political parties and the Roman Catholic Church. In February 2009, the conservative government coalition presented a bill of law on ...

Ethics education based upon everyday ethical dilemmas can help trainees place themselves within the situation and encourage them to reflect on their role and responsibility in reaching its resolution.• Three elements can help augment the bioethics teaching experience: (a) identifying the ethical dilemma, (b) employing methods of ethical analysis, and(c) ...

ABSTRACT: To be successful, leaders need to be able to communicate and motivate others. To be effective as a speaker, the orator must understand his or her audience, speak about issues that are important to the listeners in a way they can understand, and show integrity.

The Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) has been the defining algorithm for professional reimbursement of medical services since its introduction in 1992. This article reviews the history of the RBRVS, with an emphasis on the integral involvement of the radiology and neuroradiology communities. Appropriate reimbursement of radiology procedures has been ...

Background/Aims Multi-site chart abstraction studies are becoming increasingly common within the HMORN. Differences in systems among HMORN sites can pose significant obstacles to the success of these studies. It is therefore crucial to standardize abstraction activities by following best practices for multi-site chart abstraction, as consistency of processes across sites ...

Contentious issues and polarized viewpoints can be utilized in the classroom and beyond to create a reflective dialogue among students and citizens. This dialogue leads to both a greater understanding, as well as an enhanced appreciation of alternative viewpoints. Exploring and discussing the scientific, ethical, moral, political, legal and societal ...

This introductory essay, the three papers that follow-by Jonathan Palmer, Forrest Hamer, and Peter Goldberg-and the commentary by Susan Yamaguchi are products of the panel "Analytic Listening and the Five Senses," presented at the American Psychoanalytic Association meeting in San Francisco, June 11, 2011.

A multidisciplinary working group named "Toxicology and clinical biology" and whose members belong to the French Society of Clinical Biology (SFBC), Critical Care Medicine Society of French Language (SRLF), the French Society of Medical Emergency (SFMU), the French Society of Analytical Toxicology (SFTA), the Society of Clinical Toxicology (STC), and ...

It is an exciting time for tau researchers as it is now generally accepted that abnormal tau species are required to mediate the toxic effects of amyloid β-peptide oligomers in Alzheimer's disease. Tau may play multiple roles in neurophysiology and there may be further pathologically relevant tau alterations, besides hyperphosphorylation ...

This is a synopsis of the significant research and clinical papers presented at the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) meeting held on the 5-7 July 2011 in London, U.K. The conference and satellite symposia highlighted the recent biological, epidemiological and therapeutic advances in dermatology. This report is not meant as ...

The issues of collection, storage, and use of cord blood (CB) stem cells have been addressed extensively in national and international guidelines, policies, and regulations. Many of these documents are not binding, but are nonetheless accorded considerable respect on account of the authority of the issuing organizations. Most discussion has ...

This paper will present and discuss our conclusions about the ethics of living donation for liver transplant (LDLT) after 8 year of collaboration between our clinical ethics consultation service and liver transplant teams, in the course of which we met with all donor-candidates. We will focus on the results of a ...