Guidelines of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research are discussed. It is concluded that dentistry must not uncritically accept guidelines meant for a broader class of research, that guidelines can be misapplied, and that researchers must educate themselves on the Commission…

Focuses on disorders of the human brain, their causes, and the relationship between environmental and genetic factors. (Author/SA)

This article is a discussion of the current knowledge about the human brain. The need for new ways to examine and think about the brain is discussed. (Author/SA)

Discusses the problems of food additives and government regulation. Examines the Delaney Clause prohibiting the addition of any carcinogen to food. Describes loopholes in the food additives law. (MA)

Summarizes and comments on three presentations relative to the life sciences and medicine given at the October 1995 working symposium of the Project on Conflict of Interest in University-Industry Research Relationships and included in this issue. Discusses the work of medical researcher David Blumenthal, political scientist Mark Frankel, and…

Presents the findings of the Association of American Medical Colleges' Working Group on Preserving Medical Schools' Academic Mission in a Competitive Marketplace. Concludes that medical schools will take a variety of approaches to define and preserve their missions and that the importance of the core mission of education and research is likely to…

The 22-year-old Whitaker Foundation, the largest private supporter of biomedical engineering, will close in 2006 to avoid becoming a bureaucracy in search of a reason for being. The foundation, with assets of about $442 million, will increase payouts until 1999, then decrease them as it spends its way out of existence. About 95% of grants go to…

Investigates the shared use of core Ophthalmology terms in the domains of Ophthalmology, Family Practice and Radiology. Core terms were searched for in a text corpus of 38,695 MEDLINE abstracts covering 1970-1999 from journals representing the three domains. Findings indicated core Ophthalmology terms were used significantly more by Ophthalmology…

Original research articles from three major pharmacy journals were reviewed to determine the quality of reporting research. Articles were evaluated for method of recruitment and/or randomization; statistical analysis; inclusion/exclusion criteria; subject blinding; objective assessment; treatment complications; loss to followup; number of…

The contributions of the families of John Kennedy and Robert Cooke to national policies on mental retardation research and services are explored. The course of federal funding from 1950-1985 for mental retardation and developmental disabilities is traced for six program categories: services, training, information/coordination, income maintenance,…

A discussion of clinical trials in the pharmaceutical industry describes typical processes and administrative issues, then presents a case in which a foreign pharmaceutical company negotiated with a university for sponsorship of a multicenter clinical trial of a new drug therapy. Problems and important considerations in clinical trials are…

Research articles from the oldest continuing medical journal in English were studied in terms of rhetorical analysis of broad genre characteristics and linguistic analysis of registral features using Biber's system of text analysis. Results suggest evolution influenced can be accounted for by changing epistemological norms of medical knowledge,…

This study attempted to (1) determine whether stroke patients (n=20) can safely increase their walking speed above that of comfortable walking; (2) describe the relationship between comfortable and maximum safe walking speed; and (3) examine correlations between maximum and comfortable speeds and a functional walking score. Subjects were able to…

Reports on a study that analyzed 3,746 papers obtained from retrospective searches of the Medline database according to language, length of abstract, depth of indexing, and inclusion of author's address. The focus is on scientific production in Slavonic countries and the information value of Slavonic papers in Medline. (10 references) (MES)

Research management strategies used effectively in a large-scale clinical trial to determine the health effects of exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam are discussed, including pre-project planning, organization according to strategy, attention to scheduling, a team approach, emphasis on guest relations, cross-training of personnel, and preparing…