Report of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs: professionalism in the use of social media

Although many physicians have been using the internet for both clinical and social purposes for years, recently concerns have been raised regarding blurred boundaries of the profession as a whole. In both the news media and medical literature, physicians have noted there are unanswered questions in these areas, and that professional self-regulation is needed. This report discusses the ethical implications of physicians' nonclinical use of the internet, including the use of social networking sites, blogs, and other means to post content online. It does not address the clinical use of the internet, such as telemedicine, e-prescribing, online clinical consultations, health-related websites, use of electronic media for clinical collaboration, and e-mailing patients (some of which are already covered in the AMA's Code of Medical Ethics).     

Changing patterns of neuropsychological functioning in children living at high altitude above and below 4000 m: a report from the Bolivian Children Living at Altitude (BoCLA) study

The brain is highly sensitive to environmental hypoxia. Little is known, however, about the neuropsychological effects of high altitude residence in the developing brain. We recently described only minor changes in processing speed in native Bolivian children and adolescents living at approximately 3700 m. However, evidence for loss of cerebral autoregulation above this altitude (4000 m) suggests a potential threshold of hypoxia severity over which neuropsychological functioning may be compromised. We conducted physiological and neuropsychological assessments in 62 Bolivian children and adolescents living at La Paz (～3700 m) and El Alto (～4100 m) in order to address this issue. Groups were equivalent in terms of age, gender, social class, schooling, parental education and genetic admixture. Apart from percentage of hemoglobin saturated with oxygen in arterial blood (%SpO(2)), participants did not differ in their basal cardiac and cerebrovascular performance as explored by heart rate, mean arterial pressure, end-tidal carbon dioxide, and cerebral blood flow velocity at the basilar, anterior, middle and posterior cerebral arteries. A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was administered, including tests of executive functions, attention, memory and psychomotor performance. Participants living at extreme altitude showed lower levels of performance in all executive tests (Cohen effect size = -0.91), whereas all other domains remained unaffected by altitude of residence. These results are compatible with earlier physiological evidence of a transitional zone for cerebral autoregulation at an altitude of 4000 m. We now show that above this threshold, the developing brain is apparently increasingly vulnerable to neuropsychological deficit.     

佛教与养生长寿

自古以来高僧长寿者众多。唐代以来,超过或接近百岁的高僧,有记载的著名僧人就有日照、慧昭、仪宴、惠秀、礼宗、神秀、智威、怀海、圆修、志鸿、定安等;当代高僧中,长寿者也众多。     

德化之月记窑

去德化,缘于家中供奉的药师佛来自德化。柔和的米白色,细腻的线条,没有上釉的温润,令观者皆生欢喜向往之心。加之早年间习茶,最普遍的茶具是德化白瓷。那白色虽然有些冷调,并且因为普遍而贬值,但也因与茶禅都相关,让人留意。     

声音

很多人感觉,烧的香越多,佛陀越会保佑你,其实不是这个样子的。——心澄法师呼吁大家在去寺庙的时候,摈弃“烧高香”的陋习,他说,作为僧人其实非常提倡大家一炷清香来拜佛的行为。     

村镇规划建设管理工作的现状与对策

尽管目前我国的村镇规划建设步伐正在逐渐加快,但是不可否认的是,我国当前的村镇规划管理工作仍存在诸多问题,通过对当前村镇规划管理中常见的问题进行分析,提出了解决问题的对策和措施,以期能促进村镇规划建设的有序、健康发展。     

厦门国际佛事用品展：从佛事器物交流到佛教文化传播

“我们该怎样定义一届成功的佛事用品展呢？现在各个地方的展览都比较商业一点,但我想,一个有文化内涵的展览才更有生命力。”赖国香放下手中的材料,低头往茶盅里添茶。这里是他位于厦门国际会展中心的办公室,楼下是每年厦门佛事用品展的展厅,而在玻璃门外的大办公室里,坐着他的由三十余位员工组成的团队。     

下意识

带儿子去房山看石经,他又下意识地拿起记忆本和电子词典。孩子这样的下意识,已经有10年了。他说过,这些“下意识”会让他受益终生。儿子说话早,大约七个月时就能讲很多单音节字,抱着他翻幼儿画报时,他对喜欢的东西会盯好久,并在下一次看到时,准确地叫出来。八个月时,我有意识地将家中物品依他喜欢的顺序,分别贴上相应文字,这习惯源自一位教育学家说幼儿记忆符号与记忆物体相似之处,再后来,我做好多卡片,卡片上面是我自己画上去的物品,下面则是不大醒目的汉字。因为色彩鲜艳、图案各异的卡片通常一周或是两周更新一次,孩子特别喜欢,那个年龄阶段的他,喜欢的应该是那些鲜艳,不过我依旧画着换着。到了他两周岁时,记忆汉字的能力出奇地强时,我意识到可能是这些利用“下意识”画画写写的卡片帮了他的忙。这鼓励我坚持换下去,只是根据不同年龄阶段调整不同的内容。