The placebo and the therapeutic uses of faith

The holistic movement in modern medicine has raised questions concerning the very character of the religion-medicine dialogue. A truly mutual interaction between theology and medicine must require of the theologian a serious interest in and understanding of medicine if the notion of the body-mind unity is to be taken seriously from the point of view of pastoral care. This paper suggests that this discussion may be enriched by a theological analysis of the placebo, which has lately been the subject of controversy within medical circles. Finally, it is suggested that the value of the placebo reposes in its serving as a symbol of the dynamics of faith in medical care.     

从胰腺移植到胰岛干细胞移植

糖尿病学家在胰腺及胰岛细胞移植领域进行了不懈的探索。胰腺移植和胰岛细胞移植的两大制约因素是可供移植的胰腺来源少且诱发受体免疫排斥反应而需应用免疫抑制剂。胰岛细胞制备、纯化技术以及免疫隔离技术的应用在一定程度上克服了上述两大制约因素，人们期待胰岛干细胞技术及其相关的基因技术的深入将这一技术趋于完善。     

前列腺素E1注射液治疗早期2型糖尿病肾病临床观察

比较不同剂量的前列腺素E1注射液在早期2型糖尿病肾病患者中的临床疗效.最终随机纳入91例早期2型糖尿病肾病患者,分别接受10μg/d(A组,n=47)与20μg/d(B组,n=44)的前列腺素E1治疗,2周后观察8小时尿微量白蛋白排泄率(UAER)、血尿素氮(BUN)和肌酐(Cr)的变化.结果显示,两组患者治疗后UAER、BUN、Cr均较治疗前明显下降,都具有统计学差异(P均<0.05),但A、B两组之间UAER下降幅度不一,B组较A组下降幅度更明显,具有统计学差异(P<0.001);两者之间BUN下降幅度相比没有统计学差异(P>0.05).两者之间的Cr下降幅度相比有统计学差异(P<0.05).由此推断,前列腺素El治疗早期糖尿病肾病,降低尿蛋白确实有效,而且前列腺素E1 20μg/d的剂量要比10μg/d降低尿蛋白效果更好.     

With a brick in hand. Transformation in exile

‘I’m like the man who took along a brick/to show the world what his house was like.’ Reflecting on Bertolt Brecht’s brick, which is symbolically taken along from the homeland, allows us the opportunity to explore the changing modalities of traumatic experience in displaced persons. The brick does not merely represent lost objects, home, and homeland but also stands for the displaced person and his psychic integrity. The challenge for every displaced person is to transition away from the basic survival mode, dominated by the drives of self-preservation, to regain the ability to symbolize and to start dreaming again. The way a poet processes his own traumatic experiences of displacement and escape may serve as a roadmap for others. Works by Mario Benedetti and Bertolt Brecht, both émigré poets, alongside clinical examples, form the psychological material. Recurring thoughts of an uncertain return to the homeland may become debilitating, causing a displaced person to descend into mourning or melancholy and can even lead to open outbursts of previously strongly defended aggression. If it is not possible to sufficiently work through the trauma, then the bricks will fall everywhere. In the regressive emotionally charged condition, it holds true: in the beginning was the act.     

The Impact of a Child’s Cancer on the Father’s Relationship with His Spouse in Korea

A father of a child with cancer experiences psychological stress related to his child’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, which may affect his relationship with his spouse. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to how having a child with cancer affects the marital relationship from the perspective of the father. We examined the impact of the child’s cancer on the father’s relationship with his spouse in Korea. We conducted in-depth interviews with 20 fathers (mean age?=?41.35 years; SD?=?4.49) of children who were diagnosed with cancer before the age of 19 and were within 5 years of the diagnosis. The mean age of the child with cancer was 9.1 years (SD?=?3.68), and the mean age at diagnosis was 6.4 years (SD?=?4.08). The analysis of the interviews revealed the following four themes (and eight subthemes): conflicts between spouses (lack of father’s participation in caregiving, financial and work-related stress), mental suffering (heartbroken, torn between caregiving and work), change in communication (child-focused communication, avoiding communication), and change in the marital relationship (neglected relationship, new trust built in the relationship). A father’s increased conflict in the marital relationship after his child’s diagnosis of cancer was intensified by his limited involvement in child care and parenting responsibilities. An understanding of the change in the father’s relationship with his spouse can inform the development of a psychosocial intervention that may strengthen a father’s emotional intelligence and resilience, which could improve the marital relationship.     

Creating Play Atmosphere and Time for Children in Chinese Kindergarten: Difficulties and Reflection

Schools’ busy situation is far away from its Greek root “Scholé” that means leisure time compared with political duty and war at that era which is also similar in ancient China. From the leisure point of view, school should be relax and free for young children in kindergarten. This means that play should take the most time on the schedule. Unfortunately, Political class skillfully disseminating serious competition among nations to deliver anxiety on young generations’ education to the public,which makes parents and school system highly valued formal learning much more than play. Chinese kindergarten may be have the longest formal learning time due to its history emphasis on learning from the model. Endure hardship as the basic habit from the younger children for the nature of life is full of hardship in Chinese philosophy. These underpinned ideas encounter great challenges from the Western early childhood education which puts more emphasis on play. Play is conceived as children’s life itself, in which integrated learning can happen and is much more suitable and abundant for young children than formal learning. Although Chinese Educational Ministry promulgated kindergarten work regulation and educational guideline to make play as the basic activity in 1996 and 2001,there are still lots of factors that impede kindergartens implement play in practice. Lack of free time in kindergarten both on schedule and in fact is the obvious sign. This paper wants to reflect those factors in cultural perspective and try to use variety meanings of time especially subjective time to analysis the practice on reconstructing kindergartens’ play atmosphere and time, and the findings on creating different inter-subjective time for young children.