Imagining the Future of Photoacoustic Mammography

How can a realistic ethical imagination about the future of a technology take shape? This article contains a reflection which is based on the experiences of an embedded ethicist in the context of biophysical research conducive to the development of photoacoustic mammography, which is intended for the non-invasive detection of breast cancer. Imagination in this context already informs the activities of the biophysical researchers, but its role is limited: biophysical future scenarios concentrate on the technological advances that photoacoustics could bring about. In this article it is argued that it is advisable to also consider the medical practice and the ways in which this practice is likely to change as an effect of the introduction of photoacoustic mammography into it. On the basis of this more encompassing imaginative endeavor it is possible to get a clearer idea about how new technologies are able to contribute to human well being, which is informative for the setting of research-goals/priorities and a responsible implementation of new technologies into the world.     

The Relationship Between Religious Coping Style and Anxiety over Breast Cancer in African American Women

In this study, we investigated the relationship between religious coping style and anxiety related to breast cancer and the use of mammography in a sample of African American women. We also assessed the relationship of breast cancer anxiety to related variables such as church affiliation and attendance, church teachings on health, and acceptance of those teachings.     

食管癌研究的历史回顾和哲学思考

食管癌研究可分为病因学、发病机制和防治三个部分,涵盖了流行病学、生物化学、病理学、肿瘤学、分子生物学等多个学科。尽管两千多年前,我国学者以开始记载和描述食管癌,但直到近代特别是现代科学技术的进步才对食管癌有了系统的认识。回顾食管癌的研究史,不难看出,正确的研究方法和科学思路在揭示食管癌发病机制和控制食管癌发病率和死亡率中起关键的作用。辨证地剖析机体内部和外界环境之间的关系,人群研究和实验室研究,个体化局部治疗和全身综合治疗,基础和临床研究,传统方法和现代高科技的有机结合,国内外合作研究与小范围研究,研究者与食管癌患者之间的关系等方面的关系,是指导食管癌 研究的重要环节。     

Qualitative Cancer Genetic Counseling Research, Part II: Findings from a Exploratory Ethnographic Study in a Cancer Clinic

This is a report of the preliminary findings of a brief exploratory ethnographic study in a cancer diagnosis and treatment clinic. The main research purpose was to explore the meaning of cancer and cancer treatment to patients themselves and to their relatives and close friends. The methods are described in detail in a paper focusing on the experiences of being a novice ethnographer (Peters et al. (2001) J Genet Counsel 10(2):133–150.). The preliminary results of this exploratory fieldwork indicate that the experience of attending a cancer treatment clinic for evaluation and/or treatment is a complex social, emotional as well as medical process for patients and families. Themes with relevance to genetic counselors that emerged from this early observation period included ideas about causes of cancer, the complex nature of families and kinship, coping and support, use of food, and healing. These initial findings have implications for genetic counseling practice and hopefully will stimulate more qualitative social and behavioral research in cancer genetic counseling.     

Posttraumatic Stress in Survivors of Childhood Cancer and Mothers: Development and Validation of the Impact of Traumatic Stressors Interview Schedule (ITSIS)

This study presents initial data validating the use of a new instrument, the Impact of Traumatic Stressors Interview Schedule (ITSIS), to assess the occurrence of cancer-related posttraumatic stress in childhood cancer survivors and their mothers. Sixty-six child/adolescent cancer survivors and 64 of their mothers, as well as 130 young adult survivors, completed the ITSIS and other measures of posttraumatic stress and general distress. Five ITSIS factors were identified for the mothers and for the young adult survivors, and three ITSIS factors were identified for the child/adolescent survivors. Factors in all three samples reflected symptoms of posttraumatic distress, concern over medical late effects, communication, and changes in self due to cancer. Only young adult survivors had a factor reflecting a positive engagement with the cancer history. Factors correlated with validation measures in predicted ways. The findings further the conceptualization of posttraumatic stress in pediatric cancer by describing the traumatic experience for survivors and mothers. Comparing factors across samples allows an examination of different influences of cancer within families and over the course of development.     

人类胚胎的道德地位

胚胎干细胞技术的发展带来了干细胞来源的伦理争论,提出了如何看待"胚胎道德地位"的问题。围绕这一问题,有三种观点,它们分别从生物性、理性功能以及人的潜能性来界定胚胎的道德地位。通过对三种观点的分析,本文强调坚持人的尊严原则,是推动新兴生物技术发展的核心和归宿。     

Conceptual framework from the Paris Psychosomatic School: A clinical psychoanalytic approach to oncology1

This article presents further clinical material from the Paris Psychosomatic School ( Aisenstein, 2006 ). The Freudian foundations of psychosomatics are detailed and post-Freudian developments focusing on the contribution of the Paris Psychosomatic School are outlined, in particular, the somatizing process as a result of regression and the somatizing process as a result of drive unbinding. The authors argue that the latter possibly gives rise to progressive and serious illness leading to death. The relationship of classical psychoanalysis to psychotherapeutic treatment from the angle of the Paris school is commented on. The authors then turn to two clinical presentations of women suffering from breast cancer. The method of evaluating the patients’ capacities for undergoing psychotherapeutic treatment and their mental capacity for healing is discussed. The face-to-face psychoanalytic treatment undertaken with the second case is discussed. Finally, the authors recall Freud’s insistence after 1920 on the opposition of the life drives and the death drives, which placed self-destruction at the centre of psychic functioning. They conclude that current research in biology and medicine, notably research concerning programmed cell death, will converge with psychoanalytic psychosomatics to illuminate somatizing processes and demonstrate the relevance of psychoanalytic treatment to patients who are capable of mental reorganization in the course of their illness and medical treatment.     

成体干细胞可塑性研究中的若干哲学思考

随着干细胞生物学研究的不断深入,成体干细胞被发现可以分化成组织来源与其无关的其他系统的细胞,即成体干细胞的可塑性.但是最近不断有学者对其提出质疑,认为可塑性可能是与"细胞融合"或成年组织中的"多潜能成年祖细胞"有关.面对可塑性上两种截然相反的观点,我们在热切关注其研究进展的同时,也引发了一连串的哲学思考.     

Psychological distress and well-being in advanced cancer: The effects of optimism and coping

This study examined the relations among optimism, coping, functional status, and psychological adjustment in 75 adults diagnosed with cancer. Both the positive and the negative aspects of psychological adjustment were assessed. All participants had been diagnosed with advanced stages of cancer (i.e., Stages II, III, and IV). Participants completed three assessments across a 4-month time period. Both optimism and coping were associated with psychological adjustment, even after controlling for functional status and prior adjustment. Additionally, optimism and coping were differentially related to distress and well-being. Optimism was strongly and positively associated with well-being and inversely related to distress. Escape-Avoidance coping was positively associated with distress and Accepting Responsibility coping was negatively associated with well-being. Comparisons between the current and prior studies indicated that individuals who are diagnosed with more advanced stages of cancer or who have survived bone marrow transplantation exhibit higher levels of optimism than do healthy individuals and individuals with early-stage disease.