The Impact of Test Outcome Certainty on Interest in Genetic Testing Among College Women

Osteoporosis and hemochromatosis are both late-onset preventable diseases, but future genetic tests for these conditions are likely to differ in their predictive abilities. To determine whether interest in a specific genetic test for hemochromatosis would be higher than interest in a theoretical test for osteoporosis susceptibility, undergraduate women at the University of Cincinnati (N = 181) were surveyed regarding their interest in genetic testing for these conditions. The clinical features of the diseases and the limits of a genetic test for each were described. Sixty-three percent of the total population was interested in genetic testing with a trend toward higher interest in the osteoporosis group. Disease familiarity, perceived disease severity, and perceived risk for disease appear to be more important predictors of genetic test acceptance than diagnostic specificity. Suggested implications for the development of population genetic screening tests are discussed.     

工程中利益冲突问题研究

首先在详细分析工程中利益冲突已有定义的基础上,本文从不同角度提出了一种不同的定义。然后,分析了利益冲突的构成,并列举了利益冲突的情形。接着,分析了利益冲突的伦理问题,并提出解决方法。最后介绍了美国工程社团以及大型企业有关利益冲突的伦理章程和行为规范。     

中国当前的医疗危机与医护人员的专业责任和使命

分析了导致当前国内医患关系恶化的种种宏观与微观的因素,认为其中最重要的原因是医患关系中出现不应存在的利益冲突,最终导致医患关系出现一种诚信危机。以此为讨论起点,分析了西方国家的信托模式的七种特征,论证医患关系的本质为何是一种信托关系,并指出忠诚与守信是信托关系和医疗专业精神的核心价值。在结论中特别指出,这种认知明确了医疗专业在当前的医患危机中应该扮演的角色和担当的责任。     

浅析基因治疗临床试验中的"利益冲突"

基因治疗临床试验中的"利益冲突"问题多聚焦在如何规范利益冲突的不良后果上,却忽视了一些更基本的问题,如临床试验中的不同"利益",利益冲突的表现及防范等.以基因治疗为例,归纳了临床试验中的不同利益和利益冲突形式,并指出"公开经济利益安排"是解决冲突的基本对策.     

话题兴趣与文本阅读眼动特征的研究

以大学生为被试,用ASL504型眼动仪,探讨话题兴趣对文本阅读过程眼动特征和文本阅读理解的影响。结果表明：(1)话题兴趣促进深层理解,而不能促进表层理解。(2)话题兴趣主要与阅读时间和注视点数相关联,而与阅读效率无关。(3)文本阅读过程中,阅读时间、注视点数两项眼动指标存在显著的性别差异。     

Parental refusals of medical treatment: the harm principle as threshold for state intervention

Minors are generally considered incompetent to provide legally binding decisions regarding their health care, and parents or guardians are empowered to make those decisions on their behalf. Parental authority is not absolute, however, and when a parent acts contrary to the best interests of a child, the state may intervene. The best interests standard is the threshold most frequently employed in challenging a parent's refusal to provide consent for a child's medical care. In this paper, I will argue that the best interest standard provides insufficient guidance for decision-making regarding children and does not reflect the actual standard used by medical providers and courts. Rather, I will suggest that the Harm Principle provides a more appropriate threshold for state intervention than the Best Interest standard. Finally, I will suggest a series of criteria that can be used in deciding whether the state should intervene in a parent's decision to refuse medical care on behalf of a child.     

Conflict of interest in Croatia: doctors with dual obligations

There is an emerging awareness of the possibility of conflicts of interest in the practice of medicine in Croatia. The paper examines areas within the medical profession where conflicts of interest can and have occurred, probably not only in Croatia. Particularly addressed are situations when a doctor may have dual obligations and how independent ethics committees can help in decreasing the influence of a conflict of interest. The paper also presents extracts from the Croatian Code of Ethics for the medical profession that address problems of conflict of interest. An earlier version of this paper entitled was presented at an International Conference on “Conflict of Interest and its Significance in Science and Medicine” held in Warsaw, Poland on 5–6 April, 2002.     

The resurrection of vocational interests in human resources research and practice: Evidence,challenges, and a working model

A large number of studies conducted over the past two decades reconsidered and supported the validity of vocational interests for predicting a range of important work outcomes. Yet to date, interests remain relatively underused in professional settings, in part because discussions of why, how, and where to use interest assessment tools in an evidence-based manner are lacking and often incomplete. In this article, we briefly review and summarize the available evidence to then further discuss ways in which interest assessment can support various stages of the human resources (HR) cycle, including recruiting, selecting, retaining, and developing employees. From this overview, a number of challenges and apparent paradoxes are derived when working with interests, which may hinder the effective application of these assessments. Therefore, we propose a new working model that treats interest assessments both as “select-out” and “select-in” tools, to identify personal attributes that can either be “must-haves” for an organization in the short term, but at the same time can represent “unique potential” for that organization in the long term. Throughout the text, we also discuss where additional research is needed to further substantiate the use of interests in the HR cycle.     

Moral Hazard in Pediatrics

“Moral hazard” is a term familiar in economics and business ethics that illuminates why rational parties sometimes choose decisions with bad moral outcomes without necessarily intending to behave selfishly or immorally. The term is not generally used in medical ethics. Decision makers such as parents and physicians generally do not use the concept or the word in evaluating ethical dilemmas. They may not even be aware of the precise nature of the moral hazard problem they are experiencing, beyond a general concern for the patient's seemingly excessive burden. This article brings the language and logic of moral hazard to pediatrics. The concept reminds us that decision makers in this context are often not the primary party affected by their decisions. It appraises the full scope of risk at issue when decision makers decide on behalf of others and leads us to separate, respect, and prioritize the interests of affected parties.