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Here are some other interesting bioscience- and non-bioscience-related
contributes, selected according to my opinions : I hope you find them useful.
Please give me your suggestions
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: an institution for the treatment of the sick. “An institution suitably
located, constructed, organized, managed and personneled, to supply, scientifically,
economically, efficiently and unhindered, all or any recognized part of
the complex requirements for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of
physical, mental, and the medical aspect of social ills; with functioning
facilities for training new workers in the many special professional, technical
and economic fields essential to the discharge of its proper functions;
and with adequate contacts with physicians, other hospitals, medical schools
and all accredited health agencies engaged in the better health program.”—Council
on Medical Education (CME)
development for diseases that mainly affect the developing world, as
opposed to those that affect industrialised nations. From the time of introduction
of a new vaccine in Europe or the USA, the adoption of these vaccines in
developing countries takes a decade or more. For example, hepatitis B vaccine
and Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccines have been used
routinely for over 10 years in North America and in most European countries,
with very successful control of disease, but although these vaccines have
also proven highly effective in developing countries, vaccine uptake has
mostly been slow. Several factors have contributed to this situation, such
as insufficient information on local disease burden, and questions of programme
feasibility. However, the main reason is that the poorest countries cannot
afford to purchase the vaccines. In 2001, three vaccine manufacturers developed
group C meningococcal conjugate vaccines in response to public health concerns
in the UK, where there had been about 10,000 cases of group C meningococcal
disease and 1,000 deaths during the previous decade. By contrast, no manufacturer
was interested in developing a group A meningococcal conjugate vaccine
for prevention of meningococcal disease in sub-Saharan Africa where, during
the same period, there were more than 700,000 cases and 100,000 deaths.
For virtually all diseases that largely affect poor countries, choice of
drug and vaccine development is market driven, and is not based on disease
burden or mortality..
Each plate was divided like a pie into separate sectors, with cylindrical
beams running through the thickness of the plates, and a fine surface of
bumps, called nanoasperities, which were further organized into
groups. Biopolymer molecules crossed over and bound to the array of bumps.
The researchers then used a diamond-probe tip a few hundred nm in size
to push into a plate while measuring the resistance it offered : the tablets
were both extremely stiff and strong at these length scales. The team is
now studying the forces that glue the plates and biopolymer together, as
well as the properties of a single biopolymer molecule. Nature uses nanoscale
structural design principles to produce materials with superior mechanical
properties. In many aspects, human engineers have yet to achieve the same
skill. However, as nanotechnology methods advance, the creation of artificial
nacre—and other kinds of high-performance armors—is becoming a more and
more realistic goal. (Ortiz C, Journal of Materials Research)
Copyright © 2001-2005 Daniele Focosi.
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