The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7437 p142
3 February 2007

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Setting an example in science research more
Taming of the shrew may not be the answer more
Can citizen power beat the climate changers? more
The deadly aftermath of time spent in prison more

Setting an example in science research

An editorial in the 18 January 2007 issue of Nature stresses the importance of ensuring that senior staff in research laboratories set a good example for their juniors to follow.

Occasional episodes of fraud in the conducting or recording of research bring science into disrepute. Fraud is generally reckoned to be serious, although it is rare. There is some dispute over the grey area where misconduct may involve seeking undue publicity for a paper or keeping faulty records at the bench. It is necessary for researchers to keep all forms of substandard practice to a bare minimum.

It is fortunate that, as a rule, public regard for a line of research is not greatly worsened by the exposure of inaccuracies in cases where there is no evidence of fraud. Detecting a lack of reliability in one line of research may stimulate other scientists to check for similar errors in their own work and perhaps thereby avoid wasting many hours of precious research time.

A general working environment in which the highest standard of research activity can be maintained is necessary. Controls at a national level are unusual, leaving institutions to pursue their own methods and restrictions.

Meanwhile, the scientific community should continue to concentrate on measures to minimise misconduct. The training of postgraduate students in ethical principles is important and should be introduced in all research universities. Rules on record keeping and protecting whistle-blowers are essential. It is in laboratories that senior scientists should see that good examples are set and good working principles are inculcated.

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Taming of the shrew may not be the answer

Outside my garden door hangs a cage containing peanuts to encourage birds to spend their winters among my plants. Highly successful, it has proved a boon to some other wild creatures too. Regularly, when I pass I hear a strange “plop” and a minute shrew lands on the ground and scuttles away beneath nearby rocks. I regard it as a friendly neighbour, and would miss the creature if it happened to desert its habitat.

However, in English folklore the shrew has a poor reputation. Its bite, even in the time of Pliny in AD77, was considered venomous and productive of severe pain. It was also believed that, if a shrew crawled over a domestic animal such as a sheep, horse or cow, the victim would suffer acute pain and disability. If it ran over a human foot, it might induce lifelong lameness. A drastic remedy was to bore a hole in an ash tree and imprison the shrew there until it died. Alternatively, the shrew could be enclosed in clay and hung about the neck. In Sussex a dead shrew carried in the pocket was thought to ward off the onset of rheumatism.

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Can citizen power beat the climate changers?

Debate over climate change goes on and promises to grow fiercer in the international sphere. Now that a political shift in the US favouring the Democrats has occurred, observers are looking for a marked change in the US government's attitude to the problem, and this may have important repercussions on the response of the world trying to solve it without drastic measures. The arguments have been aired in the 18 January 2007 issue of Nature, following the convening of the 110th Congress in Washington on 4 January 2007.

None of the manoeuvring is thought to yield significant changes for either the conduct or application of science in the short term. The science budget outlook is not likely to differ substantially since the two major political parties in the US support similar research funding figures. The debate over embryonic stem-cell research is likely to follow the previous rather fiery pattern. Proposals will probably be vetoed by the president as before.

Policies to address climate change will be expressed after previous ones were dismissed on the assumption that global warming is a myth. Some regulation intended to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions is being considered, now that environmental groups are exerting their pressure. Industry groups, too, have to decide on a policy on the same issue.

The major problem for the politicians will be the attitude of the US public. Unlike previously, it is now apparent that climate change is something real for the ordinary citizen, but public understanding is regrettably unclear. Engaging public interest in the issue will be critical for the politicians.

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The deadly aftermath of time spent in prison

An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine for 11 January 2007 comments on a strange aspect of our tendency to lock up our offenders as a disciplinary measure. It concerns the increased risk of death of prisoners soon after their release from custody.

The study, carried out in Washington State, followed 30,000 released inmates for an average of 1.9 years. During that period the risk of death was 3.5 times higher than among the state’s general population of the same age, sex and race. And during the first two weeks of freedom the risk of death was 12.7 times that among other state residents.

The study concludes that the first few weeks after release may be a time of high vulnerability to drug overdose and there may be a raised risk from violence, unintentional injury and a lapse in treating chronic health conditions. The risk is significantly higher among women than among men.

The leading cause of death of former inmates was found to be drug overdose. The drug most commonly involved was cocaine. Others included psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, heroin, methadone and tricyclic antidepressants. Next among leading causes of death was cardiovascular disease, followed by homicide, suicide, cancer and motoring accidents.

Cardiovascular disease and cancer accounted for most deaths in those aged 45 or more, while younger persons were more likely to die as a result of homicide, suicide or drug overdose. The researchers suggest that interventions could be targeted according to age.

The researchers also concluded that intervention aimed at decreasing the risk of deaths could include planning for the transmission from prison to community and providing intensive care management during the period immediately after release. As well as reducing mortality among former inmates, such a programme of interventions might have benefits for society in the form of increased public safety.