Isr Med Assoc J
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During recent months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the occurrence of three major biosafety incidents, raising serious concern about biosafety and biosecurity guideline implementation in the most prestigious agencies in the United States: the CDC, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). These lapses included: a) the mishandling of Bacillus anthracis spores potentially exposing dozens of employees to anthrax; b) the shipment of low pathogenic influenza virus unknowingly cross-contaminated with a highly pathogenic strain; and c) an inventory lapse of hundreds of samples of biological agents, including six vials of variola virus kept in a cold storage room for decades, unnoticed. In this review we present the published data on these events, report the CDC inquiry's main findings, and discuss the key lessons to be learnt to ensure safer scientific practice in biomedical and microbiological service and research laboratories.
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The impact of admission glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) on hospital outcome is controversial. ⋯ Glucose levels upon admission did not affect mortality. However, HbA1c levels below 6.5% had opposite effects on 1 year mortality in diabetes patients and patients with hyperglycemia.
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Video surveillance is a tool for managing safety and security within public spaces. In mental health facilities, the major benefit of video surveillance is that it enables 24 hour monitoring of patients, which has the potential to reduce violent and aggressive behavior. ⋯ Thus, an ongoing debate has developed following the increasing use of cameras in this setting. This article presents the experience of a medium-large academic state hospital that uses video surveillance, and explores the various ethical and administrative aspects of video surveillance in mental health facilities.