Recruitment in randomized clinical trials: The MeMeMe experience.

Introduction: Recruitment is essential for the success of clinical trials. We are conducting a randomized clinical trial to test the effect of a Mediterranean dietary intervention with or without 1700 mg/day of metformin for the prevention of age-related chronic diseases, the MeMeMe trial (Trial registration number: EudraCT number: 2012-005427-32 ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02960711).

[Defining abuse: a difficult and controversial task].

Defining abuse: a difficult and controversial task. To offer a comprehensive definition of abuse is difficult, for the understanding of this phenomenon varies considerably from one author to the next. However, certain common characteristics are proposed in this paper: the victim's vulnerability, a specific, trustful, relationship to the perpetrator, and the fact that a power relationship is at stake.

A management system for randomized clinical trials: A novel way to supply medication.

Background: Randomized controlled clinical trials require management effort, involving huge organizational, economic and informatics investments. Information technology offers opportunities to approach clinical trial methodology in new ways. However, there are only a few reports of computerized data and drug management systems.

A randomized controlled trial of Mediterranean diet and metformin to prevent age-related diseases in people with metabolic syndrome.

Purpose: Age-related non-communicable chronic diseases (ArCDs) are the leading cause of mortality. The major metabolic risk factor for their development is the metabolic syndrome (MetS), defined as a clustering of risk factors of metabolic origin such as abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia and high fasting glycemia. There is increasing observational and experimental evidence that improving diet and the use of metformin (a calorie-restriction mimetic drug) may modify the risk of developing MetS and ArCD.

[Compassionate care, emergence of a notion in the light and shade of the care environment].

Compassionate care is a recent notion. It is based on a shared culture which focuses on promoting the rights of vulnerable people, integral to the quality of professionals' life at work. Tangible and part of day-to-day practice, it requires room to be set aside for discussion and ethical considerations, essential for ensuring the long-lasting creativity of caregivers, at the source of their mobilisation.

[Proposals for a new health democracy in institutions].

Dignity, or rather a lack thereof, in healthcare institutions, often becomes apparent through a situation where the patient, or sometimes the nurse, is not given due respect. It is important to promote a real democratic culture, an authentic collective dialogue. This article presents the basis of a fundamental notion.

Electrochemical gas sensors based on paper-supported room-temperature ionic liquids for improved analysis of acid vapours.

A prototype of a fast-response task-specific amperometric gas sensor based on paper-supported room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) is proposed here for improved analysis of volatile acid species. It consists of a small filter paper foil soaked with a RTIL mixture containing an ionic liquid whose anion (acetate) displays a basic character, upon which three electrodes are screen printed by carbon ink profiting from a suitable mask. It takes advantage of the high electrical conductivity and negligible vapour pressure of RTILs and of their easy immobilization into a porous and inexpensive supporting material such as paper.

[What are the different prospects for positive treatment?].

While the concept of positive treatment is undeniably fashionable, the manner in which it is replacing the concept of mistreatment raises questions. What is the significance of this semantic development and what should be deduced from this new term with regard to the effective development of professional practices? Three different prospects appear to await the term positive treatment: incarnating a figure of denial, acting as an asset, or infinitely more preferable, bringing about a questioning of professional practices. But this third prospect is not without its challenges: it cannot exist without managerial involvement focusing on the ethical requirements of positive treatment in terms of respect for people in care.

[Are we free to discuss the living-donor issue?].

A gift does not take place in a neutral context: every act of giving sets up a complex system of more or less constraining obligations. In the donation of an organ, it is particularly difficult to distinguish between decisions made under pressure and those made freely. This distinction is of capital importance if we admit that a donation is ethically acceptable on;y if the decision to donate is made on free and autonomous grounds.