Development of a construct-based risk assessment framework for genetic engineered crops

Experience gained in the risk assessment (RA) of genetically engineered (GE) crops since their first experimental introductions in the early nineties, has increased the level of familiarity with these breeding methodologies and has motivated several agencies and expert groups worldwide to revisit the scientific criteria underlying the RA process. Along these lines, the need to engage in a scientific discussion for the case of GE crops transformed with similar constructs was recently identified in Argentina. In response to this need, the Argentine branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI Argentina) convened a tripartite working group to discuss a science-based evaluation approach for transformation events developed with genetic constructs which are identical or similar to those used in previously evaluated or approved GE crops. This discussion considered new transformation events within the same or different species and covered both environmental and food safety aspects. A construct similarity concept was defined, considering the biological function of the introduced genes. Factors like environmental and dietary exposure, familiarity with both the crop and the trait as well as the crop biology, were identified as key to inform a construct-based RA process.

Problem-solving for better health

An outline is given of an approach to the health-for-all goals which involves optimizing resource use, prioritizing people's well-being, achieving excellence and a measurable impact at all levels of care, and solving health problems in a broad developmental context.

How reporting delay, duration of follow-up and number of cases affect the estimates of the incubation time of transfusion-associated AIDS cases

The authors discuss the impact of reporting delay, duration of follow-up, and number of cases in a sample on estimates of the incubation time of transfusion-associated AIDS cases. "This article comes to the conclusion that the accuracy of the incubation time estimate would depend on the sample size rather than on the duration of follow-up." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

A nonparametric approach to analyzing large human populations

There are many statistical techniques that require the assumption that the population being studied is normally distributed--regression analysis, multivariate analysis, time series analysis, and so on. Unfortunately, as the development of survey sampling has long acknowledged, large human populations are usually stratified into several different subpopulations. Since the boundaries between the strata are somewhat blurred, they are not independent, so the overall distribution of the population tends to be multimodal rather than normal. In this paper, a technique is developed to find these multimodal techniques using nonparametric density estimation. Its effectiveness is demonstrated by means of an example.

Issues in the growth of cities of the USSR in light of the decisions of the 26th party congress

The author discusses "varying strategies of urbanization and city growth for the Soviet macroregions--European USSR, Siberia, and Central Asia." Several important research areas are outlined, including global aspects of urbanization, forecasts of urban growth in the USSR, formulation of a theory and methods for categorizing urban formation, urbanization and environmental concerns, mathematical modeling of urban systems, and research on specific urban systems.