BACKGROUND A recent survey has shown that data management in clinical trials performed by academic trial units still faces many difficulties (e.g. heterogeneity of software products, deficits in quality management, limited human and financial resources and the complexity of running a local computer centre). Unfortunately, no specific, practical and open standard for both GCP-compliant data mana...

This project was funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Executive; the executive accepts no responsibility for the information provided or the views expressed. Contributors: JSB analysed the data and conducted the preliminary interpretation of the results; she was responsible for drafting and revising the paper. DMC, WJG, MHH, GCP, and MR designed the study, secured the funding fo...

*Correspondence: Sasha R. X. Dall, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, Exeter, UK e-mail: [email protected] The study of animal personality variation promises to provide significant new insight into the way that behavior evolves in animals, along with its ecological and evolutio...

Scientific honesty and the observance of the principles of good scientific practice are essential in all scientific work which seeks to expand our knowledge and which is intended to earn respect from the public. The principles of good scientific practice can be violated in many ways – from a lack of care in the application of scientific methods or in documenting data, to serious scientific misc...

Scientific honesty and the observance of the principles of good scientific practice are essential in all scientific work which seeks to expand our knowledge and which is intended to earn respect from the public. The principles of good scientific practice can be violated in many ways – from a lack of care in the application of scientific methods or in documenting data, to serious scientific misc...

Quality control, quality assurance, and audit are now an integral, though not always welcome, part of our daily lives. For many years the conduct of clinical trials has relied heavily on trust and the integrity of those involved, and the amount of regulation has been minimal. The introduction of the Declaration of Helsinki in 1964 spelt out the ethical considerations but further changes over th...

Targeted toxins, consisting of tumor-selective ligands coupled to polypeptide toxins, represent a new class of cancer therapeutics that kills malignant cells by inactivating cytosolic protein synthesis and inducing apoptosis. A number of these molecules have been produced under good manufacturing practice conditions and given systemically to patients with a variety of neoplasms. The promising r...

Purpose: Mixed bacterial vaccine (MBV, Coley’s toxins) is a historical, vaguely defined preparation of heat-inactivated Streptococcus pyogenes and Serratia marcescens used as nonspecific immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer. The mechanism of action is suspected to have an immunologic basis, yet it is poorly defined up to now. We developed a new, biochemically well defined and current good m...

The creation of strong, secure passwords is vital in our life todaydue to the implications of compromised access to our data. Passwords are commonly used to prevent unauthorized access to important information, to guarantee security of personal information, and to prevent unauthorized access to various services. It seems that people tend to veer toward adopting the simplest characters in formin...