Desafios bioéticos na sociedade tecnológica / Bioethical challenges in the technological society

Há 50 anos atrás, Van Rensselaer Potter, considerado pai da Bioética, publicou Bioética: ponte para o futuro. Mesmo sendo uma disciplina relativamente recente, e ainda enfrentando o desafio de consolidar-se, a Bioética deve dar respostas à questões antigas e novas, conforme evidenciado napandemia deCovid-19. Na primeira parte deste trabalho, apresentam-se alguns dilemas actuais, que são possíveis pela tecnologia disponível. Utilizam-se casos dos últimos cinco anos, para ilustrar como o uso das novas biotecnologias exigem uma reflexão bioética, necessária tanto para os sujeitos envolvidos directamente, como para a sociedade em geral. Consideramos que o progresso, para que seja verdadeiro, deve ser um avanço na direcção correcta. Ou seja, a tecnologia por si só não basta para o progresso dahumanidade, é necessário que o seu uso favoreça a pessoa humana e a sociedade, sempre respeitando os direitos e considerando os deveres. A segunda parte concentra-sena origem, actualidade e horizonteda na Bioética. Revisam-se alguns dos acontecimentos mais importantes no seu desenvolvimento, desde a primeira vez que a palavra foi usada em 1927, até os desafios que se preveem nas próximas décadas. Conclui-se com a necessidade de uma Bioética verdadeiramente global, com métodose princípios consolidados, e capaz de dar respostas aos dilemas actuais. Portanto, os três desafios principais possivelmentesão: ampliar a visão, contar com um fundamento antropológico, e ser capaz de ser pró-activa

Fifty years ago, Van Rensselaer Potter, considered the father of bioethics, published Bioethics: Bridge to the Future. Even as a relatively recent discipline, and still facing the challenge of consolidating itself, bioethics must provide answers to old and new questions, as evidenced in the present pandemic of Covid-19. In the first part of this paper, some current dilemmas, which are made possible by the technology available today, are presented. Cases from the last five years are used to illustrate how the use of new biotechnologies requires a bioethical reflection, necessary both for the subjects directly involved and for society in general. We consider that progress, in order to be true, must be an advance in the right direction. In other words,technology alone is not enough for the progress of humanity, it is necessary that its use favours the human person and society, always respecting rights and considering duties. The second part focuses on bioethics, its origin, current affairs and horizon.Some of the most important events in the development of bioethics are reviewed, from the first time the word was used in 1927 to the challenges that are foreseen in the coming decades. It concludes with the need for a truly global Bioethics, with consolidated methods and principles, and capable of providing answers to current dilemmas. Therefore, the three main challenges are possibly: broadening the vision, having an anthropological foundation, and being able to be proactive.

Online teaching and learning: Experiences of students in a nursing college during the onset of COVID-19

Background: The world has entered the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Utilisation of technology is inevitable. For the past years, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has halted normal operations, including in the physical classroom for nursing students. Students and facilitators had to move to a remote way of teaching and learning, utilising online teaching and learning. However, students and facilitators were not ready to use online teaching and learning. This not only resulted in numerous challenges, but also became an eye-opener for best practices and intervening strategies. Objectives: To explore and describe experiences of students in a nursing college with regard to online teaching and learning during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was adopted. A purposive, nonprobability sampling approach was used to select participants from second year, third year and fourth year. First-year student nurses were excluded because they did not commence with classrooms at that time. Results: Seven themes emerged, namely knowledge, confidence, training, equipment, clinical exposure, course extension and flexibility, and all themes had subthemes. Conclusion: It is evident that students had more negative experiences during online teaching and learning than positive experiences.

Nursing informatics skills relevance and competence for final year nursing students

Background: The increasing use of technology in nursing practice requires nursing students to be competent in nursing informatics with an attitude of acceptance of technology in the healthcare environment. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to determine final year nursing students' perceptions and skills in nursing informatics and their attitudes towards computerisation in nursing practice. Method: The study population were 198 final year nursing students from a selected university in the Western Cape, South Africa. All-inclusive sampling was used. A descriptive survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire which included two validated scales, namely the validated Nursing Informatics Competency Assessment Tool (NICAT) and the Nurses' Attitudes towards Computerisation scale. Means and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the ratings of the perceived relevance of nursing informatics skills in nursing practice, perceived levels of competence in nursing informatics skills and attitudes towards computers were calculated. Results: A total of 91 undergraduate respondents completed the survey. Computer literacy skills were rated overall as most relevant (4.23, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 4.06­4.40) and the skills perceived most competent (4.16, 95% CI: 3.81­4.22). The respondents had an overall positive score for attitudes towards computerisation in healthcare (67.34, s.d. = 10.40, 95% CI: 65.18­69.51). Conclusion: The study concluded that computer literacy skills, informatics literacy skills and information management skills were relevant to nursing practice, despite varying levels of competence in these skills among nurses.

Medical students' views on the use of video technology in the teaching of isizulu communication; language skills and cultural competence

The role of communicator has been included as a key competency for health science students in South Africa. Owing to the population's diverse language and cultural backgrounds; communication between patients and healthcare professionals is challenging. In this study; the Attention; generation; Emotion and Spacing (AGES) neurocognitive model of learning was used as a framework to create videos for language teaching for the vocational needs of students. Objectives. To explore students' views on the use of videos of simulated clinical scenarios for isiZulu communication and language teaching and the development of cultural awareness. Methods. Videos were developed using first- and second-language isiZulu speakers with scripts (verified by the university's Language Board) based on authentic clinical settings. Videos were shown to a target group of students; who were then interviewed in focus group discussions. Audio recordings from the discussions were transcribed and analysed thematically in three categories; i.e. communication; language skills; and cultural awareness; using deductive coding based on the objectives of the research. Results. Students affirmed numerous benefits of the videos and commented on their use and further development. Benefits described related well to the AGES model of learning and fulfilled the learning requirements of communication teaching; language acquisition and cultural awareness. Conclusion. The videos represent an innovative teaching method for the resource-constrained environment in which we work and are relevant to the 21st century learner. Further evaluation and development of the tool using different scenarios and African languages is recommended

More Women in Science and Technology: A Commitment to Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries: Sudan as a Case Study

Women in Science: historical membership atacademies of science The debate on the fact that there are very fewwomen (less than 10%) in the leading researchinstitutions was raised more than four decades ago. This has triggered several studies to document thecontribution of women to science and scientificdiscoveries. In 2010; the Royal Society of Londoncelebrated its 350th anniversary; but the historicabsence of women scientists from the seminars;exhibitions and publications was noted. Althoughthe Royal Society was founded in 1660; womenwere not permitted by statute to become fellowsuntil 285 years later; in 1945. An exception wasmade for Queen Victoria; who was made a royalfellow.This situation was not unique for theBritish; it was the same for other elite science academies...

Reading the National Disability and Rehabilitation Policy in the light of Foucault's technologies of power

In the area of disability studies, models have been at the centre of debates, influencing social policies, practices and legal frameworks. The former Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in the Kingdom of Lesotho was not an exception. In its efforts to tackle issues of disability, it produced The National Disability and Rehabilitation Policy: Mainstreaming persons with disabilities into society in 2011. This policy document is rooted in the social model and seeks to address long-standing problems and challenges of people with disabilities in the Kingdom. Using ideas from Foucault, particularly the technologies and regimes of power, which work through language and practice, this article examined ways in which people with disabilities are constituted through state knowledge and government policies, and concluded that these constructions form the basis for alienation and marginalisation in society

Method Development and Validations: Characterization of Critical Elements in the Development of Pharmaceuticals

Although a thorough validation cannot rule out all potential problems; the process of method development and validation should address the most common ones. Examples of typical problems that can be minimized or avoided are synthesis impurities that co-elute with the analyte peak in an HPLC assay; a particular type of column that no longer produces the separation needed because the supplier of the column has changed the manufacturing process; an assay method that is transferred to a second laboratory where they are unable to achieve the same detection limit; and a quality assurance audit of a validation report that finds no documentation on how the method was performed during the validation. Problems increase as additional people; laboratories; and equipment are used to perform the method. When the method is used in the developer's laboratory; a small adjustment can usually be made to make the method work; but the flexibility to change it is lost once the method is transferred to other laboratories or used for official product testing. This is especially true in the pharmaceutical industry; where methods are submitted to regulatory agencies and changes may require formal approval before they can be implemented for official testing. The best way to minimize method problems is to perform adequate validation experiments during development

Optimization of pharmaceutical formulations for therapy

A pharmaceutical formulation is aimed at ensuring drug delivery at the site of action in order to produce the desired therapeutic effect. The design of a pharmaceutical formulation must reflect the chemical reactivity of the drug substance as well as those of any other substances that are used in the formulation. Standardized manufacturing procedures which conform to accepted codes of Good Manufacturing Practices are prerequisites for the preparation of pharmaceutical formulations for optimal drug delivery. Drug formulations produced by such methods are expected to have the desired bioavailability characteristics for pharmacotherapy. The different types of pharmaceutical formulations usually prepared for administration by various routes are aimed at achieving the most appropriate drug delivery system for each drug. When necessary; special drug delivery systems are designed to achieve this objective. Advances in biotechnology has led to production of labile substances for use as drugs in therapy and this has created new challenges in the development of novel drug delivery systems. [abstract terminated]