The 2018 Revision of the ISBER Best Practices: Summary of Changes and the Editorial Team's Development Process.

An increased need for specimens of reliable and consistent quality for research purposes requires the development of standardized policies and practices for the collection, handling, storage, retrieval, and distribution of specimens and specimen-related data. Providers of specimen resources should strive to incorporate new technologies and state-of-the-science approaches and thus ensure the availability of fit-for-purpose research specimens. Strategies to achieve quality outcomes and performance improvements often include adherence to established standards and implementation of best practices. Although standards represent a rigid set of guidelines that define exactly how a task should be completed, best practices are recommended actions and principles that demonstrate an awareness of standards, solve problems, can be replicated, and work in a given context. Adoption of best practice elements will vary based on the goals and circumstances of a given initiative, and in some instances, may not be possible to implement or may represent an aspirational achievement. In an effort to harmonize the scientific, technical, legal, and ethical issues relevant to repositories of biological and environmental specimens, the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) has released the updated ISBER Best Practices: Recommendations for Repositories (ISBER Best Practices). The document provides a comprehensive tool to guide repository professionals in both managerial and technical aspects such as practical details on repository governance, development, and operation; regulatory compliance; and ethical, legal, and social issues relevant to repositories. This summary describes the process for revising the document and summarizes the new topics, updates, and areas of expansion included in the fourth edition of ISBER Best Practices.

Sons who care: examining the experience and meaning of filial caregiving for married and never-married sons.

In filial caregiving, women typically provide more care than men. The numerical predominance of female caregivers has been explained such that diversity among male caregivers has been overlooked. That is, "internalist" explanations, which emphasize the differing socialization experience of females and males, tend to homogenize each gender's caregiving experience. "Externalist" explanations, which emphasize various factors that push or pull women and men into caregiving, reduce the actors involved to passive agents whose subjective understanding of caregiving over time is ignored. Both explanations divert attention from the diversity in male caregiving. This article presents qualitative data derived from interviews with 48 caregiving sons to provide evidence of that diversity. Some themes are common to both married and never-married male caregivers, yet there are also systematic differences between the two groups of caregivers. For example, caregiving for married sons was more limited; caregiving for never-married sons was a more central element in their lives.

The gendered nature of men's filial care.

OBJECTIVES: This paper investigates sociodemographic and family structure factors that predict men's involvement (n = 773) in different gendered dimensions of filial caregiving: traditionally male, gender neutral, and traditionally female care. METHODS: The concepts that guide this research relate to family obligations or motivations to provide care, specifically, commitment to care, legitimate excuses, and caring by default. Data for this research come from the Work and Family Survey (1991-1993) conducted by the Work and Eldercare Research Group of CARNET: The Canadian Aging Research Network. RESULTS: Although such factors as geographic proximity and sibling network composition predict men's involvement independent of the type of task, the gendered nature of the task is important in how other factors, such as filial obligation, parental status, education, and income influence involvement in care. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that, for traditionally male tasks, legitimate excuses or a commitment to care may play a more minor role in influencing men's involvement than is true for traditionally female tasks. Overall, this research demonstrates the importance of examining the gendered nature of the care tasks and highlights the value of the conceptual framework for explaining variations in men's filial care.

Susceptibility to Cryptosporidium parvum infections in cytokine- and chemokine-receptor knockout mice.

To determine the role of cytokines and a chemokine receptor in the susceptibility to, and outcome of, infection, 4 different knockout mice (IL-4, IL-10, IL-12, and CCR5) were infected with Cryptosporidium parvum and monitored for infection intensity by collection of fecal pellets from individual mice. Because adult immunocompetent mice are refractory to infection, wild-type mice on the same background as the knockout mice (C57BL/6) were used as a negative control. No infection was detected over a 4-wk time period in IL-4, IL-10, and CCR5 knockout mice inoculated with 106 oocysts. IL-12 knockout mice inoculated with as little as 100 oocysts shed up to 10,000 oocysts/100 microl of feces on the peak infection day (day 8) and were able to fully recover by 2 wk after infection. IL-12 is an important inducer of IFN-gamma, which probably accounted for susceptibility to infection. Previous studies using IFN-gamma knockout mice have shown strain-related differences in infection intensity and outcome, with increased parasite loads and decreased survival among IFN-gamma knockout mice on a C57BL/6 background compared with those on a BALB/c background. Similar results were observed in IL-12 knockout mice on a BALB/c background, which exhibited little or no infection, despite higher levels of inoculation (10(6) oocysts/mouse).