The recognition of rights to same-sex couples: the path towards a pluralistic concept of family

This paper presents the final results of the research project undertaken in 2010 and 2011 by the legal research group “Filius”, affiliated with Corporación Universitaria Empresarial Alexander von Humboldt of Armenia, (Quindío). The project’s general objective is “to establish the concept of family used by the Colombian legal system based on the judgments of the Constitutional Court granting rights to same-sex couples”. To this end, a line of jurisprudence was developed from the Court’s rulings that discussed the rights of same-sex couples, concluding that despite the great progress made in Colombia on the recognition of rights to these couples following Decision C-075/2007, in all these judgments the Court had always refused to recognize their family status, and it was not until 2011, in Decision C-577, that the Court accepted that same-sex couples constitute a family, thereby dramatically changing the constitutional doctrine that had maintained the criteria of heterosexuality as defining family.

Bergsmo, Morten (ed.). Thematic prosecution of international sex crimes. Beijing: Torkel Opsahl Academic Epublisher; 2012, 452 p.

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Recognition of static and dynamic facial expressions: Influences of sex, type and intensity of emotion

Ecological validity of static and intense facial expressions in emotional recognition has been questioned. Recent studies have recommended the use of facial stimuli more compatible to the natural conditions of social interaction, which involves motion and variations in emotional intensity. In this study, we compared the recognition of static and dynamic facial expressions of happiness, fear, anger and sadness, presented in four emotional intensities (25 %, 50 %, 75 % and 100 %). Twenty volunteers (9 women and 11 men), aged between 19 and 31 years, took part in the study. The experiment consisted of two sessions in which participants had to identify the emotion of static (photographs) and dynamic (videos) displays of facial expressions on the computer screen. The mean accuracy was submitted to an Anova for repeated measures of model: 2 sexes x [2 conditions x 4 expressions x 4 intensities]. We observed an advantage for the recognition of dynamic expressions of happiness and fear compared to the static stimuli (p < .05). Analysis of interactions showed that expressions with intensity of 25 % were better recognized in the dynamic condition (p < .05). The addition of motion contributes to improve recognition especially in male participants (p < .05). We concluded that the effect of the motion varies as a function of the type of emotion, intensity of the expression and sex of the participant. These results support the hypothesis that dynamic stimuli have more ecological validity and are more appropriate to the research with emotions.

Polimorfismos del gen Butirilcolinesterasa responsables de reacciones adversas en pacientes consumidores de “cocaína”

La butirilcolinesterasa humana (BChE; EC 3.1.1.8) es una enzima polimórfica sintetizada en el hígado y en el tejido adiposo, ampliamente distribuida en el organismo y encargada de hidrolizar algunos ésteres de colina como la procaína, ésteres alifáticos como el ácido acetilsalicílico, fármacos como la metilprednisolona, el mivacurium y la succinilcolina y drogas de uso y/o abuso como la heroína y la cocaína. Es codificada por el gen BCHE (OMIM 177400), habiéndose identificado más de 100 variantes, algunas no estudiadas plenamente, además de la forma más frecuente, llamada usual o silvestre. Diferentes polimorfismos del gen BCHE se han relacionado con la síntesis de enzimas con niveles variados de actividad catalítica. Las bases moleculares de algunas de esas variantes genéticas han sido reportadas, entre las que se encuentra las variantes Atípica (A), fluoruro-resistente del tipo 1 y 2 (F-1 y F-2), silente (S), Kalow (K), James (J) y Hammersmith (H). En este estudio, en un grupo de pacientes se aplicó el instrumento validado Lifetime Severity Index for Cocaine Use Disorder (LSI-C) para evaluar la gravedad del consumo de “cocaína” a lo largo de la vida. Además, se determinaron Polimorfismos de Nucleótido Simple (SNPs) en el gen BCHE conocidos como responsables de reacciones adversas en pacientes consumidores de “cocaína” mediante secuenciación del gen y se predijo el efecto delos SNPs sobre la función y la estructura de la proteína, mediante el uso de herramientas bio-informáticas. El instrumento LSI-C ofreció resultados en cuatro dimensiones: consumo a lo largo de la vida, consumo reciente, dependencia psicológica e intento de abandono del consumo. Los estudios de análisis molecular permitieron observar dos SNPs codificantes (cSNPs) no sinónimos en el 27.3% de la muestra, c.293A>G (p.Asp98Gly) y c.1699G>A (p.Ala567Thr), localizados en los exones 2 y 4, que corresponden, desde el punto de vista funcional, a la variante Atípica (A) [dbSNP: rs1799807] y a la variante Kalow (K) [dbSNP: rs1803274] de la enzima BChE, respectivamente. Los estudios de predicción In silico establecieron para el SNP p.Asp98Gly un carácter patogénico, mientras que para el SNP p.Ala567Thr, mostraron un comportamiento neutro. El análisis de los resultados permite proponer la existencia de una relación entre polimorfismos o variantes genéticas responsables de una baja actividad catalítica y/o baja concentración plasmática de la enzima BChE y algunas de las reacciones adversas ocurridas en pacientes consumidores de cocaína.