Do we need a “new” international convention that helps to avoid trafficking in organs? Some “criminal (and civil) law aspects” - Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine – updated or outdated?

Abstract: § 1 «Do we need a “new” international convention that helps to avoid trafficking in organs? Some criminal (and civil) law aspects”» - «Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine – updated or outdated?». § 2 Some important connections: on the one hand, between the 1997 Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine; the 2002 Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine concerning Transplantation of Organs and Tissues of Human Origin; and, on the other hand, the problem of trafficking in organs, tissues and cells and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal organs. Some connections. § 3 The «international undisputed principle». § 4 Trafficking in organs, tissues and cells; and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal organs. Criminal Law and Civil Law. § 5 Promote organ donation. § 6 The necessity to collect reliable data on both trafficking cases. § 7 The necessity for an internationally agreed definition of trafficking in OTC: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine – updated or outdated? § 8 The (inter)national and (il)legal organ («tissue and cell») trade: some cases and some conclusions. § 9 Do we need a new international convention to prevent trafficking in organs, tissues and cells (OTC)? § 10 Of course we need a «new» international convention to prevent trafficking in organs, tissues and cells (OTC). § 11 At the present moment, we do not need a «new» international convention to prevent trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal organs. § 12 The Portuguese case. § 13 «Final conclusions.» § Resumo: § 1 «Precisamos de uma "nova" convenção internacional que ajude a evitar o tráfico de órgãos? Alguns aspectos de lei criminal (e civil)» - «Convenção sobre Direitos Humanos e Biomedicina - Actualizada ou desactualizada?». § 2 Algumas conexões importantes: por um lado, entre a Convenção do Conselho da Europa de 1997 sobre Direitos Humanos e Biomedicina; o Protocolo Adicional de 2002 à Convenção sobre os Direitos do Homem e da Biomedicina relativo ao transplante de órgãos e tecidos de origem humana, e, por outro lado, o problema do tráfico de órgãos, tecidos e células e tráfico de seres humanos para fins de remoção dos órgãos. § 3 O «indiscutível princípio internacional». § 4 O Tráfico de órgãos, tecidos e células; e o tráfico de seres humanos para fins de remoção dos órgãos. Direito Penal e Direito Civil. § 5 Promover a doação de órgãos. § 6 A necessidade de colectar dados fidedignos sobre os dois casos de tráfico. § 7 A necessidade de uma definição internacionalmente acordada de tráfico de OTC: Convenção sobre Direitos Humanos e Biomedicina - actualizada ou desactualizada? § 8 A (inter)nacional e (il)legal comercialização de órgãos («de tecidos e de células»): alguns casos e algumas conclusões. § 9 Será que precisamos de uma nova convenção internacional para prevenir o tráfico de órgãos, tecidos e células (OTC)? § 10 É claro que precisamos de uma «nova» convenção internacional para prevenir o tráfico de órgãos, tecidos e células (OTC). § 11 No presente momento, não precisamos de uma «nova» convenção internacional para impedir o tráfico de seres humanos para fins de remoção dos órgãos. § 12 O caso Português. § 13 «As conclusões finais.»

Patterns of tuberculosis in the Americas: how can modern biomedicine inform the ancient past?

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that continues to take its toll on human lives. Paleopathological research indicates that it has been a significant cause of death among humans for at least five thousand years. Because of the devastating consequences to human health, social systems, and endangered primate species, TB has been the subject of many and varied research efforts throughout the world, efforts that are amassing an enormous amount of data concerning the causative agent Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite sequencing of the M. tuberculosis genome and numerous molecular epidemiological studies, many questions remain regarding the origin, evolution, and future co-evolutionary trajectory of M. tuberculosis and humans. Indeed, the origin of pre-Columbian New World TB has been and remains hotly debated, and resolution of this controversy will likely only come with integration of data and theory from multiple disciplines. In this paper, we discuss the pre-Columbian TB controversy, and then use research from biological and biomedical sciences to help inform paleopathological and archaeological studies of this ubiquitous disease that plagued our ancient forbears.

Editorial research and the publication process in biomedicine and health: Report from the Esteve Foundation Discussion Group, December 2012.

Despite the fact that there are more than twenty thousand biomedical journals in the world, research into the work of editors and publication process in biomedical and health care journals is rare. In December 2012, the Esteve Foundation, a non-profit scientific institution that fosters progress in pharmacotherapy by means of scientific communication and discussion organized a discussion group of 7 editors and/or experts in peer review biomedical publishing. They presented findings of past editorial research, discussed the lack of competitive funding schemes and specialized journals for dissemination of editorial research, and reported on the great diversity of misconduct and conflict of interest policies, as well as adherence to reporting guidelines. Furthermore, they reported on the reluctance of editors to investigate allegations of misconduct or increase the level of data sharing in health research. In the end, they concluded that if editors are to remain gatekeepers of scientific knowledge they should reaffirm their focus on the integrity of the scientific record and completeness of the data they publish. Additionally, more research should be undertaken to understand why many journals are not adhering to editorial standards, and what obstacles editors face when engaging in editorial research.

Students' preferred teaching techniques for biochemistry in biomedicine and medicine courses

The aim of this study was to investigate the students' preferred teaching techniques, such as traditional blackboard, power-point, or slide-projection, for biochemistry discipline in biomedicine and medicine courses from São Paulo State University, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. Preferences for specific topic and teaching techniques were determined from questionnaires on a Liquert scale from 1 to 5 (strongly disagree; disagree; neither agree, nor disagree; agree; strongly agree) distributed at the end of biochemistry discipline to 180 biomedical students (30 students/year) and 540 medical students (90 students/year), during the years 2000-2005. Despite of the different number of hours applied to the course topics for the two groups of students, the majority of undergraduates from biomedicine and medicine preferred metabolic topics. Although the perception of a medical student is expected to be different than that of a biomedical student, as the aims of the two programs are different, 92.4% of students from each course agreed or strongly agreed with the biochemistry topics, and 92.1% thought highly on this subject. The majority of students, a number of 139 undergraduates from biomedicine and 419 from medicine course, preferred traditional blackboard teaching than slide-projection, or power-point class. In conclusion, it is imperative that the health courses reflect on sophisticated technology and data presentation with high density of information in biochemistry discipline. The traditional classes with blackboard presentation were most favored by students from biomedicine and medicine courses. The use of students' preferred teaching techniques might turn biochemistry more easily understood for biomedical and medical students. © 2007 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Polymer controlled mineralization of zinc phosphate hydrates and applications in corrosion protection, catalysis and biomedicine

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die Tauglichkeit von Hybridmaterialien auf der Basis von Zinkphosphathydrat-Zementen zum Einsatz als korrosionshemmende anorganische Pigmente oder zur prothetischen und konservierenden Knochen- und Zahntherapie wird weltweit empirisch seit den neunziger Jahren intensiv erforscht. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden zuerst Referenzproben, d.h. alpha-und beta-Hopeite (Abk. a-,b-ZPT) dank eines hydrothermalen Kristallisationsverfahrens in wässerigem Milieu bei 20°C und 90°C hergestellt. Die Kristallstruktur beider Polymorphe des Zinkphosphattetrahydrats Zn3(PO4)2  4 H2O wurde komplett bestimmt. Einkristall-strukturanalyse zeigt, daß der Hauptunterschied zwischen der alpha-und beta-Form des Zinkphosphattetrahydrats in zwei verschiedenen Anordnungen der Wasserstoffbrücken liegt. Die entsprechenden drei- und zweidimensionalen Anordnungen der Wasserstoffbrücken der a-und b-ZPT induzieren jeweils unterschiedliches thermisches Verhalten beim Aufwärmen. Während die alpha-Form ihr Kristallwasser in zwei definierten Stufen verliert, erzeugt die beta-Form instabile Dehydratationsprodukt. Dieses entspricht zwei unabhängigen, aber nebeneinander ablaufenden Dehydratationsmechanismen: (i) bei niedrigen Heizraten einen zweidimensionalen Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (JMA) Mechanismus auf der (011) Ebene, der einerseits bevorzugt an Kristallkanten stattfindet und anderseits von existierenden Kristalldefekten auf Oberflächen gesteuert wird; (ii) bei hohen Heizraten einem zweidimensionalen Diffusionsmechanismus (D2), der zuerst auf der (101) Ebene und dann auf der (110) Ebene erfolgt. Durch die Betrachtung der ZPT Dehydratation als irreversibele heterogene Festkörperstufenreaktion wurde dank eines „ähnlichen Endprodukt“-Protokolls das Dehydratationsphasendiagramm aufgestellt. Es beschreibt die möglichen Zusammenhänge zwischen den verschiedenen Hydratationszuständen und weist auf die Existenz eines Übergangszustandes um 170°C (d.h. Reaktion b-ZPT  a-ZPT) hin. Daneben wurde auch ein gezieltes chemisches Ätzverfahren mit verdünnten H3PO4- und NH3 Lösungen angewendet, um die ersten Stufe des Herauslösens von Zinkphosphat genau zu untersuchen. Allerdings zeigen alpha- und beta-Hopeite charakteristische hexagonale und kubische Ätzgruben, die sich unter kristallographischer Kontrolle verbreitern. Eine zuverlässige Beschreibung der Oberfächenchemie und Topologie konnte nur durch AFM und FFM Experimente erfolgen. Gleichzeitig konnte in dieser Weise die Oberflächendefektdichte und-verteilung und die Volumenauflösungsrate von a-ZPT und b-ZPT bestimmt werden. Auf einem zweiten Weg wurde eine innovative Strategie zur Herstellung von basischen Zinkphosphatpigmenten erster und zweiter Generation (d.h. NaZnPO4  1H2O und Na2ZnPO4(OH)  2H2O) mit dem Einsatz von einerseits oberflächenmodifizierten Polystyrolatices (z.B. produziert durch ein Miniemulsionspolymerisationsverfahren) und anderseits von Dendrimeren auf der Basis von Polyamidoamid (PAMAM) beschritten. Die erhaltene Zeolithstruktur (ZPO) hat in Abhängigkeit von steigendem Natrium und Wassergehalt unterschiedliche kontrollierte Morphologie: hexagonal, würfelförmig, herzförmig, sechsarmige Sterne, lanzettenförmige Dendrite, usw. Zur quantitativen Evaluierung des Polymereinbaus in der Kristallstruktur wurden carboxylierte fluoreszenzmarkierte Latices eingesetzt. Es zeigt sich, daß Polymeradditive nicht nur das Wachstum bis zu 8 µm.min-1 reduzierten. Trotzdem scheint es auch als starker Nukleationsbeschleuniger zu wirken. Dank der Koordinationschemie (d.h. Bildung eines sechszentrigen Komplexes L-COO-Zn-PO4*H2O mit Ligandenaustausch) konnten zwei einfache Mechanismen zur Wirkung von Latexpartikeln bei der ZPO Kristallisation aufgezeigt werden: (i) ein Intrakorona- und (ii) ein Extrakorona-Keimbildungsmechanismus. Weiterhin wurde die Effizienz eines Kurzzeit- und Langzeitkorrosionschutzes durch maßgeschneiderte ZPO/ZPT Pigmente und kontrollierte Freisetzung von Phosphationen in zwei Näherungen des Auslösungsgleichgewichts abgeschätzt: (i) durch eine Auswaschungs-methode (thermodynamischer Prozess) und (ii) durch eine pH-Impulsmethode (kinetischer Prozess. Besonders deutlich wird der Ausflösungs-Fällungsmechanismus (d.h. der Metamorphismus). Die wesentliche Rolle den Natriumionen bei der Korrosionshemmung wird durch ein passendes zusammensetzungsabhängiges Auflösungsmodell (ZAAM) beschrieben, das mit dem Befund des Salzsprühteste und der Feuchtigkeitskammertests konsistent ist. Schließlich zeigt diese Arbeit das herausragende Potential funktionalisierter Latices (Polymer) bei der kontrollierten Mineralisation zur Herstellung maßgeschneiderter Zinkphosphat Materialien. Solche Hybridmaterialien werden dringend in der Entwicklung umweltfreundlicher Korrosionsschutzpigmente sowie in der Dentalmedizin benötigt.

Biomedicine and pain

The focus of my research is on contemporary biomedical construction of pain as an object, i.e. the different ways in which pain has been conceptualized and approached as a specific site of investigation in biomedicine. A significant shift in the scientific conception of pain occured in the second half of XXth century. In 1965, Ronald Melzack and Patrick D. Wall propose the Gate Control theory of pain mechanism. This theory denies a fixed and direct relationship between stimulus and pain perception, and emphazises the role played by psychological factors in pain. The IASP utilizes this perspective on the phenomenon, describing pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated to an actual or potential tissue damage or described in the terms of such a damage.” The relationship between pain and damage is pivotal in the definition of pain as a pathological entity. In particular, the biomedical approach to pain appears to be strongly characterized by a dualistic view of its aetiology. Disease conceptions such as “psychogenic pain” and chronic pain are deeply influenced by the ways in which psychological factors have been interpreted as components, or as causes of pain. In the second part of my dissertation, I focus on fibromyalgia, which is emblematic of the problematic acknowledgment of chronic pain as a disease. Even if fibromyalgia is actually treated in Rheumatology, its status as a disease is blurred, mainly because of its complex symptomatology including both physiological manifestations and psychological ones. In the conclusion, I present a scenario of the different ways in which this disease is dealt with in biomedical knowledge, through medical literature, clinical practice, and patients’ accounts. The findings of an ethnographic enquiry in the Rheumatology Division of a local clinic and a visual research on patients’ experiences are analyzed and discussed.

Photovoltaic LiNbO3particles: Applications to Biomedicine/Biophotonics

Recently, a novel method to trap and pattern ensembles of nanoparticles has been proposed and tested. It relies on the photovoltaic (PV) properties of certain ferroelectric crystals such as LiNbO3 [1,2]. These crystals, when suitably doped, develop very high electric fields in response to illumination with light of suitable wavelength. The PV effect lies in the asymmetrical excitation of electrons giving rise to PV currents and associated space-charge fields (photorefractive effect). The field generated in the bulk of the sample propagates to the surrounding medium as evanescent fields. When dielectric or metal nanoparticles are deposited on the surface of the sample the evanescent fields give rise to either electrophoretic or dielectrophoretic forces, depending on the charge state of the particles, that induce the trapping and patterning effects [3,4]. The purpose of this work has been to explore the effects of such PV fields in the biology and biomedical areas. A first work was able to show the necrotic effects induced by such fields on He-La tumour cells grown on the surface of an illuminated iron-doped LiNbO3 crystal [5]. In principle, it is conceived that LiNbO3 nanoparticles may be advantageously used for such biomedical purposes considering the possibility of such nanoparticles being incorporated into the cells. Previous experiments using microparticles have been performed [5] with similar results to those achieved with the substrate. Therefore, the purpose of this work has been to fabricate and characterize the LiNbO3 nanoparticles and assess their necrotic effects when they are incorporated on a culture of tumour cells. Two different preparation methods have been used: 1) mechanical grinding from crystals, and 2) bottom-up sol-gel chemical synthesis from metal-ethoxide precursors. This later method leads to a more uniform size distribution of smaller particles (down to around 50 nm). Fig. 1(a) and 1(b) shows SEM images of the nanoparticles obtained with both method. An ad hoc software taking into account the physical properties of the crystal, particullarly donor and aceptor concentrations has been developped in order to estimate the electric field generated in noparticles. In a first stage simulations of the electric current of nanoparticles, in a conductive media, due to the PV effect have been carried out by MonteCarlo simulations using the Kutharev 1-centre transport model equations [6] . Special attention has been paid to the dependence on particle size and [Fe2+]/[Fe3+]. First results on cubic particles shows large dispersion for small sizes due to the random number of donors and its effective concentration (Fig 2). The necrotic (toxicity) effect of nanoparticles incorporated into a tumour cell culture subjected to 30 min. illumination with a blue LED is shown in Fig.3. For each type of nanoparticle the percent of cell survival in dark and illumination conditions has been plot as a function of the particle dilution factor. Fig. 1a corresponds to mechanical grinding particles whereas 1b and 1c refer to chemically synthesized particles with two oxidation states. The light effect is larger with mechanical grinding nanoparticles, but dark toxicity is also higher. For chemically synthesized nanoparticles dark toxicity is low but only in oxidized samples, where the PV effect is known to be larger, the light effect is appreciable. These preliminary results demonstrate that Fe:LiNbO· nanoparticles have a biological damaging effect on cells, although there are many points that should be clarified and much space for PV nanoparticles optimization. In particular, it appears necessary to determine the fraction of nanoparticles that become incorporated into the cells and the possible existence of threshold size effects. This work has been supported by MINECO under grant MAT2011-28379-C03.

Ten Years Of Proteomics In Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis, which is the most common cause of chronic neurological disability in young adults, is an inflammatory, demyelinating, and neurodegenerative disease of the CNS, which leads to the formation of multiple foci of demyelinated lesions in the white matter. The diagnosis is based currently on magnetic resonance image and evidence of dissemination in time and space. However, this could be facilitated if biomarkers were available to rule out other disorders with similar symptoms as well as to avoid cerebrospinal fluid analysis, which requires an invasive collection. Additionally, the molecular mechanisms of the disease are not completely elucidated, especially those related to the neurodegenerative aspects of the disease. The identification of biomarker candidates and molecular mechanisms of multiple sclerosis may be approached by proteomics. In the last 10 years, proteomic techniques have been applied in different biological samples (CNS tissue, cerebrospinal fluid, and blood) from multiple sclerosis patients and in its experimental model. In this review, we summarize these data, presenting their value to the current knowledge of the disease mechanisms, as well as their importance in identifying biomarkers or treatment targets.