scholarly journals Humane endpoint in mice by Brazilian researchers in the vaccine sector

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 500-508
Author(s):  
F.R.C. Araujo ◽  
R.L. Paixão
Keyword(s):  
Staff Training ◽  
Animal Testing ◽  
Research Teams ◽  
Vaccine Trials ◽  
Research Profile ◽  
Challenging Tasks ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Animal Care ◽  
Humane Endpoint

ABSTRACT The application of a humane endpoint (HE) for mice in vaccine trials and further challenging tasks with lethal samples is necessary to reduce or prevent pain and suffering in these animals, and is a refinement of the 3R policy enforced for animal testing in both national and international scenarios. In order to investigate the application of HE in Brazil, researchers from the vaccine sector have answered a questionnaire about their research profile, their usage of HE and their knowledge of its defining criteria, monitoring of animals, staff training, and euthanasia methods employed. The main results revealed that researchers failed to recognise the very concept of HE as well as when to apply it. In addition, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) failed upon giving their approval to the trials. HE is an important refinament of animal testing policy, and these results highlight the need for a clear pre-established definition of when and how it should be implemented in order to ensure more effective application. Furthermore, it is important to clarify the ethics involved and the commitment of both the research teams and IACUCs to animal welfare.

scholarly journals Post-Exposure Effects of Vaccines on Infectious Diseases

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Gallagher ◽  
Marc Lipsitch
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Hepatitis E ◽  
Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽  
Post Exposure ◽  
Vaccine Trials ◽  
Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽  
Pubmed Database ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractMany available vaccines have demonstrated post-exposure effectiveness, but no published systematic reviews have synthesized these findings. We searched the PubMed database for clinical trials and observational human studies concerning the post-exposure vaccination effects, targeting infections with an FDA-licensed vaccine plus dengue, hepatitis E, malaria, and tick borne encephalitis, which have licensed vaccines outside of the U.S. Studies concerning animal models, serologic testing, and pipeline vaccines were excluded. Eligible studies were evaluated by definition of exposure, and their attempt at distinguishing pre- and post-exposure effects was rated on a scale of 1-4. We screened 4518 articles and ultimately identified 14 clinical trials and 31 observational studies for this review, amounting to 45 eligible articles spanning 7 of the 28 vaccine-preventable diseases. For secondary attack rate, this body of evidence found the following medians for post-exposure vaccination effectiveness: hepatitis A: 85% (IQR: 28; 5 sources), hepatitis B: 85% (IQR: 22; 5 sources), measles: 83% (IQR: 21; 8 sources), varicella: 67% (IQR: 48; 9 sources), smallpox: 45% (IQR: 39; 4 sources), and mumps: 38% (IQR: 7; 2 sources). For case fatality proportions resulting from rabies and smallpox, the vaccine efficacies had medians of 100% (IQR: 0; 6 sources) and 63% (IQR: 50; 8 sources) post-exposure. Although mainly used for preventive measures, many available vaccines can modify or preclude disease if administered after exposure. This post-exposure effectiveness could be important to consider during vaccine trials and while developing new vaccines.

Evolving Standards for Torture in International Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan E. Méndez ◽  
Andra Nicolescu
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Medical Necessity ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Legal Definition ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Gray Areas ◽  
Female Genital

The legal definition of torture is not limited to pain and suffering inflicted during interrogation or as punishment. Other practices, like domestic violence and female genital mutilation, have gradually been incorporated into the definition of torture and other ill-treatment. The absolute prohibition of torture extends to practices justified on grounds of “medical necessity” or “therapeutic purpose,” but which nevertheless inflict pain crossing the requisite threshold of severity, including the denial of pain relief and legally available abortions, or practices affecting persons with psychosocial disabilities or suffering from drug addiction. This chapter illustrates the gray areas where health care and the prohibited infliction of pain collide, discussing the rapidly evolving legal definition of torture and concepts like legal capacity, consent, and medical necessity. It recognizes that international law on the subject is far from settled, especially with regard to standards enacted by the recent Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities.

Responses to “An Ethical Analysis of the Barriers to Effective Pain Management” by Ben A. Rich (CQ Vol 9, No 1)

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-96
Author(s):  
Claire Brett
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ethical Analysis ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Decent People ◽  
Serious Crime ◽  
The World ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
Definition Of

Ben Rich, J.D., Ph.D., presents a scholarly, passionate view of the ethics of the “barriers to effective pain management.” His manuscript is detailed, analytical, and compassionate. No reasonable sensitive person, especially a physician committed to caring for patients, can disagree with the proposal that human beings should have their physical, emotional, and spiritual pain tended to aggressively, meticulously, and compassionately. Similarly, the same individuals advocating for such pain management would agree that no one should go to jail unless he or she is guilty of a serious crime, that decent people should not be robbed or murdered, that children should not be hungry or homeless, and that all citizens of the United States deserve healthcare. Our society attempts to achieve these goals. Laws are written, discussed, and approved by state and federal congresses, voted on by citizens, and theoretically upheld by the courts, churches, and decent individuals. But, unless the world suddenly becomes inhabited by virtuous, ethical humans who can unfailingly differentiate “good” from “bad,” then, in spite of an abundance of laws and lawyers, doctors, and nurses, this world will continue to have pain and suffering. And, although we want to hold our doctors, politicians, educators, champion athletes, and others to “higher standards” than the average citizen, it is best to remind ourselves frequently that all humans can be weak and are bound to make imprecise judgments, that there is not a homogenous definition of “good,” that values and religious beliefs are variable.

Art of Healing, Medicine and Humanity

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 56-60
Author(s):  
Parvez Imam
Keyword(s):  
Important Symptom ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
World English ◽  
Definition Of

Medicine is the art of relieving others of their suffering. It requires technology and methodologies that science has helped us develop. However the understanding of pain and its impact in peoples' lives and on the society as a whole is often missed out in the skewed focus on the search for happiness (“Definition of happiness - state (British & World English),” n.d.). Pain is an important symptom that serves as a warning as well as a pointer for an illness. Here the authors re-examine the reasons that connect pain and suffering to artists and healers as well as the connection between an artist and a healer. It also dwells on the age old science versus arts argument and its validity.

Growing Old Disgracefully: The Cosmetic Use of Botulinum Toxin

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krys Bottrill
Keyword(s):  
Botulinum Toxin ◽  
General Public ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Medical Applications ◽  
Animal Testing ◽  
European Pharmacopoeia ◽  
The Public ◽  
Wrinkle Treatment ◽  
Cosmetic Ingredients ◽  
Humane Endpoint

The explosive growth in the use of botulinum toxin for cosmetic purposes has undoubtedly had an impact on the number of animals used in the potency testing of this product. The test used is a classical LD50, a severe procedure during which animals experience increasing paralysis until the occurrence of death. The enthusiastic adoption by the general public of the use of botulinum toxin as an anti-wrinkle treatment has, at least in Europe, paradoxically taken place against a background of moves to stop animal testing of cosmetics and cosmetic ingredients. There appears to be a dearth of information aimed at the public concerning botulinum toxin testing. Botulinum toxin does have important medical applications; however, the question arises whether a blanket licence for the testing can be justified, when a large proportion of the product is being used cosmetically. A further question is why death continues to be the endpoint of the potency test, when a more-humane endpoint has been proposed. In addition, a number of alternative methods have been developed, which could have the potential to replace the lethal potency test altogether. These methods are discussed in this paper, and the importance of establishing a strategy for their validation is emphasised, a need that has become even more urgent in the light of the recently published draft monograph on botulinum toxin by the European Pharmacopoeia Commission.

Death by Decapitation: A Case Study of the Scientific Definition of Animal Welfare

1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence G. Carbone
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Laboratory Rodents ◽  
The Social ◽  
Animal Welfare Science ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Animal Care

AbstractAssessments of animal experience and consciousness are embedded in all issues of animal welfare policy, and the field of animal welfare science has been developed to make these evaluations. In light of modern studies of the social construction of scientific knowledge, it is surprising how little attention has been paid to date on how crucial evaluations about animals are made. In this paper, I begin to fill that gap by presenting a historical case study of the attempt to define the pain and distress of one common practice in animal research-the use of the tabletop guillotine to decapitate laboratory rodents. I describe the negotiations involved in reaching consensus on the meaning of the available data and caution animal care and use committees that they should always work with the realization that our scientific knowledge of what animals experience is partial and provisional knowledge at best.

scholarly journals How to design compelling Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality experience?

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Richir ◽  
Philippe Fuchs ◽  
Domitile Lourdeaux ◽  
Dominique Millet ◽  
Cédric Buche ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Competitive Intelligence ◽  
Industrial Property ◽  
Research Teams ◽  
Consumer Electronic ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
New Applications ◽  
Working Method ◽  
Convergence Of Technologies

The convergence of technologies currently observed in the field of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, robotics and consumer electronic reinforces the trend of new applications appearing every day. But when transferring knowledge acquired from research to businesses, research laboratories are often at a loss because of a lack of knowledge of the design and integration processes in creating an industrial scale product. In fact, the innovation approaches that take a good idea from the laboratory to a successful industrial product are often little known to researchers. The objective of this paper is to present the results of the work of several research teams that have finalized a working method for researchers and manufacturers that allow them to design virtual or augmented reality systems and enable their users to enjoy "a compelling Virtual Reality experience". That approach, called "the I2I method", present 11 phases from "Establishing technological and competitive intelligence and industrial property" to "Improvements" through the "Definition of the Behavioral Interface, Virtual Environment and Behavioral Software Assistance". As a result of the experience gained by various research teams, this design approach benefits from contributions from current Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality research. Our objective is to validate and continuously move such multidisciplinary design team methods forward.

scholarly journals A problematic Israeli High Court dismissal of a torture complaint. A commentary by Hans Draminsky Petersen, MD

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-102
Author(s):  
Hans Draminsky Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Burden Of Proof ◽  
Medical Evidence ◽  
High Court ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
Istanbul Protocol ◽  
Definition Of

It is not for the documenting medical experts (Shir, 2019), but for the court to decide whether the level of pain and suffering inflicted reaches the threshold of torture [while disregarding ill-treatment], i.e., the court upholds the prerogative to apply its own interpretation of the definition of torture, no matter existing medical evidence and disregarding the Istanbul Protocol. The criteria used to determine the level of FT's pain and suffering does not appear in the ruling. The ruling states that the burden of proof that the "means" were not reasonable [constituting torture] falls upon the petitioner (para 36). In the light of the above (1, a-h) this is in practice impossible for the petitioner to establish. This aligns with Shir’s statement that no ISA interrogator has been indicted in 1200 torture complaints.

INTERPRETATION OF THE CONCEPT OF “PROFESSIONAL READINESS” IN THE CONTEXT OF TRAINING UNIVERSITY STUDENTSFOR FUTURE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (100) ◽  
pp. 180-195
Author(s):  
NATALIA V. DRYANNYKH ◽  
TAMARA V. LODKINA
Keyword(s):  
Staff Training ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
The Future ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
To Come ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Common Understanding

The authors consider the main approaches to the essence of the concept of “professional readiness” based on the analysis of scientific literature. In the context of new realities that require understanding, an attempt is made to come to a common understanding of terms, which will make it possible to correctly interpretand use them. The synthesis of the presented points of view allowed the authors to give their own interpretation of the definition of “professional readiness” which will become the basis for staff training in the future.

Some Problems Encountered in the Scientific Evaluation of Acupuncture Antiemesis

1992 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Dundee ◽  
Christine McMillan
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Medical Research ◽  
Physical Nature ◽  
University Research ◽  
Scientific Evaluation ◽  
Research Teams ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Peer Reviewers ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

The production of a medical research paper is beset with problems from inception to publication. If the subject involves acupuncture, the problems can seem surprisingly great even for an established university research department. Most acupuncture reports from China are anecdotal in nature and reviewing the Western literature shows that difficulty in definition of techniques has allowed invasive and non-invasive acupuncture to be used interchangeably, with consequent inaccuracy in the reported results. Because of the physical nature of the treatment, not all accepted criteria for clinical trials are achievable and ethical committees may therefore be reluctant to grant approval. Even publication has been made difficult by scepticism from peer reviewers, although a more enlightened attitude is now gaining ground. If acupuncture is to become an accepted treatment, scientific evaluation by experienced research teams and perseverance in gaining publication for the results is vital.

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