scholarly journals Why Protect Decapod Crustaceans Used as Models in Biomedical Research and in Ecotoxicology? Ethical and Legislative Considerations

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Annamaria Passantino ◽  
Robert William Elwood ◽  
Paolo Coluccio
Keyword(s):  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
Ethical Concern ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Decapod Crustaceans ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Precautionary Approach ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
Continued Use ◽  
Experience Pain

Decapod crustaceans are widely used as experimental models, due to their biology, their sensitivity to pollutants and/or their convenience of collection and use. Decapods have been viewed as being non-sentient, and are not covered by current legislation from the European Parliament. However, recent studies suggest it is likely that they experience pain and may have the capacity to suffer. Accordingly, there is ethical concern regarding their continued use in research in the absence of protective measures. We argue that their welfare should be taken into account and included in ethical review processes that include the assessment of welfare and the minimization or alleviation of potential pain. We review the current use of these animals in research and the recent experiments that suggest sentience in this group. We also review recent changes in the views of scientists, veterinary scientists and animal charity groups, and their conclusion that these animals are likely to be sentient, and that changes in legislation are needed to protect them. A precautionary approach should be adopted to safeguard these animals from possible pain and suffering. Finally, we recommend that decapods be included in the European legislation concerning the welfare of animals used in experimentation.

The Ethics of AI in Biomedical Research, Patient Care, and Public Health

2020 ◽  
pp. 702-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Blasimme ◽  
Effy Vayena
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Healthcare Provision ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Ethical Frameworks

This chapter explores ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the domain of biomedical research, healthcare provision, and public health. The litany of ethical challenges that AI in medicine raises cannot be addressed sufficiently by current regulatory and ethical frameworks. The chapter then advances the systemic oversight approach as a governance blueprint, which is based on six principles offering guidance as to the desirable features of oversight structures and processes in the domain of data-intense biomedicine: adaptivity, flexibility, inclusiveness, reflexivity, responsiveness, and monitoring (AFIRRM). In the research domain, ethical review committees will have to incorporate reflexive assessment of the scientific and social merits of AI-driven research and, as a consequence, will have to open their ranks to new professional figures such as social scientists. In the domain of patient care, clinical validation is a crucial issue. Hospitals could equip themselves with “clinical AI oversight bodies” charged with the task of advising clinical administrators. Meanwhile, in the public health sphere, the new level of granularity enabled by AI in disease surveillance or health promotion will have to be negotiated at the level of targeted communities.

scholarly journals Neuroactive steroids, their metabolites, and neuroinflammation

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. R125-R134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Giatti ◽  
Mariaserena Boraso ◽  
Roberto Cosimo Melcangi ◽  
Barbara Viviani
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
Neuroactive Steroids ◽  
Steroid Metabolism ◽  
Neuroactive Steroid ◽  
Neuroprotective Strategy ◽  
Testosterone Metabolites ◽  
Inflammatory Effect

Neuroinflammation represents a common feature of many neurodegenerative diseases implicated both in their onset and progression. Neuroactive steroids act as physiological regulators and protective agents in the nervous system. Therefore, the attention of biomedical research has been recently addressed in evaluating whether neuroactive steroids, such as progestagens, androgens, and estrogens may also affect neuroinflammatory pathways. Observations so far obtained suggest a general anti-inflammatory effect with a beneficial relapse on several neurodegenerative experimental models, thus confirming the potentiality of a neuroprotective strategy based on neuroactive steroids. In this scenario, neuroactive steroid metabolism and the sophisticated machinery involved in their signaling are becoming especially attractive. In particular, because metabolism of neuroactive steroids as well as expression of their receptors is affected during the course of neurodegenerative events, a crucial role of progesterone and testosterone metabolites in modulating neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration may be proposed. In the present review, we will address this issue, providing evidence supporting the hypothesis that the efficacy of neuroactive steroids could be improved through the use of their metabolites.

Concepts of Risk in Nanomedicine Research

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 809-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda F. Hogle
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Ethical Concern ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
The Common ◽  
Risk Benefit Analysis ◽  
Ethical Oversight

Risk is the most often cited reason for ethical concern about any medical science or technology, particularly those new technologies that are not yet well understood, or create unfamiliar conditions. In fact, while risk and risk-benefit analyses are but one aspect of ethical oversight, ethical review and risk assessment are sometimes taken to mean the same thing. This is not surprising, since both the Common Rule and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) foreground procedures for minimizing risk for human subjects and require local IRBs to engage in some sort of risk-benefit analysis in decisions to approve or deny proposed research. Existing ethical review and oversight practices are based on the presumption that risk can be clearly identified within the planned activities of the protocol, that metrics can reasonably accurately predict potential hazards, and that mitigation measures can be taken to deal with unintended, harmful, or catastrophic events.

Epistemology and the Ethics of Animal Experimentation

2021 ◽  
pp. 67-96
Author(s):  
Mylan Engel Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Human Disease ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Animal Experimentation ◽  
Proper Treatment ◽  
Continued Use

In this chapter, Mylan Engel Jr. argues that animal experimentation is neither epistemically nor morally justified and should be abolished. Engel argues that the only serious attempt at justifying animal experimentation is the benefits argument, according to which animal experiments are justified because the benefits that humans receive from the experiments outweigh the costs imposed on the animal subjects. According to Engel, the benefits we allegedly receive from animal-based biomedical research are primarily epistemic, in that experimenting on animal models is supposed to provide us with knowledge of the origin and proper treatment of human disease. However, Engel argues that animal models are extremely unreliable at predicting how drugs will behave in humans, whether candidate drugs will be safe in humans, and whether candidate drugs will be effective in humans. Engel concludes that animal-based research fails to provide the epistemic, and thereby moral, benefits needed to justify its continued use.

scholarly journals Broken Kirschner Wire in Distal Interphalangeal Joint Fixation: A Case Report

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-173
Author(s):  
Kyung Jin Lee ◽  
Jung Hyun Park ◽  
Sung Hoon Koh ◽  
Dong Chul Lee ◽  
Si Young Roh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kirschner Wire ◽  
Extensor Tendon ◽  
Interphalangeal Joint ◽  
Middle Phalanx ◽  
Distal Interphalangeal Joint ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Distal Interphalangeal ◽  
Continued Use

Kirschner wire (K-wire) has been widely used for treatment of fracture for its cost-effectiveness and reliability. This case presents the K-wire breakage in distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ) fixation. A 55-year-old male patient was injured by a knife and showed rupture of extensor tendon at 1/2 of middle phalanx. A 0.9-mm K-wire was implemented for DIPJ extension, and tenorrhaphy was done. After 6 weeks, we detected breakage of K-wire in the follow-up X-ray. The broken K-wire in the distal phalanx was removed. We removed the remaining K-wire through an incision on volar side of middle phalanx under C-arm after 2 weeks for the patient’s personal reasons. Breakage during postoperative K-wire maintenance is exceedingly rare. This patient is presumed to have ruptured because he continued using his finger. Therefore, while K-wire is present, continued use of finger without protection may cause breakage, so protective measures such as splint are required.

scholarly journals Scandals, Ethics, and Regulatory Change in Biomedical Research

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Hedgecoe
Keyword(s):  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Regulatory Change ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
Exogenous Shocks ◽  
Research Ethics Review ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Uk National Health Service ◽  
The Uk

This paper explores how a particular form of regulation—prior ethical review of research—developed over time in a specific context, testing the claims of standard explanations for such change (which center on the role of exogenous shocks in the form of research scandals) against more recent theoretical approaches to institutional changes, which emphasize the role of gradual change. To makes its case, this paper draws on archival and interview material focusing on the research ethics review system in the UK National Health Service. Key insights center on the minimal role scandals play in shaping changes in this regulatory setting and how these depend upon the absence of a single coherent profession (and accompanying social contract) associated with biomedical research.

scholarly journals Ethical review, remit and responsibility in biomedical research in South Asia

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Simpson ◽  
Vajira H W Dissanayake ◽  
Rachel Douglas-Jones ◽  
Salla Sariola
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Ethical Review

scholarly journals Ethical aspects of voluntary informed consent in vacсination against COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
KV Zorin ◽  
KG Gurevich
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Efficacy And Safety ◽  
Ethical Aspects ◽  
Coronavirus Infection ◽  
Voluntary Informed Consent ◽  
Main Strategy

Not only quarantine measures should be the main strategy for preventing COVID-19, but also large-scale vaccination of the population. Therefore, there are many ethical questions associated with obtaining voluntary informed consent in biomedical research and clinical practice. An ethical review of vaccination against a new coronavirus infection can be carried out fully and adequately provided that the ethical aspects of voluntary informed consent are observed. Without this, it is impossible to control the quality, efficacy and safety of the vaccine, and, consequently, the vaccination of patients and its results.

scholarly journals Book Review: Animal Rights and Welfare: A Documentary and Reference Guide

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
Michael L. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Animal Rights ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Animal Liberation ◽  
Reference Guide ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
American Society ◽  
Cruelty To Animals

Animal Rights and Welfare: A Documentary and Reference Guide is a collection of fifty-one primary source documents relating to the topics of animal rights and animal welfare. The preface states that these are separate and distinct philosophies: animal rights advocates such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Animal Liberation Front hold that humans and animals have the same rights (thereby precluding their use even as pets or assistive animals), whereas animal welfare adherents like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the American Humane Society endorse the use of animals for agriculture, work, biomedical research, etc., but in a manner that minimizes pain and suffering.

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