Insights on trends in the management of metrological analysis of devices in blood and transfusion medicine services: Verification based on their fitness for purpose and suitability for their respective applications.

In the field of blood and transfusion medicine, European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare recommends practices for metrological devices. Monitoring and measurement resources, as well as their permitted metrological limits, must be considered in this regard. We must understand variables such as metrological domains, the International System of Units, metrological traceability, and metrological requirements and controls in the field of transfusions in order to understand these metrological devices. An approach to metrological analysis and subsequent actions was constructed using flowcharts. As part of this methodology, a metrological device was selected, along with regulatory and normative requirements. A calibration and a test were conducted to demonstrate the application of the figure based on current recommendations. Current recommendations are consistent with the suggested ROC approach. The metrological devices must be verified based on their suitability for their respective applications (fitness-for-purpose).

Measurement of tissue optical properties in a wide spectral range: a review [Invited].

A distinctive feature of this review is a critical analysis of methods and results of measurements of the optical properties of tissues in a wide spectral range from deep UV to terahertz waves. Much attention is paid to measurements of the refractive index of biological tissues and liquids, the knowledge of which is necessary for the effective application of many methods of optical imaging and diagnostics. The optical parameters of healthy and pathological tissues are presented, and the reasons for their differences are discussed, which is important for the discrimination of pathologies and the demarcation of their boundaries. When considering the interaction of terahertz radiation with tissues, the concept of an effective medium is discussed, and relaxation models of the effective optical properties of tissues are presented. Attention is drawn to the manifestation of the scattering properties of tissues in the THz range and the problems of measuring the optical properties of tissues in this range are discussed. In conclusion, a method for the dynamic analysis of the optical properties of tissues under optical clearing using an application of immersion agents is presented. The main mechanisms and technologies of optical clearing, as well as examples of the successful application for differentiation of healthy and pathological tissues, are analyzed.

Fast calculation of spectral optical properties and pigment content detection in human normal and pathological kidney.

A fast calculation method was used to obtain the spectral optical properties of human normal and pathological (chromophobe renal cell carcinoma) kidney tissues. Using total transmittance, total reflectance and collimated transmittance spectra acquired from ex vivo kidney samples, the spectral optical properties of both tissues, namely the absorption, the scattering and the reduced scattering coefficients, as well as the scattering anisotropy, dispersion and light penetration depth, were calculated between 200 and 1000 nm. Analysis of the mean absorption coefficient spectra of the kidney tissues showed that both contain melanin and lipofuscin, and that 83 % of the melanin in the normal kidney converts into lipofuscin in the pathological kidney.

Characterization of optical clearing mechanisms in muscle during treatment with glycerol and gadobutrol solutions.

The recent increasing interest in the application of radiology contrasting agents to create transparency in biological tissues implies that the diffusion properties of those agents need evaluation. The comparison of those properties with the ones obtained for other optical clearing agents allows to perform an optimized agent selection to create optimized transparency in clinical applications. In this study, the evaluation and comparison of the diffusion properties of gadobutrol and glycerol in skeletal muscle was made, showing that although gadobutrol has a higher molar mass than glycerol, its low viscosity allows for a faster diffusion in the muscle. The characterization of the tissue dehydration and refractive index matching mechanisms of optical clearing was made in skeletal muscle, namely by the estimation of the diffusion coefficients for water, glycerol and gadobutrol. The estimated tortuosity values of glycerol (2.2) and of gadobutrol (1.7) showed a longer path-length for glycerol in the muscle.

Broadband spectral verification of optical clearing reversibility in lung tissue.

The increase of tissue transparency through sequential optical immersion clearing treatments and treatment reversibility have high interest for clinical applications. To evaluate the clearing reversibility in a broad spectral range and the magnitude of the transparency created by a second treatment, the present study consisted on measuring the spectral collimated transmittance of lung tissues during a sequence of two treatments with electronic cigarette (e-cig) fluid, which was intercalated with an immersion in saline. The saline immersion clearly reverted the clearing effect in the lung tissue in the spectral range between 220 and 1000 nm. By a later application of a second treatment with the e-cig fluid, the magnitude of the optical clearing effect was observed to be about the double as the one observed in the first treatment, showing that the molecules of the optical clearing agent might have converted some bound water into mobile water during the first treatment.

Food and beverage industries’ participation in health scientific events: considerations on conflicts of interest / PParticipación de las industrias de la alimentación y las bebidas en acontecimientos científicos sobre temas de salud: consideraciones sobre conflictos de intereses

Several sectors of the industry (pharmaceutical, food, and other) often occupy a prominent position in scientific meetings on health. The aim of this article is to discuss the participation of food and beverage industries (Big Food and Big Soda) in events organized by scientific institutions in health and nutrition, highlighting potential conflicts of interest in such partnerships. As an example, the authors report the case of a Brazilian national event organized by a nutrition scientific association in 2011. Focused on the theme “Evidence-based Nutrition,” the event’s scientific program was largely influenced by corporate sponsors. For example, a symposium at this congress was organized by a beverage company known worldwide for its sugar-sweetened products and classified as the “diamond sponsor” of the event. While debating the adoption of healthy lifestyles in the current scenario of rising occurrence of obesity, the rationale for health promotion was reduced to providing information that would motivate rational individual choices, thus ignoring any political, economic, cultural, marketing, and social factors involved in the global process of nutrition transition. The authors conclude that conflicts of interest are present in the participation of food and beverage industries in health scientific events. The industries’ strategy attempts to grant legitimacy to the production and marketing of their products through an association with adequate health practices. Health professionals and policy- makers should reflect on such partnerships because their main purpose is to generate profit, not the promotion of public health.

Diversos sectores de la industria (farmacéutico, alimentario y otros) a menudo ocupan una posición prominente en las reuniones científicas sobre temas de salud. El objetivo de este artículo es tratar sobre la participación de las industrias de la alimentación y las bebidas (Big Food and Big Soda) en acontecimientos organizados por instituciones científicas del ámbito de la salud y la nutrición, señalando los potenciales conflictos de intereses que surgen de tales asociaciones. Como ejemplo, los autores comentan sobre el acontecimiento nacional organizado el año 2011 en el Brasil por una asociación científica del ámbito de la nutrición. El programa científico de este acontecimiento, dedicado al tema de “La nutrición basada en datos probatorios”, se vio influido en gran parte por sus patrocinadores corporativos. Por ejemplo, un simposio de este congreso fue organizado por una empresa productora de bebidas, conocida a escala mundial por sus productos azucarados y clasificada como “patrocinador diamante” del acontecimiento. Mientras se debatía sobre la adopción de modos de vida saludables en el contexto actual de incremento de los casos de obesidad, el ámbito de promoción de la salud se redujo a suministrar información que incitara a elecciones individuales racionales, sin que se tuvieran en cuenta los factores políticos, económicos, culturales, mercadotécnicos y sociales que el proceso mundial de transición nutricional involucra. Los autores concluyen que los conflictos de intereses existen en la participación de las industrias de la alimentación y las bebidas en acontecimientos científicos sobre temas de salud. La estrategia de las industrias intenta dar legitimidad a la producción y comercialización de sus productos mediante una asociación con prácticas de salud adecuadas. Los profesionales de la salud y las instancias normativas deben reflexionar sobre tales asociaciones, ya que su principal finalidad no es la promoción de la salud pública sino la generación de beneficios.

Food and beverage industries' participation in health scientific events: considerations on conflicts of interest / Participación de las industrias de la alimentación y las bebidas en acontecimientos científicos sobre temas de salud: consideraciones sobre conflictos de intereses

Several sectors of the industry (pharmaceutical, food, and other) often occupy a prominent position in scientific meetings on health. The aim of this article is to discuss the participation of food and beverage industries (Big Food and Big Soda) in events organized by scientific institutions in health and nutrition, highlighting potential conflicts of interest in such partnerships. As an example, the authors report the case of a Brazilian national event organized by a nutrition scientific association in 2011. Focused on the theme "Evidence-based Nutrition," the event's scientific program was largely influenced by corporate sponsors. For example, a symposium at this congress was organized by a beverage company known worldwide for its sugar-sweetened products and classified as the "diamond sponsor" of the event. While debating the adoption of healthy lifestyles in the current scenario of rising occurrence of obesity, the rationale for health promotion was reduced to providing information that would motivate rational individual choices, thus ignoring any political, economic, cultural, marketing, and social factors involved in the global process of nutrition transition. The authors conclude that conflicts of interest are present in the participation of food and beverage industries in health scientific events. The industries' strategy attempts to grant legitimacy to the production and marketing of their products through an association with adequate health practices. Health professionals and policy-makers should reflect on such partnerships because their main purpose is to generate profit, not the promotion of public health.

Diversos sectores de la industria (farmacéutico, alimentario y otros) a menudo ocupan una posición prominente en las reuniones científicas sobre temas de salud. El objetivo de este artículo es tratar sobre la participación de las industrias de la alimentación y las bebidas (Big Food and Big Soda) en acontecimientos organizados por instituciones científicas del ámbito de la salud y la nutrición, señalando los potenciales conflictos de intereses que surgen de tales asociaciones. Como ejemplo, los autores comentan sobre el acontecimiento nacional organizado el año 2011 en el Brasil por una asociación científica del ámbito de la nutrición. El programa científico de este acontecimiento, dedicado al tema de "La nutrición basada en datos probatorios", se vio influido en gran parte por sus patrocinadores corporativos. Por ejemplo, un simposio de este congreso fue organizado por una empresa productora de bebidas, conocida a escala mundial por sus productos azucarados y clasificada como "patrocinador diamante" del acontecimiento. Mientras se debatía sobre la adopción de modos de vida saludables en el contexto actual de incremento de los casos de obesidad, el ámbito de promoción de la salud se redujo a suministrar información que incitara a elecciones individuales racionales, sin que se tuvieran en cuenta los factores políticos, económicos, culturales, mercadotécnicos y sociales que el proceso mundial de transición nutricional involucra. Los autores concluyen que los conflictos de intereses existen en la participación de las industrias de la alimentación y las bebidas en acontecimientos científicos sobre temas de salud. La estrategia de las industrias intenta dar legitimidad a la producción y comercialización de sus productos mediante una asociación con prácticas de salud adecuadas. Los profesionales de la salud y las instancias normativas deben reflexionar sobre tales asociaciones, ya que su principal finalidad no es la promoción de la salud pública sino la generación de beneficios.

Food and beverage industries' participation in health scientific events: considerations on conflicts of interest.

Several sectors of the industry (pharmaceutical, food, and other) often occupy a prominent position in scientific meetings on health. The aim of this article is to discuss the participation of food and beverage industries (Big Food and Big Soda) in events organized by scientific institutions in health and nutrition, highlighting potential conflicts of interest in such partnerships. As an example, the authors report the case of a Brazilian national event organized by a nutrition scientific association in 2011. Focused on the theme "Evidence-based Nutrition," the event's scientific program was largely influenced by corporate sponsors. For example, a symposium at this congress was organized by a beverage company known worldwide for its sugar-sweetened products and classified as the "diamond sponsor" of the event. While debating the adoption of healthy lifestyles in the current scenario of rising occurrence of obesity, the rationale for health promotion was reduced to providing information that would motivate rational individual choices, thus ignoring any political, economic, cultural, marketing, and social factors involved in the global process of nutrition transition. The authors conclude that conflicts of interest are present in the participation of food and beverage industries in health scientific events. The industries' strategy attempts to grant legitimacy to the production and marketing of their products through an association with adequate health practices. Health professionals and policy-makers should reflect on such partnerships because their main purpose is to generate profit, not the promotion of public health.