P. Benciolini

Withholding/withdrawing treatment from neonates: legislation and official guidelines across Europe.

Representatives from eight European countries compared the legal, ethical and professional settings within which decision making for neonates takes place. When it comes to limiting treatment there is general agreement across all countries that overly aggressive treatment is to be discouraged. Nevertheless, strong emphasis has been placed on the need for compassionate care even where cure is not possible. Where a child will die irrespective of medical intervention, there is widespread acceptance of the practice of limiting aggressive treatment or alleviating suffering even if death may be hastened as a result. Where the infant could be saved but the future outlook is bleak there is more debate, but only two countries have tested the courts with such cases. When it comes to the active intentional ending of life, the legal position is standard across Europe; it is prohibited. However, recognising those intractable situations where death may be lingering and unpleasant, Dutch paediatricians have reported that they do sometimes assist babies to die with parental consent. Two cases have been tried through the courts and recent official recommendations have set out standards by which such actions may be assessed.

Experience of donation and quality of life in living kidney and liver donors

Italian guidelines on living donation demand that we ascertain the donor’s free and informed consent. Assessments to do so have to be conducted by an independent ‘third party’ who has nothing to do with the medical team treating the recipient. From February 2002 to December 2006, the Veneto Regional Authority’s Third Party Commission evaluated 201 living liver and kidney donors. A sample of these were contacted after their surgery to assess their living donation experience and quality of life (QoL); 81 were eligible for the assessment and 69 (85.2%) responded. All donors involved in the study completed an anonymous document that included the SF‐36 and a questionnaire on their donation experience. The majority (96%) of the sample expressed a positive global opinion of the experience. We concluded that the donation had positive effects on their QoL and that family support had a fundamental influence on their general well‐being, and their psychic balance in particular. Some crucial issues emerged, however, i.e. 11% of donors judged the information received before the operation inadequate, 17% reported a subjective perception of bodily changes after the operation and 14% were concerned about their current health: these findings emphasize the importance of informing potential donors thoroughly before they submit to surgery.

The detection of A and B antigens on human hair by the absorption-elution technique using LISS and papain-treated test cells

SummaryThe absorption-elution technique with low ionic strength solution (LISS) and papain-treated test cells previously used for bloodstains was employed for the detection of AB0 antigens on human hair. Antigen identification was always possible, with good intensity of agglutination, even in those cases where classic techniques had given false-negative results. It was possible to obtain positive results with fragments of human hair as small as 0.2 cm.ZusammenfassungDie schon für Blutproben verwendete Absorbtions-Elutionsmethode mit LISS (Lösung mit schwach wirkender Ionenstärke) und Testerythrozytensensibilisierung mit Papain wurde von den Verfassern zur Identifizierung der AB0-Antigene in menschlichen Haaren angewandt. Die Identifizierung der Antigene gelang immer mit einer guten Agglutinations-intensität auch in solchen Fällen, in denen die herkömmliche Methodik zu einer falschen Negativität geführt hatte. Die Mindestlänge der Haare für die positive Reaktion war 0,2 cm.

The polymorphism of transferrin by ultrathin-layer isoelectric focusing. Tf phenotypes and TfC subtypes in the population of Padua.

The distribution of Tf phenotypes in the population of Padua was investigated by ultrathin-layer isoelectric focusing. In our sample (n = 618) nine phenotypes, Tf C1, C2, C3, C3-1, C2-1, C3-2, C1B, C2B and C1D, were observed and the following frequencies calculated: TfC1 = 0.77837; TfC2 = 0.1804; TfC3 = 0.03641; TfB = 0.0040; TfD = 0.0008. These gene frequencies have been compared to those found in other populations. Analysis of 101 mother-child pairs was in agreement with an autosomal codominant mode of inheritance.

The PGM1 polymorphism as revealed by ultrathin-layer isoelectric focusing in the population of Padua☆

The occurrence of PGM1 phenotypes in 589 samples from the population of Padua was investigated by ultrathin-layer isoelectric focusing. All ten phenotypes were observed. Frequencies of the PGM1 alleles (1+ = 0.6180; 1- = 0.1163; 2+ = 0.2122; 2- = 0.0535) have been compared to those found in other populations.

Paternity testing requested by private parties in Italy: some ethical considerations

In Italy, judicial and extrajudicial requests for paternity testing have increased in recent years. A retrospective analysis of such private extrajudicial requests received by the legal medicine unit of the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health of Padua University was conducted to identify problem areas most helpful in determining whether to accept private parties’ requests for paternity testing. Such testing is most delicate when a presumptive father may be seeking to disown paternity and when testing is wanted without the consent of a member of the mother–child–father triangle. Tests that could establish paternity where none has been recognised are less problematic, as the child will not lose out. Legal and ethical–deontological aspects of consent, of the protection of minors and of children’s and parents’ need for follow-up interviews to deal with the outcome of such testing are carefully considered by the Padua University team when deciding whether to accept a request for testing. It is argued that because such issues are not dealt with by mail-order laboratories, the use of such services is inappropriate.

Tf and Alpha-1-AT typing in bloodstains by Isoelectric Focusing

Conventional staining procedure for serum protein have employed the use of Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250, however, with this staining is impossible to detect these proteins when they are in small quantities, like in forensic samples, even if a highly sensitive method as IEF are used.

Population Genetic Studies on ASMAT (Irian-Jaya Indonesia)

The samples were obtained from individuals living in the districts around the village of AGATS in the territory of ASMAT.

Gc Subtypes Determined by Ultrathin-Layer Isoelectric Focusing. Distribution in the Veneto Population (Italy)*

SummaryThe distribution of Gc phenotypes in the population of Veneto was investigated by ultrathin-layer isoelectric focusing. In our sample (n=732) the six common phenotypes, Gc1S, 1F, 1S1F, 2, 2-1S, 2-1F and a further phenotype, Gc1S1C3, were observed and the following frequencies calculated: Gc1S=0.560792; Gc1F=0.159153; Gc2=0.277323; Gc1C3=0.002732. Our gene frequencies have been compared with those found in other populations.ZusammenfassungDie Verteilung der Gc-Phänotypen wurde bei der venetischen Bevölkerung mittels Isoelektrofokussierung auf sehr dünnem Gel untersucht. In unseren Stichproben wurden sechs gemeine Gc-Phänotypen: 1S, 1F, 1S1F, 2, 2-1S, 2-1F, und ein weiterer Phänotyp Gc1S1C3 beobachtet und folgende Frequenzen berechnet: Gc1S=0.560792; Gc1F=159153; Gc2=0.277323; Gc1C3=0.002732. Die von entdeckte Genfrequenz wurde mit den bei anderen Bevölkerungen gefundenen Frequenzen verglichen.

The Polymorphism of Plasminogen (PLG) in the Population of Veneto (Italy) by Isoelectric Focusing

The distribution of PLG phenotypes in the Veneto population was investigated by ultrathin-layer isoelectric focusing.