Flexibilities Under TRIPS: An Analysis of the Proposal for Reforming Brazilian Patent Law, 15 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 150 (2016)

This article analyses the proposal for reforming the Brazilian patent system pending before the Brazilian Parliament as Bill No. 5402/13. The proposed legislation addresses such issues as the assumed insufficiency of the inventive step requirement in preventing unjustified “monopolies,” the proliferation of so-called secondary patents, and the extension of market exclusivity positions through strategic filings, which are being debated also in Europe and the U.S. The proposed legislation offers an example for possible actions in these critical areas of the patent system. In doing so, it puts forward options that depart from consolidated Western normative patterns. In analyzing the reform attempt, this article pursues two purposes. First, starting from the provisions of the Bill, it explores the flexibilities that WTO members enjoy under the TRIPS Agreement in designing rules and procedures in their patent acts. Second, it examines whether the changes proposed by Bill No. 5402/13 are consistent with its proclaimed goals, such as the aim to reserve patent protection only to “genuine innovations,” to hamper so-called “evergreening” practices by pharmaceutical applicants, and to foster incremental innovations by domestic actors. Specific attention is given in this regard to the proposals to introduce: (i) as separate criteria for patentability a “significant technical advance” in all technological fields and an “enhanced efficacy” in the chemical sector; (ii) a general prohibition of use patents; and (iii) a pre-grant and post-grant opposition system

Prevención y diagnóstico precoz de la periimplantitis

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Odontología, leída el 25-05-2022.La alta prevalencia, la rápida progresión que conduce a la pérdida del implante y la limitada eficacia a largo plazo de los tratamientos disponibles, hacen de la periimplantitis uno de los principales desafíos de la odontología moderna. La mejor estrategia para hacer frente a las enfermedades humanas caracterizadas por esas características suele estar representada por la prevención primaria y, una vez iniciada la enfermedad (fallo de las medidas preventivas), en su detección precoz para permitir los tratamientos oportunos. Objetivos. Los objetivos generales de la presente tesis fueron identificar indicadores de riesgo modificables de periimplantitis para establecer las consiguientes medidas de prevención primaria, e identificar herramientas para mejorar el diagnóstico precoz de la enfermedad. Los objetivos específicos fueron: (1) estudiar una lista amplia de indicadores de riesgo/protección de periimplantitis propuestos previamente y nuevos potenciales, tomando en cuenta las complejas relaciones de esos factores entre ellos a través de modelos de regresión multivariante multinivel (Estudio #1); (2) evaluar los síntomas y la percepción de las enfermedades periimplantarias por parte de los pacientes (Estudio #2); (3) determinar si los hallazgos clínicos (sangrado al sondaje - BoP, supuración al sondaje - SoP, profundidad de la bolsa al sondaje - PPD, dehiscencia de tejidos blandos periimplantarios - PISTD, enrojecimiento y/o hinchazón de la mucosa) alrededor de los implantes son relevantes como pruebas de cribado para la pérdida de hueso marginal (Estudio #3) y para la presencia de periimplantitis (Estudios #2, #4 y #5); (4) analizar la precisión diagnóstica de las evaluaciones clínicas y radiográficas realizadas en un único momento durante el seguimiento (evidencia indirecta, ausencia de documentación de referencia) para identificar la presencia de periimplantitis verificada a través de la evidencia directa (Estudio #4)...The high prevalence, the rapid progression leading to implant loss and the limited long-term efficacy of available treatments make peri-implantitis one of the main challenges for modern dentistry. The best strategy to face human diseases characterized by those features is usually represented by primary prevention and – once the disease onset (failure of preventive measures) – in its early detection to allow timely effective treatment. Objectives.The general objectives of the present thesis were to identify modifiable risk indicators of peri-implantitis in order to set up consequent primary prevention measures, and to identify tools to improve early diagnosis of the disease.The specific objectives were: (1) to study a comprehensive list of previously proposed risk/protective indicators of peri-implantitis and new potential ones, taking into account the complex relationships of those factors between them through multilevel multivariate modeling (Study #1); (2) to evaluate the patient’s reported symptoms and perception of peri-implant diseases (Study #2); (3) to determine whether clinical findings (bleeding on probing - BoP, suppuration on probing - SoP, probing pocket depth - PPD, peri-implant soft tissue dehiscence - PISTD, mucosal redness and/or swelling) at implant sites are relevant as screening tests for a history of marginal bone loss (Study #3) and for the presence of peri-implantitis (Study #2, #4 & #5); (4) to analyze the diagnostic accuracy of clinical and radiographic evaluations made at a single time point during follow-up (indirect evidence, absence of baseline documentation) in identifying the presence of peri-implantitis, as assessed by direct evidence (Study #4)...Fac. de OdontologíaTRUEunpu

Cooperación internacional contra la xenofobia: el caso de la migración venezolana en Colombia

4 páginasLos migrantes venezolanos en Colombia enfrentan a diario no solo desafíos vitales (tener acceso a alimentación, trabajo, salud y vivienda), sino, además, tratos xenofóbicos. Así lo confirman comentarios recurrentes como “no soy xenófobo, pero…”; “vinieron a robar”; “nos quitan los empleos”; “es una invasión” (Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados [ACNUR], 2021). No sorprende que el 61 % de los colombianos tengan una opinión desfavorable de los venezolanos (INVAMER, 2022), a pesar de que distintos estudios demuestran que las causas de la inseguridad o el deterioro de la educación no la explica la presencia de migración venezolana (Castillo et al., 2019; Observatorio Sabana Centro Cómo Vamos, 2021)

The innermost regions of the Seyfert 2 galaxies NGC613 and NGC1808: the X-ray and millimeter view

One of the main goals of this Thesis is to verify whether the gas traced by the CO transitions in millimeter band can be considered responsible for the obscuration measured in X-ray observations. This multi-band analysis could give information on the characteristic scales where AGN obscuration occurs. In particular, we carried out the multi-frequency study of the local galaxies NGC613 (z = 0.0049) and NGC1808 (z = 0.0033), which belong to the Seyfert 2 galaxies class. The X-ray spectral analysis of the sources were carried on in the energy bands 0.3-7.0 keV (Chandra) and 0.3-10 keV (XMM-Newton). The combination of the data from these two satellites allows us to study not only the main features of the obscuring molecular torus, but also the underlying AGN continuum emission and estimate its intrinsic luminosity. The intrinsic absorption along the line of sight of the source is measured through the column density, which was found to be of the order of 10^{23} for both sources, indicating that NGC613 and NGC1808 host a heavily obscured AGN. The galaxies under examination were observed in the millimetric band, by using the ALMA. We obtained a range of possible values for N(H), to be compared with the those obtained from X-ray spectral analyses. We obtain agreement between ALMA data and X-ray ones by using physically motivated models, which assume a clumpy distribution of the obscuring material. We then conclude that the most plausible geometry of the molecular torus is patchy, instead of uniform and doughnut-like, for both sources

FRAMH: A Federated Learning Risk-Based Authorization Middleware for Healthcare

Modern healthcare systems operate in highly dy- namic environments requiring adaptable access control mecha- nisms. Access to sensitive data and medical equipment should be granted or denied according to the current health situation of the patient. To handle the need for adaptable access control of healthcare scenarios, we propose a novel model that allows dynamic access control decisions based on the context character- izing the source, type of access request, patient, and estimated risk corresponding to the conditions of the patient. Estimating patient status risk requires analyzing vital physiological data whose availability is growing thanks to the widespread diffusion of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices. Inferring the patient health status risk through Machine Learning (ML) techniques is possible, but to achieve better accuracy, the training phase requires the aggregation of vast amounts of data from different sources. This aggregation could be difficult or even impossible due to organization regulations and privacy laws. To address these issues, this paper proposes a novel Federated Learning Risk-based Authorization Middleware for Healthcare (FRAMH) that supports risk-based access control to deal with changing and unforeseen medical situations. Our solution infers the risk of health status through a federated learning (FL) approach enriched with blockchain to avoid the weaknesses of centralized servers. The implemented prototype and a large set of experimental results demonstrate the advantages of FL in estimating the risk in healthcare scenarios. Through this approach, even a medical institution with a limited dataset can achieve a satisfying risk estimation and efficient access control enforcement

The body of the image and madness in Aby Warbug. A reflection from Renaissance sources

  El presente artículo tiene como propósito interrogarse sobre la matriz conceptual según la cual Aby Warburg interpretó tanto El Nacimiento de la Primavera como la Primavera de Sandro Botticelli. Por un lado, proponemos un análisis del papel desempeñado por la poesía del dolce stil nuovo y el neoplatonismo en la comprensión warburguiana de las alegorías de Botticelli. Por otro lado, intentamos dar cuenta de la significación filosófica de la hipótesis explicativa de Warburg a través de un estudio del comentario de Marsilio Ficino al poema Donna me prega de Guido Cavalcanti. La interpretación de Ficino toma como base la noción de spiritus y la desubjetivación de los amantes en beneficio de las potencias cosmológicas. De esta manera, la forclusión del cuerpo resulta la condición de posibilidad del fantasma como auténtico objeto de deseo. Esta interpretación es sancionada por la original apropiación de Ficino de la teoría platónica de las dos Venus (celestial y vulgar). Finalmente, avanzamos la hipótesis según la cual la escisión de las dos Venus en la tradición neoplatónica marca un hito en la historia de la metafísica y juega un papel preponderante en la comprensión que Warburg tendrá de su propio período de internación psiquiátrica en Kreuzlingen desde 1921 a 1924.The following article intends to inquire into the conceptual framework according to which Aby Warburg interpreted both Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera. On one hand, we propose an analysis of the role played by the poetry of the dolce stil nuovo and neoplatonism as a means of tackling the warburguian understanding of Botticelli’s allegories. On the other hand, we try to grasp the philosophical meaning of Warburg’s hypotheses by studying Marsilio Ficino’s commentary to Guido Calvacanti’s poem Donna me prega. Ficino’s interpretation is founded on the notion of spiritus and the desubjectification of the lovers in favour of the cosmological forces. In this way, the foreclosure of the body is presented as the condition of possibility for the phantasm to become the authentic object of desire. This interpretation is sanctioned by Ficino’s original appropriation of the Platonic theory of the two Venuses (celestial and vulgar). Finally, we advance the hypothesis that the splitting between the two Venuses in the neoplatonic tradition is a landmark in the history of metaphysics and plays a fundamental role in the way that Warburg will understand his own period of psychiatric reclusion in Kreuzlingen since 1921 to 1924

The medieval monastic rules and the genealogy of modern biopolitics

En este artículo tenemos el objetivo de presentar una lectura crítica de fuentes heterodoxas en la historia del derecho occidental, a saber, las reglas monásticas medievales. De esta manera, el texto estará dedicado a la interpretación del fenómeno de las reglas monásticas cristianas y, en particular, del usus pauper franciscano. Por un lado, proponemos sostener el aspecto jurídico de las reglas monásticas y su importancia como fuentes jurídicas. En ese sentido, buscaremos mostrar cómo resulta insuficiente la posición antinomista que niega el valor jurídico de las regulae vivendi medievales. Por otro lado, a través de un análisis de las contribuciones teóricas de Bernardo de Claraval, se intentará mostrar cómo el usus pauper de los monjes franciscanos medievales no puede ser considerado como un ataque a la estructura económica de la Europa medieval. Al contrario, es posible hallar en los textos producidos en los ámbitos monásticos, una reflexión sobre el sistema general de la economía donde se otorga legitimidad a la riqueza y se superan los dilemas de la usura. Finalmente, querríamos proponer la posibilidad de considerar estas fuentes heterodoxas del derecho medieval como los antecedentes genealógicos de la oikonomia moderna en tanto ejercicio del poder administrativo sobre las poblaciones humanas.In this article, we aim at presenting a critical reading of heterodox sources in the history of Western Law, that is to say, the corpus of medieval monastic rules. In this way, the text will be devoted to the interpretation of the Christian medieval rules of monastic life and, more specifically, the Franciscan usus pauper. On one hand, we propose to maintain the juridical aspect of the monastic rules and their importance as juridical sources. In that sense, we shall seek to show how the antinomistic position falls short of explaining the juridical value of the medieval regulae vivendi. On the other hand, by means of an analysis of Bernard of Clairvaux’s theoretical contributions, we will try and demonstrate how the usus pauper of the medieval Franciscan monks cannot be considered as an attack to the economic structure of medieval Europe. On the contrary, it is possible to find in the texts produced within the monastic realms, a reflexion upon the general system of economy where wealth is permitted to find its legitimate character overcoming the dilemmas of usury. Finally, we would like to propose the possibility of considering these heterodox sources of medieval Law as the genealogical links of modern oikonomia conceived as the exercise of administrative power over human populations.Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociale

El estado de excepción y sus articulaciones con una genealogía de los desastres ecosistémicos

El presente artículo analiza la relevancia de la figura jurídica del estado de excepción en la obra filosófica de Giorgio Agamben. La primera parte examina las diferencias entre los institutos jurídicos del estado de excepción y la dictadura tomando en cuenta sus antecedentes en el derecho romano (homo sacer, iustitium, senatus consultum ultimum). En la segunda parte, se lleva adelante una arqueología del estado de excepción en sus relaciones con la oikonomia teológica medieval y el problema de los desastres ecosistémicos como parte de la gobierno moderno de las poblaciones. Finalmente, se considera la importancia de la cuestión de la extinción humana como horizonte político último del estado de excepción devenido regla en las sociedades globales contemporáneas

El vampirismo como fenómeno de la "ciencia de la cultura". Una perspectiva warburguiana.

The article explores, by means of Aby Warburg’s work as a starting point, the survival (Nachleben) of the phenomenon known as “vampirism” in European culture. In order to attain this goal, Warburg’s perspective is paired with that of Carlo Ginzburg regarding his theory of Logosformel. This perspective addresses legends about vampirism as the survival of ancient rituals involving both the sacrifice and the blood of human beings as it is shown in Graeco-Roman sources. This research also intends to show the continuity of the legends about vampires in Modern Times through the prism of literature. We emphasize that the Warburguian method explains a profound structure that shapes the páthos that constitutes the human condition. Finally, this article proves the impurity of historical time to be a key fruitful character of the Warburguian approach for research.Tomando como punto de partida la obra de Aby Warburg, el artículo explora la supervivencia (Nachleben) del fenómeno conocido como “vampirismo” en la cultura europea. Para lograr este objetivo, se complementa la perspectiva de Warburg con la teoría del Logosformel de Carlo Ginzburg. De esta manera, las leyendas vampíricas pueden ser tratadas como la supervivencia de antiguos rituales del sacrificio y de la sangre que se establecen desde la Antigüedad greco-romana. Del mismo modo, se muestra la continuidad de las leyendas vampíricas en la Modernidad a través de la literatura y se hace hincapié en la necesidad del método warburguiano para dar cuenta de una estructura que afecta al páthos que constituye la condición humana. Finalmente, se muestra el carácter fructífero de la impureza del tiempo histórico que resulta fundamental en el abordaje warburguiano