Innovation and entrepreneurship in Catalan private laboratories: origins and rise of Grifols Lab (1880-1955)

Studying the evolution of private medical clinics is extremely useful in understanding the history of the Catalan healthcare system where, from the 19th century onwards, a Marshallian atmosphere of flows of knowledge, people and technology has resulted in close connections between the public and private practice of modern medicine. The history of the Grifols Laboratories, from 1880 to the 1950s, is a relevant case study in this context, as it highlights patterns that were repeated in other medical laboratories in Catalonia a century ago. But Grifols is also particularly interesting both because of its survival and evolution to this day, and for its curation of its own historical archive.This article aims to understand how a small laboratory in the healthcare district of Barcelona built its scientific foundations on laboratory medicine during the early 20th century, and finally changed its business strategy because of the Spanish Civil War, becoming a family pharmaceutical company. The sources are documents from the Grifols archive and interviews with managers at the company. The findings highlight the importance of interdisciplinary analysis, suggesting that both scientific and business adaptations by successive generations are equally important in explaining the success of Grifols Laboratories. Science-based family firms that endure over time not only acquire specialised knowledge to compete in the market, but also knowledge about transferring entrepreneurship in the long term. In Grifols case, knowledge from younger generations was crucial to adapting their activity, first to a changing scientific paradigm and then to a precarious national market

DISTRIBUTION OF PIGMENT CELLS IN THE HEART OF THE RABBITFISH, CHIMAERA MONSTROSA (CONDRICHTHYES: HOLOCEPHALI)

El resumen aparece en el Program & Abstracts of the 10th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Barcelona 2013. Anatomical Record, Volume 296, Special Feature — 1: P-076.The study of extracutaneous cells producing and storing melanin is of interest because it may provide valuable information about the presence of neural crest elements in internal organs and tissues. Here we report, for the first time, the presence and distribution of melanophores in the heart of a chondrichthyan species, the rabbitfish, Chimaera monstrosa. Pigment cells were found in all of 20 hearts examined. Pigment cells occur mainly in the cardiac outflow tract, which consists of two anatomical components, the proximal, myocardial conus arteriosus and the distal, non-myocardial bulbus arteriosus. A few groups of dark pigmented cells were found in the apex of the ventricle of one specimen and in the atrium of two specimens. In all instances, the melanophores were located in the subepicardial space, where they could be well recognized in both unstained and stained histological sections. The distribution and intensity of the pigmentation in the cardiac outflow tract varies markedly between individuals. In all cases, however, the pigmented area is larger on the dorsal than on the ventral surface. Dorsally, the size of the pigmented area ranges from a fringe that includes the bulbus and the distal part of the conus to the whole surface of the outflow tract. Ventrally, the pigmented area does not cover the entire conus arteriosus. The intensity of the pigmentation also varies widely; in general, it is highest at the distal portion of the conus. There is no relationship between the distribution and intensity of the pigmentation and the sex and age of the animals. The functional role of the pigmented cells is unknown. If the melanophores in the heart of C. monstrosa are indeed of neural crest origin, it would suggest a notable contribution of the neural crest cells to the cardiac outflow tract in holocephalans.Proyecto CGL2010-16417/BOS; Fondos FEDER BES-2011-04690

Innovation and entrepreneurship in Catalan private laboratories: origins and rise of Grifols Lab (1880-1955)

Studying the evolution of private medical clinics is extremely useful in understanding the history of the Catalan healthcare system where, from the 19th century onwards, a Marshallian atmosphere of flows of knowledge, people and technology has resulted in close connections between the public and private practice of modern medicine. The history of the Grifols Laboratories, from 1880 to the 1950s, is a relevant case study in this context, as it highlights patterns that were repeated in other medical laboratories in Catalonia a century ago. But Grifols is also particularly interesting both because of its survival and evolution to this day, and for its curation of its own historical archive. This article aims to understand how a small laboratory in the healthcare district of Barcelona built its scientific foundations on laboratory medicine during the early 20th century, and finally changed its business strategy because of the Spanish Civil War, becoming a family pharmaceutical company. The sources are documents from the Grifols archive and interviews with managers at the company. The findings highlight the importance of interdisciplinary analysis, suggesting that both scientific and business adaptations by successive generations are equally important in explaining the success of Grifols Laboratories. Science-based family firms that endure over time not only acquire specialised knowledge to compete in the market, but also knowledge about transferring entrepreneurship in the long term. In Grifols case, knowledge from younger generations was crucial to adapting their activity, first to a changing scientific paradigm and then to a precarious national market

MYOCARDIAL STRUCTURE AND VASCULARIZATION OF THE HEART VENTRICLE IN HOLOCEPHALI: IMPLICATIONS FOR HEART EVOLUTION

El resumen aparece en el Program & Abstracts of the 10th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Barcelona 2013. Anatomical Record, Volume 296, Special Feature — 1: P-075.It has been classically assumed that the ventricle of the primitive vertebrate heart is composed of spongy myocardium, supplied exclusively by oxygen-poor, luminal blood. This idea is on two facts: (1) extant agnathans have a spongy ventricular myocardium, and (2) in avian and mammalian embryos, the formation of trabeculated myocardium precedes the appearance of compact myocardium. Recently, it has been proposed that, like elasmobranchs, the early gnathostomes possess a fully vascularised ventricle composed of mixed myocardium. We tested this idea by studying the structure and vascularisation of the ventricular myocardium in four holocephalan species of the families Chimaeridae and Rhinochimaeridae. Chimaera monstrosa, Hidrolagus affinis and Harriotta raleighana have a spongy myocardium covered by a thin layer of cardiac muscle. In H. raleighana, the compacta is reduced to an extremely fine rim. In all three species there is a well-developed coronary artery system consisting of subepicardial vessels which give off branches that penetrate the myocardial trabeculae. Rhinochimaera atlantica has no compacta and its ventricular coronary artery system is reduced to subepicardial vessels that do not enter the spongy layer. This report is the first to show that in wild living vertebrates, a coronary artery system supplying the whole myocardium exists in the absence of a well-developed compacta, which supports experimental work that shows that myocardial cell proliferation and coronary vascular growth rely on genetically separated programs. We conclude that the mixed ventricular myocardium is primitive for chondrichthyans, and that the lack of compacta in some holocephalans is a derived character. Moreover our results support the hypotheses that the mixed myocardium is the primitive condition in gnathostomes, and that the absence of a compacta in different actinopterygian taxa is the result of its repeated loss during evolution.Proyecto CGL2010-16417/BOS; Fondos FEDE

The bulbus arteriosus of the holocephalan heart

El resumen aparece en el Program & Abstracts of the 10th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Barcelona 2013.Anatomical Record, Volume 296, Special Feature — 1: P-074.Previous work has shown that the outflow tract of the elasmobranch heart, namely the cardiac portion intercalated between the ventricle and the ventral aorta, does not consist of a single component, the conus arteriosus, as has classically been assumed, but two, the myocardial conus arteriosus and the non-myocardial bulbus arteriosus. From the evolutionary perspective, knowledge of the anatomy of the cardiac outflow tract of the holocephali is important, as they are the sister group of elasmobranchs. Our aim is to describe the cardiac outflow tract of four holocephalan species, two of them, Chimaera monstrosa and Hydrolagus affinis of the family Chimaeridae, and the other two, Harriotta raleighana and Rhinochimaera atlantica, of the family Rhinochimaeridae. The cardiac outflow tract of the four species consisted of a myocardial conus arteriosus, furnished with valves, and a bulbus arteriosus devoid of cardiac muscle. Both the bulbus and conus are tubular in shape. The length of the bulbus relative to the total length of the outflow tract is somewhat smaller in the rhinochimaerids (15%-19%) than in the chimaerids (19%-23%). The bulbus is covered by epicardium and is crossed by the main coronary artery trunks. Histologically, the bulbus is mainly composed of elastin and collagen, and, to a lesser extent, by smooth muscle. This suggests that in holocephalans, the bulbus actively helps to protect the gill vasculature from exposure to high-pressure pulses of blood. Our results prove that the bulbus arteriosus is common to chondrichthyans. In addition, they support the hypothesis that the cardiac outflow tract consisted of a conus arteriosus and a bulbus arteriosus from the beginning of the jawed vertebrate radiation, contributing to our understanding of the morphological changes that have occurred at the arterial pole of the heart in both actinopterygians and sarcopterygians.Proyecto CGL2010-16417/BOS; Fondos FEDE

UE y COVID-19: La gobernanza de Europa por la Unión Europea

El presente estudio trata de llevar a cabo una cronología de las acciones relevantes de la Unión Europea desde que se desatara la pandemia provocada por la COVID-19. Son innumerables los actos adoptados por las instituciones europeas dirigidos a intervenir de una u otra forma en la crisis provocada por el virus, pero en aras de poner un poco de orden, el trabajo se ha organizado en torno a los dos ámbitos esenciales de actuación: la sanidad y la economía. No obstante estos dos ejes centrales, no he pretendido ser exahustiva con las actuaciones llevadas a cabo por la Unión, pues el trabajo pretende sobre todo poner de relieve el cambio de gobernanza que la crisis de la COVID-19 va a suponer para Europa, lo que se manifiesta en dos hechos: uno, la Unión Europea ha sido la indiscutible protagonista en Europa en la gestión de la crisis sanitaria, a pesar de ser éste un ámbito material en el que tiene una escasa competencia atribuida; dos, la pandemia ha hecho patente que la seguridad, el bienestar y prosperidad dependen más de unos servicios públicos fuertes y bien financiados que de las empresas multinacionales y que únicamente el desarrollo de economías y sistemas financieros y de protección social fuertes y sostenibles permite a los Estados miembros dar respuestas eficaces a crisis profundas. El interrogante que ahora se cierne sobre nosotros, los ciudadanos, es si a pesar de la demostrada necesidad de lo multilateral para superar las crisis, serán los Estados miembros de la Unión capaces de reformular Europa para que funcione en esos términosThis study tries to carry out a chronology of the relevant actions of the European Union since the pandemic caused by COVID-19 broke out. There are countless acts adopted by the European institutions aimed at intervening in one way or another in the crisis caused by the virus, but in order to put some order, the work has been organized around the two essential areas of action: health and the economy. Nevertheless these two central axes, the work highlights the change in governance that the COVID-19 crisis will mean for Europe, which in my opinion is highlighted by two facts: one, the European Union has been the undisputed protagonist in Europe in the management of the health crisis, despite this being a material area in which it has little attributed competence; two, the pandemic has made it clear that security, well-being and prosperity depend more on strong and well-financed public services than on multinational companies and that only the development of strong and sustainable economies and financial and social protection systems enables Member States provide effective responses to deep crises. The question that now looms over us, the citizens, is whether, despite the demonstrated need for multilateral action to overcome crises, the Member States of the Union will be able to reformulate Europe so that it works in those term

Del Instituto Central de Análisis Clínicos, Bacteriológicos y Químicos de Barcelona a la transfusión de sangre: las tecnologías médicas del Dr. Josep Antoni Grifols Roig (1909-1939)

In what context did the techno-scientific developments that made blood transfusions possible during the first decades of the 20th century appear? What did Barcelona transfusion doctors work on before hemotherapy became professionalized? In this article we attempt to solve these questions for the case of the Central Institute of Clinical, Bacteriological and Chemical Analysis of Barcelona (1909-1939), directed by Dr. Josep Antoni Grifols Roig (1885-1976). His first patents of the Wassermann test for detecting syphilis, or the agglutin-diagnostic technique, demonstrate how blood was first conceived as a laboratory technology. He needed to develop a whole medical technology production in order to obtain optimal samples. All of this gave to Grifols, in addition to a prestige as an analyst physician, the necessary knowledge to quickly adapt his activity to transfusion medicine. During the 1920s, he patented the first indirect transfusion system in Spain, which, together with his control sera, began to turn blood into a genuine medicine to be used for healing. The primary sources used are mainly those filed in the Grifols Historical Archive, as well as the Proceedings of the first conferences of doctors in Catalan language.¿En qué contexto llegaron los desarrollos tecnocientíficos que hicieron posibles las transfusiones sanguíneas durante la primera mitad del siglo XX? ¿En qué trabajaban los médicos transfusores barceloneses antes de que la hemoterapia se profesionalizara? En este artículo intentamos resolver estas preguntas para el caso concreto del Instituto Central de Análisis Clínicos, Bacteriológicos y Químicos de Barcelona (1909-1939), dirigido por el doctor Josep Antoni Grifols Roig (1885-1976). Sus primeras patentes del test de Wassermann para la detección de la sífilis, o la técnica del aglutino-diagnóstico, nos indican cómo la sangre era concebida, en primer lugar, como una tecnología propia del laboratorio. Y para la obtención de muestras óptimas, fue necesario que Grifols desarrollara sus propias tecnologías médicas. Todo esto le reportó, además de un prestigio como médico analista, el conocimiento necesario para adaptar rápidamente su actividad a la medicina transfusional. Durante la década de los veinte, patentó el primer sistema de transfusión indirecta de España, que junto a sus sueros control, empezaron a convertir la sangre en un auténtico medicamento, utilizado para sanar. Las fuentes utilizadas son principalmente las contenidas en el Archivo Histórico Grifols, así como las actas de los primeros congresos de médicos en lengua catalana

Fourier series expansion for nonlinear Hamiltonian oscillators

The problem of nonlinear Hamiltonian oscillators is one of the classical questions in physics. When an analytic solution is not possible, one can resort to obtaining a numerical solution or using perturbation theory around the linear problem. We apply the Fourier series expansion to find approximate solutions to the oscillator position as a function of time as well as the period-amplitude relationship. We compare our results with other recent approaches such as variational methods or heuristic approximations, in particular the Ren-He's method. Based on its application to the Duffing oscillator, the nonlinear pendulum and the eardrum equation, it is shown that the Fourier series expansion method is the most accurate