Offender reintegration and rehabilitation as a component of international criminal justice? Execution of sentences at the level of international tribunals and courts: moving beyond the mere protection of procedural rights and minimal fundamental interests?

Historically, little attention was paid to the execution of sentences passed at the level of international courts and tribunals. Capital punishment was still used, and custodial sanctions were imposed in the relevant states. It was not until the 1990s, with the creation of the ad hoc tribunals, that the execution of sentences also became a task for international tribunals, in cooperation with, and by means of transferring the sentenced person to, a state which had committed itself to executing the sentence. The basic principles of these vertical transfer, or execution of sentence, procedures, as is also the case at the level of the ICC, are characterized by a system logic, with a limited role for the sentenced person. Nonetheless, minimal human rights and international standards for the execution of sentences (as agreed upon at the level of the UN) are respected. The authors investigate if and to what extent the interests of the sentenced person could be better pursued and enhanced during vertical procedures for the execution of sentences; they therefore take a clear-cut rehabilitation and social integration perspective. Given the dominant representation of EU member states among states willing to execute sentences passed by international tribunals and courts, the authors moreover wonder whether practice should not evolve towards reflecting the obligatory compliance of these states with, besides the UN standards, additional (sometimes wider, more precise and higher) Council of Europe and EU standards. This would be reflected in the policies of the tribunals and courts (especially the ICC) relating to the conclusion of sentence execution agreements with states, as well as in the actual case-based decisions in which particular sentence execution states are chosen. The authors further plead for the conclusion of a bilateral EU-ICC agreement on the execution of sentences, since this would constitute an important contribution to international justice, and one that is likely to make the reintegration and rehabilitation of offenders (a greater) part of it

Somatostatin Analogues in the Treatment of Neuroendocrine Tumors: Past, Present and Future

In recent decades, the incidence of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) has steadily increased. Due to the slow-growing nature of these tumors and the lack of early symptoms, most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, when curative treatment options are no longer available. Prognosis and survival of patients with NETs are determined by the location of the primary lesion, biochemical functional status, differentiation, initial staging, and response to treatment. Somatostatin analogue (SSA) therapy has been a mainstay of antisecretory therapy in functioning neuroendocrine tumors, which cause various clinical symptoms depending on hormonal hypersecretion. Beyond symptomatic management, recent research demonstrates that SSAs exert antiproliferative effects and inhibit tumor growth via the somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2). Both the PROMID (placebo-controlled, prospective, randomized study in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine midgut tumors) and the CLARINET (controlled study of lanreotide antiproliferative response in neuroendocrine tumors) trial showed a statistically significant prolongation of time to progression/progression-free survival (TTP/PFS) upon SSA treatment, compared to placebo. Moreover, the combination of SSA with peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) in small intestinal NETs has proven efficacy in the phase 3 neuroendocrine tumours therapy (NETTER 1) trial. PRRT is currently being tested for enteropancreatic NETs versus everolimus in the COMPETE trial, and the potential of SSTR-antagonists in PRRT is now being evaluated in early phase I/II clinical trials. This review provides a synopsis on the pharmacological development of SSAs and their use as antisecretory drugs. Moreover, this review highlights the clinical evidence of SSAs in monotherapy, and in combination with other treatment modalities, as applied to the antiproliferative management of neuroendocrine tumors with special attention to recent high-quality phase III trials

Charakterisierung des Burkholderia cenocepacia Aquaglyceroporins

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde ein Aquaglyceroporin des Krankenhausproblemkeims Burkholderia cenocepacia, BccGlpF, charakterisiert. Unter besonderer Beobachtung stand die Struktur-Funktionsbeziehung der eigentlich kochkonservierten NPA-Motive

A Combined Score of Circulating miRNAs Allows Outcome Prediction in Critically Ill Patients

Background and aims: Identification of patients with increased risk of mortality represents an important prerequisite for an adapted adequate and individualized treatment of critically ill patients. Circulating micro-RNA (miRNA) levels have been suggested as potential biomarkers at the intensive care unit (ICU), but none of the investigated miRNAs displayed a sufficient sensitivity or specificity to be routinely employed as a single marker in clinical practice. Methods and results: We recently described alterations in serum levels of 7 miRNAs (miR-122, miR-133a, miR-143, miR-150, miR-155, miR-192, and miR-223) in critically ill patients at a medical ICU. In this study, we re-analyzed these previously published data and performed a combined analysis of these markers to unravel their potential as a prognostic scoring system in the context of critical illness. Based on the Youden’s index method, cut-off values were systematically defined for dysregulated miRNAs, and a “miRNA survival score” was calculated. Patients with high scores displayed a dramatically impaired prognosis compared to patients with low values. Additionally, the predictive power of our score could be further increased when the patient’s age was additionally incorporated into this score. Conclusions: We describe the first miRNA-based biomarker score for prediction of medical patients’ outcome during and after ICU treatment. Adding the patients’ age into this score was associated with a further increase in its predictive power. Further studies are needed to validate the clinical utility of this score in risk-stratifying critically ill patients

Functional Characterisation of Alpha-Galactosidase A Mutations as a Basis for a New Classification System in Fabry Disease

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The study has been supported partially by an unrestricted scientific grant from Shire Human Genetic Therapies (Germany

Alternative sanctions for drug users: fruitless efforts or miracle solution?

In most Western European countries, including Belgium, judicial alternative sanctions are increasingly being used for drug users. Because no study into the effectiveness of Belgian judicial alternatives for drug users has yet been carried out, this became the objective of the current research. The design of this study comprises a pre and post measurement of the criminal activity, drug use and situation in different spheres of life of 565 drug-dependent offenders. Two conclusions can be drawn. First, after an alternative sanction or measure is imposed, there is a reduction in the criminal activity of the offender. Second, this crime reduction goes hand in hand with a progress in several relevant life spheres

Pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus. Part I: cytoarchitecture, transmitters, development and connections

The present review compiles data on the cytoarchitecture, transmitters, development, afferent and efferent connections of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPN). PPN is a reticular formation nucleus, located in the pontomesencephalic tegmentum, closely associated with the ascending limb of the superior cerebellar peduncle. Its most typical cells are cholinergic and comprise the Ch5 neuronal group of Mesulam. It contains also glutamatergic neurons that may contain glutamate as a sole transmitter or as a co-transmitter of acetylcholine. The cholinergic neurons use also the gaseous transmitter nitric oxide, being the most prominent nitrergic neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). In aged animals, there is practically no cell loss but there are certain drastic changes in the somatodendritic morphology. PPN has an extremely rich afferent input. All basal ganglia send axons to PPN, the strongest connection being from the substantia nigra (SN), followed by pathways arising from the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and from both pallidal segments (PAL). PPN receives afferents also from the cerebral cortex, from areas of the limbic system and hypothalamus, from the cerebellum, from the brainstem - particularly serotoninergic axons from the raphe nuclei and noradrenergic axons from the locus ceruleus - as well as from the spinal cord. The efferent connections of PPN are extremely diverse, and some of them are carried out by axons that emit divergent collaterals to two different structures. The heaviest efferent pathway of PPN is destined to the thalamus, innervating virtually all thalamic nuclei, and especially the "nonspecific" intralaminar nuclei, that innervate broad ares of the cerebral cortex. All basal ganglia are innervated and in most cases the connection is bilateral. The most significant pathway innervates the dopaminergic neurons of SN, followed by a connection to STN and PAL. Other PPN efferent connections reach the cerebellum, the superior colliculus, nuclei of cranial nerves, the reticular formation, and the spinal cord. The reviewed connections of PPN suggest that it is involved significantly in the arousal systems, and is implicated in the disturbances of sleep and wakefulness. PPN is also involved in the motor functions of CNS, as well as in the movement disorders.Biomedical Reviews 2003; 14: 95-120

A Rare Case of Facial Artery Branching: A Review of the Literature and a Case Report with Clinical Implications

Background and Objectives: Vascular variations appear as morphologically distinct patterns of blood diverging from the most commonly observed vessel patterns. The facial artery is considered to be the main vessel for supplying blood to the anterior part of the face. An anatomical understanding of the facial artery, its course, its topography, and its branches is important in medical and dental practice (especially in neck and face surgery), and is also essential for radiologists to be able to interpret vascular imaging in the face following angiography of the region. A profound knowledge of the arteries in the region will aid in minimizing the risks to the patient. Materials and Methods: In our publication a narrative literature review and a case report are presented. Results: A rare case of a facial artery pattern has been described anatomically for the first time with respect to its course and branching. This variation was found on the left side of a 60-year-old male corpse during anatomical dissection. The anterior branch of the facial artery arched in the direction of the labial angle, and there divided into the inferior and superior labial arteries. At the same time, the posterior branch coursed vertically and superficially to the masseter muscle. It here gave off the premasseteric branch, and continued towards the nose, where it ran below the levator labii superioris and the levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscles and terminated at the dorsum nasi. Conclusions: Our review of the literature and the case report add to knowledge on the facial artery with respect to its topographical anatomy and its branching and termination patterns, as well as the areas of supply. An exact knowledge of individual facial artery anatomy may play an important role in the planning of flaps or tumor excisions due to the differing vascularization and can also help to prevent artery injuries during aesthetic procedures such as filler and botulinum toxin injections