Reconfiguring tissue banking consent through enrichment of a restricted debate

Tissue banks are thought to be an essential resource for medical research in the post-genomic age. Collections of tissue, usually removed in the course of diagnostic or therapeutic procedures, enable laboratory-based epidemiological studies to be carried out, linking abnormalities in the tissue to disease aetiology, prognosis and treatment responsiveness. There are, however, a number of technical, regulatory and ethical concerns that challenge those wishing to engage in tissue banking research. It is becoming increasingly apparent that tissue banking research is not without risk of harms, even though there is no direct physical risk to donors. This is because, in order to be most useful, banked specimens need to be linked to personal information about tissue donors and this poses the risk of inadvertent disclosure of personal─ particularly genetic─ information to those who might exploit such information (eg. insurance companies and employers). Furthermore, the long-term storage of specimens, and the impossibility of predicting all potential types of research programs for which they might be useful, raises the possibility that future projects will be carried out that are unacceptable to some (past) tissue donors. The ethical principles of autonomy and respect for persons demand that research subjects be informed of such risks and of the nature of the research, and that they participate willingly. On the other hand, there is a desire for science to progress unhindered by stringent consent requirements. For these reasons, a debate has emerged in the academic (bioethical and biomedical) literature and in the legal (law reform) sphere over what would constitute adequate consent. Despite an extensive discourse, it is still unclear whether it is permissible to carry out research on archival tissue that was originally taken for diagnostic purposes and whether project-specific (as opposed to open-ended) consent is required for research on tissue collected today. This lack of clarity is of concern to researchers, ethics committees and research subjects, all of whom recognise the importance of tissue banking research, yet fear that current consent procedures may be ethically or legally inadequate. Thus it is important that the consent dilemma be resolved as quickly and definitively as possible. Ongoing controversy and regulatory ambiguity are appropriate when morally contentious issues are at stake, and their existence does not, on its own, signal any flaws in the discourse process. There are, however, two reasons to suspect that the current 'consent to tissue banking' debate, as portrayed in the academic literature and law reform documentation, is problematic. Firstly, the debate appears to be mired in an intractable conflict between those who want to maximise personal autonomy through stringent consent requirements, and those who want the scientific endeavour to progress in a manner that is unconstrained by what are viewed as arduous consent procedures. Secondly, the possible practical options (consent models) being generated by the debate are all limited because they are underpinned by a restricted notion of consent as an individualistic, legalistic and static activity, without consideration of any alternative conceptualisations of consent. Through a thematic analysis of the current 'consent to tissue banking' debate in the academic and law reform literature (Section 3), this thesis shows that debate is essentially occurring between those who see individual autonomy (and stringent consent) as being of primary importance, and those who see unimpeded, market-driven scientific progress as the more important social good, which should not be impeded by unnecessarily stringent consent. Thematic analysis also confirms the existence of the two problems described above, and a failure of those engaged in the debate to reflect on, and challenge, the value-level assumptions underpinning their arguments and those of their opponents. It is argued that this lack of reflection accounts for the two problems: • Firstly, it precludes recognition of the cause of─ and, therefore, ways of resolving─ the intractable conflict at the centre of the debate. Value-level reflection shows that this is a result of the logical and moral conflict within western liberalism, between two modernist goods: individual freedom and scientific progress. • Secondly, it precludes the generation of varied conceptions of consent. Value-level reflection shows that the current range of consent models is restricted to procedures which are individualistic, abstract, static and legalistic, since they are underpinned by western liberal notions of autonomy and scientific progress. This recognition paves the way to consideration of alternative notions of autonomy, scientific progress and, therefore, consent, such as those derived from communitarian and feminist systems of values. A conceptually enriched model of tissue banking consent is then developed (Section 4). This model incorporates dominant (liberal) conceptions of autonomy and scientific progress as well as alternative notions of autonomy and scientific progress espoused by communitarian and feminist systems of values. It is argued that this conceptually-enriched model provides a practical solution to the two problems associated with the standard 'consent to tissue banking' debate. In relation to the philosophically intractable conflict─ or what is termed the 'modernist dilemma'─ between those privileging autonomy and those privileging scientific progress, it shows how the two apparently conflicting 'modernist' goods can both be accommodated at a practical level, thus making the 'consent to tissue banking' debate more tractable and fruitful. In relation to the restricted range of consent models being generated by the current debate, it provides new insights into the ways in which consent might be obtained such that a broader range of community values can be accommodated. More specifically, it stimulates the construction of a model that 1) involves communities, as opposed to merely individuals, in all stages of the scientific process; 2) is flexible and able to adapt consent procedures to specific contexts, rather than predefining procedures in abstract terms; and 3) is transactional and relational rather than static and legalistic. This outcome has interesting philosophical as well as practical implications. It shows that despite apparently unresolved, and possibly irresolvable, normative-level conflicts between the two modernist elements of western liberalism (autonomy and scientific progress), and between liberal, feminist and communitarian systems of values, a multi-perspectival, inclusive, model-building approach provides a practical solution that circumvents these normative-level conflicts

First record of Rhabdoceras suessi (Ammonoidea, Late Triassic) from the Transylvanian Triassic Series of the Eastern Carpathians (Romania) and a review of its biochronology, paleobiogeography and paleoecology

Abstract The occurrence of the heteromorphic ammonoid Rhabdoceras suessi Hauer, 1860, is recorded for the first time in the Upper Triassic limestone of the Timon-Ciungi olistolith in the Rarău Syncline, Eastern Carpathians. A single specimen of Rhabdoceras suessi co-occurs with Monotis (Monotis) salinaria that constrains its occurrence here to the Upper Norian (Sevatian 1). It is the only known heteromorphic ammonoid in the Upper Triassic of the Romanian Carpathians. Rhabdoceras suessi is a cosmopolitan species widely recorded in low and mid-paleolatitude faunas. It ranges from the Late Norian to the Rhaetian and is suitable for high-resolution worldwide correlations only when it co-occurs with shorter-ranging choristoceratids, monotid bivalves, or the hydrozoan Heterastridium. Formerly considered as the index fossil for the Upper Norian (Sevatian) Suessi Zone, by the latest 1970s this species lost its key biochronologic status among Late Triassic ammonoids, and it generated a controversy in the 1980s concerning the status of the Rhaetian stage. New stratigraphic data from North America and Europe in the subsequent decades resulted in a revised ammonoid biostratigraphy for the uppermost Triassic, the Rhaetian being reinstalled as the topmost stage in the current standard timescale of the Triassic. The geographic distribution of Rhabdoceras is compiled from published worldwide records, and its paleobiogeography and paleoecology are discussed

Measurement of CP observables in B± → D(⁎)K± and B± → D(⁎)π± decays

Measurements of CP observables in B ± →D (⁎) K ± and B ± →D (⁎) π ± decays are presented, where D (⁎) indicates a neutral D or D ⁎ meson that is an admixture of D (⁎)0 and D¯ (⁎)0 states. Decays of the D ⁎ meson to the Dπ 0 and Dγ final states are partially reconstructed without inclusion of the neutral pion or photon, resulting in distinctive shapes in the B candidate invariant mass distribution. Decays of the D meson are fully reconstructed in the K ± π ∓ , K + K − and π + π − final states. The analysis uses a sample of charged B mesons produced in pp collisions collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.0, 1.0 and 2.0 fb −1 taken at centre-of-mass energies of s=7, 8 and 13 TeV, respectively. The study of B ± →D ⁎ K ± and B ± →D ⁎ π ± decays using a partial reconstruction method is the first of its kind, while the measurement of B ± →DK ± and B ± →Dπ ± decays is an update of previous LHCb measurements. The B ± →DK ± results are the most precise to date

First observation of forward Z→bbˉZ \rightarrow b \bar{b} production in pppp collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV

The decay Z→bb¯ is reconstructed in pp collision data, corresponding to 2 fb −1 of integrated luminosity, collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of s=8 TeV. The product of the Z production cross-section and the Z→bb¯ branching fraction is measured for candidates in the fiducial region defined by two particle-level b -quark jets with pseudorapidities in the range 2.220 GeV and dijet invariant mass in the range 4520$GeV and dijet invariant mass in the range$45 < m_{jj} < 165$GeV. From a signal yield of$5462 \pm 763$$Z \rightarrow b \bar{b}$events, where the uncertainty is statistical, a production cross-section times branching fraction of$332 \pm 46 \pm 59$pb is obtained, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The measured significance of the signal yield is 6.0 standard deviations. This measurement represents the first observation of the$Z \rightarrow b \bar{b}$production in the forward region of$pp$ collisions

Study of the lineshape of the chi(c1) (3872) state

A study of the lineshape of the chi(c1) (3872) state is made using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1) collected in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV with the LHCb detector. Candidate chi(c1)(3872) and psi(2S) mesons from b-hadron decays are selected in the J/psi pi(+)pi(-) decay mode. Describing the lineshape with a Breit-Wigner function, the mass splitting between the chi(c1 )(3872) and psi(2S) states, Delta m, and the width of the chi(c1 )(3872) state, Gamma(Bw), are determined to be (Delta m=185.598 +/- 0.067 +/- 0.068 Mev,)(Gamma BW=1.39 +/- 0.24 +/- 0.10 Mev,) where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. Using a Flatte-inspired model, the mode and full width at half maximum of the lineshape are determined to be (mode=3871.69+0.00+0.05 MeV.)(FWHM=0.22-0.04+0.13+0.07+0.11-0.06-0.13 MeV, ) An investigation of the analytic structure of the Flatte amplitude reveals a pole structure, which is compatible with a quasibound D-0(D) over bar*(0) state but a quasivirtual state is still allowed at the level of 2 standard deviations

Measurement of the CKM angle γγ in B±→DK±B^\pm\to D K^\pm and B±→Dπ±B^\pm \to D π^\pm decays with D→KS0h+h−D \to K_\mathrm S^0 h^+ h^-

A measurement of $CP$-violating observables is performed using the decays $B^\pm\to D K^\pm$ and $B^\pm\to D \pi^\pm$, where the $D$ meson is reconstructed in one of the self-conjugate three-body final states $K_{\mathrm S}\pi^+\pi^-$ and $K_{\mathrm S}K^+K^-$ (commonly denoted $K_{\mathrm S} h^+h^-$). The decays are analysed in bins of the $D$-decay phase space, leading to a measurement that is independent of the modelling of the $D$-decay amplitude. The observables are interpreted in terms of the CKM angle $\gamma$. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9\,\text{fb}^{-1}$ collected in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $7$, $8$, and $13\,\text{TeV}$ with the LHCb experiment, $\gamma$ is measured to be $\left(68.7^{+5.2}_{-5.1}\right)^\circ$. The hadronic parameters $r_B^{DK}$, $r_B^{D\pi}$, $\delta_B^{DK}$, and $\delta_B^{D\pi}$, which are the ratios and strong-phase differences of the suppressed and favoured $B^\pm$ decays, are also reported

Study of the doubly charmed tetraquark T+cc

Quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong force, describes interactions of coloured quarks and gluons and the formation of hadronic matter. Conventional hadronic matter consists of baryons and mesons made of three quarks and quark-antiquark pairs, respectively. Particles with an alternative quark content are known as exotic states. Here a study is reported of an exotic narrow state in the D0D0π+ mass spectrum just below the D*+D0 mass threshold produced in proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The state is consistent with the ground isoscalar T+cc tetraquark with a quark content of ccu⎯⎯⎯d⎯⎯⎯ and spin-parity quantum numbers JP = 1+. Study of the DD mass spectra disfavours interpretation of the resonance as the isovector state. The decay structure via intermediate off-shell D*+ mesons is consistent with the observed D0π+ mass distribution. To analyse the mass of the resonance and its coupling to the D*D system, a dedicated model is developed under the assumption of an isoscalar axial-vector T+cc state decaying to the D*D channel. Using this model, resonance parameters including the pole position, scattering length, effective range and compositeness are determined to reveal important information about the nature of the T+cc state. In addition, an unexpected dependence of the production rate on track multiplicity is observed

Search for CPCP violation in Bs0B^0_s mixing at LHCb

One of the main goals of the LHCb experiment is to determine the mixing-induced $CP$ violating phase $\phi_s$ in $b \rightarrow c\bar{c}s$ transitions. Assuming the Standard Model, $\phi_s$ is precisely predicted, hence new physics could easily affect the measurement. The most precise single measurement using $B^0_s \rightarrow J/\psi K^+K^-$ data collected in 2015 and 2016 is presented along with a total combined value including all LHCb $\phi_s^{c\bar{c}s}$ analyses. The result is further combined with Tevatron and other LHC experimental results.One of the main goals of the LHCb experiment is to determine the mixing-inducedCP violating phase φs in b → c¯ cs transitions. Assuming the Standard Model, φsis precisely predicted, hence new physics could easily affect the measurement.The most precise single measurement using B 0 s → J/ψK + K − data collected in2015 and 2016 is presented along with a total combined value including all LHCbφ c¯ cs s analyses. The result is further combined with Tevatron and other LHCexperimental results