Harmful uses of patentable neurotechnology: a new regulatory approach : Proposing a framework safeguarding human rights and social responsibility for patented applications of neuroscience.

The increasing ability of neuroscience to analyse and modulate human brain functions calls for a new regulatory approach to identify and deal with potential harmful applications in the early stages of development. [Image: see text]

Risk-Adjusted Cancer Screening and Prevention (RiskAP): Complementing Screening for Early Disease Detection by a Learning Screening Based on Risk Factors.

Background: Risk-adjusted cancer screening and prevention is a promising and continuously emerging option for improving cancer prevention. It is driven by increasing knowledge of risk factors and the ability to determine them for individual risk prediction. However, there is a knowledge gap between evidence of increased risk and evidence of the effectiveness and efficiency of clinical preventive interventions based on increased risk.

2D Liquid Chromatographic Fractionation with Ultra-high Resolution MS Analysis Resolves a Vast Molecular Diversity of Tropospheric Particle Organics.

A 2D-liquid chromatographic fractionation method was combined with direct infusion electrospray ionization Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry to better resolve the high complexity of the organic material in atmospheric particles. The number of assigned molecular formulas increased by a factor of 2.3 for the fractionated sample (18 144) compared to a bulk sample analysis without fractionation (7819), while simultaneously allowing the identification of 71 240 isomeric compounds.

Two-Dimensional Offline Chromatographic Fractionation for the Characterization of Humic-Like Substances in Atmospheric Aerosol Particles.

Organic carbon in atmospheric particles comprises a large fraction of chromatographically unresolved compounds, often referred to as humic-like substances (HULIS), which influence particle properties and impact climate, human health, and ecosystems. To better understand its composition, a two-dimensional (2D) offline method combining size-exclusion (SEC) and reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using a new spiked gradient profile is presented. It separates HULIS into 55 fractions of different size and polarity, with estimated ranges of molecular weight and octanol/water partitioning coefficient (log P) from 160-900 g/mol and 0.

The European Court of Justice's decision regarding the Brüstle patent and its implications for the legality of stem cell research within the European Union.

In 2011 the European Court of Justice issued a decision regarding the patentability of technologies derived from human embryonic stem cells. The finding will have an impact on the framework of stem cell research within the European Union and its Member States and has already triggered several political initiatives regarding the funding of research with human embryonic stem cells on the European level as well as a renewed public debate. This article will take a short look at the case history and the findings of the court.

Legislation on direct-to-consumer genetic testing in seven European countries.

An increasing number of private companies are now offering direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing services. Although a lot of attention has been devoted to the regulatory framework of DTC genetic testing services in the USA, only limited information about the regulatory framework in Europe is available. We will report on the situation with regard to the national legislation on DTC genetic testing in seven European countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, France, Germany, the United Kingdom).

[Images of the mind--what brain pictures really show].

The use of imaging procedures brings with it legal consequences at different levels and in various relationships. As far as the generation of knowledge by means of imaging procedures is concerned, the problem of so-called incidental findings even now already demands a legally sound management in daily routine. Similarly, the use of imaging procedures in ongoing legal proceedings is of current relevance in cases when expert witnesses make use of the appropriate technologies for the formulation of their expertise.

Exploring the enactment effect from an information processing view: what can we learn from serial position analyses?

The focus of the present article was to analyze processes that determine the enactment and age effect in a multi-trial free recall paradigm by looking at the serial position effects. In an experimental study (see Schatz et al 2010), the performance-enhancing effect of enactive encoding and repeated learning was tested with older and younger participants. As expected, there was a steady improvement of memory performance as a function of repeated learning regardless of age.

Is there a memory profit after repeated learning of subject-performed actions? Comparing direct and long-term memory performance level as a function of age.

The present two studies investigated the possibility for improvement and maintenance of episodic memory in young and older adults. In a first study, the performance-enhancing effect of two separate as well as combined learning devices, enactive encoding and repeated learning, was tested. With a time lag of one week, four different series of 30 action phrases were encoded either verbally or by enacting them symbolically.

Use of dynamic soil-vegetation models to assess impacts of nitrogen deposition on plant species composition: an overview.

Field observations and experimental data of effects of nitrogen (N) deposition on plant species diversity have been used to derive empirical critical N loads for various ecosystems. The great advantage of such an approach is the inclusion of field evidence, but there are also restrictions, such as the absence of explicit criteria regarding significant effects on the vegetation, and the impossibility to predict future impacts when N deposition changes. Model approaches can account for this.

Global assessment of nitrogen deposition effects on terrestrial plant diversity: a synthesis.

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is a recognized threat to plant diversity in temperate and northern parts of Europe and North America. This paper assesses evidence from field experiments for N deposition effects and thresholds for terrestrial plant diversity protection across a latitudinal range of main categories of ecosystems, from arctic and boreal systems to tropical forests. Current thinking on the mechanisms of N deposition effects on plant diversity, the global distribution of G200 ecoregions, and current and future (2030) estimates of atmospheric N-deposition rates are then used to identify the risks to plant diversity in all major ecosystem types now and in the future.

From moral to legal judgment: the influence of normative context in lawyers and other academics.

Various kinds of normative judgments are an integral part of everyday life. We extended the scrutiny of social cognitive neuroscience into the domain of legal decisions, investigating two groups, lawyers and other academics, during moral and legal decision-making. While we found activation of brain areas comprising the so-called 'moral brain' in both conditions, there was stronger activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and middle temporal gyrus particularly when subjects made legal decisions, suggesting that these were made in respect to more explicit rules and demanded more complex semantic processing.

Legal and ethical consequences of international biobanking from a national perspective: the German BMB-EUCoop project.

The international transfer of human biomaterial and data has become a prerequisite for collaborative biomedical research to be successful. However, although a national legal framework for 'biobanking' has already been formulated in many countries, little is known about how an international exchange of data and samples might affect the legal position of national biobanks and their donors. The German Telematics Platform and the Competence Network 'Congenital Heart Defects' jointly instigated a project (BMB-EUCoop) to (i) identify and assess the legal risks ensuing for biobanks and their donors in the context of Europe-wide research collaborations, (ii) devise practical recommendations to minimize or avoid these risks, and (iii) provide generic informational text, contracts and agreements to facilitate their practical implementation.

Does action make you faster? A retrieval-based approach to investigating the origins of the enactment effect.

The enactment effect, the stable finding that memory for action phrases is enhanced in a subject-performed compared to a verbal task (SPT; VT), has repeatedly been demonstrated. The question remains whether the enactment effect has to do with specific characteristics of the SPT-retrieval process. Experiment 1 tested younger and older adults in a within-subjects design with two direct free recall tests.

Modelling and mapping long-term risks due to reactive nitrogen effects: an overview of LRTAP convention activities.

Long-range transboundary air pollution has caused severe environmental effects in Europe. European air pollution abatement policy, in the framework of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention) and the European Union Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) programme, has used critical loads and their exceedances by atmospheric deposition to design emission abatement targets and strategies. The LRTAP Convention International Cooperative Programme on Modelling and Mapping Critical Loads and Levels and Air Pollution Effects, Risks and Trends (ICP M&M) generates European critical loads datasets to enable this work.

Patent protection for stem cell procedures under the law of the European Union.

Stem cell research shows an immense diagnostic and therapeutic potential. The procedures based on human stem cells seem to allow new medical treatments for serious diseases like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease, leukaemia or diabetes. However, as no company or inventor would take the risk of immense investments without an adequate legal protection of the possible benefits arising out of their work, intellectual property law plays a pivotal role for the further development of stem cell techniques.

The role of plasma-derived factor VIII/von Willebrand factor concentrates in the treatment of hemophilia A patients.

Besides preventing bleeding episodes, common goals of the treatment of hemophilia include integrating of patients into a normal social life and optimizing their quality of life. Sufficient amounts of factor VIII (FVIII) concentrates, whether recombinant or plasma-derived, are continuously needed. Guidelines for quality assurance of treatment will be a cornerstone to maintain optimal clinical management of patients especially considering financial aspects.

[Stem cell procedures on a legal point of view].

Stem cell procedures could be the starting point for major advances in healthcare. However, it is a very difficult task to define the legal status of human stem cells. The resolution of the legal issues has been hindered by the still early stage of research and development and by scientists' varying assessment of the fundamental differences between several types of stem cells and of the potential of these types.

[Animal protection as national objective--consequences for research].

Article 20a of the Basic Law, which was most recently modified,provides that "The State, aware of its responsibility for present and future generations, shall protect the natural basis of life and the animals within the framework of the constitutional order through the legislature and, in accordance with the law and principles of justice, the executive and the judiciary." However, this amendment of the constitution does not have adverse effects on researchers' freedom to carry out scientific experiments on animals. According to the jurisdiction of the German Federal Constitutional Court, the basic right of scientific freedom (Article 5 paragraph 3 of the Basic Law) has to be protected from any influencing control of the state.

Plasma ubiquinol-10 as a marker for disease: is the assay worthwhile?

Ubiquinol-10 and ubiquinone-10 were measured in plasma of patients with several pathologies known to be associated with increased oxidative stress. Plasma ubiquinol-10, expressed as a percentage of total ubiquinol-10 + ubiquinone-10, was found to be significantly lower in hyperlipidaemic patients and in patients with liver diseases than in age-matched control subjects. In contrast, no decrease in ubiquinol-10 was detected in plasma of patients with coronary heart disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Lipophilic antioxidants in blood plasma as markers of atherosclerosis: the role of alpha-carotene and gamma-tocopherol.

Oxidative theory of atherosclerosis implies that plasma levels of lipophilic antioxidants might serve as indicators of lipoprotein oxidation in the arterial wall and as markers of the development of atherosclerosis. However, it is unknown whether the measurement of plasma antioxidants is able to reflect atherogenesis or its risk. In order to assess whether the levels of lipophilic antioxidants in human plasma can discriminate between subjects with and without atherosclerosis, we measured the lipophilic antioxidants alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and ubiquinol-10 in plasma of 34 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and in 40 control subjects.

How different constituents of human plasma and low density lipoprotein determine plasma oxidizability by copper.

Lipoprotein oxidation induced in vitro in whole plasma is expected to represent a more relevant model of the lipoprotein oxidation in the arterial wall than the in vitro oxidation of single isolated lipoproteins, e.g. low density lipoprotein (LDL).