| Cover |
- Fractal Geometric Valley
Michael Oliveri
This microscape was digitally stitched together from multiple field scans from a Scanning Electron Microscope. The base surface is made of highly aligned, dense zinc oxide nanorods, which were grown inside a tube furnace system by oxidizing zinc foil at high temperatures. The higher, complex structures are also made from zinc oxide, which were grown by absorbing the reactants from the vapor. The nano structures were created by UGA Physics and Engineering Assistant Professor Dr. Zhengwei Pan and his research associates.
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| Editorial |
- Mapping The Coverage Of Neuroimaging Research
Timothy Caulfield Christen Rachul, Amy Zarzeczny, Henrik
Walter, pp.421-428
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The increasing popularity of
neuroimaging studies among the research community in recent
decades has also garnered interest from the media. But there is
concern that coverage of controversial topics, such as the
ability of fMRI to “read minds”, has sensationalised the
neuroimaging field and led to mounting criticism and skepticism.
In order to explore this phenomenon, we mapped the frequency and
tone of research and review articles regarding fMRI published in
the journals Science and Nature. We also examined the frequency
and tone of the newspaper articles that reported the results of
these research articles. The results indicate a distinct trend
in the level of interest in neuroimaging studies, the topics of
research, and the concomitant criticism over time. It appears
that while more sensational research articles generate more
media coverage, they also receive more criticism from within the
scientific community. The results also provide tentative support
for the existence of a classic “hype cycle” that may raise
important questions about public perception and the long-term
integrity of the neuroimaging field.
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| Reviewed Articles |
- Human Genetic Manipulation and the Right to Identity: The
Contradictions of Human Rights Law in Regulating the Human
Genome
Norberto Nuno Gomes de Andrade, pp.429-452
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This paper analyses an
overlooked tension between the right to personal identity and
the collective right to human identity in the context of human
rights law as it applies to prospective human genetic
modification. While the right to personal identity may justify a
valid interest in the modification of one’s individual genome,
the collective right to identity defends a global interest in
the preservation of the human genome.
Taking this tension into account, the article identifies a
number of contradictions and problematic issues in the current
international legal regulation of the human genome that
undermine the right to personal identity. These are the cases of
the notion of the human genome as common heritage of humanity
and the unfounded idea of species integrity, among others.
The article also argues that the Universal Declaration on the
Human Genome and Human Rights (UDHGHR) and the Oviedo
Convention, together with the UNESCO Bioethics Committee, adopt
a “geneticist-identity framework” which favours a conception of
human identity solely based on genetic components. By
prohibiting any change to the constitution of that shared
genetic inheritance, those international legal instruments place
an unjustified brake on the possibility for human genetic
modification. This, as the article explains, is at odds with the
“personality-identity framework” of the European Convention on
Human Rights Law (ECHR), which privileges a narrative and
developmental idea of individual identity.
- Human Gene Patents and Genetic Testing in Europe: A
Reappraisal
Naomi Hawkins, pp.453-473
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Popular and academic objections
to patents over human genes are legion. Although some concerns
about the negative impact of these patents have declined
recently, questions persist as to the effect of gene patents on
genetic testing. This paper undertakes a timely reappraisal of
the patentability of human genes in Europe, by reference to EPO
and English case law, and demonstrates that isolated DNA and the
associated diagnostic tests remain patentable in Europe,
although recent cases indicate a sensible tightening of the
patentability requirements. The paper concludes by considering
the potential for gene patents to affect the provision of
genetic testing services.
- Falling Through the Cracks: the Problem of Granting
Software Patents
Eugenia Georgiades, pp.474-496
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There has been much discussion
generated by the open source community with respect to patents.
Specifically, the granting of software patents in the US has
morphed into a strained and uncontrollable system due to the
sheer volume of software patent applications it receives. It has
been suggested that software patents are being granted without
closer examination as to whether applications meet all of the
necessary criteria. This has caused a major rift between
software patent owners and the open source community, primarily
as a result of software patent owners being granted their
patents for claims that technically should be open and free to
use in the open source community. The software patents that are
being granted fall through the cracks of a patent system that
has impacted on the Internet and software space. There have been
numerous attempts to redress the imbalance of power that lies
with the patent owner by various organisations, one being the
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The EFF established ‘The
Patent Busting Project’ in order to combat the validity of
software patents that ought to be invalid due to the existence
(although mostly undocumented) of prior art in the information
and communications technology (ICT) industry. Whether the
project has been effective in challenging the validity of
software patents is presently uncertain. This paper will discuss
and evaluate whether the EFF Patent Busting Project is an
effective tool in addressing the conflicts that arise within the
patent arena and open source licensing.
- El derecho de desistimiento en el ámbito de la contratación electrónica realizada en España (The right of withdrawal in the field of Spanish electronic procurement)
David López Jiménez, Fernando Barrio, pp.497-514
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Electronic commerce is a commercial activity with promising future prospects. Many goods and/or services can be contracted through it although the consumer and user can not be completely satisfied with them. With this aim, the Spanish legislator recognizes in favour of the consumer and user the faculty to desist, in the legal framework determined, from the contracts initially made. That legal background established can be improved considerably, at least in aid of the weak contracting party, through the self-regulation of the e-commerce, thanks of which, the codes of conduct have been developed.
- The Protection of Workers Exposed to Nanoparticles:
Reflections on European and Italian Soft and Binding Regulations
Maria Giovanna Mattarolo, Alessia Muratorio, pp.515-531
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The rapid development of
nanotechnologies has brought a large nanotechnology
entrepreneurial sector that imposes risks, uncertainties
assessment, and management procedures. This study focuses on the
needs for nanotechnology specific regulation in the workplace
particularly in the European Union (EU) with special reference
to the Italian perspective. This paper analyses the legal
protection duties for employers and investigates whether
existing regulations in workers’ health safety cover
nanotechnologies efficiently.
- Colonial Copyright, Postcolonial Publics: The Berne
Convention and the 1967 Stockholm Diplomatic Conference
Revisited
Eva Hemmungs Wirtén, pp.532-550
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In the annals of international
copyright history—by and large synonymous with the Berne Union
and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works—translation occupies a contested space. At the
end of the nineteenth century, as the nascent Convention tried
to come to terms with the legal ramifications of translation and
the way it challenged the perceived stability of the work,
translation also acted as a conduit for geopolitical tensions
between producer/user-nations. A conflict native to the
Convention, the dichotomy between export/import and
developed/developing nations returned with a vengeance during
the calamitous Stockholm Revision Conference in 1967. In the
following, I revisit this critical juncture in international
copyright history to consider the divergent claims and
counter-claims relating to translation and the dissemination of
knowledge. The purpose of this essay is to contribute to a
historically informed understanding of current processes
surrounding the construction, dissemination and control of
knowledge, as they materialise, for instance, in the WIPO
Development Agenda.
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| Analysis |
- Liability Issues In Personalised Medicine: A Comparative
Perspective
Giorgia Guerra, pp.551-561
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In the light of current European
Regulations, both on emerging technologies and on new medicines,
a whole life cycle regulatory approach towards products is
suitable. Following this perspective, it is increasingly
necessary to investigate in advance both the applicable ex ante
regulations, in order to manage risks for humans and ex post
protection approaches for those injured by innovative medical
products.
This essay describes the main liability issues connected to the
new personalised therapies. The liability issues emerge on a
two-fold profile.
The first issue deals with the allocation of liability for
potential damage consequent to a hybrid sale-service
transaction. The complex nature of this transaction is, in fact,
typical of drug lifecycle management (prescription, preparation,
use, etc).
The second issue pertains to the examination of the essential
elements of the facti specie of damage within the condition of
intrinsic techno-scientific uncertainty. Unavoidably, this
condition characterises personalised medicine, because of a lack
of clinical expertise.
- Latest Software Patent Law Developments in the US and EU
Perttu Virtanen, pp.562-567
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This article briefly summarises the current key developments in the area of patenting with a particular emphasis on patenting of software. The focus embraces the potential advances particularly in the United States and European Union.
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| Reports |
- Script International Roundtable Workshop: Open Science &
Stem Cell Technology
Carol George, pp.568-573
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Old College, University of
Edinburgh, 16-17 September 2010.
- The interdisciplinary approach to emerging technologies:
an italian academic initiative
Giorgia Guerra, pp.574-577
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The development of a consensus
that ethical, legal and social issues are of the utmost
importance in the governance of emerging technologies prompted
the University of Padua to launch a new academic research
initiative to seize the opportunities and promises of emerging
nanotechnologies. It has established the Centre for
Environmental Law Decisions and Corporate Ethical Certification
(CIGA), in the Italian town of Rovigo, in the Veneto Region,
with the aim of giving proper attention to their ethical and
social sustainability.
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| Book Reviews |
- Net Neutrality: Towards A Co-Regulatory Solution
By
Christopher T. Marsden
Reviewed by Ray Corrigan, pp.578-583
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- Nanopoems? A Review of 100 Poems
By SS Prasad
Reviewed by Shawn HE Harmon and Yolande Stolte, pp.584-585
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- The Current State Of Domain Name Regulation: Domain Names
As Second-Class Citizens In A Mark-Dominated World
By Konstantinios Komaitis
Reviewed by Anan Shawqi Younes, pp.586-588
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