European Electronic Personal Health Records initiatives and vulnerable migrants: A need for greater ethical,legal and social safeguards

The effective collection and management of personal data of rapidly migrating populations is important for ensuring adequate healthcare and monitoring of a displaced peoples’ health status. With developments in ICT data sharing capabilities, electronic personal health records (ePHRs) are increasingly replacing less transportable paper records. ePHRs offer further advantages of improving accuracy and completeness of information and seem tailored for rapidly displaced and mobile populations. Various emerging initiatives in Europe are seeking to develop migrant‐centric ePHR responses. This paper highlights their importance and benefits, but also identifies a number of significant ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) and challenges to their design and implementation, regarding (1) the kind of information that should be stored, (2) who should have access to information, and (3) potential misuse of information. These challenges need to be urgently addressed to make possible the beneficial use of ePHRs for vulnerable migrants in Europe.     

Post mortem shrinkage of four species of temperate and tropical marine fishes, without freezing or preservation

The present study indicated significant post mortem decreases in length for four Australian teleost species from temperate to tropical habitats: black bream Acanthopagrus butcheri , King George whiting Sillaginodes punctata , summer whiting Sillago ciliata and redthroat emperor Lethrinus miniatus . Shrinkage averaged 5·0 mm after 24 h (range 0–10 mm) for A. butcheri , 4 mm (0–8 mm) for S. punctata , 2·2 mm (0·7–3·7 mm) for S. ciliata and 5·4 mm (−2·5–15·0 mm) for L. miniatus . For A. butcheri held under three different post mortem treatments, the mean length of fish in all treatments decreased but there was no significant effect of treatment type on the extent of shrinkage. The rate of shrinkage of S. ciliata varied with treatment, but the ultimate extent did not. For A. butcheri shrinkage was most rapid (2·5 mm h⁻¹) between 1 and 2 h postcapture. The results from these studies confirm that a post mortem decrease in length is a common phenomenon, even in fishes that are not frozen or preserved. Such shrinkage has implications for the enforcement of minimum legal length legislation, and may cause bias in biological investigations, including growth estimates from tag and recapture studies.     

United States patent prior art rules and the neem controversy: a case of subject-matter imperialism?

A recent United States patent covering an improvement to the naturally-occurring pesticide in neem tree seed oil might have been rejected as 'obvious' if United States patent law recognized certain forms of prior inventive activity on a par with similar activity occurring within the United States' borders. But the US only recognizes prior 'knowledge, use or invention' as blocking a claim to a patent when those activities take place within US borders, or are evidenced by publications accessible in the US, or, more commonly, by foreign patents. Neither of these last forms of tangible 'prior art' is likely to be available to block patents on biodiversity inventions – most notably because of the fact that most developing nations do not allow patents on pharmaceutical or agricultural inventions, categories subsuming most biodiversity-related advances. Although the United States patent only has direct force within the United States, it is nonetheless highly significant to this global dispute, since the United States and other developed nations stand to be the major markets for the end-products of neem. This paper argues that the border-drawing distinctions in US patent law are archaic, counter to stated policy directives and are disproportionately influencing the developing world's stance towards GATT and its intellectual property rights provisions.     

A rite of reverse passage: the construction of youth migration in the US asylum process

Drawing on ethnographic research at a legal aid organization, I analyse the legal brokerage of youths’ asylum applications. As youths increasingly seek asylum alone, the US has adopted policy changes allowing them more favourable access to the asylum process than adults. Despite this opening, I argue that mediating youths’ asylum claims remains challenging. First, youths have more difficulty sharing their stories than adults, and I identify three youth-specific interviewing strategies that legal intermediaries employ to elicit their accounts of forced migration. Second, I analyse how intermediaries edit these accounts to satisfy the asylum system’s expectations about childhood, as well as forced migration, constructing narratives that distance youths from criminalized adult identities and depict them as innocent child-refugees, which configures the asylum process as a victimizing and infantilizing rite of reverse passage.     

Indirect Chiral Separation of New Recreational Drugs by Gas Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry Using Trifluoroacetyl‐L‐Prolyl Chloride as Chiral Derivatization Reagent

New recreational drugs such as amphetamine‐, cathinone, and benzofury derivatives gained high popularity on the drug market in recent years. They can be purchased via the Internet from different providers and online portals. Most of these compounds are chiral, which makes the development of chiral separation methods necessary. Besides this, it is useful to find out if the compounds were sold as racemic mixtures. Also, it is important to check whether the new psychoactive compounds contain further ingredients or impurities. The aim of this research was the continuation of the application of a method for indirect chiral separation of 24 new psychoactive compounds recently purchased via the Internet. After derivatization with the chiral derivatization reagent trifluoroacetyl‐L‐prolyl chloride, chromatographic separation of diastereomers was achieved using a 30 m HP5‐MS capillary column. As carrier gas, helium was used with a constant flow of 1.0 ml/min. Three different column temperature programs were tested. Under optimum conditions 13 out of 24 compounds were successfully resolved into their enantiomers obtaining Rs values up to 7.0. The use of a single quadrupole mass spectrometer as the detector allowed the identification of the compounds in multicomponent samples. Chirality 27:211–215, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

“Capacity”, “best interests”, “will and preferences” and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the most up‐to‐date international legal instrument concerning the rights of persons with disabilities. Such persons are taken to include those with serious mental disorders. According to an authoritative interpretation of a crucial Article (Article 12 ‐ Equal recognition before the law) by the UN CRPD Committee, involuntary detention and treatment of people with mental health disabilities are prohibited under the Convention. Both conventional mental health law and “capacity‐based” law are deemed to violate the Convention. However, some other UN bodies are not in full agreement (for example, the UN Human Rights Committee and the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment), while others are less explicitly absolutist (for example, the Human Rights Council). Furthermore, strong criticisms of the position of the CRPD Committee have been mounted from a number of academic quarters. These criticisms center on whether the role of a person's ability to make a decision can be ignored, no matter the circumstances. Much of the above debate turns on the concept of “legal capacity” and the now often‐repeated precept that one must always respect the “will and preferences” of the person with a disability. However, “will and preferences” remains undefined. In this paper, I offer an analysis of “will and preferences” that can clarify interventions that may be acceptable or non‐acceptable under the terms of the UN Convention.     

German law on circumcision and its debate: How an ethical and legal issue turned political

The article aims to illuminate the recent debate in Germany about the legitimacy of circumcision for religious reasons. The aim is both to evaluate the new German law allowing religious circumcision, and to outline the resulting conflict between the surrounding ethical and legal issues. We first elucidate the diversity of legal and medical views on religious circumcision in Germany. Next we examine to what extent invasive and irreversible physical interventions on infant boys unable to given their consent should be carried out for non‐medical reasons. To this end, the potential benefits and harms of circumcision for non‐medical reasons are compared. We argue that circumcision does not provide any benefits for the ‘child as a child’ and poses only risks to boys. We then set out to clarify and analyse political (rather than ethical) justifications of the new circumcision law. We demonstrate through this analysis how the circumcision debate in Germany has been transformed from a legal and ethical problem into a political issue, due at least in part to Germany's unique historical context. Although such a particular political sensibility is entirely comprehensible, it raises particular problems when it comes to framing and responding to medical ethical issues – as in the case of religious circumcision.     

Legal regulation of supplementary cervid feeding facing chronic wasting disease

The supplementary feeding of cervids is a widespread practice across the northern hemisphere. There are few studies, however, regarding the extent of feeding in space and time. There are adverse effects of supplementary feeding, of which the most severe are increased parasite and disease transmission. With the recent emergence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) among cervids in Norway, a legal regulation was issued that banned all supplementary cervid feeding. We quantified the spatial extent and intentions of feeding cervids across all of Norway using a questionnaire at the municipality scale. We also compared spatial extent of feeding before and after the feeding ban to shed light on the ability of regulations to control supplementary feeding. Supplementary feeding to increase winter survival and targeting roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) was more common (48.4% of the municipalities) than the feeding of red deer (Cervus elaphus; 20.5%) and moose (Alces alces; 7.4%). The main feeding period was January–March, but extensive feeding also occurred from November to December and in April. Reducing traffic accidents was also a motivation, particularly for the feeding of moose (14.5%), and this was the main motivation (86%) for public feeding. Among the 65.7% that responded, 53.3% reported they knew about supplemental feeding of cervids in their municipality. In the region with the first feeding ban, 80.2% of municipalities were feeding in 2015–2016 before the ban, which was reduced to 68.4% in 2016–2017 and remained at 68.4% in 2017–2018. In the remainder of Norway, 81.4% were feeding in 2015–2016, and 72.6% were feeding in 2016–2017, but after the ban, this increased to 78.6% in the harsh winter of 2017–2018. Our study highlights that regulations across broad scales may not be followed and that more spatially targeted regulations and increased enforcement are required for disease transmission to be more effectively combated. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.     

Michael Parker Banton: an appreciation of his life’s work

This article is an appreciation of the contributions to ethnic and racial studies and to British sociology in general of Michael Parker Banton. It reviews his career and also his major publications, including also arguments against him made by his principal critics and his responses to these. It points out the specificity of his contributions and argues for his unique importance in defining and developing the field of ethnic and race relations in British sociology during the second half of the twentieth century and into the present century. It also mentions his many contributions to public life.     

生物多样性保护背景下云南省野生食用菌产业可持续发展探讨

《昆明-蒙特利尔全球生物多样性框架》要求坚持生物多样性保护和可持续维持机制的原则,探寻“人与自然和谐共生”美好愿景的实现路径。云南拥有全国乃至全球都极为丰富的野生食用菌资源,形成了独特的“菌文化”。然而,随着天然菌类产品越来越受欢迎,野生食用菌的采集销售量大增、产值高涨,背后潜藏野生食用菌数量锐减,部分野生食用菌类群处于濒危、易危的境地。该研究在调查云南野生食用菌资源保护利用现状的基础上,梳理了国家和地方的相关法律法规及政策文件。人们的生态保护意识薄弱、无序采集、乱采、滥采等因素都危及野生食用菌资源的生存和发展; 与此同时,相关产业标准的缺失也极大阻碍了云南野生食用菌产业的发展。鉴于此,该文提出以下三点建议:(1)加快野生食用菌资源保护与发展的专门立法,不能停留在目前碎片化或者混同化的立法状态,也不能只满足于本地的政策性保护。(2)构建野生食用菌采集、销售(包括国际贸易)、加工、运输等标准体系,对野生食用菌进行分类分级精准保护,尤其对采集国家保护类群应当逐步建立起采集许可证体系。(3)强化全产业链技术支撑,推进野生食用菌种质保藏、人工培育、精深加工等科技体系建设。期望该研究有助于野生食用菌的采集、加工和流通有标准可依,资源的保护利用有政策可查,并为野生食用菌的保护、利用和产业可持续发展提供支撑和保障。