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- Cutas, Daniela, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Legal imperialism in the regulation of stem cell research and therapy: the problem of extraterritorial jurisdiction
- 2010
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Ingår i: Capps BJ & Campbell AV (eds.). CONTESTED CELLS: Global Perspectives on the Stem Cell Debate. - London : Imperial College Press. - 9781848164376 ; , s. 95-119
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Countries worldwide have very different national regulations on human embryonic stem (ES) cell research, informed by a range of ethical values. Some countries find reason to extend the applicability of their regulations on such research to its citizens when they visit other countries. Extraterritorial jurisdiction has recently been identified as a potential challenge towards global regulation of ES cell research. This chapter explores the implications and impact of extraterritorial jurisdiction and global regulation of ES cell research on researchers, clinicians and national health systems, and how this may affect patients. The authors argue that it would make ethical sense for ES cell restrictive countries to extend its regulations on ES cell research beyond its borders, because, if these countries really consider embryo destruction to be objectionable on the basis on the status of the embryo, then they ought to count it morally on par with murder (and thus have a moral imperative to protect embryos from the actions of its own citizens). However, doing so could lead to a legal situation that would result in substantial harm to central values in areas besides research, such as health care, the job market, basic freedom of movement, and strategic international finance and politics. Thus, it seems that restrictive extraterritorial jurisdiction in respect to ES cell research would be deeply problematic, given that the ethical permissibility of ES cell research is characterised by deep and wide disagreement.
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- Munthe, Christian, 1962
(författare)
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The Price of Precaution and the Ethics of Risk
- 2011
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since a couple of decades, the notion of a precautionary principle plays a central and increasingly influential role in international as well as national policy and regulation regarding the environment and the use of technology. Urging society to take action in the face of potential risks of human activities in these areas, the recent focus on climate change has further sharpened the importance of this idea. However, the idea of a precautionary principle has also been problematised and criticised by scientists, scholars and policy activists, and been accused of almost every intellectual sin imaginable: unclarity, impracticality, arbitrariness and moral as well as political unsoundness. In that light, the very idea of precaution as an ideal for policy making rather comes out as a dead end. On the basis of these contrasting starting points, Christian Munthe undertakes an innovative, in-depth philosophical analysis of what the idea of a precautionary principle is and should be about. A novel theory of the ethics of imposing risks is developed and used as a foundation for defending the idea of precaution in environmental and technological policy making against its critics, while at the same time avoiding a number of identified flaws. The theory is shown to have far-reaching consequences for areas such as bio-, information- and nuclear technology, and global environmental policy in areas such as climate change. The author argues that, while the price we pay for precaution must not be too high, we have to be prepared to pay it in order to act ethically defensible. A number of practical suggestions for precautionary regulation and policy making are made on the basis of this, and some challenges to basic ethical theory as well as consumerist societies, the global political order and liberal democracy are identified
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- Rems, Lea, et al.
(författare)
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Cell electrofusion using nanosecond electric pulses
- 2013
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Macmillan Publishers Ltd.. - 2045-2322. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Electrofusion is an efficient method for fusing cells using short-duration high-voltage electric pulses. However, electrofusion yields are very low when fusion partner cells differ considerably in their size, since the extent of electroporation (consequently membrane fusogenic state) with conventionally used microsecond pulses depends proportionally on the cell radius. We here propose a new and innovative approach to fuse cells with shorter, nanosecond (ns) pulses. Using numerical calculations we demonstrate that ns pulses can induce selective electroporation of the contact areas between cells (i.e. the target areas), regardless of the cell size. We then confirm experimentally on B16-F1 and CHO cell lines that electrofusion of cells with either equal or different size by using ns pulses is indeed feasible. Based on our results we expect that ns pulses can improve fusion yields in electrofusion of cells with different size, such as myeloma cells and B lymphocytes in hybridoma technology.
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| 7. |
- Munthe, Christian, 1962
(författare)
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Precautionary Principle
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Encyclopedia of Ethics. - Chichester : Blackwell. - 9781444367072
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following the statement in the United Nations' Rio Declaration of 1992 that countries should apply a “precautionary approach” in policymaking on environmental and technological issues, the notion of a precautionary principle (PP) has gained ground in worldwide policymaking and regulation, thus catching the interest of ethics scholars. Although seldom explained in much detail, and resulting in quite different policy results in different countries and areas (O'Riordan et al. 2001; Sandin 1999; Trouwborst 2002; Zander 2010), PP is generally understood as a norm urging or permitting policymakers to take preventive action in the face of unknown, uncertain, or probable dangers, motivated by the experience of how seemingly valuable and promising practices may lead to seriously adverse consequences in spite of lack of solid evidence to this effect (Sandin 1999). In ethics debate, this idea has been applied not only to matters regarding the large-scale introduction and use of technology (e.g., regarding energy production, transport and communication, nano- or biotechnology, and so on) (see Biotechnology; Nanotechnology, Ethics of) with possible ensuing impact on the natural environment connecting to the notion of sustainability (see Sustainability), but also, for example, to abortion (see Abortion), medical genetics, embryo experimentation (see Embryo Research), the treatment of animals (see Animal Experimentation), terrorism (see Terrorism), and general research ethics (see Research Ethics) (Munthe 2011). Many of these applications advocate strong conclusions in spite of the fact that PP or its normative justification have not been made very clear. At the same time, PP has been the subject of criticism, much of which boils down to three points: lack of clarity, lack of practicality, and/or ethical implausibility. Curiously, these critical points have often been made in conjunction, in spite of the fact that a clear sense of what PP means seems necessary for backing up the other two objections.
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- Gustafsson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Direct and indirect effects of the fungicide azoxystrobin in outdoor brackish water microcosms
- 2010
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Ingår i: Ecotoxicology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0963-9292 .- 1573-3017. ; 19:2, s. 431-444
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effects of the strobilurin fungicide azoxystrobin were studied in brackish water microcosms, with natural plankton communities and sediment. Two experiments were conducted: Experiment 1 (nominal conc. 0, 15 and 60 mu g/L, 24-L outdoor microcosms for 21 days) and a second, follow-up, Experiment 2 (nominal conc. 0, 3, 7.5, 15 mu g/L, 4-L indoor microcosms for 12 days). The microcosms represent a simplified brackish water community found in shallow semi-enclosed coastal areas in agricultural districts in the Baltic Sea region. Measured water concentrations of the fungicide (Experiment 1) were, on average, 83 and 62% of nominal concentrations directly after application, and 25 and 30% after 21 days, for the low and high dose treatments, respectively, corresponding to mean DT50-values of 15.1 and 25.8 days, for low and high dose treatments, respectively. In Experiment 1, direct toxic effects on calanoid copepods at both test concentrations were observed. Similarly, in Experiment 2, the copepod abundance was significantly reduced at all tested concentrations. There were also significant secondary effects on zooplankton and phytoplankton community structure, standing stocks and primary production. Very few ecotoxicological studies have investigated effects of plant protection products on Baltic organisms in general and effects on community structure and function specifically. Our results show that azoxystrobin is toxic to brackish water copepods at considerably lower concentrations than previously reported from single species tests on freshwater crustaceans, and that direct toxic effects on this ecologically important group may lead to cascade effects altering lower food webs and ecosystem functioning.
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| 9. |
- Skiöld, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Radiation-induced stress response in peripheral blood of breast cancer patients differs between patients with severe acute skin reactions and patients with no side effects to radiotherapy
- 2013
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Ingår i: Mutation research. Genetic toxicology and environmental mutagenesis. - : Elsevier BV. - 1383-5718 .- 1879-3592. ; 756:1-2, s. 152-157
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the study was to compare the radiation-induced oxidative stress response in blood samples from breast cancer patients that developed severe acute skin reactions during the radiotherapy, with the response in blood samples from patients with no side effects. Peripheral blood was collected from 12 breast cancer patients showing no early skin reactions after radiotherapy (RTOG grade 0) and from 14 breast cancer patients who developed acute severe skin reactions (RTOG grade 3-4). Whole blood was irradiated with 0, 5 and 2000 mGy gamma-radiation and serum was isolated. The biomarker for oxidative stress, 8-oxo-dG, was analyzed in the serum by a modified ELISA. While a significant radiation-induced increase of serum 8-oxo-dG levels was observed in serum of the RTOG 0 patients, no increase was seen in serum of the RTOG 3-4 patients. The radiation induced increase in serum 8-oxo-dG levels after 5 mGy did not differ significantly from the increase observed for 2000 mGy in the RTOG 3-4 cohort, thus no dose response relation was observed. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) value of 0.97 was obtained from the radiation-induced increase in 8-oxo-dG indicating that the assay could be used to identify patients with severe acute adverse reactions to radiotherapy. The results show that samples of whole blood from patients, classified as highly radiosensitive (RTOG 3-4) based on their skin reactions to radiotherapy, differ significantly in their oxidative stress response to ionizing radiation compared to samples of whole blood from patients with no skin reactions (RTOG 0). Extracellular 8-oxo-dG is primarily a biomarker of nucleotide damage and the results indicate that the patients with severe acute skin reactions differ in their cellular response to ionizing radiation at the level of induction of oxidative stress or at the level of repair or both.
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| 10. |
- Ušaj, Marko, et al.
(författare)
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Electrofusion of B16-F1 and CHO cells: the comparison of the pulse first and contact first protocols
- 2013
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Ingår i: Bioelectrochemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 1567-5394 .- 1878-562X. ; 89, s. 34-41
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High voltage electric pulses induce permeabilisation (i.e. electroporation) of cell membranes. Electric pulses also induce fusion of cells which are in contact. Contacts between cells can be established before electroporation, in so-called contact first or after electroporation in pulse first protocol. The lowest fusion yield was obtained by pulse first protocol (0.8%±0.3%) and it was only detected by phase contrast microscopy. Higher fusion yield detected by fluorescence microscopy was obtained by contact first protocol. The highest fusion yield (15%) was obtained by modified adherence method whereas fusion yield obtained by dielectrophoresis was lower (4%). The results are in agreement with current understanding of electrofusion process and with existing electrochemical models. Our data indicate that probability of stalk formation leading to fusion pores and cytoplasmic mixing is higher in contact first protocol where cells in contact are exposed to electric pulses. Another contribution of present study is the comparison of two detection methods. Although fusion yield can be more precisely determined with fluorescence microscopy we should note that by using this detection method single coloured fused cells cannot be detected. Therefore low fusion yields are more reliably detected by phase contrast microscopy.
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