Early adopters of the magical thinking cap: a study on do-it-yourself (DIY) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) user community

Among currently available technologies, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is one of the most promising neuroenhancements because it is relatively effective, safe, and affordable. Recently, lay people have begun to build—or purchase—the tDCS device to use it at home for treatment or as a cognitive enhancer. The tDCS device is currently not covered by the existing regulatory framework, but there are still significant potential risks of misusing this device, and its long-term effects on the brain have not been fully explored. Thus, researchers have argued the need for regulations or official guidelines for the personal use of tDCS. However, until now, no systematic research on the do-it-yourself (DIY) tDCS user community has been done. The present study explores the basic demographic characteristics of DIY tDCS users as well as why and how they are using this device through a questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews, and a content analysis of web postings on the use of tDCS. This preliminary but valuable picture of the DIY tDCS user community will shed light on future studies and policy analysis to craft sound regulations and official guidelines for the use of tDCS.     

Judges as Readers,Authors and Dialecticians: Legal Interpretation in the EC<Emphasis Type="Italic">t</Emphasis>HR Cases on Mental Disability

The wording of major human rights texts—constitutions and international treaties—is very similar in those provisions, which guarantee everyone the right to family, privacy, protection against discrimination and arbitrary detention, and the right to access the court. However, judges of lower national courts, constitutional judges and judges of the European Court of Human Rights often read the same or seemingly the same texts differently. This difference in interpretation gives rise not only to disputes about the hierarchy of interpretative authorities, but to more general disputes about limits of judicial construction and validity of legal arguments. How it may happen, that the national courts, which apply constitutional provisions or provisions of national legislative acts, which are seemingly in compliance with the international human rights standards, come to different results with the international judges? Do they employ different interpretative techniques, share different values or develop different legal concepts? Do international judges ‘write’ rather than ‘read’ the text of the Convention? Who is, in Plato’s terms, a name-giver and who has a power to define the ‘correctness’ of names? The answers to these questions from the rhetorical and semiotic perspectives are exemplified by the texts of the judicial decisions on the rights of persons with mental disabilities.     

Consenting to Exclude? Empirical Patterns of Democracy and Immigrant Integration Policy

Studies explaining immigrant integration policies commonly focus on single aspects such as right-populist party politics or the immigration legacy of a country. This neglects the overall character of the democratic system within which policy-making unfolds. Research on empirical patterns of democracy, in turn, suggests that consensus democracies pursue ‘kinder and gentler’ policies and outperform majoritarian democracies in terms of minority representation. The article tests whether this conclusion holds for the specific group of immigrant minorities and analyses the relationship between patterns of democracy and immigrant integration policy using a new dataset on empirical democracies in 30 European and North American countries. Simultaneously estimating the character of democratic systems in terms of power dispersion and its effect on integration policies, the analysis reveals a distinct ‘Janus-faced’ pattern: while proportional power dispersion tends to coincide with more inclusive immigrant integration policies, pronounced veto structures tend to foster exclusion.     

Mitochondrial DNA population data of HVS-I and HVS-II sequences from a northeast German sample

Mitochondrial DNA sequences of the control region's two hypervariable regions HVS-I and HVS-II were determined for 213 unrelated west Eurasian individuals from northeast Germany (Mecklenburg). A total of 174 different mtDNA haplotypes were found, 25 of which were shared by more than 1 individual. The most frequent haplotypes were 263G-309.1C-315.1C, found in seven individuals, 263G-309.1C-309.2C-315.1C, found in six individuals and 263G-315.1C, found in five individuals. These sequences are also the most common haplotypes in other published European data sets. The sequence polymorphisms consisting of 150 polymorphic nucleotide positions were compared with other European databases. The genetic diversity and random match probability were calculated. Our results corroborate certain features which are characteristic for west Eurasian mtDNA population samples.     

Differential characteristics of intimate partner, acquaintance, and stranger rape survivors examined by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)

Relatively little is known about characteristics of sexual assault survivors who present to the emergency room. Examination of differences in survivor, assault, and exam characteristics by type of offender (intimate partner, acquaintance, acquaintance-just-met, and stranger) was conducted using intake data collected from 331 women who presented to an emergency room and were examined by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner between 2001 and 2004. First, the data suggest there is a difference in injury patterns depending on the survivor-offender relationship. Second, there was a high rate of women assaulted by a known offender presenting to the emergency room. Third, there are important differences in survivor substance use among women assaulted by different offenders. Implications for research and practice are discussed.