Sex and the civil partnership act: the future of (non) conjugality?

This article considers the transgressive and transformative possibilities in the sexual silences of the U.K.’s Civil Partnership Act 2004. The absence of a consummation requirement and adultery as a specific ground of dissolution do open up some possibilities but are not unproblematic. These issues are explored in the context of the England and Wales Law Commission’s apparent ‘return’ to a conjugal model in its forthcoming consultation on cohabitation. It is concluded that though the Act may open up possibilities for expanding the legal recognition of relationships beyond those that are sexual, this raises concerns about the further privatisation of care as well as increased state intervention in relationships. Instead, I argue that the purpose and function of relationship recognition should be deconstructed and separated from ideology and romantic mythology about what families and relationships are and should be. If it does wed itself so closely to the conjugal marriage model in the consultation document, the Law Commission will miss a valuable opportunity to ask important questions about the purpose and function of relationship recognition.     

Should the UK adopt a European system for the registration of trade marks?

An examination of whether the UK Trade Marks Registry shouldno longer undertake searches for relative grounds of refusal.     

紫锥菊提取物Polinacea~(TM)对乳牛外周血单核细胞免疫功能的影响

采用ELISA方法检测了不同浓度的狭叶紫锥菊提取物PolinaceaTM在体外结合刀豆蛋白A(ConA,1μg/mL)和美洲商陆有丝分裂原(PWM,0.6μg/mL)刺激6头荷斯坦乳牛外周血单核细胞(PBMC)的增殖效果及PolinaceaTM结合ConA(2.27μg/mL)对γ-干扰素(IFN-γ)产量的影响.PolinaceaTM加入细胞培养基的浓度分别为0、6.3、20、60和180μg/mL.结果表明:PolinaceaTM最高浓度(180μg/mL)与最低浓度(6.3μg/mL)对PBMC的增殖分别高于对照组将近10倍与2倍;180μg/mL PolinaceaTM结合ConA对PBMC的增殖有显著的抑制作用;20、60μg/mL PolinaceaTM结合PWM可显著刺激PBMC的增殖;PolinaceaTM能诱导外周血淋巴细胞产生IFN-γ,但不同浓度的紫锥菊提取物对IFN-γ的产生无显著影响(P)0.05).试验结果为体内试验提供了有力的理论依据.     

Regionalist governance in the new political economy of development: 'Relaunching' the Mercosur

The splintering of the Mercosur following the Brazilian devaluation in early 1999 has given way to an important re-crafting of the regional vision and a significant expansion of the scope of the regional project. This article contends that these trends can best be understood as coalescing into a new (and nascent) form of regionalist governance in the Southern Cone, in which the Mercosur is reconfigured as a vehicle for a new set of developmentalist and strategic objectives. This emerging form of regionalist governance is both causative and indicative of a new political economy both of the subregion and of the wider region of the Americas, and reflective of the crystallisation of a new political economy of development.