LabCorp v. Metabolite Laboratories: The Supreme Court listens, but declines to speak.

In the United States, a longstanding legal rule exists against patenting natural phenomena. The Supreme Court recently had an opportunity to help define the boundaries and clarify the implications of this "natural phenomenon doctrine" in Laboratory Corporation of America v. Metabolite Labs., dismissed as improvidently granted. This article argues that the natural phenomenon doctrine renders both the patent claim at issue in LabCorp, and the patents that directly or indirectly claim biological correlations between genotypes and medical phenotypes, invalid or unenforceable under U.S. patent law.     

Improved method for the detection of TATP after explosion

TATP in post explosion exhibits was reported earlier to be best recovered from vapor phase. A typical procedure includes its adsorption on Amberlite XAD-7, elution with acetonitrile and analysis by GC/MS. In this work, improved recovery of TATP from the vapor phase was achieved by SPME using PDMS/DVB fiber and immediate sampling to GC/MS. The recovery of TATP by SPME was compared with headspace and with adsorption on Amberlite XAD-7 by spiking onto filter paper put in a 100 mL beaker. The limit of detection of TATP was 6.4 ng in these conditions, few orders magnitude more than in the other tested methods. Recovery of TATP in the presence of various solvents was also studied. Acetone, water, and mixtures of water:alcohols (1:1) were found to reduce the recovery of TATP. Using SPME, TATP has been identified in dozens of post-explosion cases.     

1890–1990: Up from Fabian socialism

He is the author of Philosophy and Language:; The Mask of Politics; Philosophers and Pamphleteers;and Jean-Jacques: The Early Life and Work of J.J. Rouseaau.He has translated and edited numerous works and served in a variety of major editorial capacities.     

Parent–Child Discordance and Child Trauma Symptomatology Throughout Therapy: Correlates and Treatment Response

Children and their caregivers often disagree when reporting on child behavioural and emotional difficulties. But how does parent–child discordance relate to outcomes, particularly among children undergoing trauma therapy? This study examined parent–child discordance in relation to children’s trauma symptoms and therapy outcomes. Participants included 96 trauma-exposed children and their caregivers, who received Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Discordance was calculated using absolute difference scores between child- and parent- reported psychological symptoms. Parent–child discordance, calculated at pre-therapy, post-therapy, and at a six-month follow-up, predicted the severity of children’s posttraumatic stress, dissociation, and internalizing and externalizing difficulties at each respective time-point. Pre-therapy discordance predicted improvements in externalizing behaviours after therapy and at follow-up. Improvements in discordance predicted improvements in trauma-specific symptoms over the course of treatment and at follow-up. The findings underscore how changes in parent–child discordance are related to child trauma symptoms and treatment response. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.