Asian values revisited

  With Asia's economy still booming in the second half of the 1990's “Asian values” were announced by some politicians (Lee Kuan Yew, Mahatir, Ishihara, Mahbubani etc.) and contrasted with “Western values”. Soon a controversial debate within Asia ensued (Kim, Fidel Ramos ea..), into which also the western democracies joined. The “West” however reacted rather defensively to the new assertiveness of some Asian statesmen, inspite of the fact that the authors of this debate put into question the western dominance in global value setting which has been in existence since the French revolution. But has this debate withstood the test of time, the challenges posed by the recession in Asia and by the ever increasing globalization? Hardly. The crisis has destroyed the notion that “Asian values” had been the main cause and guarantor of Asia's exorbitant growth rates. While in the West Christianity forms the essential basics of culture, in Asia there is a multitude of coexisting - and frequently confronting world religions. There is no other continent which in cultural and political terms is so contradictory and potentially conflict ridden like Asia. “Asianism” as a concept was surely also intended as an instrument to integrate multiethnic Asian societies with weak internal cohesion. At the same time it served to neutralize the human rights issue. In the meantime the debate has become quieter and more dispassionate. In the developed West the notion gained acceptance to abandon “Eurocentrism”. At the same time there is recognition that “Asian values” are not exclusive. Also in Europe the family plays a special role. A debate on values is needed for societal integration – also in the “West” which should become more aware of the need to reassert the origins of its own spiritual foundations. Following September 11th the west is well advised to continue the dialogue on values with Asia. Update and expanded version of an article first published in: Au?enpolitik IV/1996, p. 326 “Beginnt das pazifische Jahrhundert?” I would like to thank Julia Prati for the translation of the updated and expanded version of this article     

Sudden and unexpected death of a 6-month-old baby with silent heart failure due to anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery.

A 6-month-old girl died suddenly without any previous symptoms of heart failure. Autopsy examination showed cardiomegaly (97 g) with a severely fibrotized myocardium. The left coronary artery was originating from the pulmonary artery. Histologically, the myocardium showed myocardial infarcts of different ages, as well as grossly thickened arterial branches due to increased flow in left-right shunt. We suggest that rare anomalies of the coronary arteries should be considered in the autopsies of suspected sudden infant death syndrome cases.     

Impact of tropical conditions on thin layer chromatography in analytical toxicology: high temperatures and moderate humidities.

The impact of high temperatures (24 to 39 degrees C) and low to moderately high humidities (20 to 70%) on the applicability of TLC systems for drug identification was studied during a 6 month climatologic cycle in Burkina Faso (West Africa). In general, the Rf values as observed on the plates were found to be substantially affected as compared with values obtained at temperate climates. Some TLC systems were more affected than others and the largest deviations of up to 30 Rf units were at low humidities. Tropical conditions also had a negative effect on the reproducibility of Rf values. However, when an Rf-correction procedure was applied, using reference mixtures of known drugs on each plate, accuracy as well as reproducibility of the resulting Rfc values were drastically improved and data thus corrected were found to be compatible with existing TLC data bases developed under moderate climatological conditions. The impact of high to extremely high humidities (70 to 100%) remains to be investigated.     

Who Owns Your Body? A Patient''s Perspective on Washington University v. Catalona

Washington University v. Catalona revolves around ownership of tissue samples provided by patients for research purposes, raising significant ethical and legal questions concerning patient rights, current human research practices, and the treatment of samples as capital resources by the research institution.     

The Social Conditions for Nanomedicine: Disruption, Systems, and Lock-in

Here we consider two ways that nanomedicine might be disruptive. First, low-end disruptions that are intrinsically unpredictable but limited in scope, and second, high end disruptions that involve broader societal issues but can be anticipated, allowing opportunity for ethical reflection.     

Organic impurity profiling of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) tablets seized in The Netherlands.

In this study, a new method was developed for the impurity profiling of illicit MDMA tablets. The extraction efficiency, linearity, repeatability and reproducibility of the method were evaluated. Eighty two MDMA tablets coming from presumed unrelated large seizures in 2004 (n >500 tablets) were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in order to assess the discrimination power of the method. The latter was found to be practical, robust, relatively easy to perform, highly discriminative and yielding good chromatography. In addition, some new impurities were detected and identified. Their chemical structures and mass spectra are reported.