Unfair Contract Terms,Unfair Prices and Bank Charges

This note considers how the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Directive 1993 draws the line between the review of unfair contract terms and the review of unfair contracts (and, in particular, unfair prices) in the context of two cases concerning bank charges: Abbey Life plc v The Office of Fair Trading (2009) (the Bank Charges case) in the UK Supreme Court and Case 484/08 Caja de Madrid (2010) in the European Court of Justice. The note explains the proper question to be addressed by a court for this purpose under article 4(2) of the Directive and criticises the Supreme Court's approach to the interpretation of article 4(2) and its application of the UK regulation implementing this article to the circumstances in the Bank Charges case.     

Single cells for forensic DNA analysis--from evidence material to test tube

Abstract: The purpose of this project was to develop a method that, while providing morphological quality control, allows single cells to be obtained from the surfaces of various evidence materials and be made available for DNA analysis in cases where only small amounts of cell material are present or where only mixed traces are found. With the SteREO Lumar.V12 stereomicroscope and UV unit from Zeiss, it was possible to detect and assess single epithelial cells on the surfaces of various objects (e.g., glass, plastic, metal). A digitally operated micromanipulator developed by aura optik was used to lift a single cell from the surface of evidence material and to transfer it to a conventional PCR tube or to an AmpliGrid^® from Advalytix. The actual lifting of the cells was performed with microglobes that acted as carriers. The microglobes were held with microtweezers and were transferred to the DNA analysis receptacles along with the adhering cells. In a next step, the PCR can be carried out in this receptacle without removing the microglobe. Our method allows a single cell to be isolated directly from evidence material and be made available for forensic DNA analysis.     

Words that hurt: a qualitative study of s parental verbal abuse in the Philippines

This article investigated opinions on what constitute parental abuse with interviews of 30 high school students, 30 parents, and 28 counselors. Despite increased reported cases of emotional abuses and child maltreatments in the Philippines, few empirical studies have explored the exact nature of parental verbal abuses in this country. This study is designed to address this gap in the literature. The results revealed nine categories of parental verbal abuses namely: (a) Put downs and shaming, (b) Rejection, (c) Blaming, (d) Fault Exaggerating, (e) Threat, (f) Invoking harm, (g) Regrets, (h) Unfair comparison, and (i) Negative prediction. Implications for research and practice were discussed.