The promises and perils of non-invasive brain stimulation

Non-invasive brain stimulation promises innovative experimental possibilities for psychology and neuroscience as well as new therapeutic and palliative measures in medicine. Because of its good risk-benefit ratio, non-invasiveness and reversibility as well as its low effort and cost it has good chances of becoming a widespread tool in science, medicine and even in lay use. While most issues in medical and research ethics such as informed consent, safety, and potential for misuse can be handled with manageable effort, the real promise of brain stimulation does raise one prominent moral worry: it may lay the foundation of reliable, precise and stable manipulations of the mind. This article addresses this worry and concludes that it is not the possibility of manipulation, but the shift in our understanding of our mind which stands in need of careful consideration.     

Highly reliable quantification of proteins such as members of the HSP70 superfamily based on the grey scale index via immune detection stained bands on a Western blot

The HSP70 superfamily is a reliable biomarker for hyperthermia, hypothermia and hypoxia. The Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) respectively immunohistochemically staining methods are the typically used techniques for the quantification of those proteins. As the costs for reagents and devices as well as the work schedule of these methods are immense it was the goal of our study to develop an easy and reliable method to quantify the concentration of specific proteins. We established a procedure to measure the relative concentration of proteins fixed on ROTI(?) PVDF membranes via Western blot, calculating the relative protein concentration in dependency to the grey scale index of the normalized and digitalized pictures of the bands on the blots.     

Of Toothless Windbags,Blind Guardians and Blunt Swords: The Ongoing Controversy about the Reform of Intelligence Services Oversight in Germany

Due to the course of European history, German intelligence services are not exactly renowned abroad for epitomizing the rule of law. This article, however, tries to leave the chamber of horrors called memories behind and discusses the question of how intelligence services oversight functions in Germany today. This will mainly be discussed from the perspective of a legal scholar. The article will examine whether, and to what extent, the existing legal framework allows for efficient oversight of the intelligence services. Where oversight deficits can be identified, recent reform proposals related to them will be discussed critically. The article concludes, not all proposals for reform are suitable for solving the problems at hand.