The authority of lawyers

hand, they have been taken for a conceited technocratical elite with their own incomprehensible language. On the other hand, they have been cherished as the number one trouble-shooter and peace-maker. Today, the traditional monopoly of lawyers has come under pressure. Rivaling professions such as mediators want to have their share of the conflict resolution market. Still, lawyers are likely to retain the greater bulk. The author identifies and discusses the following reasons for this predominance: − the affinity of lawyers with the state and public authority; − the reflex of the authority of law; − the complex nature of legal systems and the ensuing need for professionalisation; − a particular training in rhetorical, linguistic, communicative and social skills; − the function of lawyers as ‘high priests’ of the judicial ritual; − the real or supposed competence of lawyers to master each and every challenge irrespective of its nature and background; − homogeneity of the group; − the ability of lawyers to embrace and ‘swallow’ other disciplines. The topic is part of the general discourse on the role of professional actors

"Justice must be seen to be done"

See abstract in article

Should We Compare Laws or Cultures?

Law and culture are inextricably linked. Hence, a meaningful comparison of laws will have to take into account the cultural background and the context. The relevance of the ‘culture-factor’ in comparison depends on the nature and the scope of the project. This culture-oriented approach sensitizes for the relativity of legal systems which, in turn, calls for a prudent assessment of the common ground. It should also foster (more) interdisciplinary cooperation.

Recht und Literatur – deutsch-französische Streiflichter

Recht und Literatur – deutsch-französische Streiflichte

Enhanced at puberty 1 (EAP1) is a new transcriptional regulator of the female neuroendocrine reproductive axis

The initiation of mammalian puberty and the maintenance of female reproductive cycles are events controlled by hypothalamic neurons that secrete the decapeptide gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). GnRH secretion is, in turn, controlled by changes in neuronal and glial inputs to GnRH-producing neurons. The hierarchical control of the process is unknown, but it requires coordinated regulation of these cell-cell interactions. Here we report the functional characterization of a gene (termed enhanced at puberty 1 [EAP1]) that appears to act as an upstream transcriptional regulator of neuronal networks controlling female reproductive function. EAP1 expression increased selectively at puberty in both the nonhuman primate and rodent hypothalamus. EAP1 encoded a nuclear protein expressed in neurons involved in the inhibitory and facilitatory control of reproduction. EAP1 transactivated genes required for reproductive function, such as GNRH1, and repressed inhibitory genes, such as preproenkephalin. It contained a RING finger domain of the C3HC4 subclass required for this dual transcriptional activity. Inhibition of EAP1 expression, targeted to the rodent hypothalamus via lentivirus-mediated delivery of EAP1 siRNAs, delayed puberty, disrupted estrous cyclicity, and resulted in ovarian abnormalities. These results suggest that EAP1 is a transcriptional regulator that, acting within the neuroendocrine brain, contributes to controlling female reproductive function.This work was supported by grants from the NIH, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development/NIH (to S.R. Ojeda), the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (to H. Jung), the German Research Foundation (to S. Heger), and the European Commission (PIONEER to S. Heger)

Contrails and their impact on shortwave radiation and photovoltaic power production – a regional model study

A high-resolution regional-scale numerical model was extended by a parameterization that allows for both the generation and the life cycle of contrails and contrail cirrus to be calculated. The life cycle of contrails and contrail cirrus is described by a two-moment cloud microphysical scheme that was extended by a separate contrail ice class for a better representation of the high concentration of small ice crystals that occur in contrails. The basic input data set contains the spatially and temporally highly resolved flight trajectories over Central Europe derived from real-time data. The parameterization provides aircraft-dependent source terms for contrail ice mass and number. A case study was performed to investigate the influence of contrails and contrail cirrus on the shortwave radiative fluxes at the earth’s surface. Accounting for contrails produced by aircraft enabled the model to simulate high clouds that were otherwise missing on this day. The effect of these extra clouds was to reduce the incoming shortwave radiation at the surface as well as the production of photovoltaic power by up to 10 %

Development and Validation of a Prediction Model for Future Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate in People With Type 2 Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease

Importance: Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of progressive diabetic kidney disease, but reliable prediction tools that can be used in clinical practice and aid in patients' understanding of disease progression are currently lacking. Objective: To develop and externally validate a model to predict future trajectories in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease using data from 3 European multinational cohorts. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prognostic study used baseline and follow-up information collected between February 2010 and December 2019 from 3 prospective multinational cohort studies: PROVALID (Prospective Cohort Study in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus for Validation of Biomarkers), GCKD (German Chronic Kidney Disease), and DIACORE (Diabetes Cohorte). A total of 4637 adult participants (aged 18-75 years) with type 2 diabetes and mildly to moderately impaired kidney function (baseline eGFR of ≥30 mL/min/1.73 m2) were included. Data were analyzed between June 30, 2021, and January 31, 2023. Main Outcomes and Measures: Thirteen variables readily available from routine clinical care visits (age, sex, body mass index; smoking status; hemoglobin A1c[mmol/mol and percentage]; hemoglobin, and serum cholesterol levels; mean arterial pressure, urinary albumin-creatinine ratio, and intake of glucose-lowering, blood-pressure lowering, or lipid-lowering medication) were selected as predictors. Repeated eGFR measurements at baseline and follow-up visits were used as the outcome. A linear mixed-effects model for repeated eGFR measurements at study entry up to the last recorded follow-up visit (up to 5 years after baseline) was fit and externally validated. Results: Among 4637 adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (mean [SD] age at baseline, 63.5 [9.1] years; 2680 men [57.8%]; all of White race), 3323 participants from the PROVALID and GCKD studies (mean [SD] age at baseline, 63.2 [9.3] years; 1864 men [56.1%]) were included in the model development cohort, and 1314 participants from the DIACORE study (mean [SD] age at baseline, 64.5 [8.3] years; 816 men [62.1%]) were included in the external validation cohort, with a mean (SD) follow-up of 5.0 (0.6) years. Updating the random coefficient estimates with baseline eGFR values yielded improved predictive performance, which was particularly evident in the visual inspection of the calibration curve (calibration slope at 5 years: 1.09; 95% CI, 1.04-1.15). The prediction model had good discrimination in the validation cohort, with the lowest C statistic at 5 years after baseline (0.79; 95% CI, 0.77-0.80). The model also had predictive accuracy, with an R2ranging from 0.70 (95% CI, 0.63-0.76) at year 1 to 0.58 (95% CI, 0.53-0.63) at year 5. Conclusions and Relevance: In this prognostic study, a reliable prediction model was developed and externally validated; the robust model was well calibrated and capable of predicting kidney function decline up to 5 years after baseline. The results and prediction model are publicly available in an accompanying web-based application, which may open the way for improved prediction of individual eGFR trajectories and disease progression.</p

Decreased expression of breast cancer resistance protein in the duodenum in patients with obstructive cholestasis

Background/Aims: The expression of transporters involved in bile acid homeostasis is differentially regulated during obstructive cholestasis. Since the drug efflux transporter breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) is known to transport bile acids, we investigated whether duodenal BCRP expression could be altered during cholestasis. Methods: Using real-time RT-PCR analysis we determined mRNA expression levels in duodenal tissue of 19 cholestatic patients. Expression levels were compared to 14 healthy subjects. BCRP protein staining was determined in biopsies of 6 cholestatic and 6 healthy subjects by immunohistochemistry. Results: We found that in patients with obstructive cholestasis mean duodenal BCRP mRNA levels were significantly reduced to 53% and mean protein staining was reduced to 57%. Conclusions: BCRP, a transporter for bile acids and numerous drugs, appears to be down-regulated in the human duodenum during cholestasis. The clinical impact of these results has to be investigated in further studies. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel