Analogical Reasoning in Handling Emerging Technologies: The Case of Umbilical Cord Blood Biobanking

How are we individually and as a society to handle new and emerging technologies? This challenging question underlies much of the bioethical debates of modern times. To address this question we need suitable conceptions of the new technology and ways of identifying its proper management and regulation. To establish conceptions and to find ways to handle emerging technologies we tend to use analogies extensively. The aim of this article is to investigate the role that analogies play or may play in the processes of understanding and managing new technology. More precisely we aim to unveil the role of analogies as analytical devices in exploring the “being” of the new technology as well the normative function of analogies in conceptualizing the characteristics and applications of new technology. Umbilical cord blood biobanking will be used as a case to investigate these roles and functions.     

Agreeing in Ignorance: Mapping the Routinisation of Consent in ICT-Services

Many ICT services require that users explicitly consent to conditions of use and policies for the protection of personal information. This consent may become ‘routinised’. We define the concept of routinisation and investigate to what extent routinisation occurs as well as the factors influencing routinisation in a survey study of internet use. We show that routinisation is common and that it is influenced by factors including gender, age, educational level and average daily internet use. We further explore the reasons users provide for not reading conditions and policies and show that they can be grouped in meaningful ways that may delineate different types of routinsation.     

An Apparatus for Observing the Formation of Eye-Hand Coordination

Witkin, H. A., Lewis, H. B., Hertzman, M., Machover, K., Meissner, P. B., &; Wapner, S. Personality Through Perception: An Experimental and Clinical Study. New York: Harper, 1954. Pp. 571. Reviewed by Michael Wertheimer.     

Feasibility of Conducting Long-Term Follow-Up of Children and Infants Treated for CNS Tumors on the Same Cooperative Group Clinical Trial Protocol

Given the barriers to conducting long-term assessment of neurocognitive and psychosocial functioning of those treated in infancy for central nervous system (CNS) tumors, a multi-site feasibility study was conducted. The primary objective was to demonstrate that it is feasible to identify, locate and assess the functioning of children treated on the same protocol 10-years post-treatment. Six sites obtained institutional approval, identified and recruited subjects, and obtained comprehensive neurocognitive and psychosocial data. All feasibility objectives were met. Barriers to participation included length of time for Institutional Review Board submission and review, clinical demands, limited eligible participants at individual institutions, difficulty locating long-term subjects and stipend/reimbursement concerns. Results indicate that long-term studies are feasible and essential given the need to address long-term issues of children treated at a young age for CNS tumors, especially as they relate to later academic and vocational planning, but require significant coordination and commitment of cooperative group and institutional resources.