Sharing in or Benefiting from Scientific Advancement?

The intellectual property regimes we have currently in place are heavily under attack. One of the points of criticism is the interaction between two elements of article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the widely discussed issue of being able to benefit from scientific progress and the less argued for position of having a right to take part in scientific enterprises. To shine light on the question if we should balance the two elements or prioritize one of them, an exploration will be offered on how benefiting from scientific progress and the ability to participate in the advancement of science relate to securing human capabilities. A different perspective to the question will be gained by identifying the problem as an issue of misrecognition, especially the failure to recognize many willing collaboration partners in scientific research as peers. Lastly, I will argue that cooperative justice requires that if we have an innovation incentive system that disproportionally benefits one particular group, a certain duty to counterbalance this advantage exists when we are relying on mutual cooperation for the recognition of intellectual property rights.     

Cluster analysis reveals distinct patterns of saccade impairment and their relation to cognitive profiles in Parkinson's disease

Saccade performance has been reported to be altered in Parkinson's disease (PD), however, with a large variability between studies as both motor and cognitive impairment interfere with oculomotor control. The aim of this study was to identify different patterns in saccade alterations in PD using a data-driven approach and to explore their relationship with cognitive phenotypes. Sixty-one participants with PD and 25 controls performed eye-tracking (horizontal and vertical prosaccades, antisaccades) and neuropsychological testing. Hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to the eye-tracking data to subsequently compare the clusters based on demographical, clinical and cognitive characteristics. The three identified clusters of saccade alterations differed in cognitive profiles from healthy controls, but not in PD-related motor symptoms or demographics. The rate of directive errors in the antisaccade task was increased in clusters 1 and 2. Further, cluster 1 was defined by a general disinhibition of reflexive saccades and executive dysfunction in the neuropsychological evaluation. In cluster 2, prolonged saccade latencies and hypometria were accompanied by multidomain cognitive impairment. The cluster 3 showed increased antisaccade latency and vertical hypometria despite lack of evidence for cognitive impairment. Our results suggest that there may be at least two opposing patterns of saccade alterations associated with cognitive impairment in PD, which may explain some of the contradictory results of previous studies.     

Book reviews

Pseudo‐Problems. How Analytic Philosophy Gets Done, Roy Sorensen, 1993. London, Routledge xi + 291 pp., hb £37.50, ISBN: 0–415–09464X

Changing Tools: Case Studies in the History of Scientific Methodology, Marta Feher, 1995. Adademiai Kiado £23.17, ISBN: 9630567288

Evolutionary Naturalism, Michael Ruse, 1995, London, Routledge pp. 316, hb £35, ISBN 0–415–08997–2

Knowledge and the Body‐Mind Problem: in Defence of Interaction, Sir Karl Popper, 1994 London, Routledge ix+ 158 pp., hb £25; £10.99 pb, ISBN: 0–415–11504–3

Whys and Ways of Science, Peter J. Riggs, 1992 Melbourne University Press ix + 235 pp., £11.95, ISBN: 0522844715

Rethinking Objectivity, Aixan Megill, Ed., 1994 Durham and London, Duke University Press ix +342pp., £43.50, ISBN: 0822314797

Projective Probability, James Logue, 1995 Clarendon Press xiii+ 171 pp., £24.75, ISBN: 0198239599

Self‐motion: from Aristotle to Newton, M. L. Gill & J. G. Lennox (Eds), 1994 Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press xxi + 367 pp., £36.50, ISBN: 0–691–03235–1     

To lie or to mislead?

Philosophical Studies - The aim of this paper is to argue that lying differs from mere misleading in a way that can be morally relevant: liars commit themselves to something they believe to be...     

Antisaccades in Parkinson’s Disease: A Meta-Analysis

Neuropsychology Review - The usefulness of eye-tracking tasks as potential biomarkers for motor or cognitive disease burden in Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been subject of debate for many...