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The article reviews the developments on the common achievement in democracy and human rights in the Council of Europe in 2009. It reveals the 60 years of the international organization that was founded for political cooperation in Europe following the horrors of World War II. It notes that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has celebrated 50th anniversary in 2009 while the signing of the European convention will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2010.

The article focuses on the various laws which were implemented in the European countries during 2008. In 2008 several European countries adopted the European Regulation on Law Applicable to contractual obligations and non-contractual obligations to create greater harmonization and discourage forum shopping. On November 1, 2008, Germany adopted the Act on the Modernization of the Law on Limited Liability Companies and the Prevention of Malpractice generally called as MoMiG.

Reliable detection of JAK2-V617F is critical for accurate diagnosis of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs); in addition, sensitive mutation-specific assays can be applied to monitor disease response. However, there has been no consistent approach to JAK2-V617F detection, with assays varying markedly in performance, affecting clinical utility. Therefore, we established a network of 12 laboratories from seven countries to systematically evaluate nine different DNA-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays, including those in widespread clinical use. Seven quality control rounds involving over 21,500 qPCR reactions were undertaken using centrally distributed cell line dilutions and plasmid controls. The two best-performing assays were tested on normal blood samples (n=100) to evaluate assay specificity, followed by analysis of serial samples from 28 patients transplanted for JAK2-V617F-positive disease. The most sensitive assay, which performed consistently across a range of qPCR platforms, predicted outcome following transplant, with the mutant allele detected a median of 22 weeks (range 6-85 weeks) before relapse. Four of seven patients achieved molecular remission following donor lymphocyte infusion, indicative of a graft vs MPN effect. This study has established a robust, reliable assay for sensitive JAK2-V617F detection, suitable for assessing response in clinical trials, predicting outcome and guiding management of patients undergoing allogeneic transplant.