Search Results (98)

This research aims to identify and prioritize key planning elements for the redevelopment of such housing complexes by incorporating perspectives from both experts (supply-side) and residents (demand-side). To achieve this, a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making framework was developed by integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). A total of 25 planning elements were identified through Focus Group Interviews and organized into five domains: legal and institutional reforms, project feasibility, residential conditions, social integration, and complex design. The AHP was used to assess the relative importance of each element based on responses from 30 experts and 130 residents. The analysis revealed a clear divergence in priorities: experts emphasized feasibility and regulatory considerations, while residents prioritized livability and spatial quality. Subsequently, the TOPSIS method was applied to evaluate four real-world redevelopment cases. From the supply-side perspective, Seoul A District received the highest score (0.58), whereas from the demand-side perspective, Gyeonggi D District ranked highest (0.69), illustrating the differing priorities of stakeholders. Overall, Gyeonggi D District emerged as the most favorable option in the combined evaluation. This research contributes a structured and inclusive decision-making framework for the regeneration of public housing. By explicitly comparing and quantifying the contrasting preferences of key stakeholders, it underscores the critical need to balance technical feasibility with resident-centered values in future redevelopment initiatives. Full article

As major countries around the world have successively proposed the construction goal of “Beautiful National Land Space”, how to effectively integrate urban design with spatial control in specific geographical environments and use urban design to achieve efficient spatial control has become a new research trend. The process of planning the national territory is constrained by the legal framework, involving multiple planning stages and multiple stakeholders. In an ideal state, these planning stages and stakeholders should coordinate with each other, but during the actual implementation of the plan, these factors are often not coordinated enough, making it difficult for the plan to play a role. In this study, Mile City in Yunnan Province, a representative city in the unique intermontane basin area of Southwestern China, was used as a case to explore how to use urban design methods in territorial spatial planning to achieve more efficient spatial control. This study provides scientific support for establishing an indicator control system for urban design methods by combining multiple data collection methods such as text analysis, image analysis, and interview methods. The distinctive features of Mile City have been further enhanced by optimizing its spatial layout through urban design, and it has been scientifically integrated into the territorial spatial planning system. The results indicate that the successful implementation of urban design highly relies on the reform willingness of local governments, clear control frameworks, and the coordinated integration of regional ecological resources and landscape features. This study proposed a set of urban design control methods suitable for intermontane basin-type cities and formed a comprehensive control framework including city, town, and landscape. In addition, it will provide methodological support and references for improving the scientific management of “Beautiful Land” in the special geographical environment of Southwest China. Full article

Interactions between First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians have long been shaped by notions of Western authority and First Nations inferiority, both culturally and biologically. From invasion to the present day, forced removals and intergenerational trauma have deeply affected First Nations Australians, particularly through the operations of interacting colonial systems, including child removals and placements. Throughout the 20th century, systematic child removals led to the Stolen Generations, a tragic example of power imbalances, paternalism, and Western ideals, perpetuating trauma across generations. This article examines the context of First Nations removals by the state under the lies of benevolence, exposing the evolution of the colonial system and the systematic dislocation of culture and identity. It highlights the social, legal, and political factors that enabled removal practices and their enduring consequences, including the legacy of forced child separations and cultural erasure. This article argues that policies of absorption and assimilation served to further isolate children from their families, communities, and kinship networks. In doing so, it contends that the systematic disruption of First Nations communities is part of an ongoing process of subjugation, continuing the colonial agenda of cultural and familial disintegration. Full article

It is essential to establish a normative framework that ensures the harmonious coexistence of humans and animals from legal and institutional perspectives. This study classifies and compares animal welfare policies in welfare states, identifying distinct policy types across different countries. Using fuzzy set ideal type analysis, this study examines seven OECD countries: Austria, Denmark, Germany, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (USA). These countries are consistent with Esping-Andersen’s three welfare state models and actively implement animal welfare policies. This study addresses the limitations of previous studies that focused primarily on animal-related discourses by examining the characteristics of different policy types that integrate two core components of animal welfare policy: animal welfare law and animal welfare systems. This analysis identified four types of animal welfare policies: (1) economic value type (South Korea and the USA); (2) social value type (the UK); (3) rights extension type (Denmark, Germany, and Sweden); and (4) ecological type (Austria). The results show that welfare state animal welfare policies are generally consistent with the ideological characteristics of the welfare system in question. However, Korea presents notable differences, providing valuable insights into its unique approach to animal welfare policy and informing future policy development. Full article

Advance care planning (ACP) involves longitudinal communication between the patient and physician to explore the patient’s wishes and goals while relaying accurate diagnostic and prognostic information to support informed and shared medical decision-making. In pediatrics, it also uniquely involves the parents or legal guardians as the primary medical decision-makers. ACP ideally leads to the implementation of advanced directives (ADs) and can be a difficult concept to discuss with pediatric patients and families with refractory oncologic disease, given the distinctive burdens that accompany this population. Many obstacles can delay the initiation of these conversations with these families, although existing literature supports beginning ACP conversations at the time of initial diagnosis and treatment. Parents or legal guardians often serve as the sole decision maker for pediatric patients but there has also been a shift in the literature to include children/adolescents in conversations regarding ADs and other aspects of end-of-life (EOL) care, an essential aspect of patient-centered ACP. This guidance is unfortunately not often translated into clinical practice. In this review, we aim to define and discuss the current status, obstacles, and benefits surrounding early initiation of ACP conversations with children or adolescents with advanced cancer and their families. We also discuss how physicians and the medical team, including pediatric palliative care, can increase the degree of pediatric patient involvement in ACP and EOL discussions, as developmentally appropriate, and mitigate delays in discussing ACP with these families and patients. Full article

The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand has been growing steadily. This research study investigated the Thai automotive industry cluster and completed an analysis of the EV transition to create a domestic industry, its social and environmental impacts, the laws supporting EVs, and consumer acceptance. The results of the study found that Thailand had 1.53 million EVs, accounting for 8.12% of all vehicles in 2023. This growing industry has a significant impact on Thailand’s GDP, highlighting the need for a strategic transition to support the development of the EV conversion industry. A particular focus is on the conversion of internal combustion engine vehicles that are over 10 years old. These debt-free vehicles, having simpler technology, present an ideal opportunity for modification as part of a broader strategy to prepare the domestic automotive sector for EV production and usage. A strong legal framework supports Thailand’s efforts by promoting the EV sector and EV conversion. The country is already a major automotive manufacturing hub, ranked 11th globally, with a robust automotive parts industry. Additionally, Thailand has a significant stock of older and classic cars, with 18.26% of its vehicles in 2023 being over 20 years old. The absence of laws restricting vehicle lifespan further facilitates the EV conversion process. Thailand’s legal measures also promote economic growth by supporting industries related to classic cars, with tax incentives designed to stimulate these sectors. The EV conversion business in Thailand attracted over USD 300 million in investment in 2023, with a survival rate of 97.33%, reflecting continuous year-on-year growth. These developments indicate that Thailand is well positioned to become a leading hub for EV conversion in Southeast Asia. If Thailand wants the EV conversion industry to grow without affecting stakeholders, those involved must consider the following issues or develop a transition strategy: (1) investment in the EV conversion industry; (2) environmental aspects of EV conversion; (3) laws related to EVs; and (4) consumers who are considering EV conversion. Countries with automotive industries similar to Thailand can consider using this model in their countries as well. Full article

This article aims to elaborate on the narrow legalistic stakeholder model and the need to apply a new revised moral and legal stakeholder model in Indonesian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with its implications and challenges. Studies on the narrow legalistic stakeholder model in Indonesian SOEs are still uncommon, despite the rising awareness of the model. This study expects to initiate discourse on the ideal stakeholder model in the industry. This study combined doctrinal and empirical legal research methods. The SOE laws and the Minister of SOEs’ regulations were examined aside from the investigation of empirical data on the accusation of SOEs breaching their obligations to their legitimate stakeholders as indicated in court decisions and mass media publications. This study shows that the Minister of SOEs’ Regulation on Implementing Corporate Governance Implementation has promoted a narrow legalistic approach to the stakeholder model. As a result, only those who have a written contract with SOEs can be considered as the legitimate direct stakeholders. This approach has led to the expropriation of other indirect legitimate stakeholders of the SOEs. This study can be used to revise the narrow legalistic stakeholder model and to strengthen research on the stakeholder model in SOEs and corporate governance. Full article

Large language models have demonstrated impressive capabilities in many domains. But they sometimes generate irrelevant or nonsensical text, or produce outputs that deviate from the provided input, an occurrence commonly referred to as hallucination. To mitigate this issue, we introduce a novel decoding method that incorporates both factual and hallucination prompts (DFHP). It applies contrastive decoding to highlight the disparity in output probabilities between factual prompts and hallucination prompts. Experiments on both multiple-choice and text generation tasks show that our approach significantly improves factual accuracy of large language models without additional training. On the TruthfulQA dataset, the DFHP method significantly improves factual accuracy of the LLaMA model, with an average improvement of 6.4% for the 7B, 13B, 30B, and 65B versions. Its high accuracy in factuality makes it an ideal choice for high reliability tasks like medical diagnosis and legal cases. Full article

In a marine ecosystem, the most sensitive organisms to environmental changes, mainly to anthropic pressures, are fishes and invertebrates. Therefore, they are considered the ideal targets to indirectly evaluate the health of an entire ecosystem. Teleost fishes, particularly those that occupy the highest trophic levels, can accumulate toxic substances through their diet. In this study, we used two fish species with sedentary behavior and trophic habits, Diplodus sargus and Sarpa salpa, caught in two areas at different anthropic pressures divided into the Gulf of Naples (Na) and the Gulf of Salerno (Sa). This study aimed to correlate the pathological alterations in target organs in both species with known concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals (lead and cadmium) to the expression of CYP1A1. Histological examination took into consideration circulatory disorders, increase in melanomacrophages (MMs) number, inflammation in kidney and hepatopancreas and gonadal stage maturation. Next, the pathological and morphological changes found were compared to immunohistochemical expression of CYP1A1 in the same samples. Chemical analysis of PCBs, based on 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, and 180 congeners, and heavy metals, were performed on hepatopancreas and muscle samples. Higher median values of PCBs concentration were detected in both species in the Salerno area (8.1 ng/g in Diplodus sargus muscles and 51.1 ng/g in Sarpa salpa hepatopancreas, respectively), although the values were consistently below the legal limits. No critical values were found for lead and cadmium. Therefore, we hypothesized that CYP1A1 and pathological alterations were more expressed in fish from Salerno area. The pathological changes showed a statistically significant difference in inflammation of the kidneys (p < 0.0001) between S. salpa of both Gulfs. In addition, we found a statistically significant difference in the assessment of the increase in MMs/MMCs (p = 0.0384) and circulation disorders (p = 0.0325) of hepatopancreas in D. sargus of both Gulfs. As not all the variables considered showed statistical significance, the analysis of the results does not fully support the correlation between the highest levels of contaminants found in the Salerno area and the expression of CYP1A1. Our data could be a starting point for future studies to better correlate the role of CYP1A1 to pollutants, considering this is the first study involving two of the most common species in the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, future studies could include other species to improve and increase records. Full article

China is the world’s largest importer of logs, possessing the scale to exert significant influence in the international market. This paper uses a fixed-effect variable coefficient Pricing-to-Market panel model to measure China’s market power in log import trade. It also utilizes the Almost Ideal Demand System model from an elasticity perspective to explore the market behavior characteristics of various source countries in China’s log import trade, thereby validating the mechanism of market power. The results indicate that: ① China’s main trading partners can be categorized into four groups according to their market power in the log import trade. Specifically, China holds superlative market power in log imports from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar; holds strong market power in log imports from Russia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mozambique; holds weak market power in log imports from Papua New Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand; and holds no market power in Japan, Cameroon, and the United States. ② As China’s expenditure on log imports increases, there is a tendency to purchase high-quality precious wood and a greater concern for the legality of market transactions. Consequently, China is anticipated to augment its imports from source countries with no or weak market power. ③ The simple price elasticity of log imports from each source country is negative. Source countries with stronger market power tend to increase prices to achieve higher total revenue, while those with weaker market power are more inclined to lower prices to achieve the same. ④ Log products from various source countries are complementary in the Chinese market, indicating that China’s substantial demand for logs relies on the simultaneous supply from multiple countries and diverse wood types. Based on the existence or absence of market power in China’s log import trade, this paper provides targeted insights into enhancing international market power and reducing trade losses. Full article

Following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, Republican-controlled legislatures across the U.S. initiated draconian abortion restrictions. In order to appeal to anti-abortion policymakers, advocates across the country have strategically separated “maternal and child health” (MCH) issues, such as increased insurance coverage for midwifery and doula care, from issues often labeled as “reproductive rights,” such as access to sex education, birth control, and abortion. Advocates point out this strategic separation has likely contributed overall to the downfall of abortion rights. In this paper, we analyze legislative discourse to understand the legislative challenges advocates face, the strategic separations and allyships they employ, and the implications for other states and reproductive health more broadly. We find that legislators legitimate the same scientific evidence in some contexts while not in others in order to hold onto rhetorical purity within the abortion debate. In their attempts to parse the ideal abortion seeker, conservative legislators create legal ambiguities with serious consequences for healthcare. Full article

This paper argues for proximity between the two branches of a jurisprudential–adjudicative genre: manuals for judges or the etiquette for the judgeship. I wish to demonstrate that the proximity, lexicography, ways and tools of argument, etc., are founded upon a meta-legal stratum that contains kalam theology. In this paper, I will elaborate on the genre and its discovery, define some basic principles for the field of discussion, and provide textual examples of the proximities between the two branches of the genre based on pre-legal or meta-halachic demands. I suggest a preliminary result here and lay the groundwork for further research in the future: The criteria for the appointment of the true judge sketch out his idealized personality. He is more than an administrator of the judicial bureaucracy: he is a guide for the legally perplexed peoplehood, both in Judaism and Islam. Full article

In recent years, contaminants of emerging concern have been reported in several environmental matrices due to advances in analytical methodologies. These anthropogenic micropollutants are detected at residual levels, representing an ecotoxicological threat to aquatic ecosystems. In particular, the pharmacotherapeutic group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) is one of the most prescribed and used, as well as one of the most frequently detected in the aquatic environment. Bivalves have several benefits as a foodstuff, and also as an environment bioindicator species. Therefore, they are regarded as an ideal tool to assess this issue from both ecotoxicological and food safety perspectives. Thus, the control of these residues in bivalves is extremely important to safeguard environmental health, also ensuring food safety and public health. This paper aims to review NSAIDs in bivalves, observing their consumption, physicochemical characteristics, and mechanisms of action; their environmental occurrence in the aquatic environment and aquatic biota; and their effects on the ecosystem and the existent legal framework. A review of the analytical methodologies for the determination of NSAIDs in bivalves is also presented. Full article

The Wahhābī movement within Sunni Islam—a substantial section of the larger Salafi movement—has been often depicted in both western academic studies and Muslim polemical writings negatively as devoid of spirituality, obsessed with a particular creedal understanding that drives its well-known salvific exclusivism, and with rigid legalism. This depiction is partly due to Wahhābism’s historical opposition to Sufism, the branch of Islamic knowledge and practices that has theorized, defined, and delineated Islam’s vision of the spiritual transformation taking place in the believer’s journey towards God. That opposition notwithstanding, the article argues that beyond terminological distinctions, one can locate in Wahhābī texts common Islamic themes of spiritual transformation. Primarily, such texts can be found in Wahhābī publications of the writings of 13th century Damascene Muslim scholars like Ibn Taymīya (d. 728/1328) and his most celebrated student, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīya (d. 751/1350). Building on that tradition, Wahhābī scholars have additionally produced texts that display core ideals of the Muslim spiritual goals. Such texts have additionally advanced the movement’s theological concerns and have driven the efforts towards “the purification” of Islamic sources from what Wahhābis deem to be heretical practices and beliefs accumulated throughout the centuries. Wahhābī prophetological texts, the article argues, serve as primary sources where both Wahhābī spiritual ideals and their sectarian reparatory agenda can be identified. The book of the late Saʿīd b. Wahf al-Qaḥṭānī (1952–2018), a well-known Saudi Wahhābī author of the second half of the twentieth century, Raḥmatan li-l-ʿĀlamīn Muḥammad Rasūl Allāh, serves as a representative text of these aims and ideals. Wahhābī spirituality, as identified in the work of al-Qaḥṭānī, has been depicted here as “normative spirituality” in order to point to its intended purpose of engendering praxis that is grounded in Islam’s well-known notion of prophetic imitatio. Full article

The American university has been guided by classical liberalism in its defense of the freedom of speech and academic freedom. The idea is that a university is a place where all ideas and perspectives can be debated. However, this idea is increasingly being challenged by those who want the secular university to be a place that advances a social philosophy that promises to transform society by dismantling structural racism and providing for greater equity. In this article, I will argue that both of these models have been shaped by democratic legal ideals and both share a common skeptical assumption about the basic questions of meaning that each person must answer. The legal structures developed by Westphalian modernity attempt neutrality on questions about meaning. This can be seen even in recent Supreme Court decisions affirming the individual’s right to determine meaning for themselves. This skeptical root has produced the conflict between classical liberals and the social transformation that we are witnessing at our universities. I argue for a third option that I find in the Declaration of Independence, which affirms that we can and should know the answers to basic questions which then provide the foundation for education and law. Full article