Search Results (27)

The management of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in premature infants remains a significant debate in neonatology. Interventions aimed at accelerating ductal closure, often using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or acetaminophen, are common practice. However, recent evidence increasingly challenges this approach. Pharmacological agents for PDA closure demonstrate limited efficacy and carry significant risks of systemic toxicity, affecting renal, gastrointestinal, vascular, and pulmonary systems. Multiple recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses have largely failed to demonstrate that early active treatment improves crucial clinical outcomes such as mortality, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), or necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Some studies even suggest potential harm, particularly an increased risk of BPD and mortality in vulnerable extremely preterm infants. Procedural closure methods (surgical ligation, transcatheter techniques), while achieving anatomical closure, also pose significant risks and lack evidence of improved clinical outcomes. Given the high rates of spontaneous PDA closure, especially in extremely preterm infants, and the lack of proven benefit alongside potential harm from interventions, a paradigm shift towards expectant or conservative management is gaining support. This approach emphasizes supportive care, minimizing interventions, and may be complemented by the judicious use of postnatal corticosteroids in selected infants with significant lung disease, which might indirectly facilitate ductal closure by addressing underlying inflammation. Full article

Research on muscle fatigue during dynamic movement using surface electromyography (sEMG) constitutes a significant challenge within biomechanics. Despite a degree of standardization, measurements and their resultant findings continue to attract considerable debate, attributable to factors such as skin impedance, perspiration, and electrode displacement, as well as subjective fatigue perception. Further questions remain regarding signal normalization and the selection of appropriate analytical methodologies. Recent years have witnessed notable progress in dynamic fatigue research, highlighting the limitations of classical metrics (e.g., EMG Median Frequency) and introducing time–frequency methods, such as the wavelet transform (WT), which are better equipped to handle signal non-stationarity. Interest has also expanded to include non-linear metrics (e.g., entropy) and the analysis of multiple signals (EMG, accelerometers, fNIRS, EEG). The inherent complexity of conducting studies under conditions that approximate real-world sporting disciplines requires the consideration of the influence of various confounding factors. The judicious selection of relevant physical activities and the rigorous validation of the measurement apparatus are paramount for the accurate execution of the calculations. Current research is substantially predicated on artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. The synergistic application of AI with wavelet transform, particularly in the decomposition and extraction of EMG signals, demonstrates efficacy in fatigue detection. Nevertheless, the full realization of these potential mandates requires further investigation into system generalization, the integration of data from multiple sensors, and the standardization of protocols, coupled with the establishment of publicly accessible datasets. This article delineates selected guidelines and challenges pertinent to the planning and execution of research on muscle fatigue in dynamic movement, focusing on activity selection, equipment validation, EMG signal analysis, and AI utilization. Full article

Malaria has long been a significant global health concern, listed as a high-priority disease by several global health agencies, despite of several control measures have been put in place. Most widely utilized treatment options for malaria include chloroquine, artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), and quinine. However, challenges, such as drug resistance, misdiagnosis, and limited treatment efficacy remain major concerns. Despite ongoing efforts, the development of an effective malaria vaccine is still debatable. Many existing malaria treatments have drawbacks, such as low water solubility, poor bioavailability, and a rise in drug-resistant parasites owing to their non-judicious use, which contributes to increased malaria cases and fatalities. Nanotechnology presents a promising approach to safer and more effective malaria therapy and control. Nanoparticles offer several advantages over conventional treatments, including high drug-loading capacity, targeted delivery, improved biocompatibility, and reduced toxicity in host cells. Green nanotechnology-based antimalarial therapies have demonstrated potential therapeutic benefits, enhanced safety, and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional treatments, ultimately improving patient compliance and treatment outcomes. In this review paper, we discussed non-conventional breakpoints in the malarial life cycle, traditional herbal remedies for malaria, and nanoparticle-based delivery systems. Additionally, we reviewed the antimalarial effects of herbal nano-formulations, their pharmacological and therapeutic potential, drug-resistant malaria, preventive strategies, vector control using green nanomaterials, and the challenges associated with plant-based nanotechnologies. This review suggests nanotechnology-based therapeutics as promising candidates to treat malaria with significant room for applications and commercialization potential in the longer run. Full article

This article examines the institutional reliability of expert evidence in construction litigation in England and Wales. Drawing on doctrinal analysis, practitioner interviews, and comparative evaluation of Australia, Singapore, and international arbitration, it argues that reliability should be understood not as an ethical virtue of individual experts but as a systemic property of evidentiary governance. Despite the procedural safeguards of Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules, expert independence remains undermined by adversarial incentives, methodological inconsistency, limited judicial capacity, and weak enforcement. Comparative models demonstrate that concurrent evidence, expert accreditation, and structured judicial oversight can effectively realign procedural incentives with epistemic integrity. The article proposes four interdependent reforms—accreditation, methodological standardisation, judicial capacity-building, and feedback-based oversight—to embed reliability as a procedural norm within the Technology and Construction Court. By reframing reliability as an institutional obligation rather than a moral aspiration, the study contributes to wider debates on evidentiary governance, procedural justice, and the regulation of expertise in technologically complex adjudication. Full article

The intersections between disability, sex work, and the law are complex and intertwined. The paper aims to uncover how courts approach this entanglement and conceptualize disabled sexuality. Our account will illustrate how social norms, legal frameworks, international standards, and disability rights intersect in judicial outcomes and reasoning. The paper employs a case study methodology and disability theory. It offers a detailed analysis of two case studies that share a similar story, that of a disabled individual seeking funding for some sexuality-related services. Yet, they differ in many other perspectives; they were given 15 years apart by courts in different countries with distinct social and legal contexts. An Israeli case from 2006 highlights the challenges faced by a disabled individual in the absence of a formal disability rights framework, reflecting broader debates about the meaning of sexuality in the lives of disabled people, and an Australian case from 2020 centers on the inclusion of sexual services within disability support schemes, touching on issues of sexual rights, participation, and disabled individuals’ needs. This comparative approach highlights the evolving nature of judicial views on disabled sexuality, revealing both a gradual recognition of disabled individuals’ sexual rights and needs, alongside persistent stigmatizing and ableist misconceptions of disabled sexuality. Full article

Situated at the intersection of social history and psychology, this study examines how early Christian communities in Bithynia-Pontus navigated the persecution narrated in Pliny the Younger’s Epistle X 96. Through systematic textual analysis of Latin and Greek sources—triangulated with comparative evidence from Tacitus and corroborating archaeological data—and interpreted through Conservation-of-Resources and Social Identity theoretical frameworks, we reconstruct the repertoire of collective coping strategies mobilised under Roman repression. Our findings show that ritualised dawn assemblies, mutual economic assistance, and a theologically grounded expectation of post-mortem vindication converted external coercion into internal cohesion; these practices neutralised informer threat, sustained group morale, and ultimately expanded Christian networks across Asia Minor. Moreover, Pliny’s ad hoc judicial improvisations reveal the governor’s own bounded rationality, underscoring the reciprocal nature of stress between the persecutor and persecuted. By mapping the dynamic interaction between imperial policy and subaltern agency, the article clarifies why limited, locally triggered violence consolidated rather than extinguished the nascent movement. The analysis contributes a theoretically informed, evidence-based account of religious-minority resilience, enriching both early Christian historiography and broader debates on group survival under systemic duress. Full article

As large language models (LLMs) increasingly enter high-stakes decision-making contexts, questions arise about their suitability in domains requiring normative judgment, such as judicial sentencing. This study investigates whether LLMs exhibit bias when tasked with sentencing decisions in Polish criminal law, despite clear legal norms that prohibit considering extralegal factors. The simulated sentencing scenarios for theft offenses use two leading open-source LLMs (LLaMA and Mixtral) and systematically vary three defendant characteristics: gender, number of children, and the value of the stolen item. While none of these variables should legally affect sentence length under Polish law, our results reveal statistically significant disparities, particularly in how female defendants with children are treated. The non-parametric tests (Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U) and correlation analysis were applied to quantify these effects. Our findings raise concerns about the normative reliability of LLMs and their alignment with principles of fairness and legality. From a jurisprudential perspective, we contrast the implicit logic of LLM sentencing with theoretical models of adjudication, including Dworkin’s moral interpretivism and Posner’s pragmatism. This work contributes to ongoing debates on the integration of AI in legal systems, highlighting both the empirical risks and the philosophical limitations of computational legal reasoning. Full article

Among the distressing side effects of cancer treatments, hair loss is one of the most disturbing for the quality of life and adherence to therapy in breast cancer patients. Many patients take nutritional supplements to prevent hair loss or enhance regrowth. Based on their mechanism and timing of use, nutritional supplements could be divided into safe, cautious, debated, and contraindicated categories. Non-contraindicated supplements generally include safe supplements like vitamin D, which is not known to interfere with cancer treatments. Those that are contraindicated include phytoestrogens and compounds affecting estrogen pathways because of the risk of stimulating tumor growth in cancers sensitive to estrogen. Antioxidants like tocotrienols and resveratrol are given judiciously because of potential interference with cancer therapies dependent on reactive oxygen species. Supplements debated, including nicotinamide, folate, and iron, pose a risk by promoting cellular proliferation or altering the tumor microenvironment. Biotin is nontoxic but interferes with blood test results and is thus difficult in cancer monitoring. Evidence regarding nutritional supplements’ safety and efficacy in this context is conflicting. Management by an oncologist is required along with more studies to clearly establish the safety parameters and efficacy guidelines. Full article

The regulation of end-of-life decisions has been the subject of intense debate for years, marked by the challenge of reconciling two fundamental ethical principles: preservation of life and individual self-determination. From a legal perspective, numerous court rulings have outlined an evolving framework, highlighting the difficulty of establishing a regulatory approach that balances constitutional rights with ethical values. This study examines key Italian judicial decisions, with a particular focus on recent Constitutional Court rulings regarding end-of-life issues, and discusses the underlying ethical and humanistic perspectives. We aim to explore the key ethical and legal issues arising in the context of end-of-life regulation. Judicial developments demonstrate an increasing recognition of individual self-determination in accessing assisted suicide despite persisting ongoing ambiguities and regulatory gaps. The end-of-life debate underscores the urgency of moving beyond abstract and schematic approaches, favoring a perspective that integrates multidisciplinary expertise and human sensitivity. Ensuring effective access to palliative care and comprehensive social and healthcare systems is essential to alleviate suffering and provide genuine alternatives to assisted suicide. Full article

The swift expansion of financial technology (FinTech) can substantially improve financial inclusion, especially in the rural regions of emerging nations such as India. FinTech has the potential to drive inclusive growth, reduce inequalities, and foster sustainable economic development. This research examines the determinants affecting the adoption of FinTech services in rural India by synthesizing three theoretical frameworks: The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and the Technology Readiness Index (TRI). A mixed methods approach that combines partial least squares structured equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set comparative qualitative analysis (fsQCA) was used to evaluate the suggested framework. The integrated PLS-SEM and fsQCA offer a comprehensive, elegant, and resilient method for data analysis. While fsQCA addresses more intricate patterns within the data, PLS-SEM effectively identifies the relationships among significant factors. This makes the mixed method approach more judicious and advantageous than the single method approach. The findings showed that attitude (β = 0.35), perceived behavioral control (β = 0.28) from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), perceived ease of use (β = 0.31) from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and perceived insecurity (β = −0.19) from the Technology Readiness Index (TRI) all have a big impact on how people use FinTech. The findings also indicate that the desire to adopt FinTech positively influences financial inclusion among rural residents. These research findings enhance the debate on sustainable development by demonstrating how specific FinTech interventions can close the financial inclusion gap, empower rural populations, and achieve various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study’s findings could help governments, banks, and FinTech firms aiming to enhance the accessibility and use of digital financial services in rural India. Full article

Background: Third-molar extractions are common procedures often complicated by infections and alveolitis. The use of antibiotics as prophylaxis to prevent these complications is debated due to potential risks and side effects. Therefore, the aim of the present systematic review was to determine the efficacy of antibiotic prescription for the prevention of these complications. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane, and SCOPUS databases up until June 2024. The focused question was “Does the antibiotic prescription influence the incidence of postoperative complications following third-molar extractions in healthy patients?” Systematic reviews assessing complications after third-molar extractions were included. Results: A total of 16 studies were included, revealing that antibiotic use significantly reduces infection risk and dry socket incidence compared to no prescription. Amoxicillin–clavulanic acid was particularly effective. Conclusions: Antibiotics, especially amoxicillin–clavulanic acid, are effective in preventing postoperative infections and alveolitis after third-molar extraction. However, their administration should be carefully considered to balance benefits against potential risks. Evidence supports the judicious use of antibiotics in dental surgery to optimize patient outcomes, minimizing possible adverse effects and the risk of developing antibiotic resistance. Full article

This article examines the impact of neoliberal political–economic orientations on urban planning policies through a case study of Ireland’s Strategic Housing Development (SHD) fast-track planning scheme. By evaluating SHD applications from 2017 to 2021, this study assesses the scheme’s effectiveness in housing development in County Dublin and addresses how neoliberal policies affect planning objectives. The findings reveal that, although the SHD scheme expedited planning approvals, it faced significant challenges, including high rates of judicial review and low commencement rates for approved developments. These issues hindered the scheme’s capacity to address housing shortages effectively. The research highlights that market-driven policies often shape urban development patterns in ways that misalign with policy goals, potentially compromising social equity and long-term sustainability. By exploring the tensions between planning efficiency, industry interests, and broader policy objectives, this study contributes to ongoing debates about the role of neoliberalism in urban planning. It concludes by advocating for a more integrated approach to urban governance—one that balances economic imperatives with social and environmental priorities to promote sustainable and equitable development. Full article

Within the European socio-cultural landscape, which is increasingly attuned to animal welfare concerns and characterized by growing multiculturalism, ritual slaughter has become a subject of considerable debate due to its legal, economic, and health implications. This debate is increasingly fueled by interventions by judicial bodies that, not infrequently, have filled protection gaps in legislation on the relationship between human rights and the treatment of animals. In this review, the authors aim to describe the evolutionary path of supranational jurisprudence in the case of religious slaughter, focusing on the most recent animal welfare decision rendered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on 13 February 2024. This innovative judgement, in line with other precedents, indicates the orientation of the international and European law, which, driven by public morality, is increasingly characterized by the compression of human rights in favor of animal interests. Full article

Religious education (RE) is frequently a topic of intense political debate and a focal point of party politics in the Greek context. This article presents the latest chapter in political contestation over the teaching of religion in Greek public schools, one which entails a new dimension—that of intense judicialization. Since 2015, the issue of religious education in Greek public schools has been the subject of multiple court cases addressed by the Greek high court, the Council of State, with one case addressed by and one case pending before the European Court of Human Rights. Beyond teasing out links between Greek Orthodoxy and nationalism underpinning each of these cases, this article also seeks to locate this example of judicialization of politics and religion in a broader theoretical context. It engages with another phenomenon at play in the Greek case as in many other cases globally, the culturalization of religion. Through the example of the Greek legal battles over religious education, we see how the judicialization of a particular political question on religion (policy on RE) rests on a culturalization of religion, which, in the legal domain, entails a rebranding of ‘religion’ as ‘culture’ so as to protect ‘religion’ from limitations placed on it by expectations of liberal state neutrality. The inherent difficulties in defining religion and culture, both individually and in relation to one another, are fundamental to both the theoretical and the practical, socio-legal challenges arising from such developments. Full article

During the first half of the 17th century, the Goa Inquisition increased its focus on religious offences committed by the so-called Cristãos da Terra (local Christianized populations). Many of these perceived offences occurred in connection with rituals, practices and behaviours stemming from Asian cultural and religious settings, leading the inquisitors in Goa to assess a variety of external features and performances (“signs”) in order to determine the seriousness of the offence and the penalty to impose. While these actions were primarily labelled as “idolatry”, during the 1620s, inquisitorial personnel in Goa suddenly adopted a new designation—that of “gentilidade”—to refer to a type of offence that involved apostasy from Catholicism in favour of the “Law of the Gentiles.” In this paper, I will analyse the context that led to this epistemic change in labelling religious offences, while also comparing the extant Goa Inquisition trials and summaries with later catalogues of cases where offences first began to be designated as “gentilidade.” I will argue that during the 1620s such changes in classifying religious offences were the outcome of a debate that, even though it was external to the Goa Inquisition, incidentally questioned some of its procedures and prompted its inquisitors and prosecutor to repurpose an already existing term into a broad category denoting heresy and apostasy, thus reinforcing the legitimacy of the tribunal’s judicial practices. Full article