Search Results (17)

The increasing adoption of artificial intelligence across domains presents new opportunities to enhance access to justice. In this paper, we introduce a human-centric AI tool that utilises advances in Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Large Language Models (LLMs) to facilitate semantic linking between written UK Supreme Court (SC) judgements and their corresponding hearing videos. The motivation stems from the critical role UK SC hearings play in shaping landmark legal decisions, which often span several hours and remain difficult to navigate manually. Our approach involves two key components: (1) a customised ASR system fine-tuned on 139 h of manually edited SC hearing transcripts and legal documents and (2) a semantic linking module powered by GPT-based text embeddings adapted to the legal domain. The ASR system addresses domain-specific transcription challenges by incorporating a custom language model and legal phrase extraction techniques. The semantic linking module uses fine-tuned embeddings to match judgement paragraphs with relevant spans in the hearing transcripts. Quantitative evaluation shows that our customised ASR system improves transcription accuracy by 9% compared to generic ASR baselines. Furthermore, our adapted GPT embeddings achieve an F1 score of 0.85 in classifying relevant links between judgement text and hearing transcript segments. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of our system in streamlining access to critical legal information and supporting legal professionals in interpreting complex judicial decisions. Full article

Calorie information is often provided on food packaging and is a legal requirement in many countries. There is some evidence to suggest that attention to calorie counting can have a detrimental effect on those with eating disorders (EDs). The aim of this review is to summarise current research relating to the impact of restaurant menu calorie labelling on people with EDs. A search was carried out using the CINAHL Complete and Medline databases. Ten papers were included in the final review. Recent statistics show that the incidence of EDs is increasing. These studies assessed the impact of calorie information on people with EDs. Policies, such as calorie labelling on restaurant menus, could be a contributing factor. Studies exploring the effect the policy has had on obesity levels have not demonstrated a significant positive impact on reducing calorie intake. Qualitative studies conducted in England show the extent to which people with EDs are affected. Much of the data from the transcripts highlighted the negative thoughts that this policy has evoked. A review of the literature has demonstrated that this policy has had a negative impact on people with EDs and little benefit for those with obesity, who may also experience EDs. Full article

Integrated water resource management (IWRM) has been globally recognized as a key strategy for advancing toward water security; however, Chile has not yet implemented it. While water governance in the country has been predominantly analyzed through documents and laws, integrating empirical insights from local actors’ perspectives is essential. This study applied the trialogue model of governance to understand stakeholders’ perspectives and relationships, to identify barriers to achieving water security, and to explore the roles of different actors in enhancing governance systems. The research design focused on the Biobío River Basin (BRB) as a case study, employing a qualitative strategy for data collection through semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data analysis consisted on a thematic analysis, where interview transcripts were coded to identify relevant topics. The results reveal that Chile’s highly centralized governance structure, along with inadequate information management and socioeconomic conflicts related to the construction of hydroelectric power plants, pose significant barriers to achieving water security in the BRB. Key opportunities to address barriers include legal reforms, improved information management, and strengthened enforcement and supervision. Achieving effective governance relies heavily on legal reforms, mobilizing resources and creating spaces for raising social awareness. Transparent and accessible data-sharing mechanisms are also crucial for better information management. Although the trialogue model is a valuable framework for analyzing river basin governance, it is necessary to emphasize the need to account for the intricate nature of the society cluster in future studies. Full article

Kidney allograft rejection is one of the main limitations to long-term kidney transplant survival. The diagnostic gold standard for detecting rejection is a kidney biopsy, an invasive procedure that can often give imprecise results due to complex diagnostic criteria and high interobserver variability. In recent years, several additional diagnostic approaches to rejection have been investigated, some of them with the aid of machine learning (ML). In this review, we addressed studies that investigated the detection of kidney allograft rejection over the last decade using various ML algorithms. Various ML techniques were used in three main categories: (a) histopathologic assessment of kidney tissue with the aim to improve the diagnostic accuracy of a kidney biopsy, (b) assessment of gene expression in rejected kidney tissue or peripheral blood and the development of diagnostic classifiers based on these data, (c) radiologic assessment of kidney tissue using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and the construction of a computer-aided diagnostic system. In histopathology, ML algorithms could serve as a support to the pathologist to avoid misclassifications and overcome interobserver variability. Diagnostic platforms based on biopsy-based transcripts serve as a supplement to a kidney biopsy, especially in cases where histopathologic diagnosis is inconclusive. ML models based on radiologic evaluation or gene signature in peripheral blood may be useful in cases where kidney biopsy is contraindicated in addition to other non-invasive biomarkers. The implementation of ML-based diagnostic methods is usually slow and undertaken with caution considering ethical and legal issues. In summary, the approach to the diagnosis of rejection should be individualized and based on all available diagnostic tools (including ML-based), leaving the responsibility for over- and under-treatment in the hands of the clinician. Full article

Over the last decade there has been increasing interest in the links between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and various neuropsychiatric disorders, aggression, and antisocial behavior. Neurolaw is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to translate the rapid and voluminous advances in brain science into legal decisions and policy. An enhanced understanding of biophysiological mechanisms by which ultra-processed foods influence brain and behavior allows for a historical reexamination of one of forensic neuropsychiatry’s most famous cases—The People v. White and its associated ‘Twinkie Defense’. Here in this Viewpoint article, we pair original court transcripts with emergent research in neurolaw, including nutritional neuroscience, microbiome sciences (legalome), pre-clinical mechanistic research, and clinical intervention trials. Advances in neuroscience, and related fields such as the microbiome, are challenging basic assumptions in the criminal justice system, including notions of universal free will. Recent dismissals of criminal charges related to auto-brewery syndrome demonstrate that courts are open to advances at the intersection of neuromicrobiology and nutritional neuroscience, including those that relate to criminal intent and diminished capacity. As such, it is our contention that experts in the neurosciences will play an increasing role in shaping research that underpins 21st-century courtroom discourse, policy, and decision-making. Full article

Using the figure of the ethnic Pathan/Pashtun as a trope in South Asian culture, this essay provides a genealogical account of the modern emergence of Hindu–Muslim “religious” conflicts played along the lines of nation-thinking in the Indian subcontinent. This modern phenomenon begins in the late 18th century, with the orientalist transcriptions of a vast conglomerate of diverse Indic faiths into a Brahminical–Sanskritic Hinduism and a similar telescoping of complex Islamic intellectual traditions into what we can call a “Mohammedanism” overdetermined by Islamic law. As such, both these transcriptions had to fulfill certain Christological expectations of western anthropology in order to emerge as “religions” and “world religions”, that is, when, as Talal Asad has shown, “religion” was constructed as an anthropological category within the parameters of European secular introspection and the modern expansion of empire. Both Hinduism and Islam therefore had to have a book, a prophetic figure, a doctrinal core, and a singular compendium of laws. Upper caste Sanskritic traditions therefore dominated Hinduism, and a legal supremacist position dominated the modern reckoning of Islam at the expense of philosophy, metaphysics, poesis, and varieties of artistic self-making. Together, the two phenomena also created the historical illusion (now industrialized) that Brahminism always defined Hindu societies and the Sharia was always a total fact of Islam. Full article

With the legalization of marijuana smoking in several states of the United States and many other countries for medicinal and recreational use, the possibility of its release into the environment cannot be overruled. Currently, the environmental levels of marijuana metabolites are not monitored on a regular basis, and their stability in the environment is not well understood. Laboratory studies have linked delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC) exposure with behavioral abnormalities in some fish species; however, their effects on endocrine organs are less understood. To understand the effects of THC on the brain and gonads, we exposed adult medaka (Oryzias latipes, Hd-rR strain, both male and female) to 50 ug/L THC for 21 days spanning their complete spermatogenic and oogenic cycles. We examined transcriptional responses of the brain and gonads (testis and ovary) to Δ⁹-THC, particularly molecular pathways associated with behavioral and reproductive functions. The Δ⁹-THC effects were more profound in males than females. The Δ⁹-THC-induced differential expression pattern of genes in the brain of the male fish suggested pathways to neurodegenerative diseases and pathways to reproductive impairment in the testis. The present results provide insights into endocrine disruption in aquatic organisms due to environmental cannabinoid compounds. Full article

Several studies have identified the main barriers and facilitators that breast cancer survivors experience in the return to work (RTW). The authors conducted a qualitative study using focus group discussions with a group of female non-metastatic breast cancer survivors (n = 6), a group of health professionals from different medical specialties (n = 8), and a third group of company managers mainly composed of human resources managers (n = 7). The study was carried out between March and December 2021 in Zaragoza (Spain). Transcripts were analyzed using inductive content analysis to identify work-related barriers and facilitators and coded by the research team. Barriers identified included physical and cognitive symptoms, psychosocial problems, lack of knowledge and coordination (health professional, patients, and managers), legal vacuum, physical change, time constraints, work characteristics (lower skilled jobs), unsupportive supervisors and coworkers, family problems and self-demand. Facilitators included family and work support, physical activity and rehabilitation, personalized attention, interdisciplinary collaboration, legal advice for workers, knowledge about breast cancer in companies, positive aspects of work, elaboration of protocols for RTW in women with breast cancer. RTW in working women with breast cancer requires a personalized and holistic view that includes the perspectives of patients, healthcare professionals and company managers. Full article

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most well-known causes of neurological impairment and disability in the world. The Forkhead Box class O (FOXO) 3a is a transcription factor that is involved in different molecular processes, such as cell apoptosis regulation, neuroinflammation and the response to oxidative stress. This study is the first to evaluate the post-mortem immunohistochemical (IHC) positivity of FOXO3a expression in human cases of TBI deaths. The autopsy databases of the Legal Medicine and Forensic Institutes of the “Sapienza” University of Roma and the University of Pisa were retrospectively reviewed. After analyzing autopsy reports, 15 cases of TBI deaths were selected as the study group, while the other 15 cases were chosen among non-traumatic brain deaths as the control group. Decomposed bodies and those with initial signs of putrefaction were excluded. Routine histopathological studies were performed using hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining. Furthermore, an IHC investigation on cerebral samples was performed. To evaluate FOXO3a expression, anti-FOXO3a antibodies (GTX100277) were utilized. Concerning the IHC analysis, all 15 samples of TBI cases showed positivity for FOXO3a in the cerebral parenchyma. All control cerebral specimens showed FOXO3a negativity. In addition, the longer the survival time, the greater the positivity to the reaction with FOXO3a was. This study shows the important role of FOXO3a in neuronal autophagy and apoptosis regulation and suggests FOXO3a as a possible potential pharmacological target. Full article

Although Thailand is overtly open to diversity and promotes equality, discrimination of minorities based on gender, ethnicity, and/or certain occupations is unfortunately still prevalent. Society either obstructs their inclusion or accepts them but only under certain conditions. The objective of this study is to examine the discrimination of TGWs with intersectional identities within Thai society. A total of 19 TGW participants were recruited and underwent in-depth thematic interviews about their experiences of discrimination. Rechecking of the extracted information from the interview transcripts and the subsequent encoding process were conducted using the NVivo program. The results show that the median age was 30 years old, and the majority of the individuals with intersectional identities were ethnic minority TGWs (47%). The in-depth interviews were divided into four main themes, including discrimination at an educational institution, discrimination in the workplace, discrimination in daily life, and discrimination at a healthcare facility. Our findings reflect problems associated with multiple sources of discrimination aimed at transgender women with an intersectional identity in Thailand in every aspect, including harsh speech or physical abuse; occupational, social, and legal inequality; and healthcare provision disparity. Raising awareness about gender diversity and intersectionality, as well as enforcing anti-bullying legislation and anti-discrimination laws, should be continually pursued in order to protect the rights and improve the quality of life of transgender individuals with an intersectional identity. Full article

The workplace is an ideal environment for promoting workers’ health. Nevertheless, preventive health measures are insufficiently implemented, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with up to 250 employees. The aim of this study was to investigate determinants for the implementation of measures to prevent musculoskeletal and mental health disorders from the perspective of enterprise representatives in Dutch SMEs. An online survey was completed by 79 SME representatives (e.g., owners, HR professionals and occupational health and safety officers) in the cleaning, care, construction and transport sectors. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 enterprise representatives. The interview transcripts were analyzed using an inductive approach. Survey data showed that the focus of prevention efforts by SMEs is on improving working conditions and complying with legally required occupational health requirements, while lifestyle measures are rarely implemented. The determinants of implementation according to enterprise representatives were associated with 10 distinct themes. These were (1) available resources (both finances and staff), (2) complexity of implementation of measures, (3) awareness, (4) knowledge and expertise, (5) availability of time, (6) employer and worker commitment, (7) workers’ openness for measures, (8) communication, (9) workers’ trust and autonomy and (10) integration in organizational policy. These findings can serve as a support for developing strategies for implementing preventive health measures in SMEs. Full article

Despite the worldwide promotion of a “restraint-free” model of care due to the questionable ethical and legal issues and the many adverse physical and psychosocial effects of physical restraints, their use remains relatively high, especially in the intensive care setting. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the experiences of nurses using physical restraints in the intensive care setting. Semi-structured interviews with 20 nurses working in intensive care units for at least three years, were conducted, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Then, the transcripts were analyzed according to the qualitative descriptive approach by Sandelowsky and Barroso (2002). Six main themes emerged: (1) definition of restraint, (2) who decides to restrain? (3) reasons behind the restraint use, (4) physical restraint used as the last option (5) family involvement, (6) nurses’ feelings about restraint. Physical restraint evokes different thoughts and feelings. Nurses, which are the professionals most present at the patient’s bedside, have been shown to be the main decision-makers regarding the application of physical restraints. Nurses need to balance the ethical principle of beneficence through this practice, ensuring the safety of the patient, and the principle of autonomy of the person. Full article

The discovery of clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and their cooperation with CRISPR-associated (Cas) genes is one of the greatest advances of the century and has marked their application as a powerful genome engineering tool. The CRISPR–Cas system was discovered as a part of the adaptive immune system in bacteria and archaea to defend from plasmids and phages. CRISPR has been found to be an advanced alternative to zinc-finger nucleases (ZFN) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) for gene editing and regulation, as the CRISPR–Cas9 protein remains the same for various gene targets and just a short guide RNA sequence needs to be altered to redirect the site-specific cleavage. Due to its high efficiency and precision, the Cas9 protein derived from the type II CRISPR system has been found to have applications in many fields of science. Although CRISPR–Cas9 allows easy genome editing and has a number of benefits, we should not ignore the important ethical and biosafety issues. Moreover, any tool that has great potential and offers significant capabilities carries a level of risk of being used for non-legal purposes. In this review, we present a brief history and mechanism of the CRISPR–Cas9 system. We also describe on the applications of this technology in gene regulation and genome editing; the treatment of cancer and other diseases; and limitations and concerns of the use of CRISPR–Cas9. Full article

Human placenta-derived multipotent stem cells (PDMCs) resembling embryonic stem cells can differentiate into three germ layer cells, including ectodermal lineage cells, such as neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. The favorable characteristics of noninvasive cell harvesting include fewer ethical, religious, and legal considerations as well as accessible and limitless supply. Thus, PDMCs are attractive for cell-based therapy. The Schwann cell (SC) is the most common cell type used for tissue engineering such as nerve regeneration. However, the differentiation potential of human PDMCs into SCs has not been demonstrated until now. In this study, we evaluated the potential of PDMCs to differentiate into SC-like cells in a differentiation medium. After induction, PDMCs not only exhibited typical SC spindle-shaped morphology but also expressed SC markers, including S100, GFAP, p75, MBP, and Sox 10, as revealed by immunocytochemistry. Moreover, a reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed the elevated gene expression of S100, GFAP, p75, MBP, Sox-10, and Krox-20 after SC induction. A neuroblastoma cell line, SH-SY5Y, was cultured in the conditioned medium (CM) collected from PDMC-differentiated SCs. The growth rate of the SH-SY5Y increased in the CM, indicating the function of PDMC-induced SCs. In conclusion, human PDMCs can be differentiated into SC-like cells and thus are an attractive alternative to SCs for cell-based therapy in the future. Full article

“Chosen family”—families formed outside of biological or legal (bio-legal) bonds—is a signature of the queer experience. Therefore, we address the stakes of “chosen family” for queer and transgender (Q/T) young adults in terms of health, illness and the mutual provision of care. “Chosen family” is a refuge specifically generated by and for the queer experience, so we draw upon anthropological theory to explore questions of queer kinship in terms of care. We employ a phenomenological approach to semi-structured interviews (n = 11), open coding, and thematic analysis of transcriptions to meet our aims: (1) Develop an understanding of the beliefs and values that form the definition of “chosen family” for Q/T young adults; and (2) Understand the ways in which “chosen family” functions in terms of care for health and illness. Several themes emerged, allowing us to better understand the experiences of this population in navigating the concept of “chosen family” within and beyond health care settings. Emergent themes include: (1) navigating medical systems; (2) leaning on each other; and (3) mutual aid. These findings are explored, as are the implications of findings for how health care professionals can better engage Q/T individuals and their support networks. Full article