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Contempt Proceedings Al Amin:Commentary
No full textThe four decisions that are subject of this commentary all pertain to the ancillary proceedings for contempt against Ibrahim Mohamed Al Amin and the company Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. Particularly, the cases concern the publication of two articles on 15 and 19 January 2013 by the journal Al Akhbar, owned by Akhbar Beirut S.A.L., and directed by Mr. Ibrahim Mohamed Ali Al Amin in his capacity of Editor-in-Chief and Chairman of the Board of Directors.According to the indictment, the two articles, published in print and online in both Arabic and English, disclosed information on more than 30 purported confidential witnesses taking part in the Ayyash et al. case. Consequently, Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and Mr. Al Amin were charged with contempt pursuant to Rule 60bis of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Rules of Procedure and Evidence (RPE), for “knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice by: publishing information on purported confidential witnesses in the Ayyash et al. case, thereby undermining public confidence in the Tribunal’s ability to protect the confidentiality of information about, or provided by, witness or potential witnesses”.Notwithstanding the fact that the four decisions fall under a common umbrella (i.e., contempt proceedings), they deal with different focal issues, and therefore require separate analyses. Specifically, the analysis in this commentary is divided as follows: the first part focuses on the two decisions of 5 June 2014 and of 11 February 2016 by the contempt Judge Nicola Lettieri, specifically on the issues of self-representation and in absentia proceedings in the case of a “recalcitrant accused”; the second part focuses on the decision of 31 January 20214 by the contempt Judge David Baragwanath and on the judgment of the contempt Judge Nicola Lettieri of 15 July 2016, specifically on the definition of the offense of contempt and its application to corporations
Is climate change a valid reason for migration? Evidence from a conjoint experiment
No full textSignificant changes in climate that impact livelihoods, physical health, and human security raise the question: Is climate change perceived as a valid criterion for long-term immigration, and if so, by whom and under what circumstances? To address these questions, we conducted a well-powered conjoint experiment with a quota-representative sample of Dutch respondents. Consistent with recent literature, our findings reveal that, in terms of public favorability, climate migrants are perceived more favorably than economic migrants but less favorably than asylum seekers fleeing persecution. Moreover, our results challenge the expectation that political ideology and climate attitudes moderate the favorability toward climate migrants
Now and yet Not New:Principles of Global Law in UNCITRAL Working Group III
No full textThis article approaches the question of time by investigating the special legalnature of the principles guiding the work of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III, and discusses the outcome of the first two years of the working group’s operation as a form of global law. It analyses what global law is and what ‘time’ has to do with it. A discussion of the notion of universal justice in relation to the question of time results in underscoring the relevance of the recurrence in time of certain juridical principles, no matter which philosophical theory of time one defends.Revisiting the history of investment law, the article shows that commentators, arbitrators and legal experts in the West invoked certain juridical principles that protected the position in the global economy of colonised protectorates and newly independent States, before investment law started to evolve as an expression of neoliberal economic ideology. The latter situation hasdominated the discourse of investment law until some of these juridical principles reappearedin the calls for reform of the mechanism of Investor to State Dispute Settlement more thantwo decades ago, and in its actual reform. The article concludes that global law is constitutedby the recurrence and timely application of juridical principles such as the State priorityprinciple, the principle of the protection of the weak and the principle of participation indifferent periods of time, as these principles contribute to build a global community despiteopposing forces and widespread skepticism
Licence to Pollute? Revisiting the Regulatory Compliance Defence in Civil Proceedings in Cases of Human Rights Violations
No full textThere are various examples of industrial activities carried out in compliance with public regulation or permits that result in harm to human health and the environment. In several legal systems, regulatory compliance may have a safeguarding effect in civil proceedings, often preventing civil law from providing legal protection against the harmful consequences of industrial activities. This article discusses under which circumstances such a safeguarding effect of regulatory compliance is untenable when human rights are at stake. It argues that Articles 2 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights influence the civil liability of operators and limit regulatory compliance as a defence in private law litigation
Pedagogical considerations in the automation era: A systematic literature review of AIEd in K-12 authentic settings
No full textThe introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into education holds promise for supporting and augmenting teaching and learning-related activities. Yet, despite its potential, there is limited empirical research on the use of AI in K-12 settings exploring the pedagogical grounding, impact and implications of the technological solutions. The current paper reports a systematic literature review of 28 papers that addresses the topic of AI technologies in authentic settings. We applied etic and emic content analysis to the collected data. Our results indicated that most AI research is conducted in China and the United States, and investigates AI solutions for primary education. As main AI technologies we found social robots, augmented reality and intelligent systems. The review also revealed that half of the papers lack a solid pedagogical foundation and a contextualisation under concrete course conditions. Finally, most AI solutions focus mainly on learning outcomes without exploring the teacher needs and impressions. Our findings suggest the need for research to focus on: (a) AIEd localisation to fit the AI context of different regions; (b) contextualisation of the tool design under several course conditions and learning theories; (c) equal attention on teacher agency and autonomy within the AIEd era; and (d) systematisation of the evaluation of sustained pedagogical effects (e.g., cognitive, relational, affective effects) apart from student learning outcomes. We envision that our research can support the design, development and deployment of AI tools in K-12 under such pedagogical considerations, hence contributing to strengthen the ties between pedagogy and AI practices in authentic settings
Going in circles? - Identifying the dissemination process of healthcare networks within their member organizations
No full textPurpose-oriented networks are the dominant organizational model for collaboratively addressing complex healthcare challenges. However, their impact on health outcomes remains limited, because organizations rarely adapt their practices based on network-level decisions. Using an in-depth multiple case study of three multihospital networks, we therefore developed a process model to understand the dissemination process from the network level to the operational level. The study utilized 24 hours of network meeting observations, 241 pages of document analysis, and 39 semi-structured interviews with representatives attending network meetings and operational-level constituents. We identified a cyclical five-component dissemination process: achievement of transferrable output, brokerage activities of representatives, internal transfer, adoption within member organizations, and organizational input in the network. Three overarching inhibiting factors-lack of time, lack of commitment, and constituency misalignment-influence each component. This model, rooted in network theory and implementation science, explains why many networks fail. Furthermore, it offers a framework for network managers to navigate each component systematically, addressing threats and barriers to enhance the dissemination process and network success
The crosstalk between immune activation and metabolism in heart failure. A scientific statement of the Heart Failure Association of the ESC
No full textA better understanding of additional mechanisms of heart failure (HF) progression may allow a different and more complete phenotyping of the disease and identification of novel therapeutic targets. Persistent latent myocardial inflammation/immune activation in HF may represent an attempt to restore tissue homeostasis in the failing heart, where cardiomyocytes and immune cells undergo metabolic reprogramming, which allows them to deal with decreased availability of nutrients and oxygen. This status can trigger a metabolic crosstalk between immune cells and cardiomyocytes which, depending on the outcome, can either perpetuate the maladaptive remodelling of the heart, or determine an adaptive response. Therefore, the interplay between immune activation and metabolism is gaining recognition as a potential therapeutic framework. On these premises, future studies addressing novel HF treatments should attempt to evaluate the potential therapeutic role of direct metabolic and immunological crosstalk modulation. The aim of the present scientific statement from the Heart Failure Association of the ESC is to summarize the current evidence for the connection between inflammatory and immune activation and metabolic adaptation in the onset and progression of HF, in order to promote future strategies for the development of targeted-disease preventive and therapeutic measures
Baseline atrial volume indices and major adverse cardiac events following thoracic radiotherapy
No full textIntroduction Patients receiving thoracic radiotherapy (RT) have an increased risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) posttreatment. We utilized machine learning (ML) to discover novel predictors of MACE and validated them on an external cohort.Methods This multi-institutional retrospective study included 984 patients [n = 803 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), n = 181 breast cancer] treated with radiotherapy. Extreme gradient boosting was utilized to discover novel clinical, dosimetric, and anatomical features (CT-based cardiac substructure segmentations) associated with MACE in a cohort of locally advanced NSCLC patients. Fine-Gray regression was performed with non-cardiac death as a competing risk. External validation was performed utilizing independent cohorts of NSCLC or breast cancer patients.Results In the discovery dataset (n = 701), 70 patients experienced MACE. ML modeling (training AUC, 0.68; testing AUC, 0.71) identified right and left atrial volume indices (RAVI and LAVI, respectively) as top predictors. After adjusting for baseline cardiovascular risk and known radiotherapy predictive factors, RAVI was associated with an increased risk of MACE [subdistribution hazard ratio (sHR) 1.02/unit, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00-1.04; p = 0.03]. In the validation cohorts (n = 102 NSCLC; n = 181 breast cancer), RAVI was associated with an increased risk of MACE (NSCLC: sHR 1.05, 95% CI: 1.001-1.106, p = 0.04; breast cancer: sHR 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01-1.11, p = 0.03). Similar findings were found for LAVI.Discussion ML modeling identified right and left atrial enlargement as novel radiographic predictors for increased risk of MACE following chest radiotherapy, which was validated in independent breast and lung cancer datasets. Given that echocardiography studies have demonstrated the prognostic utility of atrial volume indices across cardiovascular risk groups, these findings warrant further study to identify additional strategies for upfront cardiovascular risk profiling
Type 2 diabetes and depression via microvascular dysfunction, neurodegeneration, inflammation, advanced glycation end products (AGEs), and arterial stiffness
No full textAims Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of depression, but the mechanisms underlying this association are incompletely understood. We investigated whether microvascular dysfunction, neurodegeneration, low-grade inflammation, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and arterial stiffness, pathologies that are more common in diabetes, explain, or mediate the association between type 2 diabetes and incident clinically relevant depressive symptoms. Materials and Methods We used prospective data from The Maastricht Study, a population-based cohort study. Diabetes status and potential mediators were assessed at baseline. Clinically relevant depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 score >= 10) were assessed at baseline and each year during a median of 8.1 (IQR 4.2, 10.1) years of follow-up. Mediation analysis was employed to investigate the mediating effect of microvascular dysfunction (retinal, blood and MRI biomarkers), neurodegeneration (retina and MRI biomarkers), low-grade inflammation (blood biomarkers), AGEs (skin and blood biomarkers) and arterial stiffness (tonometry and ultrasound biomarkers). Results Data of 6091 participants (age, 59.4 years [SD 8.6]; 51.3% women; 23.6% type 2 diabetes) were available. Type 2 diabetes was associated with a higher incidence of clinically relevant depressive symptoms (HR:1.37; 95% CI 1.13, 1.65). This association was partly mediated by microvascular dysfunction (proportion mediated:10.4% [95% CI:3.6%, 17.2%]); neurodegeneration (proportion mediated:12.1% [95% CI: 3.9%, 20.3%]); AGEs (proportion mediated:5.4% [95% CI: 3.0%, 8.8%]); and arterial stiffness (proportion mediated:8.4% [95% CI: 3.3%, 13.5%]); but not by low-grade inflammation. Conclusions The association between type 2 diabetes and a higher risk of clinically relevant depressive symptoms is partly mediated by microvascular dysfunction, neurodegeneration, AGEs and arterial stiffness
