Controversial Cases Research Articles

Embracing Controversy: A Second Look at CDC Reform Efforts in the Wake of COVID-19.

Addressing criticism that the agency's Covid-19 response was lacking, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has proposed internal agency reforms intended to improve its performance during the next pandemic. They are aimed at improving surveillance and analytic capacity and agency communications. This essay, via a counterfactual analysis of the CDC's proposed reforms, asks how, if completed in advance of Covid-19, they might have changed outcomes in four cases of guidance controversy during the pandemic. CDC planned reforms, though they have merit, are predicated on the ability to come to "scientific closure" in a highly charged political environment. To improve outcomes in a future pandemic, the agency should consider how it plans to communicate with the public when recovering from error and when addressing controversy spurred by criticism from credible experts. However, the ability of future presidents to limit CDC performance and communications in the next pandemic and the lack of political consensus around the value of independent public health expertise threaten the agency's reform goals.

Restitution and the Treaty of Versailles: Restitution from Germany to France, 1918–1928

This article proposes a re-examination of one of the most controversial cases of reparations: the Treaty of Versailles. By focusing on Article 238, which stipulated the restitution of objects stolen or displaced by the German army during the First World War, we can see that the treaty helped to solidify norms concerning the protection of civilian property in wartime and gave civilians a right to have a voice in international law. However, the process of restitution was beset with both practical and political challenges and its success hinged on the role of public authorities, the nature of the objects returned and the impact of social class dynamics. Through this study, we are able to gain a more nuanced understanding of the possibilities of restitution, its potential as well as its limitations.

Textual Analysis of CT and MR images in bladder cancer: The promise and pitfalls in systematic review

Introduction: Textual analysis is a new stage in the development and improvement of radiology. Textual analysis (TA) or radiomics is a method of in-depth study of medical images using specialized computer programs. It`s based on the quantification of invisible features and provides tools for researchers to gain deep insights into tumor morphology.A number of mathematically extracted texture features (TF) can be correlate with morphological, molecular and genotypic characteristics of the studied field of interest. Aim: Analysis of the literature and comparative evaluation of publications to perform challenges and possibilities of texture analysis in bladder cancer. Materials and methods: We searched for scientific publications in the PubMed and Google Scholar information and analytical systems for 2016-2024 by keywords: «bladder cancer», «bladder cancer radiomics», «mri bladder cancer»». As a result, 40 articles were selected for analysis. Results: Our review demonstrates the methodology, challenges, opportunities and prospects of TA CT and MP imagesin bladder cancer.Numerous studies have demonstrated high accuracy of radiomics in local staging and estimation of tumor morphology, as well as in prediction of clinical outcomes. Conclusion: TA in controversial clinical cases is a useful way of increasing theinformationobtainable frommedical images. Further validation of these methodis required however.

Inconsistency of Americans’ opinions on free speech: evidence from three survey experiments

ABSTRACT A conventional wisdom is that Americans strongly support freedom of speech. However, recent experimental studies show that opinions on specific controversial cases involving freedom of speech can be affected by ideology and partisanship. In this research note, we explore the consistency of Americans’ support for the general principles of free speech. In three survey-experimental studies that ask questions about different aspects of free speech, we show that Americans’ opinions on free speech are inconsistent. First, responses to the free speech questions are strongly affected by their polarity. Second, reliability of the resulting scale is surprisingly low. Third, employing double-barreled questions that contrast free speech to other values (social justice and patriotism) increases the scale’s reliability. Taken together, these findings suggest that, first, abstract free speech questions simply measure tolerance and, second, framing free speech measures around specific controversies better captures free speech attitudes.

The Request of Xiangling: A Controversial Case on Silencing

Dream of the Red Chamber has been one of the well-known novels in China, which has contributed to an area named “redology.” In the realm of redology, there are a lot of controversies about the silencing of Xiangling’s request for Baochai (one main character of the Red Chamber) to teach her poetry. However, few researchers have tried to analyze this conversation through a linguistic angle. This paper will introduce the Austinian approach to silencing to this controversial case in Dream of the Red Chamber, which could make essential distinctions between important concepts, and provide a coherent explanation for the reason why Xiangling insisted on her specific request to learn poetry and why Baochai had such systematic recognition failures. Through the case study, this paper proves that Xiangling suffers illocutionary silencing in her conversation with Baochai by refuting possible counterarguments. It is significant not only to the explanation of this novel, but also to expansion of application of Austin’s speech act theory.

Eutrophicated: Tracking colonial histories of phosphate matter and the Plantationocene inheritances of the River Wye

This article examines the River Wye in the southwest UK as a political ecology marked by relations of colonial inheritance. A controversial case of contemporary British river pollution, the Wye is suffering from increasingly dramatic eutrophication events, with nutrient pollution from mineral phosphate fertilisers used in industrial agriculture causing algal blooms that destroy the river's ecology. This paper complicates dominant framings of the Wye's eutrophication as a local event and future crisis, instead arguing that eutrophication is structured by over a century of colonial histories of phosphate. Motivated by recent debates in geography and other cognate disciplines on decolonial ecology and the Plantationocene that point to the colonial origins of ecological crisis, this paper develops a theoretical framework of inheritance/transmission to articulate the situated histories of violence and dispossession shaping phosphate matter. It then empirically tracks the phosphate inheritances of the Wye by analysing the archives of the British Phosphate Commissioners (1873–1983), a 20th century governmental company that procured fertiliser for the British Empire by intensively mining phosphates on the Pacific Islands of Nauru and Banaba. Through this archive emerges a history in which, on a national and local level, the Wye is connected to the people, corporations, and institutions responsible for the emergence of the mineral phosphates industry that has spread ecological devastation across the globe. Through theoretically and empirically examining the Wye's phosphate inheritances, this paper foregrounds ethical obligations to think systematically and historically about phosphates as a prerequisite for bringing about deep structural changes needed to repair phosphate's harms.

Discussing discarded models: an integrative teaching resource

This study proposes a kind of teaching resource adaptable to different levels of teaching and training objectives that allows the introduction of contextual issues and concepts of history and the nature of science while providing tools for learning modeling and integrating different kinds of knowledge. A controversial case from science history was sought to develop an integrating teaching activity. The case to find must be one that confront at least two different models to solve a scientific problem or a technological one. Torricelli’s theory vs. horror vacui theory as it was modified by Galileo result a useful case to take as content for the teaching activity. Groups of students must argument in favor and against each of theories or models. The proposed activity introduces future teachers in the student’s role, considering that they will play the teacher’s role when they use similar activities with their future students. Moreover, it trains future physics teachers to integrate modeling, history and nature of science.

Schopenhauer, Judicial Compassion, and the Case of Cecilia the Chimpanzee

Abstract Over the last decades, a growing body of literature has focused on the role of compassion in legal decision making. To this respect, judicial compassion has been almost exclusively thematized in relation to human animals. In this paper, I claim that compassion shows itself especially relevant when judges should decide controversial cases involving animals. Drawing on Schopenhauer’s account of compassion, I contend that this emotion in particular can contribute to good decision making. To illustrate the argument, I analyze a renowned case from Argentinian jurisprudence: the case of Cecilia the chimpanzee.

Exploring AI-chatbots’ capability to suggest surgical planning in ophthalmology: ChatGPT versus Google Gemini analysis of retinal detachment cases

BackgroundWe aimed to define the capability of three different publicly available large language models, Chat Generative Pretrained Transformer (ChatGPT-3.5), ChatGPT-4 and Google Gemini in analysing retinal detachment cases and suggesting...

Can we differentiate patients with dysferlinopathies and inflammatory myopathies by ultrasound? A discriminant analysis study.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are a heterogeneous group of diseases that are characterized by inflammation and muscle weakness. Dysferlinopathies are autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophies caused by mutations in DYSF, which share a similar clinical presentation and histopathological inflammatory changes. To determine the sonographic differences between dysferlinopathies and IIM and whether these differences allow their classification. This observational, cross-sectional, and analytical study evaluated 20 muscles from 11 patients with dysferlinopathies and 11 patients with IIM. The patients were matched for age, sex, and disease duration. Clinical and laboratory variables were analyzed. Semi-quantitative scales were used to weigh the gray scale and power Doppler muscle abnormalities. Descriptive statistics were computed and discriminant analysis was performed to determine the ultrasound variables that best predicted the final diagnosis. Forty muscles were evaluated. Atrophy and higher Heckmatt scale scores were observed in patients with dysferlinopathies. A set of three muscles (biceps/brachialis, quadriceps, and gastrocnemius) had a diagnostic accuracy of 100% (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 100%; canonical coefficient, 0.733 p < 0.001). A set of two formulas was used to classify both diseases correctly. In the present study, scanning of three muscle groups showed high diagnostic accuracy in differentiating dysferlinopathies from MII. Ultrasound can be used as an initial test in patients with suspected muscle disease or as an additional tool to support diagnosis in controversial cases.

Nucleotides and nucleotide derivatives as signal molecules in plants

Abstract In reaction to a stimulus, signaling molecules are made, generate a response, and are then degraded. Nucleotides are classically associated with central metabolism and nucleic acid biosynthesis, but there are a number of nucleotides and nucleotide derivatives in plants to which this simple definition of a signaling molecule applies in whole or at least in part. These include cytokinins, chloroplast guanosine tetraposphate (ppGpp), as well as extracellular canonical nucleotides such as extracellular adenosine triphosphate (eATP) or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (eNAD+). In addition, there is a whole series of compounds derived from NAD+ such as adenosine diphosphate (ADP) ribose (ADPR), ATP-ADPR dinucleotides and their hydrolysis products (e.g. pRib-AMP) as well as different variants of cyclic ADPR (cADPR, 2'-cADPR, 3'-cADPR). Furthermore, cyclic nucleotides such as 3',5'-cAMP or 2',3'-cyclic nucleoside monophosphates. Interestingly, some of these compounds have recently been shown to play a central role in pathogen defense. In this review, we highlight these exciting new developments. We also review nucleotide derivatives that are considered candidates for signaling molecules, for example purine deoxynucleosides, for which the evidence base is still rather thin, and discuss more controversial cases.

An unreported accessory muscle on the neck region

Anatomical variations or accessory muscles on the neck region are important for clinicians and surgeons. This case report aims to contribute to the literature by demonstrating the presence of a previously unrecognized muscle on the lateral neck region. During routine gross anatomy dissection of a 59-year-old male cadaver; an unreported muscle was observed next to the scalene muscles on the left lateral neck region. The distance between the center of the scalenus medius and the insertion of the muscle was 6.17 cm, and the distance between the scapular notch and the insertion of the muscle was 1.56 cm. The distance between the aponeurosis that connects the superior and the inferior bellies of the omohyoideus muscle and the first head of the muscle was 6.24 cm. This anatomical formation, which is not included in the literature, has anatomical and clinical importance in controversial clinical cases in neck pathologies.

Exploring the role of artificial intelligence, large language models: Comparing patient-focused information and clinical decision support capabilities to the gynecologic oncology guidelines.

Gynecologic cancer requires personalized care to improve outcomes. Large language models (LLMs) hold the potential to provide intelligent question-answering with reliable information about medical queries in clear and plain English, which can be understood by both healthcare providers and patients. We aimed to evaluate two freely available LLMs (ChatGPT and Google's Bard) in answering questions regarding the management of gynecologic cancer. The LLMs' performances were evaluated by developing a set questions that addressed common gynecologic oncologic findings from a patient's perspective and more complex questions to elicit recommendations from a clinician's perspective. Each question was presented to the LLM interface, and the responses generated by the artificial intelligence (AI) model were recorded. The responses were assessed based on the adherence to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and European Society of Gynecological Oncology guidelines. This evaluation aimed to determine the accuracy and appropriateness of the information provided by LLMs. We showed that the models provided largely appropriate responses to questions regarding common cervical cancer screening tests and BRCA-related questions. Less useful answers were received to complex and controversial gynecologic oncology cases, as assessed by reviewing the common guidelines. ChatGPT and Bard lacked knowledge of regional guideline variations, However, it provided practical and multifaceted advice to patients and caregivers regarding the next steps of management and follow up. We conclude that LLMs may have a role as an adjunct informational tool to improve outcomes.

Письма судей и органов судейского сообщества как объект проверки в порядке гражданского и административного судопроизводства

The procedures for citizens to challenge the decisions, action (inaction) of state bodies and officials are widespread in Russian procedural law. Notwithstanding the clear, at first glance, regulation of objects of verification and list of persons, whose decisions, action (inaction) can be appealed in court, in practice there're still controversial cases when citizens and organizations try to protest the letters from judges containing answers on procedural and non-procedural issues arising during the resolution of the case on the merits. Particularly it's about determining the legal nature of letters from judges on the return of statements of claim, on the termination of correspondence with the party; letters sent by court staff (consultants, etc.); letters from bodies of the judicial community. In order to qualify the letters from judges that are not issued as a court ruling the author offers to determine signs of judicial rulings in them. As for letters sent by court staff and bodies of the judicial community the author, based the object and subject criteria, concludes that it is unacceptable to appeal such documents in civil or administrative proceedings.

Los Factores asociados al uso progresivo de la fuerza policial en Ecuador

The continuous growth of insecurity in the country questions the performance of the National Police in guaranteeing order and internal security in the country, especially due to the controversial cases of inaction and extralimitation in the use of force in recent years. In this sense, the present research work sought to determine the explanatory factors associated with the extralimitation and limitation of the progressive use of force by police officers working in Subzone No. 11 Loja. Therefore, 165 police officers belonging to the Loja subzone were surveyed and the chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test were used to identify whether there are statistically significant relationships between categorical variables. It was identified that the factors associated with the limitation of the progressive use of force are: understanding of the regulations on the use of lethal force, the perception of human rights (they contribute to the police officer acting in strict compliance with the law), legal responsibility and poor staffing; while the factors associated with excessive actions are the perception of article 293 of the COIP and the frequency with which police officers receive training.

Diverse counter accounts for biodiversity conservation: The case of the High Ross Dam controversy

The key aim of this article is to reflect on the potential impacts of various types of historical counter accounts, used by civil society to promote resistance and conservation. For this purpose, the High Ross Dam controversy (in the 1970s) represents an important and unique historical case of social–political biodiversity conservation action, by civil society. A detailed case study is presented that includes an analysis of civil society opposition through counter accounts. Technical and non-technical counter accounts of resistance by civil society are investigated, using Escobar's theoretical framework. Examples of historical counter accounts serve as outstanding precedents of civil society activism for biodiversity against business and political agendas.

Novel biomarkers reveal mismatch between tissue and serum thyroid hormone status in amiodarone-induced hyperthyroidism.

Serum TSH and thyroid hormone (TH) levels are routine markers of thyroid function. However, their diagnostic performance is limited under special conditions, e.g. in amiodarone-induced hyperthyroidism (AIH). Such cases would require the assessment of tissue TH action, which is currently unfeasible. Development of an approach that determines how well serum parameters are reflected in tissue TH action of patients. TH-responsive marker genes were identified from human hair follicles (HF) with Next Generation Sequencing, validated by qPCR. A classification model was built with these markers to assess tissue TH action and was deployed on amiodarone treated patients. The impact of amiodarone on tissue TH action was also studied in Thyroid Hormone Action Indicator (THAI) mice. The classification model was validated and shown to predict tissue TH status of subjects with good performance. Serum- and HF-based TH statuses were concordant in hypothyroid and euthyroid amiodarone treated patients. In contrast, amiodarone decreased the coincidence of serum-based and HF-based TH statuses in hyperthyroid patients, indicating that AIH is not unequivocally associated with tissue hyperthyroidism. This was confirmed in the THAI model, where amiodarone prevented tissue hyperthyroidism in THAI mice despite high serum fT4. We developed a minimally-invasive approach using HF markers to assess tissue TH economy that could complement routine diagnostics in controversial cases. We observed that a substantial proportion of AIH patients do not develop tissue hyperthyroidism, indicating that amiodarone protects tissues from thyrotoxicosis. Assessing tissue TH action in patients with AIH may be warranted for treatment decisions.

State Sovereignty: Concept and Conceptions

The terms “sovereignty” and “state” are used very loosely in scholarly literature. “State sovereignty” is central to many scholarly disciplines and controversial real case scenarios, including territorial disputes; pandemics; arms, drug and human trafficking; terrorism; and the flow of refugees. Unsurprisingly, when academics apply the term “state sovereignty” disagreements can be expected. This paper reviews a series of conceptions pertaining to “state sovereignty” and proposes a shift from the current unidimensional understanding to a multidimensional approach. This is because state sovereignty is an intricate concept that includes several pluralisms, such as agents and the roles they play in their interrelations (e.g. individuals, communities and states), contexts (i.e. domestic, regional and international), realms (e.g. factual, normative and axiological) and modes of existence (i.e. ideal, natural, cultural and metaphysical elements and features). Hence, this paper argues that different understandings on state sovereignty are not due to ontological discrepancies but relate to either epistemological choices because different scholars and scientific disciplines are interested in a particular pluralism pertaining to state sovereignty rather than the concept as a whole, or to axiological choices tightly linked to individuals, communities and/or states often ignored or undisclosed views and perceptions. By applying a multidimensional approach and taking into account two variables—time and space—the paper explains why the different conceptions on state sovereignty are connected with value judgments that still refer to the same concept applied to the object or subject of study (ontology) but from particular epistemological presuppositions often hidden, ignored or neglected.

Культурный трансфер в семиотической модели перевода (на примере художественного текста Дж. Хеллера)

The goal of the work is to identify the influence of temporary discursive practices on specific translation decisions. From this goal follow specific tasks in this work: to present discursive and interpretive models of translation; correlate the provisions of these concepts with real translation practice; use factual material to show translation decisions determined by temporary discursive practice. The article also explores ways to convey culturally significant information, provides successful and controversial cases of solving translation tasks through linguistic means. Translation problems, including literary translation, in contemporary philological and cultural studies are interdisciplinary. Only at the intersection of semiotic concepts and literary approaches it is possible to determine the accuracy and completeness of translation decisions in the practice of literary translation. In turn, the study of the issue of cultural transfer in this case, based on various translations of J. Heller’s novel, allows us to overcome the limiting framework of purely philological approach in translation studies. Comparing the work of translators with respect to the same text - in our case, “Catch-22” fills the-abstract concept of the “translator’s figure” with real content, especially when considering the socio-cultural environment that influenced the specificity of translation decisions. The article represents an analysis of current issues in the theory and practice of literary translation. The work offers a review of modern translation models, primarily a discursive model of translation, interpretative concept and the perception of translation as an interpretation of the source text in the existing discursive practice. This research is funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP23485752).

Application of Intravascular Ultrasound During Percutaneous Coronary Interventions in Controversial Cases and Complex Atherosclerotic Lesions

The aim of the study is to present our own experience of using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) for making a clinically informed decision to perform percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a particular patient. Material and methods: A 65-year-old patient with angina pectoris and a positive exercise test, which revealed horizontal ST depression in the chest leads, underwent diagnostic coronary angiography, which diagnosed stenosis of up to 50 % of the trunk of the left coronary artery (LCA). In this connection, IVUS was performed to make a decision on the advisability of performing PCI. According to IVUS data, the area of narrowing of the LCA trunk was 60 %. There is a “torn” edge of the intima of the vessel with severe calcification in the largest segment of the narrowing, which indicates the “instability” of the atherosclerotic plaque. The patient underwent PCI with stenting of the LCA trunk with a transition to the proximal segment of the anterior descending artery (LAD) due to the spread of an atherosclerotic plaque at the mouth of the LAD. Conclusion: IVUS plays an important role in the decision to perform PCI in controversial cases and complex atherosclerotic lesions.