Normative Patterns Research Articles

“Good childhood”: children’s perception and evaluation of transnational families

In public debates, transnational families are portrayed as a deviation from the norm of “good childhood.” In Europe, this is emphasized by the term “Euro-orphans,” branding parents’ (especially mothers’) absence as a violation and scandalizing it. Children’s voices are rarely heard in public discourse, and although research is now turning its attention to the “stayer children,” they and their perspectives on transnational family life remain underrepresented, especially in Europe. In a German-Polish project, we investigate how children perceive and evaluate transnational family life based on 27 group discussions with 12-14-year-olds (with and without own transnational family experience) in Poland. The analysis shows that (1) the presence of parents is central to the normative pattern of a good childhood from children’s perspective, but (2) they use differentiated criteria when assessing (temporary) parental migration, i.e., they do not refer to “universal” needs of children. Additionally, (3) children request that they be informed about the migration-decision early on and involved in the organization of the time of separation to make it as acceptable as possible for them. Thereby, they offer interpretations of transnational families that contribute to erode the norm of good childhood. We see our paper as a sociologically and socio-politically relevant contribution to expanding the discussion on transnational families, both from the perspective of children who discuss and problematize transnational family life as more than merely a question of violating the norm of parents’ presence, and with our focus on the European region, which provides specific contextual conditions for transnational families.

Benchmarking Anomaly Detection Methods: Insights From the UCR Time Series Anomaly Archive

ABSTRACTAnomaly detection, vital for identifying deviations from normative data patterns, is particularly crucial in sensor‐driven real‐world applications, which predominantly involve temporal data in the form of time series. Traditional evaluation of anomaly detection methods has relied on public benchmark datasets. Yet, recent revelations have uncovered inherent flaws and inadequacies in these datasets, casting doubt on the perceived progress in the field. To address this challenge, the UCR Time Series Anomaly Archive has been recently proposed—a meticulously curated database comprising 250 time series—designed to provide a robust and error‐free benchmark for anomaly detection research. This paper comprehensively evaluates state‐of‐the‐art anomaly detection techniques using the UCR Time Series Anomaly Archive. Our findings demonstrate the efficacy of current methods in accurately detecting anomalies across an important portion of datasets without additional optimization, underscoring the archive's utility as a foundational baseline for future research and development in anomaly detection methodologies.

Identification of distinct subtypes of post-stroke and neurotypical gait behaviors using neural network analysis of kinematic time series data.

Heterogeneous types of gait impairment are common post-stroke. Studies used supervised and unsupervised machine learning on discrete biomechanical features to summarize the gait cycle and identify common patterns of gait behaviors. However, discrete features cannot account for temporal variations that occur during gait. Here, we propose a novel machine-learning pipeline to identify subgroups of gait behaviors post-stroke using kinematic time series data. We analyzed ankle and knee kinematic data during treadmill walking data in 39 individuals post- stroke and 28 neurotypical controls. The data were first input into a supervised dual-stage Convolutional Neural Network-Temporal Convolutional Network, trained to extract temporal and spatial gait features. Then, we used these features to find clusters of different gait behaviors using unsupervised time series k-means. We repeated the clustering process using 10,000 bootstrap training data samples and a Gaussian Mixture Model to identify stable clusters representative of our dataset. Finally, we assessed the kinematic differences between the identified clusters using 1D statistical parametric mapping ANOVA. We then compared gait spatiotemporal and clinical characteristics between clusters using one-way ANOVA. We obtained five clusters: two clusters of neurotypical individuals (C1 and C2) and three clusters of individuals post-stroke (S1, S2, S3). C1 had kinematics that resembled the normative gait pattern. Individuals in C2 had a shorter stride time than C1. Individuals in S1 had mild impairment and walked with increased bilateral knee flexion during the loading response. Individuals in S2 had moderate impairment, were the slowest among the clusters, took shorter steps, had increased knee flexion during stance bilaterally and reduced paretic knee flexion during swing. Individuals in S3 had mild impairment, asymmetric swing time, had increased ankle abduction during the gait cycle and reduced dorsiflexion bilaterally during loading response and stance. Every individual was assigned to a cluster with a cluster membership likelihood above 93%. Our results indicate that joint kinematics in individuals post-stroke are distinct from controls, even in those individuals with mild impairment. The three subgroups post-stroke showed distinct kinematic impairments during specific phases in the gait cycle, providing additional information to clinicians for gait retraining interventions.

Lingering shadows of childhood corporal punishment: Family trajectories across decades

AbstractObjectiveCorporal punishment is the most common form of violence against children worldwide. This study adopts a life course perspective to examine associations between childhood corporal punishment and distinct multi‐decade family trajectories from young adulthood to middle adulthood in China. Specifically, it examines how childhood parental punishment shapes later family life course trajectory patterns, incorporating partnership, marriage, and fertility outcomes, and considers different sources of punishment (maternal and paternal) and potential gender differences (sons and daughters).BackgroundAccumulating evidence reveals that corporal punishment is not only unnecessary as a disciplinary technique but also harmful to children. This evidence has led to a worldwide movement to eliminate any non‐accidental use of physical force against children. However, previous research often assesses isolated family outcomes without considering family development as a dynamic and interconnected process, resulting in an ambiguous understanding of childhood corporal punishment's long‐reaching influence on unfolding family pathways.ResultsResults uncovered both stability and diversity in Chinese family trajectories, with the majority following stable marital norms. Experiencing childhood corporal punishment increased the odds of an early unstable trajectory characterized by divorce and remarriage. Moreover, the implications of childhood paternal punishment appeared more wide‐ranging than maternal punishment in terms of sorting into normative versus atypical family trajectory patterns. Childhood maltreatment also overrides influences of child gender, similarly impacting future family trajectories across genders.ConclusionThis research highlights the profoundly disruptive effects of corporal punishment on family development throughout the lifespan, carrying important implications for fostering healthier and more resilient families.

Non-invasive monitoring of adrenocortical activity in the Gould’s wattled bat (Chalinolobus gouldii)

Although bats are the second most species-rich mammalian order, very little is known about their endocrine physiology. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are commonly associated with the stress response, but also modulate vital physiological functions which help animals adapt to their environment. Understanding normal patterns of adrenocortical activity can provide valuable insights into a species’ fitness. Non-invasive hormone monitoring via faecal samples provides an integrated measure of adrenocortical activity while minimising stress on the animal but must be properly validated to ensure reliable results. The goal of this study was to validate an enzyme immunoassay for monitoring faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs) in a common Australian insectivorous bat species, the Gould’s wattled bat (Chalinolobus gouldii). We compared the performance of five assays for monitoring changes in FGMs following capture and transfer of C.gouldii from the wild to captivity. Four of the five assays detected a significant increase in FGMs following capture, but the magnitude of the increase and consistency across individuals differed considerably. We selected the UVM-69a assay as the best performing assay to then describe normative patterns of adrenocortical activity in the species. Males had higher FGM levels than females, and juveniles had higher FGM levels than adults. Individuals with poorer body condition had higher FGM levels. We also demonstrate seasonal patterns of FGMs with higher levels in March and April corresponding with reproductive up-regulation and lower levels in May and November. Our study is the first of its kind to examine adrenocortical activity in an Australian insectivorous bat and provides a valuable tool for studying this species. Understanding adrenal function in common species such as C.gouldii can shed light on the physiological mechanisms facilitating survival and success in changing environments.

Feeding Method, Nicotine Exposure, and Growth during Infancy

ObjectiveTo answer three questions: 1) Are infants breastfed by smokers at risk of rapid weight and length gain? 2) Is rapid growth during infancy partially attributable to ingestion of smokers’ breastmilk? 3) If so, what are the implications for breastfeeding by smokers? Study DesignUsing data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study and Medical Birth Registry of Norway (N=54,522) we examined changes in weight, length, weight-for-length z-score (WFLZ) during infancy in the context of maternal smoking (0, 1-10, >10 cigarettes/day) and feeding method during the first 6 months (breastfed, formula-fed, mixed-fed). We fit generalized linear models, adding a smoking by feeding method interaction term to evaluate the effect of ingesting smokers’ breastmilk. ResultsBreastfed infants of both light and heavy smokers experienced WFLZ gains of 0.05 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.09), and 0.13(95% CI: 0.07, 0.18) respectively. Among mixed-fed infants, only heavy maternal smoking predicted WFLZ gain (0.10; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.16). Among exclusively formula-fed infants maternal smoking did not predict rapid growth. Interaction models suggest that infants ever-breastfed (i.e., breastfed and mixed-fed groups combined) by heavy smokers gained weight (100 grams; 95%CI: 30, 231) and length (2.8 mm; 95%CI:0.1, 5.6) attributable to ingesting smoker’s breastmilk. ConclusionsInfants breastfed by smokers experience rapid growth, some of these gains are attributable to ingesting smokers’ breastmilk. Among infants breasted by light smokers, these gains are within the range of normative growth patterns for healthy, breastfed infants.

‘찾아가는 평생교육’ 정책의 동형화와 탈동형화 현상 분석: ‘D자치구’ 사례를 중심으로

Objectives The purpose of this study is to reveal how the ‘visiting lifelong education’ policy is accepted, settled, and changed and developed in the region from the perspective of the isomorphism theory of sociological institutionalism. Methods To this end, the case of D Autonomous District, which introduced the nation's first “visiting lifelong education” policy in 2009, was selected, focusing on the “visiting lifelong education” policy adopted and promoted by most lifelong learning cities as a major policy, and the phenomenon of isomorphism and decoupling of policies was analyzed. As a research method, in-depth interviews (FGI) were conducted with public officials and lifelong educators who worked from the introduction of the ‘D Autonomous Region’ policy until recently, and internal and external policy data were collected and analyzed to understand policy performance and changes. Results As a result of the analysis, the ‘visiting lifelong education’ policy of ‘D Autonomous Region’ was forced isomorphism according to institutional pressure and resource dependence pursued by the lifelong learning city policy to realize a learning society, and imitative isomorphism occurred while benchmarking Japan's lifelong learning city case. In addition, within the organization in charge of policy projects, a normative isomorphism pattern was also found through networking between lifelong educators and external experts. On the other hand, as policies were stabilized and systematized, decoupling phenomena such as compromise on the imbalance between supply and demand, strategic avoidance to maintain the current system and operation method, and refusal to demand social change appeared. Conclusions Through the isomorphism theory, this study was able to find out how lifelong education policies are accepted, changed, developed, and stagnated in the region in social, institutional, and organizational interactions. In the process of policy implementation, strategically selected isomorphism and decoupling strategies according to internal and external influencing factors create new policy practices and lead to policy regression and stagnation. Therefore, strategic policy choices and changes that respond quickly to changes in the historical and social environment are necessary to ensure flexible policy operation and sustainability in response to the demands of the new era.

Normative cortical activation patterns in children distinguishing one or two tactile sensory inputs points: An functional MRI study

AbstractThis study aims to determine if children follow the same cortical activation patterns as adults when responding to two‐point discrimination sensory stimuli during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We recruited 15 children with typical development, aged between 8 and 16 years. These participants were asked to complete a two‐point discrimination test (task block) while undergoing an fMRI scan. In the two‐point stimulus test, strong activation compared to baseline was observed in the left and right frontal orbital cortex. The inferior parietal lobe also exhibited activity, particularly on the right side, with activation in both the supramarginal and angular gyri. Further activity was evident in the left supramarginal gyrus and the left paracingulate gyrus. This novel study on fMRI two‐point discrimination testing in children shows the activation patterns in key brain regions involved in somatosensory discrimination and decision making.Practical ApplicationsThis study provides crucial normative data on cortical activation patterns during two‐point discrimination testing in typically developing children. Such data serve as a valuable reference point for future research investigating sensory processing and cognitive function in pediatric populations. Researchers can use these findings to establish benchmarks and compare cortical activation patterns in children with neurodevelopmental conditions. This information is essential for exploring pathology, which may affect tactile sensation techniques and developing targeted interventions tailored to individual needs in pediatric treatment. Additionally, it lays the groundwork for further exploration into the neural mechanisms underpinning somatosensory discrimination, potentially leading to advancements in understanding and treating sensory‐related disorders in children.

Spatiotemporal patterns in cortical development: Age, puberty, and individual variability from 9 to 13 years of age.

Understanding normative patterns of adolescent brain change, and individual variability therein, is crucial for disentangling healthy and abnormal development. We used longitudinal human neuroimaging data to study several aspects of neurodevelopment during early adolescence and assessed their organization along a sensorimotor-to-association (S-A) axis across the cerebral cortex. Age differences in brain changes were linear and curvilinear along this S-A axis. However, individual-level sensorimotor-association alignment varied considerably, driven in part by differences in age, sex, and pubertal development.

A protocol to quantify cross-sectional and longitudinal differences in duction patterns.

Currently, there is no established system for quantifying patterns of ocular ductions. This poses challenges in tracking the onset and evolution of ocular motility disorders, as current clinical methodologies rely on subjective observations of individual movements. We propose a protocol that integrates image processing, a statistical framework of summary indices, and criteria for evaluating both cross-sectional and longitudinal differences in ductions to address this methodological gap. We demonstrate that our protocol reliably transforms objective estimates of ocular rotations into normative patterns of total movement area and movement symmetry. This is a critical step towards clinical application in which our protocol could first diagnose and then track the progression and resolution of ocular motility disorders over time.

Developmental trajectories of mother-adolescent agreement on maternal autonomy support and their contributions to adolescents' adjustment.

Based on a multi-informant, longitudinal perspective on parent-adolescent relationships, this study examined patterns of convergence and divergence on maternal autonomy support. It had two aims: First, it sought to identify developmental trajectories of maternal autonomy support across adolescence from the perspectives of both mothers and adolescents. A second was to evaluate the longitudinal relation between self-reported and perceived maternal autonomy support by combining informants' trajectories. Data come from two 5-year longitudinal multi-informant studies (NS1 = 687 mother-child dyads; NS2 = 745 mother-child dyads). Each year, mothers and adolescents completed a questionnaire assessing maternal autonomy support. In both the samples, results of growth mixture modeling showed from mothers' perspective the presence of two distinct trajectories: high (91% of the sample) and moderate and relatively stable (9%) trajectories. From the adolescents' perspective, three trajectories were identified: high and relatively stable (75.7%), high and decreasing (11.8%), and moderate and increasing (12.5%). The normative mother-adolescent convergence pattern was one in which both adolescents and their mother reporting high levels of autonomy support. It was generally associated with more positive indices of adjustment, although academic achievement was highest when adolescents reported comparatively more autonomy support than their mother. The worst mother-adolescent convergence pattern tended to be one in which both reported initially moderate levels of autonomy support that remained relatively stable for mothers and increased for youths. Implications for parenting research and interventions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Коментар щодо популяризації фізичної активності серед дітей та молоді

Topicality. Multiple studies have confirmed the significance of physical activity for the health of children and adolescents. However, in the majority of young individuals, their level of physical activity is insufficient. The aim of this article is to draw on the extensive experience of the Children’s Physical Activity Research Group (CPARG) team to develop a set of recommendations on promoting physical activity in children and youth. Methods of the research. The CPARG has applied public health research methods to the study of physical activity, that could be used to promote children’s physical activity at the population level. Results of the work and the key conclusions. A conceptual model for a set of recommendations regarding physical activity for children and youth has been developed, based on research and experience from CPARG, and divided into five categories. Two recommendations focus on persuading, prompting, and praising children and youth for engaging in physical activity at the individual and societal levels. Two recommendations emphasize the importance of providing places where children can engage in safe structured (programs), unstructured (play), and transportation physical activity, and one additional recommendation in the play, programs, participation & pleasure category stresses the importance of structuring these opportunities to facilitate fun, engagement, and enjoyment for children of all ages and abilities. Two recommendations address the need for enacting and enforcing practices and policies to promote physical activity at the local to national levels. Finally, three recommendations build toward the goal of engaging in behaviors at the individual to societal levels to convey physical activity as the normative pattern, communicating that physical activity is what we do.

Navigating change: an exploration of socio-epistemic process of extending Wikidata ontology with new properties

PurposeThe paper addresses the issue of change in Wikidata ontology by exposing the role of the socio-epistemic processes that take place inside the infrastructure. The subject of the study was the process of extending the Wikidata ontology with a new property as an example of the interplay between the social and technical components of the Wikidata infrastructure.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, an interpretative approach to the evolution of the Wikidata ontology was used. The interpretation framework was a process-centric approach to changes in the Wikidata ontology. The extension of the Wikidata ontology with a new property was considered a socio-epistemic process where multiple agents interact for epistemic purposes. The decomposition of this process into three stages (initiation, knowledge work and closure) allowed us to reveal the role of the institutional structure of Wikidata in the evolution of its ontology.FindingsThis study has shown that the modification of the Wikidata ontology is an institutionalized process where community-accepted regulations and practices must be applied. These regulations come from the institutional structure of the Wikidata community, which sets the normative patterns for both the process and social roles and responsibilities of the involved agents.Originality/valueThe results of this study enhance our understanding of the evolution of the collaboratively developed Wikidata ontology by exposing the role of socio-epistemic processes, division of labor and normative patterns.

Young Children of Mothers with a History of Depression Show Attention Bias to Sad Faces: An Eye-tracking Study

Maternal depression is a predictor of the emergence of depression in the offspring. Attention bias (AB) to negative emotional stimuli in children may serve as a risk factor for children of depressed parents. The present study aimed to examine the effect of maternal major depressive disorder (MDD) history on AB to emotional faces in children at age four, before the age of onset for full-blown psychiatric symptoms. The study also compared AB patterns between mothers and their offspring. Fifty-eight mothers and their four-year-old children participated in this study, of which 27 high-risk (HR) children had mothers with MDD during their children’s lifetime. Attention to emotional faces was measured in both children and their mothers using an eye-tracking visual search task. HR children exhibited faster detection and longer dwell time toward the sad than happy target faces. The low-risk (LR) children also displayed a sad bias but to a lesser degree. Children across both groups showed AB towards angry target faces, likely reflecting a normative AB pattern. Our findings indicate that AB to sad faces may serve as an early marker of depression risk. However, we provided limited support for the mother-child association of AB. Future research is needed to examine the longitudinal intergenerational transmission of AB related to depression and possible mechanisms underlying the emergence of AB in offspring of depressed parents.

ANALYSIS OF MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS FOR SEISMIC ANOMALY DETECTION IN INDONESIA: UNVEILING PATTERNS IN THE PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

This study presents an integrated analysis of machine learning algorithms for the detection of seismic anomalies in Indonesia, a region within the volatile Pacific Ring of Fire. Employing Local Outlier Factor, Isolation Forest, and Elliptic Envelope algorithms, we processed a comprehensive dataset of seismic events characterized by latitude, longitude, depth, and magnitude. Our methodology involved standardizing these features and aggregating model predictions to establish a consensus mechanism for outlier detection. The results indicated that the vast majority of seismic events are consistent with the expected geological patterns, with a negligible percentage exhibiting anomalous behavior across the models. Through statistical analysis and visual mapping, we discerned that while anomalies are varied, they may correlate with specific seismic event features such as higher magnitudes or unique geographic locations. The consensus approach revealed a high-confidence subset of outliers, offering a focused direction for further seismological scrutiny. The study's implications extend to enhancing seismic risk assessment and early warning systems, providing a methodological framework for identifying seismic events that deviate from normative patterns. By outlining a scalable approach for anomaly detection, this research contributes to the predictive analytics tools available for disaster risk management and emergency preparedness, aiming to mitigate the impact of seismic hazards in seismically active regions

Mapping the duration and severity of preschool-aged children's depressive moods and behaviors.

Depressive moods and behaviors are developmentally normative, yet potentially impairing, in preschool-aged children. In addition to frequency, duration of behavior is an important parameter to consider when characterizing risk for worsening mood dysregulation. The goal of this study was to identify the duration and severity of depressive moods and behaviors and associations with impairment in a large community sample of preschool-aged children using an online parent-report daily diary. Primary caregivers (N = 900) of 3-5-year-old children reported the daily duration of each instance of seven depressive moods and behaviors for 14 days. We used item response theory analyses to examine duration item characteristics. Moods and behaviors occurred at specific durations to be considered psychometrically severe/rare; for example, instances of sadness had to last an average total of 32 min per day or more, irritability at least 38 min, tantrums at least 30 min, and tearfulness/sensitivity at least 35 min. Longer durations of mood and behavior were associated with daily impairment, as well as older child age and less parental education. To our knowledge, this is the first study to delineate specific duration ranges for depressive moods and behaviors in preschool-aged children. These data, coupled with information about the frequency of mood-related behaviors, can assist child practitioners in differentiating normative patterns from less normative mood problems to evaluate which children may be at risk. Future work should identify the duration of depressive moods and behaviors in early childhood that predict clinically significant psychopathology over time.

How do consumers make behavioural decisions on social commerce platforms? The interaction effect between behaviour visibility and social needs

AbstractThe online phenomenon of social commerce (i.e., s‐commerce) platforms has emerged as a combination of online social networking and e‐commerce. On s‐commerce platforms, consumers can observe others' behavioural decisions and can distinguish those made by their friends from those made by their followees (i.e., the people a focal consumer follows but who do not follow that consumer back). Given this distinction, our study examines how consumers' behavioural decisions—regarding, for example, purchases, ratings, or “likes”—are made on s‐commerce platforms, with a focus on how they are influenced by prior decisions of friends and followees. Combining panel data from a large s‐commerce platform and two controlled experiments, we identify a strong normative social influence pattern in which consumers tend to follow others' prior decisions to gain social approval. Because the occurrence of normative social influence depends on both consumer behaviours with high public visibility and strong consumer needs to establish social ties, the unique information concerning behaviour visibility and consumers' social needs in the panel data allows us to identify normative social influence and to distinguish it from informational confounding mechanisms. Our panel data results show that on a friend network, where consumers' behavioural decisions are visible, females exhibit a greater tendency to follow others' prior decisions than males. We attribute this result to the stronger social needs of females. However, on a followee network, where behavioural decisions are invisible, these differences become less evident. Moreover, the two experiments demonstrate that making decision contexts private or activating social needs via a priming procedure can thwart (or even turn off) normative social influence. Our findings challenge prior research that identifies informational social influence as the predominant driver of conformity behaviours and thus have important implications for practice related to normative social influence, such as the development of techniques for satisfying consumers' different social needs depending on their gender or any other situational factors on s‐commerce platforms.

Longitudinal study of childhood sleep trajectories and adolescent mental health problems.

To investigate whether childhood sleep trajectories are associated with mental health symptoms such as social phobia, generalized anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct problems, and opposition at age 15. A total of 2120 children took part in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Childhood sleep trajectories were computed from maternal reports at 2.5, 3.5, 4, 6, 8, 10, and/or 12 years. At age 15, 1446 adolescents filled out mental health and sleep questions. A path analysis model was assessed in the full sample. Four childhood nocturnal sleep duration trajectories were identified: (1) a short pattern (7.5%), (2) a short-increasing pattern (5.8%), (3) a 10 hours pattern (50.7%), and (4) an 11 hours pattern (36.0%). Three childhood sleep latency trajectories were found: (1) a short pattern (31.7%), (2) an intermediate pattern (59.9%), and (3) a long pattern (8.4%). Finally, two childhood wakefulness after sleep-onset trajectories were found: (1) a normative pattern (73.0%) and (2) a long pattern (27.0%). The path analysis model indicated that children following a long childhood sleep latency trajectory were more likely to experience symptoms of depression (β = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.12), ADHD (β = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.13), conduct problems (β = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.00 to 0.10) and opposition (β = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.13) at age 15. This longitudinal study revealed that children presenting a long sleep latency throughout childhood are at greater risk of symptoms of depression, ADHD, conduct problems, and opposition in adolescence.

The Psychoanalytic study of traumatic psyches of Tomas of “The Unbearable lightness of being” and Blanche Du Bois of “A Streetcar named Desire”

T. S. Eliot in his most acclaimed work ‘The Hollow Men’ very rightly mentioned that “This is the way the world ends, Not with the bang but with the whimper” , the slow and gradual crumbling of the universe is what the characters covered within the ambit of this paper experiences. The two characters i.e Tomas from Milan Kundera’s chef d’ oeuvre, ‘The Unbearable lightness of being’ and Blanche Du Bois from Tennessee Williams masterpiece ‘A streetcar named Desire’ have one thing in common that both of them were challenging the existing normative behavioral pattern and was trying to make things seem content in the disillusioned universe. Both Tomas and Blanche can be seen as portraying the image of the disillusioned modern men/women lost in the realm of something in between the unstable private or personal and the hostile Public realms. Amidst the upheavals and turmoil Kundera’s protagonist was searching for the meaning of the ‘self’ and on the other side Blanche was assertive towards her feminine sensibility. This research work will attempt a psychoanalytic study of the progression of the characters and will attempt an analysis that how their assertive ‘self’ suffered a tragic end. This paper will further discuss the ‘Oedipus’ like fate of Tomas arising due to his ill judgments and the development of Masculinity complex in Blanche Du Bois while highlighting the interplay of Animus leading to her tragic fate.

Gloss to the Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Third Chamber) of 25 November 2021 in Case C‑488/20, Delfarma SP. Z o.o. v. Prezes Urzędu Rejestracji Produktów Leczniczych, Wyrobów Medycznych i Produktów Biobójczych

Medicinal products are a special type of goods due to their importance for human health and life, and their trade is generally under the scope of Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use. The preamble to this act states that the essential aim of the rules governing the production, distribution and use of medicinal products must be to safeguard public health. Hence, in the above-mentioned directive, the rules related to the authorisation of medicinal products for marketing and pharmacovigilance are very important. At the same time, it should be noted that parallel import of medicinal products as a form of trade in an EU Member State in connection with their authorisation for marketing in another Member State, although it has a long tradition, has not had a clear normative pattern, and has not been subject to the scope of Directive 2001/83/EC. It is based on the achievements of the acquis communautaire developed in this area and the principle of free movement of goods (Article 34 TFEU) and its exceptions set out in Article 36 TFEU concerning the protection of human health and life. The commented judgment sets an example of one more verdict confirming the interpretation of Articles 34 and 36 TFEU, according to which national provisions of a Member State should be considered unacceptable, according to which the withdrawal of the marketing authorisation for the reference medicinal product in the country of import has the automatic effect of expiring the parallel import authorisation. At the same time, new circumstances affecting the safety of the medicinal product on the market were analysed to give the conclusion as declared in the sentence.