Authoritative Sources Research Articles

Understanding and supporting change in health systems using the strategic action fields framework: the availability and origin of sources of authority

ABSTRACT Policy-driven change in public service systems is difficult to implement. We focus upon ‘sources of authority’, which figure within the Strategic Action Fields Framework (SAFF) as resources mobilized by socially skilled actors to catalyse and sustain change. Drawing on qualitative case studies evaluating a large-scale policy-driven change in the English NHS, the Vanguard New Care Models programme, we (1) expand the definitions of ‘sources of authority’ and (2) argue that ‘sources of authority’ vary across two intersecting dimensions. This expands the utility of the SAFF beyond understanding and evaluating policy impact, and offers practical opportunities for achieving change.

The Emergence of Interdisciplinary Environmental History

With the efflorescence of palaeoscientific approaches to the past, historians have been confronted with a wealth of new evidence on both human and natural phenomena, from human disease and migration to landscape change and climate. These new data require a rewriting of our narratives of the past, questioning what constitutes an authoritative historical source and who is entitled to recount history to contemporary societies. Humanities-based historical inquiry must embrace this new evidence, but to do so historians need to engage with it critically, just as they do with textual and material sources. This article highlights the most vital methodological issues, ranging from the spatiotemporal scales and heterogeneity of the new evidence to the new roles attributed to quantitative methods and the place of scientific data in narrative construction. It considers areas of study where the palaeosciences have “intruded” into fields and subjects previously reserved for historians, especially socioeconomic, climate, and environmental history. The authors argue that active engagement with new approaches is urgently needed if historians want to contribute to our evolving understanding of the challenges of the Anthropocene.

RHETORICA AD HERENNIVM 1.2: QVOAD EIVS, QVOD EIVS OR QVOAD?

Abstract Rhet. Her. 1.2 quoad eius fieri poterit contains the surprising reading quoad eius. Earlier scholarship has debated the authenticity of this reading and its relationship to quod eius. A survey of the sources shows that quod eius appears in a number of inscriptions as well as in the transmitted text of nine passages within surviving Latin literature. So that phrase must be authentic; it appears to have arisen as a limiting formula in the language of the law. In two other passages, quoad eius appears in inferior manuscripts that lack authority, while the reading transmitted by authoritative textual sources is quod eius. Rhet. Her. 1.2 is the only passage in which quoad eius is the transmitted reading. This phrase is also linguistically problematic. Hence it is very likely to be corrupt. It probably arose as a conflation of quod eius with quoad, both of which are attested in similar contexts. On balance, it seems more likely that the original reading in this passage was quoad.

Long COVID: Epidemiology, post-COVID-19 manifestations, possible mechanisms, treatment, and prevention strategies – A review

Background and objectives: The respiratory disease COVID-19 began in 2019 and quickly became a pandemic infecting millions of individuals across the globe. Many patients show lingering effects of the infection several days after testing negative for the disease. This has become known as “long COVID” and is defined by various sources as lasting anywhere from 4 weeks to periods. This is a review of the existing literature on long COVID which offersextensive insights into its clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment. Materials and method: Information on clinical features, mechanisms, treatment options, preventive measures, and epidemiology of long COVID is derived from an extensive review of scientific journals and pertinent authoritative sources. Results: The virus enters the cells via angiotensin-converting enzyme 2(ACE2) receptors. ACE2 receptors are present on numerous cell types throughout the body and thus the virus can affect several organs resulting in avariety of different symptoms. Long COVID symptoms include fatigue, dyspnea, headache, brain fog, and symptoms related to cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. Fatigue can affect upwards of 93% of patients suffering from long COVID. Failure of the body to clear the virus could initiate this chronic effect. Studies indicate that the use of antiviral drugs at the early phase of COVID-19 could prevent long COVID symptoms. Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 also might help prevent long COVID. Conclusion: Diagnosing and managing long COVID is challenging due to diverse symptoms, including mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Longitudinal studies and patient-oriented approaches are crucial for treatment, supported by policies and educational campaigns. Understanding the pathophysiology remains a top priority. July 2024; Vol. 18(2):003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55010/imcjms.18.015 *Correspondence: M. S. Zaman, Department of Biological Sciences, Alcorn State University, Lorman, MS 39096, USA; Department of Biology, South Texas College, McAllen, TX 78501, USA. Emails: zaman@alcorn.edu; mzaman@southtexascollege.edu

Defining an International Crime: Historical and Contemporary Developments

Despite the desirability of the identity of crimes being specific, the category of conduct constituting international crimes remains blurry. In consequence, the controversy over what is, or is not, an international crime has continued to rage on. Different criteria have been used to classify a specific conduct as an international crime. As a source of authority, some authorities point to the works of scholars, treaties, legal systems, the statutes of international criminal courts, or even works of the International Law Commission, to identify an international crime. Nevertheless, unanimity in identification remains elusive. Thus, this article examines differing perspectives on the constituents of international crimes. The analysis is relevant because the definition of crime forms the bedrock of international criminal justice. However, the paper finds that leaving the category of conducts constituting an international crime open, facilitates the inclusion of other grave or emerging forms of criminality, which may also rise to the threshold of the crimes within the jurisdiction of international criminal tribunals. Although this may appear advantageous, the need for predictability, consistency and uniformity in the categorization of an international crime cannot be overemphasized

Against abstraction: Reclaiming and reorienting to embodied collective knowledges of solidarity

This article asks what kinds of places are we making within academic institutions concerned with racial and gender justice, decolonization and reconciliation when the terms of justice are fostered through the violence of abstraction? As queer scholar-activists, we share firsthand accounts of our movement from sites of community activism to the halls of academe, revealing the techniques and consequences of abstracting racist and gendered violence and dispossession. We insist on a reorientation, meaning a return to and towards, our embodied collective knowledges as sources of authority on and against the violences of settler colonialism and racial capitalism. We first recount the roots of our activism when we met in spaces of solidarity in unceded Coast Salish territories. We then describe the ways we have experienced this collective knowledge being represented back to us as we moved into academic spaces, emphasizing the epistemic violence of abstracting knowledge from its messy, hard-wrought foundations. Finally, we share strategies and experiences of reorienting ourselves toward collective and embodied knowledges in which solidarity is once again at the centre. In dialogue, we reject the violence of abstraction while asserting knowledge sovereignty in which communities maintain agency within the terms in which their lives are represented.

Evaluation of a Decade-Long Prospective Earthquake Forecasting Experiment in Italy

Abstract Earthquake forecasting models represent our current understanding of the physics and statistics that govern earthquake occurrence processes. Providing such forecasts as falsifiable statements can help us assess a model’s hypothesis to be, at the least, a plausible conjecture to explain the observations. Prospective testing (i.e., with future data, once the model and experiment have been fully specified) is fundamental in science because it enables confronting a model with completely out-of-sample data and zero degrees of freedom. Testing can also help inform decisions regarding the selection of models, data types, or procedures in practical applications, such as Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis. In 2010, a 10-year earthquake forecasting experiment began in Italy, where researchers collectively agreed on authoritative data sources, testing rules, and formats to independently evaluate a collection of forecasting models. Here, we test these models with ten years of fully prospective data using a multiscore approach to (1) identify the model features that correlate with data-consistent or -inconsistent forecasts; (2) evaluate the stability of the experiment results over time; and (3) quantify the models’ limitations to generate spatial forecasts consistent with earthquake clustering. As each testing metric analyzes only limited properties of a forecast, the proposed synoptic analysis using multiple scores allows drawing more robust conclusions. Our results show that the best-performing models use catalogs that span over 100 yr and incorporate fault information, demonstrating and quantifying the value of these data types. Model rankings are stable over time, suggesting that a 10-year period in Italy can provide sufficient data to discriminate between optimal and suboptimal forecasts. Finally, no model can adequately describe spatial clustering, but those including fault information are less inconsistent with the observations. Prospective testing assesses relevant assumptions and hypotheses of earthquake processes truly out-of-sample, thus guiding model development and decision-making to improve society’s earthquake resilience.

Reforming Inspection of Childcare Provision: Lessons from Israel

AbstractThis study explores the impact of transitioning from structural quality to process quality in the regulation of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) for children aged birth to 3 years on the professional identity of inspectors. The research centers on a pilot program led by the Day Care Division at the Ministry of Welfare in Israel, which aimed to reform the inspection of day care facilities in the country. The methodology involves conducting 24 interviews with day care inspectors who participated in the pilot program, tracing their evolving understanding of their professional identity and their adaptation to the new regulatory model. The study's findings reveal that inspectors' professional identity comprises five key aspects: source of authority, inspection methods, superintendent's skill set, role perception, and their perception of the regulated entities. Inspectors are compelled to redefine their professional identity in response to changes in the regulatory model. In conclusion, this research underscores the intricate nature of inspectors' roles during periods of regulatory transformation. Shifting toward a process-oriented ECEC regulation necessitates the development of a new professional identity for inspectors. This shift presents them with heightened ethical dilemmas and exposes them to the risk of regulatory capture.

Cultural preservation through technology in UAE libraries

Purpose This study aims to explore how libraries in the United Arab Emirates use technology to preserve and digitize cultural and historical documents. It examined how these institutions use different technology models to facilitate the dissemination of UAE’s cultural traditions, practices, historical experiences and expressions to the local and global populations interested in learning about the country. Design/methodology/approach This study relied heavily on a review of the relevant literature and case studies covering how UAE libraries use technology to preserve, document and share tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The methodology entailed gathering and synthesizing relevant information from scholarly journal articles, government and reputable institutional resources online and reports. Collectively, it led to a close analysis of the impact of technology on cultural preservation and an assessment of the specific technology models preferred for optimal outcomes in preserving and disseminating cultural heritage information of the UAE. Findings Multiple UAE libraries rely heavily on technology to collect, record, translate and store cultural heritage information, including releasing it to users when required. The National Archives of the United Arab Emirates, the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive, Mohammed Bin Rashid Library, the UAE National Library and Archives, New York University Abu Dhabi and Khalifa University of Science and Technology and Research libraries have leveraged different technological models and tools to make UAE’s cultural heritage information available and accessible globally. Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, three-dimensional imaging and scanning, electronic archiving systems, document management systems and ICT storage systems have helped the UAE libraries to promote and disseminate the nation’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Originality/value By relying on scholarly and authoritative sources of information and evidence to draw conclusions, this study contributes to the existing literature by offering insights into the innovative strategies used by UAE libraries to leverage technology for cultural preservation and promotion. In underlining the value of digital approaches to safeguard tangible and intangible cultural heritage, the research highlights the instrumentalism of technology in preserving the UAE’s cultural heritage and identity.

Developing paremiological competence of international students within the framework of a Russian-Korean lexicographic project

The article examines the current issues of developing Korean students’ paremiological competence in the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language. The article shows the possibilities of implementing this task within the framework of a student lexicographic project. The participants in the project were Korean students of Russian and Russian-speaking students studying the Korean language and culture. The project activity was aimed at creating a bilingual (Russian-Korean) dictionary of proverbs. We describe the progress of the project and its results. In addition to the dictionary of proverbs published in Korea, the students developed precise interpretations of Russian proverbs, selected Korean equivalents of these proverbs and identified their ethnocultural specifics. Based on authoritative sources, linguocultural comments on proverbs of both languages were developed and included in the dictionary entries. This is how we realized the cross-cultural aspect of the paremiological material description. In the course of working on the project, the students developed the following parameters of paremiological competence: skills of disclosing the meaning, skills of establishing equivalence and providing a linguocultural commentary on proverbs. The final control section confirmed an increase in the students’ development level of these parameters, which allowed us to draw a conclusion about the effectiveness of the project work as a means of developing the international students’ paremiological competence. The article makes a conclusion about the possibility of using research materials in the practice of teaching Russian as a foreign language and in compiling educational paremiological dictionaries.

Nihilism and the ‘death of God’ in the work of Siouxsie and the Banshees

This article locates Siouxsie and the Banshees within the philosophical tradition of existentialism, specifically the work of Nietzsche and Heidegger. Aspects of 1970s British punk-rock share with Nietzsche a concern with the condition of ‘nihilism’. For Nietzsche, with the western decline in the belief in God, humankind no longer has an external source of authority within which meaning, evaluation and morality are anchored. Nietzsche’s philosophical project can be read as an elaboration of the conditions under which the creation of new values may be possible to avoid nihilistic despair. Following Nietzsche’s retreat into the Self, Heidegger is concerned with authentic existence: his philosophical project can be read as a call to an authentic life. The song ‘Israel’ by Siouxsie and the Banshees can be read as a commentary on the collective anxiety surrounding the ‘death of God’, nihilism and a preoccupation with authentic existence in the twentieth century.

Abstract LB143: Environmental assessment of alcohol-related policies and practices at US cancer organizations

Abstract In 1998, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared that the consumption of alcoholic beverages was a class I carcinogen to humans; the designation was reaffirmed in 2007 and 2010. Despite this, approximately 4% of new cancer cases worldwide in 2020 were attributable to alcohol intake. Growing evidence indicates that alcohol use increases the risk of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, and larynx) and lower digestive tract (colon, rectum, and liver). Over half of the 6.3 million cases of these cancers are considered preventable, underscoring notable gaps regarding alcohol consumption and cancer prevention. Despite (1) the longstanding designation of alcohol as an established carcinogen, (2) an increasing and consistent body of data noting alcohol as a leading contributor to the global cancer burden, and (3) the publication of policy statements by authoritative sources, it is unclear whether cancer-focused institutions are aware of these facts or are acting on these data (i.e., implementing evidence-based policies and practices to limit alcohol-related cancer risks for their employees, guests, or the public). Driven by these data and shortfalls, we developed a 22-item survey to inquire about cancer organizations' interpretation of current literature, existing policies, decision-making processes, inclination to act, and perceived responsibility to lead in the realms of public education and policy implementation to mitigate alcohol-related cancer risks in the public’s interest. The survey will be sent to over 100 leading U.S. cancer organizations, including NCI-designated- and other major cancer centers, cancer-oriented professional organizations, and cancer-research organizations. It underwent rigorous testing for clarity, brevity, and expected response time, also drawing upon the expertise of five survey-science professionals. The study is under institutional review board (IRB) review, and we anticipate the survey’s distribution in the first quarter of the calendar year 2024. We expect to share the survey instrument and results during the meeting. Citation Format: Meghan Si, Stephanie Martch, Sanjay Shete, Ernest Hawk. Environmental assessment of alcohol-related policies and practices at US cancer organizations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 2 (Late-Breaking, Clinical Trial, and Invited Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(7_Suppl):Abstract nr LB143.

Compilation, Translation and Vernacular Composition after Arundel: John Lydgate’s Life of Our Lady

Abstract John Lydgate’s Life of Our Lady (1416–1421), a digressive devotional poem centred on a biography of Mary and a liturgical cycle from Christmas to Candlemas, challenges recent critical opinions on the limited direct impact of Archbishop Thomas Arundel’s Constitutions of 1409. The poem both shapes and is shaped by the spirit of the age; it was likely intended for Henry V himself, survives in 50 manuscripts and was printed by William Caxton. In Life of Our Lady, Lydgate neither breaks the rules of Arundel’s Constitutions nor seeks reform. He experiences the rules as stimulation, not censorship. He will not straightforwardly apply Latinate authority to the vernacular. He draws attention to his authority as a writer, rather than to the language he uses, in order to create official ways to write an original, authoritative text for private use without Church intervention. He shows that neither compilation—as passive assembly of texts—nor translation—as a means of doing this in the vernacular—properly addressed the problems that Arundel had identified. Life of Our Lady purports to be an exercise in ‘dullness’ in the fifteenth century—self-effacement as the compiler and translator of authoritative sources—precisely because Lydgate uses the strictures of compilation and translation so cleverly to create his own vernacular authority. He uses this vernacular authority for original composition and to help readers in their private devotion.

A quality assessment of YouTube as an information resource for tonsillectomy

PurposeOnline resources are increasingly being utilised by patients to guide their clinical decision making, as an alternative or supplement to the traditional clinical-patient relationship. YouTube is an online repository of user and community generated videos, which is one of the most popular websites globally. We undertook a study to examine the quality of information presented in YouTube videos related to tonsillectomy. MethodsWe completed a systematic search of YouTube in May 2023 and identified 88 videos for inclusion in our study. Videos were published in the English language, focussing on tonsillectomy and tonsillectomy recovery, and were greater than 2 min in length. We recorded video quality metrics and two authors independently analysed the quality of information using three validated quality assessment tools described in the literature including the modified DISCERN, Global Quality Score, and the JAMA Benchmark Criteria. ResultsThe overall quality of the information was low with mean quality scores of Modified DISCERN (1.8 ± 1.3), GQS (2.6 ± 1.2), and JAMA Benchmark Criteria (1.6 ± 0.7). Information published by medical sources including medical professionals, healthcare organisations, and medical education channels scored significantly higher compared to non-medical sources across all quality measures and were of moderate overall quality and usefulness: Modified DISCERN (2.5 ± 1.1 vs 0.8 ± 0.9, z = −6.0, p < 0.001), GQS (3.2 ± 1.0 vs 1.7 ± 0.9, z = −5.7, p < 0.001), and JAMA (1.9 ± 0.8 vs 1.1 ± 0.3, z = −5.2, p < 0.001). Videos published during or after 2018 scored higher on Modified DISCERN (z = −3.2,p = 0.001) but not on GQS or JAMA. Video quality metrics such as total view count, likes, and comments, and channel subscriber count, did not correlate with higher video quality. However, amongst videos published by authoritative medical sources, total view count correlated positively with higher Modified DISCERN quality scores (p = 0.037). ConclusionThe overall quality and usefulness of YouTube videos on tonsillectomy is of low quality, but information published by authoritative medical sources score significantly higher. Clinicians should be mindful of increasing use of online information sources such as YouTube when counselling patients. Further research is needed in the medical community to create engaging, high-quality content to provide guidance for patients.

Telehealth Evaluation in the United States: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

The rapid expansion of telehealth services, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitates systematic evaluation to guarantee the quality, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of telehealth services and programs in the United States. While numerous evaluation frameworks have emerged, crafted by various stakeholders, their comprehensiveness is limited, and the overall state of telehealth evaluation remains unclear. The overarching goal of this scoping review is to create a comprehensive overview of telehealth evaluation, incorporating perspectives from multiple stakeholder categories. Specifically, we aim to (1) map the existing landscape of telehealth evaluation, (2) identify key concepts for evaluation, (3) synthesize existing evaluation frameworks, and (4) identify measurements and assessments considered in the United States. We will conduct this scoping review in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews and in line with the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews). This scoping review will consider documents, including reviews, reports, and white papers, published since January 1, 2019. It will focus on evaluation frameworks and associated measurements of telehealth services and programs in the US health care system, developed by telehealth stakeholders, professional organizations, and authoritative sources, excluding those developed by individual researchers, to collect data that reflect the collective expertise and consensus of experts within the respective professional group. The data extracted from selected documents will be synthesized using tools such as tables and figures. Visual aids like Venn diagrams will be used to illustrate the relationships between the evaluation frameworks from various sources. A narrative summary will be crafted to further describe how the results align with the review objectives, facilitating a comprehensive overview of the findings. This scoping review is expected to conclude by August 2024. By addressing critical gaps in telehealth evaluation, this scoping review protocol lays the foundation for a comprehensive and multistakeholder assessment of telehealth services and programs. Its findings will inform policy makers, health care providers, researchers, and other stakeholders in advancing the quality, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of telehealth in the US health care system. OSF Registries osf.io/aytus; https://osf.io/aytus. DERR1-10.2196/55209.

Where is the panic in “panic buying”? Consumer purchases at the outset of the COVID pandemic

The declaration of the COVID pandemic in March 2020 was immediately followed by news media accounts of “panic buying.” However, this term is problematic because it implicitly assumes that people engage in indiscriminate consumer product purchases that are motivated solely by extreme fear. Contrary to the implicit assumptions of “panic buying,” this study's examination of consumer product purchases by 435 households found that respondents drew clear distinctions among four activities (observed shortages, own consumption changes, own stockpiling, and others’ stockpiling) related to six consumer product categories (fresh produce, fresh meat, nonperishable food, cleaning supplies, sanitary supplies, and nonprescription medications). The results show that own stockpiling has moderately positive correlations with own consumption changes and is as strongly related to optimism and anger as to fear. Own stockpiling also has positive correlations with perceptions of others’ stockpiling, reliance on informal information sources, and observed shortages. Unexpectedly, own stockpiling has positive correlations with positive disaster stereotypes rather than negative disaster stereotypes, and is unrelated to expected pandemic duration, authoritative information sources, demographic characteristics, and routine stockpiling. The results suggest that the term “panic buying” should be replaced by “crisis stockpiling,” which avoids unnecessary erroneous inferences about the motivation for that behavior.

PathAsst: A Generative Foundation AI Assistant towards Artificial General Intelligence of Pathology

As advances in large language models (LLMs) and multimodal techniques continue to mature, the development of general-purpose multimodal large language models (MLLMs) has surged, offering significant applications in interpreting natural images. However, the field of pathology has largely remained untapped, particularly in gathering high-quality data and designing comprehensive model frameworks. To bridge the gap in pathology MLLMs, we present PathAsst, a multimodal generative foundation AI assistant to revolutionize diagnostic and predictive analytics in pathology. The development of PathAsst involves three pivotal steps: data acquisition, CLIP model adaptation, and the training of PathAsst's multimodal generative capabilities. Firstly, we collect over 207K high-quality pathology image-text pairs from authoritative sources. Leveraging the advanced power of ChatGPT, we generate over 180K instruction-following samples. Furthermore, we devise additional instruction-following data specifically tailored for invoking eight pathology-specific sub-models we prepared, allowing the PathAsst to effectively collaborate with these models, enhancing its diagnostic ability. Secondly, by leveraging the collected data, we construct PathCLIP, a pathology-dedicated CLIP, to enhance PathAsst's capabilities in interpreting pathology images. Finally, we integrate PathCLIP with the Vicuna-13b and utilize pathology-specific instruction-tuning data to enhance the multimodal generation capacity of PathAsst and bolster its synergistic interactions with sub-models. The experimental results of PathAsst show the potential of harnessing AI-powered generative foundation model to improve pathology diagnosis and treatment processes. We open-source our dataset, as well as a comprehensive toolkit for extensive pathology data collection and preprocessing at https://github.com/superjamessyx/Generative-Foundation-AI-Assistant-for-Pathology.

Building footprint data for countries in Africa: To what extent are existing data products comparable?

Growth and developments in computing power, machine-learning algorithms and satellite imagery spatiotemporal resolution have led to rapid developments in automated feature-extraction. These methods have been applied to create geospatial datasets of features such as roads, trees and building footprints, at a range of spatial scales, with national and multi-country datasets now available as open data from multiple sources. Building footprint data is particularly useful in a range of applications including mapping population distributions, planning resource distribution campaigns and in humanitarian response. In settings with well-developed geospatial data systems, such datasets may complement existing authoritative sources, but in data-scarce settings, they may be the only source of data. However, knowledge on the degree to which building footprint data products are comparable and can be used interchangeably, and the impact of selecting a particular dataset on subsequent analyses remains limited. For all countries in Africa, we review the available multi-country building footprint data products and analyse their similarities and differences in terms of building area and count metrics. We explore the variation between building footprint data products across a range of spatial scales, including sub-national administrative units and different settlement types. Our results show that the available building footprint data products are not interchangeable. There are clear differences in counts and total area of building footprints between the assessed data products, as well as considerable spatial heterogeneity in building footprint coverage and completeness.

Marketing Strategies and Benefits in the Real Estate Industry in Technologically Advancing Urban Areas

Throughout history, the significance of land and buildings as valuable assets, sources of authority, and drivers of economic prosperity has been widely recognized, spanning from ancient civilizations to contemporary societies. Cities have inherent value due to their ability to facilitate good interactions among individuals. The significance of the real estate sector as an investment vehicle has been growing. Companies, particularly those seeking to make new investments in the commercial real estate sector, are particularly interested in achieving a high degree of potential for their ventures. Turkey is a nation that has a significant position in this industry. This research examined several aspects, including the city management, the real estate market, the impact of COVID-19 on these markets, marketing strategies, and technological advancements in the real estate industry, as well as the benefits and drawbacks associated with the utilization of technology in this sector. Furthermore, an analysis was conducted on the data pertaining to housing transactions in Turkey, categorizing them based on the kind of sale and the condition of the properties.

Artificial intelligence and judicial decision-making: Evaluating the role of AI in debiasing

As arbiters of law and fact, judges are supposed to decide cases impartially, basing their decisions on authoritative legal sources and not being influenced by irrelevant factors. Empirical evidence, however, shows that judges are often influenced by implicit biases, which can affect the impartiality of their judgment and pose a threat to the right to a fair trial. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly used for a variety of applications in the public domain, often with the promise of being more accurate and objective than biased human decision-makers. Given this backdrop, this research article identifies how AI is being deployed by courts, mainly as decision-support tools for judges. It assesses the potential and limitations of these tools, focusing on their use for risk assessment. Further, the article shows how AI can be used as a debiasing tool, i. e., to detect patterns of bias in judicial decisions, allowing for corrective measures to be taken. Finally, it assesses the mechanisms and benefits of such use.