CRIMINAL LAW—DOES A CONFESSION MATTER? A DEFENDANT’S CONFESSION AS IRRELEVANT TO PROVE HIS GUILT

This Article presents a revolution in the rules of confessions and their admissibility. It proposes to diverge from the dichotomous test of admissibility currently applied in the rules of evidence, concerning rejecting invalid evidence, in order to recognize the possibility of applying the blue pencil doctrine in the same manner. According to our suggestion, courts should partially recognize the admissibility of late confessions, despite the fact that the source of the late confession is an invalid confession previously given. Recently, Israel’s Supreme Court has determined that a late confession given after an invalid confession is considered admissible. In other words, the court has decided to apply a relative nullification of improper practices by law-enforcement authorities and therefore, apply, in a new manner, the blue pencil doctrine, a doctrine that is usually used in contract law. This Article is dedicated to the theoretical and practical justifications to accept late confessions, emphasizing the rules of evidence as they exist in statute, as well as the question of incentivization of improper behavior by law enforcement authorities. The Article addresses the question of whether it is appropriate to acknowledge the American jurisprudence principle, known as the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine. As this Article describes, our proposed solution would be to maintain the reliability of a late confession, in contrast to the American doctrine of fruit of the poisonous tree. Thus, this Article would present an alternative legal principle, which may prove more fitting for this matter, in light of the principles of the rules of evidence in the Israeli legal system

Is empowerment of disadvantaged populations achievable through housing policies? A study of the impact of social housing on the empowerment of the poor in Israel

This research project investigates whether the empowerment of Israel’s population — and in particular those who suffer multiple disadvantages — is achievable through housing policies and whether successive Israeli administrations have helped or hindered this process. The research focuses on communities in publicly-subsidised areas during social housing programmes. The housing programmes analysed in this research were: The Demolish and Rebuild Programme, which represents a top-down process, implemented with little residents’ involvement. Neighbourhood Renewal, which was a programme that formally offered partnership, giving residents partial share in decision-making. Finally, Right to Buy represented a resident-led partnership, in which residents felt empowered to overcome their own disadvantaged conditions by taking a leading role in transforming housing policy. The database complementing this research was compiled, in part, from 91 in-depth interviews with residents, policy makers and officials representing these three programmes. It is a unique aspect of this research, as it draws on perspectives about participation from those who have not necessarily had an opportunity to express an opinion before, and communicates a variety of views regarding the projects and residents’ participation in them. This study focuses on how it actually affects people and can even create behavioural change among those who are normally considered dependent. Another exceptional and distinctive factor provided by this research is its analysis of empowerment in the social and political context of Israel. By analysing the Israeli case, this research will contribute both to international knowledge and academic scholarship, highlight the conditions of an individual state and generate an original and provocative narrative. The issue of participation and empowerment in a society so riven with political, social, religious and ethnic tensions is particularly important. Learning from the Israeli experience has the potential to promote understanding of empowerment under pressure. Empowerment related to social housing policy is distinctive in Israel because housing is synonymous with security. Housing is more than a cultural issue, since in Israel owning a property is a matter of security. Another key feature is the focal role of central government which determines almost every aspect in the shaping of social and housing policy. Also critical is the influence of national politics on local decision-making. In Israel the political agenda is based upon bilateralism and the demographic dispersal of population across the state’s formal and informal borders. Empowerment is a complex term. This research, however, explores examined and evidenced empowerment using just two main features: examination of residents’ participation; and evaluation of public policy towards resident participation. This research offers a unique view on empowerment within social housing policies that are subject to multiple pressures, and offers interpretations that could be usefully applied to issues of empowerment in other pressure scenarios

Relationship obsessive-compulsive disorder: interference, symptoms, and maladaptive beliefs

BACKGROUND: Obsessive preoccupation, doubts, and compulsive behaviors focusing on one\u27s romantic relationship and partner are receiving increasing clinical, theoretical, and empirical attention. Commonly referred to as relationship obsessive-compulsive disorder (ROCD), such symptoms have been linked with decreased relational and sexual functioning and lower mood, even after controlling for other obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. To date, however, these symptoms have been studied in community samples alone. In the present study, we compared levels of interference, OCD, and mood symptoms between clinical participants with ROCD, OCD, and community controls. We also examined group differences in maladaptive beliefs previously linked with OCD and ROCD. METHOD: Participants included 22 ROCD clients, 22 OCD clients, and 28 community controls. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to attain clinical diagnoses of OCD and ROCD. The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale was used to evaluate primary-symptoms severity. All participants completed measures of symptoms and dysfunctional beliefs. RESULTS: ROCD clients reported more severe ROCD symptoms than the OCD and control groups. ROCD and OCD clients did not differ in severity of their -primary-symptoms. ROCD clients scored higher than the other groups on maladaptive OCD-related and relationship-related beliefs. Finally, ROCD clients showed more severe depression symptoms than community controls. CONCLUSION: ROCD is a disabling presentation of OCD that warrants research attention. Maladaptive OCD-related and relationship-related beliefs may be implicated in the development and maintenance of ROCD

A smartphone intervention for people with serious mental illness: Fully remote randomized controlled trial of CORE

Background: People with serious mental illness (SMI) have significant unmet mental health needs. Development and testing of digital interventions that can alleviate the suffering of people with SMI is a public health priority. Objective: The aim of this study is to conduct a fully remote randomized waitlist-controlled trial of CORE, a smartphone intervention that comprises daily exercises designed to promote reassessment of dysfunctional beliefs in multiple domains. Methods: Individuals were recruited via the web using Google and Facebook advertisements. Enrolled participants were randomized into either active intervention or waitlist control groups. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Hamilton Program for Schizophrenia Voices, Green Paranoid Thought Scale, Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Friendship Scale, and Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) at baseline (T1), 30-day (T2), and 60-day (T3) assessment points. Participants in the active group used CORE from T1 to T2, and participants in the waitlist group used CORE from T2 to T3. Both groups completed usability and accessibility measures after they concluded their intervention periods. Results: Overall, 315 individuals from 45 states participated in this study. The sample comprised individuals with self-reported bipolar disorder (111/315, 35.2%), major depressive disorder (136/315, 43.2%), and schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (68/315, 21.6%) who displayed moderate to severe symptoms and disability levels at baseline. Participants rated CORE as highly usable and acceptable. Intent-to-treat analyses showed significant treatment×time interactions for the BDI-II (F1,313=13.38; P\u3c.001), GAD-7 (F1,313=5.87; P=.01), RAS (F1,313=23.42; P\u3c.001), RSES (F1,313=19.28; P\u3c.001), and SDS (F1,313=10.73; P=.001). Large effects were observed for the BDI-II (d=0.58), RAS (d=0.61), and RSES (d=0.64); a moderate effect size was observed for the SDS (d=0.44), and a small effect size was observed for the GAD-7 (d=0.20). Similar changes in outcome measures were later observed in the waitlist control group participants following crossover after they received CORE (T2 to T3). Approximately 41.5% (64/154) of participants in the active group and 60.2% (97/161) of participants in the waitlist group were retained at T2, and 33.1% (51/154) of participants in the active group and 40.3% (65/161) of participants in the waitlist group were retained at T3. Conclusions: We successfully recruited, screened, randomized, treated, and assessed a geographically dispersed sample of participants with SMI entirely via the web, demonstrating that fully remote clinical trials are feasible in this population; however, study retention remains challenging. CORE showed promise as a usable, acceptable, and effective tool for reducing the severity of psychiatric symptoms and disability while improving recovery and self-esteem. Rapid adoption and real-world dissemination of evidence-based mobile health interventions such as CORE are needed if we are to shorten the science-to-service gap and address the significant unmet mental health needs of people with SMI during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Enhancing Bioproducts in Seaweeds via Sustainable Aquaculture: Antioxidant and Sun-Protection Compounds

Marine macroalgae are considered an untapped source of healthy natural metabolites and their market demand is rapidly increasing. Intertidal macroalgae present chemical defense mechanisms that enable them to thrive under changing environmental conditions. These intracellular chemicals include compounds that can be used for human benefit. The aim of this study was to test cultivation protocols that direct seaweed metabolic responses to enhance the production of target antioxidant and photoprotective biomaterials. We present an original integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) design, based on a two-phase cultivation plan, in which three seaweed species were initially fed by fish effluents, and subsequently exposed to various abiotic stresses, namely, high irradiance, nutrient starvation, and high salinity. The combined effect of the IMTA’s high nutrient concentrations and/or followed by the abiotic stressors enhanced the seaweeds’ content of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) by 2.3-fold, phenolic compounds by 1.4-fold, and their antioxidant capacity by 1.8-fold. The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) rose by 2.7-fold, and the chlorophyll and phycobiliprotein synthesis was stimulated dramatically by an order of magnitude. Our integrated cultivation system design offers a sustainable approach, with the potential to be adopted by emerging industries for food and health applicationsPartial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag