The Rules of Procedure and Evidence in front of International Criminal Courts: a system sui generis

International Criminal Courts have been created to prosecute individuals allegedly accused of specific crimes such as war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the judgment of these crimes is only endorsed by these Courts. A lot has been written concerning the procedures of prosecution; however, few jurists have dealt with the rules of evidence. Our goal is to give a thorough knowledge of the method used by those specific legal Institutions in the collecting and the processing of evidence to decide their judgment. In a first part, we have tried to shape a general definition of the notion of 'evidence' in International Criminal Law, bearing in mind that this judicial system is at the same time an internationalized and an independent one. In a second part, the analysis focused on the processing of evidence in trials before the International Criminal Courts, mainly confidentiality of evidence; these must not be shown out of the trial Chamber, all means to bring evidence is possible, the protection of witnesses, and the absolute independence of judges to consider the validity of evidence. The study has emphasized on the newness of this legal system and on the necessity of filling up judicial voids. Key-words: International Criminal Courts, system of evidence, Rules of procedure and evidence, the Statute of Rome, UN Resolutions

Heart rate variability in critical care medicine: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Heart rate variability (HRV) has been used to assess cardiac autonomic activity in critically ill patients, driven by translational and biomarker research agendas. Several clinical and technical factors can interfere with the measurement and/or interpretation of HRV. We systematically evaluated how HRV parameters are acquired/processed in critical care medicine. METHODS: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (1996-2016) were searched for cohort or case-control clinical studies of adult (>18 years) critically ill patients using heart variability analysis. Duplicate independent review and data abstraction. Study quality was assessed using two independent approaches: Newcastle-Ottowa scale and Downs and Black instrument. Conduct of studies was assessed in three categories: (1) study design and objectives, (2) procedures for measurement, processing and reporting of HRV, and (3) reporting of relevant confounding factors. RESULTS: Our search identified 31/271 eligible studies that enrolled 2090 critically ill patients. A minority of studies (15; 48%) reported both frequency and time domain HRV data, with non-normally distributed, wide ranges of values that were indistinguishable from other (non-critically ill) disease states. Significant heterogeneity in HRV measurement protocols was observed between studies; lack of adjustment for various confounders known to affect cardiac autonomic regulation was common. Comparator groups were often omitted (n = 12; 39%). This precluded meaningful meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Marked differences in methodology prevent meaningful comparisons of HRV parameters between studies. A standardised set of consensus criteria relevant to critical care medicine are required to exploit advances in translational autonomic physiology.GLA is supported by a British Journal of Anaesthesia and Royal College of Anaesthetists Basic Science fellowship, British Oxygen Company grant from the Royal College of Anaesthetists and British Heart Foundation programme grant (RG/14/4/3073

Early Embryology of the Prechordal Region

Background: Prechordal plate is important midline structure in the head region. It has been shown that it plays a bivotal role in the development of the brain and the eyes. Aim of study: There is confunsion, in the literatures and textbooks concerning of terms: prechordal plate, prechordal mesoderm and the Buccopharyngeal membrane. The aim of this work is to study is based on histological changes of the early stages of the chick embryo hoping to illuminate these aspects especially after the recent revival of attention to the importance of this region in the process of induction of the brain region of the newral tub & the development of the prosencephalon & the eyes as shown by genes activities & expression in the prechordal plate .. Materials & Methods :this study is based on histological description of the early stages (4- 7H.&H.) of the chick embryo to illuminate the nature of these structures . It appeared that the cephalic foregut in the early stages is lined by tall endodermal cells that form three regions: Dorsal wall (PI) where it forms the prechordal plate and contributes to the formation of the prechordal mesodermal mass (mesoendoderm); the rostral end (P2), and the ventral wall (P3) where it fuses with the surface ectoderm forming the oral plate (or the Buccopharyngeal membrane). The contribution of endoderm to the head mesenchyme is emphasized in this study. Conclution: this study indicated that the prechordal plate is not simply the Buccopharyngeal membrare it forms an early proliferating zone , rostal to the notochord , that contribute to the mass of prechordal mesoderm & another zone , which is extending later as a Sessels pouch , which also proliferate for some time . also the ventral extension is a part of Buccopharyngeal membrane

Effectiveness of virtual reality on balance ability in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury: A systematic review

Background: Balance dysfunctions are one of the most prevalent impairments post incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). The evidence has proposed that the rehabilitation can be efficacious in treating balance dysfunctions in patients with SCI. Virtual reality (VR) is a computer technology designate 3-D setting which provides immersed users to generate numerous feedbacks such as visual, audio, and haptic.Objective: To investigate the effects of VR on balance ability in individuals with incomplete SCI and to identify efficient training protocol.Methods: We searched in SCOPUS, PEDro, PUBMED, REHABDATA, EMBASE, and web of science for experimental trials studying impacts of VR training on balance in patients with incomplete SCI that published in English. Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used to evaluate the methodological quality for selected studies.Results: Five pilot studies were met the inclusion criteria. The PEDro scores ranged from 2 to 3, with a median of 2. All selected studies enrolled less than 20 patients. The findings showed beneficial effects of VR in improving balance ability in patients with incomplete SCI.Conclusions: The preliminary findings showed that the influence of VR training on the balance ability in patients with incomplete SCI is promising. Applying 12 to 20 sessions of 30 to 60 min of VR training may show meaningful effects. Further randomized controlled trials strongly needed. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Methods of residual quantities of antibiotics and inhibitors detection in raw milk

The article is devoted to the problems of detection of residual quantities of antibiotics and inhibitors in raw milk. It was analyzed the following microbiological methods: substances diffusion into agar, reductase probe, biocalorimetry and biotesting of microalgae motion. In the publication was shown that methods of biocalorimetry and biotesting of Euglena gracilis motion allow to increase sensitivity of antibiotics detection and to decrease time and labour inputs for analyses. These methods may be recommended for practical application at dairy farms and dairy processing enterprises

Perceived Control Predicts Symptom Status in Patients With Heart Failure.

BackgroundSymptom status is an important indicator of disease progression in patients with heart failure (HF). Perceived control is a target of most self-care interventions and is associated with better outcomes in HF; however, little is known about the relationship between perceived control and symptom status in patients with HF.ObjectiveThe aims of this study were to (1) determine the relationship of perceived control to HF symptom status and (2) examine the associations of perceived control to self-care and of self-care to symptom status.MethodsA total of 115 patients with HF were included. Data on symptom status (Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-HF), perceived control (Control Attitudes Scale-Revised), and self-care (Self-Care of Heart Failure Index) were collected. Other covariates included were age, gender, New York Heart Association class, comorbidity burden, and depressive symptoms. Multiple regression analyses were performed to analyze the data.ResultsLower perceived control predicted worse symptom status after controlling for covariates (P = .009). Other covariates predictive of worse symptom status were younger age, New York Heart Association class III/IV, and higher levels of depressive symptoms. Higher levels of perceived control were associated with better self-care (P = .044). Better self-care was associated with better symptom status (P = .038).ConclusionsLower levels of perceived control were independently associated with worse symptom status in patients with HF. Intervention strategies targeting perceived control should be tested to determine whether they could improve symptom status

A systematic rank of smart training environment applications with motor imagery brain-computer interface

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) research is considered one of the significant interdisciplinary fields. It assists people with severe motor disabilities to recover and improve their motor actions through rehabilitation sessions using Motor Imagery (MI) based BCI systems. Several smart criteria, such as virtual reality, plays a significant role in training people for motor recovery in a virtual environment. Accordingly, Smart Training Environments (STEs) based on virtual reality for MI-BCI users provide a safe environment. They are cost-effective for real-life conditions and scenarios with severe motor disabilities. Fundamentally, the literature presents a lack of comparison of the STE applications considering the smart and effective criteria of the developed applications. Accordingly, three key issues faced the comparison process: importance, multi-evaluation criteria, and data variation, which falls under complex Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). Performance issues increased comparison complexity caused by the rapidly changing market demands of the MI-BCI. Therefore, this study developed two methodology phases for evaluating and benchmarking the STE applications for the MI-BCI community; making effective decisions is vital. In the first phase, formulate the STE Decision Matrix (DM) based on two main dimensions: the evaluation of ten smart criteria of STE and the alternatives (27 STE applications) developed in the literature for MI-BCI. In the second phase, integration methods of MCDM have been formulated: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for weighting the ten smart criteria and Fuzzy Decision by Opinion Score Method (FDOSM) for benchmarking STE applications based on constructed AHP weights. The evaluation results show importunity in the obtained weights among the ten STE criteria to distinguish the greatest and lowest important weights. Through the benchmarking performance, FDOSM processes prioritized all STE applications. The ranking results were objectively validated based on five groups of alternatives, and the results were systematically ranked. Finally, this study argued three important summary points concerning the STE dataset, formulated a DM of STE applications, and smart criteria for STE applications to support the MI-BCI community and market. Developing the appropriate STE application for MI-BCI is a better choice to support a large BCI community by identifying the ten smart criteria and considering the presented methodology to establish a robust, practical, cost-efficient, and reliable BCI system