The Federal Rules of Emojis: A Proposed Framework for Handling Emoji Evidence in Trial Contexts

Emojis are 3,633 ubiquitous symbols-as-communication used by 92 percent of internet users. These tiny yet influential pieces of evidence hold the power to complete, enhance, mitigate, and flip the meaning of surrounding text. Consequently, court references to emojis have grown exponentially in the last five years. As emojis have become a cornerstone of digital discourse, courts have increasingly encountered the significant impact of emojis on parties’ legal claims. A guide for handling of emoji evidence under the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE), therefore, is important to afford proper treatment to this relatively new evidentiary form. This Note discusses how the FRE, in their current form, should apply to emojis as a commonplace form of symbols-as-communication. After analyzing expert testimony and the presentation of emoji evidence through the lenses of FRE 702, 701, 803(5), and 403, this Note argues that relevant emoji evidence should always be shown—not just read—to jurors on party request. Additionally, this Note argues that emojis cannot reasonably be ignored and that senders and recipients should always retain the opportunity to testify about their intended and understood emoji meanings. Finally, this Note advises courts to generally exclude third-party testimony on emojis’ meanings

Flexibler Subtyping Relations for Component-Oriented Formalisms

In the first part of this paper we present a new general component-oriented formalism, which has, among others, the following features: Concurrency, atomicity, synchronization between and inside components, and modularity. We give the inference rules which may be used to inductively build the semantics of composed components. The second part of the paper addresses the problem of substitutability and consists in the definition of a very general and flexible notion of subtyping; This notion of subtyping depends on a set of properties we are interested in preserving during the substitution and a special "observer" component which filters or adds behaviours to the components we are trying to substitute. The buffer example is used to illustrate the definitions

Alcohol-related suicide across Australia : a geospatial analysis

Background: The acute effects of alcohol consumption are a major risk factor for suicide. Positive blood alcohol concentrations are present in almost one-third of all suicides at time of death. These suicides are defined as alcohol-related suicides. This cross-sectional study examines the geospatial distribution/clustering of high proportions of alcohol-related suicides and reports on socioeconomic and demographic risk factors. Methods: National Coronial Information System (NCIS) data were used to calculate proportions of suicides with alcohol present at the time of death for each level 3 statistical areas (SA3) in Australia. A density analysis and hotspot cluster analysis were used to visualise and establish statistically significant clustering of areas with higher (hotspots) and lower (coldspots) proportions. Subsequently, socioeconomic and demographic risk factors for alcohol use and suicide were reported on for hot and cold spots. Results: Significant clustering of areas with higher proportions of alcohol-related suicide occurred in northern Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, as well as inland New South Wales and inland Queensland. Clustering of SA3s with significantly lower proportions occurred in major city and inner regional Sydney and Melbourne. Conclusion and implications for public health: Results from this study identify areas in which prevention strategies should target alcohol use and can be used to inform prevention strategy design. Additionally, hotspots and coldspots identified in this study can be used for further analysis to better understand contextual risk factors for alcohol-related suicide

Is a soft tissue graft harvested from the maxillary tuberosity the approach of choice in an isolated site?

Soft tissue augmentation procedures are becoming more popular these days. Different soft tissue graft harvesting approaches have been proposed. Nonetheless, the location of the donor site (whether anterior-, lateral-, superficial-, deep-palate or the maxillary tuberosity) can affect the graft shape and its composition. Soft tissue grafts from the maxillary tuberosity are rich in connective tissue fibers, with minimal presence of fatty or glandular components. Clinical, histological, and molecular evidence shows that a soft tissue graft obtained from the maxillary tuberosity has unique properties. In addition, harvesting from this area presents minimal risk for intra- or postoperative complications, leading to reduced patient morbidity. The aim of this commentary is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of harvesting a soft tissue graft from the tuberosity and to compare it with the traditional palatal graft, while highlighting functional, esthetic, and patient-related outcomes.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151301/1/jper10300_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151301/2/jper10300.pd

Stock Versus CAD/CAM Customized Zirconia Implant Abutments - Clinical and Patient-Based Outcomes in a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

BackgroundSingle-tooth replacement often requires a prefabricated dental implant and a customized crown. The benefits of individualization of the abutment remain unclear.PurposeThis randomized controlled clinical trial aims to study potential benefits of individualization of zirconia implant abutments with respect to preservation of marginal bone level and several clinical and patient-based outcome measures.Material and MethodsFifty participants with a missing premolar were included and randomly assigned to standard (ZirDesign, DentsplySirona Implants, Molndal, Sweden) or computer aided design/computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) customized (Atlantis, DentsplySirona Implants, Molndal, Sweden) zirconia abutment therapy. Peri-implant bone level (primary outcome), Plaque-index, calculus formation, bleeding on probing, gingiva index, probing pocket depth, recession, appearance of soft tissues and patients' contentment were assessed shortly after placement and one year later.ResultsNo implants were lost and no complications related to the abutments were observed. Statistically significant differences between stock and CAD/CAM customized zirconia abutments could not be demonstrated for any of the operationalized variables.ConclusionThe use of a CAD/CAM customized zirconia abutment in single tooth replacement of a premolar is not associated with an improvement in clinical performance or patients' contentment when compared to the use of a stock zirconia abutment.</p

Experimental Animal Models in Periodontology: A Review

In periodontal research, animal studies are complementary to in vitro experiments prior to testing new treatments. Animal models should make possible the validation of hypotheses and prove the safety and efficacy of new regenerating approaches using biomaterials, growth factors or stem cells. A review of the literature was carried out by using electronic databases (PubMed, ISI Web of Science). Numerous animal models in different species such as rats, hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, canines and primates have been used for modeling human periodontal diseases and treatments. However, both the anatomy and physiopathology of animals are different from those of humans, making difficult the evaluation of new therapies. Experimental models have been developed in order to reproduce major periodontal diseases (gingivitis, periodontitis), their pathogenesis and to investigate new surgical techniques. The aim of this review is to define the most pertinent animal models for periodontal research depending on the hypothesis and expected results