The Recognition of Prosecutorial Obligations in an Era of Mandatory Minimum Sentences of Imprisonment and Over-representation of Aboriginal People in Prisons

In Canada, recent decisions have reaffirmed the almost unfettered discretionary power of prosecutors, and in Anderson the Supreme Court has also decided that prosecutors, unlike judges, do not have a constitutional obligation to consider the principle of proportionality, including Aboriginal status, when making decisions that trigger mandatory minimums and reduce the sentencing options available for judges. The Court found that the role of prosecutors is substantially different than the role of judges, highlighting that the prosecutorial function does not include sentencing, and that prosecutorial discretion should generally be protected from judicial oversight. One may wonder whether this is a realistic and ethical depiction of the role of prosecutors, particularly in light of their role as “ministers of justice”, the ever-increasing use of offences with mandatory minimums, the numerous ways that prosecutors can trigger these sentences, and the shared responsibility of all actors in the criminal justice system to remedy the systemic problem of Aboriginal over-representation in Canadian prisons. The following article analyzes the decision in Anderson and argues that the Court was right in deciding that the principle of proportionality only applies to sentencing judges. Arguably, however, the Gladue principle should be considered a stand-alone principle, separate from the principle of proportionality in sentencing, that applies not only to sentencing judges, but also to all actors in the criminal justice process that have a role to play in the incarceration of Aboriginal people, including prosecutors. Indeed, prosecutors should have a duty to apply the Gladue principle in their decisions that can impact an individual’s liberties, particularly when making decisions that trigger mandatory minimum sentences in the context of Aboriginal offenders. Current prosecutorial guidelines are not satisfactory in this regard since they fail to explicitly mention the consideration of Aboriginal status. This article proposes that prosecutorial guidelines be amended to instruct prosecutors to consider these elements when making decisions that trigger mandatory minimum sentences. It finally presents a possible model of review that promotes accountability, fairness and transparency within these decisions, without impeding on the separation of powers between prosecutors and judges

The Principle of Proportionality in Sentencing: A Dynamic Evolution and Multiplication of Conceptions

This article examines the theoretical foundations and developments of the concept of proportionality in common law sentencing. It traces its evolution within its two main underlying frameworks: desert-based and consequentialist theories of punishment. It specifically examines the Canadian context and demonstrates that this concept was primarily rooted in a desert-based framework but has increasingly been infused with consequentialist rationales. It is argued that this multiplication of underpinnings has led to a conceptual muddling of proportionality, risking voiding the concept of its meaning and usefulness to decision-makers at sentencing. The article therefore proposes a nuanced framework, similar to the one in England and Wales, rooted in a dynamic understanding of just deserts that allows for the incorporation of relevant consequentialist aims in a principled fashion

New Solutions for Two-Cell Vortices

Two celled incompressible vortices are known from the work of Sullivan (1959). This dissertation first extends the previously derived wider latitude, incompressible, steady two-cell vortex of Vatistas (1998) to account for the effects of time as it decays. Then, it is also broadened to simulate steady vortices where the density variation is included. Based on the conservation of mass and momentum equations, a new method to analytically characterize two-cell decaying vortices is presented. The study shows that the core radius increases linearly with time, while the maximum velocity reduces hyperbolically. In comparison to Lamb (1932) - Oseen (1912) one-cell vortex, the dominant tangential velocity in the two-celled type is shown to decline considerably faster. Both effects are attributed to the increased viscous dissipation. Based on theoretical grounds, it is argued that the cause of the previously discovered vortex strength reduction in wing tip vortices with an externally imposed central jet is due to the switch of the one cell tip vortex into a two-cell, and not due to the added turbulence caused by the jet. Because Sullivan’s vortex assumes an unbounded radial velocity in the radial direction, its extension to compressible kind, taking into account the convective heat transfer in the energy equation, is not possible without some very drastic simplifications concerning the problem. In this dissertation an alternate approach to the problem is offered where the previous weakness is absent. The earlier contribution of Vatistas (1998) vis-à-vis incompressible two-cell vortices is now generalized to account for density variation. The conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy are abridged assuming intense vortex conditions. The system of equations, describing the thermal side of the problem is brought into a closure via the inclusion of the equation of state for a calorically perfect gas. The temperature, density and pressure are then calculated using straightforward, readily available, numerical integration software. It is found that along the converging flow direction, the temperature first decreases (in the outer cell), increases within the inner cell, and then flattens close to the vortex center. The cause of this effect is identified to be due to the interplay of dilation-contraction and mechanical dissipation in the infinitesimal fluid element. Density and pressure near the axis, where the whirl is cold, are shown to be under sub ambient conditions, i.e. the gas density is thinner and the pressure is under vacuum conditions. All these properties depend strongly on the vortex Mach number

Quantitative identification of functional connectivity disturbances in neuropsychiatric lupus based on resting-state fMRI: a robust machine learning approach

Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) is an autoimmune entity comprised of heterogenous syndromes affecting both the peripheral and central nervous system. Research on the pathophysiological substrate of NPSLE manifestations, including functional neuroimaging studies, is extremely limited. The present study examined person-specific patterns of whole-brain functional connectivity in NPSLE patients (n = 44) and age-matched healthy control participants (n = 39). Static functional connectivity graphs were calculated comprised of connection strengths between 90 brain regions. These connections were subsequently filtered through rigorous surrogate analysis, a technique borrowed from physics, novel to neuroimaging. Next, global as well as nodal network metrics were estimated for each individual functional brain network and were input to a robust machine learning algorithm consisting of a random forest feature selection and nested cross-validation strategy. The proposed pipeline is data-driven in its entirety, and several tests were performed in order to ensure model robustness. The best-fitting model utilizing nodal graph metrics for 11 brain regions was associated with 73.5% accuracy (74.5% sensitivity and 73% specificity) in discriminating NPSLE from healthy individuals with adequate statistical power. Closer inspection of graph metric values suggested an increased role within the functional brain network in NSPLE (indicated by higher nodal degree, local efficiency, betweenness centrality, or eigenvalue efficiency) as compared to healthy controls for seven brain regions and a reduced role for four areas. These findings corroborate earlier work regarding hemodynamic disturbances in these brain regions in NPSLE. The validity of the results is further supported by significant associations of certain selected graph metrics with accumulated organ damage incurred by lupus, with visuomotor performance and mental flexibility scores obtained independently from NPSLE patients. View Full-Text Keywords: neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus; rs-fMRI; graph theory; functional connectivity; surrogate data; machine learning; visuomotor ability; mental flexibilit

Deep learning for diabetic retinopathy detection and classification based on fundus images: A review.

Diabetic Retinopathy is a retina disease caused by diabetes mellitus and it is the leading cause of blindness globally. Early detection and treatment are necessary in order to delay or avoid vision deterioration and vision loss. To that end, many artificial-intelligence-powered methods have been proposed by the research community for the detection and classification of diabetic retinopathy on fundus retina images. This review article provides a thorough analysis of the use of deep learning methods at the various steps of the diabetic retinopathy detection pipeline based on fundus images. We discuss several aspects of that pipeline, ranging from the datasets that are widely used by the research community, the preprocessing techniques employed and how these accelerate and improve the models' performance, to the development of such deep learning models for the diagnosis and grading of the disease as well as the localization of the disease's lesions. We also discuss certain models that have been applied in real clinical settings. Finally, we conclude with some important insights and provide future research directions

Perfusion Magnetic Resonance as a Biomarker for Sorafenib-Treated Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Pilot Study

Background: Sorafenib is the currently recommended therapy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Among the several biomarkers available for the evaluation of the therapeutic response and prognosis, there is perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (p-MRI) that, through measurement of the vascular permeability unit (ktrans), may retrieve useful information regarding the microvascular properties of focal liver lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of sorafenib therapy in patients with advanced HCC using the p-MRI technique. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 27 patients with the diagnosis of advanced HCC were included for palliative therapy using sorafenib. MRI of the liver was performed before the beginning of the oral therapy (T0), after 3 (T3), and after 6 months (T6). Dynamic acquisitions of the tumor (n = 50, during the first 2 min after contrast injection) were obtained in the coronal plane and were used to compute the parametric perfusion maps, acquiring the ktrans value using the extended Tofts pharmacokinetic model. Results: The value of ktrans obtained at T0 was significantly different from the value of ktrans obtained at T6 (p = 0.028). There were no significant differences between T0 and T3 (p = 0.115) or a correlation between ktrans at T0 and the size of the lesion (p = 0.376). The ktrans value at T0 in patients with progression-free survival (PFS) > 6 months was not significantly different from the ktrans value in patients with PFS ≤6 months (p = 0.113). The ktrans value at T0 was not significantly different between patients who were previously submitted to chemoembolization and those who were not submitted (p = 0.587). Conclusion: In this pilot study, the ktrans value may serve as a biomarker of tumor response to antiangiogenic therapy, but only 6 months after its initiation. Clinical outcomes such as PFS were not predicted before the initiation of treatment

Blood lactate levels in 31 female dogs with pyometra

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Canine pyometra is a life-threatening disease common in countries where spaying of dogs is not routinely performed. The disease is associated with endotoxemia, sepsis, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and a 3–4% mortality rate. Blood lactate analysis is clinically valuable in predicting prognosis and survival, evaluating tissue perfusion and treatment response in human and veterinary critical care settings. The aims of the present study were to investigate 1) the blood lactate levels of female dogs with pyometra by a hand-held analyser and 2) if these levels are related with the clinical status or other biochemical or hematological disorders.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In total 31 female dogs with pyometra admitted for surgical ovariohysterectomy and 16 healthy female control dogs were included in the present study. A complete physical examination including SIRS-status determination was performed. Blood samples for lactate concentrations, hematological and biochemical parameters, acid-base and blood gas analysis and other laboratory parameters were collected and subsequently analysed. The diagnosis pyometra was verified with histopathological examination of the uterus and ovaries. Increased hospitalisation length and presence of SIRS were used as indicators of outcome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the pyometra group the median blood lactate level was 1,6 mmol l^-1(range <0.8–2.7 mmol l^-1). In the control group the median lactate level was 1,2 mmol l^-1(range <0.8–2.1 mmol l^-1). Of the 31 bitches 19 (61%) fulfilled 2 or more criteria for SIRS at inclusion, 10 bitches (32%) fulfilled 3 of the SIRS criteria whereas none accomplished more than 3 criteria. Lactate levels did not differ significantly between the pyometra and control group, or between the SIRS positive and SIRS negative dogs with pyometra. Increased lactate concentration (>2.5 mmol l^-1) was demonstrated in one female dog with pyometra (3%), and was not associated with longer hospitalisation or presence of SIRS. Lactate measurement was not indicative of peritonitis. None of the bitches died during or within two months of the hospital stay. The measurements of temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, percentage bandforms of neutrophilic granulocytes, α₂-globulins, creatinin, pvCO₂, TCO₂and base excess showed significant differences between the SIRS positive and the SIRS negative pyometra cases.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Increased blood lactate concentrations were demonstrated in 3% (1/31), and SIRS was present in 61% (19/31) of the female dogs with pyometra. Preoperative lactate levels were not related with presence of SIRS or prolonged hospitalisation. Lactate measurement was not indicative of peritonitis. The value of a single and repeated lactate analysis in more severely affected cases remains to be determined.</p