Not so different after all? Reconciling Delfi vs. Estonia with EU rules on intermediary liability

On 16 June 2015, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its final judgment in Delfi AS v. Estonia. By fifteen votes to two, the Grand Chamber ruled that there was no violation of Article 10 of the Convention of Human Rights (‘the Convention’ hereafter) despite the imposition of publisher liability for user generated content. Would the case have been decided differently if it had been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for assessment under the E-Commerce Directive? Aleksandra Kuczerawy and Pieter-Jan Ombelet of the KU Leuven Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT (ICRI-CIR) analyse whether the Delfi ruling can be reconciled with existing CJEU case law regarding liability of internet intermediaries

Delfi revisited: the MTE-Index.hu v. Hungary case

On 2 February 2016, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered a judgement on Magyar Tartalomszolgáltatók Egyesülete and Index.hu Zrt v. Hungary (MTE and Index.hu). The case concerned the liability of online intermediaries for user comments. Using the criteria established in the Delfi AS case of 16 June 2015, the Court found that there had been a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to freedom of expression. Unlike in Delfi AS, the Court decided that the incriminated comments in this case did not amount to hate speech or incitement to violence. Following on from this recent blogpost which summarises the two cases, Pieter-Jan Ombelet and Aleksandra Kuczerawy from KU Leuven analyse the criteria that were taken into account by the ECtHR in both cases, and highlight some of the implications of the recent judgement

Send in the robots: automated journalism and its potential impact on media pluralism (part 2)

In his previous post, Pieter-Jan Ombelet of the KU Leuven Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT (ICRI-CIR) analysed automated journalism (also referred to as robotic reporting) as a potential solution to combat the diminution of investigative journalism. Here, he focuses on the future possibilities of robotic reporting in personalising specific news stories for each reader and assesses the potential (positive and negative) impact of automated journalism on the diversity of media exposure and personal data protection

Fertility care in low- and middle-income countries

Infertility affects millions worldwide, with significant medical, financial, and emotional challenges, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Cultural, religious, financial, and gender-related barriers hinder access to treatment, exacerbating social and economic consequences, especially for women. Despite its prevalence, infertility often remains overlooked due to competing health priorities. However, global initiatives recognise infertility as a reproductive health concern, advocating for universal access to high-quality fertility care. In LMICs, limited resources and infrastructure impede access to treatment, prompting people to turn to alternative, often ineffective, non-biomedical solutions. Addressing these challenges requires implementing affordable fertility care services tailored to local contexts, supported by political commitment and community engagement. Emerging technologies offer promising solutions, but comprehensive education and training programs are essential for their effective implementation. By integrating fertility care into broader health policies and fostering partnerships, we can ensure equitable access to infertility treatment and support reproductive health worldwide.</p

Towards using the spatio-temporal properties of eye movements to classify visual field defects

Perimetry—assessment of visual field defects (VFD)—requires patients to be able to maintain a prolonged stable fixation, as well as to provide feedback through motor response. These aspects limit the testable population and often lead to inaccurate results. We hypothesized that different VFD would alter the eye-movements in systematic ways, thus making it possible to infer the presence of VFD by quantifying the spatio-temporal properties of eye movements. We developed a tracking test to record participant’s eye-movements while we simulated different gaze-contingent VFD. We tested 50 visually healthy participants and simulated three common scotomas: peripheral loss, central loss and hemifield loss. We quantified spatio-temporal features using cross-correlogram analysis, then applied cross-validation to train a decision tree algorithm to classify the conditions. Our test is faster and more comfortable than standard perimetry and can achieve a classifying accuracy of ~90% (True Positive Rate = ~98%) with data acquired in less than 2 minutes.</p

Developing core elements and checklist items for global hospital antimicrobial stewardship programmes:a consensus approach

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Binocular Integrated Visual Field Deficits Are Associated With Changes in Local Network Function in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma:A Resting-State fMRI Study

In glaucoma participants, both structural and functional brain changes have been observed, but we still have insufficient understanding of how these changes also affect the integrity of cortical functional networks, and how these changes relate to visual function. This is relevant, as functional network integrity may affect the applicability of future treatments, as well as the options for rehabilitation or training. Here, we compare global and local functional connectivity in local and global brain networks between glaucoma and control participants. Moreover, we study the relationship between functional connectivity and visual field (VF) loss. For our study, 20 subjects with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and 24 age-similar healthy participants were recruited to undergo an ophthalmic assessment followed by two resting-state (RS) (f)MRI scans. For each scan and for each group, the ROIs with eigenvector centrality (EC) values higher than the 95th percentile were considered the most central brain regions (“hubs”). Hubs for which we found a significant difference in EC in both scans between glaucoma and healthy participants were considered to provide evidence for network changes. In addition, we tested the notion that a brain region's hub function in POAG might relate to the severity of a participant's VF defect, irrespective of which eye contributed mostly to this. To determine this, for each participant, eye-independent scores were derived for: (1) sensitivity of the worse eye – indicating disease severity, (2) sensitivity of both eyes combined – with one eye potentially compensating for loss in the other, or (3) difference in eye sensitivity – potentially requiring additional network interactions. By correlating each of these VF scores and the EC values, we assessed whether VF defects could be associated with centrality alterations in POAG. Our results show that no functional connectivity disruptions were found at the global brain level in POAG participants. This indicates that in glaucoma global brain network communication is preserved. Furthermore, for the Lingual Gyrus, identified as a brain hub, we found a positive correlation between the EC value and the VF sensitivity of both eyes combined. The fact that reduced local network functioning is associated with reduced binocular VF sensitivity suggests the presence of local brain reorganization that has a bearing on functional visual abilities

Access to infertility consultations: what women tell us about it?

The main objective of the present paper is to evaluate the perception of women concerning the barriers and access to infertility consultations. Socio cultural and economic access to infertility consultations is detached and three municipalities of the northwest of Portugal were chosen as an example of a peripheral country. A quantitative/qualitative study was done with 60 women. Three dimensions were evaluated: geographic and structural and functional access; economic access; and sociocultural access. The main barriers were mainly identified in the last two dimensions. The economic access was the less well evaluated by women being the cost of treatment (medication, and concentration of costs in a short period) difficult to bear. This can justify a greater involvement of the Portuguese Government, by developing policies for the reimbursement of part of the costs. Also, some changes in structural and functional access must be done with special regard to the separation of the infertility consultations from the reproductive medicine section. The setting of the teams, with a follow-up by the same team of health professionals is also needed

The case for mild stimulation for IVF: recommendations from The International Society for Mild Approaches in Assisted Reproduction.

The practice of ovarian stimulation for IVF is undergoing a fundamental re-evaluation as recent data begin to successfully challenge the traditional paradigm that ovarian stimulation should be aimed at the retrieval of as many oocytes as possible, in the belief that this will increase pregnancy rates. An opposing view is that live birth rate should not be the only end-point in evaluating the success of IVF treatment and that equal emphasis should be placed on safety and affordability. The International Society for Mild Approaches in Assisted Reproduction (ISMAAR) committee has carried out an up-to-date literature search, with the evidence being graded according to the University of Oxford's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. The recommendations were formulated taking into account the quality of evidence on the efficacy, risk and cost of each intervention. ISMAAR recommends adopting a mild approach to ovarian stimulation in all clinical settings as an increasing body of evidence suggests that mild stimulation is as effective as conventional stimulation, while being safer and less expensive. Mild ovarian stimulation could replace conventional stimulation, thus making IVF safer and more accessible worldwide