The Need for a Legal Standard of Care in the AI Environment

Artificial intelligence (AI) has risen to legal debate over legal liability in-volved in an incident. An intelligent machine can learn through experience and adapts its decisions accordingly. As such, if an intelligent machine’s be-haviour causes harm, the developer and the machine's owner may argue that the autonomous nature of AI systems has broken the causal link. The diffi-culty of determining who is liable for a harmful behaviour of an AI system is accentuated by the fact that tracing back the decision-making process of an AI system is not always possible. This paper aims to put forward a definition of a duty of care for developers and users of AI systems that could be the basis for the investigation of liability while seeking predictability of the allo-cation of legal liability in many cases involving AI incidents. The paper ex-amines some guidelines on ethics for AI to discern essential elements of the duty of care in the AI environment. The paper argues that a uniform minimum standard of care should be adopted internationally through model laws or even an international convention. A uniform standard of care should be enforced by State control rather than self-regulation by the AI industry. A licensing or certification requirement for AI products should be implemented to verify that the elements of the duty of care have been satisfied to control AI production and import/export relations. Violation of the standard of care can be an objective ground to negate or allocate negligence, especially when verifying errors in the design of the relevant software or if explaining the AI system's behaviour is not possible. A clear standard of care would, this paper assumes, help promote AI development and use and would not create imped-iments to investment in AI production

Persistent Spin Dynamics in the S=1/2S=1/2 V15_{15} Molecular Nano-Magnet

We present muon spin lattice relaxation measurements in the V15 spin 1/2 molecular nano-magnet. We find that the relaxation rate in low magnetic fields (<5 kG) is temperature independent below ~10 K, implying that the molecular spin is dynamically fluctuating down to 12 mK. These measurements show that the fluctuation time increases as the temperature is decreased and saturates at a value of ~6 nsec at low temperatures. The fluctuations are attributed to V15 molecular spin dynamics perpendicular to the applied magnetic field direction, induced by coupling between the molecular spin and nuclear spin bath in the system.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B, 5 pages, 5 figur

THE EFFECT OF A PERIPHERAL NOREPINEPHRINE PROTOCOL ON CENTRAL LINE UTILIZATION IN A SURGICAL ICU

INTRODUCTION: Central venous catheters (CVC) are associated with various complications. In several studies, the use of vasopressors through peripheral venous catheters (PVC) obviated the need for CVC insertion in 34-87% of patients. Although evidence indicates that the peripheral administration of vasopressors is safe, most health systems currently use protocols that favor the use of CVC over PVC. We proposed a quality improvement study evaluating the use of a protocol for the peripheral administration of a dilute norepinephrine solution (16 mcg/ml) in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU). METHODS: This was a retrospective quality improvement study conducted at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI. We included 100 patients that were admitted to the SICU between June and December 2021 and received dilute norepinephrine for any cause through a PVC under our prespecified protocol. Guidelines for CVC insertion were present in the protocol to assist clinicians. An extravasation protocol was instituted which included application of 2% nitroglycerin ointment. The primary endpoint evaluated was the number of patients in which a CVC was placed, regardless of the cause, within 24 hours of discontinuation of norepinephrine through the PVC. Secondary endpoints included the indication for central line placement, dose of norepinephrine infused, duration of norepinephrine infusions, gauge and location of the PVC, frequency of extravasation events, and tissue injury. RESULTS: Out of the 100 included in the study 51 patients (51%) did not receive a CVC, and 60 patients (60%) did not receive a CVC within the first 24 hours of discontinuation of peripheral norepinephrine. Norepinephrine extravasation was noted in 6 patients (6%). These incidents were successfully managed with nitroglycerin (2%) ointment. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that administration of diluted norepinephrine through a PVC following a protocol in the SICU was associated with a reduction in CVC placement. The incidence of extravasation of norepinephrine was rare. Careful assessment of the PVC allowed for early treatment with topical nitroglycerine and no harm was identified to any patient

The Effects of Intravitreal Bevacizumab in Infectious and Noninfectious Uveitic Macular Edema

Background/Aims. To assess the effect of intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVBI) for the treatment of macular edema due to infectious and noninfectious uveitides. Design. Retrospective interventional case series. Methods. A chart review was performed on all the patients who were diagnosed with uveitic macular edema (UME) and received 1.25 mg of IVBI at two referral centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All included patients had their visual acuity and macular thickness analyzed at baseline and at 1 and 3 months following IVBI and any sign of reactivation was noted. Results. The mean age of patients was 41±16 years with a mean followup of 4±1 months. Ten patients had idiopathic intermediate uveitis, 9 patients had Behcet’s disease, 10 had idiopathic panuveitis, and twelve patients had presumed ocular tuberculosis uveitis. Following IVBI, the mean LogMAR visual acuity improved from 0.8±0.8 at baseline to 0.4±0.5 at 1 month and 0.3±0.5 at 3 months (P<0.002, at 3 months). The mean macular thickness was 430±132 μm at baseline. Following IVBI macular thickness improved to 286±93 μm at 1 month and to 265±88 μm at 3 months of followup (P<0.001, at 3 months). Conclusion. Bevacizumab was effective in the management of UME associated with both infectious and noninfectious uveitides. Intravitreal bevacizumab induced remission of UME with infectious uveitis and had no immunosuppressive effect against infectious agents

Childhood chronic anterior uveitis associated with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC): successful treatment with topical tacrolimus. Case series

Uveitis treatment involves topical corticosteroids along with cycloplegic-mydriatics. Particularly severe cases may require systemic corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs. Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) treatment consists of a brief period of topical corticosteroids and/or cyclosporine. In patients refractory to traditional treatment, the use of 0.1% topical ophtalmic FK- 506 (tacrolimus) ointment has been occasionally reported

Treatment of ocular allergies:nonpharmacologic, pharmacologic and immunotherapy

Ocular allergy is a significant and growing issue worldwide but for many patients, it is often not differentiated from systemic conditions, such as hay fever. Management of seasonal and perennial allergic conjunctivitis is often poor. Management is principally through avoidance measures (blocking or hygiene), nonpharmaceutical (such as artificial tears and cold compresses) and pharmaceutical (such as topical antihistamines and prophylactic mast cell stabilizers). Vernal and atopic keratoconjunctivitis are more severe and generally need treatment with NSAIDs, steroids and immunomodulators. Giant papillary conjunctivitis can be related to allergy but also is often contact lens related and in such cases can be managed by a period of abstinence and replacement of the lens or a change in lens material and/or design. Immunotherapy can be efficacious in severe, persistent cases of contact lens or allergic conjunctivitis