The right to life is indisputably the most important human right. It is safeguarded in almost all international human rights conventions which envisage the right to life before all other rights. ...Thus, in the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms (ECHR), the right to life is enshrined in Article 2, which provides for the protection of this right and obligations stemming thereof. Under Article 2, a State is obliged to refrain from violating the right to life by the actions of its state bodies. On the other hand, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has established additional obligations for states, aimed at protecting human rights. One of them is the positive obligation which implies taking measures by the State in order to protect the right to life from the actions of third parties, which are not state bodies. According to the so-called Osman test, when asked to establish whether there has been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention, the Court will examine whether the State was aware of the existence of a real and imminent risk to life, which the State knew or could have known of, and whether the State had undertaken adequate measures to eliminate that risk. The Court's case law also recognizes the principle that the Convention is to be interpreted as a "living instrument", in light of contemporary circumstances. By applying this principle, the Court has expanded the scope of the positive obligation of the State to protect the right to life of persons under its jurisdiction, which is evident in the recent practice of the Court. First, based on the Mastromatteo and Maiorano cases, the Court has established the criterion that there shall be a risk to society, instead of a risk to the life of a specific or at least identifiable person. Then, based on the Bljakaj case, the Court introduced an additional criterion of "a critical moment in the development of events" which the State clearly identified as bearing a risk to human life. Finally, in the case of Kotilainen and Others v. Finland, the Court introduced the criterion of "due diligence". In this paper, the author analyzes the case law of the Court in an attempt to determine the actual limits of the positive obligation to protect the right to life. The author also seeks to establish whether the Court views on the scope of the positive obligation in the recent case law are in line with other previously established principles and positions in the ECtHR jurisprudence. Upon the analysis, the author concludes that the limits of the positive obligation to protect the right to life have already been determined in certain sentences from the Court's judgments. Thus, it is unnecessary to introduce additional and insufficiently specified criteria, which can negatively affect legal certainty and impose an excessive burden on state authorities.
The exposure of humans to artificial light at night (ALAN) with predominant blue part of the visible spectrum is strongly influencing circadian rhythm and sleep through melanopsin-containing retinal ...ganglion cells (RGC). We hypothesized that reducing the amount of emitted blue light from screens of mobile phones during the night will increase sleep quality in our student population. The aim of the work was to investigate the effect of reducing blue light from smartphone screen during the night on subjective quality of sleep among students of medicine. The target population was students of medicine aged 20 to 22 years old of both sexes. The primary outcome of the study was subjective sleep quality, assessed by the Serbian version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The mean total PSQI score before intervention was 6.83 ± 2.73 (bad), while after the intervention the same score was statistically significant reduced to 3.93 ± 1.68 (good) with large effect size. The study has shown that a reduction of blue light emission from LED backlight screens of mobile phones during the night leads to improved subjective quality of sleep in students, as well as improvement in daytime functioning and going to sleep.
Reopening of criminal proceedings is a legal way to examine the factual basis of a final judgment based on an extraordinary legal remedy. The examination of the factual basis of the final judgment is ...initiated by the submission of a request for reopening the proceedings. This extraordinary remedy was established with the aim of establishing the truth in the criminal procedure, and is contrary to the principle of ne bis in idem. The factual deficiencies of a final judgment are remedied on the basis of new, or newly discovered facts, or evidence that arose after the finality of the judgment. Article 473 of the Criminal Procedure Code envisages the reasons for repeating the criminal proceedings. They can be grouped in various ways. One of the groups includes new facts and evidence, as a reason for repeating the proceedings. First of all, there are new facts and evidence that per se or in concert with other evidence may lead to a acquittal, or a repudiation judgment, or condemnation on a more lenient law (Article 473, para. 1, point 3 of the CPC). This group also includes new facts and evidence indicating that the defendant did not commit any of the actions of an extended criminal offense, or other offence, which includes several acts (Article 473, para. 1, point 5 of the CPC). The new facts and evidence, which would lead to a milder criminal sanction, are another reason that we classify in this group (Article 473, para. 1, point 6 of the CPC). Finally, there are also new facts and evidence that the defendant was not properly summoned for the main trial, which was held in his/her absence (Article 473, para. 1, point 7 of the CPC). Compared with the procedural laws of other states, our CPC provides a lot of grounds for reopening the procedure. In this way, an adequate legislative framework was provided for making a more favorable decision on the defendant in the procedure for this extraordinary legal remedy. Although the envisaged grounds for reopening criminal proceedings constitute a satisfactory basis for instituting proceedings under this extraordinary legal remedy, further clarification de lege ferenda is necessary. Our procedural law prohibits reopening criminal procedure to the detriment of the defendant. The prescription of the repetition of the proceedings to the detriment of the defendant, in some future revision of the procedural code, would not be contrary to the Constitution, except that, in the case of the merits of the request, the outcome would have been the adoption of the declaratory judgment. There are also interpretations that the Constitution allows both the conduct of the proceedings and rendering the decision at the detriment of the defendant in the procedure for extraordinary legal remedies. In that case, in the future, a reduced number of grounds for reopening the proceedings should be envisaged at the detriment of the defendant.
Uvod: Psihijatrija i pravo često se isprepliću, zajedno omogućujući rehabilitaciju i socijalnu reintegraciju duševnih bolesnika koji su počinili nezakonita djela. Cilj: U ovom radu prikazati ćemo tri ...različite vrste pravnih mjera u hrvatskom pravosudnom sustavu koje se odnose na počinitelje kojima je potrebna psihijatrijska pomoć. Pregled: Kazneno pravo u Hrvatskoj dijeli psihijatrijske mjere liječenja u tri kategorije: mjere oslobađanja od krivice zbog neubrojivosti, sigurnosne mjere, te zaštitne mjere. Duševni bolesnici koji nisu krivi zbog neubrojivosti zaštićeni su Zakonom o zaštiti osoba s duševnim smetnjama i ne mogu biti kažnjeni. Umjesto toga, mogu biti podvrgnuti institucionalnom liječenju, liječenju izvan psihijatrijske ustanove ili se uopće ne liječiti, ako ne predstavljaju nikakav dodatni rizik za buduće prijestupe. Sigurnosne mjere dijele se na obvezno psihijatrijsko liječenje i obvezno liječenje od ovisnosti. To se odnosi samo na one koji su u trenutku počinjenja kaznenog djela bili "bitno smanjene uračunljivosti" ili su bili pod utjecajem psihoaktivnih tvari. U zamjenu za blažu kaznu ili izostanak kazne izriče im se obvezno psihijatrijsko liječenje kao mjera sigurnosti radi sprječavanja ponavljanja kaznenog djela. Budući da su još uvijek krivi i u vrijeme počinjenja djela su bili ponešto svjesni svojih postupaka, nepridržavanje liječenja koje im je odredio sud, mogu biti smješteni u zatvor radi izvršenja preostalog vremena kazne predviđenog za počinjeno djelo. Zaštitne mjere služe istoj svrsi, ali ih može odrediti sam sud, bez vještačenja. Zaključak: Hrvatski zakonodavac predvidio je gotovo sve moguće ishode u kojima bi zdravstveni sustav mogao spriječiti ponavljanje kaznenih djela u slučajevima počinitelja s psihičkim smetnjama.
Introduction: Psychiatry and law frequently intertwine, together allowing rehabilitation and social reintegration of the mentally ill who have committed illegal acts. Objectives: In this review, we will present three different types of legal measures in the Croatian justice system concerning the parties who require psychiatric help. Review: Criminal law in Croatia divides psychiatric treatment measures into three categories: measures regarding those not guilty by reason of insanity, safety measures, and protective measures. Offenders not guilty by reason of insanity are protected by the Act on the Protection of Persons with Mental Disorders and cannot be punished. Instead, they may receive institutional treatment, treatment outside of a psychiatric facility, or no treatment if they do not pose a risk for future offending. Safety measures are split into obligatory psychiatric treatment and treatment of substance addiction. These only apply to those who had "seriously decreased responsibility" or were under the influence of psychoactive substances at the time of the offense. In exchange for a lighter term or no sentence at all, they are given mandatory psychiatric treatment to prevent crime repetition. Since they are still guilty and somewhat aware of their actions, by not complying with the treatment ordered by the court they may be sent to jail to complete the remainder of their term. Protective measures serve the same purpose but can be ordered by the court alone, without an expert opinion. Conclusion: Croatia’s legislator has predicted almost every possible outcome where the medical system could prevent repeated criminal offenses in cases of offenders with mental disorders.
Due to high relative blood flow the kidney is prone to drug-induced damage. Aminoglycoside type antibiotic gentamicin is one of the leading cause of drug-induced nephrotoxicity. In recent years ...gentamicin nephrotoxicity is significantly reduced by shifting to once daily dosage as well as by eliminating known risk factors. Application of gentamicin is still related to serious side effects which are reported more often compared to other antibiotics. Because gentamicin is still heavily used and is highly efficient in treating infections, it is important to find mechanisms to reduce its nephrotoxicity. This aim can only be achieved through better understanding of kidney metabolism of gentamicin. This problem has been extensively researched in the last 20 years. The experimental results have provided evidence for almost complete understanding of mechanisms responsible for gentamicin nephrotoxicity. We now have well described morphological, biochemical and functional changes in kidney due to gentamicin application. During the years, this model has become so popular that now it is used as an experimental model for nephrotoxicity per se. This situation can mislead an ordinary reader of scientific literature that we know everything about it and there is nothing new to discover here. But quite opposite is true. The precise and complete mechanism of gentamicin nephrotoxicity is still point of speculation and an unfinished story. With emerge of new and versatile technics in biomedicine we have an opportunity to reexamine old beliefs and discover new facts. This review focuses on current knowledge in this area and gives some future perspectives.
Acute kidney injury is a frequent disorder that can be mimicked by the application of different nephrotoxic agents, including carbon tetrachloride (CCl
4
), where kidney injury marker-1 (KIM-1) has ...been recognized as a highly specific marker. Melatonin is one of the most powerful natural antioxidants and has numerous beneficial properties. We evaluated the nephroprotective potential of 2 melatonin treatment regimens (pre- and post-intoxication) in a CCl
4
-induced acute kidney injury model based on the standard serum parameters, kidney tissue antioxidative capacity, KIM-1 levels, and kidney tissue morphological changes. The two treatment regimens were found to preserve kidney function, as judged from the evaluated standard serum parameters. Only when administered after the intoxication, melatonin preserved total kidney antioxidant capacity; pre-treatment melatonin only preserved reduced glutathione levels. An increase in tissue KIM-1 level was found to be prevented by both treatment regimens, which correlated with the morphological changes seen in the kidney tissues of animals treated with melatonin and CCl
4
. The findings of our study are in agreement with the known actions of melatonin in relieving kidney tissue oxidative burden, but also contribute to the understanding of its action by preventing an increase in KIM-1.
The currently used immunohistochemical approach in determining the estrogen receptor (ER) positivity of breast cancers (BCs) is inherently subjective and additionally limited by its semi-quantitative ...nature. The application of software in the analysis of digitized slide images may overcome some of these limitations. However, the utilization of such an approach requires that the entire staining procedure is standardized.
We aimed to establish a procedure for the photometric and morphometric analysis of BC immunohistochemical parameters that can possibly be used for a diagnostic purpose that is in line with the current semi-quantitative scoring system.
Semi-quantitative analysis of ER-stained tissue sections was performed following the Allred scoring system guidelines. The quantitative analysis was performed in ImageJ software after color deconvolution. The quantitative analysis of 66 cases of invasive lobular BC included: Percent of ER-positive cells, average nuclear coloration intensity, and the quantitative ER score. The percent of ER-positive tumor cells was counted using a standard grid overlay, while optical density (0.0-1.0) was measured within each nucleus at the grid points.
A statistical analysis revealed a significant positive correlation (
= 0.886,
< 0.001) between the subjective semi-quantitative and quantitative ER scores, with a large effect size (
= 3.8215). We observed strong statistically significant correlations between individual parameters of the total ER score, percentage of ER-positive nuclei, and color intensity, obtained by the two independent methods.
Additionally, besides excluding subjectivity, the up to now unreported cases of 3 + 0, 4 + 0, and 5 + 0 Allred scores were detected only by the application of the proposed quantitative approach.
In the present study, we examined redox status parameters in arterial and venous blood samples, its potential to predict the prognosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients assessed through ...its impact on the comprehensive grading SYNTAX score, and its clinical accuracy. Potential connections between common blood biomarkers, biomarkers of redox status, leukocyte telomere length, and telomerase enzyme activity in the acute myocardial infarction burden were assessed using principal component analysis (PCA). This study included 92 patients with acute myocardial infarction. Significantly higher levels of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), superoxide anion (O2•−), ischemia-modified albumin (IMA), and significantly lower levels of total oxidant status (TOS) and total protein sulfhydryl (SH-) groups were found in arterial blood than in the peripheral venous blood samples, while biomarkers of the telomere–telomerase system did not show statistical significance in the two compared sample types (p = 0.834 and p = 0.419). To better understand the effect of the examined biomarkers in the AMI patients on SYNTAX score, those biomarkers were grouped using PCA, which merged them into the four the most contributing factors. The “cholesterol–protein factor” and “oxidative–telomere factor” were independent predictors of higher SYNTAX score (OR = 0.338, p = 0.008 and OR = 0.427, p = 0.035, respectively), while the ability to discriminate STEMI from non-STEMI patients had only the “oxidative–telomere factor” (AUC = 0.860, p = 0.008). The results show that traditional cardiovascular risk factors, i.e., high total cholesterol together with high total serum proteins and haemoglobin, are associated with severe disease progression in much the same way as a combination of redox biomarkers (pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance, total antioxidant status, IMA) and telomere length.
Application of cisplatin (CP) for the treatment of different cancers is known to cause pancreatitis through an increase in reactive oxygen species production and promotion of inflammation. Caffeic ...acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), the main activity carrier of propolis extracts, was previously found to possess numerous beneficial properties. This study aims to determine for the first time the potential of CAPE in preventing CP-induced pancreatic tissue damage by studying the changes occurring on both biochemical and microscopic levels. The levels of serum α-amylase and a panel of pancreatic tissue biomarkers related to tissue injury (reduced glutathione, xanthine oxidase, malondialdehyde, and protein carbonylated concentration) and inflammation (myeloperoxidase, nitric oxide, and umor necrosis factor alpha) were studied in male Wistar rats treated with either CP alone or with CP and CAPE. Additionally, microscopic analysis of pancreatic tissue would be conducted as well. Application of CAPE together with CP statistically significantly prevented the disturbance in all here-studied pancreatic tissue damage and inflammation-related biomarkers. The changes in pancreas biochemical status was followed by morphological disturbance. The results of the present study suggest that CAPE could act as a protective agent in pancreatic damage that arises after CP application.
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