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In this article, I seek to plumb the built-in civic engagement of libraries that sits alongside the efforts promoted in this issue. Key concepts are interrogated and democracy and democratic theory are the first, signaling the civic republican model of democracy and democratic citizenship, a model that is both old and durable, different from other forms of democratic theory. Second, modern conditions of democracy challenge the assumptions that civic republicanism rests on, leading to "polarization and cynicism." How they manifest for libraries is next explored. Operating as libraries, libraries engage democratic civic life in an important if overlooked way: equal respect—what it is and what it isn't and how it is made manifest in libraries from the library and information science literature. The concluding section ties together the strengths of libraries' support for democratic society in this essential aspect of the public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With advances in medical care, more youth with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) are transitioning into adulthood. Patient- and family-centered, integrated care is warranted around this time of transition. Support teams (including the youth, caregivers, teachers, and pediatricians) should engage in transition planning, ideally starting between 12 and 14 years of age, to identify and develop resources to support the maturing youth's capacity for independent decision-making. Care teams should consider the varied levels of alternative decision-making support, which may include supported decision-making, medical proxy decision-making, power of attorney, and/or establishment of legal guardianship arrangements, to support the youth's health and well-being optimally. Ultimately, if independent decision-making is not appropriate, the goal for youth with IDD should be the least restrictive alternative, while preserving human rights and human dignity and promoting their autonomy. These considerations review alternative decision-making support, concepts, and legal requirements available for youth with IDD and their care teams. Pediatricians can support youth with IDD and their families in the transition process and decision-making autonomy by actively engaging the youth in care decisions, supporting needs for augmentative communication, fostering their expression of preferences and understanding of care decisions, and linking them to resources such as themedical-legal partnership model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite oxide La 0.9 Sr 0.1 Ga 0.8 Mg 0.2 O 3 (LSGM) is an intermedium-temperature solid oxide cell electrolyte material with extraordinary oxygen-ion conductivity. However, the manufacturing procedures of LSGM discs are complex involving multiple steps of powder preparation, forming, and sintering at high temperatures. Herein, thin LSGM electrolyte discs are prepared by coupling of tape casting and in situ solid-state reaction using oxides/carbonates as the feedstock. A pure-phase LSGM electrolyte disc with uniform elemental distribution is obtained by sintering at 1450 °C, and it possesses an ionic conductivity of 0.105 S cm 1 at 800 °C, a thermal expansion coefficient of 12.2 × 10 6 K 1, and a bending strength of 156 MPa A 170 µm thick LSGM electrolyte-supported single cell delivers a peak power density of 0.96 W cm 2 at 800 °C and an electrolysis current density of 1.82 A cm 2 at 1.5 V with no noticeable degradation for 200 h. The findings of this research provide a cost-effective approach for manufacturing the LSGM electrolytes of efficient and durable solid oxide cells. • Thin LSGM discs are prepared by coupling of tape casting and in situ solid-state reaction. • Pure-phase LSGM discs are produced with favourable physical properties. • A LSGM-supported single cell exhibits outstanding output performance and durability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to manage one's finances or to make a will can become important under certain circumstances. Physicians are sometimes asked to evaluate the financial or testamentary capacity of their patients, particularly vulnerable, older, and cognitively impaired individuals, and thus can play a vital role in assisting with the legal process of determining one's capacity. Undue influence may be a factor affecting an individual's judgment. Identifying signs that signal susceptibility to undue influence can be both clinically and legally relevant, and the British Columbia Law Institute's recently published guide for recognizing and preventing undue influence can aid in such an evaluation. This review provides guidance for clinicians in assessing patients for financial capacity, testamentary capacity, capacity to assign a power of attorney or a representative, and undue influence, particularly if the individual has been deemed incapable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in introspection of the United States health care infrastructure, especially with advance care planning (ACP). Methods: This is a retrospective chart review assessing the frequency of ACP discussions and formal documents reflecting ACP wishes in an outpatient palliative medicine (PM) practice. The study site was at University Medical Center New Orleans from pre-COVID-19 surge (November 2019–February 2020) to months during and post-COVID-19 surge (March–April 2020). Results: Results showed an increase in ACP discussions during the post-COVID-19 months. Patients seen during the surge and post-COVID-19 months were more likely to discuss medical power of attorney (odds ratio [OR] = 1.78, p = 0.045) and preferred code status (OR = 2.82, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our study showed that more ACP discussions were conducted post-COVID-19 versus pre-COVID-19. However, formal documents reflecting these wishes were lacking. These results can help guide ACP use in crisis periods and improve understanding of ACP discussions in an outpatient PM clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction booms have dominated Albania's economy and politics since the late 1990s. These booms continued even during times of illiquidity. One of the sources of financing construction in Albania is the practice of klering (in‐kind payments). In this practice, developers pay subcontractors in (future) apartments in exchange for materials and labor. I argue that, in klering transactions, housing serves as an asset and a means of payment. The practice of klering emerged at the interface of postcommunist transformations, neoliberal reforms, and the fetishization of housing as an asset of more durable and multifaceted economic and cultural value. While grounded in the local histories and values of housing, klering is made possible by a fuzzy property regime, systemic corruption, and widespread informality. At the same time, klering echoes other global patterns pertaining to housing, such as the rise of asset economy, financialization, and money laundering through real estate purchases. The klering economy echoes speculative logics and practices that are prevalent across and that link centers and peripheries, formal and informal markets. These economic logics generate uncertainty and ambiguity; they mobilize social networks and cultural imaginaries; and they thrive on and further reproduce deep social and economic inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the crypto assets in the horizon of mal according to the shariah and further discuss the needs of estate planning and management of this digital asset. The invention of blockchain technology has enabled the existence of crypto asset. As crypto assets global users are forecasted to hit 1 billion users by the end of 2022, its adoption and demand are remarkable and continued to grow sustainably. Nevertheless, its status from shariah perspective whether the crypto assets are deemed to be permissible according to shariah are still debatable. In this study, a review of literature and interview with shariah experts were conducted to achieve the objective of this study. The study found that majority of scholars and shariah experts are in conformity that crypto assets can be considered as mal. The opinions justify the needs of estate planning and inheritance of digital asset such as crypto to be practised by the owners. This study further suggested some guidelines to ensure estate planning of crypto asset. The policymakers might find this study beneficial to various stakeholders including crypto owner, regulator, estate planner and digital asset exchange (DAX) in realizing estate planning and inheritance of crypto asset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Samir Amin's critiques of both apartheid-era and post-apartheid political economy contributed to his scathing view of the crucial 'semi-peripheral' layer of the world system, a perspective typically ignored in binary formulations of Global North and Global South. Amin's 1977 article 'The future of South Africa' was among his first statements of how, using that era's dependency theory language, 'South African capital requires an outward policy of expansionism, so that ultimately, internal colonialism becomes coterminous with sub-imperialism'. Amin also labeled post-apartheid South Africa sub-imperialist because of the domination of 'monopoly capital' in the extractive-industry circuits (depleting what Marx called 'free gifts of nature') and the below-survival-level wages that have long shaped the economic structure. Two other coterminous factors were Pretoria's imposition of continent-wide neoliberalism through the New Partnership for Africa's Development and the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa BRICS network – both of which proved incapable of transcending neoliberal economic policies insisted upon by contemporary imperialism. Following the BRICS 2023 Sandton summit's elite failure to advance de-dollarisation or other 'delinking' strategies, Amin would nod, knowingly, when hearing the term 'sub-imperial' to describe the bloc – and look for inspiration instead to successes of grassroots campaigners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is one of the key tools of nation-building, as it aims to create future citizens. Yet what happens in seemingly 'futureless' contexts where refugees cannot access even social membership, let alone legal citizenship? In this introduction to our special issue on education for refugees, we explore the aspirations and conceptions of possible futures that students, teachers, governments, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and funders have when they promote and pursue education as the solution to the liminal position that refugees in protracted refugee situations find themselves in. Based on insights from the articles, we analyse disconnects between aspirations for education and realities of access to quality education and to opportunities after completing education. We argue that to address these disconnects requires us to move beyond temporal and spatial binaries—present vs. future, here vs. there—that are so common in refugee education discourse and policy. Our suggestion is to draw on and support stakeholders' work, powerfully exemplified in this special issue, to contribute to improved conditions through pedagogies, practices, and policies that address these binaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Indo-Naga peace process nears its finality, the longstanding competing territorial and identity claims between Nagas and Kukis in India’s northeastern state of Manipur remain unabated, with no earnest efforts to reconcile the two groups. The Kukis have a foreboding that the future Naga Peace Accord will be imposed on them as a fait accompli. Given the high stakes on both sides, New Delhi’s quest for durable peace in the region cannot afford to focus only on the Nagas—as though the concerns of the already beleaguered Kukis, or any other stakeholder, are dispensable at the altar of the Naga peace talks. Instead, New Delhi must display willingness, sensitivity, and finesse to consider how both groups’ legitimate concerns could be assuaged and reconciled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By synthesizing the nominal Pr x Sr 0.5 MnO 3-δ materials (x = 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8), new Pr 0.5 Sr 0.5 MnO 3-δ (PSM50)+PrO 2−x composite cathodes for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) were developed. The structure analysis and morphology observations verified the exsolution of PrO 2−x particles, and the amount of exsolved PrO 2−x increased with the amount of Pr in Pr x Sr 0.5 MnO 3-δ. An H-SOFC with a Pr 0.7 Sr 0.5 MnO 3-δ (PSM70) cathode enabled the highest reported fuel cell output for H-SOFCs with manganate cathodes. The construction of a PSM50/PrO 2 heterostructure interface can reduce the formation energy of oxygen vacancies, hence accelerating the cathode oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics, as confirmed by oxygen diffusion and surface exchange experiments. The excellent electrochemical performance was combined with its good chemical stability against CO 2 and H 2 O, allowing a stable operation of the cell for over 100 h, indicating that PSM70, which was in fact PSM50 +PrO 2−x , was a highly efficient and durable cathode material for H-SOFCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remittances from migrant workers are the major sources of financial inflows into the Nepalese economy. The World Bank's data of 2021 suggests that Nepal is one of the top ten recipients of remittances in terms of its share of GDP. Even though remittances make up a significant portion of foreign capital flows, the macroeconomic impact of these transfers on economic growth has not been sufficiently studied. Therefore, the aim of our study is to investigate the impact of remittances on the Nepalese economy for the period 1990 -2021 using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The ARDL approach is applied to identify the long-term and short-term effects of worker remittances on the Nepalese economy. The model uses real GDP as a proxy for economic growth and uses workers' remittances as main explanatory variable along with gross fixed capital formation, trade openness, foreign aid, and human capital as the control variables. The findings of the bound test suggest that there is a long-run relationship between remittances and economic growth. Furthermore, it is also demonstrated that remittances, gross fixed capital formation and foreign aid have a positive effect on real GDP. While we found a negative effect of trade openness and human capital on real GDP in short run and long run dynamics. The positive influence of remittances appears to be very weak, as a significant portion of remittances to Nepal are used for private domestic consumption. Moreover, the negative contribution of imports to economic growth suggests that a larger portion of remittances is spent on daily consumption and consumer durable items such as television, refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioning, and so on. Based on the analysis of the results, Nepal needs to develop an integrated policy to motivate migrants in intensity of saving and investment on multiple productive sectors rather spending on basic consumption. In doing so, such practice helps in channelising the remittances into economic growth through the multiplier effect. The transaction cost of remitting money is another challenging issue in Nepal. Therefore, policy measures must be focused on minimising transaction cost of remittances through the formal and organised channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to advance care instruments, such as advance directives and healthcare powers of attorney, adapted directives for emergency situations might be beneficial. These could avoid problems occurring with advance directives (e.g., lack of availability in acute emergencies, insufficient applicability to specific situations) when patients are no longer capable of making decisions but prompt decisions are required. Patients at the end of life are particularly relevant in this context, as they can refuse invasive procedures. Emergency advance directives should provide legally certain, quickly accessible and easily interpretable information about patient wishes regarding procedures such as resuscitation, intubation, and hospital admission. This narrative review provides a compact overview in the form of a needs and current status survey on emergency advance directives in Germany, presenting clinical and research projects. Overall, the current situation is one of inconsistent and insufficient implementation, with a concurrent increase in the proportion of palliative care patients in emergency services. An acute need for action to strengthen the cooperation between palliative medicine, emergency medicine and rescue services emerges. Training on palliative knowledge and care of patients at the end of life is also useful for prehospital care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection of a portion of a country's land is vital for sustainable economic growth and biodiversity, though land protection also imposes important costs. States have set aside a growing proportion of their land for protection over time, with wide variation among states. What explains this variation? Theoretically, we argue that states exist internationally in dependence networks with each other and that those networks provide pathways for influence on a state's environmental choices. A state's dependence network is the other states with which it regularly exchanges valued goods. We find strong evidence that increases in protected lands among trade partners and international organization partners (both weighted by importance) increase a given state's protected lands, with substantive effects larger than domestic-level variables like democracy. This paper expands our understandings of the ways that states may influence each other on environmental policy. La protección de una parte del terreno de un país es vital para el crecimiento económico sostenible y para la biodiversidad, aunque la protección de la tierra también conlleva unos costes importantes. Los Estados han estado reservando para su protección una proporción, cada vez mayor, de sus tierras a lo largo del tiempo. Sin embargo, existe una amplia variación a este respecto entre los Estados. ¿Qué explica esta variación? De forma teórica, argumentamos que los Estados existen internacionalmente en redes de dependencia entre sí y que esas redes proporcionan diversas vías que influyen en las elecciones ambientales de un Estado. La red de dependencia de un Estado está formada por otros Estados con los cuales intercambia regularmente bienes valiosos. Encontramos pruebas sólidas de que los aumentos en el número de áreas protegidas entre los socios comerciales y entre los socios de las organizaciones internacionales (ambos ponderados por importancia) aumentan también la cantidad de áreas protegidas de un Estado determinado. Estos aumentos conllevan unos efectos sustantivos mayores que las variables a nivel nacional como la democracia. Este artículo amplía nuestra comprensión acerca de las formas en que los Estados pueden influir mutuamente en la política ambiental. La protection d'une partie des terres d'un pays est cruciale pour une croissance économique durable et la biodiversité, mais elle impose aussi des coûts importants. Au fil des années, les États consacrent une part croissante de leur territoire à la sauvegarde, mais elle varie grandement de l'un à l'autre. Comment expliquer ces différences ? Sur le plan théorique, nous affirmons que les États existent à l'international au sein de réseaux d'interdépendances qui ont tendance à influencer les choix environnementaux étatiques. Le réseau d'interdépendances d'un État regroupe les États avec lesquels il échange régulièrement des marchandises de valeur. Nous trouvons nombre d'éléments probants pour justifier qu'une augmentation de terres protégées chez des partenaires commerciaux et des organisations internationales partenaires (en pondérant les deux en fonction de leur importance) débouche sur une augmentation des terres protégées dans un État donné. Cet effet se révèle plus important que les variables nationales comme la démocratie. Cet article enrichit notre compréhension des moyens par lesquels les États peuvent s'influencer mutuellement en politique environnementale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assisted return (AR) is a widespread policy tool offering financial support and counselling to returning migrants. Policymakers present it as a durable solution vis-à-vis undocumented migrants and rejected asylum seekers. However, AR has been proven to display the concurrence of care and control typical of contested humanitarianism. This concurrence takes different shapes across nation states. Our paper looks at how Sweden, Finland, the UK, Italy, Spain, and Portugal concretely configure care and control in their AR programmes, by focusing particularly on accessibility criteria, the landscape of the actors implementing the measure and their main implementation strategies. We finally find that the care and control balance of a particular layer within the AR national system can hardly be appreciated without considering the (lack of) life opportunities available to the potential beneficiaries of the measure, both within the confines and outside of it. Therefore, our comparative research ultimately conveys that what we call the intrinsic humanitarianism of AR—or its internal care-control balance—can give insight into the durability of the measure only when associated with what we term the extrinsic humanitarianism of AR—namely its broader relationship with forced return. In order words, AR ultimately appears migration control in disguise if it is not coupled with the enlargement of dignified life chances for migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection of a person facing difficulties with legal decision-making can be challenging; however, estate planning documents (EPDs) can offer safeguards. Little is known about the community awareness of EPDs and their perceived importance, including for people with dementia. Two-hundred and thirty adults read a mild dementia vignette, proposed a diagnosis for the vignette character (VC), and rated the VC's legal decision-making capacity (DMC). The effect on ratings about DMC under different conditions was explored (e.g., variation of VC characteristics and the decision). Awareness, and the personal importance, of EPDs were assessed. DMC was affected by the variations in the VC's age, diagnosis, and the decision, as high- or low-stakes, but not VC sex. Awareness of EPDs was low; however, planning importance was increased for dementia. Although the public understand that dementia affects DMC, they require further information about EPDs to validly enact them, thereby reducing potential vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is lack of consensus in the bioethics literature regarding the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for organ-preserving purposes. In this study, we assessed the perspectives of clinicians in critical care settings to better inform donor management policy and practice. An online anonymous survey of members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine that presented various scenarios about CPR for organ preservation. The email was sent to 10,340 members. It was opened by 5,416 (52%) of members and 405 members (4%) completed the survey with few missing data. A majority of respondents (81%) answered that donation status should not influence whether CPR is performed on an imminently dying patient. There was very strong agreement (>85%) that 1) CPR should be performed on a registered donor who experiences a cardiac arrest with an unknown code status before death by neurological criteria (DNC) and 2) CPR should be performed if the patient is not a registered donor and experiences cardiac arrest but the surrogate/power of attorney (POA) has not yet been approached regarding code status and donation. When a registered donor with a DNR order experiences cardiac arrest before DNC, 98% of respondents would not perform CPR. However, after DNC, respondents were evenly divided on whether they would (49%) or would not (51%) perform CPR on a registered donor with an undocumented code status. When asked whether consent should be required for CPR for organ-preserving purposes, 39% answered "Yes" when a patient arrests before DNC and 48% answered "Yes" when a patient arrests after DNC (P = 0.2). The majority of respondents did not consider donor status relevant to CPR decisions before DNC, and virtually all would respect a DNR order in a registered donor before DNC. Respondents were divided about the need for an affirmative consent for CPR for organ-preserving purposes both before and after DNC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Late Middle Ages, the formation of embassies between two sovereign entities was carried out by delegates who required powers of attorney to be considered official representatives and procurators. This article analyses sixty-four documents issued by the Castilian Royal Chancery throughout the late medieval period, revealing their function, as well as how they were formulated and issued. Such analysis allows deeper insight into how the Castilian Royal Chancery adapted its practices for the creation and issuance of documents as rare as they are important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Future medical and financial planning is important for persons with dementia given the impact of the disease on capacity for decision making. Aims: To explore from the perspective of carers of persons with dementia: (1) Participation in future medical and financial planning by the person they care for, including when planning was undertaken and the characteristics associated with having an advance care directive completed; (2) The type of healthcare providers who discussed advance care planning following diagnosis; and (3) Preferences for timing of discussions about advance care planning following diagnosis. Methods: Recruitment and data collection took place between July 2018 and June 2020. Carers of persons with dementia aged 18 years and older were mailed a survey. Participants completed questions regarding completion of various future planning documents by the person they support, including time of completion and who discussed advance care planning following diagnosis. Participants were presented with information about the benefits and consequences of early and late discussions of advance care planning and asked when discussions about advance care planning were best initiated. Results: 198 carers participated. Most participants were female (74%) and had been a carer for more than 2 years (82%). Most participants reported that the person with dementia they support had made a Will (97%) and appointed an Enduring Guardian (93%) and Enduring Power of Attorney (89%). Only 47% had completed an advance care directive. No significant associations were found between characteristics of persons with dementia and completion of an advance care directive. Geriatricians (53%) and GPs (51%) most often discussed advance care planning following diagnosis. Most carers thought that discussions about advance care planning should occur in the first few weeks or months following diagnosis (32%), at the healthcare provider's discretion (31%), or at the time of diagnosis (25%). Conclusions: More than half of persons with dementia do not have an advance care directive. There is variability in preferences for timing of discussions following dementia diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term endurance of building stones must be assured since their longevity has repercussions for their economic and social value. Frequently, slabs for flooring and cladding are installed with polished finishing in outdoor environments for technical and ornamental purposes in cultural heritage sites and modern civil architecture. Compared to any other finishing, glossy surfaces are rather vulnerable to wear, particularly when they interact with slightly acidic rainwater. Several hydrophobic treatments are applied to prevent this damage by preventing contact between rain and stone; such treatments are efficient but sometimes non-durable. Stakeholders and conservation scientists need better methods to anticipate the future behaviour of this building material and hydrophobic solutions. Complying with this demand, a comparison is made between outdoor natural ageing and artificial weathering, reproduced by UVA radiation, moisture and spray accelerated weathering. Artificial weathering is applied to predict the behaviour of stones over time in the real environment. Data obtained through the measurement of gloss and colour parameters, the detection of micro-textures through SEM, and the calculation of micro-roughness using a digital rugosimeter demonstrate that weakly acidic rainwater is the main cause of superficial decay of stone finishing over just six months of outdoor exposure. This period corresponds to 7–14 days of artificial weathering. Furthermore, the loss of efficiency and durability of the hydrophobic coatings is detected by measuring the static contact angle. This highlights that even if a protective treatment was proficient, it could easily deteriorate in normal weathering conditions if applied on polished, low-porosity stone. Additionally, water vapour permeability indicates variations of regular vapour transmission through the stones due to ageing. The first solution to threats is the prevention of pathologies, including aesthetic ones. A careful choice of the most suitable lithotype finish and an environmental study represent an existing solution to the problem. It must be highlighted that aesthetic requirements should not be prioritised to detriment of the technical requirements of architectural quality, performance, durability, and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tendency of the Muslim community in property planning to use hibah products is increasing. This situation caused Islamic banking and financial institutions as well as companies and estate planning agencies to take the opportunity by introducing various hibah products, among them trust hibah. The trust hibah is a combination of the principles of hibah and trust. If observed in more detail, the trust hibah is formed through two contracts, namely the hibah contract and the trust contract. Since the trust hibah is a combination of the principles of hibah and trust, it has given rise to legal controversy because the issue of hibah is under the State jurisdiction and the issue of trust is under the Federal jurisdiction. Jurisdiction conflicts in trust hibah matters will continue and certainly confusion regarding the exclusive jurisdiction of the Syariah Court in cases related to Muslim property will continue to exist. Thus, this article aims to identify the jurisdiction of the Federal and State in relation to the trust hibah and to examine the cases of trust hibah that have been decided by the Civil Court and Shariah Court. This study is a qualitative study which utilises documents analysis approach in its data collection process. The study found that there are various forms of judgment in the trial of cases related to the trust hibah. Therefore, the parties involved, especially the legislative body, need to resolve this matter by creating a legal enactment or a guideline that is monitored by an authoritative body. This study has an impact on agencies that are directly involved with wealth planning, legal practitioners, the judiciary and further to the community who are competent to choose a trust hibah contract as their wealth planning instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Ottoman Empire, the duties and jurisdictions of the courts are quite wide, and there seems to be no legal dispute that does not fall into this area. Court decisions were recorded in the registry book by specifying the date and a document was given to the parties. In order to make the judicial process fair in the places under the domination of the Ottoman State, qadi was sent to those places. After the Syrian territory came under Ottoman rule, qadi was appointed to centers such as Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo. The first of the Aleppo Sharia (qadi) records that have survived until today is dated 956/1549. The sharia register number 1, recorded in Arabic, is the main source of our work. There are three thousand three hundred and forty-eight documents in the said registry. In this record, many people from Aleppo and its environs, from various segments of the society, applied to the court in order to resolve the conflict between them. Among them; There are Jews, Christians, peasants, artisans, merchants, slaves and women. The subjects of most of the applications made by women to the court are marriage, talaq (divorce), mahr, alimony, power of attorney, commercial relations, debt issue, berat-ı dhimmet and similar issues. In this study, the situation of women who defend their rights or apply to the Aleppo Court to register their work will be examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia participation rate in Advance Care Directives is 14%, and research is limited on Advance Care Planning (ACP) invitations and uptake among the patients with advanced cancer (PwAC). This study identifies the prevalence and types of documented ACP discussions in PwAC who died within two or four weeks of receiving chemotherapy. A retrospective audit was conducted. Statistical analysis was calculated in SPSS. Difference in ACP invitation and utilization between three groups [control, <2-weeks, and –4 weeks] was measured by Kruskal–Wallis and Chi-square (or Fisher-Exact) tests. Post-hoc follow-up pair-wise comparisons were performed. Adjusted prevalence ratios were estimated using two logistic regression models. This study was conducted in XXX Coast University Hospital, Australia. The records of 339 patients were examined and 320 patients were found eligible. Of the 320 PwAC [male: 55%; median age: 65 years], 227 (71%) received ACP invitation, and among the invited patients, 89% used Acute Resuscitation Plan; 54% used Enduring Power-of-Attorney; and 20% completed Advance Health Directives. From 7.5% [n = 24] of the patients who received chemotherapy in their last 2-weeks of life, 42% had not received an ACP invitation, 29% didn't have Acute Resuscitation Plan and only 4% completed Advance Health Directives. There were significant differences among Control, <2-weeks, and 2–4 weeks groups in completing Acute Resuscitation Plan (P = 0.003) and Advance Health Directives (P = 0.045). A significant difference was also observed between control and <2-weeks groups in number of days since Acute Resuscitation Plan used. Completing an Acute Resuscitation Plan was associated with a lower risk of dying within two-weeks of chemotherapy (OR = 0.246; P = 0.008). Low rates of ACP invitation and use in PwAC, especially who received chemotherapy in 2-weeks of dying confirm a need for embedding and regularly revisiting ACP framework in cancer care and educating staff, patients, and their family caregivers to increase uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected area (PA) sustainability is challenged worldwide by legal downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD). National and local case studies of ecologically destructive PADDD events provide useful insights that may help respond to or prevent future events. Using information from legal documents and expert input, we identified 37 PADDD events that affected two adjacent PAs in northeastern Cambodia differently despite similar economic, environmental, and social conditions. Important differences in local context led to the eventual degazettement (100% loss) of one PA and downsizing (10.49% loss) of the other, the rest of which remains protected. This case study confirms the contribution of secure Indigenous land tenure to durable conservation governance and demonstrates the importance of investing in site‐level capacity to ensure that social and ecological conditions are monitored and proposed PADDD events can be successfully challenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the durable, yet largely overlooked, claims of Bahu Begam (1727–1815) to dynastic wealth and authority in the Awadh nawabi (1722–1856), a North Indian Mughal 'successor state' and an important client of the East India Company. Chief consort (khass mahal) to Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula (r. 1754–75) and mother to his successor Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula (r. 1775–97), Bahu Begam played a well-documented role in the regime's tumultuous politics, particularly during Warren Hastings's tenure as the Company's governor-general (1773–85) and his later parliamentary impeachment. But despite her prominent political influence, little attention has been paid to the substance of her persistent claims to proprietorship over revenue rights and the immense fortune in her custody, as well as her broader assertions of authority over Awadh's male rulers. Taking those claims seriously, this article contends that the begam rooted her arguments in notions of natural deference to maternal authority and generational seniority, evolving dynastic traditions of co-sharing sovereignty and fiscal resources, and her particular history as a principal financier of the Awadh regime. In so doing, the article argues that the begam's claims reflect the shifting conceptual language of late-Mughal Persianate political discourse and the ambivalent position of elite women as dynastic financiers and state-builders in early colonial South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this installment of our "Looking at Patent Law" series, we present a case study of the prosecution of US Patent No. 9,559,375: "Iron Flow Battery." This invention aligns with several ECS divisions, including Industrial Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering (IE&EE), Battery (BATT), Energy Technology (ETD), and Electrodeposition (ELDP). The '375 patent issued on January 31, 2017 with inventors Robert F. Savinell and Jesse S. Wainright. The assignee of the patent was Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). The case study begins with a brief synopsis of the background of the invention followed by 1) summary of key drawings and the specification of the invention, 2) inventor assignment and power of attorney designations, 3) submission of the Invention Disclosure Statement (IDS) and associated Duty of Candor, 4) summary of the non-final office action (NF-OA) and rejection, and 5) applicant response and allowance of the patent application. The case study illustrates overcoming "lack of novelty" and "obviousness" rejections by combining the limitation of dependent claims with the independent claim. With this case study, we hope to de-mystify the patent prosecution process and better prepare electrochemical and solid-state scientists, engineers, and technologists to interact with their patent counsel regarding their inventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introdution: Few studies examine the financial burden of clinical psychology doctoral programs and its impact on achievements, stress, and mental health. Objectives: The current study sought to better understand students' financial stress and debt, and how financial stress may impact their mental health and the attainment of personal and professional milestones. Method: Students (N = 912) completed an online survey assessing demographics, sources of income and expenditures, mental health, and milestones. Results: After accounting for yearly inflation, stipends have not kept pace with the average cost of living in the United States. Over one‐third of students indicated that they had no expendable pretax income after paying for their education and typical living expenses. Additionally, over 80% reported acquiring additional debt in graduate school to offset their living expenses. Financial concerns were associated with delays in major life milestones (e.g., buying a car/house, getting married/starting a family, having children), as well as avoiding medical (34.2%) or mental (41.4%) health care, with 17.5% of participants experiencing a health crisis they could not afford while in graduate school. Financial stress was associated with an increase in time spent thinking about finances, higher rates of depression and anxiety symptoms, and decreased sleep. Conclusion: Many clinical psychology doctoral students experience financial stress and are often unable to afford basic educational, personal living, and health care expenses, likely worsening mental health. Academic programs and leadership are encouraged to increase student stipends, improve financial transparency, provide access to health care, and alleviate financial stress and debt [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most people hope they will never need another person to step in and make.financial decisions for them if they become "incapacitated." Just ask Britney Spears. Yet many execute a power of attorney to protect their assets in case it happens to them. The power of attorney has become the universal financial management tool to prepare for, future incapacity, preferred because it allows loved ones to effortlessly assist an elder with diminishing capacity. Unfortunately, along with ease of use, comes ease of abuse. Too often this ubiquitous instrument is used to misappropriate an elder's property or usurp their autonomy due to a lack of oversight. The rate of elder Anancial exploitation continues to rise as the U.S. population ages. The COVID-19 pandemic also exacerbated isolation and vulnerability ®r our elders. Nevertheless, the legal profession steadfastly holds its grip on the power of attorney as a utility instrument-despite the high risk. The academic conversation too narrowly jbcuses on a polarized choice: Either keeping powers of attorney unregulated and unsupervised or opting for an overly restrictive regulatory process. Rather than adhering to this false dichotomy, a better approach is creating a legal.framework to address the increasing number of elders exploited at the hands of unscrupulous individuals. This Art icle posits that the rise in elderfinancial exploitation due to power-of-attorney abuse demands a more robust and creative framework. The federal legislative response has been anemic: despite passage of the Elder Justice Act, which established a collaborative approach to protective services, the mandate has remained woefully underfunded. To prevent elder financial exploitation. a multi-disciplinary infrastructure should be bolstered with necessary oversight and protection measures. In particular, the model should be enhanced with agent supervision and a centralized power-ofattorney registry to increase detection and prevention, while not overburdening agents or elders. It is no longer adequate to allow unregulated power-ofattorney use while a growing number of elders remain at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse life course events associated with unemployment can negatively affect individuals' future labor market prospects. Unauthorized status, and subsequent unauthorized employment, may operate similarly, marring immigrants' labor market prospects even after they change legal status. However, it is unclear how and why any durable disadvantage associated with prior unauthorized status operates differently by gender. This is an important shortcoming, given that legal status and gender overlap to influence both migration and stratification. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of lawful permanent residents, we find durable disadvantage associated with prior exposure to unauthorized status, especially among women. Men with prior exposure to unauthorized status experience persistent occupational disadvantage over time relative to men who were never unauthorized. However, women with exposure to unauthorized status experience widening occupational disadvantage over time relative to women who were never unauthorized. Human capital and legal processes help to explain this pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past several decades, developing Asia has achieved outstanding growth rates in the globalization process. Unfortunately, this impressive growth in the emerging Asia seemly has not automatically brought about sufficient decent work for the expanding population. Particularly, temporary jobs are often claimed to be associated with lower remuneration and poor working conditions. Meanwhile, in developing Asia, where this problem is apparently acute, empirical research on this topic remains scarce. This paper attempts to fill this research gap by focusing on the interesting case of Pakistan. This research uses the Pakistani labor force survey 2008-2009. Only wage workers are kept for the analyses. The self-selection into wage workers and endogeneity associated with contract status are carefully considered. After doing different statistic tests, the control function method developed by Wooldridge (2015) appears to be the most relevant to investigate the wage differentials associated with contract status for Pakistani workers. The estimation shows that holding a fixed term written contract or no written contract instead of a long-term written contract could significantly reduce wages for Pakistani workers. However, the extent of wage inequality depends on how defining contract status. If we rely on the Pakistani national definition of fixed term contract, engaging in this job is likely to suffer the highest penalty in terms of hourly wage. Such a finding no longer holds once we refer to the international standard definition of fixed term contract. Besides, the wage gaps associated with contract status change if the monthly wage is the independent variable instead of hourly wage. These findings highlight the importance of a stable contractual arrangement and labor market regulation enforcement in tackling the wage penalty and assuring decent work for all in Pakistan. With a mega labor force and demographic dividend, Pakistan should prioritize job quality and equality to achieve inclusive and durable development and mitigate social instability. This study is a timely reply to the urgent demand for empirical evidence on contract-status-related wage differentials in Pakistan, serving as a reference for labor policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaps in health-care services for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are not isolated incidents. They are systemic and disadvantage women. In this study, we explored the juxtaposition of power and agency in diagnosis narratives collected from 72 Canadian women diagnosed with PCOS. Using Braun and Clarke's inductive codebook thematic analysis, three themes of power were constructed: physicians as gatekeepers, oppression as intersectional, and antagonistic provider communications, leading to emotional and cognitive impacts. Themes of agency centered on education, active resistance strategies, and collective action. Implications for these findings are discussed in relation to women's health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nurse practitioners (NPs) should be knowledgeable about entering into meaningful conversations with clients about their retirement and end-of-life planning. Through knowledge of advanced care planning, NPs should be prepared to serve as a resource as clients develop life plans. Nurse practitioners should assess their practice for documenting client wishes that align with the 1990 Patient Self-Determination Act and advocate for changes in electronic record-keeping systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an ordinary partnership, as a rule, all partners have management authority. This management authority is regulated as a substitute rule of law in Article 625 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO). On the other hand, by granting the right of objection to “managing partners” in the 2nd paragraph of Article 625 of the TCO, the problems that may arise from the individual administration were tried to be prevented, and a bridge was built between the individual administration and the administration, so to speak. There are many controversial issues in both Turkish law and comparative law regarding the right of objection, which is of great importance in terms of ordinary partnership management. In fact, many of the issues that have been discussed for a long time in comparative law have not been sufficiently discussed in Turkish law. In this article, the owner of the right of objection and its addressee, whether there are pre-conditions for the use of the right of objection, the validity conditions of the objection, the situations in which the objection will be considered invalid and the legal consequences of the objection are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that clinicians are unrepresented adults without decision-making capacity, as patients stay in the hospital longer and experience delayed treatment and palliative care, who have not nominated a healthcare proxy.

Anne Lister became the owner of Shibden Hall in Halifax in 1826, when her Uncle, James Lister, died. Inheriting Shibden was the culmination of a campaign Anne Lister began as a young woman. Lister's journals reflect her thoughts concerning the actions she took to convince her uncle that she was the best choice to ensure that the Shibden estate remained in the Lister family and how she provided for Ann Walker after their commitment in 1834. The journal entries provide an insider's view of the process she engaged in to accomplish her goals. This paper will discuss the wills Anne Lister (1791–1840) and Ann Walker used in preparing for the disposition of their respective estates following their deaths. Lister used wills and other estate planning measures to protect herself and provide for others. The paper also discusses the shortcomings and missed opportunities for adequate legal advice given to Miss Lister and Miss Walker by their lawyer, his failure to consider and advise on the situations that did occur after Lister's death. Anne Lister was prolific in her instructions to her lawyer about her will, but she did not think of everything. The paper also includes a brief background on English law concerning wills, inheritance, and women's rights evolved over many centuries. Considering the various legal aspects of common law and statutes concerning who could inherit under English law, and the restrictions that existed if an owner died intestate, provide a necessary overview of the importance of planning ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on the current state and future prospects of advance care planning (ACP). It highlights the historical significance and widespread promotion of ACP in medical education, ethical codes, clinical guidelines, and public forums. It further discusses the accumulated doubts about the impact of ACP on care and the need for evidence to support its central role in clinical care and social policy.