Search

This review essay registers sincere appreciation for John Witte’s singular contribution to defending the importance of the history and interpretation of rights in the Western tradition, especially as related to Christian thought and practice. It also proposes to amend and refine his approach by highlighting the difference between natural and religious justifications of rights, and by suggesting reasons for favoring the former.

English The last decade has witnessed the emergence of new psychoactive substances that are analogues of classical drugs of abuse in order to escape the regulations surrounding the latter drugs. These drugs were of both herbal and synthetic origin and were advertised initially as ‘legal highs’; thus, they were perceived as safe by users. Hence, upon their emergence, they were not controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which contributed to their popularity and increased sales online and within street markets. In 2016, the Psychoactive Substance Act introduced a blanket ban on all new psychoactive substances except for caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. This in turn, contributed to the change in the sale of new psychoactive substances products that have been sold as concealed in different matrices, including herbal products, papers, fabrics, and textiles. Concealing drugs in paper has been very popular, especially since the drug product is of lightweight and can be sent via postal services. However, new psychoactive concealed in papers are toxic not only to the users; but also, to the person handling them (i.e. mail employees). One of the classes of new psychoactive substances that have been commonly concealed in papers and that have been linked to toxicity and hospitalization cases is synthetic cannabinoids. Therefore, there is a need to identify new psychoactive substances concealed in papers non-destructively and rapidly to prevent toxicity linked to them. Handheld Raman spectroscopy offers this advantage as it is of lightweight and carries the sample to the matrix. Therefore, this work used handheld Raman spectroscopy for identifying synthetic cannabinoids concealed in papers using Raman spectroscopy combined with machine learning analytics. Synthetic cannabinoid and paper samples were measured non-destructively using a handheld Raman spectrometer equipped with a 1064 nm laser wavelength. Spectral data was exported into Matlab 2020b where machine learning analytics including identification and prediction was. The results showed that Raman spectroscopy could identify specific synthetic cannabinoids in papers that were either deposited on the surface of the paper or diffused inside the paper substrate. When machine learning analytics were applied to the Raman spectra of the papers, quantitative information was obtained regarding the amount of synthetic cannabinoid deposited on the paper surface. In summary, handheld Raman spectroscopy could identify and quantify synthetic cannabinoids on paper rapidly and non-destructively. Future work involves testing other classes of new psychoactive substance and applying deep learning analytics

John Witte, Jr.’s book The Blessings of Liberty contains an important message about the origins and continuing relevance of religious liberty. Based on careful historical analysis of the development of religious liberty in England and the US, Witte demonstrates the importance of Protestant thinking both to the right and to human rights more generally. In the process he refutes both Christian and post-Enlightenment sceptics. His discussion of contemporary US and European law shows how much the right is still needed today, despite the claims of contemporary scholars that freedom of religion and belief is a redundant right.

A “4-{[1-(2,5-dihydroxyphenyl)ethylidene]amino}-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one” chemosensor (C1) synthesized by Condensation reaction using “4-amino-1,2-dihydro-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenylpyrazol-3-one” and “2,5-dihydroxy Actophenone”. It shows absorption peak at 326 nm due to the C=C bond (π-π* transition), while the absorption peak at 364 nm is caused by the C=O bond (n-π* transition). In the presence of copper C1 only demonstrated a change in absorption peak to higher wavelength (redshift) from 364 to 425 nm. The hue of both the C1+Cu(II) complex changed from bright yellow to dark brown colour with hypochromic shift appearance of a new peak at 425 nm. Even in the presence of other competing metal ions, the hypsochromic shift of the absorption band and the quenching of the fluorescence emission intensity were different for detecting Cu2+, in CH3OH-H2O (v/v = 6:4). Job's plot was used to compute the binding stoichiometry between C1 and Cu2+, and MASS and FTIR spectrophotometry were used to investigate the complexation process. The capacity of the C1 to bind Cu2+ was further proven using DFT simulations. The complex S1+Cu2+ has a HOMO-LUMO energy gap of 2.8002 eV, which is lesser than S1 (2.9991 eV). From these results, it can be seen that the specific binding of S1 to Cu2+ improves the stability of the S1+Cu2+ complex and effectively reduces the HOMO-LUMO energy gap. The C1 was successfully used in a real-world water sample analysis. Using the Benesi-Hildebrand and Scatchard plots, the Kb was calculated and found to be 47340M-1 and 48369M-1 respectively, showing the creation of stable complexation between Cu2+ and S1 with 1:1 Stoichiometry. The LOD of S1 for Cu2+ ion analysis was determined to be 649 nM. Strip sheets were also built and tested to detect varying amounts of Cu2+ aqueous solution, and their color change suggested that they might be used for on-site Cu2+ detection in polluted water.

Purpose This study aimed to determine whether continual electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) measurements at home can capture the fluctuations in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores between visits. Methods We performed a randomized controlled trial to compare the scores obtained by standard practice (paper-based measurements in the hospital) to scores by continuous measurement of ePRO at home. Metastatic cancer patients were randomly assigned to either the paper-based ( n = 50) or the ePRO group ( n = 52). EQ-5D-5L and EORTC QLQ C-30 scores were obtained on 3 different chemotherapy days in the paper-based group. Meanwhile, scores were obtained on the chemotherapy day and on days 3, 7, 10, and 14 in the ePRO group during 2 cycles. The first hypothesis of our study was that both scores at the same time points would be equivalent despite different measurement frequency, place, or mode of measurement. The second hypothesis was that PRO score–adjusted time would be different between the groups. For equivalence, the endpoint was the mean EQ-5D-5L index value on the chemotherapy day before the outpatient treatment. Only if equivalence was shown, quality-adjusted life-days (QALDs) were considered using all the data. Results The adjusted mean difference in the EQ-5D-5L index was determined to be −0.013 (95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.049 to 0.022); the 95% CI did not exceed the equivalence margin. Similarly, the mean difference in global health status (2.28 [95% CI: −2.55 to 7.11]) also showed equivalence. However, the QALD by EQ-5D-5L was significantly lower in the ePRO group by 1.36 per 30 d (95% CI: −2.22 to −0.51; P = 0.0021). Conclusions Continual measurements of the HRQOL at home by ePRO may yield more detailed profiles of the HRQOL.