Digital Watermarking Properties, Classification and Techniques

The rise in the demand for multimedia digital products has led to significant copyright challenges, which concerns proof of ownership and copy control. Digital watermarking method provides a solution to the problems associated to copyright protection and control. Considerable quantities of multimedia content are printed, edited or distributed unlawfully without the legal consent of the owner. Digital piracy in the movie and music industry contributes to severe economic losses annually. The problem of digital piracy has led to the urgent need for digital watermarking as a method to counter the piracy. The protection of digital content is currently the main responsibility of the content owner since piracy is evident in all levels of multimedia industry. Therefore, for multimedia information, protection of content copyright has increasingly become the sole focus of the content owner. Digital watermarking is a vital technology, which is applicable in protecting the contemporary multimedia digital contents..

How to increase kidney transplant activity throughout Europe—an advocacy review by the European Kidney Health Alliance

Kidney transplantation offers better outcomes and quality of life at lower societal costs compared with other options of renal replacement therapy. In this review of the European Kidney Health Alliance, the current status of kidney transplantation throughout Europe and suggestions for improvement of transplantation rates are reported. Although the European Union (EU) has made considerable efforts in the previous decade to stimulate transplantation activity, the discrepancies among European countries suggest that there is still room for improvement. The EU efforts have partially been neutralized by external factors such as economic crises or legal issues, especially the illicit manipulation of waiting lists. Hence, growth in the application of transplantation throughout Europe virtually remained unchanged over the last few years. Continued efforts are warranted to further stimulate transplantation rates, along with the current registration and data analysis efforts supported by the EU in the Effect of Differing Kidney Disease Treatment Modalities and Organ Donation and Transplantation Practices on Health Expenditure and Patient Outcomes project. Future actions should concentrate on organization, harmonization and improvement of the legal consent framework, population education and financial stimuli.

Is immunisation for children and young people in statutory care in Victoria 'all too hard'? A qualitative study with health professionals

This formative study aimed to identify health professionals’ perspectives on vaccination issues among children in statutory out-of-home care in Victoria. Eight health professionals, drawn from a purposive Victorian sample known to be proactive in addressing the vaccination needs of children in out-of-home care, took part in semi-structured interviews. Questions addressed participants’ views about roles and responsibilities, barriers and enabling factors affecting vaccination, and ideas about systems improvements. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically. The main themes that emerged were health professionals’ observations about vaccine hesitancy among significant adults in the out-of-home care sector, the paucity of child medical history information available and diffuse responsibility for the provision of legal consent to vaccination. More accurate immunisation status monitoring appears warranted for children in out-of-home care. Unless the collection and maintenance of child medical records improves and vaccination consent processes are streamlined, health professionals will be limited in their capacity to provide efficient vaccination services to these children. Research on vaccine hesitancy among staff and carers in the statutory care sector may be of value. This study supports other Australian research that indicates these children may require more targeted, inter-sectoral immunisation approaches.

Processes of user participation among formal and family caregivers in home-based care for persons with dementia

Scandinavian health policy supports prolonged home-based care for people with dementia. User participation is expected to reduce family burden. The aim of this study was to explore how formal and family caregivers experience collaboration while providing home-based dementia care, with a focus on user participation. Seventeen qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted among formal and family caregivers in rural municipalities. The theme identified during this process was ‘negotiating participation in decisions’. This theme was analysed using positioning theory. Concepts such as user participation are ambiguous, and caregivers negotiate positions during decision-making processes. Such negotiations are caused by the problematic relationships among patients’ legal consent, undefined spokespersons and pragmatic care practices. These constant negotiations enable or obstruct collaboration in several situations. User participation as a concept might contribute to conflicts during collaborations. Dialogues about user participation that focus on consent and spokespersons could reduce the burden created by negotiations in practice.

Profile of rape victims referred by the court to the Free State Psychiatric Complex, 2003 - 2009

<p><strong>Background.</strong> The psychological evaluation of rape victims to determine their competency to testify in court and whether they are capable of consenting to sexual intercourse is challenging, especially when the rape victim is mentally retarded.</p><p><strong>Objective.</strong> To describe the profile of mentally retarded rape victims referred to the Free State Psychiatric Complex (FSPC) in Bloemfontein from 2003 to 2009.</p><p><strong>Methods.</strong> A descriptive retrospective study was conducted. The study consisted of 137 rape victims referred by the court to the FSPC for psychological evaluation from 2003 to 2009. Patient files were used to obtain information.</p><p><strong>Results.</strong> The majority of individuals (<em>n</em>=129; 94.2%) in the cohort were female. The mean age of the participants was 19 years (range 3 - 52). The number of victims evaluated increased from four in 2003 to 36 in 2009. Most participants were diagnosed with moderate (67.2%), followed by severe (18.3%) and mild (14.6%) mental retardation. Only two of the victims were able to give legal consent to sexual intercourse. Only one participant was able to testify in a court of law. A noteworthy finding was that in only 25 (18.2%) cases, a clinical psychologist was subpoenaed to testify in court.</p><p><strong>Conclusion.</strong> The vast majority of mentally retarded rape victims in our cohort, regardless of their level of intellectual functioning, were not able to testify in court and were not able to give informed consent to sexual intercourse.</p>

‘A Drunken Consent is Still Consent’—Or is it? A Critical Analysis of the Law on a Drunken Consent to Sex following Bree

Does a person who is voluntarily drunk remain capable of giving valid consent to sex? The Court of Appeal in Bree held that ‘a drunken consent is still (valid) consent’, though it further recognises that the capacity to consent may evaporate well before a complainant becomes unconscious. This decision is a move in the right direction, yet this article argues that it has not gone far enough, and that s. 74 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which governs these scenarios allows—and even requires—a more drastic interpretation: a drunken consent is not consent when the person is very drunk. Based on a distinction between factual and legal consent, the article starts by setting up the legal framework as set out in s. 74, and developed in Bree and H. It then goes on to criticise the current case law and its interpretation of s. 74 for not being restrictive enough, by examining two possible theoretical rationales, mentioned in the judgments. The first, which is based on an analogy with the law relating to intoxicated offenders, is criticised on the grounds of differences between consent and intent. The second, which is based on the general argument that this position recognises the positive aspect of sexual autonomy, is criticised for its failure to distinguish between claims of normative facts and claims of public policy and for giving too much weight to the latter considerations. From the discussion an alternative, more restrictive position, emerges in line with s. 74 of the 2003 Act, according to which a drunken consent is not consent. This position can be adopted by judges, through the provision of better guidance to juries, but failing that a reform of the law might be needed.

La sperimentazione in soggetti in coma: problematiche etiche e giuridiche

L’inclusione di un soggetto in uno studio sperimentale è di regola subordinata al consenso libero e informato dello stesso. Problematiche di ordine etico e giuridico piuttosto complesse emergono quindi quando il soggetto da includere nella ricerca sia incapace di prestare tale consenso, come nel caso di persona in stato di incoscienza. L’inclusione di tale soggetto nella ricerca è dalle norme e dai documenti nazionali e sovranazionali (art. 54 Codice Penale, Convenzione per la protezione dei diritti umani e della dignità dell’essere umano riguardo alle applicazioni della biologia e della medicina, GCP recepite con Decreto Ministeriale 15 luglio 1997, Dichiarazione di Helsinki, Linee Guida Etiche Internazionali per la Ricerca Biomedica che coinvolge Soggetti Umani) subordinata alla sussistenza di una situazione di emergenza, o alla prestazione del consenso da parte del rappresentante legalmente riconosciuto. Si tratta quindi di verificare, ai fini dell’individuazione di uno spazio di praticabilità della ricerca in tali ipotesi, al di fuori delle situazioni di emergenza e rappresentanza legale, la possibilità di ulteriori “criteri di ammissibilità”: l’introduzione delle direttive anticipate e/o la previsione di un “decisore sostitutivo”, e la reversibilità dello stato di coma, ovvero la possibilità di guarigione e/o miglioramento quale condizione legittimante la sperimentazione in quanto pratica volta a recuperare lo stato di coscienza del soggetto. Ogni riflessione circa l’inclusione di un paziente in stato di coma in un protocollo sperimentale deve in definitiva fondarsi sulla considerazione della priorità dell’interesse del paziente stesso rispetto all’interesse della scienza e della società, ancor più se riferita a soggetti incapaci di esercitare un libero consenso rispetto ad un atto di disposizione del proprio corpo, e perciò bisognosi di maggior tutela. ---------- The inclusion of a person in a clinical trial, as a rule, needs his/her free and informed consent. Complex ethical and legal questions emerge when the person to include in a clinical trial in uncapable of giving legal consent, i. e. when he/she is uncounscious. According to national and international rules and documents (art. 54 c.p.; Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with Regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine; GCP - D.M. 15 luglio 1997; Declaration of Helsinki (WMA) International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research involving Human Subjects (CIOMS) including such a person in a clinical trial can be justified in emergency or with the consent of patient’s legal representative. We have to verify, in order to pick out a scope for medical research in these hypotheses, apart from emergency and legal representation, the possibility of other “admissibility standards”: advance directives and /or substituted decision-maker, and the reversibility of a coma, i. e. the possibility for the patient to heal or be better as a condition for the conduct of clinical trial as an operation intended to recover patient’s consciousness. All considerations about inclusion of unconscious persons in clinical trials have to be founded in the consideration that the interest of the patient always prevail over those of science and society, much more if the patient is unable to exercise his/her consent to dispose of his/her body, and then in need of special protection.