Case name: Letter re: Luther Public Schools , No. 07241042 (OCR 08/27/25).
ABSTRACT Background In most countries, a criminal conviction requires evidence that the individual committed the act and that they had the mental capacity to understand what they were doing and that it was wrong. Youth, as an indicator of brain development, is one factor affecting criminal capacity. Worldwide, this has commonly been managed in part by setting in law an age below which criminal incapacity is presumed, so no prosecution is possible. Considerable variation in the MACR was confirmed across 195 countries. Some countries have no MACR. Otherwise, the MACR ranges from 7 years (some African and South Asian countries) to 18 (some South American countries); many North Asian, European and a few African countries set theirs at 14 which is the most frequently found level, and also the minimum age recommended by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Therefore, how do countries set or change their MACR? Aims To explore change, efforts to change and impact of change in MACR internationally. Methods Between February 1st 2022 and December 31st 2023, members of an international research group (GIRAF—Group of International Researchers in Adolescent Forensics) were asked to complete an emailed questionnaire about changes in the MACR, or efforts to change it, in their country since 2000. Reports were then collated, circulated and discussed within the group. Results Among the 14 countries responding in detail about the MACR, efforts to raise the MACR had been successful in three, but in nine such efforts had been unsuccessful; in at least two countries pressures were to lower their MACR, but in only one, Denmark, did that happen (from 15 to 14) in the data collection period (though this change was subsequently reversed). Factors most influencing retention of a lower age were exceptional individual cases, which triggered press and political interest in retaining a higher age, and well‐evidenced and developed arguments from legal, social and medical or other clinical bodies. Conclusions and Implications The wide differences in the MACR between countries suggest under‐use of evidence in deciding it. We need more governmental willingness to bring the MACR at least to the UN‐recommended level—but accompanied by research into the impact of this. Efforts targeted exclusively on child and adolescent welfare may have less effect if they also force children through the criminal justice system, with consequent impact on self‐identity and sense of citizenship. A low MACR is also likely to be more directly and indirectly costly than a higher one.
ABSTRACT Aims This article examines how offenders with mental disorders are managed within Brunei Darussalam’s dual criminal procedure system, which operates through both common law and Sharīʿah frameworks. It seeks to identify the structural and procedural difficulties that arise at the intersection of mental health, criminal responsibility, and religiously grounded legal principles, and to advance practical and doctrinal reforms suited to Brunei’s institutional context. Methods The study adopts a doctrinal and comparative approach, analysing the Criminal Procedure Code, Mental Health Act 2014, Sharīʿah Court Criminal Procedure Code, and Sharīʿah Courts Evidence Order 2001. Provisions concerning fitness to plead, insanity, detention, consent to treatment, confidentiality, and expert testimony are examined alongside Islamic jurisprudential concepts such as taklīf (moral accountability) and maqāṣid al‐Sharīʿah (the higher objectives of Islamic law). Comparative reference is made to England and Wales to illuminate structural contrasts. Results Four interconnected challenges emerge. First, the absence of specialist forensic psychiatric facilities restricts assessment and diversion options and limits compulsory treatment pathways. Second, the Sharīʿah criminal process lacks a dedicated internal mechanism for psychiatric evaluation. Third, statutory safeguards governing detention review and treatment consent remain underdeveloped. Fourth, the absence of a recognised forensic psychiatry specialty and clear guidance on expert admissibility generates uncertainty, particularly in religiously sensitive cases. Conclusion and Implications While both legal traditions recognise impaired mental capacity as relevant to criminal liability, effective implementation is constrained by institutional fragmentation. The article proposes coordinated legislative reform, development of forensic psychiatric capacity, structured expert witness guidance, strengthened procedural safeguards, and the establishment of a national advisory framework to ensure a coherent, rights‐compliant, and culturally grounded approach to mentally disordered offenders in Brunei.
ABSTRACT Carica papaya leaves are renowned as a traditional remedy to treat dengue fever, with carpaine identified as the principal alkaloid. This study evaluated the effects of solvent type, duration, and technique on carpaine yield, phenolic recovery, and antioxidant capacity from papaya leaves. Extractions were performed with ethanol or water at different durations (3–30 min) for soaking with agitation (SA), ultrasound‐assisted (UE), and microwave‐assisted extraction (ME). ME with ethanol (15 min) extracted the highest amount of carpaine, whereas ME with water (7 min) provided the highest extraction yield, phenolic contents, and antioxidant capacities. Computer simulation confirmed ethanol as a more favorable medium for carpaine extraction due to enhanced heat and mass transfer. Overall, ME demonstrated superior efficiency for both carpaine and phenolic recovery at shorter durations, underscoring its potential for scalable production of bioactive extracts from papaya leaves.
ABSTRACT The present study investigates the steady incompressible natural convective flow of power law fluid in a squared enclosure having a T‐shaped fin under the magnetic field and thermal radiation effects. The governing partial differential equations (PDEs) are transformed into nondimensional equations by employing dimensionless variables. The resulting system of dimensionless PDEs is solved numerically. The numerical simulations showed that the velocity and temperature profiles increases at higher Rayleigh number. Further, the addition of a magnetic field, quantified by the Hartmann number, decreases the fluid velocity and kinetic energy, reflecting the resistive effects of magnetic forces on the flow dynamics. The local and average Nusselt numbers decreases for higher radiation parameter. The obtained outcomes provide valuable insights for applications used in advanced thermal management systems, requiring fluid flow control and enhancing heat transfer.
ABSTRACT Catalytic dehydrogenation of decahydroquinoline (DHQ) to quinoline is a promising pathway for hydrogen release in liquid organic hydrogen carrier systems. In this work, solvent‐free DHQ dehydrogenation over Pd/Al 2 O 3 is systematically investigated to evaluate hydrogen release performance and reaction kinetics. High DHQ conversion (83.9%) and degree of dehydrogenation (82.7%) are achieved at optimal reaction conditions. A power‐law kinetic model based on a simplified reaction mechanism is developed and simulated using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach for estimation of rate constants and validation of concentration profiles with experimental data. The apparent activation energies are determined to be 45.85 kJ/mol for DHQ to 5,6,7,8‐tetrahydroquinoline (bz‐THQ) and 185.43 kJ/mol for bz‐THQ to quinoline formation, identifying latter as the rate‐limiting step. This framework provides mechanistic insight and supports the potential of DHQ as an efficient hydrogen carrier.
ABSTRACT This study presents an energy and exergy analysis of the Garri‐4 thermal power plant (110 MW) in Sudan, utilizing petroleum sponge coke fuel. The work aims to pinpoint thermodynamic inefficiencies using steady‐state modeling, IAPWS‐IF97 steam properties, and Szargut's correlation for solid fuels. Results reveal a stark contrast between first‐ and second‐law perspectives. Energy analysis identifies the condenser as the primary loss (63.8%), incorrectly suggesting heat rejection is the main issue. However, exergy analysis proves the condenser's destruction is minimal (1.1%). Instead, the circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler accounts for 80.2% of total exergy destruction due to combustion irreversibilities, followed by the turbine (18.2%). The overall exergetic efficiency is 31.2%. A Sankey diagram maps these flows, confirming that plant optimization must prioritize boiler combustion control rather than condenser upgrades. Comparison with regional plants validates these findings.
ABSTRACT In the process of spectral modeling, the representativeness of samples to the overall space determines the modeling efficiency. A commonly used unsupervised sample selection method is based on the maximum–minimum distance of selected samples. However, this approach selects samples based solely on a single distance metric, which introduces a degree of randomness. Inspired by the spatial field strength distribution law of multiple point charges, we propose a novel sample selection method based on field strength. In this method, each sample point is treated as a point charge that generates an electric field in its vicinity. The field strength at any given position is the sum of the contributions from all point charges at that location, with a higher field strength indicating that the point is already well represented. By calculating the total field strength exerted by each selected sample on the candidate points and incorporating the point with the minimum field strength into the calibration set, the method maximizes the coverage of field strength in the calibration space. Sequentially selecting and adding points with the lowest field strength yields a highly representative sample set. This approach enables efficient and unsupervised selection of modeling samples.
Abstract A simplified rear stagnant cap model is employed to analyze the effect of contaminants on terminal velocity of microbubbles rising in quiescent liquid. A dataset of the terminal velocity of microbubbles rising in liquids is collected to validate the numerical method and evaluate the Hadamard‐Rybczynski (H–R) correlation and Stokes' law. Both the experimental data and numerical results indicate the inescapable effects from inertia and contaminants. The numerical results show that a steep fall in surface tangential velocity ahead of the stagnant cap results in a sharp increase in local pressure and the increase of the drag acting on a rising contaminated bubble. The evaluation work proved the rationality of the Sadhal–Johnson correlation, which realizes a quantitative prediction of the drag coefficients for contaminated microbubbles. Inclusive of both the contamination and inertia effects, prediction correlations of the upper and lower thresholds for normalization in the Sadhal–Johnson correlation are replaced by the Schiller–Naumann correlation and Mei et al. correlation, extending its application range from Re < 1 to Re < 100, applicable of predicting terminal rising velocities of microbubbles with maximum diameter around hundreds of microns.
Abstract This study reports the thermodynamic experimental data of an ion exchange process applied for Cr(VI) removal from solutions prepared to simulate electroplating wastewater. Two commercial strong base anion resins, Purolite PFA300 and SSTPFA63, were used to generate experimental data sets. Total liquid‐phase concentrations of 1.0 and 3.0 meq/L were used in the binary equilibrium experiments, and Cr(VI) concentrations ranging from 50 to 350 mg/L were used in the adsorption tests. The experimental data were fitted to the thermodynamic models of Langmuir, Freundlich, ideal law of mass action (LAM), and non‐ideal LAM to evaluate their capacities to calculate the equilibrium composition. The obtained equilibrium data showed a high affinity of the Cr(VI) species for the resin phase. An Hmx isotherm behaviour was observed for SSTPFA63 resin, with a decrease in Cr(VI) concentration after an ionic fraction of 0.12 for the liquid phase. The Langmuir and Freundlich models fitted the results reasonably well, with linear correlation coefficients greater than 0.90. In contrast, the LAM models poorly fitted the experimental results, and the inclusion of non‐ideal coefficients did not improve the data representation. The binary Cr(VI)‐Cl − data is indispensable for process engineers who wish to apply ion exchange in the industry due to the importance of understanding how the target contaminant behaves in different concentrations of counter‐ion. From this perspective, our binary data could assist in the implementation of technology for Cr(VI) recovery and the reduction of environmental impact.