Using speech act theory from the Philosophy of Language, this paper attempts to develop an ethical framework for the phenomenon of speech processing. We use the concepts of the illocutionary force and the illocutionary content of a speech act to explain the ethics of speech processing. By emphasizing the different stages involved in speech processing, we explore the distinct ethical issues that arise in relation to each stage. Input, processing, and output are the different ethically relevant stages under which a spoken item or a speech navigates within the range of speech-processing modules. Employing the illocutionary force-content distinction, we specify and characterize the inputrelated ethical issues, the output-related ethical issues, and the processing-related ethical issues involved in speech processing. Together with illocutionary force-content distinction, we employ the data-information distinction to characterize the stage-wise ethical issues in the phenomenon of speech processing as the ethics of collecting (speech) data, the ethics of contextualizing (speech) data/information, and the ethics of releasing the contextualized information (processed speech). Immediate ethical issues that arise from the range of speech processing modules are distinguished from distant ethical issues. We also indicate the nature of ethical issues that arise from Speaker Independent speech technologies.

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Objective: This study aimed to share our experience in treating various types of injection-induced peripheral nerve injuries and explore numerous problems that are related to this category of peripheral nerve injuries. Study Design: Retrospective study Place and Duration: Department of Neurosurgery, Gomal Medical College DI Khan in the duration from October, 2022 to March, 2023. Methods: Total 130 patients of both gender with age 8-70 years were included. Patients with post-operative peripheral nerve injuries were following intramuscular injections, brachial nerves block procedures, subclavian and jugular venous cannulation procedures for central line placements, and routine intravenous injections in the peripheral veins of the limbs. Frequency of peripheral nerve injuries and its management among all cases were assessed. SPSS 22.0 was used to analyze all data. Results: In all 130 patients, 82 (63.1%) cases were males and 48 (36.9%) patients were females. 45 (34.6%) patients had age 8-15 years, 30 (23.1%) cases had age 16-25 years, 33 (25.4%) cases had age 26-35 years and 22 (16.9%) patients had age >35 years. Mean duration of peripheral nerve injury was 2.4±7.38 months. Most common reason was intramuscular injection found in 104 (80%) cases. Most common affected nerve was sciatic nerve in the gluteal region, the radial nerve in the arm and axillary nerve in the shoulder region. Non-functional status among all cases were found in 58 (44.6%) cases. Six (4.6%) of the patients in our series experienced neurological impairment following surgery in the form of motor weakness. The best outcomes, 115 (88.5%), were reported with the repair of the radial nerve after surgery. Conclusion: We came to the conclusion that a quick referral to a specialized peripheral nerve center, an early intervention, and early diagnosis are just a few crucial elements that can lead to a positive outcome and reduce the frequency of medicolegal lawsuits. By having in-depth anatomical understanding and providing patients with adequate counseling before to the treatment, the problem can be avoided in the vast majority of cases. Keywords: Peripheral nerve injury, Surgery, Improvement, Injection

For a long time, researchers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and futurists have hypothesized that the developed Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) systems can execute intellectual and behavioral tasks similar to human beings. However, there are two possible concerns regarding the emergence of AGI systems and their moral status, namely: 1) is it possible to grant moral status to the AGI-enabled robots similar to humans? 2) if it is (im)possible, then under what conditions do such robots (fail to) achieve moral status similar to humans? To examine the possibilities, the present study puts forward a functionality argument, which claims that if a human being and an AGI-enabled robot have similar functionality, but different creative processes, they may have similar moral status. Furthermore, the functionality argument asserts that an entity’s (a human being or an AGI-enabled robot) creation/production from carbon or silicon or its brain’s utilization of neurotransmitters or semiconductors does not carry any significance. Rather, if both entities have similar functionality, they may have similar moral status, which implies that the AGI-enabled robot may achieve human-like moral status if it performs human-like functions.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical and radiological results of employing local bone graft with a PEEK cage vs bone graft and plate in ACDF. Study Design: Retrospective study Place and Duration: Department of Neurosurgery, Gomal Medical College DI Khan in the period from June, 2022 to November, 2022. Methods: There were 80 cases of both genders were included for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Detailed demographic information on enrolled cases was recorded after receiving informed written consent. Patients were divided in two groups. Group I received ACDF by using bone graft and plate in 40 cases while in 40 cases of group II ACDF was performed by using zero size peek cage filled with bone graft and inbuilt screws. Outcomes among both groups were compared. SPSS 22.0 was used to analyze all data. Results: Among 80 cases, there were 46 (57.5%) males and 34 (42.5%) females. Mean age of the patients was 43±18 years. Perioperative mean pain score was 7.5±6.20, mean NDI was 62.4±2.8, mean SF-36 was 29.8±3.15 in group I and in group II mean pain score was 6.9±5.20, NDI was 64.8±3.10 and SF-36 was 30.5±4.13. Significantly reduction in pain score, NDI and increase in SF-36 among both groups were found while in group II outcomes were better than group I. Mean operative time in group I was higher as compared to group II with p value <0.004. There was no any significantly difference in blood loss among both groups. With a p value of 0.003, group II had higher disc space height and segmental interbody angle at the operative segment than group I. Perioperative complication rates in group I was higher with p value <0.05. Conclusion: In this study, we found that patients undergoing ACDF with local bone graft and a PEEK cage had significantly shorter operating times, fewer perioperative problems, and better radiological outcomes than patients undergoing ACDF with bone graft and plate. A PEEK cage-encased local bone graft seems to be a secure substitute for an ACDF's bone transplant. Keywords: Cervical spine, Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, bone graft, Local bone graft