bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Can we design artificial persons without being manipulative?
Authors: Musiał Maciej
Published: October 2022

If we could build artificial persons (APs) with a moral status comparable to this of a typical human being, how should we design those APs in the right way? This question has been addressed mainly in terms of designing APs devoted to being servants (AP servants) and debated in reference to their autonomy and the harm they might experience. Recently, it has been argued that even if developing AP servants would neither deprive them of autonomy nor cause any net harm, then developing such entities would still be unethical due to the manipulative attitude of their designers. I make two contributions to this discussion. First, I claim that the argument about manipulative attitude significantly shifts the perspective of the whole discussion on APs and that it refers to a much wider range of types of APs than has been acknowledged. Second, I investigate the possibilities of developing APs without a manipulative attitude. I proceed in the following manner: (1) I examine the argument about manipulativeness; (2) show the important novelty it brings to a discussion about APs; (3) analyze how the argument can be extrapolated to designing other kinds of Aps; and (4) discuss cases in which APs can be designed without manipulativeness.
Burnout in Surgical Residents of an Academic Hospital in Iran: A Cross‐Sectional Study
Authors: Ashouri Mohammad , Mansourian Babak , Safari Roxana , Mohammadzadeh Narjes , Tadbir Vajargah Kiana , Karimi Aysa
Published: October 2022

Background

Academic burnout has adverse effects on residents' professional behavior as well as personal aspects of their lives and can ultimately affect their performance in the workplace. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of burnout among surgical residents in Imam Khomeini hospital and the relationship between factors such as sex, marital status, living place, specialized field, and anxiety with burnout.

Methods

We conducted a cross‐sectional study in 2021. A validated version of the Maslach burnout inventory for students (MBI‐SS), the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and a questionnaire on contributing factors were used. Statistical analysis for the prevalence of burnout and comparison between scores of groups were performed.

Results

Of 130 surgical residents who answered the survey, 26% met the criteria for burnout. There was a significantly higher prevalence of burnout among PGY1 residents. Of these residents, 85.4% and 62.3% had high scores on emotional exhaustion and cynicism, respectively. We observed an association between different surgical disciplines and anxiety with burnout.

Conclusions

The prevalence of burnout among surgical residents was notable and higher than expected. There was a reliable association between anxiety and burnout. A longitudinal study on a group of students with a consideration of associated factors is suggested.
Post-SMILE – Was Myope über ihre sekundär emmetropen Augen wissen
Authors: Kaymak Hakan , Devenijn Machteld , Neller Kai , Cosma Claudia , Sickenberger Wolfgang , Seitz Berthold , Langenbucher Achim , Schwahn Hartmut
Published: October 2022

Hintergrund

Bei jungen myopen Erwachsenen ist die Small-Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) zur langfristigen Korrektur ihrer Kurzsichtigkeit sehr beliebt. Die übermäßigen Achsenlängen der myopen Augen und die damit verbundenen Risiken für spätere schwerwiegendere Augenerkrankungen bleiben bei der chirurgischen Korrektur des Refraktionsfehlers jedoch bestehen. Diese Risiken sind umso größer, je höher die Myopie ist. Sind die Patienten darüber gut informiert, und inwieweit tritt weiteres Augenlängenwachstum auch nach SMILE auf?

Methodik

Myope junge Erwachsene, welche sich vor 2019 einer binokularen SMILE unterzogen haben, bekamen die Möglichkeit, im Rahmen einer Folgevisite ihre Augen untersuchen zu lassen (Biometrie mittels IOL-Master 700 [Zeiss, Oberkochen, Deutschland], subjektive Refraktion, Untersuchung des vorderen und hinteren Augenabschnittes an der Spaltlampe) und an einer Umfrage teilzunehmen. Patienten mit präoperativer Achslänge ≥ 25,5 mm und präoperativer Achslänge < 25,5 mm (hohe Myopie) wurden statistisch getrennt ausgewertet.

Ergebnisse

Es erschienen 44 Patienten (Alter 30,39 ± 2,39 Jahre) bei der Visite, die SMILE lag 3,18 ± 0,82 Jahre zurück: Das sphärische Äquivalent bei der Folgevisite betrug −0,05 ± 0,21 dpt bei den schwächer Myopen und −0,18 ± 0,23 dpt bei den hoch Myopen; 27 % der Befragten schätzten, dass durch SMILE ihr Risiko für Netzhautablösung und Katarakt gesenkt werden würde, wobei 80 % der hoch Myopen ihr individuelles Risiko für Netzhautablösung zu niedrig einschätzten; 57 % gaben an, dass sie bei Symptomen, die einer akuten Netzhautablösung entsprechen, erst innerhalb 1 Woche zum Augenarzt gehen, nur 27 % würden sich sofort in eine Notaufnahme begeben. Generell gaben 59 % an, ein normales Gesundheitsbewusstsein zu haben, und 41 % berichteten, jährlich zur augenärztlichen Kontrolle zu gehen.

Diskussion

Die erhobenen Achslängen und Refraktionen zeigen keine relevante Veränderung der Augen hinsichtlich einer Progression der Myopie. Die Angaben der Patienten in der Umfrage verdeutlichen aber, dass den meisten Patienten das Risiko schwerwiegender Augenerkrankungen (Netzhautablösung, Katarakt) nicht bewusst ist. Es bedarf daher v. a. bei den präoperativ hoch myopen Patienten einer wiederholten Risikoaufklärung und einer engmaschigen postoperativen Betreuung.
NCX1 disturbs calcium homeostasis and promotes RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation by regulating JNK/c-Fos/NFATc1 signaling pathway in multiple myeloma
Authors: Li Tingting , Qiu Dongbiao , Chen Qingjiao , Yang Apeng , Chen Junmin , Zeng Zhiyong
Published: October 2022

Although several types of calcium channels abnormalities have been shown to promote myeloma bone disease (MBD), the relationship between Na+/Ca2+ exchanger 1 (NCX1) and MBD remains unexplored. Here, we examined the role of NCX1 in the development of multiple myeloma (MM), with a special focus on the underlying effects involved osteoclast differentiation. Firstly, we detected NCX1 protein highly expressed in BM tissues of MM patients, and its expression was positively correlated with serum calcium and the percentage of BM CD138+ cells. In vitro, NCX1 suppression with the inhibitor KB-R7943 reduced cell viability of MM cells and caused apoptosis. Extracellular high Ca2+ environment increased the level of intracellular Ca2+ in MM cells through gating the calcium influx, with subsequently promoting the expression of NCX1 and osteoclastogenesis-related genes (receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB (RANKL), nuclear factor of activated T cell cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1), and proto-oncogene Fos (c-Fos). This phenomenon could be reversed by KB-R7943 or calcium chelation. Furthermore, NCX1 overexpression in MM cells accelerated osteoclastogenesis, while NCX1 knockdown or suppression resulted in the opposite effect. Mechanistically, we further investigated the related mechanisms of NCX1 regulating osteoclast differentiation using RNA sequencing, western blotting and Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, and found that NCX1 modulated osteoclast differentiation in MM though JNK/c-Fos/NFATc1 signaling pathway. In conclusion, the Ca2+/NCX1-mediated signaling participates in the osteoclasts-myeloma cell interactions, which represents a promising target for future therapeutic intervention in MBD.
Offsets in the EPN station position time series resulting from antenna/radome changes: PCC type-dependent model analyses
Authors: Dawidowicz K. , Krzan G. , Wielgosz P.
Published: October 2022

The EUREF Permanent Network (EPN) currently consists of more than 300 evenly distributed continuously operating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reference stations. As a result of the continuous modernization of GNSS systems, the equipment of reference stations is subject to changes and upgrades. Changes relating to GNSS receiver antenna replacement are considered the main reason for discontinuities noticed in station position time series. It is assumed that resulting offsets are primarily caused by changes in carrier phase multipath effects after antenna replacement. However, the observed position shifts may also indicate the deficiency in the antenna phase center corrections (PCC) models. In this paper, we identified and interpreted the coordinate shifts caused by antenna/radome changes at selected EPN stations. The main objective was to investigate the correlation between the offset occurrence and PCC model type (type mean, individual robot-derived, individual chamber-derived) as well as multipath changes after antenna replacement. For the study, GNSS data from 12 EPN stations covering the years 2017–2019 were analyzed. The results proved that the antenna replacement is critical in the context of station coordinates stability and, in most cases, results in visible shifts in the position component time series. For GPS-only solutions, the most stable results were achieved using robot-derived individual PCC models. On the other hand, in the case of GPS + Galileo processing, the most stable results were obtained using chamber-derived individual PCC models. Furthermore, discontinuities due to the antenna change were noticed in the position time series in 75% of GPS + Galileo solutions. On the other hand, multipath changes arising as the result of antenna replacement were responsible, depending on solution type, for 21–42% of variations in the coordinates.
Simulation study comparing analytical methods for single-item longitudinal patient-reported outcomes data
Authors: Calsavara Vinicius F. , Diniz Márcio A. , Tighiouart Mourad , Ganz Patricia A. , Henry N. Lynn , Hays Ron D. , Yothers Greg , Rogatko André
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Efficient analytical methods are necessary to make reproducible inferences on single-item longitudinal ordinal patient-reported outcome (PRO) data. A thorough simulation study was performed to compare the performance of the semiparametric probabilistic index models (PIM) with a longitudinal analysis using parametric cumulative logit mixed models (CLMM).

Methods

In the setting of a control and intervention arm, we compared the power of the PIM and CLMM to detect differences in PRO adverse event (AE) between these groups using several existing and novel summary scores of PROs. For each scenario, PRO data were simulated using copula multinomial models. Comparisons were also exemplified using clinical trial data.

Results

On average, CLMM provided substantially greater power than the PIM to detect differences in PRO-AEs between the groups when the baseline-adjusted method was used, and a small advantage in power when using the baseline symptom as a covariate.

Conclusion

Although the CLMM showed the best performance among analytical methods, it relies on assumptions difficult to verify and that might not be fulfilled in the real world, therefore our recommendation is the use of PIM models with baseline symptom as a covariate.
Applying quantified indicators in Central Asian science: can metrics improve the regional research performance?
Authors: Ovezmyradov Berdymyrat
Published: October 2022

Quantified indicators are increasingly used for performance evaluations in the science sectors worldwide. However, relatively little information is available on the expanding use of research metrics in certain transition countries. Central Asia is a post-Soviet region where newly independent states achieved lower research performance relative to comparators in key indicators of productivity and integrity. The majority of the countries in this region showed an overall declining or stagnating research impact in the recent decade since 2008. This study discusses the implications of research metrics as applied to the transition countries based on the framework of ten principles of the Leiden Manifesto. They can guide Central Asian policymakers in creating systems for a more objective evaluation of research performance based on globally recognized indicators. Given the local conditions of authoritarianism and corruption, the broader use of transparent indicators in decision-making can help improve the positions of Central Asian science in international rankings.
A Closed-Form Equation for Capillary Pressure in Porous Media for All Wettabilities
Authors: Foroughi Sajjad , Bijeljic Branko , Blunt Martin J.
Published: October 2022

A saturation–capillary pressure relationship is proposed that is applicable for all wettabilities, including mixed-wet and oil-wet or hydrophobic media. This formulation is more flexible than existing correlations that only match water-wet data, while also allowing saturation to be written as a closed-form function of capillary pressure: we can determine capillary pressure explicitly from saturation, and vice versa. We propose $$P_{{\text{c}}} = A + B\tan \left( {\frac{\pi }{2} - \pi S_{e}^{C} } \right)\,{\text{for}}\,0 \le S_{{\text{e}}} \le 1,$$

P
c

=
A
+
B
tan

π
2

-
π

S

e

C

for

0
≤

S
e

≤
1
,

where $$S_{{\text{e}}}$$

S
e

is the normalized saturation. A indicates the wettability: $$A>0$$

A
>
0

is a water-wet medium, $$A<0$$

A
<
0

is hydrophobic while small A suggests mixed wettability. B represents the average curvature and pore-size distribution which can be much lower in mixed-wet compared to water-wet media with the same pore structure if the menisci are approximately minimal surfaces. C is an exponent that controls the inflection point in the capillary pressure and the asymptotic behaviour near end points. We match the model accurately to 29 datasets in the literature for water-wet, mixed-wet and hydrophobic media, including rocks, soils, bead and sand packs and fibrous materials with over four orders of magnitude difference in permeability and porosities from 20% to nearly 90%. We apply Leverett J-function scaling to make the expression for capillary pressure dimensionless and discuss the behaviour of analytical solutions for spontaneous imbibition.
On the Role of Roughness in the Indentation of Viscoelastic Solids
Authors: Putignano Carmine , Carbone Giuseppe
Published: October 2022

A numerical boundary element methodology is employed to understand how fractality intervenes when a 1D rigid rough profile indents a linear viscoelastic half-plane. The focus is, in particular, on the viscoelastic dissipation and how this is influenced by the profile statistical parameters, namely, the mean square roughness $$h_{\rm rms}$$

h
rms

of the profile, the mean square slope $$m_{2}$$

m
2

and the Hurst exponent H. Our numerical investigation, properly supported by a dimensional analysis, reveals that, in the one-dimensional case under investigation, the leading role is played by $$h_{\rm rms}$$

h
rms

and, thus, mainly by the large scales of the rough spectrum. Clearly, on an experimental level, this implies that a simple measure of the roughness parameter $$h_{\rm rms}$$

h
rms

is sufficient to determine the viscoelastic dissipation.
Virtual classroom proficiency-based progression for robotic surgery training (VROBOT): a randomised, prospective, cross-over, effectiveness study
Authors: Nathan Arjun , Patel Sonam , Georgi Maria , Fricker Monty , Asif Aqua , Ng Alexander , Mullins William , Hang Man Kien , Light Alexander , Nathan Senthil , Francis Nader , Kelly John , Collins Justin , Sridhar Ashwin
Published: October 2022

Robotic surgery training has lacked evidence-based standardisation. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of adjunctive interactive virtual classroom training (VCT) in concordance with the self-directed Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery (FRS) curriculum. The virtual classroom is comprised of a studio with multiple audio–visual inputs to which participants can connect remotely via the BARCO weConnect platform. Eleven novice surgical trainees were randomly allocated to two training groups (A and B). In week 1, both groups completed a robotic skills induction. In week 2, Group A received training with the FRS curriculum and adjunctive VCT; Group B only received access to the FRS curriculum. In week 3, the groups received the alternate intervention. The primary outcome was measured using the validated robotic-objective structured assessment of technical skills (R-OSAT) at the end of week 2 (time-point 1) and 3 (time-point 2). All participants completed the training curriculum and were included in the final analyses. At time-point 1, Group A achieved a statistically significant greater mean proficiency score compared to Group B (44.80 vs 35.33 points, p = 0.006). At time-point 2, there was no significant difference in mean proficiency score in Group A from time-point 1. In contrast, Group B, who received further adjunctive VCT showed significant improvement in mean proficiency by 9.67 points from time-point 1 (95% CI 5.18–14.15, p = 0.003). VCT is an effective, accessible training adjunct to self-directed robotic skills training. With the steep learning curve in robotic surgery training, VCT offers interactive, expert-led learning and can increase training effectiveness and accessibility.
Robot Dialog System in the Context of Hospital Receptionist and its Demonstration
Authors: Hwang Eui Jun , Ahn Byeong Kyu , Lim Jong Yoon , Macdonald Bruce A. , Ahn Ho Seok
Published: October 2022

Task-oriented dialogue systems play an important role in human-robot interaction. Task-oriented dialogue systems help users achieve specific goals, and robots with systems are very effective in terms of reducing time and effort when replacing human workers. The conventional pipeline method, which has disadvantages such as a large amount of cost and time for development, has been applied to reception robots. For example, developers manually define responses that correspond to user input. Also, they use predefined robotic actions such as gestures and facial expressions. Recently, end-to-end learning of Recurrent Neural Networks is an attractive solution for the dialogue system. Based on the strengths of RNNs, we propose a social robot system in the context of hospital receptionists. We utilize Hybrid Code Network as an end-to-end dialogue system and extend it to select both response and gesture using RNN-based gesture selector. A user study is conducted comparing our proposed system with one of the existing methods, a rule-based approach. The empirical results show that the proposed method has an advantage in terms of dialog efficiency, which indicates how efficiently the user performed a given task with the help of a robot. In addition, there is no significant difference in experimental results between the proposed RNN based gesture selection and the rule-based gesture selection.
Sensitivity to Sample Size in the Context of the Empirical Law of Large Numbers: Comparing the Effectiveness of Three Approaches to Support Early Secondary School Students
Authors: Sommerhoff Daniel , Weixler Simon , Hamedinger Christina
Published: October 2022

A foundation for gathering and interpreting data is the empirical law of large numbers (eLLN). The eLLN has multiple aspects and can be regarded and used with multiple foci. However, it generally relates relative frequencies and probabilities or samples and the corresponding populations. Unfortunately, research has repeatedly revealed that students have problems with tasks including certain foci on the eLLN, particularly regarding their sensitivity to sample size when comparing smaller and larger samples.

We first outline the eLLN with its central aspects and provide an overview of corresponding empirical findings. Subsequently, we use Stanovich’s (2018) framework of human processing in heuristics and biases tasks to (re-)interpret theoretical descriptions and prior empirical results to better understand and describe students’ problems with the eLLN. Subsequently, we present three main approaches to support students derived from prior research: A static-contrast approach, a dynamic approach, and a boundary-example approach.

As currently no systematic and comparative evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of these approaches, we conducted a quasi-experimental intervention study (N = 256, 6th grade) which empirically compared three implementations of these approaches to a control group. Results underline significant positive short-term effects of each approach. However, the boundary-example intervention showed the highest pre-post effect, the only significant long-term effect, and also effectively reduced the common equal-ratio bias.

Results are promising from a research perspective, as Stanovich’s framework proved very helpful and is a promising foundation for future research, and from an educational perspective, as the boundary-example approach is lightweight and easy to implement in classrooms.
The Relation Between Environment and Psychological Development: Unpacking Vygotsky’s Influential Concept of Perezhivanie
Authors: Cong-Lem Ngo
Published: October 2022

In recent decades, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (VST) has become particularly influential in the fields of education and educational psychology. Perezhivanie is an important concept in VST that stipulates a relative influence of environment on a person’s psychological development depending on their age or stage of development. However, perezhivanie has been differentially interpreted and applied in previous literature to suit the purposes of domain-specific research. The lack of a comprehensive theoretical understanding of the concept can undermine research findings and their implications for educational practices. Drawing on a content analysis of Vygotsky’s key texts on perezhivanie, this paper provides a much-needed theoretical discussion that unpacks comprehensively the theoretical content of perezhivanie and the methodological principles guiding its application. The findings revealed that conceptually, perezhivanie can be defined as: (a) a theoretical relation between an individual and their environment, (b) an abstract experience of or attitude towards a life situation and (c) a concrete lived experience of an event within that situation. Four major discernible components of an individual’s perezhivanie include the environmental factor, personal characteristics mobilised, refraction prism and psychological influences. Five key methodological principles were conceived to assist the employment of perezhivanie in educational/psychological research: (1) utilising a perezhivanie as a unit of analysis, (2) analysing perezhivanie at different levels, (3) accounting for the perspective of the individual involved, (4) constructing the refraction prism and (5) determining the major personal characteristics mobilised in the perezhivanie. Implications for educational and research practices are then discussed.
The Relationship Between Traditional and Cyber Bullying Victimization in Early Adolescence and Emotional Wellbeing: A Cross-Sectional, Population-Based Study
Authors: Halliday Sarah , Taylor Amanda , Turnbull Deborah , Gregory Tess
Published: October 2022

Despite the wealth of knowledge about the impact of bullying victimization, information gaps exist about how traditional and cyber bullying in early adolescence is associated with emotional wellbeing, namely, indicators of positive wellbeing. Therefore, this study investigated associations between different types of bullying victimization and positive and negative emotional wellbeing indicators, in addition to examining the prevalence of different types of bullying in conjunction with child, peer, and school factors. The study used data from an annual survey of student wellbeing conducted in South Australian schools. The sample comprised of 9019 grade 6 students aged 10–13 years (49.6% female). One-third of students experienced bullying victimization. Verbal bullying was most prevalent in this sample (24%), followed by social (21%), physical (10%), and cyberbullying (7%). Males were significantly more likely to experience physical and verbal bullying, and students living in more socioeconomically disadvantaged communities were significantly more likely to experience physical, verbal, social, and cyber bullying victimization. Additionally, all types of bullying victimization were significantly associated with lower scores on positive emotional wellbeing indicators (happiness, life satisfaction, and emotion regulation) and significantly higher scores on negative indicators (sadness and worries), all with small effect sizes after accounting for child-, peer-, and school-level factors. This research suggests that bullying is associated with both positive and negative aspects of emotional wellbeing, and both aspects of wellbeing are crucial to consider when developing school-based interventions.
Personal Health Train Architecture with Dynamic Cloud Staging
Authors: Bonino da Silva Santos Luiz Olavo , Ferreira Pires Luís , Graciano Martinez Virginia , Rebelo Moreira João Luiz , Silva Souza Guizzardi Renata
Published: October 2022

Scientific advances, especially in the healthcare domain, can be accelerated by making data available for analysis. However, in traditional data analysis systems, data need to be moved to a central processing unit that performs analyses, which may be undesirable, e.g. due to privacy regulations in case these data contain personal information. This paper discusses the Personal Health Train (PHT) approach in which data processing is brought to the (personal health) data rather than the other way around, allowing (private) data accessed to be controlled, and to observe ethical and legal concerns. This paper introduces the PHT architecture and discusses the data staging solution that allows processing to be delegated to components spawned in a private cloud environment in case the (health) organisation hosting the data has limited resources to execute the required processing. This paper shows the feasibility and suitability of the solution with a relatively simple, yet representative, case study of data analysis of Covid-19 infections, which is performed by components that are created on demand and run in the Amazon Web Services platform. This paper also shows that the performance of our solution is acceptable, and that our solution is scalable. This paper demonstrates that the PHT approach enables data analysis with controlled access, preserving privacy and complying with regulations such as GDPR, while the solution is deployed in a private cloud environment.
Catalysis of stranded material on beaches in Arauco, Chile: experience with stranded sardines as fertilizer with a chemical solution
Authors: Parodi Jorge , Scott Ian , Chavez Viviana , Vega Ivan
Published: October 2022

Fish stranding or beaching is an infrequent but recurring phenomenon on the Chilean coastline and generates a serious public emergency. This phenomenon has been significantly reported around the mouth of the Laraquete River in Arauco, generally associated with water temperature changes and creating major environmental and public health problems due to the amount of organic matter deposited and outgassing from decomposition. This material is removed and taken to specialized landfills at a high cost, which merely transfers the problem without fundamentally solving it. Recently a product has been developed which appears capable of catalyzing organic material without the need for bacterial fermentation and increasing the bioavailability of soil nutrient materials. We evaluate this by using the product at the recommended concentration and doing on-site measurements of nitrites, nitrate, nitrogen, and phosphate levels. These showed, that after a 12-hour incubation period, the compounds increase, and organic material releases these compounds into a nutritious mud or organic compost. The smell was also evaluated as an indication of decomposition processes, with no changes recorded. The catalyzed material was transported to a farm site, mixed with low-quality soil, and subsequently planted with oats, reporting an output of over 90% in the soil treated with the catalyzed material. Health authority reviews raised no reports about odors. This data indicates that the product can release nutrients into the mud, generating organic compost, which can used for fertilizer in agricultural work. Future reports can indicate how this allows for new organic waste management strategies.
Latin American International Law and Afro-Descendant Peoples
Authors: Antón Sánchez John Herlyn
Published: October 2022

After the Third World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance, held by the United Nations in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, an important movement emerged. The African diaspora communities in the Americas, or “Afro-descendants,” as they prefer to self-identify, began to seek legal recognition in the context of international human rights law, and especially within the inter-American human rights system. Progress has been remarkable, including the rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, changes in the constitutional and legal systems of Latin American countries, and a UN draft of a Declaration of the Rights of People of African Descent, as part of the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024). However, conceptual, technical, and doctrinal issues still exist in defining the legal agency of people of African descent under international law. Who are Afro-descendants in legal terms, and how do we understand “Afro-descendance” within the context of Indigenous and tribal peoples? In this essay, I explain how different regional bodies in Latin America have interpreted Indigenous rights progressively to overcome the marginalization of Afro-descendants, and address some important questions that remain unclear despite this welcome evolution.
Populism's Antagonism to International Law: Lessons from Latin America
Authors: Prieto Rudolphy Marcela
Published: October 2022

International legal scholarship often assumes that populists will have an antagonistic relationship with international law.1 But a view from Latin America, where populism has been an object of study since the early twentieth century, tells a more complex story: populist leaders have engaged in multilateralism, promoted regional unity, and attempted to create international institutions. And populists as well as non-populists have resisted international institutions. This essay questions the assumption that populists have an antagonistic relationship with international law, and argues that this assumption lacks robust empirical support and is theoretically underdeveloped. Latin America is a particularly significant site for challenging this assumption, given the prominent role of the executive in foreign relations2 and the rich intellectual history regarding populism itself. The essay concludes by stressing the need for developing a theoretical framework for the study of populism and international law, which international legal scholarship currently lacks. Such a framework should be less Euro-centric and less normatively biased: it should not assume that resistance to international law is always without merit. And it should also allow us to identify what is distinctively populist about populism's relation with international law and which aspects are mediated by populism's host ideologies.
Human Rights as Transnational Law
Authors: Contesse Jorge
Published: October 2022

In 1916, at the first meeting of the then newly created American Institute of International Law, jurists from different countries adopted a declaration stipulating that “[i]nternational law is at one and the same time both national and international.”1 A century later, Latin American international human rights law clearly reflects that idea. Since the adoption of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man in 1948, and especially since the 1950s, with the creation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and later with the adoption of the American Convention on Human Rights in 1969, human rights in Latin America have been, are, and will continue to be an essentially regional phenomenon of international law. By examining the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ case law, this essay analyzes the way in which Latin America has articulated transnational human rights law, from the establishment of the inter-American system, to the distinctive forms of interaction and influence between international law and constitutional law. Drawing from recent jurisprudence on social rights, this essay shows that the idea of a Latin American common law of human rights—an idea that has become highly influential in the past decade—is an example of the outer limits of the potential integration. As such, the idea presents challenges that must be addressed in order for regional human rights to realize their full potential as transnational norms.
Digital twinning of self-sensing structures using the statistical finite element method
Authors: Febrianto Eky , Butler Liam , Girolami Mark , Cirak Fehmi
Published: October 2022

The monitoring of infrastructure assets using sensor networks is becoming increasingly prevalent. A digital twin in the form of a finite element (FE) model, as commonly used in design and construction, can help make sense of the copious amount of collected sensor data. This paper demonstrates the application of the statistical finite element method (statFEM), which provides a principled means of synthesizing data and physics-based models, in developing a digital twin of a self-sensing structure. As a case study, an instrumented steel railway bridge of

$ 27.34\hskip1.5pt \mathrm{m} $

length located along the West Coast Mainline near Staffordshire in the UK is considered. Using strain data captured from fiber Bragg grating sensors at 108 locations along the bridge superstructure, statFEM can predict the “true” system response while taking into account the uncertainties in sensor readings, applied loading, and FE model misspecification errors. Longitudinal strain distributions along the two main I-beams are both measured and modeled during the passage of a passenger train. The statFEM digital twin is able to generate reasonable strain distribution predictions at locations where no measurement data are available, including at several points along the main I-beams and on structural elements on which sensors are not even installed. The implications for long-term structural health monitoring and assessment include optimization of sensor placement and performing more reliable what-if analyses at locations and under loading scenarios for which no measurement data are available.
DU FU 杜甫 ON THE HAN DYNASTY: A MEDIEVAL VIEW OF THE CLASSICAL CHINESE EMPIRE
Authors: McMullen David
Published: October 2022

Du Fu, one of the two most celebrated poets of the Tang, was very much a product of his era in the way that he found a usable past in Han-dynasty verse, episodes, and people. From 750 on, his writings were replete with allusions to the Han, some subtle and others more forthright. Taken together, these allusions suggest his firm beliefs in the course of history determined by human moral agency, in morality as “a man's own charge”; also in the role of fate determining the succession of dynasties, even as he deplored the workings of capricious fate on individual lives. Such beliefs are unremarkable in content, being much closer to conventional Tang concepts of the individual than most commentaries on Du Fu allow.
MICHAEL LOEWE, A MODEL FOR THE AGES
Authors: Nylan Michael , Wilson Trenton
Published: October 2022

Soon to celebrate his centennial year, Michael Loewe is certainly the most eminent Han historian today. Without his numerous publications—including not only such foundational reference works as The Biographical Dictionary of Qin and Western Han and Early Chinese Texts but also a wide range of more specialized studies—it is hard to imagine how the once-neglected field of Han history could have garnered such respect among scholars in allied fields in Euro-America and abroad. In these introductory remarks, we reflect on Michael Loewe's distinguished contributions to the field of early Chinese history over several decades and his extraordinary record as teacher. We draw special attention to several ways in which Professor Loewe's work continues to challenge such outdated and anachronistic paradigms as “Confucianism,” and we note the careful ways he correlates received, “found,” and excavated sources. We conclude the introduction with a set of reflections situating Professor Loewe as teacher within a distinguished Sinological lineage.
War-related quality of life is associated with depressive symptoms and hopelessness among Palestinians: sense of belonging and resilience as mediating variables
Authors: Mahamid Fayez , Veronese Guido , Bdier Dana
Published: October 2022

Background

The current study was designed to test the correlation between quality of life, depressive symptoms, and hopelessness, and whether sense of belonging and resilience mediating the correlation between quality of life, depressive symptoms, and hopelessness in a society characterized by high level of political violence and prolonged trauma.

Methods

Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to test the conceptual model, where quality of life was identified as a predictor variable, sense of belonging and resilience as mediating variables, and depressive symptoms and hopelessness as outcome variables. The participants of the study were 437 Palestinian adults: 190 males and 247 females, they were recruited using online methods; emails, Facebook, and Twitter.

Findings

Results indicated that quality of life negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = −0.603; p < 0.01), and hopelessness (r = −0.453; p < 0.01), and positively correlated with resilience (r = 0.534; p < 0.05), and sense of belonging (r = 0.428; p < 0.01). Results of SEM indicated the correlation between quality of life, depressive symptoms, and hopelessness was fully mediated by the sense of belonging and resilience.

Conclusions

Our study sheds light on resilience and sense of belonging as protective factors against ongoing traumatic experiences among Palestinians. Future research should be addressed to understand better the features of resilience and sense of belonging that can help maintain psychological functioning in conditions of chronic and ongoing violence, the personal and historical antecedents of such protective factors, and the factors that can directly or indirectly undermine them.
Politically Speaking: Ethnic Language and Audience Opinion in Southeast Asia
Authors: Ricks Jacob I.
Published: October 2022

Language is one of the quintessential markers of ethnicity. It allows co-ethnics to easily identify one another and underscores in-group and out-group boundaries. Recognizing this, politicians frequently employ ethnic tongues to enhance their political appeal. To what extent does this shape the opinions of their audiences? Utilizing a survey experiment, I test the impact of an ethnic tongue against that of the common political language among the Javanese in Indonesia, the Tagalog in the Philippines, and the Isan people in Thailand. The experiment demonstrates that the ethnic language has a significant impact in both Thailand and Indonesia, but there appears to be little effect of using Tagalog over Filipino English in the Philippines. The findings suggest that ethnic tongues have the potential to significantly enhance political appeals, both among dominant (Javanese) and marginal (Isan) ethnic groups, but when the ethnic group is already the linguistic hegemon (Tagalog), such effects may be limited.
Performance evaluation of flexible macrocycle docking in AutoDock
Authors: Holcomb Matthew , Santos-Martins Diogo , Tillack Andreas F. , Forli Stefano
Published: October 2022

Macrocycles represent an important class of ligands, both in natural products and designed drugs. In drug design, macrocyclizations can impart specific ligand conformations and contribute to passive permeation by encouraging intramolecular H-bonds. AutoDock-GPU and Vina can model macrocyclic ligands flexibly, without requiring the enumeration of macrocyclic conformers before docking. Here, we characterize the performance of the method for handling macrocyclic compounds, which is implemented and the default behaviour for ligand preparation with our ligand preparation pipeline, Meeko. A pseudoatom is used to encode bond geometry and produce an anisotropic closure force for macrocyclic rings. This method is evaluated on a diverse set of small molecule and peptide macrocycles, ranging from 7- to 33-membered rings, showing little accuracy loss compared to rigid redocking of the X-ray macrocycle conformers. This suggests that for conformationally flexible macrocycles with unknown binding modes, this method can be effectively used to predict the macrocycle conformation.
Computer-aided comprehensive explorations of RNA structural polymorphism through complementary simulation methods
Authors: Röder Konstantin , Stirnemann Guillaume , Faccioli Pietro , Pasquali Samuela
Published: October 2022

While RNA folding was originally seen as a simple problem to solve, it has been shown that the promiscuous interactions of the nucleobases result in structural polymorphism, with several competing structures generally observed for non-coding RNA. This inherent complexity limits our understanding of these molecules from experiments alone, and computational methods are commonly used to study RNA. Here, we discuss three advanced sampling schemes, namely Hamiltonian-replica exchange molecular dynamics (MD), ratchet-and-pawl MD and discrete path sampling, as well as the HiRE-RNA coarse-graining scheme, and highlight how these approaches are complementary with reference to recent case studies. While all computational methods have their shortcomings, the plurality of simulation methods leads to a better understanding of experimental findings and can inform and guide experimental work on RNA polymorphism.
The Effect of Organization Capital on the Cost of Bank Loans
Authors: Danielova Anna , Francis Bill B. , Teng Haimeng , Wu Qiang
Published: October 2022

We find that organization capital is negatively related to the cost of bank loans. This finding is robust to additional analyses including those that address omitted variable bias and reverse causality. In addition, we find that organization capital reduces all-in-spread-undrawn. When we decompose the bank loan cost, we find that organization capital increases facility fees due to its risk-engendering characteristics. Finally, we find that organization capital is positively associated with a high likelihood of the presence of inventors and innovation output, consistent with the argument that organization capital is embedded in the key talent within a firm.
Negotiating the care convoys for a diverse group of older Australians living in rural communities: a large qualitative study
Authors: Petersen Maree , Winterton Rachel , Warburton Jeni , Wilson Jill
Published: October 2022

Whilst ageing in place is integral to international policy, there is less understanding of how individuals utilise formal services and informal supports in diverse rural environments to maintain their wellness and independence. Consequently, how older people negotiate their care within rural communities is subject to misconceptions. This paper draws on the convoy of care model to explore how older rural Australians negotiate their preferences and needs in the context of informal networks, availability of community resources, and the health and aged care system. The analysis draws on 60 in-depth interviews in six diverse rural communities across two Australian states. Three distinct care convoys are identified and demonstrate the interaction of multiple factors including individual preferences and needs, availability of family and community supports, and accessibility of local health and aged care services in the context of resource allocation. The findings highlight how families and communities compensate for a lack of accessible formal services. For older people without family and strong social networks, formal services are relied upon despite their inadequacy in some locales. This research has provided evidence that some Australian rural locales have limited resources resulting in challenges for older people to access home care and support. This results in many older people facing challenges to age in place. With aged care and health policy commonly designed for an urban context, our findings illustrate the importance of tailoring policy to respect the strengths and challenges existing in rural communities.
The ‘System of National Cooperation’ hit factory: the aesthetic of Hungarian government-commissioned songs between 2010 and 2020
Authors: Barna Emília , Patakfalvi-Czirják Ágnes
Published: October 2022

This article addresses the relationship between popular music and populism through three government-commissioned songs, produced for occasions of national remembering during the post-2010 Orbán regime in Hungary, namely ‘Barackfa’ (2013), ‘Egy szabad országért’ (2016) and ‘Hazám, hazám’ (2020). All three songs are one-off collaborations of artists representing various music genres. We ask, firstly, what aesthetic forms make these songs potentially suitable for the performance of national unity, solidarity and the ‘people’, and secondly, how the songs’ structure, production and dissemination can be interpreted as attempts by government commissioners and creators to gain popularity. Drawing on Ostiguy's performative approach to populism, combined with the notion of collective speculation and musical affordances, we identify three main strategies of constructing the ‘people’ in the songs: singing together as sound, legacy and practice; the pop ‘mega-event’; and the use of the folk music aesthetic as ‘mother tongue’.
Neglected impacts of patient decision-making associated with genetic testing
Authors: Milverton Joanne , Carter Drew
Published: October 2022

We highlight non-health-related impacts associated with genetic testing (GT) and knowing one’s genetic status so that health technology assessment (HTA) analysts and HTA audiences may more appropriately consider the pros and cons of GT. Whereas health-related impacts of GT (e.g., increased healthy behaviors and avoidance of harms of unnecessary treatment) are frequently assessed in HTA, some non-health-related impacts are less often considered and are more difficult to measure. This presents a challenge for accurately assessing whether a genetic test should be funded. In health systems where HTA understandably places emphasis on measurable clinical outcomes, there is a risk of creating a GT culture that is pro-testing without sufficient recognition of the burdens of GT. There is also a risk of not funding a genetic test that provides little clinical benefit but nonetheless may be seen by some as autonomy enhancing. The recent development of expanded HTA frameworks that include ethics analyses helps to address this gap in the evidence and bring awareness to non-health-related impacts of GT. The HTA analyst should be aware of these impacts, choose appropriate frameworks for assessing genetic tests, and use methods for evaluating impacts. A new reporting tool presented here may assist in such evaluations.