bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Coding the Data
Authors: Berthet Valentine , Gaweda Barbara , Kantola Johanna , Miller Cherry , Ahrens Petra , Elomäki Anna
Published: August 2023

Next to gathering qualitative data, coding of data lies at the core of qualitative research. The chapter is the first of two that dig into the specificities of data analysis. Coding is one way of organising dense data and making sense of it, for instance by identifying patterns. Whilst there exist various approaches to coding, this chapter presents a set of strategies to code dense interview, ethnographic and document data. Additionally, we present the technicalities of coding data collaboratively, as part of teamwork. Importantly, Chapter 5 yields important tips and concrete examples regarding the use of software tools for qualitative analysis, such as Atlas.ti and the intricacies of using it as a team. Specifically, the chapter discusses the initial stages of developing code listsin inductiveand deductive ways, the technicalities pertaining to actually coding the text of the data with Atlas.ti, and presents an overview of the advantages of some tools, such as creating code families, to make sense of the data. Throughout the chapter, we discuss the collaborative nature of our coding work by reviewing the pros and cons and by examining issues pertaining to intercoder reliability.
Inheritance Law in the Twenty-First Century: New Circumstances and Challenges
Authors: Klasiček Dubravka
Published: August 2023

This chapter explores the influence of technology on traditional components of inheritance. An increasing amount of social interaction takes place online. Consequently, people accumulate large quantities of digital assets. Some of these assets have a considerable material value, while others might have emotional value for the family of a decedent. They might also have historical value for society in general. However, from the standpoint of inheritance law, in many countries it is unclear what happens to digital assets after their owner/user dies. These assets represent a new type of “property” and few legislators around the world have regulated them specifically. The need to implement these assets into inheritance law is why it is important for law students to be familiar with the concept of digital assets, understand their categories, as well as the differences between them. The chapter also considers possible solutions on what will happen to them,post mortem. To map the landscape for the readers, the chapter divides digital assets into four comprehensive groups and explains what happens to each of these digital assetspost mortem. This chapter also lists the reasons why some of these assets cannot be inherited and possible problems with inheritance of those digital assets that are inheritable.
Right to Salary Benefit During Temporary Inability to Work Due to COVID-19
Authors: Tasić Anđelija , Obradović Goran
Published: August 2023

In 2020, the Government of the Republic of Serbia brought a non-binding conclusion that recommends employers raise the amount of salary benefit from 65 to 100% in all cases involving the contagious SARS-COV-2 virus, which differs from the general norm for all other medical reasons. This recommendation becomes binding only upon being incorporated in a relevant general act of employers (mainly those funded from the RS budget), and it does not depend on any additional factors: whether the employee is vaccinated or not, whether he/she refuses treatment without justified reasons etc. The main question of this paper is whether the different treatment between the employees infected only by one specific disease could be justified. Related to that question we are also wondering if different treatments can be conditioned by the employee’s behaviour in assessing his/her contribution to the contagion and the development of the disease. Finally, we are questioning whether it violates the principle of equality or the actual application of the good faith and fair dealing principle to those who deliberately or in gross negligence endanger themselves and others. To answer these questions, we refer to the relevant case law of the ECtHR, which finds itself competent to the question of vaccination under the scope of Article 8.
The Challenges Involved in Teaching About the Rule of Law as a Fundamental Value of the EU System
Authors: Cenevska Ilina
Published: August 2023

As the state of the rule of law continues to deteriorate in certain EU Member States, the EU is being presented with a unique challenge—that of protecting the value of the rule of law against internal systematic violations thereof. In the face of these ongoing developments, it has equally become a challenge for instructors at EU and non-EU universities who teach about the rule of law as an EU value to fully deliver the rule of law ‘message’ to their students. This chapter will firstly elaborate on the importance of the rule of law as a baseline principle of the EU framework, providing insight into the current state of play regarding the EU’s rule of law issues. Secondly, the analysis will weigh in on the most appropriate methodological approaches to be employed in the university-level instruction covering the fields of EU Law and EU studies more broadly. Thirdly, the chapter will specifically look into the most suitable and most effective methodological tools for teaching the rule of law as an area of study. Lastly, conclusions will be drawn about the ways in which instructors can improve the methodological toolkit they utilize when teaching about the rule of law as an EU value as well as a general concept, such that would allow students to internalize their knowledge of the different components of the rule of law and, as a result, be prepared to successfully apply this knowledge to practical, real-world situations.
Building Transversal Skills and Competences in Legal Education
Authors: Vlajković Marija , Dabetić Valerija
Published: August 2023

At the time when law graduates are facing new challenges in the constantly changing labor market, the main task of law schools as well as law professors is to educate undergraduates to become above all competent and ethical lawyers. Education should adequately prepare students for the working environment in or outside the legal profession. Curricula (including extra-curriculum activities), in addition to formal legal courses, needs to be enriched with continuous training to develop transversal competences. To meet this aim and to map the gaps of the current (traditional) model of law teaching from the students’ perspective, we have conducted a large-scale online survey with students at the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade. The empirically obtained results, enabled us to identify and systematize the educational needs of law students that require further improvement. Having in mind that one of the main evaluation criteria of quality and success of the educational and teaching program is the level of graduates’ employability, an additional goal of this explorative research is to provide guidelines for the modernization of legal education, primarily in Serbia, but at the law faculties in the region as well.
Gendering Political Participation in Germany and Beyond: Should Quotas Ensure Gender Parity in Parliaments?
Authors: Giegerich Thomas
Published: August 2023

The underrepresentation of women in parliaments indicates the political empowerment gap underlying the gender gap and is a symbol of their de facto inequality. Electoral laws that ensure gender parity are therefore on the agenda. This is also the case in Germany (both on the state and federal level) and in the EU in relation to the European Parliament. Gender parity laws typically require political parties to submit zipped lists with an equal number of alternating female and male candidates. The first two gender parity laws of German states were, however, struck down as unconstitutional by the state constitutional courts. According to the Federal Constitutional Court, the Basic Law does not require the enactment of gender parity laws, despite the constitutional obligation to promote the actual implementation of equal rights for women and men. But the FCC has not yet determined what limits the Basic Law may place on voluntarily enacted federal or state gender parity laws. The European Court of Human Rights has accepted gender quotas regarding electoral lists as permissible in the ECHR system. Soft law rules of the Council of Europe favour the use of such quotas. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination of Women supports and perhaps requires gender quotas in political representation.
Introduction
Authors: Krüger Maleika
Published: August 2023

The rise of globalization, the widespread use of technical devices, such as computers and smartphones, and the emergence of the internet have undoubtedly changed the media landscape and transformed our way of communication in all sectors of life. Today, the internet serves as a source for information and allows people to communicate on various platforms. In addition, it not only allows easy access to written material, but has also made it possible to access audio and audio-visual media content such as music, movies, or TV series.
The Media Landscape in Germany and Switzerland
Authors: Krüger Maleika
Published: August 2023

The word media (singular: medium) is used to describe ways of communication within a society. The media includes any technical tool and channel through which information, opinions, or cultural properties can be transported, stored, and delivered to people. These tools or channels can be analog (such as books, newspapers, radio, television), or digital.
Probing primordial black holes from a first order phase transition through pulsar timing and gravitational wave signals
Authors: Acuña Jan Tristram , Tseng Po-Yan
Published: August 2023

Abstract

In this work, we assess the sensitivity reach of pulsar timing array (PTA) measurements to probe pointlike primordial black holes (PBHs), with an extended mass distribution, which originate from collapsed Fermi balls that are formed through the aggregation of asymmetric U(1) dark fermions trapped within false vacuum bubbles during a dark first order phase transition (FOPT). The PBH formation scenario is mainly characterized by the dark asymmetry, strength of the FOPT, rate of FOPT, and the percolation temperature. Meanwhile, for PBH masses of interest lying within 10−10M⊙ − 102M⊙, the relevant signal for PTA measurements is the Doppler phase shift in the timing signal, due to the velocity change induced by transiting PBHs on pulsars. Taking the dark asymmetry parameter to be 10−4 and 10−5, we find that percolation temperatures within the 0.1 − 10 keV range, FOPT rates above 103 times the Hubble parameter at percolation, and FOPT strengths within 10−6 − 0.1 can give rise to PBHs that can be probed by an SKA-like PTA observation. On the other hand, the accompanying gravitational wave (GW) signal from the FOPT can be used as a complementary probe, assuming that the peak frequency lies within the 𝒪(10−10) − 𝒪(10−7) Hz range, and the peak GW abundance is above the peak-integrated sensitivity curves associated with pulsar timing observations that search for stochastic GWs. At the fundamental level, a quartic effective potential for a dark scalar field can trigger the FOPT. By performing a parameter scan, we obtained the class of effective potentials that lead to FOPT scenarios that can be probed by SKA through pulsar timing and GW observations.
Hot entanglement? — Parametrically coupled quantum oscillators in two heat baths: instability, squeezing and driving
Authors: Arısoy Onat , Hsiang Jen-Tsung , Hu Bei-Lok
Published: August 2023

Abstract

Entanglement being a foundational cornerstone of quantum sciences and the primary resource in quantum information processing, understanding its dynamical evolution in realistic conditions is essential. Unfortunately, numerous model studies show that degradation of entanglement from a quantum system’s environment, especially thermal noise, is almost unavoidable. Thus the appellation ‘hot entanglement’ appears like a contradiction, until Galve et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 180501 (2010)] announced that entanglement can be kept at high temperatures if one considers a quantum system with time-dependent coupling between the two parties, each interacting with its individual bath. With the goal of understanding the sustenance of entanglement at high temperatures, working with the same model and set up as Galve et al, namely, parametrically-driven coupled harmonic oscillators interacting with their own Markovian baths, this work probes into the feasibility of ‘hot entanglement’ from three aspects listed in the subtitle. Our findings show that 1) hot entanglement functions only in the unstable regimes, 2) instability is a necessary but not sufficient condition, and 3) the power intake required by the drive operating in the unstable regime to sustain entanglement increases exponentially. The last factor indicates that hot entanglement under this modeling is theoretically untenable and its actual implementation likely unattainable.
Tadpoles and gauge symmetries
Authors: Braun Andreas P. , Fraiman Bernardo , Graña Mariana , Lüst Severin , Parra De Freitas Héctor
Published: August 2023

Abstract

The tadpole conjecture proposes that complex structure moduli stabilisation by fluxes that have low tadpole charge can be realised only at special points in moduli space, leading generically to (large) gauge symmetries. Here we provide an exhaustive survey of the gauge symmetries arising in F-theory flux compactifications on products of attractive K3 surfaces, with complex structure moduli fully stabilised. We compute the minimal rank of the left-over non-abelian gauge group for all flux configurations within the tadpole bound, finding that it is always non-zero. It decreases in a roughly linear fashion with the tadpole charge, reaching zero at charge 30. By working out possible gauge algebras for different values of the tadpole, we find that all simple ADE Lie algebras of rank ≤ 18 appear.
Pole-skipping in rotating BTZ black holes
Authors: Jeong Hyun-Sik , Ji Chang-Woo , Kim Keun-Young
Published: August 2023

Abstract

Motivated by the connection between pole-skipping phenomena of two point functions and four point out-of-time-order correlators, we study the pole-skipping phenomena for rotating BTZ black holes. In particular, we investigate the effect of rotations on the pole-skipping point for various fields with spin s = 1/2, 1, 2/3, extending the previous research for s = 0, 2. We derive an analytic full tower of the pole-skipping points of fermionic (s = 1/2) and vector (s = 1) fields by the exact holographic Green’s functions. For the non-extremal black hole, the leading pole-skipping frequency is ωleading = 2πiTh(s − 1 + νΩ)/(1 − Ω2) where Th is the temperature, Ω the rotation, and ν := (∆+ − ∆−)/2, the difference of conformal dimensions (∆±). These are confirmed by another independent method: the near-horizon analysis. For the extremal black hole, we find that the leading pole-skipping frequency can occur at $$ {\omega}_{\textrm{leading}}^{\textrm{extremal}} $$

ω
leading
extremal

= −2πiTR(s + 1) only when ν = s + 1, where TR is the temperature of the right moving mode. It is non-trivial because it cannot be achieved by simply taking the extreme limit (Th → 0, Ω → 1) of the non-extremal black hole result.
Psilocybin therapy for treatment resistant depression: prediction of clinical outcome by natural language processing
Authors: Dougherty Robert F. , Clarke Patrick , Atli Merve , Kuc Joanna , Schlosser Danielle , Dunlop Boadie W. , Hellerstein David J. , Aaronson Scott T. , Zisook Sidney , Young Allan H. , Carhart-Harris Robin , Goodwin Guy M. , Ryslik Gregory A.
Published: August 2023

Rationale

Therapeutic administration of psychedelics has shown significant potential in historical accounts and recent clinical trials in the treatment of depression and other mood disorders. A recent randomized double-blind phase-IIb study demonstrated the safety and efficacy of COMP360, COMPASS Pathways’ proprietary synthetic formulation of psilocybin, in participants with treatment-resistant depression.

Objective

While the phase-IIb results are promising, the treatment works for a portion of the population and early prediction of outcome is a key objective as it would allow early identification of those likely to require alternative treatment.

Methods

Transcripts were made from audio recordings of the psychological support session between participant and therapist 1 day post COMP360 administration. A zero-shot machine learning classifier based on the BART large language model was used to compute two-dimensional sentiment (valence and arousal) for the participant and therapist from the transcript. These scores, combined with the Emotional Breakthrough Index (EBI) and treatment arm were used to predict treatment outcome as measured by MADRS scores. (Code and data are available at https://github.com/compasspathways/Sentiment2D.)

Results

Two multinomial logistic regression models were fit to predict responder status at week 3 and through week 12. Cross-validation of these models resulted in 85% and 88% accuracy and AUC values of 88% and 85%.

Conclusions

A machine learning algorithm using NLP and EBI accurately predicts long-term patient response, allowing rapid prognostication of personalized response to psilocybin treatment and insight into therapeutic model optimization. Further research is required to understand if language data from earlier stages in the therapeutic process hold similar predictive power.
Long-term preconditioning of the coral Pocillopora acuta does not restore performance in future ocean conditions
Authors: Roper C. D. , Donelson J. M. , Ferguson S. , van Oppen M. J. H. , Cantin N. E.
Published: August 2023

There is overwhelming evidence that tropical coral reefs are severely impacted by human induced climate change. Assessing the capability of reef-building corals to expand their tolerance limits to survive projected climate trajectories is critical for their protection and management. Acclimation mechanisms such as developmental plasticity may provide one means by which corals could cope with projected ocean warming and acidification. To assess the potential of preconditioning to enhance thermal tolerance in the coral Pocillopora acuta, colonies were kept under three different scenarios from settlement to 17 months old: present day (0.9 °C-weeks (Degree Heating Weeks), + 0.75 °C annual, 400 ppm pCO2) mid-century (2.5 °C-weeks, + 1.5 °C annual, 685 ppm pCO2) and end of century (5 °C-weeks, + 2 °C annual, 900 ppm pCO2) conditions. Colonies from the present-day scenario were subsequently introduced to the mid-century and end of century conditions for six weeks during summer thermal maxima to examine if preconditioned colonies (reared under these elevated conditions) had a higher physiological performance compared to naive individuals. Symbiodiniaceae density and chlorophyll a concentrations were significantly lower in mid-century and end of century preconditioned groups, and declines in symbiont density were observed over the six-week accumulated heat stress in all treatments. Maximum photosynthetic rate was significantly suppressed in mid-century and end of century preconditioned groups, while minimum saturating irradiances were highest for 2050 pre-exposed individuals with parents originating from specific populations. The results of this study indicate preconditioning to elevated temperature and pCO2 for 17 months did not enhance the physiological performance in P. acuta. However, variations in trait responses and effects on tolerance found among treatment groups provides evidence for differential capacity for phenotypic plasticity among populations which could have valuable applications for future restoration efforts.
Exploring the promising frontiers of barium hexaferrite and barium titanate composites for electromagnetic shielding applications
Authors: Salem M. M. , Darwish K. A. , Hemeda O. M. , Abdel Ati M. I. , Abd El-Hameed Anwer S. , Zhou Di , Darwish Moustafa A.
Published: August 2023

This study provides a comprehensive synthesis and meticulous examination of barium hexaferrite (BHF), barium titanate (BT), and their respective nanocomposites, unveiling their potential in specific applications, including electromagnetic interference shielding. The successful formation of BHF and BT was confirmed through Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, revealing distinct absorption peaks indicative of the tetragonal configuration of BT and the BHF’s crystal structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) depicted the unique morphologies and dispersions of particles in the synthesized nanocomposites, with BHF appearing larger (~ 82 nm) than BT (~ 50 nm). Vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) findings exhibited an increased resistance to demagnetization with the addition of BT, despite a slight decline at 75% BT concentration due to the non-magnetic nature of BT dominating. Uniquely, the study presented an in-depth analysis of the composites’ conductivity, detailing their non-monotonic behavior across a frequency range. A detailed investigation into the complex permittivity and permeability revealed the composite’s enhanced ability to store and dissipate both electrical and magnetic energy, a function influenced by the concentrations of BT and BHF. A pivotal highlight of this research was the significant achievement of a reflection loss (RL) value of − 45 dB at 9.3 GHz for the composite with 75% BHF, suggesting the composite’s potential as an effective microwave absorber. This study represents a significant step toward designing and optimizing nanocomposites for specific applications in the realm of electromagnetic materials.
Susac syndrome: neurological update (clinical features, long-term observational follow-up and management of sixteen patients)
Authors: Bose Smriti , Papathanasiou Athanasios , Karkhanis Sameep , Appleton Jason P. , King Dominic , Batra Ruchika , Mollan Susan P. , Jacob Saiju
Published: August 2023

Susac syndrome is a likely autoimmune microangiopathy affecting the brain, retina and inner ear. Due to the rarity of this condition, diagnosis and treatment can be challenging. Diagnosis is based on the presence of the clinical triad of central nervous system dysfunction, branch retinal artery occlusions and sensorineural hearing loss. Typical MRI findings of callosal and peri-callosal lesions may assist in diagnosis. Clinical course can be monophasic, polycyclic or chronic continuous. It is important to look out for red flags to attain an accurate diagnosis and follow a therapeutic algorithm based on severity of the disease and response to treatment. Patients are treated with steroids and immunosuppressive agents with a variable response. Early aggressive treatment especially in severe cases, may help in preventing relapses and morbidity/disability. This study highlights important diagnostic features and proposes a treatment algorithm based on clinical experience from management of 16 patients from 2 neuroscience centres in the UK since 2007, who were followed up over a long period of 3–15 years.
Phenology and stem growth dynamics of Betula pendula Roth. in the Spanish Pyrenees
Authors: Castells-Montero Xavier , Gutiérrez-Merino Emilia
Published: August 2023

Key message

We established silver birch phenology in the Pyrenees. We highlight actual evapotranspiration as the main driver and the altitudinal effect within a north–south phenological pattern.

Research into the phenology of trees is one of the most important issues in making reliable predictions of possible range shifts due to current climate change. Under the current climate change, warming and water stress can threaten tree performance by altering phenological events, specially at the edge of the southern especies distribution. We aimed at establishing bud burst, leaf and stem growth phenology of the Betula pendula in the Spanish Pyrenees, to determine the environmental cues triggering phenological events and to assess the effect of climate and soil water balance on annual growth cycle. The most important cues for bud burst are heat accumulation and long days that reduced the thermal time to bud burst. Leaf unfolding, the period of stem cambial activity, and the variation of the stem radial growth rates throughout the year are mainly regulated by the actual evapotranspiration. Leaf yellowing and abscission are advanced when hydric stress is pronounced shortening leaf longevity. The increase in spring temperatures brings forward the date of bud burst and the start of stem growth. However, the increase in the duration of hotter droughts causes an advance in the date of cessation of birch growth. From the southern Pyrenees to the boreal birch populations, there is a marked latitudinal gradient of phenological events, which are not linear except for the maximum stem growth rate. In the Pyrenees, the growing season is longer than in the boreal forests, but ring thickness is similar.
Geochemistry and formation of agate-bearing lithophysae in Lower Permian volcanics of the NW-Saxonian Basin (Germany)
Authors: Götze Jens , Möckel Robert , Pan Yuanming , Müller Axel
Published: August 2023

Geochemical and mineralogical investigations of the Lower Permian Kemmlitz rhyolite within the NW-Saxonian Basin (Germany) and associated lithophysae (high-temperature crystallization domains) as well as agates were carried out to constrain the genesis and characteristics of these volcanic rocks and the origin of the agate-bearing lithophysae. The volcanic rocks of rhyolitic composition are dominated by quartz, sanidine, and orthoclase and most likely derive from lava flows. Agate-bearing lithophysae were exclusively formed in a glassy facies (pitchstone) of the rhyolites, which was afterwards altered to illite-smectite mixed-layer clays. The results of this study show that agate formation can be related to the alteration of the volcanic rocks accompanied by the infill of mobilized silica into cavities of lithophysae. Fluid inclusion studies point to temperatures of agate formation above 150 °C, indicating that the mobilization and accumulation of silica started already during a late phase of or soon after the volcanic activities. Remarkable high concentrations of B (29 ppm), Ge (> 18 ppm), and U (> 19 ppm) as well as chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) distribution patterns of the agates with pronounced negative Eu-anomalies, slightly positive Ce-anomalies and enriched heavy rare earth elements (HREE) indicate interactions of the host rocks and transport of SiO2 with magmatic volatiles (F/Cl, CO2) and heated meteoric water. Characteristic yellow cathodoluminescence (CL), heterogeneous internal textures as well as high defect density of micro- and macrocrystalline quartz detected by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy point to crystallization processes via an amorphous silica precursor under non-equilibrium conditions.
Effects of droughts, sea level rise, and increase in outfall discharges on phytoplankton in a temperate estuary (Tagus Estuary, Portugal)
Authors: Cereja Rui , Brotas Vanda , Brito Ana C. , Rodrigues Marta
Published: August 2023

The effects of climate change on the estuarine environment are not fully understood. In temperate regions, droughts are expected to increase in frequency and severity, due to lower precipitation, and the mean sea level is expected to rise. This study aimed to assess how the estuarine environment will be affected by river flow’s reduction, mean sea level rise, and the increase in nutrients discharged from anthropogenic sources. Seven scenarios were simulated and analyzed in the Tagus estuary (Portugal), using the hydrodynamic and biogeochemical model SCHISM: (i) reference scenario, (ii) 10% increase of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) outfall’s discharge, (iii) 25% reduction of the river flow, (iv) 50% reduction of the river flow, (v) sea level rise of 0.5 m, (vi) sea level rise of 1 m, and (vii) the combination of 0.5 m of sea level rise and 25% reduction of the river flow. Both the reduction of the river flow and mean sea level rise led to higher salinities and lower nutrients and chlorophyll-a concentrations in the mid and upper areas of the estuary. The reduction in riverine nutrients in the estuary may increase the importance of nutrients from anthropogenic sources (e.g. WTTP discharges) in shaping the spatial variability of the phytoplankton communities in the future.
Continuous purification of drugs by ionic liquid-drawn organic solvent forward osmosis and solute recovery
Authors: Li Jing , Gonzales Ralph Rolly , Takagi Ryosuke , Chen Ying-Cheng , Matsuoka Atsushi , Deng Luyao , Matsuyama Hideto
Published: August 2023

Classical purification of pharmaceuticals is energy-intensive and employs toxic solvents that are discarded, calling for more sustainable methods. Here, we purified tetracycline by organic solvent forward osmosis using ionic liquids. Results show the osmotic enrichment of feed solutions containing different concentrations of tetracycline in methanol. The solvent flux during the filtration process is mainly influenced by solvent properties, such as molecular size, viscosity, polarity, and the solvent–membrane interaction. We evaporated the diluted draw solution to recover the draw solute for reuse. Overall ionic liquids appear as suitable draw solutes for organic solvent forward osmosis for pharmaceutical compound enrichment with draw solute recovery and reuse.
Investigating Damage Mechanisms in Cord-Rubber Composite Air Spring Bellows of Rail Vehicles and Representative Specimen Design
Authors: Torggler J. , Dutzler A. , Oberdorfer B. , Faethe T. , Müller H. , Buzzi C. , Leitner M.
Published: August 2023

Cord-rubber materials are used in crucial components of rail vehicles, such as air spring bellows in secondary suspension. A detailed understanding of the material behaviour of these components is thus of the utmost importance at an early stage of development. In general, a minor knowledge of the fatigue behaviour is currently all that is available today, while empirical methods involving designer experiences are in most cases essential requirements for this work. The design can be carried out more efficiently based on a representative cord-rubber composite specimen than on an entire air spring bellow. In this paper, the design of such representative specimens is shown taking different geometries and test conditions into consideration. It is found, that a flat specimen design is suitable for analysing the base material under different loading scenarios. The design and optimisation of the specimen geometry was carried out using finite element analysis, which was validated by means of optical strain measurement. The test procedure for the specimen was designed to provide a sound transferability to experimental testing of the components. A fracture pattern study was carried out using radiography and micro computed tomography. The results show, that the dominant damage mechanism is the separation of the layers from each other, denoted as delamination. In conclusion, the developed specimen is well suited for further investigations of the composite material. Furthermore, it will significantly accelerate the development of new air springs and new layups in particular. Future work will focus on a systematic investigation of the fatigue behaviour of the cord-rubber composite air-spring bellows based on the fatigue data of the representative specimens designed in this work.
Mapping natural language procedures descriptions to linear temporal logic templates: an application in the surgical robotic domain
Authors: Bombieri Marco , Meli Daniele , Dall’Alba Diego , Rospocher Marco , Fiorini Paolo
Published: August 2023

Natural language annotations and manuals can provide useful procedural information and relations for the highly specialized scenario of autonomous robotic task planning. In this paper, we propose and publicly release AUTOMATE, a pipeline for automatic task knowledge extraction from expert-written domain texts. AUTOMATE integrates semantic sentence classification, semantic role labeling, and identification of procedural connectors, in order to extract templates of Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) relations that can be directly implemented in any sufficiently expressive logic programming formalism for autonomous reasoning, assuming some low-level commonsense and domain-independent knowledge is available. This is the first work that bridges natural language descriptions of complex LTL relations and the automation of full robotic tasks. Unlike most recent similar works that assume strict language constraints in substantially simplified domains, we test our pipeline on texts that reflect the expressiveness of natural language used in available textbooks and manuals. In fact, we test AUTOMATE in the surgical robotic scenario, defining realistic language constraints based on a publicly available dataset. In the context of two benchmark training tasks with texts constrained as above, we show that automatically extracted LTL templates, after translation to a suitable logic programming paradigm, achieve comparable planning success in reduced time, with respect to logic programs written by expert programmers.
An Investigation of the Relationship Between Ethics-Oriented HRM Systems, Moral Attentiveness, and Deviant Workplace Behavior
Authors: Shahzad Khuram , Hong Ying , Muller Alan , DeSisto Marco , Rizvi Farheen
Published: August 2023

Deviant workplace behaviors (DWB) cause enormous costs to organizations, sparking considerable interest among researchers and practitioners to identify factors that may prevent such behavior. Drawing on the theory of moral development, we examine the role of ethics-oriented human resource management (HRM) systems in mitigating DWB, as well as mechanisms that may mediate and moderate this relationship. Based on 232 employee-supervisor matched responses generated through a multi-source and multi-wave survey of 84 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan, our multilevel analysis found that ethics-oriented HRM systems relate negatively to employee DWB via the mediation of perceptual and reflective moral attentiveness. This indirect relationship is further moderated by two societal-inequality induced factors – employee gender and income level – such that the indirect effects of ethics-oriented HRM systems on DWB through perceptual and reflective moral attentiveness are stronger among women and lower-income employees.
Lymphatic trafficking of immune cells and insights for cancer metastasis
Authors: Jackson David G.
Published: August 2023

Most cancers and in particular carcinomas metastasise via the lymphatics to draining lymph nodes from where they can potentially achieve systemic dissemination by invasion of high endothelial blood venules (HEVs) in the paracortex [1, 2]. Currently however, the mechanisms by which tumours invade and migrate within the lymphatics are incompletely understood, although it seems likely they exploit at least some of the normal physiological mechanisms used by immune cells to access lymphatic capillaries and traffic to draining lymph nodes in the course of immune surveillance, immune modulation and the resolution of inflammation [3, 4]. Typically these include directional guidance via chemotaxis, haptotaxis and durotaxis, adhesion to the vessel surface via receptors including integrins, and junctional re-modelling by MMPs (Matrix MetalloProteinases) and ADAMs (A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinases) [5–7]. This short review focusses on a newly emerging mechanism for lymphatic entry that involves the large polysaccharide hyaluronan (HA) and its key lymphatic and immune cell receptors respectively LYVE-1 (Lymphatic Vessel Endothelial receptor) and CD44, and outlines recent work which indicates this axis may also be used by some tumours to aid nodal metastasis.
Both Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Are Essential to Prevent Infection: a Prospective Study in a Working Vaccinated Population from Southern France
Authors: Graça Daisy , Brglez Vesna , Allouche Jonathan , Zorzi Kévin , Fernandez Céline , Teisseyre Maxime , Cremoni Marion , Benzaken Sylvia , Pradier Christian , Seitz-Polski Barbara
Published: August 2023

COVID-19 vaccines have significantly decreased the number of severe cases of the disease, but the virus circulation remains important, and questions about the need of new vaccination campaigns remain unanswered. The individual’s protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection is most commonly measured by the level and the neutralizing capacity of antibodies produced against SARS-CoV-2. T cell response is a major contributor in viral infection, and several studies have shown that cellular T cell response is crucial in fighting off SARS-CoV-2 infection. Actually, no threshold of protective immune response against SARS-CoV2 infection has been identified. To better understand SARS-CoV-2-mediated immunity, we assessed both B cell (measuring anti-Spike IgG titer and neutralization capacity) and T cell (measuring IFNγ release assay after specific SARS-CoV2 stimulation) responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with or without virus encounter in a cohort of 367 working volunteers. Vaccinated individuals who had previously been infected had a stronger and more lasting immunity in comparison to vaccinated individuals naive to infection whose immunity started to decline 3 months after vaccination. IFNγ release ≥ 0.285 IU/mL and anti-Spike IgG antibodies ≥ 244 BAU/mL were associated with a sufficient immune response following vaccination preventing future infections. Individuals with comorbidities had a lower chance of reaching the protective thresholds of T cell and B cell responses as identified in multivariate analysis. A combined B cell and T cell analysis of immune responses to determine protective thresholds after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination will allow us to identify individuals in need of a booster vaccine dose, particularly in comorbid subjects.
Application of the MELCOR for Fusion Code to the Transient Accident Analysis of the IFMIF-DONES Test Cell
Authors: Pérez Manuel , D’Ovidio Gianluca , Martín-Fuertes Francisco
Published: August 2023

According to the European Fusion Roadmap, to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy, it is necessary to build a comprehensive database of materials properties to be used in future fusion power plants. This is the objective of the IFMIF-DONES facility, which will drive a deuteron beam on a liquid lithium target to produce high energy neutron fluxes for irradiating candidate fusion materials. Among the several ongoing activities in the frame of the EUROfusion Early Neutron Source Work Package (WPENS) project, deterministic accident analyses play an important role, since they help identifying a set of reference accident scenarios and related safety class components. Some of these scenarios are being studied with the MELCOR-fusion code, an integrated engineering code which is able to perform thermal-hydraulic transient calculations. In this work, the MELCOR-fusion code has been applied to two potential accident scenarios involving the degradation of the primary lithium loop of IFMIF-DONES. A rupture in the Quench Tank and a break in the inlet nozzle to the Target Vacuum Chamber were postulated as the two initiating events followed by a lithium spill into the Test Cell room. The purpose of this study was to obtain different key metrics, such as the maximum pressure and temperature loads reached in the TC room, the amount of the leaked lithium mass, and the time for lithium solidification. The computed results will help identify the safety requirements to be applied to the final design of the TC room.
Physical Abuse Perpetrated by In-laws: An Analysis of Nationally Representative Survey Data from 47 Low- and Middle-income Countries
Authors: Waila Jacinta Mukulu , Wilson Michael Lowery , Bärnighausen Till , Abio Anne
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Violence within extended kinship contexts remains understudied. This study sought to estimate the prevalence of physical violence perpetrated by in-laws.

Methods

Demographic and Health Surveys’ data collected between 2011 and 2020 were utilized. Data for females and males were derived from 47 and 10 countries respectively. We estimated the prevalence of being physically hurt by mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law and other in-laws against participating females (n=420 020) and males (n=71 629) separately.

Results

The pooled prevalence for in-law perpetrated physical violence against female respondents was 0.38% (95% CI 0.34, 0.42). The prevalence of violence from mothers-in-law was 0.18% (95% CI 0.15, 0.21), fathers-in-law was 0.11% (95% CI 0.09, 0.13) and other in-laws 0.20% (95% CI 0.17, 0.23). The pooled prevalence of in-law violence against male respondents was 0.56%; (95% CI 0.45, 0.71), and from mothers-in-law was 0.08%; (95% CI 0.05, 0.13), fathers-in-law was 0.05%; (95% CI 0.03, 0.09) and other in-laws was 0.51%; (95% CI 0.39, 0.66). Among individual countries, the highest prevalence among females and males was recorded in Afghanistan at 4.07% (95% CI 3.30, 5.02) and in Mozambique at 2.24%; (95% CI 1.56, 3.20) respectively.

Conclusion

Violence by in-laws affects both men and women in varying degrees across different countries. The data indicate that it is possible for one individual to experience violence perpetrated by more than one extended family member. Given the paucity of research in this area, it is hoped that the results may stimulate further inquiry into relevant contextual and social variables which influence in-law violence.
The Unilateral Authority Theory of Punishment
Authors: Child Richard
Published: August 2023

It is frequently argued that wrongdoers forfeit, through their wrongdoing, their previously held claim rights against being punished. But this is a mistake. Wrongdoers do not forfeit their claim rights against being punished when they violate rights. They forfeit their immunity to having their claim rights against being punished removed. The reason for this, I argue, is that when they violate rights, wrongdoers culpably disregard the authority of right-holders to negotiate the conditions under which it is permissible to interact with them. The effect of this, far from undermining the authority of right-holders, is to transfer authority to right-holders to unilaterally impose the ‘conditions of interaction’ on wrongdoers after the violation. The conditions can be imposed for a diverse range of reasons and can take a variety of forms, including punishment. In this essay I explain and defend this new ‘unilateral authority theory’ of punishment.
Should Moral Bioenhancement Be Covert? A Response to Crutchfield
Authors: Austin-Eames Louis
Published: August 2023

Crutchfield (Crutchfield in Bioethics 33:112–121, [4]) has argued that if moral bioenhancement (MBE) ought to be compulsory, then it ought to be covert. More precisely, they argue that MBE is a public health intervention, and for this reason should be governed by public health ethics. Taking from various public health frameworks, Crutchfield provides an array of values to consider, such as: utility, liberty, equality, transparency, social trust, and autonomy. Subsequently, they argue that a covert MBE programme does better than an overt one, in preserving or promoting said values, and hence, that a covert MBE is preferable. In this paper, I will provide novel reasons to doubt that the relevant values are in fact better promoted or preserved by a covert MBE programme. Additionally, I will provide a novel autonomy-based consideration which counts in favour of the MBE programme being overt, rather than covert. Given that as things currently stand it is unclear which kind of MBE programme is preferable, the upshot of my criticism of Crutchfield will be to provide some recommendations as to how we might proceed in establishing whether a covert or overt MBE programme fares better.
Priority host plants of the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), based on the host reproduction number for tephritid management, surveillance and trade
Authors: Dominiak Bernard C.
Published: August 2023

The Host Reproduction Number (HRN) is a measure of the number of adult fruit flies that can emerge from one kilogram of fruit. HRN is a useful tool in surveillance, management and trade. I reviewed the literature for Queensland fruit fly (Qfly) and found data on 297 hosts. There were 81 Qfly hosts with HRN data and 216 Qfly hosts with no HRN data. The HRN will help to inform and triage hosts for target surveillance and management programs. Additionally, HRN will inform disinfestation activities pertaining to incursion response management, risk mitigation and trade options. There is a need for scientists to report HRN in a consistent manner so that Qfly management programs and trade protocols might be optimised.
Pandemic scientific data sharing recommendations: examining and re-imagining pre-print servers after the end of the world-wide emergency
Authors: Doron Shira , Branch-Elliman Westyn
Published: August 2023

Early in the pandemic, pre-print servers sped rapid evidence sharing. A collaborative of major medical journals supported their use to ensure equitable access to scientific advancements. In the intervening three years, we have made major advancements in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and learned about the benefits and limitations of pre-prints as a mechanism for sharing and disseminating scientific knowledge.

Pre-prints increase attention, citations, and ultimately impact policy, often before findings are verified. Evidence suggests that pre-prints have more spin relative to peer-reviewed publications. Clinical trial findings posted on pre-print servers do not change substantially following peer-review, but other study types (e.g., modeling and observational studies) often undergo substantial revision or are never published.

Nuanced policies about sharing results are needed to balance rapid implementation of true and important advancements with accuracy. Policies recommending immediate posting of COVID-19-related research should be re-evaluated, and standards for evaluation and sharing of unverified studies should be developed. These may include specifications about what information is included in pre-prints and requirements for certain data quality standards (e.g., automated review of images and tables); requirements for code release and sharing; and limiting early postings to methods, results, and limitations sections.

Academic publishing needs to innovate and improve, but assessments of evidence quality remains a critical part of the scientific discovery and dissemination process.