bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Android decompiler performance on benign and malicious apps: an empirical study
Authors: Kargén Ulf , Mauthe Noah , Shahmehri Nahid
Published: February 2023

Decompilers are indispensable tools in Android malware analysis and app security auditing. Numerous academic works also employ an Android decompiler as the first step in a program analysis pipeline. In such settings, decompilation is frequently regarded as a “solved” problem, in that it is simply expected that source code can be accurately recovered from an app. On the other hand, it is known that, e.g, obfuscation can negatively impact a decompiler’s effectiveness. Therefore, in order to better understand potential failure modes of, e.g., automated analysis pipelines involving decompilation, it is important to characterize the performance of decompilers on both benign and malicious apps. To this end, we have performed what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first large-scale study of Android decompilation failure rates, using three sets of apps; namely, 3,018 open-source apps, 13,601 apps crawled from Google Play, and an existing collection of 24,553 malware samples. In addition to the state-of-the-art Dalvik bytecode decompiler Jadx, we also studied the performance of three popular Java decompilers. Furthermore, this paper also presents the findings from a follow-up study on 54,945 malware apps, where we additionally performed an analysis of the reasons for decompilation failures. Our study revealed that decompilers generally have very low failure rates, and that few failures on benign apps appear to be related to obfuscation. On malware, however, obfuscation appears to be a more prominent cause of failures, although the vast majority of malicious apps could still be fully decompiled by an ensemble of decompilers.
Mitigation of water shortage impacts among tourism and farming companies on the islands of Öland and Gotland, Sweden
Authors: Foghagen Christer , Alriksson Stina
Published: February 2023

Sustainable development requires clean water. In Sweden, water supply has historically been good, but a changed climate may alter that situation. Islands such as Öland and Gotland, which already have a strained water situation due to their location and bedrock, can be useful case studies for understanding how industries adapt and overcome obstacles in changing behaviour to be more sustainable. Focus groups and a postal questionnaire were conducted to study the water shortage mitigations of the tourism and agriculture industries. The results indicated four salient steps for these industries: awareness/knowledge, responsibility, behaviour and mitigation measures. While awareness was high among all respondents, the level of knowledge varied. Both the tourism and agriculture industries acknowledged their own responsibility but primarily placed the responsibility on each other and on other actors. All respondents had ideas about what behaviours needed to be changed in others, but not as much about their own behaviours, which is a natural consequence of the transfer of responsibility. Finally, there were many ideas for mitigation measures with the agricultural industry focusing on traditional approaches such as irrigation ponds and collecting rainwater, and the tourism industry having more innovative ideas such as re-circulating water and behaviour changes but had not progressed as far in their implementation. This study has shown that industries have different prerequisites and that providing them with tools to help them use preventive measures could speed up the transition to a more sustainable future.
Contextual factors influencing election results in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Authors: Reményi Péter , Gekić Haris , Bidžan-Gekić Aida , Sümeghy Dávid
Published: February 2023

Electoral geography tends to focus on the impact of geographical context on electoral behavior recently and challenges the classical compositional approach. We analyze spatial contextual factors of the 2018 general elections of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the linear regression models based on the fault line theory result in wrong estimations in several municipalities, not fitting into the national pattern. Using spatial modelling, it is confirmed that the strong territorial base of Bosnian parties is shaped by spatial dependence and spatial spillover effects. In addition to the spillover effect of individual party performance, the indirect neighbourhood role of ethnicity, sectoral structure and education was also shown in some cases.
The impact of polarity score on real option valuation for multistage projects
Authors: Di Bari Antonio , Santoro Domenico , Tarrazon-Rodon Maria Antonia , Villani Giovanni
Published: February 2023

In most cases, the valuation of the investments characterized by various stages with a high level of uncertainty is done through the compound real option valuation (ROV). This decision making support can consider various types of uncertainty that can affects these investment phases, such as that linked to technology. Specifically, within the category of uncertain investments there are the broadband opportunities that can be valued as real options in order to quantify the risks associated with the investment. However, since ROV theory has no definitive way to determine model parameters based on market information, we propose one that can adjust them dynamically. In this paper, to include this aspect in the project valuation, we have unified the ROV with the sentiment analysis, a natural language processing technique that allows us to quantify the polarity of expressions in natural language numerically. In particular, the inherent risks related to the different phases of the project can be extracted from the information present in the surrounding environment and published in newspapers. From there, we obtain a sentiment score which, through appropriate manipulations, manages to modify the evaluation of the success probabilities of each stage. Then, we embed these success probabilities in the ROV in order to provide a valuation methodology that includes the impact of information on the investment decision.
A Chinese Remainder Theorem for partitions
Authors: Seethalakshmi Kayanattath , Spallone Steven
Published: February 2023

Let s, t be natural numbers and fix an s-core partition $$\sigma $$
σ
and a t-core partition $$\tau $$
τ
. Put $$d=\gcd (s,t)$$

d
=
gcd
(
s
,
t
)

and $$m={{\,\textrm{lcm}\,}}(s,t)$$

m
=

lcm

(
s
,
t
)

, and write $$N_{\sigma , \tau }(k)$$

N

σ
,
τ

(
k
)

for the number of m-core partitions of length no greater than k whose s-core is $$\sigma $$
σ
and t-core is $$\tau $$
τ
. We prove that for k large, $$N_{\sigma , \tau }(k)$$

N

σ
,
τ

(
k
)

is a quasipolynomial of period m and degree $$\frac{1}{d}(s-d)(t-d)$$

1
d

(
s
-
d
)

(
t
-
d
)

.
Resignation without relief: democratic governance and the relinquishing of parental rights
Authors: Slee Gillian , Desmond Matthew
Published: February 2023

Sociologists have long studied the ways people resist oppression but have devoted far less empirical attention to the ways people resign to it. As a result, researchers have neglected the mechanisms of resignation and how people narrate their lived experiences. Drawing on 81 interviews with parents with past child protective services cases, this article provides an empirical account of resignation in an institutional setting, documenting how parents understand relinquishing their rights as a process of personalization, calculation, or socialization. Phenomenologically, parents typically confronted multiple barriers and setbacks simultaneously, the combined weight of which pressured them to “give up,” interpreting structural and institutional pressures as individual choice. This article accordingly identifies resignation as a crucial feature of democratic governance.
Testing the Roles of Perceived Control, Optimism, and Gratitude in the Relationship between General/Personal Belief in a Just World and WellBeing/Depression
Authors: Goodwin Tom C. , Williams Glenn A.
Published: February 2023

Belief in a Just World (BJW) can be categorised into domains of how people view the fairness of their immediate social worlds (Personal Belief in a Just World–PBJW) and the wider world (General Belief in a Just World–GBJW). We conducted two studies with 179 (Study 1) and 364 (Study 2) participants to examine differential relationships that PBJW and GBJW could have in directly predicting mental wellbeing and depression and indirectly via three mediators of perceived control, optimism, and gratitude. Path analyses examined how well data from each study fit 13 different models. Models 1 to 4 tested whether PBJW directly and indirectly via the three mediators predicted wellbeing (Model 1) and depression (Model 3) and if GBJW likewise directly and indirectly predicted wellbeing (Model 2) and depression (Model 4). These four models had the best supported statistical fit for either Study 1 or 2 relative to other models. In both studies when explaining the effect of PBJW on wellbeing and depression, perceived control was the strongest mediator, followed by optimism, and then gratitude. When examining the effect of GBJW on wellbeing and depression, only perceived control and optimism were significant mediators. These studies affirm the need to assess GBJW and PBJW as separate phenomena, rather than combining these constructs or omitting PBJW, as is sometimes done.
„Eigentlich war es immer sonnenklar.“ Zur Invisibilisierung von formaler Organisation in Bewertungspraktiken
Authors: Wagner Gabriele , Guse Juan S. , Hasenbruch Monika
Published: February 2023

Der Beitrag knüpft an eine aktuelle Debatte in der Bewertungssoziologie an, indem er sich der soziologischen Modellierung von Transsituativität in Bewertungspraktiken widmet. Während bisherige bewertungssoziologische Arbeiten mehrheitlich ihren Fokus auf spezifische Situationen legen, in denen Akteur:innen intersubjektiv aushandeln, was warum wie wertvoll ist, plädiert der Beitrag für den analytischen Gewinn eines organisationssoziologischen Zugangs. Formale Organisation, so wird gezeigt, setzt durch das Bereitstellen von Personen, Regeln und Infrastrukturen transsituative Wechselwirkungen zwischen den beteiligten Akteur:innen in Gang, die Bewertungsentscheidungen grundlegend prägen – und zwar in einer Weise, dienurim Kontext formaler Organisation möglich ist. Empirische Grundlage des Beitrags ist eine Studie zu Auswahlverfahren an zwei renommierten Kunsthochschulen. Anhand dieser Studie wird verdeutlicht, wie im Kontext formaler Organisation gegensätzliche Wertlogiken – in diesem Fall von Auswahlkommission und Verwaltung – trotz aller behaupteter Rivalitäten konfliktvermeidendend verwoben werden. Das Fazit lautet, dass Bewertungen sich im Kontext formaler Organisation nur nach außen überhaupt nur als „Situationen“ darstellen, indem ihre inhärente Organisationsförmigkeit von den Beteiligten gekonnt unsichtbar gehalten wird – und zwar mit den Mitteln der formalen Organisation.
Time-Dependent Evolution of Volume Fraction and Stability of Retained Austenite in a Hot-Rolled and Intercritically Annealed Al-Alloyed Medium-Mn Steel
Authors: Skowronek Adam , Grajcar Adam , Garcia-Mateo Carlos , Jiménez José A. , Petrov Roumen H.
Published: February 2023

The development of superior mechanical properties in medium-Mn requires the optimization of microstructural parameters such as retained austenite (RA) stability, volume fraction, and morphology. The present work explores the possibility of using a continuous annealing approach instead of conventional batch annealing to perform an intercritical annealing (IA) treatment in a hot-rolled strip of an Al-alloyed 5Mn steel. Dilatometric studies were performed at a temperature of 680 ºC with soaking times ranging from 1 to 300 min to follow the microstructural changes as a function of time. The microstructures thus obtained were thoroughly characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, SEM and TEM, TEM-EDS microanalysis and EBSD phase and orientation maps. It was observed that with increasing soaking times, the volume fraction of retained austenite gradually increases, albeit at the cost of its stability. The comparison of martensite start temperatures (Ms) based on the chemical composition of austenite at 680 ºC with that experimentally obtained at higher process temperature revealed the effect of the grain size on the reduction of RA stability for longer process times. Accordingly, mechanical tests results showed that the yield stress, tensile strength and hardness decrease with an increase in the IA soaking time.
miR-26b Targets CEP135 Gene to Regulate Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Proliferation and Migration by NF-κB Pathway
Authors: Yang Guangrun , Zhou Jiafu , Guo Zhong , Fan Lixia , Chen Bowen , Zhang Dapeng , Wen Haitao
Published: February 2023

To screen microRNAs (miRNAs) and analyze their role in the nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) development through differential analysis and cytological validation of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma dataset. The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database of NPC-related data were utilized to screen for differential miRNAs, downstream target genes and relevant pathways, and the relationships among them were verified by luciferase reporter assay and cell co-culture. To analyze the function of miRNAs and downstream target genes, a series of mimics, inhibitors or Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting the downstream target genes were transfected into NPC cells or normal epithelial cells by cell transfection techniques. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8), Transwell, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) apoptosis, and western blotting were adopted to determine the changes in cell activity, invasiveness, and apoptosis after differential miRNA and target gene overexpression or downregulation. Differential analysis of miRNA dataset showed that the expression of miR-26b was significantly downregulated in NPC, in agreement with the validation results of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines. And downregulation of miR-26b expression in normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells transformed the cells to tumors. CEP135 was identified as the miR-26b downstream target gene by mRNA dataset analysis, and a luciferase reporter test revealed a direct targeting link between the two. Upregulation of CEP135 levels in nasopharyngeal cancer cell lines increased cell activity, accelerated cell migration, and inhibited apoptosis. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that CEP135 exerted the above effects on cells via the NF-κB pathway, and co-culture with NF-κB pathway blockers reversed cell biological behavior to the level of the control group. MiR-26b downregulation leads to CEP135 overexpression and NF-κB pathway activation in NPC, which enhances proliferation, migration, and prevents apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Therefore, the study further clarifies the biological behavior mechanism of NPC and suggests new therapeutic options for NPC.
The role of trait emotional intelligence in predicting academic stress, burnout, and engagement in Japanese second language learners
Authors: McEown Kristopher , McEown Maya Sugita , Oga-Baldwin W. L. Quint
Published: February 2023

The current study examined the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (TEI), academic stress, burnout, and engagement in Japanese undergraduate students learning English as a second language. One hundred eighty-four participants (females = 87, mean age = 19.7 years) completed two questionnaires, one administered at the beginning of the academic semester (i.e., baseline), and one administered at the end of the academic semester (i.e., follow-up). Structural equation modeling revealed that TEI factors predicted engagement and negatively predicted academic stress, while stress strongly predicted burnout. Cluster analysis and ANOVA revealed that participants with high TEI reported significantly lower scores for stress and burnout and higher scores for academic engagement (i.e., emotional and agentic) compared to participants with low TEI. In addition, exhaustion significantly increased between baseline and follow-up for participants with low TEI but not for participants with high TEI. For participants with high TEI, inadequacy significantly decreased whereas emotional engagement significantly increased between baseline and follow-up. Results suggest that increasing TEI may reduce academic stress and burnout while increasing engagement among second language learners in a Japanese context.
Donor Site Defect Coverage of the Forearm with Dermal Substitute After Harvesting Radial Forearm Free Flap for Phalloplasty: Is MatriDerm® Worth the Effort?
Authors: Burger Anna , Kiehlmann Marcus , Gruenherz Lisanne , Gousopoulos Epameinondas , Sohn Michael , Lindenblatt Nicole , Giovanoli Pietro , Rieger Ulrich Michael
Published: February 2023

An aesthetically and functionally pleasing phalloplasty is most commonly performed by a free radial forearm flap. However, the problem with donor site morbidity on the forearm remains unsolved. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the use of a dermal template such as MatriDerm® on the donor site significantly decreases the incidence of complications based on the Clavien–Dindo classification, such as wound healing disorders and reoperation rate, and if it could shortens the duration of hospital stay. A case series analysis was conducted at our institution. A total of 21 patients divided into two groups undergoing the phallic construction after the Gottlieb and Levine design in a single center underwent the donor site defect coverage either by MatriDerm® and split-thickness skin graft from the thigh or by full-thickness skin graft from the groin area. The use of MatriDerm® and split-thickness skin graft showed to have a statistically significant impact on the rate of complications (p = 0.008). Complications that were treated conservatively as well as that require surgical revision were significantly lower in the MatriDerm® group than in the full-thickness skin graft group (p = 0.002). Complications occurred not only at the forearm but also at the groin, where the full-thickness skin graft was harvested. The large dimension of the free radial forearm flap used for phalloplasty resulted in a significant donor site morbidity, leading to wound healing disorders, reoperations, and extended length of hospital stay. Therefore, we consider the use of dermal templates such as MatriDerm® as worth the additional effort and costs in this patient collective.
Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte: Die hermeneutischen Potenziale der Begriffshistorie
Authors: Dutt Carsten
Published: February 2023

Ausgehend von notwendigen Differenzierungen im Begriff der Geistesgeschichte, der sich nicht auf die Erkenntnisprogrammatik und die Verfahrensweisen der gleichnamigen Schulrichtung der Literaturgeschichtsschreibung im ersten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts reduzieren lässt, erinnert der Beitrag an Daueraufgaben unseres Fachs. Welche Rolle begriffsgeschichtliche Erkenntnismittel in ihrer Erfüllung spielen, wird beispielbezogen und in normativer Orientierung am hermeneutischen Zielbegriff des Verstehens erörtert.
Developing synthetic sandstones using geopolymer binder for constraining coupled processes in porous rocks
Authors: Peltz Markus , Warr Laurence , Hale Sina , Blum Philipp
Published: February 2023

There is a current need for developing improved synthetic porous materials for better constraining the dynamic and coupled processes relevant to the geotechnical use of underground reservoirs. In this study, a low temperature preparation method for making synthetic rocks is presented that uses a geopolymer binder cured at 80 °C based on alkali-activated metakaolin. For the synthesised sandstone, the key rock properties permeability, porosity, compressive strength, and mineralogical composition, are determined and compared against two natural reservoir rocks. In addition, the homogeneity of the material is analysed structurally by micro-computed tomography and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, and chemically by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It is shown that simple, homogenous sandstone analogues can be prepared that show permeability-porosity values in the range of porous reservoir rocks. The advance in using geopolymer binders to prepare synthetic sandstones containing thermally sensitive minerals provides materials that can be easily adapted to specific experimental needs. The use of such material in flow-through experiments is expected to help bridge the gap between experimental observations and numerical simulations, leading to a more systematic understanding of the physio-chemical behaviour of porous reservoir rocks.
Provenance-Preserving Analysis and Rewrite of Quantum Workflows for Hybrid Quantum Algorithms
Authors: Weder Benjamin , Barzen Johanna , Beisel Martin , Leymann Frank
Published: February 2023

Quantum applications are hybrid, i.e., they comprise quantum and classical programs, which must be orchestrated. Workflows are a proven solution for orchestrating heterogeneous programs while providing benefits, such as robustness or scalability. However, the orchestration using workflows can be inefficient for some quantum algorithms, requiring the execution of quantum and classical programs in a loop. Hybrid runtimes are offered to efficiently execute these algorithms. For this, the quantum and classical programs are combined in a single hybrid program, for which the execution is optimized. However, this leads to a conceptual gap between the modeling benefits of workflow technologies, e.g., modularization, reuse, and understandability, and the efficiency improvements when using hybrid runtimes. To close this gap, we introduce a method to model all tasks explicitly in the workflow model and analyze the workflow to detect parts of the workflow that can benefit from hybrid runtimes. Furthermore, corresponding hybrid programs are automatically generated based on the quantum and classical programs, and the workflow is rewritten to invoke them. To ease the live monitoring and later analysis of workflow executions, we integrate process views into our method and collect related provenance data. Thus, the user can visualize and monitor the workflow in the original and rewritten form within the workflow engine. The practical feasibility of our approach is validated by a prototypical implementation, a case study, and a runtime evaluation.
The Global Rise of Criminal Background Checks
Authors: Rovira Marti
Published: February 2023

The extensive use of criminal background checks—the request for information on prior convictions for non-judicial purposes—creates obstacles to a fair reentry of individuals with criminal records. Previous research has documented the growth in the use of criminal background checks in Western jurisdictions. However, much less is known about the evolution of criminal background checks in other parts of the world. In this study, I present and analyse an original dataset with information on requests for official criminal record certificates for non-judicial purposes in 52 countries. The results show that the reported use of criminal background checks for non-judicial purposes is rising in nearly every country measured. These findings advance our knowledge about the international character of a previously-ignored dimension of the globalisation of punitiveness.
Reducing energy poverty in small rural communities through in situ electricity generation
Authors: Lozano Francisco J. , Lozano Rodrigo , Lozano-García Diego F. , Flores-Tlacuahuac Antonio
Published: February 2023

Energy is key in achieving sustainable societies. There have been great efforts towards improving energy access worldwide. Despite the advances in energy access, energy poverty remains a major problem in many parts of the world, particularly in rural communities. Modern energy, in particular electricity, can help rural communities develop through improving education and health. During the last two decades, there have been improvements on bioenergy technological innovations, e.g. electricity generation from bioenergy from residual biomass from several agricultural crops in biorefineries. Most research has focussed on large biorefineries, with limited research on small-scale gasifiers’ location and contribution to energy poverty. This paper is aimed at assessing technological options to generate electricity in situ from biomass to reduce energy poverty of rural communities. This is done using four analysis methods: (1) crops availability data; (2) poverty and marginalisation data; (3) electricity provision/distribution; and, (4) GIS/Geographical latitude and longitude to locate municipalities in Mexico. The results shows that the generating potential for electricity using residual biomass with gasifiers could improve the welfare of almost 10 million people communities using residual biomass from crops harvested in such communities. This research provides location solutions on the best places to locate small-scale biorefineries. The research also provides systemic analysis to reduce energy poverty through in situ electricity generation using cheap accessible small plant technologies and biomass as raw material, as well as their location. Generating electricity in a decentralised way through agricultural residual biomass can help lift rural communities from poverty and improve their well-being, and, thus, make societies more sustainable.
Perception of climate change in an academic community in Colombia—a pilot study in a developing country
Authors: Espinosa Mónica , Larrahondo Juan S. , Mendez-Espinosa Juan F. , Cortés Denisse V. , Forero Víctor F. , Franco Juan F.
Published: February 2023

The study applied a climate change (CC) perception survey in Colombia between 2021 and 2022 to gather information about the national academic community from UNAD University (Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia). The survey's fundamental component was the use of Yale's Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY) questions and algorithm, which allows the segmentation of the population into six audiences based on their views on climate change. In addition, the study analyzed the perception regarding causes and consequences of extreme climate events, personal engagement to reduce CC, opinions on public policies, and the willingness to participate in CC campaigns. This study contributes to increasing the understanding of the CC perception of specific community groups in developing countries. Furthermore, these pilot results can help orient universities and the academic community in designing their CC communication and education strategies.
Out-of-school hours care places in Xi’an City of China: location choice, spatial relationships, and influencing factors
Authors: Zhong Meiling , Li Gang , Yu Yue , Xu Lanqing , Nie Qifan , Yang Zhuo
Published: February 2023

Abstracts

Affected by the burden reduction policy, out-of-school hours care places have become a hot issue of social concern. Taking Xi’an out-of-school hours care places as a research case, this paper discusses its location choice, spatial relationships and influencing factors using methods such as text analysis, spatial analysis, and mathematical statistics. The results show that: (1) the distribution of out-of-school hours care places in Xi’an is closely related to the community and schools. The names mostly use words such as “sunshine,” “teacher,” and “love,” which are mainly distributed on the lower floors (one to three floors), of which the first floor accounts for the largest proportion. (2) The high-value areas of out-of-school hours care places are mainly concentrated in the Lianhu District, Yanta District, Xincheng District, and the north Chang’an District. Their distribution has obvious directionality, showing a “northeast-southwest” trend, and the global spatial autocorrelation is positively correlated. (3) The spatial pattern of out-of-school hours care places is basically consistent with that of primary and secondary schools, and most of them are located within 1000 m of it. (4) The influencing factors mainly include the distribution of primary and secondary schools, residential areas, population density, house rent, and policies.
Honor, Romanticism, and the Hidden Value of Modernity
Authors: Kantor Jamison
Published: February 2023

Despite our preconceptions, Romantic writers, artists, and philosophers did not think of honor as an archaic or regressive concept, but as a contemporary, even progressive value that operated as a counterpoint to freedom, a well-known preoccupation of the period's literature. Focusing on texts by William Godwin, William Wordsworth, Jane Austen, Walter Scott, Mary Prince, and Mary Seacole, this book argues that the revitalization of honor in the first half of the nineteenth century signalled a crisis in the emerging liberal order, one with which we still wrestle today: how can political subjects demand real, materialist forms of dignity in a system dedicated to an abstract, and often impoverished, idea of 'liberty'? Honor, Romanticism, and the Hidden Value of Modernity presents both a theory and a history of this question in the media of the Black Atlantic, the Jacobin novel, the landscape poem, and the “financial” romance.
Presenting the First Test-Tube Baby
Authors: Kisby Littleton Fiona , Bewley Susan , Drife James Owen
Published: February 2023

In January 1979, Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe delivered a lecture detailing the ten-year clinical and scientific research programme that led to the birth of Louise Brown, the first baby born utilising IVF. This thoroughly-researched book provides both a full annotated transcript of the lecture as well as recorded reminiscences from those who attended, detailing the contemporary understandings of the event. An essay on the lecture's historical context adds fresh insight into the biographies of Edwards and Steptoe and highlights sources from print and broadcast media that have received scant attention in earlier publications. Current and future implications of the advances in IVF since the first procedure are also explored, examining future medical and scientific possibilities as well as ethical issues that may arise. A foreword by Louise Brown herself places this remarkable leap of science in a personal context, one that so many families have since experienced themselves.
Reciprocity in Public International Law
Authors: Whelan Arianna
Published: February 2023

There is a common perception of reciprocity as a concept that is opposed to the communitarian interests that characterise contemporary international law, or merely a way of denoting reactions to unfriendly or wrongful conduct. This book disputes this approach, and highlights how reciprocity is instead linked to the structural characteristic of sovereign equality of States in international law. This book carries out an in-depth analysis of the concept of reciprocity and the elements that characterise it, before examining the various roles and articulations of reciprocity in a number of fields of public international law: the law of treaties, the treatment of individuals, the execution of international law, and the jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals. In all these areas, it analyses both more traditional and more contemporary examples, to demonstrate how reciprocity is closely linked to the very structure of public international law.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Exposures and Long-term Self-rated Health Effects Among Parents in Coastal Louisiana
Authors: Stroope Samuel , Slack Tim , Kroeger Rhiannon A. , Keating Kathryn Sweet , Beedasy Jaishree , Sury Jonathan J. , Brooks Jeremy , Chandler Thomas
Published: February 2023

Purpose:

To assess whether exposure to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) was related to parents’ self-rated health over time.

Design:

3 waves of panel data were drawn from the Gulf Coast Population Impact study (2014) and Resilient Children, Youth, and Communities study (2016, 2018).

Setting:

Coastal Louisiana communities in high-impact DHOS areas.

Participants:

Respondents were parents or guardians aged 18 - 84, culled from a probability sample of households with a child aged 4 to 18 (N = 526) at the time of the 2010 DHOS.

Measures:

Self-rated health was measured at each wave. Self-reported physical exposure to the DHOS, economic exposure to the DHOS, and control variables were measured in 2014.

Analysis:

We used econometric random effects regression for panel data to assess relationships between DHOS exposures and self-rated health over time, controlling for potentially confounding covariates.

Results:

Both physical exposure (b = −0.39; P < 0.001) and economic exposure (b = −0.34; P < 0.001) to the DHOS had negative associations with self-rated health over the study period. Physical exposure had a larger effect size.

Conclusion:

Parents’ physical contact with, and economic disruption from, the 2010 DHOS were tied to long-term diminished health.
Agta hunter–gatherer oral microbiomes are shaped by contact network structure
Authors: Musciotto Federico , Dobon Begoña , Greenacre Michael , Mira Alex , Chaudhary Nikhil , Salali Gul Deniz , Gerbault Pascale , Schlaepfer Rodolph , Astete Leonora H. , Ngales Marilyn , Gomez-Gardenes Jesus , Latora Vito , Battiston Federico , Bertranpetit Jaume , Vinicius Lucio , Migliano Andrea Bamberg
Published: February 2023

Here we investigate the effects of extensive sociality and mobility on the oral microbiome of 138 Agta hunter–gatherers from the Philippines. Our comparisons of microbiome composition showed that the Agta are more similar to Central African BaYaka hunter–gatherers than to neighbouring farmers. We also defined the Agta social microbiome as a set of 137 oral bacteria (only 7% of 1980 amplicon sequence variants) significantly influenced by social contact (quantified through wireless sensors of short-range interactions). We show that large interaction networks including strong links between close kin, spouses and even unrelated friends can significantly predict bacterial transmission networks across Agta camps. Finally, we show that more central individuals to social networks are also bacterial supersharers. We conclude that hunter–gatherer social microbiomes are predominantly pathogenic and were shaped by evolutionary tradeoffs between extensive sociality and disease spread.
On Duclos–Exner’s conjecture about waveguides in strong uniform magnetic fields
Authors: Bon-Lavigne Enguerrand , Le Treust Loïc , Raymond Nicolas , Royer Julien
Published: February 2023

We consider the Dirichlet Laplacian with uniform magnetic field on a curved strip in two dimensions. We give a sufficient condition on the width and the curvature of the strip ensuring the existence of the discrete spectrum in the strong magnetic field limit, answering (negatively) a conjecture made by Duclos and Exner.
Three-dimensional acoustic monitoring of laser-accelerated protons in the focus of a pulsed-power solenoid lens
Authors: Gerlach S. , Balling F. , Schmidt A. K. , Brack F. E. , Kroll F. , Metzkes-Ng J. , Reimold M. , Schramm U. , Speicher M. , Zeil K. , Parodi K. , Schreiber J.
Published: February 2023

The acoustic pulse emitted from the Bragg peak of a laser-accelerated proton bunch focused into water has recently enabled the reconstruction of the bunch energy distribution. By adding three ultrasonic transducers and implementing a fast data analysis of the filtered raw signals, I-BEAT (Ion-Bunch Energy Acoustic Tracing) 3D now provides the mean bunch energy and absolute lateral bunch position in real-time and for individual bunches. Relative changes in energy spread and lateral bunch size can also be monitored. Our experiments at DRACO with proton bunch energies between 10 and 30 MeV reveal sub-MeV and sub-mm resolution. In addition to this 3D bunch information, the signal strength correlates also with the absolute bunch particle number.
Risk factors associated with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission, outbreak duration, and mortality in acute-care settings
Authors: Duncombe Tamara R. , Garrod Matthew , Wang Xuetao , Ng Joyce , Lee Eunsun , Short Katy , Tan Kennard
Published: February 2023

Background:

Transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in acute-care settings affects patients, healthcare workers, and the healthcare system. We conducted an analysis of risk factors associated with outbreak severity to inform prevention strategies.

Methods:

This cross-sectional analysis of COVID-19 outbreaks was conducted at Fraser Health acute-care sites between March 2020 and March 2021. Outbreak severity measures included COVID-19 attack rate, outbreak duration, and 30-day case mortality. Generalized linear models with generalized estimating equations were used for all outcome measures. A P value of 0.05 indicated statistical significance. Analyses were performed using SAS version 3.8 software, R version 4.1.0 software, and Stata version 16.0 software.

Results:

Between March 2020 and March 2021, 54 COVID-19 outbreaks were declared in Fraser Health acute-care sites. Overall, a 10% increase in the hand hygiene rate during the outbreak resulted in an 18% decrease in the attack rate (P < .01), 1 fewer death (P = .03), and shorter outbreaks (P < .01). A 10-year increase in unit age was associated with 2.2 additional days of outbreak (P < 0.01) and increases in the attack rate (P < .05) and the number of deaths (P < .01).

Discussion:

We observed an inverse relationship between increased hand hygiene compliance during outbreaks and all 3 severity measures. Increased unit age was also associated with increases in each of the severity measures.

Conclusion:

This study highlights the importance of hand hygiene practices during an outbreak and the difficulties faced by older facilities, many of which have infrastructural challenges. The latter reinforces the need to incorporate infection control standards into healthcare planning and construction.
FINITE GROUPS WITH INDEPENDENT GENERATING SETS OF ONLY TWO SIZES
Authors: LUCCHINI ANDREA , SPIGA PABLO
Published: February 2023

A generating set S for a group G is independent if the subgroup generated by
$S\setminus \{s\}$
is properly contained in G for all
$s \in S.$
We describe the structure of finite groups G such that there are precisely two numbers appearing as the cardinalities of independent generating sets for G.
Pasteurized milk quality in Brazil: a cross-sectional study over five years
Authors: Mancebo Aline Martins , Dorella Marina Rocha , de Abreu Samanta Stinghen , Carrilho Stael Málaga , Ferreira Giulia Ferracin , Itida Rafael Mikio , Correia Willian Caixeta Gutierres , de Lira Fernanda Montanholi , Tamanini Ronaldo , Fagnani Rafael
Published: February 2023

This research communication delineates the quality of pasteurized cow milk sold in Brazil from 2015 to 2020. A cross-sectional study was performed gathering 1749 samples, which were evaluated for microbiological and physicochemical parameters, including Salmonella spp., total and thermotolerant coliforms, freezing point, alkaline phosphatase and lactoperoxidase. The proportion of compliant and non-compliant samples was compared through the years and jurisdiction of the inspection services. Interactions between the design and response variables were assessed by log-linear analysis. Overall, a considerable non-conformity rate (12%) was found for at least one microbiological or physicochemical parameter. Post-pasteurization contamination by coliforms was the major challenge for dairy industries. Notably, the non-compliance rate for freezing point increased during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In addition, the ability to comply was linked to the type of inspection service. Thus, it is suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is affecting the dairy industries in Brazil, and we strengthen the need for more studies monitoring the quality of milk over the years, which could assist industries and regulatory agencies to ensure the compliance of pasteurized milk.
From Borderlands to the Sea: Recent Studies of Indigenous Atlantic Travellers
Authors: Zarley Jesse
Published: February 2023

The dominions, political strategies, and diverse lifeways of Indigenous peoples in the early modern Atlantic world have been treated generally as rural and terrestrial—ending at the shore—while European supremacy over the high seas has been taken for granted. These conceptual assumptions have extended into methodological approaches to encounters between Indigenous polities and European empires that emphasize borderlands, frontiers, and middle (or native) grounds. Four recent monographs depart from such framings by focusing on Indigenous actions in cities such as Lima, Madrid, and London, travel across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and exertions of naval supremacy on the sea. In doing so, they provide new vantage points for reconsidering the meanings of freedom and slavery, diplomacy, trans-oceanic legal networks, and piracy.
The ethical turn in writing assessment: How far have we come, and where do we still need to go?
Authors: East Martin , Slomp David
Published: February 2023

Both of us were drawn into the writing assessment field initially through our lived experiences as schoolteachers. We worked in radically different contexts – Martin was head of a languages department and teacher of French and German in the late 1990s in the UK, and David was a Grade 12 teacher of Academic English in Alberta, Canada, at the turn of the twenty-first century. In both these contexts, the traditional direct test of writing – referred to, for example, as the ‘timed impromptu writing test’ (Weigle, 2002, p. 59) or the ‘snapshot approach’ (Hamp-Lyons & Kroll, 1997, p. 18) – featured significantly in our practices, albeit in very different ways. This form of writing assessment still holds considerable sway across the globe. For us, however, it provoked early questions and concerns around the consequential and ethical aspects of writing assessment.
Kantian Conscientious Objection: A Reply to Kennett
Authors: Kulesa Ryan
Published: February 2023

In her paper, “The cost of conscience: Kant on conscience and conscientious objection,” Jeanette Kennett argues that a Kantian view of conscientious objection in medicine would bar physicians from refusing to perform certain practices based on conscience. I offer a response in the following manner: First, I reconstruct her main argument; second, I present a more accurate picture of Kant’s view of conscience. I conclude that, given a Kantian framework, a physician should be allowed to refuse to perform practices that break the moral law and, thus, refuse practices that violate her conscience.
Problematizing state capacity: the Rwandan case
Authors: Heldring Leander , Robinson James A.
Published: February 2023

We argue that the effectiveness of Rwandan governments, both at implementing the 1994 genocide and inducing the current growth miracle, illustrates that the state has high capacity. Yet this capacity is not captured by conventional Weberian concepts, with their focus on taxation and formal bureaucracy. Rather, the capacity of Rwanda's state relies on its ability to leverage dense social networks which connect it to society. The origins of these networks lie in the construction of the historical state which expanded by merging with local lineages and kinship groups. Using data on the historical expansion of the Rwandan state as a proxy for the strength of state–society social networks we show they are uncorrelated with measures of Weberian state capacity. In a fieldwork exercise, we show that rule compliance today is positively correlated with our proxy, but uncorrelated with Weberian state capacity.
Strain Accommodation and Seismic Hazards of the Kalpin Fold‐And‐Thrust Belt, Southwestern Tian Shan Foreland, China: Insights From the 2020 Mw 6.0 Kalpin Earthquake
Authors: Zhang Yingfeng , Shan Xinjian , Gong Wenyu , Zhang Guohong , Qu Chunyan , Li Tao
Published: February 2023

Strain accumulation in foreland zones is important for understanding mountain‐building processes and seismic hazards. Material heterogeneity in this border zone, particularly the contrast between sedimentary cover and basement, affects strain accommodation and fault behavior. One manifestation of this effect is depth separation of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR)‐derived slip models and corresponding aftershock clusters; hypotheses for this vertical separation remain controversial. In this study, we investigated strain accumulation in the Kalpin fold‐and‐thrust belt (KFTB) of southwestern Tian Shan, China, using the integration of InSAR measurements, teleseismic body‐waves, near‐field strong motion data (SM), and relocated aftershocks of the 2020 Mw 6.0 Kalpin earthquake. The SM modeling and analysis of post‐seismic InSAR time series are performed for the first time for this earthquake. Our results confirm a vertical separation of the mainshock and aftershock cluster, with the former on a weak décollement and the latter on faults within the basement. InSAR time series analysis shows that post‐seismic deformation was dominated by afterslip on a splay fault directly above the ruptured décollement. Static stress transfer of co‐seismic rupture cannot explain these observations. We speculate that fluid flow and high pore pressure along pre‐existing fault planes may have reduced the fault strength and been involved in the evolution of this aftershock cluster. We conclude that compressive strain in the KFTB is accommodated by a mixture of thin‐ and thick‐skin faulting and seismic deformation across the entire crustal thickness. Specifically, we suggest that the observed shortening is partly accommodated by infrequent large earthquakes on the weak décollement.
Can Plate Bending Explain the Observed Faster Landward Motion of Lateral Regions of the Subduction Zone After Major Megathrust Earthquakes?
Authors: D’Acquisto M. , Herman M. W. , Riva R. E. M. , Govers R.
Published: February 2023

Greater landward velocities were recorded after six megathrust earthquakes in subduction zone regions adjacent to the ruptured portion. Previous explanations invoked either increased slip deficit accumulation or plate bending during postseismic relaxation, with different implications for seismic hazard. We investigate whether bending can be expected to reproduce this observed enhanced landward motion (ELM). We use 3D quasi‐dynamic finite element models with periodic earthquakes. We find that afterslip downdip of the brittle megathrust exclusively produces enhanced trenchward surface motion in the overriding plate. Viscous relaxation produces ELM when a depth limit is imposed on afterslip. This landward motion results primarily from in‐plane elastic bending of the overriding plate due to trenchward viscous flow in the mantle wedge near the rupture. Modeled ELM is, however, incompatible with the observations, which are an order of magnitude greater and last longer after the earthquake. This conclusion does not significantly change when varying mantle viscosity, plate elasticity, maximum afterslip depth, earthquake size, megathrust locking outside of the rupture, or nature and location of relevant model boundaries. The observed ELM consequently appears to reflect faster slip deficit accumulation, implying a greater seismic hazard in lateral segments of the subduction zone.