bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Anthropogenic influence on the state of Lake Shalkar in Western Kazakhstan
Authors: Bulekova Akzhbek , Akkereeva Elmira , Sharafieva Zhaukazin , Sungatkyzy Sandugash , Tulegalieva Zarina
Published: February 2024

Lakes are natural accumulating systems with slow water exchange, acting as a regulator of river systems. Small lakes, which include water bodies with a surface area of up to 10-50 sq. km, are found everywhere and are actively used for economic and recreational purposes. Lake Shalkar is located in Western Kazakhstan and is the “Pearl of Kazakhstan”, where there are many vacationers in the summer. The summer months are characterized by bright, dry weather. The average air temperature in the territory in July is 23.6°C, the absolute maximum temperature reaches 41-45°C. The article studies the ecological state of Lake Shalkar. Research was carried out on several parameters: the organoleptic and hydrochemical properties of the lake water were studied, as well as the anthropogenic impact on the lake, since the lake, due to its unique properties, has recreational significance. In this regard, field trips to the lake were organized during the summer resort campaign in order to identify the anthropogenic load on the lake. A decrease in water turbidity was observed in summer. According to the data obtained, water does not differ in smell and taste from year to year. On average, organoleptic indicators do not change much; the smell is salty, easily detected, and may be the reason that the water is undrinkable, but suitable for bathing. In Lake Shalkar, the average water temperature was 14.7, the hydrogen index was 6.33, the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the water was 10.16 mg/dm3 BOD5 - 2.82 mg/dm3. Exceedances of the MPC were recorded for substances from the group of main ions (chlorides -6.7 MPC, sulfates -1.2 MPC).
Numerical and experimental study of the raw cotton saturation with the pneumatic conveyor system of a cotton harvester
Authors: Matchanov Rafik , Yuldashev Abdurakhim , Kuldoshev Davronbek , Djuraeva Nargiza , Urinov Aziz
Published: February 2024

The article presents a numerical study of the impurity content in raw cotton during machine harvesting, considering the features of the formation of fine trash. An analysis is given of the change in the content of fine trash particles depending on the overall impurity content, starting from the conveyor corridor of the working apparatus to the hopper of the cotton picker. A mathematical model of the process of bringing together fine trash particles with cotton lobules in a pneumatic conveyor system was developed. Numerical studies were conducted to determine the approach distance considering the influence of the parameters of the air-cotton mixture. An analysis of the results of numerical studies is presented. Recommendations are given on factors affecting the saturation of cotton lobules with fine trash particles during transportation in a pneumatic conveyor system. Theoretical studies were conducted based on classical methods for modeling processes in a pneumatic conveyor system using the MathCad 15 programming environment.
Substantiation of the results of uneven leveling of heaps on the dryer conveyor
Authors: Razzokov Т.Х. , Toshtemirov S.J. , Ergashov G.Kh. , Kiyamov A.Z. , Rashidov N.Sh. , Alimova Z.X.
Published: February 2024

The article presents the results of finding the optimal combination of the selected factors having the minimum value of the indicator of uneven leveling of the pile on the dryer conveyor, an experiment was conducted, including 8 experiments, constituting a semi-replica of a complete factorial experiment of the type 2859+3, and a program of steep ascent along the response surface was performed. The experiment was carried out three times in a randomized order. In addition, an experiment planning matrix was built using a well-known technique. Based on the results of the experiment, regression coefficients were calculated and their statistical evaluation was carried out. To verify the adequacy of the presented experimental results, the calculated value of the Fisher criterion was determined by a polynomial of the first degree and compared with tabular values.
Recurrent neural network decoding of rotated surface codes based on distributed strategy
Authors: Li 李 Fan 帆 , Li 李 Ao-Qing 熬庆 , Gan 甘 Qi-Di 启迪 , Ma 马 Hong-Yang 鸿洋
Published: February 2024

Quantum error correction is a crucial technology for realizing quantum computers. These computers achieve fault-tolerant quantum computing by detecting and correcting errors using decoding algorithms. Quantum error correction using neural network-based machine learning methods is a promising approach that is adapted to physical systems without the need to build noise models. In this paper, we use a distributed decoding strategy, which effectively alleviates the problem of exponential growth of the training set required for neural networks as the code distance of quantum error-correcting codes increases. Our decoding algorithm is based on renormalization group decoding and recurrent neural network decoder. The recurrent neural network is trained through the ResNet architecture to improve its decoding accuracy. Then we test the decoding performance of our distributed strategy decoder, recurrent neural network decoder, and the classic minimum weight perfect matching (MWPM) decoder for rotated surface codes with different code distances under the circuit noise model, the thresholds of these three decoders are about 0.0052, 0.0051, and 0.0049, respectively. Our results demonstrate that the distributed strategy decoder outperforms the other two decoders, achieving approximately a 5% improvement in decoding efficiency compared to the MWPM decoder and approximately a 2% improvement compared to the recurrent neural network decoder.
Terahertz high-sensitivity SIS mixer based on Nb–AlN–NbN hybrid superconducting tunnel junctions
Authors: Liu 刘 Bo-Liang 博梁 , Liu 刘 Dong 冬 , Yao 姚 Ming 明 , Jin 金 Jun-Da 骏达 , Wang 王 Zheng 争 , Li 李 Jing 婧 , Shi 史 Sheng-Cai 生才 , Chekushkin Artem , Fominsky Michael , Filippenko Lyudmila , Koshelets Valery
Published: February 2024

The terahertz band, a unique segment of the electromagnetic spectrum, is crucial for observing the cold, dark universe and plays a pivotal role in cutting-edge scientific research, including the study of cosmic environments that support life and imaging black holes. High-sensitivity superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) mixers are essential detectors for terahertz astronomical telescopes and interferometric arrays. Compared to the commonly used classical Nb/AlO
x
/Nb superconducting tunnel junction, the Nb/AlN/NbN hybrid superconducting tunnel junction has a higher energy gap voltage and can achieve a higher critical current density. This makes it particularly promising for the development of ultra-wideband, high-sensitivity coherent detectors or mixers in various scientific research fields. In this paper, we present a superconducting SIS mixer based on Nb/AlN/NbN parallel-connected twin junctions (PCTJ), which has a bandwidth extending up to 490 GHz–720 GHz. The best achieved double-sideband (DSB) noise temperature (sensitivity) is below three times the quantum noise level.
Customizing the human-avatar mapping based on EEG error related potentials
Authors: Iwane Fumiaki , Porssut Thibault , Blanke Olaf , Chavarriaga Ricardo , del R Millán José , Herbelin Bruno , Boulic Ronan
Published: February 2024

Objective. A key challenge of virtual reality (VR) applications is to maintain a reliable human-avatar mapping. Users may lose the sense of controlling (sense of agency), owning (sense of body ownership), or being located (sense of self-location) inside the virtual body when they perceive erroneous interaction, i.e. a break-in-embodiment (BiE). However, the way to detect such an inadequate event is currently limited to questionnaires or spontaneous reports from users. The ability to implicitly detect BiE in real-time enables us to adjust human-avatar mapping without interruption. Approach. We propose and empirically demonstrate a novel brain computer interface (BCI) approach that monitors the occurrence of BiE based on the users’ brain oscillatory activity in real-time to adjust the human-avatar mapping in VR. We collected EEG activity of 37 participants while they performed reaching movements with their avatar with different magnitude of distortion. Main results. Our BCI approach seamlessly predicts occurrence of BiE in varying magnitude of erroneous interaction. The mapping has been customized by BCI-reinforcement learning (RL) closed-loop system to prevent BiE from occurring. Furthermore, a non-personalized BCI decoder generalizes to new users, enabling ‘Plug-and-Play’ ErrP-based non-invasive BCI. The proposed VR system allows customization of human-avatar mapping without personalized BCI decoders or spontaneous reports. Significance. We anticipate that our newly developed VR-BCI can be useful to maintain an engaging avatar-based interaction and a compelling immersive experience while detecting when users notice a problem and seamlessly correcting it.
EPR dosimetry of biohydroxyapatite below liquid nitrogen temperature
Authors: John D , Buryi M , Paurová K , Petrová M , Světlík I , Pachnerová Brabcová K
Published: February 2024

Hydroxyapatite, major component of all organic solid tissues, can be used as a sensitive biodosimeter based on the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. However, the dosimetric signal of biohydroxyapatite overlaps with the so-called parasitic signals due to the close g factor values and broadening of the resonance line at room temperature. Moreover, the unsaturated parasitic signals possess the intensity comparable to the dosimetric resonance. All of these significantly complicates the dose determination and limits applicability mainly to the cases of relatively large accumulated dose. The negligibly saturated dosimteric spectrum can be at least partially separated at the liquid nitrogen temperatures (LNT) due to the strong saturation and suppression of the parasitic resonance lines and the linewidth shortening as shown in the present work. Moreover, the advances in the modern EPR equipment in the last two decades resulted in high sensitivity and stability of the signals measured. These are the key parameters along with the computer simulations for the precise dosimetric spectrum separation and processing. This could lead to the higher accuracy of the LNT EPR method proposed in the present work. To test the approach, the stepwise dose calibration of biohydroxyapatite over the range 0.5 - 20 Gy was made. The corresponding dosimetric signal measured at 70 K exhibited the linear dose response. The results suggest the applicability of the LNT EPR method in the retrospective dosimetry.
The sound absorption of air permeable structures produced by 3D printing using PLA material
Authors: Ďuriš R , Labašová E
Published: February 2024

The aim of the contribution is comparison of noise absorption properties of two designs of acoustic dampening air permeable structures. A circular test samples with a diameter of 89 mm and three different thicknesses of samples were produced using of 3D printing process. In addition to the thickness, the internal structure of the samples was also changed. The prepared samples were tested using an impedance tube. The acoustic properties of the test samples were investigated in accordance with the standards ASTM E1050-19, E2611-17 and ISO 10534-2. A two-microphone method based on the calculation of transfer function method was used to determine the absorption coefficient of the designed structures. The Brüel&Kjær PULSE system was used to estimate the frequency dependence of sound absorption coefficient of test samples. In the paper are presented the experimentally obtained values of the sound absorption coefficient for different structure design and thicknesses of samples produced by 3D printing technology. The measurements were evaluated in the range of working frequencies of the impedance tube.
Heat source models for numerical simulation of laser welding processes – a short review
Authors: Behúlová M , Babalová E
Published: February 2024

In recent decades, numerical modeling and computer simulation have become an integral part of the design, analysis and optimization of fusion welding processes, including laser welding. In general, laser welding processes involve the interaction of multiple physical phenomena, such as thermal, fluid, metallurgical, chemical, mechanical, and diffusion effects, which makes the development of a simulation model difficult and complex. In addition to the geometric characteristics of the parts to be welded, their material properties must be specified in a wide temperature range, as well as the conditions for heat removal to the environment or shielding gas. One of the most complex tasks in the preparation of a simulation model of the laser welding processes consists in the selection of an appropriate heat source model to accurately determine the heat input to the weld. Very important is also the process of experimental verification and validation of the developed simulation models. In this paper, a short examination of significant mathematical heat source models for numerical simulation of laser welding is provided. Numerical analysis of laser welding of sheets made of S650MC steel is accomplished using conical 3D heat source model with the support of the ANSYS code. The effect of geometrical characteristics of the conical volumetric heat source model on the computed width, length, and depth of the weld pool is discussed, along with evaluation of maximum weld pool temperature.
Assessment of cutting tool wear using a numerical FEM simulation model
Authors: Necpal M , Vozár M
Published: February 2024

The advancement of computational modeling techniques, such as FEM, has allowed to simulate complex machining processes with improved accuracy. Wear prediction is a crucial aspect in understanding and optimizing machining processes, as it directly impacts tool life, surface quality and overall machining efficiency. This work focuses on the FEM simulation, specially utilizing the DEFORM software, in conjunction with the Usui wear model, for wear prediction in machining operations. The Usui wear model, a well-established and widely used wear prediction approach, accounts for multiple wear mechanisms that include adhesion, abrasion, and diffusion. By incorporating the Usui wear model into the FEM simulation framework within the DEFORM software, it is possible to understand wear phenomena in machining processes. The integration of Usui wear model algorithms into DEFORM enables the simulation to accurately predict wear rates, distribution patterns, and progression of tool deterioration. This predictive capability facilitates the identification of critical wear zones and guides proactive measures to improve tool life, reduce production costs, and optimize machining productivity. This work presents research focused on wear prediction in cutting processes, utilizing FEM simulation with DEFORM software and incorporating the Usui wear model. Through a comprehensive analysis of wear phenomena, this research aims to optimize cutting parameters, improve tool life, and contribute to the advancement of machining and manufacturing technologies.
The Identity of Governments in International Law
Authors: Pavlopoulos Niko
Published: February 2024

The book gives an account of the international legal framework concerning the identity of the governments of states. It examines the concept of the government of a state in international law, including the objective international legal existence of a state’s government; the function of the government in representing the state; and other aspects of the relationship between a state and its government. With the benefit of these conceptual insights, it covers the law on the recognition of governments and the criteria for governmental status under customary international law. It examines also matters concerning the identity of governments and the representation of states in the context of international organizations.
Fibrosis Management Algorithm in Secondary Liposculpture
Authors: Mera-Cruz Giovanni , Durán Héctor , Murillo-Romero Natalia , Pérez Mauricio , Rubiano Victoria , Camacho-Domínguez Laura
Published: February 2024

Background

Liposuction is considered one of the most common procedures in plastic surgery. However, major postoperative complications such as visceral injury, fluid overload, and necrotizing fasciitis still occur. Likewise, minor complications such as ecchymosis, seromas, infections, and contour irregularities that do not threaten the life of the patient do generate significant dissatisfaction. Current evidence regarding the management of fibrosis after previous liposuction remains limited.

Objectives

The objective of this article is to standardize a management algorithm based on the extensive experience and successful results of the primary author (G.M.).

Methods

Patients who underwent secondary liposculpture between August 2022 and May 2023 were evaluated prospectively. Inclusion criteria comprised females between 18 and 60 years old, nonsmokers, with a BMI < 35 kg/m2 and a history of previous body contouring surgeries. Identification of the patient's skin condition and subcutaneous lesions in the adipose tissue were obtained in detail. Statistical analysis of preoperative and postoperative medical photographs was also performed with the Fiji Biological image analyzer.

Results

Photographic analysis of preoperative and postoperative photographs showed a statistically significant difference between the areas affected by fibrosis (P < .001). The most frequent clinical findings were depressions in 99% of the females (74), followed by soft nodules in 95% (70), hard nodules in 81% (61), adhesions in 47% (35), and finally cutaneous bursas in 4%.

Conclusions

Our classification system and management algorithm for fibrosis and contour irregularities is a safe and reliable tool. Results were objectively verified, yielding statistically significant outcomes.

Level of Evidence: 3
Comparison of Functional and Cosmetic Outcomes Between Dorsal Preservation and Spreader Flap Rhinoplasty: A Randomized Trial
Authors: Zarei Rojan , Most Sam P , Amali Amin , Saedi Babak
Published: February 2024

Background

Preservation rhinoplasty is a novel and increasingly utilized method in nasal plastic surgery.

Objectives

The study aimed to compare the functional and aesthetic outcomes of dorsal preservation rhinoplasty, a new and interesting method, with conventional hump resection.

Methods

A total of 84 rhinoplasty applicants were randomly assigned to 2 groups. The first group underwent convention dorsal hump resection with spreader flap midvault reconstruction and the second group underwent dorsal preservation rhinoplasty with the modified subdorsal strip method. Aesthetic and functional outcomes, including residual hump, nasal width, projection, and rotation, were evaluated after 1 year with the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey (SCHNOS), visual analog scale (VAS), and image analysis.

Results

Eighty-four patients with a mean age of 30.96 ± 6.75 years were recruited, of whom 15 (17.6%) were male. There were no significant differences in confounding variables between the 2 groups. There were no significant differences in residual hump (P = .11), nasal width (P = .37), projection (P = .70), rotation (P = .79), VAS (P = .81), or SCHNOS (P = .90) between the 2 groups.

Conclusions

Dorsal preservation rhinoplasty with the modified subdorsal strip method may have comparable aesthetic and functional outcomes to spreader flaps midvault reconstruction.

Level of Evidence: 3
Population genetic structure in the critically endangered Crocodylus intermedius (Crocodilia: Crocodylidae): a shift in perspective for conservation actions in Colombia
Authors: Castillo-Rodríguez Nicolás , Saldarriaga-Gómez Ana M , Antelo Rafael , Vargas-Ramírez Mario
Published: February 2024

Conservation actions for threatened species and populations aim to preserve their genetic diversity and prevent issues such as inbreeding or outbreeding depressions. This perspective has been incorporated into the management plans proposed for the critically endangered Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) in Colombia. A previous study, which used mitochondrial cytochrome b and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, suggested that the in situ population management of the Orinoco crocodile in Colombia does not face genetic restrictions. In this research, we re-evaluated this proposal by using an expanded sampling and additional molecular markers (microsatellite nuclear DNA and the mitochondrial D-loop) that have successfully identified crucial information at the population level in other crocodilians. Our findings reveal, for the first time, a pattern of population structure consisting of three genetic clusters with geographical correspondence, matching three ecoregions in the Colombian Orinoco basin. This pattern might be a historical and current consequence of the ecological, bioclimatic, and/or geographical features of the ecoregion. Additionally, we examined the correspondence with the genetic clusters of the confiscated individuals that formed part of the initial population (F0) of the Colombian ex situ species population and successfully assigned most of them to one of these clusters. The genetically distinct clusters should be regarded as independent management units for conserving and managing the species in Colombia.
Sall genes regulate hindlimb initiation in mouse embryos
Authors: Chen Katherine Q , Kawakami Hiroko , Anderson Aaron , Corcoran Dylan , Soni Aditi , Nishinakamura Ryuichi , Kawakami Yasuhiko
Published: February 2024

Vertebrate limbs start to develop as paired protrusions from the lateral plate mesoderm at specific locations of the body with forelimb buds developing anteriorly and hindlimb buds posteriorly. During the initiation process, limb progenitor cells maintain active proliferation to form protrusions and start to express Fgf10, which triggers molecular processes for outgrowth and patterning. Although both processes occur in both types of limbs, forelimbs (Tbx5), and hindlimbs (Isl1) utilize distinct transcriptional systems to trigger their development. Here, we report that Sall1 and Sall4, zinc finger transcription factor genes, regulate hindlimb initiation in mouse embryos. Compared to the 100% frequency loss of hindlimb buds in TCre; Isl1 conditional knockouts, Hoxb6Cre; Isl1 conditional knockout causes a hypomorphic phenotype with only approximately 5% of mutants lacking the hindlimb. Our previous study of SALL4 ChIP-seq showed SALL4 enrichment in an Isl1 enhancer, suggesting that SALL4 acts upstream of Isl1. Removing 1 allele of Sall4 from the hypomorphic Hoxb6Cre; Isl1 mutant background caused loss of hindlimbs, but removing both alleles caused an even higher frequency of loss of hindlimbs, suggesting a genetic interaction between Sall4 and Isl1. Furthermore, TCre-mediated conditional double knockouts of Sall1 and Sall4 displayed a loss of expression of hindlimb progenitor markers (Isl1, Pitx1, Tbx4) and failed to develop hindlimbs, demonstrating functional redundancy between Sall1 and Sall4. Our data provides genetic evidence that Sall1 and Sall4 act as master regulators of hindlimb initiation.
Mitigating Persecution: Intermarried Families and the Significance of Social Networks during the Holocaust in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Authors: Lichtenstein Tatjana
Published: February 2024

This article focuses on the wartime experience of an intermarried family in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. It examines the intermarried couple Marie and Jiří Klouda, their daughters, Helena and Mariana, and their closest relatives among the Eisner and Klouda families. Using a microhistorical perspective, this study focuses on the experiences and strategies of particular individuals and their social circles to understand their responses to shifting circumstances. Although I focus on these two families, my questions pertain to the significance of non-Jewish friends and relatives for Jews during the Holocaust. In short, what difference did these social and familial bonds make to Jewish family members? The study shows that familial and social bonds had tangible outcomes in terms of facilitating important, lifesaving contacts and favors within the forced Jewish societies in the Terezín ghetto and Prague. Prewar professional, familial, and cultural networks, and the social capital they embodied, carried over into the lives of Jews forced into Terezín and into the ghettoized society in Prague. Family and friends provided significant material and emotional support for each other. This support was especially important in a family like the Eisners-Kloudas, which experienced multiple forms of victimization during the war. During the Holocaust, non-Jewish relatives and friends could not stop the processes of genocide, but they could mitigate the effects of dispossession, isolation, deprivation, and deportation.
Impacts on population indices if scientific surveys are excluded from marine protected areas
Authors: Anderson Sean C , English Philina A , Gale Katie S P , Haggarty Dana R , Robb Carolyn K , Rubidge Emily M , Thompson Patrick L
Published: February 2024

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly common worldwide, typically restricting fishing activities. However, MPAs may also limit scientific surveys that impact benthic habitat. We combine a historical data degradation approach and simulation to investigate the effects on population indices of excluding surveys from MPAs. Our approach quantifies losses in precision, inter-annual accuracy, trend accuracy, and power to detect trends, as well as correlates of these effects. We apply this approach to a proposed MPA network off western Canada, examining 43 groundfish species observed by four surveys. Survey exclusion particularly impacted less precise indices, species well-represented in MPAs, and those whose density shifted in or out of MPAs. Redistributing survey effort outside MPAs consistently improved precision but not accuracy or trend detection—sometimes making estimates more precise about the ‘wrong’ index. While these changes may not qualitatively alter stock assessment for many species, in some cases, ∼30 percentage point reductions in power to detect simulated 50% population declines suggest meaningful impacts are possible. If survey restrictions continue expanding, index integrity could further degrade, eventually compromising the management of exploited populations. Regulating surveys within MPA boundaries therefore requires careful consideration to balance MPA objectives with the need for reliable monitoring.
A VLBA-uGMRT search for candidate binary black holes: study of six X-shaped radio galaxies with double-peaked emission lines
Authors: Sebastian Biny , Caproni Anderson , Kharb Preeti , Nayana A J , Ali Arshi , Rubinur K , O’Dea Christopher P , Baum Stefi , Nandi Sumana
Published: February 2024

Identifying methods to discover dual active galactic nucleus (AGN) has proven to be challenging. Several indirect tracers have been explored in the literature, including X/S-shaped radio morphologies and double-peaked (DP) emission lines in the optical spectra. However, the detection rates of confirmed dual AGN candidates from the individual methods remain extremely small. We search for binary black holes (BBH) in a sample of six sources that exhibit both X-shaped radio morphology and DP emission lines using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). Three out of the six sources show dual VLBA compact components, making them strong candidates for BBH sources. In addition, we present deep uGMRT images revealing the exquisite details of the X-shaped wings in three sources. We present a detailed precession modeling analysis of these sources. The black hole separations estimated from the simplistic geodetic precession model are incompatible with those estimated from emission line offsets and the VLBA separations. However, precession induced by a non-coplanar secondary black hole is a feasible mechanism for explaining the observed X-shaped radio morphologies and the black hole separations estimated from other methods. The black hole separations estimated from the double-peaked emission lines agree well with the VLBA compact component separations. Future multifrequency VLBA observations will be critical in ruling out or confirming the BBH scenario in the three galaxies with dual component detections.
The Explorers
Authors: Magness Jodi
Published: February 2024

The modern exploration of Jerusalem began in the nineteenth century as European colonial powers sought to gain a foothold in Ottoman Palestine amid growing scientific interest in using archaeology to verify the Bible. This chapter surveys the major excavation projects in Jerusalem focusing especially on the work of European and American explorers and archaeologists before 1967 and Israeli archaeologists since 1967.
Crusader Jerusalem (19 September 1187)
Authors: Magness Jodi
Published: February 2024

In 1009 ce, the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim ordered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher razed to the ground, sparing only the Rotunda enshrining the tomb of Christ. The destruction of Christianity’s holiest site precipitated the Crusades. On 15 July 1099, the Crusaders took Jerusalem, which became the capital of their newly established kingdom in the Holy Land. The city was transformed swiftly in population and appearance. The Crusaders massacred most of the non-Christian inhabitants and exiled the rest, replacing them with Christian transplants. They rebuilt the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and turned the Temple Mount over to the Knights Templar. After his victory over the Crusaders at the Horns of Hattin, the Ayyubid caliph Saladin took most of the Crusader strongholds and cities to the south including Jerusalem, which fell after a siege on 2 October 1187.
Planning and Imagining the Fortress
Authors: Pauschinger Dennis
Published: February 2024

Chapter 3 takes the reader to the spheres of the imaginations and plans of those who idealized the mega-event security and how these plans materialized. The chapter critically examines the Brazilian mega-event security plans and the imaginations connected to them. It presents how the federal government planned the mega-event security architecture and the ways in which this was reflected in Rio de Janeiro. The chapter therefore sheds light on how the Brazilian government prepared legally and anticipated the possible risk scenarios for the mega-event period. The chapter investigates how the Brazilian authorities planned the mega-event security according to three major principles: the implementation of the Integrated Command and Control System (SICC) to foster cooperation among a diverse field of security institutions; investments in technological solutions, such as camera surveillance and communication systems, materializing in the establishment of Integrated Command and Control Centres (CICCs); and finally, the realization of militarized lockdown security perimeters and ostensive policing strategies to secure the mega-event boroughs.
Non/Material Legacies
Authors: Pauschinger Dennis
Published: February 2024

Chapter 7 examines the main official sport mega-event security measures that were meant to become long-lasting security policies in Brazil. Ranging from material (technologies, camera surveillance architectures, and the Centro Integrado de Comando e Controle (CICC) buildings) to non-material legacies (the cooperation between the different security forces), the ethnography reveals how the technology, the buildings, and the cooperation strategy had only worked in very specific contexts in Rio but failed to provide a long-lasting security strategy, and how in Rio today, the Foucauldian triangle of security governance is complemented by a fourth dimension, the government of things, mainly present in the materiality of security. The analysis suggests that, while the event’s technological legacy cannot fulfil all of the stated security ambitions, it does leave behind a long-lasting surveillance apparatus that will continue to operate in Rio de Janeiro and reproduces the social-spatial division of the city. The integration ambitions worked temporarily but failed to materialize at street level, provoking questions as to whether these efforts will continue in the future.
Conclusions
Authors: Pauschinger Dennis
Published: February 2024

The Conclusions highlight that sport mega-event security has clearly failed to improve any of the painful realities that are lived in the everyday experiences of those who work within the public security sector and/or are victims of the deadly effects within these insecurity patterns that are best described in Mbembe’s terms as necropolitics. These insecurity patterns could not be improved as the mega-event security measures focused on rational technological solutions instead of considering deeply entrenched configurations and the immediacy of the emotional life of police officers that feed the everyday routines of violence and insecurity. The Conclusions also summarize the main arguments of the book and shed light on the shortcomings of the present study, as well as outlining future possibilities and the necessities of how to investigate even further the question of how security governance is carried out in places where the use of digital security technologies co-exists with overly lethal and repressive forms of policing, particularly in an age in which far-right populism is advancing in worrying ways.
The “Fourth Arbitrator” Laid to Rest—The End of the Controversy over Tribunal Secretaries
Authors: Williams Sir David AR , Kirk Anna
Published: February 2024

The proper role of the tribunal secretary is an important, but sometimes controversial, issue. The growing complexity of international arbitration, both factually and legally, and the demand for procedural efficiency makes support of tribunal members by a tribunal secretary increasingly desirable. However, concerns about the precise nature of the role must be addressed. This chapter considers the historical development of the role of the tribunal secretary and critically analyses recent case law and institutional guidance in order to demystify the role and highlight the benefits it can bring in an era where efficiency in international arbitration is under increasing scrutiny.
Creativity in Dispute Settlement Relating to the Law of the Sea
Authors: Murphy Sean D
Published: February 2024

This chapter, written in honour of David Caron, focuses on creativity in dispute resolution relating to the law of the sea. When the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted in 1982, its dispute settlement procedures were heralded as highly creative in offering an array of possibilities for states (and even non-state actors). Now that almost three decades have passed since the Convention’s entry into force in 1994, can it be said that the promise of such creativity has been fulfilled? It appears that the answer to that question is largely yes, not just in the modes by which dispute resolution is occurring (negotiation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, and judicial settlement) but also in the wide-ranging issues being addressed within those modes, and perhaps even in the express and tacit dialogue occurring among the dispute settlers. The system, of course, is not perfect and could be more robust, but we may be amidst a “rising tide” of maritime dispute resolution, one that is strengthening and developing this area of the law. At the same time, a word of caution is in order; some aspects of the creativity found within the decisions of dispute settlers may well be giving at least some states pause as to the procedures they have unleashed.
International Courts through a Sociological Lens
Authors: Rask Madsen Mikael
Published: February 2024

This chapter takes as its starting point the fact that law—both national and international—is informed and developed in society, and in turn helps to develop society. It examines how sociological approaches to the study of international courts and tribunals can enrich understandings of how these bodies function but also of international law more broadly. The chapter distinguishes sociological approaches from both legal and political science analyses, noting that the former focus on institutions in a broader sense as assemblages of practices within larger social fields or more generally as devices for ordering society. It introduces classical approaches to sociology, including interpretative sociology, structural formalism and systems theory, and Marxism and critical theory, highlighting how these approaches have provided a series of general studies of law and courts in society with considerable relevance for understanding international courts and society. The chapter then introduces more recent approaches, including the law and society movement and the study of transnational law. It highlights through this discussion how sociological approaches can give rise to different kinds of questioning which in some cases challenges widespread assumptions of what international courts are in the first place.
The Multiplicity of Parallel Procedures in International Law
Authors: Michael Reisman W , Arsanjani Mahnoush H
Published: February 2024

Due to the interplay of modern global capitalism, corporate law, and principles of contemporary international law, international investment law is susceptible to parallel procedures for a single dispute. For financial, business planning, and legal reasons, the vehicles for making direct foreign investments are corporations, with separate legal personality and nationality, which are sometimes composed of other legal entities in intricate horizontal and vertical relationships. Thus, legally independent entities of different nationalities can converge in a particular investment. Add the shareholders, with their respective nationalities, and the number of potential claimants in an investment may expand further. If a host state concludes BITs with a number of the states of which the investor’s components are nationals, a rational investor can initiate for the same investment dispute, simultaneous arbitrations under different BITs and/or contracts containing arbitration clauses. Aside from the duplication of costs involved, such parallel procedures may lead to legal and factual inconsistencies in the different arbitrations.
The Treatment of Relevant Circumstances in Maritime Boundary Delimitation
Authors: McRae Donald
Published: February 2024

The concept of relevant circumstances has been central to maritime boundary delimitation. Over the years it has gone through several phases from a wide, open-ended concept developed in the decisions of courts and tribunals, to an attempted focusing of the concept within a three-stage test for delimitation articulated by the International Court of Justice and developed and applied by the Court itself, by ITLOS, and by arbitral tribunals. However, it might be argued that the way the three-stage test has been applied has both narrowed the scope of relevant circumstances and increased the subjectivity in their appreciation. An alternative approach to considering relevant circumstances in maritime boundary delimitation can be seen in the process of conciliation undertaken between Timor-Leste and Australia. There a boundary was established and agreed to by the parties through a process that took specific account of the circumstances that were most key to them. It remains to be seen whether this provides a model for future maritime boundary delimitation.
Cupid and Psyche in France, 1650–1815
Authors: Harrison Stephen , May Regine
Published: February 2024

A number of foundational figures in French seventeenth-century literature adapted the story in the context of the court of Louis XIV. La Fontaine’s two-book prosimetric fiction Les Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon appeared in 1669 and proved a crucial lever, stimulating not only the tragedy/ballet Psyché of 1671 (by Molière and others, made into an opera by Lully in 1678 and given an English version in 1675 by Thomas Shadwell and Matthew Locke, one of the earliest English operas) but also the important series of eighteenth-century French works on the story of Beauty and the Beast (‘La Belle et la Bête’), both the original tale by Mme de Villeneuve of 1740 and the better-known shorter version by Mme de Beaumont of 1757. Here we find a fascinatingly gendered interpretation of the story: the prominence here of female receivers of one of the few classical stories in which a woman is a successful protagonist is particularly notable.
Cupid and Psyche in Germany, 1750–1850
Authors: Harrison Stephen , May Regine
Published: February 2024

Cupid and Psyche, made accessible to Germans by Rode’s translation of 1789, was received as a fairy tale (the Brothers Grimm), while its presumed ‘Greek’ origin was studied by Classicists (Herder, Moritz). Both poetry and prose treatments combined the heroine’s romantic characteristics with Platonist views in a fairy-tale veneer. Romantic epics focus on Psyche’s sensitive experience; Anacreontics (Gleim, Jacobi) idealized Psyche as their poetic muse and idealized beloved. Psyche becomes the incarnation of the ‘beautiful soul’ (Goethe). The tale of Cupid and Psyche particularly influences the content, structure, and form of the newly developing genre of the novel (Wieland, Goethe, Brentano, von Arnims, Brunnow). Dramatic adaptations range from comic singspiele to tragic reimaginations (Wagner picks up several Cupid and Psyche motifs). Psyche’s flexibility as a symbol and plot element often led to a doubling of characters, which covers all aspects, death and immortality, poetic inspiration and maiden-like innocence, scholarly learnedness and female-oriented writing and readership.
Cupid and Psyche in English Romanticism and After
Authors: Harrison Stephen , May Regine
Published: February 2024

In England, lyric poetry and particularly the novel employed C&P. Educated male Romantics focused on the story’s Greekness and Neoplatonism (Coleridge, Hogg, Blake) and made Psyche their universal immortal Soul (Peacock, Keats, Shelley), enabled by popular translations (Taylor, Gurney). Female writers used Psyche to explore their own lived experiences and social standing, through flawed yet loving Psyche as an easily adaptable paradigm (Tighe). Translations and art representing C&P became more accessible, and poets (Hemans, L.E.L., Mary Shelley, EBB) focused on single emotionally powerful episodes to illustrate images with accompanying poems. Mary Shelley reflects her own life experiences of childbirth and widowhood through poems on Psyche. Novel writers see the plot as generic markers (Gothic novels, Charlotte Turner Smith, EBB) and inspiration for some plot elements, often echoing Apuleius by placing an illustrative image of or allusion to C&P as a mise en abyme into their novel to comment on their plot.
Conceptions of Gods in the Ṛgvedic Religion
Authors: Oberlies Thomas
Published: February 2024

The Vedic religion is a classic example of polytheism. Multiple gods, conceived of as persons, are seen as having agency that is employed in reference to each other, is directed at the ‘world’, and affects mortals. Constitutive elements of this religion include (a) conceptions of gods and the groupings and pantheon that are based on these concepts, (b) the cult, rituals, and rites, and (c) myths. Conceptions of gods are a basic form of sociomorphic interpretation of the world that refers to social relationships among people as the model for interpretation of non-social circumstances. Thus these gods make those social relationships perceptible that are the foundation of the entire cult. The gods are defined by their names, epithets, ʻhonoursʼ, and their functions and areas of responsibility. Their pantheon is structured by relationships, ‘age’, division of labour and cooperation, and even competition and conflict, and the character of this system in turn gives the deities their fundamental contours.
Towards a Flexible Reading of Non-Retroactivity
Authors: Grosescu Raluca
Published: February 2024

This chapter discusses how domestic courts from Latin America and Central Eastern Europe applied a nuanced and flexible reading of the principle of non-retroactivity of law. Such an approach opened new possibilities for prosecutions when amnesties and statutory limitations blocked investigations into the crimes of the military and the communist dictatorships. Based on case studies from Estonia, Romania, Argentina, and Paraguay, this chapter highlights how justice activists and national judiciaries negotiated the tension between the duty to prosecute gross human rights violations and the duty to respect the principle of legality. Pro-accountability actors creatively used international customary law and recovered the 1968 UN Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations for War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity to legitimize the retrospective prosecution of major international crimes—until recently, a marginal UN instrument that was rejected by most Western countries. These strategies were instrumental in ending impunity, as well as creating a legal and historical narrative that acknowledged that the military and the communist crimes committed during the Cold War were crimes against humanity. The European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights endorsed these legal tactics and historical accounts, which have subsequently become dominant across Europe and the Americas.
Resisting the Duty to Prosecute
Authors: Grosescu Raluca
Published: February 2024

This chapter discusses the reluctance of Brazilian and Bulgarian national judiciaries to prosecute gross human rights violations committed by the military and the communist dictatorships during the Cold War. In both countries, the lack of political will to reverse impunity and the existence of a dominant legal education nearly impermeable to new trends in international criminal law (ICL) led to incremental impunity. In Bulgaria, the application of the 1968 UN Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity to communist crimes was declared unconstitutional in 2016—even though Bulgaria had ratified this instrument in 1969. In Brazil, the 1979 Amnesty Law is still in force despite various rulings by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that called upon the Brazilian government and judiciary to void it and conduct investigations into the crimes of the military regime. Through these two case studies, the chapter illustrates another facet of the fragmentation of ICL: the rejection of the duty to prosecute, an emergent principle that has gained global momentum in the first decade of the twenty-first century.