bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Learning Organizations in the Age of Smart Machines
Authors: Meier Christoph , Seufert Sabine , Guggemos Josef , Spirgi Judith 
Published: January 2021

AbstractResearch on the learning organization has, so far, failed to appreciate the relevance of two intertwined loci of learning in organizations: (1) advanced digital systems (“smart machines”) and their ever-growing capacity for carrying out tasks and (2) collaboration of employees with these smart machines (hybrid activities and augmentation). In the context of digital transformation, hybrid activities (where humans complement smart machines and smart machines boost human capacities) become an important driver for organizational performance. We discuss fusion skills (as a prerequisite for successful hybrid activities) and augmentation strategies (developmental strategies by humans related to smart machines in the workplace) as key concepts for HRD professionals and their effort to contribute to the move toward a learning organization. Fusion skills refer to, for example, training smart machines for performance and acceptance; algorithmic testing, editing, and output interpretation; and managing the operations and performance of smart machines. Augmentation strategies can be differentiated into step in, step up, step aside, step forward, and step narrow. We provide results from empirical research among HRD professionals in German-speaking countries on their stance toward these augmentation strategies, and we conclude that HRD professionals need to (1) understand smart machines, fusion skills, and augmentation strategies as well as their implications at a personal level, (2) establish effective practices at the level of the HRD function that are oriented to fusion skills and augmentation strategies, and in this way (3) contribute to the move toward a learning organization.
Suspension of EU Funds Paid to Member States Breaching the Rule of Law: Is the Commission’s Proposal Legal?
Authors: Łacny Justyna 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe existing scale of violations of the rule of law by some Member States, including capturing judicial independence by their governments, is a relatively new phenomenon for the EU; the one for which the EU based on the EU common values (Article 2 TEU) originally was not prepared to effectively deal with. The EU reacts to current rule of law crisis by using different legal methods and instruments: it inter alia applies existing procedures (Article 7 TEU procedure and with more success general infringement procedure under Articles 258-260 TFEU) and struggles to develop new ones. This contribution is focused on the new EU legislative initiative of connecting in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021–2027 transfers of EU funds to Member States with their observance of the rule of law. Or to put it differently, this legislative initiatives would authorize the EU institutions to suspend regular transfers of EU funds to Member States that systematically breach the rule of law.
The Rule of Law and the Roll of the Dice. The Uncertain Future of Investor-State Arbitration in the EU
Authors: Sadowski Wojciech 
Published: January 2021

AbstractInvestment treaty law and EU law began to develop in the same era and share some important philosophical and axiological foundations. The pressure on the CEE countries to enter into numerous bilateral investment treaties in late 80s and early 90s, in the context of the EU accession aspirations of the former communist countries, was likely to result, eventually, in a conflict between EU law and investment treaty law. The conflict could have been managed in three different ways, yet the CJEU decided in Achmea to declare an undefined volume of intra-EU arbitrations to be incompatible with EU law. This important judgment, which delivered an outcome desired by the European Commission and a number of Member States, is based on questionable legal reasoning that creates high uncertainty in this area of law. The doubts include the scope of application of Achmea, which is now a highly debatable issue. The CJEU itself saw it necessary to limit the scope of Achmea by declaring in Opinion 1/17 (CETA) that the legal reasoning of Achmea did not apply to investment protection treaties with third countries. The Member States of the EU remain politically divided in their views as to whether Achmea applies to the Energy Charter Treaty. And while the problems with the rule of law and independence of the judiciary in certain Member States continue to grow, Achmea has left an important gap for which there is no substitute in the current architecture of the EU legal system.
Intermezzo in the Rule of Law Play: The Court of Justice’s LM Case
Authors: Bonelli Matteo 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIn the LM case, the CJEU was called to decide on whether systemic rule of law deficiencies in Poland could lead to the suspension of EU cooperation based on mutual trust, in particular under the European Arrest Warrant system. Building on its earlier decision in Aranyosi, the Court concluded that EAWs may be suspended only after the executing authority conducts a general analysis of the situation in the country concerned and an individual assessment of the specific situation of the applicant. For some, the decision was a disappointing one, as the Court failed to take a clear stance on the Polish constitutional crisis. This chapter argues, on the other hand, that the Court reached a balanced decision: while it is true that it confirmed the strict Aranyosi test, it also sent some key messages on the crucial importance of the rule of law and judicial independence for the EU and underlined the red lines of European constitutionalism. Furthermore, a different line of cases that originated from the groundbreaking decision of the Court in the ‘Portuguese judges’ case seems much more promising for the protection of EU values. Thus, rather than a constitutional moment for the Union, LM was ultimately an intermezzo between the two main acts of the rule of law play before the Court of Justice.
Hungary’s Latest Experiences with Article 2 TEU: The Need for ‘Informed’ EU Sanctions
Authors: Bakó Beáta 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThis contribution will concentrate on the Hungarian situation by analysing the generalised practice of targeted legislation and the different causes for legal uncertainty on the constitutional level. The European Parliament initiated an Article 7 TEU sanctioning procedure against Hungary in September 2018 and several infringement proceedings have been launched by the Commission. Unfortunately, these EU responses were not able to grasp the gist of the Hungarian developments. Even the so called Sargentini report of the European Parliament—intended to be a comprehensive analysis of the rule of law deficiencies in Hungary—could not identify the most significant patterns of the Hungarian rule of law decline. This reveals a central shortcoming of EU sanctioning mechanisms employed against ‘backsliding’ Member States: the need for ‘informed’ sanctions. Some recent legislative proposals for measuring the rule of law illustrate, that the need for such informed sanctions has been realised by EU institutions. However, the question of ‘how’ is still unanswered. Taking the case of Hungary as an example, I will finally recommend some aspects to be considered in order to grasp the patterns of ‘systemic’ rule of law decline.
Article 7: A Commentary on a Much Talked-About ‘Dead’ Provision
Authors: Kochenov Dimitry 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe goal of this chapter is to contribute to the growing Article 7 TEU literature by showcasing the strong and weak points of this provision in the context of the on-going rule of law backsliding in Hungary and Poland threatening the very fabric of EU constitutionalism. This is done by presenting the general context of the institutional reactions to the so-called ‘reforms’ in Poland and Hungary aimed to hijack the state machinery by the political parties in charge; introducing the background of Article 7 TEU and the hopes of the drafters the provision was endowed with; to move on to the analysis of its scope and all the procedures made available through this instrument as well as the key procedural rules in place. The conclusion restates the necessity of putting our hopes in alternative instruments of combatting rule of law backsliding, outlining three possible scenarios of this, which are not (necessarily) connected to Article 7 as such.
The Responsibility of Courts in Maintaining the Rule of Law: Two Tales of Consequential Judicial Self-Restraint
Authors: Sonnevend Pál 
Published: January 2021

AbstractModern constitutionalism is based on the paradigm that courts are inherently entitled and obliged to enforce the constitution of the respective polity. This responsibility of courts also applies in the context of the European Union to both the CJEU and national constitutional courts. The present chapter argues that in the face of constitutional crises the CJEU and the Hungarian Constitutional Court shy away from applying the law as it is to the full. The reasons behind this unwarranted judicial self-restraint are most different: the CJEU aims to avoid conflicts with national constitutional courts whereas the Hungarian Constitutional Court has been facing a legislative power also acting as constitution making power willing to amend the constitution to achieve specific legislative purposes or to undo previous constitutional court decisions. Yet both courts respond to expediencies that do not follow from the law they are called upon to apply. It is argued that rule of law backsliding requires these courts to abandon the unnecessary self-restraint and exploit the means already available.
Renal System and Rheumatology
Authors: Alobaidi Sami , Alotaibi Manal , Al-Zahrani Noura , Al-Dhaheri Fahmi 
Published: January 2021

AbstractMany rheumatic diseases can be associated with different complications in kidneys and urinary tract. The goal of this chapter is to provide a summary of renal manifestations in rheumatic diseases that is easily accessible by students, residents, and practitioners.
Skin Manifestations of Rheumatological Diseases
Authors: Habibullah Taha , Habibullah Ammar , Simsim Rehab 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThere are many rheumatic diseases presenting with skin manifestations. This could be the first presenting feature of a systemic rheumatic disease. In addition, some of these skin manifestations could be an indication of an active disease or a sign of a serious medical emergency. In this chapter the skin manifestations of common rheumatic diseases will be described. Particular focus will be placed on rheumatic diseases with polyarthritis. The differential diagnosis of erythema nodosum will be discussed as this condition is observed in several disorders with arthritis. There are many drugs used in rheumatology. Some of them like allopurinol can lead to life-threatening dermatological conditions. A quick review on some of these conditions will be outlined. At the end of this chapter, the reader should be able to recognize different dermatological signs associated with patients with arthritis, discuss the differential diagnosis of erythema nodosum, and recognize life-threatening dermatological conditions.
Cardiovascular Diseases and Rheumatology
Authors: Ali Rania Alhaj , Halabi Hussein , Almoallim Hani 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe prevalence of various cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the different rheumatologic disorders is a very important topic. Each disease has a number of unique manifestations despite the fact that an overlap is present due to shared common risk factors, which may be related to the longer life expectancy of the recent therapeutic advances. A growing understanding of the role of inflammation and immune system in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis as well as the early detection of cardiovascular manifestations is due to the availability and use of sophisticated noninvasive cardiac and vascular diagnostic technology. Such discipline results in the detection of cardiac manifestation unique to each rheumatologic disorder. This was not possible previously due to short life expectancy, limited therapeutic interventions, vague understanding of pathological process for each disease, and the limited diagnostic resources.
Perioperative Management of Patients with Rheumatic Diseases
Authors: Alotaibi Manal , Albazli Khaled , Bissar Lina , Almoallim Hani 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe aim of this chapter is to present a simple approach to the assessment of patients with different rheumatologic diseases, especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA), before undergoing orthopedic surgery. Perioperative assessment confirms an early diagnosis of the patient’s medical condition and comorbidities, overall health, and the assessment of the risk factors associated with the proposed interventions. Perioperative assessment allows for proper postoperative management of complications. It can also aid in the management of high-risk drugs used by rheumatologic patients such as disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD), antiplatelets, and corticosteroids. The assessment also supports postoperative plans and patient education [1–3].
Conceptualising touch in VR
Authors: Price Sara , Jewitt Carey , Yiannoutsou Nikoleta 
Published: January 2021

AbstractHow touch is conceptualised matters in shaping technical advancements, bringing opportunities and challenges for development and design and raising questions for how touch experience is reconfigured. This paper explores the notion of touch in virtual reality (VR). Specifically, it identifies how touch ‘connection’ is realised and conceptualised in virtual spaces in order to explore how digital remediation of touch in VR shapes the sociality of touch experiences and touch practices. Ten participants from industry and academia with an interest in touch in virtual contexts were interviewed using an in-depth semi-structured approach to elicit experiences and perspectives around the role of touch in VR. Data analysis shows the growing value and significance of touch in virtual spaces and reveals particular ways in which touch is talked about, implemented and conceptualised. It highlights changes for the sociality of touch through participants’ conceptualisations of touch as replication and illusion, and how the body is brought into this ‘touch’ space. These perspectives of touch shape who touches, what is touched and how it is touched and set an agenda for the types of touch that are facilitated by VR. The findings suggest ways in which technological techniques can be employed towards interpretive designs of touch that allow for new ways to look at touch and haptics. They also show how touch is distorted and disrupted in ways that have implications for disturbing established ‘real world’ socialities of touch as well as their renegotiation by users in the space of digitally mediated touch in VR.
Limitations of Nanoparticles Size Characterization by Asymmetric Flow Field‑Fractionation Coupled with Online Dynamic Light Scattering
Authors: Giorgi Francesco , Curran Judith M. , Gilliland Douglas , La Spina Rita , Whelan Maurice , Patterson Eann A. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe development of reliable protocols suitable for the characterisation of the physical properties of nanoparticles in suspension is becoming crucial to assess the potential biological as well as toxicological impact of nanoparticles. Amongst sizing techniques, asymmetric flow field flow fractionation (AF4) coupled to online size detectors represents one of the most robust and flexible options to quantify the particle size distribution in suspension. However, size measurement uncertainties have been reported for on-line dynamic light scattering (DLS) detectors when coupled to AF4 systems. In this work we investigated the influence of the initial concentration of nanoparticles in suspension on the sizing capability of the asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation technique coupled with an on-line dynamic light scattering detector and a UV–Visible spectrophotometer (UV) detector. Experiments were performed with suspensions of gold nanoparticles with a nominal diameter of 40 nm and 60 nm at a range of particle concentrations. The results obtained demonstrate that at low concentration of nanoparticles, the AF4-DLS combined technique fails to evaluate the real size of nanoparticles in suspension, detecting an apparent and progressive size increase as a function of the elution time and of the concentration of nanoparticles in suspension.
Rapid mapping of landslides in the Western Ghats (India) triggered by 2018 extreme monsoon rainfall using a deep learning approach
Authors: Meena Sansar Raj , Ghorbanzadeh Omid , van Westen Cees J. , Nachappa Thimmaiah Gudiyangada , Blaschke Thomas , Singh Ramesh P. , Sarkar Raju 
Published: January 2021

AbstractRainfall-induced landslide inventories can be compiled using remote sensing and topographical data, gathered using either traditional or semi-automatic supervised methods. In this study, we used the PlanetScope imagery and deep learning convolution neural networks (CNNs) to map the 2018 rainfall-induced landslides in the Kodagu district of Karnataka state in the Western Ghats of India. We used a fourfold cross-validation (CV) to select the training and testing data to remove any random results of the model. Topographic slope data was used as auxiliary information to increase the performance of the model. The resulting landslide inventory map, created using the slope data with the spectral information, reduces the false positives, which helps to distinguish the landslide areas from other similar features such as barren lands and riverbeds. However, while including the slope data did not increase the true positives, the overall accuracy was higher compared to using only spectral information to train the model. The mean accuracies of correctly classified landslide values were 65.5% when using only optical data, which increased to 78% with the use of slope data. The methodology presented in this research can be applied in other landslide-prone regions, and the results can be used to support hazard mitigation in landslide-prone regions.
The root causes of landslide vulnerability in Bangladesh
Authors: Ahmed Bayes 
Published: January 2021

AbstractCommunities living in the Chittagong Hill Districts (CHD) of Bangladesh recurrently observe landslide disasters during the monsoon season (June–September). CHD is primarily dominated by three distinct groups of hill communities, namely, urbanised hill (Bengali), indigenous tribal and stateless Rohingya refugees. Landslide vulnerability amongst them is complex and varies between physical, social, economic, environmental, institutional and cultural dimensions. This study aims to understand driving forces of landslide disasters in the region by emphasising human factors. Data from the three contrasting communities were collected through participatory workshops, in-depth interviews and fieldwork observation. The participants were local people and landslide experts who were purposefully selected from five case study communities in the CHD. They ranked different socio-economic problems, identified causes of landslides and proposed landslide mitigation action plans. Results suggest that the urbanised Bengali and Rohingya refugee communities are highly vulnerable to landslides. The urbanised hill communities largely deal with poverty, social injustice, lack of planning regulations and illegal hill cutting issues, whereas the Rohingya refugees’ predominant constraints are linked to the ongoing genocide and state-sponsored violence in Myanmar hindering their sustainable repatriation, and their protracted living conditions in Bangladesh. The indigenous tribal communities are comparatively resilient to landslides due to their unique history, traditional knowledge, cultural heritage and lifestyle. Landslides in the CHD should be characterised as socio-natural hazards since the components of landslide disasters are profoundly intertwined with the culture–conflict–corruption nexus.
Critical evaluation of the customisation process of the UNDRR disaster resilience scorecard for cities to earthquake-induced soil liquefaction disaster events
Authors: Jones Keith , Pascale Federica , Wanigarathna Nadeeshani , Morga Mariantonietta , Sargin Sinan 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAs cities become larger and more densely populated the impacts of major earthquake events on city communities become more severe. Improving community resilience to earthquake events relies on the complex relationships that exist between different community stakeholder groups (citizens, businesses, community groups, emergency services, critical infrastructure providers, politicians etc.).
This paper reports results from a major EU funded study (LIQUEFACT) that developed a tool for assessing community resilience to Earthquake Induced Liquefaction Disaster (EILD) events. The tool is based on a customised version of the UNDRR Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities. The paper reviews alternative approaches to measuring community resilience and describes the process used in the LIQUEFACT project to develop and validate the customised scorecard. The paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey to identify the best generic approach to measure community resilience and a series of semi-structured group interviews to define a range of specific metrics for assessing community resilience to EILD events; and the results of a validation workshop to assess the effectiveness and usability of the customised scorecard. The paper concludes that it is possible to develop a customised version of the UNDRR Scorecard at an appropriate level of granularity to support improved community resilience to earthquake induced soil liquefaction disaster events. The paper also presents key lessons that could assist those developing similar customised versions of the UNDRR scorecard for use in different geographical settings or against different disaster scenarios.
BMO and Elasticity: Korn’s Inequality; Local Uniqueness in Tension
Authors: Spector Daniel E. , Spector Scott J. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIn this manuscript two BMO estimates are obtained, one for Linear Elasticity and one for Nonlinear Elasticity. It is first shown that the BMO-seminorm of the gradient of a vector-valued mapping is bounded above by a constant times the BMO-seminorm of the symmetric part of its gradient, that is, a Korn inequality in BMO. The uniqueness of equilibrium for a finite deformation whose principal stresses are everywhere nonnegative is then considered. It is shown that when the second variation of the energy, when considered as a function of the strain, is uniformly positive definite at such an equilibrium solution, then there is a BMO-neighborhood in strain space where there are no other equilibrium solutions.