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Physical Layer Security for Sensing-Communication-Computing-Control Closed Loop: A Systematic Security Perspective
Get PDFFormation of lauoho o Pele (Pele’s hair) by extreme stretching of bubbly magma
Get PDFLauoho o Pele (often called Pele’s hair) is a common product of basaltic volcanism, produced during Hawaiian lava fountaining, gas jetting, and on the surface of flowing lava. The morphology—long thin strands of glass—indicates that these strands are formed through stretching of filaments of melt. The prevailing model is that they are formed by the action of jets of volcanic gas that “spin out” threads of melt, which quench as hairs. However, this mechanism does not explain the formation of lauoho o Pele on lava flows and lava lakes, or the occurrence of “hanks” of lauoho o Pele—bundles of hundreds to thousands of near-identical aligned strands. We propose and test an alternative mechanism: that lauoho o Pele can be formed by the extreme stretching of parcels of bubbly magma. We created pucks of synthetic bubbly magma using techniques derived from artistic hot-glass working, which we then stretched mechanically. This process produces bundles of filaments, similar to lauoho o Pele, via the stretching of the plateau borders where three bubbles meet; the number of filaments is determined by the abundance of bubbles in the molten glass. We find that lauoho o Pele forms at high vesicularity in our experiments, which is consistent with the interiors of high Hawaiian lava fountains, and the surfaces of lava lakes, and proximal and intubated lava flows
Automatic assessment of lung involvement in systemic sclerosis using deep learning
Get PDFBackground: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a relatively uncommon connective tissue disorder, commonly manifesting as interstitial lung disease (ILD) and affecting both the lung parenchyma and the modification of the space between endothelium and epithelium. Imaging modalities like computed tomography (CT) scans are essential for diagnosing and revealing specific abnormal findings (ILD patterns) in SSc, such as reticulation and Ground-glass opacity (GGO). To enhance diagnostic precision and minimize human error, we leverage deep learning (DL) techniques.Materials and Methods: In our study, we collected and annotated a new public dataset from 22 individuals, encompassing 2190 lung CT scan slices. After preprocessing and exclusion of slices without abnormalities, 1777 slices from 17 patients were used for model training and validation, and 413 slices from five patients were reserved for independent testing. We use a specialized U-net model to segment these patterns, categorizing them into reticulation or GGO, and employ an automated algorithm to outline lung areas in each CT slice. The model’s objective is to quantify the patient’s lung involvement in SSc by calculating the total identified GGO and reticulation areas across all slices and normalizing this by the total lung surface area.Results: The U-net model shows promising results in segmenting both reticulation and a combination of GGO and reticulation, as indicated by Dice coefficients of 87.22% and 86.20%, respectively. Furthermore, the automated algorithm effectively outlines the lung region in each slice, enabling accurate measurement of lung involvement in SSc patients.Conclusion: In conclusion, using DL using the U-Net model and an automated algorithm has shown promising results in accurately segmenting and quantifying lung involvement in Scleroderma patients using CT scans
The rise of repatriation: Global South refugees and forerunners of the International Organization for Migration in the long 1970s
Get PDFContemporary international migration debates have been marked by a confrontation between the requirements of refugee and asylum law, on the one hand, and accusations they are being abused, concerns about illegal and excessive migration, and efforts to reverse migratory flows, on the other. How and when did this state of affairs arise? This article situates the ‘long 1970s’ as a decisive period, focusing on the policy cycle through which both donor state preferences and institutional agency remade the Intergovernmental Committee on European Migration (ICEM), later known as the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The organisation’s transformation from facilitating European emigration to managing refugees in and from the Global South in this period is critical for understanding how migrant repatriation arose as a permanent feature. This article demonstrates how its unique mandate and the growth of both humanitarianism and migration restrictionism led the organisation towards greater concentrations on refugees and then asylum-seeker deportations, contributing to what has become a central tool for migration management today
University-Centred Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Integrating Perspectives and Advancing Research Agendas
No full textPurpose – This paper aims to 1) advance understanding of University-Centred Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (UCEEs) by synthesising disparate yet related perspectives, namely University Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Academic Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, Technology Transfer Ecosystem, and the Triple Helix model; 2) develop a conceptual framework to illustrate the dynamic relationship among university-industry collaborations (UICs), capital resources, and firm-level perspectives; and 3) identify under-theorised areas and propose directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts a systematic review methodology guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The literature was sourced from the Scopus database, covering publications from 2010 to 2024. A total of 122 journal papers met the selection criteria.Findings – Our integrated perspective reveals how UCEEs emerge as dynamic environments where UICs mobilise capital resources to facilitate firms’ growth. Research on UCEEs spans macro-, meso-, micro-, and multi-level analyses, with a predominant focus on universities at the meso-level. Only 25 papers approach UCEEs from a firm perspective, overlooking firms’ roles as co-creators of UCEEs and as recipients and mobilisers of capital resources. Originality – This paper conceptualises UCEEs as ecosystems that integrate four related perspectives. While these perspectives stem from distinct yet overlapping viewpoints, their integration enables the development of a conceptual framework that amplifies the role of firms and their mobilisation of critical resources, reconceptualised as financial, intermediary, and human capital, through UICs
Prevalence and Genetic Diversity of Blastocystis sp. in Humans, Dogs and Cats in Gabon: A One Health Perspective
Get PDFIntroduction: Blastocystis sp. is a cosmopolitan protist that colonises the gastrointestinal tract of mammals, including humans, dogs and cats. Although its pathogenicity remains debated, Blastocystis sp. has been linked to gastrointestinal symptoms and alterations in the gut microbiota. In Gabon, most epidemiological data on Blastocystis sp. rely on microscopy, which may underestimate true prevalence. Moreover, molecular studies remain scarce, and none have investigated the parasite's presence in domestic animals. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and subtype (ST) distribution of Blastocystis sp. in humans, dogs and cats across three provinces of Gabon, within a One Health framework. Methods: Between June 2021 and November 2022, a total of 182 faecal samples were collected: 127 from children in the Mulundu department (Ogooué‐Lolo), 55 from both dogs and cats in Libreville (Estuaire) and Franceville (Haut‐Ogooué). Samples were screened for the presence of Blastocystis sp. using conventional PCR targeting the SSU rRNA gene, positive isolates were subtyped. Results: Blastocystis sp. was detected in 58.3% of human samples, with a significant association between infection and place of residence (p = 0.02, fisher's exact test). Among animals, the parasite was found in 18.2% (8/44) of dogs and 36.4% (4/11) of cats. Subtyping revealed ST1 and ST3 in humans, while only ST1 was found in dogs. No subtypes were resolved in cats. These findings confirm the high circulation of Blastocystis sp. in both humans and domestic animals in Gabon and highlight the potential for zoonotic transmission. Conclusion: This study provides the first molecular evidence of Blastocystis sp. infection in animals in Gabon and underscores the need for integrated surveillance strategies to better understand its epidemiology
The Ladder of Multispecies Participation: Moving Towards a More Convivial Urban Planning
Get PDFCities are brimming with more-than-human life. But cities are also responsible for both planned and unplanned forms of violence towards other species, where the exploitation of nature continues to destroy ecosystems. To prevent further biodiversity loss, we need to rethink the politics of who makes cities from a multispecies perspective. In response, this paper explores how urban planning can expand understandings of and approaches to participation, to include species with whom we do not share language or perception. To do this we draw on Arnstein’s seminal work and introduce a ladder of multispecies participation – an analytical tool to discuss the various forms that multispecies participation might take in urban planning. Focusing specifically on the movement of kittiwakes, a small, red-listed gull, into towns and cities in Northern Norway, we demonstrate how multispecies participation can range from paternalism and recognition, in which kittiwakes are passive subjects to be managed by humans, to a form of conviviality that opens up the possibility for kittiwakes to be active agents in urban planning
Radical Poverty: The Capuchins and Catholicism in Britain, 1850-2022
No full textThis incisive work offers the first comprehensive analysis of the history of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in Britain. Drawing on previously closed archives, this book dives into their origins and their presence in Britain as missionaries between the Reformation and the French Revolution. It then explores the establishment of a permanent province from the 1850s onward. Using manuscripts, letters, diaries, logbooks, mission reports, and unpublished accounts, this book explores how the Capuchin archives bring new perspective on a range of important historical moments, including nineteenth century anti-Catholicism, Catholic emancipation and the rebuilding of Catholicism in Britain, both World Wars, the impact of Vatican II, and the decline of the religious orders in Britain in recent decades
Horizontal by design: A systematic analysis of the application of human rights to private actors in the text of world constitutions
No full textLegal scholarship has so far assumed that the horizontal application of constitutionally protected human rights—that is, the application of these rights to private relations, rather than purely to the state/individual relationship—is an exceptional feature of only a handful of constitutions. Through a systematic textual analysis of 195 written constitutions, the present article disproves this assumption. It shows that 76% of contemporary world constitutions envisage not only rights but also corresponding obligations for their subjects, thus justifying an understanding of rights as “horizontal by design.” The article makes two principal contributions to the academic conversation on this topic. First, it develops a typology of horizontal effect clauses within world constitutions, opening up this field of academic inquiry to constitutional design and allowing for a better understanding of how constitutions themselves speak about the application of rights to private relations. Second, the article shows that the clearest horizontal effect clauses are found in young and post-dictatorial constitutions in the Global South, and that the states that employ them are more likely to be members of regional human rights protection systems. It thus suggests that horizontal effect clauses should be considered a central feature of contemporary constitutional design with transformative aspirations
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