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This document contains abstracts of papers presented at an academic conference. The papers cover a wide range of topics related to economics, history, and social development. Each paper presents empirical evidence and analysis to shed light on specific phenomena or historical events. The research is conducted using different methodologies and data sources, providing valuable insights into these complex subjects. The summaries provide a brief overview of each paper's main findings and contribute to the understanding of various social and economic phenomena. [Extracted from the article]

The 2022 anti–zero Covid White Paper protests that erupted in China and its diaspora demonstrated the intertwinement of politics and performance in contemporary China. The symbolic dimensions of blank sheets of A4 paper and other performative tactics used in these demonstrations exemplify the shifting roles of performance art in the field of contemporary Chinese art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study traces the evolution of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) by investigating published research articles (RAs) in four major CALL journals: ReCALL, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Language Learning & Technology, and CALICO Journal. All 2,397 RAs published over four decades (1983-2019) were included in the pool of data, and the Google Scholar citation metric was adopted to assess the impact of the papers. By selecting the top 15% of widely cited papers from each individual year, we minimized the time bias between years, enabling a balanced narration of the history of CALL through a representative dataset of 426 high-impact RAs. To identify the evolution of research trends, the contexts, methodologies, theoretical underpinnings and research foci of all 426 RAs were investigated using NVivo 12 and AntConc. The analysis of the data yielded encouraging results such as the upward trend in the number of publications and the international reach of CALL in the last two decades, the physical or virtual presence of language learners with diverse language profiles, and the growing tendency to triangulate methodology for increased complexity. However, long-standing issues such as the heavy reliance on traditional research contexts, poor reporting practices of basic demographic information, the large number of atheoretical papers and the concentration on a limited number of research foci continue to pose challenges in CALL research. Based on the findings, the paper suggests solutions for the controversies and addresses key issues for future research in CALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various articles on topics including ENT specialist training in the United Kingdom, providing valuable insights for aspiring ENT surgeons regarding portfolio building, competitiveness of the process, and strategies for success.

In this cohort profile article we describe the lifetime major depressive disorder (MDD) database that has been established as part of the BIObanks Netherlands Internet Collaboration (BIONIC). Across the Netherlands we collected data on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) lifetime MDD diagnosis in 132,850 Dutch individuals. Currently, N = 66,684 of these also have genomewide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. We initiated this project because the complex genetic basis of MDD requires large population-wide studies with uniform in-depth phenotyping. For standardized phenotyping we developed the LIDAS (LIfetime Depression Assessment Survey), which then was used to measure MDD in 11 Dutch cohorts. Data from these cohorts were combined with diagnostic interview depression data from 5 clinical cohorts to create a dataset of N = 29,650 lifetime MDD cases (22%) meeting DSM-5 criteria and 94,300 screened controls. In addition, genomewide genotype data from the cohorts were assembled into a genomewide association study (GWAS) dataset of N = 66,684 Dutch individuals (25.3% cases). Phenotype data include DSM-5 -based MDD diagnoses, sociodemographic variables, information on lifestyle and BMI, characteristics of depressive symptoms and episodes, and psychiatric diagnosis and treatment history. We describe the establishment and harmonization of the BIONIC phenotype and GWAS datasets and provide an overview of the available information and sample characteristics. Our next step is the GWAS of lifetime MDD in the Netherlands, with future plans including fine-grained genetic analyses of depression characteristics, international collaborations and multi-omics studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a program for the 2023 Economic History Association meetings, which acknowledges the individuals and organizations involved in the event's success. It also provides information about the upcoming 2024 meeting, which will focus on the theme of "Globalization: Perspectives from the Past." The document includes a list of research papers that will be presented in various sessions, covering a wide range of topics such as trade costs, institutions and labor markets, state building and reform, race in the U.S., science and knowledge diffusion, and more. These papers offer valuable insights into different aspects of history and social movements, making them relevant for library patrons conducting research on these specific topics. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper, we investigate an initial-boundary value problem of a reaction–diffusion equation in a bounded domain with a Robin boundary condition and introduce some particular parameters to consider the non-zero flux on the boundary. This problem arises in the study of mosquito populations under the intervention of the population replacement method, where the boundary condition takes into account the inflow and outflow of individuals through the boundary. Using phase plane analysis, the present paper studies the existence and properties of non-constant steady-state solutions depending on several parameters. Then, we prove some sufficient conditions for their stability. We show that the long-time efficiency of this control method depends strongly on the size of the treated zone and the migration rate. To illustrate these theoretical results, we provide some numerical simulations in the framework of mosquito population control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meeting individuals' social care needs is a core element of UK social policy. However, the conceptualisation and operationalisation of 'unmet need' remain a challenge. This paper advances our understanding by incorporating a temporal dimension into the conceptual framework on unmet need to investigate the dynamics of met and unmet need for social care over time. Using data from Waves 8 and 9 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, this paper examines five possible trajectories among individuals with a social care need for bathing or dressing at baseline: (a) no longer having such a need; (b) having continued needs met; (c) delayed needs met; (d) newly arisen unmet needs; and (e) repeated unmet needs. The results indicate that amongst those with need at baseline, unmet need has decreased over time – indicating that some needs for social care may be fulfilled with a delay. However, a significant proportion of older people experienced repeated unmet needs, particularly those who were younger, with no spouse or civil partner, and those whose activities of daily living index scores worsened over time. Understanding the dynamics of unmet need can support policy makers in better ensuring that those facing an elevated risk of repeated unmet need over time do not fall through the social care safety net. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two of the most well-known belief contraction operators are partial meet contractions (PMCs) and kernel contractions (KCs). In this paper we propose two new classes of contraction operators, namely the class of generalized partial meet contractions (GPMC) and the class of generalized kernel contractions (GKC), which strictly contain the classes of PMCs and of KCs, respectively. We identify some extra conditions that can be added to the definitions of GPMCs and of GKCs, which give rise to some interesting subclasses of those classes of functions, namely the classes of extensional and of uniform GPMCs/GKCs. In the context of contractions on belief sets the classes of partial meet contractions, uniform GPMCs and extensional GPMCs are all identical. Nevertheless, when considered as operations on belief bases, the class of uniform GPMCs coincides with the class of partial meet contractions, but the extensional GPMCs constitute a new kind of belief base contraction functions whose characterizing postulate of irrelevance of syntax is extensionality—the same postulate of irrelevance of syntax which occurs in the classical axiomatic characterization of partial meet contractions for belief sets—rather than the postulate of uniformity—which is the irrelevance of syntax postulate used in the axiomatic characterization for partial meet contractions on belief bases. Analogous results are obtained regarding the classes of extensional and of uniform GKCs. We present the interrelations in the sense of inclusion among all the new classes of operators presented in this paper and several well known classes of PMCs and of KCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of Hong Kong identity has traditionally been positioned in a local–national dichotomy, where Hong Kong identity is viewed primarily as a local identity while the label of national identity is reserved for identification with the Chinese nation. Hong Kong nationalism, on the other hand, is generally considered a new phenomenon, the study of which has focused predominantly on the political activities in the post-handover period. Drawing on Partha Chatterjee's theory of anti-colonial nationalism, this paper seeks to broaden the understanding of Hong Kong nationalism by examining the nationalistic sentiments manifested during the Chinese language campaign (1964–1971). This paper draws on archival materials to shed light on the presence of anti-colonial nationalism in colonial Hong Kong, an aspect often overlooked or considered a mere extension of Chinese nationalism from mainland China. This paper also discusses the distinctions between anti-colonial nationalism in Hong Kong and Chinese nationalism, highlighting the intricate nature of the concept of Chineseness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cartesian pictures of the human self and act-centred understandings of ethics dominate modern thought. Throughout his work, Herbert McCabe challenges these, and as such remains an important resource for philosophical and theological ethics. This paper lays out McCabe's philosophical anthropology, showing how he draws on Wittgenstein to revive a Thomist account of the human person. It then shows how this anthropology feeds into a philosophical ethics, focused on human flourishing and the possibility of life being meaningful. This, in turn, underwrites a theological ethics, according to which the human person flourishes ultimately through graced participation in the divine life. The paper concludes with a discussion of McCabe's account of faith as participation in the divine self-knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will offer a new defense in response to the problem of natural evil, called the Perfect Will defense. The defense argues that in sustaining the universe, God conforms the system of physical laws to his intellect and will. Yet, God could not fully conform the system of laws (for our universe) to his intellect and will without simultaneously forcing people into a loving relation with God. Yet, since God would not force people to love him, God must thereby initially create people in a universe that has a system of laws that is only partially conformed to God's intellect and will. However, while a universe with a system of laws that is only partially conformed to God's intellect and will allows for people to exercise their freedom over their relation with God, it also results in the occurrence of natural evils. The paper will argue that once this defense is fully developed, it is able to account for why God allows for natural evils to occur within the universe. The paper will outline the defense, as well as respond to the defense's major objections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses potential responses to harmful prejudicial speech. More specifically, it considers how different types of prejudicial speech merit different responses. The paper distinguishes hate speech, discriminatory speech, and toxic speech as different types of speech that are prejudicial or oppressive – they are not of the same kind diverging only in their severity and explicitness. As these sorts of problematic speech are categorially distinct, the paper holds, they also demand differential remedies. The task of this paper is to consider such remedies, their potential effectiveness, and compatibility with the liberal value of free speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A body of work proposes that social-norm change can be explained in terms of game theory. These game theoretic models, however, don't fully account for how and why utterances are used to change social norms. This paper describes the problem and some of the solution elements. There are three existing, relevant, game-based models. The first is a game theoretic model of social norm change (Bicchieri, 2005, 2016). This accounts for how individuals make decisions to adhere to or violate norms, based on empirical expectations of how others will behave. The second is the idea of a conversational game (Lewis, 1979) and its extensions. This posits that speech acts are accommodated in a conversation to make what is said correct play. This feature can explain how some speech acts, such as slurring utterances, change the dynamics of a conversation. The third is a theory of pragmatic inference, known as Rational Speech Act theory (Goodman and Frank, 2016). This is a computational theory of pragmatics, of how listeners interpret utterances and how speakers construct utterances that can be understood. This paper proposes, without setting out the full formal model, that elements of these three theories need to be incorporated together into a game theoretic model of how utterances change long-term social norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health authorities worldwide address older adults as a risk group for more serious illness and health complications associated with COVID-19, while social gerontologists have warned that addressing older adults as a risk group of COVID-19 bears the risk of reinforcing ageism. This paper empirically explores to what extent older adults perceive themselves as part of a COVID-19 risk group and how these perceptions influence their everyday lives and experiences of age and ageing. This paper draws upon data from a mixed-methods study on older adults' risk perceptions during COVID-19 in Lower Austria, including a representative survey on 521 adults (60+ years) and data from 20 semi-structured interviews. Approximately two-thirds of the respondents consider themselves at risk of COVID-19 and name age, in addition to pre-existing illness, as a contributing factor in this risk perception. Older adults with health constraints, and especially older men, have a higher probability of perceiving risk due to COVID-19. Additionally, older adults report that they experience being 'suddenly seen as old' or 'being put into a box' during the pandemic, which influenced their experiences and images of ageing. Our study provides insights into how perceived COVID-19 risk affects the everyday lives of older adults. Age-based categorisations of risk contribute to a shift in images of age and ageing, drawing on insecurity and risk, rather than successful and active ageing, to conceptualise later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political landscape of the radical right has long been a major discussion point in the political and social sciences. By considering the variety of radical right organizations (movement parties and non-parliamentary organizations) and the particular national and transnational political and discursive opportunity structures, the paper aims at a comparative analysis of the main discursive frames present in political programs and manifestoes of radical right social movement organizations and movement parties in Poland (Konfederacja Wolność i Niepodległość and Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny) and Germany (Alternative für Deutschland and Identitäre Bewegung Deutschland). Moreover, based on approaches developed by Cas Mudde and Jens Rydgren, this article analyses how the features presumed essential to the radical right (nativism, authoritarianism and populism) are reflected and interconnected in the official discourses of the selected radical right organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an algorithm for solving the inverse dynamics of a parallel manipulator (PM) with offset universal joints (RR–joints) via the Newton–Euler method. The PM with RR–joints increase the joint stiffness and enlarge the workspace but introduces additional joint parameters and constraint torques, rendering the dynamics more complex. Unlike existing studies on PMs with RR–joints, which emphasize the kinematics and joint performance, this paper studies the dynamical model. First, an iterative algorithm is established through a rigid body velocity transformation, which calculates the input parameters of the link velocity and acceleration. A linear system of equations in matrix form is then established for the entire PM through the Newton–Euler method. By using the generalized minimal residual method (GMRES) to solve the equation system, all the forces and torques on the joints can be obtained, from which the required actuation force can be derived. This method is validated through numerical simulations using the automatic dynamic analysis of multibody systems software. The proposed method is suitable for establishing the dynamic model of complex PMs with redundant or hybrid structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the implementation of curricula for Liberia's first-ever psychiatry training programme in 2019 and the actions of the only two Liberian psychiatrists in the country at the time in developing and executing a first-year postgraduate psychiatry training programme (i.e. residency) with support from international collaborators. It explores cultural differences in training models among collaborators and strategies to synergise them best. It highlights the assessment of trainees' (residents') basic knowledge on entry into the programme and how it guided immediate and short-term priority teaching objectives, including integrated training in neuroscience and neurology. The paper describes the strengths and challenges of this approach as well as opportunities for continued growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies on technology-mediated task-based learning have shown the impact of task design and modality on English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. However, it is unclear what effect technology-mediated tasks have on learners' English language skills. This paper presents a classroom-based study that showed how using technology-mediated tasks impacted students' learning experiences and fostered the development of specific speaking and writing subskills in an EFL secondary education context. Forty-two EFL intermediate learners completed two speaking and two writing tasks from the Cambridge B2 First exam using mobile devices. The participants were divided into a pen-and-paper group (N = 21) and an iPad group (N = 21). Learning outcomes were measured using a pre-test/post-test design with a statistical comparison of ratings across tasks. A qualitative content analysis of lesson observations and student and teacher interviews served as an additional dataset to shed light on learners' experiences. Descriptive statistics revealed that the iPad group achieved higher scores in pronunciation and accuracy (speaking) and essay organisation features (writing). Tasks involving the active use of the tool for content creation, rehearsing speaking performances, and accessing authentic materials were the most successful among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finite state Markov processes and their aggregated Markov processes have been extensively studied, especially in ion channel modeling and reliability modeling. In reliability field, the asymptotic behaviors of repairable systems modeled by both processes have been paid much attention to. For a Markov process, it is well-known that limiting measures such as availability and transition probability do not depend on the initial state of the process. However, for an aggregated Markov process, it is difficult to directly know whether this conclusion holds true or not from the limiting measure formulas expressed by the Laplace transforms. In this paper, four limiting measures expressed by Laplace transforms are proved to be independent of the initial state through Tauber's theorem. The proof is presented under the assumption that the rank of transition rate matrix is one less than the dimension of state space for the Markov process, which includes the case that all states communicate with each other. Some numerical examples and discussions based on these are presented to illustrate the results directly and to show future related research topics. Finally, the conclusion of the paper is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting with cultural-scientific research on family albums and what they have in common with the New Testament, this paper invites us to reflect upon what changes when we look at questions of New Testament introduction through the lens of social memory theory. Building on the research of Oral History and Cultural Memory Theory, it is argued that general introduction (allgemeine Einleitung) falls into the realm of cultural memory, while special introduction (spezielle Einleitung) falls into the realm of social/collective memory, and that both are divided by the floating gap. This, in turn, explains some of the developments of the first half of the second century. In the next step, the paper combines a model building on the three-generational-memory, the generational gap (after one generation), the floating gap (after three to four generations), and the first generations of Jesus-followers, with conventional suggestions for dating New Testament books and draws first conclusions from this synopsis. It turns out that the genres used before and after the generational gap exhibit different characteristics, which fit scholarly expectations for media of social and collective memory. The paper closes with general questions about media and media changes in the New Testament, i.e. orality and scribality, identical texts and textual criticism, the canon as the primary context, the extension of the scope and genre-fluidity, concluding that social memory theory does indeed provide new perspectives for New Testament introduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question that this paper tries to answer is Q: "Can good academic bioethics be done without commitment to moral theory?" It is argued that the answer to Q is an unequivocal "Yes" for most of what we could call "critical bioethics," that is, the kind of bioethics work that primarily criticizes positions or arguments already in the literature or put forward by policymakers. The answer is also "Yes" for much of empirical bioethics. The second part of the paper then provides an analysis of Q in relation to "constructive bioethics," that is, bioethics work aimed at providing an argument for a particular position. In this part, it is argued that a number of the approaches or methods used that initially look like they involve no commitment to moral theory, nevertheless, involve such a commitment. This is shown to be the case for reflective equilibrium, mid-level theory, the use of theory fragments, and argument by analogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the field of virtue and vice epistemology open-mindedness is usually considered an archetypal virtue. Nevertheless, there is ongoing disagreement over how exactly it should be defined. In this paper I propose a novel definition of open-mindedness as a process of impartial belief revision and use it to argue that we should shift our normative assessments away from the trait itself to the context in which it is exercised. My definition works by three sequential stages: not screening new claims, impartially weighing the evidential strength of claims, and updating beliefs accordingly. Using this definition I argue for a focus on agents' particular circumstances to determine what degrees of credulity, open-, or closed-mindedness are appropriate in any given situation. As well as providing conceptual clarity regarding the concept of open-mindedness this paper indicates the benefits of this contextual approach for our everyday epistemic attitudes. In particular it enables us to recognise, without stigma, when ourselves or others deviate from open-mindedness for appropriate reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper defends strong emissions sufficientarianism as an approach to assigning moral rights to generate greenhouse gas emissions. Strong emissions sufficientarianism holds that only subsistence emitting is morally permissible. This paper argues that, since it is uncertain how many subsistence emissions there will be, the present generation owes it to future generations to refrain from generating non-subsistence emissions, not to risk imposing on them a tragic choice between sacrificing themselves and contributing to very dangerous climate change. The paper also addresses the charge that emissions sufficientarianism, in general, is too permissive since it entails a right to contribute to very dangerous climate change. The overall message is that, given the moral urgency posed by climate change, there is little room for distributive principles besides emissions sufficientarianism. This casts doubt on the appropriateness of relying on carbon budgets in assigning rights to emit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In political discourse, it is common to claim that non-majoritarian institutions are legitimate because they are technical and value-free. Even though most analysts disagree, many arguments for non-majoritarian legitimacy rest on claims that work best if institutions are, in fact, value-free. This paper develops a novel standard for non-majoritarian legitimacy. It builds on the rich debate over the value-free ideal in philosophy of science, which has not, so far, been applied systematically to political theory literature on non-majoritarian institutions. This paper suggests that the argument from inductive risk, a strong argument against the value-free ideal, (1) shows why a naive claim to value freedom is a poor general foundation for non-majoritarian legitimacy; (2) provides a device to assess the degree of democratic value inputs required for an institution to be legitimate; which (3) shows the conditions under which a claim to technical legitimacy might still be normatively acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dementia, a global health priority, poses a disproportionately high risk to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans plus (LGBT+)/gender and sexuality diverse people. Despite this, little research has explored the lived experience of LGBT+ people with dementia or their care partners. This scoping review aims to understand what the literature reveals about their experiences, the ways in which their lives have been investigated, to inform future research, policy and practice. Using an established scoping review methodology, we identified seven papers that reported empirical research on the lived experience of LGBT+ people with dementia and their care partners. Only a single study reported on in two of the papers included people who were trans. This in itself reveals how rarely LGBT+ people are asked to speak about how dementia has shaped their lives in academic research. Our reflexive thematic analysis indicates that LGBT+ people with dementia and their care partners endure overlapping forms of disadvantage. This results in heightened experiences of fear and discrimination, lack of services and compounded social isolation. Importantly, while dementia was embodied as interference and loss by LGBT+ people, it was their gender and sexuality differences that provided solace, even in the face of disadvantage. Importantly, people's relationships with LGBT+ identities were framed as fundamental for safety, resilience and wellbeing, rather than a complicating or confounding factor in living with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older people have increasingly been using the new information and communication technologies (ICTs), namely the internet. Seeking to contribute with substantive information on their digital inclusion, this paper focuses on the adoption and use of ICTs by older adults, highlighting their experiences and considering their plurality. Taking a qualitative approach, the core goal of the empirical research underlying this paper was to understand what mechanisms and modalities configure the relationship of older internet users with the new ICTs. With that objective in mind, interviews were conducted with 20 internet users over the age of 60. Those interviews, which included a biographical element, were subjected to multi-categorical analysis. Results suggest a typology of modes of relating to the new ICTs among older internet users that reflects different trajectories, practices, skills, significances and impacts. The analysis shows how life trajectories and differentiated uses are reflected in equally differentiated impacts for older adults, contributing to their quality of life in different ways and to different degrees. Digital skills play a fundamental role in enhancing or limiting those effects. The results of this research help break down the stereotypes associated with the older generations and may have relevant implications for the design of digital inclusion policies and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large body of literature shows that the emotional health of rural elders in China is negatively affected by the migration of their adult children. However, the precise mechanism that underpins this relationship has yet to be fully uncovered. This paper introduces two new dimensions of analysis to expand the understanding of this 'left behind' phenomenon, and offers statistical insights, theoretical explanations and policy recommendations, as well as suggestions for further study. Firstly, in this paper, rural elders have been distinguished based on whether all , or any , of their adult children have migrated. This distinction leads to the finding that rural elders suffer more adverse mental health impacts when all adult children from a household move away. Secondly, the temporal dimension of migration is investigated, finding that there is a 'turning point' after which the mental health of rural elders appears to recover after the migration of their adult children. Comparison of the two groups shows that rural elders who see any of their adult children migrate recover from depression twice as quickly as those who see all of their children migrate. Receiving financial support or providing child care can only partly mediate the negative influence of migration. Also, the level of depression and wellbeing of rural elders can be significantly moderated by the emotional closeness between them and their adult children. Providing (grand)child-care assistance and receiving economic support is shown to have smaller mitigating effects. This paper concludes with a discussion of how the notion of 'filial piety' could, directly and indirectly, play a role in the emotional health of rural elders, with policy implications provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the properties of a particle, lǝ , in Yixing Chinese that invariably denotes telic reading, obligatorily fronts definite and bare NP objects to the topic position, and imposes past event reading in most situations. It is argued that lǝ is a functional item bearing a quantity feature in the sense of Borer (2005b) and is hence responsible for telicity. Following Partee et al. (1987), Partee (1990), Filip (1997) and Borer (2005b), we propose that lǝ functions as a verbal quantifier, and more specifically, as a verbal universal quantifier, which needs to bind a variable in its quantificational domain. The fronting of definite and bare NPs is compatible with this variable-binding requirement because a trace, and hence a variable, is left as a result of the movement. It is further argued, following the analysis in Lin (2000, 2003, 2007), that lǝ bears a perfective feature. When there is no specific reference time, speech time is taken as default reference time, resulting in the past event reading. lǝ , therefore, bears both an inner aspectual feature and an outer aspectual feature. This paper exhibits how telic items can behave differently across languages and shows the possibility of bundling two temporal features (inner and outer aspectual features) on a single functional item. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marketisation of European home care has given rise to significant private for-profit providers growth. However, little research has focused directly on commercial companies to examine the mechanisms through which they emerge, grow and shape long-term care policy – this is this paper's task. Drawing on the literature on business power, the recent concept of "institutional business power" is introduced, defined as the power flowing from the entrenched position of business actors in the provision of public social services. The paper identifies the mechanisms through which private providers have grown and assesses the extent of their institutional power by examining their influence on policy and the support they obtain from relevant home care stakeholders. The limits of providers' institutional power are also discussed. The paper relies on semi-structured interviews with representatives of public, private and non-profit home care providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paperwork has always been a central part of bureaucratic work. Over the last few years, bureaucratic procedures have become increasingly standardised and digitalised. Based on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork within welfare offices in Switzerland and Belgium, we reflect on the way evidence is constructed within social policy and cases built for or against noncitizen welfare recipients in order to show how paper truths are established and challenged. The focus on digital practices within public policy implementation highlights how it contributes to enhanced control mechanisms on the implementation level and how migration law continues to guide welfare governance for noncitizens. This allows targeting of the most marginalised groups, whose rights to access state support are institutionally impeded. Through database information flows, official forms, paper reports and face-to-face meetings, we further show how a hybrid form of bureaucratic work emerges, where direct contact with the client is still key, yet highly influenced by standardisation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the prosodic realization of stress and focus in Udmurt (Uralic, Permic). According to the literature, Udmurt has fixed final stress, but also has several sets of morphosyntactic exceptions with initial stress. We report the results of two production studies. The first one targets nominals with final stress, and the second one investigates the stress properties of minimal pairs consisting of (i) indicative verbs (prs.3sg; final stress) and (ii) imperative verbs (imp.2sg/pl; initial stress). To control for the information-structural contexts, the test words are studied in contexts that elicit narrow focus either on the test word ('F' condition) or on another constituent ('non-F' condition). The results show that all four acoustic parameters surveyed in the paper – duration, intensity, fundamental frequency (f0), and first formant (F1) values – participate in stress marking in Udmurt. The results for focus marking vary by study and demonstrate that all cues except for intensity may be involved in focus marking. At the same time, we find wide interspeaker variation with respect to the acoustic cues marking stress and/or focus. Finally, we outline a preliminary Autosegmental-Metrical interpretation of our f0 results; a full account of Udmurt intonation awaits further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the problem of contact parameters (slippage and sinkage) estimation for multi-modal robot locomotion on granular terrains. To describe the contact events in the same framework for robots operated at different modes (e.g., wheel, leg), we propose a unified description of contact parameters for multi-modal robots. We also provide a parameter estimation method for multi-modal robots based on CNN and DWT (discrete wavelet transformation) techniques and verify its effectiveness over different types of granular terrains. Besides motion modes, this paper also considers the influence of slope angles and the robot's handing angles over contact parameters. Through comparison and analysis of the prediction results, our method can not only effectively predict the contact parameters of multi-modal robot locomotion on a granular medium (better than $96\%$ accuracy) but also achieves the same or better performance when compared to other (direct) contact measurement methods designed for individual motion modes, that is, single-modal robots such as quadruped robots and mars rovers. Our proposed unified contact parameter estimation method can be useful for studying the interaction mechanics between multi-modal robots and granular terrains as well as terrain classification tasks due to its superior sensitivity which is analyzed in the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous fabric manipulation is a challenging task due to complex dynamics and potential self-occlusion during fabric handling. An intuitive method of fabric-folding manipulation first involves obtaining a smooth and unfolded fabric configuration before the folding process begins. However, the combination of quasi-static actions like pick & place and dynamic action like fling proves inadequate in effectively unfolding long-sleeved T-shirts with sleeves mostly tucked inside the garment. To address this limitation, this paper introduces an enhanced quasi-static action called pick & drag, specifically designed to handle this type of fabric configuration. Additionally, an efficient dual-arm manipulation system is designed in this paper, which combines quasi-static (including pick & place and pick & drag) and dynamic fling actions to flexibly manipulate fabrics into unfolded and smooth configurations. Subsequently, once it is confirmed that the fabric is sufficiently unfolded and all fabric keypoints are detected, the keypoint-based heuristic folding algorithm is employed for the fabric-folding process. To address the scarcity of publicly available keypoint detection datasets for real fabric, we gathered images of various fabric configurations and types in real scenes to create a comprehensive keypoint dataset for fabric folding. This dataset aims to enhance the success rate of keypoint detection. Moreover, we evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed system in real-world settings, where it consistently and reliably unfolds and folds various types of fabrics, including challenging situations such as long-sleeved T-shirts with most parts of sleeves tucked inside the garment. Specifically, our method achieves a coverage rate of 0.822 and a success rate of 0.88 for long-sleeved T-shirts folding. Supplemental materials and dataset are available on our project webpage at https://sites.google.com/view/fabricfolding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differentially flat under-actuated robots are characterized by more degrees of freedom (DOF) than actuators: this makes possible the design of lightweight cheap robots with high dexterity. The main issue of such robots is the control of the passive joint, which requires accurate dynamic modeling of the robot. Friction is usually discarded to simplify the models, especially in the case of low-speed trajectories. However, this simplification leads to oscillations of the end-effector about the final position, which are incompatible with fast and accurate motions. This paper focuses on planar $n$ -DOF serial robotic arms with $n-1$ actuated rotational joints plus one final passive rotational joint with stiffness and friction properties. These robots, if properly balanced, are differentially flat. When the non-actuated joint can be considered frictionless, differentially flat robots can be controlled in open loop, calculating the motor torques demanded by point-to-point motions. This paper extends the open-loop control to robots with a passive joint with viscous friction adopting a Laplace transform method. This method can be adopted by exploiting the particular structure of the equations of motion of differentially flat under-actuated robots in which the last equations are linear. Analytical expressions of the motor torques are obtained. The work is enriched by an experimental validation of a $2$ -DOF under-actuated robot and by numerical simulations of the $2$ - and $4$ -DOF robots showing the suppression of unwanted oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recognizing underwater targets is a crucial component of autonomous underwater vehicle patrols and detection efforts. In the process of visual image recognition in real underwater environment, the spatial and semantic features of the target often appear to different degrees of loss, and the scarcity of specific types of underwater samples leads to unbalanced data on categories. This kind of problem makes the target features appear weak and seriously affects the accuracy of underwater target recognition. Traditional deep learning methods based on data and feature enhancement cannot achieve ideal recognition effect. Based on the above difficulties, this paper proposes an improved feature enhancement network for weak feature target recognition. Firstly, a multi-scale spatial and semantic feature enhancement module is constructed to extract the feature information of the extraction target accurately. Secondly, this paper solves the influence of target feature distortion on classification through multi-scale feature comparison of positive and negative samples. Finally, the Rank & Sort Loss function was used to train the depth target detection to solve the problem of recognition accuracy under highly unbalanced sample data. Experimental results show that the recognition accuracy of the proposed method is 2.28% and 3.84% higher than that of the existing algorithms in the recognition of underwater fuzzy and distorted target images, which demonstrates the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reinforcement learning (RL) has been successfully applied to a wealth of robot manipulation tasks and continuous control problems. However, it is still limited to industrial applications and suffers from three major challenges: sample inefficiency, real data collection, and the gap between simulator and reality. In this paper, we focus on the practical application of RL for robot assembly in the real world. We apply enlightenment learning to improve the proximal policy optimization, an on-policy model-free actor-critic reinforcement learning algorithm, to train an agent in Cartesian space using the proprioceptive information. We introduce enlightenment learning incorporated via pretraining, which is beneficial to reduce the cost of policy training and improve the effectiveness of the policy. A human-like assembly trajectory is generated through a two-step method with segmenting objects by locations and iterative closest point for pretraining. We also design a sim-to-real controller to correct the error while transferring to reality. We set up the environment in the MuJoCo simulator and demonstrated the proposed method on the recently established The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) gear assembly benchmark. The paper introduces a unique framework that enables a robot to learn assembly tasks efficiently using limited real-world samples by leveraging simulations and visual demonstrations. The comparative experiment results indicate that our approach surpasses other baseline methods in terms of training speed, success rate, and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how to remove attenuation bias in regression analyses due to measurement error in historical data for a given variable of interest by using a secondary measure that can be easily generated from digitized newspapers. We provide three methods for using this secondary variable to deal with non-classical measurement error in a binary treatment: set identification, bias reduction via sample restriction, and a parametric bias correction. We demonstrate the usefulness of our methods by replicating four recent economic history papers. Relative to the initial analyses, our results yield markedly larger coefficient estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperlogic is a hyperintensional system designed to regiment metalogical claims (e.g., "Intuitionistic logic is correct" or "The law of excluded middle holds") into the object language, including within embedded environments such as attitude reports and counterfactuals. This paper is the first of a two-part series exploring the logic of hyperlogic. This part presents a minimal logic of hyperlogic and proves its completeness. It consists of two interdefined axiomatic systems: one for classical consequence (truth preservation under a classical interpretation of the connectives) and one for "universal" consequence (truth preservation under any interpretation). The sequel to this paper explores stronger logics that are sound and complete over various restricted classes of models as well as languages with hyperintensional operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans identities are increasingly subjected to contentious public and political debate in the UK, and this has resulted in resource to the law across various contexts. Against that background, this paper considers trans legal parenthood after the decision in R (McConnell and YY) v Registrar General for England and Wales. This judgment held that a trans man who gave birth was the legal 'mother' of his child. The wider consequence is that trans legal parenthood will not reflect trans identities, but birth-assigned sex/gender, regardless of whether the parent holds a gender recognition certificate. Separate from this underlying social and political context concerning trans identities, the paper argues that legal parenthood is a flexible and pragmatic concept, which lacks inherent normative content, and which has previously proved capable of accommodating a variety of different familial and reproductive circumstances. The paper argues that the gendered descriptors of 'mother' and 'father', while remaining the law's default, are not inherent to legal parenthood. Thus, the paper concludes that, despite the ongoing political and cultural debates concerning trans identities, the existing concept of legal parenthood is capable of properly recognising trans parenthood, without requiring any fundamental changes to the concept itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports the findings of over a decade of pioneering, award-winning fieldwork which has explored how workplace experience, if embedded successfully in different stages of legal education, can accelerate the 'speed to capability' and skills development of early career lawyers. The benefits from initial experiments of graduate-level work placements carried out by the authors since 2008 are presented. The paper then explores the findings from almost 10 years of creating year-long work placements for law undergraduates, assessing student skill growth, and the impact of the work placements on degree results and employment outcomes, before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is estimated that there are in excess of eight million unfit homes in England and that one in five excess deaths are attributable to poor housing conditions, costing the NHS some £1.4bn per year. While the policy focus tends to be on housing supply, it is the private rented sector (PRS) that is a key vehicle for provision. The pandemic has given rise to some unexpected outcomes, not least in regulating that sector. This paper will consider how strategies have changed and generated new modes of regulation in the sector, which may have important longer-term effects for the relation between tenant and landlord. Using the frame of vulnerability and risk theories as a starting position, the paper will critique the role of law in allocating landlord rights and responsibilities. It will look at the implications of moving towards an appreciation of the relational, as opposed to physical aspects of housing provision in regulating landlord behaviour and the attendant risks of so doing. It will be argued that the literatures of vulnerability and risk only make sense if a further element is added in this case: the notion of hope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usage of delegated legislation as a means of governance deserves significant attention, in view of the enormous impact that it is capable of having on the lives of citizens. While reforms to the process of parliamentary scrutiny are an important means of minimising the inappropriate usage of delegated legislation, this paper explores the possibility of drawing more fruitfully upon judicial review as an additional control mechanism. It undertakes a theoretical analysis of what makes delegated legislation distinct from primary legislation and other types of executive action for the purposes of judicial review, with a view towards identifying the proper normative orientation of judicial review of delegated legislation – upholding the moral requirements of delegation relationships and safeguarding democratic accountability and the rule of law. It then argues that existing grounds of review applied towards delegated legislation go some way towards but are inadequately directed at this normative orientation. Drawing inspiration from Irish and US jurisprudence, the paper critically evaluates several possible means of filling this doctrinal space, and concludes that the non-delegation doctrine and a rule of law-based ground of judicial review directed at exercises of delegated law-making power can supplement the law of judicial review of delegated legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK enacted its first legal measure to address gender pay inequity, the Equal Pay Act 1970, more than 50 years ago. Yet, in 2021, the gender pay gap (GPG) still stood at 15.4%. Departing from the remedial and individual approach that characterises equal pay legislation, the 2017 Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations (the Regulations) require private and voluntary sector organisations with 250+ employees to annually publish pay data broken down by gender. The long-term aspiration of the Regulations is to contribute to closing the GPG within a generation. It is also hoped that they will encourage the public disclosure of pay data and changes in workplace policies to reduce organisational GPGs (immediate aims) and improve employers' accountability (underlying aim). This paper considers whether the Regulations have what it takes to meet those immediate and underlying aims. Our assessment framework is built on the premise that for public disclosure to be useful and for employers to tackle the causes of the GPG, the information reported must be of sufficient quality, meaningful and relevant. The paper draws on both doctrinal analysis and empirical data reported by FTSE 100 Index companies to assess the Regulations and determine whether they hold the potential to meet those aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]