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The following comments will focus on a few questions: B Question 1: How trustworthy are the data provided by the paper and other official government sources on the epidemic situation in China? B Wang Xiaolu, National Economic Research Institute: b This paper convincingly presents data to describe in detail the outbreak of COVID-19 in China in the first half of 2020, outlines the response measures taken by the government and the private sector, evaluates the effects of these measures, and explains how China quickly controlled the epidemic and achieved both economic and social recovery. [Extracted from the article]

B Liming Wang, University College Dublin: b The paper presents a comprehensive overview of China's experience of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. International view of the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic Outside of China, we have unfortunately witnessed increased criticism of China, and attacks by western politicians, led by the U.S. government. [Extracted from the article]

The widespread use of markets leads to unprecedented material well-being in many societies. We study whether market interaction, as a side effect, erodes moral values. In an influential paper, Falk and Szech (2013) provide experimental data that seem to suggest that "market interaction erodes moral values." Although we replicate their main treatment effect, we show that additional treatments are necessary to corroborate their conclusion. These treatments reveal that playing repeatedly, and not market interaction, causes the erosion of moral values. Our paper thus shows that neither Falk and Szech's data nor our data support the claim that markets erode morals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer review is a key component of the publishing process in most fields of science. Increasing submission rates put a strain on reviewing quality and efficiency, motivating the development of applications to support the reviewing and editorial work. While existing NLP studies focus on the analysis of individual texts, editorial assistance often requires modeling interactions between pairs of texts—yet general frameworks and datasets to support this scenario are missing. Relationships between texts are the core object of the intertextuality theory—a family of approaches in literary studies not yet operationalized in NLP. Inspired by prior theoretical work, we propose the first intertextual model of text-based collaboration, which encompasses three major phenomena that make up a full iteration of the review–revise–and–resubmit cycle: pragmatic tagging, linking, and long-document version alignment. While peer review is used across the fields of science and publication formats, existing datasets solely focus on conference-style review in computer science. Addressing this, we instantiate our proposed model in the first annotated multidomain corpus in journal-style post-publication open peer review, and provide detailed insights into the practical aspects of intertextual annotation. Our resource is a major step toward multidomain, fine-grained applications of NLP in editorial support for peer review, and our intertextual framework paves the path for general-purpose modeling of text-based collaboration. We make our corpus, detailed annotation guidelines, and accompanying code publicly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is argued, in this paper, that the core operation underlying any measurement—the inverse modelling under uncertainty—is equivalent to quantitative abductive reasoning which consists in the selection of the best estimate of a measurand (i.e., a quantity to be measured) in a set of admissible solutions, using a priori information: (i) on the measurand, (ii) on the measuring system coupled with an object under measurement, and (iii) on the influence of the environment including the user of the measurement results. There are two key premises of this claim: a systematic interpretation of measurement in terms of inverse problems, proposed earlier by the author, and a logical link between inverse problems and abduction, identified by the Finnish philosopher of science Ilkka Niiniluoto. The title claim of this paper is illustrated with an expanded example of measuring optical spectrum by means of a low-resolution spectrometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of metaheuristics has a long history of finding inspiration in natural systems, starting from evolution strategies, genetic algorithms, and ant colony optimization in the second half of the 20th century. In the last decades, however, the field has experienced an explosion of metaphor-centered methods claiming to be inspired by increasingly absurd natural (and even supernatural) phenomena—several different types of birds, mammals, fish and invertebrates, soccer and volleyball, reincarnation, zombies, and gods. Although metaphors can be powerful inspiration tools, the emergence of hundreds of barely discernible algorithmic variants under different labels and nomenclatures has been counterproductive to the scientific progress of the field, as it neither improves our ability to understand and simulate biological systems nor contributes generalizable knowledge or design principles for global optimization approaches. In this article we discuss some of the possible causes of this trend, its negative consequences for the field, and some efforts aimed at moving the area of metaheuristics toward a better balance between inspiration and scientific soundness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document discusses the concept of lifelike computing systems, which aim to replicate qualities associated with living systems in technological systems. The document explains that lifelike computing systems draw inspiration from the field of Artificial Life (ALife) and integrate insights from various research initiatives, such as cybernetics, self-aware computing, and bio-inspired computing. The special issue presented in the document includes four papers that explore the integration of lifelike properties into engineered systems, covering topics such as metaheuristic methods, nature-inspired algorithms, explainable AI, and artificial collective intelligence engineering. The document concludes by expressing gratitude to the authors, reviewers, and organizers involved in the special issue. [Extracted from the article]

The article delves into an aspect of art historian Meyer Schapiro's life, focusing on his unique response to vehement criticism from Albert C. Barnes. It details the correspondence between Schapiro and Barnes, revealing Barnes's antisemitic insults toward Schapiro's critiques of Matisse's work. It states that despite the barrage of insults, Schapiro responded not with words but with a drawing that cleverly depicted Barnes's criticism.

Environmental, Society, and Governance (ESG) investments have become increasingly popular in recent years, and, at the same time, many rating agencies provide ESG scores for each company. This means that the ESG investment model may have moved from the traditional two-factor model of risk-return to a three-factor model adding an ESG component to it. This paper highlights the potential for distortion of asset allocation through the shift from traditional risk-return considerations to ESG score considerations. This is equally true for green bonds, resulting in the potential for asset allocation to be distorted by green bond criteria. Furthermore, we show that imposing a net carbon tax on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a measure to correct this distortion in asset allocation and make asset allocation more risk-return based, in addressing global environmental issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes to recover the topic of the philosophy of scientific method from its late nineteenth-century roots. The subject matter of scientific method sprouted from key inferential ingredients identified by Charles Peirce. In this paper, the historical path is traversed from the viewpoint of contemporary Cognitive Structural Realism (CSR). Peirce's semiotic theory of methods and practices of scientific inquiry prefigured CSR's reliance on embodied informational structures and experimentation upon forms of relations that model generic scientific domains. Three results are shown to follow from this convocation: (i) a naturalization of Peirce's interconnected abductive, deductive and inductive stages of the logic of science, here characterized de novo in terms of CSR. (ii) a perspective to scientific modeling that incorporates processes of abstraction and generalization as originated from Peirce's logic of science, and (iii) diagrammatic reasoning as a pivotal method in analyzing scientific reasoning in experimental practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arguments discrediting the value-free ideal of science have left us with the question of how to distinguish desirable values from biases that compromise the reliability of research. In this paper, I argue for a characterization of cognitive biases as deviations of thought processes that systematically lead scientists to the wrong conclusions. In particular, cognitive biases could help us understand a crucial issue in science today: how systematic error is introduced in research outcomes, even when research is evaluated as of good quality. To conclude, I suggest that some debiasing mechanisms have great potential for countering implicit methodological biases in science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a project in the art-science nexus. SoundRunner is a platform that exploits the potential of electroacoustic music to create an interactive sound- and music-making experience. The project investigates how data on running performance can be harnessed in real time to drive musical creation. A range of psychological indices (and associated analyses) is used to assess the effects of the SoundRunner platform on runners. Driven by health and well-being imperatives, the project served to augment running experience with unique sound and music. The paper discusses implications regarding running performance and the further technological development of SoundRunner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the role of transportation “hubs" in the pattern of interregional and perhaps international trade. It is also found that free trade agreements do not promote export in East Asia, only export in intermediate goods. The paper presents analyzes the rise of global value chains (GVCs) in East Asia, export is increasingly sensitive to the capital-labor ratio and high-skilled labor productivity and understanding the twin-hub trade regime between China and Japan.

This paper analyzes the factors behind the loan defaults of borrowers by their employment status (whether they are self-employed) using the Korea Consumer Credit Panel data held by the Bank of Korea, and estimates the probability of default and the fragility of the financial sector. This is done using the concept of exposure at default for individuals. Using individual data on loans and delinquencies, we divide the spreads of personal loans into spreads determined by loan characteristics and spreads based on credit ratings to examine how these factors determine the probability of default among selfemployed and non-self-employed borrowers. We find that the marginal effect of the spread based by the characteristic of loans and the borrowers' credit ratings on the probability of default is greater to the self-employed borrowers, as compared to the non-self-employed borrowers. Especially, the effect of the spread by credit rating is stronger than the other. When we measure the vulnerability of financial institutions in terms of households' probability of default, the institutions' exposure to default of the self-employed affects to institutions' vulnerability more than those of the non-self-employed. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the connectedness of financial institutions to household debt, and, in particular, the financial status of the self-employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the methods and policies that could enhance the financial connectivity between Europe and Asia in infrastructure investments. We argue that if Asian governments agree to enter into a long-term repayment commitment with a share of spillover tax revenues of public infrastructure projects under a regulatory framework, it could attract European long-term institutional funds in Asia's infrastructure projects. This approach will reduce divergence in infrastructure between the two regions and encourage regional connectivity. With some empirical evidence, this paper highlights the operational risks and methods of sharing spillover revenue for infrastructure projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on policies to promote the greater use of regional currencies in intra-regional trade and investment. This will reduce the dominance of the U.S. dollar and lessen the region's exposure to U.S. monetary conditions and monetary policy.A key focus in this paper is on policies to help set up efficient currency exchange markets to reduce currency exchange transaction costs. This is fundamental, as high currency exchange spreads between local currencies discourage local currency usage for trade and investment. China's policy to internationalize the RMB and set up offshore direct foreign exchange markets between the RMB and other currencies is also highlighted. Other important issues include the Local Currency Settlement Framework, the Asian Bond Market Initiative, and Asian Bond Funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reveals how citation networks can be used to understand and demonstrate the ways design serves to integrate other bodies of knowledge. Analysis focused on two corpuses of peer-reviewed journal articles, representing two bodies of knowledge. The first corpus consisted of 277 articles with the words "Design Thinking" in title. The second corpus contained 296 articles with the words "Network Science" in the title. Paper citation and document co-citation networks of individual and combined corpuses were analyzed. The overlap of paper citation networks was used to synthesize similarities, differences, and opportunities for further integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is the guest editor's introduction to a special section on virtual rehabilitation in the journal PRESENCE: Virtual & Augmented Reality. The papers in this section were selected from presentations at the 2022 International Society for Virtual Rehabilitation (ISVR) Conference, which is now called the World Congress for the International Society for Virtual Rehabilitation (WCISVR). The conference showcased novel technologies and clinical developments in virtual reality and related topics in rehabilitation and health improvement. The four papers in this special section explore the potential of virtual and augmented reality in assessing and intervening in motor and cognitive rehabilitation, including topics such as providing augmented feedback, standardized data collection, machine learning, and exposure therapy. These papers demonstrate the diversity of virtual reality applications in rehabilitation and provide insights into current research trends and future projections in the field. [Extracted from the article]

The article previews the SIGGRAPH(Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques) 2015 special issue of the periodical "Leonardo," Volume 48, Issue 4, which will be published in July 2015 and will feature contemporary design, craft and visual art.

This article introduces experimental artists' books created in the interstices between technology and tradition. The series of books are created by utilizing scraps produced via flexographic label printing. Each book is constituted by means of the accumulation of paper on the machine, which introduces a never-ending page structure as a result of the continuous roll, creating a swirling formation. The work is an inquiry on growth, imperfection, form and time, enriched by the impact of mechanical processes that are inherent to the creation of the book. It also investigates experimental uses of printing and paper-cutting mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B Prema-chandra Athukorala, Australian National University: b This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of production networks in Europe and East Asia in the global context, with emphasis on determinants of export patterns and intra-regional linkages. In addition, data relating to intermediate goods (based on the BEC classification) significantly overstate the magnitude of bilateral trade links within global production networks of resource-rich countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. No attempt has been made here to modify it to suit analyzing trade flows within global production networks informed by the theory of global production sharing (Jones [4]; Jones and Kirzkowski [5]; and many other papers). [Extracted from the article]

This paper proposes a way to understand the meaning of reality (in science) on the basis of the concepts of persistence and resistance. It first supports the ontological view that reality consists of persistent potentialities, which resist being excluded from existence. A study of the cases of the Higgs boson and the hypothetical Ϝ-particle helps to illustrate how real entities persist and resist. The paper then suggests that, perceptually speaking, the results of ordinary perception or observational processes persistently appear under appropriate conditions, and they resist disappearance even when the appropriate conditions are not completely prepared. Finally, it argues that, epistemologically speaking, a truthful theory resists being falsified and persists across replicable observations and experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will address scientific collaboration at the Zoophysiological Laboratory during the 1911–1945 directorship of Nobel Prize winner August Krogh. Using authorship information and acknowledgments from the laboratory's publications, this paper maps the many researchers involved in the work. In total, 193 different people contributed to the work at the Zoophysiological Laboratory. The paper further analyzes what labor, materials, ideas, and knowledge were exchanged between the individuals in the laboratory. While science has become more collaborative throughout the twentieth century, this paper underlines that collaboration was very much part of the research process in the early twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines methods of inference concerning quantile treatment effects (QTEs) in randomized experiments with matched-pairs designs (MPDs). Standard multiplier bootstrap inference fails to capture the negative dependence of observations within each pair and is therefore conservative. Analytical inference involves estimating multiple functional quantities that require several tuning parameters. Instead, this paper proposes two bootstrap methods that can consistently approximate the limit distribution of the original QTE estimator and lessen the burden of tuning parameter choice. Most especially, the inverse propensity score weighted multiplier bootstrap can be implemented without knowledge of pair identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the dual narrative of William Rotch, a Quaker pacifist and successful whaling merchant in the eighteenth century. It explores the tension between his religious commitment to peace, which led to accusations of disloyalty, and his business-minded cosmopolitanism, highlighting how his opposition to nationalism and state power was informed by both his pacifist beliefs and his role in the global whaling industry.

B Suresh Narayanan, Universiti Sains Malaysia: b The paper is aptly titled; after reading it I did gain a better understanding of the U.S.-China trade war. The paper begins by giving a stylized version of four lobby groups and argues that the trade war began in 2018 when the U.S. merchandise trade deficit was under 4 percent of GDP, rather than in 2006, when the U.S. merchandise trade deficit was over 6 percent and because the majority coalition on China trade in 2006 was no longer the majority coalition in 2018. The paper also makes it clear that China was not a "victim" in the trade war and may have invited it upon itself by highlighting two instances: non-compliance with WTO regulations and China's technology policy. [Extracted from the article]

Lump-sum job displacement policies (e.g., severance pay) are often presented as a better alternative to contingent policies (e.g., unemployment insurance) in the context of developing countries, under the rationale that the former are less harmful to formal employment as they do not incentivize substitution from formal to informal jobs. First, this paper provides original evidence on the employment effects of lump-sum income in the context of a developing country with high labor informality. A regression discontinuity (RD) design, using Brazilian data, shows that a transfer equivalent to fifteen days of earnings (a) increases the duration out of a formal job by 1.9 weeks, (b) reduces monthly earnings in the next job by 1.6%, and (c) reduces total earnings in the formal labor market by 3.6% over a three-year period. Second, the paper studies the impact of a one-month extension in unemployment insurance (UI) on a comparable sample of displaced workers. UI is shown to have a stronger impact on the duration out of a formal job compared with a lump-sum transfer. In addition, a novel exercise matching administrative and survey data shows that 57% of the decrease in formal employment caused by UI is compensated by an increase in the incidence of informal employment. However, workers receiving the UI extension partially recover the initial employment loss over time in such a way that the adverse impact on employment over a three-year period is similar compared with the lump-sum transfer. Moreover, UI is found to be less harmful to reemployment wages, possibly because it improves workers' bargaining power as it offers insurance against the duration of joblessness. Overall, the UI extension is less detrimental to total earnings in the formal labor market over a three-year period. Hence, although these findings indicate that contingent job insurance policies have a stronger impact on the initial duration out of a formal job and indeed incentivize informal employment, they do not support the notion that lump-sum policies are less harmful to formal employment and earnings in the medium term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following its initial development in the 1920's and 1930's, by mid-century the concept of "levels of organization" began to disperse throughout the life science textbook literature. Among other early textbooks that first applied the levels concept, Eugene P. Odum's usage of the notion in his textbook series Fundamentals of Ecology (and his later series Ecology) stands out due to the marked emphasis placed on the concept as a foundational, erotetically-oriented organizing principle. In this paper, I examine Odum's efforts toward advocating the levels concept in ecology in light of the concept's wider uptake in biology around that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes how artists and scientists use emotion as a methodological tool to study participants and cocreate projects. It uses a science and technology studies approach to identify a typology of five emotion assemblages and the material, social, and cultural components that make them operate. These assemblages include or eliminate cultural and environmental context, the role of participants, and artist/researcher reflexivity The paper argues that there is an imperative for artists, designers, and researchers to make deliberate choices as to who or what to include and exclude when working with emotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States have increased the pace and scale of conservation efforts in recent years as they strive to meet ambitious terrestrial and marine protected area targets. The ecological gains made in this push for protections, however, seem to be no better than if governments designated protected areas at random. Many critics point to states prioritizing quantity over quality of protections—rightly so—but this point does not fully explain the shortcomings of the global biodiversity network. The problem is more deeply rooted in the processes through which governments designate protected areas. Governments prioritize minimizing short-term commercial losses over maximizing long-term ecological gains in conservation policy processes, leading to two predominant types of protected area: residual and paper park. The causal mechanism driving these processes is how salient industry interests are in an area targeted for protections, which predicts government policy response, demonstrated here through case studies in Australia and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces the eighth joint publication of SIGGRAPH Art Papers which examines the roles of artists and the methods of art-making.

Nature's spectacular inventiveness, reflected in the enormous diversity of form and function displayed by the biosphere, is a feature of life that distinguishes living most strongly from nonliving. It is, therefore, not surprising that this aspect of life should become a central focus of artificial life. We have known since Darwin that the diversity is produced dynamically, through the process of evolution; this has led life's creative productivity to be called Open-Ended Evolution (OEE) in the field. This article introduces the first of two special issues on current research on OEE and on the more general concept of open-endedness. Most of the papers presented in these special issues are elaborations of work presented at the Third Workshop on Open-Ended Evolution, held in Tokyo as part of the 2018 Conference on Artificial Life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast, as Sachs notes, each of the Asian states with the best results was able to close down cross-border travel or to subject any arrivals to strict protocols, and China was able to shut down travel across provincial borders as well. B James K. Galbraith, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin: b This is a useful paper in several respects. [Extracted from the article]

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across China and the world, causing more than 30 million infections and incalculable damage. China was seriously damaged and threatened by the disease in the first quarter of 2020, but finally succeeded in halting its spread in a short period. This was achieved through quick and strong measures in self-protection, mobility control, resource allocation, professional health care, and disinfection, under the organization of the government and the cooperation of all the Chinese people. The measures that were taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 proved to be efficient in fighting the outbreak in Beijing in June 2020. This paper reviews China's experience with COVID-19, the Chinese economy's performance during the pandemic, and the government's policies to protect lives, maintain markets, and promote the economy. The data show that strong monetary and fiscal policies accelerated the country's economic recovery. These policies, including tax reductions and credit support, targeting small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and industries and regions that were severely damaged, have helped to create jobs and encourage production and investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article by Fukunari Kimura discusses Sri Lanka's sovereign debt crisis during the COVID-19 period. The paper highlights the chronic twin debt problem and the relative shrinkage of the tradable sector as key factors contributing to the crisis. It also examines the government fiscal balance, the structure of public external debt, and the anti-trade biases in policies. The author argues that regaining policy discipline and removing anti-trade policies are necessary for resolving the crisis. The paper emphasizes that the crisis was not solely caused by COVID-19 but was a result of long-term mismanagement of public external debt. [Extracted from the article]

Second, the author explains that the severe contraction of the Thai economy is due to three factors: Thailand's low potential GDP growth rate, its high dependence on tourism, and overly strict measures used to contain the disease. B Kwanho Shin, Korea University: b This paper investigates the paradox of Thailand's success in controlling COVID-19: While Thailand has been remarkably successful in containing COVID-19, the economy is expected to contract by 8 percent---the largest drop in Southeast Asia. Kwanho Shin Comment on The Paradox of Thailand's Success in Controlling COVID-19. [Extracted from the article]

Table 2 - Status of Manuscripts by Year of Submission, 2017-2021 This table shows the status of manuscripts submitted over the past five years. Distribution of First Decision Times by Submission Year HT