Accession Process Research Articles

The African American Transplant Access Program: Mitigating Disparities in Solid Organ Transplantation

Black Americans experience end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) at a disproportionately higher rate than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Kidney transplantation provides the best outcomes for patients with ESKD. However, Black patients frequently have decreased access to kidney transplantation. This article summarizes the robust literature on disparities in transplantation for Black patients and presents a practical solution to this complex issue by redesigning the transplant access process for Black patients challenged by structural and institutional barriers. The authors provide a detailed overview of a novel African American Transplant Access Program (AATAP) with its pillars of cultural congruency, trust, health literacy, and psychosocial support. This overview includes a thorough description of the program’s conceptualization, the process of creating the program, the preliminary results, and guidance to establish similarly culturally congruent transplant access programs.

Wysiłki polityczne Somalii o przyjęcie do Wspólnoty Wschodnioafrykańskiej (EAC) jako znaczący krok na rzecz procesu stabilizacji państwa i regionu

SOMALIA’S POLITICAL EFFORTS TO JOIN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY (EAC) AS A SIGNIFICANT STEP IN THE PROCESS OF STABILIZING THE STATE AND THE REGIONOn 31 May 2023, the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State of the East African Community (EAC) adopted the report on the verification of the accession application of the Federal Republic of Somalia, while deciding to start accession negotiations with immediate effect. The purpose of this article is to attempt to assess this decision, in the context of the admission of one of the world’s most unstable states to a sub-regional organisation that is considered the most advanced in achieving integration goals across the African continent. Due to the fact that Somalia became a member of the Community on 15 December 2023 – almost simultaneously with the submission of this text – an objective assessment of the impact of this decision is not yet possible, but it is possible to attempt to answer questions concerning the political and economic objectives of the accession process undertaken, as well as the potential consequences of its positive implementation.

Ukraine’s reconstruction in the context of EU accession

This paper outlines the impact of the war on Ukraine's economy, sets out the main challenges for reconstruction and EU integration, and provides a set of policy recommendations to "build back better" within the EU accession process. The economic and demographic shock caused by the war has been severe. However, we find that Ukraine can feasibly follow the EU-CEE EU integration path once the war ends, and that it will bring a great deal to the EU. Ukraine will not create an unmanageable extra strain on the EU budget, but the integration of its competitive agricultural sector must be carefully managed. Policy priorities for Ukraine and the EU include measures to mitigate the demographic shock, rebuild infrastructure in a way that integrates Ukraine more tightly into the EU economy, support the regions most impacted by the war, and use trade and FDI policies to maximise the benefits of EU integration.

European Unions Western Balkans Policy Adjustments and Strategic Metaphors in the Context of Geopolitical Crisis

The European Union has been in a period of enlargement fatigue for a long time since its explosive eastward enlargement, with a corresponding deceleration in its enlargement policy for the Western Balkans. But since 2018, and especially after the Ukrainian crisis in 2022, the European Union has begun to try to adjust its policies in the Western Balkans and try to change the deceleration of its enlargement. On the basis of constructivism theory, this paper analyses the reasons for the adjustments mainly using comparative and textual analysis. On the one hand, the European Union constructs its own perceptions on the basis of environmental feedback. On the other hand, the European Union has a normative basis for its next expansion, and the Western Balkans have also developed a certain degree of normative internalization through a number of subregional cooperation mechanisms. The European Union recognized the process of gradual convergence between the two sides, which promoted policy adjustments. The current strategic logic of the European Union presents a predominantly security logic, with a prominent geopolitical discourse. There are still challenges in the accession process of the Western Balkans, and the European Union still needs to further explore the optimal path for the development of relations between the two sides.

Unlocking data’s potential: navigating the challenges of data-driven innovation for start-ups

Purpose Data-driven innovation is a key pillar for economic development in the 21st century, accordingly the role and value of data in developing new products, services and business models has gained attention. The study aims to identify three important factors explaining the challenges faced by young entrepreneurial firms when seeking to use public data in their business development. Design/methodology/approach This study presents the user journeys of five data-driven start-ups in the capital region of Norway aiming to use public data in their business development process. Multiple methods for data collection were used, such as interviews, observations and secondary data. Findings The study reveals how differences in culture, communication and work methods across stakeholders and sectors affect and delay the process of gaining access to data. Moreover, how various forms of knowledge are expressed differently throughout the user journeys of the start-up firms, with stronger dependency on explicit and codified in early phase, and tacit and experience-based knowledge in later stages, each stage relating to the maturity of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for data-driven innovation. Therefore, the ecosystem for data-driven innovation may be further developed through arenas for collaboration that simplify the process for access to – and use of public data. Originality/value The study reveals how young entrepreneurial firms identify opportunities whilst simultaneously facing substantial barriers when they seek to take advantage of publicly available data and transforming them into value creating activities. The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of data-driven innovation by exploring the user journeys of start-up firms and identifying the challenges they face when utilizing public data, highlighting the importance of a mature ecosystem, collaboration for market development and the evolving role of tacit and experience-based knowledge throughout the business development process.

Trusted access control mechanism for data with blockchain-assisted attribute encryption

In the growing demand for data sharing, how to realize fine-grained trusted access control of shared data and protect data security has become a difficult problem. Ciphertext policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) model is widely used in cloud data sharing scenarios, but there are problems such as privacy leakage of access policy, irrevocability of user or attribute, key escrow, and trust bottleneck. Therefore, we propose a blockchain-assisted CP-ABE (B-CP-ABE) mechanism for trusted data access control. Firstly, we construct a data trusted access control architecture based on the B-CP-ABE, which realizes the automated execution of access policies through smart contracts and guarantees the trusted access process through blockchain. Then, we define the B-CP-ABE scheme, which has the functions of policy partial hidden, attribute revocation, and anti-key escrow. The B-CP-ABE scheme utilizes Bloom filter to hide the mapping relationship of sensitive attributes in the access structure, realizes flexible revocation and recovery of users and attributes by re-encryption algorithm, and solves the key escrow problem by joint authorization of data owners and attribute authority. Finally, we demonstrate the usability of the B-CP-ABE scheme by performing security analysis and performance analysis.

Post-Dissident Politics and the “Liberal Consensus” in East-Central Europe after 1989

This article’s central question is how former dissidents and their engagement in post-1989 nascent democratic politics contributed to the emergence of what was later retrospectively labelled the “liberal consensus.” I look at the earliest stages of this consensus before it started to lock in the conditionality of the EU accession process. To this end, I first discuss the “liberal consensus” from a retrospective and past prospective perspective. I define the notions of “post-dissent” and liberal politics emerging after 1989 on the dissident platform. I discuss the theoretical background and historical contours of the notion of dissident “politics of consensus.” The empirical core of the study is an analysis of the birth of post-dissident liberal parties in the process of the disintegration of broad consensual democratization movements of the 1989 revolutions. The study offers a comparison of the Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, and Polish cases, analyzing their similarities and less obvious but significant differences.

From space to service: Measuring the accessibility in a space-time heterogeneity perspective

Accessibility has been identified as the primary motivating factor for the use of daily service facilities. Existing methods for measuring the accessibility of service facilities primarily focus on location accessibility, while little research extends it to service accessibility, which includes both reaching the location and obtaining the services. This paper proposes a novel approach to measuring service accessibility, termed the Space-Time Heterogeneous Gaussian Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (STH-G2SFCA). Firstly, a fine-grain heterogeneity analysis of service accessibility is constructed based on the supply-demand relationship. Secondly, a space-time search strategy is proposed with a Gaussian distance attenuation function, optimized by the decay rate of service attraction. Lastly, we introduce a supply-demand score and the Global Moran's index to assess the space-time patterns of service accessibility. A case study is conducted in the central urban area of Wuhan, China, with catering facilities as an example. The experimental results show that the STH-G2SFCA method can more precisely assess service accessibility, which is often overestimated in classic methods, and capture the temporal dynamics process of service accessibility within a day. The proposed method promises to be replicated in other service facilities, providing urban planners with a valuable tool for digital planning.

Analysis of the access to electronic communications metadata for the purposes of criminal law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Objective: This research intended to analyse the adequacy of the legal frameworks of the access to electronic communications metadata in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the purposes of law enforcement with the current Law of the European Union, an essential topic for balancing the effectiveness of criminal investigations with the fundamental rights of citizens in the current connected societies, moreover as the negotiations for accession are currently ongoing. Methodology: The Comparative Method of Legal Research, in the strict sense, was mostly followed, also taking into consideration the Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the privacy and data protection policies of the main electronic communications operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Results: After identifying and evaluating in detail the main issues arising from the current national legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this research shows that, in general terms, it is already compatible with the rules and principles in force in the European Union, following the case-law of its Court of Justice. Contributions: The research puts into evidence the current state of the Sources of Law in Bosnia and Herzegovina and how they are adjusting to the standards of the European Union, especially regarding privacy and data protection in electronic communications, as well as points out the necessary legislative initiatives in order to achieve a full compliance of criminal investigations with such standards, that may serve as guidelines for the other countries also in accession processes.

Donor conception, direct-to-consumer genetic testing, choices, and procedural justice: an argument for reform of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

In this article, using theories of procedural justice and 'slow violence', we consider potential reform of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. Our theoretical discussion is underpinned by findings from the ConnecteDNA project, exploring how people affected by donor conception experience direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT). The negative impacts of DTCGT, especially shock discoveries about the circumstances of someone's conception in adulthood, are linked to donor anonymity, and how its continued protection is experienced as a barrier to the rights and agency of donor-conceived people. We focus on two key issues relating to the donor information access process set out in section 31ZA of the 1990 Act. The first is that it excludes certain cohorts of donor-conceived people, creating inequalities of access to donor information. The second is the impact of the use of DTCGT to search for that information. We discuss what a procedurally just process of law reform would look like, concluding that, whatever (prospective) approach to donor anonymity is taken, the donor information access process should be the same for all donor-conceived people. We thus argue that, even were the status quo to be maintained, reform of the donor information access process with retrospective effect would be required.

From Access Challenges (as Data) to Methodological Insights: Enhancing Qualitative Inquiries in Public Administration Research

Little attention has been given to questions of blocked access in public administration research. We draw on past scholarship on access: qualitative research accounts in public administration that address access processes, problems, and possibilities; and our own experience with access challenges in a public school setting involving public sector employees. This allowed us to detail three methodological principles to facilitate the initiation of ethnographic research while access was constantly (re)negotiated: accounting for regulations, rules, and ruling artifacts; meaningful events; and routine and non-routine artifacts. We investigated public administration regulations, events, and artifacts, developing and employing an empirical method to collect data under conditions where access to primary field sites is blocked based on the boundary condition of our investigation. By describing the research findings and their applications, we demonstrate that conceptualizing access problems as multiple data layers can provide researchers with profound insights into relational dynamics, thereby enriching qualitative inquiry in public administration research. We conclude by arguing that this approach remains highly relevant even as field access is constantly negotiated.

AB-Türkiye İlişkileri Bağlamında Ermenilerin Kimlik İnşasına Yeniden Bakış

This article critically analyses the reconstruction of the Armenian identity in the context of reforms in Turkey's European Union (EU) accession process. Within the scope of the research, in order to understand the cultural, ethnic and religious identity construction processes of the Armenian community in Istanbul, the existing academic literature on Armenians in Turkey has been analysed in detail, and field research based on observation and in-depth interviews has been conducted. In line with the historical background ranging from the Ottoman millet system to the Republic's policies of creating a homogenous nation, from the democratisation movement to the EU accession process, the construction process of Armenian identity has been analysed in three stages in the light of the relevant theoretical debates. Firstly, the historical development of different legal statuses evolving from non-Muslims to minorities is analysed; secondly, the reform process brought about by the EU membership process is examined. While analysing this process, the basic dynamics that contributed to the formation of Armenian identity were first identified. Secondly the prominent changes in the legal, political, social and cultural fields that accelerated the reconstruction of the Armenian community's identity by the EU reform process were tried to be identified. Finally, the social dilemmas experienced in the aftermath of the reforms are analysed and the ongoing identity struggle of the Armenian community is outlined. While the EU membership process allows the Armenian community in Turkey to express their identities more openly and freely, social insecurity and dilemmas prevent this process from being fully realised. The study analyses the theoretical approaches to identity construction and the political, economic, social and cultural transformations experienced by the Armenian community in Turkey and offers suggestions on the processes of identity struggle. In particular, it is emphasised that overcoming social insecurities and dilemmas is critical for the sustainable survival of Armenian identity. In this context, it is concluded that more inclusive and supportive policies should be developed in order to preserve the Armenian identity and increase its social acceptance. Key Words: Identity, European Union, Türkiye, Armenian identity, minority

New York City’s Rapid Response to the 2022 Mpox Outbreak

Human society is facing emerging infectious disease threats with increasing frequency, potentially with novel medical countermeasures available, but often with initial limited access and supply. Long-standing racial health inequities create barriers to accessing critical new treatments that can further exacerbate health disparities in an emergency. During the 2022 mpox outbreak, the antiviral tecovirimat was made available from federal stockpiles for the treatment of mpox disease. Here, the authors describe New York City’s multipronged approach to ensure access to mpox therapeutics, which built on related work during the Covid-19 pandemic. This approach can serve as a road map to addressing systemic barriers to treatment and care during emergency responses. It includes (1) targeting messaging and outreach to providers serving marginalized communities, (2) use of a centralized pharmacy process for medication access, (3) setting up a treatment evaluation and referral process, and (4) monitoring utilization through integration of data across multiple public health data sources. The result was tecovirimat treatment prescribed to 32% of all patients with mpox in New York City. This approach to tecovirimat access during the mpox outbreak in New York City illustrates a model for public health and health care delivery partnerships that could be implemented when novel medical countermeasures become available in the setting of an emerging infectious disease outbreak.

Courtship, Honeymoon, and Stabilisation? Military Expenditures of New NATO Member Countries Before and After the 1999–2020 Enlargements

ABSTRACT As a result of the 1999, 2004, 2009, 2017 and 2020 enlargements, the number of NATO members increased from 16 to 30, with the alliance including 14 new countries in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Southern and Eastern Europe. The different times at which individual countries joined the alliance allow assessing the effect of the accession process and the accession itself on the long- and short-run level of military expenditures of the countries involved. By using the difference in differences method in this article, it has been demonstrated that in a period of 1-3 years prior to the accession the military expenditures of countries applying for the alliance membership are significantly higher by approx. 0.1-0.2 percentage points of the GDP. In the years following the accession to the alliance, military expenditures level out as the increases of military expenditures are statistically insignificant. An increase in military expenditures prior to the accession is more pronounced in the Balkan states than in the countries of NATO’s Eastern Flank. Estimation results suggest that being a member of the alliance has a positive effect on the level of military expenditures, which constitutes an argument in favour of a lack of the free-riding among new NATO countries.

Constructing model-agnostic likelihoods, a method for the reinterpretation of particle physics results

Experimental High Energy Physics has entered an era of precision measurements. However, measurements of many of the accessible processes assume that the final states’ underlying kinematic distribution is the same as the Standard Model prediction. This assumption introduces an implicit model-dependency into the measurement, rendering the reinterpretation of the experimental analysis complicated without reanalysing the underlying data. We present a novel reweighting method in order to perform reinterpretation of particle physics measurements. It makes use of reweighting the Standard Model templates according to kinematic signal distributions of alternative theoretical models, prior to performing the statistical analysis. The generality of this method allows us to perform statistical inference in the space of theoretical parameters, assuming different kinematic distributions, according to a beyond Standard Model prediction. We implement our method as an extension to the pyhf software and interface it with the EOS software, which allows us to perform flavor physics phenomenology studies. Furthermore, we argue that, beyond the pyhf or HistFactory likelihood specification, only minimal information is necessary to make a likelihood model-agnostic and hence easily reinterpretable. We showcase that publishing such likelihoods is crucial for a full exploitation of experimental results.

Towards Cross-Border Fisheries Management: An Analysis of Fleet Structures and Species-Specific Regulatory Measures in the Aegean Sea

Intrinsic differences in the applied management measures of shared stocks in transboundary waters inhibit the ability of either state to benefit from such measures, as one state may benefit in lieu of the other, thus reducing the efficacy of both. This study compares for the first time the fleet structure, specific management measures applied to species-specific regulations for commercial fishing, species listed in official monitoring schemes, and protected taxa between Greece and Türkiye for the Aegean Sea. A comparative analysis utilizing the official data was sourced from both countries. Large-scale Greek and Turkish fishing fleets have been modernized within the last 30 years (1991-2021). Greek and Turkish large-scale fishing fleets included smaller trawlers with lower tonnage and slightly higher engine horsepower, while purse seines of both states included larger vessels with higher horsepower and tonnage. This indicates that the fishing pressure on the demersal resources in the Aegean Sea has partially decreased, but the fishing pressure on pelagic resources has increased despite the decrease in the number of vessels. Only 11 out of 74 minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS) are sufficiently set above the Lm50 sizes they should be based on, whereas 18 species need reproductive studies, and 22 are set below the Lm50, and could benefit from an increase. The application of specific closed seasons for commercial species was used by both states with the intent to protect the reproductive periods of some stocks. However, several of these closure periods did not fully or even partially cover the spawning periods of the respective species. Species-specific closures were applied to 13 species in Greece and 23 species in Türkiye, with only two fish species (Xiphias gladius and Thunnus thynnus) listed for both countries. Only 14 species (out of 34 protected by Greece and 46 by Türkiye) are protected by both states, most of which are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Harmonization of fisheries management measures currently does not align between the two neighbouring states, and the General Fisheries Commission of the Mediterranean is the competent authority that would be able to restructure such measures, especially as Türkiye has been aligning their measures with that of the EU for the accession process. This contribution highlights the clear differences between Greece and Türkiye, and provides advice for developing a unified management regime for the Aegean Sea.

Enhanced emitting aperture in optical phased arrays with weak-coupled grating antennas via large critical dimensions

We propose what we believe to be a novel strategy to design optical phased arrays (OPAs) antennas by inserting a narrow waveguide between the bus waveguide and grating teeth. When the minimum critical dimension (CD) is 200 nm and the grating length is 1.5 mm, we achieve a quite small divergence angle of 0.05°, a reduction from 0.11° using the conventional method with the same CD. This design is compatible with 248 nm deep ultraviolet lithography, offering a more accessible fabrication process. By the gap’s increase from 180 nm to 410 nm rather than minimizing grating tooth dimensions, the divergence angles (δθ) have been demonstrated to be reduced from 0.28° to 0.05°. Furthermore, the designed OPA exhibits well divergence angles consistency, with a low standard deviation of 0.35% across wavelengths ranging from 1500 nm to 1560 nm. This innovation simplifies OPA fabrication, paving the way for cost-effective, high-resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems with extended detection capabilities.

Efficient Heuristic Management of Cloud Data Lakes for Enhanced Big Data Handling in Cloud Computing Environments

Efficient control of cloud data lakes is important for improving big data dealing in cloud computing settings. Cloud data lakes serve as stores for vast amounts of organized, semi-structured, and unstructured data from varied sources, offering scaling and freedom in data storage and processing. However, the sheer amount and range of data offer difficulties in improving storage, access, and analysis processes. This study suggests a heuristic method to handle these issues by improving the order and recovery of data within cloud data lakes. The heuristic method focuses on automatically handling data splitting, storage, and caching strategies based on data access trends and task factors. By leveraging heuristic principles, such as adaptable splitting and predictive caching, the suggested method aims to reduce delay and improve total query speed. Key components of the heuristic management include adaptable splitting methods that actively change data partition sizes based on access frequency and data distribution patterns. This flexible method ensures that frequently accessed data is easily available, while less accessed data is efficiently saved to improve storage usage. Furthermore, predictive storing methods expect future data access patterns using machine learning models or previous data trends. By strategically saving relevant datasets in memory or high-speed storage, the system reduces delay for repeated questions, thereby improving real-time data processing capabilities. The success of the suggested heuristic management method is tested through models and benchmarks using real big data tasks. Comparative research against standard static splitting and caching methods shows significant changes in query response times and resource utilization efficiency.

Origami-Enhanced Mechanical Properties for Worm-Like Robot.

In recent years, the exploration of worm-like robots has garnered much attention for their adaptability in confined environments. However, current designs face challenges in fully utilizing the mechanical properties of structures/materials to replicate the superior performance of real worms. In this article, we propose an approach to address this limitation based on the stacked Miura origami structure, achieving the seamless integration of structural design, mechanical properties, and robotic functionalities, that is, the mechanical properties originate from the geometric design of the origami structure and at the same time serve the locomotion capability of the robot. Three major advantages of our design are: the implementation of origami technology facilitates a more accessible and convenient fabrication process for segmented robotic skin with periodicity and flexibility, as well as robotic bristles with anchoring effect; the utilization of the Poisson's ratio effect for deformation amplification; and the incorporation of localized folding motion for continuous peristaltic locomotion. Utilizing the high geometric designability inherent in origami, our robot demonstrates customizable morphing and quantifiable mechanical properties. Based on the origami worm-like robot prototype, we experimentally verified the effectiveness of the proposed design in realizing the deformation amplification effect and localized folding motion. By comparing this to a conventional worm-like robot with discontinuous deformation, we highlight the merits of these mechanical properties in enhancing the robot's mobility. To sum up, this article showcases a bottom-up approach to robot development, including geometric design, mechanical characterization, and functionality realization, presenting a unique perspective for advancing the development of bioinspired soft robots.

ASSESSING THE ROLE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION'S ENLARGEMENT POLICY TOWARDS CANDIDATE COUNTRIES

This article explores the role of human rights in the process of enlargement of the European Union (EU) and its impact on candidate countries. The EU pays considerable attention to the protection and promotion of human rights, making them a fundamental aspect of its values and principles. Through the adoption of framework conditions such as the Copenhagen Criteria, the EU evaluates the acceptability of candidate countries based on their commitment to democracy, the rule of law, human rights and minority rights. The article highlights the progress made in promoting human rights in the EU enlargement process and discusses the importance of effective monitoring and dialogue mechanisms to ensure compliance with human rights standards. The EU uses tools such as progress reports and assessments to assess the progress of candidate countries and engage in constructive dialogue to promote necessary reforms. To analyze the impact of human rights on the EU accession process, this study focuses on three candidate countries: Albania, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.