Complex Balance Research Articles

A realist (re)view on surgical lung biopsy in interstitial lung disease: who, how, when and at what risk?

: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a heterogenous group of conditions which cause scarring of lung parenchyma. It poses a diagnostic challenge for clinicians, especially if radiological and pathophysiological features are indeterminate. Surgical lung biopsy (SLB) may be offered in the diagnostic workup for patients with suspected ILD; however, the delicate balance between risk and benefit in these patients remains a challenge. We reviewed key recommendations from international societies and further explored the evidence using snowball sampling. We then used the realist review method to build a best-fit approach to risk-benefit considerations for patients undergoing SLB. SLB allows for diagnostic certainty which informs prognosis. It allows quicker treatment and reduces diagnostic uncertainty. However, mortality and morbidity vary significantly between centres and patient cohorts. Recent studies suggest outcomes are markedly more favourable for elective SLB compared to non-elective SLB. Comprehensive risk-benefit assessment and discussion, as well as patient evaluation in the context of a dedicated multi-disciplinary team are crucial to achieve the best outcomes for this complex patient group. The complex balance between patient selection, urgency of surgery, volume of work, training needs and outcomes continues to evade equilibrium. Going forward, further research, continued monitoring, robust patient selection processes and multidisciplinary shared decision-making are some ways to optimise outcomes whilst minimizing risk. Novel surgical approaches as well as advances in interventional techniques might offer further benefit in future.

EU COVID-19 purchase and export mechanism: A framework for EU operational autonomy

The burgeoning debate on EU strategic autonomy calls for an appraisal of the role of law in the pursuit of the EU’s strategic objectives. This article examines EU executive measures regarding procurement and free movement regulation of critical resources and vaccines in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. It introduces the notion of EU operational autonomy to account for the mixed operative framework governing the joint actions of the Union and its Member States.The article argues that this framework heralds new patterns of executive centralization whereby political motives increasingly inform legal structures. It identifies the internal and external facets of EU operational autonomy, and highlights the composite dynamics emerging from neighbouring country association to EU operational autonomy. The study of these dynamics also offers insights into the complex balance between the EU’s regional and multilateral commitments. EU procurement; EU trade rules; COVID-19 vaccines; mixed executive frameworks; operational autonomy

Lyapunov Function PDEs to the Stability of Some Complex Balancing Derivative and Compound Networks

This article contributes to extending the validity of Lyapunov function partial differential equations (PDEs) whose solution is conjectured to be able to behave as a Lyapunov function in stability analysis to more mass-action chemical reaction networks. First, we have proved that the Lyapunov function PDEs method is valid in capturing the asymptotic stability of the networks compounded of a complex balanced network and any species-dependent two-species autocatalytic network if some moderate conditions are included. Then, by defining a new class of networks, called complex balanced produced networks, we also show the asymptotic stability of this class of networks, and also to their compound with any species-independent one-dimensional network and with any species-dependent two-species autocatalytic network under some conditions by using the same method. A notable point is that these classes of networks are nonweakly reversible, of any dimension, and of any deficiency. Finally, we apply our results to some practical biochemical reaction networks, including birth-death processes, motifs related networks, etc., to illustrate validity.

A very lightweight and efficient image super-resolution network

Deep convolutional neural networks significantly improve the performance of single image super-resolution (SISR). Generally, larger networks (i.e., deeper and wider) have better performance. However, larger networks require higher computing and storage costs, which limit their application on resource-constrained devices. Lightweight SISR networks with fewer parameters and smaller computational workloads are highly desirable. The key challenge is to obtain a better balance of model complexity and performance. In this paper, we propose a very lightweight and efficient SISR network. Our main contributions include: (1) Propose a frequency grouping fusion block (FGFB), which can better fuse high-/low-frequency feature information; (2) Propose a multi-way attention block (MWAB), which can exploit the multiple different clues of the feature information; (3) Propose a lightweight residual concatenation block (LRCB), which can combine the advantages of the residual connection and the channel concatenation; (4) Propose a lightweight convolutional block (LConv) for image super-resolution, which can significantly reduce the number of parameters; (5) Propose a progressive interactive group convolution (PIGC), which is more effective than the conventional group convolution. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that our method is significantly superior to other state-of-the-art methods currently available, with a better balance between model complexity and performance.

The Order & Complexity Toolbox for Aesthetics (OCTA): A systematic approach to study the relations between order, complexity, and aesthetic appreciation.

Do individuals prefer stimuli that are ordered or disordered, simple or complex, or that strike the right balance of order and complexity? Earlier research mainly focused on the separate influence of order and complexity on aesthetic appreciation. When order and complexity were studied in combination, stimulus manipulations were often not parametrically controlled, only rather specific types of order (i.e., balance or symmetry) were usually studied, and/or the multidimensionality of order and complexity was largely ignored. Progress has also been limited by the lack of an easy way to create reproducible and expandible stimulus sets, including both order and complexity manipulations. The Order & Complexity Toolbox for Aesthetics (OCTA), a Python toolbox that is also available as a point-and-click Shiny application, aims to fill this gap. OCTA provides researchers with a free and easy way to create multi-element displays varying qualitatively (i.e., different types) and quantitatively (i.e., different levels) in order and complexity, based on regularity and variety along multiple element features (e.g., shape, size, color, orientation). The standard vector-based output is ideal for experiments on the web and the creation of dynamic interfaces and stimuli. OCTA will not only facilitate reproducible stimulus construction and experimental design in research on order, complexity, and aesthetics. In addition, OCTA can be a very useful tool in any type of research using visual stimuli, or even to create digital art. To illustrate OCTA's potential, we propose several possible applications and diverse questions that can be addressed using OCTA.

Mountain gorillas maintain strong affiliative biases for maternal siblings despite high male reproductive skew and extensive exposure to paternal kin.

Evolutionary theories predict that sibling relationships will reflect a complex balance of cooperative and competitive dynamics. In most mammals, dispersal and death patterns mean that sibling relationships occur in a relatively narrow window during development and/or only with same-sex individuals. Besides humans, one notable exception is mountain gorillas, in which non-sex-biased dispersal, relatively stable group composition, and the long reproductive tenures of alpha males mean that animals routinely reside with both maternally and paternally related siblings, of the same and opposite sex, throughout their lives. Using nearly 40,000 hr of behavioral data collected over 14 years on 699 sibling and 1235 non-sibling pairs of wild mountain gorillas, we demonstrate that individuals have strong affiliative preferences for full and maternal siblings over paternal siblings or unrelated animals, consistent with an inability to discriminate paternal kin. Intriguingly, however, aggression data imply the opposite. Aggression rates were statistically indistinguishable among all types of dyads except one: in mixed-sex dyads, non-siblings engaged in substantially more aggression than siblings of any type. This pattern suggests mountain gorillas may be capable of distinguishing paternal kin but nonetheless choose not to affiliate with them over non-kin. We observe a preference for maternal kin in a species with a high reproductive skew (i.e. high relatedness certainty), even though low reproductive skew (i.e. low relatedness certainty) is believed to underlie such biases in other non-human primates. Our results call into question reasons for strong maternal kin biases when paternal kin are identifiable, familiar, and similarly likely to be long-term groupmates, and they may also suggest behavioral mismatches at play during a transitional period in mountain gorilla society.

A Journey to the Central Nervous System: Routes of Flaviviral Neuroinvasion in Human Disease.

Many arboviruses, including viruses of the Flavivirus genera, are known to cause severe neurological disease in humans, often with long-lasting, debilitating sequalae in surviving patients. These emerging pathogens impact millions of people worldwide, yet still relatively little is known about the exact mechanisms by which they gain access to the human central nervous system. This review focusses on potential haematogenous and transneural routes of neuroinvasion employed by flaviviruses and identifies numerous gaps in knowledge, especially regarding lesser-studied interfaces of possible invasion such as the blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier, and novel routes such as the gut–brain axis. The complex balance of pro-inflammatory and antiviral immune responses to viral neuroinvasion and pathology is also discussed, especially in the context of the hypothesised Trojan horse mechanism of neuroinvasion. A greater understanding of the routes and mechanisms of arboviral neuroinvasion, and how they differ between viruses, will aid in predictive assessments of the neuroinvasive potential of new and emerging arboviruses, and may provide opportunity for attenuation, development of novel intervention strategies and rational vaccine design for highly neurovirulent arboviruses.

Effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on the expression of RACK1 and LPS-induced THP-1 cell activation

The existence of a complex hormonal balance among glucocorticoids, androgens and estrogens involved in the regulation of Receptor for Activated C Kinase 1 (RACK1) expression and its related immune cells activation, highlights the possibility to employ this protein as screening tool for the evaluation of the immunotoxic profile of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), hormone-active substances capable of interfering with the physiologic hormonal signaling. Hence, the aim of this work was to investigate the effect of the exposure of EDCS 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE), diethyl phthalate (DEP) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) on RACK1 expression and on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of the human monocytic cell line THP-1, a validated model for this investigation. In line with our previous results with estrogen-active compounds, EE treatment significantly induced RACK1 promoter transcriptional activity, mRNA expression, and protein levels, which paralleled an increase in LPS-induced IL-8, TNF-α production and CD86 expression, previously demonstrated to be dependent on RACK1/PKCβ activation. EE mediates its effect on RACK1 expression through G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) and androgen receptor (AR) ligand-independent cascade, as also suggested by in silico molecular docking simulation. Conversely, DEP and PFOS induced a dose-dependent downregulation of RACK1 promoter transcriptional activity, mRNA expression, and protein levels, which was mirrored by a reduction of IL-8, TNF-α production and CD86 expression. Mifepristone pre-treatments abolish DEP and PFOS effects, confirming their GR agonist profile, also corroborated by molecular docking. Altogether, our data confirm that RACK1 represents an interesting target of steroid active compounds, which expression offers the opportunity to screen the immunotoxic potential of different hormone-active substances of concerns due to their human exposure and environmental persistence.

Social Support for Improved ART Adherence and Retention in Care among Older People Living with HIV in Urban South Africa: A Complex Balance between Disclosure and Stigma.

The number of older people living with HIV (OPLWH) (aged 50-plus) in South Africa is increasing as people age with HIV or are newly infected. OPLWH are potentially vulnerable because of the intersection of age-related and HIV stigmas, co-morbidities, and lack of social support. Evidence from younger populations suggests that social support can improve ART adherence and retention in care. Further, HIV status disclosure plays a role in mediating social support and may reduce stigma by facilitating access to social support. This paper draws on qualitative research with OPLWH to explore the complex associations between disclosure, social support, and HIV stigma among OPLWH in urban Western Cape. The findings demonstrate that OPLWH receive most of their support from their family and this support can facilitate adherence to ART and retention in care. However, social support is facilitated by participants’ disclosure, thus, when perceived stigma limits disclosure, social support is less accessible. Gender, age, and pre-existing vulnerability also affect disclosure to and support from kin and community. Given that social support, particularly from family members, amplifies HIV care access and ART adherence, encouraging disclosure stimulating household HIV competency is likely to both address anticipated stigma and support improved OPLWH’s health outcomes.

In vitro and in vivo evidence that the switch from calcineurin to mTOR inhibitors may be a strategy for immunosuppression in Epstein–Barr virus–associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder is a life-threatening complication of immunosuppression following transplantation mediated by failure of T cells to control Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected and transformed B cells. Typically, a modification or reduction of immunosuppression is recommended, but insufficiently defined thus far. In order to help delineate this, we characterized EBV-antigen-specific T cells and lymphoblastoid cell lines from healthy donors and in patients with a kidney transplant in the absence or presence of the standard immunosuppressants tacrolimus, cyclosporin A, prednisolone, rapamycin, and mycophenolic acid. Phenotypes of lymphoblastoid cell-lines and T cells, T cell-receptor-repertoire diversity, and T-cell reactivity upon co-culture with autologous lymphoblastoid cell lines were analyzed. Rapamycin and mycophenolic acid inhibited lymphoblastoid cell-line proliferation. T cells treated with prednisolone and rapamycin showed nearly normal cytokine production. Proliferation and the viability of T cells were decreased by mycophenolic acid, while tacrolimus and cyclosporin A were strong suppressors of T-cell function including their killing activity. Overall, our study provides a basis for the clinical decision for the modification and reduction of immunosuppression and adds information to the complex balance of maintaining anti-viral immunity while preventing acute rejection. Thus, an immunosuppressive regime based on mTOR inhibition and reduced or withdrawn calcineurin inhibitors could be a promising strategy for patients with increased risk of or manifested EBV-associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.

Climate change and water security in the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains

Water security is under threat worldwide from climate change. A warming climate would accelerate evaporation and cryosphere melting, leading to reduced water availability and unpredictable water supply. However, the water crisis in the Northern Slope of Tianshan Mountains (NSTM) faces dual challenges because water demands for fast-growing urban areas have put heavy pressure on water resources. The mountain-oasis-desert system features glacier-fed rivers that sustain intensive water use in the oasis and end in the desert as fragile terminal lakes. The complex balance between water conservation and economic development is subtle. This paper investigates changes in hydroclimatic variables and water security-related issues on the NSTM. The spatiotemporal variations in glaciers, climatic variables, rivers, lakes and reservoirs, groundwater, surface water, human water use, and streamflow were analyzed for the past four decades. The results show that temperature in the NSTM exhibited an apparent upward trend with a more significant warming rate in the higher altitude regions. Glacier mass loss and shrinkage was strong. The average annual streamflow increased from 1980-1989 to 2006–2011 at most hydrological stations. The monthly dynamics of surface water area showed notable variability at both inter-annual and seasonal scales, revealing the impacts of both natural and anthropogenic drivers on surface water availability in the region. The terrestrial water storage anomaly showed a decreasing trend, which might be related to groundwater pumping for irrigation. Human water use for agriculture and industry grew with the increase in cultivated land area and gross domestic product (GDP). The increased agricultural water use was strongly associated with the expansion of oases. It is unclear whether water availability would remain high under future climatic and hydrological uncertainties, posing challenges to water management. In the context of rapid urban growth and climate change, balancing water for humans and nature is vital in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in NSTM. This study provides a baseline understanding of the interplay among water, climate change, and socio-economic development in NSTM. It would also shed light on wise water management under environmental changes for other rapidly developing mountain-oasis-desert systems worldwide.

Cyber Cloud Oncology

Breast cancer treatment is experiencing a groundswell transformation directed by a better understanding of tumour cell metabolism. Observation of metabolic tumor cell variations led to precision medicine. In addition, a “new wave” of rapid drug development spurred by the 2016 U.S. government’s Moonshot program is in the backdrop and, in part, placed an overwhelming burden on clinical oncologists and patients. In 2016, the U.S. government announced the Cancer Moonshot intending to make ten years’ worth of progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in just five years. In the 5-year interval 2017–2021, the FDA issued an unprecedented 161 new approvals of therapeutic agents for various indications in adult patients with solid tumors. Cancer chemotherapy now involves a complex balance between new drug development, clinical trial observations, FDA drug approvals, next-generation sequencing of tumour and blood samples, and “consensus opinion” between medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists. New “precision” medicine selects precise treatment options that benefit patients based on the genomic makeup of their tumour. Genomic profiling provides information about a diagnosis and prognosis and often predicts response or resistance to therapy, years before routine imaging studies change. New technologies, including liquid biopsy and next-generation sequencing (NGS), have identified oncogenic drivers and unique drugs capable of targeting and inhibiting/modifying newly discovered oncogenic driver pathways. Herein is presented a helpful method for keeping track of and rapidly updating physicians on newly developed effective treatments and therapeutic consensus opinion, which often lacks contemporary harmonization between official oncology societies. Physicians and supporting healthcare workers contribute the most to patients when equipped with knowledge of the newest, least toxic, and most effective therapies.

“Everything kind of revolves around technology”: a qualitative exploration of families’ screen use experiences, and intervention suggestions

BackgroundManaging children’s screen time is challenging for most families. Interventions have had limited success in reducing screen time, potentially due to a lack of understanding of the experiences, needs and recommendations of families. This study aimed to 1) understand the screen time experiences of families, particularly during COVID-19 lockdowns; and 2) explore parent and child suggestions for the design, components, and content of a screen time management program.MethodsParents and children from 30 families living in Victoria, Australia completed a semi-structured interview (63 interviews) via Zoom in October–November 2021. Parents were maged 40.8 (± 8.9) years and predominantly female (90%). Children were maged 11.4 (± 2.4) years and 47% female. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis combined with a summative content analysis approach.ResultsThree themes under Aim 1 emerged. Theme 1) ‘Screen time management experiences and practices’, including rules and strategies, challenges, and the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns. Theme 2) ‘Impact of screens on family interaction and communication’ including conflicts within the family, reduced face-to-face interactions, and negative impact on child’s behaviour and wellbeing. Theme 3) ‘Benefits of increased screen time due to COVID-19 lockdowns’ including continuation of social interactions, extracurricular activities, improved technology skills and using screens as a ‘babysitter’. Findings from Aim 2 suggest that families want a screen time management program delivered online to parents and children, which includes static and interactive content that incorporates health information, alternative activities, cyber-safety information, tips for goal setting and rewards, screen monitoring tools, links to reputable information, and parent social connections. Reminders via text message or through the online platform would help maintain engagement in the program.ConclusionsFamilies are experiencing challenges in managing the complex balance between the increased need for screens and the impact it has on the family. These findings provide valuable parent and child insights to assist in developing screen time management programs that are created with an understanding of the needs and challenges of families.

Seasonal variability of carbonate chemistry and its controls in a subtropical estuary

We performed an unprecedented investigation of the seasonal variability in carbonate system parameters (total alkalinity – AT, total dissolved inorganic carbon – CT, pH, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide – pCO2) in the lower zone of the Patos Lagoon Estuary (PLE), the largest choked lagoon in the world. Sampling was conducted monthly from May 2017 to June 2021. AT and pH were measured during the study period, while other carbonate system parameters were estimated using CO2Sys software. The pH distribution reflected the average natural alkaline conditions throughout the year, with an average of 8.0 pH units. The surface waters in the lower zone of the PLE are generally characterized by a supersaturated calcium carbonate environment. However, a susceptibility to undersaturation conditions was observed during winter (calcite and aragonite) and spring (aragonite). Furthermore, the average surface water pCO2 was 394 μatm during the analyzed period, with the highest values recorded in winter and early spring. The predominant estuarine processes governing changes in the carbonate system in the PLE were the dilution and concentration of salts. These processes depend on the complex balance between freshwater outflows and oceanic inflows that change the surface salinity and produce favorable conditions for primary producer development and the input of continental carbon. However, the remineralization of organic matter and CO2 ingassing likely contribute to the deviations in the theoretical mixing line, causing the increased CT in the region. In addition, the nonthermal effects on seasonal changes in the pCO2 prevail over thermal effects, and the region presents an ocean-dominated (riverine-dominated) condition during summer and autumn (winter and spring). The novel results described here reveal the complexity and challenges that still exist to a better comprehension of how carbonate system parameters evolve temporally and spatially in the PLE, especially considering the climate- and anthropogenic-driven stressors. Finally, this study contributes to the understanding of carbonate system variability in coastal ecosystems and highlights the need for more intense and continuous biogeochemical monitoring of Southern Hemisphere estuaries.

Dual-Anchor Metric Learning for Blind Image Quality Assessment of Screen Content Images

The natural scene statistic is destroyed by the artificial portion in the screen content images (SCIs) and is also impractical for obtaining an accurate statistical model due to the variable composition of the artificial and natural parts in SCIs. To resolve this problem, this paper presents a dual-anchor metric learning (DAML) method that is inspired by metric learning to obtain discriminative statistical features and further identify complex distortions, as well as predict SCI image quality. First, two Gaussian mixed models with prior data are constructed as the target anchors of the statistical model from natural and artificial image databases, which can effectively enhance the metrical discrimination of the mapping relation between the feature representation and quality degradation by conditional probability analysis. Then, the distances of the high-order statistics are softly aggregated to conduct metric learning between the local features and clusters of each target statistical model. Through empirical analysis and experimental verification, only variance differences are used as quality-aware features to benefit the balance of complexity and effectiveness. Finally, the mapping model between the target distances and subjective quality can be obtained by support vector regression. To validate the performance of DAML, multiple experiments are carried out on three public databases: SIQAD, SCD, and SCID. Meanwhile, PLCC, SRCC, and the RMSE are then employed to compute the correlation between subjective and objective ratings, which can estimate the prediction of accuracy, monotonicity, and consistency, respectively. The PLCC and RMSE of the method achieved 0.9136 and 0.7993. The results confirm the good performance of the proposed method.

Vascular Malperfusion – As a Morphological Pattern of Preeclampsia

Introduction. The system « mother-placenta-fetus » is in a complex functional balance, and dysfunction of any of the components can compromise others. The placenta plays an important role in the development of preeclampsia, since preeclampsia can occur in the absence of a fetus, but in the presence of a trophoblast. In this regard, the study of morphological placental patterns in preeclampsia can give an idea of preeclampsia as a pathology in general, as well as its relationship with hypoxic damage to the fetus.
 Aim. Identification of morphological patterns of placental lesions associated with preeclampsia.
 Materials and methods. A retrospective morphological study of 355 placentas sent for histological examination in the period from 2015 to 2020 was carried out. During the analyzed period, 184 placentas from pregnancies with an established diagnosis of preeclampsia and 171 placentas from pregnancies with a physiological course were studied.
 Results. It has been established that preeclampsia is associated with a smaller mass, size and height of the placenta. As morphological patterns associated with preeclampsia, such histological signs of maternal vascular malperfusion, such as infarcts, arterial atherosclerosis, etc., were identified.
 Conclusions. The heterogeneity of clinical and histological signs associated with both the physiological and pathological course of pregnancy reflects the different gestational age of the onset of the disease and the stage of development of the adaptive capabilities of the placenta. Identification of morphological patterns associated with hypoxic damage to the fetus allows us to identify a group of newborns with a high risk of chronic hypoxic damage in the perinatal period and to stratify the risk group in the postnatal period in order to reduce infant morbidity and mortality.

An Assessment of Competitiveness of Medical Tourism Industry in India: A Case of Delhi NCR

India has emerged as a prominent medical tourism hub, yet the dynamic forces in the regional and global landscape are creating a complex balance of opportunities and risks for the Indian stakeholders. The outbreak of Corona virus pandemic in 2019 has further complicated the market dynamics for the medical tourism industry. This study aims to analyse the key driving factors for the medical tourism industry in India and the issues that Indian stakeholders should address in crafting a winning strategy. A qualitative research design was adopted, and data were collected through semi structured in-depth interviews with practitioners and senior representatives of the hospital management. The study adopted abduction logic and analysed data by means of constant comparison method. The study presents the assessment of the medical tourism industry in India and the scope of opportunity for Indian players.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42943-022-00060-0.

Anisothermal chemical reactions: Onsager–Machlup and macroscopic fluctuation theory

We study a micro and macroscopic model for chemical reactions with feedback between reactions and temperature of the solute. The first result concerns the quasipotential as the large-deviation rate of the microscopic invariant measure. The second result is an application of modern Onsager–Machlup theory to the pathwise large deviations, in case the system is in detailed balance. The third result is an application of macroscopic fluctuation theory to the reaction flux large deviations, in case the system is in complex balance.

MSFNet: MultiStage Fusion Network for infrared and visible image fusion

In this paper, we propose a multistage fusion network to solve the infrared and visible image fusion (IVIF) problem. Unlike other deep learning methods, our network architecture is designed to the complex balance between spatial details and contextualized information. In order to optimally balance these competing goals, our main proposal is a multistage architecture that progressively learns IVIF functions for the source images (infrared and visible images), thereby breaking down the overall recovery process into more manageable steps. Specifically, our model first learns the contextural features using the encoder-decoder architecture with downsampling operations and later combines them with a full-resolution branch that retains local details. Between stages, we introduce a cross-stage fusion module (CSFM) to propagate multiscale contextual features from an earlier stage to a later stage. In addition, we introduce an upsampling module that can conquer both checkerboard artifacts and blurring effect by a bilinear interpolation operation followed by a deformable convolution. The resulting tightly interlinked multistage fusion network, named MSFNet, demonstrates the superiority of our method over state-of-the-art performance on publicly available datasets.

Marketing coup or paradigm shift? Reflections on the Dutch media interpretations of the 2017 ‘Mata Hari: de mythe en het meisje’

Following the major Fries Museum exhibition about Margaretha Zelle MacLeod aka Mata Hari (1876–1917), this article explores how Dutch arts journalism reflected its successful balance of commercial appeal, subject complexity, and contemporary relevance. The curators aimed to balance research with aestheticism to offer a more sympathetic view of this historically controversial subject. This article furthermore investigates how Dutch arts journalists shaped and responded to this new narrative through an analysis of relevant media reviews and reports. The resulting discourse reflected how the Fries Museum’s use of artefacts created a narrative of Mata Hari which could comment on the broader challenges for women in early twentieth century Europe. We argue that the exhibition and its reportage built upon and reflected advances in recent historiography to offer a fresh perspective on Mata Hari. Moreover, the review analysis suggests that the exhibition successfully balanced seemingly paradoxical needs, as set out in its prospectus, through the creation of such nuanced narratives.