Complex Schemes Research Articles

Spatial and Polarization Division Multiplexing Harnessing On‐Chip Optical Beam Forming

AbstractOn‐chip spatial and polarization multiplexing has emerged as a powerful strategy to boost the data transmission capacity of integrated optical transceivers. State‐of‐the‐art multiplexers require accurate control of the relative phase or the spatial distribution among different guided optical modes, seriously compromising the optical transmission bandwidth and performance of the devices. To overcome this limitation, a new approach based on the coupling between guided modes in integrated waveguides and optical beams free‐propagating on the chip plane is proposed. The engineering of the evanescent coupling between the guided modes and free‐propagating beams allows spatial and polarization multiplexing with state‐of‐the‐art performance. A two‐polarization multiplexed link and a three‐mode multiplexed link using standard 220‐nm‐thick silicon‐on‐insulator technology have been developed. The two‐polarization link shows a measured −35 dB crosstalk bandwidth of 180 nm, while the three‐mode link exhibits a −20 dB crosstalk bandwidth of 195 nm. These links are used to demonstrate error‐free operation (bit‐error‐rate <10−9) in multiplexing and demultiplexing of two and three non‐return‐to‐zero signals at 40 Gbps each, with power penalties below 0.08 and 1.5 dB for the two‐polarization and three‐mode links, respectively. The approach demonstrated for two polarizations and three modes is transferable to future implementation of more complex multiplexing schemes.

Coastal protection challenges after heavy storms on the Polish coast

The paper presents the implications for future coastal protection and management policies at the marginal shelf sea on the Polish Baltic Sea coast. These emerged after a series of almost overlapping storms in January and February 2022, causing massive dune retreat at locations where hitherto relatively stable beaches demonstrated sediment deficits under long periods of more energetic wave climate and especially elevated sea levels. On the other hand, sand-saturated areas showed greater resilience. The potential sediment scarcity is expected to be linked to a possible interaction between local geological makeup and climate change-induced increases in storminess. Sandy beaches with pronounced organic intrusions become no longer sufficiently resilient. The culprit seems to be peat outcrops on the emerged beaches and its lenses inside dune massifs. Under such circumstances, it can be expected that in the future, initially isolated erosion hotspots will gradually transform into large erosion embayments. Consequently, future coastal protection and management will no longer be able to rely solely on pure nature-based solutions, but, respecting the building with nature paradigm, will involve more complex schemes with unnatural materials kept at the minimum volume to avoid disruption of seascape/landscape and discontinuity and disconnectivity of ecosystem services. However, it is important to realize that such more advanced protection measures will come at a higher cost, and coastal segments without vital economic or ecological value will have to be abandoned.

Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support: The Role of Expert Witnesses in Legal Proceedings

This research examines the role of forensic accounting and litigation support in uncovering complex financial transactions and schemes used in money laundering cases in Nigeria. The study applied agency theory, developed by economists such as Jensen and Meckling, Ross, and Fama and Jensen, and used a qualitative research design, secondary sources, and content analysis to analyze the data collected. The study found that the cases of James Ibori, Darius Ishaku, and Diezani Alison-Madueke demonstrate the importance of forensic accounting and litigation support in uncovering complex financial transactions and schemes used in money laundering cases in Nigeria. The use of expert witnesses who provided forensic accounting evidence played a significant role in securing the conviction and forfeiture of assets of the defendants in these cases. Expert witnesses helped establish the existence and extent of money laundering activities, identified and traced the source and destination of laundered funds, explained complex financial transactions and schemes, demonstrated the link between defendants and their accomplices, estimated the value and location of assets acquired with laundered funds, and provided credible and reliable information that withstood cross-examination. The study also found that the expert witnesses helped educate and inform the judges or jury about forensic accounting concepts and techniques, simplified and clarified complex financial issues, enhanced the credibility and persuasiveness of the prosecution's case. The research concludes that forensic accountants must invest in investigative skills and uphold the qualities of honesty and objectivity to be effective expert witnesses in litigation support services. Furthermore, the study revealed that forensic accounting specialists can be invaluable in the collection of evidence, as they can help legal teams unearth information that might define the framework of litigation and detect fundamental issues that might not be noticeable to others.

A new simplified parameterization of secondary organic aerosol in the Community Earth System Model Version 2 (CESM2; CAM6.3)

Abstract. The Community Earth System Model (CESM) community has been providing versatile modeling options, with simple to complex chemistry and aerosol schemes in a single model, in order to support the broad scientific community with various research interests. While different model configurations are available in CESM and these can be used for different fields of Earth system science, simulation results that are consistent across configurations are still desirable. Here we develop a new simple secondary organic aerosol (SOA) scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) version 6.3, the atmospheric component of the CESM. The main purpose of this simplified SOA scheme is to reduce the differences in aerosol concentrations and radiative fluxes between CAM and CAM with detailed chemistry (CAM-chem) while maintaining the computational efficiency of CAM. CAM simulation results using the default CAM6 and the new SOA schemes are compared to CAM-chem results as a reference. More consistent SOA concentrations are obtained globally when using the new SOA scheme for both temporal and spatial variabilities. The new SOA scheme shows that 62 % of grid cells globally are within a factor of 2 compared to the CAM-chem SOA concentrations, which is improved from 24 % when using the default CAM6 SOA scheme. Furthermore, other carbonaceous aerosols (black carbon and primary organic aerosol) in CAM6 become closer to CAM-chem results due to more similar microphysical aging timescales influenced by SOA coating, which in turn leads to comparable wet deposition fluxes. This results in an improved global atmospheric burden and concentrations at the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere compared to the full chemistry version (CAM-chem). As a consequence, the radiative flux differences between CAM-chem and CAM in the Arctic region (up to 6 W m−2) are significantly reduced for both nudged and free-running simulations. We find that the CAM6 SOA scheme can still be used for radiative forcing calculation as the high biases exist both in pre-industrial and present conditions, but studies focusing on the instantaneous radiative effects would benefit from using the SOA scheme developed in this study. The new SOA scheme also has technical advantages including the use of identical SOA precursor emissions as CAM-chem from the online biogenic emissions instead of pre-calculated emissions that may introduce differences. Future parameter updates to the CAM-chem SOA scheme can be easily translated to the new CAM SOA scheme as it is derived from the CAM-chem SOA scheme.

New Insights on Robust Control of Tilting Trains with Combined Uncertainty and Performance Constraints

A rigorous study on optimized robust control is presented for non-preview (nulling-type) high-speed tilting rail vehicles. The scheme utilizes sensors on the vehicle’s body, contrary to that of preview tilt (which uses prior rail track information). Tilt with preview is the industrial norm nowadays but is a complex scheme (both in terms of inter-vehicle signal connections and when it comes to straightforward fault detection). Non-preview tilt is simple (as it essentially involves an SISO control structure) and more effective in terms of (the localization of) failure detection. However, the non-preview tilt scheme suffers from performance limitations due to non-minimum-phase zeros in the design model (due to the compound effect of the suspension dynamic interaction and sensor combination used for feedback control) and presents a challenging control design problem. We proposed an optimized robust control design offering a highly improved non-preview tilt performance via a twofold model representation, i.e., (i) using the non-minimum phase design model and (ii) proposing a factorized design model version with the non-minimum phase characteristics treated as uncertainty. The impact of the designed controllers on tilt performance deterministic (curving acceleration response) and stochastic (ride quality) trade-off was methodically investigated. Nonlinear optimization was employed to facilitate fine weight selection given the importance of the ride quality as a bounded constraint in the design process.

Modeling the Development of Energy Network Software, Taking into Account the Detection and Elimination of Vulnerabilities

This paper solves the problem of modeling the scheme for developing software systems, which can be used in building solutions for secure energy networks. A development scheme is proposed in a set of representations through which each program of the software complex passes, namely the following representations: idea, conceptual model, architecture, algorithm, source code, graphic code, abstract syntax tree, assembler code, machine code, byte code, executed code. The main properties of each representation are indicated, such as the form (text, graphic, programming language, binary, and decoded), development (transformation) methods, as well as vulnerabilities that are detected in it. An example of each representation is given, particularly as applied to the energy networks. The scheme elements (representations, vulnerabilities, forms, etc.) and the main operations for working with their elements (representation transformation, vulnerability injection, and detection) are presented in an analytical form. An example of a development scheme for a simple software complex of energy networks is given. The classification of vulnerabilities is introduced; it divides the vulnerabilities according to the structural level, functioning disruption, and information impact. The vulnerabilities in each of the views are substantiated using the common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE) database. An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the vulnerability spread across representations during the development of a software complex example for the energy network. The features of the applications of the obtained results for energy networks are taken into account. The advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of the study, as well as ways to eliminate them, are discussed.

PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF INVOLVING ROAD TRANSPORT IN INTERNATIONAL SUPPLY CHAINS

The article is devoted to the study of the inclusion of road transport in international supply chains in the delivery of special categories of cargoes that have both dangerous and perishable properties. A critical study of the scientific literature on road transport and its involvement in supply chains has revealed a number of theoretically and practically significant scientific tasks that have been successfully solved, but the absence of a comprehensive study to determine the practical aspects of road transport involvement in supply chains has been found. It is noted that, from a theoretical and practical point of view, there is a great interest in deliveries in international supply chains, which are usually multimodal and include many unique aspects specific to a particular chain, a particular delivery scheme. An example of delivery of goods that have both perishable and dangerous properties – bioproducts in international supply chains – was considered, which is presented in the form of a scheme for organizing the service of transportation of special cargoes involving motor vehicles, which also incorporates an aviation component. The scheme of the cargo delivery organization complex in the road-air connection was proposed, which includes stages related to transportation by road and air (with road delivery including main road transporta-tion, as well as deliveries to and from airports, last mile delivery), loading and unloading operations, temporary storage of goods, organizational and forwarding activities, etc. It is noted that there is a need to take into account the fact that the peculiarities of special categories of cargo delivery are related to their specific properties and should be addressed by all participants in the delivery process in the international supply chain, primarily carriers who are responsible for the safety of cargo along certain parts of the route. At the same time, it was determined that the freight forwarder or logistics operator, as the organizer of the cargo delivery process, must ensure the processes of consolidation and deconsolidation of cargo (with the possible addition of refrigerants).

Analysis of the SpaceFibre technology for the high-bandwidth onboard networks

The paper presents an analysis of a prospective international standard SpaceFibre for on board data exchange for different types of aircraft. Paper provides the rationale for using of this standard for new generation on-board networks. The obtained results are based on many years of experience with the SpaceWire/SpaceFibre family of open international standards. The authors present the main problems of SpaceFibre, as well as ways to solve them. The first problem is related to the use of multi-channel data transmission in prospective Russian projects, as well as the need to increase throughput using existing equipment and physical cables. It is necessary to develop new transmission methods and algorithms and create a completely Russian version of the multilane level for the described standard. The second problem relates to the organization of data transmission in SpaceFibre networks with a large number of nodes and a complex scheme of data transfer flows, it is a consequence of an insufficiently developed network level of the standard. The authors give possible ways to solve the identified inconsistences of the standard using the concept of software-reconfigurable networks. The finalization of the SpaceFibre standard in terms of the discussed problems will improve the efficiency of the protocol itself, as well as take into account all possible comments before the stage of creating of a Russian State Standard for SpaceFibre.

Investigating Supply and Demand in European Cohesion Policy: Micro-Foundations of Macro-Behaviours

European Cohesion Policy is a complex scheme that allocates financial resources to European regions. The implementation of the policy is based on an articulated multi-level governance that involves local and national authorities and the European Commission. Local authorities often face difficulties in using structural funds due to limits in their administrative capacity (supply) and/or inefficiencies in adequately stimulating applications’ submission (demand). By modelling and simulating the implementation of the policy, we explore how operations and decisions at the local authorities’ and potential applicants’ level (micro-foundations) explain emerging patterns of funds’ absorption at a regional level (macro-behaviours). Building upon a mixed-methods approach combining field research and computer simulation, we develop a model capturing the key cause–effect relationships among agents and resources within the Cohesion Policy supply-and-demand system. The outcomes elucidate how poor local administrative capabilities, including staff skills, may entail delays and low absorption performances, while showcasing the factors affecting potential applicants’ decision to submit.

Influence of cloud microphysics schemes on weather model predictions of heavy precipitation

Abstract. Cloud microphysics is one of the major sources of uncertainty in numerical weather prediction models. In this work, the ability of a numerical weather prediction model to correctly predict high-impact weather events, i.e., hail and heavy rain, using different cloud microphysics schemes is evaluated statistically. Polarimetric C-band radar observations over 30 convection days are used as the observation dataset. Simulations are made using the regional-scale Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with five microphysics schemes of varying complexity (double moment, spectral bin (SBM), and Predicted Particle Properties (P3)). Statistical characteristics of heavy-rain and hail events of varying intensities are compared between simulations and observations. All simulations, regardless of the microphysics scheme, predict heavy-rain events (15, 25, and 40 mm h−1) that cover larger average areas than those observed by radar. The frequency of these heavy-rain events is similar to radar-measured heavy-rain events but still scatters by a factor of 2 around the observations, depending on the microphysics scheme. The model is generally unable to simulate extreme hail events with reflectivity thresholds of 55 dBZ and higher, although they have been observed by radar during the evaluation period. For slightly weaker hail/graupel events, only the P3 scheme is able to reproduce the observed statistics. Analysis of the raindrop size distribution in combination with the model mixing ratio shows that the P3, Thompson two-moment (2-mom), and Thompson aerosol-aware schemes produce large raindrops too frequently, and the SBM scheme misses large rain and graupel particles. More complex schemes do not necessarily lead to better results in the prediction of heavy precipitation.

Effect of Heat and Plasma Treatment on Carboranethiol Self-Assembled Monolayers on Copper

Carborane (C2B10H12) molecules are unique precursors for self-assembled monolayer (SAM) applications. These 3D, icosahedral (12-vertex) molecules allow for the formation of well-ordered layers, potentially with fewer defects than traditional linear alkyl SAMs, and are amenable to cross-linking via labile H atoms with a variety of mechanisms including heat, plasma, and radiation (e.g., UV, e-beam). We have investigated the deposition of SAMs of 1,2-dithiol-ortho-carborane (O) and 9-thiol-meta-carborane (M) on copper from the vapor phase in ultrahigh-vacuum conditions, along with the effect of thermal (150–400 °C) and plasma (N2, H2, Ar, O2) postgrowth treatment. Both films show rapid deposition in the vapor phase with approximate monolayer or few layer coverage, as well as a mixture of physisorption (thiol adsorption) and chemisorption (thiolate binding). Both films additionally show notable stability to thermal treatment up to 400 °C, with only gradual (not abrupt) decrease in boron coverage and minor changes in chemical composition/makeup; however, with the monothiol derivative M showing greater loss of boron and greater oxidation. Nitrogen (N2) plasma treatment leads to partial nitrogenation of boron, while hydrogen (H2) and argon (Ar) plasma treatments lead to partial oxidation of boron, with some parasitic growth (increase in B coverage) especially for the dithiol derivative O. Oxygen (O2) plasma treatment shows an aggressive oxidation (of boron, carbon, sulfur, and copper), but appears to passivate the layers (i.e., the boron oxide based layer formed remains stable and does not change with further plasma exposure). Both heat and plasma treatments reduce copper oxide at the interface and increase thiolate binding (thus conceivably stabilizing the films). Indeed, exposure to N2 plasma appears to further stabilize the films toward heat treatment. These findings highlight that these carboranethiol SAMs represent a robust option for various functional and protective layer applications, and that heat and plasma may be used to further stabilize these films, to modify their properties, or as part of a more complex fabrication scheme.

Standardizing by photon-photon coincidence technique to produce electron capture disintegrates radioactive sources

The system using X-gamma coincidence technique for the standardizing radionuclide, which present simple and complex decay scheme with X-rays of energy below 100 keV has deployed by Radionuclide Laboratory (LNMRI), Brazil. The work was carried using a sodium iodide detector, for gamma photons, in combination with a high purity germanium detector for X-rays. Samples of 65Zn and 133Ba were standardized and the results for both radionuclides showed good precision and accuracy when compared with reference values. The standardization differences were 0.72 % for 65Zn and 0.48 % for 133Ba samples.

Peculiarities of Discourse Management in English and Georgian Interviews

The issue of correct discourse management is important in speech in general and in media discourse in particular, namely in interviews. If we take dialodicality - the peculiarity of an interview as a genre into account, which is characterized by duality (it means a double process of giving and receiving information: communication between the journalist and the respondent on the one hand, and based on this communication, the one between the editor and the reader on the other), Fluent discourse is doubly important in this complex scheme of communicating information correctly. Being one of the important members of the large family of pragmatic markers, discourse markers play an important role in discourse management. That is why it was considered interesting to conduct a comparative pragmatic analysis of the peculiarities of the functioning of discourse markers in two languages - English and Georgian. The research showed an interesting result, which is generalized in the conclusion.

On temporal scale-free non-periodic stimulation and its mechanisms as an infinite improbability drive of the brain's functional connectogram.

Rationalized development of electrical stimulation (ES) therapy is of paramount importance. Not only it will foster new techniques and technologies with increased levels of safety, efficacy, and efficiency, but it will also facilitate the translation from basic research to clinical practice. For such endeavor, design of new technologies must dialogue with state-of-the-art neuroscientific knowledge. By its turn, neuroscience is transitioning-a movement started a couple of decades earlier-into adopting a new conceptual framework for brain architecture, in which time and thus temporal patterns plays a central role in the neuronal representation of sampled data from the world. This article discusses how neuroscience has evolved to understand the importance of brain rhythms in the overall functional architecture of the nervous system and, consequently, that neuromodulation research should embrace this new conceptual framework. Based on such support, we revisit the literature on standard (fixed-frequency pulsatile stimuli) and mostly non-standard patterns of ES to put forward our own rationale on how temporally complex stimulation schemes may impact neuromodulation strategies. We then proceed to present a low frequency, on average (thus low energy), scale-free temporally randomized ES pattern for the treatment of experimental epilepsy, devised by our group and termed NPS (Non-periodic Stimulation). The approach has been shown to have robust anticonvulsant effects in different animal models of acute and chronic seizures (displaying dysfunctional hyperexcitable tissue), while also preserving neural function. In our understanding, accumulated mechanistic evidence suggests such a beneficial mechanism of action may be due to the natural-like characteristic of a scale-free temporal pattern that may robustly compete with aberrant epileptiform activity for the recruitment of neural circuits. Delivering temporally patterned or random stimuli within specific phases of the underlying oscillations (i.e., those involved in the communication within and across brain regions) could both potentiate and disrupt the formation of neuronal assemblies with random probability. The usage of infinite improbability drive here is obviously a reference to the "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" comedy science fiction classic, written by Douglas Adams. The parallel is that dynamically driving brain functional connectogram, through neuromodulation, in a manner that would not favor any specific neuronal assembly and/or circuit, could re-stabilize a system that is transitioning to fall under the control of a single attractor. We conclude by discussing future avenues of investigation and their potentially disruptive impact on neurotechnology, with a particular interest in NPS implications in neural plasticity, motor rehabilitation, and its potential for clinical translation.

Detecting directional and non-directional epistasis in bi-parental populations using genomic data.

Epistasis, commonly defined as interaction effects between alleles of different loci, is an important genetic component of the variation of phenotypic traits in natural and breeding populations. In addition to its impact on variance, epistasis can also affect the expected performance of a population and is then referred to as directional epistasis. Before the advent of genomic data, the existence of epistasis (both directional and non-directional) was investigated based on complex and expensive mating schemes involving several generations evaluated for a trait of interest. In this study, we propose a methodology to detect the presence of epistasis based on simple inbred biparental populations, both genotyped and phenotyped, ideally along with their parents. Thanks to genomic data, parental proportions as well as shared parental proportions between inbred individuals can be estimated. They allow the evaluation of epistasis through a test of the expected performance for directional epistasis or the variance of genetic values. This methodology was applied to two large multiparental populations, i.e. the American maize and soybean nested association mapping populations, evaluated for different traits. Results showed significant epistasis, especially for the test of directional epistasis, e.g. the increase in anthesis to silking interval observed in most maize inbred progenies or the decrease in grain yield observed in several soybean inbred progenies. In general, the effects detected suggested that shuffling allelic associations of both elite parents had a detrimental effect on the performance of their progeny. This methodology is implemented in the EpiTest R-package and can be applied to any bi/multiparental inbred population evaluated for a trait of interest.

A quaternary epistemic code

Abstract Evidentiality has often been described in narrow terms as an independent grammatical category denoting an overt source of information (e.g., perception, inference, assumption and hearsay). Drawing on fieldwork data, this paper explores how evidentiality is encoded at the copula level in Chhitkul-Rākchham (West Himalayish). In doing so, it is argued that the relevant evidentials, part of a comparatively complex scheme consisting of nine elements, together with a negative sub-system, fall under the broader umbrella of epistemic modality. The contention finds an illustration in an egophoric marker following two inflectional tracks with two resulting degrees of assertiveness, and in a handful of combinatorial constructions. Evidentiality as expressed by copulas points to the self, which builds bridges with the study of consciousness. The latter term is underappreciated within linguistics and this work emphasizes the need for a broader cross-disciplinary outlook.

Training Robots Without Robots: Deep Imitation Learning for Master-to-Robot Policy Transfer

Deep imitation learning is promising for robot manipulation because it only requires demonstration samples. In this study, deep imitation learning is applied to tasks that require force feedback. However, existing demonstration methods have deficiencies; bilateral teleoperation requires a complex control scheme and is expensive, and kinesthetic teaching suffers from visual distractions from human intervention. This research proposes a new master-to-robot (M2R) policy transfer system that does not require robots for teaching force feedback-based manipulation tasks. The human directly demonstrates a task using a controller. This controller resembles the kinematic parameters of the robot arm and uses the same end-effector with force/torque (F/T) sensors to measure the force feedback. Using this controller, the operator can feel force feedback without a bilateral system. The proposed method can overcome domain gaps between the master and robot using gaze-based imitation learning and a simple calibration method. Furthermore, a Transformer is applied to infer policy from F/T sensory input. The proposed system was evaluated on a bottle-cap-opening task that requires force feedback.

A Data Mining/ANFIS and Adaptive Control for Detection and Mitigation of Attacks on DC MGs

The integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has provided modern smart grids, such as direct current (DC) microgrids (MGs), with various advantages, e.g., the possibility of large-scale integration of renewable energy sources and complex control schemes. This extensive deployment of ICTs, however, makes DC MGs prone to a variety of cyber threats, e.g., false data injection (FDI) attacks. On this basis, this paper develops online detection and mitigation schemes to counter FDI attacks against DC MGs. Initially, in the offline training of the detection scheme, the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) method is used for extracting prescriptive features of DC MG measurements and clustering them in healthy and under-attack operations under several uncertainties in DC MG operations. These features are used to train an adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) architecture for the online identification of FDI attacks. Afterward, the trained ANFIS is used to detect FDI attacks and obtain the attack vectors benefiting from the real-time measurements estimated by an optimal state observer. Finally, an adaptive model predictive controller (AMPC) is developed to update the power-sharing commands—and mitigate the FDI attack—using the ANFIS’s obtained attack vectors. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is evaluated for several realistic FDI attack scenarios and different uncertainties. To show the scalability of the proposed detection and mitigation methods, a DC MG with eight converters is also studied in the presence of FDI attacks and uncertainties using real-time simulations.

A model-based approach for a practical dosing strategy for the short, intensive treatment regimen for paediatric tuberculous meningitis.

Following infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, young children are at high risk of developing severe forms of tuberculosis (TB) disease, including TB meningitis (TBM), which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) conditionally recommended that a 6-month treatment regimen composed of higher doses of isoniazid (H) and rifampicin (R), with pyrazinamide (Z) and ethionamide (Eto) (6HRZEto), be used as an alternative to the standard 12-month regimen (2HRZ-Ethambutol/10HR) in children and adolescents with bacteriologically confirmed or clinically diagnosed TBM. This regimen has been used in South Africa since 1985, in a complex dosing scheme across weight bands using fixed-dose combinations (FDC) available locally at the time. This paper describes the methodology used to develop a new dosing strategy to facilitate implementation of the short TBM regimen based on newer globally available drug formulations. Several dosing options were simulated in a virtual representative population of children using population PK modelling. The exposure target was in line with the TBM regimen implemented in South Africa. The results were presented to a WHO convened expert meeting. Given the difficulty to achieve simple dosing using the globally available RH 75/50mg FDC, the panel expressed the preference to target a slightly higher rifampicin exposure while keeping isoniazid exposures in line with those used in South Africa. This work informed the WHO operational handbook on the management of TB in children and adolescents, in which dosing strategies for children with TBM using the short TBM treatment regimen are provided.

Anti-Fraud Analysis during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Perspective

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought unexpected economic downturns and accelerated digital transformation, leading to stronger financial fraud motives and more complicated fraud schemes. Although scholars, practitioners, and regulators have begun to focus on the new characteristics of financial fraud, a systematic and effective anti-fraud strategy during the pandemic still needs to be explored. This paper comprehensively analyzes the lessons of anti-fraud that we should learn from the COVID-19 pandemic. By exploring the complex motives and schemes of fraud, we summarize the characteristics of financial fraud activities and further analyze the regulatory challenges posed by financial fraud during the outbreak. To better cope with the fraudulent activities during the pandemic, policy proposals on how to improve the supervision of financial fraud activities are put forward. In particular, the panoramic data and graph-based techniques are powerful tools for future fraud detection.