Network Of Experts Research Articles

Quantitative tools in microbial and chemical risk assessment.

The popularity of biological origin food protection substances is driven by demands from consumers for natural and clean label product, increasing various food-related safety and health concerns and sustainability issues. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are most promising because they are a large group of beneficial microorganisms commonly used in food protection due to their ability to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria and enhance food safety. Extensive scientific research has been conducted to understand the mechanisms by which LAB exert their protective effects in various food systems. Even though LAB activity against various food pathogens and spoilers is distinguished, use of cell-free supernatant (CFS) is still under investigation. This report is dedicated to present how qualitative measures can elaborate in new bacteria-origin food additive investigation. As part of the EU-FORA programme, the fellow was involved in the risk assessment tasks and projects which include gaining basic knowledge in predicative microbiology fundamentals, including different types of modelling strategies; delivering essential understanding about experimental design, knowledge in three specific software tools (MATLAB, GInaFiT and DMFit) and gained overall understanding what are the main differences while modelling growth or inactivation models. Secondary activities were included as a way to expand competences beyond qualitative measures to overall all activities done regarding risk assessment and build a strong network of food safety experts and professionals to continue engaging in risk assessment beyond fellowship programme.

Preface

IC3DDose 2022 - 12th International Conference on 3D and Advanced Dosimetry The 12th IC3DDose conference on advanced radiation dosimetry was held in person in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada from June 20 to 23, 2022. The meeting was scheduled back-to-back with the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists’ (COMP) annual scientific meeting, offering unique opportunities for scientific knowledge sharing and extensive networking. It was a refreshing restart for the IC3DDose community after the cancelled meeting in 2020 and a reduced scope virtual meeting in 2021.A total of 71 participants from 11 countries met for 3.5 days in a mix of refresher/review sessions and proffered presentations covering state-of-the-art dosimetry encompassing all major dosimetry techniques used for standard external beam and brachytherapy. Presenters also covered advanced applications addressing the challenges of radiation measurement in small field, MR-Linac, microbeam and FLASH dosimetry. A total of 14 invited presentations and 25 contributed talks were given the at meeting including papers in a Rising Star Competition and in a single hybrid session with virtual participants from Australia, China and Japan. The associated papers presented in these proceedings add to an already extensive collection of 118 review and 574 proffered papers in 9 previous volumes of the Journal of Physics Conference Series from the past conferences.A feature for this year’s meeting was that all contributed speakers on a given day were asked to mount their presentation slides on poster boards for a dedicated closing discussion session entitled “Meet the speakers of the day”. This allowed attendees to engaged in deeper discussions, beyond the question periods at the end of their talks. The daily sessions reinforced the IC3DDose philosophy to foster strong mingling of all participants, from trainees to more experienced attendees. A keynote address and the final morning of sessions were open to COMP registrants also. This made the topics of the IC3DDose meeting available to a much wider audience.The meeting was a great success and the attendees developed new expertise and new networks through the many interactions over the meeting’s four days. Colleagues from Aarhus Denmark announced at the end of the meeting that they will now undertake to organize a 13th meeting in 2024.The local organizing committee sincerely thanks the sponsors for our meeting: Elekta and Varian as bronze sponsor and MedScint in the start-up category. We further acknowledge support from COMP, l’ Association Québécoise des Physicien(ne)s Médicaux Cliniques, l’ Université Laval and CRCHU de Quebec-Université Laval.Louis Archambault, Luc Beaulieu and L. John Schreiner(for the organizing and scientific committee)List of International Scientific Committee, Local Organizing Committee, Detailed Program of the 12th International Conference on 3D and Advanced Dosimetry (IC3Ddose) June 2022, Château Frontenac, Quebec City, Contents, About, A Warm Thank You to our Sponsors, at a Glance, Day 1 – June, Day 2 – Day 3 – June 22nd, Day 4 –, a Warm Thank You to our Sponsors are available in this pdf.

Investigating the barriers and pathways to implementing satellite data into air quality monitoring, regulation and policy design in the United Kingdom

Satellite measurements relevant to air quality could help to inform policy and assist the monitoring and management of key air quality issues, both in the United Kingdom and internationally. This study investigates the barriers facing experts, across both scientific research and air quality management, in translating and incorporating satellite data into end user activities, and identifies pathways for the use of current and future satellite data by potential end users. Through an iterative Delphi-inspired two-round study, two groups of experts were issued parallel, near-identical surveys. These groups were Group A: current users of satellite data such as satellite product developers, researchers and air quality scientists, and Group B: potential end users of satellite data such as regulatory bodies, local authorities, government departments and independent air quality consultancies. This study confirmed that satellite data has had minimal penetration into Group B activities, and that a number of barriers currently prevent its adoption into regulation, namely: personnel-related issues such as lack of resources, technical skills and training, and technical limitations such as spatio-temporal resolution, uncertainties and data storage concerns. Despite this, there was a strong desire across both groups for collaboration and joint data exploration, but current progress has been minimal. Moving forward, we propose the creation of a network of experts, facilitated by a dedicated boundary organisation, designed to promote collaboration and knowledge exchange between these two groups, with the objective of transferring satellite data sets into end user work flows and to prepare end users to utilise future data sets.

Career connections: transnational expert networks and multilateral cybercrime negotiations

ABSTRACT The Council of Europe’s Budapest Convention on cybercrime (2001) remains a key landmark in multilateral governance on cybersecurity. Negotiated over two decades ago, this regional agreement gains renewed significance today through its enduring impact, its rarity as a binding multilateral agreement on cyber-issues, and its role in shaping the debate on free speech and the criminalization of online content. This article asks how the almost-total exclusion of content crimes from the Convention can be explained. Drawing on new documents published for the twentieth anniversary of the Convention, including detailed testimonials from its chair and principal drafters, the article highlights the importance of long-term career connections among technically-savvy and diplomatically experienced negotiators, creating a transnational policy network that overcame differences and power imbalances. Understanding how the Budapest Convention resolved disagreements helps contextualize current crises in multilateral cybersecurity and cybercrime governance and provides a path away from growing digital authoritarianism.

Automatic speech recognition of Portuguese phonemes using neural networks ensemble

The automatic speech recognition based on detection of phonemes provides advantages for online recognition of a speech represented by a sound signal. The development of a system for automatic speech recognition is multidisciplinary. It covers several areas of research, such as linguistics, signal processing and computational intelligence. In this work, the process starts with a speech signal pre-processing to extract the main features of the speech signal at a given instant of time. Inspired by the “divide and conquer” principle, we bridge the complexity gap of automatic speech recognition by devising models based on an ensemble of neural network experts, allowing to divide the huge decision space regarding speech recognition so that each expert takes care only of a delimited area of this decision space. This novel application of this strategy improves the precision, sensitivity and accuracy of the recognition process. Each included expert decides regarding each one of the pre-processed input samples. The decision set thus obtained is weighted. So, the expert with the highest weight for the output will determine the sample final classification. After that, a dynamic post-processing step, implemented as a recurrent neural network, is executed. It aims at mitigating the oscillatory effect that occurs during the recognition of classes with similar characteristics. In this work, two ensembles are investigated. The first is based on the clustering of similar phonetics classes while the second takes care of the imbalanced distribution of samples in the training set. The proposed model achieves 7.63% improvement in terms of accuracy with respect to the best so far related model for automatic speech recognition.

Deep Graph Embedding for IoT Botnet Traffic Detection

Botnet attacks have mainly targeted computers in the past, which is a fundamental cybersecurity problem. Due to the booming of Internet of things (IoT) devices, an increasing number of botnet attacks are now targeting IoT devices. Researchers have proposed several mechanisms to avoid botnet attacks, such as identification by communication patterns or network topology and defence by DNS blacklisting. A popular direction for botnet detection currently relies on the specific topological characteristics of botnets and uses machine learning models. However, it relies on network experts’ domain knowledge for feature engineering. Recently, neural networks have shown the capability of representation learning. This paper proposes a new approach to extracting graph features via graph neural networks. To capture the particular topology of the botnet, we transform the network traffic into graphs and train a graph neural network to extract features. In our evaluations, we use graph embedding features to train six machine learning models and compare them with the performance of traditional graph features in identifying botnet nodes. The experimental results show that botnet traffic detection is still challenging even with neural networks. We should consider the impact of data, features, and algorithms for an accurate and robust solution.

11.M. Round table: Capability to implement systemic innovations in PHC: enablers and barriers to effective change

Abstract Background Primary healthcare (PHC) is an increasingly prominent health reform area in Europe. Rising chronic conditions and costs and commitments to universal health coverage require PHC systems to become more proactive, enhance prevention and coordination and integrate care. At the frontline of care provision and delivered by a diverse workforce, PHC covers most health needs. COVID-19 highlighted PHC's potential and role in strengthening system resilience and sustainability. PHC reforms vary, covering changes to services provided, workforce (e.g. new professionals, roles, skill-mixes), service delivery models and institutional relationships. Their introduction and uniform scale-up is challenging, involving multiple stakeholders in fragmented environments with diverse, independent (and intersectoral) providers. Extant lack of trust and cooperation among stakeholders and opposition to changes that conflict with self-interest or customs can undermine efforts. While much is known about organizational innovations, evidence on their implementation is limited. The country expert (HSPM) network of the European Observatory has launched a cross-country study to better understand PHC reform implementation processes in European countries. While each country has its own methods, commonalities in reform type, implementation challenges and practices suggest several levels of influence. At macro level (health system), governance mechanisms, appropriate funding and a unified information system are important. Clinical guidelines and regulatory frameworks must also be considered. Change management functions at meso level (institution) must be guaranteed. (Re)training and trust cultivation are necessary to introduce new services, tools and working arrangements at micro level (individual). Patient perspectives must also be accounted for. This study explores both the conditions for successful implementation and their underlying enablers and barriers across levels. An ensuing analytical framework will be of actionable value as policymakers look to develop effective policies and strategies. Objectives This workshop will present the preliminary framework and foster discussion around enabling environments for PHC reform implementation. Specifically, it aims to: • Provide insights into recent experiences of implementation via country case studies • Present a preliminary analytical framework of levels of influence and possible actions towards implementation • Solicit active audience engagement on other country experiences to further the relevance of the framework • Explore what's needed to strengthen state/regional capability for PHC change implementation Format A keynote will introduce the background and methods of the work, and preliminary framework. An interactive, moderated roundtable with panelists from case studies (Austria, Finland, Italy, Slovenia) and the European Observatory will delve into the framework and its implications. Audience input will be encouraged. Key messages • Implementation of PHC innovation is complex, requiring strong system governance, solid institutional change management, and provider ownership to ensure same scope of services of good quality to all. • Sharing experiences, existing practices and available evidence is important to inform the development of effective policies and strategies to implement PHC reforms. Speakers/Panelists Nathan Shuftan Berlin University of Technology, Berlin, Germany Pia Vracko NIJZ, Ljubljana, Slovenia Michela Bobini Bocconi University, Milan, Italy Liina-Kaisa Tynkkynen Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Tampere, Finland Maximilian Schwarz GöG, Vienna, Austria

Research on Evaluation System and Optimization Strategy of Community Garden Based on IPA Method: A Case Study in Wuhan, China

The intrinsic attributes and service functions of community gardens (CGs) are closely related to the stage of national development and social needs. With the gradual implementation of China’s urban micro-renewal policy, many CGs have been gradually developed, but they still face problems such as poor operation and low participation, which urgently require us to carry out site-based research under China’s actual national conditions. Constructing a human’s perception value-oriented evaluation system and summarizing the optimization strategies according to the evaluation results can provide more systematic and targeted practical guidance for the construction of CGs in China. We developed a set of evaluation metrics for CGs based network text analysis, literature analysis, and expert opinions and collected 245 questionnaires from 20 existing CGs in Wuhan as a study sample. Using the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) method, we conducted statistical analysis of data for each type of CG. The results show that “Mosquito impact”, “Facility maintenance”, and “Social experience” are essential parts of residential-type community gardens (Resi-CGs) that are easily overlooked; that the users of commercial-type community gardens (Comm-CGs) consider that “Mosquito impact” is a serious deficiency; that campus-type community gardens (Camp-CGs) need to be optimized with regard to the aspects of “Crop stewardship” and “Leisure facilities”; and finally that there is no significant trend in the key improvement indicators of company-type community gardens (Comp-CGs) and the indicators like “Fitness and recreation experience”, “Crop diversity”, and “Aesthetics” need to be improved. According to the above results, we put forward specific optimization strategies to provide development guidelines and practical guidance for the future construction of CGs.

Informing Decisionmakers in Real Time

To offer evidence to policymakers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Academies formed an unprecedented network of social science experts who fielded questions and offered advice.

An ecosystemic view on refugee mental health care: on caring environments and their interaction.

Despite the burden of mental health problems among refugees, knowledge about mental health care for this group is limited. In this context, the comprehensive discussion is important because care is more than professional care, but takes place in everyday situations and between different groups of people. In this study, we look at expert views (based on profession and lived experience) on caring environments concerning refugees' mental health on different system levels. These levels include the individual level, family level, community level and the society. Additionally, we aimed to understand how these system levels interact. We conducted interviews with 11 psychotherapists from Germany and 12 participants who fled from Arabic-speaking countries to Germany. We analyzed transcripts following Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis. Interviewees shared ideas on how society in general (e.g. increase acceptance), professional actors (e.g. be sensitive about cultural differences), other refugees (e.g. exchange information), family/friends (e.g. provide emotional help) and refugees with mental health problems themselves (e.g. be open to involve others) could provide care. Participants provided examples of how system levels interacted, for example when legal norms made care among family members harder. The interactions between different system levels point to a multidisciplinary approach towards mental health care for refugees and call for building expert networks instead of viewing refugee mental health as a medical, psychiatric issue alone. To improve the mental health of refugees, different societal actors should keep in mind the interactions across different system levels and exchange their respective expert knowledge.

How network resources empower expert involvement? Evidence from urban planning decision-making in China

Expert involvement has received increasing academic attention, and expert typology, organizational types and knowledge utilization have been well documented and well theorized. However, the literature on expert involvement is remarkably silent on how to understand the internal structure of expert groups and the influence they bring to bear. In this study, we seek to bridge this gap by theorizing and empirically demonstrating the internal discrepancy in expert network. We do so through an in-depth qualitative analysis of data from an empirical study on urban planning decision-making in China. Building on existing literature, participant observation and interview data, the study elaborates an expert network model that analyses how government choices, organizational characteristics, and capital in network resources shape expert influence. The empirical analysis indicates that the role an expert receives in policy making is a consequence of different expert networks. Based on this, we developed the concept of “resources empowerment expert network” to understand the logic of resource flow in network and discuss how this concept can contribute to the broader literature on expert involvement.

Identifying Key Barriers for Radiation Oncology Financial Advocacy Programs

Financial toxicity is a devastating outcome for patients with cancer and can impact their treatment adherence and health outcomes. One survey reveals that most radiation oncologists are "very concerned" with the negative impact treatment-related costs have on patients, and another survey found that more than 20 percent of patients experience financial toxicity related to their radiation therapy treatment. Financial advocates within cancer programs and practices can help mitigate patients' financial toxicity by supporting shared decision-making and helping with treatment cost planning. In 2022, ACCC set out to explore how financial advocates in radiation oncology provide financial navigation to patients with cancer and address the challenges they may face. Identify barriers to financial toxicity mitigation and treatment access challenges for patients with cancer undergoing radiation therapy. ACCC worked with an expert multidisciplinary Financial Advocacy Network Advisory Committee to conduct two, semi-structured discussion sessions on financial advocacy in radiation oncology. Prepared discussion topics included challenges and opportunities in delivering financial advocacy services, financial barriers to care and strategies to mitigate financial toxicity, and processes for prior authorizations and claim denials in the radiation oncology setting. Twenty-one participants attended the first session, and 17 participants attended the second session. Participants included financial navigators and counselors, oncology social workers, nurse navigators, and cancer program or practice administrators. Three major challenges emerged from both sessions: (1) Inadequate financial assistance from independent, charitable foundations to help pay for patients' deductibles, additional radiation treatment out-of-pocket costs, and care-related transportation costs. (2) Lack of best practices to handle prior authorization and avoid denials. (3) Lack of preparedness for changes imposed by the Radiation Oncology (RO) Model, which would impact care planning. Many cancer programs and practices have implemented financial advocacy services but remain restricted in the available assistance for radiation therapy patients. Radiation therapy represents a significant component of anti-cancer treatment and addressing the lack of financial support for patients is critical to improving patients' treatment adherence and health outcomes. Payment policies must be reformed to address complex prior authorization requirements and patients would benefit from greater financial support for radiation treatment and costs of wrap-around supportive services.

A neural network expert system that allows assessing the quality of the algorithm for choosing the parameters of optimal removal of low-frequency noise from seismograms using the fingerprint method

The article summarizes the results of research on the application of the fingerprint method in seismology. This method can be successfully used in solving various practical problems. We have used it as an effective tool for a thorough analysis of noisy seismograms of regional explosions and earthquakes in order to select the optimal filtering frequency. The cut-off frequency selected with the help of fingerprints will allow you to design an optimal filter that not only reliably suppresses low-frequency noise, but also carefully preserves the signal it hides. Moreover, the method works well when the noise intensity exceeds the signal intensity many times over and under conditions of partial overlap of their frequency ranges. Fundamental is the initial orientation of the method towards automatic implementation with minimal use of additional information. In conclusion, this article proposes to use a neural network expert system that allows you to evaluate the quality of the fingerprint algorithm. To create such a system, we needed to explore current trends in seismology regarding the use of artificial neural networks. Based on extensive worldwide experience, it has been shown that there is a clear renewed interest in the use of small, lowcost networks. The principle on which they are based lies in their perception as training and input data of compact, complexly structured parameters of a high degree of transformation of primary seismograms. It is these parameters that include the characteristics taken from fingerprints using the algorithms we propose. So our experience in creating a neural network expert system naturally turned out to be successful. The reliability of the estimates obtained turned out to be very close to the practical limit of the fingerprint method.

Ecologies of integrated modeling: configuring policy-relevance in Swedish climate governance

Due to the long timescales and deep uncertainties involved, comprehensive model-building has played a pivotal role in creating shared expectations about future trajectories for addressing climate change processes, mobilizing a network of knowledge-based experts who assist in defining common problems, identifying policy solutions, and assessing the policy outcomes. At the intersection between climate change science and climate governance, where wholly empirical methods are infeasible, numerical simulations have become the central practice for evaluating truth claims, and the key medium for the transport and translation of data, methods, and guiding principles among the actors involved. What makes integrated assessment unique as a comprehensive modeling-effort is that it is explicitly policy-oriented, justified by its policy-relevance. Although recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as invaluable to their review assessments, the role of integrated modeling in implementations of the Paris Agreement, such as in impact assessments of climate legislation on the national level, is far less known. Taking as its starting-point the boundary-work carried out in public administration, this paper examines how foresight knowledge produced with the help of model-based scenario analysis has been made relevant in Swedish climate policymaking, focusing on the processes by which key indicators for political action become institutionalized through the choice and use of model parameters. It concludes by arguing for an expanded understanding of policy-relevance, beyond institutional approaches and toward a process-based point of view, treating relevance as something in-the-making.

Human-Computer Collaborative Visual Design Creation Assisted by Artificial Intelligence

With the support and promotion of big data and cloud computing, AI has penetrated into every field of people's lives more and more deeply, with its characteristics of sustainable work, extremely fast computing speed, and a certain intelligence. This is an effective way to solve the general lack of demand and productivity of visual design, and relieve the pressure off designers to deal with relatively low-quality and high-demand designs. Therefore, the combination of design and artificial intelligence technology is a necessity. Research on the application of artificial intelligence technology for visual design is also in full swing at home and abroad However, at present, teams at home and abroad are in the exploratory stage. This paper considers whether it is possible to build an intelligent visual design and creation system by using artificial intelligence technology to help graphic communication designers achieve high-quality, high-efficiency, and high-quantity design output. Additionally, this paperexplores how to combine artificial intelligence technology with designers' design workflow so as to form a complementary human-computer cooperation mode. We will explore how to integrate AI technology with designers' design workflow and then create a human-machine collaboration model with complementary advantages to achieve the high quality, high efficiency, and high quantity of design output required by the intelligent visual design creation system being built. Finally, a basic framework of a generative smart human-computer collaborative visual design creation system based on a subset of neural network expert systems in multiple domains and an aggregate of different modules supported by the system is formed, and the working principle and usage process of the system are further elaborated with the example of packaging design.

Implications of immersive technologies in healthcare sector and its built environment.

This research focuses on how built environment experts can contribute to the MXR-enabled digital innovation as part of the multidisciplinary team effort to ensure post-pandemic resilience in healthcare built environment. The goal of this research is to help healthcare providers, built environment experts, and policy makers respectively: (1) Advocate the benefits of MXR for innovating health and social care; (2) Spark debate across networks of expertise to create health-promoting environment; and (3) Understand the overriding priorities in making effective pathways to the implementation of MXR. To highlight the novelty of this research, the study relies on two qualitative methodologies: exploratory literature review and semi-structured interviews. Based on the evaluation of prior works and cross-national case studies, hypotheses are formulated from three arenas: (1) Cross-sectional Initiatives for Post-pandemic Resilience; (2) Interoperability and Usability of Next-gen Medicines; and (3) Metaverse and New Forms of Value in Future Healthcare Ecosystems. To verify those hypotheses, empirical findings are derived from in-depth interviews with nine key informants. The main findings are summarized under the following three themes: (1) Synergism between Architecture and Technology; (2) Patient Empowerment and Staff Support; and (3) Scalable Health and Wellbeing in Non-hospital and Therapeutic Settings. Firstly, both built environment and healthcare sectors can benefit from the various capabilities of MXR through cross-sectional initiatives, evidence-based practices, and participatory approaches. Secondly, a confluence of knowledge and methods of HCI and HBI can increase the interoperability and usability of MXR for the patient-centered and value-based healthcare models. Thirdly, the MXR-enabled technological regime will largely affect the new forms of value in healthcare premises by fostering more decentralized, preventive, and therapeutic characteristics in the future healthcare ecosystems. Whether it's virtual or physical, our healthcare systems have placed great emphasis on the rigor of evidence-based approach linking health outcome to a clinical environment. Henceforth, built environment experts should seek closer ties with the MXR ecosystems for the co-production of scalable health and wellbeing in non-hospital and therapeutic settings. Ultimately, this is to improve resource efficiency in the healthcare sector while considering the transition of health resources towards in silico status by increasing the implementation of MXR.

Efficacy and safety of subcutaneous spesolimab for the prevention of generalised pustular psoriasis flares (Effisayil 2): an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Spesolimab is an anti-interleukin-36 receptor monoclonal antibody approved to treat generalised pustular psoriasis (GPP) flares. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of spesolimab for GPP flare prevention. This multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial was done at 60 hospitals and clinics in 20 countries. Eligible study participants were aged between 12 and 75 years with a documented history of GPP as per the European Rare and Severe Psoriasis Expert Network criteria, with a history of at least two past GPP flares, and a GPP Physician Global Assessment (GPPGA) score of 0 or 1 at screening and random assignment. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to receive subcutaneous placebo, subcutaneous low-dose spesolimab (300 mg loading dose followed by 150 mg every 12 weeks), subcutaneous medium-dose spesolimab (600 mg loading dose followed by 300 mg every 12 weeks), or subcutaneous high-dose spesolimab (600 mg loading dose followed by 300 mg every 4 weeks) over 48 weeks. The primary objective was to demonstrate a non-flat dose-response curve on the primary endpoint, time to first GPP flare. From June 8, 2020, to Nov 23, 2022, 157 patients were screened, of whom 123 were randomly assigned. 92 were assigned to receive spesolimab (30 high dose, 31 medium dose, and 31 low dose) and 31 to placebo. All patients were either Asian (79 [64%] of 123) or White (44 [36%]). Patient groups were similar in sex distribution (76 [62%] female and 47 [38%] male), age (mean 40·4 years, SD 15·8), and GPP Physician Global Assessment score. A non-flat dose-response relationship was established on the primary endpoint. By week 48, 35 patients had GPP flares; seven (23%) of 31 patients in the low-dose spesolimab group, nine (29%) of 31 patients in the medium-dose spesolimab group, three (10%) of 30 patients in the high-dose spesolimab group, and 16 (52%) of 31 patients in the placebo group. High-dose spesolimab was significantly superior versus placebo on the primary outcome of time to GPP flare (hazard ratio [HR]=0·16, 95% CI 0·05-0·54; p=0·0005) endpoint. HRs were 0·35 (95% CI 0·14-0·86, nominal p=0·0057) in the low-dose spesolimab group and 0·47 (0·21-1·06, p=0·027) in the medium-dose spesolimab group. We established a non-flat dose-response relationship for spesolimab compared with placebo, with statistically significant p values for each predefined model (linear p=0·0022, emax1 p=0·0024, emax2 p=0·0023, and exponential p=0·0034). Infection rates were similar across treatment arms; there were no deaths and no hypersensitivity reactions leading to discontinuation. High-dose spesolimab was superior to placebo in GPP flare prevention, significantly reducing the risk of a GPP flare and flare occurrence over 48 weeks. Given the chronic nature of GPP, a treatment for flare prevention is a significant shift in the clinical approach, and could ultimately lead to improvements in patient morbidity and quality of life. Boehringer Ingelheim.

Facing up to face value: Communication, difference, and the turn to expertise

Abstract This paper engages with a turn that has taken place over the last decade or so: from a sociology of professions toward a sociology of expertise. While the shift toward expertise is highly conducive to communicative inquiry, it is haunted by a ghost of professions past. I argue that this ghost—a persistent problem I formulate as ‘face value’—must be confronted for the turn to realize its considerable potential. Face value refers to the ways in which presumptions of merit arise through relations of difference, such as gender, race, and sexuality. I chart a path toward examining the production of face value, namely, by situating networks of expertise within economies of difference.

Research on the status of the irrigation and drainage network in Iran based on the viewpoint of water users and experts using SWOT analysis

AbstractIn many arid and semi‐arid regions, such as Iran, traditional irrigation systems consume a large proportion of surface water and groundwater resources. In the last few decades, due to the undesirable effects of climate change and continuous drought, many studies have been conducted on reducing threatening factors using the capacity of irrigation and drainage networks and participating water users in irrigation management. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the irrigation and drainage network of the Varamin Plain using the SWOT model that is an analytical model used based on the results of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the subject, considering the cooperative management of water users. In addition to conducting interviews, a questionnaire was used to collect data from two groups of network water users and experts. According to the results, the farmers and water users of the network are in a relatively good situation in terms of access to water, possibly due to the available three annual planting seasons (due to the existence of irrigation and the drainage network and the use of grey water, conditions for irrigation and crop cultivation are available in four seasons of the year). The most critical concerns of the water users were the lack of knowledge about the organization of water collectors, the inconsistency among governmental organizations and the insignificant action of the Agricultural Jihad Organization (a government ministry in Iran to advance agricultural goals and all related matters) in solving issues related to water rights. Failure to inform the users about the costs of creating network infrastructure, maintaining facilities and canals, not accepting water shortage conditions and the state of groundwater resources, consecutive cropping seasons throughout the year, cultivation of crops with high water demand, people with political and social influence obtaining excess water rights, and the lack of coordination among related governmental policies were the most critical concerns of the experts.

Innovation and adaptation at the Smithsonian Institution in response to changing times and increased need

ABSTRACT This article focusses on how the Smithsonian Institution’s staff and programmes are adapting in response to an evolving world and increasing requests for assistance. The Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, with long-standing programmes focussed on capacity building in times of need. Central to this work is communication—listening, building trust among collaborators and prioritising cultural heritage communities in decision-making. This article highlights four activities currently helping to strengthen cultural resources and support colleagues in times of crisis: building on early experiences to inform and improve on-the-ground cultural rescue efforts domestically and abroad; learning to build local and government relationships impacting conservation efforts abroad; creating new heritage anti-trafficking courses for law enforcement that reflect current events and include the voices of in-country experts; and building networks of expertise to develop and implement a new institution-wide Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns Policy. The common thread throughout these four programmes, each with different goals, is the importance of communication and collaboration.