Failed Attempt Research Articles

The League of Nations and the post-Ottoman recolonization of the Nile Valley: The imperial Matryoshka of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1922–1924

AbstractThis article addresses the Anglo-Egyptian dispute over Sudan following the Ottoman defeat in World War One and Cairo’s nominal independence in 1922. Drawing from Foreign Office documents, League of Nations archives, Egyptian parliamentary records and contemporary academic jurisprudence, it traces the failed Egyptian attempt to activate the settlement mechanisms of the Covenant after the assassination of the British governor of Sudan. In parallel, the article investigates the British preparations to face international arbitration, including the hypothetical request for a League mandate over Sudan. Through Cairo’s and London’s perceptions, we can grasp the global reach of the Geneva organization beyond its limited membership and agency. Although the League undertook no measures, the possibility of its intervention triggered competing legal arguments, as well as rival discourses of Egyptian and Sudanese self-determination. Thus, this essay sheds light on a recolonization process pre-dating World War Two. The clash of British and Egyptian imperial projects in the Nile Valley warns historians against forcing a teleology of the end of empire on the interwar roots of decolonization.

Effective competition and ineffective mobile industry regulation in South Africa

The most striking feature of South Africa’s mobile market is the skewed allocation of spectrum and a seemingly endless sequence of failed attempts to hold an auction for it. A shortage of spectrum (or the inefficient assignment of it) is blamed, among other things, for South Africa’s relatively slow LTE 4G speeds. Through historical accident, the country has two mobile data networks in addition to the four licensed mobile operators. The response of operators has been to innovate using roaming and network sharing agreements; as we explore in this paper, these have become the de facto spectrum allocation process.This paper looks at how the de facto industry structure has been moulded by spectrum holdings and sharing arrangements and asks how spectrum management could be improved. We observe that, although the number of mobile operators has effectively been reduced to 3 (a number which would raise concern in some circles), there exist a variety of arrangements between those three and other spectrum and network operators. The smallest of the current three mobile operators is still not able to offer a nationwide mobile service without a roaming agreement but, at the same time, the two larger operators depend critically on spectrum and roaming agreements themselves, mainly with the two physical data network operators that function as wholesale providers.The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) was established as a consequence of a new constitution that was adopted in 1996 and it helped to create new institutional arrangements for the burgeoning mobile industry. The authority has nevertheless continued to be hampered, as we shall demonstrate, by political imperatives. This has been pointed out by other authors over the past twenty years and we add to this body of evidence by considering the spectrum auction planned (again) for 2021.The “2021” auction is in fact an iteration of the auction originally announced in May 2010 and then abandoned (Song, 2011). The same thing happened again in 2016 (Paelo & Robb, 2020). Late in 2020, the regulator again announced an auction, due to take place during 2021 but by the second quarter of the year, two of the four national operators had already obtained a court injunction to stop it. The process is intertwined with a political imperative to establish a public wireless open-access network, which we discuss in detail.We describe how the industry has navigated around policy and regulatory dysfunction and how competitive interaction among the South African operators has managed to prevail. Following Hausman & Taylor’s (2013) lead in their work on the United States, in this paper we provide a commentary on apparently perverse outcomes from significant regulatory, judicial and legislative actions (or, perhaps more accurately, inactions) governing the South African mobile telecommunications industry from the commencement of the current constitutional arrangements in 1996 to the present.

Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis and contact enrichment ratios of 5,5-dimethyl-2-(2,4,6-tris(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1,3,2-dioxaborinane

The title compound C14H12BF9O2 (1) was obtained as the sole product during a failed attempt to make a new organoboron compound. Characterization of the title compound by NMR (1H, 13C{1H}, 19F{1H}, and 11B) spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffractometry confirmed the formation of 1. Compound 1 crystallizes in the triclinic space group P-1, with a = 8.275(5) Å, b = 8.611(5) Å, c = 10.910(5) Å, α = 89.634(5)°, β = 89.637(5)°, γ = 87.403(5)°, V = 776.6(7) Å3, and Z = 2. The intermolecular interactions in 1 were analyzed using the Hirshfeld surface method including 2 D fingerprint plots and enrichment ratios (E), which shows that the most favorable intermolecular contacts are the Cπ···F–C and C–H···F–C interactions. The interaction energies between molecular pairs revealed the importance of these weak non-covalent interactions in stabilizing the molecular structure of 1. The title compound was also studied by DFT calculations and UV-Vis spectroscopy.

Evaluation of IL-1β and TNF-α level in endometrial flush in patients with recurrent implantation failure

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive within a year of regular unprotected intercourse affecting one in six couples. The most common causes of infertility are ovulatory dysfunction, male factor infertility, and tubal disease [1]. Unexplained Infertility (UI) and Recurrent Implantation Failure (RIF) are diagnoses based on failed pregnancy attempts with current infertility treatment options. UI is diagnosed when testing is inconclusive and RIF is diagnosed after three failed In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) cycles. UI is the absence of conception despite 12 months of unprotected intercourse, not explained by anovulation, poor sperm quality, tubal pathology or other known cause of infertility. RIF is defined by three failed IVF cycles in which one or two high-quality embryos are transferred in each cycle or by two failures in oocyte donor recipients after the transfer of good quality embryos [1]. UI is a common cause of infertility affecting 10-30% of infertile couples [2], while RIF is present in around 10% of in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles [3].

Multidisciplinarity, Interdisciplinarity, and Transdisciplinarity: The Tower of Babel in the Age of Two Cultures

Despite the continuous emphasis on globalization, we witness increasing divisions and divisiveness in all domains of human activities. One of the reasons, if not the main one, is the intellectual fragmentation of humanity, compared in the title to the failed attempt at building the Biblical Tower of Babel. The attempts to reintegrate worldview, fragmented by the specialization of education (C.P. Snow’s The Two Cultures) and expected to be achieved through reforms in curricula at all levels of education, were based on the assumption that the design of a curriculum should focus on the wide distribution of subjects of study, as if the distribution was the goal. The key point is not the distribution of themes, but the development of skills in the integration of knowledge. The quantitative assessment of the width of knowledge by the number of disciplines is of secondary importance. We cannot expect the miracle that students without any intellectual tools developed for this purpose would perform the job of integration, which their teachers do not promote or demonstrate, and which they cannot achieve for themselves. There are many other reasons for the increasing interest in making inquiries interdisciplinary, but there is little progress in the methodology of the integration of knowledge. This paper is a study of the transition from multidisciplinarity to interdisciplinarity, and further, to transdisciplinarity, with some suggestions regarding the use of methodological tools of structuralism and the choice of a conceptual framework.

The Development of Cybersecurity Awareness Measurement Model in the Water Sector

:Cyber-attacks are one of the main threats to information systems, and humans have been identified as the weakest link with regards to information security. This study aims to develop a measurement instrument to evaluate the level of cyber security awareness (CSA) in the water sector in South Africa. There are lots of synergies with regards to cyber system usage across industries, and as a result this study will take a broad base approach in configuring an instrument that can be used to adequately assess the sample space in question. Having a reliable instrument to measure cyber security awareness helps mitigate the failed attempts at preparing employees for imminent cyber disruptions by pin-pointing areas where the training is needed before campaigns can be organised. This study will show that the psychology of employees with respect to cyber security awareness is compartmentalised into three traits: knowledge, attitude, and behaviour. These three traits were assessed under the following eight focus areas to check employee resilience to cyber security: IS policy adherence, Password management, Email use, Internet use, social media use, mobile devices, information handling, and incident reporting. In practice, employees will be required to answer questions formulated under these focus areas to the evaluate their cyber security awareness (CSA) level. The model proposed in this paper was developed to test cybersecurity awareness in the water sector, but can be utilised in other sectors for cybersecurity awareness testing.

Intrahepatic Injection of Sodium Pentobarbital as an Alternative to Intraperitoneal Injection for the Euthanasia of Rats (Rattus norvegicus).

The most commonly accepted method of rat euthanasia in North America is intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbital (PB). However, misinjection can occur, and intraperitoneal PB may cause pain and distress. The objective of this study was to test an alternative method of euthanasia: intrahepatic injection of PB. A pilot study was conducted to develop a method of intrahepatic injections (evaluated using CT scans and test injections), followed by a full study comparing intraperitoneal (n = 14) and intrahepatic PB injections (n = 66) in adult rats. Full study outcomes were: 1) time from injection to loss of right- ing reflex (LORR), 2) time from injection to cessation of heartbeat (CHB), 3) number of failed euthanasia attempts, and 4) confirmation of successful intrahepatic injection or misinjection via necropsy. All injections were performed by a veterinary student. CT revealed that intrahepatic injections were feasible. Times (median [range]) to LORR and CHB were faster after successful intrahepatic injections (LORR, 3 s [1 to 5 s]; CHB, 8 s [2 to 242 s]) than after intraperitoneal injections (LORR, 89.5 s [73 to 110 s], CHB: 284.5 s [237 to 423 s]). The misinjection rate was higher with intrahepatic injections (59%) than with intraperitoneal injections (29%), but intrahepatic misinjection still resulted in fast and successful euthanasia (LORR, 29 s [1 to 96 s]; CHB, 216 s [12 to 330 s]), with the injectate distributed between the intraperitoneal and intrahepatic locations. The number of failed euthanasia attempts with intrahepatic injections was low (n = 2). Intrahepatic injections show potential as an alternative to intraperitoneal injections for rat euthanasia.

Russia’s Radical Byron: Reexamining the “Decembrist Pushkin”

Abstract Lord Byron’s reputation in Russia’s literary imagination might surprise those who remember him not only as a multifaceted poet or political commentator, but also as a sexual libertine. Following his death in Greece, the tempestuous Byron came to stand for both freedom and romanticism in Russia, especially for the poets who would become associated with the Decembrist Uprising, a failed attempt by liberal nobles to reform the absolutist state by military coup in 1825. Perhaps even more importantly, Byron also became identified with the primary candidate for the role of Russia’s national poet: Alexander Pushkin. Though much as been written about Pushkin’s “Byronic apprenticeship,” this article focuses on how Pushkin’s responses to the English poet led him to depart from—and even conflict with—a specifically political version of Byronism promoted by his contemporaries. In particular, it analyzes Russian poetic response to Byron’s death, including works by Pushkin, Ivan Kozlov, Wilhelm Küchelbecker, Kondraty Ryleev, and Dmitry Venevitnov. It also considers Pushkin’s “To the Sea” (1824), analyzing an extended polemic with Prince Pyotr Viazemsky about Byron’s political legacy that this poem initiates.

Transitional Injustice at Leipzig: Negotiating Sovereignty and International Humanitarian Law in Germany after the First World War

AbstractThe article analyzes Allied attempts to try German war criminals after the First World War and the ensuing Leipzig trials. Historians of international law commonly describe these as the first (failed) attempt to break principles of national sovereignty by implementing principles of international humanitarian law, which were later realized at Nuremberg and The Hague. The article brackets the question of the Leipzig trials’ alleged success or failure by situating them not so much within the long-term history of international justice but, rather, within the political and intellectual culture of Weimar Germany. The article shows how the German government tried to use its limited domestic sovereignty in order to enhance its international sovereignty. By asking how German sovereignty was contested, negotiated, and reaffirmed, the article historicizes the Leipzig trials and also addresses the more general question of which conditions facilitate international war crimes trials. Drawing on the literature on transitional justice, this article suggests that contestations over German domestic and international sovereignty after the Versailles Treaty offer a more productive frame to understand the trials than measuring success according to international humanitarian law.

Enhancing the Response Rate to Recombinant Uricases in Patients with Gout

Refractory, or uncontrolled, gout is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory arthropathy resulting from continued urate deposition after failed attempts to lower serum uric acid below the therapeutic threshold with oral urate-lowering therapies such as allopurinol and febuxostat. Recombinant uricase is increasingly being used to treat refractory gout; however, the immunogenicity of uricase-based therapies has limited the use of these biologic therapies. Antidrug antibodies against biologic therapies, including uricase and PEGylated uricase, can lead to loss of urate-lowering response, increased risk of infusion reactions, and subsequent treatment failure. However, co-therapy with an immunomodulator can attenuate antidrug antibody development, potentially increasing the likelihood of sustained urate lowering, therapy course completion, and successful treatment outcomes. This review summarizes evidence surrounding the use of immunomodulation as co-therapy with recombinant uricases.

Behind the Colonial Silence of Wilderness

AbstractWhat is the relevance of the concept of wilderness today? For some, the recognition of a troubled history of wilderness regarding people of color does not challenge its pertinence in facing the ecological crisis. However, the author contends that the wilderness concept is problematic because of its inability to recognize other conceptualizations of the Earth held by Indigenous and Black peoples in the Americas and the Caribbean. As a case in point, the author critically engages with a failed attempt to accommodate Black enslaved experiences into a wilderness perspective made by Andreas Malm in a 2018 paper titled “In Wildness Lies the Liberation of the World: On Maroon Ecology and Partisan Nature.” Paradoxically, in suggesting that fugitive slaves’ experiences of “wild” spaces can point to a Marxist theory of wilderness, Malm ignores the concerns of Maroons and Indigenous peoples, including their theorizing voices, their ecology, and their demands for justice. Wilderness is portrayed as emancipatory on the condition that the enslaved and the colonized remain silenced. In response, the author argues that it was not “wilderness” but the ingenious relationships Maroons nurtured with these woods that created the possibility of a world: in marronage lies the search of a world.

Here we go again

Once a programmer knows one language, they can leverage concepts and knowledge already learned, and easily pick up another programming language. But is that always the case? To understand if programmers have difficulty learning additional programming languages, we conducted an empirical study of Stack Overflow questions across 18 different programming languages. We hypothesized that previous knowledge could potentially interfere with learning a new programming language. From our inspection of 450 Stack Overflow questions, we found 276 instances of interference that occurred due to faulty assumptions originating from knowledge about a different language. To understand why these difficulties occurred, we conducted semistructured interviews with 16 professional programmers. The interviews revealed that programmers make failed attempts to relate a new programming language with what they already know. Our findings inform design implications for technical authors, toolsmiths, and language designers, such as designing documentation and automated tools that reduce interference, anticipating uncommon language transitions during language design, and welcoming programmers not just into a language, but its entire ecosystem.

Can patients improve the quality of care they receive? Experimental evidence from Senegal.

Providers in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs) often fail to correctly diagnose and treat their patients, even though they have the clinical knowledge to do so. Against the backdrop of many failed attempts to increase provider effort, this study examines whether quality of care can be improved by encouraging patients to be more active during consultations. We design a simple experiment with undercover standardised patients who randomly vary how much information they disclose about their symptoms. We find that providers are 27% more likely to correctly manage a patient who volunteers several key symptoms of their condition at the start of the consultation, compared to a typical patient who shares less information. Lower performance in the control group is not due to providers' lack of knowledge, an incapacity to ask the right questions, or a response to time or resource constraints. Instead, providers' low motivation seems to limit their ability to adapt their effort to patients' inputs in the consultation. Our findings provide proof-of-concept evidence that interventions making patients more active in their consultations could significantly improve the quality of care in LMICs.

Examining braking behaviour during failed lane-changing attempts in a simulated connected environment with driving aids

This study examines braking behaviour of drivers assisted with driving aids in a connected environment compared to when they are driving without it during failed lane-changing attempts that often exerts more pressure on the immediate follower in the target lane in the form of hard decelerations, which increases crash risk. To achieve this aim, the CARRS-Q Advanced Driving Simulator is utilised, where 78 participants faced a failed-lane-changing attempt of a lane-changer from the adjacent lane into two randomised driving conditions: (a) baseline (without driving aids); and (b) connected environment (with driving aids). A descriptive analysis of braking profiles reveals decreased decelerations among drivers in the connected environment, compared to when they are driving in the baseline condition. To model braking behaviour, more specifically the time taken by drivers to reduce their initial speeds to the minimum speeds, a grouped random parameters hazard-based duration model is developed. Factors found to significantly impact the braking behaviour are initial speed, spacing, maximum deceleration, driving condition, driver age, and gender. The developed model reveals that drivers’ braking times may increase or decrease in the connected environment compared to those in the baseline condition. However, a majority of drivers in the connected environment tend to reduce speeds earlier with a lower deceleration rate, exhibiting smoother speed reductions and larger safety margins. A decision tree analysis reveals that middle-aged and male drivers take longer to reduce their speeds in the baseline condition but shorter in the connected environment. This study concludes that followers in the connected environment respond to failed lane-changing attempts more swiftly, thereby increasing safety margins.

Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Using Unique Composite Anterolateral and Fascia Lata Perforator Free Flap After Failed Attempts

Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Using Unique Composite Anterolateral and Fascia Lata Perforator Free Flap After Failed Attempts

Balloon-Assisted Retrograde Puncture of Distal Vessels in Patients Unsuitable for a Conventional Transpedal Approach

Purpose: To describe a novel bailout technique to approach below-the-knee chronic total occlusions after a failed bidirectional recanalization attempt using the plantar loop maneuver in patients who are poor candidates for a retrograde puncture. Technique: After a failure of recanalization of the opposite tibial artery using the plantar loop maneuver, an assisted direct retrograde transpedal approach can be performed regardless of poor vessel caliber or even arterial occlusion. After crossing the plantar arch, a low profile angioplasty balloon is used as a landmark for the pedal puncture and to give guidance for the wire advancement from the new access. Conclusion: A balloon-assisted retrograde transpedal approach may be considered for below-the-knee recanalization after standard plantar loop technique failure in patients who are not candidates for conventional retrograde puncture.

A Failed Attempt at Participatory Video With Takatāpui/LGBTIQ+ People Who Had Experienced Homelessness

This paper provides insights into a failed attempt at participatory video (PV). PV has long been favoured by researchers working with marginalised communities. However, there is limited discourse about when the method is and is not appropriate, and few published examples of when it has failed. It is important to critique research methods, and for researchers to be transparent about when research is not carried out as originally intended. Such reflection allows us to refine the methods we use and improve our research. This paper explores what a failed PV project with Takatāpui/LGBTIQ+ people who had experienced homelessness taught us about the stigmatised nature of both homelessness and LGBTQ+ identities. Furthermore, it shows how methods that do not allow for participants to maintain their anonymity are sometimes not the right choice when researching stigmatised issues.

Antegrade dissection of external iliac artery after failed attempt of common femoral artery chronic total occlusion angioplasty

Introduction. Endovascular treatment of chronic total occlusion (CTO) represents a true challenge even for experienced interventional radiologists. We are presenting a case of hidden antegrade dissection of the external iliac artery (EIA) after a failed attempt to recanalize CTO of the common femoral artery (CFA). Case outline. A 52-year-old male patient was admitted for multidetector computed tomography (CT) angiography. Left common iliac artery (CIA) stenting was performed, followed by ?crossover? attempt of recanalization of right CFA CTO that failed. The next day, left femoral superficial artery angioplasty was performed and after one month, angioplasty of the left popliteal and the bellow-knee arteries. A month later, the patient was readmitted for surgical reconstruction of the CFA. After desobstruction, excellent inflow was obtained and a Dacron graft was inserted. A few hours postoperatively, Fogarty catheter thrombectomy was performed. The next morning, pulsations were weakened again and CT angiography showed antegrade dissection of the EIA. Stenting of the EIA was performed with two stents and a favorable outcome was achieved. After a detailed analysis of the CT, hidden thrombosed antegrade dissection of the EIA was noted in the lateral view, which was not seen in the posterior/anterior view and was presented as fibrous plaque with mural thrombosis. Dissection occurred after failed attempt of CFA recanalization and was clinically silent until flow was established triggering opening of the false lumen and the release of thrombotic masses. Conclusion. In patients with failed angioplasty of CTO of the CFA and CT characteristics of fibrous plaque proximal to the site of attempted angioplasty, thrombosed antegrade dissection should be considered.

The Story of Croatian Bosnia: Mythos, Empire-Building Aspirations, or a Failed Attempt at National Integration?

The nineteenth-century processes of “nation-building” and national integration took place in the western regions of southeastern Europe against a distinctive backdrop. The formation of national self-images, the creation of a national self-definition, and indeed the emergence of any clear consensus on who constituted or should constitute a given national community proved daunting tasks for the multi-ethnic and multi-religious populations of southeastern Europe in the provinces of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. The essential contention of this inquiry is that religious and national identities are not clearly interrelated in southeastern Europe (much, indeed, as they are not clearly interrelated elsewhere). I offer, as a clear illustration of the untenability of religious identity as an adequate foundation for nation building, an examination of the case of Bosnia and the development of a sense of identity and national belonging among Bosnian Croats and Muslims. Even the case of the emergence of the modern Serbian and Croatian nations, often cited as archetypes of national identities which developed along religious fault lines, is not as clear as it often seems to be in the public mind. It was not the only possibility, but rather was merely one alternative, an alternative that was shaped as much by internal circumstances as by the prevailing foreign political situation: the emergence, meaning, and “content” of the nation can be interpreted as a response to these factors.

Transformation of the Lower Silesian Coal Basin - a failed experiment

The old 19th century industrial districts and basins played an essential role in shaping the growth processes in individual national economies of European countries as early as the beginning of the second half of the 20th century. The formation of the foundations of the new economy, in which knowledge begins to play the fundamental role, and the innovation closely related to it, at a fairly rapid pace, causes these areas to lose their importance. A large population with a predominance of traditional education, outdated and often worn-out infrastructure are the sources of their socio-economic problems. This situation also applied to the Lower Silesian Coal Basin, which operated in the vicinity of Wałbrzych and Nowa Ruda. The basin was characterised not only by obsolete and decapitalised components of fixed assets but also to its disadvantage was the peripheral location and an underdeveloped production and technological chain. In addition, the lack of an effective connection with the country (which, unfortunately, still applies today) and the borderland, as well as the location in a mountainous area, negatively affected the economic efficiency of this area. Even in the 1980s, a failed attempt was made to save the hard coal mining sector by merging the mines and the costly construction of the Copernicus collecting shaft. Along with the political and systemic transformation, a decision was automatically made to close the basin, and this process was euphemistically called restructuring. But in practice, it was reduced to the closure of mines and most of the coking plants (one is still operating today), which resulted in the collapse of many companies that operated for the mining industry. In mid-1998, coal mining was stopped, and in the following year, the mines located in the Lower Silesia Coal Basin were finally closed. It was the first closure of such a large area of economic activity in the realities of Polish economy. The activities that were undertaken during the closure of the basin were characterised by low effectiveness, fragmentation, and high variability of activities (even chaotic). After the closure, the area was left to fend for itself with overwhelming problems across all socio-economic dimensions. Currently, after more than thirty years, when characterising the effects of these activities, they should be clearly assessed as even tragic, in terms of society (enormous unemployment, pauperisation, community regression – this is where old coal pits were created on a massive scale), environment (secondary emission and spontaneous combustion of heaps, rising water levels or the penetration of gases from workings into basements of buildings) and economy (low entrepreneurship rate, an outflow of people to other cities, low level of productivity of the subregion, etc.). In recent years, positive phenomena have been observed in the region. However, both the pace and the scale are small, and, more importantly, their location is punctual and primarily concerns Wałbrzych. They are endogenous in nature, which indicates that with external help, it is possible to reverse negative trends. The aim of this paper is to assess the transformations that took place in the Wałbrzych subregion and were triggered by the liquidation of the Lower Silesian Coal Basin.