Full File Research Articles

Toward social media forensics through development of iOS analyzers for evidence collection and analysis

SummarySocial media usage in mobile phones has increased substantially in recent times, and they are a critically important source of a forensics investigation. In this paper, we have developed Python‐based forensic analyzers that are integrated with the open‐source tool Autopsy. The proposed analyzers find forensic artifacts from the three most widely used social media messaging applications, that is, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger. This research focuses on finding forensic artifacts stored by these social media applications on an iOS device. These analyzers extract data critical for a forensic investigation such as text messages, media attachments, sender and receiver details, timestamps, contact information, and other related forensics data from the full file system image of iOS devices. These Python‐based plugins extract the required data from the social media applications' databases and present the evidential artifacts in a human‐readable format. We integrated these analyzers into the Autopsy Forensics tool and showcased the gathered evidence so that investigators are capable to analyze the extracted information effortlessly. The data integrity is maintained by converting it into readable form without permanently altering the database format. The results prove that the proposed analyzers can successfully extract and analyze forensics data at a low computational overhead.

Librarian's perception of open access repository policy in Islamic State University Indonesia

Institutional repositories that universities mostly manage have an important role in publishing academic works to the public. Some Islamic State University Indonesia, implementing the institutional open access repository policy. The purpose this research to know librarian’s perception of open access repository policy in Islamic State University Indonesia. This study used the mixed-method approach which were analyzed descriptively. Participants were determined by area sampling and divided into four groups as a representation of the Islamic State University area in Indonesia. Resource persons were 10% of participants selected from 416 Islamic State University librarians (42 people). Result study showed that repository access patterns comprised three categories: full open access 63%, 35% patterns were access parts of documents, and 2% access to abstract and metadata. The presentation pattern of the Islamic State University Indonesia, repository data was dominated by one full file open for access. Islamic State University Indonesia, librarians' perception of OAR was based on their understanding of the OAR definition. They agreed that, appropriately, OAR should be free of charge and be used for other legal purposes. However, there were many differences in understanding other aspects. The aspect of the most debate between them was the obligation to open all documents; 30% of participants from librarians disagreed on this aspect. The correlations between librarian perceptions and patterns of OAR are apparent from the results: 65% of librarians agree with OA, and 63% of repositories implement full OAR. Conclusion this research are librarians' perceptions influence the implementation of open access repository policies.

THE FORMATION OF THE E-ARBITRATION AGREEMENT IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

To start with, the Internet and information technology have a practical influence on conflict resolution procedures: papers are instantly transferred to arbitrators at a low cost, and parties avoid paying travel expenditures. Electronic papers provide substantial benefits to arbitrators, particularly when the parties' submissions are voluminous, because they may do a keyword search without having to study the full file. Furthermore, arbitrators are already making extensive use of modern technologies. Aside from the regular usage of information technology (IT) equipment, the Internet has had a significant influence on dispute resolution methods. Although conventional alternative dispute resolution depended on interviews and meetings between plaintiffs and the arbitrator or mediator, the Internet increasingly facilitates distant conflict settlement.

Combined use of UV and MS data for ICH Stability-Indication Method: Quantification and isoforms identification of intact nivolumab

Nivolumab (Opdivo®) is a fully human immunoglobulin G4 isotype approved for the treatment of many cancers. It acts as an immune checkpoint inhibitor by blocking the interaction between PD-1 (Programmed Cell Death Protein 1) – an inhibitory receptor expressed on activated T cells- and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2. The quantification of therapeutic proteins in their medicines and pharmaceutical preparations remains challenging because the protein content, a critical quality attribute, must be rigorously calculated using a validated stability-indicating method, such as that indicated by the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) quality guidelines, and this requires the analysis of the drug in the presence of its degraded products. In this work, we present an strategy based on the combined use of the UV and MS data to full file the requirement of the ICH-Q2(R1) to develop and validated as stability indicated a (RP)UHPLC/UV-(HESI/Orbitrap™)MS method for the quantification of nivolumab in medicinal products. A comparative study of all figures of merit of the method using UV or MS data are shown and discussed. The results show that linearity was similar for the two detectors and was established over a range of 4–45 μg/mL and 1–45 μg/mL for the UV and (HESI/Orbitrap™)MS signals, respectively. The sensitivity of the method was higher when using the (HESI/Orbitrap™)MS signal (0.2 μg/mL) than with the UV(2.0 μg/mL). However, the UV signal provided better accuracy and precision than the (HESI/Orbitrap™)MS signal, which did not meet the criteria for method robustness and system suitability. In spite of this, the MS signal plays a crucial role in this methodology by obtaining the molecular weight profile of the nivolumab isoforms, so enabling us to propose the glycans profile and detect structural modification due to degradation. The specificity of the method was evaluated by conducting forced degradation tests on samples of nivolumab in medicine form. The aim was to find out whether nivolumab suffers structural modifications when subject to stress. Structural modifications were detected by analysing the MS isoform profile, as changes of this kind promote new isoforms that are not chromatographically separated or detected by the UV signal. In this way, we demonstrated that the (RP)UHPLC/UV-(HESI/Orbitrap™)MS method was capable of detecting nivolumab degradation, and was suitable for use in nivolumab stability studies. Thus, the protein content in the daily surplus of the Opdivo® medicine, stored either at room temperature (20 °C) or refrigerated at 4 °C, could be tracked for 15 days.

Abstract P3-19-01: CANTO RT: The largest prospective multicenter cohort of early breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy including full DICOM RT data

Abstract Purpose: In this paper, we describe the methodology used, and provide a first characterization of the study population and radiotherapy (RT) data in CANTO-RT (CANcer TOxicities Radiotherapy), the largest available multicenter prospective cohort of early breast cancer (BC) patients treated with RT that aims to identify predictors of development, and persistence of long-term toxicities. Methods: CANTO (NCT01993498) is a French prospective clinical cohort study of 10 150 patients with stage I-III BC from 26 cancer centers. Patients matching all CANTO inclusion and exclusion criteria, who received RT and were still in follow up, in the 10 top recruiting CANTO centers, with a minimum follow up of 3 years, were selected for CANTO-RT. Eligible patients had breast/chest wall +/- lymph node RT with curative intent. Individual full DICOM RT files (CT, RT Structure, RT Dose, RT Plan) were collected, anonymized, structured and analyzed on the CANTO-RT/UNITRAD web platform using AQUILAB Share Place™ and Analytics Dose module. Characteristics of the patients and tumors (including TNM, histology, HER2, estrogen and progesterone receptor) were recorded at baseline. Characteristics of the treatments, skin, lung, cardiovascular, neurological, musculoskeletal toxicities (CTCAE v4.0), QOL (BR23, QLQC30), cosmetic, and oncological outcomes were assessed at diagnosis (baseline), 3-6 (M0), 12 (M12), 36 (M36) and 60 (M60) months after completion of primary surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy whichever came last together, with blood, plasma and serum tests. Results: CANTO-RT enrolled 3875 BC patients between June 2012 and February 2017 with a median follow-up of 64 months :1947 (50.2%) left side, 1850 (47.8%) right side and 78 (2%) bilateral BC. The vast majority of patients had hormone receptor-positive tumors 3321 (85.7%) and 553 (14.3%) had human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) positive tumors; 2586 (66.7%) had stage pT1 and 2525 (65.2%) pN0 disease; 2087 (53.8%) neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy, 477 (12.3%) adjuvant trastuzumab and 3138 (81%) adjuvant endocrine therapy. Among 3797 patients with unilateral RT, 3065 (80.4%) had breast conserving surgery, 747 (19.6%) total mastectomy; 2712 (71.5%) sentinel node and 1080 (28.5%) axillary dissection. Tumor bed boost was delivered in 2658 patients (68.5%) and lymph node RT in 1356 patients (35%) including internal mammary chain in 844 patients (21.8%). Most patients 3691 (95.3%) were treated with 3D conformal RT and 184 (4.7%) with intensity-modulated RT. Normofractionated RT (2Gy/fraction) was mostly used (69.9%). Clinical target (breast, chest wall, lymph nodes) and contoured organs at risk (heart, left anterior descending coronary, lung, spinal cord, esophagus, thyroid, brachial plexus, contralateral breast, humeral head) contours and dose/volume histograms were automatically extracted after quality control procedure excluding corrupted files and inconsistencies 36 (1%) (Table 1). Conclusion: CANTO-RT is the largest early breast cancer prospective cohort with full individual clinical and DICOM RT data available. CANTO-RT is a valuable resource, open for collaborative projects, for identification and validation of clinical and dosimetric predictive factors of RT related toxicities. Further long term follow up is ongoing. Table 1.Baseline characteristics of the CANTO RT breast cancer patients.CharacteristicsBreast Cancer Patients [N(%) or Mean (range)]Age at enrolmentMean (range), years56.5 (23.3-85.8)Tumour size (pT)T037 (1)T12586 (66.7)T21058 (27.3)T3177 (4.6)Missing17 (0.4)Nodal status (pN)02525 (65.2)11035 (26.7)2223 (5.8)379 (2)Missing13 (0.3)Tumour histologyInfiltrating Ductal3011 (77.7)Lobular473 (12.2)Others (including mixed)381 (9.8)Missing10 (0.3)Hormone Receptors positiveNegative541 (14)Positive3321 (85.7)Missing13 (0.3)HER2Negative3305 (85.3)Positive553 (14.3)Missing17 (0.4)Type of chemotherapyNo chemotherapy1788 (46.1)Neoadjuvant chemotherapy450 (11.6)Adjuvant chemotherapy1629 (42)Peri-adjuvant chemotherapy (neo + adjuvant)8 (0.2)Hormonal therapyNo730 (18.8)Yes3138 (81)Missing7 (0.2)Herceptin treatmentNo or Not applicable3378 (87.2)Yes477 (12.3)Missing20 (0.5)Type of breast surgerylumpectomy3113 (80.3)Mastectomy734 (18.9)Right lumpectomy and Left mastectomy13 (0.3)Right mastectomy and Left lumpectomy9 (0.2)None6 (0.2)Type of lymph node surgerySentinel node2746 (70.9)Axillary dissection1086 (28)Right sentinel node, Left axillary dissection20 (0.5)Right axillary dissection, left sentinel node12 (0.3)None11 (0.3)Radiation therapyRight Side1850 (47.8)Left Side1947 (50.2)Bilateral78 (2.0)Patients with boostNo or Not applicable1217 (31.4)Yes2658 (68.6)Lymph node levels treatedNone2519 (65)Yes1356 (35)Level 1284 (20.9)Level 2340 (25.1)Level 31072 (79.1)Level 41348 (99.4)Internal mammary chain844 (62.2)Irradiation techniques3D3691 (95.3)IMRT184 (4.7)Fractionation regimensNormofractionation 25-fractions2707 (69.9)Hypofractionation 15-16 fractions166 (4.3)Hypofractionation and Partial breast irradiation51 (1.3)Unspecified fractionation - CTV breast or chest wall not delineated951 (24.5) Citation Format: Thomas Sarrade, Rodrigue Allodji, Youssef Ghannam, Guillaume Auzac, Sibille Everhard, Ophélie Querel, Youlia Kirova, Karine Peignaux, Philippe Guilbert, Claire Charra-Brunaud, Julien Blanchecotte, Rezart Belshi, David Pasquier, Séverine Racadot, Céline Bourgier, Sandrine Ducornet, David Gibon, Fabrice André, Florent De Vathaire, Sofia Rivera. CANTO RT: The largest prospective multicenter cohort of early breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy including full DICOM RT data [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-19-01.

Small-Molecule Lead-Finding Trends across the Roche and Genentech Research Organizations.

The origin of small-molecule leads that were pursued across the independent research organizations Roche and Genentech from 2009 to 2020 is described. The identified chemical series are derived from a variety of lead-finding methods, which include public information, high-throughput screening (both full file and focused), fragment-based design, DNA-encoded library technology, use of legacy internal data, in-licensing, and de novo design (often structure-based). The translation of the lead series into in vivo tool compounds and development candidates is discussed as are the associated biological target classes and corresponding therapeutic areas. These analyses identify important trends regarding the various lead-finding approaches, which will likely impact their future application in the Roche and Genentech research groups. They also highlight commonalities and differences across the two independent research organizations. Several caveats associated with the employed data collection and analysis methodologies are included to enhance the interpretation of the presented information.

Reciprocial movements of endodontic files - simpler and more certain therapeutic procedure

Numerous technological solutions in recent years have significantly improved the cleaning and shaping of canals and made canal instrumentation simpler, more efficient and safer. Significantly faster and less stressful canal instrumentation for the therapist is enabled by the specific design of the file working part and a special thermal modification of NiTi alloy with a change in the movement dynamics of the file in the canal. Research has shown that the problem of cyclic fatigue and torsional stress of the file during canal preparation can be solved by changing usual continuous rotation of the file. Dental technology has introduced the technique of reciprocal movements as an alternative to full file rotation. This change in file rotation direction during instrumentation, based on the technique of balanced forces, significantly reduces contact surface with the canal wall, eliminates the effect of screwing, extends the life of the file and further increases safety of instrumentation of different canal systems. An important advantage of changing the usual dynamics of file movements is that the concept of reciprocal movements is based on the use of only one file, which in addition to shortening treatment time also makes this intervention safer and with significantly lower percentage of defects and fractures of NiTi files. The aim of this paper was to present the concept of canal instrumentation with NiTi files with reciprocal movements as well as development, properties and possibility of application of these files in different clinical situations.

Timestamp prefix carving for filesystem metadata extraction

While file carving is a popular and effective method for extracting file content from unallocated space in a forensic image, it can be time consuming to carve for the wide variety of possible file signatures. Furthermore, file carving does not connect the discovered file to its filesystem metadata. These limitations of file carving are the advantages of Generic Metadata Time Carving, in which filesystem metadata is searched for by first finding repeated co-located timestamps using a potential timestamp carving algorithm. The potential metadata is verified by a filesystem specific parser, and the pointer within the metadata to the file data may allow for full file recovery. Currently, a limitation of the Generic Metadata Time Carving method is that it will only find metadata records that have multiple equivalent timestamps, thus missing metadata records and files with differing, but very similar, timestamps. Therefore, in order to improve the recall of the Generic Metadata Time Carving methodology, we have designed and implemented a prefix matching potential timestamp carving algorithm. We apply our experiments to realistic NTFS and Ext4 forensic images, in which we compare the precision and recall results for differing prefix lengths. Our results indicate that using prefix-based potential timestamp carving can yield significantly greater recall for extracting filesystem metadata records, with little to no reduction in precision as compared to the original exact potential timestamp carving method.

Internet of Food (IoF), Tailor-Made Metal Oxide Gas Sensors to Support Tea Supply Chain.

Tea is the second most consumed beverage, and its aroma, determined by volatile compounds (VOCs) present in leaves or developed during the processing stages, has a great influence on the final quality. The goal of this study is to determine the volatilome of different types of tea to provide a competitive tool in terms of time and costs to recognize and enhance the quality of the product in the food chain. Analyzed samples are representative of the three major types of tea: black, green, and white. VOCs were studied in parallel with different technologies and methods: gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer and solid phase microextraction (SPME-GC-MS) and a device called small sensor system, (S3). S3 is made up of tailor-made metal oxide gas sensors, whose operating principle is based on the variation of sensor resistance based on volatiloma exposure. The data obtained were processed through multivariate statistics, showing the full file of the pre-established aim. From the results obtained, it is understood how supportive an innovative technology can be, remotely controllable supported by machine learning (IoF), aimed in the future at increasing food safety along the entire production chain, as an early warning system for possible microbiological or chemical contamination.

Text File Privacy on the Cloud Based on Diagonal Fragmentation and Encryption

Despite the growing reliance on cloud services and software, privacy is somewhat difficult. We store our data on remote servers in cloud environments that are untrusted. If we do not handle the stored data well, data privacy can be violated with no awareness on our part. Although it requires expensive computation, encrypting the data before sending it appears to be a solution to this problem. So far, all known solutions to protect textual files using encryption algorithms fell short of privacy expectations. Thus is because encrypting cannot stand by itself. The encrypted data on the cloud server becomes full file in the hand causing the privacy of this data to be intrusion-prone, thus allowing intruders to access the file data once they can decrypt it. This study aimed to develop an effective cloud confidentiality model based on combining fragmentation and encryption of text files to compensate for reported deficiency in encryption methods. The fragmentation method used the strategy of dividing text files into two triangles through the axis. Whereas the encryption method used the Blowfish algorithm. The research concluded that high confidentiality is achieved by building a multi-layer model: encryption, chunk, and fragmentation of every chunk to prevent intruders from reaching the data even if they were able to decrypt the file. Using the privacy accuracy equation (developed for the purpose in this research), the model achieved accuracy levels of 96% and 90% when using 100 and 200 words in each chunk on small, medium, and large files respectively.

EVALUATION OF RDW, MPV, PLATELET LABORATORY PARAMETERS IN PROSTATE CANCER PATIENTS ADMITTING TO EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT WITH HEMATURIA

Abstract:Prostate Cancer (PCA) is the most common among urological malignant tumors. Prostate cancer patients may be unable to urinate, and may have hospital admissions with symptoms like erectile dysfunction or hematuria. Although hematuria is a highly common clinical manifestation in the society, the frequency of it is not known in prostate cancer patients, which is one of the urological malignancies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation of RDW (distribution width of the red blood cells), MPV (mean platelet volüme) and Platelet Blood Parameters with hematuria in prostate cancer patients admitting to the emergency clinic with hematuria. The present study was conducted retrospectively by examining the hospital automation system and patient files of prostate cancer patients admitting with hematuria between 01.01.2018-01.01.2020 to Yozgat Bozok University Emergency Medical Clinic. A total of 60 patients with full files and that matched study criteria were included in the study. For the purpose of comparing blood parameters for the purpose of comparing blood parameters, 45 patients with prostate cancer, nonspecific complaints and non-additional diseases were evaluated as the control group. MPV (mean platelet volume), RDW-CV (red blood cells distribution width) blood parameters of patients with prostate cancer hematuria were found to be significantly higher in the control group. Platelet value of the patient group was found to be significantly lower than the control group. However, the platelet blood parameter values were significantly lower in patients with major hematuria than in patients with minor hematuria (<0.05). According to the results of the present study, we believe that all the three parameters (RDW, MPV and Platelet levels), which can be measured in full blood count in the prostate cancer patient group in particular, can guide clinicians that the finding of hematuria can develop, and will be beneficial in follow-up and treatment. However, unlike RDW and MPV laboratory parameters, we think the Platelet parameter is an important parameter in predicting the type of hematuria that can develop.

JASTE 11.1 - School Science - University Collaboration Towards Students' Critical & Altruistic Civic Actions

The full downloadable pdf file of JASTE 11.1 is provided here. This document can be printed and distributed as a magazine to many stakeholders regarding relationships among fields of science & technology and societies & environments. This issue of JASTE is the third mainly school-based issue focusing on students' educated research-informed and negotiated action projects to overcom harms they perceive in relationships among fields of science & technology and societies & environments (STSE).

Corpos Tatuados

Este artigo tem por objetivo apresentar vivências e significados de tatuagens a partir de narrativas de sujeitos adultos e idosos, com base em uma abordagem interdisciplinar. Questionamos: do culto ao corpo jovem, da exigência do labor do corpo adulto e da hipervigilância do corpo envelhecido, qual a significação do corpo tatuado em idades tão díspares? Realizamos uma descrição das narrativas de adultos e idosos com corpos tatuados a partir de um desenho de pesquisa qualitativa. Participaram da pesquisa 15 adultos com idades entre 22 e 67 anos em duas capitais brasileiras, Salvador e São Paulo. Entre as ideias conclusivas estão, de um lado, a tatuagem como metamorfose, liberdade e afirmação de si e, de outro, significações que ressaltam a tatuagem como desejo de memória em completude, uma forma de fazer do corpo lugar de arquivo ou o próprio corpo como arquivo de memória completa.

Selective end-to-end data-sharing in the cloud

Cloud-based services, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or Nextcloud, enable easy-to-use data-sharing between multiple parties, and, therefore, have been widely adopted over the last decade. Nevertheless, privacy challenges hamper their adoption for sensitive data: (1) rather than exposing their private data to a cloud service, users desire end-to-end confidentiality of the shared files without sacrificing usability, e.g., without repeatedly encrypting when sharing the same data set with multiple receivers. (2) Only being able to share full (authenticated) files may force users to expose overmuch information if the data set has not been exactly tailored to the receiver’s needs at issue-time. This gap can be bridged by enabling cloud services to selectively disclose only relevant parts of a file without breaking the parts’ authenticity. While both challenges have been solved individually, it is not trivial to combine these solutions and maintain their security intentions. In this paper, we tackle this issue and introduce selective end-to-end data-sharing by combining ideas from proxy re-encryption (for end-to-end encrypted sharing) and redactable signature schemes (to selectively disclose a subset of still authenticated parts). We overcome the issues encountered when naively combining these two concepts, introduce a security model, and present a modular instantiation together with implementations based on a selection of various building blocks. We give an extensive performance evaluation of our instantiation and conclude with example applications.

Geoweaver: Advanced Cyberinfrastructure for Managing Hybrid Geoscientific AI Workflows

AI (artificial intelligence)-based analysis of geospatial data has gained a lot of attention. Geospatial datasets are multi-dimensional; have spatiotemporal context; exist in disparate formats; and require sophisticated AI workflows that include not only the AI algorithm training and testing, but also data preprocessing and result post-processing. This complexity poses a huge challenge when it comes to full-stack AI workflow management, as researchers often use an assortment of time-intensive manual operations to manage their projects. However, none of the existing workflow management software provides a satisfying solution on hybrid resources, full file access, data flow, code control, and provenance. This paper introduces a new system named Geoweaver to improve the efficiency of full-stack AI workflow management. It supports linking all the preprocessing, AI training and testing, and post-processing steps into a single automated workflow. To demonstrate its utility, we present a use case in which Geoweaver manages end-to-end deep learning for in-time crop mapping using Landsat data. We show how Geoweaver effectively removes the tedium of managing various scripts, code, libraries, Jupyter Notebooks, datasets, servers, and platforms, greatly reducing the time, cost, and effort researchers must spend on such AI-based workflows. The concepts demonstrated through Geoweaver serve as an important building block in the future of cyberinfrastructure for AI research.

Cache-Aided Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access for 5G-Enabled Vehicular Networks

The increasing demand for rich multimedia services and the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) pose challenging requirements for the next-generation vehicular networks. Such challenges are largely related to high spectral efficiency and low latency requirements in the context of massive content delivery and increased connectivity. In this respect, caching and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) paradigms have been recently proposed as potential solutions to effectively address some of these key challenges. In this paper, we introduce cache-aided NOMA as an enabling technology for vehicular networks. In this context, we first consider the full file caching case, where each vehicle caches and requests entire files using the NOMA principle. Without loss of generality, we consider a two-user vehicular network communication scenario under double Nakagami $\text{-}m$ fading conditions and propose an optimum power allocation policy. To this end, an optimization problem that maximizes the overall probability of successful decoding of files at each vehicle is formulated and solved. Furthermore, we consider the case of split file caching, where each file is divided into two parts. A joint power allocation optimization problem is formulated, where power allocation across vehicles and cached split files is investigated. The offered analytic results are corroborated by extensive results from computer simulations and interesting insights are developed. Indicatively, it is shown that the proposed caching-aided NOMA outperforms the conventional NOMA technique.

The Consumption of Adoption and Adoptees in American Middlebrow Culture

The Consumption of Adoption and Adoptees in American Middlebrow Culture Kimberly McKee (bio) Fraudulent practices are intertwined with modern adoption. From its early beginnings, and the rise of black market and gray market adoptions (Winslow), to coercive unethical practices to encourage birth mothers to relinquish their children (Siegal; Joyce), adoption cannot be understood simply as a benevolent practice of family formation. Modern adoption involves obscuring the biological biographical details of the adoptee (e.g., sealed birth records in domestic adoption; preventing adoptees from reviewing their full file in international adoption) (Modell; Terrell and Modell; Berebitsky; Herman), as well as other methods to make children more marketable in the adoption economy (Riben; McKee, "Monetary Flows"; Raleigh, "Assortative Adoption Marketplace"). Adoption files, thus, are an important technology crafted to facilitate twentieth and twenty-first century adoptions. Consequently, adoptees' lived experiences are highly mediated and reliant on the generosity of orphanage and/or adoption agencies in disclosing all information, as opposed to selecting what information to share with adoptees or their families upon adoption completion or when adoptees seek medical information and search for their biological families. The misinformation associated with adoption reflects popular media and mainstream society's investment in producing a stock story for adoption—the loving family rescuing a pitiful orphan—even when this story elides truths about caring birth families or abusive adoptive families. This is not to say that instances of fraud, deception, violence, or other unethical practices are not documented; rather, the public's reaction to these practices remains uneven, and while some agencies or adoption programs may close, others spring up to fill the gap (Siegal; Joyce; Winslow). Frequently, the stories that garner media attention are sensationalized, but not all unethical adoption practices are given equal scrutiny. For example, when additional safeguards are implemented to protect the rights of children and birth parents, adoptive parents often bemoan that these new regulations hinder the [End Page 669] speed at which they can complete their adoptions in case countries suspend adoption programs (Raleigh, Selling Transracial Adoption). Such suspensions also result in headlines speculating on the precipitous decline of international adoptions, with little or no nuance concerning why regulations are implemented (Greenblatt; Mann; Voigt and Brown). The movement toward more stringent requirements that protect both adoptees' and birth parents' rights comes after well-known documented cases of fraud, deception, abuse, and other unethical or otherwise dubious practices.1 The desire to protect the rights of all parties involved—and not just adoptive parents—is part of broader conversations within Adoption Studies and among supporters of birth family rights concerning adoption as a reproductive justice issue that emphasizes family preservation (H. Kim, Birth Mothers; McKee, "Adoption as Reproductive Justice"; Bae). This is not to say that this conversation places a primacy on biological families, or that it suggests violence is absent from biological families; rather, it acknowledges the violence of love associated with adoption in light of the multiple losses it inflicts on birth families and adoptees (Myers), as well as the fraudulent and deceptive practices associated with the adoption industry. Good intentions are not sufficient in remedying the lifelong implications of adoption in the lives of all parties involved. Interested in how the media engages instances of fraud within adoption, as well as how adoptees negotiate the practices that led to their adoptions, this essay explores the reunion of Korean adoptee twins Samantha Futerman and Anaïs Bordier. I also interrogate the broader societal and historical conditions of international Korean adoption that made their separation possible. Adopted from South Korea, Futerman entered an American family and Bordier entered a French family. Only in adulthood did the events that led to their reunion transpire, when Bordier's friend informed her that he saw a girl who looked exactly like her in a YouTube video. Their reunion and return to South Korea are presented in Twinsters (2015), a documentary released on Netflix that gained popularity in the mainstream and within the Korean adoptee community. News outlets featured the pair as a special interest story because they are one of the few known pairs of twins adopted to different families in South Korea's over sixty-year participation in adoption.2 The...

AFRESh: an adaptive framework for compression of reads and assembled sequences with random access functionality.

The past decade has seen the introduction of new technologies that lowered the cost of genomic sequencing increasingly. We can even observe that the cost of sequencing is dropping significantly faster than the cost of storage and transmission. The latter motivates a need for continuous improvements in the area of genomic data compression, not only at the level of effectiveness (compression rate), but also at the level of functionality (e.g. random access), configurability (effectiveness versus complexity, coding tool set …) and versatility (support for both sequenced reads and assembled sequences). In that regard, we can point out that current approaches mostly do not support random access, requiring full files to be transmitted, and that current approaches are restricted to either read or sequence compression. We propose AFRESh, an adaptive framework for no-reference compression of genomic data with random access functionality, targeting the effective representation of the raw genomic symbol streams of both reads and assembled sequences. AFRESh makes use of a configurable set of prediction and encoding tools, extended by a Context-Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding scheme (CABAC), to compress raw genetic codes. To the best of our knowledge, our paper is the first to describe an effective implementation CABAC outside of its' original application. By applying CABAC, the compression effectiveness improves by up to 19% for assembled sequences and up to 62% for reads. By applying AFRESh to the genomic symbols of the MPEG genomic compression test set for reads, a compression gain is achieved of up to 51% compared to SCALCE, 42% compared to LFQC and 44% compared to ORCOM. When comparing to generic compression approaches, a compression gain is achieved of up to 41% compared to GNU Gzip and 22% compared to 7-Zip at the Ultra setting. Additionaly, when compressing assembled sequences of the Human Genome, a compression gain is achieved up to 34% compared to GNU Gzip and 16% compared to 7-Zip at the Ultra setting. A Windows executable version can be downloaded at https://github.com/tparidae/AFresh . tom.paridaens@ugent.be.

Artful Dodgers: The Role of Unreliable Narrators in the Production of Authorized Histories and Assessments of Young People in Conflict with the Law

ABSTRACTThis article argues that pre-sentence reports for youth courts are co-authored by at least two unreliable narrators: the defendant and the youth justice worker. The production of an objective professional assessment for sentencing purposes is therefore a convenient fiction in which key actors collude. Such reports do not only seek to provide narrative explanations of past actions, but also shape future sentencing decisions and other outcomes that can either be helpful or harmful to service users. Full case files, meanwhile, contain documents that reveal less orderly and more challenging narratives from the margins.

Monte Carlo calculations of an Elekta Precise SL-25 photon beam model

AbstractBackgroundMonte Carlo (MC) simulations have been used extensively for benchmarking photon dose calculations in modern radiotherapy using linear accelerators (linacs). Moreover, a major barrier to widespread clinical implementation of MC dose calculation is the difficulty in characterising the radiation source using data reported from manufacturers.PurposeThis work aims to develop a generalised full MC histogram source model of an Elekta Precise SL-25 linac (electron exit window, target, flattening filter, monitor chambers and collimators) for 6 MV photon beams used in standard therapies. The inclusion of many different probability processes such as scatter, nuclear reactions, decay, capture cross-sections and more led to more realistic dose calculations in treatment planning and quality assurance.Materials and methodsTwo different codes, MCNPX 2·6 and EGSr-BEAM, were used for the calculation of particle transport, first in the geometry of the internal/external accelerator source, and then followed by tracking the transport and energy deposition in phantom-equivalent tissues. A full phase space file was scored directly above the upper multilayer collimator’s jaws to derive the beam characteristics such as planar fluence, angular distribution and energy spectrum. To check the quality of the generated photon beam, its depth dose curves and cross-beam profiles were calculated and compared with measured data.ResultsIn-field dose distributions calculated using the accelerator models were tuned to match measurement data with preliminary calculations performed using the accelerator information provided by the manufacturer. Field sizes of 3×3, 5×5, 10×10, 15×15 and 20×20 cm2were analysed. Local differences between calculated and measured curve doses beneath 2% were obtained for all the studied field sizes. Higher discrepancies were obtained in the air–water interface, where measurements of dose distributions with the ionisation chamber need to be shifted for the effective point of measurement.ConclusionThe agreements between MC-calculated and measured dose distributions were excellent for both codes, showing the strength and stability of the proposed model. Beam reconstruction methods as direct input to dose-calculation codes using the recorded histograms can be implemented for more accurate patient dose estimation.