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Accountability is central for accelerating progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It means to hold powerful actors answerable for how they turn agreements into action. Governments, who hold the main responsibility for SDG implementation, can in the ideal case be held accountable by voters, parliaments, civil society, and the media, for how they address the SDGs. At th
This study analyzes how violent conflict influences taxation in a poor, conflict-affected country, Burkina Faso. We use a unique, large, and representative panel dataset on tax collection of firms between 2015 and 2022 and geographically match these data with indicators of violent conflict at the municipal level. We find that firms pay a lower amount of tax in areas affected by violence. We also f
Dating the bottommost section of an ice core is often complicated by strong layer thinning and possible disturbances in the stratigraphy. The radioactive decay of atmospherically produced 36Cl and 10Be can provide age estimates, where traditional methods can no longer be used. In this study, we investigated ice from the bottom of the Skytrain ice core, which was drilled in West Antarctica next to
Ice cores are unique archives of paleo-climate information and require accurate dating for its interpretation. Continuous chronologies are usually based on time markers, stratigraphic matching, and orbital tuning, but often end several meters above bedrock, because extreme thinning and sometimes disturbances in the stratigraphy complicate the identification of climate signals and their alignment w
Purpose: Positron emission tomography (PET) is increasingly used in neuro-oncology. However, little is known about its application across European institutions and reasons for variable implementation. Methods: Between June and August 2024, members of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer - Brain Tumour Group (EORTC-BTG) completed a cross-sectional online survey on PET use
A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a real-time system that converts a user’s brain activity into commands, enabling control over applications such as moving a cursor on the screen. This conversion is made possible by machine learning techniques and other algorithms. Historically, BCI research has focused on the analysis of brain signals offline. However, increasing computational power and algorit
Black carbon (BC) is produced by incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels and is released as aerosols to the atmosphere with effects on the climate, environment, and human health. Current BC emissions are well monitored in many parts of the world. However, the geographical coverage is limited, and historical records of BC accumulation are still scarce. Here we present a quantification of
In an era of global migration, where public discourse often assumes that migrants lack exposure to and command of local majority language(s), it is a crucial research task to understand how migrants learn and use new languages in their everyday lives. This study provides empirical evidence about the quantity and nature of everyday language exposure and use (LEU) among migrants in Sweden. Using the
We present a generic way to obtain level lower bounds for (promise) CSP hierarchies from degree lower bounds for algebraic proof systems. More specifically, we show that pseudo-reduction operators in the sense of Alekhnovich and Razborov [Proc. Steklov Inst. Math. 2003] can be used to fool the cohomological k-consistency algorithm. As applications, we prove optimal level lower bounds for c vs. ℓ-c
We present a stopping condition to the duality based distributed optimization algorithm presented in [1] when used in a distributed model predictive control (DMPC) context. To enable distributed implementation, the optimization problem has neither terminal constraints nor terminal cost that has become standard in model predictive control (MPC). The developed stopping condition guarantees a prespec
System-theoretical methods are already used for the control of computing systems, but much more can be done exploiting said methods for their design. This requires to express in control-theoretical terms desires and specifications that originate in the computer science do- main, which may not be immediate. It also requires to accept that part of the addressed system be modified, which may pose som
OBJECTIVE: Systemic administration of immunotherapeutics often gives rise to severe side effects. A local deposition, using secretory lysosomes of hematopoietic cells as vehicles for delivery, can overcome this problem. In the present study, the validity of this concept was investigated using retroviral transduction of the human soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor 1 (hsTNFR1) into murine
Microdosing is a new concept in drug development that-if implemented in the pharmaceutical industry-would mean that new drugs can be tested earlier in humans than done today. The human microdosing concept-or 'Phase 0'-may offer improved candidate selection, reduced failure rates in the drug development line and a reduction in the use of laboratory animals in early drug development, factors which w
Stochastic optimal power flow can provide the system operator with adequate strategies for controlling the power flow to maintain secure operation under stochastic parameter variations. One limitation of stochastic optimal power flow has been that only line flows have been used as security constraints. In many systems voltage stability and small-signal stability also play an important role in constrai
We derive an analytic solution to the problem of fixed-time trajectory generation with a quadratic cost function under velocity and acceleration constraints. This problem has a wide range of applications within motion planning. The advantage of the analytic solution compared to numerical optimization of the discretized problem is the unlimited resolution of the solution and the efficiency of the c
Separable Lyapunov functions play vital roles, for example, in stability analysis of large-scale systems. A Lyapunov function is called max-separable if it can be decomposed into a maximum of functions with one-dimensional arguments. Similarly, it is called sum-separable if it is a sum of such functions. In this paper it is shown that for a monotone system on a compact state space, asymptotic stab
In this paper, nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) is applied to the start-up of a combined-cycle power plant. An object-oriented first-principle model library expressed in the high-level language Modelica has been written for the plant and used to set up the simulation and optimization models. The NMPC optimization problems are both encoded, using a high-level notation, and solved in the op
Autonomic computing was proposed as a promising solution to overcome the complexity of modern systems, which is causing management operations to become increasingly difficult for human beings. This work proposes the Adaptation Manager, a comprehensive framework to implement autonomic managers capable of pursuing some of the objectives of autonomic computing (i.e., self-optimization and self-healin
