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Network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) are popular tools to defend local networks against attacks. These systems monitor the network traffic and flag suspicious behavior. Rule-based NIDS do that by checking the network traffic against a set of rules, which become obsolete as attackers learn new strategies to circumvent existing defenses. This article proposes synthesis of suricata rules (Syrius), a novel approach to synthesize rules for rule-based NIDS. Syrius leverages malicious (positive) and benign (negative) traffic to create rules for new attacks. Syrius is organized as a pipeline of three components to 1) create an overspecified seed rule, 2) derive plausible rules from the seed, and 3) rank plausible rules. We evaluated Syrius against a set of 21 network attacks with various characteristics. Syrius was capable of generating the correct rule among the top-3 and top-1 rules of the ranking, respectively, in 80.1% and 47.6% of the cases.

The article analyzes the main components of cyber threats in the developed automated information system for assessing and predicting cyber threats on sea vessels under the flag of the Russian Federation. The following components of cyber threats were listed: subjects of cyber threats, motives of cybercriminals, tasks and goals of cybercriminals, vulnerable ship systems, prerequisites for executing cyber threats, types of cyber threats, stages of a cyber-attack. The examples of the cyber-threat components are given. The possibility of making operational changes to the main components of cyber threats conditioned by the development of the shipping industries and progress of information technologies and cyber threats has been substantiated

Immune checkpoint therapy has provided a weapon against cancer, but its response rate has been extremely low due to the lack of effective predictors. Herein, we developed a F RET strategy based on l ectin for glycan labeling and an a ptamer for PD-L1 antigen recognition for visualization of PD-L1-specific g lycosylation (FLAG). The FLAG strategy combines the PD-L1 aptamer, which efficiently labels the PD-L1 polyantigen with smaller steric hindrance than the PD-L1 antibody, and metabolism-free lectin labeling for glycosylation. As a result, the FLAG strategy enables in situ visualization of PD-L1-specific glycosylation on the tissue section while maintaining the spatial context and tissue architecture. Due to nonmetabolic labeling, the FLAG strategy revealed that the tissue level of PD-L1-specific glycosylation is correlated with the efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. Overall, the FLAG strategy provides a powerful tool for revealing the significance of PD-L1 glycosylation, offering the unprecedented potential for immunophenotypic differential analysis to predict the immunotherapy response.

On August 15, 1962, an agreement was signed by the representatives of the Red Flag Canal users from two counties in China. Since then, it has enabled people from both counties to share canal benefits, and as such ably become a cornerstone for a peaceful canal culture between the two peoples. The agreement and its making process were both initiated by Yang Gui (杨贵), the top leader of one of the two counties who masterminded the Red Flag Canal project. In explaining his motivation, Yang Gui stated, “We are building the Red Flag Canal for posterity; we must do everything we can to save posterity the trouble.” However, just what “the trouble” he perceived was, who the troublemaker he thought would be, and why he was confident that a bilateral agreement could serve the noble goal “to save posterity the trouble”, Yang Gui did not say, neither did he leave any record. In this article, we report our aspiration and endeavor to fill this knowledge gap, and present fresh discoveries and insights we derived from examining this instance through a CPR lens—an eclectic collection of economic constructs of common-pool resources (CPRs). The article is the fourth in a mini-series on the Red Flag Canal, one of the best kept secrets in the history of socio-ecological practice.

In this article, we propose FLAG for flexible, accurate, and long-time user load prediction in a large-scale WiFi system. FLAG enables prediction customization in both time granularity and prediction length. Under an operating WiFi system with more than 7000 APs, a reference implementation of FLAG is developed, which consists of three major components. For data acquisition , we process 25 074 733 association records contributed by 55 809 users, to extract the ground truth of AP-level user load. For feature extraction , we perform a comprehensive data analytics to mine vital features to label each AP, which are extracted and classified into three categories, i.e., individual features, spatial features, and temporal features. For the model design , we design a deep recurrent neural network (RNN) model, which contains two separate RNNs, i.e., the encoder RNN and decoder RNN. Particularly, the sequential feature vectors are injected into the encoder RNN to learn the “semantic” information, based on which the decoder RNN conducts sequential AP-level predictions. As the semantic vector is injected for each time step prediction, it can effectively reduce the accumulated prediction errors, which enable long period of time predictions. Real data set-based experiments corroborate the efficacy of FLAG .

Recent studies on colonial discourse have demonstrated that the speeches of freedom activists in colonial Africa served as sites of resistance. One key text type that has, however, been neglected in the critical literature on the discourse of emancipation is the national anthem of colonised states. To fill this gap, the present study examines the discursive enactment of resistance in the anthems of former British colonies in Africa, focusing on the transitivity framework in systemic functional linguistics. Semantic and structural parallelisms across the anthems are identified as evidence of a collective memory, a cultural trauma reconfigured and reconstituted to reclaim a positive identity and project a desirable postcolonial future. They also foreground the motif of freedom and legitimise the African as the owner of the reclaimed territory. These procedures articulate an anti-imperialist and anti-establishment stance that provides hope, strength and encouragement to an oppressed group. This paper extends the scholarship on the discursive enactment of resistance by focusing attention on a context underexplored in the literature. It also illustrates the (re)construction of relevant ideologies in national anthems to stimulate desirable, progressive attitudes among citizenry in African states. The paper is furthermore significant to decolonial research and highlights the role of language in political decolonisation processes.

The Hong Kong statute criminalizing disrespect of the Chinese national anthem, passed in 2020, is one of many recent moves to suppress political dissent in the former British colony. The law restricts freedom of political expression, but its constitutionality is practically assured courtesy of earlier decisions upholding laws against flag desecration. This article draws on sociological and political literature to argue that symbolic nationalism, particularly when given the force of law, is a tool of the authoritarian state. Against this backdrop, it critically and comparatively analyses Hong Kong judicial decisions upholding the suppression of symbolic dissent, assessing their doctrinal coherence, normative defensibility, and consequences. It concludes with observations on the efficacy of attempts to enforce patriotic orthodoxy and on how deference to authoritarianism affects the rule of law.

We show that the quantized flag manifold at a root of unity has natural affine open covering parametrized by the elements of the Weyl group. In particular, the quantized flag manifold turns out to be a quasi-scheme in the sense of Rosenberg [12] .

The Argentinian flag sign is a known complication in intumescent white cataracts, which arises instantly after an initial prick with a sharp hypodermic needle on a stretched out anterior capsule. Increased intralenticular pressure is believed to be responsible for propagation of the initial prick into a radial capsular tear. However, it is the linear cut configuration of the initial prick, created by the hypodermic needle on the tense anterior capsule, which spontaneously opens up and propagates toward the periphery along its margins. To overcome this, a new instrument was devised, sewing needle microcapsulotome, to puncture the capsule and create a single or multiple round openings with smooth margins, allowing the bag to decompress satisfactorily without yielding to disruptive intralenticular forces. This technique of sewing needle microcapsulotomy, to prevent the Argentinian flag sign, was found to be highly effective and safe in a series of surgeries on intumescent cataracts.

Focusing on the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong, this article presents an analysis of Twitter posts adopting the hashtags #antiELAB, #NoChinaExtradition and #HongKongProtests. The analysis explores the public narrative among the collective identity of Hongkongers opposing the extradition bill as events unfolded during mid-2019 in Hong Kong. To do so, we adopt Bhatia’s (2015) multi-perspective framework for the Discourse of Illusion, which takes a three-prong approach to the study of argument construction and establishing legitimacy. Specifically, through the interrelated components of (1) historicity, (2) linguistic and semiotic action, and (3) social impact, the dimensions of the hashtag narrative that emerged on Twitter were explored.

We show that two constructions yield equivalent braided monoidal categories. The first is topological, based on Legendrian tangles and skein relations, while the second is algebraic, in terms of chain complexes with complete flag and convolution-type products. The category contains Iwahori--Hecke algebras of type $A_n$ as endomorphism algebras of certain objects., Comment: v2: added discussion of dualities, more detailed proofs, typos corrected

Yellow-flag iris (Iris pseudacorus L.) is a nonnative, invasive wetland plant that disrupts riparian ecosystem processes and is widely distributed across the United States and Canada. Due to its physiological and morphological characteristics, I. pseudacorus has the capacity to exclude native vegetation and form extensive monocultures in both lotic and lentic wetland systems. Methods commonly used to manage I. pseudacorus include manual (e.g., hand pulling, digging) and mechanical (e.g., mowing) treatments for small populations and herbicide applications for larger populations; however, herbicide applications near water may be prohibited due to label restrictions. The objective of this research was to evaluate cattle trampling as a nonchemical method to reduce I. pseudacorus in riparian habitats. A greenhouse study was conducted to investigate the effects of inundation and two different timings of simulated trampling on I. pseudacorus density, height, and soluble sugar concentrations in the rhizomes. A complementary field demonstration was established on a ranch in northwestern Nebraska to evaluate cattle trampling effects on I. pseudacorus density and height after two consecutive years. Simulated cattle trampling in the greenhouse had no effect on I. pseudacorus density or height of non-inundated samples. However, combining trampling with inundation reduced I. pseudacorus density from a median of 10 I. pseudacorus per pot to 0 I. pseudacorus per pot and median height from 0.35 m to 0 m by the conclusion of the study. Additionally, the field demonstration resulted in reductions of both density and height of I. pseudacorus after two consecutive years (72% and 67% reduction, respectively). Soluble sugar concentrations were not impacted by any treatment.

L’historiographie des presences etrangeres en Ethiopie s’est longtemps ecrite essentiellement a travers des sources europeennes (archives diplomatiques, recits de voyageurs), n’offrant qu’un regard exterieur sur certaines populations qui n’avaient elles-memes pas ou peu laisse de sources ecrites sur place, comme les Grecs, les Indiens ou les Armeniens. Par consequent, ces populations ont generalement ete categorisees et confondues comme des communautes marchandes, sans qu’il soit prete attent...

We report the presence of Gonioplectrus hispanus (Cuvier, 1828) in Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Four specimens (198–224 mm standard length) were caught at two locations south of Veracruz. These records increases the number of species in the family Serranidae for Mexico to 113. We include morphometry and meristic data of our specimens.

A partial flag variety P K of a Kac–Moody group G has a natural stratification into projected Richardson varieties. When G is a connected reductive group, a Bruhat atlas for P K was constructed in He et al. (2013): P K is locally modelled with Schubert varieties in some Kac–Moody flag variety as stratified spaces. The existence of Bruhat atlases implies some nice combinatorial and geometric properties on the partial flag varieties and the decomposition into projected Richardson varieties. A Bruhat atlas does not exist for partial flag varieties of an arbitrary Kac–Moody group due to combinatorial and geometric reasons. To overcome obstructions, we introduce the notion of Birkhoff–Bruhat atlas. Instead of the Schubert varieties used in a Bruhat atlas, we use the J -Schubert varieties for a Birkhoff–Bruhat atlas. The notion of the J -Schubert varieties interpolates Birkhoff decomposition and Bruhat decomposition of the full flag variety (of a larger Kac–Moody group). The main result of this paper is the construction of a Birkhoff–Bruhat atlas for any partial flag variety P K of a Kac–Moody group. We also construct a combinatorial atlas for the index set Q K of the projected Richardson varieties in P K . As a consequence, we show that Q K has some nice combinatorial properties. This gives a new proof and generalizes the work of Williams (2007) in the case where the group G is a connected reductive group.

São inúmeros os textos que o artista brasileiro Hélio Oiticica escreveu durante a sua vida. De conceitos à ensaios teóricos, de cartas à projetos, de inscrições a poemas, o artista usou a palavra e o gesto da escrita para organizar e apresentar seu trabalho ao mundo. Visa-se neste artigo discorrer sobre a poética pública de Oiticica concebida no Rio de Janeiro entre 1965 e 1968, cuja composição se dá por 19 textos inscritos em Parangolés, Bólides e bandeira. Em conseguinte, é feita a análise de dois Parangolés com inscrições, o Parangolé P11 Capa 7 (1966), com “Estamos Famintos”, e o Parangolé P18 Capa 16 (1968), com “Sexo e violência: eis o que me agrada”. Pretende-se, assim, a partir dos aspectos visual e textual das obras, evidenciar a noção de “frutos estranho”, de Florencia Garramuño, que designa objetos artísticos de difícil classificação, híbridos.

A 2001 magazine photo in China turned into a political drama on the Internet: Zhao Wei, one of the country’s best-known actresses, posed in a dress imprinted with a Japanese navy flag. The image caused a furor among Chinese netizens, forcing Zhao to make a public apology. By analysing Zhao’s online responses and the public discourse surrounding her lack of historical sensitivity, this article investigates the relations between state-sanctioned education and individual responses, the expanding Internet as a new way for people to hear different voices and form opinions, and the state’s behind-the-scenes manipulation. Furthermore, an investigation of the dynamic relationship between civic engagement and the manipulative state explains how nationalism is represented and perceived in the context of China’s rise.

PurposeIn this paper, we consider the Heisenberg groups which play a crucial role in both geometry and theoretical physics.Design/methodology/approachIn the first part, we retrieve the geometry of left-invariant Randers metrics on the Heisenberg group H2n+1, of dimension 2n + 1. Considering a left-invariant Randers metric, we give the Levi-Civita connection, curvature tensor, Ricci tensor and scalar curvature and show the Heisenberg groups H2n+1 have constant negative scalar curvature.FindingsIn the second part, we present our main results. We show that the Heisenberg group H2n+1 cannot admit Randers metric of Berwald and Ricci-quadratic Douglas types. Finally, the flag curvature of Z-Randers metrics in some special directions is obtained which shows that there exist flags of strictly negative and strictly positive curvatures.Originality/valueIn this work, we present complete Reimannian geometry of left invarint-metrics on Heisenberg groups. Also, some geometric properties of left-invarainat Randers metrics will be studied.

In network coding, a flag code is a set of sequences of nested subspaces of $${{\mathbb {F}}}_q^n$$ , being $${{\mathbb {F}}}_q$$ the finite field with q elements. Flag codes defined as orbits of a cyclic subgroup of the general linear group acting on flags of $${{\mathbb {F}}}_q^n$$ are called cyclic orbit flag codes. Inspired by the ideas in Gluesing-Luerssen et al. (Adv Math Commun 9(2):177–197, 2015), we determine the cardinality of a cyclic orbit flag code and provide bounds for its distance with the help of the largest subfield over which all the subspaces of a flag are vector spaces (the best friend of the flag). Special attention is paid to two specific families of cyclic orbit flag codes attaining the extreme possible values of the distance: Galois cyclic orbit flag codes and optimum distance cyclic orbit flag codes. We study in detail both classes of codes and analyze the parameters of the respective subcodes that still have a cyclic orbital structure.

The Peterson comparison formula proved by Woodward relates the three-pointed Gromov-Witten invariants for the quantum cohomology of partial flag varieties to those for the complete flag. Another such comparison can be obtained by composing a combinatorial version of the Peterson isomorphism with a result of Lapointe and Morse relating quantum Littlewood-Richardson coefficients for the Grassmannian to k-Schur analogs in the homology of the affine Grassmannian obtained by adding rim hooks. We show that these comparisons on quantum cohomology are equivalent, up to Postnikov's strange duality isomorphism., 28 pages; added several references, final version to appear in Algebr. Represent. Theory

O artigo tem como objeto a análise da produção de bandeiras confeccionadas por artistas brasileiros. A partir da ideia de que bandeiras são objetos performativos e propositivos, que impulsionam a formalização de novos relatos e comunidades fora das lógicas de representatividade e pertencimento das macropolíticas, as obras Bandeyra Nacional (2015), de Frederico Costa, Amarelo, sei lá... desespero (2019), de Ítala Isis, e América é Marica (2019), de Francisco Mallmann, são utilizadas para a reflexão sobre as noções de inespecificidade na arte, desidentificação e grupalidade.Palavras-chave: Brasil; Bandeira; Representatividade; Pertencimento; Inespecificidade. AbstractThis article has as its object of analysis a set of flags made by Brazilian artists. Starting from the idea that flags are performative and propositive objects able to propel the formalization of new stories and communities outside the logics of representativity and belonging of macropolitics, the pieces Bandeyra Nacional (2015), by Frederico Costa, Amarelo, sei lá... desespero (2019), by Ítala Isis, and América é Marica (2019), by Francisco Mallmann, are used to reflect about the notions of unspecificity in art, disidentification and groupality.Keywords: Brazil; Flag; Representativity; Belonging; Unspecificity.

Background: Youth flag football participation has rapidly grown and is a potentially safer alternative to tackle football. However, limited research has quantitatively assessed youth flag football head impact biomechanics. Purpose: To describe head impact biomechanics outcomes in youth flag football and explore factors associated with head impact magnitudes. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: We monitored 52 player-seasons among 48 male flag football players (mean ± SD; age, 9.4 ± 1.1 years; height, 138.6 ± 9.5 cm; mass, 34.7 ± 9.2 kg) across 3 seasons using head impact sensors during practices and games. Sensors recorded head impact frequencies, peak linear ( g) and rotational (rad/s2) acceleration, and estimated impact location. Impact rates (IRs) were calculated as 1 impact per 10 player-exposures; IR ratios (IRRs) were used to compare season, event type, and age group IRs; and 95% CIs were calculated for IRs and IRRs. Weekly and seasonal cumulative head impact frequencies and magnitudes were calculated. Mixed-model regression models examined the association between player characteristics, event type, and seasons and peak linear and rotational accelerations. Results: A total of 429 head impacts from 604 exposures occurred across the study period (IR, 7.10; 95% CI, 4.81-10.50). Weekly and seasonal cumulative median head impact frequencies were 1.00 (range, 0-2.63) and 7.50 (range, 0-21.00), respectively. The most frequent estimated head impact locations were the skull base (n = 96; 22.4%), top of the head (n = 74; 17.2%), and back of the head (n = 66; 15.4%). The combined event type IRs differed among the 3 seasons (IRR range, 1.45-2.68). Games produced greater IRs (IRR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.01-1.53) and peak linear acceleration (mean difference, 5.69 g; P = .008) than did practices. Older players demonstrated greater combined event–type IRs (IRR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.12-1.90) and increased head impact magnitudes than did younger players, with every 1-year age increase associated with a 3.78 g and 602.81-rad/s2 increase in peak linear and rotational acceleration magnitude, respectively ( P≤ .005). Conclusion: Head IRs and magnitudes varied across seasons, thus highlighting multiple season and cohort data are valuable when providing estimates. Head IRs were relatively low across seasons, while linear and rotational acceleration magnitudes were relatively high.

Retrieving valuable knowledge and statistical patterns from official data has a great potential in supporting strategic policy making. Data Mining (DM) techniques are well-known for providing flexible and efficient analytical tools for data processing. In this paper, we provide an introduction to applications of DM to official statistics and flag the important issues and challenges. Considering recent advancements in software projects for DM, we propose intelligent data control system design and specifications as an example of DM application in official data processing.

This study revisits the association between bilateral relations and trade based on rare-event data from Integrated Data for Event Analysis (IDEA). Our results suggest that a country imports more from another if the two countries are friendlier. We further argue that states face two constraints when attempting to manipulate trade. First, they are constrained by domestic institutions such as elections and congress. Second, they are constrained by international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). Our results show that the imports of authoritarian countries follow the flag of politics, but democratic countries’ imports are less likely to be affected by bilateral relations. Moreover, WTO membership can gradually restrict democratic states from intervening on imports but has little impact on authoritarian governments.

Drastic violations of human rights, humanitarian crises or genocide constituted a basis for the intervention of military forces under the flag of the UN or as part of a coalition of states after th...

We examine how consumer credit affects entrepreneurship by linking three million earnings and pass-through tax records to credit reports. In the cross-section, we show that self-employment without employees and employer firm ownership increase monotonically with credit limits and credit scores. We then isolate individuals who have had discrete increases in credit limits after the exogenous removal of bankruptcy flags to measure the effects of personal credit on entrepreneurship. Following bankruptcy flag removal, individuals are more likely to start a new employer business and borrow extensively. Those who own businesses with employees borrow $40,000 more after bankruptcy flag removal, a 33% gain relative to the sample average.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed additional weaknesses of the already troubling “flag of convenience” practices under international law; the passenger cruise industry was especially impacted. Most...

The use of channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter significantly enhances the performance of wireless communication systems. However, the requirement of CSI feedback places an undue burden on the reverse link, especially in links that employ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), where CSI takes the form of a precoding matrix (precoder) for each subcarrier. Typical deployments use quantization and feedback of CSI at certain subcarriers, with interpolation to fill in missing CSI at the transmitter. Past work has used the orthogonal structure of precoders with Flag manifolds for quantization and interpolation of CSI, although interpolation is complicated due to the absence of analytic expressions for geodesics on Flag manifolds. Other approaches have involved the parameterization of the precoder into scalar parameters that are amenable to quantization and interpolation. In this paper, we present efficient methods to quantize and interpolate on Flag manifolds, using both optimal algorithms as well as simplified suboptimal algorithms. Further, we unify these with the parameterization based approaches and show that these translate directly to low-complexity quantization and interpolation on Flag manifolds. Simulations reveal that the proposed precoder quantization and interpolation effectively enhance achievable rates with limited complexity.

In this paper, we establish the endpoint estimate ( 0 < p ≤ 1 {0 ) for a trilinear pseudo-differential operator, where the symbol involved is given by the product of two standard symbols from the bilinear Hörmander class B ⁢ S 1 , 0 0 {BS^{0}_{1,0}} . The study of this operator is motivated from the L p {L^{p}} ( 1 < p < ∞ {1 ) estimates for the trilinear Fourier multiplier operator with flag singularities considered in [C. Muscalu, Paraproducts with flag singularities. I. A case study, Rev. Mat. Iberoam. 23 2007, 2, 705–742] and Hardy space estimates in [A. Miyachi and N. Tomita, Estimates for trilinear flag paraproducts on L ∞ L^{\infty} and Hardy spaces, Math. Z. 282 2016, 1–2, 577–613], and the L p {L^{p}} ( 1 < p < ∞ {1 ) estimates for the trilinear pseudo-differential operator with flag symbols in [G. Lu and L. Zhang, L p L^{p} -estimates for a trilinear pseudo-differential operator with flag symbols, Indiana Univ. Math. J. 66 2017, 3, 877–900]. More precisely, we will show that the trilinear pseudo-differential operator with flag symbols defined in (1.3) maps from the product of local Hardy spaces to the Lebesgue space, i.e., h p 1 × h p 2 × h p 3 → L p {h^{p_{1}}\times h^{p_{2}}\times h^{p_{3}}\rightarrow L^{p}} with 1 p 1 + 1 p 2 + 1 p 3 = 1 p {\frac{1}{p_{1}}+\frac{1}{p_{2}}+\frac{1}{p_{3}}=\frac{1}{p}} with 0 < p < ∞ {0 (see Theorem 1.6 and Theorem 1.7).

A disturbing poster displaying a grown man holding a child’s hand over a rainbow background reminiscent of a LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) pride flag, reading “Paedophiles are peopl...

For any flag manifold $M=G/K$ of a compact simple Lie group $G$ we describe non-collapsing ancient invariant solutions of the homogeneous unnormalized Ricci flow. Such solutions emerge from an invariant Einstein metric on $M$, and by [B\"oLS17] they must develop a Type I singularity in their extinction finite time, and also to the past. To illustrate the situation we engage ourselves with the global study of the dynamical system induced by the unnormalized Ricci flow on any flag manifold $M=G/K$ with second Betti number $b_{2}(M)=1$, for a generic initial invariant metric. We describe the corresponding dynamical systems and present non-collapsed ancient solutions, whose $\alpha$-limit set consists of fixed points at infinity of ${\mathscr{M}}^G$. Based on the Poincar\'{e} compactification method, we show that these fixed points correspond to invariant Einstein metrics and we study their stability properties, illuminating thus the structure of the system's phase space., Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures

This article analyzes the surge in support for PM Benjamin Netanyahu during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Israel within the framework of the rally effect. Israel was chosen as a cas...

In this paper, we study locally projectively flat Finsler metrics of constant flag curvature. We find equations that characterize these metrics by warped product. Using the obtained equations, we manufacture new locally projectively flat Finsler warped product metrics of vanishing flag curvature. These metrics contain the metric introduced by Berwald and the spherically symmetric metric given by Mo-Zhu.

The purpose of this study was to describe how Japanese undergraduate students engage in learning in a physical activity basic instruction course, specifically, flag football. The study was situated...

Background: Interventions designed to reduce the risk for head impacts and concussion in youth football have increased over the past decade; however, understanding of the role of regular game play on head impact exposure among youth tackle and flag football athletes is currently limited. Purpose: To explore head impact exposure among youth tackle and flag football athletes (age range, 6-14 years) during both practices and games. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: Using the Vector MouthGuard sensor, the authors collected head impact data from 524 tackle and flag youth football athletes over the course of a football season. Quantities of interest were estimated from regression models using Bayesian methods. Results: For impacts ≥10 g, a tackle football athlete had an estimated 17.55 (95% CI, 10.78-28.96) times more head impacts per practice compared with a flag football athlete (6.85 [95% CI, 6.05-7.76] and 0.39 [95% CI, 0.24-0.62] head impacts, respectively). Additionally, a tackle football athlete had an estimated 19.48 (95% CI, 12.74-29.98) times more head impacts per game compared with a flag football athlete (13.59 [95% CI, 11.97-15.41] and 0.70 [95% CI, 0.46-1.05] head impacts, respectively). Among tackle football athletes, the estimated average impact rate was 6.51 (95% CI, 5.75-7.37) head impacts during a practice and 12.97 (95% CI, 11.36-14.73) impacts during a game, resulting in 2.00 (95% CI, 1.74-2.29) times more ≥10 g head impacts in games versus practices. Tackle football athletes had 2.06 (95% CI, 1.80-2.34) times more high-magnitude head impacts (≥40 g) during a game than during a practice. On average, flag football athletes experienced an estimated 0.37 (95% CI, 0.20-0.60) head impacts during a practice and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.53-1.06) impacts during a game, resulting in 2.06 (95% CI, 1.29-3.58) times more ≥10 g head impacts in games versus practices. Because of model instability caused by a large number of zero impacts for flag football athletes, a comparison of high-magnitude head impacts is not reported for practices or games. Conclusion: This study provides a characterization of the head impact exposure of practices and games among a large population of youth tackle and flag football athletes aged 6 to 14 years. These findings suggest that a greater focus on game-based interventions, such as fair play interventions and strict officiating, may be beneficial to reduce head impact exposures for youth football athletes.

This paper examines how class conflict affected US imperial expansion between 1898 and 1906. It focuses on West-Coast-based white merchant sailors and relies on union publications, legislative records, and congressional testimony to reveal how domestic class conflict shaped the boundaries, both internally and externally, of the emerging US empire. The struggle of the sailors’ unions over these imperial boundaries illustrates the real-life consequences they held for working people. These were not just abstractions. These lines often determined the type of labor systems under which workers would toil. Specifically, this article centers on the American Federation of Labor's successful effort to apply the Chinese Exclusion Act to the United States’ empire on the Pacific in 1902 as well as the Sailor's Union of the Pacific's unsuccessful attempt to apply exclusion to US-flagged merchant vessels. With that in mind, I argue that the line between domestic and foreign or nation and empire was a contested space of racially inflected class conflict. For white working people, the most pertinent question in the aftermath of the Spanish American War was not, does the constitution follow the flag? But rather, does exclusion follow the flag?

Flagging the Future: Te Kiritangata – The Last Palisade (1995), by Diane Prince (Ngāti Whātua, Ngā Puhi), was a controversial installation in the Auckland Art Gallery’s 1995 exhibition ‘Korurangi: ...

This study examines the long-term efficacy of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) 2003 Red Flag Initiative, which aimed to curb the prevalence of deceptive claims in over-the-counter weight loss product advertising. The principal component of this effort was the FTC’s promotion of voluntary guidelines which encouraged media outlets to screen advertisements for the seven deceptive (“Red Flag”) claims prior to publication. By analyzing the content of English-language advertisement airings appearing in nationally circulated print magazines and on television programs between 2010 and 2011, this study evaluates the success of the Red Flag Initiative as a long-term regulatory solution to deceptive advertising in this market. This study finds that the FTC’s voluntary initiative failed to halt the dissemination of deceptive claims during the time period analyzed. In response to the FTC’s actions, manufacturers appear to have engaged in offsetting behaviors and employed other creative content to convey similar deceptive information in their advertising, allowing them to avoid scrutiny while continuing to mislead consumers.

Desecration of national symbols is a recurring societal phenomenon that can lead to highly defensive reactions from some citizens, especially on the part of those expressing a strong attachment to the nation. In this paper, we investigated the effects of blind and constructive patriotism when faced with an ingroup (vs. outgroup) national flag burning on ingroup bias, taking into consideration the mediating role of perceived threat. In two studies (N = 252), the level of blind patriotism predicted stronger ingroup bias—due to more negative evaluation of visible minorities and/or more positive evaluation of the ingroup—when another ingroup member burnt an ingroup (vs. outgroup) flag. This effect was partly mediated by a greater threat to the group’s image perceived by blindly patriotic people when the ingroup (vs. outgroup) flag was burnt (Study 2). Study 2 also highlighted a main effect of the symbol: ingroup bias was stronger when the ingroup (vs. outgroup) flag was burnt. We discuss the implications of our findings with respect to the role played by modes of national attachment and the consequences of desecrating symbols.

Many studies on the inelastic response spectra have mainly focused on structures with the conventional hysteretic behavior. However, for self-centering structures with the flag-shaped (FS) hysteretic behavior, the corresponding study is limited. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the inelastic response spectra of self-centering structures with FS hysteretic behavior subjected to the near-fault pulse-type ground motion. To this end, the smooth FS hysteretic model based on Bouc–Wen model is developed, and the characteristics of pulse-type ground motions are described in detail. It is found that the general features of inelastic response spectra of the FS model are sensitive to the acceleration-, velocity-, and displacement-sensitive spectral regions of the ground motion. The inelastic displacement, velocity, acceleration, and ductility factor spectra of the FS hysteretic model for pulse-type ground motions are much larger than those for ordinary ground motions, while the residual displacement spectra under the two types of ground motions are both very small due to its self-centering capacity. Moreover, the inelastic response spectra are affected by the ground motion characteristics and structural hysteresis behavior, especially the large pulse period and peak ground velocity (PGV) significantly increase the inelastic displacement, velocity, and acceleration spectra.

Some years back, around 2013, I was asked to write an article on the uses of the Bible in African law. Researching references to the Bible and biblical law across the African continent, I soon learned that, besides support for arguments by a few states in favor of declaring themselves “Christian nations,” the main use was in emerging debates over homosexuality and same-sex relationships—almost exclusively to condemn those relationships. In January 2013, the newly formed African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS) held its first international conference at the University of Ghana Legon. There, African sexuality debates emerged forcefully in consideration of a paper by Sylvia Tamale, then dean of the Makarere University School of Law in Uganda, who argued pointedly, “[P]olitical Christianity and Islam, especially, have constructed a discourse that suggests that sexuality is the key moral issue on the continent today, diverting attention from the real critical moral issues for the majority of Africans . . . . Employing religion, culture and the law to flag sexuality asthebiggest moral issue of our times and dislocating therealissue is a political act and must be recognised as such.”