This article considers modular composition as an approach to engendering structural plasticity in musical works. Structural plasticity, in this case, is defined as the ability for the components of a musical work (e.g., events, ideas, sequences, textures, timbres) to vary in how and when they are presented. In this research, modular composition is the process for creating a collection of individual musical ideas (e.g., sequences, patterns, phrases) termed ‘modules’, and designing a dynamic system for their assembly into cohesive structures. This approach results in musical works that exist in a state of constant structural flux, allowing for real-time alteration while progressing beyond similar existing approaches observed in video game music and interactive music apps, from which this research takes inspiration. Approaches involving compositionally focused intelligent music systems are also observed, highlighting how modular composition bridges traditional compositional practices and the design of interactive music systems. Two of the authors’ own works are discussed with regard to how modular composition can be implemented in varying creative ways. The outcome of this work illuminates the creative possibilities of integrating traditional compositional practices with new digital approaches to arrive at a more structurally plastic and alterable form of music.

A reflective analysis is presented on the potential added value that actuarial science can contribute to the field of health technology assessment. This topic is discussed based on the experience of several experts in health actuarial science and health economics. Different points are addressed, such as the role of actuarial science in health, actuarial judgment, data inputs and their quality, modeling methodologies and the use of decision-analytic models in the age of artificial intelligence, and the development of innovative pricing and payment models.

Usage data on research outputs such as books and journals is well established in the scholarly community. Yet, as research impact is derived from a broader set of scholarly outputs, such as data, code, and multimedia, more holistic usage and impact metrics could inform national innovation and research policy. While usage data reporting standards, such as Project COUNTER, provide the basis for shared statistics reporting practice, mandated access to publicly funded research has increased the demand for impact metrics and analytics. In this context, stakeholders are exploring how to scaffold and strengthen shared infrastructure to better support the trusted, multistakeholder exchange of usage data across a variety of outputs. In April 2023, a workshop on Exploring National Infrastructure for Public Access and Impact Reporting supported by the United States (US) National Science Foundation (NSF) explored these issues. This paper contextualizes the resources shared and recommendations generated in the workshop.

On February 2, 2024, the International Court of Justice (the Court) delivered its preliminary objections judgment in the case brought by Ukraine against Russia under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention).

This study uses a modified online version of the “draw-a-map” task and Garrett, Williams, and Evans’ (2005b) “keywords” methodology to explore the geospatial distribution of different accent and dialect labels and descriptors in Greater Manchester, UK. Specifically, we consider the distribution of the three most frequent labels related to “accentedness”: Broad, Strong, and Soft, as provided by 349 Greater Manchester residents. This analysis finds that these descriptors were clustered in separate areas of Greater Manchester, suggesting that they were being used to describe perceptually distinct varieties of English. In order to uncover the nuances in these folk-linguistic terms, we consider how they correlate with other concepts emerging from the dataset, finding that they are being used to differentiate between varieties with contrasting social associations. By combining innovative approaches, this study demonstrates how the subtleties of folk-linguistic modes of awareness can be uncovered through in-depth analysis of the terminology employed to describe linguistic variation on a very local scale. In so doing, it paves the way for further development of draw-a-map techniques that will enable similarly nuanced analysis in different regions, thus pushing the sub-discipline forward.

Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is an appraisal tool to bring evidence to bear on regulatory decisions. A key property of RIA is that is corrects errors in reasoning by pushing regulators towards deliberative thinking to override intuitive judgments. However, the steps for regulatory analysis suggested by international organisations and governmental handbooks do not handle two sources of bias and barriers that are well documented in the literature on behavioural insights. First, bias enters the process via knowledge production during the analytical process of assessment. Second, bias affects knowledge utilisation when regulators “read” or utilise the results of RIA. We explore these two pathways by focusing on drivers of behaviour rather than lists of biases. The conclusions reflect on the limitations of current practice and its possible improvement, making suggestions for an RIA architecture that is fully informed by behavioural analysis.

Mineral species are known to be heterogeneously distributed throughout the Earth such that a relatively small number of minerals make up a large proportion of the lithosphere while the majority of all known minerals are rare and have been identified at only a small number of locations that frequently exhibit high levels of species richness. Intuitive understandings of mineral scarcity and abundance are reconsidered through the characterisation of the quantitative aspects of spatio-temporal trends in new mineral discovery. Using data drawn from online mineralogical databases, it is found that the Earth's mineral hotspots exhibit an exponential distribution of species abundance, while those same mineral hotspots exhibit a power-law distribution in the number of minerals first recognised at those locations. That is, locations rich in first occurrences are extremely rare, even when considering only the Earth's most species-rich mineral locations. Global distributions of mineral scarcity and abundance can be estimated from the number of mineral-location pairs for each species reported in a database. Two-thirds of all known species have been reported from ten or fewer locations and the frequency distribution of these mineral-location pairs exhibit a power-law distribution that extends with increasing dispersion over several orders of magnitude of mineral abundance. Initially, nearly all minerals are first reported from only their type locality. Over time, additional occurrences of newly discovered minerals are reported at an average rate of one new location per mineral every 5.5 years. As a result, the percentage of minerals that were discovered in a given year that continue to be known only from their type locality is found to decline exponentially over time. However, a few minerals remain known from only their type locality for long periods, including some that were first identified in the 19th Century. Conversely, other recently identified minerals have been subsequently recognised at locations spanning a wide geographic range such that the number of minerals with cosmopolitan distributions is found to increase exponentially over time. Taken together, these several quantitative representations of mineral distributions lend structure and refinement to qualitative and intuitive notions of the scarcity and abundance of Earth's many minerals.

The clay particles in a kaolin deposit from Brazil were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA), analytical transmission electron microscopy (ATEM), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to examine the relationships between morphological and chemical properties of the crystals and to relate these properties to formation conditions. The XRD patterns show the dominant presence of kaolinite with minor amounts of gibbsite, illite, quartz, goethite, hematite, and anatase. ATEM observations show two discontinuities in the deposit as indicated by changes in morphology and size of the kaolinite crystals. At the base of the deposit, hexagonal platy and lath-shaped particles (mean area of 001 face = 0.26 μm2) maintain the original fabric of the parent rock which characterizes an in situ evolution. In the middle of the deposit a bimodal population of large (mean area of 001 face > 0.05 μm2) and small (mean area of 001 face < 0.05 μm2) sub-hexagonal platy kaolinite crystals occurs. This zone defines the boundary between the saprolitic kaolinite and the pedogenic kaolinite. Near the top of the profile, laths and irregular plates of kaolinite, together with sub-hexagonal particles, define two different depositional sources in the history of formation of the deposit. Crystal thickness as derived from the width of basal reflections and the Hinckley index are compatible with the morphological results, but show only one discontinuity. At the base of the deposit, kaolinite has a low- defect density whereas in the middle and at the top of the profile, kaolinite has a high-defect density. Likewise, EPR spectroscopy shows typical spectra of low-defect kaolinite for the bottom of the deposit and typical spectra of high-defect kaolinite for the other portions of the deposit. Despite the morphological changes observed through the profile, the elemental composition of individual kaolinite crystals did not show systematic variations. These results are consistent with the deposit consisting of a transported pedogenic kaolinite over saprolite consisting of in situ kaolinized phyllite.