Cyberattack Ramifications, The Hidden Cost of a Security Breach

In this in-depth exploration, I delve into the complex implications and costs of cybersecurity breaches. Venturing beyond just the immediate repercussions, the research unearths both the overt and concealed long-term consequences that businesses encounter. This study integrates findings from various research, including quantitative reports, drawing upon real-world incidents faced by both small and large enterprises. This investigation emphasizes the profound intangible costs, such as trade name devaluation and potential damage to brand reputation, which can persist long after the breach. By collating insights from industry experts and a myriad of research, the study provides a comprehensive perspective on the profound, multi-dimensional impacts of cybersecurity incidents. The overarching aim is to underscore the often-underestimated scope and depth of these breaches, emphasizing the entire timeline post-incident and the urgent need for fortified preventative and reactive measures in the digital domain.

Cautionary Remarks When Testing Agreement between Two Raters for Continuous Scale Measurements: A Tutorial in Clinical Epidemiology with Implementation Using R

Background: When continuous scale measurements are available, agreements between two measuring devices are assessed both graphically and analytically. In clinical investigations, Bland and Altman proposed plotting subject-wise differences between raters against subject-wise averages. In order to scientifically assess agreement, Bartko recommended combining the graphical approach with the statistical analytic procedure suggested by Bradley and Blackwood. The advantage of using this approach is that it enables significance testing and sample size estimation. We noted that the direct use of the results of the regression is misleading and we provide a correction in this regard. Methods: Graphical and linear models are used to assess agreements for continuous scale measurements. We demonstrate that software linear regression results should not be readily used and we provided correct analytic procedures. The degrees of freedom of the F-statistics are incorrectly reported, and we propose methods to overcome this problem by introducing the correct analytic form of the F statistic. Methods for sample size estimation using R-functions are also given. Results: We believe that the tutorial and the R-codes are useful tools for testing and estimating agreement between two rating protocols for continuous scale measurements. The interested reader may use the codes and apply them to their available data when the issue of agreement between two raters is the subject of interest.

Is the Equity Transfer Agreement of a Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Venture Valid? A Case Comment on Xianyuan v.Zhongxin

Under Chinese law, when parties have signed an equity transfer agreement of the Chinese-Foreign contractual joint venture, they need to report to the examination and approval authority for approval. However, due to imperfection of and conflicts among laws and regulations as well as misunderstanding of the above system, it is always difficult for judges to determine the validity of such equity transfer agreement under the administrative approval system. Among the three categories of FIEs provided in Chinese law 1, scholars have had a comprehensive discussion over equity transfer agreement involving Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprises, but this case is concerned with the equity transfer agreement of a Chinese-Foreign contractual joint venture. In this case, the People's Supreme Court holds that the equity transfer agreement that has not undergone the approval procedures are not valid but not void. Furthermore, the parties that are bound to submit the agreement to the approval authority shall perform their duties of this kind.

Simulated Effects of U.S. Withdrawal from Paris Agreement under Four Scenarios

Under the Paris Agreement framework, many developing countries call for low-carbon technology transfers from developed countries as a critical element in the global partnership for carbon emissions abatement. Such a partnership may be disrupted as the U.S. walks away from the agreement. Based on CIECIA-TD model, this paper examines effects of the U.S. exit on global low-carbon technology transfers under various scenarios and simulates the effects on low-carbon technology transfer, climate change, countries' emissions abatement results, and economic development. Our findings suggest that lowcarbon technology has significant emissions abatement and temperature rise mitigation effects. Low-carbon technology transfer among developed countries offers huge emissions abatement potentials, but patent protection system presents a significant barrier to further carbon emissions abatement. In this sense, the U.S. exit from the Paris Agreement will significantly impede developed countries' carbon emissions abatement through technology transfer. With limited knowhow, R&D and learning capacity, developing countries will suffer more to cut carbon emissions under the chain effects of a more challenging technology sharing environment that may result from the U.S. exit from the Paris Agreement. As a gradualist emissions abatement approach, low-carbon technology transfer cannot reduce emissions substantially within a short time, but its climate welfare is conducive to global economic growth and of great significance to carbon governance.

Comparing and evaluating the nationally determined contributions of the top six emitters under the Paris Agreement goals

Comparing and evaluating the Nationally Determined Contribution(NDC) is an important element in global stocktake in the post-Paris climate negotiations, aimed at closing the emissions gap with the Paris Agreement goals. To date, however, there has still been no explicit guideline or method. By applying emissions allowance allocated by 16 schemes as benchmarks, this paper tries to compare and evaluate the NDCs of the top six emitters, which jointly account for about 70% of the world's CO_2 emissions. Results show that the four developed countries' NDCs lack ambition with respect to most allocations under 2℃ and all under 1.5℃, indicating they need to substantially ratchet up their NDCs and lead elevating mitigation. Evaluating cumulative emissions is more likely to clarify the ambition and fairness of China's NDC. If considering cumulative emissions, China's NDC is aligned with the median of cumulative allowances under 2℃ and within the 1.5℃ range. The Paris Agreement invited the Parties to communicate the mid-century low emissions strategies. This paper also tries to explore the mid-century mitigation in the perspective of allocations, which might provide decision-makers with some useful information when envisaging the post-NDC mitigation.

Interrater Reliability Estimation via Maximum Likelihood for Gwet’s Chance Agreement Model

Interrater reliability (IRR) statistics, like Cohen’s kappa, measure agreement between raters beyond what is expected by chance when classifying items into categories. While Cohen’s kappa has been widely used, it has several limitations, prompting development of Gwet’s agreement statistic, an alternative “kappa”statistic which models chance agreement via an “occasional guessing” model. However, we show that Gwet’s formula for estimating the proportion of agreement due to chance is itself biased for intermediate levels of agreement, despite overcoming limitations of Cohen’s kappa at high and low agreement levels. We derive a maximum likelihood estimator for the occasional guessing model that yields an unbiased estimator of the IRR, which we call the maximum likelihood kappa (κML). The key result is that the chance agreement probability under the occasional guessing model is simply equal to the observed rate of disagreement between raters. The κMLstatistic provides a theoretically principled approach to quantifying IRR that addresses limitations of previous κcoefficients. Given the widespread use of IRR measures, having an unbiased estimator is important for reliable inference across domains where rater judgments are analyzed.

Chaotic Map-Based Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol with Low-Latency for Metasystem

With the rapid advancement in exploring perceptual interactions and digital twins,metaverse technology has emerged to transcend the constraints of space-time and reality,facilitating remote AI-based collaboration.In this dynamic metasystem environment,frequent information exchanges necessitate robust security measures,with Authentication and Key Agreement(AKA)serving as the primary line of defense to ensure communication security.However,traditional AKA protocols fall short in meeting the low-latency requirements essential for synchronous interactions within the metaverse.To address this challenge and enable nearly latency-free interactions,a novel low-latency AKA protocol based on chaotic maps is proposed.This protocol not only ensures mutual authentication of entities within the metasystem but also generates secure session keys.The security of these session keys is rigorously validated through formal proofs,formal verification,and informal proofs.When confronted with the Dolev-Yao(DY)threat model,the session keys are formally demonstrated to be secure under the Real-or-Random(ROR)model.The proposed protocol is further validated through simulations conducted using VMware workstation compiled in HLPSL language and C language.The simulation results affirm the protocol’s effectiveness in resisting well-known attacks while achieving the desired low latency for optimal metaverse interactions.

TRI Ms协定与我国的应对

《与贸易有关的投资措施协定》(TRIMs协定 )内容完整 ,具有独立性 ,但在WTO的争端解决过程中 ,TRIMs协定既可独立适用 ,也可与其他规定同时适用 ,因此不应仅根据TRIMs协定的具体规定来审查和判断我国现有的或将来的投资措施。该协定禁止采取影响企业 (不限于外国投资企业 )投资决策的对贸易产生扭曲效应的措施 ,我国立法和政策的调整就不应局限在外资立法和政策上 ,还应涉及产业政策 ;在经济管理权限的合理分配问题上 ,我国现行的贸易和投资管理制度相互混淆的状况要进一步厘清 ;积极参加有关TRIMs的讨论以及游戏规则的制定 ,充分利用我国作为发展中国家的地位所享受的优惠待遇。最根本的措施应该是使政府行为科学化和合理化 。

A Novel Approach towards Cost Effective Region-Based Group Key Agreement Protocol for Ad Hoc Networks Using Elliptic Curve Cryptography

This paper addresses an interesting security problem in wireless ad hoc networks: the dynamic group key agreement key establishment. For secure group communication in an ad hoc network, a group key shared by all group members is required. This group key should be updated when there are membership changes (when the new member joins or current member leaves) in the group. In this paper, we propose a novel, secure, scalable and efficient region-based group key agreement protocol for ad hoc networks. This is implemented by a two-level structure and a new scheme of group key update. The idea is to divide the group into subgroups, each maintaining its subgroup keys using group elliptic curve diffie-hellman (GECDH) Protocol and links with other subgroups in a tree structure using tree-based group elliptic curve diffie-hellman (TGECDH) protocol. By introducing region-based approach, messages and key updates will be limited within subgroup and outer group;hence computation load is distributed to many hosts. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results show that this Region-based key agreement protocol performs well for the key establishment problem in ad hoc network in terms of memory cost, computation cost and communication cost.

International carbon markets under the Paris Agreement:Basic form and development prospects

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement introduces two international carbon markets that receive extensive attention and are expected to play an important role in the post-2020 climate regime.Three key elements of the two international carbon markets,including the scope,the types of tradable units and the governance,are identified,as the basis to clarify their basic forms.Based on the key issues and their different designs identified in negotiations,this study analyzes the contributions and challenges for China to participate in international carbon markets.Considering the inherent needs of climate change mitigation,climate finance,the development of a green"Belt and Road"and the China South-South cooperation in climate change,along with the existing domestic capacities on market mechanisms,this study puts forward the short-,medium-and long-term development prospects of the two international carbon markets.

跨省横向府际应急协同机制的实践样态及制度保障

突破省域边界的突发事件具有复杂性、不确定性与突发性,灾害后果严重。实践中,各省级政府通过签订应急协同协议、新设应急协同组织、开展联席会议与会商应对跨省突发事件,形成了多元化的应急协同机制,契合中国特色应急管理制度的改革方向。但是,相关机制不仅面临合法性质疑,还存在效力薄弱、协同动力不足和未突破区域壁垒的弊病,需要完善相关合法性保障与实效保障。协同机制具备实质合宪性,《中华人民共和国地方各级人民代表大会和地方各级人民政府组织法》赋予其组织法依据,一些仅供协调而未涉及职权调整的协同机制不违反职权法定原则与组织法定原则,具备合法性。然而,应对跨省突发事件需要整合各省政府部门职权以形成区域性应急行政权,该权力源自政府的行政授权,可由《中华人民共和国突发事件应对法》完善相关法律依据。协同机制的实效保障需要多路并进:在协同协议层面,应当进一步提升协议的法律效力与可操作性;在协同组织层面,需要健全应急协同组织及其内部结构;在协同信息层面,完善应急协同信息平台建设有助于收集、共享常态化信息与突发事件预警和处置信息;在协同动力层面,可以通过夯实协同观念基础与信任基础、增加协同净收益和加强中央政府的高位推动增强协同动力。

U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement: Reasons, impacts, and China's response

Applying qualitative and quantitative methods, this article explains the driving forces behind U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, assesses the impacts of this withdrawal on the compliance prospects of the agreement, and proposes how China should respond. The withdrawal undercuts the foundation of global climate governance and upsets the process of climate cooperation, and the impacts are manifold. The withdrawal undermines the universality of the Paris Agreement and impairs states' confidence in climate cooperation; it aggravates the leadership deficit in addressing global climate issues and sets a bad precedent for international climate cooperation. The withdrawal reduces other countries' emission space and raises their emission costs, and refusal to contribute to climate aid makes it more difficult for developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Cutting climate research funding will compromise the quality of future IPCC reports and ultimately undermine the scientific authority of future climate negotiations. China faces mounting pressure from the international community to assume global climate leadership after the U.S. withdraws, and this article proposes that China should reach the high ends of its domestic climate targets under the current Nationally Determined Contributions; internationally, China should facilitate the rebuilding of shared climate leadership, replacing the G2 with C5. Meanwhile, China needs to keep the U.S. engaged in climate cooperation.

“一带一路”贸易便利化的十年进展、问题分析与推进路径

共建“一带一路”走过了蓬勃十年,它不仅是中国新时代扩大对外开放的总抓手,而且为国际社会提供了重要合作平台。贸易畅通是共建“一带一路”的核心任务之一,贸易便利化对推动“一带一路”贸易畅通至关重要。在共建“一带一路”十周年之际,本文从商签自贸协定、加强海关合作、交通互联互通、发展贸易新业态四个方面,系统总结十年来“一带一路”贸易便利化的历程与进展,剖析当前存在的问题,探讨进一步提升贸易便利化水平的路径。

Assessment of quadriceps muscle thickness using bedside ultrasonography by nurses and physicians in the intensive care unit:Intra- and inter-operator agreement

BACKGROUND Data regarding the agreement among multiple operators for measurement of quadriceps muscle thickness by bedside ultrasonography(USG)are sparse.AIM To statistically assess the agreement among 5 operators for measurement of quadriceps muscle thickness on bedside USG.METHODS This was a cross-sectional observational study.The 5 operators of varied experience(comprised of 1 critical care consultant,2 fellows,and 2 nurses)independently measured quadriceps muscle thickness in triplicate for 45 critically ill patients each,using USG.Intra-and interrater agreement rates among the 5 operators were assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC)and expressed with 95%confidence interval(CI).RESULTS The 5 operators produced a total of 135 readings and 675 observations for ICC calculations to determine the intraoperator and interoperator variations respectively.For intraoperator agreement,the overall ICC(95%CI)was 0.998(0.997,0.999)for operator 1,0.998(0.997,0.999)for operator 2,0.997(0.995,0.999)for operator 3,0.999(0.998,0.999)for operator 4,and 0.998(0.997,0.999)for operator 5.For interoperator agreement,the overall ICC(95%CI)was 0.977(0.965,0.986;P<0.001)for reading 1,0.974(0.960,0.984;P<0.001)for reading 2,and 0.975(0.961,0.985;P<0.001)for reading 3.CONCLUSION USG measurement of quadriceps muscle thickness was not dependent on clinical experience,supporting training for nurses in it.

The impacts of U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on the carbon emission space and mitigation cost of China, EU, and Japan under the constraints of the global carbon emission space

Based on the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model and scenario analysis, the impacts of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on the carbon emission space and mitigation cost in China, European Union (EU), and Japan are assessed under Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and 2
C scenarios due to the changed emission pathway of the U.S. The results show that, under the condition of constant global cumulative carbon emissions and a fixed burden-sharing scheme among countries, the failure of the U.S. to honor its NDC commitment to different degrees will increase the U.S. carbon emission space and decrease its mitigation cost. However, the carbon emission space of other parties, including China, EU, and Japan, will be reduced and their mitigation costs will be increased. In 2030, under the 2
C target, the carbon price will increase by 4.4e14.6 US$ t1 in China, by 9.7e35.4 US$ t1 in the EU, and by 16.0e53.5 US$ t1 in Japan. In addition, China, EU, and Japan will incur additional Gross Domestic Production (GDP) loss. Under the 2
C target, the GDP loss of China would increase by US$22.0e71.1 billion (equivalent to 16.4e53.1 US$ per capita), the EU's GDP loss would increase by US$9.4e32.1 billion (equivalent to 20.7e71.1 US$ per capita), and Japan's GDP loss will increase by US$4.1e13.5 billion (equivalent to 34.3e111.6 US$ per capita).

Combination of Local Culture and Landscape in Urban Plaza Design——A Case Study of Yingmeng Plaza Design in Zitong County, Mianyang City of China

Taking the design of Yingmeng Plaza in Zitong County, Mianyang City for example, location feature and overall design objective were analyzed on the basis of design background. By analyzing the theme of Yingmeng Plaza, design principles were proposed as "based on overall functions, fully considering users' needs, showing characteristics of a tourist city and cultural city". Guided by the overall planar layout, the whole plaza was classified into 5 functional areas to highlight its landscape structure of "four centers, four axes, two districts and two belts". By following the concept of "Beginning of a dream- Expectations of the dream-Transition of the dream-Dream coming true", and considering theme and design principles of Yingmeng Plaza, design concepts of its major scenic spots were elaborated.

“发展中国家”概念何以引发争议?——GATT框架下的概念史考察

“发展中国家”是全球治理中的一个基础性概念,近年来却成为国际话语场域中的争议性概念。考察关税及贸易总协定框架下“发展中国家”概念的历史,对于厘清相关争议的缘起和进一步理解国际话语竞争具有重要价值。“发展中国家”概念在GATT框架下经历了三个阶段:20世纪50年代以修订GATT1947第18条为代表的概念孕育阶段,60年代以增加GATT1947第四部分为代表的概念萌芽阶段和70年代以后以普惠制、差别优惠待遇及“毕业原则”等为代表的概念流行阶段。GATT框架下的“发展中国家”概念展现出模糊甚至混乱的特征,为日后世界贸易组织的相关争议埋下了隐患。西方发达国家在这一概念的塑造过程中注入了自身的价值观,而发展中国家的参与却十分有限,这也为当今的国际话语竞争提供了重要的启示。

药品数据专有权国际立法溯源与中国制度安排

药品上市审批对于药品安全有效性数据的专门审查要求,造就了涉及药品数据的独特知识产权保护机制。基于药品数据获取的高昂投入及其对于药品仿制与后续创新的重要价值,美欧发达国家在世界范围内率先建立了药品数据保护机制,其逐渐成为一项国际性的法律规则。无论是美欧发达国家的立法,还是相关国际法律规则,对于药品数据的知识产权保护都呈现从商业秘密模式向专有权机制转变的立法格局。产业利益驱动无疑是其中的一个重要诱因,但归根结底是源自药品数据专有权有效兼顾原研发药企经济利益与社会公众健康权益的制度优势。鉴于此,在药品数据专有权保护的国际趋势下,我国应从本土药品产业激励创新与规范仿制的基本诉求出发,以必要的内部限制与外部监管明确药品数据专有权的法律边界,并通过药品数据动态化公示平台的设置与药品数据付费使用模式的创设,建构起与药品专利制度有机衔接的数据专有权保护机制。

印象·Plaza 66

正如在恒隆举办画展的林文杰博士所说,艺术不一定只存在于博物馆,在公众之处,艺术同样能增加空间美感。当商业在大多数人眼中还只是唯利与世俗的概念时,恒隆却用唯美的笔触诠释着商业的美学。

Enlightenment on the Construction of Modern Urban Plazas from Classical Chinese Gardens

Researches on modern urban plazas in China were reviewed,phenomena caused by the shortage of proper theoretical guidance such as blind imitation and fixed forms of urban plazas were pointed out,and it was emphasized that researches on urban plazas with Chinese characteristics should be enhanced.By analyzing features of traditional western plazas and classical Chinese gardens,this study proposed that by combining with their practical functions the construction of modern urban plazas in China should maintain traditional concepts and aesthetic characteristics of Chinese people on the basis of satisfying demands of the public to the best.The enlightenment on the construction of modern urban plazas from classical Chinese gardens was particularly analyzed,the application of garden aesthetics,components,and landscaping methods of classical Chinese gardens were highlighted,and moreover,it was put forward that the relationship between human and human,human and society,human and nature implied in classical Chinese gardens would surely bring profound inspiration to urban plazas.