Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

Reliable quantification of perivascular spaces (PVS) in the basal ganglia (BG) is of growing interest for understanding the glymphatic system but remains challenging in infants. To develop an automated deep learning method for BG and BG-PVS segmentation in infant brain MRI using an anatomy-informed pseudo-labeling approach. Retrospective, multi-cohort technical development, and validation study. Three cohorts: 150 neonates from the Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP, 37-44 weeks of gestational age (GA); 76 males, 74 females), 133 infants from the Baby Connectome Project (BCP; ≤ 24 months; 70 males, 63 females) and 70 infants from an in-house dataset (30-41 weeks of GA; 36 males, 34 females). Manual ground-truth labels were generated by a trained researcher (dHCP, n = 150; BCP, n = 8; in-house, n = 10) and validated by a radiologist with 15 years of experience. Data included 3 T MRI with T1- and T2-weighted sequences: dHCP (inversion recovery turbo spin-echo [IR-TSE] and turbo spin-echo [TSE]), BCP (magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo [MPRAGE] and TSE), and in-house (MPRAGE and variable-flip-angle TSE). The proposed approach was compared with alternative automated approaches trained with different labeling strategies. Training/validation/test splits were 100/25/25 (dHCP), 100/25/8 (BCP), and 50/10/10 (in-house). Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), recall, positive predictive value, and Hausdorff distance were calculated for BG and BG-PVS quantification. Statistical significance was assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests (p < 0.05), and quantification agreement was evaluated using Pearson's correlation, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and mean absolute error (MAE). The proposed method improved accuracy (dHCP: BG DSC = 0.91 ± 0.03 and BG-PVS DSC = 0.78 ± 0.09; external datasets with fine-tuning: BG DSC = 0.86-0.89) and high agreement in PVS quantification with reference measurements (r = 0.90-0.99, ICC ≥ 0.96, MAE = 0.10). The proposed method seems to enable robust and annotation-efficient BG and BG-PVS segmentation in infants. 3. 1.

The Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) are dynamic contributors to the global economy but face inherent vulnerabilities due to their structure of small enterprises and project-based nature. This study quantifies the economic resilience of CCIs in Mexico across multiple economic cycles from 1994 to 2023, aiming to fill a gap in quantitative evidence regarding sectoral performance during shocks. Using quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, the research applies a counterfactual analytical framework based on resistance and recovery indices. The methodology assesses how specific subsectors—arts and entertainment, research and development (R&amp;D), and services—deviate from national growth patterns during recessions and subsequent expansions. Empirical results indicate that while CCIs generally exhibited weak resistance during the 1994 and 2000 crises, they demonstrated robust recovery capacities. Notably, the 2008 crisis saw resilient performance in the services sector, and the COVID-19 pandemic induced exceptional recovery indices (exceeding 2.0) in arts and services, likely facilitated by rapid digitalization. The study concludes that CCI resilience is contingent on the nature of the crisis. Future sustainability requires a shift from emergency survival to “ecological resilience,” supported by public policies that address financial precariousness and foster digital adaptation.

Colonialism’s legacy still influences democracy in former colonies. This article examines how political rights under colonial rule shape democratic development after independence. We argue that the early extension of suffrage and access to representative institutions create organisational capacity and pressure colonial regimes to grant autonomy, easing the transition to democracy. Without such rights, colonial powers often retain control until the last moment, creating power vacuums and weaker democratic foundations. We assemble a country-year dataset covering 73 former colonies and use path analysis to estimate how early rights affect post-independence democracy, both directly and indirectly via colonial autonomy. Our findings underscore the importance of institutional pathways in shaping postcolonial institutions.

In this paper, a 12-bit, 10 MS/s two-step sub-ranging successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is proposed. The proposed architecture enables residue amplification within a single-stage SAR ADC by dividing the top-plate sampling node, thereby avoiding the requirement for a multi-stage design. This structure also eliminates gain and offset mismatches between the coarse and fine conversions, enhancing robustness and linearity. Owing to the two-step operation, the total capacitance of the capacitive digital-to-analog converter (CDAC) is reduced by 86% compared to that of a conventional SAR ADC with the same unit-capacitor size. In addition, the residue amplifier drives only one-fourth of the total CDAC capacitance, significantly relaxing its power consumption. A prototype fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS process occupies an area of 252 μm × 227 μm and demonstrates a signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) of 65.7 dB at Nyquist-rate input. The total power consumption is 227.7 μW under a 1.2 V supply, resulting in a Walden figure of merit (FoM) of 14.5 fJ/conversion step. These results confirm competitive performance and energy efficiency, even with the use of an analog residue amplifier.

This study examines how firms’ ESG performance is reflected in CEO compensation design. The analysis shows that firms with stronger ESG performance award lower total CEO pay while placing greater emphasis on performance-based and equity-based incentives. Governance quality further strengthens the alignment between CEO pay and firm performance, and these effects are more pronounced in ESG-sensitive industries where sustainability issues are financially material. In addition, ESG performance and long-term-oriented CEO incentives jointly promote greater investment in innovation and intangible capital, implying that ESG-aligned incentive structures shape executives’ project selection and prioritization toward long-horizon, innovation-oriented initiatives. Overall, the findings indicate that the rise of ESG as a corporate priority is reshaping executive incentives toward stronger discipline, performance alignment, and sustainable value creation.