bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Husserl’s concept of transcendental consciousness and the problem of AI consciousness
Authors: Orbik Zbigniew
Published: May 2024

Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenological philosophy, developed the concept of the so-called pure transcendental consciousness. The author of the article asks whether the concept of consciousness understood this way can constitute a model for AI consciousness. It should be remembered that transcendental consciousness is the result of the use of the phenomenological method, the essence of which is referring to experience (“back to things themselves”). Therefore, one can legitimately ask whether the consciousness that AI can achieve can possess the characteristics attributed by Husserl to pure transcendental consciousness. The answer to such questions seems to be negative because AI, as created by humans, can only operate in the field of phenomena. Human intelligence, however, is capable of operating at the ontological level. In the face of difficulties in understanding the phenomenon of consciousness on a scientific basis, the question arises about the possibility of using the phenomenological concept of consciousness developed by Husserl as a starting point in analyzes aimed at answering the question about AI consciousness (The aim of the article is not to discuss in detail the contemporary state of research on consciousness. Therefore, many results currently achieved mainly in the field of neuroscience are omitted. It is just about indicating the possible application of Husserl’s transcendental concept of consciousness in research on AI consciousness).
Intertwining self-efficacy, basic psychological need satisfaction, and emotions in higher education teaching: A micro-longitudinal study
Authors: Keller Melanie V. , Rinas Raven , Janke Stefan , Dickhäuser Oliver , Dresel Markus , Daumiller Martin
Published: May 2024

Prior research has explored various factors to explain differences in teaching experiences and behaviors among school teachers, including self-efficacy, basic psychological need satisfaction, and emotions. However, these factors have predominantly been examined in isolation, and limited research has investigated their role in the context of higher education teaching. To address these research gaps, analyses on both the within and between teacher level are needed. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the interplay between these motivational and emotional constructs on both levels, as well as the relevance and applicability of prior research findings on school teachers to the context of higher education teaching at universities. In a micro-longitudinal study, 103 university teachers from Germany (49 female; average age: 41.4 years, SD = 11.0) completed assessments of their self-efficacy in 748 sessions directly before their teaching sessions, as well as their basic psychological need satisfaction and discrete emotions directly after. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed positive associations between self-efficacy and basic psychological need satisfaction. Self-efficacy was negatively associated with negative emotions, and positive indirect effects on positive emotions as well as negative indirect effects on negative emotions were identified through satisfaction of the needs for competence and relatedness. Basic psychological need satisfaction was positively related to positive emotions and vice versa—however, unexpected positive associations between relatedness and negative emotions emerged and require further research.
Transient Propagation of the Invasion Front in the Homogeneous Landscape and in the Presence of a Road
Authors: Deeley Bradly , Petrovskaya Natalia
Published: May 2024

Understanding the propagation of invasive plants at the beginning of invasive spread is important as it can help practitioners eradicate harmful species more efficiently. In our work the propagation regime of the invasive plant species is studied at the short-time scale before a travelling wave is established and advances into space at a constant speed. The integro-difference framework has been employed to deal with a stage-structured population, and a short-distance dispersal mode has been considered in the homogeneous environment and when a road presents in the landscape. It is explained in the paper how nonlinear spatio-temporal dynamics arise in a transient regime where the propagation speed depends on the detection threshold population density. Furthermore, we investigate the question of whether the transient dynamics become different when the homogeneous landscape is transformed into the heterogeneous one. It is shown in the paper how invasion slows down in a transient regime in the presence of a road.
Comprehensive study on structural, optical, mechanical and radiation blocking nature of Eu3+-doped bismuth tellurite glasses
Authors: D’Souza Ashwitha Nancy , Murari M. S. , Sayyed M. I. , Al-Ghamdi Hanan , Almuqrin Aljawhara H. , Kamath Sudha D.
Published: May 2024

A novel glass system B2O3–SiO2–Bi2O3–TeO2–BaO–ZnO doped with Eu2O3 (x = 0–4 mol%) is fabricated through melt-quench technique and coded as BiTeEu-x. Density and refractive index measurements done on the glasses resulted in the increase up to 5.4377 gcm−3 and 1.99, respectively, for 4 mol% addition of Eu2O3. Vickers micro-indentation measurements done on synthesized glasses gave increasing microhardness values with Eu3+ doping due to higher bond strength of Eu–O bond compared to Te–O bond. The Phy-X/PSD simulation software utilized for obtaining radiation shielding parameters produced highest range of mass attenuation coefficient (63.878–0.036 cm2/g) and lowest range of half-value layer (0.002–3.551 cm) for the same glass proving its superiority in radiation attenuating capacity. This article addresses the theoretical analysis of photon buildup occurring inside the fabricated glasses in 0.015–15 MeV energy range with respect to different penetration depths. Neutron shielding ability of BiTeEu-4 glass was found to be impressive with fast neutron removal cross section (FNR) value of 0.10362 cm−1.
Rheological and Textural Characterisation of Chickpea Dough and Baked 3D-Printed Snacks Enriched with Alphitobius diaperinus and Locusta migratoria Powders
Authors: García-Gutiérrez Nerea , Salvador Ana , Sanz Teresa , Ferrando Montse , Güell Carme , Méndez Carmen , de Lamo-Castellví Silvia
Published: May 2024

Edible insect powder is a new ingredient that can be used to create innovative functional and nutritional properties in food products. However, adding insect powder to bakery goods could impact the dough’s technological and sensory attributes. This study aims to investigate possible alterations in dough enriched with insect powder and examine the texture of salty snacks produced using a 3D food printer. The doughs were prepared using varying quantities of two types of edible insect powders. The stiff flow properties showed a pseudoplastic behaviour that fit well with a power-law equation. Viscosity and pseudoplasticity increased in proportion to insect powder concentration, with the strongest effect observed for L. migratoria. The linear viscoelastic behaviour exhibited G′ values exceeding G″ values, and both moduli increased with insect concentration. A. migratoria displayed a greater elastic contribution (lower tan δ) compared to A. diaperinus, which correlates with the lower printability of A. migratoria. The texture of the snacks prepared with A. diaperinus demonstrated a rise in the breaking force as the insect concentration increased and exhibited a corresponding texture profile to the control and the 4.6% sample. Moreover, the addition of A. diaperinus heightened the crispiness.
Development of a software-tool to evaluate the tolerability of different VR-movement types
Authors: Bernhard Kaus , Henning Schneider
Published: May 2024

Purpose

In the last years the adoption of Virtual-Reality-Headsets (VRHMDs) has increased significantly in multiple fields including medical applications. While it has been shown that patients can benefit greatly from VR-based treatments, user discomfort remains a problem for VR. It is often manifested by a complex of symptoms classified as simulator sickness (SS). A variety of factors seem to be involved in the development of SS, with one of the biggest contributors being artificial movement (AM). However, isolating the effect AM has on the occurrence of SS proves to be difficult due to the number of other factors involved. One of the biggest distortion factors in this regard seems to be the type of content displayed to the user. It appears that traditional gaming content - which is often used - is especially problematic in this regard.

Methods

To reduce this bias, we developed a test software and used testing data from 111 participants to assess whether the software induces SS through the content displayed.

Results

The software provides multiple ways of movement in a VR-environment and shows no signs of triggering unwanted SS-Symptoms.

Conclusions

Our software can provide an evaluation basis for the effect of AM with minimal distortion caused by the displayed content and can be used to develop software less likely to cause SS and evaluate VR-Systems based on their likeliness to cause SS. Therefore, making VR based treatments more accessible to patients.
Semi-supervised skin cancer diagnosis based on self-feedback threshold focal learning
Authors: Yuan Weicheng , Du Zeyu , Han Shuo
Published: May 2024

Worldwide, skin cancer prevalence necessitates accurate diagnosis to alleviate public health burdens. Although the application of artificial intelligence in image analysis and pattern recognition has improved the accuracy and efficiency of early skin cancer diagnosis, existing supervised learning methods are limited due to their reliance on a large amount of labeled data. To overcome the limitations of data labeling and enhance the performance of diagnostic models, this study proposes a semi-supervised skin cancer diagnostic model based on Self-feedback Threshold Focal Learning (STFL), capable of utilizing partial labeled and a large scale of unlabeled medical images for training models in unseen scenarios. The proposed model dynamically adjusts the selection threshold of unlabeled samples during training, effectively filtering reliable unlabeled samples and using focal learning to mitigate the impact of class imbalance in further training. The study is experimentally validated on the HAM10000 dataset, which includes images of various types of skin lesions, with experiments conducted across different scales of labeled samples. With just 500 annotated samples, the model demonstrates robust performance (0.77 accuracy, 0.6408 Kappa, 0.77 recall, 0.7426 precision, and 0.7462 F1-score), showcasing its efficiency with limited labeled data. Further, comprehensive testing validates the semi-supervised model’s significant advancements in diagnostic accuracy and efficiency, underscoring the value of integrating unlabeled data. This model offers a new perspective on medical image processing and contributes robust scientific support for the early diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer.
Group field theories: decoupling spacetime emergence from the ontology of non-spatiotemporal entities
Authors: Forgione Marco
Published: May 2024

With the present paper I maintain that the group field theory (GFT) approach to quantum gravity can help us clarify and distinguish the problems of spacetime emergence from the questions about the nature of the quanta of space. I will show that the use of approximation methods can suggest a form of indifference between scales (or phases) and that such an indifference allows us to black-box questions about the nature of the ontology of the fundamental levels of the theory.
Insomnia, Short Sleep, and Their Treatments: Review of Their Associations with Weight
Authors: Allison Kelly C. , Parnarouskis Lindsey , Moore Molly D. , Minnick Alyssa M.
Published: May 2024

Purpose of Review

Insomnia and short sleep have been linked with weight gain and obesity. However, these findings have not been consistent across studies. We review recent evidence for the association between insomnia, short sleep, and weight gain, as well as the relationship between behavioral and pharmacological treatments for sleep and weight.

Recent Findings

The relationship between insomnia and obesity is mixed, with stronger associations between insomnia with short sleep and obesity than other presentations of insomnia. Short sleep is associated with weight gain. Z-drugs and benzodiazapines do not appear to impact weight, but many antidepressants and antipsychotics that are used for insomnia treatment do cause weight gain.

The relationships between insomnia and short sleep with weight gain and obesity are inconsistent. More prospective trials are needed to identify mediators and moderators of this relationship to better develop and deliver effective interventions for both sleep and weight problems.
Systemic immune markers and infection risk in preterm infants fed human milk fortified with bovine colostrum or conventional fortifier, a secondary analysis of the FortiColos trial
Authors: Bæk Ole , Muk Tik , Aunsholt Lise , Zachariasen Gitte , Sangild Per Torp , Nguyen Duc Ninh
Published: May 2024

Background

For very preterm infants, human milk is often fortified with formula products based on processed bovine milk. Intact bovine colostrum (BC), rich in anti-inflammatory milk factors, is considered an alternative. We investigated if BC affects anti-inflammatory/TH2 immunity and infection risk in very preterm infants.

Methods

For a secondary analysis of a multicenter, randomized controlled trial (NCT03537365), very preterm infants (26–31 weeks gestation, 23% small for gestational age, SGA) were randomized to receive BC (ColoDan, Biofiber, Denmark, n = 113) or conventional fortifier (PreNAN, Nestlé, Switzerland, n = 116). Infection was defined as antibiotic treatment for five or more consecutive days and 29 cytokines/chemokines were measured in plasma before and after start of fortification.

Results

In general, infection risk after start of fortification was associated with low gestational age, SGA status and antibiotics use prior to fortification. Adjusted for confounders, infants fortified with BC showed more infection episodes (20 vs 12%, P < 0.05) and higher cumulative infection risk (hazard ratio, HR 1.9, P = 0.06), particularly for SGA infants (HR 3.6, P < 0.05). Additionally, BC-fortified infants had higher levels of TH2-related cytokines/chemokines (IL-10, MDC, MCP4) and reduced levels of cytokines related to TH1/TH17-responses (IL-15, IL-17, GM-CSF). The differences were most pronounced in SGA infants, displaying higher levels of TH2-related IL-4, IL-6, and IL-13, and lower interferon-γ and IL-1α levels in the BC group.

Conclusion

Infants fortified with BC displayed a delayed shift from TH2- to TH1-biased systemic immunity, notably in SGA infants, possibly influenced by multiple confounding factors, alongside elevated antibiotic use, suggesting increased susceptibility to infection.
Depressive symptoms—Not a predictor for five-year mortality in patients with subjective cognitive decline, non-amnestic and amnestic mild cognitive impairment
Authors: Gerschmann Alexander , Lehrner Johann
Published: May 2024

The main aim of the present study is to evaluate the influence of depressive symptoms on mortality in patients with SCD (subjective cognitive decline), naMCI (non-amnestic mild cognitive impairment), and aMCI (amnestic mild cognitive impairment). Additional factors (age, sex, years of school attendance, and neuropsychological performance) were considered to determine the impact on survival probability. A monocentric retrospective data analysis based on adjusted patient protocols (n = 1221) from the observation period 1998–2021, using the Cox Proportional Hazards model, assessed whether depressivity had an explanatory value for survival, considering SCD as the reference level in relation to naMCI and aMCI. Covariates were included blockwise. Cox regression revealed that depressiveness (Beck Depression Inventory, Geriatric Depression Scale) did not make a significant contribution as a risk factor for mortality in all five model blocks, BDI-II with HR 0.997 [0.978; 1.02] and GDS-15 with HR 1.03 [0.98; 1.08]. Increasing age with HR 1.09 [1.07; 1.11] and male sex with HR (inverted) 1.53 [1.17; 2.00] appeared as risk factors for increased mortality across all five model blocks. aMCI (vs. SCD) with HR 1.91 [1.33; 2.76] showed a significant explanatory value only up to the fourth model block. By adding the six dimensions of the Neuropsychological Test Battery Vienna in the fifth model block, the domains attention and perceptual speed with HR 1.34 [1.18; 1.53], and executive functions with HR 1.24 [1.11; 1.39], showed substantial explanatory values for survival. Accordingly, no tendency can be attributed to depressiveness as a risk factor on the probability of survival, whereas the influence of certain cognitive dimensions, especially attention and perceptual speed, and executive functions, can be seen as protective for survival.
First report of Stemphylium vesicarium causing leaf blight of onion in Slovakia
Authors: Kádasi Horáková Miriam , Barta Marek , Tancik Jan , Pastirčák Martin , Pastirčáková Katarína
Published: May 2024

During the 2022 growing season, commercial crops of onion (Allium cepa cv. Medusa) were found to be affected by an extensive leaf blight in south western Slovakia. The pathogen present on diseased leaves was isolated and identified as Stemphylium vesicarium through morphological and molecular analyses, utilizing three DNA markers (ITS, tef1-α, and β-tubulin). A detailed description and illustration of the fungus are provided. Although this pathogen is already present in Slovakia, this is the first record of S. vesicarium causing leaf blight on A. cepa in the country. Pathogenicity tests with a fungal isolate were performed on three local cultivars of onion plants in the laboratory, indicating varying susceptibility of the cultivars to S. vesicarium.
The Undescribed Juvenile Maxilla from Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco—A Study on Middle Stone Age Facial Growth
Authors: Freidline Sarah E. , Gunz Philipp , Alichane Hajar , Oujaa Aïcha , Ben-Ncer Abdelouahed , El Hajraoui Mohamed Abdeljalil , Hublin Jean-Jacques
Published: May 2024

In 2009, renewed excavations at the Middle Stone Age (MSA) site of Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, yielded a skull and partial skeleton of a child dated to Marine Isotope Stage 5. While much of the cranium was found shattered, the midface remained largely intact. In this study, we virtually reconstructed the maxilla and quantified its shape using three-dimensional geometric morphometric methods and compared it to an extensive sample of non-adult and adult Eurasian Neanderthals and Homo sapiens spanning the Middle Pleistocene to Holocene. We used developmental simulations to predict the adult shape of the Contrebandiers maxilla by simulating development along three ontogenetic trajectories: Neanderthal, African, and Levantine early H. sapiens and Holocene H. sapiens. Our results confirm the H. sapiens-like morphology of the Contrebandiers fossil. Both shape and size align it with other North African MSA fossils and Late Pleistocene humans from Qafzeh, Israel. Interestingly, the evaluation of the ontogenetic trajectories suggests that during late ontogeny the facial growth pattern of the Contrebandiers and the Qafzeh children is more similar to that of Neanderthals than it is to recent humans. This suggests that the unique facial growth pattern of Homo sapiens post-dated the MSA. This study is an important step in addressing ontogenetic variability in the African MSA, a period characterized by the origins, emergence, and dispersal of our species, but poorly understood because of the fragmentary and scant human fossil record.
The co-occurrence of SAT, hypophysitis, and Schnitzler syndrome after COVID-19 vaccination: the first described case
Authors: Szklarz Michał , Gontarz-Nowak Katarzyna , Kieroński Aleksander , Golon Krystian , Górny Jan , Matuszewski Wojciech , Bandurska-Stankiewicz Elżbieta
Published: May 2024

Subacute thyroiditis (also known as granulomatous thyroiditis, giant cell thyroiditis, de Quervain's disease, or SAT) is an inflammatory disease of the thyroid gland, usually spontaneously remitting, that lasts for weeks to months. However, recurrent forms sometimes occur which may have a genetic basis. In our paper, we have focused on the pathogenetics, symptoms, and treatment of SAT. We have described the 17-month disease course of a woman with persistent recurrent steroid-resistant SAT. SAT was well established and the patient's symptoms were not only recurrent neck pain with fever, but also recurrent chronic urticaria, which are symptoms that fulfil the criteria for the diagnosis of Schnitzler syndrome. Schnitzler syndrome occurred after vaccination with COVID-19 in the mechanism of ASIA syndrome. In our patient, Schnitzler syndrome involved the thyroid gland, causing persistent subacute thyroiditis, and the pituitary gland, causing transient swelling of the pituitary, which, to our knowledge, is the first reported case in the literature. Also unprecedented, as far as we know, is the fact that we performed thyroidectomy in the above patient, which reduced systemic inflammation and caused SAT to resolve, although only the inclusion of anakinra treatment resulted in resolution of the underlying condition.
Advancing language models through domain knowledge integration: a comprehensive approach to training, evaluation, and optimization of social scientific neural word embeddings
Authors: Stöhr Fabian
Published: May 2024

This article proposes a comprehensive strategy for training, evaluating, and optimizing domain-specific word2vec-based word embeddings, using social science literature as an example. Our primary objectives are: (1) to train the embeddings utilizing a corpus of social science text, (2) to test their performance against domain-unspecific embeddings using our developed intrinsic and extrinsic evaluation strategy, and (3) to enhance their performance even further by using domain knowledge. As an integral part of this approach, we present SociRel-461, a domain-knowledge dictionary designed for the intrinsic evaluation and subsequent refinement of social science word embeddings. Using a dataset of 100,000 full-text scientific articles in sociology, we train multiple vector space models, which we then benchmark against a larger, pre-trained general language embedding model as part of our extrinsic evaluation. Furthermore, we developed a transfer learning multi-label classification task for extrinsic evaluation. Our findings reveal that domain-specific embeddings outperform their domain-unspecific counterparts in both intrinsic and extrinsic evaluations. We also investigated the retrofitting post-processing method to enhance domain-unspecific embeddings with the domain knowledge embedded in SociRel-461. While retrofitting does not enhance our domain-specific vector space models, it significantly improves the performance of the domain-unspecific embeddings. This highlights the potential of retrofitting for the transfer of domain knowledge to domain-unspecific embeddings. Our results emphasize the importance of utilizing domain-specific word embeddings for better performance in domain specific transfer learning tasks, as they outperform conventional embeddings trained on everyday language.
Review of the analytical network-averaging: part I — theoretical foundation
Authors: Itskov Mikhail , Khiêm Vu Ngoc
Published: May 2024

The analytical network-averaging, an elegant homogenization scheme, has been proposed in Khiêm and Itskov (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 95:254–269, 2016) to capture a wide range of mechanical phenomena in soft materials. These phenomena include nonlinear elasticity observed in unfilled rubbers, anisotropic damage behaviors in mechanoresponsive elastomers, phase transition occurring in natural rubbers, cross-effect of damage in double-network hydrogels, and irreversible fiber sliding in textile reinforcements. While the effectiveness of the analytical network-averaging has been evidenced through various illustrative examples, a thorough exposition of the theory remains elusive, primarily due to the concise nature preferred in conventional scientific articles and the specific thematic emphasis of individual publications. In the first part of this review series, an exhaustive theoretical examination of the analytical network-averaging concept is provided. Such theory postulates the presence of an orientational distribution function of material directions, such as fibers or polymer chains. Utilizing this distribution function, microscopic strain measures essential for solving homogenized boundary value problems can be obtained by averaging of macroscopic strain measures. It is interesting that in all scenarios, analytical derivation of the microscopic strain measures can always be obtained. Thus, such analytical homogenization scheme offers physically based invariants that automatically guarantee realistic behaviors (such as non-affine deformation, material objectivity and material symmetry) in stress response functions. This is particularly important in the age of data science and machine learning as it allows for the choice of stress hypothesis without limitations, while ensuring a priori interpretability of results.
Distinct biophysical and chemical mechanisms governing sucrose mineralization and soil organic carbon priming in biochar amended soils: evidence from 10 years of field studies
Authors: Zhang Haoli , Ma Tao , Wang Lili , Yu Xiuling , Zhao Xiaorong , Gao Weida , Van Zwieten Lukas , Singh Bhupinder Pal , Li Guitong , Lin Qimei , Chadwick David R. , Lu Shenggao , Xu Jianming , Luo Yu , Jones David L. , Jeewani Peduruhewa H.
Published: May 2024

While many studies have examined the role of biochar in carbon (C) accrual in short-term scale, few have explored the decadal scale influences of biochar on non-biochar C, e.g., native soil organic C (SOC) and added substrate. To address this knowledge gap, soils were collected from decade-old biochar field trials located in the United Kingdom (Cambisol) and China (Fluvisol), with each site having had three application rates (25–30, 50–60 and 75–100 Mg ha−1) of biochar plus an unamended Control, applied once in 2009. We assessed physicochemical and microbial properties associated with sucrose (representing the rhizodeposits) mineralization and the priming effect (PE) on native SOC. Here, we showed both soils amended with biochar at the middle application rate (50 Mg ha−1 biochar in Cambisol and 60 Mg ha−1 biochar in Fluvisol) resulted in greater substrate mineralization. The enhanced accessibility and availability of sucrose to microorganisms, particularly fast-growing bacterial genera like Arenimonas, Spingomonas, and Paenibacillus (r-strategists belonging to the Proteobacteria and Firmicutes phyla, respectively), can be attributed to the improved physicochemical properties of the soil, including pH, porosity, and pore connectivity, as revealed by synchrotron-based micro-CT. Random forest analysis also confirmed the contribution of the microbial diversity and physical properties such as porosity on sucrose mineralization. Biochar at the middle application rate, however, resulted in the lowest PE (0.3 and 0.4 mg of CO2-C g soil−1 in Cambisol and Fluvisol, respectively) after 53 days of incubation. This result might be associated with the fact that the biochar promoted large aggregates formation, which enclosed native SOC in soil macro-aggregates (2–0.25 mm). Our study revealed a diverging pattern between substrate mineralization and SOC priming linked to the biochar application rate. This suggests distinct mechanisms, biophysical and physicochemical, driving the mineralization of non-biochar carbon in a field where biochar was applied a decade before.
Distant supervision knowledge extraction and knowledge graph construction method for supply chain management domain
Authors: Huang Feiyue , Cheng Lianglun
Published: May 2024

As the core competitiveness of the national industry, large-scale equipment such as ships, high-speed rail and nuclear power equipment, their production process involves in-depth personalization. It includes complex processes and long manufacturing cycles. In addition, the equipment’s supply chain management is extremely complex. Therefore, the development of a supply chain management knowledge graph is of significant strategic significance. It not only enhances the synergistic effect of the supply chain management but also upgrades the level of intelligent management. This paper proposes a distant supervision knowledge extraction and knowledge graph construction method in the supply chain management of large equipment manufacturing, which achieves digital and structured management and efficient use of supply chain management knowledge in the industry. This paper presents an approach to extract entity-relation knowledge using limited samples. We achieve this by establishing a distant supervision model. Furthermore, we introduce a fusion gate mechanism and integrate ontology information, thereby enhancing the model’s capability to effectively discern sentence-level semantics. Subsequently, we promptly modify the weights of input features using the gate mechanism to strengthen the model’s resilience and address the issue of vector noise diffusion. Finally, an inter-bag sentence attention mechanism is introduced to integrate different sentence bag information at the sentence bag level, which achieves more accurate entity-relation knowledge extraction. The experimental results prove that compared with the latest distant supervision method, the accuracy of relation extraction is improved by 2.8%, and the AUC value is increased by 3.9%, effectively improving the quality of knowledge graph in supply chain management.
Efficient decomposition shooting method for tackling two-point boundary value models
Authors: Bakodah H. O. , Alzahrani Kholoud A. , Alzaid N. A. , Almazmumy Mariam H.
Published: May 2024

This research aims to present an efficient numerical method to find approximate numerical solutions for ordinary differential equations (ODEs), specifically, the class of two-point boundary value models. This approach is predicated on coupling the shooting method and the decomposition method, which the method is named as Efficient Decomposition Shooting Method (EDSM). Thus, we provide the complete outline of EDSM, and thereafter, apply it to some test models, comprising linear and nonlinear models. Further, the results are then validated by comparing them to the exact solution and other computational methods. Thus, the proposed method performs excellently over its peers, and is found to converge rapidly to the available exact solution with a good precision.
The Dynamic Bifurcation for the Granulation Convection in Cylindrical Coordinates
Authors: Li Junyan , Li Limei , Wu Ruili
Published: May 2024

This work formulates the simplified governing equations for granulation convection system in cylindrical coordinates by using the differential operator theory on Riemann manifold. We consider the case where the granulation convection system is under the influence of the control parameters R and E, Where R depends on the temperature difference and E is related to the magnetic field. Furthermore, we show that the simplified governing equations bifurcate from a trivial steady state solution, as the control parameters cross certain critical values. Notably, we are able to derive a RE-phase diagram in the case of two control parameters R and E, compared with the system without the influence of the control parameter E. In addition, our research shows that the difference of temperature and the magnetic field both accelerates the granulation convection.
Graph attention networks unveil determinants of intra- and inter-city health disparity
Authors: Liu Chenyue , Fan Chao , Mostafavi Ali
Published: May 2024

Understanding the determinants underlying variations in urban health status is important for informing urban design and planning, as well as public health policies. Multiple heterogeneous urban features could modulate the prevalence of diseases across different neighborhoods in cities and across different cities. This study examines heterogeneous features related to socio-demographics, population activity, mobility, and the built environment and their non-linear interactions to examine intra- and inter-city disparity in prevalence of four disease types: obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Features related to population activity, mobility, and facility density are obtained from large-scale anonymized mobility data. These features are used in training and testing graph attention network (GAT) models to capture non-linear feature interactions as well as spatial interdependence among neighborhoods. We tested the models in five U.S. cities across the four disease types. The results show that the GAT model can predict the health status of people in neighborhoods based on the top five determinant features. The findings unveil that population activity and built-environment features along with socio-demographic features differentiate the health status of neighborhoods to such a great extent that a GAT model could predict the health status using these features with high performance. The results also show that the model trained on one city can predict health status in another city with high performance, allowing us to quantify the inter-city similarity and discrepancy in health status. The model and findings provide novel approaches and insights for urban designers, planners, and public health officials to better understand and improve health disparities in cities by considering the significant determinant features and their interactions.
Performance analysis of power conditioning and distribution module for microsatellite applications
Authors: Bensaada M. , Della Krachai S. , Metehri F. , Kerrouche KDE. , Mebrek MA. , Beldjehem M. , Arezki F.
Published: May 2024

Algeria’s micro-satellite, Alsat-1b, was successfully launched into a 680 km low Earth orbit onboard a PSLV-C35 rocket from Sriharikota, South India, on September 26, 2016. The spacecraft was conceived, built and launched as part of an 18-month technology transfer programme between Algeria’s Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) and the United Kingdom’s Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL). This document details the Power Conditioning and Distribution Module’s (PCM-PDM) design and performance in orbit, critical component of a satellite electrical power system, responsible for converting, regulating and distributing power to various subsystems and payloads. The PCM-PDM developed and produced by SSTL was subjected to rigorous testing simulating harsh space conditions to assess its performance. The results of this comprehensive analysis indicate that the module can effectively withstand extreme environmental factors and function optimally in challenging settings. The analysis focused on the PCM-PDM’s ability to provide reliable and efficient power conditioning and distribution to the satellite, including its load management capabilities, overcurrent protection, protection against undervoltage and critical mode operations. The results of the performance analysis showed that the PCM-PDM met the required specifications and demonstrated reliable and efficient operation in different modes of the satellite’s mission. The study highlights the importance of careful design and rigorous testing of the PCM-PDM to ensure the reliable and efficient operation of the satellite and its payloads.
Levofloxacin prophylaxis for pediatric leukemia patients: monitoring of outcomes for sustained benefit and consequences
Authors: Davis Andrea L. , Stevens Alexandra M. , Brackett Julienne , Marquez Lucila , Foster Catherine E. , Clemente Adriana Sarmiento , Sauer Hannah E. , Stimes Grant T. , Campbell Judith R.
Published: May 2024

Levofloxacin prophylaxis reduces bloodstream infections in neutropenic patients with acute myeloid leukemia or relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A retrospective, longitudinal cohort study compares incidence of bacteremia, multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO), and Clostridioides difficile (CDI) between time periods of levofloxacin prophylaxis implementation. Benefits were sustained without increasing MDRO or CDI.
Fanon and Hegel on the Recognition of Humanity
Authors: Ng Karen
Published: May 2024

This paper defends an interpretation of Fanon's theory of recognition as revolving around his claim that we have a basic right to demand human behaviour from the other. Developing key Hegelian ideas in a novel direction, I argue that Fanon's theory of recognition employs a concretely universal concept of humanity as a normative orientation for establishing what he calls a ‘world of reciprocal recognitions’, which he equates with the creation of a ‘human reality’. In the first section, I take up the three passages from Hegel'sPhenomenology of Spiritcited by Fanon inBlack Skin, White Masksto outline three key features of Fanon's theory of recognition. In section two, I argue that there are three senses of ‘universal humanity’ operative in Fanon's work: a false universal, an abstract universal, and a concrete universal. Whereas the first two are critical, pejorative uses, the third provides the normative orientation for his account of recognition and social struggle. In the third section, I show how Fanon combines features of Hegel's concrete universal with features of Sartre's existential humanism in order to avoid an essentialist or ahistorical approach to human nature. Specifically, I argue that the ideas of self-transcendence and a universal human condition shed light on what Fanon refers to as the right of reciprocal recognition to demand human behaviour from the other, and our one human duty to not renounce our freedom.
A Treason Against Goodness and an Argument for Death: Re-visiting the Trope of the “Bad Black Mother”
Authors: Mendes Jan
Published: May 2024

Contemplating how the familiar trope of the “bad Black mother” is used to surveil, punish, and scorn Black maternal subjects this article considers how good motherhood is at once aspirational and coercive for Black mothers who are disciplined by the ever looming threat of badness and the unattainable promise of goodness. Stretching contemporary Black feminist analyses of how Black maternal revolt against anti-Black logics can be witnessed through forms of mortal sacrifice that secure future Black life, this article troubles ideals of sacrifice through an auto-ethnographic reading of maternal death as a respite from the continuous labors of goodness for the subject that tires under the relentless force of racism and its anticipations of bad Black motherhood. Badness is then explored, through personal narrative, as a form of affective resistance against the drudgery of willing towards goodness as the maternal refuses to discipline their discontent.
Coil optimization for quasi-helically symmetric stellarator configurations
Authors: Wiedman A. , Buller S. , Landreman M.
Published: May 2024

Filament-based coil optimizations are performed for several quasi-helical stellarator configurations, beginning with the one from Landreman & Paul (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 128, 2022, 035001), demonstrating that precise quasi-helical symmetry can be achieved with realistic coils. Several constraints are placed on the shape and spacing of the coils, such as low curvature and sufficient plasma–coil distance for neutron shielding. The coils resulting from this optimization have a maximum curvature 0.8 times that of the coils of the Helically Symmetric eXperiment (HSX) and a mean squared curvature 0.4 times that of the HSX coils when scaled to the same plasma minor radius. When scaled up to reactor size and magnetic field strength, no fast particle losses were found in the free-boundary configuration when simulating 5000 alpha particles launched at$3.5\,\mathrm {MeV}$on the flux surface with a normalized toroidal flux of$s=0.5$. An analysis of the tolerance of the coils to manufacturing errors is performed using a Gaussian process model, and the coils are found to maintain low particle losses for smooth, large-scale errors up to amplitudes of approximately$0.15\,\mathrm {m}$. Another coil optimization is performed for the Landreman–Paul configuration with the additional constraint that the coils are purely planar. Visual inspection of the Poincaré plot of the resulting magnetic field-lines reveal that the planar modular coils alone do a poor job of reproducing the target equilibrium. Additional non-planar coil optimizations are performed for the quasi-helical configuration with$5\,\%$volume-averaged plasma beta from Landremanet al.(Phys. Plasma, vol. 29, issue 8, 2022, 082501), and a similar configuration also optimized to satisfy the Mercier criterion. The finite beta configurations had larger fast-particle losses, with the free-boundary Mercier-optimized configuration performing the worst, losing approximately$5.5\,\%$of alpha particles launched at$s=0.5$.
Development of a field-reversed configuration device using radio frequency antennas to produce E × B for current-drive
Authors: Lee Kiyong , Jang Soo Ouk , Yoo Seungryul , Lee Kyu Dong
Published: May 2024

A unique field-reversed configuration (FRC) experiment is presently being assembled at the Plasma Technology Research Institute, KFE. It is a compact small-scale FRC device, which uses a set of radio frequency (RF) antennas to produce an internal E × B that drives the electrons for current-drive, in which E is the electric field and B is the magnetic field. This is very similar to the rotating magnetic field (RMF) current-drive, where the horizontal and vertical antennas are driven 90° out of phase. For this device, the RF antennas are arranged differently than the RMF. The RF antennas, being two separate sets, are positioned inside the vacuum chamber. Each set consists of 8 coils, for a total of 16 coils, where 80~100 kHz sine and cosine waveform currents are applied. One set of coils generates a radial B-field, while the other set provides an E-field in the z-direction. As the phase changes, the E and B fields are switched by these two sets. Nevertheless, E × B propagates in the same θ-direction so that this allows the electrons to rotate around the circumference of the device. The FRC device will test wave heating by launching 2.45 GHz microwaves. Also, passive stabilizers are positioned at each end to provide extra stability while preventing tilt instability. The experiment is expected to produce its first plasma in 2025.
The Spirit in the Little Theatre (1917)
Authors: Copeau Jacques
Published: May 2024

Ladies and Gentlemen,

[It] may be that never before in my life have I had to meet such a trial as I am undergoing today.
Acceptance and engagement patterns of mobile-assisted language learning among non-conventional adult L2 learners: A survival analysis
Authors: Hwang Hyun-Bin , Coss Matthew D. , Loewen Shawn , Tagarelli Kaitlyn M.
Published: May 2024

Research on mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) has revealed that high rates of attrition among users can undermine the potential benefits of this learning method. To explore this issue, we surveyed 3,670 adult MALL users based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and also conducted an in-depth analysis of their historical app usage data. The results of hierarchical k-means cluster analysis and recurrent event survival analysis revealed three major findings. First, three distinct profiles of learners were characterized by different MALL acceptance and engagement experiences. Second, those with greater MALL acceptance displayed more intense, frequent, and durable app usage (behavioral engagement). Lastly, high levels of MALL acceptance were associated with more frequent pauses in app usage but also (a) longer active usage, (b) shorter breaks before returning to the app, and, ultimately, (c) fewer dropouts. We argue that persistence is a multidimensional process involving cyclical phases of engagement, disengagement, dormancy, and reengagement, with each aspect, like intensity, frequency, and duration, building up cumulatively over time. Implications for promoting persistent MALL engagement are discussed.
Escaping the Global Event: Pan-Islam and the First World War
Authors: Devji Faisal
Published: May 2024

The First World War is often seen as marking a transition from a world of empires to that of nation-states. As perhaps the inaugural global event, it is understood as making possible the international order we still inhabit. Yet the war also gave rise to powerful movements that sought to oppose and even dismantle this order. Soviet communism provided one such challenge and pan-Islamism another. While Lenin's desire to convert a war between states into one between classes turned into the dream of an alternative international order, the world's largest pan-Islamist movement in India retained its non-statist imagination. Like Gandhi's Noncooperation Movement, of which they were a part, India's pan-Islamists radicalized the language of empire rather than turning to religion for a new internationalist ideal. And they did so by aiming to escape the war as a global event.
Why Not In My Backyard? (W-NIMBY): the potential of design-driven environmental infrastructure to foster greater acceptance among host communities
Authors: Asokan Vivek Anand , Sioen Giles Bruno , Kawazu Erin
Published: May 2024

Non-technical summary

While environmental infrastructure is commonly understood as important, there are concerns about issues such as air, noise, and visual pollution, causing ‘Not In My Backyard’ (NIMBY) attitudes. NIMBY-ism can be overcome by minimizing or removing pollution and inviting residents and other stakeholders to enjoy multifaceted benefits of such environmental infrastructure projects. This can foster a new maxim coined as ‘W-NIMBY’ (Why Not In My Backyard?), which manifests in new infrastructure shaped by community needs and supports sustainability agendas. The present intelligence brief provides insights from Japanese cases into how to promote W-NIMBY-ism.

Technical summary

Environmental infrastructure is essential for the common good. Addressing sustainability crises and fostering environmental movements require accelerated deployment of environmental infrastructure. While such infrastructure is necessary, Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) attitudes have remained due to concerns such as air, water, and noise pollution. We present insights from three atypical cases in Japan and argue for the reimagination of the connection between affected residents and environmental infrastructure. The three facilities were designed to be multifunctional and open for the surrounding community to enjoy. We call for participatory approaches and multifunctional use of space that can account for the interests of affected and concerned citizens. Such a conceptualization can lead to ‘W-NIMBY’ (Why Not In My Backyard), manifesting new infrastructure that is shaped by community needs and supports sustainability agendas. Through such approaches, citizens may accept and even take pride in hosting the infrastructure. In this intelligence brief, we argue that refashioning environmental infrastructure provides broader access for local stakeholders and helps in building a connection between citizens and the environmental infrastructure. Through design approaches that foster W-NIMBY, implementation of environmental infrastructure could be accelerated while supporting community needs and the broader sustainability agenda.

Social media summary

Why Not In My Backyard? (W-NIMBY): the potential of design-driven environmental infrastructure to foster greater acceptance among host communities.