bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Situating the Enlightenment in Herder’s Philosophy of History
Authors: James David
Published: December 2022

Although Herder is critical of the Enlightenment, I show that his philosophy of history commits him to the claim that the age and culture shaped by the Enlightenment in some way makes a distinctive contribution to the development of humanity. Yet this contribution cannot make this age and culture superior to earlier ones, for this would violate Herder’s commitment to the principle that each age and culture ought to be accorded an equal status because of the equal value of its contribution to the full development of humanity. I argue that an abstract way of thinking and a hostility to prejudice are integral elements of Herder’s attempt to situate the Enlightenment in his philosophy of history, despite how he otherwise criticizes the Enlightenment for its abstract thinking and its hostility to prejudice.
A Naïve Realist Rumination on the Roth-and-Dewulf versus Currie-and-Swaim Exchange
Authors: Mitrović Branko
Published: December 2022

The paper presents a realist perspective on the recent exchange in the Journal of the Philosophy of History between Adrian Currie and Daniel Swaim on the one side and Paul Roth and Fons Dewulf on the other. The first part presents a critique of Currie and Swaim’s view that the past is not determinate and can be changed. The second part states a series of arguments against Roth’s view that events exist only under description. The third part discusses the ontological problems that Roth’s irrealism about the past fails to address.
Wildlife Crime: Story of an International Law Lacuna
Authors: Prisner-Levyne Yann
Published: December 2022

Wildlife crime and more precisely the illicit trade of wildlife products is one of the fastest growing international crimes in connection with narcotics trafficking, human trafficking and the small arms trade. Conducted mostly by transnational crime syndicates, wildlife crime is also a source of funding for terrorist groups and armed militias in conflict ridden states contributing to the erosion of the rule of law and environmental degradation which has been expressly acknowledged by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Yet, there is no dedicated international law instrument to tackle wildlife crime. Instead, the international community relies on international cooperation and a patchwork of international instruments none of which were originally designed to deal specifically with wildlife crime. Predictably, the current legal framework does not seem to contribute that much to the prevention and eradication of wildlife crime as wildlife populations worldwide keep plummeting. If at the legal level, the adoption of an international agreement to prevent, supress and punish wildlife crime could be a step in the right direction, maybe it is humanity’s relationship with nature which needs to be reassessed especially in the light of the probable zoonotic origin of COVID-19.
Scandinavian Archives, Transatlantic Historical Culture, and Carl Christian Rafn’s Attempt to Rewrite American History in the Antebellum U.S
Authors: O’Leary Derek Kane
Published: December 2022

In the 1837 publication of Antiquitates Americanae by the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries in Copenhagen, Carl Christian Rafn argued that indisputable evidence proved that Norse mariners had arrived in North America around the turn of the 11th century, making them—not Columbus and his crew—the first white people to colonize the hemisphere. For historical societies and intrigued readers in the U.S., evidence about Norse settlement around the turn of the millennium could stretch the chronological, geographical, and dramatic scale of the national history that was being actively archived and narrated in this period. Americans eager to be seen as trans-Atlantic intellectual peers seriously analyzed the evidence and narrative promoted by Rafn, but their ambivalence about both the precision of the evidence and the implications of the narrative ultimately led them to marginalize the theory of Norse discovery by the time of the Civil War. In constructing their archives and historical narratives, Americans were drawn into such trans-Atlantic intellectual currents and foreign nationalist historical projects as the theory of Norse discovery, but they also navigated and redirected these currents according to their own conceptions of what belonged within the nation’s archival record and what their nation’s historical narrative should be.
Introduction: the Formation of Religious Minorities in Muslim Africa
Authors: Østebø Terje , Pontzen Benedikt
Published: December 2022

Minorities are not defined by mere numbers but must be considered as emergent formations within their wider surroundings. As such, minorities are defined by the relations to their majorities, especially by the differences to, but also by their exchanges with them, which have an impact on their lives and communal identities. Minorities emerge in larger processes and narratives by which their surrounding societies render themselves into imagined communities and thereby partake in the remaking of the wider social fabric. Focusing on religious minorities in Muslim Africa, this introduction to the special issue provides a framework for how to understand how various minorities form and how their minority status impacts how they live their religion, see themselves as members of society, and make claims towards the state. The introduction moreover reviews the scholarly work done on the different religious minorities found within Muslim Africa and presents the essays included in the special issue. Considering the resulting social dynamics and their surrounding debates, we move beyond an understanding of Muslim Africa as coined solely by its Sunni Muslim majority.
‘Tasting Imagination’: What Role Chemosensory Mental Imagery in Multisensory Flavour Perception?
Authors: Spence Charles
Published: December 2022

A number of perplexing phenomena in the area of olfactory/flavour perception may fruitfully be explained by the suggestion that chemosensory mental imagery can be triggered automatically by perceptual inputs. In particular, the disconnect between the seemingly limited ability of participants in chemosensory psychophysics studies to distinguish more than two or three odorants in mixtures and the rich and detailed flavour descriptions that are sometimes reported by wine experts; the absence of awareness of chemosensory loss in many elderly individuals; and the insensitivity of the odour-induced taste enhancement (OITE) effect to the mode of presentation of olfactory stimuli (i.e., orthonasal or retronasal). The suggestion made here is that the theory of predictive coding, developed first in the visual modality, be extended to chemosensation. This may provide a fruitful way of thinking about the interaction between mental imagery and perception in the experience of aromas and flavours. Accepting such a suggestion also raises some important questions concerning the ecological validity/meaning of much of the chemosensory psychophysics literature that has been published to date.
World War II Memory Weaponized
Authors: Edwards Sam
Published: December 2022

Focusing on two speeches by Ukrainian President Zelensky (as well as related activities) this article examines the recent diplomatic “use” in the on-going Russo-Ukraine War of World War II memory. It suggests that the Ukrainian government has skilfully—and very deliberately—deployed historical memory in diplomacy focused on both the United States and United Kingdom, and it suggests that part of the success of such endeavours lies in two connected factors. The first concerns the privileged position of World War II in Anglo-American culture; and the second is centred on the personalities of the current US and UK leaders, one of whom (Boris Johnson) has a well-known affection for Churchill, and the other of whom (Joe Biden) has been keen to assume the mantle of Franklin Roosevelt. With this audience, President Zelensky’s decision to invoke World War II memory is both savvy and clearly effective.
The Return of History as Travesty
Authors: Verbeeck Georgi
Published: December 2022

The ‘war against fascism’ constitutes one of the most eccentric tropes in today’s Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Russia is currently mirroring the battle against fascism and National Socialism during World War II in its own brutal invasion of Ukraine in a most extraordinary way. Yet, the ‘antifascism’ rhetoric provides the crucial link between the old Soviet historical narrative and contemporary Russia’s politics of memory. It serves as a concept ‘frozen in time’ and demonstrates how the current Russian leadership espouses an essentially cyclical world view that caters to its own policies of expansion and aggression.
Axillary hairs in diverse moss lineages
Authors: IGNATOV MICHAEL S. , POLEVOVA SVETLANA V. , SPIRINA ULYANA N. , SKRIPNIKOV ALEXANDER YU. , NOVIKOV BORIS A. , IGNATOVA ELENA A.
Published: December 2022

New observations and an overview of the axillary hair structure in the groups of mosses sister to peristomate ones are provided. Three moss lineages, Takakiopsida, Sphagnopsida, and Andreaeobryopsida are characterized by mucilage release through the apical pore or otherwise apical structures. Axillary hairs of Andreaea however, differ from these lineages and are similar to all other mosses, where mucilage exudes through small temporary breakings along the entire cell wall of its upper cells. Fine structure of axillary hairs is illustrated for Sphagnum, Takakia, Andreaeobryum, and partly for Andreaea and Oedipodium, and general characteristics are given for most orders. A unique arrangement of axillary hairs is found in Sphagnum, where they occasionally appear not only in the leaf axils but also along the leaf base abaxially. Another rare feature of Sphagnum is that its axillary hairs are penetrable for fungi through the apical pore, which was previously known in mosses only for Takakia. A highly specialized structure regulating mucilage release in Takakia is described. Actin filaments and especially tubulin microtubules were found to be outstandingly abundant in axillary hairs of Physcomitrium but not in paraphyses, as seen in its GFP-labelled plants, and this feature may be common in other mosses.
Agricultural management, bedrock, and vulnerability of sexual reproduction to climate change affect the occurrence of a European near-endemic moss
Authors: BISANG IRENE , HEDENÄS LARS
Published: December 2022

We investigated whether the European near-endemic moss Drepanocladus lycopodioides has declined in its core distribution area in the southern Baltic Sea region and explored potential explanations for this. First, we re-visited sites with documented records from 1854 to 1957 in the Stockholm archipelago and nearby mainland in southern Sweden. Second, we compared the numbers and distributions of Swedish occurrences, their habitats, and substrates up to 1950 (289 herbarium records), and from 1951 onwards (347) using different map layers. Third, we explored whether inter-annual variation in reproductive performance was related to moisture conditions at five sites on an island in the Stockholm archipelago during nine years. We estimated moisture conditions based on precipitation data and dry days during the time when fertilization occurs in the year prior to sporophyte maturation. Drepanocladus lycopodioides has strongly decreased in intensively managed agricultural landscapes but remains frequent in natural or semi-natural habitats on limestone. Sporophyte development varied between years and depended on the weather condition during the fertilization period. Climate forecasts for the study area predict longer dry spells during late spring to late summer, which coincides with the timing of sexual branch initiation and fertilization in the species. We expect that sporophyte production will likely decrease in the future, which will affect the species’ abilities to re-colonize spots where it vanishes during years with poor growth conditions.
Microtubule organization and plastid distribution during meiosis of Haplomitrium mnioides (Haplomitriopsida)
Authors: SHIMAMURA MASAKI
Published: December 2022

The organization of microtubules and plastid distribution of the liverwort, Haplomitrium mnioides (Haplomitriopsida), was studied during the meiotic phase lasting for six months. In the late fall, the cytoplasm of early sporocytes forms four lobes of future spore domains before meiotic prophase. Microtubules align at the cytoplasmic cleavage furrow regions as girdling bands in the four-lobed sporocytes. Finally, the cleavage furrows are proximal to the nucleus positioned in the center of the sporocyte, and the girdling bands of the microtubule (GBM) disappear. Subsequently, the nucleus moves into one of the cytoplasmic lobes, and sporocytes pass the winter season at this stage. In early spring, the nucleus returns to the central position of the lobed cytoplasm, concurrent with plastid repositioning around the nucleus. Plastids are then distributed equally to each of the four lobes as a plastid cluster. Astral microtubules emanate from the plastid cluster in each spore domain and encage prophase nuclei as a quadripolar microtubule system (QMS). The QMS changes into a twisted spindle of metaphase I with broad poles, while spindles of metaphase II also emanate from the four plastid clusters. Cytokinesis is completed through the centrifugal cell plate formation in telophase II. The division axes of two successive nuclear divisions appear to be determined by plastid-based QMS, and the future site of cytokinesis is marked by cytoplasmic furrows associated with GBM. The phylogenetic distribution of GBM and QMS suggests that the meiotic system involving these structures is an ancestral trait of liverworts. Long-term dormancy in diploid sporocytes rather than haploid spores may represent transitional traits from charophycean green algae to land plants.
Quality Assessment and Biases in Reused Data
Authors: Fernández-Ardèvol Mireia , Rosales Andrea
Published: December 2022

This article investigates digital and non-digital traces reused beyond the context of creation. A central idea of this article is that no (reused) dataset is perfect. Therefore, data quality assessment becomes essential to determine if a given dataset is “good enough” to be used to fulfill the users’ goals. Biases, a possible source of discrimination, have become a relevant data challenge. Consequently, it is appropriate to analyze whether quality assessment indicators provide information on potential biases in the dataset. We use examples representing two opposing sides regarding data access to reflect on the relationship between quality and bias. First, the European Union open data portal fosters the democratization of data and expects users to manipulate the databases directly to perform their analyses. Second, online behavioral advertising systems offer individualized promotional services but do not share the datasets supporting their design. Quality assessment is socially constructed, as there is not a universal definition but a set of quality dimensions, which might change for each professional context. From the users’ perspective, trust/credibility stands out as a relevant quality dimension in the two analyzed cases. Results show that quality indicators (whatever they are) provide limited information on potential biases. We suggest that data literacy is most needed among both open data users and clients of behavioral advertising systems. Notably, users must (be able to) understand the limitations of datasets for an optimal and bias-free interpretation of results and decision-making.
Shelter in Place and an Alarming Increase in Penetrating Trauma in Children and Concerning Decrease in Child Abuse
Authors: Arthur Lauren , Schiro Sharon , Tumin Dmitry , Nakayama Don , Toschlog Eric , Greene Erika , Waddell Megan , Longshore Shannon
Published: December 2022

Background

On March 14, 2020, schools across North Carolina (NC) closed in response to Covid-19, forcing completion of the school year at home. Most pediatric trauma occurs at home with a higher prevalence when children are out of school. We queried the state trauma database to assess if the 2020 “shelter in place” was associated with an increase in pediatric trauma statewide.

Methods

The NC trauma database was queried for injuries in children (age < 18 yrs) from 13 March-1 August 2020, and the corresponding months of 2018 and 2019. The number and type of injuries were compared. We also queried the NC death certificate and child welfare databases. Data were analyzed by standard statistical methods using chi-squared or Kruskal-Wallis test.

Results

Total pediatric trauma cases were lower during 2020 (71.6 per 100,000) compared to 2018 (92.4 per 100,000) and 2019 (80 per 100,000) ( P < .001); however, average injury severity score (ISS) was higher ( P = .001). A significant increase in firearm injuries were seen in 2020 ( P = .016), with an increase in mortality ( P = .08) and ISS ( P = .013). The rate of child abuse trauma decreased in 2020 ( P = .005) as did the number of child abuse and neglect reports ( P < .001). There were also significant decreases in trauma due to sports, burns, falls, and motor vehicle accidents.

Conclusion

While overall pediatric trauma decreased during the Covid-19 pandemic, there was an alarming increase in penetrating injuries in children. Child abuse trauma and reports decreased, which is concerning for lower identification of abuse.
Foreign Body Aspiration Complicated by Pneumothorax in Children: HCUP-KID Perspective
Authors: Favre Nicole M. , Powers Kristina F. , Viola Francesca C. , Carr Michele M.
Published: December 2022

Objective:

Children with airway foreign bodies (AFB) occasionally have pneumothorax complicating their course. We aimed to compare the clinical course of these children to those without this complication.

Methods:

Data was obtained from the 2016 Kids’ Inpatient Database of Healthcare Cost Utilization Project. ICD-10 code of T17XXXX was used to locate records. They were grouped based on the presence of preoperative pneumothorax, postoperative pneumothorax, or none. Variables included demographics, AFB type, AFB location, length of stay (LOS), pneumothorax treatment modality, mortality, hospital setting, primary payor, and total charges.

Results:

A total of 4165 children with AFB were identified, 57.8% male and 42.2% female. Of these 75 (1.8%) patients presented with preoperative pneumothorax, 29 (0.7%) with postoperative pneumothorax, and 4061 (97.5%) with no pneumothorax. The preoperative pneumothorax patients were older than the postoperative pneumothorax and unaffected AFB patients (mean age = 9.5 [95% CI 7.7-11.3] vs 8.2 [95% CI 5.4-11.1] vs 5.5 [95% CI 5.3-5.7]; P < .001). Preoperative pneumothorax patients incurred higher total charges than the other groups (mean US = $939K [95% Cl 673K-1,204K] vs $599K [95% Cl 377K-821K] vs $228K [95% Cl 211K-244K]; P < .001), had a longer LOS in days (mean = 37.7 [95% Cl 28.7-46.7] vs 31.6 [95% Cl 16.9-46.2] vs 15.8 [95% CI 15.0-16.7]; P < .001), and had a higher mortality rate (16% vs 0% vs 3.7%, P < .001).

Conclusion:

Pneumothorax can significantly impact a child’s hospital course, and preoperative pneumothorax should alert clinicians to the potential for increased mortality risk.
The Development of the Existential Empathy Questionnaire
Authors: Vanhooren Siebrecht , Conrado Veiga Bosquetti Yasmin , Frediani Gianina
Published: December 2022

Therapist empathy toward existential concerns might be a critical component of clinical practice. This study aims to explore the psychometric properties of the Existential Empathy Questionnaire (EEQ), a self-report instrument developed to measure levels of existential empathy among mental health professionals. The EEQ was completed by a sample of 393 therapists recruited in Belgium, along with measures of general empathy, experiential avoidance, and existential avoidance. To assess the test–retest reliability, 353 participants of the same sample completed the EEQ a second time 2 weeks later. Clinical experience and therapeutic theoretical background were assessed to inform professional characteristics. The results support the use of the EEQ as a unidimensional measure of existential empathy. It demonstrates good internal reliability and temporal stability. A principal components analysis indicates three components with small to moderate intercorrelations, labeled as “Communication,” “Avoidance and Overwhelming Feelings,” and “Resonance and Presence.” EEQ total scores show a moderate positive association with general empathy and a moderate negative association with experiential and existential avoidance. Furthermore, the EEQ significantly uniquely predicts experiential and existential avoidance after controlling for general empathy. Years of clinical practice and a humanistic-oriented therapeutic approach correlated moderately with high EEQ scores.
The Role of Advertising in High-Tech Medical Procedures: Evidence from Robotic Surgeries
Authors: Yoon Tae Jung , Kim TI Tongil
Published: December 2022

Hospital advertising has grown more than five-fold in the past two decades. However, unlike detailing and advertising for prescription drugs, the topic of hospital advertising has been understudied. This research introduces a customer-centric view to this market by investigating the role of advertising in patients’ choice of high-tech medical procedures, with a focus on robotic surgery. The authors analyze approximately 140,000 individual patient records and television advertising data from Florida during 2011–2015 to investigate how hospital advertising of robotic surgery affects patients’ choice of robotic surgery over more conventional laparoscopic and open surgeries. Using a variation of a designated market area border identification strategy, the authors find that this advertising leads to more robotic surgery choices. The advertising effect is especially strong for Medicaid patients, whose socioeconomic status tends to be lower. While robotic surgery is associated with a short-term health benefit (i.e., reduced length of hospital stay), it does not affect long-term health benefits and comes at a higher cost than other forms of surgery. Thus, understanding the effect of advertising robotic surgery has significant health, cost, and marketing implications for different stakeholders in the health care industry, such as patients, health care providers, surgical robot manufacturers, insurance providers, and policy makers.
Do Simulated Teaching Experiences Impact Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Ability to Facilitate Argumentation-Focused Discussions in Mathematics and Science?
Authors: Mikeska Jamie N. , Howell Heather , Kinsey Devon
Published: December 2022

Recently scholars have advocated for using teachers’ practice as a site for teacher learning. The recent proliferation of online, digital spaces, including simulated classrooms, has paved the way for novel approaches within practice-based teacher education. Yet, limited research has investigated the extent to which and how the use of online, simulated teaching experiences promote teacher learning of core teaching practices. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how integrating simulated teaching experiences into teacher education coursework impacts preservice teacher (PST) learning. Findings showed that the use of simulated teaching experiences within elementary teacher education methods courses resulted in evidence of statistically significant growth in PSTs’ ability to engage in one core teaching practice: facilitating argumentation-focused discussions.
“If you want police, we will have them”: Anti-Black Student Discipline in Southern Schools and the Rise of a New Carceral Logic, 1961-1975
Authors: Hale Jon N. , Livingston Candace
Published: December 2022

This paper examines the southern influence and litigation around carceral logic in public education, as evident in the racialized disciplinary codes and police presence in schools that led to the criminalization of youth during desegregation through the 1960s and into the 1970s. Southern school districts and state legislators worked in tandem with law enforcement to increase discipline and surveillance in newly desegregated spaces, changed laws to swiftly prosecute and remove youth from schools, and increasingly targeted youth with harsh disciplinary policies grounded in racist assumptions categorizing Black students as inherently violent. This form of disciplinary power and control presaged federal legislation including the Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1965 and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, and shaped the foundations of today’s anti-Black school discipline policies and police presence in schools. This article explicates how southern schools contributed to a burgeoning carceral logic that shared commonalities across the nation but at the same time were distinct from other regions.
“You Know It When You See It”: Drug Nuisance Property and the Carceral Management of Racialized Disinvestment in Philadelphia
Authors: Smith Jackson
Published: December 2022

In 1991, Philadelphia prosecutors formed the Public Nuisance Task Force (PNTF) to close bars they accused of harboring narcotics activity. Between the early 1990s and the late 2010s, the PNTF would go on to seize 1,697 homes, most located in Black and Latinx neighborhoods devastated by decades of disinvestment. I contend that the PNTF mobilized municipal carceral power to target these drug nuisance properties as they attempted to manage enduring disinvestment in Philadelphia’s most racially segregated neighborhoods. Prosecutors defended these practices by claiming they remedied the harms associated with the criminalized distribution of narcotics. However, my research reveals how the PNTF’s home seizure program ultimately exacerbated the compounded harms caused by drug prohibition and disinvestment. I argue that within this drug nuisance policing framework utilized by PNTF prosecutors, it was precisely the vulnerability of Black and Latinx homeowners to harm that racially marked them as unfit for property ownership.
Manifestations of Mucormycosis and Its Complications in COVID-19 Patients: A Case Series Study
Authors: Kordjazi Mohammadsmaeil , Bazgir Narges , Eftekharian Kourosh , Farajpour Mostafa , Dilmaghani Nader Akbari
Published: December 2022

Objective

Mucormycosis is an opportunistic fungal disease that affects immunocompromised patients. With the advent of SARS-CoV-2, this opportunistic disease has increased.

Methods

A case series of 47 patients with COVID-19 associated mucormycosis have been analyzed. Demographic information, signs, symptoms, laboratory investigations, imaging studies, and their association with ICU admission and 30-day mortality were assessed.

Results

Total number of 47 consecutive rhino-orbital cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) cases were analyzed. Periorbital swelling was the most common sign among patients. Majority of cases had diabetes. All patients received liposomal Amphotericin B. Debridement was performed for all cases.

Conclusions

SARS-CoV-2 increases the susceptibility to mucormycosis infection in various ways. Uncontrolled level of HbA1c in all patients, even non-diabetic individuals, indicates hyperglycemia over the past three months. Diabetes, orbital exenteration, ptosis, periorbital swelling, DKA, LOC, brain involvement, and mechanical ventilation all correlated with a higher rate of ICU admission and 30-day mortality. In addition, a higher white blood cell count is related to the higher probability of ICU admission. While considering all of the inflammatory laboratory data and HbA1c could help predict 30-day mortality.
Heterogeneity of Research and Development Expenditure: A Convergence Analysis for the Spanish Regions
Authors: Delgado Francisco J. , Mayor Matías , Presno Maria J.
Published: December 2022

In the present study, we investigate the convergence of research and development (R&D) expenditure, a relevant factor in competitiveness, across Spanish regions through a club convergence analysis for the period 2000 to 2017. The results show large regional disparities in R&D expenditure in Spain. We have identified four clusters, plus a divergent region: the Basque Country. The results are similar for the two perspectives considered: percentage of GDP and per capita. We discuss these results taking into account the effects of the Great Recession and compare the outcomes with those for a club convergence of regional GDP per capita. Finally, we carry out an ordered logit model to analyse the factors behind the clusters, with human capital and economic openness being significant.
Saving for Natural Disasters: Evidence From Pennsylvania Local Governments
Authors: Arapis Theodore , Chatterjee Vaswati
Published: December 2022

For all governments—federal, state, or local—natural disasters impose significant costs. Among the three, local governments typically respond first using their own resources. Thus, a proactive fiscal mechanism providing resources for initiating disaster response (e.g., emergency debris removal, medical services, rescue) appears necessary, especially for governments vulnerable to disasters. This study explores the role of natural disasters on fiscal savings strategy using data collected by Pennsylvania municipal executives via our Pandemic Management Survey. Following our findings, Pennsylvania local governments appear to weigh both their experiences and preparedness level to face a disaster. While more disaster experiences motivated fiscal savings accumulation, lower savings were retained among prepared governments. As such, disaster learning and adaptation not only could limit loss of life and property, but also lead to an efficient fiscal savings strategy.
A DisCrit Analysis of Quality in Early Childhood: Toward Pedagogies of Wholeness, Access, and Interdependence
Authors: Beneke Margaret R. , Love Hailey R.
Published: December 2022

Background:

In U.S. contexts, the language of “quality” early childhood education is widely invoked to evaluate the “goodness” of teaching and learning and is often leveraged in attempts to ameliorate inequities. Likewise, efforts to define and achieve generalizable conceptualizations of early childhood quality often guide what takes place in teacher education. Though objections to quality reform efforts and the ways they uphold white supremacy have been extensively discussed, less work has explicitly examined how ableism intersects with racism in the ways quality is defined and applied in early childhood.

Purpose:

The purpose of this conceptual article is to extend prior critiques of quality to critically examine intersections of racism and ableism in the definitions, measurements, and enactments of quality early childhood teaching and learning. We bring disability critical race theory (DisCrit; Annamma et al., 2013) into conversation with literature on quality in early childhood to examine how traditional notions of early childhood quality position and affect multiply-marginalized children, families, and teachers. We emphasize how dominant notions of early childhood quality are reinforced and can be disrupted in teacher preparation.

Interpretive Analysis:

We utilize DisCrit’s seven interrelated tenets to analyze how ableism and racism mutually reinforce notions of early childhood quality by: (1) predefining universal goals for teaching and learning; (2) reducing the complexity of teaching and learning; and (3) discarding the wisdom of multiply-marginalized children, families, and teachers. Each of these technocratic processes rely on one another (and at times, overlap) to uphold whiteness and ableism in both early childhood practice and teacher education; exposing them allows us to imagine alternate ways of conceptualizing and enacting meaningful early education. Through DisCrit praxis, we offer an alternative language of evaluation that centers multiply-marginalized young children, families, and teachers using pedagogies of wholeness, access, and interdependence.

Conclusions:

At the nexus of ableism and racism, standardized notions of early childhood quality create myriad forms of harm for multiply-marginalized children, families, and teachers. Although the language of quality pervades the field, we know it is not the only way. We implore teacher educators to support teacher candidates in developing a DisCrit praxis, as we engage in such processes of reflection and action ourselves. When teaching and learning are rooted in principles of wholeness, access, and interdependence, we put multiply-marginalized communities at the heart of our work, reclaiming and enacting meaningful pedagogies in early childhood.
Preferences for cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation care: A discrete choice experiment among patients in Lebanon
Authors: Farah Rebecca , Groot Wim , Pavlova Milena
Published: December 2022

Objective

Patient preferences are important in designing optimal rehabilitation care. The aim of this study is to assess preferences for rehabilitation care among two groups of respondents.

Design

An online discrete choice experiment survey was carried out.

Setting

We use data for Lebanon, a country where rehabilitation care is still underdeveloped.

Participants

Patients who have undergone or are currently undergoing rehabilitation treatment (users) and those who have not (yet) used rehabilitation care (non-users).

Intervention

Patients were asked to repeatedly choose between two hypothetical rehabilitation care packages with seven different attributes: attitude of the staff, travel time to clinic, out-of-pocket costs, medical equipment, rehabilitation plan, additional lifestyle education session, and support during rehabilitation care.

Main measures

Preference heterogeneity among patients with different characteristics was investigated using random effect binary logistic regression (software package Stata 15).

Results

In total, 126 respondents completed the survey. The most preferred attribute was an informal and friendly attitude of the staff followed by modern medical equipment, additional lifestyle education session via eHealth, and support during the rehabilitation program via phone call or SMS. Respondents were less in favor of going to the rehabilitation clinic and paying additional out-of-pocket costs for the rehabilitation treatment. This rank order was similar between users and non-users.

Conclusion

Preferences of patients regarding the type of program chosen (eHealth or at clinical-based) need to be included in future rehabilitation programs. Improving patient experience with rehabilitation programs by giving the best care based on a patient-centered approach is essential.
Organisational support for healthcare innovation in hospitals: Towards a commitment framework
Authors: Żukowicka-Surma Anna , Fritzsche Albrecht
Published: December 2022

The article investigates organisational drivers and restrainers of innovation in hospitals on the background of different institutional logics. It presents evidence from a multiple case study in Polish hospitals, which reveals different dynamics on the micro-, meso- and macro-level of organisations in enabling and implementing new procedures and technologies. In particular, the study documents an ambiguous influence of medical professionalism as a specific logic in the healthcare sector, which can affect innovation positively as well as negatively. The article therefore proposes a managerial framework based in innovation action commitment to control the effects of professionalism in healthcare.
Responding to Failure: A Transformative Process
Authors: Davey Dean
Published: December 2022

Failure is the pathway to transformation. Employing reflective strategies within the three primary domains of knowledge enhances the learning process amidst failure. Where the suffering of failure can seem traumatic, systematic reflection enables learners to comprehensively analyze their behavior and evaluate its contribution to performance outcomes, resulting in posttraumatic growth and transformative results. Failure, of any kind, need not have the final word.
Sarah Waller’s Help-Seeking Model: Understanding African American Women Intimate Partner Violence Survivors’ Help-seeking Process
Authors: Waller Bernadine , Goddard-Eckrich Dawn , Kagotho Njeri , Hankerson Sidney H. , Hawks Alice , Wainberg Milton L.
Published: December 2022

African American women overwhelmingly experience the poorest outcomes resulting from intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. Despite theoretical advancements, there remain a paucity of theories that explicate this marginalized population’s comprehensive help-seeking process that includes the domestic violence service provision system and the Black church. We conducted 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women who self-identified as African American. We utilized sensitizing concepts from the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Intersectionality theories, along with Agency framework and employed constructivist grounded theory methodology. Sarah’s Help-Seeking Model emerged from the data and includes nine phases: (1) Awareness, (2) Acknowledgment, (3) Assessment, (4) Enough, (5) Enlist, (6) Escalate, (7) Reject, (8) Resolve, and (9) Restoration. This is the first theory that identifies how this vulnerable and underserved population’s mental health and social support-seeking process is partially mediated by mistrust of law enforcement, disappointment in linkage to care and services, fear of death, and willingness to survive.
Effect of thermally induced microstructural changes on the mechanical properties and ballistic performance of poly (p-phenylene terephthalamide) fibers
Authors: Pramanick Rinku , Verma Sanjeev K , Kumari Rajesh , De Sirshendu , Neogi Sudarsan , Neogi Swati
Published: December 2022

Microstructural variations have a strong influence on the load transfer capacity of the high-performance polymeric fibers, which is also reflected in their ballistic property changes. The focus of the present study is to investigate thermally induced microstructural changes and their reflection on the mechanical properties and theoretical ballistic limit of poly ( p-phenylene terephthalamide) fibers by a correlation. From the quantitative analysis of XRD, thermally induced changes in unit cell a-dimension show profound sensitivity in affecting the tenacity and modulus of the fibers. Based on the physicochemical changes in FTIR and FESEM analysis, significant surface deterioration and changes in the chemical network are observed. However, dimensional variations of the crystal structure along a-direction show a stronger influence than the chemical and morphological changes, reflecting sigmoidal responses with tenacity, modulus and theoretical V50 by correlations. As an effect of unit cell dimensional variation, changes in crystallinity are resulted and lead to the loss in theoretical ballistic limit of the fibers by following first-order kinetics. Lastly, angular separation and (200) orientation angle are determined to build a global correlation with modulus and theoretical ballistic limit for quickly decoding macro-changes in terms of micro-properties. The given correlations can help to identify crystallographic transformations upon other induction techniques and view their effect on mechanical and ballistic parameters. In addition, the given approach can be extended for different ballistic materials under any environmental conditions.
Investigation on the effect of Zn interlayer and process parameters optimisation in the production of Al-SS bimetallic castings
Authors: V Raja , M Kavitha
Published: December 2022

The effect of Zn interlayer on the stainless steel insert in the fabrication of Aluminium-Stainless Steel (Al-SS) Bimetallic casting (BmC) is reported. The design of Experiments was conducted with pouring temperature (680°C–730°C), insert preheat temperature (100°C–400°C) and insert thickness (1–3 mm) as influencing process parameters to produce Al-SS BmC. The maximum bond strength of 25.33 MPa was achieved when the experimental conditions were 705°C pouring temperature, 250°C insert temperature and 2 mm insert thickness. Using Response Surface Methodology (RSM), the interaction between the process parameters has been studied and a second-order polynomial equation was derived for maximising the bond strength. The predicted maximum bond strength using RSM for the above experimental conditions is 26.75 MPa. The output of RSM was given to the Genetic Algorithm (GA) to identify the maximum bond strength at forbidden parametric values. The maximum bond strength predicted using GA by interpolation is 26.87 MPa. However, the three process parametric conditions are 707°C, 277°C, and 1.86 mm respectively for achieving the maximum bond strength in the given Al-SS BmC’s. Experimental validation of the above conditions was conducted and the results obtained confirmed the predicted bond strength value using the GA technique. Spiral morphology due to the formation of Zn10Fe3 intermetallics was observed at the Zn-SS interface when the pouring temperature increased to 730°C and this might have led to the reduced bond strength of BmC than the bond strength achieved at 705°C and 707°C. The formation of the Al-rich and Fe-rich solid solutions as reaction layer between Al and SS without the micro gap around 705°C may contribute to the significant increase in bond strength of produced BmC with different insert temperatures and insert thickness.
A review on solar desalination techniques using vacuum technology
Authors: Rahul Parthasarathy , Ramanathan Seranthian , Dhivagar Ramasamy , Karthi Poyyamozhi , Manivel Muralidaran
Published: December 2022

The explosion of the population is alarming as the demand increases exponentially for resources. The freshwater resources are being exploited, and innovative and economical methods are analyzed experimentally to extract freshwater from various sources. Desalination performed using solar energy is an economical method to obtain fresh water from seawater and brackish water, which are available prolifically in nature. Since the phenomenon of desalination demands solar irradiation, which is an intermittent source of energy, distillation is not feasible in some places where the solar intensity is low. In the solar desalination, the saturation temperature of the saline water is very less at low saturation pressure thereby requiring large latent heat of evaporation. Hence, vacuum pressure could be the most appropriate choice to extract drinkable water in territories where the intensity of solar irradiation is poor. In order to this, the utilization of evacuated tube collectors and vacuum technology in the solar desalination unit has been considered for discussion as it is the most sought-after subject of interest in the current scenario. Methods for implementing the vacuum technology are also introduced with plenty of experimentations. Vacuum technology implemented in the evaporator of desalination system has been supplemented with nano-fluids and phase change materials to accelerate the evaporation process, increase efficiency, and obtain a greater productivity. In this review, the performance of the solar desalination unit under the vacuum effect were discussed in detail. Furthermore, in economic analysis, the cost effectiveness and cost per liter of distillate (CPL) were discussed to estimate the payback period. Finally, this review also suggests the vision to identify the future scope for additional implementations.
Investigation of microstructure, mechanical properties, and wear behavior of A380 aluminum nanocomposite reinforced with SiC nanoparticles produced by powder metallurgy
Authors: Mohammadi Ali , Alipour Mohammad
Published: December 2022

In this study, the effect of adding SiC nanoparticles and heat treatment on the mechanical properties and wear behavior of A380 aluminum alloy was investigated. Al A380 aluminum powder and SiC nanoparticles with values (0, 0.5, 1, and 2% wt%) were milled in a planetary ball mill with balls of different diameters (4–10 mm) in an argon atmosphere for 10 hours. After the milling process, a hot press (510°C) was used to produce the samples. The microstructure, mechanical properties, and wear behavior of the samples were examined using an optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM), micro Vickers hardness test, and pin-on-disk test, respectively. To investigate the effect of heat treatment, the samples were placed in a furnace at 530°C for 3 hours, then the sample was quenched with boiling water, then placed in a furnace at 175°C for 16 hours, and then by micro Vickers hardness device, the hardness of the samples were measured. The best hardness of the samples was related to aluminum alloy with 0.5 wt% of SiC nanoparticles. Also, after heat treatment, the hardness of the samples increased significantly. Al A380 2wt% SiC nanocomposite sample represents the greatest wear properties when compared with the other experiment samples.
Effect of radiofrequency coil and primary magnetic field on radiolucent composite plates
Authors: Gawande Atul S , Mukka Ramachanra Shreyas , Kamyab Hesam , Trung Nguyen-Thoi , Kattimani Subhaschandra
Published: December 2022

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems need a material compatible with the imaging technique with lesser attenuation and provide accurate images without distortion. Carbon fibers are the best-suited materials for x-ray applications because of their radiolucent properties and reduced attenuation characteristics. However, carbon fiber produces images with distortion in the MRI system by absorbing electromagnetic energy because of its conductive nature. In the present study, five different fiber-reinforced radiolucent composite plates are analyzed to predict their suitability for a radio frequency coil and the effect of a primary magnetic field of 1.5 T and 3.0 T on mechanical responses. Simulation models are built to explore the impact of electromagnetic waves and birdcage coil configurations on composite material and quantify the temperature changes caused due to energy absorption. A multiphysics coupling simulation is being used to understand the effect of stacking sequence, ply orientation, and boundary conditions on the response of composite plates under an electro-magneto-mechanical environment.
Improved coyote optimization algorithm for parameter estimation of lithium-ion batteries
Authors: Hao Yuefei , Ding Jie , Huang Shimeng , Xiao Min
Published: December 2022

This paper studies the parameter estimation of fractional order equivalent circuit model of lithium-ion batteries. Since intelligent optimization algorithms can achieve parameters with high accuracy by transforming the parameter estimation into optimization problem, coyote optimization algorithm is taken in this paper by modifying two key steps so as to improve the accuracy and convergence speed. Firstly, tent chaotic map is introduced to avoid falling into local optimum and enhance population diversity. Secondly, dual strategy learning is employed to improve the searching ability, accuracy and convergence speed. Non-parametric statistical significance is tested by 6 benchmark functions with the comparison of other 5 optimization algorithms. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm is applied to identify the fractional order model of the Samsung ICR18650 (2600 mAh) and compared with conventional coyote optimization algorithm and particle swarm algorithm, which declared the excellence in identification accuracy.