bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Investigation of medicinal plant processing waste for electricity generation through biomethanation
Authors: Nayak Kartikeya , Kumargouda V. , Kumar Kavan
Published: July 2024

One of the waste-to-energy conversion technologies is the use of waste from the processing of medicinal plants to create biogas, which may then be used to generate electricity. The maximum capacity for producing biogas was exhibited by Carica papaya. After 5 weeks, biogas production from Combretum indicum and Azadirachta indica began, and it continued to increase until the experiment’s conclusion. For Carica papaya and Azadirachta indica, the greatest amounts of biogas produced in the 60-day retention period were 11,320 ml and 10,610 ml, respectively. By contrast, the highest methane yields for Carica papaya and Azadirachta indica were 7130 ml and 7850 ml, respectively. Azadirachta indica has an average methane percentage of 74%, which is the primary cause of the increased biogas production. Papaya carica yields more biogas; however, it has a 63% methane content. The 500-m3 UASB-type biogas plant can process 13,000 to 20,000 l of feedstock per day. Based on 90-day flow meter data, the average biogas production is 560.37 m3. The biogas facility has an internal rate of return of roughly 7%, indicating a lucrative undertaking. The project’s observed BC ratio was 1.22. The project is viable since the BC ratio was more than 1. The computed payback period was 9 years.
Engineered plastic-associated bacteria for biodegradation and bioremediation
Authors: Schneier Arianna , Melaugh Gavin , Sadler Joanna C.
Published: July 2024

The global plastic waste crisis has triggered the development of novel methods for removal of recalcitrant polymers from the environment. Biotechnological approaches have received particular attention due to their potential for enabling sustainable, low-intensity bioprocesses which could also be interfaced with microbial upcycling pathways to support the emerging circular bioeconomy. However, low biodegradation efficiency of solid plastic materials remains a bottleneck, especially at mesophilic conditions required for one-pot degradation and upcycling. A promising strategy used in nature to address this is localisation of plastic-degrading microbes to the plastic surface via biofilm-mediated surface association. This review highlights progress and opportunities in leveraging these naturally occurring mechanisms of biofilm formation and other cell-surface adhesion biotechnologies to co-localise engineered cells to plastic surfaces. We further discuss examples of combining these approaches with extracellular expression of plastic-degrading enzymes to accelerate plastic degradation. Additionally, we review this topic in the context of nano- and microplastics bioremediation and their removal from wastewater and finally propose future research directions for this nascent field.
Gene expression modulation tools for bacterial synthetic biology
Authors: Chang Minjun , Ahn Se Jun , Han Taehee , Yang Dongsoo
Published: July 2024

Synthetic biology has revolutionized the creation of microbial cell factories for the efficient production of value-added chemicals and materials from renewable resources. The rational design of these factories is based on the ability to precisely regulate the expression of multiple genes, enabling the programming of cells to exhibit desired behaviors. Tools for modulating gene expression facilitates the construction of intricate genetic circuits and complex metabolic pathways optimized for the efficient production of target chemicals and materials. In this review, we delve into recent synthetic biology tools and strategies that are used to efficiently control transcription, translation, as well as other gene expression-related processes. Representative examples emphasizing their practical applications are also illustrated. Additionally, we discuss future perspectives on the development and application of gene expression modulation tools, envisioning their pivotal role towards fostering a more sustainable bio-based economy.

Graphical Abstract
Poldw: A Python code to denoise 3C seismic data with a new threshold-free polarization technique
Authors: Velis Danilo R. , Gómez Julián L.
Published: July 2024

We present a Python code that implements a novel threshold-free polarization strategy for removing random noise from 3C linearly polarized seismic data. The code, which we refer to as polarization denoising through windowing (poldw), uses closed-form formulas along sliding windows that span the data to determine the optimal rotation angles that allow the transfer of most of the signal energy to a given component. The denoised 3C data are obtained after canceling out the other two components, which are assumed to contain predominantly noise, and then rotating back. The method is simple and efficient because it only requires setting the sliding window length. Synthetic and microseismic field data examples show the method’s effectiveness, which significantly improves the signal-to-noise ratio without the need for threshold-based polarization filters. Therefore, these filters can be pipelined in the rotation-based strategy for additional noise removal if necessary. When the data set contains nonlinearly polarized data or significant nonrandom noise, the method is likely to fail. For robustness against non-Gaussian noise and outliers, poldw allows for the use of alternative norms similar to the [Formula: see text]- or [Formula: see text]-norms instead of the energy. In addition to the code, we provide a Jupyter notebook to illustrate the method step by step and reproduce the results of the field data example.
Nurturing creative intelligence
Authors: Ives Polly
Published: July 2024

Polly Ives, music educationalist and founder of Concerteenies, discusses the importance of teaching children music and other creative skills amid the rise of artificial intelligence in our society, and shares tips for early years practitioners.
Tips for acing your early career
Authors: Watkins Jo
Published: July 2024

With many students now having finish their studies for the academic year, early years consultant at HFL Education, Jo Watkins, shares her advice for newly qualified practitioners as they enter the early years workforce for the first time.
Robotics in Joint Replacement Surgery
Authors: Kharat Kiran ,   Department of Orthopaedics, Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune, Maharashtra, India,, Kulshrestha Vikas , Sood Munish , Kulshrestha Soma , Shyam Ashok ,   Department of Orthopaedics, Command Hospital air Force Station, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India,,   Department of Orthopaedics, INHS Asvini, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India,,   Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Pune Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, Maharashtra, India,,   Indian Orthopaedic Research Group, Thane, Maharashtra, India.
Published: July 2024

Abstract: Today, the total knee replacement (TKR) is considered as one of the most successful orthopedics surgeries. The effective long-term pain relief, deformity correction, and restoration of function that it provides have resulted in a large number of these procedures being performed worldwide. It has been observed that 15–20% of patients are not satisfied even after successful TKR surgery. Various attempts such as careful patient selection, pre-operative education, optimization of patients before the surgery, expeditious and precise surgery, aggressive pain control, early return to home, and rehabilitation have been made to improve outcomes and satisfaction among patients. There are also attempts at designing newer implants and introducing smart technology like navigation and Robotics to improve the precision of surgery. In this letter, we look at the pros and cons of the rapid introduction of Robotics in the practice of total knee arthroplasty. Keywords: Joint replacement, Robotics, Conventional knee replacement
Minimally Invasive Placement of Pedicle Screws Using Robotic-Assisted Navigation and Magnetically Controlled Growing Rods in a Patient with Early-Onset Scoliosis: Technical Note and Case Report
Authors: Tracey Olivia C ,   Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, United States of America., Wisch Jenna L , Adhiyaman Akshitha , Zucker Colson P , Widmann Roger F , Heyer Jessica H ,   Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, United States of America.,   Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, United States of America.,   Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, United States of America.,   Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, United States of America.,   Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, United States of America.
Published: July 2024

Introduction: Early-onset scoliosis (EOS) refers to spinal curvature exceeding ten degrees in the coronal plane in patients under 10 years old. When non-operative management fails to control the curvature, surgical intervention may be indicated. In younger patients, growth-friendly instrumentation may be necessary to allow for continued spinal growth while controlling the curve, which includes magnetically control growing rods (MCGR). This paper is the first description of robotic-assisted navigation in a patient with EOS undergoing MCGR insertion with the minimally invasive placement of pedicle screws. The benefits of a trans-muscular robotic-assisted technique include minimizing the risk of autofusion of the non-instrumented area. Case Report: The 7-year-old female patient with vertebral, anal, cardiac, tracheoesophageal, renal, esophageal, and limb anomalies and a complex medical history, presented with progressive, early-onset syndromic scoliosis. She underwent various surgeries in infancy for imperforate anus, colonic atresia, and malrotation, among other issues. Over time her curve worsened, reaching 71° by age seven. Insertion of MCGR was recommended and successfully performed using robotic-assisted navigation for placement of pedicle screws. Immediately post-operatively, the patients’ major curve improved to 15°. She was discharged home without complications on post-operative day 4. Conclusion: This case study exemplifies the success and safety of growth-friendly instrumentation using robotic-assisted navigation for the placement of pedicle screws. Keywords: Magnetically controlled growing rods, early-onset scoliosis, robotic-assisted navigation.
Exploring care experiences and satisfaction: a descriptive qualitative study of hospitalised older adults
Authors: Awuviry-Newton Kofi , Abekah-Carter Kwamina , Nkansah Jacob Oppong , Asamoah Brilliant , Rashid Umar Abdul
Published: July 2024

This article explores the experiences of hospitalised older adults concerning the care they receive from family carers. Employing a descriptive qualitative approach, alongside semi-structured interviews, data were gathered from eight older adults admitted to a teaching hospital in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The nature of care received by older adults and their attitudes towards it emerged as the two overarching themes identified from the data. Given the dissatisfaction levels with the care provided to older adults and the importance of familial support for them, implementing interventions that foster collaboration between the state and families to offer supportive services for older adults and their carers could enhance satisfaction with care and contribute to the sustainability of long-term care for older adults.
Louis Edwards's Oscar Wilde Discovers America : Gender, Race, and the Judas Kiss of Biofiction
Authors: Jenkins Melissa
Published: July 2024

Abstract: This article draws on Oscar Wilde's collected works to convey new insights about how he is depicted in biofiction, with a focus on Louis Edwards's 2003 novel Oscar Wilde Discovers America . Edwards creates a protagonist who underplays Wilde's marginalization and who struggles to see the interplay between gender, nationality, and race. The distance between character, author, and text facilitates Edwards's interrogation of biofiction itself—its biases, its lapses, and its opportunities. In part one of my analysis, I track the Judas Kiss motif across works by Wilde and within Edwards's reimagining to discuss how biofiction itself hinges on reversal and betrayal. In part two, I examine how Edwards's biofiction corrects for the historical homosociality of life-writing by surfacing the suffering of women.
"The Tangled Skein of Connections": Slavery Escape Routes from Individuality to Intersectionality in Biofiction and Speculative Historical Fiction
Authors: Cernat Laura
Published: July 2024

Abstract: This article analyzes Colum McCann's biofiction TransAtlantic (2013), which it reads alongside Colson Whitehead's speculative historical fiction The Underground Railroad (2016) in order to bring into sharp focus the kind of cultural, political, and intellectual service that biofiction by or about African Americans can perform. By lifting the veil from the mechanisms of oppressive power, these two novels expose common structures that were operational during the slave trade in Africa as well as the "starve trade" in Ireland. My main conceptual building block is Ian Baucom's model of two poles of realism ("actuarial" and "melancholy"), which I expand to suggest that McCann and Whitehead complicate this polarity, allowing the actuarial mode to integrate liberation strategies for the oppressed and nuancing the melancholy mode to circumvent the risk of sentimentalism. In both cases, the strength of interracial agency and intersectional thought points toward lines of flight from the actuarial-melancholic binary.
Updike's Wager: Emerson, William James, and the Ground of Belief in Late Updike
Authors: Milder Robert
Published: July 2024

Abstract: By "Updike's wager" I mean a willed decision to believe in the face of counterevidence. Emotionally Updike's wager dates back to a crisis in his teens, intellectually to another in the early 1960s, but it assumed new urgency in the 1980s and later as developments in science made belief increasingly problematic. In "On Being a Self Forever" and some of the fiction and nonfiction of his last two decades, Updike sought to reground religion on the pragmatic basis of its consequences for living. Although he remained a churchgoer throughout his life, his practical belief came to consist in a non-doctrinal faith in divine beneficence, a love of Creation, a hope for eternal life in some unimaginable form, and a conviction that belief was essential for the continuity of the ideals and culture of Western civilization.
The Aural/Visual Synchrony: Opera Film, Close-up, and Cinematic Literacy in Mao-era China (1949–1966)
Authors: He Qiliang , Jiang Lily Xiangxiang
Published: July 2024

Abstract: In the first two decades of the People’s Republic of China (PRC; 1949–present), the filmmakers were caught in a dilemma between a fast-growing film industry and Chinese moviegoers’ pervasive lack of cinematic literacy, that is, a proper understanding of cinematic techniques, such as the use of shots in films. To make motion pictures a mass culture by enhancing cinematic literacy among Chinese viewers, filmmakers produced over one hundred opera films—a filmic genre that resorts to cinematic techniques to represent Chinese theater on the silver screen. Considering Chinese audiences’ familiarity with China’s operatic arts, such as singing and music, filmmakers in post1949 China deftly synchronized close-up shots with operatic music/singing in opera films to highlight characters’ heightened emotions and thereby popularize a filmic mode of narration and presentation. This paper argues that close and close-up shots provided an avenue for a transition from stage to screen as a chief means of entertainment and a widely accepted mode of representation in the early years of the PRC.
Reading as Reliving: The Multimedia Pingshu Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Its Republican-Era Ancestors
Authors: Morse Canaan
Published: July 2024

Abstract: This paper documents a recently published, six-volume series of books entitled Pingshu Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Pingshu Sanguo yanyi 評書三國演義), an edited transcription of pingshu storyteller Lian Liru’s 連麗如ongoing performance of the traditional tale, adapted for the page by her senior disciple, pingshu performer and editor Liang Yan 梁彥. The text of the series merges the narrative worlds of traditional oral storytelling and print media in several fascinating ways, including by attaching a QR code to every chapter that allows users to read while listening to the original performance while they read. Textual analysis supplemented by interviews reveals how the creators used print narrative techniques to recreate the receptive context of oral performance and enable a mode of reading I term “reading as reliving.” A further discovery, that they modeled the project after a precedent—serialized pingshu publication in Republican-era periodicals—demonstrates how written text and oral performance in China have continued to exist symbiotically and how even a badge of hyper-modernity like a QR code can be seen as part of a tradition of oral performers utilizing media revolutions to their art’s advantage.
Comparisons with Homonymous Predicates in Aristotle
Authors: Hildebrandt Ronja
Published: July 2024

abstract: Aristotle claims that cross-sense comparisons—that is, comparisons with respect to homonymous predicates—are impossible. At the same time, he uses such comparisons in arguments that are fundamental to his philosophical project, such as when he claims that happiness is better than instrumental goods. In this paper, I discuss how this tension arises, and I explain why the cross-sense comparisons Aristotle uses are nevertheless possible. Using evidence from the Protrepticus , I claim Aristotle distinguishes two kinds of comparisons: comparisons of degrees of a quality, and comparisons of the priority with which a quality applies. Only the latter admits of some cross-sense comparisons.
Leibniz and the Metaphysics of Powers
Authors: Myrdal Peter
Published: July 2024

abstract: The notion of force is at the heart of Leibniz’s metaphysics. One of his central theses is that powers are to be reconceived as forces. Connectedly, he maintains that force is essential to the very account of substance. The paper contends that these claims have not been well understood due to an inadequate understanding of the notion of force itself. Against a common reading, I argue that Leibnizian force is not fundamentally dispositional, but an activity . Taking seriously this idea means reconsidering not only the nature and function of powers, but also the basic character of Leibniz’s metaphysics—including his view of substances as soul-like and as causally independent. This paves the way for a novel interpretation of the unity of physical and metaphysical forces.
Investigating Dayue : An LFG-OT Approach to Its Subcategorization and Structure
Authors: Tseng Yu-Ching
Published: July 2024

本文探討了「大約」的子類別和結構，採用詞彙功能語法–優選理論 (LFG-OT)方法來解釋該詞的不同用法。文章認為，大約可以歸為副詞或介詞類別，取決於其作用於句式中之功能和結構。作為副詞，大約直接修飾其後的從句成分或量化短語。作為介詞，大約接受名詞短語或介詞短語作為補語，在附加位置出現。由於大約的子類別和相關的論元結構可能產生歧義，導致不同輸入含義生成同樣語言形式為最佳輸出，而每個歧義對應不同的成分結構。本文採用詞彙功能語法–優選理論方法來解釋大約的結構。詞彙功能語法使用不同語言層次表現語法，而優選理論根據不同種類的制約條件之間的相互作用和排名來評估語言形式。忠實性制約條件確保詞彙、功能和句法層次之間的忠實映射。標記制約條件要求語言結構良好。經濟制約條件追求簡潔高效的表達方式。對齊制約條件將論元映射到成分結構中。
Revisiting the Legal Status of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia
Authors: Abdullah A Rahman Tang
Published: July 2024

Abstract: The legal status of Sabah and Sarawak in the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 became a contentious issue for the Malaysian public because of claims that Sabah and Sarawak entered the Federation of Malaysia as equal partners with the whole of Peninsular Malaysia, rather than as states within the federation. A further claim is that a constitutional amendment in 1976 downgraded the status of Sabah and Sarawak to the same level as the 11 states in the Malay Peninsula, an argument found in propaganda issued in connection with the Sarawak State Election in 2016 and the Malaysian general Election in 2018. This paper refutes these claims, showing that under the Malaysia Agreement Sabah and Sarawak are simply two states within the federation, and that the constitutional amendment of 1976 did not change their legal status.
Patterns of native and invasive lianas of Virginia's Ridge and Valley forests in relation to land use history
Authors: Resler Lynn , Patil Parul , Bristow Cole , Finks Lindsay , Dolby Mitch
Published: July 2024

Lianas, or woody vines, are an often-overlooked component of forested ecosystems. Studies exploring how lianas are influenced by historical land use are scarce, particularly in temperate regions. We aimed to 1) characterize the composition, abundance, and diversity of native and non-native lianas in southwest Virginia, and 2) explain variations in the number of lianas per plot based on historical land use categories and edge or interior location. We collected data on 1303 lianas across 102 study plots, within four historical land use categories: mining, logging, agriculture, or rural townsite. We used historical records and legacy U.S. Geological Survey Topographic Maps from the Historical Topographic Map Collection to define the spatial extents of each land use type. We found 42.5% of measured trees hosted at least one liana. Native lianas were more abundant and diverse than non-native lianas within our study plots. Furthermore, historical land use, particularly in formerly logged plots, was associated with lower liana counts compared to other land use classes. Although knowledge about lianas in the mountainous regions of the Southeastern United States remains limited, it is evident that the complex historical land use legacy in our study region significantly impacts liana prevalence.
Improving Bike Share Programs on College Campuses in Southeastern
US: A Case Study
Authors: Sampson Lord , Appiah-Opoku Seth , Jones Steven
Published: July 2024

Increasingly, bike share programs (BSP) are being introduced on college campuses
across the United States as a means of promoting sustainable mobility. However, many of these
programs face challenges that threaten their sustainability. Using a case study approach, this paper
discusses the operation, participation, successes, and challenges facing a relatively new campus
bike share program in Southeastern US. The study employed a descriptive research design and
utilized quantitative methods to generate insights. With the aid of questionnaire, data was collected
from multiple stakeholders including private cyclists, registered bike share members, and
transportation service staff on college campus. SPSS was used to analyze the data, with descriptive
statistics such as frequencies and percentages, and inferential statistics including the chi-square
test. The results indicate that the program has shown a modest patronage in ridership, but several
challenges were identified. They include inadequate bike paths, limited bike parking spaces, and
safety concerns. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy implications of the findings.
Race and the Classics: An Argument for Empathy
Authors: Gatta Carla Della , Young Harvey
Published: July 2024

Abstract: Centering the corporeal and identitarian distance between racialized and ethnicized actors and adaptations of classics, we contend that these spaces between lived (the actor), performed (the character), and witnessed (the audience member) exist as zones of potential empathetic connection. Recent studies question whether reading literary fiction indeed makes us more empathic, and if empathy can be an effective political tool. We question the efficacy of such adaptations and note how race grounds these plays differently than an updated white setting. However, we are also convinced that the first step toward dialogue requires people being willing to encounter one another and consider another’s point of view.
Shaping Life, Shaping Work: Julio Torres’s Queer Comic Labor
Authors: Walker Adin
Published: July 2024

Abstract: Through an analysis of comedian Julio Torres’s streaming special My Favorite Shapes (2019), this paper focuses on how Torres uses comedy to critique the US immigration system and its dehumanization of Central American migrants and explores Torres’s material engagement with shapes. Because the word shapes recalls structures and structural conditions, I turn to shapes to analyze Torres’s phenomenological critique of structural inequities rooted in racism and xenophobia. By drawing on phenomenology’s attention to figure/ground structure, Torres develops a critique of the US by focusing on what and who resides in the background versus the foreground of socio-cultural-political imaginaries. By developing his critiques through comedy, Torres uses the collective, embodied force of laughter to unsettle habitual narratives pertaining to labor and citizenship. Because Torres’s My Favorite Shapes embodies the stakes for being a queer Salvadoran immigrant in the US, I suggest that Torres’s worldmaking project centers queer-immigrant imagination as the site beyond the literal structures that shape and objectify the lives of those who are most vulnerable and who therefore hold the clearest vision of what is possible.
Staging Comedy’s Ends: Minstrel Embodiment in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Neighbors
Authors: Banta Emily
Published: July 2024

Abstract: This article examines Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s dramatic comedy Neighbors (2010) to explore how contemporary African American engagements with the legacies of blackface minstrelsy interrogate the genre’s stubborn persistence and offer important new approaches to historicizing comedy. A play that stages a live minstrel show for twenty-first-century audiences, Neighbors toggles between outrageous spectacles of blackface caricature and contemporary family drama, constructing a warped reality where the fraught theatricality of blackface overlays and infuses the race relations of everyday domestic life. I show how Jacobs-Jenkins uses this mashup of theatrical genres to cultivate a historical consciousness in and of theatre. By delineating the coercive bodily repertoires that perpetuate racist comedy, the play draws out the past in theatre’s present to theorize minstrel comedy’s failure to end. I argue that Neighbors insistently implicates its audience in the production of blackface entertainment, developing a critically resistant practice of comic historiography that disrupts complacent progressive histories of the minstrel show’s ostensible decline. The play’s historiographical interventions, I suggest, offer fresh insight into comedy’s form and function. By crafting a play with multiple endings, Jacobs-Jenkins reconfigures the classical definition of comedy as a genre that ends in the conservative restoration of the social order. In so doing, he turns blackface performance into a reflexive tool that deconstructs its own histories of reproduction. Neighbors thus harnesses the political fallout of comedy’s failure to end by carving out a new critical stance from which to examine the vexed histories of US comic entertainment.
Strategies for Implementing a Single-detector Polarization-encoded Quantum Key Distribution Receiver
Authors: Simmons Cameron , Donaldson Ross
Published: July 2024

Discrete-variable quantum key distribution (QKD) requires the use of highly sensitive single-photon detectors (SPD) to detect decoded quantum states.
These can form a significant portion of the cost and the physical layer vulnerabilities in a QKD system.
Previously, a single-detector architecture which reduced the cost of simple, polarization-encoded fiber QKD systems was proposed, which decoded polarization states into varying fiber delays before reaching a single SPD.
We describe the parameter space available for a single detector receiver and, using simulation, optimise performance for a given example.
It is demonstrated that the order of state delays can be changed to reduce quantum bit error rate (QBER), and that delay change between states need only exceed some small minimum value in the ns range, which saves on fiber length, weight and cost, as well as loss.
We also explore time gating and efficient (asymmetric basis selection) BB84 to reduce QBER.
This work improves the understanding and performance of single-SPD-based QKD receivers, allowing simpler and more robust receivers with fewer physical loopholes and a lower cost, reducing the barrier to entry of fiber QKD.
Phytosociological study of a Grassland community of Baripada, Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, India: Conservation strategies for floristic diversity
Authors: Ananta Kumar Nayak , Barik Kamal L
Published: July 2024

A phytosociological study of the grassland community at Maharaja Purna Chandra Autonomous College (21 º 93’ N; 86 º 76' E) was conducted from July 2022 to July 2023. The study aimed to understand the floristic diversity and propose conservation strategies. A rigorous data collection methodology was implemented using 1 m × 1 m quadrat sampling, and the findings were analyzed and presented using a novel approach. Parameters such as occurrence (+) and non-occurrence (-) of species, frequency, density, abundance, basal area, basal cover, and Important Value Index (IVI) were recorded for 36 species (18 grasses and 18 non-grasses) throughout the research period. The study revealed that certain species, including Chrysopogon acciculatus and Evolvulus nummularius, exhibited high frequency, density, abundance and IVI throughout the research period. Conversely, Eragrostis unioloides and Sida cordifolia showed the lowest IVI during the study. Basal area and basal cover data indicated an inverse relationship between grasses and non-grasses. The total Relative Frequency (RF), Relative Density (RD), and Relative Dominance (RDo.) of the community were consistently around 100 for each month, and the total IVI values were approximately 300 each month. These results underscore the need for effective conservation strategies to preserve the unique floristic diversity of this grassland community. The remarkable phytosociological attributes of this experimental grassland community may be attributed to the topography, soil composition, and climatic conditions of the locality.
Mystery's End: Analysis of Bell's Theorem
Authors: Bender Darrell ,   New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Published: July 2024

Abstract. For unit vectors a, b, entanglement requires that spin measurements satisfy those just given for a≠b. Bell’s hidden variable quantum mechanical local particle with a=b cannot provide the values for a≠b and, hence, the values for an entangled particle system. The perception that any hidden variable quantum mechanical description of an entangled system of particles is non-local depends on Bell’s inappropriate definition of locality, which excludes entanglement for a distant particle, and the condition that a=b, which does not give the values for a≠b as required to give the quantum mechanical expectation values, when entanglement occurs for systems that are close, not distant, and ignores that entanglement is a local phenomenon. Expecting the condition a=b and a local particle analysis with no distant entangled particle to give the quantum mechanical result is absurd. Any disentanglement of once entangled particles moving apart sets the spin measurements at those given for a≠b if a≠b and those given for a=b if a=b. Any subsequent measurement of the set values agrees with those for a≠b if a≠b and those given for a=b if a=b just as if the particles are entangled still. In examples where Bell’s inequality is supposedly violated, the conditions for which the inequality is true are not met. There is no contradiction.
New distribution records and host plants of two species of Hypothenemus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in mangrove ecosystems of Tamaulipas, Mexico
Authors: Lázaro-Dzul Martha O. , Vargas-Madriz Haidel , Monteòn-Ojeda Abraham , Atkinson Thomas H. , Azuara-Domínguez Ausencio
Published: July 2024

Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are reported for the first time in mangrove trees in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Hypothenemus distinctus Wood was recorded on the branches of Avicennia germinans L. (Acanthaceae), and Hypothenemus birmanus (Eichhoff) was recorded in the seeds of Laguncularia racemosa L. Gaertn. (Combretaceae). H. distinctus has been reported for the first time in Mexico, and H. birmanus has been reported for the first time in Tamaulipas. This work expands the host record of Scolytinae species in Mexico.
Incidental learning of collocations through reading an academic text
Authors: de la Viña Inés , Kim Christina S. , Chamorro Gloria
Published: July 2024

This study investigated the incidental learning of collocations in two reading modes (reading-only (RO), reading-while-listening (RWL)), taking into account additional learner- and collocation-related predictors of learning (e.g., congruency). An academic text was used, as this could be a useful source for vocabulary learning for university-level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Sixty-eight advanced Spanish EFL learners read a text containing 14 target collocations, in the RO or the RWL condition. Learning gains were measured in terms of form recall and form recognition. Results showed that collocations can be learnt incidentally from reading. While reading mode did not influence learning, congruency and prior vocabulary knowledge improved form recall, emphasising the importance of features specific to individual learners and collocations for vocabulary learning.
Assessing effects of source text complexity on L2 learners’ interpreting performance: a dependency-based approach
Authors: Jiang Xinlei , Jiang Yue , Zhang Xiaopeng
Published: July 2024

Based on data from the English-Chinese interpretation corpus, we examined the relationship of source text complexity, captured using newly-developed dependency-based and traditional indices, to L2 learners’ interpreting performance captured using complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Best subsets regression and Poisson regression models yielded that the effectiveness of dependency-based indices including mean dependency distance, maximum dependency distance, dependency direction, and root distance, has been demonstrated across various dimensions of L2 learners’ performance. In contrast to the mixed results obtained from traditional indices, the consistent effect of dependency-based indices in these dimensions sheds light on the workings of cognitive processing. These findings provide preliminary support for the impact of dependency-based indices of source text on L2 learners’ interpreting performance, aiding in operationalizing task difficulty in L2 interpreting pedagogy. Moreover, they constitute product-based evidence for understanding bilingual switching.
Research on the carbonation resistance and improvement technology of fully recycled aggregate concrete
Authors: Wang Shifang , Wang Yongsheng , Yuan Ji , Wang Ruixin , Feng Jun Wei , Lin Wei , He Haijie , Dai Xiongwei , Xu Wen , Zhang Zhicheng
Published: July 2024

The aim of this study is to enhance the carbonation resistance of fully recycled aggregate concrete through diverse measures in an effort to enhance solid waste disposal, reduce the consumption of natural aggregates, and broaden the utilization of recycled aggregate concrete. Six sets of fully recycled aggregate concrete specimens were prepared and subjected to rapid carbonation tests. Carbonation depth and compressive strength measurements were taken at different ages (3, 7, 14, and 28 days). Subsequent calculations and analyses were conducted on both parameters for each set of specimens. Results indicate that the incorporation of microspheres and high-toughness polypropylene fibers (HTPP) substantially improves the carbonation resistance of fully recycled aggregate concrete, leading to a 48% reduction in carbonation depth by the 28th day. Furthermore, a relative compressive strength model for fully recycled aggregate concrete post-carbonation was established based on the strength data of each specimen group. This model accurately depicts the growth pattern of compressive strength after carbonation. Additionally, a carbonation depth prediction model was developed through fitting analysis of carbonation depth data, effectively foreseeing the depth of carbonation in fully recycled aggregate concrete. Based on the carbonation depth, the carbonation life of fully recycled aggregate concrete was predicted. The carbonation life of recycled aggregate concrete with added microspheres and HTPP fibers can be increased by up to 278%. Finally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to examine the microstructure of fully recycled aggregate concrete, revealing the mechanisms by which various methods enhance its carbonation resistance. The carbonation resistance improvement technology of fully recycled aggregate concrete is selected through this study characteristics such as simplicity, convenience, and cost-effectiveness, which are crucial for the widespread application of recycled aggregate concrete in building structures.
Constructing cultural identities through new media: a multimodal appraisal analysis of Chinese web-based ink and wash cartoons
Authors: Zeng Lei , Zhu Xinyu
Published: July 2024

As an intercultural modern art form, web-based ink and wash cartoons are significant tools to communicate cultural identities in the Chinese context because of their entertaining form, thought-provoking content, and profound cultural connotation. Against this background, the present study investigates the multimodal appraisal systems of 96 web-based ink and wash cartoons, focusing on attitudinal meanings and explicating how the attitudinal resources contribute to the communication of Chinese cultural identities. The analysis of 96 web-based ink and wash cartoons shows that the cultural identities of the Chinese dream, Confucianism, collectivism, and optimism are communicated through the interplay between visual and verbal semiotic resources. The analytical results reveal a series of generic features of the web-based ink and wash cartoons that contribute to the promotion of cultural identities, including the popular theme, minimalist style, positive attitude prosody, and the use of culture-specific metaphor and ideation. These features underpin the strategies for promoting Chinese cultural identities and the shift in national branding policy. The study hopes to provide clues for government, social institutions, and individuals to promote cultural identities effectively through social media.
About compounds containing 16-valence electron anions [XYZ]
n− – a brief and current overview including some properties of such anions
Authors: Reckeweg Olaf
Published: July 2024

A short overview covering compounds containing 16-valence electron anions [XYZ]
n− (fulminate: [CNO]−, cyanate: [OCN]−, azide: [NNN]−, carbodiimide: [NCN]2−, dinitridoborate: [NBN]3−, carbidonitridocarbonate: [CCN]3−, dicarbidocarbonate: [CCC]4−, carbidonitridoborate: [CBN]4−, dicarbidoborate [CBC]5−) is given, including some of their structural properties, e.g., the ranges of the bond lengths, the bond angles and volume increments of the respective anion (either taken from literature or calculated from selected experimental data). The force constants, the experimentally determined bond lengths and angles are given for one representative compound per anion. The numbers presented here are briefly compared and discussed.
CONFLITOS E DEMILITAÇÃO DE INTERESSES POLÍTICOS NAS NORMAS COMUNITÁRIAS DO MERCOSUL
Authors: Albernaz Renata Ovenhausen
Published: July 2024

Esse ensaio tem por objetivo realizar uma reflexão sobre os limites materiais e subjetivos às normas de direito comunitário tendo por referência uma distinção entre diferentes esferas de interesse pertinentes ao ser humano. Esses interesses foram classificados em três categorias – (1) interesses universais; (2) interesses particulares; (3) interesses econômicos – e evidenciados em suas características e definições. A cada um deles advoga-se uma espécie normativa que lhe seja pertinente em termos de alcance material e de extensão dos sujeitos sobre os quais se aplica, a fim de que seja respeitada a legitimidade de tais normas, expressa na consciência de que sejam efetivamente devidas. Em face dessa referência, foram reunidas e tecidas algumas críticas ao direito comunitário da União Europeia e algumas reflexões sobre o Mercosul em termos de violação democrática e ao direito de distinção afirmado pelos povos dos estados membros. Esse estudo foi efetuado em referências bibliográficas de obras sobre o direito comunitário e outras sobre ciência política, sociologia e economia. Como resultados entendemos trazer algumas reflexões importantes para a afirmação e delimitação do direito comunitário, como direito restrito aos interesses universais – que também devem ser tratados – e interesses econômicos, no intuito de garantir igualdade na obtenção de vantagens sociais.
HOME OFFICE NA VIDA DOS TRABALHADORES: PANORAMA DO COTIDIANO, (RE) INSERÇÃO NO MERCADO DE TRABALHO E SUAS CONTINGÊNCIAS ATRAVÉS DAS TECNOLOGIAS DA INFORMAÇÃO
Authors: Gombar Jane
Published: July 2024

Os avanços tecnológicos no mundo do trabalho revelam novas exigências ao trabalhador. Novas propostas surgem. Dissolução do espaço físico do trabalho e um atomização do trabalhador a partir do se referncial tecnológico disponível para operação. Isso ocasiona um redirecionamento da divisão do trabalho.
O DEBATE SOBRE A CENTRALIDADE DO TRABALHO
Authors: Rafagnin Thiago Ribeiro , Rafagnin Maritânia Salete Salvi
Published: July 2024

O presente artigo procura debater a questão da centralidade do trabalho na sociedade. Para tanto, faz-se uma revisão de literatura para tratar de destacar a razão pela qual ela é central no processo de produção e reprodução do ser social, sob a compreensão marxiana-lukacsiana. Ademais, procura-se demonstrar as divergências doutrinárias, surgidas principalmente a partir da década de 1970, quando determinados autores, dentre eles Gorz, Offe e Habermas, passam a asseverar que a categoria em questão deixa de ser central na sociedade. Entretanto, apesar do destacado por tais autores, será possível vislumbrar que a categoria trabalho jamais deixa de ser central na sociedade. José Organista e Ricardo Antunes serão fundamentais para a compreensão do que ocorreu a partir daquela década que foi uma mutação do sistema capitalista, o qual passa a referendar formas flexíveis, extremamente precárias, de labor. Ao final, procura-se demonstrar que toda essa mutação é extremamente vantajosa ao capital.
AUTODEGRADAÇÃO DE ADOLESCENTES SUBMETIDAS À MEDIDA SOCIOEDUCATIVA DE INTERNAÇÃO: UM ESTUDO EM RECIFE, PE
Authors: Machado Érica Babini , Anjos Milena Trajano
Published: July 2024

O presente trabalho visa compreender existência e desenvolvimento de estigmas, além da mortificação das subjetividades de adolescentes do sexo feminino em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa de internação na cidade de Recife/PE, bem como o processo de desenvolvimento de fachadas que ocorre entre elas. Para tanto, procura-se analisar a construção social da criminalidade à luz da teoria da reação social, ou labeling approach, a partir de revisão bibliográfica. Em um segundo momento, analisa-se o discurso da socioeducação e da doutrina da proteção integral, a partir da realidade brasileira, chegando       à conclusão que o paradigma protetivo enseja um modelo de esteriotipação social, o qual afeta a subjetividade dessas adolescentes, que, por não estarem incluídas no que se entende por “adolescentes normais” veem-se e são vistas como “criminosas”; assumindo, então, esse papel em suas carreiras morais, numa típica manifestação do role-engulfment.
AS PALAVRAS E AS PENAS: COMENTÁRIOS SOBRE O DISCURSO CRIMINAL DA BARBÁRIE
Authors: Rodrigues Santos Hugo Leonardo
Published: July 2024

O texto defende a ideia de que os discursos existentes a respeito da violência e da reação frente a ela constituem as práticas punitivas, sendo por isso descabido desconsiderar a sua importância. Com esse fundamento, são apontados alguns exemplos de como a difusão da legitimação do punitivismo irracional, por parte da população, tem o condão de naturalizar práticas bárbaras. O artigo tem por objetivo destacar a necessidade de se tomar o discurso popular punitivista como objeto de estudos criminológicos, de modo a possibilitar a elaboração de estratégias para o seu enfrentamento.
DESCRIPCIÓN DE LA ESTRUCTURA DEL SISTEMA DE PRIVACIÓN DE LIBERTAD EN COLOMBIA
Authors: Peláez Jaramillo Luis Eduardo , Posada Segura Juan David
Published: July 2024

El proceso de imposición de una pena privativa de la libertad en Colombia está divido en tres fases claramente determinadas: la primera consiste en el proceso de creación de tipo penales -delitos- (dogmática penal), la segunda en el proceso de imputación, acusación y juicio (proceso penal) y por último en caso de presentarse una sentencia condenatoria por parte del juez, puede llegar a constituirse un tercer espacio: la ejecución de la pena privativa de la libertad. El texto describe algunos puntos de la estructura del sistema de privación de libertad en Colombia.
Presos são eles; presos estamos nós
Authors: Dores António Pedro
Published: July 2024

RESUMOÉ certo que as prisões de cada país têm a sua história e as suas especificidades. Porém, para se entender aquilo que é fundamental, por exemplo, porque é que não há estado que prescinda das prisões, o que é relevante é a colaboração entre estudiosos das prisões para descobrirem aquilo que as caracteriza em toda a parte e em todos os estados, independentemente das diferenças. Percorrendo a história da última reforma do código de execução de penas em Portugal, mostra-se como a relação entre a lei escrita e as práticas penitenciárias é sobretudo de alheamento, e como a criminalidade e o encarceramento são dinâmicas distintas. Ambas estas características são, por hipótese, de aplicação universal. Outra característica do mesmo tipo é a das ciências sociais não estudarem o papel estrutural da intervenção jurídica na estratificação social. A evidência da excepcionalidade da vida dentro das prisões não deve afastar a hipótese de haver uma intensa e decisiva função hierarquizadora geral do sistema penal. Sem o qual os tribunais criminais funcionariam de outra maneira. Por via da manipulação estatal dos sentimentos de insegurança e retaliação das populações, com a finalidade de defender as elites dos movimentos sociais que lhes possam querer reclamar responsabilidades pelos resultados da sua liderança, os estados criam uma população sem nome, pronta para servir de bode expiatório, sob o controlo do sistema social-policial-criminal-penal.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Prisão; Elites; Emoções; Prisioneiros; Manipulação; Estratificação; Direito; Política; Hierarquização. ABSTRACTEach national prison system has its history and its specificities. However, to understand what is the fundamental, for instance, why is there no state without its prisons? the collaboration between prison scholars is more relevant than their national specializations. Going through the history of the last Portuguese prison reform, it is shown how the relation between law in the books and law in practice, inside prisons, is mainly of estrangement, and how criminality and imprisonment are different dynamics. Both these characteristics are candidates for universal application in any state. Another characteristic of the same kind is that social sciences do not study the structural role of legal intervention in the organization of social stratification. Evidence of the exceptionality of life within prisons should not dispel the hypothesis of an intense and decisive general hierarchical function of the penal system. Criminal justice would be very different without prisons. Through manipulation of populations´ feelings of insecurity and retaliation, states support the elites of responsibility claiming about the results of their leadership from social movements. That is why the states create a population without name, ready to serve as scape goat under the control of the social-police-criminal-penal system.KEYWORDS: Prison; Elites; Emotions; Prisoners; Manipulation; Stratification; Law; Policy; Hierarchy.