bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Enhancing the mechanical properties of fiber metal laminate by surface treatment
Authors: Zou Hang , Chen Yong , Zhang Xiaodong , Ning Conggang , Pan Ruqing , Yang Youkun , Zhang Junshuang , Du Bing
Published: January 2023

Fiber‐metal laminates with high toughness and high strength have become an important direction for the development of new materials in the future. During the production and service process of fiber‐metal laminates, brittle fracture and interlaminate damage are easily caused by low load, which leads to the instability and damage to the overall structure. This article mainly studies the effects of surface treatment process, and material combination on the mechanical properties of glass fiber/polypropylene (PP)/stainless steel mesh (SSM) composite laminates. It is shown that the adhesion force of the phosphating SSM sample is 1.73 times that of the etched sample, and the bonding effect with organic substances is relatively better. The laminate with the structure of “unetched SSM + maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene + aminosilane glass fiber fabric” had the best tensile load. The etched and phosphatized SSM enhanced the interface adhesive effect with PP‐g‐MAH, thereby improving the overall structural strength of the laminate.
Novel fluorescence spectroscopy method coupled with N‐PLS‐R and PLS‐DA models for the quantification of cannabinoids and the classification of cannabis cultivars
Authors: Birenboim Matan , Kenigsbuch David , Shimshoni Jakob A.
Published: January 2023

Introduction

Cannabis sativa L. inflorescences are rich in secondary metabolites, particularly cannabinoids. The most common techniques for elucidating cannabinoid composition are expensive technologies, such as high‐pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Objectives

We aimed to develop and evaluate the performance of a novel fluorescence spectroscopy‐based method coupled with N‐way partial least squares regression (N‐PLS‐R) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) models to replace the expensive chromatographic methods for preharvest cannabinoid quantification.

Methodology

Fresh medicinal cannabis inflorescences were collected and ethanol extracts were prepared. Their excitation–emission spectra were measured using fluorescence spectroscopy and their cannabinoid contents were determined by HPLC‐PDA. Subsequently, N‐PLS‐R and PLS‐DA models were applied to the excitation–emission matrices (EEMs) for cannabinoid concentration prediction and cultivar classification, respectively.

Results

The N‐PLS‐R model was based on a set of EEMs (n = 82) and provided good to excellent quantification of (−)‐Δ9‐trans‐tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, cannabidiolic acid, cannabigerolic acid, cannabichromenic acid, and (−)‐Δ9‐trans‐tetrahydrocannabinol (R2CV and R2pred > 0.75; RPD > 2.3 and RPIQ > 3.5; RMSECV/RMSEC ratio < 1.4). The PLS‐DA model enabled a clear distinction between the four major classes studied (sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the prediction sets were all ≥0.9).

Conclusions

The fluorescence spectral region (excitation 220–400 nm, emission 280–550 nm) harbors sufficient information for accurate prediction of cannabinoid contents and accurate classification using a relatively small data set.
Electrospun nanoyarns: A comprehensive review of manufacturing methods and applications
Authors: Kamireddi Divya , Street Reva M. , Schauer Caroline L.
Published: January 2023

The global smart textile industry is estimated to reach 5.9 billion by 2026. However current textiles are limited due to the number of materials that can be incorporated into textiles that provide functionality and due to the use of bulky and rigid electronics. Nanofibers provide an avenue to address these limitations. Additionally, by incorporating nanofibers into textiles, functionality, and properties can be controlled from the nanoscale to the macroscale. A new method of incorporating nanofibers into textiles is by transforming nanofibers into nanoyarns. Nanoyarns would expand the applications of smart textiles to include bioactive scaffolds, tissue engineering, sensors, solar cells, and batteries. This review paper provides a comprehensive overview of different manufacturing methods for producing nanoyarns and their applications in tissue engineering and energy.
Topping and grafting affect the alkaloid content and gene expression patterns of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacumL.)
Authors: Zhang Mengyue , Zhao Yuanyuan , Shi Hongzhi
Published: January 2023

In this study, we aimed to determine molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of topping and grafting in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacumL.) by comparing the alkaloid contents and enrichment pathways of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among plants subjected to different combinations of topping and grafting treatments. Plants of the tobacco variety “Zhongyan 100” and eggplant (Solanum melongenaL.) were grafted in four combinations as scions and rootstocks, respectively. The four treatment groups were tobacco with topping, tobacco without topping, topped tobacco grafted onto an eggplant rootstock, and non‐topped tobacco grafted onto an eggplant rootstock. Tobacco leaves were collected on the day of topping, at 7 days after topping, and after flue curing, the alkaloid contents of the collected leaves were determined. Leaves of plants subjected to the different treatments were collected for RNA sequencing and screened for DEGs, which were subsequently subjected to functional enrichment analyses. Analyses revealed reductions in the leaf alkaloid contents of tobacco subjected to combined topping and eggplant grafting. Gene annotation indicated that topping influences biological processes such as starch metabolism and stress response, whereas grafting affected the biosynthesis and metabolic pathways of secondary metabolites. Downregulated DEGs between non‐topped tobacco and eggplant‐grafted topped tobacco and between topped and non‐topped tobacco are mainly involved in inositol phosphate metabolic and biosynthetic processes. Downregulated DEGs between different grafting methods (eggplant‐grafted non‐topped tobacco vs. non‐topped tobacco and eggplant‐grafted topped tobacco vs. topped tobacco) are mainly involved in sesquiterpene synthase activity and photosynthesis. The findings of this study provide important insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of topping and grafting on tobacco plants.
Glucopeptides derived from myelin‐relevant proteins and hyperglucosylated nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae bacterial adhesin cross‐react with multiple sclerosis specific antibodies: A step forward in the identification of native autoantigens in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Quagliata Michael , Nuti Francesca , Real‐Fernandez Feliciana , Kirilova Kirilova Kalina , Santoro Federica , Carotenuto Alfonso , Papini Anna Maria , Rovero Paolo
Published: January 2023

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory and autoimmune disorder, in which an antibody‐mediated demyelination mechanism plays a critical role. We prepared two glucosylated peptides derived from the human myelin proteins, that is, oligodendrocyte‐myelin glycoprotein (OMGp) and reticulon‐4 receptor (RTN4R), selected by a bioinformatic approach for their conformational homology with CSF114(Glc), a designed β‐turn antigenic probe derived from myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), a glycoprotein present in the CNS. This synthetic antigen is specifically recognized by antibodies in sera of MS patients. We report herein the antigenic properties of these peptides, showing, on the one hand, that MS patient antibodies recognize the two glucosylated peptides and, on the other hand, that these antibodies cross‐react with CSF114(Glc) and with the previously described hyperglucosylated nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae bacterial adhesin protein HMW1ct(Glc). These observations point to an immunological association between human and bacterial protein antigens, underpinning the hypothesis that molecular mimicry triggers the breakdown of self‐tolerance in MS and suggesting that RTN4R and OMGp can be considered as autoantigens.
Antimicrobial activity of Xylopia pancheri Baill. Leaf extract against susceptible and resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Werler Nadine , Guentas Linda , Colot Julien , Hnawia Edouard , Matsui Mariko , Nour Mohammed
Published: January 2023

Antibacterial activity of Xylopia pancheri Baill. (Annonaceae) leaf extract was investigated against susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin‐resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and extended‐spectrum‐β‐lactamase (ESBL)‐producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Results showed that X. pancheri leaf extract displayed antibacterial activity against S. aureus with higher inhibitory effect on MRSA compared to control gentamycin antibiotic, and IC50 value of 36.97 μg/mL [95%CI:29.59–46.18] against MRSA.
Fitting additive risk models using auxiliary information
Authors: Ding Jie , Li Jialiang , Han Yang , McKeague Ian W. , Wang Xiaoguang
Published: January 2023

There has been a growing interest in incorporating auxiliary summary information from external studies into the analysis of internal individual‐level data. In this paper, we propose an adaptive estimation procedure for an additive risk model to integrate auxiliary subgroup survival information via a penalized method of moments technique. Our approach can accommodate information from heterogeneous data. Parameters to quantify the magnitude of potential incomparability between internal data and external auxiliary information are introduced in our framework while nonzero components of these parameters suggest a violation of the homogeneity assumption. We further develop an efficient computational algorithm to solve the numerical optimization problem by profiling out the nuisance parameters. In an asymptotic sense, our method can be as efficient as if all the incomparable auxiliary information is accurately acknowledged and has been automatically excluded from consideration. The asymptotic normality of the proposed estimator of the regression coefficients is established, with an explicit formula for the asymptotic variance‐covariance matrix that can be consistently estimated from the data. Simulation studies show that the proposed method yields a substantial gain in statistical efficiency over the conventional method using the internal data only, and reduces estimation biases when the given auxiliary survival information is incomparable. We illustrate the proposed method with a lung cancer survival study.
Kinetic Controlled Chirality Transfer and Induction in 2D Hydrogen‐Bonding Assemblies of Glycylglycine on Au(111)
Authors: Zhang Xin , Ding Haoxuan , Yang Shu , Yang Hualin , Yang Xiaoqing , Li Bosheng , Xing Xueting , Sun Yaojie , Gu Guangxin , Chen Xiaorui , Gao Jianzhi , Pan Minghu , Chi Lifeng , Guo Quanmin
Published: January 2023

Chirality transfer is of vital importance that dominates the structure and functionality of biological systems and living matters. External physical stimulations, e.g. polarized light and mechanical forces, can trigger the chirality symmetry breaking, leading to the appearance of the enantiomeric entities created from a chiral self‐assembly of achiral molecule. Here, several 2D assemblies with different chirality, synthesized on Au(111) surface by using achiral building blocks – glycylglycine (digly), the simplest polypeptide are reported. By delicately tuning the kinetic factors, i.e., one‐step slow/rapid deposition, or stepwise slow deposition with mild annealing, achiral square hydrogen‐bond organic frameworks (HOF), homochiral rhombic HOF and racemic rectangular assembly are achieved, respectively. Chirality induction and related symmetry broken in assemblies are introduced by the handedness (H‐bond configurations in principle) of the assembled motifs and then amplified to the entire assemblies via the interaction between motifs. The results show that the chirality transfer and induction of biological assemblies can be tuned by altering the kinetic factors instead of applying external forces, which may offer an in‐depth understanding and practical approach to peptide chiral assembly on the surfaces and can further facilitate the design of desired complex biomolecular superstructures.
Optimized fuzzy clustering‐based k‐nearest neighbors imputation for mixed missing data in software development effort estimation
Authors: Abnane Ibtissam , Idri Ali , Abran Alain
Published: January 2023

Context

Software development effort estimation (SDEE) is one of the most challenging aspects in project management. The presence of missing data (MD) in software attributes makes SDEE even more complex. K‐nearest neighbors imputation (KNNI) has been widely used in SDEE to deal with the MD issue. However, KNNI, in its classical process, has low tolerance to imprecision and uncertainty especially when dealing with categorical features. When dealing with categorical attributes, KNNI uses a classical approach, employing mainly numbers or classical intervals to represent software attributes and similarity measures originally designed for numerical attributes.

Objectives

This paper evaluates the use of an optimized fuzzy clustering‐based KNNI (FC‐KNNI) and compares it with classical KNN when dealing with mixed data in the context of SDEE.

Methods

We investigate the effect of two imputation techniques (FC‐KNNI and KNNI) on five SDEE techniques: case‐based reasoning, fuzzy case‐based reasoning, support vector regression, multilayer perceptron, and reduced‐error pruning tree. The evaluation is carried out using six publicly available datasets for SDEE using two performance measures, standardized accuracy (SA), and Pred (0.25). The Wilcoxon statistical test is also performed to assess the significance of results.

Results

The results are promising in the sense that using an imputation technique designed for mixed data is better than reusing methods originally designed for numerical data. We found that FC‐KNNI significantly outperforms KNNI regardless of the SDEE technique and dataset used. Another important finding is that F‐CBR improved the analogy process compared to CBR.

Conclusion

The introduction of fuzzy sets and fuzzy clustering in the analogy process improves its performances in terms of SA and Pred (0.25).
Examining the training and education potential of the metaverse: Results from an empirical study of next generation SAFe training
Authors: Yilmaz Murat , O'Farrell Emer , Clarke Paul
Published: January 2023

Restrictions imposed by the COVID‐19 pandemic have forced many to seek alternative means of training and learning, which ended up with increasing investment in the notion of the metaverse. Metaverse is envisioned as the next iteration of the Internet in which the virtual and the real world are blended to materialize a highly immersive experience. Not surprisingly, perhaps, next‐generation training and education systems are concerned with methods to integrate themselves into metaverse environments. In particular, participants are looking for more interactive and flexible training while maintaining a degree of educational content and high quality for their training plans and interactive workflows. In this paper, we conducted research to explore the role of metaverse in employee training. To this end, we utilized a variant of PlaySAFe (i.e., a 3D game) to investigate its metaverse adoption and usage. A qualitative design was adopted, using semistructured interviews to explore practitioners' experiences using the new version of PlaySAFe. After having it played in an industrial setting, we interviewed a group of software practitioners to compare the actual and expected features. This research has explored the pros and cons of using the current technologies for the practical groundwork of SAFe training. Findings from this research suggest that the metaverse holds the potential to deliver improved practical alignment in training and education programs, but that at the present time, practitioners expect more metaverse compatible features.
Architecting the Water State of Polypyrrole/Polyvinyl Alochol‐Wood Evaporator to Enhance Water Yield in Multistage Solar Stiller
Authors: Shen Anqi , Tang Jiebin , Shao Yang , Chen Jialin , Liu Yongxu , Wang Dejuan , Zhi Hui , Liu Hong , Xue Guobin
Published: January 2023

Solar desalination is one of the most promising ways to produce freshwater. Interfacial solar steam generation system is especially studied for its high solar–thermal conversion efficiency. However, the phase transition process of water evaporation is energy intensive and a salt cluster is easily accumulated at the surface of the evaporator, which limits the water yield and stability of the distiller. Herein, a hybrid design involving tuning the water state, recycling latent heat, and spatial localizing low‐concentration zone to distill for stable and efficient solar‐water harvesting is demonstrated. In a two‐stage distiller, the water yield can reach 1.62 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun irradiation, corresponding to the solar‐to‐vapor conversion efficiency of 110%. The scale‐up device can also steadily operate for 1 week outdoors. This work provides an effective strategy for high‐efficiency solar distillation, holding the promise of application in seawater desalination and domestic water supply.
Unraveling Its Intrinsic Role of CH3NH3Cl Doping for Efficient Enhancement of Perovskite Solar Cells from Fine Insight by Ultrafast Charge‐Transfer Dynamics
Authors: Cheng Jiahao , Wang Lei , Zhou Peng , Liu Dezheng , Chen Meihua , Liang Ying , Li Wangnan , Hu Run , Liang Guijie
Published: January 2023

The addition of CH3NH3Cl (MACl) in perovskite precursor has become one of the most effective strategies for enhancing the photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). To further determine its relevant intrinsic modification mechanism, a series of PSCs with variant MACl contents are prepared. Apart from the analysis of crystal morphology and defect states, molecular‐level photophysical processes related closely to photovoltaic performance are systematically investigated by transient absorption (TA) and time‐resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. Promisingly, by a diffusion‐coupled charge‐transport model via global fitting of TA spectra, the kinetic of perovskite/SnO2 heterojunction films is resolved into four distinct photophysical processes. Among the processes, as the MACl concentrations increase, the charge carriers’ bulk diffusion in perovskite and interfacial transfer in perovskite/SnO2 heterojunction accelerate simultaneously, while the back charge recombination from SnO2 to perovskite decelerates, which correlates closely with larger grains featuring fewer grain boundaries and defect sites of perovskite induced by MACl doping. The aforementioned modified charge dynamics constitute the origin of the excellent optoelectronic properties in the resultant device, which exhibits an optimal conversion efficiency of 23.6%.
Hatchery supplementation increases potential spawning stock of Rio Grande Silvery Minnow after population bottlenecks
Authors: Archdeacon Thomas P. , Dudley Robert K. , Remshardt W. Jason , Knight William , Ulibarri Manuel , Gonzales Eric J.
Published: January 2023

Objective

Supplementation of imperiled wild fish stocks with captively raised fish is a commonly used conservation tool. Programs designed to maintain or improve fish populations through supplementation should be evaluated to determine whether they are meeting conservation objectives. The Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Hybognathus amarus is a small-bodied, endangered minnow endemic to the Rio Grande basin of the southwestern United States. The wild population of Rio Grande Silvery Minnow has been supplemented with captive-reared fish since 2002. Our objective was to determine whether supplementation measurably increases the number of spawning fish after years of population bottlenecks; this objective was simplified because nearly all hatchery-released fish have been given identifying markings.

Methods

We leveraged a long-term fish sampling data set (18 years) covering the species' contemporary range and a single-season, high spatial coverage fish sampling data set to determine whether the number of potential spawners was increased by the addition of hatchery fish.

Result

Hatchery-reared fish increased the catch rates of spawners by up to an order of magnitude in some years. We also observed that most hatchery-reared fish were recaptured near the point of release. We were able to determine that supplementation with hatchery fish increased the abundance and distribution of Rio Grande Silvery Minnow and provided the desired demographic boost after severe population bottlenecks.

Conclusion

Releasing hatchery-reared fish may be a useful tool for conservation of imperiled freshwater fishes. However, there is a need for spawning and rearing infrastructure that matches the life-history of the species and sufficient postrelease monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of hatchery supplementation. Use of hatchery-reared fish has been beneficial for improving population resiliency of Rio Grande Silvery Minnow following recruitment bottlenecks; however, natural recruitment can greatly exceed hatchery supplementation and conditions promoting natural recruitment should be restored.
Transgenic RFP‐RPS‐30UbL strain of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a biomonitor for environmental pollutants
Authors: Sun Weiwei , Liu Han , Qiao Aijun , Jiang Ting , Li Jianghui , Wang Long , Yang Ling , Huang Huicong , Yan Xiumei , Yan Baolong
Published: January 2023

Environmental pollutants are recognized as one of the major concerns for public health. The free‐living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are widely used to evaluate the toxicity of environmental contaminants in biomonitoring researches. In the present study, a new transgenic strain, rps‐30−/−;RFP‐RPS‐30UbL was generated, with constitutively active rps‐30 promoter used to control the expression of RFP‐RPS‐30UbL fusion protein. We found RFP‐RPS‐30UbL would accumulate to form ‘rod‐like’ structures, when worms were exposed to environmental contaminants, including Cd, Hg, Pb, As, Paraquat and Dichlorvos. The number of the ‘rod‐like’ structures was induced by environmental contaminants in a concentration‐ and time‐dependent manner. The ‘rod‐like’ structure formation could be detectable in response to the concentration of each contaminant as low as 24‐h LC50 × 10−7, and the detectable time could be within 2 h. Detecting the transcription and expression levels of RFP‐RPS‐30UbL in worms exposed to different kinds of environmental contaminants showed that the expression level of RFP‐RPS‐30UbL was not regulated by environmental contaminants, and the number differences of ‘rod‐like’ structures were just due to the morphological change of RFP‐RPS‐30UbL from dispersion to accumulation induced by environmental contaminants. In addition, this transgenic strain was developed in rps‐30−/− homozygous worm, which was a longevity strain. Detection of lifespan and brood size showed that rps‐30−/−;RFP‐RPS‐30UbL transgenic worm was more suitable to be cultured and used further than N2;GFP‐RPS‐30UbL, for expressing RPS‐30UbL in wild type N2 worms shortened the lifespan and deceased the brood size. Therefore, rps‐30−/−;RFP‐RPS‐30UbL transgenic worm might play a potential role in versatile environmental biomonitoring, with the advantage of not only the convenient and quick fluorescence‐based reporter assay, but also the quantificational evaluation of the toxicities of environmental contaminants using ‘rod‐like’ structures with high sensitivity, off‐limited the expression level of the reporter protein.
Fact from Fiction: The Learning Benefits of Listening to Historical Fiction
Authors: Dwyer Meredyth , Martin‐Chang Sandra
Published: January 2023

Immersion into fiction is associated with many educational and social benefits. The current study compared read‐alouds of a historical fiction novel and a nonfiction textbook to determine whether differences were observed in student's transportation, content learning, and socio‐emotional development. In all, 41 students between the ages of 9 and 12 years old listened to either a fiction novel or nonfiction textbook as it was read‐aloud. The participants were then assessed on their content knowledge of the Great Depression, and their self‐reports of transportation, perspective taking, fantasy, empathic concern, and helping behaviors. Results showed that both fiction and nonfiction groups learned the same amount of content; however, positive correlations between transportation and several aspects of socio‐emotional development were unique to the group exposed to fiction. Thus, fiction novels can provide opportunities for the learning of historical information while enabling a child's growth in socio‐emotional development. Classroom‐based implications, strategies, and novel suggestions are discussed.
Simple Synthesis of 1,3‐Dialkylimidazole‐2‐chalcogenones (E=S, Se, Te) from NHC−CO2 Adducts
Authors: Finger Lars H. , Sundermeyer Jörg
Published: January 2023

We present a high yield synthesis of 1‐ethyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazole‐2‐chalcogenones from readily available imidazolium‐2‐carboxylate zwitterions NHC−CO2 and elemental chalcogens. In sharp contrast to previous syntheses for corresponding thiones and selones from imidazolium salts and bases our reactions proceed fast with full instead of low conversion and selectivity, decarboxylation is the driving force. Furthermore, this strategy is applicable to all heavier chalcogens including tellurium. Vacuum sublimation of imidazole‐2‐chalcogenones is implemented as convenient method of purification leading to solid instead of liquid products reported in literature. Newly prepared 1‐ethyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazole‐2‐tellone was characterized by XRD analysis and a correlation study of 125Te NMR and 13C NMR shifts with respect to known representatives. The reaction of NHC−CO2 with TMS2S leads to NHC−COS, characterized by XRD analysis, whereas heavier chalcogen derivatives TMS2E (E=Se, Te) did not react with NHC activated CO2.
Introduction to the Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Project Children’s Drawings of Gods: Presentation of the Project and of this Book
Authors: Brandt Pierre-Yves , Dandarova-Robert Zhargalma , Cocco Christelle , Vinck Dominique , Darbellay Frédéric
Published: January 2023

This introduction presents the project Children’s Drawings of Gods, relating its history from its origins through the present day. Following this recounting, we explain the organisation of this volume, introduce its parts and subparts, and briefly describe the content of each chapter.
Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample
Authors: Muthert Hanneke , Schaap-Jonker Hanneke
Published: January 2023

The development and functioning of representations of God are complex processes, in which psychological and cultural factors mutually influence each other. Attachment is a psychological factor that can provide insights into the representation and communication of ideas and experiences regarding supernatural agents in children’s drawings and narratives. Our hypotheses: (1) Securely attached children will use more God representation-related symbols in their drawings than insecurely attached children, (2) These symbols will have a referring and self-transcending character. We explore children’s drawings of God and their accompanying narratives with regard to attachment styles. We describe our theoretical framework and discuss the research process, our use of theory and materials, and our findings. We also present a qualitative analysis of drawings by both insecurely and securely attached children, focusing on qualitative aspects of the drawings and their use of religious symbols. Secure attachment is associated with more God representation-related symbols. Other drawing aspects also relate to attachment. We compare the occurrence of attachment characterizations of relationships with God, the padding of the paper, and the use of anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic images. Finally, we focus on the concrete localization of God on the paper, and the figurative place where children imagined God to be.
The First Discoveries and the Challenges of Researching Representations of Gods in a Continental Country Such as Brazil
Authors: Küntgen-Nery Alberto Domeniconi , Torres Camila Mendonça , Vasconcellos Esdras Guerreiro , Zangari Wellington
Published: January 2023

This chapter presents the results of the first research on representations of gods in Brazil, within the context of the Children’s Drawings of Gods project. Brazil is a country of continental dimensions. It is also marked by a strong, predominantly Christian, religious scene. We collected data in the city of São Paulo, the largest and most urbanized city in the country, and in the Guajajara indigenous village in Maranhão, one of the less developed states. Our findings show a large number of representations influenced by Christianity (e.g., anthropomorphic representations of god). Anthromorphic representations appear across the entire sample, but were more prevalent in the children of São Paulo. Among the Guajajaras, there was a greater incidence of non-anthropomorphic representations of god, including animistic representations. The children of São Paulo employed a larger repertoire of representations than the Guajajaras children did. The data presented in this exploratory study reflect a small, convenience sample; they do not represent the Brazilian population as a whole. We suggest that further studies with other groups, religions, and ages. Exploration of the representations of gods in Brazil is still in its infancy; the country promises to be a very fertile field for future research.
The Representation of God in Islam and Its Prohibition: Strategies Used by Iranian Children When Asked to Draw God
Authors: Astaneh Zahra
Published: January 2023

Traditionally, the act of drawing, and specifically drawing God and the prophets, is forbidden in Islam. No verse in the Qur’an indicates a prohibition against drawing in general; however, Muslim scholars do interpret some verses of Qur’an and other prophetic writings as prohibiting the representation of God. In this research, I tested the degree to which children are conscious of this prohibition by asking them to draw God. We collected over 3000 drawings from six cities in Iran. The participants ranged in age from 7 to 14 years. Here, I explore religiosity in the context of contemporary Iran, and present my findings describing various strategies used by Iranian children to accomplish the task of drawing God. Only nine children used the words “sin” or “not permitted” in their descriptions. I found that as participant age increased, so did the likelihood that the participant would indicate that he/she could not draw God, giving reasons such as “God is supreme, incomparable, and beyond imagining,” or, “God is not able to be drawn.” My findings show that children demonstrate increased awareness of this prohibition as they age; this increased awareness potentially reflects a parallel increase in exposure to Muslim teachings on this topic.
“Equipping Work” and the Production of a Large-Scale Digital Infrastructure: An Ethnographic Inquiry into the Children’s Drawings of Gods Project
Authors: Vinck Dominique , Oberhauser Pierre-Nicolas
Published: January 2023

As data sharing and preservation become a major concern in the humanities and social sciences, more and more scholars are lead to produce, organize, and/or manage digital infrastructures. What we call “data equipment” is a major aspect of such work. Our study draws on an ongoing ethnographic inquiry into theChildren’s Drawings of Godsproject, focusing on the production and organization of the project database. We describe how the drawings are “equipped,” i.e. how entities are added to the original material and transformed in order to make the data usable and sharable at different scales. We document the constitution of the data (production and recollection of drawings and metadata, production of further metadata) and the transformation of the drawings during this process. Doing so, we show some important aspects of the project regarding the building of its digital infrastructure.
Brief History of the Database Children’s Drawings of Gods (2015–2019)
Authors: Serbaeva Olga
Published: January 2023

In 2009, a database (DB) in FileMakerPro was set up for supporting the project Dessins de dieux (DDD), also called the Children’s Drawings of Gods project. In 2015, it was migrated into Structured Query Language (SQL). This presentation shall summarize the major changes the database underwent from 2015 to the beginning of 2019. First, I will present the structural particularities of the MySQL database. Then I will provide a brief description of the technical and architectural solutions that had to be implemented in the new, Resource Description Framework (RDF) database, in order to accommodate the needs of the Children’s Drawings of Gods research project.
Children’s God Representations: Are Anthropomorphic God Figures Only Human?
Authors: Dessart Grégory
Published: January 2023

In many religious traditions, anthropomorphism plays a central role in visual representations of the divine. As suggested by the notion ofminimally counterintuitiveproperties (e.g., Boyer, Mapping the mind: Domain specificity in cognition and culture, New York, pp. 391–411, 1994), some peculiar ontological arrangements (e.g., ontological violations) tend to characterize religious representations. In the case of human-like God figures, such ontological peculiarities may consist of either: a combination of humanness and non-humanness (e.g., a human figure with wings), or a lack of central characteristics presenting qualities that are central to the human category (e.g., a face). The former corresponds to Guthrie’s (Faces in the clouds: A new theory of religion, New York, 1993) observation of the recurrentsameness-othernesscombination with the human being to depict the divine. Such conceptual arrangements may change across a child’s development. However, research on children’s God representations has systematically considered anthropomorphic figures as distinct from non-anthropomorphic ones. The current work proposes a revised developmental model that accounts for domain-specific properties used by children to signify the special position of God as compared to human beings. That model is particularly appropriate to consider God representations as depicted in children’s drawings.
Construction and Transgression of Gender Categories in Representations of Divine Figures: A Cross-Cultural Study of Children’s Drawings
Authors: Dessart Grégory , Dandarova-Robert Zhargalma , Brandt Pierre-Yves
Published: January 2023

This research addresses how gods may be gender-typed in children’s drawings. It offers cross-cultural comparisons on four distinct samples of drawings from Japan, Switzerland, Buryatia and Saint Petersburg (Russia). We discuss the challenges that arise when rating gender categories in children’s drawings, especially when drawing on a cross-cultural sample. Then we propose two approaches for the empirical analysis of the data: (1) providing a general description of the utilization of gender categories; (2) considering the data from a qualitative perspective, comparing children’s strategies and cultural references. In the main, while there seems to be cultural differences (as observed between samples), three main sources of normative pressure might exist: androcentrism, same-gender preference, and masculine hegemony. We discuss the observed phenomena in terms of socio-normative influence, cultural and religious references made available, gender traits, and gender transgression.
Where Gods Dwell? Part I: Spatial Imagery in Children’s Drawings of Gods
Authors: Dandarova-Robert Zhargalma , Cocco Christelle , Dessart Grégory , Brandt Pierre-Yves
Published: January 2023

Supernatural agents, although imagined by humans as omnipresent, cannot escape being placed (at least mentally) by believers somewhere in physical space. For example, kami in Shintoism are believed to reside in natural elements of the landscape. In Christianity, God is typically associated with Heaven. Similarly, Jesus is said to have ascended into Heaven after his resurrection. According to Buddhist mythology, gods live in the heavens, and the next Buddha, Maitreya, will descend to earth from heaven.

This study (Part I of a two-part project) investigates the role of spatiality in children’s conceptions of the divine as shown through their drawings of god. We collected drawings by participants from four different cultural and religious environments (n = 1156): Japanese (Buddhism and Shinto), Russian-Buryat (Buddhism, Shamanism), Russian Slavic (Christian Orthodoxy) and French-speaking Swiss (Catholic and reformed Christianity). Our study indicates that the tendency to place god in the sky was not strongly related to a particular cultural or religious context. Children from all groups most often drew god either in the sky or with no background at all. We note two implications for folk psychology: (1) Children tend to conceptualize god in single location, (2) They often associate the divine with a celestial background.
Computer Vision and Mathematical Methods Used to Analyse Children’s Drawings of God(s)
Authors: Cocco Christelle , Ceré Raphaël
Published: January 2023

In contrast to mainstream research methods in psychology, the project Children’s Drawings of Gods encompasses computer vision and mathematical methods to analyse the data (drawings and drawing annotations). The first part of the present work describes a set of methods designed to extract measures, namely features, directly from the drawings and from annotations of the images. Then, the dissimilarities between the drawings are computed based on particular features (such as the gravity centre of the smallest image unit, namely pixel, or the annotated position of god) and combined in order to measure numerically the differences between the drawings. In the second part, we conduct an exploratory data analysis based on these dissimilarities, including multidimensional scaling and clustering, in order to determine whether the chosen features permit us to distinguish the different strategies that the children used to draw god.
Toward Decolonized Film Festival Worlds
Authors: Dovey Lindiwe , Sendra Estrella
Published: January 2023

This chapter is in part a manifesto and in part an engagement with the thinking and practice already re-shaping film festivals in this era of decolonization and Covid-19. We take as a starting point and analyze the provocative docu-fiction film titled Film Festival Film (dir. Perivi Katjavivi and Mpumelelo Mcata, 2019, South Africa) which raises myriad, difficult, and enduring questions about film festivals and contemporary film culture. Reading the provocations of this film alongside our own respective research into and work with film festivals and film curation (mostly in relation to African filmmaking), we then put ourselves into conversation with 22 film festival curators and filmmakers around the world who have shared their experiences with us, as well as with recent decolonial theorizing (by, e.g., Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Mignolo and Walsh). The chapter grapples with questions such as what does decolonization mean in relation to contemporary film culture? What would decolonized film festival worlds look like? And what have film practitioners learned from their work during the Covid-19 pandemic that might help us to collectively realize those worlds? In this way, we try to chart the significant work being done by many people to build more inclusive, sustainable, decolonized film cultures.
Festivals, Covid-19, and the Crisis of Archiving
Authors: Damiens Antoine
Published: January 2023

Building upon my experience working with festival archives, this chapter examines some of the challenges with archiving festivals in times of pandemic. It argues that festival organizers, scholars, and amateur historians must collect and preserve a maximum of documents on festivals’ responses to the pandemic: while we collectively are living through a historical moment (an unprecedented crisis), there is a real possibility that the festivals organized in Covid times may not be properly archived. In particular, I look at some of the reasons why festivals are rarely properly archived and examine the impact of technology on the preservation of festival histories. I then discuss how the lack of a clear archival impetus will shape future research on festivals and argue for a reconceptualization of academic scholarship as a counterarchival gesture.
Vidéo de Femmes Dans le Parc: Feminist Rhythms and Festival Times Under Covid
Authors: Olibet Ylenia , Thain Alanna
Published: January 2023

Vidéo de Femmes dans le Parc (VFP) (Women’s Videos in the Park) is a summertime open-air screening of independent short videos, held annually since 1991 at Park La Fontaine in Montreal, Canada, by Groupe Intervention Vidéo (GIV), an independent feminist/queer distribution company. In this essay, we explore VFP’s historical use of public space and its reimagination under Covid’s urgent sanitary crisis and chronic social inequities. Within the media ecology of Montreal’s outdoor cinemas, we see GIV’s creative decision to move VFP online during Covid as part of a longer history of alternative media’s unconventional exhibition modes that address social inequalities. As such, we first situate VFP within GIV’s wider mandate of dissemination of video work by women. We then analyze VFP’s “visual architecture” under Covid, stressing the organizers’ original strategies to reproduce a sense of eventness even through online exhibition. We conclude with questions of embodied and affective labor, including audiences’ wellbeing, artist renumeration, and self-care, that the shift online entails for the organizers of VFP.
Increased Anthropogenic Activity in the Mediterranean Since the Opening of the Suez Canal
Authors: Polinov Semion
Published: January 2023

Humans depend on oceans and seas’ marine ecosystems for important and valuable goods and services, but human use has also altered the marine environment through direct and indirect means. Land-based and ocean-based human activities vary in their intensity of impact on the marine environmental conditions and their spatial distribution across the scape. Since opening the Suez Canal, the spatial distribution of such a human-made environmental change needs to be understood and quantified to be able to evaluate tradeoffs between the canal and the protection of the Mediterranean marine ecosystem. Such temporal and spatial evaluation will help to improve and rationalize the spatial management of the Mediterranean Sea of human activities. Evaluation of the ecological impact of the Suez Canal on the Mediterranean Sea requires a method for translating the impact into marine impacts and spatial data of the activities.
Stranding of the Mega-Ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal: Causes, Consequences, and Lessons to Be Learned
Authors: Gerson Aleksander
Published: January 2023

In March 2021, the mega container ship Ever Given, a 400-m-long vessel weighing 200,000 tons, with a maximum capacity of 20,000 containers, grounded in the southernmost stretch of the Suez Canal. Ship convoys in the southern part of the Suez Canal can only travel in a single lane, therefore the grounding of the Ever Given effectively blocked all traffic through the Canal. The six-day blockage exacted a heavy financial price and loss of revenues for Egypt and for consumers worldwide. When the Ever Given was finally freed, she was arrested by Egyptian authorities and detained for over three months, while all her cargo worth hundreds of millions of dollars could not reach its various destinations, causing further financial losses and claims. This incident demonstrates the vital importance that Suez Canal holds for global maritime trade by considerably shortening the route between the Far East and Europe and the Americas (as an alternative to journeying around Africa). However, it highlights the consequences of failure to adapt to the pace of growth of container ships in the last two decades, and the lack of preparedness of the Suez Authorities to deal with an event of such magnitude. The race to increase profitability by economies of scale has a profound global impact on shipping and ports. The article discusses the regulatory regime of this vital waterway in the context of responsibilities, liability, and cooperation between Suez Canal authorities and ships’ commands. The lack of clarity regarding legal relationships between national authorities, ship operators, and masters is discussed with emphasis on straits, narrow passages, rivers, and channels.
The Global Oil Market and the Status of the Suez Canal
Authors: Mann Yossi
Published: January 2023

The Suez Canal has played a significant role in the economic history of the Middle East. It is an important source of revenue for Egypt and a conduit for the commodity that is identified more than any other with the nations of the region: oil. The most traded commodity in the world is considered a mainstay of the Suez Canal’s revenue, constituting about 20% of the goods transferred through it. Despite its role as an important conduit of oil, geopolitical events, and international economic crises have undermined the Suez Canal’s international status. This chapter aims to describe the reciprocal relationship between the oil market and the Suez Canal. The chapter will begin with a discussion of the impact of the Arab–Israeli conflict on global oil trade through the Suez Canal, and will follow up with an examination of the impact of economic crises and OPEC decisions on canal traffic. Finally, the chapter will suggest several factors that might damage the Suez Canal’s international status in the long term.
Personality Rights, Privacy, and Post-mortem Privacy Protection in Archives: International Comparison, Germany and “Protection of Legitimate Interests”
Authors: Čtvrtník Mikuláš
Published: January 2023

This chapter together with Chaps. 3 and 4, will address the protection of personality rights in archives in the broader context of the issue of access to archival records, and in some respects also on the general level of the protection of information not only of personal nature. In doing so, it will focus on several selected specific situations, models, or special procedural settings that can be encountered in the archival systems of some countries, namely the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, and it will also touch on the situation in the USA and some other countries that may also serve as inspirational moments that could potentially be used in other archival systems. Special attention will be paid to post-mortem protection of personality and privacy. This chapter will introduce several illustrative examples from some countries and show how archival legislation can complement the scope of law regulating the field of post-mortem privacy protection. The chapter will focus on introductory general international comparison, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the archival sector and its relation to the protection of personal data and personal information of living persons, the right to be forgotten together with the freedom of expression, right to access to information and will conclude with an analysis of the specific situation in Germany.