bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TagSeq: Malicious behavior discovery using dynamic analysis
Authors: Huang Yi-Ting , Sun Yeali S. , Chen Meng Chang
Published: May 2022

In recent years, studies on malware analysis have noticeably increased in the cybersecurity community. Most recent studies concentrate on malware classification and detection or malicious patterns identification, but as to malware activity, it still relies heavily on manual analysis for high-level semantic descriptions. We develop a sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) neural network, called TagSeq, to investigate a sequence of Windows API calls recorded from malware execution, and produce tags to label their malicious behavior. We propose embedding modules to transform Windows API function parameters, registry, filenames, and URLs into low-dimension vectors, while still preserving the closeness property. Moreover, we utilize an attention mechanism to capture the relations between generated tags and certain API invocation calls. Results show that the most possible malicious actions are identified by TagSeq. Examples and a case study demonstrate that the proposed embedding modules preserve semantic-physical relations and that the predicted tags reflect malicious intentions. We believe this work is suitable as a tool to help security analysts recognize malicious behavior and intent with easy-to-understand tags.
A model for isoform-level differential expression analysis using RNA-seq data without pre-specifying isoform structure
Authors: Liu Yang , Wang Junying , Wu Song , Yang Jie
Published: May 2022

Motivation

Next generation sequencing (NGS) technology has been widely used in biomedical research, particularly on those genomics-related studies. One of NGS applications is the high-throughput mRNA sequencing (RNA-seq), which is usually applied to evaluate gene expression level (i.e. copies of isoforms), to identify differentially expressed genes, and to discover potential alternative splicing events. Popular tools for differential expression (DE) analysis using RNA-seq data include edgeR and DESeq. These methods tend to identify DE genes at the gene-level, which only allows them to compare the total size of isoforms, that is, sum of an isoform’s copy number times its length over all isoforms. Naturally, these methods may fail to detect DE genes when the total size of isoforms remains similar but isoform-wise expression levels change dramatically. Other tools can perform isoform-level DE analysis only if isoform structures are known but would still fail for many non-model species whose isoform information are missing. To overcome these disadvantages, we developed an isoform-free (without need to pre-specify isoform structures) splicing-graph based negative binomial (SGNB) model for differential expression analysis at isoform level. Our model detects not only the change in the total size of isoforms but also the change in the isoform-wise expression level and hence is more powerful.

Results

We performed extensive simulations to compare our method with edgeR and DESeq. Under various scenarios, our method consistently achieved a higher detection power, while controlling pre-specified type I error. We also applied our method to a real data set to illustrate its applicability in practice.
The protective effects of HIF-1α activation on sepsis induced intestinal mucosal barrier injury in rats model of sepsis
Authors: Lei Xiuzhen , Teng Wenbin , Fan Ying , Zhu Yeke , Yao Liuxu , Li Yuhong , Zhu Shengmei
Published: May 2022

The integrity of the intestinal barrier is critical for protecting the host against the pathogen. The role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in the intestinal barrier disfunction related to sepsis remained unclear. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of HIF-1α on oxidative damage, the intestinal mucosal permeability, structural and morphological changes during sepsis. Twenty-four Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into four groups of 6 rats each: the sham group (sham), sepsis group (subjected to cecal ligation and perforation, CLP), sepsis + DMOG group (40 mg/kg of DMOG by intraperitoneal injection for 7 consecutive days before CLP), and sepsis + BAY 87–2243 group (9 mg/kg of BAY 87–2243 orally administered for 3 consecutive days before CLP). Sepsis increased plasma levels of inflammatory mediators, oxidative stress markers and HIF-1α expression; caused pathological damage; increased permeability (P< 0.05); and decreased TJ protein expression in the intestinal mucosa of rats with sepsis (P< 0.05). The addition of DMOG up-regulated HIF-1α, then decreased the plasma levels of inflammatory mediators, oxidative stress markers, alleviated pathological damage to the intestinal mucosa and decreased intestinal permeability (P< 0.05); while BAY 87–2243 treatment had the opposite effects. Our findings showed that HIF-1α protects the intestinal barrier function of septic rats by inhibiting intestinal inflammation and oxidative damage, our results provide a novel insight for developing sepsis treatment.
A night in the life of a migrant street artist: In conversation with visual artist Shp
Authors: Pardue Derek , Santos Eduardo
Published: May 2022

The following text is a transcription and translation from a conversation with Eduardo Santos, a Brazilian tagger and street artist who currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal. Santos, more widely known as Shp (‘sheep’), member of the group Pregos (literally translated as ‘nails’), responded to questions about identity, life philosophy and art through a series of WhatsApp audios. In addition, Shp and Xiên, another Brazilian migrant, provide a voice-over for a ten-minute video that shows a ‘night in the life’ of a pixador, the name given in Brazilian Portuguese to a street artist who practises the Brazilian variant that mixes elements of tagging and graffiti. Topics broached include: a comparison between pixo and Brazilian funk, marginalized arts, the street, the origins of pixo in Lisbon, respect and the presence of Brazil in the tuga (Portugal). English subtitles were done by Mariana Gil, a Brazilian photographer and migrant living in Aarhus, Denmark (video link: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CQYue_MnUuk/?utm_medium=copy_link).
Meaning-making strategies on the balcony: The night sky in K. Taha’s Beschreibung einer Krabbenwanderung (‘Portrait of a wandering crab’)
Authors: Leesing Dorothee
Published: May 2022

The meaning-making system of the sky has persisted for millennia (Peters 2015). Yet, many of us do not relate to the importance of the connection with celestial sky anymore. One of the many contributing factors is our relation to urban systems, as well as densification and, consequently, the verticalization of living. As an example of the power of place-making strategies and its friction with the architectural set-up in high-rise mass dwellings and estates, the novel Beschreibung einer Krabbenwanderung by Karosh Taha makes use of the night-time sky in idiosyncratic spaces of the high-rise, such as the balcony. Here, the links between relations of time and space, the here and there (), as well as inside and outside spaces, become apparent and show a connection of the liminality of post-migrant identities. In an analysis of the access to the night-time sky and its concluding place-making strategies by one of the protagonists of the novel, I show how the balcony functions as a liminal space that is idiosyncratic for the mobile and mediatized identity in the western European high-rise dwelling.
Narrating Migration: Intimacies of Exclusion in Northern Italy, Sabina Perrino (2021)
Authors: Burns Jennifer
Published: May 2022

Review of: Narrating Migration: Intimacies of Exclusion in Northern Italy, Sabina Perrino (2021)

New York and London: Routledge, 188 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-03208-450-3, p/bk, £36.99
Exploring empathy performativity in students’ video artworks
Authors: Sinquefield-Kangas Rachel , Rajala Antti , Kumpulainen Kristiina
Published: May 2022

This article examines events of empathy as they occur during artmaking using the lens of agential realism. We do this to trouble more traditional psychological constructs of empathy and, instead, rethink it as performative and relational. Drawing on new materialisms and Karen Barad’s ‘agential realism’, we do not treat artmaking, young people and empathy in any hierarchy but want to understand how these come together as ‘things-in-phenomena’. Written recountings of a video artwork are used in mapping the entanglements of cats and dogs with three Finnish high-school girls as they answer the question ‘what is empathy?’. The study shows how objects/materials/matter(s) are agentic in co-constituting conditions invocative of empathy phenomena during artmaking. We conclude by suggesting that an agential realist account of art and empathy calls for art educators to pay close attention to objects/materials/matter(s) in their heterogenous connections.
Drawing as an encounter with materials in early childhood education spaces
Authors: Chung Kwang Dae (Mitsy)
Published: May 2022

Some early childhood educators believe that if they provide rich materials for young children, children’s creativity and art will naturally follow and grow. However, materials themselves are not a magical provocation for young children’s artmaking. When young children and educators engage with materials, the materials may become magical and their exchanges may enable a respectful and mindful pedagogical learning space. When educators, children and materials interact with each other, ask questions, listen to each other and share their thoughts and wonderings, the space may transform into collective, collaborative and pedagogical.
Socially engaged art with preservice teachers: The aesthetics of making sense of community-embedded experiences
Authors: Jones Stephanie , Woglom James F. , Alkowni Dhanna , Cobby Eboni , Davis Haley , Flores Bryan , Pasillas Hosanna , Mason Taylar
Published: May 2022

In this graphica article, Stephanie Jones and James Woglom have a critical discussion and analysis of the community-based art-making pedagogical project that Woglom undertook with their undergraduate art education students, expanding on Authors’ past work in comics arts-based research. They build upon the idea of ‘ethnographica’ – or ethnographically informed graphica creation – as the primary method of meaning-making Woglom and their students engaged in. Students’ (positioned as co-researchers, and named as authors in the piece) visual-verbal meaning-making of their community-based work with youth is included along with some of their interpretations of their experiences as well as the two authors’ analyses. The article connects this one semester of socially engaged art teacher education to relational aesthetics, A/R/Tography and culturally responsive work with youth.
Mediating a pluralized ‘we’: Amateur first-person filmmaking in Gabriela Pichler’s Amateurs
Authors: Roos Liina-Ly
Published: May 2022

This article analyses the incorporation of amateur and first-person filmmaking in Gabriela Pichler’s comedy drama Amatörer (Amateurs) (2018) as a contradiction and alternative to the professional economies of media that tend to reinforce middle-class Swedish Whiteness and silence the experiences of minority populations of divergent races, ethnicities and social class.
Nordic homonationalism in post-cinematic times: The ‘good ethnic’ and sexual exceptionalism in SKAM
Authors: Evang Jenny Andrine Madsen
Published: May 2022

This short subject analyses the racialized dynamics of the Norwegian TV series SKAM vis-à-vis its representation of queerness. It argues that the Muslim character Sana stands in for the ‘good ethnic’ who simultaneously represents the ‘backwardness’ of her religion and the imaginary of Norwegian multiculturalism that can ‘rehabilitate’ her into its image.
‘Call the Norwegian embassy!’: The Alta conflict, Indigenous narrative and political change in the activist films The Taking of Sámiland and Let the River Live
Authors: Sand Stine Agnete
Published: May 2022

In the 1970s, Norway had not officially acknowledged their Indigenous population, the Sámi. In the following decade, two activist films, Let the River Live (Greve ) and The Taking of Sámiland (Eriksen and Tannvik 1984), focused on the Alta conflict – protests against the construction of a power plant in Sámi territory – Indigenous rights and colonial processes. Inspired by discussions concerning documentary, activism and decolonialism, this article investigates how the films frame Sámi interests and challenge perceptions of the Norwegian state. Because both films are collaborations across ethnic boundaries, they also challenge the supposed insider/outsider perspective of Sámi and Indigenous film, offering decolonial narratives by centring on Indigenous voices and experiences, confronting the idea of Norway as homogenous and representing the state as a colonial oppressor. They represent a political turning point that has changed politics, film production and collective memory.
Constructing Sámi images in Scandinavian television series: Between pessimism and new possibilities
Authors: Chacińska Maja , Sibińska Maria
Published: May 2022

The Sámi are a linguistic, ethnic and cultural Indigenous minority in three Nordic countries, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Much of the perception of this minority comes from the majority media of these countries. Media in general have often been accused of under- and misrepresenting the Sámi. Previous research, however, has mainly concerned the news media. The article examines how the Sámi are portrayed in two television series, the Swedish Midnight Sun (2016) and the Norwegian Heartless (2013). Since television is a popular medium, the representation of the Sámi in these series can significantly impact the general perception of the group. Drawing on recent migration theory, the article examines how Sámi- and non-Sámi-produced television impacts the perception and apparent authenticity of the Indigenous population.
Una propuesta para el manejo del lenguaje del texto de Ciencias Naturales
Authors: Barletta Norma , Mizuno Jorge
Published: May 2022

El lenguaje mediante el cual se expresan los contenidos académicos suele influir en la comprensión de los eventos naturales que se describen. En una intervención metodológica para el manejo del lenguaje de los textos escolares, se diseñó un proceso de concientización con respecto de los aspectos lingüísticos de los libros de texto que pueden dificultar el aprendizaje; luego, se acompañó a una docente de séptimo grado de enseñanza básica durante la preparación y desarrollo de una temática. Se analizaron y trabajaron con especial énfasis los tópicos, las unidades textuales y el vocabulario. La mayoría de los alumnos expresó apropiación de los conceptos del área desde lo académico, lo que permite concluir que las acciones de la maestra ayudaron a construir significados a partir del texto. Sin embargo, diversas presiones en el contexto de la escuela y los conceptos inmediatistas que sobre el aprendizaje se han generalizado en nuestro medio, constituyen un obstáculo para el logro de aprendizajes significativos
Interview with Dr. Ole Skovmose
Authors: Castiblanco Olga
Published: May 2022

Professor emeritus at the Department of Culture and Learning at Aalborg University, Denmark. He develops his research from the perspective of critical mathematics education. He studies the political dimension of mathematical knowledge, and analyses the mechanisms of power as related to bringing mathematics in action.

His work contributes to developing central concepts of critical mathematics education (landscapes of investigation, mathematics in action, close-ups of students and the ghetto) without forgetting the per- manent relationship with its practical possibilities. He has published several books, including Towards a Philosophy of Critical Mathematics Education, translated into Spanish, Dialogue and Learning in Mathematics Education (together with Helle Alrø),

Traveling Through Education, In Doubt, Critique as Uncertainty, Students’ Foregrounds, and Connecting Humans With Equations (together with Ole Ravn)
Preliminary Procedures in Shareholder Derivative Litigation: A Beneficial Legal Transplant?
Authors: Gelter Martin
Published: May 2022

Jurisdictions around the world have developed different mechanisms to balance the need to enforce corporate law with the problem of non-meritorious litigation when derivative suits can be brought bring easily. One instrument to channel shareholder litigation is preliminary procedures, which typically constitute a screening stage before fact-finding. These have been adopted in several jurisdictions in recent years. This article argues that in jurisdictions applying the “loser pays” rule, preliminary procedures can serve as cutoff points for potential plaintiffs’ litigation cost risk, which often blunts incentives to litigate. To make preliminary procedures an effective instrument this article proposes two elements of institutional design. First, the risk of paying litigation costs should initially be limited to the preliminary procedure. Second, at the preliminary stage, shareholders should not be required to provide evidence about the merits of the suit or whether the company would benefit from it. Instead, as in the US, the emphasis of the preliminary stage should be on conflicts of interest of directors that make it unlikely that they bring such a suit themselves. Such a system would permit courts to screen our abusive lawsuits at an early stage while at the same time reducing incentive problems that have long plagued shareholder litigation.
Credit Funds Regulation in the EU and the Debate on NPLS and AMCS
Authors: Annunziata Filippo
Published: May 2022

In the current EU legislative framework for investment funds – UCITS Directive and AIFMD – credit funds have rightly been singled out as something quite unique. In fact, they stand at the crossroads of capital markets’ and credit institutions’ regulations, playing a role of both an investor in a particular asset class, and of a credit facility provider. They may also effectively perform other functions, such as those of securitization vehicles, or comparable to Asset Management Companies (“AMCs”) for the management and processing of non-performing loans. They are, therefore, hybrid creatures, difficult to regulate and, sometimes, to understand. This is due not only to the absence of any specific product regulation in the context of the AIFMD, but also to the uncertainties surrounding the notion of “credit” and “credit granting” in EU law. Within the EU, legislation on credit funds developed, until now, in a haphazard manner. Absent a clear reference scheme, the result is unsatisfactory, and far from being able to integrate EU Markets in this respect. Further, more robust harmonization is therefore needed in this area, now more than ever in the context of the debate on the effects of the pandemic and the management of NPLs. The paper aims to provide sufficient evidence to support these assumptions, also taking into account the lively debate on the role of Asset Management Companies and the development of an efficient secondary market for loans in the EU.
Sustainable Finance and Fintech: Can Technology Contribute to Achieving Environmental Goals? A Preliminary Assessment of ‘Green Fintech’ and ‘Sustainable Digital Finance’
Authors: Macchiavello Eugenia , Siri Michele
Published: May 2022

The Digital Finance/Fintech Action Plan and the Sustainable Finance Strategy both represent important pillars of the current EU policy agenda. Nonetheless, the two areas have been treated as separate for a long time, while they present certain common features and great potential when combined. In particular, Fintech appears able to respond to some shortcomings in the current sustainable finance framework (e. g. access to retail financing, ESG disclosure, verification and ratings, etc.). The relevance of the link between sustainability, finance and technology has also been evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, which has urged all countries to re-think the models traditionally deployed and rely more on technology and sustainability. However, Fintech/digital finance still raises per se relevant technical and legal issues that need to be addressed to fulfil its promises and potential in the sustainable finance sector. The present paper aims at starting a debate about “Green Fintech” in order to effectively connect the two worlds and spur the research in such a new and promising area. Special attention will be also reserved to the recent proposal for a European Single Access Point for corporate financial and non-financial disclosure.
Variación morfológica en el siglo XIX: rivalidad y bloqueo de los sufijos ‑ción y ‑miento
Authors: de la Mata Cristina Buenafuentes , Raab Matthias
Published: May 2022

En el paradigma de los nomina actionis destacan los sufijos ‑ción y ‑miento como los más productivos de la derivación nominal en español actual. Además de su alta frecuencia, los dos morfemas se hallan en una situación de competencia sufijal. El principal objetivo del estudio es realizar un análisis de la evolución de la competencia sufijal de ‑ción y ‑miento a partir de su participación en la formación de neologismos en el siglo XIX. El análisis pretende evidenciar los factores de tipo lingüístico que favorecen o bloquean la existencia de un doblete en ‑ción y ‑miento.
Lines of Flight and Aquatic Environments. The Pampa as Experimental Space of the Aesthetic in the Novels of César Aira and Juan José Saer
Authors: Dünne Jörg
Published: May 2022

Historians and literary critics have described the Argentinean Pampa as a space predominantly connected to the foundational acts and discourses of the Argentinean nation. At the same time at which Argentina emerged as a nation, foundational discourses modeled the sparsely populated region lying beyond the capital Buenos Aires as a flat, unstructured landscape, as the allegedly empty space of a “desert”. The article analyzes how these geopolitical discourses are rewritten in two Argentinean novels from the last decade of the 20th century, CésarAira’s La liebre(The Hare, 1991) and Juan José Saer’sLas nubes(The Clouds, 1997), which both perform an act of un-founding by creating alternative literary environments. In doing so, both novels also enact a narrative transculturation of spatial concepts drawn from European cultural theory by reterritorializing them on the territory of the Pampa.
Jorge Semprún: un intelectual europeo
Authors: Nicolás Teresa Rosell
Published: May 2022

En el presente trabajo se articulará la idea de Europa que Semprún propone en “Qué significa para mí ser «europeo»” (Semprún 2006: 277–285) a partir de dos escenarios, Viena y Weimar, que constituyen un espacio cultural determinante: el de laMitteleuropa. No hay que olvidar que el concepto cultural deMitteleuroparesultó contradictorio desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Por un lado, participa de la noción de un espacio cultural cosmopolita, plurinacional e intelectual; por otro, no puede olvidarse que esteespíritu(Geist) acabó transformado en doctrina nacionalsocialista. En este sentido, Semprún parte de una idea de Europa sustentada en la cultura judeo-alemana, fiel a una tradición arraigada a la Viena finisecular y que encontró su consolidación en la República de Weimar. Así, a la filosofía de la Viena de fin de siglo habría que añadir el elemento marxista, vital para comprender la doble vertiente sempruniana. Weimar, además, aportará un hecho determinante y radical: Buchenwald.
Assessment of possibilities of using waste foundry sand – review
Authors: Schwarz Marián , Salva Jozef , Vanek Miroslav , Poništ Juraj , Prepilková Veronika , Lobotková Martina , Turčániová Eszter
Published: May 2022

This review is focused on various possibilities of application of foundry sands. The evaluation was performed by summarizing available resources. The application of waste sand as an admixture in concrete brings with it economic advantages compared to the use of exclusively natural sand in the production of concrete. On the other hand, due to the mechanical properties, only a 10–20 % substitution of natural material with waste sand appears to be optimal. Road construction works provide an opportunity to reuse large amounts of surplus material, including foundry sand waste. High demands on the properties of the embankment (low internal deformation, sufficient shear strength, homogeneity, erosion resistance) are required for this application. Waste sands are a suitable substitute for clay cladding material. It is necessary to consider various criteria for the application of waste sand – economic, technical or environmental benefits. In the future, research should focus on evaluating the use of waste foundry sands in grasslands. There is currently insufficient knowledge to evaluate this application.
Writing in the Green: Imperatives towards an Eco-n-temporary Theatre Canon
Authors: Angelaki Vicky
Published: May 2022

This article reflects on the sociopolitical, cultural, and health landscape(s) of our current moment in time, addressing how intersecting crises have delivered us to an unprecedented moment for drama, theatre, and performance. As communities across the world have had to dispense with staples of everyday life – attending live theatre performances being one of these –, so art, in all its forms, has never been more significant in its capacity to bring us together, even if modes of togetherness have shifted in their referentiality and locationality. As the article proposes, we need to take an intuitive approach to the appreciation of how our ecologies – in their broadest iteration – have been impacted and realigned by the COVID-19 pandemic in such ways that we can expect that our future scholarship(s) on plays, place, and landscape will and, indeed, ought to reflect this experience. Dialogues on theatre and environment, which are already intersectional, are now receiving yet another focusing lens through the pandemic.The article also suggests that our understandings of how our ecologies have been adapted invite a consideration of new modes of engaging with the environment in our discourses – and of the very term itself and what it might encompass – and new economies in calibrating our discourses to reflect our radically redistributed individual and collective experiences. The text offers examples of categories that emerge particularly strongly where spatial liminality is key; in so doing, it asserts that in-betweenness is a central element towards understanding our contemporary role and responsibilities: from collapsing binaries (environment/economy) to the unmoored experience of our times.
Racial and ethnic distribution of US randomized controlled trials in obstetrics: a retrospective review
Authors: Anzai Yuzuru , Cercizi Noel , Wu Yifei , Park Crystal , Sefah Narvella , Gomez Isabella , Yao Nicole , Gulati Jasmine , Lee Seoho , McClelland W. Spencer , Cheon Teresa , Benedetto-Anzai Maria Teresa , Chervenak Francis A.
Published: May 2022

Objectives

To determine the racial and ethnic compositions of the participants in obstetric randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and compare them to the US general population.

Methods

RCTs published in two premier US journals, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology from January 2010 to April 2020 were analyzed. The racial and ethnic distributions of the study participants were extracted and expressed as percentages for each article. Obstetrics articles were selected and then further divided into subcategories. Statistical analyses were performed on racial and ethnicity representation in each subcategory compared to a US population norm.

Results

Overall, a wide variation of racial and ethnic distribution was noted among studies. However, statistically significant overrepresentation of Non-Hispanic Black population and underrepresentation of White and Asian races were noted while Hispanic population’s representation was comparable to the US general population. This observation was persistent across most of the subcategories.

Conclusions

RCTs in the field of Obstetrics showed an overrepresentation of Black population. This observation was unique when we consider the previous reports in other fields of medicine. These findings should be taken into consideration when interpreting the results of RCTs conducted in US.
Nuraghi as Ritual Monuments in the Sardinian Bronze and Iron Ages (circa 1700–700 BC)
Authors: Leighton Robert
Published: May 2022

Starting with a brief review of different theories about the residential and defensive uses of Sardinian nuraghi (monumental stone towers), the author assesses their ritual significance and functions from the standpoint of architecture and design, similarities to other cult buildings, and associated features and finds. Evidence for cult activities in certain towers has grown in recent years and is widely accepted for the Iron Age (circa 950–700 BC) and later. By contrast, ritual practices are not often recognized for the much longer period of tower construction and usage in the Bronze Age (circa 1700–950 BC). This is attributable partly to the now dominant hypothesis of a transformation in the function and status of nuraghi in the Iron Age and an assumed separation between sacred and secular buildings in the nuragic period. The author challenges this perspective while discussing the contribution of ritual to the social, economic, and political uses of nuraghi in the Bronze Age.
Synthesis and application of organotellurium compounds
Authors: Sahoo Biswa Mohan , Banik Bimal Krishna , Tiwari Abhishek , Tiwari Varsha , Jain Adya , Borah Preetismita
Published: May 2022

Organotellurium compounds define the compounds containing carbon (organic group) and tellurium bond (C–Te). The first organic compound containing tellurium was prepared by Wohler in 1840 after the discovery of the metal by the Austrian chemist F. J. Muller von Reichenstein in the year 1782. The term tellurium was derived from Latin tellus. Tellurium was observed first time in ores mined in the gold districts of Transylvania. Naturally occurring tellurium compounds are present in various forms based on their oxidation states such as TeO2 (+4) and TeO3 (+6). These oxidation states of tellurium compounds are more stable as compared to the other oxidation states. Tellurium is a rare element and is considered a non-essential, toxic element. Tellurium possesses only one crystalline form which consists of a network of spiral chains similar to that of hexagonal selenium. Tellurium is used for the treatment and prevention of microbial infections prior to the development of antibiotics. Hence, the utilization of organotellurium compounds plays a significant role as reagents and intermediates in various organic syntheses.
Tellurium-based solar cells
Authors: Das Aparna , Banik Bimal Krishna
Published: May 2022

In this article, we discuss about various Tellurium-based solar cells. Mainly this analysis focuses on the CdTe solar cells. The latest development in this area is incorporated in great detail. Te doping in various other solar cells is also discussed in the last part of the article.
Toxicity of tellurium and its compounds
Authors: Ashraf Muhammad Waqar , Haider Syed Iqleem , Solangi Amber Rehana , Memon Almas Fatima
Published: May 2022

Tellurium (Te) is widely used in industry because of its unique physicochemical properties. In the general population, foodstuff like meat, dairy products, and cereals is the major source of tellurium exposure. In the occupational environment, inhalational exposure predominates. Due to its exceptional properties as a metalloid, Te is broadly used in the industry. For example, Te is used as an alloy for solar panels, phase change optical magnetic disks, and Peltier devices. Recently, alloys of Te with cadmium, zinc, and other metals are used for nanomaterials, such as quantum dots. Thus, it is suggested that there is an existence of risk of exposure to Te in everyday life. Commercial Te is mostly obtained from slimes of electrolytic copper refineries. Te concentration in the slimes can extend up to 10% or more. Slight levels of its organic compounds may also be absorbed via skin. Not much information is available to prove Te as carcinogenic but its toxicity is well established. The present paper will review the toxicity of Te and its compounds.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) and plastic pollution during COVID-19: strategies for a sustainable environment
Authors: Mazahir Fatima Ali , Al Qamari Ali Mazahir
Published: May 2022

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, plastic medical waste poses significant threat to our land, aquatic and atmospheric ecosystems via generation of criteria pollutants (micro/nano plastics and greenhouse gas emissions). Global strategic planning is urgently needed for environmental sustainability coupled with integrated efforts by the governments, industries and academia. Rational utilization of single-use plastic-based PPE with efficient recycling and waste disposal methods should be adopted as interim strategies till more sustainable solutions are designed and implemented. Redesigning plastic production decoupled from fossil fuels, such as Bioplastics, is a way towards sustainable plastic alternatives.
Research progress in the removal of heavy metals by modified chitosan
Authors: Ji Zheng , Zhang Yansong , Wang Huchuan , Li Chuanrun
Published: May 2022

Chitosan and its modifiers have been widely studied for their good biocompatibility and excellent adsorption properties for heavy metal ions. The synthesis and application of modified chitosan, the effects of process variables (such as pH, amount of adsorbent, temperature, contact time, etc.), adsorption kinetics, thermodynamics and the adsorption mechanism on the removal of heavy metal ions are reviewed. The purpose is to provide the latest information about chitosan as adsorbent and to promote the synthesis of modified chitosan and its application in the removal of heavy metals.
Triadic partnerships: Evaluation of a group mentorship scheme
Authors: Foss Anna M , Kohler Sophia , Kulkarni Sumedh , Sutton Natalina , Schreiner Mary-Ann , Centemero Nicolò Saverio , Mambula Grace , Lohman Diederik , Smith Sarah C , French Rebecca
Published: May 2022

We synthesised views and experiences of three teams (student mentees, alumni mentors, and staff) in our pilot mentorship scheme within a distance learning MSc, evaluated the scheme, and developed a conceptual model of “triadic partnerships.” Thematic analysis of our qualitative data revealed a strong consensus across all teams. The triadic partnerships were reported to help reduce the feeling of “distance” in distance learning. Through developing triadic partnerships, our mentorship scheme provided added value beyond that offered previously by staff alone: credible and relatable authenticity within supportive mentoring by alumni. Since the scheme’s launch, student engagement has increased, with high levels of reported satisfaction and positive feedback and greater confidence among all teams. Our research connects the framework developed by Healey et al. (2014, 2016) to the literature on mentoring, offering a conceptual model on triadic partnerships. We encourage readers to consider the different relationships within multidimensional student partnerships in their own contexts.
Soothing something deeper still: Reflections on an academic development-student partnership
Authors: Cunningham Catriona , Cunningham Tom , Gardiner Sarah , Caspary Ida , O'Hara Kathleen , Tanka Fanni
Published: May 2022

This case study critically reflects on the impact of the Students as Partners in Learning initiative at the University of Stirling. The authors (two academic developers and four students) explore collectively how our partnership enabled us to reimagine a shared understanding and common learning and teaching purpose among our staff and students. We draw playfully on the image of a river as our structure but also as a metaphor for our reflections. This case study aims to provide a reflective evaluation of the progress made, and lessons learnt, in this ongoing process of partnership through an open and honest conversational flow between each of the authors, opening up questions about where we go next that will undoubtedly resonate with our readers.
Recognising cultural capital through shared meaning-making in cross-cultural partnership practices
Authors: Zhang Meng , Matthews Kelly , Liu Shuang
Published: May 2022

There are growing scholarly conversations about involving culturally and linguistically diverse students in learner-teacher partnership practices—practices that can pave pathways toward greater inclusion in higher education. Theorising power and identity through the lens of culture invites recognition of differing ways of knowing, being, and doing that shape learner-teacher interactions in higher education. In this conceptual article, we offer a framework to further efforts of redistributing power through intercultural partnership praxis. Two vignettes drawing on lived experience of being in a cross-cultural learner-teacher partnership project are employed to reveal the theory-practice possibilities. We argue that the careful, critical attention on the role culture plays in the relational work of learner-teacher partnership advances more culturally responsive pedagogical collaborations in higher education. In doing so, partnership praxis moves closer toward recognition of cultural capital and redistribution of power for learners and teachers engaging in cross-cultural pedagogical partnership.
Electrodeposition of Fe-Zn, Fe-Mn and Fe-Zn-Mn alloys on steel from ionic liquids
Authors:   Department of Engineering Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University, Sehitkamil, Gaziantep, 27310, Turkey, Akdogan C. , Bakkaloglu O. F. ,   Department of Engineering Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University, Sehitkamil, Gaziantep, 27310, Turkey, Bedir M. ,   Department of Engineering Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University, Sehitkamil, Gaziantep, 27310, Turkey, Erdogan P. Y. ,   Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Literature, Gaziantep University, Sehitkamil, Gaziantep, 27310, Turkey, Yavuz A. ,   Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University, Sehitkamil, Gaziantep, 27310, Turkey
Published: May 2022

Ionic liquids containing solely anions and cations (without solvent) have been employed as metals and alloys electrodeposition baths. Growth conditions have a considerable impact on the surface properties of coatings. In this study, electrodes composed of Fe alloys such as Fe-Zn, Fe-Mn, and Fe-Zn-Mn were produced on the surface of steel using an ionic liquid solution. Thin film coatings with nanostructures were obtained uniformly on the steel surface. A scanning electron microscope, an energy dispersive spectrometer, X-Ray Diffraction and a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer were used to characterize the surface morphologies, compositions, and structures of the synthesized coatings. The corrosion behavior of the alloy coatings was determined by linear sweep voltammetry.
Nlrp3 inflammasome activation in macrophages suffices for inducing autoinflammation in mice
Authors: Frising Ulrika C , Ribo Silvia , Doglio M Giulia , Malissen Bernard , van Loo Geert , Wullaert Andy
Published: May 2022

Cryopyrin‐associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) are a spectrum of autoinflammatory disorders caused by gain‐of‐function NLRP3 mutant proteins that form hyperactive inflammasomes leading to overproduction of the pro‐inflammatory cytokines IL‐1β and IL‐18. Expressing the murine gain‐of‐function Nlrp3A350V mutant selectively in neutrophils recapitulates several autoinflammatory features of human CAPS, but the potential contribution of macrophage inflammasome hyperactivation to CAPS development is poorly defined. Here, we show that expressing Nlrp3A350V in macrophages is sufficient for driving severe multi‐organ autoinflammation leading to perinatal lethality in mice. In addition, we show that macrophages contribute to autoinflammation also in adult mice, as depleting macrophages in mice ubiquitously expressing Nlrp3A350V significantly diminishes splenic and hepatic IL‐1β production. Interestingly, inflammation induced by macrophage‐selective Nlrp3A350V expression does not provoke an influx of mature neutrophils, while neutrophil influx is still occurring in macrophage‐depleted mice with body‐wide Nlrp3A350V expression. These observations identify macrophages as important cellular drivers of CAPS in mice and support a cooperative cellular model of CAPS development in which macrophages and neutrophils act independently of each other in propagating severe autoinflammation.
The Roman Military Presence On The Berezan Island
Authors:   PhD in History, Director of the National Historical and Archaeological Reserve «Olbia» of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kozlenko Roman
Published: May 2022

In the article, some categories of items found at Berezan island and testifying the Roman military presence are discussed. The proposal for accommodation of Roman troops units on the island are confirmed in the form of: architectural remains, some types of amphorae, a bronze eagle, medical instruments, numismatic material and Roman military ammunition.
About One Debatable Question of Ukrainian History of the 14th Century
Authors:   PhD in History, Research Fellow of the Kyiv Archaeology department, the Institute of Archaeology, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kozubowskyi Heorhii
Published: May 2022

The major element of Mongolian epoch in the East Europe was obligation to pay a tribute — «vyhod». The historical consequences of the Koriatovych brothers’ rule from the end of the 40’s of the 14th century and the triumph of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the heading of the Lithuanian Prince Algirdas in the Syni Vody battle of the 1362 in Podolia have been examined. A conception has been argued according to which Podolian Principality at the time of the Koriatovych brothers’ rule was liberated from the Horde warriors. Based on the analysis of the documents, archaeological and numismatic sources a conception of the releasing on the great part of Podolian lands from the Golden Horde and stopping the tribute payment — «vyhod». Also, the terms «basqaq», «ataman», «toman», «gifts» and «commemoration» are discussed. The Koriatovych brothers’ rule on Podolian land and Syni Vody battle of the 1362 had led not only to the significant transformation of the tax-tribute system (Mongol tribute — «vyhod», «basqaqs» and etc.), but also had a great influence on the all processes in Central Ukraine and the Golden Horde in the second part of the 14th—15th centuries. Based on the analysis of the written and numismatic sources it is concluded that the equilateral heraldic shield with three beams on the first field and seven lilies on the second, on the Moldavian coins of Peter I Mușat (1375—1392) and Podolian coins of Koriatovych brothers’ of 1370—1380, there is a dynastic emblem of the Anjou family as a symbol of Hungarian kings of Louis the Hungarian (1342—1382) and Maria (1382—1387). However, these coins don’t have the Golden Horde symbols, as they were minted per sample of the European coins. The control of the trade routes in the Buh and Dnister rivers basins greatly reduced the economic resources of the Golden Horde and separate hordes of the Crimea, Western and Central Ukraine and Moldova. In the 14th century Kamianets and Smotrych were not only medieval capital towns of the Koriatovych brothers’, but also the most important centers on the international «tatar» trade route («Via Tatarica»). However, the most important routes functioned first of all between Galician and Podolian cites and also the Golden Horde centers in the Dnister and Southern Buh rivers basins.
The Population of the Cherniakhiv Culture According to the Materials of the Cherkasy Centre Burial Ground (Craniological Aspect)
Authors:   DSc in History, Leading Research Fellow, Stone Age Archaeology Department, Institute of Archaeology, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Rudych Tetiana
Published: May 2022

The burial ground Cherkasy-Center of the Cherniakhiv culture was investigated in 1991—2003. Researchers date its foundation to the turn of 3rd—4th centuries AD, and the completion of functioning by the first decades of 5th century. During the excavations, anthropological material was obtained. The skulls of this population were measured and studied using classical anthropological methods, and comparative analysis was carried out using multivariate statistics (factor analysis). The male series is characterized by a medium-long, narrow, meso-dolichocranial cranium. The face is narrow, short, mesognatic. Horizontal profiling of the face at the upper level is on the border of sharp and moderate, its profiling at the zygomaxillary level is sharp. Orbits are medium- high by the index; the nose is wide by the index. The bones of the nose protrude well. The average characteristics of the features of this group fit into the range of inergroup variations in the series of the Cherniakhiv culture. The Cherkasy-Center group demonstrates anthropological links with series from the western and south-western regions of the Cherniakhiv culture (Budeşti, Nahorne, Mălăiești, Uspenka). When included in the analysis of the groups of the Wielbark culture and the series of the late Scythians and Sarmatians, the series from Cherkasy turns out to be among the groups that demonstrate a somewhat greater closeness to the series of the Wielbark culture. The average characteristics of the female series is a long, medium wide, high cranium, mesocranial in shape. The face is medium-wide and medium-high, it is orthognathic. Horizontal profiling of the face at the upper level is on the border of sharp and moderate, its profiling at the zygomaxillary level is sharp. The orbits are medium-high in terms of the index, the nose is medium-wide. The bones of the nose protrude mediumly. The nose bridge is high. According to the results of statistical analysis, the female series from Cherkasy demonstrates closeness of the Cherniakhiv series from the burial grounds of Budeşti, Mălăiești, Cherneliv, Kholmske. The series also shows a greater affinity to individual series of the Wielbark culture than to the groups of the late Scythians and, all the more, the Sarmatians.