bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measuring g using magnetic induction
Authors: Riad Ihab F
Published: February 2023

In this article we present an open source setup for measuring the acceleration due to gravity g utilising Faraday’s law of induction. The signal is acquired using an Arduino Uno board, then displayed and analysed using a Python based graphical user interface. The acceleration due to gravity g is calculated by measuring the crossing times of a bar magnet as it falls simultaneously through a number of coils.
Measuring the pressure inside a party balloon with a ruler
Authors: Bartholomew Angelica , Zürcher Ulrich
Published: February 2023

We measure the radius of a party balloon after consecutive exhalations. We use the stress–strain relation for latex, and argue that the inflation is consistent with a constant volume of air exhaled in a single breath. We find its value and determine the gauge pressure of the balloon by applying the principle of least work. We compare elastic properties of party balloons with those of the aorta. The experiment illustrates methods from metrology in a context suitable for the introductory sequence.
Resources on physics education using Arduino
Authors: Goncalves A M B , Freitas W P S , Calheiro L B
Published: February 2023

In this manuscript, we present a collection of papers, published in different journals, that show the use of the Arduino board in physics. Arduino is used, in most cases, to automate or collect data from experiments in many fields. Here we summarized the manuscripts, by year of publication, field, language, and source, giving to the reader a source of references in the area.
Tutorials + PhET: a simple and efficient active-learning approach for the teaching of kinematics of circular motion in a technically-oriented high school
Authors: Suárez Mauricio , Pandiella Susana , Benegas Julio
Published: February 2023

A quasi-experimental group comparison experiment was conducted to improve the conceptual learning of rotational kinematics by 11th grade students of a technically-oriented high school in Argentina. The experimental instruction complemented the original Tutorials in Introductory Physics activities with the PhET simulation Ladybug Revolution. Conceptual learning was determined with pre and post instruction application of the multiple-choice test Rotational Kinematics Inventory (RKI). This procedure allowed for the determination of a large difference in normalized learning gain between the experimental (g = 0.48) and control (g = 0.17) groups. It is also shown that the final conceptual knowledge of the experimental group is clearly higher than that of the students and teachers samples used in developing the RKI. An analysis of the institutional evaluation showed that this important difference in conceptual learning between the two groups did not affect the problem-solving performance of the experimental group. These results indicate the convenience of affecting part of the problem-solving classroom time in the proposed experimental instruction. A few recommendations to improve the experimental teaching approach are given.
Image formation by two plane mirrors
Authors: Lohani Vivek , Pathak Praveen
Published: February 2023

We revisit the problem of image formation of a point object by two plane mirrors meeting at a convex angle θ. Although a complete solution to the problem already exists in the literature, the simple formula

n
=

360

∘

/

θ
−
1

is often assumed to be the universal formula that counts the number of images, irrespective of θ or the location of the object. A survey, involving both school students and teachers, shows that the simple formula in conjunction with rounding off to the closest integer(s) is still widely thought of as the correct way to count the number of images formed. In order to address this rampant misconception, we rederive the correct formula for an arbitrary mirror angle θ and arbitrary location of the object in an elementary way. The proof is easily communicable to high school students. We justify the formula using a physical setup and capturing real-life images. Finally, we provide a simulation written in an open source software GeoGebra as an additional visual aid in understanding the problem and its solution.
Flexible pressure sensor based on polystyrene foam with superelasticity and ultra-wide range
Authors: Xiao Yao , Xiao Yao , Sun Ping , Li He
Published: February 2023

The use of flexible pressure sensors has significantly advanced and improved human life. However, several issues are hindering their applicability such as the difficulty to achieve high sensitivity over a wide pressure measurement range. Herein, a one-step foaming method and hydrothermal approach were used to fabricate a three-dimensional conductive porous foam comprising polyurethane, carbon nanotube, and polyaniline. The sensor exhibits excellent electrical conductivity due to its cellular foam structure, while its high durability enables a large response output across an extremely broad range (0–30 000 kPa). The sensor also exhibits exceptional stability over 1000 loading/unloading cycles, a fast response time of 80 ms, and high sensitivity of 0.019 53 kPa−1 (0–200 kPa), 0.126 48 kPa−1 (200–5000 kPa), and 0.038 85 kPa−1 (5000–30 000 kPa). Furthermore, rational material selection and structural design allows the sensor to monitor low- to high-signal stimuli, thereby providing a reference for the design of other large-scale sensors.
Collective excitation of Bose–Einstein condensate of 23Na via high-partial wave Feshbach resonance
Authors: Shi Zhenlian , Li Ziliang , Wang Pengjun , Han Wei , Huang Lianghui , Meng Zengming , Chen Liangchao , Zhang Jing
Published: February 2023

We experimentally observe the collective excitation (called surface-mode excitation) of Bose–Einstein condensate of 23Na by ramping the external magnetic field across the high-partial wave magnetic Feshbach resonance corresponding to vary the atomic interaction. We check the collective surface mode excitation of

|

1
,
1
⟩

state for the three d-wave and three g-wave Feshbach resonances below 600 G and find that only two d-wave resonances present the strong excitation, another d-wave resonance only creates a weak excitation, and all g-wave resonances do not, which reflects the strength of these magnetic Feshbach resonances. For the collective excitation, the excitation of surface modes along the axial weak-confinement and radial strong-confinement of optical dipole trap shows different characteristics. We also study the lifetime of the collective oscillation by measuring the damping rate of the oscillation amplitude, which is caused by the mechanisms of dephasing effect and collisional relaxation. This excitation method gives us a new tool for investigating the properties of ultracold quantum gases without changing the trap frequencies.
Bilateral comparison of irradiance scales between PMOD/WRC and PTB for longwave downward radiation measurements
Authors: Feierabend Moritz , Gröbner Julian , Müller Ingmar , Reiniger Max , Monte Christian
Published: February 2023

In this work, comparison measurements are presented between two independently realised and characterised blackbody cavities which serve as irradiance standards, namely the well-established Tilted Bottom Cavity BB2007 and the new Hemispherical Blackbody (HSBB). Both are used to realise the unit for thermal infrared irradiance. The BB2007 at the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center has long provided the reference for longwave downward radiation within the Baseline Surface Radiation Network. Longwave downward radiation is constantly measured at multiple stations around the world using specific broadband infrared radiometers with a hemispherical acceptance angle, for example pyrgeometers. The HSBB, developed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in recent years, was specifically designed to calibrate radiometers with a hemispherical acceptance angle which measure longwave downward radiation. The HSBB is directly traceable to the Radiation Temperature Scale of PTB and, in turn, via this scale to the SI. Comparison measurements between the BB2007 and HSBB in this work were carried out with three transfer instruments: the dedicated Temperature Stabilised Radiation Thermometer, an Infrared Integrating Sphere (IRIS) instrument and a Kipp and Zonen CG4 pyrgeometer. The results show good agreement with respect to the target irradiance uncertainty of

0.5

W m−2 provided by the HSBB. This study thus supports and validates the traceability of atmospheric longwave downward radiation to the SI linking measurements performed with the World Infrared Standard Group of pyrgeometers to the traceability of the reference blackbody BB2007 using IRIS instruments as the transfer standard.
Jilin Province Energy Storage in the Source-grid-load Multi-scene Construction
Authors: Gao Xuefeng , Ren Mingyao , Liu Yuchun , Li Hao , Wang Xinhong , Wang Dong , Shi Yu
Published: February 2023

With large-scale access to renewable energy, the configuration of energy storage systems has become an absolutely necessary way to improve the flexibility and reliability of power grid. To solve the problem of low utilization of traditional energy storage systems in a single scenario, this paper discusses the construction of a multi-scene energy storage scenario on the source-grid-load side. Taking the full-scene applications of energy storage in Jilin province for example, which accomplishes the goal of building a new power system with the interaction of all parties in the scenario, the optimal allocation of energy storage is realized, the utilization rate of energy is elevated, and the voltage stability of the grid is improved in the end.
Research on Voltage Fluctuation and Network Loss Change of Distribution Network Considering Different Photovoltaic Penetration Rates
Authors: Wang Xueying , Qu Bo , Shi Changjun
Published: February 2023

With the vigorous advocacy of the national energy conservation and emission reduction policy and the need for energy reform, the penetration rate of photovoltaic power generation into the distribution network is getting higher and higher, and it is uncertain and random. The impact on the distribution network is studied. Firstly, the PV output probability model is updated. Secondly, the power flow model is solved by the semi-invariant method. In the end, different photovoltaic penetration rates are obtained by setting different photovoltaic penetration rates and using Matlab for simulation. The probability distribution of the operating voltage of each node of the distribution network, the power flow of each branch, etc., is further analyzed, and the voltage fluctuation and network loss change are further analyzed.
SOC Balance Control Method for Cascaded Energy Storage System Based on Nearest Level Modulation
Authors: li Yong-Qi , yu Hua-Long , Chen Man , ma Zhong-Dao , Wang Ji-Kang
Published: February 2023

To address the issue of the in-phase state of charge(SOC) unbalancing in a cascaded H-bridge battery energy storage system, this paper proposes a novel control strategy based on nearest level modulation(NLM). Through NLM, this paper first calculates the number of sub-modules needed, then adjusts the priority of sub-modules in different SOC by the charging state, so that the sub-modules with larger SOC deviation converge to the average value. Considering that sub-modules with a large SOC deviation participating in charging or discharging may bring distortion of the PCS output, limiting the number of sub-modules with large deviations during the charging or discharging is needed, so that the sub-modules with large SOC deviation and sub-modules close to average SOC cooperate in charging/discharging process to reduce the distortion of PCS output. The simulation result verified the correctness of the strategy.
Research on the joint optimal allocation of hydropower, wind energy and photovoltaic power generation in the basin
Authors: Li Ao , Li Ting , Xu Weiting , Tang Sirui , Liu Yang , Sheng Boyu
Published: February 2023

To improve the constancy of hydropower, wind energy and photovoltaic hybrid power generation systems for power furnish to the grid, the joint optimal allocation of hydropower, wind, and photovoltaic is studied. Firstly, the goal of the highest load-matching degree of hydropower, wind energy, and photovoltaic power is put forward. Considering the constraints such as the maximum total power generation ability of hydropower, wind energy, and photovoltaic power generation and the water balance of the reservoir, a joint optimal allocation model of hydropower, wind energy, and photovoltaic power generation in the basin is created, and solved by a progressive optimization algorithm. An example is given to illustrate the influence of source load matching degree on optimal allocation, and the validity of this approach is verified. The simulation results indicate that during grid-connected operation, hydropower, wind energy and photovoltaic complementary power generation can ensure high electricity furnish reliability and deliver more stable power to the grid.
An NPE-PCA-based Detection Method of Distribution Transformer Closing Surge Waveform
Authors: Fang Jian , Zhang Min , Wang Hongbin , Huang Qingdan , Wang Yong , Ao Gang
Published: February 2023

In order to effectively detect the waveform characteristics of the closing inrush current of distribution transformers and distinguish between the magnetizing inrush current and the fault current when closing, this paper proposes a new method based on neighborhood preserving embedding (NPE) and principal component analysis (PCA) transformer closing inrush current detection method. This method can detect and process the global and local feature information of the data. First, the NPE-PCA algorithm is used to reduce the current data to two-dimensional space, and then the fitting error σ is obtained by fitting the two-dimensional space data. The relationship between σ and a given threshold is used to identify the magnetizing inrush current when closing. Finally, a model is built on the ATP/EMTP platform to test the proposed method for detecting the waveform characteristics of the closing inrush current. The simulation results show that the NPE-PCA inrush current waveform detection algorithm proposed in this paper can effectively identify the waveform characteristics of the transformer closing inrush current, which is consistent with the second harmonic wave. Algorithm comparison analysis shows that the performance of this algorithm is better.
Short-term Load Forecasting Based on Multiple PSO-LSSVM under Electricity Market Environment
Authors: Xu Jihe , Liu Min , Xiang Wei , Chen Haoyong , Mao Yuwen , Jia Tengteng
Published: February 2023

Affected by the development of the electricity market and many other factors, it is very difficult to obtain high-performance short-term load forecasting methods. The day-ahead load forecasting of the power grid is deeply studied by dividing 24 hours forecast outputs into several groups and optimizing them respectively. As a result, a new short-term load forecasting method is proposed by considering the load variation trend in different periods. First, through the historical load variation trend analysis, the 24 hours load forecasting output is divided into several sets. Then, the prediction algorithm combining multi-group particle swarm optimization and least squares support vector machine is proposed. Finally, the improved algorithm and the original particle swarm optimization, and the least squares support vector machine algorithm are used to predict the short-term load data of Jiangxi Province. The experiment results show that the improved algorithm can identify the load characteristics of a different time with high prediction accuracy, which has practical application value.
Research on abnormal discharge of exhaust valve of HVDC converter valve
Authors: Zhang Bo , Hu Qiuling , Huang Jiahao , Zhang Wen , Zhao Ming , Kuang Jianrong , Hong Lezhou , Hu Zhongshan , Tang Li , Zhao Hanghang
Published: February 2023

The MMC converter valve adopts the water-cooled heat dissipation method. The automatic exhaust valve is installed at the upper part of the main water pipe, and the manual ball valve is installed between the automatic exhaust valve and the main water pipe, which is made of insulating material. During laboratory tests, it was found that the switch state of the manual ball valve may lead to an abnormal discharge of the manual ball valve. When the manual ball valve is closed, it is filled with air, and the insulating material bears high voltage, and the air inside will be broken down. This paper studies the abnormal discharge phenomenon of the manual ball valve, analyses the discharging principle, evaluates the influence on converter valve equipment, and proposes an optimal design scheme.
Design and Implementation of Transmission Line Insulator Online Monitoring Platform Based on Image Analysis
Authors: Xu Changbao , Xin Mingyong , Wang Yu , Gao Jipu
Published: February 2023

The safe operation of insulators directly determines the safety level and reliability of the entire system. In this paper, digital image processing technology is used to analyze and process insulator images, and the performance of composite insulators is comprehensively evaluated from three aspects: degree of deterioration, surface pollution, and degree of water repellency, which is used as the basis for judging insulator detection. For this purpose, an insulator online monitoring system based on telemetry image analysis is specially designed to determine the degree of aging, surface pollution, and hydrophobicity of insulators and to conduct practical tests. At the same time, the system can realize the offline operation of the insulator live, avoid the danger of climbing and live trial operation, and ensure the personal safety of power maintenance personnel. The system hardware uses advanced integration technology and high-performance and reliable equipment. The software is developed using popular development tools, is simple to operate, and has important engineering value.
Improved variable-step incremental conductance MPPT algorithm applied to photovoltaic storage systems
Authors: Ji Rui , Wang Zhihe
Published: February 2023

For the traditional PV maximum power tracking control method in terms of tracking speed and stability, proposed an improved variable-step incremental conductance method. The method first speeds up the tracking speed by the constant voltage coefficient method to quickly locate around the MPP(Maximum power point,MPP) and dynamically adjusts the step size using the inverse tangent function value when the operating point is located to the left of the maximum power point, and dynamically adjusts the step size using the exponential function value when the operating point is located to the right. Given the characteristics of photovoltaic power generation, it usually constitutes a light storage system with an energy storage battery. To verify the effectiveness, the simulation experiments are carried out in Matlab/Simulink to build a photovoltaic energy storage system model, which contains an energy storage battery. Results indicate that the proposed new method achieves the optimization of tracking precision and speed according to the nature of the function and can make the energy storage battery charge and discharge stably, which verifies the practicality of the proposed improved algorithm.
Research on reactive power and voltage coordinated control of intelligent distributed network
Authors: Chen Shaoyu , Li Zhen , Shi Bolong , Ren Xianting , Li SuiRong
Published: February 2023

with the continuous expansion of the scale of distributed new energy grid-connected power generation in the distribution network and the continuous improvement of penetration rate, the problem of distribution network voltage out of limit caused by distributed new energy grid connected can not be ignored. This paper analyzes the basic principle of voltage out of limit caused by the connection of distributed new energy sources to the distribution network,and analyzes the factors affecting the reactive power and voltage of the active distribution network with distributed new energy sources through BPA simulation, The compensation effects of the distributed series reactor and distributed shunt reactor are compared.
Design and Optimization of A 4-bit Absolute-value Detector Using Half Adder and Comparator
Authors: Yao Xinyun
Published: February 2023

In this paper, a design and optimization of a 4-bit absolute value detector is realized by using the CMOS technique, transmission gates, and the traditional comparator, which can compare the two positive input values all expressed in binary form. To optimize the overall performance of the absolute value detector, this paper chooses to minimize the number of transistors and simplifies the circuit through logical analysis. As for calculating the overall delay and energy consumption, critical path identification is also studied and analyzed in this paper. Based on the theory of path effort and path parasitic delay, the grid capacitance and resistance are introduced into the calculation of inverter ratios. To achieve various optimization objectives, this study also combines the grid size and power supply voltage scaling techniques to reduce the delay and energy of the circuit, and finally finds the minimum energy loss at a 1.5x delay. The overall delay and energy can be expressed by the multiple of the unit size inverter of that. As a compromise, a minimum delay of 1.5 times is selected to reduce energy consumption by 39.16 %.
Development of Photovoltaic Cell Production Information Management System
Authors: Xian Zhijun , Du Pengfei , Pan Jianyi , Xu Wenbin , Zheng Yusheng , Huang Zhenyuan
Published: February 2023

Due to a large number of production steps and the high detection frequency of photovoltaic cells, the data to be collected, counted, and analyzed are huge. However, the traditional manual method cannot completely record all the data, and its information visualization is low. Therefore, this paper develops a photovoltaic cell production information management system based on satisfying customer requirements. The system has the functions of material tracking and tracing, obtaining the test information of photovoltaic cells, warehousing them in different grades, and displaying the working status of the equipment in real time, which greatly improves the production efficiency of the enterprise and promotes the intelligent development of the enterprise.
Scalability analysis of direct and iterative solvers used to model charging of superconducting pancake solenoids
Authors: Mohebujjaman Muhammad , Shiraiwa Syuńichi , Labombard Brian , Wright John C , Uppalapati Kiran K
Published: February 2023

A mathematical model for the charging simulation of non-insulated superconducting pancake solenoids is presented. Numerical solutions are obtained by the simulation model using a variety of solvers. A scalability analysis is performed for both direct and preconditioned iterative solvers for four different pancakes solenoids with varying number of turns and mesh elements. It is found that even with two extremely different time scales in the system an iterative solver combination (FGMRES-GMRES) in conjunction with the parallel Auxiliary Space Maxwell Solver (AMS) preconditioner outperforms a parallelized direct solver (MUMPS). In general, the computational time of the iterative solver is found to increase with the number of turns in the solenoids and/or the conductivity assumed for the superconducting material.
The Early Black Atlantic Conversion Narrative
Authors: Carretta Vincent
Published: February 2023

Prior to the last decade of the 20th century, literary critics generally, like Thomas Jefferson before them, dismissed the role religion played in the writings by and about the first generation of English-speaking authors of African descent. Christ’s injunction to his followers to bear witness to their faith, however, gave that first generation the sanction, means, motive, and opportunity to speak truth to power during the 18th-century period of the transatlantic Protestant Great Awakening and Evangelical Revival. The early Black evangelical authors, such as Phillis Wheatley in poetry and Olaudah Equiano in prose, used narratives of their religious conversions as both testaments to their own faith as well as models of spiritual belief and secular behavior for their primarily white readers to follow. The writings of Wheatley and Equiano also exemplify how early Black authors who adopted Christianity could appropriate its tenets to challenge the institution of slavery.
Visual Search
Authors: Wolfe Jeremy
Published: February 2023

Visual search is the process of finding things that you are looking for in a world full of things that you are not looking for. Search tasks are ubiquitous. Many are so routine that we do not think of them as search tasks (e.g., Where is the space bar on the keyboard?). Others are more taxing (Where is the cat hiding?) and/or more important (Is there a tumor in this x-ray?). The need for search arises out of limits on the amount of visual input that can be fully processed at one time. Research in this area seeks to understand how observers find the object or objects of search as well as how, when, and why clearly visible targets can be missed by those observers. To understand how visual searches proceed, it is important to describe the forces that guide attention to different objects and locations in the field and to know what is being seen at locations away from the current focus of attention.
Women in Zambia
Authors: Peša Iva
Published: February 2023

The history of women in Zambia is dynamic, complex, and varied. In the precolonial period, women held a range of influential positions in society. Through agricultural production, pottery, ritual, and healing, they performed valued tasks complementary to those of men. Descent was most commonly traced matrilineally, affording a woman’s lineage much power over labor, offspring, land, and wealth. The colonial period changed the position of women profoundly. Christianity and colonial policies advocated for an ideal of a nuclear family with a male breadwinner. Concomitantly, commercialization and labor migration made women’s positions more precarious. In rural areas, women struggled to prepare fields because of the absence of men’s labor, whereas in urban areas women were officially only allowed residence as “wives” of male workers. Yet a story of increasing female marginalization and subordination would be far from complete. Moreover, such a narrative obscures everyday gendered contestations. Some women in the colonial and postcolonial periods made a profitable livelihood by selling crops; others moved to town and engaged in trade or brewed beer. Such activities became particularly significant in the wake of economic decline during the 1980s and 1990s. The HIV/AIDS pandemic all too often made women the heads of their households. The history of women in Zambia is, thus, far from singular. Studying its variety reveals Zambian women’s agency and power, even in conditions not of their own choosing.
Central America in the Age of Tyrants, c. 1930–1960
Authors: Díaz-Arias David
Published: February 2023

During the 1930s, the worldwide economic crisis, local social unrest, the political legacy of the 19th century, and local elites’ fears of Indigenous and organized-workers mobilizations were the perfect combination for the rise of new dictatorships in Central America. Military caudillos appeared in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, substituting a short period of democratic experience in these countries during the 1920s. Only in Costa Rica did democratic development remain, despite a bitter dictatorship from 1917 to 1919. By the end of the 1930s, strongmen who admired European fascism ruled with an iron fist and counted on the US State Department’s approbation and collaboration. National guards in El Salvador and Nicaragua and the army in Guatemala became the foundations of fierce regimes. But World War II and the Allies’ victory gave opportunities for internal opposition to contest dictators. In Guatemala and El Salvador, coup d’états occurred in 1944, bringing about new democratic scenarios for progressive politicians. Central America saw the rise of social democracy between 1948 and 1949. In 1948, a brief civil war in Costa Rica worked to consolidate social reforms that took place from 1940 to 1943, and in 1949, the reformists took power in Honduras. Even in Anastasio Somoza’s Nicaragua, a political opening occurred when the dictator supported organized labor and began to work with his political opposition. But the years of change did not last. Guatemala’s democratic experiment was abruptly canceled by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1954; in Nicaragua, the killing of Somoza in 1956 carried the country into a new, bloody regime; and in El Salvador, military officers overthrew the president in 1960.
Discourse Markers in Chinese: Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives
Authors: Zhan Fangqiong
Published: February 2023

In the process of communication, different expressions in discourse often convey unequal amounts of information: some expressions have rich semantic content, expressing the specific message that the speaker wishes to convey; others seem to be nonsemantic and non-truth-conditional. The latter are not part of the propositional content the message conveys and do not contribute to the meaning of the proposition. These expressions mainly function as a relational operator to connect the propositions in the discourse.

In a sequence of discourse segments S1–S2, such expression usually occurs at the initial position of S2 followed by a phonological break (a comma in writing), i and it does not affect the propositional content of the messages conveyed in the segments of the discourse.

The discourse-functional expressions in language have long been the focus of attention on the part of scholars, and the term “discourse markers” (DMs) (huayu biaoji, in Chinese) has often been used in previous studies. The concept of DMs originated from “recurrent modifiers,” the common modifiers in spoken language proposed by the British linguist Randolph Quirk in the 1950s. He pointed out that “recurrent modifiers” have an important role in information transmission but have no grammatical effect. In the 1980s, DMs gradually became an independent linguistic topic among Western scholars. In the field of Chinese linguistics, from the 21st century onward, the concept of DMs has been examined in depth, and the application of the related theories to the research of Chinese DMs has been the topic of widespread discussion. However, most Chinese studies on DMs are case-based, and therefore systematic and theorized understandings of Chinese DMs have not yet been reached. This article reviews the research status of DMs in recent Western and Chinese linguistic communities, summarizes the studies on the synchronic semantics-pragmatics and diachronic development of Chinese DMs, and reveals issues worthy of further study in the future.
Ancient Greek Views on Greek and Other Languages
Authors: Van Hal Toon
Published: February 2023

The Ancient Greeks came into contact with possibilities and problems related to ‘language’ in several respects. The earliest epics contained implicit etymological explanations, and both the pre-Socratic philosophers and the sophists were intrigued by the link between the form of words and the meaning they carried. The adaptation of the Phoenician alphabet was an additional stimulus to start reflecting on language. ‘Letters’ became the smallest unit of inquiry in Greek language thought. Of the other units, the word was seen as the most significant level. Elaborating on the philosophical foundations laid by Plato, Aristotle, and early Stoic thinkers, Alexandrian scholars started shaping a philologically oriented tradition of grammar, which was largely oriented to the study of the eight parts of speech and directed at young students of Greek literature. Within the frame of grammar, less attention was paid to the level of the sentence, which explains why syntactic issues were not intensively explored. At its inception, Greek lexicography was an ancillary tool for understanding Greek literary texts too, directed at an audience of native speakers of Greek. Hence, lexicographical projects limited to including difficult or special words. Only once Romans began to delve into the study of Greek did the composition of general lexicons become more urgent.
Late-Onset Rejection in Liver Allograft Biopsies: An Analysis of Process, Pattern, and Clinical Implications
Authors: Bateman Justin , Anugwom Chimaobi , Zhou Yan , Lim Nicholas , Adeyi Oyedele
Published: February 2023

Objectives

Both alloimmune and nonalloimmune factors affect the long-term survival of liver allograft recipients. Various patterns of late-onset rejection are recognized, including typical acute cellular rejection (tACR), ductopenic rejection (DuR), nonspecific hepatitis (NSH), isolated central perivenulitis (ICP), and plasma cell–rich rejection (PCRR). This study compares the clinicopathologic features of late-onset rejection (LOR) in a large-cohort context.

Methods

For-cause liver biopsies more than 6 months after transplant were included from the University of Minnesota between 2014 and 2019. Histopathologic, clinical, laboratory, treatment, and other data were analyzed in nonalloimmune and LOR cases.

Results

The study consisted of 160 patients (122 adults, 38 pediatric patients), with 233 (53%) biopsies showing LOR: 51 (22%) tACR; 24 (10%) DuR; 23 (10%) NSH; 19 (8%) PCRR; and 3 (1%) ICP. Mean onset of 80 vs 61 months was longer for nonalloimmune injury (P = .04), a difference lost without tACR (mean, 26 months). Graft failure was highest with DuR. Response to treatment, as measured by changes in liver function tests, was similar between tACR and other LORs, and NSH occurred more often in pediatric patients (P = .001); tACR and other LOR incidence was similar.

Conclusions

LORs occur in pediatric and adult patients. Except for tACR, patterns overlap in many ways, with DuR having the greatest risk of graft loss, but other LORs respond well to antirejection treatments.
“It’s People in the Swamp”: Du Bois against the Democracy of Things
Authors: Wolff Nathan
Published: February 2023

W. E. B. Du Bois’s first novel, The Quest of the Silver Fleece (1911), which has been called a “spiritual epic of cotton,” was inspired by Frank Norris’s “epic of wheat” The Octopus (1901), though the connection is rarely explored. This essay argues that Du Bois offers a crucial critique of Norris’s novel, specifically in contesting the ways Norris naturalizes capitalist exploitation by depicting the nonhuman power of the wheat and the railroad as the plot’s prime movers. Du Bois’s exposure of the forces allied against Black political power in the rural South and in the nation’s capital, and his utopian vision of collective world-building, offers an insistently human-centered rebuttal to Norris’s vitalist fantasy of salvific wheat. In so doing, Du Bois helps expose the limitations of, and model alternatives to recent calls by critics (aligned with New Materialism, Actor-Network Theory, and Object-Oriented Ontology) for a “parliament of things” or a “democracy of objects”—related claims for the supposed political radicalism of according nonhuman and human agents equal weight.“For Du Bois, the nonhuman world . . . may well have a kind of animacy, but its power is too tightly entwined with racial capitalism for it to serve as a democratizing check on human power run amok.”
Antifascist Narrative and the Politics of Optimism
Authors: Vials Christopher
Published: February 2023

This essay identifies the structure of US antifascist literary narrative, and in so doing, outlines its history and theorizes its democratic intervention. It argues that since the 1930s, antifascist narratives have been fueled by an optimism they maintain in the face of an existential threat to democracy. Spawned at moments of danger, antifascist narratives do not fight fascism simply to restore the status quo of liberalism, but strive to expand democracy through the defeat of fascism, forging a new reality in the fight against monsters. The essay focuses on two largely forgotten works published in the late 1930s, perhaps the darkest era for antifascists: James T. Farrell’s novella, Tommy Gallagher’s Crusade (1939), and William Thomas Smith’s serial novel, The Black Stockings (1937), which appeared in the Baltimore Afro-American. These two works are part of a subgenre of antifascist literature that I call “the blackshirt narrative,” a subgenre particularly worth revisiting for those interested in preserving and expanding democracy in the twenty-first century.Spawned at a moment of danger, [antifascist] optimism does not just fight fascism in order to restore the status quo of liberalism, but . . . strives to expand democracy through the defeat of fascism, forging a new reality in the fight against monsters.
The Novel, theDemos, and Genres of the Human
Authors: Bentley Nancy
Published: February 2023

The post-Civil War novels discussed in this essay allow us to see not just the failure of liberal recognition to enfranchise freedpeople but also the legible misrecognition of how humanness is known and lived by Black subjects. By tracing uncanny or syncopated humanness that is manifest most clearly in Black kinship, these novels demonstrate the genre’s ability to represent incommensurate orders of the human. But this very affordance––the novel’s capacity to represent and reflect on contending “genres of the human” coexisting agonistically in the Atlantic world––also demands new theorizing, an account of the genre that does not obviate the multiplicity of the human by presuming a uniform demos. If the novel is to enlarge its potential for democratic thought, it will need to revise the cosmologies and geographies that have heretofore oriented our theories of the Atlantic novel.What are the implications of this discontinuous humanness for the possibilities of democracy? If multiple “genres of the human” coexist agonistically in the Atlantic world, can any novel project a demos that does not obviate that multiplicity?
The Multispecies We: Democracy and Pronouns in the Environmental Novel
Authors: Irr Caren
Published: February 2023

Anthropocentric preoccupations with human collectivity have obscured the underlying and arguably more fundamental relations of human and nonhuman life. In a period characterized by escalating environmental crisis, learning how to articulate a collective subject—a “we”—that encompasses both human and nonhuman beings is an urgent task. It is also a task well suited to the literary imagination. This essay examines three contemporary fictions that use we-narration to expand notions of collectivity across national, gendered, sexualized, and species lines. Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic (2011), Justin Torres’s We the Animals (2018), and Matt Bell’s Appleseed (2021) all elaborate versions of the we narrator that open it up to perspectives that suggest a new grounding for the democratic subject so influentially designated as “we the people.”[L]earning to mark the we pronoun in English with some of the nuance that it has in other languages is a necessary project when considering principles of democracy.
What’s Going on with Whiteness?
Authors: Travis Trysh
Published: February 2023

Calls to “de-center whiteness” in contemporary literature and cultural scholarship raise questions about the meaning of whiteness studies, a field that flourished in the 1990s. This article surveys four recent books that focus on white identity and asks what they tell us about the state of the field today.[A]re there still things going on that we don’t know, but need to know, about the great white whale?
Contours of Dread
Authors: Brenkman John
Published: February 2023

Hannah Arendt’s and Isaiah Berlin’s incomprehension of one another resulted in one of the great missed dialogues in political theory. Arendt’s civic-democratic values find freedom in participation on a par with others in the political realm. Berlin’s liberal-democratic commitments define freedom as the space where individuals are unconstrained by the state or others. Modern democracy introduces the social-democratic commitment to the state’s ability to reduce inequality and provide for the public good. The strife, varyingly creative or destructive, among the liberal-, civic-, and social-democratic dimensions animates modern democracies. Kai Hiruta provides a comprehensive account of the Arendt–Berlin relation. Adriana Cavarero draws on Arendt’s conception of political participation to illuminate contemporary protests against injustice and racism in Western countries. Dilip Gaonkar examines, with emphasis on India’s democracy, the role of direct action, including riots, as forms of political participation by the demos. Charles Taylor and Craig Calhoun, in their account of democratic “degeneration” in the US and Europe in light of globalization and populist and autocratic trends, postulate the social-democratic as the telos of democracy itself, diminishing the liberal- and civic-democratic and overlooking democracy’s ineluctable strife. By contrast, there is no telos in Arendt’s thought, which values beginnings and innovations.
Niche evolution in a northern temperate tree lineage: biogeographical legacies in cork oaks (Quercus section Cerris)
Authors: Denk Thomas , Grimm Guido W , Hipp Andrew L , Bouchal Johannes M , Schulze Ernst-Detlef , Simeone Marco C
Published: February 2023

Background and Aims

Cork oaks (Quercus section Cerris) comprise 15 extant species in Eurasia. Despite being a small clade, they display a range of leaf morphologies comparable to the largest sections (>100 spp.) in Quercus. Their fossil record extends back to the Eocene. Here, we explore how cork oaks achieved their modern ranges and how legacy effects might explain niche evolution in modern species of section Cerris and its sister section Ilex, the holly oaks.

Methods

We inferred a dated phylogeny for cork and holly oaks using a reduced-representation next-generation sequencing method, restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq), and used D-statistics to investigate gene flow hypotheses. We estimated divergence times using a fossilized birth–death model calibrated with 47 fossils. We used Köppen profiles, selected bioclimatic parameters and forest biomes occupied by modern species to infer ancestral climatic and biotic niches.

Key Results

East Asian and Western Eurasian cork oaks diverged initially in the Eocene. Subsequently, four Western Eurasian lineages (subsections) differentiated during the Oligocene and Miocene. Evolution of leaf size, form and texture was correlated, in part, with multiple transitions from ancestral humid temperate climates to mediterranean, arid and continental climates. Distantly related but ecologically similar species converged on similar leaf traits in the process.

Conclusions

Originating in temperate (frost-free) biomes, Eocene to Oligocene ranges of the primarily deciduous cork oaks were restricted to higher latitudes (Siberia to north of Paratethys). Members of the evergreen holly oaks (section Ilex) also originated in temperate biomes but migrated southwards and south-westwards into then-(sub)tropical southern China and south-eastern Tibet during the Eocene, then westwards along existing pre-Himalayan mountain ranges. Divergent biogeographical histories and deep-time phylogenetic legacies (in cold and drought tolerance, nutrient storage and fire resistance) thus account for the modern species mosaic of Western Eurasian oak communities, which are composed of oaks belonging to four sections.
Why do firms pay dividends? 180 years of evidence
Authors: Moortgat Leentje , Annaert Jan , Deloof Marc
Published: February 2023

We investigate the determinants of dividend payments in Belgium between 1838 and 2020. As the institutional environment changes drastically over time, we explore whether the determinants of dividend payments depend on the environment in which firms operate. Large firms, firms that are not informationally opaque, firms with a high share denomination and firms with liquid shares are more likely to pay. However, the importance of these characteristics changed over time. Surprisingly, firms seemingly do not use dividends for signaling. Our results indicate that the omnipresence of universal banks in pre-war Belgium might have lowered the need for a signal.
Economic Actors as Human Rights Watchers: The Effects of Government Sexual Violence on Foreign Direct Investment
Authors: Adelaiye Samaila Oluwatope , Roy Chhandosi , Sarwari Mehwish
Published: February 2023

Do reports of sexual violence by state forces influence foreign direct investment? While studies have examined the impact of government human rights performance on FDI, how investors react to civilian victimization during wartime remains understudied. We investigate this with a focus on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). We argue that sexual violence by state governments results in the loss of FDI during conflict due to reputational and economic costs faced by foreign investors. With increasing international developments on CRSV, ties to governments that perpetrate sexual violence can be harmful to how the global community perceives foreign corporations. Moreover, government sexual violence signals that the government is relatively weaker than its opponent, creating uncertainties for foreign corporations regarding future investment opportunities in the host state. Analyzing sexual violence by government forces for all civil conflicts from 1989 to 2008, our findings show a decline in FDI as government sexual violence increases.
Using enclave groups to discuss workplace cultural diversity and community inclusion
Authors: Kuehl Rebecca A , Enz Molly Krueger , Mehltretter Drury Sara A
Published: February 2023

Workplace cultural diversity and community inclusion are two facets of a complex public issue that require a deliberative community-based problem-solving approach. This article reports findings from a qualitative analysis of fourteen focus groups (N = 83 participants) held in a rural Midwestern community that centered on community members’ experiences with workplace cultural diversity and community inclusion. Three themes emerged: (a) racism and micro-aggressions; (b) discomfort talking about and across cultural differences; and (c) lack of belonging. Of the 14 focus groups, five represented enclave groups with culturally diverse employees. By engaging with historically excluded groups, researchers communicated with affected stakeholders when framing the public issue and convening public meetings to discuss that issue. This use of enclave groups to make the initial stages of the deliberative cycle more inclusive has implications for practitioners of public deliberation, scholars of human communication, and citizens and their communities.
Las agencias reguladoras independientes y sus desafíos de legitimidad democrática: revisión de literatura y agenda para el derecho constitucional en Latinoamérica
Authors: Latorre Indira
Published: February 2023

The Anglo-Saxon and European literature usually presents independent regulatory agencies as institutions capable of solving some of the problems of constitutional democracies and of satisfying the objectives of the so-called regulatory state. It also shows the presence of some problems, which I call constitutional ruptures, caused by the actions of independent regulatory agencies both at the domestic and global level, and presents various responses to the legitimacy challenges that these ruptures generate. In contrast, although the literature in Ibero-America shows growing progress in understanding these institutions, it has not sufficiently explored these constitutional problems. Based on the literature review, this article seeks to set out some lines of argument around such constitutional problems, so as to contribute to shaping a future agenda for constitutional discussion, especially in the Latin American region.