bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A mini-review on bio-inspired polymer self-assembly: single-component and interactive polymer systems
Authors: Meng Xiangxi
Published: October 2022

Biology demonstrates meticulous ways to control biomaterials self-assemble into ordered and disordered structures to carry out necessary bioprocesses. Empowering the synthetic polymers to self-assemble like biomaterials is a hallmark of polymer physics studies. Unlike protein engineering, polymer science demystifies self-assembly by purposely embedding particular functional groups into the backbone of the polymer while isolating others. The polymer field has now entered an era of advancing materials design by mimicking nature to a very large extend. For example, we can make sequence-specific polymers to study highly ordered mesostructures similar to studying proteins, and use charged polymers to study liquid–liquid phase separation as in membraneless organelles. This mini-review summarizes recent advances in studying self-assembly using bio-inspired strategies on single-component and multi-component systems. Sequence-defined techniques are used to make on-demand hybrid materials to isolate the effects of chirality and chemistry in synthetic block copolymer self-assembly. In the meantime, sequence patterning leads to more hierarchical assemblies comprised of only hydrophobic and hydrophilic comonomers. The second half of the review discusses complex coacervates formed as a result of the associative charge interactions of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. The tunable phase behavior and viscoelasticity are unique in studying liquid macrophase separation because the slow polymer relaxation comes primarily from charge interactions. Studies of bio-inspired polymer self-assembly significantly impact how we optimize user-defined materials on a molecular level.
A new interleaved high step‐up soft switching converter with simple auxiliary circuit and reduced voltage stress
Authors: Naeini Omid Haghparast , Shaneh Mahdi , Mohammadi Mohammad Reza , Adib Ehsan
Published: October 2022

This paper proposes a soft‐switching high step‐up DC/DC interleaved boost converter. The converter uses an interleaved structure to decrease input current ripple. The coupled inductor technique achieves high voltage gain without needing the extremely increased duty cycle. The applied auxiliary circuit provides zero‐voltage‐switching (ZVS) condition for both main switches with a minimum number of elements. In addition, all the diodes turn off with zero‐current‐switching (ZCS), alleviating the reverse recovery problem. Moreover, all power switches and diodes have low voltage stress. The voltage stress of the auxiliary switch is low, resulting in low Coss losses of the auxiliary switch. The other properties of the proposed converters are continuous‐low‐ripple input current, no need for the floating gate drive, and small size. The theoretical analysis is validated by a 250‐W prototype with 40‐V input to 400‐V output voltage with a 100‐kHz.switching frequency.
Spatially-multiplexed tunable dual-comb optical parametric oscillator at 250 MHz
Authors: Bauer C. P. , Pupeikis J. , Willenberg B. , Bejm Z. A. , Pezzoli N. , Phillips C. R. , Keller U.
Published: October 2022

We demonstrate a spatially-multiplexed dual-comb 250-MHz OPO from a single linear cavity. The adjustable repetition-rate difference is 4.1 kHz. Each idler comb has >200-mW average power at 3.5 μm with 30 nm bandwidth. The OPO is wavelength-tunable from 1.36 μm to 1.7 μm and 2.9 μm to 4.17 μm. © 2022 The Author(s)
The optical performance of random and periodic textured mono crystalline silicon surfaces for photovoltaic applications
Authors: de Vrijer Thierry , Wiering Maik , van Nijen David , Padmakumar Govind , Sambamurthy Sriram , Limodio Gianluca , Smets Arno H.M.
Published: October 2022

Surface textures that result in high optical yields are crucial for high efficiency photovoltaic (PV) devices. In this work three different texturing approaches are presented that result in smooth concave structures devoid of sharp features. Such features can sustain the crack-free growth of device quality nano- to poly-crystalline materials such as nano-crystalline silicon, perovskites or C(I)GS, facilitating routes towards hybrid multijunction PV devices. A sacrificial implanted poly-c-Si layer is used to develop a random surface texture for the first texturing approach (Tsac). The influence of the processing conditions, such as layer thickness, implantation energy, dose and ion type, annealing time and temperature, of the sacrificial layer on the developed surface features is investigated. Additionally, a photolithographically developed honeycomb texture (Thoney) is presented. The influence of mask design on the honeycomb features is discussed and a relation is established between the honeycomb period and crack formation in nano-crystalline silicon layers. The reflective properties (spectral reflection, haze in reflection and angular intensity distribution) of these approaches are characterized and compared to a third texturing approach, Tsp, the result of chemically smoothened pyramidal <111> features. It was demonstrated that high optical scattering yields can be achieved for both Thoney and Tsp. Additionally, the performance of a-Si/nc-Si tandem devices processed onto the different textures is compared using both optical device simulations and real device measurements. Simulations demonstrate strong improvements in Jsc-sum (≈45%), in reference to a flat surface, and high Voc*FF of over 1 V are demonstrated for Tsp.
Total dominator total chromatic numbers of cycles and paths
Authors: Kazemi Adel P. , Kazemnejad Farshad
Published: October 2022

The total dominator total coloring of a graph is a total coloring of the graph such that each object (vertex or edge) of the graph is adjacent or incident to every object of some color class. The minimum number of the color classes of a total dominator total coloring of a graph is called the total dominator total chromatic number of the graph. In (A.P. Kazemi, F. Kazemnejad and S. Moradi, Contrib. Discrete Math. (2022).), the authors initiated to study the total dominator total coloring of a graph and found some useful results, and presented some problems. Finding the total dominator total chromatic numbers of cycles and paths were two of them which we consider them here.
Eine Querschnittsuntersuchung zur Qualität der Sauerstofftherapie in drei deutschen Krankenhäusern
Authors: Joean Oana , Klooster Maria Petronella vanʼt , Kayser Moritz Z. , Valtin Christina , Ewen Raphael , Golpon Heiko , Fühner Thomas , Gottlieb Jens
Published: October 2022

Einleitung Sauerstoff (O2) ist eines der am häufigsten angewendeten Arzneimittel in deutschen Krankenhäusern und im Rettungswesen. Sowohl eine Hypoxämie als auch eine Hyperoxämie sind mit Komplikationen vergesellschaftet. In Deutschland fehlen bislang belastbare Daten zur Anwendung, Dokumentation und Überwachung der O2-Therapie.

Methoden Eine Querschnittsstudie zur Sauerstoff-Anwendung wurde in 3 Krankenhäusern der maximalen bzw. supramaximalen Versorgung in Hannover im Herbst 2020 durchgeführt.

Ergebnisse Von 343 erfassten Patienten erhielten 20 % eine O2-Therapie. Bei 29 % der Patienten mit O2-Therapie bestand ein Hyperkapnie-Risiko. Lediglich bei 68 % Patienten mit einer O2-Therapie lag eine SOP zur O2-Anwendung auf den jeweiligen Stationen vor und nur bei 22 % entsprach die gegebene O2-Therapie dem tatsächlichen Bedarf des Patienten. Nur bei 30 % des Gesamtkollektivs und 41 % der Patienten mit O2-Therapie erfolgte eine vollständige Dokumentation der Vitalparameter. Eine Überwachung der O2-Therapie mittels arterieller oder kapillärer Blutgasanalyse (BGA) erfolgte bei 76 % der O2-Patienten. Hier zeigte sich bei 64 % der Patienten eine Normoxämie, bei 17 % eine Hyperoxämie und bei 19 % eine Hypoxämie. Der einzige identifizierbare Prediktor für eine adäquate O2-Therapie war eine vorangegangene Beatmungstherapie.

Diskussion Insgesamt zeigt sich eine suboptimale Indikationsstellung, Anwendung und Kontrolle der Sauerstofftherapie. Schulungen des pflegerischen und ärztlichen Personals zur Verbesserung der Anwendung der O2-Therapie und resultierend auch der Patientensicherheit sind dringend notwendig.
Consensus of the Brazilian Headache Society (SBCe) for prophylactic treatment of episodic migraine: part II
Authors: Santos Paulo Sergio Faro , Melhado Eliana Meire , Kaup Alexandre Ottoni , Costa Aline Turbino Neves Martins da , Roesler Célia Aparecida de Paula , Piovesan Élcio Juliato , Sarmento Elder Machado , Theotonio Giselle Oliveira Martins , Campos Henrique Carneiro de , Fortini Ida , Souza Jano Alves de , Júnior Jayme Antunes Maciel , Segundo João Batista Alves , Carvalho João José Freitas de , Speziali José Geraldo , Calia Leandro Cortoni , Barea Liselotte Menke , Queiroz Luiz Paulo , Souza Marcio Nattan Portes , Figueiredo Marcos Ravi Cerqueira Ferreira , Costa Maria Eduarda Nobre de Magalhães , Peres Mário Fernando Prieto , Jurno Mauro Eduardo , Peixoto Patrícia Machado , Kowacs Pedro André , Rocha-Filho Pedro Augusto Sampaio , Filho Pedro Ferreira Moreira , Silva-Neto Raimundo Pereira , Fragoso Yara Dadalti
Published: October 2022

Background Migraine affects 1 billion people worldwide and > 30 million Brazilians; besides, it is an underdiagnosed and undertreated disorder.

Objective The need to disseminate knowledge about the prophylactic treatment of migraine is known, so the Brazilian Headache Society (SBCe, in the Portuguese acronym) appointed a committee of authors with the objective of establishing a consensus with recommendations on the prophylactic treatment of episodic migraine based on articles from the world literature as well as from personal experience.

Methods Meetings were held entirely online, with the participation of 12 groups that reviewed and wrote about the pharmacological categories of drugs and, at the end, met to read and finish the document. The drug classes studied in part II of this Consensus were: antihypertensives, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, other drugs, and rational polytherapy.

Results From this list of drugs, only candesartan has been established as effective in controlling episodic migraine. Flunarizine, venlafaxine, duloxetine, and pizotifen were defined as likely to be effective, while lisinopril, enalapril, escitalopram, fluvoxamine, quetiapine, atorvastatin, simvastatin, cyproheptadine, and melatonin were possibly effective in prophylaxis of the disease.

Conclusions Despite an effort by the scientific community to find really effective drugs in the treatment of migraine, given the large number of drugs tested for this purpose, we still have few therapeutic options.
Using Chaos theory fundamentals for analysing temperature, precipitation variability and trends in Northern Patagonia, Argentina
Authors: García Bu Bucogen Grethel , Piccolo María Cintia , Bohn Vanesa Yael , Huck Gabriel Eduardo
Published: October 2022

The fundamentals of Chaos theory allow the study of climatic conditions and long-term modifications produced by changes in their spatial and temporal scales. The aim of this work is to analyse the variability and changes produced in the annual cycles of temperature and precipitation in Northern Patagonia, Argentina, applying multifractal analysis as a practical mathematical tool of Chaos theory. Data from the NASA POWER Project (2021) was implemented as an alternative dataset for carrying out climatological studies in the area. Annual mean temperature and precipitation time-series data (1981–2019) were analysed at 72 grid points with 1° of spatial resolution. The Mann–Kendall test was used to calculate the trends through the annual cycles of the meteorological variables. Fractal dimension values were calculated using Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis. The Hurst exponent, complexity and asymmetry were the multifractal dimensions describing the persistence of time-series trends and climatic variability. The results showed changes in the annual cycles of both variables during the study period. The most significant finding was a large area in the centre and north of the study area, where the decrease in the rainfall regime was persistent. The Hurst exponent detected a sector in the Patagonian Andes mountain range where the temperature increase was constant. This work demonstrates that fractal geometry is useful to describe meteorological variability and obtain better short-, medium- and long-term forecasts.
Loss of
Rai1
enhances hippocampal excitability and epileptogenesis in mouse models of Smith–Magenis syndrome
Authors: Chang Ya-Ting , Kowalczyk Max , Fogerson P. Michelle , Lee Yu-Ju , Haque Minza , Adams Eliza L. , Wang David C. , DeNardo Laura A. , Tessier-Lavigne Marc , Huguenard John R. , Luo Liqun , Huang Wei-Hsiang
Published: October 2022

Hyperexcitability of brain circuits is a common feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Genetic deletion of a chromatin-binding protein,
retinoic acid induced 1
(
RAI1
), causes Smith–Magenis syndrome (SMS). SMS is a syndromic ASD associated with intellectual disability, autistic features, maladaptive behaviors, overt seizures, and abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. The molecular and neural mechanisms underlying abnormal brain activity in SMS remain unclear. Here we show that panneural
Rai1
deletions in mice result in increased seizure susceptibility and prolonged hippocampal seizure duration in vivo and increased dentate gyrus population spikes ex vivo. Brain-wide mapping of neuronal activity pinpointed selective cell types within the limbic system, including the hippocampal dentate gyrus granule cells (dGCs) that are hyperactivated by chemoconvulsant administration or sensory experience in
Rai1
-deficient brains. Deletion of
Rai1
from glutamatergic neurons, but not from gamma-aminobutyric acidergic (GABAergic) neurons, was responsible for increased seizure susceptibility. Deleting
Rai1
from the

Emx1
Cre

-lineage glutamatergic neurons resulted in abnormal dGC properties, including increased excitatory synaptic transmission and increased intrinsic excitability. Our work uncovers the mechanism of neuronal hyperexcitability in SMS by identifying Rai1 as a negative regulator of dGC intrinsic and synaptic excitability.
Environmental Impact Assessment of the quarries on Grou River: Khenifra region- Morocco
Authors: Boutsougame A , Khaffou M , Aassine H , Ouazzani H , Alaoui M
Published: October 2022

Khenifra region is rich in geological resources, which attracted a lot of investment, especially the quarrying. The Grou River watershed contains a lot of quarries of alluvial material extraction which causes negative impacts on its environment such as landscape modification, water quality degradation, dust emission and, soil erosion. The evaluation of water quality by measuring physicochemical parameters showed a deterioration of its quality in the downstream area compared to the upstream area. To respond to this situation, we suggest a set of mitigation measure and propose the respect of monitoring and surveillance plans.
Evaluation of cadmium levels in bivalve molluscs from Dakhla Bay in south of Morocco from 2012 to 2020.
Authors: Dellal M , Benbrahim S , Chatou Em Ait , Errhaif A , Benhra A , Anhichem M , Bouthir F , Chfiri R , Jayed M , Malki M
Published: October 2022

The present study illustrates the monitoring results of the assessment of the contamination of 5 species bivalve molluscs by cadmium in shellfish production areas of Dakhla Bay during the period from 2012 to 2020. The analysis of the samples is carried out by mass spectrometry using a mass spectrometer of the kind (ICP-MS). The results of this assessment show a difference in the accumulation of cadmium by species of bivalve molluscs of the two groups, in particular group 2 (burrowing bivalve molluscs) and group 3 (non-burrowing bivalve molluscs). Also, a slight increase in cadmium is noted in the different species of bivalve molluscs filter during the period 2017-2019, in all the shellfish production areas. However, the cadmium levels recorded remain below the toxicity thresholds. A decrease in these levels is clearly detected from the year 2020 in bivalve molluscs from all shellfish production areas of Dakhla bay.
Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in the Central Middle Atlas region (Morocco)
Authors: Hachi Maryama , Hachi Touria , Essabiri Hamza , El Yaakoubi Adnane , Zidane Lahcen , Abba El Hassan
Published: October 2022

This work focuses on the ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in the Central Middle Atlas region. The collection of information using a questionnaire form was done in 2013 and 2014. The location of the different environments, ethnobotanical surveys and floristic surveys, was located by the stratified sampling method. The ethnobotanical study revealed that Modern medicine is mainly chosen by men, young people, single people and people with relatively high academic level (secondary and higher). Traditional medicine, on the other hand, is mainly chosen by women, older and younger people, married people and people who are illiterate or have a primary school education. The results of this study allowed us to draw up a catalog of 267 medicinal species, divided into 211 genera and 79 botanical families, of which the most usable by the local population are the Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, Apiaceae, Fabaceae and Rosaceae. Oregano (Origanum compactum Benth.) is the most used species. The majority of the medicinal species are used mainly against digestive diseases, with a percentage of 25%.
Management of coastal flood impact in rural area (Case study in Sayung District)
Authors: Rahadiati Ati , Sutrisno Dewayany , Munawaroh
Published: October 2022

Sayung Subdistrict, Demak Regency is a low-lying coastal area prone to coastal flooding. This coastal area’s flood susceptibility is not influenced by a single factor, but by the combined effect of excessive rainfall, the morphological characteristics of coastal areas, and tidal waves. As a reason, the objectives of this study were to (1) map coastal flood-prone areas using a combination of heavy rainfall and tidal waves; (2) determined the extent of inundation; and (3) provide feedback on potential flood-affected area management. The findings indicate inundation has increased by 2.4% per year. Therefore, the evaluation of the mitigation management has to be considered either on local communities’ perspective, regional and national government planning and non-government implementation. Local communities, with or without the assistance of NGO and regional governments, adapt their mitigation strategies to the changing environment, whether through physical, economical, or social approaches. Meanwhile, the regional and national governments’ management will be incorporated into the detailed spatial planning.
Viability of community participation in coastal conservation: A critical analysis
Authors: Mishra Kanak
Published: October 2022

Coastal regions have served as sites of social and economic development for many nations, especially the Third World. This cultural interface has been employed by the less developed states to attract commercial tourism, spiritual recreation, and large-scale fishing in the region. The dire social, economic, and political conditions triumphed over worrying environmental consequences. The Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda are born against the backdrop of this despicable overexploitation. Sustainable Goal 14 envisions sustainably managing and conserving marine and coastal ecosystems against detrimental impacts of pollution. This endeavour is to be pursued in the consistency of national and international law based on the best available scientific information. The overzealous emphasis on scientific edification systemically devalues local knowledge and participation in the conservation drives.

The prospect of the restoration of coastal regions sans community representation is at best futile and unimaginable. The paper attempts to explore an alliance of these international sustainable goals with the developmental objectives of the local communities dependent on these regions. The fruitfulness of this coalition can be advocated through the examples of Bangladesh and Indonesia, which are both costal dominated economies. The adoption of community-oriented development in these regions has to be adjudged in relation to the environmental assessments of coastal areas, the political will of the governments on these issues, and institutional capacities to resolve the environmental concerns. A critical evaluation of the consequential effect of these themes would facilitate arriving at an equitable proposition. The solution would encompass the spirit of emancipation and bestow the agency on people to be responsible for these regions. In the end, the recommendations put forth in the paper can be endorsed as a paradigm for other sovereign states (emphasis added on less developed states) for conservation of ecological zones, along with alternative livelihood models of sustainable development.
Mathematical and graphical modelling of an inertial system that uses the force of inertia of a liquid
Authors: Geröcs A , Muncut (Wisznovszky) E , Glăvan D , Komjaty A , Muller V , Erdodi GM , Culda L
Published: October 2022

In the work is described an inertial system of transforming the rotational movement into unidirectional linear motion using the inertia force of a liquid, which ensures the obtaining of the unidirectional linear motion of the device to which this system is mounted, without the need to achieve a kinematic chain from the drive engine of the system to the running wheels of the device (on which this inertial system is mounted). The system is composed of a cylinder having a cavity, of another full cylinder, some pallets with the possibility of radial sliding, some front sealing caps, components that delimit some variable volumes of liquids during a complete rotation, rotation made with the help of the mentioned pallets, thus leading to the realization of a traction force according to a well-established direction. The paper also presents the mathematical calculation of the inertia force developed by this system during rotation by 3600.
Impact of technological and operational deviations of the thread flank angle on the fatigue life of the tool joint
Authors: Kopei Volodymyr , Onysko Oleh , Dašić Predrag , Panchuk Vitalii , Panchuk Anatolii
Published: October 2022

The total effect of technological and operational factors can lead to various types of deviations of the flank angle of the tool joint thread profile, which are uneven along the axis. It is shown that uneven deviations of the flank angle appear when tapered threading with a lathe tool with a non-zero rake angle. To analyse the effect of these deviations on the fatigue strength of the joint, a parametric axisymmetric finite element model of the ZN-80 tool joint was developed in Abaqus/CAE. In the fe-safe program, dependences of the fatigue life in the thread roots on the deviations of the flank angle of the pin thread were obtained. The box thread has not been changed. To increase the fatigue strength of the pin, in most of the cases considered, negative deviations of the flank angle of the short flank of the pin thread should be avoided, and preference should be given to positive ones. Negative relative deviations of both flanks usually worsen the fatigue strength of the pin due to the "wedge" effect. Types of deviations have been found that significantly increase fatigue strength and have an “anti-wedge” effect or equalize the load in the thread. They need detailed studies and can be the basis for optimizing the values of flank angle deviations on each turn.
LEGO application for a microelectronics powered upper limb exoskeleton.
Authors: Stoica Bianca-Maria , Baritz Mihaela Ioana
Published: October 2022

In general, the main aim of education through models is based on stimulating young people's ability to think logically and use their creativity to develop practical problem-solving skills. Over time, the standard educational process has identified the need to find and use new ways of transmitting basic information in the teaching of students and this way has been quantified by the phrase - serious games. This approach allows a faster and more efficient access of users (pupils-students) to the information bases and a correct and beneficial transmission of their theoretical and practical training. Thus, in the first part of the paper a number of aspects related to educational resources based on Lego pieces and an analysis of the opportunity of their use in the processes of instruction, learning and creation are presented. In the second part of the paper, an analysis of the different variants of Lego pieces assemblies used for the development of exoskeleton shapes or for upper limb training is carried out, as well as for the study of the possibility of obtaining versatile and customized variants. In the third part of the paper, the experimental model of a microelectronically actuated upper limb exoskeleton is presented, useful in training procedures for the rehabilitation of elbow joint and wrist movements. In the final part of the paper, observations obtained from the construction of the system and conclusions regarding the use of such a demonstration-educational model in practical problem-solving skills development actions are presented.
Sustainability and Innovation Against the Techno-Corporate Gap: Evidence and Perspectives from the Italian-Romanian Partnership
Authors: Rangone A
Published: October 2022

This work aims to investigate the status quaestionis of the techno-corporate gap in Romania and the potential prospects for early reduction. In this context it was possible to provide a specific contribution on this subject as further proof of the potential criticalities currently afflicting the modus operandi of small local Romanian firms. The evidence from Romanian small farms helps to understand how only through the technological reconversion and new business models, together with strategic partnerships, SMEs will be able to stand up to the multinationals and foreign companies.
Optimisation of the measurement and evaluation process through an information system
Authors: Prajová Vanessa , Košťal Peter
Published: October 2022

This paper deals with the digitalisation of production documentation and optimisation of measurement and evaluation processes through the DRM information system, its functionality and use The business environment is constantly changing, shaping and adapting to market requirements. Due to these changes, it is becoming increasingly difficult to think predictively and strategically and identify future opportunities or threats. Among these changes' most recent and significant triggers, we can consider the global pandemic caused by the covid-19 disease, which highlights the essence and nature of IS and digitalisation more than anything else. The importance of information systems is thus to process data from a company's inputs to generate helpful information for managing business operations and processes.
Molecular Images, Leaky Masculinities: Pain, Photography, and Queer Desire
Authors: Köppert Katrin
Published: October 2022

The pharmacopornographic turn in photography began in the 1950s, with a molecularization of photography that enabled moments of queer critique at a time when neither queer theory nor practices of hormonal gender hacking were common. Molecules in the subversive function of imitation and drag can be seen, in particular, in Albrecht Becker’s photography. Becker’s photography is conceived as minor photography based on Gilles Deleuze and Felíx Guattari’s concept of minor literature. The queer-political dimension of vernacular media practices plays an essential role here.
Homonationalism’s Viral Travels
Authors: Masri Hana
Published: October 2022

First defined by Jasbir Puar in 2007, homonationalism refers to the collusion between LGBTQ subjects or rights discourses and nationalism. This definition contrasts with previous transnational queer and feminist analyses. Homonationalism instead describes a form of national homonormativity and sexual exceptionalism in which some LGBTQ subjects are complicit with, rather than excluded from, nationalism and imperialism. This recognition and incorporation into the nation is predicated on the nation’s production and disposal of populations of racial and sexual others, particularly through Orientalist constructions of undesirable Muslim and Arab sexualities and genders. The literature on homonationalism thus explains how certain queer and trans subjectivities are mobilized in service of modernity’s racial, capitalist, imperial, and colonial projects, such as the U.S. “War on Terror.”

In addition to this original definition, the framework of homonationalism has been expanded to refer to the way LGBTQ rights have become a barometer by which to evaluate nations’ and populations’ right to sovereignty at the global political scale. This includes, for example, discourses that use notions of sexually progressive multiculturalism to justify foreign intervention.

Scholars and activists alike have applied the framework of homonationalism widely, to the degree that the homonationalism has been referred to as a viral concept. Much of this uptake focuses on “pinkwashing,” a manifestation of homonationalism that refers to a nation-state’s promotion of its “gay-friendly” record in order to obscure other types of political violence, including colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing. At the same time, homonationalism’s extensive uptake has led to a proliferation of perspectives that complicate, challenge, and expand the concept’s usage; though the conditions it names emerge across contexts, its instantiations vary based on historical and geopolitical context. These differences in application inform critiques of the concept, which tend to focus on the overextension and universalization of the concept at the expense of its clarity, context specificity, and utility for activism seeking to contest homonationalist policies and practices.
Regional Sea Level
Authors: Wahl Thomas , Dangendorf Sönke
Published: October 2022

Sea level rise leads to an increase in coastal flooding risk for coastal communities throughout the world. Changes in mean sea level are caused by a combination of human-induced global warming and natural variability and are not uniform throughout the world. The key processes leading to mean sea level rise and its variability in space and time are the melting of land-based ice and changes in the hydrological cycle; thermal expansion due to warming oceans; changes in winds, ocean currents, and atmospheric pressure; and, when focusing on the relative changes between the land and the ocean, any vertical motion of the land itself (subsidence or uplift). In addition to the change in mean sea level, which is the main climatic driver for changes in coastal flooding risk in most regions, additional changes in tides, storm surges, or waves can further exacerbate, or offset, the negative effects of mean sea level rise. Hence, it is important to analyze, understand, and ultimately project the changes in all of these sea level components individually and combined, including the complex interactions between them. Advances in sea level science in the 21st century along with new and extended observational records including in situ and remote sensing measurements have paved the path to being able to provide better and more localized information to stakeholders, particularly in the context of making decisions about coastal adaptation to protect the prosperity of coastal communities and ecosystems.
Impacts of Climate Warming on Alpine Lakes
Authors: Dokulil Martin T.
Published: October 2022

Climate warming has impacted Alpine lakes at all altitudes. The European Alps are particularly affected because the mean temperature increment is twice as high as the global average. Depending on the reduction of greenhouse gases realized in the near future, by the end of the 21st century, Alpine lakes will have warmed above the current temperature by 2–6°C. Extreme weather situations such as heatwaves, droughts, heavy precipitation, and storms are expected to further increase, impacting Alpine regions and lakes worldwide. The expected increase in temperature and the associated impacts on almost all aspects of the ecosystem, together with increasing greenhouse gases and extreme climatic events, will negatively affect Alpine lakes throughout the world.
Working Memory
Authors: Hartley Tom , Hitch Graham J.
Published: October 2022

Working memory is an aspect of human memory that permits the maintenance and manipulation of temporary information in the service of goal-directed behavior. Its apparently inelastic capacity limits impose constraints on a huge range of activities from language learning to planning, problem-solving, and decision-making. A substantial body of empirical research has revealed reliable benchmark effects that extend to a wide range of different tasks and modalities. These effects support the view that working memory comprises distinct components responsible for attention-like control and for short-term storage. However, the nature of these components, their potential subdivision, and their interrelationships with long-term memory and other aspects of cognition, such as perception and action, remain controversial and are still under investigation. Although working memory has so far resisted theoretical consensus and even a clear-cut definition, research findings demonstrate its critical role in both enabling and limiting human cognition and behavior.
Critical Literacy: A Case from Argentina and Its Implications
Authors: Porto Melina , Crookes Graham V.
Published: October 2022

Second-language critical literacy refers to the application of the concepts and practices of critical literacy in contexts where individuals are using a language that is not the one they grew up with or were initially socialized into. “Second” means a language acquired either naturalistically or in instructed contexts that is somewhat distinct, at least conceptually, from a primary or so-called native language—learned in some sense earlier or better than a primary one (although these terms are at best simplifications of complex matters). Critical literacy is generally recognized as having evolved out of a line of work in the broad and comparatively long tradition of radical education associated with Paulo Freire. However, as different strands of critical literacy have become more developed, more established, and more visible, it is harder to determine lines of influence. It was not until the beginning of the 21st century that critical language pedagogy and critical literacy began to appear in reports from a range of countries.

In Latin America, critical perspectives and pedagogies have a history of 200 years, existed before the Spanish conquest, and are not tied to Freire in particular, but result from a combination of social, cultural, political, and educational influences emerging in the region in the 19th century. These perspectives and pedagogies are multifaceted, polysemic, locally situated, and tied to each specific territory. This means that it is important to consider broad historical perspectives and to recognize the powerful macro-level factors that can eventually culminate in somewhat favorable conditions for critical literacy in specific contexts at the present time. Those conditions may not last, incidentally.

Finally, to answer the question “How can practical instructional programs in the area of second language critical literacy be designed, developed, and implemented?” it seems that critical re-design can be a useful approach in the classroom. Critical re-design refers to the process, somewhat analogous to Freire’s emphasis on gaining distance from a problem, by which students analyze an issue so as to be able to act on it “to make a positive difference” in their social milieu. It is through detailed analysis of the issue and its connection to students’ lives, and the use of imagination, that the possibility of making a difference becomes actual.
The Teaching of English in India
Authors: Bhattacharya Usree
Published: October 2022

In India, the teaching of English, a British colonial import and imposition, occurs within an ideologically contested, socioeconomically stratified, and politically charged terrain. Several centuries after its first arrival on Indian shores, English remains a minority, elite language, accessible mostly to urban dwellers and those in the middle and upper classes. Therefore, its present-day circulation helps reproduce and sustain colonial language hierarchies. Significantly, ideologies about English span a wide spectrum, from the language being cast as an illness, to its being seen as a necessary evil for progress, to its being heralded as a vital instrument for uplifting the poor and marginalized. Furthermore, the idea of an indigenized “Indian English” holds sway in the scholarly imagination, even as it is unclear what shape its porous boundaries take within the national consciousness. In perpetual dialog with other Indian languages, English is constantly negotiating a role in India’s rich multilingual networks. Crucially, it functions as the most powerful medium of instruction in the country, firmly regulating access to socioeconomic mobility and higher education. English instruction in India was established to serve colonial interests, and the traces of this past remain in contemporary pedagogical practices. Further, English instruction faces a variety of challenges in India today, including infrastructure constraints, complexities of multilingual pedagogy, rigid grammar translation pedagogy and rote-learning practices, teaching to the test, widespread use of inappropriate and culturally insensitive textbooks, and inadequate investment in teacher training. English controls access to power, prestige, and privilege in modern India; these factors, among others, play a determining role in perpetuating educational inequality across classes. Shining a light on the context in which English instruction occurs in India is thus both an educational and a social justice imperative.
Teaching and Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Outlook for the Future
Authors: Stefanile Adam
Published: October 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused, and continues to cause, major disruptions that affect the state of K–12 and college education. More than 290 million students worldwide have experienced learning regressions, anxiety, social isolation, depression, and academic failure. Given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations to cancel formal classroom learning in an attempt to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the efficacy of traditional teaching and learning models consisting of person-to-person education has been compromised. This has left educators and parents confounded with the uncertainty of the trajectory of their students’ education. Discourse and critical reflection on the status of education and learning has escalated due to the adjustments required by the 2020–2022 paradigm shifts—virtual, hybrid, and asynchronous learning—which have presented adaptation challenges for a myriad of students and teachers. However, from a more positive point of view, it has been argued that adjusting to new learning and teaching styles encourages and challenges students and teachers to expand their learning capabilities. The full extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in K–12 and college education is still uncertain. However, the paradigm shifts that are manifested from this situation should serve as an opportunity to motivate all educational domains to consider more fully utilizing innovative technology for teaching and learning, improvising pedagogy, and rethinking the way educators prepare students for academic engagement.
The Emergence of Marketing in 20th-Century India
Authors: Haynes Douglas E. , Roy Tirthankar
Published: October 2022

Business historians of colonial and postcolonial South Asia have not sufficiently studied internal trade and commercial institutions, a glaring omission considering that trade was one of the fastest-growing economic activities during the 20th century. While the historiography of the merchant has grown steadily, it remains focused on international trade or on non-economic issues like the relationship between ethnicity and commerce. One area that clearly requires more research is marketing. The involvement of producing firms in marketing activities, like sales and advertising, became much more extensive during the late 19th and the 20th centuries. Significant changes in the costs of transportation and communications made these tasks easier. Producers of goods, however, possessed imperfect information and needed to rely on intermediate figures—either various kinds of local actors or marketing “experts” who claimed local knowledge—to reach consumers. Sales and advertising in postcolonial India built on the legacy of this transformation in colonial India, rather than breaking sharply from it, even as technological change enabled more direct communication between the producer and the consumer.
Sakhalin/Karafuto
Authors: Amano Naoki
Published: October 2022

The modern history of Sakhalin Island, a border island between Russia and Japan, has been one of demarcation, colonization, re-demarcation, and refugee resettlement, with a total of four demarcations and re-demarcations since the late 19th century, the first through diplomatic negotiations and the remaining three through war. One of the most significant features of the modern history of the border island is that each time the sovereignty of the islands changed, the population was completely replaced.

Four major events shaped the history of Sakhalin Island: the Treaty of St Petersburg of 1875, which de-bordered the island from the traditional international system of East Asia and incorporated it into the modern international system of the West; the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, which resulted in the Japanese acquisition of the southern half of the island; the end of the five-year military occupation of northern Sakhalin by the Japanese in 1925; and the Soviet occupation of southern Sakhalin in 1945. Through each of these occasions, a holistic picture of the modern history of the Russo-Japanese border island can be discerned by focusing on the mobility of its inhabitants, how the inhabitants became displaced and were forced to leave their homes, and how the island was settled by the new sovereigns who replaced them.
History of the Seychelles
Authors: Allen Richard B.
Published: October 2022

The history of the Seychelles since the islands’ colonization in 1770 has been shaped by their physical geography, location in the western Indian Ocean, and peripheral status in the French and British colonial empires. The archipelago’s social, economic, and political history reflects its role in facilitating the slave trade that funneled hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans and Malagasies toward the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and Réunion between 1770 and the early 1830s, the development of cotton and then coconut plantation agriculture, and its status as a Mauritian dependency until it became a separate British Crown Colony in 1903. Economic and political life after independence in 1976 included a coup d’état in 1977 that led to the establishment of a one-party socialist state in 1979, a return to multiparty democracy in 1993, and the country’s increasing economic dependence on tourism during the late 20th and early 21rst centuries.
Disease and Trauma in Past Southern African Communities: Archaeological Perspectives
Authors: Pfeiffer Susan
Published: October 2022

For thousands of years, all southern African communities survived through hunting and gathering. Within the past two millennia subsistence strategies diversified to include pastoralism, farming, and most recently Eurocentric industry in a colonialist framework. Each of these strategies is distinctive with respect to the way diseases and musculoskeletal trauma affected people’s health. Using methods arising from palaeopathology, forensic anthropology, and archaeology, studies have assessed human skeletons to explore these patterns. Evidence of infectious disease is negligible among hunter-gatherers of the region, but there are examples of environmental and inherited diseases, as well as fatal and near-fatal traumatic injuries. While some trauma may be linked to environmental hazards and predation, other cases appear to reflect intergroup aggression. Non-specific stress indicators suggest possible new challenges to hunter-gatherer health around the time when pastoralism is first discerned archaeologically. Among Iron Age African farmers, who reached the region about 1,700 years ago, the evidence for infectious diseases is equivocal. Investigations are hampered by the rather small sample sizes. In some cases, reburial of excavated remains precludes research using newer methods. Evidence of infectious disease is minimal among all Indigenous groups prior to the disruptions associated with European arrival. After European arrival, there is clear evidence of various infectious diseases affecting Indigenous communities, and the patterns of traumatic damage to the skeleton are more dramatic. Among cemeteries of mine workers from colonial-era settings, the effects of occupational trauma are apparent. The evidence from archaeology is consistent with that of written documents, confirming the destructive impact of colonial practices on the Indigenous populations of southern Africa.