bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A new mixing technique in the production of wood plastic composites from recycled materials
Authors: Hassona W. , El-Kassas A. M. , Zaafarani N. N.
Published: November 2024

This work introduces a new mixing technique for producing wood-plastic composites. The main constituents of the wood-plastic composites are recycled low-density polyethylene and residual dust from routing medium-density fiberboard. The new mixing technique depends on separating the fibers and the polymer during the melting stage of the polymer to avoid the degradation of the fibers due to heat. Physical tests including a water absorption test and a thickness swelling test were applied on specimens produced with the single screw extruder and a new mixing technique, with different fiber-polymer weight ratios (50–50%, 55–45%, 60–40%, 65–35%, and 70–30%). It was found that at a (70–30%) mixing ratio, a reduction in water absorption of about 70% and 67% for densities of 1100 and 1250 kg/m3, respectively was reached. While at a (50–50%) mixing ratio, a reduction of about 24% and 14% for densities of 1100 and 1250 kg/m3, respectively  was accomplished. In general, the resistance to water absorption and thickness swelling was observed to be improved for the new mixing technique for all mixing ratios compared to the single-screw extruder.
Arbeitsbedingungen, Gesundheit und Erschöpfung bei Fachkräften der Heilerziehungspflege und Heilpädagogik – Ergebnisse der repräsentativen BIBB/BAuA-Erwerbstätigenbefragung 2018
Authors: Hollederer Alfons , Mayer Dennis
Published: November 2024

Hintergrund

Nach der internationalen Studienlage weisen Beschäftigte in der professionellen Behindertenhilfe ein berufsspezifisches Risiko für die Entwicklung von Burn-out auf. Dem „Job Demands-Resources Model of Burnout and Work Engagement“ zufolge führen hohe Arbeitsanforderungen zu Erschöpfung bei Beschäftigten. In Deutschland besteht zu Arbeitsbedingungen der Fachkräfte der Heilerziehungspflege und Heilpädagogik sowie zu ihrer Gesundheit ein Forschungsdefizit.

Ziel der Arbeit

Ziele der Studie waren es daher, die Arbeitsbedingungen der Fachkräfte der Heilerziehungspflege und Heilpädagogik in Deutschland zu analysieren sowie Gesundheitsbeschwerden und Erschöpfungssymptome in dieser Berufsgruppe zu explorieren.

Methode

Als Datenbasis nutzt die Studie die repräsentative Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)/Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA)-Erwerbstätigenbefragung 2018. In der Methode wurden deskriptive Statistik und Korrelationsanalytik angewendet.

Ergebnisse

Von den 20.012 befragten Erwerbstätigen im Rahmen der BIBB/BAuA-Erwerbstätigenbefragung 2018 übten 130 eine berufliche Tätigkeit als Heilerziehungspflegende oder Heilpädagoginnen und Heilpädagogen aus. Die körperlichen und emotionalen Anforderungen sind bei der Berufsgruppe Heilerziehungspflege/Heilpädagogik größer als bei anderen Berufen. Die am häufigsten genannte Beschwerde von Fachkräften der Heilerziehungspflege und Heilpädagogik ist mit 62,1 % die allgemeine Müdigkeit, Mattigkeit oder Erschöpfung. Daneben weisen 31,9 % der Fachkräfte der Heilerziehungspflege und Heilpädagogik eine körperliche und emotionale Erschöpfung auf.

Schlussfolgerung

Die Ergebnisse zeigen berufsbezogene Gesundheitsrisiken und Potenziale für die Verhaltens- und Verhältnisprävention in der Heilerziehungspflege und Heilpädagogik auf. Es werden Angebote zur Burn-out-Prävention, ein Ausbau der betrieblichen Gesundheitsförderung sowie die Durchführung von Gefährdungsbeurteilungen bei der Arbeit empfohlen.
Guiding Evidence-Based Classification in Para Sporting Populations: A Systematic Review of Impairment Measures and Activity Limitations
Authors: Wileman Taylor M. , McKay Marnee J. , Hackett Daniel A. , Watson Timothy J. , Fleeton Jennifer , Fornusek Ché
Published: November 2024

Background

As the focus of classification shifts towards an evidence-based approach, it is crucial to establish a robust system that relies on valid and reliable measures of impairment to ensure legitimate and competitive opportunities for all Para athletes. However, the lack of methods that possess the necessary measurement properties for assessing impairments in Para sporting populations presents significant challenges to developing an evidence-based classification system.

Objective

This review aimed to identify and evaluate measures of impairment and activity limitation measures that have been used to assess eligible impairments in Para sport athletes for potential use in evidence-based classification.

Methods

Six electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science) were searched from their earliest record to December 2023.

Results

Fifty-one articles were identified, with twenty-one studies focusing on physical impairment measures. Isometric and grip strength emerged as effective measures. Coordination measures, such as tapping tasks, showed variations with performance. Additionally, six studies focused on intellectual impairments, revealing differences between impaired and non-impaired athletes through generic cognitive tests. Vision impairment measures, including visual acuity and visual field assessments, displayed varying associations with performance across sports.

Conclusions

Although research on evidence-based classification in Para sport is limited, this review provides valuable insights for sports in developing a testing battery that adheres to evidence-based protocols. Ongoing research efforts by sport governing bodies to prioritise research in this area will improve our understanding of the impairment–performance relationship, leading to better decision making and increased credibility in Para sport classification systems.
Old rockers: Borda and Condorcet revisited
Authors: Villar Antonio
Published: November 2024

This paper explores the relationship between two classic social evaluation procedures: the Borda count, and (an extension of) the Condorcet criterion. We provide a straightforward way of identifying and comparing those evaluation protocols, dispensing with the transitivity of individual preferences. Our approach uses individual pairwise comparisons of alternatives as informational inputs, with complete social orderings as informational outputs. We show that, keeping Arrow’s framework but weakening the property of independence of irrelevant alternatives to independence of separate pairs (the evaluation of each alternative only depends on how people compare this alternative with each other), opens the door to Borda and Condorcet evaluation functions. The key difference between these two protocols is the type of monotonicity assumed.
On statistics which are almost sufficient from the viewpoint of the Fisher metrics
Authors: Yamaguchi Kaori , Nozawa Hiraku
Published: November 2024

Given a statistical model, a statistic on the model is sufficient if the Fisher metric of the induced model coincides with the original Fisher metric, according to the definition by Ay-Jost-Lê-Schwachhöfer. We introduce and study its quantitative version: for $$0 < \delta \le 1$$

0
<
δ
≤
1

, we call a statistic $$\delta $$
δ
-almost sufficient if $$\delta ^2 \mathfrak {g}(v,v) \le \mathfrak {g}'(v,v)$$

δ
2

g

(
v
,
v
)

≤

g

′

(
v
,
v
)

for every tangent vector v of the parameter space, where $$\mathfrak {g}$$
g
and $$\mathfrak {g}'$$

g

′

are the Fisher metric of the original and the induced model, respectively. By the monotonicity theorem due to Amari-Nagaoka and Ay-Jost-Lê-Schwachhöfer, the Fisher metric $$\mathfrak {g}'$$

g

′

of the induced model for such a statistic is bi-Lipschitz equivalent to the original one $$\mathfrak {g}$$
g
, which means that the information loss of the statistic is uniformly bounded. We characterize such statistics in terms of the conditional probability or by the existence of a certain decomposition of the density function in a way similar to the characterizations of sufficient statistics due to Ay-Jost-Lê-Schwachhöfer and Fisher-Neyman.
Saving coral reefs: significance and biotechnological approaches for coral conservation
Authors: Cecchini Pansa , Nitta Thomas , Sena Edoardo , Du Zhi-Yan
Published: November 2024

Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems that provide valuable services to coastal communities worldwide. However, both local and global anthropogenic stressors, threaten the coral-algal symbiosis that enables reef formation. This breakdown of the symbiotic relationship, known as bleaching, is often triggered by cumulative cell damage. UV and heat stress are commonly implicated in bleaching, but other anthropogenic factors may also play a role. To address coral loss, active restoration is already underway in many critical regions. Additionally, coral researchers are exploring assisted evolution methods for greater coral resilience to projected climate change. This review provides an overview of the symbiotic relationship, the mechanisms underlying coral bleaching in response to stressors, and the strategies being pursued to address coral loss. Despite the necessity of ongoing research in all aspects of this field, action on global climate change remains crucial for the long-term survival of coral reefs.
Children in New Religious Movements
Authors: Nilsson Sanja
Published: November 2024

New Religious Movements have arisen not only in the present but have also developed in the past. While they differ in ideology and practice, they generally seem to live in high tension with mainstream society, especially when it comes to child-rearing. This Element examines several aspects of children growing up in new religions. It relies upon literature from different groups concerning child upbringing, the function of children in the groups considering the religious ideologies, and parental perspectives and parental styles. It also utilizes accounts from young adults growing up in these groups, both those who chose to stay and who chose to leave their groups as adults. A range of topics, such as socialization, education, health care, and relations to surrounding society are explored. In addition, this Element considers issues of physical and emotional abuse, state interventions, and the impact of second- and third generations of children in new religions.
Untaxed
Authors: Blank Joshua D. , Glogower Ari
Published: November 2024

One of the most common complaints about the tax system in the United States is that rich taxpayers are able to lower their tax liabilities through abusive tax practices, often outmaneuvering the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Untaxed offers a fresh perspective on the long-standing dilemma of tax avoidance and evasion by the rich by proposing a new legal response: means-based adjustments to the tax compliance rules. These compliance rules govern interactions between taxpayers and the IRS, from filing tax returns to responding to audit letters to paying tax penalties. Untaxed shows how tax compliance rules can be adjusted based on taxpayers' means to level the playing field between the rich and everyone else. Timely and innovative, this book is a must-read for legal scholars, policymakers, tax students, and anyone interested in tax policy and administration.
Globalizing Urban Environmental History
Authors: Vitz Matthew
Published: November 2024

'Globalizing Urban Environmental History' melds the methodological prescriptions of global urban history, the innovative methods of environmental history, and the interdisciplinary field of urban political ecology to trace the contours of a global urban environmental history. I argue that a global lens fixed on material, political, and cultural flows, movements, and connections-all of which were founded upon the structural integration of urban spaces through capitalist expansion and empire-sheds new light on the histories of specific urban political ecologies, on the one hand, and large-scale urban patterns on the other. These patterns comprise shared urban environmental imaginaries, strategies of environmental governance, and a global urban physical and cultural landscape stitched together by the adoption of fossil-fuel energies.
Digital Communications
Authors: Fischer Robert F. H. , Huber Johannes B.
Published: November 2024

Introducing the fundamentals of digital communication with a robust bottom-up approach, this textbook is designed to equip senior undergraduate and graduate students in communications engineering with the core skills they need to assess, compare, and design state-of-the-art digital communication systems. Delivering a fast, concise grounding in key algorithms, concepts, and mathematical principles, this textbook provides all the mathematical tools for understanding state-of-the-art digital communications. The authors prioritise readability and accessibility, to quickly get students up to speed on key topics in digital communication, and includes all relevant derivations. Presenting over seventy carefully designed multi-part end-of-chapter problems with over 360 individual questions, this textbook gauges student understanding and translates knowledge to real-world problem solving. Accompanied online by interactive visualizations of signals, downloadable Matlab code, and solutions for instructors.
Zionism
Authors: Idels Ofer
Published: November 2024

Is the history of emotions a methodology or a subject? What is the relationship between emotions and culture? What role does the body play in the human experience? Addressing these questions and more, this element emphasizes the often-overlooked role of emotional and sensory experiences when examining the Zionist experience in the early twentieth century. Focusing on the visceral and embodied historical aspects of the linguistic modernization of Hebrew, it argues that recent cultural studies on Jewish daily life in Palestine have reached an impasse, which the history of emotions could help us overcome. Interpreting Zionist texts not solely as symbolic myths but as a historical, lived experience, this element advocates for the significance of the history of emotions and experience as an innovative methodology with profound ethical implications for our polarized era.
Cooperating Factions
Authors: Blum Rachel M. , Noel Hans C.
Published: November 2024

Popular accounts of presidential nomination politics in the United States focus on factions, lanes, or even a civil war within the party. This Element uses data on party leader endorsements in nominations to identify a network of party actors and the apparent long-standing divisions within each party. The authors find that there are divisions, but they do not generally map to the competing camps described by most observers. Instead, they find parties that, while regularly divided, generally tend to have a dominant establishment group, which combines the interests of many factions, even as some factions sometimes challenge that establishment. This pattern fits a conception of factions as focused on reshaping the party, but not necessarily on undermining it.
Reimagining Radical Democracy in the Global South
Authors: Ağartan Kaan , Tamayo Gomez Camilo
Published: November 2024

Radical democracy informs contemporary social movements both as critique of existing liberal democratic social orders and as inspiration for collective action to challenge power structures. However, existing approaches on the relationship between radical democracy and social movements often truncate complex socio-political issues, constraining political imagination and stifling 'truly radical' alternatives. This Element offers an analysis of contemporary social movements in Colombia and Turkey to show the limits and potential of radical democracy to reimagine new expressions of citizenship and non-capitalist alternatives. It argues that there is a mismatch between the radical democratic paradigm as it is formulated within Eurocentric purview, and the ways it has been articulated and practised by anti-austerity and pro-democracy movements of the twenty-first century. We propose that radical democracy should be rethought in light of novel forms of political activism and visions emerging from these social movements as a response to the failures of liberal democracy.
The Political Ecology of Violence
Authors: Pehlivan Zozan
Published: November 2024

In this innovative, interdisciplinary work, Zozan Pehlivan presents a new environmental perspective on inter-communal conflict, rooting slow violence in socio-economic shifts and climatic fluctuations. From the nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries, recurrent and extreme climate disruptions became an underlying yet unacknowledged component of escalating conflict between Christian Armenian peasants and Muslim Kurdish pastoralists in Ottoman Kurdistan. By the eve of the First World War, the Ottoman state's shifting responses to these mounting tensions transformed the conflict into organized and state-sponsored violence. Pehlivan upends the 'desert-sown' thesis, and establishes a new theoretical and conceptual framework drawing on climate science, agronomy, and zoology. From this alternative vantage point, Pehlivan examines the impact of climate on local communities, their responses and resilience strategies, arguing that nineteenth-century ecological change had a transformative and antagonistic impact on economy, state and society.
Picture-Reading the Complexities of Transgender Experience
Authors: Cray Ley David Elliette
Published: November 2024

Depicting transgender persons in comics without falling into visual caricature and thereby perpetuating harmful stereotypes can be a delicate task. In this discussion, I draw upon the notion of picture-reading to argue that, despite this fact, comics as a medium is particularly well-suited—both formally and in terms of production-relevant factors—toward capturing and communicating the complexities of transgender experience.
Monopoly Menace: The Rise and Fall of Cartel Capitalism in Western Europe, 1918–1957
Authors: Hewitt Liane
Published: November 2024

Cartels today are illegal and illegitimate across the globe. Yet until the end of World War II, cartels were legal, ubiquitous, and popular—especially in Europe. How, then, did cartels become bad, if they had been considered a positive force for capitalist stabilization and peace in the first half of the 20th century? That is the question this dissertation poses. By the 1930s, over 1,000 monopolistic agreements regulated nearly half of world trade. International cartels governed the interwar world economy, setting prices and output quotas, dividing world markets, regulating trade flows, and even controlling the transfer of patents across firms and sovereign state borders. I conceptualize this regime as “cartel capitalism.” Most cartels were headquartered in industrial Europe. First, I trace how a surprising consensus in interwar Europe—comprising national governments; international organizations like the League of Nations; industrialists, led by the International Chamber of Commerce; federalists; and even socialists—backed cartels as a panacea to the problems of reconstruction after 1918, namely the quest for peace and stable markets. However, in the wake of 1945, most countries in Western Europe—along with the new supranational European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, 1951) and European Economic Community (EEC)—started prohibiting cartels. My project illuminates the causes and consequences of this great reversal. Monopoly Menace reveals, for the first time, how Europe’s transnational reckoning with the shocks of the Great Depression, fascism, and total war produced a genuine anticartel revolution that rewrote the rules of the modern European and global economy. Monopoly Menace ends by illuminating how American, British, French, and West German postwar planners designed new national welfare states, the Bretton Woods Order, and the European Union on the neglected foundation of anti-cartel policies.
The diversity of ignorance and the ignorance of diversity: origins and implications of “shadow diversity” for conservation biology and extinction
Authors: Turton-Hughes Serena , Holmes George , Hassall Christopher
Published: November 2024

Biodiversity shortfalls and taxonomic bias can lead to inaccurate assessment of conservation priorities. Previous literature has begun to explore practical reasons why some species are discovered sooner or are better researched than others. However, the deeper socio-cultural causes for undiscovered and neglected biodiversity, and the value of collectively analysing species at risk of unrecorded, or “dark”, extinction, are yet to be fully examined. Here, we argue that a new label (we propose “shadow diversity”) is needed to shift our perspective from biodiversity shortfalls to living, albeit unknown, species. We suggest this linguistic shift imparts intrinsic value to these species, beyond scientific gaze and cultural systems. We review research on undiscovered, undetected and hidden biodiversity in the fields of conservation biology, macroecology and genetics. Drawing on philosophy, geography, history and sociology, we demonstrate that a range of socio-cultural factors (funding, education and historical bias) combine with traditional, practical impediments to limit species discovery and detection. We propose using a spectrum of shadow diversity which enables a complex, non-binary and comprehensive approach to biodiversity unknowns. Shadow diversity holds exciting potential as a tool to increase awareness, appreciation and support for the conservation of traditionally less studied wildlife species and sites, from soil microbes to less charismatic habitat fragments. We advocate for a shift in how the conservation community and wider public see biodiversity and an increase in popular support for conserving a wider range of life forms. Most importantly, shadow diversity provides appropriate language and conceptual frameworks to discuss species absent from conservation assessment and at potential risk of dark extinction.
Streamline coordinates in three-dimensional turbulent flows
Authors: Finnigan John J.
Published: November 2024

For several applications there are advantages in writing turbulent flow equations in a coordinate frame aligned with the streamlines and several two-dimensional examples of this approach have appeared in the literature. In this paper, we extend this approach to general three-dimensional flows. We find that, in any flow that has a component of its vorticity aligned in the streamline direction, congruences of its streamlines do not form integrable manifolds. This limits the development of a streamline coordinate description of such flows, although some useful results can still be obtained. However, in the case of general three-dimensional complex-lamellar flows, where the mean velocity and mean vorticity are everywhere orthogonal, a complete streamline coordinate description can be derived. Furthermore, we show that general complex-lamellar flows are a good approximation to boundary layers and thin free shear layers. We derive the underlying true coordinate system for such flows, where the orthogonal coordinate surfaces are two stream surfaces and a modified potential surface. From this we obtain physical equations, where flow variables have the same dimensions they would have in a Cartesian coordinate frame. Finally, we show that rational approximations to these equations, which describe small-perturbation flows, contain some terms that have been ignored in previous applications and we detail some practical applications of the theory in modelling and analysis.
‘Let’s get real’ … when we lead: A systematic review, critical assessment, and agenda for authentic leadership theory and research
Authors: Gardner William L. , Karam Elizabeth P. , Noghani Farzaneh , Cogliser Claudia C. , Gullifor Daniel P. , Mhatre Ketan , Ge Shucheng , Bi Ran , Yan Zhen , Dahunsi Dara
Published: November 2024

Scholarly and practitioner interest in authentic leadership has grown at an accelerating rate over the last decade, resulting in a proliferation of publications across diverse social science disciplines. Accompanying this interest has been criticism of authentic leadership theory and the methods used to explore it. We conducted a systematic review of 303 scholarly articles published from 2010 to 2023 to critically assess the conceptual and empirical strengths and limitations of this literature and map the nomological network of the authentic leadership construct. Results indicate that much of the extant research does not follow best practices in terms of research design and analysis. Based on the findings obtained, an agenda for advancing authentic leadership theory and research that embraces a signaling theory perspective is proposed.
Asymptotics of the allele frequency spectrum and the number of alleles
Authors: Maller Ross A. , Shemehsavar Soudabeh
Published: November 2024

We derive large-sample and other limiting distributions of components of the allele frequency spectrum vector,

$\mathbf{M}_n$

, joint with the number of alleles,

$K_n$

, from a sample of n genes. Models analysed include those constructed from gamma and

$\alpha$

-stable subordinators by Kingman (thus including the Ewens model), the two-parameter extension by Pitman and Yor, and a two-parameter version constructed by omitting large jumps from an

$\alpha$

-stable subordinator. In each case the limiting distribution of a finite number of components of

$\mathbf{M}_n$

is derived, joint with

$K_n$

. New results include that in the Poisson–Dirichlet case,

$\mathbf{M}_n$

and

$K_n$

are asymptotically independent after centering and norming for

$K_n$

, and it is notable, especially for statistical applications, that in other cases the limiting distribution of a finite number of components of

$\mathbf{M}_n$

, after centering and an unusual

$n^{\alpha/2}$

norming, conditional on that of

$K_n$

, is normal.
David versus Goliath? The impact of corporate expansion in the alcohol retail industry on incumbent small-scale retailers
Authors: Connolly Cristina , Graziano Marcello , Steinbach Sandro
Published: November 2024

This paper investigates the impact of corporate expansion in the alcohol retail industry on small-scale retailers. Our empirical approach exploits the timing of corporate entries across U.S. states that do not have a state monopoly to examine entry effects based on proximity to incumbent retailers. The analysis, drawing on a comprehensive dataset of U.S. alcohol retailers from 2000 to 2020, reveals that corporate entries within a 1-mile radius positively impact the employment and revenue of nearby small-scale retailers, with these effects intensifying over time and being more pronounced in metropolitan markets. Despite these localized impacts, the overall market structure and firm behavior remain largely unaffected.
Dragging Music: Towards a Queer Socio-Cultural Semiotics
Authors: BLACKBURN ANTON L.
Published: November 2024

What can queer theory, and drag performance, contribute to music semiotics? This paper proffers ‘dragging’ as a socio-cultural semiotics that demonstrates how musical meanings are dynamically queered through drag lip-sync performance. Departing from approaches to meaning and semiotics in musicology and popular music studies, I intervene with direct insights from queer theory. I draw out oscillations between queer theoretical perspectives on temporality and (post)structural concepts such as assemblages and mediation as they have been incorporated into music studies. ‘Drag’, not just an art form, is here developed as a specific kind of spatial-temporal mediation: dragging is understood as the displacement and heterochronization of meaning, where musical objects are dragged ‘out of time’ and ‘out of space’ into the alien world of queer experience. Dragging as a conceptual instrument allows us to begin answering questions of how meanings – and their political stakes – coalesce inside and outside, within and without, music.
STATUS E PRIVILEGIO IN ETÀ TARDOANTICA: CONSIDERAZIONI SUI SEPOLCRI DI ALCUNI ESPONENTI DELL'ARISTOCRAZIA DEL IV SECOLO A ROMA
Authors: Pola Matteo
Published: November 2024

Le pratiche funerarie delle élites tardoantiche a Roma rivelano un intreccio complesso tra status sociale e privilegio esibito nella sepoltura. Mentre i pregiudizi storiografici tradizionali hanno appiattito la forte eterogeneità interna alla classe dirigente dell'Impero tardoantico, un'analisi focalizzata sulle tombe riferibili ad individui specifici svela un quadro sfaccettato e permette di negarne definitivamente qualsivoglia concezione monolitica. L'epigrafia fornisce indicatori affidabili nella delineazione dello status sociale dei defunti, con formule riservate ai membri degli ordini senatorio ed equestre sulle cui tombe si concentra l'analisi proposta. Il mausoleo del celebre Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus incarna la grandiosità associata alle sepolture d’élite, mostrando tutti i caratteri di monumentalità tipici del periodo. Allo stesso modo, il mausoleo di Viventius, ex prefetto di Roma, riflette gli stretti legami tra gli aristocratici e i nuovi poli di attrazione cristiani del suburbio romano, possibilmente facilitati dal patrocinio diretto della Chiesa. Nel contempo, le catacombe rivelano pratiche di sepoltura diverse, con alcuni individui appartenenti ai due ordini maggiori della società romana sepolti in ambienti modesti, insieme a comuni defunti. Questi esempi sottolineano l'intricata relazione tra gerarchia sociale, costumi funerari e affiliazioni religiose tipici di Roma tardoantica.
A Bayesian approach to (re)examining learning effects of cognitive linguistics–inspired instruction
Authors: Wong Man Ho Ivy , Prange Jakob
Published: November 2024

This study closely replicates Wong, Zhao, & MacWhinney (2018), who found that cognitive linguistics–inspired instruction (i.e., schematic diagram feedback) demonstrated a superiority effect over traditional instruction (i.e., rule and exemplar feedback or corrective feedback) on the translation test but not the cloze test. While the original study adopted the null hypothesis testing approach, the current study adopted Bayesian mixed effects logistic models to investigate how different variables might affect the learnability of prepositions among 81 Chinese-speaking learners of English. The research design, materials, and procedure are nearly identical to those of the original study except for an added delayed posttest. Our findings are generally consistent with the results reported in the original study, indicating that the cognitive linguistics–informed instruction demonstrates superiority effect. Furthermore, these positive learning outcomes persist over time, as evidenced by the results of the delayed posttest.
Association of multiple sclerosis with psychiatric disorders and homelessness among veterans in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system
Authors: Silveira Stephanie L. , Beydoun Hind , Tsai Jack
Published: November 2024

Objective

To describe and compare the prevalence of psychosocial and psychiatric disorders among veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS) and a propensity-score-matched group of veterans without MS, and to identify sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with comorbid psychosocial and psychiatric problems among veterans with MS.

Methods

Data were linked and extracted from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Homeless Operations Management and Evaluation System and the Corporate Data Warehouse. The total sample comprised 27,342 veterans in the VA healthcare system between January 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, who met eligibility criteria for an MS diagnosis (n=13,671) and 1:1 propensity-score-matched sample of veterans who did not have MS (n=13,671). MS diagnosis, substance use disorder (SUD), mental illness, and homelessness were defined using standard ICD-10 codes. Covariates included sex, age, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and VA service-connected disability rating.

Results

A higher prevalence of mental illness among veterans with MS (33%) was found compared with those without MS (31%). Multivariable logistic regression models indicated MS was negatively associated with diagnoses of alcohol use disorder, stimulant use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder but positively associated with diagnoses of cannabis use disorder and major depressive disorder. MS was not significantly related to homelessness. Disparities in psychosocial and psychiatric disorders among veterans with MS are described.

Conclusion

This study provides novel insights regarding rates of homelessness, SUD, and mental illnesses among veterans with MS. Interdisciplinary approaches to identification and management of mental illness, SUD, and homelessness among veterans with MS are critically needed.
Changes in food and drink purchasing behaviour in England during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic: an interrupted time series analysis
Authors: Kalbus Alexandra , Cornelsen Laura , Ballatore Andrea , Cummins Steven
Published: November 2024

Objective:

This study examined changes food and drink purchasing during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in England, and if changes varied by population subgroups.

Design:

We investigated changes in take-home food and drink purchasing and frequency of out-of-home (OOH) purchasing using an interrupted time series analysis design. The start of pandemic restrictions (the intervention) was defined as 16 March 2020, when first announced in the UK.

Setting:

London and the North of England.

Participants:

1245 households reporting take-home and 226 individuals reporting OOH purchases between January 2019 and mid-June 2020 from the GB Kantar Fast Moving Consumer Goods Panel.

Results:

The marginal mean estimate of total take-home energy purchased was 17·4 % (95 % CI 14·9, 19·9) higher during the pandemic restriction period compared with the counterfactual. Increases of 35·2 % (95 % CI 23·4, 47·0) in take-home volume of alcoholic beverages and 1·2 % (95 % CI 0·1, 2·4) in foods and drinks high in fat, salt and sugar were observed. Reductions in purchased energy from fruit and vegetables (–7·3 %, 95 % CI –10·9, –3·6), ultra-processed foods (–4·0 %, 95 % CI –5·2, –2·8) and in OOH purchasing frequency (–44·0 %, 95 % CI –58·3, –29·6) were observed. Changes in chocolate and confectionery, soft drink and savoury snack purchases levelled off over time. Changes in all studied outcomes varied by sociodemographic characteristics and usual purchasing.

Conclusions:

Pandemic restrictions were associated with positive and negative changes in food and drink purchasing, which differed by individual characteristics. Future research should ascertain if changes persist and translate into changes in health.
Differentiating healthy orthorexia from orthorexia nervosa: sociodemographic, psychological and dietary characteristics in a French sample
Authors: Hanras Eva , Boujut Emilie , Barrada Juan Ramón , Dorard Géraldine
Published: November 2024

Objective:

Orthorexia has been widely studied, but recently, a new conceptualisation was proposed to distinguish its healthy characteristics from its pathological ones. The objective of this study was to differentiate healthy orthorexia (HeOr) from orthorexia nervosa (OrNe) by exploring their sociodemographic, psychological, health and dietary characteristics using comparative and correlational statistical methods.

Design:

Cross-sectional analysis. Participants completed an online, self-administered questionnaire assessing their sociodemographic characteristics, orthorexia, exercise dependence, personality, health anxiety, food choice motives, emotional competences and eating disorders (ED).

Setting:

Data were collected between May 2021 and September 2022.

Participants:

1515 French females (meanage = 37·67). Responses from men were excluded.

Results:

While OrNe was mainly associated with weight control motives in food choices (r = 0·42), HeOr was more strongly correlated with natural content (r = 0·60) and health motives (r = 0·49). In relation to exercising, OrNe showed its highest association with weight control (r = 0·41). Health anxiety was more strongly associated with OrNe than with HeOr. Both OrNe and HeOr were related to diet adherence and regular exercise, but the association was stronger for the latter. Orthorexia scores, mainly OrNe, were higher in participants at the risk of ED. Participants who were afraid to gain weight showed higher OrNe scores.

Conclusions:

HeOr seems to be part of a healthy lifestyle in general. In contrast, OrNe falls into the category of an ED and is associated with more problematic psychological functioning. Particular attention should be given to individuals who are beginning to control and reduce their food intake to prevent them from developing OrNe.
Optimal Matching for Sharing and Linearity Analysis
Authors: AMATO GIANLUCA , SCOZZARI FRANCESCA
Published: November 2024

Static analysis of logic programs by abstract interpretation requires designing abstract operators which mimic the concrete ones, such as unification, renaming, and projection. In the case of goal-driven analysis, where goal-dependent semantics are used, we also need a backward-unification operator, typically implemented through matching. In this paper, we study the problem of deriving optimal abstract matching operators for sharing and linearity properties. We provide an optimal operator for matching in the domain
$\mathtt{ShLin}^{\omega }$
, which can be easily instantiated to derive optimal operators for the domains
$\mathtt{ShLin}^2$
by Andy King and the reduced product
$\mathtt{Sharing} \times \mathtt{Lin}$
.
First Meteor Radar Observations of Gravity Waves in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere Over Yinchuan (38.8°N, 106.8°E), China
Authors: Zhang Shaodong , Guan Yuting , Gong Yun , Ma Zheng , Huang Chunming , Huang Kaiming , Luo Jiahui , Huang Hualong
Published: November 2024

By using the WHU‐YC meteor radar observations (2019.11–2021.10) in Yinchuan (38.8°N, 106.8°E), we studied the winds, tides, and gravity waves (GWs) in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) over northwestern China for the first time. Distinct annual and semi‐annual oscillations (AO and SAO) appeared in the background winds, showed maximum and minimum in summer (∼40 m/s) and spring (∼−14 m/s), respectively, and exhibited wind shear in summer and winter. Affected by the background winds, GW activity similarly exhibited AO, with maximum kinetic energy density (KED) in May (∼4.0 × 10−3 J/m³). KEDs consistently declined with altitude, indicating severe GW dissipation in the MLT. GW's momentum fluxes (MFs) are predominantly positive below ∼88 km and reverse negative above. MFs reached ∼10−4 J/m³ in summer and autumn, while weaker in winter and spring. The GW drag reached ∼443.8 m/s/d in zonal, closely correlated with the tendency, highlighting the substantial GW impact on the mean flow. The intense GW activities here approached some hot spots, possibly due to Yinchuan's characteristic topography, resulting in more terrain‐excited GWs. Despite no discernible seasonal variation in GW's intermittency, the Gini coefficient steadily increased with altitude, implying GWs upward with smaller MF are easier to dissipate. The diurnal tide (DT) significantly modulated GWs at almost all heights. Despite comparable amplitudes of the semidiurnal tide (SDT) to DT, the weaker SDT modulation only concentrated in 84–86 km because of its longer vertical wavelength, emphasizing tides' vertical wavelengths are crucial parameters in GW's modulation.
The Relationship Between Indian Ocean Subtropical Mode Water Variability and Ocean Temperature Structure
Authors: Adiwira H. , Suga T. , Richards K. J.
Published: November 2024

As one of the least studied mode waters, the role of the Indian Ocean Subtropical Mode Water (IOSTMW) in influencing the ocean and atmosphere as it is advected in the subsurface remains poorly understood. Taking advantage of the rapid increase of Argo data over the past decade, this study compares the ocean temperature structure during periods of thick and thin IOSTMW. The results indicate notable differences in both temperature and stratification linked to variations in IOSTMW thickness. In terms of temperature, the following phenomena are observed when the IOSTMW is thick: (a) the layer above the IOSTMW experiences colder temperatures, whereas warmer temperatures occur below it; (b) isotherms above the IOSTMW shoal, whereas those below it deepen. As for the stratification, a negative correlation is observed between IOSTMW thickness and stratification at depths between 100 and 300 dbar, suggesting that the presence of thick IOSTMW weakens the stratification within this depth range. Conversely, a positive correlation is observed around 400 dbar, suggesting that thick IOSTMW tends to coincide with a deeper main thermocline. Notably, regions near the Agulhas Current exhibit contrasting characteristics compared to other regions within the study area, indicating the potential impacts of the Agulhas Current meander on ocean temperature structure and the distribution of the IOSTMW. An intriguing question for future studies is how variations in IOSTMW thickness contribute to marine heatwave occurrences and influence atmospheric conditions.
Weakened Aerosol‐PBL Interactions Enhance Future Air Quality Benefits Under Carbon Neutrality in China: Insights From the Advanced Variable‐Resolution Global Model
Authors: Yue Man , Liu Yawen , Wang Minghuai , Dong Xinyi , Emmons Louisa K. , Liang Yuan
Published: November 2024

China's pursuing the carbon neutrality goal could affect future air quality not only by reducing anthropogenic emissions but also by modulating aerosol‐planetary boundary layer (PBL) interactions. However, contributions of aerosol‐PBL interactions to future air quality benefits remain unclear. Here we conduct ensemble experiments using the variable‐resolution (VR) Community Atmosphere Model with full chemistry based on the scalable spectral element (SE) dynamical core with East Asia refined to ∼28 km (SE_VR). Additional simulations at a uniform resolution of ∼111 km (SE_UR) are conducted to help demonstrate SE_VR's advantages in projecting future air quality. Results of SE_VR show that the mean PM2.5 concentrations in China would drop to below 10 μg/m3, especially in Sichuan Basin (SCB) where the frequencies of moderate and severe air pollution events are predicted to decrease from 60.7% and 11.3% to nearly zero respectively when achieving carbon neutrality. The aerosol‐PBL interactions would be substantially weakened with anthropogenic emission reductions. At SCB and Eastern China (EC), the weakened radiative effects of black carbon (BC) would contribute 34.3% and 71.6% to the increase in PBL height (PBLH). Consequently, these weakened BC‐PBL interactions reduce the surface PM2.5 concentrations by 16.1 μg/m3 (18.9%) in SCB and 4.6 μg/m3 (16.4%) in EC. Notably, SE_VR outperforms SE_UR in projecting the frequency decrease of future air pollution events for its better reproducing current levels, particularly those caused by BC aerosols. This study highlights the importance of weakened aerosol‐PBL feedbacks on future air quality improvement and demonstrates the added values of variable‐resolution global models in air quality projections.
Projections and Physical Drivers of Extreme Precipitation in Greenland & Baffin Bay
Authors: Loeb Nicole A. , Crawford Alex , Herrington Adam , McCrystall Michelle , Stroeve Julienne , Hanesiak John
Published: November 2024

Extreme precipitation events can have substantial impacts on communities and the climate system in the warming Arctic, but their changes are not well understood. In this study, the characteristics of extreme precipitation days in the eastern Canadian Arctic and Greenland are examined in historical (1980–1999) and future (2080–2099, SSP5‐8.5) variable‐resolution Community Earth System Model simulations. Comparisons between the simulations illustrate potential changes in the frequency and intensity of these events in the region. Extreme precipitation is expected to increase broadly across the region. The frequency of the most intense daily precipitation rates is projected to rise, particularly in the northernmost areas. The seasonality of extremes does not shift substantially in the future simulation with most areas receiving the highest accumulations and increases during the summer. However, southeastern Greenland is projected to see decreases in extreme precipitation. Algorithms detecting atmospheric rivers and cyclones are employed to assess how their changes may factor into changes in extreme precipitation. Cyclone frequency remains largely consistent with slight decreases near southeastern Greenland, which may explain decreased extreme precipitation seen in the region. Atmospheric rivers are projected to become more frequent across the domain, largely during the summer. Although the majority of the region's extreme precipitation is associated with cyclones, this suggests that atmospheric rivers become more important in a warming climate. These results provide insight into potential changes in impactful precipitation events in the region and how the processes driving them may change.
Topological protection of optical skyrmions through complex media
Authors: Wang An Aloysius , Zhao Zimo , Ma Yifei , Cai Yuxi , Zhang Runchen , Shang Xiaoyi , Zhang Yunqi , Qin Ji , Pong Zhi-Kai , Marozsák Tádé , Chen Binguo , He Honghui , Luo Lin , Booth Martin J. , Elston Steve J. , Morris Stephen M. , He Chao
Published: November 2024

Optical Skyrmions have many important properties that make them ideal units for high-density data applications, including the ability to carry digital information through a discrete topological number and the independence of spatially varying polarization to other dimensions. More importantly, the topological nature of the optical Skyrmion heuristically suggests a strong degree of robustness to perturbations, which is crucial for reliably carrying information in noisy environments. However, the study of the topological robustness of optical Skyrmions is still in its infancy. Here, we quantify this robustness precisely by proving that the topological nature of the Skyrmion arises from its structure on the boundary and, by duality, is resilient to spatially varying perturbations provided they respect the relevant boundary conditions of the unperturbed Skyrmion. We then present experimental evidence validating this robustness in the context of paraxial Skyrmion beams against complex polarization aberrations. Our work provides a framework for handling various perturbations of Skyrmion fields and offers guarantees of robustness in a general sense. This, in turn, has implications for applications of the Skyrmion where their topological nature is exploited explicitly, and, in particular, provides an underpinning for the use of optical Skyrmions in communications and computing.
Single-cell electro-mechanical shear flow deformability cytometry
Authors: Chen Junyu , Zou Xueping , Spencer Daniel C. , Morgan Hywel
Published: November 2024

The complex structural and molecular features of a cell lead to a set of specific dielectric and mechanical properties which can serve as intrinsic phenotypic markers that enable different cell populations to be characterised and distinguished. We have developed a microfluidic technique that exploits non-contact shear flow deformability cytometry to simultaneously characterise both the electrical and mechanical properties of single cells at high speed. Cells flow along a microchannel and are deformed (elongated) to different degrees by the shear force created by a viscoelastic fluid and channel wall. The electrical impedance of each cell is measured using sets of integrated microelectrodes along two orthogonal axes to determine the shape change and thus the electrical deformability, together with cell dielectric properties. The system performance was evaluated by measuring the electro-mechanical properties of cells treated in different ways, including osmotic shock, glutaraldehyde cross-linking and cytoskeletal disruption with Cytochalasin D and Latrunculin B. To confirm the accuracy of the system images of deformed cells were also captured using a camera. Correlation between the optical deformability and the electrical deformability is excellent. This novel cytometer has a throughput of ~100 cells s—1 is simple, does not use sheath flow or require high speed optical imaging.