bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MOTIVATING AND ACHIEVEMENT FACTORS OF MARRIED FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS IN INDIA: UNVEILING THE KEYS TO SUCCESS
Authors: ANANDHARAMAN KIRUTHIKA , RANGASWAMY GEETHA
Published: October 2024

In contemporary times, enterprises run by married women have emerged as a rapidly expanding entrepreneurship group in Tamil Nadu, India. This study explores the influential factors that drive married women to initiate and succeed in their own businesses and to explain their levels of achievement. Based on the insights collected from interviews, observation and focus groups comprised of 50 entrepreneurs, we developed an instrument that included five variables that relate to the driving factors (freedom, spousal support, flexibility, respect and identity) and five variables that relate to the achievement factors (experience, education, government assistance, networks and unique traits/ competencies) of entrepreneurship among married women. Using survey data from 150 entrepreneurs, we further examined key relationships. Among other findings, this study highlights the central role of spousal support as a driving force for the greater success of married female entrepreneurs. The implications of the study findings are examined for both academics and practitioners, and recommendations are given.
Cretaceous petroleum system elements in the Komombo Basin, Egypt
Authors: Ali Moamen , Ali Mohammed Y. , Abdelhady Ahmed
Published: October 2024

The petroleum system elements in the Komombo Basin have not yet been fully assessed. This study aims to evaluate source rocks, reservoirs and seals within the basin by integrating 2D seismic profiles and well logs together with geochemical, core and petrophysical data. Four source rocks are identified within the Cretaceous shale intervals of the B Member of the Six Hills, upper Maghrabi, Quseir and Dakhla formations. The quality of the B Member, upper Maghrabi and Quseir source rocks is good to very good, while the Dakhla Formation demonstrates good to excellent quality. Geochemical characteristics vary across the basin, with higher kerogen quality and thermal maturity observed in the depocentre compared to the flanks. Four reservoirs are recognized in the basin, including the A Member, C Member, sandstones within the D–G members of the Six Hills Formation, and the Sabaya and Maghrabi formations. The A Member reservoir demonstrates a moderate reservoir quality, while the C Member reservoir displays a fair quality. Numerous sandstones with 15–25% porosity values are observed within the D–G members. The Sabaya–Maghrabi reservoir generally exhibits good to very good quality, and is characterized by high porosity and varying permeability. Due to their high organic matter content, the Dakhla and Quseir formations show potential as unconventional reservoirs. Several shale units within the Komombo Basin serve as potential seal rocks. These include the B Member of the Six Hills, Abu Ballas, upper Maghrabi and Taref formations, as well as intra-formational shales within the reservoir rocks. Seismic interpretation indicates that faults are the predominant trapping mechanism in the basin.
Long-term changes in Chalk groundwater quality in East Anglia, UK
Authors: Heathcote John A.
Published: October 2024

Groundwater abstraction quantity from the Chalk is limited to what is sustainable. Water quality data collected in the 1970s and 1980s have been compared with modern water quality monitoring data for 25 public supply abstraction sites. This comparison has established that there has been both substantial (magnitude) and significant (statistical) change in composition at all sites. Identified changes generally represent real changes in groundwater composition. At some sites in the south of the area considered, water that is not the result of present-day recharge processes is being replaced by water from present-day recharge. It is also clear that at those sites where ancient brackish water is known to be present at depth, it is generally not being mobilized by pumping. In the north of the area, changes are more subtle but there is a tendency of groundwater composition to approach the regional average, apart from calcium which is trending higher. Nitrate has not increased here, suggesting that reduction is a still-active process. Thus, although quantity has been sustained, quality is changing but not to a degree that impacts potable use.
You Don’t Know Jack about Bandwidth
Authors: Collier-Brown David
Published: October 2024

If you are an ISP and your customers hate you, take heart: This is now a solvable problem.
Exploring the Optimal Binder Content in Composite Electrodes for Sulfide-Based All-Solid-State Lithium-Ion Batteries
Authors: Jo Yong-Han , Lee Young-Jun , Kim Dong-Won
Published: October 2024

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) are promising next-generation batteries owing to their improved safety compared with lithium-ion batteries using flammable liquid electrolytes. Among various solid electrolytes, sulfide-based electrolytes exhibit high ionic conductivities, and their ductile properties allow them to be easily processed without high-temperature sintering. In sulfide-based ASSBs, a polymer binder is essential for achieving a good cycling performance by maintaining strong interfacial contacts in the composite electrodes during cycling. In this study, we prepared a composite Si-C anode and a LiNi0.82Co0.1Mn0.08O2 cathode using a nitrile-butadiene rubber binder for ASSB applications, and investigated the effect of the binder content on the mechanical properties and electrochemical performance. The binder content significantly influenced the physical and electrochemical characteristics of the composite electrodes, and the ASSB prepared with 1.5 wt% binder showed the best cycling performance considering capacity retention and rate capability. Furthermore, we investigated how the excess binder adversely affected the cycling performance through time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis.
PolyCitrulline Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode as a Voltammetric Sensor for the Simultaneous Determination of Metabolic Syndrome Biomarkers-Uric Acid and Tyramine
Authors: Sam Sonia , Chandran Amoolya , Girish Kumar K.
Published: October 2024

This article describes the development of a simple and sensitive voltammetric sensor for the simultaneous determination of Uric acid (UA) and Tyramine (TYM), which act as metabolic syndrome (Mts) biomarkers. The electropolymer of the naturally occurring amino acid citrulline (Cit) has been employed as the electrode modifier in this sensor. Glassy carbon electrode modified with poly citrulline has been characterized with the aid of techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and SEM-energy dispersive X-ray analysis, surface area calculations and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Studies were carried out to optimize parameters like the cycles of polymerisation, supporting electrolyte and its pH. The sensor which offers fast determination of the analytes using square wave voltammetry possesses a limit of detection 1.32 × 10−8 M and 4.20 × 10−8 M for UA and TYM, respectively. The applicability of the sensor in body fluids has been proved through spike recovery analysis in artificial blood serum and urine samples. Interference on the voltammetric signals created by some dominant coexisting species of the analytes was found to be tolerable.
Computationally Optimized Graphene-Based Electrochemical Sensor with Enhanced Signal Stability for the Determination of the Antimicrobial Agent 9-aminoacridine
Authors: Saad Martin N. , Marzouk Hoda M. , Amer Sawsan M. , El-Sherbiny Ibrahim M. , Mahmoud Amr M.
Published: October 2024

A hydrophobic aryl diazonium salt has been synthesized from 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)aniline and utilized to covalently modify graphene nanoplatelets and carbon nanotubes. The modified nanomaterials were applied on a screen-printed electrode/ion sensing membrane interface resulting in reduced potential drift to 100 μV h−1 compared to control sensors. Characterization was achieved through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrode’s response was optimized using response surface methodology and then utilized for determination of 9-Aminoacridine (9-AA) in pharmaceutical gel dosage form and spiked human plasma without prior extraction steps. 9-AA is a fluorescent dye with antimicrobial activity that eradicates a range of microorganisms that can cause oral sores or broken skin and it has been recently used as anticancer among other uses as fluorescent dye and pH indicator. Accurate determination of 9-AA could help in adjusting dosages for each application. The optimized sensor was validated per IUPAC guidelines and obtained a wide linearity range from 1.0 × 10–7 M to 1.0 × 10–2 M, correlation coefficient of 0.9997, improved Nernstian slope 59.72, long term stability, and lower limit of detection (9.0 × 10–8 M). Furthermore, Analytical Eco-scale and AGREE methods were utilized to evaluate the presented method’s greenness.
Review—Recent Developments in Low Temperature Wafer Level Metal Bonding for Heterogenous Integration
Authors: Wernicke T. , Rebhan B. , Vuorinen V. , Paulasto-Kröckel M. , Dubey V. , Diex K. , Wünsch D. , Baum M. , Wiemer M. , Tanaka S. , Froemel J. , Aasmundtveit K. E. , Nguyen H.-V. , Dragoi V.
Published: October 2024

An overview of various low-temperature (<200 °C) wafer bonding processes using metal interlayers is presented. Such processes are very attractive for novel applications in 3D heterogenous packaging as the allow for simultaneous formation of electrical interconnects, as well as hermetic encapsulation of various sensors and microelectromechanical systems-based devices. Metal wafer bonding is a generic category of processes consisting of various sub-categories, each one defined by the different principles governing the process. One can differentiate between eutectic wafer bonding (a eutectic alloy is formed as bonding layer during the process by liquid-solid interdiffusion), intermetallic wafer bonding (an intermetallic alloy is formed as bonding layer during the process by solid-liquid interdiffusion, a process known also as solid liquid intermetallic diffusion transient liquid phase, and metal thermo-compression wafer bonding. Different critical/gating parameters were investigated and their impact for generally reducing processing temperatures for the different metal bonding systems was studied.
Altered control of breathing in a rat model of allergic lower airway inflammation
Authors: Morgan Barbara J. , Song Ruolin , McDermott Ivy , Brinkman Jacqueline A. , Holbert Kelsey , Oler Angie T. , Dresen Amy S. , Sandbo Nathan , Bernau Ksenija , Teodorescu Mihaela
Published: October 2024

Asthma is a risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); however, the mechanisms are incompletely understood. In a rat model of allergic inflammation associated with asthma, we found that ventilation in normoxia and ventilatory responses to hypoxia were markedly enhanced and related with systemic inflammation. These alterations indicating carotid chemoreflex sensitization, known to promote ventilatory instability during sleep in humans, may contribute to the increased OSA risk in asthma.
Technique of Tripled Fixed Point Results on Orthogonal G‐Metric Spaces
Authors: Gnanaprakasam Arul Joseph , Mani Gunaseelan , Kumar Santosh
Published: October 2024

In this article, we introduce a novel concept of orthogonal nonlinear contraction and establish some tripled fixed point theorems for this class of contractions in the framework of an orthogonal complete G‐metric space. An appropriate example demonstrates the validity of the main results, highlighting the advantages of the comparable literature. The results proved here will be utilized to show the existence of a solution to an integral equation in applications.
Olfactory Carcinoma, Similar yet Distinct to Olfactory Neuroblastoma: A Case Report and Literature Review
Authors: Alsavaf Mohammad Bilal , Jawad Basit , Salem Eman H. , Mongkolkul Kittichai , Limbach Abberly Lott , Prevedello Daniel M. , Carrau Ricardo
Published: October 2024

Introduction: Olfactory carcinoma (OC) is a rare tumor that is often misdiagnosed as olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB). Due to its rarity, there is no established standard treatment for OC, and there have been no reports of successful long-term follow-up treatment yet. Case Presentation: Two male patients, aged 54 and 48 years, presented with similar symptoms of nasal obstruction, anosmia, facial swelling, and epistaxis. Imaging in both cases revealed large, locally advanced sinonasal neoplasms. Initial biopsies were concerning for ONB; however, final pathological analyses confirmed high-grade OC. Treatment comprised induction chemotherapy, extensive skull base tumor resection, adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, and reconstructive surgery in both cases. The 54-year-old remains disease-free at 7 years, while the 48-year-old demonstrates no evidence of disease at 8 months. Conclusion: Accurate diagnostic differentiation is imperative to optimize a treatment approach. Although outcomes with OC tend to be worse than those of ONB, effective control can be achieved with judicious concurrent use of neoadjuvant, surgery, and adjuvant treatments. Ongoing surveillance, biobanking, and genomic analysis are crucial to gain a better understanding of this complex disease.
Human Papilloma Virus-Related Oral Mucosal Lesions in Turkey: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Bozdag Leyla Arslan , Elif Gultekin Sibel
Published: October 2024

Introduction: The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the etiological agent of a variety of oral mucosal benign and pre/malignant lesions, which demonstrate a wide range of prevalence according to geographic regions. Material and Methods: This study specifically examined the typing of HPV-associated oral mucosal lesions in Turkish patients. The DNA from FFPE blocks of 228 lesions was utilized for this purpose. A total of 87 oral mucosal lesions were classified as benign, 68 as premalignant, and 73 as malignant. DNA from these lesions was amplified using polymerase chain reaction, and genotypes were identified using restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP). Results: HPV-DNA was identified in 17 out of 228 patients, indicating a prevalence incidence of 7.4%. In benign oral lesions, the prevalence of HPV-DNA was 9.2% (8/87 cases), whereas in premalignant, oral epithelial dysplasia, and oral squamous cell carcinoma lesions, it was 6.9% (9/141 cases). A significant statistical difference was found between patients who tested positive for HPV and those who tested negative in terms of the location of the lesion and the age of the patients (p = 0.0097, p = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: This study underscores the considerable prevalence of HPV infection in oral mucosal lesions among individuals in Central Anatolia, Turkey.
Impairment of Renal Function in Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome
Authors: Yokoyama Tadafumi , O’Brien Kevin J. , Franklin Tesiya M. , Zuo Ben Long G. , Zuo Mei Xing G. , Merideth Melissa A. , Introne Wendy J. , Gochuico Bernadette R.
Published: October 2024

Introduction: Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by defective biogenesis of lysosome-related organelles. The genetic types of HPS are associated with a spectrum of multisystemic clinical manifestations. Phenotypic features of HPS type 1 (HPS-1) or HPS-4, which are associated with defects in biogenesis of lysosome-related organelles complex-3 (BLOC-3), are generally more severe than those of HPS-3, HPS-5, or HPS-6, which are associated with defects in BLOC-2. A paucity of information is available about renal impairment in HPS. The objective of this study is to expand the understanding of kidney disease in HPS. Methods: Medical records and clinical data of patients with HPS evaluated at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center from 1995 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. For patients with more than one visit, the most recent renal function and urinalysis tests were analyzed. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using standard equations (i.e., Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration, Modification of Diet in Renal Disease). Kidney tissue sections from 5 patients with HPS-1 and 1 patient with HPS-6 were examined. Results: Records from 205 adults and 52 children with HPS were reviewed. Calculated eGFR of adult patients with different HPS types differed significantly, and calculated eGFR of pediatric and adult patients with BLOC-3 disorders was significantly lower than that of patients with BLOC-2 disorders. Linear regression analysis showed that renal function progressively decreases with age in patients with BLOC-3 or BLOC-2 disorders, but the rate of decline was more rapid in patients with BLOC-3 disorders compared to patients with BLOC-2 disorders. In adult patients with HPS-1, glucosuria was found in 4%, proteinuria in 12%, hematuria in 15%, high levels of urinary β2MG in 24%, and elevated urinary albumin to creatinine ratios in 9%. Histological examination of kidney tissue showed accumulation of intracellular deposits of ceroid lipofuscin in proximal renal tubular epithelial cells in patients with HPS-1. There was no evidence of fibrosis, and glomeruli, distal renal tubular epithelial cells, and interstitial regions appeared histologically normal. Conclusion: Mild impairment of renal function is a feature of HPS. Kidneys of patients with HPS-1 contain proximal renal tubular intracellular deposits and no histologic evidence of fibrosis. Consistent with other manifestations of HPS, the phenotype of renal impairment is relatively more pronounced in patients with BLOC-3 disorders than in patients with BLOC-2 disorders. Strategies to avoid nephrotoxicity or renal tubular injury and to protect renal function should be considered for patients with HPS irrespective of age.
The Immune Microenvironment in Prostate Cancer: A Comprehensive Review
Authors: Novysedlak Rene , Guney Miray , Al Khouri Majd , Bartolini Robin , Koumbas Foley Lily , Benesova Iva , Ozaniak Andrej , Novak Vojtech , Vesely Stepan , Pacas Pavel , Buchler Tomas , Ozaniak Strizova Zuzana
Published: October 2024

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is a malignancy with significant immunosuppressive properties and limited immune activation. This immunosuppression is linked to reduced cytotoxic T cell activity, impaired antigen presentation, and elevated levels of immunosuppressive cytokines and immune checkpoint molecules. Studies demonstrate that cytotoxic CD8+ T cell infiltration correlates with improved survival, while increased regulatory T cells (Tregs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are associated with worse outcomes and therapeutic resistance. Th1 cells are beneficial, whereas Th17 cells, producing interleukin-17 (IL-17), contribute to tumor progression. Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) and immune checkpoint molecules, such as PD-1/PD-L1 and T cell immunoglobulin-3 (TIM-3) are also linked to advanced stages of PCa. Chemotherapy holds promise in converting the “cold” tumor microenvironment (TME) to a “hot” one by depleting immunosuppressive cells and enhancing tumor immunogenicity. Summary: This comprehensive review examines the immune microenvironment in PCa, focusing on the intricate interactions between immune and tumor cells in the TME. It highlights how TAMs, Tregs, cytotoxic T cells, and other immune cell types contribute to tumor progression or suppression and how PCa’s low immunogenicity complicates immunotherapy. Key Messages: The infiltration of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and Th1 cells correlates with better outcomes, while elevated T regs and TAMs promote tumor growth, metastasis, and resistance. TANs and natural killer (NK) cells exhibit dual roles, with higher NK cell levels linked to better prognoses. Immune checkpoint molecules like PD-1, PD-L1, and TIM-3 are associated with advanced disease. Chemotherapy can improve tumor immunogenicity by depleting T regs and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, offering therapeutic promise.
IL36RN Mutations and Correlated Characteristics in Generalized Pustular Psoriasis Patients in Can Tho City, Vietnam: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang , Trung Nguyen Kien , Le Nguyen Bang , Tran Thi Minh Tam , Do Tran Hung , Gia Tran Hung
Published: October 2024

Introduction: Pustular psoriasis is a rare and severe form of psoriasis characterized by sterile pustules on an erythematous background. The disease ranges from localized to generalized forms, with the latter being particularly life-threatening and recurrent. Understanding the genetic basis of pustular psoriasis, particularly IL36RN mutations, is crucial for developing better treatments. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and types of IL36RN gene mutations and their relationship with clinical and paraclinical features in patients with pustular psoriasis in Can Tho City, Vietnam. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Can Tho Dermatology Hospital involving 59 patients diagnosed with generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) according to ERASPEN and Japanese Dermatological Association criteria. Data on demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics were collected. IL36RN gene mutations were identified through genomic DNA sequencing. Statistical analyses were performed to explore associations between IL36RN mutations and clinical features. Results: The study included 59 participants, predominantly female (69.5%), with an average age of 39.12 years. A significant proportion (83.1%) had a history of psoriasis, with frequent recurrences (94.9%). The most common IL36RN mutation identified was p.Arg10ArgfsX1, present in 44.1% of patients. Other mutations included p.Pro76Leu (20.3%) and p.Arg102Trp (1.7%). Patients with IL36RN mutations were younger and had an earlier disease onset. Significant associations were found between IL36RN mutations and clinical features such as fever (OR = 11, p < 0.0001) and geographic tongue (OR = 14.67, p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Our study reveals a high prevalence of IL36RN mutations, particularly p.Arg10ArgfsX1, in Vietnamese pustular psoriasis patients, strongly associating these mutations with clinical features like fever and geographic tongue.
The Mortality of Politics: An American Paradox
Authors: Evans Mark I. , Ryan Gregory F. , Britt David W. , Macedonia Christian R.
Published: October 2024

Introduction: The USA has the poorest health statistics of any high-income country. Political polarization has risen dramatically; newer safety net programs (the Affordable Care Act [ACA]) are unevenly provided because many Republican-leaning states refused expanded Federal coverage. Democratic programs have reduced physician leadership of medicine. Both have been deleterious. Here, we investigated associations among four key health measures two of which directly impact pregnancy outcomes and two that affect all patients by percentage of each state that voted for the Republican versus Democratic candidate in the 2020 presidential election. Methods: For each state, we used public, non-partisan databases to assess the incidence of COVID, maternal, and infant mortality per 100,000 population and average life expectancy. Correlations among these four outcome variables and percentage Republican vote were calculated (r), contextualized by measuring associations with related variables including COVID vaccination rates, access to medical care, and incidences of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, gunshot deaths, and automotive fatalities. Results: COVID mortality, maternal and infant mortality, and life expectancy were highly correlated with percentage Republican (“red”) vote per state. If “red” states had vaccination rates equivalent to Democratic-leaning (“blue”) states, 72,000 deaths could have been avoided. Overall, “red” states have lower health metrics, reduced access to care, and higher comorbidities. Conclusion: The percent Republican vote was strongly associated, but not the whole answer, with worse health outcomes for multiple key measures of public health including mortality, access to care, and various comorbidities. Overall, the ACA has improved patient access to care but has also led to “maternity care deserts” disproportionately in rural areas in “red” states. Translating insurance coverage into improved care and outcomes requires further analysis and will require multi-pronged approaches including expanding coverage and incentivizing quality care.
The Art of Ultrafiltration, from Pump to Peritoneum
Authors: Belal Amer , Kazory Amir
Published: October 2024

Background: Heart failure remains a significant public health burden given its prevalence, morbidity, mortality as well its untoward financial consequences. Summary: The assessment of congestion and its treatment are integral in heart failure pathophysiology and outcomes. Renal venous congestion and its suboptimal response to diuretic-based and novel pharmacological therapeutic regimens have thus positioned ultrafiltration as a promising therapeutic option for patients with acute decompensated heart failure. As a corollary, peritoneal dialysis has had success establishing itself as a relevant therapeutic option for chronic cardiorenal syndrome in patients with heart failure. Key Messages: Herein, we will discuss the pathophysiologic basis of ultrafiltration and peritoneal dialysis in heart failure with a review of the relevant clinical trials on safety and efficacy profiles in these patient populations.
Chunk Duration Limits the Learning of Multiword Chunks: Behavioral and Electroencephalography Evidence from Statistical Learning
Authors: Henke Lena , Meyer Lars
Published: October 2024

Language comprehension involves the grouping of words into larger multiword chunks. This is required to recode information into sparser representations to mitigate memory limitations and counteract forgetting. It has been suggested that electrophysiological processing time windows constrain the formation of these units. Specifically, the period of rhythmic neural activity (i.e., low-frequency neural oscillations) may set an upper limit of 2–3 sec. Here, we assess whether learning of new multiword chunks is also affected by this neural limit. We applied an auditory statistical learning paradigm of an artificial language while manipulating the duration of to-be-learned chunks. Participants listened to isochronous sequences of disyllabic pseudowords from which they could learn hidden three-word chunks based on transitional probabilities. We presented chunks of 1.95, 2.55, and 3.15 sec that were created by varying the pause interval between pseudowords. In a first behavioral experiment, we tested learning using an implicit target detection task. We found better learning for chunks of 2.55 sec as compared to longer durations in line with an upper limit of the proposed time constraint. In a second experiment, we recorded participants' electroencephalogram during the exposure phase to use frequency tagging as a neural index of statistical learning. Extending the behavioral findings, results show a significant decline in neural tracking for chunks exceeding 3 sec as compared to both shorter durations. Overall, we suggest that language learning is constrained by endogenous time constraints, possibly reflecting electrophysiological processing windows.
Fine Granularity Is Critical for Intelligent Neural Network Pruning
Authors: Heyman Alex , Zylberberg Joel
Published: October 2024

Neural network pruning is a popular approach to reducing the computational costs of training and/or deploying a network and aims to do so while minimizing accuracy loss. Pruning methods that remove individual weights (fine granularity) can remove more total network parameters before reaching a given degree of accuracy loss, while methods that preserve some or all of a network’s structure (coarser granularity, such as pruning channels from a CNN) take better advantage of hardware and software optimized for dense matrix computations. We compare intelligent iterative pruning using several different criteria sampled from the literature against random pruning at initialization across multiple granularities on two different architectures and three image classification tasks. Our work is the first direct and comprehensive investigation of the relationship between granularity and the efficacy of intelligent pruning relative to a random-pruning baseline. We find that the accuracy advantage of intelligent over random pruning decreases dramatically as granularity becomes coarser, with minimal advantage for intelligent pruning at granularity coarse enough to fully preserve network structure. For instance, at pruning rates where random pruning leaves ResNet-20 at 85.0% test accuracy on CIFAR-10 after 30,000 training iterations, intelligent weight pruning with the best-in-context criterion leaves it at about 90.0% accuracy (on par with the unpruned network), kernel pruning leaves it at about 86.5%, and channel pruning leaves it at about 85.5%. Our results suggest that compared to coarse pruning, fine pruning combined with efficient implementation of the resulting networks is a more promising direction for easing the trade-off between high accuracy and low computational cost.
A Survey of Climate Change Law in the United Kingdom
Authors: Muinzer Thomas L.
Published: October 2024

A detailed summative statement of the law of climate change in the United Kingdom has yet to be brought together in the legal literature. This article fills the gap by drawing UK climate change law together into an article-length outline. The law is current to 4 July 2024, when the British Conservative Party, which had been in government for fourteen consecutive years, lost to Labour in a general election.
Aḥmad al-Ghazālī’s al-Tajrīd fī Kalimat al-Tawḥīd: “A Primer on the Statement of Tawḥīd”
Authors: Lumbard Joseph E. B.
Published: October 2024

This article presents an introduction to and the first complete English translation of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī’s (d. 517/1123 or 520/1126), al-Tajrīd fī kalimat al-tawḥīd, his most widely received Arabic text. The title has a double entendre, meaning both “A Primer on the Statement of Tawḥīd,” and “Disengaging Through the Statement of Tawḥīd.” It is designed to serve both purposes. The first half provides a spiritual typography, juxtaposing “the people of grace” (ahl al-faḍl) to “the people of justice” (ahl al-ʿadl). The former are those who maintain their covenant with God and follow the Prophet Muhammad. The latter are those who break the covenant and follow Iblīs. The second half guides aspirants through the levels of spiritual development and the corresponding modes of remembrance (dhikr), detailing three modes of dhikr – lā ilāha illa Llāh (No god, but God), Allāh, and huwa huwa (He, He). These correspond to three levels within the human being, the heart (al-qalb), the spirit (al-rūḥ), and the secret (al-sirr). The goal is to provide an overview of the means whereby one can disengage from the blameworthy inclinations of their soul through the progressive levels of dhikr until the secret predominates over the spirit and the spirit predominates over the heart, such that one is able to focus solely upon God.
If Not For-If It Weren’t/Wasn’t For Counterfactual Constructions: A Multivariate Extension of Collostructional Analysis
Authors: Martínez Jesús Olguín , Gries Stefan Th.
Published: October 2024

The present paper investigates if not for-if it weren’t/wasn’t for constructions in American English based on the analysis of more than 2,100 constructions extracted from The Corpus of Contemporary American English (coca). In analyzing these constructions, we focus on significant interdependencies between the slots of the protasis (i.e. animacy of the referent of the np) and apodosis (i.e. semantics of the verb lemma) and how these cross-clausal associations interact with other linguistic variables, such as the polarity of the apodosis. We apply a new multivariate extension of collostructional analysis that combines distinctive and (co-varying) collexeme analysis via a hierarchical configural frequency analysis. This allows the analyst to identify associations not just of one slot to a construction or one slot to one other slot in one construction, but to include other features to identify (i) which constructions are preferred by which fillers in, now, one or more slots of one construction and (ii) which constructions are preferred by which (combinations) of one or more fillers.
Aspectual Coercion and Lexical Semantics
Authors: Michaelis Laura Adrienne
Published: October 2024

In many traditions of aspectual analysis, verbs (or, rather, predications) are sorted into Aristotelian types, and grammatical aspects are seen as operators that (a) take tenseless propositions as arguments and (b) change the eventuality type of the proposition. This tradition tells us little about how state and action clauses mean what they mean, because it does not explain how aspectual markers affect the meanings of verbs with which they combine. In the present framework, aspectually sensitive constructions selectively bind to componential verb representations, permuting them. In part 1 of this series (Michaelis, 2022), I argued that by viewing such permutations as operations on a verb’s Aktionsart structure, we can explain the relationship between input and output situation types of aspectual mappings effected by verbal morphosyntax. In this article, part 2, I apply this framework to type shifts performed by the English Perfect and Progressive constructions, as well as past and present tenses.
Chelonodontops bengalensis Habib et al. 2018, a junior synonym of Tetrodon patoca Hamilton 1822, with a type species designation for Chelonodon Müller 1841
Authors: BRITZ RALF , TAN HEOK HUI , RÜBER LUKAS
Published: October 2024

A comparison of the recent description of Chelonodontops bengalensis Habib, Neogi, Og, Lee & Kim 2018 with that of Tetrodon patoca Hamilton 1822 reveals that the former is a junior synonym of the latter. Chelonodon patoca appears to be restricted in its distribution to coastal brackish waters at the mouth of the Ganges/Brahmaputra/Meghna system in India and Bangladesh and further south to at least the mouth of the Mahanadi. The valid name for the widespread Indo-Pacific species previously confused with C. patoca is C. kappa Hamilton 1822. We show that Bleeker (1850), not Rüppell (1852), was the first author to include pufferfish species in the genus Chelonodon Müller 1841, and as first revisers we choose Tetrodon kappa Hamilton 1822 as the type species of Chelonodon.
1. Iannis Xenakis’s Theater Studies
Authors: Ioakeim Nikos
Published: October 2024

It is widely recognized that Xenakis’s war experiences during the Occupation years in Athens were crucial for his later life and work. What is not known, however, is that, in addition to studying at the Polytechnic and participating in the Resistance, Xenakis also attended a singular drama school named ‘Theatriko Spoudastirio’ that was founded by the philologist, writer, and Shakespearean translator Vassilis Rotas (1889-1977). Prominent figures of Greek cultural life taught in this school, which also functioned as an undercover Resistance meeting point, since its students included hundreds of members of the United Panhellenic Youth Organization (EPON), the youth wing of the National Liberation Front (EAM), including Xenakis. As though putting the pieces of a puzzle together, this article attempts to bring to light Xenakis’s early theater studies through recently unearthed sources and the composer’s own rare references, and to also point out an elective affinity between Xenakis’s later treatment of ancient Greek tragedy and the ideas of his former teacher, Vassilis Rotas.
4. Debating the Noise
Authors: Janković-Beguš Jelena
Published: October 2024

I examine the reception of Xenakis's music in Serbia and its capital city of Belgrade, during the period when this republic was a constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). The critical texts which are examined here encompass a period of nearly three decades, from the early 1960s until the end of the 1980s. This timeframe was chosen because the beginning of the 1990s marked the onset of dissolution of the SFR Yugoslavia and a profound change in the cultural landscape in Serbia. Generally speaking, the musical establishment in post-WWII Serbia failed to develop a particular liking to avant-garde music, even at the period of its greatest flourishing in Western European countries. Serialism, in particular, was never really accepted by the vast majority of Serbian composers, while the compositional techniques of the so-called ‘Polish School’ were assimilated to a certain extent, although they were usually combined with other, more traditional approaches to music composition. Serbian composers’ mistrust of the avant-garde was a reflection of the overall artistic climate in Belgrade which was much more inclined towards syntheses of the past and the future than towards radical denial of the past in favor of the future.

These overall standpoints of the Serbian musical establishment in the second-half of the 20th Century can be observed in the critical thought of the time, and they are clearly visible in the attitudes towards the music of Iannis Xenakis. While Xenakis himself did not actually belong to any of the predominant currents of the European avant-garde music (serial, aleatoric), nor was he close to the American experimental current (represented by John Cage and his followers), he was nevertheless perceived in Belgrade as the exemplary European avant-garde composer. Hence, the reception of his music in Serbia was for a long time largely negative, with more favorable opinions about his music expressed only from the 1980s onwards.
9. Iannis Xenakis’s Philosophy of Music, Stochastics, and the Postmodern Sublime
Authors: Friedman Nathan
Published: October 2024

In his writings and compositions from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, Iannis Xenakis makes clear his intent to compose music that escapes the inherited structures of the Western tradition. As a way to achieve this goal, he uses stochastic techniques in order to uproot listeners’ expectations, but in a manner more attuned to the psychology of listening than his serialist contemporaries.

One of his chief concerns is the hierarchy of temporalities as experienced by the listener and manipulated by the composer, a hierarchy whose levels range from the length of an entire piece down to microscopic sonic ‘grains’. His usage of stochastic techniques muddies the distinction between these temporal levels, disorienting the listener on multiple timescales. Such a state of disorientation, where one is unable to predict the course of a work, is a hallmark of what Jean-François Lyotard calls the ‘postmodern’ sublime, which is produced by avant-garde artistic works that, like those of Xenakis, eschew received models and notions of representation or allusion.

Drawing on scholarship by Brian Kane, I argue that Lyotard’s postmodern sublime is precisely what Xenakis aims to produce in his stochastic works, and that it acts as a preliminary mode of both composition and reception, helping composer and listener to break free from traditional constraints. This process allows for the production of new compositional structures and modes of reception, radically expanding musical possibilities.
14. The CIX Archives
Authors: Delhaye Cyrille
Published: October 2024

The work conducted around the conservation and valorization of the CIX archives since 2010 shows that the main collection includes all the archival documents of the association Les Ateliers UPIC. This association, founded by Iannis Xenakis in 1985, promoted the machine for aiding composition through drawing, invented at the CEMAMu in 1977, through a whole series of pedagogical actions, including composition workshops and concerts throughout the world. Among the traces left by the circa 130 composers who came to Paris to compose on UPIC, a folder constituted by Iannis Xenakis for Taurhiphanie catches one’s attention: it regroups compositional materials, UPIC pages, contextual archives, photographs of the premiere, etc. These documents highlight some aspects of the genesis of this polymorphic work, created in Arles (France) in 1987 for real-time UPIC, a percussion ensemble, horses, and bulls. After presenting the state of the art of the work in progress for the conservation and valorization of the CIX collections since 2010, this chapter dives into the depths of the collection by analyzing and contextualizing the traces left by Xenakis when he composed Taurhiphanie.
18. Iannis Xenakis’s Pithoprakta
Authors: Christensen Erik , Bjerno Lisa C.
Published: October 2024

After a brief introduction to music phenomenology, we present the outcome of a phenomenological investigation of Pithoprakta, encompassing comparatively detailed descriptions and hermeneutical interpretations of the work, including prominent musical features, sonorities, densities, and transformations of sound masses. In order to minimize presuppositions and promote unbiased listening, we did not study the score or research on Pithoprakta prior to the listening sessions. Subsequently, in a survey of the work, we summarize the macroform and possible emotional interpretations of the music, and include references to the printed score. In addition, we quote texts and statements by Xenakis in order to enable comparisons between our investigation and the composer’s intentions. References to selected research widen the perspective of the investigation by pointing out important aspects of Xenakis’s music and his personality.
26. Creating and Learning with UPIC
Authors: Shimazu Takehito
Published: October 2024

‘The reason why we need to study pedagogy is because we have forgotten our childhood’.

I remember these words that a professor lecturing on music education spoke in a class while I was studying at university. Throughout my life, they became very important and significant for me. In the 1970’s UPIC was born as an embodiment of Iannis Xenakis’s new compositional techniques, coupled with his comprehensive scientific thinking. This system not only became a convenient tool for creation, but it was also extremely useful as an educational device that allowed children to freely create music using this system. It allowed children to feel close to creation and took into account children's perspectives and their wishes. In this chapter, I mention the possibilities created by the UPIC and new possibilities that are questioned today and in the future, both in the context of music creation and that of music education. Concretely, in the 1990s, through the creation of my own works, considering its version at that time, I will discuss the implementations I made and the possibilities experienced when I was actually in front of UPIC. I will also address future possibilities of music production that Xenakis dreamed of, and at the same time, discuss the meaning and possibilities of using this system for education in the future.
35. Phoenix-Albatross
Authors: Zannos Iannis , Ikeda Takumi
Published: October 2024

In this chapter, we present an attempt to reinterpret aspects of Xenakis's work in the context of 21st century performance practice using live-coding and embodied performance or dance with sensors. We explain how we created and a variant of the game-matrix from Xenakis’s composition Duel (1959), and how we used it to guide a live-coding performance following game-playing rules derived from Duel. We discuss the implications of adapting this formal scheme to a performance setting where a dancer controls the sounds live-coded by two players through movements tracked using wearable wireless sensors. Finally, we report on the resulting performance and discuss in general terms how the live-coding and gesture-control combined approach compares to the original composition setting for orchestra by Xenakis according to our experience.
37. Notes on A Catalog of Difference
Authors: Lucia Andrew
Published: October 2024

This chapter focuses on the author’s decade-long research project, A Catalog of Difference (2017). Approached from a background in architecture and art, this inquiry into spatial-material perception and its representation synthesizes information theoretic methodologies and concepts derived from Iannis Xenakis, Gregory Bateson, and the perceptual psychologist James J. Gibson, giving priority to an informational approach over that of the geometric. Architecture, through its representational tools and design workflows, has historically favored the latter of these distinctions, giving primacy to line and geometry at the expense of material phenomena. The work presented here challenges this bias while deliberately paying favor to formal potentials inherent within differentials of ambient light and surface curvatures. A Catalog of Difference is a study of change across material and perceptual environments, calling attention to those differences which make a difference. The collection comprises over 1,000 studies that survey and analyze degrees of difference across images, objects, and environments. The outcome of these studies is a collection of artifacts comprising a range of representation and media types including 3D printed ceramics, digital photography, renderings, and drawings. The difference machines elaborated on in the catalog operate as a methodology and collection of post-digital representations. The research is divided into three distinct yet related subsets examining the order and organization of: a) Planar ambient light, b) Surface curvatures, and c) Spherical ambient light. The studies in each of these questions form versus appearance.
44. The Establishment of the CMRC—KSYME in Athens
Authors: Harizanos Nickos , Tsioukra Katerina , Papachristou Dana
Published: October 2024

The Contemporary Music Research Center (CMRC–KSYME) was founded in 1979 by Iannis Xenakis, Giannis G. Papaioannou, and Stephanos Vassileiadis in Athens. From the presentation made in the Greek leg of the Meta-Xenakis marathon global conference in October 2022, a virtual exhibition of the numerous archival documents from the Center’s archive retraces its history and scope of past and current activities, in terms of research, creation, education.
Unveiling Kerala’s Distinct Urbanisation: A Comparative Analysis within India
Authors: V Arya , C A Rejuna
Published: October 2024

Urbanisation is a pivotal demographic transformation that characterised the twentieth century, serving as a crucial indicator of modernisation intimately intertwined with economic growth and development. Significantly, in its journey as a developing nation, India is witnessing a rapid surge in urbanisation, a trend that surpassed expectations, as evidenced by the 2011 Census. The surge in India’s urban population is primarily attributed to a combination of net rural–urban reclassification and rural-to-urban migration. It is essential to recognise the distinctive nature of Kerala in this context, as the state diverges significantly from the patterns observed in other regions. The urbanisation unfolding in Kerala is not confined solely to designated towns and cities; instead, the entire state portrays a nuanced urban–rural continuum. In this study, an exploration is undertaken to dissect the trends and patterns of urbanisation in Kerala, delving into its unique characteristics and associated challenges based on data provided by the Census of India. Regression analysis is used to determine the factors that contribute to Kerala’s urbanisation, which shows that urbanisation process is influenced by a complex interplay of financial, economic and demographic factors. Over the decade, banking has become a crucial driver of urbanisation, highlighting its growing role in supporting urban growth and development. In contrast, the significance of investment in small-scale industries/micro, small and medium enterprises has diminished by 2011, suggesting shifts in the economic landscape and pointing to the rising importance of services and remittances as sources of urban expansion. Household dynamics, consistently significant in both years, emphasise the critical role of population changes and family structures in shaping urbanisation trends. Despite the continuous rise in urbanisation rates, there persists a noticeable sluggishness in development, especially regarding the provision of essential amenities. This aspect necessitates focused policy attention to address the challenges accompanying Kerala’s evolving urban landscape.

JEL Codes: O18, R23, R12