bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Journey to Poland
Authors: Cinquegrani Maurizio
Published: May 2019

Journey to Poland: Documentary Landscapes of the Holocaust provides a new topographical methodology for the study of cinema and the Holocaust and addresses crucial issues of memory and history in relation to the Holocaust as it unfolded in the territories of the Second Polish Republic. Aiming to understand the ways past events inform present-day landscapes, and the way in which we engage with memory, witnessing and representation, the book creates a coherent cinematic map of this landscape through the study of previously neglected film and TV documentaries that focus on survivors and bystanders, as well as on members of the post-war generation. Applying a spatial and geographical approach to a debate previously organised around other frameworks of analysis, Journey to Poland uncovers vital new perspectives on the Holocaust. As it focuses on ideas of postmemory, sites of memory and multidirectional memory, Journey to Poland: Documentary Landscapes of the Holocaust thus investigates understudied archival footage and recent Polish and international documentaries made for TV and applies a spatial and geographical approach to a debate previously organised around other frameworks of analysis.
Prologue: Space, Time and the Holocaust
Authors: Cinquegrani Maurizio
Published: May 2019

In the autumn of 1941 the SS released orders for the construction of two large labour camps for Soviet prisoners of war to be built on the outskirts of the city of Lublin, in Lesser Poland, and in the village of Brzezinka, near Oświęcim, in Silesia....
Countryside, Shtetl, City: The Murders of Mazovia, Jedwabne and Kielce
Authors: Cinquegrani Maurizio
Published: May 2019

This chapter explore documentaries focusing on the murder of Jews at the hands of their Polish neighbours. It explores the ways in which the controversies surrounding the events have been addressed in film; by doing so this chapter also introduces the concept of shtetl and its importance to Easter European Jewry.
Epilogue: New Routes
Authors: Cinquegrani Maurizio
Published: May 2019

Isuchar Moshe Szwarc was born near the market square of Zgierz, a town located just north of Łódź, in February 1859. He was considered one of the most erudite and wisest men in the community, and on his eightieth birthday in 1939 the Jewish press in Poland published numerous articles in his honour. A few months later, the Nazis burnt his library while he collapsed and died of a heart attack. Nobody could attend Szwarc’s funeral, as he was hastily buried by the Red Cross (cf. ...
Cameras Not Handbags: The Essential Accessory
Authors: Motrescu-Mayes Annamaria , Nicholson Heather Norris
Published: May 2019

This chapter explores women's impulse to film as a response to modernity. Some women made films entirely independently, without links to clubs, literature or other filmmakers. Self-reliant and experimental, they used their cameras as modern visual accessories to capture specific moments and memories and to display agency often denied in other areas of life by class expectations, domesticity or other constraints. Their filmic versions of family life, travel and local events may be conventional or quirkily individual and spontaneous. They chronicle anniversaries and local events, children's rites of passage and where they find themselves whether in post-independent India, Kenya's Mau Mau Emergency, countryside picnics with Enoch Powell or as an acclaimed pianist from Trinidad. Not all films were edited or even survive: imagery and interviewees disclose varied emotions; films were (and are) moments in time, often eclipsed by later circumstances whether personal or political.
From Sanitary Reform to Cultural Memory: The Case of Jacob’s Island
Authors: Hofer-Robinson Joanna
Published: May 2019

This chapter argues that we can track Dickensian afterlives in both the cultural processes by which cultural memories of Jacob’s Island have been constructed, and the processes that drove its material destruction earlier in the nineteenth century. Linked to outbreaks of cholera in the 1830s and 1840s, the slum was widely treated as a symbol which could help to galvanize metropolitan sanitary reform. Dickens’s representation of the site in Oliver Twist was repeatedly brought into these debates. The author was deeply invested in efforts to improve London’s sanitation, and like other commentators he returned to his early novel to support his campaigns. Both Dickens and other commentators presented Oliver Twist as an urgent call for contemporary reform; however, the novel’s afterlives soon changed in tone. As early as the 1870s, press commentators responded to the area’s physical alteration and evoked Oliver Twist as a record of a bygone city. By the 1880s, artists and writers nostalgically reimagined Dickens’s account of the site in an urban picturesque aesthetic. Today, Dickens is part of a heritage trail in the district, even though his representation also played a part in the demolition of Jacob’s Island.
Larraín’s Ambivalence
Authors: Harvey James
Published: May 2019

This chapter brings together the political aesthetic writings discussed thus far with works on historiography and ethics in Rancière’s work, in order to understand how historical representation contains its own latent potential for politics. Focusing on No (2012), the film’s ambivalent relationship to the effects of atrocity is, I argue, representative of what Rancière describe as an essential ambivalence at the heart of political resistance: ‘to resist is to adopt the posture of someone who stands opposed to the order of things, but simultaneously avoids the risk involved with trying to overturn that order’ (Rancière, 2010: 169). No offers a deeper understanding of the forms and concerns of contemporary political art cinema through its rejection of partisan narratives, its ironic employment of classical conventions (like stardom and linearity) and its artful use of obsolete technologies.
The Germs of a Genre: The Germ and the Oxford and Cambridge Magazine
Authors: Claes Koenraad
Published: May 2019

This chapter offers a working definition for the little magazine genre, explained as dependent on the peculiar position these publications occupied in the wider periodical marketplace. It then looks at two titles that have been suggested as the starting point for this genre: the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s journal The
Germ (1850—e.g. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, William Holman Hunt), and the closely linked Oxford and Cambridge Magazine (1856—e.g. William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones) that anticipates the message of the Arts & Crafts Movement, in which several contributors would be involved. Finally, the early tendencies in these journals towards a conceptual integration of their contents and the formal / material aspects of the printed text is related to the mid- to late-Victorian ‘Revival of Fine Printing’, which is argued to develop alongside the little magazine genre.
Poor Relief and the Church in Scotland, 1560-1650
Authors: McCallum John
Published: May 2019

This book analyses poor relief in the century or so after the Scottish Reformation of 1560. In doing so it challenges the assumption that Scottish poor relief was weak, informal and haphazard because it was run by the Protestant church rather than the state, as in England (all too often the yardstick against which Scotland is measured). Instead, the book explores the substantial welfare work carried out by Scottish parishes, and examines in detail how the system operated as well as those who benefitted from it. The rich but under-utilised parish records which are the focus of the study reveal not just the relief efforts themselves, but also provide a rare insight into the lives of poor Scots whom pre-modern historians often struggle to glimpse. The book will therefore appeal to a wide range of scholars of early modern Scotland, of poverty and its relief, and of the Reformation.
Who Was Deserving? Decision-making and Discrimination
Authors: McCallum John
Published: May 2019

Post-Reformation approaches to the poor, and in particular the Calvinist system in Scotland, are traditionally seen as harsh, condemnatory, and discriminating. There is much truth in this. However, this chapter reveals that we need to be much more careful about defining exactly where the lines between deserving and undeserving lay for religious and social elites after 1560. It assesses the ways in which kirk sessions discriminated between those they deemed worthy and unworthy, demonstrating that kirk session relief was not as harshly discriminating as has been suggested, and does not resemble the later application of Poor Laws where the only excuse for poverty was physical inability, and the mobile or able-bodied poor were penalised. Kirk sessions did not tend to exclude the poor from outside their parish, and nor did they exclude the able-bodied, unemployed or underemployed poor. The real dividing line was instead between the idle and the willing to work, and equally importantly, along moral lines between the sinful and the well-behaved poor.
Beyond the Kirk Session: Mixed Economies of Relief
Authors: McCallum John
Published: May 2019

While the focus in the previous two sections is on the formal relief system operated by the church in the localities, on the poor who received relief, and on the relationship between them, the final chapter of the book turns to consider the wider context of relief. Recent European research has demonstrated the significance of mixed economies of relief, as well as developing growing attempts to trace the lives and survival strategies of the poor on their own terms, and not merely as recipients of charity. This section applies these two trends to the Scottish experience, and contextualises the church’s relief work through an examination of the relief provided by secular authorities; hospitals; and private individuals; and the informal survival strategies employed by the poor themselves. The chapter argues that the kirk session was at the centre of the mixed economy of relief, and was by far the most significant source of support for early modern Scots in need of assistance, and furthermore that the kirk session was often instrumental in supporting, working with, and developing these other forms of relief (hospitals, testamentary charity and foundations).
Writing Nature in Cold War American Literature
Authors: Daw Sarah
Published: May 2019

Writing Nature is the first full-length ecocritical study of Cold War American literature. The book analyses the function and representation of Nature in a wide range of Cold War texts, and reveals the prevalence of portrayals of Nature as an infinite, interdependent ecological system in American literature written between 1945 and 1971. It also highlights the Cold War’s often overlooked role in environmental history, and argues for the repositioning of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) within what is shown to be a developing trend of ecological presentations of Nature in literature written after 1945. Ecocritical analysis is combined with historicist research to expose the unacknowledged role of a globally diverse range of non-Western and non-Anglocentric philosophies in shaping Cold War writers’ ecological presentations of Nature, including Sufism, Taoism and Zen Buddhism. The book contains chapters on J. D. Salinger, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, Paul Bowles and Mary McCarthy. It also introduces the regional writer Peggy Pond Church, exploring the synergies between the depictions of Nature in her writings and in those of her neighbour and correspondent, the atomic scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The place and function of Nature in each writer’s work is assessed in relation to the most recent developments in the field of ecocriticism, and each of the book’s six author case studies is investigated through a combination of textual analysis and detailed archival and historicist research.
The Sorrowful Muslim's Guide
Authors: Amin Hussein Ahmad
Published: May 2019

Originally published in Arabic in 1983, this book remains a timely and important read today. Both the resurgence of Islamist politics and the political, social and intellectual upheaval which accompanied the Arab Spring challenge us to re-examine the interaction between the pre-modern Islamic tradition and modern supporters of continuity, reform and change in Muslim communities. This book does exactly that, raising questions regarding issues about which other Muslim intellectuals and thinkers have been silent. These include – among others – current religious practice vs the Islamic ideal; the many additions to the original revelation; the veracity of the Prophet’s biography and his sayings; the development of Sufism; and historical and ideological influences on Islamic thought.
The Role of Aḥādīth (Traditions) Ascribed to the Prophet in the History of Islamic Societies
Authors: Amin Hussein Ahmad
Published: May 2019

This chapter critically engages with the corpus of sayings (Hadith) attributed to the Prophet. It discusses the different reasons for when and why many traditions were fabricated and forged. It explores the sectarian, ideological, geographical, nationalistic and intellectual contexts that led to these widespread fabrications. It further explores the reasons why theologians and jurists were lenient of this, despite using the isnād (chain of narrations) method to sift through the exponentially growing corpus.
The Chances of Successfully Establishing a Society Based on Islamic Principles
Authors: Amin Hussein Ahmad
Published: May 2019

The continued call for the application of sharia laws is discussed in this chapter, along with the possibility of establishing a society based on Islamic principles and the compatibility of sharia with modern life.
Learning by Experiment: T. H. Huxley and the Aesthetic Nature of Education
Authors: Erchinger Philipp
Published: May 2019

Beginning with John Herschel’s definition of ‘science’ as a specifically impersonal kind of knowledge, this chapter focuses on the relations between the subjective and the objective, pursuing them through the work of T. H. Huxley, Claude Bernard and others. Herschel’s notion of science resonates with the ethos of self-restraint that has been claimed to be constitutive of Victorian objectivity (Daston and Galison). Yet, while some Victorian thinkers certainly subscribed to the ideal of a dispassionate spectator “dying to know” (Levine), many of them were well aware that, in reality, the life of the observer and the matter to be observed were thoroughly entwined. As the chapter shows, this awareness of a deep-seated entanglement of the investigator and the investigated resulted not only in a concern with the ways and means of drawing the personal out of the general (or vice versa), so as to separate the scientific from all that which was not supposed to be part of it. More importantly, the Victorian belief in an intimate connection between being and knowing meant that natural historians such as Huxley attended closely to an experimental field in which the making of science overlaps with questions of sensory perception and aesthetic form.
Steps Towards an Ecology of Experience: Empiricism, Pragmatism and George Eliot’s The Spanish Gypsy
Authors: Erchinger Philipp
Published: May 2019

Chapter 4 makes the case that the work of Eliot and Lewes exemplifies a pragmatist understanding of knowledge that is centred on the idea of “experience as experiment” (Jay) or “experience as a craft” (Sennett). Distinguishing between two main senses of ‘experience’, practical wisdom and intense awareness, the chapter traces the manifold implications of that term through G.H. Lewes’s five volume fragment Problems of Life and Mind, Samuel Butler’s Life and Habit and George Eliot’s The Spanish Gypsy. Moreover, close readings of these texts are interwoven with references to the philosophical tradition of American Pragmatism, as represented by the work of William James and John Dewey. Briefly, my main argument is that these Pragmatist writers shared with their Victorian predecessors an ecological view of experience as an incipient pattern, an advancing middle between the past and the future as well as inside and outside, or subject and object, that essentially lacks anything like a firm ground.
Speech in Action: Victorian Philology and the Uprooting of Language
Authors: Erchinger Philipp
Published: May 2019

This chapter is concerned with the use of language, the common medium through which both literary and scientific texts come into the social world. Charting key points of contest in the Victorian debate about the origin and evolution of human speech, the chapter focuses on the contributions of F. Max Müller and Edward B. Tylor in particular. It argues that, in Müller’s work, the very attempt to demonstrate that there is a quasi-divine reason at the “root” of each word makes his writing develop a poetical logic that tends to outgrow the theoretical foundation it is supposed to be built upon. In this way, Müller’s lectures intimate, even though they do not say it, that the logic of language inheres in the multiple ways in which it is used, rather than dwelling in a place or “root” outside of them. As a result, Müller’s work not only enacts its own theory about the creative power of metaphor; it also aligns itself, unwittingly, with the philosophy of Edward B. Tylor whose attempts to reconcile the ideal meaning of words with the material practice of gesturing and drawing seem otherwise to deviate sharply from Müller’s approach.
Introduction
Authors: Damer Seán
Published: May 2019

This chapter discusses both the national and local housing situation in Glasgow at the end of the First World War. It argues that it was so bad that the state had to take the initiative in the provision of working-class housing “fit for heroes” as an insurance policy against revolution. But the consequent legislation – the 1919 Housing & Town Planning Act – was ill-designed, with over-generous subsidies. Nevertheless, within Glasgow, these schemes built under this Act were and are regarded as élite.
South Pollok: ‘The Bundy’
Authors: Damer Seán
Published: May 2019

This chapter describes the development of the very small South Pollok ‘Intermediate’ scheme, an anomaly in the Pollok area. The housing was largely in 3-storey tenemental form with flat roofs and balconies. It was used to house slum-dwellers from the Gorbals and Govan. This ensured that the scheme was rapidly stigmatised both locally and city-wide, although a local gang was responsible for its wider bad reputation. Yet for its tenants, it was a cheery, popular and hard-working community.
Pascal’s Miraculous Tongue
Authors: Cordingley Anthony
Published: May 2019

This chapter locates allusions to the works and life of Blaise Pascal from The Unnamable to How It Is. It explores the relationship Beckett forges between literary allusions and the contents of memory when relating Pascal’s mysticism to the notion of “involuntary memory” in Marcel Proust’s writing. Debates in the preceding chapters come to a head in the figure of Pascal, and Beckett’s comic attitude towards his narrator/narrated’s habit of filtering his journey through tropes of Cartesian rationalism, reasoned theology or arational mysticism becomes evident when the “I” emulates or draws from colourful and absurd episodes of Pascal’s life. The nineteenth-century literary historian and novelist Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve is considered as a potential mediator between Pascal and Proust in Beckett’s thinking. Yet Beckett is shown to neutralize the referential content of his Pascalian and Proustian allusions over the course of his manuscript revisions, when he is shown to move away from directly allusive to abstracted and poetic language, attempting to bring an “ignorant” perspective to his past learning. The question of how to find an authentic, original voice out of past experience emerges, finally, as central to the meaning of these novels and Beckett’s creative process.
Family, Household and Obligation
Authors: Allen Aaron
Published: May 2019

The second chapter looks beyond the free ‘master’ craftsmen of the ‘House’ to their wider households, looking to both craft families and their lodgers. The metaphor of ‘the House’ as a chosen identifier used by the Incorporation has particular significance, as the family and the household were the basic units of post-Reformation Scottish society. Patterns of marriage will be used to look at the often-invisible ‘sisters of the craft’. Endogamy will also be considered, demonstrating how disconnected the ten arts were in terms of forming marriage alliances across craft lines. Education of children and dependents – a crucial foundation for those aspiring to enter the building trades – will be explored both in terms of the support of schoolmasters at Mary’s Chapel and of the specialist craft training involved in apprenticeships. Finally, access to work in a crowded labour market will be discussed, both for the co-resident journeymen and feed servants, as well as for the widows, wives and daughters of the privileged masters. The craft economy was broader than just the free master craftsmen, as was the House, which relied on the women, children and unfree labourers which helped make up the individual craft households.
Craft and Burgh: Conflict or Partnership?
Authors: Allen Aaron
Published: May 2019

The fourth chapter considers relations between the Incorporation and the wider burgh, looking at council control and customer interference. Sixteenth-century craft-council relations are usually portrayed as a merchant-craft conflict, though recent historiography has begun to question how pervasive this conflict was. Building on this debate, should we see relations between the Incorporation and the magistrates as a process of gradual integration, as the new burgh constitution of 1583 gave the crafts a firm role in burgh politics? The situation was complicated by demographic growth, suburban competition, and the interference of powerful burgh customers, such as the nobility, the church and the crown, all of which encouraged the unfree craftsman and woman. Some institutions of council control, such as parliamentary laws over the setting of prices, or restrictions to foreign trade in crucial raw materials complicated relations further, though questions arise over the effectiveness of such prescriptive legislation, as shown by Incorporation minutes which suggest that they set their own prices by the eighteenth century. Using burgesship and guildry rolls, the relationship between the trades of Mary’s Chapel and the merchant guild are explored. To what extent were the Incorporation partners with the merchant dominated council, and what impact did the 1583 ‘decreet arbitral’ have on the relationship between House and burgh?
GIANT OVARIAN CYSTADENOMA IN A YOUNG PATIENT – A LAPAROSCOPIC APPROACH
Authors: Badiu Dumitru Cristinel , Ivascu Flavia Cristina , Grigorean Valentin Titus
Published: May 2019

Benign cystic ovarian tumors are frequent in teenagers and young adults due to hormonal imbalance and thanks to the existence of advanced imaging and early diagnosis methods, these tumors are promptly treated (conservative treatment – hormonal treatment). Occasionally, these tumors reach vast dimensions due to some patient’s negligence and only go to the doctor’s office when the tumor becomes visible to the naked eye. Surgical treatment for benign cystic ovarian tumors is laparoscopic because of the short recovery period and also because of a lower risk of developing postoperative eventration.

We present the case of a 20-years-old patient, with history of right gigantic ovarian cystic tumor (~22 cm cranio-caudal diameter) diagnosed in another medical department (with the use of ultrasound, CT, MRI), presented for admission accusing pollakiuria and abdominal distension. Biohumoral testing had no significant alterations, tumor markers (CA 125 and HE4) and ROMA score within the normal range, suggesting the benign character of the tumor, alongside the CT and MRI results. We operated laparoscopic, using Hasson technique to puncture the cyst. The excision of the tumor was difficult (it was adherent to the uterus, the large ligament, parietal pelvic peritoneum and uterine wall). Postoperative evolution was favorable, histopathological examination showed the tumor was an ovarian serous cystadenoma.

Conclusion is that periodic ob-gyn consultation and quick medical care in case of genital or abdominal symptoms occurrence could improve the chances of partial or total preservation of the said ovary and better chances of using laparoscopic approach in young patients.
Diagnostic difficulties in a patient with Zenker diverticulum
Authors: Birla Rodica , Marica Cristian , Constantinoiu Silviu
Published: May 2019

Esophageal diverticulum has an incidence of less than 1% in the population, 70% occur in the cervical esophagus and are known as Zenker diverticulum. The treatment is indicated in symptomatic patients - dysphagia being a constant symptom.

Current treatment includes minimally invasive transoral tehnics for septum dividing between diverticulum and esophagus, either with stapler or via interventional endoscopy, as well as the open technique: diverticullectomy with cervical crycopharyngiomyotomy - for large diverticulums.

We present the case of a 74-yo patient, with dysphagia, regurgitation, and weight loss with progressive 2-year evolution. After an ambulatory thyroid ultrasonography that raised suspicion of a Zenker diverticulum, was reffered to gastroenterology service, where UGI endoscopy have not revealed esophageal pathology and recommends cervical CT: a voluminous diverticulous pouch in contact with the left sternocleidomastoid muscle with food remnants. (Fig.A)

She is admitted to hospital for further investigations. Barium swallow: an oval round image in the cervical region, approximately the size of 3 cervical vertebrae, retentive (fig. B)

EDS: broad diverticular communication with cervical esophagus, voluminous diverticulum with food and barium remnants(Fig. C)

A cervical approach was decided: diverticulumlectomy with a TA 55mm stapler (Fig. D), the stapling line was reinforced by another polyglicolic 3-0 serumuscular running suture and cricopharyngeal myotomy (Fig. E)

The postoperative evolution was unremarkable.

The low incidence of this disease and the actual management controversy are recommendations for the treatment of  patients in clinics with experience in esophageal surgery.
Spiritual Well-being of Aging Japanese Survivors of Hansen’s Disease: How Do Individuals Live Energetically Despite Having Experienced Extreme Situations?
Authors: Yamao Hitomi , Muguruma Masato , Furochi Kayoko , Mikami Jyunko , Tsuge Yumiko , Kondo Makiko
Published: May 2019

Purpose: to clarify the spiritual well-being of aging survivors of Hansen’s disease and explore the question “How do individuals live energetically despite having experienced extreme situations?”

Method: 1) participants: aging Hansen’s survivors living in A sanatorium, living with vigor and liveliness, who were selected in a strict way. 2) Data collection: semi-structured interviews. 3) Analysis: qualitative and inductive methods.

Results: Results: 1) characteristics of 5 selected survivors are relatively lower age, fewer unmarried, entered the leprosarium at teen-age, had held a managerial position in the sanatorium, fewer sequelae, and believed in religion, compared with all residents in A sanatorium. 2) narrative data was integrated the following 7 categories: <1. Continuing to have strong bonds with one’s spouse and memory of parents’ family>, <2. Healing sufferings by living in a sanatorium located on an island with a beautiful view>, <3. Possessing the self-confidence to overcome the difficulties>, <4. Living daily life with delight and worth even on a secluded island>, <5. Continuing one’s efforts despite aging>, <6. Obtaining social approval>, and <7. Engaging in social interactions with the next generation and outside the island>.

Discussion: The spirituality of survivors of Hansen’s disease had a trilaminar structure, comprising the following: 1) Establishing the existential foundation of a sustained self, 2) Living in the moment but contemplating the future as well. 3) Dovetailing within the society and transcending space and time. The participants had achieved the developmental task of ego integrity in old age. If compensatory mechanism is met, we might be able to develop an existential foundation for the sustained self and achieved ego integrity at old age despite having to live in unfortunate circumstances. Thus, if we support such individuals, we can promote compensatory mechanism.
Effects on NPK Status, Growth, Dry Matter and Yield of Rice (Oryza sativa) by Organic Fertilizers Applied in Field Condition
Authors: Moe Kyi , Htwe Aung , Thu Thieu , Kajihara Yoshinori , Yamakawa Takeo
Published: May 2019

The decline in rice yields as a result of excessive chemical fertilizer (CF) inputs is a matter of great concern in rice-growing regions of Asia. In two-year’s field experiments, the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) status, growth characteristics and yield of rice were examined by application of poultry manure (PM), cow manure (CM) and compost (CP). Organic fertilizers were applied as EMN (estimated mineralizable N) based on their total N content. Six treatments were assigned in a randomized complete block design: (1) no-N fertilizer (N0); (2) 50% CF (CF50), (3) 100% CF (CF100); 50% CF + 50% EMN from (4) PM or (5) CM or (6) CP. Compared with CF100, the CF50PM50 (total N ≥ 4%) accumulated higher N, P and K content in leaf, sheath, panicle and seeds, resulting in greater growth and yield. The CF50PM50 increased yield by 8.69% and 9.70%, dry matter by 4.76% and 5.27% over CF100 in both years. The continuous application of CF50CM50 (total N < 4%) and CF50CP50 (total N < 4%) treatments led to similar NPK contents but higher yields than those of CF100 treatment in 2018. In conclusion, the organic fertilizer (total N ≥ 4%) with the EMN method enhances higher N availability in each year. Continuous application of organic fertilizer (total N < 4%) over two years effectively increased N availability in the second year. The 50% organic fertilizer (total N ≥ 4%) and 50% CF led to increased NPK availability and rice yields over the 100% CF treatment, reducing CF usage and leading for sustainable agriculture.
The Influence of Biochar and Solid Digestate on Rose-Scented Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L’Hér.) Productivity and Essential Oil Quality
Authors: Calamai Alessandro , Palchetti Enrico , Masoni Alberto , Marini Lorenzo , Chiaramonti David , Dibari Camilla , Brilli Lorenzo
Published: May 2019

In recent years, biochar has generated global interest in the areas of sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation. The main positive effects of biochar were observed to be the most remarkable when nutrient-rich feedstock was used as the initial pyrolysis material (i.e., anaerobic digestate). In this study, the influence of solid anaerobic digestate and biochar that was produced by the slow pyrolysis of solid digestate was evaluated by comparing the differences in the crop growth performances of Pelargonium graveolens. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse while using three different growth media (i.e., solid digestate, biochar, and vermiculite). The results indicated that: (i) the pyrolysis of solid digestate caused a reduction in the bulk density (−52%) and an increase in the pH (+16%) and electrical conductivity (+9.5%) in the derived biochar; (ii) the best crop performances (number of leaves, number of total branches, and plant dry weight) were found using biochar, particularly for plant dry weight (+11.4%) and essential oil content (+9.4%); (iii) the essential oil quality was slightly affected by the growth media; however, the main chemical components were found within the acceptable range that was set by international standard trade; and, iv) biochar induced the presence of leaf chlorosis in Pelargonium graveolens.
Wx Gene in Hordeum chilense: Chromosomal Location and Characterisation of the Allelic Variation in the Two Main Ecotypes of the Species
Authors: Alvarez Juan B. , Castellano Laura , Recio Rocío , Cabrera Adoración
Published: May 2019

Starch, as the main grain component, has great importance in wheat quality, with the ratio between the two formed polymers, amylose and amylopectin, determining the starch properties. Granule-bound starch synthase I (GBSSI), or waxy protein, encoded by the Wx gene is the sole enzyme responsible for amylose synthesis. The current study evaluated the variability in Wx genes in two representative lines of Hordeum chilense Roem. et Schult., a wild barley species that was used in the development of tritordeum (×Tritordeum Ascherson et Graebner). Two novel alleles, Wx-Hch1a and Wx-Hch1b, were detected in this material. Molecular characterizations of these alleles revealed that the gene is more similar to the Wx gene of barley than that of wheat, which was confirmed by phylogenetic studies. However, the enzymatic function should be similar in all species, and, consequently, the variation present in H. chilense could be utilized in wheat breeding by using tritordeum as a bridge species.
Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Moringa Oleifera on the Production Performance and Fecal Methanogenic Community of Lactating Dairy Cows
Authors: Dong Lifeng , Zhang Tingting , Diao Qiyu
Published: May 2019

Development of alternative forage resources is of great importance to provide necessary nutrients and minimize greenhouse gas emissions in ruminant production. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of dietary supplementation of Moringa oleifera on the production performance and fecal methanogenic community in dairy cows using methyl-coenzyme M reductase α-subunit gene. Sixty-four cows were allocated to one of four treatments: basal diet without M. oleifera (control) or low (3% w/w, M3), medium (6%, M6), or high (9%, M9) supplementation with M. oleifera. This study demonstrated that different supplementation levels of Moringa oleifera in the diet achieved similar feed intake and milk production, but adding 6% of Moringa oleifera improved milk fat content. Two families, two phyla, three genera, and three species in total were identified among the four treatments. The fecal archaeal community in the control treatment was predominated by Methanobrevibacter (39.1% of the total sequence reads) followed by Methanosphaera and Methanocorpusculum at the genus level. The increased abundance of the Methanosphaera genus and Methanosphaera sp. ISO3-F5 species was induced by secondary metabolites of Moringa oleifera in the diet. Results indicated that Moringa oleifera supplementation not only improved dairy product quality but could also potentially reduce methane emissions.
A Robot Learning Method with Physiological Interface for Teleoperation Systems
Authors: Luo Jing , Yang Chenguang , Su Hang , Liu Chao
Published: May 2019

The human operator largely relies on the perception of remote environmental conditions to make timely and correct decisions in a prescribed task when the robot is teleoperated in a remote place. However, due to the unknown and dynamic working environments, the manipulator’s performance and efficiency of the human-robot interaction in the tasks may degrade significantly. In this study, a novel method of human-centric interaction, through a physiological interface was presented to capture the information details of the remote operation environments. Simultaneously, in order to relieve workload of the human operator and to improve efficiency of the teleoperation system, an updated regression method was proposed to build up a nonlinear model of demonstration for the prescribed task. Considering that the demonstration data were of various lengths, dynamic time warping algorithm was employed first to synchronize the data over time before proceeding with other steps. The novelty of this method lies in the fact that both the task-specific information and the muscle parameters from the human operator have been taken into account in a single task; therefore, a more natural and safer interaction between the human and the robot could be achieved. The feasibility of the proposed method was demonstrated by experimental results.
Coordinated Dispatch of Integrated Energy Systems Considering the Differences of Multiple Functional Areas
Authors: Li Liusong , Jin Weichao , Shen Meiyan , Yang Li , Chen Fei , Wang Lei , Zhu Chao , Xie Haiwei , Li Yating , Zhang Tianhan
Published: May 2019

A large amount of wind turbine power and photovoltaic power is abandoned in many areas with abundant renewable energy due to thermal-electric coupling, inadequate local consumption capacity, and limited capacity of transmission lines, etc. To solve the above problems, a coordinated dispatching method for integrated energy systems is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the spatiotemporal characteristics of diversified loads in multiple functional areas are introduced, including the inertia and elasticity of heating/cooling loads, the spatiotemporal distribution of electric vehicles, and the optimum transmission distance of diversified loads, etc. Secondly, a coordinated dispatching model of integrated energy systems is proposed, which considers the differences of multiple functional areas and various forms of energy systems. Finally, an actual distribution system in Jianshan District, Haining, Zhejiang Province of China is investigated for demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed model. The results illustrate that the proposed model could effectively improve the consumption rate of renewable energy and reduce the volatility of renewable energy by considering the coordination of electric vehicles, tie lines, and heating/cooling systems in multiple functional areas.
A Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) Framework for 2.5D Map Building Based on Low-Cost LiDAR and Vision Fusion
Authors: Jiang Guolai , Yin Lei , Jin Shaokun , Tian Chaoran , Ma Xinbo , Ou Yongsheng
Published: May 2019

The method of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) using a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor is commonly adopted for robot navigation. However, consumer robots are price sensitive and often have to use low-cost sensors. Due to the poor performance of a low-cost LiDAR, error accumulates rapidly while SLAM, and it may cause a huge error for building a larger map. To cope with this problem, this paper proposes a new graph optimization-based SLAM framework through the combination of low-cost LiDAR sensor and vision sensor. In the SLAM framework, a new cost-function considering both scan and image data is proposed, and the Bag of Words (BoW) model with visual features is applied for loop close detection. A 2.5D map presenting both obstacles and vision features is also proposed, as well as a fast relocation method with the map. Experiments were taken on a service robot equipped with a 360° low-cost LiDAR and a front-view RGB-D camera in the real indoor scene. The results show that the proposed method has better performance than using LiDAR or camera only, while the relocation speed with our 2.5D map is much faster than with traditional grid map.
Heat Waves and Human Well-Being in Madrid (Spain)
Authors: Rasilla Domingo , Allende Fernando , Martilli Alberto , Fernández Felipe
Published: May 2019

Heat waves pose additional risks to urban spaces because of the additional heat provided by urban heat islands (UHIs) as well as poorer air quality. Our study focuses on the analysis of UHIs, human thermal comfort, and air quality for the city of Madrid, Spain during heat waves. Heat wave periods are defined using the long-term records from the urban station Madrid-Retiro. Two types of UHI were studied: the canopy layer UHI (CLUHI) was evaluated using air temperature time-series from five meteorological stations; the surface UHI (SUHI) was derived from land surface temperature (LST) images from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) products. To assess human thermal comfort, the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) index was applied. Air quality was analyzed from the records of two air quality networks. More frequent and longer heat waves have been observed since 1980; the nocturnal CLUHI and both the diurnal and nocturnal SUHI experience an intensification, which have led to an increasing number of tropical nights. Conversely, thermal stress is extreme by day in the city due to the lack of cooling by winds. Finally, air quality during heat waves deteriorates because of the higher than normal amount of particles arriving from Northern Africa.
Some New Results Involving the Generalized Bose–Einstein and Fermi–Dirac Functions
Authors: Srivastava Rekha , Naaz Humera , Kazi Sabeena , Tassaddiq Asifa
Published: May 2019

In this paper, we obtain a new series representation for the generalized Bose–Einstein and Fermi–Dirac functions by using fractional Weyl transform. To achieve this purpose, we obtain an analytic continuation for these functions by generalizing the domain of Riemann zeta functions from ( 0 < ℜ ( s ) < 1 ) to ( 0 < ℜ ( s ) < μ ) . This leads to fresh insights for a new generalization of the Riemann zeta function. The results are validated by obtaining the classical series representation of the polylogarithm and Hurwitz–Lerch zeta functions as special cases. Fractional derivatives and the relationship of the generalized Bose–Einstein and Fermi–Dirac functions with Apostol–Euler–Nörlund polynomials are established to prove new identities.
Review of “The Significance of the New Logic” Willard Van Orman Quine. Edited and Translated by Walter Carnielli, Frederique Janssen-Lauret, and William Pickering. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2018, pp. 1–200. ISBN-10: 1107179025 ISBN-13: 978-1107179028
Authors: Freire Alfredo Roque
Published: May 2019

In this review, I will discuss the historical importance of “The Significance of the New Logic” by Quine. This is a translation of the original “O Sentido da Nova Lógica” in Portuguese by Carnielli, Janssen-Lauret, and Pickering. The American philosopher wrote this book in the beginning of the 1940s, before a major shift in his philosophy. Thus, I will argue that the reader must see this book as an introduction to an important period in his thinking. I will provide a brief summary of the chapters, remarking on valuable features in each of them and positions Quine abandoned in his later work.
Mechanics of the Tricuspid Valve—From Clinical Diagnosis/Treatment, In-Vivo and In-Vitro Investigations, to Patient-Specific Biomechanical Modeling
Authors: Lee Chung-Hao , Laurence Devin W. , Ross Colton J. , Kramer Katherine E. , Babu Anju R. , Johnson Emily L. , Hsu Ming-Chen , Aggarwal Ankush , Mir Arshid , Burkhart Harold M. , Towner Rheal A. , Baumwart Ryan , Wu Yi
Published: May 2019

Proper tricuspid valve (TV) function is essential to unidirectional blood flow through the right side of the heart. Alterations to the tricuspid valvular components, such as the TV annulus, may lead to functional tricuspid regurgitation (FTR), where the valve is unable to prevent undesired backflow of blood from the right ventricle into the right atrium during systole. Various treatment options are currently available for FTR; however, research for the tricuspid heart valve, functional tricuspid regurgitation, and the relevant treatment methodologies are limited due to the pervasive expectation among cardiac surgeons and cardiologists that FTR will naturally regress after repair of left-sided heart valve lesions. Recent studies have focused on (i) understanding the function of the TV and the initiation or progression of FTR using both in-vivo and in-vitro methods, (ii) quantifying the biomechanical properties of the tricuspid valve apparatus as well as its surrounding heart tissue, and (iii) performing computational modeling of the TV to provide new insight into its biomechanical and physiological function. This review paper focuses on these advances and summarizes recent research relevant to the TV within the scope of FTR. Moreover, this review also provides future perspectives and extensions critical to enhancing the current understanding of the functioning and remodeling tricuspid valve in both the healthy and pathophysiological states.
Preparation of Few-Layer Graphene/Carbon Nanotube Hybrids Using Oxide Spinel Catalysts
Authors: Machado Bruno F. , Bacsa Revathi R. , Rivera-Cárcamo Camila , Serp Philippe
Published: May 2019

Functional 3D materials can be developed from graphene-based hybrids by introducing other nanomaterials, with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) being the most studied additive. For large-scale applications, few-layer graphene (FLG)-CNT hybrids are produced by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (c-CVD) starting from a mixture of catalysts (one for FLG and one for CNTs) in the required proportions. Due to the difference in growth kinetics between CNTs and FLG, the composition of such hybrids is not well controlled. In this study, we report the single-step preparation of FLG-CNT hybrid materials by a fixed-bed c-CVD process using a single catalyst with the formula AlxCo1−xFe2O4 (x = 0.025–0.10). Different catalysts (with varying x) were prepared by the citrate–nitrate gel combustion method. Then, c-CVD synthesis was carried out at 650 °C in a horizontal fixed-bed reactor using ethylene as the carbon source. Only FLG was obtained when using CoFe2O4. However, the introduction of small amounts of Al (x < 0.05) induced the simultaneous production of CNTs, leading to the formation of uniform FLG-CNT hybrids. For catalysts with higher Al content (e.g., AlCoFeO4), CNTs were selectively produced. Thus, we observed the existence of a narrow Al-doping window, where CNTs and FLG can be obtained simultaneously. Our results can pave the way to developing high-yield single catalyst-based CVD synthesis of FLG-CNT hybrid materials.
Enhanced Degradation of Phenol by a Fenton-Like System (Fe/EDTA/H2O2) at Circumneutral pH
Authors: Messele Selamawit Ashagre , Bengoa Christophe , Stüber Frank Erich , Giralt Jaume , Fortuny Agustí , Fabregat Azael , Font Josep
Published: May 2019

This work deals with the degradation of phenol based on the classical Fenton process, which is enhanced by the presence of chelating agents. Several iron-chelating agents such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA), and ethylenediamine-N,N’-diacetic acid (EDDA) were explored, although particular attention was given to EDTA. The effect of the molar ligand to iron ratio, EDTA:Fe, initial pH, and temperature on the oxidation process was studied. The results demonstrate that the proposed alternative approach allows the capacity for degrading phenol to be extended from the usual acidic pH (around 3.0) to circumneutral pH range (6.5–7.5). The overall feasibility of the process depends on the concentration of the chelating agent and the initial pH of the solution. The maximum phenol conversion, over 95%, is achieved using a 0.3 to 1 molar ratio of EDTA:Fe, stoichiometric ratio of H2O2 at an initial pH of 7.0, and a temperature of 30 °C after 2 hours of reaction, whereas only 10% of phenol conversion is obtained without EDTA. However, in excess of ligand (EDTA:Fe > 1), the generation of radicals seems to be strongly suppressed. Improvement of the phenol removal efficiency at neutral pH also occurs for the other chelating agents tested.