bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the effectiveness of using the block for limiting the vibrations of the load on the mechanism of movement of the bogie with various control systems
Authors: Meshcheryakov Viktor , Sinyukova Tatyana , Sinyukov Alexey , Vladimirov Oleg
Published: December 2020

Damping load vibrations in an electric crane drive is an urgent topic for research. The swinging load has a negative effect on the mechanical part of the device, leading to its wear, and on the entire control system as a whole. To combat the swaying of the load, it is proposed to install a vibration damping block created on the basis of an equation describing the dependence of the change in the deviation of the load on the equilibrium position in the plane of movement of the cart. The control signals in the vibration damping unit are the parameters of truck acceleration, suspension length, and weight of the load. At the output of the vibration damping unit, a speed task is formed. A block diagram of the trolley drive control system has been developed. Both scalar systems and systems with direct torque control are used on trolley travel mechanisms. The paper analyzes the efficiency of using the vibration damping unit when using different control systems on the movement mechanism of the bridge crane trolley.
Modeling and analysis of vector control systems for asynchronous motor
Authors: Meshcheryakov Viktor , Sinyukova Tatyana , Gladyshev Vladislav , Sinyukov Alexey , Solovieva Lyudmila , Gracheva Elena
Published: December 2020

At metallurgical enterprises, slab transfer devices are widely used, the principle of operation of which is to lift slabs in the steel casting area and transport them to the storage area. The article considers the existing control system of the slab transfer device. At the moment, the mechanism has a DC motor controlled by a thyristor Converter. This system is difficult to maintain and has a large size. As an upgrade, the installation of an asynchronous motor with a frequency Converter is proposed. In the Matlab environment, mathematical models of single-circuit and double-circuit DC motor control systems and a model of asynchronous motor with a short-circuited rotor have been developed. A vector control system is used as an AC motor control system. As a result of simulation performed analysis of the characteristics. As an optimization of the system with vector control, in order to reduce dynamic loads on the turntable, it is proposed to introduce an intensity setter into the system, the use of which provides the necessary restriction of accelerations and jerks, reduces shock loads on the mechanical components of the electric drive, including a reduction in the load on the turntable when lowering the slab.
Contemporary free-form pavilions with the Delaunay gridshell patterns
Authors: Stefańska Anna , Gawell Ewelina
Published: December 2020

The design of unique gridshell forms has become a key factor in effective interdisciplinary designing solutions, both architecturally aesthetic and structurally efficient. Modern bionic tendencies allow designers to implement organic shapes through proportion and mimicking the biological, developmental process by understanding the logic of the structural forms occurring in Nature. The improvement of digital tools based on algorithmic codes has enabled architects to implement their bold designs based on Nature’s technologies’ logic. The purpose of the research was to identify how the mathematical algorithms found in Nature collaborate with parametric designing influence structural optimization of the free-form structures. The Delaunay divisions used in the gridshells form-finding were obtained through various generative modeling algorithms. The case studies demonstrate how mathematical algorithms, such as structural dynamic relaxation, can support architectural aesthetic and structural optimization processes. The paper concludes that proper generative algorithmic design can compromise design diversity and search for efficiency.
Energy from nuclear fission
Authors: Ripani M.
Published: December 2020

The physics of nuclear fission will be briefly illustrated, from the basic mechanism behind this phenomenon to the relevant physical quantities like nuclear cross sections, neutron flux and reaction products, together with the accompanying phenomenon of neutron capture and its role in determining how the fuel transforms in a nuclear reactor. The basic concepts underlying the operation of different types of nuclear reactors will be illustrated, along with the concept of fuel cycle. After touching on the aspect of safety, the current situation of nuclear power in the world, with its costs, its role in reducing carbon emissions, the available resources and finally the issues of waste management and accidents will be briefly illustrated.
The energy transition and where mobility will go to
Authors: Waidhas Manfred F.
Published: December 2020

Enforced extension of renewable power will be required to achieve the targeted CO2 reduction. Hereby, it will be essential to shift renewable electricity to the mobility and industry sector. The transportation sector exhibits the highest need for action. Here the concept of the future will be electric. The main challenge will be the poor energy density of batteries compared to oil-based fuels. Trends and solutions for transportation via road, rail, sea and air are discussed in the paper.
Energy economics: The case of emission markets
Authors: Erdmann Georg , Praktiknjo Aaron
Published: December 2020

The typical proposition of economists to solve the greenhouse gas problem (GHG) is that governments should put a price on these emissions. As human behavior can be influenced by prices, high prices on GHG emissions would imply lowering these emissions. One reaction would be to substitute the burning fossil fuels by non-fossil fuels such as wind, photovoltaics, geothermal and hydropower, eventually nuclear. The second would be innovations towards satisfying human needs by less energy. The third would be to avoid the GHG emissions by carbon capture and storage technologies. However, putting a price on GHG emissions requires political actions. Politicians have basically two alternatives. One would be to introduce a fiscal tax on GHG emissions, whereby the tax rate represents the price of the emission. The other is to implement a cap-and-trade system for GHG emissions, which requires that companies have to cover each emission unit by an emission right issued by the government. When these emission rights are traded, the market price of these rights represents the emission price. Common to both systems are sanctions on companies that do not comply. Today both systems have been implemented somewhere in the world to control GHG emissions so that their comparable benefits and disadvantages can be studied in reality.
Organic rapeseed in Switzerland: 20 years of practice
Authors: Charles Raphaël , Baux Alice , Dierauer Hansueli , Daniel Claudia
Published: December 2020

Rapeseed is a major oilseed crop in Europe, whose development has been a roller coaster ride over the last 20 years. In a context of increasing demand for organic products, this crop must however face numerous constraints concerning its demanding place in the rotation, a choice of varieties limited to line varieties at least in the Switzerland, a crucial implantation which must cope with variable water stress during sowing and winters with less and less frost, very demanding nitrogen nutrition requirements in the context of organic farming, and particularly harmful pests. A consolidation of the research devoted to rapeseed cultivation, but also a redesign of its cropping system and economic considerations should make it possible to better position this crop in relation to agri-environmental contexts, but also in relation to the complementary aptitudes of other oilseed crops.
La croissance des villes vue par la physique statistique
Authors: Barthélémy Marc
Published: December 2020

Le développement spectaculaire de l’urbanisation dans le monde s’accompagne d’un grand nombre de problèmes environnementaux et sociaux. Il est devenu essentiel de modéliser les villes, car les décideurs ont besoin de théories solides pour atténuer ces problèmes. Heureusement, la disponibilité croissante de données rend possible la construction d’une « science des villes » quantitative et la modélisation des phénomènes.

La physique statistique joue un rôle majeur dans cet effort, en apportant des outils et des concepts capables de rapprocher la théorie et les résultats empiriques. Nous illustrons ici cette approche par deux exemples : la transition vers une organisation polycentrique de l’activité d’une ville, et le CO2 émis par les transports.
Tauchen im Malstrom des Lebens
Authors: Müller-Ebeling Claudia
Published: December 2020

Trancezustände initiieren, bewusst steuern, heilsam nutzen und willentlich verlassen können – das erst macht Heilerinnen und Heiler zu Schamaninnen und Schamanen. Was dem westlichen Blick auf die schamanische Trance meist entgeht: Ihre Beherrschung ist unabdingbar an ein polares, jedoch nicht dualistisches Weltbild geknüpft. Mit konkreten Beispielen von Tranceritualen aus Nepal erhellt die Autorin diese von Zeit und Raum losgelösten Zustände und verdeutlicht ihre heilsame Wirkung.
Ambulante und häusliche Blutdruckmessung bei hypertensiven Schwangeren
Authors: Rath Werner , Tsikouras Panagiotis , Schlembach Dietmar
Published: December 2020

Die Prävalenz hypertensiver Schwangerschaftserkrankungen (HES) beträgt 6–8%. HES gehören zu den führenden Ursachen mütterlicher Sterbefälle in den Industrieländern. Die Messung des Blutdrucks (RR) ist nach wie vor Eckpfeiler der Diagnose. Die Blutdruckmessung sollte nach standardisierter Vorgehensweise mit automatischen, für die Schwangerschaft validierten Messgeräten erfolgen. Die Blutdruckmessung in der Praxis erlaubt nur eine „punktuelle“ Messung in „artifizieller“ Umgebung und kann eine Weißkittelhypertonie (WCH) nicht erfassen. Nach aktuellen Leitlinien sollte die ambulante 24-Stunden-Blutdruckmessung (ABPM) bei allen Schwangeren mit erhöhten Blutdruckwerten zur Diagnosesicherung und Differenzierung der Hypertonie durchgeführt werden. Die ABPM ist eine geeignete Methode zur frühzeitigen Identifizierung der WCH und der maskierten Hypertonie sowie zur Differenzierung zwischen WCH und chronischer Hypertonie vor der 20. SSW. Fehlender nächtlicher Blutdruckabfall und v. a. Blutdruckspitzen während der Nachtstunden sind mit einem signifikant erhöhten Risiko für Präeklampsie und kardiovaskulärer Morbidität assoziiert. ABPM und häusliche Blutdruckmessung (HBPM) wurden zur Blutdruckkontrolle bei Schwangeren mit Gestationshypertonie, chronischer Hypertonie, milder Präeklampsie und Schwangeren mit Risikofaktoren für eine HES nach der 18. SSW empfohlen. Sie ermöglichen eine exakte Blutdruckeinstellung mit Antihypertensiva. Wichtige Voraussetzungen für die Anwendung beider Methoden ist die Compliance der Patientin. Wie in Studien gezeigt, reduziert die HBPM die Zahl antenataler Arztbesuche und Krankenhausaufnahmen im Vergleich zur Blutdruckmessung in der Praxis ohne erhöhtes Risiko für Mutter und Kind, sie vermindert darüber hinaus die Rate an Geburtseinleitungen und die Diagnose „Präeklampsie“ und trägt zur Vermeidung einer unnötigen antihypertensiven Therapie bei. Die Methode weist eine hohe Akzeptanz bei den Schwangeren auf und ist kosteneffektiv. Die Probleme der ABPM liegen v. a. in ihrer limitierten Verfügbarkeit und der Belästigung der Schwangeren durch Schlafstörungen. Die wesentlichen Nachteile der HBPM sind die Notwendigkeit zur Schulung/Training der Patientin, mögliche Messfehler und dem Fehlen evidenzbasierter Blutdruckgrenzwerte. Derzeit werden Telemonitoring-Plattformen zur ambulanten Überwachung von Schwangeren mit erhöhtem Risiko für HES evaluiert. Die breite Anwendung v. a. der HBPM kann dazu beitragen, die Arbeitsbelastung des geburtshilflichen Personals im Krankenhaus zu reduzieren und Krankenhauskosten einzusparen.
Thorakolumbaler Bandscheibenvorfall – Welche Maßnahmen sind sinnvoll?
Authors: Challande-Kathmann Iris
Published: December 2020

Der thorakolumbale Bandscheibenvorfall ist eine relativ häufige neurologische Erkrankung, die je nach Ausmaß konservativ oder chirurgisch behandelt werden kann. Bei beiden Methoden sollte die Physiotherapie einen festen Bestandteil der Rehabilitation darstellen. Der Artikel gibt neben der Beschreibung der Pathophysiologie, der Klinik und der Diagnose eine Übersicht der verschiedenen rehabilitativen Methoden, die bei der konservativen und der chirurgischen Therapie zum Einsatz kommen.
Between the Listener and the Talker: Connectivity Options
Authors: Thibodeau Linda M.
Published: December 2020

Hearing aids are often not sufficient for optimal communication between a listener and a talker. Therefore, numerous options for wireless connectivity between the listener and the talker designed to improve communication have become widely available. From the original wireless option of the induction loop system, most of the current solutions involve a digital signal with high quality and limited interference. Many are proprietary and only operate with a given manufacturer's devices, while others are more universal as long as the digital receiver can be connected to the listener's personal device. In addition, connectivity options to assist those with hearing loss are now readily available on the smartphone which can be used as a remote microphone. Therefore, it is paramount that the available wireless protocols be considered relative to the listener's experience with wireless technology so that solutions may be offered that are efficient, economical, and effective.
Smartphones and Hearing Loss: There's an App for That!
Authors: Zitelli Lori , Mormer Elaine
Published: December 2020

Smartphone use has become increasingly prevalent and patients are frequently using this technology to engage in health-related activities. There are a variety of smartphone applications that can be used to assist individuals with hearing loss, particularly during extreme situations such as a global pandemic which results in restricted face-to-face interactions. The hearing-related applications can be divided into four categories: (1) screening and assessment, (2) intervention and rehabilitation, (3) education and information, and (4) assistive tools. Several subcategories of applications in the assistive tools category are described that may be of interest to individuals with hearing loss, whether they wear hearing aids or not. Examples of the apps along with links are included for each subcategory.
Remote Microphone Technology for Children with Hearing Loss or Auditory Processing Issues
Authors: Schafer Erin C. , Kirby Benjamin , Miller Sharon
Published: December 2020

School classrooms are noisy and reverberant environments, and the poor acoustics can be a barrier to successful learning in children, particularly those with multiple disabilities, auditory processing issues, and hearing loss. A new set of listening challenges have been imposed by the recent global pandemic and subsequent online learning requirements. The goal of this article is to review the impact of poor acoustics on the performance of children with auditory processing issues, mild hearing loss, and unilateral hearing loss. In addition, we will summarize the evidence in support of remote microphone technology by these populations.
Underwater broadband sound insulation with chiral spiral structures
Authors: Wu Huilan , Hao Chengpeng , Zhang Han
Published: December 2020

Low-frequency noise has been a long-standing issue in the context of a complex underwater environment. While theory related to low-frequency sound insulation in air has been developed, systematic research on underwater sound insulation has not yet been established. In our work, we used a chiral variable pitch spiral structure to study underwater low-frequency sound insulation and calculated the sound insulation effect using different parameters. Our results show that the fixed-pitch spiral structure has a better effect on underwater sound insulation and can achieve 3505 Hz–5355 Hz wide-band sound insulation. This spiral structure breaks through the limitation of appearance and can achieve sound insulation at the frequency of interest without changing the outer profile of the structure. Accordingly, it has potential in underwater low-frequency sound insulation applications.
Scaling of dynamic bending response of metal tube under impact loading considering strain rate effects
Authors: Zhong Mingshou , Wang Min , Long Yuan , Liu Ying , Xie Xingbo , Wu Jianyu
Published: December 2020

Based on the engineering background of the heavy drop impacting metal tube, the scaling law without considering the strain rate effects was deduced according to the π theorem. Then, the scaling law considering the strain rate effects by modifying the initial velocity was derived. Finally, two scaling laws are compared by experiments and numerical simulation. The following conclusions are drawn: the scaling law without considering the strain rate effects is completely self-contained. However, if the strain rate effects are taken into account, the scaling law will be distorted. The scaling law for modifying the initial velocity can make the model test more accurately reflect the prototype test. The model test guided by the modified scaling law fits better with the prototype in terms of pipeline deformation, effective strain, effective stress, and particle vibration velocity, and the error is reduced by more than 50%.
Adaptive sliding model guidance law considering input saturation and autopilot lag
Authors: Guan Jun , Yi Wenjun
Published: December 2020

In this paper, a guidance law is developed using the sliding model control theory. The designed law possesses good performance when a maneuvering target is intercepted with the consideration of the input saturation and autopilot lag. Regarding the target acceleration as unknown bounded external disturbance, the adaptive control is designed to estimate the upper bound of the disturbance in such a way that it is not required to be known in advance. A sliding model estimator is also presented to estimate the line-of-sight angle rate for which the guidance law is required. According to the Lyapunov theory, the guidance law can be converging to zero, which is proved. Several simulations including 100 Monte Carlo are made to validate the effectiveness of the proposed guidance law.
AtINO80 represses photomorphogenesis by modulating nucleosome density and H2A.Z incorporation in light-related genes
Authors: Yang Chuanwei , Yin Liufan , Xie Famin , Ma Mengmeng , Huang Sha , Zeng Yue , Shen Wen-Hui , Dong Aiwu , Li Lin
Published: December 2020

Significance

INO80 is an evolutionarily conserved protein in eukaryotes. Mutations of
INO80
cause growth arrest and embryo mortality in fruit flies and mice, which limits the investigation of INO80 biological functions during morphogenesis of multicellular organisms. Here, we show that AtINO80 interconnects with a light signaling pathway in
Arabidopsis
plants. Our characterization of
atino80
mutants uncovers critical roles of INO80 in nucleosome density and H2A.Z incorporation during plant photomorphogenesis.
Actuation force analysis and design optimization of microshutter array by numerical simulation method
Authors: Kim Kyowon , Kutyrev Alexander S , Li Mary J , Greenhouse Matthew A
Published: December 2020

Next Generation Microshutter Array (NGMSA) is an electrostatically operated micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) device for programmable spatial light filtering application. Original microshutter array (MSA), which is magnetically operated, was developed for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRSpec multi-object spectrometer, and NGMSA inherited its design from the original MSA. Even though there has been incremental design changes in order to achieve stable electrostatic actuation, NGMSA operation still requires further study. Previous simulation efforts to model NGMSA’s actuation mechanics allowed to gain only general understanding of the behavior due to inadequate simulation and experimental methods. In this study, a novel electrostatic numerical simulation model is presented using COMSOL Multiphysics to accurately predict microshutter’s motion during actuation. The new model addresses all the issues that hinder realistic modeling. Current Microshutter Array yield and operation performance issues related to fabrication process are analyzed with this numerical model and a potential optimized design is proposed. The result shows that a few μm shorter shutter blade allows stable electrostatic actuation as well as better tolerance to the fabrication accuracy. Also, modified blade side shape reduces undesirable asymmetrical motions which cause failed stuck shutters.
Maximally algebraic potentially irrational cubic fourfolds
Authors: Laza Radu
Published: December 2020

A well known conjecture due to Hassett asserts that a cubic fourfold

X
X

whose transcendental cohomology

T
X

T_X

cannot be realized as the transcendental cohomology of a

K
3

K3

surface is irrational. Since the geometry of cubic fourfolds is intricately related to the existence of algebraic

2
2

-cycles on them, it is natural to ask for the most algebraic cubic fourfolds

X
X

to which this conjecture is still applicable. In this paper, we show that for an appropriate “algebraicity index”

κ
X

∈

Q

+

\kappa _X\in \mathbb {Q}_+

, there exists a unique class of cubics maximizing

κ
X

\kappa _X

, not having an associated

K
3

K3

surface; namely, the cubic fourfolds with an Eckardt point (previously investigated in by Laza, Pearlstein, and Zhang [Adv. Math. 340 (2018), pp. 684-722]). Arguably, they are the most algebraic conjecturally irrational cubic fourfolds, and thus a good testing ground for Hassett’s irrationality conjecture for cubic fourfolds.
Time-varying mobility and turnover of actomyosin ring components during cytokinesis inSchizosaccharomyces pombe
Authors: Kamnev Anton , Palani Saravanan , Zambon Paola , Cheffings Tom , Burroughs Nigel , Balasubramanian Mohan K.
Published: December 2020

This work investigates the mitotic stage-dependent mobility of fission yeast actomyosin ring proteins in the cytokinetic ring using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. It reveals a cell cycle–dependent mobility change in the F-BAR protein Cdc15.
American Sophistication
Authors: Posnock Ross
Published: December 2020

Like cosmopolitan, sophistication is a fighting word in American culture, a phrase that discomfits, raises eyebrows. It is not who we are, as President Obama used to say, for it smacks of elitism. Whereas the first word has had a stormy modern history—Stalin, for instance, used cosmopolitan as a code word for Jew—sophistication has always kept bad company, starting with its etymology. Its first six letters saddle it with sophistry, both tarred with the same brush of suspicion. Sophistry was a form of rhetoric that attracted the enmity of Socrates and Plato, with repercussions deep into the 17th century. In 1689, when John Locke said rhetoric trafficked in error and deceit, he was echoing the Greeks who tended to dismiss the art of persuasion and eloquence in general as sophistry, morally debased discourse. In the West, rhetoric, sophistry, and sophistication are arraigned as a shared locus of antinature: empty style, deceptive artifice, effeminate preening. They all testify to the deforming demands of social life, the worldliness disdained by Christian moralists, starting with Augustine, as concupiscence. This is the fall into sin from the prelapsarian transparency of Adam and Eve’s spiritual union of pure intellection with God, the perfection of reason that permits transcendence of the bodily senses. The corporeal senses and imagination dominate when man gives himself over to the world’s noise and confusion and is distracted from self-communion in company with God.

Given that sophistication’s keynote is effortless ease, from the point of view of Augustinian Christianity such behavior in a basic sense violates Christian humility after the fall: with man’s loss of repose in God comes permanent uneasiness, inquiétude as Blaise Pascal and Michel de Montaigne put it, a chronic dissatisfaction and ennui that seeks relief in trivial divertissement (distraction), convictions that Montesquieu, Locke, and Tocqueville drew on for their root assumptions about how secular political institutions shape their citizens’ psyches. American Puritanism is in part an “Augustinian strain of piety,” as Perry Miller showed in his classic study, The New England Mind, hence suspicious of any distraction from worship of God. Puritans banned theaters two years after the nation was founded. Keeping vigilant watch over stirrings of New World worldliness, they permanently placed sophistication in the shadow of a double burden: Christian interdiction on top of the pre-Christian opprobrium heaped on sophistic rhetoric. Only by the mid-19th century does sophistication finally shed, though never definitively, sophistry’s fraudulence and deception and acquire positive qualities—worldly wisdom, refinement, subtlety, expertise. The year 1850 is the earliest positive use the Oxford English Dictionary lists, instanced by a sentence from Leigh Hunt’s Autobiography: “A people who . . . preserve in the very midst of their sophistication a frankness distinct from it.”
Regulation of Sexuality in the Global South
Authors: Dion Michelle L.
Published: December 2020

Government regulation of sexuality includes prohibitions on same-sex intimacy, formation of families, and related rights of LGBT+ people due to their sexual orientation or gender identities. Countries in the Global South tend to lag behind those in the Global North in the recognition of LGBT+ rights, which overall tend to expand incrementally over time in response to LGBT+ activism, diffusion of international norms, and national economic, political and social context. Basic civil rights, including legalization of same-sex intimacy and marriage, are often a necessary precondition for LGBT+ access to the political right to organize and mobilize as an interest group as well as other social rights, such as health care and parental rights. In the developing world, Argentina and South Africa have been regional leaders in LGBT+ rights, and Latin America countries have tended to broaden protections earlier than countries at similar levels of development in Sub-Saharan Africa or Asia. Overall, in the early 21st century, the landscape of LGBT+ civil rights changed rapidly, while some political and social rights still lag behind.
Attitudes Toward LGBT People and Rights in Africa
Authors: Boryczka Jocelyn M.
Published: December 2020

Capturing the nuanced attitudes toward LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people and rights in Africa involves examining them from within and outside the African context. Constructions of the entire African continent as holding negative attitudes toward LGBT peoples and denying them any rights remain quite commonplace across the Global North. However, closer analysis of specific nation-states and regions complicates our understanding of LGBT people and rights in Africa. Advances in the global study of LGBT attitudes through tools such as the Global LGBTI Inclusion Index and the Global Acceptance Index survey African peoples’ beliefs about LGBT communities. These measures locate African attitudes about LGBT peoples within a comparative context to decenter assumptions and many inaccurate, often colonialist, constructions. Attitudinal measures also expose the gap between legislation securing formal rights and the beliefs driving peoples’ everyday practices. These measures further specify how African governments can, often in response to Western political and economic forces, leverage homophobia on a national level to serve their interests despite a misalignment with the population’s attitudes toward LGBT peoples. Nongovernmental organizations and advocates raise awareness about LGBT rights and issues to impact socialization processes that shape these attitudes to generate political, social, and economic change. A rights-based approach and research on attitudes emerging from the African context represent shifts critical to better understanding how LGBT peoples and rights can be more effectively advanced across the continent.
Public Policies Toward LGBT People and Rights in Latin America
Authors: Serrano-Amaya José Fernando , Rodríguez Rondón Manuel Alejandro , Daza-Niño Natalia
Published: December 2020

In the last 20 years, several countries in Latin America have sought uneven and disparate legal transformations affecting the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and collectives. These new legal measures have taken place simultaneously, with deepening structures of social, gender, and sexual injustice challenging their view as indicators of progressive change. In this contradictory context, LGBT social policies have emerged as a specialized field of state action because of two parallel trends: the macro political politics affecting the region, and the accumulated experience of gender and sexual social mobilizations in their interactions with the state. There are many variations of this emerging field of social policies because it is shaped by the meaning provided by local actors such as interest groups, activists, and policy makers, and their translation into policy lobbying, policymaking, and policy negotiation. As result of these innovations, gender identity and sexual orientation have nowadays entered into the language of policymaking and policy implementation. These legal measures have opened spaces for social and political participation that were not there before. Nevertheless, LGBT policies are new regimes of governmentality that control the inclusion of gender and sexual social mobilizations into citizenship and democracy.
African Public Administration
Authors: Hyden Goran
Published: December 2020

Public administration in Africa has its own specific features for at least two reasons. First, African societies are not organized along the lines of competing interests driven by their grounding in the economic production process. These societies have never been subject to an agrarian revolution, let alone an industrial one, that allows for the evolution of a system of social stratification similar to what is found in economically developed countries. In the latter, society is shaped by the state, much of it in its own image. The second reason, therefore, is that the African state—the locus of public administration—is a foreign creation imposed on society without roots in the economy or society. This tends to make its governance capricious and shaped foremost by political battles over how rents and privileges are shared among groups that come together for reasons of consumption rather than production. This is a general feature of the African scene, but it is qualified by a variable colonial legacy and a postindependence development experience. Former British and French colonies differ because of the legal systems they inherited—the former the common law tradition, the latter the Napoleonic civil law apparatus. This difference is important in shaping not only public administration but also the wider political outlook—a factor that affects inter-African cooperation. Since independence, public administration in these countries has been influenced by international and domestic pressures to accelerate development and promote democratic governance. This postindependence experience has been variable, some having managed to steer clear of violence, others having suffered political breakdowns. The African story of public administration since independence is diverse and representative of both successes and failures. Three countries—Botswana, Kenya, and Rwanda—are of special interest because they indicate different pathways that other countries in the region may follow to improve their governance and public administration.
Cyber-Interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election: A Crisis Analysis Case Study
Authors: Nussbaum Brian , Turcotte Brooke
Published: December 2020

The cyber-interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election is part of a growing set of case studies in both the world of election crisis management and cybercrisis management. The 2016 electoral cybercrisis, no matter whether it is possible to determine its effect on the election’s outcome, will likely go down as one of the most effective intelligence operations in modern history. As such, the crisis response to the event—its failures, successes, limitations, and shaping factors—will be studied widely moving forward, as it takes its place among the most important cases of both electoral crisis and cybercrisis management.
Executive–Legislative Relations in Latin American Politics
Authors: Martinez-Gallardo Cecilia , Camerlo Marcelo
Published: December 2020

Presidentialism has long been associated with democratic instability. Conflict between the executive and the legislature is at the heart of this relationship. Traditional arguments link minority presidents with policy deadlock and inter-branch conflict, especially in contexts where presidential institutions deincentivize the formation of governing coalitions that can provide presidents with stable legislative majorities. The extent to which these premises are true, however, varies significantly across the presidential countries of Latin America, as does the potential for conflict and cooperation between the executive and the legislature. The prevalence of minority presidents hinges on the fragmentation of congress as well as other characteristics of the party and electoral systems; the relative powers of the president and congress vary widely, and in many places they have been adjusted precisely to reduce inter-branch conflict. Finally, even where minority governments are the norm, the formation of governing coalitions has helped presidents obtain majority support in congress.
Cameroon: The Military and Autocratic Stability
Authors: Harkness Kristen A.
Published: December 2020

The military plays a vital role in upholding Cameroon’s authoritarian government. Since independence, in 1960, the country has been ruled by a single political party and only two presidents: Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya. Both have gone to great lengths to secure military loyalty: counterbalancing rival forces, personalizing command hierarchies, ethnically stacking both the regular military and presidential guard, and providing extensive patronage benefits to soldiers. Ahidjo and Biya have both also repeatedly used the security forces to repress threats from below and stabilize their dictatorships. Combined gendarme, army, and paramilitary units have been deployed to defeat the southern maquis rebellion of the 1960s; the mass protests for democratization in the 1990s; the fight against Boko Haram, beginning in 2014; and the Anglophone separatist movement, which exploded in 2017. Whether facing nonviolent demonstrators or armed rebels, the military has never defected or refused to obey orders. Yet, as the 1984 coup attempt demonstrated, the bounds of military loyalty are not limitless. When Ahidjo retired, the northern Muslim Fulbe members of the elite Republican Guard attempted to prevent Biya—a southern Christian Beti—from rising to power.
Greece: From Overt Military Activism to Democratic Normality
Authors: Tsarouhas Dimitris
Published: December 2020

Greek civil-military relations (CMR) have been fraught with tension and conflict for a long time, almost since the country’s independence in 1830. A high number of military coups and mutual mistrust between political elites and military officers characterized periods of civilian rule for most of the 20th century. However, and that is what makes the Greek case especially interesting, the restoration of democratic rule after the last military coup in 1967 has been both swift and successful. Ever since 1974, Greece’s CMR have stabilized along the archetypal examples of advanced Western democracies.

Interpreting this impressive transformation of Greek CMR is an exercise that needs to bring together distinct factors: the country’s historical evolution, its political transformation, and its economic development. When in 1974 the Cyprus fiasco exposed the colonels’ regime as inept and incapable of defending the country’s national interests, the country was politically ready for a smooth transition to institutional normality. External factors, such as the prospect of European Union (EU) membership, assisted the country’s civilian leadership by offering Greece a path toward economic prosperity and political stability. For all of the country’s economic problems in the early 21st century, that path has been followed consistently ever since
India: Soldier–Civilian Alliance in a Democratic Context
Authors: Chatterjee Anshu N.
Published: December 2020

What role does India’s military play in its politics? India’s military is one of the largest in the world, with a budget that mirrors its enormity. It is a busy force, having fought five wars since 1947 and having managed persistent insurgencies in India’s northeast and the one in Kashmir since the 1990s. Prevailing studies on its role in India’s institutional structures often characterize it as a body external to the governance of a diverse, and at times perplexing, developing democracy that only intervenes when called on. Its comparatively lower underfunding to its main external threats and exclusion from strategic planning draws a significant amount of scholarly interest that seeks to explain this professional stance of India’s armed sentinels. The focus of such studies on the regulating mechanisms and the lack of resources available for the forces contextualized by India’s external challenges, which often produce institutional anxiety, blur an understanding of the military’s influence on politics in India.

Instead, the question of what role the military plays in India’s politics requires an inquiry into the collaborative linkages that were initiated at the end of colonial rule, when the civilian authorities and the military elite acknowledged each other’s importance in the consolidation of a modern nation-state. Although fear of the guardians guided some initial safeguards by the new civilian authorities, the relationship that emerged soon after reflected extensive collaboration in the face of external and internal threats, which is often ignored in India’s civil–military studies. A closer inquiry into the mutuality of the decision making during selected conflicts brings to fore an understanding of the institutional insight that has allowed the military to influence resource management, participate in governance, and shape political competition in a democratic context.
Forced Migration and Political Violence
Authors: Fisk Kerstin
Published: December 2020

There has been renewed academic interest in the security impacts of forced migration since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 generated more than 5 million refugees, most of whom fled to neighboring countries and to Europe. Researchers are, for instance, increasingly working to identify how the type, severity, and perpetrator of political violence affect patterns of displacement, such as whether forced migrants cross borders or remain in their home country. Though much of the discussion in the security studies context continues to center on forced migration flows as a conduit for civil war, international terrorism, and refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) as perpetrators, scholars also have begun to focus attention on the ways in which refugees and the internally displaced can become the targets of political violence in the receiving state. Following the path of earlier qualitative research recognizing that displaced populations rarely become militarized, studies of a more quantitative orientation are now working to isolate the conditions under which forced migration leads to varying forms of political violence. Another important and growing area of focus is on how resettlement of the displaced affects the dynamics of violence in the origin country, including the potential for conflict recurrence. Efforts to study security impacts of forced migration more systematically have increased alongside the availability of new data and more diverse analytical tools and methods. Still, many important dimensions of the forced migration–conflict connection remain to be explored, and innovative research as well as new data collection efforts are necessary. Integrating insights from other fields, including economics, psychology, and sociology, and returning to the task of theory-building based on case-study research offer a promising path forward.
Military Expenditures and Economic Growth
Authors: Dunne J. Paul , Tian Nan
Published: December 2020

The literature on military spending and growth has become extremely large and diverse and has reached no clear consensus. This lack of consensus should not be unexpected, because there are a number of issues that make the empirical analysis of the relationship difficult to undertake and make it difficult to identify the particular impact of military spending on growth. Some of these issues have had relatively little attention in the literature. The historical context can affect the military spending and growth relation, so there is no reason not to expect different results for different periods. There are various theoretical perspectives that can be used in any analysis and numerous channels through which military spending can affect growth, which means that studies can differ in how they specify the models. In estimating models, a range of econometric techniques have been used, which can affect the results. There also remain issues of identification that present problems for empirical analysis. The observed correlation between output and military expenditure is likely to be negative if the system is driven by strategic shocks and positive if it is driven by economic shocks. Improved military spending data and the existence of some shocks, such as the end of the Cold War, is helping in dealing with identification, but it still remains a concern. Overall, more recent studies show that, in general, it is much more likely that military spending has a negative effect on economic growth than was evident in the past. The issues involved in undertaking any empirical analysis on military spending and growth mean that the debate is likely to continue.
Military Politics and Democratic Transition: Combining Rationality, Culture, and Structure
Authors: Bou Nassif Hicham
Published: December 2020

Rationality, culture, and structure provide useful insights into military politics by stressing self-centered motivations, norms, and large impersonal forces, respectively. The armed forces can transform popular uprisings into democratic transitions, or, alternatively, uphold the status quo. Furthermore, officers can allow nascent democratic experiments to consolidate, or they can resurrect authoritarianism. Whatever they choose to do, multiple material and ideational factors will inform their agency, and by extension, the political dynamics unfolding in transitional times.
Culture and Psychological Health
Authors: Kazarian Shahe S.
Published: December 2020

Societies around the world are a tapestry of cultural diversity weaved in globalization to narrate the inherent value of pluralism as a panacea for good mental health, happiness, and the good life. The scientific construction of culture is also a mosaic of ethnic and racial proxies; national worldviews such as individualism and collectivism; and construals of the self as independent and interdependent. Similarly, the culture of psychological health has been informed by the ethnocentric Western paradigm of clinical psychology looking at the “dark” psychopathological side of life and positive psychology focusing on the hedonic and eudaimonic traditions of well-being. Nevertheless, cultural pluralism (multiculturalism) and globalization have contributed to unveiling the limits of the Western paradigm in which both clinical psychology and positive psychology have been embedded and the imperative for a paradigm shift beyond the Western paradigm. The revisioning of clinical psychology as cultural clinical psychology and positive psychology as cultural positive psychology has contributed to the emergence of the more inclusive cultural psychological health perspective. Cultural psychological health considers the culture and psychological health interface to bring light on an integrated approach that narrates how mental health problems are conceptualized, expressed, and ameliorated culturally and how positive mental health is understood, desired, pursued, and promoted culturally. In addition to inclusivity, cultural psychological health pursues scientific inquiry and knowledge through both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and invokes a science and practice informed by the ethical imperatives of cultural competence and cultural humility with social responsiveness to local and global suffering, happiness, and flourishing.
Development of Gaze Control in Early Infancy
Authors: Rosander Kerstin
Published: December 2020

Gaze control involves eyes, head, and body movements and is guided by mainly three types of information: visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive. Appropriate gaze control is a basis for actions such as reaching, grasping, eating, and manipulation, all of which develop during the first year of life. The development of gaze control is about how young infants gain access to these different kinds of information, how they come to use them, and how they come to coordinate head and eyes to accomplish it. This control develops during the first few weeks of life. A major challenge for the gaze controlling system is how gaze is stabilized on a moving target to keep vision clear, including during self-motion or the compensation of other sudden movements. Furthermore, the tracking has to be timed relative to the object motion. This requires prediction, which is a part of smooth pursuit that emerges at around six weeks and is in full function at three months. The smooth eye and head movements must add up in time and space to the object motion. Then the vestibular and visual neural signals must be properly added. Catch-up saccades compensate when the smooth pursuit is insufficient. In other situations, saccades shift the gaze between objects or situations. Moreover, if a moving object temporarily disappears out of view, one or several saccades predictively recapture the object at the reappearance position (four months). The complex and fast development of gaze has inspired the design of robotic vision (iCub) through processes similar to human development, thus increasing the robot’s flexibility and learning abilities