bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Blockchain
Authors: Lall Mandy M.
Published: April 2020

Blockchain technology has emerged through the developments of the Internet, centralized systems, and a world where “trust” has been lost. First introduced as the technology underlying cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, blockchain technology disrupts the existing status quo through the elimination of traditional intermediary agents, where blocks of data are stored on a distributed, tamper‐evident ledger. As an “Internet of Value,” the progression of data into value, in addition to blockchain's ability to enhance supply chains for radically transparent and traceable value chains, enables the creation of new business models contingent on the evolution of blockchain technology. Blockchain technology has succeeded its embryonic phase with more real‐world applications within the 10 years of its inception. To propagate blockchain technology as the solution to many existing problems hinges on the hype factor; to date, the technology seeks to improve extant centralized system shortcomings and failures. The democratic potential of the technology will, however, rely on the technical improvements and regulations of consensus mechanisms and governance structures.
Informationalism
Authors: Matin Abdul
Published: April 2020

The digital revolution, unlike the Industrial Revolution, has tremendous and unprecedented implications for the flow of information in terms of speed, space, and time, by shaping/reshaping informationalism in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Informationalism is a paradigm shift in the free flow of information in digital format, in digital networks (globally regulated by Moore's, Metcalfe's, and Coase's laws), which is reconfiguring economies, polities, and societies. Many scientists and social scientists have shown their interest in informationalism studies.
Contextual Effects
Authors: Herzog Patricia Snell
Published: April 2020

Social scientists since the original Chicago School researchers find that neighborhoods and other geographic areas exert effects on residents, both while they live in those areas and even long afterward. The context effects are net of the individuals composing them, meaning there are cumulative effects that cannot be explained by individual‐level characteristics alone. Another way of describing this is to state that the sum is greater than its parts: neighborhoods and other geographic areas, such as counties, states, and nations, combine social resources in ways that can influence the kind of lives that people living in those areas have over time. Contextual effects have a long history in sociological studies, dating back at least to the early Chicago School, and affect several types of social outcomes, including economic, educational and developmental, health and psychological well‐being, crime and delinquency, and community involvement. Future directions of contextual effects research will account for the objective and structural features of geographic areas, in conjunction with the subjective and perceptual aspects.
Pilgrimage
Authors: Kurrat Christian , Heiser Patrick
Published: April 2020

A pilgrimage is a journey to a site declared as holy, which promises privileged access to a transcendent sphere beyond the immanent reach of the pilgrim. Traditional pilgrimage sites such as Rome and Mecca have been declared holy by religious institutions. Latterly, secular equivalents such as Graceland have arisen which have been declared quasi‐holy by specific social groups. Furthermore, all pilgrimages have three additional components in common: they are liminal states in extraordinariness, are accompanied by rituals, and offer the prospect of transformation and enrichment, in the sense of a rite of passage that pledges social tribute and enhancement of prestige. Pilgrimage can be conceived as religious practice. Because of its individual composition, its touristification, and its proximity to spirituality, pilgrimage is a form of popular religiosity that features a specific combination of individuality and sociality. The specific interaction of tradition,
communitas
, and individual composition constitute the contemporary popularity of pilgrimage.
Hip‐Hop Studies
Authors: Turner Patrick
Published: April 2020

Hip‐hop studies is a field of inquiry that examines the culture of hip‐hop from a broad range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. This entry provides an introduction to some of its key concerns related to the social origins of the culture, its aesthetics, racial politics, relationship to urban space, its creative and DIY use of electronic and digital technology, and its globalization. It assesses critiques of hip‐hop's commercialization and considers whether the centrality of cultural sampling in its bricolage aesthetic acts as a force of renewal and resistance.
Dunning, Eric (1936–2019)
Authors: Rojek Chris , Hughes Jason
Published: April 2020

Eric Dunning has been celebrated as a pioneer in the sociology of sport. It is certainly true that he had been working on this subject two decades before the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASS) was formed in 1978. However, Dunning always regarded sport as a front of activity connected to a much bigger sociological project: the study of the civilizing process. As a student of Norbert Elias, he was committed to studying how and why violence persists in societies who regard themselves to be “civilized.” The sociological approach to investigate this became known as figurational or process sociology.
Claude Lévi‐Strauss (1908–2009)
Authors: Hull Elizabeth
Published: April 2020

Claude Lévi‐Strauss (1908–2009) was a leading anthropologist of the twentieth century and the main exponent of “structuralism,” a theory proposing that cultural phenomena such as kinship and myth are organized systematically according to relations between their elementary units. He drew on the semiotic theories of Roman Jakobson and Ferdinand de Saussure to argue that cultural systems are a form of communication, sharing the same syntax as language itself. Structuralism offers a method to uncover these analogous structures, which Lévi‐Strauss maintains arise from the universal propensity of the human mind to classify the world according to certain principles and logics.
Aesthetics
Authors: Strohm Kiven
Published: April 2020

In recent years, disciplines across the social sciences and humanities have gone through an “aesthetic turn.” A quick glance would suggest that the idea of aesthetics has returned after the announcement of its death in the 1980s and early 1990s. In this entry, I map out the figure of the aesthetic since the 1990s, a period that has seen a veritable explosion of research and writing about the aesthetic as a concept for thinking about a range of issues, from art and media to popular culture and politics. As we find ourselves presently within this “aesthetic turn,” what does it ask of us?
Authenticity
Authors: Williams J. Patrick
Published: April 2020

The concept of authenticity emerged in Greek antiquity and referred to the author or originator of certain actions or objects. Over the centuries, meaning shifted away from the author to concerns with the originality or genuineness of the actions or objects themselves. Today the concept is widely used across the western social sciences and humanities, yet there is no single consensus on its conceptual focus or boundaries due to the different epistemologies and ontologies utilized by scholars. As the names imply, realists see authenticity as a real or essential quality of a person, object, or practice, while constructionists view authenticity as something that people create or construct because it serves some pragmatic purpose. Contemporary realist and constructionist scholarship regularly includes studies on the authenticity of the self and individuals' experiences, as well as studies on the authenticity of cultural objects and practices. The concept is important for theorizing various current issues, from self‐feelings and the relationship between the individual and society, to the everyday practices through which people attribute significance to the people, objects, and practices around them.
Bateson, Gregory (1904–1980)
Authors: Van Den Eede Yoni
Published: April 2020

Gregory Bateson was a British social scientist, who developed notions such as schismogenesis and double bind, formulated a holistic theory of mind, and was a pioneer of ecological thought. Although originally trained as an anthropologist, he engaged with several fields throughout his life, such as cybernetics and communication, psychology, ethology, and evolution – and he contributed significantly to many of these. In the later part of his life the seemingly haphazard pattern of interests started to coalesce into an overarching theory that Bateson designated by “Epistemology,” in which all organisms share the capacity of “mind,” redefined as the ability to perceive meaningful differences. However, dominant modes of thinking fail to grasp this situation of all living beings being connected in an “ecology of mind,” and this, in Bateson's view, has nefarious consequences, most prominently in the form of ecological crises.
Black Masculinity
Authors: Matlon Jordanna
Published: April 2020

Gender and racial identity are central to establishing hierarchies of value in the modern world. These stratifications originate in the economic structure and social relations of capitalism, a system in which masculinity assumed a dominant, and blackness a subordinate, position. Situated in a contradictory social location, black masculinity is typically problematized, construed as deviant or deficient to normative masculinity. Understanding this construction requires examining the relationship between blackness and masculinity in capitalism.
Class
Authors: Vitt Lois A.
Published: April 2020

Class
refers to a stratification system that divides a society into a hierarchy of social positions. It also identifies a particular class position using terms such as “lower class,” “working class,” “middle class,” “upper class,” “elite,” or other such designation. The theories of class exist in sociology within the larger topic of social stratification and are based on the works of Karl Marx and Max Weber, as well as the writings of other prominent social theorists who have contrasted, debated, explained, and elaborated the theories of these foundational figures. Students of sociology are introduced to the conceptualizations, research methods, and applications that have advanced and constrained class studies in the United States and around the globe.
Credit Cards
Authors: Mathur Nita
Published: April 2020

Credit cards have significantly redefined how people relate to money. They have ushered in a major transformation of the nature of monetary transactions. Apart from affording convenience of use, lucrative welcome‐aboard perks, sign‐up bonuses, cash‐back offers, and rewards and points that can be retrieved later, credit cards promise liberation from the cash crunch to fulfill individuals' aspirations for the “good life.” In fact, credit cards come with dual convenience: making payments without having to withdraw cash; and easy access to short‐term credit. Borrowing through use of credit cards is the most common type of formal borrowing in high‐income economies. Among developing economies, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, and Turkey stand out for their high credit card use. The usage of credit cards depends on a number of factors: economic growth, extent of formalization of the economy in general and market structure in particular, educational broadening, institutional preparedness, and promotion of online trading. Equally important are people's attitude to credit and to risk aversion. Operation of the credit card industry in the economy of a country is complex and is, in effect, contingent upon state policy. While the importance and usage of credit cards cannot be undermined, instances of fraudulent credit card transactions are commonly reported. This calls for robust institutional arrangements for online security and responsible consumer behavior.
Guattari, Félix (1930–1992)
Authors: Genosko Gary
Published: April 2020

French intellectual Félix Guattari (1930–1992) was a psychoanalyst trained by Jacques Lacan. In the mid‐1950s he was hired by Jean Oury at Clinique de la Borde. Guattari is best known for his collaborations with philosopher Gilles Deleuze on the influential volumes
Anti‐Oedipus
,
A Thousand Plateaus
,
What Is Philosophy?
, and
Kafka: For a Minor Literature
. Guattari's solo books are less well known but growing in contemporary relevance. These include
Psychoanalysis and Transversality
,
The Machinic Unconscious
,
Molecular Revolution
,
The Three Ecologies
,
Schizoanalytic Cartographies
,
Chaosmosis
, and
Lines of Flight
. Guattari wrote on many topics including politics, art, culture, architecture, and media; additionally, he wrote screenplays, numerous theatrical dialogues, and fiction. The English‐speaking reception of his work has lagged behind both Brazilian and Japanese receptions, but a renewed effort is underway to bring into English translation all of his diverse and fascinating writings.
Intergenerational Relationships and Exchanges
Authors: Mandell Nancy , Hemphill Julia
Published: April 2020

Increased mobility, longevity, and unpredictability in family forms has led to the emergence of complex relationships, diverse family structures, and interdependent family roles. In an attempt to capture the structure, process, and context of family dynamics through these different stages of the life course – childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, midlife, and later life – studies of intergenerational relationships and exchanges examine what is transmitted across generations and how this transmission occurs. Four trends alter such relations: increased longevity, the global spread of economic uncertainty, mass migration, and shifting family forms. Together, these are transforming family structures.
Juries
Authors: Cornwell Erin York
Published: April 2020

Juries are legal institutions in which a group of citizens, drawn from a cross‐section of the population, hear a criminal or civil trial and deliberate to a verdict. The jury is also a fundamental democratic institution, directly engaging citizens in shaping justice. Jury usage in the United States has precipitously declined since the 1950s; juries today hear only a tiny fraction of cases in state and federal courts. The American jury system continues to face challenges in achieving ideals of representation of the population and egalitarian deliberations. Social science research on differences between judge and jury verdicts suggests that jurors bring community‐based insights and act as a hand brake on the state's power, but there is also evidence of racial bias in jury verdicts. General public support for the jury, and the expansion of lay decision‐making in other countries, point to the jury's continuing importance as a legal and democratic institution.
Lifestyle Consumption
Authors: Strohecker David Paul
Published: April 2020

This entry is an examination of lifestyle consumption through the lens of postmodern social theory. Lifestyle consumption includes all the goods and services we use in an effort to both meet our material concerns as well as express who we are. Consumption, here, carries both material and symbolic claims to status or distinction; it is inherently cultural and relational. At the individual level this practice is expressive because it is all about meaning‐making – for example, the construction of personal identity. At the collective level, lifestyle consumption enables the emergence of elected communities like subcultures, scenes, or neo‐tribes, communities of affinity where taste becomes the source of social ties.
Lukács, Georg (1885–1971)
Authors: Demeter Tamás
Published: April 2020

Among Hungarian philosophers, Georg Lukács's significance is pivotal in both domestic and international contexts, and the same is true if one considers his significance for social theory. He was the central figure of the “Sunday Circle,” formed in Budapest around 1915; members included Karl Mannheim and Arnold Hauser, whose thought would be profoundly influenced by Lukács and his work. His writing between the two world wars, especially
History and Class Consciousness
(1923), provided important inspiration to Western Marxism, especially to representatives of the Frankfurt School such as Theodor Adorno and Jürgen Habermas. Following World War II, his aspirations to monumental syntheses proved less influential, but his influence is still present today, mainly due to his circle of students known as the “Budapest School,” most notable among them Ágnes Heller and György Márkus, and its halo.
Mass Media and Socialization
Authors: Muzzatti Stephen L. , Rigato Brandon
Published: April 2020

Socialization is a lifelong process through which people learn the patterns of their culture. This process is facilitated by a host of agents of socialization such as the family unit, the educational system, peer groups, and the mass media. This entry focuses on the role of the mass media in the process of socialization. The mass media's increasing ubiquity and ever divergent forms leave little question as to their pervasiveness. While they are a more recently developed agent of socialization, the mass media strongly influence public opinion and our worldview. By imparting both approved and fugitive knowledges, media narratives shape the way we see ourselves and the world around us.
Materiality and Scientific Practice
Authors: Müller Anna‐Lisa
Published: April 2020

Materiality informs scientific practice in two different ways: as constitutive element in doing scientific research and in forming scientific knowledge, and as topic of (sociological) research practice. Laboratory studies highlighted the social processes behind the “manufacture of knowledge” and the constitutive role materiality plays in forming and performing scientific practices. As a topic of sociological scientific practice, materiality's symbolic dimension and its effects on individual and collective processes are the subject of research. In addition, materiality is increasingly analyzed with regard to its agentic character, ultimately striving at overcoming the human/nonhuman dichotomy. These two strands of sociological research highlight, in different ways, the role that materiality plays at the micro‐, meso‐, and macrolevel of societies.
Parsons, Talcott (1902–1979)
Authors: Heiskala Risto
Published: April 2020

Talcott Parsons was the most important synthesizer of sociology and the major representative of the “grand theory” tradition within it. His “action frame of reference” was a creative reinterpretation of Weber's work and his later structural functionalism a creative reinterpretation of Durkheim. Building on those classics as well as other theoretical references, Parsons came up with a paradigm defining sociology as a discipline studying the development, benefits, and internal crises of modernity. The motivation of his work was always to write sociological theory that would benefit the modernizing elites in their attempts to promote and secure social integration.
The Personal Is Political
Authors: Heberle Renée
Published: April 2020

The phrase “the personal is political” is identified with feminist politics going back to the “second wave” of feminism initiated in the late 1960s. The expression has accrued multiple meanings over time, associated with radical feminism, black feminism, intersectionality, and movements against sexual violence and harassment. While personalizing the political is considered as problematic, politicizing aspects of the personal has led to increased public action about issues previously dismissed as private or as requiring only individual attention. It has inspired global shifts in what is considered “properly” political.
Privatization
Authors: Verger Antoni
Published: April 2020

Privatization is a process through which the private sector increasingly participates in economic activities that used to be the remit of the state. Privatization processes can occur in many forms, in various degrees, and at different paces: they can be drastic or gradual; exogenous or endogenous; de facto or by design. The contemporary privatization agenda of public services began with neoliberal governments in the 1980s, and extensively penetrated other countries during the 1990s, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. More recently, economic globalization has contributed to disseminating and intensifying privatization processes. In highly competitive economic environments, countries adopt privatization measures for pragmatic and economic reasons, and do not necessarily follow a partisan or ideological rationale. The fact that privatization has often failed to deliver its promised results of efficiency, universal access, and effectiveness is currently making governments more inclined to enact public–private partnerships (PPPs) than drastic privatization initiatives. Nonetheless, in practice, the main differences between PPPs and conventional privatization – in terms of both policy arrangements and social outcomes – are not always appreciable.
Riot Grrrl
Authors: Kearney Mary Celeste
Published: April 2020

This entry focuses on Riot Grrrl, a feminist punk movement that emerged during the early 1990s in the United States.
Ritual
Authors: Stephenson Barry
Published: April 2020

This entry provides an introduction and overview of the concept of ritual.
Schools, Magnet
Authors: Davis Tomeka
Published: April 2020

Magnet schools are public schools of choice, designed to achieve racial balance in school districts by drawing together students from different racial backgrounds through the provision of innovative programs or curricula.
Science Across Cultures
Authors: Saito Carlos Hiroo
Published: April 2020

“Science across cultures” is related to the broad question of whether science is unique and universal. Science can be understood as the paths taken by different civilizations to find answers to help them face concrete problems. There are many examples from different ancient societies that show how they learned about nature and how their observations of nature helped them to control certain environmental process in order to produce food or avoid disaster. Science across cultures also helps minority students who may ignore or forget their cultural background and grow up in a context of undervaluing cultural diversity. Science across cultures also could be the possibility of a multicultural dialogue for a sustainable future.
Semi‐Domestication
Authors: Takakura Hiroki
Published: April 2020

Semi‐domestication is a concept indicating the degree to which plants and animals exist on a spectrum between wild species and breeding stock in relation to human societies. Unlike the dominant perception of a dichotomy between hunter‐gatherers and pastoralist‐agriculturalists, human history and ethnography describe a certain range of semi‐domestic relationships to plants and animals. This relationship indicates not temporary transitions but rather a metastable equilibrium. Semi‐domestication sheds light on new historical phases of human food procurement/production. The concept also suggests a new method of nature conservation. Semi‐domestication enhances the analysis of the symbiotic aspects of the use of natural resources and the interpretation of the versatile value of human–nature relations.
Shopping
Authors: Miles Steven
Published: April 2020

Shopping is sociologically significant because on the surface it appears to be such a trivial activity. It is through shopping that we construct our “consumer selves” and thus play out the everyday relationship between structure and agency. Shopping is thus an ideological activity, as perhaps best demonstrated by the rise of the shopping mall in which the divisive nature of the consumer society is camouflaged. The way in which shopping has changed, in relation to gender, for example, provides further evidence of the role shopping plays as a mirror to social change. The rise of Internet shopping and the associated decline of bricks and mortar retail further highlights how our shopping habits reflect key elements of our identities. Shopping thus represents one of the key social arenas in which the power of consumer capitalism is maintained and reinforced.
Simulation: “Fake News,” Junk Politics, and the Hyper‐Reality of Today
Authors: Langman Lauren
Published: April 2020

For a number of social theorists, the contemporary era, fundamentally different from the past, is often called “postmodern.” It is constantly bombarded by and defined by an endless barrage of mass‐mediated simulations, contrived, mass‐produced representations of a “reality” where an original may have never existed. It creates models of the real where there is no original. Billboards, movies, and television, along with cell phones, tablets, and computers, now supply never‐ending streams of simulations, dreams, and images of this “created” but artificial – indeed “fake” – reality; the signs of the real are indeed reality. These simulations are largely a product of advertisers, marketers, journalists, and political consultants who create and disseminate the spectacles and simulations that constitute a new social order of “hyper‐reality.” Indeed, we have now reached a moment that many political commentators have call a “post truth” era in which “truthiness” has displaced “objective reality” and now “alternative facts” promulgated by “fake news” is unquestioned and “fake politics” the norm.
Social Exchange Theory
Authors: Cook Karen S.
Published: April 2020

Social exchange theory has been an important theoretical perspective on social interaction and social networks since the 1960s. It has developed over time and is based on the work of Homans, Blau, and Emerson in sociology. It is now focused on the study of exchange networks, social cohesion, power inequalities, and trust.
Stratification and Inequality, Theories of
Authors: Bilecen Başak
Published: April 2020

Research on stratification and inequality has been mainly preoccupied with differential resource allocation in a given society, thereby mainly assuming that class is the main predictor. In addition to class, more recent studies have turned their attention to multiple dimensions of inequality including gender, ethnicity/race, and age among others, thus using the term in the plural and investigating the processes leading to inequalities and stratification. Moreover, analysis of inequalities has usually been conducted within nation‐state frameworks, while contemporary transnational research argues for a deconstruction of territorialist and container thinking. This entry provides an analytical overview of a vast literature on the theories of social stratification and inequality while identifying the main arguments of classical and contemporary approaches.
Postcolonial Feminism
Authors: Khan Koyel
Published: April 2020

Postcolonial feminism exposes the continued impact of colonialism. It is critical of the western forms of feminism that tend to consider the Third World as a monolithic entity, and the women in these geographic areas as backward and uneducated, waiting to be liberated. It seeks to change the hegemonic approaches to theorization and knowledge production, and undo the global power relations.
Uncertainty
Authors: Smithson Michael
Published: April 2020

“Uncertainty” is variously understood as incompleteness or absence of knowledge, but also has been treated as a physical property, a mental state, a moral condition, a public problem, an economic commodity, a strategic production, or a cultural property. Its study lacks an agreed‐upon nomenclature and definitions of fundamental concepts. Only relatively recently has uncertainty been studied systematically from constructivist standpoints, or recognized as having a multifarious nature. Nevertheless, with the publication in 2015 of theRoutledge International Handbook of Ignorance Studies, serious scholarship on this topic may be said to have arrived. Research programs have addressed both the intentional and unintended production of uncertainty, the uses that people make of it, and its roles in underpinning various forms of social processes and, indeed, social capital. Emerging research programs are increasingly multidisciplinary, in recognition of the fact that the topic of uncertainty is not exclusive to any one discipline.
Unions
Authors: Contrepois Sylvie
Published: April 2020

Unions are intermediary organizations formed by workers with the purpose of defending and advancing their rights. Their existence is based on the key principles of freedom to join and independence from states and employers. They appeared in early capitalist societies and it is possible to distinguish three overlapping stages in their development.
Welfare State, Retrenchment of
Authors: Starke Peter
Published: April 2020

“Welfare state retrenchment” refers to the act of cutting back the welfare state. The central reference point of the scholarly debate on retrenchment remains Paul Pierson's work. Pierson argues that retrenchment in democratic countries with large systems of social security is difficult because benefits tend to be popular and the structure of conflict as well as psychological loss aversion facilitate the mobilization of opposition against retrenchment. The strategies policy‐makers can use under these conditions, in order to avoid negative electoral repercussions, typically involve blame avoidance. Subsequent research has focused on measuring the extent of welfare state retrenchment, the conditions under which electoral punishment occurs, and if and how blame avoidance really works.
Williams, Raymond (1921–1988)
Authors: Moran Marie , McGuigan Jim
Published: April 2020

Raymond Williams (1921–1988) was Britain's greatest socialist intellectual of the twentieth century. His Welsh working‐class background and sense of community always inflected his work as a theorist, novelist, and dramatist. Moreover, he developed and revised his thinking over time, influenced by western Marxism but always motivated by the critical possibility of a “common culture” facilitated by an educated and participatory democracy, including widespread access to communications media. Williams formed a distinctive analytical paradigm of his own for the study of culture and society that he named “cultural materialism.” He also sought to reconcile socialism with green politics.
Nature‐Inspired Protecto‐Flexible Impact‐Tolerant Materials
Authors: Estrada Susana , Ossa Alex
Published: April 2020

The search for impact‐tolerant, light‐weight flexible materials has challenged materials scientists and engineers for decades. In this quest, many researchers have focused on studying natural armor as a guide to propose bioinspired materials with enhanced properties. The energy dissipation and flexibility mechanisms activated at different hierarchical structural levels of natural systems are used here as a guide to improve the energy and flexibility of synthetic materials. In particular, fish scales and osteoderms are selected as proper biological models to develop a novel family of cost‐effective bioinspired protecto‐flexible (Pf) materials. Furthermore, a bullet‐proof protecto‐flexible prototype is manufactured and tested. The ballistic tests suggest that under real stringent conditions, the system is capable of absorbing high levels of energy while remaining flexible enough to allow movement to the user. Remarkably, the material system developed allows its implementation into realistic high volumes of production with low added costs. Consequently, the proposed strategy for developing bioinspired Pf materials will enable the development of the next generation of high‐performance impact‐resistant materials.
Preparation and Characterization of Electrospun Blend Fibrous Polyethylene Oxide:Polycaprolactone Scaffolds to Promote Cartilage Regeneration
Authors: Mirzaei Zeynab , S. Kordestani Soheila , Kuth Sonja , Schubert Dirk W. , Detsch Rainer , Roether Judith A. , Blunk Torsten , Boccaccini Aldo R.
Published: April 2020

Fibrous scaffolds can be used to mimic the structure of cartilage extracellular matrix aiming at cartilage regeneration through optimal utilization of such scaffolds and chondrogenic cells. Herein, different types of fibrous structures are manufactured through electrospinning of blends of polyethylene oxide (PEO) and polycaprolactone (PCL), and the physical and chemical characteristics of the produced fiber mats are investigated. The amount of PEO influenced hydrophilicity, biodegradability, and mechanical properties of the blend fibers. To assess the cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of the scaffolds as well as the effect of fiber orientation, in vitro cell culture studies with a chondrogenic cell line (ATDC5) are conducted. The results show no cytotoxicity of the developed fibrous structures. A promising fibrous scaffold technology is presented with potential applications in cartilage tissue engineering.
Nanoarchitectured Structure and Surface Biofunctionality of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles
Authors: Kankala Ranjith Kumar , Han Ya‐Hui , Na Jongbeom , Lee Chia‐Hung , Sun Ziqi , Wang Shi‐Bin , Kimura Tatsuo , Ok Yong Sik , Yamauchi Yusuke , Chen Ai‐Zheng , Wu Kevin C.‐W.
Published: April 2020

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), one of the important porous materials, have garnered interest owing to their highly attractive physicochemical features and advantageous morphological attributes. They are of particular importance for use in diverse fields including, but not limited to, adsorption, catalysis, and medicine. Despite their intrinsic stable siliceous frameworks, excellent mechanical strength, and optimal morphological attributes, pristine MSNs suffer from poor drug loading efficiency, as well as compatibility and degradability issues for therapeutic, diagnostic, and tissue engineering purposes. Collectively, the desirable and beneficial properties of MSNs have been harnessed by modifying the surface of the siliceous frameworks through incorporating supramolecular assemblies and various metal species, and through incorporating supramolecular assemblies and various metal species and their conjugates. Substantial advancements of these innovative colloidal inorganic nanocontainers drive researchers in promoting them toward innovative applications like stimuli (light/ultrasound/magnetic)‐responsive delivery‐associated therapies with exceptional performance in vivo. Here, a brief overview of the fabrication of siliceous frameworks, along with discussions on the significant advances in engineering of MSNs, is provided. The scope of the advancement in terms of structural and physicochemical attributes and their effects on biomedical applications with a particular focus on recent studies is emphasized. Finally, interesting perspectives are recapitulated, along with the scope toward clinical translation.
Kirigami‐Design‐Enabled Hydrogel Multimorphs with Application as a Multistate Switch
Authors: Hao Xing Peng , Xu Zhao , Li Chen Yu , Hong Wei , Zheng Qiang , Wu Zi Liang
Published: April 2020

Morphing materials have promising applications in soft robots, intelligent devices, and so forth. Among the various design strategies, kirigami structures are recognized as a powerful tool to obtain sophisticated 3D configurations and unprecedented properties from planar designs on common materials. Here, some kirigami designs are demonstrated for programmable, multistable 3D configurations from composite hydrogel sheets. Via photolithographic polymerization, perforated composite hydrogel sheets are fabricated, in which soft and active hydrogel strips are patterned in stiff and passive hydrogel frames. When immersed in water, the gel strips buckle out of plane due to swelling mismatch. In the kirigami structures, the geometric continuity is disrupted by the introduction of cutouts, and thus the degrees of deformation freedom increases remarkably. Multiple configurations are obtained in a single composite hydrogel by controlling the buckling direction of each strip. Multitier configurations are also obtained by using a hierarchically designed kirigami structure. A multicontact switch of an electric circuit is designed by harnessing the multitier gel configurations. Furthermore, a rotation mode is realized by introducing chirality in the kirigami design. The versatile design of the kirigami structure for programmable deformations should be applicable for other intelligent materials toward promising applications in biomedical devices and flexible electronics.
Chiral Surface Lattice Resonances
Authors: Goerlitzer Eric S. A. , Mohammadi Reza , Nechayev Sergey , Volk Kirsten , Rey Marcel , Banzer Peter , Karg Matthias , Vogel Nicolas
Published: April 2020

Collective excitation of periodic arrays of metallic nanoparticles by coupling localized surface plasmon resonances to grazing diffraction orders leads to surface lattice resonances with narrow line width. These resonances may find numerous applications in optical sensing and information processing. Here, a new degree of freedom of surface lattice resonances is experimentally investigated by demonstrating handedness‐dependent excitation of surface lattice resonances in arrays of chiral plasmonic crescents. The self‐assembly of particles used as mask and modified colloidal lithography is applied to produce arrays of planar and 3D gold crescents over large areas. The excitation of surface lattice resonances as a function of the interparticle distance and the degree of order within the arrays is investigated. The chirality of the individual 3D crescents leads to the formation of chiral lattice modes, that is, surface lattice resonances that exhibit optical activity.
Bacteria as Nanoparticles Carrier for Enhancing Penetration in a Tumoral Matrix Model
Authors: Moreno Víctor M. , Álvarez Elena , Izquierdo‐Barba Isabel , Baeza Alejandro , Serrano‐López Juana , Vallet‐Regí María
Published: April 2020

One of the major concerns in the application of nanocarriers in oncology is their scarce penetration capacity in tumoral tissues. Living organisms (cells and bacteria) present the capacity to navigate autonomously following chemical gradients being able to penetrate deeply into dense tissues. Currently, the possibility to employ these organisms for the transportation of therapeutic agents or nanocarriers has received huge attention. Herein, a new approach to deliver drug‐loaded nanoparticles achieving high penetration in tumoral matrices is presented. Escherichia coli bacteria wall is decorated with azide groups, whereas alkyne‐strained groups are incorporated on the surface of mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded with a potent cytotoxic compound, doxorubicin. Both functional groups form stable triazole bonds by click‐type reaction allowing the covalent grafting of nanoparticles on living bacteria. Both motility and penetration capacity are evaluated in a 3D tumoral matrix model composed by a dense collagen extracellular matrix containing human fibrosarcome cells. The results confirm that bacteria are able to transport the nanoparticles crossing a thick collagen layer being able to destroy almost 80% of the tumoral cells located underneath. These findings envision a powerful strategy in cancer treatment by allowing a homogeneous distribution of therapeutic agents in the malignancy.
Biomimetic MXene‐Polyvinyl Alcohol Composite Hydrogel with Vertically Aligned Channels for Highly Efficient Solar Steam Generation
Authors: Yu Zhenchuan , Wu Peiyi
Published: April 2020

Solar steam generation, which utilizes sustainable solar energy to produce fresh water, is regarded as a facile and effective way to solve water scarcity issues. However, challenges remain in terms of inefficient water transfer and vapor release, low solar absorption and conversion efficiency, and hydrophobic photothermal materials. Herein, enlightened by water transport through internal microchannels in trees, a tree‐inspired hydrogel (TIH) with vertically aligned channels incorporating MXene as the light absorber is fabricated. Due to the vertically aligned channels, the rapid transfer of water and unobstructed release of steam can be achieved. Furthermore, water state in molecular meshes can be changed by polymer−water interaction, and partial water can be activated to promote water evaporation. Excellent internal photothermal conversion efficiency and hydrophilicity of MXene are also conducive to evaporation. As a result, TIH has achieved an evaporation rate of 2.71 kg m−2 h−1 and energy efficiency of 90.7% under one sun irradiation, which is higher than membrane material and structure‐disordered hydrogel. This design principle, expandable manufacturing route, and excellent performance provide a potential way and design concept for water purification and desalination.
Revisiting the Role of Conductivity and Polarity of Host Materials for Long‐Life Lithium–Sulfur Battery
Authors: Lee Byong‐June , Kang Tong‐Hyun , Lee Ha‐Young , Samdani Jitendra S. , Jung Yongju , Zhang Chunfei , Yu Zhou , Xu Gui‐Liang , Cheng Lei , Byun Seoungwoo , Lee Yong Min , Amine Khalil , Yu Jong‐Sung
Published: April 2020

Despite their high theoretical energy density and low cost, lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) suffer from poor cycle life and low energy efficiency owing to the polysulfides shuttle and the electronic insulating nature of sulfur. Conductivity and polarity are two critical parameters for the search of optimal sulfur host materials. However, their role in immobilizing polysulfides and enhancing redox kinetics for long‐life LSBs are not fully understood. This work has conducted an evaluation on the role of polarity over conductivity by using a polar but nonconductive platelet ordered mesoporous silica (pOMS) and its replica platelet ordered mesoporous carbon (pOMC), which is conductive but nonpolar. It is found that the polar pOMS/S cathode with a sulfur mass fraction of 80 wt% demonstrates outstanding long‐term cycle stability for 2000 cycles even at a high current density of 2C. Furthermore, the pOMS/S cathode with a high sulfur loading of 6.5 mg cm−2 illustrates high areal and volumetric capacities with high capacity retention. Complementary physical and electrochemical probes clearly show that surface polarity and structure are more dominant factors for sulfur utilization efficiency and long‐life, while the conductivity can be compensated by the conductive agent involved as a required electrode material during electrode preparation. The present findings shed new light on the design principles of sulfur hosts towards long‐life and highly efficient LSBs.
Spatially Resolved Performance Analysis for Perovskite Solar Cells
Authors: Schubert Martin C. , Mundt Laura E. , Walter Daniel , Fell Andreas , Glunz Stefan W.
Published: April 2020

This review explores the current state of the art in spatially resolved characterization of mixed‐halide perovskite solar cells. As the size of perovskite cells and modules continues to grow, quantification of the spatial distribution of key cell parameters will become increasingly valuable in predicting ultimate cell‐level performance and tracking process homogeneity. Here, both high resolution microscopic approaches using scanning techniques and camera‐based methods for full‐area cell and/or module analysis are discussed. The value of this local data in predicting performance losses at the cell level is particularly emphasized. Measurable physical parameters sensitive to losses of voltage, current, fill factor, and efficiency are discussed together with selected experimental results. It is demonstrated that a combination of spatially resolved cell parameter mapping/imaging can be used to quantitatively discriminate various loss contributions at high resolution. The impact and control of inhomogeneities become particularly important when upscaling from small devices to large formats compatible with industrial mass production.
Comparison of nutrient management recommendations and soil health indicators in southern Idaho
Authors: Leytem April B. , Rogers Christopher W. , Tarkalson David , Dungan Robert S. , Haney Richard L. , Moore Amber D.
Published: April 2020

Advanced soil tests can improve the estimation of plant available nutrients to better match fertilizer additions with plant needs and, in some cases, provide a measure of soil health. In the present study, 334 samples from four separate studies were evaluated using the Soil Health Tool (SHT) vs. the standard regional (University of Idaho [UI] Guidelines) method for determining fertilizer application, assuming a crop of spring irrigated wheat. Recommended N applications using the SHT were ∼138 kg ha−1 greater than the UI recommendations. Nitrogen mineralization predicted using the SHT (47 kg ha−1) was similar to the N mineralization value used in the regional methodology (50 kg ha−1). The P fertilizer recommendations were similar between the two methodologies with the SHT recommending, on average 4.7 kg ha−1 less P than the regional method. The lower P recommendation are likely due to a lack of accounting for the effects of high calcium carbonate levels on the P availability from fertilizers in this region. The soil health score (SHS) was correlated with measures of soil C but was not positively correlated to crop yield. In some instances, increasing SHS were correlated with decreases in crop quality as the addition of manure increased soil C but also created issues such as high salt contents and release of late season N. With modification to more accurately represent irrigation conditions and including sampling to greater soil depths, the SHT may be tailored to better estimate soil nutrient status and provide better fertilizer recommendations for the region.
Effect of topdress nitrogen rates applied based on growing degree days on winter wheat grain yield
Authors: Dhillon J.S. , Raun W.R.
Published: April 2020

The majority of in‐season nutrient management decisions for numerous crops are based on subjective morphological scales. The objective of this study was to establish whether a numerical scale based on growing degree days (GDDs > 0) utilizing weather science, could be used for N management in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). An incomplete factorial within a randomized complete block design (RCBD) was replicated three times, over a period of three growing seasons (2017−2019). The locations were Efaw near Stillwater, OK; and Perkins, OK. A total of 15 treatments were included where three treatments received pre‐plant N rates of 0, 90, and 120 kg N ha−1; and remaining treatments received topdress N of 30, 60, and 90 kg N ha−1 at 65, 80, 95, and 110 GDDs. Data collection included grain yield, grain protein concentration, and N uptake. Topdress application of N at 80−95 GDDs resulted in improved grain yields at 3 out of 6 site‐years. Grain protein concentration increased when N was applied topdress (90 kg N ha−1) at 110 GDDs (3 out of 6 site‐years). This work shows that an easier‐to‐use‐numerical‐scale based on GDDs (80−115) could be utilized for efficient topdress N application in winter wheat.
Modeling local and global spatial correlation in field‐scale experiments
Authors: Griffin Terry W. , Fitzgerald Glenn J. , Lowenberg‐DeBoer James , Barnes Edward M.
Published: April 2020

Precision agriculture has renewed the interest of farmers and researchers to conduct on‐farm planned comparisons and researchers with respect to field‐scale research. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutumL.) yield monitor data collected on‐the‐go from planned field‐scale on‐farm experiments can be used to make improved decisions if analyzed appropriately. When farmers and researchers compare treatments implemented at larger block designs, treatment edge effects and spatial externalities need to be considered so that results are not biased. Spatial analysis methods are compared for field‐scale research using site‐specific data, paying due attention to local and global patterns of spatial correlation. Local spatial spillovers are explicitly modeled by spatial statistical techniques that led to improved farm management decisions in combination with the limited replication strip trial data farmers currently collect.