bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Monitoring wildlife population trends with sample counts: a case study on the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex)
Authors: Panaccio Matteo , Brambilla Alice , Bassano Bruno , Smith Tessa , von Hardenberg Achaz
Published: November 2023

Monitoring population dynamics is of fundamental importance in conservation but assessing trends in abundance can be costly, especially in large and rough areas. Obtaining trend estimations from counts performed in only a portion of the total area (sample counts) can be a cost‐effective method to improve the monitoring and conservation of species difficult to count.

We tested the effectiveness of sample counts in monitoring population trends of wild animals, using as a model population the Alpine ibex Capra ibex in the Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy), both with computer simulations and using historical count data collected over the last 65 years. Despite sample counts failed to correctly estimate the true population abundance, sampling half of the target area could reliably monitor the trend of the target population. In case of strong changes in abundance, an even lower proportion of the total area could be sufficient to identify the direction of the population trend. However, when there is a high yearly trend variability, the required number of samples increases and even counting in the entire area can be ineffective to detect population trends. The effect of other parameters, such as which portion of the area is sampled and detectability, was lower, but these should be tested case by case.

Sample counts could therefore constitute a viable alternative to assess population trends, allowing for important, cost‐effective improvements in the monitoring of wild animals of conservation interest.
Military Leadership and Ethics
Authors: Olsthoorn Peter
Published: November 2023

Leadership and ethics are habitually treated as related to separate spheres. It would be better, perhaps, if leadership and ethics were treated as belonging to a single domain. Ethics is an aspect of leadership and not a separate approach that exists alongside other approaches to leadership such as the trait approach, the situational approach, etc. This holds especially true for the military, one of the few organizations that can legitimately use violence. Today, most militaries opt for a character-based approach for the ethics education of their leaders and espouse leadership theories that want leaders to be strong and visionary. Both the role of character and leadership are increasingly questioned, however, on the basis that situational factors are more influential than leadership and character. A closer look suggests that an interactionist perspective, with leadership, character, and the situation interplaying, is more accurate. It is still good leadership that keeps soldiers from crossing the line between the lawful use of force and excessive violence.
The Long Road to Becoming a Farmer in Kebumen, Central Java, Indonesia
Authors: Ambarwati Aprilia , Chazali Charina
Published: November 2023

This chapter presents the trajectories of young men and women into farming and is based on the authors’ research in two villages in Kebumen Regency, Central Java. In our study, we have prioritized the perspectives of young people themselves in respect of their own experiences and pathways as farmers. The chapter consists of four sections. First, we describe the background of the selected location as well as the methodology and techniques of field data collection. The second section provides a picture of the economy, society, and agrarian structure in the two research locations. The third section describes various dimensions of young people’s trajectories into farming and how they respond to the various obstacles and challenges that they face, using the respondents’ own words where possible. The last section offers some conclusions and reflections.
“Regenerating” Agriculture: Becoming a Young Farmer in Manitoba, Canada
Authors: Bihun Hannah Jess , Desmarais Annette Aurélie
Published: November 2023

This chapter analyses the pathways, motivations, and challenges of young people who are bucking the trend of urban migration and instead are choosing to continue to farm or enter farming as new entrants in the Canadian province of Manitoba. We are particularly interested in addressing the following questions: Who are the young people entering and continuing in agriculture in Manitoba today? How did they enter agriculture? What motivates them to farm? How do they farm and market their products? What barriers are they facing as young farmers in the province? What kind of support do they need?
Young Farmers in a “Cucumber Village”: A Different Story of Family Farming in Agricultural Specialization from Hebei Province
Authors: Pan Lu
Published: November 2023

This village came to our attention by accident. Given the rural labour migration situation in China, especially in the mid-west, it was difficult to find a village with many young farmers. We came across this village, which is well-known in its adjacent areas for its specialization in cucumber cultivation and marketing. When reviewing the site’s agricultural development, the groups of young farmers gradually came to stand out. Huang village, which is a pseudonym, is located in Hebei province, about 430 kilometres south to Beijing and 10 kilometres from the county seat. The research team conducted fieldwork in the village in December 2017. We lodged in rural households during our fieldwork. We used both qualitative data, conducting semi-structured interviews as well as quantitative data collected via a survey. We also engaged in supplementary work in June 2018.
The Youth Dividend and Agricultural Revival in India
Authors: Narayanan Sudha , Vijayabaskar M. , Srinivasan Sharada
Published: November 2023

Fifty-four per cent of India’s population is under 25 years of age and, as per the 2011 Population Census, close to 34 per cent of India’s rural population belonged to the age group 15–34. While the presence of a sizeable young population is believed to offer a demographic dividend, policy efforts to realize the dividend have not met with success. Poor prospects for livelihoods within agriculture, its declining importance as a sector in the national economy, and aspirations of rural youth and their parents to find futures in nonfarm sectors suggest that, like elsewhere, agriculture today is an unlikely option for the young in India. The chapter brings the question of youth in agriculture into focus. Despite a large share of rural youth involved in farming, there is limited research or policy attention on the issues and challenges that they face around farming, non-farm opportunities, succession, and intergenerational transfer of resources and knowledge. It makes the case for improving the livelihood prospects within agriculture in a context of changing youth aspirations. We argue that a clearer understanding of the issues is essential to frame a nuanced approach to support the role of youth in agriculture and the role of agriculture in youth livelihood strategies.
Prologue
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

The prologue situates this book within the epoch of post-truth, when society and humanity have grown apart, and ‘reality’ and ‘feeling’ have become one. The broader context is the Anthropocene, marked by a series of lifeways systematically exploiting the sources of production. In communication and technology, one-directional signals or ‘simplexes’ block off the contradicting input in parallel that could humanize. The result is, among others, polarization, populism, dehumanization, racism, conspiracy hypes, memetic escalation, a-historicism, dogmatic positivism, emo-cracy and identity politics, but also technologies of automation, massification, human resources formatism, algorithmic preprocessing, surveillance and remote-controlled warfare. Simplex phenomena dissociate feeling from meaning whereafter emotions can be manipulated.

The diagnosis of Part I (Simplex Frames) comes with a remedy in Part II (Tensors of the Undertow). We have reason for optimism. In a knowledge society, whose currency is language instead of capital, altered vocabulary can end discrimination and injustice. The media-savvy generations are destined to drag us out of post-truth. They know about ‘tensors’ that stretch the simplex back to life. They cultivate intuition, the missing link between spirituality and knowledge.
Chapter Nine: A Model Leader
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

Reinforced by the previous ethnography-driven discussion, the theory turns to the political systems in US and Europe. Why have these systems rather accelerated than prevented the rise of simplex society, as epitomized in Trump’s post-truth presidency. Don Handelman’s pair of model and mirror in rituals comes in handy.

The dwindling mediation between progressives and conservatives testifies to sedimented simplication. Politics has become ritual. Democrats distend their experiential frame toward the globe, so the best leader would be the one mirroring all. Republicans have their sphere contracted, so they elect a model they want to become. The so-called culture wars, science wars, the rise of post-fact, conspiracy and antivax theories, and the anti-conformist distrust of elites point to a divergence between ‘Stick to the facts, no belief’ and ‘Only belief, distrust facts’. It follows generations of simplication that left intuition untrained.

The chapter counteracts the tendency by demonstrating that Democrats and Republicans complement each other as halves after the split. Each misses what the other has. The interrelation and dynamic of mutual learning are obvious in a tensorial and matrixial world, but no longer in a vectorial one. To rehumanize is to speciate.
Chapter Ten: Entropology
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

This summary of the theory prepares for the final, considerably shorter chapters. It lays down the pieces of the puzzle in an entropology of human connectedness, impact and trust. Cultural, epochal specializations in distrust, futility and disconnection point to three types of entropy and six (structural and cognitive) subtypes.

The theory substantiates a longue durée explanation of post-knowledge in relation to the preceding transitions of the Neolithic and modernity. A ‘speciated history’ differentiates between social, cultural and existential validity. Human experience has over a period of 10,000 years been consecutively deprived of its connection with sources of production, spheres and frames. The ways to escape from the simplex through de-simplication are centrifugal. They restore the dependence of meaning, event and energy on respectively culture, network and life. Participants become aware. An alternative technique with the same purpose of pulling the simplex into a dynamic is centripetal. Participants reconnect their inner feelings to meanings out there in the world after the simplex contracts to the real.

The final chapters illustrate five tensors, each a way of centripetally regenerating social life (symbolized by the bundles of energy on the book cover). The discussed ethnography on divination already explained the technique of socially energizing. In each case an instance of contingency (or animate chance) removes all the clutter of symbolics and past speculations so that everyone and everything is in tune and the social situation can be rebooted. The reconnection of meaning and feeling strengthens trust and sense of impact.
Chapter Eleven: Soccer as Mirror
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

This is the first of the final five chapters discussing the remedies for simplex society developed today. The cases are welded together into a comparative ethnography on life-sensing.

Why would football serve the purpose of surrogacy for mass violence? Conflict between nations is predicated on simplicating peoples into nations, and among all sports football excels in replaying life and its multiplexity. Corroborating the argument, audiences of the most powerful nation, the US, have been less keen on watching the matches between national teams.

Furthermore, international football competitions excite audiences for organizing a moment of the real, away from simplex society. Like democratic elections, public contests are unpredictable moments with major impact that announce a collective choice, reachable in this way. They intensify, through the public duel, the vectorial energy of antagonism and then something happens. The winner for all to see emerges out of that highly contracted event, and the feeling is shared about witnessing a collective reason that no sum of educated individual opinions could match.
Chapter Fifteen: Phantoms of the Future
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

After providing a brief history of digital distress, this chapter delves into contemporary stimulations of intuition that justify optimism about society catching up on humanity and its potential (instead of the long-hailed opposite).

Chwezi spirit possession evocatively magnifies what conscious perception does every day, to materialize the invisible. Like other animals, humans specialize in sensory modes, the exteroceptive, interoceptive and proprioceptive. The Y2K craze, the 9/11 aftermath and collective imaginaries about aliens tap into our ‘ulteroceptive’ senses. Are these a universal way to humanize a system? Can we leave spirituality out of the picture if validity of claims about the world is our aim?
Introduction: After Knowledge
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

To attain anthropological validity, a study should take into account three dimensions with variable input. It should provide social analysis (of spheres), cultural analysis (of frames) and life-sensing. Overlooking one or more dimension will obstruct insight in tensors. Science and engineering reduce the dimensions in order to ‘simplicate’, which is to translate events into predictable processes (vectors). Avoiding political correctness increases the fragmentation of society because ignores the sphere (the one maintaining the status quo) which a social analysis reveals. Socioeconomic measures worsen the automation of thought if they disregard the frame, the logos in the nomos, derived from cultural analysis.

A combined social and cultural analysis points the way to fight discrimination (via newspaper columns, blogs, school books, sensitivity readers and corporate diversity cells) but the interventions will seem partisan unless their frame and sphere are grounded in life, a third dimension starting with the sources of production the species taps into and cares for. Cultures do not result merely from historical convergence.
Chapter Two: Frameshift
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

In social change and by extension in any transition to a lifeway, language is pivotal. So is the framing through language. What does this mean in a post-knowledge society, which in the words of Marazzi is a language economy evolved out of capitalism?

Whether in misrepresentations about animism, the miscommunication between a British and an American passenger on the train, the clash of liberal and non-liberal democracy, or the injustice of Putin’s invasion, the researcher has to discern the underlying frames of experience and subsequently be able to relate them, and comprehend the power of their shift. Inspired by the work of anthropologist Gregory Bateson, this chapter details the steps of de-simplication. For this purpose the book employs figures that are structuralist. By this I mean that the figures compare ideas by relating implied experiences. The relating is a tensorial skill.
Chapter Three: Losing the Feel for the Craft
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

Things tell a story. They can unveil the direction our society is heading in. Efficient warfare epitomized by the drone simplicates violence. The ‘double tap’ technique lubricates civilian killing in the current phase when societies have become human terrain systems.

Also in the Global South, such as in the socially stressed regions of eastern and central Africa, a simplex type of magic has emerged. Why would torturing a body with albinism traits yield fortune? To infer what exactly has changed to create this belief, the chapter uses ethnographic data to weave together the social, cultural and existential dimensions of medicine. The inference is extended to simplex society at large. Both technology and witchcraft are highly overrated in such society where meaning and feeling have bifurcated, and frames disappear from view.
Chapter Five: Simplex Communication Society
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

Disregard of frames in a statement, or mixing up its frame and sphere, have become a daily affair. Cases discussed here comprise, among others, idyllic alpine communities voting extremely, an internal conflict in a university, stock exchange crazes, international boycotts, cultural essentialism normalizing structural inequality, the shootings by incels and a documentary about Britney Spears. Frames distend or spheres contract. The recent anthropological theories of ontology and intersectionality cannot account for the dynamic characterizing the epoch.

The chapter sketches the impasse of the Anthropocene in terms of the macro-context of global information networks. Is a massive shift of lifeway conceivable today? The chapter illustrates and applies the six obstructions proper to simplex communication: unidimensional, unmediated, disconnected, frameless, fragmented, viral. Together these prevent the shifting of frames, cause spheres to fragment into bubbles, and counter an important intuitive energy, that of belonging to the human species. The process has a history gradually involving wider scales of society. Lifeways determine how the affects of trust, sense of impact and connection are transformed.
Chapter Six: Collective Reason
Authors: Stroeken Koen
Published: November 2023

What is the reason for recent prodemocracy causes failing to push through? Frameshift does not suffice in itself to break the deadlock and implement social change. A second way out of the simplex, and effective in combination with frameshift, is to move sphere. This operation concentrates on the second dimension of validity, following social analysis. An example is an ecological intervention leaving party politics behind to engage with the judicial sphere, where sanctions are imposed on a failing government.

Enlightenment and Marxism were feats of de-simplication to achieve freedom and equality respectively. The first matrix on free-thinking individuals taking rational decisions deconstructed collective traditions, specifically the religious simplexes of evil and sin. The second matrix rejected the employees’ obedience to the employer by revealing that the former were the actual sources of the latter’s capital because they produced commodities. Is the battle inevitable between the two matrixes, the West’s twin paradigms, the French Revolution’s first two values? The third value of inclusion, a necessity since globalization, turns out to be the missing link to uphold the other two values. A mysterious logic transpires in our structuralist analysis: ‘The sources of reason are collectively produced.’ To escape Luhmann’s dilemma stating ‘No inclusion without exclusion’, we have to shift our attention to the species, the source of collective reason, situated in the future. The species has a common fate. The chapters of Part II illustrate how to think inclusively; how to be ‘tensorial’.
Very Personal Introduction
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

Differential operators on metric graphs appear naturally in numerous applications where one is interested in describing transport or propagation of waves on a metric graph—a set of edges (bonds) joined at their end-points forming vertices (summits).
Spectral Gap and Dirichlet Ground State
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

This chapter is entirely devoted to the studies of the lowest non-trivial eigenvalue of operators on graphs. For standard Laplacians on connected graphs the lowest eigenvalue is $$ \lambda _1 = 0 $$

λ

1

=
0
and we shall be interested in $$ \lambda _2$$

λ

2

, which coincides with the spectral gap $$ \lambda _2 - \lambda _1$$

λ

2

−

λ

1

. For Laplacians with Dirichlet vertices it is already non-trivial to calculate the ground state $$ \lambda _1 > 0 $$

λ

1

>
0
. To study these quantities similar methods can be used: Eulerian path and symmetrisation techniques, Cheeger’s approach, surgery principles. Most of these methods work for Schrödinger operators but in order to illuminate connections between spectrum and topology/geometry we shall focus on standard and Dirichlet Laplacians. The methods developed will be extended to higher eigenvalues in the following chapter.
Higher Eigenvalues and Topological Perturbations
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

Some fundamental estimates for higher eigenvalues of standard Laplacians have already been derived in Sect. 4.6. The goal of this chapter is twofold: on the one hand considering the standard Laplacian we derive explicit fundamental estimates for higher eigenvalues and describe the behaviour of such eigenvalues under topological perturbations. Here techniques developed in the previous chapter are used. On the other hand, considering Schrödinger operators with most general vertex conditions we analyse the behaviour of the spectrum under topological perturbations and show that intuition gained during our studies of standard Laplacians cannot always be applied: the eigenvalues may depend on topological perturbations in a completely opposite way.
Further Theorems Inspired by Ambartsumian
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

We continue to derive results in the spirit of classical Ambartsumian Theorem 14.1. In the first part we use heat kernel technique to show that a Schrödinger operator is isospectral to a Laplacian only if the potential is zero. This part is rather technical but does not require any a priori knowledge of heat kernel semigroups. In the second part the theory of almost periodic functions is used to obtain uniqueness results for Laplace and Schrödinger operators.
M-Functions: Definitions and Examples
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

M-functions associated with quantum graphs provide an efficient tool not only to describe spectral properties of quantum graphs, but to solve the inverse problems. The goal of this chapter is to give a self-consistent introduction to the theory of the graph’s M-functions.
Boundary Control: BC-Method
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

With this chapter we start the discussion on how to solve in full generality the inverse problems for Schrödinger operators on metric graphs.
How to Define Differential Operators on Metric Graphs
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

The main subject of our studies will be magnetic Schrödinger operators on metric graphs.
Boundary Control for Graphs with Cycles: Dismantling Graphs
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

The goal of this chapter is two-fold: we first describe the general strategy to solve the inverse problems for graphs with cycles; the second part describes how the classical BC-method may be applied to such graphs.
Magnetic Boundary Control II: Graphs on One Cycle and Dependent Subtrees
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

The MBC-method as formulated in the previous chapter can only be applied to graphs with several independent cycles since it is required that dissolving vertices leads to at least two cycles being broken.
Discrete Graphs
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

The spectra of metric equilateral metric graphs are essentially determined by the spectra of the normalised or averaging Laplacian matrices associated with the corresponding discrete graphs.
Elementary Spectral Properties of Quantum Graphs
Authors: Kurasov Pavel
Published: November 2023

Our first step will be to give a rigorous, self-contained definition of a quantum graph—Schrödinger operator on a metric graph.
Connecting Euclidean to light-cone correlations: from flavor nonsinglet in forward kinematics to flavor singlet in non-forward kinematics
Authors: Yao Fei , Ji Yao , Zhang Jian-Hui
Published: November 2023

Abstract

We present a unified framework for the perturbative factorization connecting Euclidean correlations to light-cone correlations. Starting from nonlocal quark and gluon bilinear correlators, we derive the relevant hard-matching kernel up to the next-to-leading-order, both for the flavor singlet and non-singlet combinations, in non-forward and forward kinematics, and in coordinate and momentum space. The results for the generalized distribution functions (GPDs), parton distribution functions (PDFs), and distribution amplitudes (DAs) are obtained by choosing appropriate kinematics. The renormalization and matching are done in a state-of-the-art scheme. We also clarify some issues raised on the perturbative matching of GPDs in the literature. Our results provide a complete manual for extracting all leading-twist GPDs, PDFs as well as DAs from lattice simulations of Euclidean correlations in a state-of-the-art strategy, either in coordinate or in momentum space factorization approach.
Like-sign W-boson scattering at the LHC — approximations and full next-to-leading-order predictions
Authors: Dittmaier Stefan , Maierhöfer Philipp , Schwan Christopher , Winterhalder Ramon
Published: November 2023

Abstract

We present a new calculation of next-to-leading-order corrections of the strong and electroweak interactions to like-sign W-boson scattering at the Large Hadron Collider, implemented in the Monte Carlo integrator Bonsay. The calculation includes leptonic decays of the W bosons. It comprises the whole tower of next-to-leading-order contributions to the cross section, which scale like $$ {\alpha}_{\textrm{s}}^3 $$

α
s
3

α4, $$ {\alpha}_{\textrm{s}}^2 $$

α
s
2

α5, αsα6, and α7 in the strong and electroweak couplings αs and α. We present a detailed survey of numerical results confirming the occurrence of large pure electroweak corrections of the order of ~ −12% for integrated cross sections and even larger corrections in high-energy tails of distributions. The electroweak corrections account for the major part of the complete next-to-leading-order correction, which amounts to 15–20% in size, depending on the details of the event selection chosen for analysing vector-boson-scattering. Moreover, we compare the full next-to-leading-order corrections to approximate results based on the neglect of contributions that are not enhanced by the vector-boson scattering kinematics (VBS approximation) and on resonance expansions for the W-boson decays (double-pole approximation); the quality of this approximation is good within ≲ 1.5% for integrated cross sections and the dominating parts of the differential distributions. Finally, for the leading-order predictions, we construct different versions of effective vector-boson approximations, which are based on cross-section contributions that are enhanced by collinear emission of W bosons off the initial-state (anti)quarks; in line with previous findings in the literature, it turns out that the approximative quality is rather limited for applications at the LHC.
Probing Poincaré violation
Authors: Gupta Rick , Jaeckel Joerg , Spannowsky Michael
Published: November 2023

Abstract

Time and space translation invariance, giving rise to energy and momentum conservation, are not only amongst the most fundamental but also the most generally accepted symmetry assumptions in physics. It is nevertheless prudent to put such assumptions to experimental and observational tests. In this note, we take the first step in this direction, specifying a simple periodic time dependence that violates time translation invariance in QED, and setting phenomenological constraints on it. In addition to observational and experimental constraints on time varying couplings, we focus on probes of violation of energy conservation such as spontaneous production of photon and electron pairs and the e → eγ process. We discuss similarities and differences to the discussion of time varying fundamental constants and to the case of a light bosonic dark matter field that usually also causes oscillating effects.
Insights into the structure and function of the RNA ligase RtcB
Authors: Moncan Matthieu , Rakhsh-Khorshid Hassan , Eriksson Leif A. , Samali Afshin , Gorman Adrienne M.
Published: November 2023

To be functional, some RNAs require a processing step involving splicing events. Each splicing event necessitates an RNA ligation step. RNA ligation is a process that can be achieved with various intermediaries such as self-catalysing RNAs, 5′–3′ and 3′–5′ RNA ligases. While several types of RNA ligation mechanisms occur in human, RtcB is the only 3′–5′ RNA ligase identified in human cells to date. RtcB RNA ligation activity is well known to be essential for the splicing of XBP1, an essential transcription factor of the unfolded protein response; as well as for the maturation of specific intron-containing tRNAs. As such, RtcB is a core factor in protein synthesis and homeostasis. Taking advantage of the high homology between RtcB orthologues in archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes, this review will provide an introduction to the structure of RtcB and the mechanism of 3′–5′ RNA ligation. This analysis is followed by a description of the mechanisms regulating RtcB activity and localisation, its known partners and its various functions from bacteria to human with a specific focus on human cancer.
Assessing Preferences of Facial Appearance in Transgender and Gender Nonbinary Patients
Authors: Cronin Brendan J. , Fadich Sarah , Lee Justine C.
Published: November 2023

Background

We designed a survey to evaluate preferences of facial appearance in transgender male (TM), transgender female (TF) and gender nonbinary patients to better inform goals of facial gender affirming surgery (FGAS) in gender nonbinary patients.

Methods

TM/TF and nonbinary patients > 18 years old were identified via retrospective chart review and distributed an anonymized survey via email from October 3 to December 31, 2022. To assess facial preferences, AI-generated and open-source portraits were edited to create five image sets with a range of features from masculine to feminine for the forehead, mandible/chin and hairline. Data were analyzed using Fisher’s exact tests and ANOVA in R-Studio.

Results

Survey response rate was 32% (180 patients identified via chart review, 58 respondents; TM = 5, TF = 39, nonbinary = 14). TM and TF patients as well as TF and nonbinary patients had significantly different preferences for all regions (p < 0.005; all series), while TM and nonbinary patients did not (p => 0.05; all series). TF patients consistently selected 4s with neutral or more feminine features. TM and nonbinary patients, however, demonstrated no consistent preference for either male or female features but rather a range of responses spanning extremes of both masculine and feminine options. When stratified by sex assigned at birth, nonbinary patients consistently identified preferences opposite to their assigned gender.

Conclusion

Gender nonbinary and TM patients appear to have uniquely individual preferences regarding facial appearance that do not fit into classically masculine or feminine patterns/phenotypes. As a result, we recommend individualized preoperative planning for FGAS to achieve the optimal result in these patient populations.

Level of Evidence IV

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.
Summer compound heatwaves over China: projected changes at different global warming levels and related physical processes
Authors: Zhang Mingming , Dong Buwen , Schiemann Reinhard , Robson Jon
Published: November 2023

Based on the multi-model ensemble mean of CMIP6 simulations, the future changes in frequency, intensity and duration of Compound (both daytime and nighttime) heatwaves (HWs) in summer over China at various global warming levels (GWLs) under the SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 are assessed. HWs over China become more frequent and hotter, and the duration of HWs becomes longer compared to those in the recent climate. The magnitudes of these changes are primarily dependent on GWLs, but they are not very sensitive to the scenarios. At 4 ℃ GWL, the frequency of HWs increases by more than fivefold under both scenarios, and the intensity (duration) of HWs averaged under the two scenarios is 2.28 ℃ hotter (3.59 days longer) than the one in the recent climate over the entire China. Meanwhile, the maximum duration of HW events can reach more than 25 days in summer in comparison with 8 days in the recent climate. The changes in HW properties are regionally dependent at the four GWLs. For example, the largest increase in HW frequency is over the Northwest China, the largest increase in intensity in HWs is seen over the Northeast and Northwest, and the largest increase in HW duration is over the Southwest China. The extreme rare events (50-year and 100-year events) in the recent climate would become the norm over China and four sub-regions at 4 ℃ GWL. Overall, seasonal mean warming dominates the changes in HW properties over China at the different GWLs. The seasonal mean warming in summer across China is related to the increases of longwave radiation, partly due to increase in greenhouse gas forcing and partly resulted from increased water vapor and the increase of shortwave radiation (under the SSP5-8.5) over eastern China related to decreases in aerosols and total cloud cover. Furthermore, the regional variations in the water vapor over China are consistent with atmospheric circulation changes. The seasonal mean surface warming results in enhanced upward sensible and latent heat fluxes, leading to increased summer mean daily maximum and minimum of near-surface air temperature and the enhancement of HWs properties over the entire China. Changes of shortwave radiation tend to play a weaker role for surface warming under the SSP3-7.0 than those under the SSP5-8.5, which is related to increased aerosol changes under the SSP3-7.0.
Renal and cardiovascular prognostic significance of echocardiographic early diastolic mitral annular velocity in IgA nephropathy
Authors: Sági Balázs , Késői István , Vas Tibor , Csiky Botond , Nagy Judit , Kovács Tibor
Published: November 2023

In chronic kidney disease (CKD), as in IgA nephropathy (IgAN), cardiovascular (CV) mortality and morbidity are many times higher than in the general population, and diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) has prognostic significance as well. Tissue Doppler Echocardiography (TDI) is another method for measuring myocardial contractility and determining diastolic dysfunction. 79 IgAN patients (age 46 ± 11 years) with CKD stages 1–3 were investigated and followed for 70 ± 28.7 months. Doppler echocardiography was used to measure the E (early) and A (late) waves, as well as the E wave deceleration time (EDT) during mitral inflow. TDI was used to measure early (Ea) and late (Aa) diastolic velocities (lateral and septal basal wall fragment average). From these, we calculated the E/Ea and Ea/Aa ratios. The primary combined endpoints were total mortality, major CV events, and end-stage renal disease, and the secondary endpoints were cardiovascular or renal (eGFR decreased below 15 ml/min/1.73 m2 or renal replacement therapy was started). Patients with decreased Ea (< 13 cm/s) had significantly more endpoints (20/42 vs. 3/37; p = 0.001) than patients with higher Ea (≥ 13 cm/s). The secondary renal endpoints were also significantly higher (p = 0.004). In a multivariate model, the eGFR showed independent correlation with the E/A ratio (r = 0.466; p < 0.01), EDT (r = − 0.270; p < 0.01), Ea/Aa ratio (r = 0.455; p < 0.01), and decreased Ea (r = 0.544; p < 0.01). Independent factors influencing Ea were only EDT by uni- and multivariate regression but age and albuminuria by logistic regression. Decreased Ea measured by TDI seems to be an eligible factor to predict the prognosis of IgA nephropathy. The decreased Ea may be a helpful parameter to identify high-risk CKD patients.
The Platonism of Modern Physical Science: Historical Roots and “Rational Reconstruction”
Authors: Fjelland Ragnar
Published: November 2023

Perhaps the most influential historian of science of the last century, Alexandre Koyré, famously argued that the icon of modern science, Galileo Galilei, was a Platonist who had hardly performed experiments. Koyré has been followed by other historians and philosophers of science. In addition, it is not difficult to find examples of Platonists in contemporary science, in particular in the physical sciences. A famous example is the icon of twenty century physics, Albert Einstein. This paper addresses two questions related to the Platonism of modern physical science. The first is: How is Galileo’s Platonism compatible with the fact that he did perform experiments? The solution to this apparent paradox can be found in Plato’s late dialogue Timaeus. In the dialogue the world has been created by a divine craftsman according to an original plan. The task of the scientist is not primarily to describe the material world, but to reconstruct the original plan. This view has later been known as “God’s Eye View”. The second question is: If a God’s Eye View is unattainable, how is it possible to give a “rational reconstruction” of Galileo’s Platonism? The key-word is idealisation. It is further argued that idealisation is intimately related to technology. Technology is required to realize ideal experimental conditions, and the results are in its turn implemented in technology. The implication is that the quest for unity in science, based on physics as the basic science, should be replaced by the recognition of the diversity of the sciences.
The Magnetic Suspension Balance: 40 Years of Advancing Densimetry and Sorption Science
Authors: Yang Xiaoxian , Kleinrahm Reiner , McLinden Mark O. , Richter Markus
Published: November 2023

This paper reviews the 40-year evolution and application of the magnetic suspension balance (MSB) and discusses some challenging issues of the technique. An MSB, as defined herein, is a magnetic suspension coupling (MSC) connected to an analytical balance. With an MSC, an object can be weighed in a different environment than the balance itself, making it possible for contactless weighing. Over the past 40 years, the MSB has been commonly used in research areas requiring accurate object weighings, notably gas density measurements by MSB-based densimeters and gas adsorption measurements by MSB-based sorption analyzers. More than 15 MSB-based densimeters have been built to date; these are generally called two-sinker densimeter and single-sinker densimeter. They have produced highly accurate density data of many pure fluids and fluid mixtures. These data serve as the basis for the development of reference equations of state, which play an essential role in various industrial and scientific areas. Moreover, such systems are central to the metrology program of many countries. The MSB technique is also very successful in adsorption science: more than 85 MSB-based sorption analyzers have been set up in over 20 countries. The number of new MSB-based sorption analyzers, and peer-reviewed publications resulting from them, are both increasing exponentially since 2004. They have produced highly reliable gas adsorption data at high pressures for many applications, mainly in the energy and environmental sectors. Although further development of innovative instruments based on the MSB is threatened by the proprietary nature of MSB technology, the development will continue, e.g., toward cryogenic measurements and a more compact design.
Women legislators and economic performance
Authors: Baskaran Thushyanthan , Bhalotra Sonia , Min Brian , Uppal Yogesh
Published: November 2023

There has been a phenomenal global increase in the proportion of women in politics in the last two decades, but there is no evidence of how this has influenced economic performance. We investigate this using data on competitive elections to India’s state assemblies, leveraging close elections to isolate causal effects. We find significantly higher growth in economic activity in constituencies that elect women and no evidence of negative spillovers to neighbouring male-led constituencies, consistent with net growth. Probing mechanisms, we find evidence consistent with women legislators being more efficacious, less corrupt and less vulnerable to political opportunism.
Defining sustainable home renovators in Australia
Authors: Ruming Kristian , Williams Miriam , Lee Dong-Ju
Published: November 2023

Home renovation is a global phenomenon, where households seek to remodel, reconfigure, and retrofit their home. While often a response to the material conditions of a dwelling, such as decay and damage, renovation also as emerges as a practice central to identity creation, sense of home, and leisure. Importantly, improving household sustainability is increasingly driving renovation activities, as governments and households seek to reduce the environmental impact of residential dwellings. Drawing on data collected from a national survey developed by the authors, this paper explores sustainable renovation practices in Australia. The paper provides a three-level analysis of home renovators. First, the paper profiles recent renovators. Second, the extent to which sustainability was considered by recent renovators during the renovation process is investigated. Third, the relationship between personal values placed on household sustainability and the sustainable renovation practices are explored. The analysis reveals that sustainability is an important renovation driver. However, sustainable renovation practices differ between groups of homeowners, with educated and wealthy homeowners most likely to undertake sustainable renovation. Further, those with a stronger commitment to household sustainability are the most likely to include expensive sustainability technologies as part of their renovations. However, it is younger households, who are less committed to the principles of household sustainability, that are most likely to access government subsidies to support the inclusion of these technologies as part of their renovation. The different profiles and actions of these renovator groups reveal a series of challenges and opportunities for governments seeking to promote household sustainability.
The impact of economic policy uncertainty and inflation risk on corporate cash holdings
Authors: Das Bijoy Chandra , Hasan Fakhrul , Sutradhar Soma Rani
Published: November 2023

This paper analyses the joint effects of Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) and inflation risk on the Corporate Cash Holdings (CCH) of US firms from 2011 to 2021. The baseline results suggest that EPU and inflation risk positively impact CCH. Moreover, we find the same results between inflation risk and CCH. However, EPU and CCH are negatively associated. Additionally, construction (finance) firms hold higher (lower) cash at the time of EPU and inflationary risk. We also find that firms hold higher (lower) cash during Democrat (Republican) presidential terms. The two-step system Generalized Method of Moments approach used to control the potential endogeneity issues indicates the same results and supports the baseline findings.
Study of Citizen Satisfaction in Rural Versus Urban Areas in Public Services: Perspective of a Multi-group Analysis
Authors: Ochoa-Rico María Salomé , Río Juan Antonio Jimber-del , Romero-Subia José Fernando , Vergara-Romero Arnaldo
Published: November 2023

This study proposes a comparative analysis between urban and rural areas concerning the magnitude or intensity with which the constructs are related to expected quality-perceived quality-perceived value as influencing aspects in the level of satisfaction and citizen loyalty in three dimensions: Territorial planning and roads; provision of municipal services and environmental management. This research used the PLS software applying the ACSI model in the 5-hypothesis approach. A questionnaire was delivered to a sample population of 428 citizens in the rural area of Tenguel and 521 citizens in the urban area of Tarqui in the city of Guayaquil. The statistical result shows significant differences in citizen perception between urban and rural populations about the quality of public services, which determines satisfaction and loyalty in choosing the place of residence. Through a multi-group analysis, the main differences in the perception of the quality of services between rural citizens and urban citizens have been identified. These findings are essential for public policy design to improve the territory’s satisfaction, well-being, and people’s sense of belonging.
Catalytic Oxidation of 1,2-Dichlorobenzene over Metal-Supported on ZrO2 Catalysts
Authors: Mkhize Nomthandazo , Vashistha Vinod Kumar , Pullabhotla Viswandha Srirama Rajasekhar
Published: November 2023

The catalytic oxidation of environmentally unfriendly chlorinated organics is a powerful tool that can be used to completely mineralize these organic compounds. In this study, metals (Mn, Ni, V, and Fe) supported on zirconia have been investigated as catalysts in the oxidation of 1,2-dichlorobenzene. Metal supported on zirconia catalysts were prepared using the wet impregnation method. The catalyst materials were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM–EDX, TEM, BET, and ICP methods. Metals were loaded on ZrO2 support at varied wt%, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 which were confirmed by ICP-OES and EDX analysis. The XRD patterns of all the metals loaded on ZrO2 catalysts showed diffraction peaks that belong to the monoclinic phase of ZrO2 and few that are attributed to the oxides of the metals. The BET surface areas showed a significant decrease as the metal was loaded on ZrO2 support. The BET surface area of ZrO2 was 4.91 m2/g and when 2.5 and 7.5 wt% Fe was loaded on ZrO2 the BET surface areas were 4.48 and 3.09 m2/g, respectively. All the ozonation reactions of 1,2-dichlorobenzene were conducted in an impinger unit for 24 h. The aliquots were collected after 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 24 of ozonation and analyzed using FT-IR and GC–MS analyses. The 7.5% Fe/ZrO2 was found to have a relatively high catalytic effect toward the conversion of 1,2-dichlorobenzene into mucochloric acid and 3,4-dichloro-2,5-furandione.
Having a Cake and Eating It Too? Direct Realism and Objective Identity in Descartes
Authors: Sinokki Jani
Published: November 2023

Descartes holds that ideas have or containobjective realityof their objects, so that the idea of the sun is the sun itself existing in the intellect. In this paper, I examine this obscure thesis which grounds the disagreement about Descartes’ commitment to direct or indirect realism. I suggest that, importantly, both readings are correct to a certain extent. I argue that the view of objective reality Descartes develops bears the earmarks of both direct and indirect realist views but must be classified as a third alternative combining some central features of both. I elaborate first on the direct realist interpretations of Descartes’ objective reality and explain their most significant shortcomings. My interpretation of objective identity comes in the form of attributing to Descartes a view about identity and persistence of objects known assortalism. I argue that Descartes’ objective identity turns out to be much like the Aristotelian view offormal identity, yet without the forms. By way of discussing the case of Theseus’ ship, I point out how Cartesian sortalism, contrary to other versions of sortalism, allows us to analyze the puzzle as a tension between two distinct yet independently legitimate criteria of identity. It is this sortalist insight that helps to render Descartes’ account of objective identity consistent. This point also grounds my argument that we need not consider direct and indirect realism as logical complements, contrary to the received wisdom.