bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fluid and electrolyte balance following consumption of skimmed milk and a plant-based soya beverage at rest in euhydrated males
Authors: Peden Donald L. , Derbyshire Seamus , Funnell Mark P. , McLeod Chris J. , Rumbold Penny , Hansell Emily , Clifford Tom , Mears Stephen A. , James Lewis J.
Published: May 2024

Purpose

Cow’s milk is one of the most hydrating beverages, but many individuals choose not to consume dairy in their diet due to intolerance, allergy, or dietary preference. Milk is commonly replaced with plant-based beverages, including soya which has the most comparable protein content, but little is known about their hydration potential. This study compared fluid and electrolyte balance responses between a soya beverage and skimmed cow’s milk.

Methods

Ten healthy males [age 27 (6) y; body mass index 24.6 (2.3) kg/m2] completed two randomised counterbalanced trials, involving consuming 1000 mL water from approximately isocaloric amounts of skimmed cow’s milk (MILK) or a sweetened soya beverage (SOYA), in four aliquots over 30 min in a euhydrated fasted state. Volume, specific gravity, and electrolyte (sodium, potassium, chloride) concentrations were determined in total-void urine samples collected pre-/post-beverage ingestion, and hourly for 180 min thereafter. Hunger, thirst, nausea and stomach fullness were rated proximal to urine samples.

Results

Total urine mass (MILK, 986 ± 254 g; SOYA, 950 ± 248 g; P = 0.435) and urine specific gravity (P = 0.156) did not differ between trials. Potassium balance was greater in SOYA 0–180 min post-beverage (P ≤ 0.013), whilst chloride balance was greater in MILK 0–120 min post-beverage (P ≤ 0.036). Sodium balance (P = 0.258), total electrolyte balance (P = 0.258), and subjective measures (P ≥ 0.139) were not different between trials.

Conclusion

Replacing cow’s milk with a soya beverage did not negatively impact fluid balance in healthy young males, making it a viable option for those who choose not to consume dairy in their diet.
Genetic mapping of loci affecting seedling and adult-plant resistance to powdery mildew derived from two CIMMYT wheat lines
Authors: Golzar Hossein , Shankar Manisha , Sznajder Beata , Fox Rebecca , Reeves Karyn , Mather Diane E.
Published: May 2024

Main conclusion

PM3 and PM8 alleles carried by two CIMMYT wheat lines confer powdery mildew resistance in seedlings and/or adult plants. A stage-specific epistatic interaction was observed between PM3 and PM8.

Powdery mildew is an important foliar disease of wheat. Major genes for resistance, which have been widely used in wheat breeding programs, are typically effective against only limited numbers of virulence genes of the pathogen. The main aim of this study was to map resistance loci in wheat lines 7HRWSN58 and ZWW09-149 from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Doubled haploid populations (Magenta/7HRWSN58 and Emu Rock/ZWW09-149) were developed and grown in controlled environment experiments and inoculated with a composite of Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici isolates that had been collected at various locations in Western Australia. Plants were assessed for powdery mildew symptoms (percentage leaf area diseased) on seedlings and adult plants. Populations were subjected to genotyping-by-sequencing and assayed for known SNPs in the resistance gene PM3. Linkage maps were constructed, and markers were anchored to the wheat reference genome sequence. In both populations, there were asymptomatic lines that exhibited no symptoms. Among symptomatic lines, disease severity varied widely. In the Magenta/7HRWSN58 population, most of the observed variation was attributed to the PM3 region of chromosome 1A, with the allele from 7HRWSN58 conferring resistance in seedlings and adult plants. In the Emu Rock/ZWW09-149 population, two interacting quantitative trait loci were mapped: one at PM3 and the other on chromosome 1B. The Emu Rock/ZWW09-149 population was confirmed to segregate for a 1BL·1RS translocation that carries the PM8 powdery mildew resistance gene from rye. Consistent with previous reports that PM8-derived resistance can be suppressed by PM3 alleles, the observed interaction between the quantitative trait loci on chromosomes 1A and 1B indicated that the PM3 allele carried by ZWW09-149 suppresses PM8-derived resistance from ZWW09-149, but only at the seedling stage. In adult plants, the PM8 region conferred resistance regardless of the PM3 genotype. The resistance sources and molecular markers that were investigated here could be useful in wheat breeding.
Comparative analysis of treatment decision-making in patients with localized prostate and cervical cancer: what influences receiving surgery or radiotherapy?
Authors: Minamitani Masanari , Katano Atsuto , Mukai Tomoya , Ohira Shingo , Nakagawa Keiichi
Published: May 2024

Purpose

This study focused on identifying the factors influencing the decision-making process in patients with localized prostate and cervical cancer in Japan and specifically examining the choice between surgery and radiotherapy.

Methods

Patients with specific cancer stages registered with a healthcare research company for whom radical surgery or radiotherapy was equally effective and recommended participated in this cross-sectional online survey.

Results

The responses of 206 and 231 patients with prostate and cervical cancer, respectively, revealed that both groups relied heavily on the physicians’ recommendations (prostate: odds ratio (OR) = 40.3, p < 0.001; cervical: OR = 5.59, p < 0.001) and their impression of radiotherapy (prostate: OR = 9.22, p < 0.001; cervical: OR = 2.31, p < 0.001). Factors such as hypertension (OR = 6.48, p < 0.05), diabetes mellitus (OR = 9.68, p < 0.05), employment status (OR = 0.08, p < 0.01), and impressions of surgery (OR = 0.14, p < 0.01) also played a significant role in patients with prostate cancer. In contrast, the specialty of the physician (OR = 4.55, p < 0.05) proposing the treatment influenced the decision-making process of patients with cervical cancer. Information sources varied between the two groups: patients with prostate cancer were more inclined towards printed materials, whereas patients with cervical cancer were more inclined towards interpersonal relationships.

Conclusion

Although several limitations, such as the sample and recall bias, were noted, this study emphasizes the role of psychosocial factors in the decision-making process and the requirement for tailored information sources.
CVApool: using null-space of CNN weights for the tooth disease classification
Authors: Can Zuhal , Isik Sahin , Anagun Yildiray
Published: May 2024

In light of current developments in dental care, dental professionals have increasingly used deep learning methods to get precise diagnoses of oral problems. Using intraoral X-rays in dental radiography is imperative in many dental interventions. Integrating deep learning techniques with a unique collection of intraoral X-ray images has been undertaken to enhance the accuracy of dental disease detection. In this study, we propose an alternative pooling layer, namely the Common Vector Approach Pooling technique, to address the constraints associated with average pooling in deep learning methods. The experiments are conducted on a large dataset, involving twenty different dental conditions, divided into seven categories. Our proposed approach achieved a high accuracy rate of 86.4% in identifying dental problems across the seven oral categories.
Differences between criminal offender versus non-offender female patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Jacobshagen Lynn , Machetanz Lena , Kirchebner Johannes
Published: May 2024

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference between offender female patients (OFS) and non-offender female patients (NOFS) with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD).

The patients in this study were admitted to the university psychiatry in Zurich Switzerland between 1982 and 2016. Demography, psychopathology, comorbidity, and treatment differences were analyzed using binary statistics to compare 31 OFS and 29 matching NOFS with SSD. The Fisher‘s exact test was used for categorical data variables in small size samples and the Mann-Whitney-U-Test for nonparametric test variables, adjusted with the Benjamini and Hochberg method.

The results indicate that the NOFS were cognitively more impaired, they were more likely to have had antipsychotic drugs prescribed (NOFS; 100%, OFS: 71%, OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.13-1.77, p=0.022) and their medication compliance was higher (NOFS: 84.6%, OFS: 4.5%, OR 0.09, 95% CI 0.00-0.08, p=0.000). In contrast, the OFS had completed compulsory school less often and the were observed to be more often homeless and socially isolated (OFS: 72.4%, NOFS: 34.6%, OR 4.96, 95% CI 1.58-15.6, p=0.026), self-disorders (OFS: 51.6%, NOFS: 11.1%, OR 8.53, 95% CI 2.12-34.32, p=0.011), delusions (OFS: 96.8%, NOFS: 63%, OR 17.65, 95% CI 2.08-149.99, p=0.014) and substance use disorder (51.6%, OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.09-0.85, p=0.039). Clinicians treating female offender patients with SSD should focus more on the treatment for substance use disorder, medication and early recognition of the illness for preventative purposes.
Evaluating the effectiveness of sonification in science education using Edukoi
Authors: Guiotto Nai Fovino Lucrezia , Zanella Anita , Di Mascolo Luca , Ginolfi Michele , Carpita Nicolò , Trovato Manuncola Francesco , Grassi Massimo
Published: May 2024

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics classes are mainly taught using visual supports. However, the advancement of technology and the increasing efforts to equip schools with digital instrumentation have opened up the possibility of exploring new teaching avenues, such as sonification. We explored the efficacy of sonification in education using a novel interactive tool, Edukoi, in the context of astronomy, which is predominantly disseminated through spectacular images, animations, and visuals. Edukoi is a motion-sensing sonification tool that converts images to sound in real-time for educational applications. Our study, conducted with nearly 150 middle-school students, included a preliminary questionnaire investigating the perception, engagement, and motivation of students towards science; two sessions dedicated to testing Edukoi and assessing the potentiality of the software for the recognition of the colour and the shape of real and sketchy images; and a final second administration of the questionnaire to capture a possible beneficial effect of the use of the tool in the engagement towards science. Results showed the effectiveness of Edukoi in colour recognition and reasonable efficacy in shape identification. Although the questionnaire did not reveal an increment in science engagement over the time of the study, oral feedback from the students was positive. Edukoi presents a possible alternative teaching aid, potentially benefiting diverse learners, including the visually impaired. Further developments of the software are needed to enhance its effectiveness in conveying more complex features such as composite colours or shapes.
Eosinophilic esophagitis and risk of incident major adverse cardiovascular events: a nationwide matched cohort study
Authors: Forss Anders , Uchida Amiko M. , Roelstraete Bjorn , Ebrahimi Fahim , Garber John J. , Sundström Johan , Ludvigsson Jonas F.
Published: May 2024

Background

Inflammatory diseases have been associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. However, data on incident major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) from large population-based cohorts of patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is lacking.

Methods

This study included all Swedish adults with EoE without a record of previous cardiovascular disease (CVD) (1990–2017, N = 1546) with follow-up until 2019. Individuals with EoE were identified from prospectively recorded histopathology reports from all Swedish pathology departments (n = 28). EoE patients were matched at index date for age, sex, calendar year and county with up to five general population reference individuals (N = 7281) without EoE or CVD. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for MACE (ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke and cardiovascular mortality) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models. Full sibling comparisons and adjustment for cardiovascular medication were performed.

Results

During a median follow-up of 6.0 years, we observed 65 incident MACE in patients with EoE (6.4/1000 person-years (PY)) and 225 in reference individuals (4.7/1000 PY). EoE was not associated with a higher risk of MACE (aHR = 1.14, 95% CI = 0.86–1.51) or any of its components. No differences between age, sex and follow-up time were observed. The results remained stable in sensitivity analyses, including when adjusting for relevant cardiovascular medications and a full sibling comparison.

Conclusions

In this large population-based cohort study, patients with EoE had no increased risk of MACE compared to reference individuals and full siblings. The results are reassuring for patients with EoE.
An efficient full-size convolutional computing method based on memristor crossbar
Authors: Tan Jinpei , Shen Siyuan , Duan Shukai , Wang Lidan
Published: May 2024

Modern artificial intelligence systems based on neural networks need to perform a large number of repeated parallel operations quickly. Without hardware acceleration, they cannot achieve effectiveness and availability. Memristor-based neuromorphic computing systems are one of the promising hardware acceleration strategies. In this paper, we propose a full-size convolution algorithm (FSCA) for the memristor crossbar, which can store both the input matrix and the convolution kernel and map the convolution kernel to the entire input matrix in a full parallel method during the computation. This method dramatically increases the convolutional kernel computations in a single operation, and the number of operations no longer increases with the input matrix size. Then a bidirectional pulse control switch integrated with two extra memristors into CMOS devices is designed to effectively suppress the leakage current problem in the row and column directions of the existing memristor crossbar. The spice circuit simulation system is built to verify that the design convolutional computation algorithm can extract the feature map of the entire input matrix after only a few operations in the memristor crossbar-based computational circuit. System-level simulations based on the MNIST classification task verify that the designed algorithm and circuit can effectively implement Gabor filtering, allowing the multilayer neural network to improve the classification task recognition accuracy to 98.25% with a 26.2% reduction in network parameters. In comparison, the network can even effectively immunize various non-idealities of the memristive synaptic within 30%.
Deepfake video detection: challenges and opportunities
Authors: Kaur Achhardeep , Noori Hoshyar Azadeh , Saikrishna Vidya , Firmin Selena , Xia Feng
Published: May 2024

Deepfake videos are a growing social issue. These videos are manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI) techniques (especially deep learning), an emerging societal issue. Malicious individuals misuse deepfake technologies to spread false information, such as fake images, videos, and audio. The development of convincing fake content threatens politics, security, and privacy. The majority of deepfake video detection methods are data-driven. This survey paper aims to thoroughly analyse deepfake video generation and detection. The paper’s main contribution is the classification of the many challenges encountered while detecting deepfake videos. The paper discusses data challenges such as unbalanced datasets and inadequate labelled training data. Training challenges include the need for many computational resources. It also addresses reliability challenges, including overconfidence in detection methods and emerging manipulation approaches. The research emphasises the dominance of deep learning-based methods in detecting deepfakes despite their computational efficiency and generalisation limitations. However, it also acknowledges the drawbacks of these approaches, such as their limited computing efficiency and generalisation. The research also critically evaluates deepfake datasets, emphasising the necessity for good-quality datasets to improve detection methods. The study also indicates major research gaps, guiding future deepfake detection research. This entails developing robust models for real-time detection.
Climate change adaptation projects of transport facilities: is a demonstrator necessary?
Authors: Zheng Shiyuan , Jiang Changmin , Wang Kun
Published: May 2024

Transport facilities are increasingly threatened by the climate-change related natural disasters in recent years. In order to incentivize the transport facility operators to engage in climate change adaptation, governments may provide subsidies to the adaptation investment. Due to the substantial uncertainties in the outcomes of the adaptation projects, the government can set up an “experiment” project, which can be used as a demonstrator. In this paper, we develop real-option game models to investigate the transport facility operators’ adaptation investment under static stochastic demand and time-varying stochastic demand. Meanwhile, the government’s optimal decisions on whether to set up a demonstrator and the related subsidy policies are also examined. We find that under static stochastic demand, the government prefers to set up a demonstrator if the marginal benefit of the adaptation capacity is larger than its marginal cost, or the demonstration effect is high enough. Under time-varying stochastic demand, the government prefers to set up a demonstrator when the demand volatility is low. Moreover, increasing demand volatility requires less (or more) subsidy, when the demonstrator is (or is not) set up. Increasing demand volatility leads to postponement of the adaptation timing and more adaptation investment, irrespective of whether there is a demonstrator.
Dose-Response Effects of MittEcho, a Measurement Feedback System, in an Indicated Mental Health Intervention for Children in Municipal and School Services in Norway
Authors: Haug Ida Mari , Neumer Simon-Peter , Handegård Bjørn Helge , Lisøy Carina , Rasmussen Lene-Mari P. , Bania Elisabeth Valmyr , Adolfsen Frode , Patras Joshua
Published: May 2024

Including routine client feedback can increase the effectiveness of mental health interventions for children, especially when implemented as intended. Rate of implementation, or dose, of such feedback interventions has been shown to moderate results in some studies. Variation in implementation and use of client feedback may also contribute to the mixed results observed within the feedback literature. This study evaluates dose-response associations of client feedback using a novel Measurement Feedback System (MFS) within an indicated group intervention. The primary aim was to determine whether the rate of MFS implementation predicts symptom reduction in anxiety and depression among school-aged children. The secondary aim was to assess whether the rate of MFS implementation influences children’s satisfaction with the group intervention or their dropout rates. Data were collected via a randomized factorial study (clinicaltrials.gov NCT04263558) across 58 primary schools in Norway. Children aged 8 to 12 years (N = 701) participated in a group-based, transdiagnostic intervention targeting elevated symptoms of anxiety or depression. Half of the child groups also received the feedback intervention using the MittEcho MFS. Group leaders (N = 83), recruited locally, facilitated the interventions. The MFS dose was measured using the Implementation Index, which combines the use of MFS by both children and providers (group leaders) into a single dose variable. Results showed no significant additional effect of dose of MFS on change in depression or anxiety scores, on user satisfaction with the intervention or on intervention dropout. The discussion addresses potential reasons for these non-significant findings and implications for MFS implementation in preventive, group-based interventions in school settings.
Assessing invasion risks using EICAT-based expert elicitation: application to a conservation translocation
Authors: Vernet Maude , Trask Amanda E. , Andrews Caitlin E. , Ewen John G. , Medina Suzanne , Moehrenschlager Axel , Canessa Stefano
Published: May 2024

Conservation translocations are widely used to recover threatened species, but can pose risks to recipient ecosystems, particularly in the case of conservation introductions. Because of limited data and uncertainty, risk assessments for such projects often rely on extrapolated evidence and expert opinion, further complicating decision making. The Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) serves to classify the realised impacts of invasive species. We developed a protocol combining EICAT and formal expert elicitation to predict these impacts. We applied our protocol to the extinct-in-the-wild sihek (Guam kingfisher; Todiramphus cinnamominus), for which introduction outside the known historical range is being considered. We elicited from multiple experts probability estimates of impact levels across four impact mechanisms and five candidate release sites. We aggregated estimates using simulation-based and Bayesian approaches, with and without accounting for expert confidence. Experts generally agreed that sihek introduction might impact the recipient ecosystem through predation, competition, and disease, although they disagreed about the likely impact levels. Releases to Palmyra Atoll were considered to pose the lowest risk across candidate sites, so this site was selected for further detailed ecological assessments and risk mitigation efforts. EICAT, with its standardized impact mechanisms and definitions, helped reduce the linguistic uncertainty and subjectivity common to expert-based assessments. Expressing judgments as probabilities allowed us to evaluate uncertainty transparently and to assess the weight of expert confidence on the overall risk estimation. Formal quantitative elicitation and aggregation then allowed a transparent evaluation of results, facilitating communication with stakeholders and decision-makers.
“We are not droids”– IPCC participants’ senses of responsibility and affective experiences across the production, assessment, communication and enactment of climate science
Authors: Hartz Friederike
Published: May 2024

The growing understanding of how and why the climate is changing has led to mounting calls on climate scientists to take on more responsibility in the context of climate science. While an increasing responsibilisation takes place in the academic literature, asking scientists to “do more”, there is limited engagement with the responsibilities that scientists already assume in practice. Drawing on novel empirical insights from 77 semi-structured interviews with participants of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), I take the increasing ‘peer-to-peer responsibilisation’ as a point of departure to contextualise such calls, asking what scientists themselves already feel and assume responsibility for at both the personal and professional level. I find that climate experts participating in the IPCC not only assume increasing responsibility across different stages of the IPCC process but also beyond. As my data analysis demonstrates, IPCC participants increasingly feel and take on responsibility not only for producing and assessing climate science but also for communicating and/or enacting it (PACE). The contribution of the article is threefold. Firstly, it makes sense of the mounting peer-to-peer responsibilisation by surfacing and contextualising how, why and with what consequences particular climate knowledge holders already assume responsibility for climate science at four key moments (PACE). Secondly, conceiving of the IPCC as a community of practice, the article provides novel insights into the work of IPCC participants and their individual experiences with the institution and its processes. Thirdly, the article adds evidence to a growing body of literature on practices of responsibility and climate emotions by focussing on participants' individual affective experiences. As the 7th Assessment Cycle gathers pace, I propose some measures the IPCC may undertake to support participants in assuming their responsibilities in the context of climate science.
Adapting Habermas’ construct of communicative rationality into a framework for analyzing students’ statistical literacy
Authors: Büscher Christian
Published: May 2024

This study argues that the works of philosopher Jürgen Habermas can provide useful directions for mathematics education research on statistical literacy. Recent studies on the critical demands posed by statistical information in media highlight the importance of the communicative component of statistical literacy, which involves students’ ability to react to statistical information. By adapting Habermas’ construct of communicative rationality into a framework for statistical literacy, a novel analytical tool is presented that can provide theoretical insights as well as in-depth empirical insights into students’ communication about statistical information. Central to the framework are the four validity claims of comprehensibility, truth, truthfulness, and rightness which interlocutors need to address to engage in statistical communication. The empirical usefulness of the framework is shown by presenting the results of a study that examined Grade 5 students’ responses to fictional arguments about the decline of Arctic sea ice. The Habermas-based framework not only reveals that complex evaluations of statistical arguments can take place even in Grade 5 but also shows that students’ evaluations vary greatly. Empirical results include a content-specific differentiation of validity claims through inductively identified sub-categories as well as a description of differences in the students’ uses of validity claims.
Anxiety, Hope and Meaning in Times of Ecological Crisis: An Existential-Phenomenological Perspective on Environmental Emotions
Authors: Vaškovic Petr , Vičanová Gabriela
Published: May 2024

Environmental anxiety is often thought of as a psychopathological condition. Our paper aims to challenge this narrow understanding by offering an existential-phenomenological interpretation of environmental anxiety that posits it as an existential attunement with a transformative potential, capable of opening the anxious individual to a hopeful and meaningful outlook on the future. In the first part of the paper, we provide a conceptual analysis of environmental anxiety, drawing on current interdisciplinary taxonomies of environmental emotions as well as on existential-phenomenological definitions of anxiety. We then proceed to define the two key existential characteristics of environmental anxiety, firstly (i) its ability to reframe the aesthetic perception of nature, and secondly (ii) its impact on the subjective constitution of meaning. In the second part of the paper, drawing on the work of Kierkegaard and contemporary ecopsychological and ecotheological thinkers, a distinction is made between a naïve and a radical form of environmental hope. It is argued that while the former type of hope leads to inactivity, the latter is capable of motivating individuals to pro-environmental action.
The Dynamics of the Hubbard Model Through Stochastic Calculus and Girsanov Transformation
Authors: Lehmann Detlef
Published: May 2024

As a typical quantum many body problem, we consider the time evolution of density matrix elements in the Bose-Hubbard model. For an arbitrary initial state, these quantities can be obtained from an SDE or stochastic differential equation system. To this SDE system, a Girsanov transformation can be applied. This has the effect that all the information from the initial state moves into the drift part, into the mean field part, of the transformed system. In the large N limit with $$g=UN$$

g
=
U
N

fixed, the diffusive part of the transformed system vanishes and as a result, the exact quantum dynamics is given by an ODE system which turns out to be the time dependent discrete Gross Pitaevskii equation. For the two site Bose-Hubbard model, the GP equation reduces to the mathematical pendulum and the difference of expected number of particles at the two lattice sites is equal to the velocity of that pendulum which is either oscillatory or it can have rollovers which then corresponds to the self trapping or insulating phase. As a by-product, we also find an equivalence of the mathematical pendulum with a quartic double well potential. Collapse and revivals are a more subtle phenomenom, in order to see these the diffusive part of the SDE system or quantum corrections have to be taken into account. This can be done with an approximation and collapse and revivals can be reproduced, numerically and also through an analytic calculation. Since expectation values of Fresnel or Wiener diffusion processes, we write the density matrix elements exactly in this way, can be obtained from parabolic second order PDEs, we also obtain various exact PDE representations. The paper has been written with the goal to come up with an efficient calculation scheme for quantum many body systems and as such the formalism is generic and applies to arbitrary dimension, arbitrary hopping matrices and, with suitable adjustments, to fermionic models.
The Beauty of the Unusual: An Architectural Inquiry into the Reggio Emilia Approach
Authors: Martín Domínguez Guiomar
Published: May 2024

For many years, the Reggio Emilia approach has been in the spotlight of the international debate on early childhood education, attracting countless devoted followers in preschool centres all over the world and inspiring an ever-increasing amount of pedagogical research. At the heart of this educational philosophy, space is considered a ‘third teacher’ and so is carefully thought and arranged, functioning as a key source of educational stimulation and insight. However, although a great number of studies from the field of pedagogy have been carried out to gain a better understanding of Reggio Emilia’s physical learning environments, not so much has been said from the designer’s perspective. This paper tries precisely to fill that gap, not purporting to isolate these fields of knowledge from one another but rather with the intention of setting an original inquiry that brings them closer together. This is made possible thanks to the definition of an innovative critical lens that diverges from previous discussions on the topic. More specifically, the work is triggered by Alfredo Hoyuelo’s statement (La estética en el pensamiento y obra pedagógica de Loris Malaguzzi, Octaedro, 2006, p. 120) in reference to Loris Malaguzzi’s theories: “building pedagogy means dreaming the beauty of the unusual”. Simply by replacing the term ‘pedagogy’ with ‘physical environments’ in that sentence, a novel insight for both architects and educators can emerge, with major implications in terms of conception, design, use and signification of space.
Effective schematic design phase in design process
Authors: Abdullah Samira Mohamed Ahmed , Toulan Naila Mohamed Farid , Amen Ayman Abdel-Hamid
Published: May 2024

Design thinking is a way to create solid designs that responds to design problems and solve it in a creative and suitable way. However, it is not widely recognized in architectural education pedagogy in Egypt for undergraduate. Despite being very efficient in several business avenues but not in architectural pedagogy. So, this paper aims to spot the light on design thinking and the possibility of its usage in design process to help students have a successful architectural project that solves the design problems and face the site challenges through the use of visualization design thinking tool. Where students face a challenge in translating the verbal language of their collected data in the research phase to the architectural language in the schematic phase. There is a recognized gap between the research students perform in the beginning of design project and the schematic designs that students deliver. The study proposes the possibility of using visualization as a tool for design thinking to have a sufficient and successful schematic design phase. The study will explain how students could apply design thinking in architectural design to benefit from their research phase in their schematic design. Moreover, come up with solutions and variable ideas using the tools of deign thinking as a way for helping in delivering design problem solution and have a more effective schematic design. At the end of the research paper the study concludes how the students can use visualization tool to translate the verbal language to architectural language and the possibility for using design thinking. That to help students realize the importance of analysis phase in synthesis. The research follows descriptive method and quantitative analysis where first the descriptive method is used in illustrating design process and design thinking. Then the quantitative analysis in the experiment is done followed by a survey to prove research problem and help in proposing the solution.
Should Parents Only Use One Language with Their Autistic Children? The Relations Between Multilingualism, Children‘s Social Skills, and Parent-Child Communication
Authors: Franco Maïte , Costa Andreia P.
Published: May 2024

Purpose

Parents of autistic children are often advised to use only one language to simplify their child’s language acquisition. Often this recommendation orients towards the geographically predominant language, which may cause difficulties especially for minority-language families. On the other hand, scientific evidence suggests that multilingualism does not hinder language acquisition and that communicating in exclusively foreign languages may even impede social interaction. Therefore, we investigated how parent language use is linked to the social skills of 68 autistic children and to their parents’ ability to feel comfortable, authentic, and free to express themselves.

Methods

Data was collected online, using parent-report questionnaires from parents of 25 different nationalities in the European context, assessing children’s language, autistic traits (AQ-C), social skills (SRS-2), and parent-child communication.

Results

Language use was not found to significantly relate to social skills in children. However, parents using their mother tongue, either only their mother tongue or in combination with other languages, reported feeling significantly more comfortable and more authentic than parents using exclusively foreign languages, either one or many. There were no significant differences between monolingual and multilingual families regarding parents’ feelings in regard to their language use.

Conclusions

Our findings may encourage specialists to consider multilingualism more often and consult with parents whether monolingualism is worth risking the negative outcomes we have found. Especially, since advising parents to raise their child multilingually may facilitate access to therapeutic treatment, childcare, and social interaction in multilingual societies and families and subsequently improve support and orientation for stakeholders.
Workplace performance measurement: digitalization of work observation and analysis
Authors: Nesterak Janusz , Szelągowski Marek , Radziszewski Przemysław
Published: May 2024

Process improvement initiatives require access to frequently updated and good quality data. This is an extremely difficult task in the area of production processes, where the lack of a process digital footprint is a very big challenge. To solve this problem, the authors of this article designed, implemented, and verified the results of a new work measurement method. The Workplace Performance Measurement (WPM) method is focused not only on the measurement of task duration and frequency, but also on searching for potential anomalies and their reasons. The WPM method collects a wide range of workspace parameters, including workers' activities, workers' physiological parameters, and tool usage. An application of Process Mining and Machine Learning solutions has allowed us to not only significantly increase the quality of analysis (compared to analog work sampling methods), but also to implement an automated controlling solution. The genuine value of the WPM is attested to by the achieved results, like increased efficiency of production processes, better visibility of process flow, or delivery of input data to MES solutions. MES systems require good quality, frequently updated information, and this is the role played by the WPM, which can provide this type of data for Master Data as well as for Production Orders. The presented authorial WPM method reduces the gap in available scholarship and practical solutions, enabling the collection of reliable data on the actual flow of business processes without their disruption, relevant for i.a. advanced systems using AI.
Very Low Level Flight Rules for Manned and Unmanned Aircraft Operations
Authors: Konert Anna , Kasprzyk Piotr
Published: May 2024

An analysis of the development of legal regulations regarding unmanned civil aviation leads to the conclusion that the current air traffic rules are among the key issues that require amending. Are drones allowed to fly at any height? Can drones fly freely over a person’s house or garden, several meters above the ground? What is the minimum allowable height for drone flights? The method of study consisted of content analysis of the existing legislation. Current doctrines were confronted with the existing regulations, documents, materials, safety reports, and statistics. The results of the study show that the existing air traffic rules, precisely in the case of aircraft operations performed by manned and unmanned aviation at very low heights, are definitely practical in nature. First, in most countries violations of air traffic rules are prohibited acts subject to criminal penalty. Second, determining the principles of air traffic for air operations is of crucial importance for determining legally permissible interference in property ownership. The urban air mobility is outside the scope of this research.
Characterization of In situ electrosynthesis of polyaniline on pencil graphite electrodes through electrochemical, spectroscopical and computational methods
Authors: Goldoni Riccardo , Thomaz Douglas Vieira , Ottolini Michela , Di Giulio Simona , Di Giulio Tiziano
Published: May 2024

This study investigates potentiodynamic synthesis of polyaniline (PANI) using pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs), aiming to elucidate deposition mechanisms under simple experimental conditions. By exploring PANI electrosynthesis through electrochemical, spectroscopic, and computational approaches, valuable insights into the physicochemical aspects of aniline polymerization are gained. The proposed synthetic method was challenged for the development of a new molecularly imprinted polymer for chloramphenicol on the surface of PGEs to obtain an innovative impedimetric sensor. The sensing platform shows a linear response in the target concentration range between 0.1 and 17.5 nM, in aqueous solutions, with a limit of detection of 0.03 nM and a limit of quantification of 0.09 nM. The results obtained suggest that the synthesis method proposed provide a way to obtain stable and electroactive polyaniline film with huge potential application.
Caring for/with Modernist Playthings: Fidgeting with Objects in Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie
Authors: Krishna Ishita
Published: May 2024

Modernist literature of the early to mid-twentieth century on both sides of the Atlantic is replete with examples of a particular kind of relationship with objects, namely, the touching, collecting, and grasping of small, often highly personal, and ostensibly quotidian objects. From John’s glass collection in Woolf’s “Solid Objects,” Peter Walsh’s stroking of his pocket-knife in Mrs. Dalloway, Miriam’s frenzied absorption with flowers in Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, to Laura’s fiddling of her glass menagerie in Tennessee Williams’s eponymous play, fidgeting in modernist literature and drama reveals a particular tendency of not just characters’ possession of things but also their possession by things. This phenomenon, I argue, allows characters to practice care as they withdraw from oppressive narratives of normalcy and (economic and biological) productivity, challenging their exclusionary and othering configurations. My paper looks at fidgeting in The Glass Menagerie as a part of this larger ideological and haptic orientation in modernist literature. The care invested by Laura in her intimate relationship with these “playthings” allows her to intercept not only male narrativizing forces and articulation of herself but also the rhetoric of productivity that circulates both within the play and in the larger economic backdrop of post-depression America. My paper attempts to foreground these objects of care in our readings of the play and modernist texts in general and, in so doing, highlight their importance as lenses of analysis that render visible alternate forms of agency and resistance. Lastly, it attempts to reframe fidgeting as an act of embodied refusal, evoking the radical potential of refusal within feminist and disability studies.
Modified Memoryless Spectral-Scaling Broyden Family on Riemannian Manifolds
Authors: Sakai Hiroyuki , Iiduka Hideaki
Published: May 2024

This paper presents modified memoryless quasi-Newton methods based on the spectral-scaling Broyden family on Riemannian manifolds. The method involves adding one parameter to the search direction of the memoryless self-scaling Broyden family on the manifold. Moreover, it uses a general map instead of vector transport. This idea has already been proposed within a general framework of Riemannian conjugate gradient methods where one can use vector transport, scaled vector transport, or an inverse retraction. We show that the search direction satisfies the sufficient descent condition under some assumptions on the parameters. In addition, we show global convergence of the proposed method under the Wolfe conditions. We numerically compare it with existing methods, including Riemannian conjugate gradient methods and the memoryless spectral-scaling Broyden family. The numerical results indicate that the proposed method with the BFGS formula is suitable for solving an off-diagonal cost function minimization problem on an oblique manifold.
The Role of SES in Preadolescence: Understandings and Group Evaluations based on Income, Education, and Occupation
Authors: Boer Iris , Fleischmann Fenella , Thijs Jochem
Published: May 2024

Socioeconomic status (SES) predicts many facets of preadolescents’ life opportunities, yet little is known about how children perceive SES and whether it plays a role in their group evaluations. This study examined preadolescents’ socioeconomic understandings and biases (investigated presenting fictitious peers varying in SES), while separating the three SES-indicators income, education and occupation. Five classes (Grade 4–6) with 89 students (Mage = 10.44, SD = 0.93; 40% female) participated. Overall, preadolescents understood that the SES indicators income, education and occupation are related to each other. At the same time, they differentiated between the indicators in their group evaluations; they showed a positive bias for peers with high-educated parents, whereas for occupation and income there was no clear overall bias. This shows that differences between SES indicators are meaningful for children, which emphasizes the importance to distinguish between specific SES-indicators when studying the role of SES for preadolescents’ social life.
Can varying activation energy be determined reliably from thermogravimetric experiments?
Authors: Várhegyi Gábor
Published: May 2024

Solutions of the general isoconversional kinetic equation were generated and compared assuming activation energies, E, which vary with the advance of the reaction, α. Series belonging to 4–5 heating rates were compared. TG curves simulated with highly varying activation energies could approximate well the curves simulated with first-order kinetics and constant E. This observation indicates that the information content of a series of TG curves at constant heating rates is not sufficient for the determination of activation energies that vary with the advance of the studied reactions. The problem proved to be smaller when differential curves were compared in the same way; the uncertainties decreased by factors 0.2–0.5. There is a standard procedure of ASTM International (ASTM E2958-19, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1520/E2958-21) that describes the estimation of E from experiments carried out at a specific modulated temperature program. The reliability of this procedure was also tested and found to be low, though not as low as that of the evaluation of TG curves at linear temperature programs with usual heating rates. The work continues and complements a recent study of the author (Várhegyi in J Therm Anal Calorim 148:12835–12843, 2023).
Gestational Diabetes Prevalence Estimates from Three Data Sources, 2018
Authors: Bolduc Michele L.F. , Mercado Carla I. , Zhang Yan , Lundeen Elizabeth A. , Ford Nicole D. , Bullard Kai McKeever , Carty Denise C.
Published: May 2024

Introduction

We investigated 2018 gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) prevalence estimates in three surveillance systems (National Vital Statistics System, State Inpatient Database, and Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey).

Methods

We calculated GDM prevalence for jurisdictions represented in each system; a subset of data was analyzed for people 18–39 years old in 22 jurisdictions present in all three systems to observe dataset-specific demographics and GDM prevalence using comparable categories.

Results

GDM prevalence estimates varied widely by data system and within the data subset despite comparable demographics.

Discussion

Understanding the differences between GDM surveillance data systems can help researchers better identify people and places at higher risk of GDM.
Inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase activity attenuates neutrophilic airway inflammation and inhibits pyrin domain-containing 3 inflammasome activation in an ovalbumin-lipopolysaccharide-induced asthma murine model
Authors: Li Qun , Jiang Guiyun , Lv Yunxiang
Published: May 2024

Background

Existing investigations suggest that the blockade of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activity contributes to inflammatory solution in allergic asthma, but whether this inhibition directly attenuates neutrophilic airway inflammation in vivo is still unclear. We explored the pharmacological effects of LY294002, a specific inhibitor of PI3K on the progression of neutrophilic airway inflammation and investigated the underlying mechanism.

Methods and results

Female C57BL/6 mice were intranasally sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) together with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on days 0 and 6, and challenged with OVA on days 14–17 to establish a neutrophilic airway disease model. In the challenge phase, a subset of mice was treated intratracheally with LY294002. We found that treatment of LY294002 attenuates clinic symptoms of inflammatory mice. Histological studies showed that LY294002 significantly inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration and mucus production. The treatment also significantly inhibited OVA-LPS induced increases in inflammatory cell counts, especially neutrophil counts, and IL-17 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). LY294002 treated mice exhibited significantly increased IL-10 levels in BALF compared to the untreated mice. In addition, LY294002 reduced the plasma concentrations of IL-6 and IL-17. The anti-inflammatory effects of LY29402 were correlated with the downregulation of NLRP3 inflammasome.

Conclusions

Our findings suggested that LY294002 as a potential pharmacological target for neutrophilic airway inflammation.