bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of local realizations of Silver freezing-point temperatures between NMIA and NMIJ AIST
Authors: Ho M-K , Widiatmo J V
Published: June 2024

Main text

The key comparison CCT-K4.1 was initiated on the request of the National Measurement Institute, Australia (MNIA) to re-link their standards to the Consultative Committee for Thermometry (CCT) Key Comparison (KC) and facilitate the NMIA CMC submission. National Metrology Institute of Japan, Japan (NMIJ) provided the linkage to the CCT-K4 at the temperature of the freezing point of silver. At the time of the CCT-K4 NMIA (formerly CSIRO-NML) had only one silver cell and this was found to be contaminated shortly after completion. Subsequently, more silver cells were fabricated at different times to form an ensemble of five cells before the start of CCT.K4.1.

In the CCT-K4.1 bi-lateral comparison, a silver cell provided by NMIA and used as the artefact and circulated in accordance with the pilot-participant-pilot scheme. It is standard practice for NMIJ to use argon at 6N purity and NMIA argon 5N purity to regulate the pressure in the silver cell. To mitigate this, the effect of different argon purity was assessed in the post-circulation measurements. First the comparison was made under 6N purity atmosphere to preserve the cell ambience after it left NMIJ then the measurement was repeated under 5N argon atmosphere.

The linkage was based on the temperature of NMIJ reference Ag fixed point relative to the key comparison reference value (KCRV) of CCT-K4 at the Ag fixed point via the difference in temperature between the NMIA reference Ag fixed point and NMIJ reference Ag fixed point (links to the KCRV of the CCT-K4). The temperature difference between the standards of NMIA and the KCRV of the CCT-K4 was within the evaluated comparison uncertainties of the CCT-K4.1. This report provides detailed information on the comparison results, linkage mechanism, and the Degree of Equivalence of NMIA relative to the institutes having participated in the CCT-K4.

To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database https://www.bipm.org/kcdb/.

The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCT, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).
High-density nanodot structures on silicon solar cell surfaces irradiated by ultraviolet laser pulses below the melting threshold fluence
Authors: Hirai Kenta , Tanaka Tomoyo , Tsutsumi Daisuke , Hashida Masaki , Sakagami Hitoshi , Kusaba Mitsuhiro
Published: June 2024

The surface morphology of silicon solar cells irradiated with KrF excimer laser pulses (λ = 248 nm, τ = 20 ns) was investigated below the experimentally observed melting threshold fluence (F
th) of 0.47 J cm−2 (±20%). At laser fluences of 0.23–0.48 J cm−2 (equivalent to 0.49F
th to 1.0F
th), nanodot structures with a height and width of approximately 60–120 nm were periodically formed with an interdot spacing similar to the laser wavelength. The observed nanodot density (29 dots μm2) was higher than that previously obtained at longer wavelengths. Furthermore, crystallinity analysis by micro-Raman spectroscopy revealed a Raman shift of 519.56 cm−1 after irradiation (N= 1500 pulses), compared with 518.27 cm−1 prior to irradiation. A laser fluence of 0.41 J cm−2 ( = 0.87F
th) was found to induce compressive stress on the silicon solar cell surface.
Magnetoelastic coupling for Fe–Ga thin films epitaxially grown on different substrates
Authors: Ding Hao , Ito Keita , Endo Yasushi , Takanashi Koki , Seki Takeshi
Published: June 2024

This paper reports the systematic study on the structure, magnetic properties and magnetoelastic properties for the Fe100−x
Ga
x
(001) thin films epitaxially grown on the different substrates of GaAs(001) and MgO(001) using the sputtering technique. The alloy composition dependence of effective magnetoelastic coupling coefficient B
eff along the FeGa [110] direction indicated that the largest magnetoelastic coupling was obtained for the Fe–Ga layer with x = 30 grown on the MgO substrate, which was evaluated to be B
eff = − 9.4 × 107 erg cm−3. Considering the results of structural analysis and magnetization measurement, the different crystallite sizes depending on the kind of substrate may give rise to the different magnetoelastic coupling strengths between the Fe–Ga layers on the MgO and the GaAs. The magnetostriction along the Fe–Ga [111] direction λ
111 was also estimated with the assumption of plausible elastic property of Fe–Ga, and showed the values comparable to the reported value of bulk Fe–Ga. This means the large magnetostriction can be obtained even for the Fe–Ga thin films epitaxially grown not only on the GaAs(001) but also on the MgO(001). The findings in this work will give a guideline for designing spintronic applications with a Fe–Ga layer exhibiting a large magnetoelastic coupling.
Vibrational, optical, and photocatalytic properties of ZnO/layered carbon nanocomposite synthesized by ball milling
Authors: Das Sandip , Pramanik Subhamay , Mukherjee Sumit , Rajak Chinmoy , Mukherjee Biswanath , Kuiri Probodh K
Published: June 2024

ZnO/layered carbon nanocomposites with varied sizes of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by mechanical milling of mixture of ZnO NPs and carbon NPs. The NP size of ZnO was controlled with average particle sizes about 19.33, 21.87, 24.21, and 27.89 nm by varying the concentrations of carbon NPs viz 0, 2, 5, and 10 weight percent, respectively, in the mixture. Presence of carbon with ZnO in the form of composite also resulted in the enhanced shift of the band gap of ZnO due to the optical transitions in the impurity states or presence of carbon as compared to the ZnO size change alone. Additionally, the enhancement of absorbance in the visible region with an increase in carbon content was observed. Such an increase in absorbance can enhance the photocatalytic activity of ZnO NPs. Raman bands for ZnO NPs also were found to shift faster in the presence of layered carbon. The quenching of visible photoluminescence emission of ZnO NPs with an increase in concentration of carbon NPs in the composite indicated the phenomenon associated with transfer of electrons from ZnO to layered carbon helping the separation of photo-generated electrons and holes in ZnO and can lead to enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of ZnO NPs. In the photocatalytic studies, it was observed that the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye was significantly enhanced by the increase of content of layered carbon in the nanocomposite. The sample containing 10% carbon showed the highest adsorption in dark conditions which was up to 60% of the starting strength and this was further enhanced to 88% in the presence of UV radiation. Enhanced adsorption of MB dye and the effective separation of electron–hole pairs due to charge transfer were believed to be the main causes behind such kind of improvement in the photocatalytic effects.
A novel signal resolution enhance method based on CBAM-ResNet for bearing intelligent fault diagnosis
Authors: Bao Huaiqian , Qin Ranran , Wan Yanbin , Xu Yufeng , Wang Jinrui , Zhang Zongzhen , Han Baokun
Published: June 2024

In health condition monitoring of mechanical equipment, the signal is the key source of information. However, signal resolution is often degraded due to factors such as equipment vibration and electromagnetic interference. To address this issue, an Efficient Sub-pixel Convolutional Attention Residual Network (ESPCARN) built on the idea of signal resolution improvement is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the original low-resolution samples are input into a CBAM-ResNet to obtain more feature information of the channels and space within the residual connection and a multi-feature mapping with four channels was generated. Subsequently, the four-channel low-resolution features are aligned periodically through sub-pixel convolution layer, resulting in a set of high-resolution samples and the feature dimension of the data was increased to four times that of the original low-resolution data, thereby realizing the resolution enhancement. Finally, two experiments with different working conditions are established to evaluate the performance of the proposed fault diagnosis method, and the experimental results verified the efficacy of the ESPCARN framework.
Radiation asymmetry in JET disruption mitigation experiments with shattered pellet injection
Authors: Piron L , Jachmich S , Baylor L , Baruzzo M , Lehnen M , Carvalho P , Kong M , Martin P , Piccolo T Lo Presti , Silburn S , Terranova D , Valcarcel D ,   JET Contributors,   Eurofusion Tokamak Exploitation Team
Published: June 2024

In ITER, to mitigate the deleterious effects of plasma disruptions, massive quantities of radiating impurities will be injected into the disrupting plasma by shattered pellet injectors (SPI) to pre-emptively radiate away the stored thermal and magnetic energy (Lehnen et al Proc. 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conf. (FEC 2018) (Gandhinagar, India) EX/P7-12). However, asymmetries in the radiation pattern could result in intense photon flashes during the thermal quench that could locally damage or erode the stainless steel plasma-facing surface of the diagnostic port plugs (Pitts et al 2015 J. Nucl. Mater.
463 748–75). Experiments have been undertaken at JET to assess the potential dependence of the radiated power asymmetry on plasma energy during SPI mitigated disruptions. Calculations of the toroidal asymmetry in the radiated power indicate that the toroidal peaking factor is largest near the SPI position and decreases with the plasma stored energy, which is a promising result in view of radiation heat loads during mitigated disruptions in ITER.
Pattern reconfigurable antenna with specified main lobe deflection and stable bandwidth by using bistable composite laminates
Authors: Zhang Mingyue , Tong Wei , Xu Guangyu , Wang Qi , Gao Renjing
Published: June 2024

Pattern reconfiguration of antennas has become a very important measure to improve the signal gain and working bandwidth by manipulating beam direction. Developing rational methods to find the reconfigurable structure is a key problem. In this paper, a collaborative optimization method is proposed to comprehensively consider both the geometric parameters of the bistable substrate and the size of the radiation patch. This method enables the design of a pattern reconfigurable antenna with specified main lobe deflection and stable bandwidth. Specifically, by using a two-step process, the log-periodic dipole antenna (LPDA) is conformally mapped from the planar substrate to the bistable substrate. Further investigation reveals that the main lobe deflection angle and bandwidth stability are influenced by the geometric parameters of the bistable substrate and the size of radiation dipoles, respectively. Thus, these parameters are selected as design variables for solving the proposed collaborative optimization model. The transformation between two stable configurations enables the proposed LPDA to deflect the main lobe of the H-plane pattern by 30° while maintaining consistency in the E-plane patterns. Importantly, the resonant frequencies remain unaffected and the bandwidth does not decrease during the pattern reconfiguration. Notably, the pattern reconfigurable mechanism is rooted in that the transformation between the two stable configurations alters the number and position of the dipoles in the radiation region and their current path, thereby changing the radiation direction of electromagnetic waves. The proposed collaborative optimization method has a potential application for other types of antennas and offers opportunities for various applications in the field of wireless communication.
Quantum mechanical modeling of the multi-stage Stern–Gerlach experiment conducted by Frisch and Segrè
Authors: Kahraman S Süleyman , Titimbo Kelvin , He Zhe , Shen Jung-Tsung , Wang Lihong V
Published: June 2024

The multi-stage Stern–Gerlach experiment conducted by Frisch and Segrè includes two cascaded quantum measurements with a nonadiabatic flipper in between. The Frisch and Segrè experiment has been modeled analytically by Majorana without the nuclear effect and subsequently revised by Rabi with the hyperfine interaction. However, the theoretical predictions do not match the experimental observation accurately. Here, we numerically solve the standard quantum mechanical model, via the von Neumann equation, including the hyperfine interaction for the time evolution of the spin. Thus far, the coefficients of determination from the standard quantum mechanical model without using free parameters are still low, indicating a mismatch between the theory and the experiment. Non-standard variants that improve the match are explored for discussion.
Effect of quantum information scrambling on bound entangled states
Authors: Sinha Suprabhat
Published: June 2024

Spreading information in physical systems is a common phenomenon. However, when the information is quantum in nature, tracking, describing, and quantifying the information is a challenging task. Quantum information scrambling defines the quantum information propagating chaotically over the physical system. This article describes the effect of quantum information scrambling on bound entangled states. A bound entangled state is a particular type of entangled state that carries noisy entanglement. The distillation of this type of entangled state is very difficult. In recent times, the usefulness of these states has been depicted in different applications. The outcome of this study exhibits that quantum information scrambling develops entanglement in the separable portion of the bound entangled states. Although quantum information scrambling reduces entanglement, the study pointed out that quantum information scrambling plays a significant role in activating the bound entangled states by introducing a certain amount of approximately stable entanglement.
Improved harmonic balance method for analyzing asymmetric restoring force functions in nonlinear vibration of mechanical systems
Authors: Mohammadian Mostafa , Ismail Gamal M
Published: June 2024

The non-linear differential equation governing some mechanical systems, such as the non-linear vibrations of FG beams resting on a nonlinear foundation, behaves similarly to the oscillations of a non-linear oscillator with an asymmetric restoring force function that includes both odd and non-odd non-linear terms. The objective of this research is to obtain higher-order approximate analytical solutions for such problems by introducing an enhanced harmonic balance method. By building upon the original problem, two new symmetric systems with odd non-linear terms are introduced, and their higher-order approximate analytical solutions are derived using a novel approach. In proposed method, the restoring force function is represented by its Fourier series expansion. Unlike previous papers, linearizing the equation or taking the first derivative of the Fourier series in the subsequent iteration is unnecessary. However, to enhance the solution’s accuracy, the remaining error from each iteration is utilized in the next one. Finally, by combining the results from the two introduced systems, the analytical period and corresponding periodic solution of the original problem can be obtained. This method is applied to the governing differential equation of FG beams resting on non-linear foundations, a physical non-natural oscillator, and conservative Toda oscillator. The key advantages of this approach are its simplicity and its ability to provide highly precise solutions for both small and large amplitudes in a single iteration.
On sphaleron heating in the presence of fermions
Authors: Drewes Marco , Zell Sebastian
Published: June 2024

Axion-like particles with a coupling to non-Abelian gauge fields at finite temperature can
experience dissipation due to sphaleron heating. This could play an important role for warm
inflation or dynamical dark energy. We investigate to what degree the efficiency of this
non-perturbative mechanism depends on the details of the underlying particle physics model. For a
wide range of scenarios and energy scales, we find that a previously discussed suppression of
sphaleron heating by light fermions can be alleviated. As an outlook, we point out that fermionic
effects may provide a new mechanism for ending warm inflation.
Decellularized porcine peripheral nerve based injectable hydrogels as a Schwann cell carrier for injured spinal cord regeneration
Authors: Agarwal Gopal , Shumard Samantha , McCrary Michaela W , Osborne Olivia , Santiago Jorge Mojica , Ausec Breanna , Schmidt Christine E
Published: June 2024

Objective. To develop a clinically relevant injectable hydrogel derived from decellularized porcine peripheral nerves and with mechanical properties comparable to native central nervous system (CNS) tissue to be used as a delivery vehicle for Schwann cell transplantation to treat spinal cord injury (SCI). Approach. Porcine peripheral nerves (sciatic and peroneal) were decellularized by chemical decellularization using a sodium deoxycholate and DNase (SDD) method previously developed by our group. The decellularized nerves were delipidated using dichloromethane and ethanol solvent and then digested using pepsin enzyme to form injectable hydrogel formulations. Genipin was used as a crosslinker to enhance mechanical properties. The injectability, mechanical properties, and gelation kinetics of the hydrogels were further analyzed using rheology. Schwann cells encapsulated within the injectable hydrogel formulations were passed through a 25-gauge needle and cell viability was assessed using live/dead staining. The ability of the hydrogel to maintain Schwann cell viability against an inflammatory milieu was assessed in vitro using inflamed astrocytes co-cultured with Schwann cells. Main
results. The SDD method effectively removes cells and retains extracellular matrix in decellularized tissues. Using rheological studies, we found that delipidation of decellularized porcine peripheral nerves using dichloromethane and ethanol solvent improves gelation kinetics and mechanical strength of hydrogels. The delipidated and decellularized hydrogels crosslinked using genipin mimicked the mechanical strength of CNS tissue. The hydrogels were found to have shear thinning properties desirable for injectable formulations and they also maintained higher Schwann cell viability during injection compared to saline controls. Using in vitro co-culture experiments, we found that the genipin-crosslinked hydrogels also protected Schwann cells from astrocyte-mediated inflammation. Significance. Injectable hydrogels developed using delipidated and decellularized porcine peripheral nerves are a potential clinically relevant solution to deliver Schwann cells, and possibly other therapeutic cells, at the SCI site by maintaining higher cellular viability and increasing therapeutic efficacy for SCI treatment.
Speech decoding from stereo-electroencephalography (sEEG) signals using advanced deep learning methods
Authors: Wu Xiaolong , Wellington Scott , Fu Zhichun , Zhang Dingguo
Published: June 2024

Objective. Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) are technologies that bypass damaged or disrupted neural pathways and directly decode brain signals to perform intended actions. BCIs for speech have the potential to restore communication by decoding the intended speech directly. Many studies have demonstrated promising results using invasive micro-electrode arrays and electrocorticography. However, the use of stereo-electroencephalography (sEEG) for speech decoding has not been fully recognized. Approach. In this research, recently released sEEG data were used to decode Dutch words spoken by epileptic participants. We decoded speech waveforms from sEEG data using advanced deep-learning methods. Three methods were implemented: a linear regression method, an recurrent neural network (RNN)-based sequence-to-sequence model (RNN), and a transformer model. Main results. Our RNN and transformer models outperformed the linear regression significantly, while no significant difference was found between the two deep-learning methods. Further investigation on individual electrodes showed that the same decoding result can be obtained using only a few of the electrodes. Significance. This study demonstrated that decoding speech from sEEG signals is possible, and the location of the electrodes is critical to the decoding performance.
Synergistic effects of global exclusion and mutation on replicator dynamics of public cooperation
Authors: Jia Dengyu , Wang Xiaofeng
Published: June 2024

Global exclusion represents an effective mechanism for the evolution of cooperation, even within an infinitely well-mixed population. However, it remains unknown how global exclusion performs when faced with the evolutionary challenges posed by both defection and neutral mutation in the public goods game. Here, we report that global exclusion is able to resist or even have a positive interplay with unbiased mutations in the replicator dynamics of public cooperation. In the limit of an infinite population size, we find that the replicator-mutation dynamics can result in either a global stable coexistence or two local stable coexistences, whose attraction basins are separated by an unstable fixed point, between global exclusion and defection, as well as several types of bifurcations. Interestingly, there is an optimal mutation rate that leads to the largest enhancement of the emergent level for cooperation by global exclusion when the exclusion cost is reasonably low. Our results thus indicate that random exploration of strategies by mutation can enhance the beneficial effects of global exclusion on the evolution of public cooperation.
Long-term memory on popularity dynamics: insights from the Billboard Hot 100 chart
Authors: Soh Hyungjoon , Hyung Hong Joo , Jeong Jaeseung , Jeong Hawoong
Published: June 2024

This study delves into the dynamics of popularity as a crucial aspect of population dynamics, drawing from ecology and social science literature. The focus is on constructing an accurate model for understanding the spread of novelty, memes, and influences within human society, particularly through online platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, and Amazon. Traditional models, based on logistic and similar nonlinear differential equations, have shown limitations in long-term prediction accuracy, partially due to unexplained deviations. Recent research suggests the significance of long-term memory effects on popularity, characterized by a power-law response function, a phenomenon particularly evident in the realm of online mass media. Our research analyzes the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a comprehensive dataset of music popularity spanning several decades, to examine these dynamics. By integrating logistic growth with a power-law decaying long-term memory model, we demonstrate that the trajectory of popularity rankings is predominantly influenced by initial popularity levels and the strength of memory effects. Our findings reveal the pivotal role of long-term memory and the extent of initial popularity in shaping popularity dynamics over time. The study underscores the impact of mass media evolution and the differential effects of spreading mechanisms and accumulated popularity on these dynamics, particularly when long-term memory is a factor. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving popularity and its long-term trends in the digital age.
Introduction
Authors: Darby Derrick , Martinez Eduardo J
Published: June 2024

This Introduction explains the topic of the book with an appeal to Bayard Rustin’s experiences as a political organizer working in the context of diverse coalitions. It describes Rustin’s dilemma: over the course of his career, Rustin repeatedly faced the challenge of coordinating the collective pursuit of projects in a way that is accountable to intra- and intergroup heterogeneity, which is a dilemma that is faced by many citizens in democracies today. It also describes the plan for the book, which is structured around answering three key questions: How does one become boxed in by tightly scripted identities? What does one need to break free? How does one break free? The Introduction also clarifies the scope of the book and the kind of guidance it does, and does not, offer.
Boxed In
Authors: Darby Derrick , Martinez Eduardo J
Published: June 2024

This chapter describes and analyzes the phenomenon of being boxed in by tightly scripted identities. It answers three key questions: What does it mean for collective identities to be tightly scripted? How do tightly scripted identities box people in? How does boxing in get in the way of their projects? In addition to describing the phenomenon of being boxed in via numerous case studies, the chapter also establishes a taxonomy of the different ways that one can be boxed in by tight scripts: how one thinks and feels, how one acts, and with whom one associates. The answers to the chapter’s key questions and the phenomenon of being boxed in are illustrated using examples including Charlie Parker, Jay-Z, and Oprah, soccer chants, trans members of the US military, Ralph Ellison, Christian conservatives interested in criminal justice, and MENA Americans’ perspectives on the US Census.
Spirits
Authors: McGovern Nathan
Published: June 2024

This chapter deconstructs the concept of “local spirit religion” and argues that this category lacks specificity. Even though it might seem that Buddhism acts on a “local religion,” comparative linguistics shows that many aspects of “Tai religion” actually derive from Chinese culture. There is no “local Tai religion” insofar as everything is local and nothing is local. This leads to an examination of phī (Tai spirits) in the historical record. The phī were originally beings of ambiguous moral status and various ranks, but Buddhism’s implicit theology relegated them to the lowly status of ghosts. The chapter ends by arguing that the modern discourse of religion, based on a post-Reformation, post-Enlightenment rationalized paradigm of Christianity, constructs “local religion” to explain the aspects of Buddhism that do not fit that paradigm.
Gods
Authors: McGovern Nathan
Published: June 2024

This chapter takes as its starting point the insight from Chapter 4 that the continuities between the older Sanskrit Cosmopolis and current Pali Cosmopolis give a space for Hindu discourses to exercise agency within Siamese Buddhism. It begins with a survey of the place of saiyasāt in Sukhōthai and Ayutthayā and interest in Hinduism in early Bangkok. It then turns to a pivotal event: the construction of the Ērāwan Shrine, a shrine to the god Brahmā, in the 1950s, which sparked a wave of Hindu enthusiasm that has played an important role in the construction of the modern category of “holy things.”
Buddha Images
Authors: McGovern Nathan
Published: June 2024

This chapter returns to the problematic introduced at the beginning of the book, namely, that posed by Luang Phǭ Sōthǭn and other famous Buddha images that are propitiated for mundane boons like any other “holy thing.” There is evidence for the premodern propitiation of Buddha images for boons, but it takes a different form than modern kānbonbānsānklāo. It is informal and based on the very old Buddhist concept (found in the Pali Canon) that Buddhist relics can perform miracles through the “resolution” by arhats, devas, or ordinary worshipers to dedicate merit to a specific purpose. This capacity for miracles was then merged with the practice of asking supernatural beings for boons when saksit was used to translate the concept of “holy” in the nineteenth century, bringing gods, spirits, Buddha images, and more under the same category.
Conclusion
Authors: McGovern Nathan
Published: June 2024

The conclusion revisits the thesis and main themes of the book. It reviews in particular the findings of Part II of the book with respect to gods, spirits, and Buddha images in light of the genealogical study of the category sing saksit performed in Part I. This leads back to the central thesis of the book, which is that syncretism is the solution to a pseudo-problem posed by misunderstanding the nature of Buddhist inclusivism. It also provides an explanation for why syncretism is such an appealing theory in spite of how problematic it is.
Introduction
Authors: van den Brink Martijn
Published: June 2024

This introductory chapter examines the reasons for the indifference among legal scholars to the European Union (EU) legislative process. It illustrates, through a comparison of the EU Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, why it is important to place the legislature and the choices it makes central to our legal debates. And it explains what methodological approach to take in order to place it there. It explains, more specifically, that the proper allocation of EU legislative and judicial authority cannot be identified using doctrinal legal. Instead, it requires lawyers to exercise political judgement. Finally, the chapter outlines the book’s structure.
Storms as Forming and Threatening Factors for Coasts
Authors: von Storch Hans , Feser Frauke , Blender Richard , Camargo Suzana J. , Cavicchia Leone , Di Luca Alejandro , Fu Gang , Gozzo Luiz Felippe , Koks Elco , Messmer Martina , Mori Nobuhito , Priestley Matthew D.K. , Roy Tirthankar , Schultz David M. , Watanabe Shun-ichi , Weisse Ralf
Published: June 2024

Storms are the most significant meteorological phenomena that affect the formation of coasts and human livelihood along them. Thus, risks related to coastal storms, such as flooding, loss of land, shipping, and other offshore activity, have had a significant influence on coastal societies and their economies. In the early 21st century, anthropogenic climate change will affect the locations and intensities of coastal storminess, impacting society.

Storms are studied not only by natural scientists but also by social scientists. The former deal with the climatologies, dynamics, and mechanisms of storms but also with the identification of different types of storms, such as extratropical baroclinic storms, explosive cyclones, tropical storms, polar lows, medicanes, Vb-cyclones, and Australian east coast storms. Their significance is often through their physical impacts, in particular ocean waves and storm surges, which were and are associated with massive losses of lives, sometimes up to several hundred thousand people, and wealth.

The perceptions of what storms constitute were different in different cultural contexts and times. In earlier days, higher forces were responsible for such storms, which they used to transfer messages to humans, physically based ideas have been forming since the 16th century. Another significant historical development was societies preparing to reduce their vulnerability to storms and to implement practices of insurance and risk management.
Eunuchs
Authors: Hathaway Jane
Published: June 2024

Eunuchs, castrated male slaves, were employed at the courts of kingdoms and empires throughout Africa north of the equator. While the practice may have started as early as the 6th century bce, it became widespread during the medieval and early modern eras. Eunuchs were part of palace culture in both East and West Africa and in both Muslim and animist polities. Ethiopia was a notable exception to this rule; there, uncastrated male servants held posts that in other polities were filled by eunuchs.

The transportation and castration of African eunuchs formed part of a much larger trade in African slaves along overland caravan routes and through the Red Sea. A shifting collection of castration centers existed across supraequatorial Africa. In East Africa, Upper Egypt was a key center; in Central and West Africa, Bagirmi became a center in the 18th century.

Court eunuchs performed an array of roles, notably those of gatekeepers and companions to the ruler, harem guardians, and supervisors of the palace treasury. Particularly in West Africa, they also took on military duties. African eunuchs were also widely employed at imperial courts outside Africa, particularly in the Near East and South Asia. Beginning in the 12th century ce, a corps of mostly African eunuchs also guarded the Prophet Muhammad’s tomb in Medina and the Kaʿba in Mecca.

Sporadic attempts to abolish the trade in eunuchs and their employment were unsuccessful before the British-led abolition movement of the 19th century. Even so, African eunuchs continued to serve in several West African kingdoms and in the Ottoman Empire until the early 20th century.
Demystifying Electronic Payment Systems and Digital Currencies
Authors: Cong Lin William , Easley David , Prasad Eswar
Published: June 2024

Digital payments have transformed how consumers and businesses transact. New technologies such as mobile wallets and buy-now-pay-later financing offer additional convenience and expand access. However, the proliferation of private platforms raises concerns about market power, privacy, and stability. Since 2008, fast payment systems and decentralized cryptocurrencies have enabled direct transactions with fewer or no intermediaries, but they face challenges such as the lack of value stability and scalability. Central banks are responding by designing digital versions of fiat currencies. Retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could promote financial inclusion and provide a central bank–backed alternative to private platforms. CBDCs raise complex policy trade-offs around disintermediating banks, enabling negative interest rates, preserving privacy, and coexistence with cash. International CBDCs may facilitate cheaper cross-border payments. While digital payments offer efficiency, key design choices around transaction fees and governance determine accessibility. High or unpredictable fees on blockchain platforms disproportionately affect smaller users. Initiatives that broaden token ownership help democratize networks. Tensions persist between decentralization, security, scalability, and privacy. Further research can improve digital payment technologies and clarify policy implications.
A Case Study of Brasília and the Federal District: Community Participation and Sanitary and Environmental Education in Condominial Sewerage Systems at CAESB
Authors: Rissoli César Augusto , Martinele Feitosa Martins Maria
Published: June 2024

Adding a social component to sanitation work has traditionally been done as a separate, “decorative element,” which can be seen as dispensable. By this logic, a direct relationship is not forged between the objective of the project and the interest of its beneficiaries, and so the sanitation intervention is rendered ineffective.

The Federal District Environmental Sanitation Company (Companhia de Saneamento Ambiental do Distrito Federal) (CAESB) has used the Condominial Sewerage System for over 30 years with a great deal of success. It has become a reference point for this type of sanitary sewage modal, where the community mobilization social component, which involves community participation and environmental education, demonstrates that these areas are key to achieving success and effectiveness in a sanitation intervention, which is a fundamental element in the current context of chronic service deficits of this type of infrastructure as well as of insufficient resources.

This article seeks to describe the defining aspects of the Condominial Sewerage System in the Federal District and provide an overview of the key features of the methodology as used by CAESB and its experience in developing the social components of community participation and environmental education which are used in implementing this type of sanitary sewerage system. At CAESB, this social component is absolutely inseparable from the technical component, which is why it is called “technical-social mobilization.” It is a set of actions, always transversally linked with the technical procedures, establishing the common objective of universalization of sewerage system service. Operating in this way for more than 30 years has established a strong relationship between the company and the community, based on a sense of civic duty. This has optimized resource use and allowed every family to connect to the system, with more than 350,000 sewage connections, serving more than 1,500,000 inhabitants throughout the Federal District.
The United States and International Sanctions
Authors: Coates Benjamin
Published: June 2024

Sanctions can be defined as peacetime economic measures designed to compel a target to change its behavior. Though some people have hoped they would provide a nonviolent method of enforcing international law, sanctions have most commonly been imposed unilaterally to promote national interests. Modern sanctions emerged after World War I as a key tool of the League of Nations. Building on the experience of the wartime Allied blockade, they enabled the use of military tactics during peacetime.

Before World War II, the United States did not participate in multilateral sanctions. However, the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act granted presidents unilateral authority to freeze foreign assets, a power that President Franklin D. Roosevelt invoked beginning in 1940 as a response to Axis aggression. Freezing Japanese assets backfired, however, as the decision encouraged Japan to attack Pearl Harbor, drawing America into the war.

During the Cold War, US sanctions targeted leftist governments. Embargoes against the Soviet Union and China made little impact and complicated Washington’s relations with its European allies. Long-running sanctions against Cuba, Vietnam, and North Korea also failed to provoke regime change.

Sanctions also targeted human rights abuses. The success of the anti-apartheid movement, which promoted divestment from, and boycotts of, South Africa, was perceived as vindicating the power and legitimacy of sanctions. The 1990s became the “sanctions decade.” But most sanctions regimes failed, and sanctions against Iraq were blamed for contributing to humanitarian crisis.

After September 11, 2001, the United States expanded its use of financial sanctions against those accused of facilitating terrorism, money laundering, weapons proliferation, and other crimes. Washington also imposed financial sanctions against state rivals, including Iran and Russia. By 2022, sanctions had become America’s policy of choice. But they usually failed to achieve their goals and frequently generated opposition from enemies and allies alike.
Abolition of Involuntary Mental Health Services
Authors: Suslovic Brianna
Published: June 2024

Apart from a few dissenting perspectives, social workers have not coherently engaged with the moral dilemmas inherent in the profession’s participation in coercing or mandating patients to mental health treatment. With roots in the development of asylums in 1400s Western Europe, involuntary mental health services continue to rely on processes involving the state in order to detain individuals who are deemed severely mentally ill. Legal precedent and practices in the United States as they pertain to involuntary mental health treatment reflect tensions about promoting individual freedom while maintaining safety. Given the diversity of circumstances that social workers may navigate in this particular area of practice, the profession’s ethical commitments to self-determination are potentially in conflict with practices of involuntarily hospitalizing or providing mental health services to individuals. In fact, international health and human rights bodies have weighed in on the role of coercion in mental health treatment, advocating for decreased use of coercive means of confining and treating patients with severe mental illness. Critical perspectives on involuntary mental health services are often rooted in the critiques of psychiatric consumer/survivor/ex-patient organizers, who argue that detaining patients against their will and mandating them to participate in treatment or take medication is a form of violence that violates their rights. There are also some promising approaches to severe mental illness that promote self-determination and attempt to reduce the likelihood of involuntary or coerced treatment, reorienting toward the value of peer support and denouncing the use of nonconsensual active rescue in crisis hotline work. Abolitionists also advocate for the elimination of involuntary mental health services, advocating instead for the development of non-coercive forms of crisis response and care that rely on alternatives to the police.
Variations in emergency hemorrhage panel turnaround times in 2 major medical centers using the same laboratory methods
Authors: Hogan Matthew E , Liu Zhinan , Stansbury Lynn G , Vavilala Monica S , Hess John R , Tsang Hamilton C
Published: June 2024

Objectives

Demand for rapid coagulation testing for massive transfusion events led to development of an emergency hemorrhage panel (EHP; hemoglobin, platelet count, prothrombin time/international normalized ratio, and fibrinogen), with laboratory turnaround time (TAT) of less than 20 minutes. Ten years on, we asked if current laboratory practices were meeting that TAT goal and differences were evident in TAT between the 2 major institutions in our system.

Methods

We identified EHPs ordered at our 2 largest hospitals, February 2, 2021, to July 17, 2022, comparing order to specimen draw time, specimen draw to specimen received time, laboratory analytic time, and total TAT results from emergency department and operating room. Site 1 houses a level I trauma center; site 2 includes tertiary care, transplant, and obstetrics services.

Results

In total, 1137 EHPs were recorded in our study period. Laboratory TAT was significantly faster at site 1 (~14 vs ~27 minutes, P < .01). Average laboratory TAT was under 20 minutes at site 1 but only for 50% of specimens at site 2. Outlier specimens were collection delays at site 1 and specimen processing delays at site 2.

Conclusions

The EHP can be performed as rapidly as described. However, compromises in laboratory location, available personnel, and processing differences can degrade performance.
The pandemic preterm paradox: a test of competing explanations
Authors: Catalano Ralph A , Bruckner Tim A , Gemmill Alison , Margerison Claire E
Published: June 2024

Epidemiologists have long argued that side effects of the stress response include preterm birth. Research reports that fear of lethal infection stressed pregnant persons at the outset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and that “shutdowns” and “social distancing” impeded access to social support and prenatal care. The decline in preterm births in high-income countries, including the United States, during the early months of the pandemic therefore poses a paradox for science. Explanations of this “pandemic preterm paradox” remain untested. We applied time-series modeling to data describing 80 monthly conception cohorts begun in the United States from July 2013 through February 2020 to determine which of 3 explanations most parsimoniously explained the paradox. We infer that “prior loss,” or the argument that an increase in spontaneous abortions and stillbirths depleted the population of fetuses at risk of preterm birth, best explains data currently available. We describe the implications of these results for public health practice.
Effects of maternal age and environmental enrichment on learning ability and brain size
Authors: Álvarez-Quintero Náyade , Kim Sin-Yeon
Published: June 2024

It is well known that maternal age at reproduction affects offspring lifespan and some other fitness-related traits, but it remains understudied whether maternal senescence affects how offspring respond to their environments. Early environment often plays a significant role in the development of an animal’s behavioral phenotype. For example, complex environments can promote changes in cognitive ability and brain morphology in young animals. Here, we study whether and how maternal effect senescence influences offspring plasticity in cognition, group behavior, and brain morphology in response to environmental complexity. For this, juvenile 3-spined sticklebacks from young and old mothers (i.e. 1-yr and 2-yr-old) were exposed to different levels of environmental enrichment and complexity (i.e. none, simple, and complex), and their behavior, cognitive ability, and brain size were measured. Exposing fish to enriched conditions improved individual learning ability assessed by a repeated detour-reaching task, increased the size of the whole brain, and decreased aggressive interactions in the shoal. Maternal age did not influence the inhibitory control, learning ability, and group behavioral responses of offspring to the experimental environmental change. However, maternal age affected how some brain regions of offspring changed in response to environmental complexity. In offspring from old mothers, those exposed to the complex environment had larger telencephalons and cerebellums than those who experienced simpler environments. Our results suggest that maternal effect senescence may influence how offspring invest in brain functions related to cognition in response to environmental complexity.
LogicGep: Boolean networks inference using symbolic regression from time-series transcriptomic profiling data
Authors: Zhang Dezhen , Gao Shuhua , Liu Zhi-Ping , Gao Rui
Published: June 2024

Reconstructing the topology of gene regulatory network from gene expression data has been extensively studied. With the abundance functional transcriptomic data available, it is now feasible to systematically decipher regulatory interaction dynamics in a logic form such as a Boolean network (BN) framework, which qualitatively indicates how multiple regulators aggregated to affect a common target gene. However, inferring both the network topology and gene interaction dynamics simultaneously is still a challenging problem since gene expression data are typically noisy and data discretization is prone to information loss. We propose a new method for BN inference from time-series transcriptional profiles, called LogicGep. LogicGep formulates the identification of Boolean functions as a symbolic regression problem that learns the Boolean function expression and solve it efficiently through multi-objective optimization using an improved gene expression programming algorithm. To avoid overly emphasizing dynamic characteristics at the expense of topology structure ones, as traditional methods often do, a set of promising Boolean formulas for each target gene is evolved firstly, and a feed-forward neural network trained with continuous expression data is subsequently employed to pick out the final solution. We validated the efficacy of LogicGep using multiple datasets including both synthetic and real-world experimental data. The results elucidate that LogicGep adeptly infers accurate BN models, outperforming other representative BN inference algorithms in both network topology reconstruction and the identification of Boolean functions. Moreover, the execution of LogicGep is hundreds of times faster than other methods, especially in the case of large network inference.