bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design of Cinnamomum camphora essential oil extraction device
Authors: Xu Huilin , Wang Huan , Wang Zhiyuan , Yang Wu , Zhu Zhifang , Xi Junmei
Published: December 2024

In view of the low oil yield of Cinnamomum camphora essential oil extraction in existing factories, the shortcomings of existing equipment were analyzed, and an efficient distillation and extraction device for Cinnamomum camphora essential oil was designed through detailed structural design, considering its sealing, condensing effect and automation degree. The device has the characteristics of adjustable temperature and pressure, control time and high degree of automation. By making a prototype and doing many experiments, it is proved that the oil extraction efficiency of the device is higher than that of the factory device, and has high practical value.
Design and analysis of elevated planting strawberry harvesting robot
Authors: Li Zhaowang , Zhang Zhengyong , Jin Zhou , Hu Yimin
Published: December 2024

Strawberries grow in clusters, making it hard to pick a target strawberries surrounded by obstacles selectively. Based on the comprehensive consideration of picking success rate and picking cycle time, this paper proposes a multifunctional end-effector integrating three kinds of grippers in one body for more accurate and faster picking. Gripper 1 is used for picking strawberries with obstacles at the stem, which can realize the separation of obstacles. Gripper 2 is used to pick a single strawberry quickly. Gripper 3 is used to pick multiple ripe strawberries gathered at the same time to improve the picking efficiency. In addition, this paper also introduces the auxiliary automatic picking cycle collection mechanism, realizes the cycle of the strawberry basket, and improves work efficiency. Through the static and kinematic analysis of the gripper, the results show that the static properties of the gripper meet the requirements, the movement is stable, has no obvious impact, and meets the practical use requirements. In conclusion, the strawberry harvesting robot designed in this study has good flexibility and can adapt to complex picking environments.
Structure design and analysis of workpiece transfer and feeding mechanism
Authors: Lv Xinyue , Zhang Zuhua , Lv Xinjian , Hu Zhuoyu
Published: December 2024

In the field of industrial machinery, in order to improve the ability to transport goods and strengthen the automation level of the production line, the workpiece transfer and feeding mechanism came into being. In this paper, a four-degree-of-freedom workpiece transfer and feeding mechanism is designed and implemented, and the key parts of the mechanism are analyzed dynamically and simulated. Using SolidWorks software, the three-dimensional model of each component is established, and the assembly drawing is made. The Simulation and Motion plug-ins in SolidWorks were used to analyze the dynamics and stress of the whole mechanism, verify the execution ability of the mechanism, and complete the selection of the motor. The finite element analysis of the manipulator is carried out by ANSYS software, and the strength and stiffness of the key parts of the mechanism are checked. The research provides a new idea and scheme for workpiece transfer and feeding devices.
Research on visual slam based on improved YOLOv5s in dynamic scenes
Authors: Shen Dong , Xu Haobo , Zhang Boxuan , Cao Meng , Ma Liang
Published: December 2024

To address inaccuracies in camera position computations induced by dynamic objects in visual simultaneous localization and mapping (vSLAM), a method for dynamic feature point detection and rejection is given. This method merges an improved YOLOv5 lightweight network with the lucas-kanade (LK) optical flow. In the GhostNet network architecture, the typical convolutional layer is initially replaced by GhostConv separable convolution. At the end of the feature extraction network, a spatial attention mechanism based on CA is incorporated to safeguard crucial positional information and improve detection precision. This method efficiently eliminates dynamic elements, resulting in a point cloud map that is denser. Evaluations against the TUM dataset indicate that the proposed approach considerably surpasses previous SLAM methods regarding real-time efficiency and localization accuracy.
A study of virtual reality control for digital twin systems of machining lines
Authors: Zhang Dashun , Zhang Xueyu , Wang Fuheng , Liang Huaidan , Li Xueguang
Published: December 2024

Based on the source of the processing production line twin data, the virtual and real interaction framework of the processing production line digital twin system was designed. Taking the data in the processing production line digital twin system as the research object, the equipment data acquisition transmission channel design was carried out through OPC UA communication technology, and the data acquisition function of the processing production line was realized by using the KEPServerEX 6 data acquisition platform. We chose the C# language and the Visual Studio platform to develop the monitoring module, and used TCP/IP protocol, S7.NET open source library, and motion control card dynamic link library, to achieve the control of the robotic arm, PLC, milling machine, monitoring and other functions. Utilizing the SQL Server database, the connection between the monitoring module and the digital twin system of the machining line was completed, and the basic data information of the whole system was studied. The virtual and real driving process of the whole system is studied to realize the function of this digital twin system of controlling the virtual with the real and controlling the real with the virtual.
Study on the dissolving performance of the Mg-(5, 8, 10wt.%)Sn-1.5wt.%Al alloys
Authors: Sun Zhaoqian , Li Yongjun , Ma Minglong , Li Xinggang , Shi Guoliang , Yuan Jiawei , Zhang Kui
Published: December 2024

A metallographic microscope and a scanning microscope were used to observe the extruded and corroded microstructure of the Mg-(5, 8, 10wt.%)Sn-1.5wt.%Al alloys. An electrochemical workstation was used to test the electrochemical performance of these samples. It shows that the Mg-Sn-Al alloys have good plasticity and dissolving properties after extrusion. Among them, the Mg-8wt.%Sn-1.5 wt.%Al alloy has the best plasticity, which is 22.5%. At the same time, it has the best-dissolving properties, with a double-layer capacitance in a solution of 9.448*10−6 F·cm−2. The dissolution process in the 3% kcl solution is a uniform intergranular corrosion.
New electrode structure vertical cavity surface emitting semiconductor laser and its array
Authors: Pang Chao , Yan Changling , Yang Jinghang
Published: December 2024

A new electrode structure is designed to enhance the uniformity of current distribution in vertical-cavity semiconductor lasers, thereby reducing device heat generation and improving both efficiency and output laser beam quality. Simulation software was employed to analyze the internal current distribution of both new electrode structure VCSEL and the traditional structure VCSEL. Subsequently, the new electrode structure VCSEL was successfully fabricated, and its output characteristics of the single VCSEL device were evaluated at room temperature. The laser wavelength measured 847nm, exhibiting a relatively uniform far-field distribution with a circular spot profile. The internal temperature distribution of a 1×3 array device is simulated.
An investigation of high-Z material for bolus in electron beam therapy
Authors: Das Indra J , Khan Ahtesham U , Lim Sara , Yadav Poonam , Donnelley Eric , Mittal Bharat B
Published: December 2024

Highlight. Electron beam treatment often requires bolus to augment surface dose to nearly 100%. There are no optimum bolus materials and hence a high-Z based clothlike material is investigated to reduce air column in treatment that provides optimum surface dose. This material is well suited as it can be used multiple times and can be sanitized. Characteristics of W-Si material is provided. Purpose /Objective(s). Electron beams are frequently used for superficial tumors. However, due to electron beam characteristics the surface dose is 75–95% of the prescribed dose depending on beam energy thus requiring placement of bolus to augment surface dose. Various types of boluses are commonly used in clinics, each having it’s own unique limitation. Most bolus devices do not conform to the skin contour and create airgaps that are known to produce dose perturbations creating hot and cold spots. A cloth-like high-Z materials; Tungsten, (Z = 74) and Bismuth, (Z = 83) impregnated in silicone gel is investigated for electron bolus. Materials/Methods. Super soft silicone-gel based submillimeter thin tungsten and bismuth sheets were investigated for bolus for 6–12 MeV. Parallel plate ion chamber measurements were performed in a solid water phantom on a Varian machine. Depth dose characteristics were measured to optimize the thickness for surface dose to be 100% for selected electron therapy and validated with Monte Carlo simulations. Results. Silicone-gel tungsten and bismuth sheets produce significant electrons thus increasing surface dose. Based on measured depth dose, our data showed that tungsten sheets of 0.14 mm, 0.18 mm and 0.2 mm and Bismuth sheets of 0.42 mm, 0.18 mm and 0.2 mm provide 100% surface dose for 6, 9 and 12 MeV beams, respectively without any significant changes in depth dose except increasing surface dose. Conclusions. The new high-Z clothlike sheets are extremely soft but high tensile metallic bolus materials that can fit flawlessly on any skin contour. Only 0.2 mm thick sheets are needed for 100% surface dose without degradation of the depth dose characteristics. These materials are reusable and ideal for bolus in electron beam treatment. This investigation opens a new frontier in designing new bolus materials optimum for patient treatment.
Dose optimization of extended collimators in boron neutron capture therapy
Authors: Zhu Yadi , Lian Chao , Ji Xiang , Zhang Xiaoxiang , Li Chunjing , Bai Yunqing , Gao Jun
Published: December 2024

In this paper, we propose the design of extending collimators aimed at reducing the radiation dose received by patients with normal tissues and protecting organs at risk in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). Three types of extended collimators are studied: Type 1, which is a traditional design; Type 2, which is built upon Type 1 by incorporating additional polyethylene material containing lithium fluoride (PE(LiF)); Type 3, which adds lead (Pb) to Type 1. We evaluated the dose distribution characteristics of the above-extended collimators using Monte Carlo methods simulations under different configurations: in air, in a homogeneous phantom, and a humanoid phantom model. Firstly, the neutron and gamma-ray fluxes at the collimator outlet of the three designs showed no significant changes, thus it can be expected that their therapeutic effects on tumors will be similar. Then, the dose distribution outside the irradiation field was studied. The results showed that, compared with Type 1, Type 2 has a maximum reduction of 57.14% in neutron leakage dose, and Type 3 has a maximum reduction of 21.88% in gamma-ray leakage dose. This will help to reduce the radiation dose to the local skin. Finally, the doses of different organs were simulated. The results showed that the neutron dose of Type 2 was relatively low, especially for the skin, thyroid, spinal cord, and left lung, with the neutron dose reduced by approximately 20.34%, 16.18%, 26.05%, and 18.91% respectively compared to Type 1. Type 3 collimator benefits in reducing gamma-ray dose for the thyroid, esophagus, and left lung organs, with gamma-ray dose reductions of around 10.81%, 9.45%, and 10.42% respectively. This indicates that attaching PE(LiF) or Pb materials to a standard collimator can suppress the dose distribution of patient organs, which can provide valuable insights for the design of extended collimators in BNCT.
Researchers exploit quantum entanglement to create hidden images
Authors: Critchley Liam
Published: December 2024

Researchers in France have used quantum correlations to encode an image into light such that it becomes visible only when single photons are observed – otherwise the image is hidden from view.
Glassy gifts from a volcano goddess
Authors: Sehgal Samiha
Published: December 2024

Samiha Sehgal delves into the fiery depths of volcanoes to explore what geophysicists can learn from the strange fibreglass-like slivers of volcanic glass that are blown out after some eruptions.
Distributed quantum machine learning via classical communication
Authors: Hwang Kiwmann , Lim Hyang-Tag , Kim Yong-Su , Park Daniel K , Kim Yosep
Published: December 2024

Quantum machine learning is emerging as a promising application of quantum computing due to its distinct way of encoding and processing data. It is believed that large-scale quantum machine learning demonstrates substantial advantages over classical counterparts, but a reliable scale-up is hindered by the fragile nature of quantum systems. Here we present an experimentally accessible distributed quantum machine learning scheme that integrates quantum processor units via classical communication. As a demonstration, we perform data classification tasks on eight-dimensional synthetic datasets by emulating two four-qubit processors and employing quantum convolutional neural networks. Our results indicate that incorporating classical communication notably improves classification accuracy compared to schemes without communication. Furthermore, at the tested circuit depths, we observe that the accuracy with classical communication is no less than that achieved with quantum communication. Our work provides a practical path to demonstrating large-scale quantum machine learning on intermediate-scale quantum processors by leveraging classical communication that can be implemented through currently available mid-circuit measurements.
Techno-economic analysis of large-scale battery energy storage system for stationary applications in South Africa
Authors: Borerwe Christopher , Longe Omowunmi Mary
Published: December 2024

South Africa’s transition to renewable energy sources (RES), particularly solar photovoltaics (PV), requires robust energy storage solutions to counterbalance intermittency and meet low-carbon objectives. This study offers a comparative techno-economic analysis of three large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS): lithium iron phosphate (LFP), lead-acid (Pb-acid), and vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB). These technologies were selected for technical maturity, cost-effectiveness, and suitability in stationary applications. Using HOMER Pro software, two BESS capacity scenarios A (1.17 MWh) and B (2.34 MWh) were simulated and evaluated on key performance metrics: such as levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), efficiency, environmental impact, and cycle life. The results indicate LFP BESS as the optimal choice for both scenarios, achieving the lowest LCOE values (R4.05/kWh for 1.17 MWh and R4.25/kWh for 2.34 MWh), up to 34 percent (%) lower than Pb-acid BESS and 30% lower than VRFB. LFP also demonstrated significant advantages, including a high round-trip efficiency of up to 95%, a cycle life of 10–20 years, and a reduced environmental impact. Moreover, LFP requires 30% less installed capacity than Pb-acid, resulting in greater cost savings. The environmental emissions evaluation in this case study further demonstrated that a hybrid system with LFP achieved the lowest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, with reductions of 10.5% compared to Pb-acid and 23.4% compared to VRFB. While VRFB provides high durability and long-term efficiency, its higher LCOE and additional energy requirements make it less suitable for cost-sensitive, short-term applications. Consequently, the analysis identifies LFP batteries as the most techno-economically efficient option for large-scale stationary storage, underscoring their critical role of BESS in stabilizing energy supply, enhancing grid reliability, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, pivotal for South Africa’s sustainable energy transition.
Interactional flow physics of freely falling sphere on stagnant water
Authors: Gupta Nishant , Raj Prince Raj Lawrence , Debnath Koustuv , Bhowmik Joydeep
Published: December 2024

The process of water impact and subsequent water entry of rigid objects is essential in engineering applications, including marine, offshore, and aerospace technologies. However, most studies have focused on the impact analysis of the object itself, with limited attention given to its interaction with water and the resulting flow dynamics. This work aims to address this gap by examining the effect of buoyancy on the hydrodynamics of a sphere in freefall, particularly its interaction with stagnant water. The investigation uses computational methodologies validated against experimental results to quantify flow and turbulence parameters, including pressure distribution, flow velocity, and other turbulence parameters for different buoyancy regimes. The study also explores the temporal evolution of the free surface profile to gain insight into the deformation and displacement of water resulting from the impact. The analysis reveals that buoyant spheres generate localized turbulent kinetic energy near the surface, while non-buoyant spheres induce higher, more dispersed turbulence. Pressure peaks at the bottom of the sphere, influenced by fall height but independent of density, while buoyancy affects the pressure distribution over time. Furthermore, buoyancy significantly influences the temporal evolution of pressure distribution and the formation of cavities compared to non-buoyant spheres, which exhibit more concentrated velocity streamlines. These results significantly affect designing and optimizing structures interacting with fluid environments, such as underwater vehicles and offshore platforms. Understanding the interplay between buoyancy and flow characteristics can enhance predictions of hydrodynamic behaviour, improving performance and safety in engineering applications.
Development of eDART based online diameter prediction systems in injection molding with multiple linear regression and fuzzy logic
Authors: Chen Joseph C , Guo Gangjian , Jala Stephen
Published: December 2024

Injection molding is a versatile technique for processing a wide range of thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers, as well as their composites. Dimensional defects are a critical issue in injection molding. This research focuses on developing online diameter prediction systems via multiple linear regression (MLR) and fuzzy logic. The systems are developed using Delrin 311 DP material, with the Taguchi methodology employed to define optimized process parameters that ensure adequate process capability. Processing data were collected from the sensors embedded in the surface of mold cavity by the eDART system. Regression analysis was employed to build and test the relationship between the real-time data from in-mold sensors and the diameter of molded part. The real time data from the sensor-based monitoring system, including end of cavity, hydraulic injection pressure, and efficient viscosity, were selected as the inputs for the predictive model. Both MLR and fuzzy logic models were established to predict the outcomes, based on the data retrieved from the sensors, achieving the prediction accuracies of 99.09% for MLR and 99.98% for fuzzy logic, respectively. Fuzzy logic demonstrated its reliability in predicting diameters and minimizing dimensional defects in injection molding.
Leveraging optuna for hyperparameter tuning in GANs: a novel solution for class imbalance in IoT datasets
Authors: Mouiti Mohammed , El Hariri Ayyoub , Lazaar Mohamed
Published: December 2024

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become more prevalent in recent years, generating a huge amount of data from several interconnected devices. These datasets frequently experience severe class imbalance, where certain classes are significantly underrepresented compared to others, resulting in biased machine learning (ML) models. Addressing the class imbalance in IoT datasets is critical for achieving accurate and reliable predictions. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for handling imbalanced IoT datasets using Optimized Generative Adversarial Networks (OGAN). The proposed approach relies on the powerful capabilities of GANs to generate synthetic data for minority classes and balance the dataset, resulting in enhanced model performance. The approach involves using a GAN to generate synthetic data for the minority class, thereby balancing the dataset. This balanced dataset is then used to test the performance of four different machine learning models. The entire process is optimized using Optuna, which maximizes performance by testing various hyperparameters of the GAN. This approach ensures that the models are trained on a more representative dataset, potentially improving their accuracy and robustness. We demonstrate the efficacy of our method by performing extensive experiments on real-world IoT datasets and comparing them with existing methods for imbalanced data handling. The results reveal that our optimized GAN-based approach outperforms previous methods with an accuracy of 99% for all models and effectively handles the class imbalance problem in IoT datasets.
Recommender systems may enhance the discovery of novelties
Authors: De Marzo Giordano , Gravino Pietro , Loreto Vittorio
Published: December 2024

Recommender systems are vital for shaping user online experiences. While some believe they may limit new content exploration and promote opinion polarization, a systematic analysis is still lacking. In this paper we present a model that explores the influence of recommender systems on novel content discovery. Surprisingly, analytical and numerical findings reveal that these techniques can enhance novelty discovery rates. Also, distinct algorithms with similar discovery rates yield different outcomes, with the matrix factorization algorithm producing opinion polarization. Our approach shed light on the interplay between algorithmic recommendations and novelties discovery, offering a framework to enhance recommendation techniques beyond accuracy metrics.
Focusing Φ⁴₃-model with a Hartree-type Nonlinearity
Authors: Oh Tadahiro , Okamoto Mamoru , Tolomeo Leonardo
Published: December 2024

Lebowitz, Rose, and Speer (1988) initiated the study of focusing Gibbs measures, which was continued by Brydges and Slade (1996), Bourgain (1997, 1999), and Carlen, Fröhlich, and Lebowitz (2016) among others. In this paper, we complete the program on the (non-)construction of the focusing Hartree Gibbs measures in the three-dimensional setting. More precisely, we study a focusing

Φ
3
4

\Phi ^4_3

-model with a Hartree-type nonlinearity, where the potential for the Hartree nonlinearity is given by the Bessel potential of order 

β
\beta

. We first construct the focusing Hartree

Φ
3
4

\Phi ^4_3

-measure for

β
>
2

\beta > 2

, while we prove its non-normalizability for

β
>
2

\beta > 2

. Furthermore, we establish the following phase transition at the critical value

β
=
2

\beta = 2

: normalizability in the weakly nonlinear regime and non-normalizability in the strongly nonlinear regime. We then study the canonical stochastic quantization of the focusing Hartree

Φ
3
4

\Phi ^4_3

-measure, namely, the three-dimensional stochastic damped nonlinear wave equation (SdNLW) with a cubic nonlinearity of Hartree-type, forced by an additive space-time white noise, and prove almost sure global well-posedness and invariance of the focusing Hartree

Φ
3
4

\Phi ^4_3

-measure for

β
>
2

\beta > 2

(and

β
=
2

\beta = 2

in the weakly nonlinear regime). In view of the non-normalizability result, our almost sure global well-posedness result is sharp. In Appendix, we also discuss the (parabolic) stochastic quantization for the focusing Hartree

Φ
3
4

\Phi ^4_3

-measure.

We also consider the defocusing case. By adapting our argument from the focusing case, we first construct the defocusing Hartree

Φ
3
4

\Phi ^4_3

-measure and the associated invariant dynamics for the defocusing Hartree SdNLW for

β
>
1

\beta > 1

. By introducing further renormalizations at

β
=
1

\beta = 1

and

β
=

1
2

\beta = \frac 12

, we extend the construction of the defocusing Hartree

Φ
3
4

\Phi ^4_3

-measure for

β
>
0

\beta > 0

, where the resulting measure is shown to be singular with respect to the reference Gaussian free field for

0
>
β
≤

1
2

0 > \beta \le \frac 12

.
Conclusion
Authors: Romanis Elizabeth Chloe
Published: December 2024

This chapter summarizes key themes that emerge in the analysis of technologies enabling gestation undertaken in all the chapters of this book. Novel gestations are exciting prospects. Technologies enabling gestation, and the fundamental shifts in the modalities of gestation that they make possible, require a careful conceptual analysis of procreative ‘facts’ that have been taken for granted, and also how we describe these ‘facts’. Looking at technologies enabling technologies as a genus requires the asking of questions about the very nature of gestation and what it means—in legal, social, and political terms—since different modalities of gestation are possible. Gestation beyond bodies assigned female at birth, and beyond bodies at all, could challenge our preconceptions about so many fundamental aspects of our social lives including our identities and our conceptions of relatedness and parenthood. However, the transformative potential of these technologies—in how they may enhance the procreative possibilities for individuals in different and new ways—is, and will be, limited by social and legal regulation that limits their emancipatory potential. Imagining the possibilities of uterus transplantation and ectogestation in contemporary contexts reveals how biological essentialism is the fault line that underpins procreative regulation in England and Wales and, as such, has created significant friction and limitation where new procreative technologies that could challenge cis-heteronormative nuclear family models come into being.
Meet Supplier-Induced Demand
Authors: Sytch Maxim
Published: December 2024

Supplier-induced demand refers to the demand generated by the discretionary influence of the supplier, which is unrelated to the buyer’s needs. In the weak form of supplier-induced demand, procuring an additional service may result in no change in the buyer’s outcome relative to not doing so; in the strong form, the buyer may be left worse off. This chapter traces the intellectual origins of supplier-induced to healthcare, where James Alison Glover in the 1930s uncovered evidence that the frequency of tonsillectomies—surgical procedures to remove tonsils from one’s throat—varied greatly across different school districts and depended on the surgeons’ discretion. Disturbingly, higher rates of tonsillectomy did not translate into improved health outcomes for schoolchildren. Studying supplier-induced demand in professional services has profound implications for organizations and markets. This is because the economy is moving toward, rather than away from, a higher level of supplier-induced demand.
Looking Forward
Authors: Sytch Maxim
Published: December 2024

The implications of a systematic examination of supplier-induced demand for organizations are substantial, encompassing considerations for managerial control, vertical integration, the economics of agglomeration, and the embeddedness of the economy. On a broader scale, supplier-induced demand raises questions about the allocation of talent to professional services compared to other sectors of the economy. A principled approach to mitigating supplier-induced demand involves systematically undermining the conditions conducive to its emergence. Instead of applying such measures universally to all transactions, they should be targeted at those with higher risk. Specific strategies to consider include selectively insourcing certain transactions, enhancing in-house expertise for identifying opportunities and evaluating solutions, and segregating the roles of diagnosis and implementation among different professional service providers. Additionally, professional service firms might explore leveraging organizational cultures as defenses against supplier-induced demand.
Return of the Gods
Authors: Ware Owen
Published: December 2024

Why is mythology of vital importance for the romantics? What role does mythology play in their philosophical and literary work? And what common sources of influence inspired these writers across Britain and Germany at the turn of the nineteenth century? In this wide-ranging study, Owen Ware argues that the romantics turn to mythology for its potential to transform how we see ourselves, others, and the world. Engaging with authors such as Schiller, Blake, Schlegel, Coleridge, Novalis, and Shelley, Ware shows why they believe that neither perception nor reason alone can sustain a vision of the unity of all things. A new mode of cognition is necessary, they claim, one that revives the poetic origin of mythology and reveals our own mythmaking powers. The first study devoted to the rise of mythology in the British and German traditions, Ware’s book investigates the romantics’ practices of reinterpreting old myths and inventing new ones. Their shared aim is nothing less than to elevate the human imagination to higher stages of self-development in which philosophy and poetry, as well as intellect and imagination, form an integrated whole. Far from calling us to return to the past, the romantics’ work on mythology points us to a future where we can live in harmony with the personal, social, and natural worlds we inhabit. Combining intellectual history with philosophical analysis and literary criticism, Return of the Gods offers a bold reflection on why mythology mattered for the romantics—and why it still matters today.
Introduction
Authors: Ware Owen
Published: December 2024

This chapter introduces the guiding questions of Return of the Gods. It outlines the book’s central thesis that mythology, for the romantics, grounds “unitive cognitions” that serve to harmonize the conflicting powers of the self. Because “old” mythologies express a pre-reflective mode of living, the romantics work to create “new” mythologies that serve to bring about, through symbols and stories, a state of wholeness in which reason and sensibility are reconciled. The chapter introduces the book’s further thesis that mythology is a hidden link between the traditions of British and German romanticism. This informs the book’s cross-national approach to the topic of romantic mythmaking, and it motivates the question of what sources of influence the romantics of Britain and Germany shared.
The Imageless Truth
Authors: Ware Owen
Published: December 2024

This chapter turns to two second-generation British romantics, John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The argument of this chapter is that both Keats and Shelley develop the legacy of romantic mythmaking in their poetic work. §5.2–5.4 analyze Keats’s relationship to Greek mythology and his effort, in Endymion, to depict the soul’s journey to liberation. §§5.5–5.6 trace Shelley’s path to Prometheus Unbound and his commitment to an “imageless truth” that protects his symbolic mythology from reification. These sections also provide evidence of Shelley’s access to the German idea of a new mythology via the work of August Wilhelm Schlegel and Germaine de Staël. The chapter concludes (in §5.7) with a discussion of Shelley’s essay, “A Defence of Poetry,” arguing that this essay reveals the unique brand of Platonism that underlies Shelley’s conception of poetic knowledge.
South Korea and Labor-Export-Mediated Industrialization, 1964–1984
Authors: Lee Suzy K
Published: December 2024

Chapter 3 presents the labor-export-mediated industrialization (LEMI) strategy utilized by South Korea between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s. Unlike the policies promoted by international-development institutions today, which focus on migrant remittances, what generated economic growth in Korea’s LEMI period was not the flow of remitted wages but rather the competitive advantage that migrant workers provided to the companies of the labor-sending country. Korea’s ability to mobilize hundreds of thousands of low-cost, disciplined workers gave Korean construction firms extraordinary access to international markets—at first in Vietnam War-related contracts in Southeast Asia, then during the petroleum-driven infrastructure boom in the Middle East. LEMI strategies helped secure a number of factors that Korea needed to pursue its agenda, including sources of foreign exchange that the Korean state and capital needed to stay afloat during the early years of “learning,” where technological progress was achieved through costly experimentation and short-term failures.
Conclusion
Authors: Lee Suzy K
Published: December 2024

Chapter 8 summarizes the book’s main arguments and explores the implications of its analysis. It describes variations of labor export that have emerged since the 1970s, including in China, where policies like those used in the LEMI periods of South Korea and the Philippines have been deployed under different conditions and for different purposes. It also considers the future of RDG in the Philippines. Because the RDG model relies on the multiplier effect of remittance spending, it requires a continued stream of remittances—and thus continued labor migration—to maintain growth levels. But for labor migration to persist, the levels of unemployment and poverty must remain high enough to lure millions of workers into international labor markets. Levels of inequality in the Philippines remain among the highest in Asia. This suggests that RDG, despite the wealth it may generate for economic elites, is not dissimilar to other forms of remittance-dependence.
Evolution of Fiscal Federalism in India
Authors: Rangarajan C , Srivastava D K
Published: December 2024

This chapter highlights the evolution of fiscal transfer arrangements in India over the period covered by the First to the Twelfth Finance Commissions. This chapter also traces the evolution of the criteria for sharing of tax revenues in India, showing how the system moved from a tax-by-tax approach to a more global sharing of central taxes and how the criteria for horizontal distribution of sharing also converged. It also examines the basic considerations in the determination of grants by the Finance Commission and the main patterns in the overall transfer of resources from the centre to the states since the First Finance Commission. The move towards sharing of all central taxes and the determination of inter-se shares of states based on a common set of criteria has prepared the ground for easier application of the equalization principle in India towards which we have progressively moved. Apart from fiscal capacity equalization, the Twelfth Finance Commission also emphasized equalization in the provision of selected merit services such as health and education. This chapter also highlights the deficiencies of giving grants on the basis of estimated revenue gaps.
Fiscal Federalism in Practice
Authors: Rangarajan C , Srivastava D K
Published: December 2024

The Canadian system of transfers is a suitable example of the application of the principle of fiscal capacity equalization. In applying this, they follow a tax-by-tax approach, which has been referred to in the literature as the ‘representative tax system’ approach. The Canadian system brings home the point that a good indicator of fiscal capacity will have to go beyond using the per capita gross state domestic product (GSDP). Account has to be taken not just of production in a state but rather of the incomes that accrue to its citizens. While comparing the Canadian system of intergovernmental transfers with the system of fiscal transfers in India, this chapter notes that while the Canadian transfer system focuses on fiscal capacity equalization, this is supplemented by the Canadian health and social service transfers, which also serve the objective of equalization. This second edition provides an update on the Canadian fiscal transfer system since it has recently gone through a number of changes which has simplified their approach to equalization.
Fiscal Federalism in Practice
Authors: Rangarajan C , Srivastava D K
Published: December 2024

This chapter makes a comparison between the fiscal transfer system in Australia and India. Australia is well known for following a more comprehensive approach to equalization where fiscal capacity equalization is supplemented by a detailed analysis of cost differentials across provinces in providing public services. As compared with Australia, India has not only a larger number of states and a greater concentration of population in low fiscal capacity states but also many factors responsible for differences in per capita costs of public services. The differences in size, heterogeneity, and the scale of problems notwithstanding, the conceptual basis of the transfer system in Australia has much relevance for India. At the same time, serious difficulties have also been noted with the Australian system. In the context of vertical transfers, Australia has simplified its methodology by making GST revenues fully transferable to the states. No other taxes are shared with the states. This chapter has an addendum which summarizes a number of recent important changes in the Australian system of fiscal transfers.
Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Finance Commissions
Authors: Rangarajan C , Srivastava D K
Published: December 2024

This chapter provides a review of the recommendations of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Finance Commissions. It covers their tax devolution formulae and the related weights assigned to each criterion. Their approach to grants has also been critically analysed. The Fourteenth Finance Commission increased the share of states in the divisible pool of taxes by 10 percentage points from 32 per cent to 42 per cent leading to a reduction in the effective share of the central government in their gross tax revenues. The central government responded by increasing non-sharable cesses and surcharges. Alongside, the central government has also shown reluctance to accept recommendations for grants other than revenue deficit grants, local body grants, and grants for natural calamities. This chapter, read with earlier chapters, provides a comprehensive review of the recommendations of fifteen Finance Commissions thereby bringing the analysis up to date. In the period covered by these three Commissions, major changes occurred in the context of central and state government finances including the introduction of GST, major Corporate Income Tax reforms, and the onset of COVID-19. The centre’s FRBM was amended in 2018 and states were also reorganized, with Jammu and Kashmir becoming a union territory with legislature, and Ladakh becoming a union territory without legislature. In this chapter, a critical analysis of the impact of these changes on India’s fiscal transfer system and the debt and deficit profiles of the central and state governments has been undertaken.
Future of Fiscal Federalism in India
Authors: Rangarajan C , Srivastava D K
Published: December 2024

In this chapter, we highlight the constitution of the Sixteenth Finance Commission and its Terms of Reference (ToR). Departing from the earlier practice of giving an elaborate ToR, the ToR of the Sixteenth Finance Commission is limited to making reference only to the constitutional provisions. The Sixteenth Finance Commission can therefore adopt a fresh approach to determining fiscal transfers. We discuss in detail various aspects of fiscal federalism in India that require reform, including its vertical and horizontal dimensions, the debt sustainability framework, the importance of environmental federalism in India, the need for institutional reforms, and the completion of GST reforms. In the context of the macro-stabilization and stabilization of debt and deficit of the central and state governments, more reforms are needed in the centre’s FRBMA, and the Sixteenth Finance Commission may consider recalibrating the path of fiscal balances of the central and state governments beyond suggesting modified benchmarks for sustainable debt and deficit targets. There is a need to reform some of the existing devolution criteria, including the population and area criteria. The weight given to the distance criterion and its formulation also require reconsideration. The working of the State Finance Commissions calls for significant improvement as well. The institutional backdrop of maintaining centre-state fiscal relations require further reforms Kelkar (2023). The setting up of a Loan Council and a permanent secretariat for the Finance Commission needs to be given adequate priority.
A “Christian” Slave in the Ottoman–Mughal Milieu
Authors: Anooshahr Ali
Published: December 2024

This chapter identifies the literary references in Jawhar’s book to understand his education and Islamization. These took place within distinct Ottoman and Mughal milieus. They included popular epic literature in Turkish and Persian as well as classics of Persian literature by famous authors such as Nizami, Hafiz, Sa’di, and Jami. Based on the specific citations by Jawhar, this literature appears to have been catered specifically for the instruction of slaves. Finally, Jawhar’s writing shows evidence for the widespread presence of many others like him in early Mughal India who underwent similar training. The ghulams or “slaves” would undergo training as shagripishas or “pages,” and then would rise through the ranks based on merit.
Conclusion
Authors: Anooshahr Ali
Published: December 2024

This final chapter summarizes the main points of the book, but also expands on the approach of microhistory. While a few others have applied either microhistory or subaltern studies to Mughal history, the distinguishing features of the present book are its focus on a single individual through the analysis of his own writings. As such, the idea of narrative as methodology is essential. By narrative we mean not the characterization of telling a story (here Jawhar’s biography) but the sequential and temporal expectations of a person’s life that guides and limits the questions that are asked of our main source: Jawhar’s memoirs. Lastly, the chapter compares and contrasts Jawhar with an eighteenth-century counterpart (Tahmas Miskin) to show how individuals caught up in a similar fate were different from one another based on the changing nature of the Mughal state.
Who Is the Microscopist?
Authors: Kennedy Meegan
Published: December 2024

Victorian microscopy offered a range of roles to participants. Nineteenth-century British science overlapped with popular natural history, building on research contributions by trained observers who were more likely to be clergymen or physicians than salaried investigators. After mid-century, many new guidebooks and informative articles encouraged readers to take up the lens and trained them in its use; despite financial and other obstacles for working-class and women readers, many of them did. Women were thought particularly deft at delicate work like microscopical illustration, but gendered assumptions persisted; the microscopist is always figured as a “man of science.” A survey of microscopical roles (including investigator, working microscopist, student, and hobbyist) shows their mobility—how individuals might move between these roles and between different communities, as with students who became adepts or investigators who also wrote as popularizers. Even the passive viewer helped shape Victorian microscopical culture.
Difficulty and Error
Authors: Kennedy Meegan
Published: December 2024

Victorian microscopy was deeply informed by skepticism about embodied observation in many forms: Hume’s theory of mitigated skepticism, the development of typologies of microscopical error, physiological research into the vagaries of visual perception, and a culture that prized difficulty. These elements are pronounced in research settings but appear frequently in popularizing texts addressed to students as well. Although the typologies of error distinguish between (for example) errors in the observer’s practice, errors in the observer’s perception, errors in the observer’s judgment, and errors unique to the microscope, Victorian microscopical manuals also insisted on the interrelation of observer and instrument at every step. These texts use skeptical tropes (like many-sided comprehension) as a mode of practical instruction; they attempt to formalize and standardize microscopical practice as a component of empirical scientific work.
The Trained Eye
Authors: Kennedy Meegan
Published: December 2024

Victorian microscopical texts draw on skeptical tropes to both challenge and support the idea of the eye as a wonderful contrivance. Writers draw on physiological psychologists’ theories of embodied cognition, and revise theories of trained observation in everyday life, to address the optical, physical, and perceptual peculiarities that render microscopical vision difficult or even unnatural. The trained eye has acquired useful habits; it has learned to ignore some elements, such as Brownian motion, and compensate for others, such as the ungrounded, aperspectival microscopical image and the jumping of scale when switching objectives. The human eye is shown as part of an integrated optical system, another lens in an extended construct of reflected and refracted light. Hours of practice at the microscope may, however, fatigue or damage the observer’s eyes. Microscopical objects’ bodies are also distorted or destroyed in rendering them available for observation under the lens.
Consent and Its Absence
Authors: Macklem Timothy
Published: December 2024

The thought here is that consent marks the divide between the active and the passive. Consent is not intelligible when we function as agents; it is vital when we become patients. It follows from this, and from the fact that the law artificially deems consent necessary to the lawfulness of certain actions, and so to the physical contacts they involve, that we are bound to be lawbreakers in order to gain access to much of the good that sexual relations have to offer. This is not as troubling a conclusion as it might seem. First, we are well versed in the exercise of responsibility in our interactions with our fellows and normally no less well protected by that exercise than by the practice of consent. Second, where the sound exercise of responsibility cannot be counted upon, the law does what it can to fill the gap, or at least claims to do so. What of implied consent? Almost anything can be conveyed by implication, as long as there is a supporting language in social practice that is capable of making communication by that method possible. Yet it is in the nature of implication to be both indirect and ambiguous, and that means that practices of implication are distinctively vulnerable to error and abuse. Given the sorry record of the practice of implied consent in sexual relations, and given the significance of what is at stake there, there is good reason to renounce implied consent in favour of express consent.