bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Near-field resonant photon sorting applied: dual-band metasurface quantum well infrared photodetectors for gas sensing
Authors: Hainey Mel F. , Mano Takaaki , Kasaya Takeshi , Ochiai Tetsuyuki , Osato Hirotaka , Watanabe Kazuhiro , Sugimoto Yoshimasa , Kawazu Takuya , Arai Yukinaga , Shigetou Akitsu , Miyazaki Hideki T.
Published: October 2020

Two photodetectors for measuring transmission and two bulky, separated narrowband filters for picking a target gas absorption line and a non-absorbing reference from broadband emission are typically required for dual-band non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) gas sensing. Metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) metasurface plasmon cavities, precisely controllable narrowband absorbers, suggest a next-generation, nanophotonic approach. Here, we demonstrate a dual-band MDM cavity detector that consolidates the function of two detectors and two filters into a single device by employing resonant photon sorting-a function unique to metasurfaces. Two MDM cavities sandwiching a quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) with distinct resonance wavelengths are alternately arranged in a subwavelength period. The large absorption cross section of the cavities ensures ~95% efficient lateral sorting of photons by wavelength into the corresponding detector within a near-field region. The flow of incident photons is thus converted into two independent photocurrents for dual-band detection. Our dual-band photodetectors show competitive external quantum efficiencies up to 38% (responsivity 2.1 A/W, peak wavelength 6.9 5m) at 78 K. By tailoring one resonance to an absorption peak of NO2 (6.25 5m) and the other to a non-absorbing reference wavelength (7.15 5m), NDIR NO2 gas sensing with 10 ppm accuracy and 1 ms response times is demonstrated. Through experiment and numerical simulation, we confirm near-perfect absorption at the resonant cavity and suppressed absorption at its non-resonant counterpart, characteristic of resonant photon sorting. Dual-band sensing across the mid-infrared should be possible by tailoring the cavities and quantum well to desired wavelengths.
Strong spin squeezing induced by weak squeezing of light inside a cavity
Authors: Qin Wei , Chen Ye-Hong , Wang Xin , Miranowicz Adam , Nori Franco
Published: October 2020

We propose a simple method for generating spin squeezing of atomic ensembles in a Floquet cavity subject to a weak, detuned two-photon driving. We demonstrate that the weak squeezing of light inside the cavity can, counterintuitively, induce strong spin squeezing. This is achieved by exploiting the anti-Stokes scattering process of a photon pair interacting with an atom. Specifically, one photon of the photon pair is scattered into the cavity resonance by absorbing partially the energy of the other photon whose remaining energy excites the atom. The scattering, combined with a Floquet sideband, provides an alternative mechanism to implement Heisenberg-limited spin squeezing. Our proposal does not need multiple classical and cavity-photon drivings applied to atoms in ensembles, and therefore its experimental feasibility is greatly improved compared to other cavity-based schemes. As an example, we demonstrate a possible implementation with a superconducting resonator coupled to a nitrogen-vacancy electronic-spin ensemble.
Crystal structure of phenarsazine chloride acetic acid solvate, C14H13AsClNO2
Authors: Averdunk Arthur , Hosten Eric C. , Betz Richard
Published: October 2020

C14H13AsClNO2, triclinic, P

1
¯

$\overline{1}$

(no. 2), a = 7.7180(7) Å, b = 8.2190(7) Å, c = 11.9620(10) Å, α = 87.438(4)°, β = 73.450(4)°, γ = 72.167(4)°, V = 691.66(10) Å3, Z = 2, Rgt
(F) = 0.0203, wRref
(F
2) = 0.0541, T = 200 K.

CCDC no.: 2031779
Pour une biosémiotique des interactions: Régimes de signification et téléologie
Authors: Fontanille Jacques
Published: October 2020

Telos is in vogue in biosemiotic researches, which present the teleological solution as anti-Darwinian, while it is more often, for biologists, only ante-Darwinian. The assimilation of structuring contents to a “function”, and of the function to a “goal”, in an irreversible temporality, is the most frequent basis of this methodological creepage. The teleology is based on a projective and ascending epistemic orientation, to which we can oppose a retrojective, descending and achronic one, including modal and sensitive interactional semiotics.

For semiotics, the challenge lies in the nature of its relationships with other disciplines, particularly biology. Indeed, we see that the temptation is great for semioticians to dwell precisely in the shadows and shams of other disciplines, and to call “sign” or “semiosis” what other sciences seem to have still some trouble to explain, with the risk of only confronting problems that will soon be obsolete. We propose here the theoretical and methodological principles of structural biosemiotics, and precisely attentive to the problems that biologists face, solve and renew.
A Regression Model for Predicting the Likelihood of Reporting a Crime Based on the Victim’s Demographic Variables and Their Perceptions Towards the Police
Authors: Pulenyane Malebogo , Montshiwa Tlhalitshi Volition
Published: October 2020

Despite the growing criminal activities in South Africa, many victims still do not report the crimes, therefore there was a need to understand the determinants of the likelihood of reporting a crime in the country. Binary logistic regression is a supervised machine learning algorithm that can assist in predicting the likelihood of reporting a crime but the selection of relevant variables to add in the model varies from one author to the other. Selection of theoretically sound and statistically relevant independent variables is key to achieving parsimonious multivariate models. This study sought to test the efficiency of some commonly used variable selection methods for logistic regression models in order to identify the most relevant determinants of the likelihood of reporting a crime of housebreaking. The study used 17 candidate variables such as the victims’ demographic variables and their perceptions on the police. The multivariate model fitted using stepwise selection was found to be a best fit for the data based on the lowest AIC, the highest classification accuracy rate and the highest Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve. The model fitted using the Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) algorithm was the worst fit for the data. The study revealed a limitation of the stepwise selection method which is that this method may select different independent variables for each unique set of randomly selected observations of the same dataset. The study established a multivariate logistic regression model to predict the likelihood of a victim reporting a crime of housebreaking and the determinants thereof.
Examples of Variable-Head Field Permeability Tests Used in Books: Given Interpretations and Correct Interpretations
Authors: Boada Ana , Chapuis Robert P. , Zhang Lu , Marefat Vahid
Published: October 2020

When a monitoring well is tested for permeability, three methods, with three types of graphs, may be used to analyze the data of the water column Z(t) versus time t. The three graphs provide a clear diagnosis, previously proven to be user-independent. According to experience, there is usually a systematic error H0 on the Z(t) data, which has different origins. Statistically, most plots of log Z(t) versus t are curved upward, a few are curved downward, and very few yield a straight line. Positive or negative values of H0 yield upward or downward curvatures, whereas a null piezometric error yields a straight line. This article presents an analysis of 21 sets of slug test data found in textbooks with the three diagnostic graphs and obtain three new findings. First, the textbooks ignore the method already proven and implemented in other countries since the 1980s. Second, the books selected biased data because their plots of log Z(t) versus t are either curved upward or straight, but no plot is curved downward. Third, the data of the first test of the group 3 theory are abnormal and do not correspond to usual field data with good equipment. In addition, one book presents a test in an aquitard as an example of test in an aquifer. The H0 value was easily found by the optimization method for all tests, and the derivative graph for 19 of the 21 tests, two data sets being too inaccurate to yield a good derivative graph.
Charting the Impact of Subnational Actors in China’s Foreign Relations
Authors: Hess Steve , Aidoo Richard
Published: October 2020

This article discusses the efforts of a Chinese subnational government, Guangxi Province’s Shanglin County, to support local residents as they participated in galamsey, a local reference for unregistered artisanal gold mining in Ghana. This resulted in a diplomatic crisis that complicated Sino–Ghanaian relations and threatened Beijing’s efforts to access Ghana’s energy resources.
Profit Seeking and Intergroup Conflict in Hong Kong
Authors: Lee Siu-Yau
Published: October 2020

Following a court ruling that babies born to mainlanders in Hong Kong are permanent residents, private hospitals cashed in by expanding services and raising fees, leading to an outburst of anti–mainland Chinese sentiment. This study challenges conventional accounts of intergroup conflicts highlighting economic contradictions between in-group and out-group or faulting the state for blaming local problems on the out-group.
A Mutation in theDrosophila melanogaster eveStripe 2 Minimal Enhancer Is Buffered by Flanking Sequences
Authors: López-Rivera Francheska , Foster Rhoades Olivia K , Vincent Ben J , Pym Edward C G , Bragdon Meghan D J , Estrada Javier , DePace Angela H , Wunderlich Zeba
Published: October 2020

Enhancers are DNA sequences composed of transcription factor binding sites that drive complex patterns of gene expression in space and time. Until recently, studying enhancers in their genomic context was technically challenging. Therefore, minimal enhancers, the shortest pieces of DNA that can drive an expression pattern that resembles a gene’s endogenous pattern, are often used to study features of enhancer function. However, evidence suggests that some enhancers require sequences outside the minimal enhancer to maintain function under environmental perturbations. We hypothesized that these additional sequences also prevent misexpression caused by a transcription factor binding site mutation within a minimal enhancer. Using the Drosophila melanogaster even-skipped stripe 2 enhancer as a case study, we tested the effect of a Giant binding site mutation (gt-2) on the expression patterns driven by minimal and extended enhancer reporter constructs. We found that, in contrast to the misexpression caused by the gt-2 binding site deletion in the minimal enhancer, the same gt-2 binding site deletion in the extended enhancer did not have an effect on expression. The buffering of expression levels, but not expression pattern, is partially explained by an additional Giant binding site outside the minimal enhancer. Deleting the gt-2 binding site in the endogenous locus had no significant effect on stripe 2 expression. Our results indicate that rules derived from mutating enhancer reporter constructs may not represent what occurs in the endogenous context.
Humanized Drosophila Model of the Meier-Gorlin Syndrome Reveals Conserved and Divergent Features of the Orc6 Protein
Authors: Balasov Maxim , Akhmetova Katarina , Chesnokov Igor
Published: October 2020

Orc6 is a component of the Origin Recognition Complex important for the initiation of DNA replication. In order to study the functions of Orc6 in vivo, Balasov, Akhmetova, and Chesnokov.....
Tissue-Specific Transcription Footprinting Using RNA PoI DamID (RAPID) in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Gómez-Saldivar Georgina , Osuna-Luque Jaime , Semple Jennifer I , Glauser Dominique A , Jarriault Sophie , Meister Peter
Published: October 2020

Differential gene expression across cell types underlies development and cell physiology in multicellular organisms. Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful, extensively used model to address these biological questions. A remaining bottleneck relates to the difficulty to obtain comprehensive tissue-specific gene transcription data, since available methods are still challenging to execute and/or require large worm populations. Here, we introduce the RNA Polymerase DamID (RAPID) approach, in which the Dam methyltransferase is fused to a ubiquitous RNA polymerase subunit to create transcriptional footprints via methyl marks on the DNA of transcribed genes. To validate the method, we determined the polymerase footprints in whole animals, in sorted embryonic blastomeres and in different tissues from intact young adults by driving tissue-specific Dam fusion expression. We obtained meaningful transcriptional footprints in line with RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) studies in whole animals or specific tissues. To challenge the sensitivity of RAPID and demonstrate its utility to determine novel tissue-specific transcriptional profiles, we determined the transcriptional footprints of the pair of XXX neuroendocrine cells, representing 0.2% of the somatic cell content of the animals. We identified 3901 candidate genes with putatively active transcription in XXX cells, including the few previously known markers for these cells. Using transcriptional reporters for a subset of new hits, we confirmed that the majority of them were expressed in XXX cells and identified novel XXX-specific markers. Taken together, our work establishes RAPID as a valid method for the determination of RNA polymerase footprints in specific tissues of C. elegans without the need for cell sorting or RNA tagging.
Infinite Nested Radicals - A Way to Express All Quantities Rational, Irrational Transcendental By a Single Integer Two
Authors: Wadhawan Narinder Kumar , Priyanka Wadhawan
Published: October 2020

This paper proves that all mathematical quantities including fractions, roots or roots of root, transcendental quantities can be expressed by continued nested radicals using one and only one integer 2. A radical is denoted by a square root sign and nested radicals are progressive roots of radicals. Number of terms in the nested radicals can be finite or infinite. Real mathematical quantity or its reciprocal is first written as cosine of an angle which is expanded using cosine angle doubling identity into nested radicals finite or infinite depending upon the magnitude of quantity. The finite nested radicals has a fixed sequence of positive and negative terms whereas infinite nested radicals also has a sequenceof positive and negative terms but the sequence continues infinitely. How a single integer 2 can express all real quantities, depends upon its recursive relation which is unique for a quantity. Admittedly, there are innumerable mathematical quantities and in the same way, there are innumerable recursive relations distinguished by combination of positive and negative signs under the radicals. This representation of mathematical quantities is not same as representation by binary system where integer two has powers 0, 1, 2, 3…so on but in nested radicals, powers are roots of roots.
Economic growth and real exchange rate misalignments in the European Union
Authors: Krekó Judit , Oblath Gábor
Published: October 2020

We investigate the relationship between economic growth and real exchange rate (RER) misalignments within the European Union (EU) during the period of 1995–2016. In addition to the relative price level of GDP, we quantify an alternative indicator for the RER: the internal relative price of services to goods. We interpret RER misalignments as deviations from the levels consistent with the levels of economic development among the EU countries. Using pooled OLS and dynamic panel techniques, we find that within the EU over- (under-) valuations are associated with lower (higher) growth. This is mainly due to developments in the countries operating under the fixed exchange rate regimes. Our results indicate that the level of development does not influence the strength of the growth-misalignment relationship within the EU. Regarding the price level of GDP, we find that the positive relationship between undervaluation and growth diminishes with the degree of undervaluation. We find that overvaluation has a statistically significant negative effect on export market shares and private investments, indicating that both the competitiveness and the investment channels play a role in the relationship between growth and RER misalignments. As an extension, we show that the effects of “wage misalignments” from levels consistent with productivity are also negatively related to economic growth. The policy implications of the analysis point to the importance of a growth strategy avoiding overvaluation on the one hand, and to the futility of aiming at excessive undervaluation, on the other.
Does the level of human capital matter for FDI in the Western Balkan countries?
Authors: Petrović-Ranđelović Marija , Rađenović Tamara , Krstić Bojan , Mićić Vladimir
Published: October 2020

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of human capital, as location determinant for the foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions in the Western Balkan Countries between 2008 and 2016. Apart from the human capital indicators, several location determinants were used as control variables. The hypothesis has been tested by employing correlation and regression analysis. The empirical findings revealed the positive impact of primary education and the negative impact of tertiary education on the inflows. The analysis showed that political stability and control of corruption are more important location determinants than human capital. Therefore, the policy measures should be directed towards the improvement of institutional framework and creating a supporting environment for the FDI inflows.
Does volatility transmission between stock market returns of Central and Eastern European countries vary from normal to turbulent periods?
Authors: Hung Ngo Thai
Published: October 2020

This study investigates the transmission mechanism of price and volatility spillovers across the Budapest, Warsaw, Prague, Bucharest, and Zagreb stock markets in the pre- and post-financial crisis periods under the framework of the multivariate Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model. By using daily closing prices, the results highlight certain interesting findings. I found evidence of price spillovers of the intraregional linkages among the stock price movements in five countries. This analysis shows the existence of bi-directional volatility spillovers between stock markets of the Czech Republic and Croatia in the pre-crisis period, and between Hungary and Romania in the post-crisis period. Also, there are significant volatility spillovers from Croatia to Poland and from Poland to the Czech Republic during two periods. The volatility is found to respond asymmetrically to innovations in other markets. The findings also indicate that the stock markets are more substantially integrated into crisis, as well as the persistence of volatility spillovers between the stock markets increases, and the financial stock markets become more integrated after the crisis period.
Design of hybrid Neuro-Robust deadbeat controller for higher order linear systems based on optimized mixed reduction method
Authors: Karam Ekhlas H. , Abdul-Jaleel Noor S. , Salah Basma J.
Published: October 2020

The control of higher order linear system is one of the main fields of research area that has been studied for decades because of the difficulty in designing a controller for such systems. One of the best approaches to solve this problem is by reducing the order of the system into a second orders, based on this reduction many approaches can be proposed for controlling the higher order system, therefore many reduction methods are suggested and developed for this purpose, one of these methods is the Mixed Reduction Method (MRM). The first contribution of this paper is to improve the efficiency of MRM by using a flower optimization algorithm.

The second contribution of this paper lies in proposing a hybrid Neuro-Robust deadbeat controller using Matlab facilities to control higher order linear systems based on the optimized MRM. Where the robust deadbeat control algorithm is combined with a modified adaptive radial basis neural network to improve the robustness and efficacy of the deadbeat controller, which is partially lost when designing this controller for the higher order based on model reduction. The suggested radial basis function neural network has a simple design. The proposed control scheme assures the stability of the overall closed loop-controlled system; therefore, it can be applied to control any linear higher order systems. Results of different simulation examples show the efficiency of the proposed hybrid controller (Neuro-robust deadbeat) in tracking different reference signals compared to the robust deadbeat controller.
Dos and don'ts of a successfully peer-reviewed publication: From A–Z
Authors: Behzadi Payam , Gajdács Márió
Published: October 2020

To have a successful publication in a peer-reviewed journal, a collection of factors and items is needed. Some of them directly and the others indirectly have important roles in scholarly publication. However, a well-designed scientific investigation together with a powerful academic English language may guarantee the publication of a manuscript. In other words, a standard and professional methodology which is expressed by an influent academic English language constitutes the soul of the manuscript's body. Obviously, the accuracy and fluency of the English language of the manuscript is the author(s)' responsibility and neither the reviewers' nor the editor's and the journal's. As publication of a research paper is the complementary section of a scientific study, it is recognized as an academic criterion for academicians. Thus, this review focuses on the all of items which are necessary and vital for a successful scholarly publication.
How does seminal plasma fatty-acid binding protein-9 level change in infertile males?
Authors: Menevse E. , Sevinc R. , Dursunoglu D. , Akdam N. , Korucu E.N.
Published: October 2020

In recent years, free fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) are implicated in spermatogenesis and sperm morphology. FABPs are members of the intracellular lipid-binding protein family; they exhibit tissue specific expression like the FABP9/PERF15 (Perforated15) male germ cell-specific fatty acid linkage-protein.

The aim of the study was to assess the levels of seminal FABP-9 in normozoospermic and oligozoospermic men, and the possible relations between seminal FABP-9 levels and semen parameters.

Research was carried out on 60 male volunteers who were admitted to Selcuk University Faculty of Medicine of Andrology Laboratory. Normozoospermic individuals (n = 30) were identified as Group 1, and Oligozoospermic individuals (n = 30) were identified as Group 2. The semen samples were collected in sterile plastic containers. Sperm parameters were assessed according to Kruger's criteria. Seminal plasma FABP-9 levels were analyzed by ELISA method. Outcomes were statistically evaluated at 0.05 significance level with SPSS (22.0). The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the performance of FABP-9 levels as compared to that of the concentration and motility data of the sperm. FABP-9 levels were significantly higher in normozoospermic individuals (3.41 ± 1.64 ng/mL) than in oligozoospermic individuals (1.99 ± 0.78 ng/mL). There were significant correlations between FABP-9 levels and sperm concentration, total sperm count, motility, progressive motility, immobility, Total Progressive Motil Sperm Count (TPMSC), head anomaly, and teratozoospermia index.

We suggest that FABP-9 level is an important biomarker, and low levels of semen FABP-9 may impact the fertility status based on the ROC findings.
Adjusting epistemic gradients: The final particle ba in Mandarin Chinese conversation
Authors: Kendrick Kobin H.
Published: October 2020

In Mandarin Chinese conversation, the final particle ba contributes to the formation of a variety of social actions. Using the methods of conversation analysis, this article examines the use of the ba particle in answers to questions, informings, and assessments. It is argued that the particle serves as a turn-constructional resource for the adjustment of the epistemic gradient invoked in the sequence, downgrading the speaker’s epistemic position. In assessment sequences, the epistemic adjustment made by the particle also serves to solicit a response from the recipient who invariably has knowledge of the matter in question. An analysis of the ba particle in terms of epistemic gradients and their adjustment unifies two accounts of the particle’s function put forward in the literature.
Religious Conversion and Kinship Cohesion
Authors: Allas Audrey
Published: October 2020

This paper seeks to reveal the perceived significance of religious conversion in order to maintain social cohesion within British Pakistani Muslim kinship structures. The alternative to conversion is the prospect of re-structuring of kinship relations and social mores amongst British Pakistani Muslim communities, if indeed more individuals marry outside of Islam over time. Utilising ethnographic data, the author indicates that religious identity is meaningful for the cohesion of Pakistani Muslim kinship structures in Britain, not only for ideological reasons, but also for economic purposes. This paper begins its focus from an anthropological discussion of the role of kinship alliances. It then explores the various manifestations of religious conversion to Islam within the framework of intermarriage and kinship relations, examining contexts of gender responsibility and “spirituality.” Data collection concerning this endeavour was carried out qualitatively over the course of a year within a larger ethnographic study of British Pakistani Muslim marriages, and with a variety of respondents from diverse contexts and situations in life, but all of whom identify with British Pakistani Muslim belonging and with the general understanding of being in an mixed relationship, inclusive of British legal civil unions, nikah (legal sharia marriage contracts), and co-habiting relationships.
Interreligiosity as a Realist Learning Engagement
Authors: Awad Najib George
Published: October 2020

The comparative theologian, Francis X. Clooney, once opined that much recent comparative theology is done with Hinduism and Buddhism, and Islam is hardly gaining a proportionately sufficient attention in this scholarship. This essay aims at contributing to the attempt at filling-in the gap of doing comparative theology in relation to Islam. I pursue this task by studying f? al-D?n wa-l-Dawlah (On Religion and State) by the Muslim ?Al? b. Rabb?n al-?abar? in comparative conversation with Maymar f? Wj?d al-Kh?liq wa-l-D?n al-Qawym (Maymar on the Existence of the Creator and the Right Religion). by the Christian Theodore Ab? Qurrah. It is my goal to shed comparative lights on Wa-l-D?n al-Qaw?m and Al-D?n wa-l-Dawlah by observing similarities and differences with regard to the following: the method of verification; the criterion of credibility acknowledged by each; and the telos of verification they seek. Toward the end of the comparison, I reflect briefly on whether or not Ab? Qurrah and al-?abar? could be considered comparative theologians of the early Islam/middle Byzantine era and, if so, what kind of “comparative theology” are they presenting in their legacies?
All is of God
Authors: Sydnor Jon Paul
Published: October 2020

This essay elaborates a constructive, comparative, nondual theodicy for the Christian tradition based on the Hindu Vai??ava tradition. According to the Indologist Henrich Zimmer, in Vai??avism everything is an emanation of Vi??u, therefore everything is of Vi??u. All apparent opposites are inherently divine and implicitly complementary. Good and bad, joy and suffering, pain and pleasure are not conflicting dualities; they are interdependent qualities that increase one another’s being. The Hindu myth of Samudra Manthan, or the Churning of the Ocean, exemplifies Vai??ava nondualism. In that story, gods and demons—seeming opposites—cooperate in order to extract the nectar of immortality from an ocean of milk. If “opposites” are interdependent, hence complementary, then they are not “opposites” but mutually amplifying contrasts. Given this phenomenology, and applying it to the Christian tradition, a benevolent God who desires full vitality for her creatures would have to create pain, suffering, darkness, and death in order to intensify their correlates. Love would demand their creation, because love would want abundant life for all. In this aesthetic theodicy, the interplay of all contrasts results from the love of a life-giving God.
Plenitudo
Authors: Slater Angus M.
Published: October 2020

This article examines the possibility for a re-appraisal of the place and significance of the religious other within the work of the Radical Orthodoxy movement, particularly focused on early work by the central figure of John Milbank and the notion of plenitudo deployed and developed by Michael Hanby. In doing so, the notion of plenitude is identified as a critical part of a possible response to the mode of practice and theological conceptualisation of the religious other presented elsewhere within the Radical Orthodoxy movement, such as in the contemporary work and public engagement of John Milbank. This mode of practice remains overly focused on the end goal of narrative out-narration, undercutting broader commitments to the embodiment of Christian social peace. This article aims to show that this mode of practice currently employed is not a necessary one, and only one malfunctioning possibility among many.
Is Political and Intercultural Theology Real Theology, and Why Should Anyone Care?
Authors: Rieger Joerg
Published: October 2020

Few would dispute that political and intercultural theologies are here to stay. What is disputed, however, is their place in the academy. It is frequently assumed that political and intercultural theologies are merely examples of special interests and concerns and thus optional, to be embraced by some but not by others. The terminology of contextual theology has added to the confusion, as contexts are often misunderstood as the special interests and concerns of some rather than others. This article argues that political and intercultural theologies are not optional but necessary for the academic study of theology and religion today. Rather than special interest, they promote fresh approaches to the common interest, challenging seemingly unilateral and universal approaches.
Religion, Genealogy, and the Study of American Religions
Authors: Rolsky L. Benjamin
Published: October 2020

This article serves as one of four responses to Dana Logan's 2017 JAAR article entitled, "Lean Closet: Asceticism in Postindustrial Consumer Culture." It investigates the value of genealogical method for the field of American religious history and establishes both benefits and drawbacks to its application.
Whole New People of the Book
Authors: Ricker Aaron
Published: October 2020

A. David Lewis and Martin Lund, eds. 'Muslim Superheroes: Comics, Islam, and Representation'. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017. 264 pp., 15 illustrations. $24.95, paper.
Tips for Teaching. Name It and Disclaim It
Authors: Laycock Joseph , Mikles Natasha
Published: October 2020

This article proposes a strategy of creating labels for problematic ways doing analysis in religious studies classes. By identifying patterns of weak analysis and naming them, faculty can give students the ability to talk about analysis and become more critical in their approach to religious studies.
Religious Heterogamy in Xiamen
Authors: Colijn Bram
Published: October 2020

Many young Protestants in the Chinese city of Xiamen marry a non-Christian spouse. How does religious heterogamy illuminate the social and ritual boundaries created by Protestants in Xiamen? Considering the function and permeability of these metaphoric boundaries, how should we visualize them? This article draws on data collected between August 2014 and February 2016. Intermarriage with non-Christians is condemned by most ministers in Xiamen, but it is an essential option for young women who far outnumber marriageable men in most church communities. The resulting weddings are marked by a search for compromises among the bride and groom, their parents, and the social communities for whom their parents host the wedding. It is argued that in terms of function and permeability, the social and ritual boundaries of Protestantism in Xiamen are less like barbed-wire fences than like the gates of a subway system, or the emergency exit of a shopping mall. Since a central aim of Chinese Protestants is to recruit more people to the faith, there is room for women to briefly exit the community and to re-enter with a converted husband. This focus on boundaries as metaphors may contribute to the field of interreligious studies, where boundaries are a key concept.
Interrituality as a New Approach for Studying Interreligious Relations and Ritual Dynamics at Shared Pilgrimage Sites in Hatay, Turkey
Authors: Kreinath Jens
Published: October 2020

Despite its distinct research agenda and focus on all kinds of relations emerging in religious encounters, interreligious studies still lack a clear empirical focus on the dynamics of ritual. This article aims to remedy this lacuna by introducing theoretical parameters for analysing ethnographic cases. It argues for a more refined approach to ritual as a major means in forming and transforming social relations and introduces interrituality substantiated by research on shared pilgrimage sites. Aside from the relevance of shared pilgrimage sites for maintaining interreligious relations and the ethnic and religious differences they imply, specific elements and features to rituals play a decisive role in the formation of interreligious relationships through ritual interaction at these sites. Through forms of coordinated and complementary devotion, interreligious relations are differentiated and organized in such a way that members of diverse religious communities interact with one another leading to both similarities and differences in ritual postures, gestures, and movements. This article demonstrates how the concept of interrituality elucidates the dynamics of interreligious relations and connects their different dimensions in ways which other approaches to interreligious studies have not done arguing that visits to shared pilgrimage sites are, in unique ways, coordinated and complemented through rituals of saint veneration.
Limits and Possibilities of Sharing Christian Worship in an Interreligious Educational Setting
Authors: Peace Jennifer
Published: October 2020

This paper discusses a worship service I designed and led in November of 2014 at Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS). As a member of the faculty, a practicing Christian and a religious educator and interfaith organizer, I am invited to lead a service each year in the Chapel at ANTS. In particular, as the ANTS’ co-director of the Center for Interreligious and Communal Leadership Education (CIRCLE), a joint program between ANTS and Hebrew College, I was charged with making the service an “interfaith” gathering, open and inviting for Unitarian Universalist, Muslim, and Jewish guests, while still providing an authentic expression of Christian worship. This article offers a first-person narrative and thick description of the service, the planning process, the broader context of interreligious education at our schools, and reflections on both the possibilities and limits of sharing particular religious rituals across diverse religious traditions for educational purposes. Drawing on the work of interreligious educators I identify a set of goals for interreligious education and explore the potential for religious ritual to both contribute to and complicate these goals. I describe the worship service as a ritual event in the life of a Christian seminary as well as its meaning and role in the process of interreligious coformation that is part of CIRCLE’s work.
Racism and “Place” in American Catholic Experience
Authors: Hoang Linh
Published: October 2020

Racism occurs in place. It is any place where human beings dwell such as a certain location, a house, or even a church. Racism is a lived experience that exposes the tragedy of hate and fear of the other. It pushes people into uncomfortable places. Asian Americans have built enclaves across the United States in order to maintain their cultural identity and help in resettlement. These ethnic enclaves have become, however, a way to silence and sideline Asians from the racial debates that has traditionally pitted blacks and whites for centuries. Asians have "assimilated" well into the dominant white culture but have not been completely accepted instead they continue to experience discrimination and prejudices. Even in the Church, Asian American Catholics struggle for recognition of their contribution and participation. The process of reconciliation that Robert J. Schreiter has elaborated provides an opportunity for Asian American Catholics to engage in the racial conversation while improving the Church's place in healing racism.
Mission Tracks in the Bush
Authors: Cruz Gemma Tulud
Published: October 2020

Christian missionaries played an important role in the Australian nation building that started in the nineteenth century. This essay explores the multifaceted and complex cultural encounters in the context of two aboriginal missions in Australia in the nineteenth century. More specifically, the essay explores the New Norcia mission in Western Australia in 1846-1900 and the Lutheran mission in South Australia in 1838-1853. The essay begins with an overview of the history of the two missions followed by a discussion of the key faces of the cultural encounters that occurred in the course of the missions. This is followed by theological reflections on the encounters in dialogue with contemporary theology, particularly the works of Robert Schreiter.
New Reformed Catholicity
Authors: Kuo Henry S.
Published: October 2020

Reformed ecclesiology suffers from a lack of a concrete sense of catholicity, a lack that easily shatters unity in the church. This article broadly sketches a way in which Reformed confessions and the practice of confessing can help fill that lack, drawing from Robert Schreiter's The New Catholicity. By understanding confessing in terms of re-membering dangerous memories, Reformed catholicity has the potential for enabling the church to be a unifying witness in an age where globalizing forces have fragmented societies and inflamed troubling sentiments.
Translational Fabric of Mission and Culture
Authors: Hintersteiner Norbert
Published: October 2020

Within theological circles Robert J. Schreiter stands out for his extensive culture theory and theology engagement. Interestingly, therein, the area of cultural translation has not figured prominently in his scholarship, despite having enjoyed a certain pride of place at the times of his early career, both in mission studies and in cultural semiotics, his favorite theory of culture. What is suggested here then is to review the missional discourse of cross-cultural translation (Andrew Walls, Lamin Sanneh and Kwame Bediako), on the one hand, and its critiques from contextual theology (Stephan Bevans and Robert Schreiter) on the other, explaining his reservation. Additionally, the essay elaborates on translation in cultural semiotics (Yuri Lotman) and recent translation studies with its foundational as well as fluid concept of translation, not dissimilar to Schreiter's understanding of globalized culture, suggesting it as potential terrain for future theologies of crosscultural translation.
Honouring Robert J. Schreiter’s Contributions to Intercultural Theology
Authors: Hintersteiner Norbert , Pranger Jan Hendrik
Published: October 2020

Guest Editorial by Norbert Hintersteiner and Jan Hendrik Pranger
Islamic humanism or humanistic Islam?
Authors: Leirvik Oddbjørn
Published: October 2020

The article presents and analyses recent books by Muslim authors addressing the issue of humanism in Islam. After some general remarks about humanism and religion (in the current political context), idealist versus critical approaches to the theme of humanism and Islam will be identified. The bulk of the article is dedicated to an analysis of three books by Mouhanad Khorchide, a group of Norwegian reformists, and Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd. After a brief consideration on how scriptures is dealt with in idealist and critical approaches, the article concludes with a distinction between “Islamic humanism” and “humanistic Islam.”
Influência dos currículos (formal e oculto) na formação da identidade profissional dos estudantes de medicina
Authors: Tardin Jacqueline Rego , Aleluia Iêda
Published: October 2020

INTRODUÇÃO: A identidade profissional do estudante de medicina é formada durante a graduação e está sujeita à interferência de fatores inclusos no currículo formal e currículo informal do estudante. OBJETIVOS: Descrever as influências que o currículo formal e o currículo oculto exercem na formação da identidade profissional dos estudantes do curso de medicina da Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo transversal, descritivo, com metodologia qualitativa-quantitativa. Foi aplicado um questionário para avaliação dos estudantes sobre atividades práticas e teóricas ocorridas durante a graduação, inserção do humanismo na prática acadêmica além da descrição sócio demográfica e do perfil do grupo, sendo essas perguntas enviadas a 200 participantes. Os dados quantitativos foram analisados com o programa estatístico SPSS 20.0, considerando como estatisticamente significante p<0,05 e os dados qualitativos pela análise e categorização de conteúdo. RESULTADOS: 111/200 estudantes responderam o questionário, sendo a maioria proveniente do 8° semestre da instituição. Houve percepção da influência de mentores, da contribuição do currículo formal e informal e da socialização na formação da identidade profissional do estudante. A análise das falas dos participantes mostrou a internalização da humanização se dá principalmente através a importância do exemplo, o contato com o paciente e a importância da formação prévia de caráter e personalidade do estudante. CONCLUSÃO: Conclui-se que há influência da matriz curricular e do corpo docente na construção da identidade profissional do estudante de medicina, além da evidência da necessidade de novas pesquisas que descrevam o impacto do currículo oculto.
Classification and analysis of instruments for measuring corrosion damage to internal surfaces of underground metal pipeline
Authors: Umbetov Sergey V. , Pronin Sergey P.
Published: October 2020

This paper presents a classification of corrosion damage to the inner surface of the pipeline, a comparative description of the effect of corrosion damage on the inner surface of metal pipes. The most common on the inner surfaces of a metal pipeline are ulcerative, pitting, intergranular, cracking, pitting, crevice and through corrosion. Methods and tools for controlling corrosion damage are presented, and their capabilities are analyzed. It is shown that the development of diagnostics of the inner surface of pipelines is on the path to creating robotic tools. Existing robotic devices today have disadvantages. Firstly, for some injuries, the presence of an operator at the place of passage of the pipeline is necessary, which does not exclude subjective diagnostics. Secondly, as a rule, methods require emergency excavations. Thirdly, they are narrowly targeted, they do not allow to diagnose all types of corrosion damage in general. In conclusion, a modular robotic complex is proposed, which combines a number of functions that exclude these shortcomings.
Extremums at temperature dependencies physico-mechanical properties of iron, as a result of transformation in it at ~ 650ºс
Authors: Shakhnazarov Karen Yu.
Published: October 2020

In the presented work on the basis of extrema on curves: efforts of resistance of draft, parameters of thin structure, metalgraphic structure depending on temperature and also numerous literary data on anomalies of physicomechanical properties of iron and staly transformation is declared at ~ 650 C. The research was conducted on samples from almost pure iron (0,008% C). An experiment (the metalgraphic research, the X-ray diffraction analysis, resistance to draft (Gleeble-3800) carried out through each 20 C.
Methods of control of structure formation in the processes of high-temperature synthesis (review)
Authors: Dolmatov Alexey V.
Published: October 2020

The paper provides an overview of modern methods for studying the dynamics of structure formation of materials. The analysis of the possibilities of dynamic electron microscopy methods and optical methods for controlling the structural-phase state of materials in high-temperature fast-flowing processes is carried out. Methods of pyrometry in the field of SHS, gas-thermal spraying of coatings, and additive synthesis of metal and ceramic products are considered. A review of a new non-contact method for measuring the temperature and spectral degree of blackness of materials is presented. The results of theoretical and experimental studies aimed at implementing the approach of pyrometric control of structure formation in high-temperature processes are presented. An example is given of complex studies of the dynamics of structural formations: metal-oxygen, metal-carbon, on the surface of a tungsten, molybdenum and tantalum foil heated by electric current in an inert gas medium. It compares the results of pyrometric studies with the microstructure and microelement composition of the phases of frozen samples. At the end of the work, a conclusion is drawn on the rational organization of the observation of structure formation in high-temperature synthesis processes from the point of view of constructing an automatic control system.
Computer molecular-dynamic simulation of shs microkinetics in the atomic structure with a checkerboard-like arrangement of nanoscale blocks of Ni and Al atoms
Authors: Jordan Vladimir I. , Shmakov Igor A.
Published: October 2020

The article presents the results of computer simulation of the propagation of the combustion wave of "self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS)" process in an atomic layered structure. In each layer of the structure, nanosized blocks of two types alternate: a block of the first type is composed as a packet of unit cells of Ni atoms, and a block of the second type is composed of a packet of elementary cells of Al atoms. In each pair of layers adjacent to each other, sequences of alternating blocks of two types are shifted relative to each other by one block, so the full layered structure of the layers with alternating blocks in them is associated with a chessboard pattern. Computer simulation of SHS in such a structure was carried out using the LAMMPS software package taking into account parallel computations, which uses the molecular dynamics method and the interatomic interaction potential in the embedded atom" model (EAM). In addition to the LAMMPS package, the authors implemented program procedures for calculating the temperature and density profiles of the substance along the motion direction of the SHS combustion wave front, which made it possible to carry out temperature analysis of the SHS microkinetics (to estimate the velocity of the combustion wave front) and recognition of intermetallic phases in the reaction volume of the Ni-Al system when using the OVITO package.