bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development Of Physics Teaching Materials On The Subject Of Light Interference Based On Discovery-inquiry For Senior High School Students
Authors: Rismawati E , Purwaningsih E
Published: October 2024

Efforts to improve student’s concept understanding can be used teaching materials that emphasize process skills. Researchers tried to make teaching materials using discovery-inquiry learning which is learning that emphasizes investigation (process skills) carried out by students. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of Physics Teaching Materials and Learning Guides on the subject of Light Interference in High School. This research is a development research that uses the first five steps of the Borg and Gall method, namely according to Borg and Gall. The results showed that the feasibility of content, language feasibility and content presentation of student teaching materials and teacher learning guides (teacher teaching materials) based on discovery-inquiry were categorized as feasible.
Drivers and attitudes of public support for technological solutions to climate change in 30 countries
Authors: Brutschin Elina , Baum Chad M , Fritz Livia , Low Sean , Sovacool Benjamin K , Riahi Keywan
Published: October 2024

Some experts contend that addressing global climate challenges requires consideration of technologies such as Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and, possibly, Solar Radiation Modification (SRM). Previous studies, primarily centered on the OECD region, have indicated that most of these technologies are contentious, eliciting low levels of public support. By conducting a set of nationally representative surveys examining seven CDR and three SRM technologies in 30 countries, we show that public skepticism is most prominent in wealthier countries. Respondents from these countries express lower confidence in the potential of science and technology to address climate change, diminished trust in industry, and expect to experience less personal harm from climate change. At the same time, there are many countries, not previously studied, where the levels of support for CDR and SRM are relatively high. As middle-income countries, their capability to effectively implement these technologies may be deficient; additionally, there is a risk of the unilateral implementation of certain technologies with uncertain implications in terms of their impacts on climate. This underscores the necessity for long term climate strategies that are context-specific and tailored to individual countries, while moreover emphasizing the imperative for extensive international collaboration, including through technological and financial transfers. Finally, strong international governance structures, especially in the context of SRM, are crucial to ensure a responsible approach towards these technologies.
Transmission pathways for the stem rust pathogen into Central and East Asia and the role of the alternate host, barberry
Authors: Bradshaw Catherine D , Hemming Deborah L , Mona Tamás , Thurston William , Seier Marion K , Hodson David P , Smith Jacob W , Eyre Dominic , Liu Tai-Guo , Taylor Bryony , Davie Jemma CS , Urhausen Steffi , Crocker Thomas , Millington Sarah C , Hort Matthew C , Zhang Feng , Li Hongmei , Gilligan Christopher A
Published: October 2024

After many decades of effective control of stem rust caused by the Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici, (hereafter Pgt) the reported emergence of race TTKSK/Ug99 of Pgt in Uganda reignited concerns about epidemics worldwide because ∼90% of world wheat cultivars had no resistance to the new race. Since it was initially detected in Uganda in 1998, Ug99 variants have now been identified in thirteen countries in Africa and the Middle East. Stem rust has been a major problem in the past, and concern is increasing about the risk of return to Central and East Asia. Whilst control programs in North America and Europe relied on the use of resistant cultivars in combination with eradication of barberry (Berberis spp.), the alternate host required for the stem rust pathogen to complete its full lifecycle, the focus in East Asia was principally on the use of resistant wheat cultivars. Here, we investigate potential airborne transmission pathways for stem rust outbreaks in the Middle East to reach East Asia using an integrated modelling framework combining estimates of fungal spore deposition from an atmospheric dispersion model, environmental suitability for spore germination, and crop calendar information. We consider the role of mountain ranges in restricting transmission pathways, and we incorporate a representation of a generic barberry species into the lifecycle. We find viable transmission pathways to East Asia from the Middle East to the north via Central Asia and to the south via South Asia and that an initial infection in the Middle East could persist in East Asia for up to three years due to the presence of the alternate host. Our results indicate the need for further assessment of barberry species distributions in East Asia and appropriate methods for targeted surveillance and mitigation strategies should stem rust incidence increase in the Middle East region.
Modelling marine heatwaves impact on shallow and upper mesophotic tropical coral reefs
Authors: Colombi Nicolas , Kropf Chahan M , Burger Friedrich A , Bresch David N , Frölicher Thomas L
Published: October 2024

Coral reefs ecosystems, often compared to rain forests for their high biodiversity, are threatened by ocean warming causing coral bleaching when the symbiotic relationship between dinoflagellates and corals breaks under high ocean temperatures. Thermal stress from marine heatwaves (MHWs) occur both at the surface and subsurface with subsurface MHWs lasting longer with potentially higher cumulative intensities. However, global coral bleaching models generally ignore the differences in thermal stress between surface and sea-bed levels. Here, we define MHWs at sea-bed level to model coral bleaching with daily resolution from 6 May 1993 to 31 October 2023, for 9944 tropical coral reefs between 0 and 60 m depths. We show that deeper reefs experience on average higher thermal stress and bleaching compared to surface reefs. Using surface temperature data to model bleaching for deeper corals underestimates bleaching intensities by an average of 6% ± 9% compared to the subsurface calibrated model. Our study is a starting point for more accurate coral bleaching modelling, providing additional evidence to reshape our perception of deeper coral reefs as potential refugees from climate change.
Quantum field theory of electrons and nuclei
Authors: Härkönen Ville J
Published: October 2024

We develop a non-relativistic quantum field theory of electrons and nuclei with Coulomb interactions. We derive the exact equations of motion and write these equations in the form of Hedin’s equations for all species of identical particles involved. Theory derived allows the computation of exact observables and provides a rigorous starting point to derive approximations in a systematic way.
Volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath, blood, and urine detected in patients with thyroid carcinoma using gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry—a pilot study
Authors: Al-Difaie Zaid J J , Scheepers Max H M C , Engelen Sanne M E , Lubbers Tim , Havekes Bas , Bouvy Nicole D
Published: October 2024

The differentiation between malignant and benign thyroid nodules represents a significant challenge for clinicians globally. The identification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has emerged as a novel approach in the field of cancer diagnosis. This prospective pilot study aims to identify VOCs in exhaled breath, blood, and urine that can differentiate benign from malignant thyroid nodules using gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS). Patients with thyroid nodules scheduled for surgery were enrolled at the Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+). Breath samples were analyzed using a BreathSpec GC-IMS machine (G.A.S. Dortmund, Germany), specifically designed for breath analysis. All blood and urine samples were analyzed using a separate GC-IMS device, the FlavourSpec® (G.A.S., Dortmund, Germany). In this proof-of-concept study, 70 consecutive patients undergoing thyroid surgery at MUMC+ were included. Of these patients, 29 were confirmed to have thyroid cancer after surgical resection. The overall analysis did not reveal statistically significant differences in VOCs in breath, urine and blood, between patients with benign and malignant thyroid cancer. This proof-of-concept study demonstrated that GC-IMS could not effectively differentiate between the VOC profiles of malignant and benign thyroid nodules. However, due to the small sample size of this study, larger prospective studies are needed to investigate the potential of using VOCs to distinguish between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Additionally, future research should focus on identifying potential confounding factors that may influence patient VOC profiles. (NCT04883294).
Identifying viral infections through analysis of head space volatile organic compounds
Authors: Sanmark E , Marjanen P , Virtanen J , Aaltonen K , Tauriainen S , Österlund P , Mäkelä M , Saari S , Roine A , Rönkkö T , Vartiainen V A
Published: October 2024

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by human respiratory cells reflect metabolic and pathophysiological processes which can be detected with the use of modern technology. Analysis of exhaled breath or indoor air may potentially play an important role in screening of upper respiratory tract infections such as COVID-19 or influenza in the future. In this experimental study, air samples were collected and analyzed from the headspace of an in vitro cell culture infected by selected pathogens (influenza A H1N1 and seasonal coronaviruses OC43 and NL63). VOCs were measured with a real-time proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer and a differential mobility spectrometer. Measurements were performed every 12 h for 7 d. Non-infected cells and cell culture media served as references. In H1N1 and OC43 we observed four different VOCs which peaked during the infection. Different, individual VOCs were also observed in both infections. Activity began to clearly increase after 2 d in all analyses. We did not see increased VOC production in cells infected with NL63. VOC analysis seems to be suitable to differentiate the infected cells from those which are not infected as well as different viruses, from another. In the future, this could have practical value in both individual diagnostics and indoor environment screening.
Mechanical memory based biofabrication of hierarchical elastic cardiac tissue
Authors: Li Zhitong , Kovács Panna , Friec Alice Le , Jensen Bjarke Nørrehvedde , Nygaard Jens Vinge , Chen Menglin
Published: October 2024

Mimicking the multilayered, anisotropic, elastic structure of cardiac tissues for controlled guidiance of 3D cellular orientation is essential in designing bionic scaffolds for cardiac tissue biofabrication. Here, a hierarchically organized, anisotropic, wavy and conductive polycaprolactone/Au scaffold was created in a facile fashion based on mechanical memory during fabrication. The bionic 3D scaffold shows good biocompatibility, excellent biomimetic mechanical properties that guide myoblast alignment, support the hyperelastic behavior observed in native cardiac muscle tissue, and promote myotube maturation, which holds potential for cardiac muscle engineering and the establishment of an in vitro culture platform for drug screening.
A versatile natural gelatin-based hydrogel for emergency wound treatment through hemostasis, antibacterial, and anti-inflammation
Authors: Cao Xiaoling , Deng Yonghao , Xu Zhongye , Wang Tingting , Tang Bing , Han Jiande , Guo Rui , Yin Rong
Published: October 2024

Emergency wounds are often accompanied by bacterial infection, oxidative stress, and excessive inflammation due to the inability to quickly close and stop bleeding, resulting in chronic wounds that are difficult to heal. Clinically, surgical suturing is the fastest method for wound closure, but it is only suitable for wounds with small bleeding volumes and causes unsightly scar formation. Consequently, there is a critical need for hemostatic dressings versatile enough to address a spectrum of diverse and intricate wounds, especially in emergency scenarios. In this study, we constructed a unique versatile natural gelatin-based hydrogel with hemostasis, antibacterial, and anti-inflammation properties. The hydrogel was composed of 4-(4-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methoxy-5-nitrophenoxy) butyrylethylenediamine-modified methacrylated gelatin (GelMA-NB) and epigallocatechin gallate-grafted polylysine (EPL-EGCG), which imparts adhesion, antibacterial and antioxidant properties to the hydrogel. Simultaneously, the hydrogel was loaded with GelMA microspheres encapsulating natural resveratrol (RES@GM). This combination not only exhibited outstanding hemostatic capabilities but also preserved the anti-inflammatory potential of RES. In different animal models, the hydrogel exhibited outstanding hemostatic and wound healing effects, down-regulated the expression of IL-1β to promote inflammatory regulation and potential for angiogenesis and anti-scar. In conclusion, unique versatile natural gelatin-based hydrogel suitable for various complex wounds provides a promising strategy for emergency wound dressing applications.
Unveiling quantum correlations of SPDC biphoton spatial modes using spatial light modulator
Authors: Omshankar  , Venkataraman Vivek , Ghosh Joyee
Published: October 2024

We experimentally demonstrate the quantum entanglement in various spatial modes of the correlated photons generated via spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a type-II phase-matched periodically-poled KTP crystal. The two-fold coincidence measurement reveals the spatial entanglement between the photon pairs by projecting one of the correlated photons onto a Gaussian mode while scanning the spatial mode of its partner photon through selective projection (Gaussian, Laguerre–Gaussian (LG), Bessel-Gaussian (BG), and Airy–Gaussian (AG)) using a spatial light modulator (SLM). We also show the spatially resolved measurement of the non-conservation of orbital angular momentum via modal decomposition of the correlated photon in LG and BG bases.
Investigating the influence of periwinkle shell powder on the thermal and mechanical performance of high-density polyethylene composites
Authors: Valsadwala Abbas Saifee , Srinivasan Sriram , Balachandran Surya Rajan , Begum S Shamshath , Samui Asit Baran , Shukla Sandeep Kumar
Published: October 2024

In this study, the shell powder of Littorina littorea commonly called periwinkle was used as an eco-friendly filler in High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) to form periwinkle/HDPE composites (PHPC). Understanding the effect of different particle sizes of periwinkle shell powder (PSP) and optimizing their influence on PHPC is the main scope of this work. Periwinkle shell (PS) particles with sizes ranging from <53 μm to 150 μm were chosen as reinforcements. The PSP sizes chosen in this study, <53 μm, 53 μm, 75 μm, 90 μm, 105 μm and 150 μm were named PHPCL53, PHPC53, PHPC75, PHPC90, PHPC105, and PHPC150, respectively. The composites were fabricated by incorporating 1 wt% PSP into the HDPE matrix using the compression molding technique and then subjected to morphological, thermal, and mechanical characterizations. Morphology studies using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirms 150 μm PSP had the best dispersion whereas 75 μm PSP resulted in agglomeration. PSP had little influence on the thermal stability of HDPE except for PHPC150 which showed an increase in the degradation temperature when compared to the virgin sample. Mechanical properties such as hardness, Young’s modulus, impact strength, and flexural modulus were enhanced by the addition of PSP. However, a decrease was noted in the elongation at break (%) and flexural strength of PHPC indicating the stiffening effect of the filler on the HDPE. In order to understand the particle size influence better, the extension evaluation method (EEM) was used for all samples and PHPC150 was found to be the best performing among all particle sizes.
High-voltage thermocell modules for direct device operation: eliminating the need for DC-DC converters
Authors: Jiang Lixian , Ebihara Teruo , Horike Shohei , Wei Qingshuo
Published: October 2024

This study explores the potential of thermocells as an efficient energy-harvesting solution that can power practical devices without the need for a DC-DC converter. We constructed thermocell devices comprising 35 legs using a modified soldering technique and electrode treatment to improve reliability. The devices achieved a peak voltage of 3.5 V at a hot-side temperature of 60 °C under natural cooling conditions. These thermocells were integrated with a voltage detector integrated circuit (IC) and beacon, initiating beacon operation within 100 s and transmitting signals over 600 times within a 15 min period. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of thermocells as an alternative energy source, offering a cost-effective and streamlined approach for energy-harvesting applications without the complexity and expense of DC-DC converters.
Cascaded redundant convolutional encoder-decoder network improved apnea detection performance using tracheal sounds in post anesthesia care unit patients
Authors: Zhang Erpeng , Jia Xiuzhu , Wu Yanan , Liu Jing , Yu Lu
Published: October 2024

Objective. Methods of detecting apnea based on acoustic features can be prone to misdiagnosed and missed diagnoses due to the influence of noise. The aim of this paper is to improve the performance of apnea detection algorithms in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) using a denoising method that processes tracheal sounds without the need for separate background noise. Approach. Tracheal sound data from laboratory subjects was collected using a microphone. Record a segment of clinical background noise and clean tracheal sound data to synthesize the noisy tracheal sound data according to a specified signal-to-noise ratio. Extract the frequency-domain features of the tracheal sounds using the Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) and input the Cascaded Redundant Convolutional Encoder-Decoder network (CR-CED) network for training. Patients’ tracheal sound data collected in the PACU were then fed into the CR-CED network as test data and inversely transformed by STFT to obtain denoised tracheal sounds. The apnea detection algorithm was used to detect the tracheal sound after denoising. Results. Apnea events were correctly detected 207 times and normal respiratory events 11,305 times using tracheal sounds denoised by the CR-CED network. The sensitivity and specificity of apnea detection were 88% and 98.6%, respectively. Significance. The apnea detection results of tracheal sounds after CR-CED network denoising in the PACU are accurate and reliable. Tracheal sound can be denoised using this approach without separate background noise. It effectively improves the applicability of the tracheal sound denoising method in the medical environment while ensuring its correctness.
Identification of enset (ensete ventricoum (Welw.) cheesman) landraces and farmers preference in wolaita zone, Southern Ethiopia
Authors: Asfaw Abera , Wato Tamirat , Andualem Alemu
Published: October 2024

The enset farming system in Ethiopia, a significant agricultural system, is primarily cultivated by the Wolaita people, who prefer different landraces due to their unique traits. Thus, this study aimed to identify a landrace with specific traits that farmers preferred in the Wolaita Zone in 2021 from 14 Kebeles, each with 15 households. The study used both qualitative and quantitative data. SPSS software was used quantitative analysis: cross-tabulation, descriptive statistics, multidimensional preference analysis, Pearson correlation, t and chi square tests. As a result, 93 landraces and 4 cultivars were identified with varying frequency and distribution within and between farms, indicating farmers’ preference for different traits. Enset landraces preferred for high yield of Kocho were: Gena, Anko-gena, Halla, Mazia, Ala-gena, Godaria, Tuzuma; Bulla were: Halla, Mazia, Tuzuma, Gena, Gefetanuwa, Anko-gena, Argama, Ala-gena, Shalakumia; Amicho use; Arkia, Agina, chichia, Sutia, Kabaria, Nakaka, Katania; For fiber strength and durability were: Halla, Tuzuma, Mazia Anko-gena, Argama and Ala-gena. Medicinal use: Lochingia, Gefetanuwa, Argama, and Arkia. For overall traits, the most preferred landrace in the study area was Halla, Mazia, Tuzuma, Anko-gena, Argama, Shalakumia, Gena, Kabaria, Wanadia, Ala-gena, Gefetanuwa, Nakaka, Lembuwa, Sutia, Arkia, Katania, Godaria, Chichia, and Lochingia in order. Therefore, enset landraces–mainly used for amicho were extensively used and having medicinal values were rarely grown due to their susceptibility to both biotic and abiotic factors was under threat of erosion. So, to sustain the production of different landraces, it is recommended to collect, conserve, and raise awareness among the young generation about specific traits.
Enhancing selenium removal using pre-treated natural clay: experimental investigation and predictive modeling
Authors: Ramesh Gude , Ruj Biswajit , Bishayee Bhaskar , Chatterjee Rishya Prava , Kumar Ramesh , Khan Moonis Ali , Jeon Byong-Hun , Nayak Jayato , Chakrabortty Sankha
Published: October 2024

A heat treatment methodology was adopted as a pretreatment strategy, altering the porous structure of the clay to minimize leaching for selenium adsorption in an aqueous system. Rigorous experiments were carried out in batch mode to determine optimal parameters across various variables, including contact time, adsorbent dosages, selenium concentrations, pH, temperature, and stirring speed during selenium removal using natural clay. Investigating several kinetic and isotherm models revealed the best fitting for the pseudo-second-order and the Langmuir isotherm. Endothermic and spontaneous characteristics of the adsorption process were shown during thermodynamic analysis. In this study, a predictive model for the efficiency of selenium separation was established using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Additionally, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), a data-driven model, was employed for comparative analysis. The predictive model exhibited a high degree of agreement with experimental data, demonstrated by a low relative error of <0.10, a high regression coefficient of >0.97), and a substantial Willmott-d index of >0.95. Moreover, the efficacy of pre-activated clay in selenium removal was assessed, revealing the superior performance of ANN models over RSM models in forecasting the efficiency of the adsorption process. This research significantly advances an effective and sustainable material for selenium removal, providing valuable insights into predictive modeling techniques applicable to similar contexts to boost scale-up confidence during industrial implementation in affected regions.
Modelling and experimentation of failure modes to obtain safe operating range for improved dielectric elastomer actuation performance
Authors: Prabhakar O P , Sahu R K
Published: October 2024

Dielectric elastomers (DEs) possess high energy density, lightweight, and low response time making them suitable material candidatures for electromechanical transducers (ET). Performance enhancement of ET necessitates escalated electrical load making prone to failure and subsequently hindering reliability and life cycle. Existing models towards failure mitigation focus on mechanical and electrical loads individually with constant relative permittivity, whereas DEs undergoes combined loading and stretch-electrostriction in real-time application. This study aims to identify safe design and operating parameters by addressing various modes of failures under combined loads and stretch-electrostriction. Under combined load, pre-strain emerges as a crucial parameter to reduce EMI, while extensive pre-strain leads to diminish thickness which in turn promotes electrical breakdown of elastomer. The optimized design for DEs exhibit substantial failure suppression at a pre-strain value of 1.7 (

λ

pre

) under maximum electrical load of

37.66

MV
/
m

(

E

max

). The efficacy of optimized parameters for the failure suppression is verified through an in-house fabricated planar actuator. Operation within the identified range of parameters is observed to enhance the reliability and lifespan of DE-actuators, marking a noteworthy advancement in the field of soft robotics.
Model test of foundation pit excavation adjacent to the existing double-lane tunnel
Authors: He Jiuru , Cheng Xuansheng , Zhang Guiwen
Published: October 2024

To study the influence of foundation pit excavation on the adjacent existing double-track tunnel, a model box test with a similarity ratio of 1/50 was carried out. In this paper, the mechanical parameters of loess around the tunnel are determined through laboratory tests, and the miscellaneous fill, loess, sand, tunnel structure, support structure, and retaining wall are prepared by similar principles. The variation of the surface settlement, the deformation of the retaining wall, and the surrounding rock and soil pressure of the tunnel were analyzed by using equipment such as the miniature earth pressure box, dial gauge, and strain gauge. The results of the study showed that the existence of the supporting structure makes the bending moment of the retaining wall show the phenomenon of negative value first, then positive value, and finally negative value. In the process of foundation pit excavation, when the horizontal distance of the model surface is 4 times the excavation depth, the foundation pit excavation has little effect on the settlement of the model surface. The earth pressure value of the surrounding rock decreases with the increase of the excavation depth of the foundation pit. The earth pressure value of the surrounding rock is the right > the left > the lower part > the upper part and the excavation of the foundation pit has the greatest influence on the upper and left sides of the surrounding rock close to the side of the foundation pit, and the least impact on the right side of the surrounding rock.
Design and implementation of anti-mapping security access technology based on illegal scanning
Authors: Liu Zehui , Ma Dongjuan , Yang Hua , Jing Weizhe , Jin Xin
Published: October 2024

In the current field of information security, illegal network scanning activities are prevalent, and such behaviors are usually aimed at detecting security vulnerabilities in network systems and preparing for future attack activities. This study proposes a secure access system based on anti-mapping technology, which aims to effectively block illegal scanning behaviors while ensuring that the normal access of legitimate users is not affected. The system integrates advanced behavioral analysis algorithms that utilize machine learning techniques for deep learning and pattern recognition of network traffic, and is able to accurately distinguish between normal user activities and malicious scanning attempts. At the core of the system is a set of dynamic adaptive identification mechanisms that update the detection algorithms in real time to adapt to emerging scanning techniques and attack strategies by continuously learning from changes in network traffic. In addition, the system employs role-based access control (RBAC) policies to enhance the protection of sensitive resources. The Secure Access Gateway is deployed at the boundary of the network to monitor and filter all ingress traffic, effectively intercepting unauthorized scanning activities by comprehensively evaluating the source, behavior and frequency of traffic. Experimental results show that the proposed two-layer network structure performs well in detecting common threats such as port scanning, DDoS attacks, and SQL injections, with an accuracy rate of over 95%. Especially for complex and covert APT (advanced persistent threat) attacks, the system can significantly reduce the false alarm rate and effectively improve the detection speed. However, when dealing with some highly customized malware, the system’s recognition ability still needs to be improved, which indicates that future research needs to focus more on enhancing the ability to learn and adapt to unknown threats.
Dynamics of ecosystem services along ecological network seascapes
Authors: Guimarães Jr Paulo R , Melián Carlos J
Published: October 2024

Human societies depend on services provided by ecosystems, from local needs such as clean water and pest control to global services like the ozone layer and the ocean biological pump. Ecosystem services are linked to the states of the ecosystem, which are, in turn, governed by a web of ecological interactions. These interactions, along with the services they support, are under threat from environmental changes driven by human activities. Therefore, safeguarding these vital services requires an understanding of how the structure and dynamics of ecological interactions are affected by environmental change. A critical step towards this goal is the development of a theoretical framework that can elucidate how ecosystem services are sustained or impaired by interactions within ecosystems in fluctuating environments. Recent years have seen progress in characterizing the organization and dynamics of ecological networks. However, linking temporally varying network structure in fluctuating environments, the seascapes of ecological networks, and their impact on services remains a challenge. We propose an approach based on merging ecological network analysis with Boolean functions and modeling of fluctuating environments to address how services are affected by environmental change. We review aspects of Boolean Network models and illustrate the approach using biologically inspired Boolean rules that involve predator-prey cycles, trophic cascades, and mutualisms formed by plants and their frugivores. This approach aims to contribute to the study of how the organization of ecological interactions affects the persistence of ecosystem services. Specifically, we discuss how this approach can provide new insights into how environmental change affects the relationship between ecological networks and ecosystem services. The combination of information on the natural history of species interactions and ecosystem services, Boolean networks, and models for fluctuating environments may contribute to conservation strategies for preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services in the face of ongoing environmental change.
Representations of Early Modern London in Literature, 1580–1615
Authors: Gordon Andrew
Published: October 2024

What is the literature of early modern London? During a period of unprecedented expansion, the early modern city also extended its claim to be the leading center of literary production. This cultural dominion was furthered through the material control over textual dissemination that the city came to exert with the expansion in print, even as it continued to be an important hub for the persistence of manuscript cultures of circulation. This process came to a head in the period 1580–1615 when the city’s development as a marketplace for literature, and the development of new readers and audiences, also expanded the possibilities of urban literature . Alongside a rapid change in the socioeconomic conditions of inhabiting early modern London, new cultural sites emerged and with them new forms of urban behavior. London itself, its spaces and places, its peoples and things, became a subject of literary inquiry. New literary forms developed in response to the new possibilities of urban living, not merely for the documentation of daily life but also in exploratory ways, innovating to investigate the new meanings of urban encounter, urban sociability, urban identity and the urban environment, and helping develop in their consumers a sense of urban competence. At the same time the novelty of urban living also provoked an interest in the urban past and historical memory, which itself yielded modes of textual innovation. The new literary interest in the writing of place took on particular concerns when applied to the matter of urban fabric and social order. The city’s cultures of performance also underwent a sea-change in this time. Tracing a link between theater and the pageantry of the early modern city, and the Lord Mayor’s shows in particular, frequently underestimated as vehicles for the representation of early modern London, it is possible to see a broader picture of competing representations of the early modern city. Exploring the development of the commercial stage’s professional interest in representing London draws attention to the representational challenges of staging the city, as well as the complexities of urban experience. Not only the representation of place but also the embodied sensory experiences, the spatial competences, the linguistic communities, and soundscapes of the city are all part of this inquiry.
The Work–Home Interface: An Integration of Perspectives
Authors: ten Brummelhuis Lieke
Published: October 2024

Work–family research has become a central area of research within organizational psychology and management. Since its inception around 1970, work–family research has seen tremendous growth, parallel to the increase in employees combining paid work with caregiving responsibilities. Fifty years later, a new trend is visible with an increase in single-person households and employees having a variety of other roles in addition to work beyond just family, suggesting that the relevance of the work–home interface will continue to grow. To understand how work and nonwork domains collide and interact with each other, various concepts have been introduced, including work–family conflict, work–family interference, work–family spillover, work–family expansion, work–family enrichment, work–family enhancement, work–family facilitation, work–family depletion, and work–life balance.

Whereas conflict, interference, expansion, and balance all describe outcomes of combining two roles simultaneously, spillover, depletion, enhancement, facilitation, and enrichment describe a process whereby one domain affects outcomes in another domain. With the goal of increasing concept clarity, work–family concepts can be organized by categorizing them per their valence and perspective. Valence divides work–family constructs into those that consider positive versus negative outcomes of combining dual roles. Perspective differentiates between combination constructs that examine the joint effects of multiple roles versus process constructs that clarify how one domain affects outcomes in another domain.

This typology clarifies what research question a specific work–family construct answers. For instance, if a researcher is interested in examining how often employees experience family (work) interfering with work (family), a combination construct is most fitting. If a researcher is interested in how work (family) can undermine or contribute to family (work) performance, a process construct is more suitable. By pinpointing the differences between work–family constructs, the framework can help determine which theoretical model is most suitable to explain a work–family phenomenon and how it can be measured best. The gained concept clarity fosters the design of empirical research that addresses novel research questions related to a diverse workforce that might occupy a variety of roles beyond work and family.
Serious Games
Authors: Lamb Richard
Published: October 2024

Serious games are interactive digital applications that go beyond entertainment and incorporate educational, informational, or training objectives as the goal of the game. They leverage the engaging and motivating aspects of gaming experiences to facilitate learning, skill development, and behavioral change. With more than 3.24 billion people worldwide engaging with games, gaming has become a prominent medium for entertainment, social interactions, education, and training. While most research focuses on games purely for entertainment, serious games have emerged as a distinct category and are designed for professional development, assessment, learning, skills development, and training across multiple industries. Serious games find applications in diverse fields such as military, education, science, healthcare, and engineering. They prioritize the use of specific skills and employ pedagogies tailored to achieve outcomes. For example, serious games have been used to raise awareness about posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as environmental and social issues, and to teach information literacy skills. They provide an immersive and interactive learning environment that promotes active participation, problem solving, and critical thinking. By integrating game mechanics with educational content, serious games can enhance engagement, motivation, and retention of knowledge. However, there are challenges associated with serious games, such as designing effective game mechanics, aligning learning objectives with gameplay, and evaluating their impact on learning outcomes. Additionally, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity while also addressing ethical concerns are crucial considerations when designing serious games. Despite these challenges, serious games have the potential to transform education and training by offering innovative and engaging learning experiences.
Development of Moral Cognition
Authors: Forbes Marley B. , Kaufman Elise , Killen Melanie
Published: October 2024

Moral cognition describes the processes of interpretation, abstraction, reasoning, judgment, and evaluation when taking considerations of others’ welfare, rights, fairness, equality, and justice into account. The roots of these cognitive processes emerge early in development and grow in complexity as children navigate the social world through interactions with others. Preferences for helping in the first few years of life, along with cooperation and intentionality by 3 years of age, form the foundations for children’s later capacities to express categorical judgments of right and wrong, and engage in complex moral reasoning. Moral cognition enables children, adolescents, and adults to make decisions about some of the most salient issues in contemporary human society, including how to distribute resources fairly, and how to challenge systems of bias and prejudice that perpetuate social inequities between groups. Diverse theoretical perspectives on the development of moral cognition persist. Nevertheless, understanding the developmental trajectory of moral cognition remains a central focus for scientists and scholars concerned with the diversity and universality of human societies.
Policies, Educational Reforms, and the Everyday Making of School in Argentina
Authors: Grinberg Silvia
Published: October 2024

School reform in Argentina has undergone major changes as a result of two structural transformations of the educational system in the last 40 years. There have been, and continue to be, multiple lines of action involving laws, programs, and policies that affect every aspect of school life. Layers of reform play out in the everyday life of schools, both as lofty statements about education and as large and small everyday acts. Despite disgruntled demands, nostalgia, and counter-reforms, it is crucial to pay attention to the everyday making of an institution, a making that takes place in the muck of history. Each of the programs, policies, regulations, and laws is engraved in this muck as a kind of sediment in a palimpsest-like mechanism where traces of the previous reform remain. These reforms, especially their impact on the life of institutions, remain a black box. The key to a different way of conceiving educational policy and reform lies in the everyday and in listening carefully to events as mundane as they are outlandish. It is a matter of patching things together in the everyday making of schools and their actors, which is marked by crisis, fragility, and precariousness.
Slavery in Africa
Authors: Klein Martin A.
Published: October 2024

Slavery existed in Africa for a long time before there was a slave trade with North Africans, the Middle East, Europeans, or the Indian Ocean world. The first contact between peoples north and south of the Sahara came in the Nile Valley. Ancient Egypt was not a slave society, but captives were often enslaved. Northeast Africa and the coast of East Africa were influenced by the penetration of the Indian Ocean by Greek and Roman navigators. Farther west, the development of trade was influenced by camels, which facilitated the growth of trade, and horses, which were useful in warfare. The availability of gold underwrote the creation of three empires centered on the Niger River, but the export of slaves from both West and Central Sudan supplemented the gold trade. Islam provided sanctions for slaving and a market for slaves. The transatlantic slave trade began in the 15th century and by the end of the 17th century achieved a greater scale than the trans-Saharan trade. It also led to the formation of a series of centralized and highly militarized states. The same period saw the growth of Indian Ocean trade and a penetration of East Africa by Arab and Swahili slave trades. The abolition of the slave trade and then slavery by European states in the 19th century did not reduce the trade but instead increased it as slaves were put to work producing commodities for European markets. Slaves were used in different ways within Africa, but the greatest difference from the Americas was in the importance of women, soldiers, and elite slaves.
Cricket and Race in 20th-Century Southern Africa
Authors: Desai Ashwin
Published: October 2024

The game of cricket, with its quintessential flannels, picket fences, and “fair play,” was trespassed in South Africa by the ideology of white racial supremacy. There were the occasional piercings of the white boundary, but this was quickly shut down. As the 20th century stretched past fifty, there was, hesitantly at first, and then with increasing zeal, another pitch laid out that allowed one to bat and bowl with a different set of ideals and dreams. This was a game committed to the defeat of the system of apartheid and the principle of non-racialism. The racially separate pitches ended in the early 1990s as apartheid’s tail-end ran out of overs. A new unified wicket came into being, and a more representative team sheet was promised. As South Africa entered the global playing fields, the Springboks mutated into the Proteas and became the flagbearers of the Rainbow Nation. Three decades after unity, though, this drama of transition and transformation is still haunted by debates over the racial composition of national teams and racist inclusions and exclusions.
Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonine Movement
Authors: Almeida Carlos
Published: October 2024

In 1704, on Mount Kibangu, near the mouth of Mbidizi river, Kimpa Vita, a woman apparently from the Kongo aristocracy baptized as Beatriz, proclaimed that Saint Anthony appeared to her while she was deeply ill. He urged for the recomposition of the Kongo political entity through the reaffirmation of the centrality of Mbanza Kongo, its symbolic capital, then known as São Salvador. Kimpa Vita’s prophetic call, deeply rooted in local cosmologies, incorporated a complex reinterpretation of Christian figures, rituals, and symbolic elements, visible from the outset in the veneration of Saint Anthony, anointed as the savior of Kongo. This reflected a long relationship with Christianity and Europe, which began two centuries earlier with the baptism of mwene Kongo Nzinga Nkuwu in 1491. The rapid growth of the movement launched by Kimpa Vita is inseparable from the warfare in the region at the time. The Atlantic slave trade multiplied, and, with it, the fear associated with transoceanic travel and an uncertain fate marked by violence, the rupture of all social ties, and submersion into the complete unknown. In a sense, without ever mentioning it expressly, Beatriz Kimpa Vita’s appeal gave voice to these popular concerns, challenging the different segments of the aristocracy who benefited from this unstable and fearful context, fighting amongst themselves to conquer spheres of power and influence, and precipitated the evolution of political forms in the region. The Antonine movement, as it is known in historiography, had a short life. On July 2, 1706, Kimpa Vita was burned at the stake on the orders of Pedro Afonso Água Rosada Nusamu a Mvemba, known as Pedro IV, with the direct participation of Capuchin priests in Kongo at the time who classified her as a heretic. Echoes of the movement, however, carried across space and time. Artifacts of material culture, such as the Toni Malau figurines, and similar prophetic appeals involving expressions and figures of Christianity, including St. Anthony, crossed the ocean aboard slave ships and emerged in slave revolts in the Americas led by Africans from that region. The influence also spread to prophetic movements in the 20th century.
“Wonder Foods”: Food Science and Food Industry
Authors: Gordon Bettencourt Clare
Published: October 2024

A wonder food is a packaged food product that promises extraordinary health and/or convenience benefits. These benefits are communicated on packaging, in marketing campaigns, and in media testimonials. Because of the industrial and mass market conditions necessary to package and market foods, wonder foods are unique to the industrial food marketplace.

Health wonder foods boomed in the 19th century due to advances in nutrition sciences, the intensification of industrialization, and the eugenicist, imperial, and extractivist politics of this time period. Nutritional entrepreneurship prompted the creation of unique foods that were situated at the intersection of commerce and science, including digestive biscuits, meat biscuits, digestive ferments, sodas, and grain cereals. Following World War II, a range of wonder foods promised to feed the world, as public and private Western global food aid efforts intensified to mitigate the spread of communism. Algae, fish flour, dried milk, and spun soy protein each had moments in which they were poised to solve global hunger and win the Cold War. Later, genetically modified Golden Rice promised to feed the world and solve vitamin A deficiency.

Concomitantly, the post–World War II era ushered in a food processing renaissance. Wartime technologies helped create convenience wonder foods like TV dinners that claimed to change consumers’ lives through the added value of time, longer shelf lives, and more processing to cut cooking time. In the 1990s, the Flavr Savr tomato was genetically modified to produce delicious and hardy tomatoes that would be a win–win for growers, shippers, grocers, and consumers. Finally, complete meal replacements like Soylent promised a 21st-century lifestyle imagined by Victorian futurists, yet digestive complications bring this wonder food full circle to the digestive anxieties of 19th-century wonder foods.