bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A novel model for the thermoelastic hydrodynamic lubrication characteristics of the slipper pair in radial piston pumps
Authors: Yun Zhengang , Li Shaonian , Li Fuhao , Wang Kaifeng , Fu Liting , Ru Changxu
Published: February 2025

Relying on heat conduction and thermoelastic mechanics theories and Takeuti's research, a novel TEHL (thermoelastic hydrodynamic lubrication) model considering thermal effect-induced thermoelastic deformation was developed. The impact of the radial piston pump's slipper pair's working and structural parameters on lubrication under heavy oscillating load was studied. The model was shown to be valid and superior in simulating oil film changes in TEHL, EHL (elastic hydrodynamic lubrication), and HL (hydrodynamic lubrication). It was first used to analyze how different conditions and parameters affect slipper pair lubrication. Thermoelastic deformation simulations were more accurate than previous elastic ones, making results more comprehensive. Friction experiments gave a coefficient of about 0.25 at 400–600 r/min and 0.23 at 600–1000 r/min, while the simulation result was 0.215. The HL model had a thin film, high temperature, and asymmetric pressure at x1 during suction, and increased thickness, decreased temperature, and uniform pressure at y1 during high pressure. In the HL model without deformations, the film was 12.9–14.0 μm thick and 345.7–354.0 K in temperature. In the EHL model with elastic deformation (0.6–2.6 μm), the thickness was 13.6–15.9 μm. In the TEHL model with thermoelastic deformation (0.5–2.1 μm), the thickness was 13.2–15.6 μm and the temperature was 344.4–354.0 K. Also, film thickness, speed, pressure, angle, radius, and ratio significantly affect slipper pair TEHL. This series of simulations proved the proposed model's feasibility for studying TEHL under heavy, variable loads and different structures. The model can optimize pump design parameters, boosting efficiency, and extending service life, and also enables fault prediction and prevention and maintenance strategy optimization, enhancing equipment reliability and production efficiency.
An improved feature aggregation network for photovoltaic cell defect detection
Authors: Dong Chunru , Chen Linlin , Liu Yuchen , Hua Qiang , Zhang Yong , Zhang Feng
Published: February 2025

Detecting defects in photovoltaic cells is essential for maintaining the reliability and efficiency of solar power systems. Existing methods face challenges such as (1) the interaction and fusion of features at different layers in the feature extraction network of the object detection model are not sufficient, (2) ineffective detection of uniquely structured curved defects, such as line-crack, star-crack, and (3) difficulty in differentiating defects from the noisy backgrounds of photovoltaic cell. To address these issues, we propose an improved feature aggregation network (IFA-Net) for photovoltaic cell defect detection, which enhances feature fusion, utilizes dynamic snake efficient layer aggregation network, and integrates squeeze-and-excitation attention to improve detection accuracy and robustness. Our extensive comparative and ablation studies on photovoltaic electroluminescence anomaly detection (PVEL-AD) dataset demonstrate that the IFA-Net outperforms the baseline model YOLOv7-tiny, achieving improvements by 3.5% in mAP@0.5, 3.2% in mAP@0.5:0.95, and 3.6% in Recall.
Effect of pulsed jet generated by boundary condition and fluid oscillator on the cascade performance
Authors: Kong Xiaozhi , Dong Zhengyang , Huang Tianshuo , Liu Yuxin , Wang Hong
Published: February 2025

By introducing pulsed jet with boundary condition styles and fluidic oscillator on the upper end wall, the paper analyzes, through validated numerical simulation, the impact of the two jet methods on the aerodynamic performance and flow field structure of the compressor cascade under different jet positions. The results show that under the frequency doubling condition of the prototype flow field, the boundary condition jet scheme demonstrates better performance at the positions of 76% and 86% axial chord, whereas the oscillator jet scheme exhibits superior control at the 96% axial chord position. The pulsed jet with jet pipe reduces the total pressure loss by a maximum of 10.51%, while the pulsed jet with fluid oscillator decreases the total pressure loss coefficient by 9.24%. After the two types of jets interact with the cascade flow field, the intricate flow conditions within the flow field exert varying influences on the pulsed jet. Specifically, the boundary condition-style jet increases the jet velocity due to the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet. Conversely, the oscillator jet reduces the outlet velocity due to the decreased pressure ratio between the inlet and outlet, ultimately resulting in the differences in the control performance of the two schemes. At the 76% and 86% of the axial chord positions, the boundary condition jet injects additional momentum into the low-energy fluid within the corner region, effectively inhibiting the development of trailing-edge shedding vortex, narrowing the range of corner separation, and decreasing cascade losses. At the position of 96% axial chord, which is near the trailing edge of the cascade, the high-momentum fluid from the boundary condition jet enhances flow mixing. The pressure difference that had increased on both sides of the trailing edge causes significant deflection of the jet fluid, thereby reducing the control effectiveness. In contrast, the oscillator jet significantly reduces the intensity and scope of passage vortex and trailing-edge shedding vortex, lowering the turbulent kinetic energy in the area and decreasing mixing losses.
Landau levels induced by synthetic strain in plasmonic metasurface
Authors: Chang Jie , Xu Zhixia , Li Shunli , Zhao Hongxin , Yin Xiaoxing
Published: February 2025

The quantum Hall effect arises when electrons in a two-dimensional plane are subjected to a magnetic field, causing them to undergo cyclotron motion and form discrete energy levels, known as Landau levels. These levels play a critical role in condensed matter physics. However, practical limitations of applying a magnetic field have led to the introduction of pseudomagnetic fields, which can similarly induce Landau levels. Such pseudomagnetic fields are typically generated through synthetic strain, achieved by deforming geometric patterns, and have been applied to systems like graphene, photons, and phonon crystals. Building on previous research in electronics and optics, we present a plasmonic metasurface that induces Landau levels via synthetic strain in the microwave frequency range. This strain is realized by printing metal structures of specific shapes on a dielectric substrate using printed circuit board technology. The fundamental unit of the plasmonic metasurface is a C6 symmetric structure composed of six localized surface plasmon patches. By applying a displacement function along the transmission direction, we discretize the dispersion curve, leading to band degeneration and the emergence of edge states. The distribution of these edge states is influenced by the strength of the pseudomagnetic field, which is controlled by the magnitude of the displacement function. We validate our design through fabricated models and demonstrate the existence of edge states using near-field scanning experiments. Our work, which combines synthetic magnetic fields and plasmonic metasurface, provides valuable insights for the development and application of integrated photonic devices.
Mode recognition in a kerosene-fueled scramjet combustor by a Swin Transformer neural network
Authors: Guan Qinlin , Dong Xue , Zhang Wei , Sun Liyang , Zhu Jiajian , Luo Tiangang , Xu Shuogui
Published: February 2025

Recognizing the combustion mode in scramjet engines is critical for suppressing oscillations and stabilizing the combustion process in hypersonic aircrafts. Current accesses mainly depend on mechanical measurement and dominant frequencies based on image analysis methods, such as proper orthogonal decomposition and dynamic mode decomposition. However, these traditional methods either lack of precision or fall short of the need for prior knowledge, poor generalization, and low efficiency, posing challenges in practical implementations, especially when online controlling is highlighted in the scramjet combustions. Recently, machine learning (ML) has been introduced to the combustion community due to its superiority in high flexibility and efficiency in addressing complex problems. The classical convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures have been reported to achieve efficient combustion mode recognition in furnace combustion, swirling combustor, and rotating detonation engines. However, those CNN-based models are incapable of utilizing the global flame features and the coherences of local areas, resulting in insufficient accuracy and robustness in scramjet combustions with high inflow speed and distinct mode variations. To address this problem, this paper reports a Swin (shifted window) Transformer model, an advanced ML structure outstanding in capturing both global and local features by its self-attention mechanism with high computational efficiency, to identify combustion modes in scramjet engines. The Swin-T was trained and validated in a kerosene-fueled cavity-based scramjet combustor, and results show that it can achieve a considerable accuracy of 95.28%. Comparisons with CNN-based models further indicate that Swin-T outperforms in accuracy, efficiency, and robustness by around 0.7%, 80%, and 3%, respectively.
Analysis of the impact of temperature on the performance of curved surface CMOS image sensors
Authors: Xue Gang , Zhang Changxing , Zhang Zhixing , Song Xin , Xu Wei , Chen Ying
Published: February 2025

Curved surface CMOS image sensors (CISs) mimic the structure of the human eye’s retina, reducing optical distortion and simplifying lens design. Compared to planar sensors, the curved design introduces additional stress during the molding process and increasing working temperature, affecting the photoelectric performance and geometric shape, thereby impacting image quality. This study established a force-heat simulation model to analyze various parameters affecting the stress of curved CIS chips. Furthermore, a theoretical model for thin-film stress was established using the Stoney formula to validate the accuracy of the simulation. In the experimental phase, a pneumatic pressure three-dimensional forming technique was employed to integrate ultra-thin CIS chips onto a concave spherical substrate. The three-dimensional morphology and photoelectric performance parameters of curved and planar CIS chips were measured under high-temperature ambient conditions. The results showed that the curved CIS chips integrated on a silicon concave spherical base exhibited a three-dimensional morphology change of less than 2 µm at high temperatures (∼85 °C). Regarding photoelectric performance, the dark current of the curved CIS devices decreased by about 2DN at high temperatures. In addition, the dynamic range decreased by about 17 dB, the signal-to-noise ratio decreased by about 16.5 dB, and the read noise increased by 0.3DN, with trends and values consistent with planar devices. The above-mentioned study indicates that curved CIS devices fabricated on a silicon base can maintain their three-dimensional morphology and photoelectric performance without significant degradation under high-temperature working conditions and can operate normally.
Non-linear shear characteristics and wear behaviors of joints considering the factors of roughness, size effect, and joint strength
Authors: Su Yangyang , Yin Qian , Tao Zhigang , He Manchao , Ren Shulin , Wang Gang , Zhang Yuanchao , Jing Hongwen , Wu Jiangyu
Published: February 2025

This study investigates the non-linear shear behaviors and failure mechanisms of rock-like materials with three-dimensional joint regarding various sample diameters (d), joint roughness coefficients (JRC), and joint wall strength ratios (SR). A series of cylindrical specimens were prepared and underwent direct shear tests. The peak shear stress (τmax) decreases by 13.09%–25.98% with an increasing d due to the intensified stress concentration resultant from a diminished contact area. A higher JRC increases τmax by 13.16%–50.70% due to enhanced interlocking effects. An increase in SR improves the matrix mechanical properties, resulting in a gentle growth in τmax by 7.30%–18.27%. The normal displacement (δv)–shear displacement (u) curves and failure morphologies of the joints indicate that, as d decreases or JRC and SR increase, the curves gradually move upward and the failure modes of the joints transfer from plastic shear flow to brittle shear failure. Furthermore, the finite element method simulation was introduced to analyze the mesoscopic wear characteristics of the joint surfaces. The results reveal that the process of joint failure can be categorized into three stages including wear, shearing, and further smoothing, and the failure degree on the joints exacerbates with a smaller d or larger JRC and SR. Additionally, an improved non-linear shear failure criterion considering the influences of size effect, SR, and JRC is developed based on the Barton's JRC-JCS (joint compressive strength) model, with the average error reduced significantly from 8.12% to 3.23%.
Consumer involvement; the system says ‘No.’
Authors: Hill Kylie , Hug Sarah , Cavalheri Vinicius , Horgan Ben
Published: February 2025

The importance of authentic consumer engagement to shape decisions in health care is now well recognised. Both the National Health and Medical Research Council and Cancer Council conceptualise consumer involvement as a process that requires consumer capability and organisational capacity and emphasise that organisations should commit to acting on outcomes that have involved consumers. In this perspective piece, we share our experience of working with consumers to develop strategies that aimed to optimise referrals to an evidence-based and cost-effective intervention; a pulmonary rehabilitation program. Although we were successful at implementing some of the co-design strategies and were able to demonstrate an increase in referrals, we were surprised that many of the strategies, which were seemingly simple, could not be implemented due to bureaucratic barriers. Based on our experience, given their ability to navigate bureaucratic barriers within the system, future health researchers should consider actively recruiting senior hospital staff to be part of the co-design process from project inception.
Active vision in freely moving marmosets using head-mounted eye tracking
Authors: Singh Vikram Pal , Li Jingwen , Dawson Kana , Mitchell Jude F. , Miller Cory T.
Published: February 2025

Our understanding of how vision functions as primates actively navigate the real-world is remarkably sparse. As most data have been limited to chaired and typically head-restrained animals, the synergistic interactions of different motor actions/plans inherent to active sensing—e.g., eyes, head, posture, movement, etc.—on visual perception are largely unknown. To address this considerable gap in knowledge, we developed an innovative wireless head-mounted eye-tracking system that performs Chair-free Eye-Recording using Backpack mounted micROcontrollers (CEREBRO) for small mammals, such as marmoset monkeys. Because eye illumination and environment lighting change continuously in natural contexts, we developed a segmentation artificial neural network to perform robust pupil tracking in these conditions. Leveraging this innovative system to investigate active vision, we demonstrate that although freely moving marmosets exhibit frequent compensatory eye movements equivalent to other primates, including humans, the predictability of the visual behavior (gaze) is higher when animals are freely moving relative to when they are head-fixed. Moreover, despite increases in eye/head-motion during locomotion, gaze stabilization remains steady because of an increase in vestibularocular reflex gain during locomotion. These results demonstrate the efficient, dynamic visuo-motor mechanisms and related behaviors that enable stable, high-resolution foveal vision in primates as they explore the natural world.
The C2 domain augments Ras GTPase-activating protein catalytic activity
Authors: Paul Maxum E. , Chen Di , Vish Kimberly J. , Lartey Nathaniel L. , Hughes Elizabeth , Freeman Zachary T. , Saunders Thomas L. , Stiegler Amy L. , King Philip D. , Boggon Titus J.
Published: February 2025

Regulation of Ras GTPases by GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) is essential for their normal signaling. Nine of the ten GAPs for Ras contain a C2 domain immediately proximal to their canonical GAP domain, and in RasGAP (p120GAP, p120RasGAP;
RASA1
) mutation of this domain is associated with vascular malformations in humans. Here, we show that the C2 domain of RasGAP is required for full catalytic activity toward Ras. Analyses of the RasGAP C2-GAP crystal structure, AlphaFold models, and sequence conservation reveal direct C2 domain interaction with the Ras allosteric lobe. This is achieved by an evolutionarily conserved surface centered around RasGAP residue R707, point mutation of which impairs the catalytic advantage conferred by the C2 domain in vitro. In mice,
R707C
mutation phenocopies the vascular and signaling defects resulting from constitutive disruption of the
RASA1
gene. In SynGAP, mutation of the equivalent conserved C2 domain surface impairs catalytic activity. Our results indicate that the C2 domain is required to achieve full catalytic activity of GAPs for Ras.
Measure schematicity through information content
Authors: Zhang Liulin , Tao Jiajun
Published: February 2025

Apropos of the level of specificity, schematicity is the key indicator of grammaticalization in linguistics;
compared to lexical items, the information provided by grammar patterns tends to be more abstract. With recourse to the notion of
the quantifiable information content in information theory, the schematicity of a schema can be quantified by comparing the
information content provided by the elements occurring in the open slots to that provided by the schema itself. A formula is
thereby proposed to measure schematicity. This schematicity measure is able to illustrate the gradience and gradualness of
grammaticalization in its applications in synchronic English data and diachronic Chinese data. Compared to previous measures of
grammaticalization, there is a notable improvement in reliability and applicability.
Commenting behavior as a mirror of parasocial relationships and emotional attachment on YouTube
Authors: Pelttari Sanna
Published: February 2025

Research on Influencer Marketing has flourished in recent years and has also encompassed the audience’s
perspective. Nevertheless, there is a lack of studies that specifically focus on the reception of IM as revealed by the YouTube
comments. This study examines comments on 12 product-promoting videos of Spanish YouTubers. The purpose is to provide insight into
the communicative behavior exhibited by social media users in comment sections and to reveal what these communicative acts reveal
of the bond between content creators and their followers in terms of parasocial relationship and emotional attachment. These two
phenomena are observed in the light of involvement strategies. The analysis emphasizes the high diversity of comment contents,
communicative acts and involvement practices involved. Results shed light on the diverse means that users employ to establish and
strengthen parasocial relationships on YouTube. The praising comments appear to symbolize an emotional attachment that bears
importance for the users.
Final report of the EURAMET supplementary comparison of mass standards of 20kg
Authors: Zelenka Zoltan , Leytem Alain , Sanchez Quentin , Coenegrachts Mieke , Abrantes João , Snopko Laurenc , Pantić Dragan , Miteva Mariana , Rusu Ana , Eșan Maria , Žandarova Tatjana , Stoilkovska Bianka Mangutova , Halabaku Blerim , AlQarni Saud M , Stiphout Wouter
Published: February 2025

Main text

In order to validate the participants' calibration measurement capabilities (CMCs) and to provide a basis for the submission of reviewed or new CMCs for National Metrology Institutes of member countries of the "Comité International des Poids et Mesures" (CIPM), supplementary comparisons of mass standards have been carried out under the auspices of the EURAMET. This is a comparison of the 20kg stainless steel mass standard. The aim of this supplementary comparison was to compare the results obtained by NMIs in the calibration of 20kg stainless steel weights. BEV, Austria was the pilot laboratory. Measurements were performed between 15 May 2022 and 28 June 2024. The data analysis was carried out by Dr Lars Nielsen (DFM). The participants' results were in agreement with the comparison reference value except one laboratory (SMU, Slovakia), after two laboratories updated their values.

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

The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).
Coupled reaction-diffusion equations with degenerate diffusivity: wavefront analysis
Authors: Muñoz-Hernández Eduardo , Sovrano Elisa , Taddei Valentina
Published: February 2025

We investigate traveling wave solutions for a nonlinear system of two coupled reaction-diffusion equations characterized by double degenerate diffusivity:

n
t

=
−
f

(
n
,
b
)

,

b
t

=

[
g

(
n
)

h

(
b
)

b
x

]

x

+
f

(
n
,
b
)

.

These systems mainly appear in modeling spatio-temporal patterns during bacterial growth. Central to our study is the diffusion term

g
(
n
)
h
(
b
)

, which degenerates at n = 0 and b = 0; and the reaction term

f
(
n
,
b
)

, which is positive, except for n = 0 or b = 0. Specifically, the existence of traveling wave solutions composed by a couple of strictly monotone functions for every wave speed in a closed half-line is proved, and some threshold speed estimates are given. Moreover, the regularity of the traveling wave solutions is discussed in connection with the wave speed.
Enhancing U-Net-based Pseudo-CT generation from MRI using CT-guided bone segmentation for radiation treatment planning in head & neck cancer patients
Authors: Katseena Yawson Ama , Sallem Habiba , Seidensaal Katharina , Welzel Thomas , Klüter Sebastian , Maria Paul Katharina , Dorsch Stefan , Beyer Cedric , Debus Jürgen , Jäkel Oliver , Bauer Julia , Giske Kristina
Published: February 2025

Objective. This study investigates the effects of various training protocols on enhancing the precision of MRI-only Pseudo-CT generation for radiation treatment planning and adaptation in head & neck cancer patients. It specifically tackles the challenge of differentiating bone from air, a limitation that frequently results in substantial deviations in the representation of bony structures on Pseudo-CT images. Approach. The study included 25 patients, utilizing pre-treatment MRI-CT image pairs. Five cases were randomly selected for testing, with the remaining 20 used for model training and validation. A 3D U-Net deep learning model was employed, trained on patches of size 643 with an overlap of 323. MRI scans were acquired using the Dixon gradient echo (GRE) technique, and various contrasts were explored to improve Pseudo-CT accuracy, including in-phase, water-only, and combined water-only and fat-only images. Additionally, bone extraction from the fat-only image was integrated as an additional channel to better capture bone structures on Pseudo-CTs. The evaluation involved both image quality and dosimetric metrics. Main results. The generated Pseudo-CTs were compared with their corresponding registered target CTs. The mean absolute error (MAE) and peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) for the base model using combined water-only and fat-only images were 19.20 ± 5.30 HU and 57.24 ± 1.44 dB, respectively. Following the integration of an additional channel using a CT-guided bone segmentation, the model’s performance improved, achieving MAE and PSNR of 18.32 ± 5.51 HU and 57.82 ± 1.31 dB, respectively. The measured results are statistically significant, with a p-value

<

0.05. The dosimetric assessment confirmed that radiation treatment planning on Pseudo-CT achieved accuracy comparable to conventional CT. Significance. This study demonstrates improved accuracy in bone representation on Pseudo-CTs achieved through a combination of water-only, fat-only and extracted bone images; thus, enhancing feasibility of MRI-based simulation for radiation treatment planning.
Investigation of the Langdon effect on the nonlinear evolution of SBS in Au plasmas
Authors: Li Xiaoran , Qiu Jie , Zhang Shuqing , Hao Liang , Zou Shiyang
Published: February 2025

In laser-irradiated plasmas, the Langdon effect modifies the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) from a Maxwellian to a super-Gaussian form, further influencing backward stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). We investigate the impact of the Langdon effect on the nonlinear evolution of SBS in Au plasmas using Vlasov–Maxwell simulations, with a particular focus on electron–ion collisions. In the absence of electron–ion collisions, the higher ion acoustic wave (IAW) frequency associated with a super-Gaussian EEDF leads to a slower initial SBS growth rate compared to the Maxwellian case. As the IAW grows to higher amplitudes, higher-order harmonics and ion trapping occur, resulting in nonlinear frequency shifts and spectral broadening, which saturate SBS and maintain it at a quasi-steady state with relatively low reflectivity. Under a super-Gaussian EEDF, the reduced IAW nonlinearity and Landau damping contribute to a higher SBS saturation level. When electron–ion collisions are present, they weaken the rapid growth of the IAW and inhibit frequency shifts and spectral broadening, leading to a higher average reflectivity for the same initial EEDF. In this scenario, the Langdon effect further enhances SBS by reducing IAW nonlinearity and inverse bremsstrahlung (IB) absorption, in which reduced IAW nonlinearity leads to relatively weaker harmonics, and reduced IB absorption allows the pump wave to propagate with a relatively higher amplitude, significantly increasing SBS reflectivity.
Design and performance investigation of an underwater ultrasonic percussive drill for seabed mineral exploration
Authors: Li He , Zhang Zhanpeng , Yu Bo , Wei Minyu , Shen Yi , Chen Zhaoyang , Zeng Qingliang
Published: February 2025

To address the limitations of traditional drilling equipment, such as large size, high power consumption, and difficulties with waterproofing, an underwater ultrasonic percussive drill (UUPD) based on piezoelectric drive is proposed. The structure and size parameters of the piezoelectric actuator are designed and its performance is experimentally verified. The maximum output amplitude of the piezoelectric actuator is 78.6 μm in air and 52.3 μm in water. Additionally, the dynamic characteristics of the UUPD are calculated theoretically and analyzed by simulation, and the influence of system parameters on vibration characteristics is revealed. A prototype of the UUPD is developed, and a performance testing platform is established, and drilling comparison experiments and power consumption test are carried out to evaluate the performance of the UUPD. Experimental results demonstrate that the UUPD is capable of breaking rocks with varying hardness (5–50 MPa) under small drilling pressure (around 6 N) and low power consumption (approximately 57 W). The UUPD proposed in this paper offers advantages, including low drilling pressure, low power consumption, light weight and compact structure, showing a good application prospect and providing an effective technical means for deep-sea hard mineral rock drilling and sampling.
Protecting quantum coherence of semiconductor qubit by utilizing charge noise
Authors: Sun Haowen , Chen Hongxiang , Ma Junzhe , Tao Wenhui , Liu Meng , Yang Xiuyi
Published: February 2025

Semiconductor qubits based on quantum dots (QDs) are a hopeful candidate for universal quantum computing due to their long coherence time and recent experimental achievements in precisely controlling and rapidly reading out the qubits. However, charge noise is an inevitable issue that leads to dephasing and relaxation in semiconductor qubits. In this paper, we propose a scheme to utilize these ubiquitous charge noises to protect quantum coherence. Our results reveal that introducing charge noise appropriately will not only be harmless to quantum coherence but may also reduce the decoherence caused by other factors, thus achieving the effect of protecting quantum coherence. We analyze the dynamics of double QDs coupled to a transmission line and focus on the charge noise acting on the QDs. For the flicker (

1

/

f

) charge noise, the numerical results indicate that a high-frequency noise is more suitable to protect coherence. Last but not least, we also investigate two other types of charge noise and show the performance of the mixed noise. We hope our results open a new window for the community to consider utilizing noise to protect quantum coherence.
Validation of a 3D printed bolus for radiotherapy: a proof-of-concept study
Authors: Ciobanu A C , Petcu L C , Járai-Szabó F , Bálint Z
Published: February 2025

3D-printed boluses in radiation therapy are of increasing interest for enhancing treatment precision and patient comfort. A comprehensive clinical validation of these boluses remains to be established. This study aims to confirm the effectiveness of a 3D-printed bolus through a proof-of-concept comparative validation, by implementing in a clinical setting a bolus made of PLA and designed to ensure uniform dose coverage for a case in the eye region. In this study the 3D-printed bolus was compared to two commercially available boluses (one thermoplastic and one skin type) by using a refecence where no bolus was present (with the optimal dose distribution scenario). All boluses were placed on an anthropomorphic head phantom and BeOSL detectors were used to measure dose values to determine the level of their effectiveness on delivery. During the scanning process, a thermoplastic mask was used to prevent bolus movement and to accurately reproduce clinical scenarios. Differences in dose values at Dmax and D50% revealed the performance of each bolus. The treatment planning system (TPS) and BeOSL readings for the 3D printed bolus were within 2% (the clinical tolerance), with 0.66% dose difference for the customized 3D-printed bolus. Although the thermoplastic bolus had the closest value to the detector reading, with a score of 0.30%, this result was influenced by improper shaping of the bolus on the phantom and the presence of a wide air gap, which caused lack of eye covering. Whereas, the skin bolus, due to higher volume of air between phantom surface and bolus, showed a 1.29% dose difference between the TPS values and the OSL detector readings. We provide a comparative validation for the use of 3D printed boluses and highlight that proper bolus fitting is essential in clinical settings to avoid air gaps and to maintain dose distribution over multiple treatment sessions.
Cultivating Fields of Progress
Authors: Ribi Forclaz Amalia
Published: February 2025

Cultivating Fields of Progress explores how the improvement of working and living conditions in agriculture became an international issue in the broader context of the interwar and immediate post Second World War years. It focuses on the international debates, knowledge production, and policy-making that took place within the International Labour Organization and related organizations, as well as among expert networks, agrarian interest groups, trade unionists, and farmer representatives. It traces the shifting thematic considerations, and temporal and geographical scope of these debates, from the plight of landless farmworkers in Europe in the early 1920s to the conditions of plantation workers in the 1950s. By using the archives of international organizations, the book tells a broader story about how and to what ends questions of rural poverty and problematic labour conditions both in Europe and overseas made their way to the world stage against a backdrop of a discourse of social progress and economic development. If today we tend to associate calls for advancing social justice and decent work with rural economies in the ‘Global South’, the book shows that not so long ago, Europe and its rural populations were a major site of social reform and development.
Introduction
Authors: Ribi Forclaz Amalia
Published: February 2025

The introduction of the book makes a case for bringing together the history of agriculture with the history of international organizations and the history of labour and development. It argues that the historical role of agriculture has been underrepresented in accounts of international relations, labour history and the development of global institutions. The introduction posits that the archives of international institutions such as those of the International Labour Organization offer an underused and fertile ground to trace the evolution of international debates on agricultural modernization and the tension between social reform and economic progress that characterized the interwar years and the first decade of post Second World War development thinking.
Putting Agriculture on the Agenda
Authors: Ribi Forclaz Amalia
Published: February 2025

Chapter 1 tells the story of how, following the devastation caused by the First World War, the European countryside became a focal point of attention for trade unionists and social reformers. The war had mobilized millions of men and women and caused material damage to the countryside, decimating the rural workforce, destroying villages and fields, and bringing psychological trauma to farming families. In the wake of the conflict, agricultural trade unionists rallied for international congresses and called for providing farmworkers with the same social rights as industrial workers. They demanded that emerging international institutions address the social plights of agricultural populations. Their lobbying drew attention to the conditions of workers in the agricultural sector, which suffered from a lack of social legislation and employed some of the poorest people in Europe.
‘Nature Yields to No Law’
Authors: Ribi Forclaz Amalia
Published: February 2025

Chapter 2 focuses on the ILO’s first conference on agriculture, which took place in 1921 in Geneva. The chapter traces the search for a common international language and understanding of the most pressing issues as well as a normative framework that would secure social rights, insurances, and standardized working days in a sector that was reputedly heterogenous, disorganized, and which employed some of the poorest people in Europe. Through the discussion of topics such as hours of work, rural housing, and the work of women and children, experts, international officials, and government representatives were meant to close the gap between urban and rural workers. The chapter argues that the ILO struggled with formulating standards and was criticized for its vague formulations.
Cultivating Knowledge
Authors: Ribi Forclaz Amalia
Published: February 2025

Chapter 3 explores the production of knowledge on agriculture at the ILO. It argues that from the mid-1920s onwards, parts of the ILO functioned as a rural observatory that conducted research in a bid to help experts formulate standards that would close the gap between urban and rural workers. The chapter focuses on the collaborative work that the ILO carried out with the older International Institute of Agriculture through a joint expert commission, the Mixed Advisory Agricultural Committee. It discusses the geographical scope of these expert discussions which covered topics from vocational education to labour management and land reform. As the chapter shows, the work of the Committee was exclusively centred on Europe and there was a deep-seated reluctance to include agricultural labour in the colonies into these studies.
Navigating the Crisis and Its Repercussions
Authors: Ribi Forclaz Amalia
Published: February 2025

Chapter 4 examines how the Great Depression functioned as a turning point in the ILO’s work. In the early 1930s international debates about agriculture became engulfed in a rhetoric of depression and crisis bringing renewed attention to agricultural and rural economies. The contentious question of limiting working hours on farms, which had been dropped in the early 1920s, came back to the fore, combining discussions on normative regulation with those about discipline, rationality, and scientific management. An enquiry on hours of work in agriculture exposed the limits of the ILO’s (often overly ambitious) scientific work, as well as the inadequacy of its Eurocentric bias.
War, Disruption, and Transformation
Authors: Ribi Forclaz Amalia
Published: February 2025

Chapter 6 explores how the Second World War impacted the ILO’s work on agriculture. The war not only displaced the organization’s international secretariat but also acted as a catalyst for the emergence of new approaches to agricultural modernization, reconstruction, and development outside the organization. The creation of the United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization, along with the dissolution of the International Institute of Agriculture, posed new challenges to the ILO. Decolonization and emerging Cold-War-related preoccupations with food security, gave new meaning to agriculture in international diplomacy and also shifted the discourse to combating hunger and securing rural welfare on a global scale. Faced with the new world order, the ILO expanded its post-war policy to addressing labour problems in the colonies. It also sought to reassert its position as a standard-setting agency and as a defender of social rights for people in agriculture.
Determining Personality Disorder Severity
Authors: Huprich Steven K , Sheriff Alizia
Published: February 2025

The International statistical classification of diseases —11th edition (ICD-11; World Health Organization, 2024) nomenclature for personality disorders focuses on impairment of the self and interpersonal functioning along with emotional, cognitive, and behavioral manifestations. While the clinician may also specify the prominent trait domains that are present in the patient (i.e., Negative Affectivity, Detachment, Dissociality, Disinhibition, and Anankastia, as well as assessing whether the patient is also characterized by a Borderline pattern), it is critical that clinicians recognize patients’ maladaptive ways in which self and other representations, as well as cognitive-emotional-behavioral manifestations of personality, lead to impairment. These impairments range across levels and comprise what is known as personality disorder severity. This chapter offers a detailed description of how self and interpersonal dysfunction, as well as emotional, cognitive, and behavioral manifestations of impairment, may present in patients who function at various levels of severity. We offer examples of how the trait domains may manifest themselves at the various severity levels and provide two brief vignettes demonstrating mild and moderate personality disorder.
“Primitives of a new sensibility”
Authors: Merjian Ara H
Published: February 2025

This chapter examines the notion of the Futurist movement as comprising “primitives of a new sensibility.” By turns playful and confrontational, the manifesto of “Futurism” announced the imminent demolition of Italy’s cultural patrimony. As a poet, playwright, novelist, editor, and polemicist, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti embodied the interdisciplinarity fundamental to Futurism, which in just a few years swelled to include dancers and musicians, architects and photographers, set designers and cinematographers. Futurist painting, poetry, and sculpture came to evoke dynamism not merely by way of subject matter, but formal and verbal agitation. The chapter also considers Marinetti’s manifestos, which first emerged in the late nineteenth century as instruments of political or aesthetic declaration. In its early phases, Futurist painting and sculpture likewise remained indebted to late nineteenth-century tendencies, particularly Divisionism and post-impressionism.
Early Futurist theory and practice
Authors: Merjian Ara H
Published: February 2025

This chapter elaborates on the early Futurist theory and practice. It looks into the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery that, by 1912, offered the most prominent possible forum for presenting Futurist achievements. Moreover, accompanying their February 1912 exhibition of thirty-five works, the manifesto “The Exhibitors to the Public”, with the painter Giacomo Balla now among its signatories, differentiated Futurist aims from those of their competitors. The chapter also considers Futurist architecture. It discusses the young critic Roberto Longhi’s comparison of Futurist imagery to Cubist counterparts, and his proposition that the way in which the Futurists’ evocations of relentless motion dynamized the staid matter-of-factness of geometry.
From Words-in-Freedom to war
Authors: Merjian Ara H
Published: February 2025

This chapter discusses the Futurist agitation for intervention into World War I. It explains that the relatively tranquil gentility of the pre-war Belle Epoque belied a decadence as political as it was aesthetic for a generation of restless Italian artists. For the Futurists and others, the “Adriatic question” crystalized the larger failings of Italian statecraft. The chapter also mentions how interventionism even briefly united Papini and Soffici’s Futurist cadre with the Milanese group around Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. It points out that the widespread reprisal of ancient iconography increasingly marginalized the relevance of Futurist agitation to Fascism’s self-image. Marinetti managed to reconcile virulent nationalism with renewed international activity in an ever expanding range of media.
Futurism and gender
Authors: Merjian Ara H
Published: February 2025

This chapter details the interplay between Futurism and gender. It notes that, according to Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Futurist misogyny bore not upon the lives of particular individuals, but rather upon the tired symbolism into which femininity was pressed in the abstract. Paradoxically, the Futurist injunction against the feminine in the realm of sentimentalized metaphor was matched in the social sphere by a promotion of expanded rights. The chapter observes that, from the start, Futurism’s hypermasculine ethos engendered a homosocial fraternity of creators. It then provides an overview of how Fascist gender politics travestied early Futurist tropes as much as it reinforced them.
François Berthod’s Airs de dévotion for Honnêtes Femmes, Novitiates, and Nuns
Authors: Gordon Catherine E
Published: February 2025

Chapter 4 focuses on François Berthod’s Airs de dévotion, which are contrafacta of mid-century airs sérieux. Each of three volumes represents three levels of devotion (low, intermediate, and high) and different functions: (1) female courtiers for their hours of recreation (1656); (2) young novitiates as part of their religious education, topics for meditation, and as vocal exercises (1658); and (3) nuns as topics for contemplation (1662). Although Berthod wrote all lyrics in keeping with the popular galant style, Book 1, in particular, represents a Christian version of honnêteté and galanterie, thus a morality of virtue and honorability mixed with a type of sociability involving good taste and wit. The chapter analyzes and compares the airs from all three volumes and addresses the controversy surrounding contrafacta: the belief that while singing the sacred contrafacta women would be thinking about its lascivious secular counterpart, the problems with the alignment of syllable lengths with rhythmic values, and conformity between musical and textual expression of the original tune and new lyrics.
Bertrand de Bacilly’s Airs spirituels and Seventeenth-Century Rigorism
Authors: Gordon Catherine E
Published: February 2025

Chapter 5 is an analysis of Bertrand de Bacilly’s Les Airs spirituels, which are not contrafacta but newly written melodies, many set to lyrics by Jacques Testu and Bacilly. Both Testu and Bacilly were connected to Jansenists and a group of noblewomen known as rigorist penitents who aligned themselves with Jansenist theology. Jansenist concepts, phrases, and words appear throughout Bacilly’s lyrics. Addressed are (1) Bacilly’s connection to Testu and the rigorist pentitents; (2) the ways that Bacilly’s vocal preludes and airs provide an alternative to secular songs that express a “false rhetoric” that contaminates reason and obscures truth; and (3) the appropriate appeal to the senses through expressions of sacred maxims. An analysis reveals that despite the harsh lyrics, the airs were written to appeal to female courtiers and young girls by enveloping the rigorist meaning of the lyrics in an appealing and familiar literary and musical style.
Sacred Songs, Pleasure, and the Triumph of Popular Taste
Authors: Gordon Catherine E
Published: February 2025

Chapter 7 presents an analysis of four collections of sacred songs published between 1699 and 1705. Despite Louis XIV’s religious conversion after 1680 and a turn toward austere piety at court, the more pleasant and positive side of religious devotion dominated most sacred songs at the end of the century. Collections also included several songs for two or more singers that, for the first time, required male voices. The majority of sacred lyrics were not written by members of the clergy, but rather by some of the most well-known poets and authors of the day. Instead of women singing sacred songs for private devotion, the function of many songs was for group recreation and a religious experience shared by men and women. By the turn of the century, all sides of the religious controversy that had previously plagued the church in France were represented throughout the repertory. No matter the message, however, it was communicated in an agreeable and familiar literary and musical style. In addition to an analysis of the repertory, the chapter also includes a section on performance practice issues.
Conclusions
Authors: Balaskas Vasileios
Published: February 2025

The revival of classical theatre from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s was deeply intertwined with the socio-political landscape of European modernity. Institutional power and political ideologies shaped the staging of classical drama, transforming ancient venues into symbols of collective identities. Authoritarian regimes in Greece and Spain used classical theatre to promote national narratives and political agendas, ultimately turning these ancient venues into modern, politicized spaces. The influence of international models, particularly from Italy, Germany, and France, played a significant role in developing theatrical traditions throughout the twentieth century. While the revival was related to national trends, it was also shaped by regional dynamics and local constraints, exemplifying a complex interplay between culture, politics, and performance.
What is Women’s Writing?
Authors: Dodds Lara , Dowd Michelle M
Published: February 2025

This chapter provides an overview of theoretical and critical debates about the categories of “woman writer” and “women’s writing.” It makes a strategic argument for the value of early modern women’s writing as a category of analysis that can reinvigorate debates about authorship and about the relationship between gender and writing for writers of all genders. Women’s writing remains a useful category of analysis because, historically, certain writers have been taken as women writers. The value of this approach is demonstrated through a case study of the shifting reception of the works and reputation of Lucy Hutchinson over four centuries. This chapter argues that an understanding of women’s writing as a category based on identity should be replaced with a recognition of women’s writing and women writers as the outcome of historically specific social and literary relationships.