bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
State of charge estimation of lithium-ion batteries using improved BP neural network and filtering techniques
Authors: Li Yan , Ye Min , Wang Qiao , Wei Meng , Lian Gaoqi
Published: September 2023

The state of charge (SOC) is a critical parameter in the battery management system (BMS), and its accurate estimation is essential for ensuring the safety and reliability of batteries. This paper presents a lithium-ion battery SOC estimation method that combines an improved neural network with a filtering algorithm. Firstly, the backpropagation (BP) algorithm is chosen as the architecture of the neural network in the hybrid method due to its strong nonlinear approximation ability, and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to optimize it to avoid falling into local optimal solutions. By combining the search ability of PSO with the learning ability of the BP neural network, the accuracy of the neural network model is improved. The proposed method integrates the PSO-BP model with the extended Kalman filter based on minimum error entropy (MEE-EKF). PSO-BP is utilized as the measurement equation for MEE-EKF, while the ampere-hour integration method is employed as the state equation to achieve closed-loop SOC estimation. Finally, experimental validation is conducted under four typical operating conditions and one random condition across a wide temperature range. The results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves high accuracy across all conditions compared with the results of other algorithms, with a maximum absolute error of not exceeding 3.13%, a mean absolute error of less than 0.54%, and a root mean square error of no more than 0.66%.
Research and analysis on noise characteristics of low voltage power lines carrier communication
Authors: Ren Yi , Zhu Enguo , Zhang Hailong , Li Ran , Chen Kuixi , Lu Jizhe
Published: September 2023

Noise is one of the most important factors affecting the reliability of low-voltage power line carrier communication. In order to fully grasp the noise characteristics, a channel analysis equipment has been designed to collect and analyze noise. The analysis results show that power line noise is mostly manifested as a combination of colored background noise and pulse noise, mainly concentrated in the frequency band below 700kHz. Compared with the low peak period of electricity consumption, the peak period has stronger time-varying noise, larger amplitude of background noise, richer components of pulse noise, and there is also jitter in the duration of periodic pulse noise.
A remote 5G wireless control device for shearer
Authors: Huo Pengfei , Liu Hongjie , Duan Chao , Wang Xingxing , Wang Jing , Gao Bo , Tian Muqin
Published: September 2023

In order to realize the intelligent mining mode of the shearer, this paper designs a remote 5G wireless control device to implement remote wireless control of the shearer. The device consists of two main components: upper computer system and receiving system. Among them, the upper computer system sends control commands through the 5G network and transmits them to the receiving system; The receiving system is used to receive signals from the upper computer, control the remote controller of the shearer to perform corresponding operations, and achieve the purpose of controlling the shearer. The remote wireless control device solves the problems of poor working environment and high safety risk of shearer workers in traditional control. At the same time, the introduction of 5G network, which has the characteristics of low delay and high reliability, has realized the purpose of remote wireless control of the shearer in the centralized control room.
Development of intelligent automatic water intake system for open-pit mine
Authors: Wang Qiantao , Geng Pulong , Qiu Hongtao , Zhang Junwen , Zhao Ru
Published: September 2023

In order to solve the problem that the automation level of water intake system in open-pit mine is relatively low and the phenomenon of fault shutdown occurs from time to time, this paper innovatively develops an intelligent automatic water intake system based on LabVIEW suitable for open-pit mine. On the basis of extensive investigation of field conditions and in-depth analysis of domestic and foreign open-pit mine water intake system, the overall design scheme of this system was put forward. The selection of electric gate valve, ball valve, various sensors and Siemens 1200 series PLC was completed. The system software which integrates system initialization subroutine, pump rotation start-stop subroutine, sensor polling subroutine, fault protection and alarm subroutine was compiled. The monitoring software of Upper machine was developed based on LabVIEW software platform. The field debugging and operation results show that the system realizes the real-time monitoring of the operation state of the water intake unit, the on-demand start and stop and the intelligent rotation control of the water pump, which greatly reduces the labor intensity of the workers, prolongs the service life of the equipment, greatly improves the intelligent operation and maintenance level of pumping units of open-pit mine, and lays a solid foundation for green mining.
Design of gas flow standard facility for continuous detection with two stations
Authors: Wan Yong , Liu Li , Chen Yixiang
Published: September 2023

The traditional gas flow standard facility can only carry out single station detection, so it is urgent to solve the problem of improving work efficiency. In this paper, the existing gas flow standard facilities and related technologies are studied in depth, especially for the same specifications, batch detection table, the design of double station continuous detection type gas flow standard facilities. Its main features are: according to the need to flexibly choose two stations alternating detection, two stations at the same time detection or single station detection mode, under the premise of ensuring the safety and reliability of the facility, greatly improve the work efficiency. In this paper, the operation process and flow diagram of the three detection methods are given in detail, and the applicability and improvement direction of the facility are analyzed and prospected. This facility design work efficiency enhancement advantage is significant, has a good promotion value.
Two sets of capacitor load based I-V curve tracer for photovoltaic cell
Authors: Xiao Wenbo , Yan Youkang , Wu Huaming , Liu Bin , Li Yongbo
Published: September 2023

Two sets of capacitor load based I-V curve tracer for
photovoltaic cell are designed and implemented (Test system one
includes Raspberry Pi, capacitor, current sensor, and
analog-to-digital converter, etc.; test system two includes data
acquisition card, capacitor, and sampling resistor, etc.). The
conclusions are made: (1) the measurement results of both systems
are generally correct, but neither can obtain short-circuit current
due to the inability to achieve a load resistance of zero. Test
system two based on the data acquisition card is found to be higher
accuracy. (2) The factors affecting the accuracy of test system two
is studied. The larger capacitance leads to more precise measured
data. Smaller sampling resistors result in output voltages closer to
zero and more complete I-V curves. When the sampling rate is
high, noise may cause oscillating I-V curve.
Simulation study on total ionizing dose effect of IGBT gamma irradiation
Authors: Fang J. , Hao J.H. , Zhao Q. , Fan J.Q. , Dong Z.W.
Published: September 2023

The insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) has emerged as a prominent high-power semiconductor device due to its excellent overall performance. It is widely utilized in various fields, including aerospace. Due to prolonged operation in complex irradiation environments, the performance of IGBTs is susceptible to degradation and damage. Therefore, conducting research on the variation of IGBT characteristics under irradiation environments is crucial to ensuring their long-term functionality in extended space missions. To evaluate and analyze the total ionizing dose (TID) effect of IGBTs during operation, this study adopts a trench IGBT as the device model. Utilizing the finite element method, technology computer-aided design (TCAD) is employed to simulate and analyze the electrical characteristic changes of IGBTs under different total radiation doses. The simulation results are subsequently validated through theoretical analysis. The simulation results indicate that gamma radiation significantly affects the overall electrical characteristics of IGBTs.
Capacitance-based absolute pressure gauge for beamline vacuum measurement applications
Authors: Teotia Vikas , Kumar Prashant , Sawant Sampada , Meshram Sumit , Patil S.R. , Malhotra Sanjay
Published: September 2023

For low-pressure measurements, capacitance diaphragm-based absolute pressure gauges are used owing to their high accuracy, media independence, and simplistic design. Catering to the general requirements of synchrotron beamline vacuum measurements, a capacitance diaphragm-based absolute pressure gauge is designed, developed, tested, and calibrated. The sensor is having electrode assembly which forms a dual capacitor with the gauge body. The two capacitances are used in post-processing to reduce the noise levels and to enhance the precision and accuracy of the measurements. The reference side is at high vacuum of the level 5 × 10-5 Pa. The vacuum of the reference side is generated using a Turbo Molecular Pump and is sustained by pinching-off the reference side at this vacuum. A getter pump is provided and energized for improving the vacuum which otherwise gets deteriorated due to outgassing in the reference region of the gauge. The fabrication methods adopted for fabricating the gauge are novel. The diaphragm is fabricated from bulk material using the electrical discharge method (EDM). This helped in achieving a perfect diaphragm with linear deflection with pressure variation and attained a 100% success rate. Unlike the fabrication by welding of plate, this method is robust, economical, and helped in achieving similar properties across the gauges. The second innovation is in the fabrication of electrode assembly. Unlike commonly used electrodeposited electrodes; the presented technique used copper plates which sandwich the Alumina dielectric. The plates are bolted/brazed/welded across the ceramic disc with the help of pins which also help in the parallel connection of the dual capacitors are described later. This made this method of fabrication largely rejection free with the potential of repairs and testing with different plate configurations. This paper is presenting the design, production, and calibration of the gauge using these fabrication techniques for 1 × 103 Pa to 1 × 105 Pa.
Implications of the steady-state assumption for the global vegetation carbon turnover
Authors: Fan Naixin , Santoro Maurizio , Besnard Simon , Cartus Oliver , Koirala Sujan , Carvalhais Nuno
Published: September 2023

Vegetation carbon turnover time (τ) is a central ecosystem property to quantify the global vegetation carbon dynamics. However, our understanding of vegetation dynamics is hampered by the lack of long-term observations of the changes in vegetation biomass. Here we challenge the steady state assumption of τ by using annual changes in vegetation biomass that derived from remote-sensing observations. We evaluate the changes in magnitude, spatial patterns, and uncertainties in vegetation carbon turnover times from 1992 to 2016. We found the robustness in the steady state assumption for forest ecosystems at large spatial scales, contrasting with local larger differences at the grid cell level between τ under steady state and τ under non-steady state conditions. The observation that terrestrial ecosystems are not in a steady state locally is deemed crucial when studying vegetation dynamics and the potential response of biomass to disturbance and climatic changes.
Extreme weather in a changing climate
Authors: Capua Giorgia Di , Rahmstorf Stefan
Published: September 2023

Extreme weather events are rising at a pace which exceeds expectations based on thermodynamic arguments only, changing the way we perceive our climate system and climate change issues. Every year, heatwaves, floods and wildfires, bring death and devastation worldwide, increasing the evidence about the role of anthropogenic climate change in the increase of extremes. In this viewpoint article, we summarize some of the most recent extremes and put them in the context of the most recent research on atmospheric and climate sciences, especially focusing on changes in thermodynamics and dynamics of the atmosphere. While some changes in extremes are to be expected and are clearly attributable to rising greenhouse gas emissions, other seem counterintuitive, highlighting the need for further research in the field. In this context, research on changes in atmospheric dynamics plays a crucial role in explaining some of these extremes and more needs to be done to improve our understanding of the physical mechanisms involved.
Regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, USA
Authors: Munroe Jeffrey S , Soderstrom Elsa J , Kluetmeier Camryn L , Tappa Michael J , Mallia Derek V , Bauer Ann M
Published: September 2023

Mountain environments are profoundly impacted by the deposition of mineral dust, yet the degree to which this material is far-traveled or intra-regional is typically unclear. This distinction is fundamental to model future changes in mountain geoecosystems resulting from climatic or anthropogenic forcing in dust source regions. We address this question with a network of 17 passive dust samplers installed in primarily mountain locations in Utah, Nevada, and Idaho between October, 2020 and October 2021. For each collector, the dust deposition rate was calculated, and the physical and chemical properties of the dust were constrained. Results were combined with backward trajectory modeling to identify the geologic characteristics of the area over which air passed most frequently in route to each collector (the ‘hot spot’). Dust properties differ significantly between collectors, hot spots for many collectors are spatially discrete, and the dominant geologies in the hot spots corresponding to each collector vary considerably. These results support the hypothesis that the majority of the dust deposited in the areas we studied is sourced from arid lowlands in the surrounding region.
Sub-seasonal to seasonal outlook of the 2022–23 southwestern Korea meteorological drought
Authors: Park Chang-Kyun , Lee Sangeun , Yoon Hyuncheol , Kam Jonghun
Published: September 2023

The southwestern Korean Peninsula had experienced cumulative precipitation deficits from the early spring of 2022, causing a severe meteorological drought in March 2023. As a growing season was forthcoming, the sub-seasonal to seasonal outlook of this ongoing drought came into question. This study aims to investigate a key driver of the ongoing drought and the required precipitation for its termination, and examine the sub-seasonal and seasonal outlooks of the ongoing drought via probabilistic and climate model-based forecasts. Results show a comparable contribution of springtime and summertime precipitation deficits in 2022, indicating that six-month accumulated precipitation deficit of 2022 was a key driver of the ongoing drought. We find that at least 80, 150, and 210 mm (170, 310, and 440 mm) of accumulated precipitation are required for the recovery (full recovery) in March, April, and May 2023, respectively. These required cumulative precipitation are found from 25% and 20% of empirical and dynamic precipitation forecasts, respectively. This study highlights the importance of the collaborative effort of national and local governments and stakeholders on mitigating negative impacts of the ongoing drought.
Holographic entanglement negativity for a single subsystem in conformal field theories with a conserved charge
Authors: Mondal Sayid , Paul Boudhayan , Sengupta Gautam , Sharma Punit
Published: September 2023

We utilize a holographic construction to compute the entanglement negativity for bipartite mixed state configurations of a single subsystem in CFTd
s with a conserved charge dual to bulk

A
d

S

d
+
1

geometries. In this context, we obtain the holographic entanglement negativity for single subsystems with long rectangular strip geometries in CFTd
s with a conserved charge dual to bulk non extremal and extremal Reissner–Nordström (RN)-

A
d

S

d
+
1

black holes at the leading order in a perturbation theory. We demonstrate that the holographic entanglement negativity computed involves the elimination of thermal contributions at the leading order confirming earlier results in the literature. This also conforms to quantum information theory expectations and constitutes further consistency checks for the holographic construction.
A Dirac-material-inspired non-linear electrodynamic model
Authors: Neves M J , Gaete Patricio , Ospedal L P R , Helayël-Neto J A
Published: September 2023

We propose and study the properties of a non-linear electrodynamics (ED) that emerges inspired on the physics of Dirac materials. This new electrodynamic model is an extension of the one-loop corrected non-linear effective Lagrangian computed in the work of Keser et al (2022 Phys. Rev. Lett.
128 066402). In the particular regime of a strong magnetic and a weak electric field, it reduces to the photonic non-linear model worked out by Keser et al (2022 Phys. Rev. Lett.
128 066402). We pursue our investigation of the proposed model by analyzing properties of the permittivity and permeability tensors, the energy–momentum tensor and wave propagation effects in presence of a uniform magnetic background. It is shown that the ED here presented exhibits the vacuum birefringence phenomenon. Subsequently, we calculate the lowest-order modifications to the interaction energy, considering still the presence of a uniform external magnetic field. Our analysis is carried out within the framework of the gauge-invariant but path-dependent variables formalism. The calculation reveals a screened Coulomb-like potential with an effective electric charge that runs with the external magnetic field but, as expected for Dirac-type materials, the screening disappears whenever the external magnetic field is switched off.
Postwar Soviet Yiddish Literature
Authors: Estraikh Gennady
Published: September 2023

By 1945, Soviet Yiddish literary circles grouped around the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAFC) and the Yiddish sections at the Writers Union. In the 1940s, the poets, prose writers, and literary critics had several publishing outlets, most notably the Moscow newspaper Eynikayt (Unity, 1942–1948), two literary periodicals—Heymland (Homeland, 1947–1948) in Moscow and Shtern (Star, 1947–1948) in Kyiv—and the Moscow publishing house Der Emes (Truth, 1928–1948). Four Yiddish state theatres and other professional and amateur troupes performed works by Soviet and other authors. These all came to an end in 1948–1950, when the Soviet authorities liquidated the entire infrastructure of Yiddish cultural, including literary, life. Scores of Yiddish literati were incarcerated on spurious sedition charges as part of repressions in the last years of Joseph Stalin’s rule. On August 12, 1952, five leading writers—David Bergelson, Itsik Fefer, David Hofshteyn, Leyb Kvitko, and Peretz Markish—were among the executed figures of the JAFC. Following Stalin’s death in 1953, the surviving writers could return to “normality,” but Yiddish publishing was renewed as late as 1959. The Moscow journal Sovetish Heymland (Soviet Homeland), launched in 1961, became the center for Yiddish literary activity during the last three decades of the Soviet era. In the heyday of the Cold War, the journal, a forum for a broad variety of publications, was nevertheless better known as an instrument of Soviet propaganda than as a Yiddish literary periodical. Its editor, Aron Vergelis, whose anti-Zionist writings had eclipsed his poetry, acted as a globe-trotting champion of Soviet policies. Meanwhile, the journal, staffed by writers and editors of the older generation, trained a group of authors born after the Nazi Holocaust.
The Hierarchy of “Othering”: Belarusian Media Practitioners’ Accounts
Authors: Miazhevich Galina
Published: September 2023

Belarus—a western periphery of the former Soviet Union—remains overlooked by the scholarly research. Regarded as the periphery to an integral Russian imperial state, rather than a colony proper, Belarus remains a blind spot in post-Soviet identity studies. Generally overlooked or overshadowed by the two larger neighboring states of Ukraine and, especially, Russia it attracts attention for the type of governance established by its current president, Lukashenka, or its “undeveloped” national identity. However, this article goes beyond this formulation of Belarusian identity in negative terms, which views the country as a “denationalized nation” or emphasizes its anachronistic “Sovietization” or Sovietness . It advocates repositioning “Belarusianness” at the core of the post-Soviet experience as a unique case illuminating the dilemmas of post-Soviet nationhood and the enduring legacies of Soviet multiculturalism.

Belarusian multiculturalism is a complicated notion because it largely draws on the imperial/Soviet legacy of a multipeopled state (mnogonarodnoe) in a relatively homogenous Belarusian society and “a tolerant nation” mythology, devoid of links to western liberalism. Consequently, it is expected that the “hierarchy of othering” will include prejudices toward prime “post-imperial targets” such as Roma and Caucasians (in contrast to more distant foreigners). Pro-Western sentiment will be primarily associated with homosexuality. There will be a complex relationship with a “significant” other—Russia—which has more pronounced grassroots ethnic tensions. The tension between the state’s nation-building project and Belarusian revivalism (frequently treated as oppositional nationalism) will contribute to auto-xenophobia or “othering” of a (part of) titular Belarusian nation.

The country’s particular multicultural context informed by the Soviet legacy and its current nation-building strategies can (a) illuminate broader trends also applicable to other neighboring states such as Russia, as well as (b) inform a wider discussion on the mediated populist othering in the post-Soviet region. By drawing on 15 interviews with the sub/editors of the key Belarusian state and independent media outlets, the article introduces an original “hierarchy of othering”—a distinct order of mediated populist othering where certain groups or differences are seen as more or less acceptable. The high level of the state’s involvement in media and the establishment’s mantra of “tolerant” Belarus make the mediation of populist othering problematic. In a situation of “weak hegemony”, the Belarusian establishment had to artificially instill a consensual power balance from above. As a result, media practitioners’ narratives combine a rigid reiteration of the establishment’s line of multicultural “tolerance” together with the contradictions and inconsistencies that expose grassroots xenophobia.
Mediating Multiculturalism in Postcolonial Southeast Asia
Authors: Cabañes Jason Vincent A.
Published: September 2023

A nuanced understanding of how media matter in the diverse articulations of multiculturalism across the globe requires one to have a transnational sensibility. This is a scholarly disposition that entails being attuned to the role that different media platforms and genres play not only in how racial hierarchies of different societies are articulated, but also in how these hierarchies get entangled with each other. Although the literature about media and multiculturalism is already well established, it is often situated in the context of the West. These works understandably tend to be concerned with the mediation of multicultural issues that are most relevant to their situation, such as the legacies of empire and of settler colonialism. A transnational sensibility consequently necessitates an expansion of current discussions about media and multiculturalism beyond the West. Doing so can allow for a better understanding of how media get entwined with the distinct issues of cultural diversity that have emerged from a wider range of contexts. It also opens up an important vista from which to explore how the mediation of multicultural issues in different parts of the world might be linked to each other, and sometimes intimately so.

A productive site to think through such a transnational sensibility to media and cultural diversity is the global cities of the Southeast Asian region. These places are exemplary of postcolonial multiculturalisms that are distinct from the kind of multiculturalism that can be found in the global cities of West. This article consequently juxtaposes two urban contexts that represent divergent approaches toward the mediation of colonially rooted cultural diversity. One is the city-state of Singapore, where there are overt public policies about managing plurality. The second is the Philippines capital of Metropolitan Manila (henceforth, Manila), where there is a general elision of public talk about plurality. The article takes a comparative lens to these two cities, assessing how their different mediations of postcolonial multiculturalism are entangled with broader global dynamics, including with each other.
Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace
Authors: Einarsen Ståle Valvatne , Ågotnes Kari Wik
Published: September 2023

Workplace bullying and harassment is prevalent in contemporary workplaces with detrimental negative outcomes for targets as well as for bystanders and the organization itself. At any one time, some 3%–20% of the working population is targeted, suffering reduced motivation and productivity, severe mental and physical health problems, and a risk of exclusion from the organization and even working life altogether. Bullying and harassment is about the systematic and ongoing mistreatment of an employee by other organization members, mostly of a psychological and social nature and often involving a gradually escalating process that may end in severe victimization of those targeted if not properly managed and handled in its early phases. In early phases, by some denoted incivility, the behaviors involved are often subtle, indirect, and discrete, while in later phases they become ever more prevalent and direct—even involving threats and open verbal abuse. Bullying may involve work-related behaviors creating a difficult and even dangerous working situation for the target, personally demeaning behavior, acts of social exclusion and non-inclusion, and physically intimidation behaviors. Hence, bullying comes in many shades and forms, as well as at many levels of intensity. Although risk factors and antecedents of this complex problem may be found on many levels, factors in the immediate working environment and the design and management of work are particularly important. Furthermore, bullying is particularly prevalent in working environments characterized by a hostile working climate and in organizations where such behaviors are permitted or even rewarded.
Cybercrime Perpetration Theories
Authors: Curry Theodore
Published: September 2023

Theories of cybercrime perpetration seek to identify and explain the causes of individual- and/or group-level variation in the performance of cybercriminal behavior. Fundamental to this effort is a debate pertaining to whether extant theories of crime, previously developed to explain crime in the physical world, are useful for accounting for cybercrime or whether new theories, explicitly aimed at cybercrime, are needed. This debate hinges largely on the question of whether cybercrimes can be considered to be a type of crime in general, or whether there are features of cybercrime, such as the lack of physical contact between victims and offenders or the dissociative anonymity afforded by the collapse of time-space barriers that occurs in cyberspace, that sufficiently differentiate cybercrime from crime in the physical world such that new theories are needed to explain its occurrence. To date, however, scholars have relied almost exclusively on extant theory in cybercrime studies and only one new theory has been developed that focuses exclusively on cybercrime. Moreover, cybercrime theory has focused heavily on individual-level variation in cybercrime and largely ignored group-level variation, which is a shortcoming because understanding differences across, for example, different nations or political or religious groups, is an important part of the study of crime in the physical world. Another important problem is that basic facts about cybercriminals and victims (e.g., the approximate proportion of offenders who are male or female) are largely unknown due to a lack of systematically collected, representative, or longitudinal data on cybercrime—a situation that hinders the development of cybercrime theory. Research testing cybercrime theory shows support for a number of theories from the field of criminology, especially general strain, low self-control, social learning, and techniques of neutralization and drift. A notable development in this literature are findings that social learning and low self-control theories, working in an integrated fashion, are found to provide an especially useful explanation for cybercrime such that, on their own, individuals with low self-control may not engage in a great deal of cybercrime owing to the complexity that such offending often entails. However, if low self-control individuals have friends who engage in cybercrime, they may learn the skills needed to commit certain cybercrimes and, as a result, start offending at higher levels. Psychological studies also provide important results, including that cybercriminals tend to be more introverted than offenders in the physical world, which may tap into the dissociative anonymity afforded by offending in cyberspace. Psychological research also shows that individuals with higher levels of psychopathy are more involved in cybercrimes, particularly those that entail aggression or attempts to cause harm to others, and that more impulsive (a concept that is similar to low self-control in criminology) individuals engage in more cybercrime.
Critical Participatory Action Research, Critical Discourse Analysis and Praxis
Authors: Montesano Montessori Nicolina
Published: September 2023

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) and participatory action research (PAR) reinforce each other as critical research approaches toward social transformation and social justice provided to humans, other species, and the ecosystem at large. Both disciplines are suitable to be embedded in a critical emancipatory research paradigm. Both CDA and PAR are problem-oriented, contextualized forms of social research. Both CDA and PAR are sensitive to the macro, meso, and micro dimensions of social life and the dynamics and relations between these levels. Both CDA and PAR envision social reality as a—respectively—discursive or social construct which, therefore, is—in part—a matter of choice. Both CDA and PAR include the potential of social or organizational change. CDA does so by displaying hidden ideological effects of texts and discourses so as to create awareness and may suggest alternatives; PAR by analyzing existing situations and investigating and implementing alternatives as part of its collective research efforts. Both include the notion of agency and the potential of change, whether in organizations, communities, or in society at large. Both consider the construction of knowledge as a social practice. Both CDA and PAR have iterative research methodologies. CDA reinforces PAR due to its robust theoretical basis, while PAR opens up new ways for CDA to enlarge its impact on the social world beyond academia through the participation of agents. Both CDA and PAR are forms of praxis in that they perform research in social and discursive practice in situated context. Both explicitly rely on theories of practice that include Aristotle, Paulo Freire, and Antonio Gramsci. They do so with the purpose of creating awareness, questioning routines and existing practices, and improving these in an emancipatory project to contribute to a better and a more socially just world. Integrating CDA and PAR and rooting these in a philosophy of praxis creates a solid, inclusive basis for problem-oriented research, considered of high relevance to questioning current hegemonic structures and opening up socially and ecologically just solutions to address the crucial problems of the early 21st century.
Anti-oppression Education
Authors: Callaghan Tonya D. , Anderson Jamie L. , Campbell Caitlin A. , Richard Nicole
Published: September 2023

Throughout history, education systems have operated as a primary mode of socialization wherein students are invited to learn about the world around them by way of dominant narratives that define what is “normal” and “commonsense.” To that end, schooling bifurcates the “normal” from the “Other,” ascribing power to one and over the other. Both explicit and implicit curricula reinforce hegemonic ideologies and serve to reproduce social structures of power through racism, sexism, coloniality, homophobia, ableism, transphobia, and more. Despite the insistence of pedagogical and curricular neutrality, schools are places in which bodies and knowledge are perpetually regulated. As a result of the unequal power dynamic between teachers and students, educators regularly participate in the transmission of hegemonic ideologies and values in their practices. Anti-oppression education (AOE) refers to the mobilizing of pedagogy, curricula, and policymaking to work against the modes of oppression that operate within and outside of schools. Specifically, AOE is concerned with challenging the normalization of inequities at the nexus of race, sex, gender, ability, place of origin, et cetera. Drawing on critical theories, including queer theory, intersectional feminism, and critical race theory, AOE captures numerous pedagogical practices that attend to the social construction of knowledge and consider alternative ways of being, thinking, and doing. In that way, AOE not only seeks to disrupt the repetitions of discursive violence and the material inequities that result from systemic oppression but also aims to reimagine the purpose of schooling altogether as a means for transformation and liberation. Despite waves of political resistance in Canada and the United States that demonize AOE praxis as left-wing radicalism, there remains a need to further examine the role that anti-oppressive practices can play in transforming education systems and improving the well-being of students, staff, and school communities.
COVID-19 and Pupils’ Learning
Authors: Werner Katharina , Woessmann Ludger
Published: September 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the life of school children in major ways. In many countries, schools were closed for several months, with various modes of distance learning in place. This challenged pupils’ learning experiences. In addition, social-distancing rules impeded their peer interactions, potentially impeding their socio-emotional development. We summarize the available evidence on how the pandemic affected the educational inputs provided by children, parents, and schools, how it impacted children’s cognitive and socio-emotional skills, and whether the experiences will leave a persistent legacy for the children’s long-run development. The evidence suggests that in most countries, a majority of children experienced substantial losses in the development of cognitive skills. The learning losses tend to be highly unequal, with children from low-socioeconomic-status families and children with low initial achievement suffering the largest losses. The COVID-19 pandemic also interfered with the socio-emotional well-being of many children, although serious longer-term repercussions to their socio-emotional development may be restricted to a limited subgroup of children. Because child development is a dynamic and synergistic process, in the absence of successful remediation the initial skill losses are likely to reduce subsequent skill development, lifetime income, and economic growth and increase educational and economic inequality in the long run.
Critical Qualitative Research and Educational Policy
Authors: Good Madeline , Diem Sarah
Published: September 2023

Critical qualitative research is full of possibilities and explorations that can assist in transforming systems for social change and the public good. It is an approach to research that at its core is concerned with the role of power; how it manifests in systems, structures, policies, and practice; and how contexts can contribute to and reify power and its deleterious effects. The use of critical qualitative methods and methodologies within the field of education has grown significantly since the 1990s. This is a large area of work that encompasses studies throughout the spectrum of educational topics, from early childhood learning to higher education and beyond. In the area of educational policy, while scholars use a multitude of critical qualitative methodologies and methods, critical policy analysis (CPA) has continued to grow in popularity. CPA provides opportunities for researchers to question policy in general––how it is formed, implemented, and evaluated, as well as its assumed impact. It is appealing because it gives space for scholars to not only critique educational policy issues but also offer new perspectives, approaches, and alternatives to the policy process. Critical inquiry, however, does not occur within a vacuum, so the dynamics of conducting critical qualitative research within a hyperpolarized sociopolitical context must also be considered. Contentious times make it increasingly important for critical qualitative scholars to (re)commit to the work of transforming education with the goal of creating a more just society. There are a multitude of hopes and opportunities for this burgeoning area of critical research, challenging us all to not only look toward creative approaches when studying issues of educational policy but also to persistently interrogate how our own positionalities and relations impact the work we do.
Trade, Buddhism, and the Kushan Connection: Exchange across the Pamir Knot and the Making of the Silk Roads, 2nd Century bce to 5th Century CE
Authors: Høisæter Tomas Larson
Published: September 2023

The history of contact and exchange across the mountain ranges radiating out from the Pamir knot, separating the three regions of Central Asia, Inner Asia, and Northwestern India, can be traced far back into prehistory, seen in the movements of languages, crops, and animals. From around the 2nd century bce onward, however, these connections steadily grew in intensity. New political connections were drawn across the mountains by the rise of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia, as they came to control much of Northwestern India and exert a significant influence in Inner Asia. Around the same time, Buddhism was spreading northward from Northwestern India into both Central and Inner Asia, bringing with it several innovations and practices that would come to shape these two regions for almost a millennium. Finally, paralleling these political and cultural developments, economic interaction between the three regions steadily grew, with both merchants and large quantities of goods moving between them. These developments feed into one another as local communities grew more and more enmeshed into the growing networks, serving to lay the foundation upon which the fabled Silk Roads could operate.
Indigenization and Black Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa since the Late 1950s
Authors: Ndakaripa Musiwaro
Published: September 2023

Economic indigenization and black economic empowerment (BEE) policies in most sub-Saharan African countries were designed to create more economic opportunities for “indigenous,” “black,” or “African” people, mainly through affirmative action. They were attempts to address historical injustices caused by economic marginalization and deprivation of “indigenous” or “black” people during European colonial domination. In addition, they were attempts to address the negative impact of the incorporation of Africa in the world capitalist system, precisely the impact of foreign capital. While the adoption of indigenization and BEE policies was sine qua non in sub-Saharan Africa, there were a number of constraints. Socialist ideologies adopted by some postcolonial governments in Africa discouraged entrepreneurship and private accumulation of wealth. African governments’ alliance with and accommodation of local white and foreign capital, and their reluctance to create a middle class with potential to challenge their dominance retarded indigenization and BEE policies. At different times, and responding to domestic or foreign developments, the attitude of African governments changed and they opened some political and economic space to indigenous entrepreneurs. Indigenous interest groups advocated for legislation to support indigenization and BEE. While indigenization and BEE policies created economic opportunities for indigenous people, they ignited debates on issues such as racial discrimination, citizenship, and increasing inequalities among the targeted beneficiaries. They have also been pilloried for providing a gateway for fraud, corruption, patronage, and cronyism.
History of Lesotho
Authors: Thabane Motlatsi
Published: September 2023

The history of people of the Basotho nation, who live in the territory known as Lesotho in the early 21st century, can be traced from the development, and separation, of Nguni and Sotho-Tswana cultures before 900 ce, and migrations that led to the occupation of early 21st-century Lesotho since the 1600s. Two main areas of Lesotho’s history are of interest. First is the emergence of the Basotho nation under the leadership of Moshoeshoe I against the background of conflicts known as lifaqane in the 19th century when various clans, ethnic groups, and individuals joined, or became subjugated under, Moshoeshoe I’s chiefdom; the Basotho encounter of, and loss of land to, white settlers from the 1830s onward; and the role of the British in the alienation of the Basotho’s land. The second includes the phases of British colonization of the Basotho and their territory, beginning with Lesotho’s annexation to the Cape Colony, in 1871, and ending with the territory’s handover to imperial rule, in 1884. The conflicts that resulted from the Basotho’s resistance against the Cape Colony government’s attempts at imposition of colonial law in Lesotho led to the Cape Colony’s decision to hand the territory over to imperial rule. The events leading to Lesotho’s independence, in 1966, highlight the political and socioeconomic characters of Lesotho since independence.
Malaria in Africa
Authors: McCann James C.
Published: September 2023

Malaria has been a fundamental, shape-shifting player in African human and natural landscapes and their history of interactions. Malaria spreads as a result of human contact with female anopheline mosquitos, whose habitat interacts with human populations. Human blood nourishes the mosquitos’ eggs and allows larvae to survive to the adult stage. Furthermore, the adults carry the plasmodia protozoan that cause the fever and symptoms in humans, who serve as hosts for the next mosquito vector bites.

African ecologies were historically the original source of malaria infection, though the disease has spread worldwide, as anopheline mosquitos have spread to tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Yet, Africa has continued to be the most affected part of the globe as mosquitos have adapted, and human populations have tried, and often failed, to adapt to mosquito populations and to develop biomedical and behavioral responses to the seasonal and geographical patterns of human–disease interactions. Africa’s malaria conditions reflect its challenges in economic and political local instabilities. No effective vaccinations have emerged globally, and Africa remains both malaria’s point of origin and its most profound and visible point of malarial transmission and affliction.
Economic History of the Middle East, 622–1914
Authors: Kuran Timur
Published: September 2023

In the Middle Ages, the Middle East was an economically advanced region. Driving its successes were an essentially uniform legal system that supported intra- and interregional commerce, partnership rules that supported commerce among nonrelatives, and a form of trust known as waqf, which served as both a wealth shelter and a vehicle for endowing social services with protections against state predation. These same institutions disincentivized the institutional advances needed to generate the modern economy’s infrastructure indigenously. Home-grown innovations, such as the tradable equity known as gedik and a form of waqf used for moneylending (cash waqf), were ill-suited to large-scale and perpetual enterprises. Partnerships used to form small and ephemeral enterprises did not spawn organizational forms conducive to pooling resources on a large scale and perpetually. The waqf’s rigidities led to increasingly serious capital misallocation and misuse with changes in relative prices and the emergence of new technologies. Thus, the Middle East reached the Industrial Era institutionally unprepared. Sensing an existential threat from the West, its ruling elites launched massive economic reforms in the 1800s. These reforms involved transplanting Western economic institutions to the West in a hurry. Although the Middle East’s economic performance improved greatly in absolute terms, it remained underdeveloped in 1914, and the catch-up process has continued. Until the 1700s, the economic fortunes of the Middle East’s religious minorities generally tracked those of its Muslims. Thereafter, non-Muslims pulled ahead. As the global economy modernized, they benefited from a right that, from the early years of Islam, was denied to Muslims: choice of law. With the development of modern economic institutions by Europeans, choice of law enabled non-Muslims to increase the efficiency of their business operations. In the century preceding the Industrial Revolution, non-Muslims benefited also from international treaties that strengthened their property rights vis-à-vis those of Muslims.
Unobserved Components Models
Authors: Ercolani Joanne
Published: September 2023

Unobserved components models (UCMs), sometimes referred to as structural time-series models, decompose a time series into its salient time-dependent features. These typically characterize the trending behavior, seasonal variation, and (nonseasonal) cyclical properties of the time series. The components are usually specified in a stochastic way so that they can evolve over time, for example, to capture changing seasonal patterns. Among many other features, the UCM framework can incorporate explanatory variables, allowing outliers and structural breaks to be captured, and can deal easily with daily or weekly effects and calendar issues like moving holidays.

UCMs are easily constructed in state space form. This enables the application of the Kalman filter algorithms, through which maximum likelihood estimation of the structural parameters are obtained, optimal predictions are made about the future state vector and the time series itself, and smoothed estimates of the unobserved components can be determined. The stylized facts of the series are then established and the components can be illustrated graphically, so that one can, for example, visualize the cyclical patterns in the time series or look at how the seasonal patterns change over time. If required, these characteristics can be removed, so that the data can be detrended, seasonally adjusted, or have business cycles extracted, without the need for ad hoc filtering techniques. Overall, UCMs have an intuitive interpretation and yield results that are simple to understand and communicate to others. Factoring in its competitive forecasting ability, the UCM framework is hugely appealing as a modeling tool.