bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bound Domains
Authors: Voit G. Mark
Published: February 2025

How much energy is required to unbind baryons from the cosmological structures that originally bind them? This tutorial article explains why trying to answer this question using just a halo model can be misleading. Instead, it recommends parsing the universe into “bound domains,” which are the gravitationally bound structures that ultimately become widely separated islands as the universe evolves. It explains why a bound domain’s potential well was about as deep  ∼1 Gyr after the Big Bang as it is now, and it outlines how future research might take advantage of a bound-domain approach to make progress on some open questions about the baryon distributions in and around galaxy groups and clusters.
Impact of nonlocal electron heat transport on ablative hydrodynamic instability growth seeded by localized perturbations
Authors: Li Jun , Lei Zhu , Li Zhiyuan , Rui Yan , Zhao Bin , Liu Yunxing , Xue Chuang , Chen Zhu , Li Jiwei , Wu Jun-feng , Wang L. F. , Zou Shiyang
Published: February 2025

The hydrodynamic instability growth seeded by localized perturbations exerts a significant influence on the performance of inertial confinement fusion implosions. Direct-drive, planar target ablative hydrodynamic instability growth simulations were performed to study the evolution of localized perturbations at peak drive intensities of ignition designs. The study focused on hydrodynamic instability seeded by Gaussian bumps and rectangular pits on the target outer surface at a laser intensity of about $9 \times 10^{14} \, \rm W/cm^2$. The findings indicated that the nonlinear growth of localized perturbations is significantly influenced by nonlocal electron heat transport. It was observed that the small-scale Gaussian bump experiences a phase reversal before the target acceleration phase and evolves into an isolated bubble, with spikes growing obliquely on both sides tending to heal the void created by the bubble. Notably, nonlocal electron heat transport effects slow down void healing and nonlinear bubble growth, which can prevent defects from penetrating the target shell prematurely. For rectangular pits with larger lateral dimensions, no overall phase reversal occurs before target acceleration, and the nonlinear bubble growth is similarly suppressed.These findings underscore the importance of considering nonlocal electron heat transport effects in multi-dimensional implosion simulations.
Preface to the Special Issue on the IFMIF-DONES fusion neutron source
Authors: Ibarra Angel , Królas Wojciech , Bernardi Davide
Published: February 2025

N/A
Temperature-adaptive design: application and optimization of CFRP in automobile B-Pillar structure
Authors: Yang Haiyang , Liu Wei , Ran Wenhao , Gao Jin , Liu Lirong , Yang Jiandong
Published: February 2025

To enhance automobile safety and strengthen the B-pillar, one of the methods is to use CFRP material as a reinforcement plate to form a mixed material B-pillar. When the ambient temperature changes, stress is generated between them due to different coefficients of thermal expansion of each material, which weakens the support of the reinforcement plate to the outer panel and reduces the overall strength of the B-pillar. To address this issue, this paper proposes an innovative solution: for the first time, a partition is introduced to create a sealed cavity and the higher thermal expansion coefficient of air within the enclosed space is utilized to compensate for the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between the CFRP and the steel outer panel. This ensures synchronous deformation of the reinforcement plate and the outer plate during temperature changes, providing effective support to the outer panel.
Application of installation method coupling rigidity and flexibility in shipboard equipment
Authors: Cheng Xiaoping , Zhu Xuekai
Published: February 2025

After launching a large naval ship, the hull structure may deform due to many factors, such as welding stress relief and nonuniform sunlight radiation. After installation, shipboard equipment should promise the ability to adapt to deformation, thereby avoiding generating internal stress. Here, the requirement of the shipboard equipment is first analyzed. For example, the deformation value and direction are obtained through the simulation analysis of deformation under the summer and winder installation conditions. Combined with the anti-overturning requirement of the shipboard equipment under a tilt of 45°, the supporting force required by the front end of the equipment is calculated, and then the design requirements of rigid and flexible installation are proposed. Based on the above results and the theoretical analysis of the performance characteristics of the belleville springs, the elastic bolts with the structure of the combined dish belleville are designed, and their mechanical properties are verified by the tests. The results show that the installation method can adapt to the deformation of the hull of about ±3mm, which meets the installation requirements and use of some shipborne equipment, thus providing a certain reference value for the design of the installation structure when the installation surface is deformed.
Analysis of the causes of failure in the rubber lining of the concentrated hydrochloric acid storage tank at a nuclear power plant
Authors: Yang Kun , Lv Yang , Yang Kewei , Fang Qishu , Li Weiguang
Published: February 2025

The rubber lining in a condensate polishing system of a nuclear power plant exhibited significant blistering and cracking shortly after the operation, posing a safety risk to the chlorine storage tank. Extensive analysis, including thermal gravimetric analysis, infrared spectroscopy, mechanical testing, and scanning electron microscopy, was conducted to assess the rubber lining thoroughly. Subsequently, the lining underwent a 72-hour immersion test in 31 % hydrochloric acid at 50°C to evaluate its performance. The results revealed that the rubber content of the lining was 55.7 %, with natural rubber as the material type. Although there was minimal change in mass following hydrochloric acid exposure, both tensile strength and hardness were compromised. Macroscopic and microscopic observations suggested that improper operation during mixing or curing processes led to uneven distribution of components within the lining, allowing for hydrochloric acid penetration through defects and subsequent blistering.
Low cycle fatigue behavior of Cu-Cr-Zr-La alloys
Authors: Zhi Hairui , Zhao Haitao
Published: February 2025

The low fatigue properties of Cu-Cr-0.1Zr-0.07La alloy were tested at room temperature. The Cu-Cr-0.1Zr-0.07La (mass fraction, %) alloy was synthesized using a medium-frequency vacuum casting furnace under an argon atmosphere, followed by successive processes of uniformization, thermal rolling, solid solution processing, and aging, resulting in the ultimate formation of an alloy. The fatigue properties of the alloy under various strain amplitudes were studied by fatigue test, and the fracture morphology of the alloy was analyzed by scanning electronic microscope (SEM). The results indicate that the fatigue life of alloy is 11,808 cycles, 5,121 cycles, and 804 cycles for overall strain amplitude of 0.2%, 0.3%, and 0.4%, respectively. The amplitude of elastic strain in Cu-Cr-0.1Zr-0.07La alloys can be indicated by the Basquin equation. The plastic strain amplitude is described by the Coffin-Manson equation. Furthermore, the crack propagation region of Cu-Cr-0.1Zr-0.07La alloy exhibits observable tear edges and a limited presence of dimple morphology.
Polyurethane porous elastomeric mixture composition design and aging properties
Authors: Liu Qizhuo , Li Guilan , Wan Jiaxin , Shi Wenchao , Si Songtao , Wang Qi
Published: February 2025

Polyurethane Porous Elastic Road Surface (PERS) has the characteristics of energy saving, emission reduction, carbon reduction, drainage, noise reduction, and de-icing. However, the aging properties of PERS have been rarely studied. The optimal gradation of the polyurethane mixtures has been designed in this paper. The concentration of polyurethane has been determined as 4.1%. Through scatter tests and segregation leakage tests, we analyzed the variation curves of the void ratio. Under aging conditions of thermo-oxidative, humid-heat, and without aging, through seepage test and wave tube test, the drainage function and noise performance have been studied in this paper. It has been found that under humid-thermal and thermo-oxidative aging procedures, the void ratio of mixtures increases by 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively. The sound absorption coefficient of mixtures was reduced by 7% and 10.9%, respectively. The water permeability coefficient of mixtures increased by 15.0% and 18.3%, respectively.
Study on characteristics of ceramic-based 3D printed catalyst supports used in methanol steam reforming for hydrogen production
Authors: Zou Hongwei , Liang Zhuangdian , Han Bingchuan , Wang Gang , Chen Yongdong
Published: February 2025

3D printing technology has the advantages of constructing ceramic-based catalyst supports with a complex three-dimensional(3D) flow field, outstanding thermostability and resistance to corrosion, which is suitable for methanol steam reforming (MSR). In order to master the chemical characteristics of ceramic-based 3D printed catalyst supports used in MSR, the mathematical models of reaction rate based on dynamic reaction partial pressure were established, and the accuracy of the model was verified by the experimental methods. The comparison between reaction rate models from the literature and the models derived from experiments was performed in detail. With the introduction of contact time and specific area of active component particles, a lower deviation of the mathematical models can be reached with a minimum of 10%. The model generated by 3D printing technology can be utilized for the high-precision design of ceramic-based 3D printed catalyst supports used for MSR.
Observable asymptotics of regularized Cox regression models with standard gaussian designs : a statistical mechanics approach
Authors: Massa Emanuele , Coolen Anthonius CC
Published: February 2025

We study the asymptotic behaviour of the Regularized Maximum Partial Likelihood Estimator (RMPLE) in the proportional limit, considering an arbitrary convex regularizer and assuming that the covariates $\mathbf{X}_i\in\mathbb{R}^{p}$ follow a multivariate Gaussian law with covariance $\bm{I}_p/p$ for each $i=1, \dots, n$. In order to efficiently compute the estimator under investigation, we propose a modified Approximate Message Passing (AMP) algorithm, that we name COX-AMP, and compare its performance with the Coordinate-wise Descent (CD) algorithm, which is taken as reference. By means of the Replica method, we derive a set of six Replica Symmetric (RS) equations that we show to correctly describe the average behaviour of the estimators when the sample size and the number of covariates is large and commensurate. These equations cannot be solved in practice, as the data generating process (that we are trying to estimate) is not known. However, the update equations of COX-AMP suggest the construction of a local field that can in turn be used to accurately estimate all the RS order parameters of the theory \emph{solely from the data}, \emph{without} actually solving the RS equations. We emphasize that this approach can be applied when the estimator is computed via any method and is not restricted to COX-AMP. Once the RS order parameters are estimated, we have access to the amount of signal and noise in the RMPLE, but also its generalization error, directly from the data. Although we focus on the Partial Likelihood objective, we envisage broader application of the methodology proposed here, for instance to GLMs with nuisance parameters, which include some non- proportional hazards models, e.g. Accelerated Failure Time models.
The methods for short-circuit risk evaluating and reducing in the printed electronics based on filled micro-channel
Authors: Zhu Shanyou , Liu Rui , Tang Cheng , Jiang Subin , Zeng Chao , Shui Ke , Lin Jian , Ma Chang-Qi
Published: February 2025

As one of the key challenges in high-resolution printed electronics, short-circuit is difficult to be detected and eliminated in the mass production. In this work, high-resolution circuits were fabricated by filling conductive ink into the micro-channels on glass substrate with SU-8 sidewalls. The value of satellite droplet area percentage, which was used as an index of short-circuit risk evaluation, was reduced by improving the contact angle and height of the sidewalls. The sample with hydrophilic SU-8 sidewall is measured to be short-circuit because of the silver ink connecting adjacent printed lines. As a contrast, the typical satellite droplet area percentage value of the CF4 plasma treated sample can be only 0.2% of the untreated one. On the other hand, the sample with the lowest sidewall height of 1.3 μm has the minimum typical satellite droplet area percentage, which is only about 0.64% of the sample with the highest sidewall. Interestingly the other samples with a variable range of sidewall heights have quite similar silver layer thickness values, while optimized silver thickness was increased by more than 50% compared to these samples. A multi-channel capacitive-type sensor array was also used to printed detect the short-circuit defects efficiently. These results revealed that it’s possible to keep improving the short-circuit risk monitoring and reducing in high-resolution mass printed electronics in the future.
Polydimethylsiloxane-V2C MXene based conductive elastomer composites for piezoresistive sensor applications
Authors: Vijayababu Mullapudi , Chintagumpala Krishnamoorthi
Published: February 2025

Flexible pressure sensors have potential applications in biomedical, and human machine interface (HMI). Recently, one dimensional (1D), two dimensional (2D), and three dimensional (3D) conductive fillers based conductive elastomer composites (CECs) were widely researched for pressure sensing applications. Among all the fillers, 2D and 1D conductive fillers were shown promise for sensing due to increased directional electrical conductivity within the filler materials. To continue the search for better 2D conductive fillers to prepare high sensitivity piezoresistor, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-V2C composite based piezoresistors were fabricated and evaluated the parameters of flexible resistance pressure sensors (fRPSs). High quality V2C MXenes were prepared by the standard Al layer etching from V2AlC compound using hydrofluoric acid at 50 oC. The phase purity, surface chemical properties, and morphology of assynthesized V2C were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transformed infrared spectrum, micro-Raman spectrum, X-ray photoelectron spectrum, thermogravimetric analysis, and transmission electron tunneling nanoscope. The PDMS-V2C composites were made by blending 60, 70, & 80 mass% of V2C MXenes in fixed mass of PDMS matrix and were spin coated to make sensing films. Elastic modulus, tensile strength of pure PDMS and CECs were studied by universal tensile stress-strain curve.Pressure sensors were made by keeping the piezoresistance CEC on conductive interdigital electrodes (on polyethylene terephthalate substrate) and the resistance was measured in shunt mode. Pressure sensors' characteristics: pressure sensitivity, response and relaxation time, output stability and durability of sensor under cyclic loading were studied for the fabricated fRPSs. Among the piezoresistors studied, PDMS-70 mass% V2C composite based fRPS shows high sensitivity of 0.32 kPa{-1} in 0-3 kPa pressure range with response and recovery time of 416 & 413 ms. The 60 & 80 mass% V2C filler content piezoresistors were shown sensitivity of 0.005, \& 0.03 kPa{-1} in 0-3 kPa range, respectively. Sensor was tested for real life applications.
Environment-Friendly Experimental Solar-Powered UV Light Pest Trapping Mechanism for Open Agricultural Fields
Authors: Madduri Kshitij , Hiremath Shivashankar , J Lokesh , Chiniwar Dundesh S , M H Shrisahil
Published: February 2025

With agriculture employing more than half of the country's workforce, a considerable number of individuals are at risk from using toxic chemicals and pesticides. To achieve environmental and financial sustainability in agriculture, safe, effective, and sustainable alternative pest management technologies must be explored. This article proposes using UV light to develop a long-term pest control solution for farmers. The system consists of three main components: a solar panel unit, an electronics controller unit, and a mechanical trapping system. The first component, the solar unit, provides electricity to the controller and other peripheral components of the control unit. The second component, the controller unit, serves as the system's brain. It receives commands from sensors and activates the UV LED strips accordingly. The system's code is optimized to minimize battery consumption and adjust LED brightness based on the time of day. The final component is the mechanical trapping system, designed to manage plant pests on agricultural land. The housing integrates all components to maximize insect capture. Six LED strips were evaluated at various current rates, with an optimal load-bearing current of 80mA selected. The trap system prototype was successfully constructed and deployed on farmland. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of the UV LED strips for insect trapping, and a water-oil-coated pan captured a substantial number of pests in cyclic operation. Using artificial illumination, the automatic pest control system effectively limits pest activity, providing a safer alternative for human operators and eliminating the need for harmful chemical pesticides.
Rapid evacuation of suspended sediment loads during landslides in steep gradient rivers
Authors: Pulpadan Yunus Ali , Ishan Adin , NS Magesh , KS Sajinkumar , Scaringi Gianvito , Siva Subramanian Srikrishnan , Oommen Thomas
Published: February 2025

Mass wasting events, such as channelized debris flows, can result in heavy sediment fluxes in river systems. On July 30, 2024, a catastrophic debris flow in Wayanad, India, resulted in over 252 fatalities and deposited approximately 5 million m3 of sediments into the Chaliyar River Valley. We measured sediment fluxes in Chaliyar before, during, and after the event through in-situ water sample analysis. Sediment fluxes during June and July 2024, prior to the debris flow, were highly variable, with peak values reaching 71.72 mg/l. On the day of the event, the debris flow perturbed the river channel, resulting in a rapid, two-order-of-magnitude spike in sediment flux compared to June–July averages. Within 48 hours post-event, the sediment fluxes returned to background levels, underscoring the transient nature of this intense geomorphic activity. Our research provides valuable insights into the rapid sediment evacuation processes of small, steep rivers following major landslide events.
Advancing sustainable energy solutions for hot regions: an in-depth exploration of Solar Thermal Energy Storage (STES) technologies and applications
Authors: Al-Hashmi Sulaiman Salim , Chen Mingjie , Al-Saidi Shaima
Published: February 2025

This study delves into the versatile advantages of Solid-State Heat Storage (SHS) across domestic, district heating, and industrial applications. While water is widely used for heat storage, large-scale applications face limitations in Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems due to the specific heat of the medium. Phase Change Materials (PCMs), however, provide larger capacities through latent heat, enabling precise discharging temperatures. Key PCM selection factors include melting temperature, latent heat, and thermo-physical properties. Specialized PCMs like salt hydrates show promise, urging tailored synthesis for specific building needs. Mechanical and nano-level advancements enhance heat transmission, with micro-encapsulation addressing phase segregation in salt hydrates. Despite a common focus on paraffin, attention to specialized PCMs, especially salt hydrates, is recommended. Thermochemical reactions, like adsorption, exhibit potential for moisture management and on-demand heat/cold storage. Cold Thermal Energy Storage (CTES) presents low-melting materials, yet understanding of their thermal stability and phase separation is limited. While sensible TES systems are available, Thermal Energy Storage with Cold Storage (TCS) and PCM-based systems are in development. Critical funding is needed for R&D to drive the adoption of new storage materials. Regulatory support and incentives for investment are vital for TES integration, particularly in industrial applications and renewable energy generation. This re-search underscores TES technologies' potential to transform greenhouse operations by integrating heating, cooling, and dehumidification with poly-generation. To enable cost-effective widespread adoption, further exploration of thermochemical energy storage and PCM development is essential.
Influence of nanophase Mo2C particles on the performance of automotive lubricant SAE15W40
Authors: K Muralidharan , Suganya Priyadharshini G , Ramalingam Vaira Vignesh , Ramasamy Senthilkumar , T Velmurugan , Suyambulingam Indran , Siengchin Suchart
Published: February 2025

In the current investigation, Mo2C nanoparticles which have been subjected to modification with stearic acid were successfully produced through utilization of a magnetic stirrer, followed by a subsequent phase of vacuum drying lasting for 12 hours. The incorporation of three distinct weight percentage concentrations (0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5%) of nanoparticles into base lubricating oil SAE15W40 was carried out to synthesize nano lubricants. A comprehensive analysis of the physical and chemical attributes of the newly synthesized nano-lubricants was conducted, encompassing examinations of parameters such as acidity levels, calorific content, flash and fire points, viscosity characteristics, as well as thermal stability properties. Furthermore, an assessment of the tribological behavior of the synthesized nano lubricants was performed under varying loads utilizing a pin on disk tribometer apparatus. The nano lubricant containing 0.3 weight percent of Mo2C exhibited notably enhanced performance in comparison to the base lubricating oil.
Suffering and Flourishing
Authors: Stump Eleonore
Published: February 2025

Central to Christian theology are certain paradoxical claims attributed to Christ, such as “whoever will lose his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:24). Such paradoxical sayings are often interpreted this way: what is lost are worldly goods and what is saved are goods of the spiritual realm, and the spiritual realm is incommensurably greater than the earthly realm. But then how are human beings to live in this world? The biblical book most focused on this question is the book of Ecclesiastes. One recurrent theme of the book is that everything human beings care about is just vanity. But Ecclesiastes also recurrently recommends joy in the small goods of everyday life. What is notable about the paradoxical character of the combined claims in Ecclesiastes is that they cannot be reconciled in the way that the paradoxical sayings of Christ are. The realm in which a person can rejoice in the small goods of his day is apparently the same realm as the one in which everything is vanity. This chapter explores the way in which the paradoxical character of the themes of Ecclesiastes are resolved to give a particular view of the good for human life.
A Final Reflection
Authors: Stump Eleonore
Published: February 2025

For reflective people, contemplation of human suffering tends to raise the problem of evil. If there is an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good God, how can it be that the world is full of evil? This response to evil is common, and the preceding chapters address it. But there is also another way to reflect on human suffering. It can show us the depth of the evil in human beings, which is a cause of so much of human suffering. So human suffering can also be a mirror of the evil in human beings. As the biblical book of Ecclesiastes shows, in a paradoxical way, that mirrored image of human beings can lead to a deep view of the goodness of God.
Who Is Speaking?
Authors: Vidas Moulie
Published: February 2025

One of the most common types of commentary on rabbinic teachings in the Talmud is the identification of the sage behind an anonymous teaching. This chapter examines how such identifications attest to an individuated notion of rabbinic teachings and a hermeneutic framework in which attribution was central. Amoraic scholars construed anonymity itself as reflecting the preferences of individual sages, demonstrated identifications by positing individual patterns of ruling, and employed identifications as part of inquiries that aimed to understand each sage on his own terms. Tannaitic compilations, in contrast, rarely present attribution as an intellectual practice; even when they do, their aim is not to trace words to individuals. The Talmud’s identifications show some similarity to discussions of attribution in other Greco-Roman scholarly traditions, but they also differ from them in method and aim. Still, these other traditions may illuminate the hermeneutic significance of attributions in Talmudic interpretation.
The Sages, Opinionated
Authors: Vidas Moulie
Published: February 2025

The Talmud regularly refers to the statements of sages as representing their de‘ah or opinion. This term carries connotations of personal preference and inclination. Tannaitic compilations avoid using de‘ah to refer to rabbinic teachings; the pervasive use of this term in reference to such teachings in the Talmud reflects the broader process of individuation this book posits. This chapter examines in particular the phrase “ke-da‘ateh,” “according to his opinion,” which normally connects two teachings attributed to the same sage. It suggests that Amoraic scholars employed this phrase not only to associate teachings, as previously thought, but more specifically to argue that a given teaching reflects the sage’s personal inclination, his de‘ah. Under this interpretation, this phrase shows us how uncovering the personal characteristics in the sages’ teachings became one of the aims of Amoraic scholarship.
The Switched Line
Authors: Vidas Moulie
Published: February 2025

Amoraic scholars gave a new meaning to the word shita to enable a comparative reading across the various teachings of a given sage and between the corpora of different sages. This term and this reading may relate to the adoption of tables to analyze texts in late ancient scholarship. The chapter centers on objections that the shita or line of a sage is “switched.” When Tannaitic sages criticize other sages for inconsistency, it is almost always inconsistency with the principles of the law in general; Talmudic objections concern inconsistency within a given sage’s body of teachings, attesting to the newly individuated notion of rabbinic teachings. Analysis of these objections shows that they were predicated on hypothetical comparative reading which construed similarity between one teaching and the teaching that should have been, reading for distinctive patterns in a sage’s ruling even when such patterns did not exist.
Lip-Synching in the Grave
Authors: Vidas Moulie
Published: February 2025

This chapter examines passages in which the sages themselves reflect on the significance and ethics of attribution. It centers on two long composite passages. The first begins with a story about R. Yohanan’s complaint that his student, R. Eleazar, does not cite him appropriately; it concludes with reflections on the significance of citation that draw on the ancient motif of literary immortality. The second passage begins with a story about R. Hiyya stopping his bath and proceeds to a discussion of citation practices that invokes the Sinaitic revelation. These passages and other statements analyzed in this chapter do not present a single ideological approach, but they all attest in various ways to the transition towards understanding rabbinic teachings as products of individuals. Many of these statements re-imagine the transmission of rabbinic teachings as expanding beyond the master-disciple relationship, producing the teaching as a text and the sage as its author.
It’s Not Here
Authors: Vidas Moulie
Published: February 2025

While emendations are not as common as other practices studied in this book, they appear in scores of passages in the Talmud. In presenting emendations of rabbinic teachings, Amoraic scholars introduced a new type of argument to rabbinic scholarship, adopting but also adapting a practice widely attested in other scholarly traditions. Talmudic emendations, like other emendations in antiquity, were transmitted alongside the received text, but this form was achieved through oral presentation rather than graphic annotation. Consultation of extant texts (oral or written) was not a dominant motivation for Talmudic emendations. Instead, they were based on the notion that the text must be exact and that it must reflect the known law. By offering emendations, Amoraic scholars shaped a new interpretive dynamic which placed the scholar in a position of superiority over the erroneous received text.
Ordinary Influences
Authors: Noggle Robert
Published: February 2025

Like the previous one, this chapter applies the Mistake Account to influences other than the thirteen paradigm examples from Chapter 2. However, this chapter focuses on more ordinary kinds of influence: nudges, advertising, sales tactics, and online influences. In each case, it concludes that some of these influences are probably manipulative. This chapter does not seek to offer the final word on every practical question. Indeed, in many cases this is impossible given our current understanding of the psychological mechanisms behind various forms of influence. In such cases, the Mistake Account can show us what more we need to discover before we can determine whether a certain form of influence is manipulation. Overall, the chapter shows how the Mistake Account can provide credible practical advice about various forms of influence that raise pressing ethical and public policy questions. The chapter concludes with a few brief remarks about contemporary political manipulation.
Faithfolk Ain’t Kinfolk
Authors: Barylo William
Published: February 2025

Those sharing the same faith will not necessarily help you out. Counter-extremism strategies born from the war on terror such as PREVENT have evolved from a ‘hostile environment’ antagonistic approach, considering Muslims as a potential threat, to eventually use data harvesting and social engineering in a risk-management exercise in order to dampen political dissent. By creating a scarcity mindset, where they are the only sources of funding, they put minorities in a state of ethical poverty where there is no other choice left but to ‘sell out’, taking positions in governments and think tanks supporting racist policies and Islamophobic narratives. From alliances with tech companies, the surveillance of activist movements, and the creation of fake charities (astroturfing) to the selection of vetted role models, these strategies build inorganic versions of Islam manufactured in offices in Washington, DC, Paris, and London, which make citizens realize that representation is not liberation.
Spaces of Nurture and Resistance
Authors: Barylo William
Published: February 2025

Reviving the original spirit of the seventh-century mosque as a community hub, many initiatives set up informal third spaces building communities around the notions of empathy, creativity, and service. Despite their lack of resources and their small scale, displaying unconventional methods of community organizing and governance through consultation and consensus, they are cradles for the development of novel forms of political engagement and showcase sustainable methods for grassroots movements. These marginal spaces in the borderlands of the empire are a practical articulation of the growing movement for Islamic decoloniality, a pluriversal framework free from man-made supremacies, resisting hegemonies, and opening a path to collective healing and flourishing.
Conclusion
Authors: Barylo William
Published: February 2025

The grassroots organizations, community hubs, charities, arts collectives, and individuals in this book demonstrate that, for people at the margins, it is possible to resist new forms of colonizations, and moreover, to heal and flourish, despite the absence of resources, networks, visibility, and political power. They show that even though organic processes take time, it is possible to make a positive difference for their local neighbourhoods and the wider society without engaging with systems of domination and oppression. They have successfully built alternative methods, spaces, and ways of existing that transcend the limitations of class, race, gender, and belief in effect in the neoliberal society.
Introduction: Cultural Geography and the Law of the Sea
Authors: Kraska James , Ryou-Ellison Hayoun
Published: February 2025

This introductory chapter draws on an interdisciplinary understanding of culture and how states interpret their own social history and practices within the same civilizational and cultural zone. We adhere to regional cultural definitions similar to those outlined in Huntington’s classification of political culture in terms of civilizations on the basis of geography and history, as seen in his seminal work, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Huntington divided the world into the following civilizations: Western, Orthodox, Latin American, Hindu, greater China (the Confucian Sinosphere), African, Buddhist, and Muslim. In a slight departure from Huntington’s civilization-based categories listed above, we divided the world into regions based on geographical considerations. Our regional categories are Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, East Asia, and South Asia. The regional cultural zones in our analysis are reflected in similar understandings and approaches that inform their own unique approaches to law and policy and which tend to be consistent among states with a shared cultural worldview, as opposed to those of states from traditions outside the civilizational zone in question. For example, Western traditions have focused more on individuality and liberalism, whereas Eastern traditions have placed comparatively greater emphasis on group stability and social harmony. Furthermore, broader patterns are evident beyond their respective cultural spheres and are manifest in the Global North–South developmental dynamic.
South Asia
Authors: Rajput Aniruddha
Published: February 2025

References from ancient writings in South Asia reflect an uninterrupted practice of freedom of navigation and peaceful uses of seas for several centuries and the establishment of trade relations around the world. When Portuguese explorers encountered India, there was already a liberal regime of maritime trade among African, Arabic, and Indian traders in the Indian Ocean. The absolute freedom of navigation and peaceful use of oceans also facilitated movements of religious ideas, pilgrims, and cultures, building cosmopolitan communities from Zanzibar to Myanmar. The Spice Route and European competition led to the eventual loss of political independence of the native kingdoms and the establishment of Portuguese monopoly on the seas. The experience of colonization influenced and radically changed the approach towards the regulation of the sea from complete freedom of navigation to a controlled approach aimed at protecting colonies from predatory colonization by European rivals, such as the Dutch Provinces. These ideas continued to influence the approach of the South Asian States in the development of the law of the sea throughout the colonial era and even brought together the States of the Indian Ocean region during the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea. This bloc of States formed the bulwark of the Global South during the negotiations. Over time, the priorities of the States in the Indian Ocean have shifted from a vision of collective governance of the global commons towards States advancing their individual interests based on geopolitical or economic interests.
Positive Garden Aesthetics
Authors: Fenner David
Published: February 2025

The cognitivist environmental-aesthetic theory of Positive Aesthetics—that holds that nature untouched by humans, known through the lens of science, is always aesthetically good—is not relevant to gardens. Nonetheless, I argue that every garden (with one possible exception) is aesthetically positive, that true summative aesthetic judgements about (bona fide) gardens are always on balance positive, and that every garden possesses more aesthetically positive features than negative ones. I offer three arguments for this thesis: (1) once a garden has more negative than positive aesthetic properties, it loses both its design and its purpose; (2) once a garden has more negative than positive aesthetic properties, standard or typical gardening practices are no longer useful for maintaining the garden; and (3) a particular garden that has more negative than positive aesthetic properties is no longer the garden that it was; to bring it back, so to speak, is to redesign and reinstall a new garden.
PharaCon: A new framework for identifying bacteriophages via conditional representation learning
Authors: Bai Zeheng , Zhang Yao-zhong , Pang Yuxuan , Imoto Seiya
Published: February 2025

Motivation

Identifying bacteriophages (phages) within metagenomic sequences is essential for understanding microbial community dynamics. Transformer-based foundation models have been successfully employed to address various biological challenges. However, these models are typically pre-trained with self-supervised tasks that do not consider label variance in the pre-training data. This presents a challenge for phage identification as pre-training on mixed bacterial and phage data may lead to information bias due to the imbalance between bacterial and phage samples.

Results

To overcome this limitation, we proposed a novel conditional BERT framework that incorporates label classes as special tokens during pre-training. Specifically, our conditional BERT model attaches labels directly during tokenization, introducing label constraints into the model’s input. Additionally, we introduced a new fine-tuning scheme that enables the conditional BERT to be effectively utilized for classification tasks. This framework allows the BERT model to acquire label-specific contextual representations from mixed sequence data during pre-training and applies the conditional BERT as a classifier during fine-tuning and we named the fine-tuned model as PharaCon. We evaluated PharaCon against several existing methods on both simulated sequence datasets and real metagenomic contig datasets. The results demonstrate PharaCon’s effectiveness and efficiency in phage identification, highlighting the advantages of incorporating label information during both pre-training and fine-tuning.

Availability

The codes of PharaCon are now available in: https://github.com/Celestial-Bai/PharaCon.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
RADNet: a highly and robust dynamic network for object detection in complex road scenes
Authors: Zhao Wenyang , Yang Xiaoyao , Wang Yong
Published: February 2025

Aiming at the problems of low detection accuracy and redundant model parameters in the current road scene detection, a RADNet-based road scene detection algorithm is proposed. In this algorithm, an efficient backbone structure CSPResRepBlock is designed to enable the model to obtain more comprehensive target information. Secondly, a multi-feature fusion progressive pyramid is designed to significantly alleviate the elimination of target feature information during the feature fusion process. Meanwhile, a new decoupling head structure called Efficient Dynamic DCNv2 Head is designed, which significantly improves the model’s sensitivity to deformation or edge blurring features. In addition, a structured pruning algorithm is introduced to achieve network acceleration by automatically analyzing complex structural couplings and correctly removing parameters. Finally, experiments on the BDD100K dataset show that the RADNet algorithm improves the average detection accuracy mAP50 by 6.3% and reduces the number of parameters by 68.6% and the computational effort by 30.3% compared to Yolov8s. The inference speed of the model is 114.1 FPS. The model’s generalizability was evaluated using four additional publicly available datasets. These results show that the RADNet algorithm is effective and superior for the task of autopilot target detection.
Clinical outcomes of Kawashima procedure and subsequent hepatic vein incorporation
Authors: Behrend Lea , Matsubara Muneaki , Osawa Takuya , Schaeffer Thibault , Palm Jonas , Niedermaier Carolin , Heinisch Paul Philipp , Piber Nicole , Hager Alfred , Ewert Peter , Hörer Jürgen , Ono Masamichi
Published: February 2025

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to evaluate outcomes after Kawashima procedure with special regard to the development of pulmonary arterio-venous malformations.

METHODS

All patients who underwent Kawashima procedure between 1992 and 2022 were reviewed.

RESULTS

Twenty-one patients underwent Kawashima procedure at a median age of 14.5 (interquartile range, 8.4–40.4) months. There were no hospital deaths and 2 late deaths. Survival after Kawashima procedure at 5, 10, and 15 years was 90.5, 82.9, and 69.1%, respectively. It was 100% at 10 years for children 9 months old or younger at Kawashima procedure, compared with 77.0% for older children (p = 0.281). Hepatic vein incorporation was achieved in 16 patients (76.2%) at a median age of 3.3 (2.7–13.8) years and at a median interval of 2.6 (1.9–8.6) years. Survival after hepatic vein incorporation at 5, 10, and 15 years was 92.3, 83.1, and 55.4%, respectively. Pulmonary arterio-venous malformations developed in 4 patients after Kawashima procedure, which improved after hepatic vein incorporation in 3 patients. Of 4 patients who developed pulmonary arterio-venous malformations after hepatic vein incorporation, 2 patients died, and 2 patients survived. All of them had bilateral superior vena cava and hepatic venous flow was excluded in one lung as the cause of pulmonary arterio-venous malformations.

CONCLUSIONS

Kawashima procedure could be performed with low operative risk on a patient aged less than 9 months. Despite the current early Kawashima and subsequent hepatic vein incorporation strategy, the incidence of pulmonary arterio-venous malformations did not decrease. Therefore, leaving antegrade pulmonary blood flow at Kawashima procedure is recommended.
A method of classifying the influence of intraparticle diffusion in adsorption systems: characteristic curves of the diffusion-chemisorption kinetic model
Authors: Sutherland Clint
Published: February 2025

This review evaluates 70 published studies with R2 > 0.95 that apply the diffusion-chemisorption (D-C) model to adsorption systems. It also incorporates an experimental component to demonstrate the practical applicability of the derived characteristic curves and equations. The study introduces a new framework for classifying adsorption systems based on intraparticle diffusion, leveraging a solid-phase mass transfer index (RDC) and characteristic curves derived from the D-C kinetic model. Additionally, new equations were developed to rapidly estimate the half-time of adsorption reactions and map operating time as a function of sorbent saturation. The characteristic curves based on the published studies revealed four distinct zones for RDC ranging from 0 to infinity. Type I curves correspond to large particle sizes and highly porous adsorbents, whereas Type IV curves represent powdered and low-porosity adsorbents. The concurrence to Types I, II, III, and IV curves from the 70 published studies were 8.5%, 36%, 32.5%, and 23%, respectively. To demonstrate the usefulness of the developed equations, the adsorption of Cu(II) ions by Fomes fasciatus was successfully evaluated to elucidate the influence of intraparticle diffusion and predict adsorption performance. This type of analysis offers a valuable tool for researchers and designers to identify adsorbents for specific adsorbates and explicate transport mechanisms. Further, it minimises the need for extensive sampling and enables the comparison of adsorbent performances.
Association of Life’s Essential 8 and Incident Cardiac Conduction Disorder: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Long Tianxin , Wu Xiaoying , Chen Yongming , Fu Bingqi , Cheng Sijing , Huang Hao , Niu Hongxia , Hua Wei
Published: February 2025

Aims

To evaluate the effect of Life’s Essential 8 (LE8), a comprehensive cardiovascular health (CVH) metric from the American Heart Association, on the risk of cardiac conduction disorders (CCD).

Methods and Results

We conducted a prospective cohort study of 112,160 adults from the UK Biobank, free of cardiovascular disease at baseline, to examine the association between LE8 scores and the risk of CCD. LE8 scores were categorized into low (0-49), moderate (50-79), and high (80-100) CVH groups. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for CCD incidence during a median follow-up of 11.6 years. A total of 2,760 CCD cases were identified. After adjustment for confounders, the high CVH group exhibited a significantly lower risk of CCD compared to the low CVH group (HR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.40-0.56). Further analyses showed reduced risks for both severe conduction block (HR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.52-0.78) and left bundle branch or fascicular block (HR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.25-0.49) in the high CVH group. Restricted cubic spline regression revealed an L-shaped association between LE8 score and CCD risk. Among individual LE8 metrics, WQS analysis revealed that BMI and sleep health were the major contributors to reduced CCD risk.

Conclusions

Higher LE8 scores were associated with a lower risk of CCD, including severe conduction block requiring pacemaker implantation and left bundle branch or fascicular block. Comprehensive strategies targeting optimal CVH, especially BMI and sleep health, may be beneficial for preventing CCD.
Interspecies and Intraspecies “Talk” Shape the Bacterial Biofilms
Authors: Yiyang Lou , Liu Ziqi , Zhang Qiyi , Zhang Lujie , Liao Xinyu , Yang Tian , Liu Donghong , Lu Xiaonan , Ahn Juhee , Ding Tian , Feng Jinsong
Published: February 2025

Bacteria pretend to organize into complex, multicellular structures known as biofilms, which enable survival and adaptation in dynamic environments. Bacterial biofilms serve diverse functions, including providing structural stability, directing metabolic adaptations, and facilitating bacterial expansion and nutrient acquisition. In natural environments, biofilms are predominantly formed by diverse multi-species bacteria. The formation of multi-species biofilms is a dynamic process shaped by intricate bacterial interactions, encompassing both cooperative and antagonistic behaviors. These interactions are mediated by signaling molecules that facilitate cell-to-cell communications, influenced by the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) matrix and biofilm architecture. This review synthesizes recent advances in understanding bacterial interactions within biofilms, focusing on mediating metabolites, underlying mechanisms, and their implications for the process of biofilm development. These insights offer a foundation for developing strategies to manipulate microbial communities and control biofilm-related challenges.