bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Notes on Art and the Abolitionist Imagination
Authors: Ehrlich Ken
Published: August 2024

Formed in the tumultuous summer of 2020, UC Cops off Campus groups coalesced around the joint aims of getting police off the campuses of the University of California and developing a collective abolitionist practice. In this essay I reflect on my own involvement in organizing to get cops off UC campuses as a lecturer in the art department of UC Riverside and in doing so, speculate on the complicated and evolving relationship between art and abolition. I attempt to disentangle the facile way that creativity is often understood in political and artistic contexts from the absolutely crucial centrality of the imagination within contemporary abolitionist struggles. Artists committed to systemic transformation might begin by taking seriously Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s deceptively simple proposition: "Abolition requires that we change one thing: everything.” Especially in this moment, art’s engagement with the political must go beyond embracing an abstract version of “change” that leaves institutional dynamics unexamined.
Grounding at the Crossroads
Authors: Schulze-Oechtering Castañeda Michael , Lumbreras Jose , Gomez Jonathan D.
Published: August 2024

Drawing on our collective experiences as community-grounded ethnic studies scholars, we reflect on our engagement with the work of Walter Rodney. In particular, we discuss a reading group we created during the COVID-19 pandemic to discuss Rodney’s 1969 text The Groundings with My Brothers. Building on a body of scholarship that uplifts Rodney’s approach to critical pedagogy, known as “grounding,” we each reflect on our experiences applying Rodney’s “grounding pedagogy” to our respective regional and institutional contexts.
How to Become a Soldier in the Black Liberation Army
Authors: Gaskew Tony
Published: August 2024

From 1970 to 1983, it is estimated that the Black Liberation Army (BLA), by way of armed resistance in the name of revolutionary justice, was responsible for expropriating the lives of dozens of police officers across the United States of America. Yes, as unbelievable, and as extra-terrestrial as it might sound today, there was a very brief period in U.S. history when there were consequences for indiscriminate acts of police violence against the Black community. As a Black man who was born and raised in the womb of the Black Power Movement in 1960s Chicago, and an ethnographic scholar on Black armed resistance and counterinsurgency violence directed at racialized people, I am often asked, what served as the intellectual inspiration? Was there a sort of “book list” to become a soldier in the BLA?
Enduring Dangers: Contents
Authors: Rosas Abigail , Rosas Ana Elizabeth
Published: August 2024

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Uncertainty, Discourse, and Democracy in John Edgar Wideman’s Writing, 1980s to Today
Authors: Kamali Leila
Published: August 2024

This article examines uncertainty as a defining characteristic in the writing of one of Pittsburgh’s most notable sons, John Edgar Wideman. Uncertainty appears in Wideman’s writing as a quality that is particularly linked to racialized experience and can herald greater possibilities for democracy than are represented within mainstream U.S. American discourse. Uncertainty, however, also forms a key feature of racial terror in Wideman’s work, the illusion of certainty appearing as a form of safety and protection.
Reading from a selection of his works, including Damballah (1981), God’s Gym (2005), and Writing to Save a Life (2016), I draw on Eva Mackey’s analysis of white settler communities and the phenomenon of uncertainty that is stimulated by their encounter with debates for Indigenous peoples’ land rights. This forms an apt allegory for the discussions of antiracism that have exploded in the public domain since the death of George Floyd, and it stimulates considerations of “safe discourse” (after Patricia Hill Collins), silence, responsibility, and “wake work” as modes of navigating uncertainty in the face of what Christina Sharpe calls the “engine of racism.” Wideman searches for narrative and ontological modes that can preserve consciousness from totalitarian structures, including race and surveillance, and the attachment to notions of certainty they present. He explores blues, silence, and the experience of rapture as spaces that extend beyond discourse, in which Black men in particular might benefit from the possibilities of uncertain forms of subjectivity that are uncolonized by racial capitalism.
Where Have All the Black Revolutionaries Gone in Steel City? An Interview with Sala Udin
Authors: Gaskew Tony
Published: August 2024

On August 25, 1967, Pittsburgh became one of only twenty-two locations across the United States to initiate FBI Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) operations, in order to destroy the lives of the city’s Black revolutionaries. After I reviewed over four thousand pages of FBI Memorandums obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), it was very clear that J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI had surveilled one of Pittsburgh’s greatest Black Power Movement activists, Sala Udin. The FBI hoped to either weaken his authority as a leader, incarcerate him, or neutralize him. Today, over fifty years later, we cannot pretend the FBI’s documented acts of systemic violence against Udin do not exist. In two recorded interviews I had with Udin in July 2020 and May 2021, we spoke on a variety of issues, including his thoughts and self-reflection on nineteen pages of FBI COINTELPRO memos specifically detailing actions for his neutralization.
Memorial Quilt: Patchworked Remembrances of Those Stolen from Us
Authors: Laubscher Mian , Bairnsfather Lauren Apter , Miles Keith David
Published: August 2024

Editors’ note: We asked our contributors who they would like to honor from Pittsburgh for the In Memoriam section. They unanimously decided on Antwon Rose, the Tree of Life massacre victims, and the police officers who were ambushed in Stanton Heights. Our guiding thought was that the circumstances of those lives and deaths in some ways make a demand against hierarchizing between one life or the other while also illuminating the messiness of a city that is “stronger than hate” and even “most livable,” for some, but not all. We have three contributors for this section. First, Mian Laubscher, a friend of Antwon Rose, permitted us to weave in his beautiful eulogy. Second, Lauren Bairnsfather decided on a modest memorial to the Tree of Life victims by naming each victim and offering their Hebrew names. She also included the traditional Jewish words of comfort,” May their memories be for a blessing,” as a connecting thread. Finally, Officer Keith Miles shared a personal story about his friend and fallen officer, Eric Kelly.
No Conclusions: Response to Symposium, August 16, 2021
Authors: Sun Eidsheim Nina , Walden Daniel
Published: August 2024

Tools and perspectives serve particular ends. When they are no longer useful because a goal, such as writing a book, has been achieved, pieces of paper change status from vital tools to a pile of materials to be recycled. Also, when the goal (or question) changes—for example, from racially differentiating people by voice, exhibiting musical superiority, or settling and colonizing continents to uncovering vocal and musical multiplicities or writing the complex history of settler music history and land practices—we discard outdated tools and perspectives and adopt those that will serve our current goals. At least to this point in my work, it has been vital to focus on understanding the questions we ask and the ways we arrive at them, rather than dealing in conclusions. 
One of the main questions I asked in The Race of Sound was: How can the sound of the voice be essential if, as we know from vocal pedagogy and vocal artists, the voice is material, formed by practices, and practices are determined by understandings limited by culture and history? The question I am currently concerned with is: How have deep (and largely unarticulated) conceptual metaphors shaped musical practice, thinking, sensing, and imagination?
A Different Way of Working: The Insurgent Sociology of Shana M. griffin
Authors: Flowers Nia , Lipsitz George
Published: August 2024

Through her art, education, and activism, Shana M. griffin addresses issues that matter. Her projects and publications call attention to racialized sexism and segregation, to poverty and predatory policing, to housing insecurity and homophobia. They illuminate as well, however, the profound wisdom, creativity, and consciousness of generations of Black women whose refusals of unlivable destinies have enabled Black people to survive and even thrive in the face of calculated white supremacist cruelty and contempt. Yet even more important than the matter of her oeuvre is the manner by which it is conducted. From her standpoint at the intersections of art and activism, of scholarship and social struggle, griffin has formulated new ways of working that are well worthy of emulation by others. She creates works of art that are not designed for connoisseurship or collection but instead seek to shake up social relations and imbue people with the potential to work collaboratively and collegially, to recognize the value of undervalued people, and to fight back against the ways in which racism, sexism, homophobia, and other oppressive practices harm everyone by treating difference as an excuse for domination.
The Grace of Black Folk: Notes on Ubuntu Democracy
Authors: Jabir Johari
Published: August 2024

The Mississippi River holds the songs of my people: of how some of us were betrayed and sold back there, while others of us were scattered across a vast somewhere, and how none of us is welcomed anywhere, except where fugitives dare. No fugitive has ever survived by coincidence. The artful genius of the fugitive’s survival has entailed making quilts out of fragments, forging the belonging that can be found in exile, and listening to the songs of the river, those dark winding melodies in mysterious meter. Black poet laureate Langston Hughes wrote of hearing the river sing when Abraham Lincoln made the journey to New Orleans. The songs of the river summon the Sankofa bird, whose presence in our midst is a grace, an invitation for all of us to journey back into the past, to pause and wonder at how we made it over.
News from the Director
Authors: McPherson Alan
Published: August 2024

News from the Director of CENFAD, Dr. Alan McPherson. This section contains a brief note from Dr. McPherson, an overview of the spring 2024 lecture series, and grant recipients.
News from the Davis Fellow
Authors: Johnson Joseph
Published: August 2024

A brief note from the Davis Fellow, Joseph Johnson.
Research Reports
Authors: Johnson Joseph
Published: August 2024

Reports from CENFAD grant recipients on the research they have conducted with the funds received.
Interview with Dr. Stephanie Freeman
Authors: Johnson Joseph
Published: August 2024

A brief interview with Dr. Stephanie Freeman from the Department of State's Office of the Historian.
Intersectionality in Housing Research: Early Reflections from a Community-based Participatory Research Partnership
Authors: MacDonald Katie , Dorow Sara , Klein Reisa , Kochkina Olesya
Published: August 2024

We discuss early reflections of a housing security research project focused on implementing intersectional praxis across the life cycle of community-based participatory research. Drawing on our team’s initial Co-learning Workshop, including community and academic partners, we share initial learnings of our collective engagement with the connections between intersectionality and housing security. Specifically, we reflect on three key challenges, or “hopeful hesitations,” that have emerged as we begin our collaboration: co-defining intersectionality (including both theory and implementation); integrating intersectionality into the multi-scaled complexities of housing security; and communicating the relevance of intersectionality to a wider network of actors in housing security policy and programming. We suggest that an intersectional lens is crucial to housing security work because of the ways it attends to the everyday lived experiences of housing insecurity, the interlocking forms of oppression that create differentiated experiences, and the specific contexts in which structural housing inequities take root.
Vancouver Affordable Housing
Authors: Nay Gary
Published: August 2024

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Molecular characterization of Tunisian B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Besbes Sawsen , Bouali Nouha , Hamadou Walid Sabri , Bennour Ayda , Boulland Marie Laure , Salah Nawel Ben , Youssef Yosra Ben , Khelif Abderrahim , Fest Thierry , Hafsia Raouf , Soua Zohra
Published: August 2024

B-Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) represents a heterogeneous spectrum of lymphoid disorders and stands as the most common hematological malignancy affecting both children and adults. The diagnosis generally based on morphological criteria as well immunophenotyping, while molecular approaches provide highly valuable clinical and prognostic information. In this study, our aim was to investigate IGH, IGK-Kde, and IKZF1 genes as molecular markers to enhance the accuracy of B-ALL diagnosis. Therefore we explored 63 B-ALL Tunisian cases, using multiplex PCR assay according to BIOMED-2 condition. 34 clonal IGH gene rearrangements, 22 clonal IGK-Kde, 4 IKZF1 gene deletions and 2 simultaneous IG/IKZF1 recombination were identified. These findings confirm both the clonal proliferation and the B-lymphoid lineage origin. The use of IGH, IGK-Kde and IKZF1 markers will be introduced for the first time in Tunisian laboratories for molecular characterization of B-ALL and subsequently for the monitoring of minimal residual disease which is an important determinant for patients outcome. The implementation of molecular profiling of B-ALL trough assessing IGH, IGK-Kde, and IKZF1 markers will rise the challenge for efficient minimal residual disease monitoring and patient outcomes evaluation.
Іонізація молекул фруктози електронним ударом
Authors: Завілопуло А.М. , Ремета Є.Ю.
Published: August 2024

Масспектрометричним методом досліджено процеси іонізації молекул фруктози при взаємодії з електронами. Вперше експериментально виміряні потенціал іонізації, енергії появи та повний переріз іонізації. Методами Хартрі—Фока (HF) й теорії функціоналу густини (DFT) розраховано енергетичні структури D- та L-форм молекули фруктози. За повними енергіями молекули та її позитивного іону (адіабатичне наближення) та за енергією зв’язку HOMO молекулярної орбіталі (МО) оцінено потенціал іонізації молекули. Розраховано перерізи однократної іонізації молекули за напівкласичним Binary-Encounter-Bethe (BEB) та класичним Гризінського (Gryz) наближеннями. За Gryz-DFT припороговим перерізом нормовано виміряний відносний повний переріз. Проведена оцінка внесків у Gryz-DFT переріз від валентних HOMO, HOMO-1, HOMO-2 МО.
Extensor digitorum brevis manus, un diagnóstico diferencial
Authors: Abril-Botero Carolina , Martínez-Villegas Tomás
Published: August 2024

El músculo extensor digitorum brevis manus es una variante de los extensores de la mano. Se trata de un músculo supernumerario en el dorso de la muñeca ubicado en el cuarto compartimento extensor. Suele ser asintomático, pero ocasionalmente se presenta como una masa dolorosa; en estos casos, está indicado el tratamiento quirúrgico que consiste en la resección del músculo o la liberación del retináculo extensor del cuarto compartimento. Presentamos a una paciente de 30 años, con una masa dolorosa en el dorso de la mano izquierda. Según las evaluaciones clínica y ecográfica, se sospechó un ganglión y se programó laresección quirúrgica. En la cirugía, se encontró tejido muscular compatible clínicamente con el extensor digitorum brevis manus, y se liberó el retináculo extensor. Los estudios publicados sobre su incidencia y prevalencia son escasos y, en su mayoría, se trata de informes post mortem, por lo que este caso presentado reviste particular interés.
Lesión del nervio interóseo anterior secundaria a una fractura diafisaria de húmero en un adulto
Authors: Viollaz Gonzalo , Ramallo Juan
Published: August 2024

Las fracturas diafisarias de húmero en los adultos pueden acompañarse de lesiones en el nervio radial (hasta el 17% de los casos). Sin embargo, es extremadamente infrecuente la afectación del nervio mediano luego de estas fracturas. Presentamos a un paciente adulto que sufrió una lesión en continuidad del nervio mediano luego de una fractura cerrada de húmero, con compromiso fundamental de las fibras correspondientes al nervio interóseo anterior. Se detallan la presentación clínica, el tratamiento y la evolución.
Meta-analysis of Pulsed Field Ablation Versus Thermal Ablation for Pulmonary Vein Isolation in AF: A Broad Overview Focusing on Efficacy, Safety and Outcomes
Authors: Iqbal Mohammad , Kamarullah William , Pranata Raymond , Putra Iwan Cahyo Santosa , Karwiky Giky , Achmad Chaerul , Kim Young Hoon
Published: August 2024

The recently established non-thermal, single-shot pulsed field ablation (PFA) is a potential tool for achieving rapid pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) to cause cell death by electroporation, yet data regarding this state-of-the-art technology remain sparse. In this meta-analysis, we included 3,857 patients from 20 studies. There was no significant difference in AF recurrence between the PFA and control groups. Subgroup analysis showed that additional ablation beyond PVI has a similar rate of AF recurrence to PVI alone (10% versus 13%, respectively). PVI durability was achieved in 83% (mean), 95% CI [65–99%] of the PFA group and in 79% (mean), 95% CI [60–98%] of the control group, with no significant difference in the rate of PVI durability between the two groups. The PFA group had considerably reduced procedure duration, but not fluoroscopy time. No statistically significant differences in periprocedural complications were observed. PFA is associated with shorter procedural time than thermal ablation. Cardiac complications were uncommon and mainly reversible in both the PFA and control groups.
Assessment and Validation of Prestress Loss Prediction Models Using Real-Time Prestress Loss Prediction Measurements
Authors: Eddine Acheli Alla , Jayaseelan Hema , Russell Bruce W. , Peters Walter , Filip Chris
Published: August 2024

This study investigates prestress loss measured on precast, prestressed concrete bridge beams for a bridge in Oklahoma. The research examines the effects of including mild reinforcing steel in the bottom flange of precast concrete girder and the alternative prestressing pattern on the prestressing losses of pretensioned bridge girders. Using solar powered batteries, a structural moni¬toring system has been providing an ongoing stream of data since beam fabrication and will continue through the service life of the bridge. In addition to the measured data, the prestress losses were predicted at the girder midspan using five different methods for computing prestress loss. Data show that current equations overesti¬mate the concrete elastic modulus at early ages, leading to an underprediction of elastic shortening losses. Re¬sults show that prestress losses are reduced by incorpo¬rating a combination of fully tensioned top strand plus mild steel in the bottom flanges of the bridge girder.
Project Spotlight: Durable embassy uses precast UHPC to copy tribal patterns
Authors: Nichols Mason
Published: August 2024

The new U.S. embassy in Maputo, Mozambique, uses precast ultra-high-performance concrete to meet durability and blast resistance requirements Bei Kohen, project and business development manager for Fibrobeton, says that UHPC played a crucial role inn the project by offering exceptional durability. The general contractor was Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc.
Development and validation of a method for studying Relugolix and its impurities by UPLC-MS
Authors: Thrinath S.R. , Lakshmi K.S. , Krishnan Manikandan
Published: August 2024

In accordance with the International Coordinating Committee's recommendations, an acceptable UPLC-MS method is being developed for analyzing Relugolix stability under various stress scenarios. Stress conditions included exposure to 0.1 and 1 N acid, alkali, hydrolysis, peroxide, light, reduction, and heat. The mobile phase for this analysis was prepared by blending acetonitrile and a 0.1% orthophosphate solution in a 50:50 (v/v) ratio. A C18 Column with dimensions of 100 × 2.1 mm and a particle size of 1.7 µm was employed as the stationary phase. The wavelength at which detection was performed was 247 nm, and the flow rate was maintained stable at 0.5 mL min−1. Strong linearity was shown by this method across a concentration range of 1.25 μg mL−1 to 7.5 μg mL−1. The method's reliability was shown by ensuring all of the validation parameters fell within the acceptable range.

Furthermore, forced degradation studies were conducted using standard drugs. Different stress conditions led to the formation of degradation products, which were successfully separated from Relugolix using the C18 column in combination with an auto-purification mass spectrometer. Among the stress conditions, alkaline conditions showed a lower degradation rate. Interestingly, seven distinct types of degradation products were identified from the degradation studies under acid, alkali, hydrolysis, hydrogen peroxide, light, reduction, and thermal conditions. Remarkably, these seven degradation products have not been reported in previous literature, making this study the first to document their existence.
Full-scale experiment to identify biomechanical parameters of the motor and evacuation functions of the stomach used in a mathematical model of food flow
Authors:   Federal Scientific Center for Medical and Preventive Health Risk Management Technologies, Zaitseva Nina , Trusov Peter ,   Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Kiryanov Dmitry , Kamaltdinov Marat , Ivashova Yulia , Lir Darya , Sitchikhina Liubov
Published: August 2024

The normal functioning of the stomach, duodenum and other parts of the digestive tract is important for the quality of food digestion. The advantage of mathematical models for studying digestive processes is the ability to predict the characteristics of food flow in the tract depending on various conditions (food properties, individual characteristics of the tract structure, the presence of functional disorders, etc.). However, to obtain ade-quate modeling results, it is necessary to determine the values of the model parameters with the required accuracy Identification of parameters of mathematical models is carried out, as a rule, using experimental data. The purpose of this work was to identify the bio-mechanical parameters of the motor and evacuation functions of the stomach using a full-scale experiment for the subsequent use of the obtained values in a mathematical model. The article describes the procedure for conducting experimental studies to obtain indi-vidual parameters using ultrasound and biochemical blood tests. 10 experimental series of ultrasound studies were conducted after eating breakfast, which differed significantly in composition and caloric content, including both balanced diets (proteins, fats, carbo-hydrates) and those with a predominant content of fats, proteins or carbohydrates. The results provide data on gastric half-emptying time, the parameters of peristaltic waves in the antrum (amplitude, period, speed), the opening period and the diameter of the pyloric sphincter. Correlation coefficients characterizing the relationship between the composi-tion of food taken and the parameters of the motor-evacuation function of the stomach are presented. The data obtained are supposed to be used in the future to construct the geometry of the individual shape of the stomach with time-varying parameters of shape and motility, and to conduct computational experiments with different food compositions. In subsequent publications, a detailed analysis of the relationships between the results of biochemical blood tests and the parameters of stomach motility and the composition of food taken is planned.
Impact of facet joints on biomechanical behavior of the vertebromotor segment L4–L5: a three-dimensional model of the intervertebral disc with ideal fluid
Authors:   Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Khoroshev Denis
Published: August 2024

An under-researched potential cause of low back pain is the subject of a review. Pain in the lumbar spine is a disease that affects a large part of society and has a significant impact on the life quality and performance of the world's population. Determining the cause/source of pain at the level of segment L4–L5 in clinical practice is a difficult task, because not every specialist is able to distinguish facet joint subluxation from disc herni-ation. Literature analysis on modeling of the vertebromotor segment has shown that stud-ies do not focus on continuous modeling of facet joints. The research aim is to present the problem formulation of the vertebromotor segment L4–L5 taking into account the presence of fluid in the facet joints and to analyze the results of the model behavior. The mathematical formulation of a mixed form problem (a combination of elastic and ideal fluid problems) for the vertebromotor segment L4–L5 using Ansys is described. The cur-rent problem formulation models axial traumatic loading of the vertebromotor segment L4–L5 with subluxation of the facet joints, which is typical for drivers, tractor drivers and sportsmen. As an assumption, synovial fluid is assumed to be an ideal fluid. Modeling of the segment stress-strain state under a compressive axial load of 100 kg showed that the fluid pressure in the right and left facet joint capsules was 69.2 and 84.7 kPa, consequent-ly. The difference between the joint capsule pressures 18 % confirms that there is an asymmetrical distribution of axial compressive load in the segment and that the right joint capsule is compressed. This study highlights the need to consider the facet joints at the lumbar level when modeling the vertebromotor segment.
Historyczno-prawna analiza domniemania niewinności w prawie kanonicznym
Authors: Klimkiewicz Daniel
Published: August 2024

Artykuł omawia zagadnienie domniemania niewinności w ujęciu historyczno-prawnym, poczynając od prawa rzymskiego do aktualnie obowiązujących regulacji prawnych. XIX-wieczna humanitaryzacja prawa karnego przyczyniła się do prawnego określenia zasady domniemania niewinności. System prawny Kościoła katolickiego opowiadał się za domniemaniem winy umyślnej (okres przedkodeksowy i pod rządami CIC 1917), następnie za presumpcją poczytalności (KPK 1983). Dopiero reforma księgi VI kodeksu prawa kanonicznego z 2021 roku podkreśliła obowiązywanie zasady domniemania niewinności (kan. 1321 § 1 KPK 1921). Ta zasada procesowa została przewidziana w regulacjach pozakodeksowych dotyczących sposobu procedowania w sprawach nadużyć seksualnych wobec małoletnich i osób z nimi prawnie zrównanych (n. 3 okólnik KNW, art. 13 § 7 VELM, n. 9 i wstęp do aneksu nr 2 wytyczne KEP).
Synod Biskupów instytucją promującą synodalność w wymiarze powszechnym
Authors: Rozkrut Tomasz
Published: August 2024

Podejmując temat roli i znaczenia Synodu Biskupów we współczesnym Kościele, także jako o instytucji promującej synodalność w wymiarze powszechnym, należy wskazać, że mamy do czynienia z instytucją kościelną, która w roku 2025, będzie świętować nie tylko sześćdziesiąt lat swojego istnienia, ale przede wszystkim faktycznego i owocnego oraz dynamicznego funkcjonowania. W tym kontekście warto zaznaczyć, że jest ona ciągle dostosowywana do dynamicznej eklezjologii posoborowej i że w przekonaniu papieża Franciszka od czasu soboru watykańskiego II poprzez zgromadzenia Synodu Biskupów doświadczaliśmy w sposób bardzo intensywny konieczności oraz piękna „wspólnego wędrowania”. W tych słowach urzędującego biskupa rzymskiego mamy przywołanie tego, czym ma być każdy synod, bowiem łacińskie słowo synodus nie oznacza nic innego, jak „kroczyć razem”. Z tego powodu ojciec święty od początku swojej posługi Piotrowej zwraca szczególną uwagę na Synod Biskupów, ufając, że będzie się on rozwijał, by jeszcze lepiej sprzyjać dialogowi i współpracy biskupów między sobą i z biskupem Rzymu. Do ożywienia tego dzieła – przypomina – konieczne jest silne przekonanie, że wszyscy pasterze są ustanowieni, by służyć świętemu ludowi Bożemu, do którego sami należą na mocy sakramentu chrztu. Co więcej, podejmowane decyzje Franciszek ukazuje w relacji do magisterium Jana Pawła II i zgodnie z życzeniem wyrażonym wiele lat temu przez polskiego papieża pragnie szukać „takiej formy sprawowania prymatu, która nie odrzucając bynajmniej istotnych elementów tej misji, byłaby otwarta na nową sytuację”. Biskup Rzymu widzi konieczność dowartościowania, ale i doskonalenia instytucji Synodu Biskupów, będącego cennym dziedzictwem soborowym i wyrazem kolegialności, co podkreślali Paweł VI i Jan Paweł II. Synodalność pozostaje bowiem „drogą, której Pan Bóg oczekuje od Kościoła w trzecim tysiącleciu”.
Efficiency of Moringa Oleifera Seeds as a Natural Coagulant for Turbidity Reduction in Surface Water
Authors: Hoonka Vaibhav , Tiwari Manish , Khare Arun Kumar , Tiwari Preeti , Lodhi Ashish
Published: August 2024

Water purification remains a critical global challenge, particularly in developing regions where access to clean water is limited. Conventional methods often involve chemical coagulants that may have environmental and health repercussions. This research paper explores the use of Moringa oleifera seeds as a natural coagulant for reducing turbidity in surface water. Various parameters, including dosage, contact time, pH, and turbidity levels, are evaluated to determine the efficacy of Moringa oleifera seeds in water treatment. The findings indicate that Moringa oleifera seeds can significantly reduce turbidity, providing an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to chemical coagulants.
Thermal Conductivity and Fire Resistance of Glass Reinforced Fibre Concrete
Authors: Tiwari Manish , Hoonka Vaibhav , Khare Arun Kumar , Tiwari Preeti , Lodhi Ashish
Published: August 2024

Glass Reinforced Fibre Concrete (GFRC) is increasingly used in construction due to its enhanced mechanical properties and durability. This research paper investigates the thermal conductivity and fire resistance of GFRC, focusing on how glass fibers influence these properties. The study involves a series of experiments to measure the thermal conductivity and assess fire resistance under various conditions. The findings provide insights into the suitability of GFRC for applications where thermal performance and fire safety are critical. This paper also discusses the implications for building design and construction practices, emphasizing the benefits and limitations of GFRC in these contexts
Evaluation of Biodegradable Coagulants
Derived from Agricultural By-Products for
Water Clarification
Authors: Tiwari Manish , Tiwari Vaibhav , Khare Arun Kumar , Tiwari Preeti , Gupta Pankaj
Published: August 2024

The need for sustainable and effective water treatment methods is growing as global water resources
become increasingly strained. Biodegradable coagulants derived from agricultural by-products present a promising
alternative to conventional chemical coagulants, offering environmental and economic benefits. This research paper
evaluates the performance of biodegradable coagulants sourced from various agricultural by-products for water
clarification. The study involves laboratory-scale experiments to assess the coagulation efficiency, sedimentation rate,
and overall effectiveness of these coagulants compared to traditional chemical coagulants. The findings highlight the
potential of agricultural by-products as sustainable coagulants, with implications for water treatment practices and
environmental sustainability.
Preparation Techniques of Graphene Oxide:
A Review
Authors: Tiwari Ashish , Sharma Arti
Published: August 2024

Graphene oxide (GO) is a versatile material derived from graphite, consisting of single-layer carbon
atoms densely packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice. It possesses a range of applications in various fields
such as electronics, energy storage, and biomedical engineering due to its unique properties like high surface area,
excellent mechanical strength, and good electrical conductivity. The preparation of graphene oxide typically involves
several key steps, by which a bulk graphene oxide produces.
Protecting digital rights through soft law: Ensuring the implementation of the revised Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa
Authors: Ilori Tomiwa
Published: August 2024

This article examines the use of soft law for digital rights protection in African countries. Focusing particularly on the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, 2019 (revised Declaration) adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, it highlights some of the digital rights challenges in African countries that necessitated normative guidance for African states. Some of these challenges include increased internet shutdowns; unlawful interception of communication; social media bans; expensive internet access; attacks on media freedom; inadequate protection of personal data; and problematic laws on online harms. The article then examines the need for soft international human rights law to address these challenges, the provisions of the revised Declaration as soft law and how these provisions address digital rights challenges in African countries. It concludes that the revised Declaration is a unique soft international human rights law instrument and that it should not be treated as ornamental. It recommends that the African Commission should formulate an implementation plan that mainstreams the legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures provided for in the revised Declaration into African national contexts.
State regulation and misconstructions of customary land tenure in South Africa
Authors: van Huffel Anthea-lee September
Published: August 2024

The state resorts to misconstructions of customary land tenure rights in its land reform policy that emulate apartheid-era thinking, rather than facing the realities of modern-day land practices, which include collective decision making in the everyday management of land separate from the state's regulatory control. A developmental custodial state treads a thin line in the implementation of its statutory and policy interferences so as not to overstep the boundaries of existing land rights already operating under a living customary law system. Only through public participation and consultation with communities can the reasonableness of regulatory legislation and policies be accurately assessed and determined. Space must be created for all South Africans to participate in the economy to enable inclusive growth in various ways. In so doing, the state should avoid creating a hierarchy of land rights holders and should regulate the natural resource through policies that are aligned with reform objectives, without encroaching on spaces already regulated by customary and communal law systems. In this article the legal implications of applying a state custodianship approach to communal land, traditional leadership and misconstructions of customary law, and the political interpretation of constitutional land reform objectives is discussed.
Lessons from the 'minimum core' approach to the right to basic education in South Africa
Authors: Ally Nurina , Kazim Tatiana
Published: August 2024

South Africa's Constitutional Court has seemed notoriously reluctant to accept that socio-economic rights have a 'minimum core'. Following Mazibuko v City of Johannesburg, the Constitutional Court is generally viewed as having rejected a minimum core approach altogether. However, the position in relation to the right to basic education has been much less clearcut. The courts have never expressly disowned a minimum core approach to basic education. In fact, the Constitutional Court in AB v Pridwin Preparatory School implicitly acknowledged that the state is obliged to provide education of a certain quality or standard. There is also a line of case law in which the right to basic education has been given minimum content: The courts have held that it includes a right to textbooks, classroom furniture, basic infrastructure, sufficient teachers, transport and, more recently, nutrition. We argue that three lessons may be drawn from this 'minimum core' type approach. First, there is scope for courts to further develop the content of the right to basic education by specifying not only minimum inputs but also minimum outcomes entailed by the right. This shift in the jurisprudence, from inputs to outcomes, may be needed to hold government to account and ensure that the right to basic education is more than just an on-paper promise. Second, the 'minimum core' approach in the basic education context could also be applied to the interpretation and development of other immediately realisable rights recognised by the Constitution, such as the right of every child to basic nutrition. Third, jurisprudence on the right to basic education demonstrates the potential for developing the minimum content of progressively realisable socio-economic rights.
Total and Sand Floodplain Deposition on an Inside Bend During the 2019 Missouri River Flood
Authors: Mansfield Michael , John Shelley  , Stanford Gibson
Published: August 2024

Elwood Bottoms is a wildlife reserve that lies on the west side of the Missouri River, across from St. Joseph, Missouri. In 2019, the Missouri River inundated Elwood Bottoms for 73 days, much longer than the 1.85-day annual average outside of major flood events. This paper analyzes the floodplain deposition on Elwood Bottoms during the 2019 flood using repeated LiDAR, ground-based cross section surveys, and sediment sample datasets. The 2019 flood deposited 215,000 m3 of sediment on this floodplain. Sand concentrations in the deposits ranged from 8% to 100%. The authors computed a spatially varying sand fraction and used it to estimate a total sand deposition of 93,000 m3, roughly one-third the sediment volume scoured in the channel along the same reach during the flood. The computed sand deposit exceeded previous estimates for a similar long-term flood in 2011 by a factor of 3.5, which might stem from better computational methods or might reflect actual differences in the depositional behavior of the events. Floodplain deposits generally thinned and fined with distance from the channel, and subsurface samples were coarser than surface samples. The surficial 90th percentile of grain size distribution (d90) decreased by an order of magnitude across the deposits, from approximately 0.1 mm close to the channel to 0.01 mm at the distal edge of the inundated floodplain.
Technology for the production and studying the gas-dynamic characteristics of microfluidic gas chromatographic columns on silicon substrates
Authors: Platonov Igor A. , Platonov Igor A. , Platonov Vladimir I. , Agafonov Andrey N. , Andreev Taras A. , Milanina Kseniya I. , Dyuzhev Nikolay A. , Chichenkov Maxim Yu. , Paramonov Vladislav V.
Published: August 2024

The article presents a technology for the production of microfluidic gas chromatographic columns on the plane of silicon substrates with a channel length of 1 m and a channel cross section of 150x240 μm. The channel was formed by plasma-chemical etching and it was sealed using anode bonding. The results of the modelling and experimental study of the gas-dynamic characteristics of the manufactured column are presented, it was shown that the results of mathematical modelling differ from the experimental data by less than 1%, which allows using the constructed model to calculate the optimal location of the pillars inside the microfluidic channel in order to obtain the maximum loading capacity and efficiency of the manufactured gas chromatographic column.
Recurrent relations in chromatography
Authors: Zenkevich Igor G.
Published: August 2024

One of the main features of first-order recurrent equations y(x + Dx) = ay(x) + b (Dx = const) is that they lead to a linear form of various monotonic functional dependencies, including chemical variables. Such unique capabilities of recurrent relations are due to the fact that they combine the properties of arithmetic and geometric progressions, and this explains the possibility of linearisation of various retention time dependencies, both in gas and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Examples of the use of recurrent relations to characterize the dependence of analyte retention times on temperature in gas chromatography and on the concentration of organic components of eluents in reversed-phase HPLC are considered. They are effective in approximating variations in the retention indices of homologues and congeners depending on their position in the corresponding taxonomic groups of organic compounds. Moreover, based on the linearity of the recurrent dependence of the retention indices of analytes of various groups, it can be assumed that they belong to homologues or congeners. This identification option is illustrated by the example of previously unknown products of partial hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane – triethoxysilanol, diethoxysilanediol and ethoxysilanetriol.
Deviations of the recurrent approximation of retention parameters from linearity are also informative. This form of comparison of gas chromatographic retention indices of homologues allows identifying steric interactions in molecules, as illustrated by the example of a series of methyl-substituted benzenes. Recurrent approximation of the retention indices of benzene, toluene, m-xylene (1,3-dimethylbenzene) and mesitylene (1,3,5-trimethylbenzene) are linear, while the retention index of sterically strained isodurol (1,2,3,5-tetramethylbenzene) does not correspond to this dependence. In reversed-phase HPLC, the recurrent representation of the dependence of the retention times of analytes on the content of the organic component of the eluent allows identifying the shift in the positions of acid-base equilibria in solutions. In addition, the deviations of recurrent approximations of retention times from linearity in regions with high water content in the eluent allows detecting the reversible formation of hydrates of the analysed compounds.
Reversed-phase HPLC on the “monomeric” reversed phases: factors determining the retention of sorbates
Authors: Deineka Viktor I. , Oleinits Elena Yu. , Selemenev Vladimir F. , Eliseeva Tatyana V.
Published: August 2024

This brief review discusses options for the characterization of “monomeric” reverse phases aimed at understanding the types of interactions that determine the retention of sorbates in liquid chromatography. Traditional point (determined at one certain composition of the mobile phase) methods for determining the retention capacity, hydrophobicity (as methylene selectivity) relevant to the assessment of dispersion interactions are considered; their advantages and disadvantages are shown and the option of using substance separation maps based on the relative retention analysis method was proposed as an alternative. Attention was drawn to the fact that in real reverse-phase sorbents the density of grafting of alkyl chains is two times less dense compared to solid n-alkanes. In this case, sorbate molecules can penetrate into the grafted phase, and such penetration depends on the shape of the molecules. Consequently, conventional “monomer” reverse phases have a specific selectivity with respect to the retention of a number of substances with a special structure. It has been shown that modern methods of analysis do not pay enough attention to the difference in the mechanisms of retention of substances: absorption or adsorption, although different parameters are important for these mechanisms. Moreover, attention to this characteristic is not paid in the two most frequently used now very interesting and informative methods - the linear solvation energy relationships (LSERs) and the hydrophobic-subtraction model. The linear solvation energy relationships method does not differentiate between sorbates retained by different mechanisms (absorption or adsorption), and the resulting noticeable differences between calculated and experimental data are not surprising. At the same time, interpretation of the analysis results using the LSERs is complicated by the uncertainty of the contribution of sorbates of partial properties in the mobile and stationary phases to the solvation energy, since only their difference is calculated. However, comparison of different columns in the same mobile phases can be quite informative. The disadvantage of the second approach is not only the requirement to use several columns, but also the requirement of significant qualitative differences between the retention of sorbates on them. In addition, the possibility of decomposing all interactions into characteristic types is questionable, since the method does not use any of the orthogonal (independent of the calculation used) properties of sorbates.
Обнаружение способности к диссимиляционной тиосульфатредукции у представителей бесцветных серобактерий ро-да Thiothrix с использованием РНК, выделенной методом сорбции
Authors: Смольяков Дмитрий Денисович , Алёмова Александра Сергеевна , Руденко Татьяна Сергеевна , Грабович Маргарита Юрьевна
Published: August 2024

Впервые для представителей нитчатых бесцветных серобактерий рода Thiothrix, таких как T. litoralis ASТ, T. unzii A1Т и T. nivea JP2Т, была обнаружена способность к анаэробному дыханию с использованием тиосульфата в качестве терминального акцептора электронов. Ранее для этих бактерий была показана способность к литотрофному росту в присутствии тиосульфата в качестве донора электронов для энергетического метаболизма.
Для установления механизма восстановления тиосульфата при анаэробном росте, участие тиосульфатредуктазы или диспропорционирование тиосульфата, был проведен анализ конечных продуктов его превращения. У всех исследованных представителей рода Thiothrix были выявлены продукты, образующиеся при превращении тиосульфата, сульфит и сульфид, характерные при функционировании тиосульфатредуктазы, тогда как продукты, характерные для процесса диспропорционирования тиосульфата (сульфат и сульфид), не были выявлены.
В ходе исследования были идентифицированы гены phsA, phsB и phsС, кодирующие тиосульфатредуктазу (хинон, КФ 1.8.5.5), показана экспрессия этих генов в анаэробных условиях. Установлено, что при анаэробном росте на тиосульфате по сравнению с аэробным культивированием экспрессия генов phsA, phsB, phsC у T. litoralis ASТ, T. unzii A1Т и T. nivea JP2Т в первом пассаже увеличивается в 6-15 раз, тогда как во втором пассаже у T. unzii A1Т наблюдается многократное увеличение экспрессии генов в среднем в 180 раз. Для экстракции суммарной РНК использовались сорбирующие колонки. Образцы гомогенизировались и лизировались в присутствии хаотропной соли, а затем наносились на спин-колонку, отмывались от загрязнений. Удаление примесей ДНК и получение чистой РНК проводили, подвергая образец обработке ДНКазой непосредственно на спин-колонке. Качество РНК оценивали электрофорезом не менее 2% агарозном геле с добавлением 2.2. М раствора формальдегида.
В сероводородных биотопах, где спорадически создаются анаэробные условия, представители рода Thiothrix, ведущие прикрепленный образ жизни, для выживания в резко меняющихся условиях вынуждены переходить с аэробного дыхания на анаэробное. Невысокий урожай клеток T. litoralis ASТ, T. unzii A1Т и T. nivea JP2T (15 мг/дм3) при анаэробном росте на тиосульфате указывает, что процесс анаэробного дыхания на тиосульфате носит характер поддерживающего метаболизма.
Полученные данные позволяют приблизиться к разгадке, каким образом литотрофные серобактерии рода Thiothrix, ведущие прикрепленный образ жизни, эффективно используют тиосульфат в своей метаболической стратегии, приспосабливаясь к изменяющимся условиям среды, и объясняют их доминирующее положение в проточных сероводородных биотопах.