bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Spectroscopic studies, quantum chemical investigations, and in silico and in vitro scrutiny of the diuretic drug trichlormethiazide adsorbed onAuNPs
Authors: Shyni V. , Leenaraj D. R. , Ittyachan Reena , Shyju G. J. , Joseph Lynnette , Sajan D.
Published: December 2021

Experimental and theoretical study was employed to study the adsorption of the diuretic drug, trichlormethiazide (TCM) molecule on AuNPs (TCMA). The stereoelectronic properties of the molecular structure of most stable conformers of TCM and TCMA were studied using DFT/B3LYP‐6‐311++G (d, p) together with LANL2DZ methodology. The Fourier transform Raman and Infrared spectra of TCM were recorded and analyzed. Quantum chemical calculations of TCM and TCMA molecules were used to evaluate the stability of the molecule, hyper‐conjugative interactions, electron delocalization, and binding interactions. The calculated and experimentally observed vibrational frequencies of the molecule were assigned and compared. The shifting and intensity enhancement of the CCl2band manifests the back‐donation and conjugation effect, which are the result of the presence of nitrogen atom adjoining the dichloromethyl groups and the oxygen in the sulfur dioxide group attached among the amino group and the chlorophenyl ring, respectively, which enhances bioactivity. Anticancer activity was examined based on molecular docking analysis, and it was identified that TCM and TCMA molecules act as good inhibitors against lung cancer. SERS analysis and MTT assay confirmed the molecular docking analysis results.
A new optimal model predictive control scheme for a wind energy conversion system
Authors: Pradhan Prangya Parimita , Subudhi Bidyadhar , Ghosh Arnab
Published: December 2021

The correct management of power exchange between the doubly‐Fed induction generator (DFIG) and the grid depends on the effective optimal operation of the DFIG based wind energy conversion system (WECS). A modified optimal model predictive controller (MPC) architecture for WECS is proposed in this paper. The proposed scheme is carried out in two stages, as follows: (a) Using the MPC model and the tracking factor, an optimal control law is created, and (b) the aforementioned optimized issue is addressed using the linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach. Some improvements were made to the conventional LMI‐based MPC technique to lower the high computational complexity. To perform active and reactive power control in DFIG, the proposed approach is applied on the rotor‐side converter (RSC) control. The control law is divided into two sections. The first section deals with rotor current, while the second section deals with the RSC switching states. The LMI is used in the second portion of the control law to find the best switching state solution. The proposed method was created using the MATLAB/SIMULINK environment and tested in a 1hP DFIG‐WECS setup. By comparing the obtained results to conventional LMI‐PI, MPC‐based WECS, the effectiveness of the obtained results is verified. Variable wind speed conditions are used to vary all the results. Integral absolute error, integral time absolute error, and Integral square error measurements are used to compare the tracking performance index of all methods.
Analysis of significant stratospheric ozone reductions over southern Brazil: A proposal for a diagnostic index for southern South America
Authors: Rasera Gustavo , Anabor Vagner , Steffenel Luiz Angelo , Pinheiro Damaris Kirsch , Puhales Franciano Scremin , Rodríguez Lissette Guzmán , Peres Lucas Vaz
Published: December 2021

During the southern spring, a break of the polar vortex over the Antarctic continent frequently occurs. This results in the advection of ozone‐poor air mass (O3) to mid‐latitudes, characterizing the secondary effect of the Antarctic ozone hole (SEAOH). We present some distinct characteristics the eight greatest reductions of the total O3 column (TOC) over the central region of Rio Grande do Sul (RS, 29.5°S, 54°W), southern Brazil, between August and November from 2012 to 2016 and develop a full scalar diagnostic index of O3 negative anomalies for South America. For developing the index, mean values of the absolute potential vorticity, geopotential height, and wind components were obtained over moving grids with positive and negative O3 anomalies. It was then possible to develop statistical methods to obtain a diagnostic index of the SEAOH (Subantarctic O3 Index), as well as a diagnostic index of incursions of ozone‐poor air masses from the tropics (Subtropical O3 Index). The results show that TOC over the central region of RS, for the most intense O3 reduction episodes, is governed by a wide range of contributions from high and low isentropic levels. Significant interaction of air masses of polar and tropical origin via stratosphere–troposphere exchange was found. Finally, the Subantarctic O3 Index combined with the Subtropical O3 Index showed potential use for prediction centres and was skilful in detecting regions with the most negative O3 anomalies, mainly in the mid‐latitude region, but also in the subtropical region.
Technical note: Providing proton fields down to the few‐MeV level at clinical pencil beam scanning facilities for radiobiological experiments
Authors: Behrends Carina , Bäumer Christian , Verbeek Nico , Ehlert Jens , Prasad Rajendra , Wulff Jörg , Lühr Armin , Timmermann Beate
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The adequate performance of radiobiological experiments using clinical proton beams typically requires substantial preparations to provide the appropriate setup for specific experiments. Providing radiobiologically interesting low‐energy protons is a particular challenge, due to various physical effects that become more pronounced with larger absorber thickness and smaller proton energy. This work demonstrates the generation of decelerated low‐energy protons from a clinical proton beam.

Methods

Monte Carlo simulations of proton energy spectra were performed for energy absorbers with varying thicknesses to reduce the energy of the clinical proton beam down to the few‐MeV level corresponding to m‐ranges. In this way, a setup with an optimum thickness of the absorber with a maximum efficiency of the proton fluence for the provisioning of low‐energy protons is supposed to be found. For the specific applications of 2.5–3.3 MeV protons and ‐particle range equivalent protons, the relative depth dose was measured and simulated together with the dose‐averaged linear energy transfer (LETd) distribution.

Results

The resulting energy spectra from Monte Carlo simulations indicate an optimal absorber thickness for providing low‐energy protons with maximum efficiency of proton fluence at an user‐requested energy range for experiments. For instance, providing energies lower than 5 MeV, an energy spectrum with a relative total efficiency of to the initial spectrum was obtained with the optimal setup. The measurements of the depth dose, compared to the Monte Carlo simulations, showed that the dosimetry of low‐energy protons works and protons with high LETd down to the range of ‐particles can be produced.

Conclusions

This work provides a method for generating all clinically and radiobiologically relevant energies – especially down to the few‐MeV level – at one clinical facility with pencil beam scanning. Thereby, it enables radiobiological experiments under environmentally uniform conditions.
Chemiedidaktik: Mit Zollstöcken und Springseil zum Regenbogen
Authors: Korn‐Müller Andreas
Published: December 2021

Seile und farbige Zollstöcke eignen sich als Material für Modelle, die dabei helfen, das elektromagnetische Spektrum zu verstehen. Mit Taschenlampe und Springseil lässt sich auch der Unterschied zwischen Licht und Laserstrahlung zeigen.
Outcome of abdominal massage before gavage feeding on tolerated feeding for low birth weight infants
Authors: Hendy Abdelaziz , El‐Nagger Nahed Saied , Abozeid Ahmed , Reshia Fadia Ahmed , Salih Shahenda A. , Alruwaili Manar Fayez , Hendy Ahmed
Published: December 2021

Aim

To assess the effect of abdominal massage pre‐gavage feeding on tolerated feeding for low birth weight (LBW) infants.

Methods

An experimental research design at a government hospital at Egypt. Purposive sample composed of LBW infants was randomly divided into study and control groups each with 60 LBW infants.

Results

A total of 55% of the participants in the study group grew sleepy, whereas only 15% of the studied participants in the control group grew sleepy. The abdominal circumference after feeding in the study group was 23.18 ± 2.99 cm, whereas that in the control group was 24.79 ± 2.99 cm. The gastric residual volume in the study group was 0.8 ± 0.10 ml, whereas that in the control group was 3.86 ± 1.03 ml.

Conclusion

Finally, abdominal massage had a positive impact on the postfeeding state of alertness and feeding tolerance.
Preparation, Antibacterial Activity, and Catalytic Application of Magnetic Graphene Oxide‐Fucoidan in the Synthesis of 1,4‐Dihydropyridines and Polyhydroquinolines
Authors: Nosrati Aliakbar , Amirnejat Sara , Javanshir Shahrzad
Published: December 2021

Polymer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles are emerging as a useful tool for a variety of applications, including catalysis. In the present study, fucoidan‐coated magnetic graphene oxide was synthesized using a natural sulfated polysaccharide. The prepared BaFe12O19@GO@Fu (Fu=fucoidan, GO=graphene oxide) was characterized using Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray (EDX) analysis, vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman spectroscopy, and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). The catalytic proficiency of BaFe12O19@GO@Fu was investigated in the synthesis of 1,4‐dihydropyridine and polyhydroquinoline derivatives. Excellent turnover numbers (TON) and turnover frequencies (TOF) (6330 and 25320 h−1) testify to the high efficiency of the catalyst. Moreover, the antimicrobial activity of BaFe12O19@GO@Fu was evaluated against Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) through the Agar well diffusion method, indicating that BaFe12O19@GO@Fu has antibacterial activity against S. aureus.
Allergy to polyethylene glycol/macrogol following dental surgery
Authors: Harper Verah , Nasser Safiyah , Nasser Shuaib
Published: December 2021

Background

Polyethylene glycols (PEGs) are polyether compounds widely used as excipients within the pharmaceutical industry. PEG allergy is rare but increasingly reported as an unexpected cause for anaphylaxis including to the mRNA COVID‐19 vaccines. Presentation is usually with anaphylaxis to multiple unrelated drugs/products.

Case Presentation

We report a case of a 25‐year‐old man who had allergic reactions following root canal treatment with Odontopaste and a second reaction after a single dose of phenoxymethylpenicillin (PEG 6000). Allergy investigations confirmed PEG allergy.

Conclusion

All dental healthcare practitioners should be aware of a potentially life‐threatening allergy to PEG, an excipient often overlooked during investigation of anaphylaxis.
Performing authenticity: The making‐of documentary in wildlife film's blue‐chip renaissance
Authors: Louson Eleanor
Published: December 2021

Making‐of documentaries (MODs) for recent blue‐chip wildlife films are prominently featured as trailers, bonus features on DVD releases and websites, and televised segments within wildlife broadcasts.

Prior research shows how MODs within mainstream cinema promote certain filmmakers as auteurs and as exceptional creative professionals. Earlier wildlife film MODs demonstrated filmmakers' mastery of nature and a licence to offer scientific knowledge, as well as many staging practices employed in wildlife filmmaking; this content moved to MODs as nature grew more pristine in wildlife films' main programming.

Recent wildlife film MODs still celebrate filmmakers' professionalism and emphasize the remoteness of film locations, filmmakers' exceptional practical skills and scientific expertise under harsh conditions, and the technologies responsible for spectacular visuals. In the MOD forChimpanzee(2012), these features work together to portray this wildlife species as challenging to locate and film in nature, accessible only by filmmakers with the right skills and technologies.

I argue that current blue‐chip wildlife MODs are a performance of authentic, non‐interventionist filmmaking. Recent MODs increase viewers' behind‐the‐scenes access to filming conditions but have not disclosed certain staging practices such as the use of composite animal characters.

Despite their prominence as marketing and peripheral material, MODs remain segregated from wildlife films' main programming. They contribute to a blue‐chip construction of nature as pristine and not inclusive of human beings, even though their expeditionary narratives show more complex human–nature interactions.

A freePlain Language Summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Efficacy of herbal treatments for functional dyspepsia: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized clinical trials
Authors: Heiran Alireza , Bagheri Lankarani Kamran , Bradley Ryan , Simab Alireza , Pasalar Mehdi
Published: December 2021

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a very common condition globally. Relevant keywords were searched for in title and abstract of selected databases, that is, Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of knowledge, and Google Scholar. Placebo and active‐control trials on herbal remedies amongst adults who were diagnosed with FD were included. Dichotomous outcomes were presented as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and continuous outcomes were presented as pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% CI. Forty‐nine randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were entered into meta‐analysis (6,987 subjects). Herbal remedies resulted in a higher improvement in FD symptoms in comparison with the placebo (SMD = −0.58 [−0.66– −0.51],p < .00001 and RR = 1.73 [1.62–1.85],p < .00001). No significant difference between herbal remedies and placebo in the incidence of adverse events was observed (12.27 vs. 8.41%, RR = 1.06 [0.91–1.23],p = .45). Also, herbal remedies resulted in a higher improvement in quality of life in comparison with placebo (SMD = −0.64 [−0.73– −0.55],p < .00001). When comparing herbal remedies with conventional medicine through sensitivity analysis, no outcomes were significantly different (p > .05). Herbal remedies might be efficacious and safe in treating FD, and demonstrate comparable effect sizes for efficacy to conventional treatments. Further high‐quality studies are warranted to firmly establish the clinical efficacy of the herbal remedies.
Cropping system management responses to Cornell and Alabama soil health assessment methods in the southeastern United States
Authors: Singh Surendra , Jagadamma Sindhu , Yoder Daniel , Yin Xinhua , Walker Forbes
Published: December 2021

Soil health assessment is very important for evaluating agroecosystem sustainability from the adoption of conservation management practices. Unfortunately, a universal standardized soil health test is not yet available despite the development of several regional and commercial methods. Some regionally developed methods have been applied across diverse agroecological regions, but this practice requires further scrutiny. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of two regionally focused methods— the Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health (CASH), a well‐established method and the Alabama Soil Health Index (ASHI), a recently developed method—to assess soil health of row‐cropping systems in the southeastern United States. By leveraging three ongoing cropping system experiments, that is (a) continuous soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] (SS), (b) corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean (CS) rotation, and (c) continuous cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) (CC) systems, soil health indicators included in CASH and ASHI methods were analyzed, and soil health scores were calculated. Our test criteria depended on the sensitivity of CASH and ASHI methods to differentiate long‐term management‐induced changes in these systems. In general, we found that the overall soil health scores of both CASH and ASHI did not strongly differentiate diverse tillage, cover crops, or N rate treatments. The scores for both conventional and conservation management treatments were rated as low to medium (scores <60) with CASH method and medium to high (scores >50) with ASHI method. Overall, these soil health approaches were not found to be sensitive enough to detect management‐induced changes in soil health in various cropping systems of the southeastern United States. Our results highlight the need for extensive calibration and validation of CASH, ASHI, and similar approaches prior to wider adoption across agroecological regions.
“It doesn't include us”: Heterosexual bias and gay men's struggle to see themselves in affirmative consent policies
Authors: Richardson Jacob W.
Published: December 2021

Rape and sexual assault are considered forms of gender violence, or violence against women, and affirmative consent policies were created as a primary prevention strategy to combat this kind of sexual violence on college and university campuses. Such policies are often promoted as being inclusive and applicable cross‐culturally because of the gender‐neutral language within affirmative consent policies; however, the highly gendered nature of sexual assault discourse has become hegemonic and thereby unintentionally reinforces a heterosexually gendered false dichotomy about sexual violence. This qualitative study utilizes in‐depth interviews with 10 gay men to explore how they perceive affirmative consent policies. The results found that gay men perceived an implicit heterosexual bias within affirmative consent policies that reinforced heterosexist conceptions of sex, gender, sexual scripts, and sexual assault. Ultimately, this made it challenging for participants to see themselves in affirmative consent policies. Moreover, it burdens gay men whose experiences with sex and consent, as well as sexual assault, do not fit within the heterosexist paradigm of current sexual assault and affirmative consent discourses/policies.
Abnormal Keratin Expression Pattern in Prurigo Nodularis Epidermis
Authors: Yang L. L. , Jiang B. , Chen S. H. , Liu H. Y. , Chen T. T. , Huang L. H. , Yang M. , Ding J. , He J. J. , Li J. J. , Yu B.
Published: December 2021

Background

Prurigo nodularis (PN) is a highly pruritic, chronic dermatosis and difficult to treat. PN lesions are characterized by existence of many hyperkeratotic, erosive papules and nodules. However, the pathogenesis of PN still remains unelucidated.

Aim

To clarify the keratin role in the epidermis hyperproliferation, the keratin expression pattern in the PN lesional skin.

Methods

In this study, we enrolled 24 patients with PN and 9 healthy control volunteers. K1/K10, K5/K14, K6/K16/K17 expression pattern were investigated by using immunohistochemical staining.

Results

The lesional skin consists of the thickened spinous layers, in which active cell division was found. K5/K14 were upregulated in PN lesional epidermis, the staining signal localized in the basal layer and lower suprabasal layers. Hyperproliferation-associated K6 was found in all layers of epidermal lesional skin, especially in the spinous layers. In contrast, K16 was only detected in the basal and lower suprabasal layers, K17 was observed in the basal and spinous layers. Terminal differential keratins K1/K10 were upregulated, detected in the pan-epidermis, but spared in the basal and low suprabasal layers.

Conclusion

The keratinocytes enter an alternative differentiation pathway, which are responsible for the activated keratinocyte phenotype, abnormal keratins expression potentially contributes to the keratinocytes proliferation, subsequently lead to increased lesional skin epidermis thickness, hyperkeratiosis and alteration of skin barrier properties.
Optoionic Sensing
Authors: Chen Baohong , Suo Zhigang
Published: December 2021

The eye converts an optical signal to an ionic signal. This transduction is mimicked here using a photodiode in contact with ionic conductors, such as hydrogels. Photons generate electron‐hole pairs in the photodiode. The photodiode/hydrogel interface forms capacitive coupling so that movements of electrons and holes in the photodiode induce movements of ions in the hydrogels. The hydrogels can be readily made stretchable and biocompatible to mimic the function of nerves. When light is turned on and off, the voltage between the hydrogels responds within 10 ms, comparable to the response in the human eye. A photosensitive skin is demonstrated to generate a voltage in response to light but not to stretch. Furthermore, a photosensitive actuation is demonstrated to mimic the light‐triggered reflex, such as blinking of the eye and camouflage of the skin. Optoionic transduction has potential applications for wearable devices, implantable devices, and robotics.
Surfactant‐Stripped Semiconducting Polymer Micelles for Tumor Theranostics and Deep Tissue Imaging in the NIR‐II Window
Authors: Ding Yuanmeng , Park Byullee , Ye Jiamin , Wang Xiaojie , Liu Gengqi , Yang Xingyue , Jiang Zhen , Han Moongyu , Fan Yong , Song Jibin , Kim Chulhong , Zhang Yumiao
Published: December 2021

Photoacoustic imaging (PA) in the second near infrared (NIR‐II) window presents key advantages for deep tissue imaging owing to reduced light scattering and low background signal from biological structures. Here, a thiadiazoloquinoxaline‐based semiconducting polymer (SP) with strong absorption in the NIR‐II region is reported. After encapsulation of SP in Pluronic F127 (F127) followed by removal of excess surfactant, a dual functional polymer system named surfactant‐stripped semiconductor polymeric micelles (SSS‐micelles) are generated with water solubility, storage stability, and high photothermal conversion efficiency, permitting tumor theranostics in a mouse model. SSS‐micelles have a wideband absorption in the NIR‐II window, allowing for the PA imaging at both 1064 and 1300 nm wavelengths. The PA signal of the SSS‐micelles can be detected through 6.5 cm of chicken breast tissue in vitro. In mice or rats, SSS‐micelles can be visualized in bladder and intestine overlaid 5 cm (signal to noise ratio, SNR ≈ 17 dB) and 5.8 cm (SNR over 10 dB) chicken breast tissue, respectively. This work demonstrates the SSS‐micelles as a nanoplatform for deep tissue theranostics.
Van der Waals Epitaxy of Bi2Te2Se/Bi2O2Se Vertical Heterojunction for High Performance Photodetector
Authors: Yang Sijie , Luo Peng , Wang Fakun , Liu Teng , Zhao Yinghe , Ma Ying , Li Huiqiao , Zhai Tianyou
Published: December 2021

Bismuth oxyselenide (Bi2O2Se) has emerged as a promising candidate for electronic and optoelectronic applications due to its outstanding electron mobility and ambient stability. However, high dark current and relatively slow photoresponse that originate from high charge carrier concentration as well as bolometric effect in Bi2O2Se inhibit further improvement of Bi2O2Se based photodetectors. Here, a one‐step van der Waals (vdW) epitaxy synthesis of Bi2Te2Se/Bi2O2Se vertical heterojunction with type‐II band alignment and high‐quality interface is demonstrated. The crystal quality and uniformity of the heterojunction are supported by Raman, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy results. A photodetector based on Bi2Te2Se/Bi2O2Se heterojunction demonstrates steady photoresponse over a large wavelength range (532–1456 nm), with a high specific responsivity of 2.21 × 103 A W–1 at 532 nm and fast response speed of 50 ms. Moreover, field effect regulation allows for further improvement of the photoresponse performance of the heterojunction field effect transistor device, where the responsivity can be increased to 3.34 × 103 A W–1 with a 60 V gate voltage. Overall, the one‐step vdW epitaxy process is a promising and convenient route towards constructing high quality Bi2O2Se based heterojunction for improving its photodetection performance.
Sparse reward for reinforcement learning‐based continuous integration testing
Authors: Yang Yang , Li Zheng , Shang Ying , Li Qianyu
Published: December 2021

Reinforcement learning (RL) has been used to optimize the continuous integration (CI) testing, where the reward plays a key role in directing the adjustment of the test case prioritization (TCP) strategy. In CI testing, the frequency of integration is usually very high, while the failure rate of test cases is low. Consequently, RL will get scarce rewards in CI testing, which may lead to low learning efficiency of RL and even difficulty in convergence. This paper introduces three rewards to tackle the issue of sparse rewards of RL in CI testing. First, the historical failure density‐based reward (HFD) is defined, which objectively represents the sparse reward problem. Second, the average failure position‐based reward (AFP) is proposed to increase the reward value and reduce the impact of sparse rewards. Furthermore, a technique based on additional reward is proposed, which extracts the test occurrence frequency of passed test cases for additional rewards. Empirical studies are conducted on 14 real industry data sets. The experiment results are promising, especially the reward with additional reward can improve NAPFD (Normalized Average Percentage of Faults Detected) by up to 21.97%, enhance Recall with a maximum of 21.87%, and increase TTF (Test to Fail) by an average of 9.99 positions.
Assessment of Surface Glycan Diversity on Extracellular Vesicles by Lectin Microarray and Glycoengineering Strategies for Drug Delivery Applications
Authors: Shimoda Asako , Miura Risako , Tateno Hiroaki , Seo Naohiro , Shiku Hiroshi , Sawada Shin‐ichi , Sasaki Yoshihiro , Akiyoshi Kazunari
Published: December 2021

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released by all types of mammalian cells for cell–cell communication. In this study, surface glycans on EVs are compared in terms of their cell type, size, and isolation method to examine whether EV glycan profiles by lectin microarray can be used to define EV subpopulations. Moreover, EVs are glycoengineered with four distinctive surface glycan patterns and evaluated their cellular uptake efficiencies for potential drug delivery applications. Both similarities and differences in glycan patterns are identified on EVs obtained under each experimental condition. EV size‐ and isolation method‐dependent lectin‐binding patterns are observed. Moreover, cellular uptake behaviors of EVs are affected by EV glycan profiles and acceptor cells. The in vivo biodistribution of EVs is also dependent on their glycan profile. These results suggest that EV surface glycans are a potential novel indicator of EV heterogeneity, and glycoengineering is a useful approach to regulate cell–EV interactions for biomedical applications.
Bringing the Local Back In: How Schools Work Differently in Different Neighborhood Contexts
Authors: Nast Julia
Published: December 2021

Local settings have not been central to the debate on educational inequality. If researchers have taken neighborhoods into account, they have focused on (social) compositions, peer group effects, or school access. Yet I draw on interviews and observations at two Berlin schools to suggest that neighborhoods are also important as they shape the organizational practices of teachers and other educational professionals. Combining a Bourdieusian perspective and new institutional theory, I show how local settings become important as social, symbolic, and administrative units. As such, neighborhoods structure the interplay of institutional pressures and objective power relations both within and between schools. This perspective not only allows for a better understanding of the processes producing educational inequality; it also highlights that institutional changes might play out differently in different contexts, with consequences for neighborhood inequality in the field of education and beyond.
Spaces of Solidarity and Spaces of Exception: Migration and Membership During Pandemic Times
Authors: Triandafyllidou Anna
Published: December 2021

This chapter starts by introducing the policy and political context of the Covid-19 crisis, surveying some of the changes it brought to immigration policies in different countries: border closures for non-citizens; disruption for temporary migrants; and special arrangements for essential (migrant) workers like doctors and nurses or farmworkers to ensure emergency wards are staffed and the food processing chain is not disrupted. The chapter critically reviews these changes and discusses the main analytical and policy questions which the book addresses. It investigates how the pandemic forces us to rethink notions like membership, citizenship, belonging, but also solidarity, community, essential services or ‘essential’ workers. Migrants expose tensions and contradictions within these concepts and values. Citizens (who may carry the virus) cannot be banned from return to the homeland as they travel internationally or domestically; by contrast, temporary migrants or asylum seekers may be locked in their dormitories because of an outbreak in their midst to prevent spread and protect the citizens. This chapter shows that the specific tensions of the global pandemic for migration are linked to the more long-term tensions of globalisation, migration, and the nation-state, suggesting that the pandemic is but a magnifying lens. The chapter concludes with an overview of the book’s contents.
Internal Migration and the Covid-19 Pandemic in India
Authors: Rajan S Irudaya , Bhagat R. B.
Published: December 2021

This chapter looks at the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on internal migrants in India. According to the 2011 Census, there are over 450 million internal migrants, of which a massive 54 million are inter-state migrants. A large number of these migrants consist of labourers who comprise a huge percentage of the informal sector workforce, both in the rural and urban areas of India, and are vital to the country’s economy. These workers are also some of the most vulnerable, with inadequacies in terms of working conditions and coverage of social safety nets, and are also largely absent from India’s policy discourses. This chapter highlights the size and extent of internal migration as well as its distribution across different states in India. It shows how the current crisis and lockdowns have affected their lives and livelihoods. It particularly looks at the responses of central and various state governments – at destinations and origins – to ensure migrants’ wellbeing. It also analyses the socioeconomic impact of the migrant exodus from major destinations and looks at solutions to enable and ensure that migration patterns in the future are sustainable, and more importantly, ensure migrants’ rights and dignity.
Vulnerability and Resilience in the Covid-19 Crisis: Race, Gender, and Belonging
Authors: Boris Eileen
Published: December 2021

During the early months of the 2020 pandemic, migrants who travelled to the United States to pick crops, scrub floors, stock warehouses, and tend to elders became ‘heroes’ for performing necessary labour – unless they were surplus bodies crammed into prison-like detention waystations before being deported for the crime of arriving without proper papers. The pandemic intensified states of precarity. Especially among those labelled as ‘essential workers’, the lack of protective equipment and labour rights put them on the frontline of exposure. But domestic and home care workers, meatpackers, fieldhands, and others in the US stepped out of the shadows to demand inclusion in social assistance, occupational health and safety laws, and other state benefits. This chapter historicises the recent hardships and the organising of (im)migrant workers: it shows that the policies of Donald J. Trump were not an aberration, but part of a national pattern of racial differentiation with gendered inflections. Vulnerability, however, is only part of the story. Workers remained resilient in the face of the hidden enemy of Covid-19, as they sought safe and decent living and working conditions.
Sanctuary Cities and Covid-19: The Case of Canada
Authors: Paquet Mireille , Benoit Noémie , Atak Idil , Joy Meghan , Hudson Graham , Shields John
Published: December 2021

In Canada, urban centres have been especially hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and this public health crisis has generated particular risks for non-status and precarious migrants. Using official data and published research, this chapter explores how city sanctuary policies in Canada have addressed these pandemic risks and, more broadly, the future for Canadian sanctuary policies in the post-Covid-19 recovery. We highlight the specificities of sanctuary policies in the Canadian context and document that while cities have not rescinded these interventions during the pandemic, they also have not built on them when developing COVID-19 responses for urban residents. We propose that this demonstrates the need to maintain pressure for reforms that increase the resources and capacities of cities in Canada so that they can be in a better position to implement and institutionalise policies for non-status and precarious migrants.
Migrant Care Labour, Covid-19, and the Long-Term Care Crisis: Achieving Solidarity for Care Providers and Recipients
Authors: Gahwi Lena , Walton-Roberts Margaret
Published: December 2021

Globally there is a care crisis in terms of the quantity of care needed for an aging population and the quality of both the care provided and work conditions of those providing this care. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and heighted this crisis of care. In this chapter we review the issue with a particular focus on long-term care (LTC) facilities and the type and skill mix of labour, including the degree to which immigrant workers are over-represented in this sector. We offer some conceptual reflections on elder care as a matter of social justice and ethics in terms of those needing and providing care. These concerns take on a specific global dimension when we understand the transnationalisation of care, or the care provisioning function of what are termed global care chains. We contextualise how this migrant labour is positioned within this sector through international comparisons of funding models for LTC, which also allows us to understand the structural conditions within which this globally-sourced workforce is positioned. We then highlight two significant contributing factors to the current LTC crisis that were intensified and exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic using Ontario, Canada, as an example: the role of the private sector and the unsustainable extraction of profits from this service, and the gendered and racialised devaluing of migrant labour so essential to the sector.
Pandemic Shock Absorbers: Domestic Workers’ Activism at the Intersection of Immigrants’ and Workers’ Rights
Authors: Rosińska Anna , Pellerito Elizabeth
Published: December 2021

During the current global pandemic, when the family or household has been considered the most basic unit of quarantine, the role of the domestic worker – someone who by definition crosses the threshold and enters the space of the home – became problematised quickly. These workers’ ‘outsider’ status – transgressing the boundaries not just of the physical household space, but often also of race, immigration status, and class – has meant that some household workers were more readily regarded as disease vectors who were too risky to allow into the home and let go with little or no warning. In the United States, many of the federal and state relief bills responding to the pandemic continue to exclude the sector or undocumented immigrant workers or both from accessing relief measures. Drawing on an online ethnography of organisations and policy reviews, we analyse the multilevel response of domestic workers’ organisations to address the crisis at both the federal and local levels, with focus on the state of Massachusetts. This chapter tackles the variety of ways in which worker centres in the United States have been at the frontline of the response to domestic workers’ needs, addressing a gap in mainstream and otherwise insufficient relief measures provided by the government. Because of these gaps and the sheer level of need faced by these workers and their families, these centres did what they were prepared to do: continue the service provision, education, organising, and advocacy efforts while expanding their efforts in each of these areas of work.
A Spiritual Journey
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

There is often a gap between the Qur’an and what is labelled “Islamic”. In fact, most egregious claims within Islam can be attributed not to the Qur’an but to hadith, the collection of reports about the sayings and actions of the prophet Muhammad. Consider that the most highly regarded collection of hadith, by Bukhari, had required the venerable man to sift through no less than 600,000 reports as part of his monumental effort (which took him 16 years), and the fact that Bukhari was born 178 years after the Prophet’s passing. This is no small technicality, for all schools of Islamic jurisprudence draw heavily on hadith in formulating their moral guidelines (sharia) and establishing their Islamic laws (aka sharia law).
Women Were Not Meant to Be Subordinate to Men
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

In the Qur’anic account, human beings are God’s representatives on earth, His viceroys (aka caliphs). Men and women are explicitly entrusted with being each other’s protectors, or walis, and with building up their societies. Yet despite these Qur’anic prescriptions of a male-female partnership, the idea of men as “guardians” of women managed to take root and persists to this day in many places, making men the gateway to women’s education, professional life, social life, marriage—their very existence. How is this possible? Because two verses, 4:34 and 2:228, have traditionally been (mis)interpreted so as to completely overturn the Qur’anic message of equality and partnership, and to place men in charge, despite the historical record from Muhammad’s life as recorded in none other than the hadith literature, and from medieval times.
Inheritance: No, Women Did Not Get the Short End of the Stick
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

In constructing a socio-economic identity for women, the Qur’an introduces their right to inherit as a pillar of its vision for a just society. But at the same time, inheritance allocations henceforth would be tied directly to family responsibilities, hence the 2:1 ratio for sons-to-daughters for a society where women were almost never breadwinners. This conditionality is found in the much-misunderstood verse 4:34 that we must re-read in the context of its neighbouring verses, which are specifically on inheritance. It would be wrong to conclude that women got the short end of the stick for two reasons: a) because every man’s and every woman’s inheritance could now potentially come from multiple relatives and not just from parents, so it is hard to know precisely where the chips will ultimately fall for a given person; and b) because the Qur’an allocated no financial responsibilities to women the way it did to men, so the net effect could be in favour of either, relatively speaking. However in today’s world, many daughters and wives are very much breadwinners for their families, yet no religious authority has so far acted upon the conditionality expressed in verse 4:34.
Marriage: A Sublime Institution, Not Mere Social Contract
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

The Qur’anic portrayal of marriage involves some tender imagery even as it establishes it as a social contract—seven centuries before it became so in Europe and 12 centuries before divorce terms were included in the latter. Monogamy is very much the norm as well as the ideal in the Qur’an, with polygyny only sanctioned in specific circumstances and under certain conditions. Muhammad’s personal story gives life to Qur’anic values in this regard, with 25 years of a monogamous marriage to his first wife followed by 12 years of polygyny after her death involving a total of 11 other women. Ten out of the 12 women he married over time were widows, unsurprising given the Qur’anic rationale for polygyny. Meanwhile, interfaith marriage is blessed in the Qur’an, i.e. without the non-Muslim party having to convert to Islam.
Divorce: Men Do Not Hold all the Cards—The Qur’an Actually Levels the Playing Field Through Mandated Process and Etiquette
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

Divorce is a huge topic of concern for God in the Qur’an. Even as He makes clear that it is His least-favourable solution to marital discord and even as He counsels a period of reflection and even recommends mediation, God makes explicit His commandment that the divorce process be kind and fair to women in contrast to the then-prevailing customs. But custom to this day has been neither kind nor fair to women: the “wedding-knot” (‘isma) has been deemed by society to be held solely by the man, limiting a woman’s ability to obtain a divorce at all, much less a fair one. This has often also impacted women’s access to their own children upon divorce, surely a most unkind situation, one that is only emboldened by the false idea that men are “guardians” of women as it makes them feel even more entitled to be the sole guardians of their children.
Clothing: There Is No Dress Code for Women Beyond Covering their Private Parts, as with Men
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

Most of us grow up assuming that the Qur’an stipulates that women must cover their hair and wear clothing that covers all skin except for the face, hands and feet. Yet there is no dress code whatsoever for either men or women beyond covering their private parts (and there is no ambiguity whatsoever in the Qur’an about what those are). Meanwhile the Qur’an refers to clothing as something that is meant to be beautiful, a gift from God that no one can forbid and states that, nonetheless, no clothing can rival the clothing of reverence. Why do we never hear of these beautiful verses?
Witnesses: A Woman’s Testimony Is Worth the Same as a Man’s, Except in Two Cases Where It May Count for More or Less
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

The Qur’an speaks of giving testimony in the context of five specific situations. In only one of these five cases does it make a distinction between witnesses on the basis of gender, namely in the case that relates to financial transactions, where two women may be required to testify in lieu of one man. The famous phrase about two women witnesses in that case, “so that if one of them forgets/errs the other can remind her”, is a reference not to the inferiority of women’s intellect but rather to the fact that women at the time did not engage in borrowing or lending and were moreover mostly illiterate, making them less effective witnesses should a dispute arise. Meanwhile another one of these five cases outlines when a woman’s testimony is worth more than a man’s, namely when a husband accuses his wife of infidelity—although we never hear anyone mentioning this extraordinary verse or highlighting the principle behind it.
Sexual Misconduct: What the Qur’an Tells Us about Pre-Marital vs Extra-Marital Sex
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

In the Qur’an, sex outside marriage is a topic addressed to men and women equally, although society has come down much harder on women in this regard. A distinction is made between pre-marital and extra-marital sex (adultery), yet we hear almost nothing about that, with the two typically collapsed into a single category in the public discourse. While four witnesses are required to prove illicit sex of any kind, a mere expression of remorse is sufficient for the accused to be left alone per Qur’anic dictate. Where remorse is absent, the Qur’an takes a harder line against extra-marital sex and instructs “flogging”, an act of (limited) public shaming undertaken with harmless instruments, per the historical record, rather than the commonly held belief that its intention was corporal harm. How could it be otherwise, anyway, since women are prescribed the same number of “lashes” as men despite the physical differences between the two? As for stoning, it is not mentioned anywhere in the Qur’an.
Hadith Corpus
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

The traditional collections of hadith we have inherited were begun and completed roughly 200 and 300 years after the Prophet’s death, respectively. There was a vast amount of information to wade through—literally hundreds of thousands of reports. The compilers’ focus was on authenticating a report’s chain of transmission, not on assessing or validating its content. Many hadiths were included that the compilers openly acknowledged were unreliable, usually labelling them as such on a descriptive scale involving terms such as “weak” or “acceptable but unusual”. By contrast, the verses of the Qur’an were being memorised and written down on parchments as they were being revealed over the course of the 23 years of revelation, i.e. during Muhammad’s lifetime, and were compiled into a single volume just two years after his death in the year 632.
Domestic Violence: The Qur’an Does Not Instruct Husbands to Hit Their Wives for “Disobedience” or Anything Else
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

When the famous verse 4:34 is read all the way to the end and the ensuing verse 4:35 which continues the narrative is read together with it, the problematic phrase “strike them but not if they heed your counsel” is obviously revisiting the question of adultery discussed in Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-83582-8_19, where a repentant unfaithful wife (or husband) is to be forgiven by society (25:68–71) and not flogged to cause shame even if there are witnesses to the fact. In other words, the whole of verse 4:34 is addressing society as a whole, the last part dealing specifically with adultery and not just any husband-wife conflict. Moreover in 4:35, God explicitly supports reconciliation between the couple if they so wish despite the wife’s infidelity, surely a move that would be contradictory if He had just told the husband to hit his wife!
Hadith Content
Authors: El-Ali Leena
Published: December 2021

If you have always assumed that any hadith cited from one of the recognised Sahih or other collections must: (a) be attributable to the Prophet; (b) have both a solid (unbroken) and sound (reliable) chain of transmitters; and (c) relay a verified saying or event, then you would have been wrong.

Moreover the scholars of the hadith compilations had a juristic bent, meaning that they were looking to derive laws in order to regulate society. They did not shy away from openly using weak hadith to justify establishing a certain law if in their own minds they were doing so for the greater good. This had its most negative and lasting impact in matters relating to women. There was also the challenge of myths, forgeries and mixed intentions to contend with in compiling hadiths. Overall, only a few dozen Prophetic hadiths are said to be reliable with absolute certainty, though many others can be said to be “most probably” reliable.

Thus we must undertake a re-prioritisation of the Qur’an above all other sources so that hadith is assessed through the lens of the Qur’an rather than the other way round, as has astonishingly been the case.