bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrating EnlightenGAN for enhancing car logo detection under challenging lighting conditions
Authors: Mohamed Amir T. , Youssef Omar A. , Awad Maryam H. , Prince Mostafa , kamal Nagham N. , Nabil Noran , Sobeh Muhammed S. , Elmenyawi Marwa A.
Published: January 2025

Detecting small objects in challenging lighting conditions is a critical task with broad applications in computer vision, surveillance, and medical imaging. Small objects are especially vulnerable to detection errors due to their size and the significant impact of varying lighting conditions, such as low-light environments or high glare. Furthermore, the lack of a benchmark dataset that accurately simulates real-world scenarios makes it difficult to evaluate the performance of detection models in such conditions. In the proposed paper, we address these challenges by developing a comprehensive dataset specifically designed for car logo detection under diverse and challenging lighting environments. The dataset incorporates variations in lighting, viewing angles, and object scales to replicate real-world conditions. We also introduce a detection pipeline integrating EnlightenGAN for low-light image enhancement, which preserves fine details and textures, and YOLOv7 and YOLOv8 for improved detection accuracy. By enhancing image quality and refining object detection models, our approach significantly boosts the detection of small car logos, even in challenging lighting scenarios where traditional models tend to fail. Experimental results show that YOLOv8 outperforms YOLOv7 by approximately 7%, with YOLOv8 achieving a mean Average Precision (mAP) of 73.3% on the augmented dataset compared to 68.4% for the original dataset and 67.2% for the processed images. These results validate the effectiveness of GAN-based enhancement techniques in preserving small object details and improving detection performance. Additionally, introducing a new dataset and benchmark provides a valuable resource for future research in small object detection under complex lighting conditions.
Fano resonance-boosted topological sensor for next-generation sensing
Authors: Mohamed Zeinelabedin A. , Abd-Elnaiem Alaa M. , Abood Israa , Almokhtar Mohamed , Soliman Sayed El.
Published: January 2025

The rapidly developing field of topological photonics has the potential to revolutionize the design and operation of optical systems. This study presents a novel approach for constructing a resilient sensor based on topological resonance. The coupling of the photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) with the topological corner state (TCS) within the structure forms the proposed sensor. The PCW provides a well-defined propagating mode, while the TCS is a localized mode that is topologically protected against perturbations. The coupling between the two modes contributes growth to a Fano resonance and results in a sharp and narrow spectral feature sensitive to the refractive index variation of the surrounding medium. The proposed sensor possesses a high sensitivity of ∼461.96 nm/RIU with a high Q-factor
$$\:(\:>{10}^{6})$$
, high figure of merit
$$\:\:(\:>{10}^{6}\:{\text{R}\text{I}\text{U}}^{-1})$$
, and has an ideal detection limit value of
$$\:\:{10}^{-7}\:\text{R}\text{I}\text{U}$$
. The present study gives a new platform for a more productive way of creating highly efficient topological Fano resonance sensors. The proposed sensor is resistant, sensitive, and highly versatile, making it beneficial for different applications.
A putative novel type of tight adherence (tad) like gene cluster of Pseudomonas chlororaphis PCL1606 exhibits a crucial role in avocado roots colonization, fostering its biological control activity
Authors: Ruiz-Muñoz Blanca , Rodríguez-García María , Heredia-Ponce Zaira , Tienda Sandra , Villar-Moreno Rafael , Arrebola Eva , de Vicente A. , Cazorla Francisco M. , Gutiérrez-Barranquero José A.
Published: January 2025

Aims

Pseudomonas chlororaphis PCL1606 (PcPCL1606), displays strong antagonistic and biological control abilities against several soil-borne fungal pathogens mainly due to the production of the antifungal molecule 2-hexyl, 5-propyl resorcinol (HPR). HPR governs other beneficial phenotypes, suggesting its additional regulatory activity. Published transcriptomic data identifying HPR-regulated genes involved in the interaction of PcPCL1606 with the avocado rhizosphere were used as a target database to identify putative genes involved in avocado roots colonization.

Methods

The induction of several consecutive genes that showed homology with genes encoding a putative type IV Flp/Tad (tight adherence) pilus but with a few differences from the Tad type A and B was observed. To study the role of this tad-like gene cluster in the biology of PcPCL1606, a chromosomal deletion mutant was constructed. The molecular characterization of the tad-like gene cluster and different in vitro and in vivo phenotypes related to colonization were addressed in the mutant strain respect to PcPCL1606.

Results

The tad-like gene cluster was composed of five independent transcriptional units. Furthermore, the tad-like deletion mutant was impaired in early attachment, early biofilm formation, bacterial autoggregation and in root competitiveness in avocado plants and biocontrol activity against R. necatrix.

Conclusions

These results expand our understanding about the role of HPR as a putative signalling molecule. This study revealed the importance of a putative novel type of a Tad system of PcPCL1606 in the avocado roots colonization, confirming that initial attachment to roots is a fundamental mechanism for the PcPCL1606 rhizospheric performance.
Field validation of a variable rate application sprayer equipped with ultrasonic sensors in apple tree plantations
Authors: Salas Bernat , Salcedo Ramón , Garcia-Ruiz Francisco , Gil Emilio
Published: January 2025

In recent years, there has been a significant progress in technologies used in 3D crop spraying. The inherent goal of applying these technologies has been to reduce drift, improve efficacy in the use of Plant Protection Products (PPP) and, consequently, reduce the amount of chemicals in fruit production, thus minimizing environmental impact and enhancing human health. In order to assess the study of this impact, deposition trials were conducted in an apple orchard at two different growth stages (BBCH72 and BBCH99). Three typical sprayers were used to perform these trials: the reference sprayer, representing the most popular one used by local farmers; the Best Management Practices (BMP) sprayer, symbolizing well-adjusted equipment according the target; and the VRA sprayer, a newly developed machine provided with ultrasonic sensors and the corresponding developed hardware to achieve an on-line pesticide rate adaption, according to the canopy dimensions. This VRA sprayer has been developed within OPTIMA H2020 EU project (www.optima-h2020.eu). The VRA sprayer effectively achieved similar or better values of deposition and coverage in the whole canopy target, using up to 35% less PPP rate, compared to the reference sprayer. Additionally, the developed VRA machine has demonstrated its ability to adapt the applied PPP rate to fundamental canopy parameters such as width and density, allowing to implement alternative pesticide rates, based on canopy characteristics (i.e. Leaf Wall Area), as a new method proposed by European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO).
Using Machine Learning to Predict Suspended Sediment Transport under Climate Change
Authors: Bezak Nejc , Lebar Klaudija , Bai Yun , Rusjan Simon
Published: January 2025

Sediment transport, an important element of the erosion‒sedimentation cycle, can be very high during extreme flood events and can cause hydromorphological changes within river networks. Therefore, improved sediment transport predictions are needed to establish sediment management at the catchment scale. A machine learning model (i.e., XGBoost) and a sediment rating curve method were tested for predicting the suspended sediment load in the Sora River catchment in Slovenia. The evaluation of the models based on the historical data for 2016–2021 revealed that XGBoost outperformed the sediment rating curve model and resulted in a lower bias (i.e., approximately 15%). The XGBoost model was used to predict future suspended sediment load dynamics. Three representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5) and several climate change models were used. The rainfall–runoff model was set up, calibrated, validated and applied to simulate future daily discharge data, as this was the required input for the XGBoost and sediment rating curve models. The simulation results indicate that suspended sediment load is expected to increase in the future in the range 15–20% under both the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Additionally, the number of days with a suspended sediment concentration (SSC) greater than 25 mg/l, which is often used an indicator of inadequate water quality, is expected to increase by 2–4%, whereas some models indicate an increase of up to 8%. Erosion and sediment management mitigation measures need to be applied in the future to ensure adequate water quality and good ecological status of the river.
Thermal Behavior of Silica Xerogel and Graphene Incorporated Composite Nonwovens
Authors: Kalaoglu-Altan Ozlem Ipek , Kayaoğlu Burçak Karagüzel
Published: January 2025

In this study, single, 2- and 3-layered composite polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nonwovens containing SiO2 xerogel and/or graphene were fabricated. In the first step, the xerogel-containing composites were prepared by either in situ SiO2 xerogel embedding in the nonwoven or electrospinning SiO2 xerogel-containing recycled PET (rPET) nanofibers on the nonwoven. Following, a graphene-containing electrospun rPET nanofibrous layer was constructed on both SiO2 xerogel incorporated composite nonwovens and neat nonwoven. The resultant layered composites were morphologically, spectrally, and thermally characterized using SEM, EDX, FTIR, and TGA. The thermal behavior of the composite structures was particularly investigated via analyzing their thermal comfort properties and infrared thermal images. It was observed that the best improvement in the insulating property of the nonwoven was reached when only SiO2 xerogel was in situ embedded in the nonwoven, possessing a thermal conductivity coefficient of 32.65 mW/m.K, lower than 43.45 mW/m.K of bare nonwoven. Contrarily, the thermal conductivity coefficient of the composites improved the most when the nonwoven was covered only with graphene-loaded nanofibers, reaching 48.82 mW/m.K, while composites containing both SiO2 xerogel and graphene layers showed thermophysical properties in between with thermal conductivity coefficients of 37.05–41.20 mW/m.K. The resultant composite nonwovens are encouraging materials for use in thermal management applications.

Graphical Abstract
Dynamics of Yearly Maximum Water Levels in the Amazon Estuary
Authors: Coulet Paul , Durand Fabien , Fassoni-Andrade Alice , Khan Md Jamal Uddin , Testut Laurent , Toublanc Florence , Santos Leandro Guedes , Moreira Daniel Medeiros , Azevedo Alberto
Published: January 2025

The magnitude and temporality of the yearly maxima water levels are key parameters for the characterization of the riverine flooding hazard and its impacts. Although the Amazon estuary, that conveys the largest river discharge to the world ocean, exhibits marked events of maxima of the water level every year, the contribution of the natural drivers to these yearly extreme water levels is not well quantified. In this study, we investigate the contributing factors to the yearly maxima water level events along the Amazon estuary using a high-resolution cross-scale hydrodynamic model that has been extensively validated against comprehensive in situ and satellite datasets. Our study shows that the oceanic tide plays a crucial role in the genesis of the yearly maxima, whose influence decays from the downstream part (accounting for 85% of the total water level) towards the upstream part (44% of the total water level) of the estuary. Conversely, the Amazon discharge during the peak flood season induces yearly maxima in the upstream part of the estuary (accounting for 41% of the total water level), but the riverine influence decays sharply towards downstream and remains minor in the region of the mouths (9% of the total water level). Additionally, the sporadic bursts of north-easterly trade winds result in a sizeable wind-setup in the estuary (typically accounting for 5% to 13% of the total water level). Our study underscores the need for considering compound forcing in the cross-scale modeling in Amazon and similar estuaries. At a time when the climatic extremes are becoming more frequent over the Amazon region, our study helps the interpretation of the imprint of these extremes on the water level variability along this estuary.
Sediment Properties and Seagrass Density Influence the Morphological Plasticity of Seagrass Zostera muelleri More Than Elevated Temperatures
Authors: Swadling Daniel S. , Taylor Skye L. , Gruber Renee K. , Glasby Tim M.
Published: January 2025

Understanding the long-term effects of elevated temperatures on foundational species like seagrasses is critical for predicting and managing the impacts of warming coastal ecosystems worldwide. Seagrasses exhibit plasticity in response to a range of environmental stressors, so the effects of climate change are likely to be context dependent. This study investigated differences in the growth and morphology of Zostera muelleri inside versus outside a warm water plume generated by a power station operating for ~ 26 years in Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. The effects of other factors, including sediment organic matter, season and seagrass density were also examined to ascertain their importance relative to elevated temperatures. Despite water temperatures in the thermal plume being equivalent to conditions predicted by 2090 under future climate scenarios (1.5–2.7 °C above ambient), there were no consistent effects of these elevated temperatures on Z. muelleri growth and morphology. Instead, growth at all sites (ambient and warm water) was greater by 40.3% in spring and 74.3% in summer when compared to winter. Increasing organic matter content in sediments was associated with a 69.8% rise in below-ground biomass and a subsequent 73.8% reduction in the ratio of above- to below-ground biomass. There was also evidence for seagrass density effects, with denser meadows having shorter leaves and reduced growth rates, likely due to self-shading. Overall, these findings demonstrate that Z. muelleri in the centre of its distribution in eastern Australia can tolerate moderate temperature increases over decadal scales.
Baseline studies on meiofauna in the Baltic Sea before bottom-trawl fisheries exclusion I: comparison of communities in the Fehmarn Belt (western Baltic Sea), with special reference to the Harpacticoida (Crustacea, Copepoda)
Authors: Packmor Jana , George Kai Horst , Schönke Mischa , Martínez Arbizu Pedro
Published: January 2025

The meiobenthic communities of a protected area and a reference area in the Fehmarn Belt (Baltic Sea, Germany) were compared, with both study areas currently permitting bottom-trawl fisheries. Meiobenthic data were recorded at the major taxon level. Additionally, the Copepoda Harpacticoida were further examined at the species level. This data collection will serve as a baseline for future assessments, after the planned exclusion of bottom-trawl fisheries in the protected area in 2024 to identify potential impacts on meiofaunal communities. In assessing the meiobenthic data in relation to trawling impact, a trawling index derived from multibeam data for the Fehmarn Belt was employed and developed in the early stage of the project. A comparison of major taxonomic levels did not reveal significant differences between the protected and reference areas in terms of taxa composition, abundance values or diversity. However, analysis of the Harpacticoida community at the species level showed that the compared areas differ significantly in species composition and abundance but not in diversity. These differences in the distribution of harpacticoid species indicate a small-scale heterogeneity of different (a)biotic factors. The initial correlation analyses between trawling intensity and both the main taxonomic levels and the Harpacticoida community did not reveal statistically significant results. This finding is attributable to the small number of samples all recovered in a trawling-affected area. Nevertheless, a higher variance in total abundance between replicates was observed with increasing trawling intensity.
Integrated Experimental and Thermodynamic Modelling Study of Phase Equilibria in the PbO-AlO1.5-SiO2 System in Air
Authors: Khartcyzov Georgii , Shevchenko Maksym , Nekhoroshev Evgenii , Jak Evgueni
Published: January 2025

The present study focused on phase equilibria in the PbO–AlO1.5 and PbO–AlO1.5–SiO2 systems. The equilibration and quenching technique followed by the electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPMA) was used in the present study. The liquidus of the PbO–AlO1.5–SiO2 system in air, including corundum (Al2O3), cristobalite/tridymite/quartz (SiO2), feldspar (PbAl2Si2+x
O8+2x
), massicot (PbO), mullite (Al6+2x
Si2−2x
O13−x
), PbAl12O19, PbAl2O4, Pb9Al8O21, Pb6Al2Si6O21, Pb4Al2Si2O11, Pb4Al4Si3O16, Pb3Al10SiO20 and Pb12Al2Si20O55 primary phase fields, has been characterised. New lead aluminosilicate compounds, Pb13Al4Si6O31, Pb12Al6Si10O31, Pb9Al4Si8O31, Pb7Al2Si8O26 and Pb7Al2Si10O30 were found to coexist with oxide liquid. The PbO–AlO1.5 binary and PbO–AlO1.5–SiO2 ternary systems in air were reoptimized based on the obtained experimental data. New experimental results together with phase equilibria and thermodynamic literature data were used to obtain a self-consistent set of parameters of the thermodynamic model for all phases of the PbO–AlO1.5–SiO2 system in air. The predicted liquidus projection of the PbO–AlO1.5–SiO2 system was presented for the first time in the full range of temperatures and compositions.

Graphical Abstract
FBG-Based UV-Curing Kinetics Analysis by Exothermic Behavior
Authors: Yan Wen , Bi Zhenhua , Song Ying , Zhang Xinpu
Published: January 2025

Since photo-induced polymerization of the ultra-violet (UV)-curing adhesive from a fluid state to a solid state is an exothermic process, the UV curing exothermic behavior can be regarded as a potential evaluation methodology to analyze UV-curing kinetics. Herein, a fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based UV curing exothermic behavior monitoring is proposed to evaluate the UV-curing dynamic process and analyze a series of thermal and mechanical properties changes during curing. The exothermic behavior of the UV curing adhesive during curing and the feasibility of FBG-based curing kinetic analysis scheme are verified experimentally, full cycle cure monitoring of the UV curing adhesive can be realized by this FBG-based curing kinetic analysis scheme, and the UV-curing kinetics of four different types of the UV curing adhesive are corresponding to different exothermic behaviors. Compared with curing process evaluation based on refractive index variation, this FBG-based exothermic behavior monitoring has the ability to extract more details of the curing process, and some curing stages with negligible refractive index changes also can be distinguished. By using this proposed scheme, the UV-curing dynamic process and multiple characteristic parameters, such as curing time, time constant, transient temperature rise, and residual stress, can be evaluated, which may contribute to evaluating and analyzing UV-curing kinetics more comprehensively.
Risk Governance for the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Algeria
Authors: Benouar Djillali , Benmokhtar Amine
Published: January 2025

This article aims to assess Algeria’s progress in implementing the seven global targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR) between 2015 and 2022. To achieve this, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to meet the study’s objectives. The primary goal is to report on Algeria’s alignment with the seven SFDRR targets, considering the four priority areas of the framework as they relate to these targets. The article also seeks to explore the governance of risk in Algeria in the context of the SFDRR’s implementation. Over the past decade, Algeria has experienced a range of disasters involving natural hazards, including floods, storms, droughts, extreme temperatures, wildfires, earthquakes, transport crashes, and outbreaks of diseases such as COVID-19. These disasters, along with other endogenous causes not addressed in this article, have significantly hindered the country’s progress toward key global objectives, including the SFDRR.
A Local and Historical Perspective on Disaster Risk Reduction: Tunja, Colombia Case Study
Authors: Waked Nathalia , Jaime Catalina
Published: January 2025

This autoethnographic study presents a historical perspective on disaster risk reduction (DRR) at the local level, with the case study of the city of Tunja in Colombia. We analyze the impact that colonization, the independence period, and recent history have had on the creation and reduction of disaster risks in this city. We offer a holistic perspective that shows the interactions of the impact of inequality on Indigenous populations, lack of urban planning, deforestation and the planting of invasive plant species, among other factors, which in combination with natural hazards, such as heavy rainfall, increase disaster risks. We conclude that although the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 is a fundamental instrument to promote risk reduction, in the local context of Tunja, the framework as such is not seen as a guide or parameter. The Colombian Disaster Risk Management Law is the main guide to advance risk reduction. This study demonstrates how DRR is not an isolated process, but a process that encompasses the general well-being of the population. We demonstrate from our lived perspective how access to public education and school feeding, as well as other social protection measures, increase the resilience of the population, making them better able to cope with adversity due to different hazards. This local perspective, with a historical review of a small city in the middle of the Andes, demonstrates the importance of continuing to prioritize and invest in measures that contribute to the population’s well-being as a way to reduce disaster risks, including adapting to our changing climate.
Sensitivity assessment of cost allocative efficiency in data envelopment analysis
Authors: Amirteimoori Alireza , Allahviranloo Tofigh
Published: January 2025

Nonparametric cost allocative efficiency models in the framework of data envelopment analysis are sensitive to the prices of inputs. Changes in input prices may change the efficiency classification of a decision-making unit. In this sense, it is of interest to determine the ranges for input prices in which the efficiency classification remains unchanged. This paper focuses on sensitivity analysis of cost efficiency of a specific allocative efficient firm. Cost stability region is defined as a region in which the efficiency classification does not change if the input-cost vector is changed in such a way that the new vector belongs to this region. Linearly independent supporting surfaces of the production possibility set are used to define this region. The proposed cost stability regions are used to discriminate the decision-making units. Two illustrative examples (one simple numerical example and one real example) are used to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach.
Comprehensive Chlorine Suppression: Advances in Materials and System Technologies for Direct Seawater Electrolysis
Authors: Zhao Cenkai , Ding Zheyuan , Zhang Kunye , Du Ziting , Fang Haiqiu , Chen Ling , Jiang Hao , Wang Min , Wu Mingbo
Published: January 2025

Seawater electrolysis offers a promising pathway to generate green hydrogen, which is crucial for the net-zero emission targets. Indirect seawater electrolysis is severely limited by high energy demands and system complexity, while the direct seawater electrolysis bypasses pre-treatment, offering a simpler and more cost-effective solution. However, the chlorine evolution reaction and impurities in the seawater lead to severe corrosion and hinder electrolysis’s efficiency. Herein, we review recent advances in the rational design of chlorine-suppressive catalysts and integrated electrolysis systems architectures for chloride-induced corrosion, with simultaneous enhancement of Faradaic efficiency and reduction of electrolysis’s cost. Furthermore, promising directions are proposed for durable and efficient seawater electrolysis systems. This review provides perspectives for seawater electrolysis toward sustainable energy conversion and environmental protection.
Review on image registration methods for the quality control in additive manufacturing
Authors: Chand Keerthana , Fritsch Tobias , Oster Simon , Ulbricht Alexander , Bruno Giovanni
Published: January 2025

A critical challenge in Additive Manufacturing is to ensure the safety and dimensional accuracy of produced parts. Since quality control is made by means of different online and offline imaging techniques (e.g. Thermography, X-ray and Optical Computer Tomography), image registration plays an important role in addressing these challenges. This paper introduces the main motivation, challenges, and research gaps of image registration in Additive Manufacturing. Furthermore, it introduces the main transformations, registration methods, similarity matrices and accuracy measurement. The main aim of the paper is to present a comprehensive review on the available methods for image registration in Additive Manufacturing based on the measurement techniques. Various registration methods, including landmark-based, point cloud-based, image intensity-based, and shape-based techniques, are examined in their applications for quality control, defect detection, and distortion quantification.
Current practices in MRI screening in early onset scoliosis
Authors: Li Austin W. , Chang Alexander , Murphy Joshua S. , Li Ying , Roye Benjamin , Hardesty Christina K. , Glotzbecker Michael P. ,   The Pediatric Spine Study Group
Published: January 2025

Purpose

Early onset scoliosis (EOS) has traditionally been an indication for MRI because of its association with neural axis abnormalities (NAAs). Because these abnormalities are often clinically silent and concerns regarding sedation in young children are growing, routine MRI for EOS is debated. This study investigates the current practices of EOS MRI screening among surgeons in the Pediatric Spine Study Group (PSSG).

Methods

A survey assessing EOS MRI practices was distributed to the PSSG. The survey presented scenarios that varied in age, curve size, and diagnosis and asked which scenarios would indicate an MRI. Respondents also ranked age, curve progression, etiology, and need for sedation by level of importance when considering to order MRI.

Results

Age and curve progression were ranked as the most important factors when deciding to order MRI. For all non-congenital scoliosis, increased age and curve size were associated with increased rates of MRI among respondents. For idiopathic EOS, more than 60% of respondents would order MRI for patients with curve magnitudes of 45° regardless of age. All respondents would order MRI for congenital EOS before surgery and for EOS caused by neurofibromatosis. For EOS secondary to cerebral palsy, 61% of respondents would order an MRI, and 34% believe that EOS and Prader–Willi syndrome require MRI.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that the MRI screening practices for EOS vary greatly between physicians, as expected. Future research on the prevalence of NAAs in EOS and the clinical outcomes of routine MRI is needed to inform which MRI practices should be standard.
Machine learning-driven prediction of biochar adsorption capacity for effective removal of Congo red dye
Authors: Yadav Shubham , Rajput Priyanshu , Balasubramanian Paramasivan , Liu Chong , Li Fayong , Zhang Pengyan
Published: January 2025

Congo red, a widely utilized dye in the textile industry, presents a significant threat to living organisms due to its carcinogenic properties and non-biodegradable nature. This study proposes a data-driven machine-learning approach to optimize biochar characteristics and environmental conditions to maximize the adsorption capacity of biochar for the removal of Congo red dye. Therefore, six machine learning models were trained and tested on a dataset containing eleven input parameters (related to biochar properties and environmental conditions) and adsorption capacity. The models were evaluated using performance metrics such as R-squared (R
2), Mean Squared Error (MSE), and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). With the highest R
2 (0.9785) and lowest RMSE (0.1357), Random Forest Regression (RF) outperformed other machine learning models. DT and XGB also performed well, achieving slightly lower R
2 values of 0.9741 and 0.9577, respectively. The LR model performed the worst, with the lowest R
2 (0.4575) and the highest RMSE (0.6821). Moreover, the reliability of these models was validated using a 10-fold cross-validation method. RF once again performed the best with an R
2 value of 0.9762. Feature analysis revealed that the initial dye concentration relative to biochar dosage (C

0
), specific surface area (BET), and pore volume (PV) are the most significant factors affecting the dye adsorption capacity of biochar, while parameters such as carbon content (C), the oxygen and nitrogen to carbon molar ratio [(O + N)/C], and pore diameter (D) had minimal impact. This research demonstrates that machine learning models can accurately predict biochar’s contaminant adsorption capacity, enhancing wastewater treatment and promoting efficient, cost-effective environmental management.

Graphical Abstract
Metaphysical ecumenicalism and Moore’s proof
Authors: Ranalli Chris , Walker Mark
Published: January 2025

You have hands, but does it follow that there’s an external material world? Moore thought so. However, we argue that this is a mistake. We defend the Ecumenical View, on which ordinary object terms like “hands” are metaphysically ecumenical, akin to the way that terms like “table” are physically ecumenical: just as there are wooden, metal, or plastic tables, so too there can be material, virtual, or immaterial hands. Moore’s position, however, is metaphysically sectarian: the semantics of “hands” requires a materialist metaphysics. Moore’s proof fails not because it displays bad epistemology but because of its problematic commitment to sectarian metaphysics. We conclude with some explorative thoughts on how the Ecumenical View bears on common sense epistemology and a possible equivocation in our understanding of the premises of Moore’s argument.
Luck and normative achievements: Let not safety be our guide
Authors: Guindon Bruno
Published: January 2025

It is a well-worn platitude that knowledge excludes luck. According to anti-luck virtue epistemology, making good on the anti-luck platitude requires an explicit anti-luck condition along the lines of safety: S knows that p only if S’s true belief that p could not have easily been mistaken. This paper offers an independent, virtue epistemological argument against the claim that safety is a necessary condition of knowledge, one that adequately captures the anti-luck platitude. The argument proceeds by way of analogy. I focus on two paradigmatic kinds of normative achievements that also exclude luck: (i) – having a doxastically justified belief and (ii) – performing a morally worthy action. I then show that while (i) and (ii) exclude luck, they are nevertheless susceptible to what I call “modal luck.” I then move on to show that knowledge, or at least some instance of knowledge, is a normative achievement, which I claim provides strong reasons to expect that knowledge is also susceptible to modal luck. Since safety entails that knowledge is incompatible with modal luck, the argument provides strong reasons to reject safety as a necessary condition of knowledge.
Political liberalism’s skeptical problem and the burden of total experience
Authors: Althorpe Caleb
Published: January 2025

Many accounts of political liberalism contend that reasonable citizens ought to refrain from invoking their disputed comprehensive beliefs in public deliberation about constitutional essentials. Critics maintain that this ‘refraining condition’ puts pressure on citizens to entertain skepticism about their own basic beliefs, and that accounts of political liberalism committed to it are resultantly committed to a position – skepticism about conceptions of the good – that is itself subject to reasonable disagreement. Discussions in the epistemology of disagreement have tended to reinforce this critique, which has come to be known as political liberalism’s skeptical problem. This paper responds to the skeptical problem by providing a novel rationale for the refraining condition, which I call the burden of total experience. Such a burden emphasizes that full communication on the basis of individual belief is not always possible, even between epistemic peers. Accepting the burden of total experience allows individuals to recognize the reasonableness of the refraining condition in a way that stops the slide to skepticism, all while avoiding, or so I argue, relying on a problematically controversial explainer for disagreement.
How big is a tiling’s return module?
Authors: PERRYMAN ABIGAIL , SADUN LORENZO
Published: January 2025

The rank of a tiling’s return module depends on the geometry of its tiles and is not a topological invariant. However, the rank of the first Čech cohomology

$\check H^1(\Omega )$

gives upper and lower bounds for the rank of the return module. For all sufficiently large patches, the rank of the return module is at most the rank of

$\check H^1(\Omega )$

. For a generic choice of tile shapes and an arbitrary reference patch, the rank of the return module is at least the rank of

$\check H^1(\Omega )$

. Therefore, for generic tile shapes and all sufficiently large patches, the rank of the return module is equal to the rank of

$\check H^1(\Omega )$

.
Hölder continuity of measures for heavy tail potentials
Authors: IOMMI GODOFREDO , TERHESIU DALIA , TODD MIKE
Published: January 2025

For a class of potentials

$\psi $

satisfying a condition depending on the roof function of a suspension (semi)flow, we show an EKP inequality, which can be interpreted as a Hölder continuity property in the weak

${^*}$

norm of measures, with respect to the pressure of those measures, where the Hölder exponent depends on the

$L^q$

-space to which

$\psi $

belongs. This also captures a new type of phase transition for intermittent (semi)flows (and maps).
Unsettling the Reflections in a Pond: The Educational Thought of José Ortega y Gasset
Authors: Tate Nicholas
Published: January 2025

Spain’s greatest modern philosopher, José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955), wrote about many aspects of education including its aims; the education of children, nations, and elites; types of pedagogy; the reform of the university; and the challenges facing educators in an era of “triumphant plebeianism.” The article examines all aspects of Ortega’s educational thought, with a particular focus on his ideas about elites and their education, drawing on writings unavailable in English, including texts not published during his lifetime. At the heart of his writing is a vision of the qualities needed to enable individuals to make what he called a “project” out of their lives along with a powerful advocacy of the non-utilitarian and Socratic pedagogies that would help achieve that vision. The article looks at the balance of radical and conservative elements within Ortega’s educational thought and its relation to earlier “progressive” thinkers, and concludes with an evaluation of his legacy.
Women, Peace, and Security: Posthuman Feminisms and Oceanic Encounters
Authors: Heathcote Gina
Published: January 2025

This article examines the United Nations Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security (WPS) and argues for an expansion of existing agendas to incorporate security away from the repetition of militarized security, extractive capital, and Western humanism through attention to maritime security. Drawing on posthuman feminisms, critical ocean studies, and decolonial and queer feminist engagements with the ocean, I propose the identification of the ocean as a legal subject to enact an unmooring of the ways in which gendered security is currently thought about, realized, and deployed in legal spaces. The liberal feminist preoccupation with including women and creating gender parity, the radical feminist legal agenda for addressing sexual violence, and the cultural feminist legal reforms that center women’s differences are challenged as reasserting and reifying the status quo of law and legal arrangements. Feminist maritime security, posthuman, with the ocean as subject, contributes ways to think and know law in new registers and addresses the legacy of humanist exclusions of both human and nonhuman subjects. Furthermore, oceanic subjectivity invites reflection on the necessity of terraqueous thinking for planetary survival.
The Nation or The Leader? Exploring the Effect of Framing in News Coverage of International Conflicts
Authors: Wang Shu , Li Xilin , Huang Chengyue , Hsee Christopher K.
Published: January 2025

This research explores a phenomenon that we see nearly every day and has implications for how we view people in other nations: Different media outlets may report the same international events either in terms of the nation (e.g., “Russia invades Ukraine”) or in terms of the leader (e.g., “Putin invades Ukraine”). Five studies, conducted during the 2022 Russia-Ukraine Conflict and involving both field and experimental data, find that readers of nation-framed news about the conflict had worse impressions of the people in the associated nation (Russians) than readers of the corresponding leader-framed version. We explain the psychology behind this framing effect and identify its moderators. Our research underscores the importance of responsible media practices in shaping global perceptions.
An Italian among the Chinese elite, a Chinese library among Lucanian mountains: Ludovico Luigi Nicola di Giura (1868–1947) and his personal library
Authors: Wang Jinxiao
Published: January 2025

Ludovico Luigi Nicola di Giura (1868–1947) was an Italian doctor who lived in Beijing from 1900 to 1931. In addition to his medical practice, di Giura actively engaged with the local elite, developed a profound interest in Chinese literature, and contributed to introducing Chinese reality and culture into Italy through journalistic, literary, and translation works. Upon his return to Italy, he constructed a ‘Chinese library’ at his family estate in Chiaromonte, located in the Basilicata region. This article adopts the ‘Heraclitean approach’ proposed by Weingarten (2022) to examine di Giura's personal library, analysing the evolution of both individual and communal cultural longings reflected by his collection and marginalia within the books spanning different periods. Drawing upon the primary sources recently discovered and catalogued from the library, along with archival and bibliographical materials from both Italian and Chinese sources, the paper not only aims to reveal di Giura's intellectual profile, but also aims to utilise his individual experiences as a lens for observing the social and cultural life of Italians in China during the early twentieth century.
The Forgotten Resistance of the Sinti and Roma
Authors: Nencioni Chiara
Published: January 2025

The role that Roma communities played in the Resistance during the Second World War is a little-known part of history, especially in Italy. Through consideration of their involvement, we can highlight the complexity of the Resistance, and recognise Roma communities as an integral part of Italian society. Roma involvement in the Resistance had distinctive characteristics compared to that of the gagi (non-Roma), particularly in how they viewed it not only as a fight against fascism, but also it as a means of honouring the mulé (the dead). However, only a handful of Roma partisans are recorded in the Ricompart archive, which contains documentation relating to those who participated in Resistance activities. To trace history, personal testimony, in addition to secondary historiography, is key. Roma communities share a rich oral tradition, which forms the basis of a significant part of this article, and which offers an account of civil resistance and armed action both within partisan groups and as part of small formations based on ethnicity. This piece examines the reasons why the Roma partisans who fought and died in the Resistance did not receive full public recognition, a form of historical amnesia of the postwar period rooted in the absence of a cultural ‘defascistisation’ whereby fascist-style racism permeated the Republic.
TWISTED RUELLE ZETA FUNCTION ON HYPERBOLIC MANIFOLDS AND COMPLEX-VALUED ANALYTIC TORSION
Authors: Spilioti Polyxeni
Published: January 2025

In this paper, we study the twisted Ruelle zeta function associated with the geodesic flow of a compact, hyperbolic, odd-dimensional manifold X. The twisted Ruelle zeta function is associated with an acyclic representation

$\chi \colon \pi _{1}(X) \rightarrow \operatorname {\mathrm {GL}}_{n}(\mathbb {C})$

, which is close enough to an acyclic, unitary representation. In this case, the twisted Ruelle zeta function is regular at zero and equals the square of the refined analytic torsion, as it is introduced by Braverman and Kappeler in [6], multiplied by an exponential, which involves the eta invariant of the even part of the odd-signature operator, associated with

$\chi $

.
Attribution and Risk Projections of Hydrological Drought Over Water‐Scarce Central Asia
Authors: Wu Xinfeng , Tang Wenhui , Chen Feng , Wang Shijie , Bakhtiyorov Zulfiyor , Liu Yuxin , Guan Yansong
Published: January 2025

Central Asia (CA), a typical arid and semiarid region, has experienced worsening droughts, adversely impacting agricultural production and socioeconomic development. However, the evolution of hydrological droughts in CA remains unclear. Here, we used instrumental streamflow and reanalysis to demonstrate a decline in surface runoff in CA since the 1990s, with 44.6% and 33.2% of the area dominated by reductions in snowmelt and precipitation, respectively. We found that global warming contributes to the long‐term decrease in surface runoff, while short‐term fluctuations in surface runoff are caused by the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, such as southern CA drying induced by decreasing precipitation during La Niña. We project the future hydrological drought characteristics based on state‐of‐the‐art global hydrological simulations and found increasing duration and severity of hydrological droughts in CA, especially in the Amu Darya basin, and the Caspian Sea East Coast basin. These increasing droughts are exacerbated by higher anthropogenic emissions, posing high‐level risks to 39.01% of land area and 35.9% of human population under an extremely high emissions scenario. These findings highlight the need for improved water conservation technologies and concerted development strategies should be considered by national policy makers in this water‐scarce and climatically sensitive region.
Repacking Accelerates High‐Silica Melts Extraction: Insights From Microstructural Record and Numerical Modeling
Authors: Chen Hou‐Bin , Liu Boda , Ji Wei‐Qiang , Zhang Shao‐Hua , Zhao Kai , Wu Fu‐Yuan
Published: January 2025

Repacking enhances crystal mush permeability, accelerating melt extraction. However, identifying microstructural records of repacking is challenging, creating a gap in quantifying its effect on magmatic reservoirs. We identified extracted melt (rhyolite) and silicic residue (quartz monzonite) through textures and geochemical characteristics in the Pangduo Basin (Southern Tibet; ∼50 Ma old). By calculating interstitial mineral proportions and modeling incompatible element concentrations in quartz monzonite, we estimate a moderate trapped melt fraction (∼50 vol. %), providing microtextural evidence of repacking at intermediate crystallinities. We interpret that the horizontal preferred orientation of frame‐forming feldspars produces micro‐scale melt channels that accelerate melt extraction. Modeling the intensity of this orientation, we estimated compressive strain to be 20%–30%, likely accelerating melt extraction by at least 15 times. This millennium timescale allows for the growth of a large magma chamber, preventing the melt from freezing or causing multiple small eruptions due to excessive flow‐induced stress.
Global Hybrid Simulation of Dayside Magnetopause Energy Transport Under Purely Southward Interplanetary Magnetic Field
Authors: Yi Yongyuan , Zhou Meng , Lin Yu , Pang Ye , Jin Runqing , Song Liangjin , Deng Xiaohua
Published: January 2025

In this paper, dayside magnetopause energy transport (energy transport across the separatrix surface to the magnetopause boundary layer and energy transport inside the magnetopause boundary layer) and its dependence on the magnetopause dynamic evolution under purely southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions are studied via a 3‐D global hybrid simulation. By investigating the energy transport across the separatrix surface, current layer surface, and magnetopause surface, we find that the energy transport from the magnetosheath to the magnetopause boundary layer is mainly in the form of electromagnetic energy, while the energy transport directly across the magnetopause surface to the magnetosphere is mainly in the form of plasma energy. The energy transport across the magnetopause surface exhibits temporal variability, driven by the dynamic evolution of reconnection and flux rope. During the development of multiple X‐lines reconnection and flux rope, a substantial portion of solar wind energy does not directly penetrate the dayside magnetopause to the magnetosphere. Instead, it is transported with the reconnection outflow and flux rope from low latitude to high latitude, and with the drifting flow from the subsolar region to the tail magnetopause within the magnetopause current layer. These results significantly improve our understanding of solar wind‐magnetosphere coupling at the dayside magnetopause.
Basement Controls on Structural Evolution in Thin‐Skinned Thrust Belts—Implications for Migration of Deformation Into Orogenic Forelands
Authors: Butler Robert W. H. , Bond Clare E. , Robledo Francisca
Published: January 2025

Fold and thrust belts on the outer fringes of contractional mountain belts are classically interpreted as forming in sedimentary rocks that have detached from the underlying continental crust that acts as a rigid, undeformed basement. This is “thin‐skinned tectonics” and the Jura fold and thrust belt of northern Switzerland is an archetype. We analyze published cross‐sections and interpret new high resolution seismic imagery, to show that it is not simply thin‐skinned. Faults in the underlying basement coincide with folds and thrusts in the overlying cover. We argue that, by off‐setting the basal evaporite detachment, the basement faults form steps that nucleate structures in the otherwise thin‐skinned thrust belt. However, the basement faults are not simply inherited structures, as previously thought, but were locally activated during thrusting. Impacting the evolutionary sequence of these thrusts in the cover. In 3D, the folds that nucleate on basement steps can propagate laterally into areas where basement faulting is only weakly developed. It is the availability of exceptional seismic imagery that permits these deductions. Most other fold and thrust belts worldwide do not have this image quality and interpretations can rely on single profiles. Therefore, the role of basement faults may have gone un‐noticed.