bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Listeria monocytogenes is a solvent tolerant organism secreting a solvent stable lipase: potential biotechnological applications
Authors: Priyanka Priyanka , Kinsella Gemma K. , Henehan Gary T. , Ryan Barry J.
Published: August 2022

Purpose

The emerging biobased economy will require robust, adaptable, organisms for the production and processing of biomaterials as well as for bioremediation. Recently, the search for solvent tolerant organisms and solvent tolerant enzymes has intensified. Resilient organisms secreting solvent stable lipases are of particular interest for biotechnological applications.

Methods

Screening of soil samples for lipase-producing organisms was carried out on Rhodamine B plates. The most productive lipase-producing organisms were further screened for their resistance to solvents commonly used in biotechnological applications.

Results

In the course of screening, one of the isolated organisms that exhibited extracellular lipase activity, was identified as the human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes through 16S rRNA sequencing. Further exploration revealed that this organism was resistant to solvents ranging from log P − 0.81 to 4.0. Moreover, in the presence of these solvents, L. monocytogenes secreted an extracellular, solvent tolerant, lipase activity. This lipase retained approximately 80% activity when incubated in 30% (v/v) methanol for 24 h.

Conclusion

These findings identify L. monocytogenes as a potentially useful organism for biotechnological applications. However, the fact that Listeria is a pathogen is problematic and it will require the use of non-pathogenic or attenuated Listeria strains for practical applications. Nonetheless, the ability to adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions, to grow at low temperatures, to resist solvents and to secrete an extracellular solvent tolerant lipase are unique and highly useful characteristics. The potential application of L. monocytogenes in wastewater bioremediation and plastics degradation is discussed.
Mapping interactions between sustainable development and heatwave resilience
Authors: Nunes Ana Raquel
Published: August 2022

Urgent action is needed to ensure the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030. Under climate change the intensity and frequency of heatwaves are projected to increase and urgent action is also needed to improve heatwave resilience now and in the future. Yet, it remains unclear how countries are planning and implementing policies and actions for this to happen. Interactions between the SDGs have been widely researched. However, little is known about the interactions between the SDGs and heatwave resilience. In response, this study focuses on mapping such interactions. This mixed methods study design with a diverse group of stakeholders from different sectors of society identified key interactions, sources of interactions and solutions for achieving both agendas. The analysis revealed that: (i) synergies largely outweigh trade-offs; (ii) a broad compatibility exists between the two agendas; (iii) no fundamental incompatibilities were found, and; (iv) the two agendas are not being consistently aligned. These findings are essential for parallel and effective achievement of both agendas and to enhance synergies and reduce trade-offs. A series of solutions were identified which can be implemented. Such integrated approaches would enhance success and overall performance by improving collaborations, using common language, regulation and planning, pooling resources, skills, inclusive information and translation to practice.
Can There Be a Recourse to a Philosophy of Love? A Confronting Question at the Heart of a Poor Pedagogy
Authors: Orih Dominic
Published: August 2022

The question of love and its place in pedagogy has brought diverging views and disagreement. It would appear to be creating more problems than it solves. On one hand, the contention lies on the discussion of love as something extraneous to our being by using an either-or approach. On the other hand, it lies on the understanding of love as something bereft in our shared human experience especially in moments of suffering. These problematic approaches have led to disagreements among those who subscribe to the place of love in pedagogy and those who propose that love does not have any place in education. I hereby propose an alternative approach; one that encourages willing the good of the other for the other. If all educational endeavours and all the opposing positions on love and its place in pedagogy is done based on promoting the good of the other, then love is essentially and existentially integral in education because love is for the good of the other. This became apparent to me through a ‘poor pedagogy’ that opened the door for a transformative learning curve. I explored this insight philosophically through a discussion of the Socratic way that shaped the ancient Greeks’ understanding of love and education. I relate this understanding to my personal teaching experience and then examine the implication of love for education as something that influences positively the educational experience of both teachers and students in their pursuit of the highest good, manifesting in the reward of love as love.
Numerical modelling of the KOBO extrusion process using the Bodner–Partom material model
Authors: Wójcik Marta , Skrzat Andrzej
Published: August 2022

Numerical simulations of the extrusion process assisted by die cyclic oscillations (KOBO extrusion) is presented in this paper. This is highly non-linear coupled thermo-mechanical problem. The elastic-viscoplastic Bodner–Partom-Partom material model, assuming plastic and viscoplastic effects in a wide range of strain rates and temperatures, has been applied. In order to perform simulations, the user material procedure for B–P material has been written and implemented in the commercial FEM software. The coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian method has been used in numerical computations. In CEL method, explicit integration of the constitutive equations is required and remeshing is not necessary even for large displacements and large strains analyses. The results of numerical simulations show the heterogeneous distribution of stress and strain inside container and the non-uniform distribution of strain in the extruded material. The increase of material temperature has been noted. The results obtained (stress, temperature, location of plastic zones) qualitatively confirm the results of experimental investigations. The application of the user material procedure allows accessing all material state variables (current yield stress, hardening parameters, etc.), and therefore it gives detailed information about phenomena occurring in extruded material inside recipient. This information is useful for a proper selection of parameters of the KOBO extrusion process e.g. synchronization of the punch displacement with the die oscillations frequency to avoid the saturation of material isotropic hardening, which blocks the progress of extrusion.
Performance analysis of hybrid free space optical and visible light communications for underwater applications using spatial diversity
Authors: Zakaria Islam , Abaza Mohamed , Fedawy Moustafa , Aly Moustafa H.
Published: August 2022

In this paper, we analyze a combination based on a hybrid triple hop terrestrial free-space optical (FSO), a fiber optic cable (FOC), and an underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) link for providing high-speed optical connectivity between onshore and submerge systems. UOWC, scattering, absorption, and turbulence severely degrade the reliability and transmission rate of the UOWC link. In our manuscript, a bend-insensitive intermediate FOC link and a spatial diversity (SD) are exploited to improve the error performance of UOWC links, which involves the deployment of multiple input single outputs (MISO). For this purpose, different transmission signaling schemes, such as pulse position modulation (PPM) with spatial modulation (SM) and on–off keying (OOK) with repetition coding (RC), are employed to evaluate the system performance in terms of average bit error rate (ABER). The behavior of the entire system is obtained by applying a decode-and-forward (DF), where we consider log-normal channels for FSO and UOWC. The path loss and turbulence are obtained using intensity modulation and direct detection schemes. To obtain performance results, Monte Carlo-based statistical simulation method is applied to validate the analytical ABER performance of the system. The achieved results reveal that MISO-OOK-RC has superior ABER performance as compared to MISO-PPM-SM in higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions with different underwater turbulence strengths.
What is So Special About Contemporary CG Faces? Semiotics of MetaHumans
Authors: Giuliana Gianmarco Thierry
Published: August 2022

This paper analyses the features of the 2021 software for the creation of ultrarealistic digital characters “MetaHuman Creator” and reflects on the causes of such perceived effect of realism to understand if the faces produced with such software represent an actual novelty from an academic standpoint. Such realism is first of all defined as the result of semio-cognitive processes which trigger interpretative habits specifically related to faces. These habits are then related to the main properties of any realistic face: being face-looking, face-meaning and face-acting. These properties, in turn, are put in relation with our interactions with faces in terms of face detection, face recognition, face reading and face agency. Within this theoretical framework, we relate the characteristics of these artificial faces with such interpretative habits. To do so, we first of all make an examination of the technological features behind both the software and the digital faces it produces. This analysis highlights four main points of interest: the mathematical accuracy, the scanned database, the high level of details and the transformative capacities of these artificial faces. We then relate these characteristics with the cultural and cognitive aspects involved in recognizing and granting meaning to faces. This reveals how metahuman faces differs from previous artificial faces in terms of indexicality, intersubjectivity, informativity and irreducibility. But it also reveals some limits of such effect of reality in terms of intentionality and historical context. This examination consequently brings us to conclude that metahuman faces are qualitatively different from previous artificial faces and, in the light of their potentials and limits, to highlight four main lines of future research based on our findings.
The role of variables in relational thinking: an interview study with kindergarten and primary school children
Authors: Lenz Denise
Published: August 2022

Relational thinking and dealing with variables are two essential aspects of algebraic thinking. Relational thinking means viewing mathematical expressions and equations as a whole rather than as individual computing processes. It is characterized by using relationships between mathematical objects, and refers to the relations of equality and inequality. In this study, to examine the relational thinking of kindergarten and primary school children, this perspective was applied using non-symbolic representations in the form of boxes and marbles. Using multiple variables is a very powerful but also difficult tool of algebra. The study had the aim of examining how kindergarten children and primary school children establish relationships between several variables which are represented with real materials. The interview study was conducted with children aged 5–10 years. Marbles and different colored boxes represented equations with unknowns and quantities depending on each other. Initially, two approaches could be differentiated, namely, number-oriented and structure-oriented approaches. It could be shown that certain conceptualizations of variables were related to children’s ability to show relational thinking. Kindergarteners are stimulated to think relationally by unknown quantities which can be determined. This process was observed in primary school children dealing with quantities that depended on each other. In addition, the conceptualization of the variables represented as boxes was examined. The concepts of general number and variable as changing quantity were categorized. Further conceptualizations resulted from the interview data, namely, categories of the undeterminable, the specific number, and the quasi-general.
The Supplement of Magnesium Element to Inhibit Colorectal Tumor Cells
Authors: Li Heng , Feng Xiaonan , Li Hai , Ma Shuo , Song Wei , Yang Bao , Jiang Tao , Yang Chun
Published: August 2022

Magnesium ions are essential elements to the human body, with a daily intake of about 350 mg for an adult. Recently, a meta-analysis reported that magnesium ion intake is related to a reduced risk of colorectal tumors. In addition, implantation of biodegradable magnesium pins after colorectal tumor resection could potentially inhibit the residual tumor cells. These impressive results implied that magnesium ions possess inhibitory properties against colorectal carcinoma. However, this hypothesis has yet to be confirmed by experimental results. In this work, different concentrations of magnesium ions were modulated to investigate their inhibitory effects on cell viability through cell cycle arrest, subsequently inducing apoptosis by activating the caspase-3 pathway. The animal experiments revealed that magnesium injection restricted tumor growth after 3 weeks of treatment compared to the control group. According to the immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy results, the remarkable effect may be attributed to promoting the apoptotic rate of tumor cells. The evidence highlights the potential for the clinical use of magnesium implants to inhibit the growth of residual cells after colorectal tumor surgery.
Prognosis factors of predicting survival in spontaneously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Wang Peng , Moses Abraham S , Li Chao , Chen Song , Qi Xun , Xu Ke , Shao Hai-bo , Han Xiang-jun
Published: August 2022

Aim

To investigate predictors affecting survival in patients with spontaneously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma (srHCC).

Methods

One-hundred-and-twenty-seven patients experiencing srHCC between January 2010 and December 2020 were enrolled. The clinical features, treatments, and outcomes were reviewed. Statistics included univariate analysis, Kaplan–Meier analysis, multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazards model and logistic regression model, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

Results

Of the 127 srHCC patients, 24, 42, and 61 patients received conservative treatment, surgical treatment, and transarterial chemoembolization/embolization (TACE/TAE) treatment at HCC rupture, respectively. The largest tumor size [hazard ratio (HR) 1.127; p < 0.001], Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage (HR 2.184, p = 0.023), international normalized ratio (INR; HR 3.895; p = 0.012), total bilirubin level (TBil; HR 1.014; p = 0.014), TACE after rupture (compared with conservative treatment) (HR 0.549; p = 0.029), TACE/TAE and surgery at rupture, and albumin level (HR 0.949; p = 0.017) were independent predictors affecting overall survival. A survival predictive model for HCC rupture (SPHR) using these predictors was created. ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the SPHR model for 30 day survival was 0.925, and the AUCs of the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score and Child–Pugh score for 30 day survival were 0.767 and 0.757, respectively.

Conclusion

The largest tumor size, advanced BCLC stage, higher INR and TBil, lower albumin, and conservative treatment were negative independent predictors for overall survival. The SPHR model may be more suitable than the MELD score and Child–Pugh score for predicting 30 day survival in srHCC.
Targeted timing of hairy vetch cover crop termination with roller crimper can eliminate glyphosate requirements in no-till sunflower
Authors: Antichi Daniele , Carlesi Stefano , Mazzoncini Marco , Bàrberi Paolo
Published: August 2022

No-till cropping systems with cover crops can improve soil health, but often rely on glyphosate, which is a contentious herbicide. In this study, we investigated whether a system based on the direct sowing of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) in the dead mulch of a roller-crimped hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) could be competitive with a system where glyphosate is also sprayed to terminate the cover crop and to control weeds. We hypothesized that optimum timing of roller-crimping would be key to eliminate glyphosate requirements while maintaining sunflower performance. In a 3-year on-farm experiment, we compared three vetch termination stages (early: pre-flowering; Intermediate: beginning of flowering; late: 70% flowering) and three glyphosate rates (Nil, half and full, i.e. 1440 g of active ingredient per hectare). Vetch biomass increased progressively from early to late termination stages, and ranged between 414 and 658 g m−2. Higher vetch biomass was correlated with lower weed biomass. Treatments had inconsistent effects on weed diversity and composition, largely determined by the interactions between treatments and seasonal (different years) or local factors (different fields). Glyphosate-based treatments seemed to select for aggressive weed species, but no clear species filtering effect based on ecological or functional traits was detected. Shannon H’ was positively correlated with sunflower grain yield below a weed dry biomass threshold of 150 g m−2. Crop yield with early termination stage was a failure without glyphosate application. However, crop yield with late vetch termination was acceptable, being at par or 15% higher (mean of first and second years) in no-glyphosate compared with glyphosate-based treatments. Crop gross margins showed the same trend (+33% for no-glyphosate compared with glyphosate-based treatments). This study, for the first time, shows that targeted timing of roller-crimped hairy vetch in no-till sunflower can result in equal agronomic and economic performances as addition of glyphosate.
The Causes and Effects of Mercury and Methylmercury Contamination in the Marine Environment: A Review
Authors: Al-Sulaiti Maetha M. , Soubra Lama , Al-Ghouti Mohammad A.
Published: August 2022

Purpose of Review

The concern of mercury pollution and the impact that it poses on the marine environment were studied heavily since the case of the poison from Minamata bay in the 1960s. The present study provides an insight into the cycle of mercury and methylmercury in the marine environment and the bioindicators that reflect the exposure levels. The paper also used the driving forces, pressures, states, impacts, and responses (DPSIR) analysis to evaluate the global mercury and methylmercury contamination problem.

Recent Findings

The high global budgets of atmospheric total mercury influence the ocean surface water. Therefore, the aquatic environment contamination level is in turn affected by the surrounding emission sources such as industrial and petroleum activities in addition to the transport and fate of mercury across the environmental compartments. This will increase the mercury levels in fish species and will cause an adverse risk to human health through biomagnification.

This review presents a thorough description of mercury sources and emissions and their fate and transport across the different environmental compartments, despite the fact that serious mitigation measures were taken and guidelines were applied. The risk from fish consumption is still a serious concern as a result of the current mercury emissions and stability and persistent characteristics.
Exploiting lexical patterns for knowledge graph construction from unstructured text in Spanish
Authors: Rios-Alvarado Ana B. , Martinez-Rodriguez Jose L. , Garcia-Perez Andrea G. , Guerrero-Melendez Tania Y. , Lopez-Arevalo Ivan , Gonzalez-Compean Jose Luis
Published: August 2022

Knowledge graphs (KGs) are useful data structures for the integration, retrieval, dissemination, and inference of information in various information domains. One of the main challenges in building KGs is the extraction of named entities (nodes) and their relations (edges), particularly when processing unstructured text as it has no semantic descriptions. Generating KGs from texts written in Spanish represents a research challenge as the existing structures, models, and strategies designed for other languages are not compatible in this scenario. This paper proposes a method to design and construct KGs from unstructured text in Spanish. We defined lexical patterns to extract named entities and (non) taxonomic, equivalence, and composition relations. Next, named entities are linked and enriched with DBpedia resources through a strategy based on SPARQL queries. Finally, OWL properties are defined from the predicate relations for creating resource description framework (RDF) triples. We evaluated the performance of the proposed method to determine the degree of elements extracted from the input text and to assess their quality through standard information retrieval measures. The evaluation revealed the feasibility of the proposed method to extract RDF triples from datasets in general and computer science domains. Competitive results were observed by comparing our method regarding an existing approach from the literature.
Custom CornerNet: a drone-based improved deep learning technique for large-scale multiclass pest localization and classification
Authors: Albattah Waleed , Masood Momina , Javed Ali , Nawaz Marriam , Albahli Saleh
Published: August 2022

Insect pests are among the most critical factors affecting crops and result in a severe reduction in food yield. At the same time, early and accurate identification of insect pests can assist farmers in taking timely preventative steps to reduce financial losses and improve food quality. However, the manual inspection process is a daunting and time-consuming task due to visual similarity between various insect species. Moreover, sometimes it is difficult to find an experienced professional for the consultation. To deal with the problems of manual inspection, we have presented an automated framework for the identification and categorization of insect pests using deep learning. We proposed a lightweight drone-based approach, namely a custom CornerNet approach with DenseNet-100 as a base network. The introduced framework comprises three phases. The region of interest is initially acquired by developing sample annotations later used for model training. A custom CornerNet is proposed in the next phase by employing the DenseNet-100 for deep keypoints computation. The one-stage detector CornerNet identifies and categorizes several insect pests in the final step. The DenseNet network improves the capacity of feature representation by connecting the feature maps from all of its preceding layers and assists the CornerNet model in detecting insect pests as paired vital points. We assessed the performance of the proposed model on the standard IP102 benchmark dataset for pest recognition which is challenging in terms of pest size, color, orientation, category, chrominance, and lighting variations. Both qualitative and quantitative experimental results showed the effectiveness of our approach for identifying target insects in the field with improved accuracy and recall rates.
Semi-enclosed experimental system for coal spontaneous combustion for determining regional distribution of high-temperature zone of coal fire
Authors: Zhao Jingyu , Ming Hanqi , Guo Tao , Zhang Yuxuan , Deng Jun , Song Jiajia , Zeng Qiang , Shu Chi-Min
Published: August 2022

Temperature variation and gas generation at different depths and positions in the coal combustion process were studied to determine the propagation and evolution of high temperature regions in the process of coal spontaneous combustion. This study selected coal samples from Mengcun, Shaanxi Province, People’s Republic of China, and developed a semi-enclosed experimental system (furnace) for simulating coal combustion. The thermal mass loss of coal samples under various heating rates (5, 10, and 15 °C/min) was analyzed through thermogravimetric analysis, and the dynamic characteristics of the coal samples were analyzed; the reliability of the semi-enclosed experimental system was verified through the equal proportional method of fuzzy response. The results reveal that the high-temperature zone is distributed nonlinearly from the middle to the front end of the furnace, and the temperatures of points in this zone decreased gradually as the layer depth increased. The apparent activation energy of the coal samples during combustion first increased and then decreased as the conversion degree increased. Furthermore, the proportion of mass loss and the mass loss rate in the coal samples observed in the thermogravimetric experiment is consistent with that observed in the first and second stages of the experiment conducted using the semi-enclosed system. The research findings can provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of high-temperature zones in coal combustion.
Performance assessment of CORDEX regional climate models in wind speed simulations over Zambia
Authors: Libanda Brigadier
Published: August 2022

There is no single solution to cutting emissions, however, renewable energy projects that are backed by rigorous ex-ante assessments play an important role in these efforts. An inspection of literature reveals critical knowledge gaps in the understanding of future wind speed variability across Zambia, thus leading to major uncertainties in the understanding of renewable wind energy potential over the country. Several model performance metrics, both statistical and graphical were used in this study to examine the performance of CORDEX Africa Regional Climate Models (RCMs) in simulating wind speed across Zambia. Results indicate that wind speed is increasing at the rate of 0.006 m s− 1 per year. RCA4-GFDL-ESM2M, RCA4-HadGEM2-ES, RCA4-IPSL-CM5A-MR, and RCA4-CSIRO-MK3.6.0 were found to correctly simulate wind speed increase with varying magnitudes on the Sen’s estimator of slope. All the models sufficiently reproduce the annual cycle of wind speed with a steady increase being observed from April reaching its peak around August/September and beginning to drop in October. Apart from RegCM4-MPI-ESM and RegCM4-HadGEM2, the performance of RCMs in simulating spatial wind speed patterns is generally good although they overestimate it by ~ 1 m s− 1 in the western and southern provinces of the country. Model performance metrics indicate that with a correlation coefficient of 0.5, a root mean square error of 0.4 m s− 1, an RSR value of 7.7 and a bias of 19.9%, RCA4-GFDL-ESM2M outperforms all other models followed by RCA4-HadGEM2, and RCA4-CM5A-MR respectively. These results, therefore, suggest that studies that use an ensemble of RCA4-GFDL-ESM2M, RCA4-HadGEM2, and RCA4-CM5A-MR would yield useful results for informing future renewable wind energy potential in Zambia.
Additive manufacturing by digital light processing: a review
Authors: Chaudhary Rajat , Fabbri Paride , Leoni Enrico , Mazzanti Francesca , Akbari Raziyeh , Antonini Carlo
Published: August 2022

Additive manufacturing is a layer-by-layer strategy enabling the advanced design and fabrication of complex 3D objects and structures, overcoming geometry limitations and reducing waste production compared to conventional technologies. Among various additive manufacturing technologies, digital light processing (DLP), is an additive manufacturing technology used to print photopolymer parts, using a projected light source to cure an entire layer at once. Initially developed for pure resins, recent advances have demonstrated the potential of DLP in the polymerization of ceramic and metal-loaded suspensions, enabling the fabrication of ceramic and metal components after proper debinding and sintering. Such flexibility increases the potential of DLP for different applications, ranging from dental implants and bone scaffolds to smart biomaterials for soft robotics, smart wearables, and microfluidic devices. The review provides an overview of DLP technology and its recent advances; specifically, the review covers the photopolymer properties, the ceramic and metallic feedstock preparation, and the light-matter interaction mechanism underpinning the printing and post-processing steps. Finally, a description of the current application is provided and complemented with future perspectives.
Collaboration effectiveness-based complex operations allocation strategy towards to human–robot interaction
Authors: Zhang Fuqiang , Zhang Yanrui , Xu Shilin
Published: August 2022

Under the background of the fourth industrial revolution driven by the new generation information technology and artificial intelligence, human–robot collaboration has become an important part of smart manufacturing. The new “human–robot–environment” relationship conducts industrial robots to collaborate with workers to adapt to environmental changes harmoniously. How to determine a reasonable human–robot interaction operations allocation strategy is the primary problem, by comprehensively considering the workers’ flexibility and industrial robots’ automation. In this paper, a human–robot collaborative operation framework based on CNC (Computer Number Control) machine tool was proposed, which divided into three stages: pre-machining, machining and post-machining. Then, an action-based granularity decomposition method was used to construct the human–robot interaction hierarchical model. Further, a collaboration effectiveness-based operations allocation function was established through normalizing the time, cost, efficiency, accuracy and complexity of human–robot interaction. Finally, a simulated annealing algorithm was adopted to solve preferable collaboration scheme; a case was used to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. It is expected that this study can provide useful guidance for human–robot interaction operations allocation on CNC machine tools.
The impact of ESG on financial performance: a revisit with a regression discontinuity approach
Authors: Xu Ziwei , Hou Wenxuan , Main Brian G. M. , Ding Rong
Published: August 2022

This study revisits the question of “whether firms are doing well by doing good?”. We examine shareholders-sponsored corporate socially responsible (CSR) proposals related to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) that are voted to pass or fail by a small margin. The adoption of those “close call” proposals is regarded as equivalent to a random assignment of CSR policies and, therefore, provides a quasi-experimental setting to capture the causal influence of CSR on firm performance. We apply the regression discontinuity design (RDD) and find that CSR proposals’ passage leads to a significant positive abnormal return on the voting day. The results are robust with both parametric and nonparametric approaches of RDD and different polynomial orders. However, we fail to identify a significant change in financial performance in the long-term. One possible reason is that passing a CSR proposal could be symbolic, rather than substantial.
TranZap: A Transgender Resource for Identifying Gender-Affirming Providers
Authors: Chiang Taylor , Bachmann Gloria A.
Published: August 2022

Introduction

Many transgender individuals seeking healthcare have had at least one negative experience related to being transgender. As a result, transgender patients may forego seeking healthcare treatment atall, leading to adverse long-term health outcomes. With barriers to care and oftentimes suboptimal care provided to transgender individuals, TranZap, in collaboration with the PROUD Gender Center of NJ, was commenced.

Objectives

To provide a review on the current transgender resources to finding healthcare, and the impetus behind creating a transgender health app to streamline this process. The vision of this app, TranZap, is to empower transgender individuals who are seeking healthcare such that they are better educated and knowledgeable regarding available healthcare providers.

Methods

With no data available from usual sources, such as Google Scholar, social media, as well as input from the transgender community through social media and word of mouth was utilized to identify the current resources for transgender patients seeking healthcare. This online search was done to identify any type of transgender focused healthcare databases that were community driven.

Results

Four resources were identified: TransBucket, TransAtlas, TransHealthCare, and Erin's Informed Consent hormone replacement therapy map of the US. Noting that there are limited resources, an app that is community driven and provides information on all types of healthcare providers, not exclusively surgeons or endocrinologists, was developed.

Conclusion

Seeking gender-affirming healthcare providers is a strenuous task filled with uncertainty and few reliable resources. Resources that provide the input of transgender individuals on their experiences with healthcare providers is one step in addressing this issue. Resources, such as TranZap, must be developed to close the gaps in access to healthcare by providing a platform for transgender patients to share experiences about healthcare providers in the hopes that those using the app will be able to find a welcoming gender-affirming provider.
Vanishing Contract Law
Authors: Mitchell Catherine
Published: August 2022

English contract law provides the invisible framework that underpins and enables much contracting activity in society, yet the role of the law in policing many of our contracts now approaches vanishing point. The methods by which contracts come into existence, and notionally create binding obligations, have transformed over the past forty years. Consumers now enter into contracts through remote and automated processes on standard terms over which they have little control. This book explores the substantive weakening of the institution of contract law in a society heavily dependent on contracts. It considers significant areas of contracting activity that affect many people, but that escape serious and sustained legal scrutiny. An accessibly written and succinct account of contract law's past, present and future, it assesses the implications of a diminished contract law, and the possibilities, if any, for its revival.
Children and Climate Change
Authors: Sanson Ann V. , Malca Karina Padilla , Hoorn Judith Van , Burke Susie
Published: August 2022

The existential threat posed by climate change presents a challenge to all those concerned about the next generation. This Element reviews and discusses its implications for the development of children (ages 0-12) today and in the future, and for the parents, teachers, researchers, and professionals who have responsibility for children. This Element adopts a bioecological model to examine both the direct impacts on children's physical and psychological well-being as well as indirect impacts through all the systems external to the child, emphasizing the greater vulnerability of children in the Global South. Given evidence of well-founded climate anxiety, this Element examines children's coping strategies and discusses the key roles of caregivers and schools in protecting and preparing children to face current and future challenges – with knowledge, hope, and agency as central themes. This Element highlights many under-researched areas and calls for action by all those caring for and about children's future.
A Partially Auxetic Metamaterial Inspired by the Maltese Cross
Authors: Lim Teik-Cheng
Published: August 2022

A partially-auxetic metamaterial is introduced, inspired by the Maltese cross. Each unit of this metamaterial consists of a pair of counter-rotating equal-armed crosses, which is interconnected to neighboring units via hinge rods and connecting rods. Based on linkage theory, the on-axes Poisson's ratio was established considering a two-fold symmetrical mechanism, while the (anti)tetrachiral mechanisms were identified for on-axes uniaxial compression. A shearing mechanism is suggested for pure shearing and diagonal loading of the metamaterial with square array. Results suggest that the approximated infinitesimal models are valid for the Poisson's ratio of the two-fold symmetrical and the (anti)tetrachiral mechanisms under on-axis tension and compression, respectively; however, the finite model is recommended for quantifying the Poisson's ratio under pure shear and off-axis loading. This metamaterial manifests microstructural trinity, in which three different loading modes result in three different groups of deformation mechanisms. Finally, suggestions are put forth for some unsolved predictive problems.
The Humanisation of Global Politics
Authors: Gholiagha Sassan
Published: August 2022

This book observes a growing humanisation of global politics relating to the appearance of individual human beings in discourses of global politics. It identifies a mismatch concerning International Relations theory and International Law and the study of the humanisation of global politics. To overcome this mismatch, Sassan Gholiagha proposes a novel theoretical framework based on feminist and constructivist International Relations theory and non-statist theories of International Law scholarship. The book applies this interdisciplinary framework together with an interpretative analytical framework to three cases: the discourse on prosecution, studying international criminal law and the work of the International Criminal Court; the discourse on protection, focusing on the Responsibility to Protect; and the use of drones in targeted killing operations. Drawing on these case studies and the frameworks, the book identifies how individual human beings as participants in global politics position themselves and are positioned by others in these various discourses.
Mathematical Logic through Python
Authors: Gonczarowski Yannai A. , Nisan Noam
Published: August 2022

Using a unique pedagogical approach, this text introduces mathematical logic by guiding students in implementing the underlying logical concepts and mathematical proofs via Python programming. This approach, tailored to the unique intuitions and strengths of the ever-growing population of programming-savvy students, brings mathematical logic into the comfort zone of these students and provides clarity that can only be achieved by a deep hands-on understanding and the satisfaction of having created working code. While the approach is unique, the text follows the same set of topics typically covered in a one-semester undergraduate course, including propositional logic and first-order predicate logic, culminating in a proof of Gödel's completeness theorem. A sneak peek to Gödel's incompleteness theorem is also provided. The textbook is accompanied by an extensive collection of programming tasks, code skeletons, and unit tests. Familiarity with proofs and basic proficiency in Python is assumed.
Partial-dual polynomials and signed intersection graphs
Authors: Yan Qi , Jin Xian’an
Published: August 2022

Recently, Gross, Mansour and Tucker introduced the partial-dual polynomial of a ribbon graph as a generating function that enumerates all partial duals of the ribbon graph by Euler genus. It is analogous to the extensively studied polynomial in topological graph theory that enumerates by Euler genus all embeddings of a given graph. To investigate the partial-dual polynomial, one only needs to focus on bouquets: that is, ribbon graphs with exactly one vertex. In this paper, we shall further show that the partial-dual polynomial of a bouquet essentially depends on the signed intersection graph of the bouquet rather than on the bouquet itself. That is to say, two bouquets with the same signed intersection graph have the same partial-dual polynomial. We then give a characterisation of when a bouquet has a planar partial dual in terms of its signed intersection graph. Finally, we consider a conjecture posed by Gross, Mansour and Tucker that there is no orientable ribbon graph whose partial-dual polynomial has only one nonconstant term; this conjecture is false, and we give a characterisation of when all partial duals of a bouquet have the same Euler genus.
Particle saltation over rigid bumpy beds in viscous shearing flows
Authors: Valance Alexandre , Berzi Diego
Published: August 2022

We investigate the steady motion of solid particles through successive jumps over a horizontal, rigid, bumpy bed driven by the shearing of a viscous fluid in the absence of turbulence, lubrication forces and collisions above the bed. We employ a discrete element method for the particles coupled to a mean field continuum model for the fluid to run quasi-two-dimensional simulations that we compare with the predictions of a simple model which assumes that all the particles follow identical periodic trajectories determined by the intensity of the shearing and compatible with previously suggested laws relating the particle velocities before and after the impact with the bed. We solve the periodic model both numerically and analytically, and identify the solutions that are linearly stable to small perturbations. We show that the stable solutions of the periodic model are in qualitative and quantitative agreement with the discrete simulations, as long as the number of moving particles in the system is not too large. The discrete simulations further reveal that there are two distinct families of particle trajectories, and that the simple periodic model is actually a good representation of the more energetic particles, that spend most of their time in the upper flow layers where they can gain momentum from the flow.
Falling film on an anisotropic porous medium
Authors: Mukhopadhyay Sanghasri , Cellier Nicolas , R Usha , Chhay Marx , Ruyer-Quil Christian
Published: August 2022

The stability and dynamics of a falling liquid film over an anisotropic porous medium are studied using a one-domain approach. Our stability analysis shows a significant departure from the effective no-slip boundary condition in the isotropic case. Anisotropy does not affect the threshold of linear instability. However, a non-trivial dual effect of anisotropy on the film stability is observed depending on the permeability of the porous medium. This dual effect results from the net balance of the enhancement of viscous diffusion at the top Brinkman sublayer and the mitigation of viscous damping in the core Darcy sublayer. Three-equation models have been derived from the lubrication theory approximation in terms of the exact mass balance and averaged momentum balances in the porous and liquid layers. In the nonlinear regime, anisotropy has a dual effect by damping capillary waves at large permeabilities and enhancing them at low permeabilities. Anisotropy also affects wave speeds and shapes, modifies travelling-wave branches of solutions, affects the development of a time-periodic wavetrain by inlet forcing and alters the noise-driven dynamics of the flow. These effects result from the mitigation of mass exchange at the liquid–porous interface and the contribution of the cross-stream permeability in the Brinkman top sublayer to the viscous diffusion.
The transient spread of a circular liquid jet and hydraulic jump formation
Authors: Baayoun Abdelkader , Khayat Roger E. , Wang Yunpeng
Published: August 2022

The transient flow of a circular liquid jet impinging on a horizontal disk, and the hydraulic jump formation, are examined theoretically and numerically. The interplay between inertia and gravity is particularly emphasised. The flow is governed by the thin-film equations, which are solved along with a force balance across the jump. The unsteadiness of the flow is caused by a linearly accelerating jet from an initial to a final steady state. To validate the predicted boundary-layer flow evolution, an analytical development is conducted for small distance from impingement, and for small time. In addition, the predictions of the film profile and jump location are compared against numerical simulation for the transient flow, and are further validated against experiment for steady flow. The evolutions of the film thickness and the wall shear stress in the developing boundary-layer region are found to be similar to those reported for a fluid lying on a stretching surface. The flow responds to the jet acceleration quasi-steadily near impingement but exhibits a long-term transient behaviour near the jump. Analysis of the jump evolution is considered in the range 5 < Fr < 40 for the Froude number (based on the jet radius and velocity). For Fr < 10, the jump reaches the final state instantly when the jet acceleration ceases. At higher Froude number, the jump settles at a later time, exhibiting an overshoot in the thickness due to the dominance of inertia.
Evolution of water wave groups with wind action
Authors: Maleewong Montri , Grimshaw Roger
Published: August 2022

A modified fully nonlinear model of an air–water system in deep water is presented in which the effect of wind in the air is simply represented by a direct link between the air–water interface pressure and the interface slope. The water system is a fully nonlinear Euler model of incompressible and irrotational fluid flow. Our main aim is to establish and compare with a reduced model represented by a forced nonlinear Schrödinger (FNLS) equation that describes wave groups in a weakly nonlinear asymptotic limit. Wave groups are described by the soliton and breather solutions generated by four cases of initial conditions in the relevant parameter regime. Numerical simulations of wave group formation in both models are compared, both with and without wind forcing. The FNLS model gives a good prediction to the modified fully nonlinear model when the wavenumber and wave frequency of the initial carrier waves are close to unity in dimensionless units based on typical carrier wavenumber and wave frequency. Wind forcing induces an exponential growth rate in the maximum amplitude wave. When the wave steepness becomes high in the fully nonlinear model some wave breaking is observed, but the FNLS model continues to predict large waves without breaking and there is then agreement only in the initial stage for the relevant initial conditions and parameter value ranges.
Rationalizing Democracy: The Perceptual Bias and (Un)Democratic Behavior
Authors: KRISHNARAJAN SUTHAN
Published: August 2022

Democracy often confronts citizens with a dilemma: stand firm on democracy while losing out on policy or accept undemocratic behavior and gain politically. Existing literature demonstrates that citizens generally choose the latter—and that they do so deliberately. Yet there is an alternative possibility. Citizens can avoid this uncomfortable dilemma altogether by rationalizing their understandings of democracy. When a politician advances undesired policies without violating democratic rules and norms, people find ways to perceive the behavior as undemocratic. When a politician acts undemocratically to promote desired policies, citizens muster up arguments for considering it democratic. Original survey experiments in the United States, and 22 democracies worldwide, provide strong support for this argument. It is thus not deliberate acceptance, but a fundamentally different perceptual logic that drives the widespread approval of undemocratic behavior in today’s democracies.