bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of traditional and slotted winglets for enhanced aerodynamic efficiency
Authors: Babu Dhanya Prakash R. , Madhesh D. , Hasan Inamul , Mukesh R.
Published: February 2025

Minimizing drag is a critical focus in aviation, significantly influencing energy efficiency and performance. Lift-induced drag accounts for approximately 40% of total drag during cruise flight and 80%–90% during takeoff phase. Enhancing the coefficient of lift-to-drag ratio which is also termed as aerodynamic efficiency is a proven approach to reducing energy consumption in aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. Wingtip devices, such as winglets, offer a practical solution by mitigating induced drag generated by wingtip vortices. This study investigates the aerodynamic performance of three configurations: a plain wing, a wing with a traditional winglet, and a wing with a slotted winglet. The analysis was conducted using computational fluid dynamics software at angles of attack ranging from −4° to 12°, with velocities of 20 and 270 m/s, corresponding to Reynolds numbers of 2.5 × 106 and 3.3 × 107, respectively. Results demonstrated that the traditional winglet achieved a 4% average improvement in aerodynamic efficiency, while the slotted winglet exhibited a 3.16% enhancement over the plain wing. Energy consumption was reduced by 4% and 3.16% with traditional and slotted winglets, respectively. These findings validate the effectiveness of winglets in improving aerodynamic efficiency and provide insight for optimizing wingtip device design.
Low resistivity achieved through enhanced sintering activity in silver paste with submicron particles created through nanoparticle self-assembly
Authors: Zhang Chenhe , Huang Zhe , Li Panzhen , Yang Jin , Tang Siwei , Ma Yunzhu , Liu Wensheng
Published: February 2025

Silver powder’s size and dispersion affect the performance of conductive silver paste. Micron-sized silver powder has good dispersibility but poor sintering activity at low temperatures. In contrast, silver nano-powder sinters at low temperatures but tends to agglomerate. To address the aforementioned issues, this paper employs a chemical reduction method to prepare high-sintering-activity submicron spherical silver powder with a large number of nanoscale bumps on its surface. The study investigates the effects of various factors on the surface morphology and particle size distribution of the silver powder, including the amount of citric acid added, the speed of the reducing agent’s addition, the pH value, and the temperature of the reaction solutions. In addition, silver pastes with varying silver powder contents (60, 70, 80, and 85 wt. %) were prepared to test their resistivity. The results indicate that the lowest resistivity of 8.9 × 10−6 Ω cm was achieved when the silver powder content was 85 wt. % and the conductive silver paste was sintered at 250 °C for 30 min. Furthermore, the prepared conductive silver pastes maintained good resistivity even when sintered at low temperatures.
Three-dimensional geomechanics experimental investigation on potential impulse waves generated by Wangjiashan landslide in Baihetan Reservoir, China
Authors: Xu Weiya , Lei Jie , Tian Lei , Mao Pengchao , Lyu Changhao
Published: February 2025

Landslides and the associated secondary disasters in reservoir areas are typically abrupt and catastrophic in nature. To address this challenge, prototype physical model experiments have been demonstrated to be effective tools for simulating these geological disasters. Following the impoundment of the Baihetan Hydroelectric Reservoir on the Jinsha River, the deformation and damage to the Wangjiashan (WJS) landslide intensified significantly. The Xiangbiling (XBL) residential area, along with the surrounding villages on the opposite bank, faces a significant risk of surge waves. This study, based on the WJS landslide, constructed a large-scale three-dimensional physical model (at a 1:150 scale) that integrates landslide, river, and residential area interactions. The model dimensions are 65 × 40 × 3 m3. Physical model experiments on landslide-generated surge waves were conducted under the conditions of an 825 m water level and seismic activity to explore the temporal and spatial evolution of the entire life cycle of the surge waves from the WJS landslide. Experimental results indicate that the XBL residential area was completely submerged under the wave impact. To mitigate the risk of surge wave disasters, the study proposed controlling surge wave size as an indicator for assessing landslide surge wave risk prevention and control. Through slope reduction and load-reduction engineering measures, the threat in the 4.5 km stretch of the reservoir's upstream and downstream channels was eliminated. The findings provide crucial experimental data and theoretical support for understanding the physical mechanisms underlying landslide-generated surge waves, as well as for early warning and disaster prevention.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s appraisal of continence information brochures
Authors: Lakhan Prabha , Soe Kalisha , Burgin Audrey , Fonda Annie , Hayman Noel
Published: February 2025

Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of seven brochures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with urinary incontinence (UI). Method Twenty-three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, aged between 40 and 76 years, experiencing UI and attending an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary healthcare service, participated in semi-structured digitally recorded interviews. They appraised seven brochures, developed by the Continence Foundation of Australia, for use by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Participants were provided with one brochure at a time to read and comment on its usefulness; presentation including appropriateness of the artwork, colours, structure and design; any improvements; and whether the brochures should be provided to all women with UI. A thematic analysis of the interview contents was conducted by two researchers. Results The interviews identified four main themes including usefulness of the information presented in the brochures; readability and comprehensibility of the information; suggestions for refining the brochures; and usefulness of brochures to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. All women found the information in all the brochures useful, easy to read and understand, and recommended that they should be provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with risk factors for developing, or those with UI. A few suggestions to refine the brochures were identified. Conclusions This study has provided evidence that the brochures are a valuable resource for raising awareness about UI among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women attending urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary healthcare settings.
Fistula formation after usage of pessary for pelvic organ prolapse: a case series
Authors: Kyaw Hnin Yee , Krause Hannah G. , Goh Judith T. W.
Published: February 2025

A case series of five women with genital tract fistula formation as a complication of vaginal pessary use for pelvic organ prolapse is presented, along with treatment provided and patient outcomes. Review on this topic reveals specific pessary types more commonly associated with severe complications. Recommendations to reduce such complications include careful patient selection, regular follow-up with physical examination, vigilance to enable early recognition of such complications and offering alternative treatment options. Surgical repair of genital tract fistula with concurrent prolapse surgery is feasible and effective.
A holistic evaluation of sexual health disease investigation: case study of the 2022 Mpox outbreak in Santa Clara County, California
Authors: Agroia Harit , Mousli Leyla , Nangia Disha
Published: February 2025

Background Despite its integral role in preventing and controlling infectious diseases, there is limited research that evaluates the impact of disease investigation (DI) services. The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department activated its emergency response operations, which included designated DI services, to respond to its local Mpox outbreak. The aim of this evaluation was to understand the range of outcomes achieved through Mpox DI services. Methods Mpox investigations completed between June and December 2022 were included in an evaluation that employed a composite measure to calculate the number of investigations needed to achieve the following outcomes: (1) treatment completion, (2) monitoring completion, (3) partial vaccine dose completion, (4) full vaccination series completion, and (5) STI and HIV testing. Results The overall composite score of 0.53 indicated that each investigation led to 1.90 outcomes achieved. Among cases eligible for treatment, 2.16 investigations yielded one treatment completion; 1.19 case and contact investigations yielded one monitoring completion; 2.21 and 3.53 contact investigations yielded one partial vaccine dose completion and one full vaccination series completion, respectively; and 2.25 case and contact investigations yielded one STI or HIV test. Conclusion Recognizing the multiple steps involved in DI can inform holistic evaluations that illuminate intervention impact.
Adoption of improved crop varieties limited biodiversity losses, terrestrial carbon emissions, and cropland expansion in the tropics
Authors: Baldos Uris Lantz C. , Cisneros-Pineda Alfredo , Fuglie Keith O. , Hertel Thomas W.
Published: February 2025

Research investments in crop improvements, including by national and international agricultural research centers, have made significant contributions to raising yields of staple food crops in developing countries. Although mostly intended to improve food security and rural incomes, innovations in crop production also have major implications for the environment. Building on the latest productivity estimates from historical crop improvements in developing countries and using a gridded (0.25 degrees) equilibrium model of global agriculture, we assess the impacts of improved crop varieties on cropland use, threatened biodiversity, and terrestrial carbon stocks over 1961–2015. We replicate a historical baseline and produce a counterfactual scenario which shows the impact of omitting productivity improvements from these technologies. The results show that higher crop productivity generally lowered commodity prices, which reduced incentives to expand cropland except in those areas where productivity gains outweighed price declines. The net global effect of technology adoption was to limit conversion of natural habitat to agricultural use, although it did cause cropland to expand in some areas. We estimate that adoption of improved crop varieties in developing countries saved on net 16.03 [95% CI, 12.33 to 20.89] million hectares worldwide. With more natural habitat preserved, around 1,043 [95% CI, 616 to 1,503] threatened animal and plant species extinctions were avoided over this period. In addition, net land use savings from the improved crop varieties resulted in avoided terrestrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of around 5.35 [95% CI, 3.75 to 7.22] billion metric tons CO
2
equivalent retained in terrestrial carbon stocks.
Cataract-prone variants of γD-crystallin populate a conformation with a partially unfolded N-terminal domain under native conditions
Authors: Volz Sara , Malone Jadyn R. , Guseman Alex J. , Gronenborn Angela M. , Marqusee Susan
Published: February 2025

Human γD-crystallin, a monomeric protein abundant in the eye lens nucleus, must remain stably folded for an individual’s entire lifetime to avoid aggregation and protein deposition-associated cataract formation. γD-crystallin contains two homologous domains, an N-terminal domain (NTD) and a C-terminal domain (CTD), which interact via a hydrophobic interface. Several familial mutations in the gamma crystallin gene are linked to congenital early-onset cataract, most of which affect the NTD. Some of these, including V75D and W42R, are known to populate intermediates under partially denaturing conditions possessing a natively folded CTD and a completely unfolded NTD. We employed hydrogen–deuterium exchange mass spectrometry to probe the structural and energetic features of variants of γD-crystallin under both native and partially denaturing conditions. For V75D and W42R, we identify a species under native conditions that retains partial structure in the NTD and is structurally and energetically distinct from the intermediate populated under partially denaturing conditions. Residues at the NTD–CTD interface play crucial roles in stabilizing this intermediate, and disruption of interface contacts either by amino acid substitution or partial denaturation permits direct observation of two intermediates simultaneously. These data suggest that the intermediate identified under native conditions is accessed from the native state and not on the folding pathway. The intermediate we have identified here exposes hydrophobic amino acids that are buried in both the folded full-length protein and in the protein’s stable isolated domains. Such nonnative exposure of a hydrophobic patch may play an important role in cataract formation.
The unique reactivity of EKODE lipid peroxidation products allows in vivo detection of inflammation
Authors: Shi Chuan , Eskandari Roozbeh , Zhang Jianye , Zhang Guofang , Li Li , Hawkins Deandrea , Zhu Xiongwei , Tochtrop Gregory P.
Published: February 2025

Lipid peroxidation is a complex biochemical process associated with oxidative stress, and its products play crucial roles in cellular signaling and the pathophysiology of many diseases. Among the diverse array of lipid peroxidation (LPO) products, epoxyketooctadecenoic acids (EKODEs) have emerged as intriguing molecules with potential impacts on inflammatory diseases. EKODEs arise from linoleic acid reacting with reactive oxygen and nitrogen species present during inflammation. A hallmark of many LPO products is an electrophilic chemical functionality that can react with different biological nucleophiles to form adducts that impact a broad swath of physiologic processes. Here, we present the identification of reactivity patterns exhibited by the EKODE class of LPO products that arise due to the unique chemistry of the EKODE electrophiles, namely α, β-unsaturated epoxyketones of variable regiochemistry. Our initial investigations with models of the EKODE reactive core showed that surrogates of lysine did not react, and histidine nucleophiles formed reversible Michael adducts. However, when models of cysteine nucleophiles were tested, a unique reactivity profile emerged where rapid Michael addition was followed by slow rearrangement and epoxide opening at an unpredicted electrophilic site, affording what we postulated to be an advanced lipoxidation end product (ALE). After confirming the EKODE reactivity in model systems, we produced polyclonal antibodies of a stable epitope of the EKODE-based ALE and used these antibodies to investigate an approach for in vivo monitoring of inflammatory disease progression.
Estimating the legibility of international borders
Authors: Kenwick Michael , Lim Junghyun , Crane Skyler , Wehrwein Scott , Simmons Beth A.
Published: February 2025

Researchers in the social sciences are interested in the consequences of institutions, increasingly on a global scale. Institutions that may be negotiated between states can have consequences at a microlevel, as local populations adjust their expectations and ultimately even their behavior to take institutional rules into account. However, large-scale fine-grained analyses that test for the complex evidence of such institutions locally are rare. This article focuses on a key institution: International borders. Using computer vision techniques, we show that it is possible to produce a geographically specific, validated, and replicable way to characterize
border legibility
, by which we mean the ability to visually detect the presence of an international border in physical space. We develop and compare computer vision techniques to automatically estimate legibility scores for 627,656 imagery tiles from virtually every border in the world. We evaluate statistical and data-driven computer vision methods, finding that fine-tuning pretrained visual recognition models on a small set of human judgments allows us to produce local legibility scores globally that align well with human notions of legibility. Finally, we interpret these scores as useful approximations of states’ border orientations, a concept that prior literature has used to capture the visible investments states make in border areas to maintain jurisdictional authority territorially. We validate our measurement strategy using both human judgments and five nomological validation indicators.
Quantifying the impact of air pollution from coal-fired electricity generation on crop productivity in India
Authors: Singh Kirat , Lobell David B. , Azevedo Inês M. L.
Published: February 2025

Air pollution from coal electricity generation is a major driver of poor air quality in India and its effects on human health have been extensively studied. Despite considerable evidence that the same pollution also reduces crop productivity, we lack similar quantitative assessments of coal electricity’s crop damages. Here, we estimate rice and wheat crop losses from coal generation’s nitrogen dioxide (NO
2
) emissions using a regression model that combines station-level electricity generation and wind direction, satellite-measured NO
2
, and its association with crop productivity. Coal emissions impact yields up to 100 km away from power stations. In parts of West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh heavily exposed to coal-linked NO
2
, annual yield losses exceed 10%, equivalent to approximately 6 y worth of average annual yield growth in both rice and wheat in India between 2011 and 2020. While station-specific crop damages (value of lost output) are almost always lower than mortality damages (monetized value of annual premature PM
2.5
-related deaths), crop damage intensity (crop damage per GWh of electricity generated) is frequently higher than mortality damage intensity (mortality damage/GWh). Rice damage intensity exceeds mortality damage intensity at 58, and wheat damage intensity at 35 of the 144 power stations studied. The stations associated with the largest crop losses differ from those associated with the highest mortality. Co-optimizing for crop gains and mortality reduction slightly increases and meaningfully changes the distribution of social benefits from reducing emissions, highlighting the importance of considering crop losses alongside health impacts when regulating coal electricity emissions in India.
Analysis of student interpreters’ self-assessment from the perspective of self-regulated
learning
Authors: Woo Kyongjo
Published: February 2025

This study aims to examine the significance of self-assessment in interpreter training from the perspective of
self-regulated learning. To this end, this study first explores the three cyclical stages of self-regulated learning as
conceptualized by Zimmerman, while also examining the significance of self-evaluation in interpreter training. Based on this
theoretical framework, the study analyzes self-evaluations from both high-performing and low-performing students at a graduate
school of translation and interpretation. The findings of the study reveal three key points: first, the effective use of
self-assessment enhances learning effectiveness in interpreter training; second, significant differences exist between
high-performing and low-performing students in their self-assessment practices; third, these differences highlight the need for
incorporating self-assessment into interpreter training programs. Finally, the study suggests that enhancing self-regulated
learning capabilities by actively incorporating self-evaluation into interpreter training can improve educational outcomes in
interpreter training, leveraging the cyclical and positive impact of self-regulated learning processes.
Hydrogen induced phase transition and emergent properties in SrFeOx
Authors: Zhu Ming-Tong , Wang Lu , Gao Lei , Liu Jin , Lyu Xiang-Yu , Wang Yu-Qian , Lu Chao , Li Meng-Cheng , Liu Peng-Yu , Song Jia-Yi , Tao Hua-Yu , Zhao Ben-Bo , Ji Ai-Ling , Cao Ze-Xian , Lu Nian-Peng
Published: February 2025

Ionic modulation, in particular that by hydrogen intercalation, has become a powerful method to tune the material’s properties in recent years. Though the SrFeOx system is akin to SrCoOx that can be protonated to the HSrCoO2.5 phase, it remains a challenge for the hydrogenation of SrFeO2.5. In this work, starting from the perovskite SrFeO3-δ, we achieved the hydrogen intercalation and obtained a stable hydrogenated brownmillerite phase HSrFeO2.5 via Pt-catalyzed H-spillover at room temperature. The results indicate that the hydrogenation process is accompanied by the simultaneous oxygen ionic release, i.e., the perovskite SrFeO3-δ is the prerequisite of the hydrogen-induced phase transition. Then, by realization of the hydrogenation, the complete phase transition cycle among the perovskite SrFeO3-δ, brownmillerite SrFeO2.5 and the hydrogenated HSrFeO2.5 phase, are finished. Upon hydrogenation, SrFeO3-δ exhibits a remarkable 9.4% lattice expansion, and its electronic state undergoes a multi-step evolution, transforming from pristine helical antiferromagnetic insulator to a bad metal, and eventually returning to an antiferromagnetic insulator. Moreover, based on the obtained results we also successfully fabricated the microscale patterns with varied surface morphology and electric conductivity that can be used to construct electronic devices. This work provides a different pathway to modulate the properties of correlated and functional materials.
Standardization of high-energy laser impact tests with respect to temperature, reflection and perforation time
Authors: Wolfrum J , Schmitt R , Neuland M , Backfisch S , Speiser J , Weiss B , Kossenjans S , Reich S
Published: February 2025

High-energy laser impact tests on identical materials and irradiation parameters often show deviating results between different testing institutes. This particularly affects the specular component of the reflection and the temperatures. Even the supposedly easy-to-determine perforation time sometimes shows large variations between different test institutes. For a reliable and reproducible determination of test results, a standardization of the experimental setups is necessary. Test results using two different reference materials are presented. These tests demonstrate that standardizing experimental setups and evaluation methods significantly reduces the deviations of the experimental results. The presented multi-institutional approach aims at gaining data of laser reflection, temperature, and perforation time of laser impacted samples, and at developing an optimized experimental setup based on different existing laboratory equipment and experimental approaches.
Bimetallic AuPd alloy nanoparticles on TiO₂ nanotube arrays: a highly efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen generation
Authors: Rajashekhar Harshitha , Vrushabendrakumar Damini , Rana Md Masud , Alam Kazi Mohammad , Raman Reitesh KV , Li Charlin Xinhong , Chaulagain Narendra , Shankar Karthik
Published: February 2025

Decoration of TiO2 nanotube (TNT) arrays by AuPd nanoparticles (NPs) produces a dramatic enhancement in the rate of hydrogen generation through photocatalytic water-splitting under solar illumination. XRD and TEM confirmed alloy formation in bimetallic AuPd NPs while XPS ruled out a core-shell architecture in the AuPd NPs. Well-dispersed, size-controlled AuPd NPs were formed by sequential physical vapor deposition of Au and Pd on TNTs followed by spontaneous thermal dewetting (TNT-AuPd). TNT-AuPd samples were characterized by small tensile microstrains. For comparison purposes and to derive physical insights, an identical method was used to form TNT-Au and TNT-Pd samples wherein TNTs were decorated by monometallic Au and Pd NPs respectively. In every case, an accumulation-type heterointerface between TiO2 and the metallic/bimetallic NPs was indicated by binding energy shifts in the Ti2p high resolution x-ray photoelectron spectra (HR-XPS). Initial and final state effects in the Au4f HR-XPS pointed to a large number of Au atoms in low coordinate sites such as edges, kinks and corners as well as a slower excited atom relaxation in the alloy. A similar preponderance of Pd atoms at low coordinate sites was found along with the presence of a small amount of palladium oxide. TNT-AuPd demonstrated the highest photocatalytic H₂ production rate of 2920 µmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, which is 8.9 times higher than that of TNTs, 2.1 times that of TNT-Au, and 1.69 times that of TNT-Pd under solar illumination. We studied H₂ generation under UV-filtered solar illumination with TNT-AuPd outperforming monometallic Au- and Pd-NP decorated TNTs, which is attributed to the enhancement of the catalytic activity of Pd in an Au environment, the presence of Pd and Au atoms at low coordinate sites, and photoinduced electron transfer between TNTs and AuPd alloy NPs, where AuPd acts as an efficient electron sink, in turn reducing carrier recombination losses.
De Revolutionibus in the year 2024
Authors: Kamiński P
Published: February 2025

This article contains a short review of the influence of the Copernican revolution on the development of physics and cosmology.
MLAR-UNet: LDCT image denoising based on U-Net with multiple lightweight attention-based modules and residual reinforcement
Authors: Tang Hao , Que Ningfeng , Tian Yanwen , Li Mingzhe , Perelli Alessandro , Teng Yueyang
Published: February 2025

Objective. Computed tomography (CT) is a crucial medical imaging technique which uses x-ray radiation to identify cancer tissues. Since radiation poses a significant health risk, low dose acquisition procedures need to be adopted. However, low-dose CT (LDCT) can cause higher noise and artifacts which massively degrade the diagnosis. Approach. To denoise LDCT images more effectively, this paper proposes a deep learning method based on U-Net with multiple lightweight attention-based modules and residual reinforcement (MLAR-UNet). We integrate a U-Net architecture with several advanced modules, including Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM), Cross Residual Module (CR), Attention Cross Reinforcement Module (ACRM), and Convolution and Transformer Cross Attention Module (CTCAM). Among these modules, CBAM applies channel and spatial attention mechanisms to enhance local feature representation. However, serious detail loss caused by incorrect embedding of CBAM for LDCT denoising is verified in this study. To relieve this, we introduce CR to reduce information loss in deeper layers, preserving features more effectively. To address the excessive local attention of CBAM, we design ACRM, which incorporates Transformer to adjust the attention weights. Furthermore, we design CTCAM, which leverages a complex combination of Transformer and convolution to capture multi-scale information and compute more accurate attention weights. Results. Experiments verify the embedding rationality and validity of each module and show that the proposed MLAR-UNet denoises LDCT images more effectively and preserves more details than many state-of-the-art methods on clinical chest and abdominal CT datasets. Significance. The proposed MLAR-UNet not only demonstrates superior LDCT image denoising capability but also highlights the strong detail comprehension and negligible overheads of our designed ACRM and CTCAM. These findings provide a novel approach to integrating Transformer more efficiently in image processing.
The chemical ordering and local atomic pressures in icosahedral AuNAl(N-42)Ni13 nanoalloys
Authors: Eryürek Meral , Garip Ali Kemal
Published: February 2025

The lowest energy chemical ordering configurations of 55 atom trimetallic Au
N
Al(N−42)Ni13 nanoalloys with Mackay icosahedron geometry were obtained through local relaxations performed using the Monte Carlo Basin-Hopping algorithm with the Gupta potential. This study explores how the chemical arrangement within an icosahedral structure influences the stability and mechanical properties of nanoalloys. In lowest energy structures, Ni atoms consistently occupy the icosahedral core, while Au and Al atoms stay on the surface, enhancing structural stability. Variations in mixing energy were evaluated to compare the relative stability of different compositions, with Au17Al25Ni13 identified as having the lowest mixing energy at the Gupta level. Furthermore, the icosahedral core, composed entirely of Ni atoms, experiences strong compressive stresses, while surface atoms are subjected to different pressures depending on the atom type and occupation site. Specifically, Au atoms located on the surface experience both tensile and compressive stresses, whereas Al atoms undergo lowest tensile stresses.
Diagnosing fertilizer levels in spinach and detecting pesticides in cauliflower using an electronic nose augmented with machine learning
Authors: Robert Kwehayo , Sharma Chayanika , Sarma Utpal
Published: February 2025

The increasing use of pesticides and fertilizers in agricultural practices poses substantial consumer risks. This study explores the utilization of an E-Nose (electronic nose) system augmented with machine learning (ML) to identify fertilizers and pesticides in plants. E-Nose technology effectively analyzes the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plants at different conditions. The principle behind E-Nose technology involves using a gas sensor array to record and monitor VOC emissions from plant samples. These emissions are then analyzed using ML models to identify patterns related to pesticide and fertilizer treatments. One significant advantage of this technology is its capability to detect chemical residues without direct contact with the plants, making it a safer and more efficient alternative to traditional chemical analysis. The scope of application of E-nose technology extends to various agricultural monitoring requirements, particularly in identifying the fertilizer and pesticide applications in plants. In this study, the spinach plants were classified into three categories-organic, lightly fertilized, and heavily fertilized. Similarly, the cauliflower plants were exposed to different concentrations of a pesticide mixture containing 40% profenofos and 4% cypermethrin. VOC readings were taken after specific growth periods to capture the effects of these treatments. The generated data was classified using ML models, SVM (Support Vector Machine) and random forest, achieving accuracies of 90.9% for pesticide classification and 99.5% in distinguishing plants treated with fertilizers of different concentrations. The E-Nose technology offers a rapid and cost-effective solution for real-time agricultural monitoring.
EVCS demand management using multi-objective power flow analysis with renewable distributed generators
Authors: Gandotra Rupika , Pal Kirti
Published: February 2025

Smart grids have made considerable strides in the optimal integration of electrical units such as distributed generation units and electric vehicle charging station. The conventional grid system has been successfully revolutionized by this advancement, which has great promise for cost savings and independent energy source management. This study obtains techno-economic benefits by minimizing the total economic losses of the system while reducing power losses, optimizing DG capacity and location and also reducing the fuel costs of thermal power plants. For this purpose, two multi-objective Grey Wolf Optimizer (MOGWO) and multi-Objective Differential Evolution (MODE) techniques have been merged with NR power flow analysis and pareto optimal solutions are also presented. This paper includes two scenarios: the base case under normal conditions and with EVCS where the load is increased by 1.1 times the base load. The results demonstrate that the MOGWO approach outperforms the MODE method, yielding more favourable outcomes in both scenarios. Notably, the MOGWO method results in smaller DG sizes compared to MODE in both normal and EVCS loading conditions. Transmission losses are reduced by 68.12% under normal conditions and by 72.7% under EVCS loading conditions with the MOGWO approach. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been evaluated using MATLAB software on the standard IEEE 57-bus system. Additionally, the base case results have been compared with other algorithms, including SCA, DA, NSGA-II, and MOCS, to validate the performance of the proposed MOGWO approach.
The Tropics in Sight
Authors: Ribi Forclaz Amalia
Published: February 2025

Chapter 7 explores how in the late 1940s the Eurocentric understanding of agricultural labour finally shifted to encompass the problems arising in so-called tropical regions, particularly in South Asia. In the late 1940s, in the wake of Indian independence, Asian countries asked the ILO to consider the problem of plantation labour in the ‘tropics’ both in newly independent and colonial territories. The ILO’s agricultural work took a new turn with the creation of a Plantation Committee set up in the 1948. The ensuing debates among experts reconnected to issues such as the problem of unskilled and low-waged labour, the question of productivity, the unsatisfactory feeding and housing provisions, and the lack of a weekly rest day that had already been discussed in the early 1920s. They also tackled some long existing problems that had plagued plantation management such as the issue of exploited migrant agricultural labour, especially the forced recruitment and unfair engagement conditions of so-called contract labourers, resulting in an international convention.
“Synthetic brevity”
Authors: Merjian Ara H
Published: February 2025

This chapter provides an overview of Italian Futurism. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s Futurist movement championed the notion of synthetic brevity. Notwithstanding Marinetti’s cultural origins in nineteenth-century literature, art, and thought, he aimed to defy the authority of origins altogether. For all its professed contempt for the past, Futurism left a more enduring mark than perhaps any other avant-garde of the twentieth century, more particularly in its creative disdain for immortalization. Futurism wished to abolish cultural patrimony. How, then, do we approach the movement now that it forms part of European aesthetic and historical patrimony itself? The chapter explains that the Futurist rhetoric of youth and virility lent enormous impetus to Benito Mussolini’s Fascist revolution. It also notes how Futurism’s adherents swelled in number between the World Wars.
Futurisms, plural
Authors: Merjian Ara H
Published: February 2025

This chapter addresses Futurism’s influence on a range of international avant-gardes, from Dada to the Bauhaus. It notes how Futurist artists had adapted visual strategies from the Cubists by assimilating angular faceting, and how in turn the influence of Futurism was reflected in Russian typographic variations and confrontational performances with the aim of shaking up the conformity of bourgeois culture. The chapter describes how the movement’s nominative singularity belied various internal divisions, particularly with Florentine Futurism. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and his followers had set no geographic limits to the expansion of World Futurism, so they considered its propagation merely to confirm a fundamentally Italian genius. The chapter argues that Futurism shifted modernist activity away from the unrivaled primacy of Paris.
Introduction
Authors: Robeyns Ingrid
Published: February 2025

This introductory chapter describes the increasing call to pluralize political philosophy. This call is especially clear with respect to taking more seriously Global South philosophies and other non-Western philosophies. Yet the chapter makes the case for simultaneously examining the marginalization of some traditions within Western liberal political philosophy (such as care ethics, feminist political philosophy, and disability ethics), together with non-Western political philosophies. Since the volume focusses in particular on economic and ecological inequalities, the chapter also includes some empirical background on inequalities and discusses how the dominant analysis of these inequalities in liberal egalitarianism can fruitfully be complemented by many other approaches. The chapter concludes by listing the different type of assumptions that a political philosophy can entail.
Making and Remaking the Canon
Authors: Wolff Jonathan
Published: February 2025

This chapter explores what binds together ‘the canon’ in broadly analytic political philosophy, understood as the tradition of mostly book-length works from the Ancient Greeks to the present day that are considered worthy of sustained scholarly attention. The chapter’s suggestion is that the great majority of works in this tradition meet a certain internal standard of excellence of both responding to the political situation of their day and transcending that context by providing insights or other material that can be used in other contexts. The chapter distinguishes twelve ways in which such supersession can take place and suggests that understanding the general underlying motivation for including works in the canon will allow scholars to diversify the canon and include previously neglected thinkers and works, while nevertheless developing the canon in a way that maintains its integrity.
Ecofeminism and the Hope for Comprehensive Change
Authors: de Shalit Avner
Published: February 2025

Ecofeminism is an umbrella term that refers to political theory, political ideology, and a political movement. Because it creatively combines various perspectives—environmental, species justice, feminist, anti-racist and anti-chauvinist ones—its contribution to environmental philosophy and political philosophy is priceless. The contribution is dual: it allows a critical review of our society, economics, and politics and is an original prescription for how to heal our society and the world at large. This chapter argues that, when it comes to solutions, there are two schools of thought in ecofeminism, one which suggests that we need to rely on women and their attitudes to the environment and one which looks for inspiration from feminist ideas and ideals, regardless of who (in terms of gender) believes in them. The chapter examines these two suggestions empirically and finds that the empirical research gives more robust support to the latter and rather weak support to the former.
Grounding Distributive Justice on an Ideal Family
Authors: Metz Thaddeus
Published: February 2025

One idea salient in the African and East Asian philosophical traditions is that the right sort of socio-political interaction would be similar to the intuitive ways that family members ought to relate to each other. Applying this perspective to economic and ecological inequalities, this chapter articulates some principles implicit in healthy familial relationships, shows what they entail for certain aspects of distributive justice at the national level, and contends that the implications are plausible relative to competing theories such as utilitarianism, Rawlsianism, and the Capabilities Approach. It concludes that reflection on familial norms indicates that certain goods of relationship and of life should be central to what the state distributes and that it should distribute them in a ‘balanced’ manner.
Diversities within Diversities
Authors: Tan Sor-hoon
Published: February 2025

This chapter adds to the perspectives from Chinese philosophical traditions on the issues of ecological and economic inequalities by drawing attention to recent works on Daoism offering views on ecological problems that differ from Chapter 6 of this volume. It also highlights a common theme that is found in several chapters in this volume: the importance of relationship. Starting from Confucian relational ethics, it offers a different perspective from Bai and others who defend Confucian hierarchy by questioning the opposition between egalitarianism and hierarchy. It argues that Confucianism strongly objects to certain kinds of inequalities, which would put it in sympathy with the arguments offered in this volume against the ecological and economic inequalities of contemporary neo-liberal global capitalism.
Addressing Pluralism
Authors: Pérez-Muñoz Cristian
Published: February 2025

How can Latin American political theorists actively participate in the call for pluralizing the discipline? This chapter argues that efforts to pluralize political theory have different implications for scholars in the periphery and scholars in more central institutions. These implications can be seen in terms of teaching, research, and service. Using the case of Latin America, this chapter briefly explains some of the challenges and opportunities that political theorists of the region may face when participating in the call for pluralism.
Discursive Parameters in Sacred Songs (1600–1650)
Authors: Gordon Catherine E
Published: February 2025

Chapter 2 first establishes the history of sacred songs in the vernacular and describes exemplary collections of sacred songs and their significance in formulating criteria for analysis applied to publications after 1650. An analysis of the sacred songs themselves as well as the collections’ introductions reveals why music was used to reach out to lay women. While early seventeenth-century collections focused on using music to combat the spread of Protestantism, later publications targeted the libertine influences of secular songs. The chapter also focuses on the establishment over time of several other trends: (1) the shift in social horizon toward women; (2) the shift in function from educational to devotional and recreational; (3) the shift away from the provinces to Paris and polite society, particularly those associated with the royal court; and (4) the shift away from multi-voice settings to solo songs.
The Dictators’ Club
Authors: Debre Maria J
Published: February 2025

This chapter develops the central theoretical argument based on a rational institutionalist account of international cooperation of authoritarian regimes. It argues that autocratic regimes will commit to institutionalized forms of cooperation to enhance their joint preference of regime survival through membership in dictator clubs. The chapter further theorizes three causal processes that link membership in dictator clubs and authoritarian regime survival. These include resource redistribution toward incumbent elites to strengthen their power vis-à-vis domestic challengers, the regulation of non-interference to protect from regional challengers, and shielding from the fallout from international sanctions to lower the risk of employing costly survival strategies.
Revivals of Classical Drama in Greece and Spain (1860s–1970s)
Authors: Balaskas Vasileios
Published: February 2025

This book explores the revival of classical drama at ancient venues as a sociopolitical apparatus of the European nation-states in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The modern use of Graeco-Roman theatres, odeons, amphitheatres, and stadiums depended on social or artistic influences and interconnections. In particular, the Spanish and Greek cases developed parallelly and addressed similar sociopolitical concepts, while the Italian example served as a model for their theatrical tradition in the first decades of the twentieth century. In theatrical terms, this book argues that the repertoire and orientation of classical drama were influenced by (inter)national trends, while power relations among theatrical directors, companies, and institutions determined the course of these artistic traditions. Staging classical drama in Greece and Spain transformed Graeco-Roman venues into sociopolitical powerhouses that generated collective narratives, theatrical modernisation, and economic development. Despite the distinct degree of ideological engagement with classical culture, political conditions in Greece and Spain during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries offer a space for reflection and critical comparison. In this context, this study discusses how historical realities led to the staging of classical drama at Graeco-Roman venues and how each country appropriated and showcased this classical heritage as sociopolitical capital.
Thanatopolitics
Authors: Balaskas Vasileios
Published: February 2025

Chapter 3 analyses the theatrical productions of classical drama during and after the Second World War, beginning with a critical assessment of the events as artistic phenomena that exercise power and authority. It explores how Italian fascism and German Nazism controlled artistic production and instituted the cultural policy of Greece and Spain. In the early post-war period, the economic, social, and humanitarian crisis that the successive wars provoked led to the consolidation of authoritative regimes that imposed a formalistic perception of theatre. A critical point of discussion in this regard is the staging of classical theatre as a national spectacle. This section of Chapter 3 presents and discusses how the fascist or fascistized use of classical venues in the early 1940s gave way to a conservative political terrain that created its national myths, heroes, and legends.
Festivalization and National Spectacles
Authors: Balaskas Vasileios
Published: February 2025

Chapter 4 uses available archival material as a source for revisiting the production of classical drama in the 1950s. It examines the close affinity between the modern tourist phenomenon and a growing cosmopolitan perception of classical theatre. It is argued that in this period, institutional policies marked a milestone in the consolidation of the theatrical tradition of classical drama. The festivalization of culture is analysed as a key feature in the performances of the 1950s and 1960s when the systematic production of classical drama created festivals with international reach that were directed at the bourgeois public. This critical analysis allows the reader to follow the socio-cultural shifts of the theatrical productions in Greece and Spain, observe their politicized nature, and recognize artistic and (inter)national patterns. These newly established festivals of ancient drama sought their identification as national exceptionalisms.
Populist Radical Right-wing Parties and the Working Class
Authors: Castater Eric G , Han Kyung Joon
Published: February 2025

This chapter establishes the conceptual and empirical foundations for subsequent chapters of the book. Although populist radical right-wing parties have received ample attention in the comparative politics literature, there remains scholarly disagreement about the exact nature of these parties and the appropriate label to apply to them. Thus, the first section of the chapter explains why we have chosen the ‘populist radical right’ party label, identifies the key characteristics of these parties, and provides a list of those populist radical right-wing parties examined in this book. The second section discusses the economic challenges confronted by blue-collar workers in Western Europe in recent decades, as well as the shifting political landscape these workers find themselves situated within. The third section utilizes survey data to compare blue-collar worker support for the populist radical right to other occupational groups (small business owners and middle-class professionals).