bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The 'desegregation' of English schools
Authors: Esteves Olivier
Published: September 2019

In 1960–62, a large number of white autochthonous parents in Southall became very concerned that the sudden influx of largely non-Anglophone Indian immigrant children in local schools would hold back their children’s education. It was primarily to placate such fears that ‘dispersal’ (or ‘bussing’) was introduced in areas such as Southall and Bradford, as well as to promote the integration of mostly Asian children. It consisted in sending busloads of immigrant children to predominantly white suburban schools, in an effort to ‘spread the burden’. This form of social engineering went on until the early 1980s. This book, by mobilising local and national archival material as well as interviews with formerly bussed pupils in the 1960s and 1970s, reveals the extent to which dispersal was a flawed policy, mostly because thousands of Asian pupils were faced with racist bullying on the playgrounds of Ealing, Bradford, etc. It also investigates the debate around dispersal and the integration of immigrant children, e.g. by analysing the way some Local Education Authorities (Birmingham, London) refused to introduce bussing. It studies the various forms that dispersal took in the dozen or so LEAs where it operated. Finally, it studies local mobilisations against dispersal by ethnic associations and individuals. It provides an analysis of debates around ‘ghetto schools’, ‘integration’, ‘separation’, ‘segregation’ where quite often the US serves as a cognitive map to make sense of the English situation.
Introduction
Authors: Esteves Olivier
Published: September 2019

On 25 May 1963, readers of The Middlesex County Times (Southall Edition) were taken aback by grisly news: the local Scout movement had recently lost as many as thirteen boys, all leaders of troops whose parents had fled to further suburban towns. W.J. Hubbard, the District Scout commissioner, acknowledged that “this was understandable”, because “they feared that their children’s education would be held back”. The explanation given was quite straightforward: “We are losing many Scouters who have been living in that part of the town occupied by our Indian friends”....
“Before it gets out of hand”: the introduction of dispersal in Bradford
Authors: Esteves Olivier
Published: September 2019

Like Southall, Bradford was faced in 1960–62 with a sudden influx of Asian immigrants, the great majority of whom hailed from Pakistan. This wave of immigration did cause some early panic, with the outbreak of smallpox in 1962. This chapter studies the introduction of bussing locally, which took place without a real white mobilisation in favour of it. Dispersal in Bradford was a fairly smooth affair compared with Southall. It was hailed by members of the Wilson government as a model type of dispersal, particularly because the city proved efficient at gathering statistics about immigrant children, but archives reveal that, as elsewhere, there were many shortcomings to the operation of dispersal locally, which had a detrimental effect on immigrant children.
The Ford Sewing machinists’ strike, 1968, Dagenham
Authors: Moss Jonathan
Published: September 2019

Chapter 2 provides an original account of the Ford Sewing Machinists’ fight for skill recognition in 1968. The strike is widely understood as a crucial turning point that led to the Equal Pay Act in 1970. The strike occupies a key position in the histories of the labour movement and the WLM. The idea that the strike was a decisive victory in women’s fight for equal pay was popularised by 2010 feature film Made in Dagenham, which has been adapted into a West End musical. The subsequent publicity generated by the film has proceeded to weave the place of the dispute firmly within public memory of the strike as a turning point in societal attitudes towards women’s right to equal pay. However the triumphant narrative of the strike as a victory has served to disguise the fact that the women at Ford went on strike because they wanted the skilled nature of their work recognised. This chapter offers a new account of the strike from the perspective of the women involved. It is original because it locates the strike within participants’ life stories; it foregrounds their own understanding of why they engaged in the strike and their judgements of its outcome.
The Ford Sewing machinists’ strike, Dagenham, 1984–85
Authors: Moss Jonathan
Published: September 2019

This final chapter returns to Ford, Dagenham to analyse the second strike that was organised by female sewing-machinists for skill recognition in the winter of 1984-1985. Whilst the 1968 strike analysed in chapter 2 was optimistically hailed as a turning point symbolising a new era of gender equality, the sewing-machinists were dissatisfied because the skilled nature of their work was not recognised. For the women at Ford, the underlying grading grievance and the sense of injustice that led to the 1968 dispute continued to shape their experiences of work and trade unionism for the next 17 years. This dispute marks an appropriate place to begin to draw some broader conclusions about women’s experiences of workplace activism between 1968 and 1985. The Ford sewing-machinists’ eventual success in winning their grading intimates a transition had occurred in the way women’s work was valued in the intervening 17 years between the strikes – at least within the Ford factory. Drawing upon contemporary representations of the dispute and interviews with women involved, this final chapter considers whether the women themselves believed the strike represented a change in attitudes towards female workers.
Resistance to rebellion
Authors: Peplow Simon
Published: September 2019

This chapter addresses the history of black and minority ethnic people in Britain following increased colonial migration after the Second World War, and subsequent relationship with an often-hostile society, experiencing widespread discrimination, racial violence, and a political consensus to depoliticise and marginalise racial issues. It examines the development of activism, militancy, and black mobilisation, considering the build-up of antipathy towards the police due to their policies, actions, and general criticism, illustrating the gradual building of discontent towards a British state offering minority ethnic groups little support. The chapter’s title ‘Resistance to rebellion’, inspired by Ambalavaner Sivanandan, itself provides a basic overview of the change demonstrated through these years; discussion, in effect, acts as a ‘roadmap to 1980–1’.
‘The Brixton Defence Campaign says boycott the Scarman Inquiry’
Authors: Peplow Simon
Published: September 2019

This chapter addresses various responses to the Brixton disturbances; the authorities and media focussed upon criminality and law and order aspects, leading to repeated calls for the police to be further equipped to respond – but, due to the scale of events, a public inquiry was established. Hence, this chapter discusses Lord Scarman’s inquiry through in-depth examination of recently-released inquiry records, such as police radio messages and witness statements, and papers of grassroots political organisations, to explore numerous accusations of police misconduct not included in his Report, addressing some of the gaps between submitted evidence and what was published as official record. Scarman chose not to examine such accusations, suggesting his inquiry could not provide necessary safeguards and that allegations should be directed through the police complaints system; however, this system had lost the faith of marginalised groups, who believed it was ineffective. Conversely, many local groups, such as the Brixton Defence Campaign established to support those arrested in relation to the disorder, vociferously boycotted the inquiry as they believed it would be a ‘whitewash’ and that any evidence provided would actually be used against black defendants.
The North American theatre
Authors: Richards Eric
Published: September 2019

North America was the earliest and the greatest theatre of oceanic emigration in which the methods of mass migration were pioneered. The European re-peopling of America stretched over four centuries from the earliest years of the seventeenth century but for the first 200 years it was dominated by emigrants from the British Isles. Emigration was fundamentally an expression of demographic conditions which had shifted decisively over the time span. The pursuit of a general view of the emigrational relationship between the two sides of the Atlantic is strewn with difficulties of interpretation. Indenture systems had been widespread in the recruitment of eighteenth-century emigrant. Indenturing through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the primary vehicle of British and Rhineland emigration to North America. The ending of indenturing was essentially connected to the great change in the supply and demand circumstances underlying the evolving emigration systems.
West Cork and North Tipperary
Authors: Richards Eric
Published: September 2019

West Cork was an outstanding and clear-cut version of the wider Irish experience, before and after the Famine. North Tipperary was not the most famine-ravaged part of Ireland, but it became the most turbulent. By the 1830s, Ireland was already becoming a primary supplier of emigrants to the great and insatiable needs of the United States. Emigration from south-west Ireland in the decades between 1770 and 1830 followed a clear sequence in the rural transformation. First came the amassment of population without any appreciable relief by migration. Much more significant was the emigration of Richard Talbot in 1818 from Tipperary to Upper Canada. T.J Elliott discovers the pathways and passages to America of the Protestant emigrants: using methods of family reconstruction and historical biography, he connects both ends of the ‘migration corridors’.
The Australasian case
Authors: Richards Eric
Published: September 2019

The transition to mass emigration by the 1830s coincided with the extension of the British emigrant flows to their furthest extremity, the Antipodes. Australia became a new theatre of migration which reflected the new circumstances of expatriation. The Australian case was famously different from, and began more than a century later than, the great transatlantic migrations from the British Isles. The Australian immigration story was improbable from the start when, in 1788, it began as an extremely remote penitentiary for outcasts from British gaols. The eventual despatch of 160,000 convicts to the Australian colonies between 1788 and 1867 barely merited the name of an emigration system. Like the other Australasian colonies, New Zealand conducted its own assisted immigration policies: many of its immigrants indeed came via Australia, especially during the New Zealand gold rushes of the 1860.
Upland adjustments: west Wales and Swaledale and the sequences of migration
Authors: Richards Eric
Published: September 2019

Wales, in common with many locations in the British Isles, had a mixed career during the economic and demographic upheavals of the late eighteenth century. Rural west Wales was especially prominent in the emigration account; it also vividly manifested some of the classic conditions making for mobility. Increased mobility in rural Wales was marked also by particular episodes of emigration which entered the folk memory. The demographic and economic career of the upland Swaledale region in the North Yorkshire Pennines demonstrates with unusual clarity several typical sequences within the long-term decline of its rural population. The Swaledale economy remained dominated by agriculture, and productivity increases were impressive, especially in dairying. Swaledale was a classic case of rural change associated with migratory adjustments to demographic and economic pressures, and was a regional variant of the common experience in rural Britain.
Cornwall, Kent and London
Authors: Richards Eric
Published: September 2019

Emigration from Cornwall outstripped all other counties in England and Wales in the late nineteenth century: it was at the top of the league table of per capita emigration. The international adjustment by the Cornish migrants was framed by the income differential which had decisively widened under the impact of the much more successful copper mining operations overseas. Cornish emigration showed that the effects of mining decline were written on top of the conventional processes of rural decline as the industrial economy of Britain expanded, sucking away much of the demographic revolution. Cornwall and Kent were two variants of the general responsiveness of rural England to the opportunities of emigration and the imperatives of population shifts. Kent was a more purely rural county, with little mining activity, but adjacent to London.
The European extension
Authors: Richards Eric
Published: September 2019

Across much of Europe in the late nineteenth century there was a fundamental problem, notably in those zones where industrialisation had had little impact and where the agricultural sector confronted declining returns to labour. Population growth was evidently occurring in a transforming context of agrarian and industrial change, which carried the ultimate causes of mass migration. The absorbent capacity of European cities and towns was the critical factor in the long run. The scale of intra-European migration was extraordinary: Europe’s industrial cities attracted foreigners in vast numbers. The Canadian historian Norman Macdonald declared that the great diasporic European phenomenon was a migration with ‘many roots, chiefly the adverse conditions in the Old World and the appeal of the New’. By the late nineteenth century, emigrants were streaming out of most parts of Europe.
Dislocation as method
Authors: MacDougall David
Published: September 2019

Research in the sciences, including the social sciences, is usually supposed to be conducted in a systematic way, working from research questions to the gathering of empirical data, to conclusions. But in an analogy drawn from the art of fencing, the author argues for an alternative approach in visual anthropology. Films look at the world differently from the ways we conventionally see, and these differences have optical, social, and structural origins. To overcome these differences, filmmakers may have to voluntarily ‘dislocate’ themselves in order to put themselves in a position to view their subject from a different perspective, and so uncover new knowledge. The argument is supported by a discussion of the realities of ethnographic fieldwork, the processes of filmmaking, and the role of play and improvisation in the arts and other human endeavours.
Anthropological filmmaking: an empirical art
Authors: MacDougall David
Published: September 2019

This chapter provides an overview and guide to the methodology, theory, practice, and ethics of ethnographic filmmaking. Examining in turn the various uses of film in anthropology, the differences between anthropological writing and anthropological films, and the kinds of knowledge produced by each, it proceeds to discuss the practical concerns of the anthropological filmmaker: questions of point-of-view, method, and different approaches to the construction of films. It considers the pros and cons of teamwork and single-author filmmaking, aspects of film aesthetics, relationships with the subjects of films, the filmmaker’s behaviour in the field, and different modes of camera use. Finally, it addresses the different practical strategies possible for this kind of filmmaking, including a focus on individuals as subjects, the uses of narrative, and thematic approaches. Also considered is the filmmaker’s relation to the viewer, and ways of making the filmmaker’s intentions and practice more evident within the film.
Privatisation and the death of public housing
Authors: Hodkinson Stuart
Published: September 2019

This chapter charts the death of public housing from its emergence as part of a wider collective resistance to the social murder of unregulated capitalism to its planned demise under neoliberal policies of privatisation, demunicipalisation, deregulation, and austerity. A first section explains how public housing represented both the partial decommodification of shelter and the protection of residents’ health and safety through a wider system of building regulation and control. A second section argues that these qualities made public housing a target for privatisation and demunicipalisation policies that have recommodified and financialised housing and land for profit-seeking corporate interests. It was in this context that ‘outsourced regeneration’ featured in this book was born with the launch in 2000 of New Labour’s Decent Homes programme to bring all social housing in England up to a minimum decent standard by 2010. The chapter ends with an explanation of how the assault on public housing has been accompanied by the rolling back of building regulations and the rolling out of self-regulation that has weakened building safety and residents’ ability to hold their landlords to account.
Partners for improvement? Corporate vandalism in Islington and Camden
Authors: Hodkinson Stuart
Published: September 2019

This chapter recounts the appalling experiences of residents in Islington and Camden involving ‘Partners for Improvement’ consortium. A first section focuses on Islington where the council signed two PFI contracts for 30 and 16 years in 2003 and 2006 respectively worth £721 million to refurbish and maintain some 6500 homes in Georgian and Victorian ‘street properties’ purchased by the council from private owners, including many listed buildings. The chapter details the huge damage inflicted by the contractors on the housing and the devastating effect this had on residents’ lives. A second section covers the renovation and repair of five tower blocks built in the late 1960s on the Chalcots Estate in Camden. It recounts how after procurement delays lasting several years that pushed up the cost, a much shorter 15 year contract worth £153 million was signed in 2006. Although the refurbishment was criticised by residents at the time, it was only after Grenfell that the council listened to residents and discovered that the cladding system fitted under the PFI contract was combustible, forcing the council to evacuate the estate for a few weeks in the summer of 2017. The PFI contract has since been terminated three years earlier than planned with the council liable for a staggering £92.9 million of rehousing costs and remedial work.
The empire of the mind and medical migration
Authors: Simpson Julian M.
Published: September 2019

Chapter 3 shows that a key factor behind the large-scale migration of South Asian doctors to Britain was the lingering effect of what Andrew Porter has called the ‘empire of the mind’. South Asian medical systems functioned along post-imperial lines rather than being radically redefined. British medicine remained a model to be emulated and South Asian medicine continued to situate itself in relation to medicine in Britain. Imperial legacies shaped medicine on the Indian subcontinent and more generally the thought processes of doctors. These after-effects of empire can be detected in doctors’ accounts of their medical training and careers in medicine as well as when they discuss their personal backgrounds and wider exposure to British culture. This context is essential to understanding the post-war movement of South Asian doctors to Britain. Migration thus appears in doctors’ oral history interviews as a ‘natural’ process as one of them put it, rather than a hiatus.
The ancient world as serial television drama
Authors: Magerstädt Sylvie
Published: September 2019

When Samsung introduced its new curved television screen in 2014, I was struck not by the technology but by its official television advert. Rather than using science fiction or another ultra-modern environment to showcase this innovative new gadget, the advertisement featured a father and son in their pyjamas in the middle of a gladiatorial arena. All the tropes of screen antiquity were represented in the 30-second clip: the crowds, the arena, the evil emperor and of course the gladiators with their swords and sandals that defined the genre. What this advert encapsulated for me was not only that the audience’s interest in antiquity was alive and well, but also that there was an intrinsic connection between fictional antiquity and the (no longer so) small screen....
Introduction to Events and Situations in Grammar
Authors: Ramchand Gillian
Published: September 2019

In this chapter, the background to the problem is introduced, namely the mismatch between syntactic templates and semantic ontology. The nature of the problem is discussed including the issue of internalist vs. externalist conceptions of language, and a solution is proposed in terms of the generalization of the quotational strategy proposed by Henderson (2015) for demonstrated lexical items. A Road map for the rest of the monograph is given.
Non-disruptive Disruptions: Cleantech and the New Green Spirit of Capitalism
Authors: Goldstein Jesse
Published: September 2019

After overviewing the history of cleantech, Chapter One introduces the core contradiction investigated throughout the text: while the professionals I met were excited about “disruptive” technologies that might radically transform society, when it came to actually finding (and funding) commercially viable projects, disruption quickly gave way to incremental gains in already established markets. Building off of Boltanski and Chiappello’s New Spirit of Capitalism, I argue that planetary improvement represents a new, green spirit of capitalism that mobilizes a seemingly radical, anti-systemic critique of capitalism in order to provide moral legitimacy for proposals to create a better, greener version of the modern industrial economy. As a term, planetary improvement references the discourse of agricultural improvement that helped legitimize enclosure and colonial land grabs in the first centuries of capitalism’s ascent. Agricultural improvement targeted ‘inefficient’ forms of agricultural production – from those practiced by European commoners to a wide range of indigenous agricultural practices throughout the colonized world. In a similar way, planetary improvement recasts ‘dirty’ or ‘wasteful’ forms of industrial production and consumer-driven lifestyles as a terrain of potential improvement. Instead of inefficient commoners or inefficient laborers, here it is capital itself that is guilty of being wasteful.
Identification and characterization of circRNAs as competing endogenous RNAs for miRNA-mRNA in colorectal cancer
Authors: Yuan Wenliang , Peng Sihua , Wang Jingyu , Wei Cai , Ye Zhen , Wang Ye , Wang Meiliang , Xu Hao , Jiang Shouwen , Sun Dan , Dai Chaoxu , Jiang Linhua , Li Xiaobo
Published: September 2019

Background

Recent studies showed that circRNAs are involved in the biological process of some human cancers. However, little is known about their functions in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods

Here we first revealed the expression profiles of circRNAs in the CRC tissues and the adjacent non-tumorous tissues using high-throughput sequencing. The sequence feature, chromosome location, alternative splicing and other characteristics of the circRNAs were also explored. The miRNA and mRNA expression profiles were then obtained by analyzing relevant CRC data retrived from the TCGA database. We obtained and analyzed the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network of the top three pairs of the largest up-regulated and down-regulated circRNAs.

Results

In this study, we obtained 50,410 circRNAs in the CRC tissue and the adjacent non-tumor tissues, of which 33.7% (16,975) were new, and revealed differential changes in circRNA expression during colorectal carcinogenesis. We have identified six potential key circRNAs (circPIEZO1-3, hsa_circ_0067163, hsa_circ_0140188, hsa_circ_0002632, hsa_circ_0001998 and hsa_circ_0023990) associated with CRC, which play important roles in carcinogenesis as ceRNA for regulation of miRNA-mRNA network. In the subsequent KEGG analysis, several CRC-related pathways were found.

Conclusions

Our findings advance the understanding of the pathogenesis of CRC from the perspective of circRNAs and provide some circRNAs as candidate diagnostic biomarkers or potential therapeutic targets.
Phylogeny of Microphthalminae Hartmann-Schröder, 1971, and revision of Hesionella Hartman, 1939, and Struwela Hartmann-Schröder, 1959 (Annelida, Errantia)
Authors: Salazar-Vallejo Sergio I. , de León-González Jesús Angel , Carrera-Parra Luis F.
Published: September 2019

Microphthalminae Hartmann-Schröder, 1971 was proposed in Hesionidae to include Microphthalmus and Hesionides; however, the affinities of these genera to other members of Hesionidae have been debated, and some authors have concluded they do not belong in Hesionidae. Herein, based on morphological characters, a phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily and some other similar poorly-known genera, with an uncertain position in Hesionidae was performed to clarify their affinities. Our results indicate that Microphthalminae, as currently delimited, is paraphyletic. The inclusion of Struwela, Uncopodarke, and Westheideius, a new genus, as well as the recognition of Fridericiella are proposed to meet the requirement of monophyly; and as result of this, the elevation in rank to the family level is herein presented. Furthermore, the type species for Hesionella and Struwela are redescribed, and a new species in the latter is described. A key to identify microphthalmid genera is also included.
Assessment of Safety Practices in Garri Production among Cassava Processors in Ido Local Government Area Oyo State Nigeria
Authors: Adeoye A. S. , Oke O. O. , Ogunsola J. O.
Published: September 2019

The study assessed safety practices carried out in garri production among the cassava processors in Ido Local Government area, Oyo State, Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 104 cassava processors from three (3) wards in the study area. Parameters examined are socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, respondents’ knowledge of food safety practices, and the constraints encountered in the food safety practices in garri production among the respondents in the study area. A well structured-questionnaire with interview schedule was used for data collection in the study area. Both descriptive and inferential statistics like frequency distribution, percentages, Chi-square and Pearson product moment correlation were used in analyzing the data. Results show that majority of the respondents were female (70.2%), had age range of 31-40 (47.1%), married (72.1%), primary education (35.6%), and processing experience of 6-10 years (65.4%). Most of the respondents (53.7%) have sufficient knowledge of the food safety practices. Also, most of the respondents (63.4%) encountered little or no constraints in cassava processing into garri in the study area. The results further exemplified that there is significant relationship between constraints encountered in processing and respondents’ knowledge of food safety practices among the cassava processors in the study area (r = -0.194, p < 0.05). This implies that there is little or no constraint for food safety practices but cassava processors’ knowledge and their years of experience have positive influence on the production of garri in the study area. It is however recommended that government should deploy community health workers to monitor the processing activities of the cassava processors and to enforce adequate hygiene in safety practices in all the cassava processing units in the study area. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC should also be mobilized to ensure that garri is free of cyanide acid content and fortified with vitamins before its distribution to the markets.
Sustainability of Agriculture Value Chain by Rural Women for Income Generation in Oluyole Local Government of Oyo State, Nigeria
Authors: Oluwasola Babatunde, Taiye , Solomon Kehinde Abiodun,
Published: September 2019

The study focused on the sustainability of agriculture by rural women as a means of income generation in Oluyole local government. The study made use of both primary and secondary data. The instrument used for collecting the primary data was a set of structured questionnaire. Data were collected from 100 rural women farmers, randomly selected from four rural wards out of the ten wards in the local government, however, only 98 filled and returned their questionnaires. Data were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Result obtained from the study showed that (51%) rural women farmers within the age group of 40-49 years this showed that adult women were involved in sustainability of agriculture in the study area. They engaged in farming for income generation (₦8, 000 – ₦10, 000) per week to support their household. The study further revealed that majority of the respondents engaged in processing and marketing of farm produce than other farm practices. Rural farmers had challenges of inadequate capital, poor access to road, and ignorance due to low level of education. They also lacked collateral to access bank loan, depended on family funding and their output was subsistence.
Next Generation of 3D‐Printed Electronics: Electroplating Inside Channels to Embed 3D Copper Features within Polymeric Structures Fabricated Through Material Extrusion
Authors: Stano Gianni , D'Orazio Mattia , Pavone Antonio , Percoco Gianluca
Published: December 2024

Material Extrusion (MEX) 3D printing has been largely employed to process electrically conductive polymers to fabricate electronic components, which still suffer from bad performance due to high electrical resistance. The electroplating process is proven to drastically reduce the resistance by depositing a thin layer of copper on top of the electrically conductive polymer; however, this method comes with a price to pay: only external features can be plated with copper. The present research paper presents an innovative solution to overcome this issue by performing electroplating inside 3D‐printed parts to plate internal layers (inaccessible for electroplating purposes with traditional approaches) with copper. Electroplating inside closed channels is performed: a remarkable reduction in electrical resistance of 5 orders of magnitude (from 2300 up to 0.08 Ω) is achieved in internal tracks. The proposed approach has also been implemented “on board” a commercial MEX machine to fabricate an assembly‐free smart structure with a copper sensor completely embedded within dielectric material (improved performance compared to traditional counterpart). Furthermore, the proposed approach is proven to fully plate with copper not only planar tracks but also embedded 3D features such as coils. The present research unlocks the fabrication of assembly‐free functional devices with embedded copper elements by only extruding polymers through MEX Additive Manufacturing.
A CdS‐Free Alternative TiS2 Buffer: Toward High‐Performing Cu2MSnS4 (M = Co, Mn, Fe, Mg) Solar Cells
Authors: Arockiadoss Kaviya Tracy , Rasu Chettiar Aruna‐Devi , Linda Evangeline , Marasamy Latha
Published: December 2024

Cu2MSnS4 (M = Co,Mn,Fe,Mg) are emerging as potential photovoltaic absorbers owing to their exceptional properties. However, a large open‐circuit voltage (VOC) deficit caused by the unfavorable band alignment with the toxic CdS buffer limits their overall efficiency. Therefore, identifying an appropriate alternative buffer is essential for improving performance. Herein, solar cell capacitance simulator in one dimension (SCAPS‐1D) is employed to theoretically design and analyze these emerging solar cells using TiS₂ as a substitute for CdS. The investigation focuses on various parameters, including buffer, absorber, and interface characteristics, to evaluate their impacts on performance. Remarkably, the highest efficiencies achieved with TiS₂ buffers are 27.02%, 27.04%, 30.04%, and 30.26% for Cu2MSnS4 (M = Co,Mn,Fe,Mg), respectively, surpassing CdS by 1.36, 1.76, 1.23, and 1.15 times. The high efficiencies obtained are associated with reduced electron barrier of −0.24 eV, −0.4 eV, −0.04 eV, and 0.08 eV at TiS2/Cu2MSnS4 (M = Co,Mn,Fe,Mg) interface, lower accumulation capacitance, significantly higher built‐in potentials (>1.2 V), lower VOC losses (<0.35 V) and improved recombination resistance in TiS₂ solar cells compared to CdS. Additionally, the study addresses the experimental challenges and strategies necessary for the practical fabrication of TiS2‐based solar cells, providing valuable insights for the photovoltaic community.
Organic Cathode Electrolyte Interphase Achieving 4.8 V LiCoO2
Authors: Weng Chaocang , Qiu Meijia , Wang Bingfang , Yang Jiaqi , Mai Wenjie , Pan Likun , Huang Sumei , Li Jinliang
Published: December 2024

Developing high‐voltage electrolytes to stabilize LiCoO2 (LCO) cycling remains a challenge in lithium‐ion batteries. Constructing a high‐quality cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) is essential to mitigate adverse reactions at high voltages. However, conventional inorganic CEIs dominated by LiF have shown limited performance for high‐voltage LCO. Here, we propose an ionic liquid electrolyte (ILE) with a high donor number additive, enabling Li//LCO cells to achieve a high cut‐off voltage of 4.7 V/4.8 V and a high‐capacity retention of 86.9 %/74.2 % after 100 cycles at 0.5 C. During this process, a groundbreaking phenomenon was discovered: the construction of a stable organic CEI rich in C−F bonds by the high donor number additive under high voltage. These strong polar C−F bonds exhibit excellent electrochemical inertness and film‐forming properties, resulting in optimal passivation of the cathode. This organic C−F bond‐dominated CEI significantly suppresses phase transitions, cobalt dissolution, and gas evolution in LCO at high voltage. Additionally, the 4.8 V‐class Li//LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 and 4.95 V‐class Li//LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cells also demonstrate outstanding cycling stability. Even at 60 °C, the ILE‐constructed organic CEI maintains superior performance. Our findings highlight the potential of organic CEI to enhance high‐voltage cathode stability, paving the way for more efficient lithium‐ion batteries.
Enhancing System Capacity Through Joint Space‐Ground Multi‐Beam Coordination for LEO Satellite Systems
Authors: Liu Yuyang , Shi Tong , Wang Hua
Published: December 2024

Due to the long transmission distance of the constellation network represented by the low‐orbit satellite system, the satellite‐to‐ground link is subject to large path loss and limited communication performance. This paper uses multi‐satellite and multi‐beam joint transmission technology to form a virtual multiplex network with ground multi‐antenna terminals (Multiple‐Input Multiple‐Output [MIMO] system). However, due to the high‐speed movement of satellites, the topology of the MIMO system is unstable, which in turn affects the stability of the system throughput. This article proposes two inter‐satellite cooperation modes to improve the stability of MIMO system capacity. The first method is to optimize the channel capacity by rationally allocating the beam power of the gateway station so that the gateway station can achieve transparent forwarding through satellites. The second method rotates the angle of the user's receiving antenna to combat channel changes caused by changes in satellite position. Simulation results show that both methods can effectively improve the minimum channel capacity. Transparent forwarding can increase the capacity by about 22.7%, while the rotating antenna can still improve the performance gain by at least 36.3% even with a limited rotation angle. This research contributes to the development of stable and efficient communication systems in satellite‐ground cooperative networks.
Evaluating Machine Unlearning: Applications, Approaches, and Accuracy
Authors: Ali Zulfiqar , Muhammad Asif , Adnan Rubina , Alkhalifah Tamim , Aslam Sheraz
Published: December 2024

Machine learning (ML) enables computers to learn from experience by identifying patterns and trends. Despite ML's advancements in extracting valuable data, there are instances necessitating the removal or deletion of certain data, as ML models can inadvertently memorize training data. In many cases, ML models may memorize sensitive or personal data, raising concerns about data privacy and security. Machine unlearning (MU) techniques offer a solution to these concerns by selectively removing sensitive data from trained models without significantly compromising their performance. Similarly, we can analyze and evaluate whether MU can successfully achieve the “right to be forgotten.” In this paper, we investigate various MU approaches regarding their accuracy and potential applications. Experiments have shown that the data‐driven approach emerged as the most efficient method in terms of both time and accuracy, achieving a high level of precision with a minimal number of training epochs. When fine‐tuning, the full test error rises somewhat to 14.57% from the baseline model's 14.28%. One approach shows a high forget error of 99.90% with a full test error of 20.68%, while retraining yields a 100% forget error and a test error of 21.37%. While error‐minimizing noise preserves performance, the SCRUB technique results in a 21.08% test error and an 81.05% forget error, in contrast to the degradation brought on by error‐maximizing noise. On the other hand, the agnostic approach displayed sluggishness and generated less accurate results compared to the data‐driven approach. Furthermore, the choice of approach may depend on the unique requirements of the task and the available training resources.
Prophylactic Effects of Astragalus Polysaccharides on Depression‐Like Behaviors in Rats With Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress: A Role of Gut‐Microbiota–Brain Axis
Authors: Liu Xiaojie , Xu Wenlu , Zhao Ziyu , Wu Xiaoling , Wang Senyan , Jian Chen , Li Mengyu , Li Ke , Wang Yulan , Qin Xuemei
Published: December 2024

Radix Astragalus (RA) has been used in the treatment of depression. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) is one of the effective components of RA. However, the antidepressant mechanism of APS is still unclear. This research utilized 16S rRNA analysis, microbial analysis, and metabolomics analysis to elucidate the antidepressant mechanism of APS at both micro and macro levels. Correlation analysis was performed on the perspective of “behavioral indicators‐intestinal bacteria‐immune factors‐differential metabolites” to show the relationships among various indicators. The results showed that APS could significantly regulate the depressive behaviors of depressed rats, alleviate the imbalance of Th17/Treg, increase the expression level of anti‐inflammatory factor IL‐10, while reduce the expression level of pro‐inflammatory factor IL‐22. APS significantly reduced the expression levels of lysine, alanine, and arginine of depressed rats, as well as the abundance of Aerococcus. Lysine and arginine were the most closely related to behaviors, immune factors, and gut bacteria. The current findings revealed the antidepressant mechanism of APS from the perspective of the “gut microbiome–immunity–metabolome” axis. This study provides a new strategy for proving the antidepressant effects of plant polysaccharides and lays a solid foundation for the discovery of new drugs from botanical drugs and the improvement of patients' quality of life.
Step by Step—A Quarterly Evaluation of EU Commission's GDP Forecasts
Authors: Heinisch Katja
Published: December 2024

The European Commission's growth forecasts play a crucial role in shaping policies and provide a benchmark for many (national) forecasters. The annual forecasts are built on quarterly estimates, which do not receive much attention and are hardly known. Therefore, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of multiperiod ahead quarterly GDP growth forecasts for the European Union (EU), euro area, and several EU member states with respect to first‐release and current‐release data. Forecast revisions and forecast errors are analyzed, and the results show that the forecasts are not systematically biased. However, GDP forecasts for several member states tend to be overestimated at short‐time horizons. Furthermore, the final forecast revision in the current quarter is generally downward biased for almost all countries. Overall, the differences in mean forecast errors are minor when using real‐time data or pseudo–real‐time data and these differences do not significantly impact the overall assessment of the forecasts' quality. Additionally, the forecast performance varies across countries, with smaller countries and Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) experiencing larger forecast errors. The paper provides evidence that there is still potential for improvement in forecasting techniques both for nowcasts but also forecasts up to eight quarters ahead. In the latter case, the performance of the mean forecast tends to be superior for many countries.
Voice Analysis as a Method for Preoperatively Predicting a Difficult Airway Based on Machine Learning Algorithms: Original Research Report
Authors: Rodiera Claudia , Fortuny Helena , Valls Adaia , Borras Rosa , Ramírez Carlos , Ros Bibiana , Rodiera Josep , Santaliestra Jesús , Lanau Miquel , Rodríguez Nacho
Published: December 2024

Background and Aims

An unanticipated difficult airway is one of the greatest challenges for anesthesiologists. Proper preoperative airway assessment is crucial to reducing complications. However, current screening tests based on anthropometric features are of uncertain benefit. Therefore, our study explores using voice analysis with machine learning algorithms to predict a difficult airway.

Methods

Observational, multicenter study with N = 438 patients initially enrolled at Centro Medico Teknon and Institut Universitari Dexeus (2019–2022) for the research study. After excluding 125 patients, N = 313 were included. Ethics committee approval was obtained. Adults ASA I‐III scheduled for elective procedures under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation were selected. Patient clinical features and traditional predictive tests were collected. Vowels “A, E, I, O, U” were recorded in normal, flexion, and extension positions. Cormack grade was assessed, and data were analyzed using KNIME, resulting in multiple models based on demographics and voice data. ROC curves and other metrics were evaluated for each model.

Results

Among multiple models evaluated, two yielded the best performance to predict a difficult airway both exclusively analyzing Cormack I and IV cases which showed the most distinct differences. The variables included in each model were the following: Model 1; included demographic data, vowel “A” in all positions and harmonics of the voice achieving an AUC of 0.91. Model 2; Included demographic data, vowel “O” in normal positions and voice parameters (Shimmer, Jitter, HNR); achieving in an AUC of 0.90. In contrast, models which focused on analyzing all Cormack grades (I, II, III, IV) cases performed less effectively.

Conclusions

Acoustic parameters of the voice together with the demographic data of the patients, when introduced into classification algorithms based on machine learning showed promising signs of predicting a difficult airway.
Prediction of Multisite Pain Incidence in Adolescence Using a Machine Learning Approach: A 2‐Year Longitudinal Study
Authors: Joensuu Laura , Rautiainen Ilkka , Hautala Arto J. , Siekkinen Kirsti , Pirnes Katariina , Tammelin Tuija H.
Published: December 2024

Background and Aims

Multisite pain is a prevalent and significant issue among adolescents, often associated with adverse physical, psychological, and social outcomes. We aimed to (1) predict multisite pain incidence in the whole body and in the musculoskeletal sites in adolescents, and (2) explore the sex‐specific predictors of multisite pain incidence using a novel machine learning (ML) approach (random forest, AdaBoost, and support vector classifier).

Methods

A 2‐year longitudinal observational study (2013–2015) was conducted in a population‐based sample of Finnish adolescents (N = 410, 57% girls, 12.5 years (SD = 1.2) at baseline). Three different data sets were used. First data included 48 pre‐selected variables relevant for adolescents' health and wellbeing. The second data included nine physical fitness variables related to the Finnish national ‘Move!’ monitoring system for health‐related fitness. The third data set included all available baseline data (392 variables). Multisite pain was self‐reported weekly pain during the past 3 months manifesting in at least three sites and not related to any known disease or injury. Musculoskeletal pain sites included the neck/shoulder, upper extremities, chest, upper back, low back, buttocks, and lower extremities. Whole body pain sites also included the head and abdominal areas.

Results

Overall, 16% of boys and 28% of girls developed multisite pain in the whole body and 10% and 15% in the musculoskeletal area during the 2‐year follow‐up. The prediction ability of ML reached area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.78 at highest but remained mainly < 0.7 for the majority of the methods. With ML, a broad variety of predictors were identified, with up to 33 variables showing predictive power in girls and 13 in boys.

Conclusion

The results highlight that rather than any isolated variable, a variety of factors contribute to future multisite pain.
Performance study on a hybrid solid desiccant‐vapor compression air‐conditioning system for hot‐humid ambient conditions
Authors: Venkatesh R. , Ganesh Madhu , Rudramoorthy R.
Published: December 2024

The paper focuses on the simulation and testing of a hybrid solid desiccant‐vapor compression air‐conditioning system under different hot‐humid climates. The simulation is carried out by a BLUEJ programming framework. Air at the lowest achievable temperatures from a solid desiccant cooling system is supplied to a standard vapor compression air‐conditioning system (VCAS). The cooling capacities of the hybrid system under three modes 1, 2, and 3, indicating different supply air conditions to the cabin, are reported in the paper. This paper expresses the trade‐off between having comfort conditions and reasonable comfort conditions inside the cooling space with energy efficiency as the inflection point. The more the study is moved towards the point of energy efficiency, the higher the reduction in the cooling capacities of the vapor compression air conditioner. This is demonstrated by the cooling capacity savings when the system is operated in three modes namely 1, 2, and 3. The substantial energy savings provided by Mode 1, Mode 2, and Mode 3 are 71%, 57%, and 37%, respectively. If the system is made to provide substantial cooling and focuses deeply on cooling capacity savings, then the system could save up to 77% in the cooling capacity of the vapor compression air‐conditioning system. If the system is made to operate solely with the milestone of comfort cooling for the occupants with any substantial savings in the cooling capacity of the vapor compression air‐conditioning system, then Mode 3 would deliver the milestone and give savings in the cooling capacities from 32% to 41% which is a significant savings. From the results of the performance study, it is inferred that the hybrid system provides significant energy savings compared to a standard air conditioner, especially in hot‐humid ambient conditions. The solid desiccant cooling system thus establishes itself as an effective pre‐cooler unit for a VCAS. The hybrid solid desiccant air‐conditioning in the paper is analyzed from the aspects of savings in cooling capacities of an existing vapor compression air‐conditioning system and comfort cooling. This is a newer operational approach, especially for using this hybrid solid desiccant cooling system for ambient humidity ratios greater than 15 kg−1 d.a.