bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of Module in Filipino sa Piling Larang (Technical Vocational -Carpentry Strand)
Authors: Quidato Julie Gay B. , Federizo Clarice
Published: June 2023

This study focus on the development of the Piling Larang (Tech-Voc Carpentry Strand) module. The problems face by teachers are the main basis for developing this module. This study adopted a developmental design and the ADDIE paradigm. At this point, the researcher surveyed the instructors who teach Filipino in Piling Larang (Tech Voc) to find out what the most frequent issues are with teaching Filipino in Piling Larang Tech-Voc. The survey's findings served as the researcher's foundation for creating the module. In response to the results of the analysis of the findings of the survey among the teachers, the researcher designed the module for the Filipino subject in Piling Larang in Grade 12 (Tech-Voc Carpentry). Based on the competencies established by the Filipino curriculum guide, each lesson's goals are set. The researcher creates assignments for each session that correspond to the abilities the students need to learn, and the module's content is drawn from many basic texts. Each assignment is centered on the Carpentry strand, the course that students attend to advance their knowledge in that area. A group of validator assessed the generated module and offered the necessary adjustments and corrections. Based on the validator’s comments and suggestions, the researcher revised and improved the module.
Experiential Learning and Self-Efficacy in Physical Education of the Senior High School Students
Authors: Calubayan John Carlo T. , Ofrin Darwin O.
Published: June 2023

This study aimed to determine the level of involvement of senior high school students in experiential learning and also to determine of their described self-efficacy in physical education. This employed the research and descriptive correlation design of quantitative method as participated by three hundred fifty (350) senior high school respondents in San Isidro National High School who were chosen using purposive sampling procedures. The data were gathered using survey questionnaires which are validated with the help of the experts. Data communication was established before data gathering procedures and was analyzed using weighted mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s r. 

Findings revealed that senior high school students agreed that they were involved in experiential learning. Students enhanced and boosted their self-efficacy through the use of mastery experiences, social modeling, social persuasions, and psychological responses. It was concluded that there’s a significant and strong positive correlation between experiential learning and students’ self-efficacy. It implied that as the students engage more in experiential learning, the higher the chance the students’ self-efficacy developed. Otherwise, the lesser engagement in experiential learning, the lower of chance developing self-efficacy. Based on the conclusion, it was recommended that the teachers are also recommended to motivate their students in involving experiential for them to mold and described their self-efficacy in engaging in physical activities.
Modular Distance Learning: Perceived Challenges and Strategies of Secondary Science Teachers in Mandaon District, Masbate, Philippines
Authors: Cajurao Erdee C , Mortel John Carlo V. , Maglente Maria Shiela C. , Dumaguin Jeralin R. , Paloma Virgie V. , Rios Calyn R. , Rivas Mark Alvin D.
Published: June 2023

This study aimed to examine the challenges encountered by science teachers in implementing modular distance learning and the coping strategies they employed to address these challenges. Using a mixed-method research approach, data were collected through a survey of thirty-eight Junior High School science teachers in Mandaon District in Masbate, Philippines. Findings revealed that the implementation of modular distance learning presented various challenges, including technical problems, distribution and retrieval difficulties, student utilization issues, and unreliable assessment results. To cope with these challenges, teachers employed various strategies, including attending ICT training, asking for technical assistance, developing income-generating projects, and utilizing differentiated instruction and targeted assessments. The study also highlights the need for more parental involvement, adequate funding for schools, clear instructions and guidance to students, and proper monitoring of student performance. Overall, the study suggests that with effective implementation and support, modular distance learning can be an effective mode of instruction, particularly during times of crisis.
Comparative Evaluation of Vestibular Incision Subperiosteal Tunnel Access (VISTA) Technique With and Without Advanced Platelet-Rich Fibrin for Treatment of Maxillary Anterior Gingival Recessions
Authors: Boddu Tejaswi , Kankara Vinathi Reddy , Pathakota Krishnanjeya Reddy , Krishnan Preethi , Basireddy Aravinda , Sheethi K. V.
Published: June 2023

Gingival recession is an apical shift of the gingival margin with exposure of the root surface to the oral cavity, which creates an esthetic problem. The present study was attempted to compare vestibular incision subperiosteal tunnel access (VISTA) with and without advanced platelet-rich fibrin (A-PRF) in the treatment of Miller Class I gingival recessions. A total of 24 patients were assigned randomly to either the test group (VISTA with A-PRF) or the control group (VISTA alone). Clinical parameters like recession depth, recession width, clinical attachment loss, width of keratinized gingiva, gingival thickness, and probing depth were recorded at baseline and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. Intergroup comparison of mean root coverage (RC) in mm, %RC, change in width of keratinized gingiva and clinical attachment gain revealed no statistically significant difference (P > .05). Change in gingival thickness showed statistically significant improvement in test group. Within the limitations of this study, both treatment options (VISTA with A-PRF and VISTA alone) have resulted in predictable and comparable RC, with increased gingival thickness in the test group.
Maxillary Sinus Floor Augmentation with Porcine-Apatite Xenograft: A Prospective Case Series Study
Authors: Soardi Carlo Maria , Cavani Francesco , Soardi Barbara , Zaffe Davide , Wang Hom-Lay
Published: June 2023

This study clinically and histologically evaluated the outcome of a porcineapatite xenograft used to elevate the maxillary sinus floor in a severely atrophic ridge. A two-stage crestal window sinus elevation protocol was conducted in 24 patients with crestal bone ≤ 2 mm. Highly porous porcine carbonate apatite moistened with saline solution was placed in the elevated sinus cavity as the sole grafting material. Bone core biopsy samples were taken at 6, 9, and 12 months after sinus augmentation surgery (at implant placement). Treatment outcomes were assessed using microCT (μCT) and histologic analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by post-hoc Dunn multiple comparison test. At 6 months after implant placement, all implants achieved good primary stability (insertion torque ≥ 30 Ncm) and successfully osseointegrated. The residual graft amount (mean ± SE) was low (11.91% ± 1.99%) at 6 months and further decreased (6.11% ± 2.64%) by 12 months. On the contrary, the amount of new bone detected was 18.94% ± 4.08% at 6 months and was significantly (P < .05) increased (40.16% ± 5.27%) at 12 months. Histologic assessment revealed osteoclasts actively resorbing the graft as well as osteoblasts actively forming new bone. In the severely atrophic maxilla, the porcine-apatite xenograft promotes new bone formation while being slowly absorbed. Within the limited sample size, the porcine-apatite xenograft seems to be a good graft material for crestal window sinus augmentation.
Management of Patients With Patent Foramen Ovale and Stroke: A National Survey of Interventional Cardiologists and Vascular Neurologists
Authors: Khan Farhan , Derbas Laith A. , Messé Steven R. , Kavinsky Clifford , Kasner Scott E. , Favilla Christopher G.
Published: June 2023

Background

Results from multiple clinical trials support patent foramen ovale closure after cryptogenic stroke in select patients, but it remains unclear how new data and updated professional society guidelines have impacted clinical practice. Here, we aimed to compare how stroke neurologists and interventional cardiologists approach patients with cryptogenic stroke with patent foramen ovale and how critical anatomic and clinical factors influence decision making.

Methods and Results

An electronic survey was administered to 1556 vascular neurologists and 1057 interventional cardiologists throughout the United States. The survey addressed factors such as patient age, preclosure workup, and postclosure antithrombotics. Clinical vignettes highlighted critical variables and used a 5‐point Likert scale to assess the providers' level of support for closure. There were 491 survey responses received from 301 (of 1556) vascular neurologists and 190 (of 1057) interventional cardiologists, with an overall response rate of 19%. Vascular neurologists were more likely to recommend against closure on the basis of older age (
P
<0.001). Interventional cardiologists are more supportive of closure across a range of clinical vignettes, including a very carefully selected patient with cryptogenic stroke (
P
<0.001), a patient with a high‐risk alternative stroke cause (
P
<0.001), and a range of cases highlighting clinical variables where data are lacking. The majority of interventionalists (88%) seek neurology consultation before pursuing patent foramen ovale closure.

Conclusions

lnterventional cardiologists are more likely than vascular neurologists to support patent foramen ovale closure across a range of situations. This emphasizes the importance of collaboration and shared decision making, but also reveals an opportunity for professional society educational outreach.
Keeping Promises? Democracies’ Ability to Harmonize Their International and National Climate Commitments
Authors: Baker Jack Kessel
Published: June 2023

Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, global emissions have put the world beyond its goals. While there are calls for increasing ambition, countries must match their current international commitments at the national level. Democracies were assumed to comply with their own international commitments, yet their ability to adopt national mitigation policies that are consistent with their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) varies. This study applies the Vertical Policy Harmonization Index to quantify the extent to which countries’ mitigation commitments are vertically harmonized in their NDCs and national policies. Using qualitative comparative analysis, I investigate the role of institutions, interests, and ideas in shaping the vertical (dis)harmony of twenty-four democracies. I find that fossil fuel dependency constrains the harmonization of mitigation commitments, even in the face of high vulnerability and low abatement costs. Moreover, the results support the previous findings of an ambiguous relationship between veto points and mitigation commitment. However, the roles of an established green party and public opinion in shaping disharmony remain unclear.
Articulating Design Thinking and Integrative STEM Learning through Virtual Dissection Activity
Authors: Tan Da Yang , Koh Li Ling Apple , Kwan Wei Lek , Pee Gim-Yang Maggie
Published: June 2023

This article chronicles the implementation of virtual dissection and redesign activity as part of a special summer programme for a undergraduate year 1 engineering course on thermodynamics and energy systems. Students were tasked to perform a virtual dissection of a mosquito trap to identify the components and establish their functionalities, then ideated areas of improvement of the existing design through the 3D CAD model. Thereafter, students spent the remainder of the programme deriving and building possible designs, where they rapid prototyped their own version of the mosquito trap. The activity culminated with a challenge where their prototypes were subjected to actual site testing to establish the prototype’s efficacy. This case study explores the cohesion between design thinking, design processes and integrated STEM learning through the analysis of the field notes, video artefacts, online collaborative worksheets, and completed prototypes, shedding light on the affordance of the design activity on integrated STEM learning.
A new species of Macropelopia Thienemann, 1916 (Diptera: Chironomidae) from Southern Brazil
Authors: DANTAS GALILEU P. S. , SIRI AUGUSTO , HAMADA NEUSA
Published: June 2023

We report a new species of Macropelopia discovered in southern Brazil, with detailed illustrations and descriptions of all life stages. In addition, we provide an identification key specific to males of neotropical Macropelopia species, together with an amendment to the generic diagnosis.
Observed Air–Sea Turbulent Heat Flux Anomalies during the Onset of the South China Sea Summer Monsoon in 2021
Authors: Song Xiangzhou , Wang Xinyue , Cai Wenbo , Xie Xuehan
Published: June 2023

This study presents observational findings of air–sea turbulent heat flux anomalies during the onset of the South China Sea summer monsoon (SCSSM) in 2021 and explains the mechanism for high-resolution heat flux variations. Turbulent heat flux discrepancies are not uniform throughout the basin but indicate a significant regional disparity in the South China Sea (SCS), which also experiences evident year-to-year variability. Based on buoy- and cruise-based air–sea measurements, high-temporal-resolution (less than hourly) anomalies in the latent heat flux during the SCSSM burst are unexpectedly determined by sea–air humidity differences instead of wind effects under near-neutral and mixed marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) stability conditions. However, latent heat anomalies are mainly induced by wind speed under changing MABL conditions. The sensible heat flux is much weaker, with its anomalies dominated by sea–air temperature differences regardless of the boundary layer condition. The observational results are used to examine the discrepancies in turbulent heat fluxes and associated air–sea variables in reanalysis products. The comparisons indicate that latent and sensible heat fluxes in the reanalysis are overestimated by approximately 55 and 3 W m−2, respectively. These overestimations are mainly induced by higher estimates of sea–air humidity/temperature differences. The relative humidity is underestimated by approximately 4.2% in the two high-resolution reanalysis products. The higher SST (near-surface specific humidity) and lower air temperature (specific air humidity) eventually lead to higher estimates of sea–air humidity/temperature differences (1.75 g kg−1/0.25°C), which are the dominant factors controlling the variations in the air–sea turbulent heat fluxes.

Significance Statement

Air–sea interactions are significant in predicting the onset of East Asian monsoon systems, including the SCSSM. During the SCSSM in 2021, four buoys and cruise observations are used to investigate anomalies in the latent and sensible heat fluxes. The physical mechanism of the variations in turbulent heat fluxes under different MABL stability conditions is explored in this study. The humidity and wind speed anomalies play roles under mixed boundary conditions in determining the high-resolution variations in latent heat fluxes. Based on these observational results, the heat fluxes and associated air–sea variables from reanalysis products are compared to identify the differences in the operational systems. These comparison results can help improve the reanalysis to obtain better monsoon predictions.
The Effect of 2019 Coronavirus Stay-at-Home Order on Geriatric Trauma Patients in Southern California
Authors: Manasa Morgan , Yeates Eric O , Grigorian Areg , Barrios Cristobal , Schellenberg Morgan , Owattanapanich Natthida , Barmparas Galinos , Margulies Daniel , Juillard Catherine , Garber Kent , Cryer Henry , Tillou Areti , Burruss Sigrid , Penaloza-Villalobos Liz , Lin Ann , Figueras Ryan Arthur , Coimbra Raul , Brenner Megan , Costantini Todd , Santorelli Jarrett , Curry Terry , Wintz Diane , Biffl Walter L , Schaffer Kathryn B , Duncan Thomas K. , Barbaro Casey , Diaz Graal , Johnson Arianne , Tay-Lasso Erika , Chinn Justine , Naaseh Ariana , Leung Amanda , Grabar Christina , Nahmias Jeffry
Published: June 2023

Background

California issued stay-at-home (SAH) orders to mitigate COVID-19 spread. Previous studies demonstrated a shift in mechanisms of injuries (MOIs) and decreased length of stay (LOS) for the general trauma population after SAH orders. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of SAH orders on geriatric trauma patients (GTPs), hypothesizing decreased motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) and LOS.

Methods

A post-hoc analysis of GTPs (≥65 years old) from 11 level-I/II trauma centers was performed, stratifying patients into 3 groups: before SAH (1/1/2020-3/18/2020) (PRE), after SAH (3/19/2020-6/30/2020) (POST), and a historical control (3/19/2019-6/30/2019) (CONTROL). Bivariate comparisons were performed.

Results

5486 GTPs were included (PRE-1756; POST-1706; CONTROL-2024). POST had a decreased rate of MVCs (7.6% vs 10.6%, P = .001; vs 11.9%, P < .001) and pedestrian struck (3.4% vs 5.8%, P = .001; vs 5.2%, P = .006) compared with PRE and CONTROL. Other mechanisms of injury, LOS, mortality, and operations performed were similar between cohorts. However, POST had a lower rate of discharge to skilled nursing facility (SNF) (20% vs 24.5%, P = .001; and 20% vs 24.4%, P = .001).

Conclusion

This retrospective multicenter study demonstrated lower rates of MVCs and pedestrian struck for GTPs, which may be explained by decreased population movement as a result of SAH orders. Contrary to previous studies on the generalized adult population, no differences in other MOIs and LOS were observed after SAH orders. However, there was a lower rate of discharge to SNF, which may be related to a lack of resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus potentially negatively impacted recovery of GTPs. Keywords
“Una sostanza instabile per definizione”: Primo Levi dall’esperienza del lavoro in fabbrica alla stesura dei racconti
Authors: Agovino Teresa
Published: June 2023

L’esperienza lavorativa di Levi, in qualità di chimico impiegato – non esclusivamente ma in maggior misura – presso la Siva, torna a più riprese nella sua scrittura, in particolar modo nei racconti brevi contenuti all’interno della raccolta Il sistema periodico. Nonostante la visione del lavoro in fabbrica certamente positiva e ottimistica, – come appare all’interno de La chiave a stella, testo ampiamente analizzato dalla critica – una lettura approfondita dei racconti sopra menzionati mostra anche una certa posizione critica di fondo, specie nel trattamento destinato ai lavoratori che si fa, a tratti, ancora metafora del trattamento disumano subìto in Lager. Questo saggio analizza, dunque, cinque tra i racconti contenuti nella raccolta ( Nichel, Cromo, Arsenico, Azoto e Vanadio) allo scopo di cercare di ottenere una panoramica, quanto più possibile completa, del problema trattato. Lungi, dunque, dallo sconfessare la visione ottimistica del lavoro in Levi, questo testo vuole accostare agli studi sul tema una nuova prospettiva di lettura che apra, come sempre in Levi, alla complessità.
Influence of hybrid nano/micro particles on the mechanical performance of cross-ply carbon fibre fabric reinforced epoxy polymer composite materials
Authors: Srivastava Vijay K , Quadflieg Till , Gries Thomas
Published: June 2023

This study presents the flexural strength, compressive strength, and impact energy behaviour of graphene nanoplates and fly ash microparticle-loaded cement-based CFRP composites manufactured by the vacuum-assisted resin infusion method (VARIM). The composite structures consist of a fixed ratio of graphene nanoplates (2%), fly ash (2%), silica (2%), cement (2%), and sand (4%) particles filled into cross-plied carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy resin polymer composite beams and columns. Composites fabricated by hand lay-up methods because of infiltration problems. A three-point bending test through the width was used to measure the flexural strength of the graphene nanoplate (GnP)-filled CFRP composite beam. The low-velocity Izod impact and Charpy impact tests through the thickness were used to determine Charpy impact energy (3.46 J), Izod impact energy (2.5 J), and the dynamic fracture toughness of notch specimens under Charpy (28.5 KJ/m2) and Izod impact (25.0 KJ/m2). Also, the compressive test method was used to measure the compressive strength of hybrid particles and short glass fibre-reinforced epoxy resin composite square and circular columns. The results show compressive strength and flexural strength. Izod impact energy, Charpy impact energy, and dynamic fracture toughness of hybrid nano/microparticle-filled fibre composites have higher values than virgin fibre composites because of the influence of graphene nanoparticles and the perfect interface bonding between two dissimilar molecules of nano and microparticles, which improve the fracture toughness and absorb impact energy. Overall, the results show that molecules of nano/microparticle-filled carbon fibre and glass fibre-reinforced epoxy resin composites can be used in seismic wave resistance because of their improved mechanical properties compared to virgin fibre composites. In addition, SEM micrographs clearly show that nano- and microparticles are resistant to crack propagation and the debonding of matrix fibres.
Changing gender role attitudes and the changing gender gap in labour force participation
Authors: Preston Alison
Published: June 2023

This paper uses micro-data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to examine the relationship between gender role attitudes and the labour supply of men and women. Using the Wellington decomposition technique, the paper also considers how much of the change in the gender gap in labour force participation (LFP) between 2001/5 and 2015/19 may be explained by changes in the gender role attitudes of adult women and men. The results show a 6.5 percentage point convergence in the gender gap in LFP between the two periods. Nearly half the convergence arises from a change in the schooling attainment of men and women. Just over one-third is due to changes in gender role attitudes (faster adoption of egalitarian gender role attitudes by women).
Design a robust and optimal fuzzy logic controller to stabilize the speed of an electric vehicle in the presence of uncertainties and external disturbances
Authors: Mousaei Arash , Rostami Naghi , Bannae Sharifian Mohammad Bagher
Published: June 2023

In the nonlinear dynamic equations of the electric vehicle, parameters such as the coefficient of friction between the tires and the road, the coefficient of traction, the resistance of the anchor, and so on have ambiguities. Designing a controller that is robust to the existence of these parametric ambiguities and also to external disturbances, while still satisfying the optimality criteria, is a challenging task. In practical applications, in addition to the problems mentioned above, the computing load of the control input should also be taken into account and a sensible interaction between the performance desired by the controller and the computing volume should be offered. In the present work, a robust, optimally stable fuzzy controller based on parallel distributed compensation is designed using the Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy model of the electric vehicle. The fuzzy model stabilizer feedback gains, the upper bound of uncertainties, the upper bound of disturbance effect, and the upper bound of the cost function are obtained completely offline by solving a minimization problem based on the linear matrix inequality. Therefore, the calculation volume of the control input is extremely small. This allows the proposed control to be put into practice. The good performance of the proposed controller is demonstrated in five-stage simulations.
How Elicitation Procedure Shapes Beliefs About Others’ Affective Responses to Action and Inaction
Authors: Evangelidis Ioannis , Gunadi Manissa P.
Published: June 2023

Humans have long pondered the distinction between action and inaction. Classic work in social sciences provides evidence that most people believe that others experience higher levels of affect when they obtain the same outcome through action as opposed to inaction. In this paper, we theorize that people’s attributions of affect to identical outcomes resulting from action versus inaction are largely constructive in nature, such that they heavily depend on the elicitation procedure. Seven preregistered studies demonstrate that most individuals cease to attribute greater affect to identical outcomes resulting from action as opposed to inaction when it is made possible—or salient—that they can state that action and inaction are associated with equal levels of affect. Consequently, the present studies suggest that researchers can reach different conclusions about participants’ general proclivity to attribute greater affect to identical outcomes resulting from action (vs. inaction) depending on how participants’ beliefs are measured.
Successful Goal Attainment: Longitudinal Effects of Goal Commitment and Implicit Motives Among German and Zambian Adolescents
Authors: Hofer Jan , Kerpen Ellen , Busch Holger , Lehmann Meike , Menon Anitha
Published: June 2023

Goal commitment typically relates to successful goal realization. Yet, individuals differ in how much their goals correspond to their implicit motives. We hypothesized that for those adolescents high in a given implicit motive, goal commitment and goal success in the corresponding motive domain (i.e., achievement, affiliation, power) are more closely related than for those low in the implicit motive. Data were assessed in an individualistic (Germany) and a collectivistic cultural context (Zambia) on two measurement occasions (i.e., T1: Picture Story Exercise for implicit motives; T1 and T2: GOALS questionnaire for goal commitment and success, respectively). Goal success at T2 was reliably predicted by goal importance and goal success at T1, respectively. The hypothesized interaction was found only for the implicit power motive but not for the implicit needs of achievement and affiliation, respectively. Results were equivalent across adolescents’ cultural backgrounds. Findings are discussed with respect to motive-specific effects on goal dimensions.
The carceral appropriation of communications technology through the imaginal
Authors: Jackson Harrison S
Published: June 2023

This article explores the effect that communications technology has on hegemonic power. The first section establishes a theoretical framework combining Foucault’s carceral archipelago theory with Chiara Bottici’s concept of the social imaginal describing the medium through which inter- and trans-subjective imagination occurs. The remainder employs this framework to examine how four technological innovations (print media, radio, television and Internet) impact the (re)production of discursive hegemonic ideology, integrating a variety of historical and contemporary theories on public discourse and ideological dominance. I conclude by arguing that each case demonstrates a dialectic pattern that explains the techno-social evolution of the carceral archipelago.
Conflict shapes in flux: Explaining spatial shift in conflict-related violence
Authors: Idler Annette , Tkacova Katerina
Published: June 2023

In contemporary armed conflict, the spatiality of violence and the constellation of actors involved in it change frequently, but how these changes affect one another remains poorly understood. What explains the spatial shift of areas affected by violence in multi-actor conflicts? We argue that the emergence of a new dominant conflict actor facilitates a shift in conflict-related violence. We theorize the causal mechanism as ‘low-risk/high-opportunity attraction’. It exists in territories where these actors can draw on a local support base and enhance capacities to engage in violence. To demonstrate our theory’s validity, we conduct two plausibility probes: on the conflict in Colombia paired with the conflict in the Lake Chad region, and on the conflict in the Afghan–Pakistani borderlands paired with the conflict in Iraq/Syria. We adopt a mixed-methods approach integrating visualizations, spatial analysis, network analysis and process tracing, drawing, inter alia, on interviews from remote regions of war-torn Colombia and Iraq.
Cervical cord compression with lower limb sensory disturbance: three case reports and a literature review
Authors: Gao Kun , Cao Yafei , Wu Yihong , Yu Weiji , Liu Weidong , Sun Shufen
Published: June 2023

Lower limb sensory disturbance can be a false localizing sign of cervical spondylotic myelopathy. It may lead to delayed or missed diagnosis, resulting in an inappropriate management plan, especially in the presence of concurrent lumbar lesions. Three Asian patients with lower limb sensory disturbance were ineffectively treated in the lumbar region. Magnetic resonance imaging showed cervical disc herniation and cervical spinal cord compression. The patients underwent anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion using a stand-alone cervical interbody fusion cage. Postoperative imaging showed that the spinal cord compression was relieved. On the first postoperative day, the lower limb sensory disturbance was also relieved. The patients showed good recovery at the 3-month postoperative follow-up. These three cases of cervical cord compression with lower limb sensory disturbance were easily misdiagnosed as lumbar spondylosis. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion had a good therapeutic effect. Therefore, the presence of lower limb sensory disturbance in a non-radicular classic pattern should always raise suspicion of a possible cord compression at a higher level.
Transiting From the East to the ‘Core’ West of Europe: Slovakia’s Ontological Liminality After the Outbreak of 2022 Russia’s War on Ukraine
Authors: Čanji Danijela
Published: June 2023

This article examines the effects of the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022 on the reconstruction of the notion of ‘Eastern Europe’ in Slovak political discourse and the subsequent re-definition of Slovakia’s political subjectivity vis-à-vis the contested notion of the ‘East’. It aims to advance the application of ontological liminality concept in international relations integrating it with post-structuralist and post-colonial insights on identity formation. I seek to shed light on how Slovakia negotiates its liminal position of being ‘the East of the Western Europe’ under the new geopolitical and discursive realities. Drawing on the concept of ontological liminality and post-colonial notion of master, my principal argument suggests that Slovakia aspired to demonstrate its capability to define the normative meaning of EUrope as one of its ‘core’ members positioning itself as a superior European state, a ‘master’ in relation to Ukraine. Although, on Slovakia’s mental map, the notion of ‘East’ assumes a far-away position it escaped long time ago, at the same time ‘East’ with the tinge of orientalism has been constructed as an indispensable subject position that the future newcomers to EUrope carry when they are pursuing their transition to the West. Based on hierarchically underpinned discursive self-positioning of Slovakia, ‘East’ is thus made a pre-liminal attribute which post-communist countries let go when beginning their transition to/through the Central Europe that ultimately emerges as an intermediary post-colonial spatial and discursive setting where liminals undergo the ritual of becoming genuinely EUropean.
Viability of Asphalt Mixtures with Iron Ore Tailings as a Partial Substitute for Fine Aggregate
Authors: de Moraes Thalita Maria Ramos Porto , Neto Osires de Medeiros Melo , Lucena Adriano Elísio de Figueiredo Lopes , Lucena Luciana de Figueiredo Lopes , Nascimento Mariana Silva
Published: June 2023

Dark colors aggravate the absorption and accumulation of heat in urban centers in the layers of asphalt coating. These problems can be minimized by incorporating materials that increase the albedo on these pavements. The use of waste in the industry has been encouraged, and an alternative is iron ore tailing (IoT), whose material comes from processing iron ore. The circular economy encourages a change in waste disposal after project decommissioning, encouraging the transformation, reuse, and recycling of waste. Therefore, this research investigated the influence of percentages of IoT in the contents (7.5%, 10.0%, and 12.5%) as a substitute for fine natural aggregate on hot asphalt mixtures’ mechanical and thermal performance. The statistical variance test (ANOVA) was used to validate the obtained data. An economic analysis concerning the costs of production and recovery of asphalt mixtures was carried out using the Present Net Value. Asphalt mixtures with IoT were evaluated with regard to the environmental aspect using the circularity index. Among the asphalt mixtures analyzed, the one produced with 12.5% was the most viable. The results showed a gain in mechanical performance concerning tensile strength, resilient modulus, fatigue, and permanent deformation of this mixture, as well as a reduction in production costs per kilometer of highway. The use of 12.5% provided a greater circularity and a reduction of the surface temperature of the pavement by 2.9°C. IoT is viable in constructing highways close to places that produce iron ore.
On islands of truth in the Anthropocene: Kant, Rousseau and the loss of worlds
Authors: Rivas Virgilio
Published: June 2023

Here I explore how the island was transformed into the site of the instrumentalization of evil, allowing Kant to expand its conception as a land of truth concerning its default genealogy in the homeland, lending purposiveness to evil to ensure this land of truth is protected from natural illusion. By contrast, Rousseau proposed the opposite course, which surprisingly bears important links to contemporary predicaments, in line with the idea of modern progress premised on a generalizing moral ecology. By the turn of the 20th century, reason usurped a new title claiming this land as a planetary system, touted as the second Copernican revolution. This new revolution overlaps with the geological acknowledgment of the turn to the Anthropocene in the century that follows. The article concludes with an interpretation of the Anthropocene as an anxious competition for misrepresenting the future, borrowing the Deleuzian sense of the desert island and the power of the false, vis-a-vis Derrida’s no-world spatiality, altogether shaped by a new relational ontology in a time of climate change compounded by post-truth challenges to political democracy.
Equitable Compensation to Attract and Retain Qualified Teachers in High-Need Alaska Public Schools
Authors: Berman Matthew , DeFeo Dayna Jean
Published: June 2023

Measuring the appropriate level of teacher compensation for different working conditions requires overcoming a number of empirical challenges, including defining and measuring differences in qualifications, effects of non-wage compensation, financial constraints, and lack of market clearing. We address those challenges in a study of teacher compensation in Alaska’s 462 public schools in 53 districts. Each of our three linked empirical specifications produces a set of different compensation adjustments needed to offset differences in working conditions across schools and communities. However, an overall pattern is clear: if districts wish to attract and retain teachers of similar qualifications across all schools, schools serving mainly racially minoritized and low-income populations will need to pay substantially more than they currently do. Estimated required compensation adjustments are quite large in some cases, illustrating the need to address working conditions and other factors that affect teachers’ choices to accept and stay in jobs at high-need schools.
Generalized model and performance analysis of elliptical-fillet cross-sectional flexure hinges
Authors: Yang Jian , Yan Peng
Published: June 2023

This work presents the design and analytical model of a novel flexure hinge with variable elliptical-fillet cross-section, which can be considered as an extension of existing results on rectangular and/or circular cross-sectional flexure hinges. The closed-form solutions in full degrees of freedom were derived for the compliance, rotational precision, and the maximum von Mises stress under various loads. To validate the analytical model, the theoretical results were compared with finite element analysis based on a set of parabolic notched flexure hinges. Finally, numerical simulations were conducted to evaluate the impact of the cross-sectional geometric parameters on the compliance and stress performance of the flexure hinges. The proposed method casts a unified framework on extended flexure hinges with a cross-sectional shape, which facilitates the systematic optimizations and performance evaluations of flexure hinges in various configurations.
Strangers in a Strange Land: The Problem of Exotic Species
Authors: Woods Mark , Moriarty Paul Veatch
Published: June 2023

Environmentalists consider invasions by exotic species of plants and animals to be one of the most serious environmental problems we face today, as well as one of the leading causes of biodiversity loss. We argue that in order to develop and enact sensible policies, it is crucial to consider two philosophical questions: (1) What exactly makes a species native or exotic, and (2) What values are at stake? We focus on the first of these two questions, and offer some preliminary suggestions with regard to the second. Through a series of case studies, we show that it is not always clear whether a species is native or exotic. We identify five possible criteria that could be used for distinguishing natives from exotics. Rather than identifying one of these criteria as the ‘correct’ one, we suggest that the concepts of ‘native’ and ‘exotic’ function more like what some philosophers have called cluster concepts. That is, there are several characteristics that are typical of native species, and a corresponding set of characteristics that are typical of exotic species. None of these characteristics is either necessary or sufficient for identifying a species as either native or exotic. We then identify several of the values that are at stake in dealing with exotic species, and we suggest that policies need to avoid being overly simplistic.
Global Partnership, Climate Change and Complex Equality
Authors: Arler Finn
Published: June 2023

The prospect of climate change due to human activities has put the question of inter- and intragenerational justice or equity in matters of common concern on the global agenda. This article will focus on the question of intragenerational justice in relation to these issues. This involves three basic questions. Firstly, the question of which distributive criteria may be relevant in the distribution of the goods and bads related to the increasing greenhouse effect. A series of criteria are discussed in relation to different understandings of the problem. The second question is which kind of relationship the global partnership is or should be considered to be in issues of common concern. It is argued that various understandings of the global partnership can be expected to result in the use of different criteria. This diversity leads us to the third question concerning the possibility of identifying an overall social ideal which can be used in cases where several different criteria may be useful. I shall discuss one such ideal in particular, namely the ideal of complex equality. In the concluding remarks it is argued that a distribution of emission quotas to countries in accordance with population size is a reasonable starting point for an equitable solution, although it involves various problems of application.
Economics, Entropy and the Long Term Future: Conceptual Foundations and the Perspective of the Economics of Survival
Authors: Mueller Charles C.
Published: June 2023

The present paper is a survey of the economics of survival, a branch of ecological economics that stresses the preservation of the opportunities of future generations over an extended time horizon. It outlines the main analytical foundation of the branch – in which the concept of entropy is a major building block –, and its analysis of the interaction between the economic system and the environment. Regarding its outlook of the future, we see that the founders of the branch were mainly concerned with the consequences of a serious depletion of natural resources – particularly the energetic capital of the earth. More recently, however, emphasis is being placed on problems that stem from the fragility of the global ecosystem in face of the disturbances caused by the entropic acceleration imposed by mankind. It is feared that the ongoing expansion of the scale of the economy may bring about irreversible damages to vital environmental functions, such as protection against undesirable consequences of solar radiation, maintenance of temperature within a range that will support life, and preservation of ecosystem resiliency.
Can We Harm Future People?
Authors: Carter Alan
Published: June 2023

It appears to have been established that it is not possible for us to harm distant future generations by failing to adopt long-range welfare policies which would conserve resources or limit pollution. By exploring a number of possible worlds, the present article shows, first, that the argument appears to be at least as telling against Aristotelian, rights-based and Rawlsian approaches as it seems to be against utilitarianism, but second, and most importantly, that it only holds if we fail to view moral agents as individuals. The article also concludes that the argument has profoundly counter-intuitive implications.
A Green Fist in a Velvet Glove: The Ecological State and Sustainable Development
Authors: Lundqvist Lennart J.
Published: June 2023

Suggestions for transforming ecological sustainability into operative social choice mechanisms can be viewed through the bifocal lens of limits on, and opportunities for, the ecological state. Using lines of reasoning brought in from the comparative study of environmental policy, this article tries to stake out how far the ecological state can go in pursuing objectives of sustainable development without intruding on values and objectives fundamental to democracy. The article discusses social choice mechanisms in terms of the ecological state's authority, management capacities, effectiveness, and legitimacy, drawing up the image of the ecological state as a ‘green fist in a velvet glove’ with the ultimate objective of integrating ‘ecological’ evaluations into the public mind so that they become as ‘natural’ as those ‘economic’ criteria presently applied. Concluding that such ‘ecological’ consciousness involves a great leap in ecological information processing and dissemination within and throughout societies, the article invokes the sustainability and success of democratic social welfare states which base authoritative command on enlightened debate and deliberation as evidence that such a leap can be successfully made through processes of informed consensus.
Ontology, Ethics, and Sentir: Properly Situating Merleau-Ponty
Authors: Clarke Melissa
Published: June 2023

Maurice Merleau-Ponty did not author an ethic, and yet it is possible to extend his ontological descriptions to an ethic similar to that espoused by post modern thinkers. It is even possible to distill an environmental ethic, or at least, one of consideration of the more-than-human, from his work. This paper attempts to do some preliminary work in light of this, and lays some groundwork for the future direction of an environmental ethic inspired by a Merleau-Pontian ontology. At the same time, it challenges the popularised view of Merleau-Ponty espoused by David Abram – viz., of Merleau-Ponty as an animist – and properly situates Merleau Ponty.
From Fieldwork to Mutual Learning: Working with PRATEC
Authors: Apffel-Marglin FréDérique
Published: June 2023

This paper places the work of a Peruvian NGO (PRATEC), with which the author collaborates, within a broad context of the theory of knowledge. The three members of PRATEC were engaged in different aspects of the development enterprise. Out of their perceived failure of that enterprise, they deprofessionalised themselves and founded this NGO. The author argues that within the professional academic disciplines it is impossible to produce a knowledge that can contribute to the procreative concerns of communities, that is, their concerns about their continuity and well-being. She does a brief historical review of the emergence of the modern University in the nineteenth century and the hidden political agenda of the new so called value-free knowledge it institutionalised. She ends up advocating a rejection of the double participation necessitated by professional academic disciplines.
The State of Nature: The Political Philosophy of Primitivism and the Culture of Contamination
Authors: Smith Mick
Published: June 2023

The ‘state of nature’ could be understood in two senses; both in terms of its nature's current (sorry) condition and of that unmediated and pre-contractual relation between humanity and the environment posited by political philosophers like Locke and Rousseau and now championed by anarcho-primitivism. Primitivism is easily dismissed as an extreme, naïve and impractical form of radical environmentalism but its emergence signifies contemporary disaffection with the ideology of ‘progress’ so central to modernity and capitalism. This paper offers an ethico-political interpretation of primitivism's critical relation to modernity in terms of the dialectic between amorality (innocence) and immorality (guilt) within what is characterised as modernity's ‘culture of contamination’.
Animality and Morality: Human Reason as an Animal Activity
Authors: Preston Christopher J.
Published: June 2023

Those in animal and environmental ethics wishing to extend moral considerability beyond the human community have at some point all had to counter the claim that it is reason that makes human distinct. Detailed arguments against the significance of reason have been rare due to the lack of any good empirical accounts of what reason actually is. Contemporary studies of the embodied mind are now able to fill this gap and show why reason is a poor choice for a criterion to distinguish us from non-human animals. I use studies of the embodied mind to show that rationality is integrally connected to our animal and animate nature and hence not a significant point of departure between human and non-human animals.
Integrating Multiple Knowledge Systems into Environmental Decision-making: Two Case Studies of Participatory Biodiversity Initiatives in Canada and their Implications for Conceptions of Education and Public Involvement
Authors: Kelsey Elin
Published: June 2023

Biodiversity initiatives have traditionally operated within a ‘science-first’ model of environmental decision-making. The model assumes a hierarchical relationship in which scientific knowledge is elevated above other knowledge systems. Consequently, other types of knowledge held by the public, such as traditional or lay knowledges, are undervalued and under-represented in biodiversity projects. Drawing upon two case studies of biodiversity initiatives in Canada, this paper looks at the role that constructivist conceptions of education play in the integration of alternative knowledge systems in environmental decision-making. In so doing, it argues that the conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing goals outlined by the Convention on Biological Diversity (signed in 1992 under the auspices of the United Nations Environmental Programme) demand new models of governance which embrace the adaptive management qualities of learning organisations.