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This paper examines ideologies of American study abroad in politically and culturally "non-Western" countries. Drawing from the theory of orientalism (Said, 1978), we analyze how American public discourse on study abroad for learners of Mandarin and Arabic manifests an orientalist thinking, and how such macro discourse both produces multilingual subjects (Kramsch, 2010) and considerable tensions with the micro discourses of these subjects. Our findings show that despite linguistic and cultural differences between China and the Arab world, the two contexts are imagined together as the political "East" in American public rhetoric. The two languages are also assumed to be crucial to the somewhat contradictory goals of "bridge-building" and "national defense." These imaginings provide students a mode of identity construction, but they are also contested in students' everyday experience. Using these findings, we argue that the discursive links between the two study abroad destinations result from a geopolitically situated American gaze, a view that obscures differences between the two destinations, the goals of individual language learners, and the locals they interact with when abroad.

Critical thinking is said to be a defining characteristic of a university graduate. In literature on critical thinking, conceptions range from a focus on generic skills to a notion of person as critical being. However, there is little research on university students' experiences of critical thinking. Experiences of undergraduate students, enrolled in a management course in which the main theme was critical analysis and communication, were explored through a modified phenomenographic approach and a problem-solving task using a 'think aloud' technique. Results include four experiences of critical thinking ranging from a prescribed process to an evaluation that looked beyond what is evident, and a number of dimensional attributes. Students' experiences of criticality and the language they used to describe the experiences were limited, pointing particularly to a need for changes in the academic structures that exist outside the immediate classroom environment.

The rates of many electrocatalytic reactions can be strongly affected by the structure and dynamics of the electrochemical double layer, which in turn can be tuned by the concentration and identity of the supporting electrolyte's cation. The effect of cations on an electrocatalytic process depends on a complex interplay between electrolyte components, electrode material and surface structure, applied electrode potential, and reaction intermediates. Although cation effects remain insufficiently understood, the principal mechanisms underlying cation-dependent reactivity and selectivity are beginning to emerge. In this Perspective, we summarize and critically examine recent advances in this area in the context of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and CO2-to-CO conversion, which are among the most intensively studied and promising electrocatalytic reactions for the sustainable production of commodity chemicals and fuels. Improving the kinetics of the HER in base and enabling energetically efficient and selective CO2 reduction at low pH are key challenges in electrocatalysis. The physical insights from the recent literature illustrate how cation effects can be utilized to help achieve these goals and to steer other electrocatalytic processes of technological relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this integrative review we analyze research from multiple fields of study in regards to gender equality, gender equity, and sport participation over the past twenty years (2000–2020). Key findings highlight a) women and girls' socialization into sport and the performance of femininity and heteronormativity, b) the psychological benefits, negative effects, and participant retention, c) a lack of transformative critique of sport structures and barriers to access, and d) critique of sport policy that enhances equity and equality. Embedded throughout the presentation of these four interrelated areas of interest, we offer a critique about the state of research so that others might draw insight for future research directions. We conclude by outlining potential intersectional and transformational frameworks that connect research to social and political action. We also provide commentary on knowledge creation, databases, and the politicization of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media and sport research has produced a significant corpus of academic literature. This work has enhanced our understanding of the influence of social media in various areas of the sport industry. This work, however, has often glamorized social media and its benefits, leading to a normalization about social media that obscures its negative effects and impacts in sport. This commentary reflects on how social media and sport research has evolved over time and calls for more consideration to be given to critical approaches to social media research that look beyond analysis of social media content. The commentary specifically addresses areas of inquiry around athlete welfare and social media, social media and young athletes, and social media professionals and their work environment. The commentary aims to encourage more critical perspectives related to social media that will enhance the inclusivity of the social media and sport literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of Covid-19 and its diverse impacts on human life ushered in the need to rethink some of the old ideas that humans have lived by. The desire to preserve human life amid threatening circumstances, without giving up on the values of life, requires the reordering of critical sectors of social existence. Against this backdrop, the paper aims to achieve three principal objectives. First, with the Covid-19 pandemic in mind, it reinterprets the individualist-communitarian debate. Second, it argues that the human instinct for self-preservation, reinforced by the Covid-19 pandemic, forcefully compels the concept of a person torn between the individual's efforts to survive and a community committed to an environment enabling survival. Third, the paper extrapolates the concept of 'person' developed in objective two to reflect on students' resilience in the context of the 'new normal' that has characterized academic success during Covid-19. While employing philosophical methods of conceptual and critical analyses to achieve these objectives, the paper concludes that academic success among students in the Covid-19 era has demanded the effort of willing students, combined with a supportive responsible community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A considerable number of studies have attempted to analyse changes in Turkish foreign policy under the Justice and Development Party administration. These changes triggered the debate about whether Turkish foreign policy shifted its Western orientation. Departing from rising anti-West rhetoric in Turkish foreign policy, this study sets out to explain the recent rapprochement between Türkiye and the People’s Republic of China. From a critical perspective, it proposed a new way of viewing Türkiye’s relations with China as a counter-hegemonic rapprochement reshaped by internal/external dynamics in the post-western world order. Consequently, it shows which ideas, material capabilities, and institutions have played roles in the Erdogan administration’s challenge to Western hegemony by utilizing relations with China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMediums are individuals who claim to communicate with deceased persons or non-material beings. Rigorous studies have reported that mediums can provide accurate anomalous information (i.e. information not obtained through the conventional senses or inferential reasoning). This paper reviews the evidence about these claims and explores the main conventional explanatory hypotheses: fraud, sitter’s gullibility and wishful thinking, lucky chance, medium’s mental disorder, and involuntary personification of the unconscious mind. Additionally, we examine non-conventional explanations, specifically the hypothesis of the mind beyond the brain, highlighting the types of evidence that mediumship studies provide to support the existence of a mind independent of the physical brain. Through a critical analysis of both conventional and non-conventional explanations, this paper aims to contribute to the understanding of mediumship and its potential implications for our comprehension of consciousness and the mind-brain problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the spatial public goods game (SPGG), punishment effectively promotes cooperation but often reduces the collective benefits of cooperators and punishers. In order to increase revenue, we propose a probabilistic interaction domain model considering both strategy type and payoff level. In this model, players are divided into two types, successful players with payoffs higher than the payoff threshold and failed players with payoffs lower than the payoff threshold. A successful player is less likely to change the interaction range than a failed player. Through extensive simulations, it is shown to verify that a higher payoff threshold leads to a more pronounced promotion effect on cooperation and corresponds to a higher cooperation return. Moreover, introducing dynamic interaction domain can rapidly remove defectors from the vicinity of cooperative players on regular lattices. Reducing the payoff gap between punishers and cooperators helps mitigate the system’s second-order free-riding problem. Additionally, through analysis of the critical parameters, it is revised that incorporating diversity in interaction structures substantively enhances cooperation level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying outliers in data analysis is a critical task, as outliers can significantly influence the results and conclusions drawn from a dataset. This study explores the use of the Mahalanobis distance metric for detecting outliers in multivariate data, focusing on a novel approach inspired by the work of M. Falk, [On mad and comedians, Ann. Inst. Stat. Math. 49 (1997), pp. 615–644]. The proposed method is rigorously tested through extensive simulation analysis, where it demonstrates high True Positive Rates (TPR) and low False Positive Rates (FPR) when compared to other existing outlier detection techniques. Through extensive simulation analysis, we empirically evaluate the affine equivariance and breakdown properties of our proposed distance measure and it is evident from the outputs that our robust distance measure demonstrates effective results with respect to the measures FPR and TPR. The proposed method was applied to seven different datasets, showing promising true positive rates (TPR) and false positive rates (FPR), and it outperformed several well-known outlier identification approaches. We can effectively use our proposed distance measure in fields demanding outlier detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) teaches that same-sex parents are detrimental to the normal development of the children they parent. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) supports this teaching and provides sociological evidence to substantiate it. In this essay, we critically analyze that teaching and the USCCB’s evidence. Part one explains the ethical inconsistencies in the CDF’s teaching on same-sex parenting. Part two considers the relationship between theology and science. Part three investigates the ‘signs of the times’ and the changing demographics of families in the US. Part four presents overwhelming sociological data that demonstrates that same-sex parents promote the human development of children. Part five calls for the revision of Catholic teaching against same-sex parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the analysis of the validity of changes in the practice of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, which should be considered as a deviation from previously formulated legal positions regarding the effective way of protecting the law, using the mutatis mutandis principle. It is emphasized that scientists have the right to carry out a critical analysis of judicial practice in the context of its compliance/non-compliance with the doctrine. A distinction was drawn between the right to interpret laws by the court and the exercise of discretionary powers, in which the degree of discretion is assessed as unreasonable and excessive; the use of used lecture structures is argued. Attention is focused on the inadmissibility of the practical implementation of individual, arbitrarily selected elements of the scientific debate into judicial practice, in particular, concerning the principle of stare decisis and the justification with its help of the right to judicial rule-making - in the form of a precedent that de facto already exists in practice and is recognized by theory, but, being called precedent, is not identical with classical English precedent. The analysis was carried out according to three vectors corresponding to different periods and appropriated standards of judicial practice. The first is a change in the position from “a mistake in choosing an effective method of defense as an independent reason for refusing a claim” to “a refusal to resolve a dispute due to the ineffectiveness of the method of defense chosen by the plaintiff can actually be considered as a limitation of the right to access to court.” The second is the introduction of a flexible approach to understanding the principle of dispositiveness and moving away from an overly formal assessment of the “proper claim”, which “cannot be considered by the courts as an improper method of protection”. The third already marks the conclusion “about the interpretation” of the claim, mutatis mutandis - for the purpose of full protection of the right in one process. The conclusion states that the interpretation (interpreting) of the claim contradicts the principle of dispositiveness, and its flexible interpretation in favor of such an interpretation will violate the right of the other party, who will not be able to predict the result of such an interpretation when constructing and proving its own position. Courts’ excessive fascination with innovations - with the usurpation of the right to rulemaking and departure from the doctrine - is unlikely to contribute to justice. This is indirectly indicated by frequent deviations from previous legal positions, which do not contribute to legal certainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically examines the reduction mechanisms and energy transfer processes between trivalent europium ions (Eu3+) and divalent europium ions (Eu2+) in materials synthesized in an air atmosphere. It also encompasses various materials and conditions, including a critical analysis of the reduction mechanism and energy transfer between Eu3+ and Eu2+ in Eu-doped materials. Specific investigations include exploring the reduction process in BaMgSiO4:Eu, focusing on factors influencing the reaction. The article also covers low-temperature self-reduction, addressing conditions and mechanisms such as the charge compensation model and laser-induced reduction. Additionally, it explores the influence of charge compensation on luminescent properties, emphasizing enhancements in red emission. Investigations into the role of oxygen vacancies in the reduction of Eu3+ and their implications on material properties are presented. This article further digs into abnormal reduction processes and the formation of defect centers in Eu3+-doped pollucite, proposing a substitution defect model for the self-reduction of europium ions in silicate Ba(Eu)MgSiO4 phosphors. Unusual reduction phenomena, such as reduction via boiling water in Yb2Si2O7:Eu3+ phosphors, and reductions in various glass systems, including porous glass, ZnO–B2O3–P2O5 glasses, aluminoborosilicate glasses, europium-doped Li2B4O7 glass, and aluminosilicate oxyfluoride glass (AOG), are also thoroughly examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article probes the Wesleyan tradition's contribution to ethical living and social justice in contemporary discussions. It provides a brief overview of the Wesleyan tradition, connects it to personal faith and social duty, emphasizes the Holy Spirit's role in transforming people and groups, as well as the importance of communal holiness. Through critical analysis and theological reflections, this article demonstrates that key principles in the Wesleyan tradition can inform broader Christian engagement in ethical living and social activism in various contexts, with reference to the lives and examples of William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King Jr, and Florence Nightingale. Accordingly, it is demonstrated that Christians today can work towards a just, diverse, equitable, and inclusive society through an application of the key principles of the Wesleyan tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the affects of revolutionary moments? What role do they play in the distinct temporalities of these situations, and how do they relate to the radical political possibilities imagined by their professed ideologies? Such questions have haunted recent political, theoretical and literary works devoted to critical analysis of political revolt and revolution. This article makes three contributions to this ongoing dialogue. First, I elaborate a method of affective mapping to understand the specific roles that particular emotional complexes play in revolutionary situations. Second, I describe a named affective process of disalienation as particularly crucial to the social experience of revolution. Finally, two recent speculative fictions are examined for the complexity of their portrayal of the emotional valences of such moments of disalienation: Hannah Black's Tuesday or September or The End, and M.E. O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi's Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune 2052-2072. Affect theory thus proves most useful and provocative to political struggle when it can find a political form which sustains revolt by mediating moments of connection between episodic experience and widespread social transformation. Speculative fiction can provide the opportunity to explore and reflect on how to create, sustain and spread such transformative social situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a critical narrative analysis of the way recent Conservative leaders have used storytelling to talk about themselves and reinforce their political ethos during the annual party conferences. We will use David Cameron's transformative tenure as a starting point, as he tried to usher in a new Conservative creed, more compassionate and voluntarily different from Thatcherism. We will then see how his successors have also resorted to narratives to establish a strong political ethos. The main objective of the article is to examine the evolution of the image of the Conservative leader and to assess the role storytelling has played in this important communicational process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matching algorithms predict relationships between items in a collection. For example, in 1:1 face verification, a matching algorithm predicts whether two face images depict the same person. Accurately assessing the uncertainty of the error rates of such algorithms can be challenging when test data are dependent and error rates are low, two aspects that have been often overlooked in the literature.In this work, we review methods for constructing confidence intervals for error rates in 1:1 matching tasks. We derive and examine the statistical properties of these methods, demonstrating how coverage and interval width vary with sample size, error rates, and degree of data dependence with experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations for best practices for constructing confidence intervals for error rates in 1:1 matching tasks.l [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the introduction to a special issue of Educational Policy titled, "Educational Policy: Analysis, Action, and Advocacy Across Contexts." The special issue presents contemporary education policy analyses from the United States, Canada, and Australia, which collectively represent methodological, contextual, and theoretical diversity. Individually, they offer detailed examinations of education policy processes and outcomes with a common focus on equity. The articles represent a spectrum of approaches to analysing education policymaking and enactment and point out various ways that educators, scholars, policymakers, and activists can take action. In this article, the co-editors identify key themes that distinguish the special issue's contribution and explain the importance of education policy analysis that informs future advocacy toward more equitable policy processes and outcomes across contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of economic, social and discursive changes, old-industrial towns and regions increasingly apply entrepreneurial strategies to actively shape discourses as part of place-making processes. Foundational narratives play an important role in this regard. They are used by agents to foster cohesion in a local community, to legitimize and anchor their actions and goals and to make sense of complex development processes. Applying the methodology of Critical Narrative Analysis, the present study zooms in such processes of narrative building in Lauchhammer (Germany). Despite having experienced the decline of the most important parts of its industry, local actors still mobilize the industrial past in order to strengthen local identity and attract new businesses and manufacturers. Yet, the paper shows that different agents foreground different aspects of the industrial past and narratives may be contested. At the same time, local, regional and national development strategies are closely interlinked offering 'opportunity spaces' for local actors but raising also questions about a potential (de)legitimization of local narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) causes significant heat accumulation within the deposited layers making it difficult to achieve necessary geometrical accuracy and built properties. A cost-effective technique to mitigate build-up heat and improve the thermal cycle is accomplished with the introduction of an inter-layer dwell time (ILDT). The study investigates the impact of ILDTs of 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 s on the properties of the printed parts. The grain refinements were achieved at higher ILDT with no appreciable changes in the compositions. However, a slight increase in oxides and δ -ferrite was detected. The study found improved part density, mechanical and tribological performance while reduced corrosion-resistant properties with increased ILDT. Furthermore, to understand the effect of ILDTs on location-based thermal cycling and distribution, numerical models of the process were established. The peak temperature gradually reduces with an increase in ILDT. Heat accumulations within the three-layered WAAM-built structure lessen by 70% approximately with increases in ILDT from the 60 s to 180 s. The results observed repeated thermal cycles of the previously deposited layers and reduction of peak temperatures with subsequent layer deposition irrespective of the ILDTs. The trough temperature slightly reduced with ILDT; however, at higher delay periods the variations were found to be more stable. The study discovered too low and too high ILDT is detrimental and therefore an appropriate mid-range ILDT of 120 s is suggested to fabricate medium-size WAAM-built components based on experimental and numerical investigation considering overall production time and functional properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual cryptography scheme is initiated to securely encode a secret image into multiple shares. The secret can be reconstructed by overlaying the shares, making it perceptible to the human visual system. Random grid visual cryptography offers key advantages over traditional visual cryptography such as avoiding pixel expansion and the requirement for intricate codebook design. This paper is intended to conduct a critical analysis and implementation of various algorithms in random grid visual cryptography from 2011 to 2022. The focal parameters of this study are theoretical contrast, experimental contrast and visual quality. Experiments were done on binary images for (k, n) algorithms considering different values of threshold. By implementing and analysing the results, the scheme which gives the optimal result is identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Root cause analysis (RCA) pertains to causal inference science. Simplified methods aid in uncovering root causes and solving issues. This review was conducted to explore core RCA methods, identify components beneficial to hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) systems, and assess publications proposing supplementing HACCP with failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA). RCA methods differ in their approaches to defining factors and uncovering causal chains. A general RCA model was used to illustrate commonalities. An understanding of causal mechanisms aids in identifying root causes. Root causes also can be found at failures in detection and system performance. Ishikawa categories of causes were used to organize information, potentially aiding in managing prerequisite programs and corrective actions. Criticality analysis, a key FMEA element, enhances hazard analysis. Ishikawa categories such as work elements can help identify causes and establish more effective controls. Aligning contributing factors from environmental assessment with work elements further enhances HACCP, simplifying epidemiological data integration. Utilizing principles of FMEA and special causes of variation can potentially improve the management of critical control points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent changes in broadcasting, culture, economics, geopolitics, and technology have affected both the way International Olympic Committee (IOC) operates and its systemic, political, and organisational governance. These changes have created a more complex and more challenging world for international sport and led to a crisis of legitimacy for the IOC. The present qualitative study provides a critical analysis of the new governance principles the IOC has adopted in response to this crisis since Thomas Bach was elected president in 2013. Bach's strategy, which combines careful assessment of the forces in play and deft risk management, can be considered a form of realpolitik. The current paper highlights parallels between Bach's realpolitik approach and neo-institutional sociological theories on how change occurs within a sector. Under Bach's presidency, the IOC has carried out intense institutional work to achieve the balance and compromise needed to strengthen its leadership of world sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The critical role of language teaching materials in developing intercultural citizenship has led to increased research on cultural representations within them. It has become necessary to critically review how culture has been conceptualised and the ways in which cultural representations have been methodologically approached in this growing body of research. Applying a qualitative synthesis approach, this systematic review synthesises and critiques current studies on cultural representations in language teaching materials published since 2013, focusing on how culture was conceptualised in these studies and how cultural representations were examined methodologically. Analysis of the reviewed studies reveals that existing research conceptualises culture as a multifaceted construct encompassing quantifiable objects, socially-constructed meaning, and dynamic meaning-making processes. These conceptualizations necessitate the use of diverse methods to explore cultural representations in language teaching materials. The analysis further identifies that quantitative content analysis was the method most commonly used in the reviewed literature, followed by methods associated with critical perspectives and social semiotics approaches. These findings have important implications for future research and practice relating to cultural representations in language teaching materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuation of the infectious disease, pathogens mutate and interact with the resident pathogen. In this paper, we develop an SIR model that considers the evolution of viral virulence under the regulation of different defense strengths. By using infectious disease dynamics and evolutionary adaptive dynamics, we obtain the evolutionary criteria allowing for evolutionary branching and continuously stable strategy across varying intensities of prevention and control measures. Our study finds that robust prevention and control measures can contribute to a rapid evolutionary trend toward higher virulence. We perform a critical function analysis to reveal the evolutionary consequences of trade-offs of arbitrary shape and analyze a diverse range of evolutionary dynamics. Furthermore, we investigate the coexistence of two different strains and construct an evolutionary model to obtain their invasion fitness functions and the evolutionarily singular coalition of the dimorphism. We contemplate the presence of secondary branching on a significantly extended evolutionary time scale. Last, we conduct the numerical simulations to prove our theoretical findings. This reveals the law that the evolutionary state of pathogens is affected by the intensity of prevention and control strategies. The results and methods can be used as references for studying the effects of other factors on virus evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous materials with a high number of unsaturated coordinated dangling bonds exhibits macroscopic homogeneity and isotropy, making it easily modifiable to improve the catalytic properties. At present, several feasible modification strategies for amorphous materials have been proposed and applied to multiple catalytic fields. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of recent research advancements in the modification of amorphous materials for catalysis. First, the general strategies for modifying amorphous materials are summarized. Subsequently, the potential applications of modified amorphous materials in electrocatalysis and photocatalysis are highlighted. Additionally, the positive effects of various modification tools on the catalytic properties of amorphous materials are elucidated. Finally, a summary of the challenges and offer a critical perspective on the further development of modified amorphous materials are presented. The primary goal of this review is to offer a systematic understanding of how to enhance catalytic performance and to stimulate further research on amorphous catalysts in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes three main contributions: First, we argue that spatial planning institutions have become fundamental ‘rules of the game’ regulating development and defining urban property rights, and that the differences of approach between places can best be explained as a product of historical processes of institutional development. Second, we introduce a historical institutionalist theory of contested institutional development based on concepts of critical junctures of major institutional change followed by reactive sequences of institutional contestation in strategic action fields. We outline a methodologically institutionalist research method designed to produce replicable comparative research of long-run processes of institutional change, based on historical narratives employing process-tracing of institutional change and examination of permissive and productive factors structuring such change. This approach generates clear research questions and supports causal analysis of processes and mechanisms of change in urban property systems to explain why current institutions take the form they do. Third we illustrate the theory and research method with the case of Toronto, a fast-growing city where property rights and obligations and development control regulations have been vigorously contested. The conclusions explore the implications for planning theory and for comparative-historical research of this analysis of institutional change processes and mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) are challenging because levodopa (LD)-dependent therapies primarily rely on symptom observation and management. More sophisticated methods for LD tracking, namely, high-performance liquid chromatography, UV, and mass spectrometry, etc., are expensive and slow. As a potential alternative, wearable microneedle (MN)-based patches, coated with nanodendrites (NDs), offer promising, continuous, and minimally invasive LD monitoring. Laboratory-based platforms show high sensitivity and sub-micrometer detection, but a predictive design framework does not exist. Here, we report an analytical framework I = f (LD) for ND-on-MNs, quantifying the amperometric response I of an ND-on-MN platform in terms of geometric, catalytic sensor parameters, and environmental conditions. We find the counter-intuitive results that the environmental factors (e.g., low medium diffusivity and LD fluctuation), rather than the details of sensor geometry, dictate the sensitivity limits. A scaled response against platform parameters provides key insights: (a) A maximum enhancement factor for this platform is around 12%, emphasizing the importance of optimizing sensor parameters; (b) Design strategies focusing on high-density sensing sites and efficient LD-ND binding offer the most effective solutions for improved detection; and (c) Increasing geometric dimensions is not recommended due to potential patient discomfort. The model, validated against experimental data, highlights the limitations of ND-on-MN technology for LD tracking and suggests directions for optimizing MN-based devices for PD management, including enhancing selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The literature shows that the question of how to integrate quality assurance into higher education institutions is associated with several obstacles including non‐support from university actors. This study explored the university actors' response to the recently implemented external quality assurance and accreditation regime for higher education in Malawi. The findings showed that university actors respond to external quality assurance in divergent ways, mainly characterised by formal instrumentality, professional pragmatism and symbolic compliance. This meant that it would be naïve for external quality assurance agencies to assume that when university actors participate in external accreditation processes, it means that they embrace external quality assurance as a mechanism for enhancing quality. The implication was that national policy makers and quality assurance agencies should not consider university actors as ‘passive recipients’ that mutely accept quality assurance reforms, but rather seriously attend to them as both ‘makers’ and ‘shapers’ of policy in order to develop quality assurance systems that can be genuinely embraced. The study contributes to research that take a critical perspective in interpreting university personnel response to quality assurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article theorises the concept of sane-heteroprofessionalism as a regulatory mechanism operating at the intersections of sanism, cis-heteronormativity, and other structural oppressions within pre-service post-secondary education programmes. Building upon existing discussions of heteroprofessionalism, we examine how sane-heteroprofessionalism functions to govern m/Mad, queer, and trans knowledge and subjectivities within these programmes, positioning professionalism as a tool of social control. We advocate for future critical analyses of sane-heteroprofessionalism to explore how notions of professional competency and regulation systematically marginalise queer, m/Mad, and trans perspectives among faculty, students, and instructors in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past twenty years, research into border externalisation has developed a rich spatial vocabulary to understand these bordering practices as well as critical analyses that challenge the often North-centric views towards externalisation. In this Special Issue, we emphasise that a place-based gaze can lend new mileage to border externalisation research. We emphasise that the place has been under-theorised and under examined in its relation to border externalisation. Existing work often has an implicit framing that understands externalisation as part of a migrant vs. border dialectic, or as part of geopolitical relations between states. By focusing on place, we argue that border externalisation: generates new contexts by connecting previously disparate sites into a border continuum; is place dependent, as its different forms are contingent on situated dynamics; and is place transformative, the border changes the social dynamics of the places where it is implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article elucidates the manner in which marketing-related university students enrich their knowledge through the social network X (formerly Twitter). By examining existing literature and conducting student surveys, it is possible to ascertain whether these platforms act as a stimulus to further learning, or whether they merely serve as a conduit for information that begins and ends with the individual, without motivating the student to engage in further research. The results offer a critical analysis of their role in the learning process, identifying the impact they have on students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically compares the turn-off performance of two package solutions, 3-lead (3L) vs. 4-lead (4L), in SuperJunction MOSFETs. It is commonly assumed that the better performance (lower switching losses) of the 4L MOSFET is obtained thanks to the decoupling of the power and driving loops. On the contrary, in this work, the experimental results, circuit models and Kirchhoff laws show that the turn-off improvement (lower turn-off losses) obtained by adopting the Kelvin source is due to the lower inductance of the driver loop of the 4L MOSFET, instead of the decoupling between the driver and power loops. In detail, an inductor is added to the gate path of the 4L MOSFET to obtain a total inductance in the driver loop equal to the 3L counterpart. The experimental results show that the 4L MOSFET presents the same drain current slew rate under this condition, although the driver and power loops are still decoupled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread adoption of encrypted communication protocols has significantly enhanced network security and user privacy, simultaneously elevating the importance of encrypted traffic analysis across various domains, including network anomaly detection. The Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 protocol, introduced in 2018, has gained rapid popularity due to its enhanced security features and improved performance. However, TLS 1.3's security enhancements, such as encrypting more of the handshake process, present unprecedented challenges for encrypted traffic analysis, rendering traditional methods designed for TLS 1.2 and earlier versions ineffective and necessitating the development of novel analytical techniques. This comprehensive survey provides a thorough review of the latest advancements in TLS 1.3 traffic analysis. First, we examine the impact of TLS 1.3's new features, including Encrypted ClientHello (ECH), 0-RTT session resumption, and Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS), on existing traffic analysis techniques. We then present a systematic overview of state-of-the-art methods for analyzing TLS 1.3 traffic, encompassing middlebox-based interception, searchable encryption, and machine learning-based approaches. For each method, we provide a critical analysis of its advantages, limitations, and applicable scenarios. Furthermore, we compile and review key datasets utilized in machine learning-based TLS 1.3 traffic analysis research. Finally, we discuss the main challenges and potential future research directions for TLS 1.3 traffic analysis. Given that TLS 1.3 is still in the early stages of widespread deployment, research in this field remains nascent. This survey aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive reference, facilitating the development of more effective TLS 1.3 traffic analysis techniques that balance network security requirements with user privacy protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of layering during the sedimentation process of tailings makes it of great significance to investigate tailings and to analyze their susceptibility to flow liquefaction. In this study, homogeneous iron ore tailings (IOTs) specimens were reconstituted with pure coarser grains and pure finer grains sampled from a typical tailings storage facility. Additionally, an improved sample preparation method was developed to create heterogeneous IOTs samples containing a fine-grained interlayer with different thicknesses and dip angles using the above two materials. A series of standard drained and undrained triaxial compression tests were conducted to investigate the effects of the presence of a layered structure and its geometry on the stress–strain responses, and the properties of the IOTs under the critical state soil mechanics framework, which has been widely adopted in the analysis of liquefaction in mine tailings. The results showed that for the two homogeneous specimens, unique critical state lines (CSLs) can be identified, but they have different degrees of curvature in the e-ln p′ plane, causing a decrease in the susceptibility to liquefaction with increasing fines content. With increasing fine-grained interlayer thickness (FGLT) within 0–40 mm, the critical state friction angle (φcs) decreased steadily, while the CSLs in the e-ln p′ plane translated upward. This may be because the morphology of the microstructure within the fine-grained interlayer restricted the compression of the intergranular pores. With increasing fine-grained interlayer dip angle (FGLA) within the range 0–30°, φcs decreased until a discontinuity occurred at a dip angle of 15°, while the CSLs in the e-ln p′ plane rotated clockwise through a pivot point. Different FGLAs could change the contact area between the different layers and the axial distribution of the fine-grained interlayer and thus may further contribute to the rotation of the CSLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractElectro-magneto-thermo-mechanical critical loads of a sandwich microplate composed of a core integrated with piezoelectric/piezomagnetic face-sheets are analyzed in this paper based on higher order shear and normal deformation theory and modified couple stress theory. The constitutive relations are developed based on generalized Hooke’s law and electromagnetic relations. In order to measure athletic performance and his/her quantitatively or qualitatively grades, a force plate is used. The thickness stretching of the sport force plates is accounted based on a new function in displacement field. The electric and magnetic potentials are assumed as summation of a linear function including applied electric/magnetic potential and two functions for satisfying the zero condition at top and bottom of the sport force plates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This descriptive study presents a critical reflexive account of my research journey within a large-scale and long-lasting participatory project aimed at siting, developing and building a repository for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW) in Belgium. While at the start of my employment I fostered ambitions to address several democratic deficits that our research team had identified in the participatory process and which had been brought to the fore by my predecessors over the years, this optimistic aim soon collided with the reality of top-down-oriented public participation in an institutionalised context. I draw on personal notes to elaborate on my evolution as a researcher with participatory, democratising and transformative aspirations. Several grounding principles of the ‘action research family’ provided me with a reflexive lens to engage in, analyse and comprehend the participatory process within the cAt-project, as well as to grasp the broader context of the project and to reflect on my own research practice. More importantly, in this article, the first-person perspective offers a critical lens through which to reflect on the democratising aspirations of action research and on the challenges researchers face in putting these aspirations into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Title I accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) represent the present-day instantiation of Lau, which requires schools to provide a program for English learners (ELs) that supports their meaningful engagement and to provide transparent information about EL program quality. This study uses critical policy analysis to explore whether ESSA accomplishes what it intends. Employing a parallel mixed methods design, we first analyze longitudinal data from two states to examine whether their approaches to assessing EL students’ academic performance and progress support valid claims about EL achievement. Then, we analyze focus group and interview data from educators, advocates, and families in states to understand how they assess the quality of a school’s EL program. Taken together, our findings highlight the need for the incorporation of multiple perspectives into the design of state accountability systems and for the development of robust data systems that facilitate the sharing of accurate and nuanced information related to EL student outcomes and opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe Namashudra community, formerly derogatorily referred to as Chandal, endured untouchability in colonial Bengal. Following the partition, in West Bengal, they initiated a revolutionary literary movement to articulate and transmute long-suppressed sorrow into a mode of resistance. It not only breaks the prevalent assumption that Dalit literature does not exist in Bangla but also serves as a challenge to the pervasive myth of Bengal being a casteless society. The article modestly endeavours to explore the intricate issues of caste within the narrative of Manohar Mouli Biswas's work Surviving in My World: Growing Up Dalit in Bengal (2015), which is a translation of his Bengali book Amar Bhubone Ami Beche Thaki (2013). The article seeks to explore how the aspects of caste, politics, and hegemony work within the text, and how existential exclusion is sincerely articulated through the literary expressions of the Bengali Dalit author. Additionally, the study has undertaken an in-depth textual analysis of Biswas's writings to investigate how he uses his works to establish an identity for his community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underpinned by Romantic wilderness ideals and American settler colonialism, recurring themes of "conquest culture" in outdoor adventure--social privilege, individualism, and exploitation--are carried out on social media. This study explores how an emerging topic, microadventures, may reinforce or resist these dominant discourses in outdoor adventure. Facebook and Instagram posts tagged "#microadventure" were collected and analyzed using a qualitative critical social media content analysis informed by Hall's (1973) Theory of Encoding and Decoding. We found that half of the posts reinforced conquest culture, while the other half resisted. The discussion of our findings, framed as a critique of neoliberalism, seeks to interrogate, from a U.S. perspective, how conquest culture is perpetuated by representations of adventure across the global social media landscape. Our findings suggest the need to deconstruct market-driven, colonial tendencies in outdoor social media by (1) confronting dominant conquest discourses and (2) (re)constructing neoliberal tendencies in the outdoor field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The colonial erosion of African traditional and cultural practices continues to dislocate the African identity in different ways. The changes and shifts made to burial practices have simply paved a way for the colonial agenda to bring about more Western ways of doing things, burial rites included. It is important to note that cremation, as another way of burying the dead, is slowly becoming a norm for black people. This paper intends to not only unveil the causes and contestations around cremation burials, but to also seek an African theological response as a way to guide black African culture moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay traces its author's changing understanding over forty-five years of critical engagement of the many James protagonists who like Lambert Strether in The Ambassadors fail often deliberately to "get anything for themselves" out of the affairs in which they are enmeshed. With reference to developments in James studies since the 1980s the essay describes its author's own shift away from once-standard narratives of renunciation to his present re-casting of these characters as "mediators"—James's representatives in his radical even utopian effort to imagine alternative less violent and appropriative forms of intimacy relation and community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Will the Al-Aqsa Flood affect the course of democracy in the Arab world? Has the prevailing authoritarianism in Arab countries ceased to be a necessity for the official Arab regime and the international powers that control it, especially in light of the projects being devised in the region following the genocidal war in Gaza? This study discusses and provides a critical analysis of the state of democracy in the Arab world in light of various criteria and indicators used by several Western democracy measurement centers and institutions. It examines the future of democracy in the Arab world following the genocidal war in Gaza, emphasizing that its impact will not be sudden, automatic, or immediate in the progress of democracy in the Arab world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review aims to find, classify, and discuss ongoing projects that fall into the category of multi-use platforms, concerning offshore energy exploitation and marine resource production, including aquaculture. The term multi-use platforms (MUPs) refer to areas that may accommodate multiple operations such as aquaculture, tourism, transportation, oil, or energy production. This research only examines the current situation of marine energy projects that entail the integration of either a single kind of renewable energy or other types of marine renewable energy, in conjunction with aquaculture. The particularity of this research consists in the exclusive choice of platforms that integrate two sources of renewable energy on a single platform. The study focuses on analyzing the projects set up over time on these platforms, all of which include aquaculture. The state of the art in MUPs for offshore applications was examined to generate the review. We devised a methodical search approach aiming to find relevant material from various academic fields. During this phase, we looked to understand as much as we could about MUPs, including their design, the nature of these projects, what kinds of projects they can include, how they integrate renewable energy sources, and whether aquaculture facilities can be put together. To preserve scientific integrity and guarantee the inclusion of relevant research, a search strategy was formulated. The bibliographic study was through critical analysis, and at the end, significant conclusions were drawn concerning the development of multi-use platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study examines the approach taken by Muhammad Shahrour in his division of the Quran, aiming to reveal the methodological and scientific errors he made, as well as his explicit contravening of linguistic rules and the principles of faith and religion. This is explored through his applied study on the meanings of the terms (ballagh and ablagh) and (nazzal and anzal). Methodology: The researcher employed the inductive, analytical, and critical methods in this analysis. Results: One of the findings reached is that Shahrour's method of dividing the Quran into miraculous and non-miraculous is an innovative approach that distorts the facts. He reverses the roles of clear and ambiguous verses, making the clear ones ambiguous and the ambiguous ones clear, contrary to the explanations established by scholars of Quranic interpretation regarding the meanings of the Quranic texts. Recommendations: The study recommended further critique of Shahrour's intellectual legacy by presenting his views, discussing them, and responding to them in a systematic and scholarly manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper offers a critical perspective on some modern studies of Plotinus’ doctrine of Love, which interpret his Eros as more than a guide, leading the soul to the intelligible world and above, to the first Principle, or directing its gaze to the sensible world. They consider Love to be the driving force behind generation from the One and even identify it with the One itself, basing most of their arguments on rare instances of Eros’ appearance at levels above the soul and using an emphatically erotic terminology that is alien to Plotinus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the suggestion (Steen, 2023a, 2023b) that most metaphor may be structurally ambiguous between deliberate and non-deliberate meanings, which in turn affords multivalent metaphor use. The paper begins by examining a sample of 56 Metaphor-Related Words in 25 examples of language use from corpus research about metaphor in discourse about cancer and the end of life (Semino et al., 2018). These data are analyzed by means of a new method proposed by Deliberate Metaphor Theory (Steen, 2023a; cf.; Reijnierse et al. 2019). Results show that all metaphors in the sample that are both polysemous and conventional can be given two interpretations, one non-deliberate and one deliberate. This ambiguity is largely corroborated by additional analysis of these same data by Wmatrix. Subsequent inclusion of all other cases from the same chapter in Semino et al. (2018) offers additional support. This finding offers a critical perspective on the idea that metaphor is a strong psychological device for figurative framing in discourse, for the structural ambiguity of most metaphor allows for multivalent metaphor use, where, in fact, most metaphor may typically be comprehended non-metaphorically (Steen, 2008, 2023a, 2023b). The ambiguity of metaphor hence also explains the paradox of metaphor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the Special Issue on unsettling geographies of tourism. The overarching aim of this collection of articles is to bring together critical and creative analyses that help destabilize tourism's relationship to settler colonialism. In this Introduction, we provide an overview of literature on geographies of settler colonialism and tourism, which works to situate the 'unsettling' agenda in relation to the decolonial and Indigenous geographies and the respective contributions of each article in the Special Issue. We also review the ethics of care and decolonizing approach that oriented our process of peer reviewing articles, understanding that peer review is fraught with practices of erasure, exclusion, and prescription and that decolonizing tourism geographies must include intentional practices of transforming our individual and collective responsibilities to each other and with the lands and waters from which scholarship originates. Towards the end of our Introduction, we present a summary of each article that amplifies and synthesizes their respective contributions to unsettling tourism geographies knowledge and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]