Conceptual Background Research Articles

Design Approaches of Parametric Kinetic Wall Systems: Innovative Architectural Solutions

Parametric design is an approach that expands architectural practice and changes traditional perceptions. This method allows architects to balance functionality and aesthetics using algorithmic thinking in the design process. Kinetic architecture involves the design of structures and buildings that often move in response to environmental conditions. The use of parametric design in conjunction with kinetic architecture enables the design of buildings to respond quickly to dynamically changing conditions. This study focuses on buildings designed with parametric design and kinetic architecture approach. Its conceptual background is based on written sources, internet databases, analyses and photographs. Rhinoceros-Grasshopper, one of the most widely used programmes of the parametric design process, was used as a method. Parametric algorithms were used to design a kinetic wall with this program. As a clear result, it has been observed that the mathematical algorithms provided by parametric design and the ability of kinetic architecture to move can provide innovative solutions in architectural design very quickly.

Self-Orientalist Representations of Turkish Classical Music in the Republican Era

The critique of Orientalism in music studies has tended to focus on European Orientalism rather than the Orientalism of “Orientals.” The purpose of this study is to explore how Turkish classical music (TCM) was represented in self-Orientalist discourses of Republican Turkey as part of competing strategies to define Turkish musical identity. These discourses not only perpetuate and reproduce the essentialist conceptions of European Orientalism, but also reformulate them in a different setting, sometimes contrasting their own interpretation with that of the Europeans. Whether they otherize or embrace the “non-Western” elements in Turkish music, most of these competing discourses share the same system of representation based on an essentialized and de-historicized conceptualization of culture. This also applies to some of the counter-discourses which emerged as a reaction to the symbolic violence imposed by Westernizing music policies in Republican Turkey. Despite their criticism of European Orientalism, they merely reverse its essentialist ontology to favor TCM. Using a wide range of sources, including the writings of influential Turkish thinkers, officials, and musicologists as well as periodicals and newspapers, this study aims to show the common conceptual background in the negative and positive representations of TCM from the 1920s to the present.

Culpa, responsabilidade e mudanças climáticas

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the difference between guilt and responsibility, in the context of the ecological crisis, particularly after de floodings in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and the following public shock. We begin by presenting a short historical and conceptual background, which will present a few important moments in the progressive occupation, by the ecological issues, of a central place in contemporary politics and society. In this moment of the argument, we will present Vandana Shiva’s criticism to the Modern development model, implemented throughout the world. We then turn our attention to the notion of ideology as discussed by Hannah Arendt, particularly regarding its purpose of total domination, legitimized by resorting to putative superhuman processes. In a third moment, we discuss what we called – tentatively – “generic form of the modern political subjectivity”, intending to show that it is dependent, along with the community it establishes, on the reproduction of existential crises for its preservation. Lastly, we discuss the distinction between guilt and responsibility, based on Hannah Arendt’s writings, closing the paper with brief remarks regarding an alternative form of political subjectivity, more capable of dealing with the ecological issues of our time.

Towards Data-and Knowledge-Driven AI: A Survey on Neuro-Symbolic Computing.

Neural-symbolic computing (NeSy), which pursues the integration of the symbolic and statistical paradigms of cognition, has been an active research area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for many years. As NeSy shows promise of reconciling the advantages of reasoning and interpretability of symbolic representation and robust learning in neural networks, it may serve as a catalyst for the next generation of AI. In the present paper, we provide a systematic overview of the recent developments and important contributions of NeSy research. Firstly, we introduce study history of this area, covering early work and foundations. We further discuss background concepts and identify key driving factors behind the development of NeSy. Afterward, we categorize recent landmark approaches along several main characteristics that underline this research paradigm, including neural-symbolic integration, knowledge representation, knowledge embedding, and functionality. Next, we briefly discuss the successful application of modern NeSy approaches in several domains. Then, we benchmark several NeSy methods on three representative application tasks. Finally, we identify the open problems together with potential future research directions. This survey is expected to help new researchers enter this rapidly evolving field and accelerate the progress towards data-and knowledge-driven AI.

An empirical study of impact of customer retention policies on users followed by telecom companies

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of customer retention policies followed by various telecom companies in India. In the modern day, rivalry exists throughout each industry or subject. Therefore, the company must preserve its positive reputation. In light of something similar, the company consistently seeks to draw or keep customers to its identity and offerings by stepping up marketing operations that directly or indirectly impact its development and advancement in a cutthroat industry. For the analysis, the study surveyed 200 telecom customers, including mobile operators and DTHs, to determine their views regarding consumer retention policies and set some parameters against which the survey was conducted.The study revealed that the policy of minimizing attrition affects customer retention in the mobile telecom sector. All these strategies help organizations retain existing consumers and attract potential consumers in one way. This study elaborates the conceptual background and definitions of customer retention, importance, key determinants and strategies for consumer retention and examines the effect and role of consumer retention in telecommunication and the scope of consumer retention in the telecom sector.

Flexibly Incorporating the Dyad into Psychosocial Intervention: Considerations for Neuropalliative Care.

This paper reviews dyadic psychosocial intervention approaches that flexibly incorporate both dyad members despite challenges to equitable involvement due to cognitive limitations or limited availability. We provide an overview, analysis, and examples for the following dyadic intervention approaches: (1) shared interventions that involve each dyad member equitably (i.e., higher care recipient cognition, higher care-partner availability); (2) patient-focused interventions that primarily engage care recipients with early stages of neurocognitive disorders, yet include care-partners in select sessions and target dyadic and relationship needs (i.e., higher care recipient cognition, lower care-partner availability); and (3) care-partner focused interventions that primarily engage care-partners, yet still address care recipient and relationship needs (i.e., lower care recipient cognition, higher care-partner availability). In our review, we propose a flexible definition of dyadic psychosocial intervention that considers the continuum of individuals' involvement, measurement, content, and conceptual background. We conclude with a discussion of implications for neuropalliative care.

Relevance of Bacteria in Causing Rain and Snow.

The Earth's climate is influenced by both natural phenomena (solar fluctuations, oceanic patterns, volcanic eruptions, and tectonic movements) and human activities (deforestation, CO and CO2 emissions, and desertification), all of which contribute to ongoing climate change and the resulting global warming. However, human actions are a major factor in exacerbating global warming and amplifying its adverse impacts worldwide. . With rising temperatures, water evaporation from water bodies and soils intensifies, leading to heightened water scarcity, particularly in drought-prone regions. This scarcity compounds rainfall deficits, posing significant challenges. Precipitation, essential for the biosphere's hydrological cycle, replenishes much of the world's freshwater. It occurs when condensed water vapor in the atmosphere falls back to Earth as rain, drizzle, sleet, graupel, hail, or snow due to gravity. Literature highlights the indispensable role of bacterial populations in this process, termed bio-precipitation. This phenomenon begins with bacterial colonization on plant surfaces, with colonies subsequently dispersed into the atmosphere by winds, triggering ice crystal formation. Through their ice nucleating property, these bacteria facilitate the growth of larger ice crystals, which eventually melt and precipitate as rain or snow. This mechanism aids in nutrient transfer from clouds to soil or vegetation. Pseudomonas syringae stands out as the most notable microorganism exhibiting this ice-nucleation property, serving as the primary source of ice nucleators driving bio-precipitation. Despite limited literature on "rain and snow-causing bacteria," this review comprehensively explores the conceptual background of bio-precipitation, the involved bioprocesses, and the critical role of bacteria like P. syringae, offering insights into future research directions.

Pishu Tebe Digital Archive

The paper examines the contribution of the Pishu Tebe project to the digitization of historical postcards. Pishu Tebe contains 45000 marked-up postcards and is thus one of the largest projects involved in postcard digitization. The principal innovation proposed and successfully implemented by Pishu Tebe is a multidimensional approach to digital preservation of postcards as cultural entities. In contrast to other initiatives, Pishu Tebe builds a digital archive opening the way for analyzing all kinds of postcard-related data: visual, textual, chronological, geographical and personal (sender/recipient’s names). The paper starts with a discussion of the place of Pishu Tebe in contemporary postcards studies, its conceptual methodology and IT background. It describes then the key phases of the digitization process and identifies major challenges faced by a voluntary digitization project. In the end, the paper presents quantitative and qualitative results of Pishu Tebe and outlines further plans.

A conceptual typology of energy citizenship

Energy citizenship is viewed as playing an essential role in the transition towards sustainable energy systems on a national and global scale. However, as a social science concept it is rather fuzzy and insufficiently elaborated. This paper proposes a conceptual typology of energy citizenship that aims for a balance between various competing understandings, in full awareness of ontological and disciplinary differences. The identification of conceptual dimensions and categories for the typology is based on a thorough literature research in the fields of energy social sciences and political sciences, resulting in the formulation of ten ideal types. In a next step, the conceptual typology was empirically tested and substantiated by mapping 596 cases of energy citizenship across Europe. This article presents the conceptual background of the typology and describes the ten ideal-types, highlighting conceptual characteristics, and illustrating them with salient examples. The conceptual typology captures the breadth of energy citizenship, encompassing both existing and possible types. It can be used by practitioners in the design of initiatives and/or policies acknowledging the various possible contributions of energy citizenship to a more sustainable, just and democratic energy system, and in social science studies on transformative social innovations, (dis)empowerment and “knowings of governance”.

Revolutionizing Immunotherapy: Unveiling New Horizons, Confronting Challenges, and Navigating Therapeutic Frontiers in CAR-T Cell-Based Gene Therapies.

The CAR-T cell therapy has marked the dawn of new era in the cancer therapeutics and cell engineering techniques. The review emphasizes on the challenges that obstruct the therapeutic efficiency caused by cell toxicities, immunosuppressive tumor environment, and decreased T cell infiltration. In the interest of achieving the overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) of patients, the conceptual background of potential target selection and various CAR-T cell design techniques are described which can minimize the off-target effects, reduce toxicity, and thus increase the resilience of CAR-T cell treatment in the haematological malignancies as well as in solid tumors. Furthermore, it delves into cutting-edge technologies like gene editing and synthetic biology, providing new opportunities to enhance the functionality of CAR-T cells and overcome mechanisms of immune evasion. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of the complex and diverse aspects of CAR-T cell-based gene treatments, including both scientific and clinical aspects. By effectively addressing the obstacles and utilizing the capabilities of cutting-edge technology, CAR-T cell therapy shows potential in fundamentally changing immunotherapy and reshaping the approach to cancer treatment.

Advancements in Novel Mechano-Rheological Probes for Studying Glassy Dynamics in Nanoconfined Thin Polymer Films.

The nanoconfinement effects of glassy polymer thin films on their thermal and mechanical properties have been investigated thoroughly, especially with an emphasis on its altered glass transition behavior compared to bulk polymer, which has been known for almost three decades. While research in this direction is still evolving, reaching new heights to unravel the underlying physics of phenomena observed in confined thin polymer films, we have a much clearer picture now. This, in turn, has promoted their application in miniaturized and functional applications. To extract the full potential of such confined films, starting from their fabrication, function, and various applications, we must realize the necessity to have an understanding and availability of robust characterization protocols that specifically target thin film thermo-mechanical stability. Being nanometer-sized in thickness, often atop a solid substrate, direct mechanical testing on such films becomes extremely challenging and often encounters serious complexity from the dominating effect of the substrate. In this review, we have compiled together a few important novel and promising techniques for mechano-rheological characterization of glassy polymer thin films. The conceptual background involved in each technique, constitutive equations, methodology, and current status of research are touched upon following a pedagogical tutorial approach. Further, we discussed each technique's success and limitations, carefully covering the puzzling or contradicting observations reported within the broad nexus of glass transition temperature-viscosity-modulus-molecular mobility (including diffusion and relaxation).

Brief communication: Lessons learned and experiences gained from building up a global survey on societal resilience to changing droughts

Abstract. This paper describes the process of creating a global survey of experts to evaluate drought resilience indicators. The lessons learned include five main points: (1) the heterogeneity in the conceptual background should be minimized before the construction of the survey; (2) large numbers of indicators decrease the engagement of respondents through the survey, and ways to apportion indicators whilst maintaining reliability should be considered; (3) it is necessary to design the survey to balance response rate and accuracy; (4) the survey questions should have clear statements with a logical and flowing structure; and (5) reaching experts with different domain experience and representing different regions is difficult but crucial to minimize biased results.

Изобретение концепта реализма в схоластике

The ancient separation of the world into the domains of ideas and things created the ground for questioning about true existence. Thus, reality could be attributed to ideas, or it could be attributed to things. Given the tension between Platonic and Aristotelian ontologies, the problem of the status of general notions was embodied in medieval philosophical discussion, often clothed in theological form. The article reconstructs the controversy around the ontological status of universals within several scholastic doctrines. The essence of this dispute, from a perspective that is of ontological and gnoseological interest, comes down to clarifying the categorical grid, within which it is possible to make statements concerning reality. There are at least three main positions that refl ect the views of scholastic thinkers on the ontological nature of universals: realism, nominalism and conceptualism. The basic difference between them is determined by confl icting opinions regarding the issues of autonomy of the existence of universals, their dependence on the mind and things, and also about their materiality. This study reproduces the crucial moves of the scholastic thought of realists (A. Canterbury), nominalists (W. Occam), conceptualists (P. Abelard) and moderate realists (F. Aquinas), around which the conceptual background of the conversation about reality is formed. At the same time, it became obvious that the concept of realism (which was not yet in the philosophical vocabulary during the period of scholasticism) acquires its features in the intersections and contradictions between positions in the range from strong realism to extreme nominalism. Besides, it has been demonstrated in actual analysis that a set of alternative solutions to the problem of universals was refl ected in the broad philosophical problems of Modern (along the epistemological teachings of rationalism and empiricism) and contemporary thought (in projects of speculative realism, fl at ontologies, as well as in the fi eld of philosophy of mind). At the same time, it must be recognized, as a result, that the later development of the concept of realism and the problems of cognition associated with it had a retrospective impact on the correlation of scholastic positions with each other.

Pyotr Kostromitinov’s wood collection from Fort Ross: evidence of the early botanical exploration of northern California

Summary Systematic attribution of the wood samples collected in 1830 by Pyotr Kostromitinov, the Manager of Fort Ross, a Russian settlement on the Pacific coast of northern California, has been carried out. As some wood samples belong to the taxa that had not been described at the time of their collection, their labels provide interesting evidence for the first steps of botanical exploration of an exotic flora by the Russian colonists who were not professional naturalists. Particularly, Garrya has been recognized by them as Viburnum, Lyonothamnus as Arbutus, and Torreya as Taxus. In contrast, different species of Ceanothus have been referred not only to this genus, but also to Rhamnus and Laurus. The meanings of some Russian vernacular plant names mentioned in the published historical documents have been clarified. For instance, lavr (laurel) was used not only for California laurel Umbellularia californica, but also for some Ceanothus species (probably C. velutinus). The reference of the vernacular name chaga to Sequoia sempervirens has been confirmed. Unlike most early wood collections, Pyotr Kostromitinov’s samples are made of thin stems and branches with no conspicuous surfaces showing their wood appearance. Such pieces are hardly suitable for demonstration of aesthetic or technical properties of timber. Pyotr Kostromitinov’s samples likely represent one of the earliest cases of collecting wood as objects of particular interest for botany and, more generally, for natural history. It was an important novelty for the 1830s, as the botanical exploration of woods did not have any sufficient conceptual background in those times.

A review on learning based image reflection removal algorithms

Capturing images through semi-reflective surfaces, such as glass windows and transparent enclosures, often leads to a reduction in visual quality and can adversely affect the performance of computer vision algorithms. As a result, image reflection removal has garnered significant attention among computer vision researchers. With the growing application of deep learning methods in various computer vision tasks, such as super-resolution, inpainting, and denoising, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have become an increasingly popular choice for image reflection removal. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of learning-based algorithms designed for image reflection removal. Firstly, we provide an overview of the key terminology and essential background concepts in this field. Next, we examine various datasets and data synthesis methods to assist researchers in selecting the most suitable options for their specific needs and targets. We then review existing methods with qualitative and quantitative results, highlighting their contributions and significance in this field. Finally, some considerations about challenges and future scope in image reflection removal techniques are discussed.

Harmonizing International Environmental Law and National Sovereignty

International environmental law is an important legal tool to deal with the global environmental crisis. In recent years with the increasingly serious and global environmental problems the speed and depth of environmental problems are also increasing. In this process the relationship between state sovereignty and international environmental law and its conflict become the object of study. "To do a systematic analysis this paper attempts to destroy the conflict between national sovereignty and environmental rights and on the basis of in-depth discussion of the background concept formation and development stage of international environmental law to explore whether the two can be coordinated. In particular the concept of "soft standards" is proposed to analyze its actual status and role in international environmental law and its dialectical relationship between legal significance and legal effect in non-binding international instruments. On the basis of respecting national sovereignty the document said that strengthening the supervision of international mechanisms and improving the national responsibility system can promote the effective coordination of international environmental law and safeguard national sovereignty and realize the mutual benefit and win-win situation of environmental protection and national interests. At the same time it puts forward a more cautious attitude towards the criticism and modification of the soft law of the international environment and emphasizes that the universal basis of the law should be paid attention to in the practical application so as to avoid the marginalization of legal research due to excessive dependence on social analysis methods.This paper aims to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the further development and practical application of international environmental law.

What is a mantra? Guidance for practitioners, researchers, and editors.

Mantras, sometimes called holy names or prayer words, are increasingly included and studied as components in health and human services interventions. In this emerging field, the term "mantra" has been implicitly defined over several decades in a way that has been useful, largely shared across research teams, and historically resonant. However, confusion has arisen in how "mantra" is defined and used in a small fraction of recent publications that depart from longstanding usage. To provide needed guidance going forward for researchers, editors, reviewers, and practitioners, the present article discusses historical, cross-cultural, conceptual, and empirical background and proposes a definition of "mantra" for use in empirical research on mantra interventions: A mantra is a phrase or sound that has been repeated and sanctified over time within a spiritual tradition. Using this definition, we categorize several dozen empirical studies of mantra repetition interventions. Emphasizing well-established psychosocial processes such as priming and spreading activation, we explain theoretical and empirical bases for expecting repetition of mantras to enlist spiritual resources and provide added value for health and well-being, over and above the repetition of neutral non-mantra sounds or phrases. Although the term mantra should be used carefully in professional discourse, we allow that looser definitions can be acceptable in communications with intervention recipients, clients, and patients, parallel to recent recommendations for how to employ the term "spirituality." Directions for future research are suggested. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Political Settlements Dataset: Power Configurations and Political Blocs in the Global South, 1946-2018

Political scientists have long sought to understand power dynamics across the Global South, but efforts to systematically capture political power have been limited, and existing datasets have faced conceptual and measurement challenges. The Political Settlements (PolSett) dataset was developed to address these issues. This original expert survey-based dataset includes over one hundred political economy variables coded for forty two countries from 1946 or independence to 2018 (totalling 2,718 country years). It allows for a detailed mapping of countries’ power configurations, capturing information on the relative size, power and social composition of competing political blocs in society, as well as their internal cohesion, accountability relations and distribution of benefits. The dataset is expected to enable more direct and rigorous analyses of power differentials in the Global South and their impact on political and economic developments. This letter describes the conceptual background of the dataset, how it was constructed, discusses its validity, and highlights some of its key features.

Students' Perspective on Undergraduate Research Experiences in Indonesian Dental Schools.

Undergraduate (UG) research is considered as an essential part of dental education. Numerous dental schools have included required course-based undergraduate research in their curricula. However, the implementation of UG research courses in the curriculum may vary between dental schools. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate student perspectives on UG research in the curriculum of Indonesian dental schools. A total of 203 participants from 10 dental schools returned the questionnaire. The participants were clinical students of the dentistry profession program who completed their undergraduate dentistry program from 2017 to 2022. The majority of study participants favored UG research in the curriculum of the undergraduate dentistry study program. Less than 20% participants perceived UG research experiments were not important in dental education. Factors that influenced these perceptions included the availability of adequate time to complete the course and sufficient support from research supervisors. Recommendations for improvement included providing an adequate time to complete UG research and adequate supervision to guide students to understand the conceptual background information of the research topics, designs, and scientific communication of data interpretation. Regular monitoring of students' performance and progress would ensure completion of UG research courses in a timely manner. In conclusion, although UG research as a compulsory course in the Indonesian dental curriculum was well received by the students, overcoming the challenges is essential for the improvement of the research environment for undergraduate dental students.

From Theory to Practice: A Transtheoretical Treatment and Training Model (4TM).

In this paper, we present the conceptual background and clinical implications of a research-based transtheoretical treatment and training model (4TM). The model implements findings from psychotherapy outcome, process, and feedback research into a clinical and training framework that is open to future research. The framework is based on interventions targeting patient processes on a behavioral, cognitive, emotional, motivational, interpersonal, and systemic/socio-cultural level. The 4TM also includes a data-based decision support and feedback system called the Trier Treatment Navigator (TTN). We discuss important problems associated with clinical orientations solely based on one school of thought. We then contrast these concerns with a clinical and training framework that embraces ongoing research, serving as a guiding structure for process-based transtheoretical interventions. Such research-based psychological therapy can take both traditional and novel clinical developments as well as findings from psychotherapy research into account and be adaptively disseminated to a variety of patient populations.