Concrete Concepts Research Articles

Improving Home-Based Scoliosis Therapy: Findings From a Web-Based Survey.

Conservative scoliosis therapy in the form of assisted physiotherapeutic scoliosis exercises is supplemented by self-contained training at home, depending on the approach (eg, Schroth, the Scientific Exercises Approach to Scoliosis). Complex exercises, lack of awareness of the importance of training, and missing supervision by therapists often lead to uncertainty and reduced motivation, which in turn reduces the success of home-based therapy. Increasing digitalization in the health care sector offers opportunities to close this gap. However, research is needed to analyze the requirements and translate the potential of digital tools into concrete solution concepts. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential for optimizing home-based scoliosis therapy in terms of motivation, assistive devices, and digital tools. In collaboration with the Institute of Physiotherapy at the Jena University Hospital, a survey was initiated to address patients with scoliosis and physical therapists. A digital questionnaire was created for each target group and distributed via physiotherapies, scoliosis forums, the Bundesverband für Skoliose Selbsthilfe e. V. newsletter via a link, and a quick response code. The survey collected data on demographics, therapy, exercise habits, motivation, assistive devices, and digital tools. Descriptive statistics were used for evaluation. Of 141 survey participants, 72 (51.1%; n=62, 86.1%, female; n=10, 13.9%, male) patients with scoliosis with an average age of 40 (SD 17.08) years and 30 scoliosis therapists completed the respective questionnaires. The analysis of home-based therapy showed that patients with scoliosis exercise less per week (2 times or less; 45/72, 62.5%) than they are recommended to do by therapists (at least 3 times; 53/72, 73.6%). Patients indicated that their motivation could be increased by practicing together with friends and acquaintances (54/72, 75%), a supporting therapy device (48/72, 66.7%), or a digital profile (46/72, 63.9%). The most important assistive devices, which are comparatively rarely used in home-based therapy, included balance boards (20/72, 27.8%), wall bars (23/72, 31.9%), mirrors (36/72, 50%), and long bars (40/72, 55.6%). Therapists saw the greatest benefit of digital tools for scoliosis therapy in increasing motivation (26/30, 87%), improving home therapy (25/30, 83%), monitoring therapy progress (25/30, 83%), and demonstrating exercise instructions (24/30, 80%). In this study, we investigated whether there is any potential for improvement in home-based scoliosis therapy. For this purpose, using online questionnaires, we asked patients with scoliosis and therapists questions about the following topics: exercise habits, outpatient and home-based therapy, motivation, supportive devices, and digital tools. The results showed that a lack of motivation, suitable training equipment, and tools for self-control leads to a low training workload. From the perspective of the patients surveyed, this problem can be addressed through community training with friends or acquaintances, a supportive therapy device, and digital elements, such as apps, with training instructions and user profiles.

FAKTOR PERADABAN ISLAM ERA SAHABAT NABI HINGGA ZAMAN KONTEMPORER

The dynamics of Islamic civilization is a concept that refers to the development of civilization or culture based on Islamic principles. This concept involves renewal, adaptation, and transformation in various aspects of life, which usually include social, economic, political, and cultural aspects, taking into account the values ​​of life, ethics, and Islamic principles. The method used in this research is a descriptive research method with a literature study approach that refers to several research data sources and data collection techniques in the form of studies of Islamic cultural civilization. The focus of the research will be raised is the dynamics of Islamic civilization in the era of the companions of the Prophet. The data collection technique used in this study was the library research method, namely the study of literature originating from books and articles in journals, the data analysis technique used in this study was a descriptive method. Islam is a religion that has concrete concepts and rules prohibiting how to form a civilization and the process of forming a civilization in the development of human life, there are at least three primary factors derived from the development and decline of a civilization. This can provide imagination in carrying out effective and efficient disruption to various fields of economic, educational, political, and cultural aspects
 KEYWORDS
 Islam, Civilization, Culture

TREATED SEA COMPONENTS CONCRETE

This paper has introduced the concept of sustainable concrete. To save pure water and sand quarries, both seawater and sea sand have been used in concrete mix instead of pure water and normal sand. In addition, the cement has been partially replaced by ash from palm tree wastes to address the effect of salinity on the mechanical properties of the concrete. The workability and compressive strength of concrete were investigated for various percentages of replacement of sea-sand and palm tree waste ash. The slump and compression tests were completed, with the concrete compression test completed after 7 days and 28 days of curing with seawater. The results showed that replacing 30% of the normal sand with sea-sand and 5% of the cement with palm ash wastes in the presence of seawater as a full replacement of the tap water increased the compressive strength by 48.5% when compared to normal concrete with sea water as a mixing water.

Phenomenological Fragments of Trinitarian Discourse: Being, Having, Relating

Among the important tasks of Trinitarian theology today is the need to rethink its basic conceptual coordinates. This contribution is a proposal for a phenomenological and existential approach to Trinitarian theology. The starting point is the analysis of three essential existential operators, by means of which the depth of the filial experience of Jesus is expressed. These operators are: being, having, and entering into relations. Their analysis in light of the data of the Gospel narrative allows us to create an interesting conceptual framework for a new articulation of the Trinitarian discourse. The article builds on the conviction that the concrete shapes and modalities of Jesus’ life are essential moments of the revelation of the Trinity. Before it is simultaneously closed and opened in concrete historical forms of discourse and in concrete metaphysical concepts, it is accomplished in the categorical decisions, actions, and words of Jesus, in which his filial consciousness is revealed. The ambition of the text is to reintroduce metaphysics into theology, however, from a different perspective than was conducted, for example, by classical scholasticism. It is about the existential recovery of metaphysical potential in theology. Revelation takes place in history and in the concrete of life. The metaphysics that theology needs must realize this and, above all, be up to the task of pointing to the living, historical center of Revelation and all theology. The article argues that such an existential deepening of metaphysics for Trinitarian theology can be conducted through collaboration with phenomenology. In such a perspective, the fragments of Jesus’ life, especially his way of being, having, and entering into relations, are ways in which the Trinity reveals itself in history. In this way, Trinitarian theology ceases to be a mere intellectual puzzle, becoming an existential paradigm, and the fragments of Revelation reveal an impressive structure in which speculation and life become integral paths toward the Mystery. On the formal side, the text argues for the integration and use of both metaphysics and phenomenology in Trinitarian theology to enhance its existential impact. This in turn implies a rethinking of how metaphysics, phenomenology, and theology itself are usually understood as well.

Identifying the Production–Living–Ecological Functional Structure of Haikou City by Integrating Empirical Knowledge with Multi-Source Data

The inefficient use of urban resources and the imbalance of spatial structures make optimizing land use management a top priority in urban environmental management. Traditional land use classification systems that prioritize only natural features while disregarding human activity can result in redundancy and conflicts in urban planning. The Production–Living–Ecological Space (PLES) approach was developed as an integrated method for territorial spatial classification. However, most existing studies on PLES are conducted at provincial scales, largely overlooking fine-scale usage within cities. In addition, the existing concept of PLES has been vaguely defined, resulting in linear and simple identification methods that are not applicable to complex urban environments. To address these issues, this study proposes a method to identify urban PLES based on supervised classification using random forest models, which integrate empirical knowledge and multi-source heterogeneous information. The experiments conducted in Haikou reveal the regional aggregation of living and production spaces and the scarcity of ecological space in the city. Our study proposes a concrete concept of PLES and a method for identifying PLES that can be applied to multiple regions, providing an effective tool for the coordinated management of urban production, living, and ecological environments.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of abstract and concrete semantic representations

Dual Coding Theories (DCT) suggest that meaning is represented in the brain by a double code: a language-derived code in the Anterior Temporal Lobe (ATL) and a sensory-derived code in perceptual and motor regions. Concrete concepts should activate both codes, while abstract ones rely solely on the linguistic code. To test these hypotheses, the present magnetoencephalography (MEG) experiment had participants judge whether visually presented words relate to the senses while we recorded brain responses to abstract and concrete semantic components obtained from 65 independently rated semantic features. Results evidenced early involvement of anterior-temporal and inferior-frontal brain areas in both abstract and concrete semantic information encoding. At later stages, occipital and occipito-temporal regions showed greater responses to concrete compared to abstract features. The present findings suggest that the concreteness of words is processed first with a transmodal/linguistic code, housed in frontotemporal brain systems, and only after with an imagistic/sensorimotor code in perceptual regions.

Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of Green Roof Slab Under Acid Rain Attack

A flat slab is widely used as an alternative form of a house roof. The roof work does not take long. Its simple structure is beautiful to homeowners with a minimalist concept. Because this slab does not use a roof covering, it is very susceptible to the influence of the sea. Damage often occurs. Acid rain causes the concrete to become porous as slab material. This investigation aims to produce a durable roof slab to solve existing problems. The test object used was a reinforced concrete slab of 30cmx60cmx15cm. Three types of compressive strength were used, namely 20 MPa, 30 MPa, and 35 MPa. At the same time, the green concrete concept is used by replacing some of the cement with rice husk ash. The effect of acid rain was carried out by immersing the specimens in an acid solution for 28 days, 90 days, and 120 days. All samples were tested for flexural strength for their mechanical properties and XRD for microstructural properties. The results show that the roof slab with rice husk ash can reduce the damage that occurs due to the influence of acid. At the same time, gypsum and calcium oxide content can show the phenomenon of slab damage.

A Brief Study on Comparison of Properties of Different Types of Concrete

Abstract: The abstract distinction refers to a distinction among concepts, which is typically characterized as follows. Concrete concepts are those who referents can be experienced through perception

Aesthetic Improvement by Innovative Translucent Concrete

Abstract: Concrete has been used since Roman times for the development of infrastructure and housing, but its basic components have remained the same. Three ingredients make up the dry mix: coarse aggregate, consisting of larger pieces of material like stones or gravel; fine aggregate, made up of smaller particles such as sand; and cement, a very fine powder material that binds the mix togetherwhen water is added. Just a few decades ago concrete was often misunderstood, disliked and captured by its image fixed due to the rapid urbanization of the 1960s. But since that time, concrete has made considerable progress, not only in technical terms, but also inaesthetic terms. It is no longer the heavy, cold and grey material of the past; it has become beautiful and lively. By research and innovation, newly developed concrete has been created which is more resistant, lighter, white or coloured, etc. Concrete has learned to adapt to almost all new challenges that appeared. In 2001, the concept of translucent concrete was first put forward by Hungarian architect Aron Losonzi at the Technical University of Budapest, and the first translucent concrete block was successfully produced by mixing large amount of glass fibre into concrete in 2003, named as LiTraCon. The translucent concrete mainly focuses on transparency and its objective of application pertains to green technology and artistic finish. It is the “combination of optical fibres and fine concrete”. At present, green structures focus greatly on saving energy with indoor thermal systems. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a new functional material to satisfy the structure in terms of safety monitoring (such as damage detection, fire warning), environmental protection and energy saving and artistic modelling. Due to globalization and construction of high-rise building, the space between buildings is reduced; this causes to increasing the use of non- renewable energy sources, so therefore there is a need of smart construction technique like green building and indoor thermal system. Translucent concrete (Transparent concrete) is new technique different from normal concrete

Wealth Metaphors in Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money Introduction Section

This study aims to identify wealth metaphors in Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money introduction section. Conceptual metaphor is a concept of an abstract entity drawn in that of a concrete concept to provide a better understanding (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). Moreover, metaphors are used widely in human everyday life, for instance in movies, literary works, and even small talk. The data were collected utilizing a corpus-based method with the help of tools including WordNet, TRIPS Word Lookup, and AntConc. To analyze the data, the relevance theory by Carston was used in determining metaphorical expression (Carston, 2011) from wealth-related utterances. Additionally, the source domains and the mappings were executed by looking into the co-text of each metaphorical expression. Finally, the wealth metaphors were concluded according to the mappings. The study result shows thirty-six metaphorical expressions found in the introduction section of The Psychology of Money, which were subsequently categorized into smaller groups constructing five wealth metaphors. The source domains are laboratory, school, competition, euphoria, and nature, with wealth as the target domain. To end with, it is recommended that further researchers dig deeper into conceptual metaphors of crucial aspects of human life through a complete work beyond the book’s introduction.

Abstract concepts and simulated competition

To better understand the social determinants of conceptual knowledge we devised a task in which participants were asked to judge the match between a definition (expressed in abstract or concrete terms) and a target-word (also either abstract or concrete). The task was presented in the form of a competition that could/could not include an opponent, and in which different percentages of response rounds were assigned to the participant at the experimenter’s discretion. Thus, depending on the condition, participants were either exposed to a competitive context mimicking a privileged/unprivileged interaction with the experimenter or to a socially neutral setting. Results showed that manipulation of the social context selectively affected judgments on abstract stimuli: responses were significantly slower whenever a definition and/or a target word were presented in abstract form and when participants were in the favorable condition of responding in most of the trials. Moreover, only when processing abstract material, responses were slower when an opponent was expected to be present. Data are discussed in the frame of the different cognitive engagements involved when treating abstract and concrete concepts as well as in relation to the possible motivational factors prompted by the experimental set-up. The role of social context as a crucial element for abstract knowledge processing is also considered.

Perirhinal cortex automatically tracks multiple types of familiarity regardless of task-relevance

Perirhinal cortex (PrC) has long been implicated in familiarity assessment for objects and corresponding concepts. However, extant studies have focused mainly on changes in familiarity induced by recent exposure in laboratory settings. There is an increasing appreciation of other types of familiarity signals, in particular graded familiarity accumulated throughout one's lifetime. In prior work (Duke et al., 2017, Cortex, 89, 61–70), PrC has been shown to track lifetime familiarity ratings when participants make related judgements. A theoretically important characteristic of familiarity is its proposed automaticity. Support for automaticity comes from a documented impact of recent stimulus exposure on behavioral performance, and on PrC signals, under conditions in which this exposure is not task relevant. In the current fMRI study, we tested whether PrC also tracks lifetime familiarity of object concepts automatically, and whether this type of familiarity influences behavior even when it is not task relevant. During scanning, neurotypical participants (N = 30, age range 18–40, 7 males) provided animacy judgements about concrete object concepts presented at differing frequencies in an initial study phase. In a subsequent test phase, they made graded judgements of recent or lifetime familiarity. Behavioral performance showed sensitivity to lifetime familiarity even when it was not relevant for the task at hand. Across five sets of fMRI analyses, we found that PrC consistently tracked recent and lifetime familiarity of object concepts regardless of the task performed. Critically, while several other temporal-lobe regions also showed isolated familiarity effects, none of them tracked familiarity with the same consistency. These findings demonstrate that PrC automatically tracks multiple types of familiarity. They support models that assign a broad role in the representation of information about object concepts to this structure.

The influence of conceptual concreteness on the reading acquisition and integration of novel words into semantic memory via thematic relations.

Plenty of studies have been conducted to reveal neurocognitive underpinnings of conceptual representation. Compared with that of concrete concepts, the neurocognitive correlates of abstract concepts remain elusive. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of conceptual concreteness on the reading acquisition and integration of novel words into semantic memory. We constructed two-sentence contexts in which two-character pseudowords were embedded as novel words. Participants read the contexts to infer the meaning of novel words which were either concrete or abstract, and then performed a lexical decision task and a cued-recall memory task. In lexical decision task, primed by the learned novel words, their corresponding concepts, thematically related or unrelated words as well as unlearned pseudowords were judged whether they were words or not. In memory task, participants were presented with the novel words and asked to write down their meaning. The contextual reading and memory test can demonstrate the modulation of conceptual concreteness on novel word learning and the lexical decision task can reveal whether concrete and abstract novel words are integrated into semantic memory similarly or not. During contextual reading, abstract novel words presented for the first time elicited a larger N400 than concrete ones. In memory task, the meaning of concrete novel words was recollected better than abstract novel words. These results indicate that abstract novel words are more difficult to acquire during contextual reading, and to retain afterwards. For lexical decision task behavioral and ERPs were graded, with the longest reaction time, the lowest accuracy and the largest N400s for the unrelated words, then the thematically related words and finally the corresponding concepts of the novel words, regardless of conceptual concreteness. The results suggest that both concrete and abstract novel words can be integrated into semantic memory via thematic relations. These findings are discussed in terms of differential representational framework which posits that concrete words connect with each other via semantic similarities, and abstract ones via thematic relations.

Managing Othering from a Leadership Perspective

Goals: How to counter othering is the main topic of this article. There is an important role for government leaders, politicians, CEOs, chief executives and service leaders in addressing othering. Othering is more widespread than we think. The academic literature focuses mainly on belonging. Perhaps because this focus serves the neoliberal agenda of competition and success. This article also discusses the various theories related to othering. Professor Dr. Lewis R. Gordon's philosophical work on othering is crucial. Method: A literature review and empirical research, mainly large and small surveys, were used. Results. Othering is a many-headed monster. Othering facilitates (neo-) colonization and (modern) slavery, wars and genocide, institutional and structural racism, the manipulation of a society to make it a class society with a significant class of haves and have-nots, and everyday racism between (groups of) individuals. The approach is multifaceted. To counter othering, lawsuits against corporations and institutions can be used to enforce reparations (aimed at restoring the perpetrator's morale) and further by activating witness interventions. Because social media facilitate othering, it is useful to distinguish between the real and virtual worlds. This is also because the effects of these worlds merge. Othering through social media is very threatening. In this article, a "Human Appreciation Ratio" was developed. The concrete concept questionnaire is included in Appendix 1. This ratio is a measure of the sense of belonging and othering experiences. With this ratio, companies, institutions, and governments can determine how well they deserve the labels they have given themselves, such as "diverse and inclusive”. The theoretical underpinnings of othering arose long ago when Westerners viewed non-Westerners as inferior. This began during the Enlightenment with the distinction between the so-called traditional world (non-Western world) and the modern world (Western world, especially Europe).

Concrete and Abstract Concepts in Primary Progressive Aphasia and Alzheimer's Disease: A Scoping Review.

The concreteness effect (CE), namely a better performance with concrete compared to abstract concepts, is a constant feature in healthy people, and it usually increases in persons with aphasia (PWA). However, a reversal of the CE has been reported in patients affected by the semantic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by anterior temporal lobe (ATL) atrophy. The present scoping review aims at identifying the extent of evidence regarding the abstract/concrete contrast in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and svPPA and associated brain atrophy. Five online databases were searched up to January 2023 to identify papers where both concrete and abstract concepts were investigated. Thirty-one papers were selected and showed that while in patients with AD, concrete words were better processes than abstract ones, in most svPPA patients, there was a reversal of the CE, with five studies correlating the size of this effect with ATL atrophy. Furthermore, the reversal of CE was associated with category-specific impairments (living things) and with a selective deficit of social words. Future work is needed to disentangle the role of specific portions of the ATL in concept representation.

Towards an understanding of global ‘private ordering’ in ICANN: text mining 23 years of Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) Decisions

ABSTRACT To assess the prospect of the ICANN Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) enabling global ‘private ordering’ for domain-name disputes, this study analyses textual data from 75,590 UDRP complaints involving 142,423 domain names. Using data provided by DNS Research Federation’s Data Analytics Platform (DAP.Live), we ask three major research questions: To what extent does the UDRP process differ between resolution bodies? What are the most prevalent themes as represented by keywords and topics? To what extent have these topics changed over time? Using descriptive statistics and a series of inductive text-mining techniques (term-frequency, term frequency-inverse document frequency, and topic modelling), we find substantial evidence for the ongoing stability of the UDRP. Case growth has continued since 2000. There is strong global support for two of the six DRSPs, WIPO and NAF. Average decision time varies substantially by DRSP with WIPO at 63 days and CAC at 36. Panelists heavily employ precedent when adjudicating complaints. Trademark holders continue to dominate the process, winning about 90% of complaints; however, successfully contested cases show strong UDRP jurisprudence supporting non-trademark holders. Topic models created capture both abstract (jurisprudential) and concrete (cybercrime) concepts and show spikes in cybercrime during COVID-19.

Protocol in Evaluating Capacity of Zn-Mn Aqueous Batteries: A Clue of pH.

In the literature, Zn-Mn aqueous batteries (ZMABs) confront abnormal capacity behavior, such as capacity fluctuation and diverse "unprecedented performances." Because of the electrolyte additive-induced complexes, various charge/discharge behaviors associated with different mechanisms are being reported. However, the current performance assessment remains unregulated, and only the electrode or the electrolyte is considered. The lack of a comprehensive and impartial performance evaluation protocol for ZMABs hinders forward research and commercialization. Here, a pH clue (proton-coupled reaction) to understand different mechanisms is proposed and the capacity contribution is normalized. Then, a series of performance metrics, including rated capacity (Cr ) and electrolyte contribution ratio from Mn2+ (CfM), are systematically discussed based on diverse energy storage mechanisms. The relationship between Mn (II) ↔ Mn (III) ↔ Mn (IV) conversion chemistry and protons consumption/production is well-established. Finally, the concrete design concepts of a tunable H+ /Zn2+ /Mn2+ storage system for customized application scenarios, opening the door for the next-generation high-safety and reliable energy storage system, are proposed.

ZYNOVIY BYCHKO ABOUT THE UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE

This article discusses the problems raised in the aphorisms of Zynoviy Bychko who is an Ukrainian dialectologist, linguist, professor of Lviv Ivan Franko National University, member of the Ukrainian National Union of Journalists, member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, member of UIA. He identifies the main means of imagery, focuses on the vitality of the Ukrainian language, which the scientist has repeatedly violated. Analysis of the material was carried out by a descriptive method using elements of analysis of scientific sources.
 The authors emphasize that Zynoviy Bychko’s aphorisms are primarily educational in nature. Taking care of the accessibility, general understanding and imagery of his catchphrases, the author often resorts to the use of transparent analogies that help to comprehend the essence of such difficult concepts as language, word, genetic code. He compares language with an icon, space, galaxy, building structures, works of art, women's jewelries, the human nerve, concrete and abstract concepts, which helps to show the complexity and simplicity of speech. The author endows the lexemes of the language and the word with numerous epithets, creates a phytocharter of the Ukrainian alphabet, which convinces of the beauty and richness of the Ukrainian language.
 Zynoviy Bychko, taking care of the vitality of speech, with vivid examples shows the antiquity of archetypal symbols, the beauty of the poetic word and the perniciousness of speech, distorted by surzhyk and slang, barbarisms. Based on the research of geneticists, physicians, convinces of the harmfulness to the moral and physical health of a person of the negative energy that obscene vocabulary produces.
 The issues of purity, aesthetics, ecology of personality speech are urgent problems, they should be solved professionally and persistently, despite the resistance of opponents. The prosperity of the language, the expansion of its information space is a question of the Ukrainian survival in Ukraine, it is a question of state independence and individual freedom.

The temporal mechanism of contextual emotions’ effects on novel abstract and concrete word learning

While previous studies have explored the neurocognitive mechanism of novel word learning under sentential contexts, few studies have probed the potential effects of contextual emotions. The current study used behavioral methods and electroencephalography to elucidate the dynamic influences of contextual emotions while encoding abstract or concrete novel words on subsequent retrieval of the learned meanings. Enhanced N400 and smaller late positive components (LPC) were elicited when encoding abstract words in the positive context. Furthermore, negative contexts were found to hinder both abstract and concrete word learning, while positive contexts had a greater inhibitory effect on learning abstract words than concrete words. Taken together, these findings suggest that the effects of contextual emotions on novel word learning depend on the concreteness of the learned word and occur during the early and late processing stages while mapping abstract and concrete semantic concepts to novel words.

From technique to normativity: the influence of Kant on Georges Canguilhem’s philosophy of life

Many historical studies tend to underline two central Kantian themes frequently emerging in Georges Canguilhem’s works: (1) a conception of activity, primarily stemming from the Critique of Pure Reason, as a mental and abstract synthesis of judgment; and (2) a notion of organism, inspired by the Critique of Judgment, as an integral totality of parts. Canguilhem was particularly faithful to the first theme from the 1920s to the first half of the 1930s, whereas the second theme became important in the early 1940s. With this article, I will attempt to show that a third important theme of technique arose in the second half of the 30s also in the wake of Kant’s philosophy, especially Sect. 43 of the Critique of Judgment. This section, which states that technical ability is distinguished from a theoretical faculty, led Canguilhem to a more concrete and practical conception of activity. I will then suggest that it was by considering technique that the concept of normativity, which characterizes Georges Canguilhem’s philosophy of life, also took shape.