Material Conditions Research Articles

Beyond Frontiers: ‘Curzonic’ order, frontier expansion and the 1907 Romanes lecture

ABSTRACT George Curzon’s 1907 Romanes lecture, delivered soon after his tenure as Viceroy of India, articulated a vision of geopolitical order at a moment of British imperial decline. Curzon, however, argued that he lived at a historical zenith of frontier competition characterised by British India’s land power and complex frontiers. He invoked ancient precedents to assert the inevitability of modern imperial expansion, obscuring the specific geopolitical and historical material conditions of India’s colonialised frontier spaces. Nonetheless, the lecture illustrates how India’s ‘walling’ proceeded through the projection of the Government of India’s border power and through imperialist ‘protection’, client rule and commerce.

Multi-response kinetic modelling of the formation of five Strecker aldehydes during kilning of barley malt

Control of aroma formation during production of barley malt is critical to provide consistent and high-quality products for the brewing industry. Malt quality can be affected by the inherent variability of raw material and processing conditions, leading to inconsistent and/or undesirable profiles. Dried green malts were cured isothermally at 65, 78 and 90 °C for 8.4 h, and characteristic aroma compounds (Strecker aldehydes), precursors and intermediate compounds were analysed over time. By kinetic modelling of Strecker aldehydes, based on fundamental chemical pathways, we showed that degradation of Amadori rearrangement products and short-chain dicarbonyls was more sensitive to temperature change due to their higher activation energies compared to other kinetic steps. This study can help maltsters to manipulate formation of Strecker aldehydes, via raw material screening and process control, and hence optimise the organoleptic quality of malts and their products, such as non-alcoholic beers, where these aldehydes play a key role.

Evaluation of a Sustainable Production of Encapsulated Chili Pepper Powder (Capsicum pubescens) through Convective and Vacuum Drying

Throughout the world, chili and chili powders are spices of considerable economic importance. Rocoto (Capsicum pubescens R. & P.) is a chili pepper used in Andean cuisine. Fresh chili is perishable and therefore it is convenient to protect the capsaicin, color and other bioactive compounds through preservation methods such as encapsulation. The present study systematically evaluates the technical and environmental aspects of producing encapsulated Rocoto red chili powder using three different wall materials—maltodextrin, rice protein and rice flour—in conjunction with two drying methods, namely convection drying and vacuum drying. Our technical objectives focused on developing an encapsulated product with high heat and vibrant red color, key attributes that significantly influence consumer purchasing behavior. In addition, the study aimed to mitigate the loss of polyphenols, flavonoids and antioxidant activity. After identifying the optimal conditions for each wall material and drying process, a comprehensive environmental assessment was conducted to identify the most efficient and sustainable production methods. The results demonstrate that rice flour encapsulation (20%) in conjunction with hot air drying (40 °C) represents the most efficacious method for the preservation of chili powder’s pungency. This approach resulted in a mere 24% reduction in Scoville units while maintaining the powder’s vibrant red coloration. This method not only preserved key bioactive compounds, including capsaicin, polyphenols and flavonoids, but also significantly enhanced the antioxidant capacity of the product. From an environmental perspective, this approach offers significant sustainability benefits, reducing the overall environmental impact by approximately 72% compared to vacuum drying of unencapsulated chili. The use of rice flour as an encapsulant aligns with sustainability goals, making it the most efficient option for balancing product quality and environmental performance.

THE SITUATION OF COMMITTING FRAUD UNDER EXTRAORDINARY LEGAL REGIMES

In the article, based on the analysis of forensic literature, the situation of committing criminal offenses is defined as a system of physical, material and social conditions of the environment chosen by the criminal or objectively surrounding him, in which the criminal offense occurs. It was noted that the quantitative and qualitative composition of the structural elements of the situation of committing criminal offenses depend on the types of criminal offenses. It is noted that fraudsters often adapt to typical factors in a similar environment, as a result of which a typical pattern of criminal activity appears. Regarding the situation and conditions of criminal offenses committed by fraud, it is noted that they are committed under the influence of certain economic, legal, social, political, psychological and other factors that create the basis for the unimpeded implementation of deception and contribute to the concealment of illegal actions. It was emphasized that the effectiveness of the entire investigation in the criminal proceedings as a whole often depends on how the investigator correctly analyzes the spatio-temporal characteristics and conditions in which the fraudsters operated.

Arabic Rhetoric as Divine Hermeneutics: mathal and majāz in Ibn Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy b. Yaqẓān

Abstract I read Ibn Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy b. Yaqẓān, a sixth/twelfth-century philosophical narrative, through the lens of two critical terms in Arabic rhetoric: mathal and majāz, loosely equivalent to metaphor and figurative speech. Foregrounding the hermeneutic principles underlying the two concepts allows us to explore the affective and aesthetic means by which knowledge of the divine can be transmitted even through the material limitations of human language. They also provide the epistemological and rhetorical conditions for relating the sensible (maḥsūs) and intelligible (maʿqūl) worlds to each other through repeated crossings that connect divine truth (ḥaqq) with the material conditions of living. By his fractal-like deployment of mathal and majāz, Ibn Ṭufayl brings vividly to life a method of reading that enjoins us to interpret our material world in light of the wider cosmos in the same way that we encounter his text, preparing us to reach for an ever-receding gnosis.

Non-Destructive Methods for Assessing the Condition of Reinforcement Materials in Soil

A reinforced earth wall is a structure in which reinforcement materials are placed in an embankment to build a vertical or nearly vertical wall surface. Such walls have been widely used in roads and in developed land since around 1960. Reinforcement materials have a set service life of 100 years and fall into two types: steel and geosynthetics. To ensure long-term durability, steel reinforcement materials are plated, while geosynthetics are designed with a limit strength designed to resist fracture for 100 years under the conditions of a given load placed on the reinforcement materials. However, owing to the difficulty of assessing the condition of reinforcement materials in soil, this paper proposes solutions based on non-destructive methods. Specifically, it proposes a method of assessing the amount of strain through an embedded optical fiber in the case of geosynthetic reinforcement materials, or magnetic surveying to investigate the degree of corrosion in the case of steel reinforcement materials. This paper demonstrates that it is possible to non-destructively assess the state of either type of reinforcement material.

Model for structure formation in nanosuspension droplet superheated steam drying

In this work, a mathematical model for particle and structure formation from drying single nanosuspension droplets in superheated steam is presented. The influence of process and material conditions on structure formation (“locking”), especially shell properties is systematically investigated by computation. It is shown that with increasing superheating, larger and more porous particles result. Formed crusts decrease in thickness but are significantly denser than the overall particle. Differences in expected particle properties compared to conventional hot air drying are evaluated, indicating the existence of an “inversion temperature”. Effects of further heat and mass transfer processes (thermal radiation, nanoparticle aggregation, nanoparticle polydispersity, and anisotropy) on structure formation are qualitatively discussed.

‘I Still Struggle to Ensure that I am Truly Listening': Understanding Gender, Sexuality, and Sexual Violence During the Holocaust. A Conversation

ABSTRACT While perspectives on gendered and sexual experiences, practices, and norms during the Holocaust have significantly changed in recent decades, questions remain about how to understand and represent these topics, particularly gender-based and sexual violence. In this conversation, six Holocaust scholars, from varied backgrounds and representing different generations, respond to questions posed by the special issue editors, Dorota Glowacka and Regina Mühlhäuser. They discuss the current state of debates about gender, sexuality, and sexual violence during the Holocaust. Reflecting on the material conditions and distinguishable geographical and ideological coordinates in which they have conducted their work, they recount ideas and scholarly currents that have helped them generate their specific modes of understanding. They consider the challenges and obstacles to knowledge production they have faced at various stages of their work, revealing how ingrained assumptions about gender and sexuality circumscribe research questions, methods of inquiry, and the ways in which their findings are interpreted, presented, and received. While they address the impact of changing social sensibilities and perceptions of gender and sexuality on their work and point to the emergence of new themes and areas of study, they also draw attention to the subjects that remain unexamined, socially sanctioned, or excluded from rigorous examination.

Monte Carlo simulated correction factors for high dose rate brachytherapy postal dosimetry audit methodology

Background and PurposeFull-scatter conditions in water are impractical for postal dosimetry audits in brachytherapy. This work presents a method to obtain correction factors that account for deviations from full-scatter water-equivalent conditions for a small plastic phantom. Material and MethodsA 16 × 8 × 3 cm phantom (PMMA) with a radiophotoluminescent dosimeter (RPLD) at the centre and two catheters on either side was simulated using Monte Carlo (MC) to calculate correction factors accounting for the lack of scatter, non-water equivalence of the RPLD and phantom, source model and backscatter for HDR 60Co and 192Ir sources. ResultsThe correction factors for non-water equivalence, lack of full scatter, and the use of PMMA were 1.062 ± 0.013, 1.059 ± 0.008 and 0.993 ± 0.009 for 192Ir and 1.129 ± 0.005, 1.009 ± 0.005 and 1.005 ± 0.005 for 60Co respectively. Water-equivalent backscatter thickness of 5 cm was found to be adequate and increasing thickness of backscatter did not have an influence on the RPLD dose. The mean photon energy in the RPLD for four HDR 192Ir sources was 279 ± 2 keV in full scatter conditions and 295 ± 1 keV in the audit conditions. For 60Co source the corresponding mean energies were 989 ± 1 keV and 1022 ± 1 keV respectively. ConclusionsCorrection factors were obtained through the MC simulations for conditions deviating from TG-43, including the amount of back scatter, and the optimum audit set up. Additionally, the influence of different source models on the correction factors was negligible and demonstrates their generic applicability.

Everything We Have Done is Weather Now

Drawing loosely from a recent exhibition of the same name curated by Josephine Mills, Everything We Have Done is Weather Now, shares a collection of works by artist Lisa Hirmer that explore changing human relationships with weather, particularly as it entangles with lived experiences and understandings of climate change. Climate change is of course often associated with dramatic weather events and disruptions of seasonal norms; at the same time daily weather is often a site for locating and making sense of the material and cultural conditions of climate change. The photo-based works in this piece consider the ways in which climate change is registered, understood, shared, recorded through weather. The essay also considers how the works (which span from 2016-2022) act as a personal record of how understandings of climate change have themselves shifted alongside the rapidly changing climate.

Posting the nation: Australia’s apprenticeship in letter writing

A national postal service is an essential nation-building institution; it integrates distant regions into a national community and fosters the extension of the public sphere. But in the first decades of colonial Australia, the material conditions of sending letters were precarious and uncertain, the rhythm of exchange was slow and the cost expensive. Australia had to learn how to write letters and how to send them; by the 1890s, it had completed its apprenticeship. Using postmaster-generals’ reports on one hand, and autobiographical sources on the other, I explore the experience and difficulties of epistolary exchanges in the nineteenth century.

Worker Empowerment and Alternative Models of Socialism: A Comparative Investigation

Recently, David Laibman presented a comparative framework to analyze how different models of socialism might empower workers. In the Marxist tradition, popular control over the material conditions of life requires the ability to determine the rate of investment, plan the production of use values, and create an egalitarian system of distribution. In addition, both Marxist and market socialist advocates argue that workers should have the ability to manage the operations of the enterprises in which they work. These goals are not unproblematically compatible since workers within the enterprise must always operate under constraints. The Bolshevik experience with worker's control of enterprises clearly demonstrates this tension. Despite this proviso, the three models of socialism we consider which place popular planning at the center of the socialist project could, in principle, meet all four criteria of worker empowerment. On the other hand, the market socialist alternative permits planning but not the detailed form of democratic planning traditionally advocated by Marxists. In addition, a market socialist model will have difficulty creating an egalitarian distribution system. Despite these drawbacks, the paper concludes by arguing that the market socialist model provides the best framework for empowering workers during a period of transition to a more robust planning regime.

The limits to working-class property ownership: The case of Spain’s ‘society of owners’

The promotion of property ownership has been a key legitimating mechanism for capitalist regimes, across their authoritarian, liberal and neoliberal variations. The 2007–2008 global financial crisis critically undermined this agenda, leading to political turmoil. This paper analyses the material conditions underpinning the ‘society of owners’ project in Spain, centred on making proletarians property-owners. Drawing from large-scale surveys, we look at the degree to which workers have become property-owners and the forms and functions of ownership taken on. We observe an initial expansion and dispersal of ownership, followed by a period of contraction and concentration. Through a political economy analysis of the ‘society of owners’, we argue that the processes driving its expanded reproduction have encountered their limits and contradictions.

The history of orphanages in Central Kazakhstan in the 1940–1950s.

In thearticle the functioning of orphanages in Central Kazakhstan during the war and the first years after it based on archival materials and memoirswas analyzed. The focus of the study is orphanages and children/adolescents who were left without families and placed in public care for various reasons (famine, deportations, the Great Patriotic War, evacuation, political repressions and arrests of parents, death of parents, etc.). The children’s contingent and their composition in the regional orphanages, highlighting the main sources of children's enrollmentwere studied by the authors. Authors analyzed children’s material, housing, sanitary and hygienic living conditions. Special attention was paid to health issues and the quality of medical care, problems of nutrition and supply of food and non-food products, education. The authors concluded that a sharp increase in the number of children in orphanages in Central Kazakhstan occurred in the 1940s. The situation in orphanages was extremely difficult: high overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, hunger, diseases, abuse, etc. Detectable improvements were noted only by the mid-1950s. They were explicit in the enhancement of the orphanages’ material conditions: quality of food, clothing, education and general appearance of orphanages and the inmates themselves.

Penerapan Manajemen Layanan Sirkulasi Dalam Meningkatkan Kepuasan Pengguna Perpustakaan di SMA Negeri 18 Bone

This thesis discusses internal circulation service managementincreasing library user satisfaction at SMA Negeri 18 Bone.This research is researchqualitative (Qualitative Research). The approach used consists of two, namelyManagement and psychology. The data collection technique used isobservation, interviews and documentation. The research results show that 1) Service managementLibrary circulation at SMA Negeri 18 Bone covers several important aspects.The member registration process ensures authorized user identification,facilitate administration, and improve user experience. Borrowing,returns and billing are managed systematically and computerizedto ensure regulatory compliance and service efficiency. Officer claritycirculation services, supported by easily accessible locations, helpusers get help and information quickly; 2) Managementcirculation services in increasing library user satisfaction in high schoolsNegeri 18 Bone is carried out through a simple and transparent procedure,easy to fulfill service requirements, easy member card service processfast, the condition of the library materials is good and complete, and the officers are clear circulation services. Efficient circulation service procedures, easy requirementsfulfilled, the condition of library materials is orderly, and the clarity of the staff helpsin providing a consistent user experience, making it easieraccessibility, and improve compliance with library rules, whichall of which contribute to a positive institutional image and improved qualitylearning at the school.

Slope Stability Analysis Throughout Road Around Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) using Fellenius Method

Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) is a nature conservation area in Indonesia. The slope stability of the interprovincial roads in BBSNP needs to be assessed for slope stability. This study assesses slope stability using the Fellenius method for the factor of safety calculation. The data utilized consists of geological and structure regional conditions, soil descriptions, soil physical and mechanical properties, water content, liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, specific gravity, soil strength, slope dimensions, and slope weight. The sampling process is conducted un-disturb, followed by laboratory testing. The laboratory tests conducted include soil elasticity and plasticity, soil cohesion, and internal friction angle. The critical slopes at LT-L01 and LT-L23 are compromised due to the low cohesion values, making both slopes susceptible to landslides. The stable slope at LT-R04, LT-L15, LT-L19, and LT-R30 exhibit variability properties across the slopes. The lithology for slope LT-R04 consists of inorganic clay with high plasticity, slopes LT-L15 and LT-R30 have same lithology of silty clay with medium plasticity, while slope LT-L19 has lithology of silty clay with low plasticity. The safety factor values indicate stability due to moderate - high cohesion, contributing to slope stability. Material compaction is required to enhance cohesion values on the slopes. Additionally, need to mitigate water saturation conditions in the slope materials.

Formation and evolution of thermokarst landslides in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

Thermokarst landslide (TL) activity in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is intensifying due to climate warming-induced permafrost degradation. However, the mechanisms driving landslide formation and evolution remain poorly understood. This study investigates the spatial distribution, annual frequency, and monthly dynamics of TLs along the Qinghai-Tibet engineering corridor (QTEC), in conjunction with in-situ temperature and rainfall observations, to elucidate the interplay between warming, permafrost degradation, and landslide activity. Through the analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery and field surveys, we identified 1298 landslides along the QTEC between 2016 and 2022, with an additional 386 landslides recorded in a typical landslide-prone sub-area. In 2016, 621 new active-layer detachments (ALDs) were identified, 1.3 times the total historical record. This surge aligned with unprecedented mean annual and August temperatures. The ALDs emerged primarily between late August and early September, coinciding with maximum thaw depth. From 2016 to 2022, 97.8 % of these ALDs evolved into retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs), identified as active landslides. Landslides typically occur in alpine meadows at moderate altitudes and on gentle northward slopes. The thick ice layer near the permafrost table serves as the material basis for ALD occurrence. Abnormally high temperature significantly increased the active layer thickness (ALT), resulting in melting of the ice layer and formation of a thawed interlayer, which was the direct causing factor for ALD. By altering the local material, micro-topography, and thermal conditions, ALD activity significantly increases RTS susceptibility. Understanding the mechanisms of ALD formation and evolution into RTS provides a theoretical foundation for infrastructure development and disaster mitigation in extreme environments.

Master Narratives: Ideology Embedded and Embodied

While I agree with most of Maiese and Hanna’s (2019) claims in The Mind-Body Politic, I argue that it is possible to offer a fuller explanation of the effects of ideologies and how they are implemented by adopting a narrative analysis to examine the role that narratives play in shaping the social and material conditions of institutions, and individuals’ cognitive habits and affective frames. A narrative analysis maintains that much of our perceptions of and experiences in the world are shaped by the synthesis of conceptual and affective knowledge that we encounter in socio-cultural narratives. Socio-cultural narratives are understood here as narratives that establish, shape, and reinforce cultural beliefs and practices or societal social structures, process, and organizations. By utilizing a narrative analysis we can then employ an additional methodology to examine and understand how we, as individuals, develop and change our particular embodied habits and affective framing patterns. I show how this can be done by focusing on, and expanding upon, Maiese and Hanna’s discussion of neoliberalism and the backfire effect, where individuals resist changes to their affective framing patterns and habitual ways of being in the world.

Effect of Raw Material and Process Conditions During the Dry Forming of CTMP Fibers for Molded Pulp Products

ABSTRACT This article provides a concise insight into the thermoforming of airlaid CTMP pulp. First, the airlaid process was studied, showing that fiber fractionation and the retention of fines occurred in the forming head. Then, the effect of temperature and pressure during thermoforming was investigated. Harsher conditions, i.e. higher temperature and pressure, yielded greater densification of the substrate and higher tensile strength. The maximum strength was found at the highest settings tested, that is, 100 MPa and 200°C. The screening of thermoforming conditions was also compared to previously published results on wetforming. Next, the effect of softwood CTMP pulp was delineated, which on average showed the best mechanical properties at elevated freeness and high degrees of bleaching. At last, a comparison between dry forming and wetforming was made for one selected pulp quality. Here, the dryformed substrates were stiffer at low elongation, yet the wetformed substrates yielded a greater extensibility and higher tensile strength. In conclusion, dryformed pulp mostly relies on temperature and pressure for bond formation during thermoforming, which produces materials that are distinctly different from wetformed molded pulp.

The use of alternative methods in working with underachieving students

In a modern school, one of the main tasks is to ensure a high level of student performance and requires constant efforts. This problem concerns such disciplines of the Natural Science direction as physics. Physics lessons include not only complex theory, but also conducting experiments, solving problems. In physics lessons, a high concentration of students is required for more effective assimilation of the material. Unfortunately, in a traditional school, conditions are not always created for this. Taking into account the fact that it is difficult for all students, especially those who are lagging behind, to take up extracurricular activities, we need to implement them. The traditional system may not contribute to not meeting the needs of these students and not increasing their motivation to learn. This paper presents an alternative teaching method in extracurricular activities in the teaching of physics, which successfully integrates into the traditional teaching system and significantly increases the motivation and performance of lagging students. For students who do not have problems with academic performance, the proposed technique further stimulates interest in the subject of physics. The reason for using alternative teaching techniques is related to improving the motivation of students with poor performance to understand and study physics. Since the greatest attention is paid to lagging students in this work, alternative methods make it possible to create favorable conditions for learning and mastering materials in physics. In this technology, non-standard approaches are widely used that allow you to fully reveal the potential of lagging students due to the fact that traditional methods turned out to be ineffective. The relevance of this study is due to the problem of developing methods and techniques for working with lagging students in high school. Currently, the main methods are associated with developing learning, but alternative technologies are becoming more and more important. The advantage of using alternative technologies in extracurricular activities is their ability to surpass traditional methods, and successfully increase the performance of lagging students. Taking into account modern trends and digitalization, alternative technologies promise prospects and provide a wide field for choosing methods in order to improve performance in classrooms. The purpose of this study is to provide modern alternative teaching methods to work with lagging students in school physics lessons, which are easily integrated into the traditional school system. To achieve the goal, the following tasks were set: Analysis of the compatibility of alternative learning technologies with traditional ones. Development of alternative teaching methods for lagging students that successfully integrate into the traditional school system and can be used within the framework of one lesson. Conduct a pedagogical experiment using the methods developed with lagging students, analyze the results and draw conclusions about the compatibility of alternative methods with the traditional school system and their effectiveness for lagging students. The object of the study is the integration of modern methods of alternative learning into the traditional system in order to improve the performance of lagging students. The subject of the study is the degree of integration of alternative teaching methods in a traditional school, based on the analysis of the progress of lagging students before and after the use of these methods. The research methodology involves the development of alternative teaching methods that correspond to current trends and the analysis of the assimilation of the material in physics lessons after their implementation. The novelty of the study is to propose alternative teaching methods that meet current trends in the education system and test them in a traditional school environment. This makes it possible to assess their compatibility with the traditional education system and their effectiveness for lagging students.