Material Constraints Research Articles

Religion, Ideology, and Political Parties’ Positions on Refugees in South Asia and the Middle East

Some political parties adopt rhetoric and policy stances favorable to refugees, while others view refugees as a potential economic or security threat or a challenge to the asylum country's predominant identity and push for refugees’ rapid return. We argue that, despite material constraints in asylum countries, like those stemming from the level of economic development, domestic political contestation and differences shape refugee politics and associated outcomes. We further posit that the key element of those domestic political differences is not that leftist parties are systematically more sympathetic to refugees than rightist parties. Rather, our empirical analysis shows that, in the non-Western contexts that we study, parties that emphasize a religious identity shared with most refugees are more likely to view those refugees more favorably than parties that do not emphasize that religious identity or that emphasize a religious identity not shared with refugees. We build on moral foundations theory to explain why religion and politics matter and why rightist parties are not necessarily less favorable to refugees than leftist parties. We carry out a comparative study of party positions toward Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Turkey and toward Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and explain why party leaders’ choices regarding religion and politics shape refugee politics. While others have questioned the claim that leftists are more likely to favor refugees than conservatives, we contribute to the literature by specifying the conditions under which that is unlikely to be the case, and we develop a theoretically grounded explanation for that pattern.

Vietnamese university EFL teachers’ practices and literacy in classroom assessment: A sociocultural perspective

Taking a sociocultural perspective, this study investigated Vietnamese university English EFL teachers' classroom assessment practices and the extent to which teachers' language assessment literacy (LAL) was reflected in their practices. Adopting a mixed-methods explanatory sequential research design, data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire and follow-up interviews. Data were analyzed quantitatively using SPSS version 22.0 and qualitatively through thematic analysis. Findings revealed that traditional assessment tasks were ranked as being more prevalent than alternative assessment, and there was no association between the usage of different types of assessment tasks and teachers' teaching experience. The results also suggested that all alternative assessment tasks were perceived as challenging due to certain material, institutional, and Confucianism ideological constraints; however, there were discrepancies between teachers' preferred types of effective alternative assessment. We argue that EFL teachers’ assessment practices and their LAL repertoire interact with many factors in a particular sociocultural context. Implications for L2 classroom assessment practices and teacher professional development are discussed.

Establishment of a Finite Element Model for the Cervical Spine with Spring Muscle Units

The accelerated pace of modern life has led to an increasing number of people suffering from cervical spondylosis. Traditional research methods for cervical spondylosis are limited by ethical and material constraints, but finite element models can effectively address these issues during the research process. In this paper, a finite element model of C0-C7 vertebrae was reconstructed based on CT scan data, and finite element models of intervertebral discs, ligaments, muscles, and other anatomical structures were added and combined. The reconstructed cervical spine finite element model is highly realistic in shape and has good similarity, making it suitable for cervical spondylosis research.

Effects of sensitization on environmentally assisted cracking of AA5083-H128 Al–Mg alloy

The influence of sensitization on the precipitation behaviour and environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) of AA5083 alloy with the –H128 temper have been investigated. 80 °C/500 h and 80 °C/1000 h sensitized specimens exhibit discontinuous Mg-rich precipitates along the grain boundaries, whereas almost continuous β′ phase is present along the grain boundaries in the 175 °C/100 h sensitized material. EAC susceptibility increases with increasing exposure time and elevated temperature. The relationship between nitric acid mass loss test (NAMLT) values and mechanical test results indicates that specimens with a NAMLT value greater than 25 mg/cm2 exhibit severe EAC. The test environment affects the degree of EAC due to the combined effects of anodic dissolution at the crack tip, hydrogen evolution, and hydrogen embrittlement. AA5083-H128 exhibits lower EAC susceptibility than AA5083-H131, likely due to its lower yield strength. High yield strength can produce more Mg-rich precipitates after sensitization, increase the constraint of the crack tip material and accelerate the diffusion rate of H atoms in the process zone of the crack tip.

An innovative PDMS cell to improve the thermal conductivity measurements of nanofluids

The traditional methods to measure the thermal conductivity of nanofluids (NFs) do not allow the investigation of critical features that affect the NF's heat transfer performance. For instance, during the thermal conductivity measurements, the NF's thermal properties may be subject to several critical features such as sedimentation, aggregation and wall adhesion of NPs. In addition, the measurement cell has severe functional limitations in terms of full cleaning and performing direct visualizations due mainly to design, geometrical and material constraints. These are frequent problems encountered at the transient hot-wire and transient plane source (TPS) methods, two popular techniques often used to measure NF's thermal conductivity. In this way, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), due to its unique properties, such as thermal stability and excellent optical transparency, was applied to fabricate an innovative and simple cell that offers a more straightforward and efficient way to clean the NPs deposited on the walls and as a result to avoid any possible sample contaminations.

Numerical Simulations of Tidal Deformation and Resulting Light Curves of Small Bodies: Material Constraints of 99942 Apophis and 1I/‘Oumuamua

In this paper, we present an open-source software (Simulator of Asteroid Malformation Under Stress, SAMUS) that simulates constant-density, constant-viscosity liquid bodies subject to tidal forces for a range of assumed viscosities and sizes. This software solves the Navier–Stokes equations on a finite-element mesh, incorporating the centrifugal, Coriolis, self-gravitational, and tidal forces. The primary functionality is to simulate the deformation of minor bodies under the influence of tidal forces. It may therefore be used to constrain the composition and physical structure of bodies experiencing significant tidal forces, such as 99942 Apophis and 1I/‘Oumuamua. We demonstrate that SAMUS will be useful to constrain the material properties of Apophis during its near-Earth flyby in 2029. Depending on the material properties, Apophis may experience an area change of up to 0.5%, with similar effects on the photometric brightness. We also apply SAMUS to constrain the material dynamic viscosity of 1I/‘Oumuamua, the first interstellar object discovered traversing the inner solar system. ‘Oumuamua experienced a close approach to the Sun at perihelion (q ≃ 0.25 au) during which there were significant tidal forces that may have caused deformation of the body. This deformation could have lead to observable changes in the photometric light curve based on the material properties. The application of SAMUS to produce synthetic observations which incorporate tidal deformation effects demonstrates that no deformation—an infinite dynamic viscosity—best reproduces the photometric data. While these results indicate that ‘Oumuamua did not experience significant tidal deformation, a sophisticated model incorporating nonprincipal axis rotation is necessary to conclusively analyze both ‘Oumuamua and Apophis.

Highly multicolored light-emitting arrays for compressive spectroscopy

Miniaturized, multicolored light-emitting device arrays are promising for applications in sensing, imaging, computing, and more, but the range of emission colors achievable by a conventional light-emitting diode is limited by material or device constraints. In this work, we demonstrate a highly multicolored light-emitting array with 49 different, individually addressable colors on a single chip. The array consists of pulsed-driven metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors, which generate electroluminescence from microdispensed materials spanning a diverse range of colors and spectral shapes, enabling facile generation of arbitrary light spectra across a broad wavelength range (400 to 1400nm). When combined with compressive reconstruction algorithms, these arrays can be used to perform spectroscopic measurements in a compact manner without diffractive optics. As an example, we demonstrate microscale spectral imaging of samples using a multiplexed electroluminescent array in conjunction with a monochrome camera.

Exploring the relative influence of raw materials, percussion techniques, and hominin skill levels on the diversity of the early Oldowan assemblages: Insights from the Shungura Formation, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia.

The eastern African Oldowan has been documented in multiple raw material contexts and physical environments and displays considerable differences in terms of technological complexity. The relative influence of percussion techniques and raw material quality are central to debates concerning hominin skill levels as a potential driver of change during the period between 2.6 and 2 million-years (Ma). The early Oldowan assemblages from the Shugura Formation play a key role in these debates due to a number of distinctive features, including the small size of the artefacts and poorly controlled flaking. Here we mobilize quantified and replicable experimental data in order to (a) assess the significance of the bipolar technique in the Omo archaeological assemblages and (b) discriminate the respective impact of raw materials, technical choices and knapper skill levels on the unique character of these assemblages. By combining descriptive statistics with regression tree models, our analysis demonstrates knapper skill level to be of minimal importance in this context for the production of sharp-edged flakes. The absence of a link between skill and knapping success reflects the combined effect of raw material constraints, the frequent use of the bipolar technique, and relatively simple technical objectives. Our analysis confirms the key role played by local environmental conditions in the unique appearance of the Shungura assemblages, a relationship which has been frequently suggested but never demonstrated. Beyond the operational and sensorimotor skills considered in most studies, we suggest that the diversity of early Oldowan assemblages should be better sought in the cognitive abilities developed by early toolmakers as a response to landscape learning and use, two elements of early human evolution that remain largely unexplored.

PENERAPAN METODE SIMPLEKS DALAM UPAYA MEMAKSIMALKAN PENDAPATAN

This study aims to calculate the maximum profit from selling Bella Bakery's white bread and donuts and to determine the use of the simplex method on raw material constraints experienced by Bella Bakery. In addition, this study utilizes the POM-QM software for windows software to estimate the maximum profit obtained from each production of white bread and donuts at Bella Bakery so that it has an accurate estimate. This research method includes problem identification, problem solving model selection, data collection, data processing and analysis, model implementation, and results evaluation. Based on the analysis results show that the simplex method can be used to determine the maximum profit at Bella Bakery. The maximum profit earned by Bella Bakery is Rp. 200,000 by producing only one type of product, namely donuts with a total of 50.1 boxes or 501 pieces. In addition, the POM-QM for windows software is very useful to help determine the maximum profit quickly, precisely and accurately.

Marxist sociology in East Berlin (1949–1989): A field-spatial analysis

The main objective of the paper is to identify the logic of the sociological field in the GDR, looking at how it was spatialized in the city of East Berlin. In this regard, I am less interested in providing an overview of the different research streams of the main sociologists operating in the scientific and academic institutes located in Berlin than in reconstructing some crucial dynamics at work there and highlighting their effects at the social and symbolic levels. The underlying idea is that, especially in East Berlin, the sociological knowledge produced was less homogeneous than it has been represented in the existing literature. Without negating the existence of shared aspects characterizing Marxist-Leninist sociology, also superimposed on the political elite, a field analysis enables us to see how the different positions and trajectories of GDR-sociologists had an impact on their approaches to theoretical, epistemological, and methodological questions, and on their understanding and uses of concepts deriving from both Marxist-Leninist and “bourgeois” sociology. In the analysis, I will first compare the social trajectories of two of my interview-partners as paradigmatic of two different sociological habitus depending on their different academic/political socialization, networks, and positions in the field. As a second step, I will present a sketch of the sociological field drawn from 63 curricula of sociologists active in East Berlin in an attempt to pinpoint, on a larger scale, the homologies between the social and symbolic spaces of the field. Thus, the underlying idea is to examine the intersection of the “quasi-structural properties” of the field with its “phenomenological aspects” concerning the “feel for the game.” While the two understandings of field are interdependent, it is in the second one that the physical space as a localized social space played a crucial role in defining the material, social, and cultural constraints and opportunities actors faced which, in turn, influenced their practices and choices.

Mothers and their daughters’ education: a comparison of global and local aspirations

ABSTRACT Through a comparative analysis of policy texts from UN organisations and scholarly work since the 1990s this paper examines how mothers are portrayed in simplistic terms, as educated thus beneficial for their daughters’ schooling, or deprived of education causing detriment to their daughters’ future prospects. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with mothers from rural Pakistan, these global comparisons are brought into conversation with local narratives showing how mothers’ aspirations facilitate daughters’ educational opportunities. It is argued that mothers’ subjectivities have a potential to inform global policy discourses for investigating the aspirational and transformational potential of mothers in contexts of material and social constraint. The paper proposes an informed approach to educational research and policy making which seeks to understand the processes surrounding mothers’ support for their daughters’ education.

Money Matters: Time for Prevention and Early Intervention to Address Family Economic Circumstances

Child poverty is associated with poorer physical and mental health, negative educational outcomes and adverse long-term social and psychological consequences, all of which impact on service demand and expenditure. Until now, however, prevention and early intervention practice has tended to focus on enhancing inter-parental relationships and parenting skills (e.g., via relationship skills education, home visiting, parenting programs, family therapy) or child language, social-emotional and life skills (e.g., early childhood education, school-based programs, youth mentoring). Programs often target low-income neighborhoods or families but rarely address poverty directly. While there is substantial evidence for the effectiveness of such interventions in improving child outcomes, null results are not uncommon and even positive effects are often small, short-term, and difficult to replicate. One avenue to enhance intervention effectiveness is to improve families’ economic circumstances. There are several arguments for this refocusing. It is arguably unethical to focus on individual risk without acknowledging or seeking to address (where relevant) families’ social and economic contexts, while the stigma and material constraints associated with poverty can make it harder for families to engage with psychosocial support. There is also evidence that increasing household income improves child outcomes. Although national policies to alleviate poverty are important, it is increasingly recognized that practice-based initiatives have a role to play (e.g., income maximization, devolved budgets, money management support). However, knowledge about their implementation and effectiveness is relatively thin. For instance, there is some evidence that co-located welfare rights advice in healthcare settings can improve recipients’ financial circumstances and health, but it is mixed and of limited quality. Moreover, there is little rigorous research on whether and how such services affect mediators (parent-child interactions, parenting capacity) and/or child physical and psychosocial outcomes directly. We call for prevention and early intervention programs to attend more to families’ economic circumstances, and for experimental studies to test their implementation, reach and effectiveness.

Barriers for upgrading of latrines in rural Ethiopia: disentangling a sanitation socio-technical lock-in

ABSTRACT Ethiopia achieved the fastest reduction in open defaecation worldwide over the two past decades. However, it was through the use of predominantly non-durable, unhygienic latrines. It questions the presumed effects of latrine adoption on public health and heightens a risk of return to open defaecation. Resources invested into sanitation in Ethiopia may be wasted if upgrading to latrines is not facilitated. This paper aims to understand factors hindering the improvement of latrines in Southern Ethiopia based on the structured interviews and direct observations among 504 rural households supplemented by qualitative interviews with local representatives. We examine the quality and past improvements of latrines, revealed plans and attitudes regarding the improvements, willingness to pay for hygienic latrine components, costs perceptions and infrastructural barriers. We identified a socio-technical lock-in characterised by the sustained use of unhygienic latrines without recognisable shifts up the sanitation ladder. It has been cemented by the demand-oriented sanitation strategy, poverty and infrastructural constraints. People are generally satisfied with unhygienic latrines, being convinced that their use is good for health. The satisfaction curbs the demand for latrine upgrading. The demand for latrine upgrading is further reduced by poverty and material constraints, preventing local supply of hygienic sanitation components to develop. Our findings show that market approaches alone will not solve the problem. Provision of subsidised sanitation products is required together with a campaign that would disintegrate the widespread belief that the use of any latrine is good for human health.

The Patient’s Experience of the Analyst’s Physicality: It’s What’s on the Outside that Counts

ABSTRACT In this paper, I explore how patients’ experiences of their analysts’ physicality – conveyed in the concrete aspects of the analyst’s body, clothing, and office – can be a constructive domain of budding intersubjective engagement. This is both generally true, and of specific salience with narcissistically vulnerable patients, for whom states of psychosomatic unity are compromised, and with whom finding ways to be “usable” as objects can be elusive. At the same time, both members of the dyad can resist such inquiries and enactments despite their generative potential. I highlight how we analysts may shy away from pursuing these aspects of our patients’ transferences because of our own anxieties about how we do or do not want to be seen. Such anxieties and vulnerabilities can be heightened in this arena, given that the analyst’s physicality reflects both material constraints and fluid, unstable meanings derived from the shifting intersections between personal construction, relational context, and the broader sociocultural surround, particularly as it informs expressions of gender, race, class, and the like.

Mechanically robust 3D printed elastomeric lattices inspired by strong and tough hierarchical structures

Lattice structures have been proven capable of a wide range of engineering applications due to their complex design arrangements, such as periodicity, topology, and morphologies. Yet, developing a hybrid design is challenging due to limitations of node boundaries, material, and fabrication constraints for improving mechanical performance. To overcome these challenges, hybrid designs were developed here using the vat photopolymerization technique by grading the bend- and stretch-dominant strut morphology in parallel and perpendicular directions. Firstly, numerical simulations predicted the unit cell performances, and then the structural behavior of periodically arranged 3D-printed elastomeric lattices was also investigated. As a result, hybrid design provided a better performance strategy under high load conditions, including a significant amount of mechanical performance (7 times) than the uniform lattice topology. In addition, a vat photopolymerization-based 3D printing technique was investigated by introducing a high-loaded silica filler in the polymer, as a filler reinforcement exhibiting the advantages of enhanced stiffness (12 times) and reduced buckling to the lattices. Finally, the performance of hybrid-graded design was examined via filler-coated surfaces, which could provide insight into their ability to adapt to lightweight devices and engineering applications.

Estimating the Age of Abandoned Alluvial Surfaces Using Morphologic Dating of Gully Incision

AbstractThe age of abandoned alluvial surfaces is a key component in quantifying landscape evolution processes, tectonic activity, and paleoclimate. However, limited resources, restricted field accessibility, lacking dating material and analytical constraints are often encountered when dating such landforms. To help mitigate these limitations, we propose a new and complementary surface dating approach that is based on calculating the duration of gully incision into a surface since its abandonment using a locally calibrated landscape evolution model. The approach consists of calibration of incision model parameters for abandoned alluvial surfaces with known age and then using the calibrated model to calculate the time required for gully profiles to form on nearby undated alluvial surfaces as a proxy for surface abandonment. The approach was tested on previously dated late Pleistocene (34 and 70 ka) alluvial terraces in the hyper‐arid Negev desert (Israel). Calibrated model parameters were within the range reported for incision models in arid regions worldwide and late Pleistocene surface abandonment ages were recovered to within 10% accuracy. In contrast, modeled durations for gully incision into an older mid‐Pleistocene surface previously dated to 230–549 ka were grossly underestimated at <120 ka. Field observations and approach tests indeed indicated that late Pleistocene model parameters should not be extrapolated as‐is to model gully incision farther back through geologic time. Because the validity of the proposed ages depends on extrapolating the locally calibrated parameters of the incision model, we recommend that such dating be conducted with care and where assumptions will probably be valid.

Intestine-inspired wrinkled MXene microneedle dressings for smart wound management.

Composite MXene-based materials are prone to crack propagation, thus limiting their tensile properties. Numerous efforts have been devoted to removing material constraints and fabricating unitary MXene elastic films. Here, for the first time, inspired by the intestinal wrinkles and villi structure, we presented a ductile, biologically friendly, and highly conductive MXene-based microneedle (MMN) dressing composed of stacked MXene film and superfine microneedle arrays through a simple stretching and laser engraving strategy for wound healing. By utilizing photothermal responsive MXene, periodic porous structures, and a temperature-responsive polymer to construct the MMN dressing, the system can act as an effective route for facilitating controllable drug delivery controlled by near-infrared (NIR) irradiation. In addition, superior conductivity imparts them with the capacity to realize continuous and steady monitoring of motion sensing. The practical performance further demonstrated that the versatile MMN dressing showed obvious therapeutic efficacy in vivo animal wound models. Thus, it is believed that MMN dressings with biomimetic structures, controllable drug release, and conductive pathways will open a new chapter for wound management and widen other practical applications in biomedical fields, such as artificial tendons and soft robotics. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: MXene-based materials have been demonstrated as critical tools in advancing our understanding of wound healing. However, the rapid crack propagation is a constraint on their tensile properties. Here, inspired by the intestinal wrinkles and villi structure, a single-step method has also been discussed to present a MXene-based microneedle dressing composed of unitary MXene elastic film and superfine microneedle arrays. At the same time, the dressing with biomimetic structures, controllable drug release, and conductive pathways has prospects in intelligent wound management and varieties of related biomedical fields.

Implementation Implementation Of The Kahoot Aplication In Aqidah Akhlak Learning At Islamic Primary School


 
 
 
 This study aims to determine the implementation of the Kahoot application in learning Aqidah Akhlak, the advantages and disadvantages of the Kahoot application free feature, supporting and inhibiting factors in MI Nurul Falah Sindangkarsa. This research method is qualitative descriptive analysis. The subjects of this study were principals, representatives for curriculum, teachers of Aqidah Akhlak and students of class VI. Data collection techniques were do by observation, interviews and documentation. Data analysis is do by reducing data, presenting data and drawing conclusions. The results of this study show that the implementation of the Kahoot application is one of the applications that is effectively used as a learning medium in Aqidah Akhlak subjects through multiple choice and true or false quizzes. The Kahoot application has advantages in terms of free features, namely: it has an attractive appearance, available features, and scoring (evaluation). The disadvantages of the kahoot application free features are: limited use of the free feature, and difficulty reading Arabic multiple choice. Supporting factors in the implementation of the Kahoot application are: the availability of learning tools, teacher skills, and student enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the inhibiting factors are: technical constraints, the capacity of learning devices, overcrowded material, and time constraints.
 
 
 

Formation of sub-100-nm suspended nanowires with various materials using thermally adjusted electrospun nanofibers as templates

The air suspension and location specification properties of nanowires are crucial factors for optimizing nanowires in electronic devices and suppressing undesirable interactions with substrates. Although various strategies have been proposed to fabricate suspended nanowires, placing a nanowire in desired microstructures without material constraints or high-temperature processes remains a challenge. In this study, suspended nanowires were formed using a thermally aggregated electrospun polymer as a template. An elaborately designed microstructure enables an electrospun fiber template to be formed at the desired location during thermal treatment. Moreover, the desired thickness of the nanowires is easily controlled with the electrospun fiber templates, resulting in the parallel formation of suspended nanowires that are less than 100 nm thick. Furthermore, this approach facilitates the formation of suspended nanowires with various materials. This is accomplished by evaporating various materials onto the electrospun fiber template and by removing the template. Palladium, copper, tungsten oxide (WO3), and tin oxide nanowires are formed as examples to demonstrate the advantage of this approach in terms of nanowire material selection. Hydrogen (H2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas sensors comprising palladium and tungsten oxide, respectively, are demonstrated as exemplary devices of the proposed method.

Virtual Restoration of Ancient Wooden Ships Through Non-rigid 3D Shape Assembly with Ruled-Surface FFD

In recent years, 3D data has been widely used in archaeology and in the field of conservation and restoration of cultural properties. Virtual restoration, which reconstructs the original state in virtual space, is one of the promising applications utilizing 3D scanning data. Though many studies of virtual restoration have been conducted, it is still challenging to restore the cultural properties that consist of multiple deformable components because it is not feasible to identify the original shape uniquely. As a solution to such a problem, we proposed a non-rigid 3D shape assembly method for virtually restoring wooden ships that are composed of multiple timbers. The deformed timber can be well represented by ruled surface. We proposed a free-form deformation method with a ruled surface and an assembly method to align the deformable components mutually. The method employs a bottom-up approach that does not require reference data for target objects. The proposed framework narrows down the searching space for optimization using the physical constraints of wooden materials, and it can also obtain optimal solutions. We also showed an experimental result, where we virtually restored King Khufu’s first solar boat. The boat was originally constructed by assembling several timbers. The boat was reconstructed as a real object and is currently exhibited at a museum. However, unfortunately, the entire shape of the boat is slightly distorted. We applied the proposed method using archaeological knowledge and then showed the virtual restoration results using the acquired 3D data of the boat’s components.