Early 1990s Research Articles

Getting to Know Named Entity Recognition: Better Information Retrieval

Named entity recognition (NER) is a powerful computer system that utilizes various computing strategies to extract information from raw text input, since the early 1990s. With rapid advancement in AI and computing, NER models have gained significant attention and been serving as foundational tools across numerus professional domains to organize unstructured data for research and practical applications. This is particularly evident in the medical and healthcare fields, where NER models are essential in efficiently extract critical information from complex documents that are challenging for manual review. Despite its successes, NER present limitations in fully comprehending natural language nuances. However, the development of more advanced and user-friendly models promises to improve work experiences of professional users significantly.

History and Current State of Neurosurgery in the Gambia

BackgroundDespite global efforts to improve surgical care access, many low and middle-income countries, especially in neurosurgery, face significant shortages. The Gambia exemplifies this, with only one fully qualified neurosurgeon serving its population of 2.5 million people. This scarcity results in higher morbidity and mortality. ObjectiveWe aim to document the history and current state of neurosurgery in The Gambia to raise awareness and promote neurosurgery development. MethodsThe study reviews The Gambia's healthcare system, infrastructure, neurosurgical history, workforce, disease burden, and progress, with information derived from reference sources as well as author experience and interviews with key partners in Gambian healthcare. ResultsNeurosurgery in The Gambia began in the 1970s, facing constraints due to competing healthcare demands. Significant progress occurred much later in the early 2010s, marked by the initiation of Banjul Neuro-Missions and the establishment of a dedicated neurosurgery unit.We report significant progress with neurosurgical interventions in the past few years showcasing the unit's dedication to advancing neurosurgical care in the Gambia. However, challenges persist, including a lack of trained neurosurgeons, equipment shortages such as ventilators and diagnostic imaging. Financial barriers for patients, particularly related to the costs of CT scans, pose significant hurdles, impacting the timely diagnosis and intervention for neurological conditions. ConclusionNeurosurgery in Gambia is progressing, but challenges like equipment scarcity hinder further progress. We emphasize the need for addressing cost barriers, improving infrastructure, and fostering research. Engaging the government and international collaborations are vital for sustained development in Gambian neurosurgery.

British Quota Production and Film Costs in the Early 1930s

This article explores the economic contexts of British film production in the early 1930s through an analysis of the cost data provided in a ledger compiled by the Board of Trade documenting the statutory costs of all British ‘long’ films registered for renters’ quota during the quota year 1 April 1932 to 31 March 1933. This is the most comprehensive source for British film costs in the early 1930s. The evidence provided by the ledger suggests a more nuanced overall picture of the costs of British film-making than the standard narrative of ‘quality or quota’ would allow. It highlights the different production strategies of British and American distributors and sheds new light on the costs of ‘quota quickies’ and their place in the British film industry in the 1930s.

A choice for Europe, a choice for growth? The Bank of Italy, the Pandolfi Plan and the European Monetary System, 1977-1979

The creation of the European Monetary System (EMS) between 1977 and 1979 introduced an element that would become central to Italy's strategy of adjustment to the macroeconomic shocks of the 1970s: the ‘external constraint', a political device — albeit with a technocratic matrix — designed to reduce public debt and enhance the country's economic competitiveness.Conceived by an economist at the Bank of Italy, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, in 1978, the reforms of the ambitious programme known as the Pandolfi Plan were designed to restore the competitiveness of the Italian economy. The plan described the main features of the lira's entry into the EMS as an external constraint, based on indications from the Bank of Italy's Director General Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and despite objections from Governor Paolo Baffi.At that juncture, the Bank of Italy consciously assumed the role of substitute that would characterise its action in the following decade, motivating and orienting the country's political choices in favour of an ever more urgent economic and monetary integration of Europe, towards what would finally be formalised with the Maastricht Treaty. Consistently with the structure of the EMS, the external constraint outlined in the Pandolfi Plan moved towards exchange rate constraints related to public finances and to the phenomena of fiscal dominance typical of monetary policy in Italy; it was essentially transformed into a fiscal policy constraint formally recognised in July 1981, with the so-called divorce between the Bank of Italy and the Treasury. The classic external constraint related to the balance of payments accounts and foreign exchange rates remained unchanged towards the rest of the world, meaning that it had an economic and not a "legal" nature, as defined by Guido Carli in the early 1990s.

Between Kochel and Kalmunz. Early plein airs by Gabriele Munter at the school "Phalanx" by Vasily Kandinsky.

The subject of the study of the proposed article is the early plein-air works of the German expressionist artist Gabriele Munter, later a member of the Blue Horseman art association, a student and friend of Vasily Kandinsky. The authors of the article aim to review and introduce into scientific circulation a number of Munter's sketches created by her during summer trips to the plein air in 1902-1903 to the Alpine towns of Kochel and Kalmunz with the Munich art school "Phalanx", headed by Kandinsky. The article also examines the picturesque plein-air works by Kandinsky, created by him in the same years there, in Bavaria - mainly landscapes and sketches of figures in the landscape. The authors of the study see as their task to trace the influence of Kandinsky's artistic manner and his role as a teacher on the formation of a Munter painter.  The research methodology includes formal stylistic, comparative methods of art criticism analysis, as well as a comprehensive historical and biographical approach. The relevance of the study is due to its scientific novelty: the authors of the article for the first time in Russian-language art history literature describe the pre-expressionist works of Munter during the period of joint plein-airs with Kandinsky, trace the formation of her artistic vision and picturesque manner, the influence of Kandinsky on her formation. The development of the impressionistic technique common to Munter and Kandinsky in the early 1900s, according to the authors of the article, is combined with individual searches for expressiveness of form and color. The first experiments of plein-air oil painting in a special "spatula technique" under the guidance of Kandinsky were accompanied by the successful search for Munter in the field of graphics, mastering the technique of printing color woodcuts. The authors of the article come to the conclusion that the formation of the original manner of Munter was equally influenced by both pictorial emancipation through sketching practice in oil, as well as their own experiences in drawing and engraving.

Single-stage revision for total shoulder arthroplasty infection. Results at a minimum 2 years follow-up

Introduction: Similar to the management of periprosthetic joint infections of the lower limb, one-stage revision in total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) infections is an option that has been highlighted in scientific publications since the early 2010s. However, there are only a few studies which validate this treatment and determine its scope of application in relation to two-stage treatment.Hypothesis: Single stage revision for infected TSA is a reliable treatment allowing good infection control and satisfactory functional results.Methods: This single-center retrospective series of 34 consecutive patients operated on between 2014 and 2020 for a one-stage prosthetic revision was evaluated at a minimum of 2 years of follow-up. All of the patients included underwent revision shoulder arthroplasty during this period with the diagnosis of infection confirmed by microbiological analysis of surgical samples. Patients who did not benefit from a bipolar revision were excluded. All patients were followed at least 2 years after the intervention. Clinically suspected recurrence of infection was confirmed by a periprosthetic sample under radiographic guidance. Functional clinical outcomes as well as mechanical complications were also reported.Results: The average follow-up was 40.4 months (24-102 ± 21.6). A septic recurrence was observed in three patients (8.8%). A mechanical complication was present in four patients (14.7%), and three (11.8%) required at least one surgical revision. The mean Constant-Murley score at the last follow-up was 49 (42-57 ± 21.83).Discussion: Single-stage revision for shoulder periprosthetic joint infection results in a success rate of 91.2% with satisfactory functional results after more than 2 years of follow-up.Level of evidence: IV; Retrospective study

Angus MacPhail's Frozen Credits: Film Authorship and Collaboration in British Middlebrow and Celebrity Culture

This article, taking its cue from Charles Drazin's pioneering work, is the first extended analysis of the career of British screenwriter Angus MacPhail, described as one of the key figures who helped to lay the groundwork for the golden age of British cinema. MacPhail worked as scenario editor for producer Michael Balcon at the leading British studios Gainsborough, Gaumont-British and Ealing from the late 1920s to the late 1940s. The article considers MacPhail's work in relation to debates about authorship, collaboration and celebrity culture during this period. It explores his intellectual and cultural formation as a Cambridge undergraduate who studied for the newly established English Tripos during the early 1920s; and highlights MacPhail's ambivalent relationship to modernism, through his opposition to Virginia Woolf's reconfiguration of literary values during the 1920s, and his penchant for what Leonard Diepeveen has described as ‘mock modernism’. It goes on to analyse the circumscribed power and influence MacPhail exercised within the British studio system during the late 1920s to the late 1940s, before considering his career in relation to other key figures of this period such as Ivor Montagu and Elliot Stannard, and his relationship to British middlebrow culture. Finally, it explores how MacPhail's specialised, circumscribed focus on film writing set him apart from what Alexis Weedon describes as a new type of author-celebrity during this period, the emergent ‘transmedia storyteller’.

Advancements in remote sensing for invasive plant mapping along the Guadiana River: The role of CNN2D

Remote sensing images are crucial for finding spatial and temporal patterns in vegetation. The Guadiana river (located in South West Spain) has been invaded since the early 2000s by floating aquatic plants with rapid reproductive capacity, causing negative effects to the ecosystem. In this study, we advance our previous work by employing a two-dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN2D) which integrates both spectral and spatial information of each pixel. This approach marks a significant improvement over our prior use of one-dimensional CNN (CNN1D) that relied solely on spectral data. The performance of the CNN2D in detecting invasive aquatic plants is demonstrated to be superior, particularly due to its ability to analyze spectral-spatial features. Our experimental results highlight the enhanced efficacy in invasive plant detection when spatial context is considered alongside spectral information.

Proton spectroscopy for 11B(p,α)2α fusion reaction with RCF films: calibration and unfolding procedure

The reaction occurring between protons and 11B isotope (p+11B → 3α+8.7 MeV) has recently attracted attention as a possible candidate to overcome the generation of high-energy neutrons via the more studied Deuterium-Tritium fusion reaction. Since the early 2000s, several experiments have been carried out to investigate the viability of triggering this aneutronic reaction in laser-target interaction schemes. During these experiments, the total number of escaping α particles is measured to infer fusion reaction efficiency. However, the accurate detection of α particles in such experiments poses a real challenge.In this scenario, RadioChromic Films(RCFs) arranged in a stack configuration can be used for the fluence and energy spectra reconstruction of generated protons, being this mandatory information in both “pitcher-catcher” and “in plasma” p-11B irradiation schemes. Nevertheless, RCF response exhibits a dependence on Linear Energy Transfer (LET), which leads to an underestimation of the response in high-LET conditions. This can result in dosimetric errors if not properly taken into account.In this work, an analytical procedure able to reconstruct the incident energy spectra in an RCF stack was developed and validated thanks to a calibration procedure that was established for high and low proton energy (4–60 MeV) beams to properly reconstruct the incident spectra in the “pitcher-catcher” irradiation scheme.

Frottage of Ephemera

Gregory D. Victorianne's Buti Voxx is a window into the diffuse erotic networks across the African diaspora who forged international information networks between the 1980s and early 2000s. The Afro-erotic zine occasions an opportunity to tease out what the author calls ephemera fever, the compulsion across contemporary Black queer studies and queer of color critique to frame the trace as evidence of imagining otherwise. The author attunes to the frictions, or what Keguro Macharia calls “frottage,” between the production of Buti Voxx and José Esteban Muñoz's paradigm of “ephemera as evidence” in an effort to query the conceptual pressures undergirding the process of scaling the quotidian to the erotic and political blueprint. The conundrum of the black vernacular is that objects like Buti Voxx become locked into the affective expectations and hermeneutic feedback loops set in motion by altruistic grammars like ephemera. Frottage of ephemera is a launchpad for thinking through how grammatical possibility concurrently functions as hermeneutic enclosure.

Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy and the Care of Humphrey Bogart’s Mid-Esophageal Cancer

In 1945, the Welsh surgeon Ivor Lewis first reported performing the resection of a mid-esophageal tumor through a combined approach involving the abdomen and right chest. While his technique was initially rebuffed by the preeminent esophageal surgeons of the time, it quickly became the standard approach for cancers of the mid-esophagus. Here we review the development and early dissemination of Lewis' operation using the case of the American actor Humphrey Bogart who underwent an Ivor Lewis esophagectomy for esophageal cancer in 1956. After rocketing to fame in the early 1940s, the actor Humphrey Bogart quickly became an icon of classic American cinema. Unfortunately, Bogart died in 1957, less than a year after he was diagnosed with cancer of the mid-esophagus, at only 57 years old. During his care, Bogart underwent a modified Ivor Lewis esophagectomy. As this occurred just over a decade after the initial description of the operation, Bogart's case highlights early adoption of Ivor Lewis' technique into the armamentarium of thoracic surgeons. In this review, we discuss the details of Bogart's care to provide a historical perspective into the development of the Ivor Lewis esophagectomy and the early dissemination of the approach.

Review on Investigating Soil Stabilized Mud Blocks with Combined C&D Waste

Buildings built by ancient civilizations like the Mesopotamians and Egyptians were made of clay and other materials, and the use of stabilized soil for construction dates to those times. On the other hand, the scientific underpinnings of soil stabilization were not established until the early 1900s. In comparison to conventional building materials, the use of stabilized soil-based construction materials, such as soil stabilized mud blocks, can offer several advantages, such as improved strength and durability, less of an adverse effect on the environment, and lower costs. The world is facing an issue that calls for the disposal of inorganic solid waste to be addressed right away. This solid waste that is produced when old buildings are demolished is frequently classified as industrial waste or C&D waste. In India alone, enormous amounts of waste are produced, very little of which is recycled. When modifying the properties of stabilized soil, this C&D waste can be used in place of soil or quarry sand. This work explores the use of a stabilizing agent in conjunction with combined C&D waste for soil sampling. The studies use combined C&D waste and soil stabilized mud blocks to test the hollow blocks' water absorption capacity and strength for various replacements. The materials needed for the study came from nearby structures that had been demolished. Using mortar, cylindrical samples for 32 different ratios of mixed construction and demolition waste with a 9% cement content were cast for various compositions. To determine whether the stabilized samples were suitable for use in construction, tests were conducted on their compressive strength and water absorption properties. Based on the least compressive values found in cylindrical samples, the C&D waste was used in ratios ranging from 0% to 100% in place of soil. Mud blocks stabilized by soil were poured and examined for durability, strength, and mechanical qualities. In this study, an effort was made to use C&D waste—that is, brick and concrete waste—in varying amounts to create cylindrical samples that could be used to create concrete and stabilized mud blocks. In order to create cylindrical samples, different ratios of brick waste, concrete waste, and brick-concrete waste were used for 23 mix proportions. Cylindrical samples were manufactured using a cement content of 9 and 12%. These samples' mechanical and physical characteristics, such as their compressive strength, water absorption capacity, and initial rate of absorption, were investigated.

“Donasdogama Micma”

To this day, Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, written in the early fourteenth century, remains one of the most significant literary works of Western culture. It has not only been adapted in music, film, and art, but also in the world of video games. Since the early 1980s, video games have chosen the poetry as a basis for their plots, and various approaches to musical interpretation have emerged. With the release of Dante’s Inferno (2010), for the first time an approach was demonstrably chosen that resulted from an intensive examination of the Divine Comedy. This article explores the thesis that using literary works as a basis for video games not only affects the plot, gameplay, and character design, but also significantly influences the musical concept. Thus, it is evident that the literary source and its interpretation should be incorporated into the analysis of video game music. Thanks to Garry Schyman, who made the original scores available for analysis, the resulting musical concept will be examined more closely and compared with the previous Dante games.

Kurban Said’s The Girl from the Golden Horn (1938): Play with Orientalism in Inter-War Berlin and Vienna

ABSTRACT: Das Mädchen vom Goldenen Horn ( The Girl from the Golden Horn ), a novel published in 1938 in Vienna under the pseudonym Kurban Said, was most likely written by Lev Nussimbaum, a multilingual exile from Azerbaijan, who converted from Judaism to Islam in Berlin in the early 1920s and published widely under the name Essad Bey. Although virtually unknown, this novel deserves an important place in the global history of German literature on account of its complexity and self-conscious play with literary and cultural traditions, especially the long-standing presence of Islam in German-speaking Europe, and the Orientalist tropes associated with it.

The origins of film, psychology and the neurosciences.

The invention of film technologies in France at the end of the 19th century inspired neurologists and associated professionals to engage with this new medium to demonstrate their theories of the brain, the nervous system, and the mind. Beginning with the origins of cinema in Paris, this article explores how film technologies were used at La Salpêtrière, and beyond, to visualise internal mental processes, and to support the burgeoning sciences of the mind. This film-making became increasingly sophisticated by the late 1910s and early 1920s, creating innovative ways to present psychological experiences on film. This article focuses on films produced by Albert Londe, Vincenzo Neri, Gheorghe Marinescu, and Jean Comandon. It argues that these polymaths created new filming techniques that built complexity into the visual articulation of psychological concepts. Their films were essential to shaping early debates in neurology, psychology, and the observational sciences during this critical period in the establishment of the modern sciences of the self.

“The Range of the Future”: An outline of the development history of ski tourism in the Western Bieszczady Mountains in the 1930s

In the early 1930s, the Western Bieszczady Mountains were yet to become a popular destination for skiing. However, thanks to the efforts of tourist and skiing organisations, attempts were made to promote the area as an attractive place for skiing tourists. This was done through cooperation with the railway and offers of special discounts for skiers who were members of organisations such as the Polish Ski Association (Polski Związek Narciarski), as well as the organisation of skiing holidays and stays.

Condition Report

Abstract This introductory essay approaches the problem of form as a problem of value and, more precisely, of the aesthetics of valuation. Building on the scene of exchange outlined by Denise Ferreira da Silva's “modern ethical scene of value,” the essay approaches Hannah Palmer's installation Ghost Pools, which marks the location of two segregated pools in East Point, Georgia, reinterred in the early 1980s, by refusing to compare or equate them, and attending instead to their repressed informalities. Avoiding the equation of value that sustains most formalist readings, this essay instead “reads for informality.”

Recontextualizing Modernity: A Case Study of The Kaum Adat in Padangpanjang Through the Boedi-Tjaniago (1920s)

This study examines the representation of progressive and modern ideas in Minangkabau during the early 1900s through an analysis of Boedi Tjaniago newspaper. The historical research method was employed, utilizing heuristic, criticism, interpretation, and historiography stages, with the primary data source being the Boedi Tjaniago newspaper from the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia. The research findings indicate that Boedi Tjaniago served as a platform for the dissemination of modern ideas, including the modernization of education, gender equality, economic progress, Islamic modernization, and nationalism. Boedi Tjaniago was a significant media outlet that not only spread the message of progress but also contributed to building the identity and unity of the Minangkabau people.
 Keywords: Boedi Tjaniago, modernization, Minangkabau, education, gender equality, economic progress, Islamic modernization, nationalism.

Constructing Chinese Spaces in Mexico City: The Case of the Viaducto Piedad Neighbourhood

This article analyses new tendencies in the construction of Chinese spaces within Mexico City. Traditionally, the Barrio de Dolores (Cuahutemoc borough) is identified as the main Chinese point of reference; however, over time it has become a space dedicated more to exploiting the so-called Chinatown brand for commercial purposes than to fostering a sense of community. Based on a recent pilot study, it is argued that in the Viaducto Piedad neighbourhood (Iztacalco borough), where Chinese immigrants have been arriving since the early 1990s, a different pattern of urban integration has emerged. Members of the community live in the area, where they carry out religious and recreational activities; some of them are business owners or employees, and their children attend local schools. That is why the area can be considered Mexico City's new Chinatown.

제1차 間島共産黨事件 관련 인물들의 활동과 동향

At the time of the First Round of the Gando Communist Party Incident, the majority of the individuals involved were in their 20s to 30s, with a significant number hailing from Hamgyeong Province. They received education on the Korean Peninsula and in Gando, and some had studied abroad in China, Russia, and Japan. Many of these individuals engaged in various social activities while working in the fields of education and media. Some of them also made efforts to stabilize the Korean community following The Gando Massacre.
 Those involved in this incident had been actively engaged in the independence movement since the March 1st Movement. They participated in the March 1st Movement on the Korean Peninsula and in Gando, and subsequently joined various organizations of National Movement and Socialist Movement, leading the independence movement in the early 1920s through activities such as independence movement fund-raising, anti-Japan armed struggle, and socialist movement both within and outside the Korean Peninsula.
 From immediately after the First Round of the Gando Communist Party Incident until liberation, they continued their independence movement in various ways. Some of them died while enduring hardships in prison, and some also persisted in their struggle even while incarcerated.
 Independence activists involved in the incident participated in the formation of Dongmanguyeokguk, a subordinate organization of the Korean Communist, and actively engaged in the organizational activities of the National United Party based on the National Cooperation Front. In other words, Dongmanguyeokguk was not only an integrated organization for various socialist groups but also a group with the character of the National United Party in the Dongman area, involving independence activists engaged in the national movement.