Explicit Component Research Articles

An experimental study on the combustion characteristics of the cavity-stabilized supersonic premixed flame

With the overwhelming trend of fast and economic aviation, it is becoming increasingly difficult for fuel to burn stably and efficiently in a constrained space and time period in the combustor of a hypersonic air-breathing vehicle. Conventional supersonic diffusion flame runs the risk of blowing out in the incoming flow at such high velocity. Upstream fuel injection of the flame holder is gaining popularity due to its prominent advantage in improving mixing efficiency, and this fuel injection method contributes to the organization of supersonic premixed combustion. In order to study the combustion characteristics of the supersonic premixed flame, corresponding experiments are carried out on a direct-connected scramjet platform with the inflow total temperature of 1700 K and the inflow Mach Number of 2.0. Gaseous ethylene with an equivalence ratio of 0.15 was injected transversely 670 mm upstream of a cavity. Optical measurements including laser-induced fluorescence on the hydroxyl radical (OH-LIF), CH*chemiluminescence photography, and high-speed photography were performed to investigate the steady-state and transient combustion characteristics of the cavity-stabilized supersonic premixed flame. From steady-state OH-LIF and CH* results, the flame could be divided into reactant zone, preheating zone, intense reacting zone, and product zone. It could be inferred that the preheating zone induced by the hot product in the cavity acts as a radical source and heat source for combustion stabilization in the cavity. In addition, the transient flame morphology analysis was carried out from the high-speed photography results. The flame base position and flame spreading angle were abstracted from the binarized image. The results showed that there existed a subtle flame flashback phenomenon for the flame base, whereas the flame spreading angle maintained a relatively constant value with a small deviation. The frequency-domain analysis revealed that both the flame base position and flame spreading angle reached the peak amplitude in the direct current component (0 Hz), exhibiting no explicit high-amplitude resonance component within 1500 Hz compared to those in the diffusion combustion mode. In all, the supersonic premixed flame presented a stabilized flame morphology.

Seeing the forest for the trees: An ecological systems theory approach to addressing emergent issues in psychedelic-assisted therapy research

AbstractDespite growing interest in psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) research, there remains a lack of consensus about key issues relevant to difficulties in predicting acute drug effects, and the role of therapeutic support in clinical trials. In the absence of a clear theoretical model to conceptualize multifaceted components in PAT research, dialogue across contexts (e.g., popular media, peer reviewed journals, conference settings) is becoming increasingly polarized and siloed. This has even contributed to somewhat unusual recommendations by the FDA and others that removing critical aspects of psychological and medical safety could enhance our ability to investigate the impact of these drugs on clinical outcomes. Considering the importance of determining and maximizing safety in ongoing PAT research, this commentary suggests that an ecological systems theory (EST) approach provides a structure to make contextual and practical factors a more explicit and testable component of research. Utilizing systems theory and Bronfenbrenner’s EST approach adapted for healthcare settings, we propose that a more detailed conceptual model in PAT research would enable more explicit consideration of contextual factors informing and influencing outcomes. This commentary is accompanied by a custom figure that illustrates application of this model for psychedelic research and highlights the limitations of current measurement of acute subjective experience.

Weighing Mixing in a Decision About Priority in Mixed Methods Research

Priority is a dimension of research design in a mixed method study that provides a signpost to signify how a study’s principal findings were derived. The contribution of mixing has not typically been considered as an explicit component of the weighting of the priority of a mixed methods study. Adding the expression mixed priority to the terminology used to provide transparency about priority is one way to distinguish research with an interactive design where qualitative and quantitative data are merged during analysis to create a sum that is greater than its parts. The most significant implication of this discussion is to add integration as a third factor in the conceptualization of priority in mixed method research.

Race-Conscious Teacher Coaching: Disrupting Implicit Bias and Improving Teachers’ Relationships with Black Students

ABSTRACT Racial discipline disproportionality is a persistent issue in schools with Black students experiencing exclusionary discipline two to three times more than their White peers, and Black males more likely to be diagnosed with an emotional and behavioral disorder. Interventions that target malleable root causes of disproportionality and have an explicit racial bias component may disrupt these processes. The study took place in an alternative school setting across two classrooms with White, fifth- and sixth-grade teachers (n = 2) and their Black students (n = 6). A single-case, withdrawal design (A-B-A-B) examined the impact of a semi-structured teacher coaching intervention on disrupting biases, improving classroom management and cultural competency, and ultimately improving student-teacher relationships. The coaching included Mindful STOP as a self-regulation strategy, the Mindful Reflection Protocol to discuss behaviors, and performance feedback, all focusing on outcomes related to student-teacher relationships and discipline. During intervention phases, Teacher 1 showed improvements in positive communication while keeping negative communication low. Teacher 2 showed smaller, more variable improvements. Teachers and students in both classrooms reported improvements in their relationships based on pre/post rating scales. Teacher-reported discipline outcomes were variable. These findings may provide concrete strategies for supporting the development of equitable discipline practices for Black students. Future studies will explore modifications to the current coaching package.

Sustainable Plantwide Optimizing Control for an Acrylic Acid Process.

This paper presents a sustainable control strategy from a plantwide control (PWC) perspective. The proposed strategy is subjected to testing within an operational environment of an acrylic acid plant. To integrate sustainability tools into the plantwide optimizing control (PWOC) formulation, the present proposal suggests the utilization of green chemistry principles. These principles will be incorporated as constraints within the optimization problem. A comparative analysis is conducted between the proposed sustainable PWOC approach and two alternative structures: a PWOC framework that does not take sustainability issues into account and a conventional PWC structure. The findings indicate that the sustainable PWOC demonstrates superior economic performance from a financial standpoint, reaching the highest cumulative profitability(1.6274 × 105 USD), exceeding 11.94% in comparison to the PWOC without sustainability concerns, which reach a cumulative profitability of 1.4330 × 105 USD, and surpassing 13.01% when compared to the decentralized PWC approach, which reach a cumulative profitability of 1.4158 × 105 USD. Additionally, the sustainable PWOC demonstrated a reduced emission impact on the process, with a decrease of 6.17% compared to the unsustainable PWOC and a 9.79% decrease compared to the decentralized approach. This demonstrates that the incorporation of the proposed green chemistry metrics as an explicit component of the formulated PWC problem significantly mitigates the impacts of global warming and human health.

Training-related changes in neural beta oscillations associated with implicit and explicit motor sequence learning

Many motor actions we perform have a sequential nature while learning a motor sequence involves both implicit and explicit processes. In this work, we developed a task design where participants concurrently learn an implicit and an explicit motor sequence across five training sessions, with EEG recordings at sessions 1 and 5. This intra-subject approach allowed us to study training-induced behavioral and neural changes specific to the explicit and implicit components. Based on previous reports of beta power modulations in sensorimotor networks related to sequence learning, we focused our analysis on beta oscillations at motor-cortical sites. On a behavioral level, substantial performance gains were evident early in learning in the explicit condition, plus slower performance gains across training sessions in both explicit and implicit sequence learning. Consistent with the behavioral trends, we observed a training-related increase in beta power in both sequence learning conditions, while the explicit condition displayed stronger beta power suppression during early learning. The initially stronger beta suppression and subsequent increase in beta power specific to the explicit component, correlated with enhanced behavioral performance, possibly reflecting higher cortical excitability. Our study suggests an involvement of motor-cortical beta oscillations in the explicit component of motor sequence learning.

Imagery rescripting: The value of an added positive emotion component

Background and objectivesImagery Rescripting (ImRs) aims to reduce trauma-related negative emotions and intrusions. Positive emotions during ImRs may aid coping with the consequences of trauma, but protocols vary in the extent to which they explicitly target such positive emotions. We used a multiple-day design with a trauma film paradigm to investigate whether adding an explicit positive emotion component to ImRs improved intervention effects in a non-clinical sample. In addition, we explored potentially differential effects on high, medium, and low arousal positive affect. MethodsParticipants (n = 105) were randomly assigned to either a standard ImRs condition, to an ImRs condition with an added explicit positive emotion component targeting joy (ImRs+), or to a non-intervention control (NIC) condition. Participants watched a trauma film on day 1, received the condition-specific intervention on day 2, and completed additional post-assessments of positive and negative affect on day 3. In addition, participants recorded intrusions from the trauma film from day 1 until day 3. ResultsCompared to standard ImRs and NIC, ImRs + significantly increased positive affect. Exploratory analyses showed that this increase concerned medium and high, but not low arousal positive affect. No significant between-group differences were found for negative affect and intrusion-related outcomes. LimitationsFloor effects for intrusions and negative affect limited our ability to fully investigate the potential benefits of targeting positive affect. ConclusionsAdding a positive emotion component to ImRs reliably improved positive affect. More research is needed to determine whether explicitly targeting positive affect improves efficacy of ImRs for intrusion-related outcomes.

К ВОПРОСУ О СООТНОШЕНИИ ЭТНИЧЕСКОЙ, РЕГИОНАЛЬНОЙ И МАКРОРЕГИОНАЛЬНОЙ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ В ПОЛИКУЛЬТУРНОМ ПРОСТРАНСТВЕ

The scientific article clarifies the concepts of ethnic, regional and macro-regional identity. The article substantiates the possibility and expediency of their distinction and delimitation as independent types of social identity of a person. The question of correlation and interrelation of ethnic identity with regional and macro-regional identity, the possibility of their hierarchical consideration is discussed. Ethnic, regional and macro-regional identity is considered as socio-psychological categories within the framework of the article. Ethnic identity is interpreted as a dynamic and multidimensional formation, which characterizes the feeling (implicit component) and awareness (explicit component) of a person as a member of a certain ethnic group/community. Regional identity is considered as a dynamic and multidimensional formation that characterizes the feeling (implicit component) and awareness (explicit component) of a person as a resident of a certain region. Macro-regional identity is considered as a dynamic and multidimensional formation, which characterizes the feeling (implicit component) and awareness (explicit component) of a person as a representative of a certain macro-regional association of territories. The close interrelation between the concepts, their consistency and complementarity, as well as the impossibility of their unambiguous hierarchical consideration due to individual criteria of importance of each type of identity, depending on the structure of self-concept and the system of values of a person are established. Using the historical and socio-cultural context, we substantiate the possibility and expediency of studying macro-regional identity for people living in the Middle Volga region, including the Ulyanovsk, Samara, Saratov regions, as well as the Republics of Tatarstan and Chuvashia. Prospects for research on ethnic, regional and macro-regional identity for the education of interethnic tolerance in a multicultural macro-region are outlined.

РОЛЬ ЭТНИЧЕСКОЙ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ В СТАНОВЛЕНИИ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЙ ГРАЖДАНСКОЙ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ ЛИЧНОСТИ В ПОЛИКУЛЬТУРНОМ ПРОСТРАНСТВЕ

The article studies and compares the views of researchers on the relationship between ethnic and state civic identity. Arguments in favor of the position that assumes an important role of positive ethnic identity of a person in the process of formation of the state civil identity of a person in a multicultural space are presented. Ethnic identity is interpreted in the scientific article from socio-psychological positions as a dynamic and multidimensional formation, which characterizes the feeling (implicit component) and awareness (explicit component) of a person as a member of a certain ethnic group/community. State civic identity, in turn, is the result of a complex process of identifying oneself with the state, with the civil society of one's country. The formation of ethnic identity is based on ethnic self-consciousness, while the state civil identity is about national self-consciousness. The opinion about the natural nature of the process of ethnic self-identification is argued: ethnic identity is always present in self-consciousness as a more or less vague feeling of attraction to the elements of one's ethno-culture. At the same time, the process of national self-identification is to a greater extent a regulated process that presupposes the presence of more complex preconditions and a higher level of meaningfulness. The assumption of close interrelation between the considered concepts, their consistency is put forward. The process of formation of ethnic identity and state civil identity in the context of ontogenesis is considered. The opinion about the primacy (chronological) of ethnic identity in multicultural pro- space is substantiated. Different points of view are compared and conclusions are drawn about the possibility of managing the process of formation of the state civil identity, education of patriotism in a multicultural region.

Facilitation of motor adaptation using multiple gait rehabilitation interventions.

The rate of adjustment in a movement, driven by feedback error, is referred to as the adaptation rate, and the rate of recovery of a newly adapted movement to its unperturbed condition is called the de-adaptation rate. The rates of adaptation and de-adaptation are dependent on the training mechanism and intrinsic factors such as the participant's sensorimotor abilities. This study investigated the facilitation of the motor adaptation and de-adaptation processes for spatiotemporal features of an asymmetric gait pattern by sequentially applying split-belt treadmill (SBT) and asymmetric rhythmic auditory cueing (ARAC). Two sessions tested the individual gait characteristics of SBT and ARAC, and the remaining four sessions consisted of applying the two interventions sequentially during training. The adjustment process to the second intervention is referred to as "re-adaptation" and is driven by feedback error associated with the second intervention. Ten healthy individuals participated in the randomized six-session trial. Spatiotemporal asymmetries during the adaptation and post-adaptation (when intervention is removed) stages were fitted into a two-component exponential model that reflects the explicit and implicit adaptation processes. A double component was shown to fit better than a single-component model. The decay constants of the model were indicative of the corresponding timescales and compared between trials. Results revealed that the explicit (fast) component of adaptation to ARAC was reduced for step length and step time when applied after SBT. Contrarily, the explicit component of adaptation to SBT was increased when it was applied after ARAC for step length. Additionally, the implicit (slow) component of adaptation to SBT was inhibited when applied incongruently after ARAC for step time. These outcomes show that the role of working motor memory as a translational tool between different gait interventions is dependent on (i) the adaptation mechanisms associated with the interventions, (ii) the targeted motor outcome of the interventions; the effects of factors (i) and (ii) are specific to the explicit and implicit components of the adaptation processes; these effects are unique to spatial and temporal gait characteristics.

PyScribe–Learning to describe python code

AbstractCode comment generation, which attempts to summarize the functionality of source code in textual descriptions, plays an important role in automatic software development research. Currently, several structural neural networks have been exploited to preserve the syntax structure of source code based on abstract syntax trees (ASTs). However, they can not well capture both the long‐distance and local relations between nodes while retaining the overall structural information of AST. To mitigate this problem, we present a prototype tool titled PyScribe, which extends the Transformer model to a new encoder‐decoder‐based framework. Particularly, the triplet position is designed and integrated into the node‐level and edge‐level structural features of AST for producing Python code comments automatically. This paper, to the best of our knowledge, makes the first effort to model the edges of AST as an explicit component for improved code representation. By specifying triplet positions for each node and edge, the overall structural information can be well preserved in the learning process. Moreover, the captured node and edge features go through a two‐stage decoding process to yield higher qualified comments. To evaluate the effectiveness of PyScribe, we resort to a large dataset of code‐comment pairs by mining Jupyter Notebooks from GitHub, for which we have made it publicly available to support further studies. The experimental results reveal that PyScribe is indeed effective, outperforming the state‐ofthe‐art by achieving an average BLEU score (i.e., av‐BLEU) of 0.28.

Finding Nano-Ötzi: Cryo-Electron Tomography Visualization Guided by Learned Segmentation.

Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) is a new 3D imaging technique with unprecedented potential for resolving submicron structural details. Existing volume visualization methods, however, are not able to reveal details of interest due to low signal-to-noise ratio. In order to design more powerful transfer functions, we propose leveraging soft segmentation as an explicit component of visualization for noisy volumes. Our technical realization is based on semi-supervised learning, where we combine the advantages of two segmentation algorithms. First, the weak segmentation algorithm provides good results for propagating sparse user-provided labels to other voxels in the same volume and is used to generate dense pseudo-labels. Second, the powerful deep-learning-based segmentation algorithm learns from these pseudo-labels to generalize the segmentation to other unseen volumes, a task that the weak segmentation algorithm fails at completely. The proposed volume visualization uses deep-learning-based segmentation as a component for segmentation-aware transfer function design. Appropriate ramp parameters can be suggested automatically through frequency distribution analysis. Furthermore, our visualization uses gradient-free ambient occlusion shading to further suppress the visual presence of noise, and to give structural detail the desired prominence. The cryo-ET data studied in our technical experiments are based on the highest-quality tilted series of intact SARS-CoV-2 virions. Our technique shows the high impact in target sciences for visual data analysis of very noisy volumes that cannot be visualized with existing techniques.

The importance of spatial language for early numerical development in preschool: Going beyond verbal number skills.

Recent evidence suggests that spatial language in preschool positively affects the development of verbal number skills, as indexed by aggregated performances on counting and number naming tasks. We firstly aimed to specify whether spatial language (the knowledge of locative prepositions) significantly relates to both of these measures. In addition, we assessed whether the predictive value of spatial language extends beyond verbal number skills to numerical subdomains without explicit verbal component, such as number writing, symbolic magnitude classifications, ordinal judgments and numerosity comparisons. To determine the unique contributions of spatial language to these numerical skills, we controlled in our regression analyses for intrinsic and extrinsic spatial abilities, phonological awareness as well as age, socioeconomic status and home language. With respect to verbal number skills, it appeared that spatial language uniquely predicted forward and backward counting but not number naming, which was significantly affected only by phonological awareness. Regarding numerical tasks that do not contain explicit verbal components, spatial language did not relate to number writing or numerosity comparisons. Conversely, it explained unique variance in symbolic magnitude classifications and was the only predictor of ordinal judgments. These findings thus highlight the importance of spatial language for early numerical development beyond verbal number skills and suggest that the knowledge of spatial terms is especially relevant for processing cardinal and ordinal relations between symbolic numbers. Promoting spatial language in preschool might thus be an interesting avenue for fostering the acquisition of these symbolic numerical skills prior to formal schooling.

Carbon dioxide removal and mitigation deterrence in EU climate policy: Towards a research approach

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies are rapidly evolving from renderings in climate models towards an explicit and essential component of climate policy-making. This has raised concerns that the expectations of future large-scale availability of CDR technologies may deter mitigation, i.e., delay or substitute emission reduction efforts. Here, we develop a conceptual approach to systematically study such mitigation deterrence effects in climate policy-making processes. The approach integrates literature on sociotechnical imaginaries and the cultural political economy of mitigation deterrence with historical-materialist policy analysis. It follows within-case process tracing to uncover whether and how expectations of CDR technologies either weaken ‘conventional’ mitigation targets in policy formulation or encourage policy designs which treat ‘conventional’ mitigation and CDR as equivalent. Using critical instances of contestation in the policy process, this approach also allows us to identify nascent constellations of actors and interests as well as emerging fault lines related to CDR technologies. Empirically, the paper focusses on the EU Sustainable Carbon Cycles Strategy and the current negotiations over an EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework. We show that even though it is too early to pin-point clear-cut instances of mitigation deterrence related to CDR technologies in EU climate policy-making, critical opportunities to prevent such effects have already been missed in both climate target formulation and policy design.

The pragmatics of exhaustivity in embedded questions: an experimental comparison of know and predict in German and English.

We present a cross-linguistic experimental study that explores the exhaustivity properties of questions embedded under wissen/to know and korrekt vorhersagen/to correctly predict in German and English. While past theoretical literature has held that such embedded questions should only be interpreted as strongly exhaustive (SE), recent experimental findings suggest an intermediate exhaustive (IE) interpretation is also available and plausible. Participants were confronted with a decision problem involving the different exhaustive readings and received a financial incentive based on their performance. We employed Bayesian analysis to create probabilistic models of participants' beliefs, linking their responses to readings based on utility maximization in simple decision problems. For wissen/to know, we found that the SE reading was most probable in both languages, aligning with early theoretical literature. However, we also attested to the presence of IE readings. For korrekt vorhersagen in German, the IE reading was most probable, whereas for the English phrase "to correctly predict," a preference for the SE reading was observed. This cross-linguistic variation correlates with independent corpus data, indicating that German vorhersagen and English to predict are not lexically equivalent. By including an explicit pragmatic component, our study complements previous work that has focused solely on the principled semantic availability of given readings.

Counterfactual Dynamics Forecasting – a New Setting of Quantitative Reasoning

Rethinking and introspection are important elements of human intelligence. To mimic these capabilities, counterfactual reasoning has attracted attention of AI researchers recently, which aims to forecast the alternative outcomes for hypothetical scenarios (“what-if”). However, most existing approaches focused on qualitative reasoning (e.g., casual-effect relationship). It lacks a well-defined description of the differences between counterfactuals and facts, as well as how these differences evolve over time. This paper defines a new problem formulation - counterfactual dynamics forecasting - which is described in middle-level abstraction under the structural causal models (SCM) framework and derived as ordinary differential equations (ODEs) as low-level quantitative computation. Based on it, we propose a method to infer counterfactual dynamics considering the factual dynamics as demonstration. Moreover, the evolution of differences between facts and counterfactuals are modelled by an explicit temporal component. The experimental results on two dynamical systems demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Cognitive Impairments After Stroke Do Not Attenuate Explicit Visuomotor Adaptation in Reaching and Savings With the Unaffected Arm

Background Accumulating evidence suggests that motor performance is affected by the cognitive control abilities of the subject. Performance in motor tasks in populations with cognitive deficits such as older adults and subjects with stroke is therefore expected to deteriorate. The goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between cognitive impairments and motor control and learning impairments in a visuomotor adaptation task in subjects with stroke. Methods Twenty-seven post-stroke, 31 age matched controls, and 30 young control subjects completed a sensorimotor adaptation task composed of 2 adaptation blocks separated by a washout block. Explicit learning was assessed by cueing subjects to suppress their strategy. Cognitive assessment was conducted using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and a verbal learning test. Subjects with stroke performed the task with their unaffected arm. Results Despite the cognitive deterioration, the adaptation and savings of the stroke group and age matched controls were comparable. Adaptation and savings were smaller with respect to the young subjects. Savings was associated with a significant improvement in the explicit component across blocks. Finally, the explicit enhancement between blocks was significantly correlated with the MoCA scores in the stroke group and with the results of the verbal learning test in the young controls. Conclusion The lack of stroke-induced attenuation on adaptation, despite a correlation between cognitive abilities and explicit learning in adaptation, suggests that subjects with stroke have enough cognitive resources to support sensorimotor adaptation. The availability of cognitive resources for motor learning following brain damage could be utilized in the rehabilitation process.

The Earth's rotational modes revisited

In the conventional treatment of the Earth's rotational dynamics using the Earth's angular momentum description (AMD), it is customary to assume that the velocity/displacement of a mass element in the liquid core (LC) has a displacement as well as an explicit rigid rotation component in addition to the uniform (solid-body) rotation. This makes for a very complex set of non-linear differential equations in the treatment of the dynamics of this body. In this work, I will use a simple three-layer Earth model with a rigid mantle (MT), a rigid inner core (IC), and an incompressible and homogeneous LC to show that in the alternative linearised dynamics of this body, it is redundant to assign a rigid rotation component to the motion. Next, I will use an approximation commonly used in dealing with the Earth's rotational dynamics, and further assume that the MT rotates uniformly, to show that the linearised equations yield identical analytical results to those in the literature for the periods of the inner-core wobble (ICW) and the free inner-core nutation (FICN).

ЭТНИЧЕСКАЯ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТЬ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ ГОРОДА САМАРЫ И САМАРСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ: ОСНОВНЫЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ И ЗНАЧЕНИЕ В ВОСПИТАНИИ ЭТНИЧЕСКОЙ ТОЛЕРАНТНОСТИ

The proposed research presents the results of the study of the peculiarities of ethnic identity of the population of Samara and the Samara region, analyzes and highlights its influence on the formation of the ethnic tolerance and self-awareness of the residents of this region. The article contains a general outline of the main provisions of existential social work. Ethnic identity within the framework of the article is interpreted as a socio-psychological category, as a dynamic and multidimensional formation, which characterizes the feeling (implicit component) and awareness (explicit component) of a person as a member of a certain ethnic group/community. In accordance with this interpretation, the purpose of the study was to identify socio-psychological determinants that determine the formation of the ethnic identity of the population of Samara and the Samara region. According to the results of the conducted research with the participation of 300 respondents representing 6 ethnic groups (Russians, Mordva, Chuvash, Tatars, Kazakhs and Armenians) and 2 territories of residence (the city of Samara and other settlements). Samara and other settlements of the Samara region), and the use of 5 diagnostic techniques (“Draw a planet”, “Unfinished sentences”, “Semantic differential”, “Who am I”, “Social distance scale”) it was found that in general among the representatives of the population of Samara and the Samara region the tendencies of ethno-relativism dominate. This is determined by the maintenance of a positive image of representatives of different ethnic groups, efforts to form regional self-awareness (relatively higher importance of the role of a resident of the Samara region in the structure of social roles), as well as educational and pedagogical efforts to increase ethnic tolerance in the region (adequate social distance between ethnic groups). In addition, some differences in the type of the ethnic identity and the expression of socio-psychological formation in representatives of different ethnic groups living on the territory of Samara and the Samara region have been established. Prospects for further psychological, pedagogical and socio-psychological efforts to foster ethnic tolerance in a multi-ethnic region are identified.

Crop improvements for future‐proofing European food systems: A focus‐group‐driven analysis of agricultural production stakeholder priorities and viewpoints

AbstractCrop breeding is one of the main tools which can assist in future‐proofing food systems for more sustainable outcomes. In order to ensure priorities are aligned with the needs and wants of food system actors, it is essential to engage with key stakeholders to understand preferences on plant breeding solutions. This study presents results from a series of online focus groups conducted with agricultural production related stakeholders (i.e. farmers and farmer representatives, policymakers and NGOs) regarding the potential for crop improvement to future‐proof European food systems. Stakeholders shared concern around climate change and environmental impacts (particularly drought and heat stress), and general agreement about the need to develop resilient crops which combine multiple positive attributes, while reducing trade‐offs and negative externalities. Stakeholders also prioritized plant breeding solutions for areas where they felt they had little agency, and existing alternative solutions, such as improving input use efficiency, or altering diets to be considered where these are available. This highlights the need for the crop breeding community to focus its attentions on the ‘most hard to fix’ issues, where in‐field measures are currently not offering viable solutions, to maximize acceptance and adoption by agricultural production stakeholders. It also highlights that consideration of trade‐offs, within plant and within a broader agri‐food context, must be integrated into crop breeding research and development, with trade‐off analysis an explicit component of breeding research. Understanding broader agri‐food system knock‐on effects of plant innovation is a non‐trivial challenge requiring interdisciplinary research and close partnerships with food system stakeholders.