Scientific Interest Research Articles

The innovativeness of technologies of Industry 4.0 in the modern mining environment

The article presents the results of Industry 4.0 technologies in the modern mining environment. The study is aimed at identifying trends in interest in the topic of innovativeness of Industry 4.0 technologies in the modern global mining environment. To solve the problem of implementing innovations in the context of Industry 4.0 in the modern mining environment, particularly those related to mining science, two approaches were used: the Google Trends search service and the VOSviewer software. The first stage of the study identified the level of interest in mining science and Industry 4.0 in the world. According to the results of the second stage of the study, 8 strategic directions for the development of the mining industry within Industry 4.0 were identified in accordance with the qualitative composition of clusters by keywords in scientific publications, the Scopus scientometric database on the topic of innovativeness of Industry 4.0 technologies in the modern mining environment. It is proposed through amending the mining legislation in accordance with the development of Industry 4.0 technologies for the automation and digitalization of mining significantly increase interest in transformational changes.

Mycoheterotrophy in the wood-wide web.

The prevalence and potential functions of common mycorrhizal networks, or the 'wood-wide web', resulting from the simultaneous interaction of mycorrhizal fungi and roots of different neighbouring plants have been increasingly capturing the interest of science and society, sometimes leading to hyperbole and misinterpretation. Several recent reviews conclude that popular claims regarding the widespread nature of these networks in forests and their role in the transfer of resources and information between plants lack evidence. Here we argue that mycoheterotrophic plants associated with ectomycorrhizal or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi require resource transfer through common mycorrhizal networks and thus are natural evidence for the occurrence and function of these networks, offering a largely overlooked window into this methodologically challenging underground phenomenon. The wide evolutionary and geographic distribution of mycoheterotrophs and their interactions with a broad phylogenetic range of mycorrhizal fungi indicate that common mycorrhizal networks are prevalent, particularly in forests, and result in net carbon transfer among diverse plants through shared mycorrhizal fungi. On the basis of the available scientific evidence, we propose a continuum of carbon transfer options within common mycorrhizal networks, and we discuss how knowledge on the biology of mycoheterotrophic plants can be instrumental for the study of mycorrhizal-mediated transfers between plants.

Beneficial Effect of Olive Oil and Its Derivates: Focus on Hematological Neoplasm.

Olive oil (Olea europaea) is one of the major components of the Mediterranean diet and is composed of a greater percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid; polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as linoleic acid; and minor compounds, such as phenolic compounds, and particularly hydroxytyrosol. The latter, in fact, are of greater interest since they have found widespread use in popular medicine. In recent years, it has been documented that phenolic acids and in particular hydroxytyrosol have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiproliferative action and therefore interest in their possible use in clinical practice and in particular in neoplasms, both solid and hematological, has arisen. This work aims to summarize and analyze the studies present in the literature, both in vitro and in vivo, on the possible use of minor components of olive oil in some hematological neoplasms. In recent years, in fact, interest in nutraceutical science has expanded as a possible adjuvant in the treatment of neoplastic pathologies. Although it is worth underlining that, regarding the object of our study, there are still few preclinical and clinical studies, it is, however, possible to document a role of possible interest in clinical practice.

Applications of Electrochemistry at the ITIES in Drug Discovery and Development – A Review

AbstractThe field of electrochemistry at the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) has been continuously expanding over the years due to their vast number of applications, including to investigate the partitioning of ionizable drugs at liquid‐liquid systems. The aim of this Review is to highlight the great potential of ITIES as simple model of biological membranes to gather information on drug partition, lipophilicity, and pharmacokinetics that can be very useful for researchers in the field of drug discovery for development of new drugs with enhanced permeability. Relevant contributions and perspectives to improve the applicability of ITIES in partition studies were highlighted and discussed. The second part of this Review pretends to highlight the application of electrochemistry at the ITIES as experimental technique to investigate interactions between small ligands, including drugs, and DNA, a topic of high research interest in pharmaceutical and biological sciences, which remains with lots of opportunities to explore.

How ethical areas of post-normal science can invigorate mathematics education

Future experts, decision-makers, stakeholders and future citizens – they all go to school, which could be a place to prepare students to facing post-normal problems in their future roles. While the literature on mathematics and science education shows increased interest in post-normal science to critically understand contemporary problems, mathematics is still generally taught as a neutral subject with either correct or wrong answers. In this paper, I lean on post-normal science literature and the slowly growing literature on ethics and mathematics education to develop a framework for identifying how mathematics education can prepare students for ethical aspects of post-normal problems. Three areas of ethics associated with post-normal problems are explored through concepts from ethics and mathematics education: ethical perspectives of the problem, ethical perspectives embedded in knowledge, and ethics in interpersonal care in discussions and care for students’ self-esteem in participatory processes. This framework is used to analyse and discuss three classroom projects to provide examples of what these areas may contain. The projects partly align with post-normal science, and are about clothing and sustainability, traffic safety, and argumentation related to open an offshore area to oil exploitation. The ethical areas are discussed in terms of ethical awareness and democratic practices.

A substitutional quantum defect in WS2 discovered by high-throughput computational screening and fabricated by site-selective STM manipulation

Point defects in two-dimensional materials are of key interest for quantum information science. However, the parameter space of possible defects is immense, making the identification of high-performance quantum defects very challenging. Here, we perform high-throughput (HT) first-principles computational screening to search for promising quantum defects within WS2, which present localized levels in the band gap that can lead to bright optical transitions in the visible or telecom regime. Our computed database spans more than 700 charged defects formed through substitution on the tungsten or sulfur site. We found that sulfur substitutions enable the most promising quantum defects. We computationally identify the neutral cobalt substitution to sulfur (CoS0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\rm{Co}}_{{{{{{{{\\rm{S}}}}}}}}}^{0}$$\\end{document}) and fabricate it with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The CoS0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\rm{Co}}_{{{{{{{{\\rm{S}}}}}}}}}^{0}$$\\end{document} electronic structure measured by STM agrees with first principles and showcases an attractive quantum defect. Our work shows how HT computational screening and nanoscale synthesis routes can be combined to design promising quantum defects.

The Effect of Flipped Classroom Learning Assisted by Computer Simulation on Students' Comprehension of Simple Harmonic Motion

Innovation in science learning is highly recommended by various studies and education experts. Through this learning innovation, teachers create learning that facilitates students' curiosity by getting them involved in learning, which ultimately helps them understand science in depth. However, the current trend is that science classes "fail" to create innovative learning that can foster students' interest in science, so that many students do not understand science well. This research aims to determine the impact of flipped classroom learning on simple harmonic motion material assisted by computer simulations on students' conceptual understanding. A pre-experiment with a one-group pretest-posttest design was used in this research. Class X of the MIPA program was chosen as the experimental object in this research, and 30 students were used as samples. The test given is a multiple-choice test with explanations. The results showed that the average post-test score was better than the pre-test. The N-gain score is 0.79, which indicates that there is an increase in students' understanding in the high category. This shows that flipped classroom learning assisted by computer simulations can increase students' understanding of the concept of simple harmonic motion. By implementing computer simulation activities that are integrated into flipped classroom learning, learning alternatives can be enriched to help students understand science.

Comparative analysis of linguacultural features of english and uzbek fairytales (based on the plots of “Tom thumb” and “Nohatpolvon”)

The paper examines linguacultural characteristics of English and Uzbek fairytales. The relevance of the study is determined by great interest of linguistic science to the issues of national and cultural specificity of folk texts, which is caused by peculiarities of historical development, beliefs, traditions and customs of people. The objective of the study is to reveal traditional and cultural characteristics of the English and Uzbek tales by means of their linguacultural analysis which is based on the plots of the similar fairytales in two languages. This paper is divided into two sections. The first section examines linguacultural features of the literary tales in two languages. They are characterised by the variety of lexical and stylistic means and a diversity of characters and plots. The second section gives an overview of differences and similarities of fairytales of two different western and eastern cultures. The results of the investigation can be effectively used for a further profound comparative analysis of sociolinguistic and linguacultural features of English and Uzbek tales.

Monitoring Open Science as transformative change: Towards a systemic framework.

Following a flurry of policies for Open Science (OS), there is now a wave of initiatives to monitor its adoption. However, the great diversity of understandings and activities related to Open Science makes monitoring very challenging. There is a danger that by focusing on what can be readily observed (e.g. publications) many other OS activities are overlooked (e.g. participation), with a potential narrowing of OS scope, streetlight effects, and deviation from the values of OS. Since Open Science can be understood as a systemic transformation of the research system, we have borrowed concepts from Transformative Innovation Policies frameworks which aim at evaluating socio-technical transitions. In accordance with this view of OS as a systemic transformation, we propose that the new monitoring efforts should shift towards: (i) systemic perspectives which considers the various actions related to OS, including policies and outputs (e.g. datasets) but also processes (e.g. participatory events), outcomes (e.g. citizen interest in science) and expected impacts (e.g. better scientific contributions to addressing societal problems); (ii) implementation of monitoring as reflexive learning (rather than accountability or benchmarking); (iii) mapping the directionality of the activities and the values associated with the choices in directions. In summary, a monitoring framework for OS requires a profound change in conventional monitoring practices. The scope should broaden from current focus on outputs (such as publications) towards the processes of connection that make science 'open' (usage, co-creation and dialogue), as well as towards outcomes (changes in practices) and the longer-term impacts that reflect the values and normative commitments of OS.

PENGEMBANGAN MEDIA INTERAKTIF SIPEDA SISTEM PEREDARAN DARAH MANUSIA UNTUK MENINGKATKAN BERPIKIR KRITIS

Student interest in learning science needs to be increased by facilitating students in the learning process so that learning is interesting and learning goals are achieved according to national education goals, one of which is increasing the ability to think critically. There is still a low level of critical thinking and media that supports improving students’ critical abilities. So, media is needed that can provide a breakthrough for these problems. The purpose of this study is to develop media in the form of an android application called SIPEDA by referring to indicators of critical thinking skills for grade V elementary schools. Media development with the Lee and Owens (2004) model. The research subjects consisted of material and media experts, class V teachers, and 22 students for field trials. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques with interview, observation, questionnaire and test methods. The results of the material expert questionnaire got a percentage of 87% with very decent category, media experts got 82.7% of very decent category, the questionnaire for grade V teachers got 85.9% of the very decent category. Field trials with a gain score of 0.59 which means that the media affects critical thinking skills. So, it is concluded that SIPEDA media is feasible and valid to be used in the science learning process of human circulatory system material to improve critical thinking.

XPS Analysis of FexNiyPS3 vdW Materials Used in the Hydrogen Evolution Processes.

In response to the global demand for sustainable energy solutions, the quest for stable and cost-effective hydrogen production has garnered significant attention in recent decades. Here, the emergence of layered metal phosphorus trichalcogenides (MPX3, M: transition metal, X: chalcogen) materials and their two-dimensional counterparts with customizable composition and electronic structure holds great promise for such purposes. In the present study, we successfully synthesized large-scale and high-quality FePS3, NiPS3, and an alloyed counterpart, Fe0.5Ni0.5PS3. Subsequent systematic investigations were conducted to probe their respective electronic structures and assess their hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) properties. Remarkably, our results unveiled the successful modulation of the bandgap for FexNiyPS3, ultimately bestowing it with the most favorable HER performance for Fe0.5Ni0.5PS3 when compared to the other two samples. Furthermore, our exploration into the evolution of the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra demonstrated that the charge conversions of metal cations play a pivotal role in the HER reactions. This critical insight further enriches our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms governing the performance of the prepared layered MPX3-based electrocatalysts, thus facilitating a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the pre- and post-HER reactions. This work not only sheds light on the intricate interplay between composition, electronic structure, and catalytic performance in the realm of novel electrocatalysts, but also contributes to the broader scientific community's pursuit of sustainable and efficient hydrogen production.

Peningkatan Literasi Sains Melalui Pengabdian Masyarakat Berbasis Eksperimen Kimia Sederana di SMAN 30 Garut

Scientific literacy is one of the most important aspects in improving the quality of education and human resource development. The level of scientific literacy understanding among students in Indonesia remains comparatively inadequate. Therefore, a chemistry-based community service was conducted at SMAN 30 Garut which aims to improve students' scientific literacy and learning enthusiasm through demonstrations of simple chemical experiments and fun education. This Community Service at SMAN 30 Garut involved members of the HMK “AMISCA” ITB Chemistry Student Association as facilitators in carrying out simple chemical experiments. Several chemical experiments were presented, including the decomposition reaction of hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen balloons, vitamin C testing, secret messages using the Phenolphthalein indicator, and acid-base indicators from colored flower extracts. This activity can improve students' knowledge and interest in science. This is evidenced by the students' enthusiasm in participating in the activities, as well as the results of the feedback distributed after the activities. With the implementation of this chemistry-based community service, it is expected to be a solution in improving scientific literacy and motivating students to further explore the field of science

Exploring the Chemical Constituents and Nutritive Potential of Bee Drone (Apilarnil): Emphasis on Antioxidant Properties.

A lesser-known bee product called drone brood homogenate (DBH, apilarnil) has recently attracted scientific interest for its chemical and biological properties. It contains pharmacologically active compounds that may have neuroprotective, antioxidant, fertility-enhancing, and antiviral effects. Unlike other bee products, the chemical composition of bee drone larva is poorly studied. This study analyzed the chemical compostion of apilarnil using several methods. These included liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and a combination of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with solid phase micro-extraction (SPME/GC-MS). Additionally, antioxidant activity of the apilarnil was assessed using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. A chemical assessment of apilarnil showed that it has 6.3±0.00, 74.67±0.10 %, 3.65±0.32 %, 8.80±1.01 %, 13.16±0.94 %, and 8.79±0.49 % of pH, moisture, total lipids, proteins, flavonoids, and carbohydrates, respectively. LC-MS/MS analysis and molecular networking (GNPS) of apilarnil exhibited 44 compounds, including fatty acids, flavonoids, glycerophospholipids, alcohols, sugars, amino acids, and steroids. GC-MS detected 30 volatile compounds in apilarnil, mainly esters (24 %), ketones (23.84 %), ethers (15.05 %), alcohols (11.41 %), fatty acids (10.06), aldehydes (6.73 %), amines (5.46), and alkene (5.53 %). The antioxidant activity of apilarnil was measured using DPPH with an IC50 of 179.93±2.46 μg/ml.

‘Space Weather Sentinels’: Halley and the evolution of geospace science

The words ‘Antarctic science’ are often synonymous with dramatic, sublime images of penguins and frozen landscapes, but not all Antarctic science looks to the ice or its megafauna. While Antarctica is an important focus of scientific research in its own right, it is also a platform ideally suited to the pursuit of geophysical science—such as solar–terrestrial physics. Investigating the histories of these fields of science contributes not only to our understanding of the history of Antarctic science, but also to the evolution of Antarctic research stations as sites entangled in international networks of people and places beyond Earth's coldest continent. This paper presents the case of Halley VI research station, a British Antarctic Survey station on the Brunt Ice Shelf in East Antarctica, and its co-evolution with geospace science throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Halley's infrastructure and science shaped, and were shaped by, the evolution of geospace science in this period, via Halley's involvement in a series of international geospace collaborations. This co-evolution also affected how the British Antarctic Survey was able to respond to changing UK science policies in later decades. This case demonstrates that Antarctic stations, while physically remote, have historically been entangled in complex networks of people, politics and science that range far beyond Antarctica itself.

How social background and interest in science are linked to junior high school students' perceptions of the ecological transition.

Junior high school students are tomorrow's key protagonists in the ecological transition. They need enlightened education to face the uncertainty and challenges of climate change. The development of climate change education programs requires a clear understanding of how young people perceive the issue. This study deals with social representations. Its aim was to understand how social background and interest in science are linked to the way young people perceive the concept of the ecological transition. Four hundred twenty-nine junior high school students took part in this study. Data were collected and subjected to prototypical analysis and factorial correspondence analysis. Three main findings emerged from the analysis: (1) the participants had significant knowledge of the ecological transition, (2) their awareness of the social aspects of climate change was limited, and (3) their representations of the ecological transition were linked to their interest in science and their parents' social background. To conclude, these results underline the importance of educating all social classes about effective solutions for the ecological transition. Our findings also highlight the need to consider existing representations and prior knowledge when designing educational programs on climate change issues.

Exploration of High-Quality Development of Kindergarten Science Education in the Age of Metaverse

Technology drives the progress and development of human society, and the emergence of metaverse is the result of the joint action of many modern technologies. The arrival of the metaverse era provides a driving force for the high-quality development of kindergarten science education. In the future, the scene of science education will move towards the integration of reality and reality, the way of science education will be more flexible and diversified, the selection of science education content will be more scientific and comprehensive, science education resources will be integrated in many ways, science education evaluation will be more objective and efficient, and the quality of the science education teacher team will be effectively improved. Based on this, kindergarten science education in the era of metaverse will create a real-time interactive science education environment that integrates reality and reality, build a science education teacher team with the synergistic development of humans and machines, and create a science education evaluation system with the data of the whole process, which will stimulate young children's interest in science, enrich their experience in science, and develop their scientific emotions, and allow them to acquire scientific concepts, deepen scientific knowledge, improve scientific skills, and promote the development of science skills in the process of hands-on manipulation and problem solving. In this way, we can stimulate young children's interest in science, enrich their scientific experience, develop their scientific emotions, enable them to acquire scientific concepts, deepen their scientific knowledge and improve their scientific skills in the process of hands-on operation and problem solving, promote their all-round growth, and push forward the high-quality development of kindergarten science education.

De Casteljau's algorithm in geometric data analysis: Theory and application

For decades, de Casteljau's algorithm has been used as a fundamental building block in curve and surface design and has found a wide range of applications in fields such as scientific computing and discrete geometry, to name but a few. With increasing interest in nonlinear data science, its constructive approach has been shown to provide a principled way to generalize parametric smooth curves to manifolds. These curves have found remarkable new applications in the analysis of parameter-dependent, geometric data. This article provides a survey of the recent theoretical developments in this exciting area as well as its applications in fields such as geometric morphometrics and longitudinal data analysis in medicine, archaeology, and meteorology.

Enhancing Anaerobic Performance in Kickboxers: The Strategic Role of Short-Duration Napping

The intricate relationship between sleep and athletic performance has long been a subject of interest in sports science. This study delves into the specific impact of short-duration napping on anaerobic performance parameters in the study of kickboxing, an intense combat sport demanding both physical prowess and strategic acumen. We conducted a controlled investigation with 14 young elite male kickboxers, characterized by an average age of 20.29 ± 0.80 years, a height of 174.48 ± 4.11 cm, body masses of 70.46 ± 7.78 kg, and a body mass index (BMI) of 23.12 ± 2.02 kg/m². The experimental design encompassed three distinct conditions: no napping (N0), a 25-minute nap (N25), and a 45-minute nap (N45). The evaluation focused on several key performance metrics, including countermovement jump (CMJ), mean power, and peak power outputs. Intriguingly, our findings indicated that while CMJ values remained relatively unaffected by the napping conditions, significant variations were observed in both mean and peak power outputs, particularly among participants who napped. These variations suggest that napping, even for short durations, can significantly influence certain anaerobic performance parameters in kickboxers, with a marked improvement in power-related aspects. This research contributes to the expanding body of literature on the role of sleep and rest in athletic performance, specifically highlighting the potential of napping as an effective strategy for enhancing physical capabilities in combat sports. The implications of these findings extend beyond the realm of kickboxing, offering valuable insights and practical applications for athletic training and performance optimization across various sports disciplines where anaerobic capabilities are crucial.

Exploration of Molecular Nanoparticles as Soft Structural Materials and Their Structure-Property Relationship.

The search for alternative chemical systems other than polymers with chain topologies for soft structural materials raises general interests in fundamental materials and chemical sciences. It is also appealing from an engineering perspective for the urgent need to resolve the typical trade-offs of polymer systems. Herein, a subnanometer molecular cluster, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes, is assembled into molecular nanoparticles (MNPs) with star topology. Broadly tunable viscoelasticity can be realized by fine-tuning the MNPs' deformability. Being analogous to polymeric systems, the hierarchical structural relaxation dynamics can be observed, and their relaxation time and temperature dependence are dominated by the linker flexibilities. This not only provides microscopic understanding on MNP's unique viscoelasticity but also offers enormous opportunities for modulating their mechanical properties via linker engineering. Our work proves the possibility of applying structural units with particle topologies for the design of soft structural materials.

Introducing Photo-Cross-Linkable Functionalities on P(VDF-co-TrFE) Ferroelectric Copolymer.

Ferroelectric polymers have emerged as crucial materials for the development of advanced organic electronic devices. Their recent high-end commercial applications as fingerprint sensors have only increased the amount of scientific interest around them. Despite an ever-larger body of studies focusing on optimizing the properties of ferroelectric polymers by physical means (e. g., annealing, stretching, blending or nano-structuring), post-polymerization chemical modification of such polymers has only recently become a field of active study with great promise in expanding the scope of those polymers. In this work, a solution-based post-polymerization modification method was developed for the safe and facile grafting of a plethora of functional groups to the backbone of commercially available Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene P(VDF-co-TrFE) ferroelectric polymers. To showcase the versatility of this approach, photosensitive groups were grafted onto the polymeric backbone, enabling them to undergo photo-cross-linking. Finally, these modified polymers were used as functional negative photoresists in a photolithographic process, highlighting the potential of this method to integrate ferroelectric fluorinated electroactive polymers into standard electronic microfabrication production lines.