Missing Ingredient Research Articles

Social Norms: A Missing Ingredient of Programs Seeking to Foster Women’s Agency in Nutrition

Social expectations play a crucial role in shaping dietary practices among women and children. However, despite significant attention to promoting social and behavioral change in nutrition-focused programs and research, the influence of social norms on women’s agency in enhancing nutrition practices is often overlooked. In this perspective, we advocate for a paradigm shift by incorporating a “norms aware” approach. This underscores the importance of recognizing, measuring, and addressing the societal constraints and barriers that women and children encounter in their journey to improved nutrition. Drawing on insights from the United States Agency for International Development-funded Kulawa project in Niger, we highlight the implications of using social norms diagnosis tools to understand the contextual dynamics within child-feeding practices, informing intervention design, and targeted populations. Integrating a norms perspective into nutrition programming and research does not require an overhaul, but rather a nuanced application of understanding of contextual drivers, such as social norms and agency, that have been underemphasized. We delve into the role of the socio-ecologic system, underscore the importance of addressing power imbalances related to gender and social hierarchy, and emphasize that programs targeting norms should aim for community rather than individual-level change. We provide guidance for programs and research integrating a norms perspective, as well as examples of how tools, such as the Social Norms Exploration Tool and Social Norms Analysis Plot framework, can be applied to identify and prioritize social norms, facilitating the design of “norms aware” programs. Additionally, we highlight the critical role of community engagement and discuss the value of using qualitative and quantitative approaches to document the process and outcomes of social norms research, program design, and implementation. When we recognize the role of social norms in nutrition as a missing ingredient in nutrition research, programming, and social and behavior change strategies, we create opportunities for more effective and contextually relevant research and interventions that address the complexities of enhancing nutrition practices among women and children.

Thinking Backwards about Time

Abstract The concept of time in physics and its connection to consciousness are becoming increasingly problematic. A missing ingredient to both could be retrocausation — the temporal inverse of everyday causation — in which the future influences the past. Apparent evidence for it is in the phenomenon of precognition. Thus far, psychology and physics have assiduously avoided incorporating precognition into their paradigms, even though experimental evidence for it is substantial. Among many noteworthy studies, the Graff–Cyrus experiment is explicated here as an outstanding example of the phenomenon. It is hoped that consciousness, retrocausation, and precognition can be accommodated within the current paradigm of physics, helping bridge the gap to psychology.

Quasi-geostrophic convection-driven dynamos in a thick spherical shell

SUMMARY We present dynamos computed using a hybrid QG-3D numerical scheme in a thick spherical shell geometry. Our model is based on a quasi-geostrophic convection code extended with a 3-D treatment of heat transport and magnetic induction. We find a collection of self-sustained, multipolar, weak field dynamos with magnetic energy one or two orders of magnitude lower than the kinetic energy. The poloidal magnetic energy is weak and, by construction, there is a lack of equatorially antisymmetric components in the Buoyancy and Lorentz forces. This leads to configurations where the velocity field is only weakly impacted by the magnetic field, similar to dynamos found in 3-D simulations where zonal flows and the Ω-effect dominate. The time-dependence of these dynamos is characterized by quasi-periodic oscillations that we attribute to dynamo waves. The QG-3D dynamos found so far are not Earth-like. The inability of our setup to produce strong, dipole-dominated, magnetic fields likely points to a missing ingredient in our QG flows, and a related lack of helicity and α-effect. The models presented here may be more relevant for studying stellar dynamos where zonal flows are known to dominate. This study was carried out at modest control parameters, however moving to lower Ekman numbers, when smaller values of both the magnetic and hydrodynamic Prandtl numbers can be of interest, our approach will be able to gain in efficiency by using relatively coarse grids for the 3-D magnetic and temperature fields and a finer grid for the QG velocity field.

Artificial consciousness: the missing ingredient for ethical AI?

Can we conceive machines that can formulate autonomous intentions and make conscious decisions? If so, how would this ability affect their ethical behavior? Some case studies help us understand how advances in understanding artificial consciousness can contribute to creating ethical AI systems.

Quality Mindset: The Missing Ingredient in Tuberculosis Care and Control in Togo

Quality has been mentioned as the missing ingredient in TB care and control. In Togo, TB is a priority public health problem. We hypothesize that "quality mindset" is the missing ingredient for excellence in TB care and control in Togo. We used statistical process control (SPC) tools to analyze cohort data from the National Tuberculosis Control Program. There was an unstable quarterly variation in smear-positive pulmonary TB (TBP+) treatment success rate from 2017 to 2022. The general trend since the first instability was a quarterly variation around a success rate of 86%. Results showed stability in the quarterly variation of TBP+ case fatality rate at 7% since 2017. The root cause analysis of the low performance of the program revealed that TB management and DOTS strategy standards were not well adhered to. Based on the Pareto chart prioritizing the most affected health systems building blocks, health services delivery and health workforce building blocks accounted for 70% of all the dysfunctions. This study revealed that quality mindset is the missing ingredient for TB control program to be a center of excellence in Togo. It is therefore timely for a national project to verify the real contribution of total quality care to TB program performance in Togo.

Azimuthal confinement: the missing ingredient in understanding confinement loss in antiresonant, hollow-core fibers

Antiresonant, hollow-core optical fibers are currently challenging or even exceeding the loss performance of conventional solid-core fibers. Despite this progress, there are aspects of the guidance mechanism in these fibers that are still not understood. For example, a physical mechanism to explain why negative curvature of the core surround is correlated with low loss remains elusive. It is shown that the glass elements of the cladding structure with an approximately radial orientation play a crucial role in determining the confinement loss by strongly shaping the wave fields in the azimuthal coordinate. This shaping, described as azimuthal confinement, can result in an evanescent field in the radial direction through the cladding, and this leads to a confinement loss that is substantially lower than would be the case without azimuthal confinement. A comprehensive theory of azimuthal confinement is developed, yielding an expression for the confinement loss of any fiber structure with a single antiresonant glass layer between the core and the outer glass jacket. This is tested by comparison with large-scale numerical simulations on two types of cladding structure. It is shown that negative curvature of the core surround has little or no intrinsic role in reducing confinement loss in fibers with a nodeless cladding structure. The power of azimuthal confinement is demonstrated in model structures where the confinement loss drops by more than two orders of magnitude as the radial width of the cladding is increased. It is anticipated that the concept of azimuthal confinement will be valuable in interpreting confinement loss in a wide range of existing antiresonant, hollow-core fibers and in the design of novel, low loss cladding structures.

The molecular chemistry of Type Ibc supernovae and diagnostic potential with the James Webb Space Telescope

Context. A currently unsolved question in supernova (SN) research is the origin of stripped-envelope supernovae (SESNe). Such SNe lack spectral signatures of hydrogen (Type Ib), or hydrogen and helium (Type Ic), indicating that the outer stellar layers have been stripped during their evolution. The mechanism for this is not well understood, and to disentangle the different scenarios’ determination of nucleosynthesis yields from observed spectra can be attempted. However, the interpretation of observations depends on the adopted spectral models. A previously missing ingredient in these is the inclusion of molecular effects, which can be significant. Aims. We aim to investigate how the molecular chemistry in SESNe affect physical conditions and optical spectra, and produce ro-vibrational emission in the mid-infrared (MIR). We also aim to assess the diagnostic potential of observations of such MIR emission with JWST. Methods. We coupled a chemical kinetic network including carbon, oxygen, silicon, and sulfur-bearing molecules into the nonlocal thermal equilibrium (NLTE) spectral synthesis code SUMO. We let four species – CO, SiO, SiS, and SO – participate in NLTE cooling of the gas to achieve self-consistency between the molecule formation and the temperature. We applied the new framework to model the spectrum of a Type Ic SN in the 100–600 days time range. Results. Molecules are predicted to form in SESN ejecta in significant quantities (typical mass 10−3 M⊙) throughout the 100–600 days interval. The impact on the temperature and optical emission depends on the density of the oxygen zones and varies with epoch. For example, the [O I] 6300, 6364 feature can be quenched by molecules from 200 to 450 days depending on density. The MIR predictions show strong emission in the fundamental bands of CO, SiO, and SiS, and in the CO and SiO overtones. Conclusions. Type Ibc SN ejecta have a rich chemistry and considering the effect of molecules is important for modeling the temperature and atomic emission in the nebular phase. Observations of SESNe with JWST hold promise to provide the first detections of SiS and SO, and to give information on zone masses and densities of the ejecta. Combined optical, near-infrared, and MIR observations can break degeneracies and achieve a more complete picture of the nucleosynthesis, chemistry, and origin of Type Ibc SNe.

Traces of electron-phonon coupling in one-dimensional cuprates

The appearance of certain spectral features in one-dimensional (1D) cuprate materials has been attributed to a strong, extended attractive coupling between electrons. Here, using time-dependent density matrix renormalization group methods on a Hubbard-extended Holstein model, we show that extended electron-phonon (e–ph) coupling presents an obvious choice to produce such an attractive interaction that reproduces the observed spectral features and doping dependence seen in angle-resolved photoemission experiments: diminished 3kF spectral weight, prominent spectral intensity of a holon-folding branch, and the correct holon band width. While extended e–ph coupling does not qualitatively alter the ground state of the 1D system compared to the Hubbard model, it quantitatively enhances the long-range superconducting correlations and suppresses spin correlations. Such an extended e–ph interaction may be an important missing ingredient in describing the physics of the structurally similar two-dimensional high-temperature superconducting layered cuprates, which may tip the balance between intertwined orders in favor of uniform d-wave superconductivity.

A new parametrization for ideal classes in rings defined by binary forms, and applications

Abstract We give a parametrization of square roots of the ideal class of the inverse different of rings defined by binary forms in terms of the orbits of a coregular representation. This parametrization, which can be construed as a new integral model of a “higher composition law” discovered by Bhargava and generalized by Wood, was the missing ingredient needed to solve a range of previously intractable open problems concerning distributions of class groups, Selmer groups, and related objects. For instance, in this paper, we apply the parametrization to bound the average size of the 2-class group in families of number fields defined by binary n-ic forms, where n ≥ 3 {n\geq 3} is an arbitrary integer, odd or even; in the paper [A. Swaminathan, Most integral odd-degree binary forms fail to properly represent a square, preprint 2020], we applied it to prove that most integral odd-degree binary forms fail to primitively represent a square; and in the paper [M. Bhargava, A. Shankar and A. Swaminathan, The second moment of the size of the 2-Selmer group of elliptic curves, preprint 2021], joint with Bhargava and Shankar, we applied it to bound the second moment of the size of the 2-Selmer group of elliptic curves.

Modelling the management of an invasive species at landscape scale: are oral contraceptives the missing ingredient for success?

Context Invasive non-native species are on the rise worldwide, exacerbating already significant environmental and economic impacts. Concurrently, public attitudes towards methods of controlling these species are changing, with greater demand for non-lethal solutions. This has fostered research into developing new, effective technologies and strategies for wildlife management. Aims On the basis of a case study focusing on the eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) in the UK, this study aimed to understand the potential for population management, using either live trapping or oral contraception. First, assuming completely coordinated landscape-scale control, and then, coordinated control only on parts of the landscape, accounting for the potential that landowners’ attitudes towards alternative methods may differ and reflect those of the wider public. Methods We used an existing spatially explicit individual-based modelling approach applying various parameterisations to define management. We varied the density of traps or hoppers delivering contraceptives, the duration of deployment, contraceptive efficacy, initial population size, and the probability of landowner participation. The latter was based on a previous public survey, suggesting that 40% of the respondents were open to management using trapping and 64% to using contraception. Key results With complete coordinated control, trapping was generally faster and more cost-effective than was contraception. However, when differences in social acceptance were considered, reducing participation and, consequently, the spatial coverage of management, contraception was found to maintain greater population reductions than was trapping with similar effort, assuming a contraceptive efficacy of 75% or higher. Conclusions This study added another layer of complexity to managing invasive non-native species, namely the potential effect that landowners’ attitudes to different methods of population management might have on the level of coordinated control at landscape scale. In a situation such as the one modelled by this study, where management is not a legal requirement, this human dimension must be considered alongside cost-effectiveness, to develop successful control in line with management goals. Implications Further work is required to establish the actual attitudes of landowners, and in different contexts (e.g. urban, rural areas), how this may change as new approaches become available, and then how spatial variation (clustering) in the resulting wildlife population control may affect outcomes.

A Complete Helmholtz Decomposition on Multiply Connected Subdivision Surfaces and Its Application to Integral Equations

The analysis of electromagnetic scattering in the isogeometric analysis (IGA) framework based on Loop subdivision has long been restricted to simply-connected geometries. The inability to analyze multiply-connected objects is a glaring omission. In this paper, we address this challenge. IGA provides seamless integration between the geometry and analysis by using the same basis set to represent both. In particular, IGA methods using subdivision basis sets exploit the fact that the basis functions used for surface description are smooth (with continuous second derivatives) almost everywhere. On simply-connected surfaces, this permits the definition of basis sets that are divergence-free and curl-free. What is missing from this suite is a basis set that is both divergence-free and curl-free, a necessary ingredient for a complete Helmholtz decomposition of currents on multiply-connected structures. In this paper, we effect this missing ingredient numerically using random polynomial vector fields. We show that this basis set is analytically divergence-free and curl-free. Furthermore, we show that these basis recovers curl-free, divergence-free, and curl-free and divergence-free fields. Finally, we use this basis set to discretize a well-conditioned integral equation for analyzing perfectly conducting objects and demonstrate excellent agreement with other methods.

Inefficiencies in the delivery of low-income housing in South Africa: is governance the missing link? A review of literature

South Africa is one of the most urbanised and highly industrialised countries in Africa, with over 61% of the population in the urban areas. Moreover, poor access to housing manifests through informal settlements, slums and backyard dwellings mainly in the cities. While several housing policy interventions have been developed, the housing backlog is estimated at more than 2 million. The Covid-19 pandemic has massified problems resultant to shortage of housing, and the quality of housing across income levels, with low-income groups being the most affected. This paper locates governance discourse in housing development, acknowledging that the concept is used both in the academic discourse and general discussions on how institutions manage their business, including broader societal structures. The paper argues that governance is the missing ingredient in the current policy interventions towards delivery of low-income housing in South Africa. Using selected case studies from literature, this paper analyses and discusses low-income housing delivery processes and systems. Key findings are that housing delivery processes largely exclude governance principles primarily stakeholder participation, accountability and transparency. Notable is that government remains the sole actor in the identification and addressing housing needs, and this results in community resistance during implementation of projects.

Boosting unstable particles

In relativity, there is no absolute notion of simultaneity, because two clocks that are in different places can always be desynchronized by a Lorentz boost. Here, we explore the implications of this effect for the quantum theory of unstable particles. We show that, when a wavefunction is boosted, its tails travel one to the past and the other to the future. As a consequence, in the new frame of reference, the particle is in a quantum superposition "decayed + non decayed", where the property "decayed-ness" is entangled with the position. Since a particle cannot be localised in a region smaller than the Compton wavelength, there is a non-zero lower bound on this effect, which is fundamental in nature. The surprising implication is that, in a quantum world, decay probabilities can never be Lorentz-invariant. We show that this insight was the missing ingredient to reconcile the seemingly conflicting views about time dilation in relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory.

On the Crossing Estimates for Simple Conformal Loop Ensembles

Abstract We prove a super-exponential decay of probabilities that there exist $n$ crossings of a given quad for a simple $\textrm {CLE}_\kappa (\Omega )$, $\frac {8}{3}<\kappa \le 4$, as $n$ goes to infinity. Besides, being of independent interest, this also provides the missing ingredient in [2] for proving the convergence of probabilities of cylindrical events for the double-dimer loop ensembles to those for the nested $\textrm {CLE}_4(\Omega )$.

NeuRec: Incorporating Interpatient prior to Sparse-View Image Reconstruction for Neurorehabilitation.

Medical imaging technologies such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging are indispensable for contemporary neurorehabilitation diagnostics, intervention, and monitoring. It would be desirable to reconstruct images from sparse measurements to reduce the ionizing radiation and motion artifacts. Although recent coordinate-based representation methods have shown promise advances for sparse-view reconstruction, they overfit a single MLP on a single patient. In this work, we generalize it across many patients by incorporating an interpatient prior into the ill-posed inverse/reconstruction problem, which is the missing ingredient in the previous works. The experiment demonstrates that our method significantly improves image quality over the state-of-the-art both qualitatively and quantitatively. Thus, our method provides a powerful and principled means to deal with the measurement-scarce problem.

Formulation and Testing of Alcohol‐based Hand Sanitizers

The pandemic caused as a result of Covid‐19 brought awareness to the use of hand sanitizers around the world. Maintaining hand hygiene has been confirmed to be critical for diminishing the colonization and incidence of infectious diseases. The objective of this study was to create a formulation of alcohol‐based hand sanitizer that is effective at reducing the presence of microorganisms. A comparative assessment of antimicrobial efficacy of different hand sanitizers was used to compare two leading brand hand sanitizers to the 2 formulations made in the experiment. A modified Kirby‐Bauer zone of inhibition method was used to monitor the reduction of living E. coli cells in the presence of each hand sanitizer. Formulation 1 was proven to be the most efficient having exhibited the highest zone of inhibition within the study. Formulation 1 consisted of: Isopropyl Alcohol 75%, Glycerol 1.45%, Hydrogen Peroxide 0.125%, and water. Hydrogen peroxide in the formulation was found to be the missing ingredient in comparison to most of the leading brand hand sanitizers. The formulation will be tested further to discover what microorganisms may not be affected by this solution.

Rate and capacity of cation release from ultramafic mine tailings for carbon capture and storage

Solid wastes produced during hard-rock mining have capacity to capture and store atmospheric CO2 via dissolution and precipitation of Mg-bearing carbonate minerals. However, there is a discrepancy in our understanding of weathering and dissolution in these wastes, with dissolution and reaction rates in field studies exceeding those predicted by experiments under far-from-equilibrium conditions. To reconcile these differences, a series of flow-through dissolution experiments at 25 °C and 1atm were performed to investigate the short-term dissolution kinetics of ultramafic tailings and minerals. Results show that mineral and tailings samples have two stages of dissolution: a fast, transient (or labile) stage, and a slow, stoichiometric stage. Fast releasing labile cations (i.e. labile Mg2+) are sourced from trace minerals with a high reaction rate (e.g. brucite) and from non-stoichiometric surface reaction processes of major minerals (e.g. serpentine). These cations are missing from most geochemical models for mineral weathering. The implication of these results is that the initial transient dissolution of minerals, which is typically ignored during geochemical investigations into bulk dissolution rates, is the missing ingredient for understanding dissolution of mine tailings. Labile cations released during the initial transient dissolution process have value for rapid and low-cost carbon capture and storage techniques as they represent reactivity, capacity, and the best opportunities to deploy low-cost carbon sequestration techniques using mine tailings and other industrial wastes. The presence of labile cations and changing reaction rates over time may also suggest that short-term reactivity examined during field tests may overestimate long-term carbon capture potential of some sites.

Value for money in transport infrastructure investment: An enhanced model for better procurement decisions

This paper addresses the nebulous value for money (VfM) concept and its widely-criticised use in justifying the adoption of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for transport infrastructure projects. It draws on the theories of value and identifies that value is generated in the interaction of the supply side (i.e., governments - as project sponsors and part of infrastructure delivery partnerships) and the demand side (i.e., end-users). In this sense, ‘public’ participation in transport is highlighted in the proposed framework to demonstrate that it is the combination of ‘traditional’ and ‘public’ VfM that together create a more meaningful VfM concept. To underpin the application of the framework, a dynamic VfM assessment process is developed that can facilitate the appropriate selection of a procurement method and assess its VfM throughout the project lifecycle. Unlike current examples, the framework is designed for both PPPs and their alternatives (e.g., conventional public sector procurement) and aligns ex-ante and ex-post VfM assessment. The enhanced model creates an opportunity for governments to recognise public VfM in transport interventions, shift their mindset from singular to multi-dimensional evaluation, and start to actually accumulate and exploit experience from past projects. As such, the contribution of this paper is twofold: (1) drawing upon theories of value, it depicts the ontology of VfM and addresses a missing ingredient in VfM assessment; and (2) it develops a holistic framework for the public sector to re-calibrate their VfM assessment policy when procuring transport projects.

Equilibrium Analysis of Urban Traffic Networks with Ride-Sourcing Services

Ride-sourcing services play an increasingly important role in meeting mobility needs in many metropolitan areas. Yet, aside from delivering passengers from their origins to destinations, ride-sourcing vehicles generate a significant number of vacant trips from the end of one customer delivery trip to the start of the next. These vacant trips create additional traffic demand and may worsen traffic conditions in urban networks. Capturing the congestion effect of these vacant trips poses a great challenge to the modeling practice of transportation planning agencies. With ride-sourcing services, vehicular trips are the outcome of the interactions between service providers and passengers, a missing ingredient in the current traffic assignment methodology. In this paper, we enhance the methodology by explicitly modeling those vacant trips, which include cruising for customers and deadheading for picking up them. Because of the similarity between taxi and ride-sourcing services, we first extend previous taxi network models to construct a base model, which assumes intranode matching between customers and idle ride-sourcing vehicles and thus, only considers cruising vacant trips. Considering spatial matching among multiple zones commonly practiced by ride-sourcing platforms, we further enhance the base model by encapsulating internode matching and considering both the cruising and deadheading vacant trips. A large set of empirical data from Didi Chuxing is applied to validate the proposed enhancement for internode matching. The extended model describes the equilibrium state that results from the interactions between background regular traffic and occupied, idle, and deadheading ride-sourcing vehicles. A solution algorithm is further proposed to solve the enhanced model effectively. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the model and solution algorithm. Although this study focuses on ride-sourcing services, the proposed modeling framework can be adapted to model other types of shared use mobility services.

Disability inclusion: A missing ingredient for food system equity

Disability is the largest minority group in the world and includes over 1 billion people worldwide. Although people with disabilities are part of all our communities, health disparities remain largely unaddressed for this population, including food inequities. Current research has focused on documenting food access disparities for people with disabilities, but there are limited interventions that address food inequities for this population. To be effective, these interventions must go beyond the individual, and should include a food systems approach that advances equity for people with disabilities. The World Health Organization (WHO) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for the disability community to be integrated into food system research and policy efforts. However, the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit is absent of disability perspectives. This is a missed opportunity, and people with disabilities must be invited to this table in order to advance food equity for everyone in our communities.