Understanding Of Definition Research Articles

Predictive mapping of organic carbon stocks in surficial sediments of the Canadian continental margin

Abstract. Quantification and mapping of surficial seabed sediment organic carbon have wide-scale relevance for marine ecology, geology and environmental resource management, with carbon densities and accumulation rates being a major indicator of geological history, ecological function and ecosystem service provisioning, including the potential to contribute to nature-based climate change mitigation. While global analyses can appear to provide a definitive understanding of the spatial distribution of sediment carbon, regional maps may be constructed at finer resolutions and can utilise targeted data syntheses and refined spatial data products and therefore have the potential to improve these estimates. Here, we report a national systematic review of data on organic carbon content in seabed sediments across Canada and combine this with a synthesis and unification of the best available data on sediment composition, seafloor morphology, hydrology, chemistry and geographic settings within a machine learning mapping framework. Predictive quantitative maps of mud content, dry bulk density, organic carbon content and organic carbon density were produced along with cell-specific estimates of their uncertainty at 200 m resolution across 4 489 235 km2 of the Canadian continental margin (92.6 % of the seafloor area above 2500 m) (https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/ICHVVA, Epstein et al., 2024). Fine-scale variation in carbon stocks was identified across the Canadian continental margin, particularly in the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean regions. Overall, we estimate the standing stock of organic carbon in the top 30 cm of surficial seabed sediments across the Canadian shelf and slope to be 10.9 Gt (7.0–16.0 Gt). Increased empirical sediment data collection and higher precision in spatial environmental data layers could significantly reduce uncertainty and increase accuracy in these products over time.

Memes in the Literature Studies Classroom

<p>This paper considers memes through the lens of riddles and discusses the generative or creative aspect of the meme format as applied in the classroom. In a literary studies course on cultural narratives, ranging from canonical to bestselling fiction, we critically discussed the genre-specific potential of memes, which students were encouraged to explore both intellectually and experientially. In addition, we asked students to create memes in their assessment of the course. The results were highly ambivalent, ranging from humor to seriousness, self-critique to critique of the course, panic (regarding the final exam) to playful exaggeration of said panic. This ambivalence, often accentuated by irony and excess, challenges any definitive understanding of the memes’ content and meaning. Rather than dismissing memes as a flawed, imprecise tool, this article examines them as riddled forms and hypothesizes that, due to their ambivalence, they may actually be closer to a student’s “truth.” The connection between memes and meaning-making is especially relevant to courses that, like the one in this article, foreground semantic ambiguity and an explorative habitus.</p>

RDMTL: Reverse dictionary model based on multitask learning

A reverse dictionary is a task of finding appropriate words based on given definitions. Existing studies struggle to capture the subtle differences between words with similar definitions. Motivated by humans’ ability to verify their understanding of a word's semantics by making example sentences and recognizing parts of speech, we propose a reverse dictionary model based on multitask learning (RDMTL), which can alleviate the problem. RDMTL comprises a primary task component that extracts different levels of semantic features from definitions and two auxiliary task components that predict part-of-speech tags and generate sentences for target words. Through jointly learning these three tasks, RDMTL can enhance the understanding of definitions and discover subtle differences among words with similar meanings. Moreover, it can generate more accurate and natural example sentences. We evaluate RDMTL on a modified version of the New Oxford dataset and compare its performance with several baseline models. The experimental results show that RDMTL enhances the rank value metric for the reverse dictionary task by 1.02%, the F1 value metric for the part-of-speech classification task by 20.47%, and the SB-4 metric for the sentence generation task by 14.7%. In addition, to analyze the contribution of each component and the impact of multitask learning, we conducted an ablation study. In this study, a new method and perspective for the reverse dictionary task is introduced.

The Impact of the Islamic Theories of Revelation on Humanist Qurʾanic Hermeneutics

Abstract In the present article, I illustrate the impact that the Islamic theories of revelation have on the construction of different types of Qurʾanic hermeneutics, with a special focus on what I define “humanist hermeneutics”. The article is divided in three parts. In the first part I expose the two main theoretical frameworks exploited here in order to analyze different classical and modern theories of revelation and their corresponding hermeneutics, namely Shahab Ahmed’s understanding of Revelation and my own definition of humanist hermeneutics and its main characteristics. In the second part of the article, I succinctly present some pre-modern theories of revelation, emphasizing a few examples from the large variety of philosophical Peripatetic Muslim and Ṣūfī conceptualizations that are relevant from a humanist hermeneutics perspective. Contemporary, contextualist approaches of revelation will end the article. My general focus is on the acknowledgement of the agency of the prophet Muhammad in the construction of the Qurʾanic text and its expression, and on the interaction between the formulation of the Qurʾanic text and its social context.

The impact of railway incidents on train delays: A case of the Swedish Railway Network

A foreseeable challenge with a substantial increase in railway mode share will be how to uphold punctuality. Higher volumes of train traffic will result in timetables that are more sensitive to disruptions; whose severity and frequency is also expected to increase in light of greater asset utilization and climate change. This calls for a definitive understanding of the relationship between incidents and train delays as a prerequisite to developing robust timetables and disruption management strategies. In this paper we propose a novel framework for quantifying the impact of railway incidents on train delays. Using a case of the Swedish Railway Network, we compare the impact of different incidents on train delays. The impact of delay is defined as a factor of the incident rate, exposure rate, delay rate and historical average delay minutes per incident. A logistic model that estimates the probability of delay for any train, in the event of a failure, is also developed. Snow on track was established as most critical, resulting in the highest normalized delay minutes per train and the largest increase in the odds of delay for individual trains. The proposed framework & approach can be applied to other networks.

Methodological and analytical basis of construction enterprises in the cycle of public-private partnership projects

Public-private partnership (PPP) is a strategically important management tool that allows the state and the private sector to jointly implement projects in various fields, such as infrastructure, health care, education, and others, to promote economic development. However, the successful implementation of PPP requires a clear understanding of the basic definitions and concepts underlying it. This research work is devoted to working out the content of basic definitions in the context of the establishment and development of PPPs. It examines the main terms, such as "public-private partnership", "public-private partnership", "infrastructure projects" and others, including their definition, essence and role in the formation of an effective model of cooperation between the state and the private sector. The conducted research is based on the analysis of scientific literature, legal acts and practical experience of PPP implementation in different countries of the world. It is aimed at revealing the essence and meaning of each of the definitions, highlighting the key aspects that affect their interpretation and use in practice. In addition, the work draws attention to the evolution of concepts and terms in the context of the establishment and development of PPPs over time. Taking into account the dynamics of the global market and changing economic conditions, the work analyzes the impact of new factors on the understanding and use of basic definitions in PPP practice.The main results of the study provide a clear and concrete understanding of the basic definitions of PPPs, which will contribute to improving the quality of planning, implementation and management of PPP projects. In addition, they can become the basis for further research in this area, including the development of new theoretical models and methods for assessing the effectiveness of PPPs.All this indicates the relevance of the topic and the importance of further research in order to improve PPP practice and promote sustainable economic development .

Artificial formation of alpha recoil tracks using an americium source

Alpha recoil track (ART) is a lattice defect formed by the alpha decay of 238U, 235U, 232 Th, and their daughter products. The age since the start of ART accumulation can be estimated using the number of ARTs and the uranium and thorium concentrations, given the known decay constants of uranium and thorium. It is necessary to investigate mineral surface properties, appropriate etching conditions, and the ART annealing characteristics upon heating to apply ART observation to the dating and thermal history study of various minerals. This study aims to develop a method for artificially forming ART so that the shape and properties of etched ART in various minerals can be studied in the future. A 300 Bq americium source was used to irradiate muscovite, in which the ARTs were well observed in previous studies, for time intervals of 1 h, 3 h, 6 h, 12 h, 2 days, 4 days, and 1 week after annealing treatment to erase all naturally occurring ARTs, and the samples were observed using phase contrast microscopy after chemical etching. The ART areal density formed on the sample surface and the irradiation time has a linear relationship for the samples with irradiation time up to 12 h. However, the size distribution of the formed artificial ARTs showed a different distribution from that of the naturally observed ARTs. Several samples of muscovite irradiated for 3 h were prepared and annealed at different temperatures (100 °C, 150 °C, and 200 °C) and times (30 min, 1 h, 3 h, 5 h, 10 h, 20 h, 100 h, and 352 h) to determine the stability of ARTs under geological conditions. Given the uniform size distribution of natural ARTs, the results of this annealing experiment indicate that the smaller size of natural ARTs may be indicative of annealing at ambient temperature for an extended period (108–109 yrs), or ARTs may have been annealed in the recent past at a slightly higher temperature (150 °C–200 °C). We cannot rule out the possibility that the observed natural ART-like tracks were formed by the bombardment of smaller nuclei (e.g., move of major atoms by cosmic ray irradiation), assuming that the track size reflects the energy and mass of nuclei. Further detailed studies of annealing behavior and track formation processes by various atoms are required to reach a definitive understanding.

Assessment of Level of Awareness and Barriers to Low Vision Rehabilitation Among Optometrists in Pakistan

Introduction: Low vision rehabilitation provides strategies to substitute for visual impairment and the resultant limitations of low vision by enhancing remaining vision and other sensory or motor abilities in individuals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge of and perceived barriers to providing low vision rehabilitation by optometrists in Pakistan. Methods: In this qualitative, cross-sectional study, a convenient sample of 100 participants was included and a structured, validated, self-administered questionnaire was provided to collect demographic information and to identify the level of knowledge, awareness, and perceived barriers regarding low vision rehabilitation. Data was analyzed using frequency distribution and Pearson's chi-square test to understand the significance of barriers to low vision care provision. Results: A total of 100 participants completed the study questionnaire (59 males, 41 females) with a mean age of 26 (±6.1 SD) years. Eighty-two participants (82%) had an adequate understanding of low vision as per WHO's criteria. However, 47% of participants failed to identify the steps of low vision rehabilitation. Newly graduated practicing optometrists (i.e., those with less than 3 years’ experience) had a significantly better understanding of low vision definition and low vision rehabilitation steps, as compared to more experienced optometrists ( p < .05). Also, those working in private practices were more likely to consider low vision rehabilitation as less profitable ( p = .025, odds ratio = 2.56, CI = 1.1–5.8), compared to those working in hospitals. Discussion: Lack of training and unavailability of low vision devices are major barriers, as perceived by optometrists in Pakistan. Rigorous attempts are needed to educate eye care practitioners specifically optometrists about the availability and usage of low-cost, improved-quality, and up-to-date low vision devices in the country. Implications for practitioners: Continuous professional development through refresher courses is crucial to enhance knowledge of low vision rehabilitation. Educating optometrists to adopt a multidisciplinary and empathetic approach toward patient management may improve patients’ satisfaction and success with rehabilitative services.

The Role of Intersectionality and Context in Measuring Gender-Based Violence in Universities and Research-Performing Organizations in Europe for the Development of Inclusive Structural Interventions.

The aim of the article is to discuss how thinking about gender-based violence intersectionally and in context can not only enrich our understanding but also lead to transformative change in organizations. The article argues that to better understand gender-based violence in universities and research institutions, analyses need to be intersectional and contextual. Such approaches go beyond binary understandings of gender and narrow legalistic definitions of gender-based violence. The article reflects on how to operationalize this to derive starting points for intersectional categories to consider and contextual factors to measure at micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. It concludes that a multilevel intersectional analysis leads to more nuanced knowledge on experiences of gender-based violence and is, therefore, better equipped to inform the development of measures to eradicate the problem in an inclusive way.

Does Magnetic Field Influence the Surface Tension of Ferrofluid?

Studying the physical properties of ferrofluids is a challenging task, especially when conventional experimental techniques are adapted to the presence of a magnetic field. To date, there has been no definitive understanding of how the magnetic field affects the surface energy of ferrofluid interfaces. In this study, we perform a direct experimental investigation to assess the effect of magnetic fields on the surface tension of ferrofluids. For this purpose, a modified capillary wave technique was modified for use in the presence of an external magnetic field. A decrease in the wavelength of the capillary wave was observed when the magnetic field was oriented perpendicular to the ferrofluid surface, and an increase was recorded when the magnetic field was parallel. We note that the capillary wave pattern elongates along the magnetic field force lines. The observed effect is attributed to the varying influence of the magnetic field along and across the propagating capillary wave. Analysis of the dispersion relation and evaluation of the impacts of various mechanisms influencing capillary waves revealed, that the changes in the surface tension of ferrofluids in the presence of a magnetic field are responsible for the observed behavior. It is shown that the surface tension of the MK 8-40 ferrofluid gradually increases with the applied magnetic field and reaches a grouth up to 10% in a magnetic field of ∼10 kA/m. Thus, the surface tension is found to be influenced by an external magnetic field.

Jewish Mysticism as a Form of Feminism in Early 20th Century Hungarian Jewish Literature: Anna Lesznai’s Response to Otto Weininger

This article examines Anna Lesznai’s radical imagining of sex and its use for transcendental purposes that heavily rely on Jewish mystical ideas intertwined with Otto Weininger's theory of gender binarism. In her gender theory—part of feminist discourse at the turn of the twentieth century—Lesznai describes female love, using religious language and ideas from Jewish mysticism, especially those resembling Hassidic concepts, and ultimately compares sexual union to yihud- unio mystica with God. Working within the patriarchal understanding of the biological definition of gender and of the concept of "female difference," Lesznai’s feminism rooted in the belief that certain personality traits and skills are inherently gendered, but she reverses the hierarchy by placing women in the position of power, thus turning Jewish mysticism and Weininger’s gender philosophy on its head.

Temporal Relationship and Clinical Outcomes of Acute Kidney Injury Following Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess prevalence and timing of acute kidney injury (AKI) development after acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and its association with mortality. Ovid MEDLINE(R), Ovid Embase, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Ovid PsycINFO database, Scopus, and Web of Science thought April 2023. Titles and abstracts were screened independently and in duplicate to identify eligible studies. Randomized controlled trials and prospective or retrospective cohort studies reporting the development of AKI following ARDS were included. Two reviewers independently extracted data using a pre piloted abstraction form. We used Review Manager 5.4 software (Cochrane Library, Oxford, United Kingdom) and Open Meta software (Brown University, Providence, RI) for statistical analyses. Among the 3646 studies identified and screened, 17 studies comprising 9359 ARDS patients met the eligibility criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. AKI developed in 3287 patients (40%) after the diagnosis of ARDS. The incidence of AKI at least 48 hours after ARDS diagnosis was 20% (95% CI, 0.18-0.21%). The pooled risk ratio (RR) for the hospital (or 30-d) mortality among ARDS patients who developed AKI was 1.93 (95% CI, 1.71-2.18). AKI development after ARDS was identified as an independent risk factor for mortality in ARDS patients, with a pooled odds ratio from multivariable analysis of 3.69 (95% CI, 2.24-6.09). Furthermore, two studies comparing mortality between patients with late vs. early AKI initiation after ARDS revealed higher mortality in late AKI patients with RR of 1.46 (95% CI, 1.19-1.8). However, the certainty of evidence for most outcomes was low to very low. While our findings highlight a significant association between ARDS and subsequent development of AKI, the low to very low certainty of evidence underscores the need for cautious interpretation. This systematic review identified a significant knowledge gap, necessitating further research to establish a more definitive understanding of this relationship and its clinical implications.

Geographically constrained resource potential of integrating floating photovoltaics in global existing offshore wind farms

Marine renewable energy is gaining prominence as a crucial component of the energy supply in coastal cities due to proximity and minimal land requirements. The synergistic potential of integrating floating photovoltaics with offshore wind turbines presents an encouraging avenue for boosting power production, amplifying spatial energy generation density, and mitigating seasonal output fluctuations. While the global promise of offshore wind-photovoltaic hybrid systems is evident, a definitive understanding of their potential remains elusive. Here, we evaluate the resource potential of the hybrid systems under geographical constraints, offering insights into sustainable and efficient offshore energy solutions. We compile a database with 11,198 offshore wind turbine locations from Sentinel-1 imagery and technical parameters from commercial project details. Our analysis reveals an underutilization of spatial resources within existing offshore wind farms, yielding a modest 26 kWh per square meter. Furthermore, employing realistic climate-driven system simulations, we find an impressive potential photovoltaic generation of 1372 ± 18 TWh annually, over seven times higher than the current offshore wind capacity. Notably, floating photovoltaics demonstrated remarkable efficiency, matching wind turbine output with a mere 17 % of the wind farm area and achieving an average 76 % increase in power generation at equivalent investment costs. Additionally, the hybrid wind and photovoltaic systems exhibit monthly-scale complementarity, reflected by a Pearson correlation coefficient of -0.78, providing a consistent and reliable power supply. These findings support the notion that hybrid offshore renewable energy could revolutionize the renewable energy industry, optimize energy structures, and contribute to a sustainable future for coastal cities.

How mathematicians characterize and attempt to develop understanding of concepts and definitions in proof-based courses

Mathematics education research has long focused on students’ conceptual understanding, including highlighting conceptions viewed as problematic and looking for ways to develop more desirable conceptions. Nevertheless, limited research has examined how mathematicians characterize understanding of concepts and definitions or promote activities beneficial for students. Based on interviews with 13 mathematicians, we present thematic characterizations of what it means to understand a concept and definition, highlight activities mathematicians believe assist students’ learning, and examine their reasons for promoting these activities. Results include mathematically grounded descriptions of what it means to understand a concept but general descriptions of approaching and supporting learning. Implications include a need for attending to intended meanings for “understanding” in context and how this impacts appropriate activities for developing understanding, as well as a careful examination of the extant research literature’s claims about seemingly unified notions of conceptual understanding.

A thematic analysis of the perception of sustainability in the commercial property insurance industry on the basis of selected companies operating in Germany

Sustainability is a key topic defining key challenges in this century. Individual contribution and common understanding are essential as trends start to redefine sustainable behaviour and establishing new goals. This is especially true in the commercial and industrial context, including commercial property insurance. This industry forms the basis, stabilizes the economy and secures industrial development. Industry peers, clients, and the supply chain start emphasizing the role of sustainability and build pressure on the commercial property insurance industry. Yet, ambiguity starts with the definition and common understanding of the used terms. This paper investigates and evaluates how commercial property insurance companies relate to sustainability. For this purpose, a thematic analysis of 19 German and international property insurance companies operating in Germany was performed. This analysis seeks to identify and evaluate common themes in the industry. In total, nine themes could be identified. The presented results offer some first insight and support on common patterns between sustainability and commercial property insurance.

Provincial government and institution level strategy setting: the case of building Chinese ‘world-class universities’

ABSTRACT This study contributes one of the first explorations into how provincial governments shaped the WCU building discourse in tandem with universities. Using a resource dependence approach and insights from institutional isomorphism, it develops a conceptual framework with three perspectives (national government, provincial governments and ‘ministerial universities’) to understand the relationship between national policies and local authorities’ and institutions’ strategic adaptations. This study shows that there are variations in how quickly provincial governments and universities within them respond to national policies. However, provincial reports and institutional strategies exhibit isomorphism with the national goals in the model of goal setting and interpretation of WCU definition. China's national policies for building WCUs reinforce provincial governments’ and ministerial universities’ resource dependence on national government, leading to the adoption of similar goal-setting approaches. However, an ambiguous understanding of WCU definition also prompts the imitation of building WCUs strategies. The ministerial universities develop tailored development plans, reflecting their reliance on provincial governments for critical resources, in light of the variable development advantages and requirements of provincial governments. Hence, the tension of homogeneous goals-setting oriented towards the national standard and diversified provincial development needs in the building WCUs pose a great challenge to local innovative practice.

Rewriting history: a conversation between Parham Taghioff and Hamidreza Karami

ABSTRACT This illustrated conversation between Parham Taghioff and Hamidreza Karami focuses on Taghioff’s profound engagement with history and the philosophy of history within his photographic projects. The dialogue explores how Taghioff’s work reveals the common tendency for individuals to unwittingly cast themselves as characters in the historical drama without a conscious understanding of their roles. Key projects, such as the ‘Hands On/Hands Off’ (2014) and the ‘Asymmetrical Authority’ series (2018), are discussed, emphasising the artist’s reliance on personal historical understanding and historical memory. Taghioff highlights the dynamic nature of historical comprehension, stressing that continual emergence of new facts, documents and narratives prevents a definitive understanding of the past. The conversation also touches on Taghioff’s perspective as a contemporary artist in Iran, highlighting the need to examine history to grasp one’s contemporary position. The conversation concludes with insights into Taghioff’s artistic methodology, involving the analysis and use of archival materials, texts and images to reconstruct and critically examine various historical perspectives.

Aspects of acceptance: building a shared conceptual understanding.

Many contemplatives, scientists, and clinicians have pointed to the value of responding to life's difficulties by accepting experiences as they are. A growing body of research also suggests that acceptance contributes to effective coping with adversity, reduced stress, and improved emotional well-being. Yet within the scientific literature, there is little consensus on what acceptance means or how it should be measured. This makes it nearly impossible to synthesize empirical work on acceptance into a cohesive scientific understanding. Our goal in this paper is to clarify four facets of acceptance that are commonly referenced in research: acknowledging, allowing, non-judging, and non-attachment. We do not propose a specific definition of acceptance or even a set of privileged facets that must be included in future frameworks. We instead offer a vocabulary to facilitate productive communication among researchers that will, in turn, enable a more definitive scientific understanding of this important construct to emerge. After defining and explaining these aspects of acceptance, we further clarify these constructs in two ways. First, we illustrate how the four aspects are dissociable from one another. Second, we analyze their correspondence to related constructs from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Finally, we provide a concept worksheet that scholars can utilize to precisely operationalize acceptance in their own work.

Integrated maternity care: A concept analysis.

Integrated maternity care is strongly promoted in the Netherlands. However, the term 'integrated' and its practical meaning is understood differently by professionals and policy makers. This lack of clarity is also visible in other countries and hinders implementation. In this study, we will examine how the concept of 'integrated maternity care' and its defining attributes are presented in the international literature. This study aims to provide a definition and deeper understanding of the concept of integrated maternity care by conducting a concept analysis using Morse's method. We performed a systematic search using Embase and Ebscohost (CINAHL, PsychINFO, SocINDEX, MEDLINE) including records that described integrated maternity care from on organizational perspective. Through a qualitative analysis of the selected research and non-research records, we identified defining attributes, boundaries, antecedents, and consequences of the concept. Subsequently, we constructed a definition of the concept based on the findings. We included 36 records on integrated maternity care in the period from 1978 to 2022. Our search included 21 research and 15 non-research records (e.g. guidelines and policy records). Only half of these had a definition of integrated maternity care. Over time, the definition became more specific. Our concept analysis resulted in three defining attributes of integrated maternity care: collaboration, organizing collaboration and woman-centeredness. We identified role clarity, a culture of collaboration, and clear and timely communication as antecedents of integrated maternity care. A number of consequences were found: continuity of care, improved outcomes, and efficiency. All consequences were described as expected effects of integrated maternity care and not based on evidence. We propose the following definition: 'Integrated maternity care is woman-centred care provided by (maternity) care professionals collaborating together within and across different levels of healthcare with a specific focus on organizing seamless care.' Addressing the antecedents is important for the successful implementation of integrated maternity care.

Balancing the load: A narrative review with methodological implications of compensatory training strategies for non-starting soccer players.

New training approaches have emerged advocating for the implementation of compensatory physical training. This approach aims to provide additional training that balances the load typically experienced by non-starters during a match. This may help maintain their readiness and ensures that their physical fitness is not compromised by the reduced exposure to match loads. Thus, this narrative review aims to describe the differences in external loads between starting and non-starting players and describe the studies conducted in compensatory training. Studies examining external load metrics such as total distances covered, high-speed running, and sprinting suggest that, adjusted for playing time, values are often higher in non-starting players. Although not standardized, there is an obvious decrease in exposure for these critical variables in non-starters. Additionally, internal load parameters such as perceived exertion and heart rate tend to be higher in starting players. Regarding the physical fitness impacts, evidence suggests differences observed between starters and non-starters in some aspects of physical performance, although the extent and significance of these differences can vary. The studies on compensatory training are limited, and the typical approach usually centres on running-based exercises and small-sided games, offering differing approaches to address the physical needs. The gap in research underscores the necessity for improved study designs that can shed light on the real impact of compensatory training. Presently, the practice of compensatory training has been adopted, yet a definitive understanding of its genuine influence, particularly in terms of enhancing physical fitness and mitigating injury risks, remains elusive.