Search Results (152)

This article explores how gender biases in STEM education persist despite formal commitments to equality. Based on data from the Erasmus+ project STEMGenderIN, we analyze responses from lower-secondary school teachers (ISCED 2; ages 11–15), of STEM subjects, in Portugal, Italy, Belgium, and Romania using the TPGESE scale, which assesses three dimensions: perceived gender equality in education (PGEE), the awareness of the effects of gender segregation (AEGSE), and the naturalization of gender stereotypes (GSNGI). Findings show a consistent gap between teachers declared support for gender equality and their limited awareness of structural and cultural barriers faced by girls in STEM. While most teachers affirm equality in principle, many attribute girls’ underrepresentation to personal choice or aptitude, overlooking the influence of stereotypes, social expectations, and systemic inequalities. The results point to a paradox: formal recognition of gender equality coexists with low engagement in reflexive practice or institutional change. Differences between countries suggest varying degrees of critical awareness, with some contexts showing greater openness to questioning dominant narratives. This study highlights the urgent need for teacher training that goes beyond rhetoric, promoting deep pedagogical transformation and equipping educators to create more inclusive STEM learning environments. We argue that addressing the perception–practice gap is essential to closing the gender gap in STEM. To situate these findings, we also note how national cultural–political debates—such as Portugal’s public controversy around so-called “gender ideology” in Citizenship and Development—may shape teachers’ perceptions and self-reports, reinforcing the need for context-aware training. Full article

This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of agricultural performance across 38 Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries using an integrated Multi-Criteria Decision-Making framework that combines Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution, VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje, Analytical Hierarchy Process-based weighting, and equal-weighting strategies. The analysis reveals that the VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje method exhibited greater sensitivity to changes in criterion weights, as confirmed by Spearman’s rank correlation ($P_v = 0.507$ < $P_t = 0.938$), while Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution produced more stable rankings. To confirm the differing outcomes, the Borda count technique is applied, yielding a highly consistent final ranking ($P_{rank} = 0.819$). Remarkably, according to the integrated ranking results, Norway (total Borda score: 73) emerges as the top-performing country in terms of agricultural sustainability, whereas Ireland (total Borda score: 0) is positioned at the bottom. These findings offer a critical reference point for policymakers and stakeholders, highlighting both methodological rigor and practical relevance. By combining subjective and neutral weighting approaches, this study provides a balanced decision-support model and also underscores the potential of hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making structures in generating nuanced and actionable insights in agricultural strategy development. Full article

In wearable sensor-based human activity recognition (HAR), the traditional sliding window method encounters the challenge of multiclass windows in which multiple actions are combined within a single window. To address this problem, an approach that predicts activities at each point in time within a sequence has been proposed, and U-Net-based models have proven to be effective owing to their excellent space-time feature restoration capabilities. However, these models have limitations in that they are prone to overfitting owing to their large number of parameters and are not suitable for deployment. In this study, a lightweight U-Net was designed by replacing all standard U-Net convolutions with depthwise separable convolutions to implement dense prediction. Compared with existing U-Net-based models, the proposed model reduces the number of parameters by 57–89%. When evaluated on three benchmark datasets (MHEALTH, PAMAP2, and WISDM) using subject-independent splits, the performance of the proposed model was equal to or superior to that of all comparison models. Notably, on the MHEALTH dataset, which was collected in an uncontrolled environment, the proposed model improved accuracy by 7.89%, demonstrating its applicability to real-world wearable HAR systems. Full article

With the continuous development of the Internet, people have put forward higher requirements for the stability and availability of the network. Although we constantly strive to take measures to avoid network failures, it is undeniable that network failures are unavoidable. Therefore, in this situation, enhancing the stability and reliability of the network to cope with possible network failures has become particularly crucial. Therefore, researching and developing high fault protection rate intra-domain routing protection schemes has become an important topic and is the subject of this study. This study aims to enhance the resilience and service continuity of networks in the event of failures by proposing innovative routing protection strategies. The existing methods, such as Loop Free Alternative (LFA) and Equal Cost Multiple Paths (ECMP), have some shortcomings in terms of fast fault detection, fault response, and fault recovery processes, such as long fault recovery time, limitations of routing protection strategies, and requirements for network topology. In response to these issues, this article proposes a new routing protection scheme, which is an intra-domain routing protection scheme based on the minimum cross-degree backup path. The core idea of this plan is to find the backup path with the minimum degree of intersection with the optimal path, in order to avoid potential fault areas and minimize the impact of faults on other parts of the network. Through comparative analysis and performance evaluation, this scheme can provide a higher fault protection rate and more reliable routing protection in the network. Especially in complex networks, this scheme has more performance and protection advantages than traditional routing protection methods. The proposed scheme in this paper exhibits a high rate of fault protection across multiple topologies, demonstrating a fault protection rate of 1 in the context of real topology. It performs commendably in terms of path stretch, evidenced by a figure of 1.06 in the case of real topology Ans, suggesting robust path length control capabilities. The mean intersection value is 0 in the majority of the topologies, implying virtually no common edge between the backup and optimal paths. This effectively mitigates the risk of single-point failure. Full article

Internet addiction among adolescents has emerged as a significant global health issue, contributing to social isolation, academic difficulties, and emotional disorders, with excessive use of social networks further intensifying these challenges. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an educational intervention grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in reducing Internet addiction and enhancing academic performance among adolescent girls in southern Iran. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 370 female students aged 15–16 years, selected through two-stage cluster random sampling and divided equally into intervention and control groups. The intervention group participated in a five-week TPB-based program, incorporating lectures, group discussions, and parent–teacher meetings, while the control group received unrelated health education. Data were collected using the Yang Internet Addiction Test (IAT), a TPB-based questionnaire, and academic performance scores (grade point average, GPA) before and after the intervention. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant improvements in attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions to reduce Internet use (p < 0.001). Internet addiction scores significantly declined, and GPA improved in the intervention group compared to the control group (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.950). The findings support TPB-based interventions as effective tools for reducing Internet addiction and improving academic outcomes among adolescents. This study was registered with the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20131014015015N18). Full article

Objectives: To elucidate the influence of eye selection criteria (ESC) on the reliability of biomarkers in diagnosis and prediction using pre-surgical parameters, assessments were undertaken as the subject of analysis. Methods: Pituitary macroadenoma (PMA) diagnosis and postsurgical visual function recovery biomarker analysis was used as the subject to illustrate the point. Six datasets (right, left, best, worst, random and both eyes), derived from a longitudinal study that involved 42 PMA patients and age-matched healthy volunteers, were generated. A comparison of the diagnostic efficacies of the amplitude of pattern visual evoked potentials (pVEP) and bi-nasal sector thickness in the ganglion cells complex plus the inner plexiform layer was performed using ESC. Afterwards, multivariate models for PMA diagnosis and the prediction of postsurgical visual function recovery, using Stable Sparse Biomarkers Detection methodology, were developed. A comprehensive evaluation was performed once for controls and in pre-surgical PMA patients at 3 and 12 months after transsphenoidal tumor removal. Results: The proposed biomarkers displayed specificity and sensibility ≥ 0.74 and AUC ≥ 0.87. The diagnostic values derived were ESC-dependent. All the prediction models had accuracies over 0.96, and the proposed biomarkers had stability ≥ 99% and the highest β values. Conclusions: Although the diagnostic values of the proposed biomarkers are affected by ESC, they exhibit equal accuracy for the same eye. Worse eye data represent the best choice for the analysis. Further studies are needed to validate the models for use in the prediction of the 12-month postsurgical restoration of parvocellular traffic. Full article

This paper concerns the assessment of the lunar regolith ability to consolidate in the presence of liquid water and develop and sustain cohesion after drying. This type of cohesion originates from interparticle adhesion and can be potentially improved through grading modification. The research was conducted using the lunar regolith simulant (EAC-1A) reproducing the PSD of real lunar soil delivered from the Moon. LRS was subjected to water and elevated temperature (equal to the highest temperature on the Moon) to produce specimens of consolidated material, CCR (Capillary-Consolidated Regolith) and to test flexural strength. In order to adapt to potentially small stresses, tests were performed according to the modified EN 196-1 procedure intended for Portland cement testing: specimens scaled to 20 mm × 20 mm × 80 mm (new molds with Polytetrafluoroethylene/Teflon^® coatings reducing adhesion were created), supports spacing in the three-point flexural test reduced to 50 mm and apparatus adjusted to precisely apply small loads. CCR developed flexural strength exceeding 0.025 MPa. Then, analogous tests were performed using LRS subjected to grinding in a disc mill prior to consolidation. It was shown that simple mechanical grinding enabled the improvement of interparticle adhesion with capillary forces, resulting in improved flexural strength of the consolidated material (0.123 MPa). Full article

Background/Objectives: In liver transplant surgery, ischemia–reperfusion (I-R) maneuvers are frequently employed to control bleeding; however, such interventions can result in injury not only to the liver but also to remote organs. The lungs, in particular, are highly susceptible due to their extensive vascularization and inflammatory response. While pulmonary injury secondary to hepatic I-R is recognized, and despite the fact that various antioxidant compounds have been investigated for their potential to mitigate I-R-induced damage to hepatic tissue, few studies have focused on evaluating therapeutic agents aimed at mitigating lung damage in this setting. This study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of apigenin on pulmonary tissue following liver I-R injury using an experimental rat model. Methods: Sixty-three male albino Wistar rats (approximately 15 weeks old, weighing 220–350 g) were randomly allocated into three groups: a sham group (open–close surgery; n = 7), a control (C) group subjected to liver I-R injury only (n = 28), and an apigenin (Ap) group receiving intraperitoneal apigenin administration immediately after liver ischemia and prior to reperfusion (n = 28). Both the C and Ap groups were subdivided into four equal subgroups corresponding to euthanasia at 60-, 120-, 180-, and 240 min post-reperfusion. Lung tissues were harvested for immunohistochemical analysis targeting the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). Results: The apigenin-treated groups exhibited significantly reduced expression levels of MMP-3 and MCP-1 across all time points when compared to the control groups. In contrast, no expression of MMP-3 or MCP-1 was observed in the sham group. Conclusions: The findings support the protective role of the antioxidant apigenin in reducing pulmonary injury following liver I-R. The diminished expression of MMP-3 and MCP-1 in the apigenin-treated rats provides compelling evidence for its protective effects on remote organs. Full article

This article proposes a conversation on the limits and possibilities of collectivizing the way in which we generate and inscribe knowledge within the terms of a political economy of knowledge production and circulation regulated by hierarchies of academic and non-academic classifications, as well as those that demarcate centres and peripheries domestically and internationally through racial–gendered distributions of authority. To this end, it explores a series of collective projects elaborated within the GlobalGRACE network in Brazil (Global Gender and Cultures of Equality), which experiment with residency methodologies designed to create the necessary infrastructure for a redistribution of power, knowledge, and authority in investigations on racial–gendered violence in the peripheries of Rio de Janeiro. As collaborators in this research–action project initiated in 2018 with the Observatory of Favelas of Rio de Janeiro, here, we mobilize two of these collective projects as case studies—the dance residency of Cia Passinho Carioca and the Free School of Arts ELÃ residency—so as to reflect on our ways of knowing and experiencing racial–gendered inequalities in context. In this way, it becomes possible to propose not only questions around the production, erasure, and appropriation of knowledge but also possibilities for the broad-based circulation of dissident knowledge practices and the subsequent displacement of established authorities in the field, notably by means of a disobjectification of subjects of knowledge and exercises in authoring in the first-person plural. This entry point into the conversation on who has the power to know and control the meanings of intersectional inequalities enables a focus on practice, pedagogy, and methods to unpack the ethical and epistemological questions at hand. By centring the problem of authorship, we argue that feminist and decolonial approaches to knowing, teaching, and learning need to effectuate redistributions of power and the construction of politico-epistemic infrastructure if we have any chance of cultivating the conditions needed for liberatory knowledge practices. Full article

Development of a defensible source-term model (STM), usually a thermodynamical model for radionuclide solubility calculations, is critical to a performance assessment (PA) of a geologic repository for nuclear waste disposal. Such a model is generally subjected to rigorous regulatory scrutiny. In this article, we highlight key guiding principles for STM model development and validation in nuclear waste management. We illustrate these principles by closely examining three recently developed thermodynamic models with the Pitzer formulism for aqueous H⁺—Nd³⁺—NO₃⁻(—oxalate) systems in a reverse alphabetical order of the authors: the XW model developed by Xiong and Wang, the OWC model developed by Oakes et al., and the GLC model developed by Guignot et al., among which the XW model deals with trace activity coefficients for Nd(III), while the OWC and GLC models are for concentrated Nd(NO₃)₃ electrolyte solutions. The principles highlighted include the following: (1) Principle 1. Validation against independent experimental data: A model should be validated against experimental data or field observations that have not been used in the original model parameterization. We tested the XW model against multiple independent experimental data sets including electromotive force (EMF), solubility, water vapor, and water activity measurements. The results show that the XW model is accurate and valid for its intended use for predicting trace activity coefficients and therefore Nd solubility in repository environments. (2) Principle 2. Testing for relevant and sensitive variables: Solution pH is such a variable for an STM and easily acquirable. All three models are checked for their ability to predict pH conditions in Nd(NO₃)₃ electrolyte solutions. The OWC model fails to provide a reasonable estimate for solution pH conditions, thus casting serious doubt on its validity for a source-term calculation. In contrast, both the XW and GLC models predict close-to-neutral pH values, in agreement with experimental measurements. (3) Principle 3. Honoring physical constraints: Upon close examination, it is found that the Nd(III)-NO₃ association schema in the OWC model suffers from two shortcomings. Firstly, its second stepwise stability constant for Nd(NO₃)₂⁺ (log K₂) is much higher than the first stepwise stability constant for NdNO₃²⁺ (log K₁), thus violating the general rule of (log K₂–log K₁) < 0, or $\frac{K_1}{K_2}>1$. Secondly, the OWC model predicts abnormally high activity coefficients for Nd(NO₃)₂⁺ (up to ~900) as the concentration increases. (4) Principle 4. Minimizing degrees of freedom for model fitting: The OWC model with nine fitted parameters is compared with the GLC model with five fitted parameters, as both models apply to the concentrated region for Nd(NO₃)₃ electrolyte solutions. The latter appears superior to the former because the latter can fit osmotic coefficient data equally well with fewer model parameters. The work presented here thus illustrates the salient points of geochemical model development, selection, and validation in nuclear waste management. Full article

Texture regularity, for example, the repeating pattern of a carpet, brickwork, or tree bark, is a ubiquitous feature of the visual world. The perception of regularity has generally been studied using multi-element textures whose regularity is manipulated by the addition of random jitter to the elements’ nominal positions. Here, we investigate the selectivity of regularity perception for the luminance contrast polarities of the elements. Our psychophysical tool was simultaneous regularity contrast, or SRC, the phenomenon in which the perceived regularity of a central test texture is shifted away from that of the surrounding regularity. Stimuli were composed of arrays of dark and/or white Gaussian elements. Surround and center test textures consisted of either the same (“congruent”) or opposite (“incongruent”) polarities. In addition, we tested a “mixed” condition consisting of a random mixture of polarities in both the surround and test. The perceived regularity of the test was measured using a match stimulus with the same polarity dimension as the test. The regularity of the match stimulus was adjusted on each trial using a forced-choice staircase procedure and the point-of-subjective equality between the match and test regularities was estimated from the resulting psychometric functions. SRC was observed in both congruent and incongruent conditions, but with the mixed condition, the perceived regularity of the test was shifted toward rather than away from the surround regularity, an example of assimilation, not contrast. The analysis revealed no significant difference in the magnitude of SRC between the congruent and incongruent conditions, suggesting that SRC could be mediated solely by polarity agnostic mechanisms, although there are other possible explanations for the “null” result. However, trend analysis using a non-linear (sigmoidal-shaped) function indicated a significant difference between the congruent and incongruent conditions, which, together with the mixed polarity results, suggests the presence of at least some polarity selective mechanisms. Previous reports have suggested that regularity perception is encoded by the “peakedness” in the distribution of spatial-frequency-tuned linear filter responses. We modelled SRC quantitatively by incorporating peakedness with spatial-frequency-selective surround inhibition and found that the model gave a good account of the SRC data. Possible reasons for the assimilation effect—with the mixed polarity condition are discussed. Full article

Incomplete communication networks (e.g., time delay and packet loss/switching) in haptic interaction and remote teleoperation systems can degrade both user performance and system stability. In this study, we hypothesized that human operator performance would decrease monotonically as network imperfections worsened. To test this hypothesis, we conducted two psychophysical experiments measuring the just-noticeable difference (JND), point of subjective equality (PSE), and perception time under varying conditions of packet separation time and packet loss. Our findings show that increasing packet separation time significantly elevated both JND and PSE, indicating a poorer discrimination ability and a systematic bias toward perceiving the environment as stiffer. By contrast, packet loss rates of up to 75% had no significant impact on perceptual performance, suggesting that, at sufficiently high sampling rates, human operators can compensate for substantial data loss. Overall, the results underscore that packet separation time, rather than packet loss, is the dominant factor affecting perceptual performance in haptic teleoperation. Full article

Steel I-beams may be subject to deviation from their normal path towards the lateral direction due to obstacles along their axis line. This deviation in the lateral direction, i.e., the out-of-plane distance, affects the behavior of the steel beams and may reduce their ultimate capacity. To obtain this effect, finite element modeling (FEM) was used to model these beams with and without an out-of-plane distance at the mid-span beam length with several different variables. These variables were the out-of-plane distance, cross-section dimensions, beam length, and steel yield stress. The reliability of using FEM simulation was confirmed by comparing the experimental test results of 25 available steel beams in previous studies. The results indicate the high accuracy of the simulation of this beam in terms of ultimate capacity, structural behavior, and deformation patterns. After verifying the results, 116 broad-flange I-beam (BFIB) steel beams with different out-of-plane distances were modeled. The results showed that using an out-of-plane distance equal to the flange width of the BFIB-300 cross-section caused a 60% decrease in the ultimate capacity. The reduction ratios in the ultimate moment capacity in out-of-plane steel beams were directly proportional to the out-of-plane distance, cross-sectional dimensions, and steel yield stress, while the beam length had no effect. Failure in beams containing an out-of-plane distance occurs as a result of a global buckling in the upper flange, which contains tensile stresses at the outer edge and compressive stresses at the inner edge, with stress concentration occurring at the point of contact of the out-of-plane part with the main beam. The prediction results of the design codes were compared with the results of experimental tests and the FEM analysis of the beams with and without out-of-plane distances. For all the beams with out-of-plane distances, all the design codes were unable to predict this ultimate capacity. Full article

This study investigates the hypothesis that meteorological anomalies may precede earthquake events. Long-term time series of observations for air temperature, atmospheric pressure and precipitation at a meteorological station in Kamchatka are considered. Time series are subjected to Huang decomposition into sequences of levels of empirical oscillation modes (intrinsic mode functions—IMFs), forming a set of orthogonal components with decreasing average frequency. For each IMF level, the instantaneous amplitudes of envelopes are calculated using the Hilbert transform. A comparison with the earthquake sequence is made using a parametric model of the intensity of two interacting point processes, which allows one to quantitatively estimate the “measure of the lead” of the time instants of the compared sequences. For each IMF level, the number of time moments of the largest local maxima of instantaneous amplitudes which is equal to the number of earthquakes is selected. As a result of the analysis, it turned out that for the sixth IMF level (periods of 8–16 days), the “lead measure” of the instantaneous amplitude maxima of meteorological parameters in comparison with earthquake time moments significantly exceeds the inverse lead, which confirms the existence of prognostic changes in meteorological parameters in the problem of “atmosphere–lithosphere” interaction. This study reveals that certain meteorological anomalies can be a precursor for seismic activity. Full article

This work identifies and analyses, from a synoptic point of view, episodes of torrential rainfall (equal to or greater than 200 mm in a single day) that occurred in the Canary Islands between 1950 and 2020. For this purpose, all daily rainfall series available in different databases were used, with a final selection, after applying various filters for the detection of errors, of 88 days on which 200 mm was exceeded. Subsequently, the isobaric configurations at the surface and at 500 hPa were analysed by applying the following two classification methods: the automatic one of Jenkinson and Collinson (1977) and the subjective one of Jorge Olcina (1994). Most of the selected days (63.4%) corresponded to high-altitude isolated depressions (known by their initials in Spanish as DANAs), as well as troughs showing the advection of polar air of different origins (36.5%). According to the Jenkinson and Collinson classification, half of the days were classified as cyclonic or hybrid cyclonic and 37.5% as pure advective or directional (37.5%), with five days classified as undetermined. On only one day, 23 November 1954, was a tropical disturbance observed, with cloud fronts moving from the south of the Canary Islands along the west coast of Africa. Full article