Search Results (96)

The 19th century witnessed an upsurge of periodicals in China, among which the Chinese newspapers and periodicals by Protestant missionaries were of profound impact. This paper begins with a chronological division of Protestant missionary Chinese periodicals, highlighting the most memorable and influential titles, and analyzes the three-phase development of initiation, development and transformation within the broader sociohistorical context. Additionally, the study explores their evolutionary instrumental functions in terms of content and readership, ranging from the handmaid of religion, the bridge of eastern–western cultures to the carrier of diverse knowledge and the manipulator of politics. This shows that the knowledge selected and translated by Protestant missionaries functioned as a dynamic tool in adaptation to historicized requirements. Ultimately, the study argues that these periodicals served as an enlightener of Chinese minds, a promoter of Chinese press and a facilitator of China’s sociopolitical revolution, advancing religious communication, knowledge dissemination and political reform in China during the contemporary and subsequent eras. Full article

Intermetallic compounds (IMCs) can be used to create catalysts with unsurpassed practical characteristics, including for demanding and stable electrochemical reactions such as nitrogen reduction (NRR), nitrate reduction (NO₃RR), and nitrite reduction (NO₂RR), which can serve as a replacement for the industrial Haber–Bosch process. An urgent task is to develop efficient electrocatalysts using low-cost base metals, with partial or complete replacement of noble metals. This short perspective review focuses primarily on the latest work from 2024–2025 and serves as a guide and starting point for a wide readership on the IMC applications of catalysts. Full article

The aim of this paper is to clarify the difference between soft and hard news and to explore consumer preferences so that newspapers can adapt their artificial intelligence (AI) tools accordingly. The work focuses on the analysis of the results from a focus group discussion held on 26 March 2024, on the reading habits among readers of the news website Večernji.hr. The analysis shows that readers are not fully aware of their reading habits, often overestimating their interest in hard news while underestimating their interest in miscellaneous entertaining content in the media commonly referred to as soft news. In order to verify their statements, a content analysis of the 50 most-read articles on that news website from 25 to 29 March 2024 was conducted, also from the perspective of hard and soft news, so that this data can be compared with the results of the focus group discussion. The analysis of article readership confirmed and further emphasized the readers’ interest in the miscellanea. These findings have been contextualized within previous experiences of using artificial intelligence in the media, which show that AI tools are highly suitable for informative genres based on service data—typically classified as hard news, and are also compatible with some types of soft news. The great interest of readers in soft news suggests that significant effort should be put in its production and that it should not be considered an unimportant supplement to hard news. Artificial intelligence tools are less suitable for creating miscellanea, but they can be helpful in analyzing trends and detecting events. In these areas collaboration between humans and machines is essential, as only a journalist can accurately understand the human dimension and social context, which is the necessary framework for producing soft news. Full article

This article re-examines Julio Cortázar’s “Continuity of Parks” (1956) and “Instructions for John Howell” (1963) through the lens of reader-response theory, hermeneutics, and cognitive narratology. Traditionally viewed as examples of the fantastic, these stories are interpreted here as complementary explorations of passive and active reading, offering a literary dialectic that parallels the reflections articulated in Cortázar’s Rayuela [Hopscotch] (1963). Drawing on Wolfgang Iser’s theories of textual gaps and reader cooperation, Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of appropriation, and more recent approaches to cognitive immersion and narrative engagement, this study argues that both stories dramatize reading as an ethical and political act. “Continuity of Parks” illustrates the dangers of uncritical textual consumption, culminating in the protagonist’s epistemic and existential annihilation, while “Instructions for John Howell” presents a model of insurgent readership, where the spectator’s appropriation of the play foregrounds the risks and possibilities of narrative intervention. By analyzing the use of metalepsis, destabilized focalization, and narrative layering in these stories, this article highlights how Cortázar anticipates contemporary concerns regarding reader agency, interpretive autonomy, and the sociopolitical implications of literary engagement. Full article

Background/Objectives: Legacy media are those that existed prior to the advent of the internet. Legacy media have a focus on the needs of specific readership populations. Because of this focus, they remain a trusted source of information for many people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these media addressed readers’ needs for recipes for home food preparation. Methods: To evaluate the accuracy of the recipe descriptions and to compare these to their estimated nutritional value, we examined 182 recipes extracted from 942 food- and nutrition-related articles in a sample of magazines collected from January to December 2020. Because herbs and spices enhance the palatability of foods, are associated with healthier diet patterns, and provide phytochemicals which may have health benefits, we also examined the inclusion of these in the recipes when comparing their nutritional value. Results: Nutrient comparisons across these groups showed that recipes identified as healthy were the highest in vitamin C, fiber, and potassium and the lowest in cholesterol (p < 0.01). Cocktails were about half the calories per serving as all other recipes, and they were substantially lower in all the nutrients evaluated (p < 0.01) except for sugars (p = NS). An increase in seasonings was associated with higher levels of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, potassium, iron, and fiber (p < 0.001). Recipes with added seasonings were also lower in sugar (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Overall, these results support the hypothesis that recipes in legacy media identified as healthy, as well as those that contained more herbs and spices, were more likely to correspond to healthy diet guidelines. Full article

The circulation of Il Principe in the British Isles increased significantly in 1584, thanks to the editor John Wolfe. His aim was to spread Machiavelli’s works not only in England but also across Europe and Italy, where the book had been included in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum since 1557. Machiavelli’s advice to rulers on how to acquire and maintain power, ensuring peace and stability, attracted a diverse readership, from members of the royal court to reformers, philosophers, legal scholars, and even playwrights like Shakespeare. This paper, departing from the influence of The Prince in England, focuses on how the ambiguous figure of the principe nuovo served as a model for discussing diverse forms of government and political theories. It will be shown that Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure enters the political debate by representing Duke Vincentio as the embodiment of a tyrannical Machiavellian prince, offering an indirect criticism of the rule of King James I of England and VI of Scotland. Full article

The image of the bear and its relationship to the human undergoes many representations in children’s literature. Their bodies range from cute and squishable teddy bears to non-fiction representations of wild bears. For example, the lone polar bear, a popular visual device for expressing the “slow violence” of climate change, coined by Rob Nixon in 2011. This gray area then invites one to consider how these two opposing states influence one another in the context of conversations around climate change. Given the widespread adoption of the polar bear as an emblem of climate change, this article addresses how polar bear imagery is translated into modern children’s literature when it often draws on cute aesthetics. Cuteness then calls into question how ‘real’ bears have been reimagined into fictional settings and whether relationships between child and bear can provide commentary on inspiring environmental activism. I explore Hannah Gold’s The Last Bear and its sequel, Finding Bear, as borderline ecopedagogical texts which highlight the tension created when a typically cute subject is used to encourage environmental activism amongst its younger readerships. Full article

A critical shortage of special education teachers persists nationwide, challenging the realization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandate of providing Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students with disabilities. Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this shortage disproportionately affects teachers of color. Moreover, it extends beyond K-12 systems, impacting special education educator preparation programs, where faculties are often drawn from practicing teachers pursuing advanced degrees. This paper delineates the multifaceted implications of the shortage of special education teachers of color in both teacher education programs and K-12 systems. Emphasizing the indispensable role and specialized skill set of special educators, we offer strategies to mitigate this crisis, including improvements in preparation, recruitment, and retention efforts. Anticipating a diverse readership encompassing teacher education programs, K-12 administrators, teachers, and education policymakers, we aim to foster awareness, prompt dialog, and inspire actionable steps to address this pressing issue. Full article

For decades, the discoverability and visibility of a paper relied on the readership of the academic journal where the publication was issued. As public interest in biomedicine has grown, the news media have taken on an important role in spreading scientific findings. This investigation explores the potential impact of news media stories on the citations and altmetrics of a paper. A total of 2020 open-access biomedical research papers, all published in the same year, 2015, and in journals with an impact factor between 10 and 14, were investigated. The papers were split into two groups based on the sole criterion of receiving or not receiving news media coverage. Papers with news media coverage accounted for 44% of the total. They received, on average, 60% more citations, 104% more blogs, 150% more X posts, 106% more Facebook reports, 40% more Wikipedia references, 85% more videos, and 51% more Mendeley readers than papers without news media coverage. The correlation between news media outlets and increased citations and altmetrics is evident. However, the broader societal impact of news media coverage, in terms of bringing scientific matters or discoveries to the public eye, appears to be more robust when compared to the reactions of the scientific community. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems of autonomous systems such as drones, robots and self-driving cars may consume up to 50% of the total power available onboard, thereby limiting the vehicle’s range of functions and considerably reducing the distance the vehicle can travel on a single charge. Next-generation onboard AI systems need an even higher power since they collect and process even larger amounts of data in real time. This problem cannot be solved using traditional computing devices since they become more and more power-consuming. In this review article, we discuss the perspectives on the development of onboard neuromorphic computers that mimic the operation of a biological brain using the nonlinear–dynamical properties of natural physical environments surrounding autonomous vehicles. Previous research also demonstrated that quantum neuromorphic processors (QNPs) can conduct computations with the efficiency of a standard computer while consuming less than 1% of the onboard battery power. Since QNPs are a semi-classical technology, their technical simplicity and low cost compared to quantum computers make them ideally suited for applications in autonomous AI systems. Providing a perspective on the future progress in unconventional physical reservoir computing and surveying the outcomes of more than 200 interdisciplinary research works, this article will be of interest to a broad readership, including both students and experts in the fields of physics, engineering, quantum technologies and computing. Full article

Sediment transport remains a significant challenge for researchers due to the intricate nature of the physical processes involved and the diverse characteristics of watercourses worldwide. A type of watercourse that is of particular interest for study is the ephemeral streams, found primarily in semiarid and arid regions. Due to their unique nature, a new measurement algorithm was created and a modified bed load sampler was built. Measurement of the bed load transport rate and calculation of the water discharge were conducted in an ephemeral stream in Northeastern Greece, where the mean calculated streamflow rate ranged from 0.019 to 0.314 m³/s, and the measured sediment load transport rates per unit width varied from 0.00001 to 0.00213 kg/m/s. The sediment concentration was determined through various methods, including nonlinear regression equations and formulas developed by Yang, with the coefficients of these formulas calibrated accordingly. The results demonstrated that the equations derived from Yang’s multiple regression analysis offered a superior fit compared to the original equations. As a result, two modified versions of Yang’s stream sediment transport formulas were developed and are presented to the readership. To assess the accuracy of the modified formulas, a comparison was conducted between the calculated total sediment concentrations and the measured total sediment concentrations based on various statistical criteria. The analysis shows that none of Yang’s original formulas fit the available data well, but after optimization, both modified formulas can be applied to the specific ephemeral stream. The results indicate also that the formulas derived from the nonlinear regression can be successfully used for the determination of the total sediment concentration in the ephemeral stream and have a better fit compared to Yang’s formulas. The correlation from the nonlinear regression equations suggests that total sediment transport is primarily influenced by water discharge and rainfall intensity, with the latter showing a high correlation coefficient of 0.998. Full article

Background: Chiropractic, osteopathy, and physiotherapy (COP) professionals regulated outside the United States traditionally incorporate hands-on procedures aligned with their historical principles to guide patient care. However, some authors in COP research advocate a pan-professional, evidence-informed, patient-centered approach to musculoskeletal care, emphasizing hands-off management of patients through education and exercise therapy. The extent to which non-Western sociocultural beliefs about body representations in health and disease, including Indigenous beliefs, could influence the patient–practitioner dyad and affect the interpretation of pillars of evidence-informed practice, such as patient-centered care and patient expectations, remains unknown. Methods: our perspective paper combines the best available evidence with expert insights and unique viewpoints to address gaps in the scientific literature and inform an interdisciplinary readership. Results: A COP pan-professional approach tends to marginalize approaches, such as prevention-oriented clinical scenarios traditionally advocated by osteopathic practitioners for patients with non-Western sociocultural health assumptions. The Cynefin framework was introduced as a decision-making tool to aid clinicians in managing complex clinical scenarios and promoting evidence-informed, patient-centered, and culturally sensitive care. Conclusion: Epistemological flexibility is historically rooted in osteopathic care, due to his Indigenous roots. It is imperative to reintroduce conceptual and operative clinical frameworks that better address contemporary health needs, promote inclusion and equality in healthcare, and enhance the quality of manual therapy services beyond COP’s Western-centered perspective. Full article

The popularisation of legal knowledge is a critical issue for equal access to law and justice. Legal discourse has been justly criticised for its obscure terminology and convoluted phrasing, which notably led to the Plain Language Movement in English-speaking countries. In Canada, the concept of Plain Language has been applied to French since the 1980s due to the official policy of bilingualism, while the concept has only been recently discussed in France. In this paper, we examine the impact of Plain Language rewriting on legal phraseology in French popularisation contexts. The first aim of our study is to see if plain texts published in France contain more traces of legal phraseology than French Canadian texts. Our second objective is to determine if a ‘phraseology of plain language’ can be identified across genres and languages. To do this, we compare two corpora of expert-to-expert legal texts written in French—made up, respectively, of legislative texts published in France and judicial texts published by the Supreme Court of Canada—with two corpora of texts that are claimed to have been written in Plain French Language for a non-expert readership—texts that guide laypersons through legal and administrative processes in France and summaries of decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada. Using n-grams, we extract and discuss the patterns that emerge from the corpora. In particular, our analyses rely on the concept of ‘lexico–grammatical patterns’, defined as the minimal unit of meaningful text made up of recurrent sequences of lexical and grammatical items. We then identify a sample of recurring lexico–grammatical patterns and their discursive functions. Full article

Controlling robots in space with necessarily low material and structural stiffness is quite challenging at least in part due to the resulting very low structural resonant frequencies or natural vibration. The frequencies are sometimes so low that the very act of controlling the robot with medium or high bandwidth controllers leads to excitation of resonant vibrations in the robot appendages. Biomimetics or biomimicry emulates models, systems, and elements of nature for solving such complex problems. Recent seminal publications have re-introduced the viability of optimal command shaping, and one recent instantiation mimics baseball pitching to propose control of highly flexible space robots. The readership will find a perhaps dizzying array of thirteen decently performing alternatives in the literature but could be left bereft selecting a method(s) deemed to be best suited for a particular application. Bio-inspired control of space robotics is presented in a quite substantial (perhaps not comprehensive) comparison, and the conclusions of this study indicate the three top performing methods based on minimizing control effort (i.e., fuel) usage, tracking error mean, and tracking error deviation, where 96%, 119%, and 80% performance improvement, respectively, are achieved. Full article