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The study explores the engagement of Russophone Ukrainians with educational policies that increase the status of the Ukrainian language, the standardized tests of Ukrainian, and the subject tests that could be passed in Ukrainian. It argues that this centralized unitary language policy has received support from Russophones. It does so by analyzing the language choices of Russophone students when taking standardized tests in various subjects, as well as admission policies and discussions of relevant policies in local media and social media of the Russophone city of Kharkiv. It shows that following the introduction of standardized tests, the value of Ukrainian has increased across various actors: students have been choosing Ukrainian more, universities have valued Ukrainian in the admission process, and local citizens have defended the status of Ukrainian, relying on decolonial rhetoric. It shows that the decolonial framing of the Ukrainization policies resonated with Russophones enough for them to support them, and not to result in a backlash.
Directional freezing of brine is widely found in numerous environmental and industrial settings. Despite extensive studies, the microscopic evolution of ice-brine structures remains unclear. By combining in situ micro-computed tomography visualisation and theoretical analyses, we reveal new details inside the porous ice structure and its evolution towards a cleaner ice layer. We identify three distinct stages characterised by different brine exclusion rates during solidification: a rapid initial stage possibly lasting seconds from nucleation to local equilibrium without long-range heat or mass transfer; a second stage where the system reaches global thermal equilibrium, involving brine expulsion by volume expansion and convection associated with gravity; and a final prolonged stage dominated by diffusion. Comparison between analytical solutions and the migration rates of microstructural features such as brine stripes, columns and pockets extracted from photographic images confirms these understandings. Morphologically, we capture the formation of random striped patterns together with brine columns during downward freezing and brine skirts during upward freezing, all of which gradually transform into vertically aligned polygonal patterns. The volume fraction of brine pockets in porous ice near the cold end reduces to less than 10 % after 22 h in most experiments. The residual brine pockets, however, are not rejected out of the porous ice as fast as predicted by diffusion and remain persistent. Our findings provide new insights into the brine freezing dynamics, with implications ranging from sea ice formation to freeze desalination and general solidification of binary melts.
The study aimed to summarize estimates of key epidemiological parameters to improve the effectiveness of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) mathematical models and quantitatively characterize high-touch surfaces (HTSs) and mutual-touch surfaces in healthcare settings.
Methods:
We systematically searched four databases and applied predefined eligibility criteria to screen, select, and include peer-reviewed studies in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The study is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42023408483).
Results:
Among the 21 C. difficile infection modeling studies, 76.2% used compartmental model approaches that group patients into infection disease categories such as susceptible, infected, or recovered, while 23.8% applied agent-based model approaches that simulate individual patients, staff, or surfaces. Key epidemiological parameters varied widely: estimates of how many new cases one patient could cause—the basic reproduction number (R₀)—ranged from 0.28, suggesting limited hospital spread, to as high as 2.6, which implies sustained in-hospital transmission. Incubation periods were reported between 4 and 18 days. Recovery and recurrence rates also differed across studies. Quantitative HTSs ranking revealed that bed rails, bedside tables, and supply carts were the top three most frequently touched surfaces.
Conclusions:
Our findings highlight that modeling studies used different assumptions and estimates, creating variations in results. Clinicians should interpret modeling outputs, such as predicted spread or effectiveness of an intervention carefully, as differences may reflect real-world variation between hospitals or methodological variation. Developing infection models that reflect real-world conditions will enable healthcare teams better simulate and prioritize interventions, optimize cleaning protocols, and improve CDI transmission models for more targeted prevention.
In Euclidean geometry, a tangential polygon or a circumgon is a polygon that contains an inscribed circle which is also called an incircle and the radius of its incircle is called the inradius. A tangential polygon may be concave or convex. If it is concave, it is the extension of some of its sides that is tangent to the incircle. In this Article we restrict ourselves to convex tangential polygons, so that their corresponding incircles are tangent to each of its sides. Every regular polygon is a circumgon and there are also irregular polygons that are circumgons but not all irregular polygons are circumgons. In what follows, we shall use circumgon or tangential polygon interchangeably according to the situation.
In this paper, a highly integrated wideband 3 × 3 Nolen Matrix with inherent filtering characteristics is proposed. It is based on an arbitrary-phase-difference (A-PD) filtering coupler and phase compensation networks. The proposed A-PD filtering coupler, composed of three groups of coupled lines, offers outstanding advantages, including wide bandwidth, flat output distributions, high frequency selectivity, and compact structure. To address the challenges introduced by the series topology of the Nolen matrix, a differential phase shift network and a phase slope adjustment network are incorporated, ensuring a constant phase difference between stages and minimizing in-band phase errors at the output ports. By integrating the A-PD filtering coupler with the phase compensation networks, a compact Nolen matrix centered at 3.5 GHz is realized, occupying only 0.5 λg × 0.5 λg. Measurement results validate its excellent performance, demonstrating an overlapping bandwidth exceeding 50% under the criteria of 10-dB return loss, 3-dB passband, ±1 dB amplitude imbalance, and ±5° phase difference error. Furthermore, the design achieves over 15 dB stopband rejection.
Biometric identification represents a transformative, advanced technology with significant implications for herd management. Its adoption addresses the critical requirement of accurate identification methods along with upgraded approaches on higher traceability, disease control, genetic management, and economic returns. In this work, a database of muzzle images was collected from 264 Vrindavani cattle, with ages ranging from 6 months to 10 years. To assess the accuracy of muzzle print as a biometric means of identification, this study investigated the efficiency of a 68-layer convolutional neural network called SqueezeNet for the identification of Vrindavani cattle (a crossbred developed in India) using 2,640 muzzle images. It was observed that SqueezeNet gives a harmonious blend of superior accuracy and minimal complexity, rendering it an optimal option for devices with constrained specifications and computing power. Further, the results of this study showed an identification accuracy of 97.22% with a remarkably small model size (<4 MB). This compact size makes it significantly advantageous compared to other models.
Close friends Rebecca and Aisha are taking an integral calculus class. With their permission, we listen in on a conversation that they are having about an integration problem.
The paper analyses the creation of socialist Poland’s foreign and foreign economic policies from 1957 to 1967, focusing on the country’s involvement with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the European Economic Community (EEC). It argues that for the Polish policymakers, the interest in accession to GATT went beyond economic benefits such as alleviating the EEC’s protectionism and securing better terms for exports to the Common Market. Joining the Agreement was also important for the political goals of Polish diplomacy and was considered a part of a general drive for rapprochement with the West and implementation of the principle of peaceful coexistence. Redefining the scope of foreign policy, Polish diplomats attempted to embed Poland in a network of international interdependency and wanted to see the country as a pioneer of the East–West détente.
Severe obesity in adolescents is a public health crisis of increasing concern. Cardiac maladaptation, such as left ventricular hypertrophy, increases the risk of future cardiovascular disease. This study aims to evaluate the impact of weight loss surgery on cardiac geometry in morbidly obese adolescents.
Methods:
A single-centre, randomised controlled trial titled comparing laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding with multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention against a control group with multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention alone. The trial included severely obese adolescents aged 14–16 who had not responded to a minimum of 12 months of multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention. The primary outcome measured was the percentage change in total body weight one year after surgery. Left ventricular geometry was evaluated ultrasonographically before and one year after bariatric surgery.
Results:
In the intervention and control group, a total of 10 and 8 patients received both the baseline and follow-up ultrasonographic examination. BMI significantly decreased in the intervention group compared to the control group (−6.75; 95% CI: -10.28 – −3.23). Moreover, left ventricular mass index (−8.21; 95% CI: −15.43 – −0.98) and relative left ventricular wall thickness (−0.04; 95% CI: −0.07 – 0.00) significantly decreased within the intervention group, reflecting amelioration of adverse remodelling, albeit without statistically significant intervention effect when compared to the control group.
Conclusions:
Significant weight loss through bariatric surgery may improve left ventricular geometry in severely obese adolescents. These findings support the potential of bariatric surgery not only for reducing weight loss but also for improving cardiac health.
In a previous article [1] I showed that the probability of a difference of t units arising when n numbers from a uniform distribution are rounded before, as opposed to after, they are added is(1)Here n is a non-negative integer and t is a positive or negative integer with, the maximum possible error.
Algal beds are biodiversity hotspots in coastal ecosystems, forming complex food webs based on seaweeds. Epifauna serve as important indicators of algal productivity and environmental change, interacting closely with their host seaweeds. This study compared the composition of epifaunal assemblages associated with different seaweed species in the Noto Peninsula, Japan, to elucidate their characteristics. A survey of epifaunal communities on 13 seaweed species around Tsukumo Bay revealed significant differences in abundance and composition among species. Epifaunal abundance was particularly high in Sargassum siliquastrum and Sargassum patens. Differences in assemblage structures were observed among seaweed species and sampling sites. Fucales seaweeds harboured more diverse epifaunal communities compared with Laminariales species. Variations in epifaunal composition among taxa suggest that interactions with host seaweed species play a crucial role in shaping assemblage structure.
A Rascal triangle is a Pascal-type numeric triangle developed in 2010 by three middle-school students, Alif Anggoro, Eddy Liu and Angus Tulloch [1]. During their mathematics classes they were challenged to provide the next row for the following sequence:The expected answer was the one that matches Pascal’s triangle, i.e. 1 4 6 4 1, obtained by applying the recurrence rule of binomial coefficients South = East + West. Instead, the young students suggested that the next row should be 1 4 5 4 1. In contrast to Pascal’s triangle rule South = East + West, they produced the new row using the relation they called the diamond formulaBy applying the diamond formula (1), the students produced an original triangular sequence known as the Rascal triangle, see Table 1.