Bodyland BAPTISTA, JOÃO AFONSO
American ethnologist,
02/2022, Letnik:
49, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
ABSTRACT
The Angolan village of Cusseque, established during the country's civil war, lost its military purpose when the conflict ended in 2002. The village's neighbors assumed that Cusseque's ...remaining residents would leave; most stayed. They have since fought to legitimize their presence. Fieldwork with Cusseque residents helps illuminate why they assert their merging with the land—a merging that I call
bodyland
—through the agency of honeybees. These men and women exert a compelling body politics, one that is subject to the more‐than‐human agencies that dissolve the contours of the human. Moreover, Cusseque's residents contribute to anthropological discussions about human‐land relations by blending the question of the human with that of the land. They defy pervasive humanist regimes in which the legitimacy of human presence is dissociated from the interdependence between body and land.
human‐land relationship
,
legitimacy
,
transcorporeality
,
honey
,
honeybees
,
postwar
,
body politics
,
Angola
A aldeia angolana de Cusseque, estabelecida durante a guerra civil nacional, perdeu o seu objetivo militar quando o conflito terminou, em 2002. Os vizinhos desta aldeia assumiram que os moradores de Cusseque iriam embora. Mas a maioria ficou. Estes homens e estas mulheres têm desde então lutado para legitimar a sua presença em Cusseque. O meu trabalho de campo na região ajudou‐me a clarificar a razão pela qual eles e elas afirmam que resultam da fusão com a terra—uma fusão a que chamo
corpoterra
—através da ação das abelhas. Em Cusseque, as pessoas exercem uma política corporal vinculada às ações mais‐do‐que‐humanas que dissolvem os contornos do ser humano na terra. Contribuem assim para discussões antropológicas sobre a relação entre as pessoas e a terra, misturando a questão do ser humano com a questão da terra. Fundamentalmente, os residentes de Cusseque desafiam os regimes humanistas em que a legitimidade da presença humana é dissociada da interdependência entre o corpo e a terra.
relação humano‐terra
,
legitimidade
,
transcorporeidade
,
mel
,
abelhas
,
pós‐guerra
,
política corporal
,
Angola
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate the influence of the parameters of the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) process on the mechanical properties and on the mass of parts printed in Polylactic Acid ...(PLA). In addition, the authors developed predictive models for the analysed responses.
Design/methodology/approach
A full Factorial type of experimental planning method was used to define the conditions for manufacturing parts according to the variation of the construction parameters, extrusion temperature and print speed. Samples were printed for tensile, flexion and compression tests. Their mass was measured. Multiple regression methods, based on power equations, were used to build the forecasting models.
Findings
It was found that the extrusion temperature was the parameter of greatest influence in the variation of the analysed responses, mainly because it generates behaviour patterns and indirectly demonstrates thermal/rheological characteristics of the material used. Print speed affects responses, however, with variations dependent on part geometry and printer hardware/software. It was possible to establish prediction models with low error rates in relation to the experimental values.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates a good relation between the use of a structured experimental planning method as the basis for the development of predictive models based on mathematical equations, the same structure of which can be used to describe different responses.
The decarbonization of the economy and the increasing integration of renewable energy sources into the generation mix are bringing new challenges, requiring novel technological solutions in the topic ...of smart grids, which include smart transformers and energy storage systems. Additionally, power quality is a vital concern for the future smart grids; therefore, the continuous development of power electronics solutions to overcome power quality problems is of the utmost importance. In this context, this article proposes a novel three-phase multiobjective unified power quality conditioner (MO-UPQC), considering interfaces for solar PV panels and for energy storage in batteries. The MO-UPQC is capable of compensating power quality problems in the voltages (at the load side) and in the currents (at the power grid side), while it enables injecting power into the grid (from the PV panels or batteries) or charging the batteries (from the PV panels or from the grid). Experimental results were obtained with a three-phase four-wire laboratory prototype, demonstrating the feasibility and the large range of applications of the proposed MO-UPQC.
Pedestrian crossings are an essential part of the urban landscape, providing safe passage for pedestrians to cross busy streets. While some are regulated by timed signals and are marked with signs ...and lights, others are simply marked on the road and do not have additional infrastructure. Nevertheless, the markings undergo wear and tear due to traffic, weather, and road maintenance activities. If pedestrian crossing markings are excessively worn, drivers may not be able to see them, which creates road safety issues. This paper presents a study of computer vision techniques that can be used to identify and classify pedestrian crossings. It first introduces the related concepts. Then, it surveys related work and categorizes existing solutions, highlighting their key features, strengths, and limitations. The most promising techniques are identified and described: Convolutional Neural Networks, Histogram of Oriented Gradients, Maximally Stable Extremal Regions, Canny Edge, and thresholding methods. Their performance is evaluated and compared on a custom dataset developed for this work. Insights on open issues and research opportunities in the field are also provided. It is shown that managers responsible for road safety, in the context of a smart city, can benefit from computer vision approaches to automate the process of determining the wear and tear of pedestrian crossings.
Dairy production in the UK has undergone substantial restructuring over the last few decades. Farming intensification has led to a reduction in the total numbers of farms and animals, while the ...average herd size per holding has increased. These ever-changing circumstances have important implications for the health and welfare of dairy cows, as well as the overall business performance of farms. For decision-making in dairy farming, it is essential to understand the underlying causes of the inefficiencies and their relative impact. The investigation of yield gaps regarding dairy cattle has been focused on specific causes. However, in addition to the risk of overestimating the impact of a specific ailment, this approach does not allow understanding of the relative contribution to the total, nor does it allow understanding of how well-described that gap is in terms of underlying causes. Using the English and Welsh dairy sectors as an example, this work estimates the Loss Gap–composed of yield losses and health expenditure ‐ using a benchmarking approach and scenario analysis. The Loss Gap was estimated by comparing the current performance of dairy herds as a baseline with that of scenarios where assumptions were made about the milk production of cows, production costs, market prices, mortality, and expenditure related to health events. A deterministic model was developed, consisting of an enterprise budget, in which the cow was the unit, with milking herd and young stock treated separately. When constraining milk production, the model estimated an annual Loss Gap of £148 to £227 million for the whole sector. The reduction in costs of veterinary services and medicines, alongside herd replacement costs, were important contributors to the estimate with some variation between the scenarios. Milk price had a substantial impact in the estimate, with revenue from milk yield representing more than 30% of the Loss Gap, when milk price was benchmarked against that of the top performing farms. This framework provides the boundaries for understanding the relative burden from specific causes in English and Welsh dairy cattle, ensuring that the sum of the estimated losses due to particular problem does not exceed the losses from all-causes, health or non-health related.
Capsule endoscopy (CE) is an important tool in the management of patients with known or suspected inflammatory bowel disease. Ulcers and erosions of the enteric mucosa are prevalent findings in these ...patients. They frequently occur together, and their identification in CE is crucial for an accurate evaluation of disease severity. Nevertheless, reviewing CE images is a time-consuming task, and the risk of overlooking lesions is significant.
Over the last decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a means for overcoming these pitfalls. Of all AI methods, convolutional neural networks (CNN), due to their complex multilayer architecture present the best results in medical image analysis, particularly capsule endoscopy. Therefore, we aimed to develop a CNN for the automatic identification of ulcers and erosions in the small bowel mucosa. A total of 1483 CE exams (PillCam SB3®) performed at a single center between 2015 and 2020 were analysed. From these exams, a total of 6130 frames of the enteric mucosa were obtained, 4233 containing enteric ulcers and erosions, and the remaining containing normal mucosa or other findings. Ulcers and erosions were stratified according to Saurin’s classification for bleeding potential: P1E—erosions with intermediate bleeding risk; P1U—ulcers with intermediate bleeding risk; P2U—ulcers with high bleeding risk. For automatic identification of these lesions, these images were inserted into a CNN model with transfer learning. The pool of images was divided for constitution of training and validation datasets, comprising 80% and 20% of the total number of images, respectively. The output provided by the CNN was compared to the classification provided by a consensus of specialists. After optimizing the neural architecture of the algorithm, our model was able to automatically detect and distinguish ulcers and erosions (any bleeding potential) in the small intestine mucosa with an accuracy of 95.6%, sensitivity of 90.8%, and a specificity of 97.1%. We believe that our study lays the foundation for the development and application of effective AI tools to CE. These techniques should improve diagnostic accuracy and reading efficiency.
Graphic abstract
Schematic representation of the workflow and summary of the results.
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is a pandemic problem, causing substantial health and economic burdens. Antimicrobials are extensively used in livestock and aquaculture, exacerbating this global ...threat. Fostering the prudent use of antimicrobials will safeguard animal and human health. A lack of knowledge about alternatives to replace antimicrobials, and their effectiveness under field conditions, hampers changes in farming practices.
This work aimed to understand the impact of strategies to reduce antimicrobial usage (AMU) in livestock and aquaculture, under field conditions, using a structured scoping literature review. The Extension for Scoping Reviews of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines (PRISMA-ScR) were followed and the Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Time and Setting (PICOTS) framework used. Articles were identified from CAB Abstracts, MEDLINE and Scopus. A total of 7505 unique research articles were identified, 926 of which were eligible for full-text assessment; 203 articles were included in data extraction. Given heterogeneity across articles in the way alternatives to antimicrobials or interventions against their usage were described, there was a need to standardize these by grouping them in categories.
There were differences in the impacts of the strategies between and within species; this highlights the absence of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. Nevertheless, some options seem more promising than others, as their impacts were consistently equivalent or positive when compared with animal performance using antimicrobials. This was particularly the case for bioactive protein and peptides, and feed/water management. The outcomes of this work provide data to inform cost-effectiveness assessments of strategies to reduce AMU.
The treatment of peri-implantitis is challenging in the clinical practice of implant dentistry. With limited therapeutic options and drug resistance, there is a need for alternative methods, such as ...photodynamic therapy (PDT), which is a minimally invasive procedure used to treat peri-implantitis. This study evaluated whether the type of photosensitizer used influences the results of inflammatory control, reduction in peri-implant pocket depth, bleeding during probing, and reduction in bone loss in the dental implant region. We registered the study in the PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Review) database. We searched three main databases and gray literature in English without date restrictions. In vivo randomized clinical studies involving individuals with peri-implantitis, smokers, patients with diabetes, and healthy controls were included. PDT was used as the primary intervention. Comparators considered mechanical debridement with a reduction in pocket depth as the primary outcome and clinical attachment level, bleeding on probing, gingival index, plaque index, and microbiological analysis as secondary outcomes. After reviewing the eligibility criteria, we included seven articles out of 266. A great variety of photosensitizers were observed, and it was concluded that the selection of the most appropriate type of photosensitizer must consider the patient's characteristics and peri-implantitis conditions. The effectiveness of PDT, its effects on the oral microbiome, and the clinical patterns of peri-implantitis may vary depending on the photosensitizer chosen, which is a crucial factor in personalizing peri-implantitis treatment.
Doing research on fishery commodities in Portugal led us to an enigma: for a dead fish to be fresco (fresh) it must be alive. This paradox manifests at a popular, commercial, and legal level. It ...denotes the interruption of the difference between being dead and being alive in the commodity form. In Portugal, we suggest, the commercialization of peixe fresco (fresh fish) is based on the production and consumption of edible ‘zombis’: seafood corpses technologically and symbolically crafted as undead. An open concept, ‘edible zombis’ is part of an experimental vocabulary that foregrounds the productive agency of undeadness, both biological and commercial, in the seafood economic complex. It relates to the ordinary practice of necromancy in the commodity‐based world. Edible zombis are commodity fetishes that fetishize their producers and consumers, suspending them from the capitalist system in which they live.
Abstrait
Zombis comestibles : poisson frais et industrie des cadavres esthétiques
Résumé
Des recherches menées sur des produits issus de la pêche au Portugal ont mené les auteurs à une énigme : pour qu'un poisson mort soit fresco (frais), il doit être vivant. Ce paradoxe se manifeste à un niveau populaire, commercial et juridique. Il dénote l'interruption de la différence entre le fait d’être mort ou d’être vivant sous la forme de la marchandise. Au Portugal, indiquent les auteurs, la commercialisation du peixe fresco (poisson frais) est basée sur la production et la consommation de « zombis » comestibles : des cadavres de produits de la mer technologiquement et symboliquement fabriqués comme des morts‐vivants. Concept ouvert, les « zombis comestibles » font partie d'un vocabulaire expérimental qui met en avant l'agencéité productive de la non‐mort, à la fois biologique et commerciale, dans le complexe économique des produits de la mer. Ce concept est lié à la pratique ordinaire de la nécromancie dans le monde de la marchandise. Les zombis comestibles sont des marchandises fétiches qui fétichisent leurs producteurs et leurs consommateurs, les suspendant du système capitaliste dans lequel ils vivent.
Resumo
Zombis comestíveis: o peixe fresco e a indústria de cadáveres cosméticos
Resumo
A investigação sobre produtos da pesca em Portugal levou‐nos a um enigma: para que um peixe morto seja fresco, tem de estar vivo. Este paradoxo manifesta‐se aos níveis popular, comercial e legal. Indica a interrupção da diferença entre estar morto e estar vivo sob a condição de mercadoria. Em Portugal, a comercialização de peixe fresco assenta na produção e consumo de ‘zombis’ comestíveis: cadáveres de pescado tecnologicamente e simbolicamente trabalhados como mortos‐vivos. Como conceito aberto, o ‘zombi comestível’ faz parte de um vocabulário experimental que coloca em primeiro plano a agência produtiva, tanto biológica como comercial, dos mortos‐vivos dentro do complexo económico do pescado. O conceito está ligado à prática corrente da necromancia no mundo baseado em mercadorias. Os zombis comestíveis são mercadorias fetichizadas que fetichizam as pessoas que as produzem e as consomem, suspendendo‐as do sistema capitalista em que vivem.
This paper proposes a novel on-board electric vehicle (EV) battery charger (EVBC) based on a bidirectional multilevel topology. The proposed topology is formed by an AC-DC converter for the grid-side ...interface and by a DC-DC converter for the battery-side interface. Both converters are interfaced by a split DC-link used to achieve distinct voltage levels in both converters. Characteristically, the proposed EVBC operates with sinusoidal grid-side current, unitary power factor, controlled battery-side current or voltage, and controlled DC-link voltages. The grid-side converter operates with five voltage levels, while the battery-side operates with three voltage levels. An assessment, for comparison with classical multilevel converters for EVBCs is considered along the paper, illustrating the key benefits of the proposed topology. As the proposed EVBC is controlled in bidirectional mode, targeting the EV incorporation into smart grids, the grid-to-vehicle (G2V) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) operation modes are discussed and evaluated. Both converters of the proposed EVBC use discrete-time predictive control algorithms, which are described in the paper. An experimental validation was performed under real operating conditions, employing a developed laboratory prototype.
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