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"Comparative Study"
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Foreigners and their food
Foreigners and Their Food explores how Jews, Christians, and Muslims conceptualize \"us\" and \"them\" through rules about the preparation of food by adherents of other religions and the act of eating with such outsiders. David M. Freidenreich analyzes the significance of food to religious formation, elucidating the ways ancient and medieval scholars use food restrictions to think about the \"other.\" Freidenreich illuminates the subtly different ways Jews, Christians, and Muslims perceive themselves, and he demonstrates how these distinctive self-conceptions shape ideas about religious foreigners and communal boundaries. This work, the first to analyze change over time across the legal literatures of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, makes pathbreaking contributions to the history of interreligious intolerance and to the comparative study of religion.
eBook
Calculation of the degree of crystallinity of HDPE/GNPs nanocomposites by using various experimental techniques: a comparative study
This work is a comparative study of four different techniques to determine the crystallinity of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) nanocomposites filled with different diameter sizes (5, 15 and 25 μm) of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) at various amounts (0.5–5 wt%). The structure of HDPE/GNPs nanocomposites was extensively studied by using different experimental methods, such as X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. To further provide a complete comparison, differential scanning calorimetry measurements were utilized to calculate the crystallinity values, while temperature-modulated DSC was employed to investigate the possible mechanism of the different crystalline structures. It was found that these methods can be used to estimate the crystallinity, but the sample parameters and experimental conditions must be taken into consideration. All the techniques showed that the crystallinity depends on GNPs size and content. The distance between dispersed platelets was substantial at low concentrations of GNPs, making it comparatively easy for additional nucleation sites to incorporate the polymer matrix, and the crystal nucleus was simply formed. However, at high concentrations of GNPs, the diffusion of polymer chains to the growing crystallites was hindered by large GNPs particles, despite the formation of additional nucleation sites.
Journal Article
Transition from waste management to circular economy: the European Union roadmap
In the last twenty years, the European Union (EU) has enhanced Waste Management (WM) strategies toward Circular Economy (CE). Starting from the previous analysis carried out by Fabrizi and Sospiro (Waste Management in Europe: A Comparative Study of the main EU countries: Methodology and Evaluation of Local Waste Management System, Lambert Publisher, Saarbücken, Germany, 2017), this article analyses firstly EU Member States (MSs) Roadmap toward Sustainable Waste Management (SWM) and secondly to CE. The research relied on Kirchherr et al. (Kirchherr in Ecological Economics 150:264–272, 2018) study which identified four barriers to CE (cultural, regulatory, market failure, and technological). The regulatory framework has been analysed. Four case studies (France, FR, Germany, DE, Italy, IT, the Netherlands, NL) have been selected to investigate: criteria, methodologies, policies, implementation and outcomes on SWM at national level. In addition, given MSs coordination at EU level the research aimed at analysing whether is there any convergence in terms of policies and achievements. The study considered recent findings on CE, Eurostat data, and Eurostat Circular Material Use (CMU) indicator. The analysis revealed SWM positive results, which seem to confirm a certain degree of convergence between EU-MSs that consists in a positive cascade mechanism from advanced toward less advanced MSs. In spite of this, EU countries need a further step in order to close materials’ loops. Larger quantity of Secondary Raw Materials (SRMs) should return to manufacture, and this requires stronger intervention that goes beyond the waste sector. In light of this, the EU Commission recently entrusted the Joint Research Centre (JRC) to assess and compare the environmental impacts of alternative feedstock for plastic products. This reveals EU attempt to re-balance the intervention on CE, by striving new products’ design approaches.
Journal Article
Phylogenomics of the genus Populus reveals extensive interspecific gene flow and balancing selection
• Phylogenetic analysis is complicated by interspecific gene flow and the presence of shared ancestral polymorphisms, particularly those maintained by balancing selection. In this study, we aimed to examine the prevalence of these factors during the diversification of Populus, a model tree genus in the Northern Hemisphere.
• We constructed phylogenetic trees of 29 Populus taxa using 80 individuals based on re-sequenced genomes. Our species tree analyses recovered four main clades in the genus based on consensus nuclear phylogenies, but in conflict with the plastome phylogeny. A few interspecific relationships remained unresolved within the multiple-species clade because of inconsistent gene trees. Our results indicated that gene flow has been widespread within each clade and also occurred among the four clades during their early divergence.
• We identified 45 candidate genes with ancient polymorphisms maintained by balancing selection. These genes were mainly associated with mating compatibility, growth and stress resistance.
• Both gene flow and selection-mediated ancient polymorphisms are prevalent in the genus Populus. These are potentially important contributors to adaptive variation. Our results provide a framework for the diversification of model tree genus that will facilitate future comparative studies.
Journal Article
Analysing the trend of rainfall in Asir region of Saudi Arabia using the family of Mann-Kendall tests, innovative trend analysis, and detrended fluctuation analysis
The present study is designed to analyse the annual rainfall variability and trend in 30 meteorological stations of the Asir region for the period of 1970–2017 using the Mann-Kendall (MK) test, Modified Mann-Kendall (MMK) test, trend free pre-whitening Mann-Kendall (TFPW MK) test, and the innovative trend analysis (ITA). A comparative study among the trend detection techniques was performed using the correlation coefficient. The future rainfall trend based on the historical rainfall pattern was investigated by using detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Results of the MK test showed that 20 stations in the study area observed a negative trend, and out of these, nine stations had significant negative trends at the significance level of 0.01. The findings of the MMK test showed that 23 stations recorded negative trends, and out of these, 18 stations had significant negative trends at the significance level of 0.01. Based on the findings of the TFPW-MK test, 21 stations observed a negative trend, and among these, 10 stations had significant negative trends at the significance of 0.01. ITA detected 25 stations observing a negative trend, and out of these, 18 stations had significant negative trends at the significance level of 0.01. Based on the findings of the tests and their performance, the MMK test appeared as the best performing technique among the MK test family, while ITA appeared as the best trend detection technique among the four techniques because it outperformed (p < 0.01) the others. Results of DFA showed that 23 stations (10 were significant) had recorded declining future rainfall trends based on past trends. The results of the present study would help the planners and policy makers to make accurate and easy decisions on irrigation, climatic, and water resource management in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia.
Journal Article