Public understanding of intersex: an update on recent findings

Surgical interventions on infants with intersex characteristics are considered justified by some on the grounds that they carry a high risk of intolerable stigma. However, public understanding of intersex and its medicalization are under-researched. We review recent qualitative and quantitative studies of the understandings of intersex and its medicalization among people who have no particular professional or public experience of intersex. First, such laypeople reason about clinical dilemmas by drawing on values in similar ways as expert healthcare professionals do. Second, laypeople can over-estimate the utility of current ‘umbrella terms,’ including intersex, for people with direct familial experience of intersex. Third, beliefs about good and bad effects of medical intervention are affected by framing intersex as either a medical condition or the natural basis for a social identity. Fourth, sexual identity is the best evidenced predictor of opinions about early surgical intervention and its legal limitation on human rights grounds. We argue that possible stigmatizing reactions from the public may not be a solid basis on which to justify early surgical intervention on intersex characteristics.

Przyrodnicze i antropogeniczne uwarunkowania funkcjonowania krajobrazu równiny łowicko-błońskiej na przykładzie fragmentu Gongolina-Pawłowice

The Łowicz-Błonie Plain is a flat and monotonous part of the late-glacial landscape. The parent material is dominated by loam, silt and clay covered with sand of various thickness. The main aim of the study was to indicate the natural and anthropogenic determinants of the fertile plain landscape’s functions, which has been intensively used for agriculture. Natural environmental conditions are determined by the vicinity of contrasting in humidity and trophism areas. The current state of the natural environment is the result of both the natural basis and anthropogenic transformations. The biggest changes in expanding the possibilities of using the trophic potential are related to artificial water drainage system.

Perception of Cityscape of the Central Part of Kaunas and Sociocultural Aspects Determining it

This article deals with peculiarities of Kaunas centre cityscape perception and the determining socio-cultural factors. Important elements creating unique view of a location and identity are related to the period’s history, culture, political situation, features of the location natural basis, as well as individual’s-observer‘s education, personal qualities, aesthetic and cultural sophistication. The territory of Kaunas city centre was selected for the case study. It is characterized by unique natural, historic, cultural conditions and high information-emotional potential. During the research proprietary ranking concerning significance of cityscape elements groups and experienced psycho-emotional senses was conducted. Furthermore, the correlations between the distance of object observation, heights of observation points as well as movement mode selection and personal factors such as gender, age, occupation, and education based on statistical dependencies were identified. The obtained results explain the principles of Kaunas centre cityscapes perception.

Anthocyanin: A Natural Dye Extracted From Hibiscus Sabdariffa (L.) For Textile and Dye Industries

Environmental pollution is one of the major issues faced by all the countries throughout the world. To prevent the environment scarcity and crisis faced in day-to-day life due the increasing chemical industries, usage of chemicals and the effluents processed out after the treatment also consists of some trace elements in them. Hence the extraction of enzymes on natural basis forms an alternative criteria for the production of dye in order to reduce pollution which in turn helps to nourish and protect the environment for future generations. Hibiscus sabdariffa (L) has a rich source of anthocyanins which is further enhanced by callus production and synthesized by increasing the sucrose concentration. Anthocyanin pigments were extracted using acidified ethanol and the dye obtained was screened for GL-MS analysis and its dyeing process in textile industry. The study showed significance properties along with coloring nature on the clothes used. Color of anthocyanin pigment depends on pH maintained and also shows the adaptability towards the nature with varied environmental conditions

Hopf Algebra Structure of Generalized Quasi-Symmetric Functions in Partially Commutative Variables

We introduce a coloured generalization $\mathrm{NSym}_A$ of the Hopf algebra of non-commutative symmetric functions described as a subalgebra of the of rooted ordered coloured trees Hopf algebra. Its natural basis can be identified with the set of sentences over alphabet $A$ (the set of colours). We present also its graded dual algebra $\mathrm{QSym}_A$ of coloured quasi-symmetric functions together with its realization in terms of power series in partially commutative variables. We provide formulas expressing multiplication, comultiplication and the antipode for these Hopf algebras in various bases — the corresponding generalizations of the complete homogeneous, elementary, ribbon Schur and power sum bases of $\mathrm{NSym}$, and the monomial and fundamental bases of $\mathrm{QSym}$. We study also certain distinguished series of trees in the setting of restricted duals to Hopf algebras.

Correction: Bustamante et al. Determining When an Algebra Is an Evolution Algebra. Mathematics 2020, 8, 1349

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [1] (see corrected version in postprint [2]):On page 2, paragraph 4, complete the first sentence ‘In Theorem 2 we show that if A is a real algebra and B is a basis of A then B also is a basis of Aℂ, the complexification of A (with the same multiplication structure matrices) and that A is an evolution algebra if, and only if, Aℂ is an evolution algebra’ with the phrase ‘and has a natural basis consisting of elements of A’ [...]

Sparsity induced by covariance transformation: some deterministic and probabilistic results

Motivated by statistical challenges arising in modern scientific fields, notably genomics, this paper seeks embeddings in which relevant covariance models are sparse. The work exploits a bijective mapping between a strictly positive definite matrix and its orthonormal eigen-decomposition, and between an orthonormal eigenvector matrix and its principle matrix logarithm. This leads to a representation of covariance matrices in terms of skew-symmetric matrices, for which there is a natural basis representation, and through which sparsity is conveniently explored. This theoretical work establishes the possibility of exploiting sparsity in the new parametrization and converting the conclusion back to the one of interest, a prospect of high relevance in statistics. The statistical aspects associated with this operation, while not a focus of the present work, are briefly discussed.

Interfacial Behaviour of Saponin Based Surfactant for Potential Application in Cleaning

Amphiphilic molecules reduce the surface tension of the aqueous medium and are widely used in industrial and domestic applications due to this property. Nowadays, amphiphilic molecules on a natural basis are in great demand to replace synthetic surfactants and thus contribute to the reduction of environmental problems. Approximately 60% of the material based on surfactants end up in seawater, which is dangerous for aquatic life. We are proposing a new type of material, which is a surfactant on a natural basis, biodegradable and an environmentally friendly alternative. Here we focus on tea saponin and study its properties such as surface tension, foaming, skin mildness, cleanability. Tea is naturally acidic, reduces the surface tension to 31.4 mN/m, has a greater foaming power, is ultra-mild to skin, and has excellent cleaning properties. The results show that tea has excellent surface activity, which is why tea can be used as a green substitute for synthetic surfactants.