‘Gan qey bedenî yeno çi mana’ (What the soul means for the body): Collecting and archiving Kurdish folklore as a strategy for language revitalization and indigenous knowledge production

This is the final version. Available on open access from Routledge via the DOI in this record. Folklore-collecting initiatives in Turkey and Iran have become increasingly popular over the past decade. In this article we present a historical overview of folklorecollecting practices and focus on more recent developments in this field. While Kurdish folklore has been perceived as a cornerstone of Kurdish national identity and as a source of information on Kurdish history, today’s collectors in Turkey and Iran understand its role in a wider context of language revitalization and indigenous knowledge production. Collecting oral traditions in the Kurdish dialects of Kurmanji, Sorani, and Zazaki is appreciated as a step towards protecting and developing the Kurdish language, which is endangered by language assimilation policies in both countries. Reviving folkloric vocabulary, stories, and traditional knowledge practices such as agricultural teachings, folklore collectors revive and promote indigenous knowledge production, and enrich education and research. Drawing on language revitalization theories and indigenous knowledge production, this article offers insights into unexplored aspects of collecting, archiving, and publishing Kurdish folklore in recent years.National Science Centre of Polan

The effects of probiotic supplementation on mental health, biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background and objective: In the current meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the effects of probiotic supplementation on mental health, biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with psychiatric disorders were assessed. Methods: The following databases were search up to February 2019: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google scholar and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Results: Twelve studies were included in the current meta-analysis. The findings demonstrated that probiotic supplementation resulted in a significant reduction in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) Weighted Mean Difference (WMD): -9.60; 95 % CI: -10.08, -9.11. In addition, a significant reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) (WMD: -1.59; 95 % CI: -2.22, -0.97), interleukin 10 (IL-10) (WMD: -0.29; 95 % CI: -0.48, -0.11) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (WMD: -0.38; 95 % CI: -0.63, -0.13) was found after probiotics supplementation. No significant change was seen in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score (WMD: -11.17; 95 % CI: -24.99, 2.65), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (WMD: -0.12; 95 % CI: -0.20, -0.05), IL-1B (WMD: -0.34; 95 % CI: -1.43, 0.74), IL-6 (WMD: 0.03; 95 % CI: -0.32, 0.38), nitric oxide (NO) (WMD: -0.54; 95 % CI: -2.16, 1.08), glutathione (GSH) (WMD: 46.79; 95 % CI: -17.25, 110.83) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels (WMD: 15.21; 95 % CI: -59.96, 90.37) after probiotics supplementation. Conclusion: Overall, the current meta-analysis demonstrated that taking probiotic by patients with psychiatric disorders had beneficial effects on HAMD, CRP, IL-10 and MDA levels, but it did not affect BDI score, other markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. © 2020 Elsevier Lt

Razumikhin Stability Theorem for Fractional Systems with Delay

Fractional calculus techniques and methods started to be applied successfully during the last decades in several fields of science and engineering. In this paper we studied the stability of fractional-order nonlinear time-delay systems for Riemann-Liouville and Caputo derivatives and we extended Razumikhin theorem for the fractional nonlinear time-delay systems

Insights into the primary radiation damage of silicon by a machine learning interatomic potential

We develop a silicon Gaussian approximation machine learning potential suitable for radiation effects, and use it for the first ab initio simulation of primary damage and evolution of collision cascades. The model reliability is confirmed by good reproduction of experimentally measured threshold displacement energies and sputtering yields. We find that clustering and recrystallization of radiation-induced defects, propagation pattern of cascades, and coordination defects in the heat spike phase show striking differences to the widely used analytical potentials. The results reveal that small defect clusters are predominant and show new defect structures such as a vacancy surrounded by three interstitials. Impact statement Quantum-mechanical level of accuracy in simulation of primary damage was achieved by a silicon machine learning potential. The results show quantitative and qualitative differences from the damage predicted by any previous models.Peer reviewe

Design of a novel TiO2/airgap-based polarizing micro beam splitter cube

Polarizing beam splitters are key elements widely used in different optical instruments. This paper introduces the design and simulation of a novel thin-film multilayer polarizing micro beam splitter based on airgap layers (n = 1.002828 at 400 nm). The negligible absorption coefficient of the air over a wide spectral region (κ ≈ 0 from about 200 nm and higher) satisfies the conditions of a perfect low refractive index material (L). Moreover, using titanium dioxide (TiO2) as high refractive index material (H), a very high refractive index contrast is obtained. The micro beam splitter optical structure consists in a 7 optimized multilayer of TiO2 and air, providing a refractive contrast higher than 1.2. The polarizing beam splitter cube is projected in a borosilicate glass substrate (BK7) and the optical multilayer obtained, expressed in multiples of the quarter wavelength optical thickness – QWOT, is 1.6H L 1.1H 1.5L 1.1H L 1.6H. This optical structure ensures the transmission of p- polarization and the reflection of s- polarization, from visible to NIR spectral range, over a bandwidth higher than 170 nm. Additionally, the designed polarizing beam splitter can be fabricated using standard microtechnology fabrication processes.This work is supported by ANI through the Brain-Lighting project by FEDER funds through Portugal 2020, COMPETE 2020 with the reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-003416