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Skeletal graves from the Region north of the Middle Danube are quite rare, because the cremation burials significantly predominated. In Zohor, beside richly equipped princely skeletal graves, also one isolated female skeletal grave of a 50 – 60 years old woman was excavated. It was found in the settlement area from the 1st c. AD, the equipment of the grave was rather poor than rich: two brooches Almgren 68, a small iron knife, a bronze needle und two small ceramic vessels. The median of the absolute ¹4C dating was about 40 AD [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several sites with rich finds are known from the area of the Púchov culture with a wide range of finds. They include a mass find from the central Považie region, from the hitherto little-known site of Podskalie, on the flank of the Veľké skaly hill in the district of Považská Bystrica. It contains two examples of a hitherto unknown, new type of belt hook, a belt ornament and a pseudo-filigree basket amulet. A key, lock spring, cramp irons and two knives were also found. Several Celtic coins in circulation on the territory of the Púchov culture also come from this site, namely the Divinka, Nitra, Veľký Bysterec types, the Slovak or Kolačno type, the Liptovská Mara and Simmering types. The hoard and the coins date the site to the late La Tène period LTD [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study retrospectively evaluated the effectiveness of percutaneous pulley release by our newly designed needle knife in terms of cure, relapse, and complication rates. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and fifty‑seven patients were allocated into male and female groups between October 2014 and September 2021. We included patients >15 years of age with a trigger finger (TF) (types II–VI). The primary outcome was the absence of a TF and pain‑free movement. In contrast, the secondary outcome included second‑time surgery and the number of complications such as infection and admission for antibiotics. Results: One hundred patients were male, and 157 patients were female. Males and females had mean ages of 62.45 ± 11.76 and 61.50 ± 8.57 years, respectively. The operative time was significantly longer in males than in females (7.88 ± 6.02 vs. 6.52 ± 3.74 min in males and females, respectively, P = 0.027). However, the percentages of diabetes mellitus and gout were the same in both groups. For the percutaneous methods with our needle knife, remission of the trigger was achieved in all cases. In addition, seven patients received revision and three patients with complications. After needle surgery, topical and joint pain scores were improved in both groups (from 5.09 ± 1.31 to 0.80 ± 1.56). Conclusion: The percutaneous methods with our needle knife displayed effectiveness. The cure rate was high, and the relapse rate was low. Further large‑scale clinical trials comparing percutaneous needle to open surgery for releasing the TF will be needed to confirm our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatic pseudoaneurysm (HPA) is a rare complication that can occur after liver trauma and carries a high risk of rupture. HPA is usually asymptomatic until rupture, so performing routine surveillance of liver trauma patients is important. Most posttraumatic HPA occurs within the first week after injury, so surveillance imaging ~ 7 days postinjury is suggested. Case presentation: We herein report a 47-year-old man who was diagnosed with asymptomatic HPA 25 days after a knife injury. The patient was transferred to the emergency room after attempting suicide by stabbing himself in his abdomen with a knife. The knife was surgically removed, and the postoperative course was uneventful. Computed tomography (CT) on postoperative day (POD) 12 showed no HPA. However, follow-up CT on POD 25 revealed HPA. The HPA was treated with coil embolization. The patient was discharged with no complications. One year after the injury, the patient had no recurrence or medical problems. Conclusion: When managing patients with penetrating liver trauma, it is important to note that HPA may not be identifiable on CT early after injury but may still develop later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: A sharp knife of appropriate dimension (blade length) is very important during halal and kosher slaughtering of animals without stunning for a rapid and clean neck severance. It improves bleeding and alleviates pain and stress in animals by early onset of unconsciousness. An efficient bleed-out improves meat quality and food safety. With the ever-increasing demand for halal and kosher meat due to its awareness, authenticity, nutritive value, and animal welfare compliance, there is an urgent need to emphasize the role of knife sharpness during slaughter as per the prescribed religious practices. Other issues such as neck cut positions, blade length of the knife, proper training of slaughterhouse workers, infrastructure, and constant monitoring of the slaughtering process also need to be addressed to improve animal welfare and meat quality. Halal and kosher slaughter have given the utmost importance to the sharpness of knives during the slaughter of animals. A sharp knife of appropriate dimension (blade length) makes slaughter less painful during neck severance and facilitates desirable bleeding. The role of knife sharpness has not been given due credit from an animal welfare perspective and is likely ignored by the people involved in slaughterhouses. A neat, clean, and efficient neck cut by an extremely sharp knife reduces the pain. It improves the bleeding out, thus making animals unconscious early without undergoing unnecessary pain and stress. It also helps in improving meat quality and food safety. A slight incremental improvement in knife sharpness could significantly improve the animal welfare, productivity, efficiency, and safety of meat plant workers. The present review critically analyzed the significance of knife sharpness in religious slaughter by reducing stress and pain and improving meat quality and food safety. The objective quantification of knife sharpness, proper regular training of slaughterers, and slow slaughter rate are the challenges faced by the meat industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy absorption structure of a train is an important part of passive safety protection during train collisions and is the last line of defense to protect both passengers and trains. In the design process of a train energy absorption structure, improved stability and greater energy absorption capacity is required. A cutting anti-climbing energy absorption structure offers good stability and energy absorption in a collision, but it can easily generate considerable heat in the energy absorption process. Therefore, it is important to conduct thermal–solid coupling simulations and crashworthiness optimization for cutting energy absorption structures. To improve the passive safety protection capability of high-speed trains, this paper experimentally and numerically explored the crashworthiness of a cutting-type energy-absorbing structure composed of an anti-creeper device, an energy-absorbing tube, cutting knives and knife-supporting tools. By adopting the Johnson–Cook material model, a finite element model was developed to study its energy absorption characteristics in a coupled heat–solid state. The effects of cutting depth (D), cutting knife front angle (A) and cutting width (W) on energy absorption (EA), cutting platform force (F mean) and peak cutting force (PCF) were analyzed based on the validated simulation model. The results showed that EA , F mean and PCF increase with increasing D and W , while EA , F mean and PCF decrease with increasing A. The GRSM was employed as the optimization algorithm, and a gain matrix–cloud model optimal worst method (G-CBW) multiobjective decision algorithm was proposed to obtain the most satisfactory configurations from the Pareto front solution. The relative errors from the optimal and finite element results of EA , F mean and PCF were 3.5%, 2.1% and 2.2%, respectively. All the crashworthiness indicators were improved considerably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piquerism, the sexual gratification yielded from the infliction of cutting, stabbing, and slicing wounds, remains an under-researched sexual paraphilic disorder with consequences for understanding, identification, detection, case linkage, and offender treatment. To help remedy that research deficit, a detailed case analysis is presented of a series of 'ripper' homicides to demonstrate common crime scene indicators and characteristics of piquerism. A case in which victims displayed overkill injuries has been chosen owing to the difficulty, even for seasoned investigators, to identify piquerism when the crime scene immediately suggests anger rather than a sexual motivation. In so doing, the knowledge base regarding this rare paraphilic disorder is expanded and directions for future research are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the interaction system within the mechanical soil processing process, consisting of two large elements, the metal of the tool and the soil. Due to the two main forces acting on the chisel knives—friction and impact with the sandy soil—the wear of these chisel knives was determined. To determine the wear, a stand was used which allowed testing chisel-type knives in laboratory conditions by changing their functional parameters: working depth, angle of the knives to work the soil, working speed, humidity and granulation of the test environment. The present paper presents an application of the Archard-type wear law to the contact between a chisel-type knife and sandy soil (wet and dry sand). The theoretical model regarding the Archard wear coefficient considered three forms of surface damage (shake down, ratcheting and micro-cutting). The sand was considered spherical and rigid and the surface of the knife was flat. The experimental model considered real steel knives with different surface hardness and operation under controlled conditions of sand granulation, humidity, attack angle, depth of penetration and speed of sliding. The theoretical and experimental results highlight the wear behavior of chisel knives (Archard coefficient) in wet and dry sand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unprecedentedly, this article presents a useful management protocol for the workers in emergency situations assisting victims of white weapon aggressions with a dual innovation. It could presage a possible advance in the healthcare management of these patients and support important repercussions in the legal field when this type of wound is inflicted due to an aggression. The MLuq protocol has been agreed by consensus in a multidisciplinary manner including experts belonging to the state security forces (judicial and scientific Police), to the healthcare area (surgical nursing, emergency medicine, general cardiothoracic and digestive surgery, and the legal and forensic medicine area), to the legal system (a jurist specialized in the area), and to the academic sphere. It is the first paper to propose purse string sutures as a weapon immobilization technique, as well as a set of actions designed to obtain biological traces of legal interest and to preserve the chain of custody. Therefore, it is a useful tool for the health and legal personnel, and especially for the victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. In Kazakhstan in present time there is a large number of earthmoving works, which leads to an increase in the demand for earthmoving-transport machines (ETM), in particular bulldozers of different types. In various industries and construction projects, the fleet of foreign-made ETM is operated and constantly updated, including the CIS countries (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, etc.) in various type-sizes. So at construction sites, including the construction of roads and railways, bulldozers are widely used: Caterpillar Corporation such as Cat (USA), Liebheer (Germany), Xuanhua Construction machinery Co, Ltd (HBXG) and ZoomLion and Shehwa (China); bulldozers ChTZ-UralTRAK (Russia), etc.The construction of roads and railways with a length of several thousand kilometers is impossible to imagine without the participation of a universal bulldozer. One of the most important components of the bulldozer is the working organ (WO) of the bulldozer.The performance of the bulldozer largely depends on what type of blade is installed on it. Capacity (maximum prism of drawing the soil) is one of the main characteristics determined by the height and width of the blade, and most manufacturers offer add-ons (visor) that makes it possible to increase the height of the blade. Increasing the blade height allows more material to be moved and reduces spillage through the top of the blade. On the other hand, increasing the volume of the drawing prism along the width of the blade is offered by the side cheeks, giving the blade the shape of a bucket. They do not allow the moving soil to fall out on the sides of the blade (side rollers), thereby increasing the volume of material being moved. However, an excessive increase in blade capacity will require additional power costs of the bulldozer during operation, which will cause an increase in loads on the machine components and accelerate the intensity of their wear, especially when the bulldozer moves up the slope.The volume of material moved by the blade in one pass depends, in addition, on the possibility of changing the angle of the blade relative to the vertical and horizontal plane. In modern blade designs, the positions of the angle of inclination are regulated by 4 or 6 positions, depending on the category of soil being developed. The purpose of this study is to optimize the geometric parameters and establish the trapezoidal shape of the blade, taking into account the interaction of its frontal surface with the formed maximum prism of drawing the soil.Materials and methods. As materials, the developed soil and the bulldozer blade were used, the process of their interaction was investigated with the maximum formation of the prism of drawing the soil before the dump, using the graphic-analytical method of research.Results. The process of interaction of the blade with the soil has been optimized by graphic-analytical means, the maximum (maximum permissible) parameters of the blade have been determined, taking into account the traction factor of the bulldozer and the category of the soil being developed.Discussion and conclusion. Until now, the geometric shapes of promising designs of the bulldozer blade were installed mainly by experimental means, without taking into account the contact of the blade area with the ground. Methods for determining the rational shape of the blade have not been developed, especially the theoretically grounded optimal parameters of the WO, taking into account the touch of the longitudinal section of the soil from the frontal surface of the blade. Methods for determining the optimal (adapted) shapes and geometric parameters of the WO were not developed, taking into account the contact of the frontal surface of the blade with the maximum drawing prism. Methods for calculating the optimal parameters of the perspective blade design adapted to the developed soil are proposed:– rational geometric shapes of both the frontal and cross-section of the blade are determined;– mathematical formulas for determining the optimal parameters of the new blade design are presented, namely:the height of the blade and the visor; width of the blade, visor and additional knife-extender;– defined: the perimeter of the blade, the width and height of the side roller, when forming the maximum prism of drawing the soil in front of the blade.

Summary: Slate was a prominent tool material in the Scandinavian Stone Age. However, details of tool function have relied on morphology and have added little to our understanding of their role in hunting and processing. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to identify both the use‐wear traces and residues from slate knives from northern Norway. By applying a multi‐disciplinary approach incorporating experimentation, use‐wear and organic residue analyses, we identified residues, including seal hair, and use‐traces which indicate the tools were used to process fresh marine mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how environmental variables, such as temperature and rainfall, affect previously induced cut marks on burnt bones. This research used non-serrated and serrated blade knives to inflict trauma on Sus scrofa ribs (n = 240). The bones were later burnt and left for 1 month in a taphonomic experimental facility. Qualitative and quantitative examinations were conducted using macroscopic and microscopic techniques to assess specific characteristics of the cut marks. Any changes to the dimension and morphology of the cut marks as well as their level of fragmentation were recorded. This study has led to three important outcomes: (1) identification of pre-existing cut marks is possible in reconstructed burnt bone fragments; (2) cut marks from different types of knife blades showed dissimilar responses to heat and the environment; and (3) specific environmental variables affect burnt bone fragmentation. These results have implications for trauma analysis on burnt remains in forensic anthropology casework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore young people's experiences and perceptions of knife crime, and we compare these to the understanding of police experts, to explore the perceptions shaping trust in the police and policing. We carry out an experience sampling survey deployed using a mobile application reflecting on safety and knife crime, to understand young people's daily lived experiences. We then use the mental models approach to interview young people and police experts and construct a shared mental model which identifies mismatches between the two groups and key areas of discord related to breakdown of trust and communication. We identify gaps, misconceptions and expectations for re-establishing trust and propose strategies to tackle knife crime and improve trust between young people and the police. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Knife & Words embodies the efforts and attempts of writers to narrate history in the context of globalization . Wang Anyi's reflection on the "globalization of modernity" is considerably identified as aesthetic view of material, and it is really related to the adjustment of the writing techniques of fiction. The obvious intervention and purification of her historical view reveals the writer's more concrete, detailed, thriving, multidimensional, open-minded historical observation and philosophical thinking. However, in the actual operation, the wandering and limitations of her speculation have also been exposed. The fact that Shanghai has become a link of local writing from a global perspective highlights the structural adjustment of Wang Anyi's novels. Replacing spatial historicization with historical spatialization, Wang Anyi not only looks for new possibilities for historical narrative, but also pays attention to dialogue with overseas perspectives and adjusts her creations in time. The Knife&Words and Wang Anyi's creative experience over the years also embody the common problems faced by contemporary writers from one aspect: how to perceive the present, narrate history, and promote the historical narrative of contemporary literature towards breakthrough and renewal in the face of globalization and its continuously derived problems [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DJ-1 (also known as PARK7) is a multifunctional enzyme in human beings that is highly conserved and that has also been discovered in diverse species (ranging from prokaryotes to eukaryotes). Its complex enzymatic and non-enzymatic activities (such as anti-oxidation, anti-glycation, and protein quality control), as well as its role as a transcriptional coactivator, enable DJ-1 to serve as an essential regulator in multiple cellular processes (e.g., epigenetic regulations) and make it a promising therapeutic target for diverse diseases (especially cancer and Parkinson's disease). Due to its nature as a Swiss army knife enzyme with various functions, DJ-1 has attracted a large amount of research interest, from different perspectives. In this review, we give a brief summary of the recent advances with respect to DJ-1 research in biomedicine and psychology, as well as the progress made in attempts to develop DJ-1 into a druggable target for therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the laws of corn straw lateral moving and throwing, it is necessary to identify the main factors that restrict improvements in the quality of straw clearing and reductions in power consumption and then optimize the knife parameter combinations; in this paper, the kinematic analysis of single-stage lateral moving and throwing of corn straw was carried out, and the mathematical model for the collision process between the knife and straw is established. Key factors affecting the lateral moving and throwing efficiency of straw were determined according to the model analysis. A parameter combination optimization test was conducted with three-factor and five-level quadratic regression orthogonal rotation center combination test methods and discrete element virtual simulation, taking into account the edge angle of cutting, the rotation radius of the knife, and the rotation speed of the knife roller as test factors and the straw clearing rate and power consumption as performance evaluation indexes. The test results showed that at a travel speed of 7.2 km/h when the edge angle of cutting was 65°, the rotation radius of the knife was 420 mm, and the rotation speed of the knife roller was 538~600 rpm, the straw clearing rate was ≥85%, and power consumption was ≤1.5 kW. The field test was carried out to verify the optimized results, and the test results showed that the test values of the performance evaluation indexes were all in the ranges of the optimized interval. These research results lay down the foundation for the design of lateral straw clearing and throwing knives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study aimed to compare the treatment outcomes between endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) with an insulated-tip knife (ESD-IT) and a needle-type knife (ESD-N) for large superficial esophageal neoplasms, as no study of this kind has been previously reported. We used the dataset of a multicenter, randomized controlled trial that compared conventional ESD (C-ESD) and traction-assisted ESD (TA-ESD) for superficial esophageal neoplasms. We compared the procedural outcomes between ESD-IT and ESD-N in a post hoc analysis and conducted sub-analyses based on traction assistance and electrical knife type. We included 223 (EST-IT, n  = 169; ESD-N, n  = 54) patients with no significant differences in baseline characteristics. The operator handover rate due to ESD difficulties was significantly higher in ESD-N (ESD-IT = 0.6% vs. ESD-N = 13.0%, P  = 0.001), while the injection volume was significantly higher in ESD-IT than in ESD-N (40.0 vs. 20.5 mL, P  < 0.001). Other outcomes were comparable between both groups (procedural time: 51.0 vs. 49.5 minute, P  = 0.89; complete resection: 90.5% vs. 90.7%, P  > 0.99; and complication rate: 1.8% vs. 3.7%, P  = 0.60 for ESD-IT and ESD-N, respectively). In the sub-analyses, the handover rate was significantly lower with TA-ESD than with C-ESD for ESD-N (3.2% vs. 26.1%, P  = 0.034), and a significantly smaller injection volume was used in TA-ESD than in C-ESD for ESD-IT (31.5 vs. 47.0 mL, P  < 0.01). ESD with either endoscopic device achieved favorable treatment outcomes with low complication rates. The handover rate in ESD-N and the injection volume in ESD-IT improved with the traction method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first techno-functional examination of backed knives from the southern African Acheulean. Our results suggest that they were opportunistically produced, although they demonstrate a unique ergonomic design that may have increased their efficiency in subsistence activities. Moreover, the frequency of backed knives at Wonderboom may be associated with possible meat harvesting at a nearby gap (Wonderboompoort) in the Magaliesberg range, which formed a bottleneck for animal herds migrating across major biome boundaries in the deep past. The Wonderboom knives might have been made on an ad hoc basis to augment butchery practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conventional straight knife cutterhead and three helical knife cutterheads were tested for planing black spruce wood (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.). Effects of helix angle and feed per knife (FK) on maximum cutting forces and sound level were evaluated. A 3-axis dynamometer and an array microphone were used to simultaneously record the forces and the sound level, respectively. Parallel (FP), lateral (FL), resultant (FR) forces, and sound level increased as FK increased. Helical tools produced lower FP, positive and negative normal forces (FNP and FNN), and FR. Parallel forces tended to decrease as helix angle increased at high FK (4.7 mm). Differences among helical tools were not significant for normal and resultant forces. Cutterheads with the two highest helix angles (50° and 60°) produced higher FL at low (1.3 mm) feed per knife. Impacts of these cutting forces on the production of surface defects and ways to reduce them were discussed. Helical cutterheads considerably generated lower sound pressure level, with a maximum difference of up to 11.5 dB(A). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the socioeconomic and cultural transformation in food artisan entrepreneurship due to the complexification of the food sector and ongoing globalisation through a case study conducted among the artisan butchers of Genoa, Italy. The butcher's trade has enjoyed centrality and social and cultural promotion that made butcher shops key places in the urban foodscape. However, this centrality is challenged by both new consumption trends and the imposition of large-scale organised distribution as the fulcrum of mass food trade. These changes raise the question about the future of the profession and its knowledge. This paper addresses this question by investigating the structure of the butcher's business and the practices involved in knowledge creation and transmission, exploring the factor of change and its effects on the butcher's profession, as well as the very foundational aspects of the artisanship. The research suggests that artisanship should be read as a form of entrepreneurship capable of placing and moving the craftsman within the global social hierarchy of a community. Therefore, the preservation of artisanship and its sociocultural complexity cannot be limited to the mere preservation of gastronomic forms and techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a grasping-type knife, called Clutch Cutter (CC), for colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (C-ESD). Methods: This was a randomized prospective study. Patients who underwent C-ESD for colorectal neoplasms >20 mm and <50 mm in size were enrolled, dividing into two groups: ESD using needle type of dual knife alone (D-group) and circumferential incision using dual knife followed by submucosal dissection using CC (CC-group). The primary outcome was the self-completion rate. The secondary outcomes were intraoperative complication rate, procedure time, and en bloc resection rate. Results: A total of 45 patients were allocated to the D-group and 43 to the CC-group were allocated. The self-completion rate was higher in the CC-group (87% [39/45] vs. 98% [42/43]). All of the six patients with an incomplete procedure in the D-group were completely resected with CC use. The intraoperative complication rate was not significant in either group (D vs. CC: 2% vs. 0%). The mean procedure time was significantly shorter in the D-group than that in the CC-group (62.0 vs. 81.1 min; p = 0.0036). The en bloc resection rate was 100% in the D-group and 98% in the CC-group. Conclusions: While dual knife use is superior to CC in terms of time efficiency, the use of CC may be a safe and efficacious option for achieving complete C-ESD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite solar technology stands on three different pillars: efficiency, stability, and processability. Focusing on processability, the field demands the achievement of optoelectronic grade active layers with high uniformity fabricated by industry‐compatible methods. Herein, the design and implementation of an air knife on a blade coating deposition system, which allows controlling the evaporation rate of the solvents improving the crystallization and uniformity of perovskite films in a p–i–n device are reported. The effect of doctor blade operational parameters is studied using image analysis combined with a machine learning method to identify the most relevant processing variables leading to a uniform perovskite layer with optimal thickness. After implementing the air knife system and finding the best processing conditions, a special perovskite solar minimodule enabling the evaluation of single inner subcells is fabricated. These perovskite subcells reach an average efficiency of 10.1% and remarkably all the subcells deviate less than 20% from this value over a large‐area substrate. These results demonstrate the promising potential of this fabrication method for low cost and high deposition rate photovoltaic devices, which is on the path to mass production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines aspects of ethnic, religious, and moral boundary work among Jewish-Israeli kosher slaughterers based, on 35 in-depth interviews, four ethnographic observations, informal conversations, and other secondary sources such as video footage of the slaughter sites gathered between 2014 and 2019. In Israel, the self-proclaimed sovereign homeland of the Jewish people, being Jewish means being part of the political, ethnic, and religious hegemony. While being stigmatized for doing dirty work, the Jewish slaughterers' workplace setting groups them with menial laborers from a minority ethnic group, both physically and organizationally. The stigma associated with animal killing in Israel encourages the slaughterers to distinguish themselves from other workers by engaging in boundary work. Within the workplace setting, this boundary work occurs around various aspects of intersecting identities: racio-ethnic, national, religious, and professional. Furthermore, this boundary work is fueled by various organizational mechanisms such as the slaughter site's spatial architecture, differential wage structure, and the use of tools and technologies. While these workplace conditions are determined by the employers, they are constantly restructured and reinforced by the slaughterers to assert their moral superiority vis-a-vis other workers. While exploring these organizational mechanisms, I conceptualize the Jewish slaughter knife as a boundary-maintaining object. I claim that the slaughterers constantly leverage these material, symbolic, and discursive resources to morally segregate the two workers' groups and the morally tainted aspects of slaughter, such as violence and cruelty, to the 'Arab' others. Meanwhile, the prevailing Jew–Arab tensions and the popular symbolic representation of the Arabs ensures that these behaviors are treated as an inherent racio-ethnic trait, thereby reinforcing these boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, attempts were made to determine the knives sharpness in agricultural harvesting processes online using various methods. One promising method is the recording and analysis of the structure-borne sound at the counter-blade of the chopper (Siebald, 2017; Siebald et al., 2017). First investigations show, further reference systems for monitoring the knife sharpness are needed to enable a calibration of the planned system. One such reference measurement that is readily available in practical operation is the assessment of the cut material, which has been used to date in the form of a qualitative visual inspection by the operator. In the present work, in addition to an analysis of acoustic data, the determination of the particles of the crop taken in parallel is carried out. This is done using computer image analysis, which is capable of reproducing the shape parameters of the chaff particles with high accuracy and complexity (Guth et al., 1995 ; Savoie et al., 2014). Computation of a predictive model for the cumulative throughput by means of projection of the manifest variables onto a subset of "latent factors" was performed with the software JMP using the NIPALS method. By projecting the mean values and standard deviations of the acoustic analysis parameters onto six latent variables, it was possible to generate predicted values for the cumulative chaff throughput whose correlation with the "actual" throughput values could be described by a regression fit with R 2 = 0.813. In the image analysis of the chaff data, even with only 2 variables, a R 2 = 0.912 was given. • Acoustic measurements, and taking chaff samples for image analysis. • Determination of chaff quality using computer image analysis of the harvested crop. • Investigation of the correlation of the chaff quality with the throughput. • Investigation of correlation between structure-borne sound and the total throughput. • Prediction of the throughput values based on acoustic and image analysis data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suppose your father gives you a hollow cylindrical knife as a birthday gift, and your mother buys you a bag of potatoes. When the knife is pressed into a potato and the outer excess is removed, the interior of the knife yields a cylindrical core. By pressing the knife into a potato from several strategically chosen directions, you can construct some solids of intersection such that all faces are identical or one of two distinct shapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Second World War created numerous opportunities for intercultural encounters, including contacts between soldiers of the 2nd Polish Corps and the Gurkhas of the British Indian Army. This article focuses on a prominent single element highlighted in Polish war memoirs, the Gurkha khukuri knife. Used as a multipurpose tool in Nepal, it contributes to the image of fierce Gurkha soldiers, thanks to its reputation as a lethal weapon. The Gurkha knife attracted much attention during the war and seems to have become the most-remembered element of the representation of Nepalis in the Polish Second World War memoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knife crime remains a major concern in England and Wales. Problem-oriented and public health approaches to tackling knife crime have been widely advocated, but little is known about how these approaches are understood and implemented by police practitioners. To address this knowledge gap, this article draws on semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 44 police personnel to consider the processes and challenges of applying problem-oriented and public health approaches to knife crime. Findings show that knife crime was seen as a complex social problem which would not be solved by 'silver bullets'; prevention was prioritised and the limitations of enforcement were widely acknowledged; there was an emphasis on understanding and responding to vulnerability and risk; discussion of 'holistic' and 'whole systems' approaches was evident (but these concepts were rarely defined); and the problem of serious violence was viewed as a shared, multi-agency issue that the police could not tackle alone. Various challenges were also evident, most notably around analysis of the drivers and patterns of knife crime and the evaluation of knife crime interventions. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for knife crime prevention and the implementation and advancement of problem-oriented and public health approaches to policing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of what is known about human behavior and subsistence strategies in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic comes from long sequences from caves and rock shelters. In this context, studies of stone tool function have traditionally focused on determining the use of Levallois points and triangular elements, either as projectiles or, more rarely, multipurpose knives. Little is known about such tool use and hafting in Middle Paleolithic open-air sites in the Levant through the systematic application of micro-wear analysis. Here we report the results of a low and high-power study performed on the lithic assemblage of the Late Middle Paleolithic open-air site of Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (NMO, Israel). Most pointed items, including Levallois and non-Levallois points, were used as butchering knives, many of them while hafted; to a much lesser extent they were also used for hide, bone, and wood/plant processing activities. Blades and flakes were mostly handheld and used as butchering knives, with hide, bone, antler, and wood/plant-processing tasks being rare. Hafted artifacts include morphologies and activities for which hafting is not required, indicating that NMO inhabitants possessed varied hafting expertise. Wood/plant processing tools, some of which were hafted, attest that manufacture and maintenance tasks were planned well in advance of game procurement at the site. These results attest to early evidence of hafted butchering knives and hafted plant processing tools for a Late Middle Paleolithic open-air site in the Levant, and support previous interpretations of NMO as a short-term task-specific location focused on animal processing activities, mostly butchery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of the study is due to the need to reduce the energy intensity of the process of cutting sunflower stalks by choosing a rational profile of knives. The research is based on a comparative analysis of experimental values of cutting forces for the proposed and manufactured design of the knife system and known knife systems. The studies have shown that the implementation of the retaining and main knives of the header in the form of a curved spiral of Archimedes allowed to reduce the cutting force. It was also found that the cutting force for the proposed design of the knife system, unlike other studied, practically does not change with the removal of the stem from the axis of rotation of the knives, which does not require an increase in energy costs for the cutting process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]