bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A lower bound for the dimension of tetrahedral splines in large degree
Authors: DiPasquale Michael , Villamizar Nelly
Published: June 2023

Splines are piecewise polynomial functions which are continuously differentiable to some order r. For a fixed integer d the space of splines of degree at most d is a finite dimensional vector space, and a largely open problem in numerical analysis is to determine its dimension. While considerable attention has been given to this problem in the bivariate setting, the literature on trivariate splines is less conclusive. In particular, the dimension of generic trivariate splines is not known even in large degree when $$r>1$$

r
>
1

. In this paper we use a bound we previously derived for splines on vertex stars to compute a new lower bound on the dimension of trivariate splines in large enough degree. We illustrate in several examples that our formula gives the exact dimension of the spline space in large enough degree if vertex positions are generic. In contrast, for splines continuously differentiable of order $$r>1$$

r
>
1

, every lower bound in the literature diverges (often significantly) in large degree from the dimension of the spline space in these examples. We derive the bound using commutative and homological algebra.
Epistemic discourses concerning the competence developed in a norwegian master’s degree program in health science
Authors: Kristoffersen Margareth , Oftedal Bjørg Frøysland
Published: June 2023

It has been claimed that various discourses related to competence influence higher education, but there is limited understanding of the discourses underlying competence development. The specific aim of this study was to explore epistemic discourses concerning the development of competence of health professionals with a master’s degree in health science. Accordingly, the study was qualitative and adopted discourse analysis. Twelve participants, all of whom were Norwegian health professionals aged between 29 and 49 years, participated in this study. Four participants were in the final stage of study for their master’s degree with three months left before completion, four had completed their degree two weeks before their participation, and four had been working for one year after the completion of their degree. Data were collected in three group interviews. Three epistemic discourses were revealed: (1) a critical thinking competencies discourse, (2) a scientific thinking competencies discourse, and (3) a competence-in-use discourse. The former two discourses were considered the dominant discourses and indicated that a knowing “that” discourse connected the specialized competence of different health professionals with a wider field of competence. This wider field transcended the boundaries of various health disciplines and represented a novel competence developed through a synergizing process between critical and scientific thinking competencies, which seems to drive continued competence development. A competence-in-use discourse was formed in the process. This discourse can be viewed as a unique outcome that contributes to health professionals’ specialized competence and suggests that a knowing “how” discourse was also an underlying background discourse.
An analytic derivation of the efficient frontier in biobjective cash management and its implications for policies
Authors: Salas-Molina Francisco , Pla-Santamaria David , Rodriguez-Aguilar Juan A.
Published: June 2023

Cash managers who optimize returns and risk rely on biobjective optimization models to select the best policies according to their risk preferences. In the related portfolio selection problem, Merton (J Financ Quant Anal 7(4):1851–1872, 1972) provided the first analytical derivation of the efficient frontier with all non-dominated return and risk combinations. This first proposal was later extended to account for three or more criteria by other authors. However, the cash management literature needs an analytical derivation of the efficient frontier to help cash managers evaluate the implications of selecting policies and risk measures. In this paper, we provide three analytic derivations of the efficient frontier determining a closed-form solution for the expected returns and risk relationship using three different risk measures. We study its main properties and its theoretical implications for policies. Using the variance of returns as a risk measure imposes limitations due to invertibility reasons.
Corporate Responses to Intimate Partner Violence
Authors: Branicki Layla , Kalfa Senia , Pullen Alison , Brammer Stephen
Published: June 2023

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is among society’s most pernicious and impactful social issues, causing substantial harm to health and wellbeing, and impacting women’s employability, work performance, and career opportunity. Organizations play a vital role in addressing IPV, yet, in contrast to other employee- and gender-related social issues, very little is known regarding corporate responses to IPV. IPV responsiveness is a specific demonstration of corporate social responsibility and is central to advancing gender equity in organizations. In this paper, we draw upon unique data on the IPV policies and practices of 191 Australian listed corporations between 2016 and 2019, that collectively employ around 1.5 M employees. Providing the first large-scale empirical analysis of corporate IPV policies and practices, we theorise that listed corporations’ IPV responsiveness reflects institutional and stakeholder pressures which are multifaceted and central to corporate social responsibility. Our findings identify greater IPV responsiveness among larger corporations, as well as those corporations with higher proportions of women middle managers, greater financial resources, and more advanced employee consultation on gender issues. This paper concludes that there is a need for further research on corporate IPV responsiveness, to further illuminate corporate motivations, organizational support processes, and employee experiences.
The sustainable development goals: governing by goals, targets and indicators
Authors: Long Graham , Censoro Jecel , Rietig Katharina
Published: June 2023

How do the goals, targets and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serve as governance instruments in efforts to achieve the SDGs by 2030? This perspective addresses this question in three sections. First, it develops an account of how we should understand governance for the SDGs that highlights the role of targets and indicators, but also institutions and norms, in this model of ‘soft’ governance. Second, it then offers a brief assessment of how the SDGs have worked as governance innovation since 2015, highlighting changes in the infrastructure of the SDGs and some national contexts, but also limitations. This section also considers the place of national ownership as a principle, integral to the SDGs, which constrains the transformative potential of the goals and targets. A final section considers how elements and mechanisms of SDG governance might be developed further. It points toward the importance of scaling up pockets of innovation and goal achievement across jurisdictions and levels of governance, while raising questions about expectations for SDG achievement beyond 2030.
Grain boundary configurational entropy: a challenge
Authors: Lejček Pavel , Školáková Andrea
Published: June 2023

While the bulk of the high-entropy alloys is widely studied and characterized by their configurational entropy, there is a lack of general information regarding the configurational entropy of the grain boundaries. Here, we derived for the first time the basic relationships of this thermodynamic quantity related to the solute segregation at grain boundaries. Some examples of the appearance of the grain boundary configurational entropy are shown, and its effect on intergranular properties is discussed. It is stated that the role of grain boundary configurational entropy in interfacial properties is not completely clear and represents a challenge for future research.
Positive and Negative Leadership in Late Childhood: Similarities in Individual but Differences in Interpersonal Characteristics
Authors: Dong Zhe , Huitsing Gijs , Veenstra René
Published: June 2023

Previous research has shown that leadership is associated not only with positive but also with negative characteristics and behaviors; knowledge of the similarities and differences between positive and negative leaders remains insufficient. This study aimed to examine (1) the existence of different subtypes of leaders and (2) to what extent these leaders differed on individual and interpersonal characteristics. The sample contained 9213 students in grades 3–6 (Dutch grades 5–8), from 392 classrooms in 98 schools (50.3% girls, Mage = 10.13 ± 1.23 years). Latent profile analysis identified three leader profiles and four non-leader profiles based on peer nominations received for leadership, popularity, and positive (defending) and negative (bullying) behavior: (1) positive leaders, (2) negative leaders, (3) non-popular leaders, (4) popular children, (5) bullies, (6) extreme bullies, and (7) modal children. Multinomial logistic regression showed similarities and differences between positive and negative leaders, as well as between each of these and the other five profiles. Positive leaders were more accepted and less rejected and had more friendships than negative leaders, but the differences in individual characteristics (self-esteem, self-control, and social goals) were less clear. This study demonstrated that 10–15% of the children were perceived as leaders, and that positive leadership became more prevalent in the higher grades. Nevertheless, negative leadership occurred also in the higher grades. Interventions aimed at turning negative leaders into positive leaders may work, because positive and negative leaders do not differ greatly in individual characteristics. Such interventions may improve the relationships of negative leaders with their classmates, which may be good for their likeability (but not at the expense of their popularity) as well as for the social atmosphere in the class as a whole.
A moment-matching metric for latent variable generative models
Authors: Beaulac Cédric
Published: June 2023

It is difficult to assess the quality of a fitted model in unsupervised learning problems. Latent variable models, such as variational autoencoders and Gaussian mixture models, are often trained with likelihood-based approaches. In the scope of Goodhart’s law, when a metric becomes a target it ceases to be a good metric and therefore we should not use likelihood to assess the quality of the fit of these models. The solution we propose is a new metric for model comparison or regularization that relies on moments. The key idea is to study the difference between the data moments and the model moments using a matrix norm, such as the Frobenius norm. We first show how to use this new metric for model comparison and then for regularization. We show that our proposed metric is faster to compute and has a smaller variance than the commonly used procedure of drawing samples from the fitted distribution. We conclude this article with a demonstration of both applications and we discuss our findings and future work.
On the psychology of the relation between optimism and risk taking
Authors: Dohmen Thomas , Quercia Simone , Willrodt Jana
Published: June 2023

In this paper, we provide an explanation for why risk taking is related to optimism. Using a laboratory experiment, we show that the degree of optimism predicts whether people tend to focus on the positive or negative outcomes of risky decisions. While optimists tend to focus on the good outcomes, pessimists focus on the bad outcomes of risk. The tendency to focus on good or bad outcomes of risk in turn affects both the self-reported willingness to take risk and actual risk taking behavior. This suggests that dispositional optimism may affect risk taking mainly by shifting attention to specific outcomes rather than causing misperception of probabilities. In a second study we find evidence that dispositional optimism is related to elicited parameters of rank dependent utility theory suggesting that focusing may be among the psychological determinants of decision weights. Finally, we corroborate our findings with process data related to focusing showing that optimists tend to remember more and attend more to good outcomes and this in turn affects their risk taking.
Institutionalizing Experimental Places for Inclusive Social Innovation: From Utopias to Heterotopias
Authors: Sancino Alessandro , Scognamiglio Fulvio , Corvo Luigi , Imperiale Francesca , Pasi Giulio
Published: June 2023

This essay embraces a notion of critical scholarship concerned with proposing normative and actionable alternatives that can create more inclusive societies and focuses on the role of institutionalizing experimental places for inclusive social innovation as a bottom-up strategic response to welfare state reforms. By mobilizing the notions of utopias and heterotopias in Foucault, the paper sheds light on the opportunity to move from policy utopias to democratic heterotopias, discussing the politics embedded in this cognitive shift and the democratic nature of social innovation changing social and governance relations by interacting with politico-administrative systems. Some obstacles to institutionalizing social innovation are highlighted, as well as some key governance mechanisms that can be activated either by public and/or social purpose organizations to try to overcome those obstacles. Finally, we discuss the importance of linking inclusive social innovation with democratic, rather than market logics.
New Insights in Strain Mechanics (LA, RA, and RV)
Authors: Wong Joshua , Marwick Thomas H.
Published: June 2023

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this paper is to review the current status and literature surrounding left atrial, right atrial, and right ventricular strain.

Recent Findings

Advancements in chamber-specific strain software and taskforce consensus statements have helped overcome the previous limitations of reproducibility and inter-vendor variability. Strain has increasing utility due to its superior diagnostic sensitivity and independent prognostic value over traditional imaging assessments in a range of clinical conditions.

The use of strain as a reliable and reproducible marker of cardiac function is most widely accepted in the assessment of left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS). However, strain can also be assessed in other cardiac chambers (left atrium (LA), right ventricle (RV), and right atrium (RA)). Consolidation and refinement of strain assessments in these other chambers have been achieved by chamber-specific software and uniform approaches to measurements. Strain accounts for the complex anatomy and physiology of these chambers and therefore holds sensitive diagnostic capacity. Current clinical applications are mainly in prognostication however utility is expanding specifically in LA strain, to identify and manage occult atrial fibrillation and in estimation of LV filling pressures. Further research is required to determine a universal approach in RV strain measurements and to improve technical capabilities in RA strain assessment.
Identification of Piezo1 as a potential target for therapy of colon cancer stem-like cells
Authors: Li Rong , Wang Dongmei , Li Huijuan , Lei Xianhua , Liao Weilian , Liu Xiao-Yu
Published: June 2023

Colon cancer is a common malignancy of the digestive tract. Colon cancer stem-like cells (CCSCs) are theoretically one of the key drivers of the initiation, relapse, metastasis, and chemo-resistance of colon tumors. Piezo1 is a mechanosensitive cationic channel protein involved in cancer progression. However, little is known regarding the possible role of Piezo1 in maintaining the stemness of CCSCs. In this study, we found that Piezo1 was highly expressed in CD133+/CD44+ colon cancer tissues, and the Piezo1high/CD133+CD44+ population was associated with the clinical stage. Furthermore, CCSCs isolated from colon cell lines expressed higher Piezo1 levels compared to the non-CCSCs, and Piezo1 knockdown inhibited their tumorigenicity and self-renewal capacity. Mechanistically, Piezo1 maintained the stemness of CCSCs through Ca2+/NFAT1 signaling, and knocking down Piezo1 promoted degradation of NFAT1. Taken together, Piezo1 is involved in the stage of colon cancer and is a promising therapeutic target.
A novel experimental and machine learning model to remove COD in a batch reactor equipped with microalgae
Authors: Jery Atef El , Noreen Ayesha , Isam Mubeen , Arias-Gonzáles José Luis , Younas Tasaddaq , Al-Ansari Nadhir , Sammen Saad Sh.
Published: June 2023

By using microorganisms and the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris in conjunction with sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), the performance of a wastewater treatment facility was studied. For this purpose, the effect of pH, temperature, $${\mathrm{COD}}_{\mathrm{inlet}}$$

COD
inlet

, and air flowrate on COD removal rate and residual was investigated. A single-factorial optimization method is utilized to optimize the amount of COD removal, and the best result is obtained with a pH of 8, $${\mathrm{COD}}_{\mathrm{inlet}}=600\, \mathrm{mg}/\mathrm{l}$$

COD
inlet

=
600

mg
/
l

, and an airflow rate of 55 l/min. Under optimal conditions, the amount of residual COD in the effluent reached 36 $$\mathrm{mg}/\mathrm{l}$$

mg
/
l

, showing an augmentation in the efficiency of the desired system. Moreover, empirical correlations are proposed for double-factorial optimization of residual COD and COD removal. Also, a multilayer perceptron artificial neural network is proposed to model the process and predict the residual COD concentration. The useful technique of hyperparameter tuning is utilized to obtain the best result for the predictions. All the effective parameters, including the number of hidden layers, neurons, epochs, and batch size, are adjusted. Data from the experiments agreed well with the artificial neural network modeling results. For this modeling, the values of the correlation coefficient ($${R}^{2}$$

R

2

) and mean absolute error (MAE) were obtained as 0.98 and 2%, respectively.
Postoperative circulating tumor DNA detection and CBLB mutations are prognostic biomarkers for gastric cancer
Authors: Zhou Hekai , Liu Houcong , Li Jun , Wang Jidong , Fu Xiaohong , Li Yingqiang , Mao Shaolong , Du Jihui
Published: June 2023

Background

Several studies have demonstrated that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can be used to predict the postoperative recurrence of several cancers. However, there are few studies on the use of ctDNA as a prognosis tool for gastric cancer (GC) patients.

Objective

This study aims to determine whether ctDNA could be used as a prognostic biomarker in GC patients through multigene-panel sequencing.

Methods

Using next-generation sequencing (NGS) Multigene Panels, the mutational signatures associated with the prognosis of GC patients were identified. We calculated the survival probability with Kaplan–Meier and used the Log-rank test to compare survival curves between ctDNA-positive and ctDNA-negative groups. Potential application of radiology combined with tumor plasma biomarker analysis of ctDNA in GC patients was carried out.

Results

Disease progression is more likely in ctDNA-positive patients as characterized clinically by a generally higher T stage and a poorer therapeutic response (P < 0.05). ctDNA-positive patients also had worse overall-survival (OS: P = 0.203) and progression-free survival (PFS: P = 0.037). The combined analysis of ctDNA, radiological, and serum biomarkers in four patients indicated that ctDNA monitoring can be a good complement to radiological and plasma tumor markers for GC patients. Kaplan–Meier analysis using a cohort of GC patients in the TCGA database showed that patients with CBLB mutations had shorter OS and PFS than wild-type patients (OS: P = 0.0036; PFS: P = 0.0027).

Conclusions

This study confirmed the utility and feasibility of ctDNA in the prognosis monitoring of gastric cancer.
Resident Versus Attending Prenatal Care Models: an Analysis of the Effects of Race and Insurance on Appointment Attendance
Authors: Fitzpatrick Veronica , Rivelli Anne , Guzman Iridian , Erwin Kim
Published: June 2023

Objective

To describe patient differences by prenatal care (PNC) model and identify factors that interact with race to predict more attended prenatal appointments, a key component of PNC adherence.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study used administrative data targeting prenatal patient utilization from two OB clinics with different care models (resident vs. attending OB) from within one large midwestern healthcare system. All appointment data among patients receiving prenatal care at either clinic between September 2, 2020, and December 31, 2021, were extracted. Multivariable linear regression was performed to identify predictors of attended appointments within the resident clinic, as moderated by race (Black vs. White).

Results

A total of 1034 prenatal patients were included: 653 (63%) served by the resident clinic (appointments = 7822) and 381 (38%) by the attending clinic (appointments = 4627). Patients were significantly different across insurance, race/ethnicity, partner status, and age between clinics (p < 0.0001). Despite prenatal patients at both clinics being scheduled for approximately the same number of appointments, resident clinic patients attended 1.13 (0.51, 1.74) fewer appointments (p = 0.0004). The number of attended appointments was predicted by insurance in crude analysis (β = 2.14, p < 0.0001), with effect modification by race (Black vs. White) in final fitted analysis. Black patients with public insurance attended 2.04 fewer appointments than White patients with public insurance (7.60 vs. 9.64) and Black non-Hispanic patients with private insurance attended 1.65 more appointments than White non-Hispanic or Latino patients with private insurance (7.21 vs. 5.56).

Conclusion

Our study highlights the potential reality that the resident care model, with more care delivery challenges, may be underserving patients who are inherently more vulnerable to PNC non-adherence at care onset. Our findings show that patients attend more appointments at the resident clinic if publicly insured, but less so if they are Black than White.
Erectile function and androgen and estrogen beta receptor gene polymorphisms in acromegalic men
Authors: Pallotti F. , Costa D. , Hirsch M. N. , Mercuri V. , Di Chiano S. , Paoli E. D. , Faja F. , Rizzo F. , Lenzi A. , Paoli D. , Lombardo F. , Gargiulo P.
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Sexual dysfunctions are often experienced by male patients with acromegaly, due to a combination of hypogonadism and other comorbidities, but are a scarcely investigated complication. Erectile dysfunction is also closely related to cardiovascular diseases through endothelial dysfunction. Therefore, this project aimed to assess the prevalence of erectile dysfunction in a population of acromegalic men and evaluate its association with cardio-metabolic disorders, also exploring associations with androgen and estrogen receptor gene polymorphisms.

Methods

Sexually active men aged 18–65 with previous diagnosis of acromegaly were recruited. Clinical and laboratory data were retrospectively collected. Each patient also provided a blood sample for AR and ERβ gene polymorphisms analyses and filled out the IIEF-15 questionnaire.

Results

Twenty men with previous diagnosis of acromegaly (mean age 48.4 ± 10.0 years) were recruited. 13/20 subjects (65%) had erectile dysfunction, but only four had a concurrent biochemical hypogonadism, with no significant correlation with IIEF-15 scores. Total testosterone negatively correlated with sexual intercourse satisfaction domain (ρ = − 0.595; p = 0.019) and general satisfaction domain (ρ = − 0.651; p = 0.009). IGF-1 levels negatively correlated with biochemical hypogonadism (ρ = − 0.585; p = 0.028). The number of CAG and CA repeats in AR and ERβ receptors genes was not significantly associated with IIEF-15 scores or with GH/IGF-1 levels, but a negative correlation between CA repeats and the presence of cardiomyopathy (ρ = − 0.846; p = 0.002) was present.

Conclusions

Men with acromegaly have a high prevalence of erectile dysfunction, but it does not appear to be correlated with treatments, testosterone levels and AR/ER-beta signaling. Nonetheless, a shorter CA polymorphic trait (ERbeta) is associated with the presence of cardiomyopathy. If confirmed, these data may suggest an association between an incorrect hormonal balance and increased cardiovascular risk in acromegaly subjects.
The steroid-sparing effects of a mycophenolate mofetil-based regimen in the management of immunoglobulin A nephropathy in patients with histologically active lesions: A comparison with a control cohort receiving conventional therapy
Authors: Roccatello Dario , Careddu Andrea , Ferro Michela , Naretto Carla , Quattrocchio Giacomo , Fenoglio Roberta , Sciascia Savino
Published: June 2023

Introduction

While the use of different immunosuppressants has been investigated in immunoglobulin A nephropathy, further investigation is needed to assess the effect of a regimen of mycophenolate mofetil combined with a short course of glucocorticosteroids in the subset of patients with histologically active features. We compared the efficacy and safety of a combined regimen of mycophenolate mofetil and glucocorticosteroids to a conventional regimen of glucocorticosteroids alone in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy who have active lesions and major urinary abnormalities.

Methods

This retrospective study involved 30 immunoglobulin A nephropathy patients with active histological lesions, 15 of whom were treated with both mycophenolate mofetil 2 g/day for 6 months and 3 pulses of 15 mg/kg methylprednisolone, followed by a short tapering schedule of oral prednisone. The control group was made up of the remaining 15 clinically- and histologically-matched patients treated with glucocorticosteroids alone according to a validated schedule, i.e., 1 g of methylprednisolone given intravenously for 3 consecutive days, followed by oral prednisone 0.5 mg/kg every other day for 6 months. At diagnosis, all patients had urinary protein excretion > 1 g/24 h and microscopic hematuria.

Results

At the end of the first year of follow-up (30 patients) and after 5 years (17 patients), there were no differences between the two groups in terms of urinary abnormalities and functional parameters. Both regimens achieved a statistically significant decrease in 24-h urinary protein excretion (p < 0.001) and a reduction of microscopic hematuria. However, the mycophenolate mofetil-based regimen allowed a cumulative sparing dose of 6 g of glucocorticosteroids.

Conclusion

In this single center study on immunoglobulin A nephropathy patients with active lesions and major urinary abnormalities and at increased risk of glucocorticosteroid-related complications, a mycophenolate mofetil-based regimen demonstrated similar outcomes in terms of complete response and relapse (at 1 and 5 years) compared to a conventional glucocorticosteroid-based protocol, while achieving a consistent reduction of glucocorticosteroid cumulative dose.

Graphical Abstract
Towards AI-assisted digital twins for smart railways: preliminary guideline and reference architecture
Authors: De Donato Lorenzo , Dirnfeld Ruth , Somma Alessandra , De Benedictis Alessandra , Flammini Francesco , Marrone Stefano , Saman Azari Mehdi , Vittorini Valeria
Published: June 2023

In the last years, there has been a growing interest in the emerging concept of digital twins (DTs) among software engineers and researchers. DTs not only represent a promising paradigm to improve product quality and optimize production processes, but they also may help enhance the predictability and resilience of cyber-physical systems operating in critical contexts. In this work, we investigate the adoption of DTs in the railway sector, focusing in particular on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies as key enablers for building added-value services and applications related to smart decision-making. In this paper, in particular, we address predictive maintenance which represents one of the most promising services benefiting from the combination of DT and AI. To cope with the lack of mature DT development methodologies and standardized frameworks, we detail a workflow for DT design and development specifically tailored to a predictive maintenance scenario and propose a high-level architecture for AI-enabled DTs supporting such workflow.
Ductile–brittle quantitative evaluation of rock based on post-peak properties under true triaxial stress
Authors: Zheng Zhi , Zheng Hong , Zhao Jun , Liu Zaobao , Feng Guangliang , Qiu Shili
Published: June 2023

To quantitatively evaluate the influence of high true three-dimensional stresses on the ductile–brittle behaviours of rock in deep underground engineering, a series of true triaxial compression tests with different stress levels were carried out on marble and four kinds of granite. The influences of true triaxial stress states (σ2, σ3) on the post-peak characteristics were analysed, and a new normalized ductile–brittle evaluation index was proposed based on post-peak energy conversion characteristics of rock under true triaxial stresses. The ductile–brittle behaviours of rock were divided into four qualitative levels, namely, ductile-brittleness, transitional, brittleness and super-brittleness, and the influences of true triaxial stress states on the ductile–brittle behaviours of rock were quantitatively investigated. The research shows that as σ2 increases or σ3 decreases (that is, the differential stress between σ2 and σ3 increases), the brittleness of rock increases, and its increase rate gradually decreases and tends to be stable, transforming from ductile-brittleness to transitional, brittleness and super-brittleness and resulting in super-brittleness being easily induced by low-σ3 and high-σ2 conditions. When the differential stress between σ2 and σ3 is small, the intrinsic characteristics of rock itself have an obvious influence on ductile–brittle behaviours. When the differential stress between σ2 and σ3 is large, all kinds of rocks can exhibit super-brittle behaviour. The change of stress controls the evolution of rock ductile–brittle behaviours, and high-stress controls rock brittleness. The rock brittleness under true triaxial stress is significantly higher than that under conventional triaxial stress at the same σ3. σ2 induces an increase in rock brittleness and causes the decay rate of brittleness to decrease with increasing σ3, and σ2 increases the upper limit of σ3 for brittle failure of rock. The enhancement effect of σ2 on rock brittleness must be considered when evaluating the brittle failure of deep surrounding rock under high-stress conditions; otherwise, the risk of brittle failure may be underestimated.
Adaptive reuse of vernacular built heritage: learnings from Alcino Cardoso House (1971–1991) by Álvaro Siza
Authors: Ferreira Teresa Cunha , Ordoñez-Castañon David , Fantini Eleonora , Coutinho Miguel Frias , Cruz Tiago Trindade
Published: June 2023

The Alcino Cardoso House (first phase: 1971–1973; second phase: 1988–1991), located in northern Portugal, was one of the first interventions in pre-existing buildings undertaken by the Pritzker Prize-winner architect Álvaro Siza (1933) to receive national and international acclaim. The design consisted of the conservation of vernacular farm buildings and their transformation into a holiday home and tourist accommodation. This intervention echoes the concerns of the critical revision of modern architecture in the Portuguese context (the so-called ‘third way’ as coined by Fernando Távora) marked by an innovative reinterpretation of tradition: modern principles such as spatial fluidity, curtain wall glass façade, architectural promenade are introduced while respecting the pre-existence landscape and character by integrating vernacular design principles and construction techniques. This early Álvaro Siza intervention in a rural context has become a reference case-study for the School of Porto architects and provides us with lessons on contemporary reuse of built heritage.
Fire blight cases in Almaty Region of Kazakhstan in the proximity of wild apple distribution area
Authors: Maltseva Elina R. , Zharmukhamedova Galiya A. , Jumanova Zhulduzay K. , Naizabayeva Dinara A. , Berdygulova Zhanna A. , Dmitriyeva Karina A. , Tezekbayeva Botakoz , Khassein Altyn , Skiba Yuriy A. , Malakhova Natalya P. , Ismagulova Gulnara A. , Rezzonico Fabio , Smits Theo H. M.
Published: June 2023

Fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora reached Kazakhstan in 2008. Here, the disease poses a threat not only to agricultural production of apples and pears, but also to the forests of wild Malus sieversii, the progenitor of most domesticated apple varieties worldwide. In the period 2019–2021, the spread of fire blight in the growth area of wild apples was limited by the weather conditions. In 2022, late spring and early summer were characterized by increased rainfall and moderate temperatures favorable for the disease. The goal of this study was to monitor the distribution of fire blight in private households and small orchards in the zones adjacent to wild apple distribution areas. A total of 91 samples with fire blight-compatible symptoms were collected from cultural apples (68), wild apple (10), pear (5), hawthorn (7), and quince (1) in south-eastern and eastern Kazakhstan, resulting in 21 isolates (one from pear, one from quince, and 19 from apple) of E. amylovora. All isolates belonged to the archetypal CRISPR genotype A. Considering the relative proximity of the infections to the forests of wild M. sieversii, additional measures for fire blight control and prevention will have to be implemented, including state monitoring of the wild apple forests for disease symptoms and awareness campaigns for specially protected natural territories that safeguard M. sieversii, as well as for local pomaceous-fruit growing communities.
An extended cost analysis method for complex lightweight aircraft components manufactured with selective laser melting
Authors: Dogea Ramona , Yan Xiu T. , Millar Richard
Published: June 2023

Current research has shown that the costs of manufacturing parts by the selective laser melting (SLM) process are higher than production using conventional manufacturing techniques. This paper aims to extend a cost manufacturing analysis method for metallic parts based on CAD data by including hot isostatic pressing as a heat treatment in the SLM technique. The proposed method includes all the pre- and post-processing steps linked to SLM and allows the determination of aggregated costs per part. A case study consisting of a lightweight metallic aircraft wing rib with Internet of Things capabilities whose weight is around 96% less than that shown to be necessary by other studies is presented. The results show that the main cost driver is the build cost, for which the major contributor is the machining cost, followed by the material cost. This analysis can be applied to other components within an aircraft wing box.
A System of Hamilton-Jacobi Equations Characterizing Geodesic Centroidal Tessellations
Authors: Camilli Fabio , Festa Adriano
Published: June 2023

We introduce a class of systems of Hamilton-Jacobi equations characterizing geodesic centroidal tessellations, i.e., tessellations of domains with respect to geodesic distances where generators and centroids coincide. Typical examples are given by geodesic centroidal Voronoi tessellations and geodesic centroidal power diagrams. An appropriate version of the Fast Marching method on unstructured grids allows computing the solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi system and, therefore, the associated tessellations. We propose various numerical examples to illustrate the features of the technique.
An Exploration into Human–Computer Interaction: Hand Gesture Recognition Management in a Challenging Environment
Authors: Chang Victor , Eniola Rahman Olamide , Golightly Lewis , Xu Qianwen Ariel
Published: June 2023

Scientists are developing hand gesture recognition systems to improve authentic, efficient, and effortless human–computer interactions without additional gadgets, particularly for the speech-impaired community, which relies on hand gestures as their only mode of communication. Unfortunately, the speech-impaired community has been underrepresented in the majority of human–computer interaction research, such as natural language processing and other automation fields, which makes it more difficult for them to interact with systems and people through these advanced systems. This system’s algorithm is in two phases. The first step is the Region of Interest Segmentation, based on the color space segmentation technique, with a pre-set color range that will remove pixels (hand) of the region of interest from the background (pixels not in the desired area of interest). The system’s second phase is inputting the segmented images into a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model for image categorization. For image training, we utilized the Python Keras package. The system proved the need for image segmentation in hand gesture recognition. The performance of the optimal model is 58 percent which is about 10 percent higher than the accuracy obtained without image segmentation.
Imprecise Probabilistic Model Checking for Stochastic Multi-agent Systems
Authors: Termine Alberto , Antonucci Alessandro , Primiero Giuseppe , Facchini Alessandro
Published: June 2023

Standard techniques for model checking stochastic multi-agent systems usually assume the transition probabilities describing the system dynamics to be stationary and completely specified. As a consequence, neither non-stationary systems nor systems whose stochastic behaviour is partially unknown can be treated. So far, most of the approaches proposed to overcome this limitation suffer from complexity issues making them poorly efficient in the case of large state spaces. A fruitful but poorly explored way out is offered by the formalism of imprecise probabilities and the related imprecise Markov models. The aim of this paper is to show how imprecise probabilities can be fruitfully involved to model-check multi-agent systems characterised by non-stationary behaviours. Specifically, the paper introduces a new class of multi-agent models called Imprecise Probabilistic Interpreted Systems and their relative extensions with rewards. It also introduces a proper logical language to specify properties of such models and corresponding model checking algorithms based on iterative procedures to compute probabilistic and epistemic inferences over imprecise Markov models.
What kind of innovation state matters for social justice? Learning from Poulantzas and going beyond
Authors: Papaioannou Theo
Published: June 2023

In the twenty-first century, the notion of the state and its role in innovation and development have become dominant topics of theoretical and empirical inquiry. Although contemporary innovation theorists clearly unpack the myth of market fundamentalism in industrial policy and practice of neo-liberal states, they do not seem to explain precisely how come such states have been justified to play extensive roles in the economy. This paper provides a theoretical explanation by drawing lessons from Poulantzas’ approach to the state and going beyond it to consider alternatives. Accordingly, it conceives the innovation state as a result of the social division of labour and as a condensation of conflicting social relations which have their own materiality. The paper argues that whatever form the innovation state has taken in the western world since the industrial revolution, this has remained predominantly capitalist. Thus, it reproduces the social division of labour that is exploitative and unjust, delivering most benefits of innovation to dominant classes and excluding the very poor and the marginalised. The kind of innovation state that matters for social justice is a non-capitalist one, promoting pluralism of societies of equals through innovation.
Magnetic field orientation dependence of planar tunneling spectroscopy in the superconducting state of NbSe2
Authors: Ji Yu , Dong Zehao , Wang Hao , Li Qingyang , Ye Shusen , Gao Zhiting , Hao Zhenqi , Wang Yayu
Published: June 2023

Layered superconductors exhibit strong anisotropic responses to magnetic fields in out-of-plane and in-plane orientations, due to their distinct vortex structures and upper critical field values. Here, we utilize the planar tunnel junction technique to perform continuous magnetic field-dependent dI/dV spectroscopy measurements on 2H-NbSe2 under different field orientations. We observe characteristic kink features for weak in-plane magnetic fields, but the overall behaviors are quite similar for different field orientations despite the distinct vortex generation processes and widely different upper critical field values. Especially, the generic square root dependence of the Fermi level density of state on magnetic field indicates that the Doppler shift plays a central role in the low energy excitations of 2H-NbSe2 in the presence of magnetic field.
Sustainability and 3D concrete printing: identifying a need for a more holistic approach to assessing environmental impacts
Authors: Heywood Kate , Nicholas Paul
Published: June 2023

This paper aims to identify the current status of research in 3D concrete printing (3DCP), locate the sustainability considerations relevant to these trajectories, and to identify a gap in knowledge and future research challenge regarding the sustainability of 3DCP. To categorize the broad range of research topics within 3DCP, the paper introduces an assessment framework that subdivides this field into three sub-fields: material science, computational design, and structure and performance. Common sustainability considerations are identified for each of these sub-fields. As a result of this analysis, a lack of critical assessments on claims about the sustainability and environmental impacts of 3DCP is identified.

Our survey of literature, and its analysis via this framework, finds that whilst certain sustainability aspects are highlighted, other measures and considerations are skimmed over, or omitted. It is found that whilst material optimization and the ability to create formwork-free, complex forms is noted as a main argument for the implementation of 3DCP, this claim is largely unsupported by reference or reported outcomes, and the environmental impacts are often only briefly discussed. There is a clear need for a holistic view on the sustainability issues which surround 3DCP.

This paper further highlights the lack of comprehensive assessment tools and metrics for measuring the environmental impact of 3DCP and concludes that further research must be done to develop these tools, to allow architects to integrate 3DCP into sustainability-oriented design workflows. Our paper concludes that the development of these tools will lead to a more comprehensive understanding on the environmental sustainability of 3DCP, allowing research resources to be focused within each field to ensure 3DCP continues to develop in a sustainable way.
The importance of financial literacy and its impact on financial wellbeing
Authors: Lusardi Annamaria , Messy Flore-Anne
Published: June 2023

In this editorial, we provided an overview of the papers in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Financial Literacy and Wellbeing. They cover topics that are at the center of academic research, from the effects of financial education in school and the workplace to the importance of financial literacy for the macro-economy. They also cover financial inclusion and how financial literacy can promote the use of basic financial instruments, such as bank accounts. Moreover, they cover financial decision making in the context of complex instruments, such as mortgages, reverse mortgages, and crypto assets. The papers all share similar findings: financial literacy is low and often inadequate for making the types of financial decisions that are required today. Moreover, financial literacy is particularly low among already vulnerable groups. Importantly, financial literacy matters: it helps people make savvy financial decisions, including being less influenced by framing, better understand information that is provided to them, better understand the workings of insurance, and being more comfortable using basic financial instruments. In a nutshell, financial literacy improves financial wellbeing.
Participatory action research with Inuit societies: A scoping review
Authors: Hervé Caroline , Laneuville Pascale , Lapointe Luc
Published: June 2023

Participatory methods have become essential for research with Indigenous Arctic peoples. To understand how researchers use such methods, we conducted a scoping review of participatory action research (PAR)—a classic qualitative methodology—with Inuit communities. Although other systematic reviews exist on participatory methodologies in the Arctic, our scoping review is the only one focusing only on the Inuit.

We reviewed 11 empirical studies published between 2000 and 2019 in peer-reviewed journals. Most of them had been conducted with Canadian Inuit. Although the authors came from a variety of disciplines, the studies were mostly about the health and well-being of Inuit communities. The authors did not use the same definition of PAR, but their definitions did share some key components: Inuit participation, Inuit engagement and a goal of social change. There were also a variety of methodologies of research and forms of Inuit participation, although the photovoice method was frequent.

Scoping reviews are most often used in the natural sciences. This one was a challenge because we were using it in the social sciences and because it concerned PAR, an approach with different definitions and uses. A remaining question is how to assess such a method, either by peers or by other stakeholders.
Feedback on teachers' text assessment: Does it foster assessment accuracy and motivation?
Authors: Jansen Thorben , Meyer Jennifer , Schipolowski Stefan , Möller Jens
Published: June 2023

Abstract: Teachers' assessment of students' performance on complex tasks, such as writing, is important both for their teaching and for students' learning. Teachers must be able and motivated to assess texts correctly. According to theoretical assumptions, feedback can help promote the diagnostic competencies required to assess texts correctly, but, up until now, no empirical studies have examined the effects of accuracy feedback on teachers' assessments. We conducted an experimental study comparing the effects of two feedback interventions with a practice-only control group on teachers' assessment accuracy and motivation. Student teachers ( n = 181) and experienced teachers ( n = 114) assessed 10 students' texts in all groups. The feedback in both of the feedback groups showed the teachers a comparison between their own assessments and correct assessments. We varied the feedback presentation between one single presentation after five texts and single presentations after each of the first five texts. We measured assessment accuracy and situational interest, which conceptualizes motivation, to assess the next five texts. The results showed that feedback promoted situational interest but not assessment accuracy. We discuss why teachers found feedback interesting and under what circumstances training interventions could be useful.