bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Putting ChatGPT vision (GPT-4V) to the test: risk perception in traffic images
Authors: Driessen Tom , Dodou Dimitra , Bazilinskyy Pavlo , de Winter Joost
Published: May 2024

Vision-language models are of interest in various domains, including automated driving, where computer vision techniques can accurately detect road users, but where the vehicle sometimes fails to understand context. This study examined the effectiveness of GPT-4V in predicting the level of ‘risk' in traffic images as assessed by humans. We used 210 static images taken from a moving vehicle, each previously rated by approximately 650 people. Based on psychometric construct theory and using insights from the self-consistency prompting method, we formulated three hypotheses: (i) repeating the prompt under effectively identical conditions increases validity, (ii) varying the prompt text and extracting a total score increases validity compared to using a single prompt, and (iii) in a multiple regression analysis, the incorporation of object detection features, alongside the GPT-4V-based risk rating, significantly contributes to improving the model's validity. Validity was quantified by the correlation coefficient with human risk scores, across the 210 images. The results confirmed the three hypotheses. The eventual validity coefficient wasr= 0.83, indicating that population-level human risk can be predicted using AI with a high degree of accuracy. The findings suggest that GPT-4V must be prompted in a way equivalent to how humans fill out a multi-item questionnaire.
Electroactive composite biofilms integrating Kombucha, Chlorella and synthetic proteinoid Proto–Brains
Authors: Nikolaidou Anna , Mougkogiannis Panagiotis , Adamatzky Andrew
Published: May 2024

In this study, we present electroactive biofilms made from a combination of Kombucha zoogleal mats and thermal proteinoids. These biofilms have potential applications in unconventional computing and robotic skin. Proteinoids are synthesized by thermally polymerizing amino acids, resulting in the formation of synthetic protocells that display electrical signalling similar to neurons. By incorporating proteinoids into Kombucha zoogleal cellulose mats, hydrogel biofilms can be created that have the ability to efficiently transfer charges, perform sensory transduction and undergo processing. We conducted a study on the memfractance and memristance behaviours of composite biofilms, showcasing their capacity to carry out unconventional computing operations. The porous nanostructure and electroactivity of the biofilm create a biocompatible interface that can be used to record and stimulate neuronal networks. In addition to
in vitro
neuronal interfaces, these soft electroactive biofilms show potential as components for bioinspired robotics, smart wearables, unconventional computing devices and adaptive biorobotic systems. Kombucha-proteinoids composite films are a highly customizable material that can be synthesized to suit specific needs. These films belong to a unique category of ‘living’ materials, as they have the ability to support cellular systems and improve bioelectronic functionality. This makes them an exciting prospect in various applications. Ongoing efforts are currently being directed towards enhancing the compositional tuning of conductivity, signal processing and integration within hybrid bioelectronic circuits.
Submissive behaviour is affected by group size in a social fish
Authors: Hirons-Major Chelsie , Ruberto Tommaso , Swaney William T. , Reddon Adam R.
Published: May 2024

For social groups to form and be stable over time, animals must develop strategies to cope with conflict among group members. Animals may behave submissively either by fleeing from an aggressor, or by signalling submission. The use of these two submissive responses may vary depending on the social and ecological context. Group size is a key aspect of social context for group living animals, as individuals in smaller groups may respond to aggression differently than those from larger groups. Here, we examine the relationship between group size and submissive behaviour in a cooperatively breeding fish, the daffodil cichlid (
Neolamprologus pulcher
). We found that subordinate fish showed similar levels of submission signals in response to dominant aggression in larger and smaller groups, however, subordinates from larger groups were less likely to flee from dominant aggression than those in smaller groups. Subordinates in larger groups also showed more digging behaviour which may be also used to avoid conflict with the dominant group members. Our data show that social context affects submissive behaviour in a cooperatively breeding fish.
Developmental biology of
Spiralicellula
and the Ediacaran origin of crown metazoans
Authors: Sun Weichen , Yin Zongjun , Liu Pengju , Zhu Maoyan , Donoghue Philip
Published: May 2024

The early Ediacaran Weng'an biota (Doushantuo Formation, South China) provides a rare window onto the period of Earth history in which molecular timescales have inferred the initial phase of crown-metazoan diversification. Interpretation of the embryo-like fossils that dominate the biota remains contentious because they are morphologically simple and so difficult to constrain phylogenetically.
Spiralicellula
from the Weng'an biota is distinguished by spiral internal bodies, allied through development to
Megasphaera
or
Helicoforamina
and interpreted variously as metazoan embryos, encysting protists, or chlorophycean green algae. Here we show, using X-ray microtomography, that
Spiralicellula
has a single-layered outer envelope and no more than 32 internal cells, often preserving a nucleus and yolk granules. There is no correlation between the extent of spiral development and the number of component cells; rather, the spiral developed with each palintomic stage, associated with cell disaggregation and reorientation. Evidence for envelope thinning and cell loss was observed in all developmental stages, reflecting non-deterministic shedding of gametes or amoebae. The developmental biology of
Spiralicellula
is similar to
Megasphaera
and
Helicoforamina
, which otherwise exhibit more rounds of palintomy. We reject a crown-metazoan affinity for
Spiralicellula
and all other components of the Weng'an biota, diminishing the probability of crown-metazoan diversification before the early Ediacaran.
Habitat use of Amazonian birds varies by age and foraging guild along a disturbance gradient
Authors: Luther David A. , Wolfe Jared D. , Johnson Erik , Stouffer Philip C. , Batchelor Jacquelyn , Tarwater Corey E.
Published: May 2024

Patterns of habitat use directly influence a species' fitness, yet for many species an individual's age can influence patterns of habitat use. However, in tropical rainforests, which host the greatest terrestrial species diversity, little is known about how age classes of different species use different adjacent habitats of varying quality. We use long-term mist net data from the Amazon rainforest to assess patterns of habitat use among adult, adolescent (teenage) and young understory birds in forest fragments, primary and secondary forest at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project in Brazil. Insectivore adults were most common in primary forest, adolescents were equally likely in primary and secondary forest, and all ages were the least common in forest fragments. In contrast to insectivores, frugivores and omnivores showed no differences among all three habitat types. Our results illustrate potential ideal despotic distributions among breeding populations of some guilds of understory birds where adult insectivores may competitively exclude adolescent individuals from primary forest. Secondary forest recovery appears to hold promise as a breeding habitat for frugivore and omnivore species but only as a pre-breeding habitat for insectivores, but as the forest ages, the demographic structure of bird populations should match that of primary forest.
Different versions of soft-photon theorems exemplified at leading and next-to-leading terms for pion-pion and pion-proton scattering
Authors: Lebiedowicz Piotr , Nachtmann Otto , Szczurek Antoni
Published: May 2024

We investigate the photon emission in pion-pion and pion-proton scattering in the soft-photon limit where the photon energy ω→0. The expansions of the π−π0→π−π0γ and the π±p→π±pγ amplitudes, satisfying the energy-momentum relations, to the orders ω−1 and ω0 are derived. We show that these terms can be expressed completely in terms of the on-shell amplitudes for π−π0→π−π0 and π±p→π±p, respectively, and their partial derivatives with respect to s and t. The structure term which is nonsingular for ω→0 is determined to the order ω0 from the gauge-invariance constraint using the generalized Ward identities for pions and the proton. For the reaction π−π0→π−π0γ we discuss in detail the soft-photon theorems in the versions of both Low and Weinberg. We show that these two versions are different and must not be confounded. Weinberg’s version gives the pole term of a Laurent expansion in ω of the amplitude for π−π0→π−π0γ around the phase-space point of zero radiation. Low’s version gives an approximate expression for the above amplitude at a fixed phase-space point, corresponding to nonzero radiation. Clearly, the leading and next-to-leading terms in theses two approaches must be, and are indeed, different. We show their relation. We also discuss the expansions of differential cross sections for π−π0→π−π0γ with respect to ω for ω→0.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Critical dynamics within the real-time FRG approach
Authors: Chen Yong-rui , Tan Yang-yang , Fu Wei-jie
Published: May 2024

The Schwinger-Keldysh functional renormalization group developed by Y.-y. Tan [Real-time dynamics of the O(4) scalar theory within the fRG approach, ] is employed to investigate critical dynamics related to a second-order phase transition. The effective action of model A is expanded to the order of O(∂2) in the derivative expansion for the O(N) symmetry. By solving the fixed-point equations of effective potential and wave function, we obtain static and dynamic critical exponents for different values of the spatial dimension d and the field component number N. It is found that one has z≥2 in the whole range of 2≤d≤4 for the case of N=1, while in the case of N=4, the dynamic critical exponent turns to z<2 when the dimension approach towards d=2.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Causal third-order viscous hydrodynamics within relaxation-time approximation
Authors: Panday Pushpa , Jaiswal Amaresh , Patra Binoy Krishna
Published: May 2024

In the present work, we derive a linearly stable and causal theory of relativistic third-order viscous hydrodynamics from the Boltzmann equation with relaxation-time approximation. We employ viscous correction to the distribution function obtained using a Chapman-Enskog like iterative solution of the Boltzmann equation. Our derivation highlights the necessity of incorporating a new dynamical degree of freedom, specifically an irreducible tensor of rank three, within this framework. This differs from the recent formulation of causal third-order theory from the method of moments which requires two dynamical degrees of freedom: an irreducible third-rank and a fourth-rank tensor. We verify the linear stability and causality of the proposed formulation by examining perturbations around a global equilibrium state.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
A systems thinking approach to international business education
Authors: Pilato Viviana , Voss Hinrich
Published: May 2024

Purpose

International business (IB) education typically focuses on the multinational enterprise (MNE) and how it navigates varying institutional setups for its own benefit. This reductionist and MNE-centric approach underplays the influence these firms have on the societal and environmental fabric of the geographies they are operating in. This paper aims to propose integrating systems thinking into IB education to address this shortcoming with the intention to setup IB education to engage with wicked grand challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper offers an approach for integrating complexity, criticality and diversity into IB education through teaching systems thinking capabilities.

Findings

Integrating systems thinking into IB education allows for a more realistic appreciation of IB’s contribution to addressing grand challenges. The authors propose a systems thinking perspective to IB education and offer how systems thinking capabilities could be taught in IB.

Originality/value

Grand challenges are characterised by wicked problems. Addressing them requires a multilevel, cross-disciplinary approach that takes into consideration the inter- and intradependencies of all actors within a system.
Do price consciousness, anti-socializing behavior and content add fuel to consuming online video streaming? A multigroup analysis and moderating role of gender and marital status
Authors: Baber Hasnan , Fanea-Ivanovici Mina , Pana Marius-Cristian , Manole Alina Magdalena
Published: May 2024

Purpose

Video streaming consumption has become a social and economic phenomenon in an age where the share of online entertainment has become larger and larger in the total entertainment pie. Besides the advancement of technology, the pandemic further contributed to its development. The aim of this study is to analyze the role of price consciousness, anti-socializing behavior and choice of content in shaping the video streaming consumption. Furthermore, we look at the moderating role of gender and marital status on the hypothesized relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from a sample of 533 Romanian respondents, and it was processed using Partial Least Square structural equation modeling. In addition, Necessary Condition Analysis was used to assess the necessity effect size of an independent variable for a specific outcome of a dependent variable.

Findings

We find that the main hypotheses are confirmed, and that gender as a moderating variable negatively influences the relationship between anti-socializing behavior and video streaming consumption.

Research limitations/implications

Besides the main findings pertaining to video streaming consumption determinants, psychology scholars concerned about the relationship between anti-socializing behavior and video streaming consumption as a part of the total time spent online could also benefit from the current findings.

Practical implications

The results of this study will be helpful to industry players in designing their video streaming offer after taking into consideration the influence of the discussed variables on the consumption behavior.

Social implications

While anti-socializing behavior drives consumers to a digital environment for which they control the settings, the content being streamed is a cultural product, influenced by society and its consumption immerses the viewer in the cultural mores of the time and place the content was created in or depicts; hence, anti-socializing behavior does not mean a complete break from society, but rather a different instantiation of people’s need to connect with their social environment.

Originality/value

The novelty of this research stands in the integration of anti-socializing behavior as an explanatory factor of video streaming consumption, which has not yet been used in models explaining online consumption so far.
“Nothing compares to actually listening”: experiences with sacrificial listening and place-based education
Authors: Allen Amy , Stewart Carey , Engelhardt Mason
Published: May 2024

Purpose

Recent scholarship has called for researchers to recognize the urgency of place-based education as a critical component of social studies pedagogy. This study seeks to understand better the relationship between place-based education, sacrificial listening and difficult history.

Design/methodology/approach

In this qualitative, arts-based research study, collaging is used to investigate how students use the theory of sacrificial listening while trying to make sense of difficult histories during a place-based history education experience. Students enrolled in a PBE experience received instruction about the theory of sacrificial listening at the beginning of a two-week course on the lasting impact of the civil rights movement. Students created a collage and responded to a reflection prompt about the course after engaging in course experiences, including travel to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama.

Findings

Findings in the study demonstrate how sacrificial listening appeared, both explicitly and implicitly, in the ways students processed difficult history during a place-based education experience. Ultimately, the study found, though students organized their thoughts in distinct ways, they all leaned on the theory of sacrificial listening to make sense of what they learned.

Originality/value

Few studies have applied the theory of sacrificial listening as a pedagogical framework. Future research should build on this work, further investigating the theory as a pedagogical framework in conjunction with both place-based history education as well as other instructional settings.
Trains, trade, and transformation: A spatial Rogowski theory of America's 19th‐century protectionism
Authors: Scheve Kenneth , Serlin Theo
Published: May 2024

We study the effect of expanding trade on societal coalitions through its impact on development. We combine a majoritarian political model with a spatial model of trade to argue that trade‐induced economic change—by bringing new workers to locations closer to world markets—can lead to losses rather than gains in political power for the factors of production advantaged by increased trade. We study how this phenomenon explains rising protectionism in the United States from 1880 to 1900. Using county‐level changes in transportation costs induced by railroad expansion, our estimates indicate that falling costs increased population and farm values but reduced the proportion of farmers. Reduced transportation costs caused a reduction in vote shares for the Democratic Party, which favored liberal trade policies, and an increase in an original newspaper‐based measure of protectionist sentiment. Expanding trade alters not only political interests but also the geographic distribution of those interests.
Description and evidence on the supporting and enhancing neonatal intensive care unit sensory experiences (SENSE) program
Authors: Pineda Roberta , Misikoff Maya , Ghahramani Sahar , Smith Joan , Mathur Amit
Published: May 2024

Aim

To describe the supporting and enhancing neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) sensory experiences (SENSE) program, associated research and opportunities for further study.

Methods

A review of current materials on SENSE program implementation, publications related to SENSE development, and research on program implementation and patient outcomes was conducted to describe the SENSE program and its associated research.

Results

The SENSE program combines structured, evidence‐based, multisensory interventions with parent engagement in order to optimise outcomes in the complex NICU environment. Through a stepwise and scientific process, the SENSE program was developed to include specific doses and targeted timing (based on the infant's postmenstrual age, PMA) of evidence‐based interventions such as massage, auditory exposure, rocking, holding and skin‐to‐skin care for parents to provide their infants each day of NICU hospitalisation. It is adapted in context of concurrent medical interventions, infant behavioural responses, as well as NICU culture. The program is feasible to implement, acceptable to staff, and related to infants receiving more developmentally appropriate sensory exposures. Adaptations related to NICU culture and parent involvement have been reported. Research has identified relationships of the SENSE program to improved parent confidence, neurobehaviour and feeding at term age as well as improved communication 1 year of age.

Conclusion

The literature related to the SENSE program is promising, but more research on efficacy and implementation is needed.
Loneliness is associated with more trust but worse trustworthiness expectations
Authors: Bellucci Gabriele , Park Soyoung Q.
Published: May 2024

Subjective feelings of loneliness emerge due to unsatisfactory social relationships, representing a major risk for mental and physical well‐being. Despite its social nature, evidence on how loneliness affects social behaviours and expectations is lacking. Using Bayesian analyses and economic games, we show in three different studies that lonelier individuals trusted their partners to a greater extent despite less favourable trustworthiness expectations, showing a greater discrepancy between their trusting behaviours and their expectations of others' trustworthiness. Such discrepancy was reversed in extravert individuals who also reported to be less lonely. These results provide evidence on two opposing effects of loneliness as a motivator for social connections and promoter of social withdrawal, and demonstrate the moderating role of personality traits. This work contributes to a better understanding of how loneliness impacts social behaviour and social expectations, with important downstream clinical implications for varying health conditions associated with heightened feelings of loneliness.
Unveiling the psychological mechanisms of mutual help groups for addiction recovery: The role of social identity factors
Authors: Blondé Jérôme , Falomir‐Pichastor Juan Manuel , Desrichard Olivier
Published: May 2024

The effectiveness of mutual help groups (MHGs) in promoting addiction recovery has been widely acknowledged. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying the impact of MHGs remain somewhat uncertain. Drawing on a social identity perspective, this study investigated a sequential mediation model in which social support is posited as a driving factor that enhances abstinence maintenance through group identification, recovery identity, and self‐efficacy. A sample of 820 smokers, participating in a 6‐month collective smoking cessation programme which included access to an online help group, completed measures of social support, group identification, smoker/ex‐smoker identity, and self‐efficacy at the programme's outset. Smoking abstinence was assessed 6 and 9 months later. The findings supported the proposed model, indicating that social support was positively associated with MHG identification, which, in turn, was related to a stronger recovery identity. Subsequently, recovery identity was associated with increased self‐efficacy, and indirectly, with smoking abstinence at both measurement times. Additional analyses testing alternative mediation models further supported the validity of the proposed model. These findings suggest that social identity factors play significant roles in accounting for the effectiveness of MHGs for addiction recovery.
Replication of “How much does immigration boost innovation?”
Authors: Wright Taylor J.
Published: May 2024

Identifying the causal impact of immigration on outcomes commonly involves using a “shift‐share” or Bartik instrument, exploiting country‐specific immigration inflows (shifts) and location specific prior shares for the same countries. New findings suggest that identifying variation may come not from the shifts, as previously believed, but rather from the shares. In this paper, I first replicate Hunt and Gauthier‐Loiselle (HGL) who find skilled immigration increases innovation, and second employ new tests from the shift‐share literature. I find that the results of HGL replicate and hold up well to these new tests.
Rainforest transformation reduces parasitoid wasp diversity—Can the enrichment of flowering vegetation alleviate this?
Authors: Azhar Azru , Grass Ingo , Rizali Akhmad , Pudjianto  , Buchori Damayanti
Published: May 2024

In Indonesia, the rapid expansion of oil palm and rubber plantations replaces large areas of tropical rainforest. Rainforest transformation alters the diversity and composition of parasitoid wasp communities, but appropriate management strategies to buffer their decline in rainforest transformation landscapes are not yet developed.

Here, we studied the effects of rainforest conversion to smallholder rubber and oil palm plantations on parasitoid wasp species richness, abundance and species composition. We also conducted a flowering vegetation enrichment experiment using the flowering weed Asystasia gangetica in all land‐uses to investigate potential mitigation effects on parasitoid wasp diversity and composition.

Rainforest transformation to rubber plantations caused a large decrease in species richness (46%) and abundance (59%) of parasitoid wasps. Community structure of parasitoid wasps differed between forest and monoculture habitats with more habitat‐specialised species in forest and a higher proportion of common species in the monoculture.

The experimental flowering vegetation enrichment increased parasitoid wasp species richness by 18% and abundance by 127%. Enrichment also enhanced the presence of unique parasitoid species in plantation and furthermore increased differences in community composition between rainforest and plantations. However, the enrichment experiment was confounded by time, meaning that a multi‐year experiment with targeted controls is necessary for statistically more reliable statements.

Our study shows the effect of rainforest transformation to oil palm and rubber plantations on parasitoid wasp communities. Although providing additional flowering vegetation in plantations seems to potentially mitigate diversity loss, further research is needed to confirm and to investigate the mechanisms how flowering plants alleviate negative effects of rainforest transformation on parasitoid communities. Thereby, efficient conservation strategies for parasitoids wasps and their biological control services can be developed for rapidly changing tropical landscapes.
Corporate social responsibility and bank liquidity creation during financial crises
Authors: Chen Wei‐Da , Chen Yehning
Published: May 2024

Using a sample of US banks, this paper investigates how corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance affects bank liquidity creation in financial crises. It shows that banks with better CSR performance reduce more liquidity creation in crises. This effect is stronger for banks with lower Z‐scores or higher earnings volatility. In addition, the results are driven by bank CSR performance related to community, employee relations and diversity. These results are consistent with the notion that banks with good CSR performance reduce liquidity creation to avoid financial distress, which would hurt their employees and the communities they serve.
SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE IN INCOMPLETE‐INFORMATION BARGAINING: THEORY AND WIDESPREAD EVIDENCE FROM THE FIELD
Authors: Keniston Daniel , Larsen Bradley J. , Li Shengwu , Prescott J.J. , Silveira Bernardo S. , Yu Chuan
Published: May 2024

This article documents a robust pattern from diverse sequential bargaining settings: agents favor offers that split the difference between the previous two offers. Our empirical settings include used cars, insurance claims, home sale, trade tariffs, a TV game show, eBay, and auto‐rickshaws. These even‐split offers are more likely to be accepted, less likely to spur exit by the opponent, and more likely to be followed by subsequent split‐the‐difference offers if bargaining continues. We propose several theoretical frameworks to explain this behavior, including an inference argument under which split‐the‐difference offers can be viewed as an equal split of the potential surplus.
Smartphone‐based optical sectioning (SOS) microscopy with a telecentric design for fluorescence imaging
Authors: Jiao Ziao , Pan Mingliang , Yousaf Khadija , Doveiko Daniel , Maclean Michelle , Griffin David , Chen Yu , Li David Day Uei
Published: May 2024

We propose a smartphone‐based optical sectioning (SOS) microscope based on the HiLo technique, with a single smartphone replacing a high‐cost illumination source and a camera sensor. We built our SOS with off‐the‐shelf optical, mechanical cage systems with 3D‐printed adapters to seamlessly integrate the smartphone with the SOS main body. The liquid light guide can be integrated with the adapter, guiding the smartphone's LED light to the digital mirror device (DMD) with neglectable loss. We used an electrically tuneable lens (ETL) instead of a mechanical translation stage to realise low‐cost axial scanning. The ETL was conjugated to the objective lens's back pupil plane (BPP) to construct a telecentric design by a 4f configuration to maintain the lateral magnification for different axial positions. SOS has a 571.5 µm telecentric scanning range and an 11.7 µm axial resolution. The broadband smartphone LED torch can effectively excite fluorescent polystyrene (PS) beads. We successfully used SOS for high‐contrast fluorescent PS beads imaging with different wavelengths and optical sectioning imaging of multilayer fluorescent PS beads. To our knowledge, the proposed SOS is the first smartphone‐based HiLo optical sectioning microscopy (£1965), which can save around £7035 compared with a traditional HiLo system (£9000). It is a powerful tool for biomedical research in resource‐limited areas.
Barriers and enablers to exercise in kidney transplant recipients: Systematic review of qualitative studies
Authors: Bates Alexander , Letton Meg E. , Arnold Ria , Lambert Kelly
Published: May 2024

Background

Exercise has the potential to reduce the susceptibility to comorbidity and cardiovascular disease in kidney transplant recipients. However, kidney transplant recipients report lower levels of exercise compared to the general population, prompting an investigation into the barriers and enablers to exercise in this transplant cohort.

Objectives

This systematic review aimed to explore and map the barriers and enablers to exercise in kidney transplant recipients.

Methods

Seven electronic databases were systematically searched. Themes were synthesised and then deductively categorised using the Theoretical Domains Framework.

Results

Eleven studies were included in the review. Commonly reported barriers to exercise were lack of exercise guidance (n = 9 studies), physical limitations (n = 5 studies) and a fear of harming the kidney (n = 7 studies). Enablers were a desire to return to normality (n = 5 studies), physical and mental benefits (n = 3 studies), goal setting and tracking improvements (n = 3 studies). At the local level, barriers identified by kidney transplant recipients were a lack of knowledge, fear of injuring the kidney, bad weather and physical limitations. Perceived enablers were already living an active lifestyle, mental benefits, exercise preferences and social support.

Conclusion

Key findings of this research were an increased demand for specific/explicit exercise information regarding type and intensity, and personalised guidance and support for kidney transplant recipients after transplantation. These findings can be used to inform the development of exercise resources and interventions for kidney transplant recipients and their health care professionals within the local community and at a greater level.
Pain Philosophy: Recent Debates and Future Challenges
Authors: Coninx Sabrina
Published: May 2024

In the last decades, pain has moved more and more into the foreground of philosophical discussion. Still, there exists substantial disagreement concerning the exact nature of pain. The paper provides an overview concerning central topics in recent pain philosophy, indicating remaining challenges and outlining promising directions for future research. Starting point is the assumption that broadly constructed pain episodes are composed of at least four paradigmatic components: (a) physiological disturbance, (b) phenomenal experience (sensory + affective), (c) action tendency, and (d) alteration in a broader mental network. On that basis, the paper first addresses the challenge to fathom which of these components provides the necessary and sufficient condition for an episode being a pain episode. This involves discussions on the folk concept of pain as well as the closer examination of dissociative cases in which some components are apparently absent. Second, the paper addresses the challenge to define how the relevant components relate to each other, for example, how closely the phenomenal experience of pain is bound to the presence of a particular physiological disturbance or action tendency. This debate takes place mainly in the context of strong intentionalist theories—indicative, evaluative, and imperative. Third, the paper argues for the future development of a research program that centrally resolves around the challenges that chronic pain poses. This focus may open stronger interdisciplinary connections to clinical research and practice and advance considerations on topics that have so far received insufficient attention in pain philosophy (e.g., pain‐related suffering).
Wetland restoration enhances habitat for an endangered bat, Eumops floridanus
Authors: Nicholson Laura P. , Braun de Torrez Elizabeth C. , Ober Holly K.
Published: May 2024

Restoring lost or degraded wetlands is a major challenge in contemporary conservation. Understanding how wetland restoration and changes in hydrology affect wildlife is increasingly urgent for endangered species conservation. This is especially pertinent for the endangered Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus), whose range is almost entirely contained within one of the world's most iconic wetland systems, the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. We investigated how E. floridanus may respond to future hydrological and vegetation changes associated with current and planned Everglades hydrologic restoration efforts. We conducted acoustic surveys at 194 random points stratified across a restoration gradient (no hydrologic restoration, partial hydrologic restoration, full hydrologic restoration, and reference). Using generalized linear mixed models, we determined the most important predictors explaining variation in bat activity and foraging likelihood. Positive associations between bat activity and several hydrologic variables expected to increase with restoration (hydroperiod, water depth, distance to canals, and extent of freshwater forested wetlands, ecologically intact reference areas, and zones with full hydrological restoration) suggest that foraging habitat for this species will likely benefit from hydrologic restoration both in the near term (immediate increases in hydroperiod and water depth) and in the longer term (as freshwater forested wetlands expand). Our results inform immediate management decisions for this species and suggest the benefits of restoration for wildlife adapted to historically longer hydroperiods and greater water depths, which are anticipated to increase with the gradual return of natural hydrological regimes.
Earnings and Earnings Inequality in South Africa: Evidence from Household Survey and Administrative Tax Microdata from 1993 to 2020
Authors: Kerr Andrew
Published: May 2024

In this paper I use household survey and administrative tax microdata to describe earnings inequality in South Africa over the period 1993–2020. I find that earnings inequality is very high but has been stable, or even declined by some measures, and earnings increases have been largest at the bottom of the earnings distribution. Previous findings of increasing earnings or wage inequality in South Africa from 2010 onwards come from one set of household surveys. I show that the publicly available data from these surveys include poor‐quality earnings imputations and that non‐public data without these imputations provide more sensible trends in earnings and earnings inequality. Comparisons between tax and survey data also show that earnings inequality in the tax data is generally higher than in the more comparable households survey and that earnings in the surveys is under‐captured far down the formal sector earnings distribution.
Determinants of regional business cycle synchronization in Greece
Authors: Delis Panagiotis , Degiannakis Stavros , Filis George , Palaskas Theodosios , Stoforos Chrysostomos
Published: May 2024

We assess the determinants of regional business cycle synchronization in Greece vis‐à‐vis the national reference business cycle, using NUTSII annual data. The computation of the time‐varying synchronization is based on the dynamic estimate of a conditional variance–covariance model and subsequently, a panel regression model is used to evaluate its determinants. The findings show that island regions, industrial structure, imports, savings and disposable income are the key determinants, based on the GVA business cycle synchronization vis‐à‐vis the national reference cycle. We also assess the determinants of employment synchronization (vis‐à‐vis the national employment level) and we find that regions with higher disposable income and public spending tend to drive the level of synchronization. Turning to the inter‐regional synchronization, we provide evidence that investments, disposable income and employment drive the GVA business cycle synchronization, whereas the employment synchronization is determined by the level of imports, disposable income and public spending, as well as by the status of regions as island economies. We further show that the Greek economic crisis during the period 2010–2018 has diminished or eliminated the effects of the aforementioned drivers, suggesting that during the said period, synchronization was mainly driven by the wider economic conditions. These findings lead to important policy implications, which are thoroughly discussed.
‘Money anxiety’: Understanding HE students' experiences of the cost‐of‐living crisis
Authors: Dabrowski Vicki , Atas Natalija , Ramsey Tracy , Howarth Natasha
Published: May 2024

The ongoing cost‐of‐living crisis is causing immense stress and hardship for families, individuals and communities, with increases in utility bills, food prices and transport costs. Actors from civil society, politicians and academics have demonstrated concern as to the effect this is having at local and national levels, specifically the disproportionate impact on already marginalised and vulnerable groups. One demographic particularly affected is higher education students, however, due to the lack of support measures being aimed at this cohort, they are at significant risk of becoming overlooked and forgotten. While recent survey data has acknowledged the negative experiences of this group, there is a lack of understanding of their everyday lived realities. To address this gap, this article draws on empirical research conducted with HE students in the North‐West of England between 2022 and 2023. The study explores the diverse ways in which students navigate the crisis and the impact this has on their health and well‐being. It concludes with a call for urgent action and policy response to elevate unprecedented and devastating student hardship triggered by the cost‐of‐living crisis.
Reviewer Acknowledgements for Applied Economics and Finance, Vol. 11, No. 2
Authors: Gibbs Nikki
Published: May 2024

Applied Economics and Finance (AEF) would like to acknowledge the following reviewers for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Many authors, regardless of whether AEF publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review for this issue.Reviewers for Volume 11, Number 2 Djebali Nesrine, University of Jendouba, TunisiaErdal Gumus, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, TurkeyFahri ÖZSUNGUR, Adana Science and Technology University, TurkeyIbrahim Baghdadi, Lebanese University, LebanonIgor Matyushenko, School of Foreign Economic Relations and Touristic Business, UkraineKaveh Dalvand, University of Delaware, United StatesNana Rusadze, Akaki Tsereteli State University, GeorgiaRajeev Rana, APB Govt. P.G. College, IndiaRamona Orastean, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, RomaniaShahram Fattahi, Razi University, IranShaoshu LI, Cornell University , USAZuzana Janko, San Francisco State University, USA Nikki GibbsEditorial AssistantOn behalf of,The Editorial Board of Applied Economics and FinanceRedfame Publishing9450 SW Gemini Dr. #99416Beaverton, OR 97008, USAURL: http://aef.redfame.com
Dynamic Wrinkling Instability of Elastic Films on Viscoelastic Substrates
Authors: Zhou Jun-Feng , Hu Kai-Ming , Lin Hui-Yue , Dong Zhi-Qi , Zhao Tian-Yu , Li Xiu-Xuan , Meng Guang , Zhang Wen-Ming
Published: May 2024

The dynamic instability of stiff films on compliant substrates has received sustained attention due to the potential applications in flexible functional devices. Film/substrate system-based devices are increasingly utilized under dynamic conditions, including dynamic sensors, tunable optical components, anti-fouling surfaces, etc. To better design the dynamic characteristics of devices based on film/substrate systems, it is essential to establish a comprehensive dynamic model and find out the deterministic and non-deterministic instability domains of nonlinear dynamic wrinkling under time-varying biased loads. In this paper, a multi-level coupling time-varying parameter excitation dynamic model for films bonded on Kelvin viscoelastic substrates is developed. The damping effect on the nonlinear dynamic responses of wrinkled film/substrate systems under step, slope and biased sinusoidal axial time-varying excitations is analyzed. We revealed and analyzed the nonlinear dynamic behavior of film/substrate systems, which are significantly influenced by the excitation frequency and viscous coefficients of substrates. Various response forms, such as excitation-following deterministic responses, chaotic responses, and double-period resonant responses, are observed. We analyzed the parametric excitation induced dynamic bifurcation of the time-varying energy barrier that causes the nonlinear dynamic phenomenon and provided deterministic and non-deterministic dynamic response domains. Based on the theory and results, methods for generating responses of specific types are proposed, offering theoretical guidance for designing dynamic characteristics of devices based on film/substrate systems.
Dynamic Modeling of a Sliding Ring on an Elastic Rod With Incremental Potential Formulation
Authors: Huang Weicheng , Xu Peifei , Liu Zhaowei
Published: May 2024

Mechanical interactions between rigid rings and flexible cables find broad application in both daily life (hanging clothes) and engineering system (closing a tether-net). A reduced-order method for the dynamic analysis of sliding rings on a deformable one-dimensional (1D) rod-like object is proposed. In contrast to the conventional approach of discretizing joint rings into multiple nodes and edges for contact detection and numerical simulation, a single point is used to reduce the order of the model. To ensure that the sliding ring and flexible rod do not deviate from their desired positions, a new barrier function is formulated using the incremental potential theory. Subsequently, the interaction between tangent frictional forces is obtained through a delayed dissipative approach. The proposed barrier functional and the associated frictional functional are C2 continuous, hence the nonlinear elastodynamic system can be solved variationally by an implicit time-stepping scheme. The numerical framework is initially applied to simple examples where the analytical solutions are available for validation. Then, multiple complex practical engineering examples are considered to showcase the effectiveness of the proposed method. The simplified ring-to-rod interaction model has the capacity to enhance the realism of visual effects in image animations, while simultaneously facilitating the optimization of designs for space debris removal systems.
A Thermodynamically Consistent Anisotropic Continuum Damage Mechanics Model With Damage-Dependent Equivalent Strain
Authors: Yue Jiajia , Yuan Zifeng
Published: May 2024

This paper proposes a new thermodynamically consistent anisotropic continuum damage mechanics model that the degradation of material is described by a set of damage variables. We adopt a set of novel equivalent strains which are functions of both the strain and the damage state variables as well. A viscous stabilization method is considered to improve the convergence during the material softening. The evolution of damage state variables is updated through a Newton–Raphson iterative process. The expression of the consistent tangent stiffness matrix is also derived. A smoothed exponential damage evolution shape function with rescaling regularization method is proposed to describe the material softening process and the mesh dependency phenomenon is relieved. Several sets of numerical examples including three-point-bending of a notched beam, uniaxial tension of unnotched and notched plate of composite material with multiple layups are presented to verify the anisotropic damage models.
Phrase boundaries lacking word prosody: An articulatory investigation of Seoul Korean
Authors: Jang Jiyoung , Katsika Argyro
Published: May 2024

This electromagnetic articulography study explores the kinematic profile of Intonational Phrase boundaries in Seoul Korean. Recent findings suggest that the scope of phrase-final lengthening is conditioned by word- and/or phrase-level prominence. However, evidence comes mainly from head-prominence languages, which conflate positions of word prosody with positions of phrasal prominence. Here, we examine phrase-final lengthening in Seoul Korean, an edge-prominence language with no word prosody, with respect to focus location as an index of phrase-level prominence and Accentual Phrase (AP) length as an index of word demarcation. Results show that phrase-final lengthening extends over the phrase-final syllable. The effect is greater the further away that focus occurs. It also interacts with the domains of AP and prosodic word: lengthening is greater in smaller APs, whereas shortening is observed in the initial gesture of the phrase-final word. Additional analyses of kinematic displacement and peak velocity revealed that Korean phrase-final gestures bear the kinematic profile of IP boundaries concurrently to what is typically considered prominence marking. Based on these results, a gestural coordination account is proposed, in which boundary-related events interact systematically with phrase-level prominence as well as lower prosodic levels, and how this proposal relates to the findings in head-prominence languages is discussed.
A nanonewton force sensor using a U-shape tapered microfiber interferometer
Authors: Chen Ling , Liu Bin , Markwell Christopher , Liu Juan , He Xing-Dao , Ghassemlooy Zabih , Torun Hamdi , Fu Yong-Qing , Yuan Jinhui , Liu Qiang , Farrell Gerald , Wu Qiang
Published: May 2024

Nanomechanical measurements, especially the detection of weak contact forces, play a vital role in many fields, such as material science, micromanipulation, and mechanobiology. However, it remains a challenging task to realize the measurement of ultraweak force levels as low as nanonewtons with a simple sensing configuration. In this work, an ultrasensitive all-fiber nanonewton force sensor structure based on a single-mode–tapered U-shape multimode–single-mode fiber probe is proposed and experimentally demonstrated with a limit of detection of ~5.4 nanonewtons. The use of the sensor is demonstrated by force measurement on a human hair sample to determine the spring constant of the hair. The results agree well with measurements using an atomic force microscope for the spring constant of the hair. Compared with other force sensors based on optical fiber in the literature, the proposed all-fiber force sensor provides a substantial advancement in the minimum detectable force possible, with the advantages of a simple configuration, ease of fabrication, and low cost.