bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Crude Oil Density Prediction Improved by Multiblock Analysis of Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry, Fourier Transform Infrared, and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Data
Authors: Gjelsvik Elise L. , Fossen Martin , Brunsvik Anders , Liland Kristian H. , Tøndel Kristin
Published: August 2023

Crude oils are among the world’s most complex organic mixtures containing a large number of unique components and many analytical techniques lack resolving power to characterize. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry offers a high mass accuracy, making a detailed analysis of crude oils possible. Infrared (IR) spectroscopic methods such as Fourier transform IR spectroscopy (FT-IR) and near-IR, can also be used for crude oil characterization. The three methods measure different properties of the samples, and different data sources can often be combined to improve the prediction accuracy of models. In this study, partial least squares regression (PLSR) models for each of the three methods (single-block PLSR) were compared to multiblock PLSR and sequential and orthogonalized PLSR (SO-PLSR), with the aim of predicting the density of crude oils. Variable importance in projection was used to identify the important variables for each method, as spectroscopic data often contain irrelevant variation. The variables were interpreted to evaluate their underlying chemistry and to check whether consistency could be found between the variables selected from the spectroscopic data for the single-block and multiblock methods. Combining the different blocks of data increased the prediction abilities of the models both before and after variable selection, and SO-PLSR using a reduced data set resulted in the best-performing prediction model.
Raman Spectroscopy to Enhance Investigative Lead Information in Automotive Clearcoats
Authors: Affadu-Danful George P. , Zhong Haoran , Dahal Kaushalya Sharma , Kalkan Kaan , Zhang Linqi , Lavine Barry K.
Published: August 2023

A new method to determine the make and model of a vehicle from an automotive paint sample recovered at the crime scene of a vehicle-related fatality such as a hit-and-run using Raman microscopy has been developed. Raman spectra were collected from 118 automotive paint samples from six General Motors (GM) vehicle assembly plants to investigate the discrimination power of Raman spectroscopy for automotive clearcoats using a genetic algorithm for pattern recognition that incorporates model inference and sample error in the variable selection process. Each vehicle assembly plant pertained to a specific vehicle model. The spectral region between 1802 and 697 cm–1 was found to be supportive of the discrimination of these six GM assembly plants. By comparison, only one of the six automotive assembly plants could be differentiated from the other five assembly plants using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), which is the most widely used analytical method for the examination of automotive paint) and the genetic algorithm for pattern recognition. The results of this study indicate that Raman spectroscopy in combination with pattern recognition methods offers distinct advantages over FT-IR for the identification and discrimination of automotive clearcoats.
Does China’s Flow of FDI and Institutional Quality Matter for Poverty? Evidence from Sub-Sahara Africa
Authors: Iddrisu Khadijah , Abor Joshua Yindenaba , Insaidoo Michael , Banyen Kannyiri T.
Published: August 2023

The study adds to the discussion on the necessity for Sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries to eradicate poverty, as outlined in SDG 1 and Africa’s Agenda 2063. This contribution was successful in achieving some key objectives. First, we examine the impact of Chinese FDI and institutional quality on the eradication of poverty in SSA. Second, we test empirically whether institutional quality can help Chinese FDI to reduce poverty in SSA. Using an annual dataset for 36 SSA countries for a 20-year period ending in 2020, our pooled OLS results showed that Chinese FDI does not reduce poverty unless there are strong institutions and good governance. Also, the results showed that strong institutions and good governance reduce poverty in SSA. As a result, we recommend that governments establish policies to develop systems and structures that encourage industrialization and attract foreign investors for SSA to reap the full benefits of Chinese FDI.
Stochastic buckling response of variable fiber spacing composite plate under thermal environment
Authors: Chandrakar Prateek , Sharma Narayan , Maiti Dipak Kumar
Published: August 2023

The effectiveness of variable fiber spacing composite (VFSC) laminates subjected to thermal loading is compared with uniformly distributed fiber composite (UDFC) laminates. The higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT) is adopted to develop a FE model for estimating critical thermal buckling load. Three types of fiber distribution patterns are considered to study the effect of the non-uniform spacing distribution of fiber on thermal buckling, and the results are compared with UDFC. Further, a surrogate model based on the radial basis function network (RBFN) is developed to examine the impact of composite properties uncertainty on the critical buckling response of UDFC and VFSC laminates under thermal loading. The RBFN model is found to be highly efficient and possesses a close match with Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). Though the VFSC laminates possess a large deviation (standard deviation) in the buckling temperature, the stochastic effect (standard deviation/mean) shows relatively minimal variation in VFSC and UDFC laminates. The effect of each composite property is investigated for different lamination sequences and boundary conditions. From the sensitivity analysis, the thermal expansion coefficient of matrix [Formula: see text] is found to be the most sensitive property for all the investigated cases. Lastly, the RBFN model is utilized to quantify reliability parameters for multiple stochasticity levels.
Multi attribute decision making through COPRAS on tensile properties of hybrid fiber metal laminate sandwich structures for aerospace and automotive industries
Authors: Awd Allah Mahmoud M , Abd El-baky Marwa A , Alshahrani Hassan , Sebaey Tamer A , Hegazy Dalia A
Published: August 2023

Fiber metal laminates (FMLs) are made by sandwiching a fiber-reinforced composite between thin layers of metal. FMLs are modern materials utilized in the manufacture of automobiles and aircraft because of their improved mechanical behavior compared to conventional metallic alloys. In the current study, different fabrics, that is, jute (J), glass (G), carbon (C), basalt (B), and aramid (A) were used as reinforcing components for composites that were sandwiched between two aluminum (Al) alloy sheets as a metal component in the proposed FMLs. The effect of hybridizing J-reinforced composite with different declared fabrics on the tensile response of the designed FMLs was experimentally investigated. The proposed FMLs were created using manual lay-up and compression casting techniques. Complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) was adapted to find the best FMLs structure that achieved the optimum tensile properties. The Al/2C/4J/2C/Al and Al/8J/Al structures were ranked first and last, respectively, based on COPRAS results.
Grocery Shopping for America: Mitigation Strategies for Threats to National Identity
Authors: Pandya Sonal , Cian Luca , Venkatesan Rajkumar
Published: August 2023

People demonstrate indirect support for a nation's identity by consuming products representing their nationality. In such context, this article focuses on how people react toward brands with national associations when the nation faces threats perpetrated by institutions. Institutions are important as they are one of the core elements defining national identity. Institutional threats to national identity can come from within the nation (internal threat) and from outside (external threat). Weekly supermarket scanner data from 2004 showed that sales of American-sounding brands declined in counties that saw higher coverage of the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal (internal threat), and sales of American-sounding brands increased in counties with more war casualties (external threat). Seven additional experiments demonstrated that (1) self-enhancement derived from national identity mediates these main effects, (2) advertisements that refocus attention on how the brand helps cope with external threats mitigate the negative effects of internal threats for American brands, and (3) such advertisements do not mitigate the negative effects of internal threats for non-American brands. Qualitative surveys (N = 218), surveys (N = 1,603), experiments (N = 3,123), and secondary data analyses (encompassing sales of over 8,000 brands across more than 1,100 U.S. stores) were used to triangulate the results.
Are the Tickets for Everyone? Heterogeneity of Economic Rewards for Associate's Degree Completion
Authors: Lee Kathleen E. , Cleary Hayley M. D.
Published: August 2023

Associate's degree completion is billed as the quickest way to upskill the workforce and a ticket to the middle class. Yet 35 million Americans leave college without a degree. Black and Hispanic students are more likely than White and Asian students to leave college. We examined whether economic benefits differ between those whose highest level of education is “some college, no degree (SCND)” compared to an associate's degree by analyzing interaction effects among race/ethnicity, sex, citizenship, and nativity. Using data from the Current Population Survey 2019 Annual Social and Economic Supplement, we employed regressions to examine heterogeneity in economic rewards. We also used propensity score matching to estimate causal treatment effects using observational data. On average, associate's workers reaped more economic rewards than SCND workers. In almost every category, the advantage of completing the associate's degree was lost when the worker held at least one socially disadvantaged identity. Economic disadvantage was multiplied for some workers who had more than one disadvantaged identity. Our findings support the economic value of completing an associate's degree and unmask the disparate labor market outcomes for workers of diverse races/ethnicities, sexes, and nationalities.
Drugs, techno and the ecstasy of queer bodies
Authors: Florêncio João
Published: August 2023

In Cruising Utopia, José Muñoz writes that ‘drugs are a surplus that pushes one off course, no longer able to contribute labor power at the proper tempo’. Their pharmacology of unproductive time also interacts in a synergistic/synaesthetic manner with the hypnotic upbeat tempos of electronic dance genres like disco, house or techno. In the club, drugs enhance sensations and draw bodies close together, all while sound penetrates the ear, turning it into an erotic orifice. Central to countercultural histories of sexual liberation, the club is a temple of queer world-making, a laboratory carrying out experiments with a queerness-yet-to-come. In this speculative autotheoretical essay, I explore the ethics and political value – as well as political ambivalence – of drug-fuelled techniques of self-invention encountered in the queer club. At once pharmacological, sexual and biopolitical, these modes of becoming-queer of bodies flooded by sound, drugs and sexual pleasure allude to the possibility of kinds of subjectivity and social relations that resonate with a narcofeminist ethics and veer away from neoliberal regimes of identity and belonging.
Ambivalent pleasures: Towards narcofeminist alterlife
Authors: Campbell Nancy D.
Published: August 2023

Visual and text-based art plays a role in constituting and sustaining international harm reduction social movements based on drug user rights. The digital arts of harm reduction examined in this article counter sociological discomfort with pleasure by performing the artisanal pleasures of craft, context, and practice. Through close examination of the Instagram hashtag #celestialheartbreak, the article centers work by artist Jamie Harary, whose queer feminist harm reduction art places women and gender-nonconforming people at the center of harm reduction in life-affirming ways. The work expands the visual repertoire for speculative narcofeminist imaginaries, moving beyond rights-based formations to consider the play of emotional intensity. This article meditates upon the movement of affective neuroscience as supplement to feminist and queer drug research, as well as harm reduction practice, in offering socially situated accounts for getting at the lived dimensions of affective lives and claims to making sense of social worlds by living well with drugs.
Refusing recovery, living a ‘wayward life’: A feminist analysis of women’s drug use
Authors: Dennis Fay , Pienaar Kiran
Published: August 2023

Drawing on cultural historian Saidiya Hartman’s (2019) book Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval, this essay reads one woman’s life with drugs and resistance to drug treatment as a feminist act of refusal, a ‘wayward life’ in Hartman’s terms. Wayward lives are those that refuse dominant forms of servitude and push open alternative ways of being. Although living in a different time and location to the young black women in Hartman’s book struggling to survive after emancipation in the United States, we see the woman (Kim) in our study in contemporary London, United Kingdom, employing similar acts of cramped resistance in a world that treats her as ‘pathological’ and ‘criminal’. We explore the ways in which Kim resists the law, the tropes of pathology that profess to know her, and the abstinence-based treatment systems that seek to change her. Importantly in following Hartman, we are not dismissing her struggles or romanticising her drug use, but rather looking to assemble a picture of her life that captures its admixture of daily trials and challenges, fleeting triumphs, pleasures and acts of resistance. Here we are making room for the kind of embodied and intimate political work that often gets left out of discussions of more formal anti-prohibitionist activism and organisation.
Acid feminism: Gender, psychonautics and the politics of consciousness
Authors: Dymock Alex
Published: August 2023

Psychedelic substances have undergone a transformation in the public consciousness over the last 15 years. However, the most influential first-person narratives of psychonauts and ‘scientist-shamans’ navigating the frontiers of consciousness have tended to entirely exclude women’s experiences and voices. Psychedelic feminism, has emerged to signify the role consciousness expansion and experimentation might play in rejuvenating feminism’s collective imagination, and undoing the historical silencing of women’s voices in psychedelic culture and research. Drawing on Mark Fisher’s work on acid communism, the feminist psychedelic humanities, narcofeminism and autobiographical life-writing by women on experimental psychedelic substance use, this article investigates the promise of acid feminism for the wider narcofeminist movement, and its implications for undoing some key precepts endemic in psychedelic culture and research.
Narcofeminism: A feminist auto-ethnography on drugs
Authors: Chang Judy
Published: August 2023

Narcofeminism began in 2019 as a rallying principle for women who use drugs to establish links between feminist organising and drug user activism. This article elaborates narcofeminism as a site of feminist resistance to patriarchal orders and modes of rationality. It presents an auto-ethnographic account and examples of drug user activism to explore drug use as a form of resistance to dominant social orders. Woven through this auto-ethnographic account is a discussion of the political imperatives of my experiences as an ‘Othered’ subject. Building on my 2020 piece featured in a flagship book on women, gender and drug policy, it pushes for a recognition of the diverse perspectives of women who use drugs and seeks to bestow more authority to voices with lived experience. It concludes with a discussion of how we might forge empathetic connections between the Feminist Self and Feminist ‘Others’ in our common embodied experiences of marginality, even if separated by context, time and space.
Pleasure, drugs, materiality and tensions in harm reduction in practice: The case of safer injection programmes
Authors: Jauffret-Roustide Marie
Published: August 2023

Drawing on ethnographies of a public health programme called ‘safer injection education’ (where people inject drugs under the supervision of harm reduction providers), this article explores how the materialities of drug use (such as paraphernalia and space) intersect with habitual behaviours and expectations. The article compares the diverse accounts of people who inject drugs with the biomedical knowledge of professionals to argue that people experience different forms of pleasure which challenge clinical understandings of addiction as driven by a desire to alleviate the pain of withdrawal symptoms. The analysis also critiques the assumption that people who use drugs are enslaved or unaware of their behaviours, showing instead that they are well aware of their patterns of psychoactive substance use and actively manage them in order to increase pleasure, and produce expertise and agency. During safer injection education sessions, people who inject drugs challenge normative assumptions and prescriptions on drug-related risks, and deploy practices and accounts that resonate with narcofeminist approaches, which produces solidarity between peers, social transformation and new forms of resistance to prohibitionist drug policy regimes and the pathologisation of drug use.
Validation of the Portuguese Version of Hoge Intrinsic Motivation Religiosity Scale and Rohrbaugh and Jessor Religiosity Scale
Authors: Leite Ângela , Nobre Bruno , Dias Paulo C.
Published: August 2023

This study aims to validate, for the Portuguese population, the bidimensional structure of the Hoge Intrinsic Motivation Religiosity Scale (HIMRS) and the four-dimensional structure of the Rohrbaugh and Jessor Religiosity Scale (RJRS); it also aims to establish an association between the two religious scales and religious identity. To this end, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with polychoric matrix (for ordinal data) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) were carried out. Besides reliability, convergent and discriminant validity were assessed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE), and AVE squared roots. The Portuguese versions of the HIMRS and RJRS presented good model fit. These instruments correlated with each other and with religious identity. Differences in religious motivation and in religious identity concerning sociodemographic variables were found: women, divorced, and older participants define themselves as being more spiritual or religious persons than men, single or married, and younger participants. Also, years of education were positively associated with religious intrinsic motivation and negatively associated with religious extrinsic motivation. This study provides two more instruments with adequate properties to assess intrinsic religious motivations, past-year frequency of religious service attendance, and personal religiosity for the Portuguese population.
The value and price of digital media commodities
Authors: Yun Jang-Ryol
Published: August 2023

Focusing on the fact that digital media commodities are easily reproduced once initially produced, this paper explains, against the backdrop of Marxist insights, just how these commodities are produced, distributed, and consumed in the current digital media environment. Working with Marx’s definition of the value of commodities as the social labor time required for their production, we can thereby define the value and price of reproduced digital media commodities as zero, but the market price of these commodities as in fact constituting the Marxist monopoly price. These determinations are then supported by a review of the ways valueless digital media goods are commodified in a monopolistic real world. The approach here, borrowing from Marx’s research methods, starts from commodity analysis to explain comprehensively the wider political and economic system of capitalism. This viewpoint of the inherent value of media products is foreign to neoclassical economics as well as to mainstream media and communication studies embracing the utility theory of value.
The Cyber Intimate Partner Violence: Prevalence, Context, and Relationship With In-Person Intimate Violence Victimization
Authors: Damra Jalal Kayed. , Abujilban Sanaa , Akour Mutasem Mohammad
Published: August 2023

This study aimed to examine the extent and characteristics of cyber intimate partner violence (IPV) and in-person IPV (IP-IPV) in a sample of 214 women aged 18–60 years in Jordan. A cross-sectional, correlational design was implemented, using the Cyber Aggression in Relationships and Revised Conflict Tactics Scales to evaluate both in-person and cyber IPV. The findings revealed that 65.4% of participants reported experiencing some form of cyber IPV, while 98.7% reported experiencing IP-IPV within the previous six months. Some demographic factors were linked to the prevalence of two cyber IPV types (cyber-stalking and cyber psychological aggression). Psychological and physical abuse were the most prevalent forms of IP-IPV. Exposure to cyber IPV was a predictor of psychological, physical, and injury types of IP-IPV. Overall, this study highlights the alarming prevalence of both IP-IPV and cyber IPV against women in Jordan and their interrelatedness
Sexuality, Migration, and LGB Policy: A Portrait of Immigrants in Same-Sex Couples in the United States
Authors: Hoffmann Nathan I. , Velasco Kristopher
Published: August 2023

Both internationally and in the United States, the policy landscape for same-sex couples is changing rapidly, and surveys report swiftly increasing numbers of immigrants in same-sex couples in the US. Yet few researchers have examined immigrants in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) couples on a large scale, especially regarding their relationship to LGB policy. Are these immigrants disadvantaged and fleeing anti-LGB contexts, or are they empowered to migrate by progressive origin-country LGB policy? Using American Community Survey data from 2008 to 2019 and original datasets indexing LGB policy changes in 122 countries and all US states, this study assesses and characterizes the scale of LGB migration to the US as well as the role of LGB policy. Compared to immigrants in different-sex couples, those in same-sex couples come from richer, more democratic countries that are less represented among immigrants in the US. They also tend to be more highly educated, work in more prestigious occupations, and have higher incomes. While previous work largely focuses on LGB immigrants from repressive contexts, fixed-effect models show that higher proportions of these immigrants come from LGB-friendly countries, and they are more likely to live in progressive US states. These findings highlight how sexuality as well as state policies seemingly unrelated to migration can shape migratory pathways.
Effectiveness of Mdantsane FM community radio in health information promotion among residents of eastern cape province, South Africa
Authors: Olaoye Adewale , Onyenankeya Kevin
Published: August 2023

Community radio's effectiveness in health information ecosystem in rural Africa has yet to be explored much in the literature. This paper seeks to understand rural residents’ perceived effectiveness of community radio in health promotion using Mdantsane FM's listeners in selected communities in Eastern Cape Province as a point of departure. We applied Qualitative and quantitative methods within the theoretical frameworks of the public sphere and Uses and Gratification theories. The findings showed that Mdantsane Community F.M. could be an effective health information source. However, the station still needed to optimise its health information promotion role. To fulfil this role, community radio stations must proactively and intentionally create and broadcast culturally nuanced health programmes consistently and sustainably.
Dynamic audio-visual correspondence in musicians and non-musicians
Authors: Guo Xiyu , Qu Jianning , Liu Mengying , Liu Chuanjun , Huang Jianping
Published: August 2023

Most previous audio-visual crossmodal correspondence studies focused on static visual or auditory stimuli. Moreover, some researchers have found that music training can effectively improve the interaction between auditory and visual channels by enhancing neural plasticity. This study focused on whether crossmodal correspondence occurs when people face dynamic visual and auditory stimuli, and whether it is affected by musical training. Participants were asked to judge different changes in pitch (rise and drop) by showing them different patterns of visual circle motion (enlarged, reduced, and unchanged). The results revealed that the audio-visual congruent combinations (the pitch rise when the circle was enlarged and the pitch drop when the circle was reduced) significantly shortened participants’ response times, whereas the audio-visual neutral combinations (the unchanged shape) had the highest accuracy. Participants with musical training were faster than participants without musical training to judge pitch changes in conditions where the association between pitch and shape size was incongruent. These findings provide empirical evidence for dynamic audio-visual crossmodal correspondence and shed light on the bright prospect of using congruent audio-visual stimuli in animation.
Identifying a music-specific virtuoso: Exploratory factor analysis of virtuosos in Korean music
Authors: Kim You Jin , Song Moo Kyoung
Published: August 2023

The characteristics of musically or culturally defined virtuosos in diverse music traditions deserve investigation with regard to their connection to music. This study was designed to identify virtuosos within the domain of Korean music (KM) through the lens of current professional performers in KM ( N  = 315). Pursuing this aim, we created 45 components structured into the dimensions involving KM virtuosos’ musicianship, music performance, and other behavioral features based on musicological and empirical studies of KM. Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), we generated a single factorial structure of 11 factors: social recognition of virtuoso, informed knowledge of KM, musicality for contemporary KM, individuality, musical communication, musicality for KM, performance proficiency for KM, musical mastery, established virtuosity in KM, collaborative music performance, and KM creation. The findings suggest that the meaningfully related variables in the factors represent sophisticated concepts of KM virtuosos at present, surpassing the historically defined meaning of virtuosos. The essence of KM, along with its accompanying social systems and phenomena for recognizing KM virtuosos, may hold the key to comprehending the attributes of virtuosos. The results are expected to enhance the discourse on the presence of virtuosos identified within a specific cultural domain.
Comparison of the blink reflex in classical and idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia
Authors: Bjerring Bettina , Maarbjerg Stine , Heinskou Tone , Bendtsen Lars , Nikolic Miki , Grillo Valentina , De Icco Roberto , Schytz Henrik Winther
Published: August 2023

Background

Previous findings indicate that the blink reflex is useful to distinguish between primary (classical/idiopathic) and secondary trigeminal neuralgia. No prior studies have investigated whether the blink reflex could identify differences in electrophysiological responses between classical and idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia. With this in mind, we investigated the blink reflex in a cohort of classical and idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia patients.

Methods

Participants were consecutively enrolled in the study. According to magnetic resonance imaging findings, the patients were subgrouped into either classical or idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia. Assessors were blinded to the subgroup and pain side, and the blink reflex was examined to assess R1 and R2 latencies, as well as the area under the curve.

Results

The study group constituted of 55 patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia: 25 patients with classical trigeminal neuralgia and 30 patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia. None of the blink reflex latencies (R1 and R2) or the area under the curve significantly differed between the two subgroups when adjusted for age and sex ( p > 0.05).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that the blink reflex cannot be used to differentiate classical and idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia patients, and that both subgroups may share common pathophysiological mechanisms. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05328661.
Association of Grit With Postoperative Knee Outcomes and Physical Function After ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent Athletes
Authors: Armento Aubrey , Keeter Carson , Gagliardi Alexia , Rossing Hannah , Giachino Claire , VandenBerg Curtis , Howell David , Albright Jay
Published: August 2023

Background:

Grit is the disposition to strive for long-term goals despite setbacks and challenges. Given the lengthy, arduous process of rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), an athlete's grit may predict postoperative outcomes across time.

Purpose/Hypothesis:

The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the relationships between baseline (preoperative) grit and postoperative knee outcomes across the year after ACLR among adolescents. We hypothesized that athletes with more grit would achieve better postoperative outcomes over time than less gritty athletes.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

Methods:

All participants completed the Short Grit Scale, the Pediatric International Knee Documentation Committee (Pedi-IKDC) Scale, the Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale, the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pediatric scale for pain interference and mobility, the Hospital for Special Surgery Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale (HSS Pedi-FABS), and the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (NeuroQoL) Lower Extremity Function Short Form at a preoperative appointment and then again at approximately 3, 6, and 12 months after ACLR. We constructed linear mixed models to assess the relationships between baseline grit, time, age, sex, and postoperative outcome measures (statistical significance of α = .05).

Results:

We included 137 participants (mean age 15.8 ± 2.74 years, 70% female) from a prospective registry of athletes undergoing ACLR by 1 surgeon at a single institution. There were no statistically significant changes in grit over time or differences in grit between age and sex. Higher baseline grit was significantly associated with greater postoperative HSS Pedi-FABS scores (β = 3.72 ± 1.46; P = .01; 95% CI, 0.85-6.59) and NeuroQoL scores across time (β = 3.37 ± 0.93; P < .001; 95% CI, 1.55-5.20). There were no significant associations between baseline grit and Pedi-IKDC, Lysholm, and PROMIS pain interference or mobility scores.

Conclusion:

Athletes with higher baseline grit reported superior postoperative physical function and activity level over the course of 1 year after ACLR compared with less gritty athletes. Grit may be a useful measure in predicting success in regaining physical function across time after ACLR in adolescent athletes.
How has Covid-19 impacted the training of Urology trainees in South Wales?
Authors: Rashid Mustafa , Steggall Martin , Brown Gareth
Published: August 2023

Objectives:

To determine whether Covid19 had a tangible effect on urology training in Wales. There has been no Welsh data available concerning how training has changed during the covid pandemic. This survey evaluated the overall impact on training, with the primary aims to identify changes in clinical and academic activities and evaluate a trainees’ wellbeing during the crisis.

Materials and methods:

Online questionnaires were sent to all Urology Trainees; n = 20 (83% response) working in the Welsh deanery in the United Kingdom, asking about changes in training particularly within operating list, out-patient clinics, diagnostic activities, educational courses, teaching sessions and examinations.

Results:

Across Wales trainees experienced a reduction in operating procedures, clinics and teaching courses. Due to a redesign of services, there was only a minimal impact on training for cancer diagnostics and Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meetings. The majority of trainees felt their index procedures and ability to complete training will be affected.

Conclusion:

Cancer work, including cancer related theatre lists, diagnostics and MDT were maintained. Trainees lacked confidence that they would reach their operative competencies and struggle to successfully complete training. Following BAPIO discussion, we suggest that training programmes readjust to focus on areas where exposure has been lacking.
Preventive Healthcare Screening Completion Among Midlife and Older Adults With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Authors: Stokes Jeffrey E. , Waldron Danielle A. , Hartford Emily G. , Sauer Jacquelin
Published: August 2023

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face several barriers to healthcare, making them less likely to receive numerous routine preventive health screenings. Preventive healthcare is a critical aspect to maintaining health and wellness, particularly for people with complex health needs. This study examines individual- and state-level factors associated with mammogram and colonoscopy screenings in mid- and later-life foradults with IDD receiving state services. Multilevel logistic regression models analyzed data from the 2012-2013 and 2018-2019 waves of the National Core Indicators In-Person Survey (NCI-IPS). Results indicated that factors such as age, living situation, transportation access, and community involvement were associated with completion of both preventive screenings. Medicaid expansion was associated with a significantly greater likelihood of completing a colonoscopy screening only among younger persons in the sample (i.e., in their 50s). These findings may have implications for completion of preventive health screenings for adults with IDD.
Occupational exposure to cosmetic talc and mesothelioma in barbers, hairdressers, and cosmetologists: A systematic review of the epidemiology
Authors: Lewis Ryan C , Smith Sierra J , Krevanko Callan F , Hall Ethan D , Miller Eric W , Beckett Evan M , Pierce Jennifer S
Published: August 2023

Inhalation exposure to cosmetic talc has generated much scientific debate regarding its potential as a risk factor for mesothelioma, a rare, but fatal cancer. Barbers, hairdressers, and cosmetologists have regularly used cosmetic talc-containing products, but the collective epidemiological evidence for mesothelioma in these occupations has yet to be described. As such, we conducted a systematic review of PubMed and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Numbered Publications list to identify original epidemiological literature reporting measures of association between these occupations and incidence of or death from mesothelioma. Literature screening was performed independently twice, the results of which were summarized and tabulated and underwent a review for their accuracy. A total of 12 studies met our inclusion criteria, including three cohort, six case–control, and three proportionate mortality/registration studies. The data from these studies were collected in 13 European and North American countries, spanning more than 50 years. We supplemented this review with queries of occupational mortality databases that are managed by the Washington State Department of Health and NIOSH for 26 U.S. states. Most findings were null and if statistically significant, nearly all showed an inverse relationship, indicative of a protective effect of these occupations on mesothelioma risk. Overall, the epidemiological evidence does not support an increased risk of mesothelioma for these occupations. This research fills an important data gap on the etiology of mesothelioma in barbers, hairdressers, and cosmetologists, and provides a benchmark for those with comparatively less exposure, such as non-occupational users of similar cosmetic talc-containing products.
Effect of plasma treatment of wood fiber on the wettability, dynamic mechanical and thermal properties of polypropylene composite panels
Authors: Poudineh Moadab Saeed , Dahmardeh Ghalehno Mohammad , Kord Behzad , Shamsian Mohammad
Published: August 2023

This work evaluates the effect of plasma treatment on the wettability, dynamic mechanical and thermal properties of compression-molded composite panels produced from wood fiber (WF) and polypropylene (PP). Initially, WF was treated with different plasma durations (60, 120, and 180 s radiation). Afterward, the contact angle, moisture uptake, storage modulus, loss modulus, damping loss, and weight loss of the specimens prepared from untreated and plasma-treated were evaluated. Results revealed that the plasma treatment facilitates the interactions between WF and PP, and increases the adhesion properties. Compared with the lowest contact angle of 74.8° for the untreated specimens, the highest contact angle was found in the treated specimens around 79.06°, 81.29°, and 82.7°, using 60 and 15 using 180 s plasma radiations. Furthermore, the water absorption of the specimens reduced as a result of plasma treatment. The plasma-treated specimens demonstrated better molecular restriction and larger dynamic modulus than the unmodified ones. The tan δ peak signifying the glass transition temperature of composites shifted to a higher temperature, in the presence of plasma treatment. It was noted that the thermal stability of the composite panels produced from plasma-treated wood was remarkably improved.
Partial replacement of d-glucose with d-allose ameliorates peritoneal injury and hyperglycaemia induced by peritoneal dialysis fluid in rats
Authors: Ozaki Taro , Fu Hai Ying , Onishi Keisuke , Yokoyama Shota , Fujita Takuro , Tobiume Atsushi , Sofue Tadashi , Akimitsu Kazuya , Minamino Tetsuo
Published: August 2023

Background:

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a crucial dialysis method for treating end-stage kidney disease. However, its use is restricted due to high glucose-induced peritoneal injury and hyperglycaemia, particularly in patients with diabetes mellitus. In this study, we investigated whether partially replacing d-glucose with the rare sugar d-allose could ameliorate peritoneal injury and hyperglycaemia induced by peritoneal dialysis fluid (PDF).

Methods:

Rat peritoneal mesothelial cells (RPMCs) were exposed to a medium containing d-glucose or d-glucose partially replaced with different concentrations of d-allose. Cell viability, oxidative stress and cytokine production were evaluated. Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were administrated saline, a PDF containing 4% d-glucose (PDF-G4.0%) or a PDF containing 3.6% d-glucose and 0.4% d-allose (PDF-G3.6%/A0.4%) once a day for 4 weeks. Peritoneal injury and PD efficiency were assessed using immuno-histological staining and peritoneal equilibration test, respectively. Blood glucose levels were measured over 120 min following a single injection of saline or PDFs to 24-h fasted SD rats.

Results:

In RPMCs, the partial replacement of d-glucose with d-allose increased cell viability and decreased oxidative stress and cytokine production compared to d-glucose alone. Despite the PDF-G3.6%/A0.4% having a lower d-glucose concentration compared to PDF-G4.0%, there were no significant changes in osmolality. When administered to SD rats, the PDF-G3.6%/A0.4% suppressed the elevation of peritoneal thickness and blood d-glucose levels induced by PDF-G4.0%, without impacting PD efficiency.

Conclusions:

Partial replacement of d-glucose with d-allose ameliorated peritoneal injury and hyperglycaemia induced by high concentration of d-glucose in PDF, indicating that d-allose could be a potential treatment option in PD.
Demographic Heterogeneity, Political Ideology, and Nonprofit Dissolution
Authors: Shon Jongmin , Lu Jiahuan
Published: August 2023

The dissolution of nonprofit organizations has been increasingly documented by scholars in recent decades. Within this body of literature, how nonprofits’ community environments affect their dissolution has not been extensively studied. This research combines a range of data sources to conduct a longitudinal analysis (2007–2015) of how two community factors influence the dissolution of nonprofit organizations across U.S. counties: demographic heterogeneity and political ideology. The study finds that counties with higher demographic heterogeneity and more liberal ideology generally experience higher levels of nonprofit dissolution, although these effects vary slightly across nonprofits’ service fields. The findings extend the literature on nonprofit dissolution and offer implications for nonprofits to promote organizational sustainability.
Experimental optimization of cutting conditions to improve surface roughness of aeronautic parts made of Fe-Ni alloys
Authors: Frih Ahmed Seifallah , Ftoutou Ezzeddine , Khalifa Ated Ben , Trigui Moez
Published: August 2023

Fe-Ni alloys present excellent heat resistance properties while preserving their rigidity, strength, toughness, and dimensional stability at high temperatures. As a result, they are widely used in manufacturing aerospace or aeronautic parts where the operating temperature is very close to their melting temperature. Supra50 (named in the Unified Numbering System UNS as K94800) is a Fe-Ni alloy currently used in space and aviation industries, which confirmed its efficiency. However, improving the surface roughness of this high-precision part is challenging to overcome in manufacturing. The main objective of this study is to carry out an experiment based on a factorial plan and aims to predict the surface roughness of Supra50 parts as a function of cutting parameters in a milling process. Results show that the best combination of cutting parameters, giving the best surface roughness, is obtained at the lowest value of feed per tooth. Results also show that cutting speed and radial depth have little effect on roughness quality.
Tribological characteristics of hard-to-hard matching materials of cylinder block/valve plate interface in electro-hydrostatic actuator pumps
Authors: Fu Jian , Lyu Dingchong , Kang Jie , Li Yuchen , Zhao Jiangao
Published: August 2023

Axial piston pumps, serving as the essential power component in electro-hydrostatic actuators (EHA), play a crucial role in achieving advanced actuation by ensuring high efficiency and reliability. The cylinder block/valve plate interface, which is the greatest contact area inside the axial piston pump, significantly affects both leakage and energy dissipation. The interface experiences significant friction loss and severe wear in aerospace applications, primarily due to the rapidly changing mixed and boundary lubrication conditions under a wide range of speed and pressure. Therefore, to improve the efficiency and reliability of electro-hydrostatic actuators, strengthening the cylinder block/valve plate interface is a key problem to overcome. Previous studies have demonstrated that the utilization of soft-to-hard matching materials enhances the friction characteristics of the interface, but it also results in relatively severe wear on the soft material. Therefore, in this study, we propose the concept of employing hard-to-hard matching materials as a strategy to mitigate wear in axial piston pumps. An optimized friction simulation test apparatus is adopted, which contains a simulated piston structure to take the piston stirring effect into consideration. Experimental results show that the implementation of hard-to-hard materials leads to a substantial improvement in the wear resistance of the interface under a wide range of rotational speed (300–6000 rpm). The wear depths of the TiAlN/TiAlN (hard-to-hard) matching material are only 28.6%~34.7% of the tin bronze/TiAlN (soft-to-hard) matching material. Besides, compared with traditional tin bronze/nitrided (soft-to-hard) matching material, the hard-to-hard matching materials improve both friction and wear performance. The hard-to-hard matching materials provide a novel approach to reinforce the cylinder block/valve plate interface, and thus to promote volumetric efficiency and extend the service life of the axial piston pump.
Effect of roller burnishing on the mechanical behavior and surface quality of Ti6Al4V alloy
Authors: Çelik Mahmut
Published: August 2023

A low-cost and effective surface treatment technique that has gained popularity recently is roller burnishing. In this procedure, the rolling element is forced against the surface with a specified amount of force, which results in small plastic deformations that reduce surface roughness without removing chips from the surfaces. The method results in a considerable decrease in surface roughness while the material's surface hardness rises. The effects of roller burnishing process parameters (burnishing pressure, number of passes, and feed rate) on Ti6Al4V tensile strength and surface roughness were investigated experimentally in this study. In the study, the burnishing procedure was carried out via a specifically created disc-shaped equipment using the Taguchi L16 experimental design approach. The study's findings showed that the roller burnishing technique improved the Ti6Al4V alloy's surface quality, microhardness and ultimate tensile strength. It was shown that roller burnishing increased the surface roughness, microhardness and ultimate tensile strength by 64%, 16,25%, and 94%, respectively.
Echocardiographic Predictors of Hospital Outcomes in Preterm Neonates with Patent Ductus Arteriosus and Clinical Suspicion of Pulmonary Hypertension
Authors: Graff Kirsten , Ross Julie R. , Morella Kristen , Chowdhury Shahryar M.
Published: August 2023

Background

Preterm neonates often have an echocardiogram performed in the first few days of life for suspicion of pulmonary hypertension and patent ductus arteriosus. The usefulness of this echocardiogram in predicting outcomes in this population are unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between initial echocardiographic assessment and hospital outcomes in preterm neonates with patent ductus arteriosus and clinical suspicion of pulmonary hypertension.

Methods

Premature neonates (<37 weeks gestational age) with patent ductus arteriosus and clinical suspicion of pulmonary hypertension born at our institution or transferred within 48 hours of life were included in this single center retrospective study. The primary outcome was in-hospital extracorporeal membrane oxygenation utilization or mortality.

Results

86 patients were included. Median age at echocardiogram was 2 days (interquartile range 1,7), gestational age was 27 weeks (interquartile range 25,32), and birth weight was 878 grams (interquartile range 650,1818). 15 patients (17%) met the primary outcome. Larger patent ductus arteriosus size ( p = .03), patent foramen ovale flow that was bidirectional or right to left ( p = .047), and right atrial volume ( p = .04) were independently associated with the primary outcome.

Conclusion

Larger patent ductus arteriosus size, bidirectional or right to left flow at the patent foramen ovale, and lower right atrial volume are independently associated with in-hospital mortality. These findings on the initial echocardiogram of a preterm neonate can be used to risk stratify these patients for elevated risk for in-hospital extracorporeal membrane oxygenation utilization or mortality.