bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Spectre of Maksim Gorky
Authors: Kasongo Mukile , Nasseh Georgia
Published: April 2024

The relationship between the Soviet Union and the African continent has increasingly attracted the attention of historians and literary critics alike, with Angola frequently treated as a fruitful case study. This chapter traces the socio-cultural microhistory of the transmission of the work of Maksim Gorky (1868–1936) in Angola––a transmission which underpinned, crucially, the development of a littérature engagé during the struggle for Angolan independence from the Portuguese Empire in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Gorky’s influence on the generation of Angolan writers active in the 1950s and 1960s––often regarded as the Geração Cultura, after the literary bulletin Cultura (1957–1961), which resided at the heart of the cultural movement supporting the drive for independence––has been explicitly acknowledged.

With José Luandino Vieira as a case study, this chapter seeks to determine the ways in which Maksim Gorky’s work influenced, through processes of translation, transmission, and adaptation, a critical moment in the emergence of an Angolan national literary culture. Through comparative analyses between source and target texts, and drawing on extant scholarship of translation and ideology, this chapter analyses the ‘degrees of mediation’ between Gorky’s work and its instrumentalization by the 1950s generation of Angolan authors, and Luandino Vieira specifically. The ‘degrees of mediation’ traced in this paper fall into two main categories: first, both the translation of the Russian author into Brazilian Portuguese––with particular emphasis on the novel Mother (1906)––and its transnational dissemination across the Atlantic; second, in light of the translations then available to Angolan authors, the transposition of aspects of Gorky’s oeuvre into the early writings of José Luandino Vieira.
A Handbook of the Socialist Movement
Authors: Steblin-Kamensky Nikolay
Published: April 2024

This essay examines the Soviet project of literary translation into Amharic, testing its ostensibly egalitarian appeal against the USSR’s political goals. Firstly, I use a bibliographical index to overview the history of Soviet Amharic translation, demonstrating the statist nature of the project. Secondly, through a case study of the translation of Gorky’s Mother (1906), I analyze the limits of state control over a translation project. I conclude that, despite the literalistic mode of translation strictly imposed by the Soviet publisher, translators could adjust their work to transmit a particular message to his readership. Books, as cultural goods, are not only distinct from market commodities; they resist being reduced to political functions. Despite the state’s significant investment of resources, the USSR could not determine which books would become popular and domesticated in subaltern nations, and which would be rejected.
The Reception of Dostoevsky in Early Twentieth-Century China
Authors: Hang Yu
Published: April 2024

This chapter begins with an overview of the translation of Russian literature in China and of Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881) in particular. It next examines two translators Geng Jizhi and Lu Xun, whose work respectively demonstrates the value of microhistorical methodology in translation history (Geng) and the difficulty of assimilating Dostoevsky’s philosophy into the Chinese cultural mode (Lu Xun). The early twentieth century witnessed the gradual reception of Dostoevsky in China, including the publication and introduction of his short stories in newspapers. Originally, English translations were the primary intermediary for Dostoevsky’s works in China. Not until the 1940s was the first translation directly from Russian completed by the translator Geng Jizhi. Chinese scholars and readers creatively misread some of Dostoevsky’s ideas; their adaptations of his work reflected their own social status and cultural milieu. Due to the dominant theme of ‘literature for life’ in early twentieth-century China, Chinese scholars positioned Dostoevsky as ‘a realist writer’. Hence their choices for translation and research mainly served pressing nationalist ideological principles. Partly because of Dostoevsky’s strong religious sensibility, a gap persists between his gloomy, laboured style and traditional Chinese cultural promotion of gentleness and generosity in aesthetics, thus distancing Chinese readers from his writing. Dostoevsky’s interpretation and promotion by the important Chinese writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) transformed the former’s reception in twentieth-century China. His articles ‘An Introduction to Poor Folk’ and ‘Something about Dostoevsky’ sent Chinese Dostoevsky research in a new direction.
Translation as a Cultural Event, a Journey, a Mediation, a Carnival of Creativity
Authors: Saxena Ranjana
Published: April 2024

Reflection on the issue of reception of Russian literature amongst the reading public in India reminds us that India has always been a multiconfessional, multi-ethnic and multilingual country. From Kashmir in the North to Kerala in the South, India can be characterised by a rich tradition of highly developed multiple literary cultures. Translational activity has been an essential corollary of this diversity. This essay attempts to investigate the translation and reception of Russian literature in post-colonial India. It discusses the engagement of the Indian intelligentsia with Russian literature through translation, which developed in post-independent India, riding on the high tide of nationalist fervour promoting ideas of an egalitarian society. Translations of Russian writers like Lev Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, Fedor Dostoevsky, Anton Chekhov and Maksim Gorky and others enjoyed great popularity in post-colonial India. I examine Marathi-, Malayalam-, and Hindi-language texts. These works are considered by-products of translational activity, which is also a journey, a mediation and a carnival of cultural mutualities.
The Translation of Russian Literature into Hindi
Authors: Strelkova Guzel’
Published: April 2024

This chapter examines the history of Russian literary translations into Hindi, starting with the founder of modern Hindi literature, Munshi Premchand (1880-1936), who translated Lev Tolstoy. Many Hindi writers were influenced by Russian literature, translations of which appeared in India from the Soviet publishing houses ‘Foreign Literature’, ‘Progress’, and ‘Raduga’. Some Russian classics were not only widely translated, but even re-translated. Prominent Hindi translators include the writer Bhishma Sahni (1915-2003), who translated Tolstoy’s Resurrection, and later Madan Lal Madhu (1925-2014), who spent most of his life in the USSR, during which he translated into Hindi more than a hundred works of Russian prose and poetry, many directly from Russian. This chapter will revisit their achievements and legacy.
The Visibility of the Translator
Authors: Ponomareva Anna
Published: April 2024

This essay is auto-ethnographic. It is based on the author’s personal memories of working in Moscow during the 1980s and early 1990s at the Progress and Raduga publishing houses’ Telugu division. The article aims to address the issue of a translator’s visibility, a discussion initiated by Lawrence Venuti in The Translator’s Invisibility (1995), which heralded a new era in Translation Studies by emphasizing the importance of translators in literary creation. This essay examines translation as a collaborative activity in the context of Russian-Indian relations, where a sense of team spirit and cultural enthusiasm prevailed over state censorship and ideology. It also states that the impact of translation work, commissioned by Progress and Raduga, on Telugu readers is difficult to overestimate. Today, when there is no longer any state-sponsored book production programme between post-Soviet Russia and India, contemporary Indian readers retain great interest in books from the former USSR.
Tolstoy in India
Authors: Suhail Ayesha
Published: April 2024

In the first half of the twentieth century, many Indians were agitating for their country’s freedom, resisting both British brute force and soft power, especially literature. English novels daunted Indian imaginations by setting ‘civilization’ on an unattainable pinnacle. However, Russian literature had the opposite effect. This essay will focus on how Lev Tolstoy’s writings, in translation, encouraged the Indian spirit. Tolstoy’s name was familiar to the politically conscious public due to his correspondence with Mahatma Gandhi which inspired South Africa’s first anti-apartheid movement. Tolstoy’s Russia, a vast, untamable, agrarian nation crisscrossed by railways and oppressed by its upper classes, mirrored India’s oppressed situation and galvanized its activists. Indian readers were invigorated by Tolstoy’s enduring ideas. Tolstoy’s writings made it clear that great art could stay true to one’s national and cultural experience and find a place within canons. This essay will explore the deep imprint his work left on the Indian consciousness, its pathways of circulation in translation and the implications for literary history in the early twentieth century.
Abai Kunanbaiuly and Russian Culture
Authors: Amanbayeva Sabina
Published: April 2024

The essay traces the changing status of Abai (1845-1904), the most celebrated of modern Kazakh poets, in relation to Russian language and literature. Abai translated several classic Russian poets, including Pushkin, Lermontov, and Krylov, into Kazakh. I argue here that, during the Soviet period, Abai’s role as a translator was primarily seen through the colonial lens of bringing Russian literary “enlightenment” and Soviet “progress” of the Soviet Union to what was perceived as the largely undeveloped nation of Kazakhstan. Accordingly, Abai’s considerable creativity as a translator was neglected during the Soviet period. As the power balance between Russia and Kazakhstan shifted after the Independence of Kazakhstan in 1991, Abai increasingly re-emerged as a symbol of ethnic Kazakh culture and traditional Kazakh lifestyle prior to Soviet collectivization and industrialization. My chapter describes how Abai became a figure of ethnic Kazakh pride and nationalism, in implicit opposition to Russian culture and the increasing spread of Westernization in Kazakhstan. Moreover, Abai became Kazakhstan’s official cultural “brand”, despite his problematic status as an ethnic Kazakh icon in a multicultural and largely bilingual country.
Cultural Dialogue between Russia and Mongolia
Authors: Vandan Zaya
Published: April 2024

This essay combines a historical overview with lexical analysis of the cultural dialogue between Russia and Mongolia, presenting a brief summary of Mongolian translation studies. My focus is the widely honoured Mongolian diplomat and politician, Tserenpil Gombosuren (1943- ), who made significant contributions to the field of literary translation. His translation activity offers insights into the development of literary and cultural relations between the two countries, including important phases of Mongolia’s reception of Russian and Soviet literature as well as cultural aspects and practices of literary translation in Mongolia. The stages of Dostoevsky’s reception in this country, previously unresearched, are presented here for the first time). I show the idiosyncrasies of Mongolian literary language through a comparative analysis of Dostoevsky’s novel The Idiot and Gombosuren’s 2014 translation. I treat linguistic and translational processes as based on social and cultural relations, drawing on the work of translation theorists (Venuti, Nida, and others) to define the specifics of Gombosuren’s translation strategies. Gombosuren transferred Dostoevsky’s world to a completely different linguistic and cultural system; as my study will show, these novels now play a significant role in the enrichment of Mongolian language and culture.
Pushkin’s Journey Through Turkish Translations
Authors: Gürses Sabri
Published: April 2024

The reception of Russian literature into the Turkish language has been a slow and complicated process; originally introduced alongside French literature, Russian authors came to be accepted as a model of European literature by Turkish readers. Pushkin was one of the first authors to be translated. This chapter observes his translational journey into Turkish during Soviet and Russian times.
From Russian to Uzbek (1928-53)
Authors: Quénu Benjamin
Published: April 2024

This chapter focuses on Stalin-era literary translations from Russian to Uzbek in the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan. Highlighting the different steps for the increasing supervision of the translators’ activity within the Soviet Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan, it sheds light on the material conditions of the professionalization of the translation industry, including career benefits, risks and opportunities, gender inequality, and strategies of institutional control. Within this framework, my chapter addresses the question of inequality between the languages of the Soviet Union through a both quantitative and qualitative approach, contextualising translations from Russian in a wider cultural landscape, including translations from Uzbek to Russian as well as from the languages of the Republic’s minorities. I highlight the complexity of the sometimes contradictory objectives assigned to translation activity, incorporating at the same time a policy of modernisation that gave pre-eminence to Russian culture. Using unpublished archive material as well as press articles and literary texts, my study reveals the shifting strategies of the Soviet Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan, while revealing how individuals responded to changing directives from local and central Party and state authorities. By analyzing the ever-changing criteria for accurate translation from Uzbek into Russian at key historical moments, such as the Great Terror and the Great Patriotic War, I expose the linguistic implications of translation policy.
Contemporary Russophone Literature of Ukraine in the Changing World of Russian Literature
Authors: O’Neil Catherine
Published: April 2024

This chapter examines the careers of two of Kyiv’s most prominent Russophone authors, Andrei Kurkov and Alexei Nikitin, who had very different publication experiences both at home and abroad. I focus on the reception of their prose fiction in English translation in the US; since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2023, I have updated this chapter to address some of the sweeping, ongoing changes in Russophone culture and its perception in the west. My analysis draws on my extensive personal and professional relations with literary and scholarly figures in Ukraine, including the two authors under discussion and their publishers and translators.
Operative Management and Outcome of Idiopathic Rectal Necrosis in an Octogenarian
Authors: Baljepally Vinila , McBride Mary E. , Smith Lou , Burns J. Bracken
Published: April 2024

Idiopathic acute rectal necrosis (IARN) is a rare condition due to a robust rectal blood supply. This report describes an 83-year-old man presenting with septic shock due to distal sigmoid and complete rectal necrosis with perforation. He underwent emergent exploratory laparotomy, sigmoid and proximal rectum resection, and end sigmoid colostomy creation with delayed distal rectal evaluation. Bedside proctoscopy revealed pale, viable-appearing distal rectal mucosa on postoperative day 3. The patient had a protracted, complicated hospital stay but required no further operative intervention. Subsequent colostomy reversal was done 8 months postoperatively, and the patient did well and has been discharged with normal gastrointestinal function. Our successful conservative operative management of IARN deviates from previously described management in the literature which is emergent abdominoperineal resection. This conservative surgical strategy appears to have contributed to the patient’s positive outcomes, highlighting the importance of considering a similar approach for future IARN cases.
County-Level Socio-Environmental Factors Associated With Stroke Mortality in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Salerno Pedro R. V. O. , Motairek Issam , Dong Weichuan , Nasir Khurram , Fotedar Neel , Omran Setareh S. , Ganatra Sarju , Hahad Omar , Deo Salil V. , Rajagopalan Sanjay , Al-Kindi Sadeer G.
Published: April 2024

We used machine learning methods to explore sociodemographic and environmental determinants of health (SEDH) associated with county-level stroke mortality in the USA. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of individuals aged ≥15 years who died from all stroke subtypes between 2016 and 2020. We analyzed 54 county-level SEDH possibly associated with age-adjusted stroke mortality rates/100,000 people. Classification and Regression Tree (CART) was used to identify specific county-level clusters associated with stroke mortality. Variable importance was assessed using Random Forest analysis. A total of 501,391 decedents from 2397 counties were included. CART identified 10 clusters, with 77.5% relative increase in stroke mortality rates across the spectrum (28.5 vs 50.7 per 100,000 persons). CART identified 8 SEDH to guide the classification of the county clusters. Including, annual Median Household Income ($), live births with Low Birthweight (%), current adult Smokers (%), adults reporting Severe Housing Problems (%), adequate Access to Exercise (%), adults reporting Physical Inactivity (%), adults with diagnosed Diabetes (%), and adults reporting Excessive Drinking (%). In conclusion, SEDH exposures have a complex relationship with stroke. Machine learning approaches can help deconstruct this relationship and demonstrate associations that allow improved understanding of the socio-environmental drivers of stroke and development of targeted interventions.
Effect of Femtosecond Ultraviolet and Infrared Laser Wavelength on Plasma Characteristics of Metals, Ceramics and Glass Samples Using Femtosecond Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
Authors: Zaremba Gytis , Paipulas Domas , Vaičaitis Virgilijus , Balachninaite Ona
Published: April 2024

In this work, we present studies on the effect of laser wavelengths on the laser-induced plasma characterization using a femtosecond (fs) ytterbium-doped potassium-gadolinium tungstate (Yb:KGW) laser. Plasma plumes of copper, steel, ceramics, and glass samples were induced using a multiple shot of 200 fs laser pulses with 1030 nm and 343 nm wavelengths at fixed laser fluence ([Formula: see text]) and analyzed using the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique. Time-resolved fs-LIBS measurements were performed on the same set of samples and under the same experimental conditions. For the calculation of plasma parameters, the set of spectral lines of Cu(I) (for copper sample), Fe(I) (for steel sample), and Ca(I), K(I) (for glass and ceramics samples) were observed. The plasma electron temperature and density were evaluated from the Boltzmann plots and Stark-broadening profiles of the plasma spectral lines, assuming the local thermodynamic equilibrium condition. Time-resolved plasma temperature and electron density for fs-LIBS using ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) laser wavelengths were analyzed and no significant dependence on fs laser wavelength was observed for any of the samples. However, for all samples the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) significantly increased using UV laser radiation: copper ([Formula: see text]), steel ([Formula: see text]), glass ([Formula: see text]), and ceramics ([Formula: see text]). Therefore, by using a fs UV laser wavelength for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy experiments, for certain materials the SNR and at the same time the limit of detection can be significantly enhanced.
Punishing Hate: Examining Individual Variation in Support for Hate Crime Laws
Authors: Lantz Brendan , Vanden Bosch Matthew , Wenger Marin R. , Malcom Zachary T.
Published: April 2024

While first implemented in the 1980s, hate crime legislation remains divisive in America; yet, most research examining differences in support for hate crime laws was conducted decades ago. This research addresses this gap by examining individual differences in support for hate crime laws using information from 3,503 survey respondents across the U.S. The results indicate that most respondents (66%) support hate crime laws, and that only roughly 12% of respondents actively oppose them; 22% had no opinion. Results further suggest there are significant gender differences in support; however, these differences are no longer significant after controlling for differences in individual attitudes, including prejudice and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), which are strong predictors of opinions toward hate crime laws.
There and back again: The roles of morning- and evening commute recovery experiences for daily resources across the commute-, work-, and home domain
Authors: Rivkin Wladislaw , Gerpott Fabiola H , Unger Dana
Published: April 2024

Commuting is a global phenomenon that has primarily been studied in terms of its costs. However, anecdotes and recent theorizing suggest that some employees enjoy their commutes. Is it, thus, possible that commuting can also be beneficial for employees? We integrate the Work–Home Resources model with the Conservation of Resources theory to conceptualize commuting as a source of recovery that facilitates daily resource gain spanning the commute-, work-, and home domain. Specifically, we hypothesize that morning commute recovery experiences (relaxation, mastery and detachment) trigger resource gains in the work domain, manifesting in increased subjective vitality as a manifestation of physical and cognitive energy. Higher levels of subjective vitality in the work domain, in turn, are positively related to work-to-home commute recovery experiences and associated subjective vitality in the home domain. Furthermore, we explore commute duration as a contingency factor of the relationships between commute recovery experiences and subjective vitality at work and home. A diary across ten workdays largely supports our hypothesized model. On days with higher levels of relaxation during the morning commute, employees experience daily resource gains that culminate in increased evening subjective vitality in the home domain through relaxation during the evening commute.
Time Limited Benefits of Physical and Proprioceptive Training on Physical Fitness Components in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Belaiba Malek , Laatar Rabeb , Borji Rihab , Ben Salem Amani , Sahli Sonia , Rebai Haithem
Published: April 2024

In this study, we explored the immediate and three-month follow-up effects of physical training on physical fitness in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We randomly assigned 20 children with ASD (age 8–11 years) into an experimental group (EG; n = 10) and a control group (CG; n = 10). The EG participated in an 8-week training program involving both strength and proprioceptive exercises (three 60-minute sessions/week), while the CG simply maintained their daily activities. We assessed physical fitness components for each participant at baseline, post-training, and at a 3-month follow-up. The physical training intervention significantly improved physical fitness of these children with ASD in terms of their flexibility ( p < .001; 32.46%), lower limbs strength ( p = .003; 36.98%), lower body power ( p < .001; 41.78%) and functional mobility ( p < .001; 25.56%). However, these addition training-induced gains were lost at follow-up for lower limbs strength ( p < .001), flexibility ( p < .001), and functional mobility ( p = .034)). Physical training was effective for improving physical fitness in children with ASD, but the loss of these gains at three months follow-up underscored the need for continuous physical exercise.
WET-UNet: Wavelet integrated efficient transformer networks for nasopharyngeal carcinoma tumor segmentation
Authors: Zeng Yan , Li Jun , Zhao Zhe , Liang Wei , Zeng Penghui , Shen Shaodong , Zhang Kun , Shen Chong
Published: April 2024

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a malignant tumor that occurs in the epithelium and mucosal glands of the nasopharynx, and its pathological type is mostly poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Since the nasopharynx is located deep in the head and neck, early diagnosis and timely treatment are critical to patient survival. However, nasopharyngeal carcinoma tumors are small in size and vary widely in shape, and it is also a challenge for experienced doctors to delineate tumor contours. In addition, due to the special location of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, complex treatments such as radiotherapy or surgical resection are often required, so accurate pathological diagnosis is also very important for the selection of treatment options. However, the current deep learning segmentation model faces the problems of inaccurate segmentation and unstable segmentation process, which are mainly limited by the accuracy of data sets, fuzzy boundaries, and complex lines. In order to solve these two challenges, this article proposes a hybrid model WET-UNet based on the UNet network as a powerful alternative for nasopharyngeal cancer image segmentation. On the one hand, wavelet transform is integrated into UNet to enhance the lesion boundary information by using low-frequency components to adjust the encoder at low frequencies and optimize the subsequent computational process of the Transformer to improve the accuracy and robustness of image segmentation. On the other hand, the attention mechanism retains the most valuable pixels in the image for us, captures the remote dependencies, and enables the network to learn more representative features to improve the recognition ability of the model. Comparative experiments show that our network structure outperforms other models for nasopharyngeal cancer image segmentation, and we demonstrate the effectiveness of adding two modules to help tumor segmentation. The total data set of this article is 5000, and the ratio of training and verification is 8:2. In the experiment, accuracy = 85.2% and precision = 84.9% can show that our proposed model has good performance in nasopharyngeal cancer image segmentation.
An open-source simulation platform for benchmarking geo-distributed data center schedulers
Authors: Alves Daniel , Obraczka Katia , Kabbani Abdul
Published: April 2024

To help meet the ever-increasing demand for cloud computing services and resources worldwide, while providing resilience and adequate resource utilization, cloud service providers have opted to distribute their data centers around the world. This trend has been motivating research from the data center management research and practitioner community on new job schedulers that take into account data center geographical distribution. However, testing and benchmarking new schedulers for geo-distributed data centers is complicated by the lack of a common, easily extensible experimental platform. To fill this gap, we propose GDSim, an open-source, extensible job scheduling simulation environment for geo-distributed data centers that aims at facilitating the benchmarking of existing and new geo-distributed schedulers by subjecting them to a variety of data center features and conditions We use our geo-distributed job scheduler simulation platform to reproduce experiments and results for recently proposed geo-distributed job schedulers, as well as testing those schedulers under new conditions which can reveal trends that have not been previously uncovered.
Dead time compensation of IPMSM based on neural network filter and current polarity detection
Authors: Lu Cheng-ling , Zhang Gang , Fang Jie , Du Cheng-tao
Published: April 2024

Aiming at the problem of increased current harmonics and low efficiency of permanent magnet synchronous motors for electric vehicles due to dead time effect, a dead time compensation method based on neural network filter and current polarity detection is proposed. First, the DC components and the higher harmonic components of the motor currents are obtained by virtue of what the neural network filters and the extracted harmonic currents are adjusted to the required compensation voltages by virtue of what the neural network filters. Then, the extracted DC components are used for current polarity dead time compensation control to avert the false compensation when currents approach zero. The neural network filter method extracts the required compensation voltages from the speed component and the current polarity detection compensation method obtains the required compensation voltages by discriminating the current polarity. The combination of the two methods can more precisely compensate the dead time effect of the control system to improve the control performance. Finally, the experiments of dead time compensation are conducted on the experimental platform, and the current waveform, harmonic amplitude, and voltage loss caused by different dead time compensation methods are analyzed to corroborate the validity of the proposed method. Improving the efficiency of electric drive systems by reducing voltage losses and increasing their range is of great importance for the lasting and stable operation of electric vehicles.
Idols and Icons: Franciscan Theology and Artistic Inculturation in Mexico, 1524–1699
Authors: Patrick Susangeline Y
Published: April 2024

Indigenous people in Mexico encountered and interacted with the visual images of Mary, Jesus, and the Saints via Catholic missionaries in the sixteenth century. I examine the complexity of Franciscan changing attitudes and practices toward transforming what they perceived as idols into icons in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Indigenous Christians also adapted and synthesized artistic forms and meanings. Furthermore, artists from various cultures drew sources from Indigenous Mexican, European, and Asian traditions and created a visual Christian culture.
Ag interlayer's influence on microstructure and mechanical properties of laser-welded Ta/304L joints
Authors: Zhou Yongqiang , Zhu Zhengqiang , Feng Shanshan , Mi Dakun , Zhu Yunming , Chen Yanfei , Zhao Fei , Guo Yukun
Published: April 2024

Tantalum and 304L possess unique properties for aerospace applications. Ta offers high temperature and acid/alkali resistance, while 304L is cost-effective with excellent corrosion resistance. Joining Ta and 304L optimises design, lowers costs and meets specific requirements. This study examined laser lap welding of 0.6 mm Ta and 304L with/without silver interlayer. Joint structure and properties were analysed to reveal the influence of detrimental phases, with first principles calculations for TaFe2 and TaCr2. Without Ag interlayer, the joint had 1857.19 N tensile shear force and 530 HV average weld zone hardness. Adding Ag reduced TaFe2 formation, improving tensile shear strength to 2100.30 N with 460 HV average hardness. First principles calculation confirmed TaCr2's superior phase stability over TaFe2.
Interrelatedness of Family and Parenting Risk Factors for Juvenile Delinquency: A Network Study in U.S. and Dutch Juveniles
Authors: van der Put Claudia E. , Assink Mark
Published: April 2024

Family interventions that address a diversity of family and parenting factors are often used to prevent juvenile delinquency, but are effective to only a limited extent. This study applied a network approach to risk factors for juvenile delinquency and examined the interrelatedness of specifically family and parenting risk factors in a U.S. and separate Dutch sample of juveniles and their family members. Differences in interrelatedness between these samples were examined as well. Secondary analyses were conducted on data collected in the United States with the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment (WSJCA) and on data collected in the Netherlands with a Dutch-adapted translation of the WSJCA. Network analyses were performed, separately for the U.S. ( N = 13,613) and Dutch ( N = 3,630) sample, on seven risk factors that were assessed with a three-point Likert scale ranging from each factor’s protective side to a corresponding risk side. In the U.S. sample network, “inadequate parental punishment” and “lack of parental supervision” that both refer to an authoritarian parenting style were the most “central” factors and had the strongest associations with the other risk factors. In the Dutch sample network, “the family not providing opportunities” and “inadequate parental reward” were the most “central” factors, which refer to an authoritative parenting style. The family and parenting factors identified as most central in the networks may be promising to address in family interventions, as it can be expected that both the directly addressed problems and their correlated problems will improve. The current results may inform attempts to strengthen family interventions for juvenile delinquency in the United States and the Netherlands.
Development of a clinical hand rehabilitation guideline for second to fifth metacarpal fracture rehabilitation: A Delphi method
Authors: Keller Monique M , Barnes Roline , Brandt Corlia
Published: April 2024

Introduction:

Metacarpal fractures are viewed as minor injuries, potentially leading to reduced hand function and productivity, especially in working-age people. The study aimed to develop and finalise a second to fifth metacarpal fractures clinical hand rehabilitation guideline.

Methods:

A three-round eDelphi method, employing REDCap questionnaires and informed by a previous clinical hand rehabilitation guideline, facilitated expert consensus. Experience and qualifications guided expert selection. Consensus was defined as 75% or more experts selecting four or five on a Likert scale or ‘yes’ in ‘yes/no’ questions. Open-ended responses were incorporated, following Conducting and Reporting of Delphi Studies recommendations.

Results:

Fifteen experts specialising in hand injury management, including orthopaedic surgeons, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, were invited to participate, with attrition of one expert in three rounds. In Round 1, 10 (28.5%), Round 2, 6 (18%) and Round 3, 16 (36%) guideline statements were accepted. Consensus was reached for including grasp types in rehabilitation; activities of daily living (ADLs) types under light, medium and heavy categories; time when early active mobilisation should commence and splint types after conservative management, K-wires and surgical fixation.

Conclusion:

The finalised clinical hand rehabilitation guideline based on the Occupational Therapy Intervention Process Model (OTIPM) framework may benefit occupation return.
An oral history of the rise and fall of a newspaper library: The Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province newspaper library, 1968–2012
Authors: Schachter Debbie , Millward Debbie
Published: April 2024

This is a case study chronicling the rise and fall of the newspaper library that serviced the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province daily newspapers in Canada during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This article examines a specific case of the decline of a major metropolitan newspaper company, the subsequent closure of the library that served two newsrooms, and the dissolution of its collections. A narrative inquiry approach to oral history was used to gather stories from the individuals involved in the development of the newspaper library. Reflections on the value and persistence of the collections developed by newspaper libraries are offered.
Understanding Adaptive Leadership in the Context of Nursing Homes
Authors: Wang Jing , Anderson Ruth , Perez Janelle Santos , Estabrooks Carole A. , Berta Whitney , Lanham Holly J. , Duan Yinfei , Iaconi Alba , Beeber Anna
Published: April 2024

Rapidly growing populations of older adults rely heavily on formal long-term care services such as those provided in nursing homes. Nursing home staff are confronted with complex challenges. We explored how staff ( N = 88), particularly care aides, interpreted challenges and responded to them by taking adaptive leadership roles, and engaging in technical and adaptive work in nursing homes. We conducted analysis of the ethnographic case studies. In long-term care settings, staff face complex challenges in improving resident care due to contextual barriers. These include demanding work conditions and inadequate resources. Additionally, top-down communications, despite being well-intentioned, often lead to misinterpretation and a lack of staff motivation. Nonetheless, we found that certain staff managed to overcome these contextual barriers and effectively execute change initiatives by assuming adaptive leadership roles. Formal leaders have a vital role in empowering staff, including care aides, and facilitating their adaptive leadership behaviors.
Environmental impacts of circularity strategies for social distancing plastic shields made of polymethyl methacrylate in the United States
Authors: Silva de Souza Lima Cano Nathalia , Hossain Md Uzzal , Bilec Melissa M
Published: April 2024

One application of plastics that grew during the COVID-19 pandemic is for social distancing plastic shields, or protective barriers, made from polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) such as transparent face guards. Although available for other applications, end-of-life impacts for barriers are currently lacking in the literature, and there is a need to fill in this gap to guide decisions. This study evaluated the end-of-life environmental impacts of PMMA barriers in the United States by using life cycle assessment. We evaluated five strategies including landfilling, waste-to-energy, mechanical recycling, chemical recycling and reuse. Data were sourced from literature and various life cycle inventory databases. The Tool for Reduction and Assessment of Chemicals and Other Environmental Impacts (TRACI) was used as the life cycle impact assessment method. Landfilling exhibited the highest impact in all indicators and reuse demonstrated optimal results for global warming potential. A scenario analysis was conducted to explore a combination of strategies, revealing that the most promising approach involved a mix of 40% reuse, 20% mechanical recycling and 40% chemical recycling. Circular economy recommendations are proposed for managing these sources of plastic waste in the United States.
Association Between In-hospital Mortality and the Institutional Factors of Intensive Care Units with a Focus on the Intensivist-to-bed Ratio: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Endo Hideki , Okamoto Hiroshi , Hashimoto Satoru , Miyata Hiroaki
Published: April 2024

Purpose: To elucidate the relationship between in-hospital mortality and the institutional factors of intensive care units (ICUs), with a focus on the intensivist-to-bed ratio. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a Japanese ICU database, including adult patients admitted between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. We used a multilevel logistic regression model to investigate the associations between in-hospital mortality and the following institutional factors: the intensivist-to-bed ratios on weekdays or over weekends/holidays, different work shifts, hospital-to-ICU-bed ratio, annual-ICU-admission-to-bed ratio, type of hospital, and the presence of other medical staff. Results: The study population comprised 46 503 patients admitted to 65 ICUs. The in-hospital mortality rate was 8.1%. The median numbers of ICU beds and intensivists were 12 (interquartile range [IQR] 8-14) and 4 (IQR 2-9), respectively. In-hospital mortality decreased significantly as the intensivist-to-bed ratio at 10 am on weekdays increased: the average contrast indicated a 20% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1%-38%) reduction when the ratio increased from 0 to 0.5, and a 38% (95% CI: 9%-67%) reduction when the ratio increased from 0 to 1. The other institutional factors did not present a significant effect. Conclusions: The intensivist-to-bed ratio at 10 am on weekdays had a significant effect on in-hospital mortality. Further investigation is needed to understand the processes leading to improved outcomes.
Preventing Sexual Violence Within the Continuum: Differences in Bystander Intervention Engagement Among College Students
Authors: Branscum Paul , Hackman Christine
Published: April 2024

Sexual violence is framed along a continuum that includes (but is not limited to) sexual harassment and sexual assault. While a few studies have evaluated students’ predispositions and orientations around engaging in bystander intervention (BI) to prevent sexual assault, little has been done for preventing sexual harassment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate theory-based differences in college students’ willingness to engage in BI for preventing either sexual assault or sexual harassment. Students were surveyed at two time points. At T1, intentions, attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) for BI to prevent sexual assault were evaluated, and the same variables were evaluated at T2 for sexual harassment. Independent t-tests evaluated differences between groups. Linear regression analyses were used to evaluate determinants of intentions for BI for both groups. Students’ attitudes toward BI/sexual assault were significantly higher than students’ attitudes toward BI/sexual harassment ( p = .019; d = .22). Conversely, students’ PBC toward BI/sexual harassment was significantly higher than students’ PBC for BI/sexual assault ( p ≤.001; d = .49). Attitudes ( p < .001) and PBC ( p < .001) explained 45.9% of the variance of intentions for BI/sexual assault, while perceived norms ( p < .001) and attitudes ( p < .001) explained 28.4% of the variance of intentions for BI/sexual harassment. Sexual violence, encompassing both sexual assault and sexual harassment, is a pervasive issue on college campuses. More attention should be focused on preventing sexual harassment, as it can create a downstream effect. Furthermore, specific BI practices should be investigated to understand which are more effective at preventing sexual harassment and sexual assault.
The effect of physical compatibilization and dynamic vulcanization on the properties of thermoplastic vulcanizates derived from polypropylene and natural rubber blends
Authors: Belhaoues Abderrahmane , Benmesli Samia
Published: April 2024

This interesting study investigated the effect of Maleic Anhydride-grafted-Polypropylene/Epoxidized Natural Rubber (PP-g-MA/ENR) as a compatibilizing agent (CA) on the properties of a 30/70 Polypropylene/Natural Rubber PP/NR blends. The effect of dynamic vulcanization with sulfur-donors (i.e.: Tetramethyl thiuram disulfide (TMTD) and 4,4 Dithiodimorpholine (DTDM)) which were used as vulcanizing agents was also reported. Several formulations of TPVs with different concentrations of CA (from 5 to 15 phr) were prepared by mixing in the molten state using a Haake Rheocord 90. The structural analysis of dual compatibilizer was examined by FTIR spectroscopy. The rheological behavior was examined using Haake Rheocord 90. The mechanical properties were determined by the tensile measurements. The dynamic mechanical thermal properties were investigated by DMA. A morphological examination was conducted using SEM Microscopy, respectively. FTIR analysis confirmed reactions between the MA group in PP-g-MA and the epoxy groups in ENR, resulting in ENR-grafted PP with an ester and acid-based linkage. The Haake plastograms revealed a proportional increase in the final mixing torque value with the increasing content of CA. The mechanical results exhibited higher values in terms of tensile strength and Young’s modulus for the TPVs containing CA compared to un-compatibilized ones. The compatibilized TPV blends exhibited a noteworthy increase in storage modulus and a notable decrease in loss tangent values with the CA concentration increased. Furthermore, the TPVs show two distinct-phase morphologies. That is, the TPV with CA showed the presence of smaller vulcanized rubber particles dispersed within the PP matrix, a phenomenon that becomes more pronounced with higher CA contents.
High-performance quinoxaline-containing phthalonitrile resin: Synthesis, curing kinetics, and properties
Authors: Jia Dianqiu , Zhao Han , Rong Jianxin , Chen Xinggang , Jia Zhiyi , Li Dengke , Yu Xiaoyan , Zhang Qingxin
Published: April 2024

A novel quinoxaline-based phthalonitrile monomer, namely, 4,4′-(((quinoxaline-2,3-diylbis (oxy))bis (3,1-phenylene))bis (oxy))di-phthalonitrile (QDOP), was successfully synthesized by nucleophilic substitution reaction, which exhibits a low melting point (85°C) and a wide processing window (150°C). The QDOP monomer was cured with 4-aminophenoxy phthalonitrile (APPH) as catalyst by different temperature programs, and the curing process and kinetics were discussed in detail by non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetric (DSC). The QDOP polymer mainly forms triazine, isoindoline and phthalocyanine structure, as revealed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and its properties improved with the increase of post-curing temperature and curing time. After post-curing at 380°C, the polymer exhibited high storage modulus (3731 MPa), high glass-transition temperature (>400°C), and outstanding thermal stability and thermal oxidation stability.
Machine vision-based online detection method for color characteristics of cobalt extraction solution
Authors: Zhang Haifeng , Qu Yu , Peng Hui , Yu Rujia , Huang Kuangqian , Liu Fang , Peng Tianbo , Tian Binbin
Published: April 2024

Cobalt, as a rare metal, plays an important role in strategic resources due to its physical, chemical, and mechanical properties in applications. In order to achieve automatic control of the cobalt extraction process, it is necessary to conduct online detection of the color characteristics of the cobalt extraction solution. Unfortunately, due to the lack of online automatic detection methods for the color of cobalt extraction solution, the automatic control of the extraction process has not yet been achieved. Currently, the color of cobalt extraction solution needs to be observed and judged by operators based on experience. This will result in significant detection errors and time lag. To change this situation, an online detection method for color features of cobalt extraction solution based on machine vision is proposed in this article. Firstly, we establish a real-time image acquisition environment for detecting object colors, and then use the Gaussian filters and K-means algorithm to denoise and segment the image. In order to correct color distortion in images caused by ambient light, we measure the color feature values of a set of standard color cards using the machine vision system and a standard spectrophotometer. Based on this test data, we establish chromaticity correction models for the extraction solution using back propagation (BP) network and radial basis function (RBF) network, respectively. The models can correct the color characteristic values of the extraction solution, overcome environmental interference, and thus obtain more accurate color characteristic values of the extraction solution. The established model can be used for online automatic color detection of cobalt extraction solution. The modeling results indicate that in the established color measurement environment, the RBF network model outperforms the BP network model in color feature detection accuracy.