bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sulfur Manufacturing at Hot Springs in Early Modern Chinese Borderlands
Authors: Huang Fei
Published: August 2024

This article examines sulfur manufacturing and refining methods in the early modern Chinese borderlands in the context of global trade and tribute networks. The increasing demands for high-quality sulfur, crucial for gunpowder and mineral drugs, facilitated the further development of sulfur-production and -refining techniques. Constrained by limited local sulfur deposits, sulfur production in China proper relied primarily on domestic pyrite ores or pyritic nodules in coal mines, alongside imports from the Ryukyu Islands. This article focuses on case studies of various local practices in the natural sulfuric hot springs region of China’s borderlands, particularly in Yunnan and Taiwan from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. It examines alternative methods of sulfur manufacturing that utilized geothermal resources at hot springs for various local and regional military and medical demands in global contexts.
The Salt-Making Festival at Shiogama: a Research Note
Authors: von Falkenhausen Lothar
Published: August 2024

This is a brief report on a yearly festival at a Shintō shrine in northern Japan, during which salt is produced by a traditional technique: sea water is filtered through layers of salt-saturated kelp in order to increase its salinity. The procedure, which lasts three days, is being kept alive as communal memory and for educational purposes. The successive steps are described as witnessed by the author in 2003.
The Death Penalty in Chinese Law
Authors: von Senger Harro
Published: August 2024

The starting point of this paper is an outline of the Chinese perspective on the status of the death penalty in international law. According to Article 1 of the Chinese Constitution of 4 December 1982 (revised 2018), the People’s Republic of China is led by the Chinese Communist Party and guided by Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought and the contributions of other Chinese leaders. Therefore, in the second part of the contribution the relationship between Sino-Marxist ideology and the death penalty is discussed. The third part is dedicated to the death penalty in Chinese legal history. The topic of the fourth part is the death penalty under the PRC’s law. In the fifth part, a few aspects of the death penalty considered negative by legal scholars in the PRC are discussed. Finally, it is noted that the death penalty has been abolished in certain regions of the PRC.

Not all the nuances and details concerning the death penalty in the PRC could be discussed here, with some simplification proving inevitable.
A Sinification of Western Music: the Chapters on Clefs in the Lülü zuanyao (c.1680) and the Lülü zhengyi (1713)
Authors: Theobald Ulrich
Published: August 2024

In the late seventeenth century, two treatises on Western music were written at the Qing court that conveyed the basics of the Western practice of harmony and musical notation to a Chinese audience. These were the Lülü zuanyao (Essentials of the pitch-pipes) by Tomás Pereira SJ and the far better-known Lülü zhengyi xubian (Supplement to the true principles of the pitch-pipes) by Teodorico Pedrini SJ. The former has often been mistaken for an extract from the latter. This article uses the example of the three clefs to show that the two texts describe their application in very different ways and in their own words. It will be seen that the Lülü zhengyi, which was written later, is far more adapted to the Chinese world of thought.
Silver Ores and Deposits in the Southwest of Qing China and Adjoining Borderlands
Authors: Kim Nanny
Published: August 2024

This investigation of records on silver ores and worked deposits employs linguistic analysis and mineralogical information on known sites to explore types of deposits historically exploited in Yunnan and adjoining areas.
Grace and Disgrace in the Kangxi Emperor’s Court: a Review of the Eulogium Europeorum doctorum of 1711
Authors: de Saldanha Antonio Vasconcelos
Published: August 2024

This text focuses on the eulogium of the Europeorum doctorum, a significant tribute from the Imperial Board of Mathematics to the three generations of Jesuit missionaries who served the imperial court of China. The eulogium, produced in 1711, coincided with the imperial gift to the Jesuit’s “Portuguese Church” of three calligraphic compositions of religious inspiration commemorating the inauguration of the new church of the Portuguese mission in Beijing (Nantang 南堂). This event holds great importance in the context of Jesuit history and Chinese-European relations, and the presentation we now make of the Chinese version of the original eulogium allows a comparison with the already revealed Vatican Latin version, confirming this concession as a product of the “system of honors” similar to others that came in line as exceptional expressions of courtly favor toward the Jesuits living and working in the imperial court in the Kangxi Emperor’s reign.
1. Etosha-Kunene, from “pre-colonial” to German colonial times
Authors: Sullivan Sian , Dieckmann Ute , Lendelvo Selma
Published: August 2024

We outline “pre-colonial” and German colonial structuring of “Etosha-Kunene”, leading in the early 1900s to the institution of formal game laws and game reserves as key elements of colonial spatial organisation and administration. We review the complex factors shaping histories and dynamics prior to formal annexation of the territory by Germany in 1884. We summarise key Indigenous-colonial alliances entered into in the 1800s, and their breakdown as the rinderpest epidemic of 1897 decimated indigenous livestock herds and precipitated enhanced colonial control via veterinary measures and a north-west expansion of military personnel. A critical and collaborative Indigenous “uprising” in the north-west in 1897/98––known variously as the Swartbooi or Grootberg Uprising––was met by significant military force, disrupting local settlement and use of the area stretching from south of Etosha Pan towards the Kunene River. It resulted in the large-scale deportation of inhabitants of the area, who were brought to Windhoek for mobilisation as forced labour for the consolidating colony. An intended outcome was the clearance of land for appropriation by German and Boer settler farmers, a process that also contributed to establishing a massive game reserve in Etosha-Kunene in subsequent years. Proclamation of Game Reserve No. 2 in 1907 can be seen as the beginning of a long and varied history of formal colonial nature conservation in Etosha-Kunene, whose shifting objectives, policies and practices had tremendous influence on its human and beyond-human inhabitants.
2. Spatial severance and nature conservation
Authors: Dieckmann Ute , Sullivan Sian , Lendelvo Selma
Published: August 2024

We review conservation policy and legislation and its impacts under the territory’s post World War 1 administration from Pretoria, prior to the formalisation of an Independent Namibia in 1990. We trace the history of nature conservation in Etosha-Kunene during the times of South African government. In the initial phase ‘game preservation’ was not high on the agenda of the South African administration, which focused instead on white settlement of the territory, requiring a continuous re-organisation of space. After World War 2 the potential of tourism and the role of ‘nature conservation’ for the economy was given more attention. Fortress conservation was the dominant paradigm, leading to the removal of local inhabitants from their land. Shifting boundaries of Game Reserve No. 2 characterised the 1950s up to the 1970s: part of Game Reserve No.2 became Etosha Game Park in 1958 and finally Etosha National Park in 1967, which in its current size was completely fenced in 1973. The arid area along the coast was proclaimed the Skeleton Coast National Park in 1971. Alongside these changes new allocations of land following the ideal of apartheid or ‘separate development’ were made, ‘perfecting’ spatial-functional organisation with neat boundaries between ‘Homelands’ for local inhabitants, the (white) settlement area and game/nature. Land, flora and fauna, and people of various backgrounds were treated as separable categories to be sorted and arranged according to colonial needs and visions. A new impetus towards participatory approaches to conservation began to be initiated in north-west Namibia in the 1980s, prefiguring Namibia’s post-Independence move towards community-based conservation.
15. ‘Walking through places'
Authors: Dieckmann Ute
Published: August 2024

This chapter engages with differing conceptions of the land that has become Namibia’s ‘flagship park’ and premier tourist attraction. By tourists, Etosha might be perceived either as an untamed wilderness or a large zoo; for scientists, it might represent an excellent research opportunity to test zoological hypotheses; and for farmers on the border farms, it might be a source of nuisance, its wildlife causing trouble and––at times––economic loss. For Haiǁom, Etosha represents part of their former lifeworld; an ecology of which they were an integral part. Their ancestors lived across the region alongside other Khoekhoegowab- and San-speaking peoples before the major immigrations of Bantu speakers during the last 500 years of the second millennium. In the first half of the 20th century, they were mainly living from hunting and gathering, with some families keeping a few goats or cattle, combined with occasional seasonal work and temporary employment. Drawing on a cultural mapping project, combined with oral history and archival research, this chapter explores the lifeworld of Haiǁom in Etosha and their relations to the land, to other humans and to beyond-human inhabitants, prior to their eviction in the 1950s. Anthropologist Tim Ingold’s concept of “meshwork” is drawn on as a suitable concept for capturing Haiǁom’s being-in-Etosha as being-in-relations. The picture emerging from the research is that of a dense relational web of land, kinship, humans, animals, plants and spirit beings, an integrated ecology and an almost forgotten past which should, in line with this publication’s aim, be acknowledged by and integrated into future nature conservation policies and practices.
18. Lion Rangers’ use of SMART for lion conservation in Kunene
Authors: Brassine Mathilde
Published: August 2024

SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) is a set of software and analysis tools used to enable rapid collection and transfer of patrol data, in order to assess Ranger activities in the field and monitor wildlife movements on an ongoing basis. In north-west Namibia, a small population of desert-adapted

lions continues to survive alongside livestock farmers and communities living in conservancies, often resulting in human- lion conflict in a context where livelihoods are already strained due to prolonged drought in the region, as well as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognising the urgent need to mitigate this conflict, in 2017 the MEFT drew up a strategy on a way forward in the form of the Human Lion Conflict Management Plan for North West Namibia. The formation of the Lion Rangers Programme is part of this strategy. The SMART system was first implemented into the programme in September 2021. This chapter discusses how the SMART system supports decision-making regarding lion conservation and management at a community-level.
Capitalist realism is dead. Long live utopian realism! A sociological exegesis of Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future
Authors: Monticelli Lara , Frantzen Mikkel Krause
Published: August 2024

Can utopian realism constitute an antidote to today’s ‘pervasive atmosphere of capitalist realism’, as defined by the late critical theorist Mark Fisher? Through this article, a collaboration between a sociologist and a literary scholar, we argue that the answer to this question is a resounding yes. To substantiate our thesis, we conduct a ‘sociological exegesis’ of the best-selling science fiction book The Ministry for the Future written by the prolific US author Kim Stanley Robinson. The book, set in a quasi-present future, describes a multiplicity of successful transformative strategies implemented to address the ongoing climate crisis and, as the title of the novel suggests, preserve the future of human and non-human life on planet Earth. While still a fictional recount, we claim that the novel possesses a sociological quality since it showcases a unique approach to societal change that we label ‘utopian realism’. This approach combines top-down strategies with grassroots organising, technological solutions with back-to-nature projects, and ecomodernism with eco-spiritualism. We analyse the novel through the lens of contemporary sociological debates on the transformative power of utopianism as found in many science fiction books, movies and TV series. We are especially inspired by the work of Ruth Levitas, Mathias Thaler, McKenzie Wark, Lisa Garforth and Erik Olin Wright. Our conclusion is that The Ministry for the Future represents an attempt to move beyond the dystopian pervasiveness of capitalist realism and thus constitutes a much needed, albeit far from unproblematic, contribution to envisioning just and sustainable alternative futures.
Wavelet packet measurements and neural networks applied to stator short-circuit diagnosis
Authors: Vitor Avyner LO , Scalassara Paulo R , Goedtel Alessandro , Castoldi Marcelo F , Endo Wagner , Bazan Gustavo H
Published: August 2024

Detecting stator failure is crucial for maintaining reliability in manufacturing processes. The diagnosis in the early stages is challenging, and the industrial environment imposes even more significant difficulties on this task. The voltage unbalances in the power supply are one of the most significant obstacles to correctly identifying stator faults since they cause effects similar to failures. Also, different mechanical torque levels may confuse the diagnosis. This combination of adverse conditions is often neglected in motor health monitoring studies. Therefore, this work develops a new approach for induction motor short-circuit classification. Here, the predictive power, a predictability measure based on relative entropy, is used to extract relevant features from wavelet components. Experiments show that multi-layer perceptron learned better the patterns extracted from the predictive power than root mean square, mainly for incipient faults. The results demonstrated that the predictive power is a reliable stator fault indicator, considering up to 1% of short-circuited turns and a wide range of voltage unbalances and load levels.
Integration of LSTM networks with gradient boosting machines (GBM) for assessing heating and cooling load requirements in building energy efficiency
Authors: Batra Reenu , Arora Shakti , Sharma Mayank Mohan , Rana Sonu , Raheja Kanishka , Saber Abeer , Shah Mohd Asif
Published: August 2024

Due to rising demand for energy-efficient buildings, advanced predictive models are needed to evaluate heating and cooling load requirements. This research presents a unified strategy that blends LSTM networks and GBM to improve building energy load estimates’ precision and reliability. Data on energy usage, weather conditions, occupancy trends, and building features is collected and prepared to start the process. GBM model attributes are created using sequential relationships and initial load projections using LSTM networks. Combining LSTM with GBM takes advantage of each model's strengths: LSTM's sequential data processing and GBM's complex nonlinear connection capture. Performance measures like RMSE and MAE are used to evaluate the hybrid model's validity. Compared to individual models, the integrated LSTM-GBM method improves prediction accuracy. This higher predictive capacity allows real-time energy management systems, improving building operations and reducing energy use. Implementing this integrated model in Building Management Systems (BMS) shows its practicality in achieving sustainable building energy efficiency.
Eco-social policies, capitalism and the horizon of emancipatory politics
Authors: LARUFFA FRANCESCO
Published: August 2024

Within the space of a few years, eco-social policies evolved from being endorsed by a marginal community of heterodox scholars to being established in mainstream circles. While this is a welcome development, it also raises questions among critical social policy scholars. How should an emancipatory eco-social policy look? Rather than specifying concrete policies, this article contributes to answering this question by discussing the relationship between eco-social policies and capitalism. The discourse of ‘sustainable welfare’ tends to problematise growth rather than capitalism, risking a technocratic co-optation by neoliberal elites. Recent attempts to provide empirically applicable ‘non-normative’ definitions of eco-social policies risk weakening the critical potential of sustainable welfare ideas, de-politicising global capitalism with its inherent inequalities and unsustainability. I argue that critical scholars should embrace a democratic, feminist, and anti-racist/anti-colonial eco-socialism as the normative horizon of eco-social policies; discuss challenges related to the realisation of this ideal; and propose an agenda for critical eco-social policy research.
Who owns their story: Career construction with gifted and talented students
Authors: Sensoy Briddick Hande , Chris Briddick William
Published: August 2024

Gifted and talented youth in the US have been struggling for recognition and appropriate educational opportunities for decades. Periodically, we are reminded of their unique needs. Time and again, those needs seem to be disregarded, including their need for career related planning and programming. Narratives of gifted students can be negatively impacted, as a result of action or inaction by young people themselves or of others in their lives. Three distinct problem saturated plots can emerge requiring career counselors to provide specific intervention to ensure narrative development in congruence with the hopes, dreams and desires of youth. Career construction theory, with its emphasis on authorship and agency is most suitable for increasing agency of the youth stuck in these narratives. My Career Story a group or individual intervention, rooted in career construction theory, offers assistance to both students and counselors, as students work to develop their own preferred narratives.
‘Traditional or critical’?: Reflections on information literacy in the Philippines
Authors: Santos Yhna Therese P.
Published: August 2024

Ever since the coining of the term ‘information literacy’ in 1974, various conceptions, models, frameworks, and measures have been crafted in its discourse. This article reflects on how contemporary global information literacy conceptions, initiatives, and trends influence information literacy education and practice in the Philippines and proposes a reframing of information literacy practices in order to be more responsive to the evolving information landscape.
Effects of insoles adapted in flip-flop sandals in patients with persistent plantar heel pain: A sham-controlled randomised trial
Authors: Fagundes Marina Gomes , Mendes André Augusto Martines Teixeira , Bezerra Vinícius Fernandes , Freitas Weslley Robson Marques Silva de , Scattone Silva Rodrigo , Pontes-Silva André , Barbosa Germanna de Medeiros , Cardoso de Souza Marcelo
Published: August 2024

Objective

To evaluate the use of custom-made insoles adapted to flip-flops on pain intensity, foot function, and functional walking ability in individuals with persistent plantar heel pain in the short and medium term.

Design

Randomised controlled trial.

Setting

Flip-flop sandals in patients with persistent plantar heel pain.

Main measures

Participants (n = 80) were assessed at baseline, six and 12 weeks after the intervention, and 4 weeks post-intervention.

Results

For the primary outcomes, after 6 weeks of intervention, no between-group difference was observed in the intensity of morning pain or pain with walking, mean difference = −0.4 (95% confidence intervals = −1.5 to 0.8). Similarly, after 12 weeks of intervention, no between-group difference was observed in the intensity of morning pain or pain with walking, mean difference = −0.7 (95% confidence intervals = −1.9 to 0.6). Finally, at 4 weeks after the end of the intervention, there was no between-group difference in morning pain or pain on walking, mean difference = 0.01 (95% confidence intervals = −1.4 to 1.4). All differences and confidence intervals were smaller than the minimum clinically important difference for pain (2 points). There were no differences between the groups for the secondary outcomes. In addition, the mean differences were smaller than the minimum clinically important differences for pain intensity, foot function and functional walking ability.

Conclusion

Custom-made insoles fitted to flip-flops did not differ from flip-flops with sham insoles in improving pain intensity, foot function and functional walking ability in people with persistent heel pain. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04784598). Data of registration: 2023-01-20
Evaluation of Thick-Lift Paving of Asphalt Concrete
Authors: Wilson Bryan , Saca Moises , Goehl Darlene
Published: August 2024

This research paper focuses on the feasibility of thick-lift paving with asphalt concrete. Thick-lift paving is the placement of asphalt concrete in a lift greater than the allowable maximum by an agency, often four to five times the nominal maximum aggregate size. Thick-lift paving offers potential benefits including streamlining operations and eliminating the bond interface in multi-lift layers. However, it also presents challenges such as potential for inadequate compaction and lower ride quality. Asphalt concrete design and construction specifications from 19 state Departments of Transportation were reviewed. In the field, 28 thick-paving test sections were constructed with different lift thicknesses (3 to 10 in.), two mix designs, different paving screed settings, and different rolling patterns. All pavers were equipped with tamper bar screeds. During construction, the researchers monitored asphalt cooldown time and mat density. After construction, the ride quality of each section was measured, and cores were tested for air voids content. Acceptable mat compaction was achieved in all test sections, with additional roller passes having the most significant effect on compaction. The study also found that thick one-lift layers yielded better and more uniform compaction than two-lift layers. Thicker lifts had significantly longer cool down times and potentially increased roughness. Recommendations included the possible use of tamper bar screeds and additional roller passes to improve compaction. Scenarios that are suitable for thick-lift paving were identified.
Thinking “Outside the Box” Whilst Remaining “Inside the Box”: Do Rules and Procedures Demotivate Creativity and Innovation in the Public Sector?
Authors: Houtgraaf Glenn , Ropes Emma
Published: August 2024

Public servants’ creativity is the origin of innovations, improvements and solutions to policies/services and crucial to serving public interests. Public servants, however, differ strongly in pioneering creativity—proactive generation of radical and original ideas. Using SEM on Flitspanel cross-sectional survey data from 930 Dutch public servants, this preregistered study tested hypotheses that this results from public servants being required to creatively “think outside-the-box” whilst remaining “inside-the-box” of formalized rules/procedures; a struggle that may demotivate and hamper pioneering creativity. Evidence is found for negative relations between formalization and two dimensions of pioneering creativity and positive relations between intrinsic motivation and all three dimensions of pioneering creativity, though no evidence is found for a mediation indicating that formalization hampers creativity through demotivation. Findings provide a detailed and nuanced understanding of how public servants’ creativity appears affected by formalization and motivation, how these concepts interrelate in the public sector, indicating corresponding HR strategies/tactics.
Meshing analysis of mismatch toroidal worm gearing characterized by different basic parameters of hob and worm
Authors: Chi Yifei , An Da , Zhao Yaping
Published: August 2024

Aiming at high error sensitivity and complicated worm gear manufacturing of the planar double enveloping toroidal worm drive, a new TP-H gearing which worm generates by a plane and the worm wheel generates by a straight profile hob is proposed. Firstly, a comprehensive and systematic meshing theory of this drive is established; A rigorous calculation method for the instantaneous contact point is proposed; A formula for calculating the eccentricity of the instantaneous contact ellipse based on the relative principal curvature is deduced, and it is suggested innovatively that the eccentricity can be used as the quantitative index for describing the degree of mismatch between teeth. Secondly, the selection and matching strategy of mismatched process parameters is given, and the contact behavior between tooth surfaces is simulated based on numerical examples, the results show that the novel transmission can achieve good point contact. The research will promote the in-depth development of the theory of mismatched meshing in toroidal worm drive, and explore the specific form of gearing with simple manufacturing, low error sensitivity, and considerable meshing performance.
An experimental and optimization of heat transfer between two-disk systems
Authors: Yadu Rakesh Kumar , Singh Achhaibar , Singh Dinesh Kumar
Published: August 2024

This research focuses on experimentally investigating and optimizing heat transfer between two parallel disks, a prevalent system extensively utilized in engineering devices and various machinery. Analyzing heat transfer in this configuration is of paramount interest to researchers and engineers. An experimental setup was built to explore heat transfer between two parallel disks. Local Nusselt number and average Nusselt number were calculated to analyze heat transfer characteristics. The study delved into the effects of vital parameters such as the gap ratio, Reynolds number, and heat flux on heat transfer between two parallel disks. The analysis revealed that the Nusselt number increases with an increase in the gap between two disks up to a certain level, beyond which an inverse effect is observed. Moreover, the Nusselt number demonstrates a positive correlation with the Reynolds number. An in-depth analysis of local and average Nusselt numbers indicated that heat flux initially has a positive effect, followed by an adverse effect after reaching a certain level. To ascertain the optimum solution, three different techniques were employed: Response Surface Method (RSM), Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CS), and Genetic Algorithm (GA). The predicted optimum values for the gap ratio, Reynolds number, and heat flux using GA, CS, and RSM were as follows: gap ratio (17.36, 17.36, and 17.36), Reynolds number (100, 100, and 98.2), and heat flux (689.36, 694.5, and 682.449), respectively. Correspondingly, the resulting average Nusselt numbers were projected to be 48.59, 48.36, and 48.5271. To validate the obtained results, experiments were conducted and compared with the predicted values. The comparison among these techniques indicated that all results fell within an acceptable margin of error. Specifically, RSM exhibited an error of 1.917%, CS showed an error of 0.962%, and GA displayed an error of 0.8931%.
Microstructure quantification and phased array ultrasonic inspection of GH3535 alloy weld
Authors: Xiaodan Yuan , Kun Yu , Zhijun Li , Jinlong Wang , Yuan Zhang
Published: August 2024

The critical problem in accurately characterising the defects in nickel-based alloy weld is the skewing of the ultrasonic beam due to the heterogeneity. This article aims to address this problem by utilising microstructure analysis and mode techniques to account for the skewing of the ultrasonic beam and the formation of root signals in the weld. The macroscopic and microscopic metallography of the weld is quantitatively described, focusing on the GH3535 alloy weld. The mean grain size of the base metal and the weld are 60 and 400 μm, respectively. The local crystal orientation map of the weld is obtained using the electron backscatter diffraction technique, revealing a preferred orientation of the grains in the <100> direction. The propagation of the ultrasonic beam in GH3535 alloy weld was visualised by CIVA software. The beam's degree of skewing and splitting is related to the grain's angle of orientation difference. Phased array ultrasonic tests were conducted using a 64 L linear array probe with a centre frequency of 2.25 MHz to inspect the weld and side-drilled holes with a diameter of 3 mm. The echo signals from side-drilled holes in different depths were analysed in both the simulation and tests. The quantitative deviation of depth at the centre and lower end of the weld is 2.6% and 6%. The signal–noise ratio of the side-drilled holes in the weld in the test is 12.5–15.8 dB. The root signals were observed in the weld but not in the base metal. The forming mechanism of the root signal was elucidated by analysing the vertical orientation of the grains.
On electrochemical machining with an interelectrode slit for a partially insulating cathode
Authors: Singh Gurwinder , Singh Rupinder , Rao P Sudhakar
Published: August 2024

Electrochemical machining is an established non-conventional machining process in which material removal during electrolysis relies on the quantity of electricity passed through the electrolyte. The amount of electricity passed further depends on several factors, such as electrochemical reactivity/dissolution, penetration rate, tool properties (profile, surface area, and material), electrical conductivity, chemical composition, temperature sensitivity, crystal structure, and initial surface roughness (Ra) of workpiece material, voltage, feed rate, electrolyte selection/concentration, etc. As per reported studies, a thermoplastic inter-electrode slit of rectangular/square profile between the tool and workpiece in modified electrochemical machining helps to generate the cavity with a better aspect (h/d) ratio without changing the tool profile. However, little has been reported on the effect of variation in interelectrode slit thickness on material removal rate/penetration rate. In this study, the results of experimental investigations for material removal rate/penetration rate with modified electrochemical machining using a square inter-electrode slit of variable thickness between the cathode (circular tool) and anode (workpiece) with 03 different materials (Al, Cu, and Ti) have been presented. Taguchi L18, orthogonal array-based design of experiments, has been used in parametric optimization of the modified electrochemical machining process. Overall, the best settings for material removal rate in modified electrochemical machining are electrolyte concentration 150 g/L, voltage 21 V, tool material Cu, workpiece Al, interelectrode slit thickness 1.5 mm, and tool feed rate 132 µm/min. The outcomes have been braced by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and Ra analysis.
Impact of AI adoption on ESG performance: Evidence from Chinese firms
Authors: Li Shuangyan , Younas Muhammad Waleed , Maqsood Umer Sahil , Zahid RM Ammar
Published: August 2024

In the midst of the ongoing digital revolution, firms are increasingly embracing the artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize their operations. This study aims to explore the role of AI adoption in firm environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. By analyzing 23,094 firm-year observations of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2009 to 2021, the primary findings reveal that AI significantly improves firm ESG performance. This highlights the importance of technological advancements in driving environmental efficiency and promoting sustainable practices. Furthermore, the impact is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, compared to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and in central SOEs than local SOEs. Additionally, the mechanism analysis indicates that AI helps firms alleviate financing constraints, enhance internal control, and improve overall firm performance, leading to enhanced ESG performance over time. Moreover, the impact is more pronounced in regions with high fintech activity, strict environmental regulations, and high bank concentration. These findings highlight the substantial role of China's government in advancing the digital economy and broader ESG initiatives. The results remain robust and valid across different statistical methods, including PSM, sys-GMM, and 2SLS.
Factors influencing university teachers’ research productivity in North American universities
Authors: Song Yanhui , Liu Xuan , Wei Kaiyang
Published: August 2024

Research productivity serves as a manifestation of faculty’s research achievements and reflects their research capabilities. This study focuses on the research productivity of library and information science faculty in selected North American universities. The primary objective is to explore the factors influencing research productivity, including academic degree, professional cadre, and educational background. Furthermore, this study proposes targeted suggestions to enhance faculty’s research productivity and optimize the research environment. The findings indicate significant variations in scientific research productivity among library and information science teachers in North America. Academic degree exerts a significant positive influence on research productivity, while professional cadre demonstrates a limited but positive impact. However, the effect of educational background on research productivity is not significant based on this study. This research provides valuable insights for the development of scientific research productivity in the field of library and information science.
Exploring the Enigma of Maristans in Muslim-Ruled Kashmir
Authors: Rafiq Misbah , Bashir Aadil
Published: August 2024

Kashmir’s oldest Neolithic settlement dates back to 3000 BC. It stood as the centre of Buddhism and Hinduism for centuries, till the arrival of Islam in thirteenth century. Although Muslims ruled Kashmir under different empires for about four centuries and ever since there has always been a significant Muslim populace in Kashmir with or without Muslim rule, yet the literature about the history of health care in Kashmir and particularly the history about Muslim contributions to healthcare is sparingly limited. This paper aims at a) historical contextualization of healthcare in Kashmir, b) finding Muslim rulers` contributions if any to the healthcare system and c) exploring places of healing ‘shafa-khanas’ in Kashmir. In order to achieve these objectives, the methods used were data collection through locating key historical resources, by searching local libraries and bookshops and searching online academic databases, thereafter, subjecting the collected data to thematic analysis. Three themes emerged during data analysis, which corresponds to the objectives of this paper, these are a) ‘Historical context of healthcare in Kashmir’, b) ‘Muslim contributions to healthcare in Kashmir’ and c) ‘Places of healing ‘Shafa-khanas’ in Kashmir’. The analysis shows that healthcare during Muslim rule was integrative, progressive, robust, indigenous, specialized, and efficient/accommodative. We conclude that though ‘shafa-khanas’ existed in medieval Kashmir, there is however not much literature available.
Understanding the Behavioral Health Needs of Hospice Patients and Their Family Caregivers: Perspectives of Hospice Medical Directors
Authors: Tiwari Abhay , Park Taeyoung , Parillon Brittney , Prather Simone , Shalev Daniel , Reid Manney Cary , Czaja Sara , Adelman Ronald , Phongtankuel Veerawat
Published: August 2024

Background

Behavioral health disorders are common among patients and caregivers in the hospice setting. Yet, limited data exist regarding what hospice providers perceive as the most common and challenging behavioral health disorders they encounter and how they manage these issues in practice.

Objective

To characterize the perspectives of hospice medical directors (HMDs) on addressing the behavioral health challenges when caring for patients enrolled in home hospice care and their family caregivers.

Methods

Semistructured interviews with seventeen certified HMDs were conducted. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results

Many HMDs agreed that delivering high-quality behavioral health care is a tenet for good end-of-life (EoL) care. HMDs shared that depression and anxiety were the most common behavioral health challenges they encountered, while among caregivers, substance use disorder was the most challenging. Participants mentioned that nurses and social workers played a vital role in detecting and managing behavioral health problems. HMDs also stated that providing additional training for frontline staff and incorporating behavioral health experts are potential solutions to help address current challenges.

Conclusion

HMDs emphasized the importance of addressing behavioral health challenges among patients and caregivers to provide effective end-of-life care. Future studies should examine the viewpoints of additional key stakeholder groups (e.g., hospice interdisciplinary team members, family caregivers) and confirm them in quantitative studies. Designing and implementing evidence-based assessments and interventions to improve behavioral health care by addressing anxiety, depression, and caregiver substance use disorders is essential to improving care and care outcomes in the hospice setting.
Development and Overview of a Hospital-Based PTSD Screening and Early Intervention Program for Gunshot Injury Survivors: The RISE Program
Authors: Williams Joah L. , Gleason Vivian L. , Wilfred Salomé A. , Friend Rosemary , Howard Jeffrey , Freese Sharon A. , Moncure Michael , Peters Baker Jean
Published: August 2024

Hospital-based early mental health interventions are growing in interest among researchers and policymakers given their potential to reach trauma-exposed populations with limited access to mental health services. This paper presents the conceptual framework for the RISE Program, a multidisciplinary, hospital-based early mental health intervention program for gunshot injury survivors. The RISE Program began as an academic-community partnership and draws on existing models of hospital-based mental health intervention to provide support across the continuum of trauma care. Background information regarding program development is provided along with a deidentified case example of a survivor who received services to illustrate the program model.
Financial Hedging of Operational Risk Constraints: A General Framework
Authors: Valdés León , Caldentey René
Published: August 2024

We consider the operation of a non-financial corporation and present a novel risk-management framework that supports the joint optimization of the firm’s operational and financial decisions. Specifically, we study the problem of maximizing the firm’s operating profits when these profits depend on movements in the financial markets, and where the decision maker—the firm’s manager—is risk averse. Critically, our framework (i) imposes risk aversion through a generic class of risk constraints, and (ii) considers explicitly the differences that can exist between the shareholders’ and manager’s beliefs about future market risks. Together, these aspects allow us to remove speculation so that financial instruments can only be used for hedging purposes. We analyze our problem in an incomplete financial market setting and consider different informational assumptions. Within this framework, we characterize the optimal financial hedging strategy so that the problem reduces to a constrained maximization over operational policies. Our results show how financial hedging can be effectively used to expand the set of admissible operating policies, and identify conditions under which the risk constraint can be completely ignored when solving for an optimal operating policy. We illustrate our methodology in the context of an exporter firm which faces exchange rate risk in trading.
The Relative Indirect Effects of Technology Bias and Implicit Bias on Racial Disparity in Service Delivery and Sepsis Mortality
Authors: Wang Qi , Carson Anita L , Zheng Sarah
Published: August 2024

Racism at the individual and societal levels has been identified as a cause of disparity in healthcare outcomes in the United States but reducing disparity has been slow. This study disentangles the relative effects of two types of racism on inpatient service delivery and hospital mortality: technology bias and implicit bias. Drawing on clinical data from intensive care unit (ICU) patients with sepsis, we use propensity score matching to balance groups of White and nonwhite patients and run a causal mediation analysis to test our model, which links patient race to hospital mortality through two mediating variables related to service delivery: (1) discrepancies in blood oxygen saturation measurements due to technology bias embedded in the medical device (i.e., pulse oximeter) and (2) administration of supplemental oxygen, which could be impacted by clinicians’ implicit bias. We first replicate prior findings that (a) higher discrepancies between oximeter readings and laboratory tests for nonwhite patients compared to Whites and (b) a higher discrepancy lowers the likelihood of patients receiving supplemental oxygen during the ICU stay. We make a unique contribution by finding that nonwhite patients with sepsis have a 79% higher risk of hospital mortality in the ICU compared to Whites, with nearly half of the racial disparity in mortality stemming from technology bias and less than a fifth from clinicians’ implicit bias. Eliminating these two biases would help save thousands of lives annually among racial/ethnic minorities with sepsis in the United States. Our findings indicate that technology bias exerts a greater negative impact on mortality than does implicit bias, highlighting the importance of device approval standards and clinicians' ability to customize decision criteria for supplemental oxygen.
Channel Choice in Live Streaming Commerce
Authors: Li Yina , Ning Yu , Fan Weiguo , Kumar Ajay , Ye Fei
Published: August 2024

Live streaming has significantly transformed the landscape of both offline and online retail operations. This article explores the optimal timing and circumstances under which a firm with a specific product should launch a live streaming channel, and if so, whether it should use third-party streaming, self-run streaming, or a combination of both. We demonstrate that no single channel structure is universally superior to the others: the firm's optimal channel strategy depends on the third-party streamer's popularity and bargaining power, the investment and broadcasting effort cost for the live streaming channel, consumer's channel preference and extra cost for watching live streaming, cross-channel spillover, as well as the price sensitivity of a product. In general, live streaming is most beneficial for firms selling products that aren't highly price sensitive, where traditional pricing tool is less important for attracting consumers. Start-ups should collaborate with either highly popular streamers or those with a small but dedicated following, avoiding those with intermediate popularity. In contrast, established firms should partner with streamers who have a moderate level of popularity. An established firm considering leveraging two or more channels concurrently should additionally take into consideration the cross-channel spillover, channel encroachment cost, and channel competition. Our research reveals that, contrary to expectation, price in live streaming channels may not always be lower than those in traditional channels. Furthermore, highly popular streamers do not always demand higher revenue-sharing ratios and slotting fees. This research sheds light on the key decisions for firms considering live streaming commerce: whether to adopt it, when to integrate it into their strategy, and how to effectively implement it.
Should We Track Our Children?: An Exploratory Examination of Life360 and Interpersonal and Relational Well-Being
Authors: Langlais Michael R. , Marich Ashlyn
Published: August 2024

Studies on social media have found that monitoring can be damaging for close relationships. In the context of family relationships, however, studies have recommended that parents increase their electronic supervision for their children. Theoretically, teenagers are seeking independence, so tracking them may hinder their development and/or prompt resentment. The purpose of the current study is to examine how using Life360, a mobile tracking application, relates to the quality of parent-child relationships. Quantitative data comes from 285 participants (Mean age = 20.49; SD = 2.84) who completed an online survey regarding the degree to which their parents used Life360 during high school and college, their mental well-being, and measures of the parent-child relationship. Correlation analyses revealed a positive relationship between parents using Life360 and parental involvement and connectedness. Additionally, self-esteem was negatively associated with parents’ reaching out to their children as a result of Life360. However, regression analyses revealed few relationships between Life360 behaviors, mental health, and the parent-child relationship. Implications for parents, teenagers, and family counselors will be discussed.
Oncology stewardship practice in the United States: A Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association national survey
Authors: Banez Marisela Tan , Atienza Sol , Butts Allison , Derba Megan , Dicke Katie , Haverstick Kimberly , Heron Bernadette B , Cimino Sarah K , Loop Matthew Shane , Hough Shannon , Merten Julianna A , Moore Donald C , Shah Vishal , Taucher Kate D , Zhang Junyu “Matt” , Mahmoudjafari Zahra
Published: August 2024

Introduction

The treatment of cancer is associated with high risk for toxicity and high cost. Strategies to enhance the value, quality, and safety of cancer care are often managed independently of one another. Oncology stewardship is a potential framework to unify these efforts and enhance outcomes. This landscape survey establishes baseline information on oncology stewardship in the United States.

Methods

The Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) distributed a 38-item survey composed of demographic, institutional, clinical decision-making, support staff, metrics, and technology sections to 675 HOPA members between 9 September 2022 and 9 October 2022.

Results

Most organizations (78%) have adopted general pharmacy stewardship practices; however, only 31% reported having established a formalized oncology stewardship team. More than 70% of respondents reported implementation of biosimilars, formulary management, and dose rounding as oncology stewardship initiatives in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Frequently cited barriers to oncology stewardship included lack of clinical pharmacist availability (74%), lack of oncology stewardship training (62%), lack of physician/provider buy-in (32%), and lack of cost-saving metrics (33%). Only 6.6% of survey respondents reported their organization had defined “value in oncology.” Lack of a formalized stewardship program was most often cited (77%) as the rationale for not defining value.

Conclusions

Less than one-third of respondents have established oncology stewardship programs; however, most are providing oncology stewardship practices. This manuscript serves as a call to action for stakeholders to work together to formalize oncology stewardship programs that optimize value, quality, and safety for patients with cancer.