bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Innovation in Teaching Method Using Visual Communication under the Background of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Hao Xiumei
Published: June 2022

The iterative update of artificial intelligence (AI) is resulting in the development of new educational concepts, methodologies, and methods. Taking as a starting point, the contemporary visual communication design is largely influenced by artificial intelligence’s techniques, design methods, and display methods. Moreover, combining the possibilities brought by artificial intelligence’s characteristics to the teaching mode will be of great interest in teaching innovations. Similarly, integrating and deepening the innovation of teaching modes, and making artificial intelligence a teaching mode is more beneficial to teachers and student. Subsequently, this gives full play to the benefits in visual communication design and education in order to change and upgrade to intelligent visual communication design teaching techniques. Therefore, it is also crucial to investigate the use of visual communication design in the teaching process. This paper also offers while studying the innovation of visual communication design education techniques, a deep understanding of the AI technology and big data. Under the restrictions of visual communication, the virtual reconstruction approach of 3D images may effectively tackle the problem of an unstable pixel extraction process induced by pixel loss. Our empirical evaluation shows that the proposed method is superior to that of the other state-of-the-art techniques.
Informatization Teaching Mode of Vision Sensor Digital Image and Fusion Association Rule Mining Algorithm
Authors: Chen Ying , Li Junkai
Published: June 2022

Informatization teaching mode emerged under the tide of informatization development. The way of information dissemination and the process of human cognition have undergone tremendous changes in the era of informatization. Based on the vision sensor digital image and the fusion association rule mining algorithm, this paper studies the informatization teaching mode, aiming to analyze the influence of the vision sensor digital image and the fusion association rule mining algorithm on the foreign language teaching and enhance development decisions. The structure of digital image is analyzed by using image acquisition and processing technology and data transmission, and the digital image correlation method is explored. The use of data mining algorithms to conduct statistics on data integration related teaching documents in the past five years provides a strong basis for the data of the research process. In addition, in order to conduct a more detailed and comprehensive research on the informatization teaching model, the research scope was narrowed and the survey method was adopted to understand and collect data from relevant personnel and finally put forward constructive opinions for the purpose of the existing problems. The findings of the study demonstrated that the application of digital images can greatly expand the teaching content and greatly improve the creativity, experience, inclusiveness, and interactivity of teaching applications. The most obvious one is the sense of experience. The measured index has increased by 5.4 points.
Research on Classroom Teaching Quality Evaluation and Feedback System Based on Big Data Analysis
Authors: Zhang Yuankui , Gao Jing
Published: June 2022

With the development of information technology, the era of big data has gradually entered classroom teaching, and the evaluation of students’ learning quality and classroom teaching efficiency has been widely concerned. In order to further improve the quality of classroom teaching in colleges and universities, this paper analyzes the classroom teaching quality evaluation and feedback system based on the big data. Principal component analysis is used to analyze the evaluation index of classroom teaching quality and feedback information to apartment. Through the study of education quality estimate and feedback system under big data, the feedback mechanism of classroom teaching quality evaluation is improved to achieve high-quality and efficient teaching.
Optimizing the Deep Neural Networks by Layer-Wise Refined Pruning and the Acceleration on FPGA
Authors: Li Hengyi , Yue Xuebin , Wang Zhichen , Chai Zhilei , Wang Wenwen , Tomiyama Hiroyuki , Meng Lin
Published: June 2022

To accelerate the practical applications of artificial intelligence, this paper proposes a high efficient layer-wise refined pruning method for deep neural networks at the software level and accelerates the inference process at the hardware level on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The refined pruning operation is based on the channel-wise importance indexes of each layer and the layer-wise input sparsity of convolutional layers. The method utilizes the characteristics of the native networks without introducing any extra workloads to the training phase. In addition, the operation is easy to be extended to various state-of-the-art deep neural networks. The effectiveness of the method is verified on ResNet architecture and VGG networks in terms of dataset CIFAR10, CIFAR100, and ImageNet100. Experimental results show that in terms of ResNet50 on CIFAR10 and ResNet101 on CIFAR100, more than 85% of parameters and Floating-Point Operations are pruned with only 0.35% and 0.40% accuracy loss, respectively. As for the VGG network, 87.05% of parameters and 75.78% of Floating-Point Operations are pruned with only 0.74% accuracy loss for VGG13BN on CIFAR10. Furthermore, we accelerate the networks at the hardware level on the FPGA platform by utilizing the tool Vitis AI. For two threads mode in FPGA, the throughput/fps of the pruned VGG13BN and ResNet101 achieves 151.99 fps and 124.31 fps, respectively, and the pruned networks achieve about 4.3

×

and 1.8

×

speed up for VGG13BN and ResNet101, respectively, compared with the original networks on FPGA.
[Retracted] Study on the Design and Optimization of Learning Environment Based on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality Technology
Authors: Yang Ting , Zeng Qiang
Published: June 2022

More than half of the universities have recently added advanced technical courses for their students. The specialised courses would be the backbone to keep the students’ knowledge updated. In that case, artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) have been lightened up recently. This paper introduces the basic concepts of AI and VR and the changes that can be made when they are implemented in real‐time applications. Students will be more focused on the courses utilising virtual reality. This VR makes the visualisation of any challenging course easier. Many students have been working on virtual reality in their colleges, and their involvement shows the actual output in the upcoming years. The research was carried on the Virtual Reality Driving Simulator Dataset to implement the virtual reality method. The results are compared to the real world and show that the proposed model is 98.67% more accurate than the real world.
Spatial Distribution of Tsetse Flies and Trypanosome Infection Status in a Vector Genetic Transition Zone in Northern Uganda
Authors: Opiro Robert , Moses Okello Allele , Opoke Robert , Oloya Francis A. , Nakafu Esther , Iwiru Teresa , Echodu Richard , Malinga Geoffrey M. , Bargul Joel L. , Opiyo Elizabeth A.
Published: June 2022

Background. Tsetse flies are vectors of the genus Trypanosoma that cause African trypanosomiasis, a serious parasitic disease of people and animals. Reliable data on the vector distribution and the trypanosome species they carry is pertinent for planning sustainable control strategies. This study was carried out to estimate the spatial distribution, apparent density, and trypanosome infection rates of tsetse flies in two districts that fall within a vector genetic transition zone in northern Uganda. Materials and Methods. Capturing of tsetse flies was done using biconical traps deployed in eight villages in Oyam and Otuke, two districts that fall within the vector genetic transition zone in northern Uganda. Trapped tsetse flies were sexed and morphologically identified to species level and subsequently analyzed for detection of trypanosome DNA. Trypanosome DNA was detected using a nested PCR protocol based on primers amplifying the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA. Results. A total of 717 flies (406 females; 311 males) were caught, all belonging to the Glossina fuscipes fuscipes species. The overall average flies/trap/day (FTD) was

2.20
±
0.3527

(

mean
±
SE

). Out of the 477 (201 male; 276 females) flies analyzed, 7.13% (34/477) were positive for one or more trypanosome species. Three species of bovine trypanosomes were detected, namely, Trypanosoma vivax, 61.76% (21/34), T. congolense, 26.47% (9/34), and T. brucei brucei, 5.88% (2/34), and two cases of mixed infection of T. congolense and T. brucei brucei, 5.88% (2/34). The infection rate was not significantly associated with the sex of the fly (generalized linear model (GLM),

χ

2

=
0.051

,

p
=
0.821

,

df
=
1
,
n
=
477

) and district of origin (

χ

2

=
0.611

,

p
=
0.434

,

df
=
1

,

n
=
477

). However, trypanosome infection was highly significantly associated with the fly’s age based on wing fray category (

χ

2

=
7.56

,

p
=
0.006

,

df
=
1

,

n
=
477

), being higher among the very old than the young. Conclusion. The relatively high tsetse density and trypanosome infection rate indicate that the transition zone is a high-risk area for perpetuating animal trypanosomiasis. Therefore, appropriate mitigation measures should be instituted targeting tsetse and other biting flies that may play a role as disease vectors, given the predominance of T. vivax in the tsetse samples.
Exosomal CTCF Confers Cisplatin Resistance in Osteosarcoma by Promoting Autophagy via the IGF2-AS/miR-579-3p/MSH6 Axis
Authors: Zhan Haibo , Xiao Jun , Wang Po , Mo Fengbo , Li Kaihuang , Guo Fengfen , Yu Xiaolong , Liu Xuqiang , Zhang Bin , Dai Min , Liu Hucheng
Published: June 2022

Cancer-derived exosomes participate in carcinogenesis and progression of cancers, including metastasis and drug-resistance. Of note, CTCF has been suggested to induce drug resistance in various cancers. Herein, we aim to investigate the role of cisplatin- (CDDP-) resistant osteosarcoma- (OS-) derived exosomal CTCF in OS cell resistance to CDDP and its mechanistic basis. Differentially expressed transcription factors, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), miRNAs, and genes in OS were retrieved using bioinformatics approaches. Exosomes were extracted from CDDP-resistant OS cells and then cocultured with parental OS cells, followed by lentiviral transduction to manipulate the expression of CTCF, IGF2-AS, miR-579-3p, and MSH6. We assessed the in vitro and in vivo effects on malignant phenotypes, autophagy, CDDP sensitivity, and tumor formation of OS cells. It was established that CTCF and IGF2-AS were highly expressed in CDDP-resistant OS cells, and the CDDP-resistant OS cell-derived exosomal CTCF enhanced IGF2-AS transcription. CDDP-resistant OS-derived exosomes transmitted CTCF to OS cells and increased CDDP resistance in OS cells by activating an autophagy-dependent pathway. Mechanistically, CTCF activated IGF2-AS transcription and IGF2-AS competitively bound to miR-579-3p to upregulate MSH6 expression. Additionally, the promoting function of exosomal CTCF-mediated IGF2-AS/miR-579-3p/MSH6 in OS cell resistance to CDDP was confirmed in vivo. Taken together, CDDP-resistant OS-derived exosomal CTCF enhanced resistance of OS cells to CDDP via activating the autophagy-dependent pathway, providing a potential therapeutic consideration for OS treatment.
Ultralow Oxygen Tension (2%) Is Beneficial for Blastocyst Formation of In Vitro Human Low‐Quality Embryo Culture
Authors: Li Mingzhao , Xue Xia , Shi Juanzi
Published: June 2022

Objectives. To investigate whether a reduction in the O2 tension from 5 to 2% during extended culture from day 3 onwards was beneficial to human blastocyst development in vitro. Methods. We firstly identified 139 patients who had no low‐quality embryos on day 3, and all the embryos were prolonged to culture on day 5 or 6. We mainly analyzed 188 patients receiving IVF/ICSI‐ET for the first time, and no high‐quality embryos were obtained on day 3 from January 2018 to December 2019. After transferred with one or two low‐quality embryos, extended culture was performed under low O2 (5%) or ultralow O2 (2%) tension for surplus embryos. 296 embryos from 106 patients were continued to culture under 5% O2 tension, and 214 embryos from 82 patients were continued to culture under 2% O2 tension. Main outcomes compared were blastulation and high‐quality blastulation rates. Results. We observed no significant differences in the blastulation and high‐quality blastulation rates for high‐quality cleavage‐stage embryos between 2% and 5% O2 groups (p > 0.05). For low‐quality cleavage‐stage embryos, we observed that the 2% O2 group showed a significantly higher blastulation (39.72 versus 31.08%; p = 0.043) rate than that in the 5% O2 group. The high‐quality blastocyst formation rate (10.75 versus 8.45%; p = 0.380) was comparable between the 2% and 5% O2 groups. The blastulation rate reached 44.86% by culturing blastocysts an additional day under 2% O2 tension which was significantly higher than that (32.09%) under 5% O2 tension (p < 0.05). Conclusion. A reduction in O2 tension from 5 to 2% after day 3 might be beneficial to the patients with no high‐quality embryos. Extended culture to day 7 under 2% O2 tension increased the number of available blastocysts per IVF/ICSI cycle and was worth recommending especially for patients with few blastocysts.
Biological Impact of the Interaction of Functionalized and Bioconjugated Gold Nanoparticles of Different Sizes on HeLa and SH‐SY5Y Human Cell Lines
Authors: Pichardo-Molina Juan Luis , Andrade-Pérez Ana Pamela Alejandra , Torres-Ramírez Jacqueline , Martínez-Espinosa Juan Carlos , Villagómez-Castro Julio Cesar , Castruita-Domínguez José Pedro , Tránsito Iván Salgado , Flores-Villavicencio Lérida Liss
Published: June 2022

Nanotechnology opens new perspectives in many science and technology fields through new materials, such as metal nanoparticles. The biomedical field is one of these areas where nanoparticles offer promising application in the diagnosis and therapy of disease, generating biosensors for disease detection, bioimaging, and drug delivery. However, the controversy about whether nanoparticles are inert or exhibit different degrees of toxicity related to their physicochemical properties remains a subject of study and debate. This work shows how gold nanoparticles and nanorods were simultaneously functionalized with 4‐aminothiophenol (4‐ATP) and methoxypolyethylene glycol thiol (mPEG‐SH). Then, folic acid (FA) gold nanoparticle bioconjugates caused diverse biological effects on HeLa and SH‐SY5Y cell cultures after 24 h of incubation, when they were evaluated in the range of gold concentrations from 0.17 to 350 μM. We found notable changes in cell metabolic activity, viability, and biomass. 16 nm nanoparticles produced the most enhanced damage for functionalized (AuNPs) and bioconjugated (AuNPs‐FA) nanoparticles, which we expected to be more biocompatible when coated with FA. Besides, epifluorescence images showed damage to F‐actin microfilaments, adhesion and cell attachment loss, morphology changes (cells became round and detached), presence of blebs, and rupture of cell membrane. These results suggested that both AuNPs and AuNPs‐FA have significant biological impact on HeLa and SH‐SY5Y cell cultures, whereas gold nanorods showed significant changes only in the metabolic activity of SH‐SY5Y cells when they were exposed to gold nanorods of 23 and 27 nm in length with a diameter of 5 nm, and crystal violet did not show evidence of toxicity.
Multi-source Intelligent Management System of College Snow and Ice Teaching Based on Cloud Platform
Authors: Yi ChongYu , Liu Yongqiang , Zhiqiang Zhao
Published: June 2022

The conventional college snow and ice teaching multi-source resource intelligent management system has the problem of incomplete software resource analysis function, which leads to high CPU usage of system. A cloud platform based college snow and ice teaching multi-source resource intelligent management system is designed. Hardware part: record the state of the pins when the register is reset, account for the data bit width and storage capacity of DDR2 SDRAM memory, and optimise the data storage module; Part of the software: obtain ice and snow sports course objectives in colleges and universities, rationally organise the course organization form, optimise the intelligent management mode of teaching multi-source resources by using the cloud platform, support online browsing of various text resources, set relevant parameters to construct various random modification operations, and design the software resource analysis function with the knowledge fusion algorithm. Experimental results: The average CPU usage of the multi-source intelligent resource management system for snow and ice teaching in colleges and universities in this paper and the other two systems is 34.257%, 47.458%, 53.578%. Experimental results show that the performance of multi-source intelligent resource management system for snow and ice teaching in colleges and universities has been significantly improved after making full use of cloud platform.
Covalent ERα Antagonist H3B-6545 Demonstrates Encouraging Preclinical Activity in Therapy-Resistant Breast Cancer
Authors: Furman Craig , Puyang Xiaoling , Zhang Zhaojie , Wu Zhenhua J. , Banka Deepti , Aithal Kiran B. , Albacker Lee A. , Hao Ming-Hong , Irwin Sean , Kim Amy , Montesion Meagan , Moriarty Alyssa D. , Murugesan Karthikeyan , Nguyen Tuong-Vi , Rimkunas Victoria , Sahmoud Tarek , Wick Michael J. , Yao Shihua , Zhang Xun , Zeng Hao , Vaillancourt Frédéric H. , Bolduc David M. , Larsen Nicholas , Zheng Guo Zhu , Prajapati Sudeep , Zhu Ping , Korpal Manav
Published: June 2022

Nearly 30% of patients with relapsed breast cancer present activating mutations in estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) that confer partial resistance to existing endocrine-based therapies. We previously reported the development of H3B-5942, a covalent ERα antagonist that engages cysteine-530 (C530) to achieve potency against both wild-type (ERαWT) and mutant ERα (ERαMUT). Anticipating that the emergence of C530 mutations could promote resistance to H3B-5942, we applied structure-based drug design to improve the potency of the core scaffold to further enhance the antagonistic activity in addition to covalent engagement. This effort led to the development of the clinical candidate H3B-6545, a covalent antagonist that is potent against both  ERαWT/MUT, and maintains potency even in the context of ERα C530 mutations. H3B-6545 demonstrates significant activity and superiority over standard-of-care fulvestrant across a panel of ERαWT and ERαMUT palbociclib sensitive and resistant models. In summary, the compelling preclinical activity of H3B-6545 supports its further development for the potential treatment of endocrine therapy–resistant ERα+ breast cancer harboring wild-type or mutant ESR1, as demonstrated by the ongoing clinical trials (NCT03250676, NCT04568902, NCT04288089).

H3B-6545 is an ERα covalent antagonist that exhibits encouraging preclinical activity against CDK4/6i naïve and resistant ERαWT and ERαMUT tumors.
Characterization of Phrenic Nerve Response to Pulsed Field Ablation
Authors: Howard Brian , Haines David E. , Verma Atul , Kirchhof Nicole , Barka Noah , Onal Birce , Stewart Mark T. , Sigg Daniel C.
Published: June 2022

Background:

Phrenic nerve palsy is a well-known complication of cardiac ablation, resulting from the application of direct thermal energy. Emerging pulsed field ablation (PFA) may reduce the risk of phrenic nerve injury but has not been well characterized.

Methods:

Accelerometers and continuous pacing were used during PFA deliveries in a porcine model. Acute dose response was established in a first experimental phase with ascending PFA intensity delivered to the phrenic nerve (n=12). In a second phase, nerves were targeted with a single ablation level to observe the effect of repetitive ablations on nerve function (n=4). A third chronic phase characterized assessed histopathology of nerves adjacent to ablated cardiac tissue (n=6).

Results:

Acutely, we observed a dose-dependent response in phrenic nerve function including reversible stunning (R
2
=0.965,
P
<0.001). Furthermore, acute results demonstrated that phrenic nerve function responded to varying levels of PFA and catheter proximity placements, resulting in either: no effect, effect, or stunning. In the chronic study phase, successful isolation of superior vena cava at a dose not predicted to cause phrenic nerve dysfunction was associated with normal phrenic nerve function and normal phrenic nerve histopathology at 4 weeks.

Conclusions:

Proximity of the catheter to the phrenic nerve and the PFA dose level were critical for phrenic nerve response. Gross and histopathologic evaluation of phrenic nerves and diaphragms at a chronic time point yielded no injury. These results provide a basis for understanding the susceptibility and recovery of phrenic nerves in response to PFA and a need for appropriate caution in moving beyond animal models.
Linear and Nonlinear Digital Filters: From the Analog and Beyond
Authors: Lazzarini Victor , Timoney Joseph
Published: June 2022

A common approach in the development of digital filters is to begin with an existing analog filter and produce an equivalent computer program to realize it. This may involve, at the extreme, the detailed analysis of circuit behavior, or it may stem from a higher-level approach that looks at block diagrams and s-domain transfer functions. In this article, we first take the latter approach to develop a set of linear filters from the well-known state variable filter. From this we obtain a first result, which is a linear digital implementation of the Steiner design, comprising separate inputs for different frequency responses and a single output summing the responses. Turning back to the state variable design, we show that to develop a nonlinear version, an analog circuit realization can be used to identify positions in which to insert nonlinear waveshapers. This gives us our second result, a nonlinear digital state variable filter. From this analog-derived design, we then propose modifications that go beyond the original filter, developing as a final result a structure that could be classed as a hybrid of filter and digital waveshaper. As part of this process, we ask the question of whether an approach that takes inspiration from the analog world, while being decoupled from it, may be more profitable in the long run than an obsession with detailed circuit modeling.
Gay Identity, Same-Sex Relationships, and Military Service
Authors: Zaritsky Yoav , Yonay Yuval
Published: June 2022

This article deals with the history of military service for gay men in the Israeli army (Israel Defense Forces, idf), during the years 1948 to the mid-1970s. It is based primarily on the oral testimonies of thirty-two Israeli gay men born between 1924–1948, juxtaposed with historical sources such as newspaper articles, court documents, and written idf guidelines. Through these, we will examine popular conceptions and understandings of deviant sexuality in the idf between the 1950s and the 1970s, and in Israel in general. We will explore the question of homosexuals’ enrolment in the idf and related idf policies throughout the years, as well as various strategies adopted by homosexuals in Israel to negotiate their sexuality during their service. Ours is the first study on real-life experiences of gays who served their military duty during the early decades of the idf.
Biobased Linear Alkyl-Benzene Production by Hydrodeoxygenation of Cardanol Under Ambient Pressure
Authors: Guo Xuan , Wang Meng , Tu Weixia , Fang Yunming
Published: June 2022

An innovative and green method for 1-phenyl pentadecane production is presented by that utilizes the hydrogenation of cardanol (unsaturated 3-n-pentadecylphenol) under ambient pressure. Different from the common production of branched alkylbenzenes from Friedel–Crafts alkylation
method, in which expensive long chain α-olefins and anhydrous HF or AlCl3 acid are used, 1-phenyl pentadecane has better biodegradability and can be used in the production of high-value chemicals or biofuels, such as surfactant detergents, lubricants and diesel fuel
additives. The reaction under ambient pressure is milder than high pressure HDO reaction that can avoid excessive H2 consumption and reduce the reaction cost. The 20 MT catalyst used in this research can be reused in five cycles, and the conversion rates remained greater than 90%.
This reusable property allows this hydrodeoxygenation reaction process to be conducted in a fluidized bed reactor. The hydrodeoxygenation of cardanol under ambient pressure provides a new method for linear alkylbenzene production that results in a high yield from a bio-based raw material,
cardanol.
Efficacy of Two Natural Materials Against Some Invertebrate Pests as a Safe Alternative to Pesticides and Their Bio-Safeties on Mammalian
Authors: Mohamed Ghada R. , Qari Sameer H. , Elbath Moamen A. , Alhaithloul Haifa A. S. , Khayat Rana O. , Sami Rokayya , Ahmed Nevin
Published: June 2022

The continuous use of pesticides can cause many serious problems in the environmental system. So, it is very necessary to go back to nature again and look for safe alternatives to chemical pesticides. During this research, we evaluated the toxicity of two types of natural substances (wood vinegar and seaweed extract) against three types of zoological pests, two-spotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) and two land snails (Monacha cartusianaandEobania vermiculata). Results indicated that wood vinegar and seaweed extract had negative effects on eggs, immature stages and adults ofT. urticae. Their mortalities were significantly increased with increasing of the applied dose of wood vinegar and seaweed extract. The highest mortalities of eggs, immature stages and adults ofT. urticaewere 82.9, 71.8 and 98.4% and were 75.3, 62.9 and 83.9% after 72 h from the application of wood vinegar and seaweed extract, respectively. Data showed also a positive relationship between the mortality percentages of snails and the concentration. The highest mortality rates forM. cartusianaandE. vermiculata(73.91 and 60.87%) and (91.67 and 83.33%) were recorded due to the use of wood vinegar and seaweed extract at the concentration of 25% individually. The values of LC50and LC90were calculated and the results confirmed that the seaweed extract was more toxic for the tested land snails than wood vinegar. The higher values of LC50of wood vinegar and seaweed extract (21.67% and 11.87%) were selected for the biosafety tests in mammals by usingRattus norvegicus albinusmales. It was clear that both wood vinegar and seaweed extract had no harmful effects on mammals according to the non-significant differences in liver and kidney functions (ALP, AST, ALT, Creatinine and urea in the blood samples) between treated and untreated rats.
A Minority Report on the Call to Ministry
Authors: Brown Leland
Published: June 2022

Most evangelical conceptions of the call to pastoral ministry in the American context argue that a compelling inward desire or personal sense of certainty is a prerequisite for entering ministry; these experiences are essential to discerning if one is genuinely called to ministry. This article argues that there are significant biblical and theological problems with this experience-centered understanding of the call to ministry and seeks to resource several sources from the Christian tradition that center the call to ministry on the outward qualifications of a ministerial candidate. In conclusion, the author offers several contemporary applications of seeing the call to ministry as focused primarily on the outward giftedness and qualifications of a candidate.
Sexual Orientation and Food Hardship: National Survey of Family Growth, 2011-2019
Authors: Han Beenna , Hernandez Daphne C.
Published: June 2022

Objective:

Given the high rates of poverty observed among sexual minority groups and their social vulnerability, we examined the prevalence and correlation of food hardship, measured as food insecurity, receipt of free or reduced-cost food, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation among low-income sexual minority and heterosexual adults using population-level health surveillance data.

Methods:

We used 4 waves of pooled data (2011-2019) from the National Survey of Family Growth for adults aged 18-44 years. We compared the sexual orientation subgroups and used logistic regression to predict the likelihood of food hardship.

Results:

Among men, gay and bisexual men had higher odds of experiencing food insecurity than their heterosexual counterparts (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.97 and 1.83, respectively). Compared with heterosexual men, bisexual men had significantly higher odds of receiving free or reduced-cost food, but gay men did not. The odds of participating in SNAP did not differ significantly among gay, bisexual, and heterosexual men. Among women, only bisexual women were more prone to experiencing food insecurity than their heterosexual counterparts (aOR = 1.81). The odds of receiving free or reduced-cost food did not differ significantly among heterosexual, bisexual, and lesbian women. However, compared with heterosexual women, lesbian women had significantly lower odds (aOR = 0.62) and bisexual women had significantly higher odds (aOR = 1.24) of participating in SNAP.

Conclusion:

Our findings contribute to the limited literature examining trends in food hardship among sexual minority groups and suggest potentially different patterns of food insecurity, food assistance, and SNAP participation among sexual orientation subgroups, which may call for group-specific, nuanced approaches for lessening food hardship.
Multimodal Digital Storytelling Presentations among Middle-School Learners of English as a Foreign Language: Emotions, Grit and Perceptions
Authors: Chen Hsieh Jun
Published: June 2022

Despite the increasing attention to technology-enhanced language learning in English-as-a-foreign-language contexts, investigation regarding the effects of multimodal technologies on affective factors (particularly emotions and grit) in digital storytelling has remained underexplored. Therefore, this mixed-methods study reports on positive/negative emotions, grit and learner perceptions in the digital storytelling presentation process as the result of different presentation modes (robot-assisted versus PowerPoint-assisted). With 52 9th-grade middle-school students from two intact classes in a junior high school in central Taiwan, the results from multiple data sources (an emotion questionnaire, a grit survey, a perception survey, student in-class sharing) revealed that the robot-assisted mode was more advantageous in contributing to more positive emotions and in making learners grittier, foregrounding higher perseverance of effort in the learning process. The students having the robot-assisted mode also responded more positively to the overall learning experience.
The Power of Mothers and Teachers Engaging in a Mathematics Bilingual Collaboration
Authors: Stoehr Kathleen , Salazar Fany , Civil Marta
Published: June 2022

Background:

Making mathematics connections between home and school can have a positive impact on students’ mathematics learning. This is particularly important for students whose experiences and perspectives are underrepresented in school curricula. Although there is evidence for how crucial it is to make connections between mathematics instruction and children’s lived experiences, doing so is often a challenging task for teachers.

Purpose:

This study examines what teachers in two different settings—a dual language school and a Structured English Immersion school—learned from engaging in a mathematics collaboration with Latina mothers. We share the teachers’ perceptions of their students’ and families’ mathematics’ strengths and how they envisioned their future mathematics teaching.

Research Design:

This qualitative interpretive study explored how 15 teachers from two states made sense of their experiences working together in a two-year mathematics collaboration with mothers from their school community. We collected multiple teacher reflections and artifacts, and administered a small group interview with teachers and parents and an individual teacher interview. We used an iterative analysis by demarcating the words that pertained to the different data sources, as we looked for patterns of the teachers’ key ideas. We summarized the key ideas across the data sources that resulted in six major themes.

Findings:

The key findings in this study reveal that the teachers learned from the mothers more about their students’ lives outside of school, the mothers’ mathematics background, and ways to create multiple channels of communication with the mothers. The teachers also learned about the significant contributions that the mothers make to their children’s mathematics education and the importance of honoring the mothers’ ways of doing mathematics in their mathematics teaching. The teachers shared how the collaboration with the mothers helped to serve as a guide to leverage their students’ learning of mathematics in Spanish and English.

Conclusions/Recommendations:

This study suggests that mathematics collaborations between teachers and parents can be highly beneficial to student learning. It showcases the importance of providing teachers with opportunities to learn about the rich mathematics knowledge that parents from diverse backgrounds possess. This study also demonstrates that creating authentic relationships that enhance mutual understandings between teachers and parents can be key in supporting Latinx students’ mathematics learning. We recommend that these types of collaborations between teachers and parents be considered part of the preparation of preservice teachers as well as the professional learning of in-service teachers.
Estimating Route Choice Characteristics of Truck Drivers from Sparse Automated Vehicle Identification Data through Data Fusion and Bi-Objective Optimization
Authors: Sharma Salil , van Lint Hans , Tavasszy Lóránt , Snelder Maaike
Published: June 2022

Optimizing route choices for truck drivers is a key element in achieving reliable road freight operations. For commercial reasons, it is often difficult to collect freight activity data through traditional surveys. Automated vehicle identification (AVI) data on fixed locations (e.g., Bluetooth or camera) are low-cost alternatives that may have the potential to estimate route choice models. However, in cases where these AVI sensors are sparsely located, the resulting data lack actual route choices (or labels), which limits their application estimating route choice models. This paper overcomes this limitation with a new two-step approach based on fusing AVI and loop-detector data. First, a sparse Bluetooth data set is fused with travel times estimated from densely spaced loop-detector data. Second, the combined data set is fed into a bi-objective optimization method which simultaneously infers the actual route choices of truck drivers between an origin–destination pair and estimates the parameters of a route choice (discrete choice-based) model. We apply this approach to investigate the route choice behavior of truck drivers operating to and from the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The proposed model can distinguish between peak and off-peak periods and identify different segments of truck drivers based on a latent classes choice analysis. Our results indicate the potential of traffic and logistics interventions in improving the route choices of truck drivers during peak hours. Overall, this paper demonstrates that it might be possible to estimate route choice characteristics from readily available data that can be retrieved from traffic management agencies.
Changes in Bone Mineral Density of the Femur and Tibia Before Injury to 2 Years After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in Division I Collegiate Athletes
Authors: Knurr Keith A. , Kliethermes Stephanie A. , Haack Colten R. , Olson Justin S. , Binkley Neil C. , Scerpella Tamara A. , Heiderscheit Bryan C.
Published: June 2022

Background:

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a significant long term concern after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR). A low bone mineral density (BMD), particularly in the subchondral region, has been associated with the development of OA and is evident at the knee in patients long after ACLR. It is unknown if persistent BMD deficits are present in high level collegiate athletes.

Purpose/Hypothesis:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate bilateral changes in the BMD of the femur and tibia from before the injury to 24 months after ACLR in collegiate athletes. We hypothesized that the BMD of both the distal femur and the proximal tibia would be significantly reduced within the surgical limb initially postoperatively but return to preinjury levels by 24 months after ACLR.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

Methods:

A total of 33 Division I collegiate athletes were identified between 2010 and 2021 (13 female) who underwent total body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) before sustaining an ACL injury. DXA was repeated at 6, 12, and 24 months after ACLR. Linear mixed effects models assessed differences in the BMD at 5%, 15%, and 50% of the femur's length (F5, F15, F50) and at 5%, 15%, and 50% of the tibia's length (T5, T15, T50) within each limb from before the injury to 24 months after ACLR, reported as Tukey-adjusted P values.

Results:

Compared with before the injury, the BMD at F5 of the surgical limb was reduced by 0.15 g/cm2 (SE, 0.02 g/cm2) at 6 months ( P < .001). The BMD at F15 of the surgical limb was reduced by 0.06 g/cm2 (SE, 0.01 g/cm2), 0.09 g/cm2 (SE, 0.01 g/cm2), and 0.09 g/cm2 (SE, 0.01 g/cm2) at 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively (all P < .001). The BMD at T5 of the nonsurgical limb was reduced by 0.07 g/cm2 (SE, 0.02 g/cm2) at 12 months ( P = .02) and 0.10 g/cm2 (SE, 0.02 g/cm2) at 24 months ( P = .001). The BMD at T15 of the surgical limb was reduced by 0.07 g/cm2 (SE, 0.01 g/cm2) at 6 months and 0.08 g/cm2 (SE, 0.02 g/cm2) at 12 months ( P < .001).

Conclusion:

BMD deficits at F15 of the surgical limb persisted out to 24 months (–7.1%) after ACLR compared with before the injury in collegiate athletes. The BMD at F5 and T15 of the surgical limb was reduced at 6 and 12 months but not at 24 months compared with preinjury levels. For the nonsurgical limb, no significant differences were detected, except for the T5 region at 12 months (–5.1%) and 24 months (–7.2%). The BMD at F50 and T50 of both limbs was not significantly different than preinjury levels at any time after ACLR.
Optimisation of wheelset maintenance by using a reduced flange wear wheel profile
Authors: Muhamedsalih Yousif , Tucker Gareth , Stow Julian
Published: June 2022

This paper investigates whether it is possible to develop a wheel profile design that will extend wheelset life compared to an existing commonly used Great Britain passenger wheel profile, the P8. The P8 wheel profile was originally developed in the late 1960s as an alternative to a 1:20 coned wheel profile (the P1). The P1 often required frequent turning as the conicity could increase quickly over time as the wheel wore in service. The P8 was designed based on an average worn shape of a P1 wheel. The P8 was found to stay closer to its original shape as it wore in service. However, new P8 wheels or newly profiled P8 wheels tend to experience a high initial flange wear rate in the first 20,000–30,000 miles, until the worn wheel shape reaches ‘dimensional stability’; after this, the flange width typically remains relatively constant. A ‘Reduced Flange Wear’ (RFW) wheel profile has been developed, based on the P8 profile but with a modified flange root geometry. The Wheel Profile Damage Model has been used to calculate how the proposed RFW wheel profile could reduce wear rates and therefore increase wheelset life. This paper presents results for a typical electric multiple unit train (EMU1) running on rural and suburban routes and a higher speed variant (EMU2) running on an inter-city route. The effect of the proposed RFW profile on rail rolling contact fatigue (RCF) has also been evaluated using the Whole Life Rail Model, for the same routes. The results suggest that the proposed RFW profile does reduce flange wear compared to a P8, with larger reductions achieved on routes that are more curvaceous. For wheel turning based purely on restoring wheel profile geometry, the RFW profile could half the amount of material removed at each turning (based on turning wheels at 250,000 miles). Furthermore, the results show that the RFW profile experiences slightly less wheel RCF damage than the P8. When new, the RFW profile appears to cause slightly higher rail RCF than a new P8 (For radii 700 m < R < 1300 m); however, the results suggest that worn RFW profiles cause very similar rail RCF to that caused by worn P8 wheels.
Book review: Suraj Bhan Bhardwaj, State and Peasant Society in Medieval North India: Essays on Changing Contours of Mewat
Authors: Dutta Ranjeeta
Published: June 2022

Suraj Bhan Bhardwaj, State and Peasant Society in Medieval North India: Essays on Changing Contours of Mewat. Delhi: Primus Books, 2019, pp. 220. ISBN:978-93-86552-23-5 (Hardback)
Wenxiang 3.0: Evolutionary Visualization of α, π, and 3/10 Helices
Authors: Jungck John R , Cebeci Metehan
Published: June 2022

Wenxiang diagrams illustrate protein helices as spirals on a plane and thus have the advantage over helical wheels of being planar graphs. Wenxiang 3.0 extends the original version by adding 3 major features: (1) individual amino acid residues can be colored according to their evolutionary conservation in comparative multiple sequence alignments using CONSURF encoding; (2) α, π, and 3/10 helices can be illustrated by overlaying arcs representative of the pitches of these helices; and, (3) the physico-chemical properties of amino acids residues in the protein sequence can be re-presented by colored geometric shapes.
Police legitimacy and approval of vigilante violence: The significance of anger
Authors: Asif Muhammad
Published: June 2022

Most of the previous studies on vigilante violence suggest that people employ vigilante violence instrumentally to compensate for a lack of state monopoly on violence and the state's illegitimacy in controlling crime. This study, however, highlights the significance of emotions—most notably anger—in explaining approval of vigilante violence. A cross-sectional study was conducted at six Pakistani universities with a sample of 500 students recruited through online surveys. The results of the regression models show that police legitimacy and trait anger independently predict approval of vigilante violence both directly and indirectly via righteous anger. Thus, the findings suggest that people who are easily angered and who perceive the police as corrupt and procedurally unjust feel righteous anger and are likely to approve of vigilante violence.
On becoming a dementia-friendly community: An empirical study of the individual factors that predict openness towards dementia-friendly communities
Authors: Parkinson Lauren , Sullivan Karen A , Graham Karen
Published: June 2022

Background and objectives

Evidence suggests that limited public awareness and dementia-related stigma can create barriers to community inclusiveness. This study explored the relation between public knowledge of dementia, attitudes towards people with dementia, experience with dementia and openness towards dementia-friendly communities.

Research design and methods

Two-hundred and twenty-nine members of the public completed a cross-sectional online survey with three established measures [Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Test, Attitudes Towards People with Dementia scale and Understanding of Health Problems survey] and one exploratory scale [Openness Towards Dementia-Friendly Communities]. An existing ‘mild’ dementia vignette was used to evaluate dementia recognition. Factors contributing to correct dementia recognition (knowledge, exposure to dementia, education and gender), worry about developing dementia (knowledge, exposure and respondent age), and openness towards dementia-friendly communities (knowledge, exposure and attitudes) were examined through group comparisons and a multiple linear regression.

Results

Consistent with the literature, the respondents had poor knowledge, reasonably good dementia recognition, and mostly positive attitudes towards people with dementia. None of the proposed factors were significantly associated with correct dementia recognition, and only gender was significantly associated with dementia worry. Knowledge and attitudes towards people with dementia (not exposure) were significant independent predictors of openness towards dementia-friendly communities.

Discussion and implications

The expansion of dementia-friendly communities will require further investment in awareness-raising initiatives to improve dementia knowledge and attitudes in the community. This study shows the importance of these factors in the broader community’s openness towards dementia-friendly communities.
Amplifying Advocacy for Student Health and School Nursing Services
Authors: Largent Piper
Published: June 2022

Annually, the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) sets advocacy goals, including legislative and policy priorities. Activities this past year continued to focus on assistance for school nurses to manage the ongoing pandemic by providing for additional school nurses and supplies. In addition, NASN advocated for legislation to provide grants for school nurses in Title 1 schools, to reduce tobacco use, and to address social determinants of health. This article provides a brief summary of NASN’s 2021-2022 national advocacy efforts.
Six Actionable Steps to Preparing Financially Quantified Value Propositions
Authors: McDonald Malcolm , Oliver Grant
Published: June 2022

This practitioner-oriented article represents a strand of research by the author into the practice of developing financially quantified value propositions for customers, which is the focus of this article. There is an appendix that spells out other meanings of the word ‘value’. The data used were gathered over a 5-year period from attendance and keynote addresses on the topic of value. In total, twelve conferences and 1,200 marketing practitioners were asked about their value propositions (defined in this article) via audience response systems in order to guarantee honest answers.

The results indicate that fewer than 3% have financially quantified value propositions. This compares with a verbal estimate from McKinsey of 5%. The main conclusion, while only indicative, is that it is a very low percentage of UK companies.

A review of the literature on value propositions failed to reveal any kind of quantitative process for developing financially quantified value propositions, so the author developed such a process and tested it on 20 organizations, global and local in order to refine it.

This article sets out the results of this work and is summarized here as a six-step process.

It is important to point out that the author of this article is deeply involved in the growing community of academics and practitioners who are striving to convince organizations that it is not only about creating value for customers, but also about creating value for employees, for all stakeholders and, of course for the Planet. All of this, however, is contingent upon creating value for customers, the major issue spelled out in this article.