bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Automated Arabic-Arabic sign language translation system based on 3D avatar technology
Authors: Alethary Ahmed A. , Aliwy Ahmed Hussein , Ali Nabeel Salih
Published: November 2022

Arabic sign language (ArSL) is the natural language of the deaf community in Arabic countries. Deaf people have a set of difficulties due to poor services available. They have problems accessing essential information or receiving an education, communicating with other communities, and engaging in activities. Thus, a machine translation system of Arabic to ArSL has been developed using avatar technologies. Firstly, a dictionary of ArSL was constructed using eSign editor Software. The constructed dictionary has three thousand signs. It can be adopted for the translation system in which written text can be transformed into sign language. The dictionary will be available as a free resource for researchers. It is complex and time-consuming, but it is an essential step in the machine translation of whole Arabic text to ArSL with 3D animations. Secondly, the translator has been developed. It performs syntactic and morphological analysis and then applies a set of rules to translate an Arabic text into ArSL text based on the structure and grammar of ArSL. The system is evaluated according to the parallel corpus that consists of 180 sentences using the metric for evaluation of translation with explicit ordering metric for evaluation of translation with explicit ordering(METEOR) our system achieves a relative score of (86%).
Design and development of photovoltaic based grid interactive inverter
Authors: Vijayakumar G. , Sujith M. , Pardeshi Dipesh B. , Saravanan S.
Published: November 2022

In order to trail and produce the power generated on the photovoltaic (PV) array to the grid, a PV exhibit coordinated double lift DC-AC converter used as a contained single-stage micro inverter is introduced in this research. The flowing association of a DC converter, rectifier, and an inverter is used in the single-stage micro inverter to provide high supporting rise with a minimal obligation proportion. Due to the utilization of a greater variety of force-exchanging devices, the flowing association of the converters, however, gives limited change efficacy. With fewer switches and hidden components, the suggested disengaged double lift small inverter is intended to provide high power from maximum power point tracking (MPPT) proficiency, high transformation proportion, and high change effectiveness. The stoop reflections and the small inverter's six distinct techniques are presented. To support the display of the double lift DC-AC converter worked small inverter, the recreation and results of the exploratory proto sort are presented.
Robotização e experiência de consumo em hotéis na Ásia: uma análise qualitativa de comentários no TripAdvisor
Authors: Paixão Thalía Mayara Amorim da , Salazar Viviane Santos
Published: November 2022

A tecnologia está presente no cotidiano de diversas áreas causando mudanças no ambiente dos negócios e tornando os serviços cada vez mais automatizados. Na hotelaria, a robotização tem modificado a experiência de consumo dos hóspedes e suscitado questionamentos teóricos e práticos acerca dos seus efeitos na satisfação, na qualidade percebida dos serviços e na experiência de consumo. Assim, o presente estudo analisou a influência dos serviços robotizados na experiência dos consumidores de dois empreendimentos hoteleiros na Ásia, os hotéis JEN Singapore Orchardgateway by Shangri-La e o Henn Na Hotel Tokyo Ginza. A metodologia é caracterizada como uma pesquisa descritiva-exploratória e com abordagem qualitativa. A técnica de análise de dados foi a análise de conteúdo e o corpus de pesquisa foram os comentários das avaliações postadas pelos usuários no site de viagens TripAdvisor, analisados entre janeiro e abril de 2021. Os resultados mostraram que os robôs são vistos como um diferencial nos hotéis que os possuem, podendo ser um canal de experiências extraordinárias se forem programados e utilizados em um ambiente favorável para boas experiências. No entanto, os robôs com funções limitadas podem afetar negativamente a qualidade das experiências, causando sentimentos de frustação e decepção nos hóspedes. Foi observado também que um dos principais públicos dos hotéis robotizados são famílias com crianças, onde as experiências de consumo geralmente são maximizadas. Por fim, os robôs utilizados nas atividades de front office, por conseguirem interagir com os hóspedes, tendem a influenciar mais a experiência de consumo e consequentemente a avaliação dos hóspedes.
Flow‐Induced Secretion of Endothelial Heparanase Regulates Cardiac Lipoprotein Lipase and Changes Following Diabetes
Authors: Lee Chae Syng , Zhai Yajie , Shang Rui , Wong Trevor , Mattison Aurora J. , Cen Haoning Howard , Johnson James D. , Vlodavsky Israel , Hussein Bahira , Rodrigues Brian
Published: November 2022

Background

Lipoprotein lipase (LPL)‐derived fatty acid is a major source of energy for cardiac contraction. Synthesized in cardiomyocytes, LPL requires translocation to the vascular lumen for hydrolysis of lipoprotein triglyceride, an action mediated by endothelial cell (EC) release of heparanase. We determined whether flow‐mediated biophysical forces can cause ECs to secrete heparanase and thus regulate cardiac metabolism.

Methods and Results

Isolated hearts were retrogradely perfused. Confluent rat aortic ECs were exposed to laminar flow using an orbital shaker. Cathepsin L activity was determined using gelatin‐zymography. Diabetes was induced in rats with streptozotocin. Despite the abundance of enzymatically active heparanase in the heart, it was the enzymatically inactive, latent heparanase that was exceptionally responsive to flow‐induced release. EC exposed to orbital rotation exhibited a similar pattern of heparanase secretion, an effect that was reproduced by activation of the mechanosensor, Piezo1. The laminar flow‐mediated release of heparanase from EC required activation of both the purinergic receptor and protein kinase D, a kinase that assists in vesicular transport of proteins. Heparanase influenced cardiac metabolism by increasing cardiomyocyte LPL displacement along with subsequent replenishment. The flow‐induced heparanase secretion was augmented following diabetes and could explain the increased heparin‐releasable pool of LPL at the coronary lumen in these diabetic hearts.

Conclusions

ECs sense fluid shear‐stress and communicate this information to subjacent cardiomyocytes with the help of heparanase. This flow‐induced mechanosensing and its dynamic control of cardiac metabolism to generate ATP, using LPL‐derived fatty acid, is exquisitely adapted to respond to disease conditions, like diabetes.
Differentiation in Environmental Treaty Making: Measuring Provisions and How They Reshape the Depth–Participation Dilemma
Authors: Farias Deborah Barros Leal , Roger Charles
Published: November 2022

In this article we measure, describe, and demonstrate the importance of differential treatment for developing countries in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). So far, we argue, quantitative research on differentiation has been minimal due to data constraints and the complex nature of relevant provisions. In response, we offer a way of relieving this constraint, exploiting the fact that MEAs with differentiation typically identify distinct sets of “developing country” parties. After describing the data collection process, we show that differentiation is surprisingly uncommon, appearing in only 6 percent of MEAs, and disproportionately appears in larger, more recent agreements. We then test a key conjecture about differentiation by revisiting the debate on the depth–participation dilemma. We demonstrate, specifically, how it conditions this relationship. When MEAs do not differentiate, greater depth reduces participation; when they do, the relationship is reversed, making it possible to sustain high levels of both. This result helps to reconcile conflicting findings in earlier studies and has important policy implications.
The Local Economic Impacts of Prisons
Authors: Chirakijja Janjala
Published: November 2022

I examine the economic consequences of prisons on local communities using two complementary approaches. The first uses prison openings during the 1990s across the United States, and the second exploits the results of the prison site-selection competitions in Texas. Prisons bring substantial and persistent gains in public employment. However, additional jobs at the prisons generate little spillover effects on private sector employment and fail to provide a major boost to local economic activity—overall resulting in approximately a one-for-one increase in local employment. Neighborhoods closest to prisons also experience declines in housing values and demographic shifts toward low-socioeconomic status households.
Do Export Support Programs Affect Prices, Quality, Markups, and Marginal Costs? Evidence From a Natural Policy Experiment
Authors: Buus Magnus T. , Munch Jakob R. , Rodrigue Joel , Schaur Georg
Published: November 2022

Firms’ success in international markets depends on their product’s quality, prices, markups, and marginal cost. However, causally identified empirical evidence for the effect of trade policies that address nontariff barriers on these mechanisms is rare. To fill this gap, we exploit a quasinatural experiment in Denmark and examine the effects of an export support policy aimed at reducing nontariff barriers to trade. We find that export support raises firm-level exports within markets. However, export support does not affect prices, quality, markups, or marginal costs. Instead, the results support trade theory predicting that firms grow in export markets by shifting demand.
Signals, Information, and the Value of College Names
Authors: Eble Alex , Hu Feng
Published: November 2022

Colleges can send signals about their quality by adopting new, more alluring names. We study how this affects college choice and labor market performance of college graduates. Administrative data show name-changing colleges enroll higher-aptitude students, with larger effects for alluring-but-misleading name changes and among students with less information. A large resume audit study suggests a small premium for new college names in most jobs, and a significant penalty in lower-status jobs. We characterize student and employer beliefs using web-scraped text, surveys, and other data. Our study shows signals designed to change beliefs can have real, lasting impacts on market outcomes.
Subway, Collaborative Matching, and Innovation
Authors: Koh Yumi , Li Jing , Xu Jianhuan
Published: November 2022

Using rapid expansion of the Beijing subway from 2000 to 2018, we analyze its impact on collaborative matches in innovations. We find that an hour reduction in travel time between a pair of locations in Beijing brought 14.85% to 37.69% increase in collaborated patents. Far-apart location pairs were more affected, and the local average causal response is approximately 34.92% to 82.29%. The effect is mainly driven by increased matches among highly productive innovators. The entry of new innovators, relocation of existing innovators, and collaborations among low-productive innovators also contribute to the increase in collaborative matches, especially in the long run.
Mary Magdalene in Film: Response jshj
Authors: Taylor Joan E.
Published: November 2022

This essay responds to the four essays concerning the portrays of Mary Magdalene in film and television for the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus.
Passing the Test of Split: Israbic-A New Mixed Language
Authors: Kheir Afifa Eve
Published: November 2022

Israbic is a language variety that is spoken by a majority of the Druze community in Israel and is characterised by a mixture of Israeli Hebrew and Palestinian Arabic. Longitudinal data of Palestinian Arabic/Israeli Hebrew code-switching from the Israeli Druze community collected in 2000, 2017 and 2018 indicate that Israbic went through a gradual process of language mixing. The process started with code-switching, was followed by a composite matrix language formation and ultimately resulted in a mixed language. Some linguists (see Backus, 2003; Bakker, 2003) claim that mixed languages cannot arise out of code-switching. Conversely, others (see Auer, 1999; Myers-Scotton, 2003) have proposed theoretical models to mixed languages as outcomes of code-switching, and some (see McConvell, 2008; McConvel and Meakins, 2005; Meakins, 2012; O’Shannessy, 2012) have provided empirical evidence under which mixed languages arise out of code-switching. This research sought to gather further empirical evidence showing that Israbic is another mixed language that arose out of code-switching. This study also wished to emphasise the uniqueness of Israbic, which is a mixture of closely related languages. Such mixtures are scarce in the literature (Auer, 2014). An examination of Israbic in relation to Auer’s and Myers-Scotton’s models and general definitions in the literature and comparisons of Israbic with other widely accepted mixed languages reveals that Israbic is an excellent example of a mixed language. However, such models and definitions are based on existing languages that have been subject to discussion in the literature. Of these languages, the majority arose from contact between languages from different language families, whereas this study is concerned with investigating a mixed language from the same language family. Thus, this raises the question as to whether such concepts have the same validity for closely related languages.
Similarity in Language Transfer – Investigating Transfer of Light Verb Constructions From Dutch to German
Authors: Barking Marie , Backus Ad , Mos Maria
Published: November 2022

Bilingual speakers of typologically closely related languages tend to frequently experience language transfer, which suggests that similarity between languages is likely to play an important role in the transfer process. In this paper, we explore how three different types of similarity affect transfer of light verb constructions (lvc s), such as take a walk or set an alarm, from Dutch to German by native German speakers living in the Netherlands, namely: (a) similarity to existing constructions, (b) surface similarity based on whether the noun in the lvc is a cognate in Dutch and German, and (c) similarity in the light verb’s collocational contexts. The results suggest that all three types of similarity influence transfer: speakers add similar constructions to their language and they drop existing ones that happen to be less similar, ultimately facilitating convergence across the speakers’ languages.
Continuity and Change in New Dialect Formation: Tú vs. Usted in New York City Spanish
Authors: Fernández-Mallat Víctor , Newman Michael
Published: November 2022

This study uses an innovative translation task method to explore second person singular (2ps) address patterns in New York City Spanish (nycs), a new dialect that formed in contact with English and among multiple dialects of Spanish. Results reveal more continuity than disruption in address choice with source varieties of Spanish, unlike some other diasporic language communities that show radical simplification in address systems. However, there was acceleration of trends found in most Spanish-speaking regions with greater use of the familiar tuteo variant over the formal ustedeo in apparent time. Our findings also point to spending adolescence in nyc as a key predictor of conformity to nycs patterns. This finding contrasts with studies of formal features in new dialect formation that have found middle childhood to be when conformity to local patterns mostly occurs.
Prior Exposure to Dynamic Visual Displays Reduces Vection Onset Latency
Authors: Ni Jing , Ito Hiroyuki , Ogawa Masaki , Sunaga Shoji , Palmisano Stephen
Published: November 2022

While compelling illusions of self-motion (vection) can be induced purely by visual motion, they are rarely experienced immediately. This vection onset latency is thought to represent the time required to resolve sensory conflicts between the stationary observer’s visual and nonvisual information about self-motion. In this study, we investigated whether manipulations designed to increase the weightings assigned to vision (compared to the nonvisual senses) might reduce vection onset latency. We presented two different types of visual priming displays directly before our main vection-inducing displays: (1) ‘random motion’ priming displays — designed to pre-activate general, as opposed to self-motion-specific, visual motion processing systems; and (2) ‘dynamic no-motion’ priming displays — designed to stimulate vision, but not generate conscious motion perceptions. Prior exposure to both types of priming displays was found to significantly shorten vection onset latencies for the main self-motion display. These experiments show that vection onset latencies can be reduced by pre-activating the visual system with both types of priming display. Importantly, these visual priming displays did not need to be capable of inducing vection or conscious motion perception in order to produce such benefits.
Vanitas and trompe-l’œil
Authors: Hindriks Sandra
Published: November 2022

This essay examines the complex ways in which early Netherlandish artists used illusionistic devices including trompe l’œil as a means of forcing viewers to confront their own mortality. Her analysis unpacks deep associations between the representation of memento mori motifs and the viewer’s response, focusing on how such paintings paradoxically appeal to the notoriously fallible sense of sight in order to provoke deeper reflection on, and preparation for, the inevitable end of life. The relationship of trompe l’œil to the memento mori rests, in this discussion, on how such devices call attention to the ways in which painting itself invites responses that are both sensual and cognitive. The deception of the eye leads to a higher cognitive state of questioning earthly perception as well as the unfathomable nature of death. The frequent use of folding panels served to ‘enfold’ the viewer actively in the visual and conative dynamics of the painted representation.
Embodying the Catholic faith
Authors: Marquaille Léonie
Published: November 2022

This essay probes the political and ideological status of such images in the officially Calvinist state after 1579. Focusing on the relationship between representations of the body of dead priests and the collective body of Catholic believers, Marquaille’s essay addresses one visual expression of the paradoxical situation whereby Catholics were reduced to minority status, not in numbers but through restrictions on public worship, including the public display of images. These prohibitions on the display of images notably extended to funerary rites, which were strictly regulated. This repressive context, according to Marquaille, gave rise to the posthumous clerical portrait as a new class of image with specific resonance for the emergent Dutch Catholic community. While Protestants shunned the representation of mortal remains, Dutch Catholics in particular came to embrace such depictions as an affirmative and distinctive feature of their newly proprietary visual culture.
Unravelling Ideas and Artefacts
Authors: Ang Hao Yuan , Tan Aik-Ling
Published: November 2022

This study tracks the progression of students’ ideas by understanding how ideas are adopted or rejected. Understanding the discourses that lead to idea progression could help illumine sense-making and decision-making processes within student group discussions. Student-generated artefacts in the form of vertical farming prototypes were analysed. These artefacts were from four groups of students who were engaged in an integrated STEM activity to improve existing vertical farming solutions in land-scarce Singapore. In the authors’ analysis to understand how the final prototype came to being, they examined the progression of ideas through lesson phases of envisioning, sketching, collaborative modelling, feedback, and evaluation. A coding scheme was used to track whether ideas were rejected, improved, or assimilated in the final prototype. Idea maps were generated to track key developments of ideas. The findings revealed that groups that took greater risks in generating more ideas had more rejected ideas and were also more engaged in the feedback process. This resulted in richer idea development. Idea fluency was highly varied across all four groups. This suggests that group engagement and a culture of reflection and monitoring could significantly improve idea quality, although the lack of curriculum time could limit desired divergent idea generation.
Diversity of Leguminosae in the Chapada das Mesas National Park, Maranhão, Brazil: new occurrences for Maranhão and the Brazilian Cerrado
Authors: DA SILVA GUILHERME SOUSA , DA SILVA GOMES GUSTAVO , DOS SANTOS GONÇALVES ANASTÁCIA , TEIXEIRA DE QUEIROZ RUBENS , MENDES DA CONCEIÇÃO GONÇALO
Published: November 2022

The Chapada das Mesas National Park is an important conservation unit in the state of Maranhão, Northeastern Brazil, with a predominance of the Cerrado phytogeographic domain and few floristic studies performed. The study aimed to provide a checklist of the Leguminosae from the Chapada das Mesas National Park through the analysis of samples collected in this study and material previously collected in the park, contributing to the botanical knowledge of the area and the state of Maranhão, in addition to filling data gaps on ecotonal zones in Brazil. Sixty-two genera and 158 species were recorded, corresponding to about 12.4% of the species cited for Cerrado phytogeographic domain and 35.5% of those cited for Maranhão. The subfamily Papilionoideae presented greater richness of genera (37) and species (80). The most representative genera in number of species were Chamaecrista Moench. (12), Mimosa L. (11), and Bauhinia L. (10). Among the recorded species, 27 are endemic to Brazil. With the checklist, 13 new records were cataloged for the state of Maranhão and for Cerrado. The data presented here expand the knowledge of Leguminosae in Maranhão and Cerrado and encourage the conservation of the flora of the Cerrado in Maranhão in view of the strong risk of environmental degradation, with continuous devastation even within protected areas.
A new species of the grenadier genus Coelorinchus from the seamounts in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean, with redefinition of C. vityazae (Teleostei: Gadiformes: Macrouridae)
Authors: PROKOFIEV ARTEM M. , IWAMOTO TOMIO , MISHIN ALEXEY V.
Published: November 2022

Re-investigation of the grenadier Coelorinchus vityazae endemic to the West Wind Drift Islands Province reveals species-level differences between the populations from the southeastern Atlantic and southwestern Indian oceans. The southeastern Atlantic populations (from Discovery and Gough seamounts) are described as a new species, C. inventionis sp. nov., characterized by a moderately short snout (27.7–33.9 % HL, vs. 32.0–38.7 % in C. vityazae) tipped with short, weakly tripartite terminal scute (vs. triangular and sharply pointed); uniformly thick, unpigmented lips (vs. fleshy, partly blackish upper lip with lateral portions expanded at middle in C. vityazae); modally i+17 or i+18 pectoral-fin rays (vs. i+15 or i+16), and anal-fin rays conspicuously darkened distally (vs. uniformly and finely peppered). Statistically significant differences between these two species were found for 28 of 39 morphometric characters. The Discovery and Gough specimens show a drastic difference in size of the light organ, which may reflect an initial stage of speciation within C. inventionis sp. nov. Iwamoto & Graham’s (2008) key to the species of the C. fasciatus group is modified for inclusion of the new species.
Research on mechanism of vitamin A combined with regenerated oxidation-reducing nanomedicine in treating rats with dry eye
Authors: Shi Lei , Li Ting-Yu , Li Liang-Yu , Hou Bao-Ke
Published: November 2022

The aim of this study was to assess the mechanism of vitamin A combined with regenerated oxidationreducing nanomedicine in treating rats with dry eyes. Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were divided into control set, Dry eye disease (DED) set, VA set, CeO2 NPs set and combined set.
The model of DED rat was prepared through injection with Scopolamine Hydrobromide and quantity of tear fluid was detected. The breakup time (BUT) was detected with fluorescein sodium test paper, and degree of corneal injury was evaluated with fluorescein sodium staining method. The change
of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) content was analyzed and secretion of IL-6 and IL-1β in serum was tested with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The protein expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax were analyzed with Western Blot assay
and quantity of tear fluid in the treated sets was increased and BUT was lengthened. The corneal injury was improved, and ROS content was reduced and SOD activity increased. The secretion of IL-6 and IL-1β was reduced. Moreover, Bcl-2 expression was increased, while Bax expression
was reduced. The action in combined set was more notable and DED was treated by vitamin A combined with regenerated oxidationreducing nanomedicine through improving oxidative stress and restraining the inflammatory secretion. The apoptosis could be regulated.
Clinical effects of laparoscopic treatment of unilateral inguinal indirect hernia in children with occult patent processus vaginalis and nano-silver antibacterial dressing in postoperative wound recovery
Authors: Geng Weimin , Li Ting , Liu Kunqiang , Liu Ning , Liu Dandan , Su Pengchao , Kang Ning , Zhang Haidong , Hu Xiaowei
Published: November 2022

Currently, laparoscopic high ligation of the hernia sac (LHLOHS) is the first choice for treating inguinal indirect hernia in children (IIHIC) with intraoperative occult patent processus vaginalis. However, postoperative incision infection and delayed healing significantly affect surgical
efficacy and recovery prognosis. In this study, 214 children with indirect inguinal hernia were analyzed and assigned to two groups according to the surgical methods used; a traditional group (n = 68) and a laparoscopic group (n = 136). The traditional group underwent traditional
high ligation of the hernia sac, while the laparoscopic group underwent LHLOHS. After surgery, the laparoscopic group was randomly assigned to Vaseline dressing (VD) and nano-silver antibacterial dressing (NSAD) groups (n = 68, each). Compared with the traditional group, the laparoscopic
group showed improved surgical indicators, shorter hospital stays, higher recovery rates, lower complication incidence and similar recurrence rates. Compared with the VD group, the wound healing and recovery rates of the NSAD group were higher while complication incidence was lower, wound
healing time become shorter, and procalcitonin and C-reactive protein levels normal before and after the operation (P <0.05). The results indicated that LHLOHS and NSAD had significantly positive effects on postoperative wound recovery and a high clinical application value.
Application of a new biological material in obstetric nursing
Authors: Li Yiwei , Shi Yun , Qin Ju , Wang Ting
Published: November 2022

Female postpartum pelvic floor dysfunction disease|(PFD) is a series of diseases caused by pelvic floor injury, defects, and dysfunction. The disease mainly includes pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Although PFD is not fatal, it can seriously affect
the quality of life of patients. For this reason, women need to repair the pelvic floor muscles after childbirth. In this study, we used a new polypropylene mesh biomaterial implanted into the vagina and then repaired the pelvic floor and observed its repair effect. Pathological tests proved
that the new biological material caused certain acute inflammatory reactions after implantation in the vagina, which increased the number of collagen cells in the pelvic floor muscle and restored its function.
Clinical application of biodegradable materials in sports injuries
Authors: Liu Shuigen , Wang Dongming , Chen Cheng , Jiang Haixia
Published: November 2022

The healing of living tendons is the result of the combined effects of endogenous and exogenous mechanisms. Biodegradable materials are widely used in the prevention of tendon adhesions caused by exercise-induced tendon injury. Decimeter waves and sodium hyaluronate are common surgical
biomaterials to prevent tendon adhesion. This study used the male white Laiheng chicken as the animal model and decimeter waves and sodium hyaluronate as the research object to analyze their effects on controlling and preventing tendon adhesion and promoting tendon healing during sports injury
surgery. The study provides evidence indicating that biodegradable materials, decimeter waves, and sodium hyaluronate can encourage the healing of the of the tendon after sports injuries.
Interface reaction and properties of Sn3.5Ag0.5Cu-xNd solder joints subjected to isothermal aging
Authors: Xu Le , Li Wei , Zhang Bo , Zhu Yubin , Lang Chaonan
Published: November 2022

In this paper, rare earth Nd with various contents (0, 0.04 and 0.5 wt.%) was incorporated into Sn3.5Ag0.5Cu (SAC) solder. The influence of rare earth Nd on the interface reaction, microstructure development, mechanical behavior and wettability were investigated by scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), joint strength measuring instrument, and wetting balance method. Adding a small amount of Nd can suppress the growth of interface IMC layer and subdivide the joint microstructure. The mechanical behavior and wettability were also improved efficiently. In the N2
atmosphere, the wettability of solder is better. In addition, the mechanical behavior of three kinds of solder joints decreases with increasing aging time, but the degree of decline of 0.04Nd solder joint is relatively slow.
Reconstructing biographical knowledge: Biographical policy evaluation toward a structural understanding of transnational migration
Authors: Apitzsch Ursula , Inowlocki Lena
Published: November 2022

In our article, we address how migrants in transnational spaces are affected by policies of citizenship, language policies, labor market, and education and training policies, among others. The analysis of autobiographical narrative interviews can provide methodical access to latently effective structures of transnational spaces. Transnational spaces can be conceptualized as opaque structures of multiply interconnected state, legal, and cultural transitions toward which individuals orient themselves biographically and in which they are simultaneously intertwined as collectives of experience. Transnational biographical knowledge is not only a result of subjective agency, but at the same time produces the structure of migration biographies, which are experienced and repeatedly reconstructed by migrating subjects. Through biographical policy evaluation we analyze policies and their simultaneous and sometimes paradoxical effects that force family members to find solutions for shaping their life practice. Thus, members of a family of several generations might be affected differently by policies due to their incomplete rights and family status, age, and gender. In reconstructing biographical evaluations, typical effects of the underlying policies can be discerned and critically assessed.
A domain adaptation model based on multiscale residual networks for aeroengine bearing cross-domain fault diagnosis
Authors: Yang Pu , Geng Huilin , Liu Peng , Wen ChenWan , Shen Ziwei
Published: November 2022

As the core component of rotating machinery, the fault diagnosis of rolling bearing has important engineering practical significance. Most of the current intelligent fault diagnosis methods are based on the premise that the training data and test data have similar probability distributions. However, in practical scenarios, there will inevitably be discrepancies in the distribution of vibration signals due to internal and external factors such as changes in working conditions, which will significantly affect the diagnostic performance of the intelligent diagnostic model. Aiming at problems that the vibration signal characteristic distribution of rolling bearings is inconsistent under different working conditions and the labels of the samples to be diagnosed are difficult to obtain, a new domain-adaptive fault diagnosis method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the multi-scale feature extraction module is used to extract the features of the input signals, and the residual network structure is used to avoid the degradation of the model performance. Then, the APReLU activation function is used to make the vibration signals perform different nonlinear transformations according to their own characteristics through adaptive learning. Finally, the Joint Maximum Mean Discrepancy (JMMD) is used to reduce the displacement of both conditional and edge distributions between different domains. Therefore, this method can extract domain-invariant feature information and align the source and target domains, which can be used for cross-domain intelligent fault diagnosis. Six transfer fault diagnosis tasks based on the rolling bearing experimental platform are designed to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the proposed method. At the same time, four popular methods are selected for comprehensive analysis and comparison. The results show that the method has good robustness and superiority under various diagnostic tasks.
A quantitative study of the allophanate formation reaction in PIR foams by FT-IR spectroscopy
Authors: Zharkov Vadim V , Vlasov Ruslan R
Published: November 2022

The method for determining the concentrations of the main functional groups in rigid polyisocyanurate (PIR) foams was developed using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. On the example of a series of rigid PIR foams of isocyanate indexes (II) from 150 to 400, the contents of isocyanate, allophanate and isocyanurate groups was determined. It has been shown that a significant amount of isocyanate groups is accumulated in PIR foams in the form of allophanate, without passing into the target product – isocyanurate; the bulk of the urethane groups is converted to allophanate at high isocyanate indexes. With an increase in the isocyanate index, the conversion degree of isocyanate to isocyanurate decreases and when a certain isocyanate index is attained, reaches the limiting value.
Food Insecurity, Federal Nutrition Support, and Parent Feeding Practices During COVID-19: A 1-Year Follow-up Study
Authors: Adams Elizabeth L. , Caccavale Laura J. , Smith Danyel I. , Bean Melanie K.
Published: November 2022

Objectives:

COVID-19 caused stark increases in food insecurity. To maintain food provision, policy changes to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were instated. This longitudinal study examined (1) food security patterns across the timeline of COVID-19; (2) the relationship among food security patterns, NSLP/SNAP use, and parent feeding practices; and (3) parent perceptions of NSLP/SNAP policy changes.

Methods:

A total of 333 US parents completed online surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic: May 2020 (T1), September 2020 (T2), and May 2021 (T3). Food security and parent feeding practices were reported at each time point; pre–COVID-19 behaviors were retrospectively reported at T1. Use and perceptions of NSLP/SNAP policy changes were reported at T3. We examined associations between food security and parent feeding practices using repeated-measures mixed models.

Results:

The percentage of parents with very low food security increased from pre–COVID-19 (9.6%) to T1 (29.1%) and remained elevated at T3 (16.8%). One-third (31.2%) of families fluctuated between food security and food insecurity, with 27.0% remaining food insecure at T3. Thirty percent of consistently food-insecure families reported not receiving school-provided meals, and 45% did not receive SNAP benefits. Most parents reported that pickup school meal sites (71.4%), Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer cards (51.4%), and increased SNAP benefits (79.6%) were beneficial. Initial changes in parent feeding practices reported at T1 returned to pre–COVID-19 levels by T3, yet concern for child overweight remained significantly elevated.

Conclusion:

Continued policy efforts to support food-insecure families via expanded food access in NSLP/SNAP are critical.
New municipalism in South America? Developing theory from experiences in Argentina and Chile
Authors: Arpini Emilia , Panez Alexander , Cumbers Andrew , Pearson Bethia
Published: November 2022

Working towards social transformation through forms of participatory and economic democracy is a core element of the new municipalist agenda. While utilising a ‘politics of proximity’ to develop citizen-led collectives in various forms and at various scales, these projects reimagine and reclaim the local state for social and ecological justice. However, much of the empirical literature that has fed into the development of this conceptualisation of new municipalism, while having a global ambition, has been based on European experiences. Thus, there are key questions around its applicability to other places, particularly in the Global South. South America has generated some of the emblematic cases of struggles against neoliberalism through reclaiming public services, from important interventions in reversing privatisations in the region to influential municipalist innovations, including participatory public policies such as participatory budgeting. This article seeks to critically interrogate new municipalism through an engagement with key social and political changes, state–civil society dynamics and political concepts in South America, illustrated with examples from municipal grassroots initiatives in Argentina and Chile. It argues that municipalism can be more extensively theorised by, first, engaging with a broader temporality than just moments of crisis; second, being attentive to the longer history of diverse participatory municipal initiatives in the region; and finally, incorporating the concept of territory ( territorio in Spanish), which has emerged as a key dimension for understanding social transformations in the region.
What’s not talked about: a content analysis of health issues in Black-oriented magazines
Authors: Taylor Teairah
Published: November 2022

Black-oriented magazines have been a staple of Black communities for decades. Essence magazine, in particular, places a strong emphasis on targeting and empowering the Black woman. Essence often covers health issues in their publications alongside other popular issues being discussed in Black communities. Given the prevalence of health articles in Essence, I conducted a content analysis to assess how the magazine discusses the relationships between health, power, and race. The findings suggest that Essence magazine leverages its cultural and popular position to engage in discussions about health issues with its readers in culturally relevant ways that engage and empower Black women. At the same time, given Essence’s global platform, the magazine walks a tightrope between being an ‘easy-read’ popular magazine and an outlet that discusses pressing health-related issues.
An improved author-topic (AT) model with authorship credit allocation schemes
Authors: Xu Shuo , Li Ling , Wang Congcong , An Xin , Yang Guancan
Published: November 2022

Authorship credit allocation schemes have attracted considerable research attention. However, no consensus about which one is the best has been attained until now, and limited evidence from practical tasks has been reported. Therefore, this study uses the author interest discovery task as a real-world task case to provide valuable insights into authorship credit allocation schemes and guidelines for further practical applications. For this purpose, a novel model, ATcredit, is proposed to strengthen the Author-Topic (AT) model with an authorship credit allocation scheme, and collapsed Gibbs sampling is used to approximate the posterior and estimate model parameters. Extensive experiments using the SynBio dataset reveal several interesting findings as follows. (a) Any scheme for allocating unequal authorship credits performs better than its equal-credit counterpart with our ATcredit model in terms of perplexity. (b) The fixed versions of four out of the six schemes work better than their flexible counterparts with our ATcredit model, regardless of the hyper-authorship strategy. (c) The variation coefficient of credit awards can serve as a criterion to decide whether the hyper-authorship strategy should be used. (d) When the number of authors in a scholarly article is less than three, the six authorship credit allocation schemes are similar to each other with our ATcredit model in terms of perplexity. (e) The harmonic counting scheme performs the best, followed by the arithmetic counting scheme, and the network-based counting scheme performs the worst with our ATcredit model in terms of perplexity. (f) The arithmetic counting scheme is similar to the harmonic counting scheme in terms of the normalised mutual information (NMI) of discovered interests, but the geometric counting scheme is different from the axiomatic and network-based counting schemes.
Contribution of School and Family Factors to Racial Disparities in Bullying Involvement
Authors: Low Sabina , Liu Lin
Published: November 2022

Limited research attention has been devoted to disparate vulnerabilities to social-ecological risk factors and how these may explain group differences in bullying by race. To address this gap, the present study used data of early adolescent respondents (Mage = 11.2 years) from 36 public middle schools ( N = 2701) to assess the nexus of race, social-ecological risk factors, and bullying perpetration. Multilevel modeling was employed to quantify the racial gap in bullying as well as the race-specific effects of social-ecological risk factors. Data revealed that Black students engaged in the highest levels of bullying perpetration, relative to all other racial/ethnic subgroups. School belonging exerted an amplified protective effect on Black and Hispanic youth, relative to White youth, and diminished the Black-White bullying perpetration gap. The link between exposure to family conflict and bullying perpetration was also race-specific. Findings yielded significant implications for bullying intervention and prevention.
Factors Associated With Postpartum Weight Retention in African Women: A Systematic Review
Authors: Kossou Jahdiel , Alaofè Halimatou , Hounkpatin Waliou Amoussa , Lokonon Jaurès
Published: November 2022

Background:

The obesity epidemic among women in Africa is a health problem, and many studies attribute it to childbearing. However, most studies of postpartum weight retention (PPWR) occur in high-income countries.

Objective:

Therefore, this review sought to identify the potential factors affecting PPWR among African women.

Methods:

Four databases were searched from January 2000 to December 2020: Medline/PubMed, Google scholar, Ajol research, FreeFullPDF. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale.

Results:

Fifteen studies (5 from west, 4 from south, 3 from east, 2 from central, and 1 from north) were included: 8 cohort and 7 prospective cohort studies. Two studies examined the effect of obesity and weight gain during pregnancy on PPWR, 3 studies assessed the effect of childbirth, 4 examined the effect of breastfeeding, 4 assessed the impact of morbidities such as HIV, and 2 looked at food insecurity. Five studies demonstrated that postpartum weight is due to residual pregnancy weight gain and childbirth weight gain and is accentuated as parity increases (n = 2). Breastfeeding has a controversial effect, while morbidity (n = 4) and food insecurity (n = 4) contributed to weight loss. The variation in weight was also influenced by cultural practices (n = 1), prepregnancy weight (n = 1), and socioeconomic status (n = 1). On all domains, only 3 included studies were of good quality.

Conclusions:

Pregnancy weight gain, childbirth, breastfeeding, morbidity, and food insecurity were associated with PPWR. However, preexisting factors must be considered when developing PPWR modification strategies. In addition, due to the limited number of studies included, robust conclusions cannot be drawn.
Static and dynamic mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced polymer with different stacking sequences
Authors: Li Lijun , Zhang Yiben , Sun Lingyu , Huang Shanfeng
Published: November 2022

With the wide application of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites, dynamic loading cases are increasingly considered in structural design and analysis. Hence, it is necessary to investigate their dynamic mechanical properties. In this paper, the carbon/epoxy laminates with different stacking sequences prepared by vacuum assisted resin infusion process were studied by quasi-static tension and split Hopkinson tension bar experiments. The loading strain rate is ranged from 2.2 × 10−4 s−1 to 2200 s−1. The results indicate that the composites are strain rate dependent. Four stacking sequence laminates show different strain rate sensitivities, and their mechanical performance differences depend on the strain rate. As the strain rate increases, tensile strength and elastic modulus increase, but failure strain decreases. Therein, the elastic modulus is highly sensitive. The elastic modulus difference of unidirection/cross-ply or unidirection/quasi-isotropic decreases but that of unidirection/angle-ply increases with increasing strain rate. The failure strain difference of unidirection/angle-ply decreases significantly with increasing strain rate. These experimental data and research results could provide some insight for epoxy matrix CFRPs.
Formal and informal solid waste management in Kutaisi, Georgia: A status quo report based on material flow analysis
Authors: Chachkhiani Medea , Allesch Astrid , Reichenbach Jan , Huber-Humer Marion
Published: November 2022

The goal of this study is a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of processes and flows within the solid waste management (WM) system in Kutaisi, Georgia, and the wider Imereti region. The applied methodology based upon data collected through customized questionnaires enabled both the formal and informal sectors (IS) to be characterized. Moreover, waste composition studies in the region’s rural and semi-urban areas revealed that the share of recyclables is higher in urban areas and commercial centres. A material flow analysis was used to transparently consolidate the collected data, showing that dumping and landfilling still play a major role within the Georgian WM system. The total amount of waste landfilled on ‘Nikea’ landfill in 2019 equals 58,000 tonnes year−1, from where around 55,500 tonnes year−1 is formally collected municipal solid waste, and 2,503 tonnes year−1 is commercial and industrial waste. According to the findings, the size of the IS in Kutaisi is 0.07–0.15% of the city’s population, whose supposed cumulative income is estimated GEL 0.57–1.13 million (EUR 180–360 thousand) in 2019. Informally collected recyclables are estimated 870–1,750 tonnes year−1, comprising 6–11% of recyclables landfilled in Kutaisi in 2019. The study provides a basis for decision-makers. Replicating the applied methodologies and approaches to create this sound database could support the WM system across whole Georgia. The study further reveals the importance of the need to stop neglecting the IS and recognizes the importance of its role in the WM system of Kutaisi and the wider Imereti region, respectively.