bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Review Paper on Thermal Comfort and Ventilation Systems in Educational Buildings: Nano-Mechanical and Mathematical Aspects
Authors: Jastaneyah Zuhair , Kamar Haslinda , Al Garalleh Hakim
Published: November 2022

Thermal comfort has always been an essential factor that affects students’ productivity and success. Students spend considerable time at their schools or universities more than any other building type except their homes. Thus, indicating the importance of providing thermal comfort
in educational buildings. Many studies worldwide are conducted to assess and optimize thermal comfort inside classrooms. However, the results have not been accurate even for similar study conditions due to the differences in the studies’ conditions. This paper focuses on thermal comfort
studies in educational buildings (classrooms). The studies are divided into two sections, the first covering field studies methodologies, objective, and subjective questionnaires, and the second reviewing thermal comfort results based on the climatic zone, educational level, and analysis approach.
It is recommended that thermal comfort studies be carried out using rational and adaptive models as they provide more accurate, reliable results. Also, it is found that thermal comfort standards are generally inadequate to assess thermal comfort in classrooms. Thus, other international standards
should be created and considered for classroom assessment. Over the past few years, the combination between nanotechnology and architecture engineering has been widely used in several disciplines because of its crucial significance in finding new nanodevices to contribute in reducing of energy
consumption, particularly on construction materials. Filling functionalized tools with nanoparticles plays a critical role in improving the thermal and optical properties, particularly with respect to nanofluids applications, i.e., buildings applications of thermal comfort. The experimental
results of long-term studies show that the calculation values of optimization have a consistent agreement with the experimental transmission of nanofluids models.
Statistical Analysis of Non-Newtonian Couple Stress Fluid Induced in Stretching Cylinder
Authors: Mondal Hiranmoy , Dey Subhabrata , Biswas Archita , Gupta Sruti , Samajdar Sukhendu
Published: November 2022

The paper provides the impact of suction and injection on convection laminar incompressible couple stress fluid flow and magnetic field using spectral quasi linearization methods as the major novelty of our work. This work is to addresed heat transfer is an important process in many
engineering, industrial, residential, and commercial buildings. Thus, this study aims to analyze the effect of MHD and non-Newtonian couple stress fluid runs over a permeable stretched cylinder. The leading formulation is transmuted into ordinary differential equations via similarity functions.
The coupled equations with non-linearly terms are resolved numerically through utilization of MATLAB code for spectal quasi linearization methods (SQLM). Convergence regions for solutions are discussed. Graphical results illustrating the impacts of various emerging parameters are presented
in discussion. The statistical declaration and probable error for skin friction and Nusselt number are numerically computed and discussed through Tables. From obtained outcomes it is concluded that magnitude of skin friction increases at the cylindrical surface for higher values of couple
stress parameter and Reynolds number. Nusselt number or heat transfer rate also enhances at the surface of cylinder in the presence of Reynolds number.
On the Generalized Fick’s and Fourier’s Laws for an Unsteady Casson-Williamson Fluids Over a Stretching Surface: A Spectral Approach
Authors: Tijani Yusuf O. , Akolade Mojeed T. , Ogunseye Hammed A. , Adeosun Adeshina T. , Farotimi Oluwaseun
Published: November 2022

In this comparative examination, the paradox of mass diffusion and heat conduction on the improved surface of weakly hydromagnetic and unsteady fluid flow is examined. Material relaxation time is believed to be one of the contributing factors militating against an effective heat and
mass transfer. This flow process is estimated to predict accurately the fluids enhancement and condensation/evaporation properties. With a workable similarity variable, the formulated model of modified Fick’s and Fourier’s laws assumed in the Riga surface-induced flow conveying
Casson-Williamson fluids with variable transport properties are transformed to the systems of ordinary differential equations. The spectral iterative technique (SLLM in particular), thus employed to analyze the flow distributions and ascertain the validity of the obtained results. However,
cohesion force between the fluid particle establishes abnormalities of both Fick’s and Fourier’s laws indicating that extra time will be required for effective mass and heat convection to the immediate environment. Generalized heat flux parameter minimizes the fluid temperature
and accelerated the nanoparticle concentration, relative minimization of the fluid temperature resulted to much more nanoparticle concentration. Moreover, Williamson fluid demonstrated a higher conductivity/diffusivity capacity in constract to the Casson fluid. When compared to Casson fluid,
the modified Hartman number has a stronger influence on Williamson fluid.
Buongiorno Modelled Nanoliquid Consequence of Thermal and Solutal Convection on the Magneto-Micropolar Fluid Inside an Inclined Porous Stretching Device
Authors: Humane Pooja P. , Patil Vishwambhar S. , Patil Amar B. , Shamshuddin M. D.
Published: November 2022

The objective of the present work is to investigate the chemically reacting micropolar nanofluid flow past an inclined permeable stretching sheet. The flow is exposed in the magnetic and thermally radiative environment and convective boundary conditions are taken into consideration
to form the complete description of the flow model. The appropriate similarity invariants are used to obtain the system of the non-linear ordinary differential equation. The well-known Runge-Kutta fourth-order method is worked out with a shooting technique for numerical investigation. The
behavior of fluid motion, temperature, concentration, and engineering quantities for arising physical parameters is sketched through graphs and discussed in detail. The tabular comparison is used to provide the validation of current work. Outputs demonstrate flow decrement, which is due to
the produced Lorentz force that itself is the result of the enhancement in magnetic parameter and inclination of angle, and rise in the profiles of porosity index. The fluid temperature exceeds in conjunction with the accumulation of radiative heat, dissipation heat, as well as thermophoresis
and Brownian motion. Physical engineering supporting forces like Skin friction and heat transfer rates are favorable for magnetic and material parameters but the mass transfer rate exhibits an opposite response.
Exploration of Radiative and Dissipative Heat on Williamson Nanofluid Flow in Conjunction with Convective Boundary Condition
Authors: Sharma Ram Prakash , Mishra S. R. , Tinker Seema , Kulshrestha B. K.
Published: November 2022

Nanofluid has a wide range of uses in various fluid systems, because of its excellent growth in thermal conductivity. The current paper explores the transfer of heat and mass process in MHD nanofluid flow across a stretching sheet, considering the collective impacts of nonlinear thermal
radiation, Joule heating, and binary chemical reactions with convective boundary conditions for Williamson nanofluid. The necessary transformations are carried out to alter the controlling PDE’s into a collection of linked ODE’s. The shooting approach, in conjunction with the fourth-order
Runge–Kutta method, is employed to get solutions to highly nonlinear ODE’s. The impact of varied main factors on velocity, temperature, concentration, for Weissenberg number, Biot number along with other parameters are depicted graphically, whilst the change in the rate of heat
and mass transfer is investigated via numerical data in tabular form. The acquired numerical data show that expanding the Eckert number diminishes the rate of mass transfer whereas expanding the thermal radiation parameter, expandsthe rate of heatand rate of mass transfer.
Tempering Applied Critical Leadership: The Im/Possibilities of Leading for Racial Justice in School Districts
Authors: Shah Vidya , Aoudeh Nada , Cuglievan-Mindreau Gisele , Flessa Joseph
Published: November 2022

How do leaders make the impossible choice between harm enacted on racially oppressed students and families, and harm enacted on them as advocates for racial justice in systems steeped in whiteness? How do they negotiate multiple harms in Black and Brown bodies? Purpose: Situated in between the literature on tempered radicalism and Applied Critical Leadership (ACL), this study explores the experiences of six Black and Brown mid-level and senior-level district leaders in Greater Toronto Area, in Ontario, Canada. Research Methods/Approach: We draw on counter-narrative methodologies including in-depth oral history interviews and ongoing communication with participants to explore the impossibilities and possibilities of leading for racial justice. Findings: Impossibilities include complicities and complexities, accountabilities and alliances, and different metrics, different expectations. Possibilities include present and future hopes, personal power and voice, and joy and fulfillment. Implications for Research and Practice: This study adds to the literature on critical race-tempered radicalism by offering three important shifts in perspectives about leading for racial justice that blur revolutionary leadership and ACL. These include challenging a politics of representation and the necessary change in metrics, accountability measures, and systemic necessary to demonstrate the readiness for anti-racist leadership; anti-racist leadership as messy, ambiguous, and contextual that make space for complicities and complexities of this work; and anti-racist leadership beyond anti-racist leaders, which recognizes leadership beyond any one person, role, location, or generation.
Detecting Preknowledge Cheating via Innovative Measures: A Mixture Hierarchical Model for Jointly Modeling Item Responses, Response Times, and Visual Fixation Counts
Authors: Man Kaiwen , Harring Jeffrey R.
Published: November 2022

Preknowledge cheating jeopardizes the validity of inferences based on test results. Many methods have been developed to detect preknowledge cheating by jointly analyzing item responses and response times. Gaze fixations, an essential eye-tracker measure, can be utilized to help detect aberrant testing behavior with improved accuracy beyond using product and process data types in isolation. As such, this study proposes a mixture hierarchical model that integrates item responses, response times, and visual fixation counts collected from an eye-tracker (a) to detect aberrant test takers who have different levels of preknowledge and (b) to account for nuances in behavioral patterns between normally-behaved and aberrant examinees. A Bayesian approach to estimating model parameters is carried out via an MCMC algorithm. Finally, the proposed model is applied to experimental data to illustrate how the model can be used to identify test takers having preknowledge on the test items.
The J-Curve Effect in Services Trade: A Disaggregated Analysis
Authors: Trofimov Ivan D.
Published: November 2022

This article examines the relationship between the real exchange rate and the services trade balance in the UK using the quarterly data for the 2005Q1–2019Q4 period. We consider the aggregate as well as disaggregated trade across five services categories. We employ linear and non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models. The non-linear model, in particular, allows consideration of asymmetric response of the trade balance to depreciations as opposed to appreciations. The findings indicate little evidence of a long-term improvement in the trade balance following depreciation, and suggest the absence of J-curve effect. The effects of domestic, ‘rest of the world’ GDP and monetary base on the trade balance were respectively negative, positive and mixed.

JEL Codes: F14, F31, C22
Language and Factional Polarity in the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe
Authors: Sithole E.
Published: November 2022

This paper explores the role of language in the scientific study of politics. Conceding that politics is naturally an arena of heated disputation, it examines linguistic manifestations of factional polarisation by interpreting words, phrases, and sentences used by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) politicians during the party’s acrimonious splits of 2005 and 2014 and subsequent re-union of 2017. I contend that the use of vituperative, exclusionary and inflammatory language fuelled personality clashes; ethnic chauvinism; sexism; racism; ideological discord and intraparty violence. This often derailed attempts to reconcile the party’s bickering factions.
The Representation of the British Government in Zimbabwean Nationalist Propaganda, 1965–80
Authors: Pattenden Hugh
Published: November 2022

This article explores the ways in which the two main African nationalist opposition groups in Rhodesia portrayed Britain in their media output. It uses a variety of sources, including newspapers, magazines, radio, and television programmes to recreate the key messages of the Zimbabwe African National Union and Zimbabwe African People's Union during the Unilateral Declaration of Independence period (1965–80). It argues that both groups recognised the importance of using propaganda for political purposes and developed an image of Britain as they believed it should be seen by the World. It further suggests, however, that this depiction of Britain was not always consistently applied, and that wider pressures can be seen at play. At times they claimed that the British were on the side of the rebellious settlers, and not to be trusted. Yet on other occasions they keenly asserted that, as the colonial power, the British Government had responsibility for Rhodesia and should be the focus of negotiations. In looking at these issues, this exploration of the propaganda war seeks to expand the historiography of Britain, Rhodesia, and the Zimbabwean nationalist movement.
The Influence of Active and Passive Motion Experience on Infants’ Visual Prediction Ability
Authors: Gehb Gloria , Jovanovic Bianca , Kelch Amanda , Schwarzer Gudrun
Published: November 2022

In the present study we examined whether infants' visual prediction abilities were related to different types of motion experiences. We tested 30 6-month-old infants on a visual-spatial prediction task in which they had to visually anticipate the locational reappearance of temporarily occluded moving objects. We assigned infants to one of three experience groups: active locomotion training, passive motion experience, and a no-training control group. We tested the infants’ visual prediction abilities before and after these trainings. We found improved infant predictions at a post-training test only for passively trained infants ( p = .015, d = −1.033; Bonferroni corrected). Thus, we conclude that infants’ visual-spatial predictions of temporally occluded moving objects was facilitated by mere movement experience, even if passive. Visual information gathered during even passive movement seemed sufficient for visual prediction.
Examining the Factor Structure of the Posttraumatic Checklist for Civilians
Authors: Youngren Westley Atrayeau , Balderas Jessica C , Reis Daniel , Hamilton Nancy
Published: November 2022

The Posttraumatic Checklist for Civilians (PCL-C) is one of the most common tools used to assess PTSD among civilian populations. However, the underlying factor structure of the PCL-C remains under examined, with the most recent research relying on small samples with limited generalizability. Thus, the present study used exploratory and confirmatory techniques in a large North American college student sample to investigate the factor structure of the PCL-C. Results supported a 3-factor model for the PCL-C accounting for 59% of the total variance and represented by Suppression ( M = 11.2, SD = 5.0); Hyperarousal ( M = 6.5, SD = 3.2); and Diminished Reward Processing ( M = 5.9, SD = 2.9). Regarding gender differences, females tended to score higher on suppression and avoidance related symptoms, while males scored higher on symptoms related to Diminished Reward Processing. Results also showed that embedded within college campuses are trauma exposed students experiencing distressingly high levels of posttrauma symptoms. In sum, the results revealed three factors in the PCL-C, that could be used to offer insight into assessing and treating posttrauma symptoms on a college campus.
The carbon footprint of household clothing washing in Shanghai during winter and spring based on empirical data
Authors: Yuan Yuan , Yan Luo , Liang Shuaitong , Li Yan , Qu Hongjian , Ding Xuemei , Wang Jiping
Published: November 2022

The consumer use phase of textiles and fashion contributes one-third to the carbon and water footprint, which is the highest for the life cycle assessment technique. However, it is only estimated by questionnaire or estimated data. We carried out a 180-day direct data tracking for three volunteer families with different demographic characteristics. The results show that consumer behaviors significantly influence the carbon and water scarcity footprint. Moreover, the uncertainty between the test data and the energy label estimated data is revealed. For family 1, the energy label-based electricity consumption carbon footprint is 0.57 kgCO2e, while the empirical data result is 2.79 kgCO2e. We proposed an improved carbon footprint evaluation method with the correction parameters, which can be estimated using the sampling data from the customers. The results show that applying actual data collection and building a database is necessary to reduce the astonishing errors, making error analysis possible and meaningful.
Resilience to COVID-19 challenges: Lessons for school psychologists serving school-attending black South African youth aged 10 to 19 years old
Authors: Pillay Jace
Published: November 2022

Several studies have highlighted the mental health challenges of children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period, especially, in relation to an escalation of depression, anxiety, and stress. Whilst this may be the reality, it is unfortunate that most of the studies adopt a psychopathological point of departure often portraying doom and gloom. Adopting a social ecological resilience perspective the author focuses on the resilience of school-attending black South African youth during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The Child and Youth Resilience Measurement (CYRM-28) was completed by 4165 respondents in grades 4 to 12 (females = 2431, 58.4%; males = 1734, 41.6%) from the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North-West provinces in South Africa. The findings indicate that school psychologists must consider gender, age and school levels when they design school-based resilience programmes for black South African children. Particular emphasis should be placed on contextual resilience highlighting spiritual, religious, cultural and educational factors. A major lesson for school psychologists is to ensure that school-based resiliency programmes adopt a whole school approach that includes children, their families and local communities for the successful promotion of resilience during adverse situations as postulated by the social ecological resilience model.
Validation of Image Descriptions for the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment and Preferences for Activities of Children: A Delphi Study
Authors: Perreault Melanie , Belknap Katriana , Lieberman Lauren , Beach Pamela
Published: November 2022

Introduction: The Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) and the Preferences for Activities of Children (PAC) are useful measures to assess how children with visual impairments are meeting the nine areas of the expanded core curriculum (ECC). Each item of the CAPE and PAC includes an activity with an accompanied image to illustrate it. However, the measures do not provide standardized image descriptions for each item, which limits its validity and reliability for this population. Thus, the purpose of this Delphi study was to validate and standardize image descriptions for the CAPE and PAC so they can be used more effectively with children with visual impairments. Methods: The expert panel consisted of 11 professionals with extensive knowledge and experience with individuals with visual impairments and six dyads of parents and their child with a visual impairment. Each panel member assessed the accuracy of wording for 57 image descriptions on a 4-point Likert scale and provided feedback on items rated below 3. Results: Consensus on all image descriptions was reached after two rounds. Discussion: The results of this study help to increase the validity and reliability of the CAPE and PAC for children with visual impairments. Implications for Practitioners: The CAPE and PAC can be used more effectively by practitioners and researchers to assess the areas of the ECC for children with visual impairments.
Did Teachers College Influence the Mexican Rural School Project? Unraveling External and Internal Relations Among Key Actors (1915–1930)
Authors: Rockwell Elsie
Published: November 2022

Background and Context:

I approach the debate on Mexican postrevolutionary rural schooling by describing both the intellectual environment encountered by Mexican educators who studied at the college, and the configuration of their involvement in federal education in the 1920s. I discuss findings in relation to current historiographical trends that view the transnational circulation and refraction of educational models as a complex, contextualized process.

Purpose:

I trace possible influences of John Dewey and other Teachers College (TC) scholars of the early 20th century on the Mexican Rural School project.

Research Design:

I examine various accounts written by leading educators and present documentary evidence from the Secretaría de Educación Pública (Ministry of Public Education) archives related to rural schooling in the 1920s. I also draw on archival evidence and oral testimonies to describe the schools Dewey visited in Tlaxcala that sparked his admiration.

Conclusion:

Despite long-term attribution of Mexico’s postrevolutionary rural schooling program to the adoption of Dewey’s ideas, primarily through Moisés Sáenz, I find evidence in support of the version voiced by contemporaries that the Mexican Rural School had endogenous origins and some significant differences with the diverse projects and practices of progressive schooling promoted by TC scholars in those years.
Persuasive Technology and Personhood on Social Media
Authors: Martin Emily
Published: November 2022

Returning to Marcel Mauss’s classic work on the person, this essay explores Mauss’s distinction between personne and personnage and the distinction used in contemporary anthropology between dividual and individual. Using these terms of analysis, I use the insights gained from recent ethnographic research in laboratories of experimental psychology to show how some parts of the practices used in these settings have become the foundation of social media. I consider whether social media has created a world focused almost entirely on the autonomous and socially isolated individual or whether the socially embedded “dividual” can be equally present/recognized in these settings.
The Cold Futures of Mouse Genetics: Modes of Strain Cryopreservation Since the 1970s
Authors: Myelnikov Dmitriy , Peres Sara
Published: November 2022

Cryopreservation, or the freezing of embryos or sperm, has become a routine part of many research projects involving laboratory mice. In this article, we combine historical and sociological methods to produce a cryopolitical analysis of this less explored aspect of animal research. We provide a longitudinal account of mouse embryo and semen storage and uses in the UK and show that cryopreservation enabled researchers to overcome particular challenges—fears of strain loss, societal disapproval, and genetic drift—in ways which enabled the continued existence of strains and contributed to the scaling up of mouse research since World War II. We use the theoretical lens of cryopolitics to explore three different, yet overlapping, cryopolitical strategies that we identify. All share the ability to ensure the continued maintenance of genetically defined strains without the need for continually breeding colonies of mice. We argue that, in contrast to more common imaginaries of species conservation, the cryopolitical rationale can best be understood as purposefully not letting the strain die without requiring animals to live. The ability to freeze mice, then, had the potential to unsettle who the objects of care are in mouse research, from individual animals to the concept of the strain itself.
Against masculinised hypercorrection? Renegotiating the everydayness and ordinariness of postfeminism on Chinese TV
Authors: Xu Min , Zheng Shiyu (Sharon)
Published: November 2022

In the past decade, there has been a significant rise in urban women-themed TV dramas in China, some of which have generated substantial public discourse on femininity. While Western women-centred TV and cinematic productions have been discussed intensively, much less attention has been paid to Chinese TV series and their audience reception. This article highlights the usefulness of studying audience response to the women-centred TV series produced in China over the past decade, especially those focusing on single women as main characters. By examining these widely-viewed TV series and their audience interpretation, this article aims to investigate the ordinariness and everydayness through which a postfeminist sensibility manifests in a non-Western context. As the research shows, these women-centred TV series reveal the diverse dimensions of urban women’s everyday lives. However, Chinese audiences express strong opposition to masculinised hypercorrection and the fetishisation of the gynandroid in such TV series. Many Chinese viewers prefer to see a realistic representation of Chinese women who have autonomy and the right to be imperfect. The findings shed light on gender-related debates in China today and contribute to discussions about the everydayness of postfeminism from an audience’s perspective.
Investigating one-to-one instrumental music lessons in relation to a training programme on Paul Harris’ simultaneous learning
Authors: Mateos-Moreno Daniel , Erlanson Ernst
Published: November 2022

‘Simultaneous Learning’ (SL) is a pedagogical approach aimed at fostering enjoyable and proactive music teaching. Developed by the British educationalist Paul Harris, SL has been taught worldwide for the past two decades but has not yet been investigated by a scholarly publication. We thus focused our research on the first usage of SL in the context of one-to-one instrumental music lessons by training a selected group of teachers who had no prior experience with this approach. The data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, focus group interview and journals kept by the teachers. We then used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to understand the teachers’ and students’ experiences of instructing and being instructed according to the SL approach, respectively. Based on our results, we provide a structure to their lived experiences and explore the meanings they attached to them, among which positive experiences, challenges and the influence of SL on particular skills are identified. Furthermore, we offer implications that may benefit studio music tuition based on the insights provided by our analyses.
Food consumption and dyslipidemia in middle-aged adults in Indonesia: A cross-sectional national study
Authors: Permatasari Zulaikhah Atyas , Syauqy Ahmad
Published: November 2022

Background: Most people with abnormal lipid profiles are found in middle-aged adults in Indonesia. Unhealthy food consumption was positively associated with dyslipidemia. In contrast, healthy food consumption, including fruits and vegetables, was inversely associated with dyslipidemia. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the association between food consumption with dyslipidemia among middle-aged adults in Indonesia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the national representative survey of Indonesian Basic Health Research (IBHR) conducted by the National Institute of Health Research Development (NIHRD), Ministry of Health, Indonesia, in 2018. The study recruited 10,608 participants aged from 45 to 59 years old. An unadjusted or adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and a multivariate logistic regression model were performed to evaluate the associations of food consumption with dyslipidemia. Results: Frequent consumption of barbecue and soft drink was significantly correlated with dyslipidemia (OR = 1.149, CI: 1.055–1.251 and OR = 1.202, CI: 1.041–1.388). Frequent consumption of soft drink, and inadequate intakes of fruits and vegetables were significantly correlated with dyslipidemia (OR = 1.254, CI: 1.012–1.553, OR = 1.178, CI: 1.013–1.388, OR = 1.219, CI: 1.011–1.471, respectively) in men. While, frequent consumption of barbecue was significantly correlated with dyslipidemia (OR = 1.203, CI: 1.068–1.355) in women. Conclusion: Frequent consumption of barbecue and soft drink increased the risk of developing dyslipidemia among middle-aged adults in Indonesia.
Effects of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on upper-limb impairment after stroke: A randomized, controlled, single-blind trial
Authors: Wang Hewei , Xiang Yuzhi , Wang Chuankai , Wang Yingying , Chen Shugeng , Ding Li , Liu Qiang , Wang Xiaowen , Zhao Kun , Jia Jie , Chen Yao
Published: November 2022

Objective

To evaluate the effects of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on upper limb motor recovery during post-stroke rehabilitation.

Design

Single-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Setting

Four inpatient rehabilitation facilities.

Subjects

A total of 204 stroke patients with unilateral upper limb motor impairment were randomly 1:1 allocated to TEAS or sham TEAS group. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were comparable between the two groups.

Interventions

Both groups received conventional physical and occupational therapies. TEAS and sham TEAS therapy were administered to two acupoints (LI10 and TE5) with a pulse duration of 300 µs at 2 Hz on the affected forearm for 30 times over 6 weeks.

Outcome measures

The upper-extremity Fugl-Meyer score (primary outcome), manual muscle testing, modified Ashworth scale, Lindmark hand function score, and Barthel index were evaluated by blinded assessors at baseline, 2, 4, 6, 10, and 18 weeks.

Results

The number of patients who completed the treatment was 99 and 97 in the TEAS and the sham group. No significant between-group difference was found in the Upper-Extremity Fugl-Meyer score, Modified Ashworth Scale, Lindmark hand function score, and Barthel Index after intervention and during follow-up. However, the TEAS group exhibited 0.29 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.55) greater improvements in Manual Muscle Testing of wrist extension than the sham group ( p  =  0.037) at 18 weeks.

Conclusions

Administration of TEAS therapy to hemiplegic forearm could not improve the upper extremity motor recovery. However, TEAS on the forearm might provide potential benefits for strength improvement of the wrist
The diagnostic value of CT-guided percutaneous puncture biopsy of pulmonary ground-glass nodules: a meta-analysis
Authors: Wang Binchen , Zhong Feiyang , An Wenting , Liao Meiyan
Published: November 2022

Background

More and more pulmonary ground-glass nodules (GGNs) are screened with the extensive usage of low-dose computed tomography (CT). The need of CT-guided percutaneous puncture biopsy of GGN remains controversial.

Purpose

To explore the diagnostic accuracy of CT-guided percutaneous puncture biopsy of GGNs.

Material and Methods

We searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and CNKI. Included studies reported the puncture biopsy results of pulmonary GGNs, including the number of true positive (TP), false positive (FP), true negative (TN), and false negative (FN) cases. After evaluating the studies, statistical analysis, and quality assessment, the pooled diagnostic sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was constructed and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. Subgroup analysis was performed according to whether spiral CT or fluoroscopy-guided CT was used in the study.

Results

This meta-analysis included 14 studies with a total of 759 patients (702 samples). The pooled SEN, SPE, and DOR of CT-guided puncture biopsy of pulmonary GGNs were 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.89–0.94), 0.99 (95% CI = 0.95–1.00), and 138.72 (95% CI = 57.98–331.89), respectively. The AUC was 0.97.

Conclusion

Our results indicated that CT-guided puncture biopsy of GGNs has high SEN, SPE, and DOR, which proved that CT-guided puncture biopsy was a good way to determine the pathological nature of GGN.
First-line treatments for patients with advanced ALK gene rearrangements in NSCLC: a systematic review and network meta-analysis
Authors: Tao Jiahao , Zheng Chuangjie , Zhang Cuifen , Zhou Ling , Liu Zeyu , Zhou Yanqun , Huang Xuewu , Lin Lizhu , Zhai Linzhu
Published: November 2022

Objective

To conduct a network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials to determine the optimal clinical choice of first-line therapy for patients with ALK receptor tyrosine kinase ( ALK) gene rearrangement non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

Clinical trials in patients with histologically confirmed ALK gene rearrangement NSCLC, that included ALK inhibitors as first-line therapy, were identified using database searches. A Bayesian network meta-analysis was conducted to calculate the efficacy and safety of the included first-line treatments.

Results

Nine trials with 2,407 patients were included for analyses. Lorlatinib was better than brigatinib for progression-free survival (PFS) (hazard ratio 0.79, 95% confidence interval 0.63, 0.98). In subgroup analyses, lorlatinib exhibited the highest probability of best PFS ranking in patients with or without baseline brain metastases (38% and 80%, respectively); brigatinib had the highest probability of best PFS ranking among Asian patients (47%). Alectinib offered the highest survival advantage (57% probability), while lorlatinib was likely to be the best treatment for an objective response (41% probability). Alectinib displayed the highest probability of being ranked lowest for grade ≥3 adverse events (86%).

Conclusions

Lorlatinib was associated with the best PFS overall, and was suitable for patients with or without brain metastases. Brigatinib was associated with the best PFS in Asian patients.
Teaching Income Inequality with Data-Driven Visualization
Authors: Truong Sang T. , Barreto Humberto
Published: November 2022

The distribution of household income is a central concern in economics due to its strong influence on society’s well-being and social cohesion. Yet, non-expert audiences face serious obstacles in understanding conventional measures of inequality. To effectively communicate the extent of income inequality in the United States, we have developed a novel technique for visualizing income distribution and its dispersion over time by using U.S. household income microdata from the Current Population Survey. The result is a striking dynamic animation of income distribution over time, drawing public attention, and encouraging further investigation of income inequality. Detailed implementation is available at github.com/sangttruong/incomevis . An interactive demonstration of our project is available at research.depauw.edu/econ/incomevis .

JEL codes: A2, C1, D6, E6, I3
A human rights-based, regime interaction approach to climate change and malnutrition: Reforming food systems for human and planetary health
Authors: Turkie Rosalind
Published: November 2022

The modern, global food system is unsustainable for both human and planetary health. The widespread consumption of highly processed foods and use of production systems that negatively affect the environment have led to a rise in nutrition-related diseases and exacerbated the effects of climate change. A comprehensive reform of global food systems and diets is needed to effectively respond to this problem, but the interference of food industry actors in health negotiations is diluting health policies at both domestic and international levels. This article establishes the concrete value of international legal responses grounded in human rights for tackling the global syndemic of climate change and malnutrition. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) exemplifies how normative conflicts between the trade and health regimes can be overcome. Forming an effective and egalitarian response to malnutrition and climate change will require a rights-based, regime interaction approach that prioritizes human and planetary health over private interests.
A multi-stage diagnosis method using CEEMD, ABC, and ANN for identifying compound gear-bearing faults
Authors: Athisayam Andrews , Kondal Manisekar
Published: November 2022

Compound gear-bearing faults that occur in real-time conditions lead components to fail prematurely. Despite their significance in system failure, these compound faults are rarely studied since extracting accurate information from vibration signals is challenging. Therefore, it is necessary to develop reliable denoising, feature selection, and fault classification technique for forecasting compound faults in a rotor system to assure its durability. This research proposes a multi-stage diagnosis method for the identification of compound gear-bearing failures based on complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition (CEEMD) based denoising, Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) based feature selection, and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) based classification. The proposed method is validated through a case study, and the integrated method achieves a classification rate of 95.95%. Furthermore, the proposed method is compared with other denoising, feature selection and classification methods. All the other methods are outperformed by the proposed CEEMD-ABC-ANN method.
Wavelet analysis of the coherent structures in airfoil leading-edge separation control by bionic coverts
Authors: Gong Xuan , Ma Xingyu , Fan Ziye , Zhang Xin , Jiang Nan
Published: November 2022

We experimentally investigate leading-edge separation control effect by bionic coverts with various materials and sawteeth shapes in wind tunnel tests. The artificial flexible coverts, bio-inspired by bird covert feathers on upper wings, are hinged at the trailing-edge of a NACA 0018 airfoil at a constant high angle-of-attack of 15°. The chord-based Reynolds number is 1.0 × 105 in the generic range of bird flight in nature and low-speed fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. The velocity profiles in the wake flow are measured by multi-channel hot-wire anemometer. By comparing the mean velocity profiles and root-mean-square velocities, we find the trailing-edge coverts reduced the thickness of the shear layers by 0.05 chord length. The turbulence intensity of the trailing- and leading-edge shear layers are reduced 34% and 5%, respectively. Further wavelet analysis reveals that the large sizes of vortices are considerably suppressed in the time-frequency spectrum. Based on the hot-wire datasets, we develop a novel multi-dimensional genetic algorithm to analyze the featured ordered structures in the shear layers and quantitatively characterize the amplitude modulation between the large- and small-scale flow structures. As a result, we find that the coverts-generated perturbations induce an increase in the high-frequency ( f = 91.2 Hz) coherence between the leading- and trailing-edge shear layers from 40% to 70%, leading to a reduction of the flow separation bubble on the upper wing. The present work reveals that the artificial bionic coverts have leading-edge flow separation control effectiveness and shows the engineering potential for aircrafts and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Research on tyre mechanics model for multi-axle coordinated steering of heavy vehicles
Authors: Liu Qihui , Du Heng , Zhu Xiaowei , Ren Tianyu , Guo Kun
Published: November 2022

Compared with passenger cars, heavy vehicles have larger loads, longer bodies, more steering modes, and are more likely to cause improper steering angle relationships among the wheels, resulting in uncoordinated steering. This uncoordinated steering makes the tyres roll and drag, which results in abnormal lateral and longitudinal slips, changing the lateral and longitudinal mechanical characteristics of tyres and leading to low path tracking accuracy and poor steering performance of vehicles. Therefore, a tyre model containing lateral and longitudinal mechanical characteristics under heavy load is the key to solving the problem of uncoordinated steering in heavy vehicles. Firstly, with the physical tyre model, the lateral and longitudinal slip is described as carcass deflections. With the carcass deflections and contact pressure distribution of heavy load, the tyre forces under uncoordinated steering conditions are derived. Then, the tyre imprint parameters are obtained with a test bench, and a two-dimensional contact pressure distribution model is established to reproduce the contact pressure distribution of tyre under heavy loads and dynamic slips. The comparison results with Magic Formula (MF) and Trucksim are generally consistent, proving the effectiveness of the model. Finally, a lateral and longitudinal tyre force distribution control of vehicles is carried out based on the established model. The results of the Trucksim-Simulink co-simulation show that the path tracking accuracy of vehicles is significantly improved, which demonstrates that the tyre model incorporating lateral and longitudinal mechanical characteristics under heavy loads can provide a theoretical basis for solving the problem of uncoordinated steering in heavy vehicles.
Performance evaluation of different micro vortex generators in controlling a flare-induced shock–boundary layer interaction
Authors: Nilavarasan Tamizhazhi Korkkai Vendan , Joshi Ganapati Narasimha , Misra Ajay , Manisankar Chidambaranathan , Verma Shashi Bhushan
Published: November 2022

This study evaluates the ability of five micro vortex generator (MVG) geometries in attenuating the flow separation induced by an axisymmetric compression corner. Experimental and computational investigations were carried out at Mach 2 on a cone–cylinder–flare model, with a flow deflection angle of 24° at the cylinder/flare juncture. The MVG shapes considered were baseline ramp, trapezoidal ramp, split ramp, thick vanes and ramped vanes. A circumferential array of these MVGs having a device height (h) of 1.4 mm and an inter-device spacing of 10.5 mm (7.5 h) was introduced 50 mm upstream of the compression corner. Streamwise counter-rotating vortex pairs that originated from these devices created alternate bands of upwash and downwash regions in the incoming boundary layer, which resulted in suitable three-dimensional alterations of the separation region’s size. Furthermore, surface streamline visualizations showed that the vortices induced profound topological transformations in the separated flow structure. In the absence of MVGs, spectral analysis of the pressure signal obtained from the separation shock’s intermittent region revealed a relatively broadband dominant frequency range of 0.55 kHz–0.9 kHz. The MVGs did not cause any significant change in the dominant frequency, but made the bandwidth slightly narrower. Among the different MVG designs that were studied, the ramped vanes (RV) induced the most momentum augmentation in the near wall region and thereby caused the maximum downstream shift in the separation shock’s position.
Book review: Tuhina Ray and Urmie Ray (2020). On Science: Concepts, Cultures and Limits
Authors: Mallick Sambit
Published: November 2022

Tuhina Ray and Urmie Ray (2020). On Science: Concepts, Cultures and Limits. London and New York: Routledge, 256 pp., Hardback: £120, eBook: £36.99, ISBN: 9780367442552.
Assessing Barriers to Advance Care Planning Engagement among Young Adults Using the Precaution Adoption Process Model
Authors: McAfee Colette A. , Cegelka Derek , Wagner-Greene Victoria R.
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Assess the stage of readiness and barriers to ACP engagement among young adults in the United States utilizing the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM).

Methods

A cross-sectional survey design was utilized to survey U.S. adults aged 18–35 through an online marketplace workforce (N = 414).

Results

Most (94.7%) had not engaged in comprehensive ACP. Young adults aged 18–29 reported higher perceived barriers scores to complete ACP than those aged 30–35. The perceived barriers score was significantly associated with stage of readiness for ACP ( p = .004); those who were unaware (stage 1) or did not want to engage in ACP (stage 4) reported more barriers to ACP engagement.

Conclusion

The PAPM is a useful framework for assessing barriers and tailoring programs for ACP engagement. Future research should further assess barriers for young adults to engage in ACP, particularly relating to stages of readiness.
Global Competitiveness Myths and Ideals: English Language Policy in Universities in Kazakhstan
Authors: Agbo Seth A. , Pak Natalya , Akbarov Azamat , Madiyeva Gulmira , Saurykov Yerbolat
Published: November 2022

It seems Kazakhstan couches superior knowledge in one particular language. The government policy for educational change focuses on reaching some aspects of equivalence or parity with developed and advanced nations to the extent that they approximate the attributes of prestigious national societies such as the rich European and North American countries. Current government policy in Kazakhstan calls for a policy dubbed “trilingualism” which means proficiency in Kazakh, Russian, and English. This study utilized various qualitative methods such as interviews, participant and non-participant observation, and document analysis to investigate faculty, students, and administrators’ experiences of the change from teaching and learning in Russian and Kazakh to English. The findings indicated that for Kazakhstan's universities to become globally competitive, they must have clear-cut goals that directly manifest how language conveys society's essential values. The unpreparedness of students, faculty, and administrators delimits the changeover from Kazakh and Russian to English. Accordingly, among the essential criteria to foster the foundation of development are national identity, harmony between the educational system, and, most generally, the extent of political decision-making to meet the national society's educational needs.