bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using the Job Demands-Resources Model to Examine Possible Correlates of Fear of Being Victimized at Work Among Chinese Prison Officers
Authors: Jiang Shanhe , Lambert Eric G. , Solinas-Saunders Monica , Liu Jianhong , Zhang Jinwu
Published: July 2024

This study surveyed 322 officers at two prisons in China to investigate the influence of job demands (i.e., role overload and routinization), job resources (i.e., training, job autonomy, instrumental communication, and supervision), and demographic characteristics on workplace fear of victimization. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis indicated role overload was related to higher levels of fear, while training and job autonomy were related to lower levels. Routinization, instrumental communication, and supervision had nonsignificant effects. Male officers were more likely to report higher fear of victimization, as did staff at one of the two prisons.
ChatGPT Over My Friends: Japanese English-as-a-Foreign-Language Learners’ Preferences for Editing and Proofreading Strategies
Authors: Allen Todd J , Mizumoto Atsushi
Published: July 2024

This study contrasts 33 Japanese English-as-a-foreign-language learners’ experiences using writing groups and artificial intelligence technology (ChatGPT-3.5) for editing and proofreading academic writing assignments. Recent advancements in artificial intelligence technology have significantly influenced academic writing, teaching and learning, prompting researchers to explore the practical application of these technologies in educational settings. In this study, participants edited and proofread their writing in class by using a writing group and experimenting with ChatGPT. After each activity, participants answered a questionnaire about their experiences. In the final questionnaire, participants compared their experiences of each activity and reported on which one they preferred. The results indicate that students mostly prefer using artificial intelligence technology for editing and proofreading. However, they acknowledge some value in writing groups. They assert that technology provides effective feedback, improving clarity and cohesion in their writing. Additionally, the findings reveal preferences for specific prompts to enhance their writing. Overall, this research demonstrates how teachers can use artificial intelligence in language classrooms to improve writing and practices, while emphasizing the importance of ethical implementation.
Transverse vibration characteristics and plane stress distribution of the carbon fiber prepreg tape subjected to nonuniform tension
Authors: Zhang Dongjian , Fan Wei , Qian Chenglin , Li Guofeng , Huang Peng , Gan Xuehui
Published: July 2024

The negative impact of nonuniform tension on the product quality in the production process of carbon fiber prepreg tape cannot be overlooked. It is essential to consider the influence of nonuniform tension on the transverse vibration characteristics of the moving carbon fiber prepreg tape. This paper investigates the transverse vibration characteristics and plane stress distribution of the moving carbon fiber prepreg tape under a nonuniform coefficient of tension. The governing equation for the transverse vibration of the tape is derived using Kirchhoff’s thin plate theory and Hamilton’s principle, and the Galerkin method is applied to solve for the natural frequencies. The study focuses on the transverse vibration characteristics and stability of the tape, exploring the influence of geometric, material, and process parameters on its natural frequencies and critical velocities. In addition, the negative impact of nonuniform tension on the plane stress distribution of the carbon fiber prepreg tape is quantitatively expressed through coefficient of variation. The research findings underscore the importance of incorporating the nonuniform coefficient of tension into theoretical analysis and simulation modeling, enabling a precise investigation of the vibration characteristics and plane stress distribution exhibited by carbon fiber prepreg tape during the production process.
Level of Education and Menstrual Challenges for Adolescent Girls in Rural Tanzania
Authors: Loper Sarah , Nyaronga Dan
Published: July 2024

The onset of menarche, marking the transition to womanhood for adolescent girls worldwide, holds particular social significance. In countries such as Tanzania in sub-Saharan Africa, the social context of girls’ lives introduces significant challenges following menarche, especially related to their successful engagement in school during adolescence. To examine the intricate relationship between menstruation and schooling for adolescent girls in rural Tanzania, a cross-sectional study surveyed 508 participants. The study investigated the correlation between level of education and various factors, including menstrual anxiety, religiosity, social support, preparedness for menarche, preferred sanitary products, and access to such products. The results provide fresh insights into resources that could be strategically addressed within families, schools, and communities, considering the educational level of adolescent girls. The implications for policy are discussed, particularly concerning the ability of adolescent girls in rural Tanzania to sustain their education post-menarche.
The Effect of Implementing Mixed-Reality Simulation (MRS) in an Educator Preparation Program
Authors: Freeman Ie May , Lee HeeKap , Barsh Richard
Published: July 2024

Mixed-reality simulation (MRS) is a new and advanced technology implemented in Educator Preparation Programs (EPP) across the United States. However, more research is needed on the effectiveness of MRS in EPPs and its impact on beginning teacher candidates. This study sought to determine the effect of teacher candidates after utilizing MRS and its impact on acquiring teaching pedagogical skills. Forty-five surveys collected from teacher candidates revealed two themes: the beneficial experience of MRS in an EPP and technology concerns.
Causal Decomposition Analysis With Time-Varying Mediators: Designing Individualized Interventions to Reduce Social Disparities
Authors: Park Soojin , Lee Namhwa , Quintana Rafael
Published: July 2024

Causal decomposition analysis aims to identify risk factors (referred to as “mediators”) that contribute to social disparities in an outcome. Despite promising developments in causal decomposition analysis, current methods are limited to addressing a time-fixed mediator and outcome only, which has restricted our understanding of the causal mechanisms underlying social disparities. In particular, existing approaches largely overlook individual characteristics when designing (hypothetical) interventions to reduce disparities. To address this issue, we extend current longitudinal mediation approaches to the context of disparities research. Specifically, we develop a novel decomposition analysis method that addresses individual characteristics by (a) using optimal dynamic treatment regimes (DTRs) and (b) conditioning on a selective set of individual characteristics. Incorporating optimal DTRs into the design of interventions can be used to strike a balance between equity (reducing disparities) and excellence (improving individuals’ outcomes). We illustrate the proposed method using the High School Longitudinal Study data.
A cautionary tale of pseudo-Cryptococcus infection in neonates
Authors: Gupta Varsha , Vasesi Dipanshu , Singhal Lipika , Kaur Amitoj , Jain Suksham , Gupta Parakriti
Published: July 2024

We report a tale of two cases of neonates, where India Ink preparation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) received in glass vials was suggestive of Cryptococcus; however, the absence of correlation and report of cases sequentially from the same unit raised alarm bells. Repeat smears using routine in-house and newly prepared stains were prepared and repeat sampling was collected in a strictly sterile specimen container, which resulted in negative microscopy for repeat samples (uncentrifuged and centrifuged). The source of contamination was found to be non-sterile glass vials used for CSF collection. This report underlines the requisite to maintain an aseptic chain from sample collection to processing, to prevent reporting of pseudo-infections that can upset diagnostic accuracy, especially when the aseptic chain has not been maintained.
Institutionalization within Revolutionary Crisis: The Chinese Communist Party’s Radio Communications and Reconnaissance, 1933–1936
Authors: Han Zhongtian
Published: July 2024

This article highlights how a revolutionary crisis in 1933–1936 drove the institutional development of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) radio communications and reconnaissance and provided inadvertent opportunities for institutional integration and standardization in radio communications across the revolutionary movement. It also reveals how effective radio communications and reconnaissance operations contributed to the survival of the revolution and the rise of Mao Zedong. The findings suggest that the turbulent and politicized environment of revolutionary crisis within the CCP could facilitate institutional development and integration. Nonetheless, it also contributed to the rise of an authoritarian command structure that would be embedded in this institutionalization.
Electrode subset selection to lessen the complexity of brain activity measurement using EEG for depression detection
Authors: Choudhary Shubham , Bajpai Manish Kumar , Bharti Kusum Kumari
Published: July 2024

Depression is a severe neurological disorder characterized by a loss of interest and may lead to suicide. Electroencephalography (EEG) measurement is a non-invasive tool for neural electrical activities measurement which can be further used for different neurological disorder detection such as depression. The number of EEG electrodes used for measurement directly affects the instrumentation and measurement complexity of the experiment. This paper proposes a fisher score–based method for electrode ranking. This paper selects only those electrodes whose fisher score is greater than the mean of fisher scores of all electrodes. It results in a reduced set of electrodes. A deep learning–based model has been proposed which uses the reduced set of electrodes for depression detection. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated on two benchmark data sets having varying numbers of electrodes. The proposed model significantly reduces the number of electrodes to 68.42% and 60.93% for data sets 1 and 2, respectively. The accuracy of 98.73%, precision of 98.50%, recall of 98.75%, F1 score of 98.62% and AUC of 99.91% are obtained for data set 1 and accuracy of 95.48%, precision of 91.93%, recall of 96.11%, F1 score of 93.97% and AUC of 99.49% are obtained for data set 2.
De-bordering and re-bordering practices at the intersection of gender and migration. A multi-site exploration of specialized services for migrant women experiencing violence in Italy and Sweden
Authors: DI MATTEO CLAUDIA
Published: July 2024

This study builds on analyses of everyday professional practices to explore de-bordering and re-bordering processes in the field of gender-based violence (GBV). The concepts of de-bordering and re-bordering practices express the tensions arising from the conflictual roles taken on by civil society actors (CSAs) in their double vest of service delivery for the state and advocate for migrant women with a precarious legal status. Further, this study focuses on three types of CSAs: women-led NGOs, faith-based organizations, and other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) operating in two EU contexts, i.e., Sweden and Italy. The multi-study approach helps to bring to the forefront systems of knowledge and classifications that, on the one hand, are linked to the national sovereign power and its specific way of filtering people based on racialized and gendered socioeconomic categories and, on the other hand, produce spaces of resistance or negotiation of those categories within multiple forms of dominance. Ultimately, based on the empirical cases, it is argued that even though criticalities and limits expressed through re-bordering practices are highly present, these de-bordering practices manifest the efforts of CSAs to break down or transcend territorial borders and divisions with the ultimate goal of moving beyond legal entitlements, territorial boundaries, and nationalist ideologies.
A Context-Aligned Two Thousand Test: Toward estimating high-frequency French vocabulary knowledge for beginner-to-low intermediate proficiency adolescent learners in England
Authors: Dudley Amber , Marsden Emma , Bovolenta Giulia
Published: July 2024

Vocabulary knowledge strongly predicts second language reading, listening, writing, and speaking. Yet, few tests have been developed to assess vocabulary knowledge in French. The primary aim of this pilot study was to design and initially validate the Context-Aligned Two Thousand Test (CA-TTT), following open research practices. The CA-TTT is a test of written form–meaning recognition of high-frequency vocabulary aimed at beginner-to-low intermediate learners of French at the end of their fifth year of secondary education. Using an argument-based validation framework, we drew on classical test theory and Rasch modeling, together with correlations with another vocabulary size test and proficiency measures, to assess the CA-TTT’s internal and external validity. Overall, the CA-TTT showed high internal and external validity. Our study highlighted the decisive role of the curriculum in determining vocabulary knowledge in instructed, low-exposure contexts. We discuss how this might contribute to under- or over-estimations of vocabulary size, depending on the relations between the test and curriculum content. Further research using the tool is openly invited, particularly with lower proficiency learners in this context. Following further validation, the test could serve as a tool for assessing high-frequency vocabulary knowledge at beginner-to-low intermediate levels, with due attention paid to alignment with curriculum content.
Good tools are essential to do the job: A study of impact of digital competencies on innovative work behavior of Chinese remote work employees
Authors: Liu Zhe , Chen Xuan , Ni Yan
Published: July 2024

This study, grounded in the Job Demands-Resources theory, explores the relationship between digital competencies (DC) and innovative work behavior (IWB), introducing e-work self-efficacy (e-SE), e-work boundary strategy (e-BS), and organizational commitment (OC) during organizational isolation to examine their internal influencing mechanisms. The study conducted two-stage online questionnaire survey to obtain a final sample of 369 remote workers in China. Hypotheses were tested with triple mediation model. The findings reveal a compound multiple mediation effect among the variables, specifically demonstrating that (1) DC positively predicts IWB, e-SE, OC, and e-BS; (2) e-SE positively predicts OC and e-BS; (3) OC positively predicts IWB; (4) e-BS positively predicts IWB. (5) In the mediation model, the direct effect of DC on IWB is significant; (6) e-SE, OC, and e-BS play a significant mediating role in the relationship between DC and IWB; (7) e-SE, OC play a significant chained mediating role in the relationship between DC and IWB; (8) e-SE, e-BS play a significant chained mediating role in the relationship between DC and IWB. This study explores the relationship between DC and IWB, shedding light on its underlying mechanisms. By delving into the behaviors of remote work employees, this research offers more effective management strategies and practical recommendations for businesses and organizations, including tailored approaches to enhance remote employee engagement, productivity, and overall well-being. Additionally, the findings will present new perspectives and research avenues for academic studies, contributing to the advancement of theoretical understanding of employee behavior in remote work settings within the digital economy era.
Annealing treatment on the microstructure evaluation and tensile properties of TC4 alloy fabricated by laser oscillation melting deposition
Authors: Jie Zhang , Byung-Won Min , Hai Gu , Bin Li , Guo-qing Wu , Sun Zhonggang
Published: July 2024

Laser oscillation possesses a stimulating impact on the melt pool, causing the disruption of columnar crystals and enhancing the creation of newly nucleated masses. As a consequence, an enhanced microstructure and a more refined grain size are achieved. The study compares the microstructure, phase composition, and mechanical properties of as-deposited and as-annealed TC4 alloys via various oscillation paths. The results show that the microstructure of the deposited TC4 alloys under the four oscillation paths is primarily acicular and cluster martensitic. Additionally, the plasticity of the specimens in the annealed state displays an overall improvement, except for linear oscillation, which experiences a decrease in overall yield strength and ultimate tensile strength. This can be attributed to the sub-stable α’ phase undergoing coarsening during annealing and eventually decomposing into (α + β) phase tissue. The β phase, with a BCC structure and more slip systems, has a lower tensile strength but greater plasticity.
Research and application of interface formation mechanism of dual-liquid casting bimetallic composites
Authors: Xing ZG , Liang SX , Cao JJ , Zhang YC , Fu HG , Chang LB , Xing WL , Yuan ZY , Liu XK , Han J , Liu HJ
Published: July 2024

The interface formation and its mechanism of ZG42CrMo/BTMCr26 bimetallic castings, including hammerheads and thin plates, are investigated in this work. By extending the pouring interval, the interface area characteristic changes from local mixing solidification to shrinkage-filling solidification. Both interfaces exhibit high binding and tensile strength, exceeding 500 MPa. The casting bimetallic plates display a straight sequentially solidified interface with a carbide-free zone of approximately 16.5 μm. The interfacial adhesion and tensile strength of the plates also exceed 500 MPa. Based on the obtained results and theoretical basis, over 20 types of crusher hammers weighing between 7 and 250 kg, as well as various wear plates have been produced. Both castings exhibit high pass rate a long lifespan.
Predictors of return to work among postoperative patients with colorectal cancer
Authors: Zhang Ning , Yang Fan , Di Wenlong , Wang Shujie , Wu Zijing
Published: July 2024

Objective

To describe the status of return to work and identify predictors of return to work among Chinese postoperative patients with colorectal cancer.

Design

A cross-sectional study.

Setting

Conducted in two tertiary hospitals in China.

Participants

A total of 210 postoperative patients with colorectal cancer were included in the study.

Main measures

Two hundred and ten postoperative patients with colorectal cancer who were working at the time of their diagnosis were assessed with the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Return-To-Work Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, Cancer Fatigue Scale, and Social Impact Scale. Descriptive statistics, univariate logistic regression analysis, and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used for data analysis in SPSS 26.0.

Results

Around a third of participants (n = 74, 35.2%) returned to work after surgery. Multiple stepwise regression analysis indicated that more family income (odds ratio (OR) = 5.769, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.666–19.972), time span after surgery 5–10 months, and ≥10 months (OR = 3.546, 95% CI = 1.084–11.598; OR = 3.077, 95% CI = 1.074–8.818), with a stoma (OR = 0.221, 95% CI = 0.075–0.653), psychological distress (OR = 0.912, 95% CI = 0.843–0.987), cancer fatigue (OR = 0.924, 95% CI = 0.872–0.978), and stigma (OR = 0.928, 95% CI = 0.886–0.971) were significantly associated with return to work.

Conclusions

A high proportion of patients with colorectal cancer did not return to work within 1 year after diagnosis. Those with shorter postoperative time, lower family income, stoma, greater psychological stress, higher level of cancer fatigue, and more stigma may have a higher risk in delayed work resumption.
Discordant Care and Decision Quality: Patients’ Reasons for Not Receiving Their Initial Test of Choice in Colorectal Cancer Screening
Authors: Rager Joshua B. , Schmidt Karen K. , Schwartz Peter H.
Published: July 2024

Background

Concordance between a person’s values and the test or treatment they ultimately receive is widely considered to be an essential outcome for good decision quality. There is little research, however, on why patients receive “discordant” care. A large, randomized trial of decision aids for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening provided an opportunity to assess why some patients received a different test than the one they preferred at an earlier time point.

Methods

Of 688 patients who participated in the trial, 43 received a different CRC screening test than the one they selected after viewing a decision aid 6 mo prior. These patients answered 2 brief, open-ended questions about the reasons for this discordance. The research team analyzed their answers using qualitative description.

Results

Patient responses reflected 6 major categories: barriers or risks of initially favored test, benefits of alternative test, costs or health insurance coverage, discussion with family or friends, provider factors or recommendation, and health issues.

Conclusions

Some of the patients’ explanations fit well with the informed concordance approach, which infers poor decision quality from the existence of discordant care, since in these cases it appears that the patient’s values and preferences were not adequately respected. Other statements suggest that the patient had an informed rationale for changing their mind about which test to undergo. These cases may reflect high-quality decision making, despite the existence of discordance as measured in the trial. This analysis highlights a major challenge to a popular approach for assessing decision quality, the difficulty of normatively assessing the quality of decision making when apparent discordant care has been provided, and the need to assess patient values and preference over time.

Highlights

Value-choice concordance is an accepted measure for assessing decision quality in decision aid trials, but greater exploration of apparently discordant care challenges key assumptions of this method; this study provides evidence that discordance as typically measured may not always reflect low-quality patient decision making. Researchers evaluating decision aids and assessing decision quality should consider the use of qualitative methods to supplement measures of decision quality and consider assessing patient preferences at multiple time points.
OpenMutt: A reconfigurable quadruped robot for research and education
Authors: Garcia Monica R. , Walck Christine , Gonzalez Bryan , Niemiec Jeremy , Alkire Gabriel , Deets Aleiya , Nadeau Zachary , Hockley Christopher
Published: July 2024

With biped and quadruped robots becoming more prevalent in society, there is a strong push for universities to update their robotics curriculum to teach students how to design, build, and program legged robotic systems. One of the challenges associated with developing legged robotics curriculum is finding opportunities for students to engage in hands-on legged robotic activities that complement theory and enhance the overall learning process. This challenge is particularly evident at smaller universities or universities with limited research budgets where the cost of purchasing a quadruped platform can be prohibitive. With the recent release of several open-source quadruped robot designs, there is now an opportunity to incorporate quadruped platforms into more university classrooms. This paper outlines our approach to modifying one of these open-source designs to support our department's education, outreach, and research goals. The development of our modified, opensource quadruped platform (OpenMutt) was conducted under the auspices of a capstone mechanical engineering design project to demonstrate how the platform builds on existing curriculum and to identify areas where additional robotic instruction may be warranted. Our results indicate that it is possible to use capstone engineering design projects to identify and address potential gaps in existing curriculum.
J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium as Heterodox Palaeoscience
Authors: Guimont Edward
Published: July 2024

J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and its associated works are known for being tremendously influential in the fantasy fiction genre, as well as inspiring popular films and other spinoffs. The debt of The Lord of the Rings to mediaeval European literature is also widely recognised. While the role of fiction as both influence on and by Tolkien's work is widely acknowledged, the influence of a range of palaeoscience topics on Tolkien – some of which were outside the mainstream of his time before becoming accepted – are less well known. This article synthesises research into the conception of Tolkien's usage of heterodox palaeoscience in his works to explore the reception of those themes in his fiction. Not only was Tolkien himself – at times against his own inclinations – retroactively curious about the evolving scientific validity of his works, but so were his growing fanbase, especially those active in the modern realm of fringe science promoters.
Predictive modeling of spring-back in pre-punched sheet roll forming using machine learning
Authors: Zeinolabedin-Beygi Ali , Naeini Hassan Moslemi , Talebi-Ghadikolaee Hossein , Rabiee Amir Hossein , Hajiahmadi Saeid
Published: July 2024

This study outlines an experimental and computational endeavor aimed at developing a machine learning model to estimate spring-back values utilizing the decision tree methodology. A design of experiment approach was employed to collect a dataset, and based on the experimental results, a precise model was constructed to predict spring-back values. The model considered parameters such as thickness, diameter of circle hole, distance between the center hole and flange edge, and hole spacing. Various hyper parameters, including max depth and minimum samples for split, were explored, with configurations such as (30,5), (20,8), and (10,2) being evaluated to identify the optimal model for spring-back prediction. Analysis of the results demonstrated that the decision tree models accurately estimated spring-back values in cold roll forming of pre-punched sheets based on the input parameters. The coefficient of determination in the test section for decision tree models with parameters (30,5), (20,8), and (10,2) was found to be 0.90, 0.98, and 0.96, respectively. Additionally, the percentage of absolute error in the test section for the same decision tree models was calculated as 8.84%, 6.18%, and 7.6%, respectively.
Developing a Comprehensive Vulnerable Road User Safety Screening Method Using Multi-Level Data
Authors: Joshi Manmohan , Razaur Rahman Shaon Mohammad , Rezwana Saki , Wang Kai , Zhao Shanshan , Ivan John , Jackson Eric
Published: July 2024

Despite significant advancements in motor vehicle safety, the number of fatalities resulting from road crashes has been increasing in recent years. The resultant injuries from roadway crashes are more severe for vulnerable road users (VRUs), that is, pedestrians and cyclists. High disparity is observed in the distribution of the burden of these crashes across areas and ethnic and race groups; therefore Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires states to incorporate equity-related variables in the assessment of VRU safety. Conventionally, the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) provides methodologies for identifying locations with high risks of crashes, but those methods have limited applications in prioritizing low-volume sites with a higher crash rate, as in the case of VRUs. This study first explores a wide range of equity-related variables at an area level in addition to site characteristics of state-maintained signalized intersections in Connecticut. This study also proposed a framework to combine site-level and area-level risk analysis to generate an aggregate network screening result, using a Bayesian Thurstonian model and a mean score ranking method. The proposed data-driven safety assessment framework is a novel practice in transportation safety analysis and shows promising results for network screening based on systemic safety principles.
Tumor morphology evaluation using 3D-morphometric features of renal masses
Authors: Dmitry Fiev , Evgeniy Sirota , Vasiliy Kozlov , Alexandra Proskura , Khalil Ismailov , Evgeny Shpot , Mikhail Chernenkiy , Kirill Puzakov , Alexander Tarasov , Dmitry Korolev , Camilla Azilgareeva , Andrey Vinarov , Denis Butnaru , Petr Glybochko , Leonid Rapoport
Published: July 2024

Objective:

To assess the correlation between the general (gender, age, and maximum tumor size) and 3D morphotopometric features of the renal tumor node, following the MSCT data post-processing, and the tumor histological structure; to propose an equation allowing for kidney malignancy assessment based on general and morphometric features.

Materials and methods:

In total, 304 patients with unilateral solitary renal neoplasms underwent laparoscopic (retroperitoneoscopic) or robotic partial or radical nephrectomy. Before the procedure, kidney contrast-enhanced MSCT followed by the tumor 3D-modeling was performed. 3D model of the kidney tumor, and its morphotopometric features, and histological structure were analyzed. The morphotopometric ones include the side of the lesion, location by segments, the surface where the tumor, the depth of the tumor invasion into the kidney, and the shape of tumor.

Results:

Out of 304 patients, 254 (83.6%) had malignant kidney tumors and 50 (16.4%) benign kidney tumors. In total, 231 patients, out of 254 (90.9%) were assessed for the degree of malignant tumor differentiation. Malignant tumors were more frequent in men than in women ( p < 0.001). Mushroom-shaped tumors were the most common shapes among benign renal masses (35.2%). The most common malignant kidney tumors had spherical with a partially uneven surface (27.6%), multinodular (tuberous (27.2%)), and spherical with a conical base (24.8%) shapes. Logistic regression model enabled the development of prognostic equation for tumor malignancy prediction (“low” or “high”). The univariate analysis revealed the correlation only between high differentiation (G1) and a spherical tumor with a conical base ( p = 0.029).

Conclusion:

The resulting logistic model, based on the analysis of such predictors as gender and form of kidney lesions, demonstrated a large share (87.6%) of correct predictions of the kidney tumor malignancy.
Assessing the safety of bladder-preserving therapy as an alternative to surgical intervention in elderly patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer
Authors: Koller Christopher R. , Greenberg Jacob W. , Natale Caleb , Krane L. Spencer
Published: July 2024

Background:

There is interest in using bladder-preserving therapy as an alternative definitive therapy for muscle invasive bladder cancer in certain high-risk groups such as the elderly.

Objective:

To determine if bladder-preserving therapy represents a safer alternative to surgical intervention in elderly patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Methods:

We surveyed the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database (SEER) for cases of non-metastasized malignant bladder cancer in patients aged 80+. Survival outcomes with radical cystectomy (RC) with or without chemotherapy were compared to those after chemotherapy and radiation without cystectomy. We performed log-rank tests and Kaplan-Meier and cox regression and hazard analyses before and after propensity score matching.

Results:

A total of 2995 patients were identified, with 49.98% treated with RC only, 8.65% treated with RC/chemotherapy, and 41.37% treated with chemotherapy and radiation without RC. Median overall survival for the RC only, RC/chemotherapy and chemotherapy/radiation groups were 31.4, 44.1, and 24.6 months, respectively. On multivariate analysis, hazard ratios (reference: RC/chemotherapy group) were RC Only (HR = 1.408 (95% CI 1.188–1.669), p < 0.0001) and chemotherapy/radiation (HR = 1.650 (95% CI 1.390–1.959), p < 0.0001). After matching the chemotherapy/radiation and RC/chemotherapy groups, the former continued to show survival hazard (HR = 1.744 (95% CI 1.414–2.155), p < 0.0001).

Conclusions:

Octogenarians should be offered definitive local therapy for their localized bladder cancer including RC and chemotherapy. Bladder-sparing alternatives should be reserved for patients unfit for surgery.
Assessing the Ecological Variation in the Police Response to Hate Crime: Evidence From New York City
Authors: Holder Eaven , Ledford Logan
Published: July 2024

As scholarly attention toward the etiology of hate crime offending and victimization continues to grow, there remain some empirical gaps regarding criminal justice interventions to such crimes. The lion's share of research has been focused on how agencies report bias crimes to official sources like the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program, but less work has been spent studying other aspects of police response like investigation or arrest. However, even less is known in whether an officer's ecological context is influential in this process despite space being vital to policing in general. To address this, we combined incident- and precinct-level data from the New York Police Department with neighborhood census information to understand if community dynamics were associated with the likelihood that a reported hate crime would be cleared through arrest. Using mixed effects models, our findings indicate some degree of clustering in hate crime clearances but that situational factors emerged with greater salience in the prediction of arrest. Supportive more so of the schema and focal concerns perspective of criminal justice processing, we offer pathways for future research and theoretical considerations.
Dangerous Fieldwork: Reflections on Ethnographic Research with Irregular, Nigerian Streetwalkers and Madams in Spain
Authors: Tabuteau-Harrison Sophie , Allen-Collinson Jacquelyn , Mewse Avril
Published: July 2024

Recent calls have been made to investigate the lived experience of migrant sex workers, to broaden the scope and inclusivity of macro-level conceptualizations, and to develop contextually grounded forms of understanding. Our ethnographic study sought to explore the lived perspectives of an under-researched occupational group: migrant women working as irregular streetwalkers in a European city. Nineteen Nigerian Edo women working as prostitutes and Madams in Spain participated in an ethnographic, longitudinal study spanning five years of data collection. In this article, we focus on some of the key challenges, including ethical considerations, of undertaking ethnographic work in a hazardous fieldwork setting that presents psychological and physical dangers to both participants and researchers, including threats of violence, and researcher burnout.
Beyond Local and Traded: Evidence for a Third Industry Market Area Type and Implications for Regional Economic Development
Authors: Lynch Teresa M. , Manduca Robert
Published: July 2024

Geographers, economists, and urban planners have long distinguished between “local” industries that serve geographically proximate customers and “traded” industries that serve customers around the country or across the globe. This study uses newly developed, high-quality data to provide evidence of a third major industry market area type, which the authors term “regional” industries. Regional industries serve market areas larger than a U.S. county and smaller than a state, with employment found in most metropolitan areas, but spatially concentrated within each metro area. Paradigmatic regional industries include business-to-business services, like facilities maintenance and logistics, and some types of manufacturing, like craft brewing. Regional industries have a distinct economic profile: their customers are often other businesses rather than consumers, they pay higher average wages than local industries, and they offer more entrepreneurship opportunities than traded industries. In total, regional industries accounted for an estimated 31% of U.S. employment and 33% of gross domestic product in 2021.
The Function of the Church in a Time of War: The Resolute Voices of Donald MacKinnon and Elizabeth Anscombe
Authors: Berkman John
Published: July 2024

It has been argued that Elizabeth Anscombe's writings on killing and just war in the 1950s and early 1960s were highly influential, not only on just war theorists (such as Michael Walzer and Thomas Nagel), but also on the recovery of just war thinking among the US and British military. In researching the sources for Anscombe's thought, it became clear that Donald MacKinnon's unknown early writings on social ethics and war inspired and influenced Anscombe's earliest thought on justice in war. In this article, I focus on MacKinnon's and Anscombe's prophetic analysis of the role of the Church and the lay faithful under the spectre of war.
Multi-objective trajectory planning and implementation of a metamorphic palletizing robot
Authors: Wang Rugui , Zhao Ningjuan , Dong Yichen , Li Lin , Fan Zhipeng
Published: July 2024

This paper focuses on a metamorphic palletizing robot, elaborating on its working principles and analyzing its working trajectory. The primary aim is to address the complex challenge of multi-objective trajectory planning during the robot’s motion, with a focus on minimizing time, energy consumption, and jerk. We present a general formula for optimizing multiple objectives, taking into account transformation characteristics based on actual working conditions. The optimization process employs the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm with an elite strategy (NSGA-II), while Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is integrated into the optimization progression to identify specific metamorphic points. This approach ultimately produces a set of Pareto optimal solutions. From this set, the solution with the lowest time consumption is chosen as the definitive option for multi-objective planning. The joint driving functions of the robot during configuration transformations and within each configuration are analyzed accordingly. To ensure precision, the joint driving functions employed in the experiment are fine-tuned with pulse compensation values. Subsequently, experimental validation is carried out to verify the accuracy and practical feasibility of the multi-objective trajectory planning method.
Vibration characteristics of a rotating flywheel-flexible coupling system with misalignment fault: Experiment and simulation
Authors: Liu Zhiwei , Wang Qiong , Guan Hanqing
Published: July 2024

To avoid harmful and even catastrophic influences on internal combustion engine-generator set, it is essential to investigate early faults such as misalignment, rotor rubbing, shaft cracks, and bearing faults. To study the effect of the misalignment of the elastic coupling on vibration characteristics of the rotor system, experiment with different misalignment amplitudes and types is carried out on a flywheel-elastic coupling rotor test rig. Vibration responses of the rotor system with different amplitudes of parallel and angular misalignment are illustrated by amplitude frequency response curves, orbit plots and frequency spectra. Super-harmonic resonance phenomenon is revealed. Based on the misalignment of the high elastic coupling, dynamical equations of a generator rotor system, excited also by unbalanced magnetic pull and mass unbalance, are derived using the energy method and numerically investigated by the Runge-Kutta method. The theoretical results are in good accordance with the experimental ones. Besides, a new phenomenon of the flywheel-elastic coupling vibration system is found in the experiment.
Clearance control of mechanism with sliding mode controller
Authors: Jamshidi Bagher , Dardel Morteza , Daniali Hamid Reza Mohammadi
Published: July 2024

Due to the design, manufacturing, and assembly processes, joint clearance inevitably occurs in mechanisms. To reduce the undesirable effects of this phenomenon, in this work a practical control method to decrease these effects is presented. This control method ensures permanent joint contact and follows the desired path based on the actuators in the system. As a result, because the controller seeks to achieve two control demands using one actuator, these mechanisms are known as an under-actuated system. For this purpose, an improved second-order sliding-mode controller (IS-SMC) is proposed. This choice is based on its robustness and its ability to meet control demands in a finite time, as well as its high accuracy for sub-excitation systems. In this research, the control method is applied to the crank-slider and the four-bar mechanisms. For this purpose, at first, the equations of these mechanisms have been expressed in an ideal form, and then the nonlinear equations have been extracted with the imperfect joint. The Lankarani-Nikravesh and the Ambrosio models have been used for modeling the clearance and friction force in the joint, respectively. In addition, verification of controller is implemented in Adams software.
Haptic tele-driving design of vehicle steering control system with communication delay under complicated driving and road conditions
Authors: Sajjadi Mohammadreza , Chahari Mahmood , Salarieh Hassan
Published: July 2024

In this paper, stabilization of tele-driving system in presence of communication time delay is studied using a 103 DOF vehicle model generated in ADAMS/Car Software. The purpose of this study is achieving a real sense of driving for tele-driving system in virtual environment under complicated driving and road conditions. To this aim, the performance of the various control architectures, in terms of position and force tracking, are investigated. Hence, the two-channel architecture is chosen as the most appropriate scheme to implement the haptic control system for the vehicle steering mechanism. In this paper, we designed an effective haptic feedback control for vehicle steering mechanism in the tele-driving system so that a command can be exerted to steering wheel by the human operator, which passes through the communication channels and will be applied to unmanned vehicle steering system. It is verified that an appropriate coordination performance under the human input can be obtained with the proposed control framework. To overcome the possible instability problem associated with existence of time-delay in communication channels, wave variables and their corrections are effectively embedded into the control system. Finally, the proposed bilateral tele-driving control on a rough 3D road surface at complicated driving and road conditions in the presence of time-delay are examined comprehensively.
Cooperative control for lane departure prevention based on model predictive control and gated recurrent unit model
Authors: Qin Zengke , Guo Lie , Wu Jian , Ge Pingshu , Liu Xin , Zhao Liyuan
Published: July 2024

Human-machine conflict has a significant impact on driving safety, posing a vital challenge in the design of lane departure prevention (LDP) systems. To address the issue, this paper proposes a driver-intelligent vehicle cooperative steering torque assistance control strategy. The lane departure decision-making module based on the gated recurrent unit (GRU) is used to predict the lateral deviation of the vehicle and to make real-time decisions regarding the switching of the model predictive control (MPC) based assistance controller. Next, the conflict performance between the MPC lane keeping and conflict reduction (MPC-LKCR) controller’s torque and the driver’s torque is added to the optimization objective of the MPC lane keeping (MPC-LK) controller, while the lane keeping performance is continually retained. That is because a shared factor based on the fuzzy model is designed with the ability to adjust the assistance torque within the MPC-LKCR controller according to the driver’s intention. Finally, after the overall optimization of the MPC-LKCR controller, the final torque after the superposition of driver and assistance torque acts on the steering column to realize the human-machine cooperative steering control. The driving data from 52 drivers were collected to train the GRU model offline. The proposed strategy was simulated and analyzed under different driving scenarios, and hardware-in-the-loop experiments were completed on a driving simulator to validate it. Hardware-in-the-loop results show that the average conflict intensity and conflict time ratio are reduced by 23.8% and 34.4% under the MPC-LKCR controller compared to the MPC-LK controller. The strategy not only accomplishes the task of vehicle lane departure but also effectively reduces the time and intensity of human-machine conflicts.
Integrated stability control of active aerodynamics and active rear-wheel steering for high-speed vehicle
Authors: Deng Zhaowen , Zhao Youqun , Gao Wei , Yi Qiang , Wang Baohua
Published: July 2024

At present, the research on improving vehicle handling stability, ride comfort, and driving safety mainly focuses on chassis system control, and rarely considers vehicle active aerodynamic control based on aerodynamic characteristics. Therefore, this paper takes the high-speed vehicle with adjustable tail as the research object, and the integrated stability control of active aerodynamics and active rear-wheel steering has been proposed. First, a linear two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) vehicle dynamic reference model was established, and the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) active rear-wheel steering controller was designed. Second, the principle of angle of attack distribution for active aerodynamic system was developed, an active aerodynamic Sliding Mode control (SMC) system was designed, which can automatically adjust the angle of attack of the rear wing, according to the vehicle status. Finally, the integrated stability control of active aerodynamics and active rear-wheel steering was realized. In the CarSim and Matlab/Simulink environment, the response characteristics of the integrated control to vehicle handling stability and safety were analyzed. The results show that the integrated stability control can effectively enhance the handling stability, ride comfort, safety, and road tracking ability of the high-speed vehicle, thus reducing the occurrence of vehicle runaway, rollover, and other dangerous situations.
Distributed Drive Electric Vehicle Sideslip Angle Estimation Based on the AVOA-MCSCKF Algorithm
Authors: Chen Qiping , Yu Binghao , Pang Hongyu , Zhong Chengping , You Daoliang , Jiang Zhiqiang
Published: July 2024

The accurate acquisition of information regarding the state of a vehicle's driving is essential for the implementation of active safety control measures in vehicles. To tackle the challenge of accurately measuring the sideslip angle in distributed electric vehicles, this study proposes an optimized maximum correntropy square-root cubature Kalman filter based on African vulture optimization algorithm (AVOA-MCSCKF). This method aims to provide accurate estimation of the sideslip angle. The real-time estimation of the total vehicle mass is conducted through the application of forgetting factor recursive least squares method. Additionally, the African vulture algorithm is utilized to adaptively adjust MCSCKF. This adjustment aims to mitigate estimation inaccuracies stemming from the uncertain nature of the noise covariance matrix, ultimately leading to a more accurate estimation of the sideslip angle. In the collaborative simulation environment of Carsim/Simulink, the algorithm's accuracy and robustness are validated across various operational scenarios. The research findings indicate that AVOA-MCSCKF algorithm enhances the accuracy of sideslip angle estimation by a minimum of 51.8% when compared to both the standard covariance Kalman filter and square-root cubature Kalman filter filter. This approach effectively addresses the challenging estimation issue of the sideslip angle in distributed drive electric vehicles operating under complex conditions, thereby improving the vehicle's active safety.