bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Experimental and numerical study of thermoforming of Al/CFRP hybrid composites
Authors: Yu Shixiang , Zhang Zhiqiang , Sun Mengxi , Cheng Hang , Ren Mingwen , Jia Hongjie
Published: March 2022

Composite materials are more and more widely used in the automotive industry with the increasing requirements of lightweight design. In order to obtain automotive parts with excellent comprehensive mechanical properties, the 7075-T6 aluminum alloy was integrated with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) by using thermoforming process. The influence of four forming methods on the forming process, forming accuracy, and interface bonding strength was studied in this work. A finite element model based on cohesion and forming was established to study the integrated thermoforming and properties prediction of Al/CFRP hybrid composites. The results showed that forming CFRP and unformed 7075 Al aluminum alloy sheet together required higher forming energy and the formed parts had higher Mises stresses. When the CFRP was located below 7075 aluminum alloy sheet, the uneven stress distribution due to the severe deformation of the resin resulted in the worst forming accuracy. For all four processes, the thickness of the formed parts decreased at the round corners and side wall area, increased at the flange area, and changed little at bottom surface. The thickness distribution of the formed part depends on the deformation process and the contact pressure between the tools and the blank. Greater contact pressure resulted in greater thinning rate. For the processes of preformed 7075 aluminum alloy, although less forming force was needed, the interface debonding risk between 7075 aluminum alloy and CFRP might arise due to the small contact pressure.
“The Question Is Not How but Why Things Happen”: South African Traditional Healers’ Explanatory Model of Mental Illness, Its Diagnosis and Treatment
Authors: Shange Sinethemba , Ross Eleanor
Published: March 2022

While there is relatively high patronage of traditional healers in South Africa, their approaches toward mental illness remain shrouded in mystery. The research therefore explored the beliefs and practices of traditional healers at Dube Village, Soweto, South Africa regarding the reasons for and treatment of mental illness and was guided by an Afrocentric theoretical perspective. Qualitative interviews with 14 traditional healers revealed that mental illness could be identified by throwing the bones, observations, and history-taking. They attributed mental illness to spiritual, socio-cultural, psychosocial, and physical factors. Methods used to treat mental illness included removing evil spirits through washing, steaming, induced vomiting, and administering herbal remedies. Findings suggest that while there are many similarities with biomedicine, traditional healing differs in terms of its links with spirituality and the efforts of healers to answer the question why things happen from a collectivist perspective.
High-speed rail and barriers to innovation: The Budd Company and the limits of US indirect industrial policy in the 1960s and 1970s
Authors: Feldman Jonathan Michael
Published: March 2022

This study examines the Metroliner passenger rail trains manufactured by the Budd Company in the 1960s and 1970s. I show that while transportation companies and the government facilitated the development of a high(er) speed rail line and trains, this procurement process was not sufficient for sustaining Budd as a national rail producer. This case study is based on government documents, interviews, news reports, published studies and archival work. The limits to the Metroliner program as industrial policy were based on: (a) company innovative lags; (b) weakness in Budd's industrial profile and endogenous capacities; (c) failures in systems integration and (d) the contradictions of an indirect industrial policy, where companies gain capacities from the state indirectly or insufficiently.
Is Self-Amputation for Survival Morally Justifiable?
Authors: Austriaco Nicanor Pier Giorgio
Published: March 2022

Are acts of self-amputation for survival morally justifiable in the Catholic tradition? I propose that a proper understanding of the principle of totality that involves a benefit/risk assessment of the impact of a surgical intervention on the well-being of the embodied person justifies such acts: A bodily part may be sacrificed to save the life of an individual person because all bodily parts are ordered towards the flourishing of that person. As such they can be sacrificed for the good of the whole, because this would be in accord with their natural end.
Death Anxiety and WellBeing in Doctors During COVID-19: The Explanatory and Boosting Roles of Sleep Quality and Work Locality
Authors: Meher Komal , Mushtaq Mamoona , Fatima Shameem
Published: March 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic, a global public health crisis, has triggered anxiety and fear of death in general public and particularly among health professionals. This study aimed to assess the direct and mediated associations between death anxiety, sleep quality, and subjective wellbeing in doctors working during the pandemic. A secondary aim was tested to analyze the interactive role of workplace locality in these associations. An indirect-effect model was tested on a sample of 244 doctors working during the pandemic. Findings revealed that the association between death anxiety and subjective wellbeing was mediated through sleep quality. Furthermore, death anxiety significantly and negatively predicted subjective wellbeing in doctors working in rural setups compared to those working in urban setups. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
A network perspective on abnormal child behavior in primary school students
Authors: Till Apolline C. , Florquin Rémi , Delhaye Marie , Kornreich Charles , Williams Donald R. , Briganti Giovanni
Published: March 2022

Abnormal child behavior is a complex entity including among others disorders such as ADHD, a neuropsychiatric disorder interfering with the normal development of the child, and combining many comorbidities. There are no specific tools designed to assess abnormal child behavior, although well-known ADHD screening tools such as the CTRS-R:S go beyond the disorder itself and cover the wider construct. This can be understood as the complex system of mutually influencing entities, that is why the aim of this study was to investigate the items of the CTRS-R:S as a psychological network. We analyzed a data set of 525 children in French-speaking primary schools from Belgium, and estimated a Bayesian Gaussian Graphical Model with a Bayes Factor of 30. We identified highly connected nodes from each community of the CTRS-R:S to build an additional network of communities. In the domain network, Oppositional and Cognitive skills share the strongest connection in the network. The 28-item network was overall positively connected albeit the presence of some negative connections. The spinglass algorithm identified eight domains in the CTRS-R:S network that causally influence each other. The network approach is a useful framework to investigate the domains of abnormal child behavior as well as the interplay between individual symptoms.
Substance Use, Financial Stress, Employment Disruptions, and Anxiety among Veterans during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Tran Denise D. , Fitzke Reagan E. , Wang Jennifer , Davis Jordan P. , Pedersen Eric R.
Published: March 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in financial, employment, and mental health challenges. In general, American veterans report high rates of substance use, which may be influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those with pre-existing mental health problems, employment disruptions, or financial stress may be particularly vulnerable. We examined the relationships between pre-existing self-report screens for a probable anxiety disorder, COVID-19-related financial stress, employment disruption (e.g., lost job, reduced hours), and alcohol, cannabis, and cigarette use during the pandemic among 1230 veterans ( Mage = 34.5; 89% male). Participants were recruited through various social media sites and completed an online survey 1 month prior to implementation of the nationwide physical distancing guidelines in the United States (February 2020). Six months later (August 2020), they completed a follow-up survey. Compared to veterans who screened negative for anxiety prior to the pandemic, veterans who screened positive reported consuming more drinks per week ( b = 3.05), were more likely to use cannabis ( OR = 6.53), and smoked more cigarettes ( b = 2.06) during the first 6 months of the pandemic. Financial stress was positively associated with alcohol ( b = 1.09) and cannabis use ( OR = 1.90). Alcohol use was heaviest among veterans with a positive pre-existing anxiety screen and high financial stress. Moreover, veterans who experienced employment disruption due to the pandemic consumed less alcohol but were more likely to use cannabis during the pandemic. Veterans with pre-pandemic anxiety and pandemic-related financial stress may be using substances at higher rates and may benefit from intervention to mitigate negative substance use-related outcomes. Findings also enhance our understanding of veteran substance use behaviors following disruptions in employment due to the pandemic.
Tangible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: A fall in dexterity amongst surgical trainees?
Authors: Gowda Siri , Swamy Gokul Kanda , Veerattepillay Rajan , Rajasundaram Ramanan , Hanchanale Vishwanath , Gowda Basavaraj , Wilkinson Beverley , Biyani Chandra Shekhar
Published: March 2022

Background

The coronavirus pandemic has had an indisputable impact on surgical training. The qualitative effect on the perceived confidence and capability of trainees has been widely reported. In order to fully delineate the scope of the problem, quantitative data is also required.

Methods

This cross-sectional study collected compared data on the laparoscopic skills (pre- and post-pandemic) of first-year urology residents in the United Kingdom, who attended the annual Urology Simulation Boot Camp (USBC) in 2018 and 2019 (pre-pandemic), and 2021 (post-pandemic).

Results

Pre-pandemic group performance was significantly better in 2 out of 4 tasks (Task 3 p < 0.001) (Task 4 p = 0.003) during the practice session. During the assessment, pre-pandemic group performance was better (p = 0.017) for Task 2 and significantly faster (p = 003) for Task 4.

Conclusions

Our results provide evidence to support the notion that the coronavirus pandemic has had a tangible and detrimental effect on the technical skills of surgical trainees.
The effect of temperature and peroxides content on cross-linking and properties of EPDM-based rubber matrix
Authors: Kruželák Ján , Kvasničáková Andrea , Hložeková Klaudia , Džuganová Michaela , Hudec Ivan
Published: March 2022

In this work, dicumyl peroxide (DCP), di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP), di(tert-butylperoxyisopropyl)benzene (DTBPIB), and 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(tert-butylperoxy)hexane (DDTBPH) were used for cross-linking of rubber matrix based on Ethylene-propylene-diene monomer rubber (EPDM). The aim was to investigate the influence of curing temperature and the type and content of peroxide on curing process of rubber compounds, cross-link density, and physical-mechanical properties of vulcanizates. The results revealed that higher curing temperatures promote faster decomposition of organic peroxides, leading to the faster reactions of peroxide radicals with rubber chains. The increase in temperature resulted also in the increase of cross-linking degree. Although, side reactions as chain scission take over the main cross-linking reactions at very high temperatures resulting in the decrease of cross-link density. The increasing content of peroxides resulted in the acceleration of curing reactions and to increase of cross-link density. The fastest curing kinetics exhibited rubber compounds cured with DCP. However, vulcanizates cured with DCP were found to have the lowest cross-link density. In generally, the dependences of modulus, hardness, and elongation at break of vulcanizates were in line with the dependences of the cross-link densities, while higher tensile strength were found to have vulcanizates cured at higher temperatures and lower peroxides content.
The effect of the severity of COVID-19 on the sequelae of the audiovestibular system
Authors: Aydin Sukru , Koca Cigdem Firat , Celik Turgut , Kelles Mehmet , Yasar Seyma , Oguzturk Saadet
Published: March 2022

Objectives: The neurotropic and neuroinvasive properties of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been described. It remains unknown how SARS-CoV-2 affects the audiovestibular system when it causes mild or severe disease. In this study, the sequelae effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the audiovestibular systems of different patient groups was investigated using objective and subjective test batteries. Methods: In this present study, we evaluated vestibulocochlear functions of patients who previously had Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) with pure tone audiometry, ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (o-VEMP), and cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (c-VEMP) tests to identify possible sequelae by comparing them with the control group. Results: We found that the amplitude of p13-n23 was lower in both groups of patients than in the control group (p < 0.001). In the results of the left ear c-VEMP, the amplitude of p13-n23 was statistically different between the outpatient, inpatient, and control groups. The amplitude of p13-n23 was lower in both groups of patients than in the control group (p < 0.001). In the evaluation of the o-VEMP in the left ear, we observed a statistically significant difference in the latency of n10 (p = 0.006) and the amplitude of n10-p15 (p < 0.001) between the groups. The n10 latency was prolonged in both groups of patients compared to the control group and there was no statistically significant difference between groups of patients. Furthermore, the amplitude of n10-p15 was lower in both groups of patients compared to the control group and there were no statistically demonstrable differences between the groups of patients. Conclusions: In conclusion, our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may affect the vestibulocochlear system. But we could not find a direct relationship according to the severity of the disease.
The reversal of populism. Assessing the explanatory power of the ideational approach in contemporary Argentina
Authors: Sendra Mariana , Llamazares Iván
Published: March 2022

In this study we conduct a least-likely case study in order to assess the analytical power of the ideational approach to populism. We do so by testing the direct and conditional effects of populist attitudes on vote choices in Argentina. We examine whether populist attitudes are associated with the Peronist vote, as more essentialist interpretations would lead us to expect, or, on the contrary, linked to vote for right parties, an expectation that is more consistent with thin-ideological approaches. Our data consists of an original online survey carried out in September 2020, a specific juncture at which the Peronist government had to deal with widespread popular discontent caused by intense economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings reveal that populist attitudes are positively associated with voting for right parties and that the effects of such attitudes are conditioned by ideological preferences. These results underscore the explanatory power of ideational approaches to the electoral activation of populist attitudes.
Exchanging Obligations: Accounting for All Forms of Capital
Authors: Blockley David
Published: March 2022

Economics and engineering have much in common since both are concerned with making decisions to act, based on evidence from many sources including science. An analysis of financial trading from an engineering-systems perspective leads to a theory of obligations as a means of capturing natural, social and human capital. The treatment is based on an analogy between gravitational and electromagnetic fields of forces and fields of human interactions. An ‘obligation’ is defined as an underived unit of ‘stuff’ analogous to gravitational ‘mass’ or electromagnetic ‘charge’ in a field of interacting processes. Identifying the forces generated in the field of human obligations will help create new policy and practical interventions. These should be designed (as engineers’ design) systems to maximise net worth that includes a wide set of natural and social assets, such as biodiversity, air quality and reduced inequality.

JEL: Q50, Q01, E00, E60, O11, O14, C60
Personal talent curation in the lifetime realization of gifted potential: The role of adaptive intelligence
Authors: Sternberg Robert J.
Published: March 2022

This article introduces the construct of personal talent curation. Personal talent curation is one’s assessment of one’s talents—of one’s strengths and weaknesses—but also the building of an adaptive match in life between those talents and both one’s career pursuits and one’s personal lifestyle. Sometimes, this match means pursuing a lifelong passion, but other times, it means giving up that passion or transforming it into a passion that works in the broader context of the life one seeks for oneself. For example, one may be an exceptionally talented musician, scientist, or artist, but the concomitants of a life building relentlessly on those talents—competition, professional jealousy, and continual critiques—just do not fit the kind of life one wishes to lead. In such cases, it may turn out that what in a profession or in society is viewed as a “failure” or a “derailment” may represent a personal adaptive success.
Is robotic gait training effective for individuals with cerebral palsy? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Conner Benjamin C. , Remec Nushka M. , Lerner Zachary F.
Published: March 2022

Aim

To determine if robotic gait training for individuals with cerebral palsy is more effective than the standard of care for improving function.

Method

PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane databases were searched from 1980–January, 2022 for articles that investigated robotic gait training versus standard of care (i.e. physical therapy or standard gait training) for individuals with cerebral palsy. Articles were included if a randomized controlled trial design was used, and excluded if robotic gait training was combined with another neuromuscular intervention, such as functional electrical stimulation. A meta-analysis of outcomes measured in at least four studies was conducted.

Results

Eight citations met all criteria for full-text review and inclusion in the meta-analysis. A total of 188 individuals with cerebral palsy, ages four to 35, and Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I–IV were studied. Level of evidence ranged from 2b–1b. All studies utilized a tethered, assistive device for robotic gait training. The overall effect was not significantly different between the robotic gait training and control interventions for six minute walk test performance (95% CI: −0.17, 0.73; P = 0.22), free walking speed (95% CI: −0.18, 0.57; P = 0.30), or Gross Motor Function Measures D (Standing) (95% CI: −0.29, 0.39; P = 0.77) and E (Walking, Running and Jumping) (95% CI: −0.11, 0.57; P = 0.19).

Conclusion

Tethered robotic devices that provide assistive gait training for individuals with cerebral palsy do not provide a greater benefit for improving mobility than the standard of care.
Practice review: Evidence-based and effective management of anaemia in palliative care patients
Authors: Neoh Karen , Page Andrew , Chin-Yee Nicolas , Doree Carolyn , Bennett Michael I
Published: March 2022

Background:

Anaemia is a common sequela of advanced disease and is associated with significant symptom burden. No specific guidance exists for the investigation and management of anaemia in palliative care patients.

Aim:

We aim to offer a pragmatic overview of the approaches to investigate and manage anaemia in advanced disease, based on guidelines and evidence in disease specific patient groups, including cancer, heart failure and chronic kidney disease.

Design:

Scoping review methodology was used to determine the strength of evidence supporting the investigation and management of anaemia in patients with advanced disease.

Data sources:

A search for guidelines was performed in 2020. National or international guidelines were examined if they described the investigation or management of anaemia in adult patients with health conditions seen by palliative care services written within the last 5 years in the English language. Searches of MEDLINE, the Cochrane library and WHO guidance were made in 2019 to identify key publications that provided additional primary data.

Results:

Evidence supports patient-centred investigation of anaemia, results of which should guide targeted intervention. Blanket use of blood transfusion should be avoided, with evidence supporting a more restrictive approach to transfusion. Routine use of oral iron and erythropoetin stimulating agents (ESAs) are not recommended. Insufficient evidence exists to determine the effectiveness of IV iron in this patient group.

Conclusion:

We advocate early consideration and investigation of anaemia, guided by symptom burden and patient preferences. Correction of reversible causes should be the mainstay of treatment, with a restrictive approach to blood transfusion. Research is required to evaluate the efficacy of IV iron in these patients.
“Socially Responsible Marketing” To, With, and For Impoverished Populations
Authors: Santos Nicholas J.C.
Published: March 2022

This is a commentary on the macro and normative-ethical definition of socially responsible marketing proposed by Laczniak and Shultz (2021) from the perspective of marketing in impoverished markets. It considers the three dimensions of “marketing to”, “marketing with”, and “marketing for” impoverished populations. While the definition proposed by Laczniak & Shultz is broad and all-encompassing, a major limitation is in the elaboration of social sustainability. As social and ecological sustainability is proposed as an essential element of the definition, the scant attention paid to social sustainability is a major lacuna in the definitional construct.
Evolution of lake water volume in global closed basins since the Last Glacial Maximum and its implication for future projection
Authors: Zhang Yuxin , Li Yu
Published: March 2022

Mostly concurring with arid and semi-arid regions, closed basins are faced with water scarcity, prominent imbalance between water resource supply and demand, and ecological degradation. Spatial-temporal patterns of water resource change in closed basins have received increasing attention in recent years, but it is still unclear whether there is a connection between the present patterns and those under the millennial-scale natural state. According to lake records, lake models and paleoclimate simulations, we provided a preliminary impression of water volume changes in the long history of different closed basins, which clarified the linkages and differences between the past and present water volume changes. We also evaluated possible water volume changes in the near future. We found that there has been a declining trend of water volume in closed basins of mid-latitude since the Last Glacial Maximum in general, whereas there has been a rising trend of water volume in closed basins of low-latitude over the same period. Over the last few decades, the declining trend of water storage in Western North America, Sahara and Arabia and Central Eurasia possibly has inherited the decreased water volume conditions across the millennial-scale under the natural state, while the increasing water storage in Great Rift Valley and Southern Africa and the decreasing water storage in Dry Andes and Patagonia may be temporary. The assessment of near future water volume changes from a paleoclimatological perspective indicates that the water volume in parts of Western North America, northern Dry Andes, northern Sahara, and southwestern Central Eurasia will continue to decline, while in parts of southern Sahara, southern Great Rift Valley, southeastern Central Eurasia, and eastern Australia it will continue to rise.
Primary headache disorders in adolescents in North- and South-Tyrol: Findings of the EVA-Tyrol-Study
Authors: Kaltseis Katharina , Frank Florian , Bernar Benoît , Kiechl Sophia , Winder Bernhard , Kiechl-Kohlendorfer Ursula , Knoflach Michael , Broessner Gregor ,   for the Early Vascular Ageing (EVA) Tyrol Study Group
Published: March 2022

Objective

Assessment of the prevalence of primary headache disorders, associated risk factors and use of acute/preventive medication in a representative large sample of adolescents.

Methods

Within the EVA-Tyrol project, a community-based non-randomized controlled cross-sectional study, data was collected from adolescents aged 14–19 years from 45 sites across North-, East- and South Tyrol. Headaches were classified according to the latest ICHD-3 and assessed by headache specialists in face-to-face interviews.

Findings

Of 1923 participants 930 (48.4%) reported having headaches. Female to male ratio was 2:1. Migraine, tension-type headache and other headache were diagnosed in 10%, 30.2% and 8.2% respectively. Medication overuse was diagnosed in 3.4%, increasing up to 21.7% in participants with chronic headache. The use of preventative medication was not reported by any adolescent. Sleep disturbances (p < 0.05), alcohol consumption (p < 0.05), low physical activity (p < 0.01) and high screen time exposure (p < 0.01) were associated with an increased risk of headaches.

Conclusion

We report high prevalence of primary headache disorders and medication overuse in a large community-based sample of teenagers. Acute and preventive non-drug and pharmacological treatments are not established due to lack of paediatric headache outpatient clinics. Promoting health education in teenagers and encouraging public awareness, including that of health care providers is pivotal. Trial registration: EVA-Tyrol has been retrospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov under https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03929692 since April 29, 2019.
Experimental Characterisation and FEA Comparison between Wave and Helical Springs
Authors: Pratim P. , Balodi S.
Published: March 2022

Vibrations are unwanted mechanical phenomena which cause performance deterioration of dedicated equipment and critical electronic hardware. In order to reduce this vibration during the transportation of the dedicated payloads, that is, optical payload or microwave payload and critical electronic hardware such as atomic clocks, detectors and containers with vibration isolation devices are used. Traditional vibration or shock absorbing systems are big in size which makes the whole container huge and bulky. In our present paper, we try to characterise different types of springs (helical and wave) and develop a FEM methodology to calculate the stress and displacement of the springs under load. Generally, helical springs are used with shock absorber systems having large displacement area. Instead of helical springs, we have proposed wave springs. In this study we have selected helical and wave springs for our experiments and compared them for the fulfilment of our objective. The future aim of this study is to select a suitable spring which can be used with a small size damper in order to make a compact vibration isolation system which will provide the same load carrying capacity in a constrained space as that of a traditional system. The CAD files of both the springs are modelled using Autodesk Inventor Professional 2019 and Creo Parametric 5.0, while FEM methodology is performed using HyperWorks 2019 for both the springs. The theoretical calculations of the models are compared with the FEA results and then validated experimentally.
Multi-source information deep fusion for rolling bearing fault diagnosis based on deep residual convolution neural network
Authors: Wang HongChao , Du WenLiao
Published: March 2022

Aiming at the difficulty of identifying weak fault of rolling element bearing (REB) accurately using only one single fault signal evidence domain, a multi-source information deep fusion diagnosis method for REB based on multi-synchrosqueezing transform (MSST) and deep residual convolution neural network (DRCNN) is presented in this paper, which combines the potential application of MSST in fault feature extraction of REB and the advantages. Firstly, the signals of REB under different running states are transformed by short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and MSST, respectively, to obtain the STFT and MSST time-frequency spectrum symptom set. Then, multiple DRCNNs are built to perform feature learning on the obtained time-frequency multi-symptom domain information, thereby a mapping between the local feature space and the fault space is established. Finally, the testing feature vectors obtained same as the processes of training feature vectors are input into the trained DRCNN models for automatic recognition. The validity of the proposed method is verified by experiment, and the overall average recognition success rate of the proposed method reaches above 95%. Besides, its advantage is also compared with the other related methods.
Sliding mode controller based aircraft automatic landing for alternate profiles
Authors: Salahudden Salahudden , Das Akash T , Sanwale Jitu , Giri Dipak K , Ghosh Ajoy K
Published: March 2022

In the present paper, different autonomous landing profiles are formulated and simulated. Generic landing is modelled first, wherein, approach and acquired runway heading is considered as same. The second-landing profile involves altitude hold when runway is not clear to land the aircraft. Expedited landing is the third profile modelled with a glide slope-maintained descent to reduce the ground distance required pre-touchdown. In either of the landing profiles, flare is kept the same. The merits and demerits with respect to the practicality of implementation of these profiles are then discussed. Each landing profile has been demonstrated using sliding mode controller (SMC). The asymptotic stability and finite-time proofs of the designed controller are shown using Lyapunov function. F-18 HARV aircraft is considered to test the efficacy of the formulated landing profiles. Expedited landing profile proposed here is a novel approach in which altitude descent gradient is maintained with helical descent path. Additionally, results of this approach show significant improvement in terms of possibility of initiating an unconventional and yet safe as well as economical method much nearer to the runway.
An approach of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition-aided Free-form Deformation with application in compressor blade design
Authors: Wang Shuyue , Wang Kaidi , Qin Sheng , Yuan Zizhao , Sun Gang , Li Zhong
Published: March 2022

Compressor blade design influences aero-engine performance mainly through its total pressure ratio and efficiency. As a volume-based geometric parameterization, Free-form Deformation (FFD) brings three-dimensionality that is essential to blade design. However, the manipulation of control points with respect to simple numeric parametric perturbation renders the use of design space low-efficient. Therefore, an improved FFD with ‘wiser’ control point lay-out is expected to identify those more important design variables. This paper proposes novel design variables that are assigned to grouping of control points’ displacement in FFD lay-out. In short, the approach is realized as: (i) establish a library of sufficient blade shape samples; (ii) filter the database with geometric constraints; (iii) extract dominant modes via (POD) Proper Orthogonal Decomposition; (iv) construct new design variables and apply them in optimization. With geometric constraint filtering, problem-oriented information is injected. With POD, the dominance of new selected geometric parameters in problem description is assured. Perfunctory details of displacement data of each control point in the lay-out can be replaced by grouped data as new design variable candidates. As a proof-of-concept study of the new approach, compressor blade Rotor 37 is selected to be the good platform of testing the feasibility of POD-aided FFD as a global and flexible yet economic geometric parameterization. Result demonstrates the feasibility of proposed POD-aided FFD approach that helps conduct an optimization involving displacement of 6 × 4 × 3 control points with as few as five new design variables, while still being capable of bringing optimization effect in three test cases.
The Cognition/Metacognition Trade-Off
Authors: Rosenbaum David , Glickman Moshe , Fleming Stephen M. , Usher Marius
Published: March 2022

Integration to boundary is an optimal decision algorithm that accumulates evidence until the posterior reaches a decision boundary, resulting in the fastest decisions for a target accuracy. Here, we demonstrated that this advantage incurs a cost in metacognitive accuracy (confidence), generating a cognition/metacognition trade-off. Using computational modeling, we found that integration to a fixed boundary results in less variability in evidence integration and thus reduces metacognitive accuracy, compared with a collapsing-boundary or a random-timer strategy. We examined how decision strategy affects metacognitive accuracy in three cross-domain experiments, in which 102 university students completed a free-response session (evidence terminated by the participant’s response) and an interrogation session (fixed number of evidence samples controlled by the experimenter). In both sessions, participants observed a sequence of evidence and reported their choice and confidence. As predicted, the interrogation protocol (preventing integration to boundary) enhanced metacognitive accuracy. We also found that in the free-response sessions, participants integrated evidence to a collapsing boundary—a strategy that achieves an efficient compromise between optimizing choice and metacognitive accuracy.
Who’s the “Real” Victim? How Victim Framing Shapes Attitudes Toward Sexual Assault
Authors: Flusberg Stephen J. , van der Vord James , Husney Sarah Q. , Holmes Kevin J.
Published: March 2022

People accused of sexual assault are often described as the “real” victim by their defenders, but the impact of “victim framing” on public opinion is unknown. We investigated this issue across four experiments ( N = 2,614). Online U.S. adult participants read a report about an alleged sexual assault that framed the female accuser as the victim (of assault), framed the male alleged perpetrator as the victim (of false accusations), or was neutral about victimhood (baseline). Relative to those in the baseline condition, participants in the assault- and allegation-victim conditions generally expressed more support for the victim-framed protagonist and less support for the other protagonist. The consistency of these effects varied with how often the victim frame was instantiated and whether the report described a fictionalized or real-world case. Across all contexts, however, participants who identified the victim-related language as influencing their evaluations exhibited strong framing effects. This suggests that social-pragmatic reasoning is a key mechanism by which victim framing shapes moral judgments.
Unknown input estimation algorithms for a class of LPV/nonlinear systems with application to wastewater treatment process
Authors: Chaouche Alima , Zemouche A , Ramdani Messaoud , Chaib Draa Khadidja , Delattre Cédric
Published: March 2022

This paper addresses the problem of unknown input estimation for a class of nonlinear systems with mixed nonlinear terms, namely Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) parts and purely Lipschitz nonlinearities. Three new unknown input estimation algorithms are proposed, where each algorithm depends on the distribution of the unknown inputs in the system. These algorithms provide estimation of the maximum possible unknown inputs in a system, contrarily to the methods available in the literature, which consider only particular cases. Before introducing these estimation algorithms, a general LMI-based [Formula: see text] observer design methodology is provided, as a preliminary result, for a class of nonlinear descriptor systems with nonlinear outputs. To this end, a specific Lyapunov function is exploited to avoid derivatives of the disturbances. The proposed LMI conditions are less conservative than those existing in the literature. This is due to the specific Lyapunov function, the use of Young inequality in a judicious way, and the reformulation of the Lipschitz inequality. The proposed algorithms are applied to a wastewater treatment model to show their effectiveness and performances.
Curculigoside mitigates hepatic ischemia/reperfusion-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis via activation of the Nrf-2/HO-1 pathway
Authors: Du Peng , Zhang Xingjian , Luo Kaifeng , Li Yong , Fu Chengchao , Xiao Jiansheng , Xiao Qi
Published: March 2022

Curculigoside has been shown to decrease oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions in many disorders, but its effects during hepatic ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI) remain unknown. This research aims to determine the protective role and the potential mechanism of action of curculigoside in hepatic IRI. Here, a well-established rat model of partial warm IRI was constructed; serum ALT/AST and H&E staining were employed to assay the extent of liver injury; the superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde, IL-6, and TNF-α contents were determined using the corresponding kits; the apoptosis index was evaluated by TUNEL staining; and the expression of Nrf-2, HO-1, and apoptosis-associated proteins was detected by qRT–PCR and Western blotting. The results showed that curculigoside pretreatment effectively mitigated hepatic IRI, as demonstrated by decreases in the levels of serum aminotransferases, hepatocellular necrosis and apoptosis, oxidative stress markers, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. Mechanistically, the expression of Nrf-2 and HO-1 was greatly suppressed by hepatic IRI and reactivated by curculigoside. Furthermore, cotreatment with ML-385, an inhibitor of Nrf-2, counteracted the protective effect of curculigoside against hepatic IRI. The results of our study show that curculigoside plays a protective role in hepatic IRI by inhibiting oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis and that its effects may be associated with activation of the Nrf-2/HO-1 pathway.
Processing, thermal and mechanical properties of composite laminates with natural fibers prepregs
Authors: Libera Junior Vilson Dalla , Teixeira Linconl Araujo , Amico Sandro Campos , Maria da Luz Sandra
Published: March 2022

This work manufactured prepregs by impregnating discontinuous curaua fibers with B-stage epoxy resin. The prepreg layers were then stacked to produce laminates by hot compression. Alkaline treatments were previously applied to the curaua fibers to improve their interface with the polymer matrix. Then, the prepregs and the final composites were studied regarding their thermal, dynamic mechanical, mechanical, and morphological behavior. The treatments promoted defibrillation by removing lignin and hemicellulose from the fibers, which allowed better impregnation of the treated fibers with epoxy resin. In general, laminates that used treated fibers exhibited the largest storage modulus in the glassy region. The mechanical results showed the laminates produced with treated fibers prepregs presented a highest tensile and flexural resistance than those manufactured with untreated fibers and neat epoxy resin. The NaOH-treated curaua/epoxy laminate exhibited high tensile strength (56.2 MPa) and modulus (3.3 GPa). Overall, fracture morphology indicated better fiber adhesion for the treated fiber composites. The results demonstrate that natural fibers prepregs can be successfully produced and present proper physical and mechanical behavior in components.
Do Psychic Distance, International Experience and Risk-Taking Ability Matter for Indonesian SMEs in the Distant Market?
Authors: Visita Luksi , Almahendra Rangga , Tsalits Aktsar Hamdi , Anindita Muhammad Surya
Published: March 2022

The discussion of internationalization small and medium enterprises (SMEs) internationalization is salient in international business literature. In entering and performing in distant international markets, SMEs face more significant challenges than larger firms. This research aims to analyze the effects of psychic distance, international experience, and risk-taking ability among Indonesian SMEs internationalization in a distant market. This research was carried out with a survey involving 76 SMEs in Indonesia, and then the data were analyzed using multiple regression. The result shows that although the regression model is a good fit for the data, only international experience has a significant effect. This paper contributes by providing empirical evidence of (a) factors affecting the internationalization of SMEs of an emerging market in a distant market and (b) the role of psychic distance on internationalization in the context of SMEs.
Adaptive output regulation of the adaptive optics system
Authors: Altıner Berk , Doğan Mustafa , Daşdemir Janset
Published: March 2022

Deformable mirrors are very efficient optical devices that are used in correcting wavefront aberrations and are core elements of adaptive optics systems. Its promising success allows it to operate in a large field of applications. Hence, one of the most important problems in the control of adaptive optics systems is to design a controller that can achieve perfect wavefront correction in completely unknown environmental conditions. To achieve this goal, this study proposes an adaptive internal model control design for deformable mirrors. Considering deformable mirrors as a flexible plate equation, an adaptive internal model-based controller is designed and the effectiveness of the proposed method despite abrupt changes in disturbance is proven by simulation results.
The Unanticipated Dynamics of Promoting Crowdfunding Donation Campaigns on Social Media
Authors: Dehdashti Yashar , Namin Aidin , Ratchford Brian T. , Chonko Lawrence B.
Published: March 2022

Crowdfunding is an online method of fundraising from a large audience. Digital Word of Mouth (DWOM) via social media has become a popular promotion platform for crowdfunding campaigns due to its negligible nominal cost. While one may expect that promoting these campaigns on social media may steadily increase donations, the exact dynamics of such promotions have not been studied for donation-based crowdfunding. We collect panel data on several unique donation campaigns from a major donation-based crowdfunding website (gofundme.com) and analyze them employing a variety of econometric techniques. We specifically provide empirical evidence that promoting crowdfunded charitable campaigns using social media follows three phases throughout a campaign's lifecycle. Our results indicate that the general pattern of behavior is the same for charitable campaigns as it is for reward-based campaigns. This suggests that the psychological motives outlined in the literature are important for both types of campaigns. Because the economic motives are not present, this finding would not be clearly anticipated. We show that the contributing role of social media in a campaign's success varies over time and that it is most helpful in the first ten days of initiating a campaign. We also provide preliminary evidence that promoting charitable campaigns on social media can lead to slacktivism, an unexpected consequence of using social media as a promotion tool resulting in less donations and more social media flurry. We also find that if a campaign does not reach at least 70 percent of its goal after twenty days since launch, it is not likely to be successful. Fundraisers and charitable marketers can use our findings in gauging the effectiveness of raising awareness about their campaigns in the online world. They could also streamline the timing of social media promotions to enhance their impact on collecting donations for charitable causes.
Value Creation (vs Value Destruction) as an Unintended Consequence of Negative Comments on [Innocuous] Brand Social Media Posts
Authors: Labrecque Lauren I. , Markos Ereni , Yuksel Mujde , Khan Tracy A.
Published: March 2022

Social media allows brands a place to reinforce their identities and build positive interactions with their customers. Despite all the benefits social media offers to brands, it is also is a place where consumers can post negative comments (unintended consequence #1) with the intention to cause harm (value-destruction). But could these value destruction attempts backfire, resulting in value-creation for the brand (unintended consequence #2)? Study 1 (qualitative online content analysis) uses 237 real consumer comments on brand posts to explore the initial unintended consequence—the phenomenon of consumers posting negative comments on innocuous brand posts and identifies four categorizations based on two distinct comment types (personal vs. brand) and tones (lecturing vs. mocking). Building on Study 1, Study 2a investigates how observing consumers view the four different comment categorizations identified in Study 1 and explores whether they vary in terms of their justification (i.e., justified vs. not). Study 2b identifies which categorizations impact observing consumers’ perceptions of a comment as “complaining” or “trolling”. Lastly, Study 3 utilizes an experiment to test unintended consequence #2—we find that “trolling” negative comments on innocuous brand posts can increase observing consumers’ likelihood to engage with the brand.
I am Not What I Like: Endorsing Brands on Social Media Negatively Affects Consumers’ Self-Evaluation
Authors: Bernritter Stefan F. , Loermans Annemijn C. , W. Eigenraam Anniek , Verlegh Peeter W. J.
Published: March 2022

To what extent do consumers incorporate the identity of brands they endorse on social media into their self-concept? We argue that, contrary to popular belief, online brand endorsements may not necessarily lead to inclusion of the brand into the self and may, consequently, lead to contrast effects that negatively affect consumers’ self-evaluations. We test our hypotheses across five studies and find that consumers who endorse a brand on social media subsequently negatively adjust their self-evaluations on traits that reflect the brand's key personality traits. This effect occurs only if they endorse the brand (i.e., by “liking” or “following” it), but not when they just visit the brand's social media page. Moreover, the effect is moderated by brand symbolism, with stronger effects if the brand is perceived to have low brand symbolism. The downwards shift in consumers’ self-evaluations negatively affects brand outcomes. We also explore the role of incentives as counter mechanism. In conclusion, our findings reveal a dark side to promoting consumer endorsement of brands on social media, one with implications not only for consumers but also for brands.