bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A national test of dyslexia
Authors: Poulsen Mads , Juul Holger , Elbro Carsten 
Published: July 2023

AbstractDifferent definitions and tests of dyslexia can cause unfairness and make life difficult for people with dyslexia as well as for the professionals. In 2012, the Danish government decided to support the fight against dyslexia. The government issued a public tender for the development of “a standardized, electronically administered test of dyslexia for use […] from primary Grade 3 and up through all educational levels to 5-year university education.” The present paper reports from the development of this National Dyslexia Test. The paper focuses on the definition of dyslexia and the composition, reliability, and validity of the test. Data from the development of the test demonstrate the psychometric properties of the test. Reliability was indicated by a high agreement between the two (computer-administered) measures that are part of the test. External convergent validity was indicated by a high agreement between test results and results from prior practice and by agreement between test results and reading comprehension of educational texts. The paper concludes with a discussion of the practical uses and potential issues with the test since its release in 2015.
Understanding the variability in rotational traction testing on artificial turf
Authors: McGowan Harry , Fleming Paul , James David , Forrester Steph 
Published: July 2023

AbstractRotational traction is a key parameter used by sporting governing bodies to determine the safety and performance of artificial turf surfaces. Currently, the Federation Internationale de Football uses two devices for measuring rotational traction: a statically loaded rotational traction tester and a lightweight rotational traction tester, loaded by the operator. Variability in measurements emanates from two main sources: inconsistencies in the turf and the manual operation of both testers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contributions from the turf and the manual operation of the testers to the total variability in peak torque measurements, achieved by comparing results from both manually operated rotational traction testers with an automated rotational traction tester. Five experienced operators used the manual testers to conduct 15 rotational traction tests on four different artificial turf surfaces. The automated tester measured rotational traction on each surface 15 times. The results revealed the turf system contributed over 50% of the total variability for both manually operated testers, on all four surfaces. The lightweight tester produced greater between (inter)-operator variability, but lower within (intra)-operator variability compared to the standard rotational traction tester. Operator height appeared to influence results for the lightweight tester, but not for the standard tester. The results support the continued use of manual rotational traction testers for commercial compliance field testing of artificial turf surfaces; however, they indicate the need to further explore the effects of manual operation on both devices.
Geological modeling of diagenetic logs of the Sarvak reservoir in Dezful Embayment, southwestern Iran: implications for geostatistical simulation and reservoir quality assessment
Authors: Mehdipour Vali , Rabbani Ahmad Reza , Kadkhodaie Ali 
Published: July 2023

AbstractReservoir quality in carbonate reservoirs is significantly influenced by diagenetic processes. Although diagenesis is studied as a common reservoir quality damaging/enhancing process in many previous studies, literature is limited about the spatial modeling of diagenesis processes using advanced geostatistical algorithms. In the current study, 3D models of the main diagenetic processes which affect the reservoir quality of the Sarvak reservoir in an Iranian oilfield located in the north Dezful Embayment were constructed using geostatistics. According to the petrographic studies, a total of 10 microfacies were identified. In addition, the significant diagenetic processes in this reservoir include dolomitization, cementation, dissolution, and compaction. In this study, diagenetic electrofacies were determined using the “multi-resolution graph clustering” method based on the quantitative results of the petrographic studies. The results of spatial modeling and provided average maps were used to investigate the lateral variation of those properties and their relationship with effective porosity. It shows that trends of the secondary porosity and velocity deviation log (VDL) maps are generally correlatable with the effective porosity maps confirming the impact of dissolution as a main significant diagenetic process on reservoir quality enhancement. The most impact of the dissolution on porosity is observed in Lower Sarvak-E2 zone where the correlation coefficient is 0.75. The correlation coefficient between porosity and VDL in some zones is high indicating the effect of diagenesis on reservoir quality as it exceeds 0.61 in Lower Sarvak-A1 zone. In the occurrence of dolomitization, it has dual constructive and destructive effects on the reservoir quality. The most constructive and destructive effects of dolomitization were observed in Lower Sarvak-E1 and Lower Sarvak-F zones in which the correlation coefficients were 0.476 and − 0.456, respectively. In addition, low porosity zones are correlatable with developing cementation, stylolites, and solution seams.
Metal deposited nanoparticles as “bridge materials” for lead-free solder nanocomposites
Authors: Plevachuk Yuriy , Švec Peter , Švec Peter , Orovcik Lubomir , Bajana Otto , Yakymovych Andriy , Rud Alexander 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAn influence of carbon nanotubes and carbon nanospheres coated by Au–Pd and Pt on the microstructure of solder/copper joints at room temperature and after aging at sub-zero temperature. The carbon nanosized admixtures were mixed with ternary Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu matrix to prepare a composite solder. The microstructure of the solder joints between the nanocomposite solders and a copper substrate was studied by scanning electron microscopy. It was found that minor (0.05 wt. %) admixtures of both the carbon nanospheres and nanotubes increase the shear strength of the solder joints and reduce the growth rate of the intermetallic Cu6Sn5 layer, formed at the interface between solder and copper. This effect may be related to the adsorption of nanoinclusions on the grain surface during the solidification process. Comparative analysis suggests that exposure for 2 months at 253 K does not lead to deterioration of such an important mechanical characteristic of the solder joint as shear strength, indicating the possibility of using these nanocomposite solders in microelectronic equipment even at temperatures below 0 ℃.
Efficacy of Prunus armenica, Bee venom, and their combinations on p53 and Bcl-2 gene expression in human pancreatic and lung cancer cells
Authors: Kadasah Sultan F. , Alrefaei Abdulmajeed F. , Ali Harbi A. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractMalignancies are one of the world’s most serious health problems. Pancreatic and lung cancers are two of the most lethal types of cancer, with 5-year survival rates ranging from 10 to 20%. Despite decades of investigation, the molecular processes and selectivity of Prunus armenica and Bee venom as anticancer drugs are still largely un-understood. The goal of our study is to determine the expression levels ofp53 and Bcl-2 mRNAs obtained from human pancreatic (PANC-1) and lung (A549) cancer cells treated with Prunus armenica, Bee venom or their combinations by using MTT and real time PCR assays. We showed that in a concentration-dependent manner of Prunus armeniaca, bee venom, and a combination of both, the cell growth was significantly decreased. Our findings also revealed an adverse association between tumor suppressor (p53) and proto-oncogene (Bcl-2) gene expression in both cancer cells treated with diverse substances vs untreated. As a consequence, the tested compounds dramatically alter p53 and Bcl-2 gene expression, suggesting that they might be useful in the prevention or treatment of pancreatic and lung cancers.
A qualitative investigation of paediatric intensive care staff attitudes towards the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infection in the molecular diagnostics era
Authors: Clark John A. , Conway Morris Andrew , Kanaris Constantinos , Inwald David , Butt Warwick , Osowicki Joshua , Schlapbach Luregn J. , Curran Martin D. , White Deborah , Daubney Esther , Agrawal Shruti , Navapurkar Vilas , Török M. Estée , Baker Stephen , Pathan Nazima 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Background

In the past decade, molecular diagnostic syndromic arrays incorporating a range of bacterial and viral pathogens have been described. It is unclear how paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) staff diagnose lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) and integrate diagnostic array results into antimicrobial decision-making.

Methods
An online survey with eleven questions was distributed throughout paediatric intensive care societies in the UK, continental Europe and Australasia with a total of 755 members. Participants were asked to rate the clinical factors and investigations they used when prescribing for LRTI. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with staff who participated in a single-centre observational study of a 52-pathogen diagnostic array.

Results
Seventy-two survey responses were received; most responses were from senior doctors. Whilst diagnostic arrays were used less frequently than routine investigations (i.e. microbiological culture), they were of comparable perceived utility when making antimicrobial decisions. Prescribers reported that for arrays to be clinically impactful, they would need to deliver results within 6 h for stable patients and within 1 h for unstable patients to inform their immediate decision to prescribe antimicrobials. From 16 staff interviews, we identified that arrays were helpful for the diagnosis and screening of bacterial LRTI. Staff reported it could be challenging to interpret results in some cases due to the high sensitivity of the test. Therefore, results were considered within the context of the patient and discussed within the multidisciplinary team.

Conclusions
Diagnostic arrays were considered of comparable value to microbiological investigations by PICU prescribers. Our findings support the need for further clinical and economic evaluation of diagnostic arrays in a randomised control trial.

Trial registration
Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT04233268. Registered on 18 January 2020.
Determining the Factors Affecting the Retrofitting of Health-Care Facilities: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Moradi Seyed Mobin , Nekoei-Moghadam Mahmood , Abbasnejad Ahmad 
Published: July 2023

AbstractObjective:Health services are the first and most important demand for the affected people after disasters. Hospitals and staff of health centers are directly affected by disasters, and this issue is more critical due to the hospital conditions, such as the presence of patients, medical facilities, and equipment. Therefore, it is necessary to make hospitals retrofit against disasters.Methods:This study was conducted qualitatively to extract experts’ opinions about the factors affecting the retrofitting of health-care facilities in 2021. Semi-structured interviews were the basis of the data. In addition, to obtain data from different sources (triangulation), a focus group discussion (FGD) was held after the interviews.Results:The findings of this study were extracted from interviewees and FGD in the form of 2 categories, 6 subcategories, and 23 codes. Main categories included external and internal factors. The subcategories of external factors were General government policies to reduce risk, The Programs of the Ministry of Health, and medical universities for retrofitting and Uncontrollable external factors. The subcategories of internal factors were Exposure of managers and staff of health-care organizations to various disasters, determining the types of vulnerabilities in health-care facilities, and Factors related to managerial actions.Conclusions:Retrofitting health-care facilities is one of the requirements for designing and constructing these facilities. The role of governments in this issue is more than other stakeholders because governments are the trustee of the health system and are responsible for the people’s health. Therefore, governments must plan for the retrofitting of health facilities according to the disaster risk analysis and prioritization and their resources. Although, external factors play a very important role in influencing retrofitting policies, the role of internal factors should not be neglected. None of the internal and external factors alone can have a significant effect on retrofitting activities. For this purpose, a suitable combination of factors should be determined and the goal of the system should be to achieve resistant and resilient facilities against disasters.
High-efficiency inverse dynamics modeling of parallel posture alignment mechanism with actuation redundancy
Authors: Wang Zhihao , Li Hongbin , Sun Nina 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe analytical expression of driving force is helpful to quickly plan the kinematic trajectory of parallel mechanism for automatic drilling and riveting. For parallel posture alignment mechanism, because of its closed-loop characteristics, the inverse dynamic solution is more complex, especially for parallel bracket with actuation redundancy. Considering that the telescopic rods are actually flexible parts, the dynamic analytical modeling is carried out with deformation supplementary equation. Taking the force at the spherical joint as the intermediate variable and the driving force of each active prismatic pair are analytically analyzed by vector cross-product. The modeling was verified by experiment. Compared with previous research methods, the analytical method proposed improves the solution accuracy of driving force slightly and reduces the driving force solution time by 56.28%, which is high efficiency. The maximum error percentage is 1.61%, and the experimental results show that the method of inverse dynamics modeling is practical. This paper can be used for driving force analysis of parallel posture alignment mechanism based on positioner in the field of aircraft assembly.
Reinforcement learning with modified exploration strategy for mobile robot path planning
Authors: Khlif Nesrine , Nahla Khraief , Safya Belghith 
Published: July 2023

AbstractDriven by the remarkable developments we have observed in recent years, path planning for mobile robots is a difficult part of robot navigation. Artificial intelligence applied to mobile robotics is also a distinct challenge; reinforcement learning (RL) is one of the most used algorithms in robotics. The exploration-exploitation dilemma is a motivating challenge for the performance of RL algorithms. The problem is balancing exploitation and exploration, as too much exploration leads to a decrease in cumulative reward, while too much exploitation locks the agent in a local optimum. This paper proposes a new path planning method for mobile robot based on Q-learning with an improved exploration strategy. In addition, a comparative study of Boltzmann distribution and
$\epsilon$
-greedy politics is presented. Through simulations, the better performance of the proposed method in terms of execution time, path length, and cost function is confirmed.
Policy Escalation: Richard Nixon, Welfare Reform, and the Development of a Comprehensive Approach to Health Insurance
Authors: SLEDGE DANIEL 
Published: July 2023

AbstractI argue that health insurance emerged as an important aspect of Nixon’s domestic policy agenda as a result of “policy escalation.” By policy escalation, I mean a cascading line of reasoning that causes policy makers focused on one apparently discrete issue to formulate approaches for dealing with other interconnecting policy areas. Policy escalation serves as an internal agenda-setting mechanism: as policy makers contemplate policy changes, they may attempt to imagine the ways in which change will affect the rationale, fiscal position, and execution of programs in other policy areas. In the case of health insurance, the Nixon administration’s proposal for replacing Aid to Families with Dependent Children with a guaranteed minimum income forced policy makers to consider how the new program would interact with the existing Medicaid program. Consideration of this question ultimately led them to formulate an approach to overhauling the nation’s entire health insurance system.
Diplomatic Security Failure in Benghazi, Libya, September 11, 2012
Authors: CONSTANTINE BRIAN J. , MCMAHON ADAM M. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractTerrorists attacked the United States diplomatic compound and adjoining CIA Annex in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012. Despite repeated warnings from officials about the security risks in Tripoli and Benghazi, we argue that intelligence, security, and organizational deficiencies within the Department of State created vulnerabilities contributing to the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stephens. Scholarly assessment of these failures has been precluded as a consequence of the incident’s use in partisan attacks. Republicans in Congress used investigations into the incident to damage presumed 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was then President Obama’s secretary of state. Setting aside political considerations and examining the failures that led to the attack is important to protect diplomatic personnel abroad in the future.
Disparities in resource utilisation by families of children with cardiac conditions
Authors: Chou Francisca L. , Donovan Denis J. , Weller Rachel J. , Fremed Michael A. , Glickstein Julie S. , Krishnan Usha S. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractObjectives:There are limited data documenting sources of medical information that families use to learn about paediatric cardiac conditions. Our study aims to characterise these resources and to identify any disparities in resource utilisation. We hypothesise there are significant variations in the resources utilised by families from different educational and socio-economic backgrounds.Methods:A survey evaluating what resources families use (websites, healthcare professionals, social media, etc.) to better understand paediatric cardiac conditions was administered to caretakers and paediatric patients at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. Patients with a prior diagnosis of CHD, cardiac arrhythmia, and/or heart failure were included. Caretakers’ levels of education (fewer than 16 years vs. 16 years or more) and patients’ medical insurance types (public vs. private) were compared with regard to the utilisation of resources.Results:Surveys completed by 137 (91%) caretakers and 27 (90%) patients were analysed. Websites were utilised by 72% of caretakers and 56% of patients. Both private insurance and higher education were associated with greater reported utilisation of websites, healthcare professionals, and personal networks (by insurance p = 0.009, p = 0.001, p = 0.006; by education p = 0.022, p < 0.001, p = 0.018). They were also more likely to report use of electronic devices (such as a computer) compared to those with public medical insurance and fewer than 16 years of education (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively).Conclusion:Both levels of education and insurance status are associated with the utilisation of informative resources and digital devices by families seeking to learn more about cardiac conditions in children.
Mapping Potential Population‐Level Pesticide Exposures in Ecuador Using a Modular and Scalable Geospatial Strategy
Authors: Andrade‐Rivas Federico , Paul Naman , Spiegel Jerry , Henderson Sarah B. , Parrott Lael , Delgado‐Ron Jorge Andrés , Echeverri Alejandra , van den Bosch Matilda 
Published: July 2023

AbstractHuman populations and ecosystems are extensively exposed to pesticides. Most nations lack the capacity to control pesticide contamination and have limited availability of pesticide use information. Ecuador is a country with intense pesticide use with high exposure risks to humans and the environment, although relative or combined risks are not well understood. Here, we analyzed the distribution of application rates in Ecuador and identified regions of concern because of high potential exposure. We used a geospatial analysis to identify grid cells (∼8 km × 8 km) where the highest pesticide application rates and density of human populations overlap. Furthermore, we identified other regions of concern based on the number of amphibian species as an indicator of ecosystem integrity and the location of natural protected areas. We found that 28% of Ecuador's population dwelled in areas with high pesticide application rate. We identified an area of ∼512 km2 in the Amazon region where high application rates, large human settlements, and a high number of amphibian species overlapped. Additionally, we distinguished clusters of pesticide application rates and human populations that intersected with natural protected areas. Ecuador exemplifies how pesticides are disproportionately applied in areas with the potential to affect human health and ecosystems' integrity. Global estimates of population dwelling, pesticide application rates, and environmental factors are key in prioritizing locations to conduct further exposure assessments. The modular and scalable nature of the geospatial tools we developed can be expanded and adapted to other regions of the world where data on pesticide use are limited.
Changes in Physicochemical Properties of Organic Aerosol During Photochemical Aging of Cooking and Burning Emissions
Authors: Xu Weiqi , Li Zhijie , Zhang Zhiqiang , Li Jinjian , Karnezi Eleni , Lambe Andrew T. , Zhou Wei , Sun Jiaxing , Du Aodong , Li Ying , Sun Yele 
Published: July 2023

AbstractPhotochemical aging is a key atmospheric processing, yet the changes in physicochemical properties of organic aerosol (OA) during photochemical aging of primary emissions from cooking and burning are less understood. Here we conducted 12 burning (straw, wood, and coal) and cooking experiments to characterize the evolution of size distributions, volatility, and glass transition temperature (Tg) from fresh smoke to aged OA with an equivalent photochemical age of ∼1.5 days using an oxidation flow reactor‐thermodenuder‐aerosol mass spectrometer system. The mass spectra of OA showed significant changes during photochemical aging, for example, the rapid degradation of m/z 60 for straw and wood burning OA, and the large increase in f44 (fraction of m/z 44 in OA) for all OA. The contributions of non‐volatile compounds to the total OA in aged burning OA (1.6%–5.3%) decreased considerably compared with those in fresh burning smoke (2.3%–17.1%), suggesting that photochemical aging of primary emissions for ∼1.5 days produced more volatile secondary OA (SOA). Consistently, the pronounced formation of SOA below 150 nm was observed, and it showed more volatile properties than aged large particles. The Tg of OA under dry conditions (Tg,org) was estimated based on volatility distributions, and the results showed increased Tg,org during photochemical aging of biomass burning and coal combustion emissions, while decreased Tg,org for aged cooking OA. Overall, our results illustrate the different changes in size distributions, volatility, and Tg,org through photochemical aging of different primary emissions, which in turn affect their impacts on radiative forcing and human health.