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The psychometric properties of the paper–pencil and online versions of the Beliefs Toward Mental Illness Scale (BTMI) were examined in two studies with Latina/o individuals. In Study 1, 316 Latina/o participants completed the BTMI in a paper–pencil mode. The original three-factor model was found to be a poor fit model for the sample. Subsequent exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified a four-factor model as the best fitting model for the sample. The identified factors were Dangerousness, Social Dysfunction, Incurability, and Embarrassment. In Study 2, the identified best fit model was tested with 280 Latina/o participants who completed the BTMI online. The four-factor model had adequate fit. A series of measurement invariance tests on the fit model supported equal factor loadings, but rejected equivalent intercepts across paper–pencil and online administration methods, though partially equivalent intercepts and residuals were found. Consequently, modality-specific norms are recommended, depending on whether paper–pencil or online venues are utilized for administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the converter transformer core is grounded at multi-points, a fault loop will be formed and a circulation will be generated, leading to local overheating of the magnetic core and decomposition of insulating oil. Therefore, the converter transformer core will be single point grounded. As a rare internal lead of converter transformer, the ground current on the core ground lead can often reflect the running state of converter transformer. In this paper, theoretical analysis, modeling simulation and experimental research are carried out on the ground current of converter transformer at one point. Firstly, according to the structure characteristics of converter transformer, the analytical modeling of ground current is carried out. Secondly, based on the structure characteristics of oil paper insulation, the equivalent capacitance of converter transformer is calculated. Then, the analytical and finite element simulation model of converter transformer is established, and the ground current of converter transformer is calculated. Finally, the correctness of the proposed scheme is verified by measuring the grounding current of converter transformer core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Articulating the complexities of relational wellbeing can be challenging at the best of times, and even more complex during periods of heightened stress and uncertainty. Taking inspiration from feminist materialisms and recent writings on material methods, we explore the potential of object interviews to reveal the material-discursive dimensions of women's experiences of wellbeing during the pandemic. In this paper we describe our research process conducting object interviews with 38 women living in Aotearoa New Zealand from a range of socio-economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds. We explore the potential and challenges of object interviews for surfacing new ways of knowing (theoretically, methodologically, and cross-culturally) wellbeing beyond human-oriented health, medical and social-constructionist models, and towards more multidimensional and relational understandings. This paper offers our reflections and learnings about the process of re-turning object interviews and the potential of such approaches for evoking complex ways of knowing wellbeing during and beyond pandemic times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low fertility willingness has become a major practical reality in China. From the perspective of family gender equality, this paper analyzes the impact of division of housework on women's fertility willingness by using the data of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The results of propensity score matching method and instrumental variable method show that husbands' participation in housework can effectively improve wives' fertility willingness. Mechanism analysis shows that husbands' active participation in housework can effectively reduce wives' work–family conflict, increase wives' satisfaction with husbands' housework contribution, and help improve wives' happiness and fertility willingness. Further discussion on whether families have had children or not shows that women who have had children are more sensitive to their husbands' participation in housework. This study provides empirical evidence for the applicability of family gender equality theory in China and the factors affecting women's fertility willingness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Prior to implementing a new computerized prescription order entry (CPOE) application, the potential risks associated with this system were assessed and compared to those of paper-based prescriptions. The goal of this study is to identify the vulnerabilities of the CPOE process in order to adapt its design and prevent these potential risks. Methods and materials: Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) was used as a prospective risk-management technique to evaluate the chemotherapy medication process in a university hospital oncology clinic. A multidisciplinary team assessed the process and compared the critical steps of a newly developed CPOE application versus paper-based prescriptions. The potential severity, occurrence and detectability were assessed prior to the implementation of the CPOE application in the clinical setting. Results: The FMEA led to the identification of 24 process steps that could theoretically be vulnerable, therefore called failure modes. These failure modes were grouped into four categories of potential risk factors: prescription writing, patient scheduling, treatment dispensing and patient follow-up. Criticality scores were calculated and compared for both strategies. Three failure modes were prioritized and led to modification of the CPOE design. Overall, the CPOE pathway showed a potential risk reduction of 51% compared to paper-based prescriptions. Conclusion: FMEA was found to be a useful approach to identify potential risks in the chemotherapy medication process using either CPOE or paper-based prescriptions. The e-prescription mode was estimated to result in less risk than the traditional paper mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scotland's Children's Hearings System is a unique statutory system that makes decisions about the need for compulsory professional involvement in the lives of children who are maltreated, in conflict with the law or displaying alarming behaviours. It was designed to facilitate in-person, child-centred discussions about the measures needed to ensure the care and protection of children. The Covid-19 pandemic challenged the ability of the Hearings System to fulfil this role due to the physical closure of Hearings Centres and the need to rapidly develop a virtual system. In this paper we present a realist-influenced synthesis exploring how contextual factors such as public health guidelines, emergency legislation, technological challenges and wider structural inequalities interacted with the delivery of virtual hearings to affect the participation and rights of children during the pandemic. We also describe how learning from the experiences of the participants of hearings was critical to understanding how virtual technologies could be adapted to provide a more rights-respecting approach to participation. We conclude by arguing that there is a need to ensure that the voices of children, which are largely absent from discussions around the use of virtual technologies, are incorporated into decisions made about their continued use within Children's Hearings. Plain Language Summary: The Children's Hearings System is a legal system in Scotland that makes decisions about the care and protection of children and young people who are: being abused or neglected; in trouble with the police; or regularly truanting from school. At a Children's Hearing, specially trained members of the public decide whether to place the child or young person onto a Compulsory Supervision Order (CSO). This is a legal document that specifies what support should be provided to the child or young person, where they should live and who they can have contact with. Before the Covid-19 pandemic all hearings were held in person at specially designed Hearings Centres. All of these centres were closed at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a virtual Children's Hearings System having to be set up quickly. In this paper we describe the challenges of using video-conferencing software to run Children's Hearings. We explore how rules enacted by the UK and Scottish Governments affected how hearings could be delivered, before moving on to discuss how technical difficulties, lack of access to appropriate technologies and other inequalities such as digital poverty affected how children and young people could participate in their hearings. The paper finishes by describing changes made to virtual hearings in order to try and ensure that children and young people were able to participate in their hearings. In doing so, we highlight the importance of involving children and young people in discussions around how their voices can be heard, even in the context of a global pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author critiques the paper, "A Lintnerian Linear Accounting Valuation Model," by Jeffrey L. Callen and Mindy Morel published in the Summer 2000 issue. The paper is commended for making a persuasive case for estimating the cost of equity capital endogenously instead of mixing and matching of models of equity valuation and the cost of capital. Moreover, a fundamental issue with making the cost of capital an endogenous variable in the estimation process is that time-series estimation of the model treats the cost of capital as an intertemporal constant. Finally, the parameter estimates for the cost of capital is accurate in representing an average of values over the sample period.

Introduction: Two ethical challenges of nursing home nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden are discussed in this paper. Background: Historically, the nurse's primary concern is for the person who is ill, which is the core of nurses' moral responsibility and identity. In Sweden, person-centered care is generally deemed important in nursing older nursing home residents. Objective: To chart moral responsibilities of nursing home nurses in two cases involving older residents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. Methods: We used Margaret Urban Walker's framework for moral responsibilities and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) code of ethics for nurses (2021) for our normative analysis. Ethical considerations: Written and verbal consent was obtained before the interviews, and information was given that participation was entirely voluntary and possible to cancel at any time before the work was published. The Swedish Ethical Review Agency gave an advisory opinion stating that there were no ethical objections to this research project (Dnr. 2020-05649). Findings: Case #1: a palliative older nursing home resident who was coercively tested for COVID-19, and case #2: a COVID-19–infected resident with dementia who was isolated using sedation. The decision that was finally made in the respective case was analyzed in the light of either consequentialist/utilitarian or non-consequentialist/deontological reasons. Discussion: Empowerment of nurses as moral agents is required for the application of practical wisdom in the balancing of different care relationships (responsibilities), moral identities (professional virtues), and competing moral values. This requires resources and opens possibilities for profound ethical reflection in nursing education and at work. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the moral and professional responsibility of nursing home nurses to deliver person-centered care was sometimes problematically abandoned in favor of a more utilitarian manner of ethical decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a mathematical model which describes the equilibrium of two elastic membranes fixed on their boundary and attached to an adhesive body, say a glue. The variational formulation of the model is in a form of an elliptic quasivariational inequality for the displacement field. We prove the unique weak solvability of the model, and then we state and prove a convergence result, for which we provide the corresponding mechanical interpretation. Next, we consider two associated optimization problems for which we provide existence results. Finally, we the present numerical simulation which validates our convergence result. We end this paper with some concluding remarks and an Appendix, in which we present the preliminary material needed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For nonlinear, strongly coupled, underdriven quadcopters in the context of modeling complexity and demanding performance requirements for the controller, this paper proposes a strategy based on an improved genetic algorithm to optimize the active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) controller. To make the quadcopter continue to fly stably in a complex environment, the dynamics model of the quadcopter was firstly established, the mathematical model was simplified according to the real world, and the ADRC controller of the quadcopter was designed. Given a large number of ADRC controller parameters, the difficulty of manual tuning and obtaining the optimal control effect, and the shortcomings of the genetic algorithm in solving the problem of local optimal and precocious convergence, a control strategy based on improved genetic algorithm to optimize ADRC's parameters is proposed to improve the genetic diversity in the population and enhance the adaptability of individuals to the environment, ITAE (Integral-of-Time-multiple Absolute Error) evaluation index is selected as the fitness value. Finally, the model of the control system is built according to the real aircraft. The application results prove that the altitude, attitude of the quadcopter are controlled stably, and it is verified that the control strategy based on the improved genetic algorithm optimizing ADRC has faster rapidity, stronger tracking performance, and robustness in altitude, attitude control of the quadcopter, which has greater practical application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his unfinished Ad harmonicon coeleste, François Viète (1540–1603) approaches astronomical models in a purely mathematical way, analyzing the equations involved in them and suggesting new geometrical approaches, usually equivalent but simpler. After dealing with the Copernican planetary models, he develops three different lunar models. The first one describes a model geometrically similar but not identical to the Ptolemaic lunar model. The second is identical to that of Copernicus, but Viète significantly simplifies the calculation methods, and the third one is inspired by Tycho's lunar model. In a previous paper, I analyzed the first model. In this paper, I describe and analyze the second one, leaving for a future work the third one. Extending the ellipse models used by Viète for the outer planets, I also show that every model of epicycle and deferent can be replaced by a planet revolving on a rotating ellipse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wicking of liquid under externally applied liquid pressure into three paper wipes is studied for the first time. Darcy's law and capillary-tube flow form the basis of two separate theoretical models which were tested through experiments. The wicking and wetting parameters of the tested wipes were measured independently to enable such a comparison without the use of any fitting parameters. Darcy model is found to work better under zero hydraulic pressure, i.e. pure wicking; however capillary model is more accurate when the incoming liquid is pressurized. An increase in the applied pressure led to an increase in the liquid absorption rate and a decrease in the saturation time. However, its relative effect on the absorption rate and saturation time was found to decrease with an increase in its magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to discuss heuristics, guided by Parse's (2021a) community model, to understand how health policies emerge from the unique values and beliefs of community constituents. Within this paper, there is a discussion about heuristics, health policy, Parse's humanbecoming paradigm, and policy implications reflected upon with the change concepts of the humanbecoming community model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the modal parameter identification technique utilizing a drop impact load. A 12-DOF mathematical model of a Railway Vehicle System (RWVS) was constructed, followed by theoretical calculations, simulation analysis, and tests with four different drop impact loads. The responses to these loads were inspected through FFT, and the modal frequencies of the RWVS were determined by the Peak Picking (P-P) method. The simulation demonstrated that four types of drop impact loads can activate the bounce, pitch, and roll modes of the RWVS. The theoretical calculation and simulation analysis revealed that the maximum error of modal frequency identification is no greater than 6.5%. The experimental results verified that the drop impact excitation method can be used to identify the modal parameters of a complex railway vehicle system, which is highly beneficial for the design and verification of the vehicle structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews an embodied or experientialist view of conceptual understanding. It focuses on George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's theory of embodied cognition and its framing of human conceptualization and reasoning in terms of embodied imagination. These ideas are summarized as ten basic claims: (a) objectivist assumptions are problematic; (b) many human categories have non-classical structure; (c) conceptual systems consist of cognitive models; (d) thinking utilizes frames, metonymies, and prototypes; (e) metaphor is prevalent and primarily conceptual; (f) image schemas structure our experiences; (g) the mind is embodied; (h) abstract thought is largely metaphorical; (i) truth is relative to embodied understanding; and (j) philosophy should be empirically responsible. Lakoff and Johnson's theory of embodied cognition offers a view of conceptual understanding that is cognitively realistic (or empirically responsible), biologically plausible, and self-critical, while providing adequate theories of meaning and truth grounded in embodied experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents who enjoy physical education (PE) classes are more likely to be active during out-of-school hours. Similarly, achievement goal theory suggests that task-oriented motivation is associated with higher levels of reported fun during PE classes. In contrast, ego-oriented motivation has been related to boredom in class, but some self-perceptions (e.g., self-esteem or motoric self-efficacy) may modify this relationship and are important for physical activity. Our aim in this paper was to analyze the relationships between motivational orientation and fun and boredom in PE classes by assessing the mediating effects of self-esteem and self-efficacy. We surveyed 478 teenagers between 13 and 18 years of age (M = 14.57; SD = 1.15) with the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), the Motor Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES), and the Intrinsic Satisfaction in Sport Scale (SSI-EF). We used a structural equation model to evaluate relationships between these variables of interest. We found a positive relationship between ego orientation and boredom and between task orientation and fun; and we found a negative relationship between task orientation and boredom in PE classes. Importantly, we observed indirect effects from self-esteem and motoric self-efficacy in the relationships between motivational orientation and boredom and fun in PE. These results highlight the importance of students' motivational orientations in PE classes and illustrate that self-perception of self-esteem and motoric self-efficacy can mediate these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Program theory reconstruction is an often-overlooked aspect of social intervention research. In this paper, we argue that intervention research benefits if the research design is informed by the specific intervention's program theory (i.e., the idea of how the intervention is supposed to lead to the intended outcomes). The purpose of this paper is to offer a comprehensive and accessible guide to program theory reconstruction in research on social interventions and to provide arguments as to how program theory reconstruction can be used to benefit intervention studies. First, we summarize what program theory is and its role in intervention research. Second, we provide a direct "how-to" for researchers, practitioners, and students who may be unfamiliar with the methods of program theory reconstruction but are interested in undertaking a program theory reconstruction. Finally, we conclude with how program theory reconstruction can benefit intervention research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significance of mental health inequities globally is illustrated by higher rates of anxiety and depression amongst racial and ethnic minority populations as well as individuals of lower socioeconomic status. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these pre-existing mental health inequities. With rising mental health concerns, arts engagement offers an accessible, equitable opportunity to combat mental health inequities and impact upstream determinants of health. As the field of public health continues to shift its focus toward social ecological strategies, the social ecological model of health offers an approach that prioritizes social and structural determinants of health. To capture the impacts of arts engagement, this paper creates an applied social ecological model of health while aiming to advocate that engaging in the arts is a protective and rehabilitative behavior for mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Issues of the aging population and disability of older persons have been rapidly developing in China over the past 20 years. Since 2016, the Chinese government has been exploring remedies to alleviate social and family burdens and ensure the dignity of the disabled old persons by implementing long-term care insurance systems in a few pilot cities across the country. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present the current challenges faced by China's long-term care insurance system and put forth suggestions for the future, based on literature research and the feedback obtained from its implementation in pilot areas. Research Design: This paper conducts a theoretical study based on the principles of public health ethics. Study Sample: Since 2016, China has launched two batches of pilot cities for long-term care insurance. The analysis object of this study is the feedback on the policy implementation of the existing 29 pilot cities that participated. The relevant data involved in the analysis are from the authors' field research and published literature on the analysis of pilot cities. Analysis: The ethical value and importance of long-term care insurance policies in China are evaluated from the perspectives of policy philosophy and social individual interests. Results: The results of this evaluation show that the core ethical values were not met in the development of China's current long-term care insurance system. Moreover, distributive justice norms were neglected, and access to the system between different social groups and within the groups covered by it was unequal. Conclusions: This paper argues that long-term care insurance should not differentiate between urban and rural areas in allocating nursing resources. Additionally, it would be essential to build democratic supervision and manage public opinions by adopting open and transparent information-sharing policies. Standards of disability assessments and treatment payment should be at par to ensure a balance between the rights and obligations of policyholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This theoretical paper focuses on early-stage planning in young adults in transition from out-of-home care. The theoretical approach builds on philosophical accounts of planning and shared planning by Michael Bratman and Jennifer Morton; previous research on care leavers' experience; and findings from two recent qualitative studies of planning in care leavers in the UK. There are three central proposals of the paper. First, that if we focus on a young person's deliberations about what matters ('anchors for deliberation'), or what is important – to her or him – we may better understand the early stages of planning. Second, that social-cooperative or shared deliberations may be of special importance in understanding and supporting the early stages of planning in young people leaving care, partly because of the severe disruptions to social relationships that may have afflicted many care leavers during their earlier development. Third, that it may also be important to understand young people's standpoints on planning norms, in both individual and social-cooperative contexts, given some young people's subjection to repeated violation of norms. After introducing Bratman's and Morton's work, we suggest three categories of early-stage planning: specific anchors, policy-based anchors (including self-reliance, and 'I don't plan'), and anchors for the provisional future. Implications of the theoretical approach for research and practice are outlined. The paper aims to contribute to a theoretical basis for collaborative transition-planning (or 'pathway planning' in the UK) with young adults leaving care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stowage plan, which is planning for a reasonable movement of containers, plays an important role in enhancing the efficiency and competitiveness of container terminals. The time required for handling containerships also depends on the operations of quay cranes, which is one of the most expensive equipment in container terminals. Hence, this paper integrates stowage planning and crane split problem to minimize the total berthing time at each visiting port over the voyage. A new mathematical model is developed, which covers a wide range of operational and structural constraints for both stowage plan and crane operation. An improved genetic algorithm based on a novel encoding mode of assignment strategies, including container grouping and operation strategies, is designed to solve the problem, which also introduces penalty operations to solve the infeasible solutions. Finally, some computational experiments are carried out. Firstly, three small-sized experiments are implemented to verify the feasibility of the proposed model and algorithm. Secondly, large-sized experiments with 5 ports, 3385 containers, and 2 quay cranes show that the proposed approach can solve the integration problem with different productivity of quay cranes effectively and decrease the berthing time by 6.0%. Eventually, a comparison experiment with 5 ports, 5752 containers, and 2 quay cranes is conducted, and the results indicate that the proposed algorithm results in 62.3% and 87.7% decrease in the total number of rehandling times and computational time. Meanwhile, the results also show that the proposed algorithm can be convergent. So the proposed algorithm is effective and efficient in solving the integration problem and enhancing the efficiency of container terminals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the influence of policy ideas from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on healthcare financing policy in Croatia during the 2002 reform. It contributes to the global social policy literature by providing evidence that the influence of international organisations primarily stems from non-coercive instruments to control the policy agenda, for example, dissemination of ideas, technical assistance and consultations with the recipient government. Even though Croatia was facing economic and political difficulties which weakened its bargaining position vis a vis IOs, the paper shows that impact of coercion and conditionalities attached to international aid was limited. It explains the lenient stance of international organisations by their mission to aid and adjust to a country's needs as well as their self-interest to lend money, to stay in the reform game and to prolong their influence in the future. Consequently, international organisations are willing to bargain and make trade-offs with the recipient government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital economy, which boasts general technology, intense penetration, platform ecology, and low marginal cost, is a product of advanced digital technology. This new engine has become a driving force for high-quality economic development. From the three aspects of development momentum, efficiency, and structure, this paper profoundly explores internal mechanisms to lead the high-quality growth of the regional economy. By constructing an econometric model, the influence effect and means of the digital economy on the high-quality development of the regional economy are empirically tested. The digital economy and its three sub-dimensions can significantly promote the high-quality development of the regional economy. However, industrial digitalization has the most vital role in promoting it. The digital economy has shown a more vital promotion role in the central and western regions and provinces with low total factor productivity, and it can indirectly impact high-quality economic development by promoting dynamic, efficient, and structural changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spectral multivariate calibration aims to derive models characterizing mathematical relationships between sample analyte amounts and corresponding spectral responses. These models are effective at predicting target domain sample analyte amounts when target samples are within the analyte and spectral calibration source domain. Models fail when target samples shift (analyte amounts and/or spectra) from the original calibration domain model. A total recalibration solution requires acquisition of new sample reference values and spectra. However, obtaining enough reference values to distinguish the target domain may be challenging or expensive. A simpler approach adapts the original model to the target domain using target sample spectra without analyte reference values (unlabeled). Analytical chemists have developed several machine learning algorithms using unlabeled regression domain adaptation processes. Unfortunately, prediction accuracy declines for these methods depending on how much the target domain analyte distribution has shifted from the calibration distribution, and regression transfer learning methods are instead needed. Regression domain adaptation and transfer learning are often referred to as model updating in analytical chemistry, but regression domain adaptation only applies to spectral shifts. The regression transfer learning method presented in this paper named null augmentation regression constant analyte (NARCA) leverages unlabeled repeat spectra of a single target sample to update an original calibration model to the shifted target domain sample. With sample repeat spectra, the analyte amount can be assumed constant or nearly constant for NARCA and because models are formed for one sample, NARCA operates as a local modeling method. The performance of NARCA as a regression transfer learning method is evaluated using five near-infrared data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-care of patients with chronic noncommunicable diseases is an essential component of contemporary healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel self-care process model and place it in the broader context of professional care. The extended Event-driven Process Chain approach to process modelling was used, focusing on a detailed overview of sequences of events, connections and activities and other elements/building blocks. A self-care process model was designed. The model is divided into two parts. The first part represents the self-care process when patients are able to manage their symptoms and be independent. The second part includes the process when patients are unable to perform self-care and/or need professional support. By identifying the essential elements of this process and incorporating them into the patients' care process, we can ensure that professional support for self-care creates a dynamic balance in the patients' ecosystems. Patients with chronic noncommunicable diseases need to make timely decisions about individual aspects of their health and seek professional help. In this way, an optimal level of health and well-being of patients can be achieved. Focusing on the patients' self-care process could also reduce treatment costs and improve the quality of life of patients. The novel designed model of the process of self-care, with all its essential elements, can be supported by digital technology, especially in the decision-making process and needs to become an important part of healthcare and long-term care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its foundation in 1944, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, soon renamed the World Bank (hereafter, "the Bank"), has shifted its initial goal of reconstructing post-World War II Europe to promoting economic development and alleviating poverty in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Bank assistance is provided through loans awarded to countries that agree to policy changes that the Bank deems necessary to achieve its stated goals. Bank policies—dubbed Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) and, over time, superseded by Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers—have been criticized for not only failing to ameliorate underdevelopment and poverty, but for exacerbating both. The most recent Bank approach to development and poverty alleviation, the Systematic Diagnostic Reports (SDR), attempts to address these criticisms. We appraise the SDR for six Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). All share daunting economic and social challenges, including an ongoing epidemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). We argue that, contrary to the Bank's claims, these challenges will continue under, and may even be exacerbated by, the policies the Report demands, and we elaborate on their implications for NCDs in the OECS and for social and health equity in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests a way to determine the “monetary expression of labor” (the “MELT”) in today’s regime of inconvertible credit money, a way that is consistent with Marx’s general theory of money and is quantitatively the same as Marx’s determination of the MELT in the case of the inconvertible fiat money of his time. In order to explain this method of determination of the MELT in the case of modern inconvertible credit money, the paper first reviews Marx’s determination of the MELT in the case of commodity money and in the case of the inconvertible fiat money of his time. The final section of the paper discusses the similarities and the differences between my interpretation and Saros’s (2007) interpretation of the MELT in the case of inconvertible fiat money. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which the author discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the symposium on dynamic network models, social network models, and data visualization.

In this paper, a collaborative group of university researchers and a community organizer who participated in a 2-year participatory action research (PAR) partnership reflect upon their inquiry process and analyze its effects. Authors examine the benefits, challenges, and potential of using PAR to advance educational justice and transformative goals amidst austere neoliberal education reforms, such as public school closure and state sanctioned privatization. Authors consider ways PAR can reflect emancipatory ideologies, enable social and political change, and disrupt oppressive dynamics that many urban education organizers and activists oppose. Insights pertain to cultivating community-based norms that foster collective learning, agency, and social action, while also confronting methodological tensions in the work. Such tensions pertained to varied ideas about emotionality in research, research design, and the layered power dynamics of university-community relations. Authors highlight implications for implementing justice-oriented PAR in urban education arenas affected by intensifying neoliberal political contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A more considered sense of the embodied nature of encounter is called for in the scholarship of ethnography. This paper argues for an ethnographic practice that accordingly moves beyond simplistic recounts of 'highly personalised styles and their self-absorbed mandates' (Van Maanen, 2011: 73), to more fully position an understanding of the ethnographer's Self as an also encountered 'site'. Taking cues from Heideggar's (2008/1927) formulation of Dasein and the realisation of the Self through the encountered Other, this paper argues that attempts to make sense of the Other in ethnography – ultimately the raison d'etre of ethnographic practice – concomitantly require an accounting-for of the Self. This paper takes aim at the nature of embodiment as central to the experience of encounter, but will argue that this encounter of the Self functions as an aporia : a site of unknowing, but equally, of generative possibility. It is with the effects that embodiment has and the inflections it provides for the ethnography that particular attention is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most important core process in the dyeing and finishing workshop of knitting companies, the dyeing process has the characteristics of multi-variety, small-batch, parallel machine processing of multiple types, and high cost in equipment cleaning, which render the dyeing scheduling problem a bottleneck in the production management of a dyeing and finishing workshop. In this paper, the dyeing process scheduling problem in dyeing and finishing workshops is described and abstracted, and an optimized mathematical model of dyeing scheduling is constructed with the goal of minimizing the delay cost and switching cost. Constraints such as multiple types of equipment, equipment capacity, weights of orders and equipment cleaning time are considered. For the sub-problem of equipment scheduling in the dyeing scheduling problem, a heuristic rule that considers equipment utilization and order delay is proposed. For the sub-problem of order sorting of the equipment in the dyeing scheduling problem, a hybrid genetic algorithm with a variable neighbourhood search strategy has been designed to optimize sorting. The algorithm proposed in this paper has been demonstrated via case simulation to be effective in solving the scheduling problem in dyeing and finishing workshops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving a transition to a low-carbon energy system is now widely recognised as a key challenge facing humanity. To date, the vast majority of research addressing this challenge has been conducted within the disciplines of science, engineering and economics utilising quantitative and modelling techniques. However, there is growing awareness that meeting energy challenges requires fundamentally sociotechnical solutions and that the social sciences have an important role to play. This is an interdisciplinary challenge but, to date, there remain very few explorations of, or reflections on, interdisciplinary energy research in practice. This paper seeks to change that by reporting on an interdisciplinary experiment to build new models of energy demand on the basis of cutting-edge social science understandings. The process encouraged the social scientists to communicate their ideas more simply, whilst allowing engineers to think critically about the embedded assumptions in their models in relation to society and social change. To do this, the paper uses a particular set of theoretical approaches to energy use behaviour known collectively as social practice theory – and explores the potential of more quantitative forms of network analysis to provide a formal framework by means of which to diagram and visualise practices. The aim of this is to gain insight into the relationships between the elements of a practice, so increasing the ultimate understanding of how practices operate. Graphs of practice networks are populated based on new empirical data drawn from a survey of different types (or variants) of laundry practice. The resulting practice networks are analysed to reveal characteristics of elements and variants of practice, such as which elements could be considered core to the practice, or how elements between variants overlap, or can be shared. This promises insights into energy intensity, flexibility and the rootedness of practices (i.e. how entrenched/established they are) and so opens up new questions and possibilities for intervention. The novelty of this approach is that it allows practice data to be represented graphically using a quantitative format without being overly reductive. Its usefulness is that it is readily applied to large datasets, provides the capacity to interpret social practices in new ways and serves to open up potential links with energy modelling. More broadly, a significant dimension of novelty has been the interdisciplinary approach, radically different to that normally seen in energy research. This paper is relevant to a broad audience of social scientists and engineers interested in integrating social practices with energy engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Midwife health is intrinsically linked to the quality of safe patient care. To ensure safe patient care, there is a need to deliver emotional support to midwives. One option that midwives may turn to may be a confidential online intervention, instead of localised, face-to-face support. Research design: Following the Realist And MEta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards publication standards, this realist synthesis approach explores the ethical considerations in permitting confidentiality, anonymity and amnesty in online interventions to support midwives in work-related psychological distress. An iterative search methodology was used to select nine papers for review. To assimilate information, papers were examined for ideas relating to ethical dimensions of online interventions to support midwives in work-related psychological distress. This review takes a narrative approach. Findings: Online interventions can support the development of insight, help seeking and open discussion. Additionally, Internet support groups can become morally persuasive in nature. Anonymity and confidentiality are both effective and therapeutic features of online interventions when used in collaboration with effective online moderation. Yet, ethical dilemmas remain where users cannot be identified. Discussion: Confidentiality and anonymity remain key components of successful online interventions. However, sanctioning the corollary component of amnesty may provoke moral discomfort for those seeking immediate accountability. For others, amnesty is seen as essential for open disclosure and help seeking. Ultimately, the needs of midwives must be balanced with the requirement to protect the public and the professional reputation of midwifery. Conclusion: In supporting midwives online, the principles of anonymity, confidentiality and amnesty may evoke some resistance on ethical grounds. However, without offering identity protection, it may not be possible to create effective online support services for midwives. The authors of this article argue that the principles of confidentiality, anonymity and amnesty should be upheld in the pursuit of the greatest benefit for the greatest number of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Based on the ideal type classification of European countries done in Part I of this paper, Part II explores whether the real ‘danger’ to public health is the interplay between austerity and crisis, rather than recession itself. Methods: We constructed two fuzzy sets of changes in population health based on a pooled file of European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data (2008 and 2013) including 29 European countries. The linear probability analyses of ‘limiting long-standing illness’ and ‘less than good’ health were restricted to the age group 20–64 years. We performed fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and studied whether configurations of ‘severe crisis’ and ‘austerity’ were linked to changes in population health. Results: Overall, the results of this fsQCA do not support the ‘crisis–austerity’ thesis. Results on ‘less than good’ health were highly inconsistent, while results on ‘limiting long-standing illness’, contrary to the thesis, showed a two-path model. Countries with either no severe crisis or no austerity were subsets of the set of countries that experienced deteriorated health. Results also show that several countries combined both paths. Conclusions: This fuzzy set analysis does not support Stuckler and Basu’s ‘crisis–austerity’ thesis, as those European countries that experienced recession and austerity were not consistently the countries with deteriorating health. There may be multiple reasons for this result, including analytical approach and operationalization of key concepts, but also resilient forces such as family support. We suggest more research on the topic based on more recent data and possibly other, or more, dimensions of austerity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the hypothesis of harmonic cancellation according to which an interfering sound is suppressed or canceled on the basis of its harmonicity (or periodicity in the time domain) for the purpose of Auditory Scene Analysis. It defines the concept, discusses theoretical arguments in its favor, and reviews experimental results that support it, or not. If correct, the hypothesis may draw on time-domain processing of temporally accurate neural representations within the brainstem, as required also by the classic equalization-cancellation model of binaural unmasking. The hypothesis predicts that a target sound corrupted by interference will be easier to hear if the interference is harmonic than inharmonic, all else being equal. This prediction is borne out in a number of behavioral studies, but not all. The paper reviews those results, with the aim to understand the inconsistencies and come up with a reliable conclusion for, or against, the hypothesis of harmonic cancellation within the auditory system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-static-low-dynamic stiffness vibration isolator has great advantages in vibration isolation because it can decrease the natural frequency of the system while keeping the load capability, but it is usually difficult to implement because of its complex structures and installation space constraints. A high-static-low-dynamic stiffness vibration isolator composed of a buckling circular plate and a traditional linear spring is proposed in this paper. The buckling circular plate works as the negative stiffness corrector paralleled with the linear spring, which can be integrated into the sleeve. If the load is chosen properly, the static equilibrium point will be at the initial quasi-zero stiffness point. However, any changes of the load will lead the equilibrium point deviating from the initial equilibrium point. The nonlinear mathematical model of high-static-low-dynamic stiffness vibration isolator considering load imperfection is developed and its force transmissibility is analyzed with the harmonic balance method and homotopy perturbation method. The influence rule of the system parameters on it is analyzed and the corresponding results show that the force transmissibility will exhibit complicated characteristics, depending on the load imperfection, damper, and excitation force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the system uncertainty factors and bilateral drive synchronization problems of XY platform driven by stepping motor, on the basis of the mathematical model of single axis servo system, in order to improve traceability and disturbance rejection in X,Y direction, a double loop structure with PID controller as speed loop and active disturbance rejection as position loop is proposed to solve the contradiction between rapidity and overshoot, moreover, an ESO performance analysis method is proposed, and the parameter tuning rules of ADRC is summarized. On this basis, a deviation self-coupling compensation control strategy is proposed to solve the problem of bilateral drive synchronization in axis X direction, and the mechanism and parameter adjusting method of the compensator are studied. The comparative experiment between ADRC+PID+deviation self-coupling compensation and PID+PID+deviation self-coupling compensation, the comparative experiment between ADRC+PID+deviation self-coupling compensation and ADRC+PID are conducted, respectively. Finally, the experiment of synthetic trajectory of X and Y is carried out, the simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the response time of the control strategy proposed in this paper is 0.5 s, which is 0.2 s faster than PID's, and the disturbance recovery time is 50% of PID control. Therefore, the proposed ADRC+PID+deviation self-coupling compensation control strategy can not only effectively improve the tracking performance of the XY platform system, but also enhance the robustness of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevalence of chronic illnesses, including type 2 diabetes (T2DM), is increasing disproportionately among Latinx adults in the United States. Health care inequities such as health care discrimination contribute to the disparities in this population. Academic and clinical nurses must address health care discrimination from a strong theoretical framework. In this article, we integrate the minority stress theory and ecosocial theory of disease distribution to offer a whole-person model that identifies the concepts most relevant to Latinx older adults who function at multiple levels of intersectionality. This paper uses T2DM as an exemplar of chronic illness. The integrated model depicts possible pathways of physiological and psychological embodiment of lived experiences of minoritized older persons managing chronic illness who are living in a society deeply embedded with structural racism and oppression. This model may guide future research aimed at elucidating the social and structural determinants that impact health-related outcomes among Latinx older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capillary effect has wide applications from biology and textile engineering to nanotechnology especially the micro-electromechanical systems and microfluidics device. The capillary vibration significantly affects its mass transmission. This paper establishes a nonlinear oscillator of a deforming capillary tube. The geometric potential theory is used to estimate the capillary force. The paper reveals that the low-frequency property of capillary vibration plays an important role not only in life but also engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Facilitating advance care planning with community-dwelling frail elders can be challenging. Notably, frail elders' vulnerability to sudden deterioration leads to uncertainty in recognising the timing and focus of advance care planning conversations. Aim: To understand how advance care planning can be better implemented for community-dwelling frail elders and to develop a conceptual model to underpin intervention development. Design: A structured integrative review of relevant literature. Data sources: CINAHL, Embase, Ovid Medline, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, and University of York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Further strategies included searching for policy and clinical documents, grey literature, and hand-searching reference lists. Literature was searched from 1990 until October 2018. Results: From 3043 potential papers, 42 were included. Twenty-nine were empirical, six expert commentaries, four service improvements, two guidelines and one theoretical. Analysis revealed nine themes: education and training, personal ability, models, recognising triggers, resources, conversations on death and dying, living day to day, personal beliefs and experience, and relationality. Conclusion: Implementing advance care planning for frail elders requires a system-wide approach, including providing relevant resources and clarifying responsibilities. Early engagement is key for frail elders, as is a shift from the current advance care planning model focussed on future ceilings of care to one that promotes living well now alongside planning for the future. The proposed conceptual model can be used as a starting point for professionals, organisations and policymakers looking to improve advance care planning for frail elders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensitivity analysis is popular in dealing with missing data problems particularly for non-ignorable missingness, where full-likelihood method cannot be adopted. It analyses how sensitively the conclusions (output) may depend on assumptions or parameters (input) about missing data, i.e. missing data mechanism. We call models with the problem of uncertainty sensitivity models. To make conventional sensitivity analysis more useful in practice we need to define some simple and interpretable statistical quantities to assess the sensitivity models and make evidence based analysis. We propose a novel approach in this paper on attempting to investigate the possibility of each missing data mechanism model assumption, by comparing the simulated datasets from various MNAR models with the observed data non-parametrically, using the K-nearest-neighbour distances. Some asymptotic theory has also been provided. A key step of this method is to plug in a plausibility evaluation system towards each sensitivity parameter, to select plausible values and reject unlikely values, instead of considering all proposed values of sensitivity parameters as in the conventional sensitivity analysis method. The method is generic and has been applied successfully to several specific models in this paper including meta-analysis model with publication bias, analysis of incomplete longitudinal data and mean estimation with non-ignorable missing data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how a group of researchers from different disciplines has been able to form creative collaborative spaces to model life together. Making mathematical models of life is a new way of creating biological knowledge – called systems biology – that ultimately aims to revolutionise medicine, by making it more effective through personalisation. By conceptualizing this interdisciplinary effort to create a new research field as a Scientific/Intellectual Movement, I analyse the entanglement of epistemic and social transformations, discussing how systems biology moved from the periphery towards the center of biology. Thereby, I am turning the focus on the spatial dimensions of Scientific/Intellectual Movements. More specifically, I introduce a topological approach detailing three interrelated spatial movements: aggregation, circulation and oscillation that together constitute the choreography of systems biology. They show how some strong, dispersed, local centers have effectively raised funds to build human capacity, organisations and infrastructures, while creating international networks. Through interaction with science policy makers, a global circulation of policies took place, stimulating the building of collaborative centers for systems biology, while the ending of funding programmes is now causing fragmentation again. As such, this paper argues that the choreography of systems biology as a Scientific/Intellectual Movement exemplifies how spatial (re-)configurations are fundamental to transformations in the knowledge landscape and the institutionalization of creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a response to Ridley et al.'s Major Contribution on the state of multicultural counseling competence (MCC) and their proposed refinement and extension of this construct. They pose the following multiprong question: "Is multicultural counseling competence becoming outdated and supplanted, or is it underdeveloped and in need of refinement?" We use this question to examine the MCC model that Ridley et al. have proposed in this Major Contribution. We summarize and critique each paper, and close with our own conclusions about the above question. We are concerned that the characteristics of the clinicians seem to be secondary to MCC. We also question the lack of focus on the sociopolitical context and the limited inclusion of diverse scholarship in creating a universal MCC model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Given limited critical care resources and an aging population, early interventions to prevent critical illness are vital. In this work, we measured post-implementation outcomes after introducing a novel electronic scoring system (Elders Risk Assessment—ERA) and a risk-factor checklist, Checklist for Early Recognition and Treatment of Acute Illness (CERTAIN), to detect older patients at high risk of critical illness in a primary care setting. Methods: The study was conducted at a family medicine clinic in Kasson, MN. The ADAPT-ITT framework was used to modify the CERTAIN checklist for primary care during 2 co-design workshops involving interdisciplinary clinicians, held in April 2023. The ERA score and modified CERTAIN checklist were implemented between May and July 2023 and identify and assess all patients age ≥60 years at risk of critical illness during their primary care visits. Implementation outcomes were evaluated at the end of the study via an anonymous survey and EHR data extraction. Results: Fourteen clinicians participated in 2 co-design workshops. A total of 19 clinicians participated in a post-pilot survey. All survey items were rated on a 5-point Likert type scale. Mean acceptability of the ERA score and checklist was rated 3.35 (SD = 0.75) and 3.09 (SD = 0.64), respectively. Appropriateness had a mean rating of 3.38 (SD = 0.82) for the ERA score and 3.19 (SD = 0.59) for the checklist. Mean feasibility was rated 3.38(SD = 0.85) and 2.92 (SD = 0.76) for the ERA score and checklist, respectively. The adoption rate was 50% (19/38) among clinicians, but the reach was low at 17% (49/289) of eligible patients. Conclusions: This pilot study evaluated the implementation of an intervention that introduced the ERA score and CERTAIN checklist into a primary care practice. Results indicate moderate acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of the ERA score, and similar ratings for the checklist, with slightly lower feasibility. While checklist adoption was moderate, reach was limited, indicating inconsistent use. Recommendations: We plan to use the open-ended resurvey responses to further modify the CERTAIN-FM checklist and implementation process. The ADAPT-ITT framework is a useful model for adapting the checklist to meet the primary care clinician needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a mathematical model which describes the equilibrium of two elastic rods attached to a nonlinear spring. We derive the variational formulation of the model which is in the form of an elliptic quasivariational inequality for the displacement field. We prove the unique weak solvability of the problem, then we state and prove some convergence results, for which we provide the corresponding mechanical interpretation. Next, we turn to the numerical approximation of the problem based on a finite element scheme. We use a relaxation method to solve the discrete problems that we implement on the computer. Using this method, we provide numerical simulations which validate our convergence results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the dynamic behaviours of an orthotropic moving membrane. Considering the material properties of the membrane, a mathematical model is developed via the von Karman's large deflection theory. The dynamic behaviours are demonstrated by numerical analysis based on the Runge–Kutta fourth-order method. These numerical examples provide important insights into the impacts of the velocity, aspect ratio and orthotropic coefficient on the nonlinear dynamics of the orthotropic membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Antineoplastic drugs are widely used in the treatment of cancer. However, some are known carcinogens and reproductive toxins, and incidental low-level exposure to workers is a health concern. CAREX Canada estimated that approximately 75,000 Canadians are exposed to antineoplastic drugs in workplace settings. While policies and guidelines on safe handling of antineoplastic drugs are available, evidence suggests that compliance is low. In this paper, we identify barriers and facilitators for safe handling of antineoplastic drugs in workplace settings. Methods: We utilized a unique method to study public policy which involved compiling policy levers, developing a logic model, conducting a literature review, and contextualizing data through a deliberative process with stakeholders to explore in-depth contextual factors and experiences for the safe handling of antineoplastic drugs. Results: The most common barriers identified in the literature were: poor training (46%), poor safety culture (41%), and inconsistent policies (36%). The most common facilitators were: adequate safety training (41%), leadership support (23%), and consistent policies (21%). Several of these factors are intertwined and while this means one barrier can cause other barriers, it also allows healthcare employers to mitigate these barriers by implementing small but meaningful changes in the workplace. Conclusion: The combination of barriers and facilitators identified in our review highlight the importance of creating work environments where safety is a priority for the safe handling of antineoplastic drugs. The results of this study will assist policy makers and managers in identifying gaps and enhancing strategies that reduce occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most papers in theoretical economics contain thought experiments. They take the form of more informal bits of reasoning that precede the presentation of the formal, mathematical models these papers are known for. These thought experiments differ from the formal models in various ways. In particular, they do not invoke the same idealized assumptions about the rationality, knowledge, and preferences of agents. The presence of thought experiments in papers that present formal models, and the fact that they differ from the formal models in this way, is often ignored in debates on what, if anything, we can learn from formal models in theoretical economics. I show that paying due attention to thought experiments in theoretical economics has serious implications for this debate. Differences between thought experiments and formal models are especially problematic for Robert Sugden’s “credible worlds” account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]