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In their papers, Sally Bjorklund and Hillary Grill investigate the negative impact of the reversal of Roe v.Wade on women's ability to choose when and how to manage their bodies and minds. Bjorklund offers an historical perspective, while Grill presents personal and clinical material to illustrate how misogyny and male dominance are reinforced through the intersection of externally imposed laws, socially transmitted beliefs, and the perpetuation of such beliefs through models of mind that implicitly devalue women—models such as psychoanalysis. Iinvite psychoanalysts to continue to interrogate misogyny while also asking how our clinical work might challenge and change psychoanalytic theorizing about female development, theorizing that continues to pathologize women and valorize male dominance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is on the bibliometrics of entrepreneurship program papers issued on the Scopus Preview written by Asian countries' affiliation researchers from 1987 until 2021. The data was collected in February 2022. The findings are (1) the research topics are entrepreneurship, psychology, pedagogy and economics; (2) Malaysian researchers produced most papers in Asian countries; and (3) Chinese authors are the most productive regarding the paper's quality of citation rate. We suggest maximizing the non-partnership strategy and the partnership strategy to produce more papers. Besides this, we suggest choosing the right keywords to produce high-quality papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A call for papers for the special issue of the journal on topics like theologies of choice, abortion and morality, and secular law is presented.

I Thinking and Talking i is the fifth volume of the collected papers of Giorgio Baruchello. Baruchello is an original from beginning to end; he is a thinker not afraid of challenging conventional theories and approaches and is willing to follow his thoughts honestly to the conclusion that he feels is the most sound. Baruchello's handling of David Lewis's materialism is a case study in how to explain extremely subtle arguments simply, but without oversimplification. [Extracted from the article]

The editorial discusses the challenges authors face in choosing a journal to publish their scientific manuscripts. Factors such as the journal's scope, reputation, niche factor, impact factor, and publication timelines are highlighted as important considerations. The editorial emphasizes the need for authors to carefully assess these factors before submitting their work to ensure successful publication. Additionally, the rising trend of open access publishing and publication costs are also discussed as important factors for authors to consider. [Extracted from the article]

Authors have a multitude of options for journals for publishing their research. However, their choice is mostly based on academic credits required for promotion, cost of publication, timeliness of process, etc., The purpose of this narrative review is to enlighten the authors about some other journal metrics used to assess journal ranking and quality in international scenario. The main concepts discussed in this paper are the impact factor and cite score. The paper includes an explanation of terms like web of science, journal citation reports, and how they are related to impact factor. This will help the authors to make the right decision about choosing the right journal for publishing their research. Along with the historic concepts we have included the latest updates about changes being made to the journal citation report and impact factor released in 2023 June. Hopefully with the review paper, we will be able to encourage the inclusion of such concepts and curriculum of post-graduation courses considering publishing a paper and choosing a journal are an integral aspect of a researcher's work life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in deep learning, has significantly impacted radiology, introducing an array of AI solutions for interpretative tasks. This paper provides radiology departments with a practical guide for selecting and integrating AI solutions, focusing on interpretative tasks that require the active involvement of radiologists. Our approach is not to list available applications or review scientific evidence, as this information is readily available in previous studies; instead, we concentrate on the essential factors radiology departments must consider when choosing AI solutions. These factors include clinical relevance, performance and validation, implementation and integration, clinical usability, costs and return on investment, and regulations, security, and privacy. We illustrate each factor with hypothetical scenarios to provide a clearer understanding and practical relevance. Through our experience and literature review, we provide insights and a practical roadmap for radiologists to navigate the complex landscape of AI in radiology. We aim to assist in making informed decisions that enhance diagnostic precision, improve patient outcomes, and streamline workflows, thus contributing to the advancement of radiological practices and patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is impulse noise reduction in digital color images. The most popular noise reduction schemes are the vector median filter and its many variants that operate by minimizing the aggregate distance from one pixel to every other pixel in a chosen window. This minimizing operation determines the most confirmative pixel based on its similarity to the chosen window and replaces the central pixel of the window with the determined one. The peer group filters, unlike the vector median filters, determine a set of pixels that are most confirmative to the window and then perform filtering over the determined set. Using a set of pixels in the filtering process rather than one pixel is more helpful as it takes into account the full information of all the pixels that seemingly contribute to the signal. Hence, the peer group filters are found to be more robust to noise. However, the peer group for each pixel is computed deterministically using thresholding schemes. A wrong choice of the threshold will easily impair the filtering performance. In this paper, we propose a peer group filtering approach using principles of Bayesian probability theory and clustering. Here, we present a method to compute the probability that a pixel value is clean (not corrupted by impulse noise) and then apply clustering on the probability measure to determine the peer group. The key benefit of this proposal is that the need for thresholding in peer group filtering is completely avoided. Simulation results show that the proposed method performs better than the conventional vector median and peer group filtering methods in terms of noise reduction and structural similarity, thus validating the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of baby diapers is highly related to the occurrence of diaper rash. However, a comprehensive evaluation of baby diapers on the market is unavailable. Herein, we systematically investigated the performance of the six most-sold baby diapers on the market. We disassembled the selected diapers and investigated the structure and properties of the main components, including the top sheet, acquisition sheet, absorbent core, and back sheet. Then the urine absorption capability, excrement spreading capability, run-off, and wetback of the diapers were investigated using urine and loose stool to reflect the functions of diapers in practical usage. Our results indicated that the performance of baby diapers is highly dependent on the structure and properties of each diaper component. Specifically, excrement run-off and wetback were highly related to excrement absorption speed and excrement spreading properties, respectively, which depend on the complex interactions among the top sheet, acquisition sheet, and absorbent core. In particular, designing the top sheet with a three-dimensional convex–concave structure or large holes was beneficial to fast excrement penetration. Meanwhile, employing an acquisition sheet could improve the excrement spreading properties. In addition, an absorbent core with a high content of super absorbent polymer and an absorption channel also contributed to a better excrement absorption property. Notably, Pampers and Moony diapers exhibited relatively low urine wetback. Bobdog and Babycare diapers showed 0 g urine run-off. Besides, Huggies, and Moony diapers were relatively soft, which could provide a better contact feeling during usage. Furthermore, Beaba diapers exhibited the best air permeability of 42.511 mm s−1 due to the existence of more breathable holes. Our study may provide scientific inspiration for researchers and enterprises to develop next-generation high-performance baby diapers and serve as a guideline for consumers to choose the right baby diapers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choosing the right metal AM equipment and material is a highly intricate process that forms a crucial part of every manufacturing company's strategic plan. This study undertakes a comprehensive comparison of the performance and material properties of three Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies: Powder Bed Fusion (PBF), Metal Filament Deposition Modeling (MFDM), and Bound Metal Deposition (BMD). An automotive nozzle was selected and manufactured using all three technologies and three metallic materials to understand their respective advantages and disadvantages. The samples were then subjected to a series of tests and evaluations, including dimensional accuracy, mechanical properties, microstructure, defects, manufacturability, and cost efficiency. The nozzle combinations were PBF in aluminum, MFDM in stainless steel, and BMD in hard tool steel. The results underscore significant differences in functionality, material characteristics, product quality, lead time, and cost efficiency, all of which are crucial factors in making equipment investment decisions. The conclusions drawn in this paper aim to assist automotive industry equipment experts in making informed decisions about the technology and materials to use for parts with characteristics like these. Future studies will delve into other technologies, automotive components, and materials to further enhance our understanding of the application of metal AM in manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: One of the primary health issues bringing patients to hospital emergency rooms is pain. It is often treated inadequately. Doctors working in the emergency department have the option of using a number of drugs for analgesia. The three main groups include non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, non-opioid analgesics and opioid analgesics. In order to properly exploit their potential, it is necessary to properly classify the pain, know the basic action of the available drugs, choose the right dose, and know how to combine drugs from different groups to achieve balanced analgesia. By acting in this way, the patient in the hospital emergency department will be properly provided with medication, and this will have a positive effect on his overall health. PURPOSE OF THE WORK: This review paper aims to present the possible and available treatments for pain in a hospital emergency department. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An analysis of papers available in PubMed and Google Scholar was performed using the following key words: pain in the emergency department, opioids in the ED, non-opioid drugs in the ED, oligoanalgesia. RESULTS: The result of the review paper is to show the wide range of drugs used in the emergency department for pain management and their potential, and to demonstrate that the problem of oligoanalgesia is avoidable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of Ablai Khan KazUIRandWL: Series 'Pedagogical Sciences' is the property of Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations & World Languages and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the emerging field of interactive fiction, with a special focus on the Netflix film Bandersnatch, and investigates whether interactive fiction truly empowers its audience to ‘choose-their-own-adventure’ through the use of free will or if it is simply a pre-scripted illusion. In particular, the paper explores the important role of artificial intelligence (AI) in interactive fiction, and how AI can be used to enhance the audience’s experience of narrative agency and choice. The findings suggest that while interactive fiction offers a degree of choice and agency, the options presented to the audience are ultimately predetermined and limit the degree of free will available to the audience. However, the study also highlights the potential for AI to create more complex and dynamic narratives in interactive fiction that offer a greater degree of narrative agency and choice to the audience. The research contributes to a deeper understanding of the nature of narrative agency and the ways in which it is constructed in interactive fiction, as well as highlights the importance of balancing free will and pre-scripted elements in designing engaging and satisfying interactive fiction experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business Intelligence plays a vital role in helping organizations to extract meaningful insights from their data and make informed decisions. However, choosing the right data modeling approach can be challenging, as different methodologies have unique advantages and limitations. The focus of the current paper is to provide an insight into the Data Vault architecture, which is an emerging approach to data modeling, compared to the established methods of Kimball and Inmon. The paper conducted a comparative analysis of these methodologies, with a particular emphasis on the benefits of Data Vault. This study highlights the advantages of the Data Vault model in managing data from multiple sources and its compatibility with agile implementation practices. Overall, this paper sheds light on the relevance of Data Vault in contemporary data management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to identify gaps in trustworthiness, availability, effectiveness, security and other attributes. Also, to highlight challenges and opportunities for research and give guidance on choosing the right technology or application based on the resources available to support patients and doctors, protocol of communication and maturity level of these technologies.Methodology: This work presents a systematic review of the literature following four steps: Definition of the Research Questions, Conduct Search, Screening of Papers, and Data Extraction and Mapping Process.Results: Based on the articles studied, it was possible to answer important questions about eHealth applications. The results highlight how eHealth applications can enhance patient care by monitoring health data and supporting doctors' decision-making with a reasonable level of trustworthiness. Additionally, the results demonstrate how applications can notify external caregivers in emergencies and assist in diagnosis and treatment of illnesses. However, these applications still face problems related to sensor lifetime, medical data sharing, interoperability and lack of standardization. Finally, we suggest a literature mapping to support the choice of technologies based on resources available, communication protocol and technological maturity.Conclusion: This work carries out a systematic literature review to discuss state-of-the-art eHealth applications and gather new information of current research. In this process it was possible to show how these applications work, map out their main technological characteristics to assist the decision-making process for future works and uncover eHealth applications' strengths, future perspectives and challenges, specifically related to the high level of trustworthiness necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers an innovative model of autonomous charging stations where a program implementing a scheduling algorithm and a set of jobs being scheduled are driven by the same common power source. It is assumed that one of the well-known local search metaheuristics—an evolutionary algorithm—is used for the scheduling process. The algorithm is designed to search for a sequence of charging jobs resulting in a schedule of the minimum length. Since processors with variable processing speeds can be used for computations, this has interesting consequences both from a theoretical and practical point of view. It is shown in the paper that the problem of choosing the right processor speed under given constraints and an assumed scheduling criterion is a non-trivial one. We formulate a general problem of determining the computation speed of the evolutionary algorithm based on the proposed model of a computational task and the adopted problem of scheduling charging jobs. The novelty of the paper consists of two aspects: (i) proposing the new model of the autonomous charging station operating according to the basics of edge computing; and (ii) developing the methodology for dynamically changing the computational speed, taking into account power and energy constraints as well as the results of computations obtained in the current iteration of the algorithm. Some approaches for selecting the appropriate speed of computations are proposed and discussed. Conclusions and possible directions for future research are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Serbian Journal of Management is the property of Serbian Journal of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the importance of discerning truth in a world where misinformation is prevalent, particularly due to social media. It emphasizes the need to critically evaluate information presented, especially in scientific studies, to make informed decisions. The authors provide a checklist for assessing the validity of claims, highlighting the significance of context, evidence, study design, and potential biases. The article underscores the necessity of questioning sources, methods, and statistics to combat misinformation effectively. [Extracted from the article]

In present-day decision science, multiple-attribute decision making is an important area of research for choosing the right alternative among several possible alternatives. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel multiple-attribute decision making problem based on linguistic r, s, t-spherical fuzzy information. The main purpose of the current study is to explore a novel linguistic r, s, t-spherical fuzzy score function and extend the measurement of alternatives and ranking according to the multiple-attribute decision making method with weight information to linguistic r, s, t-spherical fuzzy variables. Firstly, we propose the concept of linguistic r, s, t-spherical fuzzy variable, where the linguistic positive-membership, the linguistic neutral-membership and the linguistic negative-membership are represented by linguistic variables, and its operation rules are also discussed. The linguistic r, s, t-spherical fuzzy weighted averaging and linguistic r, s, t-spherical fuzzy weighted geometric operator are developed based on the proposed operation rules. Following that, the linguistic r, s, t-spherical fuzzy multiple-attribute decision making approach is established to cope with multiple-attribute decision making problems. Later, a case study of a selecting the suitable green supplier is addressed to show the practicality of the presented method. The comparison analysis with other existing operators shows the reliability of our work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we presented a financial analysis of the values of financial losses for real data in light of a set of indicators for measuring financial risks. The value-at-risk (VAR), tail mean–variance (TMV), tail-VAR (TVAR), tail variance (TV), Peaks Over a Random Threshold Value-at-Risk (PORT-VAR) and the mean of order P (MOO P ) indicators are used in identifying and describing important events or outliers within US financial indemnity loss data. Some extreme financial value theory (EFVT) models are compared in view of financial indemnity loss data and according to some confidence levels. The paper provided a clear financial framework for financial institutions to help them avoid large, sudden losses. Therefore, financial data with a long tail to the right were chosen, and several financial risk measures were used that study and analyze the behavior of the long tail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the social structure of individual autonomy in Europe. Drawing on the capability approach and human empowerment theory, it investigates how individuals' sense of autonomy is structured by individual means and conversion factors as well as economic, cultural, and institutional context conditions. Using data from the European Social Survey and the European Quality of Life Survey, these relationships are analyzed for 107,070 individuals in 18 European countries and four points in time between 2006 and 2016. Multilevel analyses reveal financial security, health, and social connectedness as the most important drivers of individuals' sense of autonomy. On the macro level, national wealth, civil liberties, and an emancipative value climate are all found to be positively linked to individuals' sense of autonomy, albeit weakly. Considering the value individuals attach to leading an autonomous life and the beneficial effects autonomy has been shown to have on people's well-being, these findings shed first light on the unequal distribution of autonomy and autonomy resources on the individual and macro levels. Concluding, the paper highlights the potential for future research and policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a comment on a previous paper about social learning on networks. The comment corrects a proposition in the original paper, stating that the condition for imitation to be optimal is stronger than previously thought. However, this correction does not affect the other findings and conclusions of the original paper. The comment also discusses the implications of this correction, suggesting that it reduces the set of networks where a few dominant agents determine the beliefs of all network members. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to enhance decision-making process for the procurement of facilities management (FM) services within aviation corporate organisation, where the FM services functions to support the business operation. It builds on considering the fundamental elements comprising the FM procurement process from the aviation perspective. Design/methodology/approach: The paper investigates the characteristics of the different types of sourcing approaches and the underpinning factors affecting its selection for the procurement of FM services within the aviation industry. The decision-making framework for the procurement of FM services is developed based on the qualitative case study by interview and focus group discussion with the custodian department that is directly involved in the procurement of FM services. Findings: The degree of outsourcing is increasing due to corporate organisation's persona. Procurement of FM services is a complex process required detailed review, efforts and time in choosing the right sourcing approach. Off the shelf guidelines for the procurement of FM services suits property professional which directly involved with the procurement of FM services. However, decision-making process for the procurement of FM services specifically for aeronautical and non-aeronautical corporate organisation are rarely found. The case study findings signify that the respondents are familiar with the in-sourcing, outsourcing and right sourcing approaches. The underpinning factors affecting sourcing approaches were categorised according to the main reasons for the procurement of FM services, considerable factors during the procurement stage and value-adding criteria. The use of strategic management tools is not widely imposed, and intelligent client guideline is not available. Hence, the decision-making framework has been developed to fill the gap in this study. Research limitations/implications: The research is based on a study of aviation or airline corporate organisation, which limits the possibility of holistic view to the FM industry as a whole but highlights the research gap of FM procurement which is scarce within the case study of airline companies. The focus area is also bounded within the procurement of FM services designated for the office buildings. Originality/value: The paper provides initial guideline for the airline company in sourcing the procurement of FM services that were developed based on established guidelines from accrediting bodies and scholars, as well as from the sampling feedback analysis. It is also among the firsts that examine the procurement of FM services in the context of aviation or airline industry. The outcome of this paper is a decision-making framework for the procurement of FM services that is specially designed for the airlines corporate organisations, which fills the gap that exists in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem-solving is placed at top of the ten most important life skills recommended by World Economic Forum. Serious game has been one of the dominant tools for educating people in different subjects over the last 10 years. This study aims to critically analyse previous empirical studies conducted on Problem-Solving Serious Games (PSSG). Using Constant Comparative Method (CCM) framework, 737 studies in this area are listed; and after applying several filters, 36 studies are refined and finally chosen. The analysis shows that serious games not alone improve people's problem-solving ability, it also positively impacts on their problem-solving motivation, problem-solving measurement ability, critical thinking, and learning attitude. However, there is a lack of pedagogists' engagement with PSSG studies. As a result, those studies suffered from lack of educational rationale behind and lack of right direction in choosing their participants, research methods, focus, genre, and expected outputs. Theoretical and practical implications of this critical analysis are outlined at the end of this paper, shedding light on the future directions of PSSG studies. the main conclusions of this study are as following: 1. An inter-disciplinary approach led by pedagogists is needed to design, develop, and examine PSSGs effectively. 2. The over-optimistic viewpoint about serious games in general and PSSGs in specific should be moderated by looking more closely at the negative marginal and side effects of implementing these games on gamers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for food is rising since the world's population is expanding quickly. As a result, conventional agriculture will be unable to meet the needs of the crops. With the rapid advancement of agricultural technology, the Internet of Things has emerged as one of the most vital components of modern information technology that makes farming systems possible. This paper aims to review the contributions of the Internet of Things to agricultural systems that are key to the current and future growth of agriculture. The contribution of the Internet of Things to agricultural systems has been examined from various sources of data. Today, farm households use the Internet of Things for a variety of farming operations. Results from earlier studies demonstrate that Internet of Things-based agricultural systems can offer greater precision for choosing the right course of action for a farm's environment. In general, the goal of this review paper is to introduce readers to new research prospects, specifically possible contributions, and difficulties related to the application of Internet of Things technology in agricultural systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the appropriate place for science in society? Despite the vast literature on the subject, the science–society relation remains a disputed issue. A major reason is that, when we are asking about the right place of science in society, we are actually asking a range of interrelated and hard-to-answer individual questions. These questions include the role of social values in the research process, the neutrality of science in policy, the interplay between evidence and decision-making, and many others. A sensible way to organize these questions—and the set of potential answers—are science–society interaction models (SSIMs). SSIMs reduce the complexity of the science–society relation and provide generic templates for interactions between scientists and non-scientists. However, SSIMs are often used in an unproductive way, namely as antagonistic camps or as representations of real-world actors' beliefs. Focusing on the popular distinction between technocratic, decisionist, and pragmatist models, this paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of SSIMs. It argues that SSIMs should not, as is often done in the science–society literature, be understood as antagonistic camps or representations of actor beliefs, but as ideal types and heuristics. Building on this interpretation, this paper presents tentative ideas for a reflexive tool that real-world actors can use to assess their fundamental assumptions about science and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual fitting technology is widely used in many fields, such as e-commerce, garment computer-aided design, and film and game production. Cloth modeling and simulation play an important role in virtual fitting. The realism and simulation speed directly affect the user experience and visual appearance. This paper first reviews the history of cloth modeling and simulation methods. Then, it focuses on four perspectives: yarn-structure modeling of the cloth modeling level; multi-resolution grid simulation; the relation between human posture and cloth deformation; and collision problems of the cloth simulation level. Yarn-structure modeling considers a unit cell that incorporates the physical characteristics of the fabric and the fabric structure. A multi-resolution grid can integrate techniques from different research fields and may achieve a breakthrough in cloth modeling. Generative adversarial networks (GANs) have potential for dealing with the relation between human posture and cloth deformation by comparing several typical algorithms with GANs. Solving the collision and friction problem depends on choosing the right envelope box for refining the human body surface. Finally, the paper concludes with an analysis of future research trends that could improve the fidelity and speed of a simulation. The paper may serve as a reference for research into cloth modeling and simulation for virtual fitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Underrepresentation of disabled groups in clinical trials results in an inadequate evidence base for their clinical care, which drives health inequalities. This study aims to review and map the potential barriers and facilitators to the recruitment of disabled people in clinical trials to identify knowledge gaps and areas for further extensive research. The review addresses the question: 'What are the barriers and facilitators to recruitment of disabled people to clinical trials?'. Methods: The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Scoping review guidelines were followed to complete the current scoping review. MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched via Ovid. The literature search was guided by a combination of four key concepts from the research question: (1) disabled populations, (2) patient recruitment, (3) barriers and facilitators, and (4) clinical trials. Papers discussing barriers and facilitators of all types were included. Papers that did not have at least one disabled group as their population were excluded. Data on study characteristics and identified barriers and facilitators were extracted. Identified barriers and facilitators were then synthesised according to common themes. Results: The review included 56 eligible papers. The evidence on barriers and facilitators was largely sourced from Short Communications from Researcher Perspectives (N = 22) and Primary Quantitative Research (N = 17). Carer perspectives were rarely represented in articles. The most common disability types for the population of interest in the literature were neurological and psychiatric disabilities. A total of five emergent themes were determined across the barriers and facilitators. These were as follows: risk vs benefit assessment, design and management of recruitment protocol, balancing internal and external validity considerations, consent and ethics, and systemic factors. Conclusions: Both barriers and facilitators were often highly specific to disability type and context. Assumptions should be minimised, and study design should prioritise principles of co-design and be informed by a data-driven assessment of needs for the study population. Person-centred approaches to consent that empower disabled people to exercise their right to choose should be adopted in inclusive practice. Implementing these recommendations stands to improve inclusive practices in clinical trial research, serving to produce a well-rounded and comprehensive evidence base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Discussion Papers is the property of Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The selection of an appropriate construction method stands as a pivotal decision in ensuring the success of any building project. This paper undertakes a comprehensive comparative analysis of cost and timeline implications between the top-down and bottom-up construction methodologies. The research focuses on ten distinct underground structure models, each characterized by varying depths and base areas. Through rigorous design and analysis, the cost and projected duration for each model are meticulously evaluated under the lens of both top-down and bottom-up construction techniques. The findings reveal that while the bottom-up approach emerges as the most cost-effective alternative at a depth of 8 m, the top-down method exhibits superior cost efficiency with increasing depth. Interestingly, alterations in the structure's base area exert a minimal influence on the cost differentials between the two methodologies. Moreover, the top-down construction method consistently outshines its counterpart in terms of project duration across all ten models examined, with the percentage increase in base area yielding insignificant impacts on project timeline discrepancies. This study furnishes construction project managers with invaluable insights to navigate the complexities of method selection. By judiciously considering parameters such as project scale, depth, and base area, managers can strategically optimize both cost and timeline outcomes, thereby facilitating the seamless execution of construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has as its theme the autonomy of pregnant women in relation to choosing the method of birth for their child. The objective was to carry out a scoping review to study the literature and evidence of how autonomy is being offered to parturient women. Study design and location: In October 2023, a search was carried out using the terms "pregnant women" AND "delivery" AND "autonomy" in the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Scielo and LILACS. The search included articles from 2016 to 2023. Of the 179 articles found, 15 met the criteria and were selected for this review. Results: the pregnant woman's autonomy in choosing the method of childbirth is influenced by several factors, such as the obstetrician's recommendation, the medical team, and negative and positive experiences. Thus, when this autonomy is shared with the obstetrician, the obstetrician recommends cesarean section as the safest route, but does not explain the benefits and harms of both routes (vaginal and cesarean section), causing the woman to accept the cesarean section. Midwives recommend vaginal birth because they believe it to be natural and safe and explain the benefits and harms of both methods, respecting the pregnant woman's choice of the method she prefers. Conclusion: women have the fundamental right to choose their method of birth and must be properly guided throughout prenatal care, whether by an obstetrician or a midwife, about the options, risks and benefits of each method of childbirth, respecting the ethical principle of beneficence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce PyVRP, a Python package that implements hybrid genetic search in a state-of-the-art vehicle routing problem (VRP) solver. The package is designed for the VRP with time windows (VRPTW) but can be easily extended to support other VRP variants. PyVRP combines the flexibility of Python with the performance of C++ by implementing (only) performance-critical parts of the algorithm in C++ while being fully customizable at the Python level. PyVRP is a polished implementation of the algorithm that ranked first in the 2021 DIMACS VRPTW challenge and, after improvements, ranked first on the static variant of the EURO meets NeurIPS 2022 vehicle routing competition. The code follows good software engineering practices and is well documented and unit tested. PyVRP is freely available under the liberal MIT license. Through numerical experiments, we show that PyVRP achieves state-of-the-art results on the VRPTW and capacitated VRP. We hope that PyVRP enables researchers and practitioners to easily and quickly build on a state-of-the-art VRP solver. History: Accepted by Ted Ralphs, Area Editor for Software Tools. This paper has been accepted for the INFORMS Journal on Computing Special Issue on Software Tools for Vehicle Routing. Funding: Funding was provided by TKI Dinalog, Topsector Logistics, and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information (https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2023.0055) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository (https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2023.0055). The complete IJOC Software and Data Repository is available at https://informsjoc.github.io/. There is a video associated with this paper. Click here to view the Video Overview. To save the file, right click and choose "Save Link As" from the menu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to compare the mission statements of Indian and Singaporean firms in the healthcare sector, and define the main components of Indian and Singaporean mission statements. Design/methodology/approach: The study was based on a network analytic approach and content analysis. The research was performed on 200 companies (100 Indian companies and 100 Singaporean companies). For each company, we searched for a mission statement published in the company website. Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) in Python programming language was utilized to obtain the differences in the components of mission statements between Indian and Singaporean firms. Findings: The study results indicate a similarity and variation between Indian and Singaporean mission statements. Both countries are more concerned about patients, service, community, quality, and healthcare in their mission statements, but Indian mission statements emphasize quality, affordable price, and technology more than Singaporean firms. In contrast, Singaporean mission statements tend to highlight innovation and company value. This research will assist strategic managers in identifying the mission statement components and choosing the right strategy for the organization. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature and ethos theory by identifying and distinguishing the paramount differences between the Indian and Singaporean mission statement components in the healthcare sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Association of Arab Universities Journal of Engineering Sciences (JAARU) is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Addiction is a widespread problem affecting people from different regions, generations, and classes. It is often analysed as a problem consisting in compulsion or poor choice-making. Recently, however, integrated analyses of compulsion and choice have been called for. In this paper, I argue that the capability approach highlights the well-being loss at stake in cases of addiction, whether they are described as stemming from compulsion, poor choice-making, or some combination thereof. The relevant capabilities obtain when combinations of individual, socio-political, and environmental factors jointly facilitate abstention. On this complementary evaluative analysis, people's capabilities to abstain are shown to be undermined by how different kinds of factors interact with each other. The upshot is that without committing to an empirical view of the nature of addiction that must capture each case, the capabilitarian analysis helps highlight a central goal of addiction-related well-being policy-work, namely to promote people's genuine opportunities to abstain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the main features of Incoterms® 2020, i.e., the International Chamber of Commerce rules for the use of domestic and international trade terms, which came into force on January 1, 2020. The International Chamber of Commerce revises the current Incoterms® rules every few years to eliminate vague and/or imprecise interpretations of the obligations of parties involved in the international trade. The revisions result in changes to existing terms and/or the introduction of new terms that help facilitate the flow of goods both domestically and internationally. Therefore, this paper aims to present the main features of the latest Incoterms® terms that are in force and are used in international trade. In addition, changes to previous Incoterms® terms are examined and presented in order to highlight key differences that may influence the choice of the relevant term. Particular attention has been paid to Incoterms® terms used in sea transport, as sea transport remains the dominant transport sector in the world trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correspondence selection is an indispensable process in point cloud registration. The success of point cloud registration largely depends on a good correspondence selection method. For this purpose, a novel correspondence selection method is proposed in this paper. First, two geometric constraints, one of which is proposed in this paper, are used to compute the compatibility score between two correspondences. Then, the feature vectors of the correspondences are constructed according to the compatibility scores between the correspondence and others. A support vector machine classifier is trained to classify the correct and incorrect correspondences by using the feature vectors. The experimental results demonstrate that our method can choose the right correspondences well and get high precision and F-score performance. Also, our method has the best robustness to noise, point density variation, and partial overlap compared to the other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective dispersion of a pigment in a colour concentrate is imperative to its performance. A well dispersed pigment yields the true strength of a colour and becomes stabilised in the long run. To accomplish this, a suitable chemistry of the surfactant is a prerequisite for dispersion and stabilisation of the pigment. A plethora of surfactants are available commercially and it is very difficult to choose the right surfactant that suits the pigment chemistry. Carbon black, being difficult to disperse, was chosen in this study to provide dispersion from an effective surfactant. Simple screening processes, if available for these surfactants, can save a huge amount of time and energy compared with the conventional method of conducting individual experiments. This paper discusses the development of such simple surfactant screening techniques, which could make the selection process simpler and quicker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Climacteric is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)