Collection Strategies Research Articles

Aerogel-based collection of ejecta material from asteroids from libration point orbits: Dynamics and capture design

Scientific interest in asteroids and their physical characteristics is growing. These bodies provide insights into the primordial solar system and represent a valuable source of metals, silicates, and water. Several missions over the past few years have aimed to improve and better identify the main properties of these poorly known celestial bodies. However, these missions relied on touchdown(s) on the target asteroid to gather samples, which is complicated owing to the difficulty of accurately reaching and rendezvousing with the body. This study aims to assess the feasibility of an in-orbit asteroid sample collection mission. Such a strategy could prevent complex operations related to landing and touchdown maneuvers and avoid the dead times present in a mission requiring several landings. The presented collection scenario, which focuses on the asteroid Ryugu, proposes gathering samples using a spacecraft injected into a halo orbit around the second libration point, L2. For this purpose, the orbits in the neck region of the zero velocity curves are analyzed. A novel methodology to characterize bouncing behavior is introduced. An interpolation-based approach was used to recover the appropriate restitution coefficients for each collision occurring at a specific impact angle. This was applied to both the rigid body model and the point mass approximation studied for two different sites on the asteroid. Furthermore, the study enlarged the region of interest from only L2 to its neighboring zones to return a more global and realistic point of view. Considering the solar radiation pressure and asteroid aspherical potential, particles of different sizes ejected from different longitudes and with different ejection angles were classified according to their trajectories to finally build a database. Based on this analysis, an aerogel-based collection strategy inspired by that used in the Stardust-NExT (NASA) mission was investigated to assess its possible applicability to the analyzed scenario.

Eliciting patient past experiences of healthcare discrimination as a potential pathway to reduce health disparities: A qualitative study of primary care staff.

To understand whether and how primary care providers and staff elicit patients' past experiences of healthcare discrimination when providing care. Twenty qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare staff in primary care roles to inform future interventions to integrate data about past experiences of healthcare discrimination into clinical care. Qualitative study. Data were collected via semi-structured qualitative interviews between December 2018 and January 2019, with health care staff in primary care roles at a hospital-based clinic within an urban safety-net health system that serves a patient population with significant racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity. Providers did not routinely, or in a structured way, elicit information about past experiences of healthcare discrimination. Some providers believed that information about healthcare discrimination experiences could allow them to be more aware of and responsive to their patients' needs and to establish more trusting relationships. Others did not deem it appropriate or useful to elicit such information and were concerned about challenges in collecting and effectively using such data. While providers see value in eliciting past experiences of discrimination, directly and systematically discussing such experiences with patients during a primary care encounter is challenging for them. Collecting this information in primary care settings will likely require implementation of multilevel systematic data collection strategies. Findings presented here can help identify clinic-level opportunities to do so.

Assessing peri-implant bacterial community structure: the effect of microbiome sample collection method

BackgroundOral microbiota comprises polymicrobial communities shaped by mutualistic coevolution with the host, contributing to homeostasis and regulating immune function. Nevertheless, dysbiosis of oral bacterial communities is associated with a number of clinical symptoms that ranges from infections to oral cancer. Peri-implant diseases are biofilm-associated inflammatory conditions affecting the soft and hard tissues around dental implants. Characterization and identification of the biofilm community are essential for the understanding of the pathophysiology of such diseases. For that sampling methods should be representative of the biofilm communities Therefore, there is a need to know the effect of different sampling strategies on the biofilm characterization by next generation sequencing.MethodsWith the aim of selecting an appropriate microbiome sampling procedure for periimplant biofilms, next generation sequencing was used for characterizing the bacterial communities obtained by three different sampling strategies two months after transepithelial abutment placement: adjacent periodontal crevicular fluid (ToCF), crevicular fluid from transepithelial abutment (TACF) and transepithelial abutment (TA).ResultsSignificant differences in multiple alpha diversity indices were detected at both the OTU and the genus level between different sampling procedures. Differentially abundant taxa were detected between sample collection strategies, including peri-implant health and disease related taxa. At the community level significant differences were also detected between TACF and TA and also between TA and ToCF. Moreover, differential network properties and association patterns were identified.ConclusionsThe selection of sample collection strategy can significantly affect the community composition and structure.Trial registrationThis research is part of a randomized clinical trial that was designed to assess the effect of transepithelial abutment surface on the biofilm formation. The trial was registered at Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov under the number NCT03554876.

California dreaming: Tech media giants and the re-conception of property, commodities and tax

Tech media giants are no strangers to controversy in relation to the payment of corporate tax, such as the cases of Apple and Facebook (Meta) in Ireland, Alphabet (Google) in the UK and Amazon in Luxembourg. While the tech media giants are not the only global corporations that take advantage of international tax avoidance opportunities, this paper argues that their hypermobility and unprecedented cash assets place them especially well to take advantage of these practices. Moreover, the nature of some of the commodities, such as information, software or intellectual property that can be moved at the touch of a button; or even a simple re-conception of where the property resides can mean a state gaining or losing billions of dollars. This paper will explore how tech media giants are redefining property and commodity forms and how this allows for creative tax policies. Moreover, the conception of where immaterial commodities, such as pure information, is located (or not located) challenges tax collection strategies for the state. To explore these conceptions, this paper discusses the ideology surrounding the tech media industry, a particular brand of liberalism coined the ‘Californian Ideology’: An ideology that can sometimes be described as transgressive, but also one that may legitimise tax avoidance. The ideology gives a somewhat nebulous definition of what property is (and isn’t) and its location or non-location, thereby negating justification for taxation.

A Framework to Support the Standardized Management of Real-World Data.

Relying on our experience on the development of data registration and management systems for clinical and biological data coming from patients with hematological malignancies, as well as on the design of strategies for data collection and analysis to support multi-center, clinical association studies, we designed a framework for the standardized collection and transformation of clinically relevant real-world data into evidence, to meet the challenges of gathering biomedical data collected during daily clinical practice in order to promote basic and clinical research.

Code-Mixing Used by Alexandra Asmasoebrata in Volix Media Youtube Channel

Sociolinguistics is the study that concerns the relation between society and language use. The part of sociolinguistics that is code-mixing The study aims at (1) identifying the types, and (2) defining the factors of code mixing used by Alexandra Asmasoebrata on the Volix Media YouTube Channel. The focused of the study is on code mixing Indonesian-English. The data was collected by Volix Media YouTube channel. This study employs a qualitative research methodology, and the observation method is the data collection strategy. Hoffman's (1991) theory is used to analyze the many forms and factors of code mixing. This study shows that there are 11 utterances were used by Alexandra Amasoebrata on the Volix Media Youtube channel that contained code-mixing. 4 data for intra-sentential, 2 data for intra-lexical. The factor found in the data source is 2 data for talking about a particular topic, 1 data for repetition used for clarification, the intention of clarifying the speech content for interlocutor is 1 data, and being emphatic about something (expressing solidarity) is 1 data. Keywords: Sociolinguistic, Code-mixing, Youtube

A Deployment Strategy for UAV-Aided Data Collection in Unknown Environments

A Deployment Strategy for UAV-Aided Data Collection in Unknown Environments

PENGARUH PEMANFAATAN AIR KELAPA SEBAGAI BAHAN SUBSTITUSI CAMPURAN BETON PRACETAK METODE SELF COMPACTING CONCRETE (SCC)

Concrete mixtures are usually made with drinking water or pure water. However, if we are in a difficult condition to get clean water, we must try to use additional materials or waste around us. This is also a difficulty in the construction industry; one of the challenges is how to develop new ideas, such as high-quality and durable concrete (sustainability), from existing materials, such as coconut water. The data collection strategy for this study is laboratory-based. Given that the variables studied in this study include the composition of coconut water used to determine the quality of the concrete mixture, its compressive strength, and its comparison with ordinary water. The compressive strength of self-compacting concrete (SCC) made with 100% coconut water varies. The average compressive strength of SCC concrete with 100% coconut water is 41 kg/cm2 after 3 days, 88.67 kg/cm2 after 7 days, 242.67 kg/cm2 after 14 days, and 364 kg/cm2 after 21 and 28 days. 550.67 kg/cm2. The results of the normal compressive strength test showed growth; the average compressive strength was 284 kg/cm2 at 3 days, 511 kg/cm2 at 7 days, and 1386 kg/cm2 at 14 days. 21 days = 2226; 28 days equals 3098.67.

Causes of pre and post-donation deferrals among blood donors, at Kwale Satellite Blood Transfusion Center, Kwale County, Kenya, 2018–2022

BackgroundBoth pre-donation and post-donation deferrals pose challenges to blood safety and availability. This study delved into the deferral rates before donations and their underlying reasons, as, transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) leading to post-donation deferrals among potential blood donors at the Kwale Satellite Blood Transfusion Centre (KSBTC) in Kenya.MethodsWe performed a retrospective electronic record review of pre- and post-donation deferrals among blood donors at KSBTC, 2018–2022. The pre-donations deferral rate and reasons for deferral were analyzed. Accepted donations were analyzed to determine the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and syphilis. Descriptive statistics were calculated and both crude odds ratio (COR) and adjusted odds ratio (AOR), and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Variables with p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.ResultsA review was conducted on 12,633 blood donation records. Among these, individuals 2,729/12,633 (21.60%) were deferred from donating with the primary reason being low hemoglobin levels, constituting 51.86% of deferrals. Around 773/9,904 (7.80%) of blood units, were discarded due to at least one TTI. Among these, HBV accounted for 4.73%, HIV for 2.01%, HCV for 1.21%, and Syphilis for 0.59% of cases. The adjusted odds ratio for male donors were, (aOR = 1.3, 95% CI 1.01–1.57), donors with none or primary education level (aOR = 1.4 95% CI 1.11–1.68), first-timer donors (aOR = 1.2, 95% CI 1.01–1.44), and static strategy for blood collection (aOR = 1.4, 95%CI 1.12–1.63) were independently potentially associated with testing positive for at least one TTI.ConclusionThe study indicates that TTIs continue to pose a risk to the safety of Kenya’s bloodstock, with a notable prevalence of HBV infections. Male donors, individuals with limited education, first-time donors, and utilizing a fixed strategy for blood collection were identified as potential risk factors independently associated with TTIs.

Balancing individual and collective strategies: A new approach in metaheuristic optimization

Metaheuristic approaches commonly disregard the individual strategies of each agent within a population, focusing primarily on the collective best solution discovered so far. While this methodology can yield promising results, it also has several significant drawbacks, such as premature convergence. This study introduces a new metaheuristic approach that emphasizes the balance between individual and social learning in agents. In this approach, each agent employs two strategies: an individual search technique performed by the agent and a social or collective strategy involving the best-known solution. The search strategy is considered a learning problem, and agents must adjust the use of both individual and social strategies accordingly. The equilibrium of this adjustment is determined by a counter randomly set for each agent, which determines the frequency of use invested in each strategy. This mechanism promotes diverse search patterns and fosters a dynamic and adaptive process, potentially improving problem-solving efficiency in intricate spaces. The proposed method was assessed by comparing it with several well-established metaheuristic algorithms using 21 test functions. The results demonstrate that the new method surpasses popular metaheuristic algorithms by offering superior solutions and attaining quicker convergence.

Collaborative anthracology and cultural understandings of wood charcoal in Marra Country (northern Australia)

This paper presents results from the first collaborative anthracological (archaeological wood charcoal analysis) study in northern Australia’s southwest Gulf of Carpentaria region. The analysis focused on charcoal from a Late Holocene combustion feature and surrounding dispersed charcoal on a buried floor surface. The results suggest that the combustion feature likely functioned as a ground oven associated with a potential specific function, with the majority of fuel wood coming from wakuwaku/marnunggurrun (Callitris columellaris or White Cypress Pine) and Myrtaceae species. These species are found in low woodlands associated with hilly and freshwater springs settings, and their abundance and dispersal are influenced by fire regimes (e.g., Aboriginal fire regimes). Information provided by members of the Marra Aboriginal community about our findings focused on the social and cultural significance of wakuwaku/marnunggurrun, with particular emphasis around its role in past and present wood collection strategies (fire-making and transport, high value timber etc.). By exploring how anthracology and cultural knowledge intersect to generate new understandings about the relational qualities of wood (charcoal), we aim to highlight how collaborative archaeobotany can help reorient research questions in the discipline, providing an opportunity to make such specialised analyses meaningful to communities.

Broad versus narrow research questions in evidence synthesis: A parallel to (and plea for) estimands.

There has been a transition from broad to more specific research questions in the practice of network meta-analysis (NMA). Such convergence is also taking place in the context of individual registrational trials, following the recent introduction of the estimand framework, which is impacting the design, data collection strategy, analysis and interpretation of clinical trials. The language of estimands has much to offer to NMA, particularly given the "narrow" perspective of treatments and target populations taken in health technology assessment.

Multibioinspired Hybrid Superwetting Surface for Efficient Fog Collection and Power Generation.

Obtaining water and renewable energy from the atmosphere provides a potential solution to the growing energy shortage. Leveraging the synergistic inspiration from desert beetles, cactus spines, and rice leaves, here, a multibioinspired hybrid wetting rod (HWR) is prepared through simple solution immersion and laser etching, which endows an efficient water collection from the atmosphere. Importantly, benefiting from the bionic asymmetric pattern design and the three-dimensional structure, the HWR possesses an omnidirectional fog collection with a rate of up to 23 g cm-2 h-1. We further show that the HWR could be combined with a droplet-based electricity generator to convert kinetic energy from falling droplets into electrical energy with a maximum output voltage of 200 V and a current of 2.47 μA to light up 28 LEDs. Collectively, this research provides a strategy for synchronous fog collection and power generation, which is promising for environmentally friendly energy production.

A “social cure” for minority stress? Individual and collective identity strategies on the mental health outcomes of lesbian and gay people

ABSTRACT Lesbian and gay (LG) people experience minority stressors, resulting in adverse mental health outcomes. To cope, many LG people engage in individualistic or collectivistic strategies, that is, self-distancing or connecting with their in-group, the LGBTQ+ community. Even though research suggests what may help LG people cope with minority stress, it is less clear how and under which conditions they do so. In this study, we examine how LG people employ individualistic and collectivistic strategies and what that entails for the negative relationship between minority stress and mental health. A total of 199 responses from British LG people were collected via the online crowdsourcing platform Clickworker. A custom mediation model indicated that, for collectivistic strategies, higher levels of minority stress were associated with increased LGBTQ+ community identification, and LGBTQ+ identification was positively related to high LGBTQ+ social support; in turn, LGBTQ+ social support was associated with positive mental health outcomes. For individualistic strategies, results show higher minority stress was related to an increased likelihood of individual mobility, but individual mobility was not associated with mental health outcomes. These findings highlight how collectivistic responses to minority stress might prove more reliable than individualistic ones in enhancing the mental health of LG people.

Recurrent DQN for radio fingerprinting with constrained measurements collection

In this paper, we address the problem of fingerprinting-based radio localization with a particular focus on the measurements collection part. We consider the crucial circumstance where the operator that builds the fingerprinting map by collecting measurements can only travel a limited distance. We propose an iterative formulation that increases the accuracy of the position prediction task by using a recurrent deep reinforcement learning algorithm. Numerical results on a real dataset show the effectiveness of the proposed method, and the comparison with other measurement collection strategies corroborates its value.

Analysis of the resonant converter for multi-terminal collection of DC offshore wind farms

Abstract With the rapid development of power electronics technology, the offshore wind power system using DC collection and DC transmission is the best solution to increasing offshore distance. Resonant converters achieving soft switching have become a common choice in the DC/DC power conversion system. This paper proposed a design scheme for the multi-terminal collection of DC offshore wind farms based on the resonant converter. The operating principles are analyzed, and variable-frequency control of the converter is utilized to control the output voltage. Simulation verifies the effectiveness of the multi-terminal DC collection system and its control strategy.

Mothers and Others: How Collective Strategies Reproduce Social Norms Around Motherhood

This study examines how various actors deal with increasing mothering diversity in collective discourses and how they construct social norms around motherhood. Both questions address research gaps in the sociological literature. Theoretically conceptualized as relational behavioral rules, social norms around motherhood concern mothers who are expected to behave accordingly, and other actors, that is, mothers and others, who expect certain behaviors. Findings from a qualitative in-depth analysis of 24 gender homogeneous and heterogeneous focus groups in Austria ( n = 173) explicate how mothers and others collectively expected mothers to be child-centered and present. They constructed three types of mothers who did not fully adhere to these norms and employed corresponding strategies: Discussants responded to prevented mothers with rehabilitation strategies, to optimizing mothers with concession strategies and to ignoring mothers with refusal strategies. These collective strategies reproduce and enforce social norms around motherhood, although diversified mothering practices prove their utopian and relational character.

Pathfinding and Connections in the Life of Small Reformed Communities in Budapest. The Contexts of the 1967 YMCA Trial

In July 1967, the communist political police arrested five members of Keresztyén Ifjúsági Egyesület (the Hungarian equivalent of the YMCA), which had been dissolved in 1950, on charges of conspiracy against the state. Among those arrested were pastors, elders, and a former deacon. The trial is considered to be the last politically motivated trial against the Reformed Church and the most significant of all state security actions against the Reformed in Hungary. In order to understand the background of the trial and the changing considerations of church policy and state security surrounding it, it is necessary to look at how the image and political approach of the decisive actors of church policy had evolved by the 1960s. On the other hand, the documents produced by the party-state can be examined not only from the perspective of power but also from that of communities in action: what were the individual and collective strategies for active Christianity in the first decades of the Kádár regime? What were the individual and collective aspirations, adaptation techniques, and patterns of value transmission that can be discerned among different groups, congregations, youth communities, and their leaders in Reformed Christianity? Which forms of church or religious behaviours were considered dangerous by the party-state, and how did it set forth for the church policy enforcement bodies the activities it considered to be within the category of church or religious resistance and opposition? Keywords: communist church policy, Hungarian Reformed Church, political trial, religious resistance, YMCA

Assessing the Validity of Open-Source Biographical Data in Terrorism Research

ABSTRACT A multitude of studies in terrorism research depend on biographical data gathered through the cliometric method. This technique entails reconstructing and aggregating demographic and socio-economic data on terrorism offenders from publicly accessible sources. A notable limitation of this method is the substantial number of missing values. Researchers often employ this data collection strategy as comprehensive official sources are not publicly accessible and are rarely provided to researchers due to privacy concerns, among other factors. In this study, we analyze original data on 53 convicted Islamist terrorism offenders, collected from both publicly available media data and court records. We concentrate on and compare a number of demographic, socio-economic, and biographic variables. The insights derived from these analyses hold important implications for the reliability of biographical research that relies on open-source data.

Collective Strategies to Equip Graduating Medical Students from Racial/Ethnic Backgrounds Underrepresented in Medicine to Succeed in Residency

Phenomenon: Trainees from racial/ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (RE URiM) in the United States face challenges of racism and micro- and macro-aggressions during residency. Many have learned to navigate these challenges through successes and failures, but there is insufficient literature providing these lessons to graduating URiM medical students. Our study among medical school alumni explores strategies to help graduating URiM students prepare for success in residency. Approach: We conducted an online cross-sectional survey (Qualtrics) from February to March 2022. Graduates from a Northeast U.S. medical school identifying as URiM were invited to participate. With emphasis on “thriving” in residency training, we solicited rating-scale responses on preparedness for residency and open-text responses on strategies for success. Standard statistical and text content analysis were used to determine findings and themes. We used Word Cloud technology to further explore word frequency and patterns. Findings: Of the 43 alumni contacted, 23 (53%) completed the survey. Participants were trained in various specialties. We identified three themes with regard to strategies for thriving in residency: (1) importance of identifying and seeking early mentorship; (2) importance of identifying and having diverse forms of support; and (3) need for more education on navigating macro/microaggressions. Insight: While advocating for systems-level interventions to create inclusive learning environments, we highlight the gap in trainee awareness of the importance of seeking early mentorship. Our study provides strategies for graduating URiM medical students to succeed in residency based on respondent experiences. These recommendations should inform medical school curricula.