Common Strategy Research Articles

Single point machining of A205 aluminum: A comparison of cast and additively manufactured materials

A205 aluminum is an additively manufacturable alloy that was recently approved for aerospace use. To date, research has focused on finding proper heat treatments and their resulting material properties, but there is a distinct lack of research on how to properly post-process printed parts to meet dimensional requirements. Machining is a commonly used post-processing procedure. This study compares the machinability of cast and additively manufactured (AM) A205 aluminum to find common pitfalls and strategies to overcome them. Here, machinability is determined by the final surface roughness and finish, as well as specific cutting energy and vibrations. These results are explained by microstructural analyses. The study finds that AM A205 aluminum has slightly better machinability than as cast thanks to its clear, consistent tooling marks at a lower speed. This is attributed to the AM sample's higher hardness, 122.5 HV vs. 90.0 HV, and lower ductility because of the small grains and even distributed TiB2 and α-Al solid solution. Overall, the results show that A205 is machinable and that increasing the cutting speed generally improves the surface finish.

Seasonal Dynamics of Various Scab-Causing Streptomyces Genotypes Among Potato Fields on Prince Edward Island.

Potato common scab is an important bacterial plant disease caused by numerous Streptomyces species and strains. A better understanding of the genetic diversity and population dynamics of these microorganisms in the field is crucial to develop effective control methods. Our research group previously studied the genetic diversity of scab-causing Streptomyces spp. in Prince Edward Island, one of Canada's most important potato-growing provinces. Fourteen distinct Streptomyces genotypes were identified and displayed contrasting aggressiveness toward potato tubers. To better understand the distribution and occurrence of these genotypes over time under field conditions, the population dynamics were studied in nine commercial potato fields throughout a growing season. A comparative genomic-driven approach was used to design genotype-specific primers and probes, allowing us to quantify, using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, the abundance of each of the 14 genotypes in field soil. Thirteen of the previously identified genotypes were detected in at least one soil sample, with various frequencies and population sizes across the different fields under study. Interestingly, weakly virulent genotypes dominated, independent of time or location. Among them, three genotypes accounted for more than 80% of the genotypes' combined population. Although the highly virulent genotypes were detected in lower relative abundance than the weakly virulent ones, an increase in the highly virulent genotypes' population size was observed over the growing season in most fields. The results will ultimately be useful for the development of targeted common scab control strategies.

СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ ПОДХОДЫ К СТРАТЕГИЯМ УПРАВЛЕНИЯ РИСКАМИ

The article is devoted to the analysis of modern approaches to the selection of risk management strategies for an organization. The paper analyzes the use of the risk-taking strategy from the point of view of the inaction of persons responsible for risk management. The organization’s response measures when choosing a risk avoidance strategy are considered in detail. The paper describes a new strategy for risk accumulation as a method that allows the company to effectively interact with stakeholders, thereby maintaining business activity. The advantages and disadvantages of the most common risk reduction strategy and examples of its use in today’s realities are explored. The author consider in detail the strategy of risk transfer through the outsourcing mechanism with an analysis of possible risks associated with the loss of control over business processes.

Managing Diabetes Mellitus in the Emergency Department.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic medical condition that continues to increase in prevalence. Complications of DM, including diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state, often present in the emergency department requiring emergent management. Prompt assessment, diagnosis, evaluation of laboratory values, treatment, monitoring, and strict follow-up education are essential to the successful management of this complex disease. Common medications and management strategies are key elements to control DM. This article presents an overview of DM, including its prevalence, pathophysiology, presentations, and management.

Exploring a novel long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist built on the albumin-binding domain and XTEN scaffolds

In recent years, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) has demonstrated considerable potential in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity. However, the half-life of naturally occurring GLP-1 is quite short in vivo. Two common strategies employed for half-life extension are the use of the Albumin-binding domain (ABD) and XTEN polypeptide, which operate through different mechanisms. In this study, we designed an innovative GLP-1 receptor agonist with an extended duration of action. This new construct incorporated an albumin binding domain (ABD) and an XTEN sequence (either XTEN144 or XTEN288) as carriers. We referred to these fusion proteins as GLP-ABD-XTEN144 and GLP-ABD-XTEN288. In an E. coli system, the said constructs were efficaciously produced in substantial quantity. It was observed from in vitro studies that the fusion protein GLP-ABD-XTEN144 demonstrated a five times stronger affinity towards human serum albumin (HSA), boasting a binding affinity (Kd) of 5.50 nM. This was in contrast to GLP-ABD-XTEN288, whose Kd value was registered at 27.78 nM. Moreover, GLP-ABD-XTEN144 presented a half-life of 12.9 h in mice, thus exceeding the corresponding value for GLP-ABD-XTEN288, 7.32 h in mice. Both these fusion proteins significantly mitigated non-fasting blood sugar levels and overall food consumption for 48 h subsequent to a one-time injection in mice. Notably, GLP-ABD-XTEN144 exhibited more pronounced hypoglycemic activity and food inhibitory effects than GLP-ABD-XTEN288. The designed GLP-ABD-XTEN144 fusion protein shows promising prospects for clinical application in T2D treatment. Our findings also suggest that ABD and XTEN polypeptides synergistically contribute to half-life extension, further enhancing the pharmacokinetic characteristics of a payload.

Practicability of Fundraising Used by Heads of Schools in Mobilizing Physical Resources in Public Secondary Schools in Hai District, Tanzania

The study investigated the practicability of fundraising used by heads of schools in mobilizing physical resources in public secondary schools in Hai District. The study was guided by one research question. Convergent research design under a mixed methods approach was employed. The study anchored on Resource Mobilization theory. The targeted population was 1 District Secondary Education Officer, 624 teachers, and 31 heads of schools in public secondary schools in Hai District. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were used to select 124 Teachers, 6 Heads of School and 1 DSEO, making a total of 131 respondents. Data were collected through Questionnaires, interview guides and document analysis guides. Validation of instruments was done by three research experts from Mwenge Catholic University. The reliability of quantitative data collection instruments was ensured through Cronbach alpha for Likert-type items where the coefficient determined was 0.7, hence acceptable for data collection. Credibility of qualitative data collection instruments such as interview guides and document analysis guides was ensured through triangulation. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics to generate percentages, frequencies and means scores. Qualitative data from the interview guide was organized and analyzed thematically. The study found fundraising to be an essential strategy to bridge resource gaps, improve the availability of physical resources, and common strategies for mobilizing physical resources in public secondary schools. The study recommends that teachers and heads of schools strengthen teamwork in conducting fundraising for the mobilization of physical resources.

Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabolomics Multi-platform for Alzheimer's Disease Research.

The integration of complementary analytical platforms is nowadays the most common strategy for comprehensive metabolomics analysis of complex biological systems. In this chapter, we describe methods and tips for the application of a mass spectrometry multi-platform in Alzheimer's disease research, based on the combination of direct mass spectrometry and orthogonal hyphenated approaches, namely, reversed-phase ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. These procedures have been optimized for the analysis of multiple biological samples from human patients and transgenic animal models, including blood serum, various brain regions (e.g., hippocampus, cortex, cerebellum, striatum, olfactory bulbs), and other peripheral organs (e.g., liver, kidney, spleen, thymus).

Dealing with sampling bias and inferring absence data to improve distribution models of a widely distributed vulnerable marsupial

AbstractSpecies distribution models are widely used to identify potential and high‐quality habitat of endangered species to inform conservation decisions. However, their usefulness is constrained by the amount and quality of biodiversity data and the approaches for dealing with data deficiencies. Presence‐only data, used in presence/background modelling methods, are widely available but are often affected by sampling bias. Presence/absence modelling methods are less affected by biases, but data are less common. We modelled the distribution of a widely distributed, endangered species from Australia – the greater glider – and tested how predictions were influenced by data treatment and modelling framework. We collated available species data and fitted generalized linear models and boosted regression trees using presence/absence data, as well as using an augmented dataset that included additional presences alongside absences inferred from survey data. We also fitted presence/background models, adopting three common strategies for bias correction. We compared model performance quantitatively through evaluation metrics calculated internally and on held out data, and qualitatively by identifying areas of agreement of spatial predictions. We found that presence/background models with bias correction performed better than not corrected, though evaluation metrics did not favour a single strategy. Presence/absence models outperformed presence/background models in comparable metrics and delivered different spatial predictions. Importantly, differences in spatial predictions between models had the potential to substantially alter decisions about where to protect high‐quality habitat. The approach to inferring absences proved useful, as models fitted with these outperformed all other models. Dealing with sampling bias requires additional time and data management strategies, but we found that the time invested allowed improvement of models and more reliable predictions. Our results suggest that ancillary occurrence data and careful data handling can improve both presence/background and presence/absence models.

Comparison of Korean and Vietnamese University Students in Blended English Classes

This study was conducted to compare and analyze the perceptions, satisfaction, and learning strategies of Korean and Vietnamese university students in blended English classes. Vietnamese students had higher negative perception than Korean students for blended English classes, indicating the use of relatively complex methods in blended English classes was a burden on foreign learners. There was a statistically significant difference in the instructor's lecture items in the satisfaction of blended English classes. This suggested that the role of instructors in English classes was very crucial. In learning strategies, interacting with an instructor appeared as a common learning strategy. This further revealed the importance of interaction between instructors and students. In addition, cross-analysis revealed that the rate of using learning strategies in non-native learners was relatively evenly distributed compared with Korean language users. This demonstrated that foreigners who had to pursue classes in a language other than their mother tongue tended to use all the strategies they could for successful learning.
 As the demand for blended learning is increasing, instructors need to develop suitable teaching materials, curriculum, and textbooks so that learners can use blended English classes more effectively when learning English. This will require support from higher education institutions, such as providing training programs for instructors, or developing special classes tailored to students pursuing blended English classes.

Teaching and Trainings for Professional Learning of English Teachers

Teachers are the change agents of the society and nation and they always have to update themselves with the changes in time, technology and situation. They have to learn all the time. Many teachers are not aware of the teacher learning processes and they are not aware of the various opportunities of teacher learning and professional development. Teacher professional development is not just the product of formal teacher trainings organized by the authorities outside but a product of continuous teaching learning activities of the teachers themselves. The study was conducted by purposively selecting 30 secondary school English teachers of Rupandehi District using a set of questionnaires. This article aims at analysing the teachers' views regarding how teaching and trainings help their professional learning and tries to highlight some of the most common and useful strategies for the process of teacher learning and teachers’ professional development. As most of the strategies presented below do not cost extra fund to apply in the day to day life, the teachers need to use these activities in their day to day life so that they can improve their practices which will ultimately improve the education. It was found that the teachers were not much aware of the fact that they can learn much by teaching and they can develop their practices of teaching through teacher trainings they attended. Not only this, the teachers were found to be not much willing for their professional development as well.

THE EFFECTS OF SRSD WITH MNEMONIC TRAP ON EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION SKILL

This paper examines the impact of a Self-Regulated Strategy Development using the mnemonic TRAP on the teaching of English reading comprehension skills. The primary goal of the research is to figure out whether: 1) SRSD with mnemonic TRAP is insightful in enhancing students' reading comprehension skills, and 2) the effects size of SRSD with mnemonic TRAP on students' reading comprehension skills. The research utilizes a quasi-experimental design using a pretest and posttest control group design. As of now, the research has been conducted on fifth semester college students in Sumenep, East Java, Indonesia. This research involves 70 students, with 35 assigned to the experimental group obtaining SRSD with the mnemonic TRAP and 35 assigned to the control group obtaining the RAP method - common strategy. There are significance differences in reading comprehension between students taught using SRSD with the mnemonic TRAP and those taught using the RAP strategy, confirming the results of a paired sample t-test. Students' reading comprehension improves significantly after utilizing the SRSD with the mnemonic TRAP, with an 80% contribution.

RECOVERY PRACTICES OF SLOVENIAN SPORT CLIMBERS

Post-exercise recovery interventions enable athletes to overcome greater training loads and thereby enhancing their performance. Post-exercise recovery strategies serve to optimize recovery, help lower performance decline and prevent overtraining. The purpose of this study was to examine the current practices and attitudes towards post-exercise recovery among Slovenian sport climbers. 339 sports climbers from Slovenia (186 males, 153 females), consisting of 330 recreational sport climbers and 9 competitive sport climbers completed an online survey which was active from February to May 2022. The most common recovery strategies among sport climbers are sleep/rest (84%) and stretching (77%). A significant proportion of sport climbers (87%) reported sleeping duration below the recommended amount of sleep. Personal opinions notably influence the choice of recovery strategies (6 out of 9 competitive sport climbers and 71% of recreational sport climbers). Our findings reveal discrepancies between individual beliefs regarding the effectiveness of specific strategies and their practical implementation. Competitive sport climbers have more individualized recovery strategies (p = 0.012) and use a greater number of recovery strategies (p = 0. 005). Even though that such recovery practices of sport climbers are often in conflict with the literature, we can conclude that sport climbers recover solidly. This data may suggest that recovery does not play a major role in sport climbing performance.

Pediatric dermatology in family medicine: Common conditions and management strategies

Pediatric dermatology in family medicine: Common conditions and management strategies

The position of the Queen Elisabeth Rehabilitation hospital (KEI) in the chain of Integrated Care

Introduction: Governments put health-system strengthening as priority. They particularly strive for person-centred health-systems. Integrated Care is seen as the way forward to achieve this. To improve patient experience and health outcomes, healthcare should be organised ‘horizontally’ around the patient and should be ‘vertically’ integrating services in various levels and settings. The Queen Elisabeth Rehabilitation hospital (KEI), encompassing 165 beds, wants to play a role in better healthcare for patients with specific and complex rehabilitation needs (cardiopulmonary, locomotor and neurological) and strives to centre its services on the needs of the patients, their families and the broader community.
 Methods and aim: In order to formulate a well-articulated strategic plan, KEI critically scrutinised its current work by studying available data. Since KEI developed a high level quality control management-plan, data from 2021 could be extracted from the patients records and analysed.
 Results: KEI, driven by a holistic vision on rehabilitation (medical, functional, social and psychological) intensively puts efforts in interdisciplinary team-integration (specialist-physicians, dietitians, occupational, speech- and language-, physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, assistant nurses) supported by electronical patient-records and grounded in patient-participation. Also preventive (mostly ambulatory) coaching is offered (e.g. smoking cessation, tackling malnutrition and obesity). Patients admitted to KEI in 2021 (n= 1215) were transferred from hospitals (9% university-hospitals/83% non-university), from home (7%) and from nursing-homes (1%). They are discharged towards home (74%), nursing-homes (11%) or back to a hospital (11%). After discharge, extensive ambulatory follow-up was conducted with 2178 ambulatory consultations. This means that KEI extensively collaborated and exchanged information with stakeholders in the region: regional hospitals, primary care, nursing-homes. To fulfil its supra-regional task, KEI collaborates also with university-hospitals throughout Flanders. Several official agreements and care pathways are in place to organise al this collaboration. 
 Discussion and conclusion: Aiming to improve patients/informal caregivers’ experiences, KEI developed pre- and post-trajectories, which is only possible through well-integrated care and good cooperation with other facilities, e.g. acute hospitals, care for the older persons (nursing-homes, assisted-living facilities) and primary care. KEI has expanded this diversity within the own facilities, but also with other partners. In this way, KEI is today playing a local as well as a supra-regional role, but strives to upgrade his part as legitimate, recognized, complementary and responsible partner in transversal collaboration towards integrated between micro-, meso-and macro-level. Although Integrated Care is an explicit task the Flemish government directed towards rehabilitation-hospitals, it is hard to really integrate care around the needs of patients and informal caregivers, mainly because of insufficient ‘vertical integration’ since services are not organized under one management umbrella. The locoregional acute hospital networks in development might be a step forward since they allow the formation of alliances and arrangements on a local level, though rehabilitation-hospitals are not part of it. Several challenges still lie ahead such as the search for a common reason of being, i.e. understanding the needs from a population health goals; common mission and strategy; joint funding and planning with shared outcomes. Also strong leadership with trust in each other and clear governance arrangements are needed.

Current situation of viticulture in Costa Rica and management strategies for downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola)

Viticulture is one of the oldest agricultural activities, and its exploitation has traditionally been limited to temperate climate zones, where the european grapevine (Vitis vinifera) and wine originate. Given the effects of climate change, more areas lose the capacity to grow this crop, and the tropics are presented as potential regions for this market. In Costa Rica, viticultural activity has been reported since the mid-20th century, however, technical information on the crop is scarce. Downy mildew, caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola, represents one of the diseases with the greatest economic impact for viticulture worldwide, as well as the most limiting phytosanitary problem in Costa Rica. Under high humidity conditions, the development of the pathogen is accelerated, and the host remains susceptible throughout the crop cycle, which makes proper management of epidemics difficult. Chemical control is the most common management strategy around the world, however, the appearance of P. viticola populations with resistance to fungicides has been observed in most grape vine-growing areas, hence the search for more ecological alternatives is a necessity. Currently, Costa Rica does not have integrated management strategies that allow sustainable production, and there is only one registered product for protection against this pathogen. This situation justifies paying more attention to the investigation of this pathosystem.

Cutaneous metastasis from gastric cancer: Manifestation, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis

IntroductionCutaneous metastasis from gastric cancer is very rare. The understanding of this disease is incomplete. This situation delays its diagnosis and treatment, followed by poor prognosis. Here, we first report a study based on a network to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of cutaneous metastasis from gastric cancer. MethodsA comprehensive search of PubMed was performed. All studies on cutaneous metastasis from gastric cancer were collected. The publication date was limited from 2000 to the present, and the language was limited to English. SPSS 26.0 was employed for statistical analysis. ResultsSeventy-two patients were included. The average patient age was 60.0 ± 16.0 years. In total, 72.2 % of the patients were male. The most common manifestation was nodular skin lesions (45.8 %). The metastases generally presented as multiple lesions (61.1 %). The most common metastasis location was the thoracoabdominal wall (56.9 %). 64.7 % of the patients simultaneously had extracutaneous metastases. Most of the tumors were poorly differentiated carcinomas (87.5 %), and 66.1 % had signet ring cells. 40.8 % of the cutaneous metastases presented as primary manifestations. Only 9.6 % had their diagnosis as soon as the cutaneous metastasis emerged. Systemic chemotherapy (65.6 %) was the most common treatment strategy, followed by radical surgery (12.5 %). The median overall survival was only 6 months. The median overall survival of 5 patients with resected tumors was 48 months. ConclusionCutaneous metastasis from gastric cancer usually manifests as an emerged nodule or erysipelas-like skin lesion. Resection of the cutaneous lesion could be helpful for patients with local metastases.

Solution Combustion Synthesis of Submicron-Sized Titanium Niobium Oxide Anodes for High-Rate and Ultrastable Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Recently, the development of high-rate performance lithium-ion batteries is crucial for the development of next-generation energy storage systems. Nanoarchitecturing of the electrode material is a common strategy to improve the effective Li+ diffusion transport rate. However, this method often results in a reduction of volumetric energy density and battery stability. In this work, we propose a different strategy by synthesizing submicron-sized Ti2Nb10O29 (s-TNO) as a durable high-rate anode material using a facile and scalable solution combustion method, eliminating the dependence nanoarchitectures. The s-TNO electrode material exhibits a large tunnel structure and an excellent pseudocapacitive performance. The results show that this electrode material delivers a commendable reversible capacity of 238.7 mAh g-1 at 0.5 C and retains 78.2% of its capacity after 10,000 cycles at 10 C. This work provides a valuable guide for the synthesis of submicron-structured electrode materials using the solution combustion method, particularly for high-capacity, high-rate, and high-stability electrode materials.

Human and birds

The paper presents the study of avifauna from the hunter-gatherer sites at the Dnieper-Dvina basin spanning time period from the 6th to 3rd millennia BC. A total of 669 bird bones were identified and attributed to 46 different bird taxa, representing resident and migrant birds. They belong to four habitat groups: waterfowl, forest, woodside and meadow-steppe. The dominance of waterfowl birds follows the common strategy of aquatic resources exploitation. Changes in the procurement strategies, use and symbolic meanings of birds can be envisaged. Reconstructed regional mean temperature fluctuations suggest a particular influence on breeding biology and migration patterns of different species.

Hybrid and gradient design of ultra-thin-ply composite laminates for synergistic suppression of delamination and fiber fracture damage modes

Ply thickness hybridization is a common strategy in the layup structure of composite laminates. The rational allocation of thin-ply and thick-ply to effectively improve the performance of composite materials is a shared goal. Compared to standard laminates, ultra-thin-ply laminates have many advantages, including design flexibility, better damage tolerance, and enhanced in-situ strength. However, the risk of fiber fracture triggered by ultra-thin-ply requires cautious application. Effectively reducing the risk of fiber fracture caused by ultra-thin-ply laminates has become a challenge in the field of composite materials. Therefore, this paper proposes a thick/thin/thick gradient structure to balance delamination and fiber fracture. Short-beam bending test results demonstrate that this novel gradient structure exhibits good bending load-bearing performance and damage resistance, achieving the coexistence of multiple damage couplings and effectively enhancing damage tolerance.

Analysis Of Proficiency And Motivation On The Choices Of English Language Learning Strategies Of Smk Negeri 1 Bmr

The objectives of this investigation were twofold: 1) to identify language learning strategies commonly used by tenth graders at SMK Negeri 1 Belitang Madang Raya , and 2) to determine the roles of three variables contributing to their strategy use: language proficiency and motivation. A set of questionnaires consisting of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. This study was a qualitative study using Descritive method. The population in this study were all tenth graders at SMK Negeri 1 Belitang Madang Raya for the academic year 2021/2022 with a total of 159 students from five classes. The writer using random sampling technique to take samples. The sampling technique was carried out in one class, namely (TKJ1) which consisted of 30 students. the writer found that memory strategies 228(76%) ,Cognitif strategies 59(20%), Compensation strategies 180(60%), Metacognitive 105(35%), Affective Strategies 160(53%), Social Strategies 200(67%), The analysis revealed that, in general, memory strategies were found to be the most common learning strategies, whereas Cognitive strategies were the least common. Motivation was reported to be the most significant variables affecting their choices of language learning strategies. The analysis revealed certain elucidating facts that can be utilized in future planning of English language teaching to improve the English performance of students SMK Negeri 1 Belitang Madang Raya.
 
 Keyword: Learning Strategies, Proficiency And Motivation