Deep Surface Research Articles

Incorporating technological acceptance model into safety compliance of construction workers in Australia

Safety compliance is the mandatory and core safety behavior that should be undertaken by employees to maintain safety in the workplace. This study aims to model the antecedents of safety compliance of construction workers in Australia, drawing on the technological acceptance model (TAM) and distinguishing between deep compliance and surface compliance. Through a questionnaire survey around Australia, this study collected data from 239 construction workers. The results indicated that perceived usefulness and perceived use of ease positively influenced deep compliance and negatively influenced surface compliance. The positive effect of management commitment to safety on deep compliance was mediated by perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, while the negative effect of management commitment to safety on surface compliance was mediated by perceived ease of use only. This study extends TAM to safety compliance of construction workers and differentiates deep compliance from surface compliance, thus contributing to the body of knowledge relating to construction safety. This study also contributes to practice by providing safety managers with an understanding of the way to enhance deep compliance and reduce surface compliance.

Deep Surfaces and Surficial Depths: Ancient Literary Criticism and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion

Deep Surfaces and Surficial Depths: Ancient Literary Criticism and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion

Impact of drought conditions on air pollution over Turkey

AbstractAs a natural disaster, drought affects many sectors such as agriculture and hydrology, as well as having an effect on air quality. In terms of air pollution, drought can reduce wet scavenging of pollutants and change their chemical production/loss and lifetime. This study investigates the relationship between drought events and air pollutants in Turkey. As a drought indicator, the Standardized Precipitation‐Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI)‐1 monthly values for dry (SPEI < −0.99), normal (−0.99 < SPEI < 0.99) and wet (SPEI < 0.99) conditions were used to investigate the changes in PM10, PM2.5, O3 concentration levels. Monthly mean PM10 values of 80 stations for the period 2010–2018, PM2.5 and O3 values of 10 and 12 stations, respectively, were used for the analysis throughout the 2014–2018 period. According to the results, while frequency occurrence of normal conditions decreased in the last period (2010–2018) when compared to the first (1901–2009), drought conditions have significantly increased in each region of Turkey in the last decade. Highest increase in drought events occurred in the inner/southern parts of Turkey. In dry events, while PM10 levels of the stations show above‐normal values, highest regional increase in PM10 was found in the Central Anatolia (CAR), Mediterranean (MeR), Aegean (AR) and Marmara (MR) regions of the country. In fall, high daily temperatures and cloudless days in CAR and MeR regions are seen under deep surface low over continental Europe and surface high over Caspian Sea, which result in severe dryness events and associated high PM10 values in the air quality stations. On the other hand, as a consequence of the expanding Asiatic monsoon low to the eastern part of Turkey, significant amount of moisture is transferred from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea surface to the CAR and MeR regions by southerly flows (wetness SPEI conditions in fall) and cause to appear below‐normal PM10 values in the southern stations.

Comparison of Different Dentin Deproteinizing Agents on Bond Strength and Microleakage of Universal Adhesive to Dentin

Aim: To evaluate the effects of papain (Brix 3000), bromelain, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), and chlorine dioxide (ClO2) application to the deep dentin surface on shear bond strength (SBS), microleakage, and dentin surface properties. Materials and Methods: Deep dentin surface ( n = 100) for evaluating SBS, class V preparation at the buccal surface for testing microleakage ( n = 100), and deep dentin slices ( n = 20) for evaluating surface properties were conducted on the 220 molar teeth. Four different deproteinizing agents (Brix 3000, 40% bromelain, 5.25% NaOCl (Chloraxid), and 0.12% ClO2) were applied to the dentin, and then the universal adhesive was used in self-etch (SE) and etch&rinse (E&R). Deproteinizing agents were not applied to the control group. All of the samples were subjected to 5000 cycles of thermal aging at 5ºC–55ºC. SBS (MPa) was tested by a universal testing machine. The microleakage of resin composite bonded with different adhesive modes was evaluated under a stereomicroscope. The changes in the surface morphology were examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and attenuated total reflection – fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Results: ClO2 exhibited the highest bond strength among deproteinizing agents. Compared to the SE mode, E&R mode significantly showed higher bond strength ( p < .05). In gingival margin, bromelain SE exhibited the highest marginal leakage, while Brix 3000 SE had the lowest mean microleakage score. Conclusion: Deproteinizing with ClO2 was effective in improving the SBS of universal adhesive in the E&R mode to deep dentin. Deproteinization with bromelain before universal adhesive in SE mode showed more microleakage on both the occlusal and gingival surfaces.

Differentiated tillage system in the forest-steppe zone of the Middle Volga region

Evaluation of agroeconomic efficiency of different tillage systems for mustard, cultivated in a grain fallow rotation with the following alternation of crops: complete fallow - winter wheat – spring wheat - mustard is presented. The experiments were made in a field experiment in the forest-steppe zone of the Middle Volga region in 2019-2021. The soil of the experimental plot is slightly leached medium-powered heavy loamy chernozem. Tillage horizon is characterized by the following agrochemical parameters: humus content of 5.8 to 6.1%, the provision of mobile phosphorus is high (226 mg/kg), the potassium is medium (92 mg/kg), the reaction of the soil solution is close to neutral (pH 6.6). The object of the study is the mustard variety Rhapsody, the subject of the study is soil tillage systems. The expediency of replacing the annual classic plowing with a differentiated treatment in the rotation, based on the alternation of deep plowing and surface disc cultivation is established. It positively affects the process of formation of agrophysical, biological and agrochemical properties of soil, contributes to the conservation of productive moisture reserves, and helps to reduce weed infestation of crops. This treatment leads to a significant increase in the yield by 0.11 t/ha, allows for the highest yields of 199% (on average for the backgrounds) and the highest energy factor of 1.33, which is 71 and 22% higher than on the option with the annual mouldboard plowing. It was noted that the used mineral fertilizers at a dose of N30P30K30 did not produce the desired effect. Lack of yield growth led to the formation of negative economic indicators when making mineral fertilizers in all the variants studied, with the exception of differentiated treatment in the rotation. In this variant, the maximum increase in the yield by 0.25 t/ha and the cost of gross output by 7500 rubles/ha, which is 1521 rubles/ha higher than the increased production costs is noted. In the option with annual mouldboard plowing fertilization was accompanied by a decrease in the net income and profitability levels by 965 rubles/ha and 75% relative to the non-fertilized background, indicating that the unprofitable use of fertilizers.

A case study on fashion design analysis applying Greimas’ model for the generative trajectory of meaning

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to analyse the cultural meanings embedded in Korean fashion designers’ works and broaden the scope of fashion design analysis methods by applying Greimas’ model for the generative trajectory of meaning. Greimas’ model is built on three levels: deep level, surface level, and expression level. To conduct the study, 11 Korean fashion designers were selected and 1324 of their designs were analysed. First, the seme analysis at the expression level was conducted. Second, at the surface level, the episememes were drawn. At the deep level, aesthetic features of episememes resulted in the extraction of sublimity and humour analysed from most of the Korean fashion designers’ works. Mut was interpreted as a cultural meaning embedded in the sublimity and humour of the Korean fashion designers’ works.

Research and Application of Biomass-Based Wood Flame Retardants: A Review

Wood is widely used as a construction material due to its many advantages, such as good mechanical properties, low production costs, and renewability. However, its flammability limits its use in construction. To solve the problem of wood flammability, the most common method to improve the fire safety of wood is to modify the wood by deep impregnation or surface coating with flame retardants. Therefore, many researchers have found that environmentally friendly and low-cost biomass materials can be used as a source of green flame retardants. Two aspects of biomass-based intumescent flame retardants are summarized in this paper. On the one hand, biomass is used as one of the three sources or as a flame-retardant synergist in combination with other flame retardants, which are called composite biomass intumescent flame retardants. On the other hand, biomass is used alone as a feedstock to produce all-biomass intumescent flame retardants. In addition, the potential of biomass-based materials as an environmentally friendly and low-cost FR source to produce high-performance biomass-based flame retardants with improved technology was also discussed in detail. The development of biomass-based intumescent flame retardants represents a viable and promising approach for the efficient and environmentally friendly production of biomass-based flame retardants.

Strip steel surface defect detecting method combined with a multi-layer attention mechanism network

In the production of strip steel, defect detection is a crucial step. However, current inspection techniques frequently suffer from issues like low detection accuracy and subpar real-time performance. We provide a deep learning-based strip steel surface defect detection technique to address the aforementioned issues. The algorithm is also implemented in three specific ways: as the backbone, the neck, and the detection head. Backbone employs an enhanced cross stage partial in conjunction with ResNet to effectively mine defect information and minimize the issue of adjoining feature maps’ neighboring feature maps losing information. Neck is a better structure, we propose and use the dilated weighted across stages-feature pyramid network in the network to adjust the receptive field and attention weight preference of the output feature maps at different scales and to improve the utilization of defect features by the algorithm to enhance the detection of abnormal size defects. We use four detection heads in the detection head so that the network can learn the features of defects of various sizes. Finally, we use the decoupled head to separate the classification work from the regression work before combining the prediction. Two datasets of surface flaws in strip steel are used in our experiments (GC10-DET and NEU-DET). In addition, it has been shown that our proposed algorithm’s mAP in GC10-DET and NEU-DET reaches 79.93% and 72.76%, respectively, resulting in a better detection impact.

The Effects of Ge Substrate Surface States and Au Catalyst Layer Thickness on the Growth of Different Ge<sub>x</sub>O<sub>y</sub> Nanomaterials and Nanocrystals Configurations Using Vapor-Liquid-Solid Method with two Steps Temperature Mode

Recently the Ge<sub>x</sub>O<sub>y</sub> nanomaterials have been studied intensively due to their interesting electronic materials, which have many particular properties and applications in nanotechnology and nano-devices fabrication. Much work has been done on many different synthesis methods and their properties of Ge and Ge<sub>x</sub>O<sub>y</sub> nanomaterials. However, the effects of the different Ge substrate surface states and Au catalyst layer thicknesses on the formation of different forms/morphologies of nanomaterials (nanowires, nanorods, nanoparticles, and nanocrystals particularly) have yet to be discussed more in detail. This paper outlines the synthesis methods to grow the different Ge<sub>x</sub>O<sub>y</sub> nanomaterials on the different Ge surface states at different Au catalyst layer thicknesses such as mechanically polished surface, deep Chemical etched surface, chemical polishing surface, and initial rough surface. The morphological, and structural properties of Ge<sub>x</sub>O<sub>y</sub> nanomaterials have been investigated using SEM, EDX, and TEM techniques. The formation of different morphological, and structural properties of different Ge<sub>x</sub>O<sub>y</sub> nanomaterials grown have been explained by the effects of the Au/Ge/O droplets/clusters formation situations and surface defects on the Ge substrate surface caused. The growth mechanisms have been explained by the model of the VLS growth method with the Oxide Assist Growth mechanism. The results showed that the effects of the different Ge substrate surface states and Au catalyst layers’ thickness strongly influence the formation of Ge<sub>x</sub>O<sub>y</sub> materials in terms of the sizes, structures, and percentages of elements. The results of the controllable different Ge<sub>x</sub>O<sub>y</sub> nanomaterials have many significant meanings for both theoretical and practical applications in nanomaterials and nano-device fabrication.

Amyloidosis and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Surgical Technique for Extended Carpal Tunnel Release with Tenosynovium and Transverse Carpal Ligament Biopsies.

We describe a retrospective, single-center experience performing an extended CTR technique including unilateral and bilateral cases for 13 consecutive patients (18 wrists) with ATTR and symptomatic median neuropathy at the wrist. The mean patient age was 83 (range 67-90) years and 11 (85%) were men. Notable intraoperative findings in all cases included thickened tenosynovium and median nerve epineurium, and adherence of the median nerve to the deep surface of transverse carpal ligament. Pathology findings were positive for amyloidosis from both the transverse carpal ligament and the tenosynovium biopsies in all patients. Extended CTR with simultaneous wrist tissue biopsy can be safely performed for ATTR patients with CTS. Characteristic intraoperative findings should increase clinical suspicion for undiagnosed ATTR and prompt performance of biopsy for diagnostic confirmation. Volar wrist tenosynovial biopsy is our preferred tissue for confirmation of ATTR, for patients with and without CTS, given its safety profile and 100% pathological yield in our series.

The double‐ITCZ problem in CMIP6 and the influences of deep convection and model resolution

AbstractThe double Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) bias is an outstanding bias in many climate models. This work assesses the annual‐mean double‐ITCZ problem in the models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) based on several quantitative indices. Within the 46 CMIP6 models, 9 models from mainland China are evaluated as a group to verify the effort of model development from one perspective. The double‐ITCZ bias and its large intermodel spread still exist in CMIP6 models. The overall performance of the models from Chinese mainland is similar with all CMIP6 models. It is found that the top‐five models with relatively low double‐ITCZ biases can effectively restrain the frequency of deep convection and related sea surface temperature (SST) bias in the southeastern Pacific dry subsidence region, which highlights the necessity of improving convective physics in climate models. Impacts of model resolution on the double‐ITCZ problem are examined by comparing the high‐ and low‐resolution groups in CMIP6 and High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP) historical experiments, respectively. Increased resolution in atmospheric models is found to be able to reduce the positive precipitation bias over the tropical southern Atlantic and improve the simulation of deep convection frequency and convective precipitation ratio there. However, the double‐ITCZ bias over the Pacific is not improved significantly by increased resolution.

Presence, Sources and Transport of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Arctic Ocean

AbstractPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are continuously released from multiple sources and are prone to long‐range transport. Little is known regarding their presence, transport and fate in remote and deep oceans. Polyethylene passive samplers were hence deployed at deep moorings and surface seawater in the Fram Strait and Canadian Archipelago, as well as in air and surface water of the lower Great Lakes, a potential high‐emission region, to understand the transport of PAHs to the Arctic. Dissolved PAHs showed significantly higher concentrations in the lower Great Lakes than those in the high Arctic. Concentrations of dissolved PAHs (Σ19PAHs) ranged from 33 to 300 pg/L in the Fram Strait; the vertical profiles generally exhibited a decreasing trend toward deep waters, which was potentially influenced by hydrological and biogeochemical processes. PAHs were exported from the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic through the Fram Strait and the Davis Strait.

Transformational Leadership and Emotional Labor: The Mediation Effects of Psychological Empowerment.

In order to survive the fiercer competition, more and more service firms emphasize front-line employees' role of creating excellent customer experience by displaying positive emotions during the service interactions. However, the underlying mechanisms for the relationship between transformational leadership and front-line employees' emotional labor remain unclear. Drawing upon the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study develops a conceptual model in which transformational leadership influences front-line employees' emotional labor through the mediator of psychological empowerment. By collecting data from 436 employees in five call centers, we tested our model and hypotheses through PROCESS 3.3 macro for SPSS developed by Hayes. The results show that transformational leadership shows positive and negative effects on deep acting and surface acting, respectively. The positive effect on deep acting is partially mediated by psychological empowerment, while the negative effect on surface acting is fully mediated by psychological empowerment. Specifically, two dimensions of psychological empowerment (impact, self-efficacy) play negative mediating roles between transformational leadership and surface acting, while impact, self-determination, and self-efficacy play positive mediating roles of transformational leadership and deep acting. The findings advance our understanding about how transformational leadership influences front-line employees' emotional labor by introducing psychological empowerment as a mediator.

The Mediating Effect of Presenteeism on the Relationship between Emotional Labor and Work Engagement of Coaches for Disability Sports.

The aim of present study was to examine the mediating effect of presenteeism on the relationship between emotional labor and work engagement of coaches for disability sports. A total of 198 coaches in Korea participated in this study. Participants responded a survey measuring emotional labor, presenteeism, and work engagement. After analyzing the correlation between each variable, the mediation model was verified through structural equation model analysis. The results reveal that emotional labor of coaches for disability sports positively predicted their work engagement, but negatively predicted presenteeism. In addition, the participants' presenteeism can have a negative effect on their work engagement. Moreover, completing work in presenteeism was found to mediate the relationship between the deep acting and surface acting in emotional labor and work engagement of disability sports coaches.

Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Intelligent Reflecting Surface for Cooperative Jamming Model Design

Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Intelligent Reflecting Surface for Cooperative Jamming Model Design

The relict landslide in bimsoils in downtown Genova, Italy: a new modeling approach

Stability problems occurring in geological units with a block-in-matrix fabric are often analyzed with deterministic approaches and/or assuming block-in-matrix rocks/soils (bimrocks or bimsoils) to be homogeneous equivalent geomaterials. However, recent studies have demonstrated that since these formations are characterized by a great (dimensional, spatial and lithological) variability, reliable results can only be obtained if a stochastic approach accounting for different block arrangements and dimensions is used.This paper extends and improves a previous study from Minuto and Morandi (2015) to evaluate the stability of a relict landslide in bimsoil located in downtown Genova (Italy), where a deterministic approach and the traditional limit equilibrium method were used. In this work, different slope models with elliptical blocks of variable eccentricity, size and positions are generated by means of a stochastic approach and are analyzed with the FEM code RS2. Moreover, since the slope can be considered to be a bimsoil, interfaces between the blocks and matrix are introduced in order to better simulate the lower strength at the block/matrix contacts. The numerical analyses of the slope reveal that shallow failure surfaces have a higher probability of occurrence as compared to the deep failure surfaces considered by Minuto and Morandi (2015). Furthermore, lower safety factors are obtained when a block-matrix interface strength smaller than that of the matrix (i.e., a bimsoil) is simulated.

Characteristics of ringed seal Pusa hispida (‘natchiq’) denning habitat in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, during a year of limited sea ice and snow

Sea ice and snow are essential to Arctic ecosystems, playing key roles in the lives of Arctic marine mammals and the Indigenous Peoples who rely on them. Ringed seals Pusa hispida (‘natchiq’ in Iñupiaq) use snow-covered dens on sea ice for pupping, but quantitative information on denning habitat requirements is limited, and it is unknown how changes in snow depth and sea-ice extent will impact ringed seals. Here, an Indigenous Elder Advisory Council and a multidisciplinary group of scientists used knowledge co-production to quantify fine-scale ringed seal habitat selection patterns in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska (USA), during a year of unprecedentedly limited snow and sea-ice availability. Together, we conducted unoccupied aerial vehicle-based surveys during spring 2019 and related seal counts to survey date, bathymetry, and novel proxies for snow depth and surface roughness that we derived from Landsat 8 surface reflectance and validated with on-ice measurements. Generalized additive models showed that counts of seal groups (all age classes) and pups were associated with later survey dates, deeper water, and habitat with bright Landsat 8 pixel values and intermediate pixel variability, which in turn were correlated with deep snow and surface roughness. We observed shallow snow depths, early sea-ice breakup, and high seal densities consistent with the extreme lack of ice available in 2019. Indigenous Knowledge, intentionally woven with scientific data, provided novel and more nuanced understandings of snow and sea-ice conditions for seals. Our results may give a glimpse at future ringed seal habitat and selection in a warming Arctic.

Study on the application of 3D printing head film fixation technology in cranial radiotherapy.

Objective: To investigate the use of 3D printing technology to customize individualized precise radiotherapy head masks for cranial radiotherapy patients. Through the comparison with thermoplastic head film, evaluate the effect of this material on deep dose attenuation and body surface dose, and evaluate its positioning accuracy and repeatability for clinical application. Methods: Thirty patients with head and neck radiotherapy were divided into the control group and the experimental group. The control group used the traditional thermoplastic head film fixation technique for body position fixation, and the experimental group used the 3D printing head film fixation technique. The patient setup was verified by kV-CBCT scanning to obtain the translational setup error and rotational setup error in the X, Y, and Z directions. Results: At a depth of 5 cm, both materials have a radiation attenuation rate of <1%. At the surface location, the body surface dose of control group increased by approximately 27%. With a 3D printing head film, the body surface dose increased by approximately 18%. The positioning of two groups of patients was verified by the kV-CBCT, and a total of 232 data sets were obtained. The average translation positioning errors in the X, Y, and Z direction of control group and experimental group were 1.29 mm, 1.42 mm, 1.38 mm and 1.16 mm, 1.24 mm, 1.16 mm, respectively. The average rotation positioning error in the X, Y, and Z direction of control group and experimental group were 1.29°, 1.02°, 1.01° and 1.08°, 0.96°, 1.00°, respectively. The translational setup errors in the Y and Z directions and rotational setup errors in the X direction significantly differed between the control and experimental groups (all p<0.05), but no statistical significance was found in the other directions (all p>0. 05). Conclusion: Compared to the traditional thermoplastic head membranes, 3D printing head membranes has shown a reliable and reproducible interactional positioning accuracy. Of course, further investigations are needed before the new technology can be used on a regular basis.

Predicting Motivation and Learning Strategies in Community College Students

The present study examined the relationship among student characteristics, types of academic motivation, learning strategies, and grade point average (GPA). Community college students in psychology courses (N = 131) completed an online survey, which assessed 3 types of academic motivations (intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation), learning strategies (deep and surface), academic self-concept, and demographic variables. Results suggested that academic self-concept (β = .30, p &lt; .001) and age (β = .21, p = .02) added to the prediction of intrinsic motivation. Academic self-concept also significantly predicted amotivation (β = –.60, p &lt; .001). The model tested significantly predicted deep learning strategies (ΔR2 = .37, p &lt; .001) and surface strategies (ΔR2 = .13, p &lt; .001) but not consumeristic motivation (ΔR2 = –.02, p = .78) or GPA (ΔR2 = –.01, p = .53). Overall, the results provided mixed support for the proposed model of student learning in which student characteristics predict motivation, which is related to learning strategies and academic performance. Results are discussed in terms of implications for multifactor models of learning in the community college population.

Tissue structure and mechanical properties of the exoskeleton of the huge claws of the mud crab, Scylla serrata

The mud crab, Scylla serrata, has huge claws in comparison with its body size. The color of the claw top’s finger surface changes from white to deep-mottled blue, and this discoloration was strongly associated with the change in hardness inside the finger cross section. With special attention to the discoloration points, the tissue structure of the exoskeleton was investigated via scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the mechanical properties were examined using Vickers hardness and nanoindentation tests. The exocuticle in the deep blue surface exoskeleton was as thin as that in other crustaceans, and the exoskeleton was occupied by the endocuticle with a twisted plywood structure. On the other hand, in the white surface exoskeleton, the thickness of the hard and dense exocuticle accounted for 52–59% of the exoskeleton thickness. This percentage increased at the claw tip. The hardness of the exocuticle was 2.5 times that of the endocuticle, and the microstructures and mechanical properties gradually varied at the boundary between the exo- and endocuticle. The mechanical properties were almost constant in the exocuticle, but calcium (Ca) concentrations decreased from the outer surface toward the boundary in that region and magnesium (Mg) concentrations increased. The change in the unit cell volume obtained via XRD suggested that some of the Ca atoms in the calcite crystal structure in that region were replaced with Mg atoms. Changes in crustacean coloration may help us to understand the tissue structure and mechanical properties within the exoskeleton.Graphical