Flexible Components Research Articles

Providing an Optimal Model for Enhancing Cognitive Flexibility Based on Mindfulness in Nurses

Background and Objective: The present study aimed to provide an optimal model for enhancing cognitive flexibility based on mindfulness in nurses. Methods and Materials: This research was applied in terms of purpose and mixed qualitative in terms of data type. The research method was based on thematic analysis by nature. The study population included articles, books, and journals related to mindfulness-based cognitive flexibility. The sample size consisted of 15 articles and books, selected according to the principle of saturation and purposive non-random sampling method. In the qualitative section, a protocol was designed, and data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis. Findings: Based on the results of the qualitative section, a mindfulness-based cognitive flexibility protocol was designed, and its validity was examined and confirmed by experts. The results showed that among the 45 existing indicators (items), 8 main components were identified. Conclusion: These components of mindfulness-based cognitive flexibility included cognitive restructuring, relaxation, perception of controllability, problem-solving skills, stress management, obstacle confrontation skills, self-care skills, and acceptance and change skills.

The Role of Flexible Wage Components in Gender Wage Difference

The Role of Flexible Wage Components in Gender Wage Difference

Just as Essential: The Mental Health of Educators During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic deleteriously impacted physical and mental health. In the summer of 2020, return-to-learn plans were enacted, including virtual, hybrid, and in-person plans, impacting educators and students. We examined (1) how return-to-learn plan was related to depressive and social anxiety symptoms among educators and (2) how psychological flexibility related to symptoms. Educators (N = 853) completed a survey via Qualtrics that assessed internalizing symptoms, psychological flexibility, and occupational characteristics. Two one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) examined between-group differences in return-to-learn plans across depression and social anxiety. Two hierarchical linear regressions examined the relation between psychological flexibility components and depressive and social anxiety symptoms. Median T-scores were well above the national normative means for General Depression (median T-score: 81) and Social Anxiety (median T-score: 67). There were no significant differences between reopening plans in general depression nor social anxiety T-scores. Psychological flexibility accounted for 33% of the variance in depressive symptoms and 24% of the variance in social anxiety symptoms. Results indicated high levels of psychiatric symptoms among educators during COVID-19, and psychological flexibility was associated with lower symptoms. Addressing educator mental health is of utmost importance in future research.

Current progress and frontiers in three-dimensional macroporous carbon-based aerogels for electromagnetic wave absorption: a review.

In the present era of rapid development in electronic information technology, electromagnetic (EM) pollution is increasingly receiving widespread concerns due to its potential threats to electronic devices and human health. EM wave absorbing materials (EWAMs) play an increasingly important role in preventing exposure to EM waves because they can attenuate incident EM waves through sustainable energy dissipation. Among the numerous EWAMs developed in recent years, three-dimensional (3D) macroporous carbon-based aerogels have been considered one of the most promising candidates as high-performance EWAMs not only due to their flexible component options and the beneficial synergies between their different components but also for their open skeletons, which provide a unique structural contribution to accelerating the consumption of EM waves. In this review, we focus on the current progress of 3D macroporous carbon-based aerogels toward EM absorption and highlight different strategies for their preparation, including biomass transformation, template method, hydrothermal/solvothermal self-assembly, polymer foaming, and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) topological transformation. Moreover, we discuss and analyze the effects of composition, optimization and structural engineering on their EM absorption performances. After a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of 3D macroporous carbon-based aerogels, we further propose some challenges and perspectives for the development of 3D macroporous carbon-based aerogels, and envision their broad application prospects in the future.

Flexible Perovskite Light‐Emitting Diodes: Characteristics and Performance

AbstractFuture displays need to be stretchable, bendable, and wearable to match consumers’ needs for convenience, portable equipment, and real‐time information display. The development of flexible light source components, like flexible light‐emitting diodes (LEDs), is urgently required to fulfill these needs. Metal halide perovskites, known for their excellent optoelectronic properties and ductility, are considered the most promising light‐emitting materials for high‐definition displays, and their outstanding advantage is that the metal halide perovskites would be achieved by solution process under low temperature (<150 °C), which is especially good for the flexible organic substrates to maintain high conductivity during fabrication of flexible LEDs. In recent years, flexible perovskite LEDs have made significant progress, but still face a great deal of difficulties, obstacles, and great challenges. Herein, the mechanical properties of perovskite materials are examined and the failures for perovskite‐based flexible optoelectronic devices under strain are discussed. The authors then focus on optimizing each functional layer and the recent advancement in flexible perovskite LEDs is summarized. Finally, a brief outlook on the challenges faced by flexible perovskite LEDs and their possible future development is provided.

IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMMUNITY WALKING PROGRAM FOR OLDER ADULTS WITH MOBILITY CHALLENGES—WALK-ON!

Abstract Clinical trials in controlled settings show walking interventions improve function and reduce mobility loss in older adults. In the NIA-funded LIFE study, participants with more compromised function derived the most benefit, yet improvements were not sustained. Based on this research, clinicians often prescribe walking for older patients. However, few communities provide accessible opportunities for those with limited function to engage in safe, ability-appropriate, walking. Additionally, no evidence-based National Council on Aging exercise programs emphasize ambulation over longer distances in supervised and social settings. In collaboration with community partners, we developed and initiated Walk On!, a group-based, facilitator-led program designed to improve walking endurance, balance, confidence, and social connectedness in older adults with mobility challenges. In addition to walking, the program incorporates balance, gait, and flexibility components, and follows a safe progression based on individual ability. Sessions take place for one-hour, twice/week, over 12 weeks. The program is currently offered at four sites in Winston-Salem and Charlotte, NC (two churches-one primarily black membership and one primarily white, a YWCA, and a community fitness center). This symposium provides an overview of Walk On! and initial implementation. Both quantitative and qualitative program data on feasibility, satisfaction, and effectiveness for improving physical and psychosocial outcomes will be presented. Based on these early data, we believe there are countless underserved older adults who may be socially isolated due to limited mobility, yet are willing and would benefit from incorporating more ambulation in a safe and accessible environment.

A numerically stable flexural dynamics model of complex multi-span fluid-conveying pipes with flexible components and its application to clamp stiffness identification

Multi-span fluid-conveying pipelines (MFP) with multiple concentrated accessories, i.e., clamps, valves, flanges, vibration absorbers and flexible components, whose dynamic properties can be described by receptance, are widely used in many engineering fields. However, research on predicting the dynamics of such pipe structures has been rarely performed. In this study, we propose an improved transfer matrix method (TMM) to model the numerically stable dynamics of the MFP with multiple concentrated accessories and flexible components. An original receptance-based modeling method is developed to address boundary conditions induced by the presence of concentrated accessories and flexible components simultaneously. The method's advantage is that the flexible component is considered as an independent substructure before assembling, its receptance can be calculated or measured independently. Moreover, the numerical instability problem of the conventional transfer matrix method (CTMM) in the high-frequency range is resolved by utilizing a successive reduction process to reduce the length of the transfer path of the state vectors used to describe the overall dynamics of the pipe. One salient feature of the proposed method is that the size of the characteristic matrix will be specified as 4×4, which is inherited from CTMM. An optimization-based inverse method is proposed to identify the clamp stiffness with the developed numerically stable and efficient dynamics model. Also, a device is designed and developed to measure the approximate clamp stiffness values which are considered as the initial values during optimization. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is effective and accurate; utilizing the approximate values of the clamp stiffness as the initial values can accelerate the stability of the iteration during the optimization.

Bidirectional vibration control for fully-coupled floating offshore wind turbines

The vast and stable wind resources present in deep waters have made deep-sea floating wind power the mainstream trend for future development. However, the operating environment of offshore floating wind turbines is complex and variable. The joint action of wind and waves causes significant platform motion and turbine vibration, reducing power generation efficiency, causing structural damage, and shortening the service life of turbines. Hence, this study focuses on the NREL 5 MW DeepCwind semi-submersible wind turbine and establishes a fully-coupled floating wind turbine model utilizing the SIMPACK multi-body dynamics software. The model includes aero-, hydro-, flexible body structure, mooring, control, and transmission chain components. 3D pendulum tuned mass dampers (3D-PTMD) and bilinear tuned mass dampers (2TMDs) are designed to control the bidirectional vibration causes due to wind-wave misalignment in the platform motion and nacelle displacement of the floating wind turbine. The research results show that: For the roll and pitch of the platform, there is only one platform roll or pitch main frequency, and the amplitude at the main frequency can be effectively reduced by setting the frequency of 2TMDs near the main frequency, thereby suppressing the vibration of the platform; For the displacement of the nacelle, in addition to the main frequency of platform roll or pitch, there is also a secondary frequency of first-order bending of the tower, 2TMDs corresponding to the main frequency can effectively reduce the amplitude at the main frequency, and 3D-PTMD corresponding to the secondary frequency can effectively reduce the amplitude at the secondary frequency, it is better to configure 2TMDs alone than 3D-PTMD alone, and it is best to configure both at the same time.

NVH numerical analysis of the mounting layout of hydrostatic transmissions in continuously variable transmissions

The present work proposes a numerical approach to model the dynamic behavior of the mounting layout of hydrostatic transmissions in continuously variable transmissions for off-road vehicles. The methodology takes advantage of a finite element model constituted by a rigid body, representing the hydrostatic transmission, connected to the overall transmission frame through a combination of torsional couplings, rolling-element bearings and brackets, considered as flexible components. Bearings, in particular, are substituted with nonlinear springs, while brackets and frames are 3D meshed according to the actual geometry of the system. The model allows to estimate the frequency dependent forces applied on the frame in reference to the loads generated within the hydrostatic transmission. The method is applied on a case study, showing that the torsional joints play a relevant role on the overall NVH behavior of the system and their kinematic characteristics should be carefully defined to tune the loads transmitted on the transmission frame.

Modular self-lock origami: Design, modeling, and simulation to improve the performance of a rotational joint

Origami structures have been widely explored in robotics due to their many potential advantages. Origami robots can be very compact, as well as cheap and efficient to produce. In particular, they can be constructed in a flat format using modern manufacturing techniques. Rotational motion is essential for robotics, and a variety of origami rotational joints have been proposed in the literature. However, few of these are even approximately flat-foldable. One potential enabler of flat origami rotational joints is the inclusion of lightweight pneumatic pouches which actuate the origami’s folds; however, pouch actuators only enable a relatively small amount of rotational displacement. The previously proposed four-vertex origami is a flat-foldable structure that provides an angular multiplier for a pouch actuator, but suffers from a degenerate state. This paper presents a novel rigid origami, the self-lock origami, which eliminates this degeneracy by slightly relaxing the assumption of flat-foldability. It includes the earwig wing-inspired origami pattern with inextensible and flexible components. This joint is analyzed in terms of a trade-off between the angular multiplier and the mechanical advantage. Furthermore, the self-lock origami is a modular joint that can be connected to similar or different joints to produce complex movements for various applications; three different manipulator designs are introduced as a proof of concept.

A skin-integrated device for neck posture monitoring and correction

Cervical spondylosis is a common disease that is often caused by long-term abnormal cervical curvature due to activities such as reading books and using computers or smartphones. This paper explores building an untethered and skin-integrated device in an e-skin form factor to monitor and haptically correct neck posture. The proposed design features a multilayered structure that integrates all flexible electronic circuits and components into a compact skin space while being untethered and skin conformal. An accelerometer in the e-skin attaches to the neck for posture sensing, while four vibration actuators closely touch the neck skin to provide localized vibrotactile stimuli that encode four-direction correction cues of neck flexion pm alpha and lateral bending pm beta. To ensure the reliability of posture sensing and vibrotactile rendering during neck movement, it is necessary to prevent the e-skin device from shifting position. Thus, a hollow structure-based method is implemented for stably attaching the e-skin to the neck skin. Experiments validated the e-skin device’s sensing precision, skin-conformal compliance, stickiness, stability and effectiveness during the motion of neck postures, including its discrimination of localized four-direction vibrotactile cues. A user study verified the device’s performance for sensing and correcting different abnormal neck postures during activities such as using smartphones, reading books, and processing computer files. The proposed e-skin device may create opportunities for more convenient cervical spondylosis prevention and rehabilitation.

VIAMD: a Software for Visual Interactive Analysis of Molecular Dynamics.

The typical workflow in molecular dynamics (MD) analysis requires several separate tools, often resulting in a lack of synergy and interaction between the individual analysis steps. This article presents VIAMD, an application designed to address this issue by integrating a 3D visualization of molecular trajectories with flexible analysis components. VIAMD uses an interactive scripting interface, allowing for property definition and evaluation. The application provides context-aware suggestions and expression feedback through information and visualizations. The user-defined properties can be explored and analyzed through the various components. This enables correlation with spatial conformations, statistical analysis of distributions, and powerful aggregation of multidimensional properties such as spatial distribution functions. VIAMD has the potential to advance research in many scientific disciplines and is a promising solution for improving the workflow of MD visualization and analysis.

A Hierarchical Control Strategy for a Rigid-Flexible Coupled Hexapod Bio-Robot.

The motion process of legged robots contains not only rigid-body motion but also flexible motion with elastic deformation of the legs, especially for heavy loads. Hence, the characteristics of the flexible components and their interactions with the rigid components need to be considered. In this paper, a hierarchical control strategy for robots with rigid-flexible coupling characteristics is proposed. This strategy involves (1) leg force prediction based on real-time motion trajectories and feedforward compensation for the error caused by flexible components; (2) building upon the centroid dynamics model of the rigid-body chassis, the centroid trajectories (centroid angular momentum (CAM) and centroid linear momentum (CLM)) and the body trajectory are taken into account to derive the optimal drive torque for maintaining body stability; (3) finally, the precise force control of the hydraulic drive units is achieved through the sliding mode control algorithm, integrating the dynamic model of the flexible legs. The proposed methods are validated on a giant hexapod robot weighing 3.5 tons, demonstrating that the introduced approach can reduce the robot's vibrations.

Hermes-3: Multi-component plasma simulations with BOUT++

A new open source tool for fluid simulation of multi-component plasmas is presented, based on a flexible software design that is applicable to scientific simulations in a wide range of fields. Hermes-3 is built on plasma simulation framework BOUT++, consolidating earlier SD1D and Hermes models into a single code that can be configured at run-time to solve plasma models in 1D, 2D or 3D, either for transport (steady-state) or turbulent (time-evolving) problems, with an arbitrary number of ion and neutral species. We describe the improved numerical algorithms and software design that have been implemented in Hermes-3.To demonstrate the capabilities of this tool, applications relevant to the boundary of tokamak plasmas are presented: 1D simulations of diveror plasmas evolving equations for all charge states of neon and deuterium; 2D transport simulations of tokamak equilibria in single-null X-point geometry with plasma ion and neutral atom species; and simulations of the time-dependent propagation of plasma filaments (blobs).Hermes-3 is publicly available on Github under the GPL-3 open source license. The repository includes documentation and a suite of unit, integrated and convergence tests. Program summaryProgram Title: Hermes-3CPC Library link to program files:https://doi.org/10.17632/rtkvc3r743.1Developer's repository link:https://github.com/bendudson/hermes-3Licensing provisions: GPLv3Programming language: C++14Nature of problem: Simulation of dynamics and steady-state solutions of multiple ion and neutral species in magnetised plasmas using drift-reduced fluid plasma models in 1 to 3 spatial dimensions. Focused on but not restricted to the simulation of turbulence in the boundary of tokamaks.Solution method: Hermes-3 implements a system of flexible software components, that are configured at run-time and coupled by passing a state object between them (the Encapsulate State and Command patterns). Hermes-3 builds on BOUT++ [1], employing the Method of Lines with implicit and explicit time-integration methods in curvilinear coordinates on block-structured meshes, making use of libraries including SUNDIALS, PETSc and Hypre. Hermes-3 implements drift-reduced plasma fluid equations using conservative finite difference methods, and atomic processes that couple plasma and neutral fluids.

Modeling personalized heart rate response to exercise and environmental factors with wearables data

Heart rate (HR) response to workout intensity reflects fitness and cardiorespiratory health. Physiological models have been developed to describe such heart rate dynamics and characterize cardiorespiratory fitness. However, these models have been limited to small studies in controlled lab environments and are challenging to apply to noisy—but ubiquitous—data from wearables. We propose a hybrid approach that combines a physiological model with flexible neural network components to learn a personalized, multidimensional representation of fitness. The physiological model describes the evolution of heart rate during exercise using ordinary differential equations (ODEs). ODE parameters are dynamically derived via a neural network connecting personalized representations to external environmental factors, from area topography to weather and instantaneous workout intensity. Our approach efficiently fits the hybrid model to a large set of 270,707 workouts collected from wearables of 7465 users from the Apple Heart and Movement Study. The resulting model produces fitness representations that accurately predict full HR response to exercise intensity in future workouts, with a per-workout median error of 6.1 BPM [4.4–8.8 IQR]. We further demonstrate that the learned representations correlate with traditional metrics of cardiorespiratory fitness, such as VO2 max (explained variance 0.81 ± 0.003). Lastly, we illustrate how our model is naturally interpretable and explicitly describes the effects of environmental factors such as temperature and humidity on heart rate, e.g., high temperatures can increase heart rate by 10%. Combining physiological ODEs with flexible neural networks can yield interpretable, robust, and expressive models for health applications.

Diamond hands to the moon: Idiocultural mobilization and politicization of personal finance on r/wallstreetbets

In January 2021, the shares of the brick-and-mortar video games retail chain GameStop exploded in value. At the same time, billboards on highways and ads in Times Square in New York City used cryptic visuals and seemingly meaningless emojis with diamonds and rockets. Mainstream media soon had an explanation: This was the story of how the subreddit r/wallstreetbets had mobilized thousands of retail investors in a fight against evil hedge funds. Based on a case study of r/wallstreetbets and the GameStop incident, we analyze how idiosyncratic internet culture was incorporated into a broadly resonant and emotionally inflected narrative that lionized the ‘little man’, focusing on both individual profits and collective grievances. Through a theoretical framework combining sociological theories of internet culture and framing analysis, we identify an overall communication structure that drew on three interconnected discursive layers: idiocultural memes, investment-specific information, and a moralized, collectivized injustice frame with heroes and villains. We further argue that the GameStop (GME) incident instantiates a case of the politicization of personal finance, where the investment practices and strategies of ordinary people were transformed into a political issue. As such, the article makes two contributions to the existing literature. First, we contribute to the nascent literature on internet cultures related to personal finance by looking at a specific subreddit devoted to stock trading and investing. Second, we show how idiocultural elements, such as emojis and memes, can function both as contested and exclusionary material aimed at insiders and as flexible components of communications framed for broad mobilization through emotionally resonant notions of grievance and injustice.

Pair Programming – Cubic Prediction Model Results for Random Pairs and Individual Junior Programmers

Due to the rapidly evolving technology in the dynamic world, there is a growing desire among software clients for swift delivery of high-quality software. Agile software development satisfies this need and has been widely and appropriately accepted by software professionals. The maintainability of such software, however, has a significant impact on its quality. Unfortunately, existing works neglected to consider timely delivery and instead concentrated primarily on the flexibility component of maintainability. This research looked at maintainability as a function of time to rectify codes among Individual Junior and Random pair software developers. Data was acquired from an experiment performed on software developers in the agile environment and analyzed to develop the quality model metrics for maintainability which was used for prediction. One hundred programmers each received a set of agile codes created in the Python programming language, with deliberate bugs ranging from one to ten. The cubic regression model was used for predicting time spent on debugging errors above ten bugs. Results show that the random pair programmers spent an average time of 21.88 min/error while the individual programmers spent a lesser time of 16.57 min/error.

MNSIM 2.0: A Behavior-Level Modeling Tool for Processing-In-Memory Architectures

In the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the huge data movements between memory and computing units become the bottleneck of von Neumann architectures, i.e., the “memory wall” problem. In order to tackle this challenge, Processing-In-Memory (PIM) architectures are proposed, which perform in-situ computations in memory and give alternative solutions to boost the computing energy efficiency and performance. Because of the large-scale Neural Network (NN) algorithm models and the huge hardware design space, various factors affect computing accuracy and performance, bringing the need for efficient PIM modeling and evaluation tools. In this work, we propose a behavior-level modeling tool, MNSIM 2.0, to model the performance of PIM architectures efficiently. At the hardware level, MNSIM 2.0 provides a hierarchical PIM modeling structure with flexible architecture configurability and components extensibility. Moreover, the first unified PIM memory array model is proposed for describing both digital and analog PIM. At the algorithm level, MNSIM 2.0 supports the PIM-based NN computing accuracy simulation considering various architecture and device parameters. A PIM-oriented NN model training and quantization flow is also integrated to improve the performance gain brought by PIM. At the scheduling level, MNSIM 2.0 adopts a universal scheduling description compatible with different scheduling strategies. Validation using fabricated PIM macros shows the relative modeling error rate of MNSIM 2.0 is 3:8 5:5%. Case studies show that MNSIM 2.0 enables PIM design space explorations, influences analysis of device parameters, and architecture design insight discoveries.

Development and Dynamic State Estimation for Robotic Knee–Ankle Orthosis With Shape Memory Alloy Actuators

Abstract The development of rehabilitation robots has long been an issue of increasing interest in a wide range of fields. An important aspect of the ongoing research field is applying flexible components to rehabilitation equipment to enhance human−machine interaction. Another major challenge is to accurately estimate the individual’s intention to achieve safe operation and efficient training. In this article, a robotic knee−ankle orthosis (KAO) with shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators is developed, and the estimation method is proposed to determine the joint torque. First, based on the analysis of human lower limb structure and walking patterns, the mechanical design of the KAO that can achieve various rehabilitation training modes is detailed. Next, the dynamic model of the hybrid-driven KAO is established using the thermodynamic constitutive equation and Lagrange formalism. In addition, the joint torque estimation is realized by the nonlinear Kalman filter method. Finally, the prototype and human subject experiments are conducted, and the experimental results demonstrate that the KAO can assist lower limb movements. In the three experimental scenarios, reductions of 59.1%, 16.5%, and 73% of the torque estimation error during the knee joint movement are observed, respectively.

Emotion regulation flexibility and psychosis: Alongitudinal study disentangling components of flexibility in psychosis-proneness.

Flexibility in self-regulation has emerged as an important component of mental health. Previous findings found that deficits in two components of regulatory flexibility were linked cross-sectionally to psychosis-proneness. We aimed to replicate and extend these findings longitudinally. We measured psychosis-proneness and components of emotion regulation flexibility (i.e. context sensitivity, repertoire and feedback) at two time points with three months in between. Two flexibility components predicted psychotic-like experiences. The ability to detect the absence of contextual cues was implicated in both positive and negative dimensions but through opposite pathways. Expressive suppression ability-a subcomponent of repertoire-predicted positive symptoms. None of the flexibility components predicted distress related to the symptoms. The current study provides further evidence on the implication of emotion regulation flexibility in the longer-term maintenance of psychotic-like experiences. Future studies can advance this work further by evaluating possible bidirectional relationships between psychotic-like experiences and deficits in emotion regulation flexibility.