Higher Rank Research Articles

Minaeans at Ḥimā: The Epigraphic Corpus and Its Historical, Linguistic and Cultural Implications

ABSTRACTThis study explores over 150 inscriptions and graffiti left by Minaean traders in Ḥimā, a key stopover on the trans‐Arabian caravan route. The inscriptions provide valuable data on Minaean onomastics, revealing the use of individual names and lineage indicators. They also suggest varying levels of literacy and linguistic adaptation among the authors, who used writing closely mirroring their spoken language, distinct from formal urban inscriptions. The study addresses the authors' literacy and social status, indicating the presence of notable individuals with higher ranks or specific roles within the trading caravans. It situates the inscriptions within the broader context of ancient trade routes and cultural interactions in the Arabian Peninsula, emphasizing the integration of Minaean families across different regions and the significant role of trade in their social organization.

Application of augmented reality navigation in oral surgery

BACKGROUND: Augmented reality is a potential alternative for surgical navigation, as it can provide visualization of various anatomical structures of the maxillofacial region. We have developed a specific platform for three-dimensional model management and intraoperative augmented reality navigation for surgical procedures. AIM: To evaluate surgeons’ perceptions and the usability of augmented reality navigation for the most common surgical procedures in oral surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a phantom study to determine the accuracy of the augmented reality system in the maxillofacial region. Registration errors typical in image-guided surgery were measured: fiducial registration error, target registration error, and fiducial localization error. Thereafter, a clinical trial with several surgeons performing surgical procedures on jaws using augmented reality technology was conducted. Surgeons filled out a dedicated questionnaire after their experience with augmented reality navigation. RESULTS: The mean fiducial registration error was 0.9 mm (standard deviation 0.7 mm; 95% confidence interval 0.4–1.3 mm). The mean target registration error was 1.3 mm (standard deviation 0.5 mm; 95% confidence interval 1.1–1.5 mm). The fiducial localization error was the most significant with 2.2 mm (standard deviation 0.9; 95% confidence interval 1.9–2.5 mm). The higher rankings in the user experience questionnaire were related to the novelty and excitement of using augmented reality navigation in maxillofacial surgery. The pragmatic quality aspect explains the technical focus of perception to achieve goals in a product, system, or service design. Efficiency was expected to be slightly higher; however, in our opinion, this is due to the technical difficulties of the system for novel augmented reality technology. CONCLUSION: The results revealed the satisfactory accuracy of the augmented reality system in the maxillofacial region and the user experience of the augmented reality navigation system for oral surgery.

Five Basic Colour Terms and Colour Taboos in Ancient China (Part One)

This paper aims to explore the use of five basic colour terms and colour taboos in ancient China. Looking at many literary texts, including Classic of Poetry, Collection of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Discussing Writings and Explaining Characters, and several other collections, the paper offers a detailed analysis of the etymology and meanings of the following Chinese colour terms: huang 黄 ‘yellow’, chi 赤 ‘red’, bai 白 ‘white’, hei 黑 ‘black’ and qing 青 ‘cyan’. Colours have always carried well-defined symbolic meanings in China, for instance, red is associated with wealth, dignity and happiness. Besides, the five basic colours are linked to elements and cardinal points: yellow – Earth and Centre, red – Fire and South, white – Metal and West, black – Water and North, cyan – Wood and East. The investigated ancient Chinese texts provide evidence that colours implied high and low social ranks, good and bad personal qualities or fortune. The use of some colours in specific circumstances, as well as by people with a certain status, was prohibited. The cultural and social taboo phenomenon was connected with expressing self-identity and manifested itself in clothes and folk customs as well as in numerous other ways.

Quality Assurance of a "Booster Program" for Gender Equity in the Academia: From Vision to Practice

Even as the 21st century unfolds, it is well recognized that women in the academic world struggle more to secure research funding and are still largely underrepresented at the level of full professorship, the highest post possible within universities and colleges. To rectify this gender-based inequality, a mid-sized academic college initiated an original program named "Booster" aiming for it to provide the optimal framework for creating a nurturing space for the promotion of prominent female faculty members, mainly to the high rank of "professor." The aim of this research was to find whether the booster plan has fulfilled its rectifying objectives according to the quality assurance model of the Plan - Do - Check - Action (PDCA) cycle. As a research method, an evaluation study was selected to examine the operation of the program, mainly from the perspective of the participants. The evaluation of the program was combined with both quantitative and qualitative assessments. The main finding indicated that the participants in the program had reported a high-level satisfaction. It was also found that the vast majority of the participants mentioned their understanding of promotion procedures as the most important tool they acquired in the program. The main importance of this study is in adding knowledge about ways to identify the "blind spots" and weaknesses of academia that shape the unjust "leaky pipeline" structure in gender contexts, from the stage in which women enter academia, through their tenure- ship track as faculty, to the processes of promotion up the ranks.

The impact of student’s ordinal cognitive ability rank on school violence: Evidence from China

School violence can exert immediate and enduring effects on the human capital development of students. Despite extensive discussions on the causes of school violence, the role of peer effects has been underexplored in the literature. To fill this gap, this paper examines the effect of cognitive ability rankings on students’ propensity for committing school violence. We select schools that randomly assign students to classes to mitigate selection biases and identify the causal effects. Our findings show that improving a student’s rank from the lowest to the highest reduces school violence by 0.5 standard deviations. A mechanism is the higher opportunity cost for students with a high cognitive ability rank. We also find that high-ranking students are more likely to stay with high-quality peers.

Tensor quantum programming

Abstract Running quantum algorithms often involves implementing complex quantum circuits with such a large number of multi-qubit gates that the challenge of tackling practical applications appears daunting. In this article, we propose a novel approach called Tensor Quantum Programming, which leverages tensor networks (TNs) for hybrid quantum computing. Our key insight is that the primary challenge of algorithms based on TNs lies in their high ranks (bond dimensions). Quantum computing offers a potential solution to this challenge, as an ideal quantum computer can represent tensors with arbitrarily high ranks in contrast to classical counterparts, which indicates the way towards quantum advantage. While tensor-based vector-encoding and state-readout are known procedures, the matrix-encoding required for performing matrix-vector multiplications directly on quantum devices is much less studied. We introduce an algorithm that encodes matrix product operators into quantum circuits with a depth that scales linearly with the number of qubits. We demonstrate the algorithm’s performance for matrices commonly encountered in differential equations, optimization problems, and quantum chemistry, for systems involving up to 50 qubits.

Investigating The Environmental Impacts Of Different Approaches Of Agricultural Waste Management Using Ahp Technique

Abstract Environmental problems and the ever-increasing growth of population dictate the need for new methods to turn the problem into an opportunity. The recycling of agricultural waste is very important to achieve sustainable development of agriculture. Present paper focuses on how the proper disposal and recycling of agricultural waste can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve resources, and improve soil fertility. Hereupon, the specified criteria were determined by relevant organisations. Five final products including composting, biochar, biogas, reuse/recycling, and incineration resulting from the technologies used were investigated using the AHP technique. In addition to the effective management of agricultural waste, these technologies help in the production of electricity, fertiliser, and carbon absorption, which results in the reduction of climate change and the reduction of economy. Among the proposed products, biochar was preferred, and the incineration method was ranked the last. Biochar offers potential environmental benefits in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the quality and quantity of agricultural products, and preventing soil erosion and degradation as well as water pollution. High rank was assigned to environmental criteria, and the actual waste production sub-criterion was preferred over other criteria with a weight of 0.170. The lowest weight was obtained for the shipping distance (weigh = 0.013).

Tibetan red deer (Cervus canadensis wallichi) diet composition patterns and associations during lean seasons in Tibet, China.

Tibetan red deer (Cervus canadensis wallichi) in the high-altitude environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau could face seasonal challenges from food shortages and nutritional deficiencies but the nutritional requirements are complex. Analyzing diet composition pattern(s) is the first step to disentangle this complexity. From a systematic perspective, we hypothesize that: (A) diet composition pattern or patterns exist within the population and (B) a portion of the diet beyond characterized diet combinations will consist of random combinations. In this study, we investigated diet composition patterns of a Tibetan red deer population distributed in the Sangri Red Deer Reserve, Tibet Autonomous Region, during the harsh lean season. In March 2021 and 2022, we searched for Tibetan red deer in the reserve and collected freshly defecated samples. Diet composition at the individual level was determined using micro-histological analysis, followed by k-means clustering and co-occurrence network analysis to reveal population level diet composition patterns. Diet composition of Tibetan red deer included 14 and 19 plant species (or genera) in 2021 and 2022, respectively. K-means clustering indicated two distinct diet patterns within the population across both sampling periods. In 2021, diet composition of both clusters was dominated by Salix spp. (58.49% and 33.67%). In 2022, R. macrophylla had the highest ranking and occupied 34.83% of diet composition in the first cluster while Salix spp. (39.39%) was the most consumed food in the second cluster. Results of co-occurrence networks showed positively associated food combinations of less dominant food items, with a staple food occurring in all food item pairs in both years. However, randomness accounted for 95.83% and 93% of all food item pairs in 2021 and 2022, respectively, which implies a stable dietary complex system. The 2022 co-occurrence network displayed complex associations, while the 2021 network exhibited limited and simple associations. Our results suggest that Tibetan red deer fulfill their nutritional requirements by consuming high quantities of several food items or a balanced combination of foods with complex co-occurrence associations to overcome potential food shortages, but multilayer networks containing nutritional values and food availabilities are necessary to entangle the complexity of the dietary system.

Analyzing the Turkish insurance companies’ financial performance traded on BIST implementing the critic-based PIV method

The insurance industry, which is an important component of the financial channel, is an essential part of the Turkish economy, and assessing the financial performance is critical for insurance companies to improve efficiency and productivity, increase competitiveness, and enhance fiscal health. The study presented a technique for assessing the financial performance of all insurance companies registered in Borsa Istanbul by implementing an integrated method that combines the Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) and Proximity Indexed Value (PIV) methods. The rationale for implementing the PIV method is the lack of adequate financial studies available on the insurance companies that employed this specific model. Initially, 18 evaluation criteria were defined. The CRITIC method was applied for the criteria weights, and insurance companies were ranked using PIV. Subsequently, the COPRAS, VIKOR, ARAS, and SAW Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methodologies were applied. Performance rankings derived from PIV were compared with those obtained from other MCDM models employed. Finally, Spearman’s Rank Correlation and Kendall’s Rank Correlation Coefficient methods were applied to analyze the extent of correlations and interactions between ranking outcomes. The PIV assessment results pointed out that AGESA received the highest rank for financial performance, and AKGRT had the lowest rank. AGESA consistently received high rankings compared to all other methods examined. Nevertheless, RAYSG and AKGRT constantly ranked poorly. All deployed methods ranked AKGRT and RAYSG in the final two positions. The study’s findings underscore that ranking outcomes of PIV largely align with alternate MCDM methodologies utilized.

Medical students' knowledge on palliative care - a survey of teaching in Finland.

Most studies on palliative medicine (PM) undergraduate education have focused on contents and organizational issues but not the outcome. Students' learning outcomes should be studied to improve teaching in medical schools. A questionnaire about perceived PM education and attitudes on palliative care (PC) was sent to 543 last year students in all five Finnish medical schools in 2018-2019. In total, 175 (32 %) responses were received from four universities. The students evaluated both the quantity and quality of their PM teaching, implementation of European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) guidelines and their satisfaction to the training. There were two palliative case scenarios, and the students were asked to find the best treatment option. In addition, students´ attitudes towards end-of-life (EOL) care issues were examined. In the Finnish universities, PM education was available mainly integrated with oncology, geriatrics, and general medicine. A total of two universities also offered a specific PM course. In average, 50-70% of the EAPC curriculum was covered by lectures, small-group teaching, seminars, and bedside teaching with significant differences between faculties. Only 30-60 % of students were satisfied with the education received. The highest rankings were given in the universities with a special PM course. Students from these universities expressed less anxiety in facing EOL issues. In Finland, the coverage of EAPC curriculum is satisfactory, but the PM education is mainly given integrated with other specialties. The dedicated course on PM was associated with increased perceived knowledge and satisfaction of PM education. However, PM training was not associated with students' attitudes on PC.

Not all leavers are equal: How rank and destination influence enforcement of restrictive covenants

Restrictive covenants like non-competes, non-solicitations, and non-disclosures may pose barriers to spinout ventures and mobility to competitors. However, we know little about the enforceability of these agreements despite their widespread use and associated chilling effects. Examining 332 Canadian court decisions, we find a higher rate of enforcement in cases involving high rank leavers (i.e., managers and owners) versus low rank leavers (regular employees and contractors) especially those who form spinout ventures. Our key insight is that enforcement rates differ significantly across different types of leavers. Low rank leavers and their previous employers may overestimate the potential for enforcement, creating chilling effects (i.e., where employees think they are more restricted by their employment agreements than they really are) that can deter employee mobility and entrepreneurship.

Corporate sustainability and value

Purpose This study aims to explore the influence of corporate sustainability on organizational value, specifically focusing on companies ranked in the Just Capital Market ranking. The aim is to establish whether higher sustainability rankings are associated with increased firm value and to investigate how corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities affect both financial and non-financial outcomes. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the Ohlson model to assess the value-generation potential of the top and bottom ten companies in the Just Capital Market ranking from 2013 to 2018. The analysis involves evaluating stock prices and other financial metrics and incorporating non-financial indicators related to CSR activities to gain a comprehensive understanding of their impact on firm valuation. Findings The results indicate a strong connection between high sustainability rankings and increased market value. Companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Alphabet, which have robust CSR initiatives, have shown significant improvements in market performance due to greater stakeholder engagement and detailed non-financial disclosures. On the other hand, companies with low sustainability ratings have demonstrated weaker market performance, which indicates the financial risks associated with neglecting CSR activities. This study underscores the critical importance of integrating CSR into fundamental business strategies to create sustainable value. Originality/value This study addresses the limitations of traditional financial indicators by incorporating non-financial factors into the valuation process. The study offers a more comprehensive assessment of firm value, reflecting modern business practices and the evolving global economy landscape. Integrating nonfinancial indicators enhances valuation accuracy and provides a holistic view of company performance, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions based on a broader range of factors. This innovative method may reshape firm valuations, leading to more accurate and reliable assessments in contemporary business contexts.

Evaluating metagenomic analyses for undercharacterized environments: what's needed to light up the microbial dark matter?

Non-human-associated microbial communities play important biological roles, but they remain less understood than human-associated communities. Here, we assess the impact of key environmental sample properties on a variety of state-of-the-art metagenomic analysis methods. In simulated datasets, all methods performed similarly at high taxonomic ranks, but newer marker-based methods incorporating metagenomic assembled genomes outperformed others at lower taxonomic levels. In real environmental data, taxonomic profiles assigned to the same sample by different methods showed little agreement at lower taxonomic levels, but the methods agreed better on community diversity estimates and estimates of the relationships between environmental parameters and microbial profiles.

Review of the Failure at the Flotation Tailings Storage Facility of the “Stolice” Mine (Serbia)

A detailed analysis of the accident that occurred at the flotation tailings storage facility (TSF) at the inactive mine “Stolice” in 2014 is provided in this paper. All factors that caused the accident have been analyzed, with a review of the consequences of the accident, their accident class according to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings (GISTM), and the implemented measures to rehabilitate the TSF and the surrounding area after the accident. It has been concluded that the TSF had not been properly maintained even before the accident occurred and that the unfavorable weather conditions in Serbia in the May of that year contributed to the filtration disturbance and multiple tailings spillages from the TSF. It has been stated that the consequences according to the GISTM span from “low” to “significant”, with the group of environmental consequences having the highest rank (3). Although the accident occurred without recorded human casualties, with the damage being of a local nature, it is considered one of the most significant accidents at a TSF in Serbia in the last 20 years. The reconstructed TSF is considered stable now, with a low-to-medium risk of failure.

A detailed analysis of game statistics of professional tennis players: An inferential and machine learning approach.

Tennis, a widely enjoyed sport, motivates athletes and coaches to optimize training for competitive success. This retrospective predictive study examines anthropometric features and statistics of 1990 tennis players in the 2022 season, using 20,040 data points retrospectively obtained from the ATP official source after the end of the season. These data were cross-verified with information from other sources before categorisation to address any discrepancies. Employing various analytical methods, the results emphasize the strategic importance of tournament participation and gameplay for financial gains and higher rankings. Prize money analysis reveals a significant disparity favoring top players. Multivariate Analysis of Variance highlights the need to consider multiple variables for understanding ATP rankings. Multinomial Logistic Regression identifies age, height, and specific service-related metrics as key determinants, with older and taller players more likely to secure top positions. Neural Network models exhibit potential in predicting ATP Rank outcomes, particularly for ATP Rank (500). Our results argue for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Neural Networks, in handling complex interactions and emphasize that AI is a supportive tool in decision-making, requiring careful consideration by experienced individuals. In summary, this study enhances our understanding of ATP ranking factors, providing actionable insights for coaches, players, and stakeholders in the tennis community.

Traveling with a desirable destination: a dialogical analysis of professional identity formation among freshman medical students.

We aimed to examine medical students' perceptions regarding their professional identity and explore their creative narratives utilizing the Dialogical-Self Theory (DST). This is a mixed-method study. First-year medical students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS, Tehran, Iran wrote a creative narrative about their perspectives on their future profession. Based on DST, qualitative-directed content analysis and summative approach were used to identify and quantify different "I-positions" to assess professional identity formation. One hundred eighty-eight first-year medical students at TUMS participated in the study in 2021-2022. In the creative narratives, the reference to "I" was more than other pronouns (he/she/they). The use of "I" positively correlated with rank in the university entrance exam (P value = 0.03). The highest application of "I" per participant belonged to the "present I-position," and the lowest to the "promoter," which has the highest rank in the formation of professional identity. Women tended to use the "present I-position" more than men (P value = 0.03). First-year medical students have accepted their self-role in forming professional identity; however, they have not found a vast perspective of it, as shown by their inability to use meta I-position and promoter I-position. Therefore, educators must provide plans within the curriculum to enhance competencies of professional identity formation. These plans can include incorporating narration writing to encourage medical students to reflect on their professional identity.

Individual risk assessment for rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm using artificial intelligence

ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop a prediction tool to identify abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) at increased risk of rupture incorporating demographic, clinical, imaging, and medication data using artificial intelligence (AI). DesignA development and validation study for individual prognosis using AI in a case-control design. MethodsFrom two Danish hospitals, all available ruptured AAA cases between January 2009 and December 2016 were included in a ratio of 1:2 with elective surgery controls. Cases with previous AAA surgery or missing pre-operative scans were excluded. Features from computed tomography angiography scans and hospital records were manually retrieved. The sample was divided randomly and evenly into developmental and internal validation groups. A SHapley Additive exPlanations Feature Importance Rank Ensembling (SHAPFire) AI tool was developed using a gradient boosting decision tree framework. The final SHAPFire AI model was compared with models using 1) solely infrarenal anterior-posterior-diameter, and 2) all available features. ResultsThe study included 637 individuals (84.8% men, mean age 73±7 years, 213 ruptured AAAs). The SHAPFire AI incorporated 20 of 68 available features, and aneurysm size, blood pressure, and relationships between height and weight were given highest rankings. The receiver operating characteristic curve for the SHAPFire AI model displayed a significant increase in accuracy identifying ruptured AAA cases compared to the conventional model based solely on diameter with areas under the curves of 0.86±0.04 and 0.74±0.03 (P=0.008), respectively. SHAPFire AI was comparable in performance with the model using all features. ConclusionThis study successfully developed a SHAPFire AI tool to identify AAAs at increased risk of rupture with significant higher accuracy than diameter alone. External validation of the model is warranted before clinical implementation.

Homophily in social and demographic traits predict association patterns in female western and mountain gorillas.

Affiliative relationships are a hallmark of social relationships in gregarious mammals, but what drives variation of association patterns when kin are absent remains unknown. Gorillas, where females may disperse multiple times in their lives, provide an interesting counterpoint to female philopatric species to examine the factors influencing variation in association patterns. We examined demographic and social factors that may predict association patterns of female western (Gorilla gorilla gorilla; Loango, Gabon) and mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei; Bwindi, Uganda). We looked at dyadic and individual strength scores of social proximity (37 group-years). For individuals, high dominance rank increased association scores while newly emigrated females had lower scores than resident females. For dyads, higher mean dominance rank and both partners having a dependent infant increased association scores, whereas a partner being an immigrant decreased scores. Furthermore, time-matched analysis of birth and immigration events confirmed the temporal nature of these associations. Overall, female gorilla association patterns show flexibility in strength based on real-time contingencies, namely social and demographic traits. Association patterns in species with female secondary dispersal may be governed by homophily, like that of modern humans. Understanding female gorilla social structure can enhance our knowledge of the evolutionary origins of sociality.

Exploring online health information quality criteria on social media: a mixed method approach

PurposeThis article outlines a research study that ranked health information quality criteria on social media from experts’ perspectives.MethodologyA mixed-method approach (qualitative-quantitative) used in current research. In the qualitative phase a literature review explored existing dimensions for evaluating social media content quality, focusing on identifying common dimensions and attributes. Furthermore, a quantitative method involving experts was utilized to rank the health information quality criteria for social media.ResultsThe findings indicated various dimensions of health information quality in the literature. Out of 17 criteria, accuracy, credibility, and reliability had the highest ranks, while originality, value-added, and amount of data had the lowest ranks, respectively, according to experts.ConclusionThe endeavor to bolster the dissemination of reliable health information on social media demands a sustained commitment to enhancing accountability, transparency, and accuracy, ensuring that users have access to information that is not only informative but also trustworthy.

Exploring the Potential of Multiple Intelligences as an Effort to Improve Adolescent Health Holistically

The community services aim to identify multiple intelligences to optimize adolescent health holistically. Methods of implementation with surveys and education. The survey was conducted with multiple intelligence cards filled out by adolescents to obtain multiple intelligence data. Adolescents circled the answers according to the statements on the multiple intelligence cards that fit their circumstances. Score 1 if very inappropriate, score 2 if not very appropriate, score 3 if appropriate, and score 4 if very appropriate to the adolescent. Analysis using descriptive methods. This community service activity was carried out from April to June 2023. The location of the activity was a private junior high school in Ciparay District, Bandung Regency, West Java. The target of the activity was junior high school teenagers. The number of participants was 149 teenagers. The community services results show that the first and second highest rank is interpersonal intelligence. The third rank is kinesthetic intelligence. The conclusion is that most students have interpersonal intelligence. The school should map students according to their needs so it can optimize their potential to increase adolescent health holistically.