Path Diversity Research Articles

The Myth of the Liberal Arts vs. National Universities Divide: A Marketing Strategy

This manuscript critically examines the commonly held distinction between liberal arts colleges and national universities, arguing that the divide is largely a product of marketing rather than substantive educational differences. Drawing on data from leading higher education research organizations, it highlights how both institution types share similar goals in fostering critical thinking, offering interdisciplinary programs, and preparing students for diverse career paths. Through an analysis of academic structures, faculty-student interactions, and post-graduation outcomes, the manuscript underscores that the unique characteristics attributed to each institution type are often overstated for promotional purposes. The findings suggest that the decision between these institutions should be guided more by individual preferences than by assumed educational superiority.

Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Career Readiness for Agricultural Graduates in India

Agricultural Educational institutions are striving to enhance their methodologies to equip graduates with skills that meet diverse industry demands. While graduates are trained in foundational agricultural science, there is a growing recognition that securing suitable employment requires competencies beyond technical expertise. The study identifies notable gaps in these skill sets among graduates, indicating that while educational programs assess technical abilities rigorously, there is room for improvement in developing broader employability skills. The research involved final-year undergraduate students, alumni, and employers from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). A 67-item questionnaire was administered to students, alumni and employers. The 67 items were grouped into 16 skill categories and percentage analysis was carried out for better understanding. The analysis revealed that a significant portion of students (67.12%) are female, reflecting a positive trend in gender participation in agricultural education. However, the preference for government jobs among 85% of students raises concerns about their willingness to explore opportunities in the private sector, which may limit their career options. The study’s findings also reveal discrepancies in perceptions of essential employability skills among students, alumni, and employers. Students and alumni rated "Listening" as the most critical skill, while employers prioritized "Problem Solving and Analytic" skills. Furthermore, the study advocates for robust career guidance programs that encourage students to consider diverse career paths, including the private sector. Additionally, addressing gender disparities in the workforce is crucial to ensure equitable opportunities for all graduates.

Diverse paths, stable differences – role of prior knowledge in learning biology over undergraduate years

ABSTRACT Undergraduate students enrol at university with diverse levels of prior knowledge and intuitive conceptions about essential biological topics. This longitudinal study explored the development of a conceptual understanding about three topics and how domain-specific prior knowledge affects this development. Undergraduate students (N = 50) of biological and environmental sciences participated in three measurement points – baseline (2019), follow-up 1 (2020), and follow-up 2 (2021) – where the same questionnaire with open-ended tasks was given. A mixed-methods approach was used for quantitative scoring of the answers and qualitative thematic analysis to describe the development of individual students’ conceptual understanding. The effect of prior knowledge was studied by dividing the students into two groups based on the baseline performance. The topic of evolution showed the most significant differences in prior knowledge and in knowledge gains. Students with lower prior knowledge experienced desirable shifts in their explanatory models about evolutionary processes, but an equal amount exhibited fragmented learning trajectories. Students with a more robust prior understanding of such an emergent phenomenon can more likely integrate scientific concepts in their knowledge framework. Implications for teaching in higher education are discussed.

Social Media as a Lens into Careers During a Changing World of Work

People share and encounter a range of posts on social media that depict different career experiences, such as one's successes or failures. In a continually shifting world of work, observing others' job experiences can be useful for navigating one's own career journey. The present study applies the possible selves theory to understand how viewing people's career experiences on social media might affect viewers' career-related expectations, hopes, and fears. From semi-structured interviews with 19 social media users with different career experiences, this study found that social media posts may facilitate functions of possible selves by 1) increasing people's awareness of new and diverse career paths and 2) motivating people in planning and preparing for a desired possible self. Across these functions, we found that videos were particularly beneficial for uncovering and learning about life in a career and that observing others' career experiences online often evoked social comparison. Through an affordances lens, findings also indicate that social media affordances of visibility and persistence were particularly relevant in developing and assessing career-related possible selves and sometimes strategically managed through leveraging platform algorithms. This paper brings forth empirical contributions to the possible selves theory in the digital age and highlights the significance of social media mechanisms for possible selves. This paper also provides design implications for social media platforms and recommendations for potential career counseling and mentoring strategies that may be useful for individuals navigating and exploring career possibilities.

Printing Technology in Rural Society: Rethinking the Rise of Print Culture Through Chinese Genealogies, 1450–1644

This article re-examines the rise of print culture in early modern China by exploring the adoption of printing technology for publishing family genealogies. While genealogies had primarily been produced as manuscripts for centuries, in the mid-to-late Ming, elites in Southern China’s Huizhou prefecture began advocating for printed versions. This transition mirrored broader trends in Ming print culture, where printing technology was increasingly applied beyond traditional texts to a wide range of genres. Unlike scholars who have examined this shift from script to print as a precondition for other developments, I explore the process by which the print medium itself became desirable. By investigating the distinctive use of print in creating genealogies, this study underscores the diverse developmental paths of print culture in early modern China, illustrating the key role genealogies played in reshaping social relations within local communities.

Multi-objective cooperation search algorithm based on decomposition for complex engineering optimization problems

This study introduces a novel multi-objective cooperation search algorithm based on decomposition (MOCSA/D) to address multi-objective competitive challenges in engineering problem. Inspired by the optimization strategy of single-objective Cooperation Search Algorithm (CSA) and the decomposition framework of MOEA/D, MOCSA/D algorithm randomly generates initial solutions in the optimization space, and then repeatedly executes four search strategies until the end of iteration: Cooperative updating strategy gathers high-quality information to update solutions with balanced distribution. Reflective adjustment strategy expands the exploration range of the population, enabling the acquisition of solutions with strong optimization capabilities. Internal competition strategy selects superior individuals with better performance for subsequent optimization. Density updating strategy improves the competitiveness of optimized individuals within the population, fostering a more diverse solution set. Three numerical experiments (including DTLZ, WFG unconstrained test problems, ZXH_CF constrained test problems and RWMOP real-world multi-objective optimization problems) are tested to further comprehensively evaluate the dominant performance of MOCSA/D. The test results in different problem scenarios show that compared with the existing excellent evolutionary algorithms, MOCSA/D can always obtain a better, stable and uniform distribution of non-dominated solutions, and has higher solving efficiency and optimization quality under different performance evaluation metrics with the increasing difficulty of solving problems. Finally, the proposed algorithm is applied to the multi-objective reservoir engineering optimization problem to verify the feasibility of the decision scheme and the comprehensive benefit optimization of MOCSA/D. Overall, MOCSA/D can simplify the problem optimization difficulty based on decomposition mechanism, and improve the global optimization of population, path diversity and individual competition through different search strategies, which provides an advantageous tool for addressing multi-objective competitive challenges.

Resistive Switching Characteristics of NiO Thin Films Influenced by Changes in the Diameter of Nanometer-Scale Top Electrodes.

We investigated the forming, set, and reset voltages affected by the area of the top electrodes of a resistive random access memory (RRAM) capacitor fabricated by epitaxial NiO thin films. NiO RRAM capacitors with Au top electrode with a diameter of 100 μm showed typical unipolar switching characteristics. Au top electrodes with diameters of 10, 20, and 30 nm were formed on the surface of epitaxial NiO thin films by e-beam lithography. The forming, set, and reset voltages tended to decrease as the diameter of NiO RRAM capacitors with nanosized Au top electrodes decreased. As the area of the Au top electrodes increases, the volume of space in which the conductive filaments formed within the NiO RRAM capacitors can be formed becomes larger. This causes the conductive filament to be formed at relatively low energy, giving low forming voltages, while increasing the diversity of paths, causing a wide forming voltage distribution.

Law Enforcement Against Children Perpetrating Narcotics Crimes in Teluk Bintuni Regency

The child's immaturity in mental health and the way of thinking and behaving that is often hasty in making decisions is a disaster for him, so he falls into the trap of narcotics. When the child is suspected of committing a crime, the existing formal justice system ultimately places the child in the status of a prisoner, which of course has quite significant consequences for the child's growth and development. Based on Law Number 35 of 2014 concerning Child Protection, states that the arrest, detention, or imprisonment of a child is only carried out by applicable law and can only be carried out as a last resort. The criminalization system for children as perpetrators of drug abuse from the perspective of criminal policy cannot be separated from the formulation stage, which includes the definition of drug abuse by children, the background of the development stage by children as subjects of criminal law, and the development of theories of punishment and models for regulating types of criminal sanctions for children as perpetrators of drug abuse. These are also very important because if there are weaknesses in the formulation, it can hinder the enforcement of justice to protect children. Law enforcement against children who commit drug abuse crimes is seen as a diversion path implemented using the provisions of the SPPA Law, namely through penal mediation. Penal mediation is used in the early stages when there is a desire by the child to resolve his/her problems, accompanied by the relevant parties, namely parents, victims and their families, community leaders, and mediators in leading the forum.

Discrimination of two diverse fluid evolutions from the Nanyangtian scheelite deposit, southeastern Yunnan: Evidences from fluid inclusions and mineral geochemistry

The Nanyangtian scheelite deposit is located in the Nanwenhe-Song Chay dome (NSCD), southeastern Yunnan. This deposit has undergone four metallogenic stages and is characterized by several kilometers of bedded scheelite-bearing skarn (NYT-II stage), feldspar-bearing quartz veins (NYT-III stage), and sulfides (NYT-IV stage) in the Neoproterozoic schist and gneiss, all of which exhibit similar fold deformations. Throughout the stages, Th and salinity of fluids gradually decrease, weakly and positively correlating, representing a slow cooling process. NYT-I fluids (F-, H2O-rich and high T, p), as indicated by the plagioclase within feldspar-bearing quartz veins, may have directly evolved from a highly fractional residual melt or a salt-rich aqueous melt, signifying the magmatic-hydrothermal transition. From NYT-II to NYT-III fluids, a wider variation of δ18OH2O (−2.4 ∼ 5.1 ‰) to a narrow range of δ18OH2O (2.8 ∼ 5.1 ‰), and a narrow δ34S range (5.18 ‰ ∼ 8.62 ‰) also indicates that fluids may evolve from the relatively oxidized granitic magma. Furthermore, NYT-I fluids could extend throughout the entire fluid evolution, culminating in two diverse paths: one is a much purer magmatic water towards the NYT-III and NYT-IV fluids, and the other is a more meteoric water-dominated towards the NYT-II fluids. A lower water/rock ratio (W/R) existed in the NYT-II stage, leading to the formation of moderately oxidized Tungsten (W)-skarns and scheelites through the NYT-I salt-rich aqueous melts or their reactions with wall rocks in a stable environment. W/R ratios increased in the NYT-III stage, resulting in the formation of NYT-III feldspar-bearing quartz veins with CO2 generation and alkalinity enhancement. As oxidation diminished, fluids gradually evolved into the NYT-IV fluids, forming sulfides.

Anti-machine-learning-attack strong PUF design based on multi-path delay selection strategy

Physical unclonable functions (PUF) have significant potential for application in information security. However, strong PUFs are vulnerable to machine learning (ML) modeling attacks, which severely limit their application in device authentication. Despite a variety of resistance techniques, strong PUFs suffer from hardware cost and stability deficiencies. This study proposes an anti-machine-learning-attack strong PUF based on a multi-path delay selection strategy through research on the entropy source of a strong PUF and the delay signal selection mechanism. First, we constructed a deviation source circuit based on multiplexers to increase the diversity of the delay signal transmission paths. Second, we constructed a delay selection circuit based on the logic gates. This circuit dynamically selects the delay signals with the same transmission path in the deviation source using AND and OR gates. Subsequently, the deviation source and delay selection circuits were utilized to construct the delay module, and the interconnection module was inserted between the delay modules to achieve alternating appearances of different types of logic gates along the delay path. Finally, RS flip-flops were employed to make decisions on the bias signals with the same delay path, and the final response was output through an XOR operation. The proposed PUF was implemented on a Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA, and the prediction accuracy of the four typical ML models was below 59 % (with 500,000 challenge-response pairs as the training set). Moreover, the proposed PUF structure is scalable and exhibits better performance in terms of hardware cost and stability than existing classic structures.

Community dynamics and assembly is driven by environmental microbiota mediated by spatiotemporal distribution: The case of Daqu fermentation

In almost all environments, microbial interaction is shaped by differences in environmental microbial transport, resulting in synergistic or antagonistic effects among community members. Unfortunately, the current understanding of how environmental microbiota affect spontaneous fermentation is very limited. Here, we selected Daqu workshops with different usage times (named X (60 years), Y (10 years), and Z (0 year)) as research model. The microbial contribution of raw material and environments to the microbiota of Daqu fermentation among workshops was compared, raw material microbiota contributed more bacterial genera (44.70 %–73.56 %) to the fermentation, and environmental microbiota contributed more fungal genera (10.09 %–99.76 %) to the fermentation. The deterministic assembly ratio and interaction intensity of workshop X were the highest, followed by Y and Z. We analyzed the relationship between environmental microbiota, fermentation microbiota, fermentation characteristics and flavor compounds. Environmental microbiota negatively drove the microbial diversity during fermentation (path coefficient = −1, P = 0.004), and further indirectly affected the community dynamics and assembly (path coefficient = −0.990, P < 0.001). Finally, community dynamics and assembly drove flavor compound diversity (path coefficient = 0.923, P < 0.001), it indicated the positive effect of environmental microbiota on flavor compound diversity. This work will help to understand the relationship between environmental microbiota and fermentation quality, supporting quality improvement of spontaneously fermented food in new workshop.

Career Paths, Practice Location, and Scholarly Contributions of American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship Graduates, 2000–2021

Purpose: To characterize American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS) fellowship graduates’ career paths and contributions to society missions, including trends across gender, time, and geography. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, ASOPRS fellowship graduates from 2000 to 2021 were stratified by demographics, time, and geography. Main outcomes were career paths and contributions to ASOPRS missions of advancing education, research, and quality of clinical practice. Results: Among 474 ASOPRS graduates, women increased from 19% (2000–2005) to 47% (2016–2021). Women contributed equally to men in most ASOPRS missions but were underrepresented as fellowship directors (p = 0.03). Over time, graduates after 2005 had higher publication rates (adjusted p &lt; 0.001). Geographically, Northeast fellows (adjusted p = 0.034) and Midwest employment (adjusted p = 0.003) correlated with academic careers, while West employment conferred community careers (adjusted p &lt; 0.001). Geographic retention near fellowship directly correlated with academic careers (adjusted p = 0.006), educational roles (adjusted p &lt; 0.001), and publications (adjusted p = 0.006). Forty-one percent practiced in the 5 most saturated states, with fewer in the Midwest. The attrition rate of United States ASOPRS fellows who left the national workforce was 2%. Conclusions: From 2000 to 2021, ASOPRS fellows entered diverse career paths with increasing gender parity, though women were underrepresented as fellowship directors. Career paths and contributions to the field varied geographically. Graduates frequently practice in saturated states, potentially exacerbating access disparities in underserved regions. These findings highlight opportunities to address geographic differences, promote workforce diversity, and align fellowships with society objectives.

Reflections on the Health System Impact Fellowship and the Future of Embedded Research; Comment on "Early Career Outcomes of Embedded Research Fellows: An Analysis of the Health System Impact Fellowship Program"

The Health System Impact (HSI) Fellowship program in Canada offers a transformative approach to health services and policy research (HSPR) training, preparing PhD graduates for diverse career pathways and leadership roles within learning health systems. This commentary builds on Kasaai et al.'s evaluation of the HSI Fellowship to discuss the diverse career paths of alumni and highlight the multifaceted benefits of the program. Further, we emphasize the need for future research and knowledge mobilization to better understand and evaluate embedded research roles. Developing a robust evaluation framework is essential to capture the unique impacts of embedded research, fostering a culture that prioritizes and integrates it, thereby driving the transformation towards learning health systems.

Acid-Mediated Intramolecular Cyclizations of (N-Aryl)-acetylenic Sulfonamides: Synthesis of Fused and Spirocyclic Sultams.

Herein, we report acid-mediated divergent annulations of (N-aryl)-alkynyl sulfonamides. The substituent at the para position of the N-aryl group determines two diverse reaction paths, leading to the selective assembly of benzo-fused sultams and spirocyclic sultams. This strategy provides a series of benzo/spiro-sultams with wide functional group compatibility and good to excellent yields under mild reaction conditions. Additionally, scale-up reaction and further transformations of the products were also carried out to demonstrate the utility of the protocol.

Reliability modeling and statistical analysis of accelerated degradation process with memory effects and unit-to-unit variability

A reasonable description of the degradation process is essential for credible reliability assessment in accelerated degradation testing. Existing methods usually use Markovian stochastic processes to describe the degradation process. However, degradation processes of some products are non-Markovian due to the interaction with environments. Misinterpretation of the degradation pattern may lead to biased reliability evaluations. Besides, owing to the differences in materials and manufacturing processes, products from the same population exhibit diverse degradation paths, further increasing the difficulty of accurately reliability estimation. To address the above issues, this paper proposes an accelerated degradation model incorporating memory effects and unit-to-unit variability. The memory effect in the degradation process is captured by the fractional Brownian motion, which reflects the non-Markovian characteristic of degradation. The unit-to-unit variability is considered in the acceleration model to describe diverse degradation paths. Then, lifetime and reliability under normal operating conditions are presented. Furthermore, to give an accurate estimation of the memory effect, a new statistical analysis method based on the expectation maximization algorithm is devised. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by a simulation case and a real-world tuner reliability analysis case. The simulation case shows that the estimation of the memory effect obtained by the proposed statistical analysis method is much more accurate than the traditional one. Moreover, ignoring unit-to-unit variability can lead to a highly biased estimation of the memory effect and reliability. From the tuner reliability analysis case, the proposed model is superior in both deterministic degradation trend predictions and degradation boundary quantification compared to existing models, which can provide more credible reliability assessment.

Using calcaneal plates in fixation of comminuted posterior wall acetabular fractures with cranial or posterior extension: a prospective case series and novel technique.

This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of using calcaneal plate in fixation of comminuted posterior wall (PW) acetabular fractures especially that have cranial (dome) or posterior extension (posterior column edge), and to evaluate its safety. To our knowledge, this is the first study that utilizes this off label implant technique in fixation of such fracture. Twenty-two patients enrolled in the study with a minimum follow up of one year. After reducing the PW fragments sequentially, calcaneal plate was applied, fixing its distal part at ischial tuberosity upper ends using 3 screws in a triangular fashion, while its proximal part and radial wings were firmly fixed along the acetabular rim together with the classic longitudinal anchorage. Any fixation failure or head subluxation was recorded. Radiological outcome showed 18 cases scored as excellent, 2 were good, and 2 were poor. The functional outcome revealed 2 patients were excellent, 6 were very good and 14 were good. There was no loss of reduction or fixation failures throughout the follow up period. Calcaneal plate may offer an alternative method of fixation of comminuted PW fractures with acceptable radiological and functional results. Our study result may encourage the comprehensibility and replicability of this practice, however randomized multicentered studies should be conducted to validate this assumption. This method provides valuable trick strategy, stable and soft-tissue-friendly fracture fixation where modern implantations may be unavailable or of high cost. Calcaneal plates show some fascinating features that allow using them outside their field being flexible with large footprint area for fracture buttressing beside numerous hole choices with diverse paths providing suitable fixation, articular stability and wide zone of coverage in PW comminuted fracture patterns with cranial or posterior extensions. The plate proximal triangular configuration together with distal triangular screw fixation gives a stiff rigid anchorage and buttressing similar to a metal mesh covering and fixing any fragment numbers up to dome level.

Contrasting Democratic Trajectories: A Comparative Analysis of Costa Rica and Nicaragua

The main focus of this paper is the democracy process in Central America. It is a case study focuses on Costa Rica and Nicaragua and its respective trajectories towards democracy. Despite their shared historical backgrounds, culture, similar size, and geographical location, Costa Rica has one of the most peaceful and enduring democracies, while Nicaragua has been a tumultuous country with internal conflicts that have directly impacted its democratization. The historical context of colonial exploitation, socio-economic disparities, and political unrest has significantly shaped the contemporary political landscape of the region. This research uses Costa Rica and Nicaragua as examples to highlight the diverse paths of democratic development in Central America. Since 1948, Costa Rica has been a democratic country, while Nicaragua has undergone a dual transition, one through revolution (1984) and the other through democratic elections in 1990. By emphasizing the unique historical peculiarities of the region, valuable insights into the democratization processes are provided. The study uses a historical method to analyze the democratization processes in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. It examines the impact of the conquest period, the role of key factors such as landed oligarchies and military forces, the influence of international economic crises, and the current democratic quality in both countries. The study shows that historical legacies have lasting effects on democracy.

Periodic free vibrations of composite laminates with curvilinear fibres and CNTs

This article addresses the combined effect of using curvilinear fibres and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) reinforcements in the non-linear modes of vibration of laminated composite plates. To arrive at the material properties of the three-phase composite material, a two-step hierarchic procedure is followed. A modified version of the Halpin–Tsai model is employed to predict the Young’s modulus of the CNT enriched resin and expressions, deduced from equilibria of a unit cell where a fibre is embedded in resin, are applied to obtain the diverse elasticity moduli of the three-phase composite. Moderately large displacements are considered, with von Kármán strain–displacement relations. Although the presented model is an equivalent single layer one, it applies to thick plates, because a Third-order Shear Deformation Theory (TSDT) is followed. The set of autonomous non-linear equations of motion is reduced using static condensation and a modal basis with selected modes, chosen after a convergence analysis. The reduced set of equations of motion is solved by the shooting method. Numerical tests considering plates with diverse curvilinear fibre paths, CNT contents and thicknesses are carried out. The results obtained are thoroughly analysed.

Trajectory tracking control of a mobile robot using fuzzy logic controller with optimal parameters

Abstract This work investigates the use of a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) for two-wheeled differential drive mobile robot trajectory tracking control. Due to the inherent complexity associated with tuning the membership functions of an FLC, this work employs a particle swarm optimization algorithm to optimize the parameters of these functions. In order to automate and reduce the number of rule bases, the genetic algorithm is also employed for this study. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated through MATLAB simulations involving diverse path tracking scenarios. The performance of the FLC is compared against established controllers, including minimum norm solution, closed-loop inverse kinematics, and Jacobian transpose-based controllers. The results demonstrate that the FLC offers accurate trajectory tracking with reduced root mean square error and controller effort. An experimental, hardware-based investigation is also performed for further verification of the proposed system. In addition, the simulation is conducted for various paths in the presence of noise in order to assess the proposed controller’s robustness. The proposed method is resilient against noise and disturbances, according to the simulation outcomes.

Technological progress and economic dynamics: Unveiling the long memory of total factor productivity

This study aims to explore the dynamics of total factor productivity (TFP) in 40 advanced economies and its implications for economic stability, growth patterns, and technological integration. Understanding the concept of long memory in TFP is crucial in comprehending the diverse paths of economic development and technological advancement in different nations. The study endeavors to clarify the concept of long memory in TFP and analyze its impact on economic stability, growth patterns, and technological integration on a global scale. The research employs a sophisticated methodological framework that integrates a combination of unit root tests, non-parametric methods, fractional integration techniques, and ARFIMA models. This multifaceted approach provides a nuanced understanding of the persistence in TFP series and helps distinguish between stable and mean-reverting TFP dynamics across different nations. The analysis highlights the varying trajectories of TFP across these economies, which sheds light on the diverse paths of economic development and technological advancement. The findings of this research are pivotal in comprehending the role of TFP in shaping growth convergence, influencing business cycle fluctuations, and technological progress. The study contributes to policy discourse by proposing strategic policy measures that harness the long-term trends of TFP. These recommendations encompass key areas such as labor, capital, institutional frameworks, and innovation policies. Countries can optimize sustainable economic development and foster effective technological integration in an increasingly interconnected global economy by implementing these measures.