Stability Of Preferences Research Articles

Using machine learning to construct the diagnosis model of female bladder outlet obstruction based on urodynamic study data.

To intelligently diagnose whether there is bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) in female with decent detrusor contraction ability by focusing on urodynamic study (UDS) data. We retrospectively reviewed the UDS data of female patients during urination. Eleven easily accessible urinary flow indicators were calculated according to the UDS data of each patient during voiding period. Eight diagnosis models based on back propagation neural network with different input feature combination were constructed by analyzing the correlations between indicators and lower urinary tract dysfunction labels. Subsequently, the stability of diagnostic models was evaluated by five-fold cross-validation based on training data, while the performance was compared on test dataset. UDS data from 134 female patients with a median age of 51 years (range, 27-78 years) were selected for our study. Among them, 66 patients suffered BOO and the remaining were normal. Applying the 5-fold cross-validation method, the model with the best performance achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value of 0.949±0.060 using 9 UDS input features. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for BOO diagnosis model in the testing process are 94.4%, 100%, and 89.3%, respectively. The 9 significant indicators in UDS were employed to construct a diagnostic model of female BOO based on machine learning algorithm, which performs preferable classification accuracy and stability.

A novel macromolecular phosphorus-nitrogen containing flame retardant for polycarbonate

In this paper, an innovative macromolecular phosphorus-nitrogen containing flame retardant (PDPSB) was successfully designed and synthesized to investigate its impact on the flame retardancy, burning behavior, thermal stability, mechanical properties of polycarbonate (PC) composites. Furthermore, an in-depth exploration of the potential flame-retardant mechanism was conducted. The combustion results indicated that PC-3 with 3 wt% PDPSB reached V-0 rating in UL-94 test and showed a high limiting oxygen index (LOI) of 33.0 %. Compared to pure PC, the values for peak of heat release rate (PHRR), total heat release (THR) and total smoke production (TSP) of PC-3 were decreased by 37.9 %, 11.1 % and 4.9 %, respectively. It was noteworthy that the amount of char residue for PC-3 was raised from 7.4 % for pure PC to 15.8 % with increasing 113.5 %. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results under N2 atmosphere revealed that PDPSB possessed preferable thermal stability with initial decomposition temperature (Tinitial) of 342.6 °C and higher char residue yield of 48.4 %. With increasing the amount of PDPSB, the maximum mass loss rate (Rpeak) was reduced and the char residue yield was increased for PC/PDPSB composites. In addition, the mechanical properties of PC/PDPSB composites were well maintained due to the good compatibility and dispersion between PDPSB and PC matrix. The tensile, flexural and izod impact strength of PC-3 were weakened by 4.3 %, 1.7 % and 16.8 % in comparison of pure PC, respectively. Based on the investigation into the flame-retardant mechanism of PDPSB, the excellent flame retardance of PC/PDPSB composites has been validated. In gaseous, the release of pyrolysis gases was suppressed and active radicals were captured by generated phosphorus free radicals. In condensed phase, the stable char residue with phosphorus and nitrogen elements acted as a barrier to hinder heat, flame and oxygen. This high-efficient single-component multifunctional additive presented a novel approach to the development of fire-resistant polymers with enhanced performance characteristics.

Elemental partitioning and corrosion resistance of Ni–Cr alloys revealed by accurate ab-initio thermodynamic and electrochemical calculations

Elemental partitioning during thermal processing can significantly affect the corrosion resistance of bulk alloys operating in aggressive electrochemical environments, for which, despite decades of experimental and theoretical studies, the thermodynamic and electrochemical mechanisms still lack accurate quantitative descriptions. Here, we formulate an ab initio thermodynamic model to obtain the composition- and temperature-dependent free energies of formation (ΔfG) for Ni–Cr alloys, a prototypical group of corrosion-resistant metals, and discover two equilibrium states that produce the driving forces for the elemental partitioning in Ni–Cr. The results are in quantitative agreement with the experimental studies on the thermodynamic stability of Ni–Cr. We further construct electrochemical (potential–pH) diagrams by obtaining the required ΔfG values of native oxides and (oxy)hydroxides using high-fidelity ab-initio calculations that include exact electronic exchange and phononic contributions. We then analyze the passivation and electrochemical trends of Ni–Cr alloys, which closely explain various oxide-film growth and corrosion behaviors observed on alloy surfaces. We finally determine the optimal Cr content range of 14–34 at%, which provides the Ni–Cr alloys with both the preferred heat-treatment stability and superior corrosion resistance. We conclude by discussing the consequences of these findings on other Ni–Cr alloys with more complex additives, which can guide the further optimization of industrial Ni–Cr-based alloys.

LiZn/Li2O Induced Chemical Confinement Enabling Dendrite‐Free Li‐Metal Anode

AbstractLi metal has been considered as a potential anode candidate for next‐generation high‐energy Li‐metal batteries, even though the uncontrollable growth of Li dendrites shortens their cycling lifespan. Herein, a reliable and dendrite‐free Li‐metal anode is fabricated via inducing chemical confinement based on an atomic layer deposited lithiophilic ZnO in situ generating LiZn/Li2O arrays. In a configuration, the arrays consisting of uniformly distributed LiZn and Li2O phases, the lithiophilic Li2O phases with favorable Li diffusion barrier guarantee the preferential Li nucleation and prevent the Li diffusion to some sites with uneven charge accumulation. Furthermore, these functional LiZn/Li2O configurations with satisfied localized free electron distribution can effectively decompose the Li clusters to prevent Li aggregation. Meanwhile, the electron‐conductive LiZn phases ensure efficient electron transfer throughout the configuration. Therefore, the LiZn/Li2O‐derived chemical confinement enables uniform Li deposition. Consequently, the as‐prepared Li‐metal anode presents an overpotential <45 mV at 15 mA cm−2 in the symmetrical cells. Moreover, the preferable cycling stability and rate capability are delivered by the as‐assembled cells with a LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 (NCM622) cathode. It is believed that the strategy proposed here can be also beneficial to other effective chemical confinement systems for fabricating high‐performance Li metal anode.

Promoting data harmonization to evaluate vaccine hesitancy in LMICs: approach and applications

BackgroundFactors influencing the health of populations are subjects of interdisciplinary study. However, datasets relevant to public health often lack interdisciplinary breath. It is difficult to combine data on health outcomes with datasets on potentially important contextual factors, like political violence or development, due to incompatible levels of geographic support; differing data formats and structures; differences in sampling procedures and wording; and the stability of temporal trends. We present a computational package to combine spatially misaligned datasets, and provide an illustrative analysis of multi-dimensional factors in health outcomes.MethodsWe rely on a new software toolkit, Sub-National Geospatial Data Archive (SUNGEO), to combine data across disciplinary domains and demonstrate a use case on vaccine hesitancy in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). We use data from the World Bank’s High Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) from Kenya, Indonesia, and Malawi. We curate and combine these surveys with data on political violence, elections, economic development, and other contextual factors, using SUNGEO. We then develop a stochastic model to analyze the integrated data and evaluate 1) the stability of vaccination preferences in all three countries over time, and 2) the association between local contextual factors and vaccination preferences.ResultsIn all three countries, vaccine-acceptance is more persistent than vaccine-hesitancy from round to round: the long-run probability of staying vaccine-acceptant (hesitant) was 0.96 (0.65) in Indonesia, 0.89 (0.21) in Kenya, and 0.76 (0.40) in Malawi. However, vaccine acceptance was significantly less durable in areas exposed to political violence, with percentage point differences (ppd) in vaccine acceptance of -10 (Indonesia), -5 (Kenya), and -64 (Malawi). In Indonesia and Kenya, although not Malawi, vaccine acceptance was also significantly less durable in locations without competitive elections (-19 and -6 ppd, respectively) and in locations with more limited transportation infrastructure (-11 and -8 ppd).ConclusionWith SUNGEO, researchers can combine spatially misaligned and incompatible datasets. As an illustrative example, we find that vaccination hesitancy is correlated with political violence, electoral uncompetitiveness and limited access to public goods, consistent with past results that vaccination hesitancy is associated with government distrust.

Citizens’ Stability of Electoral Preferences in Chile Since the Social Upheaval

A strong oscillation of electoral preferences took place in Chile between the election of the members of the Constitutional Convention in May 2021 and the election of the members of the Constitutional Council in May 2023. This is surprising because, until the national-scale social uprising in 2019, there was a broad consensus that Chile was a highly institutionalised party system where political preferences tended to be stable. In this research note, we study how the electoral choices made by citizens shifted between both elections, using the ecological inference approach based on a Bayesian hierarchical model developed elsewhere. We find that a vast majority of the new voters that resulted from the compulsory voting policy implemented between both elections opted for centre-right to right-wing candidates. However, this evidence is insufficient to determine whether these new voters predominantly align with right-leaning ideologies or hold anti-systemic viewpoints.

On the stability of preferences: Experimental evidence from two disasters

We investigate the impacts of two disasters in Japan and the Philippines on preferences using the convex time budget experiments and multiple price list experiments with monetary rewards. By exploiting natural experiments which are combined with lab-in-the-field experiments, we aim to investigate whether and how long preferences are affected by extreme events. We find evidence supporting preference instability caused by exposure to natural hazards: in both our study sites, disaster exposure seems to make individuals more present-biased even though they differ in socioeconomic conditions and disaster types. The estimated impacts are persistent over the short and long time intervals in both disaster-affected areas and are robust to the method of measuring preferences.

Aperiodic Sampled-Data-Based Control for T-S Fuzzy Systems: An Improved Fuzzy-Dependent Adaptive Event-Triggered Mechanism

This paper is devoted to designing a novel aperiodic sampled-data-based event-triggered control strategy for Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems. Firstly, via taking the structural features of fuzzy subsystems and the available information of fuzzy membership functions (FMFs) into consideration, an improved fuzzy-dependent adaptive event-triggered mechanism (FDAETM), which designs different adaptive event-triggered mechanisms for corresponding fuzzy subsystems, is proposed to provide extra design flexibility and further optimize communication efficiency. Then, the two-side looped-functional method (TSLFM) and dynamic partitioning approach are introduced in the construction of the novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF). These two methods contribute to deriving preferable stability criterion and stabilization approach via relaxing the positive definite constraint on LKF and fully utilizing the inner system state during the whole aperiodic sampling interval. Eventually, two simulation examples are introduced to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy and its advantages in lightening communication frequency.

Regulating N Species in N-Doped Carbon Electro-Catalysts for High-Efficiency Synthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide in Simulated Seawater.

Electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an attractive and alternative route for the on-site production of hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ). The electrochemical synthesis of H2 O2 in neutral electrolyte is in early studying stage and promising in ocean-energy application. Herein, N-doped carbon materials (N-Cx ) with different N types are prepared through the pyrolysis of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks. The N-Cx catalysts, especially N-C800 , exhibit an attracting 2e- ORR catalytic activity, corresponding to a high H2 O2 selectivity (≈95%) and preferable stability in 0.5m NaCl solution. Additionally, the N-C800 possesses an attractive H2 O2 production amount up to 631.2mmolg-1 h-1 and high Faraday efficiency (79.8%) in H-type cell. The remarkable 2e- ORR electrocatalytic performance of N-Cx catalysts is associated with the N species and N content in the materials. Density functional theory calculations suggest carbon atoms adjacent to graphitic N are the main catalytic sites and exhibit a smaller activation energy, which are more responsible than those in pyridinic N and pyrrolic N doped carbon materials. Furthermore, the N-C800 catalyst demonstrates an effective antibacterial performance for marine bacteria in simulated seawater. This work provides a new insight for electro-generation of H2 O2 in neutral electrolyte and triggers a great promise in ocean-energy application.

Synthesis and luminescence properties of oxyapatite-type ZnLa4(SiO4)3O:Eu3+ phosphor for high CRI w-LEDs, latent fingerprints, and security ink

The Eu3+-doped oxyapatite-type ZnLa4(SiO4)3O (ZLSO) phosphors with a strong red emission were successfully synthesized. The pure phase of the phosphors with the hexagonal system was verified through X-ray diffraction. The band gap energy of the ZLSO was calculated using Materials Studio and measured using the diffuse reflection spectra. Attributed to the 7F0→5L6 transition of Eu3+ at 394 nm, the prepared phosphors showed a more intense emission at 614 nm than at 590 nm, due to their asymmetric position. The optimized doping concentration of the ZLSO:xEu3+ sample was 20 mol%, and the relevant mechanism of concentration quenching was dipole-quadrupole interaction. Notably, the ZLSO:Eu3+ phosphors exhibited preferable thermal stability, with an activation energy of 0.289 eV. The fabricated warm white light-emitting diodes (w-LEDs) with ZLSO:Eu3+ phosphors presented a high average colour rendering index (Ra = 95, CCT = 5233 K). Meanwhile, the level 1–3 structures of latent fingerprints (LFPs) were distinctly displayed by ZLSO:Eu3+ samples, and security ink was successfully used to encrypt information. In summary, the highly efficient oxyapatite-type ZLSO:20 mol%Eu3+ phosphors have attractive application potential in multiple application fields, such as w-LEDs, LFPs, and security ink.

Oman: Preference of Stability and Economic Modernization over Political Development

Oman, an Arab country in Persian Gulf, right on the southern part, has a long history with traditional customs. Oil has opened new opportunities for development. In an area with rash political changes and many political world-wide waves, it has been a nearly stable country. The author shows in this article, that the governors of Oman, how preferred stability over rapid democratic changes.

Quinoa protein/polysaccharide electrostatic complex stabilized vegan high internal phase emulsions for 3D printing: Role of complex state and gelling-type polysaccharides

Rational selection of the complex state and polysaccharide type may enhance the performance of electrostatic complex stabilized high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). Herein, quinoa proteins were extracted to form electrostatic complexes separately with three gelling-type polysaccharides to fabricate HIPEs. Results showed that the complexes in soluble state (pH 8.4–5.6) exhibited moderate size, high negative potential and enhanced protein hydrophobicity, and could achieve HIPEs with 84% oil phase upon acidification to pH 6 at low concentrations. Its excellent interfacial structure enhanced stability during heating, freeze-thawing and long-term storage, and exhibited promising 3D printing potential. Furthermore, the complexes formed by sulfated polysaccharide carrageenan had higher amphiphilicity than those formed by carboxylated polysaccharide pectin or sodium alginate, and their stabilized HIPE had preferable droplet size, stability and 3D printing resolution than its counterparts. This study may provide new insights into the performance enhancement of protein/polysaccharide electrostatic complex stabilized HIPEs.

A waterproof, environment‐friendly, multifunctional, and stretchable thermoelectric fabric for continuous self‐powered personal health signal collection at high humidity

AbstractThermoelectric sensors have attracted increasing attention in smart wearables due to the recognition of multiple signals in self‐powered mode. However, present thermoelectric devices show disadvantages of low durability, weak wearability, and complex preparation processes and are susceptible to moisture in the microenvironment of the human body, which hinders their further application in wearable electronics. Herein, we prepared a new thermoelectric fabric with thermoplastic polyurethane/carbon nanotubes (TPU/CNTs) by combining vacuum filtration and electrospraying techniques. Electrospraying TPU microsphere coating with good biocompatibility and environmental friendliness made the fabric worn directly and exhibits preferred water resistance, mechanical durability, and stability even after being bent 4000 times, stretched 1000 times, and washed 1000 times. Moreover, this fabric showed a Seebeck coefficient of 49 μV K−1 and strain range of 250% and could collect signals well and avoided interference from moisture. Based on the biocompatibility and safety of the fabric, it can be fabricated into devices and mounted on the human face and elbow for long‐term and continuous collection of data on the body's motion and breathing simultaneously to provide collaborative support information. This thermoelectric fabric‐based sensor will show great potential in advanced smart wearables for health monitoring, motion detection, and human–computer interaction.

Improving Wild Horse Optimizer: Integrating Multistrategy for Robust Performance across Multiple Engineering Problems and Evaluation Benchmarks

In recent years, optimization problems have received extensive attention from researchers, and metaheuristic algorithms have been proposed and applied to solve complex optimization problems. The wild horse optimizer (WHO) is a new metaheuristic algorithm based on the social behavior of wild horses. Compared with the popular metaheuristic algorithms, it has excellent performance in solving engineering problems. However, it still suffers from the problem of insufficient convergence accuracy and low exploration ability. This article presents an improved wild horse optimizer (I-WHO) with early warning and competition mechanisms to enhance the performance of the algorithm, which incorporates three strategies. First, the random operator is introduced to improve the adaptive parameters and the search accuracy of the algorithm. Second, an early warning strategy is proposed to improve the position update formula and increase the population diversity during grazing. Third, a competition selection mechanism is added, and the search agent position formula is updated to enhance the search accuracy of the multimodal search at the exploitation stage of the algorithm. In this article, 25 benchmark functions (Dim = 30, 60, 90, and 500) are tested, and the complexity of the I-WHO algorithm is analyzed. Meanwhile, it is compared with six popular metaheuristic algorithms, and it is verified by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and four real-world engineering problems. The experimental results show that I-WHO has significantly improved search accuracy, showing preferable superiority and stability.

Chronic Deep Brain Stimulation of the Human Nucleus Accumbens Region Disrupts the Stability of Intertemporal Preferences.

When choosing between rewards that differ in temporal proximity (intertemporal choice), human preferences are typically stable, constituting a clinically relevant transdiagnostic trait. Here we show, in female and male human patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the anterior limb of the internal capsule/NAcc region for treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder, that long-term chronic (but not phasic) DBS disrupts intertemporal preferences. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling accounting for temporal discounting behavior across multiple time points allowed us to assess both short-term and long-term reliability of intertemporal choice. In controls, temporal discounting was highly reliable, both long-term (6 months) and short-term (1 week). In contrast, in patients undergoing DBS, short-term reliability was high, but long-term reliability (6 months) was severely disrupted. Control analyses confirmed that this effect was not because of range restriction, the presence of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms or group differences in choice stochasticity. Model-agnostic between- and within-subject analyses confirmed this effect. These findings provide initial evidence for long-term modulation of cognitive function via DBS and highlight a potential contribution of the human NAcc region to intertemporal preference stability over time.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Choosing between rewards that differ in temporal proximity is in part a stable trait with relevance for many mental disorders, and depends on prefrontal regions and regions of the dopamine system. Here we show that chronic deep brain stimulation of the human anterior limb of the internal capsule/NAcc region for treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder disrupts the stability of intertemporal preferences. These findings show that chronic stimulation of one of the brain's central motivational hubs can disrupt preferences thought to depend on this circuit.

The role of the Co reduction and Zn evaporation of ZnCo-MOF carbonization in peroxymonosulfate activation for levofloxacin purification from wastewater

Nowadays, emerging pollutants have been attracting many interests from the researchers. Many attentions are being paid to sulfate based advanced oxidation process for purification of emerging pollutants degradation, what depended on the activity in peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. In this work, the Zinc and Cobalt bimetallic zeolite imidazole framework (ZnCo-MOF) was conducted as precursor for preparing a novel magnetic ZnxCoy-CN-T through carbothermal reduction. The ZnxCoy-CN-T was further used to activate PMS for degrading levofloxacin (LEV) as a typical emerging pollutant. XRD, SEM, XPS and Raman spectra analysis were used to characterize the ZnxCoy-CN-T. Carbothermal reduction of ZnCo-MOF at 900 °C leads to the generation of zero-valent cobalt and the volatilization of Zn. Meanwhile, the volatilization of Zn not only brings about the adjacent diffusion of the Co atom but also constructs porous carbon (CN) for anchoring the well dispersed Co nanocluster. The Zn1Co5-CN-900 performed the high activity in PMS activation for LEV degradation with favorable efficiency and rate of 98.3% and 0.228 min−1 within 60 min, respectively. The Zn1Co5-CN-900 could be recycled five times with preferable stability and magnetism. The possible degradation pathways were proposed by identifying the intermediate products through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. In summary, a kind of zero-valent cobalt nanocluster anchored on CN was designed to construct a promising Zn1Co5-CN-900/PMS system for LEV degradation with favorable activity and reusability.

Continued adaptation of A/H2N2 viruses during pandemic circulation in humans.

Influenza A viruses of the H2N2 subtype sparked a pandemic in 1957 and circulated in humans until 1968. Because A/H2N2 viruses still circulate in wild birds worldwide and human population immunity is low, the transmissibility of six avian A/H2N2 viruses was investigated in the ferret model. None of the avian A/H2N2 viruses was transmitted between ferrets, suggesting that their pandemic risk may be low. The transmissibility, receptor binding preference and haemagglutinin (HA) stability of human A/H2N2 viruses were also investigated. Human A/H2N2 viruses from 1957 and 1958 bound to human-type α2,6-linked sialic acid receptors, but the 1958 virus had a more stable HA, indicating adaptation to replication and spread in the new host. This increased stability was caused by a previously unknown stability substitution G205S in the 1958 H2N2 HA, which became fixed in A/H2N2 viruses after 1958. Although individual substitutions were identified that affected the HA receptor binding and stability properties, they were not found to have a substantial effect on transmissibility of A/H2N2 viruses via the air in the ferret model. Our data demonstrate that A/H2N2 viruses continued to adapt during the first year of pandemic circulation in humans, similar to what was previously shown for the A/H1N1pdm09 virus.

Epitaxial growth triggered core-shell Pd@RuP nanorods for high-efficiency electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Ru with Pt-like hydrogen bond strength, knockdown cost (∼1/3 of Pt), and eximious stability is a competitive replacement for Pt-based catalysts towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water splitting. The design of Ru-based catalysts via interface construction, crystal phase control, and specific light element doping to realize the impressive promotion of limited activity and stability remains challenging. Herein, we report the fabrication of Pd@RuP core-shell nanorods (NRs) via an epitaxial growth method, where ultrathin RuP shells extend the face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure and (111) plane of the Pd NRs core. Density functional theory results confirm that the core-shell interface engineering and P doping synergistically accelerate electron transfer and moderate the d-band center to generate a suitable affinity for H*, thus optimizing HER kinetics. Compared with Pd@Ru NRs and Pt/C, the Pd@RuP NRs exhibit preferable electrocatalytic stability and superior activity with a low overpotential of 18 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in the alkaline HER process. Furthermore, the integrated Pd@RuP//RuO2-based electrolyzer also displays a low operation potential of 1.42 V to acquire 10 mA cm−2, demonstrating great potential for practical water electrolysis. Our work presents an efficient avenue to design Ru-based electrocatalysts via epitaxial growth for extraordinary HER performance.

The stability of personal traits and preferences in times of the Corona pandemic: Evidence from Germany

AbstractBased on panel data on around 5500 German households, this article analyzes whether the experience of financial losses due to the Corona pandemic has affected three kinds of personal traits and preferences: the willingness to take risks, patience, and the locus of control (LOC). Our empirical results indicate that patience and the LOC remain unchanged by the experience of pandemic‐related financial losses, whereas we find a negative effect of severe financial losses on risk‐taking, contrasting with the traditional assumption that such preferences are constant. In this respect, our heterogeneity analysis indicates that financial losses due to the Corona pandemic particularly affect the most vulnerable households, notably low‐income households and those with little income diversification.

Using a haptic dynamic clamp to reduce arousal: preference, arousal, and coordination stability are related

Using a haptic dynamic clamp to reduce arousal: preference, arousal, and coordination stability are related