Unified Measurement Research Articles

Cumulative Tariff Cost Rate and Structure in the Global Value Chain: A Theoretical and Empirical Study

Abstract This paper constructs a more unified measurement framework from the perspective of the Leontief inverse matrix and Ghosh inverse matrix (Ghosh). At the same time, referring to the four-term decomposition method of Leontief inverse matrix in Muradov (2016), this paper analyzes the structural decomposition of the cumulative tariff cost rate. Results show that (1) Overall, from 2000 to 2017, China’s cumulative tariff cost rate, direct tariff cost rate, and multi-stage tariff cost rate all showed a downward trend, and the decline was greater than that of other countries (regions). China has strictly fulfilled its WTO accession commitments and has greatly reduced the tariff rate on imported intermediate goods. (2) With China’s deep participation in the global value chain, the amplification effect of China’s tariffs has increased from 2.57 in 2000 to 3.17 in 2017, and there is a certain degree of “amplification effect” (above 1.5) in tariffs in all countries in the world. (3) From the perspective of the contribution rate of various countries in the world, China contributes the most to the global cumulative tariff cost rate, which is due to the complexity of the global production network structure, rather than the excessively high tariff rate imposed by China on imported intermediate goods. In terms of policy implications, if China did not take the initiative to reduce tariffs, the structural changes in the global production network would lead to a larger global cumulative tariff cost rate.

Identity in the context of physical activity and smoking: A scoping review among adults aged 45+

Abstract Background Identity (i.e., self-perceptions of oneself) plays an important role in health behaviors such as physical activity (PA) and smoking. This review offers a comprehensive synthesis and comparison of how PA- and smoking-related identity is associated with PA and smoking behavior in adults aged 45+. It further synthesizes and compares identity terminology and measurement tools used to capture identity concerning smoking cessation and PA among adults aged 45+. Where applicable, the role of personal, PA-, and smoking-related characteristics were considered. Methods A thorough search across 11 databases, updated in May 2023, yielded 5801 unique publications. Ensuing careful screening procedures, 45 peer-reviewed empirical studies were systematically reviewed. Experts in the field contributed to validate and structure the narrative. Results The review reveals a complex, enduring connection between identity and behavior in both PA and smoking domains, encompassing processes like identity formation, maintenance, change, and loss. In essence, identities linked to PA and abstaining from smoking emerged as pivotal for promoting active lifestyles and successful smoking cessation. Many parallels but also distinctions emerged within this association, alongside variations in the terminology and measurement tools pertaining to identity. Factors such as gender, age, and behavioral history emerged as influential in shaping identities related to smoking and PA. Conclusions Despite variances, findings suggest that the relationship between identity and behavior, including associated processes, may not fundamentally differ between health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors. There is however need for more unified identity definitions and measurement tools. We propose avenues for future research, including exploring causality between identity and behavior to facilitate the development of identity-related smoking cessation and PA-promotion interventions. Key messages • Identities associated with physical activity and refraining from smoking are associated with a physically active lifestyle and successful smoking cessation. • Despite differences, the relationship between identity and behavior may not fundamentally vary between health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors.

Design and performance of a triaxial load cell for conical picks

Measuring the load on picks in mining operations poses a significant challenge, which hinders the optimization of cutting mechanism design. To address this issue, a unified load measurement model was initially developed using angular transformation. Subsequently, the measuring-point positions were determined based on the principles of large strain and ease of measurement, using Finite Element Analysis. By analyzing the strain law of the measuring-point positions, a sensor layout scheme was designed, which led to the development of a triaxial load cell. Utilizing the piecewise least squares method and BP neural network, the calibration and decoupling were performed. The findings indicated that the BP neural network effectively reduced the error. Finally, cutting experiments were conducted. The error was less than 8 %, effectively identifying the load variation characteristics when cutting materials with different hardness. The results demonstrate that the designed triaxial load cell can accurately and reliably capture cutting loads.

Measurement of Tourism Ecological Efficiency and Analysis of Influencing Factors under the Background of Climate Change: A Case Study of Three Provinces in China’s Cryosphere

Against the backdrop of climate change and the “dual carbon” goals, enhancing the ecological efficiency of cryospheric tourism is crucial not only for the high-quality development of the tourism industry itself but also for the protection of the ecological environment and the promotion of green sustainable development in the cryospheric region. In light of this, this study, taking climate change as its background and based on the perspective of carbon emission constraints, integrates multidimensional factors such as “climate change, carbon emission constraints, and cryospheric resources” into a unified measurement framework to construct a model for evaluating the ecological efficiency of tourism in the cryosphere. Specifically, the model considers inputs, expected outputs, and unexpected outputs. Subsequently, employing the super-efficiency slack-based measure (SBM) model, this study measures the tourism ecological efficiency (TEE) of three provinces (Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet) in the cryosphere from 2013 to 2021 and utilizes the Malmquist–Luenberger index and gray correlation model to reveal their dynamic changes, efficiency decomposition, and influencing factors. The results indicate that: (1) The overall mean of TEE in the cryosphere is between 0.2428 and 1.2142, Over the study period, the average annual growth rate and corresponding confidence interval were 14.74%, (−8.61%, 64.23%), showing a significant fluctuating growth trend. Among them, Xinjiang stands out, with its mean scores ranging from 0.2418 to 1.6229, surpassing the overall average level of the cryosphere. (2) During the study period, the overall dynamic efficiency of tourism ecology in the cryosphere increased by 21.54%, driven by the synergy of technological progress (TC), pure technical efficiency (PET), and scale efficiency (SE). For each province, the dynamic efficiency of tourism ecology has improved, but to varying degrees. (3) Regarding the driving factors of TEE in the cryosphere, each driving factor is closely related to TEE, ranked from large to small as follows: carbon emission structure, level of economic development, infrastructure, intensity of technological input, industrial structure, resource endowment, and environmental regulation. This article holds theoretical and practical significance for promoting the high-quality development of polar tourism and achieving synergistic progress between the economy and environment.

Trends and Influencing Factors in Problematic Smartphone Use Prevalence (2012-2022): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Given that problematic smartphone use (PSU) has been researched for a long time, it becomes necessary to assess how the trends of PSU prevalence have evolved over time. In total, 106 articles from 2012 to 2022 with 109 studies covering 97,748 individuals were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The estimation of the global pooled PSU prevalence was 37.1% (95% confidence interval, 33.5 - 40.8%) and the PSU prevalence is growing over time in total. Although the PSU prevalence exhibited wide variation between regions and measurement scales, the increasing trend remained. In addition, the regression slope of the PSU prevalence trend in males was higher than that in females. Males initially had a lower prevalence of PSU than females, but this steadily changed over time until it was greater in males than in females. Moreover, the prevalence of PSU showed an increasing trend across all age groups, with a faster growth rate in the older age group. Considering the aforementioned results, it's necessary to implement proper interventions to do with this phenomenon. In addition, considering the differences in prevalence brought by regions, and measurement scales, in practice and research, we should not only take into account the disparities of PSU between countries or cultures, but also to concern about establishing unified standard and measurement tools to confirm it.

Measuring Subjective Well-being Capability: A Multi-Country Empirical Analysis in Europe

The main aim of this paper is to conceptualise and empirically estimate subjective well-being capability. The empirical demonstration of the conceptual framework is applied in a selection of European countries: Poland and its leading emigration destinations the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, France and Italy. The paper advances the measure of subjective well-being capability (SWC) as the integration of the subjective well-being measure with the capability approach in a unified measurement framework. Following the development of a conceptual model, the theoretical framework is operationalized empirically to quantify measures of SWC across the selected countries using a Multiple Indicators and Multiple Causes Model. Data from the European Quality of Life Survey is employed. A comparative analysis compares the SWC measures across countries as well as comparing SWC with conventional well-being measures such as overall happiness and GDP per capita. The results of the study reveal a significant correlation between the SWC based on a general model for all countries, overall happiness, and GDP per capita. However, it also suggests that country-specific SWCs, calculated from tailored models, could substantially deviate from traditional well-being measurements. This attribute suggests that SWC could be a practical tool for assessing individual contexts, as reflected in the tailored models, even though it might not serve as the optimal instrument for country ranking (via the general MIMIC model).

Effects of strain rate and bedding on shale fracture mechanisms

Anisotropic shale is commonly distributed in nature and undergoes both dynamic compressive and tensile load in geological engineering. In this article, the coupling effects of strain rate and bedding structures on the fracture mechanisms of shale are investigated using a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system. The tension–compression comparative study is conducted. The Brazilian disc method is modified, and a unified strain rate measurement method is established to comprehensively analyze shale’s fracture-related properties, including moduli, strength and energy dissipation. The results indicate that the energy dissipated by shale fracture is strongly related to its strength. The strain rate and bedding affect the anisotropic strength and dissipated energy by changing the crack density and crack propagation mode. At low or medium strain rates, the bedding orientation of shale determines the direction of crack propagation. However, at high strain rates, microcracks in different directions are widely activated in the shale, which increases the fracture degree and decreases the difference in fracture toughness between the shale’s matrix and bedding planes. This also leads to a decrease in anisotropy and causes the bedding planes to lose control over the direction of crack propagation. Additionally, the dynamic tensile strength of shale increases faster than the compressive one with the strain rate, leading to a reduction in the proportion of tensile failure under impact load. Based on the experimental findings, a new anisotropic damage constitutive model is developed to characterize the dynamic properties of shale. This model reflects the anisotropic damage evolution behaviors and aligns well with experimental results, offering a theoretical foundation for predicting shale’s dynamic fracture behavior. In addition to shale, the developed experimental methods and theoretical models can also be applied to the fracture analysis of other brittle transversely isotropic materials.

Establishment of the First National Standard for Neutralizing Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 XBB Variants.

Neutralizing antibodies (NtAbs) against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) are indicators of vaccine efficacy that enable immunity surveillance. However, the rapid mutation of SARS-CoV-2 variants prevents the timely establishment of standards required for effective XBB vaccine evaluation. Therefore, we prepared four candidate standards (No. 11, No. 44, No. 22, and No. 33) using plasma, purified immunoglobulin, and a broad-spectrum neutralizing monoclonal antibody. Collaborative calibration was conducted across nine Chinese laboratories using neutralization methods against 11 strains containing the XBB and BA.2.86 sublineages. This study demonstrated the reduced neutralization potency of the first International Standard antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern against XBB variants. No. 44 displayed broad-spectrum neutralizing activity against XBB sublineages, effectively reduced interlaboratory variability for nearly all XBB variants, and effectively minimized the geometric mean titer (GMT) difference between the live and pseudotyped virus. No. 22 showed a broader spectrum and higher neutralizing activity against all strains but failed to reduce interlaboratory variability. Thus, No. 44 was approved as a National Standard for NtAbs against XBB variants, providing a unified NtAb measurement standard for XBB variants for the first time. Moreover, No. 22 was approved as a national reference reagent for NtAbs against SARS-CoV-2, offering a broad-spectrum activity reference for current and potentially emerging variants.

Examining the impact of Co-residence with a daughter-in-law on older adult health in China: Evidence from a frailty index-based study

BackgroundThe increasing geriatric population and variation in the disease spectrum among older adults in China contribute to a growing demand for more aged adult care in Chinese society. Relevant studies have shown that living arrangements with various family members have variable impacts on the older adult's health. This study employs the Frailty Index as a unified measurement standard to assess the overall health levels, integrating the specific “in-law relationships” into the research on living arrangements and the health of older adults. MethodsThis study used data from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey 2016–2018. OLS and Quantile Regression were used to investigate the in-law relationship on older adult health and whether this impact is homogeneous across older individuals with varying infirmity levels. The study used a lag model and propensity score matching to compensate for potential endogeneity concerns. ResultsThe study found that residing with a daughter-in-law (20.22%) had a significant positive correlation with the frailty index (β=0.0088, P＜0.001), indicating that the relationship between parents-in-law and daughters-in-law can influence the health of the older adult. This impact is nonlinear and non-homogeneous for older adult people with various levels of frailty, exhibiting an approximately decreasing and then increasing U-shaped distribution, which denotes that older adult people with different health conditions have distinct demands for intergenerational care. In addition, this impact varies among older adult groups of disparate genders, urban and rural areas, and age groups. ConclusionThis study investigates the impact of “in-law relationships” within living arrangements on the health of older adults. It shows that co-residing with a daughter-in-law has adverse effects on the health of older adults. Therefore, the study suggests that when the health and economic conditions of the elderly permit, a “live-near-but-not-with” living arrangement with their children can be considered.

Cellular Mass Response to Therapy Correlates With Clinical Response for a Range of Malignancies.

Cancer patients with advanced-stage disease have poor prognosis, typically having limited options for efficacious treatment, and genomics-based therapy guidance continues to benefit only a fraction of patients. Next-generation ex vivo approaches, such as cell mass-based response testing (MRT), offer an alternative precision medicine approach for a broader population of patients with cancer, but validation of clinical feasibility and potential impact remain necessary. We evaluated the clinical feasibility and accuracy of using live-cell MRT to predict patient drug sensitivity. Using a unified measurement workflow with a 48-hour result turnaround time, samples were subjected to MRT after treatment with a panel of drugs in vitro. After completion of therapeutic course, clinical response data were correlated with MRT-based predictions of outcome. Specimens were collected from 104 patients with solid (n = 69) and hematologic (n = 35) malignancies, using tissue formats including needle biopsies, malignant fluids, bone marrow aspirates, and blood samples. Of the 81 (78%) specimens qualified for MRT, 41 (51%) patients receiving physician-selected therapies had treatments matched to MRT. MRT demonstrated high concordance with clinical responses with an odds ratio (OR) of 14.80 (P = .0003 [95% CI, 2.83 to 102.9]). This performance held for both solid and hematologic malignances with ORs of 20.67 (P = .0128 [95% CI, 1.45 to 1,375.57]) and 8.20 (P = .045 [95% CI, 0.77 to 133.56]), respectively. Overall, these results had a predictive accuracy of 80% (P = .0026 [95% CI, 65 to 91]). MRT showed highly significant correlation with clinical response to therapy. Routine clinical use is technically feasible and broadly applicable to a wide range of samples and malignancy types, supporting the need for future validation studies.

Psychometric Properties of the Subhealth Measurement Scale V1.0 for Assessing Suboptimal Health Status of Midwives: A Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study

Aim. Midwives are prone to suboptimal health status (SHS), while there is a lack of unified measurement standard of SHS for them to early detect and prevent SHS. This study aimed to evaluate validity and reliability of Subhealth Measurement Scale V1.0 (SHMS V1.0) in midwives. Design and Methods. The cross-sectional study had 842 midwives from 46 midwifery institutions in southeastern China completing the SHMS V1.0 with 39 items. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity of SHMS V1.0 were assessed. Project analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to assess construct validity. Results. SHMS V1.0 had acceptable reliability with Cronbach’s alpha and a test-retest reliability coefficient of 0.908 and 0.804, respectively. The correlation coefficients between each item and corresponding dimension and those between dimension and corresponding subscale were all greater than 0.4. The CFA supported the structure of SHMS V1.0 with strong factor loadings and excellent fit indexes in the first-order and modified second-order factor model, illustrating that SHMS V1.0 had good construct validity among midwives. The concurrent validity for SHMS V1.0 showed large correlation with FS-14, but the social subscale showed medium correlations with fatigue, inferring that SHMS V1.0 can more comprehensively reflect SHS of midwives than FS-14, especially for social health symptoms. Practice Implications. SHMS V1.0 with excellent psychometric properties can accurately and reliably evaluate the SHS of midwives. These findings of our study provide an important measurement tool and inspiration for midwives to early detect and prevent SHS.

Measuring online community culture: Scale development and validation

People use online communities for knowledge exchange. To uncover the motivations behind individual's online behavior, prior research has examined the shared norms and values among community members from a cultural perspective. However, there remains a lack of unified conceptualization and measurement in this regard. I address this gap by introducing the concept of online community culture and developing a measurement scale from community member's perspective. Following the scale development paradigm, I collected data from a total of 1011 individuals across four surveys to assess the convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of the scale. As a result, I present a scale that captures two types of cultural values that are expected to be associated with community members' knowledge contributions, namely aggressive culture and supportive culture. Limitations and guidelines for future research are also discussed.

Measurement of the scale and development trend of digital economy core industries in China’s provinces

In order to measure the scale and development trend of China’s inter-provincial digital economy, this paper calculates the scale of digital economy core industries and the added value of four different categories of core industries of 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2017 based on the division standard of digital economy industries of the National Bureau of Statistics. In order to measure the results more accurately and reflect the characteristics of each province’s industrial structure, this paper uses the input-output tables of more than 100 departments of each province in 2007, 2012 and 2017 and the data of the Economic Census Yearbook to split the digital and non-digital parts of the industry. The results show that the scale of digital economy industry in the eastern region of China is the largest and the development speed is fast. The scale of digital economy in the central region is relatively small, but the development speed is the fastest. The western and northeastern regions have the smallest digital economies and the slowest growth rates. In addition, among the four major industries, the digital economy application industry and digital product manufacturing industry account for the largest proportion, and the digital product service industry accounts for the smallest proportion. The research results of this paper can provide reference for establishing a national unified digital economy core industry measurement system and improving digital industry related data collection.

Embedded open platform communications unified architecture server-based online error motion measurement system

Embedded open platform communications unified architecture server-based online error motion measurement system

A Unified Full-Field Deformation Measurement Approach for Plates With Different Thickness

A Unified Full-Field Deformation Measurement Approach for Plates With Different Thickness

Solid-phase fluorescence: Reproducibility and comparison with the solution states

Solid-phase fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (SPF-EEM) spectroscopy has potential for non-extractive, non-destructive, and non-contact analytical measurements of powder and solid-state samples, as well as front-face EEM spectroscopy for suspensions of high optical density. However, as there is no unified measurement method for SPF spectroscopy, comparing samples measured in different research fields is difficult. Therefore, this study designs a cell that can be created by a 3D printer and examines reproducibility on measuring fluorescent powders. The developed cell is applied to proteins (ovalbumin, BSA, gliadin, gluten, powdered collagen, casein), amino acids (tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine), soybean ingredients (daidzein, and genistein), and fluorescent chemicals (rhodamine B, fluorescein sodium salt, pyrene, and quinine sulfate dihydrate) and their spectra are compared with those in the solution states. When samples are refilled into the cell three times, the cell exhibits high reproducibility in terms of fluorescence peak wavelength and intensity. The solid proteins exhibit peaks attributed to the fluorescent amino acid residues, and broad peaks which are not detected for the proteins in the solution states. Powdered rhodamine B and fluorescein sodium salt do not exhibit fluorescence, possibly due to the inner-filter effect (IFE). Some non-colored molecules also exhibit loss of fluorescence or a remarkable difference between the solid and solution states, possibly due to the interaction of the fluorescent structure with the surrounding local environment, similar to the solvent effect, which is possibly affected by the molecular proximity, three-dimensional structure, and moisture absorption capacity.

Posture planning method for complex feature measurement using a single-line laser scanner

A single-line laser scanner is commonly utilized for measuring complex surfaces and contours. However, achieving automatic implementation of this scanner poses challenges in terms of designing a measurement posture that considers measurement accuracy, path planning, and the positioning of auxiliary equipment. This ensures non-interference during the measurement process. In this study, we focus on the application of T-SCAN. First, we construct a measurement posture parameter model for T-SCAN and analyze the viewpoint position’s coverage of the measurement area. Second, we propose a measurement path planning method based on scanning posture to minimize overlapping areas. Lastly, we present a measurement station planning method based on scanning postures and analyze the transfer error of the measurement targets to establish a unified measurement field. Experimental results demonstrate that, after the posture adjustment process, the average distance deviation between the measurement data and the theoretical model is significantly reduced.

BIGOWL4DQ: Ontology-driven approach for Big Data quality meta-modelling, selection and reasoning

Context:Data quality should be at the core of many Artificial Intelligence initiatives from the very first moment in which data is required for a successful analysis. Measurement and evaluation of the level of quality are crucial to determining whether data can be used for the tasks at hand. Conscientious of this importance, industry and academia have proposed several data quality measurements and assessment frameworks over the last two decades. Unfortunately, there is no common and shared vocabulary for data quality terms. Thus, it is difficult and time-consuming to integrate data quality analysis within a (Big) Data workflow for performing Artificial Intelligence tasks. One of the main reasons is that, except for a reduced number of proposals, the presented vocabularies are neither machine-readable nor processable, needing human processing to be incorporated. Objective:This paper proposes a unified data quality measurement and assessment information model. This model can be used in different environments and contexts to describe data quality measurement and evaluation concerns. Method:The model has been developed as an ontology to make it interoperable and machine-readable. For better interoperability and applicability, this ontology, BIGOWL4DQ, has been developed as an extension of a previously developed ontology for describing knowledge management in Big Data analytics. Conclusions:This extended ontology provides a data quality measurement and assessment framework required when designing Artificial Intelligence workflows and integrated reasoning capacities. Thus, BIGOWL4DQ can be used to describe Big Data analysis and assess the data quality before the analysis. Result:Our proposal has been validated with two use cases. First, the semantic proposal has been assessed using an academic use case. And second, a real-world case study within an Artificial Intelligence workflow has been conducted to endorse our work.

Evaluating construction contractors in the pre-tendering stage through an integrated based model

There are different studies has introduced different methods and techniques to improve the performance and to reduce the delays in delivering construction projects. The selection of qualified contractors has a crucial importance which ensures delivering projects within the required time, quality, and cost. There are different national classification systems for contractors which are based on some similar and different criteria. This paper aims to develop a new model that helps in evaluating contractors in pre-tendering stage. The establishment of this model starts by listing 39 different criteria that are extracted from previous related studies. Then, 9 experts conducted a pairwise comparisons of those criteria using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) which resulted in 10 important criteria that should be used in evaluating construction contractors in pre-tendering stage. Those 10 criteria were then evaluated by 21 specialized mangers in different contract departments to get the weight of each criterion using Multi Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) which converts those different criteria that have different attributes dimensions to one unified measurement scale identified as the multi-attribute “utility”. At the end, the selection criteria are evaluated using numerical and nominal scale to calculate the final score using the weights of those criteria which will allocate the contractors that can go to the tendering stage. As this model introduces a method for evaluating contractors before tendering stage, it also allows the clients or owners redefine the selection criteria and to decide the minimum result to allow contractors to move to the tendering stage. So, this model will help decision makers to ensure that the contractor’s characteristics and capabilities meet the requirements of the allocated project. Effective and objective qualification processes will serve both parties, owners, and contractors, in delivering construction projects. The criteria of this model are established based on the requirements of the construction industry in Saudi Arabia.

Analysis of unified galaxy power spectrum multipole measurements

ABSTRACTWe present a series of full-shape analyses of galaxy power spectrum multipole measurements from the 6dFGS, BOSS, and eBOSS galaxy surveys. We use an emulated effective field theory of large-scale structure (EFTofLSS) model to conduct these analyses. We exploit the accelerated prediction speed of the neural-network-based emulator to explore various analysis setups for our cosmological inference pipeline. Via a set of mock full-shape analyses of synthetic power spectrum multipoles, designed to approximate measurements from the surveys above, we demonstrate that the use of alternative priors on nuisance parameters and restricted model complexity reduces many of the biases previously observed in marginalized cosmological constraints coming from EFTofLSS analyses. The alternative priors take the form of a Jeffreys prior; a non-informative prior that can mitigate against biases induced by marginalizing over poorly constrained nuisance parameters. When performing a joint analysis of all synthetic multipoles, we see an improvement in the level of agreement between the marginalized ln (1010As) constraints and the truth; from ∼2.0σ to ∼0.42σ. Using our pipeline to analyse the measured multipoles, we find an improvement in the level of agreement with cosmic microwave background (CMB) results; from ∼2.4σ to ∼0.5σ. Therefore, we conclude that the spectroscopic galaxy survey data sets listed above are consistent with constraints obtained from the CMB.