Country-case studies examining the relation between curricular tracking (ability sorting) in secondary education and civic and political engagement (CPE) have led to mixed findings. This calls for a ...comparative approach. Thus far, as a result of the available data, comparative studies examining the effect of curricular tracking on civic engagement have been cross-sectional in nature. In this paper, we introduce a longitudinal approach by drawing from two cross-sectional surveys with identical CPE measures for the same birth cohort before and after tracking (CIVED 1999, ISSP 2004 and EVS 2008). We examine the relation between the duration of curricular tracking and the development of CPE between the age of 14 and young adulthood in 25 countries. The results show that a longer tracked curriculum is negatively related to the development of civic and political engagement, particularly at the lower part of the distribution. Moreover, we find that the negative relation between length of the tracked curriculum and CPE is mediated by enrolment rates for higher education. This result suggests that tracking does not directly negatively affect civic and political engagement, but does so because it is associated with reduced participation in higher education.
Our aim was to systematically investigate the efficacy of Tanreqing (TRQ) injection on in-hospital outcomes among inpatients with frequent or infrequent AECOPD.
In this ongoing, nationwide ...multicenter registry designed to investigate clinical characteristics, management, and prognoses of Chinese patients admitted for AECOPD in real-world settings, we collected characteristics, comorbidities, in-hospital prognoses, and information on the COPD assessment test (CAT) questionnaire, PEACE questionnaire, and modified British Medical Research Council (mMRC) questionnaire from each enrolled patient. Frequent AECOPD was determined as being admitted to the hospital ≥1 time or visiting the emergency room (ER) ≥ 2 times due to AECOPD within a year. A propensity match method and univariable and multivariable regression models were performed to analyze the efficacy of TRQ on clinical outcomes for inpatients with frequent AECOPD.
A total of 4135 inpatients were involved in the analysis, including 868 administered with TRQ and 3267 not administered with TRQ. After propensity score match, among those administered with TRQ, 493 had frequent AECOPD and 358 had infrequent AECOPD. A significant reduction of CAT score at discharge (TRQ median 12, IQR 8.0-16.0; non-TRQ median 13, IQR 9.0-18.0,
= 0.0297), a lower rate of ICU admission (TRQ 0.8% vs. non-TRQ 2.6%,
= 0.0191), and a shorter length of stay (LOS) (TRQ median 11, IQR 9.0-14.0; non-TRQ median 11, IQR 8.0-14.0,
= 0.004) were observed in the TRQ group, compared with the non-TRQ group among frequent AECOPD patients. In the subgroup analysis, for those with a PEACE score >7 on admission, TRQ contributed to a significantly lower CAT score at discharge (
= 0.0084) and a numerically lower ICU admission rate with a marginal statistical significance. Among those with phlegm-heat symptom complex on admission ≥2, a lower CAT score at discharge and a lower ICU admission were also observed in the TRQ group.
TRQ injection had better efficacy in patients with frequent AECOPD in reducing ICU admission and alleviating respiratory symptoms, especially for those with higher severity on admission or more phlegm-heat symptoms.
For two decades, EEG-based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems have been widely studied in research labs. Now, researchers want to consider out-of-the-lab applications and make this technology ...available to everybody. However, medical-grade EEG recording devices are still much too expensive for end-users, especially disabled people. Therefore, several low-cost alternatives have appeared on the market. The Emotiv Epoc headset is one of them. Although some previous work showed this device could suit the customer's needs in terms of performance, no quantitative classification-based assessments compared to a medical system are available.
This paper aims at statistically comparing a medical-grade system, the ANT device, and the Emotiv Epoc headset by determining their respective performances in a P300 BCI using the same electrodes. On top of that, a review of previous Emotiv studies and a discussion on practical considerations regarding both systems are proposed. Nine healthy subjects participated in this experiment during which the ANT and the Emotiv systems are used in two different conditions: sitting on a chair and walking on a treadmill at constant speed.
The Emotiv headset performs significantly worse than the medical device; observed effect sizes vary from medium to large. The Emotiv headset has higher relative operational and maintenance costs than its medical-grade competitor.
Although this low-cost headset is able to record EEG data in a satisfying manner, it should only be chosen for non critical applications such as games, communication systems, etc. For rehabilitation or prosthesis control, this lack of reliability may lead to serious consequences. For research purposes, the medical system should be chosen except if a lot of trials are available or when the Signal-to-Noise Ratio is high. This also suggests that the design of a specific low-cost EEG recording system for critical applications and research is still required.
Flight costs play an important role in determining the behavior, ecology, and physiology of birds and bats. Mechanical flight costs can be estimated from aerodynamics. However, measured metabolic ...flight costs (oxygen consumption rate) are less accurately predicted by flight theory, either because of (1) variation in flight efficiency across species, (2) variation in how basal costs interact with flight costs or (3) methodological biases. To tease apart these three hypotheses, we conducted a phylogenetically-controlled meta-analysis based on data from birds and bats. Birds doing short flights in a lab had higher metabolic rates than those with sustained flapping flight. In turn, species that used sustained flapping flight had a higher metabolic rate than those that flew primarily via gliding. Models accounting for relatedness (phylogeny) explained the data better than those that did not, which is congruent with the idea that several different flight Bauplans have evolved within birds and bats. Focusing on species with sustained flapping flight, for which more data are currently available, we found that flight cost estimates were not affected by measurement methods in both birds and bats. However, efficiency increased with body mass and decreased with flight speed in both birds and bats. Basal metabolic rate was additive to flight metabolic rate in bats but not birds. We use these results to derive an equation for estimating metabolic flight costs of birds and bats that includes variation in whole animal efficiency with flight speed and body mass.
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•Flight is the most energetically demanding form of locomotion.•We completed a phylogenetically-informed meta-analysis of flight costs in birds and bats.•Based on our analysis, we provide an equation for calculating flight costs in a wild bird or bat.
This paper reports findings of a qualitative study that compared the implementation of teaching practicum for primary school teachers in China, Cambodia and Malawi. The study used semi-structured ...interviews and document analysis. Data sources included policy documents, interviews and literature. The systems theory was employed to make explicit the implementation of teaching practicum, including processes and challenges. Findings show different approaches of teaching practicum in the three countries determined by different environmental expectations, all emphasizing providing student teachers with diverse learning experiences. The study also sheds light on some of the challenges of teaching practicum. These findings underpin the importance of local school authorities in ensuring effective teaching practicum.
The thermal energy enhancement in industries is an important problem today. The daily life application of nanofluid technology has changed the view by increasing heat transfer coefficient, reduction ...in skin friction, and decreasing production cost. This article focuses on the conventional flow of multi-based nanofluids over the vertical rotating cone, along with heat transfer attributes. Synthetic Ester (SE) and Natural Ester (NE) are used as the base fluids, phenomena of allotrope have been utilized for base fluid to create different combinations of nanofluids such as Ag-NE, Ag-SE, Cu-O-NE, and Cu-O-SE. The flow is induced by cone angular velocity that is dependent on time. The similarity assembly is employed to transform the highly non-linear partial differential equations into non-dimensional partial differential equations. The solution is obtained utilizing the BVP-4c technique in MATLAB, the tolerance for the numerical solution is kept 10−06. The graphical outcomes of velocity profiles and temperature are presented, heat transfer coefficients for different nanofluids have been observed and compared also presented in the tabulated data set. This study recommends more frequent exploitation of Ag-NE and Ag-SE nanofluids, these nanofluids have higher heat transfers as compared to others explored in the examination.
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruptions to global industries, with the textile sector in South Asia being particularly hard hit. While previous studies have focused on the ...performance of textile sectors in individual countries, there is a gap in the literature on the comparative impact of the pandemic on the textile industry in South Asian nations. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the performance of the textile sector in South Asian countries and identifying best practices for overcoming the pandemic’s adverse effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a comparative approach, this study analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of the textile sector in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
Findings
Our findings reveal that COVID-19 significantly negatively impacts the textile industry in Pakistan and India. However, Bangladesh has shown effective practices to support the textile industry and mitigate the pandemic’s adverse effects.
Practical implications
The findings of this study hold considerable implications for legislators, leaders, investors and supply chain management professionals operating within the South Asian textile sector. This research has the potential to inform policymakers in formulating strategies to facilitate the textile sector’s resilience during emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originality/value
This paper provides significant theoretical additions to the current body of literature regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the textile sector in South Asia. The research uses the global value chain (GVC) theory as a theoretical framework to enhance understanding of the impact of global supply chains and interdependencies on the textile sector in the region.
The adaptive reuse of cultural heritage can contribute to sustainable development and circular economy, preventing waste production and resource depletion by extending the heritage lifespan. This ...reuse is limited by challenges mostly identified at the case study level. However, further theorising these challenges could enrich the related body of knowledge and contribute to their mitigation. By defining a theoretical framework, this research builds on the cross-sectional analysis of adaptive reuse undertaken in three European cities: Amsterdam, Rijeka, and Salerno. The challenges were identified by representatives of the public, private, knowledge, and non-profit sectors through stakeholder engagement workshops. Examples of challenges common to the three cities are shortcomings in existing approaches; lack of awareness and capacity; cultural heritage interpretation and management; data management; costs; conflicting interests; lack of knowledge; lack of participatory processes; and compliance with regulations and policies. Being identified in diverse European cities, these challenges can be representative within the European region. Arguably, some of these challenges also apply to other regions since they were reported in case studies from Asia, North America, and Oceania. Addressing these challenges could contribute to sustainable development by potentially contributing towards efforts to achieve ten of the Sustainable Development Goals, as some challenges align with some of these goals.
•Some challenges of heritage adaptive reuse are common to some European cities.•Challenges common to the European cities compared might likely apply to other regions.•Addressing the challenges aligning with Sustainable Development Goals can contribute to sustainable development.
A comparative study was conducted to evaluate the temperature-sensitive mechanical properties of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites in the longitudinal and transverse directions. GFRP ...coupons with different shear span-to-depth ratios were tested under three-point static bending test at temperatures ranging from room temperature up to 200°C. Timoshenko Beam Theory-based procedure was then adopted to calculate the flexural and shear moduli of the GFRP laminates under moderate and elevated in-service temperatures. The results showed that the mechanical properties of the transversely cut specimens is affected more by the increase in temperature than the longitudinally cut specimens. Similarly, the interlaminar shear and flexural strengths of GFRP composites were found influenced more by elevated temperature compared to the stiffness properties. Moreover, the shear modulus undergone more severe degradation compared to the flexural modulus. Simplified empirical models were proposed to estimate the mechanical properties of the GFRP pultruded laminates in both the longitudinal and transverse directions at varying temperatures.
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