Etics

This paper studies the Lyapunov stability of nonlinear systems and the synchronization of complex neural networks in the framework of event-triggered delayed impulsive control (ETDIC), where the effect of time delays in impulses is fully considered. Based on the Lyapunov-based event-triggered mechanism (ETM), some sufficient conditions are presented to avoid Zeno behavior and achieve globally asymptotical stability of the addressed system. In the framework of event-triggered impulse control (ETIC), control input is only generated at state-dependent triggered instants and there is no any control input during two consecutive triggered impulse instants, which can greatly reduce resource consumption and control waste...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a global human rights violation of vast proportions and a severe public health problem. Despite high rates of adverse outcomes related to IPV, help-seeking and service utilization among survivors is low. This exploratory sequential mixed-methods study using a combined etic-emic approach describes the validation of the Icelandic Barriers to Help-Seeking for Trauma (BHS-TR) scale. The qualitative phase involved developing new items based on the experiences of 17 Icelandic IPV survivors, identifying barriers including beliefs that help-seeking is a sign of weakness, and the desire to safeguard oneself from re-traumatization...

Basic factors affecting the appearance of algae discoloration on the surface of the system are recognized effects of the external environment (external temperature and humidity, short- and long-term radiation, precipitation, wind and air pollution). Internal factors are often neglected by international technical documents on the evaluation of the effectiveness of resistance to biocorrosion of the External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS). Based on literature data and in situ research, the basic internal factors responsible for the occurrence or intensification of the biocorrosion process were systematized...

This paper proposes a novel and innovative methodology to assess the degree of Circularity in one of the most resource-consuming and impactful economic activities: the building construction and/or renovation works. The proposed approach measures the ratio of circular flows in three aspects: energy, water and materials consumption; and combines them with the measure of social added value and economic value of the entire activity along its life cycle, regardless of being a new building construction or a major renovation work...

Temperament/personality research has been largely based on an imposed-etic strategy: Self-report temperament/personality inventories created in and reflecting American culture were tacitly assumed to apply in other countries and cultures. Correspondingly, invariance tests on the underlying phenomena and their associated constructs have been rarely applied in cross-cultural studies and in those instances unsuccessfully. To explore this oversight, we investigated whether a western-based anxious shyness measure was equivalent across eastern-western cultures (Chinese, n = 816, 47...

This paper investigates the problem of rapid exponential stabilization for linear Lotka-McKendrick's equation. Based on a new event-triggered impulsive control (ETIC) method, an impulsive control is designed to solve the rapid exponential stabilization of the dynamic population Lotka-McKendrick's equation. The effectiveness of our control is verified through a numerical example.

In Korea, mask-wearing behavior (MWB) has become the "new normal" to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This study aimed to explore the cultural factors affecting MWB in Korea and identify the health value of culture hidden behind the collective preventive actions of Koreans through etic (external, general) and emic (internal, indigenous) cultural approaches. We conducted a survey (N = 720) to measure MWB perception based on its necessity and actual MWB, with an individual-level analysis of vertical and horizontal collectivism-individualism and we-ness...

OBJECTIVE: This qualitative research examines how transgender and gender nonbinary (T/GNB) persons from South Carolina navigate informational barriers within healthcare systems. This navigation can be described through the lens of information practices, or how T/GNB participants create, seek, use, and share information to achieve desired healthcare outcomes. Special focus is given to the roles of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in shaping these practices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research utilizes participant data from semistructured interviews and focus groups conducted with 26 T/GNB individuals focusing on their health information practices...

BACKGROUND: Ecological disasters create dramatic changes as man-made and natural ecosystems adapt to their effects. In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and María devastated Puerto Rico. Public focus after such traumatic ecological events often neglects pre-existing community dynamics, heterogeneity of lived experience, and complexity of decision-making in the disaster context. We intended to better understand the lived experience of this ecological trauma in communities across ecosystems in Puerto Rico and among those displaced to Florida...

PURPOSE: To evaluate obstetric outcome in women with endometriosis who conceive naturally and receive standard obstetric care in Italy. METHODS: Cases were consecutive women with endometriosis managed in eleven Italian referral centers. Controls were women in whom endometriosis was excluded. All women filled in a questionnaire addressing previous natural pregnancies. Marginal logistic regression models were fitted to evaluate the impact of endometriosis on obstetric outcome...

Music's ability to stimulate the emotions has long been fundamental to the aesthetics and reception of India's elite rāga -based traditions. These emotions are generally studied aesthetically through the lens of ' rasa ': the Sanskrit theory that proposes the musician's role is to stimulate one of nine distilled emotional essences ( rasa s) that is 'tasted' by the audience. But here I ask the inverse question: what emotions arose when historical listeners were threatened with the loss of that crucial source of emotional stimulus; and how were those negative emotions expressed through historical texts? In this paper, I consider the Hayy al-Arwāh , a music treatise and tazkira (biographical collection) written by an ex-Mughal official from Delhi living in exile in Patna c...

Many thermal indices (TIs) have been developed to quantify the severity of heat stress in dairy cows. Systematic evaluation of the representative TIs is still lacking, which may cause potential misapplication. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the theoretical and actual performance of the TIs in a temperate climate. The data were collected in freestall barns at a commercial dairy farm. The heat transfer characteristics of the TIs were examined by equivalent air temperature change (ΔTeq). One-way ANOVA and correlation were used to test the relationships between the TIs and the animal-based indicators (i...

A careful look at the international development of Sociology highlights the centrality that the study of social problems and the approach to possible solutions to them have had in the history of this discipline, not infrequently for the sake of better social integration, stability, development, social change or even modernity. Recent approaches suggest shifting this focus of attention, arguing about the deficit in sociological research and practice concerning theor etical frameworks that pay attention to the positive aspects...

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are extensively prescribed in daily clinical practice. NSAIDs are the main cause of drug hypersensitivity reactions all over the world. The inhibition of cyclooxygenase enzymes by NSAIDs can perpetuate arachidonic acid metabolism, shunting to the 5-lipoxygenase pathway and its downstream inflammatory process. Clinical phenotypes of NSAID hypersensitivity are diverse and can be classified into cross-reactive or selective responses. Efforts have been made to understand pathogenic mechanisms, in which, genetic and epigenetic backgrounds are implicated in various processes of NSAID-induced hypersensitivity reactions...

OBJECTIVE: Research has established religion and spirituality as important resources for Black people in the U.S. coping with adversity. Most research has been from an etic perspective, examining religious variables that are valid across multiple religions. In the present study, we asked what emic aspects of the Black church's practices and theological emphases women with cancer drew on in constructing meaning-making narratives from their cancer experience. METHOD: In this consensual qualitative research study, we interviewed 30 Black women with cancer histories with an average age of 64...

Personality assessments are frequently used to make decisions and predictions, creating a demand for assessments that are non-discriminatory. South African legislation requires psychological tests to be scientifically proven to be valid, reliable, fair and non-biased. In response to the necessity for a measure sensitive to indigenous differences, South African and Dutch researchers developed the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI). The SAPI represents a theoretical model of personality that uses an indigenous (emic) and universal (etic) approach to capture South Africa's rich multicultural and multilingual view of personhood...

This paper aims to provide a preliminary assessment of polyurethane adhesive applicability as an alternative to conventional cement-based adhesives used to fix thermal insulation materials to substrates concerning mineral wool-based external thermal insulation composite systems. Currently, polyurethane adhesives are only used in expanded polystyrene-based ETICS. This study discusses the suitability of polyurethane adhesive for ETICS with lamella mineral-wool for timber frame buildings. Bond strength, shear strength and shear modulus tests were conducted...

This article studies the event-triggered impulsive control (ETIC) with constraints for the stabilization of switched stochastic systems (SSSs). An ETIC scheme with constraints is proposed for SSS by designing two levels of events via three indices: 1) a threshold value; 2) a control-free index; and 3) a check period. It is also constrained via a constraint index. Based on the activation probabilities and transition probabilities of subsystems, the stabilizations in terms of the pth moment exponential stability and almost exponential stability are achieved, respectively, by the ETIC with constraints...

This article outlines how the historical human sciences see 'culture' and its dynamic developments over time and over generations. The operations of human culture are systemically self-reflexive and, as a result, exhibit a complexity that sets them apart, as a semiotic system, from mere communicative information transfer. Peculiar to this complexity is the two-way interaction between the 'etic' substance of the cultural exchanges and their 'emic' function. Cultural signals require parallel etic/emic processing at stacked levels of complexity...

The conceptualisation of 'good' medical education research as hypothesis testing to identify universal truths that are generalisable across contexts has been challenged. Joining this conversation, the field of health professions education research is complex and contextual and there are ways of examining and reporting locally based activities and innovations, which can be of general value. This position leads to a focus on case study research (CSR), inquiry bound in time and place that generates thick descriptions and close interpretations to reach explanations...