Bowling Green State University

Approximately 15% of the world’s population have a disability—and nearly 4 out of 5 live in the Global South. However, disability is seldom mentioned in global health and international development research. People with disability experience attitudinal and environmental barriers that limit their social inclusion. Due to different cultural perspectives and institutional capacities worldwide, people with disability experience various social conditions. In many settings, moralized beliefs toward disability assume one’s value, while medicalized beliefs are influenced by biomedical infrastructure. We develop a theoretical framework that cross-arrays these moral and medical dimensions to argue different framings of disability present varied opportunities for social inclusion. As a demonstration of this framework, we use data from the Accelerating Core Competencies for Effective Wheelchair Service and Support (ACCESS) Project (2014–2017) (n=6601) to analyze social inclusion differences in India, Kenya, and Nicaragua. We found that Nicaragua reported the highest count of social inclusion, followed by Kenya and India, respectively. These findings support our theoretical framework, respectively, which suggests there are three unique disability regimes—moral regime, integrative regime, and civic regime. We conclude that disability in the Global South is more complex than the Western perspective that emphasizes a unidimensional moral-to medical-to-social model continuum.

This paper presents an integrated production-inventory model for a two-level supply chain involving multiple vendors and buyers. The objective is to achieve a green and sustainable supply chain by considering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from production and transportation, along with a penalty scheme. The objective is to minimize the joint total cost of the supply chain and the GHG emissions by determining optimal delivery schedules and production lot sizes. To address this problem, the paper formulates it as an integer nonlinear programming model. Two metaheuristics, namely, the non-linear threshold algorithm and the simulated annealing method, are proposed to find pre-optimal solutions. Experimental comparisons are conducted with a non-commercial solver used for mixed integer nonlinear programming. The results demonstrate that the non-linear threshold algorithm outperforms simulated annealing significantly. Moreover, the findings highlight the significance of considering the cost of GHG emissions when optimizing the total cost in a scenario involving multiple vendors and buyers. Overall, this research emphasizes the importance of integrating environmental considerations into supply chain optimization and provides insights into the performance of different algorithms for addressing such challenging problems.

School counselors need to be intentional about implementing a comprehensive school counseling program, which will often include planning and teaching classroom lessons on topics connected to academic skills, career planning, and social/emotional learning. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a scientifically valid framework for providing access to curriculum for all students; it may facilitate school counselors’ use of evidence-based instruction to reduce barriers to learning for students with diverse learning needs. This article introduces school counselors to the UDL principles and demonstrates UDL-aligned instructional strategies in two school counselor-created classroom lessons: one elementary and one secondary. Practicing school counselors can use this information to examine lessons for potential barriers in order to better craft instruction. Counselor educators can use this information to guide school counseling students to write universally designed lessons to meet the challenge of creating a comprehensive school counseling program.

This poem represents the qualitative findings from a study on transgender individual’s relationship to fashion. Eight transgender young adults were interviewed about their gender identity and presentation, as well as their use of clothing and fashion style to represent themselves. Within these interviews, all participants shared the pleasures and power they derive from their transgender identities. Using direct quotes, and intentionally arranging phrases and stories found within the interview transcripts, the authors created this found poem. A research poem was chosen to best represent this data as it allows the participants to maintain their power using their voices directly to more authentically represent their pleasures and joys in their identities. Themes that emerged, and are represented by the six color groups of stanzas, which include making connections to others and the queer community (red); gaining a unique perspective of the world (orange); finding opportunities and enjoying fluidity (yellow); enhancing pleasure in the body and physical representation of gender (green); creating power in visibility and representation (blue); and embracing the delight and freedom in a trans identity (purple).

Heterocycles and barbituric acid analogs are particularly used in developing and designing new drugs because of their versatile binding properties for different biotargets. They are present in many natural compounds, vitamins, drugs, and biologically active molecules such as anticancer, antibiotic, antidiabetic, anti‐inflammatory, antidepressant, anti‐HIV, antimicrobial, and insecticidal agents. Using co‐friendly techniques under nanocatalyst conditions drives the synthesis of these bioactive compounds toward green chemistry. This review will investigate the nanocatalysts, including magnetic nanocatalysts, nano metal‐based catalysts, organo‐nanocatalysts, and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) nanocatalysts employed in the synthesis and design of heterocyclic compounds by barbituric acids from 2017 to 2022. image

We use quantum-classical trajectories to investigate the origin of the different photoisomerization quantum efficiency observed in the dim-light visual pigment Rhodopsin and in the light-driven biomimetic molecular rotor para-methoxy N-methyl indanylidene-pyrrolinium (MeO-NAIP) in methanol. The results reveal that effective light-energy conversion requires, in general, an auxiliary molecular vibration (called promoter) that does not correspond to the rotary motion but synchronizes with it at specific times. They also reveal that Nature has designed Rhodopsin to exploit two mechanisms working in a vibrationally coherent regime. The first uses a wag promoter to ensure that ca. 75% of the absorbed photons lead to unidirectional rotations. The second mechanism ensures that the same process is fast enough to avoid directional randomization. It is found that MeO-NAIP in methanol is incapable of exploiting the above mechanisms resulting into a 50% quantum efficiency loss. However, when the solvent is removed, MeO-NAIP rotation is predicted to synchronize with a ring-inversion promoter leading to a 30% increase in quantum efficiency and, therefore, biomimetic behavior.

Despite a growing interest in environmentally sustainable practices, consumers continue to prioritize taste, quality, and price above environmental concerns when purchasing food products. Previous studies have shown that environmental claims or messages may not uniformly enhance product perceptions. This research examines strategic approaches to framing substantively identical environmental benefit claims differently across product types to enhance consumers' sensory and quality evaluations as well as their willingness‐to‐pay for sustainable foods. Results from two experiments show that consumers' assessments of sustainable utilitarian and hedonic food products can be enhanced if environmental claims are strategically framed in accordance with the nature of product types. The alignment of utilitarian food products with an environment‐focus frame that emphasizes environmental benefits and hedonic food products with a self‐focus frame that stresses the personal relevance of these protections and benefits can enhance consumers' experienced tastiness, quality evaluations, and willingness‐to‐pay for sustainable foods.

We assess a recent SEC initiative that suspends inactive shell companies from trading in over-the-counter (OTC) stock markets. Critics argue these suspensions do little to reduce fraud in OTC markets because they simply redirect fraudsters’ efforts to other OTC targets. Building on research that finds regulatory intervention among exchange-listed firms often produces positive spillovers, we test whether shell company suspensions are associated with fraud deterrence among other OTC firms operating within the same regulatory jurisdiction as the suspended firm. We find that the SEC’s shell company suspensions are associated with a significant reduction in fraud among peer firms, particularly over short horizons. We find that “reactive” trading suspensions—those that are an explicit response to alleged cases of wrongdoing—also have significant fraud deterrence effects. Overall, our results suggest that regulatory spillover effects previously documented in highly regulated markets also exist in a market characterized by relatively low regulation and disclosure.

In this study, discrete event time-variant parameter of a lumped SISO dynamical system is obtained for a novel energy harvester. The harvester utilizes the resonance vibration of a coupled fluid-mechanic system, which is comprised of a reciprocating-piston, a tunable oscillator and twin electric turbine generators. The system model is simplified by an underdamped spring-mass-damper with tunable parameters subjected to periodic or arbitrary impulse forces. We developed a method that solves general problems underlining non-homogenous ordinary second order differential equation with discrete event time-variant parameters. The method uses the superposition to compile the general solution by segmenting the problem into ODE equations with constant coefficient. Each segment corresponds to a change in system, and it is solved analytically with recursively updated initial conditions. We utilized this method to tune the system’s natural frequency such that the accumulated energy is maximum within desired time range. We obtained the general solution of the displacement response due to varying parameters and input impulse force. We obtained the displacement peaks and their time of occurrence that could help understand the structural design limitation. We showed system displacement responses (constructive and destructive) corresponding to various impulse repetition patterns. We derived the relationship between energy, volume displacement, and volumetric flow rate (or piston velocity) and provided illustrative case studies. One finding shows that for a given impulse condition the accumulative energy exhibits local maximum and minimum within a narrow band of natural frequency range. The simulations showed the feasibility of generating considerable power from electric turbine when the air flow is driven by a resonating piston.

Spatial ability, a critical dimension of human cognition, represents the ability to gather, perceive, and manipulate spatial information to create an accurate and complete mental representation of spatial environments. Previous studies have examined spatial ability in normal spatial conditions of the earth. However, emerging technologies and increasing exploration of hard-to-reach locations are transforming future workplaces into environments with altered visuospatial conditions, which may pose serious challenges to workers’ productivity and safety. One such condition is the misalignment of idiotropic and visual axes that may exist in microgravity during space explorations or underwater during deep-sea explorations. In this study, we investigate whether and to what extent misaligned idiotropic and visual axes influence spatial ability. The misalignment was simulated in Virtual Reality (VR) with three conditions: aligned (control group), misaligned (experiment group I), and dynamically misaligned (experiment group II) idiotropic and visual axes. The spatial ability of 99 participants was measured through spatial visualization, relations, and orientation abilities using the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Rotations (PSVTR), Mental Cutting Test (MCT), and Perspective-Taking Ability (PTA) test, respectively. For the MCT and PTA tests, the results show no significant differences in response accuracy among the three conditions. The PSVTR test results reflect a statistically significant difference in accuracy among the groups. The three groups did not have significantly different response times for the three tests. The results suggest that the misalignment of the body and visual axes may influence spatial visualization, but may not impact spatial relations or orientation.

Background In patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) and concomitant severe coronary artery disease (CAD), the relative merits of a combined percutaneous (transcatheter aortic valve implantation [TAVI] and percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI]] versus surgical approach (surgical aortic valve replacement [SAVR] and coronary artery bypass graft [CABG]) remain unknown. Aims To determine the utility of combined percutaneous versus surgical approaches in patients with severe AS and CAD. Methods The National Readmission Database (NRD) (2015–2019) was queried to identify all cases of TAVI+PCI and SAVR+CABG. The adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of mortality, stroke, and its composite (major adverse cardiovascular events [MACE]) were calculated using a propensity‐score matched (PSM) analysis. Results A total of 89,314 (5358 TAVI+PCI, 83,956 SAVR+CABG) patients were included in the crude analysis. There was a gradual increase in the utilization of TAVI+PCI from 2016 to 2019 by 2%–4% per year. Using PSM, a subset of 11,361 (5358 TAVI+PCI, 6003 SAVR+CABG) patients with a balanced set of demographics and baseline comorbidities was selected. During index hospitalization, the adjusted odds of MACE (aOR 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.62–0.83), and all‐cause mortality (aOR 0.68, 95% CI 0.57–0.81) were significantly lower in patients undergoing TAVI+PCI compared with SAVR+CABG. However, patients undergoing TAVI+PCI had a higher incidence of MACE (aOR 1.40, 95% CI 1.05–1.87), and mortality (aOR 1.75, 95% CI 1.22–2.50) at 30‐days. The risk of index‐admission (aOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.62–1.09) and 30‐day (aOR 0.88, 95% CI 0.51–1.51) stroke was similar between the two groups. Conclusion In selected patients with severe AS and concomitant CAD, a combined percutaneous approach (TAVR+PCI) compared with SAVR+CABG may confer a lower risk of MACE and mortality during index admission but a higher incidence of 30‐day complications.

Body talk has received increasing research attention in recent years, with accumulating evidence supporting the link between body talk and eating and body image disturbances. However, research on body talk in China is still relatively scarce and generally focused on fat talk, especially in women, and much remains unknown about muscle talk and positive body talk for both Chinese women and men. To promote a better understanding of body talk in the Chinese context, the present study adapted the Body Talk Scale (BTS) into Chinese Mandarin (i.e., C-BTS) and evaluated the factor structure and psychometric properties of the C-BTS in Chinese adult women and men. The English version of the BTS was translated into Chinese Mandarin with standard procedures. With 300 Chinese women (Mage = 29.48 years, SD = 7.26) and 300 men (Mage = 29.36 years, SD = 6.81), we examined the factor structure and gender invariance of the C-BTS, as well as internal consistency reliability, test–retest reliability, and construct validity, including convergent, concurrent, and incremental validity of the C-BTS. The results indicated that, consistent with the development study of the BTS, the C-BTS had three subscales (i.e., Negative Fat Talk, Negative Muscle Talk, and Positive Body Talk) and good reliability and validity. The findings demonstrate that the C-BTS can be a useful measure of body talk in both Chinese women and men.

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the impact of instruction order on the speech production response when adopting higher effort speaking styles, specifically loud and clear speech. Method: Speech intensity, lip aperture range, and speech rate data were collected from 24 talkers who repeated the utterance "Buy Bobby a puppy" using habitual, clear, and loud speech. Participants were assigned in quasi-random fashion to one of two groups: a Clear-Loud Group (11 participants; order: habitual-clear-loud) or a Loud-Clear Group (13 participants; order: habitual-loud-clear). Results: Talkers in the Clear-Loud Group exhibited higher speech intensity during the loud style compared with those who performed the Loud-Clear Group. Furthermore, talkers in the Clear-Loud Group retained the increases lip aperture range and reductions in speech rate associated with the clear style when producing the loud style. Conversely, talkers in the Loud-Clear Group exhibited significant increases in lip aperture range between the habitual and loud styles and between the loud and clear styles. Additionally, the Loud-Clear Group exhibited a reduction in speech rate only during the clear style, as no differences in speech rate were observed between the habitual and loud styles. Conclusions: These findings may suggest that producing a higher effort style leads to carry-over effects in subsequent styles. Future research should investigate factors that moderate the degree of order effects for both research and clinical purposes. For instance, if generalizable, the compounding carry-over effects may prove advantageous for certain clinical populations.

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) have attracted a great deal of attention in recent decades. The quantum efficiency of many optoelectronic processes based on these nanomaterials, however, declines with increasing optical or electrical excitation intensity. This issue is caused by Auger recombination of multiple excitons, which converts the NC energy into excess heat, whereby reducing the efficiency and lifespan of NC-based devices, including lasers, photodetectors, X-ray scintillators, and high-brightness LEDs. Recently, semiconductor quantum shells (QSs) have emerged as a viable nanoscale architecture for the suppression of Auger decay. The spherical-shell geometry of these nanostructures leads to a significant reduction of Auger decay rates, while exhibiting a near unity photoluminescence quantum yield. Here, we compare the optoelectronic properties of quantum shells against other low-dimensional semiconductors and discuss their emerging opportunities in solid-state lighting and energy-harvesting applications.