Hourly Wage and the Likelihood of Stealing an Item

Researchers have extensively explored the impact of wages on individuals’ decisions to engage in property crimes. While most of these studies in the past have relied on macro-level data to investigate the relationship between crime rates and hourly wages, this paper takes a novel approach by utilizing micro-level data to examine the influence of hourly wages on the likelihood of stealing an item valued at least $50. The results obtained from the estimations reveal that an increase in hourly wage leads to a decrease in the probability of theft, all other factors being held constant. Further estimation by gender revealed that hourly wages given to both male and female have no bearing on the decision to steal. Additionally, the analysis of the differences in theft probabilities across gender and race demonstrates that males consistently exhibit a higher likelihood of engaging in theft when compared to females across various racial groups.

The Performance of Small Diameter Aluminum Light Support Structures Containing Handholes under Cyclic Fatigue

Aluminum light poles play a pivotal role in modern infrastructure, ensuring proper illumination along highways and in populated areas during nighttime. These poles typically feature handholes near their bases, providing access to electrical wiring for installation and maintenance. While essential for functionality, these handholes introduce a vulnerability to the overall structure, making them a potential failure point. Although prior research and analyses on aluminum light poles have been conducted, the behavior of smaller diameter poles containing handholes remains unexplored. Recognizing this need, a research team at the University of Akron undertook a comprehensive experimental program involving aluminum light poles with handholes containing welded inserts in order to gain a better understanding of their fatigue life, mechanical behavior, and failure mechanisms. The research involved testing seven large-scale aluminum light poles each 8-inch diameter, with two separate handholes. These handholes included a reinforcement that was welded to the poles. Finite Element Analysis (FEA), statistical analysis, and comparison analysis with their large counterparts (10-inch diameter) were used to augment the experimental results. The results revealed two distinct failure modes: progressive crack propagation leading to ultimate failure, and rupture of the pole near the weld initiation/termination site around the handhole. The comparison analysis indicated that the 8-inch diameter specimens exhibited an average fatigue life exceeding that of their 10-inch counterparts by an average of 30.7%. The experimental results were plotted alongside the fatigue detail classifications outlined in the Aluminum Design Manual (ADM), enhancing understanding of the fatigue detail category of the respective poles/handholes.

Fracture Mechanics and Its Application in the Fatigue Behavior of Reinforced Welded Hand-Holes in Aluminum Light Poles

Predicting fatigue life of a given specimen using analytical methods can sometimes be challenging. An approach worth considering for this prediction involves employing fracture mechanics. Fracture mechanics can complement both laboratory experiments and finite element analysis (FEA) in estimating fatigue life of a given specimen, if relevant. In the case of aluminum light poles containing a welded hand-hole, the fatigue life has not yet been thoroughly predicted. The University of Akron has conducted a comprehensive fatigue study on aluminum light poles through various means, albeit without of predicting of said fatigue life of the specimens. AFGROW (Air Force Growth) can be used as a fracture mechanics software to predict fatigue life. ABAQUS was used (for FEA) in conjunction with the AFGROW analysis. The purpose of this study was to ultimately predict the life of the specimens tested in the lab and was achieved with various models including hollow tube and plate models. The plate model process was ultimately found to be the best method for this prediction, yielding results that mimicked the data from the laboratory. Further application for this form of fracture mechanics analysis is still yet to be determined, but for the sake of aluminum light poles, it is possible to predict the fatigue life and utilize said prediction in the field.

An environmentally sensitive zinc-selective two-photon NIR fluorescent turn-on probe and zinc sensing in stroke

A two-photon near infrared(NIR)fluorescence turn-on sensor with high selectivity and sensitivity for Zn^(2+)detection has been developed.This sensor exhibits a large Stokes'shift(-300 nm)and can be excited from 900 to 1000 nm,with an emission wavelength of-785 nm,making it ideal for imaging in biological tissues.The sensor's high selectivity for Zn^(2+)over other structurally similar cations,such as Cd^(2+),makes it a promising tool for monitoring zinc ion levels in biological systems.Given the high concentration of zinc in thrombi,this sensor could provide a useful tool for in vivo thrombus imaging.

Microgels for Cell Delivery in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Microgels prepared from natural or synthetic hydrogel materials have aroused extensive attention as multifunctional cells or drug carriers,that are promising for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.Microgels can also be aggregated into microporous scaffolds,promoting cell infiltration and proliferation for tissue repair.This review gives an overview of recent developments in the fabrication techniques and applications of microgels.A series of conventional and novel strategies including emulsification,microfluidic,lithography,electrospray,centrifugation,gas-shearing,three-dimensional bioprinting,etc.are discussed in depth.The characteristics and applications of microgels and microgel-based scaffolds for cell culture and delivery are elaborated with an emphasis on the advantages of these carriers in cell therapy.Additionally,we expound on the ongoing and foreseeable applications and current limitations of microgels and their aggregate in the field of biomedical engineering.Through stimulating innovative ideas,the present review paves new avenues for expanding the application of microgels in cell delivery techniques.

Phytoremediation Strategies for Heavy Metal Contamination: A Review on Sustainable Approach for Environmental Restoration

Current globalization trends and important breakthroughs globally need a complete study of heavy metal contamination, its causes, its impacts on human and environmental health, and different remediation strategies. Heavy metal pollution is mostly produced by urbanization and industry, which threatens ecosystems and human health. Herein, we discuss a sustainable environmental restoration strategy employing phytoremediation for heavy metal pollution, the carcinogenic, mutagenic, and cytotoxic effects of heavy metals such as cadmium, copper, mercury, selenium, zinc, arsenic, chromium, lead, nickel, and silver, which may be fatal. Phytoremediation, which was prioritized, uses plants to remove, accumulate, and depollute pollutants. This eco-friendly method may safely collect, accumulate, and detoxify toxins using plants, making it popular. This study covers phytostabilization, phytodegradation, rhizodegradation, phytoextraction, phytovolatilization, and rhizofiltration. A phytoremediation process’s efficiency in varied environmental circumstances depends on these components’ complex interplay. This paper also introduces developing phytoremediation approaches including microbe-assisted, chemical-assisted, and organic or bio-char use. These advancements attempt to overcome conventional phytoremediation’s limitations, such as limited suitable plant species, location problems, and sluggish remediation. Current research includes machine learning techniques and computer modeling, biostimulation, genetic engineering, bioaugmentation, and hybrid remediation. These front-line solutions show that phytoremediation research is developing towards transdisciplinary efficiency enhancement. We acknowledge phytoremediation’s promise but also its drawbacks, such as site-specific variables, biomass buildup, and sluggish remediation, as well as ongoing research to address them. In conclusion, heavy metal pollution threatens the ecology and public health and must be reduced. Phytoremediation treats heavy metal pollution in different ways. Over time, phytoremediation systems have developed unique ways that improve efficiency. Despite difficulties like site-specificity, sluggish remediation, and biomass buildup potential, phytoremediation is still a vital tool for environmental sustainability.

Real-Time Fraud Detection Using Machine Learning

Credit card fraud remains a significant challenge, with financial losses and consumer protection at stake. This study addresses the need for practical, real-time fraud detection methodologies. Using a Kaggle credit card dataset, I tackle class imbalance using the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) to enhance modeling efficiency. I compare several machine learning algorithms, including Logistic Regression, Linear Discriminant Analysis, K-nearest Neighbors, Classification and Regression Tree, Naive Bayes, Support Vector, Random Forest, XGBoost, and Light Gradient-Boosting Machine to classify transactions as fraud or genuine. Rigorous evaluation metrics, such as AUC, PRAUC, F1, KS, Recall, and Precision, identify the Random Forest as the best performer in detecting fraudulent activities. The Random Forest model successfully identifies approximately 92% of transactions scoring 90 and above as fraudulent, equating to a detection rate of over 70% for all fraudulent transactions in the test dataset. Moreover, the model captures more than half of the fraud in each bin of the test dataset. SHAP values provide model explainability, with the SHAP summary plot highlighting the global importance of individual features, such as “V12” and “V14”. SHAP force plots offer local interpretability, revealing the impact of specific features on individual predictions. This study demonstrates the potential of machine learning, particularly the Random Forest model, for real-time credit card fraud detection, offering a promising approach to mitigate financial losses and protect consumers.

General solutions of plane problem in one-dimensional quasicrystal piezoelectric materials and its application on fracture mechanics

Based on the fundamental equations of piezoelasticity of quasicrystals （QCs）, with the symmetry operations of point groups, the plane piezoelasticity theory of one- dimensional （1D） QCs with all point groups is investigated systematically. The gov- erning equations of the piezoelasticity problem for 1D QCs including monoclinic QCs, orthorhombic QCs, tetragonal QCs, and hexagonal QCs are deduced rigorously. The general solutions of the piezoelasticity problem for these QCs are derived by the opera- tor method and the complex variable function method. As an application, an antiplane crack problem is further considered by the semi-inverse method, and the closed-form so- lutions of the phonon, phason, and electric fields near the crack tip are obtained. The path-independent integral derived from the conservation integral equals the energy release rate.

FREE VIBRATION OF FUNCTIONALLY GRADED, MAGNETO-ELECTRO-ELASTIC, AND MULTILAYERED PLATES

The state-space method is employed to evaluate the modal parameters of functionally graded, magneto-electro-elastic, and multilayered plates. Based on the assumption that the properties of the functionally graded material are exponential, the state equation of structural vibration which takes the displacement and stress of the structure as state variables is derived. The natural frequencies and modal shapes are calculated based on the general solutions of the state equation and boundary conditions given in this paper. The influence of the functionally graded exponential factor on the elastic displacement, electric, and magnetic fields of the structure are discussed by assuming a sandwich plate model with different stacking sequences.

Antibacterial activities and corrosion behavior of novel PEO/nanostructured ZrO_2 coating on Mg alloy

Plasma electrolytic oxidation（PEO） was developed as a bond coat for air plasma sprayed（APS） nanostructure ZrO2 as top coat to enhance the corrosion resistance and antibacterial activity of Mg alloy. Corrosion behavior and antibacterial activities of coated and uncoated samples were assessed by electrochemical tests and agar diffusion method toward Escherichia coli（E. coli） bacterial pathogens, respectively. The lowest corrosion current density and the highest charge transfer resistance, phase angle and impedance modulus were observed for PEO/nano-ZrO2 coated sample compared with those of PEO coated and bare Mg alloys. Nano-ZrO2 top coat which has completely sealed PEO bond coat is able to considerably delay aggressive ions transportation towards Mg alloy surface and significantly enhances corrosion resistance of Mg alloy in simulated body fluid（SBF） solution. Moreover, higher antibacterial activity was also observed in PEO/nano-ZrO2 coating against bacterial strains than that of the PEO coated and bare Mg alloys. This observation was attributed to the presence of ZrO2 nanoparticles which decelerate E. coli growth as a result of E. coli membranes.

Mode-I fracture and durability of FRP-concrete bonded interfaces

In this study, a work-of-fracture method using a three-point bend beam （3PBB） specimen, which is commonly used to determine the fracture energy of concrete, was adapted to evaluate the mode-I fracture and durability of fiber-reinforced polymer （FRP） composite-concrete bonded interfaces. Interface fracture properties were evaluated with established data reduction procedures. The proposed test method is primarily for use in evaluating the effects of freeze-thaw （F-T） and wet-dry （W-D） cycles that are the accelerated aging protocols on the mode-I fracture of carbon FRP-concrete bonded interfaces. The results of the mode-I fracture tests of F-T and W-D cycle-conditioned specimens show that both the critical load and fracture energy decrease as the number of cycles increases, and their degradation pattern has a nearly linear relationship with the number of cycles. However, compared with the effect of the F-T cycles, the critical load and fracture energy degrade at a slower rate with W-D cycles, which suggests that F-T cyclic conditioning causes more deterioration of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer （CFRP）-concrete bonded interface. After 50 and 100 conditioning cycles, scaling of concrete was observed in all the specimens subjected to F-T cycles, but not in those subjected to W-D cycles. The examination of interface fracture surfaces along the bonded interfaces with varying numbers of F-T and W-D conditioning cycles shows that （1） cohesive failure of CFRP composites is not observed in all fractured surfaces; （2） for the control specimens that have not been exposed to any conditioning cycles, the majority of interface failure is a result of cohesive fracture of concrete （peeling of concrete from the concrete substrate）, which means that the cracks mostly propagate within the concrete; and （3） as the number of F-T or W-D conditioning cycles increases, adhesive failure along the interface begins to emerge and gradually increases. It is thus concluded that the fracture properties （i.e., the critical load and fracture energy） of the bonded interface are controlled primarily by the concrete cohesive fracture before conditioning and by the adhesive interface fracture after many cycles of F-T or W-D conditioning. As demonstrated in this study, a test method using 3PBB specimens combined with a fictitious crack model and experimental conditioning protocols for durability can be used as an effective qualification method to test new hybrid material interface bonds and to evaluate durability-related effects on the interfaces.

A simplified approach for negative skin friction calculation of special-shaped pile considering pile-soil interaction under surcharge

A simplified approach was proposed to analyze the negative skin friction calculation of special-shaped pile considering pile-soil interaction under surcharge. Based on the concentric cylinder shearing theory, considering the changes of pile shape(such as, taper angle and diameters of pile base, etc.), the load-transfer of special-shaped pile was built. The accuracy of the developed simplified approach was verified by numerical simulation model with the same condition. Then, the influence factors, such as, taper angles, the diameter of pile base, surcharge, and pile-soil interface parameters were analyzed and discussed. The results show that the developed simplified approach can calculate NSF of special-shaped pile under surcharge effectively. A limited parametric study indicates that in many practical situations special-shaped piles(such as belled wedge pile shown in this work) offer a design option that is more economical than traditional uniform cross-section piles.

Spark plasma sintering of a high-energy ball milled Mg-10 wt% Al alloy

The influence of spark plasma sintering(SPS)temperature on microstructure,hardness and corrosion behavior of a high-energy ball milled Mg-10wt%Al alloy was investigated in this work.The holding time and sintering pressure for SPS were kept constant while varying the sintering temperature from 200 to 350℃.The grain size and microstructure were studied using X-ray diffraction analysis,scanning electron microscopy,energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy,and Archimedes'based density measurement.Corrosion behavior was investigated using potentiodynamic polarization tests.The nanocrystalline regime(grain size<100nm)was maintained even after SPS up to 350℃.The density of the alloy increased with increasing the SPS temperature.Vickers'hardness and corrosion performance improved up to 300℃ followed by a decrease after SPS at 350℃.Possible reasons for densification,strengthening,and corrosion behavior have been discussed in the light of reduced porosity and microstructural changes.

Amyloid cross-seeding between Ab and hIAPP in relation to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer and type 2 diabetes

Amyloid cross-seeding of different amyloid proteins is considered as a highly possible mechanism for exacerbating the transmissible pathogenesis of protein misfolding disease(PMDs)and for explaining a molecular link between different PMDs,including Alzheimer disease(AD)and type 2 diabetes(T2D),AD and Parkinson disease(PD),and AD and prion disease.Among them,AD and T2D are the most prevalent PMDs,affecting millions of people globally,while Ab and hIAPP are the causative peptides responsible for AD and T2D,respectively.Increasing clinical and epidemiological evidences lead to a hypothesis that the cross-seeding of Ab and hIAPP is more biologically responsible for a pathological link between AD and T2D.In this review,we particularly focus on(i)the most recent and important findings of amyloid cross-seeding between Ab and hIAPP from in vitro,in vivo,and in silico studies,(ii)a mechanistic role of structural compatibility and sequence similarity of amyloid proteins(beyond Ab and hIAPP)in amyloid cross-seeding,and(iii)several current challenges and future research directions in this lessstudied field.Review of amyloid cross-seeding hopefully provides some mechanistic understanding of amyloidogenesis and inspires more efforts for the better design of next-generation drugs/strategies to treat different PMDs simultaneously.

Electronic band energy of a bent ZnO piezoelectric semiconductor nanowire

The electric band energy variation in a bent piezoelectric semiconductor(PSC) nanowire of circular cross-section induced by the mechanical force is analyzed based on a six-band k · p method. The electric-mechanical fields are first obtained analytically in a cantilever bent PSC nanowire by solving the fully-coupled electro-mechanical equations. Then, the band energy is acquired numerically via the six-band Hamiltonian.By considering further the nonlinear coupling between the piezoelectric and semiconducting quantities, the contribution of the redistribution carriers to the electric field is analyzed from the Gauss’ s law. Numerical examples are carried out for an n-type Zn O nanowire in different locations induced by an applied concentrated end force. They include the electric potential, heavy hole(HH), light hole(LH), spin-orbit split-off(SO),and conduction band(CB) edges along the axial and thickness directions. Our results show that the applied force has a significant effect on the band energies. For instance, on the bottom surface along the axial direction, the bandgaps near the fixed end are greater than those near the loading end, and this trend is reversed on the top surface. Moreover,at a fixed axial location, the energy level of the lower side can be enhanced by applying a bending force at the end. The present results could be of significant guidance to the electronic devices and piezotronics.

Line-integral representations for extended displacements, stresses,and interaction energy of arbitrary dislocation loops in transversely isotropic magneto-electro-elastic bimaterials

In addition to the hexagonal crystals of class 6 mm, many piezoelectric materials （e.g., BaTiO3）, piezomagnetic materials （e.g., CoFe2O4）, and multiferroic com-posite materials （e.g., BaTiO3-CoFe2O4 composites） also exhibit symmetry of transverse isotropy after poling, with the isotropic plane perpendicular to the poling direction. In this paper, simple and elegant line-integral expressions are derived for extended displace-ments, extended stresses, self-energy, and interaction energy of arbitrarily shaped, three-dimensional （3D） dislocation loops with a constant extended Burgers vector in trans-versely isotropic magneto-electro-elastic （MEE） bimaterials （i.e., joined half-spaces）. The derived solutions can also be simply reduced to those expressions for piezoelectric, piezo-magnetic, or purely elastic materials. Several numerical examples are given to show both the multi-field coupling effect and the interface/surface effect in transversely isotropic MEE materials.

Prediction of peak ground acceleration of Iran's tectonic regions using a hybrid soft computing technique

A new model is derived to predict the peak ground acceleration（PGA） utilizing a hybrid method coupling artificial neural network（ANN） and simulated annealing（SA）, called SA-ANN. The proposed model relates PGA to earthquake source to site distance, earthquake magnitude, average shear-wave velocity,faulting mechanisms, and focal depth. A database of strong ground-motion recordings of 36 earthquakes,which happened in Iran’s tectonic regions, is used to establish the model. For more validity verification,the SA-ANN model is employed to predict the PGA of a part of the database beyond the training data domain. The proposed SA-ANN model is compared with the simple ANN in addition to 10 well-known models proposed in the literature. The proposed model performance is superior to the single ANN and other existing attenuation models. The SA-ANN model is highly correlated to the actual records（R=0.835 and r =0.0908） and it is subsequently converted into a tractable design equation.

Fabrication of Y-junction Metal Nanowires by AAO Template-assisted AC Electrodeposition

In this communication,we report a synthetic approach to fabricate Y-junction Co nanowires and Y-junction Cu nanowires by AC electrodeposition using a hierarchically designed anodized aluminum oxide template.Morphology study showe that diameters of the stems and branches of the Y-junction nanowires were about 40 nm and 20 nm respectively.Structural analysis indicates that Co nanowires had a mixture of face-center-cubic and hexagonal-close-packed structures,whereas Cu nanowires had a face-center-cubic structure with a <110> texture.The Y-junction Co nanowires exhibited a longitudinal coercivity of 1300 Oe and remnant magnetization of 56%,which was affected by the growth direction and microstructure.The present method can be extended to other metallic systems and thus provides a simple and efficient way to fabricate Y-junction metal nanowires.

Damage detection of 3D structures using nearest neighbor search method

An innovative damage identification method using the nearest neighbor search method to assess 3D structures is presented.The frequency response function was employed as the input parameters to detect the severity and place of damage in 3D spaces since it includes the most dynamic characteristics of the structures.Two-dimensional principal component analysis was utilized to reduce the size of the frequency response function data.The nearest neighbor search method was employed to detect the severity and location of damage in different damage scenarios.The accuracy of the approach was verified using measured data from an experimental test;moreover,two asymmetric 3D numerical examples were considered as the numerical study.The superiority of the method was demonstrated through comparison with the results of damage identification by using artificial neural network.Different levels of white Gaussian noise were used for polluting the frequency response function data to investigate the robustness of the methods against noise-polluted data.The results indicate that both methods can efficiently detect the damage properties including its severity and location with high accuracy in the absence of noise,but the nearest neighbor search method is more robust against noisy data than the artificial neural network.

CONTROLLED ANIONIC SYNTHESIS OF FUNCTIONALIZED AND STAR-BRANCHED POLYMERS

The use of living, alkyllithium-initiated anionic polymerization to prepare chain-end functionalized polymers and heteroarm, star-branched polymers is discussed. The scope and limitations of specific termination reactions with a variety of electrophilic species are illustrated for carbonation, hydroxyethylation, amination, and sulfonation. The methodology of using substituted 1,1-diphenylethylenes to provide a general, quantitative functionalization procedure is outlined and illustrated with examples of amine and phenol end-functionalization. A methodology is described for the synthesis of functionalized, star-branched copolymers with compositionally heterogeneous arms of controlled molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution using 1, 3-bis(1-pbenylethenyl) benzene.