Improving Workplace Safety by Thinking About What Might Have Been: To What Extent, Why, and When Does Counterfactual Thinking Influence Workplace Safety Behavior?

Human information processing theories of workplace safety suggest that cognition is an antecedent of safety behavior. However, little research has directly tested cognitive variables as predictors of workplace safety within the industrial/organizational psychology research domain. Counterfactual thinking is defined as cognitions about what might have been. Social psychologists propose that counterfactual thinking can be functional as it alters future behavior in a manner that is consistent with better outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of counterfactual thinking on safety behavior and mediators and moderators of that relationship. Safety knowledge and motivation are hypothesized to be two explanatory mechanisms for this relationship, and safety locus of control is proposed to enhance this relationship. A sample of 240 medical providers from a hospital in Guizhou Province of China responded to three surveys over a four-month time frame. Results showed that overall and upward counterfactual thinking (reflecting on how past events could have been better) were positively related to safety compliance and participation, which were mediated by safety knowledge but not by safety motivation. Furthermore, upward counterfactuals were found to be more strongly related to safety compliance and participation and safety knowledge than downward counterfactuals (reflecting on how past events could have been worse). Contrary to expectations, these relationships were not dependent on safety locus of control. In sum, the findings demonstrated that counterfactual thinking is positively associated with safety behavior and safety knowledge, expanding the variables related to workplace safety and laying some initial groundwork for new safety interventions

Characterization of chicken muscle titin cDNA sequences encoding a region near the Z-line

When I began this project in 1993, no primary structure of the titin Nterminus, which is localized at the Z-line of myofibrils, had been obtained, and only two cDNA fragments had been identified for avian titin (Maruyama et al., 1993; Tan et al., 1993). The primary structure of Z-line titin may provide some information on its secondary structure, and the expressed proteins from the cDNA clone can be used in studying the interaction of Z-line titin with other Z-line proteins. This may help us understand how titin is anchored at the Z-line. Furthermore, comparison of the amino acid sequence of titin from different species may give a hint of the evolution of titin. In order to get more information on avian titin primary structure, especially that in the Z-line region, we began to screen an embryonic chicken cardiac cDNA library already constructed by Dr. Tan in our lab with two monoclonal antibodies that decorate the Z-line region of titin in myofibrils. We have cloned and sequenced a 3.3 kb titin cDNA clone. This cDNA clone contains an overlapping region with a previously reported chicken skeletal muscle titin cDNA clone purported to be the C-terminus of titin (Maruyama et al., 1994). The monoclonal antibody raised against an expressed 1.5 kb fragment from our clone specifically decorated the region of titin near the Z-line by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy of myofibrils. The derived amino acid sequence consists of repeating type II motifs only, separated by two unique interdomain sequences, and it shows high homology with that of the corresponding fragments from human (Labeitand Kolmerer, 1995) and rabbit (Sebestyen et al., 1995) cardiac titin. However, the predicted secondary structure of one of the interdomain sequences is quite different from that of human (Musco, et al., 1995) and rabbit cardiac titins

Ancient Chengdu and the Silk Road

Chengdu has long been closely associated with the Silk Road. In ancient times, Chengdu was at the intersection of the Northern Silk Road, the Southern Silk Road and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The three corridors were of great economic and transport significance. Under the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Northern Silk Road was developed and Chengdu became an important supplier of silk, a major product exported along the Northern Silk Road. In particular, Sichuan brocade, a high-end silk product transported via the Silk Road, was the specialty of Chengdu. Significant amounts of Sichuan brocade have been unearthed at key archaeological sites along the Silk Road, providing strong evidence of Chengdu’s important connection with the Silk Road. During the period of the Northern and Southern dynasties (420-581), the Hexi Corridor along the Silk Road was blocked by the war, resulting in the interruption of the Northern Silk Road from Chang’an (currently Xi’an). Under such circumstances, a new silk road came into being, which started in Chengdu and traversed the grasslands in northwestern Sichuan, Longnan in Gansu and Qinghai, to the Silk Road’s He Nan Section (Tuyuhun) in the Western Regions. This new Silk Road enabled uninterrupted trade and exchanges between the hinterland of China and regimes in northwestern China and many more kingdoms throughout Eurasia. Prior to the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-AD 220), the Southern Silk Road, also starting in Chengdu, had been developed, and was in service for over 2,000 years. It is a key corridor allowing the hinterland of China to conduct economic and cultural exchanges within regions now known as Yunnan and Myanmar, as well as other areas of Southeast Asia. As the political, economic and cultural center of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Chengdu had maintained close economic and cultural relationships with the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from the pre-Qin period, and had been linked to the Maritime Silk Road via key cities along the Yangtze River. Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Chengdu has also been a center for external cultural exchanges and more importantly, a center for the popularization of Buddhist culture in the hinterland of China

Ab initio uncertainty quantification in scattering analysis of microscopy

Estimating parameters from data is a fundamental problem in physics, customarily done by minimizing a loss function between a model and observed statistics. In scattering-based analysis, researchers often employ their domain expertise to select a specific range of wavevectors for analysis, a choice that can vary depending on the specific case. We introduce another paradigm that defines a probabilistic generative model from the beginning of data processing and propagates the uncertainty for parameter estimation, termed ab initio uncertainty quantification (AIUQ). As an illustrative example, we demonstrate this approach with differential dynamic microscopy (DDM) that extracts dynamical information through Fourier analysis at a selected range of wavevectors. We first show that DDM is equivalent to fitting a temporal variogram in the reciprocal space using a latent factor model as the generative model. Then we derive the maximum marginal likelihood estimator, which optimally weighs information at all wavevectors, therefore eliminating the need to select the range of wavevectors. Furthermore, we substantially reduce the computational cost by utilizing the generalized Schur algorithm for Toeplitz covariances without approximation. Simulated studies validate that AIUQ significantly improves estimation accuracy and enables model selection with automated analysis. The utility of AIUQ is also demonstrated by three distinct sets of experiments: first in an isotropic Newtonian fluid, pushing limits of optically dense systems compared to multiple particle tracking; next in a system undergoing a sol-gel transition, automating the determination of gelling points and critical exponent; and lastly, in discerning anisotropic diffusive behavior of colloids in a liquid crystal. These outcomes collectively underscore AIUQ's versatility to capture system dynamics in an efficient and automated manner

Nontrivial Periodic Solutions for Nonlinear Second-Order Difference Equations

This paper is concerned with the existence of nontrivial periodic solutions and positive periodic solutions to a nonlinear second-order difference equation. Under some conditions concerning the first positive eigenvalue of the linear equation corresponding to the nonlinear second-order equation, we establish the existence results by using the topological degree and fixed point index theories

Identification of open crack of beam using model based method

This research aims at identifying the position and depth of the open transverse crack of the beam using the model based method. The stiffness matrix of the cracked beam element and the basic principle of the model based method are introduced. It is discussed to estimate the generalized displacement of all nodes of the beam by the measured displacements of a few degrees of freedom. The relative change rate of the equivalent external load between the intact and cracked elements is compared with that of mode shape, nature frequency and displacement amplitude between the intact and cracked beam. The position and depth of the crack are identified by the model based method in two cases. In first case, the measured displacement is assumed not to include noise. The identification results based on the actual displacement and rotation of all nodes are compared with the results using the estimated generalized displacement. In second case, the measured displacement includes noise and the generalized displacement of all nodes is estimated by the displacement of two measurement points. The simulation results shown there is no error to identify the position, the relative depth identification error of the crack with 1 μm depth is 2.34 % without noise, and the relative depth identification error of the crack with 200 μm depth could be down to about 5 % with the energy signal to noise ratio being about 7.00 before denoising

The role of excess Sn in Cu4Sn7S16 for modification of the band structure and a reduction in lattice thermal conductivity

In this work, we have investigated the band structures of ternary Cu4Sn7+xS16 (x = 0–1.0) compounds with an excess of Sn, and examined their thermoelectric (TE) properties. First principles calculations reveal that the excess Sn, which exists as Sn2+ and is preferentially located at the intrinsic Cu vacancies, unpins the Fermi level (Fr) and allows Fr to enter the conduction band (CB) at x = 0.5. Accordingly, the Hall carrier concentration (nH) is enhanced by about two orders of magnitude when the x value increases from x = 0 to x = 0.5. Meanwhile, the lattice thermal conductivity (κL) is reduced significantly to 0.39 W K−1 m−1 at 893 K, which is in reasonably good agreement with the estimation using the Callaway model. As a consequence, the dimensionless TE figure of merit (ZT) of the compound Cu4Sn7+xS16 with x = 0.5 reaches 0.41 at 863 K. This value is double that of the stoichiometric Cu4Sn7S16, proving that excess Sn in Cu4Sn7S16 is beneficial for improving the TE performance

Artemisia anomala extracts enhance the viability and antioxidation capacity of human keratinocytes

Purpose: To investigate the effect of extracts of Artemisia anomala S. Moore tissues on viability, apoptosis and antioxidant capacity of human keratinocytes.Methods: Human keratinocyte cell line HaCaT were treated with extracts of A. anomala for 12 h or 24 h. Cell viability, level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and incidence of apoptosis were measured by flow cytometry. Levels of mRNA and key proteins in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway were determined by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Key proteins of caspase pathways were assessed by western blot. The influence of the extract on the MAPK pathway was further probed by treating cells with MAPK activator in the presence and absence of the extract.Results: Treatment of cells with extracts of A. anomala enhanced viability and reduced apoptosis in a time-dependent manner, and increased ROS level, compared with control. mRNA and protein expressions of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK), and p38 MAPK decreased in extract-treated cells. The extracts also reversed the inhibitory effects of the MAPK pathway activator, actinomycin, on cell viability and ROS, and inhibited protein-cleaved caspase-8 and cleaved caspase-3.Conclusion: A. anomala extract increases cell viability and antioxidant capacity via inactivation of MAPK pathway, and also inhibits cell apoptosis via inactivation of caspase pathways. Hence, the extract may serve as a promising drug for the treatment of psoriasis.Keywords: Artemisia anomala, MAPK pathway, Anti-oxidation, Keratinocyte, Psoriasi

EFMVFL: An Efficient and Flexible Multi-party Vertical Federated Learning without a Third Party

Federated learning allows multiple participants to conduct joint modeling without disclosing their local data. Vertical federated learning (VFL) handles the situation where participants share the same ID space and different feature spaces. In most VFL frameworks, to protect the security and privacy of the participants' local data, a third party is needed to generate homomorphic encryption key pairs and perform decryption operations. In this way, the third party is granted the right to decrypt information related to model parameters. However, it isn't easy to find such a credible entity in the real world. Existing methods for solving this problem are either communication-intensive or unsuitable for multi-party scenarios. By combining secret sharing and homomorphic encryption, we propose a novel VFL framework without a third party called EFMVFL, which supports flexible expansion to multiple participants with low communication overhead and is applicable to generalized linear models. We give instantiations of our framework under logistic regression and Poisson regression. Theoretical analysis and experiments show that our framework is secure, more efficient, and easy to be extended to multiple participants.Comment: 9pages,2 figure