Nanhua University

The rapid aging of the population has intensified demand for long-term care services, while persistent turnover among home care workers (HCWs) undermines service quality and sustainability. Emotional labor theory suggests that deep acting may improve retention, yet the mechanisms involving personal accomplishment and transformational leadership remain unclear. A cross-sectional survey of 386 certified HCWs in Chiayi, Taiwan measured deep acting, personal accomplishment, transformational leadership, and retention intention. Analyses included descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and PROCESS Model 8. Direct effect analysis revealed that deep acting (B = 0.165, p = .009), transformational leadership (B = 0.160, p = .005), and personal accomplishment (B = 0.136, p = .017) significantly and positively predicted retention intention. Mediation and moderation effects were not supported. Demographic analyses indicated that older, married, and more experienced HCWs reported significantly higher retention intention. Female and long-tenured staff perceived stronger transformational leadership support. Deep acting and transformational leadership independently promote retention. Personal accomplishment also strengthens retention but does not mediate the effect of deep acting. The absence of moderation indicates that emotional regulation and leadership act as separate predictors. Workforce stability strategies should therefore cultivate genuine emotional engagement and supportive leadership as distinct organizational pillars.

Abstract Background Close social interactions are a fundamental driver of infectious disease transmission in early childhood education settings. However, high-resolution empirical contact data from these environments remain scarce, limiting our understanding of transmission dynamics and prevention strategies. Methods We deployed name-tag devices equipped with ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning technology in a public kindergarten in Shenzhen, China, to continuously record close-proximity contact events (< 2 meters) during a typical school day. Contact events were classified into four risk categories based on contact duration and proximity. We then conducted a joint analysis of temporally segmented, risk-stratified networks and six months of infectious-disease-related absenteeism records. Results The study achieved an 88.68% participation rate (282 of 318 children) and full participation of 30 teachers, yielding 389,617 contact events. On average, each child interacted with 57.91 distinct individuals daily. Outdoor activities were associated with fewer and lower-risk contacts, whereas nap time — despite being a sedentary activity — accounted for the highest proportion of high-risk total contact time (14.38%). Children with absenteeism records engaged in longer and more frequent contacts, and with a greater number of contacted individuals, across medium-low, medium-high, and high-risk layers compared with their non-absent peers. However, these differences diminished when low-risk contacts were included, resulting in no significant group-level differences over the full day. At the class level, absenteeism rates were strongly correlated with the density of medium-high (r = 0.833, p = 0.005) and high-risk (r = 0.733, p = 0.025) contact layers. Conclusions Our findings reveal substantial structural and contextual heterogeneity within kindergarten contact networks and provide quantitative evidence linking contact patterns to health outcomes. High-resolution proximity data offer valuable insights into transmission risk and inform the design of targeted prevention and risk management strategies in early childhood education settings.

As candidate materials for nuclear reactors, uranium alloys are prone to irradiation-induced defects under neutron exposure. Molybdenum and niobium serve as effective stabilizers because of their favorable solubility and compatibility with U. This study investigates the evolution of irradiation defects in the U–Mo–Nb (uranium–molybdenum–niobium) ternary alloy fuel using molecular dynamics simulations based on a newly developed machine learning potential. We systematically simulated cascade damage under varying temperatures, primary knock-on atom (PKA) energies, and incident angles to analyze their impact on defect production. Our results show that the peak defect count varied by 7.6% with the incident angle. Higher temperatures increase the initial peak defect count but enhance the subsequent annealing, reducing the final number of defects. Higher PKA energies lead to more defects and longer time-to-peak. Crucially, the U–Mo–Nb alloy demonstrated superior irradiation resistance compared with the U–Mo and U–Nb alloys. It produces only ∼75% of the defects in the U–Mo binary alloy at similar temperatures and 50% at the same PKA energy, while also forming smaller vacancies and interstitial clusters. These findings highlight the exceptional potential of the U–Mo–Nb ternary alloy for advanced nuclear fuel applications.

To improve the consumption rate of distributed energy and enhance the self-healing performance of distribution networks, this paper proposes a distribution network optimization method considering carbon emissions and dynamic reconfiguration. Firstly, various measures such as dynamic reconfiguration and distributed energy scheduling are used in upper-level optimization to reduce the network loss and solar curtailment cost of the system and to realize the optimal economic operation of the distribution network. Secondly, based on carbon emission flow theory in lower-level optimization, a low-carbon demand response model with a dynamic carbon emission factor as the guiding signal is established to promote carbon emission reduction on the user side. Then, the second-order cone planning and improved dung beetle optimization algorithm are used to solve the model. Finally, it is verified on the test system that the method can effectively reduce the risk of voltage overruns and enhance the low-carbonization and economy of distribution network operation.

Cisplatin, a widely used chemotherapeutic agent, is limited by its poor bioavailability, rapid systemic clearance, and severe side effects. To overcome these limitations, hydroxyapatite-gelatin composite microspheres were developed to improve drug entrapment efficiency (DEE) and provide sustained drug release. Various formulations were prepared by incorporating chitosan either by mixing once or through a sequential coating strategy. By adjusting the loading procedure, the DEE increased from 58% to 99%. The composite microsphere effectively controlled the total drug release duration, extending it from one month to over 5 months. Moreover, the MTT assay demonstrated that all samples effectively inhibited cell growth, with cell viability reduced to less than 20% after 2 weeks of experimentation. These findings demonstrate that the sequential chitosan coating method offers superior drug entrapment and prolonged release compared to mixing chitosan once, exhibiting its potential as a sustained drug delivery system for cancer treatment.

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been recognized as a critical factor in enhancing job satisfaction and mitigating turnover intention in organizational contexts. This study investigated the influence of EI on multiple facets of job satisfaction, including contingent rewards, coworker relationships, the nature of work, pay, promotion, supervision, and operating conditions. Additionally, the study examined the mediating role of promotion and the moderating role of turnover intention within these relationships. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 89 employees in Vietnam using random sampling techniques. Data were collected through validated measures and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicated that EI significantly and positively influenced various aspects of job satisfaction. Promotion was found to mediate the relationship between EI and job satisfaction, while turnover intention moderated the relationship between EI and coworker support as well as perceptions of the nature of work. These results underscore the importance of emotional competencies in promoting positive work attitudes and reducing employee turnover intentions, particularly within small and medium-sized enterprises.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17132.].