Friday, August 01, 2025

EYES WITHOUT A FACE

A surgical robot with eyes of its own






Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Origami-Inspired Microrobot for Precision Surgical Manipulation. 

image: 

Origami-Inspired Microrobot for Precision Surgical Manipulation. 1 Photo of the compliant micro-robot. 2 Exploded view of the delta micro-robot. 3 Cell-level intraoperative sensing. 4 Laser surgery for lesion tissue resection.

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Credit: Microsystems & Nanoengineering





Controlling microrobots with extreme precision is vital in delicate surgical procedures, but traditional feedback systems are bulky and externally dependent. Now, researchers have developed a tiny surgical robot that sees and corrects its movements from within. By embedding a miniature camera and using internal visual tracking, the system enables real-time self-correction during motion, eliminating the need for external sensors. With onboard closed-loop control, this origami-inspired robot achieved micrometer-level accuracy and stability—even under external forces. The innovation marks the first demonstration of internal visual feedback in micro-robotic systems and paves the way for compact, autonomous surgical tools capable of operating deep inside the human body.

In microsurgery, every micron matters. Achieving precise movement in robotic instruments is complicated by environmental forces, user tremors, and the limitations of conventional actuators. Although piezoelectric beams offer excellent force and responsiveness, they struggle with drift and hysteresis unless supplemented by real-time feedback. Most systems rely on external cameras or strain sensors for correction, but these introduce bulk and wiring challenges—particularly problematic for minimally invasive applications. Meanwhile, compliant mechanisms promise compact and backlash-free motion but still require accurate sensing to be viable in clinical settings. Due to these challenges, there is a pressing need to develop a lightweight, high-resolution, internal feedback system to enable stable and autonomous microrobotic control.

In a pioneering advancement, researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Glasgow have created the first microrobot that controls its motion using fully onboard visual feedback. Published (DOI: 10.1038/s41378-025-00955-x) on May 29, 2025, in Microsystems & Nanoengineering, the study introduces a piezoelectric-driven delta robot enhanced with a built-in endoscope camera and AprilTag markers for internal visual tracking. This approach eliminates external sensing hardware and enables closed-loop motion correction within a self-contained system. The compact design and precise control open new possibilities for next-generation microsurgical tools.

The microrobot, inspired by delta mechanisms and origami structures, is actuated using piezoelectric beams integrated into a 3D-printed compliant framework. By replacing traditional joints with flexure-based elements, the team achieved precise, backlash-free movement across three degrees of freedom. For feedback, they embedded a miniature borescope camera beneath the robot's platform to track AprilTag fiducials in real time. Using this onboard imagery, a PID-based control system continuously adjusted the robot's motion to follow programmed paths and compensate for disturbances like gravity.

The robot was able to trace complex 3D trajectories with high repeatability. It achieved a root-mean-square motion accuracy of 7.5 μm, a precision of 8.1 μm, and a resolution of 10 μm. In side-by-side comparisons, the closed-loop system consistently outperformed open-loop control, especially when external forces were applied. The system also demonstrated resilience under load and maintained trajectory stability even in the presence of intentional disturbances. Compared with existing micromanipulators, this solution uniquely combines onboard sensing, simplicity of fabrication, and surgical adaptability. It's the first system of its kind to integrate compact internal visual feedback for autonomous motion correction, offering an unprecedented level of autonomy and control for tools operating at micro-scale.

"This development represents a paradigm shift in micro-robotics," said Dr. Xu Chen, lead author of the study. "Our approach allows a surgical microrobot to track and adjust its own motion without relying on external infrastructure. By integrating vision directly into the robot, we achieve higher reliability, portability, and precision—critical traits for real-world medical applications. We believe this technology sets a new standard for future surgical tools that need to operate independently within the human body."

The robot's compact, self-regulating design makes it ideal for applications in minimally invasive surgery, such as navigating catheters or performing laser tissue resections. Its internal camera system removes dependence on external equipment, enabling use in confined, sterile, or electromagnetically noisy environments. Future improvements—like higher frame-rate cameras and advanced depth tracking—could boost its responsiveness and z-axis resolution. With scalability down to sub-centimeter sizes, this platform has the potential to support tools for endomicroscopy, neurosurgery, and beyond. The ability to self-correct motion internally could soon make high-precision robotic surgery more portable, reliable, and accessible.

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References

DOI

10.1038/s41378-025-00955-x

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-025-00955-x

Funding information

This work was financially supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), United Kingdom (EP/P012779, Micro-Robotics for Surgery).

About Microsystems & Nanoengineering

Microsystems & Nanoengineering is an online-only, open access international journal devoted to publishing original research results and reviews on all aspects of Micro and Nano Electro Mechanical Systems from fundamental to applied research. The journal is published by Springer Nature in partnership with the Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, supported by the State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology.

 

Sun, sea and sexual violence: How party tourism promotes and permits sexual assault - study




University of Birmingham




The party tourism industry model promotes and protects extreme predatory behaviour, which can lead to sexual, and gender based violence, in order to make money, new research says.

Ayia Napa, Magaluf, Ibiza, and Mykonos, have a reputation for being party holiday destinations. Every year, young people head off with their friends to one of these destinations on a ‘girls trip’ or ‘lads on tour’ holiday, characterised by constant clubbing, drinking, partying and the potential for one-night stands or a holiday fling.

But new research from the University of Birmingham and the University of Warwick has explored how these party holiday destinations create the perfect environment for sexual assault to take place, and when it does, attempt to silence victims to protect their commercial interests, rather than get justice.

The research has been published in the journal International Affairs.

Dr Columba Achilleos-Sarll, Assistant Professor in Political Science and International Studies, said: “Whilst existing research on SGBV in tourism is limited, we know that it happens. In 2018, 315 British tourists reported being victims of rape and sexual assault on holiday, and in an airport survey, more than 6,500 young British and German tourists returning home from holidays in tourist resorts in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain found that 8.6% of participants reported experiencing sexual harassment.

“Our research sets out how the party tourism business model creates liminal spaces where extreme behaviour is encouraged, creating an environment for SGBV to take place, and how destinations deprioritise the safety of women tourists for the sake of economic revenue.”

The framework looks at three main areas:

  • How tourism businesses create liminal bubbles centred on non-stop partying.
  • How these bubbles promote excessive, predatory masculinities.
  • How tourism-dependent locations protect these bubbles to maintain their reputation and preserve revenue.

The study argues that the travel, tourism and leisure sector in places like Ayia Napa intentionally produces the ‘party tourism bubble’, as a place where extreme or high-risk behaviour is encouraged and normalised. Terms like ‘party paradise’, ‘wild’, ‘mad’, ‘banging’, and ‘Ayia Napa goes all out at night’ are used to promote package holidays. Promotional photographs include both young women and men, often in their swimwear, all smiling, either in the sunshine or at a nightclub, with drinks in hand. This kind of marketing fosters an expectation of an environment where excessive alcohol consumption and rule-breaking are expected.

This ‘party environment’ then reinforces existing gendered hierarchies, creating a permissible environment for SGBV. Tourism stakeholders construct party tourism destinations in a way that mainly caters to heterosexual male desires, fuelled by excessive alcohol consumption, commodifying bodies, and facilitating the sexual objectification of women. This is used to entice young men to spend money, for example, paying €40 each to be escorted on bar crawls by ‘semi-naked women working for nightclubs’, while club promoters encourage men to visit the lap-dancing and strip clubs.

Dr Achilleos-Sarll continued: “These behaviours are not random or isolated; they are embedded within the political economy of party tourism. Not all male tourists will take part in this behaviour, and not all female tourists will become victims of sexual assault, but the party tourism bubble indeed encourages young men to enact ‘laddish’ behaviours, which include the sexual objectification of women and sexual predation, leaving women to manage the associated risk. The UK Foreign Office advice to tourists visiting Cyprus warns against the risk of ‘drug-assisted rape’, placing the responsibility on women to manage their own safety, and recommending to British tourists: ‘Buy your own drinks and always keep sight of them. Avoid splitting up from your friends’.”

The researchers go on to argue that when sexual assault does happen, party tourism destinations attempt to silence victims to protect their economic interests. Holiday destinations depend on maintaining a positive place reputation as safe and desirable. Reports of SGBV undoubtedly threaten to ‘burst the bubble’ of fun, sun and relaxation, and undermine locations’ competitiveness. For countries heavily dependent on the tourism economy,  authorities can end up prioritising the protection of place reputation over addressing allegations of SGBV, reinforcing the silencing of survivors.

Dr Achilleos-Sarll concluded: “Party tourism’s business model is based on extreme behaviour and reinforced gender inequalities, and a dependency on a fun and safe reputation to make money across multiple scales, all operating in mutually reinforcing ways to generate profitability and income.  This mix allows SGBV to flourish and often remain hidden. In order to better protect holiday makers, that model needs to be challenged, exploring alternatives for a sustainable and just approach to tourism development.”

ENDS

 

Moffitt Cancer Center launches study to improve advanced lung cancer outcomes in the Black community



Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Black men and the second leading cause among Black women




H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute





TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 1, 2025) — Lung cancer, particularly non-small cell lung cancer, affects millions of people worldwide, but the survival rates and access to care are notably lower among Black patients. Moffitt Cancer Center, a leading National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, announced the kick off of a multi year, research-driven initiative focused on improving outcomes for Black individuals diagnosed with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. This study also involves participation from multiple academic cancer centers and community hospitals.

Recent studies show lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Black men and the second leading cause among Black women. Moffitt’s study seeks to create a path forward for improved treatment, access to clinical trials and personalized care for communities with limited access to care. The State of Lung Cancer 2024 Florida report highlights areas to focus on for improving outcomes, such as improving treatment access and coverage of comprehensive biomarker testing.

“Reducing the disparities in lung cancer outcomes and treatment access for people in the Black community will improve the overall health of Floridians and reduce our healthcare costs and economic burden,” said Jhanelle Gray, M.D., principal investigator of the study and chair of the Thoracic Oncology Department at Moffitt. “This study represents an important step in addressing the systemic barriers that prevent many people from receiving the personalized, advanced care they deserve. By bringing together the voices and experiences of communities with limited access to care, we can begin to uncover solutions that will improve access to clinical trials and innovative therapies, ultimately saving lives and changing the trajectory of lung cancer treatment."

Despite making up a significant portion of lung cancer diagnoses, Black patients are underrepresented in clinical trials and biomarker testing, which are essential for developing tailored treatment options and advancing lifesaving therapies. The study aims to change that by offering comprehensive treatment and access to groundbreaking research for those who have historically faced barriers to such care.

To learn more, or if you’re interested in participating, visit www.justice-program.com.

The study was launched in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center with supports from Foundation MedicineGO2 Lung Cancer and LUNGevity Foundation.

About Moffitt Cancer Center
Moffitt is dedicated to one lifesaving mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. The Tampa-based facility is one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s scientific excellence, multidisciplinary research, and robust training and education. Moffitt’s expert nursing staff is recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with Magnet® status, its highest distinction. For more information, call 1-888-MOFFITT (1-888-663-3488), visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the momentum on FacebookX, Instagram and YouTube.

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AI reveals unexpected new physics in dusty plasma



A new theoretical framework to unravel mysteries about many-body systems



Emory University





Physicists used a machine-learning method to identify surprising new twists on the non-reciprocal forces governing a many-body system.

The journal PNAS published the findings by experimental and theoretical physicists at Emory University, based on a neural network model and data from laboratory experiments on a dusty plasma — ionized gas that contains interacting particles. The work is one the relatively few instances of using AI not as a data processing or predictive tool, but to discover new physical laws governing the natural world.

“We showed that we can use AI to discover new physics,” says Justin Burton, an Emory professor of experimental physics and senior co-author of the paper. “Our AI method is not a black box: we understand how and why it works. The framework it provides is also universal. It could potentially be applied to other many-body systems to open new routes to discovery.”

The PNAS paper provides the most detailed description yet for the physics of a dusty plasma, yielding precise approximations for non-reciprocal forces.   

“We can describe these forces with an accuracy of more than 99%,” says Ilya Nemenman, an Emory professor of theoretical physics and co-senior author of the paper. “What’s even more interesting is that we show that some common theoretical assumptions about these forces are not quite accurate. We’re able to correct these inaccuracies because we can now see what’s occurring in such exquisite detail.”

The researchers hope that their AI approach will serve as a starting point for inferring laws from the dynamics of a wide range of many-body systems, composed of a large number of interacting particles. Examples range from colloids — such as paint, ink and other industrial materials — to clusters of cells in living organisms.

First author of the PNAS paper is Wentao Yu who worked on the project as an Emory PhD student and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Co-author is Eslam Abdelaleem, who was also part of the project as an Emory graduate student and is now a postdoctoral fellow at Georgia Tech.

The work was primarily funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation with additional funds from the Simons Foundation.

“This project serves as a great example of an interdisciplinary collaboration where the development of new knowledge in plasma physics and AI may lead to further advances in the study of living systems,” says Vyacheslav (Slava) Lukin, program director for the NSF Plasma Physics program. “The dynamics of these complex systems is dominated by collective interactions that emerging AI techniques may help us to better describe, recognize, understand and even control.”

The fourth state of matter

Plasmas are ionized gases, meaning charged particles of electrons and ions move about freely, creating unique properties like electrical conductivity. Known as the fourth state of matter, plasma makes up an estimated 99.9% of the visible universe, from the solar winds flowing from the Sun’s corona to lightning bolts that strike the Earth.

Dusty plasma, which adds charged particles of dust to the mix of ions and electrons, is also common in space and planetary environments — from the rings of Saturn to the Earth’s ionosphere.

The charged particles levitating above the surface of the moon, due to weak gravity, are an example of a dusty plasma. “That’s why when astronauts walk on the moon their suits get covered in dust,” Burton explains.

An example of a dusty plasma on Earth can occur during wildfires when soot mixes with the smoke. The charged soot particles can interfere with radio signals, affecting communications between firefighters.

Burton studies the physics of dusty plasmas and amorphous materials. His lab conducts experiments on tiny, plastic particles suspended in a vacuum chamber filled with plasma as a model for more complex systems. By altering the gas pressure inside the chamber, the lab members can mimic the properties of real phenomena and study how a system changes when it is driven by forces.

For the current project, Burton and Yu developed a tomographic-imaging technique to track the three-dimensional (3D) motion of particles in a dusty plasma. A laser spread into a sheet of light moves up and down in the vacuum chamber as a high-speed camera captures images. The snapshots of particles within the plane of light are then assembled into a stack, revealing the 3D location of tens of individual particles over centimeter length scales for several minutes.

Understanding collective motion

A theoretical biophysicist, Nemenman searches for laws that underlie natural dynamical systems, especially complex biological ones. He’s interested in particular in the phenomenon of collective motion, such as how human cells move about the body.

“General questions of how a whole system arises from interactions of tiny parts are very important,” Nemenman explains. “In cancer, for instance, you want to understand how the interaction of cells may relate to some of them breaking away from a tumor and moving to a new place, becoming metastatic.”

While Nemenman often collaborates with researchers from the life sciences, the project with the Burton lab offered a chance to delve into a system somewhat simpler than a living one. That presented an ideal chance to try to use AI to investigate the dynamics of collective motion to learn new physics.

“For all the talk about how AI is revolutionizing science, there are very few examples where something fundamentally new has been found directly by an AI system,” Nemenman says.

Designing a neural network

One of the most famous examples of AI, ChatGPT, trains on the vast amount of information available on the internet in order to predict the appropriate text in response to a prompt.

“When you’re probing something new, you don’t have a lot of data to train AI,” Nemenman explains. “That meant we would have to design a neural network that could be trained with a small amount of data and still learn something new.”

Burton, Nemenman, Yu and Abdelaleem met weekly in a conference room to discuss the problem.

“We needed to structure the network to follow the necessary rules while still allowing it to explore and infer unknown physics,” Burton explains.

“It took us more than a year of back-and-forth discussions in these weekly meetings,” Nemenman adds. “Once we came up with the correct structure of the network to train, it  turned out to be fairly simple.”

The physicists distilled the restraints for the neural network to modeling three independent contributions to particle motion: the effect of velocity, or drag force; the environmental forces, such as gravity; and the particle-to-particle forces.

The surprising results

Trained on 3D particle trajectories, the AI model accounted for inherent symmetries, non-identical particles and learned the effective non-reciprocal forces between particles with exquisite accuracy.

To explain these non-reciprocal forces, the researchers use the analogy of two boats moving across a lake, creating waves. The wake pattern of each boat affects the motion of the other boat. The wake of one boat may repel or attract the other boat depending on their relative positions. For example, whether the boats are traveling side by side or one behind the other.

“In a dusty plasma, we described how a leading particle attracts the trailing particle, but the trailing particle always repels the leading one,” Nemenman explains. “This phenomenon was expected by some but now we have a precise approximation for it which didn’t exist previously.”

Their findings also correct some wrong assumptions about dusty plasma.

For example, a longstanding theory held that the larger the radius of a dust particle, the larger the charge that stuck to that particle, in exact proportion to the radius of the particle. “We showed that this theory is not quite right,” Nemenman says. “While it’s true that the larger the particle the larger the charge, that increase is not necessarily proportional to the radius. It depends on the density and temperature of the plasma.”

Another theory held that the forces between two particles falls off exponentially in direct relationship to the distance between two particles and that the factor by which it drops is not dependent on the size of the particle. The new AI method showed that the drop off in force does depend on the particle size.

The researchers verified their findings through experiments.

A universal framework

Their physics-based neural network runs on a desktop computer and offers a universal, theoretical framework to unravel mysteries about other complex, many-body systems.

Nemenman, for example, is looking forward to an upcoming visiting professorship at the Konstanz School of Collective Behavior in Germany. The school brings together interdisciplinary approaches to study the burgeoning field of collective behavior, everything from flocking birds to schools of fish and human crowds.

“I’ll be teaching students from all over the world how to use AI to infer the physics of collective motion — not within a dusty plasma but within a living system,” he says.

While their AI framework holds the ability to infer new physics, expert human physicists are needed to design the right structure for the neural network and to interpret and to validate the resulting data.

“It takes critical thinking to develop and use AI tools in ways that make real advances in science, technology and the humanities,” Burton says.

He feels optimistic about the potential for AI to benefit society.

“I think of it like the Star Trek motto, to boldly go where no one has before,” Burton says. “Used properly, AI can open doors to whole new realms to explore.”

 

How the COVID-19 pandemic affected parents and youth: thorns and silver linings




University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences






URBANA, Ill. – The COVID-19 pandemic upended life for individuals and communities worldwide. Social isolation, health mandates, illness, and economic hardships took a toll on the well-being of families and children, but there were also silver linings to people’s experiences. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at impacts of the pandemic among youth and parents across the U.S. Midwest. Their findings can help provide insights for future policy and public health measures.

“We were interested in understanding the lived experiences of different types of people during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly families and children. We wanted to come in without preconceived notions and judgment, learning about people’s concerns and where they find value and joy,” said lead author Jacinda K. Dariotis, professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and director of the Family Resiliency Center (FRC), both part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois. Dariotis is also a Health Innovation Professor in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.

Co-author Rebecca Smith, associate professor of epidemiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and HIP faculty at Illinois, seconded this perspective: “When big outbreaks and pandemics happen, we have mostly studied them from the point of view of disease transmission or financial impact, but people’s experiences are just as important. We are documenting lessons learned that will help in the future.”

Toward the end of the pandemic in 2022, the researchers surveyed parents with youth aged 12 to 17 as well as the young people themselves to better understand the lived experiences of each during the pandemic. Parents were asked to describe changes they observed in their two oldest children, while youth described changes in themselves. Both groups were asked about their overall experience during the pandemic. Based on responses from 479 participants, the research team identified nine overarching themes.  

Major themes

The pandemic’s effect on the structures and rhythms of daily life, including public health mandates, altered many aspects of development, interactions and connections with others, feelings of loss and grief, and financial security. Families also found creative adaptations to cope with their situation and shifted their priorities and contexts.

“One of the first themes that emerged was about maturity and personal development. Some parents reported their children were developing a little faster than anticipated, showing greater empathy, independence, and willingness to assume responsibilities,” said co-author Dana Eldreth, senior research scientist at FRC. “Youth also reported they developed greater confidence and self-esteem, although some felt pressure to grow up faster.”

Conversely, some parents found the pandemic contributed to developmental delays for their children, particularly speech and socialization delays for young children who weren’t able to attend daycare and interact with similar-aged peers.

COVID-19 led to widespread anxiety and sadness among adults and youth, driven by fears of illness and death, and further exacerbated by social isolation. This was especially pronounced for adolescents and mothers of small children. “We also heard from women who were pregnant during the pandemic that the isolation, remote health care visits, and lack of being able to rely on support from family members really impacted their experience and created a deep sense of sadness,” Eldreth said.

People experienced grief and loss in many ways. “There was grief over the death of loved ones, but also the grief of losing out on social relationships and missing important milestones such as graduations and birthday parties. People are social beings, and these experiences were hugely impactful, not just in the moment but also long term,” Dariotis noted. 

The pandemic shifted family dynamics and priorities. Some parents and youth appreciated the opportunity to spend more time together and cultivate new activities. However, family time could also lead to increased stress and conflict, particularly for people who had to manage work and childcare responsibilities.

Parents and youth described how differences in views on pandemic policies and vaccines caused strained relationships with family members, friends, and co-workers. These conflicts led to reduced interaction, damaged relationships, and lasting feelings of personal loss. 

Families and individuals developed different ways to cope and regulate emotions. “Some people took the time to engage in therapy or consider pharmacological treatment. They experienced positive benefits from taking a step back and focusing on the importance of their mental health,” Eldreth said. “Others found less healthy ways to cope, such as substance abuse or excessive use of video games.”

Online schooling placed significant strain on families. Parents had to take on additional responsibilities and change family routines to support their children, and they had to adapt to remote learning and new technology. Online schooling also underscored existing gaps in digital access and educational equity.

The pandemic mandates elicited different reactions. “Some people took solace in the fact that there were vaccines and mask mandates. Others felt it was infringing on their personal liberties and implemented too quickly, leading to a distrust in government and public health officials,” Dariotis said.

Lessons learned

While the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic was a mixed bag for many families, the study emphasizes the need to honor those experiences and unpack the values and contexts that inform them, the researchers noted. 

“One of the big messages for public health is that one size does not fit all. We need tailored responses to meet the unique needs of everyone. The only way you can design effective communication and mitigation plans is by talking to people where they are without judgment,” Smith said. 

“For people who are very critical of masks and vaccines, the answer is not to provide more information; it’s to rebuild trust and relationships, which is much harder to do, but it is more effective. It starts with listening to people and respecting their lived experiences as their truth.”

Most respondents reported both thorns and silver linings, but some people disproportionately experienced negative consequences during COVID-19. Those who had structures and resources in place to help them cope were better able to thrive, whereas essential workers or those who faced job loss and financial strain struggled. The pandemic exacerbated pre-existing systemic inequities in access to healthcare, educational resources, stable employment, and other resources, the researchers said.

“Moving forward, were a new pandemic to occur, we should believe in the resilience of individuals while we also make sure that we have the resources and infrastructure in place to create the safety nets that are necessary for people to flourish,” Dariotis concluded.

The paper, “Covid Was a Worldwide Pandemic That Caused Trauma for Everyone... There Were Also ‘Silver-linings’” – Adult and Youth Qualitative Perspectives,” is published in the American Journal of Qualitative Research [DOI: 10.29333/ajqr/16281]. The research was supported by the Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA; University of Illinois System, under Grant #22910).