Self-reflection in Automated Qualitative Coding: Improving Text Annotation through Secondary LLM Critique

Large language models (LLMs) allow for sophisticated qualitative coding of large datasets, but zero- and few-shot classifiers can produce an intolerable number of errors, even with careful, validated prompting. We present a simple, generalizable two-stage workflow: an LLM applies a human-designed, LLM-adapted codebook; a secondary LLM critic performs self-reflection on each positive label by re-reading the source text alongside the first model's rationale and issuing a final decision. We evaluate this approach on six qualitative codes over 3,000 high-content emails from Apache Software Foundation project evaluation discussions. Our human-derived audit of 360 positive annotations (60 passages by six codes) found that the first-line LLM had a false-positive rate of 8% to 54%, despite F1 scores of 0.74 and 1.00 in testing. Subsequent recoding of all stage-one annotations via a second self-reflection stage improved F1 by 0.04 to 0.25, bringing two especially poor performing codes up to 0.69 and 0.79 from 0.52 and 0.55 respectively. Our manual evaluation identified two recurrent error classes: misinterpretation (violations of code definitions) and meta-discussion (debate about a project evaluation criterion mistaken for its use as a decision justification). Code-specific critic clauses addressing observed failure modes were especially effective with testing and refinement, replicating the codebook-adaption process for LLM interpretation in stage-one. We explain how favoring recall in first-line LLM annotation combined with secondary critique delivers precision-first, compute-light control. With human guidance and validation, self-reflection slots into existing LLM-assisted annotation pipelines to reduce noise and potentially salvage unusable classifiers.

KANGURA: Kolmogorov-Arnold Network-Based Geometry-Aware Learning with Unified Representation Attention for 3D Modeling of Complex Structures

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) offer a promising pathway for sustainable energy generation by converting organic matter into electricity through microbial processes. A key factor influencing MFC performance is the anode structure, where design and material properties play a crucial role. Existing predictive models struggle to capture the complex geometric dependencies necessary to optimize these structures. To solve this problem, we propose KANGURA: Kolmogorov-Arnold Network-Based Geometry-Aware Learning with Unified Representation Attention. KANGURA introduces a new approach to three-dimensional (3D) machine learning modeling. It formulates prediction as a function decomposition problem, where Kolmogorov-Arnold Network (KAN)- based representation learning reconstructs geometric relationships without a conventional multi- layer perceptron (MLP). To refine spatial understanding, geometry-disentangled representation learning separates structural variations into interpretable components, while unified attention mechanisms dynamically enhance critical geometric regions. Experimental results demonstrate that KANGURA outperforms over 15 state-of-the-art (SOTA) models on the ModelNet40 benchmark dataset, achieving 92.7% accuracy, and excels in a real-world MFC anode structure problem with 97% accuracy. This establishes KANGURA as a robust framework for 3D geometric modeling, unlocking new possibilities for optimizing complex structures in advanced manufacturing and quality-driven engineering applications.