bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Green industrial policy, information asymmetry, and repayable advance
Authors: Meunier Guy , Ponssard Jean‐Pierre
Published: October 2023

The energy transition requires the deployment of risky research and development programs, most of which are partially financed by public funding. Recent recovery plans, associated with the COVID‐19 pandemic and the energy transition, increased the funding available to finance innovative low‐carbon projects and called for an economic evaluation of their allocation. This paper analyzes the potential benefit of using repayable advance: a lump‐sum payment to finance the project that is paid back in case of success. The relationship between the state and innovative firms is formalized in the principal‐agent framework. Investing in an innovative project requires an initial observable capital outlay. We introduce asymmetric information on the probability of success, which is known to the firm but not to the state agency. The outcome of the project, if successful, delivers a private benefit to the firm and an external social benefit to the state. In this context a repayable advance consists in rewarding failure. We prove that it is a superior strategy in the presence of pure adverse selection. We investigate under what conditions this result could be extended in the presence of moral hazard. Implications for green industrial policy are discussed.
Body‐worn cameras and representation: What matters when evaluating police use of force?
Authors: Wright James E. , Gaozhao Dongfang , Houston Brittany
Published: October 2023

Public administration scholarship seeks to understand ways to increase accountability within the policing profession. We employ an online conjoint experiment to disentangle the effects of both representation and body‐worn cameras (BWC) on police accountability and legitimacy. In the experiment, we ask participants to rate the likelihood that a police use of force incident prompts an investigation when there is a BWC present and racial and gender representation matches between the officer and the civilian in the use of force incident. We find that Caucasian officers who use force are more likely to be investigated. Our findings also reveal that civilians believe male officers who use force should be investigated and there is no need for further investigation when a BWC is utilized during a use of force situation. The implications of this study show that civilians view BWCs as the most important tool in providing accurate and honest assessment of police‐civilian encounters.
Does collective citizen input impact government service provision? Evidence from SeeClickFix requests
Authors: Schiff Kaylyn Jackson
Published: October 2023

Does collective citizen input impact government priorities and performance in service provision? As cities increasingly offer interactive issue reporting options through online platforms and mobile apps, I investigate whether comments and follows on requests drive faster issue resolution. I theorize that this input signals issue validity, severity, or scrutiny, assisting city administrators in prioritizing and responding to requests. Leveraging a novel dataset of requests from 100 cities, I find that comments and follows double the probability of request closure and that collaborative requests are resolved up to 5 days faster on average than non‐collaborative requests. By comparing two cities that use the same platform but that differ in the observability of citizen collaboration, I isolate a distinct and significant influence of collective citizen input on government responsiveness. The findings speak to how technological advances enable information‐sharing from citizens that can shape service delivery rules and outcomes.
‘Feeling out’ the rules: A psychological process theory of red tape
Authors: Davis Randall S. , Pandey Sanjay K.
Published: October 2023

Over the past 30 years, red tape has emerged as a key concept in public management. Yet, researchers continue to debate the relative merits of system‐centric versus individual‐centric approaches. In this article, we articulate an individual‐centric psychological process theory, a theory that confronts the ‘modularity assumption’ relegating the subjective individual experience as inconsequential in much red tape research. We theorize that the appraisal mechanism influences the meaning attached to external compliance demands. Our process theory advances the claim that experience, emotion, and expectancy influence one's perceptions of, and behavioral response to, red tape. Thus, compliance expectations in rules are informed by other social demands embedded in roles, identities, and collective interests in ways that influence the perceived legitimacy of rules and the compliance burdens they impose. The psychological process theory offers a holistic perspective on red tape by treating the subjective individual experience as consequential for understanding red tape.
It's not merely about the content: How rules are communicated matters to administrative burden
Authors: Baekgaard Martin , Döring Matthias , Thomsen Mette Kjærgaard
Published: October 2023

Research suggests that citizens often abstain from taking up benefits for which they are eligible because of the costs of learning about how to apply for and the compliance and psychological costs associated with taking up benefits. But to what extent can such burdens be altered simply by changing the way rules are communicated? Bridging literatures on administrative burden, communication theory, and cognitive psychology, we theorize and test the causal impact (using a pre‐registered randomized survey experiment (N = 2243)) of two prominent aspects of rule communication: information structure and bureaucratic language. Our findings lend support to the expectation that bureaucratic language influences citizens' learning costs as well as their compliance – and to a lesser extent psychological – costs, even when the content of the rules communicated is the same.
A primary oral mucosal melanoma of the hard palate with no recurrence: Report of a 10 years follow‐up
Authors: Correia‐Neto Ivan José , Correa Marcelo Brum , Araújo Anna Luíza Damaceno , Penafort Paulo Victor Mendes , Colafemina Ana Carolina Evangelista , Elias Rogério de Andrade , Santos‐Silva Alan Roger , Vargas Pablo Agustin , Lopes Márcio Ajudarte
Published: October 2023

Background

Primary oral mucosal melanoma (OMM) represents an extremely rare and aggressive tumor that arises from malignant transformation and clonal expansion of melanocytes in the oral cavity. The prognosis of patients affected by OMM is quite unfavorable, with survival rates lower than those described for patients with cutaneous melanoma.

Case report

Here, we report a case of OMM in a 59‐year‐old Caucasian woman, who was referred for evaluation of a large asymptomatic pigmented lesion on the left side of the hard palate under the removable total denture. Incisional biopsy was performed, and histopathological analysis revealed the proliferation of spindle‐shaped and pigmented epithelioid cells, with cellular pleomorphism. These cells were positive for Melan A, S‐100, HMB‐45, SOX‐10, and Ki‐67 confirming the diagnosis of OMM. The patient underwent partial maxillectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy. After treatment, she was rehabilitated with a palatal obturator prosthesis and has been in follow‐up for 10 years with no evidence of disease. Due to the rarity in the oral cavity and the nonspecific signs and symptoms, the diagnosis of OMM is difficult and often overlooked.

Conclusion

Therefore, multidisciplinary management from diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation is important to increase the expectation of cure.
Development of a Hydrogen Micro Gas Turbine Combustor: Atmospheric Pressure Testing
Authors: Tanneberger Tom , Mundstock Johannes , Rex Christoph , Rösch Sebastian , Paschereit Christian Oliver
Published: October 2023

The vision of a carbon-neutral world implies the shift from fossil to clean fuels for combustion-driven processes and machines like gas turbines. Green hydrogen is a promising alternative to substitute natural gas and other fossil fuels. In the H2mGT project, funded by the German BMWK, a microgas turbine (mGT) burner with 100% hydrogen firing is developed and validated. The project is collaboration between Technische Universität Berlin (TUB) and the manufacturer Euro-K GmbH. The project consists of three phases: (1). Atmospheric pressure tests with a fused silica combustion chamber; (2). Atmospheric pressure tests with counterflow-cooled steel combustion chamber and secondary air injection; (3). Validation of the burner in the micro gas turbine at elevated pressure levels. This paper will present the results of Phase 1. The hydrogen burner is based on a swirl-stabilized burner of TUB and was scaled to match the requirements of the mGT with its 130 kW thermal power. The burner design features multiple geometrical parameters to enable the optimization of the flame towards low NOx emissions. Therefore, a variable swirl intensity, additional axial momentum of air in the mixing tube, a movable center-body and different fuel injection locations are implemented. Phase 1 investigates the parameter space in terms of flame stability, operational range, and parameter impact on flame shape and emissions. Therefore, temperature, pressure, and emission measurements as well as OH* imaging are carried out. It is found that the flame can be operated over a large range of equivalence ratios and preheating temperatures up to 500 ∘C for many parameter settings. However, at some configurations, flashback into the mixing tube is triggered. As expected, the NOx emissions are mainly influenced by the equivalence ratio, the fuel distribution, and the swirl intensity. Single-digit emissions are reached up to an equivalence ratio of 0.4 at atmospheric pressure conditions. Furthermore, at low air mass flow, the burner can be operated at 100% natural gas or 100% hydrogen without any geometry changes. The fuel switch, thereby, does not change the NOx emissions significantly if reasonable normalization is used.
Kinetic- and Strain-Energy Approaches in the Thermal Analysis of Constrained Mechanical Systems: A Comparative Study
Authors: Abdalla Moataz , Shabana Ahmed A.
Published: October 2023

Despite the unconstrained thermal expansion is assumed stress-free, the conventional FE approach requires formulating elastic forces, and this in turn leads to elastic stresses. A displacement-based formulation, on the other hand, can be used to address this limitation by converting the thermal energy to kinetic energy instead of strain energy. The fundamental differences between the strain- and kinetic-energy approaches are discussed. It is shown that the unconstrained thermal expansion predicted using the kinetic-energy approach is independent of the continuum constitutive model, and consequently, such a formulation can be used for both solids and fluids. The displacement (kinetic) and strain (stress) formulations are discussed to shed light on the mechanism of thermal expansion at the macroscopic level. The thermal-expansion displacement formulation (TEDF) and position-gradient multiplicative decomposition into thermal and mechanical parts are used to compute the thermal stresses due to boundary and motion constraints (BMC). TEDF implementation issues are discussed and constant matrices evaluated at a preprocessing stage after applying sweeping matrix technique to eliminate rigid-body thermal-displacement translational modes are identified. Furthermore, the softening effect due to the constitutive-model dependence on the temperature is investigated at high temperatures. Numerical results are presented to show fundamental differences between the TEDF approach that converts heat energy to kinetic energy and conventional FE approach that converts heat energy to strain energy that produces elastic stresses.
Fundamentals of Scaling of Overall Cooling Effectiveness With Temperature Ratio
Authors: Cartlidge James , Povey Thomas
Published: October 2023

In this paper we study the relationship between overall cooling effectiveness (or so-called metal effectiveness) and mainstream-to-coolant total temperature ratio (TR), for typical high-pressure nozzle guide vane (HPNGV) cooling systems. The temperature ratio range studied is that between typical experimental conditions (TR ≅ 1.2) and typical engine conditions (TR ≅ 2.0). The purpose is twofold: firstly, to quantify the difference in overall cooling effectiveness between experimental and engine conditions of temperature ratio; and—secondly—to understand the physical bases for the difference, separated in terms of changes in five local surface boundary conditions. We do this using a bespoke conjugate thermal model which includes models of both the internal cooling and the external film cooling layer. Three typical cooling architectures are studied. The results allow comparison and scaling between situations at different conditions of temperature ratio.
Native plants change the endophyte assembly and growth of an invasive plant in response to climatic factors
Authors: Fang Kai , Yang Ai-Ling , Li Yu-Xuan , Zeng Zhao-Ying , Wang Rui-Fang , Li Tao , Zhao Zhi-Wei , Zhang Han-Bo
Published: October 2023

Climate change, microbial endophytes, and local plants can affect the establishment and expansion of invasive species, yet no study has been performed to assess these interactions. Using a growth chamber, we integrated the belowground (rhizosphere soils) and aboveground (mixture of mature leaf and leaf litter) microbiota into an experimental framework to evaluate the impacts of four native plants acting as microbial inoculation sources on endophyte assembly and growth of the invasive plant
Ageratina adenophora
in response to drought stress and temperature change. We found that fungal and bacterial enrichment in the leaves and roots of
A. adenophora
exhibited distinct patterns in response to climatic factors. Many fungi were enriched in roots in response to high temperature and drought stress; in contrast, many bacteria were enriched in leaves in response to low temperature and drought stress. Inoculation of microbiota from phylogenetically close native plant species (i.e., Asteraceae
Artemisia atrovirens
) causes the recipient plant
A. adenophora
(Asteraceae) to enrich dominant microbial species from inoculation sources, which commonly results in a lower dissimilar endophytic microbiota and thus produces more negative growth effects when compared to non-Asteraceae inoculations. Drought, microbial inoculation source, and temperature directly impacted the growth of
A. adenophora
. Both drought and inoculation also indirectly impacted the growth of
A. adenophora
by changing the root endophytic fungal assembly. Our data indicate that native plant identity can greatly impact the endophyte assembly and host growth of invasive plants, which is regulated by drought and temperature.

IMPORTANCE

There has been increasing interest in the interactions between global changes and plant invasions; however, it remains to quantify the role of microbial endophytes in plant invasion with a consideration of their variation in the root vs leaf of hosts, as well as the linkages between microbial inoculations, such as native plant species, and climatic factors, such as temperature and drought. Our study found that local plants acting as microbial inoculants can impact fungal and bacterial enrichment in the leaves and roots of the invasive plant
Ageratina adenophora
and thus produce distinct growth effects in response to climatic factors; endophyte-mediated invasion of
A. adenophora
is expected to operate more effectively under favorable moisture. Our study is important for understanding the interactions between climate change, microbial endophytes, and local plant identity in the establishment and expansion of invasive species.
NhaA facilitates the maintenance of bacterial envelope integrity and the evasion of complement attack contributing to extraintestinal pathogenic
Escherichia coli
virulence
Authors: Mao Zhao , Zhang Haobo , Cai Wentong , Yang Yan , Zhang Xinyang , Jiang Fengwei , Li Ganwu
Published: October 2023

Extraintestinal pathogenic
Escherichia coli
(ExPEC) is responsible for severe bloodstream infections in humans and animals. However, the mechanisms underlying ExPEC’s serum resistance remain incompletely understood. Through the transposon-directed insertion-site sequencing approach, our previous study identified
nhaA
, the gene encoding a Na
+
/H
+
antiporter, as a crucial factor for infection
in vivo
. In this study, we investigated the role of NhaA in ExPEC virulence utilizing both
in vitro
models and systemic infection models involving avian and mammalian animals. Genetic mutagenesis analysis revealed that
nhaA
deletion resulted in filamentous bacterial morphology and rendered the bacteria more susceptible to sodium dodecyl sulfate, suggesting the role of
nhaA
in maintaining cell envelope integrity. The
nhaA
mutant also displayed heightened sensitivity to complement-mediated killing compared to the wild-type strain, attributed to augmented deposition of complement components (C3b and C9). Remarkably, NhaA played a more crucial role in virulence compared to several well-known factors, including Iss, Prc, NlpI, and OmpA. Our findings revealed that NhaA significantly enhanced virulence across diverse human ExPEC prototype strains within B2 phylogroups, suggesting widespread involvement in virulence. Given its pivotal role, NhaA could serve as a potential drug target for tackling ExPEC infections.
Nationwide molecular epidemiology of carbapenemase-producing
Citrobacter
spp. in France in 2019 and 2020
Authors: Biez Laura , Bonnin Rémy A. , Emeraud Cecile , Birer Aurélien , Jousset Agnès B. , Naas Thierry , Dortet Laurent
Published: October 2023

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales have emerged in the last decades as one of the main threats in modern medicine.
Enterobacter
is a genus increasingly recognized as a key player in carbapenemase diffusion besides
Escherichia coli
and
Klebsiella pneumoniae
, but information regarding
Citrobacter
spp. remained scarce. A collection of 803 isolates of
Citrobacter
spp. recovered from the French National Center for carbapenem resistance over a 2-year period during 2019–2020 was analyzed. A total of 15 different carbapenemases were identified of which OXA-48 followed by NDM-1 and OXA-181 represented the main enzymes. Phylogenetic analysis of this collection revealed that
Citrobacter freundii
was the main species among which three main clones are circulating in France, being ST8, ST22, and ST91. ST22 and ST8 were distributed in all regions whereas ST91 demonstrated a regional spread. Analysis of the species diversity revealed that among the
C. freundii
complex,
Citrobacter portucalensis
and
Citrobacter braakii
were also disseminated. We revealed the dissemination of a clone carrying both
bla
DHA-15
(β-lactamase-encoding gene rarely reported in Enterobacterales) and
bla
OXA-48
in the north of France and allowed to identify an outbreak not previously investigated. This study analyzed the largest collection of carbapenemase-producing
Citrobacter
spp. and allowed deciphering of molecular epidemiology of
Citrobacter
spp. in France.

IMPORTANCE

The emergence of carbapenemase producers in Enterobacterales mostly involves
Escherichia coli
,
Klebsiella pneumoniae
, and
Enterobacter cloacae
complex species. However, in France, we observed the emergence and the rapid dissemination of carbapenemase in
Citrobacter
spp. In this study, we demonstrated that a wide variety of carbapenemases is produced by many different species of
Citrobacter
spp. However, we clearly identify three high-risk clones of
Citrobacter freundii
, ST8, ST22, and ST91 that drive the spread of carbapenemase in France. This epidemiological study paves the way of further analysis that would aim to identify the virulence factors involved in this pellicular ability of these three clones to disseminate at the hospital.
Meta-analysis reveals the predictable dynamic development of the gut microbiota in commercial pigs
Authors: Dong Wenxuan , Ricker Nicole , Holman Devin B. , Johnson Timothy A.
Published: October 2023

Understanding the mechanisms of microbiome assembly during host development is crucial for successful modulation of the gut microbiome to improve host health and growth. However, results from previous microbial intervention studies to improve swine growth have largely been inconsistent due to the constantly changing nature of the gut microbiota and limited longitudinal sampling. Detailed characterization of the swine gut microbiota through meta-analysis allows us to understand the dynamics of microbial community succession, as well as the transient and natural variations between time points and animals. A total of 3,313 fecal microbial communities from over 349 pigs covering 60 time points (from birth to market age) from 14 publications were included in this meta-analysis. Despite differences in animal breeds and management, generalizable patterns of community assembly were identified. Alpha diversity continuously increased during early stages of animal growth and more slowly in the later stages. Beta regression analysis revealed that more microbial taxa were enriched, while fewer were excluded by the gut microbiota. The microbial community structure also changed significantly between days at early ages and became more similar as pigs aged, as revealed by dissimilarity and distance metrics. Dirichlet multinomial mixtures analysis supported gradient microbial clustering in longitudinal pig fecal samples, and we found that the early samples spread to more clusters than those from older pigs. Random forest regression identified 30 operational taxonomic units as potential microbial biomarkers for modeling swine gut microbiota development. External validation showed this model could be generalized to future microbiome studies conducted in suckling and weaning pigs and adds to the toolkit to quantify community succession.

IMPORTANCE

The swine gut microbiome undergoes an age-dependent assembly pattern with a developmental phase at early ages and a stabilization phase at later ages. Shorter time intervals and a wider range of data sources provided a clearer understanding of the gut microbiota colonization and succession and their associations with pig growth and development. The rapidly changing microbiota of suckling and weaning pigs implies potential time targets for growth and health regulation through gut microbiota manipulation. Since swine gut microbiota development is predictable, swine microbiota age can be calculated and compared between animal treatment groups rather than relying only on static time-matched comparisons.
Debunking myths in headache diagnosis for the pain practitioner
Authors: Yuan Hsiangkuo , Strutner Samantha , Yuh Clara , Anand Suwarna , Chauhan Gaurav , Prem Anand , Shah Shalini , Schuster Nathaniel M
Published: October 2023

With headache being one of the most common chief complaints, it is essential for pain practitioners to interpret and differentiate a variety of headache characteristics to accurately diagnose and treat specific headache disorders. Certain misconceptions often lead to misdiagnosis. This article presents and discusses six myths about several common headache disorders (migraine, tension-type headache, cluster headache, cervicogenic headache, sinus headache, and occipital neuralgia) often encountered in clinical practice. The discussion is based primarily on the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition and the latest studies. Recognizing and understanding the intricacies behind key headache diagnoses will help providers devise appropriate plans to better care for their patients.
Cannibal plants: intraspecific autoparasitism among host-specific holoparasites
Authors: Teixeira-Costa Luiza
Published: October 2023

Intraspecific autoparasitism, the phenomenon in which a parasite serves as the host for another individual of the same species, is a well-described interaction among hemiparasitic flowering plants. Here, I describe a rare case of autoparasitism in Epifagus virginiana (L.) W.P.C. Barton (Orobanchaceae), a holoparasitic plant normally found exclusively on the roots of Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. (Fagaceae). Confirmation of the autoparasitic relationship was obtained through microtomography and anatomical analyses. Results show the presence of vessel connections between the two E. virginiana plants and the unobstructed passage of solutes from one plant to another, thus suggesting the autoparasitic connection to be fully functional. While several segments of nearby host roots were entangled with the adventitious roots of the parasite, no parasite–host vascular connection was detected. Additionally, an analysis of digitized herbarium specimens showed that albeit rare, the observed autoparasitic relationship in E. virginiana is not a one-of case. A total of 3097 digitized herbarium specimens were also analyzed, among which 1.69% were observed to potentially include an autoparasitic connection. Altogether, these results provide new clues for the investigation of host-specificity and haustorium development processes in parasitic flowering plants.
Regulatory Effects of Quercetin on Bone Homeostasis: Research Updates and Future Perspectives
Authors: Xi Yujiang , Shen Jiayan , Li Xiahuang , Bao Yi , Zhao Ting , Li Bo , Zhang Xiaoyu , Wang Jian , Bao Yanyuan , Gao Jiamei , Xie Zhaohu , Wang Qi , Luo Qiu , Shi Hongling , Li Zhaofu , Qin Dongdong
Published: October 2023

The imbalance of bone homeostasis has become a major public medical problem amid the background of an aging population, which is closely related to the occurrence of osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and fractures. Presently, most drugs used in the clinical treatment of bone homeostasis imbalance are bisphosphonates, calcitonin, estrogen receptor modulators, and biological agents that inhibit bone resorption or parathyroid hormone analogs that promote bone formation. However, there are many adverse reactions. Therefore, it is necessary to explore potential drugs. Quercetin, as a flavonol compound with various biological activities, is widely distributed in plants. Studies have found that quercetin can regulate bone homeostasis through multiple pathways and targets. An in-depth exploration of the pharmacological mechanism of quercetin is of great significance for the development of new drugs. This review discusses the therapeutic mechanisms of quercetin on bone homeostasis, such as regulating the expression of long non-coding RNA, signaling pathways of bone metabolism, various types of programmed cell death, bone nutrients supply pathways, anti-oxidative stress, anti-inflammation, and activation of Sirtuins. We also summarize recent progress in improving quercetin bioavailability and propose some issues worth paying attention to, which may help guide future research efforts.
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM AND THE PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES (MSEs) IN AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA: THE POLITICAL-LEGAL PERSPECTIVE
Authors: CHANE MULUGETA , ATWAL HEENA
Published: October 2023

All other parts of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in any country are governed by the political and legal aspects of the system. This study examines the integrated effect of the entrepreneurial ecosystem’s political-legal subsystem on the performance of MSEs based on system theory and the mediating role of entrepreneurial competence, based on a resource-based view. There has been no detailed examination of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs in Africa in general, and Ethiopia in particular. Although the political-legal aspects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem have a major effect on both entrepreneurial competency and MSE’s performance, the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and MSE performance was found to be insignificant. The role of entrepreneurial competency in mediating the relationships between policy and business performance and other business environments and business performance was shown to be insignificant. The study suggests that the policies designed by the government for MSEs should be flexible enough to affect other aspects of the entrepreneurial environment, such as the economic and social dimensions. Finally, additional studies in the field are encouraged to clarify the discrepancies in the findings concerning the relationships between entrepreneurial competencies and the performance of SMEs.
Welcome to AI Matters 9(2)
Authors: Yao Ziyu , Karpatne Anuj
Published: October 2023

Welcome to the second issue of this year's AI Matters Newsletter. As usual, we will start the issue with a conference report by Louise A. Dennis. Following it, we are very excited to present three award-winning or candidacy papers by Wijmans et al. (ICLR 2023 Outstanding Paper), Ma et al. (SIGKDD 2022 Best Paper), and Li, Liu, and Wu (CVPR 2023, Award Candidate). The papers cover a range of intriguing topics, such as the formation of spatial memory in navigation agents, causal modeling with hypergraphs, and full-body motion estimation from egocentric videos. Finally, we end this issue by a collection of "blue sky" ideas presented in the AAAI/ACM SIGAI New and Future AI Educator Program at EAAI 2023, summarized by Guerzhoy et al.
Adoption of Recurrent Innovations: A Large-Scale Case Study on Mobile App Updates
Authors: Lin Fuqi , Lu Xuan , Ai Wei , Li Huoran , Ma Yun , Yang Yulian , Deng Hongfei , Wang Qingxiang , Mei Qiaozhu , Liu Xuanzhe
Published: October 2023

Modern technology innovations feature a successive and even recurrent procedure. Intervals between old and new generations of technology are shrinking, and the Internet and Web services have facilitated the fast adoption of an innovation even before the convergence of its predecessor. While the adoption and diffusion of innovations have been studied for decades, most theories and analyses focus on single and one-time innovations. Meanwhile, limited work has investigated successive innovations while lacking user-level analysis, possibly due to the unavailability of fine-grained adoption behavior data. In this study, we present the first large-scale analysis of the adoption of recurrent innovations in the context of mobile app updates, investigating how millions of users consume various versions of thousands of apps on their mobile devices. Our analysis reveals novel patterns of crowd and individual adoption behaviors, which suggest the need for new categories of adopters to be added on top of the Rogers model of innovation diffusion. We show that standard machine learning models are able to pick up various sources of signals to predict whether users in these different categories will adopt a new version of an app and how soon they will adopt it.
Advances in Understanding Stuttering as a Disorder of Language Encoding
Authors: Bernstein Ratner Nan , Brundage Shelley B.
Published: October 2023

We review accumulating evidence that implicates the language encoding and production system in children and adults who stutter. Stuttering is unique in its onset during the most dynamic stages of language acquisition, after apparently successful mastery of early language skills. We review older theories of stuttering that have given way to an understanding of stuttering's underlying bases in cortical and subcortical networks. Behavioral data suggest strong influences of language encoding demand on the frequency and location of stuttered events; psycholinguistic findings suggest atypical language processing in the absence of overt speech. We discuss the probable neuroanatomical and neurophysiological bases of these findings, with implications for therapeutic intervention.
Review—Advancements in Synthesis Methods for Nickel-Rich NCA Cathode Materials: Optimizing Synthesis Conditions and Their Impact on Electrochemical Performances for Next-Generation Lithium Batteries
Authors: El Kouihen Fadila , Kharbouch Zakaria , Faik Abdessamad
Published: October 2023

Nickel-rich

Li
(
N

i

0.8

C

o

0.15

A

l

0.05

O

2

) cathode materials have emerged as highly promising for lithium-ion batteries. They have gained traction in the commercial market due to safety and cost concerns surrounding cobalt-based cathodes. The layered oxide NCA cathode is more cost-effective and environmentally friendly compared to LiCoO2. However, it is crucial to carefully control the properties of NCA electrode materials, such as microstructure, morphology, and particle size, during the synthesis process to meet the increasing global demand for energy and the power requirements of electric vehicles. One of the main challenges with NCA cathodes lies in the demanding synthesis conditions. The properties of nickel-rich NCA cathodes, which significantly impact battery performance, depend on the synthesis process. Scientists are striving to identify optimal synthesis conditions to produce high-quality NCA cathodes suitable for various battery industries and commercial-scale applications. This review paper aims to present the latest advancements in synthesis methods for nickel-rich NCA cathode materials and explore the effects of different experimental conditions on their morphology, structure, and electrochemical properties. It provides guidance on selecting the best synthesis parameters for nickel-rich NCA cathode materials, serving as a valuable resource for research on NCA-layer oxide materials for all-solid-state lithium batteries.
Critical Current Density Measurements of Argyrodite Li6PS5Cl Solid Electrolyte at Ambient Pressure
Authors: Tron Artur , Orue Ander , López-Aranguren Pedro , Beutl Alexander
Published: October 2023

Sulfide electrolytes including the argyrodite family (Li6PS5X, X = Cl, Br, I) exhibit high ionic conductivities and transference numbers and are regarded as promising electrolytes for all-solid-state lithium batteries. Although high ionic conductivity is a necessary requirement for feasible battery operation, other parameters are equally important and have often been neglected in efforts to realize all-solid-state batteries. The so-called critical current density (CCD) is among the more relevant parameters for application and indicates the maximum current an electrolyte can sustain before breakdown. When Li metal electrodes are used, this breakdown is often initiated by heavy dendrite formation and subsequent growth through the electrolyte layer, resulting in internal shorting of the cell. Very promising CCD values are reported for the argyrodite family of >1 mA cm−2 at elevated temperatures and pressures. However, non-standardized cell setups and testing procedures are employed, which renders a proper comparison of values impossible. Thus, this work investigates the impact of these often-overlooked parameters and aims at establishing more standard measurement procedures for solid electrolytes under ambient or almost ambient pressure. Furthermore, an alternative method for evaluation of CCD values is presented adopted from Tafel analysis.
Review—Early Efforts to Develop Practical Rechargeable Lithium Batteries
Authors: Abraham K. M.
Published: October 2023

Early efforts to develop practical rechargeable Li batteries begun in the 1970s led to a number of important contributions. We demonstrated practical rechargeable Li battery cells with capacities ranging from a few hundred milli-ampere hours to several ampere hours. In the course of the next couple of decades we made many other important contributions to lay a foundation for this technology. These include the recognition of the importance of overcharge protection of rechargeable Li and Li-ion batteries in order to mitigate cell degradation and to prevent safety hazards, the development of highly conductive gel polymer electrolytes for building rechargeable Li metal and Li-ion batteries, and the invention and advancement of the rechargeable Li-air battery which is pursued world-wide today.
Effect of Integrated Treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine on Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Patients
Authors: Lou Xudan , Huang Yuxin , Qiu Jieyuzhen , Sun Jiao , Gu Qin , Wang Haidong , Tao Xiaoming , Jiang Cuiping
Published: October 2023

What is Known and Objective. To explore the effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined with levothyroxine (L-T4) on thyroid autoantibodies, inflammation, and sleep quality in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients. Methods. Patients were randomly divided into group A and group B. Group A was treated with L-T4 alone, while group B was treated with integrated TCM and L-T4. TCM symptoms were quantified before and after treatment as well as PSQI. Blood samples were taken to detect clinical indicators and thyroid autoantibodies. Cytokines in serum and thyroid tissues were analyzed by ELISA and RT-PCR. Results and Discussion. Totally, 196 patients were enrolled in the study, and there were no differences between group A and group B at the baseline. TCM treatment effectively reduced the levels of TGAb and TPOAb and was a protective factor for the improvement of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis antibody titers,

p
 
<
 
0.05

. The serum expressions of IL-17A, IL-6, and IFN-γ in group B after treatment were lower than those in group A and before, while the IL-10 level was raised from the baseline,

p
 
<
 
0.05

. Similar results were found in the comparison of IL-17A, IFN-γ, and IL-10 in thyroid tissues of group A, B, and control,

p
 
<
 
0.05

. Besides, with integrated treatment, all TCM symptoms except for poor memory were improved as well as sleep quality and mood,

p
 
<
 
0.05

. However, these changes were not observed before and after treatment with L-T4 in group A. What is New and Conclusion. The integrated treatment with TCM had a significant effect on thyroid autoantibodies, inflammation, and sleep quality in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients and provided a new and effective method for future treatment.
The Diagnostic Dilemma of “The Great Imitator”: Heart and Cerebral Involvement of Lupus Manifesting as Bilateral Upper and Lower Extremity Weakness
Authors: Santos Alexander , Kure Catrina , Sanchez Cesar , Gross Phillip
Published: October 2023

Background. Systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) is an autoimmune condition which can cause complex, multiorgan dysfunction. This autoimmune disease is caused by the production of antinuclear antibodies which allows this disease to target virtually any organ in the human body. When a patient experiences an unpredictable worsening of disease activity, it is generally considered a lupus flare. Organ dysfunction due to a lupus flare tends to manifest as separate events in the literature and rarely do we witness multiple compounding organ failures during a lupus flare. If we do witness organ dysfunction and failure, rarely do we see cardiac and cerebral involvement. Typically, patients take immunosuppressants for a long term to avoid the patient’s disease process from worsening and to provide prophylaxis from a flare to occur. Despite the availability in preventive strategies, some patients will have increased disease activity multiple times throughout their lifetime and will need increases in their medication doses or changes to their regimen. Some flares can be managed in the clinic, but more severe ones may be life-threatening that they require intravenous medications and hospitalization to achieve remission. In the following case, we see a patient with a past medical history of SLE on multiple immunosuppressants who arrived at the hospital with acute, bilateral weakness of the upper and lower extremities. It was later determined via various imaging and laboratory testing that she was having an SLE flare that was directly causing myocarditis which progressed to global ischemia of the brain via myocardial hypoperfusion. She experienced substantial recovery from her flare with treatment with high-dose, intravenous corticosteroids. Case Report. A 27-year-old female with a 2-year history of lupus and a 1-week history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation presented with three days of bilateral focal neurological deficits in the arms and legs. She was found to have ischemic cardiac and neurologic manifestations during her hospital stay. Conclusion. Our patient presented with reversible focal neurological deficits, elevated high-sensitive troponin levels, and high lupus serum antibodies who showed significant improvement after the introduction of high-dose steroids. This case recommends keeping a large differential and to not discount patients’ past comorbidities for causing atypical symptomatology.
Commonality of Virulence-Promoting Function in Rhodococcus equi Virulence Associated Proteins (Vaps)
Authors: Ganderton Timothy R. , Ghete Daniel , Hogg Karen , Park Graeme J. , Baumann Christoph G. , Wilkinson Anthony J. , Pryor Paul R.
Published: October 2023

Rhodococcus equi is a Gram-positive facultative intracellular pathogen associated with life-threatening bronchopneumonial disease in foals. Key to R. equi’s intracellular survival in host macrophages is the production of virulence associated proteins (Vaps). Numerous vap genes are found on virulence plasmids isolated from different species, and the Vaps share a high degree of sequence identity. VapA has been extensively studied, and although vapK and vapN genes from other R. equi virulence plasmids have been shown to be essential for R. equi intracellular survival, their mode of action is less characterised. We, therefore, examined whether VapK and VapN worked mechanistically in the same way as VapA. Indeed, like VapA, VapK and VapN neutralised lysosomal pH and reduced lysosomal hydrolase activity. A loss of VapA and R. equi virulence could be regained by the presence of either VapK or VapN. The acid-neutralisation activity was also observed to a lesser extent with VapB. There was a differential activity across these virulence-promoting Vaps with the most “acid-neutralising” activity found with VapN, then VapA and K, and finally VapB. These data suggest that VapA production, which is often found in equine infections, can be substituted by VapK and B (produced by plasmids often found in porcine species) or VapN (produced by plasmids often isolated in bovine and human samples). These data imply that the molecular mechanism(s) that VapA uses to neutralise lysosomal acidity should also be seen in VapN and K which will help guide researchers in identifying their precise mode of action and aid the future development of targeted therapeutics.
Fractional Order Derivative and Time-Delay Feedback Enabled Stochastic Resonance for Bearing Fault Diagnosis
Authors: Mei Yidan , Chen Lutie , Xu Wentao , Liu Chao , Qiao Zijian , Lai Zhihui
Published: October 2023

The benefits of noise can be found in nonlinear systems where a type of resonances can inject the noise into systems to enhance weak signals of interest, including stochastic resonance, vibrational resonance, and chaotic resonance. Such benefits of noise can be improved further by adding some items into the nonlinear systems. Considering the time-dependent memory of fractional-order derivative and time-delay feedback which makes the nonlinear systems take advantage of their historical information and makes the output of nonlinear systems affect the input by feedback control, therefore, we attempt to design the model of stochastic resonance (SR) enhanced by both fractional-order derivative and time-delay feedback. Among them, fractional-order derivative and time delay would reinforce the memory of nonlinear systems for historical information and feedback would use the output of systems to control the systems precisely. Therefore, we hope that their advantages would be fused to improve the weak signal detection performance of SR further. Then, it would be applied to bearing fault diagnosis and compared with that without fractional-order derivative and time-delay feedback and even other diagnostic methods. The experimental results indicate that the SR enhanced by fractional-order derivative and time-delay feedback where a local signal-to-noise ratio is designed as the objective function to optimize these tuning parameters of the proposed method could enhance early fault signature of bearings and outperform that without fractional-order derivative and time-delay feedback and even infogram method.
Amelioration of Tumor-promoting Microenvironment via Vascular Remodeling and CAF Suppression Using E7130: Biomarker Analysis by Multimodal Imaging Modalities
Authors: Ito Ken , Yamaguchi Masayuki , Semba Taro , Tabata Kimiyo , Tamura Moe , Aoyama Muneo , Abe Takanori , Asano Osamu , Terada Yasuhiko , Funahashi Yasuhiro , Fujii Hirofumi
Published: October 2023

E7130 is a novel anticancer agent created from total synthetic study of the natural compound norhalichondrin B. In addition to inhibiting microtubule dynamics, E7130 also ameliorates tumor-promoting aspects of the tumor microenvironment (TME) by suppressing cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) and promoting remodeling of tumor vasculature. Here, we demonstrate TME amelioration by E7130 using multi-imaging modalities, including multiplexed mass cytometry [cytometry by time-of-flight (CyTOF)] analysis, multiplex IHC analysis, and MRI. Experimental solid tumors characterized by large numbers of CAFs in TME were treated with E7130. E7130 suppressed LAP-TGFβ1 production, a precursor of TGFβ1, in CAFs but not in cancer cells; an effect that was accompanied by a reduction of circulating TGFβ1 in plasma. To our best knowledge, this is the first report to show a reduction of TGFβ1 production in TME. Furthermore, multiplex IHC analysis revealed reduced cellularity and increased TUNEL-positive apoptotic cells in E7130-treated xenografts. Increased microvessel density (MVD) and collagen IV (Col IV), an extracellular matrix (ECM) component associated with endothelial cells, were also observed in the TME, and plasma Col IV levels were also increased by E7130 treatment. MRI revealed increased accumulation of a contrast agent in xenografts. Moreover, diffusion-weighted MRI after E7130 treatment indicated reduction of tumor cellularity and interstitial fluid pressure. Overall, our findings strongly support the mechanism of action that E7130 alters the TME in therapeutically beneficial ways. Importantly, from a translational perspective, our data demonstrated MRI as a noninvasive biomarker to detect TME amelioration by E7130, supported by consistent changes in plasma biomarkers.
Entwicklung kardiovaskulärer Erkrankungen bei obstruktiver Schlafapnoe: Erhebung weiterer Parameter als Ergänzung zur Standard-Polysomnographie notwendig
Authors: Galetke Wolfgang
Published: October 2023

In dieser retrospektiven Querschnittsstudie wurde der Zusammenhang zwischen der Gesamtschlafzeit (TST), die mit erhöhter Atemanstrengung (RE) verbracht wurde, und der Prävalenz von Typ-2-Diabetes bei Personen mit Verdacht auf obstruktive Schlaf­apnoe (OSA) untersucht. Die Studie umfasste klinische Daten von 1128 Patienten, die zur Polysomnographie (PSG) im Labor überwie­sen wurden. Nicht invasive Messungen der RE wurden aus dem schlafbezogenen Unterkieferbewegungssignal (MJM) abgeleitet. Ein maschinelles Lernmodell wurde entwickelt, um Typ-2-Diabetes anhand von klinischen Daten, Standard-PSG-Indizes und von MJM abgeleiteten Parametern vorherzusagen, darunter der Anteil der TST, der mit erhöhter Atemanstrengung verbracht wurde (REMOV (%TST)). Die Datensätze wurden zufällig in Trainings- (n = 853) und Validierungsgruppen (n = 275) aufgeteilt. Das entwickelte Klassifizierungsmodell, basierend auf 18 Merkmalen einschließlich REMOV, zeigte eine hohe Vorhersageleistung für prävalenten Typ-2-Diabetes (Sensitivität = 0,81, Spezifität = 0,89). Die nachträgliche Interpretation mithilfe der Shapley-Erklärungsmethode ergab, dass ein hoher REMOV-Wert als signifikanter Risikofaktor für Typ-2-Diabetes bei Personen mit OSA identifiziert wurde. Diese Bedeutung von REMOV ging über traditionelle klinische Variablen wie Alter, Geschlecht und Body-Mass-Index hinaus und übertraf so­gar die Standard-PSG-Metriken wie Apnoe-Hypopnoe- und Sauerstoffentsättigungs-Indizes. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie liefern erstmalig den Nachweis, dass der Anteil der Schlafzeit, der mit erhöhter Atemanstrengung verbracht wird (ermittelt durch MJM-Messungen), ein wichtiger Prädiktor für die Verbindung mit Typ-2-Diabetes bei Personen mit OSA ist. Diese Erkenntnisse könnten dazu beitragen, die Risikobewertung und Prävention von Typ-2-Diabetes bei OSA-Patienten zu verbessern.