bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Beam stacking experiment at a fixed field alternating gradient accelerator
Authors: Uesugi T. , Ishi Y. , Kuriyama Y. , Mori Y. , Jolly C. , Kelliher D. J. , Lagrange J.-B. , Letchford A. P. , Machida S. , de Boer D. W. Posthuma , Rogers C. T. , Yamakawa E. , Topp-Mugglestone M.
Published: January 2025

A key challenge in particle accelerators is to achieve high peak intensity. Space charge is particularly strong at lower energy such as during injection and typically limits achievable peak intensity. The beam stacking technique can overcome this limitation by accumulating a beam at high energy where space charge is weaker. In beam stacking, a bunch of particles is injected and accelerated to high energy. This bunch continues to circulate, while a second and subsequent bunches are accelerated to merge into the first. It also allows the user cycle and acceleration cycles to be separated which is often valuable. Beam stacking is not possible in a time varying magnetic field, but a fixed field machine such as an fixed field alternating gradient accelerator (FFA) does not sweep the magnetic field. In this paper, we describe experimental demonstration of beam stacking of two beams at KURNS FFA in Kyoto University. The momentum spread and intensity of the beam was analyzed by study of the Schottky signal, demonstrating stacking with only a slight increase of momentum spread of the combined beams. The intensity of the first beam was, however, significantly reduced. rf knockout is the suspected source of the beam loss.

Published by the American Physical Society
2025
Magnetic order and long-range interactions in mesoscopic Ising chains
Authors: Vantaraki Christina , Grassi Matías P. , Ignatova Kristina , Foerster Michael , Arnalds Unnar B. , Primetzhofer Daniel , Kapaklis Vassilios
Published: January 2025

We investigate the design of magnetic ordering in one-dimensional mesoscopic magnetic Ising chains by modulating long-range interactions. These interactions are affected by geometrical modifications to the chain, which adjust the energy hierarchy and the resulting magnetic ground states. Consequently, the magnetic ordering can be tuned between antiferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic dimer phases. These phases are experimentally observed in chains fabricated using both conventional electron-beam lithography and ion implantation techniques, demonstrating the feasibility of controlling magnetic properties at the mesoscale. The ability of attaining these magnetic structures by thermal annealing, underlines the potential of using such systems instead of simulated annealers in tackling combinatorial optimization tasks.

Published by the American Physical Society
2025
Magnetic signature of thermoelectric cardiac dynamics
Authors: Crispino Anna , Nicoletti Martina , Loppini Alessandro , Gizzi Alessio , Chiodo Letizia , Cherubini Christian , Filippi Simonetta
Published: January 2025

Developing methods to predict electromagnetic instabilities in cardiac dynamics is crucial. However, a comprehensive view of the heart's magnetic activity at a tissue scale is still needed. To address such a challenging problem, we present a theoretical framework to investigate thermoelectric cardiac dynamics from the magnetic field perspective. Our framework demonstrates that periodic stimulations of cardiac cell strands create an external magnetic field, revealing predictable features of nonlinear spatiotemporal cardiac dynamics. Magnetic restitution curves better discriminate instabilities and bifurcations through a thermo-electro-magnetic map analysis. This new approach lays the foundation for innovative, noninvasive diagnostic tools for cardiac arrhythmias.

Published by the American Physical Society
2025
Homogeneous magnetic flux in Rydberg lattices
Authors: Eix J. , Bai R. , Lahaye T. , Browaeys A. , Büchler H. P. , Weber S.
Published: January 2025

We present a method for generating homogeneous and tunable magnetic flux for bosonic particles in a lattice using Rydberg atoms. Our setup relies on Rydberg excitations hopping through the lattice by dipolar exchange interactions. The magnetic flux arises from complex hopping via ancilla atoms. Remarkably, the total flux within a magnetic unit cell directly depends on the ratio of the number of lattice sites to ancilla atoms, making it topologically protected to small changes in the positions of the atoms. This allows us to optimize the positions of the ancilla atoms to make the flux through the magnetic unit cell homogeneous. With this homogeneous flux, we get a topological band in the single-particle regime. In the many-body regime, we obtain indications of a bosonic fractional Chern insulator state at ν=1/2 filling.

Published by the American Physical Society
2025
User-generated content’s influence on tourist destination image: a generational perspective
Authors: Correia Ricardo , Aksionova Evelina , Venciute Dominyka , Sousa João , Fontes Ruta
Published: January 2025

Purpose

This study aims to examine the moderating role of generational identity in the relationship between user-generated content (UGC) and tourist destination image. It seeks to unveil the differential impact of UGC on the cognitive and affective dimensions of tourist destination image across generational cohorts: Generation Z, Millennials and Generation X.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has an experimental design. It used online surveys to gather data from 317 participants recruited through social media channels. Participants were presented with both positive and negative UGC, and their responses were measured using cognitive and affective scales.

Findings

This study reveals that UGC significantly affects both the cognitive and affective dimensions of the destination image. However, the impact on the cognitive aspect is moderated by generational differences, with distinct variations observed across Generation Z, Millennials and Generation X. No significant generational moderation was found for the affective dimension, indicating a universal influence of UGC on emotional perceptions of destinations.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that marketers should tailor their communication strategies to the generational characteristics of their target audience, especially concerning the cognitive aspects of destination marketing. However, for affective appeals, a uniform strategy could be applied across generations, simplifying the approach for emotional marketing content.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the extant literature by highlighting the importance of generational segmentation in the strategic marketing of tourism destinations. It extends the discourse to generational analysis, providing a more granular understanding of the interactions between tourists and UGC.
Transnational corporate power, neo-colonialism and investigative journalism: a conversation with Matt Kennard
Authors: Munro Iain , Boussebaa Mehdi , Rhodes Carl
Published: January 2025

Purpose

This viewpoint aims to contribute to understanding corporate power in two key respects. First, it provides insight into the ways in which transnational corporations continue to operate as vehicles for neo-colonial projects, which are underpinned by exploitation and racial hierarchies. Second, it highlights the significance of investigative journalism in providing a crucial empirical resource for both activists engaged in holding power to account and scholars engaged in critical research into corporate power and civil society activism.

Design/methodology/approach

This viewpoint combines an interview with an investigative journalist and the academic commentary provided by the authors in response to the interview.

Findings

This viewpoint highlights contemporary mutations in the concentration of corporate power, along three broad themes: the growth of transnational institutions critical to enabling and supporting abuses of transnational corporate power and neo-colonialism; the emergence of corporate-run political territories secured by private security organisations; and the corporate attack on progressive politics. It also analyses the important role of investigative journalism in advancing knowledge of transnational corporate power as well as its role in holding such power to account and the urgent need for new forms of independent journalism to support union activism, whistleblowing and other forms of democratic activism.

Research limitations/implications

This viewpoint engages with an alternative tradition of social critique and the critique of corporate power, which has been underrepresented in the field of international business.

Practical implications

This study highlights the significance of investigative journalism in providing a crucial empirical resource for both activists engaged in holding power to account and scholars engaged in critical research into corporate power and civil society activism.

Social implications

These implications entail developing a critique of transnational corporate power and neo-colonialism, enriching democtratic oversight and journalism, and supporting freedom of expression and democratic activism.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, minimal research has explored the critical role of investigative journalism in uncovering and holding transnational corporate power accountable. This paper therefore offers a highly original contribution by addressing this significant yet underexamined area.
Understanding contractors’ circular economy transition intention: a push-pull-mooring framework
Authors: Li Kaiyi , Salleh Hafez , Wang Rui
Published: January 2025

Purpose

The exponential growth of the construction sector exerts considerable pressure on the environment, and the circular economy (CE) concept has recently gained traction as a means of alleviating such environmental issues. In order to propose solutions to the phenomenon of contractors being hesitant to participate in CE implementation in developing countries, this paper aims to comprehensively explore the enabling factors that motivate contractors to implement CE.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on the push-pull-mooring (PPM) theory and extends it by introducing information provision (IP) as a trigger on contractors’ intrinsic subjective initiative states on CE implementation. The study considers what and how positive pull, negative push and neutral mooring factors influence the contractors’ CE transition. The framework was validated by questionnaires collected from contractors in China, and the data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method.

Findings

The findings indicate that all factors from the PPM framework exert a positive influence on CE intention, with push factors demonstrating a greater average impact. Furthermore, this study confirms the influence of the IP on contractors’ CE intentions by influencing their intrinsic status. The impact of the IP is most pronounced in terms of contractors’ perceived usefulness and environmental concerns.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in the CE transition studies by extending the PPM theory into the construction industry through the lenses of contractors in developing countries. The results highlight the trigger impacts of the IP on contractors’ psychological status regarding CE transition. Furthermore, it offers insights into government management in the CE transition by providing the government with novel approaches to facilitate the CE transition in the construction sector.
The importance of ildsjeler: a fieldwork study of inclusive leadership and subjective social mobility in sport
Authors: Svendsen Mari , Næss Hans Erik
Published: January 2025

Purpose

While it has been argued that sport organizations are a socially integrative factor in societies, research on sport and social inclusion is short on the role of leadership. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the degree to which inclusive leadership enables social mobility for participants in a social inclusion program through sport.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a fieldwork study composed of focused, multi-sited and collaborative ethnography principles. It draws upon data from four sport clubs that are members of the Norwegian Equestrian Federation (NEF) and associated with a social inclusion program for people with a history of substance abuse disorders (SUD).

Findings

Through the enabling of participants’ agency capabilities through prototypicality, shared leadership and cognitive efforts, incentives for utilizing inclusive leadership are presented. The study also presents perspectives on social mobility that are less prone to inflexible categorization and more attuned to people’s sense of belonging and identities.

Originality/value

By coupling unique fieldwork data with theories on subjective social mobility, leadership and meaningfulness, the study presents novel insights into how inclusive leadership play a pivotal role in empowering people with SUD to enhance their social mobility capabilities.
A tale of two paths: the divergent effects of anger and compassion in face-to-face versus computer-mediated dispute negotiations
Authors: Liu Meina
Published: January 2025

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to assess whether and how communication medium (i.e. face-to-face vs text-based instant messaging) moderates the processes through which two contrastive, discrete emotions (i.e. anger and compassion) influence dispute resolution tactics and relational outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 254 participants formed same-sex negotiation dyads to resolve a dispute between roommates either face-to-face (FtF) or through computer-mediated communication (CMC) in two experimental conditions (high vs low responsibility) designed to induce anger and compassion. Multi-group structural equation modeling procedures were used to assess four actor–partner mediation models that predict both intrapersonal and interpersonal effects of anger and compassion on relational outcomes through dispute resolution versus facework tactics.

Findings

Results showed that anger had a significant indirect effect on relational outcomes through competitive (i.e. power-based and face-threatening) tactics in FtF negotiations but not CMC, whereas compassion had a significant indirect effect on relational outcomes through both competitive and cooperative (i.e. power-based, interest-based, face-threatening and face-enhancing) tactics in CMC but not FtF negotiations.

Originality/value

The study extends existing scholarship on emotion in negotiations by demonstrating the moderating effects of communication medium and sheds insights on why communication technology should be considered for resolving emotion-laden disputes.
Economic policy uncertainty and housing prices: evidence from Northern and Southern Europe
Authors: Durmaz Nazif , Bian Shuyi , Gu Yihang
Published: January 2025

Purpose

This study aims to examine the influence of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on residential property prices across 10 distinct nations in Europe, specifically in Northern and Southern regions.

Design/methodology/approach

The autoregressive distributed lag bounded cointegration test is used to carry out the empirical analysis.

Findings

The findings reveal that there is a stable long-term cointegration between house prices and their determining factors, including EPU, in the 10 nations. The outcomes further indicate that EPU has negative long- and short-term effects on house prices, apart from Spain, where uncertainty has a significant positive effect.

Originality/value

The sample period of nearly 40 years applied in this paper includes several business cycles, as well as the concluded global financial crisis, the Brexit process and the COVID-19 pandemic. These three important events potentially increased economic uncertainty across Southern and Northern Europe and the globe, thus making this study even more timely and vital.
The role of intellectual capital in the sustainable value creation of Brazilian listed companies
Authors: Jordão Ricardo Vinícius Dias , Avelar Ewerton Alex , Lúcio Marco Antônio
Published: January 2025

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on Brazilian companies’ sustainable value creation (VC).

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study was performed using descriptive and multivariate statistics based on the finance, strategy and IC theories. This research is quantitative, explanatory, descriptive, applied and ex post facto and uses traditional economic-financial variables (derived from financial statements – FSs) linked to two established frameworks for IC analysis: the market-to-book ratio (IC-INDEX) and the MVAIC, a variation of the value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC™).

Findings

The findings showed that the IC estimated through the IC-INDEX and the MVAIC frameworks is directly related to the VC of Brazilian companies throughout the entire period and revealed a consistent effect in all time frames analyzed. Both models were robust and complementary in assessing the company’s VC and sustainability. The conclusion shows that IC is the most relevant factor in explaining VC and its continuity over time, regardless of other traditional variables used to study the phenomenon.

Research limitations/implications

From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes to mastering the understanding of the subject by applying two important IC measurement frameworks to explain sustainable VC over time and examining the problem in the Brazilian market – paving the way for future investigations.

Practical implications

This study provides users of accounting and financial information and other market agents with a better understanding of the VC process and the central role of IC in this process. These findings suggest that these asset investments tend to be more qualified to create corporate wealth for shareholders and other stakeholders. Such a result can help improve decision-making processes, besides generating competitive benchmarking and assisting them in financial analysis and resource allocation in the economy.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of the research arises from applying two important IC measurement frameworks (IC-INDEX and MVAIC) simultaneously to explain sustainable VC over time and the analysis in a relevant and complex emerging market – both issues are unexplored in the literature.
Big 4 auditors, client informational problems, and bank loan contracting: evidence from Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alhadadi Abdullah
Published: January 2025

Purpose

This study has three objectives: (i) to examine whether using a Big 4 auditor reduces loan interest rates; (ii) to analyze how loan interest rates differ between smaller firms, which face more acute asymmetric information problems, and larger firms; and (iii) to investigate whether the negative relationship between Big 4 auditors and loan interest rates is a function of client size.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample comprises all publicly traded nonfinancial companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange from 2007 to 2020. Pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) regression tests the hypothesized relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

Findings

The study offers three notable findings. First, borrowers audited by Big 4 auditors receive significantly lower interest rates than those audited by non-Big 4 auditors. Second, banks offer lower interest rates to larger firms (i.e. firms with fewer informational problems) than to smaller ones. Third, no conclusive evidence exists that the beneficial effects of Big 4 auditors (in terms of reduced interest rates) differ significantly between larger and smaller firms. This finding is attributable to the idea that Big 4 auditors do not report more favorably for larger clients or more conservatively for smaller clients. The results remain robust, even after addressing the endogeneity arising from auditor self-selection bias, which is validated by the results of two econometric tests: Heckman’s two-stage procedure and propensity score matching.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to examine the relationship between auditor size and bank loan contracting in Saudi Arabia.
From crisis to change: lessons learned and future trends in healthcare and public health
Authors: Rys Maciej , Topor-Madry Roman
Published: January 2025

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly reshaped the healthcare landscape, revealing both systemic strengths and weaknesses. This article examines a long-term study of the pandemic’s impacts on healthcare systems and integrated care processes, highlighting both negative results – such as increased burnout and persistent systemic flaws – and positive outcomes, such as improved patient care models, enhanced collaboration and increased technological integration.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed elements of the ethnographic approach, combining various qualitative methods with a literature review and data analysis.

Findings

The findings reveal a mixed legacy: while the pandemic accelerated innovation and exposed systemic flaws, it also exacerbated mental health issues among healthcare workers.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation is study’s focus on the Polish healthcare system, which may introduce biases and limit the generalizability of findings to other regions with different backgrounds, infrastructures and pandemic responses.

Practical implications

Addressing these issues will be crucial for developing robust healthcare policies and improving overall healthcare delivery and integrated care processes.

Social implications

The study provides practical implications for policymakers, healthcare providers and the workforce, emphasizing the need for structural resilience, effective resource management and ongoing professional development to sustain and enhance healthcare systems globally.

Originality/value

The study’s originality arises from its methodological approach, combining interviews with healthcare professionals and a narrative review to provide a long-term analysis of both positive and negative outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly focusing on the Polish healthcare system while also generalizing insights that could be relevant globally.
The push-pull-mooring model of consumer service switching: a meta-analytical review to guide future research
Authors: Marx Tobias
Published: January 2025

Purpose

For nearly 2 decades, the push-pull-mooring (PPM) model has been used frequently by scholars to explain consumers’ service switching intention and behavior. However, heterogeneity and incomparability between PPM model studies are prevalent issues: The chosen predictor variables, their categorization, their measurement, reported effect sizes, and effect directions vary considerably. By addressing these issues, the present meta-analytical review enables future researchers applying the PPM model to identify relevant variables and use valid measurements.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 148 empirical studies employing the PPM model, the variables used to predict consumers’ service switching intention and behavior, their frequency of use, their categorization into push, pull, and mooring factors, and their measurement are assessed. The effect sizes and directions of the relationships between these variables and consumers’ service switching intention and behavior are analyzed using meta-analytic structural equation modeling. Additionally, the predictive capacity of this model and the influence of moderators are assessed.

Findings

Among the 148 empirical studies, 382 different independent variables were used. The three most frequently used and distinctly categorized independent variables are dissatisfaction (push), alternative attractiveness (pull), and switching costs (mooring). Overall, 152 unique sources were cited to measure these variables and the dependent variables. Dissatisfaction and alternative attractiveness increase switching intention, which positively affects switching behavior, while switching costs decrease switching intention. The model explains 30% of the variance in switching intention and 31% of the variance in switching behavior.

Originality/value

This study provides the first meta-analytical review of the PPM model to guide future research systematically.
Investigating consumer challenges against dark patterns using grey influence analysis (GINA)
Authors: Singh Vibhav , Vishvakarma Niraj Kumar , Kumar Vinod
Published: January 2025

Purpose

Due to the extreme competition in the e-commerce landscape, online companies resort to driving extra profits by manipulating user decisions via manipulative user interfaces and tricks, known as dark patterns. Although many online users are aware of such manipulative tactics, they struggle to combat dark patterns due to certain challenges. Therefore, this study identifies and ranks the most and least significant user challenges in resisting dark patterns in e-commerce.

Design/methodology/approach

Initially, the authors identified 11 user challenges against dark patterns in the existing literature. After collecting expert opinions about the challenges from 17 industry professionals, the authors used grey influence analysis (GINA) to identify the most significant challenges.

Findings

The study reveals that lack of user awareness, partial control over cognitive biases and user preference for short-term benefits are the most influential challenges. Conversely, the normalization of aggressive marketing, lack of collective user action and legal challenges were found to have minimal influence.

Research limitations/implications

The study’s findings apply to the generic e-commerce industry and may differ in specialized sectors.

Practical implications

The study’s findings could encourage specialized consumer education regarding dark patterns to assist users in minimizing cognitive biases. Based on the insights, e-commerce companies might differentiate themselves by embracing ethical design methods and supporting consumer trust and transparency above manipulative techniques.

Originality/value

The study pioneered the use of GINA to model user challenges in combating dark patterns, providing fresh insights into how these challenges interact and influence user behavior. It is one of the first to show the cascading effects of user challenges in a manipulative e-commerce environment.
Predicting invasion success of naturalized cultivated plants in China
Authors: Dong Bi‐Cheng , Dong Ran , Yang Qiang , Kinlock Nicole L. , Yu Fei‐Hai , van Kleunen Mark
Published: January 2025

Plant invasions pose significant threats to native ecosystems, human health, and global economies. However, the complex and multidimensional nature of factors influencing plant invasions makes it challenging to predict and interpret their invasion success accurately.

Using a robust machine learning algorithm, random forest, and an extensive suite of characteristics related to environmental niches, species traits, and propagule pressure, we developed a classification model to predict the invasion success of naturalized cultivated plants in China. Based on the final optimal model, we evaluated the relative importance of individual and grouped variables and their prediction performance.

Our study identified key individual variables within each of three groupings: climatic suitability and native range size (environmental niches), phylogenetic distance to the closest native taxon and vegetative propagation mode (species traits), and the number of botanical gardens and provinces where species were cultivated (propagule pressure). Remarkably, when grouped variables were evaluated, the relative importance of grouped variables increased dramatically—by 13.5–17.7 times—compared with the cumulative importance of individual variables within a category. However, the relative importance of one category was primarily due to the number of variables within each category rather than its inherent characteristics.

Synthesis and applications. Our findings emphasize the necessity of developing data‐driven predictive tools for effective invasion risk assessment using large datasets. By identifying key individual variables, we recommend prioritizing surveillance of alien plant species with large native ranges and high climatic suitability. By evaluating grouped variables, we emphasize the significance of grouped variables in enhancing model interpretability by providing deeper insights into the complex interactions among individual factors within each predefined category. This comprehensive approach can not only identify the most influential predictors of invasion success but also equip policymakers with evidence‐based strategies for surveillance, early detection, and targeted intervention of invasive plants.
Plant phylogeny, traits and fungal community composition as drivers of plant–soil feedbacks
Authors: Sweeney Christopher J. , Semchenko Marina , de Vries Franciska T. , van Dongen Bart E. , Bardgett Richard D.
Published: January 2025

Plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) are key drivers of plant community dynamics. However, our understanding of the factors moderating PSFs remains limited. We examined how plant phylogenetic relatedness and functional traits determine PSFs via their influence on rhizosphere fungal communities, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and fungal pathotrophs.

We conducted a glasshouse PSF experiment using 21 temperate grassland plant species, where each focal species was exposed to soils conditioned by heterospecific plants of increasing phylogenetic dissimilarity. We tested whether phylogenetic distance between plant species, functional traits or the degree to which species associate with AMF or fungal pathotrophs, explained the magnitude and direction of PSF responses.

None of the measured plant traits explained PSFs, although the relative abundance of AMF was weakly and positively related to PSFs. Across all plant species, phylogenetic relatedness did not explain PSFs. However, species‐specific effects of phylogenetic relatedness on the outcome of PSFs were detected. In particular, significant relationships with phylogenetic relatedness were observed only for species characterised by the highest rhizosphere relative abundance of AMF or fungal pathotrophs. For Centaurea nigra and Vicia cracca (both high AMF abundance) and Anthoxanthum odoratum (high pathotroph abundance), we found that PSF became more positive with increased phylogenetic distance between focal and conditioning species, showing a shift towards increased performance in conspecific than heterospecific soils. Meanwhile, as phylogenetic dissimilarity between Poa trivialis (high pathotroph abundance) and the soil conditioning species increased, more negative PSFs were observed, indicating improved performance in soils conditioned by increasingly distant heterospecific species.

Synthesis. Our results suggest that plant traits and phylogenetic relatedness are poor predictors of plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) among temperate grassland plant species. Hence, despite known effects of these factors in shaping rhizosphere microbial communities, the way plant species respond to these microbial communities is not related to the same characteristics. The occurrence of significant relationships between phylogenetic distance and PSFs in species with high relative abundances of mycorrhizal or pathogenic fungi suggests that the tendency to accumulate fungal mutualists or pathotrophs may be an important moderator of the relationship between plant phylogenetic relatedness and the magnitude and direction of PSFs.
Decisions to Adapt Family Farms to Climate Change in Cameroon
Authors: Tagang Tene Nelson Sergeo , Tsambou André Dumas , Fouopi Djiogap Constant
Published: January 2025

The goal of this research is to identify the factors that explain family farm adaptation to climate change, as well as the complementarity between these various adaptation strategies. A multivariate probit model was used to analyse secondary data from 721 family farms. According to statistical analysis, 72% of farmers correctly perceive temperature increases over time and variations in rainfall as daily realities that must be incorporated into their farming practices. The most concerning phenomena are drought (52%), and flooding (34%). Econometric analysis reveals that the adaptation decision is explained by the farmer's experience, household size, farm size, religion, agroecological zone, producer cooperation, and credit facilities. Specifically, farm size had a positive and statistically significant effect on the likelihood of irrigating fields by 12.2% and using short‐duration seeds by 26.9%. Furthermore, there was a strong correlation between the different coping strategies, confirming the complementarity hypothesis. These findings imply that strengthening agricultural research and extension services, including farmer access to information, education, and training, is critical to the development of an effective climate change adaptation process.
Impact of an Oregon health policy aimed at strengthening adolescent linkage to outpatient mental health care from the emergency department
Authors: Kraynov Liliya , Charlesworth Christina , Choo Esther , McConnell K. John
Published: January 2025

Background

Oregon introduced a state policy, HB 3090, on October 6, 2017, which increased requirements on emergency departments (EDs) to improve transitions to outpatient mental health care. The objective of this study was to examine the policy's impact among low‐income adolescent patients who face severe barriers to follow‐up.

Methods

This was a retrospective cohort study of visits by Medicaid enrollees ages 14–18 presenting to any Oregon ED for a mental health concern between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019. We calculated standardized mean differences and used interrupted time series models to evaluate the association of HB 3090 with 14‐day mental health follow‐up, in‐ED services, and inpatient admissions, adjusting for gender, race/ethnicity, primary language, and calendar months.

Results

Among 26,071 adolescent mental health–related ED visits, we found an estimated increase of 3.63 percentage points (pp; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.27 to 6.99) in the adjusted probability of a 14‐day outpatient mental health claim postpolicy. However, this effect was attenuated over time, with a slope change of −0.25 pp (95% CI −0.5 to 0) for each month thereafter. The probability of receiving mental health services in the ED or inpatient admission did not change in association with the policy.

Conclusions

There was a small increase in short‐term outpatient mental health visits after the policy, but the association weakened over time, and other key outcomes did not change. Putting pressure on EDs to perform better in this area is likely to be a minimally effective strategy without accompanying strengthening of mental health resources.
Emergency department early mortality model for patients admitted after presenting to a tertiary medical center emergency department
Authors: Brooten Justin K. , Speiser Jaime L. , Gabbard Jennifer L. , Miller David P. , Mahler Simon A. , Turner Adam S. , Omlor Rebecca L. , Mielke Michelle M. , Cline David M.
Published: January 2025

Objectives

Identifying patients in the emergency department (ED) at higher risk for in‐hospital mortality can inform shared decision making and goals‐of‐care discussions. Electronic health record systems allow for integrated multivariable logistic regression (LR) modeling, which can provide early predictions of mortality risk in time for crucial decision making during a patient's initial care. Many commonly used LR models require blood gas analysis values, which are not frequently obtained in the ED. The goal of this study was to develop an all‐cause mortality prediction model, derived from commonly collected ED data, which can assess mortality risk early in ED care.

Methods

Data were obtained for all patients, age 18 and older, admitted from the ED to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist from April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2020. Initial vital signs including heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, pulse oximetry, weight, body mass index, comprehensive metabolic panel, and a complete blood count were electronically retrieved for all patients. The prediction model was developed using LR. The ED early mortality (EDEM) model was compared with the rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS) for performance analysis.

Results

A total of 45,004 patients met inclusion criteria, comprising a total of 77,117 admissions. In this cohort, 52.8% of patients were male and 47.2% were female. The model used 35 variables and yielded an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.889 (95% CI 0.874–0.905) with a sensitivity of 0.828 (95% CI 0.791–0.860), a specificity of 0.788 (95% CI 0.783–0.794), a negative predictive value of 0.995 (95% CI 0.994–0.996), and a positive predictive value of 0.084 (95% CI 0.076–0.092). This outperformed REMS in this data set, which yielded an AUC of 0.500 (95% CI 0.455–0.545).

Conclusions

The EDEM model was predictive of in‐hospital mortality and was superior to REMS.
Ethosuximide: Subunit‐ and Gβγ‐dependent blocker and reporter of allosteric changes in GIRK channels
Authors: Shalomov Boris , Friesacher Theres , Yakubovich Daniel , Combista J. Carlo , Reddy Haritha P. , Dabbah Shoham , Bernsteiner Harald , Zangerl‐Plessl Eva‐Maria , Stary‐Weinzinger Anna , Dascal Nathan
Published: January 2025

Background and Purpose

The antiepileptic drug ethosuximide (ETX) suppresses epileptiform activity in a mouse model of GNB1 syndrome, caused by mutations in Gβ1 protein, likely through the inhibition of G‐protein gated K+ (GIRK) channels. Here, we investigated the mechanism of ETX inhibition (block) of different GIRKs.

Experimental Approach

We studied ETX inhibition of GIRK channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes with or without their physiological activator, the G protein subunit dimer Gβγ. ETX binding site and mode of action were analysed using molecular dynamic (MD) simulations and kinetic modelling, and the predictions were tested by mutagenesis and functional testing.

Key Results

We show that ETX is a subunit‐selective, allosteric blocker of GIRKs. The potency of ETX block is increased by Gβγ, in parallel with channel activation. MD simulations and mutagenesis locate the ETX binding site in GIRK2 to a region associated with phosphatidylinositol‐4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2) regulation, and suggest that ETX acts by closing the helix bundle crossing (HBC) gate and altering channel's interaction with PIP2. The apparent affinity of ETX block is highly sensitive to changes in channel gating caused by mutations in Gβ1 or GIRK subunits.

Conclusion and Implications

ETX block of GIRKs is allosteric, subunit‐specific, and enhanced by Gβγ through an intricate network of allosteric interactions within the channel molecule. Our findings pose GIRK as a potential therapeutic target for ETX and ETX as a potent allosteric GIRK blocker and a tool for probing gating‐related conformational changes in GIRK.
Distinct peripheral pro‐inflammatory profile associated with tuberous sclerosis complex and epilepsy
Authors: Balthazard Renaud , Drouin‐Engler Rose‐Marie , Bertrand Samuel , Zine‐Eddine Faycal , Li Jimmy , Tastet Olivier , Daigneault Audrey , Mamane Victoria H. , Ortega‐Delgado Gloria Gabrielle , Sreng Flores Alina Maria , Kaufmann Daniel E. , Major Philippe , House Andrew A. , Létourneau‐Guillon Laurent , Arbour Nathalie , Keezer Mark R. , Larochelle Catherine
Published: January 2025

Objective

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a monogenetic disorder associated with sustained mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) activation, leading to heterogeneous clinical manifestations. Epilepsy and renal angiomyolipoma are the most important causes of morbidity in adult people with TSC (pwTSC). mTOR is a key player in inflammation, which in turn could influence TSC‐related clinical manifestations. Reliable biomarkers are lacking to monitor and predict evolution and response to treatment for epilepsy in pwTSC. Inflammation has been implicated in epileptogenesis in non–TSC‐related epilepsy. We aimed to characterize the relation between markers of neuroglial activation/injury, markers of peripheral inflammation, and active epilepsy in pwTSC to identify accessible biomarkers and potential new therapeutic targets.

Methods

We performed a cross‐sectional study to investigate markers of central nervous system (CNS) (neurofilament light [NfL] and glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP]) and peripheral (45 cytokines) inflammation in the peripheral blood of pwTSC (n = 46) vs age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls (HCs) (n = 26). In pwTSC, markers associated with active epilepsy (n = 23/46) were compared to non‐TSC epilepsy controls (n = 18). Observations on markers of neuroglial activation/injury (GFAP, NfL) were confirmed in an independent TSC cohort (n = 45; 69% with active epilepsy).

Results

We report that TSC is characterized by elevated serum levels of marker of astrogliosis (GFAP), pro‐inflammatory molecules (interleukin 1β [IL‐1β], CXCL8) and trophic factor (epidermal growth factor [EGF]) compared to HCs and to non–TSC‐related epilepsy controls. Among pwTSC, renal angiomyolipoma presence and size was associated with IL‐15. It is notable that active epilepsy in pwTSC was associated with higher levels of GFAP compared to pwTSC without epilepsy, which was confirmed in an external validation cohort, and with elevated levels of pro‐inflammatory cytokines (IL‐17A, IL‐17C, tumor necrosis factor α [TNF‐α]), not significantly related to seizure activity or treatment with mTOR inhibitor. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age and sex.

Significance

These results suggest that key inflammatory mediators could contribute to epileptogenesis and represent novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in TSC.
Accurate Simulation of Flow through Dipping Aquifers with MODFLOW 6 Using Enhanced Cell Connectivity
Authors: Provost Alden M. , Bardot Kerry , Langevin Christian D. , McCallum James L.
Published: January 2025

In simulations of groundwater flow through dipping aquifers, layers of model cells are often “deformed” to follow the top and bottom elevations of the aquifers. When this approach is used in MODFLOW, adjacent cells within the same model layer are vertically offset from one another, and the standard conductance‐based (two‐point) formulation for flow between cells does not rigorously account for these offsets. The XT3D multi‐point flow formulation in MODFLOW 6 is designed to account for geometric irregularities in the grid, including vertical offsets, and to provide accurate results for both isotropic and anisotropic groundwater flow. A recent study evaluated the performance of the standard formulation and XT3D using a simple, synthetic benchmark model of a steeply dipping aquifer. Although XT3D generally improved the accuracy of flow simulations relative to the standard formulation as expected, neither formulation produced accurate flows in cases that involved large vertical offsets. In this paper, we explain that the inability of XT3D to produce accurate flows in the steeply dipping aquifer benchmark was not due to an inherent limitation of the flow formulation, but rather to the limited cell connectivity inherent in the most commonly used discretization packages in MODFLOW 6. Furthermore, we demonstrate that XT3D is able to produce the expected accuracy when adequate cell connectivity is introduced using MODFLOW's unstructured grid type and the aquifer is discretized vertically using at least two model layers.
A loop‐mediated isothermal amplification assay to detect insect‐associated Serratia spp. in the critically endangered insect Dryococelus australis
Authors: Doidge Nicholas P. , Allen Joanne L. , Bushell Rhys , Lynch Michael , Browning Glenn F. , Marenda Marc S.
Published: January 2025

Point‐of‐care diagnostic methods are being increasingly employed to monitor infection risks in animal populations. These approaches are particularly valuable for ex situ invertebrate conservation programmes that often involve large numbers of individuals and where the rapid return of results supports timely risk mitigation decisions.

Insect frass is a useful substrate to screen for the presence of pathogens transmitted by the faecal‐oral route in live insects but can result in false negatives when using common nucleic acid detection techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), because of poor DNA extraction yields and the presence of inhibitors.

We developed a diagnostic test to detect potentially entomopathogenic Serratia spp. in the frass of captive Dryococelus australis, using a cleanup step to improve DNA extraction by separating and concentrating bacterial cells, and a loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay targeting the ureD gene.

The LAMP assay had 1000 times greater analytical sensitivity than quantitative PCR when testing frass, did not yield false positive reactions when used to test a panel of 102 non‐Serratia spp., achieved results in 30 min and required only basic equipment.

We applied the assay in real‐life conditions to screen captive insects, yielding information about the enclosures, life stages and insect species shedding potential entomopathogens, to inform the biosecurity and management practices of the captive breeding and conservation programme for D. australis.

This diagnostic test could be modified for use in field conditions and adapted to detect other pathogens of concern in invertebrate conservation programmes and for insects reared in captivity for research or agricultural purposes.
The Influence Aesthetic Processes Can Have on Daycare Children's Play
Authors: Nielsen Johan Bundgaard
Published: January 2025

This article argues for a reconceptualisation of early childhood education, where learning and development are not only valued by outcome, and aims to investigate how aesthetic processes are organised in ways for the children to be inspired, to compare, explore, and play. Inspired by a Vygotsky perspective and his theories of play, imagination, and creativity, the article argues for developmental perspectives where transformation is driven by different kinds of experiences that lead to sustained change and not a one‐sided passing of instructions from teacher to child. Drawing on ethnographic material from a qualitative research project implemented in Danish daycares, where an artist visited over a 3‐month period, shows specific patterns in how the children are engaging in aesthetic processes and multiple ways that joint activities inspire the children to play. The research reveals new insights into the relationship between aesthetic processes and play, as it facilitates the exploration of not only the many layers of aesthetics but also how participation in joint activities enables the aesthetic process to become a cultural frame of reference that is used in Play.