bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
3D Da Vinci robotic surgery: is it a risk to the surgeon’s eye health?
Authors: Molle Fernando , Savastano Maria Cristina , Giannuzzi Federico , Fossataro Claudia , Brando Davide , Molle Andrea , Rebecchi Maria Teresa , Falsini Benedetto , Mattei Roberta , Mirisola Giorgia , Poretti Eleonora , Cestrone Valentina , D’Agostino Elena , Bassi Pierfrancesco , Scambia Giovanni , Rizzo Stanislao
Published: April 2023

Da Vinci three-dimensional (3D) system has been increasingly used in customary surgical settings, gaining fundamental relevance for abdominal, urological, and gynecological laparoscopic surgery. The aim of this research is to evaluate the degree of discomfort and potential changes in the binocular vision and ocular motility of surgical operators, who employ 3D vision systems during Da Vinci robotic surgery. Twenty-four surgeons were enrolled in the study, including twelve who typically use the 3D Da Vinci system and twelve who routinely employ 2D system. Routine general ophthalmological and orthoptic examinations were conducted at baseline (T0), the day before surgery, and 30 min after the 3D or 2D surgery (T1). In addition, surgeons were interviewed using a questionnaire of 18 symptoms, with each item containing three questions regarding the frequency, severity, and bothersomeness of the symptoms, in order to evaluate the degree of discomfort. Mean age at evaluation was 45.28 ± 8.71 years (range 33–63 years). Cover test, uncover test, and fusional amplitude showed no statistically significant difference. After surgery, no statistical difference was observed in the Da Vinci group on the TNO stereotest (p > 0.9999). However, the difference in the 2D group resulted statistically significant (p = 0.0156). Comparing participants (p 0.0001) and time (T0–T1; p = 0.0137), the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. Surgeons using 2D systems reported more discomfort than those using 3D systems. The absence of short-term consequences following surgery with the Da Vinci 3D system is a promising conclusion, considering the numerous advantages of this technology. Nonetheless, multicenter investigations and more studies are required to verify and interpret our findings.
Russia’s Approach to Connectivity in Asia: From Cooperation to Coercion
Authors: Silvan Kristiina , Kaczmarski Marcin
Published: May 2023

Russia’s foreign policy concept, last updated in 2023, envisioned economic and political cooperation with countries of the Asia-Pacific as important for advancing Russia’s agenda as a global power and emphasised the need to improve connectivity across Eurasia. This article applies a novel theoretical framework for analysing Russia’s approach to connectivity in Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Drawing from policy documents and secondary sources, the article identifies three different geographical spaces targeted by Russian connectivity policy: East of the Russian Federation, post-Soviet Central Asia, and Greater Eurasia. It is argued that the attempts to improve the cooperative connectivity of the Russian Far East have been half-hearted. In contrast, the attempt to retain and rebuild connectivity within the post-Soviet space has followed the logics of competition, containment, and coercion. Moreover, by promoting the Greater Eurasian Partnership, Russia has sought to keep status equality with China against the backdrop of the latter’s Belt and Road Initiative. The article maintains that Russia is a connectivity actor of its own right, even if there is a major gap between its connectivity strategy and its implementation. It further suggests that the war in Ukraine has accelerated the trend towards coercion and disconnectivity.
Contentious Connectivity—the USA, Japan, and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Authors: Gaens Bart , Sinkkonen Ville
Published: May 2023

This article explores how the USA and Japan have aimed to advance connectivity and infrastructure investment in the Indo-Pacific, implicitly or explicitly in response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Both actors’ vision, strategies, and policies have been rolled out under the banner of the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP). The article first frames connectivity and the FOIP construct in the context of regional order and great-power relations in the Indo-Pacific. It then provides an in-depth assessment of the different initiatives by the USA and Japan, scrutinizing their progress on the ground, shortcomings, and relevant interlinkages. After an analysis of the logics that inform these connectivity initiatives, the article offers three key axioms and assesses implications for order more broadly. First, the West must fix the gap that often exists between rhetoric and capabilities in the sphere of infrastructure investments. Second, Western actors, including the USA and Japan, need to be clear about objectives. Namely, they must decide whether the aim of connectivity is to compete directly with China or to focus on complementarities and comparative advantages. Third, the USA and Japan need to prioritize connections and spheres of connectivity that are deemed strategically central, at the expense of others. More generally, given the connective logics that key actors currently harness, a fracturing of the region into one of the different orders comprising competing yet overlapping connections beckons.
Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career: A Mixed Method Study
Authors: Mičiulienė Rita , Kovalčikienė Kristina
Published: May 2023

Within the school-based vocational education and training system, so-called hybrid teachers, i.e. who both work in a vocational school and a business, can add value to the quality of VET as well as can solve ageing and the threat of shortages among VET teachers. In this research, the motivation of becoming a VET teacher as a second career and its perception by participants were examined using a mixed-method explanatory sequential study design. In the first phase, 114 VET teachers from 33 VET institutions in Lithuania were surveyed using the Factors Influencing Teaching (FIT) Choice scale. In the second phase, five vocational teachers were interviewed. The qualitative results supported and complemented the results of quantitative research by emphasizing the importance of intrinsic motivation to teach and explained in-depth the components of antecedent socialisation and perceptions of teaching. The results were discussed considering similar studies on second-career teachers conducted in other countries.
Transperitoneal Laparoscopic and Robotic Partial Nephrectomy for Renal Cancer in Patients with Previous Abdominal Surgery: a Single Centre Experience
Authors: Gadus Lukas , Chmelik Frantisek , Matejkova Marketa , Heracek Jiri
Published: April 2023

Patients with previous abdominal surgery are at an increased risk of peritoneal adhesions, which may complicate transperitoneal surgery. The objective of this article is to report single centre experience with transperitoneal laparoscopic and robotic partial nephrectomy for renal cancer in patients with previous abdominal surgery. We evaluated data from 128 patients who underwent laparoscopic or robotic partial nephrectomy from January 2010 to May 2020. Patients were divided into three groups according to the localization of main previous surgery: in the upper contralateral abdominal quadrant, in the upper ipsilateral abdominal quadrant or in the middle line, in lower abdominal quadrants. Each group was divided into two subgroups (laparoscopic/robotic partial nephrectomy). We separately analysed data of indocyanine green-enhanced robotic partial nephrectomy. Our study did not find significant difference in the rate of intraoperative or postoperative complications between any of the groups. The type of partial nephrectomy (robotic or laparoscopic) affected the surgery time, blood loss, and length of stay in hospital, but did not significantly influence the frequency of complications. Partial nephrectomy in group of patients with prior renal surgery led to a higher rate of intraoperative low-grade complications. We did not observe more favourable results for indocyanine green-enhanced robotic partial nephrectomy. The location of previous abdominal surgery does not influence the rate of intraoperative or postoperative complications. The type of partial nephrectomy (robotic or laparoscopic) does not affect the frequency of complications.
Study on the Microstructure of a Photonic Crystal Fiber using the Elasto-Optical Effect
Authors: Sánchez Alejandro , Cortés Alejandro , Porta Andrés V. , Orozco Susana
Published: April 2023

Photonic crystal fibers are characterized by their periodic structure with dimensions in the nanometer to micrometer range, which gives them the potential to be applied in various technical areas. In this work, we study the microstructure of a hexagonal photonic crystal fiber through a macroscopic localized compression test and measurements of relative intensity changes of a transmitted signal in the photonic crystal fiber. Our experimental study was carried out by controlling the orientation of the localized compression respective to the cross-section microstructure of the photonic crystal fiber. To complete the study, we developed a theoretical model based on the elasto-optic effect, and the numerical solution obtained with the model was compared with the experimental results. With both experimental and theoretical results, we obtained a causal correlation between the loss of relative intensity of the signal traveling through the hexagonal photonic crystal fiber and the orientation (respective to the fiber plane) of a localized compression on photonic crystal fiber. In this way, we can explore the cross-section microstructure of a photonic crystal fiber and its orientation in a device with a macroscopic compression test.
Gender, Perceived Insecurity, Corruption Perception, Subjective Norm, and Household Income: A Configurational Approach to Entrepreneurial Intention
Authors: Pinazo-Dallenbach Pablo , Castelló-Sirvent Fernando
Published: April 2023

The entrepreneurial intention is of great importance as an immediate antecedent of entrepreneurship, understood as a key to explain future regional economic development in emerging countries. There is a growing interest from academia about the entrepreneurial intention of university students from emerging countries. This study addresses, in an exploratory way, the combined effect of three internal variables affected by the environment (perceived insecurity, corruption perception, and subjective norm) and two sociodemographic variables (household income and gender) and their impact on the entrepreneurial intention of university students. A sample of students (N = 380; male = 185; female = 195) from the Technological University of the State of Zacatecas (Mexico) is used and a causal model is proposed following the fsQCA configurational methodology. This study highlights the gender gap that affects women even in the stage that precedes the act of entrepreneurship as well as the importance of having financial resources. Also, the results show how citizen security facilitates the development of entrepreneurial intention and the need of improving the formal procedures surrounding entrepreneurship to reduce the facilitating effect of corruption. Finally, the findings support the important role of subjective norm. From a cognitive point of view, a configurational approach is addressed to explain the effect on entrepreneurial intention of phenomena that are strongly prevalent in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, such as gender inequality, citizen insecurity, corruption, and poverty.
Recent progress on integrally convex functions
Authors: Murota Kazuo , Tamura Akihisa
Published: April 2023

Integrally convex functions constitute a fundamental function class in discrete convex analysis, including M-convex functions, L-convex functions, and many others. This paper aims at a rather comprehensive survey of recent results on integrally convex functions with some new technical results. Topics covered in this paper include characterizations of integral convex sets and functions, operations on integral convex sets and functions, optimality criteria for minimization with a proximity-scaling algorithm, integral biconjugacy, and the discrete Fenchel duality. While the theory of M-convex and L-convex functions has been built upon fundamental results on matroids and submodular functions, developing the theory of integrally convex functions requires more general and basic tools such as the Fourier–Motzkin elimination.
The price effects of reducing payment card interchange fees
Authors: Shabgard Bita , Asensio Javier
Published: April 2023

In this paper we empirically address the issue of whether reductions in card payment interchange fees have a significant impact on prices paid by consumers. The answer to this question is at the core of most competition policy cases and regulations that have been applied to card payment markets. Relying on Rochet and Tirole’s (RandJEcon 33:549–570, 2002) model of this sector as a two-sided market, we identify the two channels through which interchange fee reductions may influence retail prices: the impact on cards’ demand and on the merchant service charge, which may be passed through to retail prices. We use Spanish sectoral data to estimate the resulting system of equations. Our results imply that a 1% reduction in the level of the interchange fee leads to a long run 0.17% reduction in the retail price index. Such outcome is almost exclusively the result of the interchange fees being passed through as lower prices by merchants, as we find that they have a negligible impact on payment cards’ usage.
Delineation of aquifer promising zones and protective capacity for regional groundwater development and sustainability
Authors: Alao Joseph Omeiza , Yusuf Mumeen Adebayo , Nur Mohammed Shettima , Nuruddeen Abdulkareem Muhammad , Ahmad Muhammad Sani , Jaiyeoba Emmanuel
Published: April 2023

Water security is the central mission of the sustainable development goals. The demand for potable and clean water has skyrocketed due to frequent borehole failures and population expansion, which requires adequate groundwater resource management strategies. Identifying groundwater potential zone, overburden protective index capacity and installations of alternative/artificial storage support mechanisms for water security and sustainability under the growing water challenge and demand is critical. This study identifies; (i) aquifer promising zones (ii) aquifer protective capacity through geophysical investigation and suggests (iii) improving aquifer recovery management strategy as the top three targets for groundwater development. An electric resistivity technique was applied to acquire a total of sixty (60) vertical electrical sounding points with Schlumberger arrays. The study indicates the resistivity layer of the aquifer unit ranges from 21 to 294 Ωm, while the aquifer layer thickness values spread from 8 to 59 m and the overburden thickness overlays the aquifer unit extends from 3 to 20 m. The deeper aquifer zones were encountered between 30 and 59 m, which could be suitable for groundwater development, and the shallow aquifer occurs between 8 and 14 m, which is not encouraging for groundwater development and may be susceptible to surface contaminations. However, for water security and sustainability, multiple boreholes should be sited at the delineated aquifer promising zone where the aquifer is fractured and occurs within a depth of 30 m and above. The weathered/fractured units constitute the regional aquifer units, which are largely responsible for the groundwater potential. The hydraulic conductivity of the regional aquifer was estimated to vary between 0.337 and 10.62 m/day, which invariably enhances the aquifer recovery processing. Groundwater quality and the risk of surface contamination were examined through overburden protective index capacity.
Effect of corn pre-puffing on the efficiency of MgO-engineered biochar for phosphorus recovery from livestock wastewater: mechanistic investigations and cost benefit analyses
Authors: Peng Yaru , Luo Yuan , Li Yimeng , Azeem Muhammad , Li Ronghua , Feng Chuchu , Qu Guangzhou , Ali Esmat F. , Hamouda Mohamed A. , Hooda Peter S. , Rinklebe Jörg , Smith Ken , Zhang Zengqiang , Shaheen Sabry M.
Published: April 2023

To improve the phosphorus (P) recovery efficiency from livestock wastewater, a novel MgO doped mildewed corn biochar with thermal pre-puffing treatment (Mg-PBC) and without pre-puffing (Mg-BC) was synthesized and tested. The thermal-puffing pretreatment improved the effectiveness of metal soaking and MgO dispersion. P recovery time with Mg-PBC (7 h) was significantly shorter than that with Mg-BC (12 h). Moreover, Mg-PBC showed significantly higher P recovery capacity (241 mg g−1) than Mg-BC (96.6 mg g−1). P recovery capacity of the Mg-PBC fitted to the Thomas model was 90.7 mg g−1, which was 4 times higher than that of Mg-BC (22.9 mg g−1) under column test conditions. The mechanisms involved in P recovery included precipitation, surface complexation, and electrostatic interaction. After adsorption, both Mg-BC and Mg-PBC showed relatively low regeneration abilities. The P loaded Mg-BC (Mg-BC-P) and Mg-PBC (Mg-PBC-P), the later particularly, obviously increased the available P content and promoted plant growth. The release of P increased with time in the Mg-PBC-P treated soil, while it decreased with time in the P fertilizer treated soil. A cost–benefit analysis revealed that thermal-puffing pretreatment greatly increased the profit of MgO doped biochar from −0.66 to 5.90 US$ kg−1. These findings highlight that biomass pre-puffing is a feasible treatment to produce MgO modified biochar and to recover P from livestock wastewater, and that the Mg-PBC-P can be used as a slow-release P fertilizer.

Graphical Abstract
Why do we love the high line? A case study of understanding long-term user experiences of urban greenways
Authors: Song Yang , Yang Ruiqi , Lu Hongmei , Fernandez Jessica , Wang Tong
Published: April 2023

The High Line park (HLP) in New York City is one of the most successful contemporary greenway parks, inspiring urban planners, designers, artists, and administrators worldwide. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of user experiences in a long-term time frame (2011–2018) through the lens of online reviews. Using a mixed-methods approach, we conducted Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling to quantitatively identify the key topics that represent 34,060 reviews and 30,285 users, followed by qualitative analysis to inductively interpret the LDA topics. The results identified experiential, programmatic and physical elements of the HLP that are meaningful to users. Three primary components were found that make HLP successful according to users: spectacular visual and activity-related experiences, the historical transformation and cultural exploration, and the added value from park services ranging from amenities to on-site living performance. The article helps inform future decision-making and planning & design practices for future greenway projects.
Solubility of Na2O·xAl2O3 in NaF-KF-AlF3-based low-temperature electrolyte
Authors: Kuang Ye , Yan Hengwei , Liu Zhanwei , Yang Yonghui
Published: April 2023

The solubility of Na2O·xAl2O3 in a NaF-KF-AlF3-based low-temperature electrolyte was investigated, and the influence of electrolyte temperature at 750 ℃, CR = 1.3–1.4, CaF2, and LiF on the alumina solubility was studied. The dissolution rate of alumina in the electrolyte was determined by measuring the alumina concentration in the electrolyte at different times with an oxygen analyzer. The results showed that in the NaF-KF-AlF3-based low-temperature electrolyte, the dissolution rate of alumina in Na2O·xAl2O3 was faster than that of Al2O3. As the Na2O content in alumina increased, the dissolution rate increased. Similarly, a higher CR of NaF-KF-AlF3 and a higher temperature of the molten salt (750–850 °C) increased the dissolution rate of alumina in the electrolyte. The dissolution rate of alumina in NaF-KF-AlF3 decreased after adding CaF2 and LiF. According to the kinetics analysis, the dissolution rate of alumina followed the zero-order reaction rate law from 0–5 min, which showed that it depended on the amount of alumina absorbed in the electrolyte in the first five minutes.
Charting AI urbanism: conceptual sources and spatial implications of urban artificial intelligence
Authors: Palmini Otello , Cugurullo Federico
Published: April 2023

The aim of this paper is to tease out some of the key issues concerning the relationship between AI and urbanism. This relationship, which is presented in the academic literature as a new driving force of contemporary urbanism, will be investigated through an interdisciplinary approach that places urban studies and philosophy of technology in dialogue. Thus, the analysis will not focus on the technological development of artificial intelligence systems but on how their application can affect urbanistic thinking and vice versa. The chart that is produced by this method is based on two fundamental axes: time and space. AI urbanism will then be inquired first through key turning points in the history of the relationship between technology and the city (modern urbanism, cybernetics and the smart city paradigm). Secondly, the spatial implications of urban AI will be investigated from the point of view of the concrete applications of this technology to the city (Robots, AVs, Software agents) and their impact on the relationships between different urban actors. Ultimately, this work aims to offer a conceptual tool for understanding some decisive implications of the relationship between AI and urbanism, such as the connection between quantitative and qualitative approaches, the implications related to autonomous technology, the economic-political background of AI urbanism, the material urban impact of AI, and the relationship between AI and other urban intelligences. Understanding these implications will be valuable for future research on AI urbanism oriented toward transforming simple technological development into sustainable urban innovations.
Development of microfluidic devices for on-site water quality testing using glass molding process
Authors: Tazawa Hidekatsu , Sato Tomomi , Sakuta Yu , Miyake Ryo
Published: April 2023

The demand for multi-point water quality monitoring is increasing to solve the global problem of safe drinking water supply and environmental water contamination by industries. Therefore, compact devices are needed for on-site water quality analysis. On-site devices require low cost and high durability because they are placed outdoors, exposing them to strong ultraviolet rays and a wide range of temperatures. Our previous study reported on a compact and low-cost water quality meter that uses microfluidic devices with resin to monitor chemicals. In this study, we extended the fabrication range of the glass molding method to fabricate a glass microfluidic device with a 300 µm deep channel on a 50 mm in diameter substrate for constructing a low-cost and high-durability device. Finally, we developed a low-cost, highly robust glass device with a diamond-like carbon-coated channel surface to measure residual chlorine. The experimental results indicated that this device can endure outdoor conditions and be attached to small internet of things devices for analyzing chemical substances, such as residual chlorine.

Graphical Abstract
On Becoming in Sync with Yourself and Others: An Adaptive Agent Model for How Persons Connect by Detecting Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Synchrony
Authors: Hendrikse Sophie C. F. , Treur Jan , Wilderjans Tom F. , Dikker Suzanne , Koole Sander L.
Published: April 2023

Research indicates that interpersonal synchronisation leads to more closeness, mutual coordination, alliance, or affiliation between the synchronized persons. There is a pathway leading from interpersonal interaction to interpersonal synchronisation, and then to interpersonal affiliation. If persons act on temporal patterns of synchrony, this suggests that they possess a facility to detect such patterns. Therefore, we assume here that persons indeed detect when temporal patterns of synchrony occur and that a stronger affiliation or connection may grow from this detection. We developed a multi-adaptive agent model that contains detector states for both intrapersonal and interpersonal synchrony, which in turn dynamically affect interpersonal affiliation. We evaluated the behaviour of two agents in multiple simulation experiments in which stochastic stimuli were manipulated. Several expected types of patterns were reproduced computationally, and our multi-adaptive agent model may serve as base for the development of virtual agents that can synchronise with their users. By multiple simulation experiments for stochastic stimuli from the environment, it was found that indeed several expected types of patterns are reproduced computationally.
How to Measure Health Outcomes
Authors: Carberry Kathleen E.
Published: April 2023

Complementing existing literature on measuring health outcomes that is largely conceptual, this book focuses on simple, practical advice for measuring outcomes in a variety of settings. Written in an engaging conversational tone, readers will learn why measuring health outcomes is necessary in clinical practice and how these measures may vary between people and across care structures. Covering how to identify measurements as well as collect and analyze the data, the chapters lead readers through a series of logical steps to scaling up a measurement program. The workbook style allows readers to record their own notes and thoughts throughout the book, while the list of action steps at the end of chapters are tangible starting points for developing a measurement program of their own. Explores how to measure and think about outcomes in a way that sees the whole person, not just the medical or behavioral condition they have.
Sustainability of the plastron on nano-grass-covered micro-trench superhydrophobic surfaces in high-speed flows of open water
Authors: Yu Ning , Li Zhaohui “Ray” , McClelland Alexander , del Campo Melchor Francisco Jose , Lee Sun Youb , Lee Jae Hwa , Kim Chang-Jin “CJ”
Published: April 2023

This paper studies the sustainability of plastrons on superhydrophobic (SHPo) surfaces made of longitudinal micro-trenches covered by nano-grass with the main interest on hydrodynamic friction drag reduction in high-speed flows of open water, which represent the operating conditions of common watercraft. After revising the shear-driven drainage model to address the air diffusion for SHPo surfaces, the existing theories are combined to reveal the trends of how the immersion depth, air saturation level and shear stress affect the maximum attainable plastron length. Deviations from the theories by the dynamic effect at the two ends of the trench, the interfacial contaminations and turbulent fluctuation are also discussed. A combinatorial series of well-defined SHPo trench surfaces (4 cm × 7 cm in size with varying trench widths, depths, lengths and roughnesses) is microfabricated and attached underneath a 4 m long motorboat on seawater in turbulent flows up to 7.2 m s−1(shear rate ∼83 000 s−1and friction Reynolds number ∼5500). Because the plastron can provide a substantial slip only while its air–water interfaces are pinned (or only slightly depinned) at the trench top, two underwater cameras are employed to differentiate the pinned (and slightly depinned) interfaces from the depinned (and no) interfaces. In addition to achieving pinned plastrons on 6 cm long trenches aligned to high-speed flows in open water, the experimental results corroborate the theoretical estimations, supporting the design of SHPo surfaces for field applications.
Selling Selective Anti-Statism: The Conservative Persuasion Campaign and the Transformation of American Politics since the 1920s
Authors: Roady Peter
Published: April 2023

Beginning in the 1920s, a network of conservatives who sought to limit the federal government's domestic responsibilities mobilized modern persuasion techniques to belittle the government's efforts to address domestic economic and social problems. Over several decades, the conservative persuasion campaign delivered billions of messages disparaging domestic programs. To assess the campaign's impact, this article proposes a new method for evaluating efforts to shape public opinion that focuses on the impact of message repetition at scale. Applying this approach, the article argues that by the late 1940s the conservative persuasion campaign had primed many Americans to embrace a strand of selective anti-statism pairing support for a robust military and foreign policy establishment with disdain for domestic economic security programs. The derisive rhetoric the conservative persuasion campaign fostered and the selective anti-statism it fueled became defining features of American politics and shaped American political development for decades.
Children Saving Children: Humanitarianism, World War I, and American Childhood
Authors: Destenay Emmanuel
Published: April 2023

In January 1918, Teddy Brown from Fairbanks, Alaska, was coming home. As he entered the house, the ten-year-old boy slammed the door shut, stormed into the living room, and demanded that his parents put on their coats. Teddy solemnly proclaimed that he had heard harrowing stories about French children's sufferings and wanted to contribute a weekly donation of seventy-five cents in order to help “a brother” in France. After listening to his pleas, Teddy's parents eventually came to endorse his chosen mission. The family left the house, venturing out into the sub-zero temperatures, and headed to the local committee of the Fatherless Children of France Society (FCFS). By the time Teddy made his commitment, thousands of other American children had already “adopted” orphans in France.
Corporate Political Ties and Firm Performance in a Transition Economy: A Replication and Extension of Peng and Luo (2000)
Authors: Guo Hai , Wang Chao , Wang Zeyu , Li Xiaoyu
Published: April 2023

How do corporate political ties impact firm performance in a transition economy? This topic has attracted wide attention in the strategy field. Accordingly, our study replicates a highly influential study, ‘Managerial ties and firm performance in a transition economy: The nature of a micro-macro link’ (Peng & Luo, 2000). The original study found that managerial political ties greatly improve organizational performance, and that this ‘micro-macro’ link varies across ownership types, business sectors, firm sizes, and industry growth rates. This replication study offers a hierarchical view of political ties by extending it from the individual to the organizational level and explores the complex link between the two levels of corporate political ties and firm performance. The results of a staged quasi-replication exercise show some similarities with the original study in the mechanism of corporate political ties on firm performance but, more importantly, reveal some key differences in the effect size and contingent effects. Furthermore, an extended test shows that corporate political ties are multilevel, and different levels of political ties vary in their mechanisms and effects on firm performance. The findings reveal temporal and contextual sensitivities of political ties studies in transition economies.
MWAX: A new correlator for the Murchison Widefield Array
Authors: Morrison I. S. , Crosse B. , Sleap G. , Wayth R. B. , Williams A. , Johnston-Hollitt M. , Jones J. , Tingay S. J. , Walker M. , Williams L.
Published: April 2023

We describe the design, validation, and commissioning of a new correlator termed ‘MWAX’ for the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) low-frequency radio telescope. MWAX replaces an earlier generation MWA correlator, extending correlation capabilities and providing greater flexibility, scalability, and maintainability. MWAX is designed to exploit current and future Phase II/III upgrades to MWA infrastructure, most notably the simultaneous correlation of all 256 of the MWA’s antenna tiles (and potentially more in future). MWAX is a fully software-programmable correlator based around an ethernet multicast architecture. At its core is a cluster of 24 high-performance GPU-enabled commercial-off-the-shelf compute servers that together process in real-time up to 24 coarse channels of 1.28 MHz bandwidth each. The system is highly flexible and scalable in terms of the number of antenna tiles and number of coarse channels to be correlated, and it offers a wide range of frequency/time resolution combinations to users. We conclude with a roadmap of future enhancements and extensions that we anticipate will be progressively rolled out over time.
Challenges in Applying Colonial Boundary Treaties to the Resolution of the Djibouti–Eritrea Border Dispute
Authors: Zerom Lydia M , Berhe Isaias T , Andemariam Senai W
Published: April 2023

Djibouti and Eritrea have been in conflict since June 2008 when their troops fought along the Djibouti–Eritrea border. The conflict revolves around the location of the border and sovereignty over the strategically located Doumeira Islands and adjacent reefs. In 2010 Qatar brokered a mediation agreement and began to implement it, but withdrew in 2017 without notifying Eritrea and without providing reasons to either country. The dispute raises a number of international law issues. This article focuses on the validity and application of three relevant colonial treaties (from 1900, 1901 and 1935) that defined the boundary, one of which (the 1935 Treaty) did not enter into force. Issues relevant to the determination of the borderline and sovereignty over the disputed islands and the unique challenges that may arise are discussed in light of the colonial treaties, relevant International Court of Justice jurisprudence and other international law principles, particularly uti possidetis juris.
Effects of Zeowine and compost on leaf functionality and berry composition in Sangiovese grapevines
Authors: Cataldo E. , Fucile M. , Manzi D. , Peruzzi E. , Mattii G.B.
Published: April 2023

Meteorological extremes such as heatwaves and water limitations during the ripening season could negatively impact vine ecophysiology and berry metabolism resulting in lower yield per vine. This project aimed to compare two different soil managements during two growing-production seasons (2021 and 2022) with respect to control without any treatment (control). The two managements were: Zeowine (30 t/ha; a soil conditioner made with clinoptilolite and compost proceeding of industrial wine-waste) and compost (20 t/ha). The trial was organized at Col d'Orcia Estate (Montalcino, Tuscan wine region, Italy). The purpose was twofold: (1) to evaluate the effects of Zeowine treatments on leaf gas exchanges, midday stem water potential, chlorophyll fluorescence and leaf temperature (ecophysiology); and (2) to determine any repercussions on the quality of the grapes (technological and phenolics analyses). The parameters plant yield, yeast assimilable nitrogen, fractionation of anthocyanins (cyanidin, delphinidin, malvidin, peonidin and petunidin), caffeic acid, coumaric acid, gallic acid, ferulic acid, kaempferol and quercetin were also analysed. Zeowine showed higher photosynthesis, less negative midday water potential and lower leaf temperature. Essentially, no significant difference was found between the compost and the control. Furthermore, Zeowine grapevines showed higher anthocyanin accumulation and less quercetin content. In general, compost applied together with zeolite could alleviate the adverse effects of water stress and improve plant growth, yield and quality. The control management strategy proved to be the least beneficial for the well-being of the plant and the final quality of the product, confirming the need for amendments in critical years.
Identity, ethics and behavioural welfare economics
Authors: Mitrouchev Ivan , Buonomo Valerio
Published: April 2023

Multiple selves is a conventional assumption in behavioural welfare economics for modelling intrapersonal well-being. Yet an important question is which self has normative authority over others. In this paper, we advance an argument for what we call the ‘ontological approach’ to personal identity in behavioural welfare economics. According to this approach, ethical questions – such as which preference should be granted normative authority over another – can be informed by the ontological criterion of personal persistence, which aims at determining what it takes for an individual to persist from one time to another.
Indications and management of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy in childhood hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Authors: Kaski Juan Pablo , Kammeraad Janneke A.E. , Blom Nico A. , Happonen Juha-Matti , Janousek Jan , Klaassen Sabine , Limongelli Giuseppe , Östman-Smith Ingegerd , Sarquella Brugada Georgia , Ziolkowska Lidia
Published: April 2023

Sudden cardiac death is the most common mode of death during childhood and adolescence in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and identifying those individuals at highest risk is a major aspect of clinical care. The mainstay of preventative therapy is the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, which has been shown to be effective at terminating malignant ventricular arrhythmias in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy but can be associated with substantial morbidity. Accurate identification of those children at highest risk who would benefit most from implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation while minimising the risk of complications is, therefore, essential. This position statement, on behalf of the Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology (AEPC), reviews the currently available data on established and proposed risk factors for sudden cardiac death in childhood-onset hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and current approaches for risk stratification in this population. It also provides guidance on identification of individuals at risk of sudden cardiac death and optimal management of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in children and adolescents with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Forgotten Pasts and Imagined Futures: The First International Webern Festival and the 1962 Seattle World's Fair
Authors: MILLER DAVID H.
Published: April 2023

In an April 1962 article previewing the First International Webern Festival, Hans Moldenhauer promised that Anton Webern's music would one day be known as ‘the music of the space age’. Moldenhauer chose his words carefully. The Webern Festival was set to take place in Seattle at the same time as the World's Fair (an event also known as the ‘Century 21 Exposition’ and ‘America's Space Age World's Fair’) and its opening night concert would be held on the grounds of the World's Fair. Yet the two ‘W.F.s’ made for an awkward pairing. Far from space-age music, the lush textures and sweeping gestures of the Webern's Festival's posthumous premieres revealed a young Webern rooted in nineteenth-century Romanticism. Critics and scholars’ responses to these premieres reveal much about the contested place of Webern's music – and modernist music more generally – within mid-century mainstream culture.
Global Hall MHD Simulations of Mercury's Magnetopause Dynamics and FTEs Under Different Solar Wind and IMF Conditions
Authors: Li Changkun , Jia Xianzhe , Chen Yuxi , Toth Gabor , Zhou Hongyang , Slavin James A. , Sun Weijie , Poh Gangkai
Published: May 2023

Mercury possesses a miniature but dynamic magnetosphere driven primarily by the solar wind through magnetic reconnection. A prominent feature of the dayside magnetopause reconnection that has been frequently observed is flux transfer events (FTEs), which are thought to be an important player in driving the global convection at Mercury. Using the BATSRUS Hall magnetohydrodynamics model with coupled planetary interior, we have conducted a series of global simulations to investigate the generation and characteristics of FTEs under different solar wind Alfvénic Mach numbers (MA) and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientations. An automated algorithm was also developed to consistently identify FTEs and extract their key properties from the simulations. In all simulations driven by steady upstream conditions, FTEs are formed quasi‐periodically with recurrence time ranging from 2 to 9 s, and their characteristics vary in time as they evolve and interact with the surrounding plasma and magnetic field. Our statistical analysis of the simulated FTEs reveals that the key properties of FTEs, including spatial size, traveling speed and core field strength, all exhibit notable dependence on the solar wind MA and IMF orientation, and the trends identified from the simulations are generally consistent with previous MErcury Surface Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging observations. It is also found that FTEs formed in the simulations contribute about 3%–13% of the total open flux created at the dayside magnetopause that participates in the global circulation, suggesting that FTEs indeed play an important role in driving the Dungey cycle at Mercury.
Conditions for Segregation of a Crystal‐Rich Layer Within a Convective Magma Ocean
Authors: Monteux J. , Qaddah B. , Andrault D.
Published: May 2023

The vigor of the thermal convection in a terrestrial magma ocean tends to prevent the sedimentation of the solid grains. Understanding of the overall dynamical behavior of this solid phase segregation is required to anticipate the solidification mechanisms in the early Earth mantle. We develop numerical models to monitor the crystal fraction evolution of a convecting magmatic reservoir. Our models show that the ability of the crystal fraction to disperse or sediment within the domain strongly depends on the crystal size, the density difference and the magma viscosity. Our models show that the critical value of the convection/buoyancy stress ratio separating sedimentation/suspension regimes can be smaller than 0.1. Hence, during the early crystallization of a magma ocean, suspension should be the dominant process. We then investigate the possibility of bridgmanite segregation by comparing the density difference between the MO and the solid crystals for different compositions and the critical density contrast above which crystal segregation is likely to occur. We define the relevant set of parameters; including the P‐V‐T equations of state of coexisting melt and bridgmanite in the mushy MO. We observe that bridgmanite grains are unlikely to segregate in a mantle of pyrolite composition. However, bridgmanite segregation is more likely to occur at the bottom of a MO enriched in SiO2, compared to pyrolite. When a solidifying layer contains 60% of bridgmanite and 40% of melt, we observe a significant SiO2 enrichment with increasing mantle depth in a primitive mantle compatible with seismic and geochemical observations.
Uncovering temperature-dependent exciton-polariton relaxation mechanisms in hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites
Authors: Laitz Madeleine , Kaplan Alexander E. K. , Deschamps Jude , Barotov Ulugbek , Proppe Andrew H. , García-Benito Inés , Osherov Anna , Grancini Giulia , deQuilettes Dane W. , Nelson Keith A. , Bawendi Moungi G. , Bulović Vladimir
Published: April 2023

Hybrid perovskites have emerged as a promising material candidate for exciton-polariton (polariton) optoelectronics. Thermodynamically, low-threshold Bose-Einstein condensation requires efficient scattering to the polariton energy dispersion minimum, and many applications demand precise control of polariton interactions. Thus far, the primary mechanisms by which polaritons relax in perovskites remains unclear. In this work, we perform temperature-dependent measurements of polaritons in low-dimensional perovskite wedged microcavities achieving a Rabi splitting of $${{{\hslash }}\Omega }_{{Rabi}}$$

ℏ
Ω

R
a
b
i

 = 260 ± 5 meV. We change the Hopfield coefficients by moving the optical excitation along the cavity wedge and thus tune the strength of the primary polariton relaxation mechanisms in this material. We observe the polariton bottleneck regime and show that it can be overcome by harnessing the interplay between the different excitonic species whose corresponding dynamics are modified by strong coupling. This work provides an understanding of polariton relaxation in perovskites benefiting from efficient, material-specific relaxation pathways and intracavity pumping schemes from thermally brightened excitonic species.
Van der Waals nanomesh electronics on arbitrary surfaces
Authors: Meng You , Li Xiaocui , Kang Xiaolin , Li Wanpeng , Wang Wei , Lai Zhengxun , Wang Weijun , Quan Quan , Bu Xiuming , Yip SenPo , Xie Pengshan , Chen Dong , Li Dengji , Wang Fei , Yeung Chi-Fung , Lan Changyong , Liu Chuntai , Shen Lifan , Lu Yang , Chen Furong , Wong Chun-Yuen , Ho Johnny C.
Published: April 2023

Chemical bonds, including covalent and ionic bonds, endow semiconductors with stable electronic configurations but also impose constraints on their synthesis and lattice-mismatched heteroepitaxy. Here, the unique multi-scale van der Waals (vdWs) interactions are explored in one-dimensional tellurium (Te) systems to overcome these restrictions, enabled by the vdWs bonds between Te atomic chains and the spontaneous misfit relaxation at quasi-vdWs interfaces. Wafer-scale Te vdWs nanomeshes composed of self-welding Te nanowires are laterally vapor grown on arbitrary surfaces at a low temperature of 100 °C, bringing greater integration freedoms for enhanced device functionality and broad applicability. The prepared Te vdWs nanomeshes can be patterned at the microscale and exhibit high field-effect hole mobility of 145 cm2/Vs, ultrafast photoresponse below 3 μs in paper-based infrared photodetectors, as well as controllable electronic structure in mixed-dimensional heterojunctions. All these device metrics of Te vdWs nanomesh electronics are promising to meet emerging technological demands.
Automated design of protein-binding riboswitches for sensing human biomarkers in a cell-free expression system
Authors: Vezeau Grace E. , Gadila Lipika R. , Salis Howard M.
Published: April 2023

Cell-free genetically encoded biosensors have been developed to detect small molecules and nucleic acids, but they have yet to be reliably engineered to detect proteins. Here we develop an automated platform to convert protein-binding RNA aptamers into riboswitch sensors that operate within low-cost cell-free assays. We demonstrate the platform by engineering 35 protein-sensing riboswitches for human monomeric C-reactive protein, human interleukin-32γ, and phage MS2 coat protein. The riboswitch sensors regulate output expression levels by up to 16-fold with input protein concentrations within the human serum range. We identify two distinct mechanisms governing riboswitch-mediated regulation of translation rates and leverage computational analysis to refine the protein-binding aptamer regions, improving design accuracy. Overall, we expand the cell-free sensor toolbox and demonstrate how computational design is used to develop protein-sensing riboswitches with future applications as low-cost medical diagnostics.