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Moderate rating bias in interpersonal recommendations
Full text linkTourists often convey ratings in interpersonal recommendations to close others. However, extant research offers limited insight into whether such recommendations are received as intended. This research uncovers a “Moderate Rating Bias,” where tourists systematically overestimate close others’ likelihood of accepting their moderately rated recommendations (e.g., 3 out of 5). We show that this bias stems from asymmetric evaluations of such recommendations: recommenders focus on shared preferences, interpreting moderate ratings through a social lens, while recipients emphasize their unique preferences, viewing them more objectively. This bias diminishes when ratings clearly indicate positive (e.g., 5 out of 5) or negative (e.g., 1 out of 5) experiential quality or when moderate ratings reflect divergent performance across experiential dimensions (e.g., “excellent food, poor service”). We present evidence from five experiments (four preregistered and one with an incentive-compatible design) to support our theorizing. These findings provide novel insights into how tourists interpret peer recommendations and offer guidance for managing tourism experiences
Continental shift: operations and supply chain management research from an African perspective
No full textPurpose – Africa is attracting growing research interest in operations and supply chain management (OSCM). However, the implications of Africa’s contexts are understudied and need to be explored to refine and elaborate existing OSCM theories and concepts or develop new ones. This paper addresses these limitations while introducing IJOPM’s Africa Initiative (AfIn), which seeks to provide a platform and support for Africa-based researchers and the broader OSCM community to advance OSCM research on and from Africa.
Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper draws on multiple streams of literature to disentangle and better understand African contexts and discuss how the continent’s idiosyncrasies can enrich OSCM research. It then details the AfIn, including its motivation and objectives, the review process, and support mechanisms for researchers.
Findings – The paper sheds light on seven contextual factors that may influence OSCM research in Africa: (i) informal economy and organizations; (ii) socio-cultural diversity and complexity; (iii) traditional and survival-oriented cultures; (iv) weak formal institutions with strong informal institutions; (v) population growth potential; (vi) abundant resources with low outcomes; and (vii) high environmental constraints. Additionally, the paper provides insights into how these contextual factors underpin five OSCM themes through which future research can advance and shape OSCM theory and practice. These themes include: (i) serving consumer markets; (ii) managing resources; (iii) managing factor market rivalry; (iv) managing environmental hostility; and (v) managing institutions.
Originality/value – The paper provides a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Africa’s contextual idiosyncrasies and their implications for OSCM theory and practice. In doing so, it reveals intriguing, yet underexplored, OSCM phenomena about the continent while laying out actionable pathways through which research using African data can make novel theoretical contributions
Investigating the association between solar flares and the complexity of sunspot groups and their asymmetric behavior
Full text linkSolar activity exhibits a range of quasi-periodic variations among different indices, reflecting the complex dynamics of the Sun. In this study, we investigate the temporal variation and hemispheric asymmetry of sunspot counts (SSC), sunspot areas (SSA), and x-ray solar flares during Solar Cycles 23 (SC23), SC24, and the ascending and maximum phase of SC 25 (1996–2024). We analyzed the flare production potential (FPP) and flare efficiency ratio (FER) using the third parameter of the modified Zurich/McIntosh classification system in different hemispheres. We performed cross-correlation analysis to investigate the time-lagged correlations between SSC, SSA, and solar flare. Notable periodicities such as 27-day solar rotation, about 150-day Rieger-type periods, and quasi-biennial oscillations (QBOs) are detected through multitaper and wavelet spectral analyses. Our main findings are: i) Our findings show that an increase in the complexity of sunspot groups is associated with an increase in FPP and FER. This relationship is consistently observed across different hemispheres and solar cycles. These findings provide further statistical support for using the complexity of sunspot groups as a pre-cursor parameter in models to predict solar flares. ii) The number of statistically significant mid-term periods in the northern hemisphere appears to be fewer compared to the southern hemisphere. While QBOs are present in both hemispheres, their spatial and temporal variations manifest unevenly, with the southern hemisphere exhibiting more prominent and distinct evolutionary patterns, particularly during the studied cycles. iii) The periodic behaviors of SSC, SSA, and x-ray solar flare numbers exhibit distinct dependencies on the investigated cycle phase and hemispheric asymmetries, with variations in amplitude and timing across different solar cycles
A General Theoretical Framework for Learning Smallest Interpretable Models
Full text linkWe develop a general algorithmic framework that allows us to obtain fixed-parameter tractability for computing smallest symbolic models that represent given data. Our framework applies to all ML model types that admit a certain extension property. By establishing this extension property for decision trees, decision sets, decision lists, and binary decision diagrams, we obtain that minimizing these fundamental model types is fixed-parameter tractable. Our framework even applies to ensembles, which combine individual models by majority decision
Estimating the age of ice in a Martian mid-latitude debris-covered glacier from numerical modelling and particle tracking
Full text linkMars' mid latitudes contain thousands of ‘viscous flow features’ (VFFs), akin to debris-covered glaciers on Earth. They are thought to have formed during martian ‘ice ages’, driven by variations in Mars' spin-axis obliquity. Key to understanding the nature and timing of such glacial cycles, and the palaeoclimate histories they reflect, is knowledge of the emplacement age of ice within VFFs. Current methods to estimate VFF surface ages, which place VFF formation broadly within the last few Myr to 100 s Myr, predominantly rely on the size-frequency distributions of impact craters across their surfaces. However, these ‘impact crater retention ages’ likely reflect the time since the emplacement or last major modification of the surficial debris layer; they implicitly assume a uniform age across the sampled area. They also provide no direct information about the emplacement ages of the underlying ice layers, the configurations (and hence age distributions) of which are likely to have been modified during transit by ice flow. Here, we develop a new, physically-based method to reconstruct the flow paths and transit times of ice within VFFs, and hence estimate variations in the minimum age of ice across their (now debris-covered) surfaces, and with depth. We use 3-dimensional ice flow modelling and particle tracking, and apply our method to a small VFF in Mars' southern mid-latitudes. Our method produces spatially-variable near-surface ice age estimates which range from very young ( 2 orders of magnitude) to ice temperature and grain size, which emerge as the main controls on modelled ice flow velocities, and hence the estimated ages. Our results have significant implications for identifying landing sites and ice sampling strategies for future missions which could extract climate records potentially hosted within glacial ice layers on Mars. The significant variations we find in the age of ice across the VFF surface, arising from the flow-induced deflection of ice layers up to the surface, suggest that such missions could access ice with a large range of ages (and hence potentially longer-timespan climate records) by sampling from shallow depths across the surface a single VFF
Integrated in-situ imaging and diffraction flow cell technology (NX-DRT) for advanced corrosion studies
Full text linkDynamic imaging and mechanistical investigations are crucial in the development of new materials, in understanding degradation and offer significant opportunity across diverse areas of materials research. Here we demonstrate the integration of a sample corrosion environment with imaging through low energy neutrons and synchrotron X-rays, and demonstrate this using steel, which is commonly used in the oil and gas industries. The novel flow cell technology, incorporating three-electrodes to link corrosion with imaging (2D and 3D with neutrons and X-rays) is unique and operates in-situ overcoming limitations around manipulating the environment around the sample. The compact flow cell enabled imaging of thin films of a few microns thickness. The combination of imaging and diffraction data are useful to characterize the degradation mechanism qualitatively and quantitatively over time with 3D tomography used to provide visual and volumetric information on film growth, porosity and pitting position. This work demonstrates the unprecedented capability of the in-situ flow cell to conduct degradation studies and elucidate mechanisms in ways never before possible
The emergence of nature-based solutions in Latin American urban policies: a critical review. The case of Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile and São Paulo.
Full text linkLatin America, where over 80% of the population lives in cities, faces urgent challenges in supporting biodiversity, strengthening climate resilience, and fostering urban well-being and social cohesion. Nature-based solutions (NbS) offer a valuable approach to addressing these socio-environmental issues. However, NbS remain largely driven by Global North perspectives and its development in Latin American remains a question. In this research, we examine how NbS are being integrated into urban policies and plans through four case studies in Bogotá (Colombia), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), and São Paulo (Brazil). We combined a literature review, to assess how NbS are theoretically conceptualized and perceived in the region, with an analysis of official policy documents, to identify how the concept is being incorporated into local planning. We then analysed both datasets together to understand what NbS integration in urban policies should entail in the region. Our findings show that NbS integration is still at an early stage, with clear disparities in the policies between global and local agendas. Greater efforts and practical experiences are needed to align the concept with local realities and to strengthen its role in policy discourse. To respond to this gap, we identify five key factors that can support both the integration and advancement of NbS in Latin American urban policies and serve as guidance for other cities in the region. We conclude that advancing NbS in Latin America requires a systemic, context-specific approach, grounded in local knowledge and priorities, and sustained through joint efforts and political commitment
Tailoring neutron-shielding boron-metakaolin geopolymers with B4C filler: surfactant-driven interfacial and microstructural control
Full text linkThe incorporation of boron (B) as a neutron absorber into metakaolin-based geopolymers for the remediation of radioactive debris following nuclear accidents has attracted considerable attention. In this study, boron carbide (B4C) was employed as a functional filler, while cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) acted as both a dispersant and a stabiliser to enhance the neutron shielding properties of metakaolin-based geopolymers. Although the addition of B4C improved processability via a “roller-ball” effect and had no discernible impact on the geopolymerisation process, its weakly polar, negatively charged surface led to the formation of a loose, weak-shell interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between the filler and the matrix, thereby reducing mechanical strength and chemical stability. In contrast, CTAB self-assembled into an interdigitated monolayer on the B4C surface, reversing its surface charge to positive and promoting its uniform dispersion within the matrix. While CTAB slightly inhibited the dissolution of metakaolin, it preferentially interacted with B4C, thereby mitigating the adverse effects on the geopolymerisation process. Moreover, CTAB promoted gelation within the ITZ surrounding B4C, facilitating the development of a dense, potassium-deficient, yet electrostatically stabilised microstructure. This synergistic interaction enhanced interfacial bonding between the filler and the matrix, enabled efficient stress transfer, and significantly improved mechanical performance and chemical stability. Furthermore, the B4C–CTAB-modified geopolymers demonstrated enhanced neutron shielding performance. Overall, this work offers a promising approach for engineering high-performance, multifunctional geopolymer composites for nuclear and environmental applications
The prevalence and nature of animal maltreatment in young people referred to a community Forensic CAMHS:a Service Evaluation
No full textA Global South strategy for evaluating research value with ChatGPT
No full textResearch evaluation is important for appointments, promotions, departmental assessments, and national science strategy monitoring. Whilst Global North universities often have sufficient senior researchers for effective peer review and enough trust in citation data to use it for supporting indicators, the same is less likely to be true in the Global South. Moreover, Global South research priorities may not align well with citation-based indicators. This article introduces a ChatGPT-based strategy designed to address both limitations, applying it to Mauritius. The strategy involves giving ChatGPT instructions about how to evaluate the quality of research from the perspective of a given Global South nation and then using it to score articles based on these criteria. Results from Mauritius show that ChatGPT’s scores for 1,566 journal articles published between 2015 and 2021 have an almost zero correlation with both ChatGPT research quality scores and citation rates. A word association thematic analysis of articles with relatively high scores for value to Mauritius identified a range of plausible themes, including education, policy relevance, and industrial production. Higher scoring articles also tended to mention the country or an important commercial sector in the abstract
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