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Open innovation under institutional constraints: relational knowledge improvisation in post-Soviet startups
Get PDFWhile open innovation (OI) research increasingly addresses emerging economies, the distinct institutional challenges of post-Soviet startup ecosystems remain underexplored. This study introduces Relational Knowledge Improvisation (RKI), a socially embedded, recursive capability through which Azerbaijani startups engage in inbound OI under institutional constraint. Drawing on 20 interviews with startup founders, the paper shows how firms initiate innovation through institutional bricolage to gain immediate agility in the face of formal voids. However, this agility often exposes fragility, which entrepreneurs address through trust-based relational strategies rooted in kinship, reputation, and diaspora ties. These ties, in turn, support informal, practice-based learning via mentoring, experimentation, and embedded knowledge exchange. RKI thus unfolds as a cyclical process that transforms institutional voids into proto-institutional routines. The concept contributes to Institutional Theory by revealing microfoundations of informal institutional emergence, advances the Relational View by specifying affective trust as a coordination mechanism, and extends the DUI framework by demonstrating how trans-local networks substitute for absent formal infrastructures. RKI offers a grounded framework for understanding how startup innovation practices emerge and stabilise in settings where codified systems are weak or absent
End-to-end optimized non-orthogonal multicarrier waveform design via deep learning
Get PDFThis paper proposes a novel joint transceiver optimization framework for multi-carrier (MC) waveform design. Unlike conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, which employs memoryless modulation and fixed inverse discrete Fourier transform-based waveform generation, our approach utilizes neural network (NN)-based modulation with memory and NN-driven waveform generation at the transmitter. On the receiver side, a large-kernel attention-based NN replaces the traditional demodulation process, effectively mitigating large-span inter-carrier interference. This architecture provides enhanced flexibility for MC waveform optimization, allowing better adaptation to spectral emission mask constraints and maximizing the utilization of allocated spectrum resources. Additionally, it achieves significant spectral efficiency gains across diverse channel conditions, including additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and linear time-varying (LTV) channels with delay and Doppler spread. Numerical evaluations demonstrate significant bit error rate performance improvements, with up to 10 dB signal-to-noise ratio gain in LTV channels and approximately 6 dB gain in AWGN channels, underscoring the superiority of the proposed framework over state-of-the-art schemes
Next-Gen wireless unleashed: coplanar waveguide antennas on glass for 5G and beyond
No full textWith the rapid expansion of 5G and emerging IoT applications, there is an increasing demand for compact, high-performance antennas that can operate efficiently in the millimeter-wave frequency range. This paper presents a compact wideband microstrip patch antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide (CPW), designed for millimeter-wave applications. The antenna is fabricated on a glass substrate with dimensions of 4.5 x 2.5 x 1.1 mm3 and a relative permittivity of 4.5, resonating at 60 GHz. The use of CPW feeding facilitates fabrication and enhances signal transmission efficiency. The proposed antenna offers several advantages, including ultra-compact size, low profile, and structural simplicity, making it highly suitable for integration in modern wireless systems. The antenna’s performance characteristics, including reflection coefficient, surface current distribution, and radiation efficiency, are analyzed using CSTMWS2024. It exhibits a wide impedance bandwidth ranging from 49.5 to 68.65 GHz, effectively covering key frequency bands allocated for 5G communications. Notably, the antenna achieves a high gain of up to 8 dBi, representing a significant improvement over conventional glass-based patch antennas. Prototypes of the design are successfully fabricated and experimentally validated, with measured results showing strong agreement with simulations. The combination of high gain, broad bandwidth, and minimal footprint makes the proposed antenna an excellent candidate for next-generation wireless applications, particularly in space-constrained environments. Furthermore, the use of a glass substrate provides both mechanical robustness and favorable dielectric properties. Overall, this work highlights a promising antenna solution that balances miniaturization, performance, and manufacturability for advanced 5G communications
The role of parasite-produced dopamine in Toxoplasma gondii-altered host behaviour
Get PDFCertain parasites can manipulate host behaviour for their own benefit, but the mechanisms remain largely unknown. Toxoplasma gondii, the agent of the toxoplasmosis, is a canonical example, altering behaviour in rodents and other hosts, including humans. Dopamine dysregulation has been suggested as a mechanism, with parasite-encoded tyrosine hydroxylases (TgTH) proposed as a direct source of dopamine, though their role is debated. Here, using Rattus norvegicus as a model, with subtle and specific behavioural and biostatistical assays and analyses, we examine the contribution of TgTH to behavioural change. Two engineered T. gondii Prugniaud lines with moderate and high TgTH overexpression (OE) are compared to wild-type and recombinant wild-type parasites, alongside uninfected controls. All genetically modified lines induce weaker behavioural changes than true wild-type, but changes correlate with TgTH expression levels. Our findings provide empirical support that TgTH contributes to T. gondii-associated behavioural alterations, highlighting both theoretical significance and applied implications
Impact of adverse childhood experiences, post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociative disorders, and depression on dementia risk: A prospective analysis of associations and mediation in the UK Biobank cohort
No full textBackground:
Little is known about the interrelationships among adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociative disorders, depression, and dementia risk. We sought to investigate associations of ACEs, PTSD, dissociative disorders, and depression with incident dementia and explore whether these associations may be interrelated through mediation.
Methods:
This prospective cohort study used population-based UK Biobank data, including 502 355 participants recruited at 22 assessment centres who completed questionnaires, an interview, and physical assessments at baseline (2006–2010). Data are linked to participants’ electronic health records from primary care, hospital admissions, and death registers through November 30, 2022, and to the results of the UK Biobank online mental health survey (2016–2017). Cox regression and g-formula-based mediation analyses were used to examine associations between self-reported ACEs, self-reported PTSD symptoms, diagnosed PTSD, dissociative disorders, depression, and dementia.
Results:
In the final sample (n = 434 215, mean (SD) age 56.58 (8.07) years), ACEs (hazard ratio (HR)1point: 1.10; 95% CI 1.02–1.20), diagnosed PTSD (HR: 2.09; 95% CI 1.38–3.18), dissociative disorders (HR: 3.96; 95% CI 2.55–6.15), depression (HR: 2.17; 95% CI 2.05–2.30), and self-reported PTSD symptoms (HR1point: 1.09; 95% CI 1.06–1.11) were associated with increased dementia risk, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. Self-reported PTSD symptoms explained 75.26% (P < .001) of the excess dementia risk associated with ACEs. Depression explained 4.51% (P = .02) of the ACEs-dementia link, 8.42% (P < .001) of the diagnosed PTSD-dementia link, and 10.29% (P < .001) of the dissociative disorders-dementia link.
Conclusions:
Individuals with ACEs, PTSD, dissociative disorders, or depression appear to be at increased risk of dementia, potentially through both shared and unique associations. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution due to potential limitations in statistical power
Does the system work? Transnational crises and the resilience of global governance
No full textIn recent decades, global governance has faced significant transnational crises characterized by threat, urgency, and uncertainty, from the Global Financial Crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic. Simultaneously, heterogeneous infrastate, public–private, and private governance institutions have proliferated alongside incumbent interstate institutions. As a result, contemporary global governance takes place through institutional configurations that we call hybrid institutional complexes (HICs). How effectively can HICs respond to the stresses of transnational crises? Drawing on the concept of resilience, we prepare the conceptual and theoretical ground for analyzing the crisis responses of HICs-based governance. To that end, we first identify three dimensions along which the resilience of governance arrangements must be assessed. We then derive two theoretical conjectures as to the conditions under which a HIC will be (more or less) resilient. The first, institutional diversity, is structural; the second, the presence of intellectual and entrepreneurial leaders and bricoleurs, is agentic. To probe the analytical utility of our approach, we assess the performance of the Global Finance HIC in response to the Global Financial Crisis and compare the performance of the Global Health HIC in responding to COVID-19
Land use change drives decadal-scale persistence of sediment organic carbon storage of restored mangrove
Get PDFThe restoration of blue carbon ecosystems is becoming increasingly recognised as a potentially important tool towards sustainable development because of their capacity to store carbon. However, the spatial and temporal variability of organic carbon storage is high, and the drivers regulating that variability remain poorly defined. This makes it difficult to plan habitat restoration with blue carbon objectives. Here, we quantified spatial and temporal variability of carbon storage in mangrove forests in northern Vietnam, comparing between old-growth forests, forests that have spontaneously naturally regenerated, and areas of intentional restoration. We found that sedimentation rates have increased over the past 25–50 years, but this did not translate to a general increase in carbon accumulation, suggesting a decrease in carbon burial efficiency. An exception was higher carbon burial in the restored mangrove area since the 1960s, followed by a decline since the 1990s. Microalgae were a consistent source (more than 50%) of the buried organic carbon, except in the post-1960 restored mangrove sediments - where the majority of the carbon originated from the mangroves and estuarine particulates. This suggests a shift in ecological structure towards a ‘closed loop’ of carbon recycling. Carbon burial spatial and temporal dynamics were well aligned to coastal land-use change, upstream dam construction and dry-wet climatic variability. These results suggest that both old-growth and restored mangrove forests are important carbon stores. Importantly, we show that mangrove re-establishment can have positive effects on carbon storage – supporting the application of habitat restoration for blue carbon-based sustainable development. However, this benefit can be transient if environmental conditions (because of natural or human factors) do not facilitate the development of ‘normal’ ecological functioning, emphasising the need for a holistic approach towards multiple conservation objectives
Rethinking obesity through the lens of genetics, environment and differential life circumstances
No full textNo abstract available
Global, regional, and national burden of nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Get PDFIMPORTANCE: Nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) represents the third most common stroke type with unique etiologies, risk factors, diagnostics, and treatments. Nevertheless, epidemiological studies often cluster SAH with other stroke types leaving its distinct burden estimates obscure.
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the worldwide burden of SAH.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Based on the repeated cross-sectional Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 study, the global burden of SAH in 1990 to 2021 was estimated. Moreover, the SAH burden was compared with other diseases, and its associations with 14 individual risk factors were investigated with available data in the GBD 2021 study. The GBD study included the burden estimates of nontraumatic SAH among all ages in 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2021.
EXPOSURES: SAH and 14 modifiable risk factors.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Absolute numbers and age-standardized rates with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) of SAH incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) as well as risk factor-specific population attributable fractions (PAFs).
RESULTS: In 2021, the global age-standardized SAH incidence was 8.3 (95% UI, 7.3-9.5), prevalence was 92.2 (95% UI, 84.1-100.6), mortality was 4.2 (95% UI, 3.7-4.8), and DALY rate was 125.2 (95% UI, 110.5-142.6) per 100 000 people. The highest burden estimates were found in Latin America, the Caribbean, Oceania, and high-income Asia Pacific. Although the absolute number of SAH cases increased, especially in regions with a low sociodemographic index, all age-standardized burden rates decreased between 1990 and 2021: the incidence by 28.8% (95% UI, 25.7%-31.6%), prevalence by 16.1% (95% UI, 14.8%-17.7%), mortality by 56.1% (95% UI, 40.7%-64.3%), and DALY rate by 54.6% (95% UI, 42.8%-61.9%). Of 300 diseases, SAH ranked as the 36th most common cause of death and 59th most common cause of DALY in the world. Of all worldwide SAH-related DALYs, 71.6% (95% UI, 63.8%-78.6%) were associated with the 14 modeled risk factors of which high systolic blood pressure (population attributable fraction [PAF] = 51.6%; 95% UI, 38.0%-62.6%) and smoking (PAF = 14.4%; 95% UI, 12.4%-16.5%) had the highest attribution.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Although the global age-standardized burden rates of SAH more than halved over the last 3 decades, SAH remained one of the most common cardiovascular and neurological causes of death and disabilities in the world, with increasing absolute case numbers. These findings suggest evidence for the potential health benefits of proactive public health planning and resource allocation toward the prevention of SAH
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