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Personality-driven value investing: The mediating role of financial self-efficacy and versatile cognitive styles
No full textThe influence of individual psychological and cognitive characteristics on preferences for value versus growth stocks (VSvGS) is not well understood. This study examines the influence of personality traits, financial self-efficacy (FSE), and versatile cognitive styles (VCS) on the choice between VSvGS. Specifically, it examines both the direct effects of personality traits on individual preferences and the indirect effects mediated by FSE and VCS. Data were collected from 351 students across two universities, one in Italy and the other in Pakistan. The results provide a significant positive (negative) direct effect of conscientiousness and openness (extraversion and neuroticism) on the preference for VSvGS. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that conscientiousness and openness (extraversion and neuroticism) have a positive (negative) impact on preferences for VSvGS, mediated by FSE and VCS. Moreover, the results show no significant differences in the impact of personality traits on the preferences for VSvGS between respondents from Italy and Pakistan
The occurrence and co-occurrence of conflicts and negative acts and their associations with self-rated health, workability, and life-satisfaction : a cross-sectional study of Swedish school principals
No full textObjectiveAs part of our research on Swedish school principals, we examined the occurrence and co-occurrence of conflicts and five negative acts (i.e. harassment, sexual harassment, threats of violence or physical harm, physical violence, bullying), their attributed sources, and their associations with self-rated health, workability, and general life satisfaction among 2670 principals.ResultsDuring the past 12 months, approximately 75% of the school principals had experienced conflicts, 27.1% harassment, 22.4% threats of violence or physical harm, 7.2% physical violence, 5.9% bullying, and 2.7% sexual harassment. Some 18.9% reported neither involvement in conflicts nor being subjected to negative acts. Parents and teachers were common counterparts in conflicts and harassment. Parents and students made frequent threats of violence and physical harm. Mainly students carried out acts of violence. Logistic regression analyses showed that reports of being harassed, threatened, and bullied were consistently associated with lower self-rated health, workability, and general life satisfaction. School principals who had been subjected to sexual harassment reported lower workability in relation to psychological demands and lower general life satisfaction. School principals’ health, workability, and general life satisfaction may benefit from taking measures that ensure proper social interactions with both internal (e.g. superiors) and external stakeholders (e.g. parents)
Efficient cavity-mediated energy transfer between photosynthetic light harvesting complexes from strong to weak coupling regime
No full textExcitation energy transfer between photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes is vital for highly efficient primary photosynthesis. Controlling this process is the key for advancing the emerging artificial photosynthetic systems. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the enhanced excitation energy transfer between photosynthetic light-harvesting 2 complexes (LH2) mediated through the Fabry-Pérot optical microcavity. Using intensity-dependent pump-probe spectroscopy, we analyse the exciton-exciton annihilation (EEA) due to inter-LH2 energy transfer. Comparing EEA in LH2 within cavity samples and the bare LH2 films, we observe enhanced EEA in cavities indicating improved excitation energy transfer via coupling to a common cavity mode. Surprisingly, the effect remains even in the weak coupling regime. The enhancement is attributed to the additional connectivity between LH2s introduced by the resonant optical microcavity. Our results suggest that optical microcavities can be a strategic tool for modifying excitation energy transfer between molecular complexes, offering a promising approach towards efficient artificial light harvesting
Excellent prospects : Arguing ‘value-added’ in research excellence proposals
No full textResearch excellence instruments (REIs) are among the most popular types of research funding in several research systems, including the Global South. A significant proportion of REIs is intended to promote pathbreaking or groundbreaking contributions. Specific research outcomes can often be traced back to a given project’s scientific objectives, but projections about the impact on the field and the broader scientific community require the researcher to engage in more speculative estimates. This paper takes its rationale from the assumption that such projections are sources of insight into researchers’ perspectives on the field significance of their research agenda. Consequently, they reveal the broader impact landscape of scientists who receive such funding, and hint at potential social implications, a concern that dominates extant research on impact. This study focused on the ‘value-added’ to the field projections in successful applications for the Swedish distinguished professor’s grant (DPG), a unique variant of REIs that targets individuals rather than the more commonly studied Centers of Excellence (CoEs). We categorize the value-added statements made in these applications into a typology based on their logical structure, distinguishing between intermediate and final values. We use a logic model analysis of these statements to uncover a series of cause-and-effect projections tied to research funding. Our study also sheds light on accepted preconceived notions of field impact and the pathways to achieving them. It adds a crucial dimension to the numerous studies on the after-the-fact social impacts of research
Bricks without straw: Using linked census data to estimate child mortality in the pre-registration era of the United States
No full textWe describe a method to estimate child mortality using linked IPUMS full-count census data for the decades following the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses. We compare the estimates to several external sources and conclude that the method represents a viable way to estimate and model child mortality at individual and aggregate levels over the course of the mortality transition. We demonstrate an example use of the method by mapping county-level mortality estimates for the 1910–1920 period. Finally, with the help of model life tables, we construct complete life tables by race and decade at seven levels of geography—urban/rural, city, county, state economic area, state, census division and nation—and make these data available for public use
Transplacental sirolimus : a new treatment strategy for life-threatening fetal cardiac rhabdomyomas—a case report
No full textLarge cardiac rhabdomyomas can disturb hemodynamic flow. Tuberous sclerosis complex is the most common cause of cardiac rhabdomyoma in fetuses. Recently, a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor effectively treated rhabdomyomas associated with tuberous sclerosis. Here, we report the effectiveness of an mTOR inhibitor in treating a fetus with large rhabdomyomas exhibiting severe heart failure when administered transplacentally. A 30-year-old pregnant woman was transferred to our hospital due to the presence of a cardiac tumor in the left ventricle (LV) of the fetus, which gradually enlarged to > 40 mm in diameter. The diastolic and systolic functions of the LV were completely disrupted. At 32 weeks of gestation, the fetus showed severe heart failure (cardiovascular profile score 7), with a high risk of death. The hemodynamic flow was consistent with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Fetal magnetic resonance imaging revealed several cranial regions with 7.9 × 6.9 mm subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA). The fetus was clinically diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis, and therapy was initiated with maternally administered sirolimus, an mTOR inhibitor. Sirolimus effectively reduced the size of the tumor and improved the hemodynamics of the fetus. No severe complications occurred in the mother or fetus. The baby was born at 39 weeks of gestation with a mildly reduced LV ejection fraction. In addition, the dimensions of the intracranial SEGA decreased somewhat following initiation of maternal sirolimus treatment. Postnatal genetic testing confirmed a mutation in the TSC2 gene. Currently, the baby is 3 months old with normal neurological development. Transplacental sirolimus administration can be a useful in treating large rhabdomyomas that disturb fetal hemodynamics
No effect of novel exploration on the consolidation of extinction learning in human context conditioning
No full textAnimal research show that a novel exploration task performed shortly before a learning episode can strengthen hippocampal memory consolidation through behavioural tagging mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to conceptually translate behavioural tagging results to humans using a novel exploration task in virtual reality. Mimicking conditions for animal research, sixty participants underwent a context conditioning task in virtual reality to create a hippocampal-dependent fear memory. Twenty-four hours later, half of the participants performed a novel exploration task in virtual reality shortly before extinction learning the next day, and the other half performed a visual control task. Twenty-four hours after extinction learning, remaining fear responses were evaluated by a reinstatement procedure. Results showed that participants acquired context conditioning, but no effect of the novel exploration procedure on fear responses during reinstatement could be noted. Thus, the study did not conceptually translate the rodent results to humans; possible reasons for this, as well as future directions, are discussed
CEASA : Dominant spatial autocorrelation in dual-constraint calibration as the game-changer for hydrological modeling with high-uncertainty remotely sensed evaporation: Application to the Meichuan basin
No full textAccurate evapotranspiration (ET) estimation is vital for hydrological modeling, yet remotely sensed ET (RS-ET) products are often limited by algorithmic uncertainties and sensor biases. To mitigate error propagation and better capture spatial patterns, this study introduces the Composite Efficiency of Absolute ET and Spatial Autocorrelation (CEASA) —a dual-constraint framework that integrates absolute ET magnitude and spatial autocorrelation to enhance simulation accuracy, which marks a pivotal shift by moving beyond traditional individual-value-based calibration to incorporate spatially explicit pattern constraints. Using four RS-ET products in China's Meichuan Basin (three high-bias: MOD16, GLASS, SSEBop; one low-bias: PMLV2), CEASA demonstrated: (1) Dual-constraint superiority: CEASA outperformed single-constraint methods. Compared to the absolute-value-only scheme (M1), it reduced PBIAS by 18–33 % and improved KGE from 0.47 to 0.51 to 0.76–0.77 under high-bias datasets, meanwhile improving KGE to 0.84 and reducing PBIAS to 9.4 % under low-bias PMLV2. It also surpassed spatial-pattern-only approaches by 11 % in KGE under low-bias data. Notably, CEASA achieved comparable streamflow accuracy to streamflow-based calibration (M0) while improving ET simulation. (2) Quality adaptivity: CEASA's weighted dual-criteria architecture dynamically adapted to RS-ET quality—achieving peak performance for PMLV2 and maintaining stable accuracy for high-bias datasets by emphasizing spatial neighborhood information. (3) Spatial dominance: Entropy analysis showed spatial autocorrelation contributed >70 % of the optimization signal, with higher information content than absolute ET magnitude (2.85–3.42 vs. 0.39–1.22). CEASA redefines RS-ET application by emphasizing spatial patterns, offering a bias-resilient solution for ungauged basins. Future work should explore scale-sensitive metrics and intelligent weighting schemes for broader applicability
Dissolution of cellulose in alkali : A competition between ionization and hydrophobic interactions.
No full textDissolution is a key factor in better utilization of cellulose, the most abundant macromolecule on our planet. Several non-aqueous solvent systems, of very different nature, have been found to dissolve significant amounts of cellulose. For reasons of cost, safety and environment, however, water-based systems would have high priority. Cellulose is insoluble in water, but since well above 100 years, it has been observed that the combination of high pH and low temperatures provides solvent conditions with a high aqueous solubility of cellulose. The driving force of dissolution is related to the ionization of cellulose due to a deprotonation of glucose hydroxyl groups. This was qualitatively understood in early work, but in more contemporary literature the interactions behind the resistance to dissolution have been left more open. Recently it has been found that the insolubility of cellulose in water is due to hydrophobic interactions, which are strong due to the amphiphilic character of cellulose. The hydrophobic interaction decreases significantly with decreasing temperature. There is in addition an increase in pH as the temperature is decreased at a given NaOH concentration. A thermodynamic analysis is presented, based on the balance between ionization and a temperature dependent hydrophobic interaction. The analysis is found to explain the observed features of cellulose dissolution, including a classical phase diagram
Solar chimney combined with active cooling systems for enhanced indoor comfort and energy efficiency under extreme climates : A data-driven optimization approach
No full textClimate change and its associated extreme events challenge the effectiveness of passive building design strategies. Hybrid passive-active systems emerge as a promising solution; however, their resilience in extreme climate conditions is less studied. This study addresses this gap by investigating the integration of solar chimneys (SC) with variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems to improve thermal comfort and reduce energy demand under typical and extreme climate conditions. A novel combined optimization framework using Bayesian Optimization with Extreme Gradient Boosting (BO-XGBoost) and NSGA-II is applied to optimize SC design and VRF operation across future scenarios, including power outages and extreme warm periods. Results show that the optimized SC–VRF system significantly improves resilience, particularly under extreme warm conditions. Compared to typical near-term conditions (2010–2039), Indoor Discomfort Degree and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied increased by 18.5 % and 1.4 % in the long-term (2070–2099) under active operation. In passive mode, these increases reached 39.7 % and 12.7 %, highlighting the limits of passive cooling alone. Sensitivity analysis indicated the SC opening area as the most influential design factor. The best overall performance was observed under typical mid-term (2040–2069) conditions, with energy use reduced by 13.3 % compared to long-term and 9.5 % compared to near-term scenarios. While passive SCs show potential in the near-term, integrating them with VRF systems is essential for maintaining comfort and efficiency under future extremes. The proposed SC–VRF configuration offers an effective strategy for maintaining thermal comfort and reducing energy use under climate extremes, thereby enhancing the climate resilience of buildings