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Co‐constructing cooperative value ecosystems: A critical realist perspective
Get PDFThis study focuses on digital platform cooperatives (DPCs) and investigates how social value is created within platform cooperativism for fostering a more equitable and inclusive digital landscape. We explore and theorise the outcomes of social value creation by DPCs and identify the generative mechanisms that drive their emergence. We do this by adopting a Critical Realism philosophical stance, in combination with Grounded Theory techniques based on the Straussian version of coding. Our data is drawn from 36 interviews with DPC (co-)founders, members, and experts, alongside an array of documentary data from DPCs across 12 European countries. Our analysis reveals three outcomes of social value creation by DPCs: strengthening community capacities, federating cooperative ventures, and fostering practices for narrative co-creation. Additionally, we identify two generative mechanisms with enduring properties and explanatory power: collective identity and empowerment, and government-community symbiosis. These mechanisms are identified through retroductive theorising, offering plausible explanations for the outcomes of social value creation, situated within relevant contextual conditions, such as grassroots mobilisation and advocacy, institutional commitment and policy support, and legislative frameworks for cooperative integration. This study contributes to the understanding of social value creation in platform cooperativism as an endeavour to co-construct a cooperative value ecosystem, providing valuable insights for both theory and practice
The Pointillist principle for variation operators and jump functions
Get PDFI extend the pointillist principles of Moon and Carrillo-de Guzmán to variational operators and jump functions. 1. The pointillist principle In [11], Moon observed that, for a sequence of sufficiently smooth convolution operators and any q ≥ 1, the weak (1, q) boundedness of their maximal operator is equivalent to restricted weak (1, q) boundedness of the maximal operator. In this paper, the goal is to extend this theorem to variational operators and to jump functions. I now recall a couple definitions in order to make this precise. For a sequence of operators (T m) m∈N , define their maximal function M (T m f (x) : m ∈ N) := sup m∈N |T m f (x)| for f : R d → C and x ∈ R d. Suppose that p, q ≥ 1. An operator T is weak-type (p, q) with norm C if it satisfies the inequality T f L q,∞ ≤ Cf L p for all f ∈ L p (1) where f L p := |f (x)| p dx 1/p and g L q,∞ := sup t>0 t|{x ∈ R d : |g(x)| ≥ t}| 1/q for functions f, g : R d → C with the usual modifications made when p or q is infinite. Here and throughout, C is non-negative. In this paper, we will restrict our functions to be defined on R d and will work with the Lebesgue measure thereon. So, I will rarely include this in the notation, and I will also let |X| denote the measure of a finite (Lebesgue) measurable set X in R d. Additionally, an operator T is said to be restricted weak-type (p, q) with norm C if (1) holds for each function f which is the characteristic function of a finite measurable set. Moon's theorem. Suppose that (T m) m∈N is a sequence of convolution operators given by T m f := f * g m with g m ∈ L 1 (R d) for each m ∈ N. For any q ≥ 1, M (T m f (x) : m ∈ N) is restricted weak-type (1, q) with norm C if and only if M (T m f (x) : m ∈ N) is weak-type (1, q) with norm C. The essential difference between the two distinct weak-types lies in the class of input functions used to define them. The class of all L p functions serve as input to the (unqualified) weak-type inequalities while its subclass of characteristic functions 2020 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 42B25
Digital financial inclusion, the belt and road initiative, and the Paris agreement: Impacts on energy transition grid costs
Get PDFWe investigate how digital financial inclusion, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Paris Agreement influence the energy transition grid cost. We propose two new Kendall and Spearman wavelet cross-quantile correlation methods and utilize data from June 1, 2018, to July 31, 2024. Our findings indicate that digital financial inclusion, the Paris Agreement, and artificial intelligence significantly reduce grid costs in the short and long run. Additionally, the Belt and Road Initiative has substantial potential to decrease grid costs, particularly during bullish market conditions in the long run. Conversely, GCOVOL significantly increases grid costs, especially in the long run
Generative AI for Finance: Applications, Case Studies and Challenges
Get PDFGenerative AI (GAI), which has become increasingly popular nowadays, can be considered a brilliant computational machine that can not only assist with simple searching and organising tasks but also possesses the capability to propose new ideas, make decisions on its own and derive better conclusions from complex inputs. Finance comprises various difficult and time-consuming tasks that require significant human effort and are highly prone to errors, such as creating and managing financial documents and reports. Hence, incorporating GAI to simplify processes and make them hassle-free will be consequential. Integrating GAI with finance can open new doors of possibility. With its capacity to enhance decision-making and provide more effective personalised insights, it has the power to optimise financial procedures. In this paper, we address the research gap of the lack of a detailed study exploring the possibilities and advancements of the integration of GAI with finance. We discuss applications that include providing financial consultations to customers, making predictions about the stock market, identifying and addressing fraudulent activities, evaluating risks, and organising unstructured data. We explore real-world examples of GAI, including Finance generative pre-trained transformer (GPT), Bloomberg GPT, and so forth. We look closer at how finance professionals work with AI-integrated systems and tools and how this affects the overall process. We address the challenges presented by comprehensibility, bias, resource demands, and security issues while at the same time emphasising solutions such as GPTs specialised in financial contexts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive paper dealing with GAI for finance
Current methods and best practice recommendations for skate and ray (Batoidea) research: capture, handling, anaesthesia, euthanasia, and tag attachment
Get PDFSkates and rays (Batoidea) play a significant ecological role, contributing to ecosystem services through bioturbation and acting as vital intermediate components of the trophic chain in various aquatic environments. Despite their wide global distribution and ecological importance, batoids receive less attention than their shark relatives, resulting in substantial knowledge gaps that might impede a comprehensive understanding of their conservation status. This review addresses critical aspects of their capture, handling, tagging, and release to provide readers with crucial information needed to perform research on batoids. Protocols for analgesia, anaesthesia, and euthanasia are also discussed, taking into account the ethical and logistical considerations necessary for research involving this group of species. This information can give researchers and ethics committees the knowledge to conduct and approve studies involving batoids, thereby promoting more effective and ethical research practices
Energy in turmoil: Industry resilience to uncertainty during the global energy crisis
Get PDFWe investigate the resilience of global industry groups to energy price uncertainty (ENPU) during the global energy crisis. Diversified financials reflect the greatest return response, being vulnerable to investment delays and discretionary spending, whereas industry groups producing necessities are most resilient. Volatility triggering is highest for automobiles & components due to ambiguous risk-return prospects requiring greater investor learning whereas the food & staples retailing group is most resilient. Differences in ranked return and volatility responses point towards distinct transmission channels. We expound a measure, the ‘Overall Impact of Uncertainty’ (OIU), that considers both effects jointly and reflects a dominant effect. According to the OIU, the most and least impacted groups are automobiles & components and food & staples retailing, respectively. Energy prices have a relatively weak impact relative to ENPU, suggesting that ENPU reflects a broader transmission channel, encompassing other forms of uncertainty
A systematic review and thematic synthesis exploring how gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) experience HPV and HPV vaccination
Get PDFThere are suboptimal levels of HPV vaccine uptake among gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men (GBMSM), despite the prevalence and incidence rates of HPV infection among GBMSM being higher than heterosexual males. This systematic review provides a thematic synthesis of qualitative research which examined the perceptions and experiences of GBMSM to HPV vaccine acceptability and explored the barriers and facilitators to participating in HPV vaccination. This review offers new insights about GBMSM understandings of HPV and how they are shaped by a complex relationship between limited knowledge and information of HPV, feminization of HPV with the focus on cervical cancer and women, and the socio-political governmentality of health services in meeting their health needs. Public health communication is required that focuses on the risks of HPV for anal, penile and oropharyngeal cancers and is culturally congruent to tailor and work with GBMSM more effectively for HPV vaccination. Healthcare providers need training around sexual health stigma and should proactively offer the HPV vaccination outside sexual health clinics for this vulnerable group
State-Space Modelling of Schottky Diode Rectifiers Including Parasitic and Coupling Effects up to the Terahertz Band
Get PDFA nonlinear state-space model for Schottky diode rectifiers is presented that incorporates junction dynamics, layout parasitic effects, and electromagnetic coupling effects. Unlike prior approaches, the model resolves conduction intervals under harmonic-rich excitation and integrates electromagnetic voltage–current feedback to capture field-induced perturbations at high frequencies. The framework was validated through the design of a 5.8 GHz rectifier, achieving 62% RF–DC efficiency at −10 dBm into a 500 Ω load, with close agreement between the simulation and measurement. The results confirm the model’s predictive accuracy and its utility for high-efficiency rectenna systems in microwave and terahertz applications
Research priorities for cancers of the oesophagus and stomach: recommendations from a UK and Ireland patient and healthcare professional partnership exercise
Get PDFBackground: Cancers of the oesophagus and stomach are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Research is crucial to improving outcomes. However, to maximise value and impact, areas of focus should be prioritised in partnership with patients. Objective: We undertook a comprehensive analysis of UK and Ireland patient and healthcare professional (HCP) priorities for research into oesophagogastric cancers across the domains of prevention, diagnosis and staging, treatment, palliative care and survivorship. Design: A scoping exercise sourced research questions from patients and HCPs. These were consolidated and then confirmed by systematic review to represent a true research uncertainty. Research questions were scored on potential impact by an interdisciplinary group of HCPs and prioritised using a weighting derived from a patient survey. Results: There were 835 (395 HCP, 440 patient) respondents to the scoping (n=455) and prioritisation (n=380) surveys. Across these, 4295 suggested research uncertainties were consolidated to 92 uncertainties that were prioritised. HCP respondents represented 25 professional groups from community and hospital settings. Patient weighting changed 22.2–46.3% of priority rankings established by HCPs. All domains were represented by the 20 highest priority questions, 5 of which focused on personalising and optimally combining treatment modalities. Two other key themes related to optimising nutrition and improving quality of life during and after treatment, including in patients not cured of their cancer. Conclusion: This work highlights the impact of patient input on HCP-ranked research priorities and provides a robust list of priorities to guide funders, policymakers and researchers to support and undertake impactful research
Smoking trends in Poland (2012–2021)—insights from the comprehensive cardiovascular risk prevention program
Get PDFBackground: Understanding smoking prevalence trends across demographic groups is crucial for effective public health interventions. Monitoring such trends helps tailor prevention strategies and allocate resources to the most affected populations. These insights support the design of more equitable and effective tobacco control policies. Aim: This study analyzes data from the Comprehensive Cardiovascular Risk Prevention Program (CCRPP) in Poland (2012–2021) to assess smoking trends by age and gender among program participants. Methods: A repeated cross-sectional observational design was used to analyze data collected from 2012 to 2021, including participants who met the predefined age criteria (35, 40, 45, 50, or 55 years) at the time of enrollment, based on their birth year. Smoking prevalence was examined across age groups and sex to identify trends and disparities. Results: Smoking prevalence significantly declined from 28.91% in 2012 to 21.77% in 2021 (p < 0.001). The largest absolute reduction was seen in the 45-year age group (from 29.90 to 19.50%, p < 0.001). Across all age groups, men consistently had higher smoking rates than women, with the gap most pronounced in the 55-year group in 2012 (41.01% vs. 30.08%, p < 0.001). Although smoking rates decreased over time in both sexes, this male predominance persisted and remained statistically significant (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Smoking prevalence declined significantly among participants of the CCRPP, particularly in middle-aged individuals. Persistent sex differences highlight the need for more targeted smoking cessation interventions tailored to men. The CCRPP’s large-scale, standardized data collection offers a valuable platform for monitoring national smoking trends and informing future tobacco control policies in Poland
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