Factors influencing AI adoption: an international comparative qualitative study of Library professionals

Building upon an initial quantitative study exploring the perceptions and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) among library and information professionals in Italy, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, and Mexico, this research paper presents a subsequent qualitative comparative investigation. To delve deeper into the findings of the first study, the research team conducted in-depth interviews with selected leading librarians. These interviews focused on exploring the challenges, opportunities, and recommendations related to AI adoption in libraries, aiming to provide a richer, nuanced understanding of the factors influencing library professionals in the four countries

The optical response of aromatic cyclocarbons

Cyclo[n]carbons are a recently synthesized class of carbon allotropes that offer a unique platform to probe electron delocalization, quantum confinement, and strong correlation effects. Their peculiar electronic properties and bond topologies make them attractive for next-generation molecular optoelectronic, photonic, and quantum technologies. To explore such a potential, a deep understanding of their optical response is necessary. Here, we present the first systematic characterization of the optical response of aromatic cyclo[n]carbons in the whole UV-Vis range, using state-of-the-art many-body methods. Our results show a remarkable tunability of their optical response with respect to ring size and structure, identifying key structure-property relationships. These findings provide a fundamental framework for tailoring the optical properties of pi-conjugated carbon nanorings and offer design principles for their integration into adaptive molecular devices and quantum photonics architectures

A Validation Study of Teachers’ Responses to Bullying Questionnaire (TRBQ–T) in Two Large Samples of Teachers

There is a growing interest in teachers’ responses to bullying and their impact on student behavior and well-being. This study aimed to adapt the Teachers’ Responses to Bullying Questionnaire (TRBQ), originally based on students’ reports, to capture teachers’ perspectives (TRBQ-T), and to test its theoretical structure and measurement invariance across school level and gender in two samples of teachers. Study 1 involved 42,939 Italian teachers (85.1% females; Mage = 50.9; SDage = 8.84) and was used to test the factor structure (i.e., EFA, CFA), internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and measurement invariance (both at the school and gender levels). Study 2 included 47,118 Italian teachers (84.9% females; Mage = 50.3; SDage = 9.3) and was used to replicate Study 1, which results the validity and reliability of TRBQ-T in assessing teachers’ responses to bullying across four factors: Disciplinary Methods, Victim Support, Group Discussion, and Mediation. The “Non-intervention” factor was not supported. Full strict invariance was achieved across gender and school level, with partial invariance in covariances and factor means across school level. Findings support the TRBQ-T as a robust instrument for capturing teachers’ self-reported strategies to address bullying

Evidence for Longitudinally Polarized W Bosons in the Electroweak Production of Same-Sign W Boson Pairs in Association with Two Jets in pp Collisions at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

This Letter reports the first evidence of electroweak production of same-sign W boson pairs where at least one of the W bosons is longitudinally polarized and the most stringent constraint to date for the production of two longitudinally polarized same-sign W bosons. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the ATLAS detector during run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. The study is performed in final states including two same-sign leptons (electrons or muons), missing transverse momentum, and at least two jets with a large invariant mass and a large rapidity difference. Two independent fits are performed targeting the production of same-sign W bosons with at least one, or two longitudinally polarized W bosons. The observed (expected) significance of the production with at least one longitudinally polarized W boson is 3.3 (4.0) standard deviations. An observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit of 0.45 (0.70) fb is reported on the fiducial production cross section of two longitudinally polarized same-sign W bosons

Strong solutions to submodular mean field games with common noise and related McKean–Vlasov FBSDEs

This paper studies multidimensional mean field games with common noise and the related system of McKean–Vlasov forward-backward stochastic differential equations deriving from the stochastic maximum principle. We first propose some structural conditions which are related to the submodularity of the underlying mean field game and are a sort of opposite version of the well known Lasry–Lions monotonicity. By reformulating the representative player minimization problem via the stochastic maximum principle, the submodularity conditions allow to prove comparison principles for the forward-backward system, which correspond to the monotonicity of the best reply map. Building on this property, existence of strong solutions is shown via Tarski’s fixed point theorem, both for the mean field game and for the related McKean–Vlasov forward-backward system. In both cases, the set of solutions enjoys a lattice structure, with minimal and maximal solutions which can be constructed by iterating the best reply map or via the fictitious play algorithm

Enhancing the prediction of publications’ long-term impact using early citations, readerships, and non-scientific factors

This study aims to improve the accuracy of long-term citation impact prediction by integrating early citation counts, Mendeley readership, and various non-scientific factors, such as journal impact factor, authorship and reference list characteristics, funding and open-access status. Traditional citation-based models often fall short by relying solely on early citations, which may not capture broader indicators of a publication's potential influence. By incorporating non-scientific predictors, this model provides a more nuanced and comprehensive framework that outperforms existing models in predicting long-term impact. Using a dataset of Italian-authored publications from the Web of Science, regression models were developed to evaluate the impact of these predictors over time. Results indicate that early citations and Mendeley readership are significant predictors of long-term impact, with additional contributions from factors like authorship diversity and journal impact factor. The study finds that open-access status and funding have diminishing predictive power over time, suggesting their influence is primarily short-term. This model benefits various stakeholders, including funders and policymakers, by offering timely and more accurate assessments of emerging research. Future research could extend this model by incorporating broader altmetrics and expanding its application to other disciplines and regions. The study concludes that integrating non-citation-based factors with early citations captures a more complex view of scholarly impact, aligning better with real-world research influence