Thermodynamic phases and mesonic fluctuations in a chiral nucleon-meson model

Studies of the QCD phase diagram must properly include nucleonic degrees of freedom and their thermodynamics in the range of baryon chemical potentials characteristic of nuclear matter. A useful framework for incorporating relevant nuclear physics constraints in this context is a chiral nucleon-meson effective Lagrangian. In the present paper, such a chiral nucleon-meson model is extended with systematic inclusion of mesonic fluctuations using the functional renormalization group approach. The resulting description of the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition shows a remarkable agreement with three-loop calculations based on in-medium chiral effective field theory. No signs of a chiral first-order phase transition and its critical endpoint are found in the region of applicability of the model, at least up to twice the density of normal nuclear matter and at temperatures T<100 MeV. Fluctuations close to the critical point of the first-order liquid-gas transition are also examined with a detailed study of the chiral susceptibility.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures; references added, discussions enlarge

Digitally co-created corporate social responsibility: Testing the effectiveness of “You decide, we donate” approaches

In a world with increasing consciousness of sustainable consumption, corporate social responsibility (CSR) continues to be a major factor in consumers’ purchase-related decision making. Recently, companies have started initiatives to provide digitally co-created CSR, in which consumers can decide to which project, organization or foundation a company donates. Despite early research efforts, still, less is known about the effectiveness of such approaches in terms of customer loyalty and whether or not consumer characteristics impact the effectiveness. To this end, we conducted a scenario-based experiment with 241 participants, in which we manipulated different forms of CSR activities, including a digitally co-created mode of corporate social responsibility that involves a “you decide, we donate approach”. We confirm the effectiveness of digitally co-created CSR and show that consumer innovativeness as a consumer characteristic has no moderating effect. We discuss implications for IS theory and practice as well as future research opportunities

Минералого-петрохимические и геохимические черты околорудного метасоматизма в Западном золоторудном месторождении (Северное Забайкалье)

Приведены данные об условиях залегания, морфологии рудных тел, минеральном составе, физико-химических и термодинамических режимах образования руд Западного золоторудного месторождения Северного Забайкалья. Впервые показаны порядок минеральной зональности (структура) и минералого-петрохимические черты аподолеритовых околожильных метасоматических ореолов. Доказывается принадлежность последних к березитовой метасоматической формации, а месторождения - к золотой субформации золото-уран-полиметаллической березитовой рудной формации. Слабо контрастные аномалии золота, серебра, ртути приурочены к тыловым зонам околожильных метасоматических ореолов в непосредственном обрамлении слабозолотоносных (первые г/т) интервалов кварцевых жил. Аргументируются генетические связи околожильных метасоматических и геохимических ореолов с рудами и образование их в рудообразующем процессе позднепалеозойской металлогенической эпохи. Основные минералого-петрохимические и геохимические черты околожильного метасоматизма рассмотрены в сравнении с таковыми других месторождений Северо-Забайкальского золоторудного района

Software Product Customization: Resources and Capabilities that Drive Use and Exchange Value

In customization projects, software vendors transform customer requirements into an IT solution based on an existing software product. Thus, software is not build from a scratch for new customers, but adapted based on a predefined set of functionalities. Although existing IS research has studied software development in relation to necessary resources and capabilities, research still lacks (1) a consideration of the type of customization resources and capabilities that a vendor must maintain to effectively deliver customization services, and (2) a consideration of how those affect use and exchange value on customer and vendor side. The present study aims at identifying the resources and capabilities underlying customization activities along with their impact on the various forms of use and exchange value in a customization context. By integrating vendor and customer perspectives, the resulting conceptual framework provides not only explanations from either side, but helps understanding balancing mechanisms among sources of value

Lead Users’ Innovative Work Behavior in Digital Platform Ecosystems: A Large Scale Study of App Developers

Application developers constitute an important part of a digital platform’s ecosystem. Knowledge about psychological processes that drive developer behavior in platform ecosystems is scarce. We build on the lead userness construct which comprises two dimensions, trend leadership and high expected benefits from a solution, to explain how developers’ innovative work behavior (IWB) is stimulated. We employ an efficiency- oriented and a social-political perspective to investigate the relationship between lead userness and IWB. The efficiency-oriented view resonates well with the expected benefit dimension of lead userness, while the social-political view might be interpreted as a reflection of trend leadership. Using structural equation modeling, we test our model with a sample of over 400 developers from three platform ecosystems. We find that lead userness is indirectly associated with IWB and the performance-enhancing view to be the stronger predictor of IWB. Finally, we unravel differences between paid and unpaid app developers in platform ecosystems

Разработка технологии изготовления свс-фильтров из интерметаллидов никеля и алюминия

Приведен массовый состав исходной шихты для самораспространяющегося высокотемпературного синтеза интерметаллидов в зависимости от содержания никеля в шихте. Изложена методика и порядок технологических операций при изготовлении фильтров различных размеров и геометрической формы, а также пути регулирования пористой структуры и способы их реализации

A two-microphone noise reduction system for cochlear implant users with nearby microphones. Part II: Performance Evaluation

Users of cochlear implants (auditory aids, which stimulate the auditory nerve electrically at the inner ear) often suffer from poor speech understanding in noise. We evaluate a small (intermicrophone distance 7 mm) and computationally inexpensive adaptive noise reduction system suitable for behind-the-ear cochlear implant speech processors. The system is evaluated in simulated and real, anechoic and reverberant environments. Results from simulations show improvements of 3.4 to 9.3 dB in signal to noise ratio for rooms with realistic reverberation and more than 18 dB under anechoic conditions. Speech understanding in noise is measured in 6 adult cochlear implant users in a reverberant room, showing average improvements of 7.9–9.6 dB, when compared to a single omnidirectional microphone or 1.3–5.6 dB, when compared to a simple directional two-microphone device. Subjective evaluation in a cafeteria at lunchtime shows a preference of the cochlear implant users for the evaluated device in terms of speech understanding and sound quality

Stenting of native right ventricular outflow tract obstructions in symptomatic infants: histological work-up of explanted specimen

BACKGROUND Stenting of stenotic right ventricular outflow tract is a palliative measure for severely impaired small babies with Tetralogy of Fallot or similar pathologies. Little is known about the histopathological fate of the stents in the right ventricular outflow tract. METHODS Eight samples of surgically removed right ventricular outflow tract stents were histologically analysed according to a predefined protocol. RESULTS The most frequent diagnosis was Tetralogy of Fallot in four patients, pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect in two patients, double outlet right ventricle with pulmonary obstruction in one patient, and muscular obstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract in one patient with a syndromic disease with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Stents mean implantation duration was 444 days ranging from 105 to 1117 days (median 305.5 days). Histology revealed a variable degree of pseudointima formation consisting of fibromuscular cells surrounded by extracellular matrix. Four of the specimen contained adjacent myocardial tissue fragments, which showed regressive changes. Neither myocardium nor pseudointima tissue or tissue parts locally related to stent struts were infiltrated by inflammatory cells. CONCLUSIONS Histological analysis after explantation of early-in-life implanted right ventricular outflow tract stents revealed predominantly pronounced neo-intimal proliferation with a visible endothelial layer, no signs of inflammation, and no prolapse of muscular tissue through the stent struts. Thus, implantation of stents in early life seems to interfere little with the hosts' immune system and might help to open up the right ventricular outflow tract by mechanical forces and regressive changes in adjacent muscular tissue

The Effect of Wall Inertia on High-Frequency Instabilities of Flow Through an Elastic-Walled Tube

We examine the effect of wall inertia on the onset of high-frequency self-excited oscillations in flow through an elastic-walled tube. The previous asymptotic model of Whittaker et al. (Proc. Roy. Soc. A466, 2010), for a long-wavelength high-frequency instability in a Starling-resistor set-up, neglected inertia in the tube wall. Here, we extend this model by modifying the ‘tube-law’ for the wall mechanics to include inertial effects. The resulting coupled model for the fluid and solid mechanics is solved to find the normal modes of oscillation for the system, together with their frequencies and growth rates. In the system and parameter regime considered, the addition of wall inertia reduces the oscillation frequency of each mode, however its effect on the stability of the system is not as straightforward. Increasing wall inertia lowers the mean flow rate required for the onset of instability, and is therefore destabilising. However, at higher flow rates the instability growth rate is decreased, and so wall inertia is stabilising here. Overall, the addition of wall inertia decreases the sensitivity of the system to the mean axial flow rate. The theoretical results show good qualitative and reasonable quantitative agreement with direct numerical simulations performed using the oomph-lib framework